Who Is God — Luke 11-13

0:00 Let's give a word of prayer before we start. Father, we just put this message before you. Lord, speak the words through me that you would have spoken, Lord. And let those that are appropriate land on hearts, and those that aren't fly away. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity.

0:18 We thank you that we can gather like this, and we just praise you. It's in your son's name that we do pray. Amen. So you'll notice no tie today, and I could use your help with that. Okay?

0:30 I went to the wedding a couple weeks ago, my daughter's getting married, and so I had to get a suit out and no tie. I mean, y'all know or most of you know, we just moved, right, back in April, or it seems like we just did. And we haven't found that box yet. So many of you were there. Okay?

0:48 Which one of you hid the box? We haven't found it. So I need a little help from you just like I got a little help from my son in finding a tie. You're welcome. I should be thankful.

1:05 See? I should be thankful. That's a good way of putting it. So we're going to continue on with Luke today. With all...

1:12 With with... If we can get it all done, we'll try to start in 12:41, about where Andy left off, and see if we can get through thirteen:nine. Okay? And I think this might be a good way to summarize where we've been for the past several weeks. I hear a lot of people talking about this.

1:28 We've been talking about how to be a disciple. Right? Would that be a decent summary? How to be a disciple? What it means to be a disciple?

1:35 And really about discipleship. We got to the point last week where Andy says, a disciple is like a servant, right? Remember these words, wait, watch, and work. Okay? So, and he also said that we had to be, have our loins girded and our lamp shining.

1:53 So is your loins girded today and your lamp shining? Good question. But you know, being a disciple is important. But I'm gonna submit today and I want you to try and walk with me and work with me so that we can decide who we're the disciple of. Because that's important.

2:11 How we act as a disciple depends on whom we serve or the master that we serve. Okay? So I think that's an important aspect of being a servant, being a disciple that we'd like to explore a little bit today. So we're gonna look at things from a high level, not just from a practical sense, but a little different sense today. So when we say a disciple of whom, we say a disciple of Christ.

2:36 Right? Christ made the claim to be God. So really we're trying to learn about the master. We're trying to learn about whom we serve. And so really we're trying to answer this question.

2:47 Who is God? Now, that's a long tall order. To even come close to answering that question, we're only gonna take a little bit of it. So don't don't take take it that I know all about it and I'm gonna teach you here today. We're gonna take and learn what we can today from this portion that we have.

3:05 So let's start off and read in verse 41. Luke chapter 12 and verse 41 says, then Peter said this to him, meaning the Lord, Lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all people? And the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Okay, so here we have this conversation between Peter and the Lord, right? And really Peter, it says, are you telling us this parable?

3:45 A parable is a physical story, a story about a physical something that tells a spiritual story or has a greater truth to it. So he's defining it as a parable. You told us this parable, which we talked about before, the good servant, right? Wait, watch, work. And he's saying, so who are you talking to when you're doing that?

4:08 So that's a question we need to answer. Okay? But he's... The Lord is saying, look, listen and learn Peter. There's more to it than what you're just seeing here.

4:17 Okay? Let's get the big picture. That's what I want you to do today, is get the big picture. Okay? Peter asked this question.

4:25 Are you speaking to some of us? Those few of us who've been traveling with you all this time? Or are you speaking to everybody? It's a good question. Okay.

4:48 That's the practical application. But remember, we're trying to remember or we're trying to think about whom are we disciple of? Whom are we serving? Okay? So that in this case, in the parable is the master.

5:02 Okay? So let's think about him for a while. I think there's several things we can learn about the master from the story. The first one is, he had expectations. There were duties that should have been performed by the servant.

5:15 Right? He came home and he expected something to have happened. He expected some work to have been done. So there were expectations that the master had. Okay?

5:26 With me so far? Okay. We could also find out that the master was a kind master, a benevolent soul if you will. I mean, what happened in the story? We...

5:36 You have to go back and read if you want before chapter... Verse 41. But what happened was he came home, he found the good servant having been working, waiting for him, opening the door upon his arrival. Right? And what did he do?

5:52 It says he girded his loins and he served them. Okay? He served the servants. Not common. A very special thing for the master to have done.

6:04 It would have been extremely uncommon, I believe, in that day and even to this day when the master serves the servant. Okay? But what else did he have? Well, we could also say that he had this idea of a reward, right? If you're there, when since they were there, he rewarded them.

