1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,520 Talk about the kingdom. We're going to go right back to the Gospel 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,040 of Matthew chapter 12. Go ahead and open your Bibles to Matthew 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,520 chapter 12. Every Sunday we have guests with us. I'm so glad 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,400 you're here. We have people worshiping with us online. So glad 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,400 you're a part of this. We're going through the Gospel of Matthew 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:17,400 chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It could take us like a year 7 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,360 and a half to make it all the way through. And because of it, what 8 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,280 this means is I can't tell you what's happening today in Matthew 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:27,170 12, 15 and on until I remind you what we covered last week. So 10 00:00:27,170 --> 00:00:29,090 every Sunday, we're going to give you a little recap from the 11 00:00:29,090 --> 00:00:32,650 week before. So last week we looked at the first half of Matthew 12 00:00:32,650 --> 00:00:36,890 12, and it ended with Jesus getting really stern with the Pharisees 13 00:00:36,890 --> 00:00:41,210 calling out their legalistic cold obedience to a bunch of rules 14 00:00:41,210 --> 00:00:44,810 and regulations. And if you remember last week, he said, if only 15 00:00:44,810 --> 00:00:49,210 you understood this. God says, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 16 00:00:49,530 --> 00:00:52,450 And I explained to you that word mercy is chesed. It's the loving 17 00:00:52,450 --> 00:00:56,400 kindness of God that's referring to the sacrificial system, 18 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,840 like the rules and regulations. He's saying, I'm not 19 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,600 looking for slavish obedience to rules and regulations. I'm looking 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,720 for you to experience and give the loving kindness of God. And then 21 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,639 he shows them what it looks like when it's misplaced by healing 22 00:01:09,639 --> 00:01:12,320 a man on the Sabbath. So a man comes in with a withered hand. They 23 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:16,040 try to test Jesus. He heals this guy, showing the chesed, the 24 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,040 loving kindness of God. And instead of the Pharisees rejoicing 25 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,450 and being excited, they leave there to plot to kill him because 26 00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:29,010 they are so bonkers in their mind, they've missed it completely. 27 00:01:29,490 --> 00:01:33,370 And so what you see at the end of last week is the Pharisees who 28 00:01:33,370 --> 00:01:37,689 are proud and hate filled with, they have vitriol and animosity 29 00:01:37,689 --> 00:01:42,170 toward Jesus. And now what you're gonna see this week is Jesus 30 00:01:42,170 --> 00:01:47,210 is just the opposite. So you finish with the Pharisees plotting 31 00:01:47,210 --> 00:01:50,050 to kill Jesus and their hatred. And it starts today with 32 00:01:50,050 --> 00:01:53,490 Jesus, the lovingly healing people who don't deserve it. And 33 00:01:53,490 --> 00:01:56,090 it's intended to be a juxtaposition to show the opposite 34 00:01:56,090 --> 00:02:00,130 nature of the Pharisees and Jesus. So with last week and the 35 00:02:00,130 --> 00:02:02,410 Pharisees floating around in your mind, let's move on to verse 36 00:02:02,410 --> 00:02:07,089 15 of Matthew 12 and see what it tells us about Jesus. It says, 37 00:02:07,089 --> 00:02:10,010 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there and many followed him. 38 00:02:10,170 --> 00:02:13,450 And he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. 39 00:02:13,770 --> 00:02:16,770 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. Behold 40 00:02:16,770 --> 00:02:19,670 my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my 41 00:02:19,670 --> 00:02:24,190 soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he will 42 00:02:24,190 --> 00:02:26,830 proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or 43 00:02:26,830 --> 00:02:29,870 cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A 44 00:02:29,870 --> 00:02:32,230 bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will 45 00:02:32,230 --> 00:02:36,750 not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his name 46 00:02:36,750 --> 00:02:40,390 the Gentiles will hope. Now, this is a long quote from Isaiah 47 00:02:40,390 --> 00:02:44,790 42 that he's given, but I want you to see just how different this 48 00:02:44,790 --> 00:02:48,350 quote describes this man. Jesus and the Pharisees were. So 49 00:02:48,350 --> 00:02:51,630 again, Pharisees, they're filled with hate and vitriol and 50 00:02:51,630 --> 00:02:56,190 animosity. They want to kill Jesus. Jesus, though, is filled with 51 00:02:56,190 --> 00:03:00,550 love and humility and kindness. Now, when it says in verse 52 00:03:00,550 --> 00:03:03,230 15, you got to make sure you understand this, that Jesus, aware 53 00:03:03,230 --> 00:03:05,550 that they were trying to kill him, withdrew from the place. Don't 54 00:03:05,550 --> 00:03:07,950 think for a second Jesus withdrawing because he's afraid. 55 00:03:08,670 --> 00:03:12,280 He's not afraid of the Pharisees. In fact, later on in the 56 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,480 story, the Gospel of Matthew, you're going to see Jesus stand up 57 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,080 to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and everybody else and 58 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,120 get crucified for it. And he knew what he was getting into because 59 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,680 he was not afraid. He's not backing down because he's afraid. 60 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,160 He's just choosing not to fight because he knows this is not 61 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,440 the time for him to fight. So instead of fighting, he's healing. 62 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,320 The Pharisees are trying to poke him and prod him to get him 63 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,730 to fight, and he will not do it because he knows that's not his 64 00:03:37,730 --> 00:03:41,730 purpose at this moment in time. His purpose is to heal. So 65 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:44,730 you got the hate of the Pharisees and you got this humble 66 00:03:44,730 --> 00:03:47,130 love of Jesus. All these people coming who are wounded and 67 00:03:47,130 --> 00:03:50,570 hurting, and he's healing them all. You see the pride of the Pharisees 68 00:03:50,570 --> 00:03:53,130 and you see the humility of Jesus. He goes, don't even tell people 69 00:03:53,290 --> 00:03:58,810 what I'm doing. And you see just the stark contrast between the 70 00:03:58,810 --> 00:04:00,850 hateful nature of the Pharisees and the loving nature of 71 00:04:00,850 --> 00:04:05,380 Jesus. But it wasn't just the character of the two that Matthew 72 00:04:05,380 --> 00:04:09,060 wanted to compare. It was also the understanding of the mission 73 00:04:09,060 --> 00:04:12,580 of the Messiah that he wants to compare. Because, see, the Pharisees 74 00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:14,660 had a completely wrong understanding of the mission of the 75 00:04:14,660 --> 00:04:19,340 Messiah. Remember, they were proud people. And so they were convinced 76 00:04:19,340 --> 00:04:22,100 that when God brought the Messiah, it was going to be to liberate 77 00:04:22,100 --> 00:04:24,620 the nation of Israel and make them the world power they were supposed 78 00:04:24,620 --> 00:04:27,540 to be. And guess who would be sitting at the top? The cream of 79 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:30,490 the crop, The Pharisees. They were going to be the center of the 80 00:04:30,490 --> 00:04:32,890 universe, and they were waiting for some Messiah to come 81 00:04:32,890 --> 00:04:36,770 who would be big and bold and brazen and charismatic that would 82 00:04:36,770 --> 00:04:39,330 draw the attention of everybody else so they could overthrow 83 00:04:39,330 --> 00:04:44,970 Rome. And here comes Jesus, and he says, actually, my mission 84 00:04:45,450 --> 00:04:50,050 is to be humble and soft. He says, you won't even hear my voice 85 00:04:50,050 --> 00:04:53,650 in the streets. It's a complete antithesis of what the Pharisees 86 00:04:53,650 --> 00:04:57,290 were looking for. This is why they were so bamboozled and confused 87 00:04:57,290 --> 00:05:01,950 about who Jesus was and why he was doing this. And then Jesus says 88 00:05:01,950 --> 00:05:04,470 something really profound. He says, and I want you to know my mission. 89 00:05:05,350 --> 00:05:08,990 My mission is not to come help you Pharisees. It's not to establish 90 00:05:08,990 --> 00:05:13,070 a ruling class. My mission is to come help a bruised reed and a 91 00:05:13,070 --> 00:05:16,350 smoldering wick. Now, those two things are talking about the 92 00:05:16,350 --> 00:05:20,710 same thing. They're talking about total brokenness and weakness. 