It's good to be back.
Today, Sean, I were able to be in Idaho last week,
with our young, with our family and our youngest, first birthday.
And so that was a lot of fun for us to get to be there and celebrate them.
We obviously love the opportunity we have to be with family.
But I miss you.
It's so good to be back.
You realize that when I have a week off to preach on, I go long the next week.
So just settle in.
But I thought Michael did a great job last week.
Wrapping up chapter ten.
Today we're going to get into chapter 11.
And, this this really sets up
this four part series that leads us, to Easter
in in our study of the book of Matthew, the first nine chapters.
We saw
how the disciples watched Jesus do ministry.
They just kind of observed for the first nine chapters
in chapter ten, Jesus said, observation is over.
Now you do it.
And so he employed them and sent them out
to do ministry as they had seen him do it.
And he had these the these classic words, the fields are ripe for harvest.
Pray to the father to send out workers into that field.
And then he sent them out to be those workers.
And that led us to
chapters, leads us to chapters 11 and 12.
And in chapters 11 and 12, what we see in these two
chapters is really the hinge point of Jesus's ministry.
People have been amazed at Jesus
and now they have to decide about him.
And chapters 11 and
12 make this hinge point in in in Jesus's ministry.
You said you've seen me.
Some of you are amazed and impressed, but now you have to decide.
And really, chapters 11 and 12 are the hinge point
for all of history.
It's the hinge point for you and I in faith.
And in these next four weeks, as we go through these two
chapters, chapter 11 and chapter 12, we're going to walk through
where these moments where people must now make a decision,
and I call it kind of the Easter arc over these next,
these, these next four weeks and these two chapters.
Because what we're going to see
starting today is people who doubt,
people who are indifferent,
people who are in opposition to.
And then
it's going to culminate with the death and resurrection.
Now it's it's in a different like you look at Matthew 1112
and they don't these don't will not seem like Easter passages,
but in chapter 12 that we'll look at on Easter is the first mention
in the Gospels of the resurrection.
Matthew's the first mention.
It in chapter 12 is the first mention of it.
And so it really does present
people who struggle with doubt,
those who are just indifferent, those who are opposed to it.
And it culminates with the
the statement, the promise of death and resurrection.
So it really is a an Easter look.
And we're going to get on it today.
Today, as we open chapter 11
is really geared to the disappointed believer,
the person who has followed
Jesus and been disappointed
and now probably has some doubt.
They've prayed.
They believed,
they've tried to follow.
They've done their best to be faithful,
but they've realized
the desires that they have, that they wish that they would have received
from God are different than what's been delivered by God.
You're better.
I call it expectation, frustration.
I've had expectations
and I'm frustrated with the outcome.
Anybody?
Yeah, this happens in every arena of life.
You get a new job and you're thinking, this is going to be fantastic, man.
I'm excited, I'm enthused, and then you're in that job for a while
and you think I just I need to get out right?
Teachers.
You open a business and you're so excited, you're thinking, man, everything's
going to be up and to the right, and we're going to just serve people
and make money, and then you're in it for all you think, man, this thing owns me
and I have no freedom.
You get married
and before you say you dues, it's great expectations.
And then you realize,
They're not changing
like I hoped they would.
You have a kid.
And when they're literally think, oh, this is the greatest thing in the world.
When they hit junior high, I think in boarding schools are not a bad
option.
It's the same thing with faith.
We come to faith.
We think, Lord, you know, I'm so excited of what you're doing,
what you're going to do, and then we're in it long enough
and we start thinking,
What I've what I've received is not.
But I was hoping for necessarily.
And most,
most of the time, what happens when we get in these moments
where what's been delivered is not been what we've desired?
We begin to quietly back away.
We don't pitch a fit, at least up front,
but don't raise a ruckus.
We just start to quietly back off.
And in every arena it's the same at work.
You're just not enthused.
You don't show up early, you clock out as soon as you're done
and you're just like, you know, my boss and his clients are just terrible.
Same thing with marriage.
You get disillusioned, disappointed,
just not as responsive.
You're not as joyful, you know?
So it's like, you know, you've been around forever.
You're probably gonna be around forever.
I just.
We start to slowly.
And it happens with our faith.
You know, originally we're excited and we're enthused and.
