To be here this morning with my church family and to have the privilege and honor to be able to share his word with you this morning.
! I have to thank you all for just for being willing to support me and my family and allowing us to have our child in the service.
That means so much to us here.
The Webb family really appreciates this church.
And we don't really know that we could be in another place other than here to be able to keep our child in the service.
And we appreciate that.
I know other families appreciate that about Christ's family as well.
If you would, turn with me to Mark chapter 11.
Mark chapter 11.
And while you're turning there, I have to commend some of our CFC students.
I talked to a couple of them this morning just to get the full story of what was going on.
But we have several of our students here that are involved with a campus organization called Students for Life.
And among other things, they raise awareness about abortion, the number of deaths that occur each year.
They stand up for their conviction that abortion is indeed murder.
And this week they stirred things up a bit with some sidewalk chalk on campus where they wrote out some statistics.
Staggering statistics, by the way.
3,500 deaths caused by abortion each day.
Every single day.
And along with that, they included, confirmed 3,500 hearts on the sidewalk.
To represent each of these lives that died.
That died every single day as a result of abortion.
And even though the rain on Friday washed it away, I assure you it didn't go unnoticed.
It was very, very much noticed.
Their reaction on social media was remarkable.
I don't know if any of you follow any of that.
But the reaction on social media was remarkable.
There was some positive.
But the backlash was noticeable as well.
And I think the entire situation was really a stark reminder of two things for me.
The first is that the moral deterioration of our country is growing at a rapid pace.
And people are becoming more and more bold about their immorality.
And about voicing immorality in our culture.
Number two is that if you stand up for biblical truth,
you are going to receive backlash.
You're going to see conflict with our culture.
That's the way that it's going to be.
And I'm proud of our students for standing up for what they believe in.
For standing up for biblical truth.
In fact, Jesus told us that it would be this way in Mark 13, 13, saying,
You will be hated by all because of my name.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
There's no mistake that these words are recorded in all four Gospels.
These words of Jesus telling us that we will be hated because of his name.
Because Jesus knew that we would encounter conflict.
And Jesus was the one who was familiar with this conflict.
Coming into conflict constantly with the culture that he was teaching in.
And Jesus knew that we would encounter these things.
He was familiar with it.
And it happened to him over and over again throughout the Gospels.
And in the passage that we find ourselves in this morning.
It's happening to Jesus.
We're going to see the beginning of the final conflict.
Not the beginning of the conflict.
But the beginning of the final conflict that would lead up to the death of Jesus.
It would lead us up to the cross.
A couple of weeks ago we saw Jesus confront the money changers in the temple.
And this week we want to see Jesus being confronted by the Pharisees on account of what he did.
The confrontation in our text this morning was caused by Jesus' reaction to the money changers in the temple.
So Jesus overturns the tables as best as we can tell on Tuesday of what we have termed as Passion Week.
This week that were the final days of Jesus that would lead him to the cross.
Lead him ultimately to his death.
And we've come to Wednesday here in our passage in verse 27 of Mark 11.
Read along with me if you have a copy of God's Word in your hands.
And they came again to Jerusalem.
And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him.
And they said to him,
By what authority do you do these things?
Or who gave you the authority to do them?
And Jesus said to them,
I'll ask you one question.
Answer me.
And I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?
Answer me.
And they discussed it with one another saying,
If we say from heaven,
He will say,
Why then do you not believe him?
But shall we say from man?
They were afraid of the people.
For they held that John was really a prophet.
And so they answered Jesus,
We do not know.
And Jesus said to them,
Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word that was written for us,
for our ears to hear,
for our hearts to be compelled into action.
So, Father, this morning I do not pretend to stand up here alone to do these things on my own authority.
But I stand up here being only on the authority of the Word of God.
We thank you, Father, for your Word that it pierces as far as joint and marrow,
as far as the division of soul and spirit.
And we pray, Father, this morning that you would pierce us deeply
and convict our hearts through your Spirit.
My words are not convicting,
but your Spirit can convict our hearts for your glory and in your name.
We pray these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
So what's the key word in this passage here?
