Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Wisdom & Authority of Christ | Mark 11:27-33 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

The Wisdom & Authority of Christ | Mark 11:27-33 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Before we begin and Mark, I want to turn your attention to
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  something and just share a few truths here in preparation for
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  the main message. And so don't turn to Mark just
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  yet, but meet me in Romans chapter one very quickly.
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  And these thoughts that I am going to share with you blessed
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  me tremendously and prayerfully. I hope they will bless you
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  equally, if not more. I want you to see what Paul says
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  to these believers that he's never met before.
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  It's here in verse eight, he says First, I thank my God
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  through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is
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  proclaimed in all the world. That's powerful.
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  Paul traveled to many ancient cities, Rome being obviously the
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  capital of the world, really at that time.
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  And wherever Paul went among the believers, they were talking
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  about these Roman Christians. Their faith was shared, their
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  faith was recognized, their faith was celebrated even by
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  other believers. It inspired them.
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  And how could it not? You're talking about a
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  collection of Christ followers in the heathen city of Rome,
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  where church history would tell us just in a few years after
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  this would be great persecution against believers in Jesus
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  Christ. And despite all of that, these
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  Roman Christians and their piety was providing strength to other
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  believers. And Paul here commends that he
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  celebrates that. You know it's good from time to
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  time to encourage other believers about their influence
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  on other believers, even if that's you.
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  Paul didn't neglect that concept of encouragement of actually
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  telling another believer. You inspire me.
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  You inspire others. I hear from others about your
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  walk with the Lord, your devotion to the Lord, your
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  service to the church. It's a blessing.
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  Paul's doing that here, right the outset of his letter.
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  But interestingly, in commending their faith, he repeats it in a
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  similar way at the end of this very same epistle.
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  So go to Romans 16 and notice something with me in verse 19 of
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  Romans 16. Isn't that an awesome sound that
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  you're hearing right now? Do you hear that?
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  You know, somebody called us because we get calls from time
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  to time who watch us online. And one of the things that they
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  observed in watching our live services is that they hear the
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  Bible pages flipping. And they said he hasn't heard
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  that in such a long time. So I just have to share that.
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  There we go. I'm, I'm doing what Paul's
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  doing. Be encouraged.
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  But look at Romans 1619 now, for your obedience is known to all,
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  so that I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise as to
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  what is good and innocent, as to what is evil.
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  So he almost echoes what he says in Romans 18.
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  But he says something different now.
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  He says for your, not your faith, your obedience, your
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  obedience is known to all. Is he speaking about something
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  different here? I think indirectly Paul is
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  teaching us about what true faith looks like.
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  Obedience is inseparable from true saving faith.
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  If you have true saving faith, you're going to walk in
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  obedience. So the faith that was praised by
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  these neighboring churches was not a praise about their mere
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  confession or their profession, but their practice.
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  How they lived as a result of their faith is what inspired the
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  other believers. And here's the thing that's
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  important to keep in mind. True saving faith not only leads
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  to and produces a life of obedience, but it's a life of
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  obedience that should be recognized by others, he says.
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  Your faith is known across the world.
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  Your obedience is known to all. True saving faith will produce
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  obedience, and that obedience will be so evident and obvious.
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  Maybe not to the whole world, but to your world.
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  This is a true believer in Jesus Christ.
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  Now that's not even my main point.
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  I bring that to your attention because think about what kind of
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  lives these believers lived for it to bless other assemblies and
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  congregations. What kind of steadfastness, What
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  kind of boldness and courage, What kind of purity was there
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  for it to shine so bright in this ancient world?
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  For the Christian world to be able to say those Roman
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  believers are something. With all of that being said, go
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  back to Romans one. Now you notice what Paul says
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  after he tells these people that their faith is made known to
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  all. Look at verse 9.
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  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
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  gospel of his Son. That without ceasing I mention
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  you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may
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  now at last succeed in coming to you.
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  So Paul, Paul saying I pray for you all the time, but he doesn't
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  just say that. Look at verse 11 for I long to
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  see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to
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  strengthen you. So not only am I praying for you
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  unceasingly, but I long my prayers that I would come to you
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  in person, that I may impart into you something else, that
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  you may be further strengthened. You know what that tells me?
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  This is what I want to drive into your heart because it was
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  driven into mind that though these believers had a world
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  renowned class of faith, they still needed to be prayed for
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  and there was still more for them to experience in God
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  despite their influence, despite the lives that they have
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  touched, Paul believed there's still more for God through my
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  ministry to impart into you. And I opened this message in
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  this way to inspire you and to encourage you.
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  There should never be a moment in your life, no matter how much
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  you graduate in your sanctification, where you feel
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  like there isn't more, There is always more.
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  There is always more for you to know.
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  There is more for you to grow. And what's so fascinating about
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  these inspiring believers? It's not just that they needed
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  to be prayed for. It's not that they had more to
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  experience by Paul's imparting gifts.
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  Look at verse 15. So I am eager to preach the
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  gospel to you also who are in Rome, these believers who are
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  inspiring other believers to live with greater intensity and
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  devotion of the gospel. Paul says, I can't wait to
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  preach to you about the gospel. You can never outgrow your need
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  to hear about the gospel. You need it.
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  I need it. Not to say that we just stay
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  there in those elementary doctrines, no, but we never
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  failed to revisit it and discover greater depths of it,
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  and seeing how the scriptures and places that we might have
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  missed points to it. And so even if you are a
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  believer here who has vast influence online in your
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  circles, you need to be prayed for and you need to believe that
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  there is more that God wants to impart into your life and you
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  can never outgrow your need to know and grow and be reminded of
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  the grace of God. Lord, we open this message with
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  these truths so that we can be humble before you as we explore
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  this text that you have prepared for us to discover.
