1 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,640 If I haven't met you, Connor, introducing my name is Kirk and 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:13,360 I serve as the lead pastor of Living Stones Church here in the 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,360 valley and had the pleasure and the privilege of being with you 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,240 guys for three years and before that being sent by you as a 5 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,480 cross cultural missionary in Europe. 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,160 And so super grateful to be here this morning. 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,880 Thank you for having me. Just a quick update again, 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,760 thanks because without this church kind of sending me and 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,800 some people over to what was called coal community at the 10 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,080 time, that church would not exist. 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,840 Basically, when I got there, there was 125 dear old Saints, 12 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,720 90% of who were 60 and up, 65 and up. 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,560 And so which is great, lots of experience, lots of wisdom, but 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,960 not lots of future. And so in God's grace, Calvary 15 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,480 Boise sent some people, including myself, to to lead 16 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,720 that revitalization effort. And then in something that we 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,320 hadn't planned on, we ended up merging with another smaller 18 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:14,920 church that had a few younger pastors and elders and also a 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:16,480 bunch of young couples and families. 20 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,440 And so God has done an amazing work to watch a church go from 21 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,680 like a few older people to about 300 plus people now with young 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,400 families and kids running around and activity happening by God's 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,560 grace. It's been a privilege. 24 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,080 And I mean, I had to, I was telling somebody earlier, I had 25 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,120 to kind of pinched myself a couple weeks ago because you 26 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,480 just realize like that's not something that a human can do 27 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,320 that you don't just like go, it's not a business. 28 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:43,920 You don't go into a place and then things just happen. 29 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,280 God has to do work in his Kingdom for that to happen. 30 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,400 So again, thank you so much for sending us and praying for us. 31 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,440 And we'd love to continue just fellowshipping with you. 32 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,800 And that's why I'm here. Tucker asked me to come and 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,080 we're going to get into Luke Chapter 11. 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,240 If you want to turn there in your Bibles on your app, 35 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,800 whatever you do, we are studying at least Calvary Boise is 36 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,000 studying through a series called Journey to the Cross. 37 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,560 And this this series is all about how Jesus starting in Luke 38 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:22,920 Chapter 9 sets his face towards Jerusalem and is planning on 39 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:27,200 going to die for our sins on the cross and resurrect. 40 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,960 And we're going to you guys are going to be studying this 41 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,160 through Easter when you celebrate Good Friday and Easter 42 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,480 all through Holy Week. And that's kind of the plan in 43 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,200 Luke 951. It says when the days drew near 44 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,520 for him to be taken up, Jesus, he set his face to go to 45 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,240 Jerusalem. And so this is a big journey. 46 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,400 And it's really looking at as well the things that Jesus says 47 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,360 in the Gospel of Luke that aren't just the nice things. 48 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,360 And we're going to see that again this morning. 49 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,400 And so just to kind of get us ready for that, I want to just 50 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:01,640 ask a couple questions this morning. 51 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:05,480 First of all, the question that I'm sure that some of us asked 52 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,080 this week at some point. And that is just why is life so 53 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,160 hard? I mean, maybe you've asked that 54 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,440 this week at some point. I imagine in a congregation like 55 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,880 this, there's at least one of you that this week said this 56 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,160 life seems so hard and difficult. 57 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,200 And then for us as Christians, if you are a believer in Christ, 58 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,040 you might have said that in context of your walk with 59 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,200 Christ. Like, why is following Jesus so 60 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,600 hard? Because it is. 61 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,080 And we asked that question because we hit those realities. 62 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,920 And I, I, I think that just as an illustration, I think part of 63 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,360 the problem is our expectations and the way we view life. 64 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:45,960 I'll, I'll use this illustration. 65 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:50,000 When I was growing up, first vacation that I truly remember 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,560 was when I was in middle school and I went to the Oregon coast 67 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,440 with some friends of mine and their parents. 68 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:02,000 And when I was there, excited to go out into the ocean and put on 69 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,560 a wet suit for the first time, got in, you know, I was going to 70 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,240 boogie board a little bit and I didn't know what I was doing. 71 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,440 I've, I've never been like an ocean guy or whatever. 72 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,600 And so I went went in the ocean and was having a great time. 73 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,920 Then all of a sudden this current just kept taking me out 74 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,720 far, far, far out. And after a while I was like, 75 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,320 yeah, I should probably kind of swim back in. 76 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,200 And me and my friend were sitting there. 77 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,800 And so we started swimming and actually another current started 78 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,880 us taking, taking us towards these rocks on this Cove right 79 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:30,760 there. And I was like, yeah, yeah, this 80 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,200 is probably is not good. Headed towards danger, headed 81 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,040 towards destruction. I'm like a 13 year old kid can't 82 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,200 swim that well. And then I'm just starting to 83 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,360 freak out a little bit, Like this current took me out. 84 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,000 This current's taking me through the rocks. 