The King & His Kingdom: #100 - Authority | Matthew 21:23-27

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey, there. [00:00:06] Speaker B: If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church, and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:36] Speaker A: So this morning, I'm gonna jump right in. [00:00:38] Speaker C: I got a lot to share with you this morning. [00:00:39] Speaker A: Go ahead and grab your Bible. [00:00:40] Speaker C: Flip over to Matthew chapter 21. If you don't have a Bible, the [00:00:44] Speaker A: crew will put the words on the screen for you. [00:00:46] Speaker C: Thanks for doing that, guys. I'll be in the Christian standard Bible translation as per usual. If you're not in that translation, no problem, but the words will be there for you. Because sometimes it can be difficult to follow along if you have a different translation. [00:01:02] Speaker A: Man, this morning, I'm getting a sense. I just had this moment with the [00:01:06] Speaker C: Lord that was actually really comforting. A couple days ago, I was sitting in my living room, and, I don't know, I just. [00:01:13] Speaker A: It felt, like, stuffy in the house. [00:01:15] Speaker C: It felt kind of funky. And I'm sitting there, and Ebony made a comment. She goes, hey, will you open, like, crack open one of the windows? Like, just open the windows. [00:01:23] Speaker A: And immediately I opened the window, and this, like, glorious breeze, like, this fresh, like, clean, cool breeze just, like, came into the house. It hit me first, and then it, like, filled the house. [00:01:38] Speaker C: And I just got this sense as I was singing to Jesus and praying for our time this morning, I just get the sense that some of you, like, life kind of feels a little bit like you just need to crack open the window of your heart to let God's spirit. [00:01:52] Speaker A: And I feel like you need, like, refreshing. [00:01:54] Speaker C: I feel like you need, like, I don't know, maybe you need a touch from the Lord this morning. And so what I want to do is I just want to pray that over us before we jump into today's passage. Yeah. Bear with me, because I feel like God wants to do something really unique this morning. Father, right now, we just kind of want to open ourselves up to you. Yeah. Like, we're here because we want to encounter you. We're here because our life, apart from being united with you and engaging with you and you engaging with us and the relationship that you offer to us, like our Life apart from that is just so. It doesn't make sense. It's lacking, to say the least. And so right now, I just. In your own words, just give yourself an opportunity to let God know that your heart is open to him. This morning, Father, I pray for myself. Right now, I open my heart to you. We want to be people who are led by you, loved by you, equipped by you, empowered by you. And so, spirit, would you minister to us as we press into you and into your word? We love you and we say it together. Amen. [00:03:11] Speaker A: So this morning, we are continuing on in our series, the King and His Kingdom. We're going through Matthew's Gospel. We want to learn as much as we possibly can about the King of the universe, Jesus Christ, and what his kingdom is like. When I say the kingdom, I'm talking about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. [00:03:27] Speaker C: Those phrases are used synonymously in the Bible. [00:03:29] Speaker A: The kingdom of God. What that means is it's what do things look like when God gets his way. It's the rule and the reign of the king. [00:03:38] Speaker C: And so we've been going through Matthew's [00:03:40] Speaker A: Gospel for quite some time. Get this. This is the 100th sermon in this series. Okay, so you guys have been putting up with me and some of the other guys talking about the king and his kingdom through Matthew for quite some time now. But I feel like God has been [00:03:55] Speaker C: so kind to us. [00:03:56] Speaker A: He has met with us in some [00:03:57] Speaker C: powerful ways, and I think that this morning is going to be another example of those. [00:04:00] Speaker A: So Matthew chapter 21, we're going to be in verses 23 through 27 this morning. Really important verses. Maybe not right at the surface, but as you dig deeper, there's some really, really powerful stuff here. Now, I want to set the scene here. I don't want you to just jump in and not know where we are in the story. We are still in the final week [00:04:17] Speaker C: of Jesus life, all right? [00:04:19] Speaker A: He is on his way to the cross. He is basically spending time in Jerusalem doing some teaching, doing some ministry, doing some healing. And he's kind of coming out of the city and then he's coming back the next day, and he's doing this leading up to him going to the cross. And that's where we find ourself here in verse 23. [00:04:38] Speaker C: So I'm going to start and what [00:04:40] Speaker A: I'm gonna do is I'm gonna kind of read a bit and then I'm [00:04:42] Speaker C: gonna pause and talk for a bit, but we're gonna go verses 23 through 27. So let's read this together. It says this when he. The. He is Jesus. When he entered the temple, the chief [00:04:55] Speaker A: priests and the elders of the people. [00:04:57] Speaker C: So think Jewish religious leaders, they came to him as he was teaching and [00:05:05] Speaker A: said, by what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority? [00:05:11] Speaker C: Okay, so pause for a second. [00:05:12] Speaker A: I want you to imagine the scene [00:05:13] Speaker C: here like it's a movie. Okay? [00:05:15] Speaker A: So Jesus, he comes back into Jerusalem, the city, and he enters the courtyard of the temple. [00:05:21] Speaker C: Okay? Picture it in your mind. [00:05:23] Speaker A: Temple is the, you know, the place of worship where literally, like the manifest presence of God would dwell. [00:05:27] Speaker C: God really wants to be with his people. So he set up the temple and the system so he could do so. [00:05:31] Speaker A: And then outside of, like, the various levels of the temple, there's the courtyard. So Jesus comes into the courtyard of the temple and people see that it's him. [00:05:38] Speaker C: And. [00:05:38] Speaker A: And so a crowd starts to gather around Jesus and he begins teaching them. He begins preaching to them. He begins instructing them, illuminating them to the kingdom of God and what God is like and their purpose and what they were created for. So he's teaching the people, right? They're gathered around him. And that teaching is interrupted by the religious leaders. [00:05:59] Speaker C: This week, as I was kind of [00:06:01] Speaker A: praying for this time, I read that, and I felt like a healthy fear of the Lord as I was reading [00:06:06] Speaker C: that, [00:06:08] Speaker A: because I just think I'm like. [00:06:09] Speaker C: I mean, to some degree, like, I am a spiritual religious leader. And I was like, oh, God, may [00:06:18] Speaker A: I never be the kind of leader that interrupts Jesus while he's teaching his people. Like, I don't know about you. [00:06:25] Speaker C: I just. [00:06:25] Speaker A: I don't want to get in the [00:06:26] Speaker C: way of what God wants to do. [00:06:28] Speaker A: I don't want to interfere with what God wants to do with the people that he loves. I want to reinforce that. I want to, like, megaphone that. I want to champion that. I don't want to get in the way. But I just. [00:06:39] Speaker C: I had this sense of, like, oh, [00:06:41] Speaker A: like, you guys know this. [00:06:41] Speaker C: Like, Jesus is still developing people through his spirit. [00:06:45] Speaker A: He's still discipling people. He's still teaching people. He's still equipping people. Like, he's got a plan for your life. [00:06:55] Speaker C: One of the greatest joys of pastoring is being able to witness men and women, boys and girls, begin to step more and more into God's plans for their life. And he empowers them and equips them. [00:07:04] Speaker A: And they do things that are spectacular, that are amazing, and the ripple effects, the fruit of Them saying yes to the Lord in those specific ways as other people are blessed. [00:07:12] Speaker C: It's one of my favorite things about our church, is the way that God blesses us through one another. [00:07:18] Speaker A: And frankly, the way that God has been a blessing to this valley through you guys. [00:07:21] Speaker C: It's part of God's redemptive plan. But