The Opponents of the King Luke 19:45-48

For announcements prayer meeting tonight at 6 our missionary of the month is Jack and Bev McMahon From New Zealand and you can read more about them on the back there and also in your bulletin

Next Bible study is Wednesday the 3rd this week the 3rd at 5 30 p .m There will be no men's breakfast in July.

We're kind of taking the summer off Summer Greek class is on the 6th at 930

Summer church gathering just mark your calendar in August. It's the first Sunday afternoon after service at the

Huffman's and Lunch is provided and all those good things and you can read up more about it

And I think that's it for announcement just before we go to the Lord in prayer. I just wanted to share a psalm

We've been going through the psalms in the morning Sunday mornings pastors been doing an amazing job of that and a couple weeks ago psalm 98 and it's a

It's a kind of a three -part psalm. The initial part is the deliverance of his people.

The middle part is the worship of God and then it concludes with the restoration

Which is yet to come or in glory and I wanted to read Just the the middle part which is worship.

That's our time when we know the Lord This is what we're due to our we are to do until we get to glory

Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth break forth in song rejoice and sing praises

Sing to the Lord with harp with the harp in the sound of a psalm with trumpets and and the sound of a horn shout joyfully before the

Lord the King and it's just Putting our hearts in that mode of rejoicing with Thanksgiving with from a place of humility

That's what our God deserves that's what he would expect of us because of His holiness and so let's go to the

Lord in prayer Lord God, we thank you father that you have brought us here together to worship together as believers

Lord when we can lift our voices when we can sing songs of praise and Thanksgiving we can hear your word preached and taught father.

We thank you that we are Your children father and we thank you for faith

Bible Church that you have placed it on the hearts of people here to to Follow the word to follow you father in in truth and God that we won't add anything

External anything worldly to our worship to our our process of growing and being sanctified.

That would be Living according to your word. So God this morning we pray for Kim Lord that you would heal her body father give the doctor's wisdom as they determine what's

Going on in her body father and we just pray that she would find rest in you father and as well as for Kevin God we pray for Continued recovery for Wayne and his surgery father.

Thank you and give you praise for for that miraculous incredible outcome

Lord that he went through is going through and we Pray for Ramaya and Modestus Chioma.

What a blessing she is as a new father Addition to your kingdom

Lord and we thank you that you brought her into this world father We pray for the parents that they would bring her up in the admonition of you father

So God today we rejoice in all things. We thank you that we might show the love of Christ to one another and That you would be glorified in all that we do father

So Lord go before us as we prepare our hearts now in song and we give you praise in Jesus name.

Amen Right The scripture reading this morning is from Jeremiah chapter 7 verses 5 through 11

That's Jeremiah chapter 7 verses 5 through 11

For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor

If ye oppress not the stranger the fatherless and The widow and shed not innocent blood in this place

Neither walk After other gods to your hurt Then will

I cause you to dwell in this place in the land that I gave to your father's forever and ever

Behold he trusts in lying words that cannot profit Will you steal murder and commit adultery and swear falsely?

and burn incense incense unto Baal And walk after other gods whom ye know not and Come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say

We are delivered to do all these abominations Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes?

Behold, even I have seen it sayeth the Lord The Lord had his blessing to the reading of his word

And In which we

Christ our hope

What God is

God is good Where is his praise? and goodness known in our great

Redeemer's blood who holds our pain when fears arise

Who stands above? The stormy trial who sends the waves that bring us night unto the shore the rock of Christ Oh Oh Jesus calls you

Jesus draws you To bring us peace

Tender shepherd mighty Savior rest in Sure Oh So come come to Jesus and rest in Are you hopeless?

Are you guilty caught in shame for all your sin?