85 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,800 And then finally, thankfully, A chaperone kind of came and one 86 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,360 of the parents and swam out to us and said, hey, what you need 87 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,600 to do is take your board, turn it sideways and swim kind of 88 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,160 sideways across the ocean. That's how like you'll beat this 89 00:04:58,160 --> 00:04:59,200 current. And the current was still 90 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,800 strong, but by God's grace, we got back in and I didn't die. 91 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:05,440 So I'm here to tell the story today. 92 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:12,760 But regardless, there were some unseen currents and realities 93 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,560 that made that vacation almost a moment of destruction. 94 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,400 So, so difficult. I got to that beach and I was 95 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,840 just wore out. And here's the thing, I think 96 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:25,680 that that's the problem is sometimes we view the Christian 97 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,960 life like a vacation. We're expecting bad things not 98 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,440 to happen and we're expecting it to be easy. 99 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,600 And there are dynamics taking place, undercurrents, if you 100 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,160 will, all around us. And that's what we're going to 101 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,720 see in in Luke Chapter 11, three different undercurrents. 102 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,440 And I mean, and just so you know, Jesus has always been 103 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,800 honest about what it means to follow him. 104 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,440 In John 1633, he said this. He said in the world you're 105 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,520 going to have tribulation. So from the earliest days, Jesus 106 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,440 said following me is going to be hard. 107 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,640 And that's what we're looking at in this series is the harder 108 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,200 sayings of Jesus, including from Luke 9 when we began this 109 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,120 journey. He said if anyone would come 110 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,040 after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and 111 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,840 follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it. 112 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,120 Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 113 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:14,920 So that's the series Journey to the cross. 114 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,720 And Jesus has said not only is life difficult with tribulation, 115 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,640 that's why it's so hard. Also following me is difficult 116 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,960 because that's what I'm calling you to, a life that is to come 117 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,560 and to die, to die to yourself and follow me in the way of the 118 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,360 cross. And so in Luke 11 we have. 119 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,040 Three different challenges or undercurrents. 120 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:40,040 And these are dynamics that are taking place in our life at at 121 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:41,640 different times. And I want us to just kind of 122 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:46,280 see today as we overview Luke 11, where you might be in 123 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:50,200 regards to these various dynamics, spiritual dynamics 124 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,160 taking place. So the first one, I'm going to 125 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,600 start in verses 5 to 13 of Luke 11 and we're going to skip the 126 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,240 Lord's Prayer, not because I don't like it. 127 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,920 It's in fact that's the the part of this chapter that everyone 128 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,760 knows that everyone loves. We could probably all say that 129 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:09,400 together and that's great. But interesting that in Luke 130 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,360 there is a part about prayer after the Lord's Prayer. 131 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,160 That's not in Matthew. And, and here we have it in 132 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,120 Chapter 11, verse 5 to 13. I'll read this for us. 133 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,640 It says and he said to them, Which of you who has a friend 134 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,800 will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend lend ME3 135 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,640 loaves of bread. For a friend of mine has arrived 136 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,240 on a journey and I have nothing to set before him and his. 137 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,320 He will answer within saying don't bother me. 138 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,280 The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. 139 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,440 I cannot get up and give you anything. 140 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:42,480 I tell you though, he won't get up and give him anything because 141 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,280 he's his friend. Yet because of his impudence, he 142 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,480 will rise and give him whatever he needs. 143 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,400 And I tell you, ask, and it'll be given to you. 144 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,720 Seek and you'll find. Knock, and it'll be open to you, 145 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,120 for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and 146 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:58,600 to the one who knocks, it'll be opened. 147 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,320 What Father among you, if a son asked for a fish, will instead 148 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,760 of a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he asked for an egg, will 149 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,480 give him a scorpion? If then you who are evil know 150 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,960 how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the 151 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,000 Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? 152 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,400 I mean, Jesus does something here in this parable, which is 153 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,400 my first point, and that is that we have a challenge in following 154 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,000 Jesus, an undercurrent that's very difficult to deal with, and 155 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,360 that is this challenge of persevering belief that we have 156 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:35,440 as a regular element of our lives. 157 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,799 And here's what I mean by that. Jesus in this parable in Chapter 158 00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:47,440 11 in the flow, he propositions God in this idea as a friend who 159 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,800 doesn't want to be bothered by you. 160 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:54,720 OK, now, why would he do that? We we prayed this morning. 