WEBVTT 00:00:02.690 --> 00:00:04.990 Hello, you're listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:05.129 --> 00:00:07.950 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:08.589 --> 00:00:11.029 This epiphany in Lent, we're back in the Gospels, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.189 specifically the Gospel of Mark. We are seeing 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:17.390 the revelation of God in Jesus. Mark is showing 00:00:17.390 --> 00:00:21.030 us the true King becomes a servant for us. He 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:23.769 says right at the heart, the Son of Man came 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:26.489 not to be served, but to serve and to give His 00:00:26.489 --> 00:00:30.519 life as a ransom for many. And Mark is nearly 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:33.539 always asking his audience, what do you make 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:38.700 of that? So, what do you make of this good news? 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.219 We'd love to meet you and we hope you'll consider 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:45.320 coming and joining with us each Sunday morning 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.399 at 10 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:50.119 You can find us online at SecondCityChurch .org 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.039 and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.240 you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Lord in heaven 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:58.979 we thank you for your word. We thank you for 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:04.280 this mark and We pray that we would listen we'd 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.719 be those who have years to hear Even next week 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:09.719 how your word goes out like see that's being 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:11.719 sown and sometimes it falls on different kinds 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:14.840 of soil We pray that we would be so that receives 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.420 the word and bears much fruit So speak to us 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:22.620 Lord. We are listening and we desire to be brought 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:25.480 more and more into the life of Christ His name 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:30.700 we pray Amen. All right. This is the first Sunday 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.959 in Lent, as has been mentioned. And so I might 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:38.260 give you a little bit of a history lesson, both 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:41.239 because it's interesting and because it will 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:45.400 lead into my sermon, OK? So Lent has a 40 -day 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:50.519 practice. didn't really spread into the known 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:52.920 Christian world until probably the early fourth 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.099 century. I'm actually going to get to why that 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:57.120 was at the end of my sermon. But it really didn't 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.159 develop until widely as a practice the 40 days 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:03.180 preceding Easter other than Sundays, until about 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:07.620 the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325. We 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:09.599 know that actually it wasn't something that was 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.120 sort of encouraged to the whole church more broadly 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.409 actually. until the late sixth century with Pope 00:02:15.409 --> 00:02:17.530 Gregory the first. And I know some of you are 00:02:17.530 --> 00:02:20.949 saying, aha, I knew it. The Roman Catholic practice 00:02:20.949 --> 00:02:22.949 of works, righteousness, these kinds of things. 00:02:23.349 --> 00:02:26.189 And I want to say, well, not exactly. There are 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:28.750 concerns we should have. Some of you know the 00:02:28.750 --> 00:02:31.930 great Puritan theologian in England, John Owen, 00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:33.669 writing in the seventh century. And he warned 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:37.210 people how even Good things that we do to seek 00:02:37.210 --> 00:02:39.430 to put to death sin can be those things that 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:42.189 we actually say, look at, look God, look what 00:02:42.189 --> 00:02:45.270 I did. And Jesus of course tells us that that's 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:47.069 the same temptation that we should always be 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:50.169 careful of in the Sermon on the Mount that we 00:02:50.169 --> 00:02:53.370 heard on Ash Wednesday if you were here. Anyway, 00:02:53.490 --> 00:02:55.189 that kind of approach certainly is not good, 00:02:55.210 --> 00:02:57.729 but what you have to understand is that from 00:02:57.729 --> 00:03:01.129 the earliest days, and many of you have heard 00:03:01.129 --> 00:03:03.689 me say this, Easter was really the great day 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:05.770 of Christian baptism. That does not mean that 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:07.530 there were not other days in which Christians 00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:11.150 were baptized. There were. But the practice of 00:03:11.150 --> 00:03:13.610 the early church was to primarily have baptisms 00:03:13.610 --> 00:03:19.849 on Easter. And fasting before baptisms was practiced, 00:03:19.849 --> 00:03:21.990 as far as we know, from the earliest Christians. 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:24.719 Fasting as a way of preparation. Are you going 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.659 to give yourself to the life of Jesus? So this 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:30.379 is kind of interesting. We know that the early 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:34.000 church father Irenaeus wrote about the practice 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.500 of fasting before Easter because he actually 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:42.020 taught how there was a debate going on about 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:46.259 when that started and actually to what extent 00:03:46.259 --> 00:03:49.789 you would fast before Easter. Here's an interesting 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:52.250 thing the debate at the time when Irenaeus was 00:03:52.250 --> 00:03:55.289 writing was not whether or not you fasted before 00:03:55.289 --> 00:03:58.150 Easter It was to help for how long you fasted 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:00.270 before Easter. And so he wrote in the letter 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:04.229 he wrote this Variations and observance did not 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:07.110 originate in our own day, but very much earlier 00:04:07.110 --> 00:04:13.610 in the time of our forefathers Anybody know what 00:04:13.610 --> 00:04:19.800 our own day for Irenaeus was Well, people