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Mark 13:1-13 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Turn to the gospel according to Mark chapter 13.
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I have enjoyed the way we've restructured the service and done the offering right before the sermon with the music, but
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I'm going to read to you verses 1-13.
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And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him,
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Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.
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And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings?
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There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.
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And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
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Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?
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And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray.
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Many will come in my name saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray.
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And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.
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This must take place, but the end is not yet.
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For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
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There will be earthquakes in various places.
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There will be famines.
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These are but the beginnings of the birth pains.
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But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues,
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and you will take stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them.
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And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
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And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say,
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but say whatever is given you in that hour.
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For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
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And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child,
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and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
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And you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
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But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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This is God's word to us.
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It was written for his glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Let's pray together.
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Father God, we need you in this hour.
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And we would ask your favor on the preaching of your word today.
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It was written by you under the inspiration of the Spirit.
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Here, carried along by the pen of Mark.
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It was written for us.
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That we might know you and know how to better honor and glorify you with our lives.
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Exalt Jesus in our hearts and minds today so that he will be exalted in our living this week.
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We're dependent on you to accomplish this.
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And so we pray this in the name of Christ.
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Amen.
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Well, we find ourselves still in Wednesday of the Passion Week.
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You remember at the beginning of chapter 11, Jesus has entered into Jerusalem.
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It's called the Triumphal Entry.
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That evening he goes and he visits the temple and he can see that there's been this money-changing activity happening in the temple.
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He goes back out of Jerusalem to Bethel, comes back in on Tuesday,
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and for the second time in his ministry, goes and flips over tables and runs out money changers,
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stops it being used as a thoroughfare, a cut-through for the city,
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essentially shuts down all of this apostate swindling that's going on in this day.
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And he's immediately then challenged as he sets up camp on Wednesday in the temple by the religious elite of the day.
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And we've kind of seen these waves of aggression come at him,
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and he quickly shuts them down as they seek to trap him in such a way that he will be killed.
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He's not done yet, though.
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He still has some time and some things that he wants to teach,
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and so he waylays that, and we see him finally now stepping outside, still on Wednesday,
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but leaving the temple court, presumably through the east gate,
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down a steep path that crossed through the Kidron Valley,
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which is where all of the sacrificial blood flowed,
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which we'll get to learn more about in a month or so,
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to the Mount of Olives, where they observe what's going on from afar.
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And we see in this a question asked by an unidentified disciple.
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And I can't say for sure, but I want to imagine that it was Mark's kindness that spared
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naming the individual who asked the question,
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because he's apparently missed the point of Jesus' teaching that week,
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all about the spiritual bankruptcy of the system that existed there,
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and all that it included as they look back on this building,
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which was a rather magnificent building.
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It was a building that all of us would have been in awe at.
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But he hadn't seen that what Jesus was saying was that this was not where the worship of God take place.
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This was not the way in which God was meant to be worshipped.
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And so the question we see asked,
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look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings,
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this admiration of this.
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And it was certainly that.
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The Jewish historian Josephus tells us a bit about it in the Wars of the Jews.
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We read,
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Now the outward face of the temple in its front
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wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or their eyes,
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for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight.
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And at the first rising of the sun reflected back a very fiery splendor
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and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away
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just as they would have done at the sun's own rays.
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But this temple appeared to strangers when they were coming to it at a distance
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like a mountain covered with snow.
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For as to those parts of it that were not gilt or covered in gold,
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they were exceeding white.
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White rare stone.
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It made it look like a mountain of snow as you approached Jerusalem.
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This magnificent building.
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Jesus gives to us this direct prophecy that it will in fact be torn down.
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And he's not just simply referring to the building itself,
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although we're going to talk about that in a moment.
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But more than that,
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the system that the building represents would soon be destroyed.
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The building itself was destroyed in 70 A.D.
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Jesus says there will not be left here one stone upon another
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that will not be thrown down.
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There was a revolt that started a movement called the Zealot Movement in A.D. 66,
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which eventually led to Rome finally and fully sacking Jerusalem
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and destroying almost to the complete rubble,
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almost the entire city of Jerusalem.
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They saved a bit of the wall to show people how mighty the wall once was
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where the garrisons would camp,
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but the rest of it was torn down
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to the degree that they took the foundation stones of the wall
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and flipped them over just to show their power over this.
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You remember back in Mark 12, verses 13-17,
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there's this question asked by the Pharisees and Herodians about the tax.
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And should we pay this particular tax they're referring to known as the poll tax?
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And this was a tax that was instituted
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when Joseph and Mary traveled with baby Jesus in the belly
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to Bethlehem where he was born.
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They were being counted.
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And this is the way in which Rome said,
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not only is your land ours,
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but the people themselves belong to us.
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So this tax was a head tax paid as a citizen of Rome.
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And it was that that led to this revolt
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that eventually saw the temple destroyed.
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Again, Josephus in the Wars of the Jews,
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Now as soon as the army, the Roman army,
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had no more people to slay or to plunder
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because there remained none to be the objects of their fury,
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for they would not have spared any
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had there remained any other such work to be done,
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Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish
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the entire city and temple.
