Father, incline our hearts, incline our minds, incline our wills, incline our bodies to your word.
And through your word, Father, incline us to you.
Incline our hearts and minds and wills and bodies.
Incline us, Father, to you through your word.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us to lead us and guide us into all truth,
to lead us and guide us to Jesus, to lead us and guide us to you.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Please be seated.
Hopefully I'll remember because I just realized I didn't write it down.
But later on in the service, we're going to stand.
Those who can stand, we'll invite you all to stand.
We're going to have a minute of silence for the 21 Christians who were slaughtered last Sunday by ISIS in Libya.
There's been some internet chat inviting as many churches as possible to do that today,
to take a minute of silence to remember them.
And we're going to do that.
And it sort of just seems like, you know, there's been a series of readings that talk a little bit about destruction and judgment.
I don't know if the video is available to watch on the internet.
I couldn't watch it even if it was available.
You don't even have to tell me if it's available.
I don't think I could watch it.
Just seeing a few still photographs is enough.
And you just wonder what were the men doing such a horrible thing thinking about
as they dressed the victims, as they bound the victims, as they led the victims.
What were they thinking as they walked away?
What was going on in their heart?
What did their faces look like?
What emotions were they showing?
Some of you will just, if you were paying attention as I read the gospel,
you'll see that Jesus here today once again has a talk about judgment.
And we see how Jesus responds to impending judgment.
Radically, radically, radically different.
And I'm going to suggest when we get to it that it's radically different
than the three basic cultural models that our culture has before us when it considers judgment.
So it would be a great help to me if you would get your Bibles and open them up to Luke chapter 19.
And we're going to begin reading at verse 28.
And we have to sort of get to that time of Jesus and his talk about judgment
and how he responds to it and just sort of what's going on in the whole thing.
And so it's Luke chapter 19, verse 28.
If you just turn your Bibles there, we'll start reading.
And just a bit of a correction.
Last week I said that verse 27, if you go back and listen to the sermon,
and we immediately have Jesus in Jerusalem,
I should have said that immediately he comes to the suburbs of Jerusalem.
And it's all part of this.
Luke gives sort of a long introduction to build tension to the reader
in terms of before Jesus actually sets foot in the city of Jerusalem.
And that's what we're going to catch up with right now.
Verse 28.
And when Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead.
And going up to Jerusalem, sorry, he went on ahead.
Going up to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem sort of up high.
If you've ever been there, you have to go up to go to Jerusalem.
And when he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany,
about a mile and a half or so outside of Jerusalem,
at the mount, which is called Olivet,
he sent two of the disciples saying,
go into the village in front of you,
where on entering you will find a colt tied,
on which no one has ever yet sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you, why are you untying it?
You shall say, the Lord has need of it.
And just sort of pause here for a second.
One of the things which is happening in this story is that,
because remember, it's going to culminate.
The gospel is going to culminate or reach its, in a sense,
its climax with the death of Jesus upon the cross
and then the surprise of the resurrection three days later.
And so what's happening here is that Luke is, who's a historian,
remember Luke is a pagan who became a Christian.
And if you go back and look at the beginning of the book of Luke,
you'll see that he's writing it for another pagan.
Whether that pagan is a skeptic or a seeker, we don't know,
but Luke is a pagan doctor who's become an historian,
who's sought out eyewitnesses,
and is telling the story of Jesus.
Now, for us to hear as well, with other pagans and skeptics and seekers.
And so what Luke is doing is he's recording here something very, very remarkable,
that he's not only recording the foreknowledge of Jesus,
but he's showing that at this point in time,
Jesus is the master of his fate, so to speak.
I mean, he's doing everything, as we'll see in the weeks to come.
He's doing everything out of love for us and obedience to the Father.
But it's not that events are overwhelming Jesus,
but Jesus is in control of events,
and in fact even moves things in certain ways,
so that he is always in control of events.
And that's what's happening here.
And even, we're going to talk about it more probably in a couple of weeks,
when we get to Luke chapter 21.
But Jesus here is doing something that fulfills a prophecy in the book of Zechariah,
and a whole host of Old Testament allusions.
But Jesus is in control.
That's what we have to see.
So back to verse 32.
Back to verse 32.
And so those who were sent away,
and found, so those who were sent went away,
and found it just as he had told them.
And as they were untying the colt,
its owners said to them,
why are you untying the colt?
And the disciples said,
the Lord has need of it.