It's authority.
Exousia.
It literally means freedom to act or liberty to act.
To have authority is essentially to have the right to act,
to exercise your will,
to exercise force,
to determine,
or to decide.
That's what authority is.
And no person has ever had such authority as Jesus Christ did.
He had ultimate authority,
absolute authority,
divine authority.
And He exercised it.
In Matthew 28, 18, He put it this way,
All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
That's why Paul says,
He is far above all authority in Ephesians 6, chapter 1.
In Mark 1, 22, it says,
They were amazed,
for He was teaching as one having authority,
not as the scribes.
So what we're seeing here is
the same thing that we've really been seeing
throughout the entire Gospel of Mark
as we've been walking through,
chapter by chapter through Mark.
We've been seeing that Jesus' teaching is different.
There's something about this man.
And it's very noticeable.
Jesus teaches unlike anyone else.
When I teach,
or when Nathan teaches,
or when Clay teaches,
or when anybody teaches here at CFC,
we don't stand on our own authority.
There's nothing that gives us that authority.
We stand on the authority of the Word of God.
But Jesus is the spoken Word of God.
He is the authority.
And no less than 75 times in the Gospels,
Jesus said,
Truly I say unto you,
and then you can include the dot, dot, dot,
because He gives an incredible truth
after each time that He says these things.
He wasn't quoting anyone.
And the rabbis didn't talk this way.
Rabbis during this day typically
would quote other Scriptures
or other particularly well-versed rabbis.
But Jesus didn't have to.
Why?
Because He was the ultimate authority.
He was God's spoken Word.
Along with this,
just to make the point even stronger,
Jesus never asked for permission
from anyone to do anything.
You'll notice throughout the Gospels
and throughout the life of Christ,
He never asked permission.
He was not under any earthly authority.
He possessed all authority in Himself
as the divine Son of God.
The only authority in His life
was that perfect harmony
with the Father and the Spirit.
That He completed the Father's will
and the Spirit's power.
Jesus makes it clear to us in John 5, 19,
saying,
Truly I say to you,
and there it is again,
Him speaking on His own authority for Himself,
not quoting anyone.
He says,
Truly I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of Himself
unless it is something He sees the Father doing.
For whatever the Father does,
these things the Son also does in like manner.
So in other words,
He does what the Father does
in the same way that the Father does it.
He is under the submission to the Father.
And we also see in Scripture
that the Spirit is in submission to the Son.
This, by the way,
is one of the many theological truths
that author William Young gets simply wrong.
And it's a wildly popular book,
The Shack.
Anybody read The Shack?
Anybody want to?
Yeah, we have some Shack readers.
It was wildly popular about seven years ago.
Now that it was released,
it's still maintained some popularity.
And I have to warn you about it.
Read it with some.
If you ever read it,
read it with great reservations,
knowing that it has a lot of theological problems in it.
It is a fictional piece of work
that is intended to have theological implications.
And when you're writing a piece of work like that,
you have to be very careful.
And I don't believe that he was very careful.
It didn't handle the theological implications very well.
And this is one of the many things.
On page 124 of his book,
he writes from the perspective of God.
He has characters that are supposed to explain the Trinity.
And one of his characters is God the Father.
He has a character for God the Son.
He has a character for God the Holy Spirit.
And from the perspective of God the Father,
this is what he writes.
So you think that God must relate inside a hierarchy like you do.
But we do not.
And this is simply untrue.
We see the Trinity.
Even inside the Trinity,
there is a hierarchy of the persons of God acting.
All over the Gospels,
Jesus submits to the Father.
And we see the Spirit falling in submission to the Son.
And so Jesus answered to only one authority in his life.
And he never consulted the Pharisees.
He never consulted the scribes.
He never consulted the rabbis
to get permission to do anything.
He acted solely on his own authority.
Everything he did,
everything he said,
every action that he took,
it came from his own authority.
He wielded ultimate power.
He rejected the Jewish authorities.
He never consulted them because they were apostate.
They had defected from the true faith in God.