6:24 Okay? As we move forward, we could consider that reward a consequence. Okay? Those are those kind of go together. You get your just reward, good or bad.

6:33 But sometimes we've used the bad side of it as be a consequence. Okay? So there we have it. We learned something about the master in this particular story. He has expectations, their duties to have been performed.

6:45 He's a kind soul, benevolent if you will, and there's a reward for the service or some consequence. Okay? So let's take another couple verses here. So beginning in verse 43, he says, blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

7:13 Okay. So we can now look, as we move on in this this passage, we can look at two things. We can look at the servant's behavior and then the master's response, okay? And in this particular case, we're still talking about the good servant and he waited, he watched, and I would submit that he wasn't working. He had already worked.

7:36 Okay. In order for the for the servant to be standing there at the door when the master came home and to open it as he came in, all the work had to be done. You can imagine he went and said, y'all make sure that the food's ready and y'all you have to get cleaned up here. They're gonna wanna sit down. So get the table set.

7:54 Make sure this all right. And then he's like watching out the window and said, okay, ready? Action. It's time to perform. This is what the servants were prepared to do.

8:04 And he said, okay, here we go. Boom. He opens the door and in they come. Right? That's the kind of work that he had already done in order to be prepared to open that door.

8:15 What's the response? Well, we heard before. He served them and he said he would make him ruler over all. It sort of gives you the idea of Joseph, right? He he did such a great job that he was ruler over all of Egypt, second only to the the king.

8:32 Okay. So so there's one response. The one that waited, watched and worked. And his response. Let's move on.

8:42 Verse 45, But that servant, but if that servant says in his head, my master has delayed his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and in an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Now this sounds a little bit harsh, doesn't it? But let's face it, right? This servant decided, by the way, let's make sure you understand that we're talking about the same master. Different responses.

9:21 Or if it helps you, maybe this master has four houses. He goes to one house and one servant. He goes to another house for another servant. You could imagine, imagine in your mind, these are four different responses that could be given by the servant. Okay?

9:35 This guy says, hey, he's away. The cat's away. The mice will play. Let's party. Right?

9:42 It's like parents, you leave the house and go out for vacation and you come back and find out things aren't quite the same way as when I left them. Right? The kids were having a party while I was gone. Know, this guy decided that he was going to enjoy things for himself. The master's away.

9:59 Guess who's in charge now? It's me. And therefore, you do this, you do that. It says he beat the the servants, right? You can beat people in many different ways.

10:10 One is with a whip, right? Physically. But you can also say, get to work, you're serving me now. That's the idea I think I get from this. And so what's the response to that?

10:20 He's gonna come back unexpectedly. You can imagine the master being disappointed. Not just disappointed, but ashamed. This is the guy put in charge and he did that to the rest of the servants? He's doing that?

10:35 He might have heard ahead of time. We don't know. But it says he will show up at an unexpected time. It's almost in my mind as if he said, I'm going back early because I wanna catch him. I want to find out what's really going on there.

10:50 I I want to set it straight. This is not what I expect. Remember he had expectations of the servant. But he got back and he was really upset. This is not the way I taught you.

11:04 This is not what I expected of you. You're gonna get the reward consequence that you deserve. And we could talk about what the cut means, but look, he's setting him off to the side. He's getting what he deserves. He gets...

11:20 He deserves to be cast out. You go out there with those that don't believe that I can do what I'm doing right now. Get out. Alright, the next one. Verse 47, and that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do it according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes.

11:58 Maybe he's gonna wait. I'll wait until a week goes by and then I'll start doing. Maybe he didn't have a good rapport with those other servants that were there. Who knows? Maybe he's a bad manager.

12:09 I don't know. But he didn't do. He knew what was right. He knew what the expectations were. He knew that this was a kind master.

12:18 He knew that there would be a consequence for him not doing it. And yet, he did not do. Says that he will be beaten with many. Okay, not cut in two and cast out, but beaten. The reward for the service that you've provided is this way.

12:36 Okay? Finally, verse 48. But he who did not know and yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few. He didn't know and didn't do. Now how is that right?

12:57 If you don't know any better, why do you get the punishment? Anybody thinking that? Why should he be punished for not knowing? Well, the point here is that he shoulda knew. Okay?

13:13 This is the same master with different responses from different servants. Okay? And you can see that one understood completely what his expectations were. Understood that there... That he was a kind soul.