I don't know if they were nervous when they said that or what, eh?
They might have been pretty nervous, eh?
Yeah, just go into a city and take this colt.
And if somebody complains,
just tell them, I sent you.
Bit of faith there, right?
Verse 35.
And they brought it to Jesus,
and throwing their cloaks on the colt,
they sat Jesus on it.
And as he rode along,
they spread their cloaks on the road.
Just sort of pause.
Now, I'm going to be careful,
because maybe some of you are horse people,
and you know things about horses that I don't.
I'm a city boy,
and so I don't know about horses.
But I happen to know that one of the commentaries that I wrote,
I happen to know the person who wrote it,
and I know that he grew up on a horse farm,
and he's still a farmer.
And he commented that this in and of itself is a miracle
that Jesus could ride a colt that had never been sat on.
And maybe it's just because only a horse person would notice
that this is sort of a miracle.
And it shows, in a sense,
it's all a part of what's going to culminate
with Jesus saying that even the stones would cry out.
Because you see,
here's the thing that we have to always remember,
is that Christians don't worship nature,
but we as Christians should always remember
that nature worships its creator.
In fact, one of the things that might happen to us in heaven,
in the new heaven and the new earth,
is that right now the seas are clapping their hands,
and the trees are singing,
and the mountains are calling out God's praise,
and we are almost completely and utterly deaf to it.
And maybe one of the things that will be the wonder
and the joy of the new heaven and the new earth
is it will hear how it is the trees and streams and mountains
and the stars themselves, praise God.
And so this is in a very subtle way
showing Jesus as the creator and the Lord of the earth
as he enters into Jerusalem.
So verse 35,
and they brought it to Jesus,
and throwing their cloaks on the colt,
they set Jesus on it.
And as he rode along,
they spread their cloaks on the road.
As he was drawing near,
already on the way down the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of his disciples
began to rejoice and to praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works
that they had seen.
Just sort of pause here for a second.
This is one of the few events in Jesus' life
that all four of the historical records
that we have of the life and death of Jesus,
we know them as, we call them gospels,
but they were, of course, originally historical records.
It might be that if you did some reading on the internet,
you'd be able to see some,
not obviously the original manuscripts,
but old manuscripts.
It helps you to appreciate
that these are old historical records.
And this is one of the few events in Jesus' life
that all four of the gospel writers talk about it.
And so it might be,
when you look at all four of them together,
and I'm going to talk about some simple ways
that you sort of harmonize them,
but the main thing is,
if you read John's gospel, his account,
you realize that one of the reasons
there's such a large crowd of people
is because while Jesus was in Bethany,
he raised Lazarus from the dead
after he'd been in the grave for four days.
And this news spreads like wildfire,
helps to create a crowd of people.
And who knows, maybe it still is,
that blind Bartimaeus
and the other blind man who was healed,
that they were calling everybody
all about the fact that Jesus
had just the day before healed them of sight.
And maybe even the news
that such a notorious sinner as Zacchaeus
had become a follower of Jesus,
and he's proving it by giving away his fortune.
And so there is a crowd.
There is a crowd.
We're going to talk more about this in a second,
about why there is a crowd.
But in verse 38, what are they calling out?
They quote Psalm 118, verse 25.
But they modify it
because they modify it
because they see what's happening in front of them
as, in a sense,
what Psalm 118, verse 25 is all about.
And they cry out,
blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
teacher, rebuke your disciples.
And Jesus answered.
And in the original language,
the way that the verb tenses and everything
and the way that the words are arranged,
it's clear.
In the original language,
the Pharisees rebuked Jesus.
Jesus doesn't back down.
He rebukes the Pharisees.
And his rebuke of the Pharisees to say,
I tell you,
if these were silent,
the very stones would cry out.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful line.
Now, here's the thing about this
is that if you go back and you read,
if you go back,
maybe as part of your preparation
for Easter coming up
and to read the Gospel of Luke up until now,
you'll notice that this is actually
profoundly out of character for Jesus.
That generally in the Gospels,
whenever there's large crowds
that want to call Jesus the King,
he goes away to pray.
He dismisses the crowds.
He tries to not have crowds.
I mean, when crowds come to him,
like in the wilderness,
and he teaches them,
he doesn't rebuke them.
He has a compassionate heart,
a tender heart.
He feeds the 5,000.
He feeds the 4,000.