They didn't know him,
and they were illegitimate,
and it was as if they didn't even exist to him at times.
Sure, they were the earthly purveyors of a corrupt Judaism.
They ran the temple,
and they turned it into a robber's den.
But they had no real power and no real authority in their lives.
They were enemies of God,
enemies of truth,
and enemies of the Gospel.
So you can see why there was some conflict here.
You can see why there's some dissension
between Jesus and these people.
When you read through the Gospels,
you kind of want to cheer Jesus on through these conflicts
because on the one hand,
you have a prideful group of people,
the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
who think that they are God's gift to creation.
They really do.
They believe in their minds
that they know better than anybody else,
and they have this spiritual pride that's unparalleled.
On the other hand,
you have the Son of God
who is holy,
who is righteous,
who is indeed God's gift to mankind.
And they begin to clash.
They begin to see these reactions that Jesus has,
and it's amazing
because He just keeps kindly telling them off
and sending them on their way
because He is just and holy,
and He is all-wise,
and He knows how to handle their arguments.
But in their perspective,
Jesus is just teaching away without their permission,
without their authority,
without their approval.
And this just struck a massive blow
to their spiritual pride
for a man to walk into their temple
and to begin to teach
as if He knew everything in their minds.
And it continually infuriated them.
They had developed a vicious hatred for Jesus
because He demonstrated such scorn
toward their religious positions.
And this is what ultimately led them
to hand Him over to the Romans
to die on the cross.
So the key issue here in this passage
is authority.
Who in the world gave you permission
to overturn the money tables, Jesus?
Where do you get off?
They could have asked,
where did you get the authority
to teach what you teach?
But that's not what they said, is it?
Because it was going deeper at this point,
further past what He actually said.
It was what He was doing.
I mean, it was tough enough for them
to swallow that He came into town
on Monday with massive crowds,
by the way, arriving into Jerusalem
for the Passover.
And they are bowing down to Him
and singing praises at Him.
Hosanna, Son of David.
Blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
And throwing messianic titles
and names at Him.
And He never refused them.
In fact, He took them.
Even well into Tuesday and Wednesday,
He received praises from the people.
So as if that wasn't infuriating enough,
Jesus walks into the temple on Tuesday
and begins to disrupt everything
they've got going on,
begins to disrupt the money changers,
overturns the tables,
and kicks the merchandisers out.
So naturally, they're asking the question,
Who do you think you are, Jesus?
You see, these men truly believed
in their hearts that they had everything right.
They believed they had everything right
in their lives,
that they were the holy ones,
they were the ones who were supposed
to be the spiritual leaders of this time.
And they had placed all faith
in their religious rituals
and believed that their obedience
to the law had earned them righteousness
on their own.
It's a very dangerous place to be.
They were so focused on earning
their own righteousness
that they couldn't see
that the Son of God
was staring them right in the face.
And we, by the way,
have people like that
in every church across this country,
including this one this morning.
I'm here to tell you today,
stop trying to earn righteousness
on your own.
You can't do it.
It's impossible.
You can't live life good enough
to earn God's grace.
There are some of you in this room,
if you would just let go of your pride
and stop looking at the issues
in everyone else's life
and begin to work
on your own sanctification
in Christ Jesus,
you would begin to see the world
in a whole different way.
And you'd begin to see church
in a whole different way.
You'd begin to see your life
in a whole different way.
You'd begin to see God
in a different way.
And you'd become more like Christ
in your own life.
The Pharisees and scribes and elders,
they didn't get it
because they were lost in their pride.
And while this is certainly
not the first confrontation
that Jesus had with the Sanhedrin,
it was the beginning
of the final series of confrontations
that Jesus was going to have.
As we move into chapter 12,
we're going to begin to see,
all the way through the 40th verse
of chapter 12,
that Jesus is in conflict
with these people.
And this is the beginning of it.
We're going to see a series of stories
in chapter 12
where the events
that will focus on
these religious leaders,
and Jesus is going to tell
a series of stories
and events that's going to
pronounce judgment
on these people.
