Before & After

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.399 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:19.400 Enjoy the message. One thing I want to point out 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.040 to you that you may not be aware of. We 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:26.639 typically group our messages a different series, and I decided 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:34.120 to preach a series called Savage Jesus. Why I did 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.559 it is because I'm tired of us pretending like Jesus 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:43.040 is safe. And one reason I wanted to use the 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:45.240 term savage Jesus is because. 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:46.959 I knew that religious people wouldn't like it. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.280 We typically like our heroes sath and we typically like 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:57.920 them better after they're dead. You notice this sometimes, don't you? 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:02.360 That the way that we present our heroes is that 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:07.320 we prefer a certain version of them that is safe, 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:11.040 that doesn't offend us. And one of the things that 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.120 I hope about doctor Graham's legacy is that he is 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:19.280 not just remembered for only the amazing invitations that he gave, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.360 but for the barriers that he broke down. 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:25.320 It's good that we take a little time. 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.759 This week to share some of his quotes about heaven. 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.920 But what he did here on earth in bringing Heaven 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.800 to earth and driving back darkness, I mean doctor Graham, 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:37.479 doctor Demas. 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:38.720 Was a savage in his own way. 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:44.400 What he did in Chattanooga, Tennessee in nineteen fifty three, 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:46.680 that was the most savage thing I ever read about, 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.160 where he tore down the barriers that they had set 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.400 up to keep black people separated from white people at 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.680 his crusade and looked at two white ushers and said, 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:58.560 you can either leave those down or have the crusade 0:01:58.600 --> 0:01:59.000 without me. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:01.680 That's pretty savage. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.840 I kind of like that version of doctor Graham, not 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.560 just you know, my wife and I often talk about this, 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.000 how for us growing up, Ray Charles was the pepsi 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.799 guy because we came into his legacy at a time 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.200 when he was older, and that's what we knew him as, 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.799 and we disregarded You see this happen every year on 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.560 the day that we celebrate doctor Martin Luther King Jr. 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.400 You see the same three quotes. I've decided to stick 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:37.200 with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:40.760 The same three quotes I've been to the mountain, same 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.040 three quotes I've had. But doctor King did a whole 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:45.639 lot more than go to the mountain and have a dream. 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:51.720 He went to prison, he suffered not only the scorn 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.800 of those that he was trying to fight against, but 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.480 those he was fighting for. And so when you forget that, 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.000 when you sanitize some body down to the point that 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.120 you try to make them almost like we make them 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.240 a mascot. You ever see those little toys where you 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:09.720 pull the string and they have a few sayings that 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:11.600 they say, and there's like five. 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:12.360 Things that they say. 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:17.280 I'm afraid we've done that with Jesus. I'm afraid that 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.280 we've got it down to the point now where we 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.440 have a few things that Jesus said, you know, love 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.400 people and turn the other cheek, and you know a 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.560 few little things images of Jesus. Shepherd Jesus with a 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:33.440 pull string and he says nice comforting things. This little 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.920 little Jesus that we put on the shelf, and he 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:37.320 says the things that we want to hear. You even 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.240 hear people sometimes they'll say, well, that doesn't sound very 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.800 much like Jesus. Did you ever read some of the 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:48.880 things that Jesus really said. Jesus was more than free 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.520 hugs and warm feelings. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:58.480 Jesus was Are you ready a savage? Gee? 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.240 Jesus walked in church one day. The poor people were 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:12.040 being exploited by being sold sacrifices at a marked up price, 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:13.040 and they could. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.640 Not afford them, and so they were excluded. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.440 From worship because the temple had become more about profit 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.520 and power than it had about the presence of God. 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.240 Do you know what Jesus did. He prayed about it. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:33.040 Oh oh oh, he posted on Pinterest about it. This 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:39.320 is not Pinterest, Jesus. This Jesus started kicking over tables. 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.040 He ripped out the ATM machines. 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:50.160 He drove out the tax collectors with the whip. Put 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:51.159 that on Pinterest. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.160 Well to you, pharisees, blind guys, strain out a NAT's 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.039 swallow a camel. You're of your father, the devil. I 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.760 never saw that on a coffee. You are of your father. 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:03.800 I am the way, the truth in the life. We 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:10.520 like that Jesus. Jesus was a savage. He answered them 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:15.080 not a word, because he was the word. He got 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:19.080 so mad at death that he decided to overturn it. 