He deals with crowds,
but he's regularly trying to silence
all king language.
But now we see that Jesus actually
creates an event
that draws a huge crowd
where they call him king.
Jesus creates this event on purpose.
That's what he do.
It's very, very, very out of character.
With Jesus and the rest of the Gospels.
Well, why is that?
Andrew, if you could put up the first point,
I think it's for this reason.
Jesus lived and died in human history,
and he takes steps to make a crowd
so that tens of thousands
will be witnessed to his public death
upon the cross and his empty tomb.
Jesus lived and died in human history,
and he takes steps to make a crowd
so that tens of thousands
will be witnessed to his public death
upon the cross and his empty tomb.
He's not killed off in a corner,
and nobody, you know,
there's a time in John's Gospel
where it's clear that Jesus
entered the city secretly.
In fact, if you read John's Gospel,
Jesus' brothers and sisters
who don't believe in Jesus,
they say, come on, Jesus,
if you really want to make a,
you know, you're really the Messiah,
you want to build a movement?
Like, you don't go away,
you don't go around
not trying to attract people.
Like, people who want to build
a movement, Messiah.
You know, you can just imagine
those of you who have brothers,
how they can mock you.
I'm sure none of you here
ever mocked other siblings.
We're talking about other people
being bad and mean to you, okay?
Some of you might have something
to repent of during the confession
later on, but you can just,
and so Jesus enters Jerusalem
at least one time
completely and utterly anonymously
for several days
when he's in there
before something happens.
So Jesus actually goes out of his way
the raising of Lazarus,
the healing of Bartimaeus,
the calling of Zacchaeus,
the going to get the donkey,
the call of him to be the king,
and rather than trying to quiet it,
I don't know,
maybe he was going around
doing like this, I don't know.
You know, the way defenses do it
in the NFL when they want
the crowd noise to get up loud
for the offense
so they can't hear the calls.
Maybe Jesus was doing that,
we don't know.
But he creates the event.
And he creates the event
so that by the time,
in just a couple of days,
when he dies upon the cross,
and then after,
not everybody will witness
the resurrection,
but everybody will be witness
to the empty tomb.
And so they will be caught
with the compelling testimony
of up to 500 plus people
that Jesus has risen,
and they'll see no other
possible explanation,
and many hearts will be pierced,
and thousands will come to faith
in Jesus within days
of the coming of Pentecost,
in Pentecost,
and then shortly after,
and Jesus creates a crowd
where tens of thousands
will know that he's in Jerusalem,
that he's died,
that the grave is empty.
That's what he does.
Now, sometimes I think to myself,
what would I do
if I was the pastor
of a megachurch?
Here's one of these times
when I really,
really wish
I was the pastor
of a megachurch
and had a megachurch
art department and budget,
because if so,
what I would do now
to make a transition
to the next point
is I would say,
Andrew,
just roll the screen,
and there'd be
a big picture here
of Iron Man
in the first Iron Man movie.
And some of you guys
and gals
who watched that movie,
you know there's that scene
early on
when he goes to this village
and he touches his arm
and a missile turns up,
goes wild,
and as soon as he fires it,
he turns and starts walking away,
and then there's the huge explosions
in the background,
and it gets this,
I mean,
I think just about
every American action film now,
it's not an action film,
if it doesn't have the hero
walking away from an explosion
in the background.
And that's what I would
show you right now,
and because we were a megachurch,
I'd be there beside Iron Man,
and it would be Iron Man
and me walking away
as there's this horrendous fire
and destruction
that nobody will survive,
and where everything
is raised to the ground
behind us,
and Iron Man and I
would walk away,
and that would be the transition
to the next point,
because Jesus,
as he enters,
just before he enters Jerusalem,
he does something
which is very
un-Iron Man-like.
Iron Man has quips,
he makes jokes,
but what does Jesus do
when he realizes
that in a sense
the missiles from God
are going to come
upon the human race?
But that's what we see
in these very next verses
in verse 41 to 44.
And when Jesus drew near
and saw the city,
he wept over it.
He wept over it.
This is very, very, very,
very, very important moment
in the gospel.
If you want to know
what's going on
with the crucifixion,
what's going on,
Jesus says he comes
to seek and save the lost.
If you want to have
a sense of the heart of Jesus,
the worldview of Jesus,
the mind of Jesus,
the purpose of Jesus,
this is a very important verse.
And when Jesus drew near
and saw the city,
he wept over it.