I just. [00:07:25] Speaker A: I felt the healthy fear of the Lord and I was just like, man, I'm so thankful to be on this [00:07:29] Speaker C: ministry team with the other elders and [00:07:31] Speaker A: the staff and the deacons. Because our desire, friends, I say this candidly, our desire is to only reinforce [00:07:39] Speaker C: how Jesus wants to develop each one of us, not to interfere with it. [00:07:44] Speaker A: So these Jewish religious leaders, they interrupt Jesus and they're like, hey, by what authority are you doing these things now? [00:07:52] Speaker C: What are they talking about? What are these things that they're referring to? If you've been journeying with us in this series, you know that just before [00:08:03] Speaker A: this, here in the passage, the day before this takes place, Jesus, he caused a bit of a ruckus at the temple, if you remember, right? He comes in and there's in the same temple courtyard, and there's these people, and essentially what they're doing is they're exploiting people that are coming to the [00:08:22] Speaker C: temple to worship God. [00:08:23] Speaker A: They're profiting off of these people, okay, in ways that are just immoral and ungodly and all that. Jesus sees this, gets ticked off, righteous anger rises up, and he starts flipping over the tables of these people who [00:08:35] Speaker C: are financially exploiting other people that are trying to worship God. [00:08:38] Speaker A: He gets upset. I believe it's John describes. He actually has a whip, and he starts driving these people who are interfering with the purity of worship that's taking [00:08:49] Speaker C: place in the temple. [00:08:50] Speaker A: He drives them out of the temple, okay? He's angry because God's house, the temple, God's house is being used for profit instead of, in his words, being a house of prayer. So profit is being prioritized over prayer. I could speak on this forever, but [00:09:10] Speaker C: that says a lot about how much Jesus values prayer. He refers to the house of God, the temple of God. It ought to be a house of prayer. Prayer, it involves talking to God, listening to God. Absolutely. [00:09:27] Speaker A: But it's the idea of engaging with him. Like we're called to live a lifestyle of prayer. Not something that we turn on and [00:09:34] Speaker C: turn off like a light switch, but [00:09:36] Speaker A: something that we're consistently doing. It's like John 15, abiding in Christ, [00:09:41] Speaker C: remaining in him, staying with him. [00:09:44] Speaker A: That's the lifestyle of prayer. That Jesus ascribed to and that he would preach. [00:09:50] Speaker C: And I would just say this, like, if this passage tell us anything. I mean, I've said this before, and it's a hot take. But I believe with every fiber of my being there is nothing more important in the life of a Christian than prayer. [00:10:02] Speaker A: That's why we prioritize prayer as a community. [00:10:05] Speaker C: That's why we have the prayer room. [00:10:06] Speaker A: That's why when our gospel communities gather [00:10:08] Speaker C: for the Lord's Supper, prayer is such a huge part of that. [00:10:10] Speaker A: That's why if you're new with us this morning, you're like, God. [00:10:12] Speaker C: These guys pray like, every five minutes in this gathering. Yep. Unapologetically. Unapologetically. [00:10:20] Speaker A: So Jesus, he shows up, he sees that prophets being prioritized over prayer, starts flipping tables, starts clearing out those people who are trying to profit off the worship of God's people. And not only that, but in those moments, he's performing miracles. Like, I mean, he's miraculously healing people in spectacular ways, right? And he's teaching the crowds of people who are gathered, and he's teaching them about the kingdom of God. And so that's what happened. So these religious leaders, they show up, they're like, who gave you the authority to do that? Now, their question, it wasn't like a genuine question. It wasn't like, you know, I like Kevin's shirt. [00:11:02] Speaker C: Dude, where did you get that? I don't know where you got that. [00:11:04] Speaker A: They're not asking a question. [00:11:06] Speaker C: Cause they don't know they had a motive in asking this question. They're asking this question. They're trying to trap Jesus. One Bible commentator says this quote in asking. [00:11:24] Speaker A: Listen to this. In asking Jesus to identify his authority, those leaders probably hoped he would say, [00:11:30] Speaker C: as he had said many times before, [00:11:32] Speaker A: that he worked under the direct power [00:11:35] Speaker C: and authority of God, his heavenly father. That would give them another opportunity to [00:11:42] Speaker A: charge him with blasphemy and perhaps to [00:11:46] Speaker C: succeed in putting him to death for it. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Okay, so they got a motive here. They're trying to trap Jesus. They're trying to get him to, in their minds, blaspheme the Lord. And so they ask the question because they're trying to trap him. They want to charge him with blasphemy so they can get rid of him. So I want you to get the picture of what we just read again, like a scene in a movie. Get the picture. These religious leaders, they were the recognized spiritual authority of the Jewish people, right? They're the ones that are kind of like, in charge. They're the authority, Right. And so those who are in authority, they start challenging Jesus authority publicly. [00:12:22] Speaker C: You getting the picture? Let's keep reading. Verse 24. Jesus answered them. He's so brilliant. I will also ask you one question. And if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did John's baptism come from heaven or was it of human origin? Okay, pause for a second. The John that he's referring to, anybody know who it is? John the Baptist. Right. [00:12:54] Speaker A: So there's the apostle, John the disciple. [00:12:56] Speaker C: John wrote some of the New Testament, [00:12:58] Speaker A: one of the original 12. [00:12:59] Speaker C: That's not who we're talking about. We're talking about John the Baptist. Okay, John the Baptist. [00:13:03] Speaker A: Little kind of Bible review for you. John the Baptist was Jesus cousin. All right? John the Baptist was a man sent by God to be a prophetic forerunner that would be announcing the coming of the Messiah. [00:13:16] Speaker C: The Messiah is the Savior king, the promised savior of the people of God, right? [00:13:21] Speaker A: So John the Baptist, he's the one sent by God to be this prophetic messenger. The Messiah's coming, Messiah's coming, his kingdom, that Savior king, He's coming and his kingdom's near. It's getting closer, right? So John the Baptist, he shows up on the scene just before Jesus does. And he comes preaching a message. And people from all around come to hear this message that John the Baptist is preaching. He's a prophet. He's a prophet sent from God. And people. Whenever you encounter the words of God through a person, something happens in your spirit. You're like, oh, that's true. At the deepest core of reality. So that's what's happening here. Crowds are flocking to John the Baptist. He's preaching this message. Anybody remember what John the Baptist's message was? Yes, it was repent and be baptized, for the kingdom of God is near. It's coming close. It's almost here now. [00:14:14] Speaker C: We talk about repentance a lot. [00:14:16] Speaker A: It's important. [00:14:17] Speaker C: Simply. It means to turn away from sins, engaging in sin, turn away from sins, come the other way, come back to God. That's repentance, right? [00:14:26] Speaker A: Be baptized. [00:14:28] Speaker C: It was under the water, coming out [00:14:30] Speaker A: of the water, right? For John the Baptist, it represented spiritual cleansing. It was a new way of living your life. Right? [00:14:39] Speaker C: Now, side note, slightly different than Christian baptism. