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Mark 11:27-33 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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To be here this morning with my church family and to have the privilege and honor to be able to share his word with you this morning.
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! I have to thank you all for just for being willing to support me and my family and allowing us to have our child in the service.
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That means so much to us here.
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The Webb family really appreciates this church.
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And we don't really know that we could be in another place other than here to be able to keep our child in the service.
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And we appreciate that.
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I know other families appreciate that about Christ's family as well.
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If you would, turn with me to Mark chapter 11.
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Mark chapter 11.
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And while you're turning there, I have to commend some of our CFC students.
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I talked to a couple of them this morning just to get the full story of what was going on.
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But we have several of our students here that are involved with a campus organization called Students for Life.
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And among other things, they raise awareness about abortion, the number of deaths that occur each year.
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They stand up for their conviction that abortion is indeed murder.
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And this week they stirred things up a bit with some sidewalk chalk on campus where they wrote out some statistics.
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Staggering statistics, by the way.
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3,500 deaths caused by abortion each day.
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Every single day.
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And along with that, they included, confirmed 3,500 hearts on the sidewalk.
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To represent each of these lives that died.
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That died every single day as a result of abortion.
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And even though the rain on Friday washed it away, I assure you it didn't go unnoticed.
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It was very, very much noticed.
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Their reaction on social media was remarkable.
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I don't know if any of you follow any of that.
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But the reaction on social media was remarkable.
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There was some positive.
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But the backlash was noticeable as well.
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And I think the entire situation was really a stark reminder of two things for me.
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The first is that the moral deterioration of our country is growing at a rapid pace.
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And people are becoming more and more bold about their immorality.
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And about voicing immorality in our culture.
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Number two is that if you stand up for biblical truth,
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you are going to receive backlash.
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You're going to see conflict with our culture.
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That's the way that it's going to be.
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And I'm proud of our students for standing up for what they believe in.
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For standing up for biblical truth.
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In fact, Jesus told us that it would be this way in Mark 13, 13, saying,
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You will be hated by all because of my name.
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But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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There's no mistake that these words are recorded in all four Gospels.
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These words of Jesus telling us that we will be hated because of his name.
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Because Jesus knew that we would encounter conflict.
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And Jesus was the one who was familiar with this conflict.
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Coming into conflict constantly with the culture that he was teaching in.
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And Jesus knew that we would encounter these things.
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He was familiar with it.
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And it happened to him over and over again throughout the Gospels.
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And in the passage that we find ourselves in this morning.
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It's happening to Jesus.
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We're going to see the beginning of the final conflict.
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Not the beginning of the conflict.
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But the beginning of the final conflict that would lead up to the death of Jesus.
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It would lead us up to the cross.
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A couple of weeks ago we saw Jesus confront the money changers in the temple.
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And this week we want to see Jesus being confronted by the Pharisees on account of what he did.
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The confrontation in our text this morning was caused by Jesus' reaction to the money changers in the temple.
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So Jesus overturns the tables as best as we can tell on Tuesday of what we have termed as Passion Week.
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This week that were the final days of Jesus that would lead him to the cross.
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Lead him ultimately to his death.
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And we've come to Wednesday here in our passage in verse 27 of Mark 11.
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Read along with me if you have a copy of God's Word in your hands.
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And they came again to Jerusalem.
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And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him.
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And they said to him,
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By what authority do you do these things?
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Or who gave you the authority to do them?
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And Jesus said to them,
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I'll ask you one question.
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Answer me.
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And I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?
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Answer me.
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And they discussed it with one another saying,
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If we say from heaven,
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He will say,
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Why then do you not believe him?
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But shall we say from man?
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They were afraid of the people.
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For they held that John was really a prophet.
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And so they answered Jesus,
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We do not know.
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And Jesus said to them,
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Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
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Let's pray together.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word that was written for us,
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for our ears to hear,
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for our hearts to be compelled into action.
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So, Father, this morning I do not pretend to stand up here alone to do these things on my own authority.
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But I stand up here being only on the authority of the Word of God.
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We thank you, Father, for your Word that it pierces as far as joint and marrow,
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as far as the division of soul and spirit.
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And we pray, Father, this morning that you would pierce us deeply
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and convict our hearts through your Spirit.
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My words are not convicting,
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but your Spirit can convict our hearts for your glory and in your name.
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We pray these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.
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Amen.
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So what's the key word in this passage here?
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It's authority.
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Exousia.
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It literally means freedom to act or liberty to act.
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To have authority is essentially to have the right to act,
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to exercise your will,
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to exercise force,
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to determine,
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or to decide.
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That's what authority is.
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And no person has ever had such authority as Jesus Christ did.
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He had ultimate authority,
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absolute authority,
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divine authority.
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And He exercised it.
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In Matthew 28, 18, He put it this way,
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All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
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That's why Paul says,
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He is far above all authority in Ephesians 6, chapter 1.
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In Mark 1, 22, it says,
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They were amazed,
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for He was teaching as one having authority,
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not as the scribes.
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So what we're seeing here is
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the same thing that we've really been seeing
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throughout the entire Gospel of Mark
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as we've been walking through,
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chapter by chapter through Mark.
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We've been seeing that Jesus' teaching is different.
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There's something about this man.
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And it's very noticeable.
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Jesus teaches unlike anyone else.
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When I teach,
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or when Nathan teaches,
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or when Clay teaches,
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or when anybody teaches here at CFC,
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we don't stand on our own authority.
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There's nothing that gives us that authority.
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We stand on the authority of the Word of God.
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But Jesus is the spoken Word of God.
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He is the authority.
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And no less than 75 times in the Gospels,
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Jesus said,
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Truly I say unto you,
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and then you can include the dot, dot, dot,
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because He gives an incredible truth
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after each time that He says these things.
