WEBVTT 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.500 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:20.480 Christ. Let's dive in. Let's go ahead and open 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:30.059 our Bibles to Mark chapter six. The title of 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:33.679 my sermon today is called The Bold and the Brutal. 00:00:34.330 --> 00:00:36.390 Do a little play on words. Anybody want to know 00:00:36.390 --> 00:00:41.649 where that little play on words comes from? The 00:00:41.649 --> 00:00:45.890 soap operas, the bold and the beautiful. My big 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:49.210 idea is true faithfulness to God. You can write 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:51.509 it down. I'll have it right up here. True faithfulness 00:00:51.509 --> 00:00:55.409 to God can provoke powerful opposition, but God 00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:57.890 calls us to stand firm like John the Baptist, 00:00:57.909 --> 00:01:02.570 regardless of consequences. When I was growing 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:07.239 up, I could not stand to have to stay home from 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:11.739 school. Like, no matter how sick I was, I hated 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:16.680 it. And there was a reason for that. Mostly, 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:20.000 it was the fact that there was nothing to watch 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.060 on television. There was only two things. The 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:27.359 price is right, and the thing we've already said, 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:32.540 the 80s and 90s were thick with them soap operas, 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:38.560 right? My mom loved soap operas. She loved them 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:44.180 so much that we took a vacation to Dallas to 00:01:44.180 --> 00:01:47.959 see where Dallas was filmed. And I remember as 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.400 a kid having no idea what I was looking at. And 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.980 everywhere we went, there was these posters and 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:57.620 stuff that said, who shot JR? Which is still 00:01:57.620 --> 00:02:01.379 a famous line, right? Who shot JR? I've been 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:03.420 there when they filmed, I've sat in JR's car. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:06.040 I still can't tell you who shot JR, because it 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:09.639 just didn't care. But my mom absolutely loved, 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:14.860 and as a matter of fact, I texted her the opening 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:18.819 to this sermon and said, thanks for the inspiration. 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:22.080 I mean, my mom treated that trip like Disney 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.400 World. I mean, she just was so, so pumped, but 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:27.460 our - I gotta interrupt you a second. Yeah. I 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:30.020 just gotta add one thing. Most of you probably 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:32.460 don't know this. Go back and watch all the old 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:35.919 episodes, and there's one episode where they're 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.180 out at the horse ranch and they're unloading 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.740 a load of hay. Keith, Tom, Jack, and I sent that 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:47.319 load of hay down. Really? What? Look at all these 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:52.919 connections, man. The Lord knew. I don't know 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.840 that I've even named the soap opera Dallas for 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:57.580 anybody that doesn't have any idea what I'm talking 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:05.469 about. So funny man Like how does that phone 00:03:05.469 --> 00:03:29.400 call work? Hey, we need some hay for Dallas on 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.979 there. It could never be tarred from the time 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:35.400 that it left Dallas to go out there because they 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:36.979 didn't want people thinking they were holding 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:44.199 in growth. And we could not get out of the truck 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:48.219 when we unloaded it because they didn't want 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:53.919 us in the movie. That is so funny. I gotta be 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:58.960 honest, every time she told me... Another stipulation, 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.520 I said, man, we can make it happen, but it's 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:11.740 going to cost. Oh, my gosh. That's so awesome. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:20.040 Thank you, Doug, for sharing that. Well, the 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:21.920 reason why I bring up soap operas is because 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.720 the passage that we are going to unpack today 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:29.589 reads like a soap opera. It's an account that 00:04:29.589 --> 00:04:32.550 has everything from family betrayal to sexual 00:04:32.550 --> 00:04:35.170 immorality, political corruption, manipulation, 00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:38.689 power struggles, revenge, a reckless ruler, a 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:41.910 bitter woman, and a shocking death, much like 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:46.389 JR. I actually Googled and I said, I asked Google, 00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:49.689 what makes a soap opera a soap opera? And here's 00:04:49.689 --> 00:04:51.769 what it gave me the definition of a soap opera. 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:56.529 A drama characterized by intertwining storylines 00:04:56.730 --> 00:05:00.610 emotional conflict, melodrama, and an intense 00:05:00.610 --> 00:05:05.709 focus on relationships. That's a pretty good 00:05:05.709 --> 00:05:08.389 definition, I think. And so we're about to see 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.149 in Mark chapter six how that kind of lays out. 00:05:11.389 --> 00:05:13.029 But in this story, we're going to see this. We're 00:05:13.029 --> 00:05:14.810 going to see a brother that betrays a brother. 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:17.730 We're going to see a wife consumed with hatred. 00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:20.709 We're going to see a young girl used as a pawn, 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:24.410 a weak ruler trapped by his own pride and a faithful 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:27.410 prophet who refuses to compromise the truth. 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:30.870 But unlike a soap opera, this isn't fiction. 