93 00:05:21,350 --> 00:05:23,950 So let me tell you what a bruised reed is. Reeds were all over 94 00:05:23,950 --> 00:05:28,110 the place in the swampy waters and the Palestine area. They look 95 00:05:28,110 --> 00:05:31,230 like bamboo, but just smaller. And so if it had a bruise on it, 96 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:34,190 that was a weak spot. A bruised reed meant that if you just 97 00:05:34,190 --> 00:05:37,750 walk by and touched it, it would snap. It was at the point of 98 00:05:37,750 --> 00:05:41,550 breaking, at any moment, a smoldering wick. If you think about 99 00:05:41,550 --> 00:05:44,270 what that is, that's the wick part of it almost burned down into 100 00:05:44,270 --> 00:05:46,710 the wax where it's just barely a little bit of light. But if there's 101 00:05:46,710 --> 00:05:51,190 just a little. That thing is going out. He's talking about people 102 00:05:51,670 --> 00:05:55,780 who are at the utter end of themselves. They're at a point in 103 00:05:55,780 --> 00:05:57,780 their life where they're going, if one more thing happens 104 00:05:57,780 --> 00:06:01,380 to me, I'm done. I'm collapsing. It's over. One little 105 00:06:01,380 --> 00:06:04,940 straw is gonna break this camel's back. I can't go. It's people 106 00:06:05,260 --> 00:06:09,540 who are exhausted. Exactly what he was talking about back in 107 00:06:09,540 --> 00:06:13,260 chapter 11, if you remember that one back in verse 28 and 29, 108 00:06:13,260 --> 00:06:18,820 he says, come to me if you're weary and burdened. You're exhausted, 109 00:06:18,820 --> 00:06:20,820 you're at the end of yourself. If you go all the way back to chapter 110 00:06:20,820 --> 00:06:23,820 nine, verse 36, it says, Jesus looked around, he saw the people, 111 00:06:23,820 --> 00:06:26,930 and they were harassed and helpless. Like sheep without a shepherd. 112 00:06:27,330 --> 00:06:29,770 He's talking about the same group of people over and over, harassed 113 00:06:29,770 --> 00:06:33,370 and helpless, weary and burdened. A bruised reed and a smoldering 114 00:06:33,370 --> 00:06:36,570 wick. People who said, I can't anymore. God, I got nothing left 115 00:06:36,570 --> 00:06:39,410 in the tank. I don't know if I'm gonna make it till tomorrow. 116 00:06:39,410 --> 00:06:43,330 Maybe. Maybe there are some of you who are here today or worshiping 117 00:06:43,330 --> 00:06:46,810 with us online, and that's where you are. Maybe you came into 118 00:06:46,810 --> 00:06:49,570 this room today going, this is my last ditch effort. This is my 119 00:06:49,570 --> 00:06:52,130 flare up there going, God, if you're real and you can do something, 120 00:06:52,210 --> 00:06:56,750 it's now or never. If that's you, I got really good news for you. 121 00:06:57,550 --> 00:07:02,990 You are the very mission of Jesus Christ. You are the very reason 122 00:07:03,230 --> 00:07:06,870 he came to Earth. You see, the Pharisees, they were looking for 123 00:07:06,870 --> 00:07:09,830 the prominent people and they were walking right past the very 124 00:07:09,830 --> 00:07:12,470 people that Jesus said, no, this is the very reason I came. I 125 00:07:12,470 --> 00:07:15,430 didn't come for the healthy. I came for the sick. I came for those 126 00:07:15,430 --> 00:07:19,680 who knew they were broken and would need my help. If that's you 127 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:25,920 today, I want to remind you, not only are you Jesus mission, but 128 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:31,320 Jesus never fails at his mission. If Jesus has anything, it's 129 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:37,120 power. Now, Jesus, absolutely. We learned this back in Matthew 11:29. 130 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:42,440 He is gentle and lowly, he is humble and he's kind, but that does 131 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:47,730 not mean he is afraid and weak. Jesus is courageous and powerful 132 00:07:48,050 --> 00:07:51,610 and there is nothing he cannot do. And this passage is reminding 133 00:07:51,610 --> 00:07:54,370 us about his power specifically, though, by reminding 134 00:07:54,370 --> 00:07:58,330 us that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what verse 18 135 00:07:58,330 --> 00:08:00,450 was talking about. I don't know if you noticed the verbiage, 136 00:08:00,610 --> 00:08:04,250 but it sounds almost identical to what we read back in Matthew chapter 137 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:08,130 3 When Jesus was baptized. It says here, behold my servant, whom 138 00:08:08,130 --> 00:08:11,170 I've chosen. My beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will 139 00:08:11,170 --> 00:08:14,570 put my spirit upon him. I don't know if any of you remember 140 00:08:14,570 --> 00:08:18,570 chapter three, but that was Jesus baptism says he's baptized 141 00:08:18,570 --> 00:08:21,330 by John the Baptist. And then the Spirit descends on him like a 142 00:08:21,330 --> 00:08:25,690 dove and remains on him. And there's this booming voice from heaven 143 00:08:25,930 --> 00:08:29,210 that says, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 144 00:08:30,410 --> 00:08:33,770 Now, I want you to know that is a pivotal moment in Jesus life, 145 00:08:34,410 --> 00:08:38,600 because it is after this moment that Jesus does all his miracles. 146 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,680 I actually taught you this back when we talked about the baptism 147 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:43,600 of Jesus, but I need to come back to it again because this is 148 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,400 a place where so many of you are still confused and therefore 149 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,320 you miss the power of God when you most need the power of God. Every 150 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,720 time I talk to people, if I were to ask almost anybody, like, 151 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:58,800 why was Jesus able to do miracles? 99.99% of the people would 152 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,600 say, well, because he was God in the flesh. That's why he was able 153 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,140 to do miracles. And that would be a misunderstanding of the doctrine 154 00:09:05,140 --> 00:09:08,180 of the Incarnation. If you don't know what incarnation, that's 155 00:09:08,180 --> 00:09:11,500 when Jesus took on flesh. For those of you who might not know Latin, 156 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:13,460 just think of like going to Mexican food restaurant getting carne 157 00:09:13,460 --> 00:09:18,180 asada, carne meat. He incarnated, he took on carne, he 158 00:09:18,180 --> 00:09:22,180 took on flesh. That's the Incarnation. The moment God takes 159 00:09:22,180 --> 00:09:24,420 on flesh. And you think it's just like, yeah, yeah, he just like, 160 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:27,300 kind of like God is hidden in flesh, but he's still God. He can 161 00:09:27,300 --> 00:09:29,540 do whatever he wants. No, that's not what the Incarnation teaches. 162 00:09:30,340 --> 00:09:32,980 Philippians chapter two tells us that when Jesus took on flesh, 163 00:09:32,980 --> 00:09:37,020 he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant. Well, what 164 00:09:37,020 --> 00:09:41,460 did he empty himself of? His divine right to use his power however 165 00:09:41,460 --> 00:09:44,140 he wanted. That's what he emptied himself of. Now he's still 166 00:09:44,140 --> 00:09:48,340 God in the flesh, but his divinity is veiled in his humanity, 167 00:09:48,420 --> 00:09:51,700 meaning he can no longer willy nilly, do whatever miracle he wants 168 00:09:51,700 --> 00:09:55,260 to do on his own. Every miracle he now does from this moment 169 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:58,260 forward has to be by the power of the Holy Spirit inside of him, 170 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:02,580 because his divinity is covered in flesh. Maybe you go, I 171 00:10:02,580 --> 00:10:04,620 don't know, Jason, if that's the way it really works, well, go 172 00:10:04,620 --> 00:10:08,060 read the Gospel of Luke again and see how it works. Nowhere in 173 00:10:08,060 --> 00:10:10,940 the Bible do you see Jesus doing any miracle at all before the 174 00:10:10,940 --> 00:10:14,740 Holy Spirit comes on him after his baptism. And in Luke specifically, 175 00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:17,820 the verbiage is very clear. It says he's baptized, that he's led 176 00:10:17,820 --> 00:10:19,580 by the Spirit into the wilderness where he's tested. He 177 00:10:19,580 --> 00:10:21,860 passes the test. And then it says, and in the power of the Spirit, 178 00:10:21,860 --> 00:10:24,100 he goes out and starts preaching, teaching and healing. 