[0:00] Well, good morning. It's good to see all of you this morning.! If you'd open up your Bibles with me, please, to Luke chapter 19.
[0:11] Luke chapter 19. If you're using your pew Bible, it's on page 879. Page 879. Well, during the first hour, we have, as many of you know, something called connect groups, which is kind of our style of adult Bible Sunday schools, but it's kind of driven more by discussion and interaction and trying to draw us all into the learning process.
[0:39] We have three connect groups that are taking place during these 12 weeks, these first 12 weeks of the new year. One of them is kind of looking at the attributes of Christ in the church, and I saw John Massaro, you're carrying a shepherd's crook today, so it was about the good shepherd and the sheep today.
[1:00] Okay, fantastic, good. I know that those of you who are part of that class are really enjoying that study. Thank you, John, for your preparation and helping us understand more about who we are as a church and how we respond to Christ.
[1:14] Others of you are involved in kind of breakout groups. The women and the teenage girls are going to a class exploring biblical femininity, and then the men and the younger men, the teenage guys, are exploring biblical masculinity.
[1:32] And the goal through these connect groups is to help kind of do this countercultural, what does the Bible say about what it means to be a man or a woman?
[1:45] It's so important. Maybe you have grown up and there were some things that were shared to you about what being a real man or being a real woman looks like.
[2:01] Like, real men don't eat quiche. You ever heard that one before? I think that's true. I think, personally, I think that's true.
[2:11] Some of you may disagree, but real men don't eat quiche. Or real men aren't afraid. Or real men don't worry. Or real men don't quit.
[2:23] But how about this one? It often goes to the top of the list. Real men don't cry. You got it. Real men don't cry, okay? And, you know, those of you, or those of us, I should say, who are like 50 and older will also understand that big girls don't cry yi-yi either.
[2:45] That's a song, by the way, 1962. Big girls don't cry. Well, this morning we're going to encounter a weeping Savior.
[2:58] A weeping Savior. And I think the reason why we get this picture of the fact that real men don't cry, or big girls don't cry yi-yi, is because tears are a symbol of weakness.
[3:15] At least in our economy. Tears demonstrate something that is out of control. Something that is unexpected. Something that hurts deeply.
[3:25] Something that's a surprise. Something that goes to the deepest parts of us. And emotes this response because we just couldn't do anything about what has just happened.
[3:36] And it breaks our heart. But perhaps tears in tenderness is not just a part of humanity. And that is the danger this morning.
[3:48] As we work through this passage today. And we see a weeping Savior. The danger for us is to think, well, this is Christ's humanity that's kind of breaking through.
[4:00] We see a glimpse of his humanity coming out. He's weeping over Jerusalem. But I wonder this morning if really built into the image of God and the reason why we find ourselves weeping, and by the way, we should be weeping more, is because built into the design, the image of God, is this glimpse of a weeping Savior.
[4:27] A weeping God. His heart is broken over the people of Israel. These are not self-serving tears, by the way.
[4:38] These are going to be tears for others. Tears for Jerusalem. Tears for the people. Tears because of the looming consequences that are coming because of their rejection of Christ and this unique visitation that they failed to see.
[4:56] Maybe it's godly to have tears. Maybe it's right and good for us to weep. After all, it is a command for us.
[5:08] And the Apostle Paul, even before we jump into our passage this morning, by way of reminder, we find the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12. He's commending sincere affection among God's people to echo the heart of God and built into this instruction by the Apostle Paul.
[5:31] We find in Romans chapter 12, verses 9 and 10, it says, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another.
[5:45] So what does love look like? Well, it looks this way. It means that the posture of our heart is to bless those who persecute us. To bless and curse not.
[5:58] It's to rejoice with those who rejoice. It's to weep with those who weep. So the measure of spirituality and maturity in the Christian life is to echo the heart of God in weeping these kind of tears.
[6:15] This word, by the way, this word for weeping here in Romans chapter 12 is the same word we find in our passage this morning, the weeping of our Savior. I wonder when was the last time you wept?
[6:29] I wonder when the last time that you wept, especially not just for the hurt in your own life, but you wept especially over the lostness around you.
[6:42] You came to appreciate and understand and recognize not just the danger, but the looming consequences of what's at stake for those who resist and reject the message of God's visitation that comes to us through the gospel.
