Triumphant Entrance and the Judgement to Come (Matthew 21:1-22)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Healing of a Blind Man (Matthew 20:29-34)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Healing of a Blind Man

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors uh here we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 20 verses 29 through 34 so you can go ahead and flip there it'll be on the screen as well uh years ago my wife and i when we got married wanted a honeymoon in italy uh but we did not have the money and then after paying our way through seminary we still did not have the money but my parents were going to italy.

For a mediterranean cruise they're gonna go there for a few days and then cruise afterwards and they said we'll take you i said great and they said one exchange give us grandchildren we'll take you i said deal do you plan on having kids anyways so we got a vacation out that we wanted we also got our oldest daughter it was a win-win but when we were in rome uh we were in rome the first night we showed up my parents their friends they were they were sitting down to eat we went to this restaurant and i just we sat down they they said all right they told the waitress they said you just bring out.

Whatever dishes you want whatever you think is good we want an authentic and amazing italian meal and i was like sweet i've never been a part of one of these things before this is going to be great and the first dish came out it was abundantly clear between the carbs and the cheeses and the spices this was not olive garden this was it took one bite that first dish was like the rest of this meal is going to be amazing and it was it's one of the best meals that we ever had that is what the miracles of.

Jesus uh and his healing stories and everything we've seen the Gospel of Matthew that's what they get to be they are an appetizer they're a foretaste of of greater realities of greater truths that are about to be opened up as he goes to the cross in between commissions out the Church there are four tastes of things to come that's why we talked about this back in Matthew 9 when Jesus heals the paralytic he says but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he.

Then said the paralytic rise pick up your bed and go home it wasn't just the power of healing a paralytic that pointed to something bigger that the forgiveness of sins the hope of the Gospel that's what these miracle stories do they're a foretaste for greater truths for greater realities they're going to be explored by his disciples but the problem is for us is that there are a lot of miracle stories i mean we've been through Matthew at this point for over a year.

Now we've seen a ton of them and it's just you read them if you read through the gospels it's like oh he healed another person he healed another person another miracle and after a while they start to to lose their luster a little bit we get used to them and we forget the power that is actually bound up in them it's just kind of like oh another another healing story nice let's move on to something else uh the reality is is that miracles are incredible you ever experience a miracle it's incredible they disrupt the natural order of how things are supposed to go i was reading a novel earlier this year by leif enger his.

First novel piece like a river and this is what he says the book has a big theme on miracles and he says this and i love it he says let me say something about that word miracle for too long it's been used to characterize things or events that though pleasant are entirely normal peeping chicks at easter time spring generally a clear sunrise after an overcast week a miracle people say as if they've been educated from greeting cards i'm sorry but nope such things are worth or are noticed every day of the week.

But to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the world of the word real miracles bother people let me say that a miracle is no cute thing but more like the swing of a sword i love that but we just get so used to to saying you'll see a sunrise or a sunset over the mountains of the ocean we say that's that's miraculous the gamecocks beat a ranked opponent it's a miracle we we cheapen the word we we have this sanitized uh uh greeting card version of the word of miracle and the concept of the miraculous.

When the reality it's disruptive it's disruptive like a sword if you experienced a miracle you don't have the categories to be able to to explain what you just saw it disrupts the natural order and that's exactly what God does God when he supernaturally intervenes he disrupts the natural order of things he disrupts a fallen and broken world and then this final miraculous healing story in the Gospel of Matthew that we get to see we will see all of that on full display and we will take a step back from it and as we take a step back we'll.

See that it's not just an incredible healing story though it is that it actually points to a much greater truth about the Gospel so let me pray and we'll jump into the story father i pray that you would help us be present this morning many of us came in in different places different things different burdens got to pray that you'd help us just listen this morning you'd speak to us and i pray that we respond in Jesus name amen all right.

Verse 29 and as they went out of Jericho all right so let me pause and give some context before we are in the ministry of Jesus sometimes when you read the gospels uh it can be frustrating because the stories sometimes seem out of order like you'll read about one story that shows up the beginning of one Gospel and then you read the next Gospel it shows up at the end because a lot of these events aren't in chronological order there's a general beginning with the life and ministry of.

Jesus and there's a general end after the resurrection but the middle gets fuzzy for us and it's because we are our modern postmodern thinkers we we're 21st century people we like our history in chronological order this event than this event than this event and that's not how first century middle easterners wrote history they they told it thematically they placed this story with this story because it taught this greater truth and they put this story beside this teaching because it illustrated this greater truth they just do it differently think christopher nolan.

So an interstellar i heard uh the new tenant movie is like this dunkirk was just shifting all the events around in the end your minds are blown think that and we appreciate more michael bay just straightforward just it's nice sometimes but that they just tell it differently but every now and then every now and then we can actually place one of these stories chronologically and this is one of those stories this story the healing of of the of these two men that we're about to.

See uh and in other gospels they focus on just one of the men bartimaeus it shows up right before Jesus goes into Jerusalem every single Gospel so why is that important verse 29 and as they went out of Jericho a great crowd followed him it's important because at this point we know we are at the end of Jesus ministry three years of teachings and healings and crowds amassing there's more hype and more buildup as he's traveling towards Jerusalem we've been in galilee.

Now the story is descending towards Jerusalem Jericho is one of the the largest big cities before you get to it's only a few miles away from Jerusalem there's this hype and there's this buildup and these crowds are getting excited we're going to see that in a couple of weeks we walk through the triumphant entry when he walks into the city there's a ton of buildup as he passes into Jericho and when he gets to Jericho it felt a little bit like the beatles coming to america steve spurrier coming to columbia circa 2005 like it would have been this this big build up.

And then he would do what he normally does when he shows up to cities he teaches and he performs miracles and crowds just they're getting closer and closer elbow elbow getting next to each other so they can get as close as they can to experience Jesus there's all kinds of buzz wherever Jesus goes he does this thing in the city of Jericho we don't get to read it and then we pick up as they're leaving Jericho verse 30. and behold there were two men two blind men sitting by the roadside.

And when they heard that Jesus was passing by they cried out lord have mercy on us son of David so all kinds of things are happening in the city of Jericho they start to leave Jericho and there's two blind men that are sitting out by the roadside outside the city and they have not gotten to experience Jesus and the city maybe it's because they didn't think that they could navigate their way into the city they certainly didn't have anybody to help them get into the city we saw with the healing of the paralytic they had that man had friends that brought him in to.

See Jesus but no one's actually taking them in to see Jesus and what's happening in the city they are on the outside of all the amazing things that were happening in the city but that honesty with just a glimpse of their life seems to be pretty obvious if they're standing on the roadside and what we know from the other gospels is they were called beggars they're poor they don't they don't have a whole lot of hope they're outside the city asking.

For money asking for food asking for anybody that'll actually help them years ago i was in marrakech morocco and i was in the marketplace one night and there was a blind uh homeless man and he was he would take a few steps he'd hold his hand out and he'd shout something out in arabic which i'm sure was asking for alms since that's one of the five pillars of islam and then he would you know someone would give him money i saw at least one person give him money he'd take it he tried a few more steps and he'd shout out again holding his hands out asking i'm sure.

For money or food and that was his life going out into the markets asking for help because the reality is in cultures like that and the culture that we have in the Bible there was no social security there was no safety net there wasn't a help for for disabilities at all if you didn't have family to take care of you your only hope was the streets to ask and to beg that someone might have pity someone have mercy it would help you.

So they're used to this they're used to being on the outside they're used to missing out on all of the good experiences they're used to being out there asking for things but then Jesus starts to travel outside the city right by them and there's a glimmer of hope and they don't just cry Jesus i want to point out what they say they say son of David son of David that title is packed with significance we talked about this when we walked through the genealogy in Matthew 1 that the Matthew is holds up.

Jesus and his line going back to David because what that shows is that Jesus is the savior king he is the messiah he is the one who is to come there's a lot i mean son of David is very similar for the jewish ear to say Christ when they say that they are calling him out as the savior king son of David have mercy on us verse 31 the crowd rebuked them telling them to be silent no just be silent again probably used to this being out on the outside being rejected the reality is in this culture.

If you were disabled it was assumed that you probably did something to deserve this that your parents did something for you to deserve this that you're cursed so be be silent you don't you don't need to get near Jesus you probably deserve what you have there's this stigma that comes along with the disability and this rejection but i love it they're not going to be deterred they're not going to stop it continues but they cried out all the more lord have mercy on us son of David all the more that's over and over and over and over again son of David son of David have mercy on a son of David they're not going to.

Stop they know that hope is passing by that you are our only hope Jesus son of David don't pass us by i'm tired of being an outsider i'm tired of being poor i'm tired of being looked at as as i deserve this i'm tired of all the stigma i'm tired of being on the outside Jesus lord son of David don't don't pass this by they call out over and over and over again they want to see what they've been missing for all these years.

Finally Jesus stops verse 32 and stopping Jesus called them and said what do you want me to do for you so they're calling out over and over again crowds are telling be quiet they're not going to stop and then Jesus stops and they can hear his voice directed at them probably since his presence coming a little bit closer what do you want me to do for you they have the intention of the most important man they are ever going to meet.

Verse 33 they said to him lord let our eyes be opened they've heard the rumors they've heard about Jesus they've heard all of the rumors of of healing people all the miraculous things he's done lord let our eyes be open we know you we know you're able will you open our eyes verse 34 and Jesus in pity touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him can't see they can hear his voice as he gets closer he approaches these two blind beggars that always get shunned they get rejected that are seen as outcast as sinful as dirty.

Jesus and compassion comes closely and i want you notice what he does he doesn't just snap his fingers and say you recovered your sight it didn't just say you're healed he puts his hands on their eyes just the intimate care that Jesus gives towards people puts his hands on their eyes and they recover their sight i got interested in this interested in this this week there are uh nowadays because of science because of medicine and the advances that we have there are uh ways to cure certain types of blindness and i watched a bunch of videos of people being able to.

See for the first time and i just wanted to show one in particular this is a video of a man who a young man who is uh has been colorblind his entire life and his friends they uh they all pitch in there's there's some new glasses that you can buy that cure certain types of color blindness so they all pitched in the money together and they gave it to them there's no guarantee it was going to work but they give it to him i just want you to catch a picture of what it looks like to.

See something for the first time i remember there was this one yellow leaf on a tree like straight ahead of me and as soon as i put them on like it just popped out like like striking like it wasn't like a light brownish gray color like it was it was yellow oh you're bored today just go on youtube and watch some of these videos people hear him for the first time people sing for the first time it's incredible and he got to.

See color for the first time imagine seeing darkness your entire life and then all of a sudden boom you can see in 20 20 vision i want you to picture what happens here Jesus puts his hands on their eyes and when he moves them the first thing they see with their new set of eyes is the face of God they get to see the face of God and once they see him they look up and they see the blue in the sky they.

See the colors all around them they see their hands for the first time by seeing Jesus and by his power they see everything else it's an incredible story and what do they do after they can see for the first time they get in line and they follow them because the reality is when you experience the power of God the only reasonable step next step is to follow them and off they go with Jesus towards Jerusalem now that story is just a few verses long.

But it's incredible when you just slow down and you picture what's happening here when you look at the details the amount of joy that is in this i also love this story because all of us can connect to it on a much deeper level listen the main mission of Jesus was not come not to come and heal people it was not to come and and heal the blind and raise paralytics that wasn't the main mission that was an appetizer that was a foretaste of a much bigger much more important much more eternal reality he came to give sight to the spiritually blind that is what this story is ultimately pointing to he came to give.

Sight to those who are spiritually blind those who are walking in darkness Jesus is the light that lights up the darkness he came to give us a new set of eyes we see this in in john 9 and john 9 he heals a younger man and and towards the end of it this is what happens in verse 39 Jesus said for judgment i came into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind some of the pharisees near him heard these things and said to him are we also blind.

Jesus said to them if you were blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your guilt remains Jesus heals this man and then he shows the bigger point here that he came for those who were spiritually blind he came for those who know that who are humble enough to see and recognize their own sin that they might believe and then in that story the pharisee the pharisees recognize they're being called out and i said oh you're saying we can't.

See he says absolutely your guilt remains the whole point is is that if you think that you are good if you think that you see things clearly if you think that your righteousness stands before you before God then your guilt remains you don't get the Gospel he came for those who were spiritually blind Jesus came into the world to heal to give sight to the blind and then ultimately we might follow him but that only happens when you understand the most important aspect of his work was not what happens here in Jericho it is the healing that happens in Jerusalem it is.

When we have our eyes open when we look at what Jesus did for us on the cross when we look at that with the same kind of hope and vigor and longing and desperation that these two blind men did outside of Jericho this deep longing to be redeemed that's the bigger point of what's happening here so my question is firstly have you come to Christ with that type of desperation with that type of just hope and longing have you come to.

Jesus like these two blind beggars did have you come to him saying Jesus i've been an outsider my entire life and i i won't end i want you that i'm tired of being alone that i'm tired of being on the outside that i'm tired of being i'm tired of my sin i'm tired of being separated from you that i won't fellowship with you that i want life with you that i want to follow you have you come with that type of desperation to say.

Lord give me eyes to see and believe the Gospel son of David don't pass me by i want in have you come to him with that type of desperate hope because that is the type of desperate plea that stops the savior and his tracks that is what faith actually looks like it is that kind of plea that opens your eyes that you might behold the face of God be changed by him and never be the same that's the kind of faith that is being pointed out here and the reality is.

If you do not think you're blind if you think that you're doing fine on your own that you've got it all together that you don't need faith that you don't need Jesus you are blind to your own blindness if you think your good works will stand for you that the ultimate way to get to God is just do and do and do and be that you were blind to your own blindness or as uh the song that we're going to close with.

Today says the blind won't gain their sight by opening their eyes you won't gain your sight by trying to do this yourself you won't gain your sight by trying to open your own eyes you need a desperate plea and a hope and a longing for the only one that gives sight for the only one that gives his faith to belief and that's my hope is that if you have never trusted in Jesus that you would be humble enough to recognize your hopelessness outside of him this morning and that you would believe my hope is that we would not.

Look at the miraculous work of Jesus as a small thing as a cute thing but we would see it as a sword that disrupts the natural order of this world and that we would come to him with a desperate hope and the only logical next step is i'm in and i'll follow you wherever that is i'm in for some of you that uh have trusted in Jesus that have a new set of eyes that have been following him i want you to recognize something that though we have a new set of eyes and we can.

See it doesn't mean that we're not prone to some blind spots this idea carries throughout the rest of the new testament we just read some passages that flesh this out first john 2 11 says but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because darkness the darkness has blinded his eyes you following Jesus and you can have a new set of eyes but then you can start you can get a fight with another Christian you can get bitter the reality is is that unless you have reconciled you have a blind spot.

First john says you are darkened and you cannot see straight Revelation 3 17 for you say i am rich i have prospered and i need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked that's Jesus in a letter to one of the churches in the new testament saying that if you've trusted in riches you're blinded by them in fact you're poor pitiable blind and naked the reality is the riches of this world as we've seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew can blind you from actually seeing and savoring and following.

Jesus in the way that we're supposed to maybe you got some blind spots with riches i'll give you one more second Peter 1 says for this reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and step fastest with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection brotherly affection with love for if these qualities are yours and increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful on the knowledge of our lord.

Jesus Christ hear this for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins the reality is if you're not pursuing a lot of what is here as the fruit of the spirit if you're not pursuing virtue if you're not pursuing Jesus and asking for these things then you're nearsighted you can't see what's right in front of you you need to actually pursue him ask for help and repentance pursue the things he calls us to there there's a lot of ways that we have blind spots and in community groups this week we're going to walk through them my hope is this morning that you.

Would ask God what are my blind spots where am i not seeing the Gospel clearly or am i not believing the Gospel and my hope is do you show up to community group this week with some humility and allow some of the people who love you most in your life to maybe point out some of those blind spots for you matt's going to come up and we are going to close with a song that is right out of this passage and ah you may not be familiar with it i just want you to to.

Listen to the words and i want you to be open and honest for a moment this is a big room i have no doubt there's probably someone who's not actually absolutely trusted in Jesus with this type of desperate plea with this type of desperate faith and my hope this morning is that you would the son of David is here his arms open saying i want you and my hope is that you would you would give in to that type of love that he went to the cross.

For you that you might not be blind anymore that he's offering you sight to believe my hope is that you would trust in him this morning stop running the life away from him stop trying to prove your life with good works my hope is that you would have the humility to recognize your sin and with this type of desperate plea that you would call out son of David give me sight give me eyes to believe and trust in you that i want you that's my hope is that you have the humility that.

God would pierce your heart right now that you would not run from it you would sit in this and respond in faith for some of you that believe in Jesus you got sin we all have got mess and it's serious my hope is that we respond this morning with some humility to recognize that that as this song is sung over to you that you might ask God where am i blind where am i not seeing and believing the way i'm supposed to and may we humbly in repentance ask him to change us that we might have vision that is needed may we respond in faith this morning.

Let me pray God no doubt there's a lot of burdens and struggles and brokenness and mess that we bring to the table this morning God i pray that for those of us that have trusted in Christ that you would start to shed light into some of the darkness in our life there may be folks here that have been holding on to sin they've never confessed they've been presenting themselves as better than they are break them down this morning may they see you and hope in you and trusting you and walking in the light as better than walking in darkness.

God i pray if there is anyone here that does not trust in you may they come to you with this same desperation these two men and may you give them eyes to see and believe and may they follow you forever we ask in Jesus name amen.

Service, Slavery, and Death (Matthew 20:17-28)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Service, Slavery, and Death

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well good morning my name's chet i'm one of the pastors here grab your bibles let's go to Matthew chapter 20. we're working through the Gospel of Matthew when it wasn't coronavirus time we had bibles out for everybody to use we have it up on the screen if you didn't bring one with you today but if you can we encourage you to bring one and we encourage you to have a Bible know your Bible love your Bible but we will have the words up on the screen this morning as we go through Matthew 20 we uh i want to talk i think most people have have played the game i'm about to talk about at some.

Point in your life um depending on your ranking among your friends in the social hierarchy or your age among your siblings depends on how much you enjoyed this game how much you remember it with fondness or without but i think at some point growing up you played a game where someone was king or queen or where you got to be king or queen and everybody else was your servants you you played this game someone talked hey we're gonna play this game and i'm gonna be king and and y'all are gonna do what i say.

Now if you're the oldest sibling you're like oh yeah i love that game if you're second third fourth in line you're like oh yeah i remember that game some of you maybe just played this with um stuffed animals and hopefully if it was just you and stuffed animals then you were the royalty and they served you otherwise you may have self-esteem issues but i remember playing this and i remember you know the idea of having someone who served me was was wonderful i usually started off as a servant i had an older brother and i found that by the time it was my turn you know i knew i didn't mind being a servant at.

First because i knew one day i would rise to power because it would be my turn at some point and i remember when it was my turn usually we had played the game long enough and it was time to move on it was getting kind of boring for my older brother he was like yeah okay well we probably we should do something different so i didn't get to be king often but the idea that wouldn't it be nice if i was great wouldn't it be nice.

If i was at the top wouldn't it be nice if everyone else around me served me never really goes away that desire that undercurrent we pretended at it there but you kind of want that you go through life and you think wouldn't it be nice if i could get this raised wouldn't it be nice if i could be the one with that office wouldn't it be nice if i could just have a situation where everybody around me did what i wanted and we're gonna.

See that that doesn't really go away in our hearts and we're gonna see a situation where Jesus is addressing this in his disciples so let's pray and let's read this together this morning God we thank you for your word we pray that you would bless us as we study it together that we would see Christ clearly and fall more in love with him in Jesus name amen so Matthew chapter 20 verse 17 it said and Jesus and as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem he took the twelve disciples aside and on the way he said to them.

So he's got more people following than just the twelve but at some point he pulls the twelve aside he said then he talked to y'all he said see we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified and he will be raised on the third day now he refers to himself as the son of man we saw last week in the section we were talking about he referred to himself as the son of man.

But he made it really clear he was talking about himself so they understood at this point should understand that when he's saying the son of man he was talking about himself and so he says hey we're going to Jerusalem and i'm going to be handed over to be crucified i'm going to be taken by the scribes and the pharisees and i'm going to be giving over to the gentiles that's the romans the non-jewish people i'm going to be giving over to the gentiles and i'm going to be mocked and flogged which is beaten.

And then crucified and then on the third day i'll be raised and so he's telling his disciples this is where we're going and this is the third time he's told his disciples this and it's helpful for us to understand that with as much as Jesus taught he did not primarily come to earth to tell us what he wanted from us i think sometimes we go okay God what do you want from me okay what do i need to do to be.

Okay what do i need to do to be on your good side and the reality is Jesus comes and says no i've come to do something for you that's why the Gospel is good news it's about an event that happened and so he came for us to accomplish something for us to die on the cross for us not so that we might do something for him but first and foremost he comes to do something for us and that is beautiful news.

And so he's telling his disciples and he's bringing them back to it over and over again he's saying look i know i've been teaching you but it's not about your behavior and it's not about what you're going to do it's about what i'm going to do now they wouldn't have understood fully at this point they might have understood he was going to die but they didn't maybe wrap their heads around that he had to die in order to forgive our sins that he had to rise in order to give us hope in him.

But that's what he came to accomplish was not to just teach some things not to just hand off some wisdom if that were the case he could have gone to a cave with his 12 disciples and taught stuff and never run around getting everybody mad at him and never headed into Jerusalem where he knew he was going to be crucified so Jesus came to accomplish something for us this is his purpose i don't want you if you're new to christianity i want you to hear that i want you to understand that.

If you're just visiting today all other religions are going to tell you what you need to do to be okay with God how you get to God christianity is how God got to us other religions are going to tell you what you need to do for God and christianity is about what God has done for us and then we respond after God came to claim us and after he accomplished this for us we respond to it we don't earn or work our way towards it and that's good news we could close the Bible we could pray that could be the end.

Today that's good news it's not though we're going to keep going so he's gonna be raised on the third day then the mother of the sons of zebedee came up to him so the sons of zebedee are james and john uh three of the principal disciples so he had 12 disciples and then he had the three had Peter james and john james and john are brothers at one point they are referred to as the sons of thunder he gave him a nickname maybe thunder was their mom i don't know we're about to.

See then the mother of the sons of zebedee came up to him with her sons and kneeling before him that's Jesus she asked him for something and he said to her what do you want now at first that can seem a little cold but this is she came and said i want to ask you a favor i want to ask you something and one of the ways they would put this a lot of times you see in the Scriptures is like i wanna i wanna i would like.

For you to grant my request so it's similar to if someone comes to you and says hey will you do me a favor you say what is it you don't necessarily just say yes sure any favor you say well what is it what do you want and that's what he says what what do you want what's the request she said to him say that these two sons of mine are to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom.

So Jesus earlier in this chapter had said that or in chapter 19 and then carried over into chapter 20. but he said that the disciples would sit on thrones when he was in his glorious kingdom and sat on his glorious throne they would sit on thrones around him and so this went right to their heart this idea they would get to sit on thrones and so they said hey as long as there's going to be thrones we'd like to talk about the location of ours.

And so the mother of the sons of zebedee comes and says and in the other gospels it just says the sons of zebedee came so they're moms involved but it was easy it's just as true to say it was just them because they were the ones driving this but they got their mom in on it i guess maybe they thought maybe he'll say yes to our mom he doesn't always say yes to us but he's nice to women i don't know i don't know what their plan was.

But they get their mom to come and they ask can we be at your right hand or left meaning can we be the chief among the other disciples can we be right hand left hand can we be supreme that's the request Jesus answered you do not know what you are asking are you able to drink the cup that i am to drink so he looks at him and says y'all don't realize what you just asked you think what you ask is a position of power you think what you ask is a position of strength you think what you ask is a position of authority what you've just asked.

For the closest to me is the closest to suffering can you drink the cup of suffering i'm gonna drink this is when he in the garden the night before the crucifixion he says if if it be your will lord let this cup pass from me this crucifixion this wrath this suffering and so he says to disciples can you handle what i'm going to take there is in some sense Jesus in his glory Jesus raised up is on a cross and his right hand and his left hand are two crosses.

But there will be a time when he's on a throne and his right hand and his left hand will be people sitting on thrones that's what they're asking for but they don't realize that the road to that is suffering the road to that is pain he says you don't know what you're asking for can you drink the cup i'm to drink they said to him it's still verse 22 we are able she says are you able to drink the cup and they say we are able he said to them you will drink my cup.

But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father so he says okay you'll drink my cup you'll take on suffering and they do you will join me in suffering for the sake of the kingdom for the sake of the Gospel for the sake of the name of Christ but i can't give that's not mine to grant who sits at my right my left.

And when the ten heard it they were indignant at the two brothers yeah the other ten hear this and they're like seriously that's what the office little conversation was about y'all y'all went and asked for a promotion you want to be the ones that sit closest to Jesus it doesn't say this i think this is most uh more a shot at Peter than anybody else because he was at least in the top three they thought we got a good run at this as long as we can get Peter out i don't know how much bartholomew thought no i'm in the running i don't know we don't hear much about him.

But the other 10 are just frustrated they're like really your goal is to be chief among us your goal is to be the greatest and the reality is Jesus has been addressing this with his disciples this will be the third time now the beginning of 18 they were having an argument about who the greatest was in 19 Peter says hey what are we gonna get Jesus keeps trying to tell them that's not how this works be like a child be humble like a child the.

First will be last he keeps trying to push on them this isn't how this works and we they hadn't learned it's like they weren't even listening to him when he talked they were like they were dreaming about how they could get their mom to come help now i hope so the disciples were very frustrated i hope after Jesus dies after he's raised after they see how this is going to play out i hope that the disciples genuinely forgave them but i also hope that they forever from a posture of pure forgiveness gave them a really hard time about this i hope that they just brought it up.

So this is just a hope i have i hope that there were times where james said to Peter hey do you know what that last parable was about and Peter was like i don't know if only our mom was here we could ask him i just hope they brought it up some that's just for me it doesn't say that they did but they're frustrated and Jesus is going to step into this situation he's going to help them see y'all are thinking about this wrong.

Now the reality is their request isn't crazy it's not out of the ordinary for us or for them it doesn't seem odd that you would go to your manager or your boss and say hey i know there's room for promotion and i just want to put my name in the hat i think i deserve that hey i know you go to someone who's about to be promoted to from assistant manager to manager and you say hey i just want you to know i'm glad you're getting the manager position.

And when you move up might i be at your right hand can i be assistant manager i just want to put my name in i know you'll be looking to replace that position so don't sit here all bibles smug and be like tischus can't believe they would do that the reality is this is normal for them this is normal for us and it's it's a bit of a plague in our souls that we want to self-promote we want others to see us and value us we want to be exalted we want to be great we want to be.

First we want to be lifted up and so Jesus is going to respond to this verse 25 but Jesus called them to him and said you know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them so he says you you know what this looks like you know you look out in the world and you see people and the rulers of gentiles be non-believing peoples he says you look out you know what this looks like yes we know what this looks like they had seen what great ones did how they were weighted on how they were treated how they were elevated uh it reminds me as i.

Was reading through this the story of uh john adams got to be the first ambassador to england to britain after we had won our freedom from them so it's kind of an awkward position to be in to be representing the new country that just won their freedom from you but he was he was the first one there and as in his writings he got to go meet the king he was gonna have to go meet the king and basically the rule was.

When you met the king you had to walk in when you opened the door you had to bow there's a certain special way you walked halfway bowed again when you got all the way up there you bowed again and then you gave a short speech and you tried to be as flattering as possible in his writings he said i asked the other ambassadors if they were messing with me this is true this is the way this works he was like so i was just making sure they weren't just trying to get one over on make america come do something ridiculous he said no this is what it does.

And then on the way out you bowed and you didn't show your back to the king so you walked backwards when you reached halfway you bowed again he walked all the way back to the door about again and left that there's this idea that wouldn't it be great if there's royalty he says you know what this looks like what royalty looks like what people who are chief and we know what this looks like the ceo doesn't go go on coffee runs the person at your job who makes the schedule often has a really good schedule we know what it looks like.

When somebody's in charge we know what it looks like when someone gets a little bit of power we've seen that play out so that's what he says you know what this looks like you know how they lowered it over them you know how they take it to their advantage you know how they use it for their own purposes and then he says it shall not be so among you so you know that model the the pursuit of greatness striving for greatness wanting to be elevated using it.

For your own purposes uh lording it over other people enjoying the perks and the benefits of your position that's not how it's going to work among you it's not how it's going to work among my people i am i grew up on hand-me-downs so i would get the clothes my older brother had worn sometimes it was nice you'd get something nice and you'd think yeah he hit a growth spurt and you'd start plotting on some of his clothes you'd be like nice i'll get to wear that soon we also did i didn't just get hand-me-downs from older brother we also got hand-me-downs from our cousins.

So we would get together for thanksgiving or christmas and then all the ants would bring big trash bags and dump out clothes and that's how we would shop for clothes you would just we'd have to spend every time we got together family an hour or so trying on clothes seeing what fit taking things and so i had one i had this shirt that was my favorite shirt it was a hand-me-down shirt i had gotten i loved this shirt it was kind of my go-to i'm having fun.

Today shirt this is it's going to be a good day kind of shirt and so i often wore it when i was hanging out with friends and i had this one friend who's my next-door neighbor his name is aaron aaron uh that's how they said it his name was aaron and he said uh one time we were hanging out he said man i need to ask you so what he said why do you always wear that girl shirt i was in like.

Second third grade and i was like do what now he said that shirt that you wear all the time is a girl's shirt i was like are you sure he said yeah my sister has one and i remember going home i could still see it in my mind standing at the dresser looking at the mirror looking at myself in that shirt and i thought no i should have been able to tell no this is a girl's shirt now that you pointed out it's it's pretty girly i even later i never wore the shirt again i later i went to even had to have a conversation with mom i was like hey you know you only.

Have three sons tell your aunts not to put girl clothes in the bags like tell your sisters don't do that to us be great because some people can't tell the difference and then they get embarrassed later i remember being at my uh cousin's house and seeing a picture of her on the wall in that shirt and she looked great in it it's not my style anymore i don't wear that kind of stuff anymore when we approach greatness the same way as the world we're taking hand-me-downs from culture that don't actually fit us that were not actually intended.

For us and we can pretend like they look good but on Jesus people they certainly do not they're not meant for us to treat greatness and power and authority the same way we're meant to look different and that's what he's saying this this should not be so among you that's out of place among my people and then he tells them why he tells him why very clearly he says whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be.

First among you must be your slave so their questions completely backwards hey can we rise to the top he says if you want to be great be a servant if you want to be first be a slave even as the son of man that's Christ came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many he says the reason this doesn't fit among my people is because it's not how what i came to do as the chief example the one to follow the one to model your life after i did not come to be served.

But to serve that Christ the exalted king of the universe the eternal king humbled himself in the form of a servant and came to serve and to give his life to rescue people and that's why if we follow him but we live as if others are meant to serve us it doesn't work in some ways when we have that attitude what we're saying is that certainly Jesus should have served others but i deserve to be served and none of us would actually say that.

But we might functionally live that way so the reality is you can walk through life before we get there i want i want to point something out that i think's beautiful this is God's plan for power this is his design for strength this is his design for leadership this is his design for greatness that it would be used on behalf of those under you if that makes sense that Christ is exalted above us but he uses his greatness he uses his power he uses his authority to not rise to the top.

But to go to the bottom and to serve everyone this is his picture for power this is his picture for strength this is his picture for your life and your energy should be used in service to others and the reality is we love this every time we see it we respond beautifully to this because we know this is how it was meant to be it's recently a story of a six-year-old boy he's welcome his name was bridger walker he was walking with his sister i think she was three or four he's six and a dog comes out runs and starts attacking them and the six-year-old boy just jumps in front of the dog and i.

Mean the dog messes him up if you look him up it cut his face real bad but his sister doesn't have a scratch on him he's eventually able to get away from the dog he gets his sister to safety he's bleeding his aunt said she was tending to him and he looked at his aunt six-year-old boy and he said i just thought if someone had to die it should be me yes that's exactly what strength is supposed to be meant for he was faster he could outrun his sister like that he could have pushed her in front of him he could have gotten out of the situation he could have gotten to safety he could.

Have left without getting hurt he could have acted as if his sister was there in order to make him safer but the reality was he said no i'm the strongest one i'm the toughest one i'm the oldest one if someone's got to go it's got to be me and that's God's design for leadership it's God's design for strength and it's beautiful and we ought not to reject it but the reality is every day we have so many opportunities to either embrace it or to reject it you can walk through life with the assumption that i'm here to serve or you can walk through life with the assumption that others are here to serve me.

So let's talk through that for a minute if you have roommates do you approach that situation as if you're there to surf as if you're there to make the house better as if you're a servant to all when it comes time to pay bills when it comes time to clean if you're married and you see a pile of dishes in the dish in the sink do you think i'm here to serve i'm so glad my spouse knew that they lived with a servant.

When there's yard work to be done when the child is screaming do you think let's wait and see if my spouse will answer if i stay real quiet because reality is when your child yells they're screaming for a servant they need an attendant i have a a well how old is he two i have a two-year-old he wakes up at five o'clock in the morning demanding service looking for his servants his slaves that live in his house that will tend to him.

Now i have a role as a parent to correct him but the truth is he needs help if he's getting up at five just to go to the bathroom he needs help he's not gonna do that well on his own you guys and i can either serve him right then or i can serve later by cleaning up but when you're at your house and you're facing who's going to do laundry who's going to cook who's going to take out the trash you can live as.

If the other people in your home are there to serve you or as if you're there to serve them is it just at homeless is it work do you enter your job as if you were a servant there to make the place better there to serve your co-workers i don't know your job but i know this about work there is a distinct way in every job for you to go above and beyond for your co-workers and your and your managers and there's a distinct way.

For you to figure out how not to do that and it just depends on the job i used to work sales we did we were 100 commission but then we had to reset the sales floor we had to set things up we had to restock shelves and every time you were doing that you were making zero dollars the only way to make money was to talk to customers so if you're resetting the sales floor and your salesman co-workers running and talking to customers they're making money and you're not my wife's a bank teller it has to do with.

When you close your drawer down because if you're going to leave at five if you start closing your drawer down at five you've helped till five and you won't leave till 5 15. but if you're gonna leave at five and you start closing your drawer down at 4 40 or 4 45 you can walk out the door at five and so i don't know your work but i know there's an opportunity for you to serve i know there's a way for you to to cover shifts and to care.

For your your co-workers i know there's a way for you to show up early or stay late i know there's a way for you to make life working with you better as the posture of a servant and i also know there's a way for you to be extremely frustrated by your coworkers because they're imposing on your time or your paycheck i know there's a way for you to live with your possessions as if they exist to serve others and i know there's a way.

For you to live as if they exist to serve you i know there's a way for us to live with our finances as if they exist to serve others or if they exist to serve me i know there's a way for us to walk through all of life looking to other people looking to our friends looking to our family as if they're imposing on us and as if they have forgotten that they were meant to make our life better some of you have friends that only call you.

When they need something some of you have friends that genuinely want to be around you but they suck the life out of you when they do they're down they distill some of your happiness and when you get the phone call you get to answer the question do i exist to serve am i a servant am i a slave i think one of the immediate responses to this is okay but won't people take advantage of me if i if i walk through my house you don't understand.

If i walk through my house as if i was a servant to my spouse do you not know how much advantage of me they would take do you not know what they would be like if i was at work and i just was there to serve do you know how much people would take advantage of me do y'all know what the word slave means that's a heavy word that greatness in the kingdom is slavery a true slave only lives to the advantage of their owner and it's horrible.

When it's imposed in a pagan world and it's beautiful when it's assumed by a Christian that Jesus came to suffer as a servant as a slave to everyone and he calls his people to do the same of their own will in their own graciousness as he empowers it let's talk about the Church because we can do this in the Church we don't just do it other places one of the best ways to see whether or not we're approaching the Church this way is.

If you say the phrase why don't they versus how can i why don't they fix that why don't they do this kind of song why don't they do this kind of leadership stuff why don't they do this with our group why doesn't my group keep up with people who aren't around why doesn't my group try to share the Gospel with people why don't they make sure that we have enough food every week why don't they know how to shut their mouth.

So that we can leave on time versus walking around with the question of how can i why don't they figure out how to get kids out of the auditorium versus how can i serve in kid city it's a very different question how can i make that better the truth is some of the stuff that we do as a Church family that's genuinely frustrating is genuinely frustrating we do it because we're sinners or we're bad at things some of the things you're most frustrated about are actually things that you're gifted in that.

God has empowered you with some strength some energy some intelligence and you ought to be using it to serve rather than using it as a position to sit and be upset with your servants some of you have moved from Church to Church relationship to relationship job to job and all you have declared with your attitude and your life is that i am displeased with the quality of servants that i have had in my past churches in my past relationships in my past job they did not understand that i was royalty they did not treat me appropriately they failed to live up to my expectations.

If you would like to be miserable walk around as if everybody around you is meant to serve you it's one of the quickest ways to be absolutely miserable if you want to hate your community group show up thinking that they exist for you because they're terrible at it if you want to be frustrated show up on sundays and sit and think why haven't they come talk to me do not acknowledge the fact that you did not go talk to them that might make you end up in a conversation just sit and wonder why they didn't talk to you don't acknowledge that you could give some energy and you could serve just acknowledge that they haven't.

Lived up to your expectations it's a wonderful way to be miserable but it's a terrible way to follow Jesus Jesus's invitation here is an invitation into joy it's an invitation into freedom it's an invitation to be first and to be great and the truth is every time we've ever just been free enough from ourselves to do this we have had great joy i grew up in a Church we would send out mission teams on sunday nights at times they would get to give a mission report some of you have been on mission trips some of you have been at mission report night some of you are just.

Now learning about these things keep listening every single time it did not matter 60 year old man forearms as big as a honey baked ham 13 year old girl wearing my favorite shirt doesn't matter they were all going to say the same thing we went to bless them we were blessed i went to serve them this is what he sounded like honey baked ham guy i was served every single time because for a week for a weekend they were able to get their mind around i'm just going here to make things better i'm not here to get anything out of this i'm just going here to do what the.

Lord wants i'm just going here to serve and it didn't matter what came up it didn't matter what broke down and it didn't matter what went wrong they had already gotten their mind wrapped around i'm here to be a servant and it's really hard to inconvenience a servant looking for an opportunity to serve and so they had tapped into some joy that was meant to operate in the world as we walk as people who believe the Gospel some of you know exactly what i'm talking about you've been on those trips and you thought yeah it was just such a blessing.

And then you came back i came back i went on those trips i came back i walked into hanging out with my group and i thought why are you all the worst because i had similar attitude to me that they were there to get something out versus to put something in that's why Jesus says it's more blessed to give than to receive that we're actually blessed in the giving up we're blessed in the sacrifice that it actually works for us if you don't feel connected here there's a good chance that you aren't serving that you aren't doing something to make things better this is why some of us and this is how this plays out.

When you begin to serve when you begin to live on behalf of others you grow in love for them you grow in freedom you grow in humility you grow enjoy this is why some of you and some of you right now are parents with small children and you need to listen to me but this is why some of you lived this out you had small children and you fell absolutely in love with those children because in your relationship to them you approached it as a servant i'm here to make things better and you did not expect anything out of them and at the exact same time you grew in increasing frustration with your spouse.

Because you expected them to step up on their serving and step up on making things better and they were not living up to your expectations and the truth is if we want some joy and we want some life and we want some love begin to serve now begin to walk around as if you're here to serve you're here to make things better it's an invitation into joy it's an invitation into freedom and you are in the way the reality is we want this to be the case.

If you're clear-headed enough you actually want to live life this way because it's so much more freedom here than waiting for other people to make things better so much more joy here to just operate as a servant you actually want this to be what our Church looks like you want this to be what Jesus people look like you want this to be what ultimately even people if they could just do this outside you want this to be what politics look like the people in power and people with money they use it.

For the sake of others it's what we want and we can't do it you can't do this not on your own see some of us right now are going okay i'm going to i'm going to do it i'm going to i'm going to serve but the only way we know how to do that on our own is to swell ourselves up to make ourselves bigger i'm going to be better by being a servant and the truth is we need to have ourselves conquered we need to be out of the way.

Jesus did not teach this and then not go to the cross he taught this and said follow me as he went to the cross it says the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many a ransom is the debt that is paid to set slaves free Jesus came and said i'm going to pay the debt so that the slaves can go free i'm going to pay this so that you're no longer a slave to sin.

So you're no longer a slave to self and if you have trusted in Jesus and if he has redeemed you and if he has filled you with the Holy Spirit then yes we can actually do this but only as we lean into him and he does it for us only as we follow after him the one who actually was a servant to all and a slave to all so that we might be free and then in our freedom we get to join him you're not going to be able to do this on your own you're not going to do this in your own strength you're not going to be able to do this in your.

Own power you're not going to be able to do this as you look at your own glory and look at how wonderful a servant i am some of you right now serve you do you work hard at your job but you grow in increasing frustration every time you serve with your spouse you grow an increasing frustration with your coworkers because you're not free you're serving but you're not your heart hasn't changed and we need him to change our hearts we need him to go to the cross we need him to die we need him to pay our ransom we need to be set free.

So as the band begins to come back up i want us to do this i want you to take a moment i want you to to focus in not on yourself not on your need to serve not on your need to be better i want you to focus in on Christ i want you to see him in his glory he says he'll be seated on a glorious throne i want you to know that he has a glorious throne where he rules and reigns as the king of all eternity and i want you to know that he gave that up.

So that he could die so that he could serve so that he could sacrifice i want us to be so enamored so captivated by so blown away by his humility and his service for us that we can actually have the freedom to get out of the way to love and to serve others to walk as if we exist for their benefit some of you have not placed your faith in Jesus you have not accepted the freedom that he offers the the payment that he makes.

For your sin for your slavery for your debt you need to trust him and some of you right now don't need to be sitting there giving yourself a pep talk about how you're going to do better you need to go to the lord and say i need you to help me i need me i need you to help me see the cross i need you to help me to see the blood that you shed for me i need you to help me.

See the path of a servant the joy that is in slavery for the sake of others i need you to empower me to be able to do that this is an invitation into freedom it's an invitation into life my encouragement is that we would take now we thank you that you served that you did not come to be served but you came to serve to give your life as a ransom that you set slaves free and we thank you that you invite us into the joy of humility and sacrifice the.

Lord we pray that we would see your glory you know your humility and we will follow after you as you empower us to do so in Jesus name.

Upside Down: The First are Last (Matthew 19:27-20:16)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Upside Down: The First are Last

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well good morning uh my name is chet i'm one of the pastors here grab your bibles go to Matthew chapter 19. we're working our way through the Gospel of Matthew and we're going to pick up right where we left off last week a couple of weeks ago i was uh putting my son to bed he's five and i don't know how we got on the topic but we were talking about heaven and he said daddy can you do you die in heaven i was like no you you have everlasting life which means that we live forever he looked at me and he went even.

If somebody stabs you and i was like no you won't get stabbed in heaven it's a nice place like there are no stabbings in heaven we live forever and he goes okay what if someone cut your head off and i was like what kind of heaven what the so i apparently need to uh be teaching a little better theology at my house but we discussed it that night there are no stabbings or beheadings in heaven it's a nice place there's joy there there's delight there there's reward there and we're actually going to pick up in this passage.

Today where Jesus is answering a question that Peter has about heaven and so let's pray and then we're gonna we're gonna step into kind of trying to understand this uh together this morning God we thank you for your word uh we thank you for the beautiful promises that are in it we thank you for uh your grace towards us and we pray that as we study this today that you would uh wake us up to your goodness to your generosity um and that you would help us move forward in obedience we love you and we praise you in.

Jesus name amen so we're going to be in 1927 and we're picking up what just happened was that a rich young ruler had come to Jesus and he had asked teacher what do i have to do to inherit eternal life so what do i need to do to be saved what do i need to do to be one of the good ones who gets to enter into life and Jesus answers him and they discuss this and Jesus basically helps point out that he's not one of the good ones that it's not something that you earn.

But Jesus at the end of this he says if you would be perfect go sell all that you have give it to the poor and come follow me so that following Jesus with a real life change is what he invited him into and and you think about this it's only a handful of people that Jesus actually looked at and said come follow me and this young ruler walks away sad and they have this discussion the disciples are surprised when Jesus tells them that it's very difficult.

For a rich person to enter into the kingdom of heaven and it seems like most of the disciples have been kind of stuck on this idea that a rich person wouldn't be able to enter the kingdom of heaven but it doesn't seem like Peter got stuck on that idea Peter heard something else Peter heard when Jesus said sell what you have give it to the poor come follow me and you will have treasure in heaven Peter's ears perked up he went treasure in heaven and that's where we pick up.

Today where Peter's like a quick question 19 verse 27 then Peter said in reply see we have left everything and followed you what then will we have don't you love Peter you ever you were sitting in class and somebody raised their hand and asked the question you wanted to ask but you just had talked yourself out of it you were like we probably shouldn't ask that i i'll figure it out later but somebody asked the question and you were like yes answer that question please or you hadn't even thought of the question.

But you were like that's a good one answer that i feel like Jesus just goes hey couldn't help but notice Peter Peter says Jesus couldn't help but notice that you told him he would have treasure in heaven if he gave his stuff away we left everything tell us more about this heaven treasure and you would think that Jesus would correct him but he doesn't Jesus said to them truly i say to you in the new world when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

So he says what will we have and he says in the new world when i sit on my glorious throne you will also sit on twelve thrones now that word that that new world it's uh is one word and it means the renewal when everything's made new so he says in the renewal in the new world in the new creation when everything's made new you will when i sit on my glorious throne and that's what he says he says when the son of man sits on his glorious throne you who have followed me will also sit on glorious thrones.

So he's very clear he's the son of man he gets the glorious throne they get thrones but less glorious apparently so he sits on his glorious throne and they get thrones and so he says in the new world this will happen now you know Peter was like what i thought you were going to say stuff a throne all 12 of us like that's there's going to be some amount in the new world of some authority some power some elevation for them that they're going to be on thrones there's going to be some amount of just.

God fixing what's broken in the world because at this point there aren't 12 tribes but he says in the in the new creation the 12 tribes are back somehow and i don't know exactly how literal we're supposed to take that but he says that you'll sit on thrones when i sit on my glorious throne there are people who will accuse Christians uh if maybe you've ever heard the phrase that someone's so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good that Christians because we believe that things are going to get better later we don't work to make things better.

Now the truth is because we believe things are going to get better later we're called to work diligently to make things better now because he's going to renew everything he's going to make it new and we're called to sacrifice and to make things good good for others now we're called to put up with difficulty now we're called to put up with poverty now we're called to step into difficulty now because we know that our good things are coming that's why Paul says.

If there is no resurrection we we should be pitied more than anybody else because our way of life ought to look really dumb it's not about having things here it's about trusting that there's going to be good things there and that's what Jesus is telling them Jesus is going to be on a glorious throne he will be ruling over this new world in verse 29 he says this and everyone so it's not just the disciples now but it's are the twelve.

But it's all those who will follow him and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundred-fold and will inherit eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last first so let's look at that again he says anyone everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake we'll receive a hundredfold and we'll inherit eternal life.

So all of those everyone who's willing to sacrifice and he specifically says for my name's sake so they're sacrificing for the name of Jesus because there is a way for you to sacrifice for your name's sake and Jesus actually addresses that he says when you give generously don't you know ring a bell in front of you and announce it do it secretly if you want people to know that you're generous announce it and that's your reward you did it for your name's sake.

But there's a way to do it that's for Jesus's namesake which just means that because i'm a believer i'm doing these things and that means that it opens up a lot of avenues for reward if you want to write your name on a big cardboard check and present it next week to the kid city money we're raising it'll be frowned upon but we'll probably let you do it but the reality is because you made a big show of it you gave it to something that we think is good and worth giving to.

But you did it for your name saying but the truth is there is a way to give to kid city to give to our Church family to give to missionaries to give to the person who knocks on your window in five points to give to the oliver Gospel mission to give to your neighbor who you know is having a hard time paying a bill that is for his name's sake the only reason i'm letting this run out of my hands the only reason i'm giving this away is.

For the name of Jesus and there are he lists in this list here houses and lands and he also lists a bunch of relationships and these are things that we're called to give up stuff and relationships let's talk about stuff first some of this is actually having it and then giving it up so selling something we see this in the new testament a lot someone owns property they sell it they give some of the money away they give it to the poor that's what he called on the rich young ruler to do some of us proactively give things up meaning that.

When the money comes in we just hand it off and over the course of our life we gave up a nicer house and some land and a playstation 5. whatever it is we would have spent it on me countless meals at cracker barrel because that's where my money goes it's me eating something usually a biscuit or an egg roll but you give it up you let it come through and you just hand it off and you're saying i'm this money's not going to stick to me i'm handing it off.

For the sake of his kingdom for the sake of his name so that someone might know him so that someone might be blessed or just because i belong to him and i'm called to generosity but it's not just that it's also relationships so that there are times and more so in other cultures but increasingly so in hours where people are going to say if you really believe that if you're really going to follow that if you're going to be that close-minded.

If you're going to be that type of bigot these are things that Christians are called now we can't be friends anymore you're no longer my sister i'm not going to have a child that thinks like that and you choose in that moment to give up a relationship for the sake of the kingdom for the sake of Jesus it doesn't say boyfriend and girlfriend in here but i think it's included that no because i follow Jesus i'm giving this up so that i might have something better and it's both things that we walk away from and things that we just say no to preemptively like children this does not mean oh wait hold on a.

Second i got four children i can just give them away and say it was for Jesus name that become a thread at your house i'm about to bless somebody in Jesus name son go pack your bags no i think this is more older parents who have children who say if you're going to be like that i can't we can't have a relationship anymore you have to co-sign my lifestyle you have to be okay and the parents just said i can't i also think this is people who choose to not be married or to not have children.

For the sake of the kingdom he just talked about this a couple weeks ago that those who are celibate for the sake of the kingdom my grandmother felt called to mission work in africa and she wanted to get married and she wanted to have children but she felt like that if she was going to be a missionary she couldn't and so that was one of the big wrestling points between her and the lord and eventually she just said lord i surrender i'll go i'll never have children that's fine.

If that's what you want me to do i don't want to spoil the story for you that ended up not happening because she is my grandmother she did have children but she thought that's what was going to have to happen and the reality is there are that's a reality for some people lord if you want me to do this i may not be able to have a relationship i may not be able to have the family i want man but i have the house i want we give it up.

For the sake of the kingdom so he says everybody who does that will receive a hundred fold and will inherit eternal life let's look at the 100 fold first he says that whatever you give up it will eventually be worth it now he's talking about in the future in the in the new world whatever you give up here you'll receive a hundred fold there and i know some of you are like whoa so i give up having one acre i could have a hundred acres in heaven and some of you were like i better have children.

Because i don't want to have 200 children in heaven i'm trying to relax when i get there i'll be raising all these kids that's not what he's saying it's not a direct thing he's saying that you'll be paid back handsomely there is reward for sacrifice here beautiful extravagant reward if you had anything that paid you back 100 fold that's a good deal that if that was a sure thing for you i got a message a couple weeks ago from raz bradley and he said.

If you ever get a time machine go back to yesterday and invest in this company and he sent me a little picture of some stocks just blowing up and the reality is we do daydream about that sort of thing what if i was able to invest in coca-cola at this time what if you were able to invest in microsoft at this time and there's such thing as insider trading but let's assume for a second that it's not illegal let's say you had a friend and they told you that you needed to invest all your money right.

Now in amazon because it was about to double it was about to triple what they told you is about to be a hundred times more over the next few years if you invest right now the only thing that would affect you again if insider trading wasn't illegal was the trustworthiness of the source if they worked at the amazon fulfillment center and they were like hey i got a tip let me tell you what's about to happen to the stocks i know some stuff they'd be like.

Well you you pack boxes it's a good job but i don't think they tell you stock tips but if your friend was jeff bezos and he was like we figured it out you need to invest right now because it's about to blow up that's a much more trustworthy source the reality is that our willingness to sacrifice for reward has a lot to do with how trustworthy we think Jesus is our willingness to sacrifice here has a lot to do with how much faith we have you.

See uh i think we've somehow tricked ourselves with an idea that that sounds nice but isn't really biblical that the only way you're supposed to give something up is just from the goodness of your own heart that that's the way it counts that if it's just pure altruism that you have to do it not expecting any reward but Jesus consistently says no hope for expect some reward the reality is it's not just done from the goodness of our heart it's done.

Because we trust him that's what hebrews 11 says now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen that we're convinced that we're assured we're what we're hoping for in verse 6 it says this without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him the reason you can give up some money the reason you can give up some lands the reason you can walk away from a relationship is that you have faith that what.

Jesus said is true you have faith that he saves sinners you have faith that one day he will renew the world that he rose from the dead and one day we will all rise from the dead and we will have eternal life so us giving things away us being generous is not just we're really good people no yes we believe he's going to reward but we have to trust him in order to believe that otherwise we would just take what was good here.

But hebrews 11 says that he's prepared something better for us and so believers walk out life the way we do because we believe that we trust him that's what we're supposed to do we move forward in faith and he says not just pay back a hundredfold but we'll inherit eternal life that those who follow Jesus will receive life that everyone who's willing to say no to everything else in order to say yes to Jesus will inherit eternal life now the work of that does not save you.

But that is a sign that you have genuinely trusted Jesus that you're willing to say no to everything else to say yes to him that you really do believe he is who he says he is that he really has worked in your heart to redeem you the sign of the true followers of Jesus is that they followed him they gave up everything and followed him and so that is those who do that will be saved those who are surrendering will be saved this is the uh he will not put to shame any who believe in him.

Then he says but and he's going to give a picture he's going to caveat this a little bit because he's he's going to help Peter so he's going to he answers Peter's question you'll sit on the throne everyone will be rewarded beautifully but and he's going to help us understand something that i think changes our attitude a little bit i was hanging out with a pastor friend and we were going to get in a vehicle and he said hey you can you can ride shotgun i said oh thank you i got in the front and we got in the car and he closed the door and he goes i want to ride shotgun in heaven.

I was like he tricked me i'm riding in the back in heaven for all eternity now at least anytime i go anywhere with this guy that's not really how it works it's not this i did that i earned this perfect analogy it's not how that plays out and that's why Peter says but many who are first will be last and the last first and then he's going to tell a story to help us picture this he's going to help drive that point home.

So chapter 20 verse 1 for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day he sent them into his vineyard okay so far very normal story so far our very uh thing they were very used to would have understood a denarius was a day's wage basically so it's a fair wage he wouldn't worked out with them hey basically.

For us it'd be like if you wouldn't pick somebody and said hey i need some help doing this i'll pay ten dollars an hour plus a little caesar's pizza boom ferris day's wage that's really what that is he goes to the market there's people who would be standing there to do day laborer work they didn't own land they didn't have a set amount of work but they were there for anybody who owned land who needed work done for them to come pick it up he comes he would have walked up known exactly what kind of work he had to do how much money he had how many people he needed.

And when he was said hey i need five and he would have picked they've been a big group hey i need ten you you you you and the people who get picked first in general younger healthier stronger normal verse three and going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market okay so the first time it was probably around six am that's the first hour that's where they start six am the third hour would be nine am and their work day would run from 6 a.m to 6 p.m.

So if you complain about having a 40-hour week job working 9-5 6 a.m to 6 p.m and they got just saturdays off so at least take some encouragement from this story that your job's pretty nice anyway 6 am he goes back out at 9 00 a.m standing idle in the marketplace and to them he said you go into the vineyard too and whatever is right i will give you they make no money agreement they they do not haggle at all he just says earlier he worked out a deal with those people he just says hey go work on my venue i'll pay you what's right.

So they went going out about the sixth hour that's noon 12 p.m and the ninth hour that's 3 p.m he did the same so he saw more people and just said hey go work in my vineyard i'll pay you something fair go work in my vineyard i'll pay you something right people just they win and about the 11th hour he went out and found others standing and he said to them why do you stand here idle all day they said to him.

Because no one has hired us and he said to them you go into the vineyard too okay so this story got weirder and weirder and weirder and weirder first of all the master of the house keeps leaving the house to just go back to the market and just recruit more workers every three hours and he goes from six a.m nine a.m noon three p.m and then he picks up workers at five that's the 11th hour the work day is going to be over at 6.

So he goes and picks up workers an hour before work is to be done and he finds people who've been standing in the in the marketplace for 11 hours and he says why haven't y'all gone to work and they say nobody would let us like nobody picked us up we were trying we've been here for 11 hours trying to work now if you walked in to a middle school gym class and they were on the last round of picks for dodgeball what do you expect to find left to be picked i'm assuming people who don't dodge.

So well and who don't throw balls very well they have other qualities dodgeball's not their game when you walk into the marketplace the 11th hour these aren't your best workers most likely it doesn't say that but that's just fair to be assumed to be understood in this story older younger not as healthy but they've been standing here all day because they need work they need some money and they're happy to take this one-hour offer they've been there waiting for somebody to show up they're happy to take it and they just go yeah they head right into the vineyard to work.

Now this is odd because why would he keep getting more laborers he doesn't work out a deal with them he just keeps adding laborers when he went out the first time you would assume there was a bunch of people he could have picked as many as he won't the story's odd and it's about to get more odd which makes it a really good Jesus story because that's how he tells stories verse eight and when evening came so at 6 pm the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman call the laborers and pay them their wages beginning with the last up to the.

First so the people who just showed up get paid first and when those hired about the 11th hour came each of them received a denarius one full day's wage so they worked up they had been working for an hour it'd be like them counting off tens there you go and paid them a full day's wage verse 10. now when those hired first came they thought they would receive more but each of them also received a denarius yeah that makes sense first of all.

If you're going to pay people like this pay the people who worked first first i'll make them watch the other guys get paid but he does this on purpose i guess they get paid and they're standing in line and they see that the guys who just showed up scraggled out there and worked for about an hour which was mostly just learning what am i supposed to be doing how do i okay cool and then about the time they got into a little rhythm quitting time they got paid to denarius and the guys who've been there all day were like oh we bout to make some money he paid them a full day's wage this is.

About to go really well for us that's what they're assuming and that's not crazy to assume i think i'd have been doing the same thing like oh okay this guy's generous but they each received only also received to denarius verse 11. and on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house saying these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat but he replied to one of them friend i am doing you no wrong did you not agree with me.