He pursues you Forgive you He has paid for every failure mercy flows and in the streams

Come and follow Freedom calls you rest in him

Now sure His compassion for us

Is Please turn with me to Luke chapter 19

Luke chapter 19 verses verses 45 to 48

Luke chapter 19 Verses 45 through 48

Then he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it

Saying to them it is written. My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves

And he was teaching daily in the temple but the chief priests the scribes and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him and Were unable to do anything for all the people were very attentive to hear him

This is the word of the Lord Let us pray Father we're grateful for your watchful eye upon this church.

Thank you for taking care of all of us Both spiritually and physically and we pray for continued

Recovery and growth for Wayne and Kimberly and The baby

Chioma we pray that you would watch over them and Give them all that they need and we're grateful that you have given us

Jesus Christ who died for our sin and suffered the judgment that we deserve and rose from the dead so that we may be forgiven and Adopted into your family

Help us to love you and seek you more and trust you daily in Jesus name

This is a rather short passage, but it's an important passage and it is more detailed in Matthew's description of the temple cleansing right in Matthew's description of the

Temple cleansing he He gets even more violent, right

Luke keeps it concise But this is to say these are the type of people

Who opposed Jesus but not only that these are the type of people whom

Jesus opposes If you want to know what makes Jesus angry look to this passage

And this is important first of all because Anger is not inherently a sinful emotion.

Oftentimes. We're just taught to be nice in this culture No disagreement. You just say yes and You know be tolerant anger is actually

An emotion that God shows anger is an emotion that Jesus shows and Anger is an appropriate response for many of us in certain circumstances in fact in some in after certain events not to be angry would be actually sinful and The reason being is that anger is a defensive

Response that's a defensive emotion. It exists to Protect something that's loved

Now, when does it become a sinful anger? Well, if you're protecting something you love and it's yourself

Right, that's that's sinful anger. It's about you. It's self -centeredness, right? How dare he say that to me, right?

That's that's sinful. It's a sinful response, but all you can see here. Jesus is not

Selfishly getting angry. He is rather Angry for God's honor his cleansing the temple because the money changers have defiled it

Right. It's about God and the worshippers Jesus is showing a selfless anger

So that's just one Key thing to remember when we read a passage like this anger is not inherently sinful

It's how we respond to it and what motivates it so until Starting here and until the end of chapter 21 the central location of Luke's narrative will be the temple and The temple is quite important.

We don't really have this concept of the temple

Anymore, and and the main reason is it's not existing right on the

Jerusalem Temple Mound, there's not a temple. It's a mosque, right? and The second reason why we don't really think about the temple is under the new covenant.

You can Encounter God you can approach God Through the

Holy Spirit, right wherever you are. Whomever you're with you can go to the

Holy Spirit You can go to God through the Spirit in Jesus Christ because he made you righteous

At any time anywhere right your bedroom you can pray to him Here you can pray while driving you can pray and you can encounter

God, right? However, back then the temple was the place in which you encounter

God That's why it's an important place in this narrative Right, I want us to have that in mind so Today's text shows the glimpse of who the opponents of Christ is those who will challenge

Jesus authority and rule and This is the first passage after his entry into Jerusalem the city of David and Remember, it has all been building up to this moment

Jesus has been journeying to Jerusalem to deliver his people from sin through his death and resurrection

And he has been headed to Jerusalem since chapter 9 right? We're in chapter 19 and That's the central mission of the gospel

And one may wonder with such a marvelous goal of salvation who could possibly oppose him, right?

So the main point of today's text is who are the opponents of Jesus reign?

Who are the opponents of Jesus reign? And this is crucial today because although these figures may not exist now

Right. When's the last time you ran into a Sadducee or a chief priest? right

Satan and the world often do recycle the same old concept, right?

They they just use it again and again and again right to oppose

Christ and oppose his followers the opponents of Jesus reign have

Really just changed names over time, but not the function

We must ask these questions When we Discern how we discern all if someone or some organization is opposing

Christ Is there anything or anyone who comes between you and God?

Are there any intermediaries between you and God? Other than Christ.