think 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.839 he was born in the year 130, and he died in the 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:27.620 year 202. We do know that much. So our own day 00:04:27.620 --> 00:04:31.079 is mid -late second century for Irenaeus. So 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.680 when he talks about the forefathers, who's he 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:39.019 talking about? Well, we know Irenaeus was a disciple 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:42.579 of Polycarp, and we know Polycarp studied under 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:47.339 anybody? John, the Apostle John. So it is very 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:49.439 likely that when Irenaeus is talking about the 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.259 debate around how long you fast before Easter 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:55.720 did not originate with him in his day in the 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:57.879 mid -second century, he's telling the forefathers 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.560 he very likely could be meaning the Apostle John. 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:07.519 Pretty interesting. That also makes sense actually 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.259 of why we find the practice of fasting commanded 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:15.279 before baptism in the Didache. The Didache is 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:17.819 one of the earliest church documents that we 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:20.480 have. The Didache is also known, because this 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:23.079 is how it begins, as the Lord's teaching through 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:26.939 the twelve apostles to the nations. We don't 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:28.759 really know exactly when it was written, but 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.560 people think that it was written either as early 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:37.079 as AD 70, meaning before probably the Gospel 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:41.519 of John and the Book of Revelation, or possibly 00:05:41.769 --> 00:05:46.209 up to like AD 150. Either way, it's one of the 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:48.569 earliest documents we have of the life of the 00:05:48.569 --> 00:05:51.569 church. And the Didache says this regarding baptism. 00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:56.689 But before the baptism, let the baptizer fast, 00:05:57.209 --> 00:05:59.430 meaning the one who's doing the baptizing fast, 00:05:59.949 --> 00:06:01.990 and the baptized, the one who's being baptized, 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:07.480 and whoever else can. So as a community, Consider 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:09.800 what is taking place in baptism. This person 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:12.000 is giving their life to following Jesus, which 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.680 is say they're putting off an old way of being 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.740 repenting and turning and giving their life to 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:20.959 Jesus. And the Didache, again, one of the earliest 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.360 documents we have from the life of the church 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:24.639 says, the person doing the baptizing should fast, 00:06:25.019 --> 00:06:27.040 the person being baptized should fast, and the 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.800 whole community should if possible. And it says 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.600 specifically a fast of one or two days, which 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.939 goes along with Irenaeus saying, The amount of 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:42.819 time is not necessarily specified. Anyway, the 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:45.199 earliest church writings, these earliest church 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.759 writings encourage fasting before baptism and 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.699 specifically before Easter. And that developed, 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.480 and I'm gonna get to why this developed, to mirror 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.819 our Lord's own fasting in the temptation in the 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:02.500 wilderness of 40 days. Okay, why am I sharing 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:05.259 this to introduce to you this? incredibly long 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:10.579 passage from Mark. It's for this reason. There 00:07:10.579 --> 00:07:13.560 was a connection from the earliest life in the 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:18.879 church of giving up some level and for some period 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.379 of time of earthly comforts before being baptized 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:26.519 because you were to count the cost of following 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:33.680 Jesus. Is it worth it? Do you really believe 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.459 that to do the will of the Father and following 00:07:36.459 --> 00:07:41.319 Jesus is worth it? You were to ask yourself whether 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.519 or not you would follow Jesus to the end. Will 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:47.699 you give your life, all of your life, over to 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:52.079 Him? And as is often the case, will you give 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:55.439 your life, all of your life, over to Him? When 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.519 your friends mock you? When you might lose your 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.100 jobs? And frankly, when you might lose your life? 00:08:03.430 --> 00:08:07.930 When you have so much taken So we have this long 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:10.829 passage before us and I mean genuinely it almost 00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:12.810 feels like it's too long to give a sermon on 00:08:12.810 --> 00:08:15.810 and it's already 1056, right? Just think of it 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:21.930 as 956 and I have a lot longer Yeah, all right 00:08:21.930 --> 00:08:24.829 somebody's clapping I maybe that was to keep 00:08:24.829 --> 00:08:30.610 awake We have this long passage before us and 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.039 And so I want you to open up those Bibles, okay? 00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:34.679 Grab a few Bible in front of you. If you did 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:36.659 not, bring one. And don't do this with your phones 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:38.000 as much, because I do think you're not going 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.200 to be able to see some of the stuff that's going 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.539 on if you have it on your phones. I think there's 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:43.620 a great gift of the technology that we have in 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:45.179 having our Bibles on our phones. But we lose 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:47.159 something, I think, with being able to see things 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.220 and how they work together at times, okay? So 00:08:49.220 --> 00:08:53.980 please have your Bibles open. And let's just 00:08:53.980 --> 00:08:56.080 jump into the first paragraph there, okay? The 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.059 first paragraph begins in verse 7. And what we 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:02.700 see, it says, Jesus withdrew with his disciples 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:06.419 to the sea and a great crowd followed him. And 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:08.960 then it says specifically from Galilee and Judea. 