Matthew Pt. 80 - From Heaven or From Man?

Matthew chapter 21 Saints, the time has come.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

I told you Jesus was going to go nuclear.

I told you he was going to go sports earth and if you want to

see that side of Jesus, then you're going to love Matthew

2122 and 23 because it is full blast.

This is not the only place, of course.

I mean, throughout the Gospel of Matthew, as we've read Matthew,

we never have really come across the whole Jesus who just picks

up a little lamb in the in the barnyard and just pets him and

moves along with his with his wispy little way.

Like we, we haven't come across that Jesus at all.

And even more so, we're going to come across the strength and the

authority of Christ as we come across these next few chapters.

So unfortunately, I'm going to cut Jesus off because I'm not a

good preacher as him. But I want you to keep reading.

I want you to go home and I want you to read the whole passage so

you get the full message of what's taking place.

Remember, it's been three years of the ministry of the Lord

Jesus Christ. He's been on the earth for 33

years. We're in his last week.

We're actually on Tuesday. He knows he's got Tuesday today,

he's got Wednesday and he's got Thursday night and he knows

Thursday night he's going to hand himself over.

He is short time. He has been full court press

mission driven to come and be the sacrifice for you and I.

He is fulfilling his destiny. He's fulfilling the calling,

He's fulfilling the will of the Father, and everything's

culminating around this. Remember this Gospel of Matthew

that we're reading? Matthew was a Jew, but Matthew

was a tax collector. So he's an outcast Jew.

He's a traitor to the Jews because the Romans come in and

conquer everybody. Remember, the Romans have come

in and conquered and now they say, hey, who wants to betray

their people? You're going to get pretty

wealthy in the process. And Matthew, it was one of those

people who said, sign me up. So Matthew is a tax collector.

He takes taxes from his people, but he also takes money for

himself. He's hated.

You hear Jesus in parables and in teachings reference, he goes,

hey, if anybody does this or does that, then treat him like a

tax collector or treat him like a Gentile.

So they're clearly an outcast group of society.

Matthew is a part of that. Jesus goes up to Matthew's booth

one day. It says, come follow me.

And Matthew said, I surrender all.

And he turned from the Romans and he turned from his life.

And he said, I don't know what this is going to look like to

follow this guy, but I'm going to follow him.

So picture this. There were other rabbis who

would have traveled at that time.

Jesus is particularly unique, though, because if you wanted to

be a distinguished rabbi, you would go around and find the

cream of the crop. You would go find the young men

who were the best trained in all the things, in all the ways of

the law of Moses. Jesus didn't go find that.

Jesus has already put a ragtag group together.

He's looked at. It's like they're the scrappy

group. He's got fishermen.

These guys aren't studied like the other rabbis have.

We've got all these excellent students.

And not only that, Jesus had the audacity to pick a tax

collector. Another rabbi would have never

done this, but Jesus isn't interested in in what other

rabbis are interested in. Jesus is interested in changing

people's lives and blessing people and transforming people.

So the whole region has been changed.

It's been three years of his ministry.

You know somebody who's been healed by Jesus.

You know somebody who's heard Jesus preach.

If you yourself haven't already. This is not a small thing.

He doesn't have like 65 people hanging around him.

All of Israel knows what's going on.

The Romans know a lot about what's going on.

And now it's the Passover feast week.

Jerusalem has had millions descend upon it.

The temple and the temple courts, remember that they're

about 35 acres large. These temple courts you can fit

roughly conservatively, you can fit 100,000 people in there.

So it whatever cartoons that we've seen, whatever movies that

we've seen of Jesus, like preaching in the temple and

there's like 100 people around. Not how it looked, not how it

happened. When he's overturning the tables

in this massive courtyard area, there's mobs and masses of

people, conservatively 100,000 people.

If we're packing it in, you're getting up 400,000 plus, but

conservatively 100,000 people. So it's just people everywhere.

And Jesus is in charge of everything.

Remember, he's turned over the tables yesterday, on Monday,

He's caused the whole scene. He's rebuked everybody.

And now he comes back in on Tuesday again to teach and to

preach. Fully scorched earth, full

rebuke, full judgment. Because time has come for

judgement. He's been patient, he's been

gracious. He has wanted to see blessing,

He has wanted to see breakthrough.

But now, in their hard heartedness, he's bringing the

correction. So he knows he's only got today,

Tuesday. He's got tomorrow, Wednesday,

and then he's got Thursday for the Passover feast when he hands

himself over, and then Friday for his crucifixion.

Remember, Matthew wrote this to Jews, so his Gospel in mind,

when the Holy Spirit has Matthew writing it, he's thinking about

Jews in general. So he wants to keep showing them

the authority of Christ. So when Jesus is confronting

these leaders that you're getting ready to see, remember

it's not random, it's not coincidence.

