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What Happens When You Reject Jesus (Matthew 12) | Pastor Rod Gomez

Published on: 27th March, 2025

Ignoring Warnings: The Lessons from the Titan Submersible Tragedy

This sermon draws a compelling parallel between the tragic 2023 Titan Submersible disaster and the rejection of Biblical warnings. The CEO ignored numerous warnings about the vessel's safety, leading to catastrophic consequences. Similarly, ignoring the Bible's warnings can lead to spiritual disaster. The narrative delves into Jesus' teachings in Matthew Chapter 12, emphasizing the importance of reading the Bible correctly, fighting for a pure heart, and recognizing Jesus as central to the faith. The script also highlights the dangers of hardening one's heart against Jesus and the significance of responding to His call promptly.


00:00 Introduction to the Titan Submersible

00:33 Warnings Ignored

01:24 The Catastrophic Dive

02:28 Biblical Warnings and Life Lessons

04:28 The Hardening of Hearts

06:10 Jesus and the Sabbath

09:15 Reading the Bible with Jesus in Mind

18:18 The Ultimate Rejection

19:35 Accusations Against Jesus

20:16 The Unforgivable Sin

22:25 Fighting for a Pure Heart

23:17 The Autopilot Analogy

29:03 Evaluating the Evidence

38:07 A Final Plea

Transcript
Rod Gomez:

The Titan Submersible, you guys know what this is?

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2023, the Titan Submersible was run and

owned by the CEO who said, you know what?

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We're gonna go down so deep that

we're going to see the Titanic.

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Titanic, as you know, was that big

ship that was indestructible, and

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of course they were destructible.

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As evidenced by the fact that they sank.

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Well, these explorers were still

interested in seeing the Titanic

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that they entered into this thing

called the Ocean Gate Titan.

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The problem with this is that there were

several people that told them over and

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over again, your vessel is not safe.

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There are things wrong with this that you

need to figure out before you dive deep.

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He ignored all the warnings,

but there were plenty.

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Here are just a few here.

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From the first, from the first

side here, this thing was only

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certified to go down to 4,300 feet.

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Titanic was at 12,500 feet.

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That's a little different.

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On top of that, the material

that they used fundamentally

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flawed, and you go that deep.

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You need something solid and

strong that's not gonna cave in.

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Ocean Gate Sea admitted that it broke

design rules, not just one rule.

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There are actually several.

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He fluted them because he

thought, this is worth it.

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We're gonna do something so exciting

and so fun and so valuable to humankind.

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That we're gonna put

away some of these rules.

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Safety monitoring system would only detect

an issue milliseconds before an implosion.

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Well, in 2023, that's

exactly what happened.

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Just milliseconds before the submersible

was about to cave in, imploding,

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and being destroyed and killing

everybody inside an alarm went off

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to let them know this is the end.

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At what point then.

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When they were diving into the

water, did they know that this

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is the point of no return?

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Was it when they got past the 4,300 feet?

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Was it at the top when they entered

into the submarine knowing that it

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wasn't the most safe thing to be inside?

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Or was it when they were down low and

they heard the millisecond alarm go off

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before this whole thing caved in one

of the youngest men in there, it was

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a father son duo, one of the youngest

men in there who was 19 years old.

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Trusting his dad, trusting the captain

who is piloting the submersible.

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He gets in there, loses his life.

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A lot of people don't realize that

there are warnings all over the gospels

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saying You need to know there are

warnings about the way that you live

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your life, the things that you do.

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And what you also need to know

is that there's a time when you

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pass the point of no return.

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When at some point, and we don't know when

that is, we don't know what it looks like.

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The Bibles didn't tell us always what

that's gonna be, but you need to know

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that when you ignore the warnings of the

Bible and your life's about to implode,

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there are signs along the way to tell you.

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You need to be careful.

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God wants you to know the truth.

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And the truth sounds a lot like,

Hey, you can't go this far.

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Don't go this far down.

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The Bible sounds a lot like,

Hey, you shouldn't do that.

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It sounds like warnings.

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It sounds like, don't

do this, don't do that.

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But if we ignore those things,

what could happen for all of us?

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In fact, what will happen, the

Bible promises is catastrophe.

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Your life will implode.

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Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow,

maybe not 20 years from now, maybe

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not a hundred years from now.

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Maybe because we find ways to

keep you alive for a long time.

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But if we ignore the Bible's

warnings, what we're gonna find out.

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Is that we set ourselves up to

inevitably destroy ourselves.

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This is a problem 'cause many think that

they can def divinely, reject Jesus.

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Many people can say, look, I'll

get to it at some point when

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I'm older or when I know more.

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Or at some point when I'm older,

I'll maybe I'll get baptized.

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I just saw some people get baptized.

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I was cool.

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But when you continue to flaunt

and push away Jesus' warnings and

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say, I don't want to do that, you

can't expect that at some point.

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Jesus is gonna say, Hey, look.

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I'm here anytime you want.

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You want to come to me?

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Come to me anytime you want.

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Jesus doesn't say that.

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He doesn't say that.

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It's always possible to turn

to him in repentant faith.

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Which is why me and Lewis and Matt,

Daniel, anyone else has preached to

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you, pastor pj, we always warn you,

Hey, now's the day of salvation.

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Take the time now to not reject Jesus.

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Make sure that you're running to him.

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Make sure that you're surrendering

your life to him because there

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may not always be an opportunity.

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You may not always have the chance

to do what the Bible calls you to do.