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.560 He got so cramped in his grave that after the 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.800 price had been paid, after he had done what needed 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:33.360 to be done, watch how savage he kicked the end 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.680 off of a borrowed grave. Why borrowed. He wasn't gonna 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.720 be there long. He was a savage when he got up, 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:42.640 I got to show you one thing, and I shall 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.440 save this for Easter. But the Bible says that he 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.120 folded the linen they had wrapped him in. He was 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.159 so savage that he folded it, because when you fold 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.200 a linen at a meal, it means I will be 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:57.200 back when he comes back. He's not coming back like 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.680 a lamb. He is the lion of the trial Judah, 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.560 and I feel his presence in this place. 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:13.240 So let's get started. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.560 In the series, Mark, chapter one, verse one. 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:19.400 Through fifteen records these words the. 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.320 Beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.160 It is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will send 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.839 my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way, 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.760 A voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.800 way for the Lord, Make straight paths for him. Interesting 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.800 that Mark does not start with the birth of Jesus Christ. 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.279 I wonder if he does that so that we will 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.120 not be so attached to our image of him as 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:51.279 a baby. Do you remember that movie with the race 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:56.560 car driver, And do you remember he said, I like 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.640 the baby Jesus the best a lot of us. Do 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.479 we worship a certain version of Jesus? That is said, well, 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.520 Mark isn't going to give us that portrait of Jesus. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.960 And it's correctly called a portrait. Because scholars say that 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.160 Mark's gospel is not only the oldest gospel from which 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.200 the other gospel writers would take the base information and 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.679 add their own commentary. But one of the things about 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.560 Mark's gospel that we will notice, because I plan to 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.080 host our entire study from this gospel account, is that 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:30.880 he wrote in terms of action, and you don't get 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.120 in this gospel a lot of the commentary about what 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:39.200 Jesus actually taught. You get more of a picture. The 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.000 scholar that I studied said that Mark writes with a 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.720 paint brush. He would rather show you than tell you, 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.720 because the highest level of proclamation of the gospel is demonstration, 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:52.400 not explanation. 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.280 Some people can explain. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.600 To you all about propitiation and atonement, but there's so 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.640 mean to their wife, that why I wanted Jesus. That 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:07.320 can't keep you from treating your family like crack. And 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.320 so Mark is going to show us portraits of Jesus. 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.080 We will be looking at least five or six in 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.360 this series. But he starts it off and he goes 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.760 to this scene in verse four, And so John came. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.240 And so John came baptizing in the desert region and 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:29.000 preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.240 and the whole Judean countryside, and all the people of 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.439 Jerusalem went out to him, confessing their sins. They were 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:41.079 baptized by him in the Jordan River. John was a savage. 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:45.079 He wore clothing made of camels hair, with a leather 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:50.120 belt around his waist, and he ate locust and wild 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.840 gluten loaded honey. And this was his message. After me 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.920 will come one more powerful than I. After me, will 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.760 come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:07.120 sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and Untie, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.679 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.600 with the Holy Spirit. At that time, Jesus came from 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.000 Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.760 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.760 saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.920 him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven. 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.960 You are my son, whom I love. With you, I 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:35.840 am well pleased. 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.920 At once the spirit sent him out into the desert, 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.040 and he was in the desert forty days being tempted 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:47.640 by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.800 attended him. After John was put in prison, Jesus went 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.320 into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. The time 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.080 has come, he said, the Kingdom of God is near 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.280 pent and believe. 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:03.760 The good news. 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.520 I want to use as a construct for this first message, 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:15.080 before and after, before and after, the way that I 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:15.960 study scriptures. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:17.319 I was telling him Buck the other day. I don't 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:18.599 know if he was listening, but I was trying to 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:19.960 explain to him between. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.360 Sets, how I look for little words and commonalities in 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.440 a text. And that's a great way for you to 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.880 study the scripture as well. To observe patterns in the scripture. 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:32.280 It help you know what to pay attention to. And 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:36.120 I was noticing in this passage of scripture. In verse four, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:41.280 it says John came. In verse seven, it says after me, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:46.200 one will come. In verse nine, it says that Jesus came. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.920 And in verse eleven it says a voice came. In 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.920 Verse thirteen, it says that the angels came. So John came, 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:02.560 one will come, Jesus came, avoid angels came. 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:04.280 I guess you could see. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.880 We're getting a picture here of Jesus Christ on the 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:10.760 come up. And we start with this very powerful statement 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.160 of validation where the Father says, you are my son 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:19.320 whom I love with you, I am well please. But 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.760 before that validation happened, there is a preparation that is mentioned. 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:26.839 I think preparation is. 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:30.360 So important, and obviously so does God, because when he 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:36.000 sent his son into the world, before he performed any miracles. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:36.320 Before he. 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:41.240 Raised any dead people, before he opened any blinded eyes, 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.640 he went through the waters of baptism, and before he 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:50.000 went through the waters of baptism, this man called John, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.320 who was an unlikely looking preacher who did not fit 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:58.680 the stereotype of how a clergyman should dress, was preparing 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.440 the way the Lord I broke in this introductory message 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.040 into four sections the first one is called preparation. Preparation 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.000 and prepare the way for the Lord. And so John 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:16.640 came to prepare the way for Jesus. And Jesus came 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.840 verse nine from Nazareth. And Mark said, this is the 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.040 beginning of the Gospel. But it was not the beginning 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.040 of the life of Christ. The life of Christ in 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:31.160 its early years took place primarily in Nazareth. When I 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.800 say Nazareth, it means nothing to you other than that 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.600 you associate it, perhaps with Jesus, and it meant next 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.600 to nothing to the people in Jesus' day. In fact, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.960 Nazareth was the kind of place. Now, I grew up 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.640 in a place that is famous for its culture and 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.280 its impact. I grew up in Monk's Corner. But some 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:58.040 of you grew up in places like Nazareth. Nazareth was 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:00.439 a no name place for no name people. So when 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:04.280 the Bible says that Jesus came from Nazareth, it means 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:06.440 that the Son of God and the Savior of the 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:07.320 world came from. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:08.440 An unexpected place. 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.679 John, the Baptists, who many scholars associate with the tribe 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.199 of the Essenes, was preparing the way in the wilderness, 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.520 and Jesus was coming up in Nazareth. Perhaps you've heard 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.719 that he was a carpenter. I think it must have 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.719 been a real trip to be making wood out of the. 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:27.880 Trees that you spoke into existence. 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:32.480 Have you ever thought about what it would be like 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:36.560 to make a table out of a tree that you 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:39.000 put in the ground. You know, the Bible says in 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:42.559 Colossians that all things were created and are sustained by 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.959 the power of his word. Yet Jesus meant the first 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:51.720 thirty in obscurity in Nazareth. Hey, they had us saying, 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.200 where you're from Valdosta, Valdosta State. 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:56.640 They had a saying about Nazareth. 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:02.559 They would say, can anything good come from Nazareth? They 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:07.080 said that about Jesus because the authority that he spoke 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.040 with did not match the background that he came from, 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.960 and the works that he would do so outstrip the 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.000 expectations of the people. He taught with authority and not 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.320 as one of their teachers of the law. They had 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:24.840 us saying, can anything good come from Nazareth? That no 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:30.400 name place for no name people, that place that we. 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:31.800 Don't plan our vacations to. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:37.680 Jesus came from Nazareth, not from Jerusalem. It would have 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.280 made sense for him to come from Jerusalem, the center 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:42.600 of the temple call. 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.920 It would have made sense for him to come from 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:45.600 perhaps a. 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.960 Place in the Roman Empire that was more empirically important. 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.240 But Jesus came from Nazareth. 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.240 He came from Nazareth, and the people wanted to know 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.840 can anything good come from Nazareth? But it was his 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:05.760 place of preparation. And when God has a great purpose 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:11.000 for your life, he will often involve a season of obscurity. 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:13.600 Let's be honest about it. 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:15.320 In the beginning was the Word, and the word was 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:15.840 with God, and the. