Sermon: By What Authority?

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Hey everybody, I'm pastor Jeff Durbin with Apologia Church. I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on Apologia Studios channel

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What you're about to watch is a sermon a message from Apologia Church's worship service

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And again, I want to thank you all so much for watching for liking for commenting for sharing the sermon itself

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We truly believe that it's important for the Christian Church to have an engagement in the public square with the

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Word of God So we thank you so much for partnering with us to send this out across the world I just wanted to say something before you actually watch this and that is that I'm not your pastor

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Though I'd love to be I am NOT your pastor and it's very important as you're watching this

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You know that it's God's design for individual Christians to be part of a local

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Christian Church under the care of qualified faithful biblical elders and so as much as we love all of you watching these sermons and we're thankful to God that God uses them to bless you to Encourage you.

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I do want to encourage you as a minister of the gospel to get plugged into a local body of believers

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That is vitally important and actually a biblical command And so as much as again as we love for your participation your partnership

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And we are so thankful to God that he's using these in your lives We want to encourage you to get plugged into a local church

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Local body of believers in your area, so thank you again so much for watching these and sharing them.

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God bless you this afternoon We're going to be returning to our kingdom of God series, which we've been in we've taken a break from the last week

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But we've been in this series. I believe just as long as I've been a member of apologia church

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So that tells you what kind of a church this is we believe in the exposition of scripture

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We believe in going verse by verse through the text of scripture and teaching it faithfully and representing accurately

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What God has to say in his word to his people and so here I am today before you to bring to you

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This section of scripture which we'll be going through in light of and I would encourage you if you have not yet Listened to the previous two messages from Pastor Jeff regarding this context regarding Jesus making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and then the cursing of the fig tree

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These events are related to one another Matthew is sketching for us now

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Building up to this climactic moment that he has been working on this entire gospel the gospel according to Matthew Begins with the proclamation.

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It's the section in the book that we all skip over right? You know what part I'm talking about It's the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1 right that section of scripture

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So significant if you go back and read just the beginning the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ Implies exactly what we're going to be getting to in this text today

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And that is the new Genesis in Jesus Christ The new creation taking place as a part of what

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God is doing in the person and the work of Jesus Christ So we've seen as we've gone through the gospel according to Matthew how

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Jesus He's born all of these Old Testament prophecies and pattern find their end and their culmination in him

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We see in Matthew chapter 3 He is anointed for his baptism

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Commissioned as a priest and then sent off to face the enemy in the wilderness where he is victorious over Satan Doing everything that apostate

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Israel should have done in the wilderness Christ succeeds and then some

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With a victory over his adversary and then we see as Matthew's gospel continues to move along in chapters 5 through 7

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We see that Jesus is the true lawgiver. He is the one that places the law of God in its proper context

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Passage that we always talk about here at Apology a church Jesus himself saying I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets

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But I came to fulfill them may know my set day Don't even let it enter your mind that I've come to cease the law and the prophets

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I came to fulfill them to put them in their proper place to put them in force Jesus the true lawgiver

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Extrapolating the law of God demonstrating that just because you've never put a knife in someone doesn't mean you're not guilty of murder

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Just because you've never committed adultery doesn't mean you're not an adulterer in your heart

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Jesus getting to the core of what the law of God was always intended to be it was about the heart as The story moves on we see

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Jesus going about his earthly ministry Proclaiming the good news of the kingdom going about in preaching

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Sending out his followers to round up the lost sheep of the house of Israel Denouncing those who reject their message working miracles exercising his authority over the demonic realm exercising his authority over the elements

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Saying that he has all authority in heaven and on earth at the end of Matthew's gospel, right?

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That's the climax but in building to that point The collision between him and the religious leaders of the day is astounding

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It truly is astounding and we all should take note as we examine this passage of Scripture today this section that we're in he's already

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Had and been on a collision course with the religious establishment of his day. They have confronted him for Supposedly breaking the

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Sabbath already. They have confronted him for doing miracles on the Sabbath They have taught they have realized that he's not like any other teacher

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There's something quite unusual About this one who actually just assumes the authority.

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He doesn't appeal to anybody else for his authority his words He considers as he hearkens back to Scripture He says have you not read?

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What God spoke? Through the mouth of the prophets through the words of a living God and that is the basis of his authority not rabbi so -and -so

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Not the people that have come before him that have ordained him and given him the license to do the things that he is doing or to teach

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What he is teaching We see the climax begin to build as Jesus identity starts to become more clear

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He starts to reveal more and more of himself to his disciples while at the same time intentionally covering the eyes of His enemies and those who have rejected him to fulfill the words of Scripture.

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We're all familiar with the passage I'm sure in John chapter 1 But to as many as received him to them he gave the right to become the children of God Children not born of the will of man or of the will of flesh but born of God and why is that?

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His own rejected him now Jesus comes in the transfiguration We see his glory on full display in front of his people demonstrating the the purity and the the cleanliness of the

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Messiah and is dazzling blinding white robe and the father Pronouncing this judgment of approval on the son saying this is my beloved son

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Hear him in Jesus all of prophetic revelation finds its fulfillment in his very person

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That passage of Scripture which talks about in Deuteronomy chapter 18 The Lord will raise up for you a prophet from among you who will be like Moses Finding its fulfillment in the person in the work of Jesus Christ Jesus continues to teach he continues to go on Rebuking his enemies and then this brings us to our passage for today

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Matthew chapter 21. We've seen already Jesus Entering Jerusalem, right?

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Humbly meekly on the full of a beast of burden. Yes Causing a riots.

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There's this was no small scene in Judea and the temple what was going on and he's escorted in by the

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Galilean followers that he has and Everybody's looking around saying what's going on?

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There's messianic fervor in the air There's people freaking out because Jesus is coming in and who is this guy he's just this

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Galilean prophet We didn't ordain him He's from Nazareth.

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I know where he's from and trust me. That's no place you want to go. It's like Apache Junction Just kidding for all you people in the back.

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I love you guys. That's where I'm from Apache Junction so I can talk about it So Jesus himself coming into collision with the religious leaders

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Matthew chapter 21 we see that he enters and what does he do? He cleanses the temple?

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Which is not something he just did it wasn't random It wasn't just something that he felt like doing it was actually the fulfillment of Scripture It was actually the action undertaken by God and the flesh to cleanse his house and as pastor

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Jeff already talked about Jesus assuming the role of a priest Going into what was the role of a priest in the

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Old Testament a priest had to go in and if the house was dirty if it was diseased if it was corrupt if it was polluted the priest had to go in and inspect and Drive everything out and then if he left and came back and it was still diseased and corrupt and polluted what happened after that Destruction Judgment the whole place taken down stone by stone

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Which is the story that Matthew is moving us in the direction of but why? Why is this so important why is he moving us in this direction?