161 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:56,000 Connor prayed. He said, like God has been 162 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,080 looking at you with love. He's been gathering you here 163 00:08:58,080 --> 00:08:59,280 this morning. And that's true. 164 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,720 And so why would we say, why would Jesus say, Hey, God is 165 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,880 like this friend. He's like, get out of my house, 166 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,600 stop knocking on my door. I don't want to hear from you. 167 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:12,400 You're not getting any bread. Well, not because he actually is 168 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,760 he, he does it to point out that that's not what God is like. 169 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:23,800 But in doing so, he hits on this dynamic that as human beings, so 170 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,080 often this is what we do view God like. 171 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,800 I mean, just think like what Jesus is drawing our attention 172 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,880 to here. This first dynamic is an inward 173 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,680 spiritual dynamic and challenge that we have to fight through 174 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:38,760 every single one of us, that we often view God's sovereign 175 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:43,880 dealings with our life as negative or wrong or not the way 176 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,600 that we would plan them or want them, don't we? 177 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,760 I mean, maybe that's just me, but I've struggled internally 178 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,960 when things happen, when I go through difficulty and go 179 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,480 through suffering or struggle to engage in belief in a God that 180 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,840 is good. And in fact, that's why many 181 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,200 people don't come to believe in Jesus. 182 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,000 They say, well, I with all the hardship and struggle and 183 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,600 problems and evil in this world, how could I believe in a good 184 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,880 God? And what what Jesus says here is 185 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:14,200 essentially, I know that's what you think, but you need to have 186 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:19,280 persevering belief. Jesus saying, look, if a grouchy 187 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,040 friend can be forced to give in and respond to the shameless 188 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,240 insistence to give what he should, that's normal and 189 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,560 appropriate hospitality for this context. 190 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,920 How much more will a loving father respond to our shameless 191 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,320 cries or our petitions to him, Right? 192 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:37,640 I mean, just put this in your context. 193 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,640 Like I, I don't know if I'm at the stage of life where I have 194 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,880 one teenager and three adult children and I still have one 195 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,080 teenager. And having a teenager, what you 196 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:52,360 realize over and over again is they are very, very insistent. 197 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,560 They will bother you and they will cajole you and they will 198 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,160 harass you until they get what they want. 199 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,400 Now as a good father, I don't always give my teenager what she 200 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:10,960 wants to her sad, sad reality, but sometimes, honestly, I just 201 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,080 give in. Because I'm tired. 202 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,360 Of listening to the annoying. Requests over and over again. 203 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,560 And that's sad. That might say something about 204 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:22,440 me. That might say something about. 205 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,680 Others. But regardless, what I'm saying 206 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,760 is that what Jesus is doing in this is pointing out that while 207 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:32,560 we might be like that, God isn't. 208 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,720 And the good news in this inner dynamic that we all face and 209 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:41,280 struggle with when we suffer is that as we go through things and 210 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,520 we're back and forth casting all our cares upon him because He 211 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,480 cares for us as we do that we come to know and to see and to 212 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:52,960 fight for and believe in a God who is the true God of the 213 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,640 Bible. And that God is a good, good 214 00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:01,040 Father who gives good gifts. Just to point out that this 215 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,560 isn't always easy. Look at the story of Job in the 216 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:06,880 Bible, because maybe someone this morning feels like Job. 217 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,840 And if you don't know the story, Job is one of the oldest stories 218 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,440 in the Bible. And it tells about a man who was 219 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,360 very rich and very wealthy and had a life. 220 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,000 He was honoring God, sacrificing to God. 221 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,200 And in doing so, everything was going well until God allowed a 222 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,000 satanic ordained attack in his life. 223 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,440 And basically in one day, all of his livestock, all of his money, 224 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:34,320 all of his property was ruined. And Job's response is telling. 225 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,440 In the book of Job, it says that Job arose and tore his robe and 226 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,400 shaved his head and fell on the ground and worship. 227 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,080 And he said, naked, I came from my mother's women naked, shall I 228 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,000 return? The Lord gave the Lord is taken 229 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,640 away. Blessed be the name of the Lord 230 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,160 and Job responds well in the first trial to to God in in 231 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,360 relationship to him. And then in the 2nd chapter only 232 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,440 in the 2nd chapter. What happens is then Job's 233 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:05,480 children all die. Imagine that so many beautiful 234 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,760 families here today, so many of us have wonderful families. 235 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,840 And it's like, imagine if all your kids died in the the single 236 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,640 moment and it was reported to you and you were left with the 237 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,600 one person who at this point you really didn't want to hear from 238 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:27,680 your wife, who said, why don't you curse God and die and Job in 239 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,280 that moment? Says Shall we receive good from 240 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,040 God, and shall we not receive evil? 241 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,680 It says in all. Of this Job didn't sin and 242 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:39,160 through the entire book of Job for 38 chapters after that you 243 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,040 have this struggle with God going on over and over and over 244 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,800 again Where Job. Is accused by others of being 245 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,280 full of sin, where Job cries out to God. 246 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,360 He does question him, but in the right way, in the in the sense 247 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,600 that he's dealing with him and in all of that, he doesn't sin. 248 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,880 And God eventually reveals himself and shows Job, look, 249 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,120 I've got you and doesn't take away the pain of what happened, 250 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,400 but it does show him who God is. And because that's what Tim 251 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,920 Keller said about his passage, she says that prayer is not 252 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,000 primarily about getting things from God, but getting God 253 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,520 himself. Until you see prayer as a way to 254 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,800 experience God's presence, you will not understand what Jesus 255 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,000 is teaching here. Another man said, prayer is not 256 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,040 how we get to God. It's how we discover that he 257 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,240 never left us. You see, I want to tell you, 258 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,240 some of you that this morning as you go through this inner 259 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,240 dynamic that Jesus points out in this parable, that God has never 260 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,760 left you. And that's the beautiful truth 261 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,800 of Emmanuel, Jesus, God with us, is that he is a good God who has 262 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,160 shown that he's with us and for us through Christ. 