Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Rebuking of Peter | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

The Rebuking of Peter | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  I'm going to ask you to turn in a in a moment to the book of
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  Mark. But before I do that, I was
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  reflecting the past couple of days on a statement that the
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  Psalmist made in Psalm 73 ASAP, who was struggling in his heart
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  about the benefits of being righteous and serving God,
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  especially when he contrasted his life with the wicked who
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  seemed to get away with so much and inherit blessing.
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  On top of it, though, they have turned their backs on God.
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  And yet at the end of that song there's a there's a declaration
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  that ASAP makes that I present to you, he says.
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  But As for me, it is good to be near God.
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  But As for me it is good to be near God.
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  And I know usually when we preach sermons you tend to warm
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  up before you get to any applications or exhortations.
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  But I want to begin by simply asking you this afternoon, are
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  you near God? Are you near God?
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  Are you far from Him? You know, some would say it's
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  self-righteous. It would be arrogant to say that
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  I am near God. Well ASAP.
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  Didn't think so. ASAP Didn't think that it was
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  proud or dishonest to be able to acknowledge and self assess that
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  he was near God. And so it's good to ask that
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  question from time to time. Am I near God?
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  How do you know if you're near God?
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  This isn't going to sound deep. You know when you're near God,
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  your heart will testify. If you're near God, he is
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  constantly in your meditations. He has captured your affections.
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  He is unrivaled in your pursuits, in life, your desires,
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  your longings. He's not peripheral in your
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  priorities. And it's possible to be here
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  today, very near others, near the people of God, near the
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  singing of God's praises, near the proclamation of God's Word,
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  and yet at the same time to not be near God.
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  And so I hope that you are close and walking closely with them.
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  If you are not, I want to give you a little insight into
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  something. No matter what message is
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  proclaimed behind this pulpit, the aim is always the same.
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  And it is this that regardless of the subject at hand, no
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  matter what verses we are expounding on, it would end up
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  wooing you closer to the Lord always.
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  Or else what is this all about, right?
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  What do we just do the past 30 minutes?
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  Are we just singing into the air and trying to make this less
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  awkward as possible by participating?
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  Or are we singing to God? What's the purpose of this right
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  now? To hear from God.
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  For what purpose, though? To come closer to God.
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  And my prayer and preparation for this text is that you would
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  be, in the end, more enamored and drawn closer to your Lord
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  and to your Savior. And we're going to do that by
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  examining probably one of the most shocking incidences in the
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  Gospels, because Jesus is going to give one of his strongest
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  rebukes to one of the closest people to him while on the
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  earth. So turn with me to Mark chapter
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  8, verse 31. As we examine a couple of verses
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  today, Mark 831 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man
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  must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the
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  chief priest and the scribes, and be killed, and after three
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  days rise again. And he said this plainly, And
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  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
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  But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and
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  said, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on
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  the things of God, but on the things of man.
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  Father, we pray as a church today.
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  Members of this Church, visitors to this church, grateful that we
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  are yours. Would you do what you did to the
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  disciples and Luke 24 Open our minds that we may understand the
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  Scriptures, it may the delivery of this word be cloaked in the
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  power of the Holy Spirit, and that our hearts would also be by
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  the Holy Spirit, ready to receive your instruction.
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  For your glory, and yes, even for our good, we give you
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  maximum praise. And we pray these things in the
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  strong name of Jesus. Amen.
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  Amen. Here's how we're going to
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  understand these verses. Here's here's how we're going to
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  dissect this episode. Want us to look at three things
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  concerning the rebuking of Peter.
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  The 1st is Peter's presumption. The second thing is Peter's
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  problem. And the last thing is Peter's
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  posture. A lot of peas, right?
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  Peter's presumption, Peter's problem, Peter's posture.
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  The last thing that we see concerning Peter was that he
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  made an incredible statement, an incredible confession to Jesus
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  and the presence of the disciples.
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  You are the Christ. This was an accurate
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  identification of the person of Jesus and it was a response to
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  Jesus question concerning himself to his own.
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  Who do you say that I am? And Peter was the one here who
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  spoke up, as he often does, and he gave this clear, concise, but
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  profound understanding about who Jesus is.
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  You're the Messiah. You're the one we've been
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  waiting for. And that confession is
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  significant for many reasons. And one of the reasons is that
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  it would introduce it would trigger a new shift in the
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  teaching ministry of Jesus Christ.
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  What I mean by that is that from this point on in the Gospel of
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  Mark, Jesus is going to build upon that revelation that Peter
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  had and will now focus his attention not just but a lot on
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  a theme, a particular theme concerning his mission on the
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  earth as the Messiah. And what is that theme going to
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  be? It's going to be the determined
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  plan of his impending death and resurrection.
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  This is what Jesus is going to teach repeatedly, over and over
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  again. And it was absolutely crucial
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  for the disciples to grasp because these disciples like
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  many of the Jews where the under the impression that this rabbi,
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  at least some who who thought he was more than a rabbi.
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  But definitely the disciples were thinking this rabbi at any
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  moment is going to establish and occupy a real throne and fulfill
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  what we've been longing for as a people politically speaking.
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  And Jesus here, fully aware of that, understood that the idea
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  of him being mounted upon a Roman cross was 1,000,000 miles
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  away from their theological imagination.
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  And so he's going to educate them by bringing this up more
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  than once. And you're going to see that as
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  we go through the Gospel of Mark to try to clarify the Messiah's
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  complete redemptive purpose as the time of his betrayal was
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  drawing closer and closer. And that's why you read in verse
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  31. And he began to teach them.
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  He began to teach them this because now Peter's mind is open
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  as well as the disciples, and now he's able to work with them
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  and expounding upon what it means for him to be the Christ.
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  And notice this year says he began to teach them that the Son
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  of Man must suffer, must suffer many things.
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  The sufferings of Jesus, the the torment that he endured was not
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  optional, nor was it accidental. It was precisely the
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  predetermined will of God. The foreknowledge of God was at
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  work here concerning Christ and what he would undergo.
