The Character of Christ pt3

[0:00] The character of Jesus Christ and saw that he was holy and that he was loving, compassionate, last week courageous and bold.

[0:12] I saw that he was lowly and studied that out a little bit. And tonight I want to pick it up with another character trait of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are things that if you spend time with him, if you were one of his disciples or consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ, it's something you'll pick up about him and Lord willing it'll rub off on you.

[0:32] So let's start in Mark chapter 1 tonight. Mark chapter 1. The Bible says where two or three are gathered, right?

[0:51] So we only have two on this side, but we've got three on this side. And three in the back, so we can go. All right, Mark 1, let's take a look at 35 through 39.

[1:08] The Bible says, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.

[1:19] And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and cast out devils.

[1:33] And this is the character trait I want us to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ is that he was prayerful. In verse 35, And the Lord Jesus Christ had plans on going out and preaching that day.

[1:53] But before the preaching, there was prayer. And before he went to minister and to heal folks, there was prayer. You know how he was always so prepared to respond the right way all the time when people came up to him?

[2:06] His prayer. It's because he stayed in tune with God. He kept his spirit right. He kept his heart right. And I know you think, well, Christ was God. He did it.

[2:18] He felt the need to do it. To get up, to spend time in prayer. He was prayerful. And these thoughts, as we see of the Lord Jesus Christ, ought to convict us and ought to drive, convicts me.

[2:31] And it ought to drive us to that time and to longing. I want to try to convince you that you have a need for prayer tonight. And he was prayerful. Not only did he just respond right, how did he remain lowly like we saw last week?

[2:47] You know how? Because he spent time in prayer. It kept him right. It kept him where he needs to be. When he needed to be compassionate. It's because he was right with God in that sense. He was bold when he needed to be bold.

[2:57] And it's prayer. It's prayer that gets you there. Let me show you some more things before we get into something a little more on this. Look at Luke 6. Luke chapter 6.

[3:08] So before he preached, he prayed. Before he ministered to others, he prayed. In Luke chapter 6. And here's another case where this shows up.

[3:19] Verse number 12. Amen. And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

[3:31] Amen. That's something I've never done in my life was continued all night, all through the hours of night praying. Notice what he does next. He goes out and calls his, when it was day, he called them to his disciples.

[3:44] And of them, he chose 12. Before he did that, he spent time in prayer. Before he made decisions like that, that were ministry decisions, if you want to call it that, he prayed. Look at chapter 9 of Luke.

[3:57] Luke chapter 9, verse 28. Prayer can do something for you. And I know this one here, we're going to kind of spiritualize this thought here a little bit, but you'll get it.

[4:09] Luke 9, verse 28. And it came to pass, about in eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered.

[4:22] And his raiment was white and glistening. And you know the story, what took place there with Moses, Elijah, and they call it the Mount of Transfiguration, but consider this, when he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered.

[4:38] And you know what prayer will do to you too? It'll change the fashion of your countenance. It'll change your spirit inside and it'll show on the outside you'll be more humble.

[4:49] You'll be less snappy toward others. You'll have a better spirit. You'll respond the right way the first time instead of 20 minutes later after you had time to think about it and be convicted about it and think, oh, I shouldn't have said it that way.

[5:02] Prayer will keep you where you need to be. It'll keep you centered in the will of God and in fellowship with God. And you can respond, right? Your countenance could be changed just like the Lord Jesus Christ shows us.

[5:14] In John chapter 17, Christ prays on the way to the garden. And when he gets to the garden, I want to show you this here. Look at, let's go back to Matthew.

[5:25] This is the best place to show you this. Come back to Matthew 26. We read about his walk to the garden with his disciples, with the eleven.

[5:42] And he's already told them that when are you going to betray me tonight? And they're like, Lord, is it I? Is it I? And then they sing a hymn, let us be going. They go to the Mount of Olives and on the way through this town and out through the ravine.

[5:58] And as they're going to find the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ is praying. It's recorded in John 17. He was prayerful. But this is something I want you to really get here.

