1 00:00:03,837 --> 00:00:05,839 It was great for shell and I to be gone. 2 00:00:05,839 --> 00:00:09,342 Last week visiting our one of our sons. 3 00:00:09,342 --> 00:00:12,345 Jeff did a great job wrapping up chapter 14. 4 00:00:12,345 --> 00:00:15,315 Thank you Jeff. Appreciate you. 5 00:00:15,315 --> 00:00:17,183 But it's great for show and I to be back. 6 00:00:17,183 --> 00:00:21,621 I'm excited to get to teach again this morning and open up the Bible. 7 00:00:21,621 --> 00:00:23,990 We're in the book of Matthew Steele. 8 00:00:23,990 --> 00:00:27,427 We're just over halfway done through this, through this book. 9 00:00:27,460 --> 00:00:29,462 We're in chapter starting, chapter 15. 10 00:00:29,462 --> 00:00:33,199 So if you have a Bible and brought that with you, if you go to Matthew 11 00:00:33,233 --> 00:00:35,402 chapter 15, go to the Bible center of the Bible. 12 00:00:35,402 --> 00:00:37,871 Take a right about halfway through what's left. 13 00:00:37,871 --> 00:00:40,874 You come to the first gospel, first of four, 14 00:00:40,974 --> 00:00:44,978 book of Matthew chapter 15, and my Bible is right after chapter 14. 15 00:00:44,978 --> 00:00:46,980 So I hope that helps you. 16 00:00:46,980 --> 00:00:50,650 But before we get into Matthew 15, I want to share with you 17 00:00:50,784 --> 00:00:55,422 some things that that are going on in our church that I want to happen 18 00:00:55,422 --> 00:00:59,592 in our church and invite you to be a part of it in a very specific way. 19 00:01:00,093 --> 00:01:03,430 We're in the process of hiring a few people, which will 20 00:01:03,430 --> 00:01:07,467 really, really, really aid our ministries, and I'm really excited about that. 21 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:11,137 Most of them are going to won't start until July 1st ish. 22 00:01:11,171 --> 00:01:15,108 So we have some we got some build up time to get ready. 23 00:01:15,141 --> 00:01:16,309 Part of what's going on. 24 00:01:16,309 --> 00:01:20,346 We're taking another one of the suites over in that building over there 25 00:01:20,380 --> 00:01:25,852 and and recreating some more office space for some of our staff, some more meeting 26 00:01:25,852 --> 00:01:29,422 space for some of our church that's going on right now. 27 00:01:29,789 --> 00:01:31,658 I'm really excited about what's happening there, 28 00:01:31,658 --> 00:01:34,861 but I also want to take the existing site here. 29 00:01:34,861 --> 00:01:37,864 We we don't have the ability in this, 30 00:01:38,064 --> 00:01:42,268 in this building to just blow out walls and, and, you know, make bigger stuff. 31 00:01:42,268 --> 00:01:45,071 So we have to work with the shell that we have. 32 00:01:45,071 --> 00:01:47,640 We all understand that. Right? Because of how this is done. 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,511 So the one of the the ways we can work with 34 00:01:51,511 --> 00:01:55,281 the shell that we have is just renovate the existing structure. 35 00:01:55,281 --> 00:01:58,384 And so part of that renovation has to do with the entryway. 36 00:01:58,618 --> 00:01:59,619 Right now 37 00:01:59,619 --> 00:02:04,757 it's just an entryway wide open to, you know, elements and people coming in. 38 00:02:04,757 --> 00:02:08,027 And you've seen the concrete, how nasty that is out there. 39 00:02:08,027 --> 00:02:09,262 It's just wear and tear. 40 00:02:09,262 --> 00:02:13,266 And so we have this idea that we want to make the entryway 41 00:02:13,266 --> 00:02:16,336 into a furnished lobby. 42 00:02:16,870 --> 00:02:21,674 And to do that, I want to put one of those sectional glass roll up doors. 43 00:02:21,741 --> 00:02:23,643 You know what I'm saying? Like, look, beautiful. 44 00:02:23,643 --> 00:02:26,913 I've seen some churches do this before and kind of 45 00:02:28,114 --> 00:02:29,782 wall that in 46 00:02:29,782 --> 00:02:33,920 not with a solid wall, but with, you know, this kind of semi-permeable, 47 00:02:33,953 --> 00:02:38,491 visually visual sectional garage door that's that's part of it. 48 00:02:38,491 --> 00:02:43,163 And then take the inside and make that into a lobby area. 49 00:02:43,196 --> 00:02:45,632 So this would be this is all AI. 50 00:02:45,632 --> 00:02:48,635 So you know, thank you chat. 51 00:02:49,068 --> 00:02:52,338 But this is the idea of looking from the outside 52 00:02:52,338 --> 00:02:55,875 in to the entryway of the lobby of our church. 53 00:02:55,875 --> 00:03:00,513 And this would be looking from the inside out and make it. 54 00:03:01,347 --> 00:03:03,950 It's obviously a pretty beautiful, 55 00:03:03,950 --> 00:03:06,419 but this would make it a usable space. 56 00:03:06,419 --> 00:03:08,588 It would make it and it would make it. 57 00:03:08,588 --> 00:03:12,025 So we have a place to fellowship and kind of community and stuff. 58 00:03:12,025 --> 00:03:16,062 And, and it would enable us, instead of rolling stuff in and out 59 00:03:16,062 --> 00:03:19,299 all the time, it wouldn't able to use that as a true lobby, 60 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,670 secure some check in things for our children's ministry and whatnot. 61 00:03:23,670 --> 00:03:29,542 And so this is all super, super, super doable for $25,000. 62 00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:31,578 We can do it easily. 63 00:03:31,578 --> 00:03:34,280 And so I want to invite you into that. 64 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,385 I know shell and I just transferred some funds over to the church Friday 65 00:03:39,452 --> 00:03:41,621 that are going to be used for part of this. 66 00:03:41,621 --> 00:03:44,757 And so I want to invite you into this with us 67 00:03:44,757 --> 00:03:48,261 to give over and above your regular tithes and offerings. 68 00:03:48,261 --> 00:03:51,397 And as soon as we get that in, we can start this project. 69 00:03:51,397 --> 00:03:55,468 But it's one of the needed things that we've got to do for the growth 70 00:03:55,468 --> 00:03:59,339 that we're experiencing, and to be able to use this site in a way that I think 71 00:03:59,339 --> 00:04:04,077 that really, really, really blesses, blesses you and blesses our community. 72 00:04:04,077 --> 00:04:05,778 So I'll leave that with you. 73 00:04:05,778 --> 00:04:08,915 I trust that, as God puts it on your heart, you will respond. 74 00:04:09,515 --> 00:04:10,750 Matthew 15. 75 00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:14,454 We're going to look at two two sections of Matthew 15, 76 00:04:14,988 --> 00:04:16,923 and we won't get through the whole chapter. This morning. 77 00:04:16,923 --> 00:04:20,593 We're going to take the chapter in two weeks this week and next week. 78 00:04:20,593 --> 00:04:28,134 And Matthew 15 deals with with two accounts of how Jesus deals with people, 79 00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:32,872 one one of them, the first one, the first 20 verses. 80 00:04:32,872 --> 00:04:38,011 In Matthew 15, Jesus confronts the religious 81 00:04:38,177 --> 00:04:41,881 religion that cleans the outside but leaves the heart untouched. 82 00:04:41,914 --> 00:04:45,918 So there's a confrontation that Jesus has with people 83 00:04:45,952 --> 00:04:48,121 who who are focused on cleaning the outside. 84 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:51,090 But but nothing changed on the inside. 85 00:04:51,257 --> 00:04:56,229 And the second thing, we'll look at verses 21 through 28, I think. 86 00:04:56,262 --> 00:04:58,231 Yeah, 21 through 28. 87 00:04:58,231 --> 00:05:01,234 And Jesus is going to welcome 88 00:05:01,467 --> 00:05:04,137 the desperate faith that comes 89 00:05:04,137 --> 00:05:08,107 from a woman with empty hands and just pleads for his mercy. 90 00:05:08,141 --> 00:05:12,512 So we have these two, these these two people, these two groups 91 00:05:12,512 --> 00:05:16,516 represented one, the religious people that look good on the outside, 92 00:05:16,516 --> 00:05:17,750 but their hearts are unchanged. 93 00:05:17,750 --> 00:05:21,988 And this other person who represents these people 94 00:05:21,988 --> 00:05:25,758 who are just absolutely desperate for God's mercy, who have nothing to offer 95 00:05:25,792 --> 00:05:29,796 God, who just come to God and plead for his mercy. 96 00:05:29,962 --> 00:05:32,198 These two and Jesus. 97 00:05:32,198 --> 00:05:36,402 Jesus is going to deal with both of them very differently. 