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Like, many of you got baptized on Easter. [00:14:45] Speaker C: Beautiful. Many of you have been baptized in the room. [00:14:48] Speaker A: Slightly different. [00:14:49] Speaker C: Okay. [00:14:49] Speaker A: John the Baptist's baptism was a pre resurrection baptism. [00:14:54] Speaker C: Okay. [00:14:55] Speaker A: It was a looking ahead to the coming of the Messiah, right? Christian Baptism is post resurrection. It's post resurrection. It's when we identify with Jesus death, [00:15:06] Speaker C: his burial, and his resurrection to new life. Okay, so I just want to you to get that distinction. They're similar, but they're different. [00:15:15] Speaker A: Okay, so John the Baptist prophetic message, repent, turn from your sins and embrace God's ways. [00:15:22] Speaker C: That's his message. [00:15:23] Speaker A: All right, now there's something else, something [00:15:26] Speaker C: really important that John the Baptist preached. It was this that guy, Jesus over there. [00:15:34] Speaker A: He's the Messiah, that savior king that's been prophesied for thousands of years. [00:15:42] Speaker C: There he is. That guy's the highest authority. He's God in the flesh. Okay, so again, get the picture. Jesus, he's confronted by these religious leaders. [00:15:57] Speaker A: They ask him, who gave you this authority to do all these things that we've seen you do that you're operating in? [00:16:04] Speaker C: Who do you think you are, essentially? And Jesus responds with, hey, I'll answer your question if you answer mine. Was John the Baptist's message from God or not? Keep reading verse 25. Did John's baptism come from heaven or was it of human origin? They, those religious leaders discussed it among themselves. If we say from heaven, he will say to us, then why didn't you believe him? [00:16:36] Speaker A: But if we say of human origin, [00:16:40] Speaker C: we're afraid of the crowd because everyone considers John to be a prophet. So they answered, jesus, we don't know. And he said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. That's our passage. Let's break it down. They respond to Jesus. Actually, let me ask you this. I want to see if you're engaged. What was their response to Jesus question? We don't know. [00:17:12] Speaker A: We don't know. [00:17:13] Speaker C: Okay? [00:17:14] Speaker A: That's a big deal. It's a big deal, and here's why. Cause these religious leaders, they would have been members of the Sanhedrin, okay? They would have been members of the Sanhedrin. That means it was their duty, it was their responsibility to distinguish between true and false prophets. It's literally like it's their duty, okay? It was their duty to help people discern what was from God and what wasn't from God. And they basically say, we're unable to make that distinction. [00:17:48] Speaker C: And this happens publicly, okay? [00:17:50] Speaker A: It's not the same. But I want you to understand kind [00:17:53] Speaker C: of what this is like. [00:17:53] Speaker A: I want you to imagine, what's your [00:17:56] Speaker C: cell phone carrier like? [00:17:57] Speaker A: What, Verizon at mobile. Picture your cell phone carrier right now. And I want you to imagine you take your phone and you walk into the store, you know, like the retail store, where you can go get help with your. They can try to sell you stuff, they can fix things, whatever. You walk into that store, okay, your Verizon store, your T Mobile store, maybe your AT&T store, and you're greeted by the store manager. You're greeted by the person who knows the most about that store, about that company, about how things operate. So you're like, okay, I'm in good hands. This is great. I see his name, Teddy, the store manager of Verizon. [00:18:30] Speaker C: Okay? [00:18:30] Speaker A: It's on his name tag. You walk in and you just go, hey, I got just a simple question for you. My phone here. Will this phone work on your network? Like, am I able to make calls and text messages and connect data? Am I able to do that on this network? [00:18:47] Speaker C: Mr. Verizon store manager? And they look you dead in the eye, and he says, I don't know. You'd be like, it's your job to know. [00:19:02] Speaker A: You're supposed to know. It says Verizon on your name tag. It says store manager on your name tag. What do you mean you don't know? [00:19:10] Speaker C: That's kind of what's happening here. [00:19:12] Speaker A: It's like, if you have a serious ailment in your heart, maybe you have, like, a heart attack. And you go to a cardiologist, which is a heart doctor, and you're like, hey, am I experiencing a heart attack? Like, what is this? [00:19:23] Speaker C: And they go, I don't know. What do you mean you don't know? [00:19:27] Speaker A: It's your job to know. It's your job to help me discern what's happening here. That's what's happening with these religious leaders. It was their duty to determine whether John the Baptist's message was from God or not. [00:19:40] Speaker C: And their reply is, we don't know. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Listen, everybody in that crowd, when they [00:19:46] Speaker C: heard that, they would have known exactly what just took place. Michael Green says this quote [00:19:56] Speaker A: that feeble [00:19:57] Speaker C: escapism is a transparent covering for their duplicity. [00:20:03] Speaker A: They know perfectly well that John came from God, but they do not dare admit it because their own lives would come under such justifiable criticism. [00:20:13] Speaker C: Listen to this. Theological agnosticism can cover moral disobedience. [00:20:19] Speaker A: There is a distressing lack of integrity [00:20:22] Speaker C: among these leaders of the temple because [00:20:24] Speaker A: of their admitted inability to assess John. [00:20:28] Speaker C: They implicitly confess their incompetence to judge [00:20:31] Speaker A: Jesus, whose mission and ministry are intertwined with John's. [00:20:34] Speaker C: Listen to this. Their lack of integrity has boomeranged. So these guys, they were the spiritual authority of their day. [00:20:51] Speaker A: They see Jesus operating in authority and power in incredible ways, and they don't [00:20:58] Speaker C: like that, so they try to trap him, and it backfires on them. [00:21:05] Speaker A: In doing so, Jesus, what he does [00:21:06] Speaker C: is he exposes both their incompetence and their lack of integrity. If you're taking notes, here's my first point for you. Earthly authority is no match for heavenly authority. Earthly authority is no match for heavenly authority. If you observe, most people. Most people spend at least one or [00:21:38] Speaker A: more season in their life leveraging all that they have, their energy, their resources, their money, their time, their talent, leveraging all they have to pursue, like striving for essentially obtaining earthly authority, whether it's [00:21:54] Speaker C: in the form of a role, a title, money. [00:22:01] Speaker A: We as people, we pursue these things because we want the, frankly, the earthly authority that those things can bring to us and empower us with. [00:22:12] Speaker C: But listen, I'm here to tell you, [00:22:14] Speaker A: earthly authority is absolutely no match for heavenly authority. There's an authority. [00:22:19] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:22:20] Speaker A: There's an authority that comes from man, okay? There's an authority that comes from man, and there's an authority that comes from God. [00:22:28] Speaker C: Hear me. [00:22:29] Speaker A: The authority that comes from other people, from man. [00:22:32] Speaker C: It's not necessarily bad. [00:22:35] Speaker A: It isn't bad at all. But the authority that comes from God, Hear me, Is significantly more powerful. It's more powerful. [00:22:45] Speaker C: Okay? I'll share a couple of examples with [00:22:49] Speaker A: you of how I've seen this play [00:22:51] Speaker C: out in my own life. When I was growing up in school, I had some good teachers, and I had some not so good teachers. Many of you in the room right [00:23:03] Speaker A: now, not many, but several of you are teachers. [00:23:05] Speaker C: And you're good teachers. I know full well, and I think [00:23:09] Speaker A: we would all agree, if you look [00:23:10] Speaker C: back on your time in school, your time in education, there were certainly teachers that were hugely influential in a positive way who really took the time to invest in you. And then there were some teachers that [00:23:24] Speaker A: just didn't give a rip. [00:23:25] Speaker C: They just liked having summers off, to be candid. [00:23:28] Speaker A: And I remember as I got older, I could kind of start to discern, like, what teachers were actually there because they. They cared about kids, and they. [00:23:35] Speaker C: And they. [00:23:36] Speaker A: And they had a passion for learning and education and developing the next generation. And then the ones that were like, [00:23:41] Speaker C: I just kind