[6:09] And I we had a men's prayer meeting. I brought this out. And so most of you weren't here for that. So this is going to be fine. We'll just spend a little time on it. I was going to kind of go through it quickly.

[6:20] But this is too good to miss here. Matthew 26. And here's Christ arriving at the Garden of Gethsemane.

[6:31] And verse 36 shows us he is there. And he tells his disciples to sit ye here while I go pray. And in verse 37, he took with him Peter and two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

[6:47] Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Now, have you ever heard him talk like that up to this point? Ever? Did he even let on at all that he was shook or even disturbed?

[7:00] There was times where he was angry with them because of the hardness of their hearts. There was things like those emotions. There was the time where he wept. But if you look at that, Russ's famous verse that he quoted, you look at that passage, you're not weeping because he's sad.

[7:13] He's weeping. He wept because of their unbelief around him. They are crying and mourning. And he's about to raise this man from the dead. And he's very sorrowful.

[7:25] And he's very heavy. And this is without a doubt the most traumatic experience he felt as a human being in this moment. And look at verse 39. He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

[7:45] What was the will of Jesus Christ? It was to let the cup pass. It was to not go forward with what was in front of him that night, Calvary.

[7:56] And then he finishes the verse, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Now, what is his will right here? What did Christ say his will was?

[8:08] It was to let the cup pass. That was as plain as day. He's flinching, just so you know. This is real. And he's very sorrowful.

[8:18] He's very heavy. His soul is exceeding sorrowful. And he even prays to the Father that the cup could pass from him. And that was his will, not as I will.

[8:32] But he's ready. He wants to submit to God. But what does he really want? To get out of it. Now, notice, though, this went on for at least an hour, it would seem. Now, come to verse 40. And he cometh unto his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour?

[8:46] Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing. But the flesh is weak. He's referring to himself. The flesh is weak. He's exceeding sorrowful and very heavy.

[8:59] And he instructs his disciples to pray. He's praying. He's instructing his disciples to pray. He's upset when they're not praying with him. He's the one that needs the strength. He is facing the biggest battle with his flesh that he's ever faced to go forward with this.

[9:16] And he showed you he doesn't want to face it, so he prays. Now, look at verse 42. He went again the second time and prayed, saying, Oh, my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, I will be done.

[9:30] I want you to notice there's a little difference in this prayer from the first one. The first prayer, I just want it to pass. Nevertheless, not my will but thine.

[9:40] His will, let it pass. This time, he's softening up to it by saying, If this cup may not pass for me except I drink it, I will be done.

[9:51] He's not asking to get out of it now. And it says in verse 43, He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So now it's well after midnight. It must have been a few hours. But there's been a change, as we're going to see, in his demeanor.

[10:05] Look at verse 43. And he came and found them asleep, and their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and said unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest.

[10:16] Behold, the hours of hand, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Look at verse 46. Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

[10:29] It started by him saying, Let this cup pass from me. A little bit later, after prayer, it says, If it may not pass from me except I drink it. A little bit later, more prayer.

[10:41] The hour is at hand. Let us be going. Now, it's not that he that is at hand that doth betray me is here.

[10:51] Let's get out of here. Let's take off. If we leave now, we can get away with this. He's saying, Let us be going, facing it head on. What's the difference?

[11:02] What made the difference? From him trying to get out of it, or not want to face it, and flinching at it, to let us be going. You know what it was. It was prayer.

[11:12] Amen. It was prayer. It was, in his case, hours of prayer. And here's what I want us to learn about prayer here from the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the most dramatic of circumstances, without a doubt.

[11:24] It was prayer that slowly warmed him up to accepting God's will. It was prayer that just, it was little by little, incrementally, we see it, that strengthened him in his inner man, so to speak, and prepared him to face this thing head on.

[11:45] He entered into the garden very sorrowful, but he left prepared to fulfill God's plan for him. Prayer didn't change the circumstances.