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And here's the rub, guys.

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Here's what's awful about this.

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The more you reject Jesus,

the harder your heart becomes,

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the more you ignore warnings.

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The more you become immune to the sound

of those warnings, it's like when you're

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in your house, you become immune to the

smell of what your house smells like.

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You ever go to a friend's house and it

smells like, oh, that's interesting smell.

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It smells like curry.

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Or it smells like, you know,

a, a deodorizer, you know,

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one of those fun smells.

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Or even if you, if you go to a, I don't

know, you get the idea here, you become

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immune to those things on Sunday.

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If you went to church, there was this

low hum that happened the whole time

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Pastor PJ was preaching like that.

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It was woo.

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If you heard it, at some point you

probably stopped hearing it because

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your brain's like, okay, not a

threat, just going to zone it out.

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And so now I'm gonna just focus

on whatever Pastor PJ's saying.

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That's a lot.

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What happens.

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You begin to hear the warnings from the

Bible and they just become noise, or it

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becomes like the smell of your house.

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You stop smelling it,

you stop caring about it.

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So you don't wanna do anything about it

because it's like, it's always been there.

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It's always gonna be there.

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Here.

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You need to know that the more you reject

Jesus, the harder your heart becomes,

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and because of that, the less likely

you become to ever become a Christian

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because you harden your heart to a

point where there's no more opportunity.

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Matthew chapter 12 is all about rejection.

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The rejection of the Pharisees

over and over again, and how

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Jesus responds to their rejection.

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Chapter 12.

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We're gonna look a lot.

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Well, not a lot.

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We're gonna look at rejection and we're

gonna see how Jesus deals with it.

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Turn to me to Matthew chapter 12.

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We're gonna go rapid fire.

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We're gonna go pretty quick, so

make sure you have your Bibles open.

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You're ready to rock and roll.

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'cause we have a lot

of territory to cover.

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We begin in Matthew chapter 12

with an argument about the Sabbath.

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Now, the Sabbath was a day that was

set aside for Israel, for rest and

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for worship, and so on This particular

day, Israel was supposed to just.

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Sit back and relax.

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They were to worship the Lord.

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They were to enjoy their family.

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They were to do things that

contributed to their rest.

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Well, on this day, which is one

of the 10 Commandments, right?

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This is a, you shall honor the

Sabbath and keep it hol is what

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the Bible says on this day.

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Here's what took place at that

time, Jesus went through the

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grain fields on the Sabbath.

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Okay, here's what he's doing.

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He's going to the grain

fields and what's he doing?

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His disciples were hungry and they began

to pluck the heads of grain and and eat.

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But when the Pharisee saw it, the

religious leaders of the day, they said

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to him, look, your disciples are doing

what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

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You're breaking the law.

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You're a sinner.

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I knew it.

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You're not the Messiah.

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Even though you're doing a

lot of cool tricks, you're not

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the guy and we can prove it.

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You're breaking the Sabbath

is what they were saying.

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And Jesus responds to them and says,

look, guys, you've got it all wrong.

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Let me tell you how he

gives three reasons why.

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He says, have you not read what David did

when he was hungry and those who were with

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him, how he entered the house of God and

ate the bread of the presence, which was

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not lawful for him to eat, nor those who

were with him, but only for the priest.

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So he's talking about an occasion

where David needed help, he needed

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provision, he didn't have the normal

means, and so he went to the House

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of God, the tabernacle, and he ate

the bread that was dedicated to God.

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He wasn't supposed to do that.

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But the priest made an exception

because of David's situation, and he

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said David wasn't accountable for that.

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He wasn't guilty, he

wasn't breaking the law.

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He says here in verse five, or have

you not read in the law how on the

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Sabbath, the priest in the temple

profane the Sabbath and are guiltless.

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That is the priest.

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They're working, they're the

ones sacrificing the animals.

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They're the ones cleaning up the ashes.

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They're the ones who are caring

for the tabernacle and no one

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says, oh, you guys are guilty.

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You're breaking the Sabbath.

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He says, no, of course not.

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They do what they're supposed to do.

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So the law of the Sabbath is not

binding at all situations at all times.

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He continues on, I tell you, I

tell you, verse six, something

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greater than the temple is here.

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Pop quiz.

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Who's he talking about?

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Something greater than the temple is here.

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Who's he talking about?

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Himself.

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Himself.

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Jesus is saying, look, I

am bigger than the temple.

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I am more significant than the temple.

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This is another way that, you know,

Jesus is saying, I'm more than a man.

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I am God in the flesh,

essentially is what he's saying.

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I tell you, something greater

than the temple is here.

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That would've been

scandalous to the Pharisees.

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What are you talking about?

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Dude?

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You're weird.

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You're not greater than the temple.

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This thing's fabulous.

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It's magnificent.

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You're just a man, and Jesus

is saying, no, I'm not.

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Verse seven.

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And if you had known what this means,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

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He would not have condemned the guiltless.

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Jesus is saying, I'm innocent.

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For the son of man is Lord the Sabbath.

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That's another way that you know,

he's claiming deity because he's

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saying, I oversee the Sabbath.

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I tell you how the Sabbath is to

work, and you need to recognize that

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I'm the one who tell tells you how

it works and how it shouldn't work.

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So you guys are wrong about this.

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What we see here is Jesus charging

them with learning how to actually

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read their Bible the right way.

