WWUTT 2472 The Cleansing of the Temple (Luke 19:45-20:8)

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Jesus challenged the Pharisees with a question that they refused to answer. Even as they talked amongst themselves, they realized if we answer this question this way, we would have to acknowledge that Jesus is

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Lord. And that's a step many people just don't want to take when we understand the text. This is

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When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we've got a small portion of chapter 19 to finish up, and I'll get into a little bit of chapter 20 as well.

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So let me read Luke 19, starting in verse 45. Hear the word of the Lord. And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them,

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It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

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And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

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One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him,

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Tell us, by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority?

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He answered them, I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

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And they discussed it with one another, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say, Why did you not believe him?

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But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.

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So they answered, They did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them,

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Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Now these are a couple of accounts that, of course, we have in the previous gospels as well, just as we've read of these things in Matthew and in Mark.

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So we also have it in Luke, Jesus cleansing the temple and doing this after he has entered the city on a donkey's colt to the cries of the people, saying,

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Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

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And you'll remember, as we read that yesterday, the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

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They hated hearing all these people shouting unto Jesus those things that were in Psalm 118.

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And the Pharisees knew what this meant. They think he's the Messiah. So the only person that can discourage them from praising him in this way would be

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Jesus himself. If you tell these people that you're not really the Messiah, that you're not really the king who has returned, then they'll be quiet.

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So teacher, rebuke your disciples. But what is Jesus' response to them? Verse 40, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

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Now I want to expound further on what I said yesterday about what this means. I had referenced back to Luke chapter 3, where John the

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Baptist said that God had the power and the authority to raise up from these stones children of Abraham.

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And that's in reference to Gentiles. And so this could also be the same.

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The application would be the same, especially in the context of Luke. Jesus saying, if these

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Jews here in this city were silent, then the very stones, the stone cold hearts of the

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Gentiles would be transformed and they would cry out. So it's kind of prophetically looking toward the

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Gentiles who will come to Jesus as well. But the phrase itself means a little bit more than just saying that these stones would come to life and start singing praises to Jesus.

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This is actually a reference back to Habakkuk 2, 11, which says the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork respond.

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Let me read that in context. So this is Habakkuk chapter two, starting in verse nine, woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm.

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You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples. You have forfeited your life for the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork respond.

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Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity.

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Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that people's labor merely for fire and nations weary themselves for nothing?

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For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

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So you have a reference even there in Habakkuk to the fact that Gentiles will know who God is and even they will praise

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God. But specifically that phrase in Habakkuk 2, 11, the stone will cry out from the wall.

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This is in reference to those who will be under penalty of death charged with building these great buildings of the

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Chaldeans. This is in reference to the Jews who would be sent into exile into Babylonian captivity and the

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Babylonians would enslave them and buy their blood and their sweat. They would build the

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Chaldean structures. Well, the stones crying out from the walls of those structures would be calling out against the

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Chaldeans, would be showing them to have been the oppressors of God's people.

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And so the stones are crying out against them. And so that would be the reference also in Luke 19.

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The very stones would cry out doesn't necessarily just mean that the stones would sing praises to Jesus.

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Rather, the stones would cry out against the Pharisees who are telling

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Jesus to tell his disciples to be quiet. If these were silent, the stones would cry out against you.

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Still a reference to Gentiles. The many others who would come into the faith who would become followers of Jesus would cry out against those who tried to silence this message.

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I happened to come across a post recently on social media from somebody who had pointed out that there was an earthquake in the northwest corner of, or sorry, the northeast corner of Utah on Wednesday, September 10th.

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And this would have happened hours after Charlie Kirk was assassinated that same day in that same state.

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And so this, this is what this person said, a 4 .1 magnitude quake hit Utah yesterday, which is not that big an earthquake, just hours after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but hours being something like nine hours later.

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But this person then referenced Luke 19, 40, and he answered and said unto them,

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I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out as though to say that that earthquake was the rocks crying out against those who would have

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Charlie Kirk dead. That's a misapplication of scripture, very, very tragic thing that Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

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And we mourn the loss of this man who would champion the gospel on so many different college campuses that he had visited.

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But Luke 19, 40 is not pointing to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, nor did this earthquake have anything to do with it either, because the earthquake did not even reach the area where Charlie Kirk was assassinated, just because it was within the same state lines doesn't mean one has to do with the other.

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So beware of twisting scripture, especially in this way. This is specifically in reference to Christ.