98 00:05:36,536 --> 00:05:40,139 Here's what I know about me, and I suspect about you, 99 00:05:40,273 --> 00:05:43,343 that we know how to clean the outside really well. 100 00:05:43,643 --> 00:05:46,012 We know what it is to look spiritual. 101 00:05:46,012 --> 00:05:47,947 We know what it is to sound spiritual. 102 00:05:47,947 --> 00:05:50,817 We know what it is to look polished on the outside. 103 00:05:52,118 --> 00:05:55,922 But Jesus is never fooled by 104 00:05:55,922 --> 00:05:59,959 polished religion that masks a polluted heart. 105 00:06:00,793 --> 00:06:02,962 You just can't fool him. 106 00:06:02,962 --> 00:06:06,065 And so in Matthew 15, we see these two types of people 107 00:06:06,065 --> 00:06:09,535 the religious people who look on the outside but have dirty hands, 108 00:06:09,535 --> 00:06:12,939 and a desperate woman who comes to Jesus with empty hands. 109 00:06:13,940 --> 00:06:15,975 And Jesus is going to expose 110 00:06:15,975 --> 00:06:18,978 one and is going to bless the other. 111 00:06:19,579 --> 00:06:24,550 And my idea this morning is that there's been times 112 00:06:24,550 --> 00:06:27,987 where you could probably see ourselves in, in both of those camps, 113 00:06:29,322 --> 00:06:33,092 and this morning, perhaps some may get exposed, 114 00:06:34,093 --> 00:06:38,231 and Lord willing, most will come 115 00:06:39,532 --> 00:06:42,535 to God in desperation. 116 00:06:43,669 --> 00:06:46,672 Asking for his mercy and his grace. 117 00:06:46,973 --> 00:06:50,343 And so two different sections, two different big ideas. 118 00:06:50,343 --> 00:06:54,680 The first big idea for the first 20 verses is this God honors 119 00:06:54,747 --> 00:06:59,786 a transformed heart and exposes religious hypocrisy. 120 00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:03,055 And so what I want to do, I want to read the first nine verses 121 00:07:03,055 --> 00:07:04,991 and then we'll unpack some stuff. 122 00:07:04,991 --> 00:07:08,428 But Matthew 15, verses one through nine says this. 123 00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:13,132 The Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 124 00:07:13,132 --> 00:07:16,335 why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? 125 00:07:16,335 --> 00:07:19,172 For they do not wash their hands when they eat. 126 00:07:19,172 --> 00:07:22,475 He answered them, why do you break the commandment 127 00:07:22,475 --> 00:07:25,478 of God for the sake of your tradition? 128 00:07:25,678 --> 00:07:29,148 For God commanded honor your father and mother, and 129 00:07:29,382 --> 00:07:31,951 whoever reviled father or mother must surely die. 130 00:07:31,951 --> 00:07:36,355 But you say, if anyone tells his father or his mother, 131 00:07:36,522 --> 00:07:39,992 what you would have gained from me is given to God. 132 00:07:40,159 --> 00:07:42,562 He need not honor his father. 133 00:07:42,562 --> 00:07:45,431 So for the sake of your tradition, you've made 134 00:07:45,431 --> 00:07:48,434 void the Word of God, you hypocrites! 135 00:07:48,935 --> 00:07:51,971 Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, this 136 00:07:51,971 --> 00:07:55,341 people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 137 00:07:55,341 --> 00:08:00,346 In vain do they worship me, teaching us doctrines, the commandments of men. 138 00:08:00,513 --> 00:08:04,650 And so what we have here is these Pharisees and scribes 139 00:08:04,650 --> 00:08:07,186 now in the Bible, in the New Testament, Pharisees 140 00:08:07,186 --> 00:08:08,988 get a really, really, really bad rep. 141 00:08:08,988 --> 00:08:10,857 You don't read about Pharisees and Testament. 142 00:08:10,857 --> 00:08:13,059 They didn't exist as Pharisees in the Old Testament. 143 00:08:13,059 --> 00:08:16,562 There's a New Testament thing and the Pharisees came to be 144 00:08:16,562 --> 00:08:19,465 they were the religious elite of their day. 145 00:08:19,465 --> 00:08:20,399 They weren't the elite. 146 00:08:20,399 --> 00:08:23,903 The the Sadducees were the elite religious group. 147 00:08:23,903 --> 00:08:25,338 They were the wealthy ones. 148 00:08:25,338 --> 00:08:28,508 They were the liberal side, the rich liberals. 149 00:08:28,641 --> 00:08:29,876 That's who they were. 150 00:08:29,876 --> 00:08:33,479 The Pharisees were the kind of more blue collar conservative. 151 00:08:33,479 --> 00:08:38,651 And so these Pharisees get a super bad rap, and rightly so in the New Testament, 152 00:08:39,252 --> 00:08:42,455 because they just focus on their tradition. 153 00:08:42,622 --> 00:08:46,392 And now when they started, the Pharisees 154 00:08:46,425 --> 00:08:51,163 started in the Babylonian captivity, way back in those little Bible history. 155 00:08:51,197 --> 00:08:52,665 Okay, okay. 156 00:08:52,665 --> 00:08:54,867 So way back in the Old Testament, 157 00:08:56,302 --> 00:08:58,838 Israel was taken into captivity up into Babylon. 158 00:08:58,838 --> 00:09:02,375 And there in this foreign country, this pagan country. 159 00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:04,210 And some of the people are like, hey, 160 00:09:04,210 --> 00:09:07,580 we got to keep we got to keep our faith alive. 161 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:08,214 You know, 162 00:09:08,214 --> 00:09:10,283 so they started these things called synagogues 163 00:09:10,283 --> 00:09:13,352 that made their way back into the New Testament. 164 00:09:13,386 --> 00:09:13,819 They started 165 00:09:13,819 --> 00:09:16,722 this group called the Pharisees, the Pure Ones, because they wanted 166 00:09:16,722 --> 00:09:20,593 to keep their faith pure, and they really came from a good heart. 167 00:09:20,660 --> 00:09:23,696 Let's get back to the Bible, back to what God said, 168 00:09:23,763 --> 00:09:26,732 back to his law, and let's do it right. 169 00:09:26,832 --> 00:09:30,236 So that morphed by the time we get to the New Testament 170 00:09:30,236 --> 00:09:34,106 into this hyper legalistic group of. 171 00:09:36,108 --> 00:09:39,111 Religiously conservative like ultra or right 172 00:09:39,378 --> 00:09:43,015 that were more concerned about their tradition than they were Scripture. 173 00:09:43,482 --> 00:09:45,618 So much so. 174 00:09:45,618 --> 00:09:49,589 And honestly, the original ones that would have, 175 00:09:49,622 --> 00:09:53,359 we would have claimed like the beginnings of the Pharisees, 176 00:09:53,392 --> 00:09:57,630 people like Ezra in the Old Testament, like just beautiful men who understood 177 00:09:57,663 --> 00:10:00,633 God's law. It just got sideways. 178 00:10:00,633 --> 00:10:03,836 And so what they did is they forgot God's law, 179 00:10:03,836 --> 00:10:06,539 and they just started living by all these traditions. 180 00:10:06,539 --> 00:10:09,442 And one of their traditions was hand washing. 181 00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:13,879 Now, this was not the biblical command of washing ceremonial. 182 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:16,349 It should be ceremonially clean in the temple or anything. 183 00:10:16,349 --> 00:10:19,151 This was their own tradition. It got so bad. 184 00:10:20,319 --> 00:10:22,655 How bad was it? 185 00:10:22,655 --> 00:10:23,356 Thank you Rich. 186 00:10:23,356 --> 00:10:27,560 It got so bad that they believed 187 00:10:27,593 --> 00:10:33,299 that anything that touched a Gentile or non-Jew was corrupted and dirty. 188 00:10:33,299 --> 00:10:37,703 So much so that if a Gentile walked in the dirt 189 00:10:37,703 --> 00:10:40,706 and kicked up dirt, dust and that dust got on them, 190 00:10:40,706 --> 00:10:43,709 then they were defiled because it was Gentile dust. 191 00:10:44,076 --> 00:10:48,214 And so they created this tradition that before they ate, 192 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,018 they had to wash their hands of the Gentile dirt 193 00:10:52,218 --> 00:10:55,054 that was in the world, because in their minds, 194 00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:59,792 if they got Gentile dust on their hands and then touched food, now 195 00:10:59,792 --> 00:11:03,162 the Gentile dust made their hands dirty, and their dirty hands made the food dirty. 196 00:11:03,162 --> 00:11:06,132 If they ate dirty food, it made them dirty. 