Of Prophets and Power (Matthew 14:1-21)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet virtually this week.
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.
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.
Kingdom Parables (Matthew 13:31-21, 44-52)
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Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
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Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23)
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Community in Chaos
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Six Reasons to Love Your Bible
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Dont Waste Your Pandemic
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Isolation and Idolatry
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The Hidden Hope of Suffering
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Kid City can go on in your living room! Check out songs, memory verses, and our lesson.
In Tenderness
In tenderness he sought me
Weary and sick with sin
And on His shoulders brought me
Back to His fold again
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.
Oh, the love that sought me!
Oh, the blood that bought me!
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold of God
Grace that brought me to the fold of God.
He died for me while I was sinning, needy and poor and blind
He whispered to assure me: "I've found thee; thou art Mine"
I never heard a sweeter voice, it made my aching heart rejoice.
Upon His grace I'll daily ponder, and sing anew His praise
With all adoring wonder, His blessings I retrace
It seems as if eternal days, are far too short to sing His praise.
O Praise the Name
I cast my mind to Calvary
Where Jesus bled and died for me.
I see His wounds, His hands, His feet.
My Savior on that cursed tree
His body bound and drenched in tears
They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb.
The entrance sealed by heavy stone
Messiah still and all alone
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Then on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of heaven rose again.
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
He shall return in robes of white,
The blazing Son shall pierce the night.
And I will rise among the saints,
My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
A Very Present Help
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Kid City can go on in your living room! Check out songs, memory verses, and our lesson.
Whom Shall I Fear
You hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It cannot hide the light
Whom shall I fear?
You crush the enemy
Underneath my feet
You are my sword and shield
Though troubles linger still
Whom shall I fear?
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side
The one who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side
My strength is in your name
For you alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
Living Hope
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior, I'm Yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, Yours is the victory, whoa!
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Oh God, You are my living hope
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Eternal Family in Temporary Suffering
Use this guide to help as you take notes, learn from and reflect on this week’s sermon.
Kid City can go on in your living room! Check out songs, memory verses, and our lesson.
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever will be
Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
And all I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Searching for a Sign - Matthew 12:38-45
Transcript
If you have a Blue Bible New, it'll be on page 477. There won't be a lot of text on the screen, so we encourage you to follow along with us there. In the late 90s, I got to witness a cinematic classic. And I'm not talking about Titanic. I'm not talking about The Matrix. I'm talking about the rom-com, Fool's Rush In.
So, show of hands. Who has seen Fool's Rush In? Alright, like 10 or 15. Alright, so for everyone else, let me fill in the plot. So Matthew Perry from Friends is the lead role.
He plays the same sarcastic character he does in everything he's ever been in. He meets a girl. That's how romantic comedies work. Played by Selma Hayek. And she lives her life guided by fate. So she looks for signs from fate.
And that's how she lives her life. Now, you can pretty much fill in the plot from there. Fate brings them together. Tears them apart. But in the big climactic finish, the signs lead them back together and they live happily ever after.
So, that was in the late 90s. Early 2000s, Hollywood said that worked. Let's do it again. And they made the movie Serendipity. Which, y'all, is the same plot. Fate brings them together.
They follow the signs. It tears them apart. And then ultimately, it brings them back together. Now, this idea of searching for signs is starting to catch on. Then the show of How I Met Your Mother comes in the mid-late 2000s.
And then the idea of not fate guiding you, but the universe guiding you starts to become mainstream. I mean, throughout that show, it's this consistent theme of the universe is telling me. The universe is giving me signs. And now, that is a mainstream idea. You will hear people say, I think the universe is trying to tell me something. I think the universe is giving me a sign.
And we, as Christians, look at this and we go, that's not right. Right? Like, we don't look to the universe for signs. That's giving the universe this vague idea of universe fate, this God-like force. But what I have seen is I've seen Christians kind of adopt similar language when it comes to God.
I've seen Christians say, I'm looking for a sign from God. That I'm waiting for a sign from God to show me what I should do next. This is something that is, because we live in an experiential culture and we are trying to gather experiences like this. This is something that's consistently I'm seeing over and over again. And my question is, is that okay? Is it okay for us to be searching for signs for God to lead us in pursuits?
Like, is it okay to ask for God for signs if this is the one I should marry? If this is the job I should take? If this is the favorite child that I should spend most of my time with? All the basic pursuits. But then it becomes even bigger when you think about the more profound questions in life.
Is it okay to ask for God for signs with some of the bigger questions? Does God exist? Does He love me? Does He care for me? God, show me a sign that you love me, that you care for me, that you're here. Is that okay?
Is that posture okay to ask of God that He would reveal Himself to show His power, His presence, His love that He exists? That is a question that we're going to face today. It's a question that this story that we're going to read interacts with. In this story today, we're in another chapter of Jesus v. the Pharisees. You've been here the last few weeks. There's been one showdown after the other.
The Pharisees come and confront Jesus. And then He puts them in their place. We get another chapter of that. But it's going to interact with this bigger question. Is it okay for us as Christians to search for signs? So, let me pray.
And then we will jump into the passage and hear what God has to say. Father, I thank You that we get to gather this morning. God, I pray that You would help us be present. That You would give us ears to hear. That You would speak clearly to us and we would respond. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Alright guys, verse 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. Alright, so if you were here last week, this is what happened. Jesus casts out demons. And the Pharisees accuse Him of getting His power from Beelzebub.
Of getting His power from the demonic. They accuse Jesus of essentially worshipping demons and getting His power from them. And then the follow-up request that comes from this is, Okay, fine. Then show us a sign. We wish to see a sign from you. Which is just a crazy back-to-back follow-up request.
Now, it's not that signs are inherently bad. Otherwise, Jesus has been doing them over and over again. Since the Sermon on the Mount, we've seen Him heal paralyzed. We've seen Him heal the sick. We've seen Him control the weather. He's continuously performing miracles, displaying His power.
But this request is different. It is uniquely different. The Pharisees have shown, even in this last exchange that happened last week, they don't believe Jesus. They don't believe He is who He says He is. They don't believe what He is doing. And this is a request from unbelief, but also it's one of arrogance.
They are arrogantly looking at Jesus and saying, Dance. Perform a sign. Do what we want to see. And they have completely miscalculated the situation. You don't, creation does not get to look at the God of the universe and say, Do this. That position of arrogance is not okay.
And Jesus makes that abundantly clear in verse 39. But He answered them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. So no, Jesus is not going to bend Himself to these arrogant men in this moment. To the Pharisees, to the scribes, to the religious leadership, to everyone who has come out over this period of time, who have seen Him perform miracles, who have heard His teaching, and have not repented, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He calls them an evil and adulterous generation. This is the language that is used throughout the Old Testament to describe the nation of Israel when it goes after foreign gods.
It's a strong way of saying faithlessness. This generation is faithless, and yet you demand a sign from this position of arrogance. This is similar to if you share the gospel with somebody who is not a believer, and at the end of it they say, No, I won't. If God is loving, and He's imminent, and He's all these things that you say He is, then He should just show up and prove Himself. Why is He hiding? It's this position of arrogance that is uniquely different.
It is not that Jesus is against doubt. It's not that He's against doubt at all. And we see that in the Gospels. We see that when Thomas, one of his disciples, who unfortunately gets the nickname Doubting Thomas, that's really not fair. He has one moment of doubt in the church for the next 2,000 years that gives them that label. But he has this moment after Jesus resurrects.
They say that He's risen. He doesn't believe. And he's like, I need to see His wounds. I need to see His wrists. And Jesus comes. He doesn't respond by saying, You should have believed.
He responds by, Put your hands here. We see this again in another situation where a father has a son who's afflicted by demons, and He comes. And Jesus uses some of this similar language of evil and adulterous generation. And He comes to them and He says, I believe. But Lord, help my unbelief.
Which is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. And Jesus doesn't respond with, He responds compassionately and lovingly. And He heals His son. And so Jesus is not against doubts. That isn't what's happening here. What's happening here is different.
It is unbelief. It is arrogance. And He is not going to respond with anything but what He just said, the sign of Jonah. You will get the sign of Jonah. Now, in order for us to understand the sign of Jonah, we need to understand the story of Jonah and a little bit of the context of Jonah. So just give me a moment.
Let me walk through the story of Jonah again. So he's an Old Testament prophet. God calls Jonah. He says, I want you to go to the city of Nineveh. And I want you to call out to the city of Nineveh. He wants to call them to repentance.
And Jonah says, No. And he runs the opposite direction. Gets on a ship. Goes as far away as he can from Nineveh. Jonah, a storm comes. And it's about to capsize the boat.
Jonah realizes this is from God. This is his fault. He tells them, Throw him overboard. The men on the ship. And they reluctantly throw him overboard. The sea is calm.
And a great fish comes up and swallows him whole. You may have heard the whale. That's fine. We don't know what kind of fish it was. But if the whale is good for picturing your mind, that's fine.
But a great fish comes up, swallows him, and he lives. For three days and three nights, he lives inside the belly of this great fish. And in that period of time, he reflects. He repents. He prays. And God doesn't destroy him for being a disobedient prophet.
He gives him grace. And Jonah is spit out onto dry land. He walks into the city of Nineveh. He preaches this message of repentance. Repent or you are going to be destroyed. And then he walks outside of the city and he sits down and he waits.
And they repent. In sackcloth and ashes, deep repentance, they repent. And Jonah is upset. He is angry. And unless you know the context of what's happening there, that seems a little bit confusing. Nineveh was one of the biggest cities in the kingdom and the empire of Assyria.
And in this period of time, the Assyrians have come in and completely destroyed the fabric of the nation of Israel. And they come in and ten tribes are completely forgotten. If they're not killed and destroyed, they're deported and scattered all across their empire. There is no one who looks for their lineage in Reuben or Dan or Asher or Manasseh. You can't because of what the Assyrians did. And not only that, they were the first major kingdom, the first major empire that was absolutely known for their brutality.
They did things like skin people alive. They were terrorists. Live dismemberments, live castrations. They would put men on, they put people on stakes and watch them die slowly to put fear in people's eyes. They did some of this stuff to the people of God. And Jonah's sitting outside the city and he wants justice.
He wants absolute fire from heaven, burn him up. Now, Jonah isn't justified in what he did. He gives you a little bit of background into why he did it. He didn't understand God's grace. But you need all of that.
You need all that context for the story to understand what Jesus is actually going to say next. In verse 40, he says, For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus uses Jonah's experience to point forward. Just as Jonah was cast into the sea, presumed dead by the men who put him there in this great fish, so also Jesus is going to be killed, presumed to stay dead, and put into the heart of the earth, put in a tomb. And just as Jonah, three days later, bursts forth miraculously from this great fish, Jesus is going to burst forth miraculously from the empty tomb.
He is pointing forward and saying, this is the sign. His death, his resurrection. That's the sign that you need. He's prophetic, and he also knows that still is not going to be enough. He's prophetic and HEezing that the man's not going to be. He is about to persevere a lot of the missed places before he passed away.
He agreed to find UNIVE Thank you.
Demons & Blasphemy
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles and let's head to Matthew chapter 12. We are working our way through the gospel of Matthew, studying through it verse by verse. We as Christians celebrate Jesus.
We celebrate who he is, what he's done. We celebrate the person of Jesus and we celebrate the work of Jesus. So we will magnify him. We'll sing to him and call him the king of kings, the Lord of lords. We'll lift him up. We'll call him the prince of peace.
We'll elevate not only who he is, but what he's done. We'll talk about him as a teacher, as a king, as a prophet. But there's one thing that is highlighted over and over again in the scriptures. That's celebrated globally and historically that we don't talk about a lot or celebrate a lot. And that is Jesus in his role, his position as an exorcist. You don't usually see that on banners in churches.
In this room, there used to be a banner before we put the TVs up so that we could have screens in here. There was a banner here that said King of Kings and a banner there that said Lord of Lords. That's normal. We see that kind of thing. I grew up in a church. We had banners.
People carried them in. But it wasn't like King of Kings, Lord of Lords, powerful exorcist. Like that isn't... I mean, if we had come in here and seen King of Kings, exorcist, we'd have been like, well, all right then. We have some questions. Because in the U.S., in the Western world, we are taught.
It is ingrained in us that everything has a scientific, testable, physical explanation. That is what you were taught. Scientific, testable, physical explanation. Everything. Anything beyond that, well, now we're getting a little kooky. And we're okay because we have a little bit of a Christian background in history in the U.S. with, okay, okay, you can believe in a God that's up above everything, that created everything.
You can even believe that Jesus came. But we're okay with those because they have physical, scientific explanation. Like, God created the whole world. Okay, now we can test this. We can see it. We can touch it.
Jesus came. We could see. We could touch Him. Okay, we're a little bit okay with that. But when it gets into the invisible, spiritual, things are going on that affect the physical realm, but that we can't see or test, we suddenly have some problems.
So I think today's text is going to be a lot of fun for us today. We actually get to look at Jesus in this role as an exorcist, and we get to see how His culture, the Pharisees specifically, respond to Him. And we're actually going to get to look at a few passages that are fairly difficult, and we're going to get to do them all together, and hopefully in context will help us understand them moving forward. So let's pray, and let's start studying the text together. God, we ask for Your Spirit to be active and at work in the Christians in this room this morning, that You would enliven in us, that You would illuminate Your Word, that we would understand it, that You would help us to see our sin and our need for repentance.
And we pray that You would be active and at work on the hearts of those who do not believe this morning, that they might see Your beauty and Your glory, and they might run to You away from their sin and into a beautiful forgiveness. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Romans, not Romans, good gosh, Matthew, chapter 12, verse 22. We saw last week that the interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees, the intensity is ramping up, and we saw last week that they have now just decided we have to destroy Him. Not we just don't like Him, not He's causing some problems, not we're not quite sure where His theology is.
They've settled on, okay, it's time to take this guy down. And so we'll see, as He continues to interact with them, that the intensity level has increased. Verse 22. Then a demon-oppressed man, who was blind and mute, was brought to Him, and He healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. Alright, so if we're not careful, we will do a lot of things approaching this text as Americans that will make us misunderstand this text greatly. We will approach it and say, okay, this is, we'll go, yeah, okay, he wasn't really demon-oppressed, that's just how they understood it.
That, you know, back then, they didn't have doctors and science, so everything was a demon. And we'll just put that lens over it and be incredibly wrong. Because they understood that there were spiritual powers and demonic activity, they also understood there were physical ailments. And even as we read the Gospel of Matthew, we'll see that there are times where Jesus heals somebody and it's just a physical issue. And there are other times where He heals somebody and it is a demonic issue. demonic issue. They did not understand the world to only be spiritual.
They understood there were physical aspects. Also, we would be taking this text very incorrectly because it says He was demon-oppressed. And we would somehow have elevated ourselves above the text and now we get to decide what it really means rather than placing the text above us and understanding the Bible to be true. So it says He's demon-oppressed. Now sometimes we'll use the word demon-possessed and even our text will translate it that sometimes.
He's possessed. But whenever we think of possessed we have in mind what we've seen in Hollywood which is this person is now just a puppet for all of this stuff. But it's a Greek word that just means demonized. This person was demonized or with a demon. And so we can translate it a few different ways to try to get the point across in English but I think demon-oppressed is one of the best ways to translate it. Meaning there was some demonic activity that was oppressing this man.
And it was oppressing him not that it just made him crazy or not that it made him mean or he foamed at the mouth or he started speaking Latin which is apparently what they do if you watch movies. He was blind and mute. He had physical ailments caused by demonic activity. that makes us more uncomfortable. Okay, so he's got physical ailments that are caused by demonic activity and also we would want this person to be if you're willing to say okay, okay, okay. I get that there's a God I get that there's a spiritual realm I believe that. I believe that angels that's usually people's first step I believe in angels like I'm okay with there are good spiritual beings and a lot of people go and I'm going to stop there.
Someone can show up and be an angel and do something wonderful. That's fine. It's like okay there are also evil spiritual beings who show up and do the opposite of wonderful things. But then we want to say okay, but they only mess with big stuff. They're only trying to mess with politics. And many of you go and I think I know which party they're messing with the most.
There's one party who's immune and this other one but maybe they mess with politics maybe they mess with powers we're really okay with it they mess with other countries they don't mess with America because they're afraid of freedom and AR-15s. We have some silly thought processes that you didn't realize you had but we have we have this it can happen elsewhere it can happen on this big level but it wouldn't mess with me it wouldn't be minute things but let me tell you this guy is very unimportant. At this point he's blind and mute he's been relegated to the fringes of society. We would want to think he'd have to be in power he'd have to be no.
So Jesus interacting with this man I love this I love how direct Matthew is because in our mind this would be so aggressive and epic and like a showdown. Then a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him and he healed him so that he spoke and saw. Jesus has absolute authority. It's not like Jesus had to square up and he didn't have to stretch beforehand. His absolute authority he's healed. Not a big impressive amazing thing.
