Finding Favor With God And Man

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Well, good morning, beloved. If you can turn your

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Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 2. We're going to continue our series in Luke's Gospel, and we're going to be examining this morning verses 41 to 52.

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When you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word. Again, Luke chapter 2 and verse 41.

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Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the

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Feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy,

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Jesus, stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey.

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But then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him.

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After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

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And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.

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And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.

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And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

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And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And when he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them, and his mother treasured up all these things in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

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These are the words of the Lord. You may be seated. Benevolent Father, we do come before you, thankful for today, that on the

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Lord's day, we can gather to receive instruction, to receive insight into your most precious and holy word.

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Father, we pray that in this moment, you'd help us to remove every high and lofty idea, every sin, every thought that could so easily entangle us and lead us astray.

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And let us now, Lord, bring every thought captive onto the obedience of Christ, so that we too, finding our solace in Christ and seeing the example that we have in him, also find favor with God and man in this year and in all time to come.

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In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Well, we don't have much information on the life or the early life of Jesus in the

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New Testament. We have very little about the early life of Jesus, other than the narrative of his birth, and then his ministry as an adult.

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But what I love about Luke's gospels, again, Luke is almost like an investigative journalist.

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He's someone who has taken his time, as he has himself proclaimed already in the opening verses of Luke's gospel, as one who has carefully compiled information and data regarding the

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Savior, Jesus Christ. And so Luke's gospel is unique in that it gives us this small insight into the early life of Jesus.

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We find being left off in verse 40, in verse actually 39, when Jesus is a child and he's just a baby after he was circumcised, it says when they had performed everything according to the law of the

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Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

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Now, most of the gospels pretty much end there. But then we have an example here in Luke's gospel of a story, a narrative of Christ as a young boy going to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage for the

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Passover feast. And this extraordinary encounter, this extraordinary account of what the young boy

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Jesus does here in these short verses of scripture. So we meet

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Jesus again when he's about 12 years old. So if you can follow in the notes this morning,

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I have a lot of notes for you to take if you're willing to sit through that. We meet again, we meet

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Jesus again when he's 12 years old, as his family observes the yearly festival of Passover.

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Now Passover was what we just read during the reading of scripture this morning.

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The Passover was of great importance. It's probably the most important thing on the

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Hebrew or Jewish calendar is Passover. Now what makes Passover so special? Well, according to Leviticus chapter 23, verses 5 and 6, this is the opening day of the year.

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This is the new year in the Jewish Hebrew calendar. And this is the opening day of which feast?

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Unleavened bread. I want you to put that in there. This is the opening day of the feast of unleavened bread.

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According to God's word given to us in Leviticus chapter 23, verses 5 and 6.

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What's unique about some of the festivals on the Jewish calendars that not all of them required your presence in Jerusalem, but Passover was indeed one of these pilgrimage was a festival that required your presence in Jerusalem.

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Similarly, there's another one. Does anyone know what the other one is? What's the next one that requires the people of God to be gathered at the temple?

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What is it? The Feast of Tabernacles, which would be kind of September, October range.

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But another one would be the Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Weeks. 50 days, the word

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Pentecost meaning 50. And so Pentecost was another festival that required the presence of God's people pilgrimage of sorts to come to the temple to worship and meet with God.

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And so many times in the Old Testament, we see people making these pilgrimage to the temple for such feasts, for such occasions.

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And here we have Christ at 12 years old, no different, going according to the custom, according to the law, up to the temple to worship

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God during the Feast of Unleavened Bread during the Passover. And this feast is a pilgrimage of sorts.

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And a pilgrimage, we don't really talk about pilgrimages today as Christians because we as Christians don't need to do any particular pilgrimage.

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Just yesterday, I was speaking to a Muslim for over an hour. His name was Mustafa. And him and I had this really wonderful conversation.

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And we got into a deep conversation about faith and works and what God requires and how someone can be saved.