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  Together we are eager, Lord, and though we may stand, we we take
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  heed lest we fall. Help us remain hungry and
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  humble, that we may know all that you have for us, not just
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  today, but until we meet you face to face.
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  Be with us now as we look at your Son Jesus Christ and a new
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  light in Jesus name. Amen.
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  With that being said, Mark 11 with me, please in verse 27.
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  I want to speak to you today about the wisdom and authority
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  of Jesus Christ. Let's read together, beginning
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  in verse 27, down to verse 33. And they came again to
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  Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the
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  temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came
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  to him, and they said to him, by what authority are you doing
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  these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?
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  Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question.
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  Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these
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  things. Was the baptism of John from
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  heaven or from man? Answer me.
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  And they discussed it with one another, saying, If we say from
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  heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him?
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  But shall we say from man? They were afraid of the people,
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  for they all held that John really was a prophet.
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  So they answered Jesus, we do not know.
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  And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what
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  authority I do these things. I love Jesus.
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  Here we find our Lord in the temple yet again.
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  Earlier that day, Jesus was standing with his disciples by a
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  withered, dry, lifeless fig tree while sharing these life giving
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  truths about mountain moving prayer.
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  And from there, now marked by the Spirit, transports us to
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  Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem once more.
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  And this is during Passover weeks, so you can imagine just
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  how packed the plazas were. And we find here Christ in verse
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  27 walking in the temple. But he wouldn't be able to walk
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  too long before he would be ambushed and he was attacked by
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  three groups of people. According to verse 27, the chief
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  priest, the scribes and the elders, they came to him.
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  Now these three groups are the three main components of the
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  main religious Jewish body of the time, known as the
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  Sanhedrin. These are top figures.
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  These are the authority heads of the spiritual and religious life
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  and regulations for the Jewish people at this time.
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  And as we would suspect, here are these men who come pouncing
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  on the opportunity that Jesus is in close proximity to them, and
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  they are armed with a new scheme, a set of questions that
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  they believe will cause Christ to stumble and to expose his
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  foolishness and his inconsistency and perhaps even
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  some sin in his life. So with aggression they asked
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  these two questions by what authority do you do these
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  things? Or who gave you this authority
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  to do it? Now, before we even look into
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  those questions, we have to 1st establish that these requests
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  were not prompted by sincere curiosity.
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  It was motivated by murderous animosity.
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  Let me remind you, the last that we heard of these groups of
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  people go to Mark 11, verse 18, we're told here in verse 18.
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  And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were
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  seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him because all
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  the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
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  So with this in mind, we have every reason to believe that the
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  motive behind this question and these questions is to find a
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  reason to find some kind of evidence to condemn the Lord
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  Jesus to death. And for these twisted men, it
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  would be this type of interrogation that would be the
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  way to gather the necessary proof to justify their evil
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  ploy. Who gave you this authority?
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  Now, why would this put Jesus in the dilemma?
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  Why would this specific type of approach place him in a
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  dangerous place? It's very easy because if Jesus
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  said that it was with his own authority that he did these
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  things, then he could be easily dismissed as a self appointing
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  prophet. He could be discredited in the
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  public eye. But if he did claim what he said
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  over and over and over before this moment, that he was in fact
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  sent by God, that he did even come from heaven, then that
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  would be fresh grounds for them to accuse him of blasphemy.
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  And so they think that they have them in a corner here.
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  So they say, what authority do you have to do these things?
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  What are these things that they are talking about?
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  Surely it is what we learned not too long ago when Jesus went
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  into the temple and cleanse it and drove out the money
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  changers. We learned that in verse 18
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  there, right, they heard about this.
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  They learned, though they weren't there, that Jesus came
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  in and bulldoze all the corruption out of the House of
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  God. But there's something else that
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  Jesus was doing at this moment that also caused them to ask
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  this question. You won't find it in Mark or
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  you're going to find it in Luke and Luke 20 verse one.
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  Mark tells us that Jesus was in the temple walking.
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  Luke says something else and Luke 20 verse one one day.
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  This is the same account One day as Jesus was teaching the people
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  in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and
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  the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us by
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  what authority you do these things or who is it that gave
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  you this authority? So wasn't just about the news of
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  how he came in, as we learned, fulfilling his role as a priest
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  to purge out all the corruption. It was also the fact that he,
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  with authority, was teaching within the temple, and not just
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  teaching, he was preaching the gospel to them.
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  You know where my mind went when I read this the other day about
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  how Mark began in his gospel account?
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  You remember Mark 114 to 15, where we're told that Jesus
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  preached the gospel of God. And then now we come to the end
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  of the book, near the end of the book, at least, obviously, near
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  the end of his ministry on earth.
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  And what do you find Jesus doing preaching the gospel?
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  You know, this is the beauty of studying a book in its entirety,
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  going from chapter to chapter, verse by verse.
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  Because what we see here is a tracing of Jesus and his duty,
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  being unwavering in his determination, laser focused,
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  unmoved, unfazed, completely committed to his father as a
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  servant. And he is our model to serve the
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  Father with the same steadfast resolve.
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  When we're introduced to Jesus, we find him preaching the
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  gospel. When we're coming to the close
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  of Jesus life on earth, He's preaching the gospel and he is
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  our model. He's our example for today, and
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  I can't help but be moved. Seeing the Lord pouring out his
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  heart serving in this way. He told us that he was sent to
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  preach. Yes, to die, but to also preach
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  leading up to his death and a few days before he is ready to
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  be nailed on a cross he's still serving and what he was called
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  to do. I think of the words of the
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  apostle Paul who imitated the zeal and the devotion of his
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  master. You know, you're asked
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  sometimes, what's your life verse?
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  It's hard to say what my life verse is.
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  I can tell you like the top ten, I guess.