It is a deliberate moment that Jesus has been building.

Israel's leaders were entrusted with much, and now the reckoning

is here. In the past, God has sent

prophets to deal with them. God has sent prophets throughout

history to rebuke the leaders of Israel and say you're doing it

wrong, you're doing it wrong, God is displeased, you're doing

it wrong, you're doing it wrong, God is displeased.

Now God himself has finally come.

Jesus, who sent all of his prophets, has now come in person

to deal with them. He is the one who comes into the

vineyard to deal with the evil tenants.

Matthew chapter 21, verses 23 through 27.

Matthew 21:23–27

And when he entered the temple, so this is the first thing on

Tuesday. Now the chief priests and the

elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said,

by what authority are you doing these things?

And who gave you this authority? Jesus answered them.

I will also ask you one question, and if you tell me the

answer, then I will also tell you by what?

By what authority I do these things?

The baptism of John, where did it come from?

From heaven or from man? And they discussed it among

themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, then he'll say to

us, Why then did you not believe him?

But if we say from man, we're afraid of the crowd, for they

all hold that John was a prophet.

So they answered Jesus, we don't know.

And he said to them, Neither will I tell you by what

authority I do these things. That's all we're covering today.

But he doesn't stop. He keeps going.

And that's what I want you to keep reading and see how he

builds and how he swells. Lord, we thank you for your

word. We thank you for revelation and

for light. Help us to see Jesus for who he

is. The wholeness, the fullness of

Christ, the goodness of Jesus, the mercy of Jesus, the strength

of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus, and the judgment of

Jesus. God, let us not be like the

Pharisees, Fill us with belief and fill us even with the will

to believe. We need everything good to come

from you God, apart from you we can do nothing.

Grow us and strengthen US today in Jesus name, Amen.

God is so patient. God is so good.

But here now we're seeing the fruitless fig tree being cut

down. Remember the parable that Jesus

has told he said the the the owner of the vineyard comes out

to to his head worker, his head manager, but all he goes, I've

come to this fig tree for three years and the thing hasn't borne

for yet. Cut it down.

It's taken up the ground. We'll plant something else here

and he goes, Hey, give me, give me one more year.

Let me fertilize it. Let me let me, let me tend it

even better. If it doesn't bear for master,

we will cut it down. Then he goes, all right, all

right. Jesus has been the compassionate

manager who's coming and said, father, let me let me tenderize

it. Let me work with it, Father.

And the Father said, all right. And now the Father says, cut it

down. It's still not bearing fruit.

Leaves, but no fruit on the tree.

A cloud, but no rain. And God says time's up.

God has been extremely patient, extremely gracious, because God

is patient, because God is gracious.

But this is the moment. I mean, Israel's been building

up to this for thousands of years up until this point now.

So for us, we need to keep this in mind as well.

Eventually, when someone won't get in or won't get out,

eventually there does come a time for judgement.

You don't determine that door. I don't determine that door, but

the Lord does. God is so patient, but I know

He's taking salt into a new season as well.

As we continue to emphasize, and I'm praying for each and

everyone of you, your name is in my mouth when I'm praying to God

that you surrender fully, that that none of us would mock God

and his kindness, that none of us would store up wrath against

ourselves. So I don't want anybody to miss

this moment. And just like them, Jesus is

walking to the temple of our hearts.

And in this passage we see what happens when Jesus is resisted.

Back to verse 23. When he entered the temple, the

chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he

was teaching and said, by what authority are you doing these

things? And who gave you this authority?

Interrupting the King of Glory and challenging his authority.

They already know his answer. They know where his authority

has come from, but they don't believe it.

And they want him to say it out loud so he can, so they can

accuse him of blasphemy. They want everybody recognizes

what's going on. Everybody recognizes who he is,

but they want Jesus to say I came from heaven that, that,

that, that. Then they can think that they

can accuse him of blasphemy, or then they can then demand some

new sign from him, which is ridiculous in itself because

he's already given so many signs.

He's already given so many examples.

Jesus has raised the dead. He raised Lazarus recently and

they were so mad about it. They said we're going to kill

Jesus and Lazarus. So he's healed the blind, He's

healed the paralyzed. They know what's true, but they

won't believe it is an act of the will.

It's not that they can't believe, it's that they won't.

I will not believe. That's the issue that they've

come to at this point. Jesus isn't lacking any kind of

evidence that he needs to provide.

They're not lacking signs that they need to see.

What they lack is willingness. And watch how Jesus responds

when somebody lacks willingness. After a while, verse 24, and

Jesus answered them. I'll ask you one question and if

you tell me the answer, then I'll also tell you by what

authority I do these things. So what's going on is Jesus

can't answer anything. He can answer it, He can prove

it, He can show it, He can reveal it.