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And I said to him, Mustafa, I know that in Islam, you have to do your pilgrimage, your

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Hajj. You have to go to Mecca. You perform many rituals, go around the dome.

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I forget what that thing is called. But that particular mosque, you go around it five times and then you go and you got to go to this particular well and you stone

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Satan. You throw stones as if you're stoning Satan. Very interesting if you ever research

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Islam and comparative religions, the rituals that they have. But I said, as a Christian, I don't have to do any pilgrimage.

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When you pray your five prayers a day and you face towards Mecca, I said,

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I don't have to pray in any sort of direction. Do you know why? Because our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, says in John chapter four, he says that our is now when true worshipers will not gather on this mountain or on that mountain, but anywhere where God's spirit is, that is where true worship happens.

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That's where true worship happens. So we as Christians today, we have the kind of the comfort of not having to do any major pilgrimage.

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But as Christians, we also recognize that the Christian life is in itself a pilgrimage of sorts.

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Your walk with Christ is a pilgrimage. We don't have to walk to Jerusalem, but we are on a road that leads to the new

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Jerusalem. We don't have to go to a well, to stone Satan.

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We know that Satan has been placed underneath our feet. Amen. We don't have to go to a place, a particular location, a church, a mosque, a site, a holy site.

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We know that the holy site resides in us because if you are one of God's children, God's spirit resides in you and you are made holy through that.

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That's the beauty of the Christian faith. Wherever you are, whoever you are, you can have peace with God.

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And the world does not have that peace. No other religion can find that favor with God and man.

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But God has given us that favor through the proclamation of the gospel, that through the gospel of peace, we can have peace with God and we can have peace with our fellow image bearers, with other human beings created in God's image.

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Because the gospel of peace is at work, just as it was at work in the early life of Jesus.

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Notice what it says again in Luke chapter 2, and starting in verse 42.

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And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy

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Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. But supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

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You see, the feast of Passover, of unleavened bread, is a pilgrimage. And a pilgrimage means a faith journey.

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It's just a journey that one takes on behalf of a faith or of an imperative.

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And after Passover, so if you want to write that in their notes, after Passover, Jesus stayed behind because his journey was not over.

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So notice, as they go down to Jerusalem, they do the feast, they continue to do all that is required by the law according to the custom, and then they go home.

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They go back home. And Joseph and Mary are on their way back home, and they're supposing Jesus to be part in the group.

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Because again, this is a big pilgrimage. People from all around Israel, all around the empire, who are Jewish, who are observers of the law, had to go down.

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And as they went up, after it was finished, they began to notice that Jesus wasn't with them.

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Why? Because his journey, his pilgrimage, was not yet done. And we see also here,

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I want to dispel the notion that Mary and Joseph were bad parents. You know, if you read the story and you think of the circumstances, you'd be like, how could that happen?

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I would never do that. These are different times, and also recognize that in the pilgrimage, it would be very customary for family, friends, acquaintances to be helping in the load of, especially with young children.

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No different than today, when we have our gatherings here in the church, and we have our kids looking around. You know, we may not be eyes on them like a hawk 24 -7, but we suppose them to be here, we suppose them to be well, we suppose them to be under good hands.

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And no different here, Mary and Joseph were supposing Jesus to be under the watch and good hands of fellow worshipers, fellow acquaintances, fellow friends, and family members.

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Mary and Joseph were not neglectful. They knew that Jesus, you know, first of all, think of it this way,

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Jesus was perfect, which means he was the perfect kid. So they had no reason to doubt that Jesus was doing anything nefarious.

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And yet, as they continue on this journey, they find that Jesus is not in their midst.

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So they began to, like any good parent would, begin to search for him, begin to try to find out the discern where it is that Jesus has gone, has something happened to him?

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Can you imagine the thoughts going through the mind of a father or a mother?

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Similarly, I've had an experience once when we were in Costco in Wisconsin, and my youngest son,

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Noah, the troublemaker that he is, if you know him, decided he would pull a little prank on us by hiding behind one of like the kiosks of the

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TV. And so he was there one second, and I turn around and he's gone. And I say, where'd he go?