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The very stones would cry out against the Pharisees who are trying to silence the people from singing the praises of God.

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And so it would be the same today. You cannot silence the disciples of Jesus Christ.

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He has built his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I suppose in that way, you could have applied it to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, just because this man was killed because of standing upon the truth and proclaiming the gospel.

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The gospel is not going to be silenced, but the earthquake didn't have anything to do with that.

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So as Jesus continues to teach in the temple, he enters the temple, he drives out those who sold saying to them, it is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of robbers.

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That's a reference back to Jeremiah chapter seven, verse 11 has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes.

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Behold, I myself have seen it declares the Lord. And Jesus is saying that you have done exactly as the false teachers, exactly as the false priests had done in the days of old, right before judgment came upon this city.

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So you are acting just as they did. And remember what we had just read yesterday,

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Jesus weeping over Jerusalem in verses 41 to 44 and spoke there prophetically about the judgment that was going to come upon them.

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The days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and him you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you.

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So that was what happened when the Chaldeans came against Jerusalem and it was going to happen again on a great scale.

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And so Jesus is in a sense pointing to that, even here, you, you see the two passages connected with one another with him saying, my house shall be a house of prayer, referencing the false teachers in Jeremiah seven.

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And that verse is not where it is said that my house shall be called a house of prayer. That's in Isaiah.

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But then you see really two passages that are connected with one another Isaiah 56 seven, my house shall be a house of prayer,

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Jeremiah seven 11, but you have made it into a den of robbers. So there's two old

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Testament references there. But again, all that foreshadowing in Jeremiah seven, foreshadowing the judgment that was to come upon Jerusalem and Jesus making the same connection here or Luke rather in his narrative makes that connection here.

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That could be the reason why Jesus weeping over Jerusalem comes after the triumphal entry instead of before, because as I mentioned yesterday, him drawing near the city and weeping over, it looks like that it should be before the triumphal entry yet Luke puts it after.

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So the reason he puts it after might be to tie it in with this passage about Jesus referencing

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Jeremiah and then pointing out from that same prophet, this was right before judgment came upon Jerusalem.

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And so the same thing will happen to you. And so in verse 47, he was teaching daily in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him.

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So just like they were, they were trying to silence Jesus disciples earlier, telling Jesus to tell your disciples to be quiet.

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And so he won't do that. He's not cooperating us. He's not cooperating with us here.

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He's not willing to play ball. So the Pharisees, the principal men were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do for all the people were hanging on his words.

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They are right there listening to Jesus teaching in the temple. And so the

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Pharisees knew we couldn't do anything to him because the people will stone us to death.

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They even come to that understanding in the very next exchange. So one day as Jesus was teaching in the temple, we're now in chapter 20 and this is verses one through eight.

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He was there preaching the gospel, Luke says. So he's telling the good news of the kingdom there in the temple and all of this happening on probably

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Monday or Tuesday. And the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us by what authority you do these things or who it is that gave you this authority.

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Because he's just come into the temple and he's driven out the money changers turned over tables.

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Didn't mention that so much. He's made this statement against them. That's a reference back to the prophets that judgment is coming upon you.

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You've turned this place into a den of robbers. So by what authority are you declaring these things?

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Well, you know, anybody could come in and quote the scriptures and they would be authoritative in that sense.

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It doesn't have to be that God had spoken specifically to a prophet to then go into this place and declare these things.

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Anyone could have done that. Anyone could have turned over those tables there in the temple and have said the same thing from Jeremiah 7 11.

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It says in Isaiah, this shall be a house of prayer. It says in Jeremiah, you have turned it into a den of robbers.

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Anybody could have done that. But Jesus is the one who comes in and does that. So if anybody else had done that, then simply the response could have been, well, it's according to the word of God.

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Look at what God's word says. And that's what I'm calling you out according to. I'm judging you based on that word.

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And Jesus could have said the same thing here as well. He doesn't necessarily have to respond by telling them the authority that I have comes from the father.

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He could have simply said the same thing that he often said to the Pharisees. Have you not read?

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And that would have been an indictment enough against them. In fact, he really did kind of say that to them.

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All things considered, when you go back to chapter 19, that exchange there in verse 46, it is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of robbers.

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So he does appeal to the authority of the scriptures, even though the voice that comes from Jesus Christ is the very voice of God, showing, though, that everything that he did was in keeping with God's word.

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Even in the past, he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.