For daenerys take what belongs to you and go i choose to give to the last worker as i give to you am i not allowed to do what i choose with what belongs to me or do you begrudge my generosity so the last will be first and the first last Peter says what do we have Jesus says it's going to be great but here's how you're going to need to approach it you're going to need to be very thankful to be invited and you're going to be need to be very thankful.

For the generosity of the master you need to be thankful to be invited and go do the work and you're going to be grateful for the generosity of the master rather than trying to look and see what other people are doing and how it's all working out and i think this is a direct warning to the disciples who are going to be called first and bear the heat of the day you're going to sit on a throne but guess what it's going to be great.

For everybody it's going to be glorious for everybody there's going to be rewards for everybody and i think this applies to both the section where he says you'll be paid back 100 fold and where he says you'll inherit eternal life i don't think this means for us to push it so aggressively that we that we try to say well this means this exactly and this means that exactly i think some people have done that some people have said that this is trying to give us an economic basis.

For how we ought to run an economy and it's just like i don't think that's what this is i think he's trying to help them understand that in the kingdom it'll be based off the generosity of the master the goodness of the master rather than the good negotiating skills and the effort of the workers so those who negotiated that what they negotiated the master was fair and those who just trusted him were faced with generosity and he's fair and he's generous and the reality is you don't want what's coming to you you want what he generously gifts that's some good news in this.

So i do think that there will be great rewards for those who weren't as great when we get to heaven Peter is going to be gloriously rewarded but if i trust Jesus and follow him in my life so am i i think the u.s is a nicer place to live than first century Israel i think there's a lot of things if i'm reading my Bible right that Peter went through that weren't so great there's a good chance that i'll be gloriously rewarded and Peter's supposed to just be excited at the work of the master and the generosity of the master i know i will be cause i'm one of the ones last called i showed.

Up at the 11th hour just barely learned how to do something and then was like woohoo pay time the same thing goes for those who place faith in Jesus that we will all be redeemed every once in a while i see uh memes and pictures passed around on facebook or twitter where i saw one that showed pearly gates and it said heaven where murderers and rapists enjoy a wonderful life with their victims for all of eternity because they trusted Jesus and i know they meant it as a shot that great injustice.

But i took it as the blessing of beautiful mercy that that's reality that scoundrels are in heaven wicked murderous thieving liars who deserve destruction are in heaven greatly rewarded not because of their goodness but because of the mercy and the generosity of the master who will save to the uttermost all those who come to him that Peter is greatly rewarded in heaven and so is the criminal who died on the cross and trusted in Jesus a few moments before his last breath and that's beautiful glorious news.

For a big ol pack of sinners like us that we have hope for everything we sacrifice we have hope for every time we fight our souls to let something go and to fight for what is better we have hope that he rewards those who seek him and trust him and that we have hope that he is greatly generous to those who just kind of barely get it together we don't want justice we want mercy the reality is that he is a just.

God and that all those who will stand under the weight of their own sin will face the wrath of God but that he has offered in his grace to pay for our sins so that we might be greatly rewarded based off of his generosity not of our not off of our merit when my birthday's coming up i can tell my wife things that i'd like and if i'm real specific i'd like to eat here i'd like for this to happen i'd like.

For us to get one of these whatever she'll do that and it's always nice but if i don't tell her anything she'll come up with something really good because she's very generous and gracious and thoughtful if i just trust in her generosity it works out better for me and the reality is we need to get to work and we need to just trust in his generosity we need to move forward in repentance and just trust in his grace for us who are sinners.

So some of you need to believe i got three ways we're going to respond to this some of you need to believe you need to trust that he does save sinners some of you feel like i am a terrible person i'm the worst i'm a failure i deserve to pay for my sin and if you feel like that praise Jesus you ought to feel like that but have we got good news for you he redeems and he forgives and he gives hope and he gives life.

If you'll just accept his invitation when he walked around to the people who'd been in the in the market for 11 hours and said head to the vineyard they didn't try to talk him out of it they just went some of them limping as they went except the invitation that he offers to redeem broken sinners trust in him he will forgive you he will not put the shame into you calling his name some of us need to get to work we need to serve we need to sacrifice we need to begin to do what he's called us to do some of you need to begin to try to get to know your neighbors and your.

Co-workers so they might hear the Gospel some of us need to begin serving here with our Church family in kid city some of us need to begin serving here with our Church family in kid city and there are others here that need to serve in kid city the reality is there are some of you who the lord's been pressing on you to do something to accept the call to become a leader in training in a group or to get to know one of your neighbors or to share the Gospel with a co-worker to accept the call to be a foreign missionary or to accept the call to say no to something.

So that you can say yes to what is better some of you is pressing on you to be a pastor or a Church planter some of you know you just need to begin to be focused on praying for your neighbors get to work accept the call and trust that he rewards everything you give up some of us need to give some things up we need to quit loving our stuff so much we need to set aside money to hand away to give away some of us need to say no to a promotion.

So that we can keep being good missionaries where we are some of us need to say yes to a promotion but the raise walks right out the door so you're going to work harder and you're going to get the same amount of pay you work because you believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him and you're going to do it for his name's sake so that at the end of all of this we might gather those who've labored and labored and labored and those who barely got into it those who barely trusted the.

Lord those who were humble gracious obedient servants for life and those who were wicked sinners who barely realized it at the last breath that they needed Jesus to redeem them and we're going to gather around his glorious throne and we're going to sing praises to his magnificent generosity and it's going to be worth it let's pray God we thank you for your grace we thank you that you are glorious and that you are generous and we long for the day that we stand in your renewed world where you have made all things new we pray that you would help us to be faithful diligent and to trust in your generosity towards us in.

Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up if you're willing i'd like for you to ask the lord in prayer as we move into this time if there's something that he's been calling you to do that he would impress it on you if there's something he's been calling you to give up if there's something that he's been asking you to do if you've never placed your faith in him i'd ask you to do that now tell him you trust him that you believe that he exists and he rewards those who seek him that he died.

So that you might have life and you want life asking for forgiveness and grace but let's not sit think about heaven for a moment think about rewards for a moment think about eternity for a moment and then walk right back into all the normal stuff of everyday life and not let it affect us let's take a moment to just ask the lord if there's some changes we need to make so that we might look as if we believe that this is not all there is.

And then let's thing you gotta stand to your feet.

Self-Righteousness and Riches (Matthew 19:16-26)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Self Righteousness and Riches

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning man it's good to see this room filled with people worshiping Jesus uh my name is spencer if you weren't here earlier when i introduced myself i'm one of the pastors here uh we're going to be in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 19 verses 16-26 so you can go ahead and flip there we do encourage you we don't we can't hand out bibles right now uh because of the pandemic we're in but if you do have a Bible we encourage you to bring it it's a good practice to have the word of.

God just to read alongside you start on sunday continue through the week it will be on the screen behind us as well so you can go ahead and you can follow along there let me tell you two things uh that will trip you up in following Jesus uh yourself and your money those are two big pitfalls that can derail you from following Jesus so i am a bi-vocational pastor uh it's a you know by meaning to vocation meaning job it's a fancy way of saying i'm i've got two jobs.

Because two job donald just sounds dumb uh but i have two jobs i'm a real estate agent and a pastor i'm part-time here and i also do real estate and i get a front-row seat in those jobs to see how yourself and your money can be your biggest enemy in following Jesus now as a pastor i regularly have conversations with people that's they go along the lines of saying you are not your savior you are not going to save yourself we regularly try to deconstruct the idea that is.

So ingrained in southern culture that christianity is equal to doing good works being a good person and or that you might gain the favor of God that you might get into heaven we regularly battle against that because you'll hear people sometimes they'll say you know what like i right now i'm just i'm not all put together i got to clean myself up and once i get my stuff together i'll be able to to come and be a part of Church again like i just.

But i got to figure my stuff out and it's like no no that's that's that may be a cultural thing that is that is present that's not the Gospel the Gospel says you don't bring your righteousness to the table your good works the table to gain the favor of God so we regularly have to deconstruct that idea that's so ingrained in us self-righteousness ends up being your own worst enemy i'm also a real estate agent and one of the things i get to.

See in real estate is that money can bring out the worst in people i just can't buying and selling a house is one of the biggest purchases that anyone makes and over and over again i'm reminded uh this when i'm representing clients uh i regularly tell my buyers who are buying houses the fun part is going out and seeing the houses getting on zillow and realtor and picking them out walking in seeing it imagine how you can chip and you want to gain it i mean just shiplap everywhere get excited the moment that you go to put a contract i just say.

Look from this point until you get the keys at the closing table this is not going to be fun and just set the bar low and you won't be disappointed because because money is involved and money complicates things right i've seen uh i've seen people all over the map that you wouldn't expect like people that are that are really nice but when when uh money gets involved and and and they don't get everything they were expecting or they're not going to get as much money at the closing table i'd have to pay.

For things i mean i've seen it it can make people very mean and bitter and vicious i've seen Christians get me and i've seen peaceable people get all out of sorts i've seen people just get nasty and i'm not immune to this i've seen in my own heart i've been stabbed in the back but i'm the real estate agent i know what happens in my heart i've missed out on deals that i've worked out on commissions that i've worked out i get this i feel this.

Jesus said back in the sermon on the mount he said where your treasure is your heart will be also and money often reveals this as we uh scatter our heart amongst a bunch of different treasures a bunch a bunch of different things what we are doing is we're emotionally physically and spiritually investing in material things that do not last in this world money and self-righteousness these are two things that will derail you from following Jesus and we get to see this very clearly.

Today in this story where a rich young man comes to Jesus asking about eternal life and both of these are going to show up so we're going to walk through this story together we'll stay out the gate i know we're talking about money that makes everyone a little bit nervous you might have some some bad experiences with churches of money i don't know where you're coming into this but my hope today is that we let our guards down let's just let the Holy Spirit go to work on us.

God willing we can respond uh in the repentance that he requires us to so let me pray and we'll jump into the story father you are good you are so good and these stories from the gospels have been so helpful God i pray that you would speak to us this morning that you would show us what it means to find our hope in Christ alone we ask us in Jesus name amen all right so verse 16 and behold a man came up to him saying teacher what good deed must i do to have eternal life all right.

So i just want to note he's respectful okay we're about to see some self-righteousness in a moment but he's respectful he says teacher all right this is not like the pharisees who come in a posture of arrogance demanding things he he's genuine he teacher show me what good deed must i do to eternal life so he is respectful but his self-righteousness is very similar to the pharisees because he says what good deed must i do what can i do in order to gain eternal life that is religion in a nutshell right most religions have some type of version like this buddhism has its eightfold path follow the path eventually you can lead to the state.

Of nirvana islam has its five pillars submit to allah follow the five pillars jehovah's witnesses have their zero holidays there are a lot of different religions that have different things you do and don't do do this you get in don't and you won't that that's the exchange in religion and that's what Jesus identifies very quickly in this man so Jesus responds verse 17 and he said to them why do you ask me about what is good there is only one who is good.

If you would enter eternal life keep the commandments and when he hears this this is music to his ears because as we're going to see in a minute he's a good dude he's an upright jew he he's honorable he's not adulterous by the world's standards he's a good guy he's the kind of guy that most people want their daughter to marry he's a decent guy not perfect because he wants to know about the finer points the law maybe he's missing out on something and he said.

Verse 18 which ones which commandments Jesus so there's 613 total laws in the old testament there's the 10 big ones the 10 commandments which ones are you talking about because it's possible he may have worn a sweater to passover that had two different types you know cotton and lennon that's a no-no in the old jewish law maybe he missed out the finer points but then Jesus actually sticks to the big ten in the final six commandments he starts listening out.

Jesus said you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness honor your father and mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself the young man said to him all these i have kept all right so those are six of the final ten commandments all right the first four are vertically focused this is how you worship God the six uh the backsticks are horizontally focused this is how you live with one another and i want to point something out he lists these out.

But when he gets to the tenth commandment all right which is you shall not cover you covet your neighbor's stuff he generalizes it he says i want you to love your neighbor as yourself that's going to be important in a moment but the young man hears this and he's relieved because like i said earlier he based the commandments but he wants to cover his bases he says what do i still lack and that's the posture of self-righteousness okay yes i heard that.

But tell me what else what else do i need to do tell me Jesus what am i what am i missing out on and that is where Jesus really gets to the heart of the matter in verse 21 it says Jesus said to him if you would be perfect which is what he's gunning for if you be perfect go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful.

For he had great possessions so he takes that tenth commandment generalizing it loving your neighbor and he says you want to be perfect here's what you got to do go sell everything you've got sell the items that you covet give it to your neighbors and then he says follow me come follow me give up the material wealth that is so easy to covet in this world and what he does is he finds the idol beneath the surface he finds what this man actually worships.

Because he's not just a young man he's wealthy and he says leave that all behind come follow me and that's not a small thing that's a huge ask all right that's not just all of his wealth that's his respect that comes with it that's the comfort that that kind of wealth buys it's the status that comes along with that he says leave all of that behind and come and follow me i want you to think about the wealth that you have whether it's a lot or a little i want you to think about what makes you respectable what what brings comfort in your life think about the things that give you status.

And then Jesus comes and says give it all up come and follow me and what he's asking this very wealthy man to do is to follow him y'all he is a traveling ministry where they don't have places to sleep at night sometimes they're camping out there they're they're relying on the generosity of others they're relying on the generosity of different towns for their next meal not only that the establishment hates him the very important religious powerful people in their culture they despise him he's saying leave all of the status all of the wealth all of the things that come with it and follow me that's what he asked of this young man and that's the.

Same question that is applied to anyone that follows Jesus are you willing to give up what you hold most dear that you might gain Christ that you might follow him and for this man it's riches now Jesus is getting ready to teach on riches after this but what he calls this man to do is very specific to him there's no other place in the Bible where God calls someone to give up all of their wealth to follow him this is very specific everyone has to count the cost of following.

Jesus but oftentimes that cost is very unique to the individual and this man is going to cost all of his wealth he's going to have to crush the idol of riches completely crush it give up his wealth and follow him but he can't because he worships his wealth that's what Jesus is getting at the sermon on the mount when he said no one can serve two masters either he'll hate the one or love the other devoted to the one or two or be devoted and despise the other you cannot serve.

God and money that's what he's getting at you worship money and if you want to come and follow me you got to give this up so Jesus navigates right through this man's self-righteousness to help him see the the love of wealth that he's worshipped beneath the surface and a lot of times when Jesus encounters self-righteous people in and as we've seen in the Gospel of Matthew he's dealing with pharisees and sadducees and religious people they're not very relatable to us the pharisees were i mean they're the very embodiment of an uptight Church person just religious judgmental high and mighty that's not relatable to us we we.

See self-righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew it's like okay yeah the pharisees they're the worst but this story makes it way more relatable to us we can identify with this some of us know what it's like to check the boxes of morality am i doing this am i doing that have i checked this box while ignoring some of the underlining sin beneath the surface that we don't want to deal with the Holy Spirit might bring conviction there but we don't want to deal with it we'd rather just have outward righteousness right i mean i hear this from time to time you'll.

See someone that blows up their life and people will say man their marriage looks so good on facebook like they just talked about loving one another called him king she called him queen which see each throne they look they have they went on vacations what happened you'll see it people go i can't i can't belie i can't believe he blew up his business like that all my business dealings were he always seemed like a man of integrity what happened the longer that i follow.

Jesus the more i realize i'm not really shocked by anything the reality is is that no matter how outwardly good you look there everyone's got their junk everyone's got stuff beneath the surface areas we don't want to submit to Jesus we'd rather listen we'd rather cover it up with good works covered up with with outward righteousness we're doing fine i'm fine as opposed to actually dealing with what's beneath the surface that's what happened with this young man here he covered riches of her allegiance to.

Jesus and his self-righteousness failed could not overcome his love of riches and he leaves dismay now he exits leaves dismayed and then Jesus begins to teach on the danger of riches starting in verse 23 it says and Jesus said to his disciples truly i say to you only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven again i tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of.

God when the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying who then can be saved but Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible y'all ever been in a situation where where you're telling a story like you and your friend or your spouse you witnessed the a situation together and your version of this is a story of just different like they just got a different take on it this happened sometimes in in my marriage we will have some friends over we'll be sharing stories and all of a sudden i'll launch into a story i start telling the story and it becomes very clear not just.

To me but to everyone at the table that my wife disagrees with how that went down she just just go what are you no that you know that look if you don't you will like it that look of just like i can't believe you understood that situation to be what it was that's the look i feel like that Jesus gives when american Christians have tackled this passage i mean man looking down from heaven like are you serious what are they doing like this i mean we have we have butchered this passage in.

So many different ways because as americans we love our riches we love our comfortable lifestyles and man we will find some creative ways to get around the force of this passage the big one is you'll hear some american churches that will say the eye of the needle well actually if you look at the context of the eye of the needle here's what's really happening what's really happening is there's this big gate in Jerusalem and at this big gate there's this small door called the eye of the needle and what what he's actually picturing is these camels would come and they'd have a real tough time getting underneath that door you know what they would have.

To get rid of some of their baggage but once they got rid of their bags they find their way through the door and they make it to the other side that's what's really happening in this passage i heard that the first time i heard that i was in high school my baseball coach he was reading the joel osteen book which never ends well and he was reading it and he's like man this is what i learned about the eye of the camel and i was like oh and i was a new Christian i was like that sounds great.

Listen some of you may know that some of you may have believed that i want to as politely as i can completely dismantle that from being ever away that you can read this passage i want to politely murder that as an interpretation because y'all that listen that enti that type of interpretation is exactly the thing that Jesus is correcting it's exactly what Jesus is correcting so i did some work this week and i wanted to get the bottom of where this eye of the needle gate in the door in the gate legend come from all right.

So somewhere some people think it came from 9th century other people may have think it came from 15th century some look at philosophers like aquinas or anselm but listen you can't source the origins of that theory and i want to tell you there is no evidence that there was ever a gate in Jerusalem with a small little door called the eye of the needle there's none there's no evidence so i went deeper i was like maybe i can look at the greek here.

Look at the word raphas which is needle maybe buried four or five definitions down it says also see gate in Jerusalem tiny door so i did i looked at the greek word got down all the definitions and y'all i'm here to tell you every time sewing needle big camel that one of the biggest animals they'd regularly come across and small the smallest opening you can think of the picture is absurd for a reason it's impossible it's an impossible picture which is highlighted by how he walks through verses 25 and 26 it says.

When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying who then can be saved they didn't say oh man Jesus you got to show me how that camel gets under that door they understood it's impossible who then can be saved but Jesus looked at them verse 26 and said with man this is impossible but with God all things are impo are possible he says it's impossible camels don't squeeze through the eyes of needles it's not possible it's going to take miraculous work yet there are.

So many american churches that have peddled messages like this we talk about this pretty regularly when it comes up in passages like this the american Church has so many prosperity churches all around our country that peddle messages like this they're trying to squeeze camels through the eyes of needles trying to help you see if you worship Jesus you get the exchange of riches and health and wealth and prosperity it's hot garbage it's not the Gospel and the bigger problem is we export this to africa and to south america into countries that are that are poor they put their hope in a.

Jesus that will give riches we sent the the rockies to honduras uh uh last month that the city that they're in that message is prevalent now it's easy to point out that and it's a big reality in american Church we can point out the kenneth copeland's and the creflo dollars and all the messages that come with that it's a whole lot harder to look at your own heart and examine your own heart when you look at this passage so we're raising money.

For kid city as i said earlier we're trying to it's not a hard sale guys it might be we'll see we're raising money for kid city and uh when we decided to do this i was like man that's great we got we got somebody who's gonna gonna match ten thousand dollars this is great and i was really excited about doing this so that you guys would give i was really excited about the possibility of y'all giving i'm just being honest like my heart was like man i can't wait to.

See the rest of our Church family give this it's been a weird year and the carrie household financially it's like ah i don't know about that and there was this hesitation was like i i don't know maybe i just get through the month and not have to really stare at this not to acknowledge that God calls us to radical generosity yo some of you all know that there's a giving opportunity you're like oh i've been saving for something else i really want those new floors like we do this and y'all i want you to recognize what happens there is that you have taken riches and said.

Now i want that over Jesus i want that over generosity it's a whole lot harder a whole lot easier to cast stones to some of the greatest offenders in our culture that do this it's a whole lot harder to look at your own heart and realize what's going on beneath the surface where does your primary allegiance lie if Jesus called you to give up riches or the pursuit of riches would you do it would you give it up would you give up the comfortable lifestyle that you have would you sell anything would you sell it all what what.

If Jesus called you to do this how about this would you even begin to pray some dangerous prayers that made you vulnerable to be able to do this where is your primary allegiance that's what comes out of this story riches self-righteousness it derailed this young man i'll be very clear it will absolutely derail you as well for much of of southern cultural christianity is very rich compared to the rest of the world we've got a lot more money than the rest of the world and there's also a whole lot of self-righteousness.

So with that being the case given our context i want to take a few moments i want to walk through some diagnostic questions that are not going to be very comfortable but i want us to be open to the Holy Spirit working so let's diagnose riches over Jesus first first question do you involve the lord in your financial goals some of your like financial goals i had a financial goal in my life listen you may not have the most formal financial goals you may have not met with a financial planner.

But you've got some some some loose goals that may be like i don't want to drive this car that's going to break down tomorrow and i'll find you know one i want to save up for one that'll last at least two years or i want to level up from mcdonald's to outback i don't know what that is for you okay but but we all have some financial goals in mind do you involve the lord in that are you prayerfully submitting your finances to the.

Lord asking him to to work through that to to correct you regularly are your first thoughts when you get a raise aimed at what you can get next right you get a few more dollars an hour you get a bump in your salary what's your first thought it's your first thought yes the truck i've always wanted the house i've wanted to move to is it the things that you can get or is it the the first initial response is all right.

Lord you have blessed me with a raise and this job what do you want to do next it's not bad to have a better vehicle sometimes what do you want to do next lord how do you want to use this are you giving generously third question are you giving generously sacrificially we don't use we don't use the language of tithe which i don't have time to go into right now we see more of a sacrificial giving in the new testament are you giving sacrificially and giving generously is a regular part of your budget being given to the.

Lord it's not just giving generously it's regular generosity regularly submitting your finances to the lord are you quick uh do you regularly shut down conviction from the Holy Spirit are you quick to shut down conviction from the Holy Spirit now let me picture that what that is a little bit what i did earlier it's like as soon as you have an opportunity to give a missionary needs uh needs money to go on the mission field and it's just like that i don't know about that i've been saving.

For something i don't really want to go there are you quick to shut down conviction from the Holy Spirit do you have a cynical outlook on churches missionaries ministries and requests for money you have a cynical outlook there some folks will go all right Church is asking for money again what are they how do they want to misuse my money next when let me say very clearly it's not your money to begin with james won every good gift and every perfect gift is from love coming down from the.

Father of lights God stewards us with riches and he calls us to steward in ways that would glorify him lastly no two more if Jesus himself sat down with you to look over your budget or your credit card statements how nervous would you be i say how nervous would you be because i feel like if Jesus actually came home he's sitting on the table you'd have lots of questions but once you've worked through the shock of it you'd be a little bit nervous.

But how nervous would you be if you seriously if he sat down and worth all right let's look at your budget let's look through your credit card statements how nervous would we be lastly and if he called you to make some radical changes would you be joyful or would you be dismayed like this rich young man so as you work through those questions ask yourself the tough question do you value riches over Jesus and his kingdom that's what he's fleshing out in this story and that's what these questions are meant to bring out let's diagnose self-righteousness over grace.

First question do you compare yourself to others in order to build yourself up do you regularly compare yourself to others in order to build yourself up right you can always find somebody else who's a train wreck right you can do the comparison game there's always someone who's doing worse are you regularly comparing yourself yourself to others to build yourself up second is your approach to God a checklist of obedience that when you think about what it means to follow Jesus it's i got to do this and i got to do that and i got to do this and i'm checking off all these boxes word prayer community group this all the way down the line.

So that you might present that to God and say God look at what i'm doing that's self-righteousness that's trusting in your righteousness and your good works over grace third when you're confessing sin in your community group are your confessions shallow so when it's time to confess sin and community group and bear one of those burdens are you the kind of person that goes you know what the week's been okay well you know honestly like i i haven't been reading my Bible enough and uh i really need you know what i you know i need to do i i've got i need to next week i'm gonna i'm gonna have three or four more quiet times.

I'm gonna sit down and read my Bible that's someone do next which listen we regularly say this all the time you need to read your bibles all right the word of God if you want to mature as a Christian you need to read your bibles it's an absolutely appropriate confession but if that listen if that is the only confession you've got come on it's like no no this listen i'm the chief of sinners i get this but i know everyone else has jacked up too you got stuff going on beneath the surface.

And if your confessions are shallow what you are saying is is that i'm doing this well i actually don't want to be vulnerable enough to work through the other stuff and a word of warning if you don't ever work through it it will come up and it will get ugly self-righteousness is a poor cover all right when you do make mistakes you need to try to keep them as private as possible so maybe you do make a mistake maybe you do sin.

But it's basically like moving along it's all right i know i messed up and you don't want to let anyone ever have a moment of correction a moment of coming alongside and asking some tough questions because you you want to keep the appearance of righteous i'm fine i'm fine we have to work through this when you do make mistakes do you feel like you need to make up for those mistakes with more good works he's like yeah no i okay yes i messed up here.

But God look i'm doing this i'm checking this box i'm doing all these other things and you're covering up trying to cover up mistakes since give you one more when you scroll through social media do you keep a running commentary of judgment on everyone else right that's a big one in our culture you can be the political warrior that's like all right yeah you posted that boom and that goes well because everyone's been convinced on facebook of your argument all right do you maybe it's it's it's judging other moms maybe it's uh captain correction you just i mean maybe it's just a posture of just consistently judging other people on facebook to make yourself feel.

A little bit better if any of these questions start to bring up some stuff it is very possible that you struggle with self-righteousness that you are trusting in your own good works and not what God has done for us on the cross and the empty tomb listen self-righteousness and the love of riches are very difficult hurdles to clear to get into the kingdom of God even more so Jesus goes on to say it is humanly hear this it is impossible for a rich person on their own merit to get into the kingdom of.

God you have no shot you do not have the will power to change to muscle change so that you might submit your riches to Christ no self-righteous person no rich person will ever by their own work get in the kingdom of God that is precisely why Jesus came Jesus came and lived a perfect life and went to the cross with that perfection and then conquer death at the empty tomb so that self-righteous people would not trust in their own good works.

But in the good works of Jesus so that people who worship money would say no i don't want that i believe Jesus is better i want him yo God he he loves self-righteous people he does you know how we know this Paul Paul was a self-righteous pharisee and then he meets him in the road he claims him he redeems him and then becomes one of the greatest missionaries that's ever lived and he loves rich people he does let me show you a different exchange a different encounter of how.

Jesus had with the rich man i'mma read from luke 19. i want y'all to listen to this exchange with uh zacchaeus who's a rich tax collector and i want you to notice the difference between the rich young man and his response to Jesus and zacchaeus verse one he entered Jericho and was passing through and behold there was a man named zacchaeus he was a chief tax collector and was rich he said this before Matthew was also a tax collector they were hated by their own people.

Because they were traitors to the jewish people they were jews who worked for the roman government and they were loaded they made their money off the backs of their own people they had lots of money verse 3 and he was seeking to see who Jesus was but on account of the crowd he could not because he was small in stature which some of you that may ring a bell if you were you grew up in the Church there's a children's song about that zacchaeus was a wee little man and a weird little man was he which by the way they don't make children songs like that anymore.

Because they're just straight dunking on his height this is kind of messed up i don't even remember the rest of the words the song y'all might i don't which is what shows that that's the problem making a children's song it's short yay like it's just this just a thought verse four so he ran on the head and he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him but he was about to pass that way and when Jesus came to the place he looked up and said to him zacchaeus hurry and come down.

For i'ma stay at your house today i love it man i love Jesus comes through prophetic mode looks up in the tree and says zacchaeus the one that everyone hates in that crowd hey coming down i'm having dinner at your place tonight Jesus loves outcast if you feel like an outcast man does Jesus got good news for you look at zacchaeus tells him to come on down verse 6 so he hurried and came down received him joyfully he joyfully comes running to.

Jesus verse 7 and when they saw it they all grumbled he has gone in to be the guest of a man who's a sinner amen we're not even we've already dealt with that verse 8 and zacchaeus stood and said to the lord behold lord the half of my goods i give to the poor and if i've defrauded anyone of anything i restored fourfold you notice the difference he didn't come to Jesus and say all right let's talk what do i need to do here no the calling of.

Jesus was enough he calls him from the tree and he just just absolutely pierces his heart just destroys him wrecks him zacchaeus is never going to be going to be the same that's the calling of grace that Jesus looks at centers and say come on you are going to you are you are going to be a part of this now and what happens he comes joyfully he says all right i'm in i'm in half my riches where who who's the poor who are my neighbors give it away i know i've defrauded people in this crowd four-fold four-fold i got you he do you.

See the difference he joyfully is changed by Jesus and he joyfully submits his riches and Jesus says all right verse 9 and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house since he is also a son of Abraham for the son of man came to seek and save the lost y'all Jesus seeks and saves flagrant sinners and self-righteous people Jesus seeks and saves the rich and the poor but here's the thing you need to experience his grace and be changed by him that's the reality that gets lost here you have to be changed by his grace God's going to work on your heart.

Because we are far too comfortable with with this culture and materialism and consumerism and being wrapped up into riches we're far too comfortable trusting in our own good works and this story is meant to be a shock to the heart that would shake you to your core here's my fear did you receive a story like this and it's like you know you are you're right you're right i really should i you know what that kid city project i'm giving him that i'm doing that that that's what i'm gonna do you know what i i needed to bump we didn't have a conversation about regular giving let's bump that up a few percentage points that's what.

I need to do and again when you come at it like that as guilt does not change your heart it doesn't i try to cover it up with some all right that's what i need to do as opposed to getting on our faces and saying lord i'm greedy i love the riches of this world i am self-righteous and i need your overwhelming grace to absolutely change my heart so that i can walk in repentance it takes prayers like that takes prayers like that saying.

Lord take my life what do you want what do you want God you want me to move to honduras is that what you want follow the rockies and sell everything all our possessions and go you want me to radically change the way i spend what do you want lord you want me to give to missionaries to get to this ministry what do you want from me God how do you want to work in my life i've experienced the riches of your grace here it is take it what do you want to do that is a much different response and that's the kind of response that.

Jesus is looking for in this story and my hope is as we walk out here today we wouldn't think oh cool neat teaching but we would get on our faces we humbly submit to the lord and our sin and say take it all Jesus is better i believe this what do you want to do band's going to come up and i want us to sit for a moment before they start and i just want us to be reflective here that's a tough word i get it it's a tough story my hope is is that we'd sit in that don't don't squelch conviction from the Holy Spirit.

Now let him go to work how do we need to submit ourselves fully and trust in the righteousness of Christ you know it is a tiring pursuit to prove and to do and to try to please God listen you don't have to please God it's by grace that anyone is safe if you trust in the in what Jesus has already done you'll get to experience more of him don't use good works as a cover-up trust in his righteousness money is a difficult subject it's.

So tied and connected to our hearts may we have the humility to recognize that we most likely have trusted in riches and not Jesus and if there's anyone here that's listening to all this and it's like man i don't even know where to start all that sounds great i don't even know where i stand in all of this you're talking about submitting i don't even know what that looks like my hope this morning is that you would see that the God of the universe has you here in this room this morning to hear that he loved you.

So much that he gave up his son that you might have life with him and a life that's so much better than the riches and the pursuit of riches in this world so much better than trusting in your own good works may you fully place your faith in your hope in him let me pray you were so good you have indescribable riches that wait for us in eternity God i pray that you'd help us see that so clearly this morning i pray you'd help us joyfully like zacchaeus come running to you and say what do you want.

Lord i pray we as Christians pray some dangerous prayers and open ourselves up and be vulnerable to see you go to work i pray there's anyone here that consistently struggles with self-righteousness you'd help them see it'll never be enough on your own but it was paid for on the cross they don't have to keep going back to their own good works they can trust in you you've got to pray there's anyone here that does not know you that has not fully believed in you.

God i pray right now just as you called zacchaeus out of the tree you would call them into faith we ask us in Jesus name amen.

Divorce (Matthew 19:1-12)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Jesus Teaching on Divorce

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well good morning uh my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors of mil City Church of Casey I'm glad you're here this morning if you have a Bible grab it and go to Matthew chapter 19 Matthew chapter 19 we're working our way through the Gospel of Matthew together now if I came to you and asked you who your favorite actor who has ever portrayed Batman is you would think about it but it's not that intense of a question and you would think there's really no wrong answer unless you said Val Kilmer.

But there's really no no way to get this wrong it's not that intense but if I came to you and said okay we're going to discuss your uh position on climate change that that question hits you a little bit differently if I walked up this morning and said all right today we're going to talk about guns immediately it's like okay this is this discussion is a little bit different and you realize that you're entering into a conversation that's been that's happening this isn't something that's just a conversation between us.

But there's a lot of words that have been said a lot of ink that has been spilled this conversation is ongoing and you already know some of the arguments on one side or the other and we're picking up in Matthew where the Pharisees are going to come ask Jesus a question that is just like that it's already a heated debate among the Jewish people so this question is asked and they they're asking him to enter in to weigh in on what your take on this situation that uh people already knew was a debate.

And so that's where we're going to jump in this morning and uh let's pray and then we'll start reading in uh Matthew chapter 19 verse1 God we ask that you would uh give us favor in this time that you would bless this time that we have together as your people to study your word and we pray that you would help us to uh trust you more love you more and to walk out in greater obedience what you have called us to we love you and we praise you in.

Jesus name amen Matthew Chapter 19 Verse one it says now when Jesus had finished these sayings so he just got done talking about Sin and forgiveness He Went Away From Galilee that's the upper part of uh the area he's been ministering in it says and he entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan so he's headed down towards Jerusalem and large crowds followed him and he healed them there so he's continuing his Healing Ministry it's been a while since we've talked about him healing people.

But he wherever he goes he heals he shows the power of God and then in this when he's doing this when he's ministering often the Pharisees and we'll see as we keep going the Sadducees these different groups are going to come ask him questions and it says and Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause Okay so this is a test in that they're asking him to weigh in on a current debate they're asking him to hop in and to say all right where do you stand on this and there sometimes they ask him tests to weigh in on theological debates or.

This one they're looking at a specific passage in the Old Testament they're wanting him to kind of give his answer on sometimes they're trying to trick him they're just trying to trap him but this one seems a little bit more like hey come weigh in on this question and I'm glad they ask it and I'm glad as we read through it we get the answer we get and the response from the disciples we get because it's very comforting to know that this situation was as confusing and as painful.

For them as it is for us this question is relevant today we want Jesus to answer this question the reality is we want Jesus to step in and help us out in all of these difficult areas of life as painful as it can be and for some of us this morning this may be painful it may bring up uh past memories it may bring up current difficulties but we want Jesus like a good surgeon to go to the most broken places and to help sort them out.

For us and so I'm glad they asked I'm glad we get to study it together but Jesus knew the debate they were asking him to weigh in on uh wasn't just this one question but there was an ongoing debate primarily between two Jewish rabbis shemai and H I know two of your favorite rabbis um we have a lot of writing from shemiah and H on this topic and they were zooming in on Deuteronomy chapter 24 and they were trying to weigh in.

For people and say this is how we ought to understand approaching divorce and so when they ask this question for any reason they're asking him to answer where he stands in the shamai halel debate that's really what they're doing so let's read Deuteronomy 24 they're going to reference it later let's go ahead and read it together it says when a man takes a wife and marries her if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house and she departs out of his house.

And if she goes and becomes another man's wife and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hands and sends her out of his house or if the latter man dies who took her to be his wife then the former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife so this is the section in Deuteronomy where they're trying to build out an understanding of how to approach divorce and they're really focusing in on the beginning part.

But it says if when this happens and if this happens and if this happens and if this happens and if this happens then it gives one clear this can't don't do this but there wasn't a lot of teaching in Deuteronomy on divorce so they're zooming in at the beginning of this trying to answer the question how how should we go about divorce they're really asking this passage to answer something it's really not trying to answer but they were zoomed in on it and they were asking.

So this is what they did shemai focused in on where it says some indecency which in the original Hebrew translates a matter of nakedness I would not encourage you to Google that but that is what it says it says some indecency and he read that as sexual sin this is sexual immorality that's the only thing that this would allow you to to find for her to lose uh what is it for find no favor in your eyes if there's some sexual sin that you find that's what his answer was.

So he was really narrow said some indecency means that helle looked at she finds no favor in his eyes and he focused in on the word some there and said that some indecency means any and so helle had these long list of let me give you examples of what it means that you basically don't like her anymore that's what he so he wrote out um if you find someone more attractive that fits the category if uh you just find out find you kind of don't like her anymore that fits the category.

If she consistently burns your food that fits the category it sounds like that's a joke I made up that's in the list you guys this is the stuff he would write out and he would say these are all the things that count and so they come to Jesus that's why they say for any reason who do you stand with can we do this for any reason or is there a specific reason or how do you view it that's the question.

So Jesus answers they're basically saying whose team are you on shemi or H's and they're going to be surprised to find although we shouldn't he's on Jesus's team he doesn't usually join our teams he just says here's how it should be so he answers verse four he answered have you not read my absolute favorite intro to every time he interacts with the Pharisees they had read it and they prided themselves on being the people who had read it but he does this all the time.

When he talks to the crowds he'll he assumes knowledge when he talks to the crowds he'll go you've heard it said he like hey random crowd y'all know the Bible when he talks to the Pharisees he goes oh y'all hadn't read this y'all didn't oh this was the part y'all skimmed through oh I'll catch you up that's what he does so I love that he does that he answered have you not read that he who created them for from the beginning made them male and female and said.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God has joined together let not man separate they came in and said hey weigh in on this conversation you know exactly what we're asking about where do you stand on Deuteronomy 24 and he says oh y'all skip Genesis y'all oh yours starts in Deuteronomy no no no let let's go to the let's go to the beginning.

Let me show you y'all didn't read this part this is the part that answers your question and he takes them back to Genesis and he says here's what God intended for marriage and it's a very helpful positive picture of this is what marriage is supposed to be so we're going to run through this fairly quickly to just pull out what he is saying marriage ought to be because he goes to Genesis and says it's not in the law where we get this picture it's in Genesis where he says this is what it's supposed to.

Look like so he says have you not read that he who created them from the beginning so he he anchors it in creation it's he who created them from the beginning meaning that marriage is a creation ordinance bring that up at lunch sometime if you want to impress the people you're with it's a creation ordinance it means that God designed it for all people he instituted in creation before the fall and it's given to everybody meaning it's not just something that Christian Chans do or that only counts.

If you're Christians it's for everybody any marriage is a marriage God designed it for as a good gift for all of humanity so if you have non-believing friends and they're struggling in their marriage it's a marriage we treat it as a marriage we encourage them to follow through with what they're supposed to as a marriage because it's designed for all Humanity he keeps going he says that he created them Ma and made them male and female so he's saying God's original design design was one man one woman.

So it is uh Christian marriage God's design for marriage not just Christian marriage God's design for marriage is heterosexual and monogamous now culturally that's disliked but that's what he designed it to be heterosexual and monogamous that he made one male one female he brought them together and he joined them together for his own purposes and that's God's good design for marriage now I think some of the uh approach to homosexuality by the Church has been uh lacking Grace and so I would say to anybody in this room that struggles with homosexuality struggles with uh same gender attraction you are welcome here the same way that everybody else is welcome here as sinners in need of.

Grace in need of forgiveness in need of Jesus to help us and to change our hearts so we do believe it is a sin to practice homosexuality but we do not believe it is it is some super sin that cuts you out of being able to forgive be forgiven and to walk in openness and repentance the same way that all the other sinners in this room do so you are welcome here but this is God's good intent for marriage that it would be heterosexual and monogamous he says this.

If I can find it therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife it is a primary relationship that when you get married that is now your primary relationship that if you're a wife your primary relationship on earth now is to your husband not your mom not your dad not your children if you're a husband your primary relationship is to your wife not your mom not your dad not your children you are starting a new household together.

So this means and I find this is a bigger issue in younger couples don't bring your parents into your arguments first of all they are not helpful second of all even if they are they ought not to be there because you're supposed to be setting up the new primary relationship that you have this also means that your spouse is not to be compared to your mom or your father this ain't how my mama cooked it well you didn't marry your mama.

Well my daddy used to always could fix a truck well I ain't your daddy but I have a job and I know where Pet Boys is well blam that you get to set up a new primary relationship and there is joy in that and there's difficulty in that but this is now who you are primarily relating to and you are stepping out on your own that he set it up to be a monogamous primary relationship then he says this and the the two shall become one flesh.

So it is a one flesh Union and he follows that up says so they are no longer two but one flesh so this is one flesh Union and this means a couple of different things this is referring to sexual intimacy Paul uses it that way in First Corinthians it does intend to cover that it means that that that is where uh intimacy is supposed to be um hedged in is inside of a marriage covenant but that physical act is a representation a physical representation of an all of life Union an all of life surrender that everything I have belongs to you all of me.

So this is one house One bank account this is all of this comes together and is physically reenacted in this way but it's an all of life Union they have become one flesh and this is also carried out practically in children that's where two become one flesh they show up you have child that is now two become one and it's really cool to see with my children all the wonderful qualities they got from me and then the stuff they got from their mom.

And if y'all know us you know that is inaccurate but you do you see it come together in this way so it's a one flesh Union keeps going he says therefore whatever what therefore God has joined together together all marriages are sealed by God there's a spiritual reality to marriage to this physical intimacy that God seals and makes one and it doesn't matter if you if you just had a notary do it while you were at the bank or if you went to the courthouse.

God oversees marriage whether you stand in front of people and Proclaim that it's in front of God and acknowledge that or you don't it's sealed by God and this is some very encouraging news because for most of us we got married and I mean we were gidy and butterflyyoutube it's turned out to be extremely difficult it turned out to be extremely painful and because of the way our media works because of the movies you've watched because of the books you've read one of the questions that often begins to plague people as they realize that the person they married to is kind of terrible at a lot of things as they start asking is did I.

Make a mistake are they not really the one because you know we've seen enough television I've seen enough television to know that when you find the one everything works out perfectly so since this isn't perfect you must not be the one that's what begins to happen God has joined you together I have very good news for you if you are married you found the one there you're one he intends for you to stay married for it to be good for you to fight.

For it to be good for you to make it good together this is a blessing that God joins us together when we're married and that you have that to stand on there's encouragement in that you don't get to second guess that I make a mistake this is the one so make it good then he says this what therefore God has joined together let not man separate marriage is meant to be a lifelong Covenant it's meant to be a commitment to one another that we do not break and in Jesus's answer that's where he stops in his answer.

When we say what about what about what about his answer is no this is what it was meant to be this is how it ought to work this is what God designed it for and whatever situation we throw at it he say no this is what it was meant to be it was meant to be lifelong and I know there's a there's a uh people started writing their own vows for their wedding which is fine if they write good ones so I've seen some and they' they've read their own vows and I'm like that's beautiful and I've seen other ones and they're just like love notes here's how I feel about you right.

Now and I'm like no no no no no no no nope no nope nope that's a note you give to them the day of your marriage that's not what you stand up in front of everybody and say this is promise time this isn't how I feel right now time no no you're not going to feel like that later not all those feelings not all the time and you can't promise to feel something all the time but you can promise what you're going to do and what you're going to stick to that's this is richer or poorer in sickness and in health time that's why marriages are.

So beautiful when we have a wedding service and they promise this is what it's going to be and I'm stick it out even if it's bad and the reality is that's what we want marriage to be that's what you want that's what you want love to be a feeling that's followed up by a promise that someone sticks to that's what he says it's supposed to be that it's a lifelong Covenant that it's a picture of commitment and this is what it's supposed to.

Look like so that's his answer this is what marriage is meant to be so he says it's not this passage in Deuteronomy that you're talking about it's this section in Matthew verse 7 they said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away okay we read Deuteronomy 24 earlier is that what Moses commanded is that what he said he said if if if if if if they shouldn't get remarried now that was the command was at the end the beginning part was not a command he was just saying as this situation unfolds.

If this situation unfolds this can't happen if we were reading Deuteronomy and it said when two people enter into a Business Partnership and if the partnership goes bad and if one of them stabs the other one then this and later you said now why did why did Moses command us to to stab our business partners when we were mad at them we would say that you read that wrong that's not what that says and you would say yes well the reason we know that's not what that says is that he's already told us we already know that stabbing is bad that's Jesus's response we already know what marriage was supposed to.

Look like you should know that this is not how this is supposed to play out we already have an answer of what this is supposed to be and therefore this is you're you're reading that wrong so this is what he says verse 8 he said to them because of your Hardness of Heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it was not so he says no no no no no Moses was stepping into a messed up situation where there is Brokenness and sin that is not God's good design.

For marriage that's not what it's supposed to look like in the midst of Brokenness Moses gave some regulations he allowed it that's not God's intent so to answer their question of how should marriage work how should divorce work he answers it this is what marriage is supposed to look like and so when they try to push on it he says no that's not what that's meant and then he he takes it even further and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except.

For sexual immorality so it seems like he's lining up with Shmi there he's given the the if there's sexual sin and marries another he takes it further commits adultery so what he's saying is that this consistent divorce this getting together splitting up this first wife second wife he said all that ends up doing is making sin run rampant it's painful and difficult and harmful and Moses stepped in and tried to give some regulations around it but all it does is increase Brokenness and it shouldn't happen it's not the way.

God designed it and for many of us we find ourselves in that situation where we have had a divorce where there was sexual immorality or there wasn't sexual immorality some people in here today with your second spouse and this is a painful thing marriage was meant because it was meant to be so good it is so painful when it goes wrong because it was meant to be something beautiful and a good gift to humanity it is painful when it goes wrong and we're going to talk a little bit as we come to a close this morning on how we get to respond in the midst of some of this Brokenness.

But I want us to follow this story as it goes so verse 10 the disciples said to him if such is the case of a man with his wife it is better not to marry now many of his disciples were young this is a very cynical way to look at marriage oh wait what you got to be married to the same person the whole time I'm I'm not getting married that's their answer that that's that's the response they at least took it seriously they said.

Well it's okay if that's the case then it's better not to marry and he responds he said to them not everyone can receive this saying we'll see that he doesn't mean that this only applies to some people what he means is that some people are meant to get married and some people are are meant to be single that's what he means and we'll see he clears it up at the end not everyone can receive this saying but only those to whom it is given as a gift that's what that's what that's getting at.

For there are Unix who have been made so from birth and there are Unix who have been made Unix by men so he says marriage isn't for everybody and then he moves the the conversation to celibacy a unic is a male who's been castrated for a specific purpose um or some that that had happened prior uh happened at Birth but he's basically saying that there are people who choose to not have any sexual activity or that can't have any sexual activity.

So he looks at his disciples and says yes not everybody has to get married but on the other side you do know you're you're stepping into abstinence and celibacy but he holds it up as as a legitimate answer now I want to make one quick comment here I think sometimes the way Christians treat sexual intimacy people in our culture act like we devalue it that we act like it's bad or we' we've debased it somehow the reality is we value it.

So we place guardrails around it similar to if I found out you had $100,000 in a safe and I said you put it in a safe you're so ashamed of your money that would be silly you'd say no it's valuable and you're a and so that's kind of our answer in this situation is no this is valuable it means more than you think it has more power than you think it's more spiritually active than you think and that's why we guard it.

But he says for there are Unix who have been so from birth and there are Unix who have been made Unix by men and there are Unix who have made themselves Unix for the sake s of the kingdom of heaven so he adds a category they were unfamiliar with which is there are some who have chosen this route for the sake of the kingdom and that's a perfectly valid route let the one who is able to receive this receive it you can be single and a complete full person you can never have physical intimacy with another person and be a complete full person.

Jesus holds this up as a legitimate good way to walk through life Paul doubles down on it Paul doesn't just say it's legitimate and good he says it's actually preferable so we're going to read that real quick First Corinthians 7:2 this is Paul picking up some of this same discussion that Jesus is in but he says but because of the temptation to sexual immorality each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband he explains somehow to fight uh sexual immorality and Temptation even in marriage.

But then he goes in verse six he says now as a concession not a command I say this he's not commanding everybody to get married but he is saying most of you should if you can't control yourself no if you can't control yourself you should I didn't want to leave room for there someone who couldn't control himself that that was okay so all right now as a concession not a command I say this I wish that all were as myself but each has his own gift from.

God one of one kind and one of another so Paul says I wish everybody was like me and could control themselves but a lot of people are really tempted they should get married everybody has a different gift GI from God that's the same thing that Jesus says whoever can receive this receive it whoever receives this gift receive it Paul's saying some people have this gift some another verse 27 he keeps going are you bound to a wife do not seek to be free are you free from a wife do not seek a wife.

But if you do marry you have not sinned if a betroth woman marries she has not sinned yet those who marry will have worldly troubles oh you missed your chance to say Amen but that's cool we'll keep going and I would spare you that this is what I mean Brothers the appointed time has grown very short he's saying that if you get married you your focus changes but we know that there's a Gospel to be proclaimed there's an eternity that is coming he keeps uh explaining this in.

Verse 32 I want you to be free from anxieties the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord how to please the Lord but the married man is anxious about worldly things how to please his wife and his interests are divided the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord how to be holy in body and spirit but the married woman is anxious about worldly things how to please her husband that's true and that's okay it's.

Okay if you're married you should be concerned about your husband or your wife you're bad at marriage if you're not I mean you learn this some when you first get married with simple things like you walk in the house eating a Snicker bar your wife says oh you got snicker bars and you're like Snicker bar there's no s why didn't you get me one I didn't think about you while I was buying it well y'all are going to fix that you start thinking about each other you work on it this is the way it's supposed to work Jordan satat who's in our Church family got a phone call from a friend from another state who.

Said said hey we're about to go on a foreign mission trip and somebody dropped out do you want to go they're leaving in like 3 or 4 days Jordan worked it out and went if someone had called me and asked that I would have laughed do I want to do what in three or four days I'm not even talking to my wife about that other than a funny anecdote at dinner listen to what this person who doesn't understand how my world Works called and ask it's not easy to do I got small children there are things that you have to consider we don't you ever been stuck in traffic and a motorcycle just goes riding.

Through many Vans don't do that many Vans get straight up stuck in traffic and not bobbing and weaving that's what he's saying is that if you get married you have things that you have to be concerned with you have things that slow you down you have worries and cares and things that you ought to work on and devote yourself too and he said I would save you that and I would let you be wholly devoted to the Lord single people if you are not married you are not freed up to be devoted to video games and Facebook and hobbies.

If you belong to Jesus he's saying no he's given you a gift and even if it's just for a season it's a gift to be devoted wholly to the Lord don't waste it bear appropriately the weight of responsibility of being single and believing that there is an eternity to come just as those who are married ought to Bear appropriately the weight of being married and Care well for their spouse and love Jesus help display that you believe to your spouse and to your children that there is an eternity to come and that.

Jesus matters more but put it on display in a way that shows them love and grace and care and it's a difficult line to walk and single people he says you just get to be freed up that's a thought process you don't even have to walk through you get to be devoted to the Lord so each has his own gift and we find ourselves in different spots this morning if you are currently married your marriage is a marriage I don't care what number we find you on I don't care.

If it's one two three that your marriage is a marriage all marriages are treated like marriages Jesus talks to the woman at the well he says you've had five husbands any minute then he clarifies well this last one's not your husband but every single one that she had had was an actual husband was an actual marriage and if you are married then it is supposed to look right now what it's supposed to look like which is lifelong care Covenant that you give all of yourself to them that you do not withhold that you join together and that you fight to make it good many of us have rented a house before.

And when you rent a house you don't knock down a wall and build an extra room you don't put a deck out back you talk about if I own this house here are the things I would work on if you buy the house maybe you build a deck the reality is some of us are in a marriage and we keep acting like there may be a time that we leave so we're not working hard enough this is your marriage this is the one fight and by the grace of.

God fight and it is a good gift of Grace that he's given you this marriage and he wants it to be good and fight and make it good labor and if you're going to be married for 60 years it's worth 10 that we're really really hard that you work some things out in because he means for you to have a lifelong marriage before him and he gives the grace of his good gift for it to be good single people who have married friends encourage them encourage them to love and to serve don't let them sit and talk bad poorly about their spouse parents do not let your children drag them drag you into their household.

Say no no no leave and cleave bye I don't want to hear it I don't want Christmas to be awkward because I know all the weird stuff that's going on I want to show up free and happy single people you get to display in a way to our world that Jesus is better that our world does not understand we think that you have to have romance that you have to have a significant other in order to be full and to be complete you have the opportunity to display that.

Jesus is better than all of that even if it's for a season some of you it's for a lifetime that you get to hold out I believe there's an eternity to come I believe that Jesus has a bride and it's the Church so I'm in it we have a covenant that I get to lean into I believe that he gives me hope and Grace to work through what I'm in and I can display in a way that the Gospel is good news and that.

Jesus fulfills me and fills me up in a way that you can't in marriage and a way that you can't in a relationship and so while that is your time do it and while you have the freedom and the time devote it to the Lord do not become level 700 on some online video game men you level up in a video game you level down in real life life they are okay as a hobby they are not to have your life devoted to that involves married men as.

Well you have things that are worth carrying the weight of existence for you have things that are to come don't sit and just prepare yourself for a spouse follow and serve the Lord if you are currently in the midst of a divorce if you have been divorced that term or that thought brings up excruciating amounts of pain if it is messy for you there is Grace for where you find yourself there's Grace in Christ that you are fulfilled and complete in him that you can trust him to work in this situation.

For those of you who have lost a spouse for those of you who have walked through a divorce that was of your doing or none of you are doing you are not marked forever you can be forgiven you can walk out in peace and you can have the grace if you allowed to if it fits for you to be married again you can have the grace for that to not turn out like the last one and for some of you if you're not meant to be married again.

If if the Lord does not allow it he will give you Grace to face the singleness that he has offered you and you need to devote it to the Lord he is sufficient and you will be okay and in the midst of pain he does really really good work I love that they bring up Moses and that Jesus says he only allowed that because of the hardness of your heart you know what Moses can't do you know what the law can't do you know what rules and regulations can't do they can't fix our hearts.

Jesus did not come to give us a bunch of new rules he came to fix our hearts he came to step in into the midst of Brokenness and not to outmaneuver them or out clever them he came to have them have the full force of the wrath of God land on him as he took our sin and our pain and our shame on the cross so that we might all be forgiven and we might all receive the grace that we need to move forward.

So wherever you find yourself look to Jesus he is better he is sufficient and he will give you Grace for this moment and the moments to come and if you feel marked by your sexual sin if you feel marked by your marriage history if you feel like it has claimed you and dirtied you and sullied you I want you to know that in Ephesians 5 it says that Jesus loves the Church that he gave himself up for her that he might present her without any spot or blemish or any such thing.

If you have a marriage that you feel like has spot spots and blemishes if you feel like you have spots and blemishes and you belong to Jesus you do not there is no such thing not for those who've been washed clean by by Christ not for those who he's paid the penalty there is no spot or wrinkle or any such thing we are free and we are forgiveness forgiven and there is Grace for what's ahead let's pray God we thank you we thank you that you step into the Brokenness of the world and you don't just give give good explanations you don't just teach us better.

But that you join us in the Brokenness and that you are broken for us that we might have forgiveness and that we might have life that all that we have done wrong and all that has been done wrong to us can be washed away and we can be clean we pray Lord that those who don't have not yet trusted in you for salvation have not yet asked you to clean them that they would repent now of their sin that they would ask you to wash away what they have done and what others have done to them and that they would be brought into your Church as a spotless dazzling bride without wrinkle or blemish we.

Pray for the marriages in this room that are struggling right now that you would give them Grace and energy that they would bear well the ra the weight of responsibility of marriage and that they would make it look the way it's meant to look by your grace we pray for the single people in this room who are lonely who are sad who are frustrated we pray for those who have decided that they are going to spend a life of singleness that you would give them energy and courage that you would help them to feel the grace they need.

For this moment we pray for those who have walked through a divorce or are in the middle of one that they would see you so clearly healing forgiving protecting love loving and coming to rescue because we cannot live up to your standards so you came to pay for our debt and to set us free in Jesus name amen.

Church Discipline: The Posture (Matthew 18:21-35)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Church Discipline - Part 3

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well good morning my name is chet i am one of the pastors here uh grab your bibles and go to Matthew chapter 18. we have been working our way through the Gospel of Matthew and we've spent the past couple of weeks in Matthew 18 looking at uh Jesus's teaching on addressing sin uh in one another he's teaching on the gravity of sin and then how do we address sin with each other and now we're looking today we're kind of finishing this up we said we'd spend three weeks on this and we said we'd talk about Church discipline.

Because that's this concept that we would address sin uh in the Church among one another in one another we said the first week was the purpose why would we address sin why would we go out of our way to do this and we talked about that sin is weighty and dangerous the second week last week we talked about the process of Church discipline how we would um how we go about addressing sin with one another and today we're looking at the posture the attitude behind how we address sin in one another and this is a very important week.

For us i think this is a very helpful teaching and we're going to start with verse 21 where Peter comes up and asks a question because Peter like you just sat and listened to Jesus is teaching on sin and on addressing sin and one thing very clearly stood out to him and so he comes up and he says this is verse 21 then Peter came up and said to him lord how often will my brother sin against me and i forgive him as many as seven times.

Okay so i think sometimes we read this passage in Matthew and we think oh wow it gets really harsh at the end that you would actually break fellowship with somebody but Peter caught the gist of what Jesus was saying was that actually before that ever happens there's three opportunities for repentance to for forgiveness he actually says the goal of it is that you would go win your brother that you would address sin where they've sinned against you they would repent and you would win them back they all would uh reconcile.

And so Peter says okay question though for how long what's the what's the limit what's the appropriate amount of times that i'm supposed to forgive someone they sin against me i address it they repent i forgive them but the thing i've noticed about them is that they do it again Jesus i don't know if you've hung out with any people that's a thing they do and so i i have and i had a question how many times am i supposed to do that and Peter throws out a number he says seven and that's actually kind of a it's a very jewish way to ask this he's talking to his rabbi and he's asking what's the.