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I'm calling his name, I can't find him. So she can't find him either. So we freak out, and we tell the store, and the store's like shutting everything down.

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There's code Adam happening, and all the employees are looking for him, and I couldn't remember what he was wearing. And so they're asking, what is the boy wearing?

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I was like, I don't even remember. Because in that moment, there's such a kind of a panic.

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And I have retraced my steps, and I just go backwards, and I'm trying to find out where he is, and all I hear is a little snicker, a little snicker.

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And I see, and I look behind the kiosk, and there he is. I'm like, don't ever do that again. Because it's a terrifying thing as a parent.

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It's a terrifying thing as a father. Can you imagine what Mary and Joseph were going through? In their minds, in their hearts, they weren't neglectful of their son.

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They loved their son, and they were doing all that they could to find him. And where did they find Jesus?

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Not behind the kiosk, or making trouble. But instead, notice what it says in verse 45, when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.

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After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions.

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Now, Mary and Joseph, as they were trying to find him, they're probably preparing in their minds, you know, the speech.

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If they find Jesus, what kind of speech they're going to give him, and how he could never do that again.

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And then they find him where? In the temple, doing what? Listening, and inquiring, and teaching.

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Hard to be mad at that, isn't it? Hard to be mad at that kid, at that son, at that child, who is doing something of such marvelous value.

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How is it that Jesus can find favor with God and with man?

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At that moment, as a parent, I would be hard -pressed to find favor of my child.

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But Jesus was on a mission. Jesus lived a life of purpose, even as a young child.

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Jesus was on mission, as when they found him, he was in the temple, worshiping, listening, receiving instruction, and giving instruction.

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He was found doing what God requires. How can we today, beloved, as Christians, as those who profess

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Christ, how can we find favor with God and man? Quite simply put, it is this, do what

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God requires. Listen and obey the Master's voice.

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And in doing so, you shall reap the blessing, the blessing of life, the blessing of God's providence and hand over you, and give you success in the things of life.

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Not in a way that brings forth this twisted notion of a prosperity gospel, of course not, but in the rightful way of understanding that on the other side of obedience is always blessing.

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God blesses His people who follow Him, who listen to Him, who receive the instruction from the law, from the

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Torah, from His Word. And Jesus, being on mission, living a life of divine favor, finds

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Himself in the temple, worshiping His Father. How can we find favor with God and man?

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Be bold in worshiping God, no matter the cost, no matter the cost.

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This world that we live in today has become and is becoming ever more increasingly hostile towards those who worship the one true

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God. And it's only going to get worse, and it may get better, or it may continue to devolve to the point where we will see persecution even in this great land and country.

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So how is it that we can find favor with God, which is the most important and primary aspect that we should be considering this morning?

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Well, a right standing before God can only be made possible through faith in Jesus Christ.

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It's through faith in Jesus. Jesus is setting for us a model. Even as a young boy, as a 12 -year -old child,

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He's setting the model of what it looks like to be a true worshiper, to be about His Father's business, as He puts it later on.

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Let me ask you the question. Are you about your Father's business? Are you doing that which

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God requires of you? Namely, first and foremost, repentance and faith unto

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Jesus, living the life that He has called you to live, living a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

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These are the things that God requires of us, faith and repentance, and living a life that is separate, called apart.

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Jesus is living that set -apart life here in Luke chapter 2.

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While everyone else has done what is required of them by the law, by the custom, going down to Jerusalem, observing

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Passover, observing the week of unleavened bread, and then going back up to their towns,

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Jesus stayed about His Father's business. Even after all that was required of Him was fulfilled,

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Jesus went above and beyond the call, went above and beyond. Now, as Christians today, we feel no certain obligation to do things above and beyond, especially in modern -day evangelicalism, because we have this concept that, well, we're under grace.