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  But whenever people do ask me that question, it's always been
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  this, at least one of them in terms of my walk with the Lord.
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  Not necessarily what Christ has done for me, but what I can do
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  for Christ for years. This is this has been the one
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  for years, and I think he'll stay that way for years.
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  In Acts 2024, you have to see it turn, turn, turn.
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  Let's hear that sound again of the Bibles flipping.
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  You got to see it with your eyes.
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  Acts 2024. And I know I said that's my life
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  first. It can be yours too, if you want
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  it to be. Acts 2024.
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  Memorize it, Write it on your doorpost.
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  But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to
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  myself. If only I may finish my course
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  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify
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  to the gospel of the grace of God.
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  That's a good life. Verse.
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  There is no value to my life. It's not in my job.
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  It's not in my bank account. It's not in my family.
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  As wonderful as my family is. It's not about my gifting.
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  It's not about world records that I've broken.
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  My life has zero value to it. Apart from me serving the master
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  in regards to the specific tailor made calling that he has
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  given to me. Can you say that?
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  Can you actually say that my life has no value?
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  Like I'm ready to go home if I can no longer serve Jesus in the
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  way that he's called me to serve Jesus?
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  This is radical Christianity. No, it's Christianity.
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  It's not radical Christianity. Well, that's Paul.
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  Well, Paul says imitate me. So now you're in trouble.
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  I do not account my life of any value.
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  It's not even precious to me. Meaning, life is identified.
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  Life is in correspondence to my service to the master.
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  That's what life is. You remove serving the master,
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  You remove serving his purposes, advancing his gospel.
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  I don't live that can be possible for you.
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  Ask God to do it in you. But notice what he says about
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  ministry. If only I may finish my course.
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  A lot of people start out serving God, he says.
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  I want to finish finish my course and the ministry that I
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  received from the Lord Jesus. Do you hear his language?
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  Not the ministry that I put myself in.
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  Not the ministry that I invented for myself, that I received,
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  that I received from God gives you ministry.
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  God opens doors for you to serve in ministry.
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  God fashions you and furnishes you for ministry.
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  You know why that's important to know?
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  For many reasons. It helps you see the mundane as
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  majestic, because if you're serving the Lord in any
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  capacity, if you see it as it being something given by the
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  Lord, then you're going to appreciate it much more.
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  I've received this from the Lord, and in his wisdom he gave
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  me this kind of ministry. So I'm going to serve him in
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  this way because this is what Providence has brought to my
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  plate, and so I will enjoy it and faithfully observe it.
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  I received it, But then notice the end of this verse.
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  The message that he wants to leave with the world.
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  The one thing that he wants to leave behind with the world when
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  he departs from the world to testify to the gospel of the
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  grace of God. You know what Paul wanted to
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  leave with the world. Out of all the attributes, out
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  of all the truths. I want people to know about
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  grace. I want people to know about
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  grace. I want my life, my ministry to
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  leave in people's mouths the taste of his mercy.
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  What a man this was. Surely he walked in the paths
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  and the steps of his master and we're invited to do the same.
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  Jesus starts out serving and preaching the gospel.
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  We find him here a few days before he would be crucified
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  preaching the gospel. And if you're going to live to
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  serve Christ in this way, where you can say with Paul, my life
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  has no value. Yeah, I know I need to work and
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  I need to provide for my family. That's important.
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  I'm not neglecting that, but the desires of my heart.
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  But my ambitions are 100% dedicated to serving the Lord.
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  If you're going to live that way, you can expect what Jesus
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  experienced in the temple on this day.
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  Here he is preaching the gospel, and that would not happen while
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  the enemies of the gospel sat by idly.
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  Here are these agents of Satan, ready to interrupt what Christ
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  is doing. You can expect warfare in your
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  life when you live with this kind of ambition, but there's
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  nothing to be feared. Because as we're about to
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  discover whatever ploy, whatever plot these men have, the tables
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  are going to be turned very quickly.
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  So let's come back, verse 29 of Mark 11.
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  Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question.
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  Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these
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  things. Was the baptism of John from
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  heaven over man? Answer me.
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  You can tell the tone here is is strong, and for good reason,
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  because Jesus can see right through their insincere phony
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  interest. These are not men who are
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  authentically inquiring about His authority, they are
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  challenging it. Here's how you can translate
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  what the Pharisees are saying. Who do you think you are?
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  That's what they're saying. Who do you think you are doing
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  this? Who do you think you are to
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  teach here? Who do you think you are to come
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  in here, Move things around? Who do you think you are?
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  And this is a good place to remember that ever since
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  Christ's first Advent, from every age since then, and it
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  will always be until he comes back again.
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  Men have resisted the authority of Jesus Christ.
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  Men have fought, Men have rebelled, Men have raised their
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  fists against the authority of Jesus Christ.
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  And that was prophesied in the Bible.
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  It was prophesied in the book of Psalms, and one of the most
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  quoted Psalms in the New Testament, Psalm chapter 2.
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  And in Psalm chapter two we read here of Jesus.
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  In fact, in Acts 425 to 27 the apostles point to this Psalm as
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  a fulfillment of it, connecting to Christ through the rejection
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  of Pontius, Pilate and Herod when they crucified Christ.
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  But let me remind you that what's happening here and some
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  small measure was foretold, and you can expect it to until he
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  comes and sets up his rule and reign, whether people like it or
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  not. And Psalm 2, we read Why Do the
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  Nation's Rage? Verse one and the people's plot
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  in vain. That's how he opens a Psalm.
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  Why do the Nation's rage and the people's plot in vain?
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  David writes here in absolute astonishment and perplexity.
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  Here's how he's really getting, what he's really getting at.
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  I don't get it. Why are people so angry at God?