197 00:11:06,866 --> 00:11:10,703 And so their solution to this was, well, let's wash our hands two different ways. 198 00:11:11,270 --> 00:11:13,339 First, they wash kind of like this. 199 00:11:13,339 --> 00:11:15,775 And someone would pour water over their hands, 200 00:11:15,775 --> 00:11:20,479 and they had to do it in such a way that the water would drip off their hand, 201 00:11:20,479 --> 00:11:23,082 because if they did this and it rolled down their arms, 202 00:11:23,082 --> 00:11:24,917 now their arms were dirty. 203 00:11:24,917 --> 00:11:26,318 And so they had to do this. 204 00:11:26,318 --> 00:11:30,256 And then because the water ended up here, 205 00:11:30,256 --> 00:11:32,892 then they had to wash one more time like this 206 00:11:32,892 --> 00:11:36,062 so that the water would run from their hand down off their fingertips, 207 00:11:36,062 --> 00:11:39,098 and they couldn't shake it, because then the dirty water 208 00:11:39,098 --> 00:11:42,535 would get on them, and then their whole body would be dirty. 209 00:11:42,635 --> 00:11:45,504 So it was really this, this weird. 210 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:48,174 Now, listen, I'm going to talk about a way that we do the same thing 211 00:11:48,174 --> 00:11:50,242 because it's easy to laugh at them, but we do the same thing. 212 00:11:50,242 --> 00:11:51,410 I'm going to show you in just a minute. 213 00:11:51,410 --> 00:11:55,281 But that that was the tradition that they're saying, hey, 214 00:11:55,281 --> 00:11:59,218 Jesus, your disciples don't even don't even follow the tradition of the elders. 215 00:11:59,218 --> 00:12:04,457 And just like, shut up, you you disobey the command of God for your tradition. 216 00:12:04,457 --> 00:12:06,025 So why are you worried about your tradition? 217 00:12:06,025 --> 00:12:10,396 And what Jesus was referring to was the command in Scripture, 218 00:12:10,429 --> 00:12:13,532 not tradition, but the command to honor your father and mother? 219 00:12:13,999 --> 00:12:18,871 And what that meant was, if your mom and dad have need 220 00:12:18,871 --> 00:12:23,843 and you have the resources to meet that need, you honor them by helping. 221 00:12:24,076 --> 00:12:25,578 Does that make sense? 222 00:12:25,578 --> 00:12:26,979 That's the command of God. 223 00:12:26,979 --> 00:12:29,982 But Jesus says you've created this loophole 224 00:12:30,015 --> 00:12:34,587 so that you can claim that your resources are devoted to God. 225 00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:36,255 So you can tell your mom and dad, look, 226 00:12:36,255 --> 00:12:39,425 I know you're hurting, but honestly, all my resources are committed to God, 227 00:12:39,425 --> 00:12:42,428 so I can't give it to you because that would be an abomination. 228 00:12:42,595 --> 00:12:45,397 Meanwhile, you could keep using it all for yourself. 229 00:12:45,397 --> 00:12:46,832 It was just this loophole. 230 00:12:46,832 --> 00:12:50,302 And just like you, you're missing the whole thing. 231 00:12:51,036 --> 00:12:55,274 You're living by this tradition and you're disobeying the command of God. 232 00:12:55,307 --> 00:12:58,611 You're so worried about what you look like on the outside. 233 00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:02,882 You haven't addressed your nasty, defiled heart on the inside. 234 00:13:06,352 --> 00:13:09,321 And he says you're a bunch of hypocrites. 235 00:13:09,321 --> 00:13:14,059 So their their idea of claiming their resources are God's 236 00:13:14,059 --> 00:13:16,562 so they can't give it to the parents was the idea called the Corban? 237 00:13:16,562 --> 00:13:19,131 They said, hey, listen, it's carbon, I can't give it to you. 238 00:13:19,131 --> 00:13:21,100 And Jesus says, you're a bunch of hypocrites. 239 00:13:21,100 --> 00:13:23,736 That word hypocrite means actor. 240 00:13:23,736 --> 00:13:27,573 And what he's referring to was back in the like in the Greek culture, 241 00:13:27,573 --> 00:13:29,842 especially, actors would would 242 00:13:29,842 --> 00:13:32,812 instead of having different characters, they just put on a different mask. 243 00:13:32,945 --> 00:13:36,549 And so the mess that people see was something different 244 00:13:36,549 --> 00:13:38,350 than the reality behind the mask. 245 00:13:38,350 --> 00:13:39,585 That's what he's saying. 246 00:13:39,585 --> 00:13:42,588 He said, listen, this is what religion does. 247 00:13:42,621 --> 00:13:45,624 It makes us put on a mask for everybody to see, 248 00:13:46,759 --> 00:13:50,262 but it masks the reality behind it. 249 00:13:51,063 --> 00:13:54,133 And so for us translating that for us, 250 00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:57,636 when we put on the mask of religion. 251 00:14:00,673 --> 00:14:01,674 We know the words 252 00:14:01,674 --> 00:14:04,743 to say, we know the words not to say. 253 00:14:05,411 --> 00:14:07,913 We know the behaviors, we know 254 00:14:07,913 --> 00:14:10,916 how we're supposed to look. 255 00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:13,986 When we do those religious behaviors. 256 00:14:13,986 --> 00:14:17,523 It suggests that Christ and His kingdom 257 00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:20,492 are the highest priority of my life. 258 00:14:21,193 --> 00:14:23,929 But if we do those behaviors, and Christ 259 00:14:23,929 --> 00:14:26,999 and His kingdom is not the highest priority of my life, 260 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:33,172 the mask I wear doesn't reflect the reality behind the mask. 261 00:14:33,172 --> 00:14:35,441 Do you follow? 262 00:14:35,441 --> 00:14:39,678 So when we do our faith, do our religion 263 00:14:40,179 --> 00:14:43,182 and it looks super good on the outside, 264 00:14:43,682 --> 00:14:46,619 but the reality is Christ 265 00:14:46,619 --> 00:14:49,855 and His kingdom are not the highest priority of my heart. 266 00:14:50,256 --> 00:14:53,859 We, like them, are hypocrites. 267 00:14:55,227 --> 00:14:58,230 DeFalco. 268 00:15:03,002 --> 00:15:05,738 It's the people who know the words, 269 00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:09,041 but whose heart is not aligned with Christ in His kingdom. 270 00:15:11,143 --> 00:15:14,146 It's the people who practice religion 271 00:15:14,580 --> 00:15:17,583 but are not yet surrendered. 272 00:15:18,784 --> 00:15:21,787 It's the people who look clean morally 273 00:15:22,154 --> 00:15:25,424 but have not been transformed in the image of Christ. 274 00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:29,228 As a hypocrite. 275 00:15:29,228 --> 00:15:32,564 And we get so wrapped up he's saying, you get so wrapped up in your tradition 276 00:15:32,631 --> 00:15:35,634 has nothing to do with Scripture, 277 00:15:35,834 --> 00:15:38,437 and it's easy to see in them, right? 278 00:15:38,437 --> 00:15:41,440 We do the same thing. 279 00:15:42,041 --> 00:15:44,343 Here's a for instance, 280 00:15:44,343 --> 00:15:46,879 we celebrated 281 00:15:46,879 --> 00:15:49,882 that was a that was ninja like reaction right there. 282 00:15:50,149 --> 00:15:53,152 I'm like a cat. That was awesome. 283 00:15:53,385 --> 00:15:53,986 We still do. 284 00:15:53,986 --> 00:15:56,322 We do communion every week. Right. 285 00:15:56,322 --> 00:16:00,893 So you go back over four years and we didn't do it every week. 286 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,163 We did it very sporadically, pretty much like 287 00:16:04,163 --> 00:16:07,299 every time I would finish a series and like this one 288 00:16:07,333 --> 00:16:10,669 super long series rolling do communion a couple of times a year. 289 00:16:11,337 --> 00:16:14,340 And I just I just felt convicted about it. 290 00:16:14,573 --> 00:16:16,709 I was in it as a pastor. 291 00:16:16,709 --> 00:16:19,712 And so almost four years ago, 292 00:16:19,712 --> 00:16:24,750 I went through this through chapter by chapter through the gospel of John. 293 00:16:24,783 --> 00:16:26,752 And I said, we're going to take communion 294 00:16:26,752 --> 00:16:29,755 every Sunday morning when we go through the Gospel of John. 295 00:16:29,955 --> 00:16:32,057 And you know what I heard from the church? 296 00:16:32,057 --> 00:16:33,759 You can't do that. That's not what we do. 297 00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:35,160 You can't do that. 298 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,496 You can't do it every week. 299 00:16:37,496 --> 00:16:40,499 Why? Because our tradition said we couldn't. 300 00:16:40,532 --> 00:16:41,233 There's nothing. 