And mute was brought to him and he healed him so that he spoke and saw. Jesus has absolute authority. It's not like Jesus had to square up and he didn't have to stretch beforehand. His absolute authority he's healed. Not a big impressive amazing thing. It's beautiful what Jesus does it's glorious what Jesus does but it's highlighting his power
And how simple it seems for him. It says all the people were amazed I had to clarify I said it's not amazing it was amazing my bad guys but it wasn't something that was difficult for Jesus. All the people were amazed and said can this be the son of David meaning is this the Messiah can this be and the answer is yes it can be it is it is the Messiah
You are right they've guessed correctly they see his power and they go okay and you see what's happened is Jesus is displaying himself in such a powerful way that we now only have a few options if somebody comes in who's blind and mute and Jesus just heals them and it was obvious demon oppression you now have only a few options is he the Messiah
Is a good one he has to be greatly powerful and good but you see the Pharisees are about to come in and they're going to give another option which is he is greatly powerful but he's evil that's the other option they're going to say we got two options now we've seen what he's done we've got two options either he's really powerful and really good or he's really powerful
And really evil so they say is this the son of David now I want to before we move into what the Pharisees have said I want to highlight a few things for us that I think are helpful for us that we need to know I don't know this is the point of the passage but I think we need to grow in our theology here and so I want to help us a little bit demons are real they're not omnipresent
Satan's not omnipresent meaning he can't be everywhere at once he's not all powerful he's a created being he is seen as the figurehead the leader of chief over demonic forces so there are times where the Bible will just refer to as Satan and they just mean his work his legion his team he does actively affect humans and the goal is to steal kill kill
I can't say those back to back I'm sorry I'm southern steal kill and destroy that's what he does he's a liar he harms and he actively works to harm and if you are a believer primary goal with you would be to make you ineffective or to rob you of all the things that are given to you in Christ
Joy hope freedom delight love church family would want to rob you of that would want to lie to you and if you're not a believer would want to keep you from all of those as well and ultimately keep you from salvation and lead you into death he tempts he's called a tempter
He also is an accuser so he tempts us do this this will be great this will be wonderful and then he accuses you're terrible if you did that you obviously can't be a believer he does both and he is active but I want you to see a few things I think one of the things he does I think specifically as we look at this passage he does do cause physical harm and so I'm not trying to just
Spiritualize this but I also want you to see I think he does some of this same stuff where he wants us to be blind and mute the enemy wants you to be blind to his activity wants you to not think of Jesus as an exorcist which is actually very beautiful and freeing and hope filled wants you to be blind to the enemy's activity and wants you to if you notice it
Keep your mouth shut so maybe you're having aggressive nightmares maybe you have obsessive thoughts maybe you have you feel at times just absolutely crushingly overwhelmed and under attack and if for a moment you think maybe this is demonic one of the things the enemy does is he says shh you better not say anything they'll think
You're crazy they won't welcome you anymore you don't want to be that person so one of the things we do as a church family is we have a thing we call freedom in Christ which is just a practical prayer process to try to help people who are dealing with oppression from a real enemy find freedom in a real
King and so if you are dealing with something that you would think is oppressive we'd love to get with you and pray that's it we pray and we pray the way Jesus taught us in the model prayer he says pray forgive me my sins as we forgive those who sin against us so notice your
Own sin lead us not to temptation so notice how the world tempts you and delivers from the evil one notice that their enemy is real and most of us only pray a few of those things some of you notice your sin so well and the enemy co-ops that he's just like yes you are the worst
And you're like yes I am the worst you better repent I better repent but he doesn't actually want you to repent he wants you to feel guilty he wants you to feel condemnation he wants you to get the first part which is that you are a wicked sinner and he's right but that's
Only half truth you get freedom in Christ there are other people who notice the world but you don't notice your own sin it's just these friends I got they're all sinners I'm great they're the worst and I'm really just trying to help them out
By doing terrible things with them like you notice temptation you don't notice your own sin and there are some people who only notice the enemy most of us I would argue don't notice him at all but there are some people who only notice the enemy everything's
The devil he got the devil's at work and that he's the reason I got a flat tire it's like okay could also be the construction that's happening down from your house was it a nail was there a nail in your tire because it
Might just be the nail but a lot of us don't even have that as a framework in our mind that we might ought to ask we might ought to pray for deliverance from a great king who dispatches his enemy so I want us to understand that and I want if you have some of that going on
I want for you to get help even though the enemy will tell you not to and I will tell you that we have done this quite often in our church family and it ought not be normal but it is common for people in our church family to have something where the enemy is at work we pray through it and they find some freedom and we want that for all of us because we get freedom in Christ
And he is good and he is powerful so if that is you we would love to talk we would love to pray with you if you have more questions on this we would love to tell you more about it but we have to keep moving so Jesus is the king so the bible mentions demonic forces often but it always keeps the focus firmly squarely on Christ because he is
Authoritative so the people saw him heal and then they say could this be the Messiah verse 24 but when the pharisees heard it these are the religious leaders of the time they said it is only by Beelzebul the prince of demons that this man casts out demons Beelzebul means it is a little phrase they use it means master
Of the house and it was their colloquial term for Satan it is a little bit like in Harry Potter where they won't say Voldemort's name they called him the dark Lord or whatever it is like that and for those of you who haven't seen Harry Potter it is fine just go with it it is Beelzebul and it means master of the house oh I said seen I know
Their books don't talk to me about that later just they were books and movies it is fine anyway Beelzebul master of the house so they are saying they are saying is he is this the one is this the one who is promised look at this authority look at this power and the
Pharisees religious leaders of the day see the crowds start moving in this direction to follow Jesus to worship Jesus to hold him up as the king of everything as the messiah and they say no no no no no no no no no no
It is not that he has great power because he is good he has great power because he is extremely evil evil the reason he can authoritatively because they can't deny the fact that he just authoritatively healed somebody they can't
Deny the fact that he just dispatched the enemy at a word we don't even know if it was at a word he might it doesn't say but he just dispatched the enemy with ease they said no no no it is not
That he is good he is evil so extremely evil and I would tell you those are really your options today you can see Jesus in what he does and you can hold him up as king and as gloriously powerful
You can submit to him or you can reject him as evil you can say he is leading everybody astray he is the reason that everything is wrong with our world if we could just get rid of religion
It is hard to have Jesus come to us the way he does and try to hold him in the middle and say well he is a nice guy he doesn't really leave us that option verse 25 knowing their
Thoughts he said to them every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and no city or house divided against itself will stand and if satan
Cast out satan he is divided against himself how then will his kingdom stand so he knows their reasoning he knows the point they're trying
To make and knowing their thoughts it means he just know what they said or just what they're thinking but he sees the core
Of the issue he sees their hearts it's on display before him now I can't read thoughts but I've had moments where with my
Four year old son I felt clairvoyant I could see right through him I have a four year old he's about to be five
I have a five year old and two year old and there are times where they're playing and all of a sudden my two
Year old is crying aggressively for a while it was only because my four year old had done something but my two year old has learned
Cry the older bigger people will show up and you might get what you want so now since they're both sinners I have to
Go in and figure things out so I walk in and I'll say to Archer the one who can talk I'll say why is
He crying 50% of the time he says oh he fell and smacked his head on that or I had this toy but he
Wanted it but I was playing with it first that's 50% of the time the other half of the time I walk in I
Say why is he crying and he goes well and I have my answer I don't know the technique that he used to inflict
Harm on his brother but we've already jumped to it and he will he's he's going to tell me the truth y'all he's not
At the stage where he's lying to me a bunch but he's really he starts he'll start like three minutes ago well okay so
We were in this room he's giving himself a lot of leeway and I'll go what did you do to hurt him and he looks
At me like oh no he's cut through my stuff and that's what Jesus is doing here Jesus just jumps right to it cuts
Right through it and for adults that's probably pretty startling and so we've got these options either Jesus is powerfully good extremely good gloriously
Good or he is extremely evil because someone who's neutral doesn't just get to tell the enemy what to do now I don't want to
Give away the ending I'm but I'm gonna I lean that he's really good you guys and that's what Jesus is going to argue as
Well so he says every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste no city or house divided against itself will stand and if Satan
Casts out Satan he is divided against himself how then will his kingdom stand so his first argument is basically what y'all said doesn't
Make any sense your argument is silly that's his first argument Satan is fighting himself smart good good plan that's what he says that
Doesn't make any sense so that's his first argument is pretty simple if Satan were attacking himself he wouldn't be able to stand there's
No kingdom that divides against itself that will stand why would he do that then his second argument verse 27 if I cast out
Demons by Beelzebul by whom do your sons that means your followers cast them out therefore they will be your Judges so the Pharisees
Also had a practice of helping people find freedom through the power of God this was a practice Jesus hadn't come yet God was still
Working through the Jewish people so there was a practice for Pharisees to help people find freedom against demonic oppression so Jesus is just
Saying some of y'all do this is your argument with them that it's because they're the most evil among you we have the regular
Pharisees and the ones that help people find freedom are the evil Pharisees is that your argument is that how they do it is
That how I'm supposed to understand how y'all thought this worked the whole time he says they'll be your Judges like that that's not
What you would say about them so why would you say that about me 28 but if it is by the spirit of God
That I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come upon you so he's saying if what you've said doesn't make any
Sense let me tell you the other option I'm walking in the spirit of God and the power and the authority of God and
The kingdom of God is here and where the kingdom spreads his authority spreads and freedom spreads that's your other option or how can
Someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house
So he says if it doesn't make any sense for Satan to be attacking himself you now have to understand that I'm walking in
The power of the spirit and this is by the spirit of God and the kingdom I'm already binding him I'm way more powerful
Than he is you can't break into some strong man's house and just be walking out with his goods if he's just hanging out
There first thing you gotta do knock him out bind him up then you can plunder his house so Jesus is saying I'm plundering
The enemy the things that he claimed the people that he claimed I'm bringing freedom and I'm doing it because I have power and
I've already tied him up I love the books the chronicles of Narnia in the first one the line the witch and the wardrobe there's an
Evil witch who's made this whole area of Narnia winter forever she rides around in a sleigh she thinks she's great there's a part where Aslan who's
Modeled after Christ begins to show up and so she's riding and all of a sudden the snow starts melting and flowers start blooming and her sleigh
Gets stuck it's one of my favorite parts in the books and they keep talking about Aslan's on the move that's what Jesus is saying the
Kingdom is here I'm on the move and where I move freedom comes spring is blooming and the enemy power is broken and it's
Because I'm more powerful than he is whoever this is verse 30 whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather
With me scatters he's saying I split the world in half those who are with me and those who aren't there aren't any other
Options I'm either incredibly good or you're going to have to just join the other team and be against me that's what he's saying
That if y'all are warring against me then he says therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people blasphemy is
A direct sin against God now all sin is against God but blasphemy is words hurled at God is a defiant spirit toward God
That's how they understood it Jesus is actually going to be crucified they accuse him of blasphemy because he says he's the son of
Man high and lifted up you're going to see me coming in the clouds of heaven he goes back to this ancient of days
Picture from Daniel says that's me high priest rips his robes and says y'all heard it what other testimony we need blasphemy and so
Jesus is bringing this picture and he says every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people but the blasphemy against the spirit will not
Be forgiven and whoever speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven but whoever speaks against the holy spirit will not be
Forgiven either in this age or the age to come so he's saying there's no forgiveness that you'll find in this life and there's
No forgiveness that you'll find in the eternity to come there is no forgiveness for blasphemy against the spirit John Piper who's a pastor
In Minnesota I think somewhere where it's cold up there to the left a little bit he said that when God says forever he means forever and that
If what he's saying here is that if all the mountains of the earth were slowly disintegrating one millimeter every thousand years there would be
No forgiveness for this sin when the earth was as smooth as a billiard ball faithful finans what jeez This means forever. This is a weighty statement. And I think we ought to figure out what is blasphemy of the Spirit? What is He talking about? And maybe if you've grown up in the church, you've heard some teaching on this.
You've heard this referred to. Maybe some of you in this room have wondered, have I done this? You've had some fear over what is blasphemy of the Spirit. I know our church family, some of you, this is the first time you've ever heard it. It's still worth, let's figure it out. So as I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word, so this is words spoken against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Before we define this, I want to answer a few things that it's not. It is not the concept of grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit. So this is something that's mentioned later in the Bible, don't grieve the Holy Spirit or quenching the Spirit, which is this idea that the Holy Spirit leads you to do something and you do not do it.
There was a time where He told you to go speak to somebody, where He told you to call something out, where He told you to repent, where He told you to... And you didn't do it. You fought against Him. And the Bible tells us not to do that because we ought to follow the leadership of the Spirit, but that is not what this passage has in mind. It's not what it's talking about. Secondly, and as I was studying this, I learned, this has been taught that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is if someone commits suicide. I don't know how common that is. I had heard before that people thought that suicide was unforgivable. I don't know how many people had tied it to this, but I want to say a few things. For those whose lives have been touched by suicide, it is tragic and horrible, and I'm sorry. But the Bible, not here or elsewhere, says that suicide is unforgivable.
It is a sin. It is something that we ought not to do. But it is a sin that receives forgiveness and grace in Christ. There are some things that people want to nuance and talk out that if someone was a believer, they would have a hard time doing that. And if you want to have a philosophical debate about it at some point or discussion, we can. But I want you to know the Bible does not teach that. And it definitely does not teach it here. The context would not make any sense for this to suddenly be referring to suicide. But if you have questions about that or concerns about that, we'd love to talk with you. And if suicide is something that you are considering, do not do that. Come talk to us. Thirdly, it is not simply being opposed to Christ prior to being a believer. It doesn't mean that you said really mean things about him or that you actively tried to stop the church or attacked the church.
If that were the case, Paul, who wrote Romans, which I wanted us to read earlier, randomly, would not have gotten to be an apostle. He persecuted the church. He hated the church. He thought he was doing what was right. He killed Christians. And he was redeemed, gloriously redeemed. It can't be that if you are a believer, someone who already knows Jesus, and then there's a time where you deny him or you pretend like you don't know him or you run from him. Because if that were the case, Peter would not get to be an apostle and a leader in the church. But that's exactly what he did. He knew Christ. He was the leader among the twelve
And he denied Christ and then repented and received forgiveness. So it can't be simply that. And so looking at the context and trying to understand what's going on here, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a settled position. Heart position. Because he knows their thoughts and he's about to address this more clearly that he can see to their hearts. But it's a settled heart position that the Holy Spirit of God is evil. So they're looking in this situation and they're seeing the works of Christ and they're seeing the works of the Spirit and they're saying this is Satan's work. And we don't know at this point if the Pharisees have actually committed
Blasphemy against the Spirit. We know he's warning them. And they've been saying he's Beelzebul for some time and he's addressing this and saying let me tell you something. There is forgiveness but not if we keep heading down this road. We don't know yet if they've fully done it but he is saying there will be no forgiveness not in this age or the age to come for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit for a settled position that God is evil that his work is evil for seeing what he's doing and calling it Satanic. So let's see. He keeps going. Verse 33.
Either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit. That's how you know. He just says it's so simple. You know a tree's good if its fruit's good. His point is y'all are saying I'm doing good things but I'm evil. I just did wonderful fruit. I just brought forth someone into freedom and then you said see that beautiful fruit? Evil tree. It doesn't make any sense. The fruit will be good and the tree's good
Or the fruit will be bad and the tree's bad. He keeps going. You brood of vipers. I also think in that past phrase he's calling them into a little bit of repentance. He's calling them to be good trees as he points out their brokenness and this thinking here. He says but you brood of vipers children of snakes. I know there's some cultural difference between us and them but this is received about the same way it would be received if you said it to someone.
Not nice. I think he's telling the truth. He's Jesus. He's calling it as it is but he's not a kind thing to say is he? How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil and I tell you on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified
And by your words you will be condemned. I think that the concept of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit gets pulled out of context until people don't use the context to try to understand it and I think that phrase gets pulled out of context. I tell you on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. How many people just thought of middle school and got cold chills? Understanding that this means if I just oh my goodness I'm going to stand before him
In everything I've ever said. I was with my dad we were at my grandparents' house when they used to live in West Virginia and they had a house at the top of a hill and they had a paved driveway that was a very steep slope and it was very icy quite often because we would go visit him at Christmas we were unloading the vehicle this was a difficult process to unload the vehicle and get the bags up the hill and you wanted to be there early so that you could be one of the top cars because of big families so sometimes you were at the very bottom. We were there
We were unloading the vehicle my dad's feet shoot out from under him he lands on his back pow and just splayed out and slides down the hill. For his sons who watched it was great for him he didn't seem to enjoy it that much but he got up he's like oh he said that for a second and then he went I didn't cuss he's so proud of himself and you guys he did it that's all he had to do he passed the test
He didn't say a careless word he's fine in the day of judgment that's not how that works that's not what this passage is saying it does not mean have you said something bad or have you said something ill-timed or has something slipped out or have you had a season where it's not what it's saying what he's saying is you are confessing what you believe your mouth is telling on your heart and your mouth will stand in judgment against you he knows their thoughts he sees to their heart
And he says what's coming out of you is because your heart is evil and so some of us say I'm a good person and we're lying to ourselves I'm a believer but we're lying to ourselves your mouth is telling on your heart all the time when you get the chance to build somebody up when you get the chance to tear somebody down which do you take when you're rehearsing things to yourself about who God is and who other people are and what this city's like are you confessing are your words
Telling you and the world and God in judgment that you believe and that your confession is that Christ is good and that he redeems sinners are you confessing the truth because it's just pouring out of what's going on in your heart so you've got to realize the heart is the core it's not your words that are accomplishing this your words are putting it on display and he's saying the reason why you are settled in this the reason why this is pouring out of you is because your heart is evil
That's why you're making this argument that's why you're bent this direction that's what the Pharisees are doing they've already settled in their hearts their approach to Jesus so it doesn't matter what he does they're going to find a way to fight against it I remember when I first got married and I was I talked with Anna's brother and asked him to read the Bible with me he's not a believer but he was willing to read it he was interested
He was reading it with me we were reading through the Gospel of John and he said to me at one point he goes I don't understand the Pharisees at all because they keep seeing Jesus do amazing things and instead of acknowledging that was amazing they just further decide we've got to kill him like specifically it came out in John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and they're like oh now we have to kill Lazarus too
We better kill Jesus first or he'll undo it again and he was like what is going on here but the thing is they had already settled in their heart their position towards him and so they were going to fight against it the whole time this is the way I feel when I've ever seen that program Ancient Aliens on the History Channel which I love that that's on the History Channel because what on earth is the History Channel doing all they do they have it settled in their mind God doesn't exist
Supernatural doesn't exist and so they go around the world and they find pictures and stories and they'll read passages of the Bible and they'll go now this person who is supposedly a prophet of God met with God on the mountain this Moses but what if it wasn't God what if it was and it's always a big reveal aliens that's their that's their whole position they're willing to make that big jump to aliens
Aliens started human life aliens did this they're willing to make that jump and I'm always like what if it's what the guy who saw it said it was what if we took the eyewitness account instead of what you've made up but they have a settled position and then they're working from that spot the Pharisees have that their heart is settled and they're working from that position not all the Pharisees thankfully some repent
But in general that's what they're doing the ones he's interacting with are doing that and he's saying your words are pouring out there's no way for you to speak good things there's no way for you to see this well because you are evil so blasphemy against the spirit is the settled position that Christ that the spirit the work of God is evil that it's harmful and Jesus says that will not be forgiven now I want to I want us to not miss some things
First I want us to see the distinct and precious position of the work of the spirit Jesus even says blasphemy against the son of man will be forgiven so this position that he's fulfilling at this time he says that will be forgiven but blasphemy against the spirit won't to see the work of God and to fight against it and to think he's evil won't be forgiven I want you to see the preciousness of the spirit and the beauty of the work of the spirit
I want us to cherish that I want us to learn that if you are willing to repent desiring to repent if you have stuff where you feel like maybe I fought against the spirit repent if he's calling you to repent repent if your desire is for him if your heart is for him don't think maybe I've already committed this you have to repent but I also want us to be careful how we speak
Of the spirit's work because we can easily drift into tribalism and when we see other movements and other things going on in the Christian world we can be quick to judge rather than slow to discern and walk in the spirit as we give judgment I'm not saying accept everything the bible doesn't say that it says test the spirits but have the holy spirit lead that process
And don't just think because that's the first I've heard of it it must be evil be slow in that process secondly be guarded in the way you speak the holy spirit is precious let's not make jokes I don't know if y'all know this I love making jokes I also like jokes that are just on the
Hair of this was not the best time for this joke just on the hair I've never been beyond that just right there the holy spirit is precious Christ is precious let's be careful in thinking oh okay well he's there's grace there's freedom we can talk about him how we want
No he's he's glorious and to be upheld so I'm a fan of jokes but not about the Lord the only one I've ever heard about Jesus that I think is repeatable and I think it's kind of funny my dad
Told me he said at the last supper you know what Jesus said to his disciples y'all eat on this side of the table if you want to be in the picture that's the only one I'll tell because I think we're making fun
Of Leonardo da Vinci not Jesus so be careful the holy spirit is precious his work is beautiful be slow to discern slow to speak lastly don't miss this because I think we read this and we think oh my goodness there's an
Unforgivable sin and we don't see what Jesus just said look at this verse 31 therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven he says
But and he clarifies about this position against the Holy Spirit but don't miss that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven do you see how beautiful that is that's what Jesus has come to accomplish at the cost of his own life to spill
His own blood so that we might have redemption and he gets great glory as he forgives wicked wicked sinners your theft your lies your adultery your hatred your racism your pedophilia the times you've shaken your fist at God you've raged against Christ
Will be forgiven in the atoning blood of our glorious Savior do not miss that do not feel judgment from this passage and only see that see the judgment and find forgiveness run to the one who forgives
Sin and welcomes sinners the Bible is covered in this whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the
Wrath of God remains on him so there is a wrath that remains but there's forgiveness in the son John 3 36 John 5 24
Truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment
But has passed from death to life that we can go to Christ and be forgiven and he forgives all sins one of my favorite
Movies is oh brother where art thou it came out in the year 2000 it's like 20 years ago I talk about it like
It came out two years ago but there's these guys who escape from jail they're running through the woods and they see people getting
Baptized and one of them Delmer runs down to get baptized he goes out he talks to the pastor he comes back he goes
To his friends and he says come on in boys the water's fine and he splashes and they said what are you doing he
Says I've just been saved and forgiven all my sins have been forgiven even that piggly wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo one of
The other guys goes you said you were innocent of those charges and he goes well I lied and that's forgiven too and that's
Us in Christ that's forgiven too what is it that haunts you what is it that you feel like clings to you run to
Christ that's forgiven too in this age and the age to come all sin all blasphemy come on in the water's fine there's freedom
And redemption in Christ that his blood would be shed for sinners wicked evil despicable sinners the thing that makes shame creep up your
Neck the thing that you don't want to tell anybody he forgives he redeems and he receives much glory from it what is your confession
It says if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved the Philippian jailer comes to
Paul and he says how can we be saved Paul says believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household he doesn't say
I need to ask a question about blasphemy first he says no believe you'll find forgiveness you'll find salvation trust so for those of you who have
Placed your faith in Jesus I want you to feel the freedom and the forgiveness in Christ this morning that every sin and every
Blasphemy is forgiven and for those of you who have not placed your faith in Christ I want you to do so I want you to come to come to come to Jesus
That he is evil and that he is at work for bad but see him in his glory and see him in his goodness
And see him in his power and place your faith in him let's pray God we pray that you would work today we pray that you would help us to
See our sin so that we might run to the Savior I pray that you would help us to feel the forgiveness that is in your name the hope that is in Christ and
Christ alone I pray that for those who have been oppressed by the enemy lied to tricked accused tempted I pray that they would find freedom in your name that they would seek you who set
Captives free who have bound the strong man who have conquered the enemy who have brought him to open shame and have triumphed over him and who have nailed our sin to the cross may we find hope and freedom
And joy and delight in Christ this morning amen amen
And I think we ought to figure out what is blasphemy of the Spirit? What is He talking about? And maybe if you've grown up in the church, you've heard some teaching on this. You've heard this referred to. Maybe some of you in this room have wondered, have I done this? You've had some fear over what is blasphemy of the Spirit.
I know our church family, some of you, this is the first time you've ever heard it. It's still worth, let's figure it out. So as I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word, so this is words spoken against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Before we define this, I want to answer a few things that it's not. It is not the concept of grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit.
So this is something that's mentioned later in the Bible, don't grieve the Holy Spirit or quenching the Spirit, which is this idea that the Holy Spirit leads you to do something and you do not do it. There was a time where He told you to go speak to somebody, where He told you to call something out, where He told you to repent, where He told you to... And you didn't do it. You fought against Him. And the Bible tells us not to do that because we ought to follow the leadership of the Spirit, but that is not what this passage has in mind. It's not what it's talking about.
Secondly, and as I was studying this, I learned, this has been taught that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is if someone commits suicide. I don't know how common that is. I had heard before that people thought that suicide was unforgivable. I don't know how many people had tied it to this, but I want to say a few things. For those whose lives have been touched by suicide, it is tragic and horrible, and I'm sorry. But the Bible, not here or elsewhere, says that suicide is unforgivable.
It is a sin. It is something that we ought not to do. But it is a sin that receives forgiveness and grace in Christ. There are some things that people want to nuance and talk out that if someone was a believer, they would have a hard time doing that. And if you want to have a philosophical debate about it at some point or discussion, we can. But I want you to know the Bible does not teach that.
And it definitely does not teach it here. The context would not make any sense for this to suddenly be referring to suicide. But if you have questions about that or concerns about that, we'd love to talk with you. And if suicide is something that you are considering, do not do that. Come talk to us. Thirdly, it is not simply being opposed to Christ prior to being a believer.
It doesn't mean that you said really mean things about him or that you actively tried to stop the church or attacked the church. If that were the case, Paul, who wrote Romans, which I wanted us to read earlier, randomly, would not have gotten to be an apostle. He persecuted the church. He hated the church. He thought he was doing what was right. He killed Christians.
And he was redeemed, gloriously redeemed. It can't be that if you are a believer, someone who already knows Jesus, and then there's a time where you deny him or you pretend like you don't know him or you run from him. Because if that were the case, Peter would not get to be an apostle and a leader in the church. But that's exactly what he did. He knew Christ. He was the leader among the twelve and he denied Christ and then repented and received forgiveness.
So it can't be simply that. And so looking at the context and trying to understand what's going on here, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a settled position. Heart position. Because he knows their thoughts and he's about to address this more clearly that he can see to their hearts. But it's a settled heart position that the Holy Spirit of God is evil.