Is there anyone that takes Jesus place between you and God? Various cults have different individuals or groups who serve as intermediaries there are some things or some people who come between the worshiper and God and You know some of you might be thinking popes priests and prophets.

Oh my right I too but this is not just against Catholicism, right or Mormonism or Anything like that in which those offices exist

Islam Mormonism actually place alleged angelic encounter and prophetic testimonies to override the person and work of Jesus Christ right

Why is this problematic the one who controls access to God enjoys a tremendous power the one who controls your access to God enjoys a

Tremendous power the one No, and and and these cults may deny this but if you can tell a

Group of people how they can approach God or not or what makes you righteous or good enough to approach

God That's an immense power and influence over them right

It's another way of deifying yourself and de God in God because in the end the only person who has control over access to God is

God himself and any group any individuals that attempt to take that role is

Taking a throne attempting to take a throne that's already taken, right?

So the main point again, who are the opponents of Jesus reign, right? The king has finally arrived who are the ones opposing him first Jesus opposes anyone who prevents his people from approaching

God Jesus opposes anyone who prevents his people from approach approaching God So after Jesus enters

Jerusalem his ministry Fittingly starts in the temple. It's it's the house of God.

It's where the worshipers come to experience God's presence Verse 45 then he went into the temple and begin to drive out those who bought and sold in it

This would have happened at the court of the Gentiles. It's the outer court not the inner temple, right?

that's only accessible to a Specific group of people like the priests and the Levites, right?

This is the outer court it's outside but inside the gates And In the

Herod's temple so Herod the great actually refurbished the temple in his reign

Because it was kind of run down and it was beautiful. It was a beautiful building.

It was many people Visited it even if they're not Jews just because of how beautiful it was

Right, the outer court would have been about a 35 acres That's a big chunk of land and Even foreigners would come and pray

Right just because of how beautiful it was and their curiosity So this is also the place in which the sacrificial animals were sold

Luke's temple narrative gives the least amount of details. That's why we have Four verses two of which only focus on the cleansing, right?

But this is the famous scene of Jesus furiously overturning the money changers tables

This account is often called the cleansing of the temple and I think some believe that Jesus was angry at the presence of the animals at the temple

After all these animals would have been stinky and not potty trained however

That's wrong for three reasons Why the cleansing was that Jesus was angry at the animals?

First the Old Testament did not forbid animals in the courtyard after all

Where are you going to sacrifice the animals if not in the courtyard, right?

You had to bring the animals Second Jesus addresses the very people he is opposing, right?

He's not addressing the animals here He is angry at the he's not angry at the presence of the animals

He's angry at those who are selling them. That's he actually addresses them Those who are selling them third

Clean in the temple context is not a hygienic category remember

But a moral category The temple was not defiled by the animal feces

But the corrupt money changers who are benefiting at the expense of the worshippers right in this category the defilement is moral rather than physical right and of course we we did go over the physical category of Temple cleanliness in this case.

It's moral the The dead giveaway is you have made it a den of robbers, right?

That's that's moral stealing is a moral issue So under the

Old Covenant and Old Testament we have to remember animal sacrifice was crucial for every

Israelite or Anyone who wants to approach God for that matter? God ordained the physical animal sacrifice

To teach them a spiritual reality, right? A lot of the animal rights activists here would not like that.

But but that was How God taught his people a crucial lesson if you sinned against God you had to slit the throat of an innocent unblemished animal on your behalf an innocent life

Had to be given in order to make yourself right with God once again

And it is your fault hence you put your hand on the animal and you slit the throat yourself and It's your animal.

What does that mean? There's a cost to you There's a cost to this sin

You can just sin willy -nilly when you sin against God Something precious had to die a

Precious animal who did not sin But for your sake was put to death because the

Holy God cannot allow sin to flourish in the land Or else he would not dwell among his people, right?

