SPEAKER_00: You have your Bibles, would you turn to Mark chapter 10?
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: And we have been in Mark chapter 10, and we've looked at the rich young ruler.
SPEAKER_00: You recall that the rich young ruler, he came to Jesus, and in the discussion with Jesus, he was clear that he had followed the commandments that Jesus spoke to him about, which were all the commandments related to the aspects of a religious commitment, outward behavior, none of those commandments that Jesus spoke of or inward intimacy relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: And then it says, it has this key verse in which it says, Jesus loved him.
SPEAKER_00: So Mark records it, Jesus loved the rich young ruler, and then Jesus calls him, challenges him to give up all of his riches.
SPEAKER_00: You see, what he noticed in the rich young ruler, we've already talked about this, was this was the idol in his life.
SPEAKER_00: In church, we have idols in our lives at times, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus calls us out to surrender our idols to him.
SPEAKER_00: We sometimes are mistaken that we think that idols are only in Japan or only in South America, or idols are somehow only in some Asian country where they worship some kind of a statue.
SPEAKER_00: But idols are anything within our heart that takes our love away from God.
SPEAKER_00: And so he couldn't follow him.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the only time in the Bible, it's the only place in Scripture where Jesus gives a challenge to being his disciple where he gets a negative response.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're picking it up there.
SPEAKER_00: We're in Mark chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: That's the context of verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I was checking tonight and I realized that sometimes some of you come without a Bible, not many of you, but some of you do.
SPEAKER_00: There are Bibles in the back of these chairs that they use here at Chapwell's Church.
SPEAKER_00: You can use them.
SPEAKER_00: So we use the New King James Version, but it's actually close enough.
SPEAKER_00: So if you need a Bible, you can pull one out.
SPEAKER_00: Just give it back to them because it's the other church's Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: It's not ours.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus looked around and he said to his disciples, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: So he's speaking of this rich young ruler.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus says twice, he mentions twice how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Second time he says, those who trust in riches.
SPEAKER_00: And notice the context.
SPEAKER_00: The context is the Old Testament scriptures, the Old Dispensation, where all through the scriptures their blessings were poured out.
SPEAKER_00: Blessings were poured out based on obedience to God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the Jews had, they looked at the riches of David, they had looked at the riches of Solomon.
SPEAKER_00: They're right there at the Temple Mount.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they know what the temple looks like, and they've been there, they've done pilgrimages there.
SPEAKER_00: It's potential that right here, these men and women are on the pilgrimage, headed to Jerusalem at that time.
SPEAKER_00: And so there was an association that was clear that if you fully obeyed God, the rains would come, the harvest would come, there'd be blessing on your family, your wife would bear children.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus comes from this angle after talking to this young man who's very wealthy, and he says, it's difficult.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this must have just blown their mind.
SPEAKER_00: It's difficult for someone with wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Trusting in their riches instead of trusting in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that God's not against riches per se, but he is against those who would find their self-sufficiency and their power from their riches.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus challenges this.
SPEAKER_00: And later, Jesus would say, No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot serve God and mammon.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'll be honest with you, this is a tough one because, I mean, especially with this generation, I'll just say this to you young people.
SPEAKER_00: I meet so many in their 20s and 30s, especially men.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, I've I see I've seen I see less of this in the women than I do in the men who just won't stick to a job.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to say, man, get a job.
SPEAKER_00: Set sights on making money to provide for a wife and a family.
SPEAKER_00: But trust in God in the process.
SPEAKER_00: Trust him in that process of hard work and diligence.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus says, look, you're gonna have these masters that are they're gonna compete with you.
SPEAKER_00: And the competition is gonna be between the self-sufficiency and the security that comes through financial blessing, physical, material things, and trusting me for your physical and material needs.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that tough?
SPEAKER_00: It's really hard, especially if you're a tither.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a tither in this room, you give 10% away.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, here's what's great about tithing.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what's great about giving is when you start learning to tithe, it really causes you to learn to be disciplined with your money.
SPEAKER_00: And it has a it has a cascading effect, not only a blessing in your life, but it also disciplines your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have traveled to more than three countries of the world?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: More than five countries of the world.
SPEAKER_00: More than ten countries of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Over half of you raised your hand the first time, and I would imagine that a number of you didn't just go to Europe, but you might even.
SPEAKER_00: How many have been in a two-thirds world country?
SPEAKER_00: Guess who in this room is wealthy?
