WEBVTT 00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:07.820 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:29.339 concerning John, Yes, I say to you, and more 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:32.780 than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is 00:00:32.780 --> 00:00:36.479 written, Behold, I send my messenger before your 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.820 face, who will prepare your way before you. Assuredly, 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:43.479 I say to you, among those born of women, there's 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.700 not risen one greater than John the Baptist, 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.820 but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:52.859 is greater than he. And from the days of John 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:55.579 the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven 00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:58.920 suffers violence. And the violent take it by 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.219 force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:06.299 until John. And if you're willing to receive 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:11.420 it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:16.239 to hear, let him hear. Let's pray. Father, Lord, 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:18.200 would you give us ears to hear this morning. 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:21.599 Father, we pray for the blessing and the help 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:24.939 of your Holy Spirit. Open the truth of your word. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.519 May the truth penetrate into our hearts. God, 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.359 may you bring glory to your son through what 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:33.359 we hear this morning. We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:37.159 Amen. Here we are. It's hard to believe we're 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:40.599 in the middle of November. Actually, in two weeks, 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:45.239 the Advent season begins and we'll begin to celebrate 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.060 the birth of our Savior and Lord. We like that 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:51.560 time of year. I think all of us do. We think 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:54.439 of Jesus in that manger lying there meek and 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:59.200 mild. We love the angelic proclamation of peace 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:03.340 on earth and goodwill toward men. We love to 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:06.180 celebrate that light has come into our darkness 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:11.219 and joy has invaded our sadness. But if we're 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:13.180 not careful, and this is the danger here, we 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:16.280 can begin to sanitize the gospel narrative. In 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:18.439 fact, we can begin to sanitize the entire scriptures. 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:22.860 For example, The story of Jesus' birth is often 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:26.000 viewed more in terms of like a Norman Rockwell 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.060 painting or perhaps a Charles Dickens novel. 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:32.340 But the Bible presents the truth in much more 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:35.319 stark terms. It doesn't try to sugarcoat. It 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:38.719 doesn't try to whitewash or hide anything. Jesus' 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:42.000 birth, that same time when the angels are proclaiming 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:46.400 peace on earth and goodwill toward men, shortly 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.319 thereafter, his birth was followed by the murder, 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:52.439 of all the boys in Bethlehem from two years old 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:56.599 and under. So that angelic proclamation, which 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.819 we love, was then followed by the loud cries 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:03.639 and lamentation of mothers weeping over the senseless 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:06.139 murder of their children. That is scripture. 00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:09.500 The days in which Jesus lived were a very violent 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:12.400 time, but it's always been violent. In fact, 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:14.659 Jesus says in the text this morning, the kingdom 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:17.520 of heaven suffers violence and the violent take 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.189 it by force. With these words, what is Jesus 00:03:21.189 --> 00:03:24.330 doing? He's waking us up. He's using strong language 00:03:24.330 --> 00:03:27.650 to confront us with the reality that God works 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:31.050 in ways that we least expect and certainly under 00:03:31.050 --> 00:03:34.650 conditions that we would not expect. I mean, 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:36.550 think, for example, that we're speaking this 00:03:36.550 --> 00:03:39.330 morning of John the Baptist, the great prophet, 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:44.250 Jesus' very cousin. But he's sitting in a prison 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:47.090 cell waiting to have his head chopped off. That's 00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:49.960 scripture. And as John was sitting in that prison 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:53.000 cell, he began to question and wonder, is Jesus 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:54.979 really the Messiah? Because things aren't turning 00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:58.439 out exactly like I thought they would. He had 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.960 a preconceived notion. He sends two of his disciples 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:04.680 to Jesus and they ask him point blank, are you 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:06.479 the one who is to come or should we look for 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:10.840 another? But Jesus was not angry with John. He 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.360 was not upset with John at all. In fact, in our 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.069 text today, Jesus pays tribute to him. But there's 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:18.949 a whole lot more going on than just paying tribute. 00:04:19.170 --> 00:04:21.170 In fact, Jesus, now there's crowds surrounding 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:23.709 him as there normally were. Jesus is inviting 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:26.629 the crowds that had come to him to consider what 00:04:26.629 --> 00:04:30.689 God was doing in their midst. See, so many people 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:33.829 in Israel at that time, they missed the significance 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:36.930 of John's ministry because they expected God 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:41.079 to work in more predictable ways. That's why 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.279 Jesus asked the crowds, well, what did you go 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.220 out in the wilderness to see? I mean, they all 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:47.959 went out to John in that Galilean desert. What 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:49.959 did they expect to see out there? Were they looking 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:53.639 for the work of God? Or were they looking for 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.360 their preconceived notions of how God should 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:58.920 work? Because if you think about the ministry 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.699 of John the Baptist, it's surprising. It's surprising 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:04.839 that he was calling Israel to repent and be baptized. 