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And grace means I can just do the bare minimum, and I'm still part of the club. And while that may be true to some extent, if you're a true believer, you've been born again, converted, the

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Spirit resides in you, yes, you are heaven -bound. Yes, you have the peace and security of eternal life.

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But beloved, what great joy and treasure is there in just doing the bare minimum, in just skating by, getting into heaven by the skin of your teeth?

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There's no joy in that. There's no grand reward in that. Brothers and sisters, if you are truly pleased, the heart of our sovereign, benevolent

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Father, do what God requires of you by giving your whole life to this great cause.

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Because what did Jesus say that it would cost you to be His disciple? An hour or two on Sunday?

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Having to stand through maybe two services on Sunday? Ooh, can't imagine that God would require that of me.

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How about, what else would He require? Would He require maybe a little bit of your income? Lord, now we're getting a little touchy here.

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You start touching the wallet. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, Lord. What else would God require of me?

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Would God require me to worship Him daily? Lord, I'm not sure

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I have time for that. I've got a schedule. I've got work. I've got responsibilities. I've got kids.

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I've got all these things. How do you expect me to get all this done? The bare minimum?

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Brothers and sisters, the bare minimum? God requires your life.

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All of you, all of your time, all of your money. It's all His anyways. It belongs to Him.

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And we get offended when we're asked to do just the bare minimum?

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Beloved, Jesus Christ did not go around doing the bare minimum. He gave all that He was to His Father, so much so that He Himself was poured out as an offering for our sins, for our disobedience.

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He won for us obedience for God. Beloved, how then ought we to live?

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What sort of lives ought we to live now in holiness and godliness is the question posed by the

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Apostle Peter in 2 Peter chapter 3. What kind of lives ought we to live?

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Now knowing this, knowing the great price that has been paid on our behalf, not working in such a way in which we think we're trying to earn

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God's favor, but because God's favor has been lavished on you, has been given to you as a gift by grace through faith in Jesus, now

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I ought to use this life as an offering, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

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That's the life I want to live because in that life not only do I receive favor, not only do

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I find favor, but I get to enjoy favor with God.

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I get to enjoy it because it's in His presence that we receive the enjoyment of our salvation and we ought to be daily in His presence.

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Whether it's in our daily family worship, whether it's in the Lord's day as we come together and we observe the

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Lord's table and we observe a time of prayer later in the afternoon, we ought to enjoy these things.

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This is for our blessing, for our benefit, for your joy, for your spiritual strength and sustenance.

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Do not make the mistake of just doing the bare minimum because you're only robbing yourself of the joy that is the joy of our salvation.

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Don't get around just doing the bare minimum. Live the life that Jesus lived, being about his father's business.

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Jesus' family found him in the temple. I want you to write this in there if you're following the notes. Listening to the teachers and amazing all who listened to him.

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So what Jesus did, even from a young early age, is that he looked for instruction.

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So often in life and in the context that we live in, we do not look for instruction. We think we got it all figured out and if we need instruction, we'll

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Google it or we'll go to now the, what's it called, chat, G -P -T, something like that. We can ask the algorithms to give us the answers now.

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But Jesus continued to find himself looking for strength and sustenance in the word through good teaching.

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Notice again what it says in the text of scripture. In verse 46, after three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

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You see what Jesus was doing here is that he was about his father's business in that he was listening to the law of instruction and also asking questions that he himself may grow in strength, stature, and wisdom, which is what we see in verse 40.

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And the child grew, became strong, filled of wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. God's favor is upon those who listen and who seek instruction.

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That's where you'll find God's favor is in the seeking and also in the obeying of God's instruction.

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Christ found that perfect favor with God because he sought forth the law of God.

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He sought forth divine instruction, he sought forth teachers, and he asked questions so that he can better know, understand the word of God in that way.

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Now, you may be asking yourselves, Pastor, how is it then that we can say

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Christ is God if he's asking questions, if he is one who has to learn, grow, be filled with wisdom?