of want to be a football coach. And so I had a sidetrack. I'm gonna throw some shade at an old teacher. I had. I had a teacher, a math teacher in high school, and he was also a football coach. And this is literally what he would do every single day, he would walk in the room, he would write the problems and the page number on the book that we were supposed to do [00:24:04] Speaker A: and say, okay, here's the problems. [00:24:06] Speaker C: Here's the. Go for it. [00:24:07] Speaker A: And he would literally, like, leave the classroom. It was back in the day when [00:24:11] Speaker C: we had, like, telephones in the classroom. And he would take the phone, and it had one of those, you know, spiral cords to connect to it. He would take the phone. [00:24:20] Speaker A: He would literally go. He was right by the front, right by the door. He would take the phone, he'd go outside, close the door, and he would [00:24:26] Speaker C: just be on the phone with the other football coaches, like, the whole day. [00:24:29] Speaker A: So many kids failed math. [00:24:30] Speaker C: It was a joke. [00:24:31] Speaker A: I've had really great teachers, and I've had some really poor teachers. I remember in seventh grade math, I [00:24:37] Speaker C: had a poor teacher, like, not a good one. [00:24:41] Speaker A: And I remember I was getting a [00:24:43] Speaker C: bad grade in that class, and I [00:24:45] Speaker A: kind of was, like, I was kind [00:24:47] Speaker C: of going through a bit of a rebellious phase in life. And I remember the teacher had a conversation with me. [00:24:55] Speaker A: And because, frankly, I didn't have a whole lot of respect for the teacher, I actually recognized, okay, this teacher has authority. [00:25:02] Speaker C: But I remember that the teacher has [00:25:04] Speaker A: a conversation with me. Hey, your grade's not going so hot. [00:25:07] Speaker C: Like, you need to be aware that this is where you're at. So the teacher had a conversation with me, and then the progress report, the midterm progress report was sent home. And then my dad had a conversation [00:25:20] Speaker A: with me, and I just remember. [00:25:24] Speaker C: Actually, let me ask you this. [00:25:26] Speaker A: Which conversation do you think motivated me [00:25:28] Speaker C: more to improve my grade? Yeah, my dad. [00:25:35] Speaker A: Not because the teacher doesn't have authority, [00:25:39] Speaker C: but because earthly authority is no match for heavenly authority. [00:25:45] Speaker A: The authority of my teacher didn't have as much power in influencing me and motivating me. It didn't have as much power as the authority of my dad. Many of you guys, you know exactly [00:25:54] Speaker C: what I'm talking about. [00:25:55] Speaker A: The words of a father have a very unique power, don't they? [00:26:02] Speaker C: Like, some of you, some of the [00:26:05] Speaker A: most powerful moments in your life has [00:26:07] Speaker C: been your father and his words over you. And listen to me. Not just positively, sometimes, like harmfully. [00:26:20] Speaker A: And there's no perfect dads. [00:26:22] Speaker C: I'm not here to throw shade. If you're a dad in this room, I'm a dad. We all fall short, man. Big time. [00:26:29] Speaker A: But you know what I'm talking about when I talk about the power of the words of a father, It's a Unique thing. The words of a father are powerful. [00:26:38] Speaker C: Do you know why? Because the authority of a father comes from heaven. [00:26:48] Speaker A: God is the originator. He's the author of fatherhood. He's the author of families. He's the author of life. It's not just because there's a male in your household that you look up to. There's a unique thing that's happening there with each one of us at a soul level. It's an authority thing. [00:27:09] Speaker C: Earthly authority is no match for heavenly authority. [00:27:11] Speaker A: And I've even think I've seen it in my own life. I've seen it with my kids. I've seen where, like, dad hasn't used the best choice of words in a moment. And I've seen how it's caused a unique sting to my girls. And at the same token, I've seen how other words from other sources of authority in their life don't have near [00:27:29] Speaker C: as much power as the words of a father. [00:27:33] Speaker A: I've seen it happen. I haven't just seen it in, like, my relationship with my dad and my [00:27:37] Speaker C: relationship with my kids. I've seen it happen in ministry. I've seen it happen in my life. I've seen it happen in the church. I was looking through my prayer journals from way back in the day, and I found one that just brought back this memory of. It was January 15, 2015. So over 11 years ago. I wrote this journal entry because I had come home from. I was leading worship at a church in la, at an event at a church in la. [00:28:12] Speaker A: And it was a really powerful time. It was really beautiful. [00:28:16] Speaker C: It was really good. God did a lot. And I remember, I finish up the time of leading worship. I come down off of the stage, I walk to the back of the. I think I'm walking to the sound booth or something, and an older man stops me. And you know when someone. [00:28:38] Speaker A: You know, like when you have an encounter with someone and you can tell by the look in their eye, like [00:28:42] Speaker C: something's about to go down. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Like, this isn't just a casual encounter. This is like there's something happening here. [00:28:52] Speaker C: I instantly saw that in his face. And he comes up to me and he goes. And I knew who he was. [00:29:00] Speaker A: He wasn't some random guy. [00:29:01] Speaker C: He was a. [00:29:02] Speaker A: Frankly, he was a church father. He was a very godly man. Very, like, seasoned, experienced, trustworthy guy. [00:29:11] Speaker C: South African guy. He comes up to me and he goes. Looks me dead in the eye. He goes, I have to deliver something to you. And he goes, you're gonna hand over leading Worship. And he goes, God's gonna pour out an authority on your life. And I remember when he said it, I was like, nah. [00:29:38] Speaker A: Like, this is my thing. [00:29:41] Speaker C: Like, that's what I do for a living. And my passion, I lead work. That's what I do. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Like, I had no conceivable concept that [00:29:50] Speaker C: that was gonna be something that would be coming off of my, like, plate, if you will. [00:29:55] Speaker A: I had passion for it, I had zeal for it. I had gifting for it, ability for it, plenty of opportunity for it. It was like, this doesn't add up. This isn't making sense. And I just remember kinda. I just. I didn't really believe him, but I remember it happened. [00:30:10] Speaker C: And I remember he shared that I didn't really believe it. And then something started to happen. Like, [00:30:20] Speaker A: I started getting invited to preach more often. [00:30:24] Speaker C: And I was like, okay, this is interesting. And what was more interesting is that [00:30:29] Speaker A: afterwards, people would come up to me and they would tell me things that felt kind of like, beyond. Just like when you do a good job or beyond when you feel good and maybe fulfilled by your contribution or your service, people would come up to me and they would say, like, with [00:30:45] Speaker C: tears in their eyes, and they'd say things like this. I felt God's authority through you, and I just needed to tell you. And I remember being like, whoa. [00:30:59] Speaker A: And then people would come in, they'd say things like, there's an authority when you preach. [00:31:05] Speaker C: And it started to happen, like, regularly, [00:31:08] Speaker A: to the point where I was like, okay, I get it. I hear you. I'm paying attention because I had plans for my life, I had a trajectory for my life. I had desires, I had what I wanted to do, what made sense to me. Next thing I know, I'm preaching more, [00:31:24] Speaker C: I'm leading worship less. And it just kind. I'm just stewing on that. [00:31:28] Speaker A: God kept bringing me back to that [00:31:29] Speaker C: encounter with that man. You're going to hand over leading worship? God's going to pour an authority out on your life. And, guys, I literally witnessed, like, this is not a. I hope you don't hear. Please don't misunderstand what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to, like, puff myself up. I want you to know how God has intervened and hijacked my life