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He said, you guys are reading the

Bible and, and you really, you're

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really trying hard to entrap me,

but you're getting it all wrong.

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This is what happens

when you reject Jesus.

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You begin to read your Bible like

a rule book, and you begin to

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say, well, I gotta obey this rule.

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I shouldn't do that thing.

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These guys are trying to say,

well, Jesus, you're a rule breaker.

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You're breaking all the rules in

the Bible, and Jesus saying, you

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don't even know your Bible, dude.

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You guys are reading it all wrong.

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He says, haven't you read

what a slap in their face?

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It's like going to your professor

or going to your high school teacher

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who's teaching you chemistry, and

they're saying, have you never picked

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up a chemistry textbook before?

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And then they're, of course they have.

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Of course, that's a slap in the face.

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He's coming right at them

and bah hit them in the face.

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He's saying, look, you guys

don't even know your Bible.

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I rule all of these things.

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I oversee this point.

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Number one, if you don't wanna reject

Jesus for the wrong reasons, at least.

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You don't wanna become like a

Pharisee who's only looking at

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the Bible like a list of rules.

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And you need to always read

the Bible with Jesus in mind.

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Always read the Bible with Jesus in mind.

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As you read your Bible, you have an

Old Testament and a New Testament.

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It's kind of like 60% Old

Testament, about 40% New Testament.

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The Old and New Testaments work

together to tell the whole story of

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God in interacting with humanity.

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And in fact, someone once

observed that the word history.

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Is appropriate because

it tells us his story.

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It is God's story of his

interactions with humanity.

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One of the problems that you'll encounter

if you have a hard heart toward God,

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you'll read your Bible and you'll say,

well, this doesn't make any sense.

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This is too hard.

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I'm not tracking with it.

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I'm, I'm really just not getting it.

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This is, this is not what I expect

God to do, but there's a problem with

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what you're doing and to show you

that problem, I need a volunteer.

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Okay?

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I need a volunteer.

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Come on up.

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Come on up.

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I'll come.

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I'll come.

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I'm come get you after Josh.

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Okay.

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In this bag, I have a

hundred piece puzzle.

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Really easy to do.

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Really easy.

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Are you ready to do a

hundred piece puzzle?

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No.

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Yes.

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Okay, good.

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No, but yes.

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Alright.

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You have 10 seconds.

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Go ahead.

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10, 9, 8.

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7, 6, 5.

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Four, you're down to

the last three seconds.

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Three

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is you actually doing pretty good.

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You're actually doing really good.

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Considering that you don't

have any of the helps two.

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Good try.

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Alright.

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Give it up.

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Good try.

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Good try.

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I just want you to know

you were meant to fail.

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It was on purpose, so I appreciate

your, your sportsmanship, but

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you may go back to your seat.

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Okay.

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Josh?

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Josh, you have 10 seconds as well.

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No, but you will have the added

help of looking at the front board.

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Okay.

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You're gonna get the same 10 seconds.

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I don't need the box.

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Oh, you don't need the, okay.

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Okay.

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Alright, you ready?

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You got 10 seconds starting now.

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Okay, 10 done.

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Done.

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I was going for a Picasso, by the way.

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Oh, okay.

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Just the spread out.

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Thank you.

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Okay.

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It still works in the illustration.

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Thank you, Brad.

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Give him a hand.

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Can you put this back in your Dr.

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Thank you actually hope

before you do that.

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Okay.

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Putting a puzzle is hard to do all

by itself, but if you try to put a

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puzzle together and you don't have the

reference to the photo, it makes it a,

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a much more challenging thing to do.

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In fact, the photo itself is what

gives you all the clues for context.

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Otherwise, all you're doing is

looking at yellows and blues and reds.

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And I see, I see, uh, oranges over here.

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It's hard to do.

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It's not impossible.

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Really hard to do unless you have the

reference to what the photo is in the

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Bible, there's a lot of puzzle pieces.

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Way more than a hundred here.

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You can put that in here please.

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Thanks.

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Uh, there's a lot more than a hundred

puzzle pieces in the Bible, but what makes

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the picture make sense is if you see Jesus

in those photos, in those puzzle pieces.

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Looking at Jesus as the fulfillment, as

the culmination of everything the Bible

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points to makes the picture make sense.

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Okay.

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This is so important.

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Lemme give you one more

illustration of how this works.

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I want you to listen to this, okay?

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This is Symphony number six, a

pastoral symphony by Beethoven.

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Here's, here's what it sounds like.

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Okay?

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You'll notice in this symphony,

lots of instruments are playing.

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Each symphony component has its part here,

the oboe is doing her solo, the oboist.

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She's doing his wonderful solo.

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But you'll notice in the

background, if you listen, the

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violins are still doing their part.

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There.

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I think that's a French horn.

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You hear that?

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That's staccato in the background.

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All these pieces, putting their

part together to make the hole.

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Okay.

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French horn, he's soloing now, but

they're still supporting instruments.

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The violins are supporting

him as he plays.

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You got the bases over here.

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You say you have all these instruments.

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I dunno how many people are

there, 75 people, maybe.

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They're all playing individual

parts or parts corresponding

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to their, your instrument.

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They're all putting pieces together

with the purpose of playing the whole

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symphony, the whole harmony together.

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If you were just to listen to the tuba.

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Or the elbow by itself.

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It'll sound strange,

it'll sound incomplete.

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It'll sound weird if you

just heard one instrument.

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But when all of them play together,

something beautiful happens.