It's all about God's presence here. That's the main function of the temple God's presence among his people and it also provided the means by which the

Holy God dwells among Sinful impure people how to make them pure again at least on the outside right animal sacrifice

Because if you sinned again Another animal would need to be sacrificed and over and over again animals were killed

This was necessary in order for Israel to continue their relationship with the

Lord The sacrificial system was God's gift to his people in order for the sinful rebellious people to continue to dwell with God on his land

Right. That's why when you read the prophecies, it's about you dwelling on the land right

Israel dwelling on the land that God has given them and When when it gets too much and they don't really care about make being right with God the ultimate

Judgment is the exile which happened right the

Babylonian exile and the Assyrian exile Needless to say animal sacrifices were crucial for one's relationship and access to God Right, it's it's not something we think of as I how burdensome

No, it was the cruise. It was one of the most crucial components of one's relationship with God How am

I gonna be right with God again? Because the reality is I'm gonna keep sitting against him

Now how are the money changers morally defiling the temple Well, we hear from Jesus himself verse 46 saying to them

It is written my house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves

Jesus here Mixes two different allusions two different allusions from two different prophets of the

Old Testament The reference to the house of prayer only occurs in Isaiah 56 7

Isaiah 56 7 the house of prayer Here it says these

I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their

Sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people's plural all

People's nations not just the Jews house of prayer house of prayer It's it's it's the place in which

Anyone who who wants to have access to God will go to commune with God to talk to God right and Israel Here is not the only subject here

Isaiah actually refers to anyone who follows the Lord no matter the bloodline and no matter the socio -economic background

Isaiah 56 gives us an eschatological picture of proper worship of the

Lord the only true God Yet Because Jerusalem missed

Recognizing the visitation of the Messianic King Jesus Christ now that they have missed the proper response

To God in the temple when Jesus has finally arrived People from all over the world were to worship the true

God unfettered uncontrolled with no burdens The temple was supposed to be the house of prayer all peoples having personal relationship with God Now when the

Messiah visits the temple and instead of the worshippers personally communing with God He witnesses financial frauds that burden his people from accessing

God personally right The Money changers were enriching their purses while the worshippers were crushed by the undue financial burdens right imagine that if Animals are required for animal sacrifices in order to be made right with God But the animals sold in the temple are marked up a bit

But there will be worshippers who cannot afford to Participate in the animal sacrifice now, what do they do?

They they can't sacrifice they have to go home With impurity sins and That's it

And with this heavy burden of I can't be made right with God Mainly because I'm not rich enough

While the money changers grew wealthier the the poor worshippers grew farther away from God because they could not afford to sacrifice

Hence Jesus alludes to Jeremiah 7 11. This is the second Verse that's alluded to which was read by Kevin this morning

But you have made it a den of thieves Jeremiah chapter 7 is a powerful rebuke against the worshippers of the temple before the

Babylonian exile Whenever the Old Testament is quoted

I recommend you read the whole context not just the verse that's that is quoted because the the author of scripture never quotes out of context the context has to be acknowledged in Chapter -7 the temple of The context is actually centuries before this is not even

Harrods temple. This is Solomon's temple and And it's fitting for this specific group of money changers of the first century because in Jeremiah 7

Jeremiah the prophet he prophesies against the temple worshippers who Externally worship at the temple, but are wicked inside Right They have the appearance of godliness when they stand before the temple but their reality is

Stealing murder adultery and idolatry among the few that were read, right?

So they think that they will get away with their sins because they go to the temple

Right because they go to the temple. They're all good with God That's this idea.

It is not far from how many Christians treat the church Live like pagans

Monday through Saturday, but don't worry. I worship on Sunday right or if The Catholic background is get drunk on Saturday night, but go to confessions on Sunday morning right, it's it's it's easy to make a

Lucky charm out of God's presence and That's what

Jay are the Israelites the Judah Judah Judaites dead in Jeremiah 7 right the prophet

Claims however, God is fully aware and warns them to stop treating the temple as their good luck charm

Right verse 4 sets the context do not trust in these deceptive words

Did this is the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord? Right.