13:29 That that not only would he have expectations, but he would reward them for doing the right thing. And he would have a consequence for doing the wrong thing. Each one of them in this particular case, I would submit, had the same opportunity to know the master. And they took different approaches to what they did. So there's still a punishment because he should have known.

13:55 The servant should have known. Okay? So, let's answer Peter's question. Lord, are you speaking this to some of us or all of us? So what's the answer?

14:10 All, right? You could abuse the privilege. Could know but didn't do something about it. Or you could not know because you didn't discover or you might be waiting watching and working. Okay?

14:28 Everybody everybody has the same opportunity to know the master. Now remember we talked about at the beginning. Who's the master we're trying to talk about? Who's our master? A disciple of whom?

14:42 Well, disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and thereby therefore being of God. We are a disciple of God. So so let's let's think about Peter, right? He's sitting there talking to the Lord and Lord's saying, now now look around amongst you, right? That's the next question he says.

14:59 He said, look amongst... Look out there. Who is the one? Who is the one that's gonna do the will of the Father? Who is the one that's gonna be the good servant?

15:12 And you can imagine Peter saying, well, gosh, we've been talking all this time. I've been walking with you. And in the last few chapters, I've learned some things, okay? The one would be, let's move, let's go all the way back to chapter 11 verse 46 through 52. This is a little bit of a summary here.

15:33 It says, woah. That means watch out. You are in trouble. You Pharisees and lawyers. Or the lawyers were the were the tip of the Pharisees.

15:43 Right? They were the ones that knew the law the best. The Pharisees were those that were trying to do the law. They were trying to be the best that they could be. So they fulfilled the law.

15:55 And he says, woe to you. He says, you load men with burdens hard to bear. And you yourselves do not touch the burden with one of your fingers. That sounds like they're beating people. Right?

16:06 Like they're beating the servants, the other the other servants. You build the tombs of the prophets and your fathers killed them. Bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers for they indeed killed them, the prophets, and you build their tombs. Now what's a tomb for? We don't have many of those today, but there are some.

16:24 A tomb is where you put the person who's died. Right? Most times we put them under the ground and that's where they are. But a tomb sometimes is built so that you can remember the individual. Right?

16:36 So you're building the tomb of a prophet. So that you can remember the prophet. But your fathers, those before you, those ancestors of yours, did what? They killed the prophet and didn't listen to him basically. So you're you're like you're like condemning yourself by saying, I wanna build this tomb.

16:59 I wanna remember this guy, but I'm not gonna listen to what he said. Now who does that remind you of in the discourse that we have here? I think it's coming from about... It reminds us of the Pharisees and lawyers. So as Peter looks around he's saying, yeah.

17:16 It's those guys. Those guys that are beating us. Those guys that are making us do things that they won't even do. Those guys that that say one thing and do another, what are they called? Hypocrites.

17:28 Okay? And basically what they're saying is we have accomplished the law. Therefore, we deserve to have our reward here in earth. Pat me on the back. Tell me how good I am.

17:41 Put me up front. Let me sit up in the front row. The Pharisees and lawyers, I believe are what's represented by that servant that abuses privilege. What about the next one? We have to move forward in chapter 13.

17:57 We won't get there today, but there's many verses like this in in the New Testament. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. Who had the benefit of all of the history of God's interaction with the Jewish people? With the Israelites. All the Israelites.

18:21 Their whole society was built around these festivals and said, you know, for example, Passover. We just talked about that in a previous meeting. We had Passover. What was the purpose of the Passover festival? To remember the Passover.

18:36 You remember, the Lord keeps saying, remember, I brought you out of Egypt. I took you through the Red Sea. I passed over you. I didn't do to you what I did to others because the blood was on the lentil. It's...

18:52 There's many many things. The whole Old Testament, if you will, stands as a testament to the Israel people who knew that as a group, as a people, they didn't do. It's as if they understood the expectations because they had the law, they had the prophets, but they felt maybe the Lord was just too kind. He wouldn't fulfill the judgment that was due from the expectations. Okay, what about the last one?

19:39 Somebody that's not smart, stupid, one that should know, right, but doesn't. Makes bad decisions, okay? Now here's that rich farmer. He didn't find out what the expectations were. So should he have known?

19:55 There's no reference to you know, him looking at the scriptures or anything like that. But he should have been able to look around. Why are you building that barn? Why are you storing this up? I mean, that food could have been good...