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  He must suffer because apart from his suffering, there would
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  be no atoning for sin. Apart from his suffering, there
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  would be no possibility for reconciliation with God.
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  Apart from his suffering, there would be no eternal life that
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  could be granted. Jesus Christ had to suffer, He
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  had to, and he entered into this world with that soul and
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  ultimate purpose post resurrection.
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  He appears to these disciples, these two that are walking
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  toward Emmaus and he rebukes them because they also didn't
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  understand how this Messiah could suffer and he says they're
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  in Luke 24. Was it not necessary that the
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  Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?
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  It was necessary. Now you can imagine how these
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  twelve who have given up everything to follow this
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  Messiah, demonstrating great power, giving so much hope that
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  at any second, by the snap of the finger, he can overthrow
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  Rome and he can bring in a golden age that would make
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  Solomon's reign look pale in comparison.
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  You can imagine how they receive this news that Jesus must suffer
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  and take it too lightly, especially Peter.
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  And so Peter now is about to do something that I would say is
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  unthinkable. Peter now is going to do
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  something that, if you really think about it, is crazy for
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  anybody to even entertain the thought to do.
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  And this is where we look at his presumption.
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  Jesus explains what he's going to undergo, what he's going to
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  experience, and Peter has the audacity, the boldness, the
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  courage to get up, take Jesus aside, and rebuke him.
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  Think about how shocking is rebuking the Son of God,
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  assuming superiority over Jesus, and attempting to claim that he
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  is misunderstood concerning his destiny.
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  I was meditating on this earlier, and I thought to
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  myself, what gave Peter this sense of courage and boldness
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  and right to come to Jesus and attempt to correct him?
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  Was it love? Was it fear?
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  Was it a mixture of both? You could say that.
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  But I believe that if you just look at the immediate context,
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  there's a suggestion. There's something else that is
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  important to take note of that might have added to Peter's
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  willingness to do this. What happens right before this
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  Again he confesses You are the Christ.
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  And Matthew adds in Matthew 16 that Jesus praises He praises
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  Peter. He says, Simon, this is
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  something that was not given to you by flesh.
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  This is not something that was given to you by flesh and blood.
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  This was given to you by God himself.
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  This is something that the Father himself revealed to you.
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  And he praises Peter and he tells Peter on top of it, you're
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  blessed. You're blessed to have this kind
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  of revelation to come to this understanding of who I am.
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  Now we don't have commentary on Peter's heart at the moment, but
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  I wonder if it did something to him to hear that.
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  Imagine hearing that from Jesus that out of all the people of
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  Israel and then you zone it out of all the disciples, you were
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  the 1 to rightly identify who Jesus is.
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  Wow, I am blessed. Again, we don't know his
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  thoughts, but could it be that what had just happened after
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  being told and informed that you received divine guidance to come
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  to this conclusion? Something happened to his
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  confidence. Something happened to his
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  confidence to the degree that he felt like it was appropriate to
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  even try to bring correction to the message of the Son of God
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  because it didn't align with His own understanding?
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  This is for our instruction, because if we're not careful
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  what God does in you and in me, what God chooses to do you, to
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  do in you and to do in me can create in us an attitude that
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  would warrant divine rebuke instead of blessed praise.
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  You know, our hearts are so corrupt, so creative in
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  inventing sins and making things that should be pure and holy to
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  something dwarfed and horrible that even our excelling maturity
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  and even our blessed labors can spoil us and can even bring
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  harm. And if we don't understand that,
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  then we will not be on guard against spiritual pride.
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  Usually from the puppet you hear warnings to those who are, you
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  know, drifting away spiritually, falling asleep, being allured by
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  the love of the world. But Peter's example here is a
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  charge to those who stand out among other believers, like
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  Peter did. Who stand out?
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  You know what I mean by stand out something unique about you,
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  about your gifting, about your inside, about how God uses you.
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  People tell you. People acknowledge, and I'm sure
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  pride is always lurking on the other side of genuine, unusual
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  experiences and every fruitful endeavor in the name of God's
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  glory. It's right there.
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  Waiting. Right there waiting.
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  The apostle Paul himself, I mean, think about Paul.
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  He championed the message of grace.
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  Paul confessed that he was the chief of sinners, that he was
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  the least deserving of God's mercy.
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  And that same Paul who wrote about grace, who rejoiced in
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  grace, who sang about grace. This Paul also said to himself
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  in Second Corinthians 12/7 that in order to be kept from
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  becoming conceited because of the surpassing revelations, a
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  thorn was given to him. Paul.
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  Paul himself, that man who swam in the grace of God the mercy of
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  God, was fully aware that he himself was capable of falling
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  into that trap, of thinking more of yourself than you should.
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  And so if, Peter, if Paul, these giants can actually be tempted
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  to have a certain attitude that would demean, that would even
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  attempt to challenge the word and will of God.
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  How much more we, How much more we?
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  How much more do you and I need to be careful.
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  So be careful my brother. Be careful, my sister, when
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  people praise you because of your godliness.
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  Be careful when your ministry grows in number.
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  Be careful when people begin to seek you for counsel, for
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  prayer, and you feel as though more people are coming to you
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  than the next person. Be careful.
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  What can happen to your heart can be very ugly very quickly,
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  and so we must be on guard. And God will help us as we are
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  at least aware of that possibility.
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  And more can be said about that. But there's something else to
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  consider about this this Peter and his attitude here.
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  Peter's rejection, right when he, when he refuses to accept
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  what Jesus says, clarifies what we didn't touch on the last time
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  we were talking about Peter's confession 3 weeks ago.
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  Look what we what we didn't touch on in verse 29.
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  And he asked them, But who do you say that I am?
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  Peter answered him. You are the Christ, and he
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  strictly charged them to tell no one about him, Huh.
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  OK, so this is a right answer. You are the Christ, the most
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  important answer you can have concerning who Jesus is.
