SPEAKER_00: So we are continuing our series.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism of discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: You may have heard about a baptism in water.
SPEAKER_00: You may have heard about the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But there is another baptism that Jesus talked about in Scripture called a baptism of discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: So in a second, I'm going to read Matthew 28, but first I want to read Mark 16.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll say this this series builds on the last message.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you haven't heard the last couple of weeks, uh make sure that you go on to Apple Podcast or Spotify and hear those messages because they build on each other.
SPEAKER_00: There's specific things I'm not going to be able to review today that are important to understand about the message.
SPEAKER_00: So if today, if I say something in yours like I've I've never heard that before, or this is a new thought to me, make sure you go back and listen to those and it'll help you.
SPEAKER_00: So Mark 16.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray today that as we approach your word, as we look to your truth and your counsel, that you would give us revelation.
SPEAKER_00: That you would change the way that we think.
SPEAKER_00: Change what we believe to be true about you, about ourself, and about others.
SPEAKER_00: By your word, transform us, renew our minds.
SPEAKER_00: Open our eyes so that we may understand the scriptures today in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Mark sixteen, fifteen, and he said to them, This is Jesus, the resurrected Lord, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
SPEAKER_00: He who believes and is baptized will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: But he who does not believe will be condemned.
SPEAKER_00: And these signs will follow those who believe.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is, in my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will by no means hurt them.
SPEAKER_00: They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of the Great Commission, what we know as the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_00: Another part of it is Matthew 28, 18.
SPEAKER_00: But this series of messages under the baptism of discipleship is called In the Name.
SPEAKER_00: In the name.
SPEAKER_00: So it's what we've been talking about for a couple weeks, and then next week we'll dive into in the name of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll talk about in the name of the Son, and then we'll talk about in the name of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But I needed to really, really lay some foundation of what does in the name even mean?
SPEAKER_00: Because if we don't understand that, none of the rest of it makes any sense.
SPEAKER_00: It just is Christianies language that we don't even really understand.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been given all authority.
SPEAKER_00: Say all authority in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, in other words, in light of what I just told you, here is your response.
SPEAKER_00: In light of what I just told you, here is the consequence of the reality that I just communicated.
SPEAKER_00: I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: That could literally read principle of first mentions.
SPEAKER_00: That could literally read, in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands that I have given you, and be sure of this.
SPEAKER_00: And so what I believe God has given us, Jesus gave us in that passage of Scripture, what we know as the Great Commission, is this concept of a baptism of discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we've talked about at length that Jesus was not giving us language for water baptism.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't even talking about water baptism.
SPEAKER_00: That word baptism isn't even referring to water baptism.
SPEAKER_00: So he wasn't saying, this is what you say when you water baptize someone.
SPEAKER_00: He was saying something completely different.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what we've been talking about for several weeks.
SPEAKER_00: To review, here's some quick review.
SPEAKER_00: In the name means to be fully submitted and positionally under Jesus' very own authority, character, and nature.
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't make that up.
SPEAKER_00: Where we got that definition was we we studied the Greek meaning of those words in the name.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about weeks ago what does baptism mean?
SPEAKER_00: Then we talked about what does in the name mean.
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
SPEAKER_00: In the name does it mean if we tack the name of Jesus onto the end of a prayer, that it makes it an effective prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a certain kind of prayer that God hears, it's a certain kind of person that God hears.
SPEAKER_00: Signs and wonders are the result of Jesus' authority being exercised over something that isn't his will to bring it into alignment with what is his will.
SPEAKER_00: That is what signs and wonders are.
SPEAKER_00: That is what miracles are.
SPEAKER_00: When God heals someone who's sick, when he delivers someone who is demon-possessed, when he sets somebody free that is in bondage, when he forgives someone of their sins and they are born again and become spiritually alive.
SPEAKER_00: These are signs and wonders and miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And it's always the result of him taking something that is not in alignment with his will and getting it into alignment with what is his will.
SPEAKER_00: Here's something interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus never said for us to pray for the sick.
SPEAKER_00: He never told the disciples, go and pray for the sick.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, Jesus rarely, if honestly, maybe never, prayed for the sick.