179 00:10:25,590 --> 00:10:29,510 So spirit comes and now all the miracles come. There's not a 180 00:10:29,510 --> 00:10:31,950 miracle Jesus did when he was on earth that wasn't by the power 181 00:10:31,950 --> 00:10:36,310 of the Holy Spirit. This is exactly why Jesus says In John chapter 182 00:10:36,310 --> 00:10:39,870 16, it's to your advantage that I leave you, because when I 183 00:10:39,870 --> 00:10:42,710 leave, then the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will come upon you. 184 00:10:43,430 --> 00:10:46,190 Now again, put yourself in the shoes of the disciples on this one. 185 00:10:46,190 --> 00:10:49,310 Like, how in the world could it be better for Jesus in the flesh 186 00:10:49,310 --> 00:10:52,400 to leave? Because he can do all These miracles, the only way 187 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,880 it could be better is if his cause of doing miraculous work now 188 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,920 comes inside of us and we can do what Jesus could do. Then you 189 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:03,440 go to John 14, you read it where Jesus says, greater works will 190 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:08,040 you do than I, because I am going to the Father. Now, if he didn't 191 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,000 put that last little bit on there, it might be confusing, but 192 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,640 he's very clear. Because I go to the Father, the Spirit will come 193 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,640 and you'll do greater works than me. Which is exactly what you 194 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,080 see in the Bible. You see the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and 195 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,480 John, and it's Jesus doing all the work. Then you get over to the 196 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,680 Book of Acts and you see these hillbilly disciples doing all the 197 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:30,200 same things that Jesus did. Why? Because in Acts 2, the spirit 198 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,160 of Christ came down upon them and empowered them to do what they 199 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,200 could not do on their own. Every miracle Jesus did was because 200 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,480 the Spirit was upon him. Now maybe you're going. Okay, theological 201 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,210 lesson for me. Great. Thank you. Golf clap. I understand. Now, 202 00:11:44,210 --> 00:11:50,090 what does that matter? It changes everything. Because the best 203 00:11:50,090 --> 00:11:53,930 news of all is the same Spirit that was in Jesus Christ is in this 204 00:11:53,930 --> 00:11:59,050 room right here, right now, this morning. And the same miracles 205 00:11:59,449 --> 00:12:02,930 that Jesus saw can be seen today not because of me, not because 206 00:12:02,930 --> 00:12:05,810 of you, but because of the Holy Spirit in this place. This is 207 00:12:05,810 --> 00:12:09,810 exactly why every Sunday we open up the front for prayer. Because 208 00:12:09,810 --> 00:12:13,370 we still believe our God is doing miracles. We still believe 209 00:12:13,370 --> 00:12:16,410 people can be healed and marriages can be saved. We still 210 00:12:16,410 --> 00:12:19,290 believe that people can be saved from mental illness, saved 211 00:12:19,290 --> 00:12:22,170 from their sins. That miracles happen because the same Spirit is 212 00:12:22,170 --> 00:12:26,770 in here. The most important thing of all though, is that we don't 213 00:12:26,770 --> 00:12:29,730 miss the work of the Holy Spirit. All that power available 214 00:12:29,730 --> 00:12:33,450 and we can completely miss it. This is exactly what the Pharisees 215 00:12:33,450 --> 00:12:36,780 kept doing over and over and over again, right there. Bona fide 216 00:12:36,780 --> 00:12:39,860 proof of the Spirit and of Jesus. And they turned their backs 217 00:12:39,860 --> 00:12:41,820 on it. Well, they're about to do it again. Let me go ahead and 218 00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:45,740 forewarn you. Jesus is about to finally confront it. And he's 219 00:12:45,740 --> 00:12:47,780 going to have to speak some truth into these Pharisees lives. 220 00:12:47,780 --> 00:12:50,979 So why don't you see in verse 22 as we keep on reading, how the 221 00:12:50,979 --> 00:12:53,940 Spirit came in power and how the Pharisees missed it. Picking 222 00:12:53,940 --> 00:12:58,300 back up verse 22, then a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute 223 00:12:58,300 --> 00:13:01,460 was brought to him. And he healed him so that the man spoke 224 00:13:01,460 --> 00:13:04,700 and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, can this be 225 00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:07,580 the Son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it 226 00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:11,300 is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts 227 00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:15,140 out demons. Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, every 228 00:13:15,140 --> 00:13:18,380 kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. And no city or house 229 00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:21,660 divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, 230 00:13:21,660 --> 00:13:24,340 he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 231 00:13:24,660 --> 00:13:27,860 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast 232 00:13:27,860 --> 00:13:31,810 them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the 233 00:13:31,810 --> 00:13:34,890 spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has 234 00:13:34,890 --> 00:13:38,210 come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house 235 00:13:38,210 --> 00:13:42,050 and plunder his goods? Unless he first binds the strongman, then 236 00:13:42,050 --> 00:13:45,810 indeed he may plunder his house. I'm going to pause there. 237 00:13:46,850 --> 00:13:50,610 So what you see here is the demonstration of the spirit's power. 238 00:13:50,770 --> 00:13:54,770 A demon is cast out. You see, some of the people there amazed at 239 00:13:54,770 --> 00:13:58,590 it because they recognize this has to be the son of David. Because 240 00:13:58,590 --> 00:14:01,510 in Isaiah it was predicted that if the blind can see and the 241 00:14:01,510 --> 00:14:05,270 mute can speak, then that's the Messiah. So some of them were 242 00:14:05,270 --> 00:14:08,430 believing. But then you have the Pharisees who come up on a stage, 243 00:14:08,510 --> 00:14:12,550 these hard hearted, mean, angry Pharisees, and they go, no, 244 00:14:12,550 --> 00:14:16,390 no, no, no, he's not doing that by God's power. He's doing that 245 00:14:16,390 --> 00:14:18,830 by Satan's power. That's when he says Beelzebul. That's just another 246 00:14:18,830 --> 00:14:23,520 term used for Satan, the prince of demons. No, no, that's 247 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,640 happening by Satan's power. And they completely miss the miracle 248 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,360 that they're seeing. Now, I mentioned this last week. I got to 249 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,920 say it again. Isn't there a side where you see these Pharisees, 250 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:37,720 you go, povrecito, man, you're so blind. God, I just feel sorry 251 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,600 for you. Miracle after miracle after miracle. Like, it can't be 252 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,000 God. You just want to like slap him across the face and say, 253 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,370 open up your eyes. You notice they didn't even try to deny the 254 00:14:49,370 --> 00:14:52,730 miracle. They never once said, no, that wasn't a miracle. They can't 255 00:14:52,730 --> 00:14:57,290 deny it. It's too obvious. And they still don't believe. Now, I 256 00:14:57,290 --> 00:15:00,490 want you to know, it's so easy to condemn them and it's so dangerous 257 00:15:00,490 --> 00:15:03,250 to condemn them, because when we do so, we don't realize we're 258 00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:07,250 condemning ourselves. See, the Pharisees, they were just. Actually, 259 00:15:07,570 --> 00:15:11,130 they were just using logic to get to the conclusion that they got 260 00:15:11,130 --> 00:15:15,080 to it made perfect sense in their minds. So let me explain to 261 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,080 you how they're I don't know if you know, like logic, like there's 262 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,040 certain forms. If A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C, 263 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,160 like in mathematical logic is pretty simple structure. So they're 264 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,760 using a logical argument just to connect the dots. So you got the 265 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,760 first issue is that they have seen a bonafide miracle, some supernatural 266 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,280 power to cast out that demon to make that blind man see and speak. 267 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,720 And so, okay, they can't deny it, it's been some kind of miracle. 268 00:15:40,450 --> 00:15:44,370 Well, the next argument and their logical pattern is they know 269 00:15:44,370 --> 00:15:47,970 that this supernatural power has to come from somewhere. And in 270 00:15:47,970 --> 00:15:50,890 the ancient world there were only two sources of supernatural 271 00:15:50,890 --> 00:15:55,010 power. It either came from God and it was divine power, or it came 272 00:15:55,010 --> 00:15:59,250 from dark magic, from Satan himself. Both entities have power. 273 00:16:00,130 --> 00:16:04,970 And so their next line of argument is they are fully convinced 274 00:16:04,970 --> 00:16:08,450 Jesus is not of God, but. But that he's leading the people astray, 275 00:16:08,930 --> 00:16:12,730 so he cannot be of God, therefore it cannot be God's divine 276 00:16:12,730 --> 00:16:17,010 power. Therefore the only conclusion they arrive at can be, 277 00:16:17,170 --> 00:16:20,930 he must be doing this by the power of Satan. This is just their 278 00:16:20,930 --> 00:16:24,090 logical sequence to get to that answer. Now you and I can look 279 00:16:24,090 --> 00:16:27,490 at that and go, well, we see their flaw. They wrongly assess Jesus 280 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:32,410 as not being of God, but they were utterly blind to that and nobody 281 00:16:32,410 --> 00:16:36,160 was going to convince them that Jesus was on God's side. Jesus 282 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,720 doesn't even try to convince them that he's on God's side. In 283 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,920 fact, what he does is he uses better logic to undo their misguided 284 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,320 logic. It's really fascinating when you study it. Jesus uses the 285 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,480 same logical sequence, but to get them to a different conclusion. 