Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.15.20 Luke 10:21-24 Pastor Danny Gardner

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11.15.20 Luke 10:21-24 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  you have your Bibles, I would ask you to open to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, verses 21 to 24. The title of our sermon this morning is Man of Joy. Man of Joy. Allow me to read our text. And if you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. Reading beginning in verse 21. In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
• 0:31
  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Allow me to pray, Lord God.
• 1:00
  Creator of all things, we live in a world which is unstable and ever-changing. And in this world, the only firm places to set our feet are Christ and his word. They alone are our foundations. They will alone never allow our feet to slip. And so we ask again, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our triune God, that you would fix our feet.
• 1:29
  solidly upon your word and your work give insight into your word this morning and give us grace Lord Jesus as we commit our lives to it and to you and amen amen well thank you church you can be seated this last Wednesday during thrive I put a comic up and I'm gonna have you show that now you'll see the comic that I showed this last
• 1:59
  Wednesday, I don't know about you guys, I liked the Far Side comic. I thought that was always really funny, kind of single frame, really, really smart, often very dry humor. But here it is. It's two deer standing across from each other. One of them has a target you can see kind of painted on his chest. It turns out that that's a birthmark. And at the bottom, it just says, that is a bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
• 2:25
  That's a bummer of a birthmark, a deer with a birthmark in the shape of a target. And church, the reason I, and not only is that funny and ironic and all of that, but the reason I showed that this last Wednesday and the reason I show it again this morning is because it reminds me of kind of the birthmark that is currently on the church in the United States. That is very much how it feels. We have been under constant scrutiny since the beginning of AD 2020.
• 2:54
  we have since the pandemic been watched scrutinized criticized even accused of mishandling mistreating downplaying the severity of the pandemic we have been watched by our by skeptics and by our critics
• 3:12
  And it seems like that that birthmark that we bear after now being born again, that birthmark that we now bear is in the shape of a target on our chest. And the reason I showed that Wednesday, the reason I show it today is because I'm going to ask church that you would pray, that you would pray for our church, Highland Baptist Church, and for the churches across the United States of America.
• 3:38
  I heard recently of a church in Southern California whom I am friends with. I'm friends with the pastors there. That has been open the way that we've been open. They have been gathering in small groups just like we have for worship and for time in God's word. They have, in the county that they are in, been fined. Every time they've gathered, fined $500. They've had to pay.
• 4:03
  A $500 fine every time they've done what we have done. And they have determined that not only is church essential, but their gathering is essential to the point that they are paying that $500 per meeting fine. Can you imagine that church? $500. They are paying out in order to remain open the way that we are open. Gathering together for worship and time in God's...
• 4:24
  And so I would ask, church, the church across the United States is absolutely under threat. There is a target painted on our chests. And so pray. Pray with me. Pray for me that God would give us wisdom and courage to do what we know to be right. But plagues have ravaged humanity for millennia.
• 4:48
  If you perform just a simple Google search, you'll find that plagues are a pretty big part of our past. Honestly, you'll probably find that they are going to continue to be a part of our future. Every few decades, what would qualify now as either epidemics or pandemics strike the earth. And every few centuries, these diseases are so severe that they wipe out a large swath of humans, sometimes even altering the course of history.
• 5:14
  Archaeology has discovered the remains of entire prehistoric villages from bygone eras piled up and burned. The assumption they've drawn is that these people must have been sick and so were burned in order to stop the spread. Recorded history chronicles dozens of diseases, outbreaks, epidemics, which may help to put into perspective what our world faces today. In the mid-1300s, a plague struck Europe.
• 5:45
  A plague which caused huge black boils on the infected that would eventually pop, causing hemorrhaging and death. The bubonic plague, or the black death as it became known, in a mere five years killed one-third of Europe's population. One-third of the population. That was bad. In AD 251, another plague struck Europe and North Africa.
• 6:14
  It became known as the Cyprian Plague, a namesake meant to honor Cyprian, Church Father and Archbishop of Carthage. At the height of this plague, it was killing an estimated 5,000 people per day in Rome alone, just in that one city. 5,000 people a day were dying. Now, to help put that in perspective, Rome at the time had a population about the same size as modern Denver.