SPEAKER_00: He just took authority over sickness and commanded healing.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not a prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, it's not in the name of Jesus, it isn't about prayer, it's about position.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a carefully crafted prayer, it's a covenantally crafted position.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus isn't a carefully crafted prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's a covenantally crafted position.
SPEAKER_00: Since the creation of the world, I want to introduce a new thought now as we're going to dive into this message today.
SPEAKER_00: Since the creation of the world, God hasn't done one thing on the earth independent of man's cooperation.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that is a huge statement.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when God actually spoke that to me, I immediately started arguing with him.
SPEAKER_00: Has God ever spoken something revelatory to you and it just blew your mind?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, no, that can't, that can't be.
SPEAKER_00: And you start trying to prove him wrong, you know, like, or and really what I was doing is, am I really hearing the Lord say this?
SPEAKER_00: So I started going through story after story, uh, uh in chapter after chapter, book after book in the Bible, and I started seeing since creation, God hasn't done one thing in the earth independent of man's cooperation.
SPEAKER_00: That is a crazy thought.
SPEAKER_00: And let me let me even submit this to you.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't even finished with creating before he got Adam involved, and Adam began helping him name the animals and partnered with him in the creation of things.
SPEAKER_00: Partnered with him in the creation of woman.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I better say amen, especially if you're sitting next to your wife.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, the cooperation that he needs isn't that we try to figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: The cooperation that he needs is that we submit to his authority and abide in his name so that his will can be facilitated in and through our lives.
SPEAKER_00: That's the cooperation that he needs.
SPEAKER_00: It isn't that we try to figure it out, it isn't that we work harder, that we try harder, that we do more.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, baptizing them in the name of the Father, name of the Spirit, name of the Son, name of the Holy Spirit, teaching these new disciples to obey.
SPEAKER_00: Teaching these new disciples to obey all the things that I've commanded.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he's not looking for innovation, he's not looking for creativity, he's looking for people who will do what he tells them to do so that his will can be facilitated.
SPEAKER_00: So that alignment with so that, let me say it like this, so that on earth as it is in heaven can happen in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Every single miracle that people experienced from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we're not even talking about all the miracles of the Bible, we're just just talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Every single miracle, which was a lot, right?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible even says if all the miracles that Jesus did were actually written down, there wouldn't be room enough to contain them.
SPEAKER_00: Every single miracle that people experienced from Jesus required some type of submission to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of the interactions that Jesus had with people that needed his help don't make sense unless we shine the light of this principle on it.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have ever read and you're reading a story about Jesus and you're like, that's weird?
SPEAKER_00: Why did he do that?
SPEAKER_00: That's odd.
SPEAKER_00: What an odd thing to say to somebody who's in distress.
SPEAKER_00: What a weird thing to do to somebody who's blind.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever looked at it and just like, what was that?
SPEAKER_00: What if I what if I did that today?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody comes up for prayer, and I'm just like, hang on.
SPEAKER_00: I go out to the playground, grab some dirt, spit in it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what?
SPEAKER_00: All those interactions that Jesus had were very intentional.
SPEAKER_00: They were very intentional.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus would ask people that were in desperate situations to do certain things, and it seemed almost insensitive of him.
SPEAKER_00: But it was very strategic.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it was allowing him to spit, put spit and mud in their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it was sticking his fingers into deaf ears.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it was literally grabbing their tongue, sometimes giving them a command to obey, like go and wash yourselves, or go and sin no more, or pick up your mat and walk.
SPEAKER_00: Or how about this one?
SPEAKER_00: Cast your nets on the other side of the boat.
SPEAKER_00: You ever think about that?
SPEAKER_00: How weird.
SPEAKER_00: There's no difference.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you like to fish?
SPEAKER_00: That's not enough of you, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: I've got some work to do in this house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you like to eat fish?
SPEAKER_00: That's better.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_00: You just helped yourself out.
SPEAKER_00: There's no difference between one side of the boat and the other side of the boat.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Unless maybe you're crappie fishing, crappie are weird.
SPEAKER_00: You got to get right in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: But all I'm saying is all he did in that moment was provide an opportunity for them to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that changed the situation was that Jesus said, I'm going to supernaturally intervene in this situation to reveal my glory to you, and all I need is for you to submit to my authority.