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:08.220 Now what's surprising about that is there had 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:12.100 always been converts or proselytes from the Gentile 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:15.139 nations into Judaism, into the Jewish faith. 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:18.319 Well, how did these pagans, these Gentiles, show 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.480 their repentance? They were baptized as a sign 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:25.000 of cleansing and entrance into the Jewish community. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.899 For those Gentiles being baptized, that showed, 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.779 first of all, that they were cleansed from their 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:35.120 filth of sin, but it also showed that there was 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.540 an abandonment to their former way of life. They 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:40.199 were leaving it behind and they were beginning 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:43.319 again. So then John the Baptist comes on the 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.699 scene. And everyone's familiar with Jewish washings. 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:50.480 They're familiar with proselyte baptisms. But 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.519 John comes on the scene and he begins to preach 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:54.860 a message about repentance. He's calling people 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:58.120 to repent and to be baptized. Nothing shocking 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.259 there at all. But he wasn't talking to Gentiles. 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.740 He was talking, rather, preaching to Israel. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.959 looked at Israel, the Jewish people, and he said, 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:15.339 you need to repent. You need to be cleansed in 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:18.500 preparation for the arrival of the Messiah. Now 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:21.319 that's absolutely shocking. He was calling for 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.459 Israel, the covenant people, the chosen nation, 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.720 to get ready for their Messiah. So if you look 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.379 at John and his ministry, he stands as a bridge, 00:06:30.459 --> 00:06:33.360 standing at the close of the old covenant and 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:37.170 the inauguration of the new. And in the text 00:06:37.170 --> 00:06:38.970 today, as we're going to look at this, you and 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:40.810 I are confronted with some of the same questions. 00:06:41.889 --> 00:06:45.170 Are we blinded by our own preconceived notions 00:06:45.170 --> 00:06:49.230 or expectations? Or are we prepared to receive 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:51.930 God's ways even when they come in unexpected 00:06:51.930 --> 00:06:56.269 ways? God doesn't normally work the way we would 00:06:56.269 --> 00:06:59.389 expect him to work. And our Lord closes this 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:03.350 text with that familiar refrain, he who has ears 00:07:03.350 --> 00:07:07.180 to hear, let him hear. This is the call for us. 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:12.339 Listen up. Don't miss what God is doing. So we 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:15.040 do well to open our ears this morning. Now let's 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.060 look at verses 7 through 9 again. I just read 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.240 them. I don't want to take the time to read them 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:22.160 again. But suffice it to say, great crowds following 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.259 Jesus. And you remember those two disciples that 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:27.459 John sent, they were there in the midst of the 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:29.899 great crowd. So the crowds would have overheard 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.839 their question. That question that John sent 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:34.779 them to ask. Are you the one who is to come, 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:37.779 or should we look for another? And I imagine 00:07:37.779 --> 00:07:39.420 that the people, these crowds, because they're 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:41.660 still enamored by Jesus, they were wondering, 00:07:41.779 --> 00:07:46.120 had John lost his way? Had he fallen away? Was 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:49.240 he so beaten down by his imprisonment that he 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:51.519 was now reneging on what he had earlier proclaimed 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.060 about Jesus? Because keep in mind... earlier, 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:58.500 John had emphatically and triumphantly declared 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:01.779 Jesus to be the Lamb of God, which takes away 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:04.180 the sin of the world, and he emphatically declared 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.920 him to be the Christ of God. And the crowds knew 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.379 that. That was John. He had told everyone about 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:14.339 Jesus. And now he's wondering if he's the one 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:18.500 to come? What's happened? Had this stint in prison 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:21.720 caused him to change his mind? And if so, what 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.600 did Jesus now think of John? Well, we can see 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.560 Jesus very clearly let them know what he thought 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.439 of John. But before he did so, he asked the crowd 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.879 a few questions. Because they had also gone out 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.059 to John. Many of them probably had been baptized 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:39.740 by John. What did you go out in the wilderness 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:44.179 to see? Just a reed shaken by the wind? See, 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:48.190 before Jesus, John had been wildly popular. He 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:50.830 had also garnered large crowds that had come 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:53.210 to him, not just in Galilee, but from all over 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:56.730 Israel, from Judea, Jerusalem, Galilee. People 00:08:56.730 --> 00:08:59.169 from all over the nation were flocking to John 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:02.330 out in the desert. Now the King James, the New 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:04.929 King James says wilderness, but it's a desert 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:07.610 wilderness. And he's baptizing people there. 