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And so it was brought down,
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just as Jesus said that it would be,
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not too many years later.
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And they go from this place as they're traveling
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and they go and sit down on the Mount of Olives,
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presumably looking at the temple opposite of it.
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And Peter and James and John and Andrew
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get into the side and they say,
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tell us when will these things be?
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And what will be the sign when all these things
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are about to be accomplished?
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Now there is some debate concerning this text
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about what it means for this
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to have been fulfilled and accomplished.
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Certainly, we know that the temple itself
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was destroyed in A.D. 70.
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And there are some people that say
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that the entirety of this passage is fulfilled.
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For example, verse 10,
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and the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
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That that was in fact fulfilled,
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which is why the temple was then destroyed.
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And they base this argument off of passages
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like Colossians 1.23.
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Well, Paul writes,
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if indeed you continue in the faith,
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stable and steadfast,
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not shifting from the hope of the gospel
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that you have heard,
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which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,
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and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
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So they would say, see, look here,
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Paul says that the gospel was in fact
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proclaimed amongst the nations,
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and this is why we can now then presume
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that that's been fulfilled,
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and now the temple has been destroyed.
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But you get into some Greek issues
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with Colossians 1.23
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if you don't study it carefully.
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This phrase which has been proclaimed,
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the word proclaimed there is in the aorist tense,
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which denotes no specific time whatsoever,
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meaning that Paul is not saying
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that it is a completed action done in the past,
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but he's defining the gospel and its scope,
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and that is that it is global in scope.
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So it would be improper to look at Colossians 1.23
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and go back then to Mark 13.10
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and say, oh, and the gospel has then been preached
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to all nations.
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We're going to say a bit more about that
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towards the end of the sermon.
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We'll come back to verse 10,
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but I want us at this point to see
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that this is not what Jesus is trying
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to communicate to them,
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simply summing up for them
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the things that will happen
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before the temple is destroyed.
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However, it is the question
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that the disciples are asking.
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They're saying, tell us all the things
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that are going to happen
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before the temple is destroyed.
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They still were so hungry to know
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the practical, the tangible things
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that could be known about the kingdom of God.
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They still seem to not understand
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that the kingdom of God primarily
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was going to come and bear in their hearts.
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This is the way in which God
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meant to establish His people,
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spirit and truth, a heart worship.
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And so I believe He's correcting
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their misconception as He goes on
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to tell them the things
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that are going to come to pass,
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including for us, verse 10,
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that all of this, the gospel
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must be proclaimed to all nations,
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putting a timeline, a way out there,
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a far-reaching timeline for them.
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Their question itself drew my mind
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back to Mark 8, verses 11 and 12,
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where the Pharisees seek a sign.
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And He says to them that a sign
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will not be given to this generation.
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They wanted to know the tangible.
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They wanted to be able to measure it.
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They wanted to be able to mark it out
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and know when the kingdom of God
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would fully arrive.
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It's not the way we walk.
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We walk by faith.
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So Jesus then begins to give them
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this prophetic information.
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And I think we can really quickly,
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in a chapter like chapter 13,
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get incredibly distracted
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into end-time theology,
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really trying to work out all the details
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and miss the point altogether.
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So we're going to deal with it in brief.
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There's a time and a place for it,
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and now is not the time,
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here is not the place,
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this morning.
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But we can't neglect it altogether.
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We need to look at kind of the driving force
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of what He's trying to say to them.
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And so in 5 through 9,
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He starts out by saying,
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see that no one leads you astray,
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and that many will come in His name,
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claiming to be Him,
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and they will lead many astray.
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So it's a warning.
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Once again,
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as we saw back in verse 38 of chapter 12,
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a warning against false teachers,
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particularly ones that are going to claim
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to be the Christ themselves,
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but we can certainly broaden it beyond that as well.
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Those who are going to take advantage
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of the way in which the world is functioning,
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the wars and the earthquakes,
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all these calamities that we see,
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to gather to themselves followers.
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People like Margaret Rowan,
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the prophetess, quote-unquote,
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of the Seventh-day Adventists,
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who said the world would come to end in 1925.
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Jehovah's Witnesses,
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which have been writing and writing
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and writing and writing.
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1975 was the big year for them.
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Not sure what they say now.
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Or guys like Pat Robertson,
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the chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network,
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a station you should block on your TV,
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who first said that the world would come to end in 1982,
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and now, 2007,
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haven't heard a new proclamation.
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I tried to find to see if Pat Robertson's telling us
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when the world will end now.
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This is a dangerous thing.
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It's not for us to know.
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The Scriptures even teach us that.
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And yet, many men will claim
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that they know when the world will end
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and lead people astray.
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We should know that it is going to end,
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and we should see that the signs are here,
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that it is coming to an end.
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But that doesn't change what we do
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and how we live.
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We should always live in light of that reality.
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Observing the effects of sin on the world.
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Look at the things that he says.
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Wars.
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Rumors of wars.
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We live in a day like this, do we not?
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Nation rising against nation.
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Kingdom against kingdom.
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Earthquakes.
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Famines.
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He says, but these are the beginnings
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of the birth pains.
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Paul uses a very similar language
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in Romans 8.