SPEAKER_00: Every one of you.
SPEAKER_00: We are so wealthy.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is saying this to all of us in this room.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying it to Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying it to every one of you guys.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, it is easier for a camel.
SPEAKER_00: Now this was this came from a Persian phrase.
SPEAKER_00: The Persian phrase was when they were trying to define something that was impossible, they said it's harder for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle.
SPEAKER_00: But the biggest animal in the Middle East, this part, this area of Palestine, was a camel.
SPEAKER_00: So the colloquialism had changed to a camel.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying to us as Americans, you guys, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for an American to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: We are so wealthy.
SPEAKER_00: We're so rich.
SPEAKER_00: Now I don't know about you, but when I started rereading that this week and studying it and thinking of it in terms of being in Philippines, being in Thailand, being in Burma, being in Nepal, being in India, being in Mexico, places that I've been, Uganda, I know how much I'm driven and how easily I'm captivated by the security that comes from my job.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I worship it.
SPEAKER_00: And I think you're here tonight because you don't either.
SPEAKER_00: But isn't that a good wake-up call to all of us to put in perspective who is our provider?
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, who's our provider?
SPEAKER_00: It's the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And he is going to provide, and especially as you have learned to give, give away, and that you're feeding into the kingdom of God through even your finances, God's going to use you as a conduit.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe He will, He'll open doors that no man can shut to provide for you because you're providing for the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And they were greatly astonished.
SPEAKER_00: Of course they were.
SPEAKER_00: Saying among themselves, who then can be saved?
SPEAKER_00: It seems impossible what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus looked at them and said, With men, this is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: But not with God.
SPEAKER_00: Underline or highlight with God.
SPEAKER_00: With men, impossible.
SPEAKER_00: With God, all things are possible.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Just keep your finger in Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to Romans chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: The point Jesus is bringing out is that salvation by human effort is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Men and women, it is impossible for you to save yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Now, many of you knew I grew up, I grew up Lutheran and went through catechism class as a Lutheran, understood grace, grace of God through and through, through my my wonderful pastor father, as he taught from Luther's treatise on grace, Luther's treatise on baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Then truly came into a born-again relationship with the Lord, my freshman year at the University of Georgia, and then I started hearing people talk about I accepted the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I accepted the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But in the midst of that, we can lose focus that God saved you.
SPEAKER_00: That it was initiated by the Lord in his grace.
SPEAKER_00: Even Martin Luther said that even the faith to believe was initiated by the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he called you out.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you older, some of you younger.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you in this room have been through horrendous experiences that would have broken anyone less than you.
SPEAKER_00: Drugs, infidelity, divorce, brutal abuse.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have been shielded from that, and you've come up in more of a godly Christian home, but God saves us.
SPEAKER_00: It's God's sovereign work of grace in our life.
SPEAKER_00: So in Romans chapter 3, Paul's trying to make this point.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: Start at verse 20 with me.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, by the deeds of the law, so he's speaking to Jews.
SPEAKER_00: He's speaking to those who understand the law.
SPEAKER_00: So we've been given the Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_00: We've been given the scriptures that give us a knowledge of sin, but the knowledge of sin and the personal attempts to live a righteous life can't save us.
SPEAKER_00: Really important.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of churches that say that, but the pressure that's placed on the seeker or even the believer to somehow raise our standard of personal, even, I would consider it almost fleshly righteousness, overwhelms our understanding at the heart level of what God has done for us.
SPEAKER_00: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed.
SPEAKER_00: So Christ came and there's now a revelation that we have of the righteousness of God being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith, underline that, faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe.
SPEAKER_00: So there is this, there's this imputed righteousness from Christ when we believe and we take on his righteous work, his righteous actions that were, that were presented to us not only in the life that he lived, but the death that he died.
SPEAKER_00: And when we believe, and men and women, when you put your faith in Christ, even that faith to believe comes from him.
SPEAKER_00: You trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, his righteousness is poured into you.
SPEAKER_00: It's imputed into you, it's given to you.
SPEAKER_00: You're saved.
SPEAKER_00: Forever.
SPEAKER_00: You're saved forever.
SPEAKER_00: You say, well, what about?
SPEAKER_00: I know this guy over here and he and he believed, he said he believed, and he could he'd tell you the time and the hour and just everything about it, and then three years later, man, he went off.
SPEAKER_00: We all know those stories, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: I don't have an answer for all of that.
