WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.640 Well, sermon scripture reading. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:05.679 We continue in the Gospel of Mark this morning. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:07.360 Mark 12. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:16.879 We have a few more questions that Jesus has presented to him, following on from last week. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.079 And so hear now the reading of God's holy word. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:29.199 And Sadducees came to him who say that there is no resurrection. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:44.799 And they asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:52.079 There were seven brothers, the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.920 And the second took her and died, leaving no offspring. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.000 And the third likewise. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:02.799 And the seven left no offspring. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.640 Last of all the woman also died. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:12.719 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.239 For the seven had her as a wife. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:25.120 Jesus said to them, Is it not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:32.560 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:39.519 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses and the passage about the bush? 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:46.879 How God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:52.000 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.000 You are quite wrong. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:07.760 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, Which commandment is the most important of all? 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:15.599 Jesus answered, The most important is hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:23.599 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.080 The second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.800 There is no other commandment greater than these. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.680 And the scribe said to him, You're right, teacher. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.319 You have truly said that he is one, and that there is no other besides him. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:55.919 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding, with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:06.240 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.520 And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:13.120 Amen. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:32.080 Lord Jesus, we thank you for revealing yourself to us that we might look upon you, that we might even enter into a greater understanding of who you are, to see you, to behold you. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:40.240 And even now, Lord, through your spirit to know you more intimately and deeply. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:42.960 Lord, would you give us that? 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.840 Would you give us to know you more deeply and intimately? 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:49.680 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:50.639 Amen. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:06.719 So as I mentioned earlier, we have a series of questions that we've been going through over the last uh, well, last week and then a few weeks prior to that, since we had a little bit of an intermission. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.439 But Jesus here is continuing to answer some questions. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:18.000 He's in the temple at this point, not long before he goes to the cross. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:28.480 And he's he's surrounded by the chief priest and the and the Sanhedrin, those who made up the Sanhedrin. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.600 And he's publicly refuting their arguments in the temple. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.720 The questions so far have been questions related to authority. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:41.680 That was the first question. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.560 And then the second question, as we looked at last week, was regarding uh taxes. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:56.399 Uh at this point, now though, as we enter into this passage, it's the Sadducees who take the turn to ask Jesus a question. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.319 And so we don't know a lot about the Sadducees. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:08.639 We know more about the Pharisees and scribes and others in regard to history, historians like Josephus. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:20.160 But we do know that one of the big distinctions between them and other rulers, like the Pharisees, lay with the fact that they didn't believe in the resurrection. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.319 The old saying is that's why they were sad, you see. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:39.199 And uh and so we we we read in Acts that they rejected belief in angels as well, and they denied that we possess an immaterial spirit. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:48.639 And so, in that sense, they were materialists, uh focused on what could be seen and empirically proven. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:59.040 The scriptures, as they regarded them, was a moral code to follow, holding only to the first five books. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:08.560 And so they come to Jesus with this question that shows how disingenuous the question is, because it's about the resurrection. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:23.920 Now, if we just zoom out for a second, just to again understand why Jesus is here in the first place, he's in this situation because he has revealed that he is the Christ, that he is the Messiah, that he is God in the flesh. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.040 And of course, these men do not believe him. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.279 And so they want his life because of it. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:43.360 That's the claim that even today many people say I'm willing to listen to some of the things in the scriptures, but but that's going too far. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.360 People still take offense at it today. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:53.519 That Jesus is God in the flesh and that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.079 That's the pill they couldn't swallow. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:03.600 And so, as was mentioned last week, those these questions that are posed to Jesus are meant to trap him. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.120 Uh like a snare that's laid down on the ground. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:30.079 You know what a snare is perhaps like, where you lay it down and then you try to disguise it with perhaps some things uh around it in order to make it blend into its surroundings so that whatever it is, an animal or something else, whatever wanders around, wanders into it unexpectedly. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.319 There's premeditation involved here in these questions. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.439 These are thorny questions that are being used against him. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.560 And so again, this question relates to the resurrection. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.079 To the Sadducees, this question is a moral conundrum. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:56.399 In the resurrection, whose wife will this woman be? 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:08.319 Given that she had many husbands in her life, and given that Moses' instructions were followed, Jesus, who are you gonna pick? 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:09.839 Right? 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:11.519 Trap laid. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.680 Now let's wait. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:15.439 Who is Jesus gonna pick? 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:16.800 Is it gonna be number one? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:17.920 Is it gonna be number two? 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:19.680 Is it gonna be number three? 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:21.199 So on. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:24.560 A thorny issue to respond to. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:32.639 I suspect it was it was probably a proof text that fueled their unbelief in the resurrection. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:45.679 This encounter reminds us, I think, how much unfairness can take place when it comes to moral questions, spiritual conversations. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:52.000 Hearts looking for reasons to add fuel to their unbelief. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:09:02.399 We can probably think of the many times when we have entered into conversation with others over the course of a day or a week or even a lifetime. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:09.279 Where we've had conversations about spiritual or moral issues. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.080 Some we might categorize as having been genuine, humble dialogues. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:31.759 Others, perhaps, people have wanted to stir up debate, and yet others perhaps have been premeditated, they've wanted to present a question meant to try to embarrass and discredit. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:42.399 And it may cause us to wonder sometimes how would I respond to this kind of trap, knowing how high the stakes are? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:45.840 What would I do or say? 00:09:47.840 --> 00:10:00.159 I think we can sometimes fear those kind of thoughts, those questions, those scenarios, these conversations that may await us. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:04.720 What if I don't speak with truth and clarity? 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:08.320 What will that look like? 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:09.759 What would I say? 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:24.159 I think it reminds us of the promise that Jesus gave us that the Spirit will help us in such times, and that we need not be anxious or worry about what we might say. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:30.320 To illustrate this in his book, Against the Flow, Oxford professor John Lennox. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:44.320 He tells a story about an encounter with a Russian follower of Jesus who spent years in a Siberian labor camp for the crime of teaching his children about the Bible. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.919 He shared with Lennox of his experience. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.639 Lennox writes of this man. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.799 He says, He described to me that he had seen things that no man should ever have to see. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:06.320 I listened, thinking how little I really knew about life, and wondering how I would have feared under his circumstances. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:13.759 As if he had read my thoughts, he suddenly said, You couldn't cope with that, could you? 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:20.240 Embarrassed, I stumbled out something like, No, I'm sure you're right. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.639 He then grinned and said, Nor could I. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:30.399 I was a man who fainted at the sight of his own blood, let alone that of others. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:38.960 But what I discovered in the camp was this: God does not help us face theoretical situations, but real ones. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.679 Like you, I couldn't imagine how one could cope in the gulag. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:57.440 But once there I found that God met me exactly as Jesus had promised his disciples when he was preparing them for victimization and persecution. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.279 And that gives me confidence. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:20.000 So that whatever comes our way, whenever it comes our way, and not necessarily a moment before, he will give us what we need. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:29.840 So take heart the Spirit's willingness to give you what you need in such hours. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.399 And we see that here with Jesus and conversing with these men. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:39.039 It's quite remarkable that Jesus even converses with them in many respects. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:46.000 But we see Jesus here enter into this hard conversation of uh facing opposition. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.799 And we see him express some beautiful graces here, right? 00:12:50.960 --> 00:13:14.399 Knowing their schemes, knowing their intentions, knowing their plots, knowing the bee's nest that he's walking into that's stirring, we see the graces of his steadfast love that is even willing to speak and acknowledge and answer them and responding to them all to them at all. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:22.000 But also we see his courage, patient endurance, along with profound wisdom. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:37.679 And those are the graces that when present, even in situations where unbelief and impure motives are present, it reminds us that we all have a conscience. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.559 And where there's a conscience, there's always hope. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:53.919 There are some conversations that I've had that have not led to visible change in the moment from anyone that I've been engaged with. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.639 I've tried to be gracious, but I haven't seen any change. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.440 We can't determine that. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:06.080 But on other occasions there has been. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:15.120 There has been a seed, I would say, a seed that has invited and led to deeper inquiry. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:28.799 Perhaps in the form of another question, a deeper curiosity, something that might have been lodged in that conversation that's been taken home and been brought up later. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.759 In fact, we see an example of this in verse 28 here. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.000 Notice after Jesus responds to the Sadducees, a scribe comes to Jesus with a question of his own. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:40.559 Why? 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:44.799 Well, because of the manner and the good answer that Jesus gave. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.799 Yet another question of his own for Jesus. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:58.399 If violence or if hotheadedness had run the show, I don't think he would have come and that question been presented. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:07.200 And it ought to encourage us once again to entrust ourselves to the Lord whenever we face such conversations. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:12.159 God's power, God's ability to bring good out of evil. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:18.159 Out of the eater is brought something to eat, something sweet. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:19.360 God can do that. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:27.200 He can bring out of the eater of hard conversation something to eat. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.279 And even something sweet. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:38.639 And so Jesus, in response, he says, There's no giving in marriage in the resurrection. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:45.200 In that sense, we'll be like angels, uh communion with God being central. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:49.519 And then it gets to the root of the issue, the flaw and their whole outlook. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:56.399 He says, your problem is you neither know the scriptures nor the power of God. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.360 Now that's quite a rebuttal, isn't it? 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:01.440 How many? 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:06.240 It reminds us a little bit about the nature of error. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.559 How many errors come from a faulty root system? 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:11.440 Right? 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:18.240 How many conversations are poisoned because they come from an impure, unbelieving heart? 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:24.960 How many, how often are moral issues able to be traced back to greed? 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:26.000 Right? 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:30.639 Or sexual morality traced back to a covetous heart? 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:43.200 If a harsh word were to be examined under a microscope, how often would it reveal ill will or selfish gain? 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:52.080 How often error comes from a faulty root system? 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.039 This is the problem. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.720 This is the root, Jesus says. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.159 You know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:05.200 Now, in a sense, they did know the scriptures, right? 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.039 They just quoted one. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:14.240 And it explains Jesus' reference then to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:18.079 I mean, they held to those books. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.319 What's the point? 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:30.400 Jesus is making it clear that God manifested himself to Moses not as the I will be or the I was, but as the I am. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:34.319 The living God. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:41.759 Jesus is saying to the Sadducees, he's saying, You know nothing of this present power. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:47.359 You know nothing of this present reality. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:51.279 The kingdom of God here is in your midst. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.400 The king is standing before you. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:00.079 And you have no idea. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.839 You know nothing of this present power of the I am. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:16.960 And so it leads us to ask, well, how is it then that someone can know the scriptures and its power and and yet not another person? 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:18.240 Right? 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:19.279 What's the answer? 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:25.440 Is it that scripture is powerful on some occasions and not on others? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.240 No. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:28.880 The answer is no. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.599 All scripture is God breathed, right? 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.640 The issue lies in the heart. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.640 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:50.720 The scriptures are not just some ancient textbook passed down over long periods of time. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:55.680 Just a just a dead letter, a moral rule book. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:01.599 And you know, it's just that's that's many have that impression today. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:10.000 They consider the Bible and they characterize Christians by this that there are people who follow certain rules. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:10.720 Right? 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:17.680 I've been part of many conversations where where that's been the impression you have your rules. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.240 And it might come from your book. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:25.359 You have your morality, but that's not for me. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:28.720 That's that's old-fashioned, out of date. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:39.039 And all they're giving evidence to when they say that is the fact that they're strangers to its present power to be at work in their own lives. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.119 How about you? 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:51.440 Are you acquainted with a power that's at work through the scriptures? 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:59.680 Do you find cries arising on your heart as you hear the word preached? 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.799 As the Bible is read? 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.599 Do you find yourself expressing that need to Jesus? 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.079 That's the kind of power that's howled out in the scriptures. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:24.720 And so if we sense a stirring in our hearts, showing us, revealing to us a sense of need, that's his mercy to you and I. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:39.759 If you are familiar with his power, then you know that the scriptures show us our need on every page, and that every page also whispers his name. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.559 He's not the God of the dead, he's the God of the living. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:53.359 Present to meet and transform the humble and needy heart. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:59.119 Anyone else who thinks otherwise, as Jesus says, is quite wrong. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.400 So that's the first question. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:20.400 And so the answer from Jesus here sends the Sadducees into a little bit of debate of their own, and they huddle together and and frenzy and deliberate. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:30.720 And while they're debating this response, how to handle this response from Jesus, another man comes up, a scribe, to ask a question of his own. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:40.559 One of the scribes who is even more familiar with the scriptures takes his opportunity and and and he's seen that Jesus knows a thing or two. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:41.359 Right? 