And then we're disappointed and disillusioned and you start backing off.
You used to serve.
You used to give.
You used to show up early and be excited and joyful and hopeful.
And now it's like,
For the people who are in that position,
John the Baptist is your mirror.
This is exactly what John the Baptist experienced.
John was faithful
because obedient.
And now he's sitting in a jail cell,
probably wondering if he got it wrong.
The disillusioned believer, the disappointed one.
The one who doubts no.
Let me tell you where I'm coming from.
As far as
this is concerned,
this is the holy and sacred
word of God.
I hear people
ask me all the time, how do I hear from Jesus more?
Here it is.
This, this.
Everything that God wants to say to you today
is here.
Everything that God wants to speak to us
about is right here.
When I open this,
I believe that God is breathing
his words into my mind and into my heart.
That's what the Bible is.
We are never
to get too comfortable with this.
We are never to get too lax about it.
We cannot spend enough time in Scripture.
We cannot get close enough to God through His Word.
Can't do it.
We ought never to get so.
Comfortable that this becomes optional.
And I'm not going to make mention of what
I want to make mention of the fact that
we can go to a place and hear about the word without ever bringing it with us.
I'm not going to say that.
Most of us
have grown up with this around the house.
Many of these around the house,
and it's just something we see
and it's there
and it's become so common
and so a part of the fabric of the landscape.
That it's not sacred anymore.
The fact that we can hold this in our hand.
And part of the reason is that we have this.
And I'm just going to look it up here and not.
And so as
I open the Bible and we come to chapter 11
when I see this, like this is the hinge point of,
he says, listen, you might be impressed with me or amazed by me,
or enthralled by me, or intrigued by me or curious about me.
But now
I'm going to force you
to make some decisions about me.
These are his words to understand this.
You understand this.
This isn't to be trifled with.
This isn't to be this blasé.
Like like that's how I approach this.
Especially all the letters that are in red.
And so let me read from you
the Holy Scripture, the words of God,
the very words of Christ.
I'm going to read the first 19 verses.
When Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples,
he went on from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
Now when John heard in prison about the death of Christ, he sent word
by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come?
Or should we look for someone else? Or should we look for another?
And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansing, the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.
What did you go out to the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken by the wind?
What then?
Did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing?
Behold, those who are soft clothing are in King's houses.
What then?
Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes.
I tell you more than a prophet.
This is he of whom it is written.
Behold,
I send my messengers before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen
no one greater than John the Baptist.
Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
For the days of John, from the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force,
for all the prophets and law prophesied, until John.
And if you were willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
He who has ears, let him hear.
But to what shall I compare this generation? It's
like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates.
We played a flute for you and you and dance.
We sing a dirge for you and you wouldn't mourn,
for John came neither eating or drinking.
And they say he has a demon.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking.
They say,
look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend, a tax collectors and sinners.
And he finishes with this statement, yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
Now let me tell you here, here's the difficulty.
We can sit up here, and I can talk forever about how sacred or holy this is.
In the words of Jesus, the words of God spoken us personally for us, Baba.
And it's like, it absolutely is.
And then we read something like this and we go, okay, wait, what?
What does all this mean?
Right?
Like, like this doesn't seem to have any bearing on me right now in the rituals.
That's why it's good for us to continually be in the word,
because we understand the word by the word,
so we understand it by reading it more and understanding more.
And that's why it's good for us to be, to hear together,
to talk about this together.
So we're going to I want to unpack this.
The big idea for today.
Don't miss this.
The Christian faith was never intended to be a place we attend.
It was intended to be the who we give allegiance to.
The Christian faith was never intended to be the place where we go.
It was intended to be the person that we give our allegiance to.
And in chapter 11, right now, chapters 11 and 12, Jesus has said,
I am the hinge point you're facing.
The hinge point for your future.
You're facing the hinge point for your eternity.
And I'm going to call for your allegiance.
And he starts
with those of us who are in a place
who have believed, to have trusted, who have tried,
and now there's some disillusionment
and doubt.
In verse one,
the Bible says, When Jesus finished in starting his 12 disciples,
he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
He said, listen,
pray the Lord, the harvest, like all these people, are moving in
to riverstone into sorrow.
So pray the Lord will harvest and workers that are there to reach them.