Now, he's not weeping
because of the fact
that there's all these bad guys
who don't like him.
He's not weeping
over the fact in a sense
that there's nothing
he can do about it.
Here's what he says.
Would that you,
even you,
had known on this day
the things that make for peace?
That's not political peace.
It's the fact that as rebels,
we are at enmity with God.
In a sense,
every human being
has in some part of their heart
a rage against God.
And Jesus comes to make,
not to make peace with God to us,
because God doesn't have
to make peace with us
because he's good.
But I have to make peace with him.
You have to make peace with God.
But now they are hidden
from your eyes,
for the days 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.
He's saying this weeping.
Tears are coming down his face
as he says this.
In fact,
in the original language,
it's a sobbing.
He's saying these words,
sobbing.
You can just imagine
how the disciples
would just be standing there.
People shouting his praises
and the disciples
are right beside him.
And Jesus is sobbing
as he looks at the city of Jerusalem.
And he ends it by saying,
and they will not leave
one stone upon another in you
because you did not know
the time of your visitation.
And he's talking about himself.
So here's the thing.
And I have to confess,
I've used some old-fashioned language
because those of us
who are familiar
with the prayer book tradition
knows that the very, very heart
of morning and evening prayer
as part of the explanation
as to what you should be doing
as you go into the service,
that there is, in fact,
a key sentence
that God takes no delight
in the death of a sinner,
but rather that he may turn
from his wickedness and live.
And it's a quote
from two passages
in the book of Ezekiel.
And here's the thing
that we have to understand.
If you could put it up, Andrew.
Jesus takes no delight
in the death of a sinner.
He longs for us
to turn from our wickedness
and live.
And I can't help
but use the word wickedness
because I don't say
morning and evening prayer
all the time,
but it's just part
of my verbal
and mental makeup
that I just, you know,
God taketh no delight
in the death of a sinner,
but rather that he may turn,
will turn from his wickedness
and live.
It's just part of it.
So I put it up there.
But it's a quote
from Ezekiel
in two different locations.
And so the Bible
helps us to understand
what's going on here.
The Bible interprets
what's going on.
We're going to talk about
that more in a moment.
But Jesus takes no delight
in the death of a sinner.
He longs for us
to turn from our wickedness
and live.
You see,
what this text shows
is that people matter to God.
People matter to God.
And if you think about it,
I said that there's
sort of three primary
sort of cultural images
or icons or frameworks
by which we understand
impending judgment.
Because if you think about it,
in a sense,
movies like Iron Man,
they, in a sense,
through the story,
manipulate you
so that when Iron Man
presses the thing,
I think he presses something
on his wrist
and fires these missiles.
You know,
he never seems to have
to reload or anything like that
or go to the bathroom.
He just presses these things
and then turns away.
everybody behind him
has died.
And we as the audience
aren't seeing,
good grief,
he just killed
all those people.
We're going,
yes,
he killed all those people.
Gosh,
I wish I could be
like Iron Man.
That's what's going on in us.
That's one cultural model.
George W. Bush,
I don't make any
political comment here,
but it was widely quoted
and widely understood
when he went after the 9-11
and he said,
we're going after these guys.
He said,
God,
have mercy on their souls
because we won't.
It's Iron Man.
And there's left
and right wing versions
of that,
by the way,
folks.
It's not a political comment.
It's a cultural type of moment
that there's a way
of understanding bad guys
that it's all right
to raise them to the ground
and we do it
either with jokes,
with steely-eyed determination,
with a look on our face
that says,
we have nothing
to forgive or forget.
We are masters
of our destiny.
Don't mess with me.
We kick butt
if you mess with us.
I kick butt
if you mess with me.
Jesus weeps.
Many of us,
in reaction to that,
are deeply drawn
to the image of the Buddha
and this whole image
of the Buddha.
you know,
if you see the statues
of the Buddha,
of him just sitting there,
sort of eyes inward,
a look of type of peace
on his face,
completely and utterly,
in a sense,
detached.
And in a sense,
we have this image
that what we desire
is to be still like water.
That's what I want
to be inside of me,
still like water.
The problem is
people do horrendous things.
Do we really want
to be still like water
in the face of evil?
Do we want to be still
like water
in the face of injustice?
Do we want to be still
like water
in the face
of atrocities?
Isn't there a place
for right and wrong
and for judgment?