He can walk them from Genesis all the way up through their Old

Testament and reveal everything to them and go, this is how I

have fulfilled it. Why doesn't he?

Well, because it they still won't believe.

Because it's an act of the will. This is good news for you,

Christian. This frees you, Christian,

whenever you're ministering to others, whenever you think.

If I could just say it better, if I could just put it

differently, if I was just better at explaining, then

surely they would believe. Good news for you, good news for

me. The gospel itself is the power

of God unto salvation for those who believe.

So it's not your brilliant presentation.

It's not my brilliant presentation.

It's the simplicity and the foolishness of the cross.

It's that simple that the world go.

You just want me to believe that.

Yeah. Yeah, Yeah, I do.

I want you to believe that. Well, I can't believe it because

you haven't presented enough evidence.

And that is the lie that will condemn them on that day unless

they repent, which of course they still can until they can't.

But that's the lie that people tell.

And that's a lie that many Christians have believed as

well. Oh, they just need more

evidence. They just need me to explain it

better and to prove it. Jesus disagrees.

Jesus said when someone won't believe, even if someone came

back from the dead and told them the truth, they still would not

believe. And then it literally happens.

It's going to happen in about Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

Saturday, Sunday, 5 days from now, someone's going to be

raised from the dead. The Pharisees and the scribes

and the Sadducees are going to know that someone was raised

from the dead because they're enemies.

The Roman soldiers who are guarding this person who we

haven't named yet, who's going to be raised from the dead.

These Roman soldiers are going to go to the Jews because they

don't want to go to pilot, because they're going to be

executed, because they're dead prisoners, escaped.

So they go to the Jews and go, your little Messiah guy is

alive. An Angel struck us down and he

walked out of the tomb. And the Pharisees and the

Sadducees, they don't say, God forgive us, we've crucified the

Lord of glory. They say, all right, let's think

this through. Let's think this through.

They know that they know that they know your best friend, your

cousin, your sister-in-law does not need better evidence or

presentation from you. Pray that God in his great mercy

would breakthrough their hard heartedness.

And pray that God will give you boldness and conviction to share

the gospel, the messy gospel of a bloody cross and a king who is

resurrected to rule and reign and to forgive people of their

sins. The foolishness of the cross is

enough. It is the power of God unto

salvation for those who will believe.

Will you believe? Will you believe God?

Will you trust God? Jesus can answer anything and

everything, but what you're going to see over the coming

weeks, He actually does answer their question, but he's going

to do it in parables. But these parables that he's

going to torch them with are not hard to figure out.

We've come across the parables and it's like, ah, we, we really

are not sure where he was going with this.

We know he meant something, but you know, some of us think this,

some of us think that. There's a few, very few like

that. Most of the time we're going,

this is what this is about. But the few of the things, a few

of the parables he's getting ready to tell are very direct,

very plain, very obvious, You know who's who and the story,

and he reveals himself. But learn from your Savior that

you are not required to answer every question that you are

asked. Why?

Because people don't always ask questions in good faith.

Whenever you're dealing with an opponent or an enemy who wills

not to believe the Lord, they are rejecting the kindness of

God and they're saying what about what about what about and

they're seeing they, they are implying that you're failing

them when really the only failure is their own willingness

to submit to the Lord. When you know you're dealing

with an enemy in particular, do not walk into their traps in the

name of being honest. This is something that the Lord

has grown me in and is continuing to grow me in for so

long. I always took the approach.

They just said I'm just going to be as innocent as a dove.

So when I'm dealing with an opponent or when I'm dealing

with a non believer who just has like I'm just going to

everything they ask. I will not do any kind of

political sidestepping. I will do 0.0 dodging of the

question. Innocent is a dove.

That was my focus, but it was that was neglecting the wisdom

of the serpent that Jesus commanded us to go along with

it. Right.

Jesus is as innocent as a dove. He's not cowardly.

He's not afraid to say which true, but he's wise and he's

clever and he's crafty. And one thing about a serpent is

it's hard to hit. Jesus is hard to hit and he is

the wisdom of God. So of course he knows exactly

how to expose them. I might know now when I'm

dealing with an opponent, but I don't always have the wisdom to

know how to expose it like he does because I'm so tempted.

Like, hey, where the if I get hit with a question, I'm like, I

need to answer their question because if I don't answer their

question, they'll think that I'm being false and then that will

be a poor witness. John Michael, slow down, buddy.

They already hate you. They already hate what you teach

and they hate what you believe. Do not put all this weight on

yourself to think that you need to perform well in this moment

so as to persuade them. They refuse to be persuaded.