That's what he said.
And they said, okay, now tag, you're it.
You go reach them.
You got a lot of people coming in the ranchos.
Finally, 20 years of no growth and now it's exploding.
So the fields are ripe.
So pray that God sends people to reach them.
And now tag you're at go.
And so they do.
And Jesus follows behind him preaching and teaching in all the cities around there.
And then he says this.
Well, I know, let me say this.
In these two chapters, we're going to see two types of people,
and we're going to really see it today, two types of people, those who are glad
that somebody has gone,
and those who read this.
And are convicted that they want to be the ones to go.
Those are the two people going to see
those who are thankful that somebody did,
and those who are convicted and said, I want to be the one to.
And please understand that only one of those two types
are going to be people who advance the kingdom.
It's a hinge point.
Verse two.
Now in John,
heard it heard in prison about the deeds of Christ,
he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who's to come?
And should we look for somebody else?
John the Baptist
John was called,
gifted, and set apart well in the womb of his mother
to be the forerunner of Christ Jesus.
And John the Baptist were cousins, and God set John apart before he announced
even that this Messiah would be born to Mary,
called him and set him apart and said, you're my guy.
John, to be the one who will pave the way for the Messiah to come.
John was the
first one to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.
When John was baptizing people in the Jordan River,
the baptism of repentance, Jesus came walking towards
him and John said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
John was the first human to proclaim that Jesus
was the Messiah.
The John was called and set apart from God.
He lived in the wilderness.
He was tough.
He lived in the wilderness. He was rough.
He was a man who called sin.
Sin who called immorality, immorality.
He was no respecter of persons.
He confronted the king at the time
because the king at the time went to visit his brother
and fell in love with his brother's wife, seduced her, wooed her,
divorced his own wife, and took his brother's wife as his own.
And John says, you are wrong.
Your morality is wrong,
your worldview is wrong, and I'm going to call you out.
And as a result, they silenced him.
Cancel culture.
Back in Matthew 11.
And so now he's sitting in this jail cell
wondering if he got it wrong.
God, I was your guy.
I was you called me.
You asked me to do this.
I've been faithful.
And now you've left me in a jail cell.
You're my defender.
You're my shelter,
and you've left me in a jail.
Anybody?
I have to imagine.
John is thinking.
Why haven't you intervened yet?
Why haven't you changed this yet?
Have you ever felt like, God?
You've done so many for so, so much.
For so many others. When is it my turn?
I imagine John thinking.
Who has prepared your way?
Jesus. Me.
Not them.
Who was the first to acknowledge that you're the Messiah?
Me not them.
Who gave up all the comfort in their life to follow your call?
Me, not them.
And why are you so concerned about them
and not me?
Anybody?
God, I've served you more than them.
I've given more than them.
I've sacrificed more than them.
I've been more faithful than they have.
And yet somehow you're there and not here.
And so the question.
I want if I got it wrong.
John the Baptist was the greatest prophet.
The boldest preacher.
He's the one who baptized Jesus,
who prepared the way.
And now doubt.
I used to do.
I used to serve.
I used to sacrifice. I
used to give,
I used to witness.
I used to have hope.
I used to have joy.
But now
it's just changed.
I want to understand something.
That faith that stays is not the absence of questions.
It's the refusal to walk away because of those questions.
That's the faith that stays.
For some, for some of us, it's
not even that that you've been disappointed.
It's just that all this stuff is just too familiar.
For some of us, this has just been a part of our life
for as long as we can remember.
So church thing, the Bible,
Jesus,
it's just so familiar.
I mean, we don't
even Sundays like I'm not pick on me, but I'm just saying, like,
we don't even bring this to church anymore. Quite because it's just so familiar.
It's just so common.
The problem is that familiarity breeds
or becomes passivity, and passivity is the breeding ground for doubt.
Is it really that important anymore?
It's so familiar.
I'm just kind of passive about it, and I'm I'm
I remember the days when I was pretty hot and bothered by it all and as excited.
But now.
You know, is your work still worth it?
Is the sacrifice still worth it?
Was giving still worth it? Is a witness still worth it?
I don't.
Reminds me what Jesus said when he was writing to seven churches
as recorded in the book of Revelation, chapter two, verse four.