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Verse 19-22, he writes,
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For the creation waits with eager longing
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for the revealing of what?
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The sons of God.
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For the creation was subjected to fertility,
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not willingly,
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but because of him who subjected it
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in hope that the creation itself
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will be set free from its bondage
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to corruption and obtain the freedom
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of the glory of the children of God.
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For we know that the whole creation
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has been groaning together
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in the pains of childbirth until now.
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And that is that the world itself
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is longing for the day when Christ
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will come and restore all things.
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And Jesus here is saying,
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and Paul is later saying,
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that the things we are seeing
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is the beginning of that process.
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Now I have a four-year-old
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and a two-year-old,
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and so I have, as a faithful husband,
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walked beside a labor.
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I have not been in labor, praise God.
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Nothing I will ever experience.
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I can't possibly imagine
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exactly what it feels like.
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I will not be one of those fools
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who puts the electricity
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on their stomachs.
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Have you seen those guys
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that experience the pain of labor?
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No thank you.
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But certainly in Sam's labor,
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they increased in intensity.
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It started off at one level of pain,
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a talking, even happy time kind of a pain,
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to a, if you crack another joke,
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I will kill you kind of a pain.
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When Sam goes quiet and she's hurting,
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leave her alone.
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Just leave her alone.
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But all of this led up to,
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all of the suffering
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that my wife experienced,
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all led up to a final,
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great deal of joy.
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I couldn't believe it.
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On the day that she had caged,
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she said,
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I want to have another one.
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I went, are you kidding me?
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Did you just,
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do you have any idea
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what you just went through?
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But joy filled her heart so much.
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And this is the way in which
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the creation is groaning
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and longing for the returning
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of Christ.
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For the church to be completed
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one day.
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For the new heaven
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and the new earth
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to be established.
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And this is what's happening in that.
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There will be pain
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before this great,
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great deal of joy.
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And he doesn't simply limit it
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to the apostles.
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This is expanded to us as well.
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The apostles are going to be part of it
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in their suffering
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for the kingdom.
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They're going to be delivered.
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They're supposed to be on their guard.
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Delivered to councils.
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Beaten in synagogues.
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Standing before governors and kings.
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Verse 12.
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Brother will deliver brother over to death
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and the father is child.
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And children will rise up against parents
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and have them put to death.
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And you will be hated by all.
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For my name's sake.
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Look at the breadth of this pain
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that will be experienced.
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That it's going to go down
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into the family unit.
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Many of you experience this kind of tension
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in your families
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as those who claim the name of Christ.
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Trying to be around them at mealtimes
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and do things
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and hear the conversations.
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And see that they don't exalt Him
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in their words
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or in their living at all.
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Jesus says here it will get
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much more severe than that.
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That children will deliver parents
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and parents' children
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to death.
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We will take place in this suffering.
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It's recorded in John 15.
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Verse 18 and 19.
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Jesus says,
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If the world hates you,
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know that it has hated Me
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before it hated you.
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If you were of the world,
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the world would love you
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as its own.
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But because you are not of the world,
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because I chose you out of the world,
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therefore,
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the world hates you.
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Jesus Christ,
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our Lord,
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who came to be a servant of all,
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has already told us now
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in the Gospel of Mark
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three times,
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He said to the apostles,
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this is what's going to happen
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when I go to Jerusalem.
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I'm going to be delivered up,
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I'm going to be killed,
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and then I'm going to rise again.
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This is the way in which
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I'm coming to ransom many
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for myself.
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And somehow,
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we think we're better than Him.
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That we ourselves
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won't suffer in the same way.
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That it won't be given to us
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as the same kind of task.
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Paul writes to Timothy
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in 2 Timothy 3.12,
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Indeed,
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all who desire to live a godly life
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in Christ Jesus
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will be persecuted.
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It's a reality,
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a necessity of Christian living.
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Not that we ask for it
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or that we invite it upon ourselves,
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but He's telling us
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that it will happen.
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Those of us who are disciples
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of Jesus Christ,
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those of us who laid down our lives
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to pursue Him
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with all that we have,
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are going to experience suffering
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in this world.
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But we don't have to be
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concerned about this.
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We have a hope.
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A lasting hope.
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An eternal hope.
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A hope that helps us
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drive through momentary affliction.
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And we have a helper.
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In verse 11,
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When they bring you to trial
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and deliver you over,
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do be anxious beforehand
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what you are to say.
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But say,
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whatever is giving you that effort
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is not you who speak,
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but the Holy Spirit.
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Jesus said,
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promise this to them.
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And it comes in Acts 1,
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verses 7 and 8.
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He said to them,
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It is not for you to know
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times or seasons.
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Isn't this a fitting verse?
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It is not for you to know
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times or seasons
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that the Father is fixed
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by His own authority.
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Verse 8,
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But you will receive power
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when the Holy Spirit
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has come upon you,
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and you will be My witnesses
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in Jerusalem,
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and in all Judea,
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and Samaria,
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and to the ends of the earth.
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And in chapter 2,
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the Spirit in fact does come
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on them with power.
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And Peter preaches
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his great sermon
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on the day of Pentecost.
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And thousands and thousands
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are included
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in the church's number
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on that day.
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We don't have to be anxious.