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  They got it. And your response to the right
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  answers? These guys that you're training
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  up to be messengers, apostles, the foundation of the church,
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  you're asking them not to tell anybody about it.
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  Does it make sense to anybody? At least from immediate reading,
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  you can confess it's not a sin. It challenges you, Right, Lord?
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  Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you say you're
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  right. Now go tell it on the mountains.
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  I am the Christ. Prepare the people of Israel
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  that the Messiah has indeed come.
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  He is here. The wait is over.
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  And This is why you got to continue reading your Bible.
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  A verse a day on the app doesn't help you get to these
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  conclusions. You read verse 30 and you say
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  okay. He's strictly charged him not to
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  tell anybody about him, and the answer comes to our text today.
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  The answer is brought when you continue to read, because right
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  after he says don't tell anybody about this, he goes on to now
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  teach them, yes, you know, I'm the Messiah, but do you know
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  what the Messiah is supposed to do?
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  They thought they did, but they prove Peter proves that they
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  really didn't. They understood the Messiah is
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  Jesus, but they didn't understand what Jesus was to do
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  in his first Advent. And so listen, if the disciples
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  were given the opportunity or disobeyed Christ and went about
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  telling everybody this is the Messiah, what would he have
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  said? Well, they had the same level of
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  understanding as most of the Jews.
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  Then he must be the one that's going to come and overthrow our
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  oppressors. Then he must be the one who's
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  going to establish the earthly rain.
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  Then he's going to come and and ransack the enemy and we're
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  going to know prosperity politically, economically.
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  They would have fueled false hope.
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  They would have misguided the people.
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  And Jesus was aware of that. So he says pause.
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  Yes, I am the Christ, but you need to understand that I must
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  suffer. You don't get that part yet, you
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  know. When I looked at this, I thought
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  to myself, evidently they were permitted not to share Jesus
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  being the Christ, because they themselves did not comprehend
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  the complete assignment of the Christ.
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  They had a skewed, limited, elementary view, and that needed
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  to be changed before they can go out and teach you.
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  Look at that. You said that's true of the
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  disciples, but you realize the principle behind it.
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  Here it is. Some believers, in their great
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  zeal and desire to serve the Lord at certain capacities, feel
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  frustrated. They feel frustrated because
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  they're not doing what they believe they should be doing for
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  the Lord. They feel like they are in one
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  place. They feel like there should be
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  more opportunity. They feel like there should be
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  more. More audience, more influence.
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  And though that might be a noble cause, the reasons why certain
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  opportunities and certain doors are not open, they can vary.
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  But consider this one. I know this one might hurt, but
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  it's true our own unpreparedness.
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  I know we always feel like we're ready.
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  We always feel like we're prepared, but as we see with the
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  disciples here, often times before, the Lord will use us in
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  a certain way. He will cause delay for the sake
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  of development. He would cause delay for the
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  sake of development. And whether that be your
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  character and mine, whether that be your knowledge or mine.
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  Christ in His love, not just for you but for other people as
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  well, takes His time with us. And He has a way in providential
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  power and wisdom to train and mold us so that in the long run
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  we would be more effective, so that we cause less damage and
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  more blessing instead. So let your heart not be so
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  discouraged. Don't be so anxious.
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  Believe that the Lord leads you perfectly even in your zeal to
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  serve Him. He knows when and how and where.
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  Every step of the way. You know you see that throughout
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  the Bible from beginning. And this is how God works.
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  This is how the school of God works.
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  Even when Israel came out of Egypt, there was this verse that
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  came to mind. When I was meditating on this
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  truth with the disciples, there was a shorter way to get to the
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  promised land, and God chose rather to go the longer way.
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  More days in the wilderness, more temptation and trials.
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  He chooses to go the longer route instead of going the
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  shorter. And we're told why he did that.
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  Why did God not make it quicker for the Israelites to get where
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  they needed to go? Can I read it to you?
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  And Exodus 1317 is your answer. When Pharaoh let the people go,
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  God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines,
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  although that was near. It was nearer to go through the
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  way of the Philistines. And he said, we're not doing
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  that. We're we're going to take a
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  detour for God said less. The people change their minds
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  when they see war and return to Egypt.
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  They had gone the shorter way. Sure, it would be less time in
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  the wilderness, but they would have been confronted with
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  military force in opposition. And guess what?
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  These freshly delivered Israelites were not trained
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  militarily. They were not equipped for that.
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  Here's the understanding. If the Lord had taken Israel to
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  go through this route, it would have been more dangerous for the
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  nation of Israel than anything else.
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  They would have been put in a compromising situation.
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  They would have been tempted to give up and turn back.
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  The Lord knew that the people didn't, necessarily.
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  And that's the kind of thinking we must have as we look out into
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  this world, as we walk with the Lord and perhaps don't
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  understand how His timetable works for our own lives, even in
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  the lane of serving him and the desires that you have, the
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  dreams and the hopes and the prayers.
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  Understand this, that He knows what's ahead.
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  He knows what you and I can handle.
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  He knows what and when can harm you or bless you.
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  And so he sometimes oftentimes will prolong something will keep
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  you waiting, because he knows what you can endure.
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  I look at these disciples, and I see the same thing.
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  He charged him not to tell anyone about him, that's He's
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  counterintuitive, but he understands something about the
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  disciples and their need before they should go.
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  What about Israel and their monarchs?
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  We're studying David. We just finished Second Samuel.
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  But I always come back to this thought when I think about how
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  the Lord delays or how the Lord does things with his men and
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  women before He uses them in a certain way.
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  You have Saul, you have David. You have Solomon, the 1st 3
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  kings. Each of their reigns were how
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  long? 40 years, 40 years, 40 years, 40
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  years. They all messed up in their own
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  way, royally. No pun intended.
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  But let's be honest, Saul and Solomon ended in apostasy.
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  You have Saul, who seeks a witch for guidance.
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  You have Solomon who does what he worships false gods after
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  marrying 1000 women. David made many mistakes.
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  But David didn't end up being an idol worshipper.