263 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,560 The struggle is to believe that you don't go to Him because you 264 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,480 don't believe He's good. You don't pray to Him, you don't 265 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,800 ask of Him, but God loves to give you the things that you ask 266 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,880 according to His will, if you would seek Him and call out to 267 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,560 Him. It says in James 117 that every 268 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,200 good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from 269 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,520 the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow 270 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,920 due to change. God is not changing. 271 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,280 He is good. He's a Father that you can 272 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,880 trust, and that's the first challenge, the following Jesus. 273 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,960 It's the first challenge holding some of you back from following 274 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,600 Jesus. In the second section here, I 275 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,240 want to go to Luke Chapter 11, verse 14 to 26, and we have 276 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,280 immediately what I would call the challenge of the 277 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,560 supernatural battle. Now in following Jesus, some 278 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,120 outward spiritual dynamics, not inward, but outward. 279 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:40,120 And this could seem out of the blue, we get into the casting 280 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,520 out of a demon, but if you look throughout the scriptures, 281 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,400 whenever there's good spiritual activity with prayer, there's 282 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:50,720 always a counter attack with spiritual attack from this 283 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,440 person in this passage that's called Beelzebub, the Prince of 284 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,800 demons. I'm going to read the first few 285 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:04,480 verses 14 to 26 after prayer, this is what Jesus engages with. 286 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,080 He says as he was casting out now a demon that was mute when 287 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:10,400 the demon had gone out, the mute man. 288 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,200 Spoke and the people marvelled, but some of them said He cast 289 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,280 out demons by Beelzebub, the Prince of demons, while others 290 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,320 to test him kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 291 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,520 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every Kingdom 292 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,440 divided against itself is laid to waste, in a divided household 293 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,320 falls. And if Satan also is divided 294 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,840 against himself, how will his Kingdom stand for you? 295 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:35,800 Say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 296 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,000 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, who do your sons cast 297 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,840 them out by? Therefore, they'll be your. 298 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,640 Judges. But if it is the finger of God, 299 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,680 by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of 300 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,240 God has come upon you. And when a strong man, fully 301 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,080 armed, he guards his own palace, his goods are safe. 302 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,480 But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, 303 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,040 he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his 304 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,560 spoil. Whoever is not with me is 305 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,160 against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 306 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:17,480 This reveals the other second spiritual dynamic outward 307 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,040 reality of spiritual attack. And this is what the Bible 308 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,119 teaches. If you don't know, maybe there 309 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,280 are new people here or questioning people here. 310 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,000 And the reality is that the Bible says that there is not 311 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:34,400 just kind of ethereal evil and, and kind of a, a universal vibe 312 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,880 of negativity in this world, but there is real personal evil from 313 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:44,160 a enemy spirit being named Satan that exists in this real 314 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:49,120 universe who attacks real people to kill, to steal and destroy. 315 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,520 In the beginning, God made Adam and Eve in his beautiful 316 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:56,600 creation and they were worshipping him perfectly, 317 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:00,280 loving one another perfectly, no marital spats, beautiful time 318 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:04,000 together in the garden. And as that was going on, sadly, 319 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,600 the serpent got into the garden and the serpent came in and 320 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,440 said, Hey, why don't you do things your own way instead of 321 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,280 God's way? Why don't you listen to my voice 322 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,280 instead of God's voice? And Adam and Eve turned from 323 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,240 God, did what the the serpent suggested, took the forbidden 324 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,360 fruit and rebellion to God, eight of the knowledge of the 325 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,800 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and in doing so 326 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:27,840 declared their independence of God. 327 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:33,280 And ever since that point, all that you and I experience is 328 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:38,320 just a long trail from the beginning of the fall to now of 329 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:45,760 destruction, of chaos, of war, of fighting, of oppression. 