SPEAKER_00: All I know is if it depends on me to save me, then it's gonna depend on me to keep my salvation.
SPEAKER_00: If it depends on him and he seals the deal, as it says in Ephesians 1 through his Holy Spirit, when he comes and seals the work unto salvation, then it's up to him.
SPEAKER_00: And we will go through ebbs and flows.
SPEAKER_00: And we will go through times where we struggle.
SPEAKER_00: Hello?
SPEAKER_00: And at the road, we believe in being honest about that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't play these religious games.
SPEAKER_00: Share your hurting.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we have D groups, that's why we have C groups, because we share honestly and we get prayer because everybody needs it.
SPEAKER_00: But God saves us and God keeps the salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And so he says to those who believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, not in your personal redemption or how well you can live out the Ten Commandments or how good you are, how honest you are, but it is a surrender unto His righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And the spirit-filled life, church, is letting the Spirit of God increasingly over time as we grow, sanctify what we've been justified in.
SPEAKER_00: And so we are justified by the work of Christ in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: We're sanctified as we grow and we're glorified when we meet him someday in the heavenlies.
SPEAKER_00: It's not up to you.
SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, well, don't we have a responsibility?
SPEAKER_00: Of course we do.
SPEAKER_00: But see, even the desire to have a responsibility is the work of the Spirit as you increasingly surrender to him.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: So you have to increasingly surrender to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, every guy in this room, every woman in this room struggles with envy, strife, jealousy, and lust sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: But as you surrender that to the Lord and become quicker and quicker in surrendering it to the Lord, it can't get a stronghold.
SPEAKER_00: And as it doesn't get a stronghold, God begins to increasingly make us and develop us and build us and deepen in us Christlieness.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, whom God set forth as a propitiation, that's a big word, by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying here, men and women, that you are declared righteous.
SPEAKER_00: You are declared righteous.
SPEAKER_00: Propitiation means appeasement or satisfaction.
SPEAKER_00: Christ's violent death satisfies the offended holiness and wrath of God against for those whom Christ died.
SPEAKER_00: So through your sin, you have angered God.
SPEAKER_00: The wrath of God is upon you if you've not put your faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Tonight, put your faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If you have doubts about that, put your faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because the scriptures say that God gives us an assurance of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And if you do not have an assurance of your salvation, you might not be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Come to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good deal.
SPEAKER_00: You get heaven.
SPEAKER_00: But more than that, and this is a better deal, you get eternal life now.
SPEAKER_00: You start living eternal life right now.
SPEAKER_00: So you begin to start living heaven now.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just out there, it's now.
SPEAKER_00: We have the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures start to come alive.
SPEAKER_00: We start to have a hunger and thirst for Him.
SPEAKER_00: That is impossible with men.
SPEAKER_00: That is possible with God.
SPEAKER_00: All right, now go back to Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: Then Peter began to say to him, Peter really, Peter's not really that interested in his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I think he's interested in what kind of deal he's going to get because the rich young ruler really confused him.
SPEAKER_00: See, we've left all and followed you.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus answered and said, Assured I say to you, and I love this passage, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to keep noting, or, or, or, or, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses, brothers and sisters, and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: But many who are first will be last and the last first.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter, who had left a thriving fishing business, his brothers left this thriving fishing business, sees a rich young ruler.
SPEAKER_00: Here's this thing about a camel and a sewing needle.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I mean, what are we getting out of the deal?
SPEAKER_00: If it's that impossible.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus says, or, or, or, or, or, men and women, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, when you decide to be a revolutionary disciple of Jesus Christ, you will lose friends.
SPEAKER_00: You will lose family members.
SPEAKER_00: You may lose your spouse.
SPEAKER_00: You may lose sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: You guys know what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: I know most of you in this room, and everyone that I know in this room has gone through stuff in your life, and you've lost stuff because you chose to follow Christ, and Christ understands that.
SPEAKER_00: And he's giving us an assurance, not just in eternal life, but now.
SPEAKER_00: Look around.
SPEAKER_00: These are your sons and your daughters and your mothers and your fathers.
SPEAKER_00: I remember in uh years ago leaving to go to Japan.
SPEAKER_00: Leaving my mom and dad.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know Liv's existed yet.