You're doing a lot of great stuff, man, he says, but I have this against you.
You've abandoned the love you had at first.
It's just become so common.
You become passive about it.
He's basically saying, you know what?
You walked away.
You're looking for something else.
And so
for faith to remain active at faith
must remain active in order for it to stay alive.
It's got to remain engaged.
And so look at what Jesus says, like John's
asked, are you are you are really you? Do we get it wrong? Did I get it wrong?
Should we look for somebody else that I misread this whole thing?
Is it still worth it?
Look at Jesus response, verse four and five.
Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have good news.
Preach to them.
That's his response.
Go tell John what you see.
Lame people walk.
Blind people see deaf people, hear the lepers or cleanse
the like dead people raise like, go tell him what you see.
What Jesus is
doing is he's quoting from the prophet Isaiah
in Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61.
Now look at the prophecy that Jesus is quoting from.
I'm going to read it to you,
Isaiah 35 then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped and then shall the lame man leap like a deer.
He's saying, look, this is the prophecy of the one who is to come.
The Messiah.
And then Jesus goes to Isaiah 61,
the spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.
Watch this to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
Jesus is saying, you go back and tell John the prophet, you that he knows
from the prophet Isaiah that I am that Messiah.
What do you notice about the prophecy
in Isaiah and what Jesus told John?
What do you notice anything.
They're not the same.
What did Jesus leave out
and what he said to John?
He left out liberty to the captives
and opened the prisons of those who are bound. Why?
Because John's in jail.
And I know at this point
John's like.
I. I know what's coming.
I get to that part.
And that what we do like John wasn't blind.
He wasn't deaf, he wasn't lame.
He didn't have leprosy.
He had this other thing that God said that he would do,
and he's sitting there without receiving it.
And I think
one of the things that Jesus is saying is
saying, John,
I am the Messiah.
You don't need to look any further,
but I will not deliver to you
what you desire.
Some of you need to hear that.
You've been disillusioned.
You're disappointed.
You have your doubts now.
You've been faithful.
You've prayed, you've given.
You served
back in the day.
It's just different now.
And Jesus would tell you, I am still the Messiah.
I'm still the King.
Don't back away.
But you will not get what
you've desired from me.
That's not my way for you right now.
And disciples say, okay,
I've pledged to you my allegiance,
and I'm not taking it back.
And I love what Jesus says in verse six.
Watch this, he says, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
This is profound.
Let me, let me to tell you what he's saying here when he says,
blessed is the one, it means supremely happy.
So you tell John,
I am the Messiah.
You don't need to look anywhere else, but you're not going to receive
what you're hoping you'll receive.
But, John, you'll be supremely happy.
If you're not offended by me.
Here's what he means when he says not offended by me, he says, bite.
If you're not offended by my way, by my plants, by my timing, by my agenda.
I know it didn't work out for you like you had hoped it would,
but you will be supremely happy when you're not offended
at the way of I've chosen to work out for you.
Do you understand?
See, most of us think about,
well, God, I will be happy when you.
And Jesus says, yeah,
you're offended at my way.
I think it's important for us to understand this word offended.
When Jesus says offended, it's the Greek word scandalized. So
it means don't fall away.
It's the same word that's used in Matthew 26 when Jesus says of his disciples,
all of you will fall away from me.
You'll all be scandalized,
because you'll walk away, because you're offended by my way of the cross.
Happy are those who are not offended by my way.
God, this isn't what I planned.
I am, it's not.
But I'm not going to be offended at what you've chosen.
I'm happy.
Are we who leave the course of our life to the discretion
of Christ?
When things don't go as planned, when things don't
go as our desire, we have to remember Psalm 75, verses six and seven.
It's a wonderful passage to familiarize yourself with.
It says this in Psalm 75.
Promotion.
Your advancement, your goals and desires and dreams
don't come from the East or West, the South.
They come from God alone.
He sets up, he takes down.
He accomplishes, he disposes.
Reward.
Promotion will come from God and nothing else.
When we leave it up to God.
And you know, this is part of our difficulty
because everything in our world, in our culture, is set up for self promotion.
It's all set up for me to go out and grab
and get to make happened
to coerce, to work, to make sure
in Psalm seven five says, listen all that may come, but it comes from God,
not from you. So just relax.