[11:57] This is what I want you to really understand. We want to go to prayer to change our circumstances. Fix it. Change it. Don't make me do it. Prayer didn't change the circumstances. Prayer changed his attitude toward the circumstances.

[12:12] He left different than what he came in. And that's what prayer does. And that's what prayer can do for us. I want us to learn that Christ is praying.

[12:22] He's not going through a prayer sheet of people right here. He's praying for himself. And prayer changed him. Let us be going.

[12:35] It's time. And from this point forward, you don't see him flinching at all. He's ready. He got ready. And it was this spot here that prepared him, the Garden of Gethsemane.

[12:47] There's a song about in the garden. I come to the garden alone. And it's about spending time in prayer and hearing his voice and knowing it and how it strengthens you and prepares you to serve him and do what God has you to do in this life.

[13:05] That's something pretty big there. Jesus Christ was prayerful. He prayed before he preached. He prayed before he ministered. His prayer, we see, it can change your countenance.

[13:18] They keep you right where you need to be. But when you have those hard things in life, boy, that's what you need is prayer. You need people praying for you like he needed people praying for him.

[13:29] But you need to just commit yourself to it, to learn to do it. It's a discipline. I'm sure when your heart's heavy enough, you won't need to be taught. When things are that bad and that low, you'll just, that's the only place to go.

[13:42] And I know what it is to be driven to prayer. And at the time, it doesn't feel good, but it feels so right. And thank God, by the way, that that's an option for us.

[13:53] That prayer, a real fellowship with our God, our Father, our Creator, being able to just come before Him boldly. Yet humbly, what a blessing.

[14:06] What a true gift. He was prayerful. That's a character, the character of the man. He was prayerful. And that's a powerful thing if you'll learn to tap into it and let it change you.

[14:20] I want us to see something else about the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is not a, I don't know that I have a great, come to Matthew 15, a great word here to describe it. But I'll just say this, He was firm.

[14:32] He was a firm man. He was a man's man. He wasn't a pushover. He knew how to stand his ground and to do it without apology.

[14:45] In some ways, I'd say, forgive me, that he was stern. But I'm not sure that I have a real good word that just hits this on the head. But he was firm.

[14:56] He was uncompromising. He was resolute. We see this in a couple places. And I want to, I'm sure we could go all over, but I'll give you these three spots here in Matthew where it's all a similar kind of thing.

[15:09] And it's really him being kind of, I don't know about saying on the attack, but he's just, he takes, doesn't take anything off these guys.

[15:20] In Matthew 15, look at verse 1. And came Jesus, to Jesus, scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem. These are powerful, powerful men in that Jewish setup.

[15:32] And they ask a question. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. I mean, they're accusing Jesus Christ and his disciples of being really just a bunch of rebel, a bunch of rebellious punks.

[15:49] Why won't you follow the laws and the rules and the way we do things? Why do you, why not? But he answered and said unto them, why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

[16:01] And that's just a straight slap in their face. For God commanded, he goes on. You're supposed to take care of your father and mother. And you allow people not to do that, as he goes, as he, one point in particular.

[16:14] But I love his response. They accuse him of transgressing traditions of the elders. And he accuses them of transgressing the commandment of God by one of their traditions they've developed.

[16:28] And they're more worried about that than the word of God. And Christ just calls them on the carpet. He's not sweating them at all. Look later in this passage.

[16:42] Verse 7. Ye hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you. I mean, I wish we could see this. Because then you'd be like, there's a lot of people standing there, whoa, backing away from Jesus Christ right now.

[16:57] They're nervous. This is not just like, yeah, get them. They're like, what? Head down. No eye contact from here on forward. They're scared. And he just goes with the scripture and says, this is about you, you hypocrite.

[17:13] This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines of the commandments of men. Exactly right.

[17:25] And then he turns and he calls people to him. He's going to say, look, this is, and he gives them some truth. And his disciples say this in verse 12. Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after their, don't you know you upset them?