[7:00] It is this morning as we look at the life of the Savior where Jesus, if we're really going to be the kind of man or the kind of woman that God has designed us to be, that biblical masculinity and femininity will echo the Savior in this.
[7:22] Weeping, concern, brokenness, and sensitivity for the lostness around them. And unlike the sensitivity that we might have where it's a limited sensitivity and we can't control the future and there is weakness in us, this is not the sensitivity we see in Jesus where Jesus had mastery over the circumstances, over the things that were going to go down that week in Jerusalem.
[7:53] Jesus knew not just what was going to happen, but by God's divine control, he was putting everything into place. So we see this morning in our passage today, we see our king.
[8:09] He's riding into Jerusalem, but he's not like most kings. And we're going to see this morning two things that help to stand out about this king.
[8:20] We're going to see his sensitivity. The sensitivity of our king in verses 41 to 44. And then we're going to see the sovereignty of our king in verses 45 to the end of the chapter.
[8:33] Sensitivity and sovereignty that are beautifully mingled together. It's almost beyond comprehension. How do these things fit together?
[8:44] And that's what we're going to check out in our passage today. We're going to read beginning in verse 41 to 48, or excuse me, 44. And then we'll pick up this first statement, the sensitivity of our king.
[8:58] It says, And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.
[9:08] But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up barricades around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you.
[9:25] And they will not leave one stone upon the other in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. The sensitivity of our king. And we're going to see the sensitivity that will come because of three factors.
[9:39] First, because he has a larger picture in view. How is Jesus able to be sensitive? Well, it's because of his sovereignty, of the events that are unfolding, that drives him to this very response, this sensitivity that's breaking through, that's coming out because he knows what's happening.
[9:59] He knows the posture of the hearts of those in the audience. Here we find him drawing near the city in verses 41 to 44 are kind of in conjunction with the passage that we read last week about the triumphal entry.
[10:17] If you remember, Jesus and his disciples in last week's passage were part of this massive crowd. A massive crowd that's described in verse 37 as a multitude, numbering no doubt in the thousands, everywhere multitude or crowd is used in the gospel record.
[10:37] It's referring to thousands of individuals who've gathered there at Bethany and are now making this procession to Jerusalem.
[10:48] Bethany was a village about three miles away from Jerusalem. And I just want to put this graphic up here on the screen so we can kind of visualize a little bit of maybe what Jesus was seeing here.
[11:00] And Jesus has made his way from Bethany about three miles away from Jerusalem. We're kind of looking at the south side of Jerusalem. And so in the top right corner on the eastern side of the city, you see that big walled area there.
[11:17] That is the temple mount. That's the great temple mount that Herod built about 40 years to build. And just this side of that structure, there was an eastern gate that opened right up to that temple mount.
[11:32] And Jesus would have come from Bethany. He made his way to Bethphage. And you know, he sent disciples ahead. Those disciples retrieved a donkey. They brought it to Jesus.
[11:43] They put Jesus on that donkey. And they're making their way to Jerusalem. Jerusalem. The electricity in the air was unmistakable. The tone of celebration and worship.
[11:56] Cloaks that were laid on the ground. Branches that were waving. A chorus of praise and celebration. Hosanna. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
[12:08] And somewhere, somewhere on this approach, making his way down the Mount of Olives, rounding the corner from Bethphage. And now this view opens up where the entire city lies before him.
[12:24] And the gravity of what will happen in this coming week lands on Jesus as he's making his way into the city. And he weeps. Here Jesus will weep over the city.
[12:38] This word for weep is a word that is the strongest word in the Greek language for weeping. This is not petty weeping. This is expressive. This is deep.
[12:49] This is all out loud kind of weeping. It's the same kind of weeping by the way that we find in Matthew chapter 2 verse 18 where you remember Herod.
[13:01] He sent for the babies in Bethlehem that were under the age of two to be slaughtered. And it describes Rachel weeping for her children. That's the kind of weeping.
[13:13] Heartfelt. Anxiety driven. Weeping. Jesus is not caught up in the moment.
[13:25] He's not caught up in the celebration. Jesus has a laser like focus on what lies ahead. He's not soaking it up. This much deserved and long overdue worship and praise.
[13:37] Finally it's come. But it must have seemed unusual in this moment as Jesus is making his way into the city with a chorus of praise and the joyous shouts and accolades and here as the crowd will turn to Jesus he's not smiling he is wailing.