20:11 Put to good use. Now that's something that's obvious. There's poor people all over the place And you could have used that food differently. Hey, old man. We all know he had a bad ticker.

20:23 Right? He was gonna die anyhow. What's he doing building new barns? I don't know. That's not in the scripture.

20:28 But that could have been the case. There was some reason that he should have known better than to build this barn. You're a fool. You're a fool. He should have known better.

20:39 He didn't understand what the expectations are of him. A man of wealth. What he could do with that. It was the whole implication is there there was something more important for him to do with that food than put it in a barn. He didn't do it.

20:53 So I think as Peter looks around, he's hearing the parable, but he's seeing this. And he really looks around and he says, you know what? There ain't nobody out here that shouldn't know the expectations of the master. There's nobody. The Roman says that if we look out the window...

21:14 Now you're not supposed to do that in church, but look out the window, right? Look out the window and see. What do you see? The scriptures say, the Bible tells us that if you look and see the wonderful creation around us and you don't come to the conclusion that there is a God and that he wants to know me, you've missed it. So we're all without excuse.

21:39 So as Peter looks around, he says, well it ain't those guys that are trying to do their best at it because we all know they're not making it. And the rest of us in Israel haven't really followed what the Lord or the prophets would have said in the law and the prophets warned us. You know what? There ain't nobody here. Even that dummy built his barns.

21:59 He should have known better. So there we are, the servant of the master, we should know. We should know. We are all in that case. So it says at the end of verse 48, it says, for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

22:20 A lot's been committed to everyone and there's expectations of all. Who is the one that will do this? The one who believes all of the masters, who the master is. That he has expectations. He is kind and benevolent, but there will be a consequence or reward.

22:45 We're gonna come back to this concept as we move forward. But remember, we're looking for the big picture here. So I'm gonna move forward and look at the trees for a little bit here, and we'll come back to the bigger picture, but we're gonna have to go quickly, okay? I'm gonna start in verse 49, and I'm gonna read certain sections, and then we're just gonna comment on them and move on because I want to get to the big picture here, all right? Chapter 12 verse 49, I came to send fire on the earth and how I wish it were already kindled, but I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.

23:24 Do you suppose that I come to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. From now on, five in one house will be divided, three against two and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. So these are little mini parables to fill in this idea of the big picture.

23:57 We're trying to answer the question of who is God, right? I just read this portion here, verses 49 through 53. And in my estimation, when he says, I came, this is the Lord Jesus talking, I came to bring fire on the earth. It's as if he's saying, look, I come down here and it hurts me so much to see what's going on. I'm a righteous soul.

24:19 I wanna burn it all up. That's what I wanna do. But there's something more important. Before that would happen, I have a baptism to be baptized with. You go under the ground and he comes back up, rose again.

24:33 He was crucified, buried, and rose again on the third day. That's where he was headed. This is more important. This is why I came now. This is what's gonna happen now.

24:43 Okay? And that's gonna cause division. You have to make a decision. Do you believe that or not? You might believe it and somebody else in the house might not.

24:54 Somebody you're related to may believe it and somebody may not. That's division. It happens. It's happening. We all know that.

25:04 That doesn't mean it divides forever. It just means that there's a division in belief. That's why, that's one of the reasons why we say you should be equally yoked. You have the same ideas when you go into marriage, when you start a household. Hopefully, you have this idea that you're on the same page.

25:46 There is. Hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth. But how is it you do not discern this time? So there it is. How many of us try and do the weather forecasting?

26:00 Right? I think I could do just as good as some guys on TV, but that's just my opinion. Right? But but if you ever watched that progressive commercial, you're gonna be like your father looking outside and here comes the clouds. Well, it's kind of the same thing.

26:14 They knew it because they were an agrarian society. You had to know what the weather was. And so you'd look out there, right? And you say, oh look, here comes the clouds. That probably means rain.

26:27 Right? Here comes the sun. That means it's gonna be hot. You know, everybody could do that. He says, you could do that.

26:33 I see that you have done that. I watched you do it. But what about reading the scriptures? Have you read the scriptures? Just like you can look into the clouds and say it's gonna rain, you should be able to look at these scriptures.

26:47 You should be able to look at the history and say, now is the time that the Lord has come. And here I am, he says. Here I am. Now is the time. You should know that.