286 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,280 He says, okay, let's start back at the first argument again. 287 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,240 You have just seen divine supernatural power because a demon 288 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,240 has been expelled. No doubt in it. You can all see it. We all agree 289 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,450 here. But let me give you the next line of argument that's different 290 00:17:03,450 --> 00:17:07,690 than yours. The next line is this. If I have cast out a demon, 291 00:17:07,690 --> 00:17:12,090 that demon works for Satan. You get that? I get that. And then 292 00:17:12,090 --> 00:17:15,490 the next line would be, if you're accusing me of working on 293 00:17:15,490 --> 00:17:20,170 behalf of Satan, then Satan is casting out Satan. And that means 294 00:17:20,170 --> 00:17:24,010 the next line. Satan is. His kingdom is divided and therefore 295 00:17:24,730 --> 00:17:29,180 his whole kingdom will fall. It's just a line of argumentation. 296 00:17:30,060 --> 00:17:32,580 Now it's probably not as convincing to you and me as it would 297 00:17:32,580 --> 00:17:35,460 be to them, but this was an incredibly convincing argument because 298 00:17:35,460 --> 00:17:38,260 of the culture they lived in, little historical background for 299 00:17:38,260 --> 00:17:42,780 you. So they lived under the big watchful eye of the Roman Empire. 300 00:17:43,340 --> 00:17:46,420 Rome at the time was the mightiest empire the world had ever 301 00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:50,860 seen. Never had there been an empire more vast, more powerful, 302 00:17:50,860 --> 00:17:54,820 with a greater military. And Rome had had no enemies they were 303 00:17:54,820 --> 00:17:57,860 afraid of out there. They were not afraid of the Persians, they 304 00:17:57,860 --> 00:17:59,420 weren't afraid of the Babylonians, they weren't afraid 305 00:17:59,420 --> 00:18:02,140 of the Egyptians, they weren't afraid of the Europeans or the Mayans 306 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:05,660 or the Aztecs or the ancient Chinese. They weren't afraid of anybody. 307 00:18:06,220 --> 00:18:10,100 Nobody could take down Rome. Rome had one enemy it was afraid 308 00:18:10,100 --> 00:18:15,060 of, and that enemy was civil war within itself. Rome knew the 309 00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:18,540 only threat to Rome was Rome. If it was divided, it would fall, 310 00:18:18,540 --> 00:18:22,130 which by the way, is the very reason Rome fell. There was infighting 311 00:18:22,130 --> 00:18:26,130 and war within that caused it to collapse. This is the air they 312 00:18:26,130 --> 00:18:29,170 breathe because the Roman Empire is all around them and they 313 00:18:29,170 --> 00:18:31,650 understand that threat, that if a kingdom is divided against itself, 314 00:18:31,650 --> 00:18:35,930 it will fall. So when Jesus says, consider the pattern. If Satan 315 00:18:35,930 --> 00:18:39,410 is fighting against Satan, then the mightiest devilish army 316 00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:42,570 will collapse just like Rome. And therefore I cannot be doing this 317 00:18:42,570 --> 00:18:46,730 from the power of Satan. It was lock solid argumentation they 318 00:18:46,730 --> 00:18:50,770 could not refute. But if that weren't enough, Jesus gives them 319 00:18:50,770 --> 00:18:54,170 one last little slap over there and says, and by the way, you're 320 00:18:54,170 --> 00:18:57,730 condemning your own children. Now, another little background that 321 00:18:57,730 --> 00:19:03,050 you need to know. So exorcism, the casting out of demons was big, 322 00:19:03,050 --> 00:19:07,210 big business in that time. They didn't know about science the 323 00:19:07,210 --> 00:19:10,090 way we do and medicine or mental health and all that. They 324 00:19:10,090 --> 00:19:13,540 firmly believed a demon caused every bad thing there was. And so 325 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:15,580 if you needed any help, you got a stomach problem, whatever, 326 00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:18,220 you got to cast out the demon, which I don't know if you know that. 327 00:19:18,220 --> 00:19:19,940 There were still some vestiges. It was like when you sneeze 328 00:19:19,940 --> 00:19:23,060 and you go, huchoo, bless you. That's because a demon left you and 329 00:19:23,060 --> 00:19:26,540 now you're healthier and you're saying bless you now. That's 330 00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:30,860 what the mindset was. Demons cause everything. And so when you 331 00:19:30,860 --> 00:19:34,620 have this mindset, then you need somebody to cast out that demon. 332 00:19:34,620 --> 00:19:37,820 So there was a big pagan business where they would have incantations, 333 00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:41,610 they'd cut themselves and look at these black books and dark arts 334 00:19:41,610 --> 00:19:45,570 and stuff. But they were also, they were Jewish exorcists. In fact, 335 00:19:45,570 --> 00:19:48,650 if you read the Book of Acts, you find this story about the Jewish 336 00:19:48,650 --> 00:19:53,530 exorcist. In fact, some of the best Jewish exorcists were the Pharisees. 337 00:19:54,170 --> 00:19:56,609 And this was a massive business that they had. They made 338 00:19:56,609 --> 00:20:00,490 a lot of Money, exorcising demons. So Jesus says, and by the 339 00:20:00,490 --> 00:20:03,690 way, if you think I exercise a demon or cast out a demon and I must 340 00:20:03,690 --> 00:20:07,100 work for Satan, you've just condemned your own people. And all 341 00:20:07,100 --> 00:20:12,660 of a sudden they realize, touche, you got us. And Jesus says, 342 00:20:12,660 --> 00:20:15,900 I'm telling you all this, Pharisees, because you just don't 343 00:20:15,900 --> 00:20:19,740 see it. You think it's the power of Satan, but everything I'm 344 00:20:19,740 --> 00:20:22,540 doing is by the power of the Holy Spirit. And if the Spirit has 345 00:20:22,540 --> 00:20:25,380 come upon you, then the kingdom of God is here. He says. 346 00:20:26,340 --> 00:20:28,820 And he says that the kingdom of God is here. Satan cannot stop 347 00:20:28,820 --> 00:20:32,140 it. That's what he talked about when he mentioned the whole 348 00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:34,800 plundering of the strongman's house. I don't know if you saw that 349 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,800 in there. Let me tell you what he's saying. He's saying Satan is 350 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:42,400 the strongman and the Holy Spirit has bound the strong man. 351 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,640 And therefore every time I heal, every time I cast out a demon, 352 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,760 every time somebody believes in me and finds salvation, I am plundering 353 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,400 the house of the enemy. And he's saying, right now the reason 354 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,200 you're seeing the miracles is because I'm plundering the house 355 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,210 of the strongman because the Holy Spirit has him bound. I get 356 00:21:01,210 --> 00:21:04,090 real excited about this because I want you to know the same 357 00:21:04,250 --> 00:21:08,490 spirit that was holding back the strongman then is right here, 358 00:21:08,650 --> 00:21:11,770 right now. Which means the house of the enemy is being plundered 359 00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:16,930 today, just like it was back then. There are people being rescued 360 00:21:16,930 --> 00:21:19,370 from the domain of darkness and brought over to the kingdom of 361 00:21:19,370 --> 00:21:22,330 the beloved Son. And it's happening week after week after week. 362 00:21:22,730 --> 00:21:26,820 And it's happening right here in our church. I want you to know 363 00:21:26,820 --> 00:21:29,940 something, some of you maybe you realize this, but we have been 364 00:21:29,940 --> 00:21:33,380 experiencing a multi year revival in our church where we have 365 00:21:33,380 --> 00:21:37,420 seen God save the lost in unprecedented ways. Where the house 366 00:21:37,420 --> 00:21:40,260 of the enemy is being plundered. Do you realize that we 367 00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:44,260 are in July and we have already seen 203 people declare their 368 00:21:44,260 --> 00:21:49,980 faith in Jesus Christ through baptism this year alone. I want to 369 00:21:49,980 --> 00:21:54,870 be clear, this is unusual for us. I remember I've been here for 370 00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:57,750 a long time. For the longest time. I was just talking to Jim about 371 00:21:57,750 --> 00:22:02,710 this. If we ever hit 200, we were popping open the non alcoholic 372 00:22:02,710 --> 00:22:05,630 bubbly and we were celebrating that God would allow us to see 200 373 00:22:05,630 --> 00:22:09,110 people come to the faith in Jesus Christ over the course of a 374 00:22:09,110 --> 00:22:13,550 whole year. That was amazing. Holy cow. Huge celebration. We're 375 00:22:13,550 --> 00:22:16,470 halfway through the year and God's Already done it. And we still 376 00:22:16,470 --> 00:22:18,790 have the rest of the year to see God plunder the house of the 377 00:22:18,790 --> 00:22:22,970 enemy, bring them over to the kingdom. I'm praying it happens this 378 00:22:22,970 --> 00:22:28,970 morning for some of you, because the spirit is at work binding 379 00:22:28,970 --> 00:22:32,370 the enemy. And the enemy has to sit back and watch his house be 380 00:22:32,370 --> 00:22:35,890 plundered as more and more people are saved. That's why we sing 381 00:22:35,890 --> 00:22:39,210 that song. Hell, lost another one. I am free because the house 382 00:22:39,210 --> 00:22:42,650 is being plundered, because the spirit is holding back the enemy 383 00:22:42,650 --> 00:22:46,860 and he cannot stop it. But the most important thing. I said it again. 