Their only mission in this moment is to expose you or

manipulate you. And if you know that the motive

of the person you're speaking to is to manipulate, don't play

alone. Yeah, but I'm afraid that then

they're going to accuse me of. Yes, you're afraid.

And that's the root of the issue.

I'm worried about something. I'm afraid they're going to

think that they won. Then they'll think they beat me.

Well, if you play their game, they already have anyway, and it

doesn't serve them. The best thing we can do is pray

for them. If you've got the wisdom of

Jesus in a moment like that to say, let me ask you another

question. Now you're changing the subject.

No, it's relevant. It's relevant.

I don't believe your motives are pure anyway.

I don't think you're even asking a genuine question.

That's a route Jesus could have taken, Rabbi.

But what authority do you do these things?

I think you know by what authority I do these things.

You know, he could have walked him through a lot of different

options, but what he's doing here is very, very wise.

Very clear. He's perfectly honest, but he's

perfectly wise. So I'm harmless as a dove.

Good. As a Christian, you were

commanded to be, but you were also commanded to be as wise as

a serpent. And his wisdom plays out in the

next verse. Jesus doesn't answer their

question. He asks one.

It's not just clever, it's very exposing of them.

So verse 25, the baptism of John, this is his question.

Where did it come from? From heaven or from man?

And they discussed it among themselves.

If we say from heaven, he'll say, then why didn't you

believe? If we say from man, we're afraid

of the crowd for they all hold that John was a prophet.

So when Jesus saying the baptism of John, who are we talking

about? John the Baptist, The ministry

of John the Baptist from the past few years, John at this

point has been dead for a while. He was beheaded by telling the

truth to Herod. He was talking to political

leaders about their sex life and that was apparently within the

realm of jurisdiction for pastors to talk about at that

time. Now pastors aren't allowed to

talk about anything at all. We like, we have a very limited

range of what we're supposed to say.

And if we're going to, you know, it's a very complicated issue.

We have to be very winsome about culture.

We have to think about our witness instead of no, no, no.

What's the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ and the

earth to be the pillar of the truth?

The government has a role and a responsibility to punish the

evildoer and to reward the righteous.

The household has a responsibility to raise children

to to bring the spiritual welfare and discipleship of one

another, for husbands and wives, to love one another, and to

model the church to the world. But the church has the pillar of

the pillar of truth. That means I don't think the

church should be political. Well then go read your Bible.

You're wrong. The church should be the church

speaks truth to everything. The church needs to be the one

that says the sky is blue sometimes.

Sometimes the church needs to say this is a man and this is a

woman. Sometimes the church needs to

say this is faithful Christian doctrine and this is not.

Sometimes the church needs to say that law is unrighteous and

you need to change it. By what authority?

By the only authority, the authority of Jesus, that's the

authority that the government has.

That's the authority that any household has.

And anyone who's not living under the authority of Jesus in

obedience to him is in rebellion to the only authority who's

established all authority. There's only the authority of

Jesus. He's king.

He's everybody's king. Whether you liked it or didn't

like it, that's how kings work. Jesus is just king.

That's good news for everybody who surrenders to him.

So John's ministry, the baptism of John is what Jesus is

mentioning, but he's he's referencing the ministry of John

the Baptist. So just to remind you about the

ministry of John the Baptist, John the Baptist also absolutely

torched the Pharisees. He did it in front of everybody.

Why? Because he was a free man and he

didn't care what anybody thought.

John wore crazy clothes, he ate crazy food, John lived in the

wilderness and he was a prophet of God who was sent to

accomplish his mission to prepare the way of the Lord.

John is the last of the Old Testament prophets and he is

preparing the Messiah, the way for the Messiah.

John was sent to prepare Israel to receive Jesus.

Your time has finally come. Go to Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Y'all are listening too slow today.

We got to hurry up Matthew 3 and verse 7.

Here's a sampling of John. But when he saw many of the

Pharisees. So John's baptizing people in

the wilderness. Israel's going out to John in

the wilderness. That's it was not the

attractional church model John didn't have like I've got a

great coffee bar and I got a great kids ministry and like

you're going to like our parking lot ministries on fire.

Like everything here is just amazing.

John's alone in the wilderness. Here was his sermon repent.

That was His sermon. Everybody went out and He was

baptizing them for the forgiveness of sins, and it was

powerful and it was revival, and the Lord was breaking through

and blessing people's lives. Verse 7.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming

to his baptism, He said to them, You brood of Vipers, whoa, you

and I could read past that. Nobody's ever talked to these

guys this way, ever. And John's not doing it in

private, which is the appropriate way always to

correct someone. John does it in front of all the

Jewish people. They're like, oh, Rabbi, so and

so's here. Oh, this guy's here.