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  Why are so? Why are people so hostile
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  towards their Creator, who has dispensed common grace in so
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  many ways, and He ultimately manifested His grace in the
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  greatest demonstration of love possible and sending his Son?
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  Why would rulers and leaders rebel against their maker?
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  Why? And you probably can echo that
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  sentiment as you look to the world today, as you even look to
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  some loved ones. I just don't get it.
• 24:32
  Why would you reject such good news?
• 24:36
  Why would you reject forgiveness?
• 24:38
  Why would you reject freedom? Let me ask you that.
• 24:41
  Why would you what, like tell me what it is about following Jesus
• 24:48
  surrounding to Jesus that's so off putting and so offensive to
• 24:52
  you? This is what David is saying.
• 24:56
  But this universal hatred is not a random theoretical tension
• 25:02
  that people feel about the concept of God.
• 25:04
  It's about someone specifically. And that's in verse 2.
• 25:08
  The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take
• 25:12
  counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.
• 25:19
  That's Jesus the Christ against his anointed saying let us burst
• 25:26
  their bonds apart and castaway their cords from us.
• 25:31
  You know, there are a lot of people who claim that they love
• 25:33
  God, even a lot of religions that claim that they love God.
• 25:38
  But in First John 223, John says he who denies the Son denies the
• 25:44
  Father. If you don't receive Jesus as he
• 25:48
  is revealed, you don't have God. You don't have God.
• 25:53
  And I've had this discussion with many confused people who
• 25:57
  think that just some who hold to some of the texts that we have
• 26:00
  in this book, they might be in the right place with God.
• 26:04
  No, it's what you do with Jesus that determines where you stand
• 26:08
  with God. And so these individuals here,
• 26:12
  these leaders of the world, they're against the Lord and
• 26:15
  against his anointed. And they say something.
• 26:17
  Now the Spirit records how they think and how they express
• 26:20
  themselves in verse three. Let us burst their bonds apart
• 26:25
  and castaway their cords from us.
• 26:27
  What are they saying here? What are these chords?
• 26:30
  What are these bonds Speaking of?
• 26:32
  It speaks of authority. It speaks of moral restraints
• 26:37
  and His commands that are yoked to our wills, these chords and
• 26:41
  these bonds. These men wanted to break free
• 26:44
  from such a thing. We will not be held captive by
• 26:48
  this anointed one. We will not allow Him to drive
• 26:52
  us. We will not allow Him to
• 26:53
  determine anything for us. We will shake ourselves free
• 26:56
  from this. And we see here that they want
• 27:02
  their independence and are willing to go to war with God
• 27:05
  instead of submitting to His Lordship.
• 27:07
  And on a larger scale, they don't want the Lord and His
• 27:10
  anointed to rule the world. They want to govern the world.
• 27:15
  And even in the Psalm that we read right after that, the Lord
• 27:18
  laughs at their scheming and their thinking.
• 27:21
  He makes a plea with His very same people.
• 27:24
  Even in this you see the mercy of God.
• 27:26
  Look at verse 10. Now therefore, O kings, be wise,
• 27:30
  be warned, O rulers of the earth, Serve the Lord with fear
• 27:36
  and rejoice with trembling. And here's the invitation.
• 27:40
  Kiss the sun. Where is the Son of God?
• 27:46
  Where is the second person of the Trinity in the Old
• 27:48
  Testament? Here's a good place.
• 27:50
  Kiss the sun. Kiss the sun lest he be angry
• 27:54
  and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
• 27:58
  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
• 28:01
  Kiss the Son. A kiss in this context is a
• 28:05
  physical expression of adoration and allegiance to a monarch, but
• 28:11
  not just to a physical human king.
• 28:15
  We even see instances where kissing something or someone was
• 28:21
  to pay homage to deity. And so we remember the words of
• 28:26
  Elijah when he was depressed and God spoke to him about there
• 28:29
  being a remnant who have not kissed Bale.
• 28:34
  And so how we understand this here is figuratively speaking,
• 28:36
  to kiss the the sun is to express your desire to be
• 28:42
  reconciled and friends with the sun.
• 28:47
  In essence, when you put your faith in Christ, you kiss the
• 28:49
  sun and that was your token of partnership and allegiance and
• 28:55
  surrender to Him. And this is what the Psalm is
• 28:58
  saying. You do that kiss the sun because
• 29:02
  unlike the heathen, we do not want him to burst his bonds or
• 29:06
  his cords over us. We invite them.
• 29:09
  Why? Because he said my yoke is easy
• 29:11
  and my burden is light. The only thing that we should
• 29:15
  expect in terms of bonds and cords being broken is him
• 29:18
  breaking sin off of your life when He becomes Lord.
• 29:23
  And so you have to make a choice.
• 29:25
  Either you deny His Lordship and His authority and you get to
• 29:28
  keep your bondage and sin, or you receive His Lordship and
• 29:31
  authority and he sets you free. This is the invitation.
• 29:36
  Kiss the sun and no true freedom and watch the shackles fall and
• 29:40
  watch you being able to now know this empowerment from above,
• 29:43
  where you're able to resist not his authority, but that which
• 29:47
  had authority over you. You see, you're really one of
• 29:52
  two things in this life. You're either a slave to sin or
• 29:56
  you're a slave to righteousness. There's nothing in between.
• 30:01
  You're either a master to yourself, which ultimately your
• 30:05
  flesh is a master over you, or Jesus becomes your master.
• 30:09
  So make your choice. Some people think that they can
• 30:12
  just be in this limbo. There's no such thing.
• 30:15
  The Bible at least tells us that that is not the case.
• 30:19
  And so the Psalms told us about this.
• 30:22
  Jesus here is demonstrating how it was true in his day, and it
• 30:25
  will be true with the people you know that don't believe.