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We have a helper in this.
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One who will carry us along
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and who will speak
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on our behalf.
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Why are we so afraid
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to open our mouths
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and share the Gospel?
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We have a helper.
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A person of the triune God
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that Jesus has said
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will speak on our behalf.
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To what end?
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The last half of verse 9,
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to bear witness before them.
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Verse 10,
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And the Gospel,
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the good news of Jesus Christ,
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must first be proclaimed
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to all nations.
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In the last half of verse 13,
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but the one who endures
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to the end.
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will be saved.
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How are we to function?
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How are we to live?
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As the apostles are about to be
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left behind by Jesus Christ,
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they're about to stay where they are,
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empowered by the Spirit,
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what is their task?
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The very mission
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that's set before them?
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And that is for them
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to go into the world
22:28
and make disciples
22:30
of Jesus Christ.
22:32
To proclaim His greatness,
22:34
to be a witness
22:35
before these councils
22:36
that they'll be brought before.
22:38
To proclaim the good news
22:40
of the Gospel,
22:41
not simply to make converts,
22:43
but to make those
22:44
who will endure
22:45
to the end,
22:47
which is the necessity
22:49
of the Christian life.
22:51
If your heart is regenerate,
22:53
if God has in fact
22:54
changed who you are,
22:57
you will not go back on that.
22:59
And I would say to you
23:00
that it is an impossibility
23:01
that you could,
23:02
you will in fact,
23:04
endure to the end
23:05
for His name.
23:08
So all of this
23:09
will come to pass.
23:11
The entire passage
23:12
will come to pass
23:13
back on verse 10
23:15
when the Gospel
23:16
is proclaimed
23:16
to all nations.
23:18
We see a glimpse of heaven
23:19
in Revelation 5-9.
23:23
John writes,
23:24
And they sang a new song
23:26
saying,
23:27
Worthy are you
23:28
to take the scroll
23:29
and to open its seals,
23:30
for you were slain,
23:31
this is Christ,
23:32
and by your blood
23:33
you ransomed people
23:34
for God
23:34
from every tribe
23:36
and language
23:37
and people
23:38
and nation.
23:41
God has always
23:43
been about
23:44
His global glory.
23:46
And He is still
23:47
about that to this day
23:49
because the task
23:50
is yet to be finished
23:52
because the end
23:53
is not here.
23:56
Now as we look
23:57
at the world,
23:58
there's a lot of statistics
23:59
out there.
24:00
I'm just going to give you
24:00
a few.
24:02
Categorically,
24:03
we tend to talk about
24:04
peoples in terms
24:05
of unreached,
24:07
reached,
24:08
unreached,
24:10
and unengaged.
24:12
The definition
24:13
of unreached
24:14
is typically a group
24:15
that has less
24:16
than 2%
24:17
that claim
24:18
to be Christians.
24:20
This is a broad
24:21
definition of what
24:22
Christian even means,
24:24
self-professing
24:25
Christians.
24:27
It is estimated
24:27
that of the
24:28
7.1 billion people
24:29
alive in the world
24:30
today,
24:31
2.91 billion of them
24:33
live in unreached
24:35
people groups
24:36
with little or no
24:37
access to the gospel
24:38
of Jesus Christ.
24:40
So unreached
24:40
being less than
24:41
2% of the population
24:42
that just says,
24:44
just professes
24:45
to be
24:46
a Christian.
24:48
According to
24:49
Joshua Project,
24:49
which is a great website
24:50
if you ever want
24:51
to peruse it,
24:52
there are approximately
24:53
16,500 unique
24:55
people groups
24:56
in the world
24:56
with about
24:57
6,900 of them
24:58
considered
24:59
unreached.
25:01
Now,
25:02
unengaged
25:03
unreached
25:04
people groups,
25:05
according to
25:05
finishing the task,
25:06
there are 440
25:07
unengaged
25:08
unreached
25:09
people groups
25:09
with populations
25:11
over 25,000
25:12
together numbering
25:14
over 24
25:15
million souls
25:17
that are still
25:18
beyond the reach
25:19
of the gospel.
25:23
These 440
25:24
are perhaps
25:24
the neediest
25:25
of the needy
25:25
as they are
25:26
unengaged,
25:26
which means
25:27
that no church,
25:28
no missionary,
25:29
no mission agency,
25:31
no one has yet
25:32
taken responsibility
25:33
to tell them
25:33
about Jesus Christ.
25:34
Nothing has
25:35
happened
25:35
with an
25:36
unengaged
25:37
people.
25:40
And beloved,
25:40
this should break
25:41
our hearts.
25:43
as you look
25:45
back over
25:46
this past
25:46
year
25:47
at your
25:48
activity
25:49
for the
25:50
kingdom,
25:52
it should break
25:52
our hearts
25:53
that we know
25:53
that the end
25:54
is coming.
25:55
We don't know
25:55
when,
25:56
but it will
25:56
come.
25:57
Jesus will
25:57
someday return
25:58
and judge
25:59
the world.
26:00
Those who
26:00
are not in
26:01
Christ will
26:01
be eternally
26:02
damned,
26:02
and we do
26:03
almost
26:05
nothing
26:06
about it.