This guy's here. And John goes, you brood of

Vipers. And I was like, Yikes, what is

happening? These are like the cool guys.

These are our religious leaders. Why is John smoking them like

this? Who warned you to flee the wrath

to come? John's almost like disappointed

that they're coming to the baptism.

John's like I wanted all these people to repent, but no, no,

no, you got to get yours. Who warned you to flee from the

wrath to come? Now what's he say to him?

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

I repent. Well, then that wouldn't show.

Fruit. I repent is not only the prayer,

it includes the prayer. But then there you will bear

fruit in keeping with repentance.

Tears are good, tears are good for the soul.

Tears of repentance are holy and wholesome, and the Lord catches

every one of those tears in his bottle.

And then fruit has to follow that repentance.

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not presume to say to yourselves.

So he's cutting them off before they can even talk.

Dudes are just like, let's go see what's going on because he

knew their motive. Why are people going out to John

in the wilderness? What about us?

We're the guys. Seems like they think he's the

guy, but we're the guys. He knows their motive is

jealousy. They don't care about people's

repentance, and they're certainly not coming to repent

and submit to somebody ever. So He knows all that.

That's why He's putting them on blast right away, because of

their hard hearts, because of their unbelief.

So what the Lord does with hard hearts, God opposes the proud.

He gives grace to the humble. Do not say to yourselves,

because He knew what they were going to brag about.

We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able to

raise up from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

So John's a Jew. These guys are Jews.

What does that mean? They are genetic descendants

from Abraham family tree. Abraham had kids who had kids

who had kids who had kids who had kids.

That's what the Jewish people are.

Now you also have the religion of the Jews.

So we, we could tease that out differently.

But their, their argument to John would be like, don't you

talk to us like that? We're the sons of Abraham.

And John said God could turn these rocks into kids of

Abraham. OK, is there a blessing that

comes from being a genetic descendant of Abraham?

Yes, there's some cool stuff there, but not some guaranteed

salvation and not some prized, privileged position outside of

the name and the blood of Jesus. But they were always resting in

that. We're the sons of Abraham.

We're the sons of Abraham. And John says those rocks could

be the sons of Abraham. God's not impressed.

Even now. The axe is laid to the root of

the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does

not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

I told you, John's torture them. I baptize you with water for

repentance. But he who is coming after me is

mightier than I, whose sandals I am not even worthy to carry.

John submits to nobody. John is scared of nobody.

And then when he talks about Jesus, you see him just go.

Like I'm not even worthy to carry the sandals of the one

who's coming. John's like, you repent, you

repent, you repent, you guys are garbage, you should repent.

How dare you? And he's like, but Jesus, who's

coming, the king and my master. Remember, John's three months

older than his cousin Jesus, whose sandals I am not worthy to

carry. He will baptize you with the

Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his

hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his

wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with

an unquenchable fire. John goes on to say that he is

greater than I because he was before me, but John's older than

him. But of course, Jesus was before

John. Jesus has always been.

So that's a taste. So when Jesus says John's

baptism, John's ministry, was it from heaven or was it man made?

Meaning was this a work of God or was this just some guy who

wanted to draw a crowd to himself?

Everybody knows who John was. Everybody knows what happened to

John. Everybody understands.

Everybody's cast their vote. Every Jew in Israel, when

they're sitting in the pub drinking their beer, they're

sitting like John was a legend, like everybody loves John

because he was a strong man and a soft generation.

So everybody knows, everybody's cast their vote.

Everyone has clarified who John was and what he's done.

Jesus's question to the Pharisees exposes what people

still have to do today. You have to believe or you have

to don't believe because the ministry of John happened and

it's so significant. Everyone knew John was the

prophet of God. Everybody's cast their vote on

the issue. Jesus is pinning these guys down

because if they say that John was from God, then they're

saying that his ministry was legitimate, which makes theirs

illegitimate because John torched them.

So Jesus had. So Jesus goes, hey, hey, hey,

hey everybody, you like this John's ministry from heaven or

from man? And all the people are like, we

know it's from heaven and the Pharisees like if we say it's

from heaven and that totally delegitimizes us and our

platform and control is gone, which is all they cared about.

And that's a problem. And of course it's also going to

reveal that we didn't believe him.

If we say it's from man and it was just, it was man made and

made-up, we could get killed because like things are at a

boiling point in Israel. People sense the conflict.

Jesus hasn't hidden any of that. But look at their concern.

I mean, we even have their exact thought process.

They like huddle up like, hey, guys, it's like a cartoon.

They aren't agonizing over what's true.

What's the best way to answer Jesus?

That's not their agony. Their agony is scheming about

how to maintain control. Just like when they hear about

Jesus being raised from the dead.