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:10.899 So Galilee, think of Galilee as the northern 00:09:10.899 --> 00:09:13.340 part around the Sea of Galilee, right? Sea of 00:09:13.340 --> 00:09:16.220 Galilee kind of off to the west and to the northwest, 00:09:16.299 --> 00:09:18.460 that's Galilee. And then Judea is on the other 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:20.379 side of Samaria, right? Down near where Jerusalem 00:09:20.379 --> 00:09:22.620 is, it's a ways down south. And so you have the 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:24.279 immediate region, then you have a farther region 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:27.809 that's down in the south. And it says, and Jerusalem 00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:30.029 and Edomia. So Jerusalem's the main capital city 00:09:30.029 --> 00:09:32.570 that's been important to mention. The capital 00:09:32.570 --> 00:09:35.450 city of the history of Israel. And Edomia would 00:09:35.450 --> 00:09:38.509 have been actually the region across from the 00:09:38.509 --> 00:09:41.990 Dead Sea from Jerusalem, more or less. It was 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:44.710 the whole region. Sort of think of Judea on the 00:09:44.710 --> 00:09:47.330 western side of the Dead Sea, Edomia on the eastern 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:50.440 side of the Dead Sea, okay? And then it says, 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:53.360 and from beyond the Jordan, that's the Transjordan, 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:57.000 that's like the region across largely from the 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.200 Jordan River going from the Sea of Galilee down 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:05.139 to the Dead Sea, that region over there. And 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:08.879 then it says, and from around Tyre and Sidon. 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:12.019 Tyre and Sidon are sort of all the way on the 00:10:12.019 --> 00:10:14.580 west coast and then the northwest coast from. 00:10:15.560 --> 00:10:18.019 Gali, the region of Gali, which is to say, in 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.200 some ways, what he's doing is he's saying from 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:25.240 all over the place, all of the sort of, what 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:28.279 am I thinking of? Orientations of the compass. 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:30.639 But here's what's even more important, actually, 00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:33.299 for you to understand. He is describing all of 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.919 the region of the 12 tribes of Israel, right? 00:10:36.980 --> 00:10:38.519 Because a couple of the tribes were on the other 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.070 side of the Transjordan. I mean, he's describing 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:44.009 all the regions of the 12 tribes of Israel in 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:50.490 this description here. Okay, so there's such 00:10:50.490 --> 00:10:53.049 a large crowd around Jesus here that Jesus tells 00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:54.789 the disciples to get in the boat because they 00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:57.110 might be crushed. All these people are coming 00:10:57.110 --> 00:11:00.549 to him. And why are they doing this? Because 00:11:00.549 --> 00:11:03.610 he had healed many. He'd done great miraculous 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:06.070 things. He had done what nobody else had possibly 00:11:06.070 --> 00:11:08.389 ever done and people would hurt and of course 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:10.990 if you heard that somebody was you know healing 00:11:10.990 --> 00:11:12.950 somebody especially before any kind of modern 00:11:12.950 --> 00:11:14.509 medicine you would have you would have done all 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:17.169 you could to go and to see that person and actually 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:20.009 it says Specifically even that they might touch 00:11:20.009 --> 00:11:23.830 him right verse 10 Yeah, they so that he so that 00:11:23.830 --> 00:11:27.230 all who had diseases pressed around him to touch 00:11:27.230 --> 00:11:32.870 him Which is to say they wanted his power I could 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:36.190 just touch right they wanted to get something 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:39.850 from Jesus. They wanted something out of him 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:47.070 Listen, okay 45 % of high school students say 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:52.110 they are persistently hopeless and despondent 00:11:52.110 --> 00:11:58.350 45 % of high school students That is a sobering 00:11:58.350 --> 00:12:06.330 statistic Since the year 2000, the number of 00:12:06.330 --> 00:12:13.110 Americans without one close personal friend has 00:12:13.110 --> 00:12:18.730 gone up four times. It's gone up four times without 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:22.889 one close personal friend. Let me hit noses. 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:27.669 Since the year 2000, the same year, the number 00:12:27.669 --> 00:12:31.710 of Americans who say they are in the lowest category 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:40.309 of happiness has increased 50%. Those are just 00:12:40.309 --> 00:12:45.570 deeply sad statistics. Interestingly, maybe some 00:12:45.570 --> 00:12:48.269 of you know this, but in 2019 the Pew Research 00:12:48.269 --> 00:12:51.529 Center did a large, large study looking at eight 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:55.120 different indicators of happiness. specifically 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.360 was asking the question does religious practice 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:02.620 and belonging to a religious community influence 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:07.279 these eight indicators of happiness and You probably 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.840 heard it's kind of you know news at the time 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.840 and maybe you still know this That they asked 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.600 are they are these indicators negatively affected 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.080 positively affected or neutrally affected by 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.419 religious adherence All of them were positively 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:26.889 affected. Oh Right. It was just overwhelmingly 00:13:26.889 --> 00:13:29.769 positive. People are more likely to have friends. 