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[music]

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A few years ago when my
family and I had the opportunity

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to visit the nation of Israel
and the city of Jerusalem,

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we were very encouraged
and discouraged.

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Very encouraged to see the
places that the Bible speaks of,

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to be able to understand
the topography and the history

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and to verify the credibility of
the Scriptures about peoples

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and times and places
and events was very helpful.

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And I tend to be a very visual
learner, as many men are,

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and so going to places, seeing
them, reading the Bible,

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being able to, in some regard,
put myself back in history in

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that moment and visualize what
was happening around the person

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and work of Jesus while he was
doing his ministry on the earth,

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was incredibly encouraging.

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But the one thing that I and my
family and others who were

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on the tour were discouraged by
was the crass commercialism.

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It was amazing how much business
was tied to Jerusalem

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and to religion.

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It was--it was just thick
with corrupt business.

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Everywhere you went somebody
was hocking something,

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pushing something,
selling something.

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And prices were very high.

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There wasn't a deal
to be had anywhere,

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and it really had become
all about the money.

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And so I am one who tends not
to refer to Israel in general,

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and Jerusalem in particular,
as "the Holy Lands."

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I think they're lands, period,

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and it is Jesus
who makes people holy.

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It is not necessarily a place
that makes them holy because,

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for us, the center of
our faith is not a place.

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It's a person
and his name is Jesus.

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And we got to go there
to learn about Jesus,

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but the place in and of itself
didn't get us any closer to God.

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And, in fact, I believe that
the way that the business

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was oftentimes conducted was
very displeasing to God.

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It's not a sin to
sell something,

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it's not a sin to make a profit,
but when it is an exorbitant

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profit and it is ripping
off people who are coming,

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in their mind, to meet with God,
then it is corrupt business.

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And some of you might find
that estimation harsh,

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but some things don't change.

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And as we go back a few thousand
years to Jesus walking

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into Jerusalem and up to the
temple, we see that he is very

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discouraged, displeased, and
disapproving of the business

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that is happening at the temple.

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I'll share it with you.

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Here we find it in
Luke 19:45-20:8,

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where we learn about angry
Jesus cleanses the temple.

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Let's jump right in
and read it for ourselves.

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First thing we learn is
that Jesus got angry.

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Luke 19:45-46 we read,
"And he," that is Jesus,

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"entered the temple and began
to drive out those who sold,

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"saying to them,
'It is written,

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"'"My house shall be
a house of prayer,"

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but you have made
it into a den of robbers.'"

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Now this is very important
because Jesus, since Luke 9:51,

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has been traveling toward
the great city of Jerusalem.

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He is entering into the city of
Jerusalem during the season

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of the Feast of Passover.

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We've covered this, but might
I remind you that that goes

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all the way back a few
thousand years prior,

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during the days of the Exodus,
when God's people were led by

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Moses out of bondage
and slavery in Egypt

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into freedom that they might
worship God.

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That was made possible through
something called the Passover,

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where the wrath of God passed
over those who belonged to him,

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and brought judgment and justice
and death to those who did not.

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And the way that it was shown
that one belonged to God is that

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they would sacrifice a lamb
and that blood of the lamb

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would literally show that
they had faith in God,

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that he would forgive their sins
through a substitute sacrifice

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which ultimately was fulfilled
in the coming of Jesus,

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the Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world--

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that's what John said when he
saw him--Jesus Christ,

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our Passover lamb who has been
slain--that's what Paul

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tells the Corinthians.

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And so this all culminates.

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City of Jerusalem, here comes
Jesus, season of Passover,

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ascending up this great city to
the temple, built on the rock,

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in the place where Abraham
nearly sacrificed Isaac.

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And it was that place that
people would come

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to meet with God.

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It housed the Holy of Holies,
the very presence of God,

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the Holy Spirit on the earth.

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There were various courts that
surrounded it where men

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and women and Jew, Gentile--
those who were non-Jew,

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like many of us--would
come to meet with God.

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They would bring their
sacrifices so that they

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could show that because of
their sin they should die,

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but that a substitute would be
made and that blood would be

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shed and that the wrath of God
would be satisfied so that

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their sins might be forgiven
and their relationship

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with God reconciled.

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And so this was a huge holiday.

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This was a massive event.

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And people were journeying
for days and days and days

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to get there.

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Many of them poor peasants, like
Jesus, coming from rural areas,

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like Jesus, venturing
on foot, like Jesus.