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Would it not be innate in him? Would it not be inherent in him that he would have all the answers in all the things?

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Well, remember, brothers and sisters, Christ was truly man, not the appearance of man, not the appearance of flesh solely, which was the heresy of the

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Gnostics early on in Christian history who denied that Jesus had truly become flesh, but he had merely an appearance of flesh.

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Jesus was truly human in every way, tempted and tried as such as we are, and yet without sin.

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He, too, according to the word of God in Hebrews 5, had to learn obedience to the things he suffered.

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Jesus was truly man. In his flesh, he had, according to Isaiah's prophecy, he had nothing in his flesh, nothing of his appearance that would draw men onto himself.

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He had no physical advantage. He was truly human as we are, and yet this cloth in that human flesh was veiled the

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Godhead, was veiled true divinity, and so, yes, Jesus as a human had to learn obedience.

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Jesus as a human had to learn instruction from Torah, from law, just as any one of us would have to learn as well, and yet when he learned, he learned perfectly.

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He was the perfect student, which is why he then became the perfect teacher. Jesus was perfect in every way without sin, and yet here we find

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Christ as an example from an early age going to his father's house, to the temple, to receive instruction, and all who listened to him, who heard him, were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

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In verse 47, that's a sign of a good listener. A good teacher must be a good listener.

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Jesus as a student and a teacher embodies all the perfect traits of both.

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Again, what we also must realize is that in the incarnation, Jesus has an aspect in which he is, he submits himself to his own self -humiliation.

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The Bible says, it puts it this way, though he, Christ, was rich, he became poor on our behalf.

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Though he had everything, all the glory, all the splendor, all the power, all the authority, all the riches, all the wisdom, all the knowledge, he became poor on our behalf so that through faith in him we might become the riches of God in Christ.

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Now, what can we do? How can we learn from this great example set by the grand teacher and the grand student,

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Jesus Christ? As we learn from Jesus' example, we can find favor with man when we listen,

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I want you to write this in there, as we learn from Jesus' example, we can find favor with man when we listen and find understanding, even with those who are different or we disagree with.

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So if you want to know the secret to how, how can I find favor of man? So I know how to find favor of God is through Jesus.

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How can I find favor of man? What example does Jesus set for us? Jesus sets the example for us by being a good listener and seeking to find understanding.

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Many of today's problems could be solved if more people just began to do that.

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So quick are we to let our voices be heard, for our opinions to reign, for our thoughts and our passions and our way of thinking to dominate a conversation, but instead what

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Jesus seems to do is he submits himself by listening and seeking understanding.

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How does he seek understanding? By asking the right questions, by asking good questions.

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Many of you know, several years ago, I wrote a book on Jehovah's Witnesses.

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I am a former Jehovah's Witness, and my book is called, Can I Get a Witness? How to Understand and Set Free Jehovah's Witnesses, and the main apologetic tool that I use there in terms of how to reach the

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Jehovah's Witness is exactly this. I had a pastor's wife once tell me,

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I think right around when the time my book came out, she says, oh we just had a Jehovah's Witness knock on my door, and just yesterday she said, and I said to the

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Jehovah's Witness, I said, listen, if you don't believe when John 1 says, I've got nothing else to say to you, you know, you need to repent and believe in John 1.

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She's like, how did I do? I said, terrible. I said, terrible. That's not what

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I would, you know, prescribe to you. Instead, what I prescribe in the book is very simple.

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You reach the witness as you would reach any other group, any other person, by listening and asking the right questions.

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So, for instance, one of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, a very odd teaching concerning Christ, is that they believe that he's

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Michael the Archangel. Okay, pretty strange. Not what the Bible teaches at all. We don't have to go in depth in that.

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But instead of saying, you believe Jesus is Michael the Archangel and this and that, and then just bringing out repertory scriptures, instead what

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I say is you ask, is this what you believe? Yes, wonderful.