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What is the authority of Jesus to do the things that he is doing? He's a nobody

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According to worldly standards according to the standards and in the eyes of the religious leaders at that time

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These are the questions that hopefully by God's grace will be answering today And so as we approach this text of Scripture Let us look together that even after these significant events because they happen

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Three events one right after the other and then Jesus gives a teaching he gives parables

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Right, which is a common pattern in the Gospels You see Jesus do something work a miraculous event or do something controversial and then comes the teaching afterward to explain it, right?

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We're gonna see that now just like we saw and again if you haven't seen the messages that have come before this one the pastor

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Jeff has given on the cursing of the fig tree and how that was so Significant and it wasn't actually referring to Jesus telling his followers in the 21st century to say goodbye to their financial mountains

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Or their relationship mountains or to say to this problem mountain that's standing in their way Oh just have faith and that'll be removed.

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You don't need to pray so much just have faith in that mountain the Context of that according to Scripture for those early listeners that are the recipients of Matthew's Gospel This mountain say to this mountain be gone and it will be cast away into the sea

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Jesus telling his followers that through their imprecatory prayers through the prayers that they pray to their father that God is going to judge the covenant breakers and displace their mountain

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But Brothers and sisters we have to understand exactly what this means That would have been no small thing to a

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Jew living at that time to hear the displacement of their mountain Because it was on that mountain located was the temple that was the place of worship

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That was where God's people met together and he met together with them just like in the tabernacle of the

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Old Testament But now something is changing Something seismic is shifting something monumental is about to happen and the lives of the worship of God's people and That's what we're going to talk about today

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So let's open our Bibles if you haven't already to Matthew chapter 21 verses 23 through 26 is where we're gonna be spending our time here now the words of the living and triune

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God verse 23 and When he entered the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said

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By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?

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Jesus answered them. I also will ask you one question And if you tell me the answer then

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I also will tell you by what authority I do these things The baptism of John from where did it come from heaven or from man?

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And they discussed it among themselves Saying if we say from heaven, he will say to us.

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Why then did you not believe him? But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd for they all hold that John was a prophet

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So they answered Jesus. We do not know and he said to them neither

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Will I tell you by what authority I do these things thus far is the reading of God's Holy and inspired word

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Please let's pray before we go to this text of Scripture Father, I want to thank you for the divine privilege

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God of being able to open your word today Lord. Your word is a treasure that we cannot find the bottom of and I pray

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Lord that you would help your people to believe and to see that today my prayer Lord God is that you would help your people to see you

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To savor you and to display you as the greatest treasure Through how we worship you in the reading of your word how we worship you in the preaching of the word

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Please Lord remove me from the equation God. I can only bring in my sinful estate harm to your people in My flesh

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I can only cause them to further stumble But God you alone by your spirit by your resurrection power can teach and raise the understanding of your people

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And any sitting here who may not belong to the fold of God at this time God, please bless our time.

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May it be edifying to your church. May it be equipping for your church May you admonish your people where necessary Lord God and help us to look at ourselves and at our own

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Black hearts before we look at the person next to us and let us forever recall to mind the great salvation that is in Christ Jesus Who has saved us and taken out the heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh

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That now beats and lives and moves to serve the living

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God of Israel This is the great miracle Lord. God is that she would use

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Sinful fallen people like us as your means to accomplish your ends in the world.

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We thank you for your kingship We thank you for this place to meet in but most of all we thank you for your word

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I pray that you would use it today to your glory and it's in your name that we pray. Amen This passage of Scripture today

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Reminds me of the Proverbs. It's a passage I often quote actually when we're out at the abortion mills preaching the gospel in the

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Proverbs It says that the wicked lie in wait to ambush the innocents without cause

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That is they lay a snare they lay a trap for the innocent to ambush them without cause

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This is the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and then in the time of Jesus it comes to life right before our eyes those who have malicious and Wicked and dark hearts who are trying to ensnare and entrap the only innocent person who ever lived on this earth

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Proverbs Proverbs giving us an example of that wisdom literature and really These chief priests and the elders and the religious leaders of the time

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That were using all of these opportunities to try and trap the Messiah to try and trap the

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Lord in his ministry to try and sick The people on him to overturn what he was doing Thus the words of Scripture of Scripture would be fulfilled according to them in John chapter 3 as it says

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The light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light

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Because their works were evil Men do not come into the light lest their darkness be exposed

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What better personification of that come to life than the audience of Jesus contemporaries?

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and so The chief priests and the elders that are accusing him in this passage

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Form the small subsection of the Jewish Sanhedrin right so you have a

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Group of a member of 70 within this council and the chief priests and the elders would have consisted primarily of the

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Pharisees Although within the larger group you have Pharisees zealots

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Sadducees Essenes these different groups differing motivations by far the most influential were the

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Pharisees and Ironically enough. This is the group that comes into contact and collision with Jesus the most in his ministry

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So what they are challenging in this passage is not the ability of Christ.

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Not the dunamis Right, right. We're reformed here. We know the passage very well. John 644

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No man can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. No one has the ability

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No one has the power to come to me in and of himself unless the father who sent me draws him

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I will raise him up on the last day. That's not what they're challenging. They're challenging his authority his right

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What right do you have to do what you're doing who? Authorized you to do this to our place of worship and so before we get into this text

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We do have to do a little bit of due diligence and a little bit of interrogating the text So that way we can arrive at the intended meaning that the author has for us

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And so what's significant about the setting of Matthew's narrative and where it's taking place Well, firstly if I could just say this the temple courtyard is where this conflict is taking place.

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It's not within the temple itself Within the temple itself is where the sacrifices were offered where the

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Jews offered worship where it's actually taking place Is in what's called the court of the Gentiles. This would have been the surrounding area of the temple

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It was a mile wide it went and it surrounded the actual temple itself. And this is where people gathered, right?

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This is where they hung out the court of the Gentiles right forever indicating that there was a

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Separation between who was allowed to go into the temple and offer sacrifice you can hang out in the court of the

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Gentiles This was a place where crowds gathered where the general public met and where people often came to hear teaching

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So it's not uncommon to find Jesus teaching in his father's house Another thing that's significant about the setting is when?

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When did Christ's royal procession his his victory parade on the full of beasts?

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When did that take place? Well, it was during Passover John's testimony is that behold, this is the

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Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world Jesus as we know the true Passover lamb

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Passover was the festival that they were commemorating as a result of what happened in the Old Testament, right?