So they're looking in this situation and they're seeing the works of Christ and they're seeing the works of the Spirit and they're saying this is Satan's work. And we don't know at this point if the Pharisees have actually committed blasphemy against the Spirit. We know he's warning them. And they've been saying he's Beelzebul for some time and he's addressing this and saying let me tell you something. There is forgiveness but not if we keep heading down this road. We don't know yet if they've fully done it but he is saying there will be no forgiveness not in this age or the age to come for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit for a settled position that God is evil that his work is evil for seeing what he's doing and calling it Satanic.
So let's see. He keeps going. Verse 33. Either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit. That's how you know. He just says it's so simple.
You know a tree's good if its fruit's good. His point is y'all are saying I'm doing good things but I'm evil. I just did wonderful fruit. I just brought forth someone into freedom and then you said see that beautiful fruit? Evil tree. It doesn't make any sense.
The fruit will be good and the tree's good or the fruit will be bad and the tree's bad. He keeps going. You brood of vipers. I also think in that past phrase he's calling them into a little bit of repentance. He's calling them to be good trees as he points out their brokenness and this thinking here. He says but you brood of vipers children of snakes.
I know there's some cultural difference between us and them but this is received about the same way it would be received if you said it to someone. Not nice. I think he's telling the truth. He's Jesus. He's calling it as it is but he's not a kind thing to say is he? How can you speak good when you are evil?
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil and I tell you on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. I think that the concept of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit gets pulled out of context until people don't use the context to try to understand it and I think that phrase gets pulled out of context. I tell you on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak.
How many people just thought of middle school and got cold chills? Understanding that this means if I just oh my goodness I'm going to stand before him in everything I've ever said. I was with my dad we were at my grandparents' house when they used to live in West Virginia and they had a house at the top of a hill and they had a paved driveway that was a very steep slope and it was very icy quite often because we would go visit him at Christmas we were unloading the vehicle this was a difficult process to unload the vehicle and get the bags up the hill and you wanted to be there early so that you could be one of the top cars because of big families so sometimes you were at the very bottom. We were there we were unloading the vehicle my dad's feet shoot out from under him he lands on his back pow and just splayed out and slides down the hill.
We were unloading the vehicle my dad's feet shoot out from under him he lands on his back pow and just splayed out and slides down the hill. For his sons who watched it was great for him he didn't seem to enjoy it that much but he got up he's like oh he said that for a second and then he went I didn't cuss he's so proud of himself and you guys he did it that's all he had to do he passed the test
He didn't say a careless word he's fine in the day of judgment that's not how that works that's not what this passage is saying it does not mean have you said something bad or have you said something ill-timed or has something slipped out or have you had a season where it's not what it's saying what he's saying is you are confessing what you believe your mouth is telling on your heart and your mouth will stand in judgment against you he knows their thoughts he sees to their heart
And he says what's coming out of you is because your heart is evil and so some of us say I'm a good person and we're lying to ourselves I'm a believer but we're lying to ourselves your mouth is telling on your heart all the time when you get the chance to build somebody up when you get the chance to tear somebody down which do you take when you're rehearsing things to yourself about who God is and who other people are and what this city's like are you confessing are your words
Telling you and the world and God in judgment that you believe and that your confession is that Christ is good and that he redeems sinners are you confessing the truth because it's just pouring out of what's going on in your heart so you've got to realize the heart is the core it's not your words that are accomplishing this your words are putting it on display and he's saying the reason why you are settled in this the reason why this is pouring out of you is because your heart is evil
That's why you're making this argument that's why you're bent this direction that's what the Pharisees are doing they've already settled in their hearts their approach to Jesus so it doesn't matter what he does they're going to find a way to fight against it I remember when I first got married and I was I talked with Anna's brother and asked him to read the Bible with me he's not a believer but he was willing to read it he was interested
He was reading it with me we were reading through the Gospel of John and he said to me at one point he goes I don't understand the Pharisees at all because they keep seeing Jesus do amazing things and instead of acknowledging that was amazing they just further decide we've got to kill him like specifically it came out in John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and they're like oh now we have to kill Lazarus too
We better kill Jesus first or he'll undo it again and he was like what is going on here but the thing is they had already settled in their heart their position towards him and so they were going to fight against it the whole time this is the way I feel when I've ever seen that program Ancient Aliens on the History Channel which I love that that's on the History Channel because what on earth is the History Channel doing all they do they have it settled in their mind God doesn't exist
Supernatural doesn't exist and so they go around the world and they find pictures and stories and they'll read passages of the Bible and they'll go now this person who is supposedly a prophet of God met with God on the mountain this Moses but what if it wasn't God what if it was and it's always a big reveal aliens that's their that's their whole position they're willing to make that big jump to aliens
Aliens started human life aliens did this they're willing to make that jump and I'm always like what if it's what the guy who saw it said it was what if we took the eyewitness account instead of what you've made up but they have a settled position and then they're working from that spot the Pharisees have that their heart is settled and they're working from that position not all the Pharisees thankfully some repent
But in general that's what they're doing the ones he's interacting with are doing that and he's saying your words are pouring out there's no way for you to speak good things there's no way for you to see this well because you are evil so blasphemy against the spirit is the settled position that Christ that the spirit the work of God is evil that it's harmful and Jesus says that will not be forgiven now I want to I want us to not miss some things
First I want us to see the distinct and precious position of the work of the spirit Jesus even says blasphemy against the son of man will be forgiven so this position that he's fulfilling at this time he says that will be forgiven but blasphemy against the spirit won't to see the work of God and to fight against it and to think he's evil won't be forgiven I want you to see the preciousness of the spirit and the beauty of the work of the spirit
I want us to cherish that I want us to learn that if you are willing to repent desiring to repent if you have stuff where you feel like maybe I fought against the spirit repent if he's calling you to repent repent if your desire is for him if your heart is for him don't think maybe I've already committed this you have to repent but I also want us to be careful how we speak
Of the spirit's work because we can easily drift into tribalism and when we see other movements and other things going on in the Christian world we can be quick to judge rather than slow to discern and walk in the spirit as we give judgment I'm not saying accept everything the bible doesn't say that it says test the spirits but have the holy spirit lead that process
And don't just think because that's the first I've heard of it it must be evil be slow in that process secondly be guarded in the way you speak the holy spirit is precious let's not make jokes I don't know if y'all know this I love making jokes I also like jokes that are just on the
Hair of this was not the best time for this joke just on the hair I've never been beyond that just right there the holy spirit is precious Christ is precious let's be careful in thinking oh okay well he's there's grace there's freedom we can talk about him how we want
No he's he's glorious and to be upheld so I'm a fan of jokes but not about the Lord the only one I've ever heard about Jesus that I think is repeatable and I think it's kind of funny my dad
Told me he said at the last supper you know what Jesus said to his disciples y'all eat on this side of the table if you want to be in the picture that's the only one I'll tell because I think we're making fun
Of Leonardo da Vinci not Jesus so be careful the holy spirit is precious his work is beautiful be slow to discern slow to speak lastly don't miss this because I think we read this and we think oh my goodness there's an
Unforgivable sin and we don't see what Jesus just said look at this verse 31 therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven he says
But and he clarifies about this position against the Holy Spirit but don't miss that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven do you see how beautiful that is that's what Jesus has come to accomplish at the cost of his own life to spill
His own blood so that we might have redemption and he gets great glory as he forgives wicked wicked sinners your theft your lies your adultery your hatred your racism your pedophilia the times you've shaken your fist at God you've raged against Christ
Will be forgiven in the atoning blood of our glorious Savior do not miss that do not feel judgment from this passage and only see that see the judgment and find forgiveness run to the one who forgives
Sin and welcomes sinners the Bible is covered in this whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the
Wrath of God remains on him so there is a wrath that remains but there's forgiveness in the son John 3 36 John 5 24
Truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment
But has passed from death to life that we can go to Christ and be forgiven and he forgives all sins one of my favorite
Movies is oh brother where art thou it came out in the year 2000 it's like 20 years ago I talk about it like
It came out two years ago but there's these guys who escape from jail they're running through the woods and they see people getting
Baptized and one of them Delmer runs down to get baptized he goes out he talks to the pastor he comes back he goes
To his friends and he says come on in boys the water's fine and he splashes and they said what are you doing he
Says I've just been saved and forgiven all my sins have been forgiven even that piggly wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo one of
The other guys goes you said you were innocent of those charges and he goes well I lied and that's forgiven too and that's
Us in Christ that's forgiven too what is it that haunts you what is it that you feel like clings to you run to
Christ that's forgiven too in this age and the age to come all sin all blasphemy come on in the water's fine there's freedom
And redemption in Christ that his blood would be shed for sinners wicked evil despicable sinners the thing that makes shame creep up your
Neck the thing that you don't want to tell anybody he forgives he redeems and he receives much glory from it what is your confession
It says if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved the Philippian jailer comes to
Paul and he says how can we be saved Paul says believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household he doesn't say
I need to ask a question about blasphemy first he says no believe you'll find forgiveness you'll find salvation trust so for those of you who have
Placed your faith in Jesus I want you to feel the freedom and the forgiveness in Christ this morning that every sin and every
Blasphemy is forgiven and for those of you who have not placed your faith in Christ I want you to do so I want you to come to come to come to Jesus
That he is evil and that he is at work for bad but see him in his glory and see him in his goodness
And see him in his power and place your faith in him let's pray God we pray that you would work today we pray that you would help us to
See our sin so that we might run to the Savior I pray that you would help us to feel the forgiveness that is in your name the hope that is in Christ and
Christ alone I pray that for those who have been oppressed by the enemy lied to tricked accused tempted I pray that they would find freedom in your name that they would seek you who set
Captives free who have bound the strong man who have conquered the enemy who have brought him to open shame and have triumphed over him and who have nailed our sin to the cross may we find hope and freedom
And joy and delight in Christ this morning amen amen
Lord of the Sabbath
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer and I'm one of the pastors here. We're going to be in Matthew 12 today, verses 1 through 21. I would encourage you to follow along with us today as we walk through the text. The text will not be on the screen. In the blue Bibles, that's page 476.
There are also black Bibles that have large print as well. So, I have two brothers and two sisters. My oldest brother, Sean, he's a part of our church. My other brother, who's two years older than me, he lives in Charleston. And we grew up together and we were the worst. We fought all the time.
My mom deserves a medal because we fought and we argued all the time. And I remember one specific time when I was about five or six. He was really good at getting under my skin. He was always a few steps ahead of me. He'd get under my skin. He would egg me on.
We were playing basketball this one time and we got into an argument and it started to get more heated. And we started lobbing, you know, schoolyard insults at each other. But it started to escalate and he knew something. He knew that recently I had learned a few colorful curse words. I just started riding the bus and I heard all the words. And public school buses for you.
He knew I learned a few words. And all of a sudden he's like, I'm going to get one of them out of him. So he kept pressing and pressing and pressing. And I finally got so mad that a hundred dollar curse word came out. I just, I lobbed it at him. And his righteous, unstained ears heard it.
And he's like, the only thing I can do to bring justice to this situation is to go and tell mom. So he turns around and he bolts it back to the house. He says, I'm telling mom. And as he heard last week, I had trouble running as a kid. So I took one deep breath and I ran towards the house.
And I ran out of steam. And he got there first. And he told my mom what I'd said. But he had really misunderstood and underestimated how her response would be. Because her general take in situations like this was, you probably deserved it. That's just, that was what she did.
I mean, she saw how much he egged me on. And I think that's literally what came out of her mouth. You probably deserved it. Get out. And the other thing that he misunderstood is that she wasn't a fool. She knew what was up.
She knew all, we pulled these kind of stunts on each other all the time. We were always messing with each other. We were always trying to get the other in trouble. She knew that his motives were not pure. She knew that he wasn't trying to promote justice like that. She completely saw through it.
And at this point in the Gospel of Matthew, we kind of get to do the same thing. I mean, we, at every point when the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of Israel, at every point they show up, you can rest assured, their motives are not pure. They are not looking to promote justice. They're not looking to promote righteousness. Their motives are not pure. And every time that they have an encounter with Jesus, you can see it coming.
They are trying to catch him. They're trying to find a way to catch him in his works. And today we're going to see just that in chapter 12. We're going to see the Pharisees who seize upon something to actively take Jesus down. And from this point forward, it's going to be not just opposition to Jesus, but they're actively looking to take him down and destroy his movement. So we're going to see this today.
We're going to see the Pharisees attack him with a pretty strong accusation. But here's the deal. Jesus, unlike five-year-old me, is sinless. He is guiltless. He is innocent. And also, unlike me, he is ten steps ahead of them when they come at him.
So we're going to see that. We're going to see Jesus go to work with five different defenses against the Pharisees. We're going to watch him walk through these five defenses. And here's what's going to be abundantly clear. There are two different paths that come out of this story. There's one with Jesus that is marked by mercy.
And there's one with the Pharisees that is marked by self-righteousness. We're going to see his mercy at odds with their self-righteousness. And we get to see how we get to respond to that today. So let me pray. And then we will jump into the story. Father, we thank you that you've given us your word and you get to speak to us.
God, I pray that you would help us be present this morning. You give us ears to hear and that we would respond, that you would go to work on our hearts. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.
Verse 1 and 2. All right. So there are a lot of times that the Pharisees come at Jesus with some very weak accusations. I mean, they are grasping at straws. This is probably the one time where as you read it, you're like, wait a second. I mean, they actually might have a little bit of a case here.
The disciples are traveling through a grain field. They're plucking off grain heads as a snack on the Sabbath. And technically, you can make the case that that's harvesting. And harvesting is a work. And that's forbidden on the Sabbath. You go to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.
It says, remember the Sabbath day. This is the fourth commandment. To keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.
On it, I want you to hear this. The force of this. You shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. See, Sabbath was a very big deal.
As we walked through in Genesis a few years ago, God creates the world in six days. And on the seventh day, he rested. Not because he needs rest. God is infinite in power. He does not need rest. But what he was doing for his creation was showing you are created not to endlessly work, but you need to rest.
And ultimately, we need to rest in God. So he ingrains that into the rhythm of creation. And then what happens is, is when you fast forward a little bit, the people of God become slaves in Egypt. For 400 plus years, they are slaves and they work and work and work and they do not rest. There is no Sabbath for 400 plus years. That's a long time.
That's longer than we've been a nation. That's a long tradition of not resting at all. So when they come out of the promised land, when God redeems them in the wilderness, he starts to establish his law. And he makes it abundantly clear. You are not a slave to anyone else. You are my people.
And I've created you for rest. Your work is not what defines you. What you produce does not define you. I'm what define you. You will rest. And this gets cemented in the law.
And about that same time in Numbers 15, there's an instance where a man is collecting sticks on the Sabbath. He's working on the Sabbath. And they catch him. And Moses comes to God and he says, Lord, what do you want us to do? And the Lord says, take him outside the camp and stone him. I mean, it's a sharp punishment.
Because God in that moment is trying to make it abundantly clear to the people of God, you are created to rest in me. Now, that is what the law says. And what comes out of that over the next thousand years are sets of priests who are trying to understand the Sabbath. And what they do is they start to add regulations to it. I think at first it's an honorable reproach, right? You saw how strict it is in the law to rest.
But then you've got one set of priests who says, all right, you can't do this and you can't do that. And then the next generation says, you can't do this and you can't do that. This happens for about a thousand years. Generation after generation of priests who are adding regulations, who are putting more restrictions on the law, all the way until Jesus comes. And this continues even into today. I mean, I was in Jerusalem about a decade ago.
And I was in a hotel. And we were, I think we were on the seventh or eighth floor. And every time that it was Sabbath and you had to get up to your room on the eighth floor, it was super obnoxious. Because you get in the elevator and at every single floor it would open, close, open, close, open, close. Because if you pushed a button, that was considered work. So they have elevators specifically designed to stop at every floor.
And there are tons of rules like that even today. They just are absolutely, they have missed it completely. And at the time of Jesus, there's this long list of extra regulations. And here's what happens. At the time of Jesus, the Sabbath looks nothing like it was originally designed to be. It becomes this anxiety-filled set of requirements.
The people kind of a little bit nervously making sure they don't break any of these rules. That's the context of the Sabbath by the time it gets to Jesus. And the Pharisees, who do not have pure motives, they see this and they say, We got him. We got him. He's breaking the Sabbath. And they call him out.
And I want you to understand something. The Pharisees were very respected, honored, and a little bit feared by the people because of the power they held. So when they told people, You're breaking the Sabbath. The people stepped to. If you get called out for breaking the Sabbath, you straightened up and you did what you were supposed to do. So there's got to be a little bit of, Oh, we've got him right now.
He's going to straighten up. He's going to follow us. Jesus turns and immediately launches into five different defenses. And in these defenses, He absolutely, just completely dismantles their understanding of Sabbath. And really actually reveals who they are. That they have misunderstood the Sabbath for so long.
And not only that, they have used the Sabbath as a way to promote themselves as looking holy. They've used it for self-righteous gain. So, first defense, verse 3. He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, those who were with him? How he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests. His first defense is, I am the king.
He launches into this kind of vague story from the Old Testament. He says, Oh, you're going to call us out? Let's go to 1 Samuel 21. And he references this story where David is on the run from his life from King Saul. He's on the run for his life. And then you can read the Psalms.
When he's on the run, they're hungry. They're thirsty. And he comes upon a priest named Ahimelech. And he asks him, Do you have any food? And Ahimelech says, No, the only food that we have is the bread, the show bread, the bread of the presence. And this was bread specifically as the Old Testament law outlines.
It was made holy as a presentation, but ultimately the only people who could eat it were the priests. So David says, Can we eat that bread? And Ahimelech gives him the bread and his men the bread. And guess what? Nowhere in that story or in the rest of the Old Testament are those actions condemned. Not one place.
Because David is unique. He is the anointed one. He is the Savior King. There's some priestly stuff that is built into that. So when he basically, what Jesus just said was, is that I'm the greater David.
That I'm the King. And because I'm the King, we will do as we please. Just as David took bread, we will take grain. And that's kind of an abrasive thing to say. I mean, you should try this. Go down to the Amazon Fulfillment Center, down 12th Extension Street, walk on in, and you try taking stuff off the shelves.
You try to take an inventory. And when somebody comes up to you and says, What are you doing? And you say, No, no, no. You don't understand. I know Jeff Bezos. I'm actually greater than your CEO.
The richest man in the world. I will take as I please. You will end up in jail. And you will look crazy. And that is the point. And what Jesus just said to the Pharisees looks absolutely crazy.
He says, I am the King. Not only that, I'm comparing myself to the greatest King in the history of Israel. And what I love is with each of these defenses, like he doesn't give any room for rebuttal. This is not a debate. This ends up being a monologue for about four different defenses. He launches from one straight into the next.
Second defense. Verse 5. Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests and the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. His second defense is I am the greater temple. He says, Oh, I'm sorry.
Have you not read the Old Testament law that says that priests profane the Sabbath? They have to work on the Sabbath? He said, Y'all know that priests have to circumcise babies on the eighth day, even if it falls on the Sabbath. That's work. Y'all know that when they prepare the temple for worship, they're doing that on the Sabbath. They are working on the Sabbath.
So he makes that case from the text. And then he takes it a step further. And he says, I am the greater temple. Something greater than the temple is here. That's one thing to say, compare yourself to David. But the temple, man, that is the most sacred place for the people of God.
I mean, there's so much history and tradition and ritual that is bound up in the temple. I mean, to this day, there's only one wall remaining from that temple. And all around the world, Jews will travel to pray in front of this wall. They will cry in front of this wall. They will kiss this wall. And that represents how sacred this place was.
I want you to imagine for a second, for you Clemson fans, just take a moment and imagine this. One day, Dabo is going, he's going to leave. I know he's going to retire in 30 years, or he's going to leave for another school. That's up for debate. That's not the point. One day, he is going to leave.
And when he does, I want you to imagine something. A new coach comes in. He's got a press conference. That's right at Death Valley Stadium. I want you to imagine if he just went, Death Valley, the hill, Howard's Rock, someone greater is here. You would tear your orange.
Like you would be severely upset. That's a great overstatement. That takes something that is so sacred. Like I just, Jesus just elevated. He said, I am greater than the most sacred object, than the most revered place. In all of Israel.
I am the greater temple. And he doesn't stop. He keeps on going with his third defense. Verse 7, he says, And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless. His third defense is you don't get mercy.
You don't get it. Jesus starts quoting something that's actually going at the very heart of their character. He quotes Hosea 6.6. He did this back in chapter 9. But they still don't get it.
The Pharisees still don't understand what he's getting at. He says, You don't get mercy. You've used the law, and specifically, you've used the Sabbath as a means of showing yourself to be self-righteous. As a weapon against the people. You don't get mercy. And what he's doing here is a little bit of a rabbi teaching tool.
He quotes the first part of Hosea 6.6. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. But what happens is, and this is how rabbis would teach sometimes, they'll take the first part of that verse, but the second part, the context, is also included. So what he just said from Hosea 6.6 was, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. The knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. What he just said was he went straight at their character and says, You don't know mercy, and you certainly don't know God.
You have rituals, you have sacrifices, you have burnt offerings, but you don't know God, and you don't know mercy. He goes directly at their character, which is a big deal even in our time. If you get into a debate with somebody, an argument, and it escalates, and eventually you start, you know, calling out each other's character, it gets heated. And we aren't even in a shame honor culture like theirs. In a shame honor culture, this is a huge deal. He did this to them, to their face.
He does it in front of all the people. He reveals who they are. You don't know God, and you certainly do not understand mercy. And he doesn't give them any room to respond. He goes straight into the fourth defense, verse 8. He says, For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
And this is my favorite one. His fourth defense is, I am Lord. He starts off with Son of Man, which is the, this is Daniel language, this is looking for the Messiah, elevating himself to God. Now, when later he's on trial, right before he is sentenced to death, he references Son of Man language, and they recognize exactly what he just said, that he compared himself to God. At that point, they tear their clothes. They call out for blasphemy.