Well, what is this say? Well, what what they're saying is we're not gonna be exiled. We're not gonna be destroyed

This is the temple of the Lord I'd like to see judgment come

It's the temple of the Lord, right? And What Jeremiah is saying is the temple will not save them from God's coming judgment

Don't presume that you're secure from his judgment just because you're in the temple

You think you're safe because you're in God's house, but you have made it into a den of robbers a

Den of robbers think of a cave full of robbers and they think they're safe They're secure as they're hiding in a cave

These false worshipers are finding false security in God's temple rather than God and That's why later in Jeremiah 7

God reminds them of what happened in Shiloh Everyone what happened in Shiloh remember in first Samuel they treated the

Ark of the Covenant as the lucky charm and they lost it They lost a battle badly

Why because they thought they could use the Ark as a lucky charm. We're gonna win the battle against the

Philistines That's the presence of God They were doing it all over again except with a bigger building the temple

And they made it into a den of robbers a cave if they're finding false security in the temple

In the same way When the Messiah visits the temple, he sees those who appear to be faithful on the outside because they're in the temple

They're serving but in reality they are fraudulently benefiting at the expense of the common folks the religious leaders in the first century

Falsely believed that they're secure as well because they're serving at the temple.

Oh, that's my ministry. I served directly in the temple

Yet Jesus smelled the hypocrisy when he entered he saw how the leaders were taking advantage of the poor believers and They were not helping

The leaders who were meant to shepherd the flock were fleecing the flock instead They were taking advantage of the desperate

They too treated the temple as a secure and sheltered cave And had no regard for God now, although we don't do animal sacrifices anymore because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice who not only makes us clean on the outside, but inside Right.

Our sin is washed away inside because of his atoning sacrifice on the cross

So that once is enough However this den of robbers is an reoccurring theme in Human history

The religious establishment still finds ways to prevent the people from approaching

God by taking advantage of them right, oh One of them one of the main ones we see in the

Protestant churches the prosperity gospel How are the prosperity pastors driving

Lamborghinis and flying On their private jets to conferences in the name of ministry

Well, they promised their overly trusting flock that they would be on God's good side

That they would be on the side of Blessing that they would be the recipients of God's blessing if you first give

If you give generously God also will give generously God would bless them if they gave to the church more

In One sense generosity is an important virtue and trade in Christian living But not through manipulation

It has to be done through joyful heart cheerful heart inside So they guilt trip and shame those who cannot give generously and these worshipers feel feel more distant from God In their minds

God becomes Unapproachable I've had someone who's not really like a knowledgeable believer so a mature believer and Someone called me one morning

And and she lives farther away so she can't possibly attend faith Bible Church And she she noticed that her church is that prosperity gospel

So she stopped attending it, which praise God And well, she stopped giving praise

God, right? So she however Being brainwashed in that kind of teaching

Asked can can can I start giving to faith Bible Church? And I said, well, what's the motivation?

It's like well because I need to keep giving right? Like where where in the scripture do you see that you have to keep on giving to church?

Well, that's what she's been taught. I said if you want to give give because you're cheerful giver right because you you want to You know, you want to be generous toward a ministry that is furthering the gospel but don't give because you have to Because God's not making you do that Right and I said the the best deal is find a local church that's faithful Near you and you start investing there not just money but also time right, but again, it's this

Manipulation that went on that you had to give in order for you to be good with God In order for your access to God be solid and secure

You need to give that's the lie And it is way too common everywhere in this country and they are the money changers, they're the

They have made the church a den of thieves their local churches Right, and we know

God's Attitude towards that He will overthrow them and if you've been

Abused like that spiritual I call that spiritual abuse if you've been abused like that That will not happen here

And not only that the most importantly You know

God's view on those people. He's not on their side And you can take a breather right if you've been spiritually abused by those kind of pastors