00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:33.910 And the end of the story is a twist that nobody 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:37.310 saw coming. With soap operas, they always had 00:05:37.310 --> 00:05:40.850 the most random twist where somebody dies and 00:05:40.850 --> 00:05:44.389 yet they always come back to life, no matter 00:05:44.389 --> 00:05:48.910 how many times they've died. So yeah, this is 00:05:48.910 --> 00:05:51.449 a twist that nobody saw coming. It's really good. 00:05:52.269 --> 00:05:54.430 The corruption is real, the sin is real, and 00:05:54.430 --> 00:05:57.379 the death is real. And so this morning, as we 00:05:57.379 --> 00:05:59.860 look at the death of John the Baptist and Mark, 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:02.879 starting in verse 14, I want us to focus on the 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.040 three central characters in this tragedy. We're 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.079 gonna look at John, we're gonna look at Herod, 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.399 we're gonna look at Herodias and see what each 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.019 one reveals about the human heart and about our 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:16.939 response to the truth. So let's go ahead and 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:21.800 read that now. So starting in verse 14, if you 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:23.660 do not have a Bible, we've got some in the back 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:27.149 or it'll be right up here for you. King Herod 00:06:27.149 --> 00:06:30.610 heard of it, for Jesus's name had not become 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:34.329 known. Some said John the Baptist had been raised 00:06:34.329 --> 00:06:39.329 from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers 00:06:39.329 --> 00:06:43.029 are at work in him. But others said he is Elijah, 00:06:43.129 --> 00:06:45.829 and others said he is a prophet, like one of 00:06:45.829 --> 00:06:48.470 the prophets of old. But when Herod heard of 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:51.470 it, he said, talking about what he had heard, 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:56.879 he'd heard about Jesus, okay? But when Herod 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.199 had heard of it, he said, John, whom I beheaded, 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.480 has been raised. For it was Herod who had sent 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:06.240 and seized John and bound him in prison for the 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.000 sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:13.259 because he had married her. For John had been 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:15.879 saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:18.879 have your brother's wife. And Herodias had a 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.420 grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.259 But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:27.839 that he was a righteous and holy man, and he 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.759 kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:35.740 perplexed, and yet heard him gladly. But an opportunity 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:38.860 came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:42.120 for his nobles and military commanders and the 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.300 leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias's daughter 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:49.220 came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:53.389 guest, And the king said to the girl, ask me 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:56.089 whatever you wish, and I will give it to you. 00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:59.850 And he vowed to give it to her. Whenever you 00:07:59.850 --> 00:08:03.529 ask of me, I will give it up to half of my kingdom. 00:08:03.910 --> 00:08:06.850 And she went out and said to her mother, for 00:08:06.850 --> 00:08:09.670 what should I ask? And she said, the head of 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:12.730 John the Baptist. And she came in and immediately 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:16.060 with haste to the king and asked, say, I want 00:08:16.060 --> 00:08:19.079 you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:22.500 on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry, 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.899 but because of his oaths and his guest, he did 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:28.540 not want to break his word to her. And immediately 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.839 the king sent an executioner with the orders 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.480 to bring John's head. And he went and beheaded 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.580 him in the prison and brought his head on a platter 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:40.580 and gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:42.919 to her mother. And when his disciples heard of 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.340 it, they came and took his body and laid it in 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:51.580 a tomb." That's pretty wicked, right? Pretty 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:57.039 made -for -TV storyline. So if we're taking notes, 00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:59.759 my first note here that we're going to look at 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:04.980 is Herod's cowardly heart. And so who is Herod? 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:11.759 Yes, he is a king, but we're going to find out 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:16.419 in just a second. He's not a true king. I'll 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:17.820 get into that in just a second. What else do 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:25.919 we know about Herod? What do we see in the text? 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:35.919 He's well known that he married his brother's 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:44.169 wife. His father is Herod, the Herod the Great, 00:09:44.350 --> 00:09:46.690 who murdered all of the little boys when Jesus 00:09:46.690 --> 00:09:51.710 was born. So that's his father. So when his father 00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:54.909 dies, what ends up happening is all the land 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:57.950 that he ruled gets broken up between his sons. 00:09:59.470 --> 00:10:06.289 And so, each one of the sons have this makeshift 00:10:06.289 --> 00:10:09.059 authority that's not real. Let me just go ahead 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:13.000 and go into it. So firstly, Herod isn't really 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.220 a king in the full sense. He's more like a puppet 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:19.440 ruler for Rome, a tetrarch with limited authority, 00:10:19.659 --> 00:10:22.539 propped up by Caesar and dependent upon Roman 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:26.220 approval. He has power, but not nearly as much 00:10:26.220 --> 00:10:28.679 as he pretends to have. Now, why is that funny? 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:35.700 Why is that funny? What does he promise the girl? 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:42.320 Half his kingdom. He doesn't even have the power 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:48.720 to give it to her. But he, in his drunken, lustful 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:53.700 stupor, he says things that he really can't do. 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:58.320 So it's really, really funny that he does not 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.580 have the authority, but he acts as if he does. 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:05.899 So that should tell us something about Herod. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.320 Yes, so yeah, so there he's a part of Rome, right? 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.860 But you have a Caesar who is technically like 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.299 the one, right? And then you've got these rulers 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:18.139 that are underneath. Think of them like governors. 