301 00:16:41,233 --> 00:16:43,535 The Bible says how often you have to do communion. 302 00:16:43,535 --> 00:16:45,838 But I got such pushback. 303 00:16:45,838 --> 00:16:46,739 If you do it every week, 304 00:16:46,739 --> 00:16:49,742 it'll become so normal and common, it won't be special anymore. 305 00:16:49,775 --> 00:16:53,812 You're going to rob us of the specialness of doing community. 306 00:16:53,812 --> 00:16:54,513 You do it every week. 307 00:16:54,513 --> 00:16:57,516 That's what I heard. So you know what I did? 308 00:16:57,716 --> 00:16:58,917 I did it every week. 309 00:17:01,787 --> 00:17:04,390 And so now you know what? 310 00:17:04,390 --> 00:17:06,792 You think 311 00:17:06,792 --> 00:17:09,061 you cannot do it. 312 00:17:09,061 --> 00:17:11,296 It's what we do. 313 00:17:11,296 --> 00:17:12,297 You know how we know that? 314 00:17:12,297 --> 00:17:13,599 Because I skipped it one week. 315 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:16,602 Guess what I heard. 316 00:17:18,737 --> 00:17:21,740 I'm like, what? 317 00:17:22,574 --> 00:17:25,577 And so we had nothing to do with the Bible. 318 00:17:28,981 --> 00:17:31,417 So here's 319 00:17:31,417 --> 00:17:35,421 religious activity cannot cover and life. 320 00:17:36,789 --> 00:17:39,892 This is a problem with religion, but just religion 321 00:17:39,892 --> 00:17:42,895 that doesn't deal with with here. 322 00:17:44,063 --> 00:17:47,599 See the question never be did I do the right thing? 323 00:17:48,667 --> 00:17:53,172 The question should always be does my heart bow before God? 324 00:17:54,139 --> 00:17:57,142 That's the question. 325 00:17:57,543 --> 00:17:58,977 Joel 213 326 00:17:58,977 --> 00:18:02,214 A says, rend your hearts, not your garments. 327 00:18:02,214 --> 00:18:05,584 What he's saying is, make sure that this in here 328 00:18:06,418 --> 00:18:09,421 is torn before God. 329 00:18:10,389 --> 00:18:13,392 Don't worry about what this. 330 00:18:14,226 --> 00:18:16,962 Because when this changes, all of this will change. 331 00:18:18,497 --> 00:18:21,500 But it doesn't happen in reverse. 332 00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:26,905 Matthew 2327 Jesus is just brutal. 333 00:18:26,905 --> 00:18:30,642 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you religious people, but you hypocrites, 334 00:18:32,211 --> 00:18:36,215 for you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear 335 00:18:36,281 --> 00:18:41,353 beautiful, but within your full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 336 00:18:42,354 --> 00:18:45,357 You look good on the outside. 337 00:18:46,625 --> 00:18:49,628 But God's not fooled by that. 338 00:18:55,467 --> 00:18:57,002 Verses ten through 20. 339 00:18:57,002 --> 00:18:57,870 Look at this. 340 00:18:57,870 --> 00:19:00,873 And he called. 341 00:19:01,106 --> 00:19:05,978 Is that all I want to say about that? No. 342 00:19:06,612 --> 00:19:09,715 He called the people to him and said, here and understand 343 00:19:09,882 --> 00:19:10,516 it's not 344 00:19:10,516 --> 00:19:12,217 what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, 345 00:19:12,217 --> 00:19:14,553 but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person. 346 00:19:14,553 --> 00:19:17,189 And the disciples came and said to him. 347 00:19:17,189 --> 00:19:20,058 Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? 348 00:19:20,058 --> 00:19:21,660 That cracks me up 349 00:19:22,928 --> 00:19:24,863 like for a couple of 350 00:19:24,863 --> 00:19:25,297 Jesus. 351 00:19:25,297 --> 00:19:28,300 Are you aware you think Jesus is unaware? 352 00:19:30,235 --> 00:19:31,103 But in essence, 353 00:19:31,103 --> 00:19:34,106 you know what they're saying, right? 354 00:19:34,306 --> 00:19:37,309 What you said triggered them. 355 00:19:37,342 --> 00:19:37,943 That's what he said. 356 00:19:37,943 --> 00:19:40,879 That's what they're saying. They're triggered. 357 00:19:40,879 --> 00:19:43,482 They're a little sensitive. 358 00:19:43,482 --> 00:19:46,451 Jesus is like, yeah, whatever. 359 00:19:47,452 --> 00:19:51,623 He answered, every plant that my Heavenly Father is not planned will be rooted up. 360 00:19:51,657 --> 00:19:53,358 Let them alone. They're blind guides. 361 00:19:53,358 --> 00:19:56,562 And if the blind, the blind both will fall into a pit. 362 00:19:56,995 --> 00:19:59,431 Peter said to him, explain to us the parable. 363 00:19:59,431 --> 00:20:02,434 And he said, are you still without understanding? 364 00:20:03,402 --> 00:20:04,002 Do you 365 00:20:04,002 --> 00:20:07,940 not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 366 00:20:07,973 --> 00:20:09,474 You know what he's saying, right? 367 00:20:09,474 --> 00:20:11,376 We're going to stand biology. 368 00:20:11,376 --> 00:20:13,345 That's what he's saying. 369 00:20:13,345 --> 00:20:15,681 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. 370 00:20:15,681 --> 00:20:17,216 And this defiles a person. 371 00:20:17,216 --> 00:20:21,019 For out of the heart come evil thoughts and murder and adultery 372 00:20:21,019 --> 00:20:24,790 and sexual immorality and theft and false witness and slander. 373 00:20:25,390 --> 00:20:26,792 These are what defile a person. 374 00:20:26,792 --> 00:20:30,862 But to eat with unwashed hands, that doesn't do anything. 375 00:20:33,665 --> 00:20:37,035 See, the greatest issue that and Jesus is dressing here. 376 00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:41,640 The the greatest issue is what rules your heart. 377 00:20:41,673 --> 00:20:44,543 That's what he's saying. 378 00:20:44,543 --> 00:20:46,812 See, religion says 379 00:20:46,812 --> 00:20:50,115 the outside makes you dirty inside. 380 00:20:50,282 --> 00:20:53,252 And Jesus says, no, it doesn't. 381 00:20:53,619 --> 00:20:56,255 The inside is what defiles the outside. 382 00:20:56,255 --> 00:21:00,559 See, religion focuses focuses on behavioral modification. 383 00:21:00,626 --> 00:21:04,463 And this this is honestly part of the downfall 384 00:21:04,496 --> 00:21:07,499 of of of churches 385 00:21:07,532 --> 00:21:11,637 and many children and youth ministries 386 00:21:11,637 --> 00:21:14,706 because it focuses on behavioral modification. 387 00:21:14,740 --> 00:21:15,874 Do this, don't do this, 388 00:21:15,874 --> 00:21:19,611 do this, don't do this without ever addressing the primary issue, 389 00:21:19,678 --> 00:21:23,515 which is a transformed heart, hating their own sin 390 00:21:23,515 --> 00:21:26,618 and following falling in love with the mercy and grace of God. 391 00:21:26,618 --> 00:21:28,920 And that's why kids can grow up in the church 392 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,190 and look really, really, really good and get off into college. 393 00:21:32,190 --> 00:21:34,593 And all of a sudden their heart takes over their behavior, 394 00:21:36,161 --> 00:21:38,497 right? 395 00:21:38,497 --> 00:21:40,532 That's been our story. 396 00:21:40,532 --> 00:21:43,335 Some of us 397 00:21:43,335 --> 00:21:46,338 and this is this is what Jesus is addressing. 398 00:21:46,738 --> 00:21:51,243 And and I was like, Jesus, those that's really you are really mean. 399 00:21:51,610 --> 00:21:54,546 Do you know that you offended them. 400 00:21:54,546 --> 00:21:57,549 Listen. 401 00:21:57,949 --> 00:21:59,251 Please realize 402 00:21:59,251 --> 00:22:02,254 you don't have to inform God of anything 403 00:22:02,788 --> 00:22:05,257 like he knows. 404 00:22:05,257 --> 00:22:08,260 And I don't want to pick on people's prayers, 405 00:22:08,493 --> 00:22:11,430 but sometimes our prayers 406 00:22:11,430 --> 00:22:14,533 are more about informative God of what's going on. 407 00:22:14,533 --> 00:22:17,836 Rather than imploring him like, like, 408 00:22:17,869 --> 00:22:21,473 Lord, this person, they really they're having a really hard, hard time. 409 00:22:21,473 --> 00:22:23,642 And they just had this thing 410 00:22:23,642 --> 00:22:27,346 and they're really struggling and they've been here for like, God, 411 00:22:27,579 --> 00:22:30,582 yeah, I know, I know, I know, what do you want? 412 00:22:31,616 --> 00:22:33,552 Like the Bible says, I'm in heaven. 413 00:22:33,552 --> 00:22:34,052 You're on earth. 