Should we look
at ISIS
killing
21
innocent Christians
in cold blood
with arrogant
language
and be still
like water?
Is that
what it means
to be fully human?
The other
type of cultural
ideal
which fascinates us
is in fact
a certain version
of the Muslim ideal,
the image
of Muhammad
as a warrior.
Muhammad
historically
did not weep
over the people
that he killed.
He did not weep
over the people
that he had
assassinated.
He did not weep
while he gathered
armies
to attack
people
who opposed him.
He was strong.
And that
is another version
of the cultural
models
by which we
understand
how judgment
can come
and how we
should respond.
And Jesus
weeps.
Jesus weeps.
That's the beginning
of the understanding
of how
Jesus is different
that Jesus
takes no delight
in the death
of a sinner.
He longs for us
to turn
from our wickedness
and live.
But there's another
aspect to it as well.
As I mentioned
last week
who in the story
dies?
Jesus.
Andrew if you could
put up the third
point.
God's final
judgment
raises
and those
who are listening
to this online
R-A-Z-E-S
not
raises
like R-A-I-S
but raises
a type of judgment
where everything
is just completely
destroyed.
God's final
judgment
raises
or destroys
in compassion
Jesus
took
my
place.
Iron Man
does not
take the place
of those
that are bad
that he kills.
Muhammad
does not
take the place
of those
who are bad
that he kills.
And
Buddha
does not
take the place
of those
who are
evil
and deserve
judgment.
Jesus
the
innocent
one
in the
face
of the
raising
which we
deserve
comes to
every one
of us
and every
person on
the planet
including
the people
who killed
the 21
Christians
and says
you deserve
to be raised
out of
compassion
for you
I took
your place.
I took
your place.
Jesus
looks over
Jerusalem
he sees
the religious
people
he sees
the spiritual
people
he sees
the pagans
he sees
the people
who are
completely
and utterly
irreligious
he sees
the powerful
he sees
the weak
in a sense
he sees
into the future
and sees
Peter and
Paul there
he sees
Judas
who betrayed
him
and he
weeps.
here's
the takeaway
for us
and once
again
these points
are always
on the
web page
probably within
about 24
hours
if you
want to
write them
down
later on
I need
to personally
receive
the good
news
of Jesus
Messiah
crucified
and live
gripped
by him
and by
what he
has said
and done
that's the
purpose of
this story
that's why
Luke
was a
pagan
for decades
who becomes
a follower
of Jesus
by talking
to the
witnesses
and by
their
testimony
and Luke
heart
is
Theophilus
a pagan
whether a
skeptic
or a
seeker
that he
will come
that you
will come
to personally
receive the
good news
of Jesus
Messiah
crucified
and live
gripped
by him
and what
he has
said
and what
he has
done
and the
gospels
constantly
present to
us a
choice
the gospels
are going
to say
are you
going to
be like
Judas
or like
Peter
both of
whom
failed
their
Lord
will you
be like
Judas
or like
Peter
the heart
of Jesus
who weeps
says
be like
Peter
earlier
on
just a
little bit
before this
the rich
young man
and Zacchaeus
and the
question is
will you be
like the
rich young
man
or Zacchaeus
and the
heart of
Jesus
says
I've
died
in the
hope
that you
will be
like
Zacchaeus
not the
rich young
man
earlier
on the
gospel
the centurion
and the
Pharisee
in the
early
the centurion
who has
his servant
healed
and is
the very
first one
in the
gospels
to have
their faith
in Jesus
and Jesus
says
I've never
seen such
faith like
this before
and the
face of
Pharisees
who betray
and are
angry
and belittle
and attack
Jesus
and the
heart of
Jesus
says
I died
for the
centurion
I died
for the
Pharisee
my heart
is
that you
will be
like the
centurion
the pagan
soldiers
that
that is
my
heart
hear
this
good
news
receive
it
be
gripped
by
me
allow
me
to
grip
you
and
be
gripped
by
me
and
my
words
and
what
I've
done
for
you
now
some
of you
might
say
George
that's
a
very
beautiful
story
and
you've
gone
in a
sense
beyond
the
immediate
words
and