00:09:08.309 --> 00:09:10.909 But what drew such large crowds? Jesus said, 00:09:10.970 --> 00:09:13.669 did you go out there to see a reed shaken by 00:09:13.669 --> 00:09:16.629 the wind? Reed grass was very common in that 00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:19.409 area around the Jordan River where John was baptizing. 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:22.889 Rabbis would often use reed grass as a metaphor 00:09:22.889 --> 00:09:26.009 for preachers or speakers who simply told the 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:29.230 crowds what they wanted to hear. So Jesus is 00:09:29.230 --> 00:09:31.690 asking the crowds, do you think John was just 00:09:31.690 --> 00:09:34.289 another man who tailored his message to make 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:37.350 it more palatable to the crowds? We think of 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:39.970 this with politicians. Rarely do you get a frank, 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:41.710 direct answer. They are always speaking out of 00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:44.059 both sides of their mouth. Is that what you expected 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:48.779 of John? Absolutely not. John, John the Baptist, 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.500 he's a man of uncompromising integrity. In fact, 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:53.519 he was in prison because he would not soften 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.580 his message. He spoke truth to power. He spoke 00:09:56.580 --> 00:09:58.779 truth to Herod Antipas. That's why he was sitting 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.940 in a prison in the first place. Jesus continues, 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:03.639 well, what did you go out to see then? A man 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.840 clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.360 soft clothing are found in king's houses. He 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:12.159 says, let me ask you this question. Did you go 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.419 out to the desert wilderness to see a sophisticated, 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:19.539 refined dignitary? A man in royal apparel? That's 00:10:19.539 --> 00:10:22.200 soft clothing there. He said, if that's the reason 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:23.899 you went, you went to the wrong place to see 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:26.320 the wrong man, because John the Baptist was known 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.360 for his ruggedness. His asceticism was widely 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:32.899 known. Do you remember how John was dressed? 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:36.159 John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.120 belt around his waist. And what did John eat? 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:42.419 He didn't eat king's food. He ate wild locusts 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:45.279 and honey. That was his diet. And what about 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.779 his message? John was not known for exactly soft 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:51.360 peddling the truth. He was a bold, fiery preacher. 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.379 So John the Baptist was not some upper crust, 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:57.799 soft dignitary, nor was he a yes man for the 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.919 king. So Jesus then asked a third question. Well, 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:02.580 what, did you go out to see a prophet? Is that 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.600 what you went out there to see? He says, I say 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:08.559 to you, yes, he was a prophet. but more than 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:10.820 a prophet. In fact, this is the one that was 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:13.720 prophesied that he would go and be the messenger 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:16.620 before the Messiah. So now the people consider 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:20.940 John a great prophet. The Lord Jesus agreed with 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:24.860 their assessment. Absolutely. John is a prophet 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:28.000 sent from God with a message from God, but he 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.419 said there's more than a prophet in John. In 00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:34.200 fact, he served a unique role in redemptive history. 00:11:35.079 --> 00:11:38.000 John the Baptist was personally chosen by God 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.139 as the one who would introduce his son, the Messiah, 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.840 to Israel. Now Jesus quoted Malachi here, Malachi 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.960 3 .1. Behold, I send my messenger and he will 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:53.679 prepare the way before me. This is John. He's 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.960 the messenger. John is going to serve as a herald 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:02.019 to introduce the king to Israel. It's a pivotal 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:05.240 role in salvation history here. His ministry, 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.539 that of John the Baptist, it marked the end of 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.600 the old covenant as he introduced Jesus, the 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:13.480 one who would inaugurate the new covenant in 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:25.620 his blood. Verse 11, he says, Now friends, that's 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:29.580 an unbelievable statement. Was Jesus just using 00:12:29.580 --> 00:12:32.440 hyperbole here? Was Jesus really saying that 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:34.559 John the Baptist was greater than Abraham, the 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.799 father of Israel? Was he greater than Moses, 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:40.980 the great lawgiver? Was he greater than the Jacob, 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:43.320 the patriarch who had the 12 sons of Israel? 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.720 Was he greater than King David? Was he greater 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:51.419 than King Solomon? I mean, think of the history 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:54.539 of Israel. It is filled with names of illustrious 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:57.159 men who did great things. And Jesus, was he really 00:12:57.159 --> 00:12:59.580 saying that John the Baptist was greater than 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:04.899 any and all of them? Yes. That is exactly what 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:06.700 he said. He said, among those born of women, 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:11.059 that pretty much encompasses everyone. That's 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:13.580 every human being until the time of John the 00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:16.899 Baptist. He said, there's not one that was born 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:20.600 that is greater than he. That's a strong statement. 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.120 Why was John so great? We don't normally associate 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.480 such greatness with John the Baptist. Isaiah, 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.460 the great Christ preacher, yeah, we get that. 