[17:38] They got mad at you? And he has an answer for that. In verse 13, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind, and if blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

[17:54] Christ didn't, he didn't flinch at these men. He was a firm man himself. Younger man, but firm and strong inwardly. Look at chapter 16.

[18:07] And they show up, they come to him, he rebukes them, and then leaves them standing there. Verse 1 says, The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting, desiring him, that he would show them a sign from heaven.

[18:19] He answered and said unto them, When in his evening ye say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and low-ring. Oh ye hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but can you not discern the signs of the times?

[18:33] A wicked and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. That's you men that came here. Pharisees and Sadducees seeking after a sign. He called them wicked and an adulterous generation.

[18:44] Adulterous meaning, you remember what the Old Testament was all about. And all those that left Jehovah God to worship Baal, to worship idols, he said, You've committed adultery against me.

[18:57] He's telling these men who think they're worshiping God, you're just like them. You're fathers that killed the prophets. There shall not be no sign given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

[19:08] And he left them and departed. I'm out of here. I want you to see that there was a side to him that we don't always, it's not always portrayed, I suppose.

[19:21] Look at chapter 23, and this one is just epic, absolutely epic. The ripping of the scribes and the Pharisees in this entire chapter.

[19:31] He exposes what's inside their hearts. He's calling them names, calling out their hypocrisy and their phoniness. And full of name calling.

[19:42] Full of name calling. I mean, I don't even want to spend the entire time on every verse, but it's just rough. Some of the name calling, look at verse 13.

[19:55] But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Verse 14. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Verse 15, same thing. Verse 16.

[20:06] Woe unto you, ye blind guides. Just like he told his disciples about him falling into a ditch. 17. Ye fools and blind. 19.

[20:18] The same thing. I mean, this isn't him just playing. He's going at them. I mean, like never before, he's going at their throats.

[20:30] Verse 23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Ye blind guides. Verse 24. Hypocrites. 25. I mean, does he have to call him a name every time he says something?

[20:44] He's wound up. You can tell by the language. He just, he's not letting it go. He keeps calling them hypocrites. Hypocrites. Hypocrites. You blind guides. Thou blind Pharisee. Verse 26.

[20:55] Hypocrite 27. Full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Hypocrites. Coming all the way down to verse 33. Ye serpents. Ye generation of vipers.

[21:06] Now this is a, it is an epic ripping of these guys to their face. And I, he's controlled. He's righteous. He knows what he's doing.

[21:17] He's right is what he's saying. I mean, it's 100% right. I'm not suggesting we go call other people hypocrites and, you know, fools and all that. It's not going to go over well.

[21:28] But he had 100% righteousness behind what he was saying. And they deserved it. And I'm just showing you that this is a real side to the character of the Lord Jesus Christ that often gets just missed or overlooked or just overshadowed with this sissified version of who the Savior was.

[21:48] And I despise that thought to constantly be so soft with our Savior. And when you preach Calvary, it's, you can't help.

[21:59] I mean, I can't help but see it as a man that he went forward, that he faced it, that he took the suffering. Not just this, oh, he loved us so much. I mean, the love cost him his life.

[22:09] And it cost him a brutal beating. A terrible beating. But he stood firm and convicted and without apology.

[22:20] And so that's a side of him that I want you to get. Because it's a good side to know. And as a man, it's something that you ought to have inside of you. If you spend time with that man, the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't come off just being sweet to everybody.

[22:35] Not everybody. You're balanced. You're humble. You're bold. You're also stern when it comes to truth and righteousness. And you don't back down because somebody's more powerful than you or somebody's older than you.

[22:49] If they're wrong, they're wrong. And you know, Paul says, speaking the truth in love. And I get that. And I'll continue to do that myself. But understand the Savior wasn't a sissy. All right, here's the last one.

[23:02] And this one, I want you to just come to John chapter 2. I want you to hear me out on this one. Because it's going to come across a little bit tough.

[23:12] Like a little weird. You're not going to agree with it at first. But I want to show you something. I want to show you this. You're ready.