414 00:22:34,052 --> 00:22:34,986 Let your words be few. 415 00:22:34,986 --> 00:22:37,856 I know you don't have to inform me of what's going on. 416 00:22:39,191 --> 00:22:40,659 You just. 417 00:22:40,659 --> 00:22:43,195 You follow, like, never 418 00:22:43,195 --> 00:22:46,298 feel like you have to explain the situation to God. 419 00:22:46,298 --> 00:22:48,734 He knows. 420 00:22:48,734 --> 00:22:50,736 And then they say you really offended them. 421 00:22:50,736 --> 00:22:52,571 He's like, yeah, well too bad that's on the. 422 00:22:52,571 --> 00:22:55,574 So here, listen, 423 00:22:55,674 --> 00:22:58,677 I may be offensive sometimes. 424 00:22:59,511 --> 00:23:00,712 I don't always try to be. 425 00:23:00,712 --> 00:23:03,482 Sometimes I don't always try to be. 426 00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:04,983 But please get this. 427 00:23:04,983 --> 00:23:07,986 Just because just because I'm offensive doesn't mean 428 00:23:07,986 --> 00:23:10,989 you have to be offended. 429 00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:13,458 Do you follow? 430 00:23:13,458 --> 00:23:17,162 Just because someone is offensive doesn't mean you have to be offended. 431 00:23:17,829 --> 00:23:19,931 That's your choice. 432 00:23:19,931 --> 00:23:22,634 So Jesus is like, look, that's on them with their offended. 433 00:23:22,634 --> 00:23:25,003 But I but I also want you to understand this. 434 00:23:25,003 --> 00:23:27,773 Oh, this way you have to understand that 435 00:23:27,773 --> 00:23:30,776 the reason Jesus was so offensive 436 00:23:31,143 --> 00:23:35,180 is because their theology was offensive. 437 00:23:38,016 --> 00:23:39,985 And Jesus was a abrasive 438 00:23:39,985 --> 00:23:42,988 because their theology was offensive. 439 00:23:44,556 --> 00:23:46,191 Now I may be offensive 440 00:23:46,191 --> 00:23:49,194 sometimes, not always on purpose, 441 00:23:50,028 --> 00:23:52,731 but I will be offensive 442 00:23:52,731 --> 00:23:55,734 if offensive theology is being taught. 443 00:23:57,636 --> 00:24:00,639 It's too important. 444 00:24:01,706 --> 00:24:03,275 And so Jesus 445 00:24:03,275 --> 00:24:07,312 confronts them brutally in in public 446 00:24:07,546 --> 00:24:10,549 because they came at Jesus in public. 447 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:14,219 And if there's ever theology or doctrine 448 00:24:14,219 --> 00:24:18,156 that is offensive to Scripture that's being 449 00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:22,294 exposed, I will, 450 00:24:22,494 --> 00:24:25,096 if I'm around, come after it. 451 00:24:25,096 --> 00:24:28,066 We must. 452 00:24:28,066 --> 00:24:31,002 And that's 453 00:24:31,002 --> 00:24:33,738 Jesus says, listen, 454 00:24:33,738 --> 00:24:35,774 the instruction he gives his disciples listen. 455 00:24:35,774 --> 00:24:38,677 You, however, leave him alone. 456 00:24:38,677 --> 00:24:39,945 They came after me. 457 00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:41,780 They approached me, so I dealt with it. 458 00:24:41,780 --> 00:24:44,716 You leave him alone, he said. 459 00:24:44,716 --> 00:24:47,586 Had nothing to do with them. So? So here's in part what he's saying. 460 00:24:47,586 --> 00:24:51,857 Don't feel like we ought not ever feel like we have to correct every 461 00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:53,024 error that's out there. 462 00:24:54,192 --> 00:24:54,826 We don't have to 463 00:24:54,826 --> 00:24:58,830 comment on every stupid thing that we read that people post. 464 00:24:58,830 --> 00:25:00,799 Do you understand? 465 00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:04,302 Just because they're wrong doesn't mean we got to correct them now. 466 00:25:04,669 --> 00:25:07,372 Jesus did because they came after Jesus. 467 00:25:07,372 --> 00:25:10,275 But he said, the rest of you just just don't worry. 468 00:25:10,275 --> 00:25:15,146 Their fallacy will crumble under its own the weight of its fallacy. 469 00:25:15,313 --> 00:25:18,316 So just to have nothing to do with them. 470 00:25:20,552 --> 00:25:24,723 But the role of Scripture 471 00:25:25,190 --> 00:25:28,193 is to be offensive. 472 00:25:28,660 --> 00:25:30,962 Second Timothy 316 473 00:25:30,962 --> 00:25:34,232 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable. 474 00:25:34,232 --> 00:25:35,066 For what? The first thing. 475 00:25:35,066 --> 00:25:38,336 What's the first thing Scripture does according to Scripture rebukes? 476 00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:41,039 That's offensive. 477 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:45,410 And then it corrects so that it can train in righteousness. 478 00:25:45,477 --> 00:25:50,682 The first role of Scripture is to rebuke that which is wrong. 479 00:25:51,216 --> 00:25:54,219 And when people get rebuked for error, 480 00:25:54,319 --> 00:25:57,322 they're offended. 481 00:25:57,355 --> 00:25:58,356 You follow. 482 00:25:59,658 --> 00:26:02,661 But this is what Scripture does. So. 483 00:26:05,430 --> 00:26:07,332 Says, listen, 484 00:26:07,332 --> 00:26:09,601 if you're in the position 485 00:26:09,601 --> 00:26:13,171 and you realize that it is bad offensive 486 00:26:13,171 --> 00:26:16,374 theology and doctrine, yeah, then you confront it. 487 00:26:17,108 --> 00:26:19,377 Here's the problem. 488 00:26:19,377 --> 00:26:22,380 There's a difference between ignorance and error. 489 00:26:23,315 --> 00:26:26,384 Some people are just ignorant because they haven't been taught well, 490 00:26:27,152 --> 00:26:29,387 just don't know friends. 491 00:26:29,387 --> 00:26:32,457 That's why it's so important what we do on Sunday morning 492 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:36,595 and what I teach on Wednesday night, 493 00:26:37,762 --> 00:26:40,799 because it's the doctrine of Scripture, 494 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,937 and I teach it and teach it and teach it because I don't want us to be ignorant. 495 00:26:46,371 --> 00:26:48,273 There are some people in just because they have been taught well. 496 00:26:48,273 --> 00:26:51,276 But there's ignorance is different than error. 497 00:26:51,943 --> 00:26:53,778 Error is ignorance 498 00:26:53,778 --> 00:26:56,781 masquerading as authority. 499 00:26:56,948 --> 00:27:01,186 And when error is being expound, it will be confronted. 500 00:27:02,387 --> 00:27:04,623 That's what Jesus is saying. 501 00:27:04,623 --> 00:27:05,423 And so. 502 00:27:05,423 --> 00:27:08,760 So in this first account he says, listen, address your heart, 503 00:27:10,295 --> 00:27:11,296 address your heart. 504 00:27:11,296 --> 00:27:13,031 Make sure that you understand that 505 00:27:13,031 --> 00:27:16,067 what's coming out of you is because what's in you 506 00:27:17,202 --> 00:27:20,372 and everything that comes out of us is a reflection 507 00:27:20,372 --> 00:27:23,375 of what's in here. 508 00:27:24,476 --> 00:27:27,112 How we respond to conflict 509 00:27:27,112 --> 00:27:30,115 is a reflection of what's in here. 510 00:27:31,816 --> 00:27:34,586 How we prioritize our finances. 511 00:27:34,586 --> 00:27:37,589 It's a reflection of what's in here. 512 00:27:38,023 --> 00:27:41,059 The lust we deal with is a reflection of what's in here, 513 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,262 how we deal with criticism. 514 00:27:44,262 --> 00:27:45,697 Guess what? 515 00:27:45,697 --> 00:27:48,700 A reflection of what's in here. 516 00:27:49,267 --> 00:27:51,102 If we're married, the state of our marriage is. 517 00:27:51,102 --> 00:27:51,436 Guess what? 518 00:27:51,436 --> 00:27:54,939 Ultimately, it's a sin of what's in here. 519 00:27:55,073 --> 00:27:59,344 So Jesus says, look, the first thing is we got to deal with this. 520 00:28:01,212 --> 00:28:03,948 See, a transformed heart involves two things. 521 00:28:03,948 --> 00:28:07,318 One, and primarily it involves the work of God. 522 00:28:07,619 --> 00:28:09,320 Ezekiel 3626. 523 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,290 And I will give you a what? 524 00:28:12,557 --> 00:28:13,658 Read it with your mouth open. 525 00:28:13,658 --> 00:28:18,463 Oh, what a new heart and a new spirit I'll put within you. 526 00:28:18,463 --> 00:28:20,865 And I'll remove the heart of stone from your flesh 527 00:28:20,865 --> 00:28:21,833 and give your heart a flesh. 528 00:28:21,833 --> 00:28:26,938 And so the first act of a new heart for us, having a new heart 529 00:28:26,971 --> 00:28:30,742 that changes everything else, is for God to do a work in us 530 00:28:30,742 --> 00:28:33,111 that we cannot do in ourselves. 