• 6:41
  Can you imagine 5,000 people a day dying just in Denver? That was bad. Most notable to me, however, was Cyprian's response. He said this, I believe that it's good that the plague came to North Africa, he said, because Christians die differently than other people do. I believe it's good, he said, that the plague came because Christians die.
• 7:12
  differently he later remarked how the difference in the way that christians lived and died during the plague caused another type of outbreak this one leading those who otherwise never would have known the gospel into glorious new life can you imagine that kind of perspective church people were dying and he said it's good
• 7:32
  Because Christians, in their moment of death, die differently than non-Christians do. And people actually came to Christ who never would have come to Christ otherwise. And in the last eight months, I've seen Christians completely drop off the radar. Christians who were church-going, joy of the Lord, Christ-exalting, worshiping Christians.
• 7:54
  have disappeared without a word. There have been some Highlander Church, maybe you're among them, some Highlanders who I have not seen in eight, nine, ten months, not heard from, not gotten phone calls from, who I've reached out to and have never heard back. They've just disappeared. I've been told that for our church to gather is unloving. I've been told that. I've been told wearing a mask is the only way at this point to show the love of Christ.
• 8:24
  I've been told these are actual conversations. I've been told That if you don't wear a mask, then you don't love your neighbor. That's a direct quote now listen church I wear a mask you guys come you've seen me. I wear my mask. Of course I do But I've been told that if you don't wear a mask and you don't love your neighbor Our cities are currently running on skeleton crews Our businesses are under real threat of going bankrupt or churches are folding at an astonishing rate nationwide
• 8:52
  never before have so many worn masks and practiced social distancing, never before. Taking these measures, we are being told, will stop the spread, and yet cases of infection are skyrocketing. As you know, I recently had COVID-19. I quarantined for two weeks, I recovered, and now here I am. I guess God just didn't want me feeling left out. But I'll tell you, church, now that I've had it, let me share with you my concern.
• 9:22
  My biggest concern is not whether COVID-19 will decimate our population. It won't. There have been plagues that did. This is not one of them. My biggest concern is not what COVID-19 has done to our economy. We will recover. My biggest concern is not what COVID-19 is doing to us socially. I do not think.
• 9:49
  I do not think that not sending our kids to school is a good idea. I do not. I do think that not sending our kids to school is going to hurt us. Not letting them be with their friends is going to be psychologically and spiritually damaging. I really believe that. But kids are resilient. Our kids will recover. That is not my biggest concern. My biggest concern is what the fear of COVID-19 is doing to God's church.
• 10:17
  The fear that many Christians are living under has hamstrung churches nationwide to the point that many will not recover. Our own denomination of churches, Converge, estimates that between 12 and 14,000 Converge churches will close their doors forever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you imagine that number?
• 10:40
  12,000 to 14,000 churches, just converge churches nationwide, will close their door because of COVID-19. The fear of this pandemic has made Christians skeptical of one another. It has made Christians angry at one another. It has, I believe, taken our focus off of the Great Commission. Most importantly, it has stripped us of our joy. You say, well, Danny, how can you say that? That's most important.
• 11:11
  How can you say with all that's going on in the world that the joy of the Lord is the most important thing? And here's the reason, church, because if your joy is gone, then you've stopped living like a Christian. If your joy is gone, you've stopped sharing your faith. Joyless, fearful, anxiety-ridden Christians do not talk about Jesus. They don't.
• 11:42
  and if that happens if christians stop acting like christians and if christians stop talking about jesus then the world is in real trouble they say that laughter is the best medicine and i honestly i've missed laughter i've missed smiling just for no reason i've missed carefree days but that's not the joy i'm talking about it was christ who said that out of the overflow of our hearts
• 12:11
  our mouths speak and i have all but stopped hearing about what god is doing in and through the lives of highlanders to reach the lost do you know i used to get phone calls and text messages and emails we used to share testimonies in church about what god has been doing in the lives of believers at highland in order to reach the lost
• 12:31
  The Lord provided opportunity to share with my coworker. The Lord provided me opportunity to share the gospel with my neighbor. I've been praying for my family, my extended family, and the Lord gave me an opportunity to share. And you know, church, those testimonies have all but dried up. They're almost completely gone. What was a common occurrence, glory stories, has become almost entirely stunned silence.