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:21.059 Does that make sense? And so that's what Herod 00:11:21.059 --> 00:11:24.000 Antipatous is his name. That's who he is because 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.000 he rules over Antipatous. And so but again, it's 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.820 it's a makeshift puppet like he has no real authority. 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:34.879 And so what does that tell us right off the bat 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.580 about Herod? Like if we were If we're reading 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:39.960 this and we're taking notes and you were just 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.919 to take notes about who Herod is Just reading 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.620 the text and just looking at it What would you 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:46.679 start? What would be some of the things that 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:48.879 you would describe Herod as just looking at that 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.759 and knowing what what you know at this point? 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:56.460 What's that he's a poser yeah, that's a word 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:02.940 I've heard in a long time Very selfish what else? 00:12:10.110 --> 00:12:15.669 He's a bragger. Yeah. What's that? Arrogant is 00:12:15.669 --> 00:12:21.450 a great one. A creep. He is a creep. That is 00:12:21.450 --> 00:12:25.190 very true. You can write this down. What about 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:31.149 a man that's intoxicated by his own image? He's 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:34.029 not just intoxicated by alcohol and lust, like 00:12:34.029 --> 00:12:36.490 I said, but he's drunk off of his own pride as 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:40.220 well. As I said, His father was Herod the Great, 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.480 the ruler who slaughtered all of the children. 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:48.120 But when all of their father, Herod the Great, 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.240 his stuff got divided amongst the brothers, each 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:56.320 one of the brothers slowly but surely got their 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.840 authority stripped from them slowly but surely 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.299 by Rome, because frankly, they were incompetent 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:05.419 rulers. They just were. And so Rome continually 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:08.169 stripped authority away. because none of them 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:12.649 could truly govern well. And so here sits Herod 00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:16.129 Antipatous, desperate to look powerful, desperate 00:13:16.129 --> 00:13:18.889 to appear important, desperate to protect his 00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:21.769 reputation. But what landed John the Baptist 00:13:21.769 --> 00:13:28.110 in prison? What did it say? What landed him in 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:34.549 prison? It's the fact that he told the truth. 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:41.159 He preached the truth. He was unwilling. It didn't 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:47.379 matter that Herod was not a Jew. He was going, 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.480 you are a ruler of some sort. You have some sort 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:53.080 of authority. Therefore, you are still under 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:55.240 God's law. And therefore, what you have done 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:59.720 by marrying your brother's wife, by the way, 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:02.919 she's not only his brother's wife, but it's also 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:06.460 his half niece. And oh, by the way, he was already 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:11.360 married to an ally. So you've got all of this 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.360 weird, twisted soap opera -like things where 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.700 why would Herodias want to be married to Herod? 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:21.639 We're going to get into that in a little bit. 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:27.120 But you have Herod that takes his brother's wife 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:31.000 and his half -niece, marries her, divorces his 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:35.639 ally's daughter, the queen, And then he's like, 00:14:36.179 --> 00:14:39.139 all right, we're good to go. And John the Baptist 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:43.440 goes, not so fast. No, God looks down upon this. 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:47.659 This is adultery. This is divorce. These are 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:50.840 all the things that are disgusting. And so John 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:53.019 the Baptist confronts him with the word of God. 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:57.759 And that's what lands him in jail, but not because 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.899 Herod himself is the one upset. Who was the one 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:06.500 upset? The wife, Herodias, she's the one upset. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.659 So Herodias, like I said, was originally married 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:12.220 to Herodias' brother, Philip, but she desired 00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:15.659 greater status and influence. And so Herod, though 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.100 already married for political alliance, abandons 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:20.539 his wife and enters into a sinful relationship 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:24.139 with Herodias. And so, like I said, there's already 00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:27.389 a blood relative of... Harrod himself. And the 00:15:27.389 --> 00:15:30.409 entire family situation is morally twisted, politically 00:15:30.409 --> 00:15:35.049 corrupt, and spiritually it's rotten. So again, 00:15:35.169 --> 00:15:37.909 you see why I continually refer to it as a soap 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:41.090 opera. But the beautiful thing is, is John the 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:43.750 Baptist refused to stay silent about it all. 