531 00:28:33,111 --> 00:28:36,214 Our heart does not change by behavioral modification. 532 00:28:36,214 --> 00:28:41,019 It changes by the work of God Himself, who changes a stone 533 00:28:41,052 --> 00:28:43,021 heart and gives us a heart of flesh. 534 00:28:43,021 --> 00:28:45,356 And so one of the greatest prayers we can 535 00:28:45,356 --> 00:28:49,094 pray is the greatest commandment that Jesus said ever existed. 536 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,330 Love the Lord your God with all your heart. 537 00:28:52,330 --> 00:28:54,699 And so one of the greatest prayers for His father. 538 00:28:54,699 --> 00:28:57,702 Give me a heart that fully loves you. 539 00:28:58,970 --> 00:29:01,473 Psalm 51 created me a clean heart, 540 00:29:01,473 --> 00:29:04,476 O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 541 00:29:05,310 --> 00:29:09,414 It's the greatest prayer you can pray, and that's the first move of a new heart. 542 00:29:09,414 --> 00:29:11,149 It's not by changing behavior, 543 00:29:11,149 --> 00:29:15,353 but the second part of a new heart comes from the work we do. 544 00:29:15,386 --> 00:29:16,321 God does his work. 545 00:29:16,321 --> 00:29:18,156 I do my work for 23. 546 00:29:18,156 --> 00:29:21,159 Keep your heart with all vigilance. 547 00:29:21,159 --> 00:29:23,261 First, out of it flows the springs of life. 548 00:29:23,261 --> 00:29:25,096 And so, father, change my heart. 549 00:29:25,096 --> 00:29:28,099 And as you do, I'm going to protect my heart. 550 00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:31,336 I'm going to be careful 551 00:29:31,336 --> 00:29:35,573 of my response, of my habits, of my behaviors. 552 00:29:35,740 --> 00:29:39,344 My heart won't change because of that, but because my heart is being changed. 553 00:29:39,344 --> 00:29:42,213 Now I'm do you follow? 554 00:29:42,213 --> 00:29:45,216 And Jesus says, you got to get this right, because if you don't, 555 00:29:45,216 --> 00:29:47,752 you're going to be one of those religious people, a hypocrite. 556 00:29:49,387 --> 00:29:51,856 So these Pharisees come to Jesus 557 00:29:51,856 --> 00:29:54,859 with religious confidence and they get exposed. 558 00:29:55,660 --> 00:29:57,996 And then this woman comes to Jesus 559 00:29:57,996 --> 00:30:00,999 in desperation and she gets mercy. 560 00:30:01,699 --> 00:30:03,601 It's a beautiful story. 561 00:30:03,601 --> 00:30:06,571 The big idea for this, like verses 21 through 28, 562 00:30:06,638 --> 00:30:10,508 this, this, this, this woman, the big idea is this God blesses 563 00:30:10,508 --> 00:30:13,978 according to his grace, not according to my worthiness. 564 00:30:14,946 --> 00:30:16,948 And see, this with the fair. 565 00:30:16,948 --> 00:30:18,216 This is where the Pharisees got it wrong. 566 00:30:18,216 --> 00:30:23,588 They thought God would would bless them because they were so outwardly religious. 567 00:30:24,189 --> 00:30:26,791 And God says, you don't understand. 568 00:30:26,791 --> 00:30:31,229 I bless because of my grace, not because you are doing something worthwhile. 569 00:30:32,397 --> 00:30:35,433 And so let me just read verses 21 through 28. 570 00:30:35,900 --> 00:30:39,637 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tire 571 00:30:39,637 --> 00:30:42,674 and Sidon. This was way away from Jerusalem. 572 00:30:42,707 --> 00:30:45,710 And behold, a kid and I woman from that region came out and was crying, 573 00:30:45,743 --> 00:30:51,349 have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter, severely oppressed by a demon. 574 00:30:51,916 --> 00:30:54,152 But he did not answer her a word. 575 00:30:54,152 --> 00:30:58,056 Have any of you ever prayed to God and got nothing in response? 576 00:31:01,492 --> 00:31:04,495 Just silence. 577 00:31:06,030 --> 00:31:09,033 You're not the first. 578 00:31:10,301 --> 00:31:13,071 His disciples came and begged him, saying, send her away. 579 00:31:13,071 --> 00:31:14,239 She's crying out after. 580 00:31:14,239 --> 00:31:15,340 They don't care about her. 581 00:31:15,340 --> 00:31:18,343 They just don't want to be bugged by her anymore. 582 00:31:18,710 --> 00:31:20,511 Get rid of her. 583 00:31:20,511 --> 00:31:21,145 And the answer? 584 00:31:21,145 --> 00:31:24,382 I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 585 00:31:24,916 --> 00:31:27,919 But she came in now before him, saying, Lord, help me. 586 00:31:28,186 --> 00:31:30,855 And he answered, it's not right to take the children's bread 587 00:31:30,855 --> 00:31:33,858 and throw it to the dogs. 588 00:31:33,992 --> 00:31:36,961 What do you just call her? 589 00:31:36,961 --> 00:31:39,931 Does that sound kind of harsh from Jesus? 590 00:31:44,135 --> 00:31:45,703 She said, yes, Lord. 591 00:31:45,703 --> 00:31:48,706 Yet even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the master's table. 592 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,943 Then Jesus answered her, old woman, great is your faith. 593 00:31:51,943 --> 00:31:53,278 Be it done to use a desire. 594 00:31:53,278 --> 00:31:56,814 And her daughter was healed right then. 595 00:31:57,749 --> 00:32:01,119 This woman is everything that religion dismisses. 596 00:32:02,186 --> 00:32:04,322 She's a woman. 597 00:32:04,322 --> 00:32:07,292 She's a Canaanite from Tire and Sidon, which was just in a. 598 00:32:09,060 --> 00:32:11,362 Terrible place. 599 00:32:11,362 --> 00:32:14,332 She was outside God's covenant people, 600 00:32:14,332 --> 00:32:17,802 and she has the audacity to come before 601 00:32:17,802 --> 00:32:21,172 Jesus and say, have mercy on me. 602 00:32:21,839 --> 00:32:22,707 Help! 603 00:32:22,707 --> 00:32:23,641 I want you to know some. 604 00:32:23,641 --> 00:32:27,111 She'd never said, God, I deserve this. 605 00:32:27,679 --> 00:32:31,582 She never said, I've tried to be good. 606 00:32:31,816 --> 00:32:34,886 She never said I got my life clean. 607 00:32:34,919 --> 00:32:36,721 She'd say any of that. 608 00:32:36,721 --> 00:32:37,822 She just cried out. 609 00:32:37,822 --> 00:32:39,991 Have mercy. See? 610 00:32:39,991 --> 00:32:41,659 She understood who she was. 611 00:32:41,659 --> 00:32:44,629 And she understood who Jesus is, who Jesus was. 612 00:32:44,629 --> 00:32:47,398 And she can't do him on the basis of mercy. 613 00:32:47,398 --> 00:32:48,266 Mercy is this. 614 00:32:48,266 --> 00:32:51,502 I have nothing to claim except your compassion. 615 00:32:52,303 --> 00:32:54,973 I bring nothing to the table. 616 00:32:54,973 --> 00:32:56,708 I need this from you. 617 00:32:56,708 --> 00:33:00,311 I in desperate need of you and your hand. 618 00:33:00,311 --> 00:33:02,714 But I bring nothing to the table. 619 00:33:02,714 --> 00:33:09,320 The only thing I can I can rely on is the compassion that comes from your table. 620 00:33:12,056 --> 00:33:13,825 She doesn't say. 621 00:33:13,825 --> 00:33:15,660 I prayed and prayed and prayed. 622 00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:17,595 So God you. 623 00:33:17,595 --> 00:33:21,899 She doesn't say I served and I served, so won't you? 624 00:33:22,233 --> 00:33:25,069 She doesn't say I gave and I was generous. 625 00:33:25,069 --> 00:33:27,305 So will you. 626 00:33:27,305 --> 00:33:29,273 Those are all religious stuff. 627 00:33:29,273 --> 00:33:32,677 And she doesn't come to Jesus based on religion. 628 00:33:32,910 --> 00:33:36,014 She comes to Jesus based on Jesus mercy and grace. 629 00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:38,516 And this is where the Pharisees got it wrong. 630 00:33:38,516 --> 00:33:41,519 And this is where we get it wrong. 631 00:33:42,854 --> 00:33:45,390 See, mercy is the prayer of people 632 00:33:45,390 --> 00:33:48,393 who know they have no leverage. 633 00:33:49,827 --> 00:33:50,661 It's the prayer 634 00:33:50,661 --> 00:33:53,664 of people who come and say, God, I. 635 00:33:54,499 --> 00:33:58,302 I got nothing to offer as reasons 636 00:33:58,469 --> 00:34:01,472 why you should do anything for me. 637 00:34:02,940 --> 00:34:05,943 I got no leverage. 638 00:34:08,379 --> 00:34:11,382 I need your mercy. 639 00:34:13,551 --> 00:34:16,120 So many times we get 640 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:17,755 turned around. 641 00:34:17,755 --> 00:34:19,624 God, I've prayed and I've prayed and I prayed. 