So not only does he say, I'm the Son of Man, he says, I'm Lord of the Sabbath, which is the trump card. I remember when I was, we were kids, that we would get in arguments, we'd get in debates, and you'd do something like, I'm the smartest, and they would say, no, I'm ten times as smart. You'd say, no, I'm a hundred times smarter. And then eventually, if you learn this word, infinity, it changed the game. It's like, I'm the smartest times infinity. And they go, what?
Grab a Webster's, son, get schooled. It's endless. I win. It's the trump card. Jesus lays down the infinity card. I'm the Lord of the Sabbath.
I run these streets now. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I'm the captain of it. I'm the one that says what goes. This is a group of people that held God's people in check with Sabbath regulations. They told people what they could and could not do.
And Jesus steps in and says, I'm the Son of Man. Not only that, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. What I say goes. I mean, he says something so bold, right to their faces. And this is what I love. It's that, he just kind of walks right past them.
Because in verse 9, it says he went on from there and entered their synagogue. And it's, this is like, he walks right past them and they're just like, wait, no, we got things to say. He just doesn't even listen. He walks straight into, catch this, their synagogue. Y'all, this, this is where they used to preach every week. This is where they used to teach the people.
This is where they were honored. He walks into their synagogue and he's about to lay down his fifth defense. This is kind of like Michael Jordan showing up to the elementary school, dunking on the school kids. I mean, he, he comes out of their court, their territory, and he launches into his fifth defense. Starts in verse 10. And a man was there with a withered hand and they asked him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him?
He said to them, which one of you has a sheep if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? So he walks into their synagogue. He finds a man with a withered hand, knowing good and well what's about to happen. This is what I love, is that they, he just absolutely took it to them for four different defenses and they come inside and they think, oh, we're going to get them now. It's like, y'all don't learn this.
It's not going to end well for you. And they walk up to him and they're ready to catch him. And what Jesus does, he senses this and he quotes something. He says, which one of you has a sheep if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will take hold of it, will not take hold of it and lift it out? What he just referenced was a very common debate at the time amongst Pharisees and Sadducees and the religious leadership in Israel. You see, because they had such intense Sabbath regulations, this was an ethical question that was asked, that was debated.
What do you do if an animal falls into a pit on the Sabbath? Now, there's a few hardliners that said, it dies. You don't want them watching your pets. And there was a couple other ones that would say, no, that's a little harsh. We can put some food in there. We'll come back on the next day and we'll get it.
The rest of them said, no, that's crazy. Let's look at the rest of the Old Testament law. No, God values life. So the overwhelming majority opinion to this ethical question that Jesus just referenced was, no, you save the animal. Go in and get the sheep. You can break a little bit of Sabbath work to save life.
And what Jesus just does, he takes that debate, he puts it front and center and then he says of how much more value is a man than a sheep. And what he just did was, he said, you, it's understood that you'll go in and you'll save something that has material value but you look at a man who has a withered hand and say, no, no, not him. He calls them out. Men and women are made in the image of God. They have value and you don't get it. You'd rather save your material possessions than actually help people.
You have completely missed the boat. So he says, so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And he said to the man, stretch out your hand. So the man has some type of withered hand, probably has it his entire life. And he says, stretch out your hand. And when he stretched out his hand, it was completely restored.
His entire life. All right? The stigma of being disabled in this culture and everything that goes along with that. Not be able to work like he wants to. Jesus shows mercy and his hand was restored healthy like the other one. But I want you to see the response here.
Verse 14. It says, but the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him. I mean, Jesus displays this unbelievable act of mercy. This unbelievable act of God and healing. And their response is, he is too dangerous. We are going to destroy him.
We are going to kill him and destroy his movement. What a sharp contrast. It is at this point forward, there are two completely different roads. There is the road that Jesus is going to take and that is one that is lined with mercy. And there is one that the Pharisees are going to take and it is one that is completely marked by self-righteousness. These are two different groups.
These are two different faiths and understanding of who God is. Jesus being the perfect embodiment of mercy and them being the prime example of what it looks like to be self-righteous. And honestly, when you look at it from our position, that is the same choice today. Oftentimes, for those of us, especially in the church, we struggle with mercy and what comes with that and self-righteousness. So I want to actually flesh this out for a moment.
I think it is helpful for us to look and examine ourselves and see kind of which avenue we are going down, mercy or self-righteousness. So, I am going to walk through a few different categories of what this looks like. Starting with self-righteousness. You have good works versus grace. Good works says that I earn God's favor. I earn God's favor.
That by my good works, I can do enough to overcome all the bad. That I can do enough to actually earn God's favor. And there is this striving to continue to impress God. That is what good works that comes from self-righteousness looks like. That I earn God's favor. Grace says God's favor is freely given to me.
When you understand grace that comes from a God of mercy, you get it. It is like, there is not enough good I can do to overcome all of the evil that I am and that I have done. I have no chance outside the grace of God. These are two different paths. Another way of looking at that of good works is I have checked all the boxes which especially if you grew up in the church, that is a big one. I mean, if you grew up in the church, especially going consistently, you went on Sundays, maybe Sunday nights, maybe you were there on Wednesdays, maybe you did VBS, you did all the camps.
I learned a thing a couple years ago, it was called Baptist Allstate. Actually, our pastor Matt Freeman heads it up. I was like, man, these are the all-star kids, right? He's like, no, it's just a worship thing. There is all kinds of things you could have done growing up, checking all the boxes and what happens is is that you can confuse the fact that you're checking boxes, it's this thing and this thing and this thing and this thing and you can confuse that these are supposed to be things that grow you and shape you and mold you to be more like Jesus and you can think, oh, if I do all the things, then I'll be okay.
And then as you get older, it's serving on Sundays, it's doing all the things that you can be involved in, it's going and going and going and the reality is there aren't enough boxes to check. It's understanding that Jesus actually checks all the boxes for us. That by His grace, we are completely covered. Good work says that I can't ever fail, that it's on me, I have to succeed. Grace that comes from mercy says it is okay to fail. It's okay to fail.
That I have His blood that covers me, that His power is made perfect in weakness. That's one way of looking at it. The second way of looking at it is performance versus obedience. Performance that comes from self-righteousness says I obey, therefore, I'm accepted. That I do the things that I'm supposed to do, then I'll be accepted by God, but not only that, I'll be accepted by other people. And if you struggle with that, with some form of idolatry, of approval, you will do, you will do, you will strive, you will strive, and it will never actually be enough.
No, obedience that comes from mercy says I'm accepted, therefore, I obey. Because what God has done for me, because Jesus redeemed me, I'm accepted, therefore, I can walk in obedience. Performance says my good works earn me praise. That so much of the good that you do is so you can be seen by others, so that others will see your good works, that you will get the comment that says, man, thank you so much, you did such a good job, and you were living for the praise of others. Obedience that comes from mercy says my good works are actually worship. My good works are the way that I honor God.
God has poured out His life for me. My only response is that I'm His and that I believe that He's better than everything else. And when He says don't do these things and do these things, I get to worship God in my obedience. It is a response. I give you one more category that comes from self-righteousness is pride versus humility that comes from mercy. Pride versus humility.
Pride says it is never enough. It is never enough. You will work and you will strive and you will struggle and you will do whatever it takes and it is never enough. And humility says no, Jesus is enough. He's enough. I don't have to earn His favor because of everything that God has done for me.
Out of humility I say no, He is enough. Pride also says that I am my only hope. Maybe you have had that thought that it's on me. I'm my only hope. I'm the one that has to get this figured out. I'm the one that has to do all the work.
And humility says no, Jesus is my only hope. That I am absolutely hopeless without Him. When you walk this out and there's a bunch of different ways to walk this out, it is clear there are two different paths. There's one that is merciful and there's one that is marked by self-righteousness. And from this point forward in the Gospel of Matthew, these are the two different roads. And Matthew highlights the difference so clearly in this story by how he closes it out.
In verse 15 it says, Jesus aware of this withdrew from there and many followed Him and He healed them all in order not to make Him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. So Jesus is healing. He's doing His thing sometimes where He heals them and says, don't say anything about this. And what Matthew does a few times in his Gospel is he quotes these long Old Testament quotes. This one's from Isaiah to help us see who Jesus is, to help Him see that He's the Messiah, to help us see different parts of how He saves and that He is God.
And it is this quote that really helps Mark the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees. verse 18 says, Isaiah says, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom I am well pleased. I put my spirit upon him. That is a picture of what happens at His baptism. The spirit comes upon him and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. That is you and me. Everyone that is not Jewish.
That His ultimate goal is not just the people of God. It's all nations, all peoples, everywhere. Verse 19, He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. That's a little bit of a picture of what He just did. He's healing people. He's telling them, don't say a word.
And then I want you to absolutely absorb these next few verses. I want you to sit in this. Verse 20, A bruised reed He will not break. And a smoldering wick He will not quench until He brings justice to victory. And in His name, the Gentiles will hope. And man, that is where you see how good and merciful and gentle our Savior is.
A bruised reed He will not break. Reed grass, you may be familiar with it. We see it sometimes at the coast. It's the grass that just blows in the air. It's not very strong. And He says even more so, a bruised reed that's even more weak is a bruised reed.
He's not going to break. That if you have brokenness in your life, if you are struggling with sin, He's not going to break you. He's going to hold you. How gentle and loving of a picture of a Savior that we have that a bruised reed He's not going to break. And then it says a smoldering wick He will not quench. He's got this flame that it's flickering that it's getting ready to go out and He's not going to smother it.
He's going to take care of it. Maybe that's you that for you faith just feels like a flicker. Maybe you're in a season where it's so difficult right now. It's so difficult to see past all the trials past all of your sin past all of your brokenness and you just feel like it's just a flicker. And Jesus is so gentle and it's His picture that He's going to take care of us. It's not going to snuff us out.
And this picture of how gentle our Savior is has been so good for me. The last six months has been it's been difficult. I feel like following Jesus I've been following Jesus for over a decade and I feel like there's seasons where people ask me are you good? And I'm like yeah and I really am. And I'm like man I'm doing pretty good and I almost sometimes I think I've arrived almost. I'm progressing and then all of a sudden just pulls back the floorboards and I'm like oh dang there's a whole lot of sin and a whole lot of idolatry.
I mean this this happens. That's why Paul when he writes his letters early on in one of his earliest letters he says I'm the least of the apostles. And then you go a little bit later in his letters and one of them he says I am the the least of the saints of the Christians. And in one of his final letters he says I'm the chief of sinners. And it's like did he get more sinful as he got older? No.
But what he did see is more of the glory of God and more of his holiness and he saw more of his sin. And I'm in a season where I'm seeing so much idolatry and sin beneath the surface and I stumble upon verses like this that show me how gentle and loving our God is. He's been so good as I've journeyed through this in his word and in prayer. But about a few months ago I got to hear this song. It's a song called Relent. It's by a group called Citizens.
I've sang a few other songs even this morning. And it has been so helpful and so good when I stumbled upon this because it spoke to me so clearly in this season. So I want you to hear this. If you're in a season of brokenness of struggling with sin of struggling with pain I want you to so clearly hear the words from this song. He says if I gain the world would it be worth the price to work these hands to death and not be satisfied. And you'll feel that?
That you're working that you're striving working yourself to death you're not satisfied. He says if every effort brought another sleepless night I'd be so tired. And if that was the only hope we would strive and we would go and we would go and there'd be only anxiousness only sleeplessness we would be left absolutely tired. but then he gets to the gospel and the chorus and when I heard this it absolutely just wrecked me. He says I relent there is nothing for me here you can have it all this life is not my own you give life that is worth the loss of mine I surrender all I have to follow you.
The King and His Rest
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. I want to take a moment on the front end just to explain a little bit of how we do things in our approach to preaching. We have a team approach to preaching. So every Wednesday, one of us who's preaching brings their sermon to our teaching team.
And our teaching team is preached live, and then for the next hour or so, we go through it. We try to make sure that it's actually coherent here on a Sunday morning, that it preaches the Bible, that it's not boring, because we care about preaching. We care about this time as we open up God's Word. And we also have a team approach to how we do preaching. So we have multiple people that preach throughout the calendar year.
Most of the time, it is myself, it is Chet, and it is and has been Dr. Ken. But if you were at our member meeting a couple of weeks ago, Dr. Ken is going to be going back into semi-retirement again. And he's going to be at the end of March. He's going to be transitioning to just being a member here until God calls him to an interim position somewhere else.
So after that, it will be mostly Chet and I. Raz also, who's in the back walking around, he also preaches sometimes. We try to get Matt Freeman, who leads worship, to preach, but we do it very unsuccessfully. He does not say yes. So we have a team approach to preaching.
We value that. We think it's good to have different personalities. Chet and I have different styles. It also allows us to focus on other parts of the church on weeks that we're not preaching. So that's a little bit of how we do things.
I'm going to be here for the next four or the next five weeks. So if you've been coming around for a little bit, that might throw you off. That just explains a little bit of our philosophy of preaching. So we also preach through books of the Bible. And we are in the Gospel of Matthew. We have been for the last six months.
And we preach verse by verse, section by section. And every now and then we encounter a section that's a little more difficult. It's a little bit harder to absorb. And we don't skip parts of the Bible because they're difficult. We lean into them. And that's one of the parts that we're walking through this morning.
So we're going to be in chapter 11, verses 20 through 30. If you have a Bible, please follow along with us. If you don't have one, there's blue Bibles around you. That's on page 476 is where we will be. But I would encourage you this morning especially to open up a Bible.
There won't be a ton of text on the screen. This is a little bit more of a confusing passage. And it would be helpful to have it out in front of you. All right. So I have learned quite a few things since becoming a parent.
I have learned that you can operate on way less sleep than you thought you could. I have three kids, four and under. And right before our first, I was like, man, I don't know how we're going to do this. I really value sleep. But you just adjust.
It's fine. Your body adjusts. And you'll be okay. I've also learned that dads get way more grace than moms. So I was in Chick-fil-A a couple months ago.
It was the first time taking all three of the kids by myself to Chick-fil-A. And it was an unmitigated disaster. Every kid was crying by the time that we left. Multiple kids were injured. And I was fumbling around. I had a baby that was crying.
I had a daughter that was crying. My son fell out of his chair and conked his head on the towel. And moms came out of the woodwork. Like, they just, they were so there. They were helping tie shoes. They were like, let's get them some ice.
And I could see it on their face. It was, you go, dad. You're doing it. You're figuring this out. If that was my wife, she would not have gotten that kind of help. She would have gotten judgment, stares.
Like, girl, you ain't got it together. You need to figure this out. Like, they just, I've learned that dads get more grace. And the other thing that I've learned is that children are smaller case studies for later future brokenness. They are small little case studies for later future brokenness. So, when my kids get their minds set on something.
And it's just, they, like, they think they're going to get ice cream after dinner. They think that some friends are coming over and they cancel last minute. They lose their minds. They scream. They cry. They fall on the ground, limp, flailing.
And I used to think, stop overreacting. This is ridiculous. But what I've learned is, is they're not overreacting. They're reacting. That's what's going on in their heart. And they're three.
So, all of their emotions are on display. Right? All of their feelings. All of their thoughts. It's just out there in the open. But as you get older, you realize that it is culturally unacceptable to pitch a fit and to lose your mind.
Like, I just, I go to McDonald's a few times a week. And, uh, and listen, you know what you're getting. Like, every now and then they're going to mess up your order. That comes to the territory. Set the bar low. You won't be disappointed.
But I'll go to McDonald's and if they mess up my order in the drive-thru and I start screaming and shaking, I got, I will end up on a viral video. It will not go well. We just, we know you can't do that. You get older, you learn that actually that looks like weakness. You're not going to get what you want. But we do it in more culturally acceptable ways.
When we fix our eyes and our hopes on something and we don't get it, man, we will find other ways to do it. We'll throw our tantrums in silence or away from other people. If you're driving in traffic, that's when you're going to throw a tantrum. You're going to grab the wheel and shake it. Right? We'll beat ourselves up internally to the point of just deep anxiety, even depression.
We'll respond by over-drinking to medicate the pain of loss. When we set our mind on something, we find adult, culturally acceptable ways of dealing with it. But the reality is, is that we're really just a three-year-old version of ourselves. We just grow up a little bit and know how to change. I oversee, one of the things I oversee here is care and counseling. And I've been involved in some form of care and counseling over the last few years in different churches.
And what I've seen is, is that we will forge the good life out of anything we can put our hands on. So if it's a career, if it's comfort, if it's the pleasures of this world, we'll find something that we'll put all of our hopes in. We'll aim for it. And ultimately what happens, just take success for instance. A lot of people will make success the end goal. That's the hope.
They'll put all their eggs in that basket. And they'll ultimately pursue it. And it'll cause them to use their best hours at work instead of at home. They'll cut corners. They'll make questionable ethical decisions. They'll do whatever it takes to be successful.
But here's what ultimately happens. Success is never enough. It's never enough. You'll go and you'll go and you will eventually be disappointed. And what will happen is, is that you will be left disappointed and broken and tired and exhausted. This happens with anything.
You can fill in the blank there. And ultimately it will never actually bring fulfillment. It'll never actually bring joy. And it will leave you tired. It'll leave you broken. It'll leave you depressed.
It'll leave you anxious. Because we were designed to put our hope in something more. And that is what we're going to see as we walk through this passage today. As we get to the end of this passage, we're going to see that the things of this world, the good life that we try to forge and aim for, is not enough. So, I want to pray. And then we're going to jump into the text.
Father, I thank you that you have given us your word. Father, I pray that you would open up our eyes to see, that you would give us ears to hear what you have to say this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. All right. Follow along with me. Verse 20.
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done. This is Jesus. Because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.
Now, Dr. Ken ended there last week. And we're picking up right here. Jesus is pronouncing woes on these cities. He's been doing ministry all over the region of Galilee. We saw in chapter 8 and chapter 9, he's healing the masses.
He's casting out demons. He's doing all kinds of mighty works. And the people are coming out to see him. They're coming out to see them. But also, he's not just healing.
He's not just serving the least of these. He's not just casting out demons. He's actually also proclaiming a message that we see as early as chapter 4. He's saying, repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's performing mighty works, but he's also preaching a message of repentance.
And these cities aren't getting it. They're not hearing and understanding the message. They're actually just focusing on the mighty works. So when Jesus comes to town, it's, let's see what he can do next. What more do you have, Jesus? Are you going to perform more miracles?
The crowds want to see, but they're not understanding what he is saying. So he starts to pronounce these woes on these cities. Verse 21, woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you have been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
So Jesus, he calls out these cities in Galilee where he's been performing these miracles. And then he mentions two other cities, Tyre and Sidon. Now these are, at the time, these are older cities that have been known. They're not Jewish cities. They're pagan cities. They don't worship God.
And they were known for this. And Jesus just said that if his mighty works had been done in those cities, they would have repented long ago. And then he pronounces this woe on these cities because they have not repented at seeing the mighty works. In verse 22, he says, But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades.
Now, a little bit of what he's getting at and what commentators may see this. He calls out Capernaum, which is actually where he's been living. That's his home base. He calls out this city and he says, Will you be exalted to heaven? Now, that is a statement that if, as the commentators have looked at this, they think this is probably calling out the posture of that city. That they thought there was something special about them since they are seeing these mighty works on display.
Well, now that we've seen these, aren't we too going to be exalted to heaven? They've missed it. They've absolutely missed it. They thought that proximity, nearness to the mighty works of God would gain them passage into heaven. Now, that is a warning that I think is helpful for us to hear as southerners. Because the reality is, is that we have access to these mighty works.
There are churches all across our city. There are preachers preaching this morning about the mighty works of God. There are ministries all across the city that are proclaiming the mighty works of God. And for us as southerners, there's a little bit of a general mindset down here that says, well, I believe in Jesus. I'm a Christian. I'm a Baptist.
I'm a Lutheran. I'm a Presbyterian. I can say that I believe that Jesus died for my sins. Because we have access to hearing about the mighty works of God. When in reality, there's a whole lot of lack of repentance. In a lot of ways, we look like the rest of the world.
And there can be this posture of arrogance. It's because we are Christian by confession. Because we are surrounded by churches that somehow proximity to the mighty works of God gains us entry into heaven. I think that's a warning for us that we need to absorb as we look at this woe that he pronounces on the city of Capernaum. So he pronounces this woe.
And in this, this is a little bit difficult to catch and wrap our minds around. He also says, it'll be more tolerable for these cities than for you. It'll be more tolerable for the cities of Tyre and Sidon than for Capernaum, than for Bethsaida, than for Chorazin. And what he just said was, is that because you have access to the mighty works, and they did not, it's going to be more tolerable for them on Judgment Day. That's a hard thing to wrap our minds around. But that is an implication of what he just said.
And he keeps going. Verse 23 says, for the mighty works have been done, and you have been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it'll be more tolerable on the day of Judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. So he gives another example, the city of Sodom, which in the Bible is one of the primary cities. It's a primary example of the city that has fallen and rejecting God. Sodom, as we walked through this in Genesis a few years ago, they were known for their sexual depravity.
They were also known for their lack of care for the poor, for the downtrodden, which is something that the heart of God deeply cares about. And because of this, his judgment rains down from heaven and it consumes the city and reduces it to ashes. He just used Sodom as an example of judgment for these cities to see. If the works had been done in Sodom, they would have repented. But works are being done in front of you and you are not.
It'll be more bearable for Sodom than it will for you. That is some pretty intense language, some pretty intense woes that Jesus pronounces on these cities. Now on the surface, that's exactly what it is. But as we walk through this, there's actually a little bit more of a bigger picture that's happening here. He picks up in verse 25. At that time, Jesus declared, Now, here's the bigger picture of what's happening.