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:16.520 Word was God. 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:19.600 It's not like Jesus needed to learn what he already was. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:26.640 But even Jesus went through a season of obscurity before 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.800 he fulfilled his purpose. And some of you are in 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.080 Nazareth right now, and you're wondering the same thing that 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:38.040 the people wondering about Jesus. Can anything good come from Nazareth? 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:42.640 Can anything good come from singleness? Can anything good come 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.680 from losing my job? Can anything good come from cancer? 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.760 Can anything good come from middle school? Can anything good 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.040 come from a broken heart? Can anything good come from depression? 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.600 Can anything good come from divorce? 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.119 But I love him because he takes the most unlikely 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.080 places and fulfills the greatest purpose. 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:06.320 How need you do to shout right now? 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.360 If you've ever been in Nasareth wondering God, what am 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:10.320 I doing here? 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.119 Jesus came from Nasareth. 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.760 Great things come from small places, New beginnings come from 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:30.200 dead ends. Jesus came from Nazareth. It was his place 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:38.600 of preparation. Preparation is kind of the opposite of the 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.280 primary value of our day. 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.080 We live in the age of instant validation. 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.520 Instead of thinking an issue through, we post it immediately 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:55.360 to see if we can get someone to agree or 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.160 disagree with us, just because we want attention. 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.200 See how quite gets when I preach real good. 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.720 Just see how they were shouting like forty seven seconds ago. 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.280 Did you see how quickly all the shouts. 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.800 Dissipated from the room, just because I told you the truth. 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.080 There is nothing off limits. 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.960 We will stage our kids instead of raising them, We're 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.440 staging them for the. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:19.479 Approval of people. 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:26.639 Stand here, shut up, smile, Stand here, shut up, smile 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.480 Because I yelled at you all day. But if I 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.920 can post something that made it look like we had 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.439 a good day. Maybe somebody will tell me I'm a 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:39.080 good mom. 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.120 If it's too much, come give me chunks. I don't 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:42.960 want to tear the church apart on the first week 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:49.479 of the series. I was planning to do like six weeks, 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.320 but I don't know if we're gonna survive. The first 0:17:53.240 --> 0:18:01.280 Jesus came from Nazareth and he was baptized John. That 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:02.359 confused me at first. 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.280 And so if you're reading this and you're like, I 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.119 don't read the Bible much, but that's kind of weird. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.840 Don't you get baptized because you need to be forgiven 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:09.400 of your sin? 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.440 And isn't Jesus the one who didn't have any sin? 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:16.200 That's what John thought. 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:21.359 John was surprised when Jesus came to be baptized, because 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.360 you know, he's lining them up and he's dunking them, 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:26.920 and John did not. John's baptism was not like ours, 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:28.760 you know how our baptism we let you read something 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:34.359 and share something. John was such a savage one time 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.119 he looked at the crowd and said, who told you 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:36.760 to come out here? 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:37.800 You brew the viperse? 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.840 What if when you got in the tank, let's go 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:48.400 to Gaston for a baptism. Can you imagine Kid Hester 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.560 telling that big boy that was in the tank today. 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.000 I was so nervous Ken was gonna drop him. 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.560 Imagine if he called him a snake before he talked 0:18:55.560 --> 0:19:05.800 to him. And John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.480 He was fighting against the oppression of the system that 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:15.760 had made principles more important than people, and so was 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.960 he was rebuking really the leaders. And he'd say, you snakes, repent, 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.480 you snakes, repent, you snakes, repent. He turns around and 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:28.280 there's the savior of the world. You Savior of the world. 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.880 I should baptize you. I was just telling them I'm 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:32.440 not fit. 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:38.360 To tie your shoes. This isn't right. 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.520 But Jesus says something, and Mark doesn't give it to us, 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.359 because probably I really believe this hold on I'm ocd in. 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:45.080 This thing's crooked. 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:51.399 Probably Mark was writing his recollections not based on his 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.560 own personal experience. We don't even historically know who who 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.199 Mark was with one hundred percent accuracy, but we have 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:03.359 reason to believe that these recollections were based on the 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:09.680 memory of Peter Peter, who tried so hard to keep 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:15.360 Jesus from the Cross Peter, who had an expectation of 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:20.000 an earthly kingdom that would overthrow Rome. And it really 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.760 matches the style of Peter that Mark's gospel would include 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:28.520 very little detail. Is just really one thing after another 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.000 after another. His favorite word that Mark uses, and you'll 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:33.360 see it over and over again when you come back 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:33.640 to church. 