SPEAKER_00: So I was gonna sense kind of, I know I'd be gone for three years.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe there, I mean, I'm I mean, I think Japanese girls are cute and everything, but I just never was attracted to Asian women.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty much figuring that when I get back, I'm still gonna be in the same state that I am when I'm leaving.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna be with my parents, and I'm out of here.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then I met Liz, things happened, we got married, and we got married in Tokyo.
SPEAKER_00: And we had 200 people there.
SPEAKER_00: And there were only six from our family.
SPEAKER_00: All the rest were new believers, missionaries, disciples, uh, folks that were in our discipleship groups and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I had a new family.
SPEAKER_00: I had I had friends literally 200-fold right there, in there in the reception and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And then look at you guys.
SPEAKER_00: You're our family.
SPEAKER_00: You're our friends.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, like Bonnie over here and others, you mean you guys pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: You always pray for Liz and I and our family.
SPEAKER_00: And Pam and others that are prayer warriors.
SPEAKER_00: So many of you, Roy and Betty, have been with us for years, and so many others, you pray almost every day for us.
SPEAKER_00: Louis and Edna, you pray for us all the time.
SPEAKER_00: This is true.
SPEAKER_00: You can test this, it works.
SPEAKER_00: You follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how people do it without the church.
SPEAKER_00: How do you do it without the church?
SPEAKER_00: You don't.
SPEAKER_00: We did not, okay, we did a lot of the raising of our kids.
SPEAKER_00: We did.
SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you right now, all of our kids at around 12 to 14, we say, I want you to find a mentor in our church.
SPEAKER_00: We've told all our sons and daughters to have mentors outside of us that have our vision and values, have our heart, we want you to develop other relationships than just us that can mentor and help you grow, and everyone on happy.
SPEAKER_00: And I know it has gotten them out of a lot of fixes because I can say it until I am flipping blue in the face, and then they hear it from this other guy, and they run home and say, You're not gonna believe what Joe said.
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna believe what Susie said.
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
SPEAKER_00: Amen, brother.
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: I never thought of that.
SPEAKER_00: Really?
SPEAKER_00: Let me write that down.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, you can, it was it.
SPEAKER_00: Hillary Clinton wrote a book, It takes a village.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, it takes a church.
SPEAKER_00: It takes a church.
SPEAKER_00: Let us be a part of discipling your family.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're here for.
SPEAKER_00: Are we perfect?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Do we have much time?
SPEAKER_00: 168 hours in a week, and we have about 90 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you, we can set a course with the vision of what God's doing and building disciples that will energize your home if you'll let us.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll let God work.
SPEAKER_00: With persecutions, though, with persecutions, let's not skip that.
SPEAKER_00: Being a Jesus disciple is part and parcel suffering.
SPEAKER_00: You will suffer.
SPEAKER_00: We will suffer, but let's suffer together.
SPEAKER_00: Let's suffer together.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be in this fight together.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, with I was just watching, believe it or not, I was watching CNN when I was working out today, and they were interviewing, I believe it'll be on at noon tomorrow on CNN.
SPEAKER_00: It's that Indian, it sounds like an Indian-sounding name, one of their, one of their uh CNN correspondents is interviewing the Jordanian president.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, they just picked, they cherry-picked this one part.
SPEAKER_00: He said, we are headed to a third world war with ISIS.
SPEAKER_00: And this is our Jordanian president.
SPEAKER_00: And the the interview, which I recorded, I'm recording it tomorrow, is basically what do you what do we do in the Middle East with this situation?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I just happened to be reading William Manchester's book uh on Winston Churchill right now, third volume, when he becomes prime minister.
SPEAKER_00: And um, when you when you see how we treated how Roosevelt and Congress treated Churchill and the English under the attack of Nazi Germany, it's nauseating.
SPEAKER_00: It's nauseating our isolationist views.
SPEAKER_00: So are we headed to World War III?
SPEAKER_00: We will be if we don't do anything.
SPEAKER_00: The reality, men and women, though, is that ISIS is here.
SPEAKER_00: We have intelligence reports that it is in this country and it's only a matter of time.
SPEAKER_00: And you as a believer are gonna be persecuted in your lifetime like you never have in the past.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to challenge you tonight to make a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna be a Jesus disciple or not?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is what this is what was happening at that time.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what's happening here, guys?
SPEAKER_00: They're headed to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And starting next week, up until Easter, we're gonna go through those, that that final week of Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_00: It all begins in chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus keeps telling them what he's about to tell them right now for the third time.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem is about 2,550 feet above sea level.