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We all know the story God Redeems his people saves his people from the hands of the

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Egyptians, but before he does He tells them when they're still in the encampment of the

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Egyptians take a lamb unblemished without spot Shed its blood and then put it on your door frames.

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That way the angel of death will pass Over you And we all know what happened and that story but during Passover this was the most enthusiastically observed pilgrimage

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Especially by adult male Jews who were expected to visit some excuse me the temple during this time

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There was often more people in the city of Jerusalem than the city could accommodate And so they actually had to expand their borders to make room for everyone that was coming in to the city at the time

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And so this tells us about this whole setting of events is that it was no small stir

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It was as if Jesus himself was intentionally waiting for the time When all of these people would come don't you just love how

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Jesus does that right? so what happens when Lazarus is on the verge of death and Jesus gets told and then he waits days after Lazarus dies to do something about it.

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It's as if he knew Right, it's as if the Lord of Glory had all sovereign control over what was going to happen to this dead man

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That he was going to raise to life, right? Next significant about the setting is where was

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Jesus from? I mean we I know that we know this But can we just spend maybe another few seconds on acknowledging this this where he was from Galilee Nazareth of Galilee He was a prophet of Nazareth of Galilee the

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Judeans where the temple was located in the southern aspect of things Where at wire whereas Galilee was located in the north

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Judeans saw Galileans as second -class citizens, although they were Jews They believed that they were lax and their observance of proper religious ritual

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So it was kind of like this I mean even a very Jewish Galilean was just as much a foreigner as a

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New York and would be in Texas Right. You ain't from around these parts.

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Are you? You would know right away by the accent, right? Just like the example of Peter when

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Peter denies the Lord Jesus, right and the child points him out said Oh, yeah,

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I can tell by his accent. He's with them He's with the Galileans they knew

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It marked them out This doubly confounded the Jewish religious leaders of what

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Jesus was doing. He's from Galilee. He's from Nazareth What authority does he have to come in here and do the things that he's doing?

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the temple itself and the surrounding precinct was the focus of Jewish religious life as well as the symbol of their outward national pride

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Wasn't just the place of worship. It was what made a Jew a Jew This is the place where God meets with us the

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God of our fathers Abraham Isaac Jacob the God of the patriarchs and so in the trial in full entry

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Jesus enters Jerusalem as King and Messiah and Cleanses the temple saying that his father's house shall be a place of prayer for all peoples

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And where does he say this in the court of the Gentiles? Highly significant brothers and sisters as we're getting to this passage if you have a

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Bible, I'd encourage you We're gonna be in Isaiah chapter 56. This is the passage that Jesus quotes from Leading up.

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We're gonna get to our section of Scripture, but it's important to lay the foundation first Isaiah chapter 56

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He quotes this passage. My father's house shall be a place of prayer for all the peoples now

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The context of this passage is that the Prophet foresees a worldwide

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Worshiping community made up of the Israelites who have been scattered from the exile

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That's the the context of Isaiah chapter 56 just to lay that down real quickly before we get there now.

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I'm gonna read the passage Starting in verse 3. So this is the prophecy that Jesus quotes from when he cleanses the temple

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Verse 3 let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say the

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Lord will surely separate me from his people and Let not the eunuchs say behold

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I am a dry tree For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant

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I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters

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I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off and the foreigners who join themselves to the

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Lord to Minister to him to serve him to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants

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Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenants These I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer

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Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar

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Here it is From my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples the

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Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel Declares I will gather yet others to him besides those

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Already gathered now. We know that the plan all along from the Old Testament that God had prophesied

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Isaiah chapter 2 right? It's a popular passage that we quote here The mountain of house of the

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Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains in the latter days and all the nations shall

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Stream up to it. They'll flow upwards to the mountain of God We know according to Psalm 22 that all the families of the earth

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Shall return and worship the Lord God of Israel all of the nations coming to God.

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That was the plan all Along even in the Old Covenant the foreigner was still welcome into it

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But the purpose of this passage is amazing, isn't it? It sounds a lot like another passage in the

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New Testament, doesn't it? Get this all this talk of gathering the scattered peoples

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All this talk of gathering the outcasts of Israel Immediately my mind ran to John chapter 10 the

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Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep and he has other sheep that are not of this folds and he must bring them into the folds and they will be one flock and They will have one shepherd and then moving over just one chapter later into John chapter 11

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The high priest makes a prophecy. He prophesies that the Messiah will die

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Not only for the nation But to gather all of those children who are scattered abroad and bring them back

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Highly significant the gathering of God's people into one but what does this verse tell us real quickly just moving through it some observations the foreigners and eunuchs represent the inclusiveness of the gathering

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That middle wall of partition that existed there Has come down and the foreigners and the eunuchs right those who would have been seen as second -class citizens are being welcomed

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Verse for the keeping of the Sabbath, right? They're gonna come and keep the Sabbath which represents a complete reorientation of life for those that are ending the

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Covenant Let me ask you a question. Why do you come to church? Why do you come to church on Sundays Because the purpose of God's holy day his day of rest, although we know that Christians celebrate their day of worship on Sunday not

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Saturday They come why? Because everything in their lives is subservient to the day of worship everything that we do in our lives as Christians flows downstream from Sunday as We the

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Church of the Living God are the outposts of heaven on earth. Did you know that? Did you know that the

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Church of the Living God is the outpost of heaven on earth? and so we have this Reorientation of all the priorities of our lives, don't we?

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That's why we sit in here with squealing toddlers, don't we? That's why we endure it.

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That's why we teach our children to worship. That's why we take communion together That's why we open the Word of the

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Lord together. Why because our entire lives Have been reoriented by the

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God who has saved us and called into relationship with our people. And so now what happens

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Rather than do other things that we would have done before we knew Jesus now, we're here Now we're among the people of God doing as God commands us to And all of life becomes subservient running downstream from this day

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God says that's what he's doing now with the foreigners and the units The everlasting name and monument given to them is better than sons and daughters there.

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There are no more second -class citizens verse 7 God brings them to himself

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Aka his mountain To a speaking relationship with him in prayer and lastly and probably most significantly to the altar that guarantees their belonging their acceptance and their atonement their cleansing

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Their blood cleansing for their sins right, this is what the temple was always intended to be and so Jesus Casting out the hucksters and the money changers who turned this holy place into a place of commerce

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No doubt to pay rent to the religious leaders of the day who are driving the system of God's worship and what it should have been

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Used for into the ground Jesus cast them out and cleanses the temple and then he quotes this passage from Isaiah Saying my father's house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples back to our text

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Before we get there the cursing of the fig tree as we saw a couple weeks ago Symbolizing fruitless

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Israel and the remarks about this mountain Indicate to Jesus followers that something is on the horizon for the worship of God's people.