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:46.419 John preached against their unlawful marriage, 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:48.500 he preached against their sexual sin, and he 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:51.039 preached against Herod's corruption, his indulgence, 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:54.100 and his wickedness, and yet Mark tells us something 00:15:54.100 --> 00:16:00.620 fascinating. Herod was intrigued by John. Herod 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:03.759 feared him, he protected him for a time, and 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:07.700 he listened to him gladly. Herod couldn't stand 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:09.919 what John had to say, but he also couldn't stop 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:18.429 listening. Why? Why? Because truth has a way 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:25.110 of piercing our heart, yes? Even though it can 00:16:25.110 --> 00:16:31.450 be something that is painful to hear, the truth 00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:37.850 will set you free, right? So truth begins to 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:43.440 pierce our heart and it makes us curious. And 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.340 so even corrupt people often recognize the truth 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:48.299 when they hear it. I want you to write this down. 00:16:50.620 --> 00:16:54.440 The word of God has a way of unsettling us, exposing 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:58.179 us and convicting us and pressing us against 00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:07.359 the conscious. So the word of God has a way of 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:10.359 unsettling us, exposing us and convicting us 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:14.380 and pressing us against the conscience. But here 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:19.380 is the danger of what we do with that conviction 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:23.380 actually matters eternally. Because conviction 00:17:23.380 --> 00:17:26.799 alone does not save anyone. You can hear truth, 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:28.960 you can admire truth, and you can even listen 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.319 to truth and still refuse to surrender to it, 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:38.079 yes? And that's Herod. Then comes this banquet 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.500 Herod is drunk and carried away by lust and pride 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:44.279 and makes a reckless Promise in front of all 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:47.319 of his guests after the dance of Herodias his 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:51.099 daughter But he never expected the request to 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:54.000 be what it was so just so you guys know I don't 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:03.220 want to get too Too adult but what the dance 00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:06.839 that Salome is her name, and she will ultimately 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:09.319 marry someone in the scriptures and she comes 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:16.519 back in the New Testament, but she dances provocatively. 00:18:18.259 --> 00:18:24.339 And so when it says that she pleased those there, 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:29.000 it was meaning in an arousal way. So this is 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:34.289 very disgusting. what's going on. And so when 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:37.009 you think about that, when you think about Herod, 00:18:37.069 --> 00:18:38.869 when we talk about him being a creep, he very 00:18:38.869 --> 00:18:46.569 much was a creep. But now Herod is trapped because 00:18:46.569 --> 00:18:49.950 he's made this oath, again, based off of his 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:52.910 lust and based off of his pride and based off 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:57.930 of his drunkenness. And so he thinks that he's 00:18:57.930 --> 00:19:00.150 trapped. And Mark says that he was deeply grieved, 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:03.049 but instead of standing for righteousness, he 00:19:03.049 --> 00:19:05.890 caves to the pressure of the room. Rather than 00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:08.750 humble himself publicly, he sacrifices a righteous 00:19:08.750 --> 00:19:14.450 man to preserve his image. Sounds kind of familiar, 00:19:14.650 --> 00:19:19.809 yes? Herod liked listening to truth until the 00:19:19.809 --> 00:19:23.970 truth cost him something. And it isn't that still 00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:27.200 true today. Many people enjoy sermons emotionally 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:31.200 while rejecting them practically. They love being 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.720 inspired, they love being moved, they love religious 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.200 language and spiritual curiosity, but obedience, 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:43.240 repentance, submission, costly holiness, that's 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:47.839 where many walk away. Herod cared more about 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.480 a political opinion than in his reputation and 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.019 his pride and the approval of the people around 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:57.680 him than he did the obedience of God. And sadly, 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.599 Herod still lives in many hearts today, even 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.759 within the American church. He represents conviction 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:10.859 without conversion, interest without surrender, 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:15.759 spiritual curiosity without obedience. And his 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.440 cowardice becomes fatal, not to himself immediately, 00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:23.119 though it will, but to the man courageous enough 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:25.640 to preach the truth. I want you to write this 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:31.559 down. Cowardice will always show up the moment 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:35.579 truth steps in and demands obedience. And if 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:38.720 we choose the way of the coward, we should not 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.019 be surprised when innocent people around us are 00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:48.500 harmed by our compromise. Cowardice always shows 00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:51.440 up the moment truth steps in and it demands obedience. 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:54.740 And if we choose the way of the coward, we should 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:57.519 not be surprised when innocent people around 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:05.380 us are hurt by our compromise. We see many Herod's 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:12.359 in our own political system. I don't know how 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.380 many politicians I've seen, including our own 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:19.519 president, claim to be a Christian, but can't 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:24.309 quote scripture to save their life. will take 00:21:24.309 --> 00:21:26.589 scripture out of context. And then the second 00:21:26.589 --> 00:21:29.589 you need them to stand for true righteousness, 00:21:29.769 --> 00:21:33.569 they fold like the cowards that they are. Because 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:37.609 it's about what? Public image. It's about greed. 00:21:39.309 --> 00:21:41.930 And so there are not only Herod's in the church, 00:21:42.049 --> 00:21:45.990 we see Herod's still politically. Let's look 00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:48.430 at point number two. Let's look at Herodias. 00:21:49.190 --> 00:21:51.430 So point number two is Herodias' bitter heart. 