SPEAKER_00: So he gave a simple command, and they obeyed, and a miraculous catch of fish was the result.
SPEAKER_00: So in every situation where supernatural power was needed, he created an opportunity for faith and submission to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: You will not find a miracle that he didn't do this.
SPEAKER_00: You can study all the gospels, all of the instances where he performed some sort of supernatural sign, wonder, or miracle, and you will see some kind of cooperation that was needed by a human being.
SPEAKER_00: Faith and submission to his authority were required in that situation.
SPEAKER_00: As long as we are under his authority, listen to this, we have his authority.
SPEAKER_00: As long as we have his authority, we can do his will on earth as it is in heaven in the lives of those who are also submitted to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: You are under the authority of whatever you choose to obey.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 6.16 is a verse that changed my life when I was in a season where the issues that I was having in my life as a drug addict, as an alcoholic, as someone who was in and out of jail, someone who was homeless and living on the streets.
SPEAKER_00: My life was as in bad shape as it could get in me still be alive.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember one time I had been on a binge of drugs and as an intervanous drug user, and I remember having this seizure, and I got up off the ground and I went into the bathroom and I looked in the mirror and I didn't even recognize myself.
SPEAKER_00: I was green, like pale green, that death green, white, black circles under my eyes, my cheeks were sunken in, my eyes were black as coal.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm looking in the mirror at a man I didn't even recognize.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember actually asking myself internally the question, I'll never forget this moment.
SPEAKER_00: I probably shouldn't even be able to recall this moment.
SPEAKER_00: I looked in the mirror and I asked this question, who have you become?
SPEAKER_00: And then another question came, what have you become?
SPEAKER_00: Not only didn't I not recognize the person I had become, I didn't like the person that I had become.
SPEAKER_00: I did not want to be the person that I had become.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to live like that.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to live like that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I I had reached the end of myself.
SPEAKER_00: And I go into this faith-based drug and alcohol recovery program, and I did not realize it at the time, but what I needed more than anything else was to learn how to submit to authority.
SPEAKER_00: To learn how to submit to authority.
SPEAKER_00: And I was rebelling against every human institution of authority.
SPEAKER_00: If there was an authority figure, I rebelled against them.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of them.
SPEAKER_00: If you can name an authority figure, I rebelled against them.
SPEAKER_00: That's why my life was in the condition that it was in.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel that I needed was the gospel of submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't need a soft message of just, you know, come as you are, it's okay, God will accept you just as you are.
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I needed a revolution to take place in my life.
SPEAKER_00: I needed a complete and total transformation.
SPEAKER_00: So when I came to the Lord, it was very similar to Paul's Damascus Road encounter where God knocks him, he's in direct rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: God knocks him off his horse onto the ground, blinds him with a light, and pleads with him and says, Paul, Paul, or Saul, Saul, rather.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't Paul yet.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to kick against the goads.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to kick against the goats.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the goads were?
SPEAKER_00: The goads were these spikes, these metal spikes that they put on the carts that the horses would carry, the carts, and they would put these spikes on there.
SPEAKER_00: So if a horse started bucking and kicking, uh, he couldn't tear up the cart.
SPEAKER_00: He would kick the spike and it would stab him in the foot and he would stop rebelling.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul, he says, it's hard to kick against the goads or the spikes.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you right now, it's hard to kick against God.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to push against his authority.
SPEAKER_00: The more you push against his authority, the more pain is going to come into your life because of sin and death and bondage.
SPEAKER_00: The more you try to just live by your own terms, your own way, the harder your life is going to be.
SPEAKER_00: And that pain is the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: He would that we would repent because of his kindness.
SPEAKER_00: But if we don't repent because of his kindness, then we will be disciplined by pain.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't get to choose how that pain comes.
SPEAKER_00: But we do have a choice in the midst of that pain if we're going to surrender and submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: You are under the authority of whatever you choose to obey.
SPEAKER_00: I remember reading this scripture while I was in treatment in rehab, there was plenty of authority to submit to in that place, plenty of rules, and I needed all the rules.
SPEAKER_00: I needed that.
SPEAKER_00: But listen to this Romans 6.16.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?
SPEAKER_00: You can obey sin, which leads to death, pain, hard life.