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Okay, now that we've established that that's what you believe, I just had a real sincere question. What do you do with Hebrews chapter one, for instance, that says all the angels of God worship

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Jesus, which would include Michael, because Michael's an angel. And if all the angels of God worship him, then how can he be

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Michael? You see the approach there being very different. Asking a sincere question from the heart and saying,

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I need you to help me understand this, because maybe I'm missing something. And if you can illuminate this for me, that would be great.

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Because then what the witness has, or any other person you're approaching with that apologetic, is now they have to confront that same truth and reality that's before them.

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And they've been heard. So you ask the question saying, did I understand you correctly? Is this what you believe?

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You heard them, and now you're asking the right question. So many of our problems in this world would be solved if we just listened and asked the right questions.

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And also not just asking the right questions, but asking the right questions with the right spirit.

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Because sometimes we can ask a question in such a way where we're just trying to get them. I got you now, right?

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There's that famous interaction of Jordan Peterson with this woman broadcaster from the

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UK, and she asks kind of a ridiculous question, and he gives a kind of a brilliant retort back to her.

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And then as she's processing it, he says, ha, gotcha. Which kind of undid the argument that he had just presented.

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We're not here to get people. We're not here just to be right, just to win an argument.

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That's where many Christian apologetics goes wrong. We're just looking to be right instead of winning people's hearts.

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And Jesus won the hearts of people, amazing all those who heard him and listened to him.

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Because he listened with great intent, and he asked the right questions with the right spirit.

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And brothers and sisters, that's how we can find favor with man. Because when we seek to understand people rather than just judge them, or attack them, or be right all the time, we can win favor with them, and have an open door of conversation, and hopefully a good

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Christian witness, even with those who disagree with us. That should be our aim. And in that way, maybe they won't be converted, maybe they won't see things the way we see it, but at least you've now gained someone's respect.

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And that's important. Because the scripture tells us that we are to present the gospel, make a defense for the gospel, with gentleness and respect.

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That's what Peter commands us in 1 Peter 3 .15. So if we want to make a good defense of the

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Christian faith, remember to look to Jesus, who is the perfect listener, and he asked the perfect questions.

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Now, we won't always live up to that perfect standard, of course. But as a Christian, our job is to emulate him who has walked before us.

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And that person being, of course, the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. Understandably, Jesus' family was greatly distressed at his absence.

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Notice what it says in verse 48. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us so?

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Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. So clearly,

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Mary and Joseph were distressed by the occurrence that had just happened. They could not find him for almost three days.

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They could not find him, possibly foreshadowing the three days of Christ in the tomb.

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And yet, what we see here is Jesus responds with a beautiful, a beautiful answer.

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He said to them, why were you looking for me? What an interesting question.

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What an interesting retort from Christ. What do you mean? We're your parents.

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Of course, we'll be looking for you. But yes, he asked this question, and I think in such a brilliant way.

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He says, why were you looking for me? In a way of saying, isn't it obvious?

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Mom, Dad, isn't it obvious? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

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Don't you know me well enough by now, guys? Don't you know that I'm all about my father's business?

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It should have been obvious to you where I was. It's no secret. And he could say that because of the life that he has now faithfully lived for the last 12 years, which we don't have much insight on.

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But it's obviously presupposed in the text. Christ being perfect, the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect listener.

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And he says, Mom and Dad, it's obvious where I was. You should have known. And so I don't think

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Jesus says this kind of in a snobby way as a kid, like, why were you looking for me?

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But I think he says it in such a way, which again, leaves his parents astonished and saying, it's obvious where I am and where I've been this whole time in my father's house.

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What a beautiful display. What a beautiful retort he gives. And so even though understandably,

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Jesus' family was greatly distressed, you can write that in the notes at his absence. But Jesus responds that he must be in his father's house.

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And he's setting the model. Get this. He's setting the model for discipleship.

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I want you to write that in the notes if you're following along. He's setting the model for discipleship. How so?