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  And I've always wondered how is it that these men had the same
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  opportunity, the same length of time.
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  But why did David stand out? Why was David different?
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  And you can make many arguments for why David was different.
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  He was a man after God's heart. But I also see something else,
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  and this isn't dogmatic. This is just an observation for
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  you and I to consider. When you look at David's arrival
• 24:58
  to the throne, when you look at the process, it was very
• 25:01
  different than Saul and Solomon's, was it not?
• 25:05
  That man went through trials, That man went through the
• 25:10
  grinder, That man was stuffed in caves and and he was running for
• 25:14
  his life. That man was gradually brought
• 25:17
  from one place of authority to the next.
• 25:19
  That wasn't true of Saul and Solomon.
• 25:24
  And so if that has any contribution to David's
• 25:28
  longevity and devotion to the Lord, then what a wonderful
• 25:32
  truth concerning how God works. He takes his time, He lets you
• 25:38
  suffer, He brings you through trials.
• 25:41
  He brings. It's a dangerous thing for
• 25:43
  somebody to receive something so great, so, so responsible, so
• 25:48
  large, without having the adequate preparation from God's
• 25:54
  school. So dangerous and so be patient,
• 25:59
  trust, wait, pray, seek the Lord.
• 26:02
  This is Peter's presumption. But then we come to Peter's
• 26:04
  problem. Look here in verse 33 says here,
• 26:10
  but turning in mark 833 but turning and seeing his
• 26:13
  disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me Satan.
• 26:17
  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but
• 26:20
  on the things of man. Look, the Lord has given many
• 26:22
  rebukes in his ministry, very hard rebukes.
• 26:25
  I mean he's given rebukes to the extent where if you heard
• 26:28
  somebody rebuking the way Jesus said you would, you would said
• 26:31
  it's not Christ. Like I wonder if some Christians
• 26:34
  would have said that to Christ if they heard him rebuke the way
• 26:36
  he rebuked whitewashed tombs. You serpents, Imagine going to
• 26:41
  church and hearing that. You serpents, you brew the
• 26:47
  Vipers, you hypocrites. Now that was primarily to the
• 26:51
  Pharisees, the religious leaders of his time.
• 26:54
  But he said that in some of his meetings, particularly to them.
• 26:58
  What about Herod and Luke 13? Go tell that fox.
• 27:02
  Wow, I don't think he was calling him cute.
• 27:07
  Go tell that fox. But at all the things that the
• 27:10
  Lord said in his righteous indignation, he's never called
• 27:15
  anybody Satan. People argue, did he say to
• 27:20
  Satan or did he say to Peter, Get behind me, Satan.
• 27:25
  The closest thing that Jesus has ever said anything like this was
• 27:29
  when he spoke to Satan himself and the wilderness in Matthew 4.
• 27:34
  What does he say? Be gone, Satan.
• 27:38
  And I think that connection is important.
• 27:40
  You know why? Because in Luke's account of the
• 27:41
  wilderness temptation after Satan failed to tempt Jesus to
• 27:45
  avoid the shame of the cross and to have the throne by worshiping
• 27:49
  him. It says there, and the devil
• 27:54
  left him until another opportune time.
• 28:01
  That was in the end of Satan's attempt to try to persuade Jesus
• 28:04
  away from the cross. I believe he found it here with
• 28:07
  Peter. What do I mean by that?
• 28:13
  But when Satan learned that by tempting Jesus directly, that
• 28:17
  failing, well, let me try it indirectly and try to tempt the
• 28:22
  Lord through one of the closest people to him.
• 28:28
  And Jesus discerned that. You know what this teaches me,
• 28:32
  teaches me how the enemy works. The enemy is able to use people,
• 28:38
  even the people who are very close to us, to persuade us away
• 28:43
  from the will of God. You won't hear Amens about this
• 28:48
  point, and I'm not trying to bring this point to you, to make
• 28:51
  you cynical, or to justify your isolation, or to live with
• 28:56
  relational anxiety. But it is a call to be very
• 29:00
  discerning about the Council, and the encouragement that you
• 29:03
  and I received from others especially highlight that,
• 29:07
  especially from those who are spiritually weak and immature.
• 29:14
  The reality is some people will speak into your life and they
• 29:17
  will speak into your life even with great sincerity, like
• 29:20
  Peter, but out of human wisdom, genuine affection, but misguided
• 29:26
  affection, fear, sometimes jealousy, and often shallow
• 29:35
  spirituality. Instead of relying on the mind
• 29:39
  and will of God by saturating and submitting to what God had
• 29:44
  revealed in his word, be very careful how you allow others in
• 29:48
  your life to shape your way of thinking.
• 29:53
  Be very careful. Peter was one of those kind of
• 29:59
  people who had a certain personality.
• 30:01
  He had a leadership kind of personality where he just could
• 30:05
  easily persuade people. He was able to to get them to go
• 30:10
  somewhere to agree with him. That was the kind of charisma
• 30:14
  that Peter had. Can I prove that to you?
• 30:17
  Actually, if you want to turn there, you can.
• 30:19
  I can just read it to you in John 21/3.
• 30:21
  This is after Jesus resurrected and the disciples were kind of
• 30:24
  at a standstill. They didn't know.
• 30:26
  Well, they did know, but they were very impatient concerning
• 30:28
  the next instructions that they were to receive from Christ.
• 30:30
  And so Peter decides to do something.
• 30:32
  In John 21. Three it says Simon.
• 30:34
  Peter said to them, he's speaking to his disciples, his
• 30:36
  friends, Simon Peters said to them, I am going fishing.
• 30:42
  I'm going fishing now People debate, is this Peter just, you
• 30:46
  know, doing something recreational, just trying to
• 30:48
  find something to kill the time? Or is this Peter going back to
• 30:50
  what Jesus called him out of? I agree with that.
• 30:53
  This is Peter going back to what Jesus called him out of and he
• 30:57
  says I'm going fishing. Did he say you're going fishing
• 31:02
  with me? No, he just said I'm going
• 31:03
  fishing. What happens?