There's so much of our world that's set up to self-promote
right?
Look at me.
Affirm me.
Please. Someone tell me I'm a good parent
by liking all the things I do for my children.
Please, someone affirm who I am as an adult
by how successful my children are.
Promotion, promotion, promotion I God.
So what? You just stop all that?
Let me shut up.
Let me turn down.
And happy is the one
who can let God do that and not be offended by and how God does.
That's what Jesus is saying.
Did you like
when God called John and then God left John in the wilderness?
Did you know that John never traveled
beyond a mile radius of where he was in the wilderness?
Did you know that
he didn't have a big scope.
He had no power.
He had no position.
Popularity does not equal faithfulness.
And up until this point, he was content letting God
do with him whatever he wanted.
Now he had doubts because he was in pain.
I get it.
But he had to understand that crowds have never been the calling.
God, I'm going to trust you and let you do your thing.
And I'm not going to be offended by what that is.
There's so much joy in that.
There's so much release in that some of you are worn out, tired
because your life has been about self-promotion.
Look at verse seven through 11.
Where am I?
Right here.
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.
What did you go out to the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken by the wind?
What did you go out to see?
That a man dressed in soft clothes.
Behold, those who are soft clothed, they are in king's houses.
Well, then, did you go out to see a prophet? Yes.
I tell you, I am more than a prophet.
This is he of whom is written.
Behold, I send my messenger before your face.
You prepare your way before you.
Truly I say to you, among those born of women,
there's never been a risen one, no one greater than John the Baptist.
Yet the one who's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Here's what he.
It's so interesting.
Jesus.
There's this gentle correction of John by what he tells his disciples.
Just go tell him what you see in here.
The lame walk, the blind see, lepers are clannish, the dead raise.
It's a gentle rebuke.
Go remind John of what we both know in the prophet Isaiah.
There's a rebuke, but it's a gentle rebuke.
But to the public he champions John.
He celebrates him.
He says, look how great, John to the public.
He says, man, this is my guy.
So what did you think you went out to see?
You think this John was going to be swayed like a reed swayed by the winds?
He's not blown over by your opinion.
You can have all the hot air you want.
He doesn't care.
He's not moved by what you say.
Your opinion of him or the kingdom.
He's not going to bend because you do this down.
The other
he's no respecter of persons.
He lives for an audience of one.
What you say or think about him does not matter to him.
He's not rude or arrogant, he's just secure.
You think you're going to bend him with your opinion?
No words and feet. No what he says. What?
You ought to see a man dressed in soft clothes.
Listen, only soft men wear soft clothes.
And John's not soft.
That's what he's saying.
Soft men who who live in soft homes wear soft clothes.
And that ain't John,
the great greatest of all Old Testament prophets.
Old Testament. But he's in the book of Matthew.
That's New Testament, Old Testament, because he lived and died before the death
and resurrection of Christ,
and the impartation of the Holy Spirit and the gift of grace
in the gospel age.
So get this,
this John
called of God in his mother room, the forerunner of Christ.
The first to announce them is Jesus as the Messiah, the baptizer of Jesus,
the one who prepared the way.
As great as he was,
you and I live in the gospel age
of the resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit.
As far as that
dispensation is concerned,
we are so much greater than John.
Because we've been given grace.
John lived still under Old Testament law.
We live under grace with the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
You and I are as close to Christ
and the Kingdom as we choose to be.
Greater in this dispensation
than even John the Baptist.
And for most, it's just become too common
and familiar, and we've allowed ourselves to be too disappointed.
Look at verses 12 and following
from the days of John the Baptist.
And now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violence.
Take it by force. I love that line,
the violent take it by force.
That just sounds so
right.
Like, I mean, read it.
The violent.
Take it by force.
That doesn't sound very Jesus like, you know what I'm saying?
But it is.
This passage had been so mis misunderstood.
We'll talk about it.
For all the prophets in the law prophesied,
until John.
And if you're willing to accept it, here's Elijah, who is to come,
who has an ears to hear.
Let him hear.
The way of the kingdom,
the violent have taken it.
On the violent.
Take it by force.
The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence.
The violent take it.
For this is very difficult to really understand.
Jesus's intent here.
But but let me give you three ideas of this.
One is that the way of Christ
is the way of persecution.