26:09
Shame on
26:10
us.
26:11
The great
26:12
aim of our
26:13
lives
26:13
is to be
26:13
given to
26:14
the mission
26:14
of God
26:15
in the
26:16
world.
26:17
And that
26:17
is,
26:18
He came
26:18
to seek
26:19
and save
26:21
the lost.
26:23
That's why
26:24
He came.
26:25
And we're
26:25
meant to be
26:26
part of
26:26
that work,
26:27
not because
26:28
He needs
26:29
us.
26:30
Hear this,
26:31
God doesn't
26:31
need you.
26:33
Don't begin
26:33
to think so
26:34
much of
26:35
yourself.
26:36
But God
26:36
loves you.
26:38
And God
26:38
knows the
26:38
best thing
26:39
for you
26:40
is to have
26:40
more of
26:41
Him.
26:42
And you
26:42
know how
26:42
you do
26:43
that?
26:43
You join
26:43
Him and
26:44
you walk
26:44
alongside
26:44
Him in
26:45
the work
26:45
that He's
26:45
accomplishing
26:46
in the
26:47
world.
26:47
You get
26:48
busy about
26:48
the work
26:49
of God
26:50
and you
26:50
experience
26:50
Him in
26:52
it.
26:54
We can,
26:55
of course,
26:55
argue over
26:56
definitions,
26:58
talk about
26:58
unreached and
26:59
unengaged,
27:01
but one thing
27:01
can't be argued,
27:02
the end has
27:03
not yet
27:03
come,
27:04
so the
27:04
job is
27:05
yet to
27:05
be
27:06
finished.
27:07
And we
27:07
should see
27:08
this as the
27:08
people of
27:09
God
27:09
as a
27:09
great
27:10
opportunity
27:11
to have
27:12
our joy
27:13
made
27:13
complete
27:14
in
27:14
advancing
27:15
the
27:15
gospel
27:15
where
27:16
we
27:16
live
27:16
and
27:17
beyond.
27:21
Look at Paul's
27:22
attitude concerning
27:23
preaching of the
27:24
gospel.
27:25
He writes in
27:25
1 Corinthians 9.16,
27:27
For if I preach
27:28
the gospel,
27:29
that gives me
27:29
no ground
27:30
for boasting,
27:31
for necessity
27:32
is laid
27:33
upon me.
27:35
Woe to me
27:36
if I do not
27:38
preach
27:38
the gospel.
27:39
Woe to me
27:40
if I do not
27:42
preach
27:42
the gospel.
27:46
Are we ashamed
27:47
of the
27:49
gospel?
27:51
Paul says in
27:51
Romans 1
27:52
that he's not
27:52
ashamed of it
27:53
because it's
27:53
the power of
27:54
God for
27:55
salvation.
27:56
salvation.
27:56
It's what
27:57
snatches people
27:58
out of the
27:58
fires of hell.
28:00
And we
28:00
don't warn
28:01
them.
28:02
How cold
28:03
and callous
28:04
are we?
28:07
Wes reminded
28:08
me this week
28:09
of a
28:09
great sermon
28:11
which is
28:11
from the
28:12
book of
28:12
Revelation
28:12
by a
28:13
pastor I
28:14
love
28:14
by the
28:15
name of
28:15
Arturo
28:16
Azerdia.
28:17
If you ever
28:17
want to
28:18
peruse his
28:19
stuff,
28:19
spiritempoweredpreaching.com
28:22
maybe.org
28:23
I encourage
28:24
you to check
28:24
it out.
28:25
But he
28:25
tells
28:25
this story
28:26
of a
28:26
dangerous
28:27
sea
28:27
coast
28:28
where
28:28
shipwrecks
28:29
often occur
28:30
and on
28:30
that
28:30
sea
28:31
coast
28:31
was
28:31
a
28:31
single
28:32
crude
28:33
life-saving
28:34
station
28:35
with only
28:35
one boat,
28:37
a small hut
28:37
where people
28:38
could come in
28:38
and be
28:39
warmed
28:40
after surviving
28:41
a wreck.
28:42
And many,
28:43
many lives
28:43
were saved
28:44
by this
28:44
little station.
28:45
They were
28:45
all about
28:45
the work
28:46
of getting
28:46
out into
28:47
the sea
28:47
and saving
28:47
those who
28:48
were tossed
28:49
overboard
28:49
in these
28:49
wrecks.
28:50
So much
28:51
so that it
28:51
became famous.
28:53
And many
28:54
of those
28:54
who had
28:54
been saved
28:55
by the
28:55
station
28:56
or heard
28:56
telling of
28:57
the station
28:57
wanted to
28:58
in some
28:59
way become
28:59
associated
29:00
with it.
29:01
And so they
29:01
gave of their
29:02
money and they
29:03
soon became
29:04
embarrassed by the
29:05
crude nature
29:05
of the little
29:07
station, the little
29:08
hut and the
29:08
single boat.
29:09
So they
29:10
enlarged its size
29:11
and they
29:11
improved its
29:12
interior to the
29:13
degree that it
29:14
became a place
29:15
they desired to
29:16
spend their free
29:17
hours.