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As a result, it would
be very hard for them

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to bring their sacrifice.

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Perhaps they didn't have one,

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so they'd been saving up
to buy one.

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Or maybe just the transport of
an animal--I mean, after all,

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if you're walking with your
family and others and you're

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helping those who are old and
looking after the little kids,

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bringing along sacrifices for
your family, lambs and such,

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would be very difficult.

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And so some people, in an
effort to obey the commands of

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Scripture and have a lamb, they
would arrive at the temple,

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they would start at
the base of the mountain,

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and they would undergo ritual
washings and cleansings

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and showing that they needed God
to cleanse them from sin.

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And they would robe
themselves in white,

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showing that in God
they can be forgiven.

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And they would ascend
up to the temple,

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singing oftentimes the Psalms,

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and there are Psalms
of ascent in our Bible.

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They would be singing those
as they literally ascended up

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Jerusalem, up to the temple.

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And then when they would arrive
at the temple to have

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their sacrifice, they
would purchase one.

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So there would be businesses
that had their wares out

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and they'd be selling
goods, just like today.

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Alongside the highway there'll
be certain businesses that help

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those who are traveling to stop
and get supplies

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and what they need
and tend to them.

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It's exact same kind of
thing that was happening,

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happens in all
tourist destinations,

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and it would have included
sacrificial animals

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that you could purchase.

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All of that is perfectly
reasonable, except Jesus

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got very angry,
began to drive them out.

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There are other occasions where
he apparently did the same thing

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at various times
in his ministry.

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And it says in other places
that he would grab a whip.

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And I mean, he really
got very angry.

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And he drove people away
from these businesses,

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and he condemned these
business leaders.

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And on some occasions we read in
other accounts of the Scriptures

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that he would throw over their
tables and money'd go flying

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and products would go flying.

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I mean, you can imagine.

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Imagine there's a massive event,
and vendors have bought booths

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at a conference or a concert.

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And Jesus comes in
and is flipping over tables.

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Or it's a day at Disneyland,

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or some other
massive tourist destination,

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and here comes
Jesus and he is furious,

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he is rebuking people,
he is flipping over tables,

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he is tossing aside
merchandise, money is flying.

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He is angry.

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Now some of you will be very
surprised to hear that Jesus

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got angry because you wrongly
misperceive that Christianity

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just means that you be nice.

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Christianity is not
that we just be nice.

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We are to love people,
we're also to be truthful.

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And if you love God,
you're gonna hate sin.

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If you love people, you're
gonna hate injustice.

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The fact that we do
love means we must hate.

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The fact that we have joy,

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requires that we
also will be angry.

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Now some of us have short wicks
and foul tempers

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and we are far
too quick to anger.

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But that doesn't mean that anger
is in and of itself a bad thing.

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Anger's an emotion.

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It's a response to something
that is valid or invalid.

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How about you?

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Do you ever get angry?

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If some of you say,
"I never get angry,"

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then you're probably in sin.

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You probably don't feel the
heart of God because the Bible

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says that God gets angry.

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Now, the Bible does say that
God is, quote, "slow to anger,"

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he has a long wick, it
takes a lot to get him angry,

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but he will get there.

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If we continue in sin and
harming of people and injustice

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and evil, it does
make God angry.

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And here we see
Jesus gets angry.

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Some of you get
angry all the time.

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You get angry for reasons
that are not just.

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And you would wrongly
appeal to Jesus, say,

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"Well, Jesus got angry,
I get angry."

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Yeah, but you don't get angry
for the same reasons Jesus did.

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Jesus got angry here because
the glory of God the Father

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was being damaged and harmed

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and the people were
being taken advantage of.

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Poor people, common
people, simple people,

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many illiterate people,
hardworking people,

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God's people who had
walked for miles,

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they're getting ripped off.

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After all, when you
get up to the temple,

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where else are you gonna find
a lamb without blemish to offer

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on behalf of your family in
obedience to the commands

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of Scripture, all foreshadowing
the coming of Jesus?

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It's like you're in a concert
and there's only one place

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to get your food or your water,
and they have ridiculous prices

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but you have to pay 'em
because you have no choice.

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We expect that in business,
but to see that for people

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who are worshiping God,
it infuriated Jesus.

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It infuriated Jesus.

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And there are some
clues as to why.

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He says, "It is written,
'My house shall be

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a house of prayer.'"

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There he is quoting Isaiah 56.