00:13:29.850 --> 00:13:32.409 They are more likely to live healthier lives. 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:35.309 They are more likely to be generous with their 00:13:35.309 --> 00:13:38.350 time and with their money. All these things that 00:13:38.350 --> 00:13:41.889 actually promote happiness and a better life. 00:13:42.490 --> 00:13:45.450 It's actually kind of amazing. I'll say this. 00:13:45.549 --> 00:13:51.769 In fact, if you're not a Christian, I would strongly 00:13:51.769 --> 00:13:55.409 consider you just go to church. I mean, like, 00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:57.210 even if you think it's all a joke, like, you're 00:13:57.210 --> 00:13:59.289 likely to live longer, you're likely to have 00:13:59.289 --> 00:14:01.029 better friendships, you are actually likely to 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:04.350 be happier. Okay. It's a weird kind of apologetic 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:07.009 for sort of Christian practice, but, you know, 00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:12.029 just try it on. And that's kind of what is happening 00:14:12.029 --> 00:14:14.870 here, right? That just like, hey, maybe I can 00:14:14.870 --> 00:14:17.809 get something out of this dude. Let's all go 00:14:17.809 --> 00:14:20.299 check him out. Let's go see what's happening. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:25.019 He'll heal me if I just touch him. I have to 00:14:25.019 --> 00:14:28.500 fall down and worship him. I have to give my 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:32.600 life over to him. Why doesn't he touch me? They're 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.220 going to Jesus because of what he can give them. 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:41.100 But an interesting thing happens in this. It 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:43.840 seems as though Mark makes this big shift actually 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.980 in this story. Near the end I want to seriously 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.700 hope hopefully show you how all these sections 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:53.299 here tie together. But what happens is that Jesus 00:14:53.299 --> 00:14:55.240 then moves from the sea and he goes up to the 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:56.460 mountain, and of course there's a lot of people 00:14:56.460 --> 00:15:00.799 with him, but there he appoints his disciples, 00:15:01.299 --> 00:15:03.179 and all the people are listed there, right? The 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.679 sons of thunder and all the rest are listed there. 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:08.500 But there's a phrase that he mentions twice, 00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:12.659 and it's this, that he appoints the twelve. That's 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:18.100 mentioned in verses 14 and verse 16. And he appointed 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.259 12, beginning of 14, and then 16. He appointed 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:24.600 the 12. And why does Mark have to draw this out 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:26.519 for us? He says it twice. He's like, this is 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.559 part of the point of the whole thing. Well, to 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.360 a Jewish ear, that would have been absolutely 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:38.820 radical. You know, you better go up to the mountains. 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:42.679 Flee to northern Idaho, where no one will know 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:45.399 what kind of craziness is happening. You know? 00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:50.610 The point of the 12 for a Jewish audience would 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:53.730 have been like saying all of Israel all of this 00:15:53.730 --> 00:15:55.850 life where all of these tribes lived and that 00:15:55.850 --> 00:15:59.669 have been so desperate all of their life together 00:15:59.669 --> 00:16:04.429 is being reformulated around me I Mean Jesus 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:08.450 doing something in naming these 12 and mark is 00:16:08.450 --> 00:16:12.129 highlighting for it for us for this to this to 00:16:12.129 --> 00:16:15.960 us by mentioning it twice by saying He's saying 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:18.700 all of your sort of political endeavors all your 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:21.259 social endeavors all your economic life all of 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:26.419 your life It's now under me Now this is interesting 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:29.159 actually I literally I just I just learned this 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:31.659 So there's a group of us, you know, and I would 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:32.980 encourage you to maybe jump in you don't have 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:34.419 to jump in at the beginning But there's a group 00:16:34.419 --> 00:16:36.139 of us who are trying to read the Bible through 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:38.100 together over the course of two years We're getting 00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:40.240 together for a monthly breakfast. So some of 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:43.580 us did this yesterday And Will had a great question 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:45.620 when we were talking about Genesis about some 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:47.279 of the genealogies. And so I was reading a little 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.820 bit about some of the genealogies, and he and 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:50.379 I were talking yesterday before the breakfast 00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:54.740 with others. And it's really interesting. What 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:57.679 I learned was that actually for quite a few of 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:02.220 the major figures in the book of Genesis, 12 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:05.880 of their descendants are listed afterwards. Okay, 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:08.299 so this is the case, not just for Israel. Of 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:10.960 course, Jacob is renamed Israel because he read 00:17:11.109 --> 00:17:13.789 wrestles with God, which is how we get the name 00:17:13.789 --> 00:17:16.230 Israel for the tribes of Israel, the 12 sons 00:17:16.230 --> 00:17:22.710 of Israel. But this is also the case for Esau, 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:27.309 for Nahor, and for Ishmael. And what's happening 00:17:27.309 --> 00:17:29.410 is that 12 at least appears to have been sort 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:32.269 of a cultural thing. There's 12 descendants and 00:17:32.269 --> 00:17:34.490 that would have been the people of that kind 00:17:34.490 --> 00:17:37.859 of main leader. and their descendants would have 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.400 fallen under that main leader. This is what Jesus 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:44.440 is grabbing onto. All of your life is reordered 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:48.859 now around me. It would have been a massive statement 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:53.319 to make in the community in which he found himself. 