330 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,480 And, and when we look at this instance here with Jesus casting 331 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,240 out demons and all throughout the gospels, what we're seeing 332 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,000 is a profound truth that demons are real and their activity in 333 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:02,560 the New Testament is a attack against God's precious creation 334 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:07,720 in humanity. This demon made this man mute. 335 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,400 Throughout the Gospels, there's different demons that do 336 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,240 different things, and this one made the man mute. 337 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,320 And I, I want you to think about that, I mean. 338 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,440 One commentator said it's possible that what's happening 339 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,720 here is that because Jesus was incarnated, Satan as a copycat 340 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:33,440 is now possessing other people to show that he can Incarnate as 341 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,840 well. That may or may not be true, but 342 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,240 what is true is that the torment that this man? 343 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,840 Experienced was real that this demon was closing his tongue 344 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,400 Think about that like if you could never express yourself to 345 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,920 your family or friends. You can never talk about your 346 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,840 emotions or your feelings. You can never, you know, tell 347 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,000 people the thoughts and and and and and never give the 348 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,360 intonation of voice that you want to for the people that you 349 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:57,840 love. I mean, this is what this man is 350 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,760 tormented by day and night, an abusive demon who is violently 351 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,280 hating on him. And this is taking. 352 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:09,040 Place, that's how. Satan and demons work They. 353 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,040 Harm, and they hinder over and over and over until they 354 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:18,840 captivate people. This is not something in our 355 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,680 world we see tons but. We do see it. 356 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,040 I don't know about you, but I've encountered people who have been 357 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,640 oppressed or possessed by by demons and what I would say is 358 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,480 this. Starts many times with just 359 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,240 negative self talk, suicidal thoughts. 360 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:33,960 Depression that you can't control. 361 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,480 A dark cloud residing over you. You medicate yourself. 362 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,200 All of these things. This is what's happening in our 363 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:41,560 culture and people's lives, truly. 364 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,000 Maybe you this morning and what I want to say to you here is 365 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:52,080 this, that God knows, God sees, and this outward attack on you 366 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:58,280 can be released, can be released. 367 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,240 This is not sensational. This is not just hype. 368 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,520 Some of us sitting here as we consider our lives and look 369 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:09,920 back. I actually talked to somebody 370 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,280 after first service today who was just reminding me that all 371 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,600 of the thoughts and all of the things that control them when 372 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,720 they were involved in drugs and alcohol and spiritual pursuits 373 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,720 of of various, you know, things. That they were investigating and 374 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,040 and let me tell you that I've experienced that as well. 375 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:31,600 And like Satan does hold people down and, and as Christians, I 376 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,320 want to say this, he can't possess us, but he can certainly 377 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:39,200 oppress us often. I mean, I've been a Christian 378 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,960 for 30 years. I've been a pastor for 20 plus 379 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,720 of that. And, and I'll say that I'll go 380 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,040 through a day or a week and I'll just be having strange thoughts. 381 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:48,920 Like, you know, who do you think you are? 382 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,520 Why don't you just give up? You know, stealing the 383 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,800 motivation out of my life until all of a sudden I realized, 384 00:21:54,880 --> 00:22:04,240 where do those things come from? Sam Storm said that spiritual 385 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,400 warfare is not sensational. It's daily. 386 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,000 It's resisting lies with truth and resisting temptation with 387 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:15,680 the superior pleasure of Christ. And Sinclair Ferguson said this, 388 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,120 the demonic opposition is always aimed at one thing, loosening 389 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:21,520 our grip on Christ. Spiritual warfare is 390 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,080 fundamentally a battle for faith. 391 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,960 You can see that this is a challenge, a spiritual dynamic 392 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,800 that we have to deal with on a daily, weekly, monthly, just our 393 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,320 entire lives as Christians. Don't discount it. 394 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,280 Please think about what you've been thinking. 395 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,280 One of my practices for a while has been to go do prayer 396 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,520 retreats at the beginning of the year. 397 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,080 I haven't got away this year yet and I want to. 398 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,360 But one of those what I what I'd love to what I've loved to do in 399 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,440 the past is I write down things that I'm thinking on one side. 400 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,240 And it's amazing what you're actually thinking when you when 401 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,240 you point it out to yourself and then write down some promises of 402 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,640 the gospel, promises of Scripture and just defeat the 403 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,720 lies of the enemy with the truth of God. 404 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,280 Actually write it out, actually name it for what it is and see 405 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,040 the source of what is happening. And here's the good news in this 406 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:11,840 challenge. I don't want to scare you off 407 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,920 too much. Here's the good news that Jesus 408 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:19,560 says, I cast out these demons with the finger of God. 409 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,600 I want to tell you something this morning that God's power is 410 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:32,760 not equal with Satan's. It's incomparable, the finger of 411 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,040 God. This is a phrase used in the Old 412 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,160 Testament, the book of Exodus, when God punishes Egypt with 413 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,320 plagues, when he writes the 10 commandments on the stones. 414 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,080 All throughout the Bible, when God uses his finger, he does 415 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,960 powerful, genuine works that destroy the works of the enemy. 