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Something's coming Something is about to change and change drastically. So the question of the religious establishment was

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Who was this prophet? Who dared to challenge this system of worship?

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Who was this prophet this so -called prophet who dares to challenge us as the religious leaders of?

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the culture and the guardians of the temple And so we begin our verse -by -verse analysis

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Again, Jesus taught as one having all authority We remember what he says earlier on in Matthew's gospel

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Don't we about the two foundations the two destinations the two houses?

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Right one house is built on the what the sands while the other is built on the rock and How does

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Jesus categorize those two houses and their foundations? He says unless you build the house your life

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Everything you do on the bedrock foundation of my word when the storm comes your house is gone

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Because it was built on the ruinous sands of your own human autonomy But if it's built on my word on the foundation of my word, that's the house that makes it through the storm

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He has placed the prerequisite for knowing what truth is He has placed the prerequisite for knowing what the sure and the certain foundation is on his very word

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That's significant because again, he wasn't appealing to any other authority and the things that he was doing

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Even I mean think about something like this. We don't think about this You have heard it said but I say to you in That small span of words you have heard it said this is what your tradition is.

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But here I am to tell you Who is the only person who could extrapolate the law of God and place it in its intended context?

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God himself You have heard it was said but I say to you

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The authority that Jesus assumes for himself. He's not looking for anyone to verify it.

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He's not looking for corroboration Right. He's not looking for this Evidential study to support what he's doing or this rabbi to confirm him and to confirm his ordination.

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No He's acting and he's doing Jesus has told the Pharisees already

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Something greater than the temple is here Matthew chapter 12 verse 6 He said destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days

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Speaking of what? Temple of his body John chapter 2 verse 19

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So you have to consider for a moment how ironic this question is that they ask him by what authority do you?

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Do these things? Oh I don't know Just the Lord who fills heaven and earth

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Who doesn't reside in temples made by human hands the one whose throne is in heaven and the earth being his footstool

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Just that person Right. It was like they were asking this Who died and made you

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God? It's ironic, isn't it that they're staring down the

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Lord of glory? Right the second person of the Trinity that they're confronting and they're asking the question

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We're in charge of this place who died and made you the priest This is what they're saying

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This is the level of offensiveness That's coming before them What does

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Jesus do? Verse 24. He answers them indirectly. He's not dodging their accusation. He's not dodging their question, but let me tell you something

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Here's what's going on in this passage. Okay? Obviously, they're trying to ensnare our

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Lord They're trying to trap him but the question that they asked him they were hoping for one of two responses either his silence

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Being stuck being caught being stumped and what that would have done was indicate to them in the surrounding crowd

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That he was in fact a troublemaker He did have something more up his sleeve that he was using to quietly inside a riot in our place of worship see

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He doesn't want to say anything because he knows he's a rebel against the temple That was the one response that they were hoping for the other response that they were hoping for Was that he would indict himself directly for claiming that his authority was from God and so they could try him for blasphemy

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How wicked? How malicious? Were they in their hearts that they believe they could entrap the

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Lord of glory? But this is what was going through their minds So what does Jesus do?

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Jesus Questions them. He just asked them a question and we see this common thread in the

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Gospels Don't we whenever Jesus is presented with something? He's presented with a question. He asks a question in return

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Good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good? There's none good, but God You calling me good

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Well, then you must be calling me God right These questions that come up right

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Jesus is It lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not Well whose image is on the coin?

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Jesus does these things he asked these questions to open up the assumptions of his listeners.

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I'll give you an example We do the same thing on the street Don't we when we're talking with our unbelieving friend or neighbor or the person we're having a conversation with?

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All your God is just a big meanie. He's evil. He's judgmental It's not fair I can never believe in a

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God who had sentenced all these people to eternal damnation and then you ask the atheist the question after he asked you you actually believe in a

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God like that and You say well who's asking the question?

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Who's asking the question You the atheist The person who believes that all we are is a bunch of molecules in motion that our ancestors were nothing more than the product of evolutionary chance

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That were the descendants of African apes That our ancestors were actually the descendants of fish and bacteria and crawled forth from the primordial soup

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What is evil in a worldview with without God, of course without the triune

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God of Scripture? but who's asking the question you an atheist with your foundation standing underneath you with no

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Absolute claim to anything being morally objectionable Jesus questioning his questioners arguing like the

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Messiah. Isn't that something that you want to do argue like Jesus? That's what I've been praying for as I've been preparing this message

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Lord. Give me the mind of Christ Give me the mind of Christ that I may respond to my accusers in the same way that you have

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So Jesus questions them He questions them Because the assumption implied in their question was this you don't have authority

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You possess no authority. You're a troublemaker. You're the one you're the guy that hangs out with Gentiles you're the one reclining and hanging out and eating with these people but Jesus does something significant because what they're perceiving now is a threat to their position of authority as guardians of the worship of God's temple and So what

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Jesus does is he affirms the authority of his ministry by pointing back to John's?

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Baptism and this is where it gets good John's baptism, we all know of course as a passage if I had a nickel for every time

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This passage of Scripture has been quoted from the pulpit of Apology of Church I'd be a very wealthy man

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Malachi chapter 3, right? We know what's come in the Old Testament prophesying what the landscape would look like when the

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Messiah came First the forerunner would come Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 behold

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I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and then what? The Lord whom you seek will come to his temple forerunner and Then the

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Lord whom you seek will come to his temple and I love how Malachi refers to the Lord in this the messenger of the

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Covenant That means something that's significant in whom you delight behold.

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He is coming says the Lord of hosts We know Isaiah chapter 40 What was applied to John the

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Baptist in his early ministry saying the voice of one crying out in the wilderness saying

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Make straight the way of the Lord Prepare a highway in the wilderness.

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Yes, we know this about John So we've already gotten into what's happening in the interrogation.