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You hear the full melody

as it was meant to be.

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All these components working together to

produce something incredible, a sound.

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This is what it's like to read

the Bible with Jesus in mind.

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Each piece of scripture

has its, has its component.

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Each piece of scripture is beautiful

in its own right, but it doesn't

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sound quite right unless you're

seeing it for the whole thing that

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it's pointing to, which is Jesus.

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Jesus is the fulfillment.

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So when you read your Bible, here

are a few ways to keep Jesus in

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mind as you read your Bible so that

you're not missing the whole thing.

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You're looking at one piece

for getting the whole.

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When Jesus challenges them to read

their Bible rightly, he's saying, look,

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you need to read the Bible carefully.

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You need to handle the Bible carefully.

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If you don't want to reject Jesus

for the wrong reasons, don't read the

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Bible looking for the wrong things.

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You need to read the Bible.

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Looking for Jesus, looking

for signs of how Jesus.

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Has fulfilled or how that passage

pointed to him, what Jesus says about it,

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marriage, being a man, being a girl, what

it says about your schooling, what it says

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about how to be a, a good son or daughter.

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What it says about being a family member,

what it says about being an employee.

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The Bible has a lot to say about that.

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And as you read your Bible

carefully, you're looking for

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evidence of how it points to Jesus.

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Number two, as you read the Bible looking

for Jesus, you want to apply the Bible

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consistently, which is to say the Old

Testament and the New Testament are not.

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Are not in combat with one another.

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Some people will say, well, the God

of the Old Testament, he's a mean God.

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And the God of the New

Testament is a nice God.

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That's not the way the Bible works.

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To read it consistently means to read it,

saying, how do these pieces fit together?

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How do they harmonize speaking of music?

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And lastly, you need to

understand that the whole Bible

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really does point to Jesus.

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Jesus is the fulfillment of all that

was pointed to even in the Sabbath.

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When Jesus says, I'm the Lord the

Sabbath, he's saying that even the

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Sabbath law pointed to the eventual

rest that can be found only in Jesus,

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which is to say, your true rest is not.

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Stop.

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Uh, your stopping from working, your true

rest is found in Jesus Christ, the one who

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gives rest to your soul, the one who gives

you salvation, the one who makes your

397

:

life whole, complete, full, real, joyful.

398

:

That's the first part

of Matthew chapter 12.

399

:

Jesus Lord of the staff.

400

:

He's arguing about his rule in creation

saying, I'm the Lord of it all.

401

:

I'm the one that points

to, but there's more.

402

:

If we don't wanna reject Jesus,

if we don't want to mistake or,

403

:

or misunderstand what Jesus is

saying, we need to keep reading.

404

:

Back to Matthew chapter 12, starting at

verse 24, there is a kind of rejection

405

:

of Jesus that is so bad and so pronounced

that eventually you can't turn back.

406

:

I was talking about this at

the beginning, taking the tight

407

:

the Titan down to the Titanic.

408

:

Jesus talks about something

super, super important.

409

:

I want you to follow along here in

Matthew chapter 12, starting at verse

410

:

22, a demon oppressed man who is blind

and mute, which is interesting, isn't it?

411

:

Someone who has a demon inside of

them could have physical effects.

412

:

This guy is blind, he

can't see, and he's mute.

413

:

He can't talk.

414

:

So this demon is

constricting those passages.

415

:

It was brought to Jesus the man and Jesus

healed him so that the man spoke and he

416

:

saw, and all the people were amazed and

they said, can this be the Son of David?

417

:

The Son of David is a title

that means is Jesus the Messiah?

418

:

Is he the one that was prophesied about

to come and to rule as the new King

419

:

David, as the ultimate King David?

420

:

And of course, they're right about that.

421

:

Jesus is the fulfillment.

422

:

But when the Pharisees heard

it, remember the Pharisees, they

423

:

have a hard heart against Jesus.

424

:

This is the danger that you might be

in having a hard heart against Jesus.

425

:

The Pharisees come, they hear it.

426

:

Here's what they say.

427

:

They hear about it.

428

:

They said, it is only by Beals

bull, which is a way to say the

429

:

devil, shorthand for the devil.

430

:

It's only by the devil, the prince of

demons, that this man cast out demons.

431

:

So they're saying, Jesus, you're not

actually doing anything important here.

432

:

You're actually the devil and

you're just, you're just using

433

:

demonic tricks to send demons out

of the way, knowing their thoughts.

434

:

Jesus said to them, every kingdom

divided against itself is laid

435

:

waste, and no city or house

divided against itself will stand.

436

:

It is if, if there's conflict inside of

a kingdom, it's not gonna do well because

437

:

that kind of disunity is destructive.

438

:

He says, if, if Satan, verse 26, Satan

cas out Satan, he's divided against

439

:

himself, how then will his kingdom stand?

440

:

Jump down to verse 31.

441

:

Therefore, I tell you, every sin and

blasphemy will be forgiven people.

442

:

Pay close attention.

443

:

You listening, this is critical.

444

:

Listen closely to what

Jesus is about to say.

445

:

If you're not tuned in, tune in now.

446

:

This is important verse

verse 20, verse 31.

447

:

Again, listen.

448

:

Read this again.

449

:

Follow along with me.

450

:

Look at the screen.

451

:

If you don't have your Bible, therefore

I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will

452

:

be forgiven people, but the blasphemy

against the spirit will not be forgiven.

453

:

There's a category of sin that

Jesus says is unforgivable.