00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:56.920 Everyone would have understood this. Many would 00:17:56.920 --> 00:17:59.200 have known that the prophecies of the Old Testament 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:04.240 said that when God acted definitively, Israel 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.549 would be reunified. How many of you have heard 00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:10.450 of the prophecy of the Valley of the Dry Bones 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:13.630 being brought back to life? I bet a lot of you 00:18:13.630 --> 00:18:15.869 have heard that story. Maybe you've heard of 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:18.710 when the Holy Spirit would descend and be given, 00:18:19.509 --> 00:18:22.630 right? Talk about Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37. 00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:26.190 Well, the second half of Ezekiel 37 is saying, 00:18:26.529 --> 00:18:29.569 when this happens, when God works to bring new 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:33.009 life to the dead, when the Holy Spirit comes, 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.980 There's this image that Rebecca Redforce that 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:40.519 probably was lost on us These two sticks being 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:43.559 brought together what that the 12 tribes will 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.200 be reunified. That's what that image is talking 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:51.039 about and She was saying I am doing it and it 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:55.259 demands all of your life All of your life is 00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:57.720 to be given over to this new reality of what 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.099 God is doing this new community formed around 00:19:00.099 --> 00:19:09.259 Christ Now there's a big difference between coming 00:19:09.259 --> 00:19:11.779 to Jesus and just wanting to be healed of your 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:13.799 diseases and just being willing to come out and 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:15.680 kind of touch him and see if he gets some power 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:20.759 and Jesus saying no all of your life is now under 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:24.220 me I'm creating a new community that touches 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:28.140 on every aspect of your being and it is under 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:36.359 my Lordship my kingship and What do you do with 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:39.819 that? I mean, some of us want to go into Jesus 00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:41.819 and say, can you just give me some stuff? And 00:19:41.819 --> 00:19:43.660 Jesus says, you better give me all of your life. 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:50.619 What do we do with that? There's a few responses, 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:52.460 okay? There's a few responses that we can have 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:54.579 from that. And there's a few responses here in 00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:57.319 this text. Let me walk through some of them, 00:19:57.380 --> 00:20:01.559 okay? So keeping your Bible open. First, the 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:06.640 first response to this is, You're crazy. He's 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.680 crazy. Right, right? This is literally the next 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:11.960 thing, okay? So verse 20, when he went home and 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.019 the crowd gathered again so they could not even 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.180 eat, when his family heard it, they went out 00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:20.000 to seize him for they were saying, he's out of 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.180 his mind. Right, so there's this response to 00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:28.160 what Jesus is doing that comes immediately after 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.380 the appointing of the Twelve that is first. You're 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:34.750 crazy. This is crazy. He's out of his mind. Maybe 00:20:34.750 --> 00:20:38.089 this is going too far, Jesus. Maybe what you're 00:20:38.089 --> 00:20:41.750 inviting us into is too much. And of course, 00:20:41.750 --> 00:20:44.730 this is really wild because we have, of course, 00:20:44.930 --> 00:20:46.630 very, very good reason to believe that in the 00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:50.109 context of Mark chapter three, his family means 00:20:50.109 --> 00:20:52.349 his mother and his brother and his sisters, right? 00:20:52.890 --> 00:20:54.210 Or at least his mother and his brothers, because 00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:55.730 that's who's mentioned later on at the end of 00:20:55.730 --> 00:21:00.809 the chapter. Which is to say, Mary even is there. 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:03.940 Who we know at the birth of Jesus was highly 00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:08.460 favored Whom all generations were to be called 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:12.259 blessed We also know that she follows Jesus to 00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:16.779 the end right at the cross here But it is saying 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:19.799 Jesus. Maybe you've gone too far Maybe you're 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:26.160 asking too much his family together says He's 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.880 out of his mind And that's a real response that, 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.240 of course, people have when you hear Jesus say, 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.259 hey, I'm ordering all things. This whole life 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:40.619 is now ordered around me. All of your life is 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:43.559 to be given over to Christ. And sometimes we 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:47.359 go, that's a little too much. You're a little 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:53.759 crazier. Okay, the second response is this. He's 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:58.009 a demon, okay? So verse 22, look with me down 00:21:58.009 --> 00:22:00.410 there. The scribes who came from Jerusalem were 00:22:00.410 --> 00:22:06.490 saying, he is possessed by Beelzebul and by the 00:22:06.490 --> 00:22:11.289 prince of demons. He casts out the demons. He's 00:22:11.289 --> 00:22:15.089 demonic. Now of course we've already seen the 00:22:15.089 --> 00:22:18.509 last number of weeks that the scribes and Pharisees 00:22:18.509 --> 00:22:21.369 were in opposition to Jesus, right? They weren't 00:22:21.369 --> 00:22:25.599 in favor of him. But what I also do want you 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.400 