29:18
A lot like a
29:19
small club, a
29:21
bit of a
29:21
monument to
29:23
life-saving.
29:25
Soon the
29:26
members were
29:26
no longer
29:26
interested on
29:28
going on
29:29
life-saving
29:29
missions, having
29:30
to be trained,
29:32
getting out and
29:32
doing the hard
29:33
work.
29:34
So they hired
29:35
life-saving
29:36
crews.
29:37
They began to
29:38
pay some men
29:38
who went off
29:39
and did that
29:40
on their
29:41
behalf.
29:42
And as many
29:43
people were
29:43
saved by the
29:44
newly hired
29:44
life-saving
29:45
crew, the
29:45
people they
29:46
plucked from
29:46
the ocean
29:47
ruined the
29:48
general appeal
29:49
of the
29:50
club.
29:50
After all,
29:51
they were
29:51
wet and
29:52
distraught and
29:53
they needed
29:53
further assistance.
29:55
They needed
29:55
people to
29:55
come alongside
29:56
them and
29:57
help them.
29:58
And so a
29:59
committee was
29:59
quickly formed
30:00
to address the
30:00
issue and a
30:01
building outside
30:01
of the
30:02
life-saving
30:02
station was
30:03
promptly built
30:04
to clean up
30:05
these individuals
30:05
before they
30:05
were permitted
30:06
inside the
30:07
station.
30:08
A meeting
30:09
soon was
30:09
held where
30:10
some of the
30:10
members insisted
30:11
that the
30:11
primary purpose
30:12
of the
30:13
life-saving
30:13
station was
30:14
to save
30:15
lives.
30:16
After all,
30:17
they were a
30:17
life-saving
30:17
station and
30:18
they were
30:18
simply told
30:19
they could
30:19
go down
30:20
the coast
30:20
and begin
30:21
another
30:21
life-saving
30:22
station and
30:22
so they
30:23
did.
30:25
Over some
30:26
years, the
30:27
process repeated
30:28
itself, the
30:28
new station
30:29
becoming like
30:30
the old, and
30:30
this repeated
30:31
itself again
30:32
and again.
30:35
If you visit
30:35
that coast
30:36
today, you
30:36
will find
30:37
many life-saving
30:38
stations.
30:40
Shipwrecks are
30:41
still common in
30:42
those waters,
30:43
waters, but
30:44
most everyone
30:45
drowns.
30:49
This is the
30:49
place that we
30:50
live, right?
30:52
People damned
30:54
to hell for
30:55
eternity because
30:57
of their lost
30:58
state.
30:59
And we get
31:00
together in the
31:01
niceties of our
31:01
club, and we
31:03
don't get out
31:03
there and get
31:04
and brave the
31:05
oceans and be
31:06
where they are
31:07
and share the
31:08
good news of
31:09
Jesus Christ with
31:10
them.
31:10
drag them
31:11
back onto
31:13
shore.
31:15
Beloved, if we
31:16
are to be
31:16
disciples of
31:18
Jesus Christ,
31:18
even claim
31:19
His name, we
31:21
are to follow
31:21
Him where He
31:22
leads.
31:24
And what did
31:24
He come to
31:25
do?
31:26
Luke 19.10,
31:27
the Son of
31:27
Man came to
31:29
seek and
31:31
save the
31:32
lost.
31:34
We spend so
31:35
much of our
31:35
time distracted
31:37
by absolute
31:38
vanity in
31:40
America.
31:41
We are
31:41
entering one
31:42
of the
31:42
seasons that
31:43
ought to be
31:43
so much about
31:45
Jesus Christ
31:46
and come so
31:47
much about the
31:48
vanity of this
31:50
world.
31:50
I absolutely
31:51
want to throw
31:53
up my
31:53
Thanksgiving meal
31:54
with this
31:54
Black Friday
31:55
insanity that
31:57
goes on.
31:59
Pursuing the
32:00
frivolity, the
32:01
stuff that fades
32:02
away, it means
32:03
absolutely nothing.
32:05
We take so
32:05
much effort to
32:06
position ourselves,
32:07
to compare
32:08
ourselves to
32:08
others, to
32:09
look good by
32:10
what we have
32:11
and what we
32:12
can do, the
32:14
leisure of our
32:15
days.
32:17
It's a shame.
32:19
Let me give you
32:19
an insane version
32:21
of this, which
32:21
is not too
32:23
unlike much
32:24
of what we
32:25
do.
32:26
Did you know
32:26
that in 18th
32:27
century England,
32:28
wealthy landowners,
32:29
there was a
32:29
trend for a
32:30
while where they
32:31
competed with
32:32
one another to
32:33
have hermits
32:34
living on their
32:36
properties in a
32:37
hermitage.
32:38
they would
32:38
build them
32:38
tiny little
32:39
homes and
32:40
they would
32:40
hire a guy
32:41
to grow a
32:42
long white
32:42
beard and
32:43
wear robes and
32:45
not talk to
32:45
anybody but
32:46
just hang out
32:47
in the garden.
32:48
This was his
32:49
job to do.
32:51
The ones who
32:51
had the most
32:52
money actually
32:53
were able to
32:54
contract these
32:54
guys.