So if you're like me
and you don't really like conflict,
you better buckle up
over the next couple of weeks.
There's going to be conflict.
Isn't it true that
in general,
we generally try to avoid conflict?
I know in my life,
I generally try to avoid conflict.
Sometimes it's unavoidable though.
Sometimes people will ask you
a question that relates
to biblical truth
and they're not going to
like your answer
because you know for sure
this is what the Bible says.
This is what God has told us.
There's times we have to tell them
the hard truth,
the hard reality
of what Scripture tells us.
And it may not be
what they want to hear,
what they want us to say.
But nonetheless,
we have to stand up for truth.
We have to stand up
for what's right.
We have to stand up
for righteousness.
We have to teach truth
to a culture
that's lost any sense of truth.
We generally don't like conflict,
but there's going to be
conflict sometimes in our lives
and that's what we're seeing
going on here
in our passage this morning
as we move into chapter 12.
as well.
So after three years of conflict,
Jesus comes to the temple.
He disrupts everything
that they're doing.
And don't miss this.
These Pharisees,
they believe in their hearts
that Jesus is the blasphemer.
In their hearts,
in their minds,
they believe that Jesus
is the blasphemer.
This is how far removed
they are from truth.
This is how deep
they've delved in their pride.
They believe that
Jesus' actions in the temple
were an act of blasphemy
to epic proportions.
So with all of that
as background,
let's take a look at this story.
It will unfold easily
for us this morning.
The first thing
that we're going to see
is the confrontation.
The confrontation.
As he is walking in the temple,
you've got to get the picture here.
This temple is massive.
One of the walls
for this temple,
just to give you an idea,
stretches four football fields long.
It's a big area
and that's just the outer wall.
You have the inner part.
In between,
you have a courtyard.
So Jesus is likely
walking around
through this massive courtyard,
acres upon acres
of massive courtyard.
And he's teaching them
as he's moving through
the temple.
This is really a very
rabbinic way of teaching.
They taught as they walked around.
And Jesus is sharing truth
as he moves about the temple.
The parallel passage
in Luke chapter 20,
by the way,
Luke tells us
that he was teaching the people
and preaching the gospel.
So for one day,
just to get this imagery,
for one day,
the temple is his
and his alone.
The truth began to ring out
in a place
where it hadn't rung out
for hundreds of years.
So for one day,
the temple is his.
And no doubt,
he was using his time wisely,
teaching a gospel of repentance
and turning away from the sin
and the consequences of sin
being death.
And then,
the free gift of God,
which was him,
himself.
Luke 19.47 records
that he was teaching daily
in the temple.
The chief priests
and the scribes
and the principal men
of the people
were seeking to destroy
him,
but they did not find
anything that they could do
for the people
were hanging
on his words.
If there is ever
a teacher on whom
to hang every word,
it is him.
It is Jesus.
Compelling teachers
captivate me.
I don't know about you guys.
I love to listen to a compelling teacher.
I would just get captivated.
But imagine
the Son of God
teaching.
How captivating
he was.
These people are
captivated by his teaching
here.
Back to verse 27.
And he was walking
in the temple
and the chief priests
and the scribes
and elders came to him.
Those are the three groups,
by the way,
that make up the Sanhedrin.
These are the three groups
also that
we're going to see
the primary conflict
in chapter 12,
in the next chapter.
They came to him
not as ones
who are captivated
by his teaching,
but as ones
who are trying
to incite him.
They're trying
to trip him up.
They're trying to
create a conflict
that's going to make him
look bad.
Not a good idea,
by the way,
because they were
no match for Jesus.
He was smarter than them.
He has better rhetoric
than them.
And they said to him
in verse 28,
by what authority
are you doing these things?
Or who gave you
authority to do them?
So this is the primary issue
that they're having,
is authority.
It's authority.
By the way,
this is the primary issue
that all unbelievers have
with Christianity
and with the Gospel.
It's authority.
They don't want to
submit their lives
to any type of authority
other than themselves.
And really,
they might give you
a hundred reasons why.
They might say
that they were burnt
by church.