As he's pronouncing these woes on these cities, for not repenting at his mighty works, Jesus starts to pray. This is a prayer of thanksgiving. And he prays to God the Father, saying, I thank you, Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Now, wise and understanding in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospels as a whole, that's generally referring to the religious establishment. This is the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious leadership of the Jewish people who thought they knew it all, the wise and understanding. And little children is applied to the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the sinners, even the children who hear of these mighty works.
And that actually leads to repentance and faith. Now, I want to take just a brief moment to address this. Just give me some range here. There are, in our culture, highly educated, elite people. So professors, people on TV, famous people, that look down on Christianity as a whole.
There's an arrogant posture about our faith. And what they will do is they will belittle our faith, because the hope for them has been that with actual education, with the 21st century happening, as the world is evolving and getting smarter, the hope was that we would drop this superstition, as they claim. That we would stop this. That the world would evolve, and it hasn't. Man, the gospel is exploding all over Africa and Asia and South America. I mean, the gospel is moving even in our city.
And there's this arrogant posture. They can't figure out why this is actually happening. And the reality is, it's this right here. That God has, you can see it throughout the Bible, that God humbles the proud and He gives grace to the humble. That He has hidden these things from the wise, the learned, the elite. And He's revealed them to little children.
He's revealed them to the simple. He's revealed them to people like you and me. And I say that to say that if you're in a situation, maybe you're a student, maybe you're just overwhelmed by how much some people in culture are talking down. You don't have to get frustrated. In fact, you can have a little bit of pity and pray. Because the reality is, is that their pride keeps them from believing.
And God has hidden this from the elite. He's hidden this from the wise and the understanding. Now, that's an aside. I don't want to bury the lead because I don't want to miss exactly what God is doing here. Because what He just said was, is that God the Father has hidden these things. He's hidden these things.
These things is a little bit of a vague term. But when you look at it in the context of the Gospel of Matthew, this is the whole package of belief. This is repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is God displaying His mighty works that lead to repentance. This is repentance and faith.
He has hidden these things from the wise and understanding. And when you understand what He is getting at, what He is saying is, is He has hidden faith from the wise and understanding. And when you go back and look at the previous five verses, this makes a little more sense of how God works. That God could have displayed His mighty works in Sodom, but He didn't. God could have displayed His mighty works in Tyre and Sidon, but He didn't. God displays His works even in His hometown in Capernaum.
And they still don't get it. It's been hidden from them. They still don't believe. It doesn't actually lead to faith and repentance. And when you skip down, you read it. Verse 27, it makes it even more clear.
And no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. The reality is, is that Jesus has chosen to reveal Himself in a way that leads to repentance to some, but He is not to others. And when you read that, I know there's a part of it to say, wait a second, did He really just say what He said? He can't possibly mean what He just said. But the reality is, is that He doubles down on this again a few chapters later.
In chapter 13, verse 10, He's telling these parables, and some of the people in the crowds aren't understanding. And verse 10 says, Then the disciples came and said to Him, Why do you speak to them in parables? And He answered them, To you, talking to the disciples, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. He's saying, to you the secrets of the kingdom, this faith that leads to repentance, that's been given to you, but to them it has not been given. And this idea that the Bible shows over and over again, that God gives faith to some, and not to others, it bothered me so much as an early Christian.
I came to faith right before I went to college. I got to college, started reading the Bible, started reading across passages like this, and I was like, the Bible can't be saying what it's actually saying, it must be something different. I had some friends that were Christians, and we would spend hours going back and forth about this. Hours in a coffee shop, hours in our dorm rooms, debating this. It's like the only time in my life that I've ever had, just endless hours to talk about this with other people. And we debate, we go back and forth, and I would, I would come up with these, these, these philosophical arguments, that had to explain away, this can't possibly mean what the Bible is actually saying.
I just think, I look back at it, the arrogance of a 19 year old college student saying, no, God has to work in my system, absolutely. But we go back and forth, over and over again, trying to say, no, this can't mean what it means. God can't give faith to some, and not to others. Choose to reveal His mighty works to some, and not to others. And the reality is, is that, I couldn't get on board with this idea, I think for a couple of reasons. I think the first reason, on a very macro, larger level, the reason why I couldn't, get on board with this, is because I think, me and I think others, have a basic understanding, of fairness, and entitlement, that says, that's not fair.
It's not fair. It's not fair that God reveal Himself clearly, that leads to faith to some, and not to others. No, that can't be. And the reality is, the Bible says, that is not the case. The Bible, when it addresses this, and its understanding is, fairness, is everybody, gets judgment. Fairness is, everybody, gets hell.
Because we have rebelled, against a holy, and perfect God, God is absolutely, just, and fair, because of our sin, to bring judgment. That's actually, what fairness is. And I just, I couldn't, wrap my mind, I cannot wrap my mind, around that. But I think, on a more personal level, for me, and this may be the case, for others, is that I had family, I had friends, that did not believe, and I could not, I couldn't possibly, fathom, no this doesn't make sense, that God would get faith, that clearly, is repentance for some, and not for others. That cannot be, the case. So for, pretty much the most, of college, I spent so much time, thinking about this, trying to figure this out, studying the Bible, looking at this, over and over again, and then finally, something clicked.
This summer, this one summer, after my junior year, I was at Myrtle Beach, and I was working, at a resort, cleaning bathrooms, and for some reason, when I'm doing work, especially by myself, it gives me time to think. And that whole summer, I'm thinking about a lot of things, but I'm thinking about this, this, the Bible, I'm thinking about this subject matter, and then finally, something clicked. And it's really bound up here, in verse 26. When in the midst of Jesus' prayer, He says, Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. Your gracious will. The first part of that, is grace.
The reality is, is that yes, fairness is, we absolutely deserve judgment. But God, in His rich mercy, and His grace, meaning we don't earn it, in His grace, and in His love, He comes from heaven, to redeem us. That He spills His blood, for the lost. That He comes, and He saves, many. And once I finally understood, God is gracious, to redeem many. That He's sending out, church plants, and missionaries, all across the world, to proclaim the gospel, that leads to repentance.
That God is gracious. But the part two of that, that really clicked for me, was His will. His gracious will. And what finally clicked for me was, is that I don't have to understand, the will of God. The greater will of God, is too wonderful, for me to comprehend. That this, the greater will, that is happening here, I don't have to understand it, because I don't actually have to know, the mind of God.
And when I finally understood that, man, it started to make so much more sense. That's a little bit, what Paul is getting at, when he's writing the book of Romans. The first 11 chapters of Romans, is this long, sustained argument, that is touching a lot, on God's sovereignty and salvation. And he's writing this, and there's two kind of basic responses, that come out of it. In chapter 9, he kind of gives a blunt one. And he says, basically, if you don't think this is fair, the reality is, is that you are a clay pot, and God is a potter.
What right does the clay pot, have to say to the potter? And it's like, dang, that's a little blunt. It's true, but it's a little blunt. But then towards the end, right at the end, of this long sustained argument, you get to chapter 11, verses 33 through 36. And Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is writing all these, big theological points. And it's almost like, at the end of this long discussion, he bursts forth into praise.
He has a doxology, in verses 33 through 36. It's almost like he can't, his mind is ready to break, and he just bursts forth. He says, Oh, the depths, of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge, of God. How unsearchable, are his judgments. They cannot be searched. How inscrutable, his ways.
For who is known, the mind of the Lord. That's rhetorical. Nobody. Who has been his counselor? Who has given a gift to him, that he might be repaid? For from him, and through him, and to him, are all things.
To him be glory, forever and ever. Amen. He just can't help it. He can't wrap his mind around it. He doesn't have to know, it's the mind of the Lord. He doesn't have to understand this completely.
But what he can do, is look at a gracious God, that is on mission, to redeem this world, and say, praise God, that he saves many. We don't have to know, the mind of the Lord. We don't have to know, these complicated things, in and out. Thank goodness, we are finite, because we will never understand, the infinite. Once that finally clicked for me, that it was actually good, to see God as sovereign, in how he saves. It changed the game.
In high school, I played high school football, and I was talking to someone, our church family about this, a little while ago, and they were genuinely surprised, that I played high school football. And I was genuinely offended, for a moment, and then I realized, I don't do anything, physically active now, except chase my children. Fair point. But I did. I played high school football, and I was quick. I ran about a 4.640, which in high school football, that puts you, in a few different positions.
I played defensive back, and I played tailback, and receiver. If you don't know football, I got the ball, and I ran the ball down the field. And I would burst past people, for 30 and 40 yard gains. I was quick. But what happened, almost every single time, is at 50 yards, at 60 yards, at the 10, I got caught.
Every single time. I can think of two times, my entire playing career, in high school, that I didn't get caught. It's because those teams, were terrible. But I got caught, every time, and I could not figure out, why in the world, can I just blow, bass people for 30, 40 yards, but I get caught, at the end, every time. And then I got to college, and I learned a thing. That when I do, anything high impact activity, I can be in my room, moving stuff around.
I hold my breath. I don't know why, that's natural to me. But I do. I will hold my breath. And when I played, intramural sports in college, I finally figured it out. I'm running for 20, 30, 40 yards, and I am on one, maybe two, three breaths max.
And you might think, really? Seriously? It took until you were like, 20 years old, to realize that, breathing is a thing, that you should actually do? Yes, I know. I know there are two people, in the room right now, that just went, man, explains everything. I got you.
Breathe. It's helpful. You need oxygen. You are designed, to need oxygen, when you run, when you do anything, high impact activity. You will not make it. Just think, if I would have known that, in high school, I would have gone on, to the next level.
I could have gone pro, guys. But I wouldn't be here, with you. So, I think everybody wins. We, we are designed, to need oxygen, when we do anything, high impact activity. We need that. That's how we are designed, in the same way, in the same way, we are designed, by God, to see him, as the sovereign ruler, the sovereign king, over all things.
And to look to him, with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our strength. that he, is the one, that we are meant to look to, that we are meant to pursue, that we are not, meant, to find lesser things, in this world, and make that our focus. We are not designed, to make lesser, to focus on lesser things, and to forge the good life, out of things, that do not bring fulfillment, and do not bring joy. Jesus, hammers this point, about judgment, about his sovereignty, about how big he is. And then he makes a shift, in verse 28. Now often times, when you hear, this is one of the most, popular passages, from the gospels, and it is one of my, favorite passages, from the gospels.
But a lot of times, you will hear it, just quoted, and you will miss the context. So you need to understand, this is Jesus, after everything he just said, showing how big he is, that he is God. And then he goes, verse 28, come to me, all who labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you, rest. Take my yoke, upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle, and lowly, and hard, and you will find, rest, for your souls. For my yoke, is easy, and my burden, is light. This is how we were designed, to function.
Just as a running back, needs oxygen, to complete a long run, you as a Christian, need to see, God for who he is, and to focus, all of your affections, your pursuit, your life, fixated on how good, our creator, our sovereign king is, we need him, to focus on, that we can make it, through this marathon, of life, called faith. That is what, we are meant to see here. God flexes, his power, Jesus flexes, his power, for seven verses, and then he says, come, to me. I want you to hear that, this morning. The God of the universe, the creator, of all things, the one who is on mission, to redeem this world, all over the globe, just said, come, to me.
Do not make, the good life, about lesser things. Do not pursue, comfort. Do not pursue, the pleasures of this world, approval, money, sex. He says, no, come, to me. And I want you to hear this, I want you to right now, think about, what are the things, that so much, of your focus, so much of your attention, so much of your affection, so much of your focus, is fixated on. Jesus comes in, and says, no, no, no, come to me.
Come to me, you who are living life, on your terms. Your whole life, has been about, living life, on your terms. You're forging, this life, out of things. You're focusing, on everything else. He just says, no, no, no, come to me. They were so focused, on things, here in the earth.
He lifts up our head, he says, no, come to me. For those of you, whose plans, have fallen apart. Maybe life has not gone, the way that you, wanted it to. And you feel disappointed, you feel broken, you feel weary. He says, no, look, look, come, to me. Those of you, that are burdened, with shame, and guilt.
That all you can think about, is your sin. That all you can think about, is that I'm gross, that I'm dirty, that I'm unworthy. How could a God like this, possibly love me? He says, no, no, I'm way bigger than your shame. I'm about to take that, at the cross. No, no, no, come to me.
Look at me. Come to me. Those of you, that are anxious about work, anxious about money, so those of you, that have focused, so much of your life, on success, and thinking, that's going to bring fulfillment. The God, the universe cuts through, and says, no, come to me. If you focused your life, on the pleasures of this world, it could be sex, it could be drugs, it could be anything else. He says, no, look, come to me.
For those of you, that are perfectionists, that so much of life, is about controlling, your circumstances. Those of you, that are moms, that are trying to compare yourself, to other moms, and trying to do this perfectly, and it leads to anxiety, and it leads to depression, and it's just a cycle of crazy. He steps in, He says, oh, look at me, come to me, you were burdened, you were heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We need that. We need to see the sovereign king, who looks at his creation, and says, come to me, I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke.
Yoke is a wooden frame, that is placed on two animals. They're meant to pull a load, together. Jesus says, I'm in this. Come with me, come join this yoke. Take my yoke. And a lot of times, in the Bible, in the Old Testament, especially, yoke is used as a negative term.
It's when the people of God, the nation of Israel, has yoked themselves, to a foreign king. They've yoked themselves, to foreign idols, and it's crushing them. Or in the New Testament, Peter, when he's talking about, the Old Testament law, that the people have yoked themselves, to the Old Testament law, thinking, that obedience to the law, that performing good works, is going to earn obedience. Jesus cuts through all of that, and he makes this a positive. He says, no, no, no. Don't yoke yourself to lesser things.
Yoke yourself to me. I will carry the load. Take my yoke, and learn from me. Learn from me. I will teach you, for I am gentle, and a lowly in heart, and you will find rest, for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
And the reason, that he can say that, is because of where he is going. The yoke that he is going to take, the wooden frame he is going to take, is ultimately going to be a wooden cross. And he is going to carry that cross up a hill. And his blood is going to be poured out. He is going to take his perfect, righteous obedience, with him to the cross. And for those of us, that hear this call, and come to him, he is going to give us that standing, before God the Father.
And he is going to take our sins. He can say this, so helpfully. And it be so true. That he can take, our burdens. He can carry it. But we have to hear the call.
There is an early church father, named Augustine. He said, our heart is restless, until it finds its rest in God. We have restless hearts. Aren't you tired? Aren't you tired of this world? Aren't you tired of the things of this world?
Aren't you tired of the focus, that leads to more stress, that leads to more depression, that leads to more anxiety? We don't have to be tired anymore. Our restless hearts can find rest. We just have to hear the call, and come home. The band is going to come up. And we are going to take, the Lord's Supper.
And it is a meal, it is a meal of a reminder, of everything, that I just said. That on the night, that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, that was broken for you. And he took the cup, which is the cup of the new covenant. He said, this is my blood, that was shed for you, that as often as you eat, and drink this, you proclaim my death, until I return. So we are going to take this, there is going to be, members in the front and the back, serving it.
And if you are, if you are a Christian, if you have trusted in Jesus, what I want you to do this morning, is I want you to sit for a moment, and I want you to, to think. What are the things, in this world, that I have placed my hope in? What are the things, that have left me tired, and weary, and I want you to very clearly, hear, the sovereign king, say, come.
Confusion of a Generation
Transcript
Good morning. It's good to see you here this morning. Isn't it exciting to be here? I get to look forward to Sunday every Sunday. Just because it's so great to get to come together and worship the great God we have and do it with such enthusiasm. It's so refreshing to be able to do that.
My name is Ken Harmon. I'm one of the pastors here at Mill City Church. I want to begin this morning with sharing with you something that happened to my wife and I a long time ago. It was 1973. I just finished up my classwork at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. And we were moving back to South Carolina.
We were looking forward to having a church where I could be the full-time pastor. We were looking forward to continuing to serve the Lord. We were looking forward to starting a family. And that was going to happen soon because my wife was seven and a half weeks, I mean nine and a half months. Wait a minute. I'll get it right in a minute.
Seven and a half months pregnant. Six weeks to go. We had been back in South Carolina a couple of weeks. And one day she realized something had gone terribly wrong with the pregnancy. Went to the doctor. She was put in the hospital.
Three days later, she gave birth to our first child. Little girl. Still born. Because she had been dead for several days before she was born and because of the way they did things back then, we never even got to see her. Of course, we wondered, Lord, why did you let this happen? We're your children.
We're trying to serve you. Lord, this hurts so much. You ever felt that way? If you haven't, you will. We live in a fallen world. Bad things happen to good people.
We live in a fallen world. People do evil things to other people. Sometimes they do evil things to us. Sometimes they hurt us just because, like us, they are sinners too. You have a case one time where there was a teenage boy in the family. His teenage cousin got him into drugs because of some of the problems he already had.
Being on drugs led him to commit suicide. If you're a parent, what do you think then about a nephew? He made that happen. Sometimes our mates commit adultery. Sometimes children get kidnapped. Sometimes we're in a car wreck and the wreck was caused by a drunk driver and our back is injured and our job involved lifting.
We lose our job and we're going to be in pain for the rest of our lives. And the drunk driver gets sentenced to time served waiting for trial to six months probation. Life isn't fair. Life isn't easy. Life isn't easy. This morning we're going to look at a passage of scripture that helps us to get to get a deeper understanding that when we go through times like that, we have a deliverer.