Okay?
The way of Christ is the way of persecution
since the days of John the Baptist.
Until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered
violence and people try to take it by force.
Violence is the way of Christ, is the way of persecution.
Jesus was very clear about that.
If we're going to follow Jesus the way he entered, it
is going to lead to persecution.
It that has been the course of the Christian
since the Christians beginning.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of our faith,
literally, the blood of the martyrs.
We're very fortunate in this country
that this is not our story.
But if you travel with me to Cuba
and Ukraine, you will see this
in real time.
Our persecution is more along the lines possibly of financially or reputation.
So be it.
But the way of Christ is the way of persecution.
Don't you ever believe people like Ole Steen and all these other yuks who.
Well, all they say that spews out of the mouth is full of stuff
that stinks really bad.
But secondly, we have to understand that
the way of faith involves spiritual warfare.
That's the way of faith.
Ephesians six tells us we're not wrestling it's flesh and blood,
but against rulers, authority,
the powers of this dark world and evil forces of in the heavenly realms.
That's the fight. It is a fight.
We have to do that first.
Peter. Five eight.
The devil like a roaring lion seeking somebody to devour.
It's a it's a bat.
It's a war.
John 1010 the thief comes to steal,
kill and destroy.
The kingdom of heaven is a violent kingdom, spiritually speaking,
to understand.
But the third way we understand that is this
the kingdom of God does not advance in this world.
It doesn't advance in the ranchos. It doesn't advance in Riverstone.
It doesn't advancing to overthrow by passive men and women.
It advances by active men and women
who engage.
I mean, when Jesus
says, you, you'll you'll you'll push back the gates of hell.
That's a violent interaction by active people,
not by passive people.
We believe that disciples are active.
I'm passive people.
We will
charge the gates of hell with a water pistol.
It's a battle and we'll take it on.
We'll go fishing for Moby Dick in a rowboat
and take the tartar sauce, because we know we're going to win.
But it's going to be a fight.
The violent take it by force.
I'm not talking on human violence.
I'm not talking about protesting.
I'm not talking about standing on the corner of
of Blackstone and knees or whatever and shouting and hollering.
I'm not talking about that.
That's not what the Bible is talking about.
But certainly spiritual warfare from men and women
who are fearless in their witness, men and women who are fearless.
And they're giving men and women who are fearless, and they're serving
men and women who are fearless to go, who are fearless, to do.
This is the hinge point.
I love the fact that Jesus says, what do you expect to see in John?
A man in soft clothes?
Listen, he ain't soft because only soft men wear soft clothes.
He's a Carhartt boy, you know what I'm saying?
Like it's.
Casual Christianity never change.
The city
ever.
Look at what he says.
Verse 16. And following.
But to what shall I compare this generation?
I was like children sit in the marketplace and corner playmates.
We played a flute for you and you didn't dance.
You sing a dirge and you didn't mourn.
For John came neither eating or drinking.
And they say he has a demon.
The Son of Man came eating or drinking.
They say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard.
A friend attached to sinners.
Yet wisdom is justified by your deeds.
Here's what he's saying.
In some people are never satisfied, man,
no matter what you do, they're never satisfied.
John came abstain from everything they said.
Is he legalistic and demon possessed?
What idiots!
He says the Son of Man came.
I can call me a friend of sinners and a drunk and a glutton.
I don't know what you're talking about.
He said, listen.
Wisdom is justified by her deeds.
What he means is proved right.
What I do is proved right.
What I say is proved by it, by what I do.
See, the Hebrews had a really high value on wisdom,
so they would look at these things and say, listen, let's just talk wisdom wise.
Is it wise to servers it wise not to serve?
What's your answer?
Okay,
just wisdom wise.
It's wise to be generous and give to tithe.
Or is it wise not to?
Okay.
Just by wisdom, is it wise to witness or is it wise to keep your mouth shut?
And so Jesus saying, look, wisdom is proven right by its deeds.
Our problem is we don't value wisdom.
We value comfort.
And so we would say we of those same things, we would say this
does it make me happy.
And is it comfortable for me to serve or to not serve well,
it's more comfortable not to.
Does it make me more happy and more comfortable to tithe
or to save my money for my own wants?
Well, makes me more happy to spend everything on myself.