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:34.960 Every week of this series. 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:40.960 Is immediately or suddenly, and it's just Jesus is on 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:41.480 the move. 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:41.800 Now. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.080 The thing about it was that for half of Mark's gospel, 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:47.239 Jesus is on the move through Galilee where he did 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.040 his ministry. The other half he's headed to the Cross, 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.480 the place he came for all along. Peter did not 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:58.840 understand that before, but he did after. And there's a 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.879 breathlessness of this god gospel that comes across because Jesus 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:07.679 is headed to the cross, headed to his purpose, headed 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:10.879 to redemption, which makes possible reconciliation, and he has no 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.760 time to waste. So we will forgive Mark if he 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.120 leaves out a lot of the details. He just tells 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:20.439 us that Jesus came and was baptized, But Matthew tells 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.280 us because there are four gospel accounts that Jesus told 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:26.600 John the reason that he did it. He said, this 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.120 must be done to fulfill all righteousness. 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.720 In other words, it was an act of obedience. 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.600 And if there's any word that might be more unpopular 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:40.879 than preparation in our culture, it's obedience. Nobody tells me 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:49.199 what to do. I pray to Jesus during football games. 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:54.399 Nobody tells me what to do. 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:02.160 Jesus power than his submission to the will of his father. 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.200 He said, I've got to do this in obedience. 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:12.320 John said it doesn't make sense, and Jesus said, it 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:16.240 doesn't have to make sense. It is written, and therefore 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:21.119 it must be accomplished. And so John doesn't argue with 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:25.280 him about it. He just does it. And when he 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:28.760 does it, the Bible says that a dove came from 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:34.560 heaven descended on him. The dove is often used to 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:39.800 symbolize peace. Here, it is a symbolic indication of the 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:44.679 presence of the Holy Spirit and God validates the sonship 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:48.800 of Jesus Christ. This is different than the transfiguration Holly. 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:53.560 In the Transfiguration, which happens many chapters later, he will say, 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:57.840 this is my son whom I love. Listen to him here. 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:03.720 It's personal. He says, you are my son whom I love. 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:07.040 With you, I am well pleased. 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:13.399 It is a direct validation of Jesus' ministry, and it 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:18.520 came after Jesus' obedience. I'm afraid that a lot of 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:28.119 times we want validation before obedience. But validation does not 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:30.800 come before obedience. 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:33.399 It comes say the word. 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:39.240 This is a message of before and after. Now, notice 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:42.280 what hasn't happened yet. At the moment that God the 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.240 Father validates his son, Jesus has not opened the first 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:51.760 blinded eye. Jesus has not healed anybody of leprosy or 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:55.840 cleansed them of their condition. Jesus has not caused any 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:57.119 lame people to walk. 0:23:57.200 --> 0:23:58.200 Not at this point. 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:01.280 Jesus has not even taught the crowds in a way 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:03.240 that would captivate them to the point that they would 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:05.160 stay and skip dinner just to hear what this man 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.160 has to say. Jesus has not packed out the house 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:09.760 to the point that some men will tear off a 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:10.960 roof to get their friend. 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:13.480 In so he can be healed. He has done none 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:14.200 of that yet. 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:19.120 And before he ever performs his first miracle, the heavenly 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:23.000 Father speaks a word a validation, and maybe you need 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.480 to hear that God's love for you is never based 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:33.280 on your performance before he ever did anything. It's kind 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:36.000 of like he got the trophy before he even showed 0:24:36.040 --> 0:24:36.840 up for practice. 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:40.800 It's kind of like God does not validate. 0:24:40.480 --> 0:24:44.480 How people validate, because people will validate you based on 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.960 what you do for them. People will validate you based 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:51.440 on the value that your actions carry that will contribute 0:24:51.440 --> 0:24:54.879 directly to their well being. But God does not validate 0:24:54.920 --> 0:24:59.600 based on performance. He validates based on relationship. He did 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:03.440 not v validate what Jesus would do. He validated who 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:05.960 he was. And just in case you haven't heard it 0:25:06.000 --> 0:25:08.520 in a while, and you feel kind of dirty and 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:11.280 kind of ashamed of yourself and kind of like you 0:25:11.359 --> 0:25:14.360 don't belong in the presence of God and like you're 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:17.000 not one of those good church people. I want you 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.119 to know you're still his child, You're still made in 0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:24.320 his image, You're still blood with his blood. Every drop 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:27.440 he's spilled was on purpose, and one of those drops 0:25:27.480 --> 0:25:28.520 had your name on it. 0:25:28.840 --> 0:25:31.359 And if the blood was enough for me, it was 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:32.240 enough for you. 0:25:32.560 --> 0:25:35.080 And you don't have to stand here ashamed and look 0:25:35.160 --> 0:25:39.200 forward to one day when God will never love you anymore, 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:41.479 that he loves you right now. 0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:49.679 I set You're free right now, loved right now, cleansed, 0:25:50.040 --> 0:25:54.200 right now, healed, right now. Somebody shout, I. 0:25:54.160 --> 0:26:02.120 Am I am his child, I am accepted. Jesus did 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:04.400 not perform his ministry for acceptance. 