because he's a higher authority than I am. I literally began to witness the effect [00:31:59] Speaker A: that heavenly authority had on people that [00:32:02] Speaker C: I was preaching to. [00:32:04] Speaker A: It was way beyond me. [00:32:07] Speaker C: Listen, earthly authority isn't bad. It's important, but it's no match for Heavenly authority. When heavenly authority shows up, earthly authority, [00:32:18] Speaker A: it cowers not because it's bad, but because there's a higher authority. And I was thinking about this week [00:32:27] Speaker C: and I don't know, I just want to maybe just want to be vulnerable with you and candid and maybe just [00:32:30] Speaker A: a little more personal. Like, [00:32:34] Speaker C: I know my role comes with spiritual authority. I know it does. It's not because I'm the smartest. Many of you are way smarter than I am. It's not because I'm the most gifted the gifts in this room. It's not because of any of that. It's from God. [00:33:05] Speaker A: And listen, if I don't steward it [00:33:08] Speaker C: well, he rightfully so, will give it away. He'll take it away. He'll remove it from me. Guys, heavenly authority is not about the person operating in it. It's about the God who is the source of it. The reason I'm camping out here is because I think God's on about something with us. Listen to me. Earthly authority is no match for heavenly authority. Friend, are you so busy pursuing things [00:33:42] Speaker A: that would give you earthly authority that [00:33:44] Speaker C: you're missing out on the heavenly authority that God desires to entrust to you? I already talked about. Do you have any idea the plans that he has for you? [00:33:57] Speaker A: The ways that he desires to empower you with his spirit to do things that earthly authority, earthly roles, earthly resources, they can't possibly achieve. They can't possibly, like, carry out the plans that he has for you. You need, like a. Like a heavenly authority that comes with a heavenly power to do things you never thought you could do. To see fruit get bared on the earth, to see things happen on the earth around you, in you, through you, that you never thought could ever happen. Like, the reason I bring this up is like, I just don't want any of us. [00:34:34] Speaker C: I'm actually, I'm going to talk to you. I'm going to get passionate with you. [00:34:37] Speaker A: I don't want you to settle. I don't want you to settle. I don't want you to settle with anything less than what God has for you. Because you take a average, normal person, broken sinner, you fill them with God's spirit, and you deploy them with heavenly authority to go execute God's will. Watch out. Like, nothing can stop you, Hear me? Not even death. All of the early disciples that followed Jesus, that gave their lives because they didn't denounce Jesus and they were preaching the gospel, were in this room. Two thousand years later, they all died. But the message, the authority that God gave them the heavenly authority. The message of the gospel, it's still going forth. I just say that because I don't [00:35:29] Speaker C: want anybody in the room to settle. God's got a plan for your life, man. [00:35:33] Speaker A: He wants to fill you with a heavenly authority that transcends any earthly authority, any earthly role to accomplish things you [00:35:42] Speaker C: never thought in the world that you would be included in. I'm telling you, it's my story. He's got a plan for your life. And I just think we settle for so much less than what God desires to give us. Where am I? Okay, so when these religious leaders, when [00:36:00] Speaker A: they said, we don't know, [00:36:03] Speaker C: we don't know, how many of you know, they weren't exactly being honest, were they? The truth was, they had already rejected John the Baptist's message, right? [00:36:14] Speaker A: Jesus is like, hey, it was John the Baptist's message. Was it from God or not? [00:36:18] Speaker C: We don't know. They had already rejected John the Baptist's message. Which was what? Repent, Right? [00:36:27] Speaker A: They'd already rejected turning from their sins and repentance and baptism. The truth of the matter was they [00:36:33] Speaker C: believed John the Baptist was probably a false prophet, right? [00:36:38] Speaker A: But they didn't say it because they didn't want to go against public opinion. [00:36:45] Speaker C: Instead, they withhold. [00:36:47] Speaker A: Get the picture? Instead, they withhold the truth. [00:36:51] Speaker C: Why? Here's why. Because they knew disclosing the truth would cost them something. Do you know what it is? Look back at verse 25, Jesus, did John's baptism come from heaven, or was [00:37:13] Speaker A: it of human origin? [00:37:14] Speaker C: They discussed it among themselves. [00:37:16] Speaker A: If we say from heaven, he will [00:37:17] Speaker C: say to us, then why didn't you believe him? [00:37:19] Speaker A: Verse 26. But if we say of human origin. Here it is. We're afraid of the crowd because everyone considers John to be a prophet. [00:37:27] Speaker C: So they answered, Jesus, we don't know. Do you see what it is? [00:37:32] Speaker A: Power. [00:37:34] Speaker C: Stewart K. Weber, Bible theologian, says this quote, if the leaders publicly rejected God's prophet, John the Baptist, the people would [00:37:44] Speaker A: recognize them as phonies and they would lose their influence. [00:37:49] Speaker C: End quote. [00:37:52] Speaker A: You got to see what's going on here. These religious leaders, they withheld the truth because the truth would have cost them the power that came with their earthly authority, their role as spiritual leaders, it came with some authority. [00:38:07] Speaker C: Now, if you assess the Scriptures here, [00:38:09] Speaker A: the way they operate is very earthly. They knew that the truth would cost them the power that came with their earthly authority. Hear me. They sacrificed the truth in order to maintain power. [00:38:30] Speaker C: Are you familiar with power? I think when we talk about power, I Think our minds drift to like kings, presidents, people in charge, [00:38:47] Speaker A: Rightfully so. [00:38:50] Speaker C: But man, oh, man, it's so much more than that. [00:38:56] Speaker A: Power is what Tim Keller calls a deep idol. [00:39:00] Speaker C: You guys familiar with this concept? Many of you are a deep idol, right? [00:39:04] Speaker A: An idol is just something that you [00:39:05] Speaker C: worship that isn't God. [00:39:08] Speaker A: So there can be all sorts of good, glorious, wonderful things in life that are worth attention, they're worth investing in, they're worth enjoying, but they are not to be worshiped. [00:39:19] Speaker C: When I say worship, I mean ascribe ultimate worth, right? [00:39:22] Speaker A: So an idol is just anything that takes God's place in your heart, Anything that's elevated above God in your heart, Anything that we worship above God. And Keller describes how there are surface idols and deep idols. [00:39:36] Speaker C: All right, so let me illustrate this for you. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Surface idols would be things like money or possessions or relationships, right? Your spouse, your kids, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friend that you think is really, really cool, like, whatever, right? Your job, it could be your career, it could be whatever, right? Surface idols are the visible things that we pursue, the things that we obsess over, the things that we depend on for happiness and fulfillment. [00:40:06] Speaker C: Okay, Those are surface idols. Deep idols are different. [00:40:11] Speaker A: Deep idols are the idols that are, [00:40:14] Speaker C: like, underneath those things, [00:40:17] Speaker A: right? The deep idols are the heart motives that drive you, the heart motives that drive us. [00:40:25] Speaker C: Think of it this way. [00:40:26] Speaker A: Surface level idols are the what. [00:40:30] Speaker C: Deep idols are the why. Okay? [00:40:34] Speaker A: So deep idols are things like approval, they're things like control, things like comfort, [00:40:45] Speaker C: and things like power. The religious leaders sacrificed the truth in order to maintain and protect power. Now, again, like, I already kinda mentioned this. I think power is more than you think it is [00:41:09] Speaker A: the deep idol of power. [00:41:10] Speaker C: It's happening deep inside. [00:41:13] Speaker A: So the deep idol of power is like the desire for