They don't go, dear God, forgive us.

They go, OK, OK, OK, let's think.

Let's think, let's think. How do we cover this up?

Hey, guys, I think you're forgetting the point.

The guy who said he's the Messiah who's going to die and

be raised from the dead, died and has been raised from the

dead. Good news, guys, you can

actually be saved if you'll repent.

Now, this is how far gone they are.

They're not agonizing over what's true.

They're scheming about how to maintain control.

And you and I, let's make it practical for us.

So this isn't just a history lesson.

You and I could be tempted to do the same thing today.

We can believe God's word with any particular subject or we can

come up with some version of did God really say, which is always

the way to slide out of something that's being

Serpentine, but it's like the serpent from the garden,

unfortunately. Did God really say?

That's the foundation of every argument.

That's what it will always come back down to.

Always, always, always. Did God really say?

Did God say it? Did God mean it?

Did God want it? Did God do it?

Maybe with our moment as a church, maybe you're jumping

into deeper surrender and maybe you're receiving the love of God

because the word that's come to salt in these past weeks.

Maybe you're saying it's man made, it's not from heaven, but

I don't want you to think that you have a third route that's

safe. I don't want you to kid yourself

and say pastor saying this stuff about this move of God, it's

from heaven. Maybe it's from man.

I'm not going to cast a vote. I don't know.

I don't know is a false shield. Now there's times where I don't

know is the appropriate thing. There's a lot of questions you

could ask me. I would say I don't know.

Hopefully I'm assuming the same is true for you.

So there's an appropriate humility and a time for I don't

know. But there's other times where

you go, you think I don't know is a safety for you and it's

not. You think I don't know, like,

oh, I get to step out of this, which is what the Pharisees

thought they got to do. Oh, Jesus, we don't know, which

is not sure. We don't want to get it wrong.

You know, we're so committed to the truth that we don't want to

make a misstep here. But that's not their motive at

all. So be careful and make sure that

your motives are pure. Make sure that I don't know if

you ever have to say I don't know about something, make sure

that's genuine. A humble response to something,

but not an attempt to delay obedience or avoid conviction.

Because Jesus now proceeds to strip away their false

presentation of what they pretend is a neutral ground.

Well, we're just trying to be neutral and wise.

Everyone can see how reasonable we are, right?

Well, the prophets were always black and white.

Jesus is black and white. It's childlike to be black and

white. Let's apply this more to us

today. Christians today don't have a

problem with John. So I don't need to make you vote

church. Hey, what do you say about John?

Everybody needs to vote. We all know John's a legend.

Praise God for John. But we can make an application

by asking, well, what's our what are modern equivalents of live

wire issues In our day? John was the live wire issue of

the day. So we all agree on John at this

point. But what live wire issues do we

need to be clear on? What live wire issues do we need

to plainly say yes or no on? Those are areas where you and I

need the courage of God and you can have it, Saints, as you

submit to him, as you trust him, as you believe him.

Do you take a stand on the high pressure issues of our day or

are you reading the room? Not when someone asks you the

truth. Yeah, I'm not really sure about

that. I need to study it and

understand it. Fine.

Then come back to them with an answer.

But that's your responsibility. The truth is, is the

responsibility of the church. The church is the pillar of the

truth and the earth. So when somebody asks a

Christian a question, yeah, I don't know.

Fine, no problem. Go find out.

Go find out. What is the body of Christ

taught for 2000 years on that thing?

Or maybe it's super weird enough in the United States that it's

only about a 5 minute long issue.

But hey, what are? What are wise and faithful

Christians saying about this thing?

What's the way to process it? That's all fair and good, but we

need to be truth tellers who speak with clarity.

The prophets did so. Jesus did so.

If we won't speak with clarity on something that does matter,

then we can see who we are. In this example, Jesus speaks

without being misunderstood. Others speak to keep power.

This is why Jesus loved the John the Baptist.

It's why the people of John the Baptist faithful and strong.

So we can point our finger to our leaders.

And that's always fun to do. We could point to religious

leaders, we could point to political leaders in this

country, and we could all be filled with disgust, rightfully

so. We have much to be disgusted

with and there's much blame to go around.

Many of our political and religious leaders are spineless.

But what about you? I'm not preaching to them today.

What about you? Be truth telling and be plain,

not deliberately vague. Surrender, unprincipled speech.

Surrender that. If you have a habit of

unprincipled speech, if you have a habit of dodging and bobbing

and weaving and well, it's quite complicated and well, it's this

and well, it's that. Is it?

Is it or are you afraid? Is it or are you worried about

backlash? Is it?

It actually is. Joe Michael, this thing I'm

thinking. Fair enough, but don't kid

yourself. Don't go.