Rule how many because they would do that they would say you do this three times you do this this amount of times we do this up to this many times so he comes to Jesus and he asks this is a helpful question because we've just talked through the weightiness of sin the need to address sin and now we need to understand okay but if i address sin and they repent and i forgive them at what point can we stop that process and whether you know it or not you probably have some kind of an answer to this some of you maybe you're running with the baseball policy of three strikes you're out some of you.

Go a little bit under that you do fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me unless you're a fan of george w bush and he eloquently put it this way fool me once shame on you fool me for me can't fool me again maybe that's the system you run with but we have some kind of system of this is how much i'm willing to put up with this and so Jesus answers this question and his answer is wonderful it it's refreshing and life-giving and it's extremely difficult.

And so that's what we're gonna look at so let's pray for our hearts this morning as we look at this passage together God we ask you to soften us to your word to help us to see clearly the beauty of forgiveness both for ourselves and for others we pray that we would walk this out faithfully as you empower us by the spirit in Jesus name amen so Peter says seven and i think that's pretty gracious and Jesus said to him i do not say to you seven times.

But 77 times okay so seven sounded generous Jesus says no not seven seventy seven and some uh a way to translate this is seventy times seven or seventy seven times so it's either 77 or 490 but either way it accomplishes the same thing which Jesus is saying all the times he didn't mean for Peter to go okay 77 sounds hard i'll have to get a little book to write that down and i'm going to keep up someone does something i'm like i'm forgiving you and just.

So you know we're at 37 we're a little we're getting close to halfway that you tell somebody okay but this is 76. you got one more shot of this and we're done and some of you who have been married for a while you're like 77 that was like year five on this thing but he says 77 and reality is you have to be in real relationships for this to apply which is a beautiful thing that the Church is supposed to have that's why he's using the term brother it doesn't mean your actual blood brother he means your brothers and sisters in Christ that we would actually be around each other enough to get on each.

Other's nerves and to sin so much that it actually needs uh unlimited amount of forgiveness this is one of the things we talk to our group leaders about we talk about the concept of we celebrate the mess meaning that if we're going to be real Church family in real life we're going to have real conflict because all of you are real sinners that's actually that's a that's a Mill City Church of kc guaranty we don't guarantee a lot but we guarantee.

If if you're new and you're just hanging out and you're just joining a group i want to i want to make a promise to you if you stay long enough we will sin against you will hurt your feelings we'll do something we ought not to have done and guess what if you stay long enough you'll join us and participate you'll hurt our feelings you'll do things you ought not to have done that's the reality of walking in relationships and that's why we tell our group leaders we celebrate the mess which is that your group is going to have some mess.

If every time your group gets together and we say how are we doing everybody goes fine fine fine fine fine fine okay sometimes that's true you run that out for six months we've got a group full of liars who need to repent they're sinning address it but that's the reality is that we're going to have some mess and this is beautiful when you're the sinner that's exactly the answer we want 77 times uncountable don't keep a record this is actually what.

First corinthians 13 in the the chapter on where he talks about love and what love is and where married couples tried to steal it and they're like no you're not allowed to talk about it unless it's at a wedding because that only applies to us which is silly it was said to the Church it's how love is supposed to work in the Church it says that love keeps no record of wrong it's not resentful that it has no record and that's what he's saying that you would not keep a record of wrongs that.

When you forgive somebody they restart you reset it with them that's the point see Peter's saying okay but that's one that's a tally mark right so they've sinned and i'll forgive them but i'm putting a tally mark and Jesus says no there are no tally marks you forgive them we're reset we're at zero and the reality is when you're the sinner that's beautiful but when you're sinned against that's hard this is a good time for us to have a beautiful double standard where you forgive me unlimitedly and i get to keep count that's how most of us want this to work.

But that's so think about it somebody in your group lies about you they say you said something you didn't say causes some trouble you find out about it you finally trace it back to why are they acting like this and you finally they told me you said this i didn't say that you go to them and you say i didn't say that and they go yeah you're right you didn't i was stirring stuff up i've done this since high school and i'm sorry i'm trying to change please forgive me.

Because they actually repent that's that's how this works they don't just say no no these are people who actually repent like i'm sorry i shouldn't have done that you forgive them and then six months later they do it again so you walk through the process again you find out we did this you forgive them eight months later they do it again now most of us are saying we're not friends anymore this isn't how this like i'm not i can't i'm a fool to stay in this relationship.

Jesus would say no you're one of my people to stay in this relationship if they're genuinely repenting and for most of us we'd say well they're not really repenting because they keep doing it but is that how we treat it when we sin because i can tell you right now i've been married for 10 years and i'm on i'm past 77 on some things and my wife will say we've talked about this and i'll be like you're right and i am genuinely sorry again.

Because you're right that's a really good point i shouldn't do that and i might do it again but i'm genuinely sorry and i don't want to and i'm actively trying to repent but we do that again and when it happens to us when we're the sinner it's like no that makes sense that i'm genuinely sorry and then yes i keep i keep doing that but when somebody else does it would go they're not actually repenting and so for some of us we are holding on to unforgiveness this is too painful.

Look at the damage they've caused well i'll forgive them but i'm not going to forget i'll forgive them but they're not going to make a fool out of me i just don't think i can open myself back up to them i just don't think this can be the way it was i don't think you know i'll still i'll stay in the group but i'm just not going to talk anymore some of us have this with people in our community group some of us have it with some of our Church family members some of us have it with old Church family members from another Church another pastor somebody that we have this that we've held on.

To some of us this is people from high school this is people we grew up with some of us this is a spouse this is a parent this is our children we've got something we're holding on to and we have kept a record now Jesus if we actually did this this would be beautiful but we don't want to this is hard for us and so Jesus tells a story to help cement this idea and to help us understand why this is how this has to work not ought to work has to work this way.

For those who belong to him for those who are in the kingdom so this is what he says verse 23 therefore the kingdom of heaven so this is his kingdom as it advances and what it ought to look like and how this plays out therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants so he's going to pay some back he's going to get back what he's owed when he began to settle one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

Okay so that's lost on us a talent so a dinari was a one day's wage you worked you got a dinari that was a day labor wage so that'd be minimum wage to 15 an hour kind of like a your day's worth of work depending on the job you had is about a dinari a talent would have been 20 years of day labor so 10 000 talents so 20 years a day labor is 300 to 600 000 10 000 talents is 3 billion to 6 billion dollars it's a silly amount it's insane that this person would owe six billion dollars.

If i'm doing pre-marital counseling and i'm like all right now let's talk about debt how are y'all in credit card debt and the husband's like yeah you know as we're getting married i am bringing in some debt i got some credit card debt okay how much credit card debt do you have 1.2 million dollars in credit card debt i know y'all are in love i look at the girl and i'll be like i'd probably just walk out on this one that's kind of this this number is insane.

If you went back in time one million seconds you would go back all the way to september 22nd of this year if you go back in time one billion seconds you go back to october 4th 1989. that's the difference between a million and a billion this is a silly number when he says ten thousand talents they're like us i don't know what a billion dollars is can't even picture it even that going back to 1989 thing only kind of helped ten thousand talents it's a silly number it's ridiculous this guy owes ten thousand dollars.

Now listen some people get into business they take out a loan and some bad things happen and it doesn't turn out the way they want to this is like wicked gross negligence to be three billion dollars in debt this is insane how much debt this man has accrued and he he's over and abundantly rudely sinfully imposed upon this king he is in debt 25 and since he could not pay right makes sense i'm gonna write you a check don't cash her till monday no he couldn't do that since he could not pay his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made.

So he says that's it i'm collecting everything you own your house every piece of property all of it we're selling it and you're getting sold and your wife's getting sold and your children are getting sold and i'm going to get some of my money back i'm going to recoup some of it not all of it he would not have had that much money to recoup even after he sold everything but the point is i'm going to take it out of your skin it's coming out of you you owe me.

So the king orders that he be sold and that some amount of debt be repaid verse 26 so the servant fell on his knees imploring him have patience with me and i will pay you everything the concept of someone falling on their knees i don't think you've ever seen this have you maybe seen children do it it looks silly if you see it happen in real life if you were at the bank and somebody was on their knees in front of people at the bank holding on to their shirt saying please please don't don't do it you would realize that they had reached a point that they were just broken he falls on his knees.

And he says have mercy be patient i'll pay you back which is a lie he's not going to pay him back he can't pay him back he's saying he'll try out of pity for him verse 27 the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt he doesn't release him and put him on a payment plan he doesn't say okay well you're working for me for free from now on he doesn't he says you're forgiven he says to his guards can't go the guy his scribes go cancel that wipe it clean he's forgiven have you ever almost gotten a speeding ticket you knew you deserved it this is like that.

But six billion times better this moment of freedom of joy of delight that's not hanging over his head anymore he walks out he didn't have to pay back with what he had he has what he has and he owns it now he's not in debt anymore verse 28 but when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii three months a couple thousand dollars a decent amount but not nearly compared to what he had he owed him 100 denarii.

And so you would think how would he respond first of all he's skipping down the road whistling he sees this guy and you think he'd be like tony because that's a palestinian first gen first century name they used tony you don't owe me anything because he would pass it on right he knows what it feels like seizing him he began to choke him saying pay what you owe what see he walks out some owes him three months worth of work and he sees him and he thinks.

Finally i caught this rat and he grabs him and starts choking him choking him saying pay what you owe the guy gasped out so his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him have patience with me and i will pay you that's exactly what he just said so now he's going to have that moment where he has a flashback his heart changes he refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt when his fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed.

So the king forgives this one servant this one this other servant has peers they're on his level he went on level with the king but he's got peers and so he forgives he's forgiven by the king and then he attacks another servant and then the other servants see it and they go tell the king they wouldn't told him all that had taken place verse 32 then his master summoned him and said to him you wicked servant i forgave you all that debt.

Because you pleaded with me and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as i had mercy on you and in his anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt so the king says it's ridiculous you owe me and he takes it right back out of his skin he says no this this this isn't how this is going to work and he throws him in jail and this story this man's forgiven this and it reminds me of the um the movie it's a wonderful life it's a christmas movie it's on every christmas season there's this guy named george and he's just a solid guy he he.

Had had hopes and dreams but he kept just kind of dealing with duty every time duty came up he just handled things that needed to be taken care of and so he's very sacrificial throughout this whole story and he's serving others and he works really hard to serve others and he in the in the story though his uncle is really forgetful they run a bill a business and his uncle loses eight thousand dollars which at that time was a significant amount of money and it's gonna come out of george the main character and it's gonna seem like he embezzled that he stole it and everything's gonna fall apart he's gonna go to jail everything's gonna.

Get foreclosed on he decides that he's worth more dead than alive because he has a fifteen thousand dollar life insurance policy so he goes he's planning on committing suicide the whole story is him realizing that he shouldn't he decides not to he's running back to his home he's just going to face what's coming to him he's going to go to jail but he thinks that's better than suicide and while he was out everybody was worried about him his wife was worried about him his wife runs around town and just goes and tells everybody george is in trouble we need to get money together.

So he shows up last season in the movie he's at his house people just start pouring in and they just start piling money on the table they said we heard you were in trouble we don't know how you got in this debt but we're going to pay it back i mean it's beautiful he walks out on his porch he's just blown away and he sees the sky that we had seen earlier in the movie that he had helped out a couple of times and he says fred and he says fred everybody in the neighborhood came in and helped give money back to me and you owe me 20 you owe it to me they were.

Given out of the generosity of their own heart you owe it to me he jumps off the porch and he attacks him he just starts punching him in the face and it fades to black and hark the herald angels sing plays and it's beautiful and it ends exactly the way you want it to end and that's why it's a christmas classic that doesn't happen at all because you along with him you feel in your heart this beautiful moment while you're watching this of forgiveness and redemption this moment where everything's working back out.

For this guy when he didn't have to and that's what should have happened in this story but this man walked out forgiven and it was completely lost on him it was as if he deserved it i don't know it was as if that's how the king ought to have acted i don't know what's going on his heart but we know that as soon as he saw someone else who needed forgiveness from him he wouldn't give it and Jesus says this as he finishes the story.

Verse 35 so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart the reason we address sin is that we believe it's destructive and we long for forgiveness and reconciliation we we address sin so that we might forgive and so that we might restore we don't address sin to catch somebody or to harm somebody or to call to collect on their debt we address sin so that we might wipe debt clean this story.

Jesus says that's how it will work if you're forgiven by the father but then you fail to forgive he will call you to pay your debt colossians 3 puts the same idea this way it says colossians 3 13 will be on the screen bearing with one another which i just love that's a command to the Church you ever feel like that's all you do with these people good you're being biblical you're living out what it's like you're bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the lord has forgiven you so you also must forgive if you're a believer if you're a Christian you've placed your faith in Jesus you have received lavish unlimited forgiveness far beyond anybody owes you and so we give lavish unlimited forgiveness we are a forgiving people because we are a forgiven people and when we fail to forgive and when we're unwilling to forgive what we are announcing is that we don't actually believe the Gospel that man must not have understood what had just happened that's that's the only way you can read that story and go he just didn't grasp how much his debt had.

Been paid and so when we are unwilling to forgive we actually are holding out that we don't believe in forgiveness we don't believe the Gospel we don't want it we don't understand it i love that it uses the concept of debt because that's actually how sin works it creates real debt if i borrowed five hundred dollars from you and then never brought it up again you would feel that when we were around each other and you would be like i know he remembers he's got to.

Remember right he feels that we're around each other too is he not if you brought it up and i was like oh yes i do think he kind of you know and then you would feel like the reality of sin is that it creates debt when the king says his debt is forgiven we might be confused and say well nobody paid the debt but that's not true who paid the debt the king in this story the king paid the debt when he says the debt's forgiven it came out of him he said instead of me taking it out of you instead of me making you pay what you owe i'm going to take it out.

Of me and that's why we use that language when someone sins against us we say i'm going to make them pay i'm going to take it back out of them and that's an option we only have a few options when somebody sins against us uh tim keller puts it this way he says it's like if i came to your house and i broke a lamp i break your lamp and you say don't worry about it well you have a couple options you can say don't worry about it you can say you owe me a lamp you can take it back out of me right you can say don't worry about it.

But if you say don't worry about it you are willing to go without the lamp that you had so you you pay in lack of light and in the money you spent that is now broken or you can go buy yourself a new lamp but either way you're incurring the cost of forgiving me that's why we don't want to forgive because we have to incur the cost that's why we say things like i don't know just i'm having such a hard time forgiving it hurts yeah it hurts to forgive our model.

For forgiveness is not God magically waving his hands our model forgiveness for forgiveness is the son of God brutally beaten and nailed to a cross forgiveness is costly that's the reality we see in colossians 2 13 it says you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands just leave that slide up there we're going to be here.

For a minute do you realize that when you sin you accrue debt actual debt if you sin against somebody you are taking out of them you are harming them when we sin anywhere against anybody we sin against God and we accrue debt i've heard that they're gonna start having stores where you basically just walk around and you just put the items in your cart and while you put the items in your cart digital technological science adds it up and then you just walk out the door and it charges you.

Now i don't know how all that would work magic is a good guess but i've heard that this is what we're going to do that's a good picture of actually what we've done our whole lives every time we've taken something that wasn't ours every time we've lied about somebody every time we've almost kind of told the truth to manipulate a situation to make ourselves look better to control how about somebody responded to us every time we've been jealous and resentful every time we've sat around and pouted.

Because we didn't get our way every time we've been envious or lustful every time we've willfully participated in sexual sin and debauchery every time we've participated in gluttonous and drunkenness every time we've walked around in this world destroying God's good design and sowing unrighteousness we are accruing debt and the reality is if you're honest with yourself and you think back over the course of your life six billion dollars sounds about right it doesn't seem like a ludicrous number anymore it's like.

If you were charging me for every time i've willfully and sinfully harmed those i love you honestly if you think about the people you love the most and how much you've sinned against them that's the best you can do i desperately love you and i am inflicting severe harm on you that's the best version of us a cruise debt that'd be like if you were the best version of your business dealings would only be bankrupt by four million dollars we have debt by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross what was nailed to the cross.

Jesus that's why first corinthians said he who knew no sin became sin second corinthians became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God and our sin debt was placed on Jesus and nailed to the cross and if you believe in Jesus you are forgiven it's wiped clean it's gone he's canceled the record of your debt you're free if you have not placed your faith in Jesus you have debt but he's willing to pay it you can repent of your sin you can come to him you can plead.

For mercy and he'll give it he won't tell you here's how to pay restitution here's how to earn it back he'll wipe it clean that's the beauty of the Gospel and that is why Christians must forgive because we're a people who have been forgiven if anyone was to understand what debt felt like and what forgiveness felt like it should have been the man in this story and if anybody is to understand what debt feels like and what forgiveness feels like it should be Christians you are not a Christian.

Because you are one of the good ones you are not a Christian because you have earned it you are not a Christian because the record of your life is in the positive we are Christians because we had a negative balance that had to be paid with the costly blood of Christ it had to come out of somebody's skin and we stood in line and said not ours please let it be Jesus by the grace of God let it come out of his skin and he was willing to do it that we might have forgiveness and how dare we how dare we say thank you.

Jesus for forgiveness and then look at someone else and say do you know how important i am i can't live with what you've done to me no we're forgiving people because we're a forgiven people and some of you right now need to forgive you have received lavish grace and you are holding debt against somebody and you need to cancel it and you need to take it to Jesus and say you who could forgive six billion dollars i need you to teach me how to how to forgive fifteen hundred i need you to teach me i need you to change my heart i need you to melt me.

So that i might not hold on to this any longer and act as if i don't know you and do you know how beautiful this is that Christians genuinely from their heart can leave this room pick up the phone call their father who they haven't talked to in years and say i forgive you the Christians can leave this room and and work it out in front of their bibles with someone you don't even know how to find or talk to and say.

Lord i forgive them i let it go you know how beautiful it is that we get to walk in family with people who don't keep a record of debt because that's the only type of people you can consistently walk in a relationship with that we would be people who forgive because we're people who have been forgiven don't miss out on that if you need forgiveness come get it and if you owe forgiveness go give it let's pray God we thank you that you forgive sinners that you took it out of your own skin that by your wounds we are healed that you have canceled the record of our debt and may we forgive.

Because we have to if we can't forgive we don't believe the Gospel so lord may we believe the Gospel and may we be a gracious kind forgiving people that put you on display in a way that the world cannot match that we address sin and forgive the world is only able to do one or the other of those they can address sin but not forgive or they can just say let's not worry about it but we get to do both in a way that beautifully displays the cross where you called us out.

For our sin and forgave us and may you work in our hearts today by the power of your spirit to receive forgiveness and to give forgiveness in Jesus name amen.

Church Discipline - The Process (Matthew 18:15-20)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Church Discipline - Part 2

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors here we are in week two of three weeks of walking through uh the subject matter of Church discipline that we're seeing in Matthew 18 so if you have a Bible you can go ahead we're going to be Matthew 18 verses 15 through 20 and you can turn there also be along it'll be on the screen for us to follow along so in college i went to presbyterian college up in clinton south carolina and and i studied religion which was interesting.

Because in the religion department the Bible was neat it was a nice book uh wasn't very authoritative uh certainly wasn't seen to be true so my experiences in in that uh major was was quite interesting i remember one class in particular it's called Christian doctrine you might think oh Christian doctrine where you study the Bible and you look at some of the historical Christian doctrines and you come to class and you discuss kind of you know what lines up with the Scriptures.

If you thought that you would be incorrect again the Bible was just kind of an addendum to christianity uh in my studies up there and uh that class in particular uh basically you just kind of came ready to discuss whatever the subject was kind of shooting from the hip however you felt and uh at times i came ready to defend the Scriptures ready to to make a defense for why certain doctrines were true and etc but there were some days that i was just kind of tired and fighting battles like that sometimes is just tiring.

So there's sometimes i came and i was like you know what i think i'm just going to be a little bit more silent this period and i remember one class in particular the subject matter was was the judgment of God and i just i don't have it in me to really debate this today and i stayed silent and then about halfway through the class right kind of the time was most heated the professor looked at me and said spencer do you think we're called to judge anyone this is going to go.

Well so i said well yes and before i could add the caveats before i could really get into my kind of my argument someone there's there's three people in my class i remember they sat in the back row and they would probably consider themselves to be fairly open-minded but by open-minded they meant open to their own opinions and they hated yours and and they really got aggressive about a lot of things and immediately they just kind of they kind of tightened up and one of them just said uh-uh my.

God says we never judge anyone ever and i just said okay and i'll open up to first corinthians five and i just read start to read one passage verse 12 and 13 i said for what have i to do with judging outsiders is it not those inside the Church whom you are a judge God judges the outside purge the evil person from among you and what i tried to get to and some semblance of somewhat got there and they were very upset about is that there's this idea that yes.

God calls us to hold each other accountable there's this expectation in the new testament Church of of collective repentance of correcting one another of rebuking one another at times that that's a form of judgment sure we don't judge outsiders that's what Jesus is getting at in Matthew 7. that's self-righteous judgment but there is this this expectation of accountability for the Church but there is this visceral reaction from them in our class and honestly i think it is really picturesque of how our uh culture reacts to this type of accountability how it reacts to really this subject matter that we're walking through in these three weeks the subject of Church discipline there's this it's within us.

It just there is this reality that culture has affected us we don't like the idea of this but last week we introduced what Church discipline is and i'll define it again Church discipline is the practice through which the Church pursues holiness and joy by addressing and correcting sin and waywardness read that one more time it is the practice through which the Church pursues holiness and joy by addressing and correcting sin and waywardness and as we're walking through this there was three different weeks last week was uh the purpose of Church discipline this week is the process we're going to.

See how Jesus calls us to walk this out and the next week is the posture and as we walk through this to be honest there's a part of us culturally that's not going to like parts of what we're going to walk through today it's just we're just not but i want to press into that i want to help us see that maybe this isn't a subject matter that we just kind of submit to and obey because the Scriptures call us to that maybe actually.

Jesus is doing something here and that this process of Church discipline actually is a means of grace it is a means of grace that binds the Church and keeps us together so that we all might make it to the end and no one might be led astray and that's what Jesus is going for here so let me read the passage all in one clip and then i'm gonna pray and then we'll walk through this piece by piece so verse 15. if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you you have gained your brother but if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the Church and if he refuses to listen even to the Church let him be to you as a gentile and a tax collector truly i say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven again i say to you.

If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask it will be done for them by my father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there i am among them let me pray God we ask that you would speak to us right now and i know that there is probably a lot of different opinions i know there's probably a lot of different even experiences with this God i pray that you would just open up the Scriptures to our hearts and speak to us this morning in.

Jesus name amen all right so again Jesus is teaching he's kind of gone through a little bit of the purpose of what he's getting ready to say and then we launch into verse 15 and instead there's a this is a three-fold process we're about to walk through and here is the first step if your brother verse 15 sends against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he listens to you you have gained your brother he says go and tell him his fault we don't like that all right we are a mind your own business type of culture all right you do you and i do me we don't like.

The idea of getting the other people's business we we just don't and we certainly don't like anybody getting and calling out our faults right have you y'all remember uh uh mari that tv show and every now and then they get the kids on there that just were wild and needed discipline and and uh and those kids would just they would just they would say the most outrageous things they you know they try to talk to him they say i don't i go.

Listen to you i do what i want and they just would get really aggressive with lots of curse words about how no one was going to tell them what to do and the reality is is that that's what goes on our own heart we're super polished on the outside we would never act like that but that's truly what's going on when anybody comes to you and corrects you you're like all right tell me how to live my life i'm gonna do me you do you it's just we don't like this at all we're too individualistic to.

See that actually we belong to one another that in the Church we are together we belong to one another therefore we walk this out together in repentance together which means calling one another out and calling out faults within one another but we don't really like that i love what um there's a theologian named john calvin he and his institutes of Christian religion he walks through just kind of a defense of Church discipline it's a little bit of a longer quote but i want to walk through it.

Because i think it's super helpful he says but because some persons and their hatred of discipline recoil from its very name let them understand this if no society indeed no house which even has a has even a small family can be kept in proper condition without discipline it is much more necessary in the Church whose condition should be as ordered as possible what is getting out there is is you may not like the idea of of Church discipline i mean i like the idea of of correcting one of them.

But here's the deal he says no society can function without that society needs order he says no family even a small one can exist and function the way it's supposed to without order how much more so does the Church need this those of us that deal in eternal things he keeps going he says accordingly as the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the Church so does discipline serve as its sinews through which the members of the body hold together each in its own place.

Therefore all who desire to remove discipline or to hinder its restoration whether they do this deliberately or out of ignorance are surely contributing to the ultimate dissolution of the Church now as a mouthful but what he just said was is that just as uh the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the Church that we have been saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the empty tomb that as a Church we believe that.

Jesus is better than everything else that we are a Gospel-centered community on mission the things that we uphold that are central to who we are that's the soul that's the heartbeat of the Church but he pushes it further and says that Church discipline is the sin used it's the muscles fibers that bind us together that keeps us together otherwise we dissolve otherwise we don't exist that's a strong statement to say that if we though we believe in the Gospel don't actually walk this out and repentance together we won't exist.

But here's the deal we believe that as a Church we preach this all the time we agree with him we believe as as chet walked us through last week that sin is serious if you weren't here last week i would encourage you to go back and listen to this sermon but what he walked us through to help us see what Jesus was teaching is that sin is very serious we we think it's cute we treat it lightly but ultimately it can lead us to destruction.

Because we believe sin is serious we recognize that repentance is needed and that within us all of us are sinners all of us are jacked up we all need to walk this out in repentance that comes from the cross that ultimately comes from the saving doctrine of the Church and what Jesus has done for us we believe this we that's why we say good news before good advice is the things that we walk out all the all the time together in the Church we believe this and we believe it's actually not only necessary that it's good.

So because we believe this we we take this process seriously in the steps that he lays out so let me read 15 again he says if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone now he says if your brother sins against you and when you look at luke luke's version of this and his Gospel is even more condensed luke says in verse 17 3 he says pay attention to yourselves if your brother sins rebuke him.

And if he repents forgive him so what we see here is that this is all of sin whether it's against another Christian or it's sin in general the idea is is that if you see a brother or sister in sin that you would go you were to go and tell them their fault because sin affects the whole body of Christ now it's important to see how he says to do it he says go and tell them their fault in private all right this is uh going to them one-on-one this is not you just calling them out in front of other people that's not the process here he says no go and tell them their fault.

In private. we've had some folks in the past have come to us and they've said listen so and so and the Church did this or so and so said this to me and our kind of our initial response usually is okay well have you talked to them first and they'll say well i'm no i've i'm planning to and it's like well why don't you go and talk to them first if that doesn't go well we can we can go from there.

But you need to actually address them in private first a few months back um some of y'all know jeremy powell jeremy powell serves in kid city and if you know jeremy he's he's light-hearted he's goofball um and jimmy's a friend of mine and every now and then we talk he'll come into my office but a few months back he came in i could tell very pretty quickly that it was it was a little more serious he actually came to address me in some sin he came to call me out on an area of sin and me being the good Christian that i that i am i immediately said yes jeremy i receive your rebuke.

I repent and dust and ashes it was a two-minute conversation no um i'm as jacked up as the rest of us and i just kind of said actually jeremy i think i disagree with you and for the next 15-20 minutes we went back and forth and i was like i don't see the way that you're seeing it because there's this guy there's a part of us that just says i do what i want you you come to my office and tell me that i'm sent boy like this is part of us that just wants to bow up at that.

But the flesh started to subside and the spirit started to take over and i finally realized and i after about 15-20 minutes i just agreed i was like dude i think i think you're onto something i think you might be right i repented and offered forgiveness and it was good but here's the deal that was difficult for him it's difficult to address anybody in sin it's also i would say in some ways a little more difficult to address one of your pastors who is in sin.

But he believes the Gospel right jimmy believes that that that sin is serious he believes that it's it needs repentance he believes that forgiveness comes through Christ and he loved me enough to address me in my sin and some of you might be thinking wait a second we can call out pastors and their sin yes yes you can and nadeem babam will be here after service to take to schedule any appointments you have with chet phillips so that you can meet with him this week and address any grievances you have.

Now we're all this we are a Church together and we uh correct one another in sin it's what we do and i'm thankful for brothers like jeremy who uh who are able to to see something that i'm blind to and call it out i remember watching uh i read the story a while back a few years back this nurse was uh watching hgtv she was watching one of those flipping shows and uh and she saw one of the the main characters in the show she she saw his neck and she saw that there was a a tumor and she called this she called the producers she got in touch with the producers and said.

Listen he i know this episode maybe a few months old but i i saw this and he has a growth on his neck and he needs to get that checked out and he did and it was cancerous and y'all because tvs are super clear now that's happened multiple times on reality tv shows and news stations doctors and nurses are watching and they see a cancerous growth on somebody's neck and they reach out to them to see them get help now how messed up would have been.

If she saw that she was like yeah it looks deadly i hope he figures that out how messed up would have been if he if she said you know what i if i call he could get awkward they might they don't know me they i just i don't want to i don't want to just he'll figure it out on his own how messed up would that have been because that's serious like he i mean he could die if he doesn't get the help that he needs they don't catch that soon enough and that's the reality of sin that's what that's what chet was getting at last week he quoted uh james 1 14-15 that says.

But each person is tempted when he's lured enticed by his own desire the desire when is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death the idea is that sin starts small but then it metastasizes and it grows and when it's fully grown it will destroy you how much do we have to not love someone how much do we not to care about somebody's eternity that just see them and send that they're blind to and say you know what they'll figure it out that's not my place all right that's that i need to he maybe someone else will address it maybe he'll figure that on his own how much do.

We have to dislike somebody even possibly hate somebody to not actually address sin and their own life when you see a brother in Christ who is flirting with someone who's not his wife when you see a sister who is gossiping about other Christians and the Church when you see someone who and your group just jokes about cheating on their taxes none of that's okay it starts small and it leads to adultery it leads to division it leads to fraud and degree that completely destroys somebody's life our silence and the face of sin means that we're.

Okay with it we are fine with somebody walking into destruction so that's not the path we take that's not the path that Jesus is calling us to he calls us he says to go and address them and and that y'all takes a lot of work because if we follow what he teaches throughout the whole of Matthew you actually have to do some soul work on yourself in Matthew 7 he says uh check the plank in your own eyes so that you may inspect the spect in your brother's eye right some people take that as oh you can't ever call someone out ever it's like no he literally said.

So that you can inspect the spec in your others and your brother's eye but that means that when you see someone who's in sin you've got to do the tough work of looking at your own soul and realizing oh i've got my own sin and then you got then you have to go through the emotional process of repenting then you got to go to your group and you got to repent and walk in the light and that's the whole process then you get yourself up and give yourself up to go and have that conversation.

And then Paul says in in galatians 6 1 he says brothers if any of you is caught in transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness then now you have to do it with gentleness and tack and that takes a lot of effort you see how much effort it takes to call somebody out and sin i mean that takes a lot and then you have to address them and wait for the possibility that that isn't going to go super.

Well that might be awkward or uncomfortable but you got to love somebody enough to be able to to call them out and sin and it's because not only it's a good thing it's we're commanded to do this i want you to receive this the God of the universe commands us to do this it is difficult but here's the deal nine times out of ten this goes well nine times out of ten you are filled the Holy Spirit they are filled with the Holy Spirit you love them they know that you that they love you and it goes.

Well and repentance happens and you gain respect for a brother or sister who went out on a limb to be able to call you uh into uh repentance but for the times it does not go well there's a second step in this process picks up in verse 16. but if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses so this is step two and we honestly sometimes want to bail on this step maybe you go and have a conversation and it just doesn't go super.

Well and it's like ah well i did my part i said my peace i got to figure it out for themselves nope now there's there's a second step here he says go and take one or two others with you that uh that may be established in charge of two or three witnesses that is something you see throughout the Bible from old testament anew there's this expectation that there's some collective authority with two or three witnesses so if you're if you're in a car accident and you're trying to explain this to the police officer and it's your uh your take that's one thing.

But if you have someone behind you who saw the accident and you have somebody on the street who saw it well there's three of you saying the same thing there's some collective authority there that adds some legitimacy uh to what you actually saw and that happens throughout the Bible from old testament news that there's some collective authority and a few that are looking at somebody each filled with the Holy Spirit and saying no no this this is serious and we're all seeing the same thing that you need you need to change you need to repent you.

Remember the Gospel there's grace for this but you got to turn from this there's collective authority there and most of the time when this happens if you've got three believers who love you and love Jesus and they're looking at you and they're saying no listen i'm telling you this is serious you need to see this for what it is most the time they're going to be moved by their their hearts will be softened they'll be moved by the spirit and they'll say.

Okay i i understand and repentance happens but you got to do the tough work to address someone who is in sin even if it takes one or two or three together so for us in our Church we say grab your group leader grab another person in your group and go and sit down with them and address them say you shouldn't be living with your girlfriend you shouldn't talk about other Christians like this and walk them through it with a ton of tact and gentleness and grace and pointing them to the Gospel and the forgiveness that.

Jesus offers that's step two and every now and then when this happens that doesn't go well and that is why there's a step three starts in verse 17. if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the Church and if he refuses to listen even to the Church let him be to you as a gentile and a tax collector truly i say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven again i say to you.

If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask it will be done for them by my father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there i am among them so if the way we're Christian doesn't listen to two three other believers who love them it is brought before the Church now this is why this is really important for us to understand in the middle of all this that the Church here has collective authority together.

Now a few chapters ago Jesus is uh Peter proclaims that Jesus is the messiah and he tells Peter we walk through this that your name is Peter you are the rock in which i will build the Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against you the keys the kingdom are being given to you and the picture here is authority is given to Peter and then it goes on to say whatever you bound bind on heaven will be bound and uh with your bite on earth will be bound in heaven whatever loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven same phrasing right here and that is a statement of authority that what you do.

Here on this earth you have authority here it resounds into eternity which means the Church here has the authority together all right y'all that's why one of the reasons why we're baptist we believe this we don't have popes we don't have solo leaders the Church collectively has the authority together and one of the ways that we display this authority one way that we walk this authority out together is in this process and if someone is unwilling to repent and the whole Church is calling them to repentance.

If they're unwilling to do that he says treat them as a gentile and a tax collector and for jewish ears who heard this when Jesus was teaching it they knew exactly what that meant jews did not associate with gentiles and tax collectors they did not eat with them they did not invite them over they did not have fellowship with them what Jesus just said is that if someone if the whole Church is calling someone repentance and they will not repent there's the door the Church has historically called this excommunication they are removed from fellowship.

Now he teaches this very clearly here and the rest of the new testament is going to display this the clearest case study we have of seeing this is in first corinthians 5. it's the passage i read so many years ago in my doctrines class i'm just going to briefly highlight it because i don't have time to walk through that passage but what happens in that Church in the Church of corinth is that there is a man who has had an ongoing affair with his stepmother and the Church is not addressing it the Church in in some ways is by not addressing it is a little bit proud they're not addressing it and Paul really comes.

Hard in first corinthians 5. and i was going to read you two verses that capture what he calls them to do verse 4 and 5 says when you are assembled in the name of the lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of the lord Jesus you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the lord and as i read earlier later he says purge the evil person from among you that seems very aggressive and very harsh to deliver this man to Satan.

For the destruction of his flesh what is he getting at what he's capturing is really what the parable of the prodigal son captures in luke 15. you remember the story the man rejects his father he rejects fellowship and life with his father with his father he takes his inheritance and what does he do he goes and he spends his his inheritance on wild and reckless living and where does it leave him it leaves him broke starving in a pig pit working amongst pigs which.

For jews is just an absurd picture that a jewish person would work amongst pigs not only is he working amongst pigs he is longing to eat the food that they eat that's the picture of what sin gets you that's the logical end and that is the destruction of the flesh what Paul is commanding in first corinthians is deliver this man to Satan so that he would experience the end of his sin which is the destruction of the flesh so that he might be saved eternally.

So that he might come home as the prodigal son does he comes to his senses and realizes this isn't what i thought it was my pursuit this isn't worth it and then he repents and comes home that is the picture of what it means to be removed from the Church the hope is is they would experience their sin and that they might come home that's the hope let me tell you a story the family their oldest son turns 17 and he starts uh doing drugs start small pot maybe some pills.

But then it starts to progress and as it progresses he starts doing heroin and they realize that their son is heading towards a path of destruction and what do parents do in that situation they stage an intervention and they say son listen you are going to destroy your life we have we have some rehab set up for you we want you to go and get help we love you and then he half hardly goes he walks through the process two weeks in skips out says i'm not doing this goes back to using drugs in and out of the house they're in tears every night as they're watching their son they don't.

See the strung out lost teenager they see their five-year-old boy who's wasting his life he's about to wreck everything and they've got some tough decisions to make do they let him continue pursuing this or they make some tough choices and say you are no longer welcome in this house because all they're doing is shielding him from the consequences of his own actions and what's worse is that his youngest his younger brother a few years behind him has always looked up to him and he's seeing this and it's possible that his younger brother very soon is going to start going down the exact same path what do they do in difficult circumstances like that they stand.

In front of their son they say you are no longer welcome in this house we love you we want you to get help you are not ready to hit rock bottom you are not ready to change but we are here for when you for when you go if you want to come back if you want to come back and change we're here we are waiting for you but you are no longer welcome in this house y'all that is a story that plays out every day across this country that has been ravaged by drugs and it is a modern day parable.

For exactly what the Church faces the reality is is that people are consistently pursuing sin to their own destruction and we have tough decisions as a Church to make are we okay with that that's the question that i have for anyone that doesn't like this are you okay with someone pursuing sin into hell are we okay with someone possibly leading a weaker brother or sister into sin and we discount that we don't think that that that's big that's that big of a deal.

But it is we've seen what happens in our own Church when gossip and slander run rampant i have heard and read and seen in other churches when they didn't check sin when they didn't check someone who had false teaching they didn't check someone who was living in sin and all of a sudden some weaker believers felt prayer that and they left Jesus all together that is the reality that we face as the Church so we tell people you are no longer welcome here and we've had to do this and it's incredibly painful it's incredibly painful every time we do this it is soaked in tears it is a painful process.

But they got to hit rock bottom elsewhere so they can come back home the most unloving thing you can do to someone who is pursuing unrepentant sin who has fallen headlong into this world is to cosign their path to hell with our silence with our apathy or with our cowardice we don't get to sit on the sidelines while someone derails their eternity tough decisions and bold actions are required for us as the Church because the hope is is that they would come home the hope is that they would.

See this as a means of grace that we would stand between them in hell and we call them to come home being on the outside of fellowship it's not good and that's the point it's not supposed to be but if anybody understood that if anybody knew exactly what that felt like it's the very person who wrote this letter Matthew was a tax collector he knew exactly what it felt like to be on the outside he knew what it meant to be avoided you know what i meant to not be invited to dinner he knew what it meant to not be invited to the festivals to seder mills to rosh hashanah or yom kippur to miss.

Out on the fellowship of his own people he knew what it meant to choose a life that was crooked and be outside the fellowship of God and yet the picture of the Gospel is that Christ steps into his path in the midst of his path he calls them into faith and he calls them in repentance and Matthew is brought into fellowship and that is the hope there's so much unknown when someone is sent out of the Church but the hope is and our prayer and our longing is that Christ meets them in the destruction of their flesh he meets them and says come home the hope is that people would come to repentance and we.

Are here with open arms ready to receive them this is a difficult process it is hard for us to walk out but we are commanded to and it is ultimately for the good of our Church may we be a people that is not okay with anyone walking into hell may we stand the path and plead and say don't choose sin don't choose the world i love you i don't care about the things you're going to say to me i don't care about the hurtful things you're about to throw at me i will stand between you and the path to hell.

Because i love you if it takes one or two or three others if it takes the whole Church we will stand in the way because i am not okay with you walking away from Jesus that is the hope and the heartbeat that we want to embody as we live out this command as a Church and it is difficult i am not understanding how difficult it is but it is ultimately for the good for the hope that we would see sinners come home matt's going to come up and he's going to lead us in a song and honestly he's just going to sing over us.

For a lot of it and i want us to absorb this i know it's difficult i know these words are not easy to absorb i know this process is not easy to walk out it takes a ton of grace for a bunch of sinners like us redeemed by Jesus to walk this out and the first thing we have to do in receiving a difficult teaching like this is to check our own hearts because we got sin in our own hearts there might be things that you haven't brought to the light there might be things hidden beneath the surface maybe you don't think it's a big deal and i'm telling you it is whatever that is.

Right now whatever is the one thing you're trying to ignore in your head right now it is a big deal and my hope is is that you would walk in the light of the Christians and you would bring that go to your group this week and be honest and open about the brokenness and the sin that you're living in we need this together we've got to look at our own hearts and we got to repent from up sin but also maybe you are in a group and you've seen somebody else who's living in sin maybe you've seen someone who is pursuing sin and it leads i make an appeal to you it leads to destruction.

And if you see that and you are unwilling to address it then you are showing an incredible lack of love for your brother and sister and i am hoping this morning that you would love your brother or sister enough to stand in the way and say i love you but this is sin and it's going to be hard at times and it's going to be difficult and it's going to be awkward but 10 000 years from now when they've repented and they are singing in the presence of.

God is it are you even going to remember the moment that awkward conversation that took place it's worth it eternity is on the line and we've got obedience to walk out for the good of our Church may we respond to this and the way that Jesus calls us to let me pray God these words are heavy and they are hard to hear because we are hard of hearing but God i pray that you would help us receive this i pray for anyone here that's walking in sin right.

Now that they would walk in the light they wouldn't wait for someone else to address it that they would come in repentance God go to work on their heart right now God i pray for anyone right now that is feeling the weight of this that they need to have conversations God i pray that you would bless those conversations i pray that the person they need to talk to will receive it in repentance got to pray that everyone in our Church will continue to walk this out together making it to the end we ask us all in.

Jesus name amen.

Church Discipline - The Purpose (Matthew 18:7-14)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Church Discipline - Part 1

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well good morning uh my name is chet i'm one of the pastors here if you will grab a Bible and go to Matthew chapter 18. we used to have bibles in the rose if you don't have a Bible we will have the the words on the screen but if you have a Bible go to Matthew chapter 18 we're going to spend the next three weeks walking through Matthew 18 and we're going to be talking about Church discipline if you were to study Church discipline there are places in the Bible that reference it there are places in the Bible that give you examples of it.

But to kind of look at the process by which the Church addresses sin Jesus lays that out in Matthew 18 and this is kind of the go-to passage for walking through how ought we to address sin in the Church body and so we're going to spend three weeks looking at that i want to tell you that first will be Matthew 18 verses 5 through verses 5 through 18 and then we will be looking at Church discipline in the next three weeks we're going to talk through the i'm about to get real baptist on you the purpose of Church discipline that's what we're going to.

Look at today then the process of Church discipline and then the posture of Church discipline so the purpose is why why do we practice this what's the point what's at stake next week we'll look at the process which is where a lot of people usually start which is just how do we do this and then we'll look as we in Matthew 18 at the posture kind of what's our heart as we walk this out and so that's what we'll be doing.

For the next three weeks but i want to read a quick definition of Church discipline it's the practice through which the Church pursues holiness and joy by addressing sin and waywardness so it's the practice through which the Church pursues holiness and joy by addressing sin and waywardness that discipline is uh it comes it brings with it some difficulty it brings with it some intensity it brings with it some correction but it does it for a good purpose so i want to give some examples of where discipline i've seen it in my life and two things that are very important football and chicken.

But disciplined football teams win you don't have a really good winning program not with any level of consistency that is not also disciplined and i've been on football teams that were disciplined and that meant that practice was more difficult but playing for that team was better and i've been on teams that weren't disciplined and practice wasn't that bad but the games were terrible because we lost and it's not fun and the point of being on a team so when you're on a disciplined team.

And when you see a disciplined team you know that there's a lot that goes into that there's a lot that was corrected there was a lot that was changed and there's some people who aren't on the team anymore because they were pursuing discipline but they were pursuing something better and beyond that we see this not just in football but also in important things like chicken there is one fast food restaurant that if they have a line of cars wrapped around the building i will still pull into the parking lot and that is chick-fil-a.

Because those people know what they're doing they are disciplined when popeyes came out with that chicken sandwich which is delicious by the way that popeye's chicken sandwich is amazing but popeyes was not ready for their sandwich to taste that good they just weren't if you see a lion wrapping around the hardee's you know something has gone wrong i'm not getting in that line i'll be there forever but you can get in a line that wraps twice around a chick-fil-a and they'll still get you your food it's crazy.

But they're disciplined that means there's some people who are on the team and some people aren't there's some people that they had to correct there were some things they had to change but it was for a good purpose chicken and the Church practices discipline which is a form of correction but it's for a good purpose ultimately joy ultimately salvation you see that's what we're looking at today is why would we care about this as we talk about the process next week and Church discipline gets a bad rap in the u.s especially where it's this why would we judge people why would we correct people can't everybody just follow their own path and you can follow.

Your own path if you aim to get nowhere in particular but we aim to get somewhere very particular and therefore the Church disciplines for holiness and for for joy and if we don't understand why we don't understand what we're looking at today the next week may seem cold it may seem mean some of the process as we walk through it but if we understand why we actually see that it's beautiful and loving so what's at stake it's a matter of life and death it's a matter of heaven and hell.

Jesus does not mince words as he walks through this passage so let's pray for our hearts that we would take sin as seriously as he does so that we might pursue joy like he wants us to God we ask for your help don't take sin as seriously as we ought we make little of it and therefore we make little of you we take it lightly and therefore we take you lightly and i pray that as we read the words of Jesus this morning that you would strike us with the weightiness and the reality of sin.

So that we might change and be brought into your joy in Jesus name amen chapter 18 verse 5 whoever receives one such child in my name receives me but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea so this is Jesus speaking when he says one such little one he's referring to the verse before it we don't have it on the screen.

But i'm going to read it to you so just listen he says he's talking and spencer looked at this two weeks ago but he's talking to his disciples he brings a child among them and he says whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of the heaven so he brings a child in and he says this is how you get into the kingdom of heaven he just gave these two examples that you believe and that you humble yourself.

And then when he says one such child he's moving from a physical little child to speaking about those who believe those who have humbled themselves and joined the kingdom so he's not talking about little kids anymore he's talking about believers which makes a difference as we walk out this passage so now when he talks about one such child he's talking about those who have believed and when he talks about little ones he's talking about believers he's talking about Christians so this is addressing sin in the Church he says whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea that is an aggressive statement that should cause us to pull up he doesn't just say it'd be better for you to be dead it'd be better if you had never been born he actually goes into kind of morbid gruesome detail on some sort of like mafia style hit that you would have a millstone tied around your neck and you'd be thrown into the ocean he wants to force us to picture this.

Because he wants to force us to pause and realize the weightiness of tempting someone towards sin now he does not mean this literally in that we ought to say you know what you've been a temptation get in the boat we're going out on lake murray that's not what he's getting at but he does mean this factually in that sin is this serious that we ought to take sin seriously Jesus means this when he says it that we ought to see and to know the weightiness of tempting someone he keeps going.

Verse 7 woe to the world for temptations to sin for it is necessary that temptations come but woe to the one by whom temptation comes we don't pronounce woes very often prophets do but we don't this isn't a phrase we usually use and what he means is sorrow pain destruction is a pun the one who does this that's what woe to the world sorrow pain and destruction is upon the world because of temptations to sin then he says it must come that's part of a fallen world.

But he says woe to the one by whom they come a few examples of this is when mr t says i pity the fool i pity the fool who would do this what he's saying is if that happens pain is coming if you cross this line pain is coming if we were standing outside of a fence and on the other side was a attack of of barking dogs and we said woe to the one who jumps that fence we would all understand in that moment what that meant.

When you cross that line there's pain and destruction it does not go well for you and so he's saying woe to the one by whom temptations come and immediately we should understand that we do not take temptation as sin as seriously as Jesus does some of us need to reconsider how we interact with our friends some of us older brothers and sisters need to reconsider how we deal with our younger brothers and sisters and what we lead them into some of us need to begin to consider how we speak to those in our community groups.

Because some of us flippantly give out counsel when we are not considering the weight of leading someone towards holiness i remember in high school i was often running late for class and i would be moving very very quickly to try to get to class until i saw someone else who was running late for class that was in my same class and then we would both slow down and walk together because as long as you had someone who was in it with you it wasn't going to be as bad he didn't want to be the only person showing up late.

But for mostly might as well add two more minutes to this and some of us are actively tempting others to sin because we want them to co-sign what we're doing and if it's okay for them to do it then it's okay for us to do it and we can feel okay if we'll both participate in this together some of you need to be greatly considering how you interact with your boyfriend or your girlfriend because woe to the one by who temptation comes.

Jesus is not kidding when he says it is deathly serious he takes it with blood earnest dead earnest seriousness and we don't much of our tv shows much of the plot are taking sinful things and making them funny making them light much of the stories we read and things we celebrate are just taking sin and making us become very accustomed to it and think it's normal and nice and fine woe to the world for temptations to sin verse eight he keeps going.

So he's turned from you being a tempter to now talking about you uh as you are receiving temptation verse 8 if your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire and if your eye causes you to sin tear it out and throw it away it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Now again he does not mean this literally but he does mean this it's he's using hyperbole he's giving us a very big aggressive word picture so that we would understand the weightiness of the situation but your hand is not actually what causes you to sin your hand participates in your sin but we have temptations outside of us and we have our desires inside of us that lead us towards sin but the reason why he says this is so that we would understand that there are certain things that we ought to be willing to face hurt.

For we all be willing to take some pain for so that we might not be harmed you all understand the difference between hurt and harm when you go to the dentist he hurts you for your good when you eat candy it deliciously harms you does this make sense when you go to the doctor there are times where they hurt you because there's something inside of you that's harming you and they're going to cut it out eventually the harm catches up with us eventually the harm does begin to hurt.

But often the harm doesn't hurt at first and often the help hurts so that we don't meet the harm so what he's saying is we ought to be willing to take on some pain some discomfort we ought to be willing to cut some things and some people off so that we might enter life he takes this deathly serious there's the gravity to the situation james 1 14 says this so it's not that our feet lead us into sin it's not that our hands lead us into sin.

If that were the case just so you all know if you really meant literally this there had been some maimed disciples proclaiming the Gospel the 12 wouldn't have made it out you guys Peter when he cut that guy's ear off in the garden Jesus was a put the ear back on give me your hand Peter your hand made you sin it's not it's not what he means but he means for us to aggressively take it this seriously james 1 14 and 15 says.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire so there's something outside of us that our desire responds to there's some kind of temptation outside of us that we co-sign in our hearts then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death keep that up for just a second there's some things that we're told about sin in Scripture that those who sin are a slave to sin that sin has mastery over us there's this picture that that james gives us that sin starts off small it's conceived.

And then it's born and then we feed it and then it grows and then it brings about death there are some of you in here today who have a pet sin that you are slowly feeding and you are convincing yourself that it is manageable but as long as it stays here as long as i just keep it this it's not as bad as that it's really not that often it doesn't happen that much it's better than it used to be i i quit doing this i don't do that what that guy does and that's awful we have some sort of pet sin and we're confused about what happens sin enslaves us and leads us to.

Death some of you have some baby sins that you need to kick you need to punt your baby sin before it gets too big you need to now you need to take it aggressively seriously i have a two-year-old son yesterday i spent a good bit of my day wrestling with him as i spend most of my time at the house fighting with my children for fun sometimes not for fun but one of the things i really want y'all to know is that.

When i'm fighting with my son and it looks like he's winning i'm pretending i could take him if i wanted to some of you right now have something that honestly you could get rid of but you're letting it grow and some of you right now are telling yourself i could get rid of this so i'll wait a little longer and that's already part of the problem it may be bigger than you think and when it is full grown it will enslave you and it will kill you and you can't you do not have time this is every time we hear that someone had a pet tiger which we're cool with in america america you have.

A pet tiger you have a pet line and then we find out that the tiger bit somebody's arm off or that you know siegfried got attacked or whatever were we shocked every time i hear he's like oh siegfried got attacked by a lion i wasn't like oh what it's like yeah it was a lion man that's what they do and some of you have a sin that is a pet lion that is growing that wants to devour and destroy you and you keep telling yourself that it's cute or that it's.

Okay and it is not and it brings about death so what is at stake here well he says it in verse 8 and 9 if your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away it is better for you to enter life crimpled or lame then so we have life on one side then with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire those are our options held out before us is life i love that description.

Because it's full enough for us to understand what he means life fullness joy delight vibrancy you ever say ah this is the life or man i wish i could just get to this a lot of us are looking forward and saying if i could just get to that if i could just have this then i'd have life i'd finally find it i'd be full i'd be complete and what he says is no that's in the lord and it's held out for you that you might have life.

But the other side is eternal fire which i think we don't talk about often enough i don't know if we fully wrap our minds around that i don't know if we fully believe that he says it's better for this life to be a little more difficult for you to be a little lame for you to limp your way into real life than for you to strut into hell eternal fire that it lasts forever and it is excruciating the terms that the Bible uses.

For hell that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth that there is it's outer darkness that there is a fire that is not quenched and worms do not die meaning there's internal and external torment forever that the seriousness of sin is displayed in the end result of it and the reality is is that sin is not serious because hell is bad hell is bad because sin is that serious you see we look at this and we say who is God to judge and who is he to try to tell me this and shouldn't he just love us and shouldn't he just forgive us sin isn't that big of a deal and really what we.

Mean when we say sin isn't that big of a deal is that God isn't that big of a deal he's not that holy he's not that glorious he's not that worthy of worship he's not that worthy of devotion he's big enough to help me but not big enough to need me to devote everything to him one of the beautiful things about the old testament law is that the punish the punishment fit the crime there were other laws in other places where the punishment seemed way out of proportion with the crime still something to get your hand cut off those sort of things.

But one of the things that was revolutionary about the Bible when it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth what it meant was the punishment needs to fit the crime and this God who sets up an equitable system for punishment says that the reality of rebellion against him is eternal hell and it fits the crime hell was made for Satan to be punished in i don't know what cartoons have told you he does not rule there he is destroyed there.

But it says it's prepared for Satan and his angels and that we who join him go with him that is terrible and destructive and we need to understand the weight of unrepented sin because it leads to death and death in eternal hell some of us have not wrapped our minds around that in the way we approach sin some of us have not wrapped our minds around that in the way we approach telling other people about the hope in Christ verse 10.

We're going to pause on verse 10 for a second because what he says here is a little confusing he says the see that you do not despise one of these little ones again talking about believers for i tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my father who is in heaven i'm going to read that again see that you do not despise one of these little ones for i tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my.

Father who is in heaven all right so this picture here is that angels actually stand at the very face of God they stand in front of him this is one of the things that gabriel says when he comes and tells john the baptist is daddy which i can't remember is zechariah or zechariah so we'll call him john the baptist's daddy he tells him you're going to have a son and when he says how do i know gabriel says i stand in front of.

God seriously and then he says you don't get to talk anymore until he's born there you go you now have a sign that i stand in front of God and have authority so he's talking about this picture of an angel standing before God these angel these spiritual beings i want to read a few verses to help you understand what angels do it says the angel of the lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them so these angels are sent to protect this is old testament.

But they're sent to protect those who believe psalm 91 11 he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways hebrews 1 13 and 14. this is talking about the excellency of Jesus how he's greater than the angels it says to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand until i make your enemies a footstool for your feet are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.

Look at that again are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation Jesus says do not look down on these little ones do not look down on these believers do not look down on these that you would earlier talked about don't tempt them don't lead them into sin he says don't look down on them and he says do you not know that God uses powerful spiritual beings to minister and to care.

For them and they stand before God these powerful spiritual beings who serve these believers actually stand in front of the face of God and so what he's saying is do you not see how elevated and glorious angels are they they had that mark in their mind and so he says do you not realize that they serve those who belong to the lord those who are little ones those who are children of God do you not understand that when you deal with a believer you're dealing with a son or a daughter of the king these angels get to stand in front of the very face of.

God and they are sent to serve sons and daughters of the king do not look down on them and here's what this means if you see a prince and they have a royal guard around them they are not a prince because they have a royal guard they have a royal guard because they're a prince so having angels care for us does not exalt us we are exalted and therefore angels care for us but we are exalted because we have our father be the king of heaven through the work of Christ this is immensely encouraging that.

God protects those who belong to him that all of us who are tempted and tried and wayward and who actively desire sin that God has angels around us guarding and protecting us and he doesn't take it lightly because we belong to him if you've placed your faith in Christ so he says don't look down on a believer you fail to understand the position they have in Christ this is not to exalt angels this is not to make us pray to angels it's to make us understand the exalted position we have in Christ as we relate to the.

Father verse 12. what do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray and if he finds it truly i say to you he rejoices over it more than the other more than over the 99 that never went astray so it is not the will of my father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish sin is a destructive leads towards death and eternal hell.

But it is not God's desire that any of these that belong to him should follow that path and he leaves the 99 to pursue the one that's missing now i don't i'm not super familiar with sheep i grew up in edgefield county i do know that when a cow gets out that's the one they go look for i know that when you call your hunting dogs back the one that doesn't show up is the one you go looking for and you do leave the other ones to go.

Look for it or you risk all of them and send them back out to run again hoping that that one will join it what he's saying is something that was obviously true to them if you have a hundred sheep and one's missing don't you leave the hundred and go look for it yes you don't go look at your account and go oh we only have 99. yes you go i'm missing one and you go look for it and when you find the one you celebrate that's this he says it's not the father's will that any of them should perish do you hear that do you hear his heart.

For you that he desires to redeem and to save i think we read this sometimes and we say well does Jesus really mean that does he take sin that seriously is it that deadly serious yes because he left heaven to come to earth to die on a cross for our place he takes sin deadly seriously he takes it with blood earnest seriousness so much so that he would shed his blood that he would lose his life so that we might be redeemed he's the one who comes searching.

For the one that is lost and some of us have been playing with sin and we need to understand the weight of that we need to understand that we ought to give some things up so that we might have life some of us need to cut off sin where it's growing that it's better if something's tempting you it's better for you to enter into life with no cell phone that gets the internet then to enter into hell some of you it's better to enter into life with no boyfriend no girlfriend than to hold hands as you walk towards destruction some of you it's better to enter into life without that promotion that meant that you.

Had to compromise your morals so that you could have it that you had to play ball some of you it's better to enter into life than to walk into hell wealthy some of you it's better to say no to any type of romantic relationship because your desires lead you astray and it's better to walk into life than to wander off into destruction and as we fail and as we sing Jesus has come to redeem he hasn't come to redeem those who have kept it together he hasn't come to redeem those who have behaved.