• 12:59
  In our passage this morning, we read about the joy of the Lord. And I don't mean the joy that the Lord gives, but rather the joy that the Lord has. Jesus, the suffering servant, the one who endured the cross, scorning its shame. Jesus, the man of sorrows, rejoiced. And his joy...
• 13:26
  should cause us to rejoice and in the same way our joy can bring eternal joy to others. You will recall that Christ sent the 72 whom he appointed to preach in every town and village, to cast out demons, to heal disease. In verse 17, the scriptures tell us that they returned with joy, thrilled that the demons were subject to them in Jesus' name.
• 13:50
  But Jesus rebuked them by reminding them that their names are written in heaven and that this fact should be the source of true, unshakable joy. And only when one slows down does one begin to see themes in Scripture that if they've been moving at a breakneck pace, they may have missed. It is true that there are those who miss the forest for the trees, but it's also true that the trees deserve some attention. And so let's not miss the significance of verse 21.
• 14:21
  We've read it already. Let me read it again. Look in your Bibles at verse 21. It says, in that same hour, he, referring to Jesus, rejoiced. I'm going to read it again. In that same hour, Jesus rejoiced. Jesus rejoiced. It's well known that Christ was a man of sorrows. Scripture foretold this about the Messiah centuries before his birth.
• 14:54
  Isaiah 53 in verse 3 says that Jesus would be, the Messiah, would be despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows. The church has sung for generations the hymn, Man of Sorrows, what a name. For the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah, what a Savior.
• 15:19
  In just the last few years, a new song, Man of Sorrows, has sprung up, which we also sing, Man of Sorrows, Lamb of God. By his own betrayed, the sin of man and wrath of God has been on Jesus laid. And perhaps one of the most well-known and often quoted verses in all of Scripture is John 11, 35, Jesus wept.
• 15:39
  Jesus, in the midst of a loss, his own friend Lazarus, having died and been buried, comes alongside Mary and Martha, Lazarus's sisters, and in a moment of sorrow and sympathy, wept alongside them, and in so doing, helped to absorb their grief. John 11 is a beautiful picture of the heartache of the Savior for his beloved. Jesus wept is profound. But church, does Scripture teach only?
• 16:07
  A weeping, sorrowful God in heaven? A God of sorrows? If so, how can it be then that in his presence is fullness of joy and in his right hand pleasures forevermore? If the God of heaven is exclusively sorrowful, then how can there be rejoicing in heaven every time a sinner repents? Or a prodigal returns? Or a saint passes from this world to the next? Helen of Troy.
• 16:37
  Was said to have a face that could launch a thousand ships and indeed the Trojans would find that out the hard way But I like how one pastor describes this singular verse chapter 10 and verse 21 by calling it the text that could launch a thousand sermons This is a profound moment in the life of Christ and in the study of this church
• 17:02
  This verse, verse 21 in the 10th chapter of Luke, is the only passage in all of the New Testament which describes specifically Jesus's joy during his earthly life and ministry.
• 17:16
  Scripture teaches many times that Jesus had joy in eternity past with the Father. It describes many times his future joy after being glorified, after all things are completed and made new. It even says that Jesus emptied himself in becoming a man for the joy set before him. But only once, right here in Luke, does it describe the joy of Jesus during his earthly ministry. Which means that this verse must be significant.
• 17:44
  it must be given special attention and church in the midst of a pandemic in the midst of suffering and derision in the midst of closures and bankruptcies in the midst of sorrow and pain and loss and confusion and anger and violence and even in the midst of the threat of those things being poured out on the church we are reminded that none of us
• 18:11
  face greater derision and suffering than did christ none of us will experience greater sorrow than did the man of sorrows himself and yet he rejoiced and so let us look this morning at the face of the man of joy you'll notice first in verse 21 that jesus rejoiced in the sovereign pleasure of the father
• 18:41
  in salvation jesus rejoiced in the sovereign pleasure of the father in salvation notice it says in that same hour he rejoiced in that same hour well what hour that is the hour that the 72 returned
• 19:00
  Verse 17 says they returned with joy. Verse 20 says that Christ redirected their joy. And now verse 21 says that he himself rejoiced. But interesting to note here is that the word for rejoice in verse 20 and the word for rejoice in verse 21 are two different Greek words. They're used back to back.