• 31:05
  They set him. We will go with you.
• 31:09
  We'll go with you. They went out and got into the
• 31:13
  boat, but that night they caught nothing.
• 31:17
  There are people like that in Christians lives, and they're
• 31:21
  professing believers as well. But because they don't go to the
• 31:24
  meetings, you won't go to the meetings because they won't
• 31:31
  serve the Lord in a certain way, or serve the Lord at all.
• 31:34
  You won't serve the Lord when they begin to gossip and speak
• 31:38
  against the Church. It influences you.
• 31:43
  It influences the way you think, because there are certain people
• 31:47
  who have been gifted in a certain way to be very
• 31:49
  persuasive in their speech and their actions.
• 31:51
  So I want to say to you through this example, be very careful
• 31:56
  who speaks into your life. Do they walk with God?
• 32:02
  Do they fear God? Do they honor the word of God?
• 32:06
  Do they have a genuine relationship with the Lord?
• 32:11
  Peter was a follower of Christ to an extent, but Peter here, at
• 32:13
  a moment of weakness convinced others to join them where they
• 32:16
  should not have gone. Christ met them in His mercy,
• 32:18
  and that's what we rejoice in. But I've seen throughout the
• 32:22
  years people, wonderful followers of Christ, wonderful
• 32:25
  lovers of God. But when they get around even
• 32:28
  just one person, and that person does not have the maturity or
• 32:34
  the bandwidth to understand how their decisions and words can
• 32:38
  influence others, they change. They, they become different
• 32:44
  people. When that person is not in their
• 32:47
  lives, they're better. It's crazy.
• 32:53
  Satan understands that, that that's a strategy.
• 32:55
  And so he uses Peter here with all the things that he had in
• 32:59
  terms of gifting and ability and personality, and he tries to do
• 33:04
  that with Jesus foolishly. Now how does that happen?
• 33:09
  Is Jesus suggesting here that Satan was indwelt by Satan?
• 33:13
  You have some people on social media who would say yes, those
• 33:17
  who propose that you can be a follower of Jesus Christ and be
• 33:19
  possessed with the devil. If that is true, may I suggest
• 33:22
  one simple, one simple question that can dismiss that without
• 33:26
  any debate. If Peter was possessed with
• 33:29
  Satan himself, why didn't Jesus cast Satan out of him?
• 33:35
  I'm very concerned with this teaching that's going around
• 33:38
  because it's going to torment a lot of millennials.
• 33:40
  In Gen. Z especially, we're being told
• 33:42
  that they have a devil living inside of them, though they
• 33:44
  profess Christ and they use this as a proof text.
• 33:49
  No indication whatsoever that Satan was indwelling Peter, but
• 33:54
  he was influenced by Satan, and that is possible for Christians.
• 34:00
  It is possible for genuine followers of Christ to be
• 34:05
  unwittingly used by the evil 1, unknowingly being used by the
• 34:10
  enemy to hinder the work of God, while they're actually thinking
• 34:14
  that they're helping the work of God.
• 34:17
  Peter's doing this with right ambition, but right ambition
• 34:19
  isn't enough. Right motive isn't enough.
• 34:21
  It's whether it's true or not. And the enemy saw an open door
• 34:24
  and he utilized this to try to bring obstacles.
• 34:31
  You know what? It's not entirely wrong with
• 34:32
  hearing that I would be careful throwing around Satan's name and
• 34:35
  accusing people of Satanic activity.
• 34:38
  But at the same time, you've probably been through
• 34:41
  disappointing things in church life long enough and wondered,
• 34:45
  is is this the enemy doing this even among believers?
• 34:50
  It's very possible, yes, even among believers for there to be
• 34:55
  demonic infiltration. Very possible.
• 35:00
  And if that is true, then I got to ask the question, how is it?
• 35:03
  How is it that church members and professing believers open
• 35:06
  themselves up to this horrible possibility?
• 35:08
  And Jesus gives us the answer. In this very same rebuke, He
• 35:12
  gives us the answer he says, for you are not setting your mind on
• 35:14
  the things of God, but on the things of man.
• 35:18
  That's how Satan gets into the thinking of believers.
• 35:22
  The entryway for the enemy's influence in the lives of those
• 35:25
  who are followers of Christ is by how they think.
• 35:31
  When our convictions and our outlooks are not conformed and
• 35:35
  submitted to the Word of God, it leaves room for Satanic
• 35:40
  influence. But the more you and I allow
• 35:45
  God's Word to and His wisdom and His will to govern our thinking,
• 35:49
  our outlook, our convictions, our attitude, our decisions, our
• 35:54
  reactions, the more the word of God Shields us, the less room we
• 35:57
  give the enemy to direct our paths.
• 36:01
  And in Peter's case, his thoughts about the Messiah did
• 36:04
  not align with the word of God. It was selected by personal
• 36:08
  interpretation and preference. He did not like the idea of a
• 36:12
  suffering Messiah. He had already given up so much
• 36:14
  to follow Jesus. And now Jesus.
• 36:16
  You're talking about going to die.
• 36:19
  Not on my watch. Now you're going to conquer and
• 36:24
  we're going to, we're going to reign with you.
• 36:26
  Didn't they always talk about who was going to be the
• 36:28
  greatest? Didn't that reach a feverish
• 36:30
  pitch where you had James and John say, even using their
• 36:33
  mother, hey, who can we sit closest to you on your throne?
• 36:37
  This is what they were thinking about.
• 36:41
  And we see here that, yeah, Peter was right and identifying
• 36:44
  that Jesus was the Messiah, but he was wrong in applying and
• 36:47
  understanding how that played out.
• 36:49
  And the enemy loves to work with those who mix personal
• 36:52
  preference with truth, who will quote this verse but not that
• 37:00
  one, who love the parts of the Bible that justify what they
• 37:04
  want, but dismiss the others that might even condemn them for
• 37:07
  doing something that they're trying to justify.
• 37:12
  The enemy doesn't need us to totally deny the word of God.