SPEAKER_00: Or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living, which is God's will.
SPEAKER_00: God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience in thrones.
SPEAKER_00: You're either actively obeying one or the other.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ, then you are submitted to authority.
SPEAKER_00: You're submitted to the authority of sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: You're submitted to the authority of Satan.
SPEAKER_00: You're submitted to the authority of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And the consequences of that is always death.
SPEAKER_00: It's always pain.
SPEAKER_00: It's always when you live by your own terms, it's always hard.
SPEAKER_00: It always hurts.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, don't you realize?
SPEAKER_00: I love when Paul did this.
SPEAKER_00: I preached a whole message one time on all the time, it was called Don't You Realize?
SPEAKER_00: And there's many, many times in the Epistles of Paul where he starts a statement like that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you realize?
SPEAKER_00: And why would he have to say that to Christians?
SPEAKER_00: Why would he have to say that to the church?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's possible that something is happening, that something is true, and we don't realize it.
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those moments he goes, listen, this is a principle.
SPEAKER_00: This is a spiritual law.
SPEAKER_00: There are no exceptions.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you realize whatever you choose to obey?
SPEAKER_00: Becomes your master.
SPEAKER_00: You become the slave of whatever you choose to obey.
SPEAKER_00: You can submit to sin, the sin nature, the desires of the flesh, or you can choose to submit and obey God.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the correlating truth to that.
SPEAKER_00: You will always do the will of the one you obey.
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to do the will of God?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to operate and live in the will of God?
SPEAKER_00: Obey God.
SPEAKER_00: Submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I hated that word.
SPEAKER_00: I hated that word.
SPEAKER_00: I hated.
SPEAKER_00: There are two words I hated.
SPEAKER_00: Submit to authority and responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: I hated those words when I was in rebellion to God.
SPEAKER_00: And now I love those words.
SPEAKER_00: I used to hate to see a police car drive down my street.
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I hate to see a cop anytime.
SPEAKER_00: I hated it.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I was in rebellion against his authority, against their authority.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, they were a threat to me.
SPEAKER_00: So I naturally my natural instinct was to resist them because they're a threat to me doing what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: They're a threat to what I thought was freedom.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know you go looking for freedom in the world, you find a prison cell?
SPEAKER_00: And so I then become a Christian and learn about submission to authority.
SPEAKER_00: And now I get happy when I see a police car, unless they're behind me and I'm maybe forgot how fast I was going.
SPEAKER_00: I love seeing police officers.
SPEAKER_00: I love that we have police officers here.
SPEAKER_00: They are the good guys.
SPEAKER_00: They are good.
SPEAKER_00: I like seeing them drive down my street.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, good, there's a police.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, there's a police officer.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm not in rebellion against them.
SPEAKER_00: That's how it is with God sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: When you're in rebellion against God, you resist and avoid him.
SPEAKER_00: When he shows up, you get very uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't have to be that way.
SPEAKER_00: Now I love his presence.
SPEAKER_00: I love approaching his word.
SPEAKER_00: You know, think about uh Jesus' first miracle.
SPEAKER_00: In John chapter 2, verse 3, we see the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine.
SPEAKER_00: Most of you know the story.
SPEAKER_00: But in verse 3 it says, When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine.
SPEAKER_00: Dear woman, why do you involve me?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus replied.
SPEAKER_00: His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that may seem like a strange interaction unless you understand the principle that we're talking about today.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if Jesus was saying, Mom, that's not how this works.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how this works.
SPEAKER_00: What I think is interesting too is that she knew he could do something about it.
SPEAKER_00: I won't get into this today, but I think he had done it before in the house.
SPEAKER_00: I also think he did it at the Last Supper.
SPEAKER_00: I think the wine they drank at the Last Supper was actually water that Jesus turned into wine.
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk about that another day, but I think I can prove it with Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if she's going, here's a problem that you can fix.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Mom, that's not how this works.
SPEAKER_00: And she immediately, it's like a light bulb goes off in her head, the revelation, and she's like, Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't a trick, it's an exercise of his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Quick, servants, do whatever he tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: There's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus can fix it.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, no, no, no, it's not my time.
SPEAKER_00: And she snaps into a different mode.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, she in that moment was his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Now, most theologians believe that Joseph was dead.