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.720 He he finds agreement with Jesus, even. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:50.240 But he wants to test Jesus with a question of his own. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:59.759 And it gives us a little bit of a hint in Matthew's gospel that the question is coming from a place to test Jesus, and so it's it's more. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.480 More of him saying, I'm pretty confident in what I know. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.960 And I think I'm the superior teacher here. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.640 And he's confident that he knows the stuff. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.160 But he wants to test Jesus to see what he will say. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:20.160 And the substance of his question is one of importance. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.799 What is the greatest commandment, teacher? 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.039 What would you say? 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.440 The thing most important. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:35.839 And Jesus answers him from the Shema, Deuteronomy 6, 4, 5. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:40.240 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:47.279 You shall love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.720 The second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.960 There is no other commandment greater than these. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:59.680 And the man he agrees with Jesus. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:02.559 He says, Well, you're right, teacher. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.680 Very good. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:04.720 That's correct. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:05.920 You're right. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.359 But then he adds his own commentary. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:16.880 He says, What you've said is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:26.240 And that's instructive for us because remember, there were many at the time going and presenting offerings and sacrifices in the temple themselves. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.240 There's wisdom associated with what he said. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:39.119 Passages like 1 Samuel 15, 22, Hosea 6, 6, the prophet Micah all speak to this. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:45.440 But what Jesus says next is an amazing response. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:51.279 He says, You are not far from the kingdom. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:54.480 Wow. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.200 Mic drop moment. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.359 That's an amazing statement. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:02.880 You're close. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.240 You're orthodox. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:11.759 You agree with the scripture and with me. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:14.160 You interpret it correctly. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:16.240 You're close. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:27.440 Jesus is saying, though you give an intellectual assent to the truth, that's not enough to enter the kingdom. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:34.880 Now that might head a little close to home because it is close to the kingdom. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:47.759 But I think it serves as a warning against right notions of the truth without the fruit that comes from a right relationship with God. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:49.839 J.I. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.400 Packer characterizes the orthodox intellectual in this way. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:25:29.759 He says constantly they present themselves as rigid, argumentative, critical, champions of God's truth, for whom orthodoxy is all, upholding and defending their own view of the truth, with a Calvinist, Arminian, dispensational, or Pentecostal, National Church, Reformist or Free Church, separatist, or whatever it might be, is their leading interest, and they invest themselves unstintingly in this task. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.640 There is little warmth about them. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.039 Relationally, they are remote. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.319 Experiences do not mean much to them. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:45.599 Winning the battle for mental correctness is their one great purpose. 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:58.319 They see, truly enough, that in our anti-rational, feeling-oriented, instant gratification culture, conceptual knowledge of divine things is undervalued. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.640 And they seek with passion to write the balance at this point. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:05.920 What is his point? 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:17.440 His point is this conceptual knowledge kills if one does not move on from knowing notions to knowing the realities to which they refer. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:26.240 In this case, from knowing about God to a relational acquaintance with God Himself. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:45.920 And as I've read that this week, I've been led to ask the Lord this week, Lord, save me from settling for a conceptual knowledge about you. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:50.240 I'm convicted by this. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:52.799 I'm humbled by this in new ways. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:27:08.160 My cry is, Lord, shape me, shape me deeply to have this understanding, this relationship that is not just conceptual, but that knows the reality of your presence with me. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:14.079 To know more of your heart, to know more of your mind, that leads to know more of your will. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:30.559 Grant me to walk humbly with you in a way that is humble, that when I sin says, I'm sorry, not because I know better, but because it offends a personal God who I love and who loves me. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:42.079 Guard me against a cold intellectualism that doesn't result in being more acquainted with the warmth of your love. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:52.400 That bears all the pleasing fruits that he so graciously and gloriously displays. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:57.119 Oh, how important this is. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:08.799 When I married Stacy, I I thought my ability at that time to love was somewhat mature. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.400 I grew up in a Christian family. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:21.359 I was in seminary at the time, studying the original languages and systematics and the Bible. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:25.279 I sacrificed things to move to the states. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:40.160 But I soon found that I needed to grow in my apprehension and experience of the heights and the depths and the breadths and the lengths of love. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:56.079 Where love really has to be displayed. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:06.480 And it reminded me of how needy I really was for the love of Christ to fill my heart. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:08.160 Day to day. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:27.839 If I have prophetic powers, he says, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:35.279 If I give away all that I have and I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:36.240 Right? 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:39.119 It's a familiar passage to many of us. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:48.079 But are we aligned with these words as greatest importance and the reality to which they bear? 00:29:50.640 --> 00:30:01.359 Because the humbling refrain of this commandment as I read it again is the all, all, all, all. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:12.079 It's not a little bit of, well, put it this way, a little bit of moral reform is not enough. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:12.640 Right? 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:16.160 A little bit of change here and there doesn't accomplish all. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:18.880 The commandment has no room to budge. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.680 It doesn't allow for close enough or mostly done or thereabouts. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:31.119 To accomplish the whole law and even break it, as James tells us in one point is to break the whole entire law. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.039 And if we're still under the law, we will be judged by it. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:43.119 Close enough is not good enough. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:44.799 All means all. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:51.599 All my heart, all my soul, all my strength, all my will. 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:53.119 I mean, that's a high bar. 00:30:56.160 --> 00:31:00.799 And the truth is that you and I can't love like that. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:01.759 Right? 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:04.079 We can't live up to that standard. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:08.640 Which is why Jesus not only needed to speak, but to die. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:12.240 All right, that's where the gospel comes in. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:32.240 The gospel that says there is someone who has come, one who has done it, who has lived the all, who has kept the law in its absolute perfection, who has fulfilled all the necessary requirements in their totality. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:43.359 And not only that, but who's paid the penalty necessary for not having kept all that was required of us. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:51.279 And not only that, but who was willing to impute all of his perfect record to us. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:32:02.880 So that those who repent and receive him can be counted as those who in his eyes are seen to have done it all. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:05.200 Right? 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.839 Jesus has done it all. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:11.680 The question is, is he all we need? 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:15.359 Are you and I covered by his blood? 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:27.920 Is his love being received and growing inside of us, knowing that in him we have done it all? 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:38.480 Because you see, the one who has affected this on our behalf is none other than the king. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:46.480 The king who says to us, abandon all of your efforts to rule your own life. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:58.640 Abandon all of your attempts to produce a kingdom of your own and enter my kingdom as a recipient of my love. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:11.759 Jesus, you see, enters into our barrenness in order to birth and impart new life. 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:13.839 That's why he came. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:24.480 And his intention is not to make us wallow in guilt. 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:48.160 His intention is that by this love coming not just something abstract out there, but coming into our hearts and being filling our hearts is something that then causes us to carry Jesus around with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, cherished, loved, served, and obeyed. 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:55.039 As faith makes him consciously real and personal to us. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:07.599 And so I wonder, I wonder sometimes what happened to this man. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:11.519 Did he enter the kingdom of God? 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:14.159 Or did he only get close? 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:17.519 We don't know. 00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:30.000 But what we do know is, and I would say this don't let close be your stirring your destiny. 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:32.960 Close doesn't have to be trivia. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:38.079 Don't let his love pass you by. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:50.480 The door is open to a humble heart who comes to him with an unwavering trust. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:57.280 That he has done it all and would give you all if you would receive him. 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.639 The I am is here to win you. 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:08.400 And perhaps that's true of you this morning. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:18.880 As we respond this morning at a moment, we've chosen a song that acknowledges a clear sense of our need, right? 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:27.199 And the the invitation to a repentant, needy heart that Jesus so graciously responds to. 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:33.280 Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:35.440 That's what we have to offer. 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:41.280 But Jesus is ready, stands to save you. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:44.960 Full of pity, love, and power. 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:48.480 We're not able, but he is able. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:51.360 He is able, he is willing. 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:53.840 Doubt no more. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:02.960 May this be a song that finds acceptance in your heart and an unwavering trust. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:05.360 Let's pray first. 00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:16.800 Oh Lord, we praise you and we thank you for the depths that we've comprehended once again of your love. 00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:38.320 Lord, we confess that it is a high bar, but Lord, it only serves to remind us once again of the heights and depths and breadths and lengths that you were willing to go to in order to save us and to win us and to receive us. 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:56.159 Father, we pray that you would make us those who are acquainted with those who are being filled and fueled as we walk and journey through life with this same love. 00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:07.039 Lord, we pray that it would come to expression in day-to-day conversations, engagements, life. 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:12.480 And Father, we ask and pray that we would glorify you and them all. 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:15.599 And so we pray and ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:16.400 Amen.