God's not on their side God understands and is vehemently furious at What they've done to you

That's the comfort and hope we have this morning and we see that in the person of Jesus Christ This is important because the true gospel

Says that all of God's blessing comes to the believers not because they gave but because Jesus gave his life for them

Our spiritual blessing does not depend on how wealthy you make your pastor

But the tremendous riches that Jesus poured out when he suffered for your sin on the cross

Ephesians 1 3 tells us that every spiritual blessing in heaven comes from God in Christ What does that mean you're not only forgiven but you're adopted into his family all

Because Christ suffered for your sin on the cross and rose from the dead

Your access to God does not depend on you but on the completed work of Christ By trusting in Jesus and his work you have full access to God that the

Old Testament Saints could only dream of and That is the biggest blessing to us this morning

You have a personal relationship to God and you can go to him at any time anywhere and He will be there

It's not about the private jets It's not about your dream car the blessing all of spiritual blessing found in Christ is a personal familial

Relationship with God and no one can come between you and God The second example we see is the

Catholic priesthood Why did the Catholics have to confess their sin to their priests?

It's nowhere in the Bible In fact, the Bible tells us that all believers are royal priesthood

Right second Peter 2 9. You're all royal priesthood What does that mean?

We all have access to God under the Old Covenant That was not so you they had to rely on the

Aaron's line of priests one specific tribe and among that tribe one specific family

Aaron and You had to take your sacrificial animals there to their family they had to rely on one family where the laypeople needed to go to the temple and the priest would sacrifice on their behalf and The reason is is because the priests represent

God to God's people and God's and and God Is represented to them by the priests.

It's both ways. The priests are the intermediaries of the Old Covenant They represent

God to God's people and they represent God's people to God both ways However under the

New Covenant through Christ you have direct access to God hence You're called the royal priesthood pastors don't replace the priesthood of the

Old Covenant Believers replace the priesthood of the

Old Covenant. That's important You have direct access to God just as much as I do if you believe in Jesus Christ.

I Don't have a backstage pass to God We all have the same access to God if you believe in Jesus Christ Now, what do they all have in common

They all seek to manipulate the worshippers by controlling their access to God while they keep on accruing power

All false religions place humans in between the worshippers in God and that is how they retain their control and that is how they control the masses if You can tell a person made in God's image that What they must do in order to be made with God That's what you call a glimpse of tyranny

You must avoid certain foods or God will not be pleased with you Under the

New Covenant that is blasphemy Because Jesus made all foods clean

Your access to God will not be hindered by what you eat or what you don't eat But there are cults to this day that try to control what you can eat or what you can't eat

You must give a certain amount of money and time or you cannot be right with God The Jehovah's Witnesses they have to stand out there in the sweltering

Sun not because they want to because they have to That's not grace

That's worse You must submit to a few elite members of or a council in order to understand

God's will for you Catholics the the

Council of the Cardinals the Pope The Mormons they have a council of prophets and they get to decide where you end up in the mission field

Isn't that crazy? thousands of young Mormon men and women their

Next couple of years are decided by 12. I think 12 men 12 or 13 just a handful of men

That's control. It's control of someone's life Now, what does the true religion look like?

Christianity is unique in that God graciously comes down to his own people Your access to God does not depend on yourself nor others, but God himself alone

In fact, Jesus is our only intermediary and he is God Right.