[13:59] He's wailing. Riding into Jerusalem surrounded by multitudes and here he is he sees this course of this week. He sees the ultimate rejection and it causes him to cry.
[14:14] It's a surprising response in the midst of this triumphant chorus. Anyone in the crowd who would have noticed must have been confused what is going on.
[14:26] But the tenderness of our Savior breaks out into the open. His sensitivity comes right out into the open. He is unashamed of his tears. He's not unaffected by his soon rejection and he's not unaware of the coming consequences on his people but make no mistake these are not self-serving tears.
[14:48] These are tears for them. Tears for the very people that are part of this crowd and that are leading him into Jerusalem. Jesus is crying not for himself he's crying and weeping for them.
[15:01] He was one who understood this larger picture that was in view. But this is not an isolated incident of the compassion of Christ.
[15:14] We find that his entire ministry is marked by compassion and I want to just draw our attention to that briefly so we can see that this is the heart of our Savior throughout his public ministry.
[15:26] It's not just a kind of once and done kind of thing. We have a compassionate Savior and so anyone of us who wants to echo the pattern of Christ's life will also adorn themselves with the same compassion.
[15:41] His compassion has often been the compelling part of his ministry. He's moved by deep feelings for others. You catch that?
[15:53] Jesus is moved by emotion. Emotion is good. It can be healthy feelings for others. In Matthew chapter 9 verse 36 it says when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.
[16:15] In Matthew 14 14 this is the feeding of the 5,000 he says when he went ashore and saw a great crowd he had compassion on them and healed their sick. In Luke chapter 7 verse 13 as Jesus is making his way through a really obscure part of upper Galilee he comes to this city this little village out in the boondocks called Nain and he he sees this widow woman and her only son on a on a on a pier and they're walking him through the city this funeral procession and Jesus comes up and when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said to her do not weep do not weep this was not an out of the ordinary kind of expression for Jesus his heart was tender his service to people was driven by deep compassion and feeling you know the tenderness of Christ's heart over this great city reminded me of tears over another city and another prophet 800 years before another great city the city of Nineveh and that prophet
[17:28] Jonah who was called to go to that city he had tears as well in Jonah chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 we find the instruction that God gave to Jonah then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and call out against it the message that I will tell you so Jonah finally obeys and then there he goes to this city and he preaches this message of judgment and then after the message is preached we find in the narrative that he goes to the east of the city and he begins to set up a booth and he's there to watch God take care of business that's in his heart he wants the wicked enemies of his people to die but in Jonah chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 we find something different we find that God moved in the hearts of the people of
[18:28] Nineveh God opened their eyes to see their impending disaster and the people of the city repent and here is Jonah's response to the largest revival in Bible history and likely the largest one time revival in all of history itself 200,000 Ninevites come to God repent from sin and how does Jonah respond it displeased Jonah exceedingly he was angry he was crying in other words and he prayed to the Lord and said oh Lord is not this what I said when I was in my country this is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster a heart that was set against weeping the right way certainly not the heart that we see in the apostle
[19:37] Paul and not the heart that should be true of any believer who is moving in the direction of spiritual maturity as the apostle Paul will say in Philippians chapter 3 verses 18 and 19 this is the expression of weeping that we need to emulate he says for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that's our word they are enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things the weeping heart of the apostle Paul that echoes the weeping heart of our savior over the same things this is the point that's emphasized in the next part of our passage the impending doom the disaster that's coming the purpose for tears and so we see in verses 42 to 44 we see what
[20:37] Jesus desires he desires peace for these people he's weeping because of the invitation and the welcome to enjoy peace but they're not participating verse 42 would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace but now they are hidden from your eyes these were not self-serving tears that Jesus is weeping these are tears of pain that saw through the empty praise that saw through the superficial celebration Christ saw the deception that blinded the minds of those who were here they were hidden from their eyes he saw their calloused hearts he saw their fickle spirit and he saw the disaster of their decision to reject him these are the tears of one who knows that people have already turned the other way the way of peace was hidden from their eyes this word for hidden is a passive verb which means that they were recipients of action it means that it was concealed from them it was made invisible to them it was shielded from them they could not see the truth that was standing right in front of them