Well he wants us to understand the weightiness of sin but the response is to be found by the one seeking you because all we like sheep have gone astray we've all gone our own way and chaste after sin and we need the redemption that is in Christ that he would come searching for us that he would shed his blood that we might have forgiveness and that we might have life as we repent this isn't well-behaved people and bad people this is those who.

See their sin and repent and those who don't and that's why we practice Church discipline because we work towards repentance which leads us into joy he says that none would perish and that he would rejoice that's why because sin leads to destruction repentance leads to joy there's a song that i sing to my boys a good bit my dad used to sing it to me when i was growing up it's one of my favorite hymns it's softly and tenderly and it says that softly and tenderly Jesus's calling calling o sinner come home says why would you linger.

While Jesus is pleading pleading oh sinner come home and when you read this passage i can picture Jesus walking around looking for that lost sheep and he's just calling for it he's not angry he's not trying to scare the sheep he's trying to get the sheep back softly and tenderly he's calling and he's saying come home and some of us right now are holding on to our sin and staying away from Jesus and we are wrong and we are foolish and the end of that is destruction.

But if we repent and we run to him he rejoices he doesn't scold he wraps us up joyfully celebratorily grabs us some of you maybe need to make work more difficult and cancel your internet subscription some of you maybe need to be lonely for a month as you get rid of some friends be awkward for a month as you join a community group and get some new ones who are also sinners but hopefully or at least trying to point us in the right direction some of you need to lose a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

Today so that you might begin to walk towards life we ought to repent because the stakes are high some of us need to risk relationships with those we love as we correct sin in them because we love them enough and we believe the words of Jesus that there is life and there is rejoicing and there is eternal hope but there also is anguish and pain and destruction for all those who run head long away from the lord into their own glory standing fully under the weight of their own sin and rebellion in Christ we have hope that he died.

For sin that he died for sinners and that in him we might believe and some of you need to place your faith in him today you need to confess that you're a sinner and you need to tell him i need you to save me he does not put to shame any who would call on his name you're a lost sheep you're stuck begin to cry out he hears you he comes he's looking for you some of you need to repent right.

Now and place your faith in him and he does forgive and he rejoices and there is hope and there is life and some of you who are Christians need to understand the weight the hope that you have in him and that he desires none of us should perish and you need to repent of some sin that you've held on to it for a long time and you've told yourself it's okay it is not let's pray God we pray that none would perish.

But that everybody in this room would know the weightiness of sin would see the end result and lord we may limp we may hurt we may hobble but let us walk into life as we repent of sin as we change and as we're forgiven but we pray right now in this room those who are wrestling with their sin wrestling with themselves that they would see you clearly that they would hear your voice they would listen to your call and that they would come to you.

And if that's you don't hold back don't fight he's offering you life he's offering you salvation he's offering you hope there is doom and there is destruction on the other side take the sacrifice placed in Jesus's life for you lord we pray that by your Holy Spirit you would call they would answer they would enter life we pray lord that you would help us to repent of sin to confess sin to take it seriously as we take you seriously that you might have.

So much glory so much weightiness that we would see clearly how wicked and depraved we are and that we would see clearly how glorious is the hope in Christ for those who believe because it's about his righteousness and his behavior not ours in Jesus name amen.

Children, Children, What do you see? (Matthew 18:1-6; 19:13-15)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Children, Children, What Do You See?

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors here the thought of me preaching sent my daughter into a rage that's okay jokes don't hurt the sermon's about children um we're gonna be in Matthew 18 and 19 today so go ahead if you have a Bible you can uh go there we're going to be in both of those chapters you can follow along with us on the screen children i have little children i have a five-year-old a three-year-old and a one-year-old and one of the things that i've learned about them is that they're actually fairly humble uh i know that's going to change the older they get.

But for right now they display a lot of humility for instance my middle son my three-year-old uh he has no shame uh we'll uh we'll have people come over to our house and regularly he'll go to the bathroom and when he comes out he's just naked and i've told him i was like buddy you you can't come out of the bathroom naked and he'll go wow i'm like because you because you can't you have to wear clothes that's what we have guests over you can't and he just it doesn't register.

For him uh my oldest who's gotten better about this over time but there have been times where she just has no pride because she would have an absolute meltdown in public and would not care about what anyone else thought which if you know me is a struggle because i don't like to disturb the herd in public at all um it's it's a it's a lie but she doesn't care she's going to work through her emotions out in public uh children are needy they display a lot of humility and that they need and need a need our one-year-old obviously cannot uh exist without her parents taking care of her our our middle son one of his.

Favorite drink is milk and he will ask over and over and over again can i have some milk can i have some milk can i have some milk and i'll say but you can ask me a hundred times i told you you're gonna have milk later not right now and he'll jump into this uh this negotiation strategy will go can i just have just a tiny bit of milk just puts his fingers together just it's just a tiny bit of milk i don't care how cute you.

Look right now you're not you are not getting milk but i've reversed this on him um at bedtime we'll have a Bible story and then i individually put my two oldest um to bed and uh and i'll get on his level and his bed and i'll say buddy you think i love you just a tiny bit and he starts laughing he's he's like no i said no i love you more than you could ever possibly know or imagine then i'll go do you think.

Jesus loves you just a little tiny bit and he's kind of been a punk lately and he said yes i was like you tiny little heretic no no no Jesus loves you the more than you could ever possibly know or imagine and that is the story that we're walking through today Jesus is going to uphold children as an example of humility that is meant to be followed and then he's going to shift gears and show that he values children that the.

God of the universe loves children and then we're going to jump into chapter 19 and see what he just taught in 18 applying to his disciples that children are are worth uh they are valuable and loved and cherished by God and also they display humility in a way that should instruct us as disciples of Jesus so i'm going to pray and then we're going to jump into the story uh father i thank you that you continue to give us these uh incredible stories that display uh truths about the Gospel.

God i pray that you would help us uh be present you would help us receive this you would help us stay focused and and that you would speak to us this morning we asked us in Jesus name amen all right so verse 1 at that time the disciples came to Jesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so that's a concern of the disciples we see this in multiple places that they are are concerned about being great in this kingdom that.

Jesus is establishing uh years ago i was a part of another Church while i was in seminary and some of the pastors told a story where one time after the worship service uh the this gentleman came down he's a few years older than them he just kind of said look i love what you guys are doing here and i would love to serve here and before they could launch into here's some different places you could serve he said all right so here's the deal i i have some leadership experience in the past.

So i want to preach here a couple times a month and then he just started listing out all the ways that he could help them and he they just said look man we it sounds like uh that you you're gifted in some leadership what we need right now more than anything is we need someone who can help lead our parking uh outside our parking is a mess and we just need some real leadership there and he just kind of was appalled and he walked away and he never came back and that and and really the response of the disciples here demonstrates the logic of man the greatness is upward status the greatness is is climbing.

The ladder and Jesus is about to take that understanding of greatness and completely turn it onset picks up in verse two he says in calling to him a child he put him in the midst of them and said truly i say to you unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so he brings a child front and center here's your example unless you become like this child it's not that you won't have kingdom greatness you won't enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now the greek word for for child here is little children you could use a different word uh but he's talking about little children so think five-year-old unless you become like this five-year-old you will never inherit the kingdom of heaven which some of you might be like sweet you mean i can pitch a fit and be petty no he is not talking about maturity of a of a five-year-old he's talking about the humility of a five-year-old have the humility of a child.

So i want to take some time here and reflect on what is childlike humility what is that so there's a few different ways this plays out the first is status humility children don't care about status it's just not something they're concerned with and even more so in this culture this culture doesn't really elevate children as valuable at all it's one of the things that is unique about that culture and other cultures around the world that you don't actually level up and respect until you become an adult.

So in their mind it makes sense while the disciples are going to shoe the children away because they're not worthy of the respect of the presence of Jesus and he said no no you must become like this child which means lower your uh status and your head of what greatness is this is why in a couple chapters he's going to teach in Matthew 20 he's going to say but whoever would be great among you must be your servant he's helping them.

See that up is down the greatness in the kingdom is not what you think it is and your view of status so there's status humility there's faithful humility that children display children trust their parents they do i've been trying to walk through with my oldest uh different parts of who God is and over the last year we've been walking through uh the trinity which is a really easy concept to imagine as an adult much less a five-year-old but we've been walking through this and i'm like he is.

Father and he is he is uh Jesus is the son and he's the Holy Spirit he's three and he's one and he the wheels are turning and it just it's breaking her brain and a lot of times i'll talk about about Jesus and she'll just say no no you can call him God and i'm like yes we heart yes but he's also Jesus i know it's confusing he's three he's one but not in any of that is she distrusting of me she's trying to figure it out she's wrestling with these deeper questions with these deeper truths.

But she's not actually saying no i don't actually trust what he has to say no she's faithful and she trusts me and that's the kind of trust that Jesus invites us to not this arrogant posture that says God has to answer to me that when we delve into some of the greater mysteries and more difficult truths in our faith we do it from a posture of faith realizing there's mystery realizing this is hard to understand but doing it from a position of childlike faith and humility the.

Third picture this is dependent humility children are are needy creatures they are they're just dependent upon their parents when we run out of uh cinnamon toast crunch in our household as my daughter's favorite cereal uh not for a moment does she think you know what bridges come with me and she goes she's not going to go to our refrigerator and reach up maybe get a stool grab the keys and she's not going to convince him to get into the van and let him work the pedals and her work the steering wheel and go down the grocery store and pick up some cinnamon toast crunch and it's not at all in her brain at all no.

She knows that her parents will provide us she comes to us asking with no shame at all knowing that she's dependent upon us and that's what God invites us to with this type of humility that we know that we're not well we believe that we're not self-sufficient in and of ourselves that we would be completely dependent upon upon the lord and his provisions and the things that he does for us and the ways that he works in us there's this dependent humility give you one more picture of humility that children display it is persistent humility children are persistent i realize this pretty regularly.

When i walk home or when i walk home when i drive home this would be a long walk from here when i get home and and it's five o'clock and i i can pretty ge i can gauge the the temperature of the house uh and what's happened during the day pretty quickly sometimes i come in and and i hear mom mom mom and my wife just goes no i'm changing my name i am not mom that is your father you go to him and i realize that it's been a rough day and i'll just say babe no just just go to the bedroom go take a walk i'll handle it from here like i understand.

Because i'm around them a couple times a week for an extended period of time and they ask over and over again and they do more so even with her mom mom mom over and over and over and over again they're persistent there's no shame there they'll ask over and over again and that's what God calls us to in that type of humility that's why he taught in in the sermon on the mount to pray with this kind of we can come to the.

Father with our needs that's why in luke 18 he gives the parable of the persistent widow a widow who comes and asks and asks and asks and that's the picture of how we should be in our humility listen God is not annoyed by your request he is inexhaustible in fact he delights in his children coming over and over and over and over again because it displays the humility that is seen as great in the kingdom of God so different pictures of humility that children display and most of them are very difficult.

For us culturally to accept because culturally we don't value humility we don't i heard one pastor who actually really respect he gave a redefinition of humility that i think was i don't know was meant to be more palatable for our ears but he defined it as not humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less and it's like man that is pithy and that crushes on some type of inspiration poster in somebody's office but that is not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches no think less of yourself have a child-like status in your mind be needy persistent dependent which are all cultural values that we don't uphold not at all our.

Culture rejects that type of humility on multiple levels on one level it's kind of baked into the american dream that one of the chief ideals of our culture is achieving greatness through your own hard work through your own blood through your own sweat through your own tears we value those kinds of stories that that you can be self-sufficient make the american dream happen through years of hard work if you're older you've understood that for decades if you're younger you're stepping into the world you understand in our culture that is uh what is value dependency in our culture is weakness.

So on one level that's that's difficult for us to practice humility because our culture does not value it on top of it for a very specific uh generation of of people namely the one that that i am in we were raised as the self-esteem generation which i know for a lot of you baby boomers and upper gen xers you'll like to make fun of us for but i'd like to just go on the record and say you were the one that taught us this.

So you get to share the misery that is now because of that but for real we were we were raised on self-esteem like that you are great that greatness lies within you that you are special and amazing i remember in in middle school uh that we would go to these self-esteem assemblies and all the students were packing together in the gymnasium i remember one get one group in particular there's a bunch of guys and they came out with that message that you are great you can you can do anything you put your mind to.

And then they started like doing crazy stuff like tearing phone books in half which if you're younger they used to have phone books they were really thick with the internet didn't have numbers like you had to even tear these in half and they would break bricks and do all kinds of just crazy things and they say see you greatness lies but then you go out and achieve it and then 9 11 hit us in the face followed by the great recession.

Now the pandemic and how is that going i mean it's crushing to have that on top of this culture that rejects dependency on any level on multiple levels the odds are stacked to get against us and accepting this as a teaching so we need to break free from the culture here and become like children receive this teaching one of the reasons that i love the story of Exodus um there's there's there's a few there's lots of reasons why Exodus is an amazing story from the old testament one of the reasons that i really love it is is.

When they're in the wilderness God is trying to teach the Israelites that i am your God and you are my people and he's doing this one of the ways he does this is that they were slaves in egypt for hundreds of years in a system where they were slaves to a king to a set of pharaohs and when he brings them into the wilderness what does he do he provides manna he provides this daily bread that comes from heaven and what he's doing in the wilderness is teaching you he's teaching the uh the the Israelites that i am your.

God and you are my people i provide for you you are not going back to the system where you were slaves you are my people and i will provide for you and that is the type of Exodus that we need from this culture a culture that scoffs at humility that upholds the myth of the completely self-sufficient person we have got to break free from this and grow in a childlike dependence and humility on our God that is what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples that's what we need to receive as we read this.

And then he makes a shift he shifts from teaching this concept of humility towards what we're about to read next the value of children starting in verse five he says whoever receives one such child in my name receives me but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea so he shifts from humility of children upholding that to no no there's a correction that needs to happen here children are immensely valuable i mean he gives the encouragement that.

If you receive a child that you receive Christ and if you lead one of these little ones the stream it would be better for you to take a great millstone a great weight tied around your neck and to be drowned in the deepest oceans that is the wrath of God as a warning for those who would lead children astray and the reason why is because God loves children he cares for them they are tiny beautiful image bearers that he loves immensely.

Now on one level i think that's easy for us to get on board with culturally we we do a good job of physically caring for children we do probably a little bit too much because children end up becoming idols for us uh but we do a really good job i think of physically getting on board with caring for children uh culturally and it's historically this has not been the case and across the world there's still still cultures that don't actually value children like this i learned this one of the ways i learned this is.

When i was studying abroad i was in india and in india in some parts of the country that are poor you'll see lots of children like packs of children for lack of a better term and all these children are together for a reason because they've lost their parents and if you lose your parents in a culture like that you're on your own there's no one to to care for you and you make it on your own and and Christians have in a in a amazingly positive way impacted western culture we're the ones that started orphanages we're the ones that that emphasize caring.

For the fatherless and the motherless we we have a strong impact on western culture that is why we have social systems that are set up to care for children and that's why in other countries that don't have it we have missionaries to go and establish orphanages and care for children so i think in one sense we really grasp this that children are valuable however especially in western culture we care very little for the spiritual well-being of a child in fact a lot of ways that our our culture is.

For actually tearing down the spiritual will of being of a child and this shows up in a few different ways but one of the ways that shows up is that children and their purpose in society is to ultimately provide for that society that they are the future caretakers of the physical well-being of society so what happens is that we absorb that as the main focus that ultimately raising children in this culture is raising them to succeed materially and contribute to the material flourishing of society.

Let me say that again that raising children in this culture primarily is that children would succeed materially achieve the american dream and contribute to the material and physical well-being of society and there's a few ways that this shows up but one of the main ways it shows up is what is preached as the ultimate key in salvation for children and that is education that is the ultimate goal that education is the solution for children and what happens in our culture is that there's.

So much weight placed on education and not even education for education sense it's actually for building a resume for getting good grades so there's this huge push to make sure that kids make good grades and achieve and make straight days and build that college resume because you got to get scholarships and you got to get into a college you know what else you need you need activities and you need sports and you need clubs and we teach children to do and do and do and go and go and go.

Because what is the measured success of a child that one day that will secure a very good job and they will achieve happiness through the accumulation of material things what Jesus teaches is that those things one day will pass away through must through rust and moth destroying it all the good biblical illustrations that Jesus gives on material things passing away that's the aim of our culture now are education and and sports and activities bad no no there actually can be very good things.

But when that becomes the chief aim what you have done is you've raised a generation of children to find value in what they produce and find happiness and things they can accumulate and there's no eternal aim there and here's the deal it would be better for us to tie a millstone around our neck and be drowned in the deepest waters to let our children become slaves in that system there is repentance that has to happen on our part so let me suggest a different path let's make the primary aim of raising children in this culture to know and love.

God let that be the primary aim for us and our families to know and love God let's read the Bible regularly with our children i mean as the night closes or is the on the morning before school what other rhythm works for your family to open up God's word and say this is who God is this is who our savior is i had a professor in in seminary he he taught something called once a week Gospel talks or or another circle that's called family worship and once we could get together with his uh with his with his kids and he would read the Bible and he would teach and he would talk to them.

He'd ask them what are you facing what kind of problems are you wrestling with that he helped them apply the Gospel and their lives and that's one thing we're trying to work on in our family especially with our language my wife has been pushing me on this because my go-to when the kids make a mistake or mess up i'll just say what's the matter with you this is phrases i heard growing up what's the matter with you and she'll go that's not helpful i know.

When she's been pushing me on how about talking to them in a way that says this what does that reveal about your heart all right you why did you hit your brother why did you steal that toy from your sister what does that actually reveal about your heart and at first i was really resistant because i was like man that seems really over spiritual which i know is bad because i'm a pastor but i finally repented and i was like okay that that that does make a lot of sense.

So i've i've changed it i'm like what's the matter with you and then she gives me a look and i'm like because you know what's the matter with you you have a deceitful and wicked heart there no i'm i'm growing in this i'm being pushed in this the language in which we talk to our children matters and shaping them how they understand the Gospel and also one of the things i think that just gets completely lost in all of this is teaching our kids to be virtuous the virtues of Christ love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control your kid may not make straight a's they may not get into the best of colleges.

How much better they be if they're actually a loving peaceful patient kind and good person who follows Jesus if you teach them to know God to apply the Gospel and to be virtuous here's the deal if you aim eternally the rest will follow that's what the proverbs teaches the proverbs teach over and over again if you teach a child to know God to walk with God to have wisdom the material is going to follow they're going to be okay they're going to take care of themselves there's nothing wrong with not wanting your child to be 30 year old in your basement that's not that's a decent desire.

But if you aim for the eternal the material will follow it doesn't mean they're going to be rich and that's fine because the deceitfulness of riches has has led many to destruction but they will know how to take care of themselves but more importantly they will eternally know God and they will function as virtuous people that's a much better legacy we need to have and value children with an absolute eternal aim these are the two things that Jesus teaches children example of humility that we should embody also value them in a way that has eternity in mind skip 19.

We're going to chapter verses 13 through 15 and we're going to watch him apply this then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray the disciples rebuke the people but Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven and he laid his hands on them and went away so Jesus gets an opportunity to correct his disciples in this moment again culturally children get away this is important.

Jesus and he says no no no no no let them come to me that's value that is applying what he just taught in 18 no i value children he's letting the children come to him this is the picture that we love of Jesus picking up children placing a blessing on them showing that he absolutely loves and values children that's what he's trying to help his disciples see they are valuable and my question for us as a Church is do we see the value of children that's the Church do we get this do we value children like.

Jesus does i get it there's a wide range of opinions about children in our Church i know this because i'm on facebook and there are lots of opinions about children on facebook there's a wide range i know some of you don't really like children like they they're strange and you're they're really hard to talk to sometimes being a group with them and you're like i i don't i don't even think i understand what you're saying okay bye like i understand it can be difficult they can be distractions they can distract and worship they can distract and group sometimes they smell maybe you resent the stage of childhood that you had to go through i don't.

Know what that is for you but you need to be pushed on here you need to be corrected here Jesus values children i don't see i'm not saying you have to be captain kid city but i am saying that you need to value children a way that mirrors what Jesus is teaching you some of you are great and you love kids and you're down in the basement right now and you can't even hear us but some of you love kids some of you love your own children.

But you actually really don't like anybody else's children and you also need to be corrected here because one of the chief aims for us as a Church is to mirror this and to help all children in our Church find their place with Christ so how does that show up how does that show up in community group is your community group a people is your meeting time a place where where you can where y'all receive children and do it well my community group has 16 kids.

Listen we multiplied in january it was 18. we split it down the middle sent patrick and the johnsons off with half of them and now we're back to 16 because people keep having children and things so we we have a lot of kids and and group meeting time is difficult um we'll we'll send them upstairs to have discussion and there are sometimes y'all that for 40 minutes were only interrupted with three major meltdowns and it's not quiet it sounds like like stampeding children upstairs screaming and yelling.

But but sometimes we just we need time for ourselves to be able to discuss the Bible to walk through what's going on life i think that's good but one of the ways i think we fall short and this is on me as a leader i don't think we do a good job of making room at the table for our kids that's hard the most of them are five and under and it's hard to but i want to get to a place where there's there is room in our group.

For actually children to experience Christ i just want to ask you do you see that do you see children as as a mission field in your group are they a hindrance to your group meeting time a hindrance to your group experience that's something i think we need to shift on here it is hard to be groups on mission right now because inviting people into groups during a pandemic it's not the easiest but the reality is that you have a bunch of children in your group that need the Gospel.

And if you saw them as a mission field that we only get them for about you know 18 years together and group if you saw that as a mission field as well and invested in the children in your group you would be embodying this teaching and you'd be making an impact in eternity we need to grow in this as groups when you grow individually and making investments into our children some of you need to serve in kid city you need to serve in kid city even during a pandemic you need to actually go down there and serve and love our children some of you that don't have kids you can you can help parents you.

Can join in helping them disciple their kids you can ask what can i do to help you and helping your kids know more of Jesus y'all you can you can babysit them to make sure parents can go on date nights and and and and work on their marriage so they can be good husbands and wives and good mothers and fathers there's lots of ways that we can partner together in investing in children another level of this is that we can receive children that aren't even part of this Church that you and your family can be a mission force in partnering here this and partnering with your children to be missionaries in their schools and their.

Neighborhoods my wife's family growing up they made sure that their house was the place that kids wanted to come to kids from the neighborhood their parents their other their friends from school they made sure that their uh their house was the spot now part of that was because my mother-in-law really wanted to make sure she could uh control the environment which is why my wife saw her first rated r movie when she was 17 she confessed it it's part of that.

But part of it was this is a home where children can come and experience the Gospel the reality is a lot of my uh my my wife and her siblings their friends weren't believers they weren't a part of churches their parents didn't didn't know and love Jesus and those kids got to come and experience a family that loved Christ they got to come and worship with them on sundays and i want that i want that for our family our kids are are are in school um and they're going to be in public schools there's going to be lots of opportunities.

For for them to to hang out with kids that don't know Jesus and i want to partner with them on mission i want to give them a Gospel missionary lens for their friends i want to invite them into our household i want that for our family that we can partner with our kids on mission so that we can embody this command and receive children like Christ calls us to i'll give you one last level in which we you can grow in this we can grow in a Church and we're trying to do this growing uh in being a Church that cares about orphan care we have multiple families in our Church that are either fostering.

In the foster system because they're kids in south carolina that need homes they need homes they can be loved even more than any homes they can experience Christ there's domestic adoption happening in our Church there's international adoption in our Church and here's the deal not everyone is called to orphan care but we're a Church that is trying to grow in this we all should care about those who are involved in orphan care so that means supporting them if that means getting behind them.

If that means being uh registered people they can they can watch kids that are that are in foster care whatever it is we need to grow in receiving children that desperately need someone who loves them and needs to know their savior there are lots of different ways that we can receive children and if we keep this as a focus in our Church if we strive towards this then one of the things that we will realize is that we will learn from them.

Because it's not only that we'll receive them and we'll see the value of them that also we will see the example of humility that is on display back in verse 14 he says but Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of God it's back to what he just taught for such belongs the kingdom of God the kingdom of God belongs to the humble because our savior has open arms on the cross and he invites us in to fellowship with him we don't bring anything to the table even more.

So we bring our sin and our bags to the table but by his grace he opens his arms to receive us but that takes humility the acknowledgment of sin and and brokenness james 4 6 says but he gives more grace therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble here's the deal God gives abundant grace to those who know they needed if you know you're messed up if you know you've got your sin if you know you've got your baggage the beauty of the Gospel is is that our.

God knows that and he's ready to receive you humble yourself and come to him but here is the warning if you think you've got it all together if you think you're well put together if your life is it is in good order if you know i'm not perfect but but i'm fine you need to receive the warning here he opposes the proud he only gives grace to those who acknowledge their need of him and that is in repentance and as the recognition that the only hope we have is coming to him with our sin and our baggage and letting him take it on the cross may we grow in valuing children and from our value.

And spending time with them and loving them may we see a humility that is so needed of us so that we can experience God and enter the kingdom of heaven the ban is going to come up and i want us to take a few moments and reflect on this i want us to grow receiving children i don't know what that is for you i don't know what that is as a part of your group i don't know what that is in your life.

But but this is a command you guys this this is this is not just a suggestion God wants us to receive children there's a great blessing in it my hope is that we would look at this maybe some of you actually need to consider fostering and adopting maybe some of you need to create avenues for children to experience Jesus in your group i don't know what that is for you but my hope is you wouldn't hear this and go oh that's neat cool stuff and move on my hope is that you would hear this and think how can you actually implement uh this truth that children are valuable and worthy of our time and our.

Energy and our effort and our love my hope also is is that we would walk in uh humility maybe ask ourselves where you need to grow in humility do you see being needy and persistent as as a vice as something to be that it's a weakness or do you see it as an absolute posture of humility that God calls us to are you so concerned with status that you've missed the understanding when you become like a child like a servant i don't know what that is.

For you i don't know if it's hard for you to come to the lord and ask for things i don't know if it's if it's difficult for you to humble yourself before God and others i don't know what that is for you but the importance of an absolute child like humility is so necessary not only for us knowing Christ but knowing more of him the more that you grow in humility the more you get to experience our God and that is what he's inviting us into may we grow in this repent where needed and experience these truths in the way that.

God has taught us let me pray God i am thankful that you love children in a perfect way that we have no shot at doing i'm thankful that you humbled yourself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross i'm thankful for the truth of the Gospel that helps us repent of these ways that we failed and our pride and our lack of love for children God i pray that you would grow us and shape us and mold us in your image.

God i pray if there's anyone here who has not humbled himself before you i pray right now this morning that you would reveal yourself in a way that absolutely breaks down the walls of pride and their life and calls them into faith and you ask us in Jesus name amen you guys.

Death and Taxes (Matthew 17:14-27)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Death and Taxes

Chet Phillips

Transcript

You guys can be seated well good morning my name is chet i'm one of the pastors here we are walking through the Gospel of Matthew so if you'll grab your bibles and go to Matthew chapter 17 whenever we set out to walk through a book of the Bible especially one that's longer we kind of have to wrestle with how much time are we going to spend in that book how zoomed in are we going to be sometimes we go pretty quickly sometimes we go a little bit slower Matthew we've walked pretty slowly through it.

But there are times where in order for it to not be seven years of us walking through the Gospel of Matthew we put some things together today we are going to look at three separate stories and we're gonna try to pull out a big idea we're gonna look three separate um sections in the Gospel of Matthew and pull out one big idea and it's gonna take a little bit of work because they're going to be some things that we can't zoom in on we're going to have to mention and keep moving um and y'all know me i'm very organized and my sermons are always super coherent and to the point.

And so i know you know i preach and spencer preaches and when he walks up here and when i walk up here i know when i come up here you lower your expectations a little bit and what i'm saying today is no a little lower no but we're going to walk through these three sections and i think we're going to find them extremely helpful this morning as we do kind of zoom out and try to take one big idea out so let's pray.

And then we'll read starting in verse 14. God we thank you for your word and it's goodness to us it's helpfulness for us and we pray that as we come to it today that we wouldn't just see the stories we wouldn't just see the words but that we would see you that we would meet you in your word today and that you would be glorified and that we would leave this place feeling and knowing more of your love for us through your son in.

Jesus name we pray amen so we're in Matthew 17 verse 14. Jesus has just been on the mountain he has just been transfigured he has shone like the sun a bright cloud wrapped around him and the disciples who were with him fell on their faces and now they're descending back down into ministry into some normalcy for Jesus after this literal mountaintop experience when they came to the crowd a man came up to him that's Jesus and kneeling before him said lord have mercy on my son.

For he has seizures and he suffers terribly for often he falls into fire and often into the water and i brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him that's awful do you hear that this father pleading on behalf of his son and his son has seizures and not only does he have a physical ailment but he falls in water they live near water this is an area near a lake he falls in water there are times where his dad has had to try to keep him from drowning he falls in fire which was a normal part of life.

For them he has to keep him from being burned at this point this child probably does have burns on his body this is painful and there really is very little in life that shows us the brokenness of the world the way that a sick child does there's really very little in life that shows us how failing and fleeting life is like a sick child i've been reading a book by a clinical psychiatrist and he was talking through how people view the objects around them and he said we basically view them based off of their usefulness we don't think about how complex they are we don't think of how important they are and how much there.

Is to them we just think through their utility he said a car is a really good example of this you very rarely think of all the sum of parts of your car you rarely think of how complex it is it is the thing that gets you from here to there but he said as soon as you sit in it and try to crank it and it doesn't crank you suddenly realize this is really complex piece of machinery i'm sitting in it's no longer getting you from here to there and you realize how very little you know about cars you realize that this is a major problem.

For you and then he talks about how this increases our stress that as soon as we hit situations where they don't work the way they're supposed to we're entering into stress how's uh how's 2020 been for you we sat in the car in 2020 and it wouldn't turn over it's like we picked up the phone and called God and we're like hey i keep 2020 is going what does that mean it's not doing what it was supposed to we started this year off.

Because we had to we started this year off with a series sermon series called 2020 vision because if i had grown old and realized we passed the year 2020 and didn't use it in some sort of corny annoying way when we had the opportunity that was never going to come again it would have plagued me so we went with 20 20 vision and i joked to spencer that we're actually going to need to end the year in a series called hindsight's 20.

Because what we thought the year was going to look like not so much and if you'd have told me it was going to play out this way it would have been hard to imagine the same for all of us that it didn't work the way it was supposed to that we're all staring at physical sickness financial insecurity questions about justice and the future of the united states it's a political year we already knew some of it was going to be annoying.

And then it it becomes this and we're it's not doing what it was supposed to and it's been stressful and i think in these seasons and in sickness and in doubt and in frustration it's really easy for us to start asking the question is why does the world work like this why do these type of things happen why is normal so often very very painful and bad and i think nothing shows us that like a sick child but that's normal that there would be sick children.

But why why is that how this works why is the world so broken and i think we come to the lord with that question and so as we read these three sections today we're going to look at that question why is this normal why is this brokenness so much a part of life what is God's answer what does he want from us what is he going to do about it we're just going to walk through that question a bit as we walk through this section.

So he brings his son and has a terrible condition verse 15 lord have mercy on my son for he has seizures and he suffers terribly for often he falls into fire and often into the water and i brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him so Jesus comes down and he's met with this brokenness and the fact that his disciples couldn't do what they were supposed to and Jesus answered oh faithless and twisted generation how long am i to be with you how long am i to bear with you bring him here to me that's not an encouraging response this.

Father says can you help my son in Jesus responses oh faithless and twisted generation it would be hard for the father not to feel like some of that was aimed at him it would be hard for the disciples not to feel like some of that was aimed at them i i believe in general he's speaking to both and he's lamenting the the generation that he's in that there's faithless that there's brokenness that the people of Israel don't believe in him as they should they don't trust him that there's doubt that even his own disciples who were supposed to have it supposed to know supposed to be able to do these sort of things don't that.

Stings a little bit i feel that a little bit do you often feel like maybe that's the lord's response to you how long am i going to be with you how long am i going to put up with you how many times are we going to have this conversation how many times are we going to circle back to this my dad liked the movie butch cassidy and the sundance kid it's an old western it's good um at one point butch and sundance get hired to help guard a guy who's gonna go he picks up money in a little stagecoach.

And then he brings it back up and they're picked to they're hired to protect him as he picks up the money and so they're riding down the hill to go pick up the money and butch and sundance are on the front of the stagecoach and they're talking about okay people could be hiding over here oh they could set up a boat ambush over there and they're really into it they're sitting there with their guns and the guy driving the stagecoach says hey they turn around.

Look at him he goes ain't nobody going to rob us going down the mountain we ain't got no money going down the mountain and they're like oh and he leans back and goes morons i got morons on my team and i probably heard that 1500 times in my life be working with my dad doing something we'd be messing something up he'd kill but hey hey hey and he would explain why what we were talking about was dumb or why it wouldn't work.

And then he would go morons i got morons on my team i feel like that's sometimes Jesus's response to me is trying to be his disciple but not doing what i'm supposed to it's a little bit like how long are we going to do this how long am i going to put up you're on my team but what is going on here he's lamenting this but i looked this up i tried to see if there was anything that he was referencing.

Because Jesus often does because he's the word of God incarnate but he's also he pulls from the written word so often and the only place i could find this phrase this twisted generation is in deuteronomy chapter 32 it's in a song that Moses teaches the people of Israel that this phrase is found in deuteronomy chapter 32 and it's a song and i'm going to tell y'all the song's not super nice it's the last thing Moses teaches the people of Israel before they go he's given them the law he's led them all the way to the edge of the promised land and he says y'all need to learn a song.

God may have taught me a song to teach y'all and the song is about judgment the song is about how they're going to fail the song's about how great God is and how they're going to run from him i was reading through and it reminded me of the song that dwight schrute sings in the office that he said that that all the shrewd children were taught which is learn your rules you've got to learn your rules if you don't you'll be eaten in your sleep and that was the song that they taught all the children and that's what this feels like he says i'm going to teach you a song and the song is.

God is glorious God is good but we're wicked so i want to read some of this is verse 4 of deuteronomy 32 it says the rock his work is perfect all his ways are justice a God of faithfulness and without iniquity meaning he's no sin no fault nothing's wrong with him he's just and upright is he they have dealt corruptly with him they are no longer his children because they are blemished they are a crooked and twisted generation do you thus repay the.

Lord you foolish and senseless people is not he your father who created you who made you and established you verse 20 says and he said i will hide my face from them i will see what their end will be for they are a perverse generation children in whom is no faithfulness they have made me jealous with what is no God and they have provoked me to anger with their idols he teaches the people of Israel what it looks like to follow.

God and then he says learn this because this is what's ultimately going to happen that y'all were meant to be his children y'all were meant to live in relationship hit with him and he hasn't broken faith you have this is the first answer the Bible gives to us as to why is the world so messed up because we're in it and we're sinful we're twisted even our sense of justice is twisted what we believe is right and wrong is so often twisted that as we approach.

God and we plead for him with justice often we don't even know what to plead for because we're twisted we're sinful it's in us from adam it's handed down and even after God gave us the law we continue even though we know what is right and wrong that he's told us we continue to do what is evil and wrong that it's in us and we make it worse i told the sunday school class this story last week but i took my son to go to the doctor to get his blood drawn.

Because he has some food allergies and he's been getting kind of sick and we think maybe he's getting worse or we're feeding him something that he shouldn't have and so we're just getting his blood tested to see how he's doing and if he's progressing and what's going on while we're at the hospital he's sitting in a chair i'm sitting there trying to fill out some paperwork for him we're seeing what's going on with him he turns around in the chair he smiles beautifully at me.

And then licks the back of the chair now he's two but i looked at him he looks a lot like me i thought that's me i've got brokenness in me and i'm actively making it worse and i didn't tell his mama because there was no need for her to lay awake thinking about that i was going to bring it up offhandedly if he had gotten sick oh you know what now that i think about it he did lick a chair at the hospital.

But that's us that we're twisted we're corrupted we were meant to have a good relationship with God and we've rebelled we've run from him and that's the first answer as to why are things so broken that's why Jesus in this moment responds with you twisted corrupted generation y'all should be different but you're broken your hearts are off and it's interesting how twisted our generation is because this man in the midst of his brokenness brings his son to God and he asks.

For mercy he brings him to Jesus he sees Jesus as a representative God he calls him lord he sees him as above him and he asks for mercy meaning you're in a position of power i just need mercy but the reality is our twisted and broken generation doesn't bring sick children to God for mercy we bring them as exhibit a as to why he is unjust and unfair and does not deserve to be God we don't bring asking for mercy as.

If he's bigger than us if he's as if he's just and holy and right in all his ways and that we're wicked and we need mercy and grace from him we bring him and we put him in the uh testimony chair he's got to testify to us as we sit in the judgment seat and we say do you see this do you see this do you see this how dare you but this man comes and he asks for mercy and he receives it.

Jesus verse 18. it says and Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the boy was healed instantly and this is interesting because it does tie this spiritual aspect with physical aspect that it was demonic and there was physical healing that happened so Jesus rebukes it he's authority over all that is evil and all that is broken the boy was healed instantly it moves on from there but i i couldn't help but picturing this dad with his son after this moment on a boat catching some fish.

And then cooking him around the fire and the amount of joy in his heart thinking back to Christ and thinking about how good he is that his illness is gone and that he doesn't fall in water and fire anymore that they can have joy and delight around those things that God re-straightened out what was broken in his world verse 19 the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out and he said to them because of your little faith.

For truly i say to you if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you now mustard seed it's tiny i'm holding one in my hand right now i'm not but it doesn't matter you wouldn't be able to see it it's tiny and i think when he said you have little faith i don't think any of them thought yes i have the faith i would have thought yeah.

Okay small you know like a terrier like not huge but i got some faith but he says if you had it even the size of a mustard seed see the reality is it's not about the size of our faith it's not that we grow large in faith and we become powerful in faith in some sort of way that pumps us up it has to do with where the faith is planted it has to do with where the faith is located if they had just tiny bit of faith.

But it was put in the right spot not in themselves not in something else not in their ability to to do this well enough that they he but that's what he's frustrated about so he calls him twisted and faithless the two people that he's praised are non-jewish people that he's praised for their faith a centurion and a canaanite woman and he comes to his people and he says i don't get it you're broken you're twisted you're faithless and he looks at the disciples and said.

If you just had a little bit you could pick up a mountain and move it and i love how we approach this passage because we immediately want to go well not really you don't really mean move a mountain and sure okay it's probably no practical benefit in moving mountains and if someone was like i have enough faith watch me move a mountain just for show i doubt they actually have faith in God and would be approaching appropriately handling this but he does mean what he says nothing will be impossible.

If you come to the lord and genuine faith but that's because nothing's impossible for him and if you trust him genuinely and truly and fully he works but trusting him means that the mountain moving is up to him and whether or not he moves the mountain is up to him often we say well i trusted God and he failed me but if we actually trust him we trust him to do what's good on our behalf no matter what even if we.

See it as failure in the moment so we come to him with genuine faith and God works and moves and does and what he wants from us is genuine faith he calls them twisted and faithless and he tells them if he just had faith things would work God would work he would move if we stopped there we could move on and talk about how Jesus is good and ultimately how he moves us towards hope but if i was the disciples and we stopped there i think i'd be pretty discouraged i think i'd be pretty overwhelmed.

But the story gets better the story of Christ gets better his work gets better on our behalf so he says this verse 22 as they were gathering in galilee Jesus said to them the son of man and they know that he's been referring to himself is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day and they were greatly distressed she says the son of man will be delivered in the hands of men that's distressing on its own that he's going to die that he's going to be killed it's distressing that he.

Now uses the word deliverance this is delivered into their hands this first he's told them this twice now but he's going to be delivered maybe brings to mind that he might be betrayed that he might be handed over so this adds extra stress to the disciples but they're also just stressed out about this idea they think he's saying he's going to die now they don't fully understand what he means by he's going to die and he's going to be raised because they're surprised.

When he comes back from the dead let's cut him some slack that's pretty surprising they also at times would uh overthink the things he said so that we read a couple chapters ago where he says beware the leaven of the sadducees and the pharisees and they get in this argument about the fact that they don't have bread and he's like that's not what i meant so he tells them he's going to go to the cross he's going to die and he's going to be raised they don't fully understand it.

But they're distressed but for us that's beautiful news because we understand what he's doing it's beautiful news because at this moment of failure for the disciples he doesn't come to them and go guys you've got to get better or it's not going to work he comes to them and says trust and then he says i'm going to the cross that his plan for fixing why everything is so broken praise the lord isn't on us to unbreak it it's on us to trust him as he goes to work.

For us now the world is broken there's sin it runs rampant there's disease there's wickedness and evil and we come to this we say what's God going to do about it is he going to do anything about it and this is his answer that he's going to come and live and die that he who is the son of God they proclaimed him that then he went up God proclaimed him that from a cloud and then Jesus says i'm the son of man he is the son of.

God but he calls himself the son of man because he's taking our place and going to the cross for us so the world is broken through sin it's affecting everything Jesus has the ability ability to heal we just saw that with that boy but he can't just fix situations he's got to make it to the root of the problem so we have a few options big picture theologically how's he going to fix the world option one that people often put forward is why can't he just forgive everybody.

If we've sinned against him why can't he just forgive everybody and we just read it in deuteronomy because he's right and just and holy and a judge who just forgives everybody is the worst judge ever if you had someone harm you assault you hurt one of your family members they're caught you go to court the testimony is given it's displayed what they've done and the judge looks and says you know what i forgive you and slams the gavel down do you know how soul-crushing that is that's not justice that's wickedness that's evil and you'd be going easy.

For you to say easy for you to wipe this clean what about me i've lost i've been harmed and the reality is the earth cries out to God we have been harmed we have lost now we've been an active part of it but we have been hurt there is wickedness here and he can't just forgive like he somehow magics it away not and still be just now he could do it and be crooked but he can't just forgive all right so there's a legitimate.

Second option i don't know if you guys are going to like it he can kill all of us you want to think about that one we'll talk through the the pros and cons that he can he can be just and destroy all those who are treason us but the reality is his love it'd be hard for him to just destroy all of us and then still be loving his love holds him back and changes his course but he could justly destroy all of us who have wickedly rebelled.

So he does this he becomes a human he goes to the cross he dies he rises and asks us to have faith to trust him and in so doing he displays his love and his justice that he pays for sin that sin will be dealt with it will be paid out and that he offers us grace and redemption and forgiveness through his love so here's the thing it doesn't answer why is everything terrible it gives us the answer that part of the reason things are messed up and broken in the world is that the world is broken and messed up through sin that's part of the answer it's a very generic answer it doesn't give.

Us a specific answer as to why you have this ailment and this person doesn't why that person had nice parents and yours were the way they were why these children are fine and live and you've had three miscarriages it doesn't answer those questions and those are painful questions it doesn't answer the specificness of the brokenness but it tells us a few things that it's not the brokenness that we specifically face is not because God is unjust and the brokenness that we specifically face is not.

Because he doesn't love us Jesus came to die on a cross to display God's justice and his love and to offer us hope so the reason we face the things we face we don't get all the answers but he tells us it's not that he's unjust and it's not that he doesn't love us now this next story i think helps display this it's an interesting picture it's just a little story it's kind of an odd story i i have enjoyed studying it.

But i think it helps us see this picture of what Jesus has come to do on our behalf to to display his justice and to offer us his love and help fix what's broken in the world when they came to capernaum the collectors of the two drachma dracula attacks went up to Peter and said does your teacher not pay the tax so the two drachma tax these aren't roman tax collectors these aren't people who are traders of the state these are people who are taking up a tax that was issued in Exodus chapter 30 by Moses by.

God through Moses and it's four originally for the tabernacle and now for the temple that everybody who is 20 years old and upward would pay a half a shekel which is two drachma let's read that section from Exodus 30 verses 11 through 14 says the lord said to Moses when you take the census of the people of Israel then each shall give a ransom for his life to the lord a ransom is you paying yourself out of slavery out of bondage.

For his life to the lord when you number them that there be no plague among them when you number them each one who is numbered in the census shall give this half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary let's tell specifically what that is and it says half a shekel as an offering to the lord everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give the lord's offering i think one of the things we really need to take from this this was a half a shekel 1500 years later they're taking a two drachma drachma tax which is a half a shekel is that.

If we stick with the gold standard we can really help control inflation but there's other things too so they come to him and they they take this tax this is what it is they ask Peter does your teacher pay the tax Peter verse 25 says he said yes and when he came to the house Jesus spoke to him first saying we don't get to find out we don't know why Peter says yes Peter maybe knew that Jesus did this had seen him do it previously we don't know anything about that uh maybe Peter just in the moment said yes and figured he'd sort it out later we don't know.

Jesus talks to him first we don't know if Peter was going to immediately go talk about it we don't know if Peter had forgotten we don't know but Peter says yes they said does he pay the tax and he says yes and then when he went into the house Jesus spoke to him first saying what do you think simon and that's Jesus is kind of set up for i'm going to give you a little test i'm going to ask some questions i think Peter was like all right pop quiz time.

Let me get ready what do you think simon from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax from their sons or from others and when he said from others Jesus said to him then the sons are free what's Jesus's point his point is Peter walks they ask him does Jesus pay the tax Peter says yes Peter walks in Jesus says hey Peter who do kings tax their sons or others Peter says others Jesus says okay so the sons are free what.

Jesus just said was Peter i'm the son of God i don't have to pay this tax they actually owe me the tax he could legitimately say run back outside tell them when they're done with their collection to bring it to me i'm a true and better temple we're going to tear it down we're going to we're going to build it back in three days and they're not going to worship on that mountain or this mountain they're going to worship in spirit and truth.

Because it's going to move from the temple to me Jesus is the one who who is owed this tax because he's the one who instituted it he is the son of God the king of ages they ask is your master going to pay the tax or not Peter and Jesus talking Jesus basically says so the sons are free i'm the son of God i don't have to pay this tax and he said however not to give offense to them which side note i think is very helpful.

Because he offends people all the time but here he says not to give offense meaning he doesn't offend people just for the heck of it he offends people where they deserve and need to be offended he's not just contrary for for fun i just think that's helpful but he says however not to give offense to them go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel take that and give it to them.

For me and for yourself it's probably one of the most fun little disciple missions that Peter ever got sent on go to the sea catch a fish open its mouth there's gonna be a shekel take that pay them with the fish mouth shekel that's a weird story i like the story i think it's a helpful picture for us Jesus displays his absolute sovereignty over the world did he make the fish eat the shekel did he just know about the fish is he is he just able to know the the stomach whereabouts of all animals like i don't know i don't know he's just displaying his mightiness he says Peter does the son of.

God have to pay a temple tax Peter says no he says okay now that we've established that we'll pay it because this isn't a fight i'm trying to pick go catch a fish pay for me and for you i love this story i think it's memorable i like that Peter had to dig a shekel out of a fish i think it's beautiful that Jesus pays sovereignly miraculously not only for himself but for Peter sovereignly miraculously he pays for Peter and in Exodus it says that this is a ransom.

But it doesn't just say that this this tax is not just a ransom not just buying yourself out of slavery it keeps going in verse 15 and 16 it says the rich shall not give more the poor shall not give less than the half shekel when you give the lord's offering to make atonement for your lives it says you making atonement for your lives atonement is paying back a debt you owe for your wrongness you shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it to the service of the tent of meeting that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the.

Lord so as to make atonement for their lives Jesus just miraculously sovereignly graciously paid a ransom for Peter made atonement for his life and brought him to remembrance before the lord and the thing that he told us before this was i'm going to go to a cross i'm going to die and i'm going to rise again and the reality is the rest of Scripture pulls out and says that when he did that for all those who have faith in him he pays a ransom he pulls you out of bondage and debt to sin he makes atonement meaning he pays back what you owed.

Because you have sinned and you have laid up a great cost and debt in your sin and he brings you to remembrance before the lord that he presents you before him holy and blameless and above reproach so Jesus clarifies i don't have to do this and then he does it not only for himself but for Peter that's what Philippians 2 says it says we're to have this mind among ourselves which is ours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of.

God did not account equality with God a thing to be grasped he's transcendent he glows like the sun but he chooses to join us in humanity he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men so the son of God takes on the name son of man for our goodness because he loves us because he's gracious he humbled himself going from being transfigured where he glows like the sun where he shines in glory to putting on a weak awkward dirty frail stinky human body do you know how much work we do to just not be disgusting around each other some of us more than others.

But he was humble just by putting on a human form and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death not only does he look like a human he takes on actual human form but he goes to death he dies on our behalf for us but not just death even death on a cross so Jesus the son of God who does not have to do this willingly graciously lovingly does this galatians 4 says this.

When the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son so the son of God born of woman so the son of man born under the law so he submits to the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons and because you are sons God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts crying abba father so you are no longer a slave but a son and of a son than an heir through.

God we're not only ransomed out of slavery but we're made into sons so the son of God became a son of man so that men and women might become sons of God and he did it willingly and graciously because he loves us now the world's broken and it's broken through our sin and that's not a full answer as to why these particular things happen but what we know is that it's not that he's unjust and it's not that he doesn't love us and i love how.

When he goes to the cross he answers his question oh faithless and twisted generation how long am i to be with you how long am i to bear with you if your faith is in Christ the answer to that question is forever he will be with us forever and he will bear with us forever because he graciously lovingly willingly chose to humbly submitting himself to death on a cross so that we might have life in his name and all he asks from us is that we trust him fully forever trust him let's pray.

God we thank you for your grace we thank you that you sovereignly and miraculously ransomed us atoned for our sin and you bring us to remembrance before the lord not in our sin not as slaves but as sons and sons are free we thank you for that freedom that we have in Christ we thank you for the hope that we have in Christ and we pray that we would truly believe fully on you and your work on the cross on our behalf we love you we praise you in.

Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and we're going to see.

Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

The Transfiguration

Spencer Cary

Transcript

So good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors here we're going to be in Matthew 17. so you can go ahead and flip there and follow follow along with us on the screen one of my favorite parts of stories of recounting stories in history is the art of illusion that is illusion with an a not an eye i've been told that i don't enunciate which is certainly an opinion to have but i want you to be confused like i'm gonna do a magic trick.

Now this is illusion with a alluding to something illusion is a phrase or an event that actually alludes to something without having to explicitly tell the whole story so illusion can come in different forms it can be in the form of foreshadowing so if you've ever watched frozen two and thought wow this plot is incredibly confusing it is but as my wife has told me if you just listen the first song maybe have the lyric sheet out in front of you it's the it's foreshadowing it's the key to understanding the rest of the story a lot of times you can have a illusion that goes backwards or even outside of the story itself and in.

Movies they call these easter eggs these are just things that are put there to draw your mind to something else toy story does this they have easter eggs that point to uh the movie the shining so stories can do this going backwards uh in real life these are called inside jokes right you can tell an inside joke you just have to give a phrase and all of a sudden your friend is taken back to a decade before when you're in college to one of those crazy stories they're illusions sometimes you have it in in stories where they go backwards and forward at the same time.

So hamilton does this the musical hamilton so the very last song of the first act is packed with a ton of illusions uh that basically in the last song all these melodies are sung by some of the main characters and it's telling you everything that's happened in the first act hamilton's rise is coming to america his relentless work ethic his uh his marriage and then it comes to this big crescendo finish that ends with the famous line from the musical i'm not throwing away my shot which in and of itself is a double illusion it's a double entendre it points backward to how he came to america also and he's not going to waste his.

Shot also pointing forward to when he's going to waste his he's not going to waste his shot or he's going to waste his shot i got the whole story right you guys um but yeah i get excited about illusions i know you guys seem really excited about illusions but if you do appreciate them and the art of illusion and storytelling our God is brilliant at it and how he wrote the Bible the Bible is packed with illusions to point backwards and forwards i mean you can read different parts of the Bible and it's not giving you explicit stories.

But it just gives you a picture of something that takes you back to something that happened in the old testament it gives you a picture of something that points forward to what is coming and this story in particular today in Matthew 17 is packed with illusions so we're gonna follow this this is uh famously known as the the transfiguration uh so this is what uh how it is famously referred to as we're gonna follow the disciples and Jesus up the mount.

For the transfiguration and we're gonna see the illusions that are packed into this story and my hope is simply this for today that we can appreciate what is happening in this story we can step back from it and be blown away by the glory of the lord that he is worthy of worship because of how glorious he is so let me pray and then we'll jump into the text father i thank you that you have given us these stories from the life of.

Jesus God i pray that you would speak to us this morning that you would help us be present that we would listen and that we would be blown away by your glory we ask this in Jesus name amen all right verse 1 and after six days Jesus took with him Peter and james and john his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves all right so just some if you weren't here last week or you didn't listen last week this is uh transitioning off of last week's story where uh Peter has a pretty high moment uh he confesses that.

Jesus the messiah the first confession of that type so he's riding high and then shortly after that uh he tries to rebuke Jesus it does not go well Jesus calls him Satan uh and then uses his failure as a means to teach the disciples so Peter's coming off a really low moment and what i love just about this first verse is this is a picture of who our God is that he's gracious that even in Peter's failure he has plans for him that he signs him take him up.

For this this mountaintop experience i love how gracious our God is to those of us who fall on our faces and fail and then he takes Peter and james and john these are commonly referred to as the three Jesus pours into 12 disciples and then more specifically he pours into three there's going to be three major leaders in the new testament Church so he takes them up the mountain this is the story picks up in verse two and he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

Behold there appeared to them Moses and elijah talking with him and Peter said to Jesus lord it is good that we are here if you wish i will make three tents here one for you and one for Moses and one for elijah he was still speaking when behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said this is my beloved son with whom i'm well pleased listen to him when the disciples heard this they fell on their faces and were terrifying.

But Jesus came and touched them saying rise and have no fear and when they lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only all right so there's a lot packed into this event so before we jump into kind of the illusions that are happening in this story uh let's just describe what is what is happening so it says he goes on uh takes them up the mount and then he is transfigured that comes from the greek word metamorphoso which is exactly what it sounds like it's where we get our english word metamorphosis he transformed he metamorphosized he uh transfigured he transformed into something else and he uh the transformation is that he shines.

Bright like the sun like white light emanating from his face from his clothes now if you are familiar with uh other stories you might import and say oh that that's cool i know what this is like i've seen transformers i've seen the incredible hulk i've even seen gannon off the gray turning the ground off the white i get this and i just want to detach ourselves from things pictures we might have because this is real life and this situation is incredible they're standing next to.

Jesus and all of a sudden he transfigures and is emitting white bright light like the sun i don't know if you've looked at the sun you guys lately it's bright it will blind you this this light is emanating from him and then all of a sudden Moses and elijah show up you might be thinking oh cool that's neat too like i've seen star wars uh you know episode six where uh yoda and obi-wan show up as force ghosts at the end and reveal himself luke skywalker yay no this is not neat again this would have been equal parts mesmerizing and terrifying all at the same time.

Because Moses and elijah were pretty terrifying figures in their own right incredible men big figures in the old testament did incredible things and and had gravitas like this is a big deal shining bright light white light Moses and elijah appear then Peter suggests that they should mark this occasion with tents which may seem a little bit weird uh it isn't for uh jewish culture tense had some significance uh we we don't really know for i don't really know for sure exactly what this means there's a few different theories uh maybe he's trying to mark this occasion as a memorial which is something commonly they did in in jewish history uh maybe there's some some tie-ins.

The tabernacle and the tent possibly maybe there's some tie-ins to the feast of booths a celebration that the jewish people had and commemorating God's providing out of egypt uh into the promised land it's possible a few of these things but Peter wants to mark this occasion in the midst of trying to mark this occasion God the father speaks a cloud surrounds the mountain and God speaks anytime this happens in the Bible people fall in fear it's a picture of his holiness is.

So powerful that when he speaks to us as sinners people hit the floor and fear and he says this is my son with whom i am well pleased there's a lot happening in this one part of the story so why why does Jesus take him on the mountain why go to all this trouble for all these events what's the significance of what Jesus is trying to communicate in this situation a lot of the significance a lot of the illusions here deal with the two people that show up Moses and elijah they are significant.

For a reason and if you're familiar with the old testament some of the stories some of these pictures are going to start to come to mind so let's look at Moses first and figure out why he's here and what this is pointing to Moses comes out he takes the people of of God out of egypt brings them through the red sea they're wandering in the in the wilderness and then all of a sudden they show up to mount sinai and at mount sinai this is where Moses is going to go up on the mountain he's going to receive the 10 commandments on tablets he's going to receive the law to take down to the people.

And we'll pick it up in Exodus 24 15 and 16 which says then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain the glory of the lord dwelt on mount sinai and the cloud covered it six days and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud now that should sound familiar we put the stories side by side which i know may be difficult because we have small screens but if you can't.

See it just stay with me uh the settings are similar so setting matters in the Bible both of these on on a mountain that's meant to draw your mind to okay uh there's some some mountain similarities then you get to even the detail of six days so Jesus waits six days before he takes the disciples up to the mount of transfiguration that's not an accident because Moses had to wait six days before he received from before he met with the glory of the.

Lord it says the glory of the lord dwelt on mount sinai and a cloud covered it it's intentional a bright cloud shadows the disciples and covers them and the glory of the lord called out to Moses from the cloud and in our story today the voice of the lord comes through the cloud it's intentional for a reason he's drawing uh their mind to something else to the events of mount sinai when when Moses comes down the mountain in Exodus 34 it says.

When Moses came down from mount sinai with two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that his skin the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God aaron all the people of Israel saw Moses behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him again the similarities you put them up side by side his the skin of his face shone and his face shone like the sun what happens on sinai is that Moses encounters the glory of the.

Lord so much so so that he absorbs some of that glory when he comes down the mountain his face is radiating bright so much so that they are fearful of him someone said that when he wants to communicate with him in the future he's got to wear a shroud to cover the glory of the lord that was on his face in the same way Jesus face shines like the sun emanating uh the glory of God it's intentional it's an illusion it's meant to take you back to sinai and the question is why why are these events.

So similar what is God doing here and unfolding the story why the comparison to sinai because it is at mount sinai where Moses delivers the law and Moses being present at the transfiguration it is the picture that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law you gotta go back to Matthew 5 which was like a year ago for us when we were in Matthew 5 and it says that that Jesus came to fulfill the law he's the fulfillment of the law he's the fulfillment of Moses that's the picture that's being shown here he's the fulfillment of the old testament law and it's also going to show that he's the fulfillment of the prophets which is why.