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He wasn't quoting anyone.
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And the rabbis didn't talk this way.
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Rabbis during this day typically
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would quote other Scriptures
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or other particularly well-versed rabbis.
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But Jesus didn't have to.
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Why?
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Because He was the ultimate authority.
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He was God's spoken Word.
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Along with this,
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just to make the point even stronger,
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Jesus never asked for permission
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from anyone to do anything.
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You'll notice throughout the Gospels
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and throughout the life of Christ,
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He never asked permission.
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He was not under any earthly authority.
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He possessed all authority in Himself
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as the divine Son of God.
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The only authority in His life
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was that perfect harmony
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with the Father and the Spirit.
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That He completed the Father's will
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and the Spirit's power.
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Jesus makes it clear to us in John 5, 19,
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saying,
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Truly I say to you,
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and there it is again,
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Him speaking on His own authority for Himself,
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not quoting anyone.
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He says,
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Truly I say to you,
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the Son can do nothing of Himself
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unless it is something He sees the Father doing.
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For whatever the Father does,
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these things the Son also does in like manner.
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So in other words,
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He does what the Father does
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in the same way that the Father does it.
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He is under the submission to the Father.
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And we also see in Scripture
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that the Spirit is in submission to the Son.
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This, by the way,
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is one of the many theological truths
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that author William Young gets simply wrong.
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And it's a wildly popular book,
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The Shack.
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Anybody read The Shack?
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Anybody want to?
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Yeah, we have some Shack readers.
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It was wildly popular about seven years ago.
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Now that it was released,
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it's still maintained some popularity.
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And I have to warn you about it.
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Read it with some.
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If you ever read it,
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read it with great reservations,
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knowing that it has a lot of theological problems in it.
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It is a fictional piece of work
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that is intended to have theological implications.
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And when you're writing a piece of work like that,
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you have to be very careful.
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And I don't believe that he was very careful.
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It didn't handle the theological implications very well.
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And this is one of the many things.
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On page 124 of his book,
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he writes from the perspective of God.
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He has characters that are supposed to explain the Trinity.
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And one of his characters is God the Father.
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He has a character for God the Son.
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He has a character for God the Holy Spirit.
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And from the perspective of God the Father,
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this is what he writes.
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So you think that God must relate inside a hierarchy like you do.
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But we do not.
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And this is simply untrue.
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We see the Trinity.
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Even inside the Trinity,
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there is a hierarchy of the persons of God acting.
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All over the Gospels,
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Jesus submits to the Father.
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And we see the Spirit falling in submission to the Son.
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And so Jesus answered to only one authority in his life.
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And he never consulted the Pharisees.
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He never consulted the scribes.
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He never consulted the rabbis
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to get permission to do anything.
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He acted solely on his own authority.
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Everything he did,
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everything he said,
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every action that he took,
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it came from his own authority.
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He wielded ultimate power.
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He rejected the Jewish authorities.
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He never consulted them because they were apostate.
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They had defected from the true faith in God.
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They didn't know him,
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and they were illegitimate,
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and it was as if they didn't even exist to him at times.
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Sure, they were the earthly purveyors of a corrupt Judaism.
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They ran the temple,
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and they turned it into a robber's den.
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But they had no real power and no real authority in their lives.
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They were enemies of God,
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enemies of truth,
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and enemies of the Gospel.
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So you can see why there was some conflict here.
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You can see why there's some dissension
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between Jesus and these people.
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When you read through the Gospels,
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you kind of want to cheer Jesus on through these conflicts
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because on the one hand,
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you have a prideful group of people,
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the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
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who think that they are God's gift to creation.
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They really do.
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They believe in their minds
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that they know better than anybody else,
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and they have this spiritual pride that's unparalleled.
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On the other hand,
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you have the Son of God
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who is holy,
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who is righteous,
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who is indeed God's gift to mankind.
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And they begin to clash.
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They begin to see these reactions that Jesus has,
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and it's amazing
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because He just keeps kindly telling them off
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and sending them on their way
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because He is just and holy,
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and He is all-wise,
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and He knows how to handle their arguments.
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But in their perspective,
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Jesus is just teaching away without their permission,
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without their authority,
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without their approval.
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And this just struck a massive blow
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to their spiritual pride
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for a man to walk into their temple
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and to begin to teach
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as if He knew everything in their minds.
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And it continually infuriated them.
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They had developed a vicious hatred for Jesus
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because He demonstrated such scorn
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toward their religious positions.
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And this is what ultimately led them
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to hand Him over to the Romans
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to die on the cross.
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So the key issue here in this passage
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is authority.
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Who in the world gave you permission
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to overturn the money tables, Jesus?
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Where do you get off?
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They could have asked,
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where did you get the authority
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to teach what you teach?
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But that's not what they said, is it?
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Because it was going deeper at this point,
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further past what He actually said.
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It was what He was doing.
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I mean, it was tough enough for them
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to swallow that He came into town
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on Monday with massive crowds,
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by the way, arriving into Jerusalem
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for the Passover.
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And they are bowing down to Him
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and singing praises at Him.
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Hosanna, Son of David.
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Blessed is He who comes
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in the name of the Lord.
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Hosanna in the highest.
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And throwing messianic titles
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and names at Him.
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And He never refused them.
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In fact, He took them.
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Even well into Tuesday and Wednesday,
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He received praises from the people.
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So as if that wasn't infuriating enough,
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Jesus walks into the temple on Tuesday
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and begins to disrupt everything
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they've got going on,
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begins to disrupt the money changers,
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overturns the tables,
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and kicks the merchandisers out.