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:30.960 David, the great psalmist of Israel, we get that. 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:35.159 John the Baptist? Yeah, but his greatness did 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:37.820 not simply lie in his person, but in his position. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:40.720 His greatness was tied to the kingdom that he 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:45.240 was preaching of. What did John do? He's a forerunner, 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:47.779 right? So he came and he preached the arrival 00:13:47.779 --> 00:13:51.399 of the kingdom. That is a privilege that no other 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:54.320 prophet in the entire Old Testament ever had. 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:57.320 They weren't given that. John uniquely preached 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.799 the arrival of the kingdom. But there's something 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.059 even more surprising in Jesus' words. That's 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.279 pretty shocking. No one's greater than he, except, 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.500 Jesus said, anyone who's least in the kingdom 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:12.419 of God is greater than he. What? You're saying 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:14.360 that John is greater than anyone who had ever 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:16.919 lived up to that time. And now you're saying 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:19.220 the very one who's least in the kingdom of God 00:14:19.220 --> 00:14:23.600 is greater than John. What is going on here? 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.360 Well, Jesus is clearly contrasting two different 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:30.360 redemption errors. First of all, there's the 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.789 error of preparation. Proclaiming, all the prophets 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:35.990 proclaiming what is to come. Think of Isaiah. 00:14:36.049 --> 00:14:38.850 Isaiah 7, the virgin will conceive. Isaiah 9, 00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:40.789 his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, 00:14:40.789 --> 00:14:42.870 the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. That's Isaiah. 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:46.129 But he's proclaiming what is going to come. And 00:14:46.129 --> 00:14:49.110 the entire Old Testament's like that. But now 00:14:49.110 --> 00:14:53.450 you have the era of fulfillment. John and Jesus 00:14:53.450 --> 00:14:57.610 proclaiming what has come. And that's what the 00:14:57.610 --> 00:14:59.950 entire New Testament is going to be based upon. 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:03.519 And Jesus said the very least man or woman in 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:05.840 the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. How? 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:11.379 By privilege. Because he or she is in the kingdom, 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.039 actually in the kingdom, under the new covenant. 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:20.700 But John was the last in the old covenant. With 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:24.179 John, the entire Old Testament era came to an 00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:27.419 end. R .T. France, in his commentary, he says, 00:15:27.870 --> 00:15:30.029 The issue here is not John's personal salvation. 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:32.429 We're not doubting whether John was saved, but 00:15:32.429 --> 00:15:34.289 his place in the scheme of salvation history. 00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:38.649 For all his crucial role as herald of the kingdom 00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:40.529 of heaven, because that's what he did. He heralded, 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:43.549 behold, the kingdom of heaven's at hand. John 00:15:43.549 --> 00:15:48.230 essentially belongs to the old era, not the new. 00:15:49.370 --> 00:15:51.429 Now, do you see what Jesus is doing here? I mean, 00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:53.990 these are shocking words. And let me just say 00:15:53.990 --> 00:15:56.190 to you, church, this morning, do you see the 00:15:56.190 --> 00:15:59.309 incredible power privilege that God has bestowed 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:02.789 upon you, allowing you to be born under this 00:16:02.789 --> 00:16:06.850 new covenant. You have a greater privilege than 00:16:06.850 --> 00:16:09.470 even John the Baptist had because you live under 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:12.690 this new covenant inaugurated in the bloody death 00:16:12.690 --> 00:16:16.269 of Jesus Christ our Lord. Under the old covenant, 00:16:16.429 --> 00:16:20.210 sacrifices were repeated endlessly. Never could 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:24.070 they remove sin. They could only cover sin. But 00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:28.190 under the new covenant, Christ's Once for all 00:16:28.190 --> 00:16:31.169 sacrifice of himself actually took away sin. 00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:35.350 Hebrews 10. For it is not possible that the blood 00:16:35.350 --> 00:16:37.110 of bulls and goats could take away sins. You 00:16:37.110 --> 00:16:38.889 could offer them all. You could take every bull, 00:16:39.009 --> 00:16:41.429 every goat from here until the end of time and 00:16:41.429 --> 00:16:43.669 they would not take away your sin. Verse 14. 00:16:43.929 --> 00:16:48.429 For by one offering he that is Jesus Christ has 00:16:48.429 --> 00:16:50.269 forever perfected those for being sanctified. 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:54.970 Took one lamb. The lamb of God. That's new covenant. 00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:59.279 The old. Had a mediator. Mediated by Moses. Moses 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.539 was a faithful servant in the house. The new 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:06.700 also has a mediator. But it's the eternal son. 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:10.680 Hebrews 7. By so much more, Jesus has become 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:14.640 a surety, a promise of a better covenant. 9 .15. 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.680 For this reason, he is the mediator of the new 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.220 covenant. Go back to the old covenant. The law 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:23.779 was written on stone. It commended righteousness, 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:26.119 but it could never produce it. It couldn't create 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.500 it. But under the new, the Spirit writes the 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.400 law on our hearts, and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.940 of God, empowers our obedience. Hebrews chapter 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:40.599 8, verse 10. For this, and he's quoting Jeremiah 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.940 here, this is the covenant that I will make with 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:44.779 the house of Israel after those days, says the 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:48.250 Lord. I will put my laws in their mind. and write 00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:50.930 them on their hearts, and I will be their God, 00:17:51.069 --> 00:17:55.789 and they shall be my people. And the old, you 00:17:55.789 --> 00:17:58.150 had a high priest, and yes, he could enter into 00:17:58.150 --> 00:18:01.529 God's presence, yes, but only one time a year. 00:18:03.009 --> 00:18:04.910 In the new, and I think this is probably the 00:18:04.910 --> 00:18:06.529 greatest privilege that you and I have that we 00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:11.410 often neglect, every believer has open, continual 00:18:11.410 --> 00:18:15.970 access to the throne of grace. Hebrews 10, therefore, 00:18:16.089 --> 00:18:18.450 brethren, having boldness. You never had boldness 00:18:18.450 --> 00:18:20.930 in the Old Testament. They were afraid. Are we 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:22.410 going to be struck dead in the presence of God? 00:18:22.490 --> 00:18:24.769 We have boldness to enter the holiest. That is 00:18:24.769 --> 00:18:27.029 the holy of holies. How in the world do you have 00:18:27.029 --> 00:18:30.630 boldness to go in there? By the blood of Jesus 00:18:30.630 --> 00:18:34.450 Christ. Under the Old, the Holy Spirit, yeah, 00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:37.589 he was present. He came, he empowered selectively, 00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:41.470 temporarily, anointed kings and priests and prophets. 