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But what's Jesus doing here and talking about John's baptism? Well, Jesus knows that the answer to their question will be found in the answer to his question

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John who was heralding the coming salvation of the Lord. What was he doing? He was calling people to repent wasn't he he was calling people to renounce their former way of life to be converted

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He was calling them to come back to their true allegiance Which by the way, did you know that that's what it means to be the messenger of the

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Covenant? Did you know that that's what it means to be a prophet especially I mean we're given so many numerous examples in the

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Old Testament But Jesus has taken this mantle upon himself. John takes it upon himself in the

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Revelation The messenger of the Covenant the responsibility of a prophet was not merely to tell the future

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Right. They weren't just a fortune -teller a prophet of God was raised up by God Himself to be

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God's prosecuting attorney Against the Covenant breakers and to recall them back to obedience to the

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Covenant because they've broken God's stipulations and his standards and so John comes in his prophetic ministry and Then the

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Lord Jesus follows him as his successor and their messages are completely identical

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Can you quote it? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

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We've seen it already so many times in Matthew's gospel the message messenger of the

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Covenant John's baptism Would have been so offensive to the

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Jews of his day Of course not for the ones who were repenting and renouncing their former way of life, but it would have been incredibly

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Offensive and flew in the face of the religious contemporaries because he was baptizing

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Jews he was baptizing Jews and This implied something this implied that the

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Jews of that day Were no longer the ones that made up and comprised God's holy people

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You mean there's something new that constitutes membership in Israel This is what they would have been asking themselves

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Jews were coming to John Recognizing that he was a prophet of God and they were getting baptized and then you had the

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Pharisees come out and say who is This guy and all these people are coming out here and getting baptized And John says who warned you to flee from the wrath to come you brood of vipers

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Bear fruit and keeping with repentance for the axe is already laid at the root of the tree

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Judgment's coming baby. It's coming But there's one who's coming after me who sandals

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I am not even worthy to untie He will baptize with the

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Holy Spirit and with fire fire God's judgment and again, we see that theme that we've been seeing in our kingdom of God series salvation judgment salvation judgment salvation judgment again and again and again

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John's message was that the kingdom had arrived. The king was coming So there were people renouncing their former way of life

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But there's more about John's baptism and why it's so significant for Jesus's ministry

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You remember the passage of Scripture where Jesus comes to John and John's like whoa. Whoa. Whoa, you should be baptizing me you remember this passage and Jesus says let it be done now to fulfill all righteousness

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What is Jesus talking about there? I believe we may have talked about this before but what is he talking about?

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And why is it so significant this anointing that he's receiving from John Jesus wasn't baptized because he was renouncing sin

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He was being consecrated as a priest If you don't believe me

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I Love this about Jesus. I love how he fulfills Scripture I love that. He didn't come to abolish any of these things, but he came to be what they were intended

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If you catch me, right, he is the meaning for which these things were intended. So he comes to fulfill them

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Four things in the Old Testament came with being consecrated as a priest if you want to look I'll be looking at a few pieces of Scripture with you here.

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There were four things numbers chapter 4 verses 1 through 3 in the

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Old Testament It'll be 30 years old 30 years of age Then the

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Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi by their

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Families by their father's households from 30 years and upward even to 50 years old all

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Who what enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting? How old was

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Jesus when he was baptized? He was 30 next

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Second common thing that was associated with being a priest the washing with water and the washing and anointing with the oil

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Exodus chapter 29 Verses 4 through 7 if you just you don't have to turn there right now

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I know that we're filming this so you can catch these on the rebound but Exodus chapter 29 verses 4 through 7 you shall bring

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Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and Wash them with water

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Then you shall take the garments and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece and Gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod and you shall set the turban on his head and put the

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Holy Crown on the turban You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him

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All right, so two and three Right with me so far 30 years of age

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Water cleansing and then the anointing with the oil symbolizing the presence of the Spirit of God fourth verbal blessing

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Numbers chapter 6 verses 20 through 227. I don't even think I need to quote this you guys know it already

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You know this blessing we say it at the end of church But I'll read it to you.

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Anyways, then the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to Aaron and to his son saying thus you shall bless the sons of Israel You shall say to them what the

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Lord? Bless you and keep you Yahweh make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and may

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Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you And give you peace So they shall invoke my name on the sons of Israel and then

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I will bless them friends We know from Jesus record in his anointing by John that he was washed with water

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The true son of Israel the true son of Israel who did everything that the apostates

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Failed to do in the wilderness the true Israel Jesus was washed with water.

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And then what happened after that the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove Anointing him and then there's more the blessing of the father's voice himself from heaven

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Saying this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased

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Isn't that just remarkable It is truly amazing To see the fulfillment of Scripture before your very eyes in the person and the work of Jesus Christ Jesus was washed with water

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Anointed by the Spirit and the father pronounced the blessing ordaining him for his priestly ministry

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All right Now back to our text Again, Jesus was answering them indirectly

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So that he would not be indicted directly for blasphemy and the chief priests and the elders find themselves on the horns of a true

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Dilemma if they tell the truth about what they think of John then the crowds will consume them But if they agree that John's baptism was from God indeed

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Then they confirm Christ's right to challenge their authority and don't you love how Jesus does this over and over again those who are trying?

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To lay a trap for him. It actually becomes a trap for them Right the way that he turns the tables on them and Makes them answer for themselves and causes them to be the ones that are on trial in this little

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Cute thing you got going on here where you're trying to accuse me. He turns it on them and says actually you're the one on trial

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Now answer me This is what Jesus does and So in their attempt to save face they reply.

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We don't know and do you see how they gathered together? It was almost like they Turned around to have a little huddle right discuss it amongst themselves.

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And why did they do this? Well, we know the passage we read earlier John chapter 3.

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We know that their hearts were evil We know that they were scared of two things They were scared of their credibility being found out and they were scared

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That they would have to come to grips publicly With who Jesus was with who the ministry of John Proclaimed that he would be as John's successor

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Right, so they were they were concerned about their credibility, of course, but they were also concerned about their safety

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They don't want to be consumed by the crowd who held John to be a prophet How often are we how often am

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I? How often is this the way that we at least how I used to be for the

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Lord begin working on my heart Working as if before the eyes of men afraid to be found out

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Afraid to have the shame cast upon me the shame cast upon us when we're working in such a way as not to be found out when we're supposed to be doing the

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Things that God has called us to do but we haven't been we've been shirking responsibility. We've been being lax

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Right, we've been lazy or you know, am I the only one? Okay. I'm the only one. All right, so I'm the only one so They were afraid of being found out.

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They were afraid of that shame that came with it And so they were more fearful of the shame than they were of the sin of offending

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God They were more afraid of fearing the

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Lord Coming into grips coming into the realization of the truth because that would mean that they'd have to obey the truth

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They were more afraid of being found out They were more afraid of being put to shame or they were more afraid of their safety being taken away from them

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And oh my how the world tempts us with the same things don't they Safety intact credibility intact

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Oftentimes that does silence us from taking any chances for the Lord and from acting on what we know to be true

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So they say we don't know And then Jesus answers them. Well, neither will

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I tell you by what authority I do these things so reviewing

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Jesus is confronted in the court of Gentiles during the time of Passover He's quoting prophecies that speak of the foreigners being brought to the holy mountain and joined to the people of God where their offerings are accepted

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Christ points to John's ministry whose baptism made it clear that the contemporary

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Jews were no longer making up the people of God the anointing of Jesus in Preparation for his priestly role answered the question of who has the ultimate authority

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Over the temple and as a result to the worship of God's people who's the true priest

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Who owns this place who has the property rights to this place? Jesus and so we see in Coming to what this text what

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Matthew is trying to communicate to us here. Jesus. We know is the true priest, right?