• 37:15
  All he needs is you and I to misapply, and that would
• 37:18
  suffice. And if that's true, then we have
• 37:21
  to ask ourselves very carefully. Here's the question that we have
• 37:24
  to ask ourselves in light of this revelation.
• 37:26
  Do my thoughts not just about the Messiah.
• 37:28
  Do my thoughts about everything? Money, money, ministry helps to
• 37:40
  divide things. Marriage.
• 37:45
  Relationships. When you look at these things
• 37:48
  separately, ask yourself this question.
• 37:51
  Do these different compartments of my existence, my ideas about
• 37:55
  them, my hopes, my dreams, my convictions?
• 37:58
  Do they echo God's thoughts or do they sound different?
• 38:07
  How do I know we have God's thoughts?
• 38:12
  And that's what renewing your mind looks like.
• 38:13
  It's submitting your thoughts to the will of God and allowing the
• 38:17
  will of God to transform your mind so that you would not be
• 38:20
  conformed to this world, but you would know what the will of God
• 38:23
  is. And one of the glories and the
• 38:26
  benefits of that is Satan has very little to work with to get
• 38:29
  in there so that he can do more damage.
• 38:32
  He made Peter a spokesperson for himself because his thinking was
• 38:39
  not right. That's the open door.
• 38:42
  So this is Peter's foundational problem, and it can be the
• 38:46
  problem for us if we are not careful to allow God's word to
• 38:49
  be our ultimate authority and to live under that, and to allow it
• 38:53
  to shape your life. Not just quoted, not just teach
• 38:56
  it, not just preach it, but to allow it to actually influence
• 38:59
  you. That's when you are bulletproof
• 39:03
  from being a foothold to the evil one and being his
• 39:09
  ambassador unwittingly. That is Peter's problem.
• 39:13
  But notice something with his posture.
• 39:15
  What I mean by his posture is his attitude, his heart,
• 39:18
  disposition. At least here in response to
• 39:21
  this but turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and
• 39:25
  said, get behind me, Satan, for you're not setting your mind on
• 39:28
  the things of God, but on the things of man.
• 39:31
  Imagine receiving that kind of correction from Jesus publicly.
• 39:36
  Would it offend you? I mean Lord, you just told me I
• 39:40
  was blessed by the Father and now you're telling me Satan talk
• 39:44
  about spiritual high, spiritual low, but there's no such
• 39:50
  reaction from Peter. You get clear indication in the
• 39:55
  Bible that when Jesus said certain things, some people
• 39:58
  receive that correction and other people were outright
• 40:01
  offended. Who was often offended by the
• 40:03
  words of Jesus? The Pharisees often offended.
• 40:09
  When you look at Matthew 1512, that's one place where it's
• 40:12
  explicitly said that they were offended.
• 40:13
  The disciples knew the Pharisees were offended.
• 40:15
  Jesus just finished correcting their view about human
• 40:18
  tradition. And the disciples came to the
• 40:20
  Lord. And I said, Lord, do you not
• 40:21
  know that the Pharisees were offended by this?
• 40:26
  You know what Jesus does? Oh, no, really?
• 40:29
  OK, let me find because I'll let them be offended.
• 40:32
  They're blind guides. You know what that shows me?
• 40:37
  If I live in a fence, if I allow offense to take over, I will be
• 40:43
  limited in my spiritual transformation and growth.
• 40:46
  The Pharisees stayed the same for many reasons, But instead of
• 40:50
  receiving and hearing what Jesus had to say, no matter how strong
• 40:53
  the charge was, they chose to be offended rather than to be
• 40:56
  convicted and to humble themselves and to examine their
• 40:59
  hearts more carefully. Offense has a way of keeping you
• 41:04
  in the same place and leading you in the wrong place.
• 41:07
  Ultimately, Peter made a couple big blunders in his life as as a
• 41:14
  servant and follower of Jesus Christ.
• 41:18
  But Peter knew how to acknowledge his wrong and to
• 41:25
  repent, and the Lord used him teach abilities absolutely
• 41:30
  massive for the Lord's hand to be on our lives and for us to
• 41:34
  reflect and honor him the way he designed us to.
• 41:37
  There's so many examples of that in the Bible.
• 41:40
  One of my favorite examples about it, having a teachable
• 41:43
  spirit, is a man that we often don't talk about, and there's
• 41:48
  legitimacy for that. But Apollo's.
• 41:52
  I like this guy. Apollo's, you know who I'm
• 41:55
  talking about. Maybe you don't.
• 41:56
  So you have to see it because we have a biography about him and
• 41:59
  Acts 18. Look at Apollos in Acts 1824.
• 42:17
  Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to
• 42:22
  Ephesus. Now look at this description of
• 42:24
  this man. He was an eloquent man,
• 42:28
  competent in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the
• 42:32
  way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and
• 42:36
  taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew
• 42:40
  only the baptism of John. So think about this.
• 42:42
  He's eloquent, he's competent. One translation says that he
• 42:46
  mastered in a sense mighty in the scriptures and he was
• 42:52
  fervent in spirit. He wasn't a dull theologian.
• 42:54
  He wasn't a ice cold academic. No, He had some fire in him and
• 42:59
  so he was engaging. He was captivating, but it was
• 43:02
  also educational. He just had the whole package as
• 43:05
  a public speaker and he utilized it for the glory of God.
• 43:08
  He was limited and his understanding though, and that's
• 43:10
  being told for a reason. So this man is an Ephesus and he
• 43:14
  spoke right. Verse 26.
• 43:16
  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, boldly.
• 43:20
  But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside
• 43:24
  and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
• 43:28
  So in attendance on that synagogue service, there is this
• 43:32
  couple, Priscilla and Aquilla. They were friends of Paul.
• 43:36
  And this this couple here, something happens.
• 43:38
  They're they're hearing what this awesome speaker has to say.
• 43:41
  But they were perceiving that he didn't understand fully the
• 43:45
  mission and the purpose of Jesus Christ.