26:59 You should be able to figure that out, that this is the time if you look carefully. Even as careful as looking at the weather, you should be able to figure this out. So the conclusion is the time is now. Verse 57. Yes, and why even yourselves do you not judge what is right?

27:23 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge. The judge deliver you to the officer and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last might. So here it is, we have a conflict. Me and Logan, right?

27:46 We got a conflict, we're gonna take it to the judge. Now, we're walking there. Maybe not side by side, I'm mad at him, so he's walking behind me, pushing me out to the front. Whatever the case is, but we're headed there. And what do we know is gonna happen?

28:01 The magistrate will make a decision. And the decision might be for Logan, probably would be, but or for me. But I have to realize, in my own heart of hearts, right? My own heart of hearts, am I right? Can I prove my case?

28:25 We just found out nobody's righteous inside of God. Right? I can't prove my case. And and just the same as I might have a disagreement with you, I have to look and say, you know what? It's in my best interest to settle my case now.

28:40 Before I get to the magistrate or I will... I might be in trouble. I'll be put into jail and I'll serve all the time that it takes to pay back this debt. But there's still time. There's still time.

28:54 There's hope. Before you get there, do it now. There's still time. Okay. We're gonna move into chapter 13.

29:01 We're moving along okay here. So, verse one. There were present at that season, some who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the others, all the other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, no.

29:25 But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Verse four, or those 18 on who the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you no. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. So two stories, same thing, right?

29:49 Or same basic moral. And here's the idea. This was like reading the newspaper. These were current events. Now they didn't have newspapers and they didn't have televisions or the internet, for that matter, back then.

30:03 But this is probably what everybody was talking about. Hey, what do you think about those Galileans? Remember, Pilate killed them, took their blood and mingled it with the sacrifices. I can't think of a more humiliating thing to do to a Jew or somebody of Israel than to mingle your own blood with the sacrifice. That just sounds bad, wrong.

30:25 But it certainly done for a purpose. Pilate did it. I have to believe it's politically motivated. He's thinking, I am gonna do this because I know it will offend him. I'll get a rise out of him on this one.

30:40 I will be able to poke him in the eye and I'll get him stirred up. And that's what I want. I want them to know who's in charge. It's me. And that's Pilate's approach to the Galilean sacrifice, I believe.

30:53 He set them up as examples. Now there's also this story about the Tower Of Siloam. Now this is nobody... Nobody pushed it over. Nobody did it on purpose.

31:02 Nobody wasn't making an example. What happened? It appears the thing just fell down. And it killed a bunch of people. Right?

31:11 It just happened. It was sudden. It was random. But it was certainly violent. I mean to have a building fall on top of you and die that way, I could think of a lot better ways to die.

31:21 Right? I wouldn't want it. But that's what happened. Now Jesus says, is this a, we'll call it on insurance forms and that right now, they say it was an act of God. It just happened.

31:32 It wasn't something somebody else did, right? Is that what we're talking about here? It wasn't done out of God coming on these people as a punishment. What did he say? No.

31:42 They were not worse than anybody else in Jerusalem. They weren't worse than anybody else in Galilee. It's not a punishment that God enacted on them because they were bad. Okay? But it is a warning.

31:58 It should be a warning to you. Should be a warning to all of you that you know what? Something's coming. It's sudden, random, and violent. It says to repent.

32:12 Now here's the two examples. Would repentance, what's repentance? Repentance is saying, I'm going one direction. I realize I'm going that direction. And I'm gonna turn and go a different direction.

32:22 My actions and my behaviors are inappropriate for the master. And so I turn and I go the other way, repent. Now, would that have helped these folks that were killed or that got killed? No. It says they weren't any worse than anybody else, so repentance wouldn't have helped.

32:39 So why does he say repent? Well remember back to verse five in chapter 12 it says, you should, you may fear the one that can kill your body, but you should fear the one that can cast you into hell. That's what he's saying here. There's a spiritual point to this message. There's a warning that you will die.

32:57 You will be separated from God for eternity is the point. If you don't repent and when you die, that's it, that's your chance. Okay, let's move on. Verse six. Verse six, he also spoke this parable.

33:49 Okay. Here's a nice story here. The fruit tree, the fig tree has no fruit for three years. What's the purpose of a fruit tree? Well, we plant them now because they have pretty flowers on them, right?