SPEAKER_00: He had died at this point.
SPEAKER_00: There's some other theories out there, but the most likely one is that somewhere between Jesus getting left at the temple when he was 12 and this situation, Joseph died.
SPEAKER_00: And so Mary was his authority.
SPEAKER_00: This one will throw you a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: In this situation, she was the one that sent him to operate in this miracle.
SPEAKER_00: So she was in an apostolic role in his life in this situation.
SPEAKER_00: She said, Hey, there's a problem that you need to take care of.
SPEAKER_00: Take care of it.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, he was like, you know, no, it's not my time.
SPEAKER_00: Servants, do whatever he tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as those servants began to do what Jesus told them to do, the miracle was underway.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus never prayed over the water.
SPEAKER_00: He never touched the jars that the water was in.
SPEAKER_00: He never served the water, the wine that was water, to the master of ceremonies or to the guests.
SPEAKER_00: The servants did everything.
SPEAKER_00: And all they did not have, listen to me, they did not have the ability to do any of that, but they did have the ability to obey.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody, listen, anybody can make a choice to do what they're told.
SPEAKER_00: I am not an engineer-minded type person.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I can't build stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Like I can fix some stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I can I can Google some stuff and you know do some things.
SPEAKER_00: But I am, I just don't have that.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how God created God created me to be a people engineer, not like a mechanical engineer.
SPEAKER_00: I can I can engineer some difficult situations in people's lives, relational.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a relational engineer.
SPEAKER_00: I can help people out.
SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to like mechanical engineering and construction, I don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: I can't not do it.
SPEAKER_00: But my father-in-law, Melanie's dad, Herman, is amazing.
SPEAKER_00: He could just build a house.
SPEAKER_00: Like he could just be like, I want to build a house.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna he could do it.
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00: He can just do all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: That's how he's wired.
SPEAKER_00: Over the years that we've been married, we've been married almost 22 years, which is amazing.
SPEAKER_00: We've been together for almost 28 years, which is wild.
SPEAKER_00: I have accomplished some amazing things with him.
SPEAKER_00: We have done some really cool projects.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we have built fences, we've built gates, uh, we've laid wood floors, we've done electrical projects, we've installed things, we've done, we've done some amazing things over the years, and I didn't know how to do any of it.
SPEAKER_00: But I can stand here today and say, I've done this, I've done this, I've done this, I've done all these amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, all I had to do was what he told me to do.
SPEAKER_00: Hold this, cut that, mark that, carry this.
SPEAKER_00: Everything he told me to do, I would do it, and the end result was something existed that I had no ability to create.
SPEAKER_00: I was able to do something that I had no ability to do just because I did what I was told.
SPEAKER_00: I used to say it like this, but I don't say it like this anymore, except for right now.
SPEAKER_00: Any idiot can do what they're told.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be smart, you don't have to understand it, you don't have to have it figured out.
SPEAKER_00: You just have to be willing to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: You just have to be willing to obey God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus partnered with the servants, and his first public miracle happened.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says at the end of chapter 2 that this was the first time Jesus revealed his glory.
SPEAKER_00: And guess who got to be a part of it?
SPEAKER_00: Not the disciples, not the master of ceremonies, not the Pharisees, the religious leaders, not the high priests.
SPEAKER_00: The servants got to be a part of it because they were the ones that were there that day that would do whatever Jesus told them to do.
SPEAKER_00: You never even have to focus on the miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, you don't have to focus on the miracle, just provide the opportunity to submit to Jesus' authority.
SPEAKER_00: So as I'm teaching these messages, part of what I'm doing here is equipping you guys to do the works of the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: One of my jobs is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus said, I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching these new disciples to obey all the things that I've commanded you.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm doing, and that's what all of us are supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_00: The baptism of discipleship is a series of messages that is equipping you to be disciples of Jesus and to make disciples of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what that even means?
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm supposed to be a disciple, but what does that even mean?
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm supposed to make disciples, but I don't even know what that means.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been paralyzed in that area of your faith?
SPEAKER_00: Because you don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_00: It means exactly what he said.