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:46.279 But in the New Covenant, The Holy Spirit indwells, 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:50.059 takes up residence within all believers permanently. 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:53.880 Remember on the day of Pentecost, Peter preaching, 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.720 he's quoting Joel, but he says this, but this 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.359 is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:01.380 shall come to pass in the last days, that the 00:19:01.380 --> 00:19:03.099 last days are the days after Christ's death and 00:19:03.099 --> 00:19:05.559 resurrection, says God that I will pour out my 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:09.079 spirit on all flesh, young men, young women, 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:11.259 old men, old women, everyone who has come to 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:15.140 faith in Christ. The old covenant centered on 00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:18.900 ethnic Israel. The new covenant creates one new 00:19:18.900 --> 00:19:22.599 humanity in Christ. Galatians chapter 3 verse 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.000 28. There's neither Jew nor Greek. Jew nor Gentile. 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:28.819 They don't exist in the church. There's neither 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:31.619 slave nor free. There's neither male nor female. 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:37.920 For you're all one in Christ Jesus. And Jesus 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:39.799 is looking at that crowd. He says, it's for these 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.500 reasons that the very least person in the kingdom 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:45.680 of God is greater than John the Baptist. Yeah, 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.240 you're greater because you have a greater covenantal 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.740 privilege than John ever had. It's the privilege 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:55.720 of the new covenant. John, he preached the arrival 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:59.579 of the kingdom of God. But you live in the inaugurated 00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:02.839 kingdom that John preached. He said, it's here. 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.559 You take up residence within it. You have a greater 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:09.660 privilege. Verse 12. And from the days of John 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:11.859 the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven 00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:15.339 suffers violence. And the violent take it by 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:18.960 force. The kingdom John preached about and the 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.940 kingdom Jesus preached about, both, same kingdom, 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.539 was not without opposition. And friends, there 00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:28.380 has always been opposition to the people of God, 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:30.920 to the work of God, from the earliest times, 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:33.000 from the earliest days until now. It began with 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.440 Cain killing his righteous brother Abel. That's 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.680 the first murder we see. But then you go into 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:40.779 the prophets. It doesn't matter. Take any prophet. 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:44.059 The prophets were often treated contemptuously. 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:46.839 Many of them were killed. You can read back that 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:48.980 time that wicked Ahab and even more wicked his 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:51.799 wife Jezebel, they slew a lot of the righteous 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:55.440 prophets. Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.500 spends considerable time in a dungeon for preaching 00:20:58.500 --> 00:21:01.779 what God had sent him to preach. Isaiah, just 00:21:01.779 --> 00:21:03.759 the greatest prophet, I think, of the Old Covenant. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:08.640 He was ultimately, literally, sawn in two for 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:11.440 faithfulness to God. As I said earlier, when 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.380 Jesus was born, shortly thereafter, Herod, the 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:17.640 Tetrarch, he had all the babies in Bethlehem 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:21.859 murdered. John, where is he right now as Jesus 00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:24.160 is speaking? He's in a prison waiting to be executed. 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.259 And the Lord Jesus would eventually inaugurate 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:33.579 his kingdom how? Through his bloody death. The 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:36.940 kingdom of heaven suffers violence. Why? There's 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:40.200 satanic opposition. Satanic opposition, demonic 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:43.220 opposition. They hate Christ, they hate the gospel, 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:46.140 and they hate the church that proclaims it. And 00:21:46.140 --> 00:21:48.299 that's the way it's always been. And so God's 00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:51.680 kingdom is often violently attacked by unbelievers 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:53.839 who oppose the kingdom. We see that in direct 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:58.259 places like Nigeria, Sudan, North Korea. We see 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:01.410 that. But it's always been a violent opposition, 00:22:01.509 --> 00:22:04.450 and it always will be until the time when Christ 00:22:04.450 --> 00:22:09.210 returns. But this goes against the grain of what 00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:12.309 we normally would imagine. Our preconceived idea 00:22:12.309 --> 00:22:14.769 says, well, the kingdom of God, it's going to 00:22:14.769 --> 00:22:19.970 go and conquer all its foes. And it does. But 00:22:19.970 --> 00:22:22.970 there is some warfare taking place. It's going 00:22:22.970 --> 00:22:25.740 to be opposed. Yes, God is building his church, 00:22:25.819 --> 00:22:27.420 and there's not a thing Satan can do about it. 