I don't know when you do know. I don't know when you do.

No, if you know, you know. And you're responsible for that

truth, you're responsible to shepherd that truth, and

somebody's asking you for it. Surrender deliberately vague

speech because it's not pleasing to God and you don't do it to

impress Him. You do it because He's already

called you His. We're not truth tellers to earn

favor. We speak plainly because we walk

with the One who is truth. You don't have to self protect

when you're already protected by the blood of Jesus.

But if you won't surrender vague speech, look where that path

leads. Because these leaders don't just

avoid clarity, they're perfectly willing to fulfill what John has

prophesied about them. Look in verse 26 back in chapter

21, if we say for man, we're afraid of the crowd, for they

all hold that John was a prophet.

So they're wise as serpents, but they also have the venom of

serpents. John told them that the axe is

at the root and they're setting themselves up to get chopped

down by the one who judges the living and the dead.

The Lord will be patient. If you're, if you have pride in

your life, I think of pride is like this balloon and you pump

this thing up and the Lord's like that ain't good.

And that has to be dealt with. Now He will let you like eke it

out in privacy. What was that?

Nothing, just just deal with it. You're letting the air out of

the balloon, letting the air out of the balloon, letting the air

out of the balloon. But if that balloon just stays

firm and it just stays firm and you just keep the thing like it

is, eventually the Lord comes through with the sword and it's

a big and violent and devastating thing.

Humility would go farting it out a little bit at a time, and the

Lord's gone all the way down, fully deflated, fully deflated,

fully deflated. But for those who don't like

these guys and they're holding everything in, we're going to

deal with that, and it's going to be sudden and it's going to

be devastating. Time is up for the Pharisees.

John came to prepare Israel, but Israel wouldn't repent.

So now Israel's being exposed. The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of wisdom. That's what real wisdom is.

The fear of man is a trap that will claim your life.

And we're closing verse 27. So they answered Jesus.

We don't know. We don't know if it came from

heaven or if it came from man. All those people turning from

their sin. We're not sure the origin of

that movement. Maybe it came from the devil.

John didn't just draw people unto himself.

He called people closer to God, but look what the Lord does with

dishonesty or self preservation. If you save your life, you'll

lose it. The Lord's voice apparently is

not always available. Jesus, give us an answer.

No, she seems like the Lord's not speaking to me.

Well then let's make sure we understand why.

Is it because we just lost track of fellowship and we just need

to re engage? Easy day.

Many Christians have been there. I'm in a dry spell.

I need to pursue him again and love the Lord's just going to

meet that quickly. But I I never hear from the

Lord. I never sense the Lord's

direction. I never experience his presence

or peace. These are red flags.

These should alarm my soul. But for the prideful heart, they

don't care anyway. But for the humble one who the

Holy Spirit's ministering to this morning and you're going

oof, is that? Is that the one that I am?

Recognize your season and respond quickly.

Luke 1944. This is on Monday, actually,

when Jesus was mourning over Jerusalem and all the people in

it, He says. And they will tear you down to

the ground, you and your children within you, and they

will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did

not know the time of your visitation.

There's a time of the Lord's visitation, and then there's a

time of the Lord's departure. There's a time for visitation

and there's a time for fruitfulness.

And we see here the resistance of the Lord.

He's resisting willfulness. He's resisting lying unbelief

that brings the silence in the rebuke of Jesus.

So they're willing to claim ignorance, which is fascinating.

They're willing to look like idiots about we don't know.

You're the leaders of Israel. And this is a prophet who's had

this mighty movement in Israel. All the people of Israel say it

was of God and they're that willing to they're that they're

willing to look that incompetent, which ironically in

itself also disqualifies them from their position.

If you were to come to me, hey pastor, here's this gigantic

cultural issue that all Christians in the body of Christ

agree on, What do you say, pastor?

And I go, you know, I don't know, it's quite complicated.

You should run, not walk from me and Saul Church.

That's an unfaithful liar who is unqualified to shepherd anybody.

Pray for me. Please.

Fast and pray because I my soul would be damned to hell if I

were to speak that way and believe that way.

So they're willing to claim ignorance and reveal their

incompetence because of course they do know.

Everybody knows he's a prophet, but the religious leaders of

Israel don't. Wow, that's fascinating.

It's like asking some people what is a woman in our modern

insanity. It's that same kind of dynamic.

What is a woman? And they're like, well, it's

really complicated. You know, it's not.

That's just a lie. Now, we know we're dealing with

a liar. So don't pretend as though

you're not. Well, you know, a woman is this

or a woman is that. No, no, no, no, no.

These things are simple. Is homosexuality a sin?

Well, it's a really complicated issue.