• 30:28
  And it will only become more aggressive, more obvious, more
• 30:32
  blatant as we approach the second coming of Christ.
• 30:35
  But guess what? He's going to rule and reign
• 30:37
  regardless. So he sees through it, and then
• 30:42
  he asks him this question. He gives him a counter question,
• 30:45
  the Lord. And this is not an evasion.
• 30:47
  This is not him trying to escape their little plot.
• 30:52
  This is a brilliant response to expose the dishonesty of this
• 30:56
  panel. But why this question?
• 30:59
  What is the baptism of John in verse 30 have to do with Jesus
• 31:03
  authority? Why does answering this on their
• 31:06
  part bring clarity to what they're asking about originally?
• 31:12
  It's very easy. Whatever conclusion that these
• 31:16
  religious leaders would make about John would determine their
• 31:19
  conclusion about the nature of Christ.
• 31:22
  Whatever they would determine about who John is will
• 31:26
  ultimately determine who Christ is.
• 31:29
  Because John in his ministry pointed to Jesus Christ.
• 31:35
  John's baptism wasn't the only thing that he did, it was his
• 31:40
  message. And he pointed at Jesus as,
• 31:42
  behold the name of God who has and who will take away the sin
• 31:46
  of the world. So whatever you determine about
• 31:49
  this man, this prophet will ultimately lead you to a
• 31:52
  conclusion about the essence and the nature and the authority of
• 31:55
  Jesus Christ. And guess what?
• 31:59
  They understood this. They understood that to accept
• 32:02
  John's baptism being from heaven, his ministry coming from
• 32:05
  above automatically means that they accept Jesus also coming
• 32:08
  from heaven. And So what do they do?
• 32:10
  They have their own little huddle.
• 32:12
  So they peel back a little bit and they get in a little circle.
• 32:16
  And thankfully the Holy Spirit allows us to sneak in and peer
• 32:18
  into their little conversation. And they are freaking out
• 32:24
  because verse 31 tells us what they're discussing and they
• 32:27
  discussed it with one another saying if we say from heaven, he
• 32:30
  will say Why then did you not believe him?
• 32:32
  Brilliant. So if you do agree that John was
• 32:36
  a real prophet, then why didn't you believe him about what he
• 32:39
  said about me? Who's in the hot seat now?
• 32:45
  If you do believe that John was legitimate, then you also have
• 32:48
  to accept me as being legitimate.
• 32:50
  And they were not willing to do that.
• 32:53
  And so they think about the alternative.
• 32:55
  Verse 32. But shall we say from man?
• 32:58
  And then they paused, and I wonder if some of them looked
• 33:02
  over their shoulder and saw the crowds waiting for their answer.
• 33:06
  For they all held that John was a prophet.
• 33:09
  He really was a prophet. When you go to Luke's account,
• 33:12
  which you don't have to in Luke 20 verse six, you read that they
• 33:15
  believe that they would be stoned on the spot if they made
• 33:19
  the claim that John was not a real prophet.
• 33:21
  That's how much he was highly steamed by the public.
• 33:25
  And so stroking their beards, one of the Pharisees speaks up
• 33:31
  and he says, why don't we just appeal to ignorance?
• 33:35
  Oh yeah, that's probably the best option.
• 33:37
  Let's appeal to ignorance. And it seems like this is the
• 33:40
  best way. It seems like, yeah, if I was
• 33:42
  one of them, that probably the way I would go too.
• 33:44
  That's the best way to be unscathed in the situation.
• 33:47
  But think about it. How humiliating is this for
• 33:52
  these guys who boasted about their superior knowledge and
• 33:57
  their spirituality and their insight?
• 33:59
  These are the guys who determine and enforce these traditions
• 34:01
  that came from oral tradition and their freedom to add things
• 34:05
  to that. These are guys that were looked
• 34:07
  up to for instruction and guidance, and here they are.
• 34:10
  This isn't a private meeting with the Lord Jesus.
• 34:13
  This is at the most public place you can be, and they are ready
• 34:17
  now to confess in front of everybody.
• 34:20
  Oh, you don't know. And so no matter where you go,
• 34:28
  these men are going to pay a price for approaching Jesus in
• 34:31
  this way. There are two things I want to
• 34:34
  bring to your attention from this verse.
• 34:37
  There are two lessons that you can draw from this.
• 34:39
  Number one, the Lord is always able and He always will humble
• 34:48
  the proud. Always.
• 34:53
  These men are proud, proud of their false empty piety, proud
• 34:57
  of their knowledge, proud of their self righteousness in
• 35:00
  comparison to other sinners. And we see that by way of
• 35:04
  example here that Jesus will find a way to bring low those
• 35:09
  who place themselves high. And he will do so in this life
• 35:14
  in many ways and he will finally do it on that day according to
• 35:17
  Isaiah 211, where he alone will be exalted.
• 35:21
  You know, there's an interesting way that the Bible describes
• 35:25
  God's attitude towards sin. And not just sin in general
• 35:29
  because he feels a certain way about sin, but specifically with
• 35:32
  the sin of pride. There's something unique about
• 35:35
  how the Lord feels about arrogance, and it's told in two
• 35:41
  places. But let me quote you one in
• 35:42
  James 4/6. And you don't have to turn
• 35:44
  there. We're told that God opposes the
• 35:48
  proud. He opposes the proud.
• 35:51
  That's very unique into how he feels about sin when it comes to
• 35:56
  this. He opposes the Greek word is to
• 35:59
  range battle against. In other words, in the original,
• 36:03
  when you read, if you read that in the Greek, you would read a
• 36:05
  military term. Here's how you translate it.
• 36:09
  God goes to war with the proud. He goes to war with those who
• 36:17
  are arrogant. Arrogant about what?
• 36:21
  Anything. He can't stand it.