[23:24] I hope you can handle it. No, this is just, this is something about the Lord that I've noticed coming through. I see it pop up here and pop up there. And the way I'm reading it, and I don't want to, what I'm saying, I want to be reading into something that's not there.

[23:38] And you can be like, oh. But I want to show you, once you see all these verses that will come out here, that there's something in there. And I don't even want to say the word, because I don't have a good word for it.

[23:48] But the best word to describe this is sarcastic. And I know how that sounds. So that's why I'm setting this up. He was sarcastic. Now, I know you think that means he was a smart aleck.

[23:59] And that's not at all what I'm saying. That he was a jerk. That he just, like, that's kind of how it comes across today. But sarcasm is the use of cutting remarks or rebuke with wit and or contempt.

[24:16] And so I think the word, the definition of the word, really matches what Christ does. Now, don't just judge it off the first one. But the first one pops up to me as being one in a list. Let's see that I'm not suggesting Christ was a smart mouth or that he just mouthed off at people.

[24:32] But there's something that shows up and shows up and shows up that it just comes up as a category to me. So let's look at it. And then we'll be done. John chapter 2 and verse number 1.

[24:43] In the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

[24:54] And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, you know I love you, but I just don't know if I should be doing this right now. Sorry, but no, what Christ said was, Woman, what have I to do with thee?

[25:10] Does that ever sit weird with you? To hear him say it that way? What have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. Now, I think the language, if we've said it today, If I was speaking and saying the same thing would be, What do you want me to do about it?

[25:26] Or, why is that my problem? Now, please forgive me. I'm not trying to make Christ out to be a smart aleck. I promise you I'm not. Know my heart. But I see him talk like that to Mary, The mother of God, as they suppose.

[25:43] He calls her woman. He never calls her mother. He says, Woman, what have I to do with thee? It just seems a strange thing to say. So, let's just continue on, And then you make your own judgment on all of this.

[25:55] John chapter 3. Verse number 1, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, A ruler of the Jews. We know who Nicodemus is.

[26:06] Let's just make sure we understand. He's a ruler of the Jews. He has learned. He has studied. He is up there. He's a teacher, as a matter of fact. But come down later in this chapter.

[26:20] He has no idea what Christ is talking about with this new birth. He says, You're a teacher come from God. No man can do the miracles that thou doest, Except God be with him. Christ says, You must be born again.

[26:31] And he's like, How can that be? Can you enter a second time in your mother's womb and be born? Christ's like, Look, no. Born of water and of the Spirit. That which is flesh is flesh.

[26:42] That which is spirit is spirit. And he even illustrates in verse 8, About the wind bloweth where it listeth. You can't tell whence it comes, Whether it goeth. This is spiritual things, Nicodemus. And so Nicodemus is still struggling.

[26:54] Verse 9, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Now look at Christ's response to him in verse 10. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?

[27:06] You don't know this stuff. And they have you teaching around here? The remark is humorous, But it's true.

[27:17] There's something, There's a little slap in there. A subtle rebuke in there. A cutting remark. Out thou our master of Israel? You got your master's degree, do you?

[27:29] Nicodemus is no common guy. He is a ruler of the Jews. He's up there. He's earned his way into his position. And Christ's like, You don't know this stuff.

[27:40] Art thou a master of Israel? I love the thought. They got you teaching around here? You can hear that in today's world. If you dealt with somebody that's supposedly supposed to know their stuff, And they tell you it's something wrong, Or they can't understand what you're explaining to them.

[27:56] You're like, You're a teacher, are you? They pay you big bucks? Look at John chapter 4. John chapter 4. Notice, we're going to look at six verses here.

[28:07] And all six are coming out of the gospel of John. I don't know why, But John was closer to Christ than anybody. John presents him differently than anybody else. And these passages, for the most part, Only John records.

[28:21] John 4. And here's the woman of Samaria. In verse 7, There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. His disciples are gone, And she can't believe that he's speaking to her.