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Well, notice what Jesus says later in Luke's gospel in Luke chapter 14, if you can turn there for a moment in Luke chapter 14.

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Notice what the Lord Jesus says in verse 26. He says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

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Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

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What is Jesus doing in Luke chapter 2 as a child? Already setting the model for discipleship.

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Even if it means leaving behind father or mother, brother or sister,

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Jesus is all about his father's business. That's what he is setting the model for, brothers and sisters.

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Of course, Jesus is when he says, thou must hate his own father, mother, wife, children, hate being used to show not the fact that we have to have emotional malice towards our family members, but rather that in comparison to the grandeur of the love by which he has called us, we ought to see everything else as rubbish in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing

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Christ Jesus, my Lord, as Paul puts it in Philippians chapter 3, verse 7 and 8.

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Surpassing worth of knowing Jesus so that everything else in comparison looks like hate because you're willing to leave everything behind to follow

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Jesus. And Jesus sets that model for us even from an early age.

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Isn't that incredible? Isn't that a marvelous example for us to be following in? That Jesus sets the model for us and that we too should be all about our father's house.

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We too should be all about our father's business. As he says again in verse 49, he says, did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

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Verse 50 saying this now, and they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. Mary and Joseph even then didn't get it.

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And there'll be people in your life who won't get it. What do you mean you go to church on Sunday?

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You actually wake up to go to church on Sunday? You're there for how long? Until four?

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Oh, that's a bit too much for me, for my taste.

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Brothers and sisters, Jesus set the model. He was all about his father's business.

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He was in his father's house. That's where you'll find him. If you had any doubt as to where you'll find Jesus, you'll find him in his father's house.

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Where will they find you on any given Sunday? Hey, I know there's a big game today.

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I couldn't tell you who's in it, because I don't, I really don't know. But I hear there's a big game today.

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Where will they find you? Where will the world find you this afternoon?

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I know where they'll find me, in my father's house, because I'm about my father's business.

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Where will they find you? May it be so, that on any given Sunday, on any given day, they'll find you in your father's house, being about your father's business.

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Notice what, again, it goes on to say in verse 51, and when he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was submissive to them, and his mother treasured of all these things in her heart.

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So Jesus was not a wayward child. He wasn't a brat. He wasn't a child who was malicious to his parents.

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He didn't do the things that he did, staying back in the temple out of malice, but out of love, and out of loyalty, fidelity to the

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Father. And so, when Jesus went back with his parents, he was submissive to them.

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You have no idea how beautiful that self -humiliation of Christ, and that willful act of submission is, because you have in that 12 -year -old boy, the eternal, everlasting

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God, being submissive to lowly, broken, poor parents.

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The humility of Christ is beyond comprehension, and yet,

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Christ setting the model for us, even as children, that we too, if you're a child, if you're a son or a daughter, ought to be submissive to your parents.

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And so, Mary treasured of all these things in her heart.

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A treasure. These things are truly a treasure. Learning from Christ, knowing the model that he has set, the discipleship model that he set, the model that he has set for us to live, and the footsteps in which we should walk and follow in.

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You see, Jesus found favor with his family by being submissive. I want you to write that in the notes if you're following along. Jesus found favor with his family by being submissive to his mother.

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And so, it honors God, brothers and sisters, when we submit to one another.

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As the Apostle Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 5, verse 21, submit to one another out of love.

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Submitting to one another out of love. That's the call that we've received here.

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You see, why then is submission so important in the

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Christian life? Why is submission such an important thing for us to consider even this morning and afternoon?

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Because submitting humbly to others is the medicine for selfishness.

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It's the medicine for selfishness. Why? Because godly submission is a removal of the self upon the throne and a reminder that Jesus is

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Lord and we are to consider others before our own selves.

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That's the call to discipleship. When Jesus says it will cost you everything, it will cost you everything because he has called you to consider others as more worthy.

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He has called you to consider him, his lordship, his grandeur, his glory above all things.

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That's the call. Will you answer that call of discipleship this morning, brothers and sisters?