416 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,840 And Jesus is saying here that though evil is real and 417 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,600 personal, it's not equal to him. We are not dualist as 418 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:01,040 Christians. Jesus is the stronger man and 419 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:06,200 effortlessly with his finger he gets rid of those oppressions. 420 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,240 He says it at the end of this passage I read. 421 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:14,480 He says those who aren't with me or against me, you just have to 422 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,960 be with him. Whatever you're experiencing 423 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,600 now, look, I'm all for like therapy and, you know, learning 424 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,720 good ways to go through your mental health process and 425 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,840 understand your story and then being able to work through it. 426 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:35,000 There is something that God uses in that, no doubt, but sometimes 427 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:40,320 it is simply satanic spiritual attack that needs to be 428 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,320 recognized and called upon to the name of Jesus, the power of 429 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,880 Jesus to break that, destroy that and free you once again. 430 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,560 So maybe you've been going through something like that. 431 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,120 Maybe you've been thinking strange thoughts. 432 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:54,960 Maybe you've been thinking you're not worth anything. 433 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,000 Maybe you've been thinking that. And I wanted to say go away in 434 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:06,280 the name of Jesus Christ, Satan. Well, there's so much more that 435 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,280 could be said. Of course, Jesus goes on to talk 436 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,680 about how when an unclean spirit goes out in verse 24, it 437 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,960 journeys around and then kind of comes back. 438 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,280 And the point there is that there's no spiritual vacuum. 439 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,200 You're either with Jesus, like I said, or or not with Jesus, and 440 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,720 you need to be filled with Jesus. 441 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,160 We need to be humble as Christians to say like, hey, 442 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,240 we're not going around casting out Satan. 443 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,200 From ourselves and from other people and just. 444 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,480 Our power, but we are leaning upon. 445 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:33,800 Jesus Christ, and we need him. If, if God allowed, if Satan to 446 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,920 truly have free rein in our lives, it would be a horror 447 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:38,920 show. But God has been so gracious, so 448 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,680 let's cling to him. And there's no Switzerland, 449 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,960 there's no neutrality. You have to cling to Jesus. 450 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:51,480 The stronger one make it your regular. 451 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:57,680 Practice to confess your sin, to say, Lord, I'm sorry I opened 452 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,000 that door. My anger opened the door to the 453 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,200 enemy, as it says in Ephesians. My bitterness was a. 454 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,920 Poison and a toxin that Satan used in this relationship make 455 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,400 it up. Just say, Lord I, I renounce all 456 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,880 of those things. I want to be with you. 457 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:19,680 Fill me with your Holy Spirit. And the good news is that God 458 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,840 the Son is victorious. Jesus on the cross made an open 459 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,040 show of all spiritual powers that are against us. 460 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,120 One Puritan writer said, though Satan be strong, yet Christ is 461 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,120 stronger. Though Satan be subtle, Christ 462 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,520 is wiser. Though Satan be malicious, 463 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,160 Christ is more gracious. I love that. 464 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,480 The grace of Jesus Christ versus the maliciousness of our 465 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:53,280 spiritual enemy, and he wins. Well, finally from that we're 466 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,200 going to encounter our last challenge. 467 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,160 And that challenge is with people that Satan actually works 468 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,560 within and those are religious hypocrites. 469 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:09,640 The challenge for us, though, is to have authentic obedience to 470 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,080 Jesus. Look at verses 27 and 28. 471 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,600 While Jesus is casting out demons and while he is preaching 472 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,320 and talking about all of this stuff, a woman just kind of 473 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:19,880 shouts out to him. It's like they're Amen. 474 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,280 It kind of seems like the wrong kind of this time of the sermon 475 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,120 to do an Amen, but regardless, this is what takes place. 476 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,800 It says in verse 27, as he said these things, a woman in the 477 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,080 crowd raised her voice and said to him, Bless. 478 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,880 It is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed. 479 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:35,440 I mean, that's a weird thing to shout out. 480 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:36,760 Please don't shout that out right now. 481 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,600 I mean, that's just like crazy. But I mean, I've been, I've 482 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,240 heard, I've had some things shouted at me when I'm 483 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:43,200 preaching. Never that. 484 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,520 But so anyway, but Jesus said verse 28. 485 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,360 Blessed, rather, are those who hear the Word of God and keep 486 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:53,360 it. And what's His? 487 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:56,680 Point. This woman, well-intentioned as 488 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:03,640 she was, was trying to hype up, you know, Mary, Jesus's mother, 489 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,120 trying to say, like, man, there's some spiritual 490 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:07,520 connection man, your mom must have. 491 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:09,760 Just been amazing and. That's why you're doing what 492 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:10,920 you're. Doing here but. 493 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,920 Jesus is like, no, this power, this challenge comes from. 494 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,480 Authentic obedience to me. And that's what it means to be a 495 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,880 follower of me. It's a challenge as well and, 496 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,160 and this is shown because. Throughout the rest of the. 497 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,120 Chapter that I'll have to overview what you have taking. 