WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.000 If you have your Bibles, we're in the book of Mark. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.560 We are in the book of Mark, chapter 12. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:13.519 And we are, ironically, of all things, we are in the last week of Jesus. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.160 We're in the last week of Jesus. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:20.800 And so the timing of this is only something that God could do. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:26.079 And last week I talked about the intentional focus of Jesus. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:36.479 The fact that there was this flaming intentionality about Jesus, his focus on going to the cross four times. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.920 He's predicted his death. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:53.280 And the third time on the Monday of the first week, the first day of the final week of his life, he actually gave details about where he's going and what's going to happen to him. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:58.640 There's just a fierce intentionality about everything Jesus is doing. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:00:59.679 G.K. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.280 Chesterton said this about Jesus. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:12.239 The life of Jesus went as swift and straight as a thunderbolt, almost in the manner of a military march. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:20.319 Certainly in the manner of the quest of a hero moving to his achievement or his doom. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:29.439 Sometimes we forget that the purpose of Christ was to destroy the works of the devil. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:31.200 1 John 3:8. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:44.879 And he is facing foe after foe after foe every day, dealing with scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and religious leaders and political leaders that oppose him. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.840 And men and women, you will be opposed in your Christian life. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.280 You'll be opposed in your own family. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:59.280 If you walk with Christ, you will have opposition in your home. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.760 You'll have opposition at work. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.480 Amy, you'll have opposition in the political arena. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.400 You that are in the military, you will have opposition. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.560 You that are businessmen and businesswomen, you will have opposition. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:27.840 This opposition is because God is at work to strengthen you in the intentionality of your own life that is actually driving back darkness. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:42.800 When David took that harp in Saul's court, Saul is filled with a demonic spirit, and when he begins to play, it drives off darkness. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:47.280 Church worship is to drive off darkness. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:54.800 Jehoshaphat going into battle sent the worshipers before him to drive off darkness. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.599 Fill your house with worship. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:10.240 We talked about Jesus saying as he went through the temple with an intentionality and an anger and a violent anger as he went through the temple on the first day in Jerusalem. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:20.400 And he said, This, this house has become a place of merchandise, and I call this forth as a house of prayer for the nations. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.120 Men and women, you're a house of prayer for the nations. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:25.599 Each one of you are a house of prayer. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:31.599 And with that intentionality and focus, you will drive back darkness in your life. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.120 So we came to this passage last week, Mark chapter 12, verse 28. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.000 I want to canvas it again. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.520 Verse 28 of Mark 12. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:59.439 Then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:09.599 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:17.519 I shared last week the story of talking to a Muslim recently in an airport terminal. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:25.439 He was there, we started this conversation, and in the midst of that, somehow we came back to the second coming of Christ. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:31.680 And he said, Yeah, we Muslims believe there's going to be a Jesus, there's going to be a Messiah that's going to come forth. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.439 He's going to be a false Messiah, and he's going to have a prophet with him. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.480 And this prophet's going to introduce this false Messiah. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:43.519 And this false messiah is going to gain control of the whole world. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.279 And he's a precursor. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.040 He's prophetic of the true Messiah, but he's not the true Messiah. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.319 He's kind of this, he's this anti-Messiah. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.839 Does any of this sound familiar? 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.240 And we kept talking about the last days, and it was so similar. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.639 And I said, Well, what do you do with the Shema passage? 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:07.920 The Lord is one God. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.040 Yes, the Lord is one. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:10.319 He said, We believe that. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.800 But here's our problem with you Christians. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.399 You believe in this three God thing. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.000 You believe in three gods. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:20.319 And he didn't remember it was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:21.839 He said, three gods. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.639 And here we see in this passage that Jesus says, This is first. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.439 Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:31.120 Elohim, one. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.720 But then he says, your God, Ekkad is a compound plural. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:40.480 There's this prophetic word there of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:06:02.240 And I believe what God's going to do in the latter days for those that are true Messiah seekers among Mormons and among Muslims and among Indians and all across the world, God's going to reveal Himself as the God who is Ekkod, the God of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:03.680 And they're going to have a revelation. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.600 It's happening right now in the Muslim world through dreams and visions. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:15.360 We've prayed for Saeed so many times, and Saeed's sister is close friends with Anna. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:20.240 And Anna was out in DC in the Virginia area a couple weeks ago. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.360 And Anna had the opportunity to meet Saeed's mother, and she's talking about this dream that she had. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:28.240 And then Saeed's sister, this dream that she had. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.759 And so Muslims are getting saved through dreams and visions. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:44.160 And it's not, it's interesting because it's not through a revelation based on a rational argument, it's a revelation based on a supernatural encounter with the living God. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.279 God's doing that today. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.120 And then he says, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:54.959 And I shared last week the idea here in the Hebrews, out of your heart. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.160 So let me reread it. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:05.120 You shall love the Lord your God out of your heart, out of your soul, out of your mind, out of your strength. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:06.560 And this is the first commandment. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.079 So men and women, it's always inner going outward. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.519 It is a work of the heart. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:30.240 The problem with churches today, the problem with religion in general and the stripe of Christianity today is that what we've done is we've painted this picture of a religion that's somehow outward in instead of inward out. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.319 Because it's the heart that God is looking for. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:44.560 And so he says here the first and great commandment is that you would love me out of your soul, out of your mind, and out of your strength and out of your heart. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.920 Church, Jesus wants your heart. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:56.800 That's why we talk about building whole-hearted disciples of Jesus. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:08.399 And there's so many ways that happens, but the best way, the most powerful way, the most lasting way that that happens, listen to me, intentional relationships. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:15.199 And even with the fracturing of our families, the church still stands. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:16.959 The church still stands. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.040 We are a family. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.480 And that's why we talk about C groups and D groups. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:28.800 You need small groups, you need larger groups, but you need a place where intentional relationships are occurring. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:30.000 Because what do we do? 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.679 We always move toward loneliness. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.879 We always move toward isolation. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:38.320 That's our natural bent. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:45.759 I don't care if you're a man or a woman, you tend toward isolation, but you're wired for relationships. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.039 You're wired for relationships. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:54.080 God placed that eternity in our hearts that we would have heart-to-heart relationships. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.320 And what Satan comes to do is say you can't trust people anymore. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.159 Look what your dad did. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:01.519 Look what your mom did. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.039 Look what your best friend did. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:04.480 Look what that church did. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:14.879 And so we find this temptation to pull away, and yet Jesus says the first and foremost commandment is love me out of your heart. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:20.320 We have to keep burying our heart, church. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:27.519 We have to keep loving with our heart, and then it's with our mind and our soul and our strength, and so it's with the whole being. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:33.200 Augustine said it this way: love God and do whatever you please. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.159 That's where everybody quotes him. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.799 Love God and do whatever you please, but it's not the whole quote. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:51.360 Here's what he said: Love God and do whatever you please, colon, for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the one who is beloved. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:58.480 So this love of God is now where Jesus goes. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:09.679 Because we know in 1 John it says, In this is love that He, that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:15.919 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.240 No one has seen God at any time. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:22.320 If we love one another, God abides in us and his love has been perfected in us. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.519 And so you can't command someone to love you. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.720 You can't command someone to respect you. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:37.120 Love is always a response to something that someone has done in your life. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:47.519 And so Jesus speaking through John as he writes in that first epistle, look, it's not so much that we loved him, it's that he loved us first, and we're responding to that love. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:55.360 Loving God out of our heart is a response to God loving us from his heart. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:14.799 So recently I had the opportunity to be up at a retreat in Buna Vista, and I was asking God and seeking God about a number of things related to the church, and I'll just tell you this. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:15.840 This is kind of a cool story. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:18.480 It's not really my main point, but it was on the same hike. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:31.039 I go hiking up early in the morning on a prayer hike, and I'm up there and I'm saying, Lord, I need confirmation that I'm on the right track with the road, that we're that this is this is of you. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.000 I need, I just I started having all these doubts about stuff. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.039 This is in November of last year. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:44.240 And I'm walking on this trail, and this guy comes walking up to me, and he says, This is the road. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.120 This is the road. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.879 And I said, What did you say? 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:52.799 He said, Is this the road? 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.039 And I go, What are you talking about, man? 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.120 And he said, Well, I mean, there's some kind of a trail. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:58.080 Then he said, trail. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.320 There's a trail, it's called the Continental Divide Trail, or it's a road or something. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:03.519 And I go, I don't know. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:04.799 And he's okay, see ya. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:05.840 And he took off. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.159 I had just prayed that prayer. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:13.039 So I go up into the hills and I'm and I'm praying about all this other stuff. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:27.039 And as I'm walking down back to the camp, the Spirit of God speaks to me almost in an audible voice, and he says, Steve, I love you with all of my heart. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.519 With all of my soul, with all of my strength. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:36.559 He said, I love you with all of my heart. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.559 Beloved, Jesus loves you. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.360 Every one of you in this room, with all of his heart. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:54.480 And that's what the week leading to Calvary is all about. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:05.360 Jesus, as he journeys toward Calvary, is living this love from all of his heart for you. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:11.039 With all of his strength, with all of his soul, and with all of his mind. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:12.399 He loves you that much. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:14.240 Your beloved. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:16.000 Your beloved. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.120 And the second is like it, he says. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.519 There's no other commandment greater than these. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:33.840 And so the greatest 32 words in the English language are right here. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:44.399 The greatest 32 words in all of the Bible are you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.720 This is the first commandment, and the second is like it. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.279 By the way, this is in the New King James Version. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:52.159 There's 32 words. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.600 I don't know about the NIV. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:58.320 You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and there's no other commandment greater than these. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:13:59.919 And so we love. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:02.960 You already love yourself. 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:06.720 Love others with that same love. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.320 The wholehearted love of 32 words. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:12.480 Verse 32. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:20.799 So the scribe said to him, Well said, teacher, you have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there's no other but he. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:36.399 And to love him with all of the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all of the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:45.039 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.679 But after that no one dared question him. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:52.720 So, so Jesus saw the sincerity of the man. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:57.120 He saw that he understood at the at least the mental and heart level. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:03.519 And you guys know that soon after Jesus goes to the cross and is resurrected. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:11.679 And then with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, many priests, many scribes were saved. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:16.720 And I believe that this is one of them, that this guy got saved later and came to know the Lord. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:23.759 He seemed to understand that the core of the gospel is love and that the heart of the gospel is the heart. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:34.960 Then Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:48.879 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, the Lord, this is kind of interesting, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:55.279 Therefore, David himself calls him Lord. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.600 How is it then that he is his son? 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.399 And the common people heard him gladly. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.080 Now, this is interesting. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:14.639 Jesus is quoting from one of the great and most quoted messianic psalms in all of Scripture, Psalm 110. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:29.120 And if you look at Psalm 110, you see this emphasis of the Lord speaking to David, who they call Lord, and they call Jesus the son of David. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:35.919 And so the common people understand this, and the scribes do not. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:42.720 And he said, How can you call him the son of David when he is David's Lord? 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:48.080 Jesus is proclaiming his messianic personhood, his deity. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:17:01.200 And here's what's interesting is that he's the son of David is that is that human side of Jesus, because literally, men and women, he is a son of David. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:09.759 In other words, he is of the lineage of David from the womb of Mary. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:18.640 And so he comes forth both being divine and human. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.920 Muslims struggle with that. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:23.680 Jews struggle with that. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.359 Some of us struggle with that. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.920 Don't meditate on it too long, or you'll struggle with it. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:45.039 But the reality is, born of a woman, this was a huge issue in the Middle Ages as it related to Jesus being fully, completely God, and fully and completely man. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:57.200 And so he is challenging his Messiahship not as a political leader, but as the Lord of David and the Son of David. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:22.240 And then he said to them in his teaching, Beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feast, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers, these will receive greater condemnation. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.640 Now you might want to highlight, bracket, underline it. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:31.039 These seem to be things that Jesus hates. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:39.759 The message reads this way: Watch out for the religion scholars. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:56.319 They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:03.119 Probably got a little bit of a little gut, been going to a lot of potluck. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:09.680 Guys, I'm from the South. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:12.480 I'm from Georgia. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.480 And I have a lot of friends that still live in Georgia. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.279 I haven't lost all of them yet. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.440 And mark my word. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:30.000 If you go into Facebook and you see anybody from the South, go to the photos. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:31.759 Alright? 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:41.839 And when you go in the photos, tell me if not it almost every, if not at least every other photo has food in it. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.480 We live for food in the South. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:53.519 I I mean my brother probably has memorized every all-you-can-eat place in Athens, Georgia. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.599 So they're at the head of the table of every church function. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.480 And all the time they're exploiting the weak and the helpless. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.759 The longer their prayers, the worse they get. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.839 But they'll pay for it in the end. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:13.200 I see five things that God hates here. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:14.559 Can I give them to you? 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.200 I see five things that God hates in this pastor. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:18.000 Let me read them to you. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.559 Number one, prideful about appearance and position. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:27.920 Number one, prideful about appearance and position. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.079 I'm so glad that the only people who wear ties here are visitors. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:33.920 We don't wear ties. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:35.119 I mean, you don't even know. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.680 I mean, you don't you don't know anybody's socioeconomic status in this church. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.119 I think that's cool. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:42.319 It's awesome. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:46.960 Because we tend toward pride about appearance and position. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:47.680 We all do. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:51.200 Number two, flattery from people. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.839 Flattery from people, the scribes loved it. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.160 Don't flatter. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.519 You can compliment and encourage, but you don't need to flatter. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:07.039 And when people flatter you and they gush over you, man, run. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:08.880 Run. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:14.720 Number three, control over people through religion. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:19.039 Control over people through religion. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:24.240 Number four, posing and pretending to be something that you're not. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:29.119 Posing and pretending to be something that you're not. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:41.039 The church, and many times pastors should have an Oscar trophy right next to their podium. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.160 Because you fake it so much. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.799 It's almost like the job description is to be a big faker. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.079 Let's not be that way here, okay? 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.279 I hate posing and pretending. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.119 And then number five, and this is the most important of all of them. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.200 Injustice toward those that are weak and helpless. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.920 Injustice toward those who are weak and helpless. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.279 God hates that, taking advantage of people. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:16.960 So Jesus says, first of all, love me out of your whole heart. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.039 Love me out of your whole mind. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:21.119 Love me out of your whole strength. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:26.319 And then he turns to the scribes and he says, Here's the problem I have with you. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:28.000 You have pretense. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.279 You pose. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:31.920 You're using people. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.000 You're hurting people. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:43.759 And in the process of spending so much time on all your religious games, you forget the people that need the Lord the most, and those are the weak and helpless. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:56.720 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and he saw how the people put money into the treasury, and many who were rich put in much. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:06.240 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrant. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:13.200 So, church, the treasury was located in the court of women, right outside the main temple area. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:18.720 Offerings were placed in thirteen chests that were shaped like trumpets. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:27.680 Rich people called attention to themselves and would usually throw large sums of coins to make a lot of noise when they gave. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:34.799 And then here comes this poor woman, probably shabbily dressed. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.359 She puts in two mites. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:45.279 And a mite in circulation in Palestine at that time was worth about one eighth of a cent. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:50.640 And Jesus sees, what does he see? 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.559 What does he see in her? 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:58.720 What does he see in her? 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:02.640 QA time. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:04.960 What does he see in her? 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:10.640 He sees her heart. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:12.240 Don't miss this. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:14.000 Don't miss this. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.680 God is looking at our hearts. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:27.440 Now, someone could have come and given a million drachma. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:37.920 And if it's in the spirit of the heart of a love and passion of wholeheartedness for Jesus, he would have said the same thing. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:48.880 But I believe Jesus is making a contrast here to the fact that we tend, do we not, to look at the outer self of our own lives and Jesus God? 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:54.559 And we see this especially in 1st and 2 Samuel as God looks at David, he looks at the heart. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.599 That's the resume, that's the interview of God. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:01.039 That's God looking into our hearts. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.599 How's your heart tonight? 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.559 How's your heart tonight? 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:16.319 Give, men and women, give from a love from your heart. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:28.400 And so do we not, we tend to look at someone's outward behavior and addictions, um, issues, morality. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:35.680 Those are certainly important because you can ruin your life based on those kind of habit patterns. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:42.640 But we go to that only because of a dry heart. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:49.599 And so to go to God on a regular basis and say, God, my heart's not doing well today. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:56.799 I'm short with people, I'm distant with people, I'm angry, I'm frustrated. 00:25:57.680 --> 00:25:59.680 Take that to the Lord in prayer. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:02.880 Take that to him, give him your heart. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:18.000 So he called his disciples to himself and he said to them, Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:30.720 For they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:34.799 This woman is wholehearted. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.200 This is worship. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:43.599 This woman gave more than the rich because she gave all that she had. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:48.160 The rich gave out of their surplus, and she gave out of her poverty. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:59.839 I found over the years in raising support as a missionary, being a pastor, that there's a pretty clear correlation that the more you have, the less you give. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.440 The more you have, the less you give. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.400 But the more you love, the more you give. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:16.559 The more you have, usually people start looking at how much they're giving, and they actually start giving less. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:21.920 But the more you love, the more you can't wait to give. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:41.039 I read one commentator who said this: he said, God is not looking so much at what we give as how much we actually keep. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.319 And she had, and she gave all that she had. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:50.480 John Wesley once said, make all you can, give all you can, and save all you can. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:51.839 I like that. 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:56.240 Make all you can, give all you can, and save all you can. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:27:59.759 Jesus has a friend. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.440 She has his heart, and she's wholehearted in her giving. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:09.119 Let me say this to you that are in different places financially in your own journey with God. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:10.880 Just start where you're at. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:17.920 Just start where you uh where you are and do what you can, and let God lead you in your giving. 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:23.920 Then he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:30.319 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:32.400 So he said, I will do this. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:44.799 I'll pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:48.720 Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:54.720 But God said to him, Fool, fool. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:06.400 Wow, this night your soul will be required of you, then those whose will those things be which you have provided. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:12.240 So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:23.039 You know, when I read this, all I could think about was what is the greatest treasure? 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:24.960 I'm talking about people treasure. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:27.200 I'm talking about, I'm talking about things. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:33.759 What is the greatest treasure we have at the road? 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:41.359 What is the most important treasure we have at the road? 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:46.799 What do you think? 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:51.839 What is the greatest treasure we have at the road? 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:54.799 Don't say God, because we are that's a given. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:56.559 God, Jesus, of course. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:58.720 But I'm talking about resources. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:02.480 What's the greatest resource we have at the road? 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.079 What? 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:06.640 Each other? 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:08.799 All right, good start. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:10.880 Ooh. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:12.400 Ooh. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:13.359 What'd you say? 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:14.960 Children. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:17.839 I believe that. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:26.240 The greatest responsibility any of us that are older have is the discipleship of the children here at the road. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:28.319 Starting with your own family. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:30.319 So this is what Jesus said. 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:36.319 Jesus called a little child, and this is right in the context, the disciples are saying, no, they can't come to Jesus. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.319 So Jesus calls him to himself. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:47.920 He set this little guy in the midst of them, and he said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you're converted and become as little children. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:51.599 Okay, you're supposed to keep becoming like little children, you guys. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:31:02.079 Because there's something precious, there's something beautiful, there's something actually unique about children. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.240 This is what he says. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:13.279 Therefore, whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.039 Now I'm competitive. 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:18.880 I was born competitive. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:28.559 I was beating my three years' younger brother in marbles before I even started school. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:30.720 I trounced him. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:38.640 I got my brother so mad one time that he took a football helmet and he threw it so hard on the pavement that he cracked it. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:44.559 I antagonized everybody I was around because I was competitive. 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:52.480 And I read this kind of as a competitor, and it says, Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:54.400 This is the key to greatness. 00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:00.079 Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:06.240 And it was Mother Teresa who said, Every time I look into the eyes of a child, I see Jesus. 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:09.359 Everybody look at me. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:13.839 Does anybody recognize this hat? 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:17.519 Sean, do you recognize this hat? 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:22.000 It's an IDF hat. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:29.920 This is an Israeli Defense Forces hat that I picked up in Israel in 2008. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:38.559 And just as a sidelight, my brother emailed me the other day seeing if we want to do another Israel trip in 2016. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:40.160 So we're kind of looking at that. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.279 We might, I might put out an interest questionnaire with you guys. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.920 This is an Israeli Defense Forces hat. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:47.440 Now, why am I wearing this? 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:49.680 First of all, it's very comfortable. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:56.000 And I feel like, especially this week after what happened with the prime minister, I think it's appropriate that I wear it. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:12.480 It's because in 19, because of the war of 1948, in 1949, all Israelis were conscripted into the military, and it was called the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces. 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:18.640 Women and men over 18, everybody was conscripted into the Army. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.799 Women two years, men three years. 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:27.039 Actually, it was six months less than that back then, but in 1967 it changed and they added six months to it. 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.400 Did some research. 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:40.319 In the purpose of the IDF, it reads to protect and provide for the welfare and safety of every family in Israel. 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:45.759 To protect and provide for the welfare and safety of every family in Israel. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:54.720 At the road, we have committed ourselves to building wholehearted disciples of Jesus. 00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:58.480 And we were having a discussion the other day about nursery. 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:05.440 Finding nursery workers, disciples, servant disciples for the nursery for the road, because it's growing. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.200 We've got two problems. 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:11.679 One, you guys keep doing stuff that creates babies. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.719 And number two, you keep coming here. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:15.679 Alright? 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:17.519 So it keeps growing. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:20.000 Keep it up, by the way, it's a good thing. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:21.199 On every front. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:23.039 Just make sure you're married. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:35.199 But we were having this discussion, and Melody Powski said, I don't like the word nursery. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:43.360 Nursery sounds like we're having some kind of daycare or some kind of babysitting service for the road. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.079 What we're really trying to do is disciple people, right? 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:46.719 We said, yeah. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:49.440 So we're going to call it preschool D group. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:34:54.239 Hello. 00:34:55.599 --> 00:34:56.559 Why not? 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:59.760 Today we had a middle school D group at our house. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:01.199 And a number of you guys came. 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.239 We had our first discipleship group for middle schoolers. 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:06.480 How many of you are in D groups right now? 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:07.519 Raise your hand. 00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:08.880