454

:

There's a kind of sin that you

can commit against God that

455

:

doesn't allow you to go backward.

456

:

There's no repentance available.

457

:

There's no opportunity

to be right with God.

458

:

He says whoever speaks a word against

the son, a man will be forgiven.

459

:

That is whoever says

bad things about Jesus.

460

:

You can.

461

:

You can eventually repent from that,

but whoever speaks against the Holy

462

:

Spirit will not be forgiven either

in this age or the age to come.

463

:

There is a kind of

hardheartedness against God.

464

:

A kind of constant rejection

against God that you cross a

465

:

threshold and you can't go back.

466

:

You dive in your titan down to a

depth where there's no returning.

467

:

It's game over, and the thing is just

like those in the Titan, you don't

468

:

know when that line is, but Jesus

is saying there's a kind of sin.

469

:

He calls it the blasphemy of the Holy

Spirit, which people debate what it means.

470

:

But let me just shoot

straight with you here.

471

:

Even if we were to say, look,

this is something that can

472

:

only happen with the Pharisees.

473

:

The type of sin that's committed here

can be committed by Christians today.

474

:

When I say Christians, I mean people.

475

:

It can be committed by people Today.

476

:

There's a kind of rebellion against

God, rejection of God, where you

477

:

reject him so much, you harden your

heart against him so much that there's

478

:

no more opportunity to turn around.

479

:

That being the case then so that you don't

reject Jesus for the wrong reasons, and

480

:

so that you don't act like a Pharisee.

481

:

I don't want you to become a Pharisee.

482

:

The Pharisees basically.

483

:

They try to discredit

Jesus to avoid the truth.

484

:

Jesus is saying, look, you

know that I've given you every

485

:

reason to believe in people.

486

:

You discredit me because you

don't wanna submit to the truth

487

:

if you don't want that to be you.

488

:

Point number two, you need to fight

and pray for a pure heart before God.

489

:

You have to fight for this guys because

your heart is wayward and wicked.

490

:

The Bible says that

your heart is deceitful.

491

:

And it does evil.

492

:

Your heart will lean toward doing the

wrong thing unless you fight and pray

493

:

tooth and nail before God to say,

God, please give me a pure heart.

494

:

Please help me.

495

:

God, I know that my

heart goes the wrong way.

496

:

I can't trust it.

497

:

I can only trust you and God, I'm praying.

498

:

Please give me a soft,

humble heart before you.

499

:

Some of you need to pray.

500

:

God, please help me to care

about the things that I should

501

:

care about because I don't care.

502

:

God, I'm bored by the Bible.

503

:

I'm bored by small groups.

504

:

I'm bored by the things that my parents

believe, and so God, I'm praying.

505

:

Please help me to care about

the things I should care about.

506

:

I want you to imagine

with me, you're a pilot.

507

:

You're flying in in Texas, weather storms.

508

:

There's lightning.

509

:

There's thunder, and so you're in the

middle of this massive storm system.

510

:

It's dark all around and you

can't see out the window.

511

:

In a situation like that where

it's dark outside, you got your

512

:

instrument panel, you don't, you

can't see up, you can't see down.

513

:

You have to trust your instruments.

514

:

And in fact, one of the cool

things that a pilot can do now is

515

:

that they can turn on autopilot.

516

:

Autopilot will take them in in the

direction that they program, and

517

:

it'll take care of the wind speed, or

it'll take care of your engine speed.

518

:

It'll take care of your tilt, and

it'll take care of your rudder.

519

:

It'll do all of that to help keep

you going the right direction.

520

:

So a pilot can say, look.

521

:

We're just gonna put

this thing on autopilot.

522

:

We'll just keep an eye on it

as we make our progress toward

523

:

whatever the destination is.

524

:

I want you to pretend that you're, that

you're that captain, but you find out,

525

:

even though everything seems fine, you

find out because someone will let you

526

:

know the autopilot actually has a virus.

527

:

And even though it looks like you're

making progress, it's actually

528

:

taking you in the wrong direction.

529

:

And even though it looks like things are

fine, it's actually sabotaging your input.

530

:

You put in four degrees south

and it's actually gonna put

531

:

you in 10 degrees north.

532

:

Everything you put in gets distorted

and twisted, and even though you're

533

:

putting in the right things, you're

trying to say, oh, go this way.

534

:

Go to Heathrow airports, uh, or go

this speed and go this altitude.

535

:

It's taking it and it's distorting it

because there's a virus in your autopilot.

536

:

What kind of situation would

you be in at that point?

537

:

What would need to happen for

you to get where you need to go?

538

:

What would happen?

539

:

You would have to take control of your,

your vessel, or you couldn't just stay

540

:

there and hope that it worked out okay.

541

:

This is a little bit of

how our hearts work like.

542

:

You can be blind, flying blind

in, in, in your life trusting

543

:

that your autopilot, your heart

is taking you the right direction.

544

:

But what you don't realize is that

your heart is inclined toward evil.

545

:

Your heart is not on your side.

546

:

It's not your friend.

547

:

Your heart works against you.

548

:

And so even though you might

say, ah, heart, I want you to

549

:

go to the right direction, your

heart's gonna say, no thank you.

550

:

I'm gonna do my own thing.

551

:

I want to, I wanna serve my own ends.

552

:

If you're on autopilot spiritually,

you're just coasting through life.

553

:

You may not notice that

your compass is broken.

554

:

You may not notice that you're going.