SPEAKER_00: Submerging people into the name of the Father, into all that the Father is, into all that Jesus is, into all that the Holy Spirit is, and teaching them to obey.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And so when someone needs a miracle, when someone needs God to intervene in their marriage, in their life, in their physical body, in their finances, all I'm doing as a pastor, as a counselor, as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say, let me change that because that disqualified some of you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not the point.
SPEAKER_00: As a follower of Jesus, as a disciple of Jesus, all I'm doing when I'm in a situation like that with somebody is I'm looking for ways that I can activate their faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for ways that I can get them to submit to the authority of Jesus, especially in whatever area they're needing that miracle to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever notice if it was a physical miracle, Jesus had them do something with their physical body?
SPEAKER_00: If it's a money miracle, you got to get your money involved in obedience to God.
SPEAKER_00: If it's a physical miracle, a couple weeks ago I talked about area-specific faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's very important.
SPEAKER_00: That's why when Jesus was healing someone who was blind, he did something with their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: That's why when he was healing someone who was deaf, he stuck his finger in their ears.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he was healing someone who was mute, he grabbed their tongue.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's area-specific faith.
SPEAKER_00: We have to submit to God in that specific area if we want to see his involvement in that specific area.
SPEAKER_00: So think about the different areas of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Relationships.
SPEAKER_00: Think about emotions.
SPEAKER_00: Think about mental health.
SPEAKER_00: Think about physical health.
SPEAKER_00: Think about financial health.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to see God move in a specific area of your life, you better make sure you're submitting to his authority in that area of your life.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not, what you're saying is, you're not, this is a posted, no trespassing area of my life, Jesus, that you are not allowed to come into.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what he will do?
SPEAKER_00: He will stay out of it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there were only three times in the Bible where Jesus was able to heal someone without even being physically present.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is amazing because most of the miracles that Jesus did before, this is before he resurrected and empowered the disciples to go do miracles.
SPEAKER_00: This is before that.
SPEAKER_00: But while he was on earth, in every situation where he did something supernatural, he had to be physically present, except for three.
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what they are?
SPEAKER_00: You want to look at them?
SPEAKER_00: While Jesus, and this this blows my mind.
SPEAKER_00: While Jesus was on earth, he was limited by time and space, except on three occasions, because of the person's rare type of faith.
SPEAKER_00: There was the Syrian-Phoenician woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon.
SPEAKER_00: She was a Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: There was the Roman centurion soldier who had a deathly ill servant.
SPEAKER_00: He was a Roman.
SPEAKER_00: And then there was a government official who had a deathly ill son, and he was a Jew.
SPEAKER_00: So you have a Jew, a Gentile, and a Roman.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not about it's not about their position, their status.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 7, 25.
SPEAKER_00: This is about the Syrian-Phoenician woman.
SPEAKER_00: Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
SPEAKER_00: Since she was a Gentile born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, First I should feed the children of my own family, the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is one of those situations where you're like, Jesus, why would you say that?
SPEAKER_00: She's hurting.
SPEAKER_00: She's stressed out.
SPEAKER_00: She's got heavy burdens.
SPEAKER_00: She's emotional.
SPEAKER_00: She's having a hard time.
SPEAKER_00: She's a mom who's concerned about her child.
SPEAKER_00: It seems rude.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: We don't think like that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: We see differently through the lens of this biblical principle.
SPEAKER_00: He was creating an opportunity for her to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, offense is an opportunity to submit to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He will on purpose try to offend you.
SPEAKER_00: He offended the religious leaders all the time.
SPEAKER_00: He would offend people to see are they going to submit to my authority or not?
SPEAKER_00: He's providing an opportunity to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, she replied, That's true, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children's plates.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Good answer.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.
SPEAKER_00: And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
SPEAKER_00: This lady, because she submitted to the authority of Jesus as Lord, unlocked his true potential and power.
SPEAKER_00: Few people did that.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 8, 5, this is the story of the Roman centurion soldier.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, Lord, my young servant lies in bed paralyzed and in terrible pain.
SPEAKER_00: Now listen, for a Roman soldier to say Lord was no small thing.
SPEAKER_00: He could be killed by Caesar for that.
SPEAKER_00: He was risking his life to submit to the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, I will come and heal him.
SPEAKER_00: But the officer said, Lord, again, Lord, I am not even worthy to have you come into my home.
SPEAKER_00: Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.