[22:00] Jesus their Messiah is there in front of them and they cannot see the truth they could not see this true salvation this way of peace peace is the word for harmony it's the word tranquility it's also connected to the Old Testament word shalom which is the word for health and wellness and peace and it is somewhat shocking that this city Jerusalem shalom that's built right into the name of the city this city of peace was missing the very peace that has been extended to it peace that Christ extended to them but peace they were rejecting instead they would receive the consequences of their rejection that we find in verses 43 to 45 or 43 and 44 for the day will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground you and your children within you and they will not leave one stone upon the other in you because you did not know the time of your visitation you were not looking for the right salvation this word for visitation is used throughout the
[23:27] Old Testament to refer to the coming of God and that coming of God is going to come one of two ways in the Old Testament either came in terms of God's rescue or it came in terms of God's judgment but when God's presence was there one of the two were going to happen and now the people of the first century those Jewish individuals there had the visitation of God Jesus himself God in the flesh had taught them had healed them had served them his visitation was there his presence was a reality and they had a decision to make enjoy the salvation of God or experience the consequences the devastating consequences of rejection and they missed him they missed the salvation because they clung so tightly to their own idea and understanding of what salvation involved and Jesus describes here the total destruction of the very thing that they hung on to so much they loved
[24:36] Jerusalem they loved the temple and Jesus helps them understand that the very things they're hanging on to are the things they're going to lose enemies will surround the city walls and homes will be torn down destruction of property and families mothers and children not one stone that will stand on the other what was meant to be a visitation of salvation becomes a visitation of judgment and in fact a partial fulfillment of that would happen in 40 years from the time of Christ's words where Rome would come and sweep through the city of Jerusalem and they would destroy the city they would kill the people and they would decimate!
[25:26] the temple that visitation of the Lord had come and because of the rejection of Christ resulted in the consequence of harm to their city you know Jesus extends an offer of peace to us as well his visitation is still present today in and through the gospel in and through the presentation of the good news he invites us to participate to enjoy the presence of God in our lives and so the ultimate peace of course is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ it's a peace that comes through faith it's a peace that comes through confession of sin through repentance it's a peace that comes through dependence on God alone for salvation it's that peace that comes and is described for us by the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 14 to 16 he says for he himself is our peace who has made us both one speaking of
[26:30] Jews and Gentiles and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two so making peace and he might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility in other words Jesus himself fulfilled the law and Jesus himself died the death that you and I deserve on the cross he paid the consequence for sin so that in and through Jesus alone faith in Christ the separation the division the hostility that we would experience with God because of our sin has been met by Jesus' sacrifice and in his body it's wiped away do you know Jesus this morning are you part of him through faith are you experiencing and enjoying not only the peace of God for salvation and for eternal life with God but the peace that
[27:37] God desires to give every single day Colossians 3 15 says this let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful God has called us to peace the visitation of God is here the welcome to peace is present and that peace is not the kind of peace that takes away all the problems of your life but it's the kind of peace that settles your heart in the authority and wisdom and sovereignty of God as you're moving through very hard times that God is in control and God is good he is working through those things and your heart can be at rest your heart can be at peace he welcomes you to enjoy that but he also welcomes you to extend that peace to others that your heart would break for those around you that don't know Jesus because you see the looming consequences of sin and you like Christ and the apostle Paul will weep over those who do not know Jesus and it will compel us to gospel ministry in verses 45 to 48 we see not just the sensitivity of the savior but we see the sovereignty or the authority of our king the sovereignty of our king comes right out into the open and so the sensitivity of Christ is perfectly and beautifully intermingled with his sovereignty notice in verse 45 he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold saying to them it is written my house shall be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of robbers
[29:28] God is sovereign over his house he's sovereign over his house his temple and Luke arranges the events of this narrative to seem like it's moving in consecutive order and of course it is moving in a consecutive way but there's an interruption that we find in the gospel of Mark that helps us realize that this event that we read in Luke 19 verse 45 actually happens on the next day Jesus will ride into Jerusalem this triumphal entry and we find from Mark chapter 11 verse 11 that Jesus after the triumphal entry enters Jerusalem he goes into the temple and when he had looked around at everything as it was already late he went out to Bethany with the twelve that would be on like a Sunday and then in verse 12 on the following day and then we pick up our narrative here in