498 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,040 Place is this contrast between the light of Jesus and the 499 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:37,760 darkness of religion. I'm going to skip through verses 500 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,920 33 to 36 and get down to verse 37 because as Jesus is teaching 501 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,880 on light and darkness and. And obeying him and his. 502 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:49,880 Word a pharisee asks him to dine in verse 37 and he says this, 503 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,160 that he went and reclined at his table and the pharisee was 504 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:57,000 astonished to see that he. Did not wash before dinner when 505 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,880 the Lord said to him now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of 506 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,800 the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and 507 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,360 wickedness. You fools did not he who made 508 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,240 the outside make the inside also but give his alms those things 509 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,400 that are within and behold, everything is clean for you. 510 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,400 Here's what's going on here is this woman says you're blessed, 511 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,400 your mom is blessed. Jesus said obey the word of God. 512 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,480 And almost like that perfect movie scene, in that time, here 513 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,960 comes this Pharisee who doesn't obey the word of God, who's a 514 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,120 religious man who doesn't actually love Jesus, love God. 515 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,080 He does it for appearances, does it for fame, does it for 516 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,560 whatever. And here comes this man. 517 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:38,680 He says, hey, come to dinner with me. 518 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,520 And Jesus graciously accepts that. 519 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,320 Now we've heard in the Gospels that Jesus goes to dinner with 520 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,440 sinners all the time, right? Like prostitutes, tax 521 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,640 collectors, all these people. And honestly, if you're going to 522 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,760 give me an option, I'd rather go to dinner with them than with 523 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,560 the Pharisees because the Pharisees are just annoying. 524 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,240 Look at the they go to dinner. The first thing they said is you 525 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,120 didn't wash your hands, right? I mean, that is just ridiculous. 526 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,800 And he's not talking about germs and COVID or whatever else. 527 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,560 He's talking about ritual washings that would that they 528 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,440 made-up on top of God's word to say. 529 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,440 Like if you're going to approach God, if you're going to eat 530 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,920 food, if you're going to be holy, this is how you do it. 531 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,000 Our preferences is what you have to follow. 532 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:22,480 This is what religious people do all the time. 533 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,520 They come up with rules that you have to obey even though they 534 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:28,880 don't obey them. And they come up with rules to 535 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,440 keep you out of God's presence instead of calls to bring you 536 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:37,320 into God's presence. Now, here's the important and 537 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:38,920 interesting thing we need to see. 538 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,000 We're here on Sunday. We're religious people. 539 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,080 The danger for us and the challenge for us is this is a 540 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,960 current, just like the current of spiritual warfare and the 541 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,080 current of struggle and prayer with God, this is a current that 542 00:30:54,080 --> 00:31:00,520 we have to be very aware of. Some of you have been here one 543 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:02,720 year, 2 years, three years. Some of you have been here like 544 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,560 40 years and you're going to tell me you don't have to guard 545 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,760 against religiosity, against self righteously judging people 546 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,400 the way that they look, the way that they come in. 547 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,680 Now, Like when I got saved, it was totally fine, totally good. 548 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,480 I was a hippie gangster with like my long hair shaved 549 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,960 underneath and a beard and looked really weird and strange. 550 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:21,800 But now that person can't come in. 551 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:28,360 You see, Jesus is pointing this out to say like, no, you look at 552 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,600 the outside of the cup, not the inside, and what's in you is 553 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,240 greed. And he goes on to say things 554 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,320 like lust for power and all these things that he calls out 555 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,760 the Pharisees and the scribes for as well, those who knew the 556 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,960 law of God. And this hit home for me this 557 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:49,400 past week as it's funny how God does these things in when you're 558 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,920 teaching. I was, I got into my cupboard to 559 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,080 get a bowl out to get some cereal. 560 00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:00,000 And as I did that, something happened. 561 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,520 It does happen from time to time in my house. 562 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,080 Maybe it happens in your house because you have teenagers as 563 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,760 well. But what happened was, I think 564 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,560 there's a slide is I got the bowl out and I noticed some old 565 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:14,360 chili was still in the bowl. And that's disgusting. 566 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:20,800 And this is just after another time where this happened to me 567 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,240 one time I was eating some cereal a couple weeks ago and I 568 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,280 realized I what's on this spoon. And I realized there was 569 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,000 literally old chili on the spoon. 570 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,080 And I immediately spat it out of my mouth and threw it into the 571 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:31,480 sink. And what I'm saying here is this 572 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,240 is that what Jesus is saying is you Pharisees are like that. 573 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,000 Why would anyone want to eat from you and take what you have 574 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,320 to offer? You're a dirty dish. 575 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,120 You care so much about the outside, but you don't care 576 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:49,480 about the inside. Can I just say like that is a 577 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,600 real challenge that you have to guard against because there's a 578 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:57,360 current in all of us as humanity that want to give weird 579 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,680 religious rules and want to take the call to obey Jesus, not as a 580 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,280 call to love him, but to outwardly prove something and be 581 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,600 more righteous than other people and then put them down and put 582 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,360 yourself up. Tim Keller said this. 583 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,080 He says, religion says, I obey, therefore I'm accepted. 