Elijah shows up elijah is one of the biggest prophets of the old testament when they when they think of of great prophets he's he's at the top and there's this uh story from first kings uh where where elijah has a mountaintop showdown with the prophets of baal and God uh just absolutely shows up and shows out and elijah thinks that this is going to cause the nation of Israel to repent and they don't in fact jezebel the queen at the time tries to have him killed.

So he runs off he's dismayed and he shows up to mount horeb which is the same a different name for the same mountain of mount sinai and he shouldn't he climbs up mount horeb and on the mountain the glory of the lord comes surrounds the mountain in a storm surrounds the mountain and speaks to elijah and i love the encouragement that comes from that story because he's encouraging elijah a soldier who is who has fought some wars for the lord on the battlefield and being a prophet and elijah's discouraged and what he assures to elijah in that moment is that his work will continue that his work of correcting the people and also pointing to.

A messiah that is coming that is going to continue through elisha and through the rest of the prophets and all of the prophets are doing just that they're correcting the people they're also calling that one day a messiah is going to come and that messiah is right here Moses and elijah right there in front of him elijah represents that Jesus has come to fulfill all of the work of the prophets and when you combine those two pictures together what you have is that.

Jesus is the filament of not just the law but the prophets he's he's the fulfillment of the entire old testament now that's going to take some time to sink in on with the disciples but that's exactly what's happening here these allusions to Jesus fulfills the old testament in the midst of all of this is they're absorbing this God the father calls out and says this is my beloved son with whom i'm well pleased listen to him that's what he says to the disciples which is an illusion in and of itself.

Because that's what Moses says in deuteronomy 18 15 the lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers it is him you shall listen the same thing that God tells the disciples listen to him Jesus is the fulfillment of the old testament the disciples encounter uh the glory of the lord and fear on their faces and the story continues in verse 9 it says and as they were coming down the mountain Jesus commanded them tell no one the vision until the son of man is raised from the dead again it's alluding to what is coming.

Verse 10. and the disciples asked him then why do the scribes say that first elijah must come he answered elijah does come and he will restore all things but i tell you that elijah had already has already come and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased so also the son of man will certainly suffer at their hands then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of john the baptist so there might have been a little bit of confusion here elijah shows up.

But he doesn't stay and they're wondering why isn't elijah supposed to come that's one of the prophecies from the old testament is saying that elijah must come first and Jesus makes it clear he did and elijah type figure came it was john the baptist now from this moment forward the entire narrative of Matthew is turning most of the entirety of Jesus ministry in Matthew has been in galilee that's the setting but from this moment forward everything is moving towards Jerusalem everything is moving towards the cross i mean the the significance of walking down the mountain and geographically you have galilee in the north and you have Jerusalem in the south they are literally.

For the rest of Matthew as we go this descending upon Jerusalem everything is heading towards the cross so the transfiguration is the big shift as they move towards the cross which makes the transfiguration not just an illusion that points back to the fulfillment of the entire old testament it's actually going to point forward to what is to come when the old testament finds its entire fulfillment at the cross and even the parallels between what happens on the mount of transfiguration and what happens on the hill of calvary even those parallels show this is going to the cross in Matthew 17.

Jesus ascends up the hill with his disciples they are going to the mount where he's going to display the glory of God but at the end of Matthew he's going to walk up the hill where the glory of the lord is going to be going to be displayed in suffering on the mount of transfiguration there are three of his closest disciples who get to see a glimpse of the glory of God but on the hill three of the closest women in his life are going to.

See him on the cross his suffering and the glory of that picture on the mount his garments glisten like white light but on the hill his garments will be torn and divided and taken as he's left naked humiliated on a cross on the mount there are two men two of the holiest men from the old testament but on the hill there are two thieves two rebels to his left and his right pointing to the very people that Jesus is going to redeem and on the mount.

God declares this is my son but on the hill a gentile centurion soldier a roman soldier says truly this was the son of God a foretaste of the very people that Jesus is going to redeem from the mountain this story is going to the cross where the entire old testament is going to find its fulfillment but you cannot begin to appreciate the magnitude of what happens on the cross unless you can understand the glory of God the glory of God that you get a glimpse of.

For a moment at the transfiguration one pastor puts it this way he says the work of God in the cross of Christ strikes us as all-inspiring only after we have first been awed by the glory of God that we need to be all by the glory of God so that we can appreciate what happens at the cross and that's difficult for us because we just don't have good concepts for for glory we see moments of glory where God reflects his glory in creation like moments that take our breath like we can we can imagine a sunrise or a sunset and all of that over the ocean like you could picture the rockies springing out of.

The great plains or you can look at the pictures of galaxies and quasars that we have from the hubble telescope and be just utterly blown away by the glory of God's creation you can find it in the smaller moments of life like holding your newborn baby for the first time or seeing two people covenant to life together on their wedding day before another there are moments that take our breath away that emanate that show the glory of God but it's just it's hard.

For us to conceptualize this it's it's like reflecting his glory is like looking through a mirror that is dim or trying to understand the power of the sun through frosted glass we just we don't get even close to a full picture of the glory of God on this earth one pastor he puts it this way he says what is the glory of God it is who God is it is the essence of his nature the weight of his importance the radiance of his splendor the demonstration of his power the atmosphere of his presence which which i love that those are big pictures of who.

God is but even words can't do justice to the God who's the author of love and and beauty and and perfection and light and all the attributes that we ascribe to him the God of grace and all the things that we love about who he is that reflect his glory all of that though shines brightest at the cross the momentary glory that we see at the transfiguration is most powerfully displayed at the cross the hill of calvary is a glimpse of the glory that we find in Christ.

But it's not just a glimpse of his glory it is the means by which he will bring us into his glory and that is where all this starts to tie together in the Gospel of Matthew is that ultimately he's going to bring us into this same glory if you go back a few chapters to Matthew 13. Jesus is giving us a foretaste of this Matthew 13 43 says then the righteous will shine like the sun and the kingdom of their father he who has ears let them hear that phrase shine like the sun it is the greek word lampa which is where we get our word lamp from shine lampo like the sun is the.

Same phrasing that Matthew's going to use a few chapters later to show that Jesus face shines like the sun same phrasing and what that shows is that the moment of glory hear this the moment of glory that they got to see at the transfiguration is a foretaste it's a foretaste of what awaits Christians it is what is to come one pastor he describes the transfiguration this way he says it was a foretaste of his glorious human body to come after the resurrection.

When he ascended into his father's right hand so it's a picture of his resurrected glorified body and the reason why this is so important for us as Christians is because in the new heavens and the new earth because for those of us who have believed in Jesus that is the future we get a newly resurrected body that will be like Christ we get to share in his glory now why is that so important for us right now what does that mean as we.

Look at the glory of God what does that mean for us right now as Christians this picture that we see in the transfiguration is a foretaste of the glory that awaits us that we will radiate like the lord in mysterious ways that we can't even possibly begin to understand but this powerful picture is significant because right now we feel the effects of sin there will be a day where we don't feel the effects of sin and our bodies and our souls we won't feel the effects of that in the resurrection.

When we have a glorious body like Christ but right now we do and we feel the physical effects of sin how many of us are are physically suffering maybe you're battling through sickness maybe you're battling through disease maybe you just feel your body physically breaking down maybe you're struggling with some type of chronic pain maybe you have a struggle with with your weight and all the emotional uh struggle that comes with that we feel it physically in this world we feel the physical effects of sin in this world.

Now and it's not just the physical effects how many of us feel the the brutal effect of sin on our souls how many people right now are struggling with depression with with deep sadness this this feeling of just absolute maybe distress in our souls maybe just deep anxiety it's just on our minds all the time how many of us are consistently feeling the burning effects of lust every day just feeling that war that has waged against us how many how many of us are tired of losing our temper on our spouses on our kids on our friends on our family just seeing sin corrupt marriage sin corrupt families sin corrupt friendships how many of us.

Are tired of of of our tongue and our words getting out of control how many are tired of consistently feeling the effects of sin that affects our relationship with God our relationship with others how many of us feel that add iran with the chaos of this year in 2020 and everything that it's come with with broken bodies broken souls and a broken world how many of us feel that i mean i feel that every day i wake up and i have physical pain i have back problems that i don't think will hardly completely ever go away i wrestle with the same sin and temptation every season it's just i i just you feel it you.

Feel the physical and spiritual effects of sin that weighs on us and if you're honest that's everyone in this room we all have our crap we all have our physical bodies that are breaking down until all of us die that is our reality now here is why this picture of the transfiguration is so incredibly important because what it is showing us is a picture of the final state that awaits us that in the midst of suffering we have a picture that we can lift our heads and actually.

See i love what romans 8 says it says 8 16-17 it says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order we might be glorified with him or as the niv says share in his glory for i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us or as one theologian puts it we're not shadows of our former selves we are shadows of our future self and that is a promise.

So Christian i don't know what it is for you in this season i don't know what you're feeling the effects of sin but you get to lift up your head because this moment and all the suffering that we face right now it isn't the final picture we have a final glorified picture that awaits all of us so we can stand firm in that promise we can pick up our gaze and realize there's a glorified state where all the suffering in this present moment will be a distant memory and all the future glory that awaits us will be endless this moment is a drop in the bucket in comparison to the ocean of eternity.

So wherever you are right now in your journey remember that hope cling to that hope own that promise we are mere shadows of our future selves lindsay is going to come up and we are going to to close out and worship and i want us to reflect on this because i know this has been a hard year i know it's been a hard year for many of us i know some of you are battling cancer and some of you are battling sickness and some of you are battling sin i know some of you are absolutely having a tough go of it.

But if you are a Christian this is it that's the final picture the radiated Christ the momentary glimpse we get on the mount that's it for endless glory that awaits us that's our hope may we sit in that hope as we respond in worship this morning if you are not a Christian if you have not placed your full faith your full hope in Christ my plea for you this morning is to realize this momentary suffering pales in comparison to the glory that awaits that.

If you are a Christian if you place faith in him this is the closest thing to hell you're ever going to see the only thing that awaits us in Christ is glorious if you've not placed faith in Jesus my hope this morning is that you would that you would trust him that you would you would pray and receive him right now and that from eternity in eternity and beyond you will be with us in the presence of the radiating king let me pray.

God i pray that your glory would be so clear to us in ways that we we we cannot even begin to understand without you revealing yourself to us God i pray if there's anyone here that has not placed their faith in you that i pray that right now your glory would overwhelm them that as the disciples fell on their faces in fear they would fall on their faces in in fear knowing that sin is real but also in humility that turns to love and following you realizing that there is a glory that oasis that is.

So much better than this world gotta pray there's any Christians here right now Christians that are that are wrestling that are struggling God i pray right now as we respond and worship that you would make your glory so beautifully clear to them that they would have the strength to persevere in this marathon of life that is filled with suffering knowing that an eternal crown of glory awaits us only because of what you accomplished at the cross only because your blood was poured out.

For us they didn't deserve it only because you conquered death of the resurrection to make a way for us to get to you forever God i pray all of this in your name amen.

Confession and Cost (Matthew 16:13-28)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Confession and Cost

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Isaac i'm on staff here with Mill City Church of casey and it's so good to be with you guys this morning as we worship in person and if you're joining with us online we appreciate the fact that you've taken time out of your morning to come together and worship with us um we believe that Jesus is better than everything else in the middle of the chaos that the world is kind of going through right now through pandemics through injustice through political uh powers trying to work it out we believe that.

Jesus is better than all that in our life and the way that we practice that through our daily lives here at Mill City is we join community groups and that's where we live life with each other and if you look up on the screen you'll see a qr code if you're new with us this morning or you're joining online you'll notice that you can scan that qr code and that'll take you to our main website page you can fill out a form that will give us your contact information where you can learn more about us and we can give some information to you um that the the groups is really where we live out that.

Truth where we can be life on life with one another so that when we're going through those difficult things in life so that when the world gives us those difficult things like global pandemic like injustices in the world we get to walk that truth out that Jesus is better than everything else whether or not you're new here or you've been here for a long time you'll notice that there's some construction going on that there are some walls taken out and there's a big open area and we're very excited about the way that.

God has provided for us to be able to update some of the facilities around here and what that does mean is that those main bathrooms down there are not usable and it'll probably be a couple months before they are and so in the meantime this building over here women if you go up the stairs to our offices and take a left there'll be a bathroom there that you can use and men if you go down the stairs and to our kid city area we are not offering kid city right.

Now and so it's safe for you to go down there and there is a restroom down there for you as well i'm going to pray and then we're going to read from psalm chapter 16. God we thank you for the opportunity to come together and worship this morning and we pray that you would prepare our hearts to be able to worship as one as your Church as your bride we pray that as uh spencer comes up and preaches later that you would use your word to impact our life that your spirit would take the truth that you've written and turn it into actions.

If you stand with me we're going to read from psalms chapter 16 preserve me o God for in you i take refuge i say to the lord you are my lord i have no good apart from you as for the saints in the land they are the excellent ones and who is all my delight the sorrows of those who run after another God shall multiply their drink offerings of blood i will not pour out or take their names on my lips the.

Lord is my chosen portion and my cup you hold my lot the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places indeed i have a beautiful inheritance i bless the lord who gives me counsel in the night also my heart instructs me i have set the lord always before me because he is at my right hand i shall not be shaken therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices my flesh also dwells secure for you will not abandon my soul to sheol or let your holy one.

See corruption you make known to me the path of life and your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness i dare not trust the sweetest is is is i rest on his unchanging grace is is is kindness your your satisfaction if show me who i am is sing this truth with us never be the same myself my sin has been erased foreign amen this is a reading from isaiah 53.

I'm gonna read if you'll just listen with me who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of the dry ground he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and maybe that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hid their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we have seemed esteemed him stricken smitten by.

God and afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed let's continue to worship the sun of God in my place is hallelujah you know is can it be is hallelujah just our voices when he comes when he comes hallelujah God before your throne we proclaim hallelujah what a savior we have nothing else to proclaim hallelujah what a savior hallelujah what a savior.

Jesus we thank you that you came we thank you for your sacrifice on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins and we thank you that in power you rose from the grave and we get to follow behind you in eternal life we are grateful for that this morning and as your Church here on this earth now we need you to speak to us and to lead us and we ask that you would do that now in the name of Jesus and by the power of the spirit in.

Jesus name amen you may be seated good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors here uh we're back in Matthew gonna be in chapter 16. if you want to turn there uh flip there we're gonna be walking through uh some passages there uh we have three weeks of messiah 2020 i know some of you wanted to go all the way up to election day uh but i know for some of you three weeks was good i was thankful we got to walk through that together as a Church.

But we're back in matthews and go ahead and flip there one of the things that i have appreciated about the merger of our two congregations is now uh we have a wide spectrum of marriages right so we had uh when we were just Mill City not middle school Church of casey we had marriages that were newlyweds five years 10 years up to 20 years now we have 30 40 50 all the way up to 60 years of marriages yeah celebrate that um and the encouraging part of that is we get a wide spectrum of love stories uh and a lot of wisdom that comes with that.

Because marriage is very difficult uh it is hard uh it's it's it's something that takes a lot of effort uh we try to prepare people for this when we do uh weddings here so we we do premarital counseling to get you ready for marriage because reality is is that many of us have a picture of what we think marriage is and what it's going to be and then you stand together at an altar or outside or wherever you get married and you and you confess before.

God and men this sacred confession that i'm covenanting to to have life together to love someone until death do his part and from that sacred confession all the way to the honeymoon somewhere in the first few years that picture of what you had that marriage was uh gonna be is brutally murdered that happens for some people to get back from the honeymoon and it's just i mean it's a drive-by shoot it's just it's it the first year is very difficult for others it takes a few years.

But you added a few crises and a few children and the and what you thought marriage was going to be is just crushed but here's the deal uh for those uh that persevere for those that work through the difficulties the the miscommunication the conflicts all the kind of pain and suffering that come with working through marriage what you discover as time goes on is that you found something so much more you found something better something deeper something more true something uh this this kind of love that as you grow and marriage is what i love be around people have been married.

For 40 50 60 years they are seeing that they've lived that they understand they found something so much deeper and better than what they initially confessed on the day that they got married and that's a little bit of what we get to see today as we follow Peter in this story in Matthew 16 that we're going to see him confess Jesus as the messiah and from this it's going to be a quick honeymoon because what he thought following Jesus was what he thought confession of the messiah and and being a follower of.

Jesus was quickly changes what he realizes is and what the disciples are you learn what we're going to learn today is that it actually requires your life it requires your life in exchange for an eternal life so we're going to walk through this we're going to follow up Peter along as he stumbles through this story but i want us to do this reflectively this morning looking at our own lives maybe you're uh new to following Jesus uh maybe you've been following him.

For a few years but we get to to walk alongside this and see that the call to following Jesus and the call to confess him as messiah is so much deeper and so much better as we'll see in a moment so let me pray and then we'll jump into the text father i thank you that you have given us these stories that instruct us that cut to the heart God i pray that you would help us be present this morning whether in this room or you're listening online i pray that you would speak to our hearts and what comes out of this is true confession true faith true repentance and the denial of self we.

Ask in Jesus name amen all right so we're in Matthew 16 where we left off before we did messiah 2020 uh was Jesus was performing miracles and teachings that he's done so regularly and the religious establishment the pharisees come and they want him to perform a sign show us that you're the messiah perform something for us Jesus and he's like no that's not how this is going to go so they leave here and then we pick up in verse 13. now.

When Jesus came into the district of caesarea philippi he asked his disciples why do people say or who do people say the son of man is so everyone has a take on Jesus the religious establishment does the crowds are trying to figure this out so he's asking who the people say that i am and in verse 14 it says and they said some say john the baptist which is something we know at least herod had feared herod had john the baptist put to death.

Jesus is performing miracles he's thinking maybe this is john the baptist resurrected reincarnated something like this some say john the baptist others say elijah because Jesus performed miracles that were just like the prophet elijah so others jeremiah jeremiah being a prophet from the old testament that spoke hard truths to ears that did not want to hear them just as Jesus is or one of the prophets verse 15 he said to them but who do you say that i am so not just disciples what are the people saying who do you say that i am and who is the.

First to speak up it's Peter nine times out of ten it is going to be Peter Peter is bold he is quick to speak he's quick to act as we saw about over about two months ago we walked through the story of Jesus walking on water it's a terrifying scene they're out in the storm he's walking on water and who's the first to say i want to be a part of this i want to join this miracle it's Peter it's who he is and he speaks up.

First in verse 16 and he says it says simon Peter replied you are the Christ the son of the living God he believes the hype this is whom the old testament the law of the prophets this is this is who it is this is who they have prophesied about you are the Christ you're the son of the living God verse 17 and Jesus answered him blessed are you simon barjona which means son of jonah in hebrew for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

But my father who is in heaven which highlights a truth about the Gospel he didn't figure this out flesh and blood didn't reveal this to him just like anyone else who believes it is God the father revealing himself who goes to work in our hearts first and he chooses Peter he reveals this to him Peter confesses it and verse 18 we're going to see what comes with this confession and i tell you you are Peter and on this rock i will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it i will give you the keys of the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you.

Loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ so this is a blessing and it's a prophecy because this is what Peter who Peter is going to be he gets a name change here his name was simon and Jesus says no your name is now Peter which means rock in greek so Peter gets to go around saying he's the rock which has a little bit of a different meaning.

For us but it's a it's a newfound meaning for him that he is the rock he's a pillar in which Jesus is going to build his Church which is a new word for the gospels they haven't heard this word yet that this movement that Jesus is going to build is his Church it's the assembly of God's people and then he gives another blessing that's for the Church the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church which if you step back out of this.

For us as an encouragement a lot of people get worried as american Christians so the culture is turning against the Church turning against christianity there's all these fears swelling about oh what's going to happen and i just want to very clearly point this out the gates of hell do not prevail against the Church as we win read the end of the story Revelation 20 21 the Church prevails because Christ is behind it so that's the blessing that he gives to Peter and it is a blessing.

But there's something for us as protestants that we make this we make this passage fairly weird and the reason why is because we have this uneasy feeling about it because catholics have used this uh this verse and this passage as the foundation for their understanding of one leader of the universal Church the pope and the papal secession the the see the the popes that come out of this Peter being the first pope getting the handlers of the keys of the kingdom as it says here and he's the sole authority and this gets passed down and we get weird about this or we make weird jokes about how he's at the pearly gates and you got.

To solve some riddle to get in because we don't have the the healthiest relationship and i don't think we should make this weird at all so let me for the sake of this if anyone has any catholic background or any confusion about this i want to dispel this that Peter this is not the proclamation that he is the first pope so and if you have more questions about this after afterwards we can stand six feet apart and we can discuss the merits of this part of catholic doctrine all right.

So the reason why is if you read this passage just without any without any Church tradition that comes from the catholic Church you would not come to the conclusion that what this is saying is that Peter is the first pope you would not come to that conclusion you know why because the rest of the Bible you would have to completely rip this out of its context in Matthew you have to rip out the context of the rest of the new testament.

Because the rest of the new testament that comes out of this i mean you're the book of acts the book of acts uh Peter is not the sole leader of the Church you can go to acts 15 when they're trying to solve this crisis of what do we do with these new gentile believers and it's not Peter that makes the call it's collection of people Peter speaks of that counsel Paul and barnabas speak at that council james actually ends up having the final say you don't.

See anywhere in the book of acts that that Peter is the sole leader of the Church you don't see it in galatians 2 when Paul corrects Peter and puts him in his place you don't see it in passages like ephesians 2 20 it says built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets is not built on the foundation of the of Peter it's built on uh Christ that is the cornerstone and leaders and his Church so we don't have to be weird about this as we walk through passages like this we can actually.

Look at this and see that Peter is blessed without incorporating a whole bunch of other stuff into it i mean i've heard some protestants that will look at this and say no no this means Peter his confession is blessed and therefore anyone who confesses like this receives this type of blessing and it's like that's not what the text says it says that Peter is blessed that he's going to be a pillar a rock and the Church just as james and john and Paul and other leaders are in the Church.

So he confesses this and with this blessing it says i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven and what that is saying is he's looking at Peter and he's saying i'm giving you authority and what you do what you bind and loose here on earth has an eternal impact in heaven you've been blessed with this that what you're going to do is going to have an impact in eternity and all you got to do is flip two chapters which we'll get to in about a month.

When you get to Matthew 18 and guess what while Peter gets this first blessing the rest of the Church does as well in Matthew 18 he's setting up the Church Jesus is and he says truly i say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven again i say to you if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask it will be done for them by my.

Father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there i am among them the authority is going to reside in the Church and there's going to be a plurality multiple leaders in the Church Peter gets this first blessing he is going to be a rock a pillar in which Jesus builds this movement so Peter gets receives this blessing he's human so it's it's reasonable to think this might have gone to his head a little bit which might make sense of what happens next.

Verse 21 it says from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and the third day be raised all right so from this point forward this story along with what we're going to tackle next week in the transfiguration this is the shift in the Gospel of Matthew everything has been happening in galilee Jesus ministry has been in galilee and we're making the shift towards Jerusalem and every step forward is going to be towards the cross.

Jesus is preparing his disciples telling him this is what's going to happen i'm going to be turned over i'm going to die i'm going to be raised and Peter with his newfound authority decides to speak up again verse 22 and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying far be it from you lord this shall never happen to you but he Jesus turned and said to Peter get behind me Satan you are a hindrance to me for you are setting your mind on things of.

God but on things of man and man like a rock i mean he falls right back down to reality i mean he he absolutely Jesus rebukes him uh he he re he recognizes that Jesus is the messiah and it comes with this uh this rebuke because what Peter does he takes the lord of the universe aside and says lord far be it from you this is not going to happen so why is Peter doing this why is he taking Jesus aside and trying to correct him it could be.

For a couple of reasons one of the ones we see is in the gospels it's clear the disciples expected that this movement was going to be a political one that when Jesus comes to Jerusalem he is going to set up a an earthly reign in Jerusalem just as the messiahs had attempted to do before just as the great kings of old that he was going to take back the land from the romans and this is going to be a political earthly movement it also could be simply just.

Because Peter's saying i don't no one's going to harm you i'm going to protect you he's not going to do it very well he's going to make an attempt with a sword he doesn't know how to use it he's going to cut off somebody's ear but he's going to make an attempt at at saving Jesus and Jesus comes back with a harsh rebuke get behind me Satan you are a hindrance to me you are not setting your mind on things of.

God but on things of man he could have just said no Peter you're wrong no let me let me show you what no he says Satan calls him Satan you are uh the embodiment of evil uh the accuser the the adversary the one who's at war with the plans uh the good plan of God you are Satan now that's pretty sharp rebuke once you try that in your next argument try that with your spouse so you stop no stop it Satan i don't recommend that.

But if you do come and talk to me we do post-marital counseling as well he says get behind me Satan uh why such a sharp rebuke and the reason is is because if Jesus does not go to the cross if he does not have his blood shed for us if he doesn't take the full cup of God's wrath on him for sinners if he doesn't rise and conquer death and give us new life everyone is still dead in sin and everyone goes to hell and that is the very desire of Satan that everyone would go to hell Peter's got his mind on earthly things this political revolution that.

Jesus is going to come in and he says no no this is way bigger than that i'm here for an eternal kingdom not an earthly one which is what he was offered in Matthew 4 if you could think back months ago at the temptation of Christ what is the last temptation that Satan gives hear the kingdoms you can have it here on earth right now you don't have to keep going you can stop right now and Peter does the same thing and it's satanic it's it's of the devil.

So Peter after just getting called the rock after just getting this blessing he gets humbled and not only that in his humility Jesus is going to use his uh his stumble as an example to teach the disciples which is something only Jesus can do because if like if matt freeman made a mistake and then i just upheld look at this mistake now let me teach off this for it just wouldn't go well but Jesus pulls it off he upholds Peter's mistake here.

Verse 24 and he starts to teach from it he says then Jesus told his disciples if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul what shall a man give in return for his soul for the son of man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his.

Father and then he will repay each person according to what he has done truly i say to you there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom so i want us to look at the logic of what Jesus just taught because it is profound he says in verse 25 for whoever would save his life will lose it whoever loses his life for my sake will find it for what will it profit a man.

If he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul or what shall a man give in return for his soul Peter confesses that Jesus is the messiah but he doesn't understand the nature of what that means he doesn't understand the economy of Jesus kingdom if you try to cling to this world you will lose the next one if you try to gain this life you will forfeit your soul that faith in this kingdom is going to be the repeated denial of self and the taking up of your cross taking up suffering.

For the name of Christ and that should be an absolutely sobering reality for us as american Christians because in our culture there are so many things that vie for our worship for our attention for our attention for our affection for our desires i mean we're literally built on the american dream that so much of our energy and our effort in this life and this country is striving to have financial security striving to make your dreams here on earth good to make your best life here on earth striving.

For security and everything the american dream and everything that money can get you in having a secure life having the comforts of this world our entire economy is built on consumerism on having the next comfort and the next comfort you'll never level up and you'll never get that you you'll always want the next house the next big truck the next newest and nicest things is consistently vying for our attention it's calling us and so many people put so much of their worth.

So much of their life and that and what Jesus just said is if you are willing to do this you will forfeit the next life you do this american dream you can do this with just with sex in general that so much is of our culture is thrown at you as to is to explore it outside of marriage explore before marriage explore the wide spectrum of sexuality it's thrown at us over and over and over again and we as Christians say no what does the culture say oh you are backward you are bigoted you are old ancient puritans prudes.

And so much of what Jesus teaches throughout the rest of the Gospel so much the Bible is going to continue to say is that the denial of self in this area is for the sake of our souls you will go down a roll a road that you will not come back from denying this temporary pleasure and that is what it is is temporary it is temporary pleasure you are exchanging that at the loss of eternal pleasure in God you can do this with anything you do this with acceptance on our culture which has been a big thing as the culture starts to shift against uh the the ideas of the Bible.

So much of of the culture is is is shifting against us and there's this uh there's this desire in us to just want to be accepted to want to be liked to not be the weird one in the workplace not be the weird one uh in your school there's this this pressure that if i can if i will bend to the ideas of culture then i'll be accepted you see it all the time online someone who's been around the Church for years all of a sudden starts posting things that are against the Bible and they get claps people like it's.

So good to see that you've come to this understanding it's so good to see that you've moved away from this there's this thing in us that just wants to be accepted we will do this with any part of what the world offers us we will go after it again and again and again and we'll exchange it all at the loss of our souls many of us are familiar with the old folklore tale about someone making a deal with the devil it's very it's an old folklore tale that i mean ends up being shows up in songs and movies over and over against classics someone uh stumbles upon the devil makes a deal.

For fame for money and we look at those stories and we're like how foolish i would never do that but the reality is you come in this world absolutely doing that that is exactly what we do we will go after anything else we'll forfeit it all or to gain life in this moment right now and Jesus is trying to pick our heads up and see that's insane that is crazy that you would look at this life right now and put so much stock in our life is a moment it's a spec the Bible says it's it's like dew on the grass it's here.

For a moment and then it's gone it is a drop of water compared to the ocean of eternity that awaits us and so much of our desires and so much of our worship and so much of our pursuits is bound up in this moment we're looking at this trying to get as much as we can out of this life he's trying to help us see how insane that is that you would forfeit eternity for worthless pursuits and compared to who he is he's helping us.

See that denying ourselves in light of this eternal logic is the only thing that makes sense that we would deny our version of the good life in exchange for an abundant better life that never ends that we would deny ourselves that we would take on suffering that we would take on suffering in any form that it takes to follow Christ and ultimately it means that you will avoid judgment here's the final picture here of the kingdom being ushered in ultimately judgment is going to come.

But more than avoiding judgment when you deny yourself in this life deny your desires when you take up the cross what you get is God the logic he gives here is for whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it he's helping us try to find him lose this life and when you lose this life you find Christ you find the ultimate author of goodness the perfection of beauty you get eternity with him which means what is this life really worth what are the things that we spend.

So much of our time and so much of our effort and so much of our money and so much of our desires on what is it possibly worth it pales in comparison to life with God you can gain him if you would just lose your life here he's been there he understands what attorney with God is it's the same thing for someone who's been married for 50 years and they understand that persevering through marriage and finding something so much better Jesus stands between eternity and in this moment right here and says i'm telling you it is better deny yourself in this life take up the cross.

And if you do this you will find something so much sweeter so much better and something that's actually eternally good lindsay's going to come up and we are uh i want us to just reflect in this moment and i want us to think through uh what it is that we need to give up what it is that we need to deny what form of cross form of suffering we need to take on the reality is is it could be daunting when you think about doing this denying yourself.

For the next 10 20 30 40 50 years of following Jesus and i know that it can get discouraging it's like how in the world i'm gonna make it to the end and i think a good encouragement from this story is to watch the rest of Peter's life play out because the reality is it's gonna get a whole lot worse for Peter before he gets better the other night that Jesus is betrayed he denies him three times denies him but after.

Jesus is raised Peter's brought back into fellowship with him and from this Peter becomes the pillar of the rock that he was prophesied to be that he preaches the first sermon at pentecost thousands come to know Christ and the rest of his life is the daily pursuit of knowing more of God denying himself and taking up the cross to follow him and for us taking up the cross is suffering but for i would want to bet for most of us for all of us it's not going to be the cross it's not going to be a literal cross where we'll be martyred.

But that's exactly what it is for Peter because Peter at the end of his life he goes into martyrdom he goes on a cross upside down and for the last to hear this for the last 2 000 years Peter has experienced nothing but endless joy the presence of God and from the moment he breathed his last breath he's not one step closer to the end of that reality and that is what you're being invited into some of you need to confess.

Jesus as lord for the first time you need to believe in him it's this life is not worth it it will fail you with a savior who will not fail you and my hope and my plea for you this morning is that you would believe in him that you would exchange your life for a more eternal one if you're a Christian and you are walking through sin if you're walking through struggles i don't know where this is for you right now my hope is this week in community groups that you would come ready and honest and open about the things that you pursue that you'd be willing to bring those out in the open.

That you would see those put to death that you would deny yourself for gaining more than him my hope is that someone you would pray some dangerous prayers we have the rockies in our Church who prayed some dangerous prayers and they're going to honduras and they're going to take this message of the Gospel elsewhere the hope is is that the rest of our Church would join in praying dangerously asking what's the cross you want us to bear what suffering do you want from us what do you want from me.

Lord and that may take you across the world it may take you across the street it may mean opening up your wall in some bigger ways it may be denying things i don't know what that is for you but i promise you if you will deny yourself you will gain something so much better and so much more sweet you'll gain God let me pray God i'm so thankful for this story i'm thankful for the example we have in Peter gotta pray there's anyone here who's not confessed to you as.

Lord that i pray this morning they would but right now you would make yourself so clear to them that you would go to work in their heart and for the first time they would confess that you are the messiah you are their only hope and they would believe God pray for us as Christians i pray that we take very seriously this message i pray that we would repent of the things that we have pursued at the cost of you so God help us in our repentance help us in our denial help us believe and gain more of you ask us in.

Jesus name amen together oh to see the oh sinful oh everyday is forgiveness is is we oh to see my name is so amen you may be seated thanks for being with us today if you were here in person or if you joined with us online we're glad that you joined with us for worship today again we as a Church want to live out our faith in community with other believers which is very different right now so some of our groups are meeting in person some of them are meeting in person.

And then setting up a computer where people can get online and join with them virtually but now is a great time to hop in you can go to our community groups page on the website or snap a picture of the qr code if you would like to connect with our groups again for our Church family you can give online or you can give up front here in these slots that are in our front walls you can give before you leave but again thanks.

For being here with us today let me send us out with a word this comes from ephesians 3 beginning in verse 17. may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God amen you guys have a great week.

Teaching Matters (Matthew 16:1-12)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Teaching Matters

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Uh hello good morning my name is chet i'm one of the pastors here we're excited to get to see you this morning we are coming back to gathering and figuring out how to gather well as God's people in the midst of a pandemic some of what we have here is some chairs spread apart if you need to move a chair because you brought more people with you that's fine we do still have room in the balcony if you want to or need to spread out more as people come in we it's fluid.

So we're able to try to work around being able to gather well together while also social distancing as best as we can we gather as a Church on sundays we sing we praise the lord we study the Bible together we have a sunday school class that meets to study the Bible together we gather throughout the week in community groups and homes and we do all the things that we do because we believe that Jesus is better than everything else he's better than what our tvs are selling us he's better than what our politicians are telling us he's better than all the things that the world has to offer and in him the things the world.

Have to offer get redeemed become good become enjoyable as we enjoy them as people who worship and love the lord and so our hope as a Church is to be a Gospel-centered community on mission people who are in life with one another holding up as foundational for us that Jesus saved sinners is the primary hope that we have that that connects us better than any other connection we might have in the world and that we are sent as missionaries into our city into our jobs into our neighborhoods many of the great Christian leaders of this generation and of the next generation do not currently believe in.

Jesus many of the great pastors and Church planters many of the great uh people who are going to lead community groups who are going to be good missionaries sent overseas do not currently trust and follow and believe in Jesus but his by his spirit and by him empowering his Church they will come to hear the Gospel believe the Gospel and be sent out as good missionaries and we are participating in that as we follow him as missionaries so that more and more people might place their faith in him be changed and be sent out.

If you have not joined a community group we want you to we want you to be in life with people who are following Jesus we used to hand out little connect cards but from what we understand we might would be sharing more than just a connect card with you so we're not handing anybody anything at this point but you can use the qr code with your phone to be able to fill out the form online or afterwards you can swing by and talk with phoebe garcia who'll be right down the hall and would love to talk with you about how to serve how to get connected with a group how to join our Church family.

As we come together this morning i will pray and then we'll read psalm 150 as we start worship this morning father we thank you for your grace and your goodness towards us i pray that you would bless this morning that we might grow in our love for you and one another we pray this in Jesus name amen psalm 150 says praise the lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in his mighty heavens praise him for his mighty deeds praise him according to his excellent greatness praise him with trumpet sound praise him with loot and harp praise him with tambourine and dance praise him with strings and pipe praise him with sounding symbols praise him.

With loud clashing symbols let everything that has breath praise the lord praise the lord you guys stand let's sing together this morning to God be the glory let's lift up our voices to God be the glory great things praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord let the people to the rejoice through Jesus oh perfect redemption the purchase of blood to every believer the who truly believes that moment from Jesus praise the.

Lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord let the people through Jesus our rejoicing through when Jesus received praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord like the people rejoice through Jesus a reading from romans chapter 6 verses 1 through 6 please read the underlying portions with me what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means how can we who died to sin still live in it do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ.

Jesus were baptized into his death we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father we too might walk in newness of life for if we have been united with him in a death like his we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.

So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin let's continue to worship God together this morning is wash you your name is the fear that helps us is your name your name is your name is victory is your name me the two where soldiers watched borrowed for three days is God we praise you that that is what is true for us that by your spirit we are made alive you are our resurrected king and because of the good news of the Gospel we follow after you into resurrection life that has begun.

Now and lord as your Church we want to hear from you this morning we want to follow in obedience so would you speak to us by that same spirit in Jesus name amen you guys can be seated so good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors here we're going to be in Matthew 15 and 16 today we got four stories that we're going to get through so we encourage you to open a Bible the uh text will also be on the screen you know what i'm going to miss this year i missed all this pandemic craziness football i just there's no guarantee we don't know exactly what's going to happen.

But i get the feeling that it's not going to go how we all want it to go for those of us that like football college football is in question nfl is going to be interesting uh football is my favorite sport i do my best not to have tons of football analogies because i realized that some people don't like football as much and that's okay every year about this time is exciting as football gears up i played football growing up and in august as it approached was a very exciting time.

Because football was coming back was also a very well preparing for that was a lot because august meant conditioning it meant lots of running it meant two days and three a days it meant doing drills over and over and over again we do the same drills we do form tackling drills which would teach you how the basics of tackling we would do pursuit drills which were pursuit angle drills on defense if you want to catch somebody running across the field you can't run at a straight line you have to run at an angle you need some geometry to cut them off and i played corner which meant those are 60 yard sprints all the way.

Across the field but you would do this over and over and over again because you would want to repeat these drills because what you uh in what you start repeating and doing you get better at that's how it works it's been really frustrating to watch the gamecocks the last decade because it's very apparent that they don't repeat the same drills because they don't know how to tackle and they don't know how to do pursuit angles they don't know how to do the basics which makes watching clemson play very frustrating.

Because they obviously know how to do the basics because they're very good at tackling and they're very good at doing the things that they practice all the time so if you practice these things you get better better at them it inevitably shows up on the field and that is true for pretty much any discipline uh take piano lindsay who plays piano for us as a doctor in piano and you can ask her there might be some talent involved but what makes you better at piano is you practice and you repeat and you practice and you do scales you do all the things it takes to get better at something right that's a common thing.

If you want to break a habit if you want to build a hab if you want to grow in something you continue to repeat it's almost as if that was built into humanity that God made this in a way that we would grow in something if we did the same thing over and over again if we were exposed the same thing over and over again and that becomes very true when you look at the life and ministry of Jesus because a lot of these stories are going to start to repeat themselves he's going to have some of the same teachings that show up over and over again he's going to perform some of the same.

Miracles that show up over and over again and we're going to walk through four stories they're going to feel very familiar they'll be miracles and teachings that he's already done and as we walk through these four stories we're going to see that the disciples are being exposed to this teaching being exposed to these miracles over and over again the first three stories are going to highlight three different truths that we see about God and the fourth story is a warning so we have three truths one warning as we walk through this.

Today and if we take a step back and look at this what we will see is that what you inevitably repeat you will become and the disciples needed to see Jesus truth and his ministry over and over and over again so that they could rehearse this truth and repeat this truth deep into their souls and i would argue it is the same for us that we are made to rehearse and repeat the truth of the Gospel deep into our soul so we're going to.

See it as we go out to these four stories let me pray and then we'll jump into the text father i thank you that you've given us these stories from the Gospel that they show us more of who you are got to pray that we would not simply gloss over these because they seem familiar but we would see the value and what it means to repeat and rehearse truth so i pray you would speak to us this morning in Jesus name amen all right.

So first story verse 29 chapter 15. here we go Jesus went on from there and walked beside the sea of galilee and he went up on the mountain and sat down there and great crowds came to him bringing with them the lame the blind the crippled the mute and many others and they put them at his feet and he healed them so that the crowd wondered when they saw the mute speaking the crippled healthy the lame walking in the blind seeing and they glorified the.

God of Israel the disciples have seen this play out over and over again and you can almost get used to it but the picture is miraculous there's a mute person who hasn't been able to speak possibly his entire life and he comes to Jesus and he can speak and there's a deaf person who's just been healed as well and he can hear and he can hear the mute person finally speaking these are miraculous events that are happening over and over and over again.

Let me just point out how this has happened and how much this has happened in Matthew you have Matthew chapter 4 verses 23-25 as a healing set of healing stories Matthew 8 1-17 Matthew 8 23-24 9 1 through 8 9 18-34 12 9 through 14 14 34-36 and these are just the stories that are recorded because there's many acts and many other teachings that we don't have they are seeing this happen over and over again that healing is a central part of his ministry that's the.

First truth that i want us to see today is that God heals God heals the disciples need to see this over and over and over again that God has a heart for the broken that he brings healing it is the reason uh that we have that a tradition has continued that flows into james 5 14 that is praying for physical healing james 5 14 says is anyone among you sick let them call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil and the name of the.

Lord and that's a tradition that we continue even today as pastors there's nothing magical about the oil it's olive oil or vegetable oil whatever oil you use there's nothing magical about the oil it is marking someone and saying that you are praying for them because we believe God can physically heal he works through the common grace of doctors but he also supernaturally heals a way that doctors cannot explain so he brings physical healing but also this points to a bigger spiritual reality that he also brings spiritual healing you.

See the physical healings the miracles that Jesus did were front and center in the life of Jesus but they were pointing forward to a couple of things to a eternal reality that spiritual healing is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God and to the final new heavens and new earth where there will be no more pain no more sickness no more hurt and while it's front and center that the physical healings the miracles that Jesus did in the gospels the bulk of the rest of the new testament focuses on souls on spiritual healing on redemption on sanctification going to be more like Christ and that is why we in our Church care.

Deeply about people meeting Jesus and growing in him and finding spiritual healing in him one of the things that i oversee as a pastor is care and counseling we have three main avenues for for care and counseling the first avenue starts in groups that's why we say a lot pretty much every sunday we want you to be a part of a group it's not just a place where you can live out the gospels not just a place where you can eat a meal and and and talk about the sermon it's also a place that you can grow in being healed that you can grow and having people bear burdens with you that they can preach.

The Gospel to you that if you have brokenness if you have sin struggles if you have trauma if you have hurt groups are a safe place for you to come and work some of that out so we say get be walk in the light with your groups be open and honest and sometimes what you're walking through is a lot it actually needs some more conversation that needs to happen outside of group and we tell our group leaders that to recommend them talking to us.

Because the second layer of care that we have that brings spiritual healing is pastoral counseling so one of the things that we do and i don't ever see this so i have a few more counseling cases than some of our other pastors is i i typically say that soul work is slow work that healing takes time the reality is is that uh while we one of the things we focus on is is the heart the sin beneath the sin the struggle beneath the struggle the brokenness beneath the brokenness we try to get to the heart of the issue.

But the reality is is that it's it's complex because the heart has layers of stuff on top of it right you have your family upbringing which shapes a lot of people how you were raised things that happened you're a kid you have other experiences you have trauma on top of that that makes it hard to get to the heart there are physical realities at play right if you're an anxious person and you love coffee those don't mix they just don't it increases anxiety there's.

For people that struggle with depression not getting enough vitamin d there's some physical medical layers there's all type of layers on top of the heart that make it difficult to get to the heart and that is why it takes time and we as americans are in this culture this time we want everything to happen like this and soul work is slow work it takes time and what we also offer if someone needs some extra level of care we'll do uh we will refer out to licensed professional counselors.

So one of the things i've done the last year is i have met with and interviewed and vetted almost 10 different counselors across the city from different counseling centers because not every counselor is created equally there are some counselors in the city that you could go to uh that are not helpful they don't even have close to a biblical worldview they certainly also wouldn't give you good advice on how to live and shape your life so i've met with 10 different counselors i've interviewed them i've gotten to know their stories i got to know their beliefs about the Gospel i've got to know their philosophy of counseling and care that lines up more with how.

We view it as a Church and the thing we offer is if you want to meet with a counselor we have someone that can meet with you we can connect that if it comes to a place where you also need some some help paying for that we have that in our budget as a Church to pay for because we care about this we care that God brings healing and redemption that people can grow to be more like Christ but it takes work soul work is slow work and it takes repeatedly rehearsing the Gospel to ourselves repeatedly working through our brokenness and the hurt and the pain.

But the good news is our lord is a wonderful counselor he does bring healing we believe in this and it's an important truth that comes from the gospels that we see on the surface of this story right here so that's the first truth let's go to the second story verse 32. then Jesus called his disciples to him and said i have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat and i'm willing to send them away hungry lest they faint on the way and the disciples said to him where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed.

So great a crowd and Jesus said to them how many loaves do you have they said seven and a few small fish and directing the crown to sit down on the ground he took seven loaves and the fish and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up the seven baskets full of broken pieces left over those who were those who ate were four thousand men plus women and children and after sending away the crowds he got into the boat and went to the region of magathon all right.

So this story should sound familiar right two chapters ago about a month ago chet walker's through this the feeding of the five thousand this is very similar story very similar layout and while there's uh deeper things that came out of the story that chet brought out there's some really cool parallels between this and the lord's supper there's one surface level truth that comes out of this that's very tangible and clear and that is that God provides that's the second truth that we.

See of this that God provides he provides tangible food for the people who are hungry and this is in line with his regular teaching on provisions he teaches them how to pray in the lord's prayer he says give us this day our daily bread he's teaching them that God provides for creation God provides for his people and that's easy for to forget it certainly seems so for the disciples because the disciples said they said where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed.

So great a crowd and it's like really i hope you're saying that sarcastically because two chapters ago he did just that but it reads fairly literally like they really were wondering what what are you going to do Jesus or how are we going to feed these people it's easy for to forget that God provides and that's something that we need to rehearse deep into our soul and never forget because the reality is is that we have a season upon us we are technically in an economic recession and there are fears of this firing possibly into a depression.

And when that happens i know that this is a the collective feeling is what are we going to do how are we going to pay our bills how are we going to pay our mortgage how are we going to provide food in the table how are you going to make it through this and it is easy in moments like that to forget that God provides i've seen that in my own life there were seasons where we didn't have a whole lot i.

Remember when we first got married i was paying my way through seminary and uh and we made a collective like thirty thousand dollars we were we were doing the best we could and then we'd have a medical bill that show up that's a thousand dollars not freak out and and how are we going to make it through this how are we going to get the other side of this how are we going to pay for this and time and time again.

God proves that he provides but if we go to the Scriptures it shows over and over again the focus shouldn't be on how are we going to get this how are we going to get that the focus should be on enjoying God and who he is primarily first that's what we see in the sermon on the mount he gives the illustration Jesus gives the illustration of of not worrying because he feeds the birds of the air the birds wake up every every day and they have food and the in the fields are clothed with lilies that the field have.

If the fields have clothes and the rest of creation like the birds are fed how much more do i care for you you who are made in the image of God that's why i say seek first the kingdom of God our focus should be there God will provide he provides daily bread you may not get all of the wants may not get the truck you won't you may not get some of the things that other people have he provides for our needs which is something to rehearse regularly.

For you one of the things i'm trying to do when saying a blessing before meals is not just make it like this ritual that you just do sometimes you just do it because you have to maybe you think your food is going to be poisoned if you don't but it's just it's a cultural thing a little bit that we we inherit it comes all the way back to where Jesus is giving thanks to the lord when he's breaking bread here and what i've tried to do in that moment is realize even in america we have an abundance of food we can you can eat a meal that's sourced from like seven different countries.

But it is a blessing that every meal that most people in america have access to food and every time i eat i'm trying to remember thank you God for food thank you God for duke's pad thai and the amazing red curry bowl that is the best dish here in colombia thank you lord for mcdonald's french fries which are good don't judge me all right there are to sit down and thank the lord for food another way you can practice this is maybe.

If you are the kind of person that gets anxious about bills when you go to the mailbox and you see the envelope and you're worried how much is this going to be so when you go to the mailbox and have a practice of when you get there remember got a sovereign he provides he is going to take care of us he will provide for my knees to rehearse that deep into your soul maybe every time you approach your budget before you start to crunch numbers and hustle and do all the things get out the the budget calculate whatever you do to pause.

Remember God provides he will take care of our needs i can trust in him i don't have to be anxious we need this truth repeated and rehearsed into our souls over and over again the disciples need to see over and over again that Jesus provides which brings us to our third truth in the third story starting off in verse 1 of chapter 16. and the pharisees and the sadducees came and to test them they asked him to show them a sign from heaven he answered them.

When it is evening you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red and in the morning it will be stormy today for the sky is red and threatening you know how to interpret the appearance of the sky but you cannot interpret the signs of the times an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign but no sign will be given to it except the sign of jonah so he left them and departed now if you've been walking with us through the Gospel of Matthew this story should also sound familiar this is not the.

First time the religious leadership has come to Jesus demanding a sign and when we walked through this a couple of months ago we went deeper into seeing what that was the arrogance and the posture of the pharisees and the sadducees we walked deeper into that but if you back out a little bit to see a surface level truth here he responds an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign but no sign will be given to it except the sign of jonah which is pretty much exactly what he said in chapter 12 that this truth has not changed you may can interpret the weather is what he says to the pharisees and sadducees which is.

Mildly impressive because people in colombia can't interpret the weather i mean that's they got something going for them you may interpret the weather but you can't see the signs that are happening right in front of you i'm only going to give you the sign of jonah and as we walk through chapter 12 in the story the sign of jonah is pointing forward to the cross and the resurrection this is jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish so also.

Jesus will spend three days in a tomb and will burst forth which highlights the third truth that we see here the heart of the Gospel remains the same the death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the Gospel it's the pinnacle of the Gospel story and it never changes it remains the same and it's the sign that we ultimately need and yet we can forget this we try to preach this we try to preach Gospel fluency to remember to apply his death and resurrection.

Remember the truth of the Gospel remember the implications of what we believe we try to rehearse this over and over again but the reality is is that sometimes when sin and suffering comes when loss comes when hurt comes when you get betrayed when you get whatever you face in those moments questions can rise up does God really love me does God really care about me does it really care about my situation we start to get challenged and when that happens we can run to other narratives right we can run to what i call shame uh what an author calls shame scripts or in a counseling book that you can have this shame script that you.

Run through over and over again instead of going back to the Gospel you can run to i'm messed up nobody loves me nobody cares about me i deserve this this can happen with self-condemnation you can forget the Gospel and start to condemn yourself over and over and over again this can happen when you start to believe lies about other Christians lies about yourself lies about who God is and we stop rehearsing the heart of the Gospel we stop remembering his death and resurrection and what it means hear this very clearly the evidence that.

God cares for you the evidence that God loves you ultimately the only sign that you need is the cross and resurrection it's the idea that the God of the universe created us and though we rebelled against him he says i want to redeem them so he steps into our timeline and goes all the way to the cross sin uh becoming sin on the cross for us so that we can have new life in Christ when he walks out of the tomb that is the only evidence that we need is his life poured out.

For us and that is why Jesus is pointing forward here he's pointing forward i mean he this is a story he's pointing forward to that a few more times he's going to pretty much explicitly say this is coming i'm going to be betrayed and handed off this is coming and this will be the centerpiece of our faith it'll be the anthem in which the Church hits over and over and over again it's the reason why when we're not a pandemic one of the things that we like to do every week or at least very regularly is to take part in the lord's supper it's it's a regular reminder that his body was broken.

For us that his blood was shed for us that the Gospel is the most in the heart of the Gospel is the message that guides us that shapes us that molds us into his image and we don't go past the Gospel you'll ever move past it we drive deeper into it so that we can grow into this so that when things come to make astray we are rooted in Christ which is where we're going to see this warning that comes next all right.

So three truths now we're in the warning verse five when the disciples reached the other side they have forgotten to bring any bread Jesus said to them watch and beware of the leaven of the pharisees in sadducees and they began discussing it amongst themselves saying we brought no bread which pause this story is a little bit humorous because he's trying to teach him something bigger and they're looking around like i don't know should we do am i bringing bread bartholomew did you bring bread no that's why no one's gonna.

Remember you like it's just he's like Jesus like no i'm not this is not about the bread there's a bigger point that's happening here verse 8 it says but Jesus aware of this said oh you have little faith why are you discussing amongst yourselves the fact that you have no bread do you not yet perceive do you not remember the five loves for the five thousand the baskets that you gathered or the seven loaves for the four thousand how many baskets were gathered how is it you fail to understand that i did not speak about the bread he's like y'all it's not about the bread the bread's a metaphor he says beware of the leaven.

Of the pharisees and sadducees oh light bulb then they understood that he did not tell him to be aware of the leaven of the bread but of the teaching of the pharisees and sadducees so it's a humorous exchange of the disciples being a little bit thick-headed not being able to follow but it's also very serious it brings up the warning that we need to see beware of false teachers that is a very important thing beware of false teachers in false teaching.

Jesus is pouring into them right he's teaching them all kinds of truths some of the stuff we talked about today God provides he heals he's helping them see the heart of the Gospel he is pouring into them so that they will be able to guide the Church and also defend the Church against false teaching because it is going to come false teaching is like he says it's like leaven meaning it starts small 11 is small you drop it in some flour and it starts to work its way through the flower and it transforms it into something that is completely different and that is what false teaching does it's like leaven it's ideas sometimes start very.

Small but then they get implanted into your soul and they start to change and they start to corrupt you the premise of inception the movie was that you can get into somebody's dreams and in their dream world you can start to incept and plant ideas in their head that would change them that's the whole premise of it that's exactly what false teaching does may seem innocent it may not seem like that big of a deal then you start to uh it starts to transform you start to follow it you start to follow to his logical end which is away from the.

Lord there's this story uh from in the 19th century from uh one of the his name is crawford toy he is he was one of the more popular professors at my alma mater at southern seminary and uh he was kind of a celebrity at that point he actually was engaged to lottie moon which if you know anything about southern baptist history is a big deal she's like a legend she's a missionary to china there's a whole offering that we do that is named after her he's engaged to her he's an up and coming teacher very bright.

And then he goes off to germany to study theology which germany in the 19th century was a very dangerous place to learn ideas it's where marxism came from the 19th centuries where the the beginnings of nazism came from the 19th century it's also where german higher criticism theology came from and it was a theology that actually destroyed the european Church which the reason is today and destroyed half the denominations that we have in our country today it was the understanding that the Bible is not truthful and he studied this and it started small and it came back to america.

And then it began to grow like leaven it began to completely take over until finally it was very clear he was not believing in the Gospel anymore and he was fired from southern seminary and there's this story one of his professors one of his mentors one of his friends took him to the train station and he put his hand his arm out and he said toy i would gladly cut off this arm if you just be where you were five years ago and stay there five years ago before the leaven was planted.

If you just get back to right there i've watched people over and over and over again people and i was in Bible studies with people that watched lead other people to Christ begin to delve into some of this false teaching they found a book they found a couple of authors they found a couple of preachers and they began to listen and then it slowly began to correct them there's something about humanity that we just can't focus on the Gospel that we get led astray by radical concepts and radical teachings.

Then we take the bait we swallow the hook and then we're completely changed the reality is you can go to any bookstore in the within the religion section and find tons of very horrible ideas you can go to Christian bookstores the ones that are actually still left and you can walk through it and some of the best selling authors some of the biggest most selling best-selling books are filled with false teachings that will absolutely lead you astray Jesus is pouring into them that they would stay rooted in the heart of the Gospel they stay rooted in the truth of the Gospel.

So we need to ask ourselves coming out of this and we need to examine ourselves and ask what are some of the false teachings that we're buying into one of the biggest ones in america is the prosperity Gospel the idea that God will give me money material things if i believe in him he's going to grow me my wealth and that mess is everywhere how much of that infuses the american dream has crept into our souls maybe it's the therapeutic false Gospel the idea that that.

God is for my happiness and how i define my happiness a lot of times you'll be working with somebody and you'll say that's what the Bible says and then they'll say no that that can't be that that won't make me happy it's like no no you're misunderstanding this it's a false Gospel it's the moralistic Gospel the idea that you can do enough good to earn God's favor there's all kinds of horrible bits of leaven that you can start to believe that are.

So deep in your soul and unless you address them unless you bring them into the light unless you see to seek to put them to death they will take over they will corrupt they will change you he gives us three truths and a warning because ultimately we need to be rooted in truth so that we would persevere so that we'd run the race victoriously to the finish and we would not fall away but that is going to take effort and work that's going to take knowing more of.

God that's going to take some focus so where is our focus malcolm gladwell has this whole 10 000 hours theory if you want to become an expert at something you have to have 10 000 hours built into it where are your 10 000 hours spent is it spent on politics it's election season and you can spend hours and hours and hours and hours consuming yourself with politics maybe you have a phd in self-condemnation that most of your thoughts consistently are condemning yourself over and over and over again maybe you've become an expert on how bad 2020 can get you've played out all the scenarios and your and anxiety builds and it builds and it builds.

And all you can think about is what possibly could go wrong the rest of this year where is our focus what are we rehearsing what are we repeating in our minds that is what we need to see as we close out today we need to understand that what you inevitably repeat you will become which is why we emphasize so much that reading the Bible is so good for your soul that's why we emphasize so much that we need to grow in prayer i also need to read the Bible collectively and not just individually i'm.

So absolutely a big proponent of quiet times and having time with the lord and journaling and all the all of it but it cannot just be i read the Bible in a bubble and i don't take the collective wisdom of other saints of other Christians and their wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit collectively there's a reason why jehovah's witness and mormonism other religions have started it's because someone got a hold of a Bible solo and ran with it when you read the Bible collectively together reciting truth deep into our soul speaking the Gospel to one another growing in this.

Because what we repeat will ultimately become man's going to come up and as they come up i just want to take a moment for us to reflect these surface level truths that are so clear and beautiful that come out of these stories do you believe that God can heal maybe you're in a place where uh there's there's buried brokenness so deep inside and you don't want to expose it you don't want to go there you've given up hope that can actually you can actually find healing there i'm here to very clearly tell you we have a wonderful counselor we have the Holy Spirit you absolutely can find healing my encouragement.