They might say
many, many
various different reasons,
but ultimately,
it's about authority
in their lives.
Somehow they can't,
they're not willing to
or they cannot somehow
in their hearts
submit to his authority.
And so these people
were having trouble
with his authority.
They're saying,
you can't just walk
into the temple
and do what you did
because they don't believe
that he is the authority.
And by the way,
they knew what his answer
would be
if he had answered them
directly.
In fact,
they may even hope
that he would answer
them directly.
They may even hope
that he would say
that my authority
comes from me
and me alone
or from God the Father
and him alone.
Because then they can say,
aha,
we've got you.
You're committing blasphemy.
And they could convince
the people
that he was a blasphemer.
That wasn't going to happen.
They didn't want him
to gain followers.
They didn't want him
to be teaching
in the temple
and they certainly
didn't want them
to dismantle
their entire system.
See, the truth is
that Jesus wasn't
the blasphemer.
They were the blasphemers.
This is a classic example
of literary irony.
See, some of you in here,
you think that the Scripture
is boring, right?
I know some of us
probably don't.
I see some smiles
on some people's faces
probably bringing up
some thoughts
in your mind.
A lot of us
probably really love
the Word of God,
but there's probably
a fraction of us
in here
that think it's
just kind of mundane
and boring.
This is so far
from the truth.
Because Scripture
contains literary elements
of the best novels
that we read,
of everything that we read.
It's got deep plot structure,
rich character development.
We see epic battles,
romance, conflict,
protagonist, antagonist.
There's lots of symbolism
in there.
There's even monsters
and dragons
and angels and demons
for the sci-fi fans, right?
And so,
we see that this is
not just based
on a true story.
It is the true story.
And God,
our God,
is right in the middle
of it all,
guiding history.
Because that
is what it is.
It is His story.
He was there
in the beginning.
He will see it
through to the end.
He is the Alpha
and the Omega.
And in the end,
He will be glorified
into eternity.
But there's things
that must happen
before the end
is to come.
And this conflict
where we find Jesus
must happen
before God's plan
of redemption
is to play its full course.
And we see here
that the Pharisees
had no chance.
Jesus is so much wiser
than they are.
Here's this counter
in verse 29.
Jesus said to them,
I'll ask you one question.
Jesus knew what
they were doing,
by the way.
He was wise enough
to know.
He puts the burden
of answering back
on them.
He says,
Answer me
and I will tell you
by what authority
I do these things.
And this is really
an honest response.
His offer is to
answer their question
if they're willing
to answer his question.
And by doing so,
he's leveling
the playing ground.
They may have asked him
an unfair,
trapping question.
But he says,
Okay,
if you're willing
to answer this question,
I'll answer yours.
So here's the question
in verse 30.
Was the baptism
of John
from heaven
or from man?
Answer me.
And in no uncertain terms,
Jesus puts the ball
back in the Pharisees' court.
He's doing the same thing
that they did to him.
And it's what we might call
being put between
a rock and a hard place.
He didn't resent
their question.
He just knew
their ill intentions.
And I love the command here
because he's demonstrating
his authority over them.
He demands for them
to answer him.
Isn't that great?
They didn't demand
an answer from him,
but he's demanding
an answer back.
I just want to pause here
for a second
to talk about
Jesus' question
because you may be thinking,
Why in the world,
out of all the questions
that Jesus could have asked,
why is this question
about John the baptizer?
Why would he choose
John the baptizer
to ask a question?
And I thought the same thing.
I wondered the same thing
as I was doing
my preliminary studying
for this passage.
But what do we know
about John the baptizer?
We know that he was
a forerunner to the Messiah.
He was possibly
the greatest prophet
that ever lived
up until this time.
He was foretold
in the Old Testament prophets.
And this is key
because these people
that Jesus is talking to
would have known
these documents very well.
He was conceived
miraculously
by an aging couple,
Elizabeth and Zacharias.
because of the plan of God.
And he preached
in the wilderness
a message of repentance
in preparation
for the coming Messiah.
And one day,
Jesus shows up
and John says,
Behold,
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
It's a bold statement.
everything that John did
pointed back to Jesus.