Does it make me happier, more comfortable to open my mouth and face ridicule,
or to keep my mouth shut and hope someone else does it well?
You understand?
This.
And so is a some wisdom.
So people write about what it does.
Here's what I know A resistant heart
always finds an excuse.
I tell my football team this all the time I get on the football field.
You're either going to find an excuse or find a reason.
You're gonna find excuse for why you can't.
Are you going to find a reason why you will?
And it's a real obvious.
And the players become real obvious
because the players never make an excuse why they can't.
They find a,
a reason to get it done.
And the kids who just want to wear a jersey
always have an excuse.
You follow.
Listen, 20 years ago,
we started this church with the conviction that Jesus alone changes lives.
And the reason we're here is because people
believed it was worth it and sacrificed
and gave and led and invited,
even when it was uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Now things are changing.
People are moving in.
Our community is changing.
It's expanding.
Schools are filling up rapidly.
And so we're left with two questions.
Is it still worth it?
And for those of you who are not here with us,
20 years ago.
Is it worth jumping in?
See what we're in?
And the hinge point of as a church right now
is these next ten years.
They will either be the next ten years
are the most effective and impactful years flip side has ever seen.
Or they'll be the year that we settle into comfort and retirement.
And so Jesus, in this passage,
basically what he's asking us, we translate this to us.
Basically, he's asking us, is this
you still with me?
Don't drift.
Don't start walking away
looking for something different.
Press in more now than you have before.
Because the Ranchos River has shown us
to show our right for harvest.
And active and violent.
Take it.
And the kingdom will advance by people.
Say. Yes, Lord, you still have my full allegiance.
I want you to pray with me.
Friends, I get it.
Sometimes we do get to those places in our lives, in our faith, where?
A little disillusioned and a little doubt.
I understand that God understands that.
And I'm thankful for his mercy and grace.
And I'm thankful that his mercy and grace offers us a way back.
In prayer between you and the father.
This is. This is his deal. It's his kingdom.
It's his word. It's his instruction.
You are his.
You're not mine.
You're not the church is. You are his.
I would encourage you in this moment.
If you've been in that place of disengagement,
disillusionment, doubt.
To allow this day to be the hinge point
where you come back.
Just in. Honestly, father.
I'm sorry.
You become very calm and your words become very calm.
And the whole church thing has become very common.
Tell them. See if I'm honest.
I've been disappointed, disillusioned.
I honestly don't think you've done enough.
So times.
I thank you that in your mercy, you.
You're still good.
And I'm going to speak by faith.
I believe you're good.
I don't want to be offended by your way.
I don't want to be offended anymore
by what you've allowed, chosen, or.
And so this morning.
I want to pledge to you again my allegiance.
I choose to be supremely happy
by you and your way.
It is enough.
Friends want one other option.
If you've never allow Jesus to be the ruler and leader
of your life.
To step into his kingdom,
I want to invite you in this moment to to pray.
This prayer won't save anybody. Only Christ saves.
But this prayer is part of our surrender to him and I want to invite.
You've never done that to do it. Now.
And you say, God, I admit that I've sinned and I've lived life my own way.
I made it,
and I believe that
Jesus died for my sins and rose again.
So forgive me
and I accept your forgiveness.
And today I commit to turn from my sin,
and I dedicate my life
and my allegiance to you.
Help me live for you openly,
without shame and without hesitation.
I'm yours.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
Listen.
I love you,
but please, please take these words
not as my words, but as God's words and their words of love.
And please take them as I preach them as a
as a confession of his love and goodness.
What I'd ask of you as these next,
these next three weeks leading up to Easter, you read chapters
11 and 12 over and over and over, but read them through the eyes of Easter.
There's going to sound a little weird, but just trust me.
Just read them through the eyes of Easter.
And so we're talking about doubt and disillusionment.
Today we're going to talk about opposition.
Next week. We're going to talk about indifference
in the weeks to come.
And then we're going to talk about this, this death and resurrection.
So, so take time and and pour into this word
these two chapters over and over and over, and just let the spirit speak to you.
You understand?
Then secondarily, enjoy some tacos
as our thank you for your generosity
and your prayers on Mexico team's behalf.
Okay, so jump in with that.
Let's sing one more song.