[30:32] Luke it's coupled with Mark and Matthew they came to Jerusalem he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple and he overturned the tables and the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons now why do I go into any detail about that at all is to help you understand the reliability of the scripture it's dependable it's trustworthy it doesn't conflict with itself but as we understand how the pieces of the narrative fit together it helps us recognize the wonder of what's taking place Luke wants to draw our attention to the Messiah the son of David he wants you to see that in this concurrent set of events that Jesus truly is the Messiah he's the one who's not just the king of Israel he is the priest over Israel as well Luke wants to draw our attention to the savior who's king his authority his sovereignty and it serves to help show this one massive object lesson of Christ identity it comes into full view for us in this account we find that Jesus he comes into the temple and he drives out the money changers he drives out those who are using the temple for profit he exercises his authority in the face of the authorities of the
[32:02] Jews those Jewish authorities that were in the temple and also the governing authorities that were also in the temple on that day but interestingly enough while the crowd expected Jesus as the king to come and overturn the Roman empire to address the oppressions that they were experiencing in a political way Jesus actually comes in and surprisingly addresses a different kind of oppression a spiritual one darkness of heart the pollution of spiritual life that's taking place here in the temple the Lord was declaring that he was not so concerned with Israel's relationship to Rome but with the relationship they had with God he was prioritizing what really mattered the temple here is a general term for the temple grounds as a whole this complex system of courts that went in progressively smaller increments the outer court was the court of the
[33:10] Gentiles it was named this way because this was the place where Gentiles could go and assemble but they were forbidden to go any further the inside of this court was the court of women which was as far as women were permitted to go it was the gate beautiful is what kind of stood at the beginning of this court the next court was known as the court of the Israelites it was through the Nankanor gate the gate the Nankanor gate was made of Corinthian bronze it glistened in the sunlight and it was so massive that it took 20 men to push the Israelites they could look in and see the court of the priest which was this inner court where the priest would perform their function of sacrifices but here in the outer court the court of the Gentiles was where all of this money exchange was taking place here worshipers would bring their sacrificial animals and while they were permitted to bring their own animals those animals needed to be without blemish.
[34:25] And so what would normally happen, it was an animal that needed to be approved by a priest, and it behooved the priests that were in Jerusalem, in order to profit off the people, they would normally decline those animals and force those pilgrims to buy the animals that were offered to them on the temple grounds.
[34:49] Hundreds and thousands of animals would be exchanged or purchased. The temple tax was also needed to be paid and using Jewish coinage.
[35:01] And so any of the foreigners that were coming from other lands would need to go through an exchange process. But because those who were in the temple court had a monopoly on the exchange, they were profiting and taking advantage of that exchange rate, thus turning this place of worship, and in Jesus' words, into a den.
[35:21] of thieves. This will serve as bookends in the ministry of Jesus, where at the very beginning of his ministry, you remember from John chapter 2, Jesus will also exert his authority in the temple.
[35:35] He'll come and he'll move out the money exchangers. He'll come purify the temple. And here at the end, it's happening the same way, to help us understand that the priority of Christ for his people was purified worship.
[35:53] Worship of God, a house of prayer. Jesus exerts his sovereign force over this irreverent behavior. He acts alone.
[36:03] He acts as one who's in authority. He's undeterred. He uses this statement that's drawn from two Old Testament passages. My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
[36:18] This temple, which was set aside as a place for God's people to meet with God, had become polluted. To amplify this occasion, if this was happening on Monday, Monday would be the day in which the Passover lamb was chosen.
[36:37] That Passover lamb, which at the end of the week would be slaughtered and the blood would be spilt on the doorpost. It would be sacrificed. This picture of this Passover lamb, this deliverance of God's people, and here the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, comes into the temple to purify his temple.
[36:59] Here, the religious leaders were making a business out of people's sin and were polluting the very courts of God. In verses 47 and 48, we see God's authority over his future.
[37:14] His authority over the future. Notice, Be amazed at the graciousness of the Lord.
[37:39] Stand back and marvel at the wonder of Christ, teaching again, serving and ministering to the people, day by day in the courts, knowing exactly what was going to happen at the end of the week.
[37:51] But here he is, extending himself in teaching ministry to these people every single day. Here they are, they're hanging on his every word.
[38:04] This is a word that's only used here in the New Testament to draw attention to the significance of Jesus' teaching and the authority that he brought.