555

:

Totally in the wrong direction, and

that's why we can't afford to fly on

556

:

autopilot when it comes to our faith.

557

:

One way that you can check your autopilot

is to make sure that your plane gets

558

:

maintenance, could send it to the mechanic

and say, Hey, I need you to make sure that

559

:

the plane is calibrated to fly properly.

560

:

So the mechanic will look at it,

he'll, he'll run, hi, he'll run your

561

:

computer system through his computer.

562

:

He'll make sure your plane is

air worthy and that everything's

563

:

working as it should.

564

:

And that's a little bit of

like how our heart works.

565

:

And a little bit of like

how the Bible works.

566

:

When you're allowing your plane, your

life to be controlled by the spirit and

567

:

to be updated by the spirit and to be,

uh, calibrated by his word, your plane

568

:

now suddenly can fly the right direction.

569

:

'cause you have a map that's reliable.

570

:

The pharisees hard harden

their heart against Jesus.

571

:

They know they can't see, but they don't

care that they're on the wrong path.

572

:

They're working against Jesus.

573

:

You need to fight and pray that

your autopilot is working well.

574

:

In fact, let's put it like this here.

575

:

I need you to do that by distrusting

your heart, your autopilot, the

576

:

thing that directs you and your life.

577

:

In fact, Proverbs says

this twice word for word.

578

:

Here's what it says in the Proverbs.

579

:

There's a way that seems right to a

man, but its end is the way to death.

580

:

There's a way where your

autopilot directs you, where you

581

:

like, oh, this feels so right.

582

:

It feels like the right thing to do,

but at the end is the way to death.

583

:

It says that in two passages verbatim.

584

:

Proverbs, Proverbs 1412 and 1625.

585

:

Don't trust your autopilot.

586

:

You need to trust the word of God.

587

:

Number two, fight and pray for a pure

heart by asking God to guide your heart.

588

:

You know, one thing that I didn't

say that you could do, that you could

589

:

do that would really be helpful.

590

:

The pilot can say, Hey,

air traffic control.

591

:

I'm on the way to Heathrow

Airport in London.

592

:

My autopilot's jacked up my instruments.

593

:

I'm not sure if I can trust them.

594

:

Can you help me guide to

the right destination?

595

:

Air traffic control can

say, yep, we got you.

596

:

We see you, you're at 24,000 feet.

597

:

We need you to go down to, you

know, this many feet, and we

598

:

need you to go to this air speed.

599

:

Keep doing it.

600

:

We'll let you know how you're doing.

601

:

So air traffic control can

actually guide you pretty manually

602

:

all the way to their airport.

603

:

Now, not without a lot of in information,

a lot of input, but this is like

604

:

what it's, this is what it's like

to say, God, please guide my heart.

605

:

God, I don't know how,

how I should live my life.

606

:

I don't know what I should do.

607

:

I don't always know what my Bible

says, but Lord, you can do that.

608

:

Would you please lead me?

609

:

And here's the thing, guys.

610

:

God wants to answer this request.

611

:

He just, you just need to ask,

this is how you fight and pray

612

:

for a heart that doesn't reject

Jesus for all the wrong reasons.

613

:

Thirdly, if you're gonna fight

and pray for a pure heart,

614

:

you can do so by listening to

the authoritative word of God.

615

:

The Bible says in Psalm one

19, how can a young man or

616

:

young woman keep his way pure?

617

:

By guarding it according to your word.

618

:

That's what the Bible says.

619

:

And if talking to God is like talking

to air traffic control, listening to

620

:

the air, traffic control, listening

to what they say is the third point.

621

:

If they say, turn three degrees

this way, you should do that because

622

:

they can see things you can't see.

623

:

This is how God works with us.

624

:

When you read your Bible,

you're seeing what God sees.

625

:

At least in microscope.

626

:

You can't see it all, but he's

telling you, this is how life works.

627

:

This is what's good.

628

:

This is what's bad.

629

:

And when you trust him, it's

like saying, air traffic control.

630

:

What do I do?

631

:

Oh, I should go this way.

632

:

Okay?

633

:

I'm gonna trust you.

634

:

I can't see, so I'm just gonna

trust that what you're saying

635

:

is the right thing to do.

636

:

Otherwise, the danger is that you

reject Jesus, and the more you reject

637

:

him, the harder your heart becomes.

638

:

We finish off with these

final few verses here.

639

:

These guys are now

asking Jesus for a sign.

640

:

Jesus, show us and prove to us

that you are who you say you are.

641

:

Jesus says to them, okay, you want a sign?

642

:

Let me give you one.

643

:

He answered, well, before he says

this, here's what he says, an evil

644

:

and adulterous generation seeks

for a sign, and the reason he says

645

:

this is because they've already

had several signs to look at.

646

:

He says, no sign will be given to it

except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

647

:

In just a few days, we're gonna celebrate

this sign that Jesus talks about.

648

:

This is the sign of his resurrection.

649

:

Jesus.

650

:

Predicts that he's gonna die and

then rises again on the third

651

:

day defeating sin and death.

652

:

And this is exactly what he does.

653

:

And he says, this kind of sign is a

special sign that if you reject it, you're

654

:

in big trouble because you have more

knowledge of what's true and therefore you

655

:

have more accountability for that truth.

656

:

He says here in verse 41, the men of

Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with

657

:

this generation and condemn it for they

repented at the sign of Jonah's preaching.

658

:

And behold, look.