to see is that this is kind of a real response 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:33.539 even today still, right? He's demonic. He's gone 00:22:33.539 --> 00:22:38.920 too far in what he's demanding and this whole 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:42.920 reordering life around himself. So there's many 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:46.640 religious folk and even many folk who claim the 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.799 Christian religion who look at Jesus even today 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:56.410 and they'll say, I like Jesus, but you can't 00:22:56.410 --> 00:23:00.470 ask me to do that, right? I'll give you Sunday 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:03.910 morning, but don't ask me to allow my Christian 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:08.650 faith to touch my work life. Don't demand that 00:23:08.650 --> 00:23:11.009 I kind of go to you and say, here are my kids 00:23:11.009 --> 00:23:12.970 and I don't know how to parent them, so I'm gonna 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:14.349 actually study the scriptures and say, what does 00:23:14.349 --> 00:23:18.230 it look like to follow Jesus here? I'll give 00:23:18.230 --> 00:23:22.089 you this much Jesus, but don't. This part's mine. 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:25.549 These religious leaders, the scribes here from 00:23:25.549 --> 00:23:28.630 Jerusalem, actually say when Jesus says this 00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:31.730 much, you've got to say, no way, you're not of 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:38.049 God. He's gone too far. Let's give our religious 00:23:38.049 --> 00:23:42.130 explanations. He has the demon. They categorize 00:23:42.130 --> 00:23:46.450 them in religious ways. So of course, Jesus again 00:23:46.450 --> 00:23:48.490 says, hey, that doesn't work. Houses that are 00:23:48.490 --> 00:23:50.900 against themselves, they don't stand. Houses 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.519 that are divided don't last he says if I'm casting 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.039 out a demon Why would I have one which has already 00:23:56.039 --> 00:23:58.220 been his practice and mark right saying this 00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:02.740 doesn't this doesn't work this way Anyway what 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:05.500 I think a significant part of Mark's point here 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:08.460 and putting this right here is that there can 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:12.740 be Real responses to Jesus that are a rejection 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:15.420 of what he or what he is doing that are religiously 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:19.339 orient Right. You can be a religious person Still 00:24:19.339 --> 00:24:23.720 say I don't want to follow Jesus there The third 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.980 response that we have here is I'll just say hardened 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:29.619 hearts Okay, so look with me down at verses 28 00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:33.900 and 29. I'll read that again for us Truly I say 00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:37.200 to you all sins will be forgiven the children 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.839 of man and whatever blasphemies they utter But 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.220 whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:49.079 has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin. 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:54.640 Maybe you've asked this question. I've been asked 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:57.940 it quite a bit. What is the unforgivable sin? 00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:03.079 And I've heard it said, and I think this is probably 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:05.000 true, that if you're wondering, you have a soft 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.640 heart to receiving the answer, then you haven't 00:25:07.640 --> 00:25:11.259 committed it. So don't be overcome with worry 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:15.400 about that. But it's a good question. What is 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:20.109 it? You know, does God tend to not like all sin? 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:23.450 But man, if you do this one, you're gonna really 00:25:23.450 --> 00:25:28.109 get his ire. Is there one sin that if you just 00:25:28.109 --> 00:25:35.970 happen to do it, forget it? Well, first, what 00:25:35.970 --> 00:25:38.970 did Jesus literally just say, right? This is 00:25:38.970 --> 00:25:41.589 what he says, all sin will be forgiven the children 00:25:41.589 --> 00:25:48.099 of man. And whatever blasphemes they utter. There 00:25:48.099 --> 00:25:52.480 is just an unbelievable grace. Right? That's 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.299 the first thing that's going on. So much grace. 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:57.880 But he does give this warning, so what is it? 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.700 I think the best explanation, and I also think 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:04.680 why this is right here in the context of Mark 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:11.559 chapter 3, right after he was being called the 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.589 Prince of Demons, Is that once you have labeled 00:26:15.589 --> 00:26:18.410 the Holy Spirit's work, the work of the devil, 00:26:18.450 --> 00:26:24.529 it's hard to go back on that. There's a context 00:26:24.529 --> 00:26:26.630 for Jesus saying this right here. It's this context 00:26:26.630 --> 00:26:30.769 of saying you are working for the Prince of Demons. 00:26:31.170 --> 00:26:33.329 Once you start labeling the work of the Holy 00:26:33.329 --> 00:26:35.690 Spirit as the work of the devil, it's hard to 00:26:35.690 --> 00:26:40.829 go back. Which is to say there is this willful, 00:26:40.950 --> 00:26:45.359 obstinate rejection of how God has revealed himself. 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:49.180 And that is a hard, hard, hardedness towards 00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:53.759 the end. N .T. Wright, in his commentary, suggests 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.839 that we should think of this actually like conspiracy 00:26:56.839 --> 00:27:01.160 theories. Way of kind of us getting this, okay? 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.759 Which is that you can have all of the evidence 00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:09.400 presented to you that goes against your theory. 00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:13.690 And still you will think that all evidence is 00:27:13.690 --> 00:27:16.529 simply confirming what you already believe All 00:27:16.529 --> 00:27:18.509 this evidence that is going against what you 00:27:18.509 --> 00:27:21.589 think and you're all like, yep It's I still entirely 00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:23.890 in belief and I think all of what you're saying 00:27:23.890 --> 00:27:29.029 is crazy Think about like this you can see all 00:27:29.029 --> 00:27:32.890 of the images of around earth and You can still 00:27:32.890 --> 00:27:35.569 believe that all of the nations of the world 00:27:35.569 --> 00:27:38.519 that sent people out into outer space that at 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:40.819 the time, by the way, during the Cold War were 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:43.059 threatening nuclear warfare against one another, 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:46.480 were somehow in cahoots because they didn't want 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.640 you to know that the world is actually flat. 