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He's the better priest that offers the once -for -all sacrifice for sins. He's the true temple He's the one as John 1 14 says the word becomes flesh and tabernacles among us

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Makes his dwelling among us the temple of God the place Where the worship of the people of God is supposed to converge on Right the true priest the true temple he possesses the authority to uproot and Reconstitute the worship of his true people that is the ones who produce the fruit that he commands

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Jesus is the one with the authority to purify the worship of his people making them the true

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Israelites Jesus was changing the administration of the temple's leadership and he's the one with the authority to build this temple built his church

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The center of gravity for worship among the people of God was changing not only in Who was able to worship not only in who would be brought right the foreigners the outcasts?

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Those were being brought into the place of worship now, but also in where the center of worship now resides

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Remember the passage with the woman at the well, right Jesus approaches her woman of Samaria He's thirsty he wants a drink

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She says you asked me for a drink Jews don't no one talks to us Samaritans And he says woman if you knew who was asking you for a drink

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You would ask him and he would give you the water of eternal life. And so she said oh, I want that water, right?

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She was just craving it. She was thirsty. And then what does he do? Of course, he points to her sin

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Before he gives her that offering the water of eternal life. He says I know

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Not only have you had one husband. You've had five husbands and the man you're living with right now. Isn't your husband?

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confronting her sin and Then offering the water of life, but what's significant about what she says to him?

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She asked him a question about worship. Do you remember what it is? Do you remember what the question is? Let's go there

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John chapter 4. I Believe it's verse 21

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We'll start in verse 19. The woman said to him sir. I perceive that you are a prophet

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Our fathers worshiped on this mountain But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where you people ought to worship

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Jesus said to her woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem Will you worship the

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Father? You worship what you do not know we worship what we know for salvation is from the

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Jews But the hour is coming and now is here when the true worshippers

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Will worship the Father in spirit and in truth

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For the Father is seeking such people to worship him Jesus Fundamentally altering the system of worship in Jerusalem forever

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Changing it's not so much That Jesus was fulfilling the temple.

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It's that he's the meaning for which it exists in the first place All the worship of God's people find its apex in his body

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Amen, the body of Christ is where the people of God From the scattered abroad

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Jew and Gentile are brought in together that beautiful passage in Ephesians chapter 2 What does it say about Jesus?

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He himself is our peace who has broken down the dividing wall of hostilities separating

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Jew and Gentile Bringing them together it to create one new man in Christ Jesus.

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Yes Jesus Bringing those second -class citizens of the kingdom like you and me

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To his holy mountain to prayer with him to the altar to the sacrifice that covers our sins once and for all

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What does this mean for the glory of God? What does this honestly say? About how the

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Father is glorified in Constructing this story of redemption for his people Only the

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God who spoke the cosmos into existence could speak order into chaos like this It's honestly true brothers and sisters

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God Sets the world in motion. He's intimately involved with his people They rebel against him sin enters the world corrupts everything about us our reasoning faculties our hearts

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Actions our thinking everything the effects of sin are so far -reaching and God undertakes this redemption by By a

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Redeemer himself God himself came and was born as that child He obeyed the law of God perfectly.

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He did everything that he called Israel to be faithful in doing

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He died on that cross That highlight of Christ and him crucified and what that means because he is not only the

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Lamb of God Not only the Lamb of God not only the sacrifice and the blood that are sufficient

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That sacrifice is sufficient to cover all of our worst sins

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That atoning work not only cleanses us not only makes us right before God not only purges us from the dominion of darkness

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And transfers us into the kingdom of God's beloved Son the dominion of light But there's more

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It brings about the universal worship Community in which the scattered abroad are brought home

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Jesus death on the cross Right. It says in the scriptures that he ransomed sons and daughters from every tribe tongue and language and nation

01:00:12

And they will be what a kingdom of priests unto our God But I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit here a little bit ahead of myself the

01:00:22

Spirit's work The better high priest offers the once -for -all sacrifice to forever change our worship and service to God as his priestly people

01:00:30

Let me ask you something When you approach the Lord's table Do you approach it like say?

01:00:38

The Old Covenant people under Moses when they approached Sinai and they shook they shook in holy fear of what was happening on that mountain and Moses took the blood and he smattered it over the people

01:00:54

Symbolizing the external cleansing of God's people Is that how you approach communion? Because there's a parallel there.

01:01:00

You remember when Jesus is offering the bread and the cup to his disciples what he says this is

01:01:07

My blood the cup of the New Covenant Where do we put that cup

01:01:16

Put it within us And rather than the blood being something that acts as a symbol to cleanse us outwardly

01:01:24

When we take of that bread which symbolizes the body of the Lord Jesus and the cup which symbolizes his blood

01:01:30

How intimate of our God to purify our worship in taking that sign of the

01:01:35

New Covenant into ourselves Symbolizing the ultimate cleansing of God That is a cleansing brothers and sisters that Christ has accomplished that no stain can make dirty

01:01:51

God gives us a dazzling white robe of righteousness and he seats us in the heavenly places

01:01:58

With Jesus where he has all authority in heaven and on earth and he's reigning at the right hand of God the

01:02:03

Father and we're seated with him according to Ephesians chapter 2 far above all rule and authority and power

01:02:12

You believe that? You believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross has given you a position where there will be no

01:02:20

Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus there will be no accusation that has brought no charge against God's Will stick in a court of law

01:02:31

Is that how you live your life? Is your worship to God?

01:02:37

Changed as a result of this intimacy with the Lord and what he's done for you to redeem you and to purchase you

01:02:44

Is your worship purified because Jesus is the true high priest that has taken over ownership of the temple and how?

01:02:53

The worship of God's people is incorporated into that with us You can just tell

01:02:59

I am dying to get to the next part of this I'm just I can I keep getting ahead of myself, but I'm gonna get there because it's truly amazing

01:03:06

How some examples? Okay real quickly. How does Jesus? Purify our worship now that we've dealt with our passage.