• 19:22
  But they're actually two different words. In verse 20, the word kairo. Kairo means happy or be glad. Be glad that your names are written in heaven. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Then in that same hour, Jesus rejoiced. Different Greek word. The word agaliasto or agaliasoto means to jump for joy.
• 19:45
  To be thrilled with exceeding joy, a joy overflowing like a spontaneous gushing forth of the gladness of the Holy Spirit. That's what Jesus rejoiced. Theirs was a gladness. His was bursting at the seams. That's the kind of joy that Jesus had, a joy of being fulfilled, completed. Now listen, church, Jesus was always a man of sorrows.
• 20:11
  Because there was never a time he wasn't viewing the world through what had been lost because of sin. So he was always a man of sorrows because of the devastation of sin. But Jesus was also always a man of exceeding joy because there was never a time he wasn't viewing the world through the lens of eternity. Do you catch that?
• 20:35
  He was always a man of sorrows because he saw what was going on in the world and the devastation of sin But he was also always a man of exceeding joy Because he knew the victory of heaven He always viewed the world through that lens of the gospel and from a worldly perspective Things could not have been going any worse for Christ at this point in Luke chapter 10
• 21:03
  You'll recall that Christ would now be a mere six months from crucifixion. He had departed from Galilee for the final time, was making his way to Jerusalem where he would be handed over to the Gentiles and put on the cross. The rejection, the opposition that Christ faced from the religious leaders of Jerusalem was like an avalanche. It began very small, but now as he's getting closer and closer to Jerusalem, it's picking up speed.
• 21:27
  power momentum at this point the avalanche of rejection was hell-bent on extinguishing christ's following and in the midst of this why would jesus rejoice what is there to rejoice over and the answer is simple it's found in verse 20. jesus rejoiced that despite all of the opposition despite the rejection and suffering people were still
• 21:57
  getting saved there were names written in heaven we're in the midst of a pandemic the circumstances of life are not as bright as they once were can we rejoice anyway and in what listen to philemon verse 6 i pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of christ
• 22:31
  In other words, if you've forgotten how good you have it in Jesus, Paul tells Philemon, go and share your faith. Be active in the sharing of your faith so that you will know every good thing you have in Christ. If you've forgotten, if you've lost your joy, he says, go and share. 3 John 4.
• 22:53
  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. And church, there is nothing on earth that gives me greater joy than when I hear about loved ones walking closely with Christ. That's it. If I've lost my joy, I just need to think about those people that Christ has saved, work miracles in, those people we never thought would come to Christ. And yet here they are walking in newness of life.
• 23:19
  I've told you before about a young man a sixth grader a boy that comes to our church He has come because of our city kids ministry. He's one of the most involved kids over there and honestly church He never would have heard the gospel apart from city kids He never would have heard the gospel But because of the ministry of city kids because of the outreach to him to his brother to his parents He has come to know Christ. He now comes to the church faithfully. He's here all the time
• 23:48
  Faithfully, a sixth grade boy comes, even without his parents, comes, is learning, is walking with Jesus. A couple of years ago, he came to me and he said, Danny, what do you do here at the church? What's your job? Do you work here? I said, yeah, I work here. He says, what do you do? I said, well, I'm the pastor of the church. And he said, what's a pastor? And I explained it very quickly to him. Well, here's kind of what I do.
• 24:13
  I'm one of the people in charge and I help to make sure that everything goes well and whatever. And he says, oh, you're like the principal, right? That's a name, a term that he's familiar with. You're the principal of the church. Well, yeah, I guess I'm kind of the principal of the church. Okay, Principal Danny, you know, for a little while, he called me the principal of the church until he really figured out what a pastor was. He came to me and I asked him, he and I become friends and we talk and we even text each other, you know, and I asked him what he's going to do when he grows up. And he says, I don't know.
• 24:42
  I don't know. And he asked me this. He said, could I become the pastor of the church someday? Could I be the pastor of the church after you're done? Could I do it? I said, absolutely you could. Absolutely you could. You could be the pastor of the church. Absolutely you could. Walk closely with Jesus. Learn, read. Absolutely you could.