[28:34] Verse 9, How is it that thou, being a Jew, Askest drink of me, Which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And now Christ goes on to talk, If thou knewest the gift of God, And who it is that saith that he'd give me to drink, Thou would have asked me, And he would have given thee living water.

[28:48] And he begins to, we call it witness to her. He begins to use that water as an illustration of eternal life. And just like we should use common everyday illustrations To expound the gospel to others.

[29:03] And the woman comes down to this. He tells her about her husbands, And five husbands that she's had. And the one that she has now is not thy husband. And so she realizes he's a prophet in verse 19.

[29:16] And so now that she knows he's somebody special, In verse 20, Our father is worshipped in this mountain, And ye say that in Jerusalem is a place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, When ye shall neither in this mountain, Nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father.

[29:32] Ye worship, ye know not what. We know what we worship. For salvation is of the Jews. I mean, isn't that kind of, That's not so nice to say to the woman, Ye worship, ye know not, You don't know what you're worshipping.

[29:46] We do. Jews, we know. But you, You don't know what you're worshipping. I just find that little statement there, Just a little, There's a little slap to it.

[29:59] Come to chapter 16. Ye worship, ye know not what. Chapter 16.

[30:14] Oh, this one. Verse 28. This is the night of his crucifixion. This is right before chapter 17, The trip to the garden, Where he's speaking to the father.

[30:29] At the end of chapter 17, I'm sorry, At the beginning of chapter 18, He arrives at the garden. And so this is right in that, He's about to die tonight.

[30:39] And he says to his disciples, Verse 28, I came forth from the father, And am come into the world again. I leave the world, And go to the father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, And speakest no proverb.

[30:52] Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, And needest not that any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Verse 31, Jesus answered them, Do you now believe?

[31:02] Do you now believe? Do you hear him? Do you now believe? Really? I mean, That's his response to these men.

[31:14] Oh, now we understand. Now we know. Really? I mean, That's Christ's response. It's right there. It just cracks me up, Coming through there. Look at chapter 18.

[31:27] Chapter 18. Do you now believe? John 18. And, He's before Pilate.

[31:41] Verse 33, Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall, And called Jesus, And said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Look at his response to the governor, Who holds his life in his hands.

[31:53] Verse 34, Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, Or did others tell it thee of me? And Pilate's like, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation. And he goes off, And gets wound up.

[32:05] But, It just seems pretty rude, To the governor, At this moment, Saying, Did you come up with that by yourself? Or did somebody tell you that about me? Where does this come from?

[32:20] I don't know. I'm really, I'm telling you, I'm not making this up, But, You see these things, They just kind of keep showing up, Little by little. There's one more, John 21, Where Christ just has a little edge, In his dealings with others, At times.

[32:35] And, I don't believe to call him a smart mouth, So, Like I said, The sarcastic word, Just doesn't quite feel right, At least the way we use it, Today. As if it's just a smart aleck, Big mouth.

[32:48] But, There is something to his tongue, And to the way he dealt with people, And he wasn't as diplomatic, Perhaps, As people might assume him to be, Or as some desire to portray him to be.

[33:00] There's definitely, I think, Some sarcasm displayed, Toward others' ignorance, Or toward their unbelief, And to putting up with them. This one to me, Just sounds like, Like, A parent talking to their child, When they're frustrated with him.

[33:14] So, He's dealing with Peter, In chapter 21, Near the end, This is the, Lovest thou me, Lovest thou me, Lovest thou me, And he gets to where he says, Follow me, In verse 19, In verse 20, Peter was commanded, Follow me.

[33:30] So, Verse 20, Then Peter, Turning about, Seeth the disciple, Whom Jesus loved following, That's John, Which also leaned on his breast, At supper, And said, Lord, Which is he, That betrayeth thee.

[33:41] Peter, Seeing him, Sayeth to Jesus, Lord, And what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, What is that to thee? Follow thou me.

[33:53] The last two words I said to you were, Follow me. And now you're worried about John. Peter, If I want him to do something, What is that to thee?