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Will you humbly submit to one another out of love and reverence for Christ? Will you submit to godly instruction?

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Will you submit to the word of god so that you not only become hearers of the word but also doers of the word so that as we learned this morning in our

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Sunday school, if you're only a hearer of the word but not a doer of it, you are self -deceived according to James chapter 1.

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So don't be self -deceived. Don't be like among those whom the Lord will say on that day,

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Lord, Lord, did we not do these things in your name? And he shall respond, I never knew you.

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Those words you will not want to hear in eternity for he will say to you, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.

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I never knew you. May it not be so, but instead may we be counted among those who are blessed, among those whom he has called into his marvelous light, among those who humbly submit to instruction, who find favor with God and man even in difficult times.

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How can we find favor with God? Brothers and sisters, as it says in the closing verses for today in verse 52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

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How can we find favor with God as Jesus did? By putting first the kingdom of God.

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So I want you to write this in there. We can find favor of God as Jesus did by putting the kingdom first.

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Jesus put the kingdom of God before anything. It is the central teaching of his gospel message while he was on the earth, which is summed up.

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The message of the kingdom, the message that he preached can be summed up in these two things, in the law to love

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God and to love our neighbors. Christ summed up the whole law and prophets in this way, to love

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God and to love your neighbor. How can we find favor with God? By putting

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God's kingdom first, by loving him with all of our heart, soul, spirit, mind, our vigor, for he is himself the days, he is himself our life, and our life is hidden with him in Christ.

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So what ought we to do? Put first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added to you.

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And in this way, we find favor with God by loving him as he's commanded us to.

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And we find favor of man when we love our neighbors as ourselves, looking for their best interests, preaching to them the gospel of peace, and being a good listener, and asking the right questions in the right spirit, therefore winning over those who are lost for the sake of God's kingdom.

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May you recognize this important truth in fact, brothers and sisters, that there's only one way for us to find that favor with God, and it's through faith in Jesus Christ.

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And if you have not yet made that personal declaration of faith in Jesus, the Bible says that you are called today to bear witness of this, that you are a sinner, and that you must repent of sin, trust in him.

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You see, yesterday I spoke of a Muslim for about an hour, as I've mentioned already, and one of the things that him and I both agreed upon was that we were sinners.

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And what we could not find agreement on was the basis by which God can forgive sin.

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And I said to him, I have a strong and sure foundation for the forgiveness of my sins, and it's not my own righteousness for I have none to bring, it is not my own works for I have no work strong enough to save, but it is the work and obedience of another, the righteousness of the perfect one, even

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Jesus Christ, who paid my sins, who died the death that I deserved, who took upon himself the penalty that was rightly, justly deserved upon my own head, and he took it mercifully, because they say that Allah is the most merciful, and I say

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Jesus is the most merciful, because he took upon my sins.

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While we were yet sinners, the gospel says, Christ died for you.

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And in this way, God demonstrates his kindness, his forbearance, his justice, his mercy, his wrath, and his kindness in the cross of Jesus Christ.

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May you come to that cross today and find favor with God and man. Let me pray.

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Gracious, benevolent Father above, we thank you for the word and instruction you have given us through thy inspired word, and given us great insight into the early life of Jesus, who set for us even then a great model for us to follow, a model in which he himself displayed great humility by considering others of more worth and of more reputation.

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Though he was of great reputation, though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality of God a thing to be held onto or grasped, but he humbled himself by taking on the form of a servant, by taking on human nature, and he becoming obedient, yes, even obedient unto death on a cross.

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Therefore, Father, you have now highly exalted this Jesus and given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that you are indeed glorious and Lord unto the glory of God the

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Father. Lord God, we thank you for this truth. We thank you for these powerful words of Scripture.

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May it instruct us, may it motivate us to not just do the bare minimum, but to be about our

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Father's business and to be found in our Father's house. May we continue to do just that for your glory, for your sake, as you put your kingdom first.