For you is this week is to take a step forward to bring it out in the group maybe to contact one of us as pastors God heals he provides i don't know what your situation is this year if you're in a place where you're like i don't know how i'm going to make it i want you to clearly hear this he will provide for your needs and ultimately may we remember that the heart of the Gospel never changes that we so desperately need to come back to his death in his resurrection and rehearse the Gospel over and over and over again.

So that we can become more like Christ so that we can stand in the face of any false teaching any form of suffering and any trials that come let me pray father i thank you for these stories it would be so easy to read and said we've already read this we've already studied this but to actually sit in them and see you working see you teaching see you growing us and i pray that you would help us believe these truths recite these truths and recite them not to one another as.

Well God i pray that you would help us stay rooted in you that you would defend us against the evil one and his lies against the evil one and false teachers that you help us stay rooted in Christ gotta pray there's anyone here that has not actually fully believed in you i pray that you would appeal to their hearts right now and they would yes in Jesus name amen believing that to be true let's stand and sing together in Christ alone in Christ alone my hope is through the fiercest.

When fears you guys storm is there is foreign is Jesus is amen you guys can be seated uh as you're having a seat we're gonna transition the stage just a little bit chet's going to come up and he's going to spend some time talking with chris and danielle rocky chris and daniel rocky have been members of our Church for about two years now and they've been leading a community group in the west columbia area and uh God has been stirring in them something new and something exciting.

And so we've mentioned this uh over the last couple of weeks but chris chris and danielle and their family are going to be moving to honduras and they're going to talk a little bit about their timeline in a second but they're the first couple that we're officially sending out from our Church as international missionaries and so yeah we're gonna let them talk real quick and loudly uh i have a few quick announcements that i will forget if we do anything else.

First so we just have them up here to smile and nod like these are really good announcements um oh giving i was supposed to say it earlier but we don't pass a plate anymore because of communicable diseases um but you can drop things into the two gift boxes on the sides here or you can give online i i've been very proud of our Church family we have done well consistently continuing giving paying our bills during this whole thing also with that.

If you are struggling personally and do need some financial assistance because some people have lost jobs or had been laid off and that sort of thing do come talk to us because we do have the ability as a Church family to continue to help support and pay bills but just want to make that reminder also we've done a pretty good job so far of construction not impeding how we meet and gather on sundays so i hope you've enjoyed that because that is going to end um this next week.

When we come on sunday you should begin to see some of the things that are changing in this building back over here kind of if you come in this way if you come in that way everything's done you're good but if you come in this way things are going to begin to change and then two weeks from now that whole area will be blocked off because we will be doing asbestos abatement and so it'll all be blocked off we'll have to come around through the alley coming this way.

And so just a few things we'll be changing but there's progress so we're excited about it so i want to give those quick announcements now it's chris and daniel rocky chris came to us a while back saying he felt called to Church planting or missionary work he wanted to come in and see if he could receive some training some equipping we said sure come on we have a pastor in training process that we just brought him in on to begin walking with him to do some equipping.

For being a pastor and they were continually praying through where they were supposed to go and what they were supposed to do and they landed on honduras so why honduras what led you out of them um so yeah like like chet said um chris had been praying for a couple years um knowing God was calling him to full-time ministry not sure what that looked like he's even been going to school online to get his degree in biblical teaching and theology.

So um i went to ecuador a couple years ago he and i went to colombia last summer none of that felt right um and so the admin at northside Christian academy where i was working had decided this past school year um they were going to be doing mission teams and going to allow the kids to go and so i'm trying to figure out where to go um my assistant head of schools her best friend had done numerous trips to honduras.

So she contacted her tell me about this trip she's like oh this seems really good for us got in contact with brad and christy the missionaries down there they're like yeah we'd love for you guys to bring a group of your kids that'd be great so that kind of started that ball rolling um still didn't see it coming that that's where God was calling us brad and christy came in november to meet us and to meet the kids and answer questions and afterwards we get to spend some one-on-one time and brad invited chris in february to go to a um to come with them on a construction team some people kind of thought brad.

Christy live in honduras run yes they are the missionaries that we are going to partner with um when we get down there so we aren't going to start things from scratch we are going to join a missionary um family that's already there missionary couple um and so um brad invited chris on this construction team and some people were like wait so chris is going in february and then you're going back again in march that's kind of weird um obviously God knew what was happening.

God knew we would never take that trip in march because of everything happening for kovid so God knew that that was the trip that chris needed to take but he went in february and when we picked him up at the airport he looked me right in the eye and said that's it yeah so just seeing everything in person i was able to serve in all of the different aspects the ministry uses to build relationships so just seeing the desperate need for hope down there um honduras is one of the one of the poorest sorry one of the poorest countries in central america.

So the average per capita income is about 5 000 per family um so just imagine having to support your your family on that that little amount of money um so just seeing how desperate the people are for for hope and knowing where where they can find it um it just is really really touching for me and it just it just wanted me to to partner with that full-time and be someone that can show them that hope okay so the led to go to honduras planning to go to honduras in the very near future august.

If coronavirus will let you yes yes what will you be doing when you get there we will have two main roles our first role will be really a family role um one of the things that this that brad and christie have been doing is they've been um hosting mission teams and so churches youth groups Christian schools whatever anybody who wants to come and spend six days um they're hosting them and so they come and we're going to be in charge of that that's what our family is going to take on we are going to begin to lead those teams.

So we'll if Mill City decides that they want to send a team to honduras um y'all we'll meet you guys at the airport and we will bring you you will come stay at the mission house with us we'll all be living the same house together eating our meals together um doing Bible studies together and we will walk you through them we will go around and we'll walk you through the different avenues of ministry that we do and show you what we're all about.

And then really pour into you just missions whether it's globally or just right in your neighborhood i'm really pressing forth that we are all missionaries we're all called um to to give something and so um that is what we are going to do as a family and then chris has a thing yeah so i'll also be working in the communities to start a pastoral training program so i will meet with men one-on-one just to kind of train them in how to lead a group how to lead a gathering.

So basically taking the the Mill City framework for community groups and sort of modifying that a little bit to where these gatherings can function basically as a Church within these communities because you're going to be in kind of a urban area but there's a lot of little we will yeah we'll be in the city of el progreso but there's a lot of rural very poor communities that we'll be working in so they don't really have access to to churches so they really need Gospel centered gatherings right where they are.

So either helping start new ones or encouraging ones that are there correct okay um so my next question is about how we as a Church family can help support y'all we've done one small thing already until y'all leave in august we're gonna have the sanctuary as hot as it is in honduras to try to help you all be mentally and emotionally prepared thank you um that's just a little thing uh but my question is how can we if we're sitting here right.

Now saying hey how do we support how do we join with you how does our Church family help send you uh what can we do um the first the first way you can help is really just through prayer we need a lot of of prayer support um i could take an hour and share with you all the different ways you can pray for us but i won't um i'll just give you the the two big ones right now um one would be prayering as we praying as we prepare um that everything gets sold that needs to be sold um that it sells like it's supposed to sell and that we're able to to do that.

Um and pray for the borders to open um this kovit has really thrown a wrench in our lives it's kind of hard as you sit here and everybody's like okay so when you're going i don't know i don't know oh so exciting when do you leave i don't know so it would be we've heard that the borders may open um by august 15th um so we are preparing to be ready to leave by then um if they are not open we are prepared.

For that as well and so we've made arrangements and we've got things to do so God knows when the borders need to be opened he will open them when he is ready and not a second before and we believe that so um we will go and but just prayers that that will happen God will give us patience that we will not try to make things work in our time um we have a facebook page um the rockies are moving to honduras i made chris changed the name it was just the rockets are going i'm like no we're not going we're moving like we're not coming back.

So but that's our facebook page so so a lot of you have already liked it i've seen you guys following um our journey so thank you so much for that but if you haven't jump on there like our facebook page we'll be continuing to list prayer requests and prayer needs that we have and so that's just a really great way to keep up with what we're doing um and i will let chris talk about other stuff yeah so we've we've got a really amazing opportunity set before us in joining this ministry they've got a strong foundation and um just the the ability that we'll have to.

If you'll pull out that picture brandon family is like this i mean seeing people come from darkness to light seeing people in a hopeless situation where this is this is where they live this is where they raise their kids we can we can bring them hope um but we can't do that without the body of Christ without people coming behind us willing to support the vision willing to support what we're doing so right now we're about 30 of uh what we need.

For for monthly support um so if you would uh we need people to to give to sacrifice um whatever you can to uh to make a big difference in in these people's lives and um we're also doing part of how you can do that is we're having a yard sale this this saturday um out here in the Church parking lot um so if you guys can come and tell your friends buy some stuff if you want to help just let us know share it on your facebook page yeah share it on your facebook page um yeah whatever whatever you guys can do everybody can do something we have faith that God's going to provide.

But he does that through his people he does it through people who are obedient who are willing to to sacrifice who are who are willing to um live as if this world is not our home so one of the things we've said consistently is that we're all sent to be to be missionaries where we are and that ultimately as community groups and as believers here we're supposed to be doing what they're doing we're just doing it here they're going to honduras they're selling their house they're taking their children with them they're picking up they're moving to honduras.

Because they feel like the lord has sent them there and the hope would be that we would take our faith and our mission with the same amount of dead earnest seriousness that they are and that we would participate actively as missionaries where we are sent and where we are placed and that we would help participate in what God is doing with the with the rockies as well through prayer and financial support most of the people in this room will spend almost all of the money they make some of us all of the money you make next year will be spent some of that will terminate next year you'll enjoy the things you had that'll be.

It it will not roll into eternity some of the money some of the time some of the things that we spend our money on and our energy into will roll into eternity and this is an opportunity for us to participate in something where we are helping send our money on ahead so you can handle your finances well by by helping support them financially monthly our Church is going to at 300 a month so we give as a Church and we help participate we're going to 300 a month help support.

But we would love for individuals to also help support and you're spending your money well once you do that now the beautiful thing about that is if the rockies spend the money you send them poorly it's not on you that's on them you'll be held accountable for your money they'll be held accountable for theirs we don't think they're going to we know that we're joining in and sending them off to do good things and we are excited to be able to participate with missionaries our hope is that at some point all of our Church family gets to come up participate in helping baptize somebody or being baptized that you might would come up and we'd.

Pray over you and send you out as a group leader that you might come up and we would pray over you and send you out and never see you again this side of eternity because you went and lived on the other side of the world that's our prayer is that many people in our Church family many of you are sitting right here that at some point will get to do the same thing with you we're not praying over them today because we're not sending them out.

Today that we're going to see them on saturday when we come by their stuff that they've got to get rid of because they can't take it all with them to honduras and so thank you all so much and we appreciate y'all we will be praying for you all we will have you all up and send y'all out before you actually do leave just depending on how coronavirus cooperates as to how long we'll have you but thank you we're excited for y'all and appreciate you.

Okay we are finishing up today by praying over a couple just not the rockies we are going to send out the amadeo so if you don't mind just standing right here i'm going to stand over top of you and talk about you this is john and jesley amadeo they joined our Church family not too too long ago they have been members here they became leaders in training here and they are leaving so if you hadn't gotten the chance to meet this delightful couple you have failed miserably.

Because they're gone they're going to be leaving today we are praying for and sending them out so john was here studying at uh doing research at the university of south carolina he did an excellent job researching things and now he gets to go do research at duke university he's doing biomedical research program that is a six year program and he intends to finish it in five years he's going to do more research per year than they expect him to do but he's going to be a six-year research program they have been blessed in this process to receive some funding through duke they do believe they're going to be able to buy a house they've asked.

Specifically that we pray that them owning a home goes well and they don't burn things down was one of the things he sent me in his text jessie will continue to get her bachelor's degree through liberty online and she will uh she's gotten her hair stylist license renewed in north carolina and will be doing hair stylist work there some of the biggest prayers are that they would find a good Church home and that they would be good missionaries in the two fields that they are in which need good missionaries there's not a lot of Christians doing biomedical research and we are excited that we know of one and we're hoping that he goes as a.

Good missionary there someone who loves Jesus and loves people and does good research on behalf of God and his good world working and we're also very thankful for his wife who is cutting hair because that's a good thing to do it's helpful it keeps the world rolling and there's a lot of people who need to know Jesus who both cut hair and get their hair cut so we're thankful to get to send out two other missionaries who are going to go to uh the research triangle of north carolina and we pray that they would be blessed in that.

If you know them and are already around them if they're okay with this can people come up and be close to you okay so he does biomedical research and he thinks it's fine so uh if you know them and are already around them you can come up here and lay hands on them if not just pray for them where you are we're praying that we would send them out well and that they would be blessed in their going just as they have blessed us in their joining with us and we're thankful.

For them we're gonna pray uh for a second i'll let everybody just kind of pray where you are and then i'll pray loudly and we'll be dismissed you God we thank you for john and jessica we pray that you would bless them pray that you would bless and strengthen their marriage we pray that you would help them to find a Church home to love and to serve and to practice and rehearse their faith with believers in north carolina we pray that you would help them to be active missionaries where you have sent them that they might grow in their love.

For you and for each other and for your Church and for the lost we thank you for this time that we've gotten to know them we pray that you would bless them as you send them out and we thank you that we have hope beyond this life that we'll get to spend an eternity with all those that you've brought into our lives and all those that you've sent out that love and follow you we thank you in Jesus name amen.

Faith of the Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-31)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

The Canaanite Woman

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Well, good morning. My name is Chad. I'm one of the pastors here at Mil City Church of Casey and excited to see y'all this morning. We gather on Sundays because we believe that Jesus is better than everything else. We gather together to remember that to celebrate that, to remind one another of that, to to sing and to praise Jesus, to put him first at the first part of our week so that we might remember as we go throughout the rest of the week that he is primary and that he is good.

We also, as we seek to apply that reality that he is better than everything else, we want to be a Gospel- centered community on mission. The primary way that we carry that out is through our community groups where we would be people who are changed radically by the reality of the Gospel that Jesus Christ saves sinners and that we would apply that truth to all of life in our relationships with one another. that we would exist as people who have been made into a new eternal family and that we would try as best we can as broken sinners to practice that here to practice what it looks like for us to have uh reconciliation to God and to each other through the cross to have the ability to walk forward in life together here and that we would be good missionaries to our city because there are so many without hope without forgiveness. We live in a culture right now where forgiveness is uh not working its way throughout the world. It's not running rampant in the streets.

And so we operate as people who believe that we can be the worst of sinners and we can be redeemed by Christ and that there is hope in him and forgiveness in him and life in him. And so we're sent to be missionaries where we are. This morning in a few ways is a little different. and in all the ways that matter. Isn't that different at all?

Um, thanks. If you'll notice, we handed out sheets of paper with words on them. The the internet went out this morning and our computer went out this morning. One of the the uh things that's been levied at the the new way of operating as a Church is that you could get together and if you didn't have electricity, you wouldn't know how to operate. But if the Holy Spirit didn't show up, you wouldn't even notice.

and we don't want to operate that way. So, we don't have the internet this morning. We're not going to be able to live stream. I can fall off the stage right now. No one will ever get to see it or remember.

Uh, and we did uh something that we just came up with. No one's ever thought of this. We printed up the words and put them on a sheet of paper, put them in your chair with you. Uh, so that we can sing together, that we can celebrate Jesus together, that we can worship together. So, we won't have some of the things we usually have, but we'll have all the things we need.

Um, each other, the Holy Spirit at work amongst his people and hearts set free by the Gospel and changed by the work of Jesus that we might worship him in spirit and in truth. So, let's pray as we begin this morning together. God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for the redemption that we have in Christ and Christ alone. And we pray that as we come together as your people set free from sin that we would even as we come together in the midst of difficulty, even as we groan together with our world longing for you to redeem and to reveal yourself fully.

We come together to worship and to magnify your name. And we pray that you would help us to see our sin and repent. That we might stand fully in the grace of Jesus. That we might trust that you care for us in the midst of our suffering. And that we are not outside of your hand.

That you watch over us and love us. And so we pray that we would no matter where we come in this morning in the midst of joy, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of doubt, that we would grow in faith and love for you and one another. in Jesus name. Amen. If you would just go ahead and grab your sheets and stand up with us.

We're going to sing together. There is a fountain. Let's sing together. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's face and sinners punched beneath that flood. Lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains. lose all their guilty states and sinners plunge beneath that flood. lose all their guilty state. The dying thief rejoice to see thin in his day. And there have I vowed that has he wash all my sins away.

Wash all my sins away. And there have I go vile as he wash all my sins away. Oh, thank you God. Sing together. Ever since by faith I saw the stream my flowing wound.

Redeeming love redeeing love has been my thing and shall be till I die. This shall be till I shall be till my redeeing love pass and shall be till I die. Bless you Lord. Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, I worship his holy name. Sing like never before.

Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. The sun comes up. It's a new day. Don't me. It's time to sing your song again.

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be seen in the evening. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. You sing like never before. Oh my soul, how much it is for me.

You're rich in love and you're slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind for all your goodness I will keep on singing. 10,000 reasons for my heart to find. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul.

Oh my soul, I worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name. And on that day when my strength is failing, the end draws near and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise unending.

10,000 years forever Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, I worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name.

I worship your holy name. Oh God, I worship your If you would have a seat for just a second. We're going to have a Scripture reading. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled his in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. That's the reason that we get to celebrate this morning. So we have a good and holy and transcendent God who stepped down who came and lived a perfect life on our behalf. Died on the cross for our sin and rose from the grave so that we could have new life in him.

new eternal resurrection life that has started now and will continue into eternity. Let's stand and sing this song together. Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin. Lost without hope, no place to begin. Your love made a way to let mercy come in.

When death was arrested, my life began. Ash was redeemed. Only beauty remains. My orphan heart was given. My mourning grew quiet.

My feet rose to dance. When death was arrested, my life be. Sing together. Oh, your grace so free, washes over me. You have made me new.

Now life begins with you. is your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new. Now life begins with you. Release from my chains.

I'm a prisoner no more. My shame was a ransom. faithfully born. He cancelled my death and he called me his friend. When death was arrested, my life began.

Sing it out. Oh, your grace so free washes over me. You have made me new. Now life begins with you. Oh, it's your love.

It's your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new. Now life begins with you. Oh, our savior displayed on a criminal's cross. Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost.

But then Jesus arose with our freedom in him. That's when death was arrested and my life began. That's when death was arrested and my life began. Oh, your grace. Oh, your grace so free washes over me.

You have made me new. Now life begins with you. It's your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new. Life begins with you.

Sing we're free. Oh, we're free. Free forever. We're free. Come join the song of all the redeemed.

Yes, we're free. Free forever. Amen. When death was arrested, my life began. Oh, we're free.

Free forever. We're free. Come join the song of all the redeemed. Yes, we're free. Free forever.

When death was arrested in my life. That's when tether was arrested and my life began. God, what good news that is worth celebrating and lifting our voices and lifting all that we are to praise you, God, starting now and and and continuing for eternity in good times and in bad times when we're hurting and when we're doubting and when we're walking with you and in seasons of joy and celebration. This truth, this is the truth that we can hold on to. This is an everlasting hope that keeps us grounded and keeps our eyes up.

And we thank you for that, God. And we ask that you would pull our eyes to you as we open your word, God. That we would see your character. We would see who you are clearly. And that we might respond, that your spirit might lead us to respond in repentance where that's needed.

Your spirit might help us grow in faith. Your spirit might lead us into seasons of obedience. God, we praise you. We love you. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen. You guys can have a seat. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here.

We're going to be in Matthew 15 verses 21- 28. So, uh, we will not have text on the screen. So, if you have a Bible, I'd encourage you to pull out and follow along with us. If you have been with us long enough, you know we have two main preaching pastors, right?

So, that Chad and I share about half and half the preaching load. And uh and we're different. We got different preaching styles. We got different backgrounds and upbringings, which regularly shows up in our sermons. We have different interests.

We have different personalities. We like different things. I'd argue though what makes us different makes us a good team. Uh there if you took vin diagrams of us there's a little bit of overlap. All right.

So we both love watching the gamecocks break our hearts. We both love uh standup comedy. Uh but there's a whole lot of just in those vin diagrams. It's very very different. It shows up a lot in our appreciation of the arts.

Uh so a few years ago I found out that that Chad likes musicals. And since I'm married to my wife who uh who loves musicals over the time of our marriage I've grown to really love and appreciate them. years back. I said, "Man, I want to show you a musical that's going to change your world." Uh, and I only had the audio version because it wasn't out on video yet, but I let him listen to Hamilton. And about a song and a half in, he was like, "Yeah, I don't is are they going to rap the whole time?" I was like, "Yeah, it's a hip-hop Broadway." He's like, "Oh, okay." Wasn't his cup of tea at the time.

And then he said, "Why don't you watch Fiddler on the Roof?" So, I watched Fiddler on the Roof and about 30 minutes in, it just didn't land. I was like, "Sorry, bro." I will say he finally because it's now on Disney Plus, he finally got to watch it and we won him over. He actually likes Hamilton. But there's a lot of differences in in movies that we like. I mean, it's it's every time I get excited about a movie, and he'll regularly make fun of this in his sermons.

I'll get excited about a movie and I'll say, "Man, I want you to watch this movie." He'll go, "Oh, is it sad? Is it uncomfortable? Is it one of your indie films? Does a does a child lose his parents and then ends up being a child soldier and then eventually he gets a ticket to America and then falls uh prey to the opioid crisis. Is that how your movie goes?

I'll say no. He never made it to America. It's just but it's like not everything can be oh look how Thor and Kylo Ren team up to to defeat Voldemort at Mordor. It's just like everything's not adventure land yet. I like adventure movies.

I like adventure tales but sometimes things are real. All right. Sometimes things are are uncomfortable. Sometimes I I love stories that explore reality and how it is messy and how it's uncomfortable. I appreciate uh stories that bring that out.

And this story from the life of Jesus today has all of that. That is why when we were charting out the Gospel of Matthew and and we were looking at who would preach what, I wrote my name beside this one. Um because this story is very uncomfortable. one of the most uncomfortable stories in the New Testament. Uh, and we're going to walk through this story today.

Uh, it has some subtle hints that that touch on different themes that run through the Bible in just eight verses. Uh, Matthew is going to take an uncomfortable story from the life of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus. And he's going to show us really a picture of the salvation plan of God. All right.

So, there's a lot going on here. So, we're going to have to dive a little bit deeper this morning. uh we're going to have to really zoom in on some spots. We're spend a lot of time in one verse and then see three different things from it and then move to the next verse. I mean it is you got to dive deep to understand this.

But when we do this, the deeper we get, we can pan out a little bit and see the bigger picture of what Jesus is doing in this story and why is is a really good story for us and seeing the plan of God play out. So let me pray and then we'll jump into this story. Father, we thank you that you've given us stories like this, that you in your plan set this up in a way that would help show what you were doing in a powerful way. God, I pray that you would help us receive this this morning. I pray that you would help us not uh get defensive, but would listen and let the text go to work on our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen. All right. So verse 21, chapter 15. And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Ty and Sadome.

All right. So here's the setting. Jesus withdraws. All right.

That's an intentional use of that word. He could have said he went. He could have said he he he was going to. No, he withdrew, which implies he is leaving Galilee for a reason. He might be escaping uh the work of ministry for a bit.

He might be uh just looking to rest for a change of scenery to maybe be a little bit more anonymous because he's a celebrity in Galilee which is a Jewish district. Tyron Sedon is a gentile district. So he's not going to be as big as well known. There's not going to be the same crowds there are in Galilee. So it's important to know the context here.

They are Jewish. They show up in Tyra and Sedon. are going to stand out because there are cultural tensions between Jews and Gentiles. Jews look down upon Gentiles. They thought they were unclean.

Gentiles knew this. There's a lot of separation. So when he enters uh into Ty and Sedon with his disciples, he's going to stand out. But still, even though he's not quite the celebrity that he is amongst Jews, he does not remain anonymous. Somebody recognizes him.

And that's where it picks up in verse 22. It says, "And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, have mercy on me, oh Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." So, this woman recognizes him. And it's important to to sit in this and picture the text. It doesn't say that she uh asked him, doesn't say that she even called out to him.

It says that she cried out to him. She cried out. This is shrieking. This is loud. This is uncomfortable.

I want you to imagine if you go to to a restaurant uh in downtown Columbia, you leave the restaurant, all of a sudden someone cries out and screams and gets in front of you. It's it's an uncomfortable scene. And she is crying out to Jesus and she says, "Lord," which doesn't always mean she believes he's Lord like we call him Lord. Sometimes that's just a term of respect. But then she adds on to that.

She says,"Lord, son of David. And especially coming from a from a gentile woman, that that says a lot because son of David is a is a messianic title. It's it's it's it's Messiah language. She says, "You're the son of David. You have power that this the the the hype that has extended beyond uh the the Jews into our land.

You are the son of David." She's trying to get him to pay attention. Lord, son of David. And then she says, "My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." So she wants, like many people have come to Jesus, to be healed, for her daughter to be healed. So how does Jesus respond?

Verse 23. But he did not answer her a word. Didn't answer her a word. Now that is where the story starts to get uncomfortable because I want you to picture this. She's crying out.

Desperation. Tears can be flowing from her face. Maybe it's snot is coming from her nose. She's crying out to Jesus and he keeps walking. He doesn't answer her a word.

He ignores her. Now, this this is a story that doesn't show up in my kids story book Jesus Bible. It's just not a very popular story. I had I wanted to show you. I was going to say that they're uh they don't make coloring sheets for stories like this.

And I was going to put one on the screen because I finally found one. And it's it's when you see the picture of just Jesus looking away and she's just holding on to him. It's it's like what is happening here? What is Jesus doing in this story?

This doesn't seem like the Jesus that we read about in other stories. So it continues and it says his disciples came and begged him saying send her away for she is crying out after us. So crying out after us. This implies this is continually happening. She's continuing to cry out over and over and over again.

And Jesus is ignoring her. And I want you to see something. The disciples didn't say, "Jesus, won't you heal her? Can we, she's crying out, can you go ahead and heal her?" No, they said, "Won't you send her away?" And that shows the understanding here that she is a gentile woman. She is not Jewish.

Don't you don't need to heal her. Just send her away. Why is this happening? Why is this unfolding like this?

Why is Jesus doing this? It continues verse 24. He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And now this starts to get even more uncomfortable because what he just acknowledged is to her, you are not Jewish. I was sent to the Jews. And that's uncomfortable.

But in this story, in this time, that is exactly true because at this point in the salvation plan of God, Jesus is ministering to the Jews. That's why he's mostly in Galilee and Jerusalem. He's ministering primarily to the Jews because in the order of salvation, it is to the Jews first, then the Gentiles. I mean, Paul makes that abundantly clear in Romans 1:16. He says, "For I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also the Greek.

To the Jew first, then the Gentile." That is the order of salvation in the Scriptures. And that can rub people the wrong way. People look at something and say, "That is that really fair? Is it fair that God chooses one ethnic group first?" Some people will push this even further and say, "Oh, this is this is your God of the Bible being racist." Now, I would argue that's quite a lazy reading of the Bible, but we don't just dismiss arguments like this.

As Christians, we're called to be apologetic and defending uh why the Bible says what it says and how it says it. So, let let's sit in that. Why does God choose the Jews? First, we're going to sit in this and look at this in three different ways. Uh firstly, the simplest answer is that God can save in any way that he chooses to save because he's God.

He is the God of the universe and and we are a rebellious creation. The fact that he redeems anyone is an act of grace. God chooses to save in the way that he chooses because he is God is the argument Romans nine. We are pots. What have we to say to the potter?

But what if we say to God in telling and dictating how he should save? This is how God has chosen it and God is sovereign and we are not. That is the first thing to understand in this. The second, why does God choose the Jews first?

Through rejection comes global redemption. All right? Through the rejection, God is going to bring about global redemption. So let me walk us through this.

uh God chooses to bring redemption through people. All right? This is it's not just top down force. He is he is using people. He's using creation.

He's using humanity to bring about his redemption. So in order to do that to get creation involved, he has to choose to use somebody. And Abraham is the guy. He chooses Abraham. And Abraham has an ethnos.

develops the that ethnicity, the the Jews out of the out of Abraham. So he chooses a people to bring about redemption. And I'd argue there's nothing intrinsically more valuable, more awesome about Abraham. Abraham's value is that God chooses to use him. In the same way, there's nothing intrinsically invaluable about the Jewish people.

Their value comes from their covenant Lord. Their value comes from God who claimed them. So God chooses to use a people and then he gives them a place, the promised land in the Old Testament. And that land and those people, they are uh meant to reflect the glory of God to the surrounding nations. That is their calling.

And as we see in the Old Testament, they fail miserably. They fall and they worship other gods. And in spite of their failures, still God chooses to bring redemption through this people. He chooses to send Jesus through this line. And ultimately it is prophesied that he is going to send Jesus through this line through the Jewish people and ultimately they are going to reject him.

His own people will will reject their own God. This shows up all over the place in the Old Testament. shows up in Psalm 118:22 says the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus is rejected and through his rejection he becomes the cornerstone for a faith much bigger than the Jewish people. It brings a global redemption plan into play.

That's the second reason why I would argue that God chooses the Jews first. Let me give you a third one. The third one is I would argue historically timely. Now, this is gonna it's a little more conjecture.

This is not chapter and verse. I can't just walk you through this while the Bible teaches this. I just want you to look at this historically. Take a step back and watch the plan play out. God chooses a people in the cradle of civilization.

All right? So, the Mesopotamia right there, Israel, it's in the cradle of civilization. He chooses a people and a place. All right?

The land of Israel is very strategic in that side of the world. It is a land bridge that connects three continents. All right? You have Africa that's connected to Asia and Europe through this land bridge. And people traveled all through this land over and over again.

That's the reason why so many nations fought over this piece of land. Now, fast forward, God chooses to send Jesus at the right time. It just so happens the right time is when the Roman Empire conquers most of that side of the world. And they uni they're unified by a common government. They're unified by a common language.

You see they took Greek as the language that everyone spoke. So everyone spoke a common language at this time for the first time in history. And then also there are trade routes that are developed. There are road systems the Roman road systems that are developed. At the right time, Jesus comes and the Gospel spreads in the midst of all of that through the rejection of the Jewish people in this place.

It spreads in a common language all across that side of the world. We see that very practically in the book of Acts when they stone Steven and the Church spreads from there. The Church spreads all the way across Europe and Asia. It is very historically timely that God chose this people for this moment at this time. So there's just some some apologetics for why God chooses the Jews first.

We need to understand that as we walk through the rest of this story because it's going to get a little more uncomfortable. Starting in verse 25 says, "But she came and knelt before him saying,"Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." And now this gets even more uncomfortable because picture it. She is kneeling before him, crying out to him that she she's before him in tears, saying, "Help me, Lord." And he says, "It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." And if you haven't read the story before, you might be thinking, "Is this really a story from the Gospels? Is this really a story of the Jesus that we just sang about?

This seems cold. What is happening? What is Jesus doing here?" Now, to understand this, you got to spend some more time and dive deeper here. The first thing you got to understand is history. Uh this woman is a cienician woman.

All right. We know this from the Gospel of Mark. Gospel of Mark has this story and he accurately calls her the term for the day. She is serenician. Siro meaning Syrian uh background.

Phoenician meaning Phoenician background that the Lebanese people look at as Phoenician. I have to say that very accurately because there's a woman in the back of the room that I've messed that up. She will come at me. Be very careful in how I said this. She is serro Phoenician.

But Matthew calls her a Canaanite woman. Why? Why does Matthew call her a Canaanite woman from the start? Canaanite is a term that hasn't been used in a thousand years. And yet he calls her a Canaanite woman.

Because what he is doing is he's bringing to mind the Jewish ear that hears this. As soon as he calls her a Canaanite woman, it's going to picture all of this. The Canaanite people from a thousand years ago were a brutal, ruthless people who waged war against the people of God. I mean, they were brutal. They did things like child sacrifice.

They uh sacrificed children to their false God, Mollik. They would literally take their children, put them on an altar, roll them down the altar, and burn them alive. They were a very pagan evil people and they waged war against the people of God for a long time. And the ones who did survive, the ones who did remain, their practices rubbed off on the people of God. So much so that one of the kings of Israel sacrifices his child.

So there's a lot of history built into calling her a Canaanite. It would be very similar to, though not one to one, it'd be similar to if I had a German exchange student over and I brought her here and I introduced her and say, "Here, here's my uh here's our Nazi exchange student that we have for the fall." It would cause everyone to take a step back and say, "Why are you bringing up the worst part of our history?" It'd be similar to you, but not one to one. If I had someone who was Mexican, I brought them aside and said, "This is my Aztec friend." You would be wondering, "Why are you bringing up that they have been called Aztecs for 500,000 years? What are you doing there?" That is exactly what Matthew is doing here in calling our Canaanite. He is bringing in thousand years of history and also some historical baggage to help explain this story and this context.

So you need to understand that out the gate. That's why he calls her a Canonite woman. The second thing you need to understand here is the term dog. Why does Jesus call her a dog?

So this term uh there's a few different Greek words for dog that he could have used. He uses one that means little dog. Now this is house dog. This would be a dog that would be around your house, around your kids, around your table. Now he could have used a different word, the Greek word for wild dog.

Now that is a term that Jews threw at Gentiles. It was an insult because the wild dogs were almost like coyotes. They were they were wild dogs. They traveled in packs. They they they were they were scavengers.

They were considered very unclean. And Jews would use that term to call Gentiles uh dogs because they could call them unclean. It was an insult. So Jesus doesn't use the term wild dog. And I've and I I've read some some theologians and some commentators who look at this with very good hearts who are much much wiser and smarter than me and they look and they say, "See that Jesus uses little dog.

This is a term of endearment." If he wanted to use an insult, he would have used wild dog. But because he uses the term for little dog, this is a term of endearment. And the more I've looked at this and I've read on this and I've studied this and listened to other arguments from the context, I don't think Jesus is being insulting because he doesn't use wild he does not use the term wild dog. But I do not think that he's using it as a term of endearment. Because when you look at her response in a moment, she didn't take it as a compliment.

So what is Jesus doing here? Is he hurling something that has has racial tension built into it? No. I would argue that Jesus is doing two things here. He is first showing salvation order and second he is testing her faith.

So let's tackle that first part. Salvation order. Here's the here's the picture. It's a little dog. This is a domestic dog.

This is a dog that you have in your house. Many of us have dogs. All right? And the order of who eats in the house is children first, then the dogs. That's the order.

All right. I know some of you are like, "No, my dog has a seat at the table. He or she here or she might." All right, but in most households, that's not the case. That's not the norm. That's not what's expected.

I don't make I don't see I don't come home and spend a hour making a meal and then I bring it to my kids with their excited faces and go. Dogs eat first, you get second. That's not That's not the picture here. The picture here is that children eat first, then the dogs. So that that's the picture as uncomfortable as it may feel with modern ears.

That is what's being explained here. There's nothing intrinsically more valuable about about the Jews as we've argued before. But the what you need to understand is is there is an order. The Jews have a seat at the table first then the Gentiles as we see the rest of this story play out because we know how it ends because most of us are not Jewish and we're in this room worshiping Jesus. So he's showing salvation order.

But the second thing he's doing here is he is testing her faith. You have to understand what is happening here. Jesus knows our hearts. He in the story in these stories we've walked through in the Gospel of Matthew so far, he knows hearts. He knows the heart of the Pharisees and their evil thoughts.

He knows the heart of his disciples and what they're thinking. He knows hearts. and he travels to this region and a woman comes up to him and says, "Lord, son of David." Now, a lot of people have come to Jesus saying things, wanting his power, Jesus has healed thousands of people at this point. But when he goes to the cross and when he rises, there aren't thousands of people that are there to follow him. There's a lot of people that come to Jesus that want his power, that want to experience his power, that want miracles, they want healings, but they don't actually end up following Jesus.

And Jesus knows this woman's heart. And she says, "Son of David," and I would argue he is bringing something out of her. He wants to hear something further. He is testing her. So, how does she respond in this testing?

Verse 27, it says, "She said, yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table." Then Jesus answered her, "Oh, woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. Y'all, she could have responded in a lot of different ways. She could have just walked away in tears. She could have argued with them.

She could have responded a lot of ways. But look at how she responds. Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs from the master's tables. She believes the hype.

The hype that this is the Messiah, the son of David. She might not be a descendant of Abraham. She might not be a descendant of of of David. She may not be a part of the covenant people, but she knows who this is. And if she can just get a crumb, if she can just get a shred of his of his power, then her daughter will be healed.

She absolutely believes who Jesus is. And she will do whatever it takes to gain his attention, to gain his favor. Just a moment of his power. And as soon as this comes out on full display before his disciples, he says, "Oh woman," and don't hear that with modern ears. It's not an insult.

And their time, oh woman, is a term of endearment. Oh woman, great is your faith. Now, this is where it starts to come together. At this point in the Gospel of Matthew, only twice, only twice has Jesus pedestal the faith of someone who came to be healed. Only twice.

The first time was a gentile. The first time was a centurion, a centurion soldier who comes to Jesus and and he shows great humility. He says, "No, no, no. You don't need you don't need to come all this way. You don't need to come all this way.

Just just say the word and it'll be done." And he says, "I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel. I haven't seen faith like this." And then we get to the second story right here. And he says, "Great is your faith." You see, the story is starting to tip its hand. And Jesus is starting to show where this is going. And Matthew is helping us clue into this because this is a story within a story.

There was a there's a movie a few years back uh an might Shyamalan movie uh Split. And when you get to the end of the movie, there's just one scene at the end of the movie. And when you see it, if you've seen his other movies, you realize this is not just a standalone movie. This is a film within a film. It goes back to a film he made 15 years ago.

This is a story within the story that Matthew is trying to help us see. You have to remember where we were last week. Jesus is is uh with the Pharisees combating over clean and unclean laws. And in that story, as we saw last week, he's tipping his hand that the the the ceremonial cleans cleaning laws about what is clean and unclean food that is going out the door. That argument happens.

Jesus leaves there, goes to Tyra and Sedon, and then a woman who is considered to be an unclean outsider comes and her faith is pedestalled like this. Not a coincidence. No, God knows exactly what he was doing this. And Matthew goes out of his way to show her rebellious past. And then Jesus comes in and says, "Oh woman, great is your faith." Because Jesus has gone out of his way to show this is exactly who I am coming for right now is of the Jews.

But when this story ends, he is going to the cross where his blood is going to be spilled for all peoples. He's going to resurrect. And when he resurrects, he tells his disciples, "Go to a mount on Galilee." And when they go to that mount, as we're going to see at the end of Matthew, he says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, all ethnos, all people, including women just like this. God is coming for everybody. If you are an outsider, if you have a Canaanite past, an Ammonite past, an Ishelite past, any past outside of the Jewish people, you're welcome to the table." That is how this story ends.

Outsiders get a seat at the table. It is uncomfortable to walk through, but when you dive deeper and you look at it, you see the salvation plan of God and what he is doing. So, as we close out the story, I just want us to see three very clear things before we close out. First, God comes for outsiders. God is the God of outsiders.

He rescues and redeems those who are far off. It does not matter what your past is. Doesn't matter what your history is. Doesn't matter where you come from. Doesn't matter what you have done.

God comes for outsiders. He goes to the cross so that you can have a seat at the table. She wasn't just getting crumbs. She was getting us here at the table. And that offering is for everyone who feels like they're on the outside.

Maybe you've been on the outside of Church for years. Maybe you'd feel uncomfortable around Church people around all of this. I don't know your story, but if you feel like an outsider very clearly from this story, hear the call. You have a place at the table. And how do you get a place at the table?

Faith. That's the second thing we need to see from this. You need faith. And this woman's faith is remarkable. I mean, she believes the hype.

Her faith is persistent. And we say Jesus is better than everything else. We say that all the time. We believe that. That hype is real.

We experience who Christ is. He is so good, so glorious, so holy. He's worth your faith. He's worth your life. And she gets this.

Her faith is on full display. And for those of us who follow Jesus, note this. Her faith is persistent. She didn't stop. What if our prayers looked like her?

Please, persistent. Jesus, Lord, it be your will over I over and over again. Her faith is deep, persistent. May we mirror a faith like that. Lastly, we need humility.

We need a humility like this woman. Sometimes people approach Jesus in all the wrong ways. We we sometimes have a transactional understanding of of Jesus of God. God, if you'll do this, I I'll do this. God, will you please just do this?

It's it's like we're bartering as if we could do that as if we're on his level. As opposed to a on yourrface humility that says, "Lord, just give me a crumb. Just give me a shred of your power. That'll be enough." My fear is is that for most of our culture, because we are a very prideful culture, that if Jesus came and there was interactions like this, that most people in our culture would say, "How dare you, don't speak to me like this. You need to operate in this way.

You need to reveal yourself in this way." God should go about doing things in this manner instead of this deep on your face humility. I don't deserve it, but if you give me a crumb, that's enough. That's the humility that God calls of his people. That's why in James 4, it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And we have a brilliant, beautiful example of humility in this woman.

May we see that, emulate that, incorporate that into a rhythm of worship and our approach to the Lord. The band's going to come up. We're going to close out and I want us to just sit and reflect for a moment. This story is not just a story that points a thousand years backwards and a thousand plus forward. It is a humbling picture of faith that we should aspire to attain to.

It is a uh a a a example of a woman that we should strive to mirror in her humility. And it is a reminder that no matter how much of an outsider that you think you are, you have a seat at the table through faith in Christ. And man, I wish we could take the Lord's supper this morning. Man, I wish that we could, but we're what we're going to do right now is just sit for a moment. If you are not a Christian, if you've not ever followed Jesus, if you never had faith like this, hear the calling.

Outsiders get a seat at the table. Doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter where you've come from. It doesn't matter the things that you've done. You have a seat at the table.

This is the God who redeems outsiders. May we have faith to respond as Christians. May we have faith to repent where we've not believed. May we have faith to repent where we've displayed pride and not humility. Let's sit in this for a moment and then respond in worship.

Father, we thank you for a story like this that shows exactly who you come for. You came for us, the outsiders, and through your blood, through the cross, through the empty tomb, we get a seat at the table. God, I pray if there's anyone here that doesn't have that seat right now, they respond in faith and they believe. And those of us that struggle with doubt, for those of us that struggle with pride, may you break us of it. May you build in us faith and humility like this woman.

May we continue to believe. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Would you stand?

Let's sing and respond together. Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin, Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself?

Do you thirst for a dream from the well? Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was born with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Oh, leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there's no reason to waste. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes a new life is born.

Jesus is calling. Oh come. Oh come to the altar. The father's arms are open wide. forgiveness was born with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Oh, what a savior. Is it your sing hallelujah? Christ is ris. Oh, lift your voice. Bow down before him.

Lord of all, sing hallelujah. Christ is ris. Oh, what a savior. Is it wonderful?

Sing hallelujah. Christ is ris. Bow down before him for he is Lord of all. Sing hallelujah. Christ is ris.

Oh, come to the altar. The father's arms are open wide. forgiveness was born with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Bear your cross as you wait for the crown. Tell the world of the treasure you found.

Oh, Jesus is calling. Amen. You may be seated. All right, I got a few quick announcements for us um as we close out today.

If you are a Christian, um but have not yet joined a community group, we have something we'd like for you to do. Join a community group. Uh usually we have a QR code here that you can scan with your phone because there's a pandemic and people also uh I know we're trying to get you to join a group so you can be around people, but also sometimes being around people stresses people out. So, we let you scan a thing, fill out something online, and then show up and be around people.

But today, we're going to need you to talk to a human. And so, I'll be right down the hall down here by our connect wall and would love to talk to you about community groups. Um, we are meant to exist as a body in relationship with one another. We're not meant to go do this alone as believers. We're not gifted to do this alone as believers, but we're meant to uh edify the body, walk with the body, grow with the body, and be in Church family.

As difficult and frustrating as that can be, uh that actually helps us grow because we get to forgive and we get to repent and we get to try to walk together through difficult and painful seasons. And so, we'd love for you to join a community group. If you are not a believer, not a Christian, you're just hanging out, you're trying to figure out this whole Jesus thing, maybe you're just trying to find some people uh to be around, we have a suggestion for you. It's a little bit different than what we ask of Christians. We'd like for you to join a community group.

Uh the reason being is we walk out our faith in normal life. And the best place to do that is in a community group for you to investigate what it looks like for people who love Jesus to try to follow him together. Uh and hopefully you will find a group of people who are uh just as messed up as you are, but redeemed by grace so that there's some freedom and some forgiveness and some joy that maybe you hadn't found yet. And so we'd love for you to walk in a community group to see what that looks like.

And the least you'll meet some people who are told they're supposed to be nice to you and eat some free meals as soon as we start that back up because of pandemic stuff. That's a little different right now. But hopefully at some point we'll get to where we're eating together again in our groups and walking through life together. Um I'm going to read from 1 Thessalonians 3:es uh 11 through13 and then we'll be dismissed. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you. So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. You have a good week.

Gospel-less Religion (Matthew 15:1-20)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Gospel-less Religion

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Well good morning it's good to see you guys this morning and for those of you who are joining with us online we're glad that you are with us as well my name is Matt Freeman I'm one of the pastor's here with Mill City Church of KC happy fourth of July weekend I hope you got to indulge and maybe some of your favorite fourth of July things maybe that's eating hotdogs and watching the Nathan's hot dog eating competition is anybody's favorite maybe it's blowing things up in the sky with some fireworks maybe it's just some socially distant activities with family and friends.

But I hope you have had a good fourth of July weekend and that this gets to be a part of that it's interesting because not for a long time have we lived in such an overly politicized environment where celebrating love of country or patriotism can can be a thing where people want to argue against or something like that but we as a Church we are thankful for our country we are thankful for the fact that we get to celebrate we are thankful.

For the freedoms that we have we have freedom of religion where we can practice our faith how God leads us to we have freedom of speech where we can stand and openly declare what we believe to be true and so we're grateful for our country and just like all things there are things that we want to work on and want to grow but we're thankful for our country we're also thankful for men and women who have given their lives to make that possible that those men and women.

For hundreds of years have knowingly or unknowingly followed in the example of Jesus of sacrifice of self for others and some of those men and women are even in this room can we just give them a hand for those that have served for our country and so we're grateful because that sacrifice is a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us Jesus gave His life so that we could have freedom that we could be his and belong to him and that's the reason that we've gathered here this morning.

So we're grateful and thankful for our country but we actually get to come here together today and worship and focus on Jesus and so we're grateful that you are with us or have joined with us online just a couple of housekeeping things it's exciting to see some kids in the room with us today worshiping together as a family we did want you to know that our kid City classrooms are available they are outfitted with the livestream they've got chairs down there that are socially distance and a few toys they're just hard surface that can be wiped down.

So if at any point your kids get a little antsy or want to move around or want to do anything feel free to take them down there and watch the livestream that is available to you and then for our new mothers in the room if you haven't noticed up the small stairwell we have a new nursing room for mothers so that you can go at any point during our service and utilize that for our Church family we're not passing an offering plate or even putting our computer up right.

Now for giving but if you would like to give the way you can do that is if you see in the front to the front walls up here there's small rectangle wooden boxes where you can give cash or cheque and if you're wanting to give with a debit card or a credit card or do that online you'll have to do that from home and if you're watching from home you can just go to Mill City KC comm and click on the give icon and as a Church we want to walk out our faiths together.

So if you're new here just checking things out we we practice our faith together daily weekly in our community groups and we want you to be a part of those so we've got a QR code look how fancy that thing is you can just take out your phone and pull that up and it'll take you to our website where you can fill out just a little bit of information and find out more information about our community groups so again we're grateful that you're here with us this morning I've asked dr.

Ken to come and just lead us in a prayer of Thanksgiving think thankfulness for our country and for what we get to celebrate and then to focus our hearts on Jesus this morning so doctor can you come good morning it sure is good to be back here with you and worship this morning it's been seem like it's been a long time but it's a good it's great just to be here and to be a part of this and as we do that I would like to.

First of all lead us in a prayer so if you would bear with me please for prayer Heavenly Father we praise you for being the eternal God the creator of all the giver of life the author of Liberty father we thank you that through Jesus we can approach her throne of grace today one want to thank you for the ways in which you have blessed our nation we thank you that you let our founding fathers to establish our nation on Christian principles we thank you that you've preserved us from eternal external and internal threats you've given us great freedoms freedom of speech freedom of religion the right to peaceably assemble freedom of the press.

Many others you've graded us Abunda prosperity father we thank you today for those who have defended these freedoms down through the years we thank you for those who are continuing to do so today we thank you all so far there for those who have worked to expand our freedoms to all of our citizens and for those who are still doing so father we confess we're not worthy of all the ways you have blessed us as a nation we have turned from you in our pride we have become self-dependent we are selfless selfish we are self-centered we're greedy lustful committing minion justices we pray.

For your forgiveness and for your cleansing we pray that you would be merciful to us as a nation save us from violence injustice and disunity save us from ourselves helped us to accept each other as fellow Americans grant our leaders in every level of government your wisdom and your guidance and lead them to depend upon you give us a spirit of true community father we pray that you would help us as your people help us to be salt and light and our communities and we pray Heavenly.

Father that you would help us to humble ourselves to turn from our own sins and to pray earnestly for our nation that it might experience a turning back to you and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen I called worship this morning is from Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16 since then we have a great high priest who is pass through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession where do we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need would you guys stand we're gonna see together before the throne of God above have a strong this man can see behold him there perfect spot is righteous live the rate of change the kid worried themself my soul is purchased by gizmo my life is here my sample shows - they're gone our reading this morning comes from Psalm 40 please read the underlined portions with me I waited patiently.

For the Lord he inclined to me and heard my cry he drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock making my steps secure he put a new song in my mouth a song of praise to our God many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust who does not turn to the proud to those who go astray after a lie you have multiplied.

Lord my God your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us none can compare with you I will proclaim and tell of them yet they are more than can be told in sacrifice and offering you have not delighted but you have given me an open ear burnt offering and sin offering you have not required I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation as.

For you O Lord you will not restrain your mercy for me your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me for evils have encompassed me beyond number my iniquities have overtaken me and I cannot see they are more than the hairs of my head my heart feels me but may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you may those who love your salvation say continually great is the Lord let's continue to praise God this morning together for God's holy war ciao three persons I.

See perfect all I work shall praise thy name for Oh No God we have nothing to claim before you accept the work of Jesus and said this morning we thank you for the cross we thank you for the empty tomb it's by those that we can come into your presence and live lives of worship before you ask people who have been made clean who have not earned anything but have been given grace so this morning God we pray that you would remind us of that good news that it would sink deeply into our hearts that we might walk in that grace in.

Jesus name Amen you guys can be seated for those of you that didn't hear anything online you could have fill in the rest it was great all right so got some internet memes I want to show you this is the first one so the whole gist of this is ours today years old when I realized that candy corn if you stack it up it looks like corn on the cob so I don't know if you knew that maybe you just learned a thing.

But if you put candy corn together it looks like Aang show another picture because this one's not blurry there you go so you learn to think it's not just the semi ok snack that you get Halloween it actually has a function of purpose let me show you another one this other one is I was today years old when I realized that the Amazon logo the check mark goes from A to Z and the point of that is is that they sell everything from A to Z or you know their company culture which is will shut down every small business from A to Z all right give it two more I was.

Today years old when I realized that there's an iPhone hack that if you put your finger on and you hold it on the spacebar that you can easily navigate and drag the cursor to fix text messages which is something that's very helpful via fat thumbs like me and a little screen it's very helpful and I know that some of your Android users you're like y'all we've had this for years awesome y'all win your phones are better what you want to do here also go back check this this week in teaching team he realized this and he started playing on his phone he was really excited about it or he was just simulating what happens.

When people watch this from home all right last one I was today years old when I realized that you can clean the glass in between the oven and the outside it used to be that my understanding was is that if grease kind of fell in there there was no way to actually fix it it just stayed there but at least on this oven are in theory some other ones you can take a brush and you can clean the inside of it.

So that's that's the gist of these things there are things that you are familiar with right yeah but you don't actually fully understand you don't other full-function and that's funny in trivial things but that also seems to be true in all of life that there are there are people that you can be around your entire life and never fully understand them or maybe you felt that way that there are people that you know people that are in your life that regularly.

See you that live life with you but don't fully understand you that you can sit under sermons and teaching for years and never fully understand them to no fault of the person who's preaching it just doesn't quite sink in and that's what we're going to see a little bit today the disciples have been around Jesus for seemingly at years at this point and it's ministry and there's still an aspect of the kingdom of heaven that isn't sinking in it hasn't penetrated their hearts.

So we're gonna walk through this today and as we walk through it I don't want us to there's there's a habit sometimes we read the Gospels to look at the disciples and be like man I can't believe you did this I can't believe you didn't understand this but what I want us to do is to have a little bit posture of humility and to look at this reflectively and maybe realize that there's aspects about the kingdom of heaven there's aspects about the Gospel that we don't quite understand and fully believe either.

So let me pray and they will walk through this together father thank you so much that you've given us your word and you've give us these stories and you've given us Christ who reveals our hearts got a pray today that you would help us understand your Gospel in a new way I pray that you would help us listen so Lord speak to us we ask this in Jesus name Amen all right so starting on verse 1 then the Pharisees and scribes came to.

Jesus from Jerusalem and said why do your disciples break the tradition of the but they do not wash their hands when they eat all right so I want to picture this for you the Pharisees were in Jerusalem and at some point they huddled up together you see they're trying to take Jesus down we've seen that so far in the Gospel of Matthew and they thought what is a way that we can take him down somebody pops up and says I think they don't wash their hands and someone said alright Zedekiah you nailed it pack your bags boys we're going to Galilee.

Now Galilee is a few days walk okay so they for hand-washing for something that they wanted to call Jesus out on they decide they're going to go on a few days walk journey to call him out this is similar to sometimes my my daughter my oldest she just turned five and she's amazing and one of the things that she does it's so helpful in her house as she helps take care of her younger siblings specifically our little one who I'm convinced that.

If I one of my greatest accomplishments in life will be keeping him alive until he's 18 and she helps with that she helps monitor him and sometimes she'll come running down the stairs yelling and it you have to take that seriously because there's no telling what he's done it could be very serious she comes down and she's all worked out and What's Wrong sweetheart and she goes well Bridgers he's not he's not he's not playing the game but I want him to play in the way that I want to play it I'm the mom he's supposed to be the dad and he's not playing and I'm like wait you came running and screaming all the.

Way downstairs to tell me that your brother is not playing the game the way that you want to play the game that's not how we respond here that's quite the overreaction that's a little what's happening here they heard about hand-washing and they said no we're going to go to Galilee we're going to confront Jesus on this for the sake of being fair is hand-washing the idea that you need to wash your hands and or not to make the food defiled and unclean that you're going to eat is that buried somewhere in the Old Testament law is it like five chapters deep in numbers and maybe they just missed it.

Because the Book of Numbers is difficult no it is nowhere in the Old Testament law you see this tradition comes from an O tradition of the law known as the Holika all right so the Pharisees and the religious leaders have a few different oral traditions few different basically running common series of the Old Testament and their traditions that they want to help explain the law but as we've seen early on in the Gospel of Matthew they completely misunderstand the heart of.

God and the purpose of the law they did this with the Sabbath they got all excited like Jesus and His disciples are breaking the Sabbath let's call him out and they thought you know what that didn't work let's try hand-washing and you could imagine how the rest of this story goes it doesn't go well for the Pharisees and the scribes so pick up in verse three says he answered them and why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition.

For God commanded or honor your father and your mother and over a vow father or mother must surely die but you say if anyone tells his father or his mother what would you have gained from me is given to God he need not honor his father so for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God you hypocrites now that seems like quite an interesting response to them accusing the disciples of not washing their hands it almost seems like a bit of a dodge right I say you're not washing your hands.

Jesus comes back says oh yeah well you're not honoring your momma's now what and it seems like it's a little bit of a way he decides that this that's not what happened all right he just did classic Jesus Jedi mind-trick he's going deeper into this and he's about to explain something and call out the Pharisees and the scribes all no 1 clip so what is he doing here he references one of the 10 commandments honor your mother and your father and he says you are breaking this.

Because of your tradition so what tradition are they using to break one of the Ten Commandments well it's you have to catch this it's it's subtle but in verse 5 he says what you would have gained from me is given to God now Mark's Gospel his version of this one word that helps us understand even clearer more clearly what he just said Mark's Gospel adds a word Corbin so if your name is Corbin you got a family room whose name is Corbin you're about to learn a thing Corbin and the Hebrew means devoted to.

God so what is happening here is he is talking about a Corbin offering this would be any extra offering that you could get to the temple any extra offering that you could give that's devoted to God so what was happening is that it was it's permissible the expectation is you're supposed to honor your mother and father there's a reason it's one the top 10 commandments it's very serious especially and their religion and in their culture but what you could do if you wanted to take part of your inheritance or part of your money as your parents are aging.

And if you didn't want to use all of that or a good bulk of that take care of your parents you need to be taken care of you could devote some of that to the temple you could bypass that it was a way of saying I'm extra holy I'm extra giving I'm gonna give what was supposed to be used to take care of my parents but I'm gonna give that to the temple now here's where this gets really messed up the Pharisees and the scribes and the religious leadership you can.

Look at at a Jewish writing at the time and tell this they had a tradition of taking the Corbin offering and using it to give the temple this is we need to understand who benefits the benefits from the offerings that are given to the temple the religious leadership so if you wanted nicer living quarters if you wanted nicer things you could in essence take what you should be used to take care of your parents your parents who brought you into this world your parents who raised you your parents you sent you off to Jewish seminary.

So that you can be in the priesthood instead of taking care of their parents they're saying oh look at this we're giving extra money extra inheritance here's our Corbin offering for everyone to see and they're benefitting themselves and their own comfort wicked that is evil even in our culture if if my parents needed taken care of when they got older and I said you know I I'm not gonna take care of my parents I'm going to give more to no City Church and behind-the-scene.

So I'm looking holy and giving more to the Church I'm actually restructuring the budget and getting nicer vehicles and nicer things we would say that's corrupt in our culture it's an extra level in theirs that you would honor you do a dishonor your parents like this is wicked there's a reason why in the Old Testament law that you could be put to death for dishonouring your parents you did not do this in this culture and Jesus exposes all of that right here in this moment right here in front of all the crowds to watch.