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So naturally, they're asking the question,
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Who do you think you are, Jesus?
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You see, these men truly believed
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in their hearts that they had everything right.
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They believed they had everything right
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in their lives,
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that they were the holy ones,
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they were the ones who were supposed
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to be the spiritual leaders of this time.
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And they had placed all faith
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in their religious rituals
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and believed that their obedience
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to the law had earned them righteousness
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on their own.
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It's a very dangerous place to be.
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They were so focused on earning
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their own righteousness
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that they couldn't see
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that the Son of God
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was staring them right in the face.
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And we, by the way,
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have people like that
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in every church across this country,
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including this one this morning.
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I'm here to tell you today,
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stop trying to earn righteousness
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on your own.
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You can't do it.
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It's impossible.
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You can't live life good enough
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to earn God's grace.
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There are some of you in this room,
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if you would just let go of your pride
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and stop looking at the issues
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in everyone else's life
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and begin to work
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on your own sanctification
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in Christ Jesus,
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you would begin to see the world
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in a whole different way.
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And you'd begin to see church
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in a whole different way.
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You'd begin to see your life
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in a whole different way.
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You'd begin to see God
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in a different way.
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And you'd become more like Christ
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in your own life.
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The Pharisees and scribes and elders,
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they didn't get it
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because they were lost in their pride.
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And while this is certainly
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not the first confrontation
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that Jesus had with the Sanhedrin,
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it was the beginning
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of the final series of confrontations
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that Jesus was going to have.
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As we move into chapter 12,
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we're going to begin to see,
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all the way through the 40th verse
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of chapter 12,
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that Jesus is in conflict
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with these people.
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And this is the beginning of it.
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We're going to see a series of stories
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in chapter 12
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where the events
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that will focus on
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these religious leaders,
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and Jesus is going to tell
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a series of stories
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and events that's going to
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pronounce judgment
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on these people.
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So if you're like me
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and you don't really like conflict,
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you better buckle up
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over the next couple of weeks.
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There's going to be conflict.
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Isn't it true that
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in general,
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we generally try to avoid conflict?
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I know in my life,
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I generally try to avoid conflict.
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Sometimes it's unavoidable though.
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Sometimes people will ask you
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a question that relates
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to biblical truth
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and they're not going to
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like your answer
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because you know for sure
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this is what the Bible says.
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This is what God has told us.
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There's times we have to tell them
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the hard truth,
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the hard reality
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of what Scripture tells us.
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And it may not be
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what they want to hear,
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what they want us to say.
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But nonetheless,
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we have to stand up for truth.
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We have to stand up
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for what's right.
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We have to stand up
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for righteousness.
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We have to teach truth
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to a culture
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that's lost any sense of truth.
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We generally don't like conflict,
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but there's going to be
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conflict sometimes in our lives
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and that's what we're seeing
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going on here
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in our passage this morning
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as we move into chapter 12.
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as well.
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So after three years of conflict,
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Jesus comes to the temple.
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He disrupts everything
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that they're doing.
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And don't miss this.
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These Pharisees,
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they believe in their hearts
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that Jesus is the blasphemer.
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In their hearts,
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in their minds,
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they believe that Jesus
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is the blasphemer.
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This is how far removed
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they are from truth.
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This is how deep
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they've delved in their pride.
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They believe that
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Jesus' actions in the temple
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were an act of blasphemy
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to epic proportions.
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So with all of that
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as background,
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let's take a look at this story.
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It will unfold easily
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for us this morning.
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The first thing
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that we're going to see
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is the confrontation.
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The confrontation.
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As he is walking in the temple,
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you've got to get the picture here.
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This temple is massive.
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One of the walls
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for this temple,
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just to give you an idea,
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stretches four football fields long.
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It's a big area
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and that's just the outer wall.
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You have the inner part.
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In between,
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you have a courtyard.
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So Jesus is likely
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walking around
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through this massive courtyard,
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acres upon acres
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of massive courtyard.
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And he's teaching them
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as he's moving through
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the temple.
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This is really a very
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rabbinic way of teaching.
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They taught as they walked around.
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And Jesus is sharing truth
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as he moves about the temple.
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The parallel passage
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in Luke chapter 20,
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by the way,
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Luke tells us
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that he was teaching the people
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and preaching the gospel.
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So for one day,
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just to get this imagery,
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for one day,
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the temple is his
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and his alone.
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The truth began to ring out
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in a place
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where it hadn't rung out
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for hundreds of years.
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So for one day,
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the temple is his.
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And no doubt,
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he was using his time wisely,
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teaching a gospel of repentance
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and turning away from the sin
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and the consequences of sin
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being death.
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And then,
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the free gift of God,
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which was him,
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himself.
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Luke 19.47 records
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that he was teaching daily
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in the temple.
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The chief priests
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and the scribes
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and the principal men
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of the people
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were seeking to destroy
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him,
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but they did not find
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anything that they could do
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for the people
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were hanging
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on his words.
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If there is ever
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a teacher on whom
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to hang every word,
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it is him.
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It is Jesus.
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Compelling teachers
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captivate me.
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I don't know about you guys.
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I love to listen to a compelling teacher.
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I would just get captivated.
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But imagine
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the Son of God
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teaching.
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How captivating
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he was.
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These people are
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captivated by his teaching
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here.
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Back to verse 27.
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And he was walking
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in the temple
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and the chief priests
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and the scribes
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and elders came to him.
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Those are the three groups,
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by the way,
20:49
that make up the Sanhedrin.
20:51
These are the three groups
20:51
also that
20:52
we're going to see
20:53
the primary conflict
20:54
in chapter 12,
20:55
in the next chapter.