• 36:24
  And here's the thing. When God chooses to set up his
• 36:28
  ranks and to fight against the proud, he always wins.
• 36:33
  Always. He will find a way to humble
• 36:36
  them. And so for God to oppose the
• 36:40
  proud says something about how he feels about it.
• 36:43
  So I'm meditating on this last time thinking, OK, Lord, if
• 36:45
  that's how you feel about pride, what?
• 36:49
  Just about spiritual things? No.
• 36:50
  Proud about how you look. Proud about how you know so
• 36:56
  much. Proud about your, yes, your
• 36:59
  performance in any area of life. Anything that you think you've
• 37:04
  achieved in your own strength, anything that you think makes
• 37:07
  you feel better and more significant than someone else,
• 37:11
  is what the God of Heaven looks down on.
• 37:12
  It says I'm going to go to war with that person.
• 37:17
  I'm going to go to war. So here I am thinking I already
• 37:23
  go to war with this flesh. I'm already at war with Satan
• 37:28
  and the Kingdom of darkness. This world is at war with me.
• 37:32
  I don't want to go to war with God because I can go to war with
• 37:37
  everything else. All the demons, all the people,
• 37:40
  all the evil politicians, all whatever.
• 37:42
  I can go to war. As long as God is with me, I'm
• 37:44
  going to be victorious. But if even I have all of those
• 37:48
  guys with me and I'm at war with God not going to win, what is
• 37:54
  the secret to humility? There are many places to go.
• 38:00
  Let me give you one. From what we're talking about
• 38:03
  him. So why not John Baptist, John
• 38:06
  the Baptist, the First Baptist, John the Baptist.
• 38:10
  When he was told that Jesus now and his ministry are baptizing
• 38:15
  more people and people are going to him to get baptized, you know
• 38:18
  what his response was? It's brilliant.
• 38:20
  It's amazing. This fire breathing prophet who
• 38:23
  brought the nation of Israel to its knees is now seeing a shift
• 38:27
  in popularity. What do you do when now a new
• 38:33
  church comes on the scene and people want to go to that
• 38:35
  church? What do you do when you have a
• 38:38
  conference and people are now going to a different conference
• 38:41
  and not your conference? People are no longer going to
• 38:43
  your Bible study because there's another Bible study.
• 38:45
  What do you do? This is essentially what John is
• 38:49
  being told. People are not coming to your
• 38:51
  meetings as much as John. They're going to Jesus.
• 38:54
  And here's what John says. In John 327, John answered a
• 38:58
  person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him
• 39:02
  from heaven. I'm bothered by that.
• 39:09
  You know why? Because John had a revelation.
• 39:11
  Anything I have, my preaching ability, the size of my
• 39:15
  ministry, the reach of my influence, Not one thing that I
• 39:19
  have has not been given. It came from heaven.
• 39:26
  It came from heaven. Meaning I'm not in charge of
• 39:29
  this. Ultimately, the essence of
• 39:32
  humility is recognizing everything that you have,
• 39:33
  everything that you own, everything that you do, has been
• 39:35
  authorized by God. That's the essence of humility.
• 39:39
  And as long as you train yourself to believe that and to
• 39:41
  see everything through that lens, you will know perpetual
• 39:45
  humility. And even when it comes to
• 39:49
  something like this, that challenges your life, that
• 39:51
  challenges probably your sense of purpose and the exciting
• 39:53
  things that you enjoy, even if you do it for God, you can
• 39:56
  actually, like John in the same context, rejoice, especially
• 40:01
  when Jesus is glorified in it God and we see here with Jesus.
• 40:08
  We'll always find a way to humble the proud.
• 40:11
  You know what he did with Nebuchadnezzar?
• 40:12
  He turned his brain to mush. And overnight you had
• 40:16
  Nebuchadnezzar, this high and lofty king who believed that he
• 40:20
  was the one who established his Kingdom on the earth, became
• 40:22
  like a beast now, eating grass with his mouth on his fore legs.
• 40:30
  But here's the second thing from Jesus in dealing with these
• 40:32
  Pharisees that we can draw a lesson from notice here in verse
• 40:36
  32. But shall we say from man, they
• 40:39
  were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really
• 40:43
  was a prophet. The fear of man is a deadly
• 40:48
  snare. They were afraid.
• 40:53
  You know what's so strange? When you go to a text like John
• 40:55
  12, you read about some of the authorities who believed on
• 40:59
  Jesus but were afraid to confess it because of the Pharisees and
• 41:04
  they didn't want to be kicked out of the synagogues.
• 41:06
  Like, how weird is this? You have these religious leaders
• 41:09
  that are afraid of the opinions of the people, and you have the
• 41:12
  people who are afraid of the opinions of the religious
• 41:14
  leaders. Everybody's scared of each
• 41:17
  other. And no matter what side you're
• 41:21
  looking at it from, the consequence of the fear man is
• 41:24
  the same. It paralyzes you, it cripples
• 41:28
  you. And the worst outcome of the
• 41:30
  fear of man is when it calls you to not obey the Lord Jesus
• 41:36
  because you want the approval of someone else to live.
• 41:41
  For the approval of man guarantees A defeated life.
• 41:45
  And based on what we just learned here, this illegitimate,
• 41:48
  ungodly fear where you're constantly wondering every step
• 41:52
  of the way, what so and so will think, what so and so will do.
• 41:54
  Now let me pause and say that there's a legitimate concern
• 41:57
  that you should have for people and what you do, but always with
• 42:02
  the motivation of will this glorify Christ.
• 42:06
  Is this going to put a, is this going to put a bad testimony on
• 42:09
  my name? Ultimately to the name of
• 42:11
  Christ? You should think that way.
• 42:12
  But that's not what we're talking about here.