584 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,520 The gospel says I'm accepted, therefore I obey and that one 585 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:22,760 shift separates authentic faith from Pharisee ISM you see, the 586 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,040 Pharisees problem was not that they didn't tithe. 587 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,240 They did down in verse 42. And and you should you should 588 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,720 give generously because God gave you everything you have this 589 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,920 they they look like the pastor's favorite parishioners. 590 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:37,920 I mean, they're tithing their spices. 591 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,280 But he says you don't have love and justice in your hearts. 592 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,280 You love the best seats in the synagogue and the greetings. 593 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:47,720 I mean, I can just tell you as a pastor, like there's something 594 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,640 wicked in me that loves when people greet me and stuff like 595 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:51,400 that. That's just wrong. 596 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,680 And I have to kill that over and over again. 597 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,320 It's this idol of religion. I mean, you look at throughout 598 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:04,440 the rest of this passage in Luke 11, and they're just horrible 599 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:09,000 people, hurting people, hindering people. 600 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,239 And you know what they're concerned about. 601 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:12,760 Look at verse 45. It says one of the lawyers, the 602 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,679 scribes of the Old Testament said, teacher, in saying these 603 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:18,199 things, you insult us also, you hurt our feelings. 604 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:24,520 Guess what? Jesus doesn't care if you're a 605 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:28,280 religious person hindering other people and judging other people 606 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,639 and not letting the Kingdom of God come into people's lives. 607 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,320 He doesn't care about your feelings that way. 608 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,480 He wants you to repent. He loves you more than your 609 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:42,679 feelings. Some Again, parents, we need to 610 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,480 hear this. Like are you hindering your 611 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:46,600 children from seeing the Father who's good? 612 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:54,800 Husbands, are you hindering your wife, seeing a Jesus who saves 613 00:34:54,800 --> 00:35:00,840 his bride, loves his bride? Workers, are you hindering your 614 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:06,160 bosses from seeing a Jesus who's a servant and full of love and, 615 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,600 and the obedient to the Father and instead you're worried about 616 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,000 like all the rules, they're going against you as a Christian 617 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,560 and you're fighting them and no, no, no, no, no, what's on the 618 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:24,880 inside anyway? All that to say, here's the good 619 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:30,840 news. The good news is that God with 620 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:38,280 these people anyway, and God comes and back to the very 621 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:42,480 beginning of this passage. God gives his Spirit so that we 622 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:46,920 can obey him, not like Pharisees, so we can see He's 623 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,240 good, so we can love Him more, so that we can accept the 624 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:53,400 challenge to be different as his people and be authentic in our 625 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,240 obedience to Him and not just turn into people that are 626 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,440 religious, not lose the and abandoned. 627 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,280 The first love that we have loving God and loving people. 628 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,960 And all of this, I'll end with this is all through Jesus. 629 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,960 If you go back to the middle of this chapter, you have this 630 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,640 thing when all of this is taking place, when all these dynamics 631 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,120 are going on. In verse 29, it says when the 632 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,120 crowds were increasing, he said one thing. 633 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,640 He said this generation is evil. It seeks a sign, but no sign is 634 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:24,640 going to be given except the sign of Jonah. 635 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,040 So will the Son of man be to this generation. 636 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:33,600 Jesus says believe in me. That's how you can navigate all 637 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:38,160 of these spiritual dynamics and challenges, how you can 638 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,520 persevere in your relationship with God, how you can know the 639 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,440 power and victory of Jesus Christ over the spiritual dark 640 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:50,120 forces, How you can avoid being a hypocrite by being empowered 641 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,520 by his Holy Spirit. All of that is done through what 642 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:58,280 Jesus has done for us. This is simply what I want to 643 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,720 close with is that if you're not a believer in Jesus here, your 644 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:05,240 life is hard. We don't want to make your life 645 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:07,800 harder. We're actually trying to help 646 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,160 you in your struggle. We're trying to say to you, 647 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:12,080 there's a good Father you can run to. 648 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,360 We don't want to make your chaos even more difficult. 649 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:21,160 We want to say there is a victorious Savior who can blow 650 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:26,320 those clouds away. We don't want to condemn you for 651 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,680 not looking like us, doing everything exactly like us. 652 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,240 If you're learning the ways of Jesus, we want to say like, hey, 653 00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:33,400 just follow Jesus. We're all, we're all learning, 654 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:40,960 we're all growing. And so please receive the 655 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:46,240 victorious Christ, the loving Father, the Spirit who can wash 656 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:47,920 and cleanse you from the inside out. 657 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,440 And as believers, we're going to take communion in a minute. 658 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,800 And that's what we're celebrating, that because of 659 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:02,320 what Jesus did, we have a Father who loves us, We have a Son who 660 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,760 won for us, and we have a Spirit who will help us to obey Him in 661 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,840 love. Thanks for joining us today. 662 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,880 If you would like to watch the full service, check out the link 663 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,720 in the description. For next steps and to learn 664 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:18,960 more, visit calvaryboise.com.