SPEAKER_00: So coming up to Jerusalem, they're coming from Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed as they followed, and they were afraid.
SPEAKER_00: There's something different about Jesus now.
SPEAKER_00: You guys that have done sports, you know what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to see your parents right before your sport.
SPEAKER_00: There's something about an athlete.
SPEAKER_00: You get resolute.
SPEAKER_00: You got a job to do: baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: You're resolute.
SPEAKER_00: Something's changed in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's resolute, he's determined, and they see it.
SPEAKER_00: It says they're amazed.
SPEAKER_00: There's something that's about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: And they're fearful.
SPEAKER_00: Twice before he's told them he's going to Jerusalem to die.
SPEAKER_00: And he's about to tell them the most the most succinct, the most precise description of what he's going to go through.
SPEAKER_00: So there's fear.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: I love that Mark is so earthy.
SPEAKER_00: There's an earthy kind of masculinity to this passage.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is resolute.
SPEAKER_00: He's determined as he goes to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what he's going there to do, and his disciples are fearful.
SPEAKER_00: Then he took the twelve aside again and again began to tell them the things that would happen to him.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priest and to the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, he's never as descriptive as he is right now.
SPEAKER_00: This is the third time he's told them this.
SPEAKER_00: They will mock him and scourge him and spit on him, and then they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.
SPEAKER_00: This is the third and the last prediction of his death and resurrection that he will make to his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: It's the most detailed of all the others.
SPEAKER_00: For the first time, specifically mentioning mocking, scourging, and being spat upon.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the Jews did not have a right to kill anyone.
SPEAKER_00: The Romans, the Roman law had taken the scepter of death away.
SPEAKER_00: And so he predicts that the Jews will turn him over to the Romans.
SPEAKER_00: Luke says they didn't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: Mark obviously agrees.
SPEAKER_00: So if you ever, if you ever heard a serious, if you ever heard something really serious, and then someone tells a joke.
SPEAKER_00: And there's kind of this feeling like, man, you just don't get it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, read on with me.
SPEAKER_00: Seriously, these guys are idiots.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.
SPEAKER_00: Bad timing.
SPEAKER_00: Seriously, guys, the pride and ego of these guys is astounding.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus has just said that.
SPEAKER_00: The most serious thing he's ever said in all of our other commentations, in all our other accounts from other gospels, no one, no other places, so detailed as this.
SPEAKER_00: He is pouring out his heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he has this determined step as he goes to Jerusalem, and they want to know what they're going to get out of it.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, Grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you ask.
SPEAKER_00: Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
SPEAKER_00: They said, We are able.
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I will say that if you ever come to those places in your life where, and it's usually going to be your wife.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: She's probably right.
SPEAKER_00: Remind her.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples didn't get it either.
SPEAKER_00: And then run for the hills.
SPEAKER_00: Run for the hills as you dodge pots and pans and stuff being thrown at you.
SPEAKER_00: Church, Jesus is saying to his disciples, there is a baptism that I must go through, and there is a baptism you will go through.
SPEAKER_00: And again, I want to emphasize persecutions.
SPEAKER_00: The fact that when we become Jesus followers, we do enter into a baptism of pain.
SPEAKER_00: You will be baptized with hurt.
SPEAKER_00: You will be baptized with persecution.
SPEAKER_00: You will lose friends.
SPEAKER_00: You will lose family members if you truly follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't yet, you probably will.
SPEAKER_00: It is a baptism that Christ went through.
SPEAKER_00: He's gone before us.
SPEAKER_00: He has been the first son of the baptism of the wrath that comes when we choose to follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But men and women, listen up.
SPEAKER_00: There is a baptism of pain being in demonic territory on this earth anyway.
SPEAKER_00: I would rather have the pain and the baptism of suffering that comes with doing the right thing than being drunk out of my head or shooting up dope or making a fool of myself.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I've done it all.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have too.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't this feel a little better than some of the places you used to hang out in on Saturday nights?
SPEAKER_00: Because you actually have your wits about you tomorrow morning.
SPEAKER_00: I'd rather be hugging my pillow with my beautiful blonde wife than a toilet bowl.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why I thought of that, but it just seems like maybe a better deal.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus said to them, You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with, you will be baptized.
SPEAKER_00: But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, if I heard those words, I would be looking around and going, Who started this conversation?
SPEAKER_00: We just said yes to a baptism that doesn't sound really fun right now, and then we still don't get the big seats.