32:55
They would
32:55
contract them
32:55
typically for a
32:57
period of seven
32:57
years and at
32:58
the end of that
32:59
time they would
33:00
pay them enough
33:00
that they would
33:01
never have to
33:01
work again.
33:02
So it was an
33:02
appealing draw for
33:04
someone with no
33:05
skills but a
33:06
long white beard.
33:07
Because the
33:09
emotion of the
33:10
day that was
33:11
most valued was
33:12
melancholy.
33:14
So the hermit was
33:15
to sit contemplatively.
33:18
Those who
33:18
couldn't afford the
33:20
hermit, the real
33:21
life hermit, would
33:23
get a mannequin or
33:26
sometimes an
33:27
animatron, I guess.
33:29
A puppet that
33:30
would be worked by
33:31
a lesser servant,
33:32
one that didn't
33:32
have a long white
33:33
beard, would lay
33:34
behind him and
33:34
work his hands and
33:35
arms.
33:35
When people came
33:36
walking by on the
33:38
streets.
33:40
This has been
33:40
replaced by the
33:41
garden gnome.
33:41
This is the
33:42
origin of the
33:43
garden gnome if
33:44
you weren't making
33:45
the connection
33:46
yourself.
33:49
Insane, right?
33:50
Competing with
33:51
such a stupid
33:52
thing.
33:53
If you ever get
33:53
to visit England,
33:54
apparently these
33:54
little homes still
33:55
exist in these
33:55
big fancy house
33:57
gardens.
34:01
What's your
34:01
hermit?
34:02
What thing do
34:05
you care so
34:06
much about that
34:06
you wouldn't give
34:07
it up to follow
34:07
Christ?
34:09
Beloved, we have
34:09
many of them.
34:11
Would you give it
34:12
all?
34:13
Would you sacrifice
34:14
every bit of it to
34:15
gain more of
34:16
Jesus?
34:19
I think we
34:19
initially say,
34:20
yes, of course,
34:22
I would.
34:24
Your heart needs
34:25
to catch up to
34:25
your head.
34:26
We would look
34:27
different.
34:28
We would spend
34:28
our days differently.
34:29
We would do
34:30
different things.
34:32
If we loved
34:33
Him the way
34:33
we should.
34:35
If we desired
34:36
Him the way
34:38
that we should.
34:41
Listen to
34:42
John's correction
34:42
in 1 John
34:43
chapter 2.
34:45
Do not love
34:46
the world
34:46
or the things
34:48
in the world.
34:49
If anyone
34:50
loves the world,
34:50
the love of the
34:51
Father is not
34:52
in him.
34:53
For all that is
34:53
in the world,
34:54
the desires of
34:54
the flesh,
34:55
and the desires
34:55
of the eyes,
34:56
and pride of
34:56
life is not
34:58
from the Father,
34:58
but is from
34:59
the world.
35:00
And the world
35:01
is passing away
35:02
along with
35:03
its desires,
35:04
but whoever
35:04
does the will
35:06
of God
35:07
abides
35:08
forever.
35:11
What is the
35:12
will of God?
35:12
That we would
35:12
seek and save
35:13
the lost.
35:15
That we would
35:15
be disciples
35:16
who make
35:17
disciples.
35:18
You want to
35:19
know what it
35:19
looks like in
35:20
verse 13
35:21
to endure
35:21
to the end?
35:23
It's that in
35:23
spite of all
35:24
of this activity
35:25
going on around
35:25
us,
35:26
in spite of
35:26
the way in
35:27
which the world
35:27
is going to
35:28
hate us,
35:29
the way we're
35:29
going to
35:30
suffer in
35:30
this world,
35:31
we still
35:32
make disciples.
35:35
We still
35:35
show people
35:36
a more
35:37
excellent
35:37
thing
35:38
than all
35:40
of the
35:40
frivolity
35:40
of this
35:41
world,
35:41
all the
35:41
things that
35:42
they can
35:42
touch,
35:42
all the
35:43
little
35:43
bobs,
35:44
and all
35:44
the little
35:44
whistles of
35:45
this world.
35:45
We show
35:46
them that
35:46
Jesus is
35:47
better.
35:49
And we
35:49
do that
35:50
in our
35:50
own
35:50
experience,
35:52
and we
35:53
do that
35:53
in the
35:53
way we
35:54
live,
35:54
in our
35:55
display,
35:55
and we
35:56
do that
35:57
in our
35:57
proclamation.
36:00
We must
36:00
go and
36:02
show the
36:03
world.
36:05
Do you
36:06
long for
36:06
the return
36:07
of Christ?
36:08
I do.
36:10
Is there
36:10
anything in
36:11
this world
36:11
that you
36:11
want to
36:11
see
36:12
accomplished
36:12
before
36:13
Jesus
36:13
comes
36:13
back?
36:14
It's an
36:14
idol.
36:16
You just
36:16
need to
36:16
stop
36:17
worshiping
36:17
it.
36:18
Come,
36:18
Lord
36:18
Jesus,
36:19
come.
36:19
It should
36:19
be the
36:19
cry of
36:20
our
36:20
hearts
36:20
every
36:21
single
36:21
day.