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:05.720 That's why he. 0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:11.199 Didn't care what anybody thought about it. When you know 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:17.080 somebody more important approves of you, it makes the opinions 0:26:17.200 --> 0:26:25.960 of people a whole lot less significant, isn't that true? 0:26:26.400 --> 0:26:31.199 I don't know. I don't care. This sounds bad, this 0:26:31.320 --> 0:26:34.440 sounds unpastoral, But. 0:26:37.240 --> 0:26:41.560 I don't care as much what you think about this sermon. 0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:49.320 I care. I will check Facebook, Instagram. 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:53.960 But before that, before ever, I said, before I'll walk 0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:58.000 off the stage, Holly will meet me and I look 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:01.800 at her and she'll be like you slated. 0:27:04.160 --> 0:27:05.159 When she says. 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:10.400 That, that will matter a little bit more, a little 0:27:10.400 --> 0:27:16.199 bit more because she lives with me. And if the 0:27:16.240 --> 0:27:19.920 person who knows me the best here's what I have 0:27:20.119 --> 0:27:23.679 to say and feels like it was aligned with the 0:27:23.800 --> 0:27:27.480 character of my life, I. 0:27:27.440 --> 0:27:28.280 Don't need the Graham. 0:27:32.760 --> 0:27:32.800 No. 0:27:33.520 --> 0:27:34.800 I think this is important. 0:27:36.840 --> 0:27:40.879 I think it's so important that we receive the validation 0:27:41.480 --> 0:27:46.240 of God each day, or we will need from people 0:27:46.400 --> 0:27:52.520 what they are not capable of giving us. How are 0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:56.399 they going to accept you unconditionally? They don't even like 0:27:56.480 --> 0:28:03.840 themselves some of the time. And a voice came, and 0:28:03.920 --> 0:28:08.000 a voice came. John came. That's preparation. A voice came, 0:28:08.160 --> 0:28:11.000 that's validation. But notice when he came, when he when 0:28:11.000 --> 0:28:13.440 the voice spoke, church, pay did you just little stuff 0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:13.800 in the Bible? 0:28:13.840 --> 0:28:16.399 Don't just read seventy seven verses I'm getting coffee and 0:28:16.440 --> 0:28:18.520 then post about it and post about it. Read it? 0:28:18.880 --> 0:28:23.359 Do read it. It came before he performed any miracles. 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:28.320 It was not contingent upon his performance, and it came 0:28:28.480 --> 0:28:30.400 after his obedience. 0:28:32.600 --> 0:28:35.240 At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth. 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:37.800 The galley was baptized by John and the Jordan check 0:28:37.840 --> 0:28:41.080 it out first in his first in on the screen. 0:28:42.480 --> 0:28:43.000 Is it on there? 0:28:44.360 --> 0:28:48.040 As he was coming up? That means, as he was 0:28:48.240 --> 0:28:51.920 doing what he was supposed to do. As he was 0:28:51.960 --> 0:28:55.720 coming up, he saw heaven torn open? Is that what 0:28:55.760 --> 0:28:58.400 it says? My eyes are closed and depending on you 0:28:58.520 --> 0:29:05.240 to validate the heavens torn open? And the voice spoke, 0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:09.960 so he saw vision and he heard a voice, but 0:29:10.000 --> 0:29:14.400 he didn't see it until he was on the way up. 0:29:15.640 --> 0:29:17.320 So it meant that he went all the way out 0:29:17.400 --> 0:29:21.880 to the Jordan, got in the water, went down, and 0:29:22.000 --> 0:29:26.200 on the way up, God said, I'm proud of you. 0:29:27.680 --> 0:29:31.000 And when he came up noticed this. The synergy of 0:29:31.040 --> 0:29:35.000 the text is this, when he came up, the dove 0:29:35.080 --> 0:29:39.400 came down. When he came up to fulfill that which 0:29:39.520 --> 0:29:42.000 was spoken of, that which was prophesied about him in 0:29:42.080 --> 0:29:44.160 obedience when he came up. 0:29:44.480 --> 0:29:46.400 Now here's where a lot of us get it twisted. 0:29:47.120 --> 0:29:49.560 We want the dove to come down before we get 0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:54.200 into the waters of obedience. We want God to give 0:29:54.280 --> 0:29:56.160 us peace about a decision that. 0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:57.360 We know we need to make. 0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:04.800 But I found out that peace comes after obedience. So 0:30:05.000 --> 0:30:09.200 when Jesus went down into the waters, which signified his death, 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:13.440 and came back up, which signified his resurrection, it was 0:30:13.600 --> 0:30:17.200 on the way up. It was as he was doing 0:30:17.280 --> 0:30:20.040 the will of his father. It was as he was 0:30:20.080 --> 0:30:23.080 in the process of fulfilling the purpose that he was 0:30:23.120 --> 0:30:25.920 put on the earth for that he saw the heavens 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:28.800 open and he heard the voice of God saying, this 0:30:28.840 --> 0:30:31.760 is my son, and the dove came down, But the 0:30:31.800 --> 0:30:34.760 dove didn't come down until Jesus came up. 0:30:35.080 --> 0:30:37.480 And you know what, You are not going to get 0:30:37.520 --> 0:30:38.400 the peace of. 0:30:38.320 --> 0:30:42.840 God in your situation until you commit yourself to obey 0:30:42.880 --> 0:30:50.280 what he's speaking to your heart. Peace comes after obedience. 0:30:51.520 --> 0:30:53.400 And if you don't have the peace of God in 0:30:53.440 --> 0:31:04.000 your situation, God's peace might be awaiting your obedience. But 0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:08.840 we want to experience before what we can only experience after, 0:31:13.720 --> 0:31:15.000 So we put stuff off. 0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:17.720 You note like, well, I'll do it when I feel 0:31:17.720 --> 0:31:20.360 a peace about it. That's a Christian thing. Only Christians 0:31:20.400 --> 0:31:20.840 talk like that. 0:31:22.360 --> 0:31:26.200 People who don't have this religious jargon to throw around 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:28.560 to cover up their lack of decisiveness have to either 0:31:28.600 --> 0:31:29.160 do it or don't. 0:31:29.200 --> 0:31:33.080 But we wait for a peace. I was just reading 0:31:33.080 --> 0:31:33.960 that text over and over. 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:36.440 And as he was coming up, the dove didn't follow 0:31:36.480 --> 0:31:38.440 him down to the water. Come on, Jesus, you got this. 0:31:39.600 --> 0:31:41.160 Come on, this is the right thing to do. I 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:44.520 promise you, I promise you. The dove did not make 0:31:44.840 --> 0:31:48.080 its appearance until Jesus was already wet. 0:31:51.640 --> 0:31:55.800 Until you die to yourself and go down in the water. 0:31:55.960 --> 0:32:01.760 And as he was coming up, came down. 0:32:04.120 --> 0:32:06.880 So I had to do something the other day, and 0:32:06.920 --> 0:32:09.960 I didn't want to do it in my flesh, in 0:32:10.000 --> 0:32:19.720 my spirit, I am reborn, and I told somebody I 0:32:19.720 --> 0:32:20.760 was gonna do it, and they said, oh, do you 0:32:21.000 --> 0:32:21.640 have a peace about it? 0:32:21.640 --> 0:32:22.840 I guess you have a peace about it. 0:32:23.400 --> 0:32:28.400 I said no, That's why I'm doing it because I 0:32:28.440 --> 0:32:32.960 want peace and I don't have peace. And I have 0:32:33.080 --> 0:32:38.600 spent the last several months waiting for peace that only 0:32:38.760 --> 0:32:46.600 obedience can produce. Now, the love of God did not 0:32:46.720 --> 0:32:51.480 come because Jesus obeyed, but the peace of God, the dove, 0:32:52.640 --> 0:32:58.200 the validation came as he obeyed. I said, I'm gonna 0:32:58.240 --> 0:32:59.720 do what I need to do. 0:33:00.240 --> 0:33:01.920 And the peace will follow. 