20:57
They came to him
20:58
not as ones
20:59
who are captivated
20:59
by his teaching,
21:01
but as ones
21:02
who are trying
21:02
to incite him.
21:04
They're trying
21:04
to trip him up.
21:05
They're trying to
21:06
create a conflict
21:08
that's going to make him
21:09
look bad.
21:11
Not a good idea,
21:12
by the way,
21:12
because they were
21:13
no match for Jesus.
21:15
He was smarter than them.
21:17
He has better rhetoric
21:19
than them.
21:20
And they said to him
21:21
in verse 28,
21:22
by what authority
21:23
are you doing these things?
21:25
Or who gave you
21:26
authority to do them?
21:29
So this is the primary issue
21:30
that they're having,
21:31
is authority.
21:33
It's authority.
21:34
By the way,
21:34
this is the primary issue
21:35
that all unbelievers have
21:37
with Christianity
21:38
and with the Gospel.
21:40
It's authority.
21:41
They don't want to
21:41
submit their lives
21:42
to any type of authority
21:43
other than themselves.
21:46
And really,
21:46
they might give you
21:47
a hundred reasons why.
21:49
They might say
21:49
that they were burnt
21:50
by church.
21:50
They might say
21:51
many, many
21:52
various different reasons,
21:53
but ultimately,
21:54
it's about authority
21:55
in their lives.
21:58
Somehow they can't,
21:59
they're not willing to
22:00
or they cannot somehow
22:01
in their hearts
22:02
submit to his authority.
22:05
And so these people
22:06
were having trouble
22:07
with his authority.
22:07
They're saying,
22:08
you can't just walk
22:09
into the temple
22:09
and do what you did
22:10
because they don't believe
22:12
that he is the authority.
22:15
And by the way,
22:15
they knew what his answer
22:16
would be
22:17
if he had answered them
22:17
directly.
22:18
In fact,
22:20
they may even hope
22:20
that he would answer
22:21
them directly.
22:22
They may even hope
22:23
that he would say
22:24
that my authority
22:26
comes from me
22:26
and me alone
22:27
or from God the Father
22:28
and him alone.
22:30
Because then they can say,
22:31
aha,
22:32
we've got you.
22:35
You're committing blasphemy.
22:37
And they could convince
22:38
the people
22:38
that he was a blasphemer.
22:40
That wasn't going to happen.
22:43
They didn't want him
22:43
to gain followers.
22:44
They didn't want him
22:45
to be teaching
22:46
in the temple
22:47
and they certainly
22:47
didn't want them
22:48
to dismantle
22:49
their entire system.
22:52
See, the truth is
22:52
that Jesus wasn't
22:53
the blasphemer.
22:55
They were the blasphemers.
22:57
This is a classic example
22:58
of literary irony.
23:01
See, some of you in here,
23:01
you think that the Scripture
23:02
is boring, right?
23:04
I know some of us
23:05
probably don't.
23:05
I see some smiles
23:06
on some people's faces
23:07
probably bringing up
23:09
some thoughts
23:10
in your mind.
23:11
A lot of us
23:12
probably really love
23:13
the Word of God,
23:13
but there's probably
23:14
a fraction of us
23:15
in here
23:15
that think it's
23:17
just kind of mundane
23:18
and boring.
23:18
This is so far
23:19
from the truth.
23:20
Because Scripture
23:21
contains literary elements
23:23
of the best novels
23:24
that we read,
23:25
of everything that we read.
23:26
It's got deep plot structure,
23:27
rich character development.
23:29
We see epic battles,
23:31
romance, conflict,
23:32
protagonist, antagonist.
23:35
There's lots of symbolism
23:36
in there.
23:37
There's even monsters
23:38
and dragons
23:38
and angels and demons
23:39
for the sci-fi fans, right?
23:41
And so,
23:43
we see that this is
23:45
not just based
23:46
on a true story.
23:47
It is the true story.
23:50
And God,
23:51
our God,
23:52
is right in the middle
23:53
of it all,
23:53
guiding history.
23:55
Because that
23:56
is what it is.
23:57
It is His story.
24:00
He was there
24:01
in the beginning.
24:01
He will see it
24:02
through to the end.
24:03
He is the Alpha
24:04
and the Omega.
24:06
And in the end,
24:07
He will be glorified
24:08
into eternity.
24:09
But there's things
24:10
that must happen
24:11
before the end
24:13
is to come.
24:13
And this conflict
24:14
where we find Jesus
24:15
must happen
24:15
before God's plan
24:16
of redemption
24:17
is to play its full course.
24:21
And we see here
24:21
that the Pharisees
24:22
had no chance.
24:23
Jesus is so much wiser
24:25
than they are.
24:27
Here's this counter
24:28
in verse 29.
24:30
Jesus said to them,
24:32
I'll ask you one question.
24:34
Jesus knew what
24:35
they were doing,
24:35
by the way.
24:36
He was wise enough
24:38
to know.
24:39
He puts the burden
24:39
of answering back
24:40
on them.
24:41
He says,
24:42
Answer me
24:43
and I will tell you
24:45
by what authority
24:46
I do these things.
24:48
And this is really
24:49
an honest response.
24:52
His offer is to
24:53
answer their question
24:54
if they're willing
24:54
to answer his question.
24:57
And by doing so,
24:58
he's leveling
24:58
the playing ground.
25:00
They may have asked him
25:00
an unfair,
25:01
trapping question.
25:03
But he says,
25:03
Okay,
25:04
if you're willing
25:04
to answer this question,
25:05
I'll answer yours.
25:07
So here's the question
25:08
in verse 30.
25:09
Was the baptism
25:10
of John
25:12
from heaven
25:13
or from man?
25:15
Answer me.