Life isn't easy. Life isn't easy. This morning we're going to look at a passage of scripture that helps us to get to get a deeper understanding that when we go through times like that, we have a deliverer. Someone who can help us in one way or another. and we're also going to look at one of his followers who went through something very similar and so we're going to be looking at Matthew chapter 11 we're going to look at verses 1 through 24 it's on page 476 if you're looking at a pew bible and let me begin just by reading verse 1 when Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities now we've been looking at the gospel of Matthew and past three weeks Chad has been preaching through chapter 10 of the gospel of Matthew and we've seen Jesus take his disciples instruct them how to be on mission remind them of the difficulties and challenges that they were going to face and of the strength and help that could come to them and today we're going to be looking as Jesus continues his ministry at an event that took place while he was doing that
Now I need to give you some background we're getting ready to look at a statement and some question a very important question from one of the greatest men who ever lived his name was John John like Jesus had a special birth an angel announced his birth to his father and it was really astounding because both his father and his mother were way past childbearing years so this was this was another in the you know kind of things almost like Abraham and Sarah back at the beginning of the Old Testament he was announced as one who would make ready the way for the Messiah and let me read to you what his father said right after he was born and you child will be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins so this is what was prophesied about John when he was young and this is exactly what took place he became the one to prepare the way for Jesus he is the one who went out and preached to people and you know call them to repentance he prepared the way for Jesus he was he was a different sort of guy uh he lived in the wilderness he wore rough clothing he ate locust and wild honey I could do the honey not so sure about the locust you know uh you know scientists today tell us that that locust and other insects are really a good source of protein and it takes takes a lot less land and water and feed to to produce that amount of protein but you know what I don't think we're ever going to see an outback locust house it's just not going to happen insects on the barbie
But John was that kind of ascetic person he was serious about what he was doing he he proclaimed the word of God in a very powerful way he preached repentance turning from evil and and he baptized people as as a sign that they had repented that they'd turn from evil and and opened themselves up to God and when he preached he preached uh what we would call hellfire sermons now some of the scribes and pharisees some of the religious leaders of the time went out to listen to him he saw them coming knew that there were a bunch of hypocrites said you snakes who warned you to flee from the wrath to come preaching to people he would say listen unless you're a tree that's bearing the fruits of repentance the axe is already laid at the root you're getting ready to be cut down he said there's coming a time when God's going to gather the wheat into his barn and the chaff the waste product of the fruit is going to be burned with unquenchable fire and and people flocked to him because they wanted to hear that word that would lead them to a different life a higher life a better life John was a woman who was preparing the way for the Lord he was brave he would take on anybody Herod Antipas was the ruler around there in those parts then and uh he had done something that wasn't very good he had enticed his brother's wife away from his brother and married her and John let him know in no uncertain terms that that wasn't right John was brave he would he was one that would stand up against unrighteousness John knew Jesus in fact on their mother's side there were cousins and he recognized that Jesus was the Messiah he looked at him one time when Jesus was coming to him and said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world he had a good understanding of who Jesus was and yet John pushed it a little too far one time and Herod had had enough of him and had him thrown in prison can you imagine what being in prison would have been like for John I mean he was a a man of the outdoors he was a he was a man who could take care of himself in the wilderness
He was a man who who enjoyed being among people he was a man who you know was doing what God had called him to do from the time he was a child he knew his purpose and he was fulfilling that purpose and all of a sudden here he is cooped up in a little cell probably very dark probably very filthy not able to do what God had called him to do and so he had questions why is this happening to me what's going on I thought Jesus was the Messiah I was convinced of it and yet I thought when he came he would solve all the problems we have in this world he would help those who were going through injustice and he would bring justice and he would punish the wicked and here I am in prison and Herod and his new wife well they are living in acclaim and living in luxury so with that struggle going on
He did the best possible thing he could do he sent his disciples to bring the issue to Jesus see what he thought so let's begin reading again looking at verse 2 now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ he sent word by his disciples and said to him are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another and Jesus answered them go and tell John what you hear and see the blind receive their sight and the lame walk lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have the good news preached to them and blessed is the one who is not offended
By me John sent a question to Jesus and Jesus took that question and he replied to it he took his John's question seriously understand something when we are going through a struggle when we are facing difficult times we can bring our request to Jesus we can share with him and he will listen because he cares he didn't condemn John for asking that question he didn't he didn't jump on him because he was struggling with what was going on
In his life he listened and he responded Jesus took him seriously even though John's question struck at the very heart of who Jesus was are you the one who is to come are you really the disciple I thought you were but now I'm beginning to wonder are you really that one John would have known the scripture John would have known
That in some of the passages from the Old Testament that look forward to the coming of the Messiah that we find things such as this where it says in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see but he also would have known that there are prophecies
From the Bible that talk about the Messiah coming and initiating that time where there is justice listen to what Malachi had to say for behold the day is coming burning like an oven when all the arrogant and all evil doers will be stubble the day that is coming will set them ablaze says the Lord of hosts so that it will leave them neither root nor branch two different types of prophecies
John was hoping for one especially in the situation he was in Jesus replied it's the other one right now you go back and tell John what do you see and they see the blind getting their sight the lame walking the left was being cleansed the deaf hearing those things are taking place tell John the things that are happening that are blessing
People that are meeting people's needs that are they're beginning to see that with the becoming of the Messiah ultimately life is going to be better sometimes people need to have their needs met before they can absorb the gospel one relief worker said the hungry have no ears in other words
You've got to meet people's needs and then share the gospel with them that's why you see believers doing good things to help people adopting working at food banks working with crisis pregnancy centers spending money to help relief efforts when there's a disaster God's people
Respond in these ways and we're showing the same kind of love the master had and doing the same kind of work that Jesus did but notice Jesus went on and he said good news is preached to the poor because that's got to be
Part of the ministry too we don't just do something good for somebody and leave them hanging we try to go on and share the good news and if we just do a good deed without explaining that this is pointing to Jesus in one way
Or another then we've only gone half way we haven't met people's deepest needs and because we as God's people want to proclaim the gospel we will do things like give away bibles teach children in church we will
Share our faith when we have the opportunity to do so we will support efforts to start new churches we will support missionaries in other countries we do these things so that the good news of Jesus can be proclaimed and people
Can come to know who he really is and what he really can do but notice verse 6 Jesus closed his first response by John to saying and blessed is the one who is not offended by me the word offended there has the idea of stumbling
Over it John was beginning to stumble a little bit over Jesus because he wasn't doing what John thought he ought to be doing and so Jesus said be careful don't stumble over to me don't get to the place where you think you can judge what I'm
Doing and that be the final word on something in other words you've got to let Jesus be Jesus and do things in his own way and his own time and then John went on and he spoke some things
Concerning Jesus beginning with verse 7 as they went away Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John what did you go out in the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind what then did
You go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing behold those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses what then did you go out to see a prophet yes I tell you in more
Than a prophet this is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you John had attracted a lot of people he had attracted them by saying
Judgment is coming and it's coming quickly and now John was in prison and judgment hadn't come so some of the people were beginning to leave John probably some of the people who heard Jesus speak and so Jesus was telling them
About John and what it was did you go out to see a reed reed grows in marshy land it's blown away by any kind of small wind and it was something that symbolized
Weakness Jesus is saying John wasn't a reed he didn't wear soft clothing he wasn't a softie he was brave he was strong he was courageous and he was a prophet he was a prophet and more than a
Prophet he was a prophet who made ready the way of the Lord again the Old Testament says that's what he was going to do Malachi 3 1 it says behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and that's
What John was doing by calling people to take their sin seriously they were being prepared to receive Jesus as the one who could save them from their sins so he was preparing the way for the
Lord and in verses 13 and 14 it says for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John but if you're willing to accept it he is Elijah who
Is to come again there was a prophecy that Elijah would come back Malachi 4 5 behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes so people were expecting a return of Elijah now John wasn't a reincarnation of Elijah
John was in the spirit and in the power of Elijah that was able to bring people to the Lord bring people made ready for the
Lord God and then Jesus after complimenting John in all of these ways said this and this is an amazing verse look at verse 11 Jesus
Said truly I say to you among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist wow Jesus said
Nobody is greater than John but look what he goes on to say yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is
Greater than he Jesus said this man John nobody is greater than John but the least one in the kingdom of heaven is greater
Than he now what do he mean well John was there and he saw the dawn of the kingdom of heaven Jesus had come
Jesus was beginning his work of bringing the kingdom of heaven to be but John died he got beheaded before Jesus finished his ministry
So John never knew that Jesus went to the cross and paid the price for our sins John never knew that when Jesus died the
Veil of the temple was split from top to bottom God tearing apart and saying you could come into my presence now because my
Son has died John never knew that Jesus has been raised from the dead John never knew that the Holy Spirit was poured out
On all of God's people and we know those things and so we are greater than John and if we are believers we have
The Holy Spirit within us and we can do things greater than John did because we can share more about the Christ than John
Even knew we're greater than John did you realize that as a believer you are that important and you are that great Jesus went on
Verse 12 from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has surfaced violence and the violent take it by
Force that probably means that people try to take the kingdom of God that Jesus was breaking and use it for their own devices or
They were trying to force Jesus to be a political military messiah and right away do away with the wicked throw off Roman rule
And establish a kingdom an earthly kingdom that would suit what they wanted so again you get to see this question what kind of messiah
Is Jesus is Jesus a messiah who meets physical and spiritual needs is Jesus a messiah who brings judgment is Jesus the one who
Is going to come and establish perfect justice which is it what kind of messiah is Jesus one who does good deeds one who
Judges one who establish justice all of them Jesus is all of those things Jesus is the messiah who comes to us and delivers
Us from the troubles and difficulties we face now just understand he does it in different ways sometimes he does it in a remarkable
Way way we would almost call a miracle you know Jesus comes in and all of a sudden the tumor that was there is
Now gone all of a sudden the wayward son or daughter has finally come to his or her senses and come home and started
Living a life that's going to be productive sometimes Jesus changes things right away sometimes Jesus uses other people to help us so that
In the midst of our struggles and difficulties we have someone to come and walk along beside us and help us and encourage us
And guide us and support us and provide what we need sometimes Jesus gives us the grace that we need to bear up under the struggles and difficulties
That we are facing and just day by day by day somehow he's always there and he gives us just the help we through one
More day sometimes Jesus uses the difficulties and challenges that come into our lives and takes them and molds us and shapes us and
Prepares us to be more beneficial in his kingdom and more helpful in dealing with other people because joy and I went through what we
Went through when our first child was still born we know what it's like to lose something and to grieve over it and to
Hurt because of it and sometimes we can understand people and sometimes when they know that about us they know that we understand what
It's like to lose and to grieve and to hurt and to question so we can form a bond and we can help Jesus
Is the Messiah the deliverer who does come and help now Jesus is the Messiah who will return and bring judgment he will come
Back as the king of kings he will come back as the Lord of lords he will come back and destroy all evil he
Will judge all evil he will come back and bring an eternal blessing Jesus is the Messiah who will bring a new heaven and
A new earth have you ever stopped to think about what it's going to be you could open the Old Testament and see even
Reflected there some of the wonderful things that are going to take place when the Messiah comes back returns again and really establishes his
Kingdom love what Isaiah says in chapter 11 he says the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with
The young goat and the calf and the lion and the fatted calf together and a little child will lead them don't you love
That picture little kid playing with a lion the cow and the bear shall graze their young shall lie down together the lion shall
Eat straw like the ox the nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra and the weaned child shall put his hand
In the adder's den they shall neither hurt or destroy and all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
Of the Lord as the waters cover the sea oh what a time what a time it's going to be no more nature red
In tooth and claw no more danger for any little child anywhere from anything no more sorrow no more crying listen to what it says
In Revelation and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man and he shall dwell
With them they will be his people and God himself will be them and will be their God and he will wipe away every
Tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more for the former
Things have passed away one day our deliverer is going to return and he's going to make such a perfect world that we can hardly begin to imagine how wonderful it's going
To be and he loves us now and he wants all all to be saved now so the scripture goes on look at this verse 16 but to what shall I compare this
Generation it is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates we played the flute for you and you did not dance we sang
A dirge and you did not mourn for John came eating neither eating nor drinking and they said he has a demon the son
Of man came eating and drinking and they said look at him a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and sinners yet
Wisdom is justified by our deeds here's the picture marketplace busy to trade their goods buy the things they needed children left to play with
One another and they had their different games and so a group of children one day were saying I tell you what let's play wedding
Let's play some of this joyous and happy and a good time let's play wedding another kid said no don't want to do that
Today if you don't want to play something joyful why don't we play something sad why don't we play funeral no don't want to
Do that either and Jesus says this generation is like that in the sense that John came preaching a fiery judgment and they said don't want to
Hear that nope no part of that Jesus came as one who entered joyfully into life and he got with anybody and everybody and
He worked it so that even those who had been pushed aside now felt forgiven and accepted people said no don't want no part
Of that either sometimes no matter what God does how he approaches us what he offers we want to push it away and we
Forget that he's doing that out of love whether he's calling us to repentance or offering us eternal life and eternal blessing he's calling
Us out of love because he wants us to be forgiven he wants us to have eternal life he cares for us and there's a little bit more to the answer John had are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another
Verse 20 Jesus Jesus still speaking then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent woe to you chorizan woe to you Bethsaida for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago
And sat cloth and ashes but I tell you it would be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you and you Capernaum will you be exalted to the heaven you will be brought down to Hades for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom it would have repainted until this day
But I tell you that it would be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you three cities where Jesus had done his ministry Jesus had done great deeds there healed cleansed wonderful things and got really no response and he said well then
You're like these cities Tyre and Sidon and Sodom who were known for their wickedness you're just like they are they didn't you know if what I'd done in them they would have changed but you're not changing don't change be judged if you don't respond to what Jesus is doing
The offers he's making the warnings he's given then it's a dangerous thing like children in the marketplace needed to respond to their friends you need to respond to Jesus maybe you need to renounce your sins maybe you need to hear a dirge be sorry for the wrong that you've
Done realize the consequences of it and realize that Jesus is the deliverer who can forgive you of your sins and give you a new start maybe if you're a child of God despite what you're going through you need to rejoice
Jesus is saying I'm here with you I care for you I'm going to get you through this and besides I've got a future waiting for you that's so wonderful you can't begin to imagine what it's going to
Be like like unrepentant cities you ignore Jesus at your own peril there can be a time when you leave this world and you're not ready man I knew was pastor in Newberry he was a member
Of the church bought and really out of the church didn't really know the Lord he was he had children as old as I was at the time so he was an older man very successful businessman hard gruff people told
Me that his mother had been such a godly woman and his wife came to church all the time she was a faithful woman but you know he just didn't seem to be too interested in that he was going to have surgery one time and they lived around the
Corner from us and so I went by his house and visited him with the wife for a while and you know before I left I said well can I have a prayer with you and he didn't really care where I had a prayer with him or not so he said well go ahead it
Will make my wife feel better later on he got sick again went to the hospital one complication after another no matter what treatment they gave him it didn't seem to work literally he was there for months I would see him went to see him one time and thought I need to talk with him again
About his relationship to the Lord he's in serious condition didn't get very far before he cut me off ah preacher I ain't interested in that stuff he died that night he had a godly mother he had a godly wife he had other people who had shared with him about Jesus
And if they wanted him to dance he wouldn't dance if they wanted him to be sorry he wouldn't be sorry he just didn't have anything to do with it people are still like that Jesus gives us the opportunity to have more than
We could ever imagine and sometimes we ain't interested in that stuff what kind of Messiah is Jesus is he is he the need beating joy bringing Messiah is he the Messiah who comes in judgment and pronounces judgment against those who will not
Turn to him because all are sinners is he the Messiah who is going to bring an end to wickedness an end to all unrighteousness an end to all evil and establish a perfect world what kind of Messiah is Jesus I think he's all of those
But the most important question is what kind of Messiah is Jesus to you will you let him deliver you from your sin will you let him walk with you through the midst of your troubles will you trust in him to provide for you
Now and provide for you for all eternity what kind of Messiah is Jesus to you now with me please for prayer heavenly father we stand amazed at Jesus Jesus the Messiah the Christ the deliverer father sometimes we struggle sometimes
We struggle with the hurts and the unfairness this old world that have come into our lives and sometimes we wonder Lord where are you father some of us here today need your comfort we need to assure us that
You are with us and that you are working for good in the midst of what we're going through some of us here today father need to repent to really admit that yes I am a sinner and I need Jesus to forgive
Me and give me eternal life some of us father may be on the verge of just walking away and not paying Jesus any attention help us to see that Jesus is the Christ is the Messiah is the deliverer and father I pray
That today when each one of us leaves this place we may be able to say Jesus is my Christ he is my Messiah he is my deliverer we pray this in Jesus name Amen
The Fearfully Fearless
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. It is good to see you all this morning. Grab your Bibles. Go to Matthew chapter 10.
We've been working our way through the book of Matthew because we love the scriptures. And we believe that in them we have wisdom and life and they lead us to Christ and they train us and they equip us. And so we gather as a church and we study the Bible together seeking to not just learn it but to apply it to our lives. In 2006, in Quebec, Canada near the Hudson Bay, there was a mom walking with two small children. She heard some other children begin to yell. She looked in the direction of where the children were and they drew her attention to a polar bear.
This polar bear began to head towards her and her two small children. She had a seven-year-old. It seemed as if the polar bear was eyeing him. She told her sons to run and then she assaulted the polar bear. She charged it, began punching and kicking it. It knocked her to the ground, jumped on top of her.
She continued to kick it and she was outside aggressively fighting a polar bear. The beginning of the article I read said, Mother in Quebec, Canada will no longer have trouble from her two sons after they watched her fight a polar bear. That was the lead to the article. Eventually, somebody came with a gun and was able to get the polar bear off of her. It was a 700-pound polar bear. Why on earth would she do that?
The answer is immediately clear. Because if she didn't, there was a great fear that the polar bear would get her children. She had an overriding fear that made her absolutely fearless. This is often how someone who is brave, courageous, fearless is. They have a greater fear that drives them. If the story was local lady, unprovoked, walking by herself, attacks polar bear, I would read until I found out what substance she was on.
Something to help me understand what just happened here. But as soon as you hear that there were children in danger, it makes perfect sense to us because we understand that what she was more afraid of in that moment was not a polar bear. And most of the time, when you have fierce and aggressive, hungry polar bears on one side, it wins. Most of the time. But she had this overriding fear that made her fearless.
And that's actually, as we're reading this passage today, that's what we're going to see Jesus is instilling in his disciples, is calling them to. He's sending them out into a fearful situation and he's telling them this is a fearful situation. But he consistently says, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Actually, every time that Jesus mentions fear throughout any of the gospels, he's saying, don't be, except for in one place, in one case, he actually calls his disciples to fear. But it's a great overriding fear that creates complete fearlessness.
So let's pray and then we'll study this together this morning. God, we ask that as we look at this together, that you might make us fearful. So that we might be sent out utterly fearless. We ask for your help in this, this morning, through the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. Matthew chapter 10, verse 16.
So we've been seeing Jesus commissioning his disciples, sending them out on their first missionary work. He says this, Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. A lot of animal analogies there. But he's saying, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
That's not something that if we were having a commissioning that you want to hear. That's not the most exciting news. Sheep and wolves don't get along very well. And sheep have no ability to defend themselves. But he says that's exactly what he's doing.
I'm putting you intentionally, purposefully in a very bad spot. I'm putting you intentionally, purposefully in a very dangerous, precarious position. So, so the rest of what he's going to say here is coming out of this idea that they're going into a fearful situation. The rest of what he's going to say in this passage is explaining how they ought to think and how they ought to approach life. He says, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Serpents, sneaky, crafty, intentional.
Doves, not so much. Doves are innocent. They're not accused of things very often. They're, they're considered blameless. They're just, there's not much to them. Nobody's ever like, can I just tell you what this sneaky dove did to me?
Like it doesn't happen. It's not. So what he says is be intentionally crafty, but be absolutely innocent in your approach. And this is how missionaries ought to approach their work. Be wise. Be smart.
He's sending them out into dangerous situations. Don't be foolish, but don't be causing trouble. Don't be stirring things up. I'm going to mention in just a second, a missionary that I'm familiar with. But for the sake of posting this online, I'm not going to be able to say names.
So I'm going to give a very unspecified story. But there is a missionary that I am familiar with. And he helps an organization and their organization supports missionaries. They are currently actively supporting some missionary work and some church plant work in a nation where it is illegal to do so. And so those who are actively being missionaries there and trying to start churches are in danger. So this individual who is trying to get money to one of the people in the field has no ability to directly wire the money to them because if it got traced back, this person could get arrested.
They're already on a watch list. So they send money to another person in another country that nobody cares. They send money to that person gets in a vehicle and drives to the other country, crosses the border, meets this missionary and hands him cold, hard missionary cash. Wise as serpents, innocent as doves. This is how they are sent out and to make wise decisions to work within the means that they have. And there are times where Christians are slightly bending or breaking some laws in the midst of a difficult regime.
There are places where Christians in China and in Soviet Russia at times in different places have had to break laws, but they were doing it in an innocent way. If that makes any sense, they were not stirring up strife. They were doing it with good God honoring hearts, but they were having to break some laws because they were. Working inside of a system that was fighting against it, and that's what Jesus is calling him to. This isn't, I'm sending you out a sheep among wolves, so arm yourselves and become very aggressive, mean sheep. That's not what he's saying.
He's saying, but be intentional about how you go about this. Be wise in it. Nineteen. Oh, sorry, no, hadn't made it there yet. Seventeen. Beware of men.
So he's saying, watch out for them, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Okay, so Gentiles are non-Jewish people. This specific mission was given to them to just go among Jewish people. We read that last week. So he's beginning to say this is overall information for the future mission of the church.
He's given more generic information for all the missionary work they're going to do from here on that also applies to us as we go forward. So he says, watch out for men. They're going to deliver you over to courts. This is verse 17. Flog you in their synagogues. So the synagogue in a bunch of rural places was where they held court.
The synagogue in rural areas was kind of the center of town. They would gather there. They would make good decisions there. They would lead from there. And so he's saying, as y'all go, there are going to be some synagogues that aren't going to like what you say. They're going to get you in front of everybody, and they're going to beat you with sticks.
There are going to be times where you're dragged before courts. To bear witness before them and the Gentiles. I think we ought to think really long and hard as Christians in the U.S. because one of the things that I hear often, and I have dealt with myself in work situations, is people saying, well, I'm not really supposed to talk about religion at work. I'm not really supposed to bring it up. It's kind of frowned upon. And I think we have to walk out the tension of being good missionaries in our culture, where I think being dragged to court and being publicly beaten meant that what they were called to do was frowned upon.
So let's be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, but let's be good missionaries where we are. 19, when they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say. I love that. He says, they're going to drag you to court. They're going to beat you with sticks. And people are like, okay.
And then you're going to have to do public speaking. And anxiety just shoots up in them. But don't be anxious. I heard Jerry Seinfeld talk about this. He said he saw a list of people's greatest fears. And the first one was public speaking, and the second one was death.
Jerry Seinfeld was like, really? At a funeral, most people would rather be in the box than giving the eulogy? Jesus isn't saying this because he understands people greatly fear public speaking. I don't think that's what he's getting at here. He is telling them, don't be anxious over this, that they're going to have to stand before powerful people, that they're going to have these moments where they're absolutely put on the spot. Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. This is an active missionary work. And in moments where we're put on the spot and where we're having to testify to bear witness in a hostile environment. This is not a rule for preaching. This is not a rule for if you're going to help facilitate a community group or teach in Sunday school. He's going to give me in that hour what I'm supposed to say.
You weren't dragged there, hopefully. You ought to prepare. But this is a great encouragement for us when we think I'm trying to bear witness about the goodness of the gospel to my neighbors and to my coworkers. And I don't know what to say. And there are going to be these moments where I'm put on the spot and we can trust the Holy Spirit to work. I cannot tell you how many times I've had somebody have a story where they helped lead someone to the Lord or they just had a really wonderful conversation and they will say all excitedly, I don't even know what I said.
Or they do know what they said, but they're like, I was saying some really good stuff that would not be normal things for me to say. I was like quoting scriptures I didn't know I knew and was like, I was like, man, that's like third grade Bible school that just shot out. I don't know. I've had that so often because the Holy Spirit empowers those moments. And I also want to give you some encouragement. I've had times I went to try to share the gospel with somebody and what came out was some confusing, convoluted mess.
And some of y'all have heard me preach enough that you're like, that doesn't seem too far fetched. But I get to walk away trusting that the Lord can, through the power of his Holy Spirit, give me the words that are needed in that moment. And if he doesn't, I get to trust him when he does and when he doesn't. He says, don't be anxious about it. So as we go forward and try to share the gospel with our neighbors and our coworkers, as we are intentional about building relationships and sharing what we believe to be absolutely good news, walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in the power of the flesh.
Don't be anxious. Verse 21. Brother will deliver brother over to death and father, his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my namesake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes. Okay. Brother will deliver brother over to death and father, his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my namesake. This is not an encouraging commission.
But Jesus doesn't blink. He says, this is, as you are sent forward, you will not be well received. There will be those who hate. I have two brothers. The idea that one of them would hand me over to death or that I would be willing to do that is craziness to me. But this is what the gospel does and is doing, has done throughout history and actively is doing in other parts of the world where someone believes and their family ostracizes them or has them put to death.
Where someone believes and someone in their family tells on them. In the U.S. this is a bit muted. We aren't having public executions for Christians. They're not being rounded up. You just may have someone who says, I can't believe that you would spend your time doing that. You may have friends and family say, this is so ridiculous.
They might call you bigoted or narrow-minded. They might call you intolerant. Foolish. We've had people who, parents said they were believers. And then when their children said, I'm going to go, I'm going to quit this job and I'm going to go help plant a church. They said, are you crazy?
Why would you do that? We still face some of this, but not to the extent that he's talking about. But this is the Christian mission is to go forward with good news in the face of death. He says, I'm sending you out a sheep among wolves. He tells them to be intentional, to be wise about it. But then he just says, you're going to be hated and some of you are going to die.