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:30.220 The gates of hell will not prevail. They won't 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:32.920 stop the church of God. It cannot defeat the 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:35.519 church of God. But Satan still tries to stop 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.559 her, often through violent means. And we shouldn't 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.619 be surprised by that. Jesus and the violent take 00:22:41.619 --> 00:22:44.400 it by force. Think about Jesus. They killed our 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.539 king. They killed the king. But they did not 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:51.099 realize that he would rise from death and kill 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:54.779 them. He would ensure their defeat. See, today, 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.660 even today, as we sit here in this lovely building 00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:00.319 where we gather each Lord's Day, even today, 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:03.359 the forces of darkness still seek to violently 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:07.440 take the kingdom by force. They still do. And 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.859 we're not, now we, again, where we are, we live 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:13.640 in a moment of reprieve, if you will. A moment 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:17.880 of relative ease, peace, prosperity. But that's 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:19.900 unique. It's our experience, but it's not the 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.809 experience of most Christians. What do we do 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:25.569 when the violent seek to violently overthrow 00:23:25.569 --> 00:23:30.450 us? Revelation chapter 12 verse 10. Then I heard 00:23:30.450 --> 00:23:33.990 a loud voice in heaven saying, Now salvation 00:23:33.990 --> 00:23:36.849 and strength and the kingdom of our God and the 00:23:36.849 --> 00:23:39.289 power of his Christ have come. For the accuser 00:23:39.289 --> 00:23:41.029 of our brother who accused him before our God 00:23:41.029 --> 00:23:44.289 day and night has been cast down. And they, that 00:23:44.289 --> 00:23:47.170 is the saints, they overcame him, that is Satan, 00:23:47.250 --> 00:23:50.150 by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their 00:23:50.150 --> 00:23:52.970 testimony. And they did not love their lives 00:23:52.970 --> 00:23:55.829 to the death. It's interesting. How did they 00:23:55.829 --> 00:23:57.750 overcome? The blood of the lamb, that is, by 00:23:57.750 --> 00:23:59.130 the word of their testimony, and they didn't 00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:00.750 love their lives. So by the blood of the lamb, 00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:03.390 they trusted in Christ. They trusted in what 00:24:03.390 --> 00:24:05.809 Christ had done. They trusted in his sacrifice. 00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:08.470 And they boldly, the word of their testimony, 00:24:08.710 --> 00:24:11.710 they boldly proclaimed their allegiance to him, 00:24:11.829 --> 00:24:16.230 even amidst the threat of death. We're going 00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.990 to kill you if you keep preaching in that name. 00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:22.190 They kept preaching in that name and they killed 00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:25.190 them. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of 00:24:25.190 --> 00:24:27.390 the church. I mean, there's a bloody history 00:24:27.390 --> 00:24:31.109 throughout church history. But the kingdom of 00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:35.569 God stands firm even in the face of violent opposition 00:24:35.569 --> 00:24:40.509 and death. Verse 13, Jesus said, for all the 00:24:40.509 --> 00:24:43.789 prophets and the law prophesied until John. So 00:24:43.789 --> 00:24:45.849 there's a stopping point. And if you're willing 00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:48.759 to receive it, He, John, is Elijah who is to 00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:51.819 come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:55.920 So the prophets, who? All the old covenant. They 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:57.819 prophesied that the kingdom of God was going 00:24:57.819 --> 00:25:00.859 to come. As much as they had revelation. They 00:25:00.859 --> 00:25:02.640 couldn't understand it all. Go back and read 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:05.559 Daniel. Daniel has great interpretation, great 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:07.420 insight. He says there's going to be a kingdom 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.140 that's going to be made without hands. It's going 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:11.000 to come and destroy all the kingdoms. And he's 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.519 preaching about the kingdom of God. So there's 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:16.190 this kingdom coming. And they're all preaching 00:25:16.190 --> 00:25:18.309 about it. And then John the Baptist comes and 00:25:18.309 --> 00:25:22.109 he says, the kingdom has come. It's at hand. 00:25:22.529 --> 00:25:26.569 So he's not simply another prophet. He's the 00:25:26.569 --> 00:25:30.890 final Old Testament prophet. With him, that time 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:36.109 of anticipation ends and the time of fulfillment 00:25:36.109 --> 00:25:40.490 begins. So John's like the hinge on which redemptive 00:25:40.490 --> 00:25:44.460 history swings. All Old Testament prophecy terminated 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:49.299 with him. And the era of fulfillment began. In 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:52.460 fact, Jesus said John was the fulfillment of 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.180 Malachi's prophecy about Elijah going to come. 00:25:56.039 --> 00:26:01.240 Now Malachi 4 .5. He says, Behold, I will send 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:05.140 you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of 00:26:05.140 --> 00:26:08.259 the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Capital 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:10.980 L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That is Yahweh. 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:15.180 Before God comes. Now the Jews knew this prophecy. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.259 They knew the coming of the day would be a day 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:21.180 ushered in by the Lord's Messiah. So they were 00:26:21.180 --> 00:26:24.019 always looking for Elijah to come first because 00:26:24.019 --> 00:26:25.660 they knew he would come first and prepare the 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:29.420 way. So when they would celebrate Passover, there's 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:34.099 an empty chair for Elijah. With the hope that 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:35.759 he would come that night. In fact, the Jews still 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:37.980 do that. As they celebrate Passover, they have 00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:40.339 an empty seat for Elijah because they're convinced 00:26:40.339 --> 00:26:44.740 that Elijah, nor the Messiah, has yet come. But 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:48.240 Jesus said, no, he's come. John the Baptist was 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:51.980 Elijah. Now, was Jesus saying that John the Baptist 00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:55.859 was Elijah reincarnate? No, not at all. In fact, 00:26:55.980 --> 00:26:58.000 John, John the Baptist, when he's directly asked, 00:26:58.099 --> 00:27:00.339 are you Elijah? He said, no. In John chapter 00:27:00.339 --> 00:27:03.859 1, verse 19. Now this is the testimony of John, 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.880 John the Baptist, when the Jews sent priests 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:08.559 and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:11.019 you? Now why are they asking that question? Because 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:12.960 he's gathering all these crowds. People are flocking 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.799 to him. And he says, he confessed, he did not 00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:18.619 deny, but he confessed, I'm not the Christ. I'm 00:27:18.619 --> 00:27:21.279 not the Messiah. And they asked him, well then, 00:27:21.339 --> 00:27:22.799 are you Elijah? Now why are they asking about 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.500 Elijah? Because they knew Elijah must first come, 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:29.650 Malachi 4 .5. And he said, I am not. Are you 00:27:29.650 --> 00:27:31.789 the prophet? That's what Moses prophesied about. 