659

:

Something greater than Jonah is here.

660

:

Jesus is saying, if Nineveh had

the chance to hear Jesus preaching,

661

:

they, they would've repented because

they pre, they were repented at

662

:

the, at the preaching of of Jonah.

663

:

Jonah went to Nineveh, said,

Hey guys, you need to repent.

664

:

They re, they responded and they repented.

665

:

Jesus is saying, you guys have

far more to work with and yet your

666

:

heart is hard and cold against me.

667

:

The danger for you all.

668

:

The danger for all of us is that

when people reject Jesus, part of

669

:

the reason they do that, one of the

reasons they do that is that they, they

670

:

make unreasonable demands of Jesus.

671

:

I was listening to an atheist

this week on a, on a, on a

672

:

YouTube video, and he said this.

673

:

He said, Christians make bold

claims about who God is, what

674

:

he's come to do, all those things.

675

:

He says, extraordinary claims

require extraordinary evidence.

676

:

Which sounds pretty reasonable, right?

677

:

Extraordinary claims.

678

:

Jesus is the God.

679

:

He's the son of God, and he came

to live and die in our place, and

680

:

a rose again on the third day.

681

:

Extraordinary claims require

extraordinary evidence.

682

:

Makes sense.

683

:

But I would say, how about the,

how about the resurrection?

684

:

That's a pretty good one.

685

:

He died, he rose again.

686

:

There's really no better explanation

than, than what we say here is true.

687

:

I mean.

688

:

The challenge for all of us, and the

challenge for you, especially if you're

689

:

on the verge of rejecting Jesus again

after another sermon about him, is

690

:

that you examine the evidence fairly.

691

:

Jesus tells the Pharisees, look,

you've had plenty of signs,

692

:

you've had plenty of miracles.

693

:

You've had plenty of options and

opportunities to respond as you should.

694

:

So if you're not gonna examine

the the evidence reasonably,

695

:

you'll end up rejecting Jesus.

696

:

I would encourage you to think about

the evidence that the Bible offers.

697

:

You.

698

:

If Jesus is who he says he is, and he's

done what, what the Bible says he's

699

:

done, you ought to be 100% sure that

it's not true if you're gonna reject

700

:

it, because tonight, Jesus is calling

you to repent and put your trust in him.

701

:

Tonight, Jesus is calling you

not to play games anymore.

702

:

Not to play church, but to trust him.

703

:

Turning away from your sin, putting

your full trust and your confidence in

704

:

Jesus because the evidence is there.

705

:

Jesus has provided so much of it.

706

:

There's something called

the watchmaker analogy.

707

:

Have you heard this before?

708

:

The watchmaker analogy.

709

:

This is a very common one, but I want

you, I want you to know this one.

710

:

This was, uh, designed by a guy named

William Paley in the 18 hundreds.

711

:

Here's what he said, um, in a

nutshell, I'm gonna make it really

712

:

simple 'cause that's what I need.

713

:

But he says, imagine you're in a

forest and all you see is dense woods.

714

:

You got trees and shrubs, and

you got rabbits and all sorts of

715

:

things in there in the forest.

716

:

And as you're making your way through this

dense forest, you come across a watch.

717

:

And you pick up the watch and you begin to

look at the watch and you say, oh, look at

718

:

all this, the machinery inside, it's got

someone's name, it's got initials on it.

719

:

William Paley said The only reasonable

thing to think if you pick up a

720

:

watch in the middle of a forest

is that somebody left the watch.

721

:

Makes perfect sense, right?

722

:

No one's gonna guess.

723

:

I wonder if the tree made this watch.

724

:

I wonder if it evolved.

725

:

If it just kind of emerged by

itself, I wonder if the alphabet

726

:

just kind of magically showed up.

727

:

This is a little bit of what Evolution

teaches, and William Paley says, if

728

:

you can see a watch in the force and

recognize, oh, somebody made this and

729

:

left it behind, then it's really not a

stretch to look at all of creation and

730

:

say, well, clearly somebody made this.

731

:

Because a watch, even though it's

complex, is not nearly as complex.

732

:

And as well designed as your DNA.

733

:

Your DNA is far more dense with

information, far more beautiful and is

734

:

designed by God, and it communicates

far more than a watch ever would.

735

:

The evidence is there.

736

:

Your job is to evaluate it fairly.

737

:

And again, going back to my

last point, your heart wants

738

:

to go a different direction.

739

:

That means you really

have to work hard at this.

740

:

Here are three things that

I need you to evaluate.

741

:

Three areas of evidence

that you need to consider.

742

:

The first one is the resurrection.

743

:

Jesus lived, he died, he

rose again On the third day.

744

:

There's no, there's no denying that.

745

:

People have tried to debate this for years

and they realize it's impossible to do it.

746

:

The most probable explanation is that

Jesus really did die and rise again.

747

:

Second, I want you to examine the

evidence that manmade religion fails.

748

:

It doesn't work.

749

:

Jesus has this interesting story about

a demon being cast out of a person.

750

:

And then seven demons coming back

and entering into that person.

751

:

There is evidence that people can cast out

demons, even if they're not Christians.

752

:

Jewish Exorcist did this, and

it seems like Jesus acknowledges

753

:

this, but that's manmade religion.

754

:

They might be able to do something good,

but even the little good that they do

755

:

makes a lot more problems for that person.

756

:

'cause it creates a vacuum where more

demons can enter, more evil can enter.

757

:

The only thing that works is when.