34:01 You know, a pear tree goes in there and then they go all over the place now because they have pretty flowers on. But that's not the purpose. And when you're depending on, you know, living off the land, you have a fruit tree, you expect it to bear fruit. And so you could imagine, here's the owner of the vineyard, field walking through and saying, that tree, I've walked past three years now, no fruit. Cut it down.

34:25 It's worse than no fruit. It's of negative value. Okay? It's using up the resources that another one could be using. Cut it down.

34:35 It's a wise decision. Do it. It's not fulfilling its purpose. It's not doing what I have it here for. And then there's this intercession.

34:45 The keeper says, ho ho ho, hold on, hold on. I think this one's like one year away from greatness. I think this one could really make it work. Just let me fertilize it. I'm gonna dig around it.

34:57 And I really appreciate Doug Torok, a year or so ago spoke on this. And he talked about what was the fertilizer of the day? It's okay. Manure, dung, right? We can say those words.

35:11 So so where did he go? What did he do? He dug a ditch around the tree. He took that and he says, I'm gonna pack it in around there. So that when this rain comes and it washes those nutrients down into the tree, I think this tree's got merit.

35:27 Give me a year. Let me have a chance. Give me a chance for a year. Now remember, it's another chance, but there's a lot of work done by the keeper to save this one tree. Okay.

35:39 So there's some more mini parables to try and fill in the big picture. Let's talk a little bit about the big picture. Have you noticed as we're talking through these different topics that there's some things that sound a little bit harsh? Maybe bad or difficult to understand or difficult to accept, right? But if you truly look at it, there's also some that are pretty easy to accept or we'd like to accept and say that sounds good to me, right?

36:13 Well, let's compare them. And let's just go backwards because for the sake of you know, remembering them. You remember he said, repent or perish. Sounds pretty harsh, doesn't it? No choice.

36:27 Repent or perish. Not repent and maybe. Not repent and not well, kind of repent or perish. That's the choice. Boom.

36:38 But I'm gonna give the fig tree a second chance. Maybe, I'll work with this one. We'll get it a little bit better. Okay, so you understand the idea of harsh reality versus second chance. Right?

36:50 Let's keep going. How about discern the time? If you looked in the scriptures, you would be able to figure out just like you know the clouds are coming. What's the matter with you? You should know this.

37:02 Well, you know what? While you're on the way, there's still time to make peace. You still have a chance. It's okay. Figure it out.

37:11 Come to that realization before the magistrate forces you to. I'm here to bring fire on the earth and I'm causing division. You're getting the point. I won't belabor that one. But I have this baptism first.

37:28 There's fire, judgment that will come. However, there is this saving cross and resurrection that's coming too. Okay? How about this one? We talked about the evil servants.

38:01 Don't worry, I got you covered. Don't worry, don't worry. How about fear him who has the power to cast you into hell? We gotta go back to John's talk a couple, several weeks ago. Well, he also said, I value the sparrow that has no value.

38:21 Remember? There were two sparrows for 1p. He bought four, bought five for 2 pennies. Something like that. So that that fifth one is of no value.

38:32 It was like a tuck in, throw in, right? But he cares about even that sparrow. So here's the point. This is why I wanted to see the big picture. We're trying to figure out who is God?

38:45 Well, the first one is that there is a judgment coming. He is righteous. You are condemned. There's no easy way to say that. But it's the truth.

39:00 And that's one of the things that we're learning here. He also has great mercy. He loves us beyond what we can imagine or understand. And he's extremely patient. These are two very important things.

39:22 If you wanna know who God is, we need to understand this. We need to understand these two things. These are like two pillars of our faith. They have to stand equally. Because without a judgment, there's no need for the mercy.

39:38 Mercy is only valuable. The huge mercy that we have, what, mercy is what? Not getting what we deserve. We deserve to be judged. But we don't get it because he is so kind and patient and loves us so much.

39:56 You can't have this huge judgment without a balance of mercy on this side. But then we ask ourselves, wait a minute. How do we make, how do those two pillars stand in the same building? How can they match? How do you bring them together?

40:10 Well, there's a roof that goes over the top on the pillars. And what brings those two things together? What brings God's judgment and God's mercy together? If it isn't a sacrifice. Right?

40:25 I love them so much. They deserve to be judged. They have... They should know my expectations. They should know how kind I am.

40:37 And there is a consequence for not understanding that. That's separation from me forever. But we can have forgiveness because the Lord Jesus paid that price on our behalf. They deserve to be judged. I judge him.