384 00:22:46,860 --> 00:22:48,500 I'm going to say it again. I said it before. I'm going to say 385 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:52,740 it again. Do not miss the spirit at work, because nothing could 386 00:22:52,740 --> 00:22:55,940 be more dangerous than that. I'm going to be honest with you. 387 00:22:56,420 --> 00:22:59,860 There are some people. It's not you in this room. It's probably 388 00:22:59,860 --> 00:23:02,380 not you worshiping with us online, but there have been some 389 00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:06,300 people, they don't last long in this church. They are very, very 390 00:23:06,300 --> 00:23:09,820 negative of what God is doing here. I've had some people on their 391 00:23:09,820 --> 00:23:12,570 way out say, yeah, I just think y' all are so concerned with 392 00:23:12,570 --> 00:23:14,890 numbers. You baptize people too fast. They don't really know 393 00:23:14,890 --> 00:23:19,290 Jesus, and that can't possibly be of God. And they're. They're in 394 00:23:19,290 --> 00:23:24,810 grave danger of calling what the Holy Spirit is doing a work of 395 00:23:24,810 --> 00:23:30,210 Satan. And I want you to know that is one of the gravest mistakes 396 00:23:30,610 --> 00:23:35,890 any human can make. Jesus is about to tell us with some of the 397 00:23:35,890 --> 00:23:40,450 most sobering words in all of scripture, the danger of saying what 398 00:23:41,010 --> 00:23:43,810 the Spirit is doing is actually what the enemy is doing. 399 00:23:44,450 --> 00:23:48,570 And my prayer is that you carry this and you deal with it before 400 00:23:48,570 --> 00:23:52,610 you leave here today. What he's about to say. Because seeing 401 00:23:52,610 --> 00:23:54,810 the work of the Holy Spirit and calling it something else is 402 00:23:54,810 --> 00:23:57,970 incredibly dangerous. Verses 30 to 32. Listen to what he says 403 00:23:57,970 --> 00:24:03,290 next. He says, whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever 404 00:24:03,290 --> 00:24:06,370 does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I tell you, 405 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,280 every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy 406 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,200 against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word 407 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,560 against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against 408 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,440 the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in 409 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:25,240 the age to come. Right now, your pits should be sweating. You 410 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,240 should be feeling like this. This is a holy moly moment. Because 411 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:34,320 there is apparently a sin that would lead to complete unforgiveness. 412 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,480 And we got to be aware of what it is. It would be so much easier 413 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:41,400 for me just to read past that and keep on going. But I want to 414 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,640 deal with it. But I want to make sure, though, you don't misunderstand 415 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,080 what this is, because I know there are some of you, I've talked 416 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,760 to many of you who struggle with this, who feel like you have 417 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,960 already committed the unforgivable sin and it's over. You 418 00:24:54,960 --> 00:25:01,040 got no hope. As I talk to people, it's usually somebody who 419 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,780 says, there was this time in my past when I was just. I was in 420 00:25:03,780 --> 00:25:06,740 a really dark place and I spoke some things about Jesus or 421 00:25:06,740 --> 00:25:09,860 about the Holy Spirit. I said some things, and I've blasphemed 422 00:25:09,860 --> 00:25:12,420 the Holy Spirit, which blasphemy just means to slander the 423 00:25:12,420 --> 00:25:15,820 Spirit. I've done it. That's over for me. I've got no hope. I've 424 00:25:15,820 --> 00:25:19,180 committed the unforgivable sin. If that's ever crossed your 425 00:25:19,180 --> 00:25:23,300 mind, I want to make sure you don't misunderstand. It is not a 426 00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:26,780 one point in time where you commit this unforgivable sin. That's 427 00:25:26,780 --> 00:25:30,510 not what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. Blasphemy of the Holy 428 00:25:30,510 --> 00:25:34,790 Spirit is to slander or to refuse to believe the testimony of 429 00:25:34,790 --> 00:25:39,430 the Holy Spirit about Jesus Christ. It's not a one moment in 430 00:25:39,430 --> 00:25:42,470 time kind of thing. To blaspheme the Spirit is actually 431 00:25:42,470 --> 00:25:45,830 something you have to do ongoing. It's a perpetual rejection, 432 00:25:45,910 --> 00:25:49,270 obstinate rejection of the Holy Spirit's revelation of who Jesus 433 00:25:49,270 --> 00:25:54,350 Christ is. If you do that and completely refuse to accept the testimony 434 00:25:54,350 --> 00:25:57,080 of the Spirit about Christ, you, you are officially eradicating 435 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,000 from you your only hope of believing in Jesus for the salvation 436 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,760 of your sins. That's why your sins can't be forgiven, because you're 437 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,560 not believing the Spirit who leads you to Christ. That's why it's 438 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,720 unforgivable. It's not a one point in time. And you go, well, 439 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,160 how do you know that, Jason? Well, I know about it because if 440 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,680 you take that mindset, it does not jive with the rest of scripture. 441 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,200 I mean, just look at what this says. It says if you blaspheme or 442 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,460 slander Jesus, you're ait. But if you slander the Holy Spirit, you're 443 00:26:23,460 --> 00:26:27,980 done. So now that sounds like it's saying Jesus is down here, but 444 00:26:27,980 --> 00:26:31,180 the Holy Spirit is up here. And so you can blaspheme Jesus, you're 445 00:26:31,180 --> 00:26:32,940 all right, because he's like a lower tier. But if you blaspheme 446 00:26:32,940 --> 00:26:36,380 the Spirit, you're Done. Well, that doesn't agree with Scripture 447 00:26:36,780 --> 00:26:39,340 because the Scripture teaches us the Holy Spirit's job is to elevate 448 00:26:39,340 --> 00:26:42,940 the Son, just like the Son's job is to elevate the Father. So 449 00:26:42,940 --> 00:26:46,260 that's not what it's teaching. Okay, well what is it teaching? It's 450 00:26:46,260 --> 00:26:50,020 teaching that you can blaspheme the Spirit. Or, excuse 451 00:26:50,020 --> 00:26:53,220 me, you can blaspheme Jesus because the Spirit has not yet revealed 452 00:26:53,220 --> 00:26:56,460 to you who Jesus is. But then when there's a moment the Spirit 453 00:26:56,460 --> 00:26:59,260 reveals to you who Jesus is, you can repent and come to faith 454 00:26:59,260 --> 00:27:02,660 in Christ as long as you don't reject what the Spirit is testifying. 455 00:27:03,059 --> 00:27:07,180 Let me give you an example. On the cross, there were three people 456 00:27:07,180 --> 00:27:09,500 crucified. On that day, Jesus was crucified. He was right there. 457 00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:12,300 And there were two thieves on either side of him. Both of them 458 00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:16,300 at the beginning were railing on Jesus, condemning him, slandering, 459 00:27:16,460 --> 00:27:20,900 blaspheming Jesus. But one of the thieves, somewhere along the 460 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:25,260 moment of the crucifixion, the Holy Spirit reveals to him that Jesus 461 00:27:25,260 --> 00:27:29,660 is innocent and he is the Son of God. And then that thief repents. 462 00:27:30,139 --> 00:27:33,660 And he now says to the other thief, stop. Stop condemning him. 463 00:27:33,660 --> 00:27:36,180 This man is innocent. We deserve what we're getting, but not 464 00:27:36,180 --> 00:27:38,900 him. Then he turns to Jesus and he says, remember me when you 465 00:27:38,900 --> 00:27:41,510 come in your kingdom. And do you know what Jesus says to Him? 466 00:27:42,150 --> 00:27:46,390 Today you'll be with me in paradise. So he blasphemes Jesus, 467 00:27:46,630 --> 00:27:50,190 yet is still saved. Why? Because when the Spirit testified 468 00:27:50,190 --> 00:27:53,670 about who Christ was, he did not blaspheme the Spirit. He believed 469 00:27:53,670 --> 00:27:57,030 the Spirit's testimony and trusted in Jesus and he was saved. 