642 00:34:19,624 --> 00:34:21,225 Why don't you? 643 00:34:21,225 --> 00:34:22,860 I serve all the time. 644 00:34:22,860 --> 00:34:25,096 I'm so trying to be so faithful. I'm trying to be so good. 645 00:34:26,898 --> 00:34:29,901 We're trying to leverage God's hand. 646 00:34:30,134 --> 00:34:33,137 And that takes us right out of mercy. 647 00:34:35,339 --> 00:34:37,341 See, grace doesn't answer entitlement. 648 00:34:37,341 --> 00:34:40,344 Grace meets desperation. 649 00:34:41,179 --> 00:34:44,115 And this woman comes to Jesus completely 650 00:34:44,115 --> 00:34:47,118 reliant upon his mercy and his grace 651 00:34:48,052 --> 00:34:49,854 and her prayer. 652 00:34:49,854 --> 00:34:51,823 Have mercy on me. Help! 653 00:34:51,823 --> 00:34:53,458 That's a great prayer. 654 00:34:53,458 --> 00:34:57,962 It works in every situation, and it's a real short. 655 00:34:59,730 --> 00:35:00,665 Have mercy! 656 00:35:00,665 --> 00:35:01,933 Help! 657 00:35:01,933 --> 00:35:04,936 That's all she says. 658 00:35:07,138 --> 00:35:08,873 And one of the things I love about 659 00:35:08,873 --> 00:35:12,410 this woman is that she understands what faith is. 660 00:35:12,477 --> 00:35:15,480 Faith keeps trusting and pursuing God. 661 00:35:15,513 --> 00:35:18,516 When Jesus seems silent, 662 00:35:18,583 --> 00:35:19,650 he's silent. 663 00:35:19,650 --> 00:35:22,553 He's dismissive and she doesn't get offended. 664 00:35:22,553 --> 00:35:25,556 She just keeps pressing. 665 00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:29,427 First, he doesn't answer her at all. 666 00:35:29,427 --> 00:35:33,231 And then he says, this crack about I know I'm not given what I have for my 667 00:35:33,231 --> 00:35:34,499 kids to dogs. 668 00:35:35,666 --> 00:35:38,669 Feels completely dismissive. 669 00:35:38,870 --> 00:35:40,738 The disciples don't want around anymore. 670 00:35:40,738 --> 00:35:42,740 Like, just give it to a social bug in us. 671 00:35:42,740 --> 00:35:43,674 We don't care about her. 672 00:35:43,674 --> 00:35:46,677 We just don't want her to bother us anymore. 673 00:35:47,178 --> 00:35:50,181 And she keeps after Jesus 674 00:35:50,515 --> 00:35:52,416 so much so he calls her a dog. 675 00:35:52,416 --> 00:35:55,419 Does that seem harsh? 676 00:35:55,853 --> 00:35:57,622 The Jews call Gentile dogs, 677 00:35:57,622 --> 00:36:00,625 but they meant these feral street mutts. 678 00:36:01,759 --> 00:36:04,762 That's not the word Jesus uses. 679 00:36:04,829 --> 00:36:08,666 The word Jesus uses as a little lap puppy. 680 00:36:09,534 --> 00:36:12,503 Just a puppy. 681 00:36:12,503 --> 00:36:15,039 Like this little critter 682 00:36:15,039 --> 00:36:17,441 that's helpless, can't fend 683 00:36:17,441 --> 00:36:20,678 for itself, but is loved by its family. 684 00:36:21,279 --> 00:36:23,514 Not really part of the family, but is kind of 685 00:36:23,514 --> 00:36:26,517 because we know how we feel about our puppies. 686 00:36:26,717 --> 00:36:29,720 That's the term he uses for her. 687 00:36:30,454 --> 00:36:33,057 And he's not being mean. 688 00:36:33,057 --> 00:36:35,593 I want you to send some. Jesus isn't being cruel. 689 00:36:35,593 --> 00:36:37,828 He's drawing out her faith. 690 00:36:38,996 --> 00:36:39,864 Had she got 691 00:36:39,864 --> 00:36:44,602 offended and left she to receive nothing from God? 692 00:36:45,269 --> 00:36:49,840 And so he's putting her in a position where she has to lean into her faith, 693 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,511 and he's drawing that faith out of her. 694 00:36:55,513 --> 00:36:58,883 See, Jesus's silence does not imply his absence. 695 00:36:58,916 --> 00:37:01,919 Don't make that mistake. 696 00:37:02,353 --> 00:37:05,356 His testing is not rejection. 697 00:37:08,025 --> 00:37:09,961 His delay doesn't mean a denial. 698 00:37:09,961 --> 00:37:12,263 We have to understand this. 699 00:37:12,263 --> 00:37:16,267 See, silence from heaven is not the same as rejection from heaven. 700 00:37:17,401 --> 00:37:20,371 And this woman understood it. 701 00:37:21,772 --> 00:37:24,575 There are some of you here right now 702 00:37:24,575 --> 00:37:27,578 who are in this silence stage. 703 00:37:29,714 --> 00:37:32,984 You've prayed and prayed and prayed 704 00:37:33,451 --> 00:37:36,454 and you've heard nothing back from God. 705 00:37:42,426 --> 00:37:45,062 You've cried and cried and cried, 706 00:37:45,062 --> 00:37:49,233 and the situation remains unchanged. 707 00:37:52,737 --> 00:37:56,741 You've begged God for that child. 708 00:37:57,575 --> 00:38:01,679 You've pleaded with God for the spouse. 709 00:38:02,513 --> 00:38:04,348 You've implored God 710 00:38:05,316 --> 00:38:06,651 for healing, for 711 00:38:06,651 --> 00:38:09,654 restoration of that relationship and that marriage. 712 00:38:11,789 --> 00:38:14,959 And all you've gotten back is silence, 713 00:38:16,027 --> 00:38:18,996 almost as if God has said, 714 00:38:18,996 --> 00:38:21,999 I owe you nothing. 715 00:38:26,137 --> 00:38:29,240 This woman teaches us something. 716 00:38:30,574 --> 00:38:35,079 And one of the things she teaches us isn't to interpret silence 717 00:38:35,079 --> 00:38:38,916 from God biblically, not emotionally. 718 00:38:41,819 --> 00:38:43,954 And the biblical record behind 719 00:38:43,954 --> 00:38:47,692 God's silence is to keep coming 720 00:38:47,692 --> 00:38:51,429 back, knock and continue knocking. 721 00:38:51,462 --> 00:38:53,264 Seek and continue seeking. 722 00:38:53,264 --> 00:38:56,267 Ask and continue asking. 723 00:38:57,868 --> 00:39:00,771 See, we have to learn to trust. 724 00:39:00,771 --> 00:39:05,576 The character of Christ is better than our interpretation 725 00:39:05,576 --> 00:39:08,579 of the moment or the silence. 726 00:39:10,514 --> 00:39:11,882 Do you understand? 727 00:39:11,882 --> 00:39:15,219 We have to trust that his character is better 728 00:39:15,219 --> 00:39:18,222 than how we're interpreting 729 00:39:18,322 --> 00:39:20,825 the moment we're in, in the silence 730 00:39:20,825 --> 00:39:23,828 that we experience. 731 00:39:24,261 --> 00:39:26,731 She says, listen, 732 00:39:26,731 --> 00:39:28,332 I'll take the crumbs. 733 00:39:33,304 --> 00:39:34,905 I love the fact 734 00:39:34,905 --> 00:39:38,075 that her great faith doesn't argue her worthiness. 735 00:39:39,043 --> 00:39:42,012 It just clings to mercy and grace. 736 00:39:42,179 --> 00:39:45,116 She doesn't try to argue with Jesus. 737 00:39:45,116 --> 00:39:48,119 You're right. I'm nothing but a dog. 738 00:39:48,119 --> 00:39:49,854 I'm not going to act like you. 739 00:39:49,854 --> 00:39:51,789 I deserve something. 740 00:39:51,789 --> 00:39:54,191 I'm just going to rely on your mercy and your grace. 741 00:39:54,191 --> 00:39:56,227 That's all I got. 742 00:39:56,227 --> 00:39:57,061 I can't force you. 743 00:39:57,061 --> 00:40:00,097 I can't leverage my behavior to make you do something. 744 00:40:01,499 --> 00:40:02,266 Shouldn't argue. 745 00:40:02,266 --> 00:40:05,269 She doesn't accuse. She's not offended. 746 00:40:05,536 --> 00:40:07,104 She relies on mercy and grace. 747 00:40:07,104 --> 00:40:08,105 And grace says this. 748 00:40:08,105 --> 00:40:10,508 I will not ask what I what I deserve. 749 00:40:10,508 --> 00:40:13,077 I will ask for what overflows from your table. 750 00:40:13,077 --> 00:40:14,912 That's what grace is. 751 00:40:14,912 --> 00:40:17,915 I will not ask for what I deserve. 752 00:40:18,115 --> 00:40:23,387 I'll simply ask for what overflows from your table, whatever your grace allows. 753 00:40:25,122 --> 00:40:25,556 She says, 754 00:40:25,556 --> 00:40:28,592 listen, if your people don't want to receive 755 00:40:28,592 --> 00:40:32,296 all that you have to give, I'll take the leftovers. 756 00:40:33,030 --> 00:40:35,800 The leftovers from the table of God 757 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,803 is greater than the abundance from my hand. 758 00:40:38,803 --> 00:40:41,539 Give me the leftovers, God. 759 00:40:41,539 --> 00:40:44,742 I can't leverage anything in my life to make you move, 760 00:40:44,742 --> 00:40:47,611 so I'll just take the leftovers that fall off the table. 761 00:40:47,611 --> 00:40:50,614 That's good enough for me. 762 00:40:51,415 --> 00:40:54,418 Just your mercy and your grace. 763 00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:57,455 And Jesus responds. 