WEBVTT 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:56.560 I hope you'll join us on this journey as we follow Jesus towards the empty. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:04.000 On the front end of spring break, our family spent a few days at Lake Washita. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:12.239 And while we were there, one of the activities uh that we um enjoyed was a trail ride on horseback. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:19.920 It had been at least a decade since I had gotten on top of a horse and gone for a horse ride. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:22.239 And it's just kind of my nature. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.799 When I haven't done something in a long time, I get a little bit nervous. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:29.359 I wasn't nervous about an accident. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:32.560 I wasn't nervous that I would embarrass myself, right? 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:39.519 Um, that I would be on some kind of YouTube or TikTok video of a trail ride gone wrong. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:47.599 And so in the hours leading up to this horseback ride, I just kind of had to keep telling myself, uh, how hard can this be? 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.280 I mean, how hard can this be? 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:54.319 Like kids from across our county go to Hope Landing every single summer for horseback riding camp. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.760 And I hear no reports of anything going wrong, right? 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:10.639 So certainly a man in his 40s, I would think, could get on top of a horse and ride it around a trail because this horse had gone on that exact same trail hundreds, if not thousands, of times. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:23.120 And you would think if this horse had gone hundreds and thousands of times on this same trail, it would know all you need to do is to follow the horse that's right in front of you, and everything will be okay. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.960 So I'm thinking all of these things as I get on top of the horse and I saddle my horse. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:41.199 His name is Bo, and the stable hand comes by and pats Bo on the side of the head, and she looks at me in all seriousness, and she just says, just so you know, Bo likes to do his own thing. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:52.800 She said, We're gonna be out on the trail, and um he is going to want to go off the trail whenever the opportunity presents itself. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:10.080 She then added, You can let him do that and let him go off the trail, and eventually he'll find his way back, or you can grab the reins, grab blow on the reins, and give him a firm tug to try to keep him in line with everybody else. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.759 Her comments got my attention because, golly, she was right. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.159 Um, every opportunity, and there was always an opportunity. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:29.360 That horse named Bo always wanted to go left or he wanted to go right, and he never wanted to go just straight ahead, following the horse that was in front of him. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:40.240 Now, especially at the beginning of the ride, when Bo would make that move and you could see when he was gonna make that move, his head would turn and he'd start to sniff. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:46.560 I'd give him a big tug and try to get him to stay in line, follow that horse in front of him. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.400 And you know what that horse would do? 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:49.520 He would stop. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.840 He would snort and he would wait. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:04.879 He would stop and he would snort and he would wait until I let go of the reins, until I loosened my grip on the reins so he could go the way that he wanted to go. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:09.919 Bo, he had his mind made up at the very beginning of that trail ride. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:16.560 He was gonna go on this uh trail walk for himself as the horse, and it would be on his own terms. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:22.720 He was gonna cut through all the brush, and he was gonna weave in and out of all the trees. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:27.439 So by the middle of our ride, Bo had worn me out. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.639 I'd been dodging all this thorny brush. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:36.879 I had been avoiding all these low-hanging branches that occasionally whop me on the side of the head. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:43.920 And then he decided to skirt between these two trees, and he made it through the trees just fine, but my knee did not. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:49.199 He skirted through them and he just rammed my knee into the trunk of a tree. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:56.160 He was just doing what he wanted to do, refusing to follow that horse in front of him. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:02.560 He was following what he saw with his eyes and what he wanted with his heart, and I was really frustrated. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:07.279 I was frustrated with Bo for all the reasons I've already listed for you. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.800 And I was frustrated a little bit with myself. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:30.800 Not just because I couldn't control a horse, but also because riding Bo on that day and seeing him always want to go to the left or to the right and never following the horse that was right in front of him felt like a metaphor for my life. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:34.560 And maybe it feels like a metaphor for your life. 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:52.000 That too often I follow just what I see with my eyes, or I follow what I want or desire in my heart, and I just decide I'm going to do life on my own terms. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.079 Which means I don't follow the one who's right out in front of me. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.079 I don't follow my leader, I don't follow my Lord. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.800 We've been singing about him all this morning. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.360 His name is Jesus. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:17.439 Today we're continuing our series that we began last week, Following Jesus, a series that will take us all the way to Easter Sunday. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:30.639 Like we talked about last week, the main reason that you and I don't follow Jesus Christ is because we have forgotten that important childhood lesson of be careful who you follow. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.360 In other words, we follow the wrong leader. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:42.000 It could be a friend, it could be a family member, a celebrity, a TV personality, or that wrong leader could be you. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:55.279 Yeah, the reason you won't answer or I won't answer the call to get up and to follow Jesus Christ is because many days I'm just like that horse named Bo. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.759 I want to follow my eyes, I want to follow my heart. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.199 I want to do life on my own terms. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.759 I want to have it my way. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:09.920 Now, this isn't a new problem. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:17.360 This isn't a new kind of outlook on life for people or even for God's people. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.680 In fact, this has been a constant struggle for the people of God. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:31.600 For thousands of years, they have uh wanted to follow their eyes or just listen to their heart or just live life on their own terms. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:46.399 In the Old Testament, after the nation of Israel had followed God through the wilderness for 40 years and finally they had arrived in the promised land, um, a new period in the life of Israel begins. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.480 It's called the period of the judges. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.319 So think about that. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:59.120 They've arrived in the promised land after 40 years in the wilderness, 40 years when God proved his character. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:04.079 For 40 years, God proved that he was faithful, he always provided for them. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:12.319 For 40 years, God proved that he was powerful, he was constantly defending and fighting for his people. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:17.600 For 40 years, God proved that he was merciful, he would forgive their sins. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:22.160 For 40 years, God proved his character. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:30.879 And you would think when the people finally arrive in the land, they would happily follow God's lead. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:37.279 But the book of Judges tells a completely different story. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:44.000 Throughout the book of Judges, the people never go straight, they always go left or right. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:47.840 They never follow the horse of the Lord that's right out in front of them. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:54.639 Instead, they just do and live life on their own terms, how they want to live it. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:05.279 The book of Judges just tells this downward spiraling story of God's people and their deepening corruption. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:11.279 The very end of Judges summarizes, gives this assessment of the people. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:12.399 It says this. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.120 Judges 21, verse 25 says this. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:20.879 It says, At that time, people did whatever they felt like doing. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:22.559 Hear it one more time. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.799 At that time, people did whatever they felt like doing. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.600 Let's think about that assessment at the very end of Judges just for a moment. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.240 First, let's let's highlight the word people. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:38.559 Yeah, the word people. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:41.840 No one is excluded. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.799 That means everyone is included. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.240 This verse diagnoses an epidemic. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.840 And it also serves as an indictment. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.960 I'm not talking about one person or one family or one clan or one tribe. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:02.720 I'm talking about the people. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.960 I'm talking about everybody. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.759 Let's go and highlight another word, the word whatever. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.720 Or as some people say, whatebbs, if you like that. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:15.919 Whatever. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:22.639 No opinion, no attitude, no behavior is off the table. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.879 In the time of the judges, anything goes. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.440 So why did the people do whatever? 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.159 Well, it's because of the next word. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:35.039 Felt. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:44.000 People during the time of judges were guided by how they felt. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.399 If it makes me happy, I'm all for it. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.440 If I think it'll give me fulfillment, sign me up. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:56.559 If I think it's gonna make me successful or bring me pleasure, give me a double. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.600 And then finally, the word doing. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:07.759 In the time of judges, the people not only felt all these things, they acted upon their feelings. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:16.000 They had behaviors and habits and ways of life that were driven by how they felt. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:24.960 That was an assessment of God's people during the time of Judges. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.679 It's that phrase, at that time. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:33.759 At that time, this is the assessment of how God's people were living in the world. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:38.080 But do you think it could also apply this way? 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.639 And we could say, at this time? 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:47.440 At this time, people do or did whatever they felt like doing. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:50.480 Like we can just make it all present tense. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:14.240 It's easy to apply that assessment to our country and to our culture and say, yes, people do do whatever they feel like doing at this time. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.480 Nothing is off the table. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.240 Everything goes. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:27.360 But that isn't the assessment that Judges 21, verse 25 wants to make. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:34.559 Judges 21, 25, if it's at this time, it wants to make an assessment of God's church. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.840 This is about God's people, it's who it was written to. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:38.399 God's people. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:45.039 It wants to make an assessment of God's church, of Christian homes, of individual followers of Jesus Christ. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:51.039 And for far too long, we've allowed ourselves to believe this lie. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:13:00.320 That we can have it all, live life according on our own terms, and still follow Jesus. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.240 That's the wide road that leads to destruction that we talked about last week. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:12.159 Following Jesus is a narrow road. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:18.720 A road where we deny ourselves, take up a cross, and follow him. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:25.279 And the only antidote for a lie is to hear the truth. 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:31.360 To hear a truth spoken by a prophet. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:42.799 So that's why in week two of our series, we're going to get up close and personal with Jesus, and we're going to hear Jesus speak to us as a prophet. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:44.399 Now listen closely. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:48.879 I'm not saying Jesus is just a prophet as other religions teach. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:49.919 I'm not saying that. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.039 I'm not saying he is only a prophet, merely a prophet. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.840 No, Jesus is much more than a prophet. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:57.600 He is the Savior of the world. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:59.759 He is the only Son of God. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:17.279 But if you want to follow Jesus Christ, if you want to read the Gospels and understand why Jesus does what he does, why he speaks as he speaks, you need to understand him at many points through the lens of an Old Testament prophet. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.519 That he is fulfilling that office in the Old Testament. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:27.360 He is the true and greater prophet, the one foretold to Moses. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.559 When God said, a greater prophet will come. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.840 This is Jesus, the only Son of God. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:44.000 Now, when you hear the word prophet, maybe the first thing that comes to your mind, it maybe makes you a little uneasy because you think about late night Christian television. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:57.360 You think about someone selling their book, they got a video series, they're uh they've had all these fantastic visions of the end times, they're connecting all the dots, and they connect the dots differently every six to twelve months. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:10.480 They're gonna tell you the future, or a prophet who just pronounces blessings over people that are financial, about prosperity and success in the world. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.360 But that's not what a prophet did in the Old Testament. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:32.320 Most simply defined, in the Old Testament, a prophet is this Hebrew word Nabi, and a Nabi is simply someone who has words put into their mouth so that they can speak for someone else. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:43.519 The prophet is a mouthpiece, the prophet is a spokesperson who delivers a message given to them by someone else. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:48.879 They're the conduit, they're the instrument that shares the message. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:54.080 So you apply that definition to a true prophet of God. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:11.919 There are false prophets you read about in the Old Testament, but you apply that definition to a true prophet of God, someone like Moses or someone like Samuel or someone like Elijah or Isaiah and even Jesus, and it means this when that person speaks, the prophet speaks for God. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:22.000 His message, the words that come out of his mouth, come directly from the throne room of God. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:25.360 So you should listen. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.960 You should listen when the prophet speaks. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.519 Now, a corollary to this, kind of something that builds off of this. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:40.080 If the prophet speaks for God, then what should we know about the words that come out of his mouth? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:42.080 How can we define them? 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:43.840 How can we most simply describe them? 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.720 Well, it's this that the prophet speaks truth. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:54.399 Since the prophet speaks for God, then when the prophet speaks, the prophet speaks truth. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:04.319 So this morning, Jesus, the true and greater prophet, is going to speak truth to us. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.119 It's a message from the very heart of God. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:18.240 That if we hear it, that if we embrace it, it will transform our opinions, our behaviors, and our attitudes. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:29.279 If we'll hear the truth, has the potential to give us a robust and a full biblical outlook and worldview on this world and our life in it. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:34.960 But here's what you should know about the truth that Jesus is going to speak. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:42.720 The truth he's going to speak this morning is both hard and hopeful. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:45.359 Hard and hopeful. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:46.480 It's hard. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.160 It's going to be difficult to swallow. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.920 You will want to spit it out. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:03.519 But it's also hopeful. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:12.160 It's a truth that reveals to us God's glorious plan that will come to pass. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:20.240 That God is sovereign over the world and He has a solution for the sin that plagues the world. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.839 And listen, we need both sides. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.880 We need the hard truth and the hopeful truth. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:35.440 So listen carefully to the words of Jesus this morning in John chapter 2. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.759 John tells this story in John 2, beginning in verse 13. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:46.079 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.200 So Jesus went to Jerusalem. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:57.440 In the temple area, he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:02.480 He also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:06.799 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the temple. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:14.160 He drove out the sheep and the cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor and turned over their tables. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:22.640 Then, going over to the people who sold the dubs, he told them, Get these things out of here. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:30.000 Stop turning my father's house into a marketplace. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.279 That story out of the life of Jesus occurs at a very significant moment. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.440 Israel's annual celebration of the Passover. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:52.079 During that festival, the Jewish people celebrated God defeating Pharaoh in the army of Egypt. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:20:04.079 They praised God for the fact that by his mighty arm he had not only defeated their enemy, he had liberated them, freed them out of slavery in Egypt. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:12.079 And it's for that reason, this Passover festival, that Jesus and his disciples travel to Jerusalem. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.119 They want to be a part of the celebration. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:23.440 And they go to the temple because it's within the temple that the sacrifices for the festival are offered. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:26.559 So they've traveled all this way. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:38.559 They walk into the city, they pass through the city gate, they go up to the Temple Mount, they enter the temple courts, and Jesus cannot believe what he sees with his eyes. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:48.960 There are people in there selling sacrifices and others who are making change, exchanging money. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:08.079 And they've decided we can do whatever we want to do with this sacred space. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:12.640 We can profit off this sacred space. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:24.640 Maybe Jesus even understands in this moment, he just sees that pattern of behavior that began in the time of the judges repeating itself once again. 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:28.960 The people are doing whatever they feel like doing. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.279 And they're believing that I can have it my way and still follow God. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:40.400 Jesus knows they've believed a lie. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:48.559 So he says, I gotta be a prophet in this moment because the prophet speaks truth. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.799 And in this moment, Jesus speaks a hard truth. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.920 He speaks a truth that the people don't want to swallow. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.039 The first way that Jesus speaks truth is through the actions that he performs. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:09.519 He makes a makeshift whip, then he drives out the animals. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:17.599 And then he, with a swipe of the arm, scatters the coins that are on the table, flips the tables over. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:26.160 And then those actions transition into words, and he and he shouts at the men who are selling the doves. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:30.319 He says, Stop turning my father's house into a market. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:39.920 In other words, you can't just do whatever you want to God's house, to a place devoted to his praise and his presence. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:48.480 In fact, what you're expecting is this is that you can turn it into a place of profit, and God's just going to bless you anyway. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:23:01.440 Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus walked into the Jerusalem temple, and he spoke to the people who were gathered in it. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:10.240 He spoke a hard truth about how they had transformed and corrupted something that was good, a good gift given to them by God. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:25.599 And today, Jesus as a prophet speaks that same truth, but but he speaks that truth not to people who are gathered in the temple. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:27.359 But listen to this. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:31.440 Jesus speaks the truth to people who are the temple. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:48.160 Jesus speaks this word of truth, not to those of us who go to a temple in Jerusalem, but when we walk the streets in El Dored, we are the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.359 The Jerusalem temple is obsolete. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:57.200 The Jerusalem temple has fulfilled its purpose in God's plan because of Jesus Christ. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:00.720 The presence of God no longer dwells in that temple. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:06.799 Instead, the presence of God dwells in the lives of people. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:09.920 1 Corinthians says this. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:19.920 It says, Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:26.480 You, listen this last injunction, this last statement by Paul, you do not belong to yourself. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:32.160 In other words, Paul says, you can't just do whatever you please. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.400 You can't simply live life on your own terms. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.240 Hear it again. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:54.960 Jesus spoke that hard truth in a temple, and now he speaks that hard truth that's hard to swallow to those of us who are a temple, a temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:08.880 And if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have accepted him and put your faith in him as your Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit dwells in you. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.680 Dwells in you. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:28.240 And as Jesus then speaks this hard truth this morning, I think we would be foolish to think that there is not a makeshift whip that's being formed. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:37.519 Where Jesus wants to drive out and discard those parts of our life that do not honor Him. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:26:02.160 I think we'd be foolish to not believe that Jesus doesn't want to scatter the coins and flip over the tables to try and get our attention, to say you can't go on this way, you can't have it your way, you can't live according to your feelings and think that you can follow me. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.279 Stop thinking you can follow me. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:20.480 If all you want is to be happy, and your happiness is above anything else, stop thinking you can follow me if the greatest achievement in your life is the American dream. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:23.279 Stop thinking you can follow me. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:32.319 If you just think I'm here to make you happy and give you fulfillment and pleasure in life and to make your wildest dreams come true. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:43.039 Jesus said those sorts of things to the people who were in the temple, and now he says it to us who are a temple. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:46.960 Because the prophet speaks truth. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:54.640 And truth that is hard is a truth that is hard to swallow. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:02.960 Jesus, he speaks that hard truth, and when we hear it, it's a call to repentance. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:05.759 Plain and simple. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:26.640 And to turn away from those attitudes, habits, behaviors, and opinions that don't honor Jesus Christ, to turn away from them, to confess them, repent of them, and to turn to Jesus. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:38.559 And it's only, listen, it's an act of Christ's mercy towards us and kindness towards us that he gets the whip out. 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:40.160 It really is. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:52.079 It's an act of his grace, of his love towards us, to show how much he cares for us that he's willing to scatter the coins and to flip over the tables in your life and in your home. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:28:04.240 And listen, if you have this truth in your mouth this morning and you're just trying to swallow it, it's too hard to swallow and you feel really uncomfortable. 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:16.240 That's the Holy Spirit bringing the truth of the prophet to bear on our life. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:20.240 To bring God's word into our soul. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:35.440 Now, listen, when you follow Jesus Christ each and every day, when you get up close and personal to him, you begin to hear him speak hard truths like this quite a bit. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.240 Because Jesus, he's got a lot of work to do in each of our lives. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.960 And I promise he can do the work. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:59.039 If we just receive that hard truth, we swallow it as hard as it is to swallow, and we repent of our sin. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:09.200 But when we get close to Jesus, we not only hear a hard truth, we also hear a hopeful truth. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:14.559 A few more verses out of John chapter 2, verse 18 says this. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:34.079 All right, Jesus replied, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:35.200 What? 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:42.000 They exclaimed, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you can rebuild it in three days. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.720 But when Jesus said this temple, he meant his own body. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:58.079 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the scriptures and what Jesus had said. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.640 The religious leaders are incensed at what Jesus has done. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:06.240 You have no right. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.599 Who gave you the authority? 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:14.640 Give us a sign so we don't arrest you on the spot. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:19.519 And he says this, okay, I'll give you a sign. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:25.200 He says, the temple will be raised, and then it will be raised. 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:26.240 Right? 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:34.799 The temple will be raised, it will be destroyed, and then the temple in three days will be raised, it will be back to life again. 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:43.359 And they are totally confused because King Herod had been involved in this grand renovation, rebuilding project at the temple for over four decades. 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:46.720 That is literally impossible, they tell Jesus. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:59.279 He's talking about his own body. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:05.039 And Jesus just says, My body will be raised, it will be destroyed. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:11.039 It will be destroyed through by the piercing of thorns that they that crown they put on my head. 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:15.279 It will be destroyed by the lashes of the whips of the centurions. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:22.400 It will be destroyed when they drive spikes into my ankles and into my wrist. 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:28.480 It will be destroyed when they when they pierce my side with that spear. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:33.599 My body will be destroyed. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.160 Jesus died. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:39.200 He was buried. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:43.200 His broken body was laid in a tomb. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:51.359 But his body did not lie there like a heap of rubble. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:32:00.880 For three days after Jesus died, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was raised. 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:03.680 He was resurrected. 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:07.920 You see, the prophet, he speaks truth. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:15.200 Not just hard truth, but hopeful, hope-filled truth. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:26.880 And this hopeful, this hope-filled truth is founded upon the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:35.200 And remember when I said we need both parts, we need the hard truth and the hope-filled truth. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:46.480 Listen, the reason you can swallow the hard truth and repent is because of the hope-filled truth of the cross and resurrection of Jesus. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:51.599 Because without the hope-filled truth, repentance wouldn't matter. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:58.720 Without the hope-filled truth, I forever, you forever would be lost in your sin. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:03.759 Without the hope-filled truth, forever we would be separated from God. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:16.400 The hope-filled truth that we need to hear is founded upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:17.920 And we need them both. 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:21.440 We need the hard truth and the hope-filled truth. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:29.759 Okay, listen, without the hope-filled truth, if we just have the hard truth, we wallow in our sins. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:36.400 We are consumed by shame and guilt, and all we want to think is, I'll never be good enough. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:42.160 We're just consumed with all the wrong that we've done. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.559 So we can't just have a hard truth. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.480 We need a truth that'll raise us up, that'll set us free. 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.839 We need that hope-filled truth to come alongside of it. 00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:04.480 But sometimes we don't want to hear the hard truth, and we just want to think about the hope-filled truth and think I've got a free ticket to heaven with Jesus Christ. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:12.639 And I can live my life however I want to live it on this planet, and God doesn't care. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:25.280 We need to hear the hope-filled truth, and we need to repent and follow Jesus Christ because if that's our attitude about a relationship with Jesus, listen, I don't know if we have a relationship with Jesus in the first place. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:43.519 We need both the hard truth that calls us to repent and the hope-filled truth that points us, points us to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:52.400 Anyone have selective hearing? 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:54.000 No one's willing to admit it. 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:57.119 I know some of the parents have selective hearing. 00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.920 I know some of you have selective hearing. 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:03.920 I know some of the kids in the room, you have selective hearing, right? 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:06.719 Y'all know what selective hearing is, don't you? 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:10.159 Where you tune things out that you don't want to hear. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:16.320 You only hear what's pleasing and what makes you happy, maybe. 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:28.639 I think sometimes when it comes to the voice of Jesus Christ, out of a passage like this, we can sometimes have selective hearing. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.840 We tune out one of those truths. 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:35.519 We tune out the hard truth or we tune out the hope-filled truth. 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:39.119 But friends, don't tune either one of them out. 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:44.159 If you want to follow Jesus Christ. 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:57.519 Listen to his voice as a prophet speaking hard truth and hope-filled truth into your life. 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:00.320 Let's stand together and pray. 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:03.679 Think about that. 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:07.760 Think about that hard truth this morning. 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:20.400 That call to repent from thinking you can live life on your own terms and still follow Jesus. 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:27.679 Do you see signs of that in your own life? 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:42.079 Where you see that a sign of that attitude, that outlook, would you just confess that to God? 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:52.000 Say, God, I'm I'm naming this sin before you, and I'm I'm repenting of it and turning towards Jesus. 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:10.239 Think about that hope-filled truth. 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:19.920 The truth that points you to the cross and resurrection of Jesus. 00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:58.480 As a prophet, he has spoken truth to us. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:04.719 That prophetic truth that is hard to swallow at times. 00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:19.360 Forgive us, God, of all the ways and all the moments in life when we live according to our feelings. 00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:28.159 When we try to live life on our own terms. 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:43.920 And let his Holy Spirit, God us, his truth direct us, his words guide us. 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:49.440 Lord, we thank you for the hope we have. 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:54.480 God, we we would be lost without Jesus, without his cross and resurrection. 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:58.000 We we truly couldn't do anything to save ourselves. 00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:04.000 So we we just need to be reminded of that hope-filled truth every single day. 00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:13.599 Holy Spirit, remind us of the cross and resurrection of Jesus that bought our salvation, that sets us free from sin, that raises us to live a new life. 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:18.320 Remind us of that truth that we can then share it with other people, God. 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:26.400 Jesus, we love you, and in your name we pray. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:27.360 Amen.