tried
to
encompass
the
other
things
that
take
place
and
happen
in the
gospel
but
weeping
George
isn't
weeping
a sign
of
weakness
George
often
when I
weep
it's
because
it might
be
because
I
have
compassion
but
it's
always
compassion
combined
with
powerlessness
I
weep
because
I
wonder
why
did
my
child
leave
me
I
weep
because
I
wonder
why
my
husband
or
why
my
wife
left
me
I
weep
in
the
face
of
illness
that
I
can't
deal
with
myself
I
weep
because
it
seems
and
I
can't
do
anything
about
it
and
that's
weeping
George
weeping
is a
sign
of
weakness
surely
we
want
to
be
more
like
Buddha
surely
we
want
to
be
okay
granted
he
should
cut
out
the
jokes
and
show
some
compassion
but
surely
we
want
to
be
more
like
Iron
man
like
weeping
is a
sign
of
weakness
it's
part
of
the
brilliance
of
how
Luke
records
the
events
of
Jesus
that
will
of
Jesus
let's
look
at
it
in
verse
45
and
Jesus
entered
the
temple
and
began
to
drive
out
those
who
sold
notice
that
again
Jesus
entered
the
temple
and
began
to
drive
out
drive
out
if
you
read
the
other
gospel
accounts
he's
kicking
over
tables
he's
getting
people
out
of
there
he
has
the
whole
area
the
court
of
the
Gentiles
in
a
complete
and
utter
uproar
money
is
being
kicked
over
the
animals
are
being
released
he's
in
a
zealous
he's
filled
with
zeal
and
people
back
down
they're
driven
away
he
drives
they're
driven
and
he
says
to
them
it
is
written
my
house
shall
be
a
house
of
prayer
he
quotes
from
Isaiah
but
you
have
made
it
a
den
a
place
where
robbers
live
quotes
from
the
book
of
Jeremiah
we
see
here
in
this
story
steel
and
strength
and
passion
and
zeal
and
he's
not
mad
because
people
are
making
money
and
he's
not
mad
because
people
are
trying
to
be
helpful
what's
going
on
is
that
the
temple
is
to
be
a
place
where
robbers
and
thieves
come
before
God
seeking
mercy
the
temple
is
not
to
be
a
place
where
thieves
and
robbers
rule
the
temple
to
make
money
wrapping
themselves
in
holiness
that's
what
it's
become
the
place
the
only
place
in
the
temple
where
pagans
can
come
and
call
out
to
God
because
all
of
the
Old
Testament
keeps
telling
them
that
the
Jewish
people
that
they
are
to
bear
witness
to
the
entire
world
of
the
living
God
and
the
place
where
the
pagans
can
come
is
the
place
that's
given
over
to
the
selling
of
animals
and
the
changing
of
money
at
exorbitant
rates
with
a
din
and
a
baying
and
a
bellowing
and
a
clinking
and
a
joking
and
a
cursing
and
an
anger
that
would
mean
that
the
entire
temple
is
not
dominated
by
any
sense
of
peace
and
quiet
but
by
the
sounds
of
people
charging
way
more
to
rip
you
off
you
put up
the
second
the
next
point
Andrew
here's
a
takeaway
from
this
God
abhors
it's
a big
word
it
means
just
he
detests
he
hates
people
who
use
him
to
take
advantage
of
others
while
taking
to
themselves
money
and
power
God
abhors
people
who
use
him
to
take
advantage
of
others
while
taking
to
themselves
money
and
power
does
a
politician
call
people
to
pray
that
might
be
a
very
good
thing
if
he
does
it
to
look
holy
and
cover
up
personal
evil
God
abhors
it
if
you're
a
Christian
business
person
and
you
use
the
fact
that
you're
a
Christian
to
overcharge
other
Christians
God
abhors
it
if
you
go
to
a
Christian
and
say
because
you're
a
Christian
you
should
charge
me
less
money
God
abhors
it
there
is
a
business
person
who
advertises
on
Christian
radio
and
I
know
for
a
fact
that
they
overcharge
by
somewhere
between
20
to
60
percent
I
can
hardly
in fact
I
often
turn
the
radio
off
because
it
so
bothers
me
that
they
would
use
the
fact
that
they're
Christians
to
advertise
on
Christian
radio
and
fool
people
into
thinking
they're
getting
a
bargain
when
they
overcharge
by
20
to
60
percent
for
the
same
service
done
complete
secular
person
God
abhors
this
if
we're
caught
up
with
this
we
need
to
repent
that's
what
Jesus
is
showing
in
this
not
only
is
he
showing
his
strength
he's
showing
something
of
his
heart
remember
those
of
you
were
here
last
week
when
Zacchaeus