470 00:27:57,830 --> 00:28:01,550 Or think about the apostle Paul. Same scenario. There was nobody 471 00:28:01,550 --> 00:28:04,710 who hated Jesus or the name of Jesus more than the Apostle Paul. 472 00:28:04,950 --> 00:28:07,230 He's literally killing Christians all over the place trying 473 00:28:07,230 --> 00:28:10,940 to eradicate the name of Jesus. He is blaspheming, slandering 474 00:28:10,940 --> 00:28:14,980 the name of Jesus. And then on the road to Damascus, the Spirit 475 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:17,700 of Christ meets him and reveals Jesus to him. And what does 476 00:28:17,700 --> 00:28:21,380 he do? He believes the Spirit's testimony and gives the 477 00:28:21,380 --> 00:28:25,219 rest of his days following Jesus. Now, I don't know about everybody, 478 00:28:25,219 --> 00:28:28,260 but I know Paul is going to be up in heaven and he's going to be 479 00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:30,660 there even though he slandered the name of Jesus because he did 480 00:28:30,660 --> 00:28:35,950 not blaspheme the Spirit's testimony about Christ. So what right 481 00:28:35,950 --> 00:28:39,550 now Jesus is trying to teach us? Is this not just a one time thing? 482 00:28:39,550 --> 00:28:42,710 You said against the Spirit or against Jesus or One bad moment that 483 00:28:42,710 --> 00:28:45,830 you had, and you've committed the unforgivable sin. It is persistent 484 00:28:45,830 --> 00:28:49,030 rejection of the Spirit's testimony of what Christ is doing. 485 00:28:49,750 --> 00:28:52,750 So if you're here today and you're feeling worried that you've 486 00:28:52,750 --> 00:28:56,190 committed the unforgivable sin, I want to help you. If you're 487 00:28:56,190 --> 00:28:58,470 worried about offending the Spirit, you have not committed the 488 00:28:58,470 --> 00:29:01,520 unforgivable sin. Because it's the Spirit in you that. That makes 489 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,360 you know you shouldn't do that to the Spirit. So go ahead and breathe. 490 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:10,840 You're okay. Actually, it's those of you who think you would 491 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,440 never do that that are probably the most at risk. Let me 492 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,800 remind you, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees here. These are 493 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,080 the most religious people of the day, the highest of the high, 494 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:26,520 when it came to Judaism, and he's talking to them. Let me tell 495 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:30,420 you what that means. It means every Sunday there are people who 496 00:29:30,420 --> 00:29:35,780 come in to worship with us who view themselves as good and holy 497 00:29:35,780 --> 00:29:39,500 and right and religious. And they don't realize that they are 498 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:42,900 blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and they are in grave danger for 499 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:48,860 doing so. I want you to know there are certain truths that should 500 00:29:49,580 --> 00:29:55,080 literally scare the hell out of you. Like you don't want to go 501 00:29:55,080 --> 00:30:00,000 to hell. And this is one of those divine truths. And so you should 502 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,240 be asking yourself, how do I ensure I'm not one of those people 503 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,320 who's slandering and resisting the testimony of the Holy Spirit 504 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:13,880 about Christ? How do I make sure that's not me? The answer is 505 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:18,040 very simple. Just look at your speech and you'll know. Look at what 506 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,400 comes out of your mouth and you'll know. Blasphemy is something 507 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:25,800 spoken. They were speaking against Christ. And by what you say, 508 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,720 you'll either be condemned or justified. If you don't believe me, 509 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,920 look at what Jesus says next. Right after talking about the blasphemy 510 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,000 of the Spirit, the next place he goes to is how we use our words. 511 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,840 Verse 33 to verse 37. Let's finish up the passage. Either make 512 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,600 the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its 513 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,570 fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of 514 00:30:46,570 --> 00:30:49,970 vipers. How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the 515 00:30:49,970 --> 00:30:52,770 abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out 516 00:30:52,770 --> 00:30:54,890 of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out 517 00:30:54,890 --> 00:30:58,010 of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the Day 518 00:30:58,010 --> 00:31:01,010 of Judgment, people will give an account for every careless word 519 00:31:01,010 --> 00:31:04,210 they speak. For by Your words you will be justified. And by your 520 00:31:04,210 --> 00:31:09,970 words, you will be condemned. Every careless word will be held 521 00:31:09,970 --> 00:31:13,020 to account. If that earlier part wasn't making you sweat in your 522 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:16,860 pits, this should be making you sweat in your pits. Every careless 523 00:31:17,100 --> 00:31:21,740 word. What we speak reveals the condition of our heart. Do you 524 00:31:21,740 --> 00:31:24,100 want to know whether you're resisting the spirit or not? Just 525 00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:27,420 look at your speech. Do you call the work of God the work of 526 00:31:27,420 --> 00:31:31,020 the enemy? Your heart is revealing. Your mouth is revealing 527 00:31:31,020 --> 00:31:35,340 where your heart is. It's just the overflow of the heart. Now, I 528 00:31:35,340 --> 00:31:37,300 know there are many of you in here going, I would never say that 529 00:31:37,300 --> 00:31:40,380 what God is doing is evil. And so I'm good. That's not referring 530 00:31:40,380 --> 00:31:46,220 to me. Well, I want to slow down a little bit. I want you to 531 00:31:46,220 --> 00:31:49,820 know one of the worst things we can do is grieve the Holy Spirit. 532 00:31:50,460 --> 00:31:53,020 We can miss what the Holy Spirit is doing, but do you want 533 00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:56,300 to know how we grieve the Spirit? We grieve him with our words. 534 00:31:57,020 --> 00:32:00,540 Where do you get that from? Ephesians, chapter 4. If you go to 535 00:32:00,540 --> 00:32:02,860 verse 30, it says, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by 536 00:32:02,860 --> 00:32:05,910 whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. And right before 537 00:32:06,990 --> 00:32:10,470 says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only 538 00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:14,350 such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may 539 00:32:14,350 --> 00:32:18,750 give grace to those who hear. So if there's any unwholesome corrupting 540 00:32:18,750 --> 00:32:21,710 talk that tears somebody else down instead of building them up, 541 00:32:22,430 --> 00:32:25,790 then we have grieved the Holy Spirit of God. I'm not asking for 542 00:32:25,790 --> 00:32:28,870 a show of hands here, but I wonder how many of us have let a 543 00:32:28,870 --> 00:32:32,510 word out of our mouth slip that tears somebody else down, either 544 00:32:32,510 --> 00:32:36,430 in front of them or behind their back. Oh, we should be cautious 545 00:32:37,470 --> 00:32:40,430 right after Ephesians 4:30, which says, don't grieve the Holy 546 00:32:40,430 --> 00:32:43,470 Spirit of God. It says, let all bitterness, wrath, anger clamor 547 00:32:43,470 --> 00:32:46,549 and slanderous blasphemy be put away from you along with all 548 00:32:46,549 --> 00:32:48,830 malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving 549 00:32:48,830 --> 00:32:52,150 one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. So the question 550 00:32:52,150 --> 00:32:56,400 is, have you ever had an angry word slip out of your mouth? Then 551 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,840 you are grieving the Spirit. Has a word of bitterness slipped 552 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,160 out of your mouth? It's revealing your heart. Has a word 553 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,960 of unforgiveness gone out of your mouth towards somebody else? 554 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:13,200 I want you to know this is some thin ice we're stepping on all 555 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,400 the way back in Ephesians 4:25, it says, Therefore, having 556 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,600 put away falsehood, let each one of us speak the truth with his 557 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,410 neighbor, for we are members of one another. Has a little lie 558 00:33:23,410 --> 00:33:26,090 just slipped out of your mouth? Maybe make yourself look a 559 00:33:26,090 --> 00:33:27,730 little better than you actually do, or make somebody else 560 00:33:27,730 --> 00:33:31,970 look a little worse than they actually do. We're grieving the spirit, 561 00:33:32,690 --> 00:33:36,810 we're slandering the spirit, and our words are revealing what's 562 00:33:36,810 --> 00:33:43,490 inside. And some of you right now are going, I'm in trouble. You're 563 00:33:43,490 --> 00:33:47,810 going, what do I do, Jason? Well, first of all, I'll tell you 564 00:33:47,810 --> 00:33:51,340 what you don't do. You don't go, alright? I'm going to be better. 