SPEAKER_00: I know this.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, listen to the revelation.
SPEAKER_00: I know this.
SPEAKER_00: I understand how this works because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers.
SPEAKER_00: I only need to say go.
SPEAKER_00: Does that sound familiar?
SPEAKER_00: I only need to say go and they go or come and they come.
SPEAKER_00: And if I say to my slaves, do this, they do it.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus heard this, he was amazed.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, why people didn't get this.
SPEAKER_00: They were deceived.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't understand what how the kingdom of God worked.
SPEAKER_00: So they had literally have Jesus right in front of them and they missed the kingdom because they didn't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: And now he's looking at this Roman officer and he's amazed.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Turning to those who were following him, he says, I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Faith like this is saying, This is a specific type of faith that gets a specific result.
SPEAKER_00: It's a specific type of faith that unlocks a different measure of my power and my authority.
SPEAKER_00: This is a man who understands how authority works.
SPEAKER_00: Twice he called him Lord.
SPEAKER_00: John 4.46, this is the government official who was a Jew.
SPEAKER_00: As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine.
SPEAKER_00: There was a government, a governmental authority nearby Capernaum, whose son was very sick.
SPEAKER_00: When he had heard that Jesus came from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son who was about to die.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus asked, Will you ever believe in me unless you see a miraculous sign and wonder?
SPEAKER_00: Again, this seems very insensitive of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You got a dad who's begging for him to save his son.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus almost like picks a fight with him.
SPEAKER_00: Will you never believe in me unless you see a miraculous sign and wonder?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to his response.
SPEAKER_00: The officer pleaded, Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus told him, Go back home, your son will live.
SPEAKER_00: And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus do?
SPEAKER_00: He provided an opportunity for that officer, that person who was in authority, technically who was in authority over Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Governmental authority.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus provided an opportunity for him to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: And he did.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of the story is the servants came and met the man and said, Your son is alive, your son has been healed.
SPEAKER_00: And when he said, What time?
SPEAKER_00: And they said, it was the exact time that Jesus said, Go home, your son is healed.
SPEAKER_00: He submitted to the authority.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, all three of those, very intentionally and against great risks and odds, declared him as Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Only those three times while Jesus was on earth did someone understand submission to his authority enough to unlock his true power.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another thing that I noticed about those three people is that the miracles that they were seeking God for weren't even about them.
SPEAKER_00: It was for people who were under their authority.
SPEAKER_00: It was children under the authority of a parent, and it was a servant under the authority of a master.
SPEAKER_00: We see the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: We see on earth as it is in heaven happening because Jesus has been given all authority.
SPEAKER_00: The word Lord is in my Bible, and depending on what translation you do this in, you can do this yourself, you'll see similar results.
SPEAKER_00: The word Lord is in this translation 6,405 times.
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of times.
SPEAKER_00: Let me compare that to the word savior.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think it's pretty important that Jesus is our savior.
SPEAKER_00: Is that the gospel that Jesus is our savior?
SPEAKER_00: 58 times the word savior is in the Bible compared to 6,405 times he's called Lord in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just tell you, it's that much more important that he's your Lord than he is your savior.
SPEAKER_00: I've heard it said like this if he's not your Lord, he's not your Savior.
SPEAKER_00: The only way to have Jesus as your Savior is to have him as your Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He's Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: When you see those two words together in Scripture, it always says Lord first and then Savior second.
SPEAKER_00: So, this whole principle of in the name, all it means is being baptized, immersed, submerged into submission under Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we talked about the other word in that means superimposition last week, to superimpose.
SPEAKER_00: It's where the guys were going around casting out demons and they were saying, in the name, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or when Jesus said, People will come and say to me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name.
SPEAKER_00: We did these miracles in your name, and he'll say, Depart from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: That word in your name is a different than the one Jesus said, In my name.
SPEAKER_00: It means to put the name of Jesus on top of, to lay it on top of something so as to see both.
SPEAKER_00: How many people do that?
SPEAKER_00: They just tack the name of Jesus onto their life.
SPEAKER_00: They just say, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, I'm a Jesus guy.