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:58.420 If Herod represents cowardice in the face of 00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:01.720 truth, then Herodias represents bitterness towards 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:05.519 the truth itself. Herodias is one of the darkest 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.099 figures in the entire account because she not 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:10.900 merely is embarrassed by John, but she hates 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:19.839 him. But why does she hate John? Yeah, he called 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.160 her out, right? He spoke the truth. He refused 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:29.849 to affirm her sin. John keeps preaching, John 00:22:29.849 --> 00:22:33.210 keeps confronting, and John keeps declaring that 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:35.529 what she and Herod are doing is unlawful before 00:22:35.529 --> 00:22:37.930 God, and instead of repenting, Herodias becomes 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:42.789 enraged. Church, this is what a bitter human 00:22:42.789 --> 00:22:48.109 heart does. You can write this down. A wounded 00:22:48.109 --> 00:22:50.730 and prideful heart will often turn conviction 00:22:50.730 --> 00:22:55.140 into personal offense. Rather than allowing the 00:22:55.140 --> 00:22:57.440 truth to lead us to repentance we begin treating 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:01.960 the person speaking truth as the enemy Saw a 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:06.940 video this week of a guy sharing the gospel with 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:12.220 a woman who just would not hear what he was saying 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:17.200 and because she was Living an alternate lifestyle 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.160 and he she kept just saying you just you hate 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.059 me in your homophobic And he's like if I hated 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:24.700 you, I wouldn't be out here I'm trying to tell 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:26.900 you the truth and I'm trying to tell you in love. 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:29.920 And she just begins to just name call and become 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:33.980 very, very hateful. And the man never changes. 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:37.180 Like he's just, he stays there like no matter 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:39.220 the names that she calls him and all these things. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:42.579 And he is just faithful to what he's saying. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:44.039 And he's just like, no, I want you to know that 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:47.240 I do love you. And it didn't change her, but 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:50.220 she grew more. and more bitter. And you could 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:53.740 see on the man how his heart broke more and more, 00:23:54.339 --> 00:23:56.279 the more she continued to just name call. And 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:59.440 he's like, but that's what it does. We want people 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:03.279 to affirm our sin. And when you don't affirm 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.220 the sin, you will then grow bitter and hard to 00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:13.140 it. And you begin to see someone like John the 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:16.960 Baptist or someone who is a messenger of the 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:20.819 gospel as the enemy. And that's exactly what 00:24:20.819 --> 00:24:23.180 happens here. Mark tells us that Herodias had 00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:25.779 a grudge against him and wanted to put him to 00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:30.220 death. I want you to think about that for a second. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:35.539 What had John done to her? Nothing. Just told 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:40.220 the truth. She wants him dead. He hadn't harmed 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:42.220 her, had not abused her, had not even lied to 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:45.750 her. He just simply told the truth. But when 00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:48.329 people refuse to repent they often try to silence 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:54.190 the voices exposing their sin Who does Herodias 00:24:54.190 --> 00:24:56.809 remind you of there's an Old Testament character 00:24:56.809 --> 00:25:02.690 What'd you say Jezebel she's considered the Jezebel 00:25:02.690 --> 00:25:05.670 of the New Testament What did Jezebel do she 00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:07.990 killed the prophets right of the Old Testament? 00:25:08.529 --> 00:25:10.789 Because they would speak out against her and 00:25:10.789 --> 00:25:13.670 here is Herodias killing the prophet of the New 00:25:13.670 --> 00:25:16.680 Testament He is actually, John the Baptist is 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:18.660 considered the last of the Old Testament prophets. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.039 So, Herod imprisons John, but Herodias wanted 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:27.920 to erase him. And bitterness always works that 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.400 way. It is never satisfied with disagreements. 00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:34.099 It wants destruction. Bitterness does not merely 00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:37.720 want silence. It wants vengeance. You can almost 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:40.980 feel her obsession in the passage. She wants 00:25:41.230 --> 00:25:43.829 for the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity, 00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:46.950 the perfect weakness inherent. And when the opportunity 00:25:46.950 --> 00:25:49.829 finally comes at this drunken banquet, she takes 00:25:49.829 --> 00:25:53.369 advantage of it immediately. Because bitterness 00:25:53.369 --> 00:25:57.390 matures into hatred when left unchecked. What 00:25:57.390 --> 00:26:04.109 does the scripture say about bitterness? It says 00:26:04.109 --> 00:26:09.130 it's like rot to your bones. Can you say that 00:26:09.130 --> 00:26:17.930 this is rotten? Yeah When you hang sorry I Tell 00:26:17.930 --> 00:26:19.509 people all the time especially when I'm doing 00:26:19.509 --> 00:26:22.869 counseling When you hang on to bitterness the 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:24.809 bitterness does nothing to the person you're 00:26:24.809 --> 00:26:26.710 holding the bitterness to it's you know, it's 00:26:26.710 --> 00:26:31.950 just tearing you up It's like it's like a knife 00:26:31.950 --> 00:26:34.410 or a sword that you're holding on to and literally 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.920 Holding on to it this way and pushing it into 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:40.579 yourself. You're not doing anything to harm the 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:44.579 other person Bitterness is dangerous. And if 00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:48.440 you are bitter towards someone or something You 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:49.619 know something that's happened to you in the 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:53.059 past. I would encourage you To repent of that 00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:55.539 and try to let go of bitterness and that's literally 00:26:55.539 --> 00:26:57.819 a day by day second by second thing It's not 00:26:57.819 --> 00:27:03.039 something that just happens like that Let me 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:08.990 get back to what I was saying We need to understand 00:27:08.990 --> 00:27:11.789 something. Offended pride is incredibly dangerous 00:27:11.789 --> 00:27:15.309 because pride says, how dare you confront me? 00:27:15.450 --> 00:27:18.309 How dare you expose me? How dare you tell me 00:27:18.309 --> 00:27:22.230 I'm wrong? And when pride combines with bitterness, 00:27:22.549 --> 00:27:25.309 people begin justifying all kinds of evil in 00:27:25.309 --> 00:27:27.730 order to protect themselves from conviction. 