You'll be handed over to death. And then he says this, when they persecute, this is verse 23. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly, I say to you, have not gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. There are a couple of different ways to understand that verse as to what he means by the Son of Man coming. Some would argue that he's talking about his death on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, specifically that he's talking about all the places in Israel.
I believe it is actually more of a eschatological comment, meaning the end of time comment. That eschatology is what that is. It's the study of the end times of when everything comes to a close. And the reason I believe that is because he uses the title Son of Man and that when he uses that again in front of the Sanhedrin, he's talking about his return. He says, the next time you see me, I'll be coming with the clouds. So I think he is saying that this mission won't fully end.
We won't have reached everybody before he returns. This is scary. This is intense. This is what he is calling his disciples to do. Verse 24. A disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master.
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher. So they understand he's saying, y'all aren't above me, but it's good to be like me. And the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household? Beelzebul is the devil. He says, if they've called me Satan, who buddy?
What are they going to call y'all? But it's enough for you to be like me. So then he says this. So have no fear of them. So this is the first imperative that he's given in this section.
He says, have no fear of them. Now, if you've been reading up to this point, fear seems an appropriate response. Sheep among wolves. Some of you are going to be flogged. Some of you are going to be dragged before court. Some of you are going to be killed.
Don't be afraid. But I want to show you something. He says this. Have no fear. And right before that, he says so. So when you're reading your Bible, when you see words like so and but and for, realize they're helping you understand the argument he's making.
So what he thinks is when he says have no fear, the reason he says so there is he thinks this first thing. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household? That's one of his points. That's to encourage us. It didn't sound encouraging when I read it the first time. What he's saying, his encouragement, the reason we ought to have no fear is when you face opposition, you're in very good company.
He's saying that you look like the master of the house and that's what else would a what else would a servant want to look like but his master? What else would a disciple want to look like but his teacher? That if they call me names and then they call you names, this fits with the other things where he says rejoice in that day. So he says have no fear because when they fight against you, you're in good company. But then he says this for so he's about to give us another one.
Another reason for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. That's his next point. Have no fear because when they attack you, when they fight against you, you look like me, look like Christ for nothing is hidden that won't be revealed. I think what he's telling us there is that the church, that you as a missionary, the disciples as missionaries will be vindicated. That one day this will all be evident. It is not now.
That is why we face opposition. If we said things that were clearly evident, perfectly understood by everybody, people would just nod along. But we're sent to send a message, to say a message to a group of people who don't want to hear it that fights against their understanding of things. And he says one day it will be clear. It'll be revealed. Meaning that as you share this with your friends and they no longer like you because you've become a weirdo.
Now, I think it's perfectly good to be a normal human and a Christian. Some people are weird not because they're Christians but just because they're weird. So I'm not saying everybody needs to try to be weird. But I am saying that there are certain things that we believe that are odd and that are at at odds with our culture. But here's the deal.
Jesus actually tells a story about someone who dies and then they're made aware of how everything works. And they begin to cry out and ask for help and they ask that somebody would go tell their siblings who are still alive. It tells us in Luke. There's some of your neighbors, some of your co-workers, some of your friends, some of your roommates, some of the people who live in your dorms, some of the people that you work with that are going to one day face the king standing in their own righteousness. And that will not suffice. And in that day, we want them to see that they had heard this message and they didn't believe.
Not that they were surrounded by a bunch of people who believed this and never told them. They'll make fun of you. You'll be vindicated. But if we don't speak, they won't malign us and we won't be vindicated because we never said this. So have no fear.
Proclaim this message. Go forward with it. He gives two more commands in the next verse, 27. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. So again, this is a message to be told.
Say it in the light. Proclaim it on the housetops. What you're learning, what you're growing in, where the Lord's teaching you, where you're seeing so truly in your own soul what is real. Share it. Proclaim it. Help people see who Jesus is and what he has done.
And some of them will hate you. There ought to be Christians who are getting written up at work. Some of the best workers, kindest people, they ought to be, they used to drag the disciples in front of, they would drag them in and they would say, stop talking about Jesus after they just healed somebody. They're like, we're fine with healing people. Shut your mouth about Jesus. And the disciples said, we can't help it.
So keep your stick ready. There ought to be Christians who have bosses pleading with them. You're one of my best workers. Please quit talking about Jesus. There ought to be neighbors who are serving and working with their neighbors and they're sharing the gospel and some will believe it and some won't. Some will hear it and be responsive and some won't.
But let us be saying and proclaiming from the housetops. It's one of the weirdest things I think you could do is proclaim this from your housetop. So I think whatever the Lord leads you to do is going to be just shy of that, but still really good to do. Verse 28. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both body, soul and body in hell.
Verse 28. Do not fear. Fear him. Those are the two commands. So he said multiple times, do not fear, do not fear, do not fear.
There are other places where he says, do not be afraid. And then he just said, be afraid. He says, do not fear those who can kill the body. And the reason is they cannot kill the soul. Well. Now, if you said, I'm going to New York and I'm a little worried about getting mugged.
And I said, oh, you shouldn't. Don't be afraid about going to New York. I've had plenty of people that I know have gone up there. The worst thing that they ever did was kill their bodies. That neighborhood's perfectly fine. The worst thing that will happen is someone will grab you and kill your body.
He'd be like, what? Tell me another neighborhood to go to. I don't. When he says, do not fear those who kill the body, my immediate response is. It's actually one of the things I'm most afraid of. I do a lot of my choices in life are based off of not having my body killed.
Seatbelts, helmets, door locks. I mean. But then he's making a clear break for us here. The absolute worst persecution that you could ever face is that they kill you. And then when they do, they have relinquished all control, all right. They have no claim.
Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. It is frowned upon to talk a lot about hell. I want you to be terrified of hell. I want you to be terrified of the great God and King who rules over the universe and who holds all eternity. I want you to be terrified at the notion that your soul will last forever. I want that to be an overriding fear.
Because it is a reality. I do not want my children running around afraid of everything. But there are some things I want them to be afraid of. My son, because he had only been around kind and generous people, had in his mind that everybody was his friend. This is problematic for a three and four year old. Because he would just open our front door.
And he would say things like, well, I know the mailman. And I would be like, bro, I don't even know the mailman. He seems nice. He delivers things to our home. But you can't even tell that's who's out there.
So just guessing it's the mailman that knocked is a bad plan. But I came and he had our front door open. So I took my three year old. I closed the door. I stood outside. I said, open the door.
He opened the door. I grabbed him by his shirt, clamped over his mouth and snatched him out of my house. He was in tears. And I said, this is why you do not open the door without me here. Because if someone tries to snatch you, it will be all on. But if I don't know you've opened this door and they close the door and we come out here and we're looking for you and they've already thrown you in a car and taken off, we don't know where you are.
He was terrified. But I'm fine with that. Because there are some realities that we ought to stare wide eyed into understanding the consequences. Hell is one of them. There is an eternity without the saving grace of Jesus. There is an eternity that humans will face in punishment for their rebellion and sin.
And we ought not to close our eyes to that. Because there is an eternity where those redeemed by Jesus are enraptured in his joy and grace and love based off of his work. And how dare we claim to believe this and be fearful of such small things as being disliked. May we see with wide eyes the king of the universe and in eternal hell so that we might be fearless in all other respects. There is a Romanian pastor. His name is Joseph Sons.
T-S-O-N. That's how you spell his last name. During a certain time. 1970. 1977. Around in there.
The Romanians were stomping out the church. They were trying to get rid of Christians. This man had been called to preach. So he was. So while the Romanian government was trying to get Christians to shut up.
This guy had a bad case of the can't help it. And he was telling everybody about Jesus. So they called him and they offered him a job. As long as he would quit preaching. So they thought maybe this is his livelihood.
We will give him a job. He will shut up. He prayed about it. He went to meet with the government official. He said this. I told the man.
Now I am ready to die. You said you were going to finish me as a preacher. I asked my God. And he wants me to continue to be a preacher. Now I have to make one of the two of you angry.
And I decided it's better to make you angry than God. The guy told him to go home. Later they rounded him up again. He would be interrogated at different times. For weeks on end. He says this in one of his things he wrote.
He said during an early interrogation. I had told an officer who was threatening to kill me. So the officer got him. Said look if you don't shut up. We're going to kill you. And he said sir.
Let me explain how I see this issue. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Here's how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me.
Those sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. And everyone who has a tape will pick it up and say. I better listen again to what this man preached. Because he really meant it. He sealed it with his life.
So sir. My sermons will speak ten times louder than before. I will actually rejoice. In this supreme victory. If you kill me. After this.
After I said this. The interrogator sent me home. But he had settled in his mind. What the overarching reality of the world was. And therefore nothing else seemed to matter. Everything else became trivial.
In the face of the reality. Of what God has called us to. The reality of the world that we live in. And there is a God who rules over all eternity. There is a heaven. And there is a hell.
And we ought to. Rightly. Appropriately. Worshipfully. Fear the God. Who rules over both.
Who wants our bodies have died. And everyone's body will die. I looked it up. Ten out of ten. Still. CDC's website.
Everybody will die. But not everybody will be redeemed by Christ. Not everybody will have to taste the second death. Of judgment for their sin. And we ought to be fearless. In the face of anything.
That keeps us from proclaiming. The good news of Jesus. Who redeems sinners. Verse 29. He just said. Fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny. Odd transition. Not one of them will fall to the ground. Apart from your father. Fear. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear. Not. Therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. I find those few verses so absolutely encouraging. He just said.
Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Does that register with us at all? Like I don't know. Has anybody ever bought two sparrows with a penny? Is this a thing? I looked it up.
It was very common food. For poor people. They could buy a couple of sparrows very cheaply. So I just made me think about chicken. I wondered. I got to thinking.
How many chickens did I eat in 2019? I'm going to spoil it for you. There's a lot. I eat. Chicken in my burritos. I eat.
Chicken. If it's a good week. I'll eat chicken from Bojangles. On a Sunday. My wife and I will get a rotisserie chicken. I'll eat half of that.
Rotisserie chickens cost like five dollars. It's a whole chicken already cooked. I think it equates here. Every Thursday I eat chicken at Egg Roll Station. I eat chicken in tortilla soup. Like we eat chicken all the time.
And I never think about it. But what he just said was. Not one single solitary chicken. Went from having a heartbeat. To a plate. Without God's permission.
Not one. There's not a bird on the earth. That we have given zero thought to. That falls somewhere out of a tree. And lands in some leaves. That God did not okay that.
That God did not allow that. That God did not work that. Then he says. You are of more value. Than many sparrows. He is saying.
God pays attention to everything. He knows everything. He is at work in everything. Sometimes I will sit and think about this. And sit outside. And just listen to birds chirping.
That he is in charge of their little heartbeat. That he knows. Every intricate detail about them. Whether they are hungry or not. Where he is going to feed them next. How many more breaths they have.
He helps them sing their song. And that when he calls us. To go into mission. When he calls us. To proclaim this news. In the face of opposition.
How much more do we matter to him. He also says this. It's an encouragement. He says the hairs. Even. The hairs of your head.
Are all. Numbered. Do you see the level of attentiveness? Dr. Ken and I were looking at this earlier. He said that he was trying to make it easier on God.
Do you see the attentiveness? My wife. We have two little boys. She pays a lot of attention to them. She will come to me. Often.
And say things like. I noticed Archer had a little spot on his hand. Have you seen that? I'm like. I am aware he has hands. She'll be like.
We need to look at it. And she has me investigate things a lot. And then her question is. Should we be worried? Which I always answer. No.
Even if I think we should. I'm just like. Probably not. And then I go Google things. I don't let her Google things. Because.
The first ten things that Google guesses. Are awful. Are awful. Google does not say at the beginning. You're probably fine. Google is like.
Well here's the worst fifteen things it could be. But she pays so much attention. She'll say. Ellis has a new spot on the back of his leg. Ellis had two bug bites. Where were y'all where there were bugs?
I'm like. The world. What are you talking about? She's paying attention to them. She's never once come to me though. And said.
Do you see this? What is that? It's Ellis's hair. Okay. No, no, no. This is hair.
Two thousand. Two hundred and fifty two. It fell from his head today. Should we be worried? I'd be like. I'm a little concerned.
It's not for Ellis. But do you see how well God knows us? How much he is zoomed in. It doesn't say your hairs are counted. It says they're numbered. This is so clearly proven to us.
That the man who is saying these words. Is God come from heaven sent to die? He says. You don't understand how much God loves you. I can sit and send you out as sheep among wolves. And you can be afraid.
But let me tell you. There's a God who rules over all eternity. And don't be afraid. He loves you so immensely more than you could ever comprehend. And this is the son of God come to die to give his life for sinners. He did not come to save the well behaved.
He did not come to rescue the righteous. He came to save wicked, evil sinners. And make them righteous. Through the power of his blood. That this love for us is overwhelming. And incomprehensible.
So we ought to go forward fearlessly. Because there is an eternity. But there's a king who rules over it. Who loves us so beyond our understanding. That it is baffling. Verse 32.
Verse 32. So everyone who acknowledges me before men. I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men. I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. So he ends here.
He's going to change directions a little bit. Following this as he continues to send them out. But he says. So. In light of this. The chief desire of our hearts.
Ought to be. To stand before the king. And have Jesus go. I know him. I know her. Because we walked forward.
Proclaiming this good news. To those who would hear it. And that we would be before him. And he would accept us. And welcome us. Because we have placed our faith in him.
Publicly. And then he says. Those who. Have no desire. To claim me. Those who would say they're a believer.
But it doesn't show up. Don't walk it out. Don't have any desire. To tell others about me. Then. I'll stand before him.
And say. I don't know him. He tells so many stories. That work along these lines. So we ought to.
In light of eternity. And God's great love. Go forward. Fearlessly. To help people know who Jesus is. To know the hope.
And the life that is in him. John G. Patton was a missionary. Who went to the new. Hebrides islands. The islands.
At this point. Were. The people who lived there. Were cannibals. So when he told his.
Church. That he was going. There was a. Leader in his church. Named Mr. Dixon.
Says he exploded. The cannibals. You will be eaten. By cannibals. Because there was. Missionaries that had gone before.
And that's exactly what happened. So later. In writing a letter to this. Church leader. He said. Mr.
Dixon. You are advanced in years now. And your own prospect. Is soon to be laid in the grave. There to be eaten by worms. Jesus.
And I confess to you. That if I can but live. And die. Serving the. And honoring. The Lord Jesus.
It will make no difference to me. Whether I'm eaten by cannibals. Or by worms. And in the great day. My resurrection body. Will rise.
As fair. As yours. In the likeness. Of our risen redeemer. May we be those. Who take the call.
Of Christ. Seriously. Because we understand. The reality. Of an eternal soul. Seriously.
And may we rise. Gloriously loved. Gloriously welcomed. Gloriously brought home. In the image of Christ. Who on that day.
Says I know you. Let's pray. God we pray. That we would appropriately. Fear you. That we would.
See you. Above. All else. That we would see. The eternity. That awaits us.
Lord may we see your love. Feel your closeness. That may we be fearless. In the face. Of everything. For the sake.
Of your name. In Jesus name. Amen. There may be some of you. In here today. Who have never.
Placed your faith in Jesus. Have never publicly told others. That you trust him. May I tell you. That he loves you. And that he redeems sinners. and I would encourage you after this to grab somebody, grab me and say, I believe, what do I do now?
I trust him, what do I do now? May we be public and bold in our proclamation that we love Jesus and may we be fearless in the face of all else.
Sent
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm glad to be with y'all this morning. If you'll grab your Bibles and go to Matthew chapter 10, that's where we'll be this morning. Matthew chapter 10. I want to begin this morning by reading a few quotes.
We're going to be looking at a section of Scripture where Jesus is sending his disciples out as missionaries. And I want to talk a little bit about mission. And I want to begin by reading a few quotes about mission and missionaries and this desire to share our faith. The first one comes from Pope Francis, the current pope. He says this, but listen, never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing. Proselytizing means by attempting to convert, by sharing a message where you are trying, the end goal being that you are trying to convert someone to Christianity.
So he says, never, never bring the gospel, the good news of Jesus. So gospel means by trying to convince someone. Of the good news of Jesus so that they might believe. If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus. Now that's the pope.
There's a reason why he's not quoted often from this pulpit. I want to read what it says in the Atlantic. They were looking at Christian missionaries and Christian mission. They're studying this because the tone of Christian mission and the tone of Christian missionaries has changed. It says Christian missionaries nowadays are relatively less inclined to tell others about their faith by handing out translated Bibles. They're more likely to show it through their work.
Often a tangible social project. For example, in the context of a humanitarian crisis. Humanitarian work has long been part of the Christian mission experience. That last statement is very true. The humanitarian process has long been a part of the Christian missionary experience. But it can now take precedence over the work of preaching.
Some missions do not involve proselytizing in any significant way. But there's no attempt to preach, to proclaim, to convert. It's not to say, she's quoting a professor. It's not to say that no one ever does any preaching. Of course they do, said Melanie McAllister, a George Washington University professor who writes about missionaries. But the notion that our main goal is to convert people has been much less common.
Much less common. It's becoming less common for missionaries to be sent out with the desire and the purpose to see people come to Christ. While I was looking into this, I read a study from Barna. They asked 992 practicing Christians. They gave them this statement. It is wrong to share your faith with someone in the hopes that they will come to have the same faith.
That was the statement. And then the Christians were supposed to say, agree, disagree. It's a statement. It is wrong. It is wrong. Morally incorrect.
To share your faith in the hopes that someone would come to share your faith. Come to believe the same thing. Most of the age demographics fared fairly well at this. Until we got to the age of 25-year-olds to 39-year-olds. 47% agreed with this statement. Half of the practicing Christians in this sample group said, yes, it is wrong to share your faith with the hope that someone would believe it.
I guess you could share it as part of your story, as part of your experience. Because there's this push in our culture that what's true for you is true for you. And you let everybody else have what's true for them. And we don't try to push our ideology on someone that's closed-minded. It's offensive. It's arrogant.
Depending on how you go about it, it could be bigoted or colonialism. Now, I would hope that there's part of us that says, yeah, not us. No, no, no, no, no. That's not us. Like you started with the Pope. That's not us.
We're not there. But I would say that I think culture has shifted on us. And there's a bit of a hush that has fallen over the American church. I was sitting at a wedding yesterday. And we're sitting there and they're playing the prelude. It was very pretty.
And everybody's just sitting chatting. The room was full. They're playing. And then the pianist and the person playing the really big violin stopped. And they quit playing. And then from there, the rest of the room just got quiet.
And everybody, just picking up on context clues, shut their mouth. Now, I'm willing to bet that most of us would not agree with that last statement that Barna put out. But functionally, we may be operating like we do. When I hear this utter nonsense, it is insidious. It is evil. It is demonic.
I want us to read as Jesus sends out his first disciples in Matthew 10. As he's sending these disciples out, this is the first mission he sends them on. And I hope that we might learn a little bit of the foundation for mission. What flows out of it as he's training them to be missionaries, that we might begin to see just some core factors to this, that we might grow in this. So let's pray.
Lord, help us. Help us to believe with grace-filled defiance of the cultural push for us to keep this to ourselves. Help us to so believe the reality of eternity with Christ and the reality of an eternity without Christ. That we cannot but speak. Do not let us shut our mouths. In Jesus' name.
Amen. This is Matthew chapter 10. It says, And he called to him his twelve disciples. This is verse 1. And he gave them authority over unclean spirits. So there's a spiritual realm.
There are good spirits. God being God, Christ, Holy Spirit. And then there are angels that are ministering spirits. And then there are unclean spirits. Those who have fallen away. Those who have rebelled against God.
Led by Satan, which means adversary. And he gives them authority over those unclean spirits. The sermon today will not be primarily about the demonic activity. But if you have questions or concerns about that, I would love to speak with you. But we do believe this.
Over unclean spirits to cast them out. And to heal every disease and every affliction. So we're going to come back to this. But he endows these disciples with this authority. And it keeps going. It says he called them together.
He gives them this authority. The names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who is called Peter. And Andrew, his brother. James, the son of Zebedee. And John, his brother.
Philip, and Bartholomew. Thomas, and Matthew, the tax collector. James, the son of Alphaeus. And Thaddeus. Simon, the zealot. And Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
I want to make a few observations here. First of all, Jesus calls them. They did not assemble themselves. He calls them. He calls specific people. With specific names.
And specific nicknames. Like he calls specific people. He calls some that are brothers. He calls some. He calls Matthew, who is a tax collector. Which means he was actively serving the Roman Empire.
To help keep the Israelites in check. Would have not been popular among Israelites. And he calls Simon the zealot. Who is actively working. Being a zealot. To try to overthrow the Roman Empire.
And sow discord. I feel like it got real awkward. Between Matthew and Simon. When they were introduced to one another. What do you do? I'm a tax collector.
What do you do? Until recently. I snuck into groups. And stabbed tax collectors. I was like. Okay.
Cool. I'm going to hang out with the fishermen. It was good talking to you. The beauty of this. Is that. This is displayed.
All throughout our church family. Where people are being pulled. From different areas. From different political parties. From different. Socioeconomic backgrounds.
From different forms of racism. And we're growing into. What it looks like. To be Jesus people. As he changes. Our hearts.
It's glorious. And it's beautiful. He calls them together. And even being called. And being pulled into this. Does not mean.
That faithfulness will ensue. Because Judas Iscariot. Is one of these. And he ultimately. Betrays. Betrays.
Jesus. But he says this. Verse five. These twelve. Jesus. Sent out.
So he calls them. That he might send them out. And you got to understand. That's foundational. For Christians. That we're called to Jesus.
That we belong to him. That he pursues us. Chases us. Makes us his. And then. Commissions us.
As his church. And when Jesus gave them. The authority. That he gave them. He was sending them out. As his representatives.