And everyone in the temple
knew it.
So was the ministry
of John the baptizer,
the prophetic ministry
of John the baptizer,
was it from God
or was it from man?
Answer me.
Strong challenge.
And Jesus was brilliant
when confronted.
He was brilliant.
He never lost
in a debate
or an argument.
He put them
in the hot seat.
If they say that
the ministry of John
is not from God,
then they've got a problem
because all the people
knew that John
was a real prophet.
All the people there
believed that he was
a real prophet.
If they say that
his ministry is from God,
they have to affirm
that Jesus is the Messiah.
Something that
their pride and ignorance
couldn't let them do.
You can't take John
without Jesus
and you can't
throw away Jesus
without throwing away John.
So they have
a serious problem.
So serious
in the fact
that they have
to have a side conversation.
So they begin
dialogosumai.
There we go.
Greek there for you.
Dialogosumai.
They begin to dialogue
among themselves.
They begin to talk
and discuss
among themselves.
And I have no idea
what this looked like.
I can only picture it
in my head
as them being like,
okay, we need to think
about this.
Come on, let's go over here.
Let's get in the huddle.
But apparently
they're not talking
quietly enough
for people to not hear them
because we have
the recorded words
here in Scripture, right?
So apparently
somebody must have
overheard them
or maybe they're just
guessing what they
were talking about.
I don't know
how this went down
but imagine them
kind of getting together
and talking about this
among themselves
and they're saying,
if we say from heaven,
he will say,
why did you not believe him?
Meaning,
why did they not believe
John when he says Jesus
or when he affirms Jesus
as the Messiah?
But shall we say
for man,
it's their only other option.
It's the only
an either or type
of question.
But they're realizing,
well, we can't say
for man either.
Why?
The text tells us
they were afraid
of the people
for they all held
that John was really
a prophet.
There's a minor detail
that Mark leaves out here
that Luke includes.
They weren't just
afraid of the people
because of what
they would say
or how they would
view them.
Luke 20,
verse 6 tells us
that all the people,
and get this one,
all the people
will stone us
to death.
So now we're getting
the full picture
of what's going on.
They didn't want to be
the blasphemers.
They wanted Jesus
to look like the blasphemer.
And they're realizing
that Jesus has turned
the tables on them
and he's put them
in a position
where no matter
what they say,
they're going to have
a tough time answering.
So now you understand
the dilemma.
What are they going to do?
The praise of men
was everything
to these people.
It was absolutely
everything.
Power, prestige,
privilege, honors.
They would pray
long prayers
in the streets
in public
just to look like
they were highly spiritual.
spiritual.
They wanted man
to see them
in a good light.
They wanted everyone
to know they were right,
that they had a special
connection to God.
And they wanted to be
recognized in public
as the holy ones.
So if John's ministry
is from God,
they have to embrace
that they've been wrong
for three years.
For three years
that they've been
in conflict with Jesus.
That they were
somehow wrong.
What's more
is that they would
have to accept
the fact that this man
that they've been
opposing for three years
has been right.
And how could the
spiritual authorities
in this time
be so wrong
for so long?
It's something
they just weren't
prepared to accept.
If they say it's for men,
they're liable
to get stoned.
And that's not just death,
that is a shameful death.
A disgraceful death.
So they reduced
the worst possible thing
that could happen
to someone
with intellectual pride.
And that's to say,
I don't know.
There you have it.
The religious leaders
of the day.
That must have been hard
for that to spill
out of their mouths
that we do not know.
So much for their
omniscience, right?
It's their duty to know.
It's their duty to observe.
It's their duty to evaluate.
But never,
never in their dealings
with Jesus
did they ever come to him
seeking truth.
They were always
seeking to entrap him.
They were always
seeking to trip him up.
And this is the way
of false religion.
Not necessarily
the victims of false religion,
but the purveyors
of false religion.
And so this leads us
to Jesus' answer.
They were confronted,
they went to the counter,
and now
we see the condemnation.