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And way back in
the Old Testament God had said

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that he wanted the temple,
this holy, sacred place,

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to be the place that people
would come to pray

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and talk to him
and reconcile with him,

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so that's
the whole point of the temple.

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The point of the temple was
not a big business venture.

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It was not
a get-rich-quick scheme.

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It was not to be
a con and a sham.

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It was to be a house of prayer.

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And then he goes on to say,

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"But you have made it
a den of robbers."

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And that is actually
a quote from Jeremiah 7.

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And what had happened is
that the way the temple

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was constructed is that there
would be the Holy of Holies,

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so this is where the presence
of God, the Holy Spirit,

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dwelt on the earth.

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This was the sacred ground on
the earth where it was really

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the meeting place
between heaven and earth,

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if you could think
of it in that way.

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This is where God's presence
was on the earth so that people

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could come near
the presence of God.

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And what happened then is that
there would be various levels

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of access to the proximity
of the presence of God.

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So the high priest
and the other priests

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would have certain access,

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and then other groups
of priests

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would have a certain level
of access.

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And then those who were men
and worshipers of God, Jews,

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they would have access, women
would have certain access.

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And then sort of
the farthest away access,

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I'm summarizing all
of this quite simply,

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but it's kind of like you come
to a concert and various people

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get various access.

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There's the band that gets to
go on stage, and then there's,

241
00:13:02,792 --> 00:13:04,708
you know, the backstage pass,
and then there's

242
00:13:04,792 --> 00:13:06,708
the front row seats,
and the VIP seats,

243
00:13:06,792 --> 00:13:08,500
and then there's,
you know, the suites,

244
00:13:08,583 --> 00:13:10,083
and then
there's the cheap seats,

245
00:13:10,167 --> 00:13:13,333
and then there's those who are,
you know, standing-room only.

246
00:13:13,375 --> 00:13:16,875
It's like that for
these major holidays.

247
00:13:16,958 --> 00:13:19,208
The crowd is enormous
and various people

248
00:13:19,292 --> 00:13:20,708
have various access.

249
00:13:20,792 --> 00:13:24,667
Well, the worst seats
were the Gentile seats.

250
00:13:24,750 --> 00:13:26,833
They called it
the Court of the Gentiles.

251
00:13:26,875 --> 00:13:29,000
This is where those
who were not Jewish

252
00:13:29,083 --> 00:13:31,833
would come to participate.

253
00:13:31,875 --> 00:13:35,083
Some of them were believers;
they had turned from sin

254
00:13:35,167 --> 00:13:37,333
and trusted in
the God of the Bible.

255
00:13:37,375 --> 00:13:39,417
Some of them were unbelievers,
they didn't know

256
00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:42,000
the God of the Bible, but
they were curious people;

257
00:13:42,083 --> 00:13:44,583
they wanted to know about
the God of the Bible.

258
00:13:44,667 --> 00:13:47,333
They were curious about
sin and forgiveness.

259
00:13:47,375 --> 00:13:51,000
So in our nomenclature we'd
call them non-Christians.

260
00:13:51,042 --> 00:13:53,125
Well, they got the cheap seats;

261
00:13:53,167 --> 00:13:55,375
they were over in
the Court of the Gentiles.

262
00:13:55,458 --> 00:13:59,000
And what had happened
was all of the business,

263
00:13:59,083 --> 00:14:01,375
the nefarious business dealings,

264
00:14:01,458 --> 00:14:03,208
where do you think
they put those?

265
00:14:03,292 --> 00:14:06,000
Do you think they put those
in the Holy of Holies?

266
00:14:06,042 --> 00:14:08,708
Do you think they put them
near the Holy of Holies?

267
00:14:08,792 --> 00:14:10,125
They didn't.

268
00:14:10,167 --> 00:14:12,917
They put the business over
in the Court of the Gentiles.

269
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,708
And so in the place where
evangelism was supposed to be

270
00:14:15,792 --> 00:14:18,917
happening--and evangelism
is where Christians invite

271
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,500
non-Christians
into relationship.

272
00:14:22,583 --> 00:14:24,500
We call it hospitality.

273
00:14:24,583 --> 00:14:26,500
"Come to our house,
come to our church,

274
00:14:26,583 --> 00:14:28,875
"come out to dinner
with me and my friends.

275
00:14:28,958 --> 00:14:32,000
"We just wanna get to
know you, love you,

276
00:14:32,083 --> 00:14:34,792
answer any questions you
would have about Jesus."