To the world. And we're told. As the New Testament progresses. That that's the church. That we are now his body. He's the head.
But we're his body. He fills all in all. In us. But he sends us out. As his representatives. To the world.
This is why Christians. Ought to. Be kind. Gracious. And do humanitarian aid. We ought to.
Care for the least of these. We ought to. Practice church discipline. Where we. Watch over the holiness. Of one another.
And pursue Jesus together. Because we are sent out. To represent Christ. To the world. So he calls them.
He gives them authority. He sends them out. And then he gives them instructions. Instructing them. Go nowhere. Among the Gentiles.
And enter no town. Of the Samaritans. But go rather. To the lost. Sheep. Of the house.
Of Israel. And proclaim. As you go. Saying the kingdom of heaven. Is at. Hand.
Okay. So let's make a few observations here. He says. Go nowhere. Among the Gentiles. And don't go.
Among the Samaritans. That's honestly. A little bit odd. Because Jesus. Had not been going. Anywhere.
Among the Gentiles. He had not been going. Anywhere. Among the Samaritans. And his Jewish disciples. Would not have jumped up.
And done that. On their own. They would have had no desire. To go to the Gentiles. If he said. I'm sending you out.
As missionaries. They would have thought. There's no. There was no. Mental place for them. To think.
I'm going to go. Hang out with Gentiles. Because there was this. Big gap. Between Jews and Gentiles. He's actually.
By saying that. Indicating. That while this mission. Is limited. There's going to come a day. Where Gentiles.
And Samaritans. Are included. Which is really good. For us. Because most of us. Are not Jewish.
Probably not a lot. Of Samaritans. In here. We mostly fit. In the Gentile camp. Those who were outside.
Of the covenant promises. Of Israel. And ultimately. At the end of Matthew. He's going to say. Go to all people.
Groups. All languages. All nations. But he limits it here. And the reality is. He still does this.
The global scope. Of the reach. Of the church. Is not limited. To a culture type. To a skin type.
To a language type. It's not limited. But. For specific missionaries. With specific names. It is.
God calls specific people. To specific tasks. And it's beautiful. There's a great diversity. In what he calls. The church to.
This is why. It seems so silly. To me. When we argue about. This is who we ought. To care about.
There's a. There's a man. In our church family. His name is Ben Johnson. He has. Felt called.
Specifically. To the people. Who live. In the 1040 window. It's what it's called. But it's this.
Area. On a map. It has to do with latitude. And longitude. It's where the most. Unreached people groups are.
It's the Arab world. It's North Africa. He weeps. Over the loss there. And he's excited. That people want to go.
To South America. But I don't think. He spends a lot of time. Crying. And stressing out. Over the people.
In South America. He feels. Specifically. Called. To. The 1040 window.
God's. Claimed him. And said. This is where you're. Supposed to go. He's burdened his heart.
With a specific. Mission. There's another. One of our church family members. Named Chris Rocky. And his wife.
Danielle. Who. Felt called. To missions. And they went. And talked.
To Ben. And Ben. And tried to convince them. That the people. In the 1040 window. Are the most lost.
More lost. Than the other lostness. And Chris Rocky. Said. Neat. We're supposed to go.
To probably Honduras. But somewhere. In South America. Is where we feel that. Now. We're going to vote.
By raise of hand. Who is wrong. Don't we as Christians. End up arguing. Over some silly things. There's some people.
Who think. I have a burden. For the homelessness. In the city. Because I have this burden. Everybody else.
Needs to have it. Hmm. We should care. Yeah. But there are some people.
Who have a burden. For every elementary student. At this school. Praise Jesus. Go. And do not.
Take your burden. And think. That it has to become. Everybody else's. That's not. Healthy.
You get to lead. You get to call others. To go with you. One of the things. That I found. As a pastor.
Is that. The Lord will wake somebody up. And tell them. You're supposed to go do this. And they will come to me. And say.
I think we're supposed to go do this. He didn't wake me up. He didn't wake me up. And tell me that. I'd love to help equip. I'd love to help send.
I'd love to help you have a platform. To explain what it is. And help people go with you. I'd love to help give some guidelines. But I'm actively doing this thing.
He woke me up and told me to do. And by God's grace. I'll get to keep doing it. But he calls specific people. To specific missions. But.
One message. A lot of mission areas. A lot of mission fields. A lot of methods and approaches. But one message.
He says. As you go. Proclaim. As you go. Saying. The kingdom of heaven.
Is at hand. This is the same thing. That Jesus was proclaiming. It's the same thing. That John the Baptist. Had been proclaiming.
That repent. For the kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. Jesus is walking around. Proclaiming. Repent.
For the kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. When he sends out his disciples. He says. Go. And proclaim.
The kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. The first thing they are to do. Is proclaim a message. This is why. Just doing humanitarian aid.
With the hopes. That if somebody wants to believe. They can ask me. And I'll explain it to them. But that's not my primary deal.
Is not at the core. Of what Christian mission is. The gospel. Is the good news. Of what Jesus Christ. Has done.
It's news. The gospel. Is not. Christians are nice people. Hopefully. That's true.
But that is not the gospel. The gospel. Is a message. To be shared. Maybe some of you. Have heard the quote.
Preach the gospel. At all times. And if necessary. Use words. Words. I'm fine with that quote.
Because it is always necessary. To use words. So it's necessary. From the beginning. Keep using them. It's a message.
To be shared. And he sends them out. With this message. That the kingdom. Is breaking in. Now.
They get a glimpse. Of this. We get the full picture. That the kingdom of God. Is breaking. In.
That where Jesus is. As king. There is hope. The kingdom of heaven. That there is opportunity. To be in heaven.
To be welcomed in heaven. For heaven to come down. And to rescue us. And that's what Jesus. Does. That's what the gospel.
Is. That heaven is real. And Jesus has brought it. To us. Through his sacrifice. Through his death.
Through his resurrection. So this is what it says. Verse seven. And proclaim as you go. Saying the kingdom of heaven. Is at hand.
Verse eight. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse lepers. Cast out demons. So he gave them authority.
Go proclaim this message. Do these signs. The signs. Co-sign. The message. The kingdom of heaven.
Is at hand. And then they. Put it on display. To. He's lending his authority. So that they might.
Display to the world. This is what it. Looks like. For heaven. To break in. So that people.
Might believe. We've been reading through. Matthew together. We're studying through Matthew. We're picking back up. We're going to keep.
Going through. Matthew. And there's this time. Where Jesus is. Looks at a paralytic. And he says.
Rise. He says. Son. Your sins are forgiven. And there's some. Religious leaders there.
Who have a problem. With this. Because. Only God. Should forgive sins. This would be a problem.
Were Jesus not God. But there's no problem with this. Because Jesus is. So he looks at them. And says. So that you may know.
That I have authority. To forgive sins. Rise. Walk. And he stands up. And walks.
The signs. Are so that you may know. So that you may believe. So that you may know. That this is real. That what he says is real.
That heaven is breaking in. So they. Raise the dead. You ever seen. Like old. Like you watch a western.
Or something. And there's like an old. Charlatan-y guy. Doing some like. Snake oil stuff. And he has a friend.
In the crowd. Who's going to help him. Act like he can hear now. Or his. All his joints are fixed. Or whatever.
That's not what's happening here. They'd roll up. They would raise. The people who were dead. In that town. They would heal the sick.
In that town. People that they knew. They would cleanse. Lepers. And that's not easily done. And it's obvious.
Sign. They would cast out. Demons. Because that authority. Over the enemy. And this is a picture.
Of what is ultimately. Going to happen in Christ. That all that is broken. Is going to be taken away. All that is dead. Is going to be.
Raised to life. Where we're coated. In shame. And sin. And guilt. He's going to forgive.
This is. This is heaven. Brought to us. Proclaimed to us. In Christ. Showed to us.
Ultimately. In the resurrection of Christ. That we might. Believe. So Christians are sent.
With a message. And yes. We ought to. Do good. We ought to. Proclaim.
And help. And help. Show. What it looks like. For people. To belong to one another.
To love. One another. To serve. One another. The Holy Spirit. Is still active.
He still does work. Miraculous works. We have a more. Fulfilled. Completed version. Of the resurrection.
Of Christ. That we are to proclaim. So that people. Might have faith. And what they were doing. Was it was a foretaste.
Of ultimately. What was going to happen. Kind of like. The smell of food. Before you get to eat it. I walked.
I had been working. All day. I walked into my house. The other night. I opened the door. My wife had been cooking.
And oh my goodness. I just dropped my bag. I said baby. It smells so good in here. That's what it is. They're saying.
This is what heaven is like. This is what the kingdom is like. And they're giving a glimpse of it. And they're saying. Now believe.
Believe in this king. Who does this work. And do you all know that. That in heaven. That as Jesus goes to work. Death doesn't win.
Sickness doesn't win. Where our bodies begin to fail us. And fall apart. That he restores. That he works. That the sickness of sin.
You see he gives these physical signs. That we might believe the spiritual. Eternal reality. The cancer of sin. That creeps through our bodies. That claims us.
That will kill us. That will choke out life in us. That he actually can redeem. He actually can fix. And our shame. And our guilt.
That causes us to be outcasts. Like lepers. He can fix. And that the enemy. Does not win. That Psalm earlier said.
Your enemies come cringing. To you. That's a reality. In Christ. So they proclaim this message.
Says this. It gets better. It says. You received. Without paying. Give without paying.
Acquire no gold. Or silver. Or copper. For your belts. No bag. For your journey.
Or two tunics. Or sandals. Or a staff. For the laborer. Deserves his food. And whatever town.
Or village you enter. Find out who is worthy in it. And stay there. Until you depart. So he gives specific instructions.
For this missionary journey. There are other missionary journeys. Where he gives some different instructions. So we know this isn't just. Exactly how it works forever. But there is a tone here.
That I think is helpful. First of all. There's an urgency. He just says. Go. Don't get two tunics.
Don't get another staff. Just go. And there's a dependency. That they would be dependent. On those they were sent to. But ultimately.
That they would see. That they were dependent on God. To provide everything. They needed. But the more beautiful thing here.
Is that this is by grace. He says. As you received without paying. Give without pay. The point of this. Is not to exchange goods.
For the glorious. Inbreaking of the kingdom. The impetus. Behind them going out. Was that God. Had already given them everything.
He had already redeemed them. He had already worked. On their behalf. So they would go out. With gracious. Joy.
To share this. That they had received it. Without payment. And they would just give it away. Freely. Without pay.
The heart. Behind Christian mission. Is not obligation. It's joy. The heart. Behind Christian mission.
Is not fearfulness. It's a delight. It's an overwhelming sense. Of the glory of Christ. And the inbreaking of heaven. And the hope that we have in Jesus.
That drives us to mission. Guilt. Makes a terrible missionary. But joy. Makes an unstoppable one. Delight.
An overwhelming sense. Of appreciation. And gratefulness. He says. You received without pay. Give without.
Pay. That you might go forward. By grace. That that is actually. How the gospel moves forward. It's not a transaction.
It's not something. That we pay for. And receive. That we ultimately. Are motivated. By delight.
And we naturally. Do this in life. If you enjoy something. You share it. You praise it. I had a friend.
This past week. Who's in my neighborhood. He. We and I. Were going to grab lunch together. So I asked him.
What I ask everyone. Who's going to go eat lunch with me. Have you ever eaten. At egg roll station. He said. No.
And his choices. Became very limited. On where we were going to eat. I had to ask the follow-up question. Which is. Do you have cash?
Because egg roll station. Is not a high class establishment. They don't have a card reader. But. I do that with everybody. Because I delight.
In egg roll station. I have to watch about it. When I talk about it in sermons. Because I might just close my eyes. And start thinking about it. Like I.
I share it. Because I enjoy it. Naturally. It overflows. And what he's saying. Is you received without payment.
Give without pay. This is how. We respond. In light. Of the glorious. Joy.
And delight. That is in Christ. Who redeems sinners. Who did not deserve it. There's not a soul. In this 12 man team.
That was a well behaved. Super stud. There's not one. That he was like. Everybody. Try to be like that guy.
Because he's awesome. Simon. It lists as first. And then the Bible. Seemingly. Goes out of its way.
To highlight. How terrible he was at that. I don't know. So that we wouldn't. Turn him into a pope. Sorry.
I got to leave the Catholics alone. There are a lot of Catholics. Who love Jesus. We have been redeemed. By grace. And grace alone.
That makes us a joyous bunch. We're not earning it. We haven't paid for it. We don't get to strut. There is no swagger. In this room.
There's the delight. Of someone who has not deserved something. Who has received way more than they deserve. In a gracious overflow. Of God's goodness towards us. And a freedom that comes with that.
You didn't earn it. You don't have to keep it. That he keeps us. As he pours out grace on us. And we get to share this message. Twelve.
As you enter the house. Greet it. And if the house is worthy. Let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy.
Let your peace return to you. It's unclear. As to how much. That is just him acknowledging. This is how this is going to work. And how much they actually had control.
Over. Their peace going and returning. It seems as he keeps going. That it's more of a. Their posture towards the people. So they're basically blessing.
A house that's going to. Hear the word. That's going to. Welcome them. In this culture. They were supposed to be.
Very hospitable. So it was. Understood. That if people came around. You would welcome them. You would host them.
And he says. Greet the house. Bless it. And if they receive you. Let your blessing stay. But if they don't.
Move on. The reality of the Christian mission. Is that God has people. Who are prepared. This is what Jesus just said. In Matthew 9.
The harvest is plentiful. Meaning. There's a harvest. To. To just be. Brought in.
He says. We don't have enough laborers. To just bring in the harvest. So they go out. There are people. That God had prepared.
To hear this. Who would delight. In this message. So as we're sent. There are God. People.
God. Who wants to. He wants to redeem. That he's already got ready. We're just sent. To try to bring them in.
So they might hear this news. And there's. Freedom. For those who don't want to hear it. For us to not feel like. It's our job.
He's the Lord of the harvest. It's not our job to convert them. It's not our job to make them. Receptive. It's our job to go. It's our job to proclaim.
That we can keep praying. We can keep pleading. If it's someone that lives near us. If it's someone in our family. But we're not.
Sent to continually. Try to get one person. To believe. Who's not going to. We're sent to go. And see who's receptive.
Who's ready. Who wants to. Which means that as we go. As missionaries. God has designed it. To be effective.
One way or the other. If he has people ready. To receive. Or he has people. That you'll have the freedom. Of saying.
Lord. I tried. I'm going to keep moving. We get to go to places. Where he's already at work. And where he's.
Working among. People. I've seen this. With my neighbors. I've seen this. With co-workers.
People who want to hear. People who. Do not. Want. To hear. So we get to build.
With those who want to build. We get to pour into those. Who want to hear it. We get to. Meet with those people. Who will show up.
And listen. Verse 14. And if anyone. Will not receive. You. Or listen.
To your words. Shake off the dust. From your feet. When you leave that house. Or town. Truly.
I say to you. It will be more bearable. On the day of judgment. For the land of Sodom. And Gomorrah. Than for that town.
What Jesus just said there. Is striking. Sodom and Gomorrah. Is a story that we're told. In Genesis. Of a town.
That was so. Wicked. That the cries. Against that town. Had risen up to God. And God.
Who knows all things. But also. Who joins us. In misery. Says. I'm going to go down.
And see for myself. It's a picture. Of what Christ does. Is our wickedness. Rises up to him. That he comes down.
For himself. But. There's this picture. Of total. Depravity. And wickedness.
And God. Judges it. Directly. Immediately. That fire. Falls from heaven.
And crushes this town. That the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Is wiped. Off the map. And it stands. As a monument.
To God's. Wrath. And judgment. On sin. And sinners. So that.
All those. Who knew. This story. Understood. That God. Does not take sin.
Lightly. And that judgment. Is real. So what he just said here. Is striking. If anyone.
Will not receive you. Or listen. To your words. Shake off. The dust. From your feet.
When you leave. That house. Or town. Truly. I say to you. It will be more.
Bearable. On the day. Of judgment. For the land. Of Sodom. And Gomorrah.
Than for that town. Romans 1. Tells us. That all the world. Ought to know. God's goodness.
Because it's been displayed. Through creation. That we have no excuse. That we look at creation. And see. We see his.
Greatness. And his glory. I asked somebody. This past week. We were talking. About.
Faith. And I was trying to. Talk with him. About Jesus. And he just said. That he has a hard time.
Given that. Our world. Is just. He says. We're just a dot. On a dot.
On a dot. In a dot. On a dot. Like that's what he's. We're just. People.
On a little planet. A little planet. And a little solar system. A little solar system. Next to bigger solar systems. Next to.
He just said. It just seems like. The likelihood. With all this. That there would be humans. That it would work out this way.
He was just saying. That this randomness. And this massiveness. Of the galaxy. Seems to point towards. There's just really.
No way to tell. And I was like. The bigger it gets. The more I think. There's got to be. Somebody back there.
Working. It doesn't seem like. This would just shoot out. Of nothing. Like the bigger. And more massive.
And more glorious. It gets. And then we find out. That he named all the stars. That they respond. To his call.
Like I. That he's this. Glorious God. Who oversees. All of this. That he is at.
Work. And that he knows. Us. So he tells them. You see. He's put on display.
For Sodom and Gomorrah. Who he is. Through his creation. They ought to have known better. They had their own. Conscience.
That testified to them. The wickedness. Of their deeds. That all of humanity. Ought to know better. This is why.
You go globally. With people who. Do or don't believe. There's in general. Some sense of morality. That's in line.
Somewhat together. Because we are all built. With this understanding. Of how things ought to work. What's justice. What's right.
What's wrong. We yell things out. Like that's not fair. Because it's innate in us. That there's some sort of. Fairness.
And some. Some judge. That ought to. Arbitrate over it. There ought to be. A booth.
That can do a review. Over what just happened. That's Sodom and Gomorrah. For those who are told. Here's the kingdom. Of the king.
And here's what it looks like. And they reject it. It's far worse. That there is. Genuine. Eternal.
Judgment. For those who do not believe. There's an urgency. To this message. It is eternally. Urgent.
And I think the question for us. Is do we believe this. Do we believe that in Christ. We are given heaven. And all that is good. And all that is glorious.
And that in his person. We see the king of the universe. Who would die to redeem us. And do we believe. That there is a judgment coming. And that it falls on all of us.
In our wickedness. And that ultimately. Only those who are redeemed. Are those who are in Christ. Not those who are well behaved. Not those who are good.
Not those who are nice. Not those who are kind. Those who are in Christ. You see judgment fell on him. So that it will not fall on us.
The king. Has won the battle for us. That we might be brought in. Freely. And joyously. The high.
On this side. Is so gloriously. Beautifully. High. And the low. Is so eternally.
Terribly. Low. Do we believe that? Because if we did. I don't think there would be a hush. Over the church.
As to this message. I don't see how we could claim. To care for others. So much so. That we would fly somewhere. And dig them a well.
But we would not tell them. About the eternal realities. Of joy. And delight. And pleasures. Forevermore.
At the right hand of a God. Who redeems. And forgives. And saves. And the weightiness. Of running from that.
And standing in our own sin. And in our own glory. And in our own ability. And in our own morality. Before God. So that our wickedness.
Might be put on full display. It seems as if the posture. In the church has been. If someone wants to become a Christian. They can. But it's not my job.
To go tell them about it. If they want to become a Christian. That'll be great. But I'm not going to necessarily. Just be offending people. And bothering people.
When you believed this. When it clicked in your mind. Were you bothered? Did it mess you up. In any other way. Than a glorious one.
That changed your world. Some of you in our church family. Are here. Because your neighbor. Or your co-worker. Harassed you.
Praise Jesus. At one point. You thought. This is the most annoying human. I've ever met. And there was another time.
When you stood with them. In a baptismal water. And you hugged them. You said. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for pursuing me.
Thank you for pleading with the Lord for me. Thank you for talking to me. Do we believe this? I was talking to a co-worker. At one point. And I said.
I was a Christian. And he said. Oh. So I guess you want me to become a Christian too? I don't know what he expected. I said.
That would be wonderful. If you are here. And you don't know Jesus. We want you to become a Christian. Because in Christ. You are redeemed.
You are brought in. You are loved. You are cherished. You are forgiven. You are free. You don't have to go earn your own identity.
Your own salvation. Your own worth. It's given to you in Christ. And we get to from that position. Proclaim this good news to whomever will listen. And some of them will.
And praise God for every one of them. How dare we be silent. In the face of heaven. And in the face of judgment. God help us. If we can't help but talk about this.
God help us. If we don't labor in prayer for this. God help us. If we don't get to know our neighbors. And our co-workers. So that they might believe.
God help us. If he doesn't call us to places. And we go. The stakes are too high. The delight is too good. Our God is too glorious.
For us to shut our mouths. So may we sing his praises here. And may we proclaim his gospel there. And may we do that. Until we stand face to face with our king. Let's pray.
God we thank you for your grace. And your goodness towards us. We pray that you would change. Our hearts. That we would believe. So that we might go.
We pray that you would speak now. To those who need to go to a specific people. In a specific place. That you would call them. God we pray that. Weekly and monthly and yearly.
We would see people leave our church. That they might be a part of your global church. That we would lay hands on those. Who would go start new works. And new churches. And join those who are laboring.
In the field. That you would call those who would proclaim this. And lead churches. And God we pray that every one of us. Would be sent as an everyday missionary. Where you have already infiltrated.
Because we are there. And we are your church. May we see the harvest before us. That we might proclaim your glory. In Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. It seems to me that the opposite of what the Pope says in this quote is true. That if you meet a Christian. And they care nothing for you coming to know Christ. They may not actually know him. That if they don't come to you with some desire to see you believe.
To see you changed. They may not actually know the Jesus that so radically redeems and saves. That may we be people who so love Jesus. So delight in him. That we can't shut our mouths. Amen.