40:55 He's the sacrifice that makes judgment and mercy come together. Now if that isn't a picture of grace, I don't know what is. Grace is what? Getting something we don't deserve. See we deserve the judgment, but we didn't get it.

41:14 But we are getting something for the sacrifice. It's a tremendous picture. We have to understand this about God. Okay. We go back to beginning of chapter 12.

41:27 You'll remember this, we quote this often. It says, beware the leaven of the the Pharisees. You remember that? Beware the leaven. Now leaven is what?

41:37 It's an agent you put into bread. It's yeast, Or it's a baking soda. Something that causes the baking to puff up. And have you ever looked at a piece of bread? How many little holes are in there?

41:49 It's amazing how it can get into everywhere and cause it all to puff up, the whole thing. Okay? Well, beware the leaven he says. But you know, if you really look at this, there's two sides to this story. Beware the leaven.

42:04 We like to think about it, those rotten Pharisees. What's the matter with them? Right? They beat these people. They gave us extra things to do.

42:12 Those rot... Those guys, well, there is those. Right? They're the haves. I'll say they're the haves.

42:17 They have it all figured out. The Pharisees did. But then there's the have nots, everybody else. Right? And then now here's the difference, okay?

42:26 When you walk through the streets, all prim and proper, and thinking that you have the law figured out, what are you saying? In addition to, I have it figured out, you're saying, and you don't. I do, you don't. It casts this comparison, a earthly man to man comparison that's not appropriate, not what God would say. They were saying, I have fulfilled the law.

42:56 That's why they did all these things. That's why they said they did it. But what does the Lord Jesus call them? Hypocrites. You say it, but you didn't actually do it.

43:05 These other folks are like giving up. I can't do it. I can't do what he does. Right? In in parts because they have privilege.

43:15 They were literate. They knew how to read and write. They wrote wrote much of the law. They were wealthy. They had political power.

43:23 Well guess what? These others had disadvantage. They were ignorant. They couldn't read and write. They they were in poverty.

43:30 They didn't have the money. It takes money to look proper. It takes money to make sure you're dressed right and you don't have to work on a certain day and all that other kind of stuff. But what about that guy that Jesus lifts off of his bed? When you lift, he's paralyzed.

43:45 He lifts him off the bed. What do you not know about that man? You know everything. You see everything. Everything he's got.

43:54 He's got a bed, a cup maybe to beg with, and broken legs. That's it. That's his whole life. If you can go hide in your house and say, what I am outside my house versus what I am inside my house are two different things. That's hypocrisy.

44:07 But but guess what? There's some out there that are living in disadvantage. Who think, well if that's what you gotta do, I can't get it. It's an illusion that some put up and it's a reality that others live. Essentially, what the Pharisees are saying is, I don't need the sacrifice of Christ.

44:30 I've worked out the law. I've fulfilled it on my own behalf. I've done it. Don't need it. And these others are saying, I don't have any hope because if that's what you have to do, if what the Pharisees are telling me...

44:44 Now these are the leaders, right? These are the ones that knew everything and was telling everybody everything to do. If that's what I have to do, I can't do it. I don't have any hope of being part of God's kingdom. Guess what?

45:00 Lie number one is they're not condemned. They are. They're hypocrites. They are condemned. They aren't doing what was supposed to be done.

45:10 Okay? And if we wanna know who is God, this is important to not believe the lie of Pharisees. Okay? It's a pillar of the faith who are all condemned. Okay?

45:23 Even those ones who look like they know what's got it. They got it all figured out. Lie number two is you're not loved. God doesn't love me enough. He could never love me enough.

45:34 I can't match up to what needs to be done. I can't keep up with the Joneses or the Pharisees. And therefore, I've lost hope. And God doesn't love me. He's left me behind.

45:47 Another pillar that is not true if you think back to what we talked about. So if you wanna know who God is, we have to not believe the lies. And that's why this lie of the Pharisees is so insidious, is that it creeps into everybody. It creeps into your mind on both sides of the picture here. Okay.

46:23 We all should know what the expectations are. Who's the one? The one who believes all about what the master has said or taught. If we look at the big picture, we have this idea of judgment and mercy balancing each other out but being pulled together by the sacrifice of the Lord. And then beware of that leaven.

47:10 Lord, so many times we read and we learn something new. We pray, Lord, that we may have done so again today. Again, Lord, we just ask you for your will to be done. In your son's name we pray, amen.