SPEAKER_00: Eleven of the 12 disciples would die martyrs' death.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 41.
SPEAKER_00: And when the 10 heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.
SPEAKER_00: 10 on two.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, what in the world are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: That was so stupid what you said.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I will say that in one particular gospel, the mother of the sons of thunder gets involved.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how would you like it if the mother of the sons of thunder, your son, you're called a son of thunder.
SPEAKER_00: Son of thunder.
SPEAKER_00: Mom, ask him if we can get like a prominent place.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but that gives me a lot of hope for me to know that these are who are the lamb's twelve.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus called them to himself and he said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lorded over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
SPEAKER_00: Yet it shall not be so among you.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Circle that, underline that, highlight that.
SPEAKER_00: And whoever of you desires to be first shall be a slave of all.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: So you know what I love about this is Jesus saying, look, your passion and your desire to be first is okay.
SPEAKER_00: I gave you that desire.
SPEAKER_00: That desire to be the best that you can be at whatever you do, that's from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you that are in the military, be the best that you can be.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are engineers, be the best that you can be for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you who are mechanics, be the best mechanic in the city.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you that are that are raising your children, you're a stay-home mom, be the best stay-home mom you can be for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: But realize that what and how we define greatness is flipped in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And that greatness is through service, serving and loving others.
SPEAKER_00: And even Christ would say, I came to serve.
SPEAKER_00: So here we are.
SPEAKER_00: We're the road.
SPEAKER_00: God spoke it seven times during 40 nights of fasting and prayer that we did together to the road less travel.
SPEAKER_00: So now it's eight months later.
SPEAKER_00: We're the road.
SPEAKER_00: And our vision is building wholehearted disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And we got discipleship groups, D groups sprouting up all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: They can't keep up with them.
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: But God would say to some of us tonight, serve.
SPEAKER_00: Serve.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about you, it's about him.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, greatness is through serving others.
SPEAKER_00: You know who's great right now?
SPEAKER_00: It's those teachers in that nursery right now.
SPEAKER_00: It is.
SPEAKER_00: That's where Jesus would be hanging out, maybe, because he's heard this sermon before.
SPEAKER_00: It's in there with the elementary school kids.
SPEAKER_00: It's the youth group that's going to all leave.
SPEAKER_00: They're going to all go downstairs right after this, and they're going to be in there, and we're going to have all these young adults, and maybe not so young adults, serving the youth.
SPEAKER_00: Are you serving?
SPEAKER_00: Are you giving your life for others?
SPEAKER_00: That's where the joy is found.
SPEAKER_00: That's where greatness is found.
SPEAKER_00: It's Ryan and others that come and they set up these chairs for us.
SPEAKER_00: It's these guys back in the sound booth and the PowerPoint up there that are giving and all through the week serving.
SPEAKER_00: Are you serving?
SPEAKER_00: I challenge you.
SPEAKER_00: Serve.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus will notice even if I don't.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I don't.
SPEAKER_00: But he does.
SPEAKER_00: I was under a great pastor in Southern California many years ago.
SPEAKER_00: I became his personal assistant.
SPEAKER_00: It was about a 5,000-member church.
SPEAKER_00: And I was getting ready to go church plant, and I asked him one day, I said, John, how do you find leaders, you know, when you're starting a church?
SPEAKER_00: He said, those who come early and those who stay late.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about gifting, don't worry about looks, don't worry about giving.
SPEAKER_00: It's those who come early and stay late.
SPEAKER_00: That's your leadership team.
SPEAKER_00: And that's how we that's how I chose the shepherds and the stewards here at the road.
SPEAKER_00: They came early and they stayed late.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that fun?
SPEAKER_00: So it's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
SPEAKER_00: The great challenge of discipleship is being a servant of others.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever of you desires to be first shall be a slave of all.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you're somewhat competitive.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, competitive.
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand, Justin.
SPEAKER_00: This guy's a black black belt in Judo?
unknown: Jiu Jitsu.
SPEAKER_00: Jiu Jitsu.
SPEAKER_00: Don't mess with him.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the gray hair fake you out.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, everybody raise their hand almost in this room.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus would say, that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: So be great in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Serve others.
SPEAKER_00: Look for ways to serve.
SPEAKER_00: My goal, my life vision is on this right here, on this podium.
SPEAKER_00: I've been crucified with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
SPEAKER_00: And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to serve you guys as a pastor teacher.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I do it really well, and sometimes I do it really badly.