And then he keeps going he references Isaiah to make this point even more clear verse 8 well did Isaiah prophesied of you when he said this people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me in vain do they worship Me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men he says Isaiah called it you'll honor God with your lips you you honor God with your teachings but here's the deal your heart is far from me in vain do you teach the law in vain do you teach the commandments you.

See your foundation is crumbling and all you're presenting is these holy actions that hide it about a month ago I was showing a house which if you don't know I'm a Bob occasional pastor I also do real estate you know showing a house and there's a lot of times that she'll show to a house and the pictures that you see online they're not reflective of the true house which is fine that's the point of being a real estate agent you want to get them in the house you take the best pictures you hire professional photographer you make sure it looks very good.

But every now and then every now and then the pictures really really really don't capture what's happening so we showed up this house they bought it for ninety they they were flipping it for 150 and I walked in and I was furious I was like this house is a disaster literally the only thing they have done is they have painted the walls you can look around and the rest of the house was completely falling apart it was completely fake and that's the Pharisees its outward actions showing how good we are.

But inside they are rotten to their core all of their teaching is hypocrisy and Jesus calls us out and I love it because he keeps going verse 10 and he called the people to him remember these are the Pharisees the religious leaders that everyone in the nation looked up to right and they're they're seeing all this happen and they said come in I'm gonna teach you a thing about what just happened he called the people to him and said to them hear and understand it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person.

But what comes out of the mouth this defiles a person so he's continued to teach off of this idea that you have to clean your hands in order to eat food that might not be clean or unclean so here's a few different layers of what he's doing here one of the things that he's doing here is he's tipping his hand what he is and March Gospel version of this makes this even more clear that what is coming is a day where the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament are no longer followed all right.

So that's good news for all of us this weekend that enjoyed ribs are some form of pork right we don't keep kosher anymore so this is tipping the hand a little bit that the ceremonial law is keeping kosher all of this is going to be is going to be fulfilled in Christ and the book of Acts is will become even more clear so it's pointing forward a little bit but also he is revealing a bit a major critique of the religion the Gospel is religion of the Pharisees and scribes it is about the heart and they missed this it's about the heart it's about what comes out of your heart it's not what you do.

And your actions outwardly it's about your heart and connected to those actions it's all about the heart they added commands and traditions and traditions on to the law to show outward holiness they're obsessed with it and they've missed it they've completely missed the point their hearts are unclean they are far from God their foundation is crumbling and they've missed it so Jesus continues or the passage continues in verse 12 since then the disciples came and said to him do you know that the Pharisees were offended.

When they heard this saying he answered them never plant that my Heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up let them alone that your blind guides and if the blind lead the blind both will fall into a pit but Peter said to him explain to us this parable explain this parable to us and he said are you still without understanding so they see all this happen they come to Jesus and they say Jesus did you have Pharisees were offended by what you said geez like word are you serious they were offended he's like no you you you're missing it he says.

If God didn't didn't plant them this is similar language to the parable of the weeds if God didn't plant them they're gonna be uprooted this is judgment language they are the blind leading the blind which if you know that English phrase comes from the Bible the blind leading the blind then and then Peter comes in says so Jesus can you explain that parable to us and Jesus responds here the Peter is so telling he says are you still without understanding you got to.

Remember the disciples have been with Jesus for seemingly years at this point they've heard all the teachings they've gotten to sit under his feet in private moments where Jesus is unpacking the kingdom of God they've gotten to hear the sermon amount and other big sermons where Jesus is preaching about the kingdom of heaven and it's not sinking in it's not penetrating their hearts to when they see what just happened the Pharisees and the scribes travel days to come call Jesus on washing hands their gut response is don't you know you offended them which this is conjecture.

Okay this is don't don't take as a solid interpretation but mine I have a suspicion that because the disciples expected that when Jesus came into Jerusalem he was going to establish a political revolution ever throw the Roman government there there was this expectation that the Messiah was going to come and restart everything politically I have this suspicion that maybe just maybe the disciples were a little bit concerned with your offending the people in power that we're gonna need but there is this concern initially that says you've offended them.

And then when they asked what they found will explain the parable and he says are you still without understanding but he's gracious and he continues and explains what he was coming from verse 17 so do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and has expelled but whatever comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander these are what defile a person.

But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone so he makes a pretty explicit point it's not about what you put into your body don't you realize that will be expelled it's about what flows from your heart your heart is what matter out of your heart flows he says evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander those are what will defile you so the Pharisees didn't get it's about the heart and what's unique about this list is you can almost apply all of these to the Pharisees that they are.

So concerned with outward holiness that they will travel days to call out Jesus when in reality the reason they're traveling is because their hearts are consumed with evil thoughts they are actively seeking to destroy the Lord this becomes abundantly clear at his trial where they seek to have him murdered where they lie and slander against him as they present him to Pontius Pilate it is clear from their actions that they would other steal inheritance that should be used to take care of their parents in order to build their own comfort what flows out of the heart matters it's all about the heart Jesus's message over and over again in the Kingdom of Heaven it's about.

The heart your heart reveals whether you believe this or not whether you understand the message of his kingdom or whether you don't that's how the story plays out and as we read this it's very easy to distance ourselves and say I can't believe the disciples haven't figured this out instead of actually doing this with a humble posture that says what about us should we examine our own hearts in light of this so I just have a few questions to have you tease this out a little bit are we more focused on the actions or the heart behind them I'm more focused on the actions that we do are the heart behind them we.

See how this plays out Bible reading prayer showing up to community group showing up or tuning in on Sunday mornings right these are these are good things but they can be used I mean they can be used as a justification look at all the things I'm doing Lord I'm reading my Bible I'm praying I show up every Sunday I show up the community group every week I'm involved I'm doing good things there can be this justification that if I check off the boxes.

If I do these things then I'll be right with God then I'll earn his favor that is the Gospel as' religion of the Pharisees that's legalism that's not the Gospel it's about the heart our heart should be I'm so thankful for my Savior I'm so in love with him I want to read the word I want to find intimacy in prayer I want to be around the Christians on Sunday in a community group to draw near to him those are two different hearts and you have to examine your own heart determine where you are on this and they ask you a.

Second question are we quicker to look at the faults of others than our own or we push that a different direction how do we look at the faults of others we try this plays out maybe there's someone your group and they come and they confess some sin for like the 10th time this year I just want to confess guys that I looked at pornography this week ladies I just want to confess I've just I've been so anxious about coronavirus been so anxious about my kids I've been.

So anxious about all these different things I'm just struggling with anxiety when you hear that in that moment when you receive that from one of your brothers and sisters who confess this what is your heart do you get frustrated impatient eyebrow are you serious again you fell to this again you're saying this in your own heart we have to talk about this again girl you come and you talk about this all the time are we serious there's this moralistic superiority that that creeps up in us this seems just like what the Pharisees and the scribes do the instead of a posture that.

Jesus teaches when you receive sin like that look at the plank that is in your eye examine your own heart then turn and look at your brother and sister who is struggling maybe in those moments when someone confesses sin that you're quick to jump in and correct here are the things you've got to do as opposed to looking at your own heart examining your own heart and then saying all right how can I present the Gospel to you good news before good advice is the language that we use in community groups this also can show up and maybe you're just silent which spoiler.

If someone bares their soul in a community group setting or just maybe over coffee and you're just silent it's not good it's just bare my soul and everyone looked at me like I was crazy I'm gonna do this again yes maybe you're solid maybe something cuz you don't know what to say maybe you're silent because you actually really are distracted and you don't care there's a difference between the Gospel is religion of the Pharisees that deals in a very twisted form of morality and the heart of the Gospel and they came in the feminine.

Let me give you one more question to help work this out when you see this checklist checklist of sins that Jesus just walked through he says verse 19 for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander when you hear that what do you feel you feel shame you feel defeated do you feel downcast or are you able to remember that in Christ the wool was sent as one and this victory is finished but you don't have to actually earn his favor by your perfect struggle with sin we read another list another list of sins that shows that this shows up in.

First Corinthians Paul is addressing the Church he says or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor fees nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and you hear that and maybe you immediately run to shame and you immediately run to I don't know how there's overwhelming sense of guilt and then he says and such were some of you.

But you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God and what he just stated was is an eternal reality that if you've placed your faith in Jesus if your hope is bound up in him there's this mysteriously eternal reality outside of time that there's this future justification where the perfect spotless righteous record of Christ stands for you and God doesn't look at you and see the worst of you.

See your sin he sees the perfection of Christ and running to shame and guilt as opposed to the hope of Christ those are two different realities one is the Gospel this religion of the Pharisees and scribes of one is the Gospel of Christ so we got some work to do in examining this because Jesus looks at Peter and he says are you still without understanding do you still not get it they've around them for years and you may have been around churches.

For years he's around our Church for years this may sound familiar but are you actually believing this are you applying the Gospel to your heart where are you failing to believe the Gospel has it fully sunk in to your heart or maybe your heart is showing that there's some hidden actions that are revealed behind all of this maybe we're not applying this at all or for some of you maybe you've ever never actually listened to this you've never actually understood this and you've never actually fully believed this.

Because there's a deal you can spend your entire life around this message you can spend your entire life around the Church and never actually believe this I was reading this book once and they referenced this story of a pastor who had was sitting in on a children's lesson someone was explaining the Gospel to children and his Church and in that moment something clicked he realized in that moment that this message that he had talked about for years had never actually penetrated his heart and in that moment in listening to this teacher teach kids about the Gospel called him to faith he placed his faith in.

Jesus and you might be thinking how is that possible how is it possible for someone to be around the Church's entire life how is it possible for him to go to seminary how is it possible for him to preach the Gospel weekend week out and that never actually sink in and penetrate his heart is because proximity that Jesus does not equal following Jesus I say that again proximity to Christ does not mean following Christ this pandemic has shook us at the regular rhythms of worship the regular rhythms of gather together in community groups and I want to ask what is this pandemic revealed about your heart what is this pandemic revealed about following.

Jesus is it checking boxes is it legalism is that this moralistic comparison to others is it this consistent pattern of being clothed and shame as opposed to being clothes and the righteousness of Christ has this pandemic for some of you giving you the cover that you need to walk in sin and not actually walk in the light with other brothers and sisters this pandemic is revealing what is in our hearts and I want to ask you a question I want you sit in this question.

For a few seconds of silence what has this pandemic what does this season revealed where is your heart I'm gonna ask the band to come up but I want you to sit in that question and I want you to ask the Lord where is my heart does it belong to you have I applied the Gospel is it taking root now once you hear some good news she just looks at Peter he says are you still without understanding and guess what he was he did not the reason I can say that it's.

Because you can fast forward to thee to the night where he has betrayed the night he's not trial in Jesus that nice Peter denied Jesus three times said oh I don't know him I don't know I didn't but here's the good news of the Gospel when Jesus goes to the cross and his blood is poured out for our sins and when he rises on the third day and he conquers the grip of death instead it is an abandoned Peter it doesn't say you missed it you're out.

Now he shows up he confronts all the disciples who abandoned all the disciples who denied him it catches their hearts for 40 days he sits with them and he teaches them the mysteries and the beauty of the Gospel and he claims that a heart and he seals them with the Holy Spirit and he sends them out and the world is never the same and that's the hope of the Gospel for us we need to have the courage to actually reflectively examine our own hearts and this and ask the tough questions do we believe in a Gospel is religion we believe in the Gospel that brings hope this saves centers that redeems us and makes us.

New maybe we sit in that question right now as we close out Mershon that we sit in that question and our groups this week and my hope is that we would respond in faith God I pray right now in a season where there's so much happening where there's so many things to concern is that right now we wouldn't forget the most important thing we can reflect on the most important message is the hope of the Gospel that is an eternal reality and eternal hope got to pray right.

Now for those of us that are struggling for those of us that are not believing the Gospel may you confront us in our hearts and we repent in ways we have not believed gotta pray there's anyone here and if they're honest to themselves they've never actually believed this message never actually plays faith in you right now you would confront them and you would win them over and you would claim them and they would have a new heart that only comes about your powers.

When you go to work on this method in Jesus name Amen would you all stand with us and sing the song of response I say Oh whoa No alright I'll walk up here and the mic works it's amazing y'all we do check these things before him alright so a couple announces before we get out of here today as we said before if if you want to give we have giving and the slots right here we also have giving online so you can you can give online Mill City kc.com also you can check out some more information about groups online.

So if you would like to know more about our community groups our community groups are smaller groups of our Church family that live life together that have conversations about the Gospel like we just talked about they're going to walk that together as a Church family have community groups that meet and different parts the city and different days of the week and if you're new here I would encourage you to check one out and you can go on our website you can scan that QR code.

If it works for your phone if not you go to our Mill City KC comm to our community herbs page you can fill out some info we can follow up with you but we'd love to connect to you with a group this is how we walk out the Gospel together as a Church family alright so I want to close with a benediction which is a word from second Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 16 through 17 now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself in.

God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace comfort your hearts and established them in every good work in word amen you guys have a great day.

Jesus Walks on Water (Matthew 14:22-36)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Jesus Walks on Water

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastor's of Mill City Church of KC we as a Church believe that Jesus is better than everything else and because of this truth that we live by we get to be a Gospel centered community on mission and in this pass really all this year it has increasingly become difficult to be a Gospel centered community right like the there's lots of just culturally there's lots of disconnectedness it's it's growing all over the places we tried to social distance as we've got.

So many things on our plate fears of just kovat fears of the economy fears of social unrest there's so many things that fill our attention and so many things that we are concerned about and we're increasingly becoming disconnected and the Church is not a mean to that that as a Church we've increasingly become more disconnected right like it's it's been hard as we adjusted to going online and watching services online and focusing and being present there it's been hard we've taught a group leaders as groups are trying to continue to navigate this and be together that that attendance has been spotty at best in some in certain groups it's just been it's difficult there's this.

Disconnectedness that we are facing culturally but in the midst of all of that that's gonna continue as this year goes on in the midst of all of that I'm still hopeful and the reason that I'm hopeful is because the most important thing about us still is Christ the hope of Christ that's why we are a Gospel centered community so the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the spirit that has work in us so we can grow in this in the midst of all the adapting we need to do we can grow we can still grow in being present here on a Sunday morning.

So if you're here this morning seeing worship if you're at home right now watching take some time don't multitask don't listen to this in the background like be present see sit on the authority of God's Word let's grow and doing this together as we leave here we go into our community groups must be present well--that's meeting virtually or that's meeting outside whatever that looks like let's let's continue to grow and being a Gospel centered community on mission so if you're new here that's a little bit of who we are those that's what some of what we value as a Church and one of the easiest ways to experience this is to get into a group.

And you can do that by by going online there's there's a QR code that'll be on the screen that you can scan that'll take you to our website also you can go to Mill City KC com go to our groups and there's more information there you can fill out a request form and you can and someone will contact you and tell you more about our groups and where there might be a good place for you to jump in but we love.

For you to experience that and what we care about in groups if you are not new and you call this Church home we want you to continue to give we have giving slots that you can give at any point during the gathering today you can also give online so I want to pause and pray the God prepare our hearts for worship and then I want you to stand we read from Psalm 36 so let me pray I've got to thank you that you came.

For us to rescue us to claim a people that in the midst of whatever we are facing the midst of fears anxieties the midst of just the regular difficult rhythms of life that we can fix our eyes upon you that we can gaze upon you that we can worship you together as a Church wherever we are God I pray that you would help us prepare to worship and you would call us into worshipping you and that we would respond me s in.

Jesus name Amen you got stand when it calls into worship from psalm 66 shout for joy to God all the earth sing the glory of his name give to him glorious praise say to God how awesome are your deeds so great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you all the earth worships you and sings praises to you they sing praises to your name let's see we're gonna seam together how great thou are slipped our voices hold on my.

God when I in awesome wonder consider I see the song I by then sings my soul breakdown then sings my soul my Savior God ah shop my soul my Savior God - how a reading from Ephesians two and as we read this we remember our need to confess on our need for a savior and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that is.

Now at work and sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him in cedis seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ.

Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them let's continue worshiping there's nothing with nothing on Messer you know you want No No what a beautiful name it is nothing what a beautiful name death could not hold you.

God we've gathered in this place today only by the name of Jesus by the blood of Jesus about a sacrifice of Jesus can we come into this place and come into your presence freely as people who willingly confess our sin before you in our need for you God we thank you we thank you for the good news of the Gospel we thank you for Jesus and we thank you for the gift that worship is God but all of our lives our worship before you we live lives of worship before you.

And so we know we need you to teach us we need your spirit to fill us and to lead us that we might follow you in obedience then we might repent where we need to that our faith might grow where it needs to and God we're asking for that as well this morning God would you speak and change us in Jesus name Amen you guys gonna have a seat good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastor's here I'm glad to be with y'all this morning I have a few quick pieces of information that I want to share with you all that's not a description of the sermon it won't be quick.

It's got tons of stuff in it but before we get to the sermon a few quick pieces of information one of the things that people have said to us throughout the whole time you know we we plan to the Church we've merged together now with First Baptist Church of KC and throughout our whole history people have come up to us over and over again and said y'all communicate everything so clearly we've never been caught off guard we've never been surprised by anything we just always knew everything that was going on and in the spirit of that and actually the only thing that messed us up a little bit was this pandemic and there may be.

A few things you just need to be caught up on that we need to celebrate together and be excited about one is we launched a new community group this past week yeah so we've trained some leaders that's a big deal for us because we want to have group leaders that trained group leaders that send out group leaders and so we launched a new group you have 11 groups now and that's a big deal and so we're excited want to let y'all know that let's you be celebrating that we also are gearing up to helps into the Rockies to be missionaries the.

First foreign missionaries that we're sending out of our Church family and in the future we're gonna have them up here and help try to raise some support for them and Chris plays the drums and I even suggested that we would have him play the drums every week and put a hat here and as soon as we had raised enough money we'd send him out and you wouldn't have to hear the drums anymore if you didn't like them so it would be a way to help raise some support of course people like the jumps and they might be taking some of the money out.

So it might get might get convoluted but we're gearing up to send them excited about that we also are about to begin construction so we have planned to do some construction in this area to kind of make a welcome area over here so that it can be a little more open when you enter and to get ready for kids city because we had upwards of 40 children on Sundays and needed to make some more space for them we did just discover that in that section of the building there is some asbestos.

So it was built in the 70s and they put his bestest and everything because it was a miracle powder stuff and they just put it all over the place and it's in some of the joint compound and stuff so our construction just got a little more expensive and I know some of y'all consistently come over to me and say I have all this money laying around the house and I don't know what to do with it we would welcome you to help put it towards the construction we're about to be getting into.

But just want to let you know we are about to start some of that and it may change how we move around on Sundays but it is an exciting time for us now for those of you who keep up with how long I preach none of that counted we're starting now grab your Bibles got a Matthew chapter 14 we are walking through the Gospel of Matthew together and we just left off where Jesus it's the stories known as Jesus feeds 5,000 or the feeding of the 5,000.

But we learned last week there's 5,000 men was probably 15,000 people we're picking up right at the end of that Disney bought Marvel and then started making the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I have really appreciated the movies they put out and have two sons we watched them together and because of those I have been beaten senseless at my house because my children now have Thor hammers and shields that look like Captain America they sling at my head and that sort of thing.

But one of the original Thor movies I appreciate it because it reminds me of some of the Gospel story there's some as I watch movies a lot of times I see parallels to the Gospel and in sometimes I see contradiction so the Gospel and I think man Jesus is so much better than that sometimes I see things that remind me of the Gospel and so in the first Thor movie Thor who is a from the Norse he's a Norse God from Norse mythology.

But he got picked up by Marvel and just became a comic book hero in the movie he is sent to earth and he's actually banished for being a jerk so he sent to earth and then he has to regain his godness but there are some places throughout the story where he's interacting with people and he's telling them he's Thor and they can't decide whether or not he actually is he does some things that our hero s can he does some other things that are just nor guys stuff and it's an interesting movie.

But it reminds me of Jesus comes to earth he actually is God he wasn't banished he came with a good purpose to accomplish God's will but there are times where he does things that are godlike and there are other times where he does things that just seem like a normal person so we've been following this story with the disciples he just fed 5,000 men 15,000 people but it seemed like the disciples were surprised that happened it wasn't like this was how he always did things I think a lot of times they bought food ate what they had had to do with it.

So there are times where he seems like a normal teacher and there are other times where he seems like a prophet where he seems like there's more to it but in this story with Thor there comes this moment at the end of the movie he's been telling people he's Thor all of a sudden a flying hammer shoots into his hand he is struck by lightning and the Lightning dresses him like Thor it changes his clothes he comes out of the lightning would like braided hair and a cape and some chainmail which i think is one of the most underused powers of Thor.

Because that would be really nice you could sleep till almost the time you had to leave the house you just roll over pick up your hammer get struck by lightning be ready to go it'd be very very very convenient but in that moment when that happens it clicks for everybody around him he is who he said he was we're just gonna read this moment in the Gospel where there's a turning point here in Matthew where Jesus does a couple of things in a row and all of a sudden his disciples go oh not just a prophet not not just a teacher you are the son of.

God as we get to read that story today and it is a very interesting story as we see all the things that lead up to the disciples realizing who Jesus really is and so as we read that story we're gonna walk through it and then we're gonna just talk about as as we're disciples of Jesus what are for appropriate responses to the fact that Jesus is God that we see in this story so that's that's our goal today let's pray God we thank you.

For your word we thank you for how in your word your son is revealed to us his divinity is revealed to us and that in him we might have hope and life let me pray that we would grow in our faith today as we study this passage Jesus name Amen we're in Matthew chapter 14 we're gonna start in verse 22 immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd.

So he just fed this large crowd as soon as everybody's eating eating their fill it's been a wonderful time but it's in the evening it's already getting kind of late he tells the disciples get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake other side of the sea so this is Sea of Galilee it's about eight miles wide so he tells them y'all go to the other side which we don't know he kind of compels them to do this.

But he doesn't go with them so we know if they had questions they said like why are we leaving but you're not but he just says get in the boat go and then he goes and dismisses the crowds after he had dismissed the crowds he went up on the mountain by himself to pray this is actually what he had been trying to do when the crowd showed up and interrupted him last time so he had been trying to get away spend some time alone the crowds show up and interrupt him.

But he loves them has compassion on them heals their sick feeds them and then now he sends them away and he goes off by himself to pray and if Jesus the Son of God needs to get off by himself and pray we need to get off by ourselves and pray if you were questioning whether that was something you needed to do I'm glad you came here this morning the answer is yes and when I say by yourself I mean no other humans and no cell phone and I know some of you just walk no cell phone yes put it to him and go off by yourself and pray.

So Jesus does that when the evening came that means when it was late he was there alone but the boat by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves for the wind was against them and then it says in the fourth watch of the night the fourth watch of the night is 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. so somewhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. so these guys ate a full mil ate all the food they could possibly eat.

And then he told them get in the boat go to the other side and the wind was against them so they have rowed a boat for hours and I don't know if you've ever eaten a full meal where you were stuffed but you don't immediately think you know what would go really nice it's a manual labor I'd love to really row a boat now for hours but that's what they just did I don't think this has been the best night for them they got to eat a full meal that was nice and he says get in the boat we're going to the other side.

Okay but as soon as they start going to other side the wind is against them now we've recently had storms in Colombia I actually take my boys out sometimes right before a storm starts and I'll hold them outside and we just stand and look at it and watch the wind whip the trees around and really enjoy doing that but if you're on a lake there's nothing to stop the wind it just comes and so the wind is pushing against them and they're getting battered by waves.

If the wind was behind them they could travel across this lake probably in an hour hour and a half if there was no wind and they had to row it might take them about two two and a half hours but with the wind against them in obedience to Jesus they've been laboring and it's between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. some of them maybe have slept maybe they took turns maybe there's one guy who still is in a good mood at this time all of you ever hung out with a bunch of people too way late in the morning or had to work really long there's usually one that's still liked and that's the guy that most.

Of the other guys don't really like it's like you got to stop like can't you just be grumpy with the rest of us like please please quit but most of them probably not having the best night and says this when evening came he was there alone but the boat by this time was a long way away from the land beaten by the waves for the wind was against them and in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea do not certify this in your head.

So that you act like that's normal and we're just fine with it Jesus just walked on the sea and not even like a calm nice sea a windy wavy terrible sea he just walks he absolutely displays his authority over creation it is absolute his kingship I worked swimming pools growing up and there were times when I have to go to somebody's house and I come to their backyard and I'd be at a fence and there'd be five or six dogs just acting crazy and I'm standing there thinking no no no I'm not going in this backyard like y'all spook and just stay the way it is you know.

But then there are times where all sudden the door opens the owner comes out and all these dogs pretend like to their owner that they're not vicious psychos they suddenly calm down there wagging their tail they run over to the owner and the moment that that happens you know your brain just registers this is the owner there is a chaotic sea Jesus walks down he gets to the edge of it and he just walks on to it and all of a sudden.

If we had been watching we would have had the same realization oh he's the owner the sea does what he wants he's absolutely in charge now I don't know how walking on water works I don't know if it's smoothed out for him I don't know if it was like some of the water was hitting his feet but then it was like there was something solid underneath it it certainly reads like it was very simple for him it's not like the waves were coming he was having to run up on my friend no I don't think that was happening I think he looked peaceful and in control I'll even think he had to do a whole.

Lot of like you know we watched movies and stuff and we get to see some of this stuff that you know people have now a CGI help us picture but they always make it seem like the person's really struggling I think Jesus just walking so he's walking on the sea absolutely in charge and it says but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said it is a ghost and they cried out in fear yeah 3 to 6 a.m.

Stormy I doesn't seem like it's raining but it's windy they're out on a boat it's dark it seems like at this point by the time they saw him he was close he was there it was like you know they're rowing hey someone else is a ghost and it just says they yelled out my grandmother my grandmother whenever she would get intense situations like there was a time where my mom was driving and they were on ice and they slid my grandmother would start yelling and one of the things she would yell in any of these situations was we're coming home that was like her go-to thing to shout and I just I pictured just.

For my own sake that one of the disciples said the ghost is coming for us I'm assuming there were some Galilean ghost stories oh my goodness is one night Dimitri he come to get us they're terrified and they absolutely would be and here's the thing I don't think Jesus was bobbing up and down with the waves I think when they saw the figure of a person he's moving smoothly so they're rocking up and down in a boat and they see this figure moving in the waves and they just lose it and absolutely they would their adrenaline is pumping I mean that's it's go-time your brains trying to process what you're seeing that there's a mirror.

That hangs on the back of my closet door and bedroom and sometimes if my wife leaves that door open when I turn at night to go into my own bedroom I'm suddenly staring at some shadowy figure of a full-grown man and I'm like so it's just me okay don't have to fight anybody but I do that maybe once a month just terrify myself absolutely I mean adrenaline pumping heart racing and the brains trying to process you know when you see something scary your brain tries the process to tell you what it is and the brain keeps just going best thing I got is that maybe.

If you jump out of the boat he'll kill these other guys I don't know I don't know terrified they cry out and fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart it is I do not be afraid now that's comforting and certainly it's less scary that it's not a ghost but this adds a whole new layer of things right Jesus just walked to them I don't think their heart rate slows down that much I think they're just going Oh what on earth is going on that he can just come over here walking on water eleven of them are just trying to process.

But I'd like to introduce Peter to y'all Peter answered him lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water everybody else is just like and Peter yells me to I used to think this was like Peter's test to see if it was really the Lord like this is the ultimate ghost test prove you're not a ghost say come here and if that's what it was I like to think John later was like house ghost could say come here that goes could have just drowned you like I don't think that proved anything.

But I actually think it reads more like it since it is you O Jesus since it's you walking on water let me walk on water - y'all have known people like this right they see something Oh meet - how'd you do that you learned how to do a back flip I don't know how to do a back flip show me how to do that let me try Peter's a me-too person I grew up being a Nam good person my older brother's a me-too person hey you want to shot a coffin.

For this tree - that tree no I'm good hey I found a hole you want to crawl down it and see what's in it no I'm good you can tell me what's in it when you come out if you come out I think I'd be still in the boat but Peter jumped up and said call me out let me come out on the water with you you know how you get to hear stories about people maybe you've had some stories passed down to you and you kind of feel like you know some of your relatives or some of your parents friends or your grandparents friends even though you never met them.

Because you get these a glimpse of them in a story I think this story does that for us for both Peter and for Jesus I think this shows us something about God that I find extremely interesting Peter says if it is you command me to coming to you on the water he said come why I always feel like what God wants from us is utility that he wants us to be productive but he has things he wants us to do that.

When he calls us into something it's it's for some bigger purpose some kind of thing that needs to accomplish but I don't understand what this accomplishes other than Peter displays faith and gets to go closer to Jesus and Jesus says come that he wouldn't let him if it wasn't a good request you know there was a time that James and John asked Jesus if they could send fire down from heaven to kill a town Jesus said no to that request like the town wouldn't let him in and James and John were like hey you know how you do like prophet stuff yeah you know Elijah burned up a whole town yeah I know that can.

We do that to that to actually Lodge didn't burn up a town he burned up an army but Jesus says no no we're not new Peter says can I walked on water and Jesus says come because Peter wants to participate in what his Jesus is doing and he won't he has faith in this moment to do it so Jesus says come so Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus to people in human history have walked on water one of them was.

God incarnate the other one was a guy who trusted Jesus to let him do it and aggressively asked can I sue Peter gets to walk on water he walks on water and he came to Jesus but when he saw the wind he was afraid and began to sink and cried out lord save me so Peter gets out of the boat boats bounce and winds blowing he steps out and his foot sticks and he's watching Jesus and he's walking to him I think he probably looked like he was having a harder time Peter.

Jesus standing there doing fine Peters like walking to him and then all of a sudden he starts noticing the wind he starts noticing the wave he starts being a little more realistic about the situation he's in he starts thinking thoughts like you know if I quit being able to walk on the water I'm gonna die I was in a boat and that situation was kind of bad this is awesome but could suddenly be terrible and he starts looking at the wind he starts up into the waves he starts getting scared and he begins to sink I find I find that interesting I like that phrase begins to sink like I said earlier I worked on.

Swimming pools for all growing up and my family owned the pool company and I was that's a nice house we had just put in an inground and it's real pretty was awkwardly shaped kind of little design I was vacuuming it for him staying on one little edge and I went to step this way I don't know if y'all remember I said it was awkwardly shaped there wasn't any concrete here and what happened next I would not describe to you as I began to sink I sank fully clothed every I mean boots and blue jeans.

Because that's how I dress in the summer and fell directly into the swimming pool came out had to go knock on the door and be like hey y'all ready for me to teach you how to work this thing and they're like why are you soaking wet and I was like why don't you mind your own Peter begins to sink so it's almost as his his faith begins to fall his fear begins to rise and in that moment he doesn't just disappear into the deep it starts to flood it starts to rise up around him it starts to overwhelm him and it and it's just a beautiful picture of what following.

Jesus is like don't you have times where you go from your highest high like everything's good well I'm really loving Jesus right now I want to follow him I want to obey and then all of a sudden it's like everything is terrible and all I can see is the wind and the waves and I'm about to drown and everything is about to overwhelming it just starts rising up around you some of some people this takes a week to shift some people it's a day some of you were just riding in your car one day and all of a sudden it just feels like I'm starting to sink he was afraid and beginning to sink he.

Cried out lord save me and Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him o you of little faith why did you doubt oh you have a little faith why did you doubt so he had faith he was walking on water he begins to lose his faith he begins to rise up in fear and he sinks and Jesus says oh you little faith why did you doubt and we don't know it's hard to all wait to read in tone.

But it feels like seems to me that the tone the way Jesus says this would be similar to the tone I would have if I was helping my son learn how to ride a bike and he's moving and he's going and all of a sudden he gets scared even though he had it he had it and then he convinced himself to be scared so he slows down and you know if you slow down on a bike it gets worse and all of a sudden he starts and I had to catch him and I said why why'd you stop you had it I think that's kind of the tone Oh little faith you had it you.

And I were about to walk on water together we were gonna leave them row and we were like I don't know what he's gonna do but it's like you you had it why did you down because as he was moving in faith he could do anything he was conquering as Jesus conquers he was rising above all the mess the way Jesus does as he trusted Jesus and then sphere creeps any false and when they got into the boat the wind ceased.

So he gets in the boat call and those in the boat worshiped him saying truly you are the son of God now there's a handful of things that happen in this passage that may have been lost on us they were not lost on Jesus as Jewish disciples so I want to point them out to you they shifted from you're a good teacher your Lord as in your over us but not Lord is in Adonai from Scripture but then they shifted you know you're the son of.

God and they worship Him and let me explain something to you Jewish men know you worship God and God alone and for them to fall down and say you were the son of God and worship him they said no this is this is God and God alone so a couple of things that happened here and like I said earlier it's like when in the end of that movie where all of a sudden the hammer shows up the lightning strikes you dressed like you're Thor it's like check check check I think you actually are Thor that's what they just did check check check oh my goodness this is.

God this is the son of God first of all one of the things that happens here that when we translated in the English it doesn't have the same punches in verse 27 when they cry out in fear it says immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart it is I do not be afraid but he actually says take heart and in the Greek he says ego eimi which means take heart I am do not be afraid and there are places in the Scriptures specifically in the Gospels where.

When Jesus says I am he is intentionally drawing everyone's attention back to God's Revelation of himself in the book of Exodus at the burning bush Moses says who shall I say sent me and the burning bush God speaking through the burning bush says say I am since you I am that I am this is the divine name for God that if you look in your Scriptures will see in the Old Testament capital L Ord that's our english translation of yahweh or jehovah which is i am.

And when Jesus says this he says it with some punch throughout his ministry he says it in the Gospel of John at one point and everybody recognizes what he's doing to the point that they pick up rocks to stone him because he just claimed to be God at the end of the Gospel of John he says it to a group of soldiers that came out to him and they fall down it's this proclamation of I am this claim to divinity so he says do not be afraid I am or take courage I am do not be afraid.

So he says that as he's walking on water now he's done miracles that point back to Moses he's done miracles that point back to Elijah or Elijah there's like oh he looks like a prophet oh he looks like a teacher like Moses walking on water makes them go oh he looks like God because the only person who walks on water he treads over water who rules over water in the Old Testament Scriptures he's God that's job nine eight who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea it's a rhetorical question the answer.

God Psalm 77 says the same thing that he treads over the water his footprints are unseen that he leads the people of Israel but not just that when he gets in the boat after walking on water the storm ceases and the only person in the Old Testament who can make a storm sees who can control the ocean is God that's psalm 107:20 9 he made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed Jobe 26/11 the pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke and by his power he stilled the sea fed 15,000 people walks on water stills the storm had the power to let Peter walk on water said.

I am check check check check this is God and they fall on their face and worship Him now there's four times in the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus is worshipped the Wiseman worshipped him when they come to him as a baby so he's coming as the coming king they worship Him this moment here where they see him as the Incarnate God God in human flesh and then twice in chapter 28 after he has risen from the grave and there's this moment right.

When he dies when they think wait a second is he not God and then he comes back to life and they go oh yeah okay it confirms everything for him so they worship Him here now let me explain something to you we have a huge problem if Jesus is not God we now have a big problem because he lets them worship Him which you are not allowed to do for the record you can accept praise people can say yeah you play the piano really.

Well whoo whoo good job learn how to use a hula hoop whatever I did diversify the skill level for y'all so that you could get clap for for something but you can't have people say oh you are God and worship you humans are not allowed to do that humans are only allowed to worship God that's bad if you worship something other than God but if you accept worship in place of God as if you are God that's extremely bad that's far worse.

So if Jesus is just a human if he's just a prophet he's supposed to say no no no no no no that's what happens in in Acts chapter 10 Peter sent to Cornelius Cornelius falls down to worship Him and Peter says no no no no no get up get up get up get up get up I'm just a man so some people will say well he's more than a man he's not just a man he's more than a man we have Jehovah's Witnesses would say something along those lines the the Mormons would say something along those lines and he's more than a man that he's a prophet that he's a step above it that he.

Somehow got a little bit of something he's not deities not God but even in the book of Revelation John falls down to worship an angel more than a man and the angel says no no no no get up get out get up get up I'm here I'm a messenger of Jesus let's worship God and God alone so Jesus accepts worship so if you want to put him in the category of a good man or a good teacher or a good prophet you have to stop you can reject him or you can worship Him you only have two options and the disciples say let's worship Him and they are correct.

Jesus is God who has come in the flesh to redeem his people I want to quickly show you for appropriate responses to Jesus from this passage the first one is obedience the disciples were told go to the other side of the lake and they had to row all night long and it's like a row and it's like mind it'd be easier if we just floated with the wind over to there yes it would certainly be easier it would also be disobedient.

So let's not do that and one of them was like but how is Jesus gonna catch us and then later when he saw him walking on the water he was like it's a good thing y'all talked me out of that because he totally could have caught us you guys I had it all that that's not true but anyway obey and some of you that's the zone you're in right now he sets you on a course and it's difficult and it's exhausting and maybe every day you feel like that's what you're doing I'm just I'm just battling it would be.

So much easier to just go that way ah be so much easier if I just went that way but if he's God keep at it keep at it he knows what he's doing he knows what he's talking about he is good he is divine and when he wants us calm the storm he can keep moving in obedience second appropriate response to Jesus is to see what he is doing and ask excitedly if you can be involved I think a lot of times we decide to do something and we asked.

Jesus to join us but we need to get better at seeing what Jesus is doing and asked me if we can be involved and some of us need to also start praying prayers about Jesus command me to do something terrifying eleven men stayed in the boat one of them got out and that's because he asked if he could and I think everybody here needs to put it on their prayer list to start asking Jesus can I be a part of something that you're doing that will absolutely terrify me I think we'd be a better Church.

If that began or what are you doing that would make me have to rely solely on you can I be a part of something that absolutely demands my time and my money and it's terrifying so that I can only look at you or I will fail we need to begin to pray prayers like that another appropriate response from this passage that we need to see is that we all ought to yell out lord save me Peter was sinking into the abyss he was going to be he was going to be swamped he was gonna be drowned it was gonna go over his head and the reality is Peter would have died were it not.

For Jesus and the reality for us is that is exactly the same position we are in you will die you will be crushed you will be drowned if it art is not for Christ if we don't yell out lord save me we will be overwhelmed and for some of you you will be overwhelmed by the weight of your sin and your shame and your guilt and we need exactly what Jesus came for which was to die so that we might have life he is.

God and he did die on a cross and he did rise again and the appropriate response to him is to cry out lord save me and he immediately does the Scriptures tells us that no one who calls on the name of the Lord will be put to shame that he will save all of those who cry out to him and that is an appropriate response to Jesus as king is to call out to him to save me and if for those of us who have been been walking in faith.

But are suddenly feeling like we were beginning to sink the response is not to white-knuckle it the response is to run to Jesus saying I need you to save me I need you to encourage me I need you to redeem me I need the Gospel in my life to apply to my heart in my soul I need you to call me back into it I need you to snatch me up and he does the fourth appropriate response to Jesus as God is to worship Him as.

God to worship him and him alone this is why we sing to Jesus this is why we praise Jesus this is why we pray to Jesus this is why we speak of Jesus and proclaim Jesus because we believe that he is God who came to redeem who does redeem and save and we trust Jesus this is why we're excited about the Peters in the world but we also expect them to sink all Christian heroes get wet you guys two guys walked on water one of them got in the boat bone-dry the other one got on the boat like oh and that's.

Okay we're gonna have people that we look up to that fall into sin we're gonna have people that that are quote-unquote heroes with ourselves we're gonna have moments that are high in moments that are low and all of us get to run to Jesus and ask to be redeemed and he does so we worship Jesus he is our hero and everybody else is a sinner who gets the worst of Jesus - Peter got to walk on water and all it did was highlight how good.

Jesus was it didn't highlight Peter when they got back in the boat they didn't go you are the son of God and I guess you're like his cousin they didn't do that he got back in the boat they said you are the son of God and Peter fell on his face too because he knew that the only way he was able to move that way the only way he was able to be a part of that was something that brought glory to.

Jesus and so in the midst of all this as we beg to get to be a part of things let's worship Jesus and Jesus alone and when the people next to us fall into sin let's grab them and say cry out to Jesus because he is our only hope don't sink and don't think you're the one who does this let's trust that Jesus redeems and Jesus saves and Jesus heals and Jesus works and let's worship and Jesus as the band's gonna come back up and we are going to worship.

Jesus and some of you need to ask Jesus to save you you're sinking and some of you need to pray right now Lord I've been staying in the boat I've been trying to keep myself safe command me to do something that makes me trust in you and some of you right now you just need to keep rowing you're exhausted just keep rowing just keep moving in the direction he sent you in just trusting let's pray now we thank you for your grace we thank you that you tread over the chaos and that in you we can be saved we can walk we can conquer you can still the storm or.

Jesus may you receive all of our praise in Jesus name Amen you guys Stanley sing together I can buy me two greatest friend like you yes No my Huygens Oh goodnight my soul to find the coldest Oh when tied you sound to your face my rock gracious Crossley on shore you suffer you know may Almighty returned my lord amen you may be seated all right so just a couple of things before we get out of here today the last two two and a half three months and some of that range we've been doing a lot of stuff to this building and by we I mean Isaac Hill who is in the back and the booth.

Of the Hat on when we decided to hire someone for part-time kids in part-time facilities in a full-time position right before kovat hit and kid City went into a new mode it was like oh okay that was a step of faith now what and and to see how much work he's done most of the work that's been done here he's either directly overseen or he's done and we're just thankful to have you Isaac and what you do here secondly if you are new here or.

If you've been coming for a little bit if you're listening online for the first time we want to connect you to a group so if you're here please stop by the connect tab on your way out Phoebe Garcia who is singing up here will be by there to answer the questions you have about groups to tell you which one might be good one to go check out we'd love for you to jump in if you're online you can scan the QR code that will be on the screen you can also go to our community groups tab at our website on a close to the word from Ephesians three verses 20 through 21.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen you guys have a great week.

Jesus Feeds Thousands (Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Jesus Feeds Thousands

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

Good morning it's so good to see you guys this morning in this building it's been a while but we're excited and hopefully this time of worship will be blessing to us and so would you stand as we begin to sing there are tears Oh it's good to see you this morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastor's here we are excited to be able to gather again as a Church family we know that some people aren't able to make it and don't feel comfortable yet and that is fun and we have the live stream set up.

But we are glad that we are able to gather even in the ability that we have right now having to be spread out some things have changed we're not passing a plate we're not having bulletins we won't be taking communion we're not having anything that people touch we're trying not to touch each other we did discuss it and we did say it was okay to have chairs in here but that's about it we're not gonna have anything else that we can touch and as we gather.

Today I want to remind us that we are people who believe that Jesus is better than everything else and if he's better in all the situation's of life that he is good that he works for our good even when things are difficult and every Sunday that we gather we both gather as a people who are celebrating and who are mourning our Church family is large enough that that we have people who come in and it's been a really good week and it's been a really blessed season and we have people who come in and it's been a really hard season and a really sad one and and that's more poignant this morning as we gather.

Again because we're celebrating that we can get back together that things are moving back towards normal there are some good things to be excited about and there are some real things to mourn right now this has been a difficult season for our nation there are a lot of people who have gotten sick there have been people who have died from this pandemic there's a lot of tumult and difficulty and so as we join together for the first time this morning we are going to do both we're going to mourn and we're going to celebrate.

And so as we start this morning I will pray and then we'll read a psalm of lament and sing a song that is more in that vein and then Isaac will eat read a song of celebration and will sing a song that's more in that vein said that we rejoice with those who rejoice and we mourn with those who mourn and we gather together in a way that understands the situation the unique time that we're in right now so let's pray.

And then we'll read together God we thank you for your grace we thank you that it is sufficient for our need that you have been at work in this situation we thank you for all the people who have been brought back together this morning we thank you for all the people who are able to join via technology that we would not have had even just a few years ago for us to be able to do what we're doing today so that we can gather as your people we pray that you would minister to us through your spirit and that those who mourn we would join them in the morning.

For all the things we have to rejoice in we would rejoice well this morning but that we would be genuine followers of you worshiping you in truth and in spirit in Jesus name Amen if you will stand with me I'm going to read from Psalm 80 and if you will read the underlined portion with me give ear o Shepherd of Israel you who lead Joseph like a flock you who are enthroned upon the cherubim shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your might and come to save us restore us O.

God let your face shine that we may be saved Oh Lord God of hosts how long will you be angry with your people's prayers you have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure you make us an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves restore us O God of hosts let your face shine that we may be saved turn again Oh God of hosts turn I looked down from heaven.

See have regard for this vine the stock that your right hand planted and for the son whom you made strong for yourself they have burned it with fire they have cut it down may they perish at the rebuke of your face but let your hand to be on the man of your right hand the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself then we shall not turn back from you give us life and we will call upon your name restore us O.

Lord God of hosts let your face shine that we may be saved let's continue singing cry he was Christ we for my life he bled and died Christ alone me first just it won't be fast is a reading from Psalm 30 I will extol thee O Lord for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me O Lord my God I cried to you for help and you have healed me O Lord you have brought up my soul from.

See all you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit sing praises to the Lord o you his Saints and give thanks to his holy name for his anger is but for a moment and his failures for a lifetime weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the morning but seeing this song in celebration we rutila's Christ saw me by his green stand once found by finishing not slave the righteousness of who see a new face the key crazy.

While we will we keep dying making us reconcile to eternal day even in our painting flesh Oh open let's he's drowning baby Jesus Saves hotseat now it's all too easy the glorious founder the one who gives great joy Jesus Christ God we thank you for this moment that we get to come together and gather as your people to give you praise and to recognize that you are truly better than everything else in this world and we pray that as check comes up to preach that you give us ears to hear and hearts to.

Listen to what your word would say in Jesus name Amen you may be seated good morning y'all don't even know how excited I am to preach to real people I didn't know how much I needed to be able to see faces but when you're talking to a camera first of all a lot of times I'm up here and I can see on your faces y'all don't know what the heck I'm talking about and it helps I can then sometimes I can tell it's like I we got it we can move on.

When you're talking to a cameras like best of luck I don't know and I am excited I'm glad that we get to study the Scriptures together this morning I think I've done a decent job when talking to a camera of keeping it short but I'm excited so there's no telling grab your Bibles go to Matthew chapter 14 we are walking through the Gospel of Matthew and we're picking up today right where we left off last week John the Baptist had been arrested he had been proclaiming that King or.

Well he's not King Tetrarch Herod had been sinning he was arrested because of that and that the Tetrarch had him beheaded and this news was brought to Jesus by the disciples of John and that's where we're picking up and so we're gonna pray then we're gonna jump right into this text and see this story of a miracle that Jesus performs and we're gonna study it together and we're gonna see something that I think Matthew intentionally wants us to see and hopefully grow in our love.

For Jesus this morning as we do that let's pray God we thank you for your word we thank you that you recorded these moments for us that we might be built up by them we might be encouraged in them and we pray that our faith would grow this morning and that we would walk out of here with a greater love for Christ and the glory of the Gospel of salvation in Jesus name Amen so we're gonna pick up in verse 13 it says.

Now when Jesus heard this and that this is that John the Baptist had been beheaded in prison so he got this newse he had been in Nazareth if you'll remember he was in Nazareth and he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief so he had been ministering to his hometown and because he was from their hometown they didn't listen to him they were like boy I know your mama so I don't have to pay attention that's kind of what they did.

So they didn't have belief and so he's in Nazareth and it says when he heard this he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself so he's with his disciples we find out they they withdraw he hears sad news and he just tries to get away and that's his hope is to to retreat catch his breath this is a turning point in ministry for him because John the Baptist had gone before him to prepare away and John the Baptist goes before him in death.

Jesus knows the same thing is coming for him that that it's moving forward in the story of he's going to be progressing towards his execution and so he's sad hip this was a friend of his and a a relative of his and so he wants to retreat and so they do they get in a boat and they leave but still verse 13 when the crowds heard it they followed him on foot from the towns and when he went ashore he saw a great crowd.

So he's trying to get away from the crowds he's trying to retreat and so sia galilee is is not massive but it's pretty big and there are little towns dotted all around it and then there are areas where there's nobody and it's got rolling hills around it and so they pick a little spot he and the disciples are just gonna go get away from everyone there like it's gonna be a nice little mountain retreat and instead of it being a nice little mountain retreat it's Gatlinburg like they show up and there's a massive crowd there they didn't know what's coming these people sneak around.

And when they show up they there's a giant crowd and you could almost picture it's like they're landing the boat like ah relaxation it's like when you're a parent and you're like we finally get to go on vacation but you have to take your children with you it's like that ha oh no this is the same this is the exact same just in a different place where they're more bored for some reason that's it they show up and it's the same this whole crowd has shown up.

And so for the disciples I bet they were like hey let's spin this boat around but that's not how Jesus responds and so Jesus sees the crowd and it says he had compassion on them and healed their sick and in that beautiful when Jesus is the perfect embodiment of God the Father when he's the image of the invisible God he's trying to retreat he's trying to rest he's trying to mourn he's trying to pray and people interrupt that and his response is not frustration his response is not to be angry to reject that his response is compassion that he loves them we find out later in.

Verse 21 that there were it says that there were about five thousand men besides women and children so common way for them to count was to just count the men and then they said so there was five thousand men and not counting women and children I was common for them that's not common for us but if you want to mess with somebody try that next time someone asked you how many people were at a place how many people came to your party I heard it was a lot seven men not counting women and children won't go over super.

Well but it'll be fun for you alright but there's five thousand men which means there's about 15,000 or 20,000 people when you add in women and children so this is a picture of 15,000 people so it may have been a little less a little more but they're trying to retreat and they show up 15,000 people and Jesus's response is compassion it's love and says he healed their sick and that's why they ran to him he was a teacher but he was a healer they here he's coming and there's some people who this is their last shot there's somebody who went and said come on mama I know you don't feel good I know you've been.

Coughing I know you can't but we'll take our time but he's coming and we don't know where he's gonna land but we're gonna find him and we'll take a shot at this there's somebody who's carrying his little son who's fever has continued to rise and whose becoming more and more lethargic and not responding and he's just going as fast as he can so he can get to Jesus and Jesus sees him and he loves him and that's how he responds he heals the sick we don't know exactly what time they started.

But we're told in the next verse it says now when it was evening so from the time they arrived till it's getting dark it's most likely I would think it's most likely that they left in the morning because it was easy for them to get away and then people found out they had left so I would guess they left pretty early in the morning they'd show up over there they wouldn't had to go too far people have run around to them and they stay and do this till evening.

Now the people came to see Jesus Jesus teaches and heals and we don't know how much his disciples participated in the healing we don't know if they just did crowd control if they were just like all right everybody you line up he's gonna see everybody if they're like hey he's gonna work his way through no need to push he's gonna get to you we don't know if they actually walked through healing because they he had given them the authority to do this and send them out before.

So we don't know exactly but we know that all of them have been when they expected to get to rest not resting when they expected to get to retreat they expected to get to catch their breath the opposite happened I don't know about you that doesn't go well for me well if I know I'm about to go into something difficult and get my mind right but if I'm expecting to get to rest and and all of a sudden that's just taken away from me I have to get my mind right on the fly maybe you're excellent at that I'm not that good at it.

So there are times where I'm suddenly caught off guard but his disciples just roll with it Jesus who's perfect rolls with it perfectly I don't know how well his disciples handle it but it says this when it's getting late now was evening the disciples came to him and said this is a desolate place and the day is now over send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves that does not read harshly but it doesn't read really respectfully either a lot of times they call him.

Lord it sounds a little bit like it's the end of a long day they come to him and say hey days over we're in the middle of nowhere we need to send them away you need to send them on and otherwise they're not gonna get any food and I don't know where you're from but I know this moment and the day cuz I'm from Edgefield I know the moment in the day when you go well if you go and you better go on.

Because everything's gonna be closed that's what they're saying we're in the middle of nowhere so they better go if they're gonna go otherwise everybody's hungry tonight that's what they're saying to him and they say it in a little bit of a we're hungry too fashion that's how I read it you may read a little bit differently doesn't say but it just sounds a little bit like it's been a long day they need to go on if they're gonna eat they're gonna eat part of the reason I say that is this.

But Jesus said this is verse 16 they need not go away you give them something to eat you ever feel like Jesus tells you something that doesn't make a whole lot of sense that's the way the disciples felt often I think he would say something not joking dead serious that seemed very unrealistic that's what it says they said to him we have only five loaves here and two fish now this interaction they come to Jesus and they say you need to send them away.

So that we can have they need to go so then get somebody he says you feed them I think there's a moment where they go look at the crowd look back at each other and I think one of them pretty quickly answered we have five loaves and two fish not in a faith way here Jesus multiply this but in the way you and I would respond like if I said I was doing some work and my son Ellis was there so it was more difficult and you said why doesn't he help you I would say he's two years old that's my answer do you.

See how he made things more difficult he's - I just give you information that now helps you understand what you said doesn't make any sense I also think this came from one of the disciples who had already counted as the loaves and fish and was doing some quick math on how much that would split up between 13 people that's what it seems like y'all feed them we only have 5 loaves and 2 fish and if I'm doing this right I get 1/3 of a loaf depending on how hungry Philip is cuz sometimes it's not that hungry I've been trying to talk some of the disciples into fasting I think they need it like I think.

That's that was kind of the answer was we have 5 loaves to fish like your plan doesn't make any sense I don't mean to be rude Jesus your plan doesn't did no that's kind of the answer he gets that's kind of the answer we give Jesus often when he says something and were just like I know I did the math for you won't work so he says brings them here to me then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Now if you're the disciples again it doesn't say all this I'm just trying to think through this story I think some of the disciples got excited I think some of them thought oh he's about to do something some of the people who have faith you know like you've been around these people things are getting worse and worse and worse and you're with some people in the realistic people are like hey things have gotten worse and worse and worse and then there's a person in there with yous got the gift of faith and they're like.

Jesus is about to do something and the realistic persons like I hope so now would be a good time he hasn't seemed to be doing something yet but there are some people I think some of the disciples were like oh he's about to do something I think the disciple who'd already counted the stuff thought all right if we take 5 loaves and we give it to 15,000 people let's not count the women and children just feed them in like I think he was trying to figure out he's coming down this like I'm not gonna get to eat like I think that's probably just this doesn't seem like I don't know what's about to happen.

But so he says he orders them to sit down on the grass and taking the five loaves and two fish and this is normal travel food for them would have been some baked loaves he'd have gotten relatively recently the two fish would probably be salted or pickled travel food for us this is this is the type of food you take to a picnic kind of food staple two hotdogs per minute cheese sandwiches depending on your level of fancy and what you like or don't like.

But that's kind of what what they have he looked up to heaven and said a blessing then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over and those who ate were about five thousand men besides women and children so he takes five loaves two fish he feeds fifteen thousand people now that's a lot of food.

If you have ever planned an event and tried to figure out how much food should be there that's a difficult part of the event planning this is the part of the event planning where my wife and I argue because my assumptions on how much people eat are based off of me and her assumptions on how much people eat are based off of her the last event we had she looked at me and said people will not be drinking continuously the whole time they're here everybody doesn't need six drinks and I was like.

If they want them they can have them and if they don't drink them I'll drink them later plus I want to drink the whole time I'm there sodas and stuff guys please posts they focused it was a birthday party for my child okay I'm not drinking the whole time I was there okay I just realized how it sound when I said it I want to drink the whole time felt like I needed to clarify that feeding 15,000 people even if their whole boat had been full of food I don't think it was enough food.

For everybody to eat and be satisfied and have 12,000 baskets look at twelve thousand twelve baskets left over I got excited and I think it was enough if they would had it that way but Jesus makes this happen and you know at some point the disciples were like okay and then pretty quickly they were like this is already more food than we had and I don't know how it happened the Bible doesn't tell us how it happened it tells us that it happened it doesn't tell us how it happened.

So I don't know if when Jesus broke it it immediately became to Morelos I don't know if when the disciples are breaking it it kept going or if they had to keep going back to Jesus we don't know we know that he miraculously fed 15,000 people and I love this miracle so encouraging for a couple of reasons one its glorious and transcendental I mean it is above and beyond he is displaying his holiness and his divinity because he's creating food this points back to Moses who gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness.

But he actually didn't give it to him God did he just kind of was the intermediary this points back to Elijah who feeds a hundred men with a couple of barley loaves but Jesus out does both of those he decides of his own volition to do this because He is God and he over produces for fifteen thousand people it's amazing you know at some point the disciples are kidding this is not going what on earth is happening and how long has he been able to do this.

Because feels like we should have done this before for us I wouldn't had to count the five loaves and two fish and do the math but Jesus decides in this moment that he's gonna take care of her badi a love how big this miracle is and how absolutely simple it is how small it is there were people there that day who probably gotten cured from blindness there were people there that day who maybe had neurological damage or had epilepsy or had some brain wave stuff that he fixed.

For them there were people there that day who had never walked and he straightened out their legs and gave them muscle and I mean went from having legs that have never been used to perfectly healthy God-given legs and then he feeds everybody a meal they're gonna eat it they're gonna burn up the calories I said it's so simple so daily it's so routine they would have most haven't been been fine if they hadn't eaten could have still made it home would have been a little hungry most of these people probably used to going to bed a little hungry.

But he feeds all of them and he satisfies all of them with food this is a beautiful picture of how God works for us how he blesses us how he provides for us that he does miraculous things and sometimes we're told that like are you in the worst spot ever you can run to him he can heal he can redeem he can fix what is terribly broken and guess what he can also provide for you in the mundane and the simple the daily this is actually a little picture of why Christians believe in tithing why we believe in giving financially to the.

Lord and his work and being generous to other people because he can make the math not work all thirteen disciples also got to eat their fill even though the math didn't make any sense and so there are times where we're coming it's like I'm doing the math on how my budgets gonna work but I'm gonna give to the Lord because I'm gonna trust him to be able to provide in ways that I can't see coming in a way that gives him glory that provides.

For us but you see Matthew is not just showing us that this simple kindness that Jesus does for all these people he wants us to see something else and before we move to that I wanna point something out so that I love about this story do you know how nice it is to have all the food you need the right amount of food to be able to eat as much as you want we're Americans we get to do that quite often you know.

When you're really hungry to have all the foods you want some of you your whole life you don't eat much every meal you sat down you had all the food you wanted some of you that's not the case you've had to do the quick math on probably shouldn't eat as much as I want I can swing by a place on the way home they have all the food they want for people who don't usually get all the food they want and they've all just been healed there's a family sitting down there getting the biggest meal they've gotten in a long time.