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:33.759 That is not only true in this text, it's true 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:35.740 in our culture right now. We live in a society 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:38.839 that increasingly celebrates sin, mocks conviction, 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:41.380 attacks truth tellers and demands affirmation 00:27:41.380 --> 00:27:45.299 instead of repentance. Truth is no longer merely 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:48.140 disagreed with. Truth is treated as violence. 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:54.440 And Christians need to understand this. A culture 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.940 that refuses to repent will eventually grow hostile 00:27:56.940 --> 00:28:00.259 towards anyone who lovingly speaks biblical truth. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:02.900 There's no way around it and you must come to 00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:05.720 terms with this now. You cannot be ashamed of 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:11.319 the gospel. Yes, it could possibly cost you your 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:13.539 life in a world hell bent on being hell bent. 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:18.299 But before we point fingers only at the world 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:20.480 outside these walls, we should examine our own 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.759 hearts too. Because bitterness is not just a 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.160 cultural problem, it is a church problem, it 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:29.240 is a human problem. And some people in this room 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:31.480 may still be nurturing bitterness from wounds 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.359 held years ago, whether it's a harsh word, a 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:37.539 betrayal, a correction, a confrontation, or some 00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:40.940 sort of offense. And instead of surrendering 00:28:40.940 --> 00:28:42.940 that hurt to Christ, you've allowed it to grow 00:28:42.940 --> 00:28:47.819 roots. Hebrews warns us that about the root of 00:28:47.819 --> 00:28:50.440 bitterness, because bitterness never stays contained. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:55.859 It spreads, it poisons, it distorts, and it blinds. 00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:58.960 Herodias became so consumed by resentment that 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:02.759 she could no longer distinguish righteousness 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:05.740 from offense. And that's what bitterness does. 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:07.619 And the frightening part of this passage is this. 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:10.640 Herodias finally gets what she wants. John is 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:14.140 executed. The voice confronting her sin is silence. 00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:16.700 and the prophet's head is delivered on a platter. 00:29:17.319 --> 00:29:20.039 But here is the true tragedy. Write this part 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:26.440 down. Removing the preacher did not remove the 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:31.660 guilt before God. And the same is true today. 00:29:31.700 --> 00:29:34.980 You can silence the messenger. You can avoid 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:37.519 conviction. You can surround yourself with people 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:40.519 who affirm your choices, but that changes the 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:44.359 truth of God's word. Because truth does not cease 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:50.779 to exist simply because we resent hearing it 00:29:50.779 --> 00:29:53.880 Point number three, who's the last person in 00:29:53.880 --> 00:30:01.380 this passage that we haven't looked at yet? John 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:12.130 so we have John's courageous heart So Coming 00:30:12.130 --> 00:30:14.730 to John, we stand in complete contrast to Herod's 00:30:14.730 --> 00:30:18.630 cowardice and Herodias' bitterness, and we see 00:30:18.630 --> 00:30:23.650 instead a courageous heart. For Mark 16 -18 tells 00:30:23.650 --> 00:30:26.690 us why John was in prison, for John had been 00:30:26.690 --> 00:30:28.930 saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to 00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:31.869 have your brother's wife. And notice how simple 00:30:31.869 --> 00:30:34.430 and direct John is. There's no compromise. There's 00:30:34.430 --> 00:30:37.950 no softening of the truth. There's no concern 00:30:37.950 --> 00:30:40.630 for political consequences. There's no fear for 00:30:40.630 --> 00:30:43.410 losing influence. And there's no, well, there 00:30:43.410 --> 00:30:45.490 is, I say there's no fear of losing his life. 00:30:46.789 --> 00:30:50.109 There does become a time where John, we see it 00:30:50.109 --> 00:30:55.390 in another gospel, where John does in prison, 00:30:55.950 --> 00:30:59.269 send his disciples after Jesus. And he's like, 00:30:59.289 --> 00:31:04.420 Hey, just so we're clear. You are the Messiah, 00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:07.240 right? Like I didn't get that wrong. Like I'm 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:09.079 about to die for this belief in the thing that 00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:15.720 I preached. And Jesus doesn't answer him. Jesus 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:19.440 just sends back the message, the blind see the 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.759 dead are alive. That's his way of going. Yeah, 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:26.819 I am. But I can't, I'm not going to confirm that 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:29.619 to you except through the miracles that you've 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:34.599 seen. And so that was enough for John to die, 00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:36.819 but there was some fear there in the beginning, 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:40.519 but I am fully aware, fully believe, let me say 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.279 it like that, that John was not afraid when he 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:46.700 went to his death. John simply tells the truth 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:50.319 and the church, sorry, and church, that kind 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:55.619 of courage is becoming increasingly rare. John 00:31:55.619 --> 00:31:58.220 was bold, he was clear, he was uncompromising, 00:31:58.539 --> 00:32:00.720 he was morally anchored, and above all, he was 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:04.859 God -fearing. He feared God more than he feared 00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:08.940 man, and that's the difference. Write this down 00:32:08.940 --> 00:32:15.140 for me. Herod feared public opinion, Herodias 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:19.880 feared exposure, and John feared only the Lord. 00:32:22.009 --> 00:32:24.390 And because of that, John was willing to suffer 00:32:24.390 --> 00:32:27.309 for the truth. John understood something that 00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:29.230 the modern church desperately needs to recover. 