36:22
And we
36:22
ought to
36:23
be about
36:23
the work,
36:23
not that
36:24
we can
36:24
change
36:25
the
36:25
date,
36:26
but we
36:26
ought to
36:26
be about
36:26
the work
36:27
of getting
36:27
to that
36:27
day as
36:29
the Gospels
36:29
proclaim to
36:30
all nations.
36:33
The primary
36:33
thing,
36:34
not just for
36:34
your pastor.
36:36
It's my
36:37
job to do
36:37
spiritual
36:38
things and
36:38
not yours.
36:40
It's our
36:40
job to do
36:41
spiritual
36:42
things.
36:42
It's our
36:43
job to
36:43
reach out
36:44
and love
36:45
this community
36:45
and beyond
36:46
with the
36:47
Gospel of
36:47
Jesus Christ.
36:48
I just
36:48
play a
36:49
different role
36:49
in that
36:50
process.
36:52
What is
36:52
your role
36:53
in that
36:53
process?
36:55
Submit
36:55
yourself to
36:56
the Lordship
36:57
of Jesus
36:58
Christ,
37:00
whose son
37:01
is the
37:01
Christ,
37:01
back in
37:02
chapter 12.
37:04
We talked
37:04
about what
37:04
it meant
37:05
to submit
37:05
yourself.
37:06
Do you
37:06
get up
37:07
daily and
37:07
do you
37:07
say to
37:08
God,
37:08
you rule
37:09
over my
37:10
day.
37:11
I'm going
37:12
to die
37:12
to myself
37:12
today.
37:13
I'm going
37:13
to pick
37:13
up my
37:13
cross.
37:14
I'm going
37:14
to follow
37:14
you wherever
37:15
you'll
37:15
lead me.
37:16
I won't
37:16
be anxious.
37:17
I'll open
37:17
my mouth
37:18
and I'll
37:18
speak because
37:19
I know
37:20
that I have
37:20
the Spirit.
37:21
I know
37:21
that the
37:21
Gospel is
37:22
the power
37:22
of God
37:22
for salvation.
37:24
Do with
37:24
me what
37:24
you will
37:25
this day
37:26
and begin
37:26
to seek
37:27
out the
37:27
opportunities.
37:30
So many
37:30
of us are
37:31
so spiritually
37:31
fat because
37:32
we get
37:33
fed and
37:34
we get
37:34
fed and
37:35
we get
37:35
fed and
37:35
we never
37:36
go exercise
37:37
our faith
37:38
at all.
37:41
You combine
37:42
those two
37:43
things,
37:43
you begin
37:44
to learn
37:44
things,
37:45
you learn
37:45
doctrine and
37:46
you affirm
37:46
it by
37:47
experience and
37:48
your faith
37:48
will grow
37:49
exponentially.
37:51
I promise
37:51
you.
37:52
Begin to
37:53
ask that
37:53
God
37:53
would put
37:54
you in
37:54
situations
37:54
to work
37:55
things out.
37:56
Young
37:56
people,
37:56
you're
37:57
in a
37:57
stage in
37:57
your life
37:58
where you're
37:58
preparing for
37:59
the next
37:59
step.
38:00
This is
38:00
not true
38:01
of the
38:02
Gospel.
38:03
You've
38:03
been recruited
38:04
as an
38:04
ambassador.
38:05
You claim
38:05
the name
38:06
of Christ,
38:06
you are
38:07
His and
38:07
He's got
38:07
a mission
38:08
for you.
38:09
Go get
38:09
to the
38:09
mission.
38:10
You don't
38:11
spend years
38:12
languishing
38:12
getting ready
38:13
for the
38:14
mission.
38:15
The mission
38:15
is now.
38:16
The mission
38:17
is your
38:17
roommate and
38:18
your classmates
38:19
and the
38:19
places that
38:20
you work.
38:20
be active
38:22
about this.
38:23
When was the
38:24
last time you
38:25
or someone
38:25
you knew
38:26
saw someone
38:27
come to
38:28
faith in
38:28
Christ?
38:28
Christ?
38:31
It's a
38:31
piercing
38:31
question,
38:32
is it
38:32
not?
38:34
We should
38:35
see people
38:35
coming in
38:36
droves to
38:38
know the
38:39
one and
38:39
only Lord
38:41
and Savior,
38:42
Jesus Christ.
38:43
Do you
38:43
believe that
38:43
God wants
38:44
to do this
38:45
in our
38:46
communities?
38:47
I do.
38:48
I think He
38:48
has plans
38:49
for this
38:49
area.
38:50
I think He
38:50
has people
38:51
that He
38:51
loves
38:51
desperately,
38:52
that He
38:53
wants to
38:53
be part of
38:54
the family.
38:55
I want to
38:55
be a part
38:56
of that.
38:57
I want to
38:57
be involved
38:58
in that
38:58
process of
38:59
bringing people
39:00
into the
39:01
fold,
39:02
bringing them
39:02
underneath
39:03
the Great
39:04
Shepherd.
39:06
What is
39:06
wrong with
39:07
us?
39:08
let's pray.
39:10
Let's
39:10
pray.
39:10
Let's
39:10
pray.
39:10
Let's
39:10
pray.