277
00:14:34,833 --> 00:14:38,417
Begin a conversation about
who the God of the Bible is.

278
00:14:38,500 --> 00:14:40,917
That's evangelism--helping
non-Christians

279
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,500
get to know Christ.

280
00:14:42,583 --> 00:14:44,000
That's evangelism.

281
00:14:44,083 --> 00:14:45,833
Well, that was
supposed to happen in

282
00:14:45,875 --> 00:14:47,208
the Court of the Gentiles.

283
00:14:47,292 --> 00:14:48,792
And rather than
evangelism happening,

284
00:14:48,833 --> 00:14:50,167
business was happening.

285
00:14:50,250 --> 00:14:53,833
And while all the
non-Christians were watching,

286
00:14:53,875 --> 00:14:57,708
the believers--I call them
Christians because ultimately

287
00:14:57,792 --> 00:15:00,500
their faith was in
the coming of Jesus Christ,

288
00:15:00,583 --> 00:15:04,833
but they were believers--they
were arguing and fighting

289
00:15:04,875 --> 00:15:07,625
and bickering
and conducting business

290
00:15:07,667 --> 00:15:10,208
and there's price-gouging.

291
00:15:10,292 --> 00:15:15,625
And it's all very ungodly,
it's all very greedy.

292
00:15:15,667 --> 00:15:18,500
It's not just selling products.

293
00:15:18,583 --> 00:15:21,000
It's really extorting people.

294
00:15:21,042 --> 00:15:24,917
And it's not even just
making a simple profit;

295
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,417
it's making an exorbitant profit
on the backs of poor people

296
00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:31,875
coming to meet with God.

297
00:15:31,958 --> 00:15:34,583
That's exactly
what was happening.

298
00:15:34,667 --> 00:15:38,000
And so Jesus was furious.

299
00:15:38,083 --> 00:15:42,125
He was absolutely furious.

300
00:15:42,167 --> 00:15:47,875
Friends, this is why as a church
we like to encourage

301
00:15:47,958 --> 00:15:51,708
God's people to give generously
so that we can give freely

302
00:15:51,792 --> 00:15:54,583
to those people who are not
yet Christians.

303
00:15:54,667 --> 00:15:58,375
It's why church is free
and we don't sell tickets.

304
00:15:58,458 --> 00:16:03,333
It's why we don't have VIP
seating and the cheap seats

305
00:16:03,375 --> 00:16:05,792
for the non-Christians.

306
00:16:05,833 --> 00:16:09,000
It's why, when we have
classes, they're free.

307
00:16:09,083 --> 00:16:10,500
Counseling is free.

308
00:16:10,583 --> 00:16:12,083
Community Groups are free.

309
00:16:12,167 --> 00:16:13,917
Redemption Groups are free.

310
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,792
Bibles are free.

311
00:16:15,833 --> 00:16:18,417
Sermon downloads are free.

312
00:16:18,500 --> 00:16:20,500
All of that is free.

313
00:16:20,542 --> 00:16:23,417
And truth be told,
none of it's free,

314
00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:26,583
but it's all paid for by
Christians so that it can be

315
00:16:26,667 --> 00:16:30,500
generously shared, given
to anyone and everyone,

316
00:16:30,583 --> 00:16:32,625
including non-Christians.

317
00:16:32,667 --> 00:16:35,500
So if non-Christians wanna
come to Mars Hill, we love you,

318
00:16:35,542 --> 00:16:38,500
we're glad to have you,
we know many of you are here.

319
00:16:38,542 --> 00:16:39,875
It's all paid for.

320
00:16:39,958 --> 00:16:41,500
We're not charging you anything.

321
00:16:41,583 --> 00:16:43,833
You wanna go to Community
Group, meet with people,

322
00:16:43,875 --> 00:16:46,000
make some friendships,
Redemption Group,

323
00:16:46,083 --> 00:16:48,500
deal with some horrible sin
that's been committed against

324
00:16:48,542 --> 00:16:51,125
you like sexual assault,
you have questions,

325
00:16:51,167 --> 00:16:54,500
you wanna go to a class, you
want a free copy of the Bible,

326
00:16:54,583 --> 00:16:55,917
you wanna download some sermons?

327
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,333
Take whatever you like.

328
00:16:57,375 --> 00:16:58,708
We love you.

329
00:16:58,792 --> 00:17:00,583
All the way down to the coffee.

330
00:17:00,667 --> 00:17:02,125
It's free,
take what you want.