• 25:03
  just a couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night. I found him again. I said, hey, bud, how you doing? How's Thrive and all of that stuff? He gave me a quick update. I introduced him to somebody he'd never met before, an adult here in the church. And I said, have you guys met? No. I introduced him. I said, he's going to be the... I said, no, I asked him this. I said, tell him what you're going to do when you grow up. What are you going to do when you grow up? And he looked right at him. He said, I'm going to be the pastor of this church someday. And church, honestly, I hope that he is. It causes my heart to rejoice.
• 25:30
  Another time, a man showed up at our church on a Sunday morning, a man I'd never seen before, and a man who clearly was having a hard go at life, showed up about three years ago on a Sunday. During that summer season, we were preaching through a series called Overlooked. Overlooked was about characters in Old and New Testaments that you've probably never heard of and yet had a great impact on the kingdom. I was preaching that morning about a man named Manasseh. Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings.
• 25:58
  In Israel's history, a horrific, satanic man who used to sacrifice his own sons to false gods. He used to burn his own sons on the altars of false gods. He was an absolutely atrocious human being. But at the end of his life, it says that Manasseh repented and God forgave his sin.
• 26:26
  And I just issued this challenge to the church. I said, if God can forgive Manasseh, then he can forgive you. No matter what you've done, God can forgive you. And this man came up to me after the service was over and he said, I got out of jail this morning.
• 26:47
  This morning, I got out of jail and I was walking by your church and something compelled me to come inside and listen. And I'm telling you, Pastor Danny, that sermon was for me. That man repented, gave his life to Christ. I had the privilege of two years ago baptizing him on Easter Sunday. Two years ago, I baptized two people on Easter Sunday. I baptized my son, Chase, and I baptized this man who has now become my friend.
• 27:18
  I think about his name being written in heaven and it causes me to rejoice. Another time I met a man who came into my office and said, I want to talk to you. I want to meet with you. He was a Marine. He'd just been discharged from the Marines. In fact, he'd been in for many years, had done multiple tours of duty all over the world. Afghanistan, Somalia, the Horn of Africa, all over the place. He had served our country as a Marine, had been asked to do some pretty hard things.
• 27:50
  And he came to me and said, I gave my life to Christ recently, and I was told I should meet with you, that you'd tell me what that means. And so for many years we met. We met multiple times a week. He became one of my best friends and still is. He now is married, has two daughters of his own, is in leadership at a church, and even helps to lead their men's ministry. And I think about him.
• 28:13
  and where he was and what he was doing and what he was involved in and what he was stuck in and what God saved him from that his name is now written in heaven and to consider what God has done in his life and it causes me to rejoice to rejoice and not just a little type of joy like a jump up and down bursting at the seams rejoicing
• 28:36
  You look at verse 21, in that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. And now look what he says. In this joy, he begins thanking the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding, revealed them to little children. Yes, Father. And then look at this phrase, for such was your gracious will.
• 28:58
  For such was your gracious will. Now, your Bibles have a little number three there, a little translator's note number three. If you go down to number three, it could also be translated, for so it pleased you well. In fact, New American Standard even says, for such was pleasing to you the Father. Consider the salvation of the saints, and that caused the Father to be pleased.
• 29:26
  and cause the sun to jump up and down for joy. Church, if you are lacking joy, then just consider the people that God has worked and moved in. Consider, even just thinking about their initials, write their initials down in the cover of your Bible. On the inside cover of your Bible, just begin to write initials of the people that he has worked miraculously in. And when you're lacking joy, go back and look at whose names.
• 29:56
  are written in heaven that's first jesus rejoiced jesus rejoiced in the sovereign pleasure of the father in salvation but notice second jesus rejoiced at the sovereign power that he wielded and that the disciples witnessed look at verse 22 jesus says all things have been handed over to me by my father
• 30:22
  And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son. In other words, there is no intimacy like what the Son and the Father enjoy. Nobody knows as much about God as God does, he says. Or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. All things, Jesus says, all authority has been handed over to me by the Father. Now the power, the authority that Christ wields is his.