0:33:02.880 --> 0:33:05.840 I'm gonna do what doesn't make sense and the peace 0:33:06.400 --> 0:33:07.080 will follow. 0:33:07.920 --> 0:33:11.040 I'm gonna join an e group at Elevation Church. 0:33:12.200 --> 0:33:16.760 I thought my leaders would shout and the peace will follow. 0:33:17.480 --> 0:33:24.240 But the peace came after the obedience. Peace comes after obedience. 0:33:24.840 --> 0:33:29.200 Peace comes after obedience. It's my whole message, and so 0:33:29.280 --> 0:33:31.280 I'm repeating it in case you think this. 0:33:31.200 --> 0:33:32.680 Is a sub point, it is not. 0:33:33.120 --> 0:33:35.720 Everything up until now was just to tell you this 0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:42.440 Lake Norman, peace comes after obedience. Jesus went down Jesus 0:33:42.480 --> 0:33:45.760 came up. As he's coming up, the doth comes down. 0:33:46.000 --> 0:33:49.479 The voice from heaven speaks, and the validation of Jesus 0:33:49.600 --> 0:33:50.560 Christ came. 0:33:50.640 --> 0:33:52.400 After his obedience. 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:56.000 Stop waiting to feel like it, Stop waiting for people 0:33:56.080 --> 0:33:59.800 to understand it. Stop waiting until everything gets just right. 0:34:00.200 --> 0:34:03.120 This is the day that the Lord has made. I 0:34:03.160 --> 0:34:06.719 will rejoice today. If you hear his voice, do not 0:34:06.800 --> 0:34:15.640 hearden your heart, and then the peace of God, which 0:34:15.680 --> 0:34:17.600 passes all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind. 0:34:17.600 --> 0:34:23.560 In Christ Jesus and peace. Here comes to dove, Here 0:34:23.560 --> 0:34:29.080 comes to dove, Here comes to dove. But this dove, 0:34:30.920 --> 0:34:34.000 this dove has a mind of his own. This dove, 0:34:34.080 --> 0:34:36.280 this holy spirit. That's what it symbolizes in the Bible. 0:34:37.640 --> 0:34:40.880 And the dove comes down, and the dove is so beautiful. 0:34:42.400 --> 0:34:45.160 Come on, Eljay, play some dove music, some dove descending music. 0:35:00.520 --> 0:35:12.000 I think that's Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. And then abrupt change. 0:35:12.080 --> 0:35:13.879 You gotta get used to Mark, because he's our tour 0:35:13.880 --> 0:35:18.040 guide for this entire series. At once, verse. 0:35:17.840 --> 0:35:19.960 Twelve, he doesn't even give us time to hang out 0:35:19.960 --> 0:35:22.160 with the dove, get a selfie with the dove at once. 0:35:23.719 --> 0:35:31.239 At once, immediately suddenly the spirit the dove sent him 0:35:31.280 --> 0:35:36.440 into the desert. Why is he going to the desert 0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:37.440 verse thirteen? 0:35:38.239 --> 0:35:38.839 Fill it in. 0:35:39.600 --> 0:35:42.800 And he was in the desert forty days being tempted 0:35:42.840 --> 0:35:43.520 by Satan. 0:35:45.160 --> 0:35:47.160 Why would the dove lead you. 0:35:47.920 --> 0:35:53.200 Into a place where the devil was waiting. I don't 0:35:53.320 --> 0:35:57.759 like that dove. I want the other dog. Give me 0:35:57.760 --> 0:36:15.239 another dove real quick. And suddenly, right after the validation 0:36:15.480 --> 0:36:22.839 came the temptation. Because anytime God speaks a promise over 0:36:22.920 --> 0:36:29.040 your life, you will immediately have the opportunity to prove 0:36:29.120 --> 0:36:30.240 the promise. 0:36:31.520 --> 0:36:32.240 In the desert. 0:36:33.719 --> 0:36:37.320 The same death that presided over his baptism now leads 0:36:37.400 --> 0:36:40.960 him into the desert, which seems on the surface to 0:36:41.000 --> 0:36:43.960 be a contradiction of the Lord's prayer. You know our Father, 0:36:44.960 --> 0:36:46.719 who are in heaven, Hello, will be your name, your 0:36:46.800 --> 0:36:49.560 kingdom Come. Jesus taught us this prayer, you will be. 0:36:49.560 --> 0:36:50.399 Done on earth. 0:36:50.440 --> 0:36:52.640 I know people think that football locker room made this 0:36:52.680 --> 0:36:53.120 prayer up. 0:36:53.200 --> 0:36:55.640 But Jesus taught this prayer on earth as it is 0:36:55.680 --> 0:36:57.480 in Heaven. Give us us there daily bread, forgive. 0:36:57.360 --> 0:36:59.719 Us our deathtints, we forgive our debtors, and lead us 0:36:59.800 --> 0:37:06.200 now into temptation. So why did the spirit of God 0:37:06.719 --> 0:37:10.839 lead Jesus into the very temptation that he told us 0:37:10.920 --> 0:37:21.080 to pray against. See, Jesus was a savage and he 0:37:21.160 --> 0:37:24.520 knew what to do in the desert, and he knew 0:37:24.520 --> 0:37:27.640 that the desert is the place where you. 0:37:27.680 --> 0:37:30.080 Prove the promise of God. 0:37:31.440 --> 0:37:34.680 I wanted to include this point because some of you 0:37:34.760 --> 0:37:38.480 are not in the place of validation as I speak today. 0:37:38.600 --> 0:37:46.799 You are in the place of temptation. So remember, Mark 0:37:46.880 --> 0:37:49.760 doesn't really break it down. He just tells us real quick, 0:37:51.640 --> 0:37:54.640 because Peter's just given him the highlights, and he's writing 0:37:54.640 --> 0:37:58.440 in a style that keeps the action moving, because this 0:37:58.480 --> 0:38:02.080 thing is headed to the conflict of the cross, and 0:38:02.120 --> 0:38:03.640 he has no time to waste. So he just tells 0:38:03.719 --> 0:38:07.400 us simply, he was in the desert forty days. He 0:38:07.440 --> 0:38:10.360 doesn't even mention that Jesus didn't eat in those forty days, 0:38:11.680 --> 0:38:15.360 doesn't even mention it being tempted by Satan. He was 0:38:15.400 --> 0:38:16.600 with the wild animals and angels that did. 0:38:16.640 --> 0:38:17.839 And that's all he says about it. 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:21.600 If I went forty days with the animals, I would 0:38:21.600 --> 0:38:26.600 want to describe every detail of it. But Mark says 0:38:26.600 --> 0:38:29.359 he was there and he was tempted, but it didn't work. 0:38:30.040 --> 0:38:33.600 By the way, you don't have to do You don't 0:38:33.600 --> 0:38:37.120 have to explain every nuance of all of the trials 0:38:37.160 --> 0:38:41.520 that you go through. Sometimes we are so busy describing 0:38:41.640 --> 0:38:45.200 what we are going through that we miss the opportunity 0:38:45.440 --> 0:38:48.359 to declare the praises of the one who brought us 0:38:48.400 --> 0:38:56.399 through it. He gives one verse to forty days he 0:38:56.480 --> 0:39:01.319 was tempted, and then the angels came. But the angels 0:39:01.440 --> 0:39:06.600 did not come to protect him from the temptation. The 0:39:06.640 --> 0:39:12.440 angels came after the temptation. And sometimes we are expecting 0:39:12.760 --> 0:39:16.759 God to protect us from stuff when He wants to 0:39:16.880 --> 0:39:20.759 use the stuff to prove his power in our lives. 0:39:21.719 --> 0:39:24.759 And so he puts you in a lonely place. But 0:39:24.960 --> 0:39:28.560 even in a lonely place, you are under and open heaven. 0:39:29.320 --> 0:39:33.560 The greatest temptation of life is to find your validation 0:39:33.800 --> 0:39:38.320 in a source other than Christ. It is life's greatest temptation. 0:39:38.920 --> 0:39:43.200 Where will you find your validation? And so Satan says 0:39:43.200 --> 0:39:46.640 to Jesus, if you're hungry, turn the stones into bread. 0:39:46.960 --> 0:39:49.480 Jesus said, I don't need it. I don't live by 0:39:49.520 --> 0:39:52.520 bread alone. I live on every word that proceeds from 0:39:52.560 --> 0:39:53.440 the mouth of God. 0:39:53.840 --> 0:39:55.040 By the way, it's. 0:39:54.920 --> 0:39:57.800 A bad idea to get in a scripture quotation. Contest 0:39:58.120 --> 0:40:00.200 with the one who is the word of God. He 0:40:00.239 --> 0:40:01.200 didn't just write it. 0:40:01.360 --> 0:40:02.040 He wasn't. 0:40:02.320 --> 0:40:04.640 Now you're debating scripture with the one who is it 0:40:04.800 --> 0:40:10.279 in plesh. 0:40:08.239 --> 0:40:10.279 Okay, then prove it. 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:14.480 This is life's great temptation to find your validation in 0:40:14.600 --> 0:40:15.799 anything other than God. 0:40:16.040 --> 0:40:16.400 Prove it. 0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:19.560 Throw yourself off the temple, prove it, make more money, 0:40:19.719 --> 0:40:22.120 prove it, show him how great you are. Prove it. 0:40:22.239 --> 0:40:24.960 Jes said, I don't need to prove it. It is written. 