25:18
And in no uncertain terms,
25:19
Jesus puts the ball
25:20
back in the Pharisees' court.
25:22
He's doing the same thing
25:23
that they did to him.
25:26
And it's what we might call
25:27
being put between
25:28
a rock and a hard place.
25:31
He didn't resent
25:32
their question.
25:33
He just knew
25:33
their ill intentions.
25:36
And I love the command here
25:37
because he's demonstrating
25:38
his authority over them.
25:39
He demands for them
25:40
to answer him.
25:41
Isn't that great?
25:42
They didn't demand
25:43
an answer from him,
25:44
but he's demanding
25:45
an answer back.
25:47
I just want to pause here
25:48
for a second
25:49
to talk about
25:49
Jesus' question
25:50
because you may be thinking,
25:51
Why in the world,
25:52
out of all the questions
25:53
that Jesus could have asked,
25:56
why is this question
25:57
about John the baptizer?
26:00
Why would he choose
26:01
John the baptizer
26:02
to ask a question?
26:02
And I thought the same thing.
26:03
I wondered the same thing
26:04
as I was doing
26:05
my preliminary studying
26:06
for this passage.
26:07
But what do we know
26:08
about John the baptizer?
26:09
We know that he was
26:10
a forerunner to the Messiah.
26:12
He was possibly
26:14
the greatest prophet
26:14
that ever lived
26:15
up until this time.
26:17
He was foretold
26:18
in the Old Testament prophets.
26:19
And this is key
26:20
because these people
26:21
that Jesus is talking to
26:22
would have known
26:23
these documents very well.
26:27
He was conceived
26:28
miraculously
26:28
by an aging couple,
26:29
Elizabeth and Zacharias.
26:31
because of the plan of God.
26:34
And he preached
26:35
in the wilderness
26:35
a message of repentance
26:37
in preparation
26:39
for the coming Messiah.
26:41
And one day,
26:41
Jesus shows up
26:42
and John says,
26:43
Behold,
26:45
the Lamb of God
26:46
who takes away
26:48
the sin of the world.
26:52
It's a bold statement.
26:54
everything that John did
26:57
pointed back to Jesus.
27:00
And everyone in the temple
27:02
knew it.
27:06
So was the ministry
27:07
of John the baptizer,
27:10
the prophetic ministry
27:12
of John the baptizer,
27:13
was it from God
27:14
or was it from man?
27:17
Answer me.
27:19
Strong challenge.
27:20
And Jesus was brilliant
27:21
when confronted.
27:22
He was brilliant.
27:24
He never lost
27:25
in a debate
27:25
or an argument.
27:26
He put them
27:28
in the hot seat.
27:29
If they say that
27:30
the ministry of John
27:32
is not from God,
27:33
then they've got a problem
27:34
because all the people
27:35
knew that John
27:36
was a real prophet.
27:37
All the people there
27:38
believed that he was
27:39
a real prophet.
27:40
If they say that
27:40
his ministry is from God,
27:42
they have to affirm
27:42
that Jesus is the Messiah.
27:45
Something that
27:45
their pride and ignorance
27:46
couldn't let them do.
27:47
You can't take John
27:48
without Jesus
27:49
and you can't
27:50
throw away Jesus
27:50
without throwing away John.
27:54
So they have
27:54
a serious problem.
27:55
So serious
27:56
in the fact
27:56
that they have
27:56
to have a side conversation.
27:58
So they begin
27:59
dialogosumai.
28:02
There we go.
28:04
Greek there for you.
28:05
Dialogosumai.
28:06
They begin to dialogue
28:07
among themselves.
28:09
They begin to talk
28:09
and discuss
28:10
among themselves.
28:11
And I have no idea
28:12
what this looked like.
28:12
I can only picture it
28:13
in my head
28:14
as them being like,
28:15
okay, we need to think
28:15
about this.
28:16
Come on, let's go over here.
28:17
Let's get in the huddle.
28:18
But apparently
28:19
they're not talking
28:20
quietly enough
28:21
for people to not hear them
28:23
because we have
28:24
the recorded words
28:25
here in Scripture, right?
28:26
So apparently
28:27
somebody must have
28:28
overheard them
28:28
or maybe they're just
28:29
guessing what they
28:29
were talking about.
28:30
I don't know
28:31
how this went down
28:32
but imagine them
28:33
kind of getting together
28:34
and talking about this
28:36
among themselves
28:36
and they're saying,
28:38
if we say from heaven,
28:40
he will say,
28:41
why did you not believe him?
28:43
Meaning,
28:43
why did they not believe
28:45
John when he says Jesus
28:47
or when he affirms Jesus
28:48
as the Messiah?
28:51
But shall we say
28:52
for man,
28:53
it's their only other option.
28:56
It's the only
28:57
an either or type
28:58
of question.
29:00
But they're realizing,
29:01
well, we can't say
29:02
for man either.
29:03
Why?
29:04
The text tells us
29:05
they were afraid
29:06
of the people
29:06
for they all held
29:08
that John was really
29:09
a prophet.
29:12
There's a minor detail
29:13
that Mark leaves out here
29:14
that Luke includes.
29:17
They weren't just
29:18
afraid of the people
29:18
because of what
29:19
they would say
29:20
or how they would
29:22
view them.
29:23
Luke 20,
29:24
verse 6 tells us
29:25
that all the people,
29:26
and get this one,
29:27
all the people
29:27
will stone us
29:29
to death.
29:33
So now we're getting
29:33
the full picture
29:34
of what's going on.
29:36
They didn't want to be
29:37
the blasphemers.
29:38
They wanted Jesus
29:39
to look like the blasphemer.