becomes
a
Christian
what
when
he
becomes
a
follower
of
Jesus
when
he's
gripped
by
the
gospel
what
is
it
that
how
is
it
that
three
characteristics
he
moves
to
become
honest
he
moves
to
become
just
and
he
moves
to
become
generous
it
would
be
very
good
if
we
sought
out
a
Christian
whatever
it
is
lawyer
singer
real
estate
agent
because
we
think
as
a
follower
of
Jesus
they're
going
to be
honest
and
they're
going
to be
just
so
I
can
trust
them
but
the gospel
grips
us
not
so
we
can
rip
off
other
Christians
and
wrap
ourselves
in
holiness
but
the
gospel
moves
us
to
generosity
to
honesty
and
to
being
just
and
there's
one other
thing
here
just
before
we
wrap
up
the
whole
sermon
back
when
I
was
still
part
of
the
Anglican
Church
of
Canada
people
used
to
call
me
a
fundamentalist
in
fact
I
don't
want
to
insult
you
but
they
would
probably
call
almost
all of
you
here
fundamentalists
and
one of
the
reasons
that
I
was
a
fundamentalist
is
because
I
would
ask
the
question
what
does
the
Bible
say
and
sometimes
in
the
point
I
would
quote
the
Bible
and
that
is
for
many
people
in
Christendom
a
sign
of
flagrant
fundamentalism
but
notice
here
again
in
the
Bible
when
Jesus
is
driving
out
these
people
in
verse
46
he
says
it
is
written
what
does
that
mean
this
is
what
the
Bible
says
and
because
the
Bible
says
it
it's
authoritative
and we
should
do
it
and
then
he
quotes
Isaiah
56
and
here's
the
thing
Jesus
knows
and
quotes
and
believes
the
Bible
his
followers
should
also
desire
to
know
and
quote
and
believe
the
Bible
and
if
people
insult
you
by
calling
you
a
fundamentalist
say
I'm
not
opposed
to
learning
I'm
not
opposed
to
asking
questions
but
Jesus
took
my
punishment
and my
sin
upon
him
I've
entrusted
my
life
to
him
and
I
want
to
follow
him
and
he
quoted
the
Bible
and
he
knew
the
Bible
and
he
believed
the
Bible
and
that's
what
I'm
trying
to
do
it's
not
rocket
science
it's
humility
Jesus
knows
and
quotes
and
believes
the
Bible
his
followers
should
also
desire
to
know
and
quote
and
believe
the
Bible
so
what's
the
big
picture
just
as
I'm
going to
ask
you've
seen
the
weeping
before
the
entry
you've
seen
the
cleansing
you hear
the
cross
you see
that
all this
is doing
is creating
enemies
of Jesus
and
Andrew
if you
could
put
the
final
point
up
weeping
the
living
God
respects
my
freedom
to
refuse
him
in
costly
love
and
powerful
grace
the
living
God
provides
Jesus
death
upon
the
cross
as
the
power
of
salvation
which
we
receive
by
penitent
faith
this
story
is a
profound
these
sets
of
texts
are
a
profound
witness
of the
great
respect
that
God
has
even
for
those
who
with
their
dying
breath
resist
him
refuse
him
rage
against
him
and
hate
him
he
weeps
and
respects
our
freedom
but
he's
not
just
still
like
water
he
sends
his
son
upon
the
cross
to be
that
power
of
God
for
salvation
and his
hope
and his
yearning
is
that
we
will
receive
Jesus
and what
he's
done
for
us
on
the
cross
and
follow
him
as
our
savior
and
Lord
in
weeping
the
living
God
respects
my
freedom
to
refuse
him
in
costly
love
and
powerful
grace
the
living
God
provides
Jesus
his
death
upon
the
cross
as
the
power
of
salvation
which
we
receive
by
penitent
faith
please
stand
you know
there's never a better day than at times like this if you've never given yourself to Jesus
there's never a better time than today to recommit yourself to Jesus
there's never a better time to ask that Jesus that you would be a disciple a follower of Jesus that you would be gripped by the gospel and that you would begin to live for his glory that you would turn away from using God to keep him at a distance or to have power over others that you would start to be so gripped by the gospel that Jesus would free your heart up and rescue your heart and heal your heart and heal your heart to move
towards just
gripped by the gospel to be gripped by the gospel to be gripped by the gospel to be gripped by the gospel who live for your glory in this we ask in Jesus name amen