0:40:29.200 --> 0:40:33.280 It is written. I've already been. 0:40:33.239 --> 0:40:38.439 Validated in the waters, so I don't have to prove 0:40:38.480 --> 0:40:39.799 anything in the wilderness. 0:40:44.719 --> 0:40:45.520 I already ate. 0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:51.600 I do this anytime I'm going over to somebody's house 0:40:51.640 --> 0:40:52.799 and I'm not sure if they can cook. 0:40:55.880 --> 0:41:03.640 It's just preemptive. It's wisdom. 0:41:03.840 --> 0:41:07.640 Jesus said, I'm not hungry for that. Bow down and 0:41:07.680 --> 0:41:12.000 worship me. Why would I bow down to what is 0:41:12.040 --> 0:41:13.280 already under my feet? 0:41:15.680 --> 0:41:19.640 And the angels came, and then the angels. 0:41:19.200 --> 0:41:25.080 Came, and then the angels came, not before the temptation, 0:41:25.880 --> 0:41:30.600 but after the demonstration. And so if God has put 0:41:30.680 --> 0:41:34.320 you in a wilderness situation today, this could feel lonely, 0:41:34.680 --> 0:41:37.560 this could be emotional, this could be in your body. 0:41:37.960 --> 0:41:41.520 Every wilderness looks different. But the purpose for your wilderness 0:41:41.920 --> 0:41:45.960 is that you demonstrate the power of God in your life. 0:41:46.200 --> 0:41:49.360 And the power of God does not come until. 0:41:49.000 --> 0:41:54.800 After, after after. 0:41:57.160 --> 0:42:03.840 Maybe that's what faith is. Wow is believing before what 0:42:03.960 --> 0:42:05.879 you will only understand. 0:42:07.360 --> 0:42:07.640 After. 0:42:15.800 --> 0:42:21.440 By the time Mark writes down these miracles, it's been thirty. 0:42:21.239 --> 0:42:22.640 Years since stay happened. 0:42:24.560 --> 0:42:26.799 And Peter is talking to Mark, telling him what to write, 0:42:26.800 --> 0:42:31.600 and he said, he said, I want you to use 0:42:31.640 --> 0:42:35.479 half of half of this gospel account to talk about 0:42:35.520 --> 0:42:40.600 the last week in Jesus's life. Peter was the one 0:42:40.680 --> 0:42:44.040 who told Jesus, you can't go to the cross. It 0:42:44.080 --> 0:42:51.839 will mess up our pr campaign. You can't die, that's 0:42:51.880 --> 0:42:53.800 bad for ratings. 0:42:56.520 --> 0:42:57.279 But after. 0:42:58.880 --> 0:43:01.440 He had risen from the day and that then they 0:43:01.480 --> 0:43:08.319 remembered his words, and the same disciple that spent all 0:43:08.400 --> 0:43:10.799 three years of jesus ministry trying to keep him from 0:43:10.800 --> 0:43:14.319 the cross took half of the gospel account that he 0:43:14.440 --> 0:43:17.920 recollected to talk about the very thing that he wanted 0:43:17.920 --> 0:43:23.359 to keep Jesus from Wow. It goes to show that 0:43:23.400 --> 0:43:26.600 some of the dry places that we would avoid are 0:43:26.640 --> 0:43:32.960 the very places that God will use the most. The 0:43:33.040 --> 0:43:37.680 key is, can I believe it before I see it? 0:43:42.160 --> 0:43:48.399 Can anything good come from Nazareth? Can anything good come 0:43:48.400 --> 0:43:53.520 from my dysfunctional past? Can anything good come from this 0:43:53.640 --> 0:43:55.880 season that I want out of so bad? 0:43:57.520 --> 0:44:05.359 And then the angels I came with an announcement. Your 0:44:05.400 --> 0:44:15.400 angel is already on the way. Your angel is on 0:44:15.520 --> 0:44:19.600 the way. And don't give into the temptation. 0:44:19.360 --> 0:44:21.840 To bow down and worship something that is less than God, 0:44:23.000 --> 0:44:25.160 or to compromise your values in this season. 0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:27.680 You know who you are. You heard it in the 0:44:27.719 --> 0:44:31.480 waters of baptism. This is my child. I am well 0:44:31.520 --> 0:44:32.359 pleased with him. 0:44:32.600 --> 0:44:35.560 This is my daughter, I am well pleased with her. 0:44:35.760 --> 0:44:38.800 That's my boy, that's my girl. I got a purpose 0:44:38.880 --> 0:44:41.919 for you. Do not doubt in the wilderness what God 0:44:41.960 --> 0:44:46.760 showed you in the water. Your Angel is on the way. 0:44:47.560 --> 0:44:52.200 Your Angel is on the way. Don't turn the stone 0:44:52.200 --> 0:44:54.880 into bread just yet. You brought to get some angel 0:44:54.920 --> 0:45:00.279 food cake. Your angel is on the way. And the 0:45:00.320 --> 0:45:06.400 God of all grace, after that you have suffered, after 0:45:07.480 --> 0:45:11.640 you have suffered a little while, will himself, restore you, 0:45:13.200 --> 0:45:13.960 make you strong. 0:45:15.400 --> 0:45:19.920 The strength comes after the suffering. 0:45:21.760 --> 0:45:26.080 And that's what Jesus knew. That's what he knew with 0:45:26.120 --> 0:45:32.600 the animals. That was proven after the angels came. There 0:45:32.640 --> 0:45:36.279 is something today that you need to believe that you 0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:39.920 cannot see, something that you need to believe that you 0:45:39.960 --> 0:45:44.600 cannot feel. And it only makes sense on this side 0:45:44.640 --> 0:45:50.799 of the cross, and after you have suffered. What verse 0:45:50.880 --> 0:45:54.600 was that that said after you've suffered? 0:45:54.640 --> 0:46:00.799 We just talked about it first what first? Who Saint Peter? 0:46:03.120 --> 0:46:11.359 We finally got it after after. But let's just take 0:46:11.360 --> 0:46:13.239 a moment. Let's do something that will really drive the 0:46:13.280 --> 0:46:14.320 devil out of our desert. 0:46:15.920 --> 0:46:20.760 Let's go ahead right now at every location and praise 0:46:20.880 --> 0:46:38.880 God before for what we will only understand after. Come on, 0:46:39.000 --> 0:46:42.239 let's worship in the wilderness a little bit. If you 0:46:42.280 --> 0:46:44.840 don't feel it good, that gives you a chance to 0:46:44.960 --> 0:46:45.839 prove that. 0:46:45.840 --> 0:46:49.200 It is faith, not feeling faith not silent. 0:46:59.040 --> 0:47:01.120 Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment you have 0:47:01.280 --> 0:47:05.080 brought us to, and we thank you for the voice 0:47:05.080 --> 0:47:09.920 that came from heaven that spoke into our souls today 0:47:10.520 --> 0:47:15.480 that before we were ever created, you had a plan 0:47:15.600 --> 0:47:18.839 for our lives that before we ever did anything right 0:47:18.920 --> 0:47:21.360 or wrong, you had already determined our purpose in the earth. 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:25.120 We thank you that everything that we're going through in 0:47:25.200 --> 0:47:27.720 this season and the wilderness will prepare us. 0:47:29.400 --> 0:47:31.440 For the purpose that you know about in our lives. 0:47:32.520 --> 0:47:34.360 That you know about, you know the plans you have 0:47:34.440 --> 0:47:36.960 for us, plans to prosper us, not to harm us, 0:47:36.960 --> 0:47:39.239 to give us hope and a future. We thank you 0:47:39.280 --> 0:47:42.719 for the after, but we want to thank you for 0:47:42.840 --> 0:47:49.960 the after while we're still living in the before. We 0:47:50.000 --> 0:47:53.320 don't want to wait for the angels to come. 0:47:53.200 --> 0:47:54.920 To give you glory. 0:47:55.719 --> 0:47:57.560 We know that one day every knee will bow and 0:47:57.600 --> 0:47:59.640 every tongue will confess that you are Lord to the 0:47:59.680 --> 0:48:00.640 glory of God the Father. 0:48:00.960 --> 0:48:02.440 But we don't want to wait for that day. 0:48:02.520 --> 0:48:05.840 So we make our decision to worship you right now 0:48:05.880 --> 0:48:08.600 and to declare right now that Jesus. 0:48:08.200 --> 0:48:12.040 Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 0:48:12.120 --> 0:48:18.879 We give you glory right now. Thank you for joining us. 0:48:19.160 --> 0:48:21.600 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:48:21.680 --> 0:48:25.160 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:48:25.640 --> 0:48:27.799 You can click the link in the description to give 0:48:27.920 --> 0:48:32.040 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org. Slash podcast for more 0:48:32.080 --> 0:48:35.880 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:48:36.160 --> 0:48:37.480 You can share it with your friends. 0:48:37.760 --> 0:48:40.040 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:48:40.080 --> 0:48:42.200 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:48:42.239 --> 0:48:43.080 Elevation Church. 0:48:43.160 --> 0:48:49.759 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.