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And he's doing that even right there in the cleansing of the temple. But still, this prompts the

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Pharisees to ask him to confront him and say, by what authority do you do these things?

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Jesus had already appealed to the scriptures. But instead of simply saying to them, comes from my father in heaven, that, of course, would have been the correct answer.

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He uses this as an opportunity to expose the ignorance of the

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Pharisees, even before the people, so that there would be many who would not be led astray by them.

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Now, of course, the Pharisees will draw a lot of people to their side when it comes to putting Jesus on trial and calling for his crucifixion.

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That will certainly happen. But Jesus still exposing these Pharisees right before them as the people are hanging on his every word.

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So Jesus answers them. I will ask you a question. Tell me, what was the baptism of John?

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Was it from heaven or from man? Now, a follow -up question

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I have to that is this, did the Pharisees actually believe that the baptism that John did could have been from heaven?

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Because consider how they talk amongst themselves. Starting in verse five, they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him?

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So I have to wonder, did some of those Pharisees actually believe that John's baptism was from heaven?

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Doesn't mean that they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but maybe they thought there was something supernatural about John's baptism.

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After all, they sent Pharisees out to the wilderness to see him and see what it was that he was doing.

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There may have even been Pharisees there when the heavens opened up at Jesus' baptism.

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And the father says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So they're talking amongst themselves, and they say, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him?

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And plus, that answer, if they say from heaven, then automatically it negates the question that they're trying to pin

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Jesus down with. By what authority do you do these things? Well, if you believe John the Baptist, then you would know who

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I am, and you know by what authority that I do these things. So they're really kind of putting a tight spot here.

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So in verse six, if we say from man, the people will stone us to death for they are convinced that John was a prophet.

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So they know they're in a tough spot here. We can't gain the favor of the people here and at the same time, continue to try to silence

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Jesus. It's a catch -22 for them, lose -lose situation. So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

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And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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Now, in the Pharisees' answer, in what they did say when they were talking amongst themselves, they acknowledged that the common people know the answer to this question.

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Even the people would say, well, that baptism was from heaven because John was a prophet.

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So the common people could answer it. And yet the Pharisees refused to, in their religious pride, did not want to acknowledge that Jesus was the one whom

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John spoke of, was coming in the name of the Lord. And now the people had just been declaring it as he came into Jerusalem.

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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So Christ refused to give account of his authority to those who knew the baptism of John to be from heaven.

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It appears as if some of those Pharisees knew, they recognized that the baptism of John was from heaven, yet they would not believe in Jesus, nor were they even willing to submit to their own knowledge of what they knew about Jesus and the baptism that John had baptized with.

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You know, there are many people out there that may be so close to being convinced that Jesus is the

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Christ, that Jesus is God, that he really died on the cross for our sins.

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He really rose from the dead. And all who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

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They've heard that message. They're really close to believing it. But something about their pride just prevents them from stepping over the line.

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They just won't even trust their own knowledge. Like, their mind is almost there.

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They're almost convinced that he is the Christ. They just can't do it because they won't let go of their sin.

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It's true of them what is said in Romans 1 18, that unrighteous, ungodly men suppress the truth with their unrighteousness.

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They love their sin. And so a person who's not ready to let go of their sin and follow

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Jesus would even contradict their own minds in order to continue to hold fast to that which their flesh so loves.

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We have got to put off every sin, as said in Hebrews 12. We must put off every weight and sin which so closely entangles.

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And run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

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Let nothing distract you from the goal that is Christ Jesus. And to those with whom you have shared the gospel of Jesus Christ, pray for them, that the

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Spirit would change their hearts, would change that stone -cold heart of theirs, and they would cry out to the

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Lord and be saved. Heavenly Father, we cry out to you. We thank you for your kindness toward us, your patience with us.

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And when we have stumbled and fallen, may we come to you and seek your mercy, that you would forgive us, cleansing us of all unrighteousness, and setting us on the path of righteousness for your name's sake.

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We pray for those now, those whom we know and have prayed for, that they would become followers of Jesus.

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And Lord, that you would convict their hearts, that you would remove that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh, as said in Ezekiel 36, and that they would come to a knowledge of Christ as Savior, and they would follow him and be saved.

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May we see you work in mighty ways in these days, in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Pastor Gabe is the author of several books and Bible studies, available in paperback or for your e -reader.

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For titles and more information, visit our website at www .wutt .com. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in God's Word, when we understand the text.