• 42:13
  We're talking about fear of those who would stand in the way
• 42:16
  of you living the way you're supposed to live for the glory
• 42:18
  of God. This illegitimate fear knows no
• 42:22
  discrimination. It could infect anybody here.
• 42:25
  We see it affecting leadership. So you have leadership here who
• 42:28
  are scared by the opinions of the people that they lead, and
• 42:31
  then you have the people who are being LED afraid of the verdict
• 42:35
  of their leaders. It's a scary thing to live this
• 42:39
  way and nobody's out of reach of its clutches.
• 42:43
  You have Peter, Peter listen post and filling of the Holy
• 42:46
  Spirit, Peter being forgiven by Jesus Christ.
• 42:49
  This is Peter in Galatians 2 who, when he was in a meeting
• 42:52
  with Gentiles, learned that the circumcision party was coming
• 42:55
  over for fellowship and he refused to be with the Gentiles
• 42:58
  because he feared the circumcision party.
• 43:02
  So even an apostle, a man of God who's seen miracles, who's been
• 43:07
  restored by Christ, who knew the empowering work of the Holy
• 43:09
  Spirit, fell into this trap of being fearful what man would say
• 43:13
  if he obeyed the Lord. That's why the Bible says in
• 43:18
  Proverbs 29 verse 25, the fear of man lays A snare.
• 43:24
  But just like the idea of pride, how do I assure that I can avoid
• 43:28
  these booby traps? How can I dodge every mind on
• 43:32
  the path of obedience that would try to keep me away from knowing
• 43:36
  the fullness of pleasing my master?
• 43:38
  It's in the same verse, the fear of man lays A snare.
• 43:40
  But whoever trust in the Lord is safe.
• 43:45
  The way you overcome what you might be afraid man will say or
• 43:48
  do to you is to trust that as you obey God, he'll take care of
• 43:52
  everything. He'll take care of your
• 43:54
  reputation. He'll take care of your
• 43:55
  resources. He'll take care of absolutely
• 43:58
  everything. I trust you, Lord.
• 44:02
  I know this is the right thing to say.
• 44:04
  I know this is the right thing to do.
• 44:06
  I know that this is the right thing I must commit in order to
• 44:10
  keep your heart pleased with me. And I trust that you're going to
• 44:14
  take care of me when I do it. That's a man.
• 44:17
  That's a woman who is free from the snare of the fear of man.
• 44:23
  Here are these men afraid of the people you have the people
• 44:25
  afraid of them. And Jesus stands out.
• 44:30
  And verse 33 as we close, So they answered Jesus we do not
• 44:35
  know. And Jesus said to them, neither
• 44:41
  will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
• 44:46
  Notice it's not that Jesus didn't know.
• 44:48
  He made a choice to not let them know.
• 44:51
  I'm not going to tell you. You're not going to tell me.
• 44:53
  I'm not going to tell you. It's fair game, right?
• 44:59
  Let me give you a practical point and a theological point in
• 45:03
  closing. Jesus and Mark tell me what's
• 45:06
  Mark trying to portray Jesus as? As the perfect.
• 45:09
  What servant? Good.
• 45:12
  The perfect servant of God. I see something here that I can
• 45:14
  learn from Jesus about dealing with people who have questions
• 45:19
  about the truth. You've met those people.
• 45:23
  There are some people that no matter how much you walk them
• 45:25
  through, no matter how many arguments you give them, no no
• 45:28
  matter how many apologetic things that you do in their
• 45:35
  presence and send them resources, this or that, they
• 45:39
  will not accept the truth. Not because they don't
• 45:43
  understand, but because they don't want to understand.
• 45:47
  And what I see the Lord doing here is something exemplary for
• 45:49
  you and I. There's some situations in some
• 45:53
  individuals where you have to say enough's enough.
• 45:56
  I've done my part. I've said all that I could say.
• 45:59
  I've argued all that I can argue.
• 46:00
  I've attended enough debates with you.
• 46:03
  But I've discern now that no matter what light you have, you
• 46:07
  will not accept the truth. That's what the Lord's doing
• 46:12
  here. He's walking away from the
• 46:13
  situation. May God give you and I the
• 46:15
  discretion and wisdom to know how to do the same.
• 46:18
  Because there are so many people who are more willing and more
• 46:20
  open. And the wisdom behind this is
• 46:23
  that if you keep fighting, and if you keep resisting their
• 46:27
  resistance and trying to make a way to crawl open their hearts,
• 46:33
  you might be wasting time and energy and you're casting your
• 46:36
  pearls before swine. Jesus.
• 46:38
  All right, I tried here. I said all that I can say, but I
• 46:43
  see another thing too here. Jesus can only go so far as long
• 46:47
  as you are honest. You know, in discipleship,
• 46:54
  people ask about counsel. People ask about discipleship.
• 46:57
  Personally, this is what I've experienced and this is
• 47:00
  something that has kept me in many ways.
• 47:03
  I can't disciple anybody, nor can I counsel you, my friend.
• 47:08
  As long as you are dishonest, you need to be truthful about
• 47:12
  this situation. You need to be.
• 47:14
  You need to be open. If I see the Son of God not
• 47:17
  willing to go far with those who are willing to not be honest,
• 47:20
  then who am I to think that I can be successful with the same?
• 47:26
  So as long as you're untruthful, this isn't going to go anywhere.
• 47:31
  We can have 10,000 counselling meetings.
• 47:33
  What's going to what's going to ensure that this is going to
• 47:35
  actually have some kind of fruit Is is if you're willing to say
• 47:38
  I'm honest, I'm honest about myself, I'm honest about the
• 47:40
  situation, I'm honest about my past.
• 47:43
  You don't want to be honest. Pharisees.
• 47:45
  Chief priests. Elders.