• 30:52
  Inherently, as God, very God, Christ is unlimited in his authority and potency. There is nothing that Christ cannot do. There is no one who can stand in Christ's way. When Christ said on that day in Matthew chapter 16 that he would build his church and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against that church,
• 31:21
  Christ was making that day a prophetic utterance that could not be broken. His church would be built, established, and nothing would stop it. And in case there were those who doubted the Lord's power to see their salvation through to the end, Christ reminds here his followers of his authority granted to him by the Father. If Christ were a mere man, even a perfect man, and not God, we would have reason to despair.
• 31:52
  And this is the problem with modern Christian cults like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness. To diminish Christ as they do, and they do. They do not believe in the same Christ we believe in. They call themselves Christians, church, but you know that we are not Christians of the same definition. They do not serve and worship the same Lord that we do. To diminish Christ the way that they do leaves the Christ follower grasping after a Savior whose work is never finished.
• 32:23
  If Christ's soul-saving power still needed to be combined with our own effort, then we would have reason to despair. And this is the problem with other branches of the Christian tree, like Catholicism or like Orthodoxy. To combine Christ's saving power with our own, like Christ's merit plus my work equals salvation, the way that those other branches of the Christian tree teach.
• 32:51
  To combine Christ's saving power with our own power weakens the gospel. And again, it leaves the Christ follower insecure, never fully confident in their own salvation. An impotent Savior, a Savior willing but unable to save, is no Savior at all.
• 33:15
  You can imagine the 90-pound weakling cavalierly telling the beautiful homecoming queen to stand behind him, that he will protect her. And as chivalrous as that may be, it's also completely useless. Sometimes, church, it seems like we treat Christ as a very well-meaning 90-pound weakling. We sing to him on Sundays. We tell him that we love him and will follow him.
• 33:43
  But then we live every other day riddled with anxiety over what's happening all around us. We sing to him and his power and his might and his authority, crown him with many crowns. We sing these songs, but then the rest of the week we live in anxiety and fear as if he's a 90-pound weakling we're standing behind. I know you're very willing to say, but you're unable to do anything about it.
• 34:13
  Our countrymen even those who claim to know the Lord are running around in desperation Acting as if their only hope is in who will win the presidency What a great reminder Christ gives not to put our trust in human institutions Or political officials where there's no hope He says in verse 22 all things have been handed over to me all authority all
• 34:41
  power, all dominion, all of it, all kingdoms, all belong to Christ. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to Christ. There's no hope in human institutions. There is no hope in human political officials. It doesn't matter, church, who the president is. It doesn't matter. Yes, there's one I like better than the other, but I wouldn't want either one of them as my next door neighbor. Would you?
• 35:10
  How'd you like to live next door to one of them? Nah, man, pass, no thanks. I wouldn't want either one of them as my boss. I certainly wouldn't want to be married to either one of them. Can you imagine? I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but they are both, both of them. It does not matter who wins. They are both of them completely powerless to perform.
• 35:34
  They are powerless to save. Neither of them will ever live up to their own hype. Neither of them will ever be able to follow through on their promises. They are both promise breakers. Now, I don't think maliciously so. I don't think either of them would purposely set out to break their own promises. But neither of them has any power to fulfill their own promises. Do you remember when Jesus was standing before Pilate? He's on trial before Pilate.
• 36:04
  the Roman appointed governor of Judea. And Pilate's asking him all these questions. And then Pilate says, don't you know the authority that I have over you? And do you remember Jesus's response? Jesus says, the only authority you have was given to you. It was given to you and it can be taken away. You have no authority over me. You have no authority.
• 36:34
  at all do you lack joy christian do you lack joy consider for a moment the power and authority that christ wields and then consider this promise from philippians chapter 1 and verse 6 he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it
• 37:01
  He who began a good work, he who set out to accomplish something in you, beloved Christian, will be faithful to complete it. Jesus will never leave you hanging. He will establish his church. He will build his church. He will grow his church and the gates of Hades will not prevail. Jesus has all authority and power to complete the task that he began.
• 37:32
  He continues in verse 23. Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Now Christ concludes with a statement that simply reminds his followers of the privilege they have in witnessing his work. What a privilege we have in seeing the awesome power of the Lord poured out, poured out throughout history and even today.
• 38:03
  It's like Jesus is saying, you have any idea how awesome it is that you get to be here, right? Many longed to see what you see right now, he's telling his disciples, but they didn't get to see it. Kings, prophets desired to see this day, and they didn't get to see it, to hear what you hear, and they didn't get to hear it. It's a privilege, he says, to get to witness this. You have any idea, Jesus is saying, how many have waited for this, the promises of God.