influence. It's the desire for success. It's the desire to win. It's the desire to control outcomes. [00:41:28] Speaker C: So if you ever find yourself feeling angry or frustrated when you experience opposition, that's called parenting. But really, what that is, all jokes aside, when you experience anger or frustration, when you experience opposition, it's really an unmet desire for power. But please let misunderstand. Power is like money. It's not, like, bad in and of itself. But hear me, it certainly can be. Power is certainly a bad thing when it's worshipped, when it becomes an idol, [00:42:18] Speaker A: when it becomes the thing that you want more. So much so that you'll sacrifice the [00:42:24] Speaker C: way of Jesus to get it. And that's exactly what's going on with these religious leaders. How do we know? [00:42:34] Speaker A: Because they sacrifice the truth in order to protect the deep idol of their heart power. [00:42:43] Speaker C: Now, hear me. It's not just these guys. It's not just these religious leaders. It happens anywhere and everywhere. There are people. The human heart. It's been said that the human heart is an idol factory. Why? [00:42:59] Speaker A: Because we were created to worship. You're always worshiping. Like, there's never been a moment where [00:43:06] Speaker C: you're alive that you're not worshiping. The question is, what is the object of your worship? When it's not your maker, when it's not the lover of your soul, when it's not your father in heaven and his spirit and his son in perfect unity, it's an idol. It's something else. That's idolatry, right? But this idea of sacrificing the truth in order to protect this deep idol of power, it happens anywhere that there's people get this. It happens in the church, bro. [00:43:43] Speaker A: It happens in the church. One of the things that's been simultaneously I can rejoice and grieve over is just the sheer amount of church leaders that are being exposed right now for [00:43:53] Speaker C: the ways that they have been abusive to people. [00:43:55] Speaker A: Are you guys. [00:43:56] Speaker C: Are you guys seeing this? [00:43:57] Speaker A: It's like, ugh. It makes me like, yeah, that's. They need to be exposed. But it also makes me grieve. I'm like, I'm a church leader, man. Like, what are you doing, bro? You're making it harder for everybody. And then just the sheer pain and suffering and trouble that it causes for people. But I think the thing that makes me the most angry is that it's not every time, but oftentimes you read news headlines, and it's like the length that people have gone to to cover those things up. [00:44:32] Speaker C: What? [00:44:32] Speaker A: Covering up abuse in the church? Why? [00:44:35] Speaker C: To protect their reputation, friends. Do you see it? [00:44:41] Speaker A: Like, it's sacrificing the truth in order to protect a deep idol of power? It's the same thing happens in the church, dude. It happens in social circles, happens in the workplace, no doubt. We could tell stories in this room of people who have been on the receiving end of this kind of fleshing out in your workplace with your team or your boss, right? You ever been there? Someone at work takes credit for someone else's idea. You're sitting in the room and you're [00:45:09] Speaker C: like, they have more seniority than me. [00:45:12] Speaker A: Dang it. But that was me. [00:45:14] Speaker C: What's going on there, dude? [00:45:17] Speaker A: Who stole that person's idea, wants their career to advance. They want the promotion. [00:45:24] Speaker C: So what's happening? [00:45:25] Speaker A: They're sacrificing the truth in order to protect the deep idol of. [00:45:29] Speaker C: I want to control the outcome of things. Do you see this? It's everywhere. [00:45:37] Speaker A: I think one of the ways where it's. Honestly, it grieves me pastorally. [00:45:41] Speaker C: It's one of the reasons I can't go on there is just social media. [00:45:47] Speaker A: Social media used to just be like, [00:45:50] Speaker C: I don't know, fairly innocent. And now it just feels like it's completely out of control. But you go on social. This has happened to me. I can think back several years ago where this happened in succession with multiple people that I was trying to walk and kind of shepherd them and care for them through some different things. And here's what was the common denominator was I'd be walking with a person [00:46:12] Speaker A: or a couple and they'd be in [00:46:14] Speaker C: just a really hard space in life, [00:46:16] Speaker A: like suffering with anxiety, really struggling with depression. There'd be times when couples would be on the verge of divorce. They're throwing it around. They're seriously thinking about it, like, they'd [00:46:28] Speaker C: be in it, but you'd have absolutely no idea. If you go on their social media, every post would be like, just living my best life. [00:46:36] Speaker A: Everything's amazing. Look how curated my perfect life is. And meanwhile, as a pastor, I'm going, [00:46:43] Speaker C: I know it's really, really hard for them right now. [00:46:47] Speaker A: I know that couple hasn't spoken to one another in, like, weeks. I know they're on the verge of divorce. Here's me with my boo thang. Happy anniversary. [00:46:57] Speaker C: You're like, what is going on here? [00:47:03] Speaker A: It's hard because I'm like, I'm watching this person's suffering and I love them. [00:47:10] Speaker C: What's happening, It's a facade. [00:47:14] Speaker A: It's a facade to cover up the [00:47:16] Speaker C: reality of the weakness they feel. Same thing. [00:47:23] Speaker A: It's sacrificing the truth in order to [00:47:25] Speaker C: protect the deep idol of power. Listen, it is so easy for us to criticize these bogus religious leaders. So easy to criticize them. [00:47:36] Speaker A: But I'd bet, I'd be willing to [00:47:38] Speaker C: bet a lot of money that at [00:47:41] Speaker A: a heart level, every single one of [00:47:42] Speaker C: us in this room, myself included, is guilty of the very same thing. I think power is more than you think it is. Friend. Question. Do you ever find yourself sacrificing the truth? Do you ever find yourself, I don't know, watering it down? [00:48:07] Speaker A: I'm just going to sacrifice the truth a little bit. Just going to water it down a little bit. Just to kind of get the upper hand in this situation or just to kind of fit in or just to kind of bolster, you know, your reputation, your resume a little bit. Just to kind of COVID up some of those weaknesses, you know? [00:48:26] Speaker C: Please hear my heart. If that's you, you gotta know there's a deep idol of power that you're trying to protect. There's a deep idol of power that you're worshipping. And that's what we see with these religious leaders. And Jesus is brilliant. He knows it. Note takers. My next point is this. Idolatry requires liars. Happy Sunday. Idolatry requires liars. Listen to me. [00:49:25] Speaker A: Idolatry is when you worship things other than God. Idolatry requires that you inevitably sacrifice the truth about reality, the truth about you, the truth about God, and the truth about what is worthy of your worship. At its core, idolatry is the exchange of truth for a lie. Think about this. Get the picture? It's the exchange of truth for a lie. That's what the Apostle Paul says In Romans, chapter one. Will you guys throw verse 18 up there? I'm gonna go to 18 and then 25. This is what Paul says in Romans, chapter one, verse 18. [00:50:01] Speaker C: Listen to this. [00:50:02] Speaker A: For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their righteousness suppress the. [00:50:12] Speaker C: Okay, so there's a suppression of the truth. [00:50:14] Speaker A: What he's doing is he's describing those who embrace idolatry, those who are embracing ascribing ultimate worth to things other than God. And then he continues, in verse 25, he says this. [00:50:22] Speaker C: They, those people, us and everybody ever lived. [00:50:26] Speaker A: They exchanged the truth of God for [00:50:29] Speaker C: a lie and worshiped and served what [00:50:34] Speaker A: has been created, idols instead of the [00:50:38] Speaker C: Creator who is praised forever. Amen. Idolatry requires liars. [00:50:43] Speaker A: It requires liars. If you read John, chapter 8, Jesus uses this profound. He uses this profound phrase to describe Satan, to describe the devil, to describe the enemy of your soul, the spiritual being who is working overtime and has been for millennia to try to separate [00:51:00] Speaker C: you from your maker. Okay? [00:51:03] Speaker A: He calls Satan the father of lies, the father of lies. These religious leaders, in this passage that we're reading today, they sacrifice truth on the altar of their idolatry, okay? Whether they realized it or not, they were part. [00:51:24] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:51:24] Speaker A: They were participating in Satan's agenda. [00:51:29] Speaker C: What? The suppression of truth and the spreading of lies. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Do you realize what idolatry actually does to all of creation? Do you realize what it spreads? [00:51:42] Speaker C: The suppression of truth and the spreading of lies. [00:51:46] Speaker A: Here's my caution to you. The reason I felt like God wanted [00:51:49] Speaker C: to do something is because I feel [00:51:50] Speaker A: the fear of the Lord in my [00:51:51] Speaker C: life, guys, and I feel it for our church. I want to caution you this morning. If we aren't careful. Please hear me. If we aren't careful, we can find ourselves in the same exact places that these religious leaders found themselves. It's not just for the pastor. It's not just for the elder. It's not just for the deacon, the staff, the leader of the church. It's for the human being, the human heart. Idolatry requires liars. Okay, I'm running out of time. I'm going to close with this band. Would you come up? You guys with me still? Okay, great. [00:52:34] Speaker A: So what we're going to do in the next few sermons in this series is what's about to take place in [00:52:40] Speaker C: this passage or in this chapter in [00:52:42] Speaker A: Matthew is Jesus is gonna tell three parables to try to help illustrate the reality of kingdom authority and what the implications are for people who follow God. Right? He's gonna give three parables. We're gonna. [00:52:54] Speaker C: I don't have time to cover those today. [00:52:55] Speaker A: I wish I did, but we're gonna cover those in the next few weeks. [00:52:57] Speaker C: What I wanna do in my closing [00:52:59] Speaker A: here is I wanna close by giving [00:53:01] Speaker C: you my biggest takeaway from this passage. [00:53:04] Speaker A: Here's the thing that I've been sitting with this week more than anything else, as I've been trying to study this and trying to let God's word, like, transform my heart, my mind, my life, so that he can do his transforming life not just in me, but through me. [00:53:18] Speaker C: I want him to get his way. I want his kingdom to come in me and through me. Right? That's what we all want. And here's what it is. Here's the biggest takeaway for me. And it all centers around Jesus authority. [00:53:30] Speaker A: Because I think that the central, like the hinge point for a human's life is what they do when they are confronted with the authority of Jesus. [00:53:38] Speaker C: Here's what it is. [00:53:40] Speaker A: Jesus authority is a threat to those [00:53:43] Speaker C: who oppose him, but his authority is a tremendous blessing to those who embrace Him. [00:53:51] Speaker A: It's a threat to those who oppose that authority. Hey, I'll recognize your authority in some way, shape or form, but I'm not going to implement your authority in some of the areas of my life or any of the areas of my life. Jesus authority is a threat to that human heart. [00:54:13] Speaker C: At the exact same time, Jesus authority is a blessing A tremendous blessing to those who embrace Him. [00:54:23] Speaker A: Like, are you able to connect those dots? Are you able to see that in, like, the. Both the macro of your life and the micro, like, the big picture of your life and the tiny little details of your life? His authority is a threat because it confronts the deep idols of our heart. You're never gonna engage with God without him going, hey, I love you. I'm for you. I bled for you. I died for you. You are so. You are infinitely valuable to me. But there's that idol. There's that idol in your heart that, like, it's still there. I'm the only one worthy of your worship. Do you realize he's jealous? [00:55:08] Speaker C: Like, wake up to this for a second. [00:55:10] Speaker A: Do you realize he's jealous for you? [00:55:18] Speaker C: Confession, ladies. Sometimes imperfect men who really, really love [00:55:29] Speaker A: you and care about you in an [00:55:30] Speaker C: imperfect way, sometimes they get jealous about that girl. Earthly men do it inappropriately sometimes and imperfectly. No doubt. How many of you know Jesus is jealous for his girl? His church, his bride? You. He wants you. He doesn't want to share you with nobody. [00:55:58] Speaker A: Men. [00:55:58] Speaker C: I'm talking to you, too. It's not just for the ladies. [00:56:01] Speaker A: He's jealous for you. [00:56:03] Speaker C: He wants you. [00:56:05] Speaker A: He wants your heart. He wants to see you thrive. He wants you to step into everything that he's created you. To step into the good works that he's prepared in advance for you to do the spectacular things that you never thought possible. This isn't like health, wealth creeping into the message right now. This isn't like, good. You know, I'm serious with this one. Examine the scriptures. Examine the lives of people who said yes to Jesus. They went on to do literally, like, historical great things. They altered the course of history. Uneducated fishermen, prostitutes, tax collectors. Paul was essentially. He was essentially kind of operating like a terrorist. [00:56:53] Speaker C: I feel his spirit. [00:56:54] Speaker A: Like, do you have any idea what God can do if you say yes to him? If you give yourself over to him? His authority is a threat because he confronts those deep idols of our heart. But I want you to consider for a second what the core of Jesus message is and will be. The core of Jesus message is the invitation, Good God, the gracious invitation to repent. Hey. That idolatry, that sin. Turn away. [00:57:22] Speaker C: Come back to me. Come back to me. [00:57:27] Speaker A: That. That's the core of the message of the gospel, of the kingdom of God. Sacrifice those idols. [00:57:37] Speaker C: Worship him instead. [00:57:40] Speaker A: Listen, these religious leaders weren't willing to do that. Are you? [00:57:46] Speaker C: Are you? To the degree that you are, you will Experience the joy of forgiveness and love that nothing else on the planet can compare to. [00:57:58] Speaker A: When you as a person come to grips with your brokenness and going, like, I don't deserve. I don't deserve the faithfulness of God. I don't deserve his grace. I don't deserve his mercy. I've blown it time and time again in ways that nobody else can see. But I know it happens in here. And yet he still, with grace and love and mercy and the authority that can come from heaven, goes, I know I love you the same. [00:58:24] Speaker C: Come back to me. You felt that. It'll change your life. It'll absolutely transform your life. Jesus authority is a threat to those who oppose him. But his authority is a blessing to those who embrace him. His desire is to bless you, that it might go well with you, that you might thrive, not give in to the lies about you, about him, about the world, about what's worthy of worship, about what's supreme, about what's life giving, about your purpose. Let me just prove it to you in God's word that his authority is a blessing to those who embrace him. If you were in the prayer room with me on Tuesday, this will be familiar. Psalm 19, verses 7 through 10. Just listen to this and ask yourself if you actually believe it. This is the word Lord of the Lord. The instruction of the Lord is perfect. Renewing one's life. You need to feel renewed. You need to feel like, cleansed. The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. You need wisdom. Maybe you're facing something. I need wisdom. I got an idea for you. Verse 8. The precepts. Precepts is like a rule. Like rules. [01:00:30] Speaker A: The precepts of the Lord are right, [01:00:32] Speaker C: making the heart glad. The command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. I picture that man who confronted me in the back of the room after leading worship and had that word for me. Picture his eyes, how radiant they were. God gave him a command. God gave him instructions and he followed through. And I could see, I could look back and go, oh, that was happening. And the ripple effects of that undeniable verse 9. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances. [01:01:03] Speaker A: Ordinances are like judgments. [01:01:06] Speaker C: Think like courtroom. The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. Listen to this. They are more desirable than gold. An abundance of pure gold and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. Friends, Jesus authority is a blessing to those who embrace him. Is Jesus authority a blessing in your life? Or is it a threat? Is it something that you delightfully yield to because you're like, nobody loves me. Like Jesus, he proved it for me. [01:01:50] Speaker A: He lived the perfect life that I ever could. In my place, he died the death that I deserve. On the cross, he rose again, displaying his power and his authority to do so. His power and authority over sin, Satan, and death. No one's more trustworthy than him. [01:02:04] Speaker C: So. [01:02:05] Speaker A: And I know that he loves me, and I know that he has profound plans for my life because I relate to God as father, because of what Jesus Christ has done for me. If you're in that space, you go, yeah, whatever you tell me to do, because you know better than I do, and you have my best interest at heart, because you're the perfect father. Like, if you're in that space, like, yeah, there's nothing I won't say yes to, Lord, because your authority is such [01:02:23] Speaker C: a blessing in my life, or is it a threat? Please stand with me if you're able. If you're on the prayer team this morning, would you make your way to the front? Every week, we have trusted men and [01:02:50] Speaker A: women, trained men and women who would love to pray for you. [01:02:54] Speaker C: That's about to. We're about to make that available right now. Listen, maybe you're here this. [01:02:59] Speaker A: This morning, and, like, God's poking at [01:03:02] Speaker C: you, some of you men. [01:03:04] Speaker A: Maybe he's poking at you, some of you ladies. Maybe he's just, like, lovingly, affirmingly, kind of like, spiritually kind of brushing the hair out of. Out of your. Out of your face. [01:03:12] Speaker C: And it's like, my girl, like, I need to get your attention with something right now. [01:03:17] Speaker A: There's a deep idol in your heart [01:03:19] Speaker C: that's gonna harm you. It's gonna keep you from intimacy with me. It's gonna keep you from realizing the reality of my love for you and my plans for you. Maybe you're here this morning, and if you're honest, you need to sacrifice an idol. You need to lay that thing on the altar, light it up, and let it burn. If that's you, maybe. Let me say this. Maybe you're here. You just need to. First of all, you just need to confess it. [01:03:46] Speaker A: It's eating you alive. I need to confess this. Get it out, bring it into the light. I'm not gonna ask you to come up here and put on a face [01:03:53] Speaker C: mic and do that, but you can [01:03:55] Speaker A: come to a trusted brother or assistant [01:03:56] Speaker C: and go, I got this. [01:03:57] Speaker A: I see it. The spirit of God is putting a spotlight on my heart, and he's revealing this idol, this deep idol in Me, that's like, it's controlling me. At times it hijacks my flesh and makes me want to do things that I know aren't good. Or you're so deceived that you think [01:04:13] Speaker C: they are good, exchanging the truth for a lie. [01:04:17] Speaker A: But either way, maybe you're here and you just need to light that idol on fire, let it burn. [01:04:21] Speaker C: If that's you, come receive prayer. [01:04:23] Speaker A: Experience the freedom of God. Jesus wants to forgive you. [01:04:26] Speaker C: He died. [01:04:27] Speaker A: He laid his life down to be a sacrifice for every single form of idolatry you would ever engage in. [01:04:33] Speaker C: He loves you. He wants to free you. Maybe you need to sacrifice an idol. [01:04:36] Speaker A: Maybe you need to deliver your worship back to Jesus alone. [01:04:41] Speaker C: If that's you, come receive prayer. [01:04:43] Speaker A: If you're here and you're like, I've actually never, I've never actually handed over the, the authority of the entirety of [01:04:49] Speaker C: my life to Jesus. [01:04:50] Speaker A: Maybe you're here, like, I acknowledge that he's real. Like, I, I, I, I, I think I, I think that the Bible is true. I think that what Jesus did is real. I think it credits to other people. But there's still areas of your heart, areas of your life that you have not handed over and said, I want your heavenly authority to call the shots in my life. I'm done with this earthly authority. It doesn't have the same power that you possess Jesus. If you're in that space, you're like, I've actually never done that. You could do that. Right now, Jesus is waiting for you. He's calling you. He's beckoning you. He's saying, I want to be the Lord of your life. I want to save you from the idolatry that's going to destroy you both in this life [01:05:28] Speaker C: and when this life comes to completion. When you stand before God, if that's [01:05:30] Speaker A: you, receive the free gift of grace. Come receive prayer. If you're here and you're like, I'm settling for an earthly authority, like I've been pursuing these roles, these resources, these things that can only get me so far because I love that feeling of power and authority that it gives me. But it's fleeting, it's void, it's empty. It's actually not. [01:05:51] Speaker C: It's no match for heavenly authority. [01:05:53] Speaker A: If you're here and you're settling for earthly authority to fuel those deep idols of your heart, you can repent. You can turn away from that and experience the grace and forgiveness of Jesus [01:06:02] Speaker C: and be empowered by his spirit this morning, you can do that. If that's you Come, receive prayer. Let me pray over us. Father, I just humbly come before you and I just. I ask you, [01:06:16] Speaker A: change us. [01:06:18] Speaker C: There are things about us that are spectacular. [01:06:22] Speaker A: Your fingerprints are all over every single one of us. [01:06:26] Speaker C: Inside, outside, the way that you've made us. Let us not be the clay that resists the hands of the potter, I [01:06:36] Speaker A: pray, but let us be the kind [01:06:39] Speaker C: of people, the kind of clay that goes, yes, mold me, shape me however you want, because you make beautiful things, spectacular things. [01:06:49] Speaker A: You're the greatest creator, you're the greatest artist. You can take the clay that's been beat up. You can take the clay that's been discarded. Some of you. I have talked about the words of a father earlier in my sermon, and it pricked your heart. Some of you, the clay, the damage, the crack in your clay, the cla, the crack in your pottery is the words that have been spoken over you by your dad. And you have a higher. You have a higher father who loves you. He's a higher authority, a heavenly authority. And you need to hear from him, not from me, not from some goofy, gray haired pastor on a platform. You need to hear directly from him this morning of your value, because it will transform you, it will make you new, it will empower you and to be the person he's created you to be. If that's you, come receive prayer. I just pray, Father, right now, that [01:07:34] Speaker C: we would yield to you and that [01:07:36] Speaker A: you would mold us and make us [01:07:37] Speaker C: into the people that you've made us to be. Your authority is best. [01:07:41] Speaker A: I pray it over us. I pray it over my own life. I pray against pride. I pray against arrogance. I pray against idolatry. [01:07:49] Speaker C: And I thank you for the incredible, [01:07:52] Speaker A: joyful good news that your invitation still stands. Turn away from it and come back to me. I, for one, I'm coming back to you, Jesus, time and time again, there's nobody like you. [01:08:01] Speaker C: You're the only one worthy of my worship. You're the only one worthy of our worship. Would we respond in faith? And would we experience the pleasure of the affirmation, the forgiveness, the unending love of our Father in heaven? We love you. We look to you now. Have your way among us. We pray. Amen. Okay, we have about 10ish minutes. We're gonna fill this room with praise in response to God's grace and goodness. If you want to come receive prayer, you can do so at any time. These people would love to pray for you. I love you. Thanks for putting up with me preaching a little bit longer this morning. Let's enjoy him.