While their child has never walked his running laps around them there's somebody sitting there with their mama that they thought they were gonna have to say goodbye to a little too soon and she's challeng for the first time without having coughing fits without saying it hurts without them having to force her to eat she's just eaten there's somebody sitting there and when someone reached out to hand him a loaf saw the hand come for the first time ever was able to reach right up and get their own food not have somebody tap them not have them help them they've been given new eyes and they're sitting there just staring happily eating maybe not even paying.

That much attention to the food they're getting that they have this this is blessed this is the most beautiful picnic you've ever been to that Jesus has worked this miraculously and then he feeds all of them but Matthew wants us to see something a little bit beyond that you see the way Matthew writes this story and the way he writes the Last Supper he intentionally has them overlap he writes this story and then when he writes the story of the Last Supper in Matthew chapter 26 he has them overlap and he does that on purpose.

And so I just want to show you all that and for a little bit we're just gonna have some slides going so that you can see what I'm talking about but in the Greek he intentionally writes it out so that it's bleh that he retells this story so this is the top part is gonna be Matthew chapter 14 and the bottom part is going to be Matthew chapter 26 so now when it was evening the disciples came to him we're gonna jump to 19.

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass when it was evening he reclined at the table though that phrasing is the same so when it was evening when it was evening and ordered them to sit down and he reclined it's translated a little bit differently in English but in the Greek same phrasing he changes the verb tense for it being a bunch of people and one person but it's the same thing keep going go to the next section.

So it says and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven said a blessing then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples so Jesus took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples so taking and took loaves and bread same word he looked up to heaven he said a blessing same broke it's the same thing gave it to the disciples it's the same thing so he writes this out.

So that these these are overlapping he is connecting how this story plays out using the same and you can tell these stories differently but he's intentionally wording it this way on purpose he does it a few more times so if you go to the next one he says that gave it to the disciples again that's on the bottom of verse 26 says they all ate and we're satisfied take eat this is my body he took a cup when he had given thanks he gave it to them and saying drink all of you Matthew.

When he writes out and you can show one that shows both where he just plays it out in the same order in the same way because Matthew wants us to see that what Jesus did in the feeding of the 5,000 is a picture of what he ultimately came to do when he when he when we read in Matthew chapter 26 that he it was evening and he reclined and he took bread and he said a blessing and he broke it and he gave it to the disciples we're supposed to hear what he's already told us.

When he did this with the 5,000 that Jesus on a more personal level as telling this is what I came to do and in that moment he's saying this is my body broken for you this is my blood for the forgiveness of sins take it all of you and he's telling them this is what I'm going to accomplish and when Matthew ties these stories together we get to look back at the story where he feeds the 5,000 and we get to.

See the Gospel in it Jesus says take a seat and he provides that he is the one who accomplishes the disciples said it's time to put these people to work send them off tell them to go get what they need Jesus says no let him have a seat and Jesus provides for them all that they need that he satisfies you see one of the things that happens in this story is that it's not about how he did it but that he did it and that's one of the things we.

See in the Gospel as the New Testament writers are writing they tell a some of how it works but mostly they tell us that it works that his blood is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins that those who trust in him will be saved that it's not about all the intricacies of how it plays out although God did make it very intricate and the Bible does tell us about that but primarily what you are to know is that it works if you come to.

Jesus all who call on him will be saved none will be putting shame you trust in his name that he provides fully and he satisfies everyone I mentioned this earlier but my wife and I have different we like the same type of food I just need more of it and there are times where we're at a wedding or some kind of a party or something and and we get in line to get food I think my wife peeks to see what type of food it is I peek to.

See how much food is there I can usually eat whatever I just want a lot of it I'm working on that but that's how it works for me throughout life and there are times where I'll hit I'll tap her I don't hit her tapper and I say baby they don't have enough food and so I do something that I think is both gracious and selfish so it's a wash that's how that works I'll just say let's eat later I won't I want to be able to eat and the food.

So I'll just say well they don't have enough I don't need to go through that one and make myself either eat too much of their food or make myself sad by eating just a little bit of something that tastes good and so I'll just say let's stop and I know I know that if I was on the edge of this 15,000 person crowd I'd hit an answer were the closest to town first of all we'll get there and be first in line also nope they do not have enough food.

If they had enough food we have already seen it - they'd have been carrying out trunks of it when we watched them get off the boat I can see the boat that didn't load it down with food they're not feeding everybody they started handing out food everybody sit down started handing out food I've been like mm-hmm and there are some of us who are coming to God with that same general attitude it's not enough don't have enough to cover my amount of sin can't handle what I'm bringing to the table some people come with the exact opposite I'm too small this is too simple why would he care.

For me but he feeds them a simple need but he provides all that they need and he satisfies everyone there no matter the size of the appetite I got two boys one of them I can put a pig he has food allergies we just feed him beings that's pretty much all it is you can put beans in front of him and he will shovel them into his face the other day I said hot dogs down on the table they were still cooling off he climbed up the table went Moo and grabbed the hot dogs and poured them towards himself my older son he'll say things like didn't we eat yesterday dude you gotta eat it.

Multiple times today some of you feel like I don't have that much sin you need a Savior you need him to work for you regardless of what you're bringing to the table and some of you think there's no way he can handle what I'm bringing and he can there were 12 basket full left when they've gathered manna in the wilderness they had exactly what they needed every time when Jesus provided it was more than enough overcompensated over-covered His grace is lavished upon us that.

When you come to him and your brokenness and your need some of you say I already came to him I already believe and then I've run off into sin he has grace sufficient do you know how beautiful and glorious that is that he knows your every need he knows your every moment he knows the simple needs you have and the extravagant needs you have the little sins you commit consistently and the ones that you committed that brings shame to your soul every time you.

Remember them and he's covered it fully satisfied but he sat there with five fifteen thousand people and he took loaves and he said my body broken for you my body broken for you he tried to retreat to get away because you knew that his death was coming and then he sat and had a communion meal with fifteen thousand people to image what he where he was headed so that he might save and redeem a people and that we might be brought together to have a glorious meal with him where we're all healed and were all satisfied and he sits at the head of the table with the people that he's redeemed his grace is sufficient.

I don't know what you're going through right now I don't know the fears you have I don't know the simple needs but I know that His grace is sufficient that his provision is good enough and some of us ought to remember eyes this story so that we can remind ourselves with a really simple picture how he has compassion how he provides and how His grace is sufficient to satisfy the deepest longings of our soul and to satisfy the depths of the debt of sin that we have you need to memorize that you need to meditate on this you need to remind yourself that you need to tell yourself this story and say that.

If right now he saw me he would have compassion and he would break his body for me that I might be redeemed he would shed his blood that I might be welcome so that I might joyously sit and be healed and partake in the glorious salvation that he offers and if you have not yet come to Christ with your sin you need to he will not put to shame anyone who trusts in his name His grace is sufficient I grew up singing a song that would say there's room at the cross.

For you though millions have come there's still room for one yes there's room at the cross for you and that's a reality for you and all your sin and all your baggage is Grace satisfies and it is sufficient let's pray now we thank you that there's room that it wouldn't matter if there was 15,000 or 20,000 or 25,000 you would have made enough to cover them and that your blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins and it works that if we come to you and trust in you and partake in you you redeem you redeemed to the uttermost that you lavish grace on us we pray that we would celebrate that truth this morning.

And that some people in this room would believe it for the very first time in Jesus name Amen just easy my my soul me everything Jesus to God - no turning no turn No Oh No No No to follow Jesus no turning back to follow Jesus no turning back maybe see if this is your first Sunday here with us that was intermission this is our second sermon I'm just getting to have a few quick announcements before we get out of here.

Today during all this we had to go to virtual community groups community groups are our primary way that we walk through life being Church family that we get around one another in life to know one another walk with one another and to be good missionaries together in our city if you are just checking out what it means to be a follower of Jesus we would love for you to join a community group to get around other people who are following Jesus.

See what it looks like in normal life so usually we would hand out a card but we're afraid that we would give you something if we did that more than the card so if you grab your phone you can pull up the camera this QR code will take you right to where you need to go so that you can fill out information to join a group if you're online you can go to Mill City Casey comm and go to our group's page to help join a group.

And if you have no clue what that is and that startles you I'll be outside to talk with you about groups on your way out if you're interested in joining a group we do want to say happy Father's Day we are proud of the followers we have in our Church family fatherhood is extremely important and it is waning in the u.s. and so we appreciate encourage fatherhood masculinity and leading and raising children and so we are proud of you thankful for you we hate that we missed Mother's Day we were not able to gather.

Then but at least we get to celebrate the people who made Mother's Day possible fathers sorry I couldn't resist we're sorry we missed Mother's Day and we're glad that we get together this morning but we do want to say happy Father's Day we have a few things to celebrate before we pray and one item that we need to share that we need to mourn together so first during the time from when we met last till now our Church family has had three babies born in the middle of a pandemic three healthy babies.

And so we're yeah excited miss Wilma Howard's son Jaime Howard who is in a long-term care facility they said that he had gotten coronavirus they had to move him to a more intense care facility and he has gotten better and they have moved him back and so that is wonderful news and so we're excited about that and praising the Lord on that and this past week the husband one of our Church family members basil Mac mr. miss Ginny Mac's husband passed away during surgery and it was a surprise he was he was going in.

For a fairly routine operation and and did not make it out and so be praying for the Mac family they will have services this coming Tuesday and so if you are interested in being able to go by and visit either at the visitation or being at the funeral we have that information for you but if you're not able to do that or didn't really know them well enough be praying for the Mac family because this is this is a hard a hard hit.

And so with that we will close in prayer God we thank you that you are near to the brokenhearted and we thank you that as a Church we get to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice and we pray that we would do that well as your people who long for the day that you return and we celebrate with you the feasts in your kingdom of all those who have been healed and redeemed and until that day comes may we be faithful missionaries.

For your name Amen.

Of Prophets and Power (Matthew 14:1-21)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Of Prophets and Power

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastor's of Mill City Church we were excited about the prospects of being in this room it's be able to worship together after months of being apart but as maybe you saw on Facebook or on email or through word of mouth because a few people that are important to pulling off Sunday mornings either tested positive or didn't I get there negative Cova test results back we decided to push it back and to continue to live stream which is a little bit disappointing.

But we're not crushed and the reason that we're not crushed is because our hope is not bound up in being in the same room on a Sunday morning our hope is bound up in Christ we believe as a Church that Jesus is better than everything else which means that our hope and our joy and our longing is bound up in him and because of that we get to be a Gospel centered community on mission which for this morning means in our homes that we get to either sing songs we get to have the Scripture read over us we get to sit under the authority of God's Word and as we leave.

Today we get to continue to be a Gospel centered community on mission and our community groups our community groups our smaller groups our smaller parts of our Church family meeting together and we are finally meeting together in different homes throughout the city and we're practicing as best we can social distancing and safe meeting efforts but if you want to know more about our groups and be able to join in with some of them we invite you to look on our web site and our community groups tab and you can get plugged into a group through that also.

If you are part of our Church family we invite you to continue to give with a giving tab on our website that's the easiest place to give also you can drop checks or money in this building throughout the week so I want to pause and pray for our Church family's been affected by this virus so I'm gonna pray that God will pair of hearts for worship and I'll read from Psalm 95 so let me pray father you are our our great physician got a pray that you would heal the people in our Church that have been affected by this virus I pray that you continue to protect our Church from this.

God I pray that as we are in our homes this morning as we are singing songs as we are sitting under your word that you would speak to us so God prepare our hearts for worship in Jesus name Amen our own Ernie from Psalm 95 verses 1 through 6 to call us into worship oh come let us sing to the Lord let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with Thanksgiving let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise the.

Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods in his hand are the depths of the earth and the heights the mountains are his also the sea is his for he made it and his hands formed dry land oh come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord wherever you are listing together this No my heart to say never ceasing call for songs of yes my save me Jesus Jamie nice when rather was in light of the world party Oh hasn't lost its hello Steven Kim me from his here gah we thank you.

For the ability to come into your presence this morning and to worship you we're thankful that even though we're meeting all across the city today we can still be in your presence Lord we ask that you would speak to us this morning as people who want to follow after you who want to chase after you faithfully to be obedient we pray that you would speak to us this morning that you would fill Chet with your spirit Lord that as we sit under the authority of your word you might change us we ask these things in.

Jesus name Amen well good morning my name is Chet Phillips I'm one of the pastors with Mill City Church of KC if you will grab your Bibles and go to Matthew chapter 14 we're making our way through the Gospel of Matthew and today the story we're going to look at is a little bit distinct in the Gospel of Matthew in that it doesn't zoom in on Christ we've been following Jesus what he teaches what he does and this story is gonna be primarily about John the Baptist.

But as we read through this story it functions as a case study in what Jesus has been teaching it functions as a case study in portraying the Kingdom of Heaven in that we see that Jesus has been teaching that blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake that blessed are those who mourn that the kingdom is like a treasure that was hidden in a field and when a man discovered it he went and enjoy sold all that he had that he might purchase that field this idea that the kingdom is valuable in that it's worth everything that you would give up.

For it and that those who know and love and follow the King in his kingdom will have difficulty and so as we read the story of John the Baptist I think we're gonna see those things put on display and my hope for us this morning is that we would gain both courage and correction from this story if you will join me in praying God we thank you for your word we thank you for faithful Saints who have gone before us we pray that we might live out our faith daily and that we might make it to the end of our days trusting you and pursuing your kingdom above all else we ask that you would.

Speak to us through your word this morning in Jesus name Amen chapter fourteen verse one says at that time Herod the Tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus now this is not is actually the third Herod we've run to run into in the Gospel of Matthew this is not here the great who was king when Jesus was born this is not his this the tetrarch's brother Herod Archelaus who was over half of the kingdom when Jesus returns and they moved to Galilee this is herod the tetrarch it's Herod Antipas you know he rules over a quarter of this area.

So there's two tetrarch's Herod Antipas and Herod Philip the second and then one brother has half of a kingdom so a little bit of favoritism there a little bit of power just play it out a little bit differently but we got one brother with half a kingdom two brothers with a quarter of a kingdom and that's the one we're messing with right now is Herod the Tetrarch it says when he heard about the fame of Jesus he said to his servants this is John the Baptist who has been raised from the dead that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.

Okay so this kind of just jumps us into the middle of Herod he just jumps in and what he says about Jesus so he hears about Jesus he hears that he's doing miraculous works and his assumption is oh this is John the Baptist raised from the dead now if you've been following along in Matthew that's a little surprising because we haven't been told that John the Baptist is dead yet that's actually the story we're about to read but Matthew tells us at the beginning he's dead.

And then tells us how that happens the last time we saw John the Baptist was in chapter 11 and he was in prison and if you'll remember that - that we read that John the Baptist was in prison and you didn't even question it we didn't tell us why he was in prison but I guess because he's a Baptist it just seemed plausible and we moved right along but that he's in prison we find out why in this story and we find out how he died.

And so before we get into that let's look at this Herod the Tetrarch oversaw the death of John the Baptist and when he hears about Jesus his assumption is one based in fear that oh no John the Baptist must have risen in power and he must have come back that I've made a mistake because we're gonna see later that he thinks he's a prophet he's gonna say oh no I've made a mistake he's come back and he's more powerful than he was earlier that's not true that's not who.

Jesus is but that is the way Herod responds in a bit of guilt and a bit of fear but let's keep going it says verse 3 for Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias his brother Philips wife and when you first read that you think but I guess that's nice he's doing something for his brother Philips wife maybe he's you know a big fan of his brother and then it keeps going it says.

Because John had been saying to him that's Herod it is not lawful for you to have her so now the story takes a twist into a darker area Herod has taken the wife from his brother Philip now this is Herod Philip one who is not a Tetrarch not haired Philip two who is a Tetrarch Herod Philip one was the person who was going to he was the oldest in the line but he just kind of backs out because Herod the Great had this this you know personality flaw where he kept killing all of his children that could potentially become king.

And when he made it down to Herod Philip won Herod Philip once said you know what I don't want to be king I don't want any power and he went and lived as a private citizen and he married his niece so Herodias is named after her grandfather who is Herod and she married her uncle Herod Philip won but then her other uncle Herod Antipas the Tetrarch takes her and there it's it's a little unclear as to whether or not this was just a power move or.

If they actually loved each other if they had met at some family functions you know as you do when you go to like a family reunion and you scope out who's Muriel here and you think well there's my niece / yeah there's my niece / sister-in-law maybe I'll start dating her and that's what happened and so he takes her and then John the Baptist comes and says you ought not to do this and I love what the Bible does here because this does this in a couple of different places the Bible does not refer to her as Herod the Tetrarch s-- wife although she was.

Because he had married her he refers to her as his brother Philips wife because the Bible doesn't care what kind of sinful mess you play out it's gonna stick to what's real and this should be still Herod Phillips Herod Philips wife and not his brother Herod the Tetrarch so John comes and says what you've done is unlawful and he comes to a man in power and speaks directly to him and says you ought not to have done this and he is assuming that there is a law that is greater and above Herod Antipas that he's speaking to a Tetrarch who is perfectly within his rights to arrest John eventually perfectly within his rights to have.

John executed but John says no there's a law that is above you and that regardless of what human institutions we have right now there's a law that you ought to adhere to you see the Scriptures are clear that God hates injustice and oppression and the wrong use of rule and power and that consistently throughout human history power has been used not to care and tend and provide for those underneath it but it has been used to be abused and to oppress.

Now that's clear but currently in the situation we're in culturally as soon as you say that which is clear and true there are a lot of other things that also need to be said which is the Bible is not anti Authority its anti unjust Authority oppressive Authority but there ought to be good authority and even as believers in the midst of unjust Authority we are meant to speak truth to it but to submit to it and it gives us a very complicated position that we have to walk out.

But it's a poor understanding of the Bible and a poor understanding of sinful human nature as taught by the Scriptures to say either all power is good and incorruptible or all power is bad and not to be rid of and we have to stand in the middle which makes our position more difficult to hold and we can potentially make everyone mad at us but that's fine as long as we're holding on to truth and that's the situation John Zym he is arrested thrown into jail.

Because he told Herod something that was true he called here to repentance and if you remember John he he had a message of repentance that we are sinners in need of repentance in need of grace and he speaks it to a king it was indiscriminate if you met John he didn't matter what what race you were what color you were how poor you were he was going to tell you you needed to repent he sounds like a nice guy and he's going to tell it to everybody even Kings.

So he's arrested first five and though he that's Herod wanted to put him that's John and though Herod wanted to put John to death he feared the people because they held him to be a prophet so Herod had hit Herodias as wishes his his niece sister-in-law wife arrests John and he wants to kill John because that would be easier but he's afraid that people would there be a bit of an uproar there'd be a bit of an uprising so he just doesn't and he just keeps him in jail.

Verse 6 but when Herod's birthday came the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask I was talking to an old Baptist pastor one time and I asked him why Baptists were so vehement used to be so vehement against dancing and his response was the last time someone danced in the Bible a Baptist lost his head I and I still don't know if he was joking or not.

But what happens here is that Herodias is daughter so this is Herod's niece grandniece and step-daughter she comes to his birthday party where if we're to assume and just kind of picture this we would you'd be in a pretty lavish Hall one of the most one of the nicest places in this area there'd be a fairly large gathering there would be a feast there would be drinking good food good drink celebration and it goes from just a good birthday party into debauchery and sin and it's fair to assume that at this point he is a bit intoxicated.

If not heavily intoxicated and his wife's his brother's wife if we're gonna stick with the way the Bible talks about it daughter comes in and dances for this group and it is most likely that this was a sensual dance she's brought in to entertain the men who are celebrating this birthday and Herod enjoys it so much is so pleased by this as he stares at someone drastically younger than him soaks it in lusts he's so pleased by this that it says he promised with an oath.

Verse 7 to give her whatever she might ask she dances he's in a very merry mood most likely intoxicated and he says whatever you want you can have it prompted by her mother she said give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter now we don't know what prompted by her mother means we don't know if she was given the chance to go think about it if she went to go talk to her mom and come back we don't know.

If her mom really quickly called her over we don't know if this was actually the intended effect that her mom had had her go dance for us she'd already told her go do this there's a really good chance he'll offer you something as soon as he does what we want is the head of John the Baptist on a platter not just we want John the Baptist killed we want to celebrate with his dismembered body this is wicked as he watches her dance and lust after her he chooses to offer her whatever she wants and what she wants.

Because her mother wants it is the head of John the Baptist and the King was sorry but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given so at his birthday party he calls for an execution says he was sorry but the best way we can read that in this text is the reason he was sorry was that he had hoped to not have to kill John the Baptist because he thinks that might affect his position of power that.

If enough people if there's enough of an uproar this will cause some turmoil and he didn't really want that he just wanted him to be in prison he wished he could kill him but he didn't think he could get away with it and now because of his guest because of his promise he has to and his birthday party turns into an execution he sent and had John beheaded in the prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother.

So that the eyes that once saw the Spirit descend like a dove unto Christ the ears that once heard the voice of the father from heaven the tongue that once proclaimed repentance and hope and forgiveness are now put on display for the enjoyment of Herodias this is wicked that they would have had his head where they were so that they could drink and laugh and celebrate so that in this story verse 12 it says and his disciples came and took the body the headless body of John the Baptist and buried it and they went and told.

Jesus in this story if we're looking from an earthly perspective Herod gets to celebrate Herod gets to have fine food and drink and party and entertainment and John the Baptist spends his remaining days in a Cell and at some point heard the feet of people walking down to where he was kept in the prison heard the key turn in the lock some men walked into the room one with an unsheathed sword and as a party favor he lost his life in this story we have John the Baptist on the one hand and Herod on the other and they give us a beautiful picture case study of what.

Jesus is calling us to in his kingdom you see John the Baptist is faithful he makes his choices to be faithful he does what the Spirit has called him to that he's empowered by God to go and proclaim truth to whomever will listen that he calls everyone to repentance and not just generally but specifically and it works out very poorly for him that the end result of this is the loss of his freedom the loss of comfort and joy and pleasure and ultimately the loss of his life and Herod pursues whatever he desires and as best we can tell he gets it I think some people think was this really a sensual dance.

Well the reality is he's staring at what history tells us her name is Salome the daughter of Herodias she actually marries her uncle Herod Philip - and so she like her mother if she gives birth to any children would give birth to sons and daughters that are also her first cousin and we listened to that and I'm not going into all this family history stuff to make our Church members from Kentucky feel homesick we listened to that I'm trying to point this out.

So that we might see that the the way they ran their family and their life was so that's actually not all that uncommon that they would intermarry in royal families but the reason they did it was to not share power with any other bloodline it's not uncommon at all throughout history to intermarry between royal families they didn't usually do sisters mother to parent son daughter stuff but they did a lot of cousins nieces and nephews that kind of thing because they wanted to keep power in their family and not only is there power that is being kept.

But you can see that across the board even against their own brothers and sisters they're grabbing whatever they desire so that they might have it so this family and Herod are based off of the pursuit of their own passions the fulfillment of their desires that they would keep what power they have that they would maintain their position this is why they take spouses this is why the inter marry this is why they murder one another this family is wicked but the reality is they line up pretty.

Well with what culture currently tells us we ought to do that you are the sum of your desires that if you have a desire that it's meant to be fulfilled that if you have a desire if you have a passion that's who you really are no we draw the line our culture is not promoting incest their culture is not promoting murder and harming others but we're not far back because the reality is you're told well if that's what you want that's who you are.

Look inside and find your deepest desire and that's who you really are and and how dare anyone tell you you can't do what you want and if anybody tells you that they're the enemy I thoroughly enjoyed the movie wreck-it Ralph and then the second one came out and I watched it and that's the whole premise of the movie is that if someone pursues some desire of theirs and it's ultimately harmful and you try to stop them you're a monster that's the premise of the.

Second wreckit-ralph movie you become a monster and you destroy everything if you try to stop someone from pursuing what they want and that is the Gospel occurring according to our culture that you are designed to pursue your desires and if you fulfill them you are the sum of your fulfilled desires and you think oh my goodness that's out there in the culture but the reality is that's in the Church how many times have we heard how many times have we said why no just.

God wants me to be happy I just know that he wants me to be happy I know he wouldn't tell me not to do something that makes me happy John you fool don't you know don't you know you're supposed to be happy don't you know that as soon as you met some pushback don't you know that as soon as they imprisoned you you should change everything don't you know that Jesus never meant for you to have to subvert your desires to be faithful.

If the reality is that God just wants us happy here and the way that's defined is by what is comfortable and what is nice here John is a failure he didn't get it doesn't John know God wants him to to die of old age wealthy and comfortable then he know that's God's intended desire the reality is we would do well to go out as faithfully and as beautifully as John the Baptist does you see John the Baptist testifies that he believes that there is something better than what he can.

See and touch and he believes that there is a God who tells us to subvert our desires for a greater purpose there's a pastor his name's Wang Yi he was arrested in 2019 in China he was a pastor of underground churches in China home churches in China and he wrote a document and he gave it he to leaders in his Church and he said if I'm ever arrested and kept for more than 48 hours I want you to release this he and several others in his Church were arrested all of them have since been released except.

For pastor Wang Yi and he has been sentenced to nine years for some sort of a governmental subversion charge and it's possible we'll see him eight years from now and it is quite possible we won't see him this side of eternity but this is a quote from that letter that he wrote he says as a pastor my disobedience is one part of the Gospel Commission you see John the Baptist because he believed what he believed and because he was sent forward and faithfulness he's arrested and it's a bit of disobedience to man-made rules.

But obedience to God so pastor Wang Yi says as a pastor my disobedience is one part of the Gospel Commission Christ's Great Commission requires of us great disobedience the goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world all acts of the Church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world the Bible teaches us that in all matters relating in the Gospel to the Gospel into the human conscience we must obey.

God and not men and for this reason spiritual disobedience and the bodily suffering are both ways we testify to another eternal world and to another glorious king the reality is every choice we make we get the opportunity to look like John or to look like Herod you see Herod did whatever he possibly could to defend his position to silence the voice of God in his life and John walked forward in faith believing that there was something beyond here there was a resurrection there was a life beyond the one he had and Herod lives as.

If everything that he can see and everything that he can touch he better enjoy it now he better get what he can get now and every choice we make we get to choose along those same lines am I gonna be faithful at the expense of my comfort at the expense of nice things here I'm not gonna be faithful with my money I'm gonna be faithful with my time these are small decisions and big decisions am I gonna listen to the voice of.

God and walk forward and what he's calling me to even if people don't like it don't want to hear it even if that work it makes me seem weird or am I gonna do what hair does and try to defend my position against the call to repentance so that I might enjoy what is here so that I might be driven by my passions the end of the story is that the disciples of John go and tell Jesus that John has been beheaded.

Jesus just tries to go off by himself he can't at first and then eventually he gets to and he goes in prays and it seems at first that Jesus doesn't really do anything you feel a little bit like Lazarus the sisters in the Gospel of John who say to Jesus if you'd been here this wouldn't have happened he knew he was in prison but he doesn't really seem to do anything he knows he's in prison and later he finds out that he's dead all he does is go off by himself he seems sad about it.

But just like Jesus you could have done something and the way that Matthew has written this is to show us that Jesus didn't do nothing he ultimately did everything seemed Ashley writes this out in a way that he highlights how John the Baptist goes before Jesus and how Jesus joins John the Baptist in suffering see John the Baptist is handed over to a ruler so is Jesus Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilate he actually does at some point go in front of Herod Antipas John the Baptist was seized and bound.

Jesus was seized and bound Matthew writes out using the exact same greek words they feared to kill John the Baptist because the crowd held him to be a prophet feared to kill Jesus because the crowd held him to be a prophet John uses the same phrasing they take John and ultimately when he is sentenced to death the one who does the sentence sentencing seems to regret it a little bit than the same with the Jesus and the way Matthew wrote this up he intentionally frames it.

So that you might see that John came before Jesus and ministry and he goes before Jesus and death and that Jesus joins John in death and when he does Herod's greatest fear about John comes true it comes true about John because it first becomes true about Jesus Jesus Christ is killed but he rises in power and because Jesus rises in power so does John the way this started we're here it said oh no John's risen from the dead John has risen from the dead.

Because Jesus rose John gets to rise that what was sown perishable is raised imperishable and then what is sown in dishonor is raised in glory and what is sown in weakness is raised in power that's the reality of this situation is that John looks like on earth he failed but in the kingdom of heaven he is ushered into glory eternally because he believes that Jesus is who he said he is Jesus is the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sins of the world and that.

Jesus Christ is king a glorious king of a more glorious Kingdom and so he lives in a way that testifies to it my question to us is do we look like John the way you speak the way you act the way you spend your money the way you spend your time do you testify to another world that is beyond this one or do we look like Herod and I will tell you as Americans even American Christians it's very easy to look like here it to make our decisions based off of what is enjoyable and what is.

Now and what do I desire and have others cosign it the greatest tragedy in this story is not that John the Baptist loses his head that is a victory and a triumph that will never be taken from him the greatest tragedy in this story is that Herod succeeds in silencing the voice of God Herod succeeds in resisting the call to repentance John offered him Grace and Herod rejects it and my hope for us my prayer for us is that we would live as.

If we believed there was a better Kingdom coming and that we would reject our passions and desires where they are out of line with God's kingdom so that we might have something better that we would gladly sell everything we have that we might buy the field that we might have the Kingdom that he's laid out for us let's pray God we thank you for your grace I thank you for your love that you would send Jesus to join us and suffering that we might join him in victory and we pray that you would help us to.

See our sin and to hear the voice of God in our lives that we would yield to the work of the Spirit that we might repent and that we might be faithful we pray that you would bless our Church with saints who live out their days as John did following your will regardless of the cost and ending faithful the Savior yes watching Jesus phenol thought you had better change the Jesus ha before the master Jesus paid it all all to him I owe 2,000 stayin here be lighter Oh.

Jesus paid it all to him all right so the only announcement that I have is that we are gonna continue to walk in wisdom and evaluate evaluate week by week whether we'll be in here together next week so just be looking out for updates to see if we'll be here next week and then we'll announce those and God willing we'll be here in the same room and be live streaming as always let me close this with a benediction from Romans 15.

Verse 13 may the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope amen you guys have a great day you.

The Kingdom and the Image of God (Matthew 13:53-58)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.

Kingdom and the Image of God

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

You we are taking our first steps towards re gathering as a Church family this week we are back in the building we are live next week we get to regather together as a Church family we'll be able to open the doors we'll have a place clean we've done some work to be able to spread out we understand that as we regather and kind of come back together after this pandemic that there are still those who feel uncomfortable still those who maybe have gotten sick and still those who are in a vulnerable demographic.

And so we understand that we won't all be able to gather but some of us will be able to gather in this room next week and we've gone ahead and done the work it takes so that we can livestream our gatherings for our Church family who cannot gather with us in the location can still join with us together at the same time as we study the Scriptures and worship the Lord together and so this week we are live next week we get together and be live and we're excited that things are moving back towards some sense of normal our Church family is two churches that came together at the beginning of this year and rolled.

Into 2020 very excited about what was going to happen and we're unable at all to guess what was actually going to happen and we've had an interesting year but God it is gracious and good to us and in the midst of a lot of changes we are learning how to love one another and grow together as people who believe that Jesus is better than everything else so we are a Gospel centered community on a mission we gather in community groups out the week to be those who point one another back to Christ love one another's family and are sent as missionaries to our city.

So it's been a weird season for us and we are re getting in the middle of a pandemic it's not as bad as it seemed like it could have been but people are still sick numbers are still growing and in the midst of all that we have a lot of civil unrest and so we gather today as the people of God to pray to worship our one true king and - as we study the Scriptures understand that the primary issue in the world is not the sin out there.

But the sin in here that it's not those people out there causing problems but that God has done work on our hearts so that we might see our sin that we might repent and that change and grace and love and unity might come from the Church and work its way into the world and that's our hope that we would be people who repent we would be people who were quick to listen and slow to speak and listen to the Word of.

God and submit to his leadership that we might be good missionaries and to put on display what the Gospel does among people so join me this morning and praying as we begin our gathering God we thank you that you are sovereign and in the midst of a season of so much uncertainty so much despair so much pain and fear and anguish and frustration and anger you are sovereign and you are good and so may we be a people of the cross who understand that in the midst of chaos you are working.

For our good to bring about joy and hope and freedom that in the midst of suffering you bring about good results and that you never lose control may we be a people of the cross who run to you to have our sins forgiven atoned for by the blood of Jesus and who walk in freedom and life and joy may we be a people of the cross who are not swayed by this political party or that political party or this news outlet or that news outlet.

But first and foremost listen to you and kneel to you to hear your word and your truth so that we might walk forward in grace and love and humility and empathy and action so Lord we gather this morning as a people of the cross in need of grace in need of healing in need of love in need of certainty and finding all of those in Jesus in Jesus name we pray Oh shelters Los Angeles merci Oh with praises before again Hey it's great great will rise to price our team do price argue yeah - tae-suhk your man to Christ the resurrected King is resurrecting me in your name I come to prepare your dress were.

Soldiers your name your name is hi - hi start your name to prize Jesus we praise you as our resurrected King Lord we praise you for the fact that you have resurrected those of us who are in Christ that you have paid the penalty for our sin and given us new life in you which gives us reason to celebrate Lord and as your people we need to follow we need to obey we need to repent an exhibit faith in our lives and we pray that as we sit under the authority of your word this morning you might transform us you might help us follow you better in.

Jesus name Amen good morning my name is Spencer I'm more the pastor's of Mill City Church of KC last weekend peaceful protests all across the country and our own city morphed into riots because of what happened in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago now we are walking through the Gospel of Matthew in the final passage of Matthew 13 today while we would normally sit in the main part of that passage and preach the main part of the ply the main aspects of it.

Because of everything that is transpired over the last few weeks I don't think that would be appropriate what we're going to do this morning is we're going to pick up on a key theme that runs throughout the kingdom of heaven that the Gospel of Matthew has been talking about and it is a theme that is connected to this passage which is going to be difficult to do it's going to be difficult to do because of the history and the emotions that are packed into that are built into this discussion in our Church we have both police officers and minorities we have both conservative-leaning thinkers and liberal-leaning thought we have a wide variety of opinions in.

Our Church and I know this because I'm friends with most of you on Facebook and I can see this but the reality is is we don't avoid difficult conversations because they are loaded we don't avoid what is difficult if it is good and true and worth pursuing so today we're going to look at a situation where Jesus brought the message of the kingdom to his hometown and it was rejected for silly reasons and my hope this morning my prayer this morning is that we would.

Look at any central aspect of the kingdom of heaven and we would not do the same and I'm gonna be honest I'm mostly going to be addressing the majority of our congregation that is why so before we jump into this let me say some things that I want you to hear very clearly I love you I love our Church family this has been one of the more difficult sermons I've ever had so you prepare some of you are going to want to turn off your livestream please don't please stay with us and please continue this conversation past even.

Today some of you are going to want to conflate my words with some of the more unhelpful voices and our culture please don't some of you are going to want me to spend time talking about the the evils of rioting and violence and I've seen them I've seen that the coverage on a Facebook i've seen the memes like the meme of Jesus flipping over tables in the temple area and the justification for that is we can do violence that causes that hurts small businesses that actually caused the death of people i'm not gonna go there it is both as idiotic as it is unbiblical.

But that's not the point of today the goal of today is to look an essential aspect of the kingdom of God and that is the image of God so the Holy Spirit needs to go to work on our hearts because we cannot be okay with sin and our own hearts we cannot turn a blind eye to the marginalized we cannot just sit in the the presuppositions that the the thoughts that we bring to the table that may be shaped by political ideologies without actually having the Bible check it.

So my hope is is the love of Christ this morning would lead us to an empathy that helps us better understand our black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ so in order to do that we're going to need Lord to go to work so let me pray and then we'll jump in Father we pray right now that you would open up our hearts that we would listen that we would not be combative in our own hearts and God I pray you would bless this time and what comes out of it in.

Jesus name Amen all right so I'm going to start in Matthew 13 chapter 53 and then we're going to move from there starting in verse 53 and when Jesus had finished these parables he went from there and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works is this not the carpenter's son it's not his mother called Mary are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas are and are not all his sisters with us one of this.

When did this man get all these things and they took offense at him but you just said that him a prophet is not without honor except in his own town and his own household and he did not do mighty works there because of their unbelief so Jesus has been teaching kingdom parables he's been teaching all kinds of teachings and when you take a step back from the whole of his teaching ministry what he's doing is he's traveling from town to town from region to region teaching these same parables these same teachings and what's different about this situation is that he's come to his hometown the audience is different.

Now Matthew gives us the Cliff Notes version of what's happening here Luke gives us a more expanded version he gives us more details like when he was rejected here they didn't just reject this message they thought they sought to throw them off of a cliff and kill him say the the audience is different they watched him grow up which is why they respond like where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works is this not the carpenter's son is this not Joseph's boy you know that the one who had the carpenter business years ago yet that Joseph.

When they recognized that he's got mighty works they recognize that he's got wisdom but wait this is Mary's son so they reject his message because of that Jesus preaches with the same the same boldness with the same truthfulness as he does anywhere and his this message the text says is offensive they are offended which comes from the Greek word scandal ISA which is where we get the English word scandalous this message is offensive it is shocking and is scandalous and they sought to kill him.

For it so Jesus responds to this rejection says but Jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household and he did not do mighty works there because of their unbelief so that's the climactic finish to this story that they reject him like the prophets of old are ejected in their hometowns that he's not going to because of this perform these mighty works these miracles these healings that he's been doing anywhere and that's that the main part of this passage that's the main idea.

But I want to focus on on a different aspect that is connected to this that the idea of Jesus message of the kingdom that it is by nature offensive especially when it hits close to home the message of the kingdom the Gospel is by nature offensive it offends our presuppositions it offends our pre-loaded ideas our comfortable world views it is scandalous by Nature and here's the deal if we reject this message because it offends our understanding because it touches in places that we don't want to we are in danger Church family of missing out on the mighty works of.

Jesus and I don't want that Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the image of God and they rejected him and I want us to do that I want us to look at the image of God today and I want us to look at the image of God in three different ways I want to spend time looking at the image of God created I want to look at secondly the image of God fallen and thirdly I want to look at the image of.

God redeemed and my hope is is that as we walk through this love and empathy for black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ would win the day so we're gonna look at first his image created like many of you I watched the video of George Floyd I watched both clips I watched as they put as one officer put his knee on the back of George Floyd's neck as he begged him to stop for about nine minutes he slowly suffocated to death begging.

For relief and for two minutes and 43 seconds he was unconscious he was practically gone the excessive nature of this is indisputable police officers all across the country have looked at us and said that this is this is this is worthy of prosecution our own chief of sled here in Carolina said if you are if you think this is an acceptable means of restraining a suspect turn in your badge it is absolutely horrific i watch my kids play sometimes and they'll put pillows over each other's faces which happens in our household or not that happens in yours.

But they they play like this and then all of a sudden this panic sets in for me that says no no please stop please get off your brother and there were bystanders who were filming this they were saying please get off of him get off he is you can't breathe one a bystander was an off-duty firefighter she said you need to check his pulse it is horrific video and when you paired this next to the release of the video from the Ahmad Aubry killing from a few weeks ago and you compound this with a long history of oppression violence and justice you had a powder keg that explodes with black people all across the country.

Begging for their voices to be heard now I'm not naive I understand that when I start saying this that there's a pretty quick response because we've seen this debate play out at kitchen tables we've seen this debate play out on TV and in social media what usually follows this is what about burning down businesses what about burning down businesses owned by minorities what about the all the history of riots that have happened where were these parts of the city don't bounce back.

Because of violence or what about the majority of police officer have them have a very difficult job and they were disgusted by what they saw what about investing in better police training about about mental health for police officers or what about black-on-black client crime in Chicago that happens every weekend or what about the media's agenda in all of this what about the people who make a living off of this debate all of those are questions worth discussing but not as an ad hominem what about beside the point deflection which is what we do and what we do this you come home and and maybe your spouse comes home and they they'll say.

Well you didn't mow the grass you didn't take care of the lawn like I asked you to and we're very quick to say well glass a couple of days ago you didn't take care of the downstairs it was a mess we do this we deflect because we don't want to do is look at the fault within ourselves we will point out the fault in someone else will point out the fault and someone else's community but we won't look at what's going on with him.

So I'm not going to go there today I'm not going to discuss that I want to address the image of God as a relates to this subject matter because for black people this situation highlights a long history where the image of God has been diminished in them so let's look at where all of this began in the garden Genesis 1:26 says then God said let us make man in our own image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the heavens over the livestock and over all the earth and every every creeping thing that creeps on the earth this is.

When the image of God is created we walk through this and a series of Genesis a few years ago that there is so much packed into what that you are made in the image of God specifically for our purposes today it means that you are made in the image of God and therefore you have dignity and value and worth that it's a fight for the dignity of man and the Church has here this rightfully fought the evils of abortion on this area we have rightfully taken a stand against this.

But while we've been doing that we have black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ who said that's great but what about us - what about our dignity our value our worth as people made in the image of God so how do we lose this how did all of this go so wrong more specifically in our own country how did this a country founded by Protestants seeking religious freedom how did this become so central to our identity in the beginning how did systematic injustice against black people become our country's original sin it is.

Because very early on we lost the doctrine of the image of God you see early on as America this land was being settled in order to justify the evils of slavery we Christians began to make distinctions within the image of God there was something unique about whiteness that made us a more superior reflection of the image of God and the heathen as Africans who are being brought over there was something lesser about the image of God and then therefore there was these categories of distinctions between two sets of person hoods.

Now there's a spoken word artist named propaganda who captures this he is specifically talking about the Puritans the Puritans were English Protestants that have a rich history of theology theology that shapes much of what we preach today and the American Church but what happened is when they came to America around the around the time that slavery began in this country is that they checked their theology at the door when it came to this subject matter so I'm gonna look at me says in his song he says they looked at my onyx and bronze skin forefathers and their face their polytheistic.

God hating face their shackled diseased imprisoned face and taught a Gospel that said God had multiple images in mind when he created us in it therefore destined salvation contains a contentment and the stage for which they were given which is to be owned by your forefathers superior image bearing face says your precious Puritans that's a lot right there but what he just said was is that very early on there was a Christian understanding that there are distinctions between whiteness and blackness and the levels of reflecting the image of.

God and the justification for slavery came out of well that is their destined place of contentment they should be and this stage and be okay this came out of thought from heroes in theology like Jonathan Edwards that shapes so much of the theology that we have in America but the reality is is that Jonathan Edwards the reason he had so much time to write such beautiful sermons and beautiful books is but he wasn't working his own fields you see this is what he is getting at in this what started as an economic justification.

Because sugar tasted very good and British tea and who else was going to harvest the crops and the sugarcane and the Caribbean quickly leptin to a satanic justification and hijacking of the Bible and that has continued all the way to the formation of our country that black people didn't have full personhood and even continues into the formation of our own denomination that right down the road in Augusta and the mid 1800s the first Southern Baptists came together and they formed the Southern Baptist Convention.

Because they said they wanted unity in missions but what was really happening is the northern Baptist we're asking them to fight against the oppression of slavery and they said no we want unity so we'll start our own denomination and this continues this is why black people have been have been asking and saying and declaring I am a man they want the full recognition of their personhood and that doesn't disappear overnight they've been fighting for this for centuries now I know what some of you might be thinking why are we still talking about slavery that was a hundred and fifty years ago why are we still talking about this.

Well in the grand scheme of time that's not a lot of time you can look at the Old Testament things what happened hundreds of years before the people of God and and and they have this strong historical attachment would happen in the centuries previous mypos in perspective for us my great-great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy and surrendered under Robert Ely at Appomattox Courthouse they gave him for war reparations a donkey that he wrote all the way back to pillion my grandfather was a businessman in this part of town he was a respected businessman he's been gone.

For twenty years but but many people are but a few people in our Church remember him all right my grandfather's grandfather someone he had he had memory of my grandfather's grandfather fought for the Confederacy that is not a lot of time and the legacy of slavery bleeds into Jim Crow segregation and all the evils of that and then after the civil rights movement the practice of redlining continues into the late 70s formally informally continued a little bit longer than that redlining is is.

When real estate agents and lenders would look at black people and say we'll give you a loan we'll show you houses but it has to be in this part of the city which further separated and continued to separate black people and white people it's the reason why many of us grew up in predominantly white schools and predominantly white communities can you see the thread it flows all the way back to the theological justification that there is distinctiveness within the image of.

God and separateness because of that and all our black and brown brothers and sisters want is the same value dignity and worth it is their gift from their Creator it is an essential aspect of the kingdom of God because Jesus came to claim for himself every tribe every tongue every people group so how did this become so corrupted even before anyone settled this country from Europe it goes all the way back to the fall when his image fell back in the garden.

When Adam and Eve sinned against God it brings sin into this world and because of that hate spreads took one generation to see hate turn into murder and hate continue to spread in one of the ways that it continues to spread is through prejudice it spreads like a poison it's one of the early problems in the New Testament Church you see in multiple places in the New Testament the Bible is addressing in addressing the prejudice within the early Church because you had Jews and Gentiles that were brought together you had Africans and enrolments who were brought together you.

See the Church was an early cultural melting pot in history and because of that you've got multiple New Testament letters that address this we walk through this in the book of Ephesians a few years ago in the book of Ephesians Paul is addressing the divisions that have happened because of ethnic differences between Jews and Gentiles and in chapter 2 he says verse 14 for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility this dividing wall that's come.

So naturalist just as Paul says that we inherit the sins of our forefathers there's this there's a separation that we will just naturally do because the inherited prejudice that we get from our forefathers because of culture further and granion in us but the cross came to tear down the wall verse fifteen by abolishing the law of Commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create and himself one new man in place of the two so making peace and might reconcile us both to.

God in one body not to one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility Jesus addresses this as well he's asked let's at one point in his ministry he's asked well what does it mean to love your neighbor he tells the parable of the Good Samaritan and what often gets lost in the parable of the Good Samaritan is that Samaritans and Jews or different ethnic groups and they despise one another and he makes as he's telling this parable to Jews a Samaritan the hero of the story.

Because loving your neighbor means loving someone else in spite of cultural differences in spite of color differences it's a it's it's been something in the early - it was something in the early Church that needed to be addressed and it's something that still needs to be addressed today so I could cite statistics that show some of the injustice is for black and brown brothers and sisters in the American Church but the reality is is what I've seen is that you could pretty much find any statistic to justify your position I mean they're out there you'll find something that says no this is why is the way it is.

So instead of just jumping into that debate that has become so muddy what I wanted to do is I wanted you to hear from three different men of color and your Church I sat down this week I talked to three different members of three different members of our Church family and I got their perspectives on this and they gifted their perspectives their perspectives to us so I want you to listen to these stories from their from their history from their past and I want you to take a moment.

Listen and not become combative or not try to argue a fight with their experiences so at first I talked to Ricky Jackson Ricky Jackson is in my group he's African American at 15 years old he was four doors down from his house four doors down in the street and a police officer pulled up immediately seized him and then threw him on the hood of his car because he looked like a suspect who was currently at that moment robbing the concession stand and the ballfield across from his neighborhood.

Now I asked him after that I said how many times do you think you've been pulled over by police officers and he just laughed he said I thought you can I cannot count that been pulled over countless times and he said it's driving while being black and I know that might seem crazy to some but it's a reality and it flows out of this reality of it because of the separation there are two parts of town and if you are african-american and a predominantly white part of town there's been an understanding what are you doing in this part of town you must be up to no good that's something that Tim Scott are one of.

Our state senators who happens to be regardless of your politics one of the most respected politicians in Washington he stood on the Senate floor a few years ago and helped explain this that his entire life he has been pulled over even as a senator he gets pulled over consistently in DC it's a reality that black people have to face now outside of the realm is related to police I just asked him will he just hear some more of what it's like to be black in America he said some of the things that have been said to him before is you were very articulate.

For a black person or you don't sound black he got into the University of North Carolina or as he said Carolina which I corrected him on because South Carolina is also a school but he got into the University of North Carolina and his immediate thought was are the media thought of of the people who have found out that he was at that school was oh you must have gotten in for an athletic scholarship as if he couldn't have gotten in on an academic scholarship which he did he got in on a full-ride he's had to learn to overcompensate.

Because he seems threatening because of his the color of his skin he's had to learn to be super nice to be super friendly to put other people at ease he says consistently on the street as he walks by white women they clutch their purses in fear he said he had to learn to be as twice as good as everyone out so that his success would not be will not be lumped in with oh you just must have gotten here because you were black in a couple of weeks I'm gonna go camping.

For a vacation and he said you don't have to think about where you can't but the reality is for our family we do because there's some places we don't feel comfortable I talked to Craig Kerr he's also in our community group he's also African American he grew up in an all-black neighborhood and he moved to a white middle upper class suburb neighborhood and he consistently got pulled over by the police he said sometimes twice a week now one time he said that he was the passenger and the car where his buddy was driving who is white.

And when the police officer pulled him over the conversation was going very normal until he realized that Craig was in the passenger seat and as soon as he saw Craig he quickly put his hand on his gun now Craig was gracious he said listen they've got really difficult jobs I can't imagine some of the things they have to face so he said is what I've learned is that I need to remain calm de-escalate the situation whenever it arises he's made it his mission in all of life to not be combative to be the opposite of what other people believe he said his parents taught him at a young age to not be disrespectful which is.

Something that I'm going to teach my son I want my son to to be respectful but not for one moment not for a moment have I thought if he isn't disrespectful it may result in harassment or he might even be killed it has never crossed my mind and he said the last thing one of the things he said was he being in an interracial marriage Ricci also was in is in an interracial marriage he said being in this area they still get lots of looks.

Because he is black and his wife is white a third person I talked to is Carlos Rosales Carlos is from Honduras and asked him permission to share some the stories we've talked about in the past he is the only Hispanic worker on a crew for dot4 department transportation and because he's the only Hispanic on that crew he's had in the past both the white men and the black men look at him like when there's a job that has to be done that's hard you do it you're the one that's going to do the work.

Because he's Latino so he's the one that has to do the work and he worked as hard as he can and he is his reference in the past there have been moments he feels like he's been passed over even though he's the hardest worker on his crew he's been passed over for promotions because he is Latino these are just a few of the stories just a few of them and these are stories that are in line with so many stories that are black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ have been telling.

For years there are stories that have been fixtures in our country for hundreds of years now I would argue absolutely we have come a long way since 1619 we've come a long way in the last 400 years but we've got a long way to go I'd argue that while also prejudice is ingrained into our culture into our country all the reasons is the visable is because we are one of the largest cultural melting pots in the history of civilization so it's more visible.

But you can go in any part of the world and see this currently the Chinese have placed entire people groups like the Turks and internment camps or as they call them re-education camps Middle Eastern cities like Dubai were built off the backs of practically forced labor from migrant workers like Nepal they would come in promised good work and good money they could send back their families and immediately their passports were seized they were put into into living camps that were horrible they were paid much less and many died from heat exhaustion many died from suicide.

Because of the conditions in which they built that city the same thing is happening in Qatar right now cutters where the next World Cup is going to be and they've had loads of migrant workers that were brought over who have died from heat exhaustion died from terrible working conditions now also this happens in Europe and in America our academia likes to hold up Europe as the shining example because it is the most educated of all the continents but here's the deal the reality is is that in the last 20 years as Europe has seen an influx of immigrants from Syria from Africa the place that was once very monolithic and white has grown very weary.

Of having different people of color and there are far-right groups that have risen up all over Europe is the reason why African soccer players still get bananas thrown at them and soccer matches this happens all over the world yes systematic prejudice is complicated and it is loaded with historical and cultural baggage but here's the deal at its core it is not an education issue at its core it is a sin issue and because it is a sin issue we can deal with this as Christians and repentance which brings this the last part of this the.

Third aspect of the king of the image of God is his image redeemed see back in Ephesians 2 Paul highlights the problem the dividing wall of hostility but he also highlight it's the solution the solution is the cross the solution is that a savior looked at this world that was ripping itself apart in hate and he steps into our timeline and he lives out a perfect life one that does not touch prejudice and then he takes that work to the cross where his blood is poured out.

So that ultimately hatred in our hearts could be routed out he came as the solution to this problem now education might help you understand prejudice better it might help you understand systemic injustice better but here's the deal at its core all education is going to do is is give you more knowledge it's gonna make give you more knowledge of the situation but what you will do if you're just educated as you will bury it deep you will hide it you will realize that it's it's one of the worst things to be labeled as a racist and you'll just keep all those hidden inner thoughts to yourself it is the reason why black people have looked.

At white progressives for the last ten years with a lot of hesitancy and then every time they have an action that comes out that shows the prejudice within everyone's real shot it's because education doesn't fix this process for this problem only the cross and the blood of Christ that came to claim every single people group every tribe every tongue every color every nation that the final picture is is that in the New Jerusalem there will be all peoples celebrating together who our King is that's the final picture and the solution is the cross.

So how do we respond we respond in repentance one of the things that Ricky and Craig that we talked about is they said when you'd be able to talk about this around the table there are community groups need to be able to talk about this as if it's another sin worthy of repentance we need to be able to talk about it without the fear of judgment to have honest conversations so that healing can begin when I became a Christian when I was 17 before I became a Christian there was some explicit prejudice in my life.

And then I became a Christian I came very a repented hard on this and I came became very combative against racism and Prejudice with issues and then my freshman year of college one of my best friends his name's Chris Chris is black there was a conversation we were having and the assumption I made and what I said I don't remember the conversation was but the assumption that I made in the conversation is that he wasn't able to fall along with what I was talking about and he just called me out on in that moment he said oh you don't think I can understand this.

Because I'm black and I did what pretty much any white person does in that situation so no I'm not I'm not I'm not racist it's not at all no I missed it no I and then in the the weeks that followed I began to reflect on where that came from where that thought came from and I had to come back to him and confess later wait a second I actually do this thing this came from a prejudicial understanding that you were not able to understand this.

Because you were black and less educated here's what happened the next four years of college Chris and I began to walk through this together he gave me the space and the grace to be able to work out some of the things that were buried deep in my heart because the reality is is that no one's immune averse no one's immune to prejudice it is a it's a sin we inherit from our forefathers it's it's deepen in our sinful nature culture deepens it even further one of the things that Hollywood likes to think itself as the most enlightened as african-americans laugh that's why award shows are more painful every year.

For them there's these ideologies that have come out for decades that further enforce these these stereotypes that we have in our hearts and for four years I was able to walk with Chris and be able to to work out some of this and he was able to work out some of his stuff and and times now just I really am frustrated and I think I hate white people and I'm like I mean I know but we gotta work through this together we were called to to law that we worked through all of this.

Because he gave me the space and the grace to treat this like any others that is worthy of repentance and that is the same space we need as a Church we need to give each other the space to realize all of us are dealing with the issues of prejudice until we actually begin to work this out together to have the toughed honest conversations to stare at the parts of our sinful nature that we hide very deep and that our Dorn until we deal with this we'll never move.

For is the Church and I certainly don't think our country has a shot at moving forward until we deal with this so with me fully recognizing the irony as a white pastor trying to talk on this subject I want to close us with a quote from one of my favorite bands the Avett Brothers which if that joke was lost on you the Avett Brothers is a very white band but they wrote a song last year called we Americans I just want to close this with reading a couple lines from this song the song deals with the the reality that America is a beautiful American experiment also grappling with the scars of our painful past.

This is what they say and accountability is hard to impose on ghosts of ancestors haunting the halls of our conscience but the path of grace and good will is still here for those of us who may be considered among the living I am the son of God and man and I may never understand the good and evil but I dearly love this land because of this and in spite of We the People we are more than the sum of our parts all these broken bones and broken hearts.

God will you keep us wherever we go can you forgive us for where we've been I love this this picture of maybe we can deal with the ghosts of ancestors past haunting the halls of our conscience maybe we can't see the path of grace and good will is here maybe we can see that we're not the sum of all of our of our broken parts maybe God can't help us get through this the reality is is that for our country the last two weeks I'm just not sure.

If we're gonna get there I don't know but here's the deal the Church can the Church can Christians we can our Church we can deal with the ghosts of our pasts the painful parts of our sinful nature we can be the ones that go back to our community groups that have the difficult conversations about what's going on beneath the surface the Church can listen to our black and brown brothers and sisters and we can have empathy redemption is possible and it is beautiful it is the reason that a great-great grandson of a Confederate soldier who fought to keep Ricky and Craig's great-great-great grandparents in Chains can be in the same community group walking through the.

Gospel talking about these things showing grace and love and kindness and mercy so that may be as we work through this together as the Church we can be salt and light to a city that is hurting that's the hope and my hope is is in this Church we'd be different so this week put down your swords this week don't revert to talking points don't revert to arguments of the past this week let's strive to be empathetic and loving and listen so that maybe we can bear the Gospel in a way that looks beautiful in the midst of this present darkness.

Let me pray father I pray right now that you would go to work on our hearts the reality is is there so much brokenness in our country there's so much brokenness within ourselves but it is not beyond redemption the Gospel is beautiful and it is good and it breaks down dividing wall of hostility God I pray right now that you'd bring healing within us I pray that for anyone listening right now that you would go to work on their heart they would begin to deal with the parts of their sinful nature that are stained by prejudice including myself.

God I pray that you would bless the conversations of our community groups this week as we wrestle with a very difficult conversation that is heated in this country right now God I also pray if it be your will to begin to heal the wounds of our country to restore us and to help the Church lead the way in Jesus name Amen we are going to regather as a Church we've done some work in the building we've removed the pews we've spread out some chairs we are going to have as best we can a gathering.

While living out some social distancing there are gonna be some changes made we're gonna have a video that comes out this week that helps lay out some of those changes for how we're going to try to be able to gather but do it in a safe manner as safe as possible and so we are looking forward to that look forward to seeing you next Sunday we understand that some of you won't be able to join us in person would love for you to continue to join us do it via the livestream let's join together in praying right.

Now God we ask for your grace we ask for what we consistently need is your Holy Spirit to work in us that we might see our own sin that we might root it out know where it hides know where we lie to ourselves know where we walk in ways that are unhelpful and unproductive and counter to the Gospel help us to remember that that is who we are outside of the saving grace and the work of your spirit and may we be people who repent and walk in freedom and joy and life we pray.

For all those right now that are hurting and all those right now that are sick all those right now that are fearful that have had job situations messed up we'd pray that you would continue to heal and bless we pray that you would bring us together safely next week in Jesus name you.