Jesus said to them,
neither will I tell you
by what authority
I do these things.
false.
So Jesus refused
to answer their question,
and this is important
this morning
because we're about
to turn a corner.
You don't ever
want to be
in the position
where Jesus says to you
that I am through
talking with you.
Because that
is what's going on here.
Jesus is saying,
I am done.
I've said
all that I have
to say to you.
you are not entitled
to any further information.
And when you continue
to reject the light,
eventually the light's
going to go out.
It's the reality of it.
Jesus had already
given them
a stark warning,
a grave warning
in Luke 13,
saying,
Oh Jerusalem,
Jerusalem,
the city
that kills the prophets
and stones those
who are sent to it.
How often
I would have gathered
your children together
as him gathers
her brood
under her wings.
But you
were not
willing.
Behold,
your house
is forsaken.
The words
of the Son of God
cast out
upon the city.
You see,
God's grace
does have limits.
You say,
well how can a loving God
allow a well-meaning
person to suffer
eternity in hell?
And it's true
that our God
is infinitely loving,
infinitely kind,
and infinitely good.
But as a good
and holy
and righteous God,
He is also
necessarily just.
And justice
must prevail
for Him
to maintain
holiness
in His life
or in His being.
And even the best,
most well-meaning
people on this earth
are guilty of sin.
Romans 3.23
tells us,
for all have sinned
and fallen short
of the glory of God.
There is not
one person
in this room
that is free
of sin.
We are all,
we are all sinners.
We've all fallen
short of His glory.
And that's why
Jesus is so important.
That's why His life
is so important.
That's why His death
is so important.
He lived
a perfect life
and gives His life
up as a perfect sacrifice
for our benefit,
for our behalf.
And ultimately
so that He would be glorified.
He hung
a gruesome death
on the cross.
and provided
payment for the sins
of those who would
give their lives to Him.
The Pharisees
and elders
and scribes,
they were all looking
for some evidence.
They were all looking
for a source of authority.
I'm telling you,
you might not ever find
a scientific source
of authority
or a scientific evidence
of God
in your life.
There might be
difficult to come by
for you
to come by
scientific evidence
because it's all
about faith,
placing faith
in Christ Jesus.
And I'm confident
this morning
that there are people
in this room
that have been struggling
and struggling
with the authority
of Christ
in your lives.
Some of us in here
may even be
among the redeemed
and saying,
I know that I believe
Christ is the authority
of this area
of my life
and I'm happy with that.
But there's some stuff
over here
that I'm hanging on to.
I'm not going to let Christ
have authority
in my life
in this area
because this is
making me feel good.
This is making me
have some temporary
happiness
in the short term.
But this area
over here
I'm happy about.
This area
I'm going to keep
for myself
for a little while.
It's all or nothing.
You either give Him
all the authority
in your life
or nothing.
There's some people
in here
who have never
been able to submit,
you've never been able
to find the gumption
or the will
to submit your whole life
over to Him ever.
And if that's you
this morning
and I just want
to plead with you,
plead with you,
don't let it go
another day
without taking action
in your life
on this.
If you still have
questions,
come talk to me,
come talk to Nathan,
come talk to somebody
who's an elder here
or somebody
who understands
the Scriptures,
understands
God's plan
of salvation.
will be happy
more than overjoyed
to talk with you
about this.
But God is calling
you to Himself.
He is calling you
to salvation
that can only come
through His authority
in your life
over sin.
There's one final truth
this morning
and that's that
this unique authority
that Jesus wielded
to say
whatever He wanted
and to do
whatever He wanted
to do
was amazingly
delegated to
the apostles.
apostles.
It's truly amazing
what happened.
In Luke 9,
Jesus gave them
authority over demons,
over disease
and to proclaim
the kingdom.
How could they do
these things
with the same authority?
Because they spoke
the same truth
and they wielded
the same power.
So did it end
with the apostles?
Well, a portion
of it did.
A portion of it
did end with them.
There were signs
and wonders
and miracles
they were able
to do
during this time.
There was a gift
of the Spirit
that Jesus
had imparted
on them.