• 43:49
  I don't know who's doing that, but if the ushers or one of the
• 43:53
  deacons can help, Thank you. And so we see here that they're
• 43:59
  in attendance and they hear and and they look at each other
• 44:01
  perhaps saying, this guy's good, but I don't think he really gets
• 44:04
  at all. And So what do they do after the
• 44:08
  service? The pulse is there shaking
• 44:10
  people's hands. And Priscilla and the Quila say
• 44:13
  we were so, so, so encouraged by what you had to say.
• 44:16
  But are you willing to come over?
• 44:18
  We we want to. We want to share some things
• 44:20
  with you. Concerning Jesus of Nazareth.
• 44:24
  Here's Apollo's preacher, traveling minister Eloquent.
• 44:27
  He already has a reputation. You know what?
• 44:30
  These people were this couple. They were tent makers.
• 44:34
  They weren't priests. They weren't theologians.
• 44:37
  They were tent makers. And Apollo's was willing to give
• 44:42
  him an ear and sit in their house and hear what they had to
• 44:47
  say. And he received their
• 44:49
  instruction. Do you know the result of
• 44:55
  Apollo's humility here? It's found in verse 27.
• 44:58
  Look what happens. And when he wished to cross to
• 45:03
  Akeya, that's in Corinth, the brothers encouraged him and
• 45:08
  wrote to the disciples to welcome him.
• 45:11
  So Paulos had this desire to see his ministry expand.
• 45:14
  He wanted to go to this region and to preach Christ.
• 45:18
  And because he's here in Ephesus, you make the connection
• 45:22
  that he developed a relationship with these brethren.
• 45:25
  And he was able to receive a recommendation letter from these
• 45:28
  brethren to say, receive this man.
• 45:31
  Receive this man. He's a sincere brother.
• 45:33
  He's a dear brother. And he will be a blessing to you
• 45:39
  as a result of a policy. Humility.
• 45:41
  His ministry broadened. Humility will do that.
• 45:45
  It will open more doors. It will cause others to want to
• 45:47
  work with you. That's what teachability does.
• 45:52
  It makes you more attractive. It helps others.
• 45:55
  See, this is a team player. This is somebody who's not all
• 45:58
  about themselves. This is somebody who wants to
• 46:00
  work with others. And so teachability is necessary
• 46:03
  if there's going to be any possibility of expansion of your
• 46:06
  Ministry and mine. But not just that.
• 46:09
  Look what else happens here. When he arrived, he greatly
• 46:13
  helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully
• 46:18
  refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that
• 46:21
  the Christ was Jesus. He greatly helped those who were
• 46:26
  there. Why?
• 46:27
  Because he well, how did he greatly help?
• 46:29
  We'll follow the context. He was.
• 46:32
  He was further enlightened, he received greater understanding
• 46:36
  about Jesus, and he was able to take that to the next level.
• 46:40
  And others were blessed by it. So because Paulus was willing to
• 46:46
  grow, God could say now go. And because he was willing to
• 46:51
  submit to even these people who who had no credentials, they
• 46:56
  weren't fellow ministers, tent makers, he was able to
• 47:01
  powerfully refute the Jews because he was taught more
• 47:05
  accurately the ways of Jesus. This is so important to
• 47:10
  understand. This is so crucial to grasp.
• 47:14
  How do you and I respond when somebody reproaches you about
• 47:18
  something that you believe you have mastered?
• 47:23
  I've been doing this for 20 years.
• 47:28
  Are you defensive? Do you recoil?
• 47:34
  Do you turn tune out the person and just nod your head?
• 47:37
  Just wanted to get the conversation over with.
• 47:42
  Do you attack the person back in a veiled manner?
• 47:44
  By what? Offering them correction?
• 47:47
  They didn't come to ask for your correction.
• 47:48
  They came to offer you some suggestions.
• 47:50
  How did this turn around and become about them?
• 47:52
  But we do that. Oh, thanks for the correction.
• 47:55
  But you know what, brother? This and this and that about
• 47:56
  you. This is about you, sister.
• 47:59
  I noticed that as well. There's no need for that.
• 48:04
  Do I pretend to have accountability by surrounding
• 48:09
  myself with yes men who will always agree with what I have to
• 48:14
  say, but at the same time, I can justify with a false humility
• 48:20
  that I do have people that speak into my life.
• 48:23
  There's designated Yes man. That's not the same.
• 48:27
  Apollos was a man who was able to listen no matter who was the
• 48:29
  person giving the correction. He was a man who was willing to
• 48:33
  pause and give time and learn something.
• 48:35
  Also from Priscilla and Aquila. They didn't stand but stand up
• 48:38
  in the middle of the server and say, hey preacher, you did a
• 48:40
  good job, but you missed this, this and that.
• 48:43
  No. What are we told here?
• 48:44
  That they took him aside? I added there that just for the
• 48:47
  sake of presentation, that they took him aside privately to
• 48:49
  their home. Perhaps that was the case, but
• 48:50
  they took him aside and explained to him the way of God.
• 48:53
  More accurately, they made it a private matter.
• 48:56
  They didn't embarrass Apollo's, they didn't shame him.
• 48:59
  They're very wise in how they offered this kind of correction
• 49:02
  so we can learn both sides here. I love.
• 49:05
  I was looking at this and I thought, I want to know more
• 49:07
  about Apollo's. I want to know so much more
• 49:09
  about him. There's an interesting place
• 49:10
  about Apollo's at the end of First Corinthian 16, and I'll
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  end it here in First Corinthian 16 and verse 12.
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  Paul's writing to this church in Corinth and he he mentions
• 49:19
  Apollo's by name Now concerning in First Corinthians 1612.
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  Now concerning our brother Apollo's, I strongly urged him
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  to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all
• 49:34
  his will to come. Now He will come when he has
• 49:36
  opportunity. Why is Paul bringing up Apollos?