It's not, though. We know the truth.

Well, I want to love people. We all want to love people.

That's all Christians do is love people.

Strange that you would say that. It's almost as though you've

been indoctrinated by culture instead of by Jesus, who loves

everybody and wants them set free from sin and bondage.

Do you know what love is, Christian?

You know what love is right? Love always does what's best for

someone. You know what kindness is right?

You know what gentleness is right?

If you're not sure, go look at Jesus.

You'll see the full picture of the whole thing.

I don't know how to answer that really.

Or are you just trying to please culture?

It's a funny thing. I've seen pastors fumble over

some basic questions when they're on the public platform.

Pastor, is abortion a sin? Well, I just like to hear

somebody's story. Hey, man, you don't have to go

nuclear on anybody, but you do have to be the truth teller.

And you'd have to say, well, plainly, like murdering image

bearers of God is sinful and thankfully, and then bring them

right to the cross. And thankfully, Jesus forgives

sinners just like me. Oh, is this sinful?

Yeah. But The funny thing is these

same people, you, you can know they're a snake if you were to

ask them a question, like a a thing that culture hates.

Hey, pastor, is this a sin? Well, I'd like to hear

somebody's story. OK.

Hey, is this a sin? Well, you know, it's a really

complicated issue. OK.

Hey, pastor, is racism a sin? Oh, absolutely.

Well, racism is a sin. We hate racism.

It's filthy. It's gross.

It's sin. Just like all the other things

that Pastor Melvin was just asked about, that he wasn't

willing to be in it, that he wasn't willing to have a

backbone on. So Christians tell the truth and

we bring the whole truth, which leads all the way to the cross,

all the way to the blood, and all the way to our testimonial.

Let me tell you what He's done for me.

You think your sin is bad? Give me a minute.

Let me tell you what the Lord has rescued me from.

Let me tell you about his goodness and His mercy and His

grace. We got to tell the whole truth.

Chris and Kayla, would you serve us?

The elements pursue the Lord with humble urgency.

God is not complicated. God does not hide from you.

God will reward those who diligently seek him.

And if you don't already know that your soul belongs to Jesus.

If you're if that's not a certainty for you, how certain?

I mean all the way certain. If it's not a certainty that

your soul really belongs to Jesus, run from sin and run to

the forgiving God who went to the cross to suffer because he

loves you. If you're already walking with

Christ, walk with confidence knowing that you are loved, and

walk with confidence because your conscience can't bug you

with anything that's not surrendered to Jesus.

That's the free place. That's the blessed place.

Don't just be a hearer of the Word today.

He's not just confronting you, He is calling you.

He's not just your judge. He is your Savior.

He is full of grace and truth, and you can trust Him with

everything. So as an act of practice, as an

act of obedience, right before they service the elements, I

want you to pray this prayer with me, but I want you to

actually be able to pray from your heart.

So I'm going to read it once to you so you can listen to it to

make sure that you can pray this prayer and make these vows, not

just blah, blah, blah. Pastor said repeat it.

So I'm going to read it once and then I'll lead you in it.

The prayer is going to be Lord. I see where I've hesitated,

where I've delayed obedience, and where I've spoken with

vagueness or fear. Forgive me for self preserving

silence and for not responding to your voice when you've made

your truth plain. I surrender what I've been

holding back. My pride, my fear of man, my

desire to stay in control. I want to walk in the light with

you. Give me boldness and clarity

that come from being fully yours.

Help me not miss the day of your visitation.

I believe you're near to those who seek you, and I trust that

as I turn to you now, you will meet me with mercy.

Speak again Lord and lead me forward now.

Repeat after me if you'll pray that prayer.

Lord, I see where I've hesitated.

Lord I. See where I've?

Hesitated where I've delayed obedience where I've.

Delayed. Obedience and where I've spoken

with vagueness or fear and where I've.

Spoken with vagueness. Or fear.

Forgive me for self, forgive me for self preserving silence.

Forgive me for self preserving silence and.

For not responding to your. Voice and for not responding to

your voice when you've made your.

Truth plain. When you've made your truth

plain, I surrender. What I've been holding.

Back I surrender what I've been holding back.

My pride, my fear of man, my desire to stay in control.

My desire. To stay.

In control I want to walk in the light.

With you I want. To walk in the light with.

You give me boldness and clarity that come from being fully

yours. Give.

Me boldness and clarity that comes from being fully yours.

Let me not miss the day of your visitation.

Let. Me not miss the day of your.

Visitation I believe you're near to those who seek you.

I. Believe you are near to.

Those who seek you. And I trust that, as I turn to

you now, I trust. That as I.

You will meet me with mercy, you'll meet me with mercy,

you'll speak again, and you'll leave me forward.