[38:15] But of course, the religious leaders were resolute. Throughout Christ's ministry, they had set their minds on destroying him. In Matthew chapter 12, verse 14, we find the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him.
[38:33] In John chapter 11, verse 53, this is after the resurrection of Lazarus. He said, So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. But all throughout the life and ministry of Jesus, God himself was putting his hand of preservation over his son.
[38:52] We see numerous times where Jesus is able to escape. Matthew chapter 2, verse 13, as we went through in our Advent messages, where King Herod sent to Bethlehem to exterminate the children ages 2 and under.
[39:12] And a vision came to Joseph. Get out of here and go to Egypt. And God preserved his son. In Luke chapter 4, the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, at first all the people marveled at his gracious words, and then things turned.
[39:29] And they hated him, and they drove him out of the city, and they would have pushed him off the cliff. But somehow, Jesus is able to make his way through the crowd.
[39:41] He kind of evaporates before their very eyes, and he's, poof, he's gone. In John chapter 7, verse 1, Jesus is going to go up to Galilee, but he would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
[39:56] And on several occasions, both in John 7, and in John 8, and in John 10, they pick up stones to throw at him, but somehow Jesus escapes and evades their plans.
[40:11] The plan of God. Jesus would die, but not on this day. And as Peter will say in his sermon in Acts chapter 10, it was so that the definite plan of God might be fulfilled for Christ, that he would die in the right way, and he would die at the right time.
[40:32] He would die according to God's definite plan from before the foundation of the world. Later in this week, Jesus will also have another scene where his heart is expressed for Jerusalem.
[40:49] In Matthew chapter 23, verse 37, Jesus will say, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would I have gathered your children together as hens gathers her brood under her wings, and yet you were not willing.
[41:11] You were not willing. I wonder this morning how many of you, the invitation has been extended, but you're not willing.
[41:22] The time of visitation has come. The gospel is clear. God welcomes you into relationship. He invites you to enjoy peace.
[41:35] He wants you to participate in all that he has offered through his son, Jesus Christ. But my... I wonder this morning, are you willing?
[41:50] Are you willing? And for those of you who have been willing, who have entered in and enjoyed the benefits of the peace that's been extended to you by Jesus, you've come to him in faith.
[42:03] And the invitation for you to experience this ongoing peace, this visitation of God, is there day by day by day, as we have in our hands the very word of God, and we can enter in and enjoy that visitation, that relationship with God.
[42:21] But how many of us, how many of us are unwilling? We're unwilling because of the things that are dominating our attention, the distractions of life, the burdens we carry, and so we're unwilling.
[42:39] And I wonder this morning, I wonder this morning if our heart truly breaks for those around us who do not know Jesus. Do you have a weeping heart?
[42:51] This is something that God's got to help me with, a weeping heart. I find myself, my posture is often, well, I guess they got what they deserved.
[43:02] You find yourself saying that? Instead, like our Savior, we need to pray that God will help us to weep. To weep real, heartfelt tears for those who do not know him.
[43:17] And that it compels, the compassion of God, like it compelled our Savior, compels us as well. And so nothing can get in our way because we're driven by the compassion of Christ to extend ourselves and to share the truth of God's word, the gospel with those around us.
[43:37] And what's fascinating to me is when we really ask God to do this for us, when we really ask God to give us opportunities, you know what?
[43:50] God delights in giving opportunities. Quick story, and I'll close. When I was in seminary, this is going back several years now, I was in an evangelism class, and part of the class, part of the requirements for the class was that we had to share the gospel with a person a week.
[44:11] And I'm thinking to myself, how in the world am I going to be able to share the gospel with one person every week? I'm like, this is not going to happen. And so I prayed, God, I got to fulfill this requirement.
[44:26] I don't know how it's going to happen. And wouldn't you know, God loved answering that prayer. And it happened in the most extraordinary ways. He wants to do that.
[44:36] He wants to use you and your broken heart for people who are lost. You see their lostness, and you want them not to experience the consequences, and your heart is driven by compassion and the gospel and visitation, the visitation of God that comes through the gospel.
[44:58] And you're compelled through compassion to share. May God help us to grow in compassion. O Lord, thank you for our Savior, the true epic model of biblical masculinity and femininity, as it were.
[45:16] This heart of faith and this heart of compassion. God, work that into our own lives. May we mimic our Savior, imitate him in this way.
[45:28] I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you. Have a great week. God bless you.