[34:03] I love it. Follow thou me. But it does, Doesn't it sound like he's talking to a kid? That's just not listening, Not obeying, And getting, What about him? I didn't tell you about him. That's how I talk to my kids.

[34:14] Well, She didn't do it. I didn't tell her to do it. Told you to do it. There's Christ's response. If I will that he tarry till I come, What is that to thee? What do you care?

[34:26] What do you know? I just, It makes me smile a little bit, Reading that, Because I know there was something behind it. I know there was a, A bit of frustration, To dealing with Peter, After this, Lovest thou me?

[34:37] Lord, You know that I love you. Well, Follow me. And there he is already, Worried about somebody else. So, Christ did use caustic, And cutting remarks, And he did rebuke others, With some contempt, And wit.

[34:52] That's what sarcasm is. So, I hate to say it like that, Forgive me for saying, Christ is sarcastic, But, I just thought it was worth adding on, Tacking on to the end, Especially considering, Before this, Seeing him stand face to face, Without apology, Against these religious men, Who thought they were somebody.

[35:11] And you see that side of him there, And you realize, He was no pushover, And he didn't run from anybody, In that sense of, Battling, Or, You know, Debating truth. And nor did he put up with too much, Either, When it came to people's ignorance, And, When they were out of line, Perhaps.

[35:29] So, The Lord Jesus Christ, His character, This will conclude the study, I hope it didn't end on a sour note for you, I've just found those verses, As I read through the Bible, Just, They just kind of pop out to me, Maybe it's just the way I think, But, Thought I'd bring it out, And we'd learn a little bit more, See another side, Well, I can say this, One thing for, I can say for certain, Is that Jesus Christ was balanced, He was totally balanced, And under control, And temperate, And you know he loved, You know he displayed compassion, You know he cared, You know he gave of himself, And you know that he wasn't a pushover, And people didn't use him, And run over him, But he was, An example, And one of the examples he was to us, That we don't really like, Is an example of suffering, And that's something we could spend, A couple Wednesdays on too, This is Rabbit Trails series, So who knows, Maybe we'll run that one, But let's be dismissed, In prayer tonight, And then, Kids ought to be about wrapping up, Lord thank you for tonight,

[36:30] And for just the chance, To open up the word of God together, Lord, I pray that the study tonight, Wouldn't be just something funny, But rather something that, We can take to heart, Specifically, The thoughts on prayer, And how it can benefit us, Not to getting our own way, But rather it can change us, As we would submit to you, As we would yield our spirit to you, The more we bow before you, It just humbles us, It naturally humbles us, And prepares us, And so Lord I pray, That we be a prepared people, Unto every good work, And may it be prayer, The way we learn from Christ, To pray before we preach, And to pray before we minister to others, And to be in communion with you, And Lord help us also, To have some backbone, In our Christian life, And not to be intimidated, Not to be pushed around, But Lord to take a stand, For what's right, And for what the word of God says, And not to be ashamed, Paul said he's not ashamed, Of the gospel of Christ, And so Lord may we never be ashamed,

[37:31] Of our savior, May we never bow and hide, And turn our heads away, When the world's cursing his name, Help us to be a light, And let the world see that light, And know that it's the Lord Jesus Christ, Shining inside of us, God you're very good to us, Thank you for salvation, And thank you for Bible Baptist Church, And for the folks here tonight, I pray you'll give us a good rest of the week, I pray you'll keep us safe and healthy, And help us also Lord, To do something for you, Something that'll get through, And last through eternity, To glorify your name, Give us a chance to invite somebody, To church on Sunday, Give us a chance to put it on our hearts, To hand out a gospel track, And to be an avid witness, And to open our eyes, To this world around us, Thank you again for Jesus Christ, For this church, For those that helped with the teens, And the young kids tonight, I pray Lord that they enjoyed it, That it'd be a blessing to them, That they'd be fired up as well, We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen, Amen, Amen,

[38:32] You're dismissed, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,