565 00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:53,900 I'm going to leave here, I'm going to talk more wholesome. I'm 566 00:33:53,900 --> 00:33:56,580 going to just be better in my actions and my words and I'm going 567 00:33:56,580 --> 00:33:59,740 to change my fruit. I'm going to tell you why you don't do that. 568 00:33:59,820 --> 00:34:03,500 Because it doesn't work. It might last you a day, a week, maybe 569 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:06,420 even a month. And it's going to be gone. Because remember, the 570 00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:08,860 problem isn't the fruit. The problem is the root of the tree. 571 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:13,900 So if you go to a tree and it's producing mushy, nasty apples 572 00:34:14,379 --> 00:34:16,659 and you pluck all the apples off and you go to the store and buy 573 00:34:16,659 --> 00:34:19,099 some Red Delicious and you start stapling it up on that tree 574 00:34:19,339 --> 00:34:21,739 going, alright, my tree's better. Now let me tell you what's 575 00:34:21,739 --> 00:34:25,739 going to happen. It's going to keep on producing mushy, nasty apples 576 00:34:26,299 --> 00:34:29,099 because the change in the fruit doesn't change the root. So 577 00:34:29,099 --> 00:34:32,899 what has to happen is that the heart has to change so the fruit 578 00:34:32,899 --> 00:34:37,379 can change. Now I got some really bad news for you. You can't 579 00:34:37,379 --> 00:34:43,120 change your heart, you can't change yourself. But I got some really 580 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,560 good news for you. Jesus can do for you what you cannot do for 581 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,400 yourself. And where you cannot change your heart, he can change 582 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:53,400 your heart. I'm going to finish with this passage of scripture. 583 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,040 It's one of my favorite in the Bible. I feel like I say that all 584 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,480 the time, but it really is Ezekiel 36. We're going to leave 585 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,760 just for a moment. Go over to the book of Ezekiel 36, verses 26 586 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,680 and 27. Listen to how he puts the power of the Holy Spirit and 587 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:11,400 the change of the heart together. Ezekiel 36, 26 says, and 588 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,320 God's speaking, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit 589 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,880 I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from 590 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,520 your flesh and give you A heart of flesh. And I will put my 591 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,679 spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and be 592 00:35:23,679 --> 00:35:27,440 careful to obey my rules. You can't change your heart, he says, 593 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,600 but I can. I'm gonna put my spirit in you. And that spirit. My 594 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,800 spirit's gonna do heart surgery in you. He's gonna change 595 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,320 out the old root, put in a new root, and that's when you're finally 596 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:40,170 gonna change. So if the Lord has revealed to you your brokenness, 597 00:35:40,410 --> 00:35:43,290 your desperation, your need, because maybe, just maybe, you've 598 00:35:43,290 --> 00:35:45,770 been slandering and grieving the spirit of God, it's time for 599 00:35:45,770 --> 00:35:48,690 you to get your heart right with him. It's time for you to say, 600 00:35:48,690 --> 00:35:51,450 I give up. I can't do it, Jesus. You're gonna have to do what 601 00:35:51,450 --> 00:35:53,770 I can't do. Put your spirit inside of him. Because your spirit 602 00:35:53,770 --> 00:35:57,490 still has power today like it did back then. I'm trusting in your 603 00:35:57,490 --> 00:36:02,180 spirit today. You can have the greatest miracle of all today. It 604 00:36:02,180 --> 00:36:05,860 just requires one thing. It just requires you to be broken enough 605 00:36:05,860 --> 00:36:08,820 to know that you need it. Remember I told you earlier that 606 00:36:08,820 --> 00:36:12,580 he's coming for the bruised reed? And the smoldering wick Told 607 00:36:12,580 --> 00:36:15,620 you. The reason he does that is because the only people who respond 608 00:36:15,620 --> 00:36:18,700 to him are those who know they need it. I'm about to finish with 609 00:36:18,700 --> 00:36:22,900 a little story here. I saw this the other day as I was climbing 610 00:36:22,900 --> 00:36:25,500 up Mount Kilimanjaro. If you weren't here, I shared last week. 611 00:36:25,740 --> 00:36:28,140 My daughter and I did the most epic thing ever. We climbed to the 612 00:36:28,140 --> 00:36:32,560 top of Kilimanjaro, and it was phenomenal and painful and beautiful. 613 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,800 But I learned so much on that mountain. Just these little lessons 614 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,240 God taught. But one of them was really the power of weakness. 615 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,440 When Paul says, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. I got to see a picture 616 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,880 of that. So we had a team of 12 of us that were climbing the mountain, 617 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:53,000 and there was one guy on the trip who was the most muscley, least 618 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,200 fat. He just. I know I don't believe in Greek gods, but every 619 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,800 statue I've seen, it looked like this guy right here, just muscle 620 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,680 everywhere. He was an executive pastor at a different church 621 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:06,240 who just. He was just regimented. Like, he would work out 622 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,280 a couple of hours every day, and you could tell he was a beast. 623 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,800 He was not, like, arrogant proud. He was a very kind man, but 624 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,400 he was also confident. And when I heard his workout schedule. 625 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,360 Abby, wasn't it crazy when he told us what he did? This guy was 626 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,920 working out Like, I have never heard somebody working out to climb 627 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:24,360 Kilimanjaro. Like, he has all these hiit training and stair things. 628 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,430 He's trying to increase his VO2. Rob. He sounds like you, Rob 629 00:37:27,430 --> 00:37:30,590 Bethman. Like, this VO2 max training, like, gonna make it. He 630 00:37:30,590 --> 00:37:34,310 had this regimen that was phenomenal. And I remember looking 631 00:37:34,310 --> 00:37:37,590 at Abby going, we're not gonna make it. Because our training regimen 632 00:37:37,590 --> 00:37:41,030 was to get 10,000 steps a day, period. That's all we did. I'm like, 633 00:37:41,030 --> 00:37:44,150 this dude, he's gonna be carrying me like Hercules at the 634 00:37:44,150 --> 00:37:48,190 mountain. And, you know, the first four days or so, the dude was 635 00:37:48,190 --> 00:37:50,470 like, he was strong as an ox, man. He's just helping everybody 636 00:37:50,470 --> 00:37:55,090 else, and he's just fit as can be. And that all changed on summit 637 00:37:55,090 --> 00:37:58,730 night. So it's midnight now, and we started to go up the mountain. 638 00:37:58,730 --> 00:38:01,490 We got to go about 4,000ft over the next eight hours, walking 639 00:38:01,490 --> 00:38:06,130 all through the night. About three hours into the hike, this massive 640 00:38:06,210 --> 00:38:10,770 muscular guy is literally stopping there, weeping uncontrollably 641 00:38:10,770 --> 00:38:14,730 because he's going, I can't go on. The altitude had just sucked 642 00:38:14,730 --> 00:38:18,570 him dry. He had literally. He's walking. He fell asleep on his 643 00:38:18,570 --> 00:38:21,910 poles. And the guide had to wake him up so he could keep walking. 644 00:38:22,470 --> 00:38:27,190 He was just that exhausted by sleep deprivation and altitude sickness. 