29:40
And they're realizing
29:43
that Jesus has turned
29:43
the tables on them
29:44
and he's put them
29:45
in a position
29:46
where no matter
29:46
what they say,
29:48
they're going to have
29:49
a tough time answering.
29:51
So now you understand
29:52
the dilemma.
29:53
What are they going to do?
29:54
The praise of men
29:55
was everything
29:56
to these people.
29:58
It was absolutely
29:59
everything.
29:59
Power, prestige,
30:01
privilege, honors.
30:01
They would pray
30:02
long prayers
30:03
in the streets
30:04
in public
30:04
just to look like
30:05
they were highly spiritual.
30:06
spiritual.
30:08
They wanted man
30:10
to see them
30:10
in a good light.
30:12
They wanted everyone
30:13
to know they were right,
30:14
that they had a special
30:15
connection to God.
30:17
And they wanted to be
30:18
recognized in public
30:19
as the holy ones.
30:21
So if John's ministry
30:22
is from God,
30:23
they have to embrace
30:24
that they've been wrong
30:25
for three years.
30:27
For three years
30:28
that they've been
30:28
in conflict with Jesus.
30:30
That they were
30:30
somehow wrong.
30:31
What's more
30:32
is that they would
30:33
have to accept
30:34
the fact that this man
30:35
that they've been
30:35
opposing for three years
30:37
has been right.
30:39
And how could the
30:39
spiritual authorities
30:40
in this time
30:41
be so wrong
30:43
for so long?
30:45
It's something
30:45
they just weren't
30:46
prepared to accept.
30:49
If they say it's for men,
30:50
they're liable
30:51
to get stoned.
30:51
And that's not just death,
30:52
that is a shameful death.
30:55
A disgraceful death.
30:57
So they reduced
30:58
the worst possible thing
30:59
that could happen
31:00
to someone
31:01
with intellectual pride.
31:03
And that's to say,
31:04
I don't know.
31:09
There you have it.
31:10
The religious leaders
31:11
of the day.
31:12
That must have been hard
31:12
for that to spill
31:13
out of their mouths
31:14
that we do not know.
31:17
So much for their
31:18
omniscience, right?
31:21
It's their duty to know.
31:22
It's their duty to observe.
31:23
It's their duty to evaluate.
31:25
But never,
31:27
never in their dealings
31:28
with Jesus
31:29
did they ever come to him
31:30
seeking truth.
31:31
They were always
31:33
seeking to entrap him.
31:36
They were always
31:37
seeking to trip him up.
31:38
And this is the way
31:39
of false religion.
31:40
Not necessarily
31:41
the victims of false religion,
31:42
but the purveyors
31:43
of false religion.
31:45
And so this leads us
31:46
to Jesus' answer.
31:47
They were confronted,
31:49
they went to the counter,
31:51
and now
31:51
we see the condemnation.
31:54
Jesus said to them,
31:56
neither will I tell you
31:57
by what authority
31:58
I do these things.
32:00
false.
32:03
So Jesus refused
32:04
to answer their question,
32:05
and this is important
32:06
this morning
32:06
because we're about
32:07
to turn a corner.
32:10
You don't ever
32:11
want to be
32:13
in the position
32:14
where Jesus says to you
32:16
that I am through
32:17
talking with you.
32:21
Because that
32:22
is what's going on here.
32:24
Jesus is saying,
32:25
I am done.
32:26
I've said
32:27
all that I have
32:28
to say to you.
32:29
you are not entitled
32:31
to any further information.
32:35
And when you continue
32:36
to reject the light,
32:37
eventually the light's
32:38
going to go out.
32:39
It's the reality of it.
32:42
Jesus had already
32:42
given them
32:43
a stark warning,
32:45
a grave warning
32:45
in Luke 13,
32:46
saying,
32:47
Oh Jerusalem,
32:48
Jerusalem,
32:48
the city
32:49
that kills the prophets
32:50
and stones those
32:51
who are sent to it.
32:53
How often
32:54
I would have gathered
32:54
your children together
32:55
as him gathers
32:56
her brood
32:57
under her wings.
32:59
But you
32:59
were not
33:00
willing.
33:02
Behold,
33:03
your house
33:04
is forsaken.
33:05
The words
33:06
of the Son of God
33:07
cast out
33:09
upon the city.
33:11
You see,
33:12
God's grace
33:12
does have limits.
33:15
You say,
33:16
well how can a loving God
33:17
allow a well-meaning
33:18
person to suffer
33:19
eternity in hell?
33:21
And it's true
33:21
that our God
33:22
is infinitely loving,
33:24
infinitely kind,
33:25
and infinitely good.
33:28
But as a good
33:30
and holy
33:30
and righteous God,
33:31
He is also
33:32
necessarily just.
33:34
And justice
33:34
must prevail
33:35
for Him
33:36
to maintain
33:37
holiness
33:37
in His life
33:39
or in His being.
33:42
And even the best,
33:43
most well-meaning
33:44
people on this earth
33:45
are guilty of sin.
33:46
Romans 3.23
33:47
tells us,
33:48
for all have sinned
33:49
and fallen short
33:50
of the glory of God.
33:50
There is not
33:51
one person
33:52
in this room
33:53
that is free
33:55
of sin.
33:57
We are all,
33:58
we are all sinners.
33:59
We've all fallen
34:00
short of His glory.
34:02
And that's why
34:03
Jesus is so important.
34:04
That's why His life
34:05
is so important.
34:06
That's why His death
34:07
is so important.
34:08
He lived
34:08
a perfect life
34:09
and gives His life
34:11
up as a perfect sacrifice
34:13
for our benefit,
34:14
for our behalf.
34:16
And ultimately
34:17
so that He would be glorified.
34:18
He hung
34:19
a gruesome death
34:20
on the cross.