Yes, you do have an intermediary. Don't get me wrong I'm just saying no one else is your intermediary only

God Comes between you and God We have a triune God in fact

In order for you to be made right with God and have access to God you have to go to God incarnate

Right Jesus Christ alone. God made flesh. He became man

Ultimately God did not send an angel nor a prophet to rescue his people from their sin

But he himself came down to deliver his own Not only that there is nothing you need to do to be saved by God It's not about good works

It's about trust Because it's all done for you by Jesus on the cross

It's freely given Jesus alone took on your sin and died the death that you deserve so that you may live

When you trust in him alone you may live with God Your access to God has nothing to do with the

Pope sitting in Rome Your access to God has nothing to do with even your record of goodness your access to God only depends on Christ alone and On the judgment they these imposters will be condemned

Second the religious Establishment seek to destroy

Jesus despite his popularity The religious establishment seek to destroy

Jesus despite his popularity the second section picks up at the temple again and He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priest describes and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him

Now verse 47 tells us that Jesus opposition to the money changers did not go unnoticed

It shook the foundation of the religious establishment The chief priests were highly regarded

They belong to a group called the Sadducees They don't exist anymore because they were heavily tied to the temple worship and we haven't had the temple since AD 70

They took Only the first five books of the Old Testament as scripture the

Torah And in this case the chief priests They're plural.

The reason is usually there's only one chief priest at a time But under the

Roman rule What happened was a prefect a governor named

Valerius Removed one of the chief priests

Annas and And after that he installed his son -in -law

Caiaphas and His son -in -law remained in place until AD 36 after Jesus death and resurrection for that reason

Formally Caiaphas was the high priest during this time however, the actual influence was shared by the two

Annas and Caiaphas because the Jews resented the fact that a Roman a foreigner a foreign governor

Decided to remove a high priest of their own Right. So that's why you see two high priests in the gospel accounts

One was formally the high priest and the other one was removed but the Jews highly regarded him, right?

It's it's kind of like When we have US presidents and they serve their term, we still call them

President, right Trump President Bush so on Now the second group of people are the scribes and they actually belong to the group called the

Pharisees They all believe all the Old Testament books were scripture, but they heavily relied on the traditions of the elders right

And they were actually more opposed to the Roman rule than the Sadducees So normally they weren't the best of friends.

I mean, they weren't sworn enemies, but they didn't really work together Until you get to opposition against Jesus they group together

Now not much is known about the leaders of the people Presumably they were the lay people who had a lot of influences.

Think about maybe the elders of the Groups or villages

By no means were they all super close After all the Sadducees and Pharisees had different agenda and even different view of Scripture However, when

Jesus came to the temple and rebuked the money changers the whole religious establishment felt threatened and they saw their power grip coming loose when

Jesus entered the temple and Here their goal is quite barbaric and desperate at the same time

Let's destroy the threat and in our case They wanted to assassinate

Jesus. Let's kill him He's a threat let's just kill him the irony here is tremendous in order to protect their ministry and ministrial influence

They want to sin against God by murdering an innocent man Not only that there's a double irony in order to Serve God in their own wicked perverted way

They want to murder God incarnate Verse 48 however tells us why they could not succeed and were unable to do anything for all the people were very attentive to Hear him for now the people who see and hear

Jesus at the temple clung to his teaching they were captivated by the superior quality of teaching from God's Word and from the author himself and Consequently the religious

Establishment which garners its power from the popular support of the people or could not touch

Jesus yet But they will soon change the minds of the crowd to Have them desire to kill

Jesus in which they will cry out crucify him crucify him Now Those who have influence over the people

Ultimately are threatened by Jesus Christ and that that is universal all competing religions restrict the worshiper from reading scripture on his own

This spans from communism right communism socialism statism. They they they they worship the government

Have the government provide for your food. Oh, what about God the government? Why are they?

Why do they all burn the Bible and per persecute the churches? Jesus Christ is a competing opponent

One for Israel a Christian ministry that reach out to the Jews also

Have shared that the modern synagogues skip over Isaiah 53 Because it is one of the clearest prophecies of the suffering of Jesus Christ so that his people could be restored

That's alarming Over 700 years before Christ the

Prophet Isaiah accurately wrote the following verse Surely he has borne our grief and carried our pains yet.