SPEAKER_00: It means to be completely submitted to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: He has no obligation, no obligation to us to share his power and for us to see the miracles, signs, and wonders that he said his followers would see if we're not submitted to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Remember when Jesus went to Nazareth, and the Bible says they scoffed, saying he's just a carpenter?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't this just Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: We know his brothers and his sisters and his mom.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't this just Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: They scoffed at his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Listen.
SPEAKER_00: And they refused to believe in him, the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of the others that we just read about that elevated him to the position of Lord, they lowered him to the position of carpenter.
SPEAKER_00: The result was that his authority to exercise the will of God was not submitted to, therefore, the will of God was not permitted to happen in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: It says he couldn't do miracles there because they didn't submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't even recognize him as a person who was in authority.
SPEAKER_00: Compare that to those who did.
SPEAKER_00: Very different results.
SPEAKER_00: What I've found over the years is that people will either receive him as a Lord to submit to or a carpenter to scoff at.
SPEAKER_00: And God's will being done in their lives on earth as it is in heaven depends on which way they see and receive Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Pastor Jamie, y'all can come on back up.
SPEAKER_00: The choice is theirs, but the opportunity to make him their Lord is provided by us.
SPEAKER_00: So as we encounter people who are not experiencing God's will, our job is to create opportunities for them to submit to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: The end game would be that they become disciples of Jesus and disciple makers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But all we can do is provide the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever miracle they need or the people under their authority need will come as they declare him as Lord and they truly submit to his loving authority.
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm praying for people who are experiencing some sort of pain, something that they they're seeking God about, they want to see it change, they want to see transformation, they want to see healing, they want to see a family member saved or whatever it is that's creating desperation in them to see God move supernaturally.
SPEAKER_00: Um the best thing you can do for that person is to create an opportunity for them to submit to the authority of God.
SPEAKER_00: So when you're praying for somebody, anything like lift your hands.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say, Lift your hands.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say, repeat this prayer after me.
SPEAKER_00: It's important that we don't just pray for people, we pray with people.
SPEAKER_00: You understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: As you're talking to people, as you're ministering to people, because you are disciples, always looking for those opportunities.
SPEAKER_00: Where are they in disobedience to God?
SPEAKER_00: And how can I help them fix that?
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing how personal alignment with God begins to come when we get that right.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's stand together as we close out today, and we can hit those lights down just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I always want to make sure that we're closing our services with an opportunity for people to respond.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll have connect pastors on the sides over here.
SPEAKER_00: And if there's an area of your life that you feel like isn't in alignment with God's will, some situation, physical health, financial health, emotional health, mental health, relational health, any area of your life, you're like something's off.
SPEAKER_00: We want to see God move.
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you to respond today in some way.
SPEAKER_00: As we personally surrender to the authority of Jesus and submit our lives to Him, declare Him as Lord, that is when alignment with God's will begins to happen in our life.
SPEAKER_00: Begins to happen in our it it's a it takes time, but it starts in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Starts in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: My life was so completely out of alignment with God.
SPEAKER_00: Every area of my life was out of alignment with God, and it was obvious to everybody.
SPEAKER_00: And I just walked down to the altar.
SPEAKER_00: When the pastor gave an invitation, closed the service, and said, Come down.
SPEAKER_00: If the Lord's speaking to you, come down to this altar, walk down here.
SPEAKER_00: If you are you listening, are you absolutely sure your life is right with God?
SPEAKER_00: If the answer to that question is no, just come down to the altar.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have an area of your life where you want to see God's kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Just move, come down to the altar, go for prayer during these next few minutes that we dedicate to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is our time to respond.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, right now I pray as we go back into a time of worship and response that, Holy Spirit, you would draw every heart.
SPEAKER_00: If you're drawing and stirring a heart in this place, I pray they wouldn't leave without responding to you, without submitting to your authority.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as they take their first step towards the altar or towards a connect pastor to pray, Lord, see that as submission to your authority, God.
SPEAKER_00: Begin to move supernaturally in their life.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just reminded that you said that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_00: His will is abundant life.
SPEAKER_00: We only get to participate in that as we submit to his authority, as we make Jesus Lord of our life.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, I pray there would be people here today that make you Lord of their life.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that there's other people here today that are going to bring a specific area under submission to your authority.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray, God, that you would answer, that you would intervene, that those miracles, signs, and wonders would follow those who obey you, who believe in you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.