• 38:31
  were being fulfilled in their midst and church continued to be fulfilled today. Another man that I had the privilege of meeting with very early on in his Christian walk and a man who has now become honestly one of my best friends in the world.
• 38:48
  came to me at a men's retreat. We were on a men's retreat with our church about 10 years ago. A whole bunch of guys from our church went up there. I had never met him before. He was brand new to the church. He came to me on one of the mornings of the men's retreat. I was about to eat breakfast with some other guys. He came and sat next to me, introduced himself, and he said, I gave my life to Christ last night during the session. And I said, man, that's awesome. Wow, that's awesome. I don't know what to do next. He said, some other guys told me maybe to come talk to you. Maybe you'd know what to do next.
• 39:16
  And I said, all right, well, why don't you next talk about getting baptized and then read your Bible? That's what you should do next. Get baptized. You should read your Bible. And he said, okay, that's what I'll do. And so he said, how do I read it? He said, do I just start in the beginning and read to the end? And I said, yeah, yeah, that's a good way to do it. Just start at the beginning, read to the end. And I said, why don't we do this? I said, if you'll read.
• 39:40
  Then I said, once a week, let's just get together. We can just talk about whatever you're reading. Whatever you're reading, write down some questions and we can just go through it together. You read as fast or as slow as you want. Now listen, church, he didn't know what fast or slow meant. Slow, one chapter a day. Fast, I don't know, three chapters a day, right? He came in, he started reading 10, 20 chapters a day. He didn't know that that was fast. The first year that he was saved, he read his entire Bible twice. I remember coming in and meeting with him one time a week and him being...
• 40:12
  thrilled. I'm not kidding, Church. He'd come in and he just said, Pastor Danny, you mean this stuff is real? That stuff that I heard about when I was a kid, the coat of many colors, the parting of the Red Sea, those things actually happened? I said, yeah.
• 40:30
  Yeah, they happened. He said, I'd heard about the parting of the sea. Honestly, I just thought it was like a Cheerios commercial. There was an old Cheerios commercial where a guy raises his little spoon or whatever, and the milk parts, you know. I just thought it was a Cheerios commercial. I didn't know that stuff was real. That stuff really happened? You know that man?
• 40:53
  later I mean he just started walking with Christ I mean and just aggressively pursuing Jesus aggressively serving in the church do you know that man now is married has a daughter he's got a master's degree in biblical studies and is now the pastor of a church he's now the pastor of a church the church do you lack joy consider the power that you've witnessed the power that generations before us could only have dreamt about
• 41:24
  Read again God's words, but read it with fresh eyes, the way that this man did. This stuff was real? Lord, that's what you did in the past. What are you doing now? I'm just in awe of it. Church, our joy matters because a Christian without joy has forgotten what is most important. A Christian without joy has stopped living like a Christian and has certainly, most certainly stopped.
• 41:54
  sharing their faith and may it never be so of us church even during a pandemic that we would stop living like Christians and stop sharing our faith I don't get those reports back anymore I don't what was coming all the time a year ago exciting things happening through and in the lives of Highlanders by reaching the world I just don't get those reports anymore let's not stop
• 42:23
  Pressing forward, Christians. COVID-19 will not be the demise of the human race. It will not be. But Christians without joy could be. Let's take up the charge of Cyprian. Christians must be the people who live and even die differently because the way we live is a reflection on the God that we serve. And Lord, I pray that you would be blessed, honored, glorified in the right dividing of your word.
• 42:52
  Lord, you were not only the man of sorrows, you were also the man of joy. And God, I pray that we would rejoice in the same way. Rejoice that there are names being written in heaven. Rejoice that the gospel continues to go out. Rejoice that you continue to work in the lives of your people, that you have not begun a good work in us only to fail to complete it, but that you will complete it. God, that you have promised to build your church and you will build it. No one can stand in your way.
• 43:21
  And God, as we look at what you do around the world, may we just be in awe that we are getting to see things that others longed to see and to hear things that others longed to hear about. And may we, as a result, rejoice in the God of our salvation. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.