We esteemed him stricken struck by God and afflicted and This verse foreshadows the substitutionary atonement that Christ would fulfill

Jesus Christ faced God's wrath on behalf of his people for our sin

Right yet to this day In synagogues all over the world

Jews will not get to encounter their Messiah from scripture that God has given them And that's why we need to continue to pray for the

Jews Because they are God's people God has Promises to them that have not come to fruition yet And and and we eagerly wait for the day in which

Jews and mass come to the saving knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ Right, we wait for that day

That's an eschatological event But the religious establishment they don't want to compete against Jesus The Catholics the

Catholics are discouraged from reading the Bible on their own and When they do they can only read their version of the

Bible which is restricted by the Roman Catholic Church's acceptable Interpretation which will be printed out for you on the same page

This means the versions that we freely use today even among us this morning

KJV and KJV ESB NASB, right? They're forbidden for the

Catholics they cannot read them without sinning as Early as 1229 the

Church of Rome the Roman Catholic Church Heavily discouraged the lay people from encountering

Christ on their own. This is the quote from the Council of Valencia We Prohibit also the permitting of the laity non -priests to have the book of the books of the

Old and New Testament Unless one anyone should wish from a feeling of devotion to have a

Psalter Psalms or breviary for divine services devotionals or the hours of the

Blessed Mary But we strictly forbid them to have a the above -mentioned books in the vulgar tongue in a language that's

Understandable as in not Latin, right? That's shocking in the end

The worshippers access to Christ in Scripture is governed and guarded by the

Roman Catholic Church No wonder the Arnett's might have shared it with you that their former

Catholic friends even though they're Not related at all They have shared that the

Catholic Church hid Jesus from them this is because true freedom is only found in Christ alone and When a person truly believes in Jesus No one else can come between you and God the religious

Establishment lose all loses all the power over you when you come before the throne of King Jesus Christ and This is why all the opponents of Christ are threatened by their people directly hearing from Jesus and the antidote to such horrible spiritual imprisonment is

Again Christ alone. The only one who can free you from the religious cults and Overwhelming burdens and and an abundant weight of shame and guilt is

Unadulterated pure words of Christ Unfiltered untainted voice of Christ booming from Scripture If this is you this morning or you know someone who belong to a cult

Like that Jehovah's Witnesses Mormonism any of them Catholicism Islam There's there's hope and you may try to argue with them and they get slippery

Because they will change the topic When you have a good point to make and they'll change it and some of you might have experienced it yourself

But make sure you offer them with this advice Read the gospel

I rate I usually recommend the gospel of Mark mainly because it's the shortest and the most straightforward gospel

You don't need to know a lot of the Old Testament As much compared to Matthew and John and Have them read it for themselves

Read the gospel account for yourself No need

No need for a commentary Commentaries are great. I use commentaries all the time, but you know what read it for yourself first Read it and interpret it just as the words of Scripture say

Just the straightforward understanding of what God's Word says

No need for another person no need for a Bible study leader No need for whatever mentor you have in your religion

In fact, no need for a pastor. Just open it read it No need for another person to regurgitate their view

Just Open it and read it read it clearly read it simply as the words say and ask yourself

Continuously, who is this Jesus? Who is this

Jesus? many souls

Have been freed from such a divine encounter the only way for those who are trapped in a cult that Furiously opposed

Jesus to be freed is for their personal encounter with the

Lord Jesus Christ In his word, there's no one else who can free

An overburdened Person Except for Jesus Christ alone, let us pray father.

We are grateful That only Jesus Is our

Savior only Jesus is our King and only Jesus controls our lives and we only submit to Jesus alone

Help us to be protected from such false teachers and wolves in sheep's clothing Even in the local church, even in the

Protestant Church who attempt to manipulate and control your sheep Help us to encounter with the

Lord Jesus Christ Daily in his word

Although commentaries, although pastors professors may be helpful help us to first seek

Jesus for ourselves Because he reveals himself to us

As he speaks And he does not need another mouthpiece

Because he speaks well by himself in Jesus name Me with your cleansing

Your holiness is my desire