34:21
and provided
34:23
payment for the sins
34:24
of those who would
34:25
give their lives to Him.
34:27
The Pharisees
34:27
and elders
34:28
and scribes,
34:28
they were all looking
34:29
for some evidence.
34:31
They were all looking
34:32
for a source of authority.
34:34
I'm telling you,
34:34
you might not ever find
34:36
a scientific source
34:37
of authority
34:38
or a scientific evidence
34:39
of God
34:40
in your life.
34:43
There might be
34:43
difficult to come by
34:45
for you
34:45
to come by
34:47
scientific evidence
34:48
because it's all
34:50
about faith,
34:51
placing faith
34:52
in Christ Jesus.
34:53
And I'm confident
34:54
this morning
34:55
that there are people
34:56
in this room
34:56
that have been struggling
34:57
and struggling
34:58
with the authority
34:59
of Christ
35:00
in your lives.
35:02
Some of us in here
35:03
may even be
35:05
among the redeemed
35:06
and saying,
35:08
I know that I believe
35:09
Christ is the authority
35:10
of this area
35:12
of my life
35:13
and I'm happy with that.
35:14
But there's some stuff
35:15
over here
35:16
that I'm hanging on to.
35:17
I'm not going to let Christ
35:18
have authority
35:18
in my life
35:19
in this area
35:19
because this is
35:22
making me feel good.
35:23
This is making me
35:24
have some temporary
35:26
happiness
35:26
in the short term.
35:30
But this area
35:31
over here
35:31
I'm happy about.
35:32
This area
35:32
I'm going to keep
35:33
for myself
35:33
for a little while.
35:36
It's all or nothing.
35:38
You either give Him
35:39
all the authority
35:40
in your life
35:40
or nothing.
35:45
There's some people
35:45
in here
35:45
who have never
35:46
been able to submit,
35:47
you've never been able
35:47
to find the gumption
35:48
or the will
35:50
to submit your whole life
35:51
over to Him ever.
35:53
And if that's you
35:53
this morning
35:54
and I just want
35:55
to plead with you,
35:57
plead with you,
35:58
don't let it go
35:59
another day
36:01
without taking action
36:02
in your life
36:03
on this.
36:04
If you still have
36:05
questions,
36:06
come talk to me,
36:07
come talk to Nathan,
36:07
come talk to somebody
36:08
who's an elder here
36:10
or somebody
36:10
who understands
36:11
the Scriptures,
36:13
understands
36:13
God's plan
36:14
of salvation.
36:15
will be happy
36:16
more than overjoyed
36:18
to talk with you
36:18
about this.
36:21
But God is calling
36:22
you to Himself.
36:22
He is calling you
36:23
to salvation
36:24
that can only come
36:25
through His authority
36:26
in your life
36:27
over sin.
36:30
There's one final truth
36:31
this morning
36:32
and that's that
36:34
this unique authority
36:34
that Jesus wielded
36:35
to say
36:36
whatever He wanted
36:37
and to do
36:38
whatever He wanted
36:38
to do
36:39
was amazingly
36:39
delegated to
36:40
the apostles.
36:41
apostles.
36:43
It's truly amazing
36:44
what happened.
36:45
In Luke 9,
36:46
Jesus gave them
36:46
authority over demons,
36:47
over disease
36:48
and to proclaim
36:48
the kingdom.
36:52
How could they do
36:53
these things
36:53
with the same authority?
36:54
Because they spoke
36:55
the same truth
36:56
and they wielded
36:57
the same power.
37:00
So did it end
37:01
with the apostles?
37:02
Well, a portion
37:02
of it did.
37:03
A portion of it
37:04
did end with them.
37:05
There were signs
37:05
and wonders
37:06
and miracles
37:07
they were able
37:07
to do
37:08
during this time.
37:09
There was a gift
37:10
of the Spirit
37:10
that Jesus
37:11
had imparted
37:11
on them.
37:12
But don't miss
37:12
this brothers
37:13
and sisters
37:13
in the room
37:14
this morning.
37:16
The authority
37:16
to proclaim
37:17
the truth
37:18
has been passed
37:19
down to us.
37:21
We are designed
37:22
to be proclaimers
37:24
of God's Word
37:25
and God's truth.
37:28
Jesus'
37:29
final recorded
37:30
words in Acts 1,
37:31
you will receive
37:31
power when the
37:33
Holy Spirit
37:33
comes upon you
37:34
and you will be
37:35
my witnesses
37:35
in Judea,
37:37
Samaria
37:37
and to the ends
37:38
of the earth.
37:40
Paul writes
37:43
to Titus
37:44
in chapter 2,
37:44
young church
37:45
leader,
37:45
Titus,
37:46
chapter 2,
37:47
verse 15,
37:49
these things
37:49
speak with all
37:50
authority
37:51
and let no one
37:52
disregard you.
37:54
Let no one
37:55
disregard you.
37:57
I feel a special
37:58
burden this morning
37:58
to speak to the
38:00
young people
38:01
in the room.
38:02
Teenagers,
38:03
college students,
38:04
young professionals
38:04
in the room here.
38:07
Do not think
38:08
for a second
38:08
that you are
38:09
too young
38:10
for God
38:10
to use you.
38:12
And do not
38:13
let people
38:13
discourage you
38:14
because you
38:14
are young.
38:17
God has
38:17
historically
38:18
used young
38:19
people to
38:19
start
38:20
incredible
38:20
movements.
38:22
Martin Luther
38:22
nailed the
38:23
95 Theses
38:24
to the door
38:25
of Wittenberg
38:25
in 1517,
38:27
starting a
38:28
reformation.
38:29
He was only
38:29
34.