00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:33.970 There will be a prophet arise like me, him you 00:27:33.970 --> 00:27:37.369 should listen to. And he answered, no. So why 00:27:37.369 --> 00:27:41.589 did Jesus say that John was Elijah and John said, 00:27:41.750 --> 00:27:46.470 no, I'm not? Well, John the Baptist was not the 00:27:46.470 --> 00:27:50.130 reincarnate Elijah. Of course he wasn't. But 00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:53.009 he did come in the spiritual role and power of 00:27:53.009 --> 00:27:56.049 Elijah, preparing the people to receive their 00:27:56.049 --> 00:27:59.740 Messiah. Now, do you remember when John the Baptist 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:02.079 was conceived? His conception was also miraculous. 00:28:02.460 --> 00:28:05.859 His father, Zechariah, and his wife, they did 00:28:05.859 --> 00:28:07.599 not conceive. They were now past childbearing 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:09.960 ages, and she conceived. Elizabeth conceives. 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:12.640 And then the angel goes to Zechariah, John's 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:16.019 dad, and what did he say? Luke 1. But the angel 00:28:16.019 --> 00:28:18.940 said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, that's 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:20.819 John the Baptist's father, for your prayer is 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:22.599 heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:25.289 a son, and you shall call his name John. and 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:27.329 you will have joy and gladness, and many will 00:28:27.329 --> 00:28:29.730 rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in 00:28:29.730 --> 00:28:31.450 the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither 00:28:31.450 --> 00:28:33.910 wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled 00:28:33.910 --> 00:28:35.690 with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's 00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:38.509 womb, and he will turn many of the children of 00:28:38.509 --> 00:28:40.509 Israel to the Lord their God. That's what Malachi 00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:43.869 4, 6 said, by the way. He will also go before 00:28:43.869 --> 00:28:46.750 him. Now notice the angel telling Zechariah the 00:28:46.750 --> 00:28:49.369 priest, he will go before him, that is Christ, 00:28:49.650 --> 00:28:53.460 in the spirit and power of Elijah. John's ministry 00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:57.819 was reminiscent of Elijah's ministry. He even 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:00.539 dressed like Elijah. Remember I told you John 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:02.660 wore the rugged clothing, a camel's hair garment 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:05.119 with a leather belt. That's exactly how Elijah 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:07.880 was dressed. Where did John minister? Out in 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.299 the desert. Where did Elijah minister? Out in 00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:14.180 the desert. And so John is fulfilling the prophecy 00:29:14.180 --> 00:29:16.960 given by Malachi that Elijah will first come, 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:19.779 but here's where the rub. The people missed it. 00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:23.029 They couldn't understand it. Which is why Jesus 00:29:23.029 --> 00:29:25.789 in verse 15, he says this, he who has ears to 00:29:25.789 --> 00:29:31.109 hear, let him hear. Many people in Jesus' day 00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:34.609 did not understand, but they lacked the ears 00:29:34.609 --> 00:29:38.630 to hear what Jesus was saying. They didn't have 00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:41.230 a heart of belief. Their eyes were blinded, their 00:29:41.230 --> 00:29:44.630 ears were deaf. The people missed the ministry 00:29:44.630 --> 00:29:48.730 of John the Baptist because they expected something 00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:51.410 else. They were expecting Elijah in the person. 00:29:52.650 --> 00:29:54.910 But they didn't just miss John the Baptist. That's 00:29:54.910 --> 00:29:56.930 bad, but it's terrible what they missed next. 00:29:57.789 --> 00:30:01.349 They also missed Jesus the Messiah because of 00:30:01.349 --> 00:30:03.710 their false preconceived notions of what the 00:30:03.710 --> 00:30:06.650 Messiah should be and do. Did you know that? 00:30:06.690 --> 00:30:09.670 They wanted a political military deliverer. They 00:30:09.670 --> 00:30:12.589 got Jesus. They wanted the Messiah to ride down 00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:16.329 a war horse. Jesus rides in on the donkey. They 00:30:16.329 --> 00:30:19.009 didn't have a category for him. He did not fit 00:30:19.009 --> 00:30:22.559 their expectations. And that's a danger for us 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:25.240 today. Do you know how many people will say, 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:29.400 I don't think God would fill in the blank. My 00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:33.660 God would never. They have this preconceived 00:30:33.660 --> 00:30:36.359 idea of how God should work. But God's ways, 00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:41.240 God's ways often don't fit into neat categories 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:45.240 of how we think life should work. That's true 00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.140 for all of us. I mean, have any of you ever been 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:50.160 surprised by the way God has worked in your life 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:54.359 or the route he took? Of course you have. So 00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.000 we have these preconceived notions that we think, 00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:59.200 well, this is what God would do. And when that 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.279 doesn't align with what's taking place in our 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:03.299 life, and it has in my life, I've told you many 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:05.559 times, if I were writing the script of my life, 00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:08.059 if I held the pen, I would not have written it 00:31:08.059 --> 00:31:10.859 the way God did. I've often been surprised by 00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:15.180 his ways. Think of little girls growing up, dreaming 00:31:15.180 --> 00:31:18.660 of their wedding day. Does that mean that they 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:20.299 will grow up and have that wedding they've always 00:31:20.299 --> 00:31:24.740 dreamed of? No. Not everyone gets married, even 00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:27.180 if they want to. And you're saying, but that 00:31:27.180 --> 00:31:29.319 doesn't, no, yeah, most do, but not everyone. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:32.059 Think of young couples. You get married, you 00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:33.859 dream of having kids. Does that mean every couple 00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:40.339 does? No. I think of people who eat right, take 00:31:40.339 --> 00:31:43.619 care of their body, discipline themselves. They 00:31:43.619 --> 00:31:48.640 exercise. And they get a diagnosis that's life 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:51.759 -threatening or terminal. And that doesn't make 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.539 sense. Well, we all know the person who has smoked 00:31:54.539 --> 00:31:56.799 all their lives and ate pizza and never exercised 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.359 a day in their life and they're like 95 and great. 00:31:59.940 --> 00:32:02.339 That doesn't line with our neat categories, does 00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.799 it? But what's the purpose? If you have ears 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:06.240 to hear, listen to what the Spirit's saying. 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:11.779 God's ways are not our ways. For his ways and 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:14.839 his thoughts are higher. How high? As high as 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:16.720 a heaven is above the earth, so are his ways 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:20.039 and his thoughts above our own. So high you can't 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:22.500 understand them. So what is the Spirit saying? 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:25.680 If you have ears, hear. Hear what? He's saying, 00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:29.200 listen up. Pay attention. The kingdom of God 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:33.359 came through a very unexpected way, through a 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:39.099 very unexpected king. And the bottom line is 00:32:39.099 --> 00:32:41.079 that, yes, God does not work in the ways that 00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:45.019 we think he should at those times. We lean into 00:32:45.019 --> 00:32:49.220 the scriptures. At those times, we trust God 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:52.400 even when we cannot understand him. Again, it 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:54.619 doesn't make sense to me how some of his choicest 00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:58.500 servants were brutally beaten and martyred. If 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:00.640 I'm God, I'm like, no, I'll destroy your oppressor. 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:04.119 And he says, no, he allows them to be destroyed. 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:06.619 He allows them to suffer. He allows them to be 00:33:06.619 --> 00:33:09.619 overcome through death. See, our reality doesn't 00:33:09.619 --> 00:33:10.839 fit into what we thought should have happened. 00:33:12.109 --> 00:33:13.950 Because Jesus said, hey, I'm making all things 00:33:13.950 --> 00:33:18.109 new. You're looking for the eschatological fulfillment 00:33:18.109 --> 00:33:20.029 of the kingdom. You're looking for the kingdom 00:33:20.029 --> 00:33:23.329 in its final form where death is erased and sorrow 00:33:23.329 --> 00:33:26.369 is no more and tears will never be shed. That 00:33:26.369 --> 00:33:29.690 day has not yet come. Pastor Kyle read right 00:33:29.690 --> 00:33:32.029 before that final song, be of good cheer. In 00:33:32.029 --> 00:33:34.210 the world you will have tribulation. You're going 00:33:34.210 --> 00:33:36.849 to. Jesus told the twelve and by extension told 00:33:36.849 --> 00:33:39.250 his church, that is us, in the world you will 00:33:39.250 --> 00:33:40.910 have tribulation, but be of good cheer, meaning 00:33:40.910 --> 00:33:44.740 take heart, Why? I've overcome the world. You're 00:33:44.740 --> 00:33:48.259 going to have a tribulation. But this is not 00:33:48.259 --> 00:33:51.680 the end. The story has not yet had an amen given 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:55.019 to it. There's more chapters to come. So what 00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:57.359 do we do? We recognize a couple things. The king, 00:33:57.619 --> 00:34:01.400 our king, he has come. The kingdom is here. It's 00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:03.000 within us. Jesus said the kingdom was within. 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:05.680 It's in our hearts right now. It's in seed form. 00:34:07.070 --> 00:34:09.949 It will come in final form. So what is the marching 00:34:09.949 --> 00:34:12.030 orders? What is it that Jesus would have us to 00:34:12.030 --> 00:34:17.489 do in light of this passage? Follow him without 00:34:17.489 --> 00:34:20.730 distraction. Follow him without being tripped 00:34:20.730 --> 00:34:23.909 up over his ways. And friends, that is so much 00:34:23.909 --> 00:34:25.250 easier said than that. That's why we need each 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:27.750 other. Because I was thinking about this morning. 00:34:27.829 --> 00:34:29.369 We were singing and I was looking around and 00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:32.670 I looked over here. I'll be honest. I looked 00:34:32.670 --> 00:34:35.110 over there and I was thinking of Jay and I was 00:34:35.110 --> 00:34:39.269 thinking of Doris. And I'm thinking, man, in 00:34:39.269 --> 00:34:43.510 January, this section is pretty full. We're in 00:34:43.510 --> 00:34:47.309 November. It's not. Who can predict what a year 00:34:47.309 --> 00:34:49.949 we'll bring forth? What's 2026 going to do? I 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:53.849 don't know. I have no clue. God's ways will not 00:34:53.849 --> 00:34:55.929 be our ways. We'll be surprised at some point, 00:34:55.949 --> 00:35:00.110 won't we? But what do we do? Where else do you 00:35:00.110 --> 00:35:02.690 go? You lean into him, church. You've got to 00:35:02.690 --> 00:35:06.820 trust him. It was this time last year that Brother 00:35:06.820 --> 00:35:10.519 Larry got his diagnosis. It's a year later, he's 00:35:10.519 --> 00:35:13.699 not with us, but he's in heaven. The story's 00:35:13.699 --> 00:35:17.980 not yet done. And this is what God said, don't 00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:19.639 be surprised. And I know that's easier said. 00:35:19.699 --> 00:35:22.480 I want to drill that down. Don't be surprised 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:27.579 in the circuitous route that God may take you. 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:31.920 Because he is weaving a beautiful story. And 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:35.869 one day, all the seed blocks of suffering will 00:35:35.869 --> 00:35:40.050 be revealed with glory. And then it's worth it. 00:35:40.610 --> 00:35:43.690 And for all eternity, we will be sitting around 00:35:43.690 --> 00:35:46.530 praising God, thinking his way was perfect. Wow, 00:35:46.570 --> 00:35:48.909 God, that's amazing. I'm astounded how you worked 00:35:48.909 --> 00:35:52.329 that out for your glory. But he does. He's the 00:35:52.329 --> 00:35:54.969 great chess master. He always calls checkmate. 00:35:55.110 --> 00:35:58.639 He never loses. So what do we do? We trust him. 00:35:58.659 --> 00:36:01.239 We trust him. We trust him. We cling to him. 00:36:01.300 --> 00:36:03.420 We cling to him. We rally around each other. 00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:05.579 We hold our hands and we keep having, hey, guys, 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:07.059 you're going through a difficult time. I'm praying 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:09.280 for you. I will be there for you. That's why 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:12.239 we have to be together as a church. We need each 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:14.840 other in this game of life so that our faith 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:18.159 is not falling and we continue on trusting our 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:22.719 king even when it doesn't make sense. Let's pray. 00:36:24.590 --> 00:36:26.110 Father, thank you this morning.