764 00:40:57,922 --> 00:41:00,891 Great is your faith. 765 00:41:01,158 --> 00:41:02,760 Jesus never said 766 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,763 that to anyone in Scripture. 767 00:41:05,996 --> 00:41:09,600 Now he complimented this insurance faith, not to the centurion, 768 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:10,634 to the people around. 769 00:41:10,634 --> 00:41:15,239 But this is the only person who or that to the person from Jesus's lips, 770 00:41:16,373 --> 00:41:19,376 the only person who says it to directly. 771 00:41:22,980 --> 00:41:25,483 These are the words I want to hear when I face God. 772 00:41:29,353 --> 00:41:32,356 When I face God. 773 00:41:32,890 --> 00:41:36,961 I want God to look over the course of my life, 774 00:41:38,262 --> 00:41:40,865 and I want to hear him say, well done, great 775 00:41:40,865 --> 00:41:43,868 was your faith. 776 00:41:45,836 --> 00:41:48,839 How great was your faith? 777 00:41:49,507 --> 00:41:50,574 He's going to say, Carl, 778 00:41:50,574 --> 00:41:54,411 you had nothing to offer me. You. 779 00:41:56,614 --> 00:41:59,617 But great was your faith. 780 00:42:00,417 --> 00:42:01,452 Let me ask you this question. 781 00:42:01,452 --> 00:42:04,822 If you face God right now, what words would you hear from his lips? 782 00:42:08,259 --> 00:42:10,628 Would they be? 783 00:42:10,628 --> 00:42:12,496 I'm so proud of you. 784 00:42:12,496 --> 00:42:12,830 Great. 785 00:42:12,830 --> 00:42:15,833 Was your faith. 786 00:42:17,001 --> 00:42:19,904 If those wouldn't be his words. 787 00:42:19,904 --> 00:42:22,907 Repent. 788 00:42:23,541 --> 00:42:26,544 Bring your life in line with his word. 789 00:42:27,545 --> 00:42:29,213 Give the complete allegiance 790 00:42:29,213 --> 00:42:32,216 of your life to Christ and His kingdom, 791 00:42:32,783 --> 00:42:35,786 and live by faith. 792 00:42:38,556 --> 00:42:39,790 There's no other record 793 00:42:39,790 --> 00:42:43,427 we have in Scripture of Jesus doing anything in the region of Tire and Sidon. 794 00:42:43,427 --> 00:42:46,864 This is the only account we have of Jesus doing anything in that region. 795 00:42:46,897 --> 00:42:51,201 He traveled a great distance to get there, and it would seem to me 796 00:42:51,201 --> 00:42:54,171 the only reason he was there was for this woman. 797 00:42:54,638 --> 00:42:59,543 He had a divine appointment scheduled with this woman, and had she walked out 798 00:42:59,543 --> 00:43:03,781 and not implored him in prayer, by his mercy, 799 00:43:03,781 --> 00:43:07,184 his grace, she would have missed what God had appointed. 800 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:12,656 And I would say this 801 00:43:12,656 --> 00:43:14,858 that God may have 802 00:43:14,858 --> 00:43:17,861 a divine appointment for you today. 803 00:43:21,832 --> 00:43:22,633 That he's traveled 804 00:43:22,633 --> 00:43:25,636 from heaven to the ranchos 805 00:43:25,803 --> 00:43:28,439 for an appointment with you. 806 00:43:28,439 --> 00:43:31,442 And if you walk out of this place 807 00:43:32,676 --> 00:43:34,912 without approaching his throne of grace 808 00:43:34,912 --> 00:43:37,915 in prayer. 809 00:43:39,116 --> 00:43:41,385 Asking for only his mercy and his grace, 810 00:43:41,385 --> 00:43:45,055 you're going to walk out of here having missed your appointment 811 00:43:45,055 --> 00:43:48,058 with him. 812 00:43:48,692 --> 00:43:49,426 And friends? 813 00:43:49,426 --> 00:43:52,196 I'm going to be real honest, real transparent with you. 814 00:43:52,196 --> 00:43:55,199 My heart breaks every week 815 00:43:55,933 --> 00:43:57,601 because I know that God 816 00:43:57,601 --> 00:44:00,704 has divine appointments for some of us in this place. 817 00:44:00,704 --> 00:44:03,941 And every week, every week. 818 00:44:07,978 --> 00:44:10,981 I give us the opportunity. 819 00:44:12,349 --> 00:44:14,818 To approach God's throne of grace. 820 00:44:14,818 --> 00:44:19,356 Well, we will receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need 821 00:44:19,390 --> 00:44:23,694 with somebody who will pray with us before God's throne. 822 00:44:23,694 --> 00:44:27,498 And the vast majority of you who would have an appointment 823 00:44:27,498 --> 00:44:31,635 with Jesus, walk out of those doors without ever taking advantage of it. 824 00:44:32,636 --> 00:44:33,904 This woman did not 825 00:44:33,904 --> 00:44:36,907 sit in her home alone praying. 826 00:44:43,947 --> 00:44:46,950 Every week there are people who said they got a prayer thing. 827 00:44:47,217 --> 00:44:48,852 I would love to pray with you. 828 00:44:48,852 --> 00:44:50,454 Let's approach God together. 829 00:44:50,454 --> 00:44:52,322 Let me help you carry this. 830 00:44:52,322 --> 00:44:56,093 Let's go to God and ask for his mercy and his grace together. 831 00:44:56,694 --> 00:44:59,697 He just may have an appointment with you 832 00:45:00,664 --> 00:45:03,667 to do something miraculous. 833 00:45:07,471 --> 00:45:10,841 And God is eager to keep that appointment 834 00:45:10,841 --> 00:45:13,811 for those whose hearts most desire him. 835 00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:18,882 And wrap this up Jesus rejects the mass of religion 836 00:45:18,882 --> 00:45:21,852 and rewards the desperate who cry to him. 837 00:45:24,421 --> 00:45:27,424 That's where his reward comes from. 838 00:45:31,061 --> 00:45:31,662 My question 839 00:45:31,662 --> 00:45:34,665 is, would you cry out to him today? 840 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,770 Let the one who is thirsty come. 841 00:45:42,673 --> 00:45:45,676 How thirsty are you? 842 00:45:49,546 --> 00:45:50,547 The reason why 843 00:45:50,547 --> 00:45:54,985 people are here who want to pray because they understand what is at stake. 844 00:45:55,152 --> 00:45:59,590 The reason why we do First Tuesday to meet together and pray. 845 00:45:59,590 --> 00:46:03,193 Because we know what's at stake and we know what's available. 846 00:46:06,029 --> 00:46:09,032 How thirsty are you? 847 00:46:10,701 --> 00:46:13,670 There will be people again today. 848 00:46:13,670 --> 00:46:17,775 Up front here, somewhere up here, who are willing and eager 849 00:46:17,775 --> 00:46:20,778 to pray with you. 850 00:46:23,547 --> 00:46:26,450 How thirsty. 851 00:46:26,450 --> 00:46:26,784 Father. 852 00:46:26,784 --> 00:46:29,153 Thank you. 853 00:46:29,153 --> 00:46:32,456 Thank you that you've loved us with an everlasting love. 854 00:46:33,157 --> 00:46:37,394 That nothing we do or don't do could separate us from your love. 855 00:46:38,962 --> 00:46:41,932 It's so grand and so profound. 856 00:46:43,834 --> 00:46:47,137 Forgive us for how we've oftentimes made it about us 857 00:46:47,471 --> 00:46:50,274 and our performance. 858 00:46:50,274 --> 00:46:53,277 Save us from dry religion. 859 00:46:54,211 --> 00:46:57,214 Save us from powerless activity. 860 00:47:00,117 --> 00:47:02,186 And father, I pray in this place, 861 00:47:02,186 --> 00:47:05,923 if you have a divine appointment with anybody in this place. 862 00:47:06,690 --> 00:47:09,693 Oh God, that they would not walk out of these doors 863 00:47:10,961 --> 00:47:14,731 without approaching your gracious throne of mercy 864 00:47:14,731 --> 00:47:17,734 with somebody else who will pray with them 865 00:47:18,702 --> 00:47:21,438 and together, as they approach your throne. 866 00:47:21,438 --> 00:47:26,076 God, I pray that you would respond according to the fullness of your grace 867 00:47:27,811 --> 00:47:30,814 in regardless of what they've done, what they're going to do 868 00:47:30,814 --> 00:47:34,318 in the courts with the fullness of your mercy and your grace. 869 00:47:34,318 --> 00:47:37,321 Oh, God. 870 00:47:38,255 --> 00:47:41,258 Have mercy and help. 871 00:47:42,092 --> 00:47:44,628 Turn our hearts to you. 872 00:47:44,628 --> 00:47:46,997 Soften what's grown heart. 873 00:47:46,997 --> 00:47:50,000 Enliven what's dying. 874 00:47:51,668 --> 00:47:54,671 And do in us what only you can do. 875 00:47:54,872 --> 00:47:57,441 In your name I pray. Amen. 876 00:47:57,441 --> 00:48:00,110 Church, I love you 877 00:48:00,110 --> 00:48:03,113 and I so desire us 878 00:48:03,747 --> 00:48:06,750 to experience the fullness of Christ. 879 00:48:08,118 --> 00:48:11,121 Don't walk out of here 880 00:48:11,555 --> 00:48:14,558 until he's met with you. 881 00:48:15,459 --> 00:48:16,193 Let's sing.