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  Because Apollos had a great role in playing and watering the seed
• 49:47
  of these Corinthian Christians, and so they had a strong
• 49:52
  relationship with Apollos. Apollos had discipleship
• 49:55
  relationship with many of these believers.
• 49:57
  And so he wants to comfort this church and let him know, hey, I
• 49:59
  asked Apollos if he's willing to come by the church, but he said
• 50:02
  not now, maybe at another time. And there's a lot of debate.
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  Why didn't Apollos want to go? It's not explicitly said.
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  You know what many people believe, though, Apollos was not
• 50:19
  too happy what was happening in the Corinthian church.
• 50:21
  There are many issues, but one of the primary issues was what
• 50:24
  you see in the introduction of this book.
• 50:27
  There were divisions in the church.
• 50:28
  You know what people were saying, hey, hey, we're the Paul
• 50:32
  guys. We follow Paul and this group
• 50:35
  over here saying no, we follow Cephas and another group over
• 50:38
  there saying we follow Apollos. What many believe is that
• 50:46
  Apollos and knowing about the factions that were caused with
• 50:49
  his name in it, was disgusted and he didn't want to fuel that.
• 50:56
  He didn't want to be captured by that.
• 50:58
  He didn't want to entertain that further, and perhaps even by his
• 51:03
  refusal to come at first is trying to communicate that he
• 51:06
  does not approve of what's happening.
• 51:09
  If that is true, because it's not explicit, then that just
• 51:13
  solidifies to us again the kind of heart posture This man, he
• 51:16
  was a man who didn't take advantage of the praise that he
• 51:20
  received. He wasn't a man who was all
• 51:21
  about himself. He wasn't a man who got caught
• 51:23
  up and what people were saying about him.
• 51:25
  He didn't want to set up a personality called.
• 51:27
  He shunned that. If that is the case, why he did
• 51:31
  not go? And that might be debated.
• 51:33
  But you know what's not debated? I love Paul in this verse.
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  Do you see what Paul is saying here?
• 51:39
  Hey, I urge. I strongly urge him to visit you
• 51:42
  with the other brothers. But it was not at all his will
• 51:44
  to come now. He will come when he has
• 51:46
  opportunity. Paul as a leader in the church
• 51:49
  never dictated or determined what other people should do
• 51:52
  forcefully. What a leader, what a leader.
• 51:58
  He understood that there in some areas are personal, subjective
• 52:01
  convictions and that the spirit leads us in different ways.
• 52:04
  So he didn't force himself. He didn't threaten the Apollo's.
• 52:07
  But even more than that, Paul was a man who was humble
• 52:11
  himself. In what sense?
• 52:14
  Think about it. He knew that the Corinthians
• 52:17
  really, really loved the Apollo's and he knew that there
• 52:21
  were even people in the church comparing him to Apollos and
• 52:26
  Cephas. There was kind of this
• 52:27
  competition going on and their names were involved.
• 52:31
  And yet this Paul was not intimidated by Apollos.
• 52:38
  He wasn't threatened by Apollos. Pauls was a very gifted man and
• 52:44
  Paul knew that Apollos would be a greater benefit to the church.
• 52:47
  As Apollos go go, they will benefit.
• 52:50
  Who knows how we strongly urge him.
• 52:51
  But if Paul was insecure, he wouldn't have made such a
• 52:54
  suggestion. I'll take care of this and
• 52:55
  Paul's. Thanks.
• 52:56
  Okay. I'll just do this myself.
• 52:57
  All right. Hopefully they'll like me, know
• 52:58
  more now if I come in here and fix some of these issues.
• 53:01
  So now we thought, you know, ministers think like that.
• 53:05
  People think like that in the church.
• 53:07
  They see their brother and sister as a threat to their
• 53:09
  gift, to their reputation. I've played this instrument my
• 53:13
  whole life. I've preached my whole life.
• 53:16
  I hold on to this pulpit. This is my pulpit.
• 53:20
  This is my ministry. I've been in the Sunday School
• 53:22
  for this long. I've done this for the that's
• 53:24
  not Christian, that's not, that's not what we see with
• 53:28
  these leaders. So you have Peter who is able to
• 53:31
  be called with a strong rebuke and receive it.
• 53:36
  You have Apollo's who is willing to listen to Priscilla and
• 53:39
  Aquila. You have Paul who understood
• 53:42
  that there are some people comparing him with other
• 53:45
  preachers and he still champion and advocated the other
• 53:47
  preachers because he saw their gifting and their ability says
• 53:50
  go, they will benefit from you. May God help us, May God help
• 53:55
  us, May God help us. Peter's presumption, Peter's
• 53:59
  problem, Peter's posture. Lord, we thank you for the word
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  of God. It can encourage and it can cut.
• 54:12
  But even when it cuts, even when it cuts, you want to heal us,
• 54:23
  You want to remove things from us.
• 54:29
  Thank you that your word says in Revelation 3 that those whom you
• 54:32
  love you rebuke. You loved Peter.
• 54:37
  Lord, you love Peter not only when you restored him at the
• 54:39
  beach. And John 21 you loved him even
• 54:41
  when you said, get behind me, Satan.
• 54:45
  Lord, give us wisdom to know how to relate to one another.
• 54:49
  Protect our hearts from pride when you use us in a certain
• 54:52
  way. Help us, O Lord, limit more than
• 54:57
  just limit completely. Be shielded by Satan's
• 55:03
  suggestions, by having every aspect of our lives submitted to
• 55:09
  the word of God, and teach us to serve you with each other, to
• 55:16
  love each other, to champion and praise you for one another.
• 55:19
  Help us see one another as members of the same body.
• 55:24
  You are our head. And so, Lord, today we say thank
• 55:28
  you again for this. Not just your blessings, not
• 55:31
  just your grace and mercy. We say as we've studied Peter's
• 55:34
  rebuke. Thank you for even your rebukes
• 55:36
  in our lives because you rebuke those whom you love.
• 55:41
  Now we worship you in Jesus name.
• 55:45
  Amen. Amen.
• 55:46
  Why don't we stand and worship the Lord together?