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:53.559 You believe them, right? Somehow all these nations 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.700 of the world were working together some conspiracy. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:02.180 Or it's more like this kind of conspiracy theory 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:06.200 that you have decided firmly that the doctor 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:10.660 who is offering to perform a life -saving operation 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:16.000 on you is in fact a sadistic murderer. And there 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.779 is no way you are ever going to consent to allowing 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:23.740 him to do the operation. That's actually the 00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:25.960 analogy that works with what Jesus is doing here. 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:28.619 He is offering you life and you say there's no 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:32.140 way you are of the devil. And Jesus says if you 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:35.609 approach God that way, With that level of hard 00:28:35.609 --> 00:28:39.910 -heartedness. There is simply no hope It is an 00:28:39.910 --> 00:28:44.769 affront against the Holy Spirit's work Now my 00:28:44.769 --> 00:28:48.190 point is that there is a response to Jesus that 00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:51.829 is a hard -hearted response But there's a there's 00:28:51.829 --> 00:28:53.529 a way of going to Jesus and saying I know this 00:28:53.529 --> 00:28:55.789 is what you demand you say hey I'm reordering 00:28:55.789 --> 00:28:59.130 all life around me and you say no way don't want 00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:03.329 anything to do with it don't want Hard -hearted 00:29:08.670 --> 00:29:12.650 Look what is said at the end of this passage, 00:29:13.089 --> 00:29:16.930 right? Verse 30, it says, this part ends, he 00:29:16.930 --> 00:29:21.470 has an unclean spirit. They double down on their 00:29:21.470 --> 00:29:25.130 belief. Begins with, he's got a demon, they double 00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:27.930 down at the end after he says this, unclean spirit. 00:29:29.470 --> 00:29:32.900 Okay, but here's the thing, this actually, This 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:35.440 is part of why I think all these texts are working 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.839 together, is that this is said again and again. 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:43.339 So if you go back actually earlier on, verse 00:29:43.339 --> 00:29:46.420 11, there's a response to Jesus, right? And whenever 00:29:46.420 --> 00:29:48.859 the unclean spirit saw him, they fell down before 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:52.779 him and cried, you're the son of God. But if 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:55.759 we go down, we actually see this kind of reaction 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:58.960 to Jesus repeated. We're constantly being put... 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:01.880 Mark is constantly giving us responses to Jesus. 00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:04.980 So you go down to verse 21, and when his family 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:06.680 heard it, they went out to see him, for they 00:30:06.680 --> 00:30:09.140 were saying, he's out of his mind. And then if 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:11.359 you go down a little bit farther, right, to verse 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:15.039 30, sorry, actually let's start with verse 22, 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.200 the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.740 saying, he's possessed by Beelzebul. If you go 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:21.980 down to verse 30, again, it says, then they were 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.480 saying, he has an unclean spirit. You see how 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:26.200 each of these are being tied together around 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:29.470 what do we do with this? What do we do with Jesus 00:30:29.470 --> 00:30:34.829 saying, all of life is under me? All of it is 00:30:34.829 --> 00:30:36.829 under me. And there's all these responses, and 00:30:36.829 --> 00:30:39.490 most of them are actually saying, we don't want 00:30:39.490 --> 00:30:48.470 you. And yet, and yet, Jesus does offer us another 00:30:48.470 --> 00:30:52.210 way. And because we're using the language of 00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:54.109 this text, I'll just say that the other way is 00:30:54.109 --> 00:30:59.460 doing the will of God. So verse 31. It says this 00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:01.880 and his mother and his brothers came and standing 00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:04.880 outside they sent to him and called him and a 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:06.579 crowd was standing around him and they said to 00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:08.500 him your mother and your brothers are outside 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:11.880 seeking you and he answered them who are my mother 00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:16.039 and my brothers and Looking about at those who 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:18.119 sat around him. He said here are my mother my 00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:21.240 brothers for whoever does the will of God He 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:26.019 is my brother and my sister and my mother There 00:31:26.019 --> 00:31:30.099 is another response to Jesus. There is another 00:31:30.099 --> 00:31:34.339 response to Jesus. Here it says the other response 00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:39.019 is doing the will of God. This is not works righteousness. 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:44.359 Just like a fast does not need to be works righteousness, 00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:47.740 though it can be construed that way. This is 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:53.960 saying yes. To Jesus being over all things. For 00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:58.299 everything. This is saying yes to Jesus saying 00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:02.980 I'm reordering it all around myself and all of 00:32:02.980 --> 00:32:06.579 your life will now be under me Saying yes to 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:13.220 the will of God Over the 12 tribes of Israel, 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.759 but again and again they are said to be the family 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:21.019 of God What is baptism but entrance in to the 00:32:21.019 --> 00:32:24.259 family of God to the life of the body of Christ 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:28.359 There is a response to God that is not thinking 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:32.599 he's crazy, that's not thinking he's of Satan, 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:37.720 that is not hard -heartedness. There's a response 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:41.619 to God that says, yes, I want to follow you. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:45.599 That my whole being, all of my life is yours. 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:50.980 All of my life belongs to you. And here's the 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:53.140 truth that we're learning in all this. There's 00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:58.500 just no middle way. with Jesus. No middle way 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:02.700 with following Jesus. He's either crazy or he's 00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:06.980 wildly wrong, so much that we've all been duped, 00:33:07.539 --> 00:33:11.720 or he's working for the devil, or he's the Lord. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:18.240 Lord of all. And there's times in our lives when 00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:25.980 we must make a decision. We hear, right, Jesus 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:28.940 reorder our lives around him. We go, I don't 00:33:28.940 --> 00:33:35.380 know, do I have to give you that? Decision. And 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:37.619 for many ways, many, you know, baptism is the 00:33:37.619 --> 00:33:40.440 life of entering into that. If it's a huge decision, 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:42.000 are you gonna do it? Are you gonna go all the 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:47.019 way with Christ? Today will you give all up to 00:33:47.019 --> 00:33:49.700 following Jesus, doing the will of your Father 00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:56.660 in heaven. So let me get back to the history 00:33:56.660 --> 00:33:59.420 of Lent and then I'll close, okay? Earlier this 00:33:59.420 --> 00:34:01.579 week, I mentioned to some of you how the development 00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:03.599 of Lent had to do with the early controversy 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:05.420 in the church. I actually got the name wrong. 00:34:06.059 --> 00:34:10.039 That controversy was called Novatianism. What 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:11.539 had happened is that there were a lot of people 00:34:11.539 --> 00:34:14.119 that were baptized and a part of the church in 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:17.860 the mid second century. And when the persecutions 00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:20.300 began under the Roman Emperor, Odysseus, they 00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:22.679 renounced the faith. You know, when push come 00:34:22.679 --> 00:34:25.679 to shove, When it meant their life might be taken 00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:27.400 from them, they said, I don't want anything to 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:31.519 do with this Jesus. And then what happened is 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:33.679 that once the persecution stopped, they were 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.639 like, you know what? I read that Pew Research 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:39.059 from 2019 in the future, and it said my life's 00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:41.099 gonna be better if I'm actually part of a church 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:43.000 community. I kinda wanna go back into that community 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:47.659 now. And a lot of people said, you can't do that. 00:34:48.059 --> 00:34:54.010 You can't take Jesus when you want. so there 00:34:54.010 --> 00:34:56.949 were some church leaders like Novation who was 00:34:56.949 --> 00:35:00.710 a church leader in North Africa and Tertullian 00:35:00.710 --> 00:35:02.650 many of you have probably heard of Tertullian 00:35:02.650 --> 00:35:04.210 he was the famous one that said the blood of 00:35:04.210 --> 00:35:07.429 the martyrs is the seed of the church who believed 00:35:07.429 --> 00:35:09.809 that once you renounce the faith in the midst 00:35:09.809 --> 00:35:11.670 of persecution you should not be allowed back 00:35:11.670 --> 00:35:14.289 into the life of church now there were others 00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:18.230 on the other side like the great Cyprian of Carthage 00:35:18.230 --> 00:35:20.949 or Ambrose of Milan who baptized st. Augustine 00:35:21.210 --> 00:35:23.590 And they believe that you should be allowed to 00:35:23.590 --> 00:35:25.170 be welcomed back into the life of the Church. 00:35:25.349 --> 00:35:28.570 But you must actually spend some time, like actually 00:35:28.570 --> 00:35:31.170 saying, are you going to give your life fully 00:35:31.170 --> 00:35:35.570 to Jesus? And that was happening, that controversy 00:35:35.570 --> 00:35:38.010 was happening in the second half, again after 00:35:38.010 --> 00:35:40.570 this persecution that began in the year 250 under 00:35:40.570 --> 00:35:44.730 Roman Emperor Odysseus. That was the controversy 00:35:44.730 --> 00:35:46.670 of the Church of the latter half of the third 00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:50.429 century. And it was into that, out of that controversy, 00:35:50.610 --> 00:35:52.349 that actually around the time of the Council 00:35:52.349 --> 00:35:55.530 of Nicaea, which happened in 325, that lent, 00:35:55.530 --> 00:35:59.690 as we think of it as a 40 -day question of whether 00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:01.789 or not we are going to follow Jesus, developed. 00:36:02.690 --> 00:36:06.130 So they took the pattern of Christ giving up 00:36:06.130 --> 00:36:10.610 the blessings of this world like bread in his 00:36:10.610 --> 00:36:13.030 temptation, and they said, let's do that as a 00:36:13.030 --> 00:36:15.369 community. Let's enter into this light and ask 00:36:15.369 --> 00:36:17.969 one another together, are we going to follow 00:36:17.969 --> 00:36:22.849 him to the end? And brothers and sisters, that 00:36:22.849 --> 00:36:27.210 is what Jesus is asking you this morning. Will 00:36:27.210 --> 00:36:32.090 you give your life to him entirely, completely? 00:36:36.849 --> 00:36:50.210 Will you? Lord, we are glad that we do not live 00:36:50.210 --> 00:36:52.610 in the time of the persecutions that happened 00:36:52.610 --> 00:36:57.590 in 250 and thereafter. But God, I pray that we 00:36:57.590 --> 00:37:01.610 would be those who hear the reality of what you 00:37:01.610 --> 00:37:04.849 were doing in Christ and long to do the will 00:37:04.849 --> 00:37:08.269 of God, the will of the Father, and follow Jesus 00:37:08.269 --> 00:37:11.969 to the end. Lead us in that, we ask, in His precious 00:37:11.969 --> 00:37:16.119 name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Second 00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:18.880 City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:20.920 encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate 00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:24.099 the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing 00:37:24.099 --> 00:37:26.760 to this podcast and joining us in person each 00:37:26.760 --> 00:37:29.619 Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at 00:37:29.619 --> 00:37:32.059 secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, Facebook, 00:37:32.300 --> 00:37:35.019 and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:35.340 bless.