SPEAKER_00: But I challenge you, God wants you also to be great.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 46.
SPEAKER_00: Now they came to Jericho, so they're on their route from Galilee to Perea, Perea, Perea, 15 miles now northeast of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: As he went out to Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
SPEAKER_00: As you can imagine, the blind could not work, so this was the only way they had any sustenance or finances was to beg for it.
SPEAKER_00: And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: I've always wondered about that because David speaks of the sure mercies of David.
SPEAKER_00: The sure mercies of David.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Son of David, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: Of David, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: He's screaming it out.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
SPEAKER_00: Then they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer, rise, he's calling you.
SPEAKER_00: And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: The blind man said, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus said to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
SPEAKER_00: I love Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I love Jesus because whether it was the handicapped or children in particular, his disciples were always shielding him.
SPEAKER_00: And he has to say to them again and again, no, that's one of mine.
SPEAKER_00: That's one of mine.
SPEAKER_00: And I got a work to do, and there's a reason for him being blind, and he's blind because God's gonna get the glory by healing his blindness.
SPEAKER_00: And men and women, there are obstacles in your life that want to shield you from the mercy of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There are people in your life that want to shield you from the mercy of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There are detractors in your life.
SPEAKER_00: They may be part of your family.
SPEAKER_00: They may be people at work, they may be people you go out and hang out with, and they do not want you to follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: They do not want you to believe that he can heal you.
SPEAKER_00: They do not want you to put your faith and trust all the way with him, and they're in the way.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus would say, get out of the way, come to me and let me heal you.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he does.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let your occupation, your vocation, people in your life, past history, shame, issues where you feel ashamed about your past get in the way of letting Christ touch you.
SPEAKER_00: This is his MO.
SPEAKER_00: He takes people who shout out to him, Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: Cry out to him tonight.
SPEAKER_00: You got an errant child, cry out to God.
SPEAKER_00: You got issues in your marriage, cry out to God.
SPEAKER_00: You got a healing that God has told you he wants to heal, cry out to God.
SPEAKER_00: You got a job, you're without a job, or you're undervalued at your job and you're and you have this sense that God's got something better for you, cry out to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he does.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the rabbi does.
SPEAKER_00: He heals.
SPEAKER_00: He does miracles, he's a miracle-working God.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the church or your last pastor tell you otherwise.
SPEAKER_00: The miracles didn't cease in the first century.
SPEAKER_00: The miracles are here with us today.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a cessationist, I'm a continuist.
SPEAKER_00: They continue today.
SPEAKER_00: All we need is people of faith who will trust him and not quit and not give up.
SPEAKER_00: And I love this part.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't have timed it better in any sermon.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus said to him, Go your way.
SPEAKER_00: Your faith has made you well.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I love.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately he received his sight and he followed Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say he received his sight and ran off somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: He started following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So it could be that Bartimaeus went all the way to Jerusalem with him, went all the way to Calvary with him.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he was there on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's one of those that saw him after he had risen again.
SPEAKER_00: This guy followed Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He got his sight, and then he followed Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Be a Jesus follower and a Jesus disciple.
SPEAKER_00: Receive your healing, but don't stop there.
SPEAKER_00: Keep following him.
SPEAKER_00: On the road.
SPEAKER_00: See you're at the right place.
SPEAKER_00: On the road.
SPEAKER_00: Follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let's stand.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that a great, great pericope?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that a great passage?
SPEAKER_00: So some of you are here tonight, and you have you have a lot of guilt.
SPEAKER_00: I keep getting the word guilt in my spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know who this is for.
SPEAKER_00: But you're you're carrying guilt.
SPEAKER_00: And only Christ can heal your guilt.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna go into worship right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to give that to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to come up here at the end of the service.
SPEAKER_00: And we want to pray for you to begin to be set free from guilt.
SPEAKER_00: Man, guilt's the worst thing.
SPEAKER_00: It just burdens your life and it burdens your heart and it physically affects you and it mentally affects you.
SPEAKER_00: And you can't sleep at night because of guilt.
SPEAKER_00: You can be set free from guilt.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus took our guilt and he nailed it to the tree.
SPEAKER_00: And it can be taken away forever through the blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, we settle our hearts now to worship you.
SPEAKER_00: God, anoint our worship tonight to bring honor and glory to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Those here that are struggling with their relationship with you.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you empower them now to enter into the fellowship of worship with the saints at the rest?