But don't miss
this brothers
and sisters
in the room
this morning.
The authority
to proclaim
the truth
has been passed
down to us.
We are designed
to be proclaimers
of God's Word
and God's truth.
Jesus'
final recorded
words in Acts 1,
you will receive
power when the
Holy Spirit
comes upon you
and you will be
my witnesses
in Judea,
Samaria
and to the ends
of the earth.
Paul writes
to Titus
in chapter 2,
young church
leader,
Titus,
chapter 2,
verse 15,
these things
speak with all
authority
and let no one
disregard you.
Let no one
disregard you.
I feel a special
burden this morning
to speak to the
young people
in the room.
Teenagers,
college students,
young professionals
in the room here.
Do not think
for a second
that you are
too young
for God
to use you.
And do not
let people
discourage you
because you
are young.
God has
historically
used young
people to
start
incredible
movements.
Martin Luther
nailed the
95 Theses
to the door
of Wittenberg
in 1517,
starting a
reformation.
He was only
34.
Nicholas
Zinzendorf
witnessed the
birth of the
100-year
Moravian prayer
revival in 1727,
when he was
only 27 years
old.
Jonathan
Edwards was
only at the
age of 31
in 1734,
when his church
experienced a
revival that
led to the
conversion of
half their
town.
George
Whitfield
launched what
some call
the greatest
single evangelistic
tour in New
England in the
first Great
Awakening when
he was only
25.
Some of you
are coming up
to that age.
Some of you
are already at
that age.
At the
age of
23,
Samuel
Mills led
a group
of peers
to what
would be
the birth
of foreign
missions
in America.
God
uses people
young and
old.
I don't
mean to be
discouraging
old people.
God uses
old people
too.
God uses
people young
and old,
but do not
think that
you are
too young
to do
something
great for
the glory
of God.
Mary,
mother of
Jesus was
likely a
young teenager
when she
raised and
nurtured the
man that
would become
the cornerstone
to every
great movement
of God
for the rest
of history.
So young
people,
do not believe
for a second
you are too
young for God
to use you
as a catalyst
for revival.
And pray for
revival.
We need it
so desperately.
We need it
so desperately
in our country.
So for all
of us,
young,
old,
as we go
away from
here this
morning,
remember that
we live
in a
fallen and
broken world
that desperately
needs the
authority of
Christ in
their lives.
I think about
all the terrible
things that are
happening in
this world
and my heart
breaks.
You've got the
conflict going
on between
Syria and
Russia,
where people
are being
killed
meaninglessly.
There's an
ever-escalating
conflict in
Israel and
Palestine.
there's the
Islamic State,
or whatever
they're calling
themselves this
week,
Islamic State,
ISIS,
whatever it
is,
they're killing
Christians among
other minority
religious groups
for apparently
no good reason.
There's the
voices of
feminism,
homosexual rights
activists,
proponents of
abortion that are
growing ever
louder in our
culture.
We have all
the chaos,
all the bad
ideas,
all the
misrepresentations
that are floating
around our
world.
And yet God
has placed us
here in
North Georgia
to impact a
culture for
His glory.
Let us never
forget that.
Let us never
forget that the
most important
thing that can
happen in this
world is for
God to be
glorified through
His truth being
made known,
both here and
abroad, both
locally and to
the nations.
God's.
And the only
place that
they're going
to receive
this truth is
through the
instruments in
which He has
deposited His
Word and His
Spirit.
And that's in
us.
See, in this
passage, Jesus
comes up against
a great conflict
and He's promised
us that if we're
going to follow
Him radically,
if we're going to
share truth,
if we're going to
represent Him
locally and to
the nations,
then we're going
to come into
conflict.
There's going to
be times of
discouragement.
There's going to
be times of
joy.
There's going to
be times of
difficulty and
times of
happiness.
And we can
expect confrontation
as we carry the
light of the
gospel truth to
the world.
But I want to
leave you this
encouraging passage
that this light
and momentary
affliction is
preparing us for
an eternal
weight of glory
that is beyond
all comparison.
Let's pray
together.