00:32:29.369 --> 00:32:31.789 Silence in the face of sin is not compassion. 00:32:36.390 --> 00:32:40.170 This week, last night when Tracy got home, she 00:32:40.170 --> 00:32:44.109 was telling me about, or my mother -in -law was 00:32:44.109 --> 00:32:49.289 telling me I guess that her, my mother -in -law's 00:32:49.289 --> 00:32:53.079 aunts and uncle are going to a church And she 00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:55.440 was up there visiting them and they had said 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:59.480 to her, yeah, we just learned in our Bible study 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:04.019 at church that the God of Islam and the God of 00:33:04.019 --> 00:33:06.599 Christianity are the same. My mother -in -law 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:15.779 was like, no, no, it's not. And so then I'm like, 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:17.779 okay, who is this goober that's the pastor of 00:33:17.779 --> 00:33:21.099 this church taking these elderly people for? 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:26.039 their money and lying to them and so she looks 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:28.000 them up and then I find the pastor on Facebook 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:32.859 and I see on there that He had posted this quote 00:33:32.859 --> 00:33:38.619 from himself that said I Would rather stand before 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:43.259 God saying that I loved and affirmed everyone 00:33:43.259 --> 00:33:48.000 then stood on the language of scripture that 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:57.160 only divides I would rather stand before God 00:33:57.160 --> 00:34:02.180 and say that I was loving and affirming to all 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:10.639 than to stand on the words that divide. This 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:18.079 man claims to be a pastor and he thinks that 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:20.539 he's being compassionate and that that's why 00:34:20.539 --> 00:34:23.349 I have this written. Silence in the face of sin 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:30.869 is not compassion. It's not. It's lethal. And 00:34:30.869 --> 00:34:34.110 so we must not be afraid to speak truth, but 00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:37.250 let me be clear. We can speak truth without being 00:34:37.250 --> 00:34:42.869 hateful. We can say things in love and in grace, 00:34:43.170 --> 00:34:45.670 but you still must say the thing. Don't dance 00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:51.070 around it. Just say the thing. Be clear. Because 00:34:51.070 --> 00:34:56.510 here's the thing, unlike my guy on Facebook, 00:34:56.789 --> 00:35:01.469 real love tells the truth, real love warns, real 00:35:01.469 --> 00:35:04.710 love confronts, and real love calls people to 00:35:04.710 --> 00:35:07.070 repentance even when it's uncomfortable, yes? 00:35:08.710 --> 00:35:14.650 I have sat with people, my wife can tell you, 00:35:15.670 --> 00:35:18.719 and I've... I got this from a pastor that I served 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:22.980 with at Green Valley in St. Joe. We would be 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:27.300 doing counseling and somebody that had been in 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.119 the church for some time and they'd be talking 00:35:29.119 --> 00:35:32.900 and Pastor David would just lean over and he 00:35:32.900 --> 00:35:36.300 would tap them on the leg and he would say, you're 00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:41.920 not saved. You're not saved. No, I am. I've been 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:44.119 coming to church here. No, no, no, no. Everything 00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:46.900 that you're saying tells me You're not saved. 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:51.679 I've had to tell people that before. People have 00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:54.800 been going to church a long time. But when I 00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:56.340 look at the fruit of their life and then I listen 00:35:56.340 --> 00:35:58.239 to the words of their mouth, I have to go, you're 00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:02.059 not saved. Is that a loving of me as a pastor 00:36:02.059 --> 00:36:09.960 to say that? No, not at all. It's what I'm supposed 00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:14.400 to do. And you too, brothers and sisters sitting 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:22.019 in this room right now? You too. John did not 00:36:22.019 --> 00:36:24.159 preach against Herod because he hated him. John 00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:26.320 preached against Herod because he feared God 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:29.739 and cared more about righteousness. But faithfulness 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:33.179 comes with a cost. John is arrested, he's imprisoned, 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:36.320 then he's silenced. Then eventually he's executed 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:38.760 in one of the most humiliating and gruesome ways 00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:42.019 imaginable. A drunken ruler trying to save face 00:36:42.019 --> 00:36:44.059 in front of his guests orders the execution of 00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:46.579 a righteous prophet, like it's nothing more than 00:36:46.579 --> 00:36:49.920 entertainment at a banquet. And from a worldly 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:54.139 perspective, it appears that John loses. Herod 00:36:54.139 --> 00:36:56.460 still sits on the throne, Herodias gets exactly 00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:59.579 what she wanted, and the prophet's voice is silence. 00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:02.760 But church, appearances can be deceiving, because 00:37:02.760 --> 00:37:06.579 spiritually speaking, John is actually the freest 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:12.679 person in the entire story. Herod sits in a place 00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:15.860 that he is enslaved by fear. Herodias appears 00:37:15.860 --> 00:37:19.199 powerful, but is consumed by bitterness and hatred. 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:22.579 But John, even though he is in chains, he is 00:37:22.579 --> 00:37:27.260 free. Free from the approval of men, free from 00:37:27.260 --> 00:37:31.679 compromise, free from slavery, free from the 00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:34.980 slavery of protecting an image. The man in chains 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.239 was freer than the people sitting at the banquet 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:42.079 table. And what an important reminder this is 00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:44.380 for believers today, faithfulness to Christ may 00:37:44.380 --> 00:37:47.659 all cost us something. It may cost us comfort, 00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:51.340 it may cost us popularity, it may cost us relationships, 00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:53.880 but for some believers around the world, it costs 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:56.760 them their freedom and even their lives. We're 00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:00.739 seeing this in Nigeria right now. But the call 00:38:00.739 --> 00:38:02.860 of discipleship has never been about safety. 00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:07.699 It's always been about faithfulness. And here 00:38:07.699 --> 00:38:10.420 is what encourages me about John. He never changed 00:38:10.420 --> 00:38:15.119 his message to save his own life. He could have 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:16.860 softened the truth. He could have stayed quiet. 