• 47:46
  OK, you have. I have nothing to offer you.
• 47:50
  May we learn from the master. Here's a theological point.
• 47:55
  The grace of God, the patience of Jesus has limits.
• 48:00
  Here are these Pharisees over and overcoming to Jesus coming
• 48:02
  to Jesus. And Jesus is willing to engage
• 48:04
  in conversation. But you can see now that his
• 48:06
  patience is wearing thin, even the way he originally counter
• 48:10
  asked the question. Right, He says I'll ask you in
• 48:12
  verse 29. I'll ask you a question.
• 48:13
  Answer me and I'll tell you by what authority I do these
• 48:16
  things. Was the baptism of John from
• 48:18
  heaven or from man? Answer me.
• 48:20
  That's not the tone that you see regularly with Jesus when he
• 48:22
  deals with sinners. He's very patient with sinners.
• 48:24
  You read in John chapter 4 how he leads that woman at the well
• 48:27
  patiently as her revelation of the Messiah grows.
• 48:30
  You see it in John chapter nine with a man who was born blind,
• 48:33
  Jesus being patient with him as he also is growing in the same
• 48:35
  awareness of who's standing before him and who healed them.
• 48:37
  But when it comes to these guys at this point in Jesus ministry,
• 48:40
  it's like just let's just get straight to the point.
• 48:42
  Answer me, come on, let's get to it.
• 48:44
  And then when they wouldn't admit it and they wouldn't be
• 48:47
  honest, he says it's done. You want to be willfully
• 48:52
  ignorant, You don't want to be honest.
• 48:54
  Then stay in your darkness. And the truth that about this
• 48:58
  university in the scriptures is that the Lord at some point can
• 49:06
  retreat and pull away and no longer persuade you of the thing
• 49:11
  that you've heard so many times already.
• 49:14
  When that happens, every case is different.
• 49:17
  But that's why the Scripture says today is the day of
• 49:21
  salvation. If you hear His voice, do not
• 49:26
  harden your heart, because you never know at one point you so
• 49:32
  hard in your heart that it will be never feeling again.
• 49:37
  And that's not God's fault. That would be ours.
• 49:40
  So he begs you, don't harden your heart.
• 49:43
  Maybe there's even maybe there's even one person here today who
• 49:46
  is not yet fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.
• 49:50
  I want to tell you something. He has all authority, and
• 49:55
  whatever authority you have in your autonomy, whatever you
• 49:57
  think you have in terms of control of your life and your
• 49:59
  future will prove to be false, especially when you stand before
• 50:04
  him. And the appeal of the Master is
• 50:08
  not a power struggle with you. The appeals that he longs to
• 50:12
  befriend you and forgive you and restore you, and know his gentle
• 50:16
  leadership that would give you life and give him glory.
• 50:21
  And so can I ask you today, have you given yourself to the full
• 50:25
  authority of Jesus Christ? Is he really your Lord?
• 50:30
  Is he? And I invite you today to bend
• 50:35
  your knee and to confess with your mouth Jesus Christ.
• 50:39
  You are Lord of my life. I choose to kiss the sun today.
• 50:45
  Why would you kiss the sun? Because He embraced you at the
• 50:48
  cross, and He came into this world, and He shed His blood and
• 50:52
  He extended His arms. Yes, to be crucified, but also
• 50:55
  to invite you into His heart and to receive you and to restore
• 51:01
  you and to give you eternal life.
• 51:04
  But that can't happen unless you get off the throne of your will,
• 51:09
  and you give him that seat He say belongs to you.
• 51:12
  Lord, you're my savior, yes, but be my Lord as well.
• 51:17
  And know this whether you choose to do so or not.
• 51:21
  He will be Lord, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will
• 51:26
  confess that he is such. Let's pray together.
• 51:45
  Thank you, Lord, for establishing and for many of us
• 51:51
  reinforcing the truth of your authority.
• 51:54
  We believe that you are who you say you are.
• 52:01
  And Lord, we ask that at this time we would rejoice to know
• 52:05
  that you have all authority in heaven and on earth, and that
• 52:10
  you will never leave us nor forsake us, and that with that
• 52:13
  authority you also Commission us to go into the world and make
• 52:15
  disciples of all nations. Help us be wise in seeking to
• 52:20
  make disciples. Help us be fearless and not
• 52:23
  concerned with the fear of man. Help us be courageous and
• 52:28
  knowing that you will reward our obedience and help us do what
• 52:34
  Paul said he did. Help us do what you and your son
• 52:37
  exemplified. Finishing well that wherever we
• 52:41
  started we bring it to a close in faithfulness.
• 52:47
  So, Lord, strengthen us strengthen even those whose
• 52:51
  faith is so inspirational. Already, as the Romans needed,
• 52:55
  we recognize our need for a fresh impartation of joy, of
• 53:00
  wisdom, of mercy. Well, we just open our hearts at
• 53:04
  the close of the service, asking that you do what you will with
• 53:07
  our hearts and Lord. Lastly, for the person here
• 53:10
  who's sitting visiting and who's heard maybe for the 1st or the
• 53:14
  10th or the 100th time, about what Christ has done, may the
• 53:18
  decision be made today. May your Holy Spirit and His
• 53:21
  perfect power and grace grip the hearts of those who are still in
• 53:27
  tension wanting to keep their own authority.
• 53:31
  Being the Lords of their own lives.
• 53:32
  May may that be no more. And may you win them to
• 53:36
  repentance. We now sing to you, Lord,
• 53:39
  thanking you for this meal that you've given us for our souls.
• 53:43
  And with this fresh strength we give you a fresh song.
• 53:46
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
• 53:48
  Amen. Amen.
• 53:51
  Why don't we stand that praise team will come up and they'll
• 53:54
  help us in these last songs?