758

:

Evil is eradicated and filled in by

the spirit, spirit of God changing us.

759

:

That's evidence you should look at.

760

:

Religion doesn't work.

761

:

Jesus.

762

:

He works Jesus, he saves Jesus.

763

:

He makes all things work.

764

:

Number three, Jesus is approached

by his mother and his brothers, and

765

:

he, and they say, Hey, Jesus, your

mother and your brother are here.

766

:

And Jesus says, oh, fantastic.

767

:

Hail Mother Mary, full of grace and truth.

768

:

Blessed is thy womb

and thy womb of your a.

769

:

Jesus doesn't say anything like that.

770

:

In fact, this is the one time Jesus

could have said Mary is special.

771

:

Honor her.

772

:

Pray to her, revere her.

773

:

You know what he says?

774

:

He says, my mother and my brother,

who are my mother and my brother,

775

:

and then he points to his disciples.

776

:

He says, these guys, these guys

who do the will of my father,

777

:

this is my mother and my brother.

778

:

These are my people.

779

:

Jesus does something remarkable.

780

:

He says.

781

:

These men are more important than my

family because they're doing God's will.

782

:

They're following the signs.

783

:

They know the signs of the Bible.

784

:

They know the signs of

my, my life, my work.

785

:

These guys get it.

786

:

That's a big thing to say,

especially 'cause we think his

787

:

mom was some kind of believer.

788

:

But even his mom takes a

backseat to his disciples.

789

:

Remember, he has three favorite disciples,

Peter, James, and John, and then he

790

:

has the others who are following his

teaching and is following his leadership.

791

:

That's a big sign for any

Christian who becomes a Christian.

792

:

They recognize Jesus becomes everything.

793

:

He's number one priority in my whole life.

794

:

That's what a Christian says.

795

:

He's number one in my, my marriage.

796

:

He's number one in my schooling.

797

:

He's number one in my college choices.

798

:

He's number one in my hobbies.

799

:

He's number one on my Wednesday nights.

800

:

When I think about what I'm

gonna do and how I'm gonna spend

801

:

my time, Jesus is number one.

802

:

That's the big change in

Christian relationships.

803

:

Jesus becomes number one.

804

:

That's a big sign, and you ought to

pay attention to that and evaluate

805

:

and examine that evidence fairly.

806

:

Why?

807

:

Well, because the more you reject

Jesus, the harder your heart becomes.

808

:

Here's something interesting.

809

:

Speaking of the Titanic, why did

the Titanic sink hit an iceberg?

810

:

Hit an iceberg.

811

:

That's, that's the technical reason,

but I don't think the Titanic

812

:

sunk because it hit an iceberg.

813

:

It sank because those in charge

ignored multiple warnings.

814

:

They had different opportunities

to avoid a collision course with an

815

:

iceberg in the middle of the night.

816

:

So they hit the iceberg.

817

:

Yes.

818

:

But they, they did that because

they ignored warnings, multiple

819

:

opportunities to avoid the iceberg.

820

:

Tonight, you have yet another opportunity

to avoid the iceberg called death.

821

:

It's coming for all of us at some

point, and Jesus is giving you yet

822

:

another opportunity and a warning to

say, look, you either repent and you

823

:

trust Jesus Christ, or you live for

yourself and you do your own thing.

824

:

Please don't put away your stuff yet.

825

:

Stay with me.

826

:

I'm almost done.

827

:

I promise I shouldn't have changed it.

828

:

Let me, I know the last line

is the key to put things away.

829

:

Don't do that yet.

830

:

'cause I, I wanna make an

impassion plea with you.

831

:

You don't know your last opportunity.

832

:

Can I just say that honestly,

without trying to be scary?

833

:

I'm not trying to scare you.

834

:

I'm just saying the reality.

835

:

None of us know our last opportunity.

836

:

Are you confident that

you're right with your Lord?

837

:

Are you trusting Jesus tonight?

838

:

Are is your heart right

with the one who made you?

839

:

What does Jesus call us to do?

840

:

Repent and believe.

841

:

Turn from your sin.

842

:

Put your full trust in Jesus.

843

:

That's what he calls us to do.

844

:

That's it.

845

:

I mean, that's really a life

changing decision, but that's it.

846

:

The more you reject Jesus though,

the more you kick the can down the

847

:

road and say, well, maybe I'll do

it later, or maybe I'll think about

848

:

it and I still need more time.

849

:

You don't know how much time you have.

850

:

The more you reject Jesus,

the harder your heart becomes.

851

:

Rejecting Jesus never

really leaves you the same.

852

:

Tonight, I would love for

you to examine your heart.

853

:

Are you listening to Jesus?

854

:

Are you responding to him or.

855

:

Are you still resisting him?

856

:

Still rejecting him?

857

:

Like the Pharisees?

858

:

I encourage you to think long and

hard about that as you prepare

859

:

to go to your small groups.

860

:

Let's pray and I'll send you out.

861

:

God, we thank you for the night and ask

that you please now help us to spend

862

:

great time, honest time, vulnerable

time, even fun time in our small groups.

863

:

Give us a great time

interacting with this truth.

864

:

Help us to learn from one another and to

grow as a result of what we study tonight.

865

:

We ask this all in Jesus name.

866

:

Amen.

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Compass Student Ministry Sermons Podcast
Compass North Texas Student Ministry Podcast
All the sermons preached at Compass Bible Church North Texas in the student ministry.

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