38:32
Nicholas
38:33
Zinzendorf
38:33
witnessed the
38:34
birth of the
38:35
100-year
38:36
Moravian prayer
38:36
revival in 1727,
38:38
when he was
38:39
only 27 years
38:40
old.
38:41
Jonathan
38:42
Edwards was
38:42
only at the
38:43
age of 31
38:44
in 1734,
38:45
when his church
38:46
experienced a
38:47
revival that
38:48
led to the
38:48
conversion of
38:49
half their
38:50
town.
38:52
George
38:52
Whitfield
38:52
launched what
38:53
some call
38:54
the greatest
38:55
single evangelistic
38:57
tour in New
38:58
England in the
38:59
first Great
39:00
Awakening when
39:00
he was only
39:01
25.
39:03
Some of you
39:03
are coming up
39:04
to that age.
39:05
Some of you
39:05
are already at
39:05
that age.
39:06
At the
39:08
age of
39:08
23,
39:09
Samuel
39:09
Mills led
39:10
a group
39:10
of peers
39:11
to what
39:11
would be
39:11
the birth
39:12
of foreign
39:13
missions
39:14
in America.
39:17
God
39:17
uses people
39:18
young and
39:19
old.
39:20
I don't
39:20
mean to be
39:21
discouraging
39:21
old people.
39:21
God uses
39:22
old people
39:22
too.
39:24
God uses
39:25
people young
39:26
and old,
39:26
but do not
39:27
think that
39:28
you are
39:29
too young
39:30
to do
39:30
something
39:31
great for
39:32
the glory
39:32
of God.
39:34
Mary,
39:35
mother of
39:35
Jesus was
39:37
likely a
39:38
young teenager
39:38
when she
39:39
raised and
39:39
nurtured the
39:41
man that
39:41
would become
39:42
the cornerstone
39:43
to every
39:44
great movement
39:44
of God
39:45
for the rest
39:46
of history.
39:48
So young
39:49
people,
39:49
do not believe
39:50
for a second
39:50
you are too
39:51
young for God
39:52
to use you
39:52
as a catalyst
39:54
for revival.
39:56
And pray for
39:57
revival.
39:57
We need it
39:58
so desperately.
39:59
We need it
40:00
so desperately
40:00
in our country.
40:01
So for all
40:05
of us,
40:05
young,
40:05
old,
40:07
as we go
40:08
away from
40:08
here this
40:08
morning,
40:09
remember that
40:09
we live
40:10
in a
40:10
fallen and
40:11
broken world
40:12
that desperately
40:12
needs the
40:14
authority of
40:14
Christ in
40:15
their lives.
40:17
I think about
40:18
all the terrible
40:18
things that are
40:19
happening in
40:19
this world
40:20
and my heart
40:20
breaks.
40:20
You've got the
40:21
conflict going
40:22
on between
40:22
Syria and
40:23
Russia,
40:24
where people
40:25
are being
40:26
killed
40:26
meaninglessly.
40:28
There's an
40:29
ever-escalating
40:29
conflict in
40:30
Israel and
40:31
Palestine.
40:31
there's the
40:33
Islamic State,
40:34
or whatever
40:35
they're calling
40:35
themselves this
40:36
week,
40:37
Islamic State,
40:38
ISIS,
40:38
whatever it
40:39
is,
40:39
they're killing
40:39
Christians among
40:40
other minority
40:41
religious groups
40:42
for apparently
40:44
no good reason.
40:46
There's the
40:46
voices of
40:47
feminism,
40:48
homosexual rights
40:49
activists,
40:49
proponents of
40:50
abortion that are
40:50
growing ever
40:51
louder in our
40:52
culture.
40:53
We have all
40:54
the chaos,
40:55
all the bad
40:55
ideas,
40:56
all the
40:57
misrepresentations
40:58
that are floating
40:58
around our
40:59
world.
41:00
And yet God
41:01
has placed us
41:02
here in
41:04
North Georgia
41:04
to impact a
41:07
culture for
41:07
His glory.
41:09
Let us never
41:10
forget that.
41:12
Let us never
41:12
forget that the
41:13
most important
41:13
thing that can
41:14
happen in this
41:14
world is for
41:15
God to be
41:16
glorified through
41:17
His truth being
41:18
made known,
41:19
both here and
41:21
abroad, both
41:22
locally and to
41:23
the nations.
41:24
God's.
41:26
And the only
41:27
place that
41:28
they're going
41:29
to receive
41:29
this truth is
41:30
through the
41:30
instruments in
41:32
which He has
41:32
deposited His
41:33
Word and His
41:34
Spirit.
41:36
And that's in
41:36
us.
41:39
See, in this
41:39
passage, Jesus
41:40
comes up against
41:42
a great conflict
41:43
and He's promised
41:44
us that if we're
41:45
going to follow
41:46
Him radically,
41:48
if we're going to
41:48
share truth,
41:49
if we're going to
41:50
represent Him
41:51
locally and to
41:52
the nations,
41:53
then we're going
41:54
to come into
41:55
conflict.
41:57
There's going to
41:57
be times of
41:58
discouragement.
41:58
There's going to
41:59
be times of
41:59
joy.
42:01
There's going to
42:01
be times of
42:01
difficulty and
42:03
times of
42:04
happiness.
42:05
And we can
42:06
expect confrontation
42:07
as we carry the
42:08
light of the
42:08
gospel truth to
42:09
the world.
42:10
But I want to
42:11
leave you this
42:11
encouraging passage
42:14
that this light
42:15
and momentary
42:17
affliction is
42:17
preparing us for
42:18
an eternal
42:19
weight of glory
42:20
that is beyond
42:21
all comparison.
42:23
Let's pray
42:24
together.