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:19.159 He could have protected his own life. But John 00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.320 understood that preserving obedience matters 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:24.639 more than preserving comfort. John loses his 00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:26.860 head because he refuses to lose his conviction. 00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:30.500 And in the end, who is the truer victor in the 00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:35.820 story? Herod? Nope. Herodias? Not even close. 00:38:37.250 --> 00:38:39.809 It's the righteous man in the prison cell who 00:38:39.809 --> 00:38:42.889 walks into eternity faithful to God while the 00:38:42.889 --> 00:38:44.829 powerful people at the banquet remain chained 00:38:44.829 --> 00:38:49.389 to their sin. Church, this world may look at 00:38:49.389 --> 00:38:52.510 obedience to Christ and call it weakness. It 00:38:52.510 --> 00:38:55.550 may mock conviction. It may pressure believers 00:38:55.550 --> 00:39:00.469 to compromise, but never forget, apparent defeat 00:39:00.469 --> 00:39:04.000 is not actual defeat in the kingdom of God. It's 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:05.780 the whole thing of what's the saying? We may 00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.119 have lost the battle, but we've won the war. 00:39:10.599 --> 00:39:13.880 John's death was not about the triumph of evil. 00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:17.000 It was the testimony of faithfulness. And the 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:19.300 same God who saw John in that prison cell sees 00:39:19.300 --> 00:39:22.739 every believer today who chooses truth over compromise, 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:26.139 courage over cowardice, and obedience over approval. 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:30.699 So I want you to stand firm. speak truth, love 00:39:30.699 --> 00:39:33.920 boldly, and refuse to compromise and trust that 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:36.639 God's justice will always have the final word. 00:39:36.760 --> 00:39:40.260 Here's where I'm closing. The question is this, 00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:43.880 why is this narrative here? Because we're chugging 00:39:43.880 --> 00:39:48.019 along. If we remember, let's go back. Mark wrote 00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:51.179 this, right? So he is taking the eyewitness account 00:39:51.179 --> 00:39:55.659 of who? Whose Mark's eyewitness account through? 00:39:56.480 --> 00:40:00.429 Peter, right? So he's giving us an eyewitness 00:40:00.429 --> 00:40:03.510 account, but he is writing this letter to this 00:40:03.510 --> 00:40:06.849 gospel to the Romans, and his whole thesis is 00:40:06.849 --> 00:40:10.530 that Christ is the true King. So if we're chugging 00:40:10.530 --> 00:40:14.329 along, looking at Jesus, all of a sudden, boom, 00:40:15.230 --> 00:40:17.469 now we've got John the Baptist and his death. 00:40:18.269 --> 00:40:20.590 Why would that narrative all of a sudden be there? 00:40:21.909 --> 00:40:27.630 What do you think Mark's trying to tell us? That's 00:40:27.630 --> 00:40:30.309 good, yeah. Challenge us, right? Are you willing 00:40:30.309 --> 00:40:36.949 to speak for truth? Yeah, that's good. Let me 00:40:36.949 --> 00:40:39.530 go back for just a moment. At the beginning of 00:40:39.530 --> 00:40:43.150 the passage, Herod hears about Jesus and immediately 00:40:43.150 --> 00:40:46.789 becomes terrified. Why? He thinks it's John the 00:40:46.789 --> 00:40:52.559 Baptist risen. So he's scared to death. And once 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:55.019 again, we see Herod's guilty conscience and his 00:40:55.019 --> 00:40:58.679 spiritual curiosity rise to the surface. But 00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:00.940 what ultimately does Herod do with Jesus? Do 00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:04.059 you guys remember? Because Pontius Pilate sends 00:41:04.059 --> 00:41:08.340 him, sends Jesus to Herod. What does Herod do? 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:14.219 Do you remember? Yeah, before he sends him back, 00:41:14.239 --> 00:41:18.460 what does he do? He mocks him as a king and puts 00:41:18.460 --> 00:41:21.719 the robe on him and beats him. Once he sees it's 00:41:21.719 --> 00:41:24.980 not John the Baptist, he feels all this relief 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:27.659 and then he's like, okay, yeah, just get out 00:41:27.659 --> 00:41:32.599 of here. So he mocks and humiliates Christ. He 00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:34.340 dresses him up in a royal robe and he sends him 00:41:34.340 --> 00:41:38.699 back to Pilate. And so why would Mark include 00:41:38.699 --> 00:41:42.760 this story here? Because the account foreshadows 00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:47.000 the death of Christ himself, a righteous man 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:52.000 killed. for the bloodlust of others. Mark is 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.219 writing to show us the true king, and in this 00:41:54.219 --> 00:41:56.480 story we see what always happens when sinful 00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:00.880 power encounters holy truth. Power feels threatened, 00:42:01.579 --> 00:42:04.199 truth is rejected, a righteous man is condemned, 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:07.000 and weak leaders choose self -preservation over 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:10.780 righteousness. John's death points us forward 00:42:10.780 --> 00:42:14.679 to Jesus. Like John, Jesus would speak truth 00:42:14.679 --> 00:42:18.260 to corrupt power. Like John, Jesus would be arrested 00:42:18.260 --> 00:42:21.940 unjustly. Like John, Jesus would be mocked, humiliated, 00:42:21.960 --> 00:42:24.659 and executed by cowardly men trying to protect 00:42:24.659 --> 00:42:29.039 themselves. But neither death was defeat. And 00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:32.579 so this morning, let me ask you, who are you 00:42:32.579 --> 00:42:39.320 most like in the story? Are you like Herod? Intrigued 00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:42.800 by truth, convicted by it, even emotionally moved 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:45.500 by it, but unwilling to surrender to it because 00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:49.440 obedience might cost you something? Are you like 00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:52.699 Herodias? So hardened by pride and bitterness 00:42:52.699 --> 00:42:55.139 that conviction feels like a personal attack? 00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:58.360 Refusing repentance while demanding affirmation 00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:02.469 from everyone around you? Brothers and sisters, 00:43:02.590 --> 00:43:05.349 if that is you, hear me clearly. Unrepentant 00:43:05.349 --> 00:43:08.250 bitterness and rejection of Christ does not lead 00:43:08.250 --> 00:43:12.829 to freedom. It just leads you to judgment. But 00:43:12.829 --> 00:43:15.190 my prayer is this, that we would be like John 00:43:15.190 --> 00:43:18.909 the Baptist. Men and women who speak truth with 00:43:18.909 --> 00:43:20.989 grace and love, people who are not ashamed of 00:43:20.989 --> 00:43:23.949 the gospel, believers who fear God more than 00:43:23.949 --> 00:43:27.869 man. May we not shrink back because of fear. 00:43:29.079 --> 00:43:32.599 And instead, may we cling to Christ, seek first 00:43:32.599 --> 00:43:35.980 his kingdom, and remain faithful no matter the 00:43:35.980 --> 00:43:38.860 cost. Because in the end, the approval of this 00:43:38.860 --> 00:43:41.820 world fades away, but the kingdom of God stands 00:43:41.820 --> 00:43:43.019 forever. Let's pray.