645 00:38:27,670 --> 00:38:29,910 And he goes a little bit further, and he just stops. And he's 646 00:38:29,910 --> 00:38:32,510 just standing there, and he can't go. And he's crying, I can't 647 00:38:32,510 --> 00:38:36,630 do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. And this little woman, this 648 00:38:36,630 --> 00:38:39,870 little guide named Anna, I mean, she's not much taller than 649 00:38:39,870 --> 00:38:42,190 this. It's Tanzania. We had about five Tanzanian guides help 650 00:38:42,190 --> 00:38:46,350 us get up there. She comes up and she says to this guy, Bradley, 651 00:38:46,350 --> 00:38:48,870 I've changed his name to protect the innocent. Bradley's, 652 00:38:49,430 --> 00:38:53,710 Bradley, give me your backpack. And I saw this big old 653 00:38:53,710 --> 00:38:56,190 man take off his backpack and just lay it on top of this little 654 00:38:56,190 --> 00:38:59,150 woman, Anna, so she could carry it for him. I want you to know, 655 00:38:59,150 --> 00:39:01,550 Bradley, at the beginning of the hike, never would have put his 656 00:39:01,550 --> 00:39:05,670 backpack on top of Anna. But he didn't wait one second, she offered. 657 00:39:05,670 --> 00:39:09,470 He went poof. Here you go. Because he knew there was no way 658 00:39:09,470 --> 00:39:13,110 he was going to make it to the top with that pack on. And here's 659 00:39:13,110 --> 00:39:15,750 little Anna carrying his pack, her pack, and his pack to go up. 660 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,640 He goes maybe about another hour or so, and he vomits. And he 661 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:24,280 stopped. Now his food is all gone. He's got no energy, can't drink 662 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,160 he's feeling weak and dizzy and he's like, I can't. I can't. 663 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:33,480 And Anna comes around him and says, put your arm around me. He 664 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:38,040 puts her arm around her and they just start walking up. And he'd 665 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:40,680 get some energy and he'd walk on his own. Then he'd get tired again. 666 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:45,010 She'd come on, he'd put his arm around her. And that little lady. 667 00:39:45,010 --> 00:39:49,450 Anna helped my friend make it all the way to the summit of that 668 00:39:49,450 --> 00:39:53,930 mountain and all the way back down again. And I want you to know, 669 00:39:54,650 --> 00:39:59,610 my friend never would have made it without her help. But he 670 00:39:59,610 --> 00:40:02,850 never would have sought her help if he wasn't so destitute and 671 00:40:02,850 --> 00:40:05,690 broken. He knew he had no other way to make it. He would have 672 00:40:05,690 --> 00:40:10,540 been too proud. He here's what the Lord is teaching me. There's 673 00:40:10,540 --> 00:40:14,500 a moment when you and I have to recognize we cannot summit the 674 00:40:14,500 --> 00:40:18,660 mountain. We cannot make it to where we need to get to. And we will 675 00:40:18,660 --> 00:40:21,740 never make it. And it's not until we are so weak that when Jesus 676 00:40:21,740 --> 00:40:24,259 comes, we'll take off our pack and say, take it. I can't carry it. 677 00:40:24,500 --> 00:40:27,820 It's not until we're so weak that we'll go to Jesus and say, let 678 00:40:27,820 --> 00:40:31,060 me carry. And watch him pick us up. Cause the mountain we have 679 00:40:31,060 --> 00:40:34,340 to make it to is Calvary. And only one man has made it up. And 680 00:40:34,340 --> 00:40:38,180 his name is Jesus. And if we have any hope, it's on his back, 681 00:40:38,180 --> 00:40:45,060 not on our feet. But the only people who will let him help are 682 00:40:45,060 --> 00:40:51,220 those who say, I'm done. I can't. One more hardship and I'm 683 00:40:51,220 --> 00:40:57,060 over. One more failure and it's gone. I just. I think there 684 00:40:57,060 --> 00:41:02,950 are some of you who are here this morning, and that's you. Maybe 685 00:41:02,950 --> 00:41:07,070 you're going right? I don't even know why I'm alive. You're so 686 00:41:07,070 --> 00:41:10,790 at the end of yourself and you're wondering, is there any hope? 687 00:41:10,790 --> 00:41:17,070 I want to remind you, Jesus whole mission is you. He's come for 688 00:41:17,070 --> 00:41:21,110 you. All you have to do is be weak enough to say, jesus, help me. 689 00:41:22,790 --> 00:41:28,860 I can't save myself. Help me. That's what it means to repent. It 690 00:41:28,860 --> 00:41:31,740 means to confess. You are so broken and weak, you cannot help 691 00:41:31,740 --> 00:41:34,540 yourself but to turn to Jesus and let Jesus do for you what you 692 00:41:34,540 --> 00:41:38,820 cannot do for yourself. I believe some of you hear me this 693 00:41:38,820 --> 00:41:42,900 morning, and the Holy Spirit is testifying to you that your only 694 00:41:42,900 --> 00:41:47,820 hope is Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you. Do not slander 695 00:41:47,820 --> 00:41:52,240 the testimony of Jesus Christ through the Spirit of Christ. If 696 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:56,040 he's calling you to believe in Jesus Christ, it's time for you to 697 00:41:56,040 --> 00:42:01,160 say, yes, I trust in Jesus. You can keep resisting that voice, 698 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,480 but that voice will get dimmer and dimmer as you harden your heart. 699 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:07,039 Do not harden your heart against the spirit. Do not blaspheme 700 00:42:07,039 --> 00:42:10,200 the spirit. This morning you're going, how do I know it's 701 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:12,720 the spirit? It's that weird sensation that you have, that like, 702 00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:15,400 holy cow, is there a spotlight on me right now? Because it seems 703 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,530 like he's just talking to me. That's not me. That's the Holy Spirit. 704 00:42:19,650 --> 00:42:23,690 The Spirit is inviting you to believe in Jesus for salvation. The 705 00:42:23,690 --> 00:42:26,970 question is, will you trust the spirit or will you slander the 706 00:42:26,970 --> 00:42:30,490 Spirit's testimony? What do I do? In a moment, I'm gonna have people 707 00:42:30,490 --> 00:42:34,530 down front. You come down front and you let us know I'm broken. 708 00:42:34,770 --> 00:42:37,330 I'm ready to place my faith in Jesus Christ because I believe he's 709 00:42:37,330 --> 00:42:40,450 my only hope. Doesn't have to be those exact words, but you let 710 00:42:40,450 --> 00:42:44,160 us know that you're ready. This baptistery on stage, it's a 711 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,560 picture. It's a picture that the diseased tree is going to go 712 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,800 down and die, and a brand new tree with a new root is going to 713 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,760 come up, changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. A death to the 714 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,920 old self, a resurrection and a new self filled with the Spirit of 715 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:03,720 Christ. Everything changes when we say, I'm ready to confess 716 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:05,760 Christ as my savior. If you need that, I'm going to give you 717 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:09,730 a moment. You can come forward in just a second. One last thing 718 00:43:09,730 --> 00:43:12,330 I want to say, though there are many of you who've made that 719 00:43:12,330 --> 00:43:15,530 decision in this room, and you're still feeling burdened and 720 00:43:15,530 --> 00:43:19,970 overwhelmed, I want to remind you what I said earlier. The same 721 00:43:19,970 --> 00:43:24,849 spirit that brought miracles to Jesus is in this room, and the 722 00:43:24,849 --> 00:43:28,170 same spirit can move in power. But you got to be weak enough to 723 00:43:28,170 --> 00:43:30,650 take that burden off your shoulders and lay it down on Jesus 724 00:43:30,650 --> 00:43:34,690 back. You got to be like Bradley, who said, I can't take it 725 00:43:35,470 --> 00:43:37,230 because Jesus is coming alongside and he's saying, give me 726 00:43:37,230 --> 00:43:39,070 that burden. Give me that burden. Give me that burden. Don't 727 00:43:39,070 --> 00:43:41,870 try to carry it. Give me that burden. You're not going to make 728 00:43:41,870 --> 00:43:43,870 it through life trying to carry your burdens. It's time to 729 00:43:43,870 --> 00:43:48,390 lay them down on the back of Jesus. Let him bring the power that 730 00:43:48,390 --> 00:43:50,470 you need. How do I do that? Well, we're going to have people 731 00:43:50,470 --> 00:43:53,510 down front ready to pray with you. You bring your burden down front. 732 00:43:53,510 --> 00:43:56,070 We join hands, we hear that burden, and we together lay that 733 00:43:56,070 --> 00:43:59,630 burden down on the shoulders of Jesus and we ask him to do what 734 00:43:59,630 --> 00:44:04,080 only he can do. Don't leave here carrying that burden. Invite 735 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:07,640 you to stand to your feet right now. Invite the prayer team 736 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:10,240 to come spread down the front. There's gonna be a lot of us because 737 00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:12,840 we're making time for you. If you need to come lay a burden down 738 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:15,320 before the Lord. There's nothing more important that you can 739 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,960 be doing than to come do that. Or if today you're saying, I'm ready 740 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:24,360 to trust in Jesus Christ, I'm at the end of myself. I'm weary and 741 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,600 burdened. I'm a bruised reed. I'm a smoldering wick. I'm ready 742 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:29,970 to find life in Christ. Christ, you come let us know and 743 00:44:29,970 --> 00:44:33,210 we'll help you take that step of faith today. You just got to come.