01:03:15

I want to talk about Maybe just one or two scattered sections of Scripture Hebrews chapter 13

01:03:22

Verse 15 if you read in that passage you see How the author of Hebrews says we have a table from which the owners of the temple now have no right to eat

01:03:37

Let us then Continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that confess and acknowledge his name offering spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable and Pleasing to God praise

01:03:54

God that he has made our worship pleasing in his sight Precious and pleasing and our offering just like their offering what they would do is they would they would burn an offering and then they would

01:04:06

Go to sleep and that offering would burn and the aroma of that offering would spread throughout the camp and it would be this

01:04:12

Pleasant aroma that would go up to God and it would be pleasing in the nostrils of the Lord That's what

01:04:19

God calls calls us to do with our lives to be that Continual offering that goes to bed lighting a sacrifice that wakes up lighting a sacrifice and letting that aroma lighting ourselves on fire figuratively

01:04:33

Not literally and Burning for the Lord as a living sacrifice

01:04:39

Romans chapter 12 verse 1 I urge you brethren to present yourself and your bodies as a living sacrifice

01:04:49

Such as your spiritual worship holy and acceptable and pleasing to God in his sight Our body is brothers and sisters and this is something that we have dropped the ball on in Christianity in the

01:05:02

West We have so emphasized the spiritual nature of things that we have forgotten Big word, but the teleological nature of our faith teleos the grounding the the earthiness of it, right?

01:05:15

How the glory of God and fashioning our human bodies are our bodies to serve him that we're not just We're not a ghost in a machine.

01:05:23

We're not our consciousness or our spirit that's driving the car of our body, right?

01:05:29

We're a beautifully woven together integrated human being flesh material and spirit immaterial interwoven together and God commands us when he purchases us to offer up ourselves and our bodies serve him with this body and Be a living sacrifice in which we lay ourselves down For him to serve him and to serve others

01:05:56

How does Jesus purify our worship? One John 1 7 if we walk in the light as he is in the light

01:06:06

We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin

01:06:12

How does this encounter? with these Religious leaders of Jesus day and everything that Jesus accomplishes after that to bring about the redemption of the scattered people of God How does that purify

01:06:24

God's worship when we relate to one another is that blood that we have as the sacrifice of God?

01:06:30

Sign -and -seal of our covenant mean anything when we reconcile with our brothers and sisters who have wronged us or Whom we have wronged

01:06:42

God has provided the ultimate sacrifice in Jesus Christ and Because of that sacrifice we are to forgive one another as God in Christ has forgiven us

01:06:56

Next question. How does having Jesus change the fruit that we bear for God? Well, we know from Romans 6 the

01:07:04

Apostle Paul and his systematic explanation of the gospel says something quite profound

01:07:09

He asks almost a rhetorical question He says what fruit were you getting when you were living along the lines of your former way of life?

01:07:18

Was it getting you anywhere? Well, no, it was producing death But now your bodies have been joined to Christ Your body has been joined to his body in his death and in his being raised to life and so now you are to honor

01:07:33

God with your body and now the fruit that you get the fruit that you bear to God is Pleasing to God it works your sanctification

01:07:41

Which leads on to eternal life? How does having

01:07:47

Jesus change the fruit? That we bear for God There's so many ways

01:07:54

Those are just a few How Does being integrated into the new creation like you and I are if you're in Christ change the way that we view the church

01:08:05

As I said before how do you view the church You view it as a building Or do you view it as Jesus Christ did saying

01:08:18

He will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

01:08:24

It is a moving entity Brothers and sisters it is something that takes the offensive

01:08:30

Against the culture that is hostile and rebellious against its Lord and maker and Redeemer Do we see it

01:08:40

Do we see the church as having and possessing the manifold wisdom of God by which to instruct get this not just Christians Not just believers

01:08:57

Unbelievers Right those in positions of authority those in realms of government

01:09:05

They have to obey Jesus. They are held to the same standard. God has one covenant law

01:09:12

It was always the same standard for Jew and Gentile and Everyone is required to obey it.

01:09:21

Well, why doesn't everyone obey it? well Because we're all sinners and we need Christ to give us new hearts and to raise us from death to life so that we love

01:09:28

God's law from the heart and we want to obey it if you're a

01:09:33

Christian You know as well as I do we used to love our lawlessness We used to love our rebellion.

01:09:40

We used to drink iniquity like water. That's how the scripture puts it But now in Jesus Christ, what has he done?

01:09:46

He's washed us with the the washing of renewal by his Holy Spirit to purify himself of people that is zealous for good works

01:09:57

This is what God has done. What are the miracles? One more note on that Philippians chapter 3 verse 18 also gives us light and this is very popular passage that people try to use to say

01:10:11

We'll see our citizenship is in heaven Therefore we ought not to get involved with these these earthly matters right

01:10:19

So our citizenship is in heaven, right? We're of the spiritual realm. This is kind of the fallen dirty

01:10:25

Forsaken creational realm this earthy realm that God is just essentially treating like a throwaway but if you look at the context of that passage and if you look at even further into the time frame of who the

01:10:36

Apostle Paul was speaking to the Romans were to take the initiative and the offensive in permeating the surrounding cultures with the world of Caesar the world of the king and Paul takes that idea and he applies it to Christians saying our citizenship is in heaven

01:10:55

So Christian, what are you doing with your citizenship in heaven your heavenly citizenship? Are you permeating this world?

01:11:01

Are you permeating the nations with the culture of Christ? So much for being a passage that disengages us from activity in the world

01:11:15

Now in closing we're gonna be getting to the end here Jesus as a part of this larger narrative, he tells two parables

01:11:23

Following this narrative again come back with me here. I know we we went off into application land now

01:11:28

We did you come back for just a second because there's something crucial to talk about That's really adds to the understanding of this passage and I believe in a faithful way

01:11:37

Jesus tells two parables in Matthew chapter 21 Verses 28 through 45 and I'm not gonna spend too much time because I know pastor

01:11:45

Jeff will be chomping at the bit to dissect these But Jesus tells a parable of two sons one of the sons is characterized by rebellion and then later repentance and Then the other is characterized by his false profession and his failure to do what he said he was going to do

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Right. These are workers, right? So the one that had rebellion later on repented came back and then the one that had the false profession of religion and said he was gonna go didn't go right and And Then Jesus tells his audience the religious leaders the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you you're the son who has the false profession and who didn't go although he said he would and Then leading into the next parable

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Is the parable of the vineyard workers where you have the vineyard that the master leases out, right?

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He leaves it to tenants and then he sends servants to the tenants

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Which would have been the Jewish religious leaders at the time of the temple He sends servants to the tenants to get fruit and one of the tenants do to the servants

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They kill them They kill them. They stone them and These are symbolic of the prophets, right?

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The prophets are coming like we talked about before the messengers of the covenant. They're coming to get fruit Jesus when he cursed that fig tree, he was coming for fruit.

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He was hungry for fruit from his people and So they kill the prophets and Then God and then in that parable

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Jesus says and then the master said oh, I'll send my son. They'll obey him.

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And what do they do with the Sun? They kill the Sun right symbolizing Jesus on the cross

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Putting him to death on a tree for all to see and so Jesus brings his contemporaries into this at the end of it and says the tenants

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Are gonna be put to death Right those that killed the prophets those that killed the heir of the property, right?

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The kingdom is going to be taken away. The vineyard is going to be taken away It's going to be given to a nation of people that are producing its fruit

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These are the parables that come now In this parable Jesus quotes something, right?

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He quotes the stone that the builders rejected have become the cornerstone Right as he's talking in the second parable and he's quoting again from Psalm 118

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Now this is also quoted elsewhere in the New Testament if you turn to first Peter chapter 2

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First Peter chapter 2 verse 4 as you come to him a living stone

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Rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious you yourselves

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Who's he talking to? believers the church You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house

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To be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ That's amazing

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For it stands in Scripture Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone a cornerstone chosen and precious and whoever believes in him

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Will not be put to shame So the honor is for you who believe

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But for those who do not believe Here it is the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense they stumble because they disobey the word as They were destined to do ouch

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Verse 9 But you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation of people

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For his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

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Amazing text of Scripture now the psalm that Jesus quotes from in its original context

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Describes the return of the king to the temple the Davidic King to give thanks after his victory over his enemies

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The stone rejected in the context of the psalm was the Davidic King and the builders were the foreign nations

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That rejected the rule of the anointed king of Israel That's key. Hold on to that the enemies of Israel thereby assured their own destruction

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For the Davidic King was the stone by which Yahweh would carry out his plan in the world

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Hence the king cuts off God's enemies with confidence. I'm quoting

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Commentary on first Peter By Tom Schreiner, it's excellent volume, but I love what he had to say about this particular passage the builders who reject the anointed king as It's being applied in this passage the builders the guardians of the temple those who were supposed to be

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Overseeing the worship of God's people the builders of the temple Reject the anointed king

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They're not foreigners, but they're the religious leaders of Israel the religious leaders believe they are building

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God's building But they have rejected the cornerstone for the entire edifice By doing so they are behaving like the pagan nations of David's day and have assured their own judgment

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For John for God has established Jesus as the cornerstone by virtue of his resurrection and hence vindicated him

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Do you see it brothers and sisters? Do you see it yet? Do you see the picture emerging of God in the flesh

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Jesus Christ building his church? Overseeing the worship of his redeemed people

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He is the living Chosen and honored cornerstone that the builders rejected and we are the living stones

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Being built up to form the house of God that he indwells by his animating and empowering spirits a difficult note in that text

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That God tells us this was the plan all along that there is a chosen race There is a royal priesthood that are comprised of the people that God selects for himself of his own decree

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Nothing that we privy to have knowledge to who those people are But it's amazing in that passage

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He ordains the believing of his chosen people as well as the stumbling and disobeying of those who are cut off We have to come to grips with what this is saying

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If you haven't before God is sovereign Amen God is sovereign over salvation he is an absolute utter control and if you say

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Well who can do anything who can resist his will And my friends you have brought yourself in line

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With the objection that the Apostle Paul is answering in Romans chapter 9 when he says who are you?

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Oh Man to answer back to God will what is formed say to him who formed it.

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Why did you make me like this? God's sovereignty

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This is a God Who wields and orchestrates all of history for himself for his glory?

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To vindicate the holiness of his name among all the nations and he does it by undertaking the redemption of his people in offering himself as the once and for all true sacrifice for sinners as The true leader of their worship the true priest

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And we know as Hebrews book of Hebrews tells us Jesus holds his office of priest

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Operabaton meaning without successor. No one's coming to take his place

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Jesus is our faithful and merciful High priest and we like living stones are being built up into the body of Christ to be indwelled by his spirit and to be empowered for action

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God is sovereign over salvation Which doesn't negate by the way man's responsibility God still holds every single person accountable for their actions

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Everybody will answer to the standard of God So my friends the old the

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Lord is the only one who's authorized to build his temple So let me ask you this. What kind of worship are you offering?

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What kind of worship are you offering? Did you know that all of life is worship? Not just church

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Did you know that the way you love your wife is worship? The way you discipline your child your child is worship

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The way that you work is worship the way that you help the needy is worship

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The way that you put on your clothes in the morning is worship God owns it all there is no area to which his authority and his rule do not apply

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He has all authority in heaven and on earth. That's what the Reformation was about One of the primary things the

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Reformation was about was about the recovery of Christian vocation People saw if you didn't have a position in the church you were considered a less

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Someone possessing less of a valuable role right and that permeates the church today.

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Well, I'm not a pastor. I Guess I can't serve God's people but what the

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Reformation recovered was Vocation in the Christian life that every area every sphere

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Was dedicated to the worship of God was under the authority of Christ And so all areas of life were to be redeemed and reconciled in Christ and we'll end with this

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Do you know there's a basis for that? You know, there's a scriptural basis for that statement.

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If you look at Colossians chapter 1 I'll read it to you and then we'll be done

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Verse 21 and you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds

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He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

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If indeed you continue in the faith Stable and steadfast. Oh Forgive me.

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I'm so sorry. I Read to you the wrong paragraph. Let's back up. Just one sec

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Verse 19, I apologize. This is the passage. I wanted you to hear see how I get ahead of myself like this

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For in him Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and Threw him to reconcile to himself some things all things

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Whether on earth or in heaven Making peace by the blood of his cross when Jesus died on that cross and he nailed our sins there brothers and sisters

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He did it not only to take individuals and save them but to redeem the entire cosmos

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Everything that has been touched by the fall This is the comprehensive nature of our

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Lord's Gospel it is Worth noting that we ought not to be like the religious leaders of that day.

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We ought not to question our Savior's authority Because every tree that has not been planted by our

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Heavenly Father will be rooted up Are you planted in Christ today?

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Do you know him? Do you have forgiveness of sins? Do you have peace with God? Are you reconciled to him by the work of Jesus Christ?

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If not, I Would beg you and plead with you with everything that is within me to get right with God Before your head hits the pillow this evening

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The call of the gospel is That Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh.

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He lived righteously Died for sinners and rose again from the grave forever defeating sin and death

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And he is ascended and seated at the right hand of his father Reigning and ruling over all things and all of history is headed towards him

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So repent and believe the gospel turn from sin and come to Christ where there is peace with God Reconciliation with the maker and the gift of eternal life.

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Let's pray Father I want to thank you so much

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God I am totally unworthy to be opening your word in front of your people and I pray that whatever was of The flesh would fall to the ground and whatever came forth today.

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That was of the spirit you would use To plant the seed that would bear fruit in the lives of your people

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God make us not just hearers of the word but doers also and May these words your words

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God Change us forever change us and leave us different than when we walked in here today