331
00:17:02,167 --> 00:17:05,583
But it's not free; other people
paid for it

332
00:17:05,667 --> 00:17:08,417
because they love you.

333
00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:14,333
And this is why even at Easter
I didn't want to have--

334
00:17:14,375 --> 00:17:17,000
we didn't want to have
a big offering.

335
00:17:17,083 --> 00:17:19,792
For those of you who don't
know, we had a great

336
00:17:19,833 --> 00:17:22,875
Easter Celebration in
Albuquerque at that campus.

337
00:17:22,958 --> 00:17:25,708
We also, in Seattle, pulled
all of the various

338
00:17:25,792 --> 00:17:29,708
Mars Hill churches together for
one big event at Qwest Field.

339
00:17:29,792 --> 00:17:33,000
At least
19,000 people showed up.

340
00:17:33,083 --> 00:17:35,708
There were others who didn't
make it through the turnstile.

341
00:17:35,792 --> 00:17:38,708
We don't know how many, but
we know at the very least,

342
00:17:38,792 --> 00:17:40,125
over 19,000 people.

343
00:17:40,167 --> 00:17:42,583
And we didn't collect
an offering and we didn't

344
00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:45,083
pass the plate and we didn't
ask anyone for money.

345
00:17:45,167 --> 00:17:46,667
Why?

346
00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:49,875
We wanted people to
hear about Jesus.

347
00:17:49,958 --> 00:17:54,917
We didn't want them to be
pressured to give money.

348
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,917
Now, you can't run
an event like that for free.

349
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,667
You can't go to the Seahawks
and say, "It's for Jesus,

350
00:18:02,750 --> 00:18:04,417
we want a free stadium."

351
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:07,292
They have to pay their workers
and their bills and their

352
00:18:07,333 --> 00:18:09,792
insurance and their utilities,
so you got to rent it.

353
00:18:09,833 --> 00:18:13,375
You can't get a whole sound,
light, and video rig for free.

354
00:18:13,458 --> 00:18:16,000
Somebody paid for it
and you've got to pay them.

355
00:18:16,083 --> 00:18:17,417
This is all reasonable;

356
00:18:17,500 --> 00:18:19,875
we don't have a problem
paying for things.

357
00:18:19,958 --> 00:18:23,333
But I'll tell you, it was one of
the great joys and highlights of

358
00:18:23,375 --> 00:18:26,708
my ministry when so many people
came out, heard about Jesus.

359
00:18:26,792 --> 00:18:29,292
I think 724 people
were baptized,

360
00:18:29,333 --> 00:18:30,708
if memory serves me correct.

361
00:18:30,792 --> 00:18:32,708
Many people became Christians.

362
00:18:32,792 --> 00:18:34,417
And we didn't talk about money.

363
00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:36,417
We just talked about Jesus.

364
00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:39,875
We didn't ask for money because
we didn't have to

365
00:18:39,958 --> 00:18:42,333
because the Christians who call
Mars Hill home,

366
00:18:42,375 --> 00:18:45,000
they'd already given generously
through a series of

367
00:18:45,083 --> 00:18:48,625
special offerings so that
it was all paid for.

368
00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:51,167
Some may wonder why we did that.

369
00:18:51,250 --> 00:18:55,083
It's because of situations
like we find in Luke.

370
00:18:55,167 --> 00:18:59,625
It's a huge event,
non-Christians show up,

371
00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:02,875
and all they see is a bunch of
greedy religious people

372
00:19:02,958 --> 00:19:04,833
ripping one another off.

373
00:19:04,875 --> 00:19:07,333
That's not what we
want people to see.

374
00:19:07,375 --> 00:19:09,083
Friends, this is
why, quite frankly,

375
00:19:09,167 --> 00:19:11,833
if we get a nice building
like our West Seattle campus,

376
00:19:11,875 --> 00:19:13,208
yeah we'll renovate it.

377
00:19:13,292 --> 00:19:16,083
But the truth is, this is
why we're not building huge,

378
00:19:16,167 --> 00:19:17,500
ornate buildings.

379
00:19:17,542 --> 00:19:20,083
We tend to meet in
relatively simple spaces.

380
00:19:20,167 --> 00:19:23,500
We're meeting in warehouses
and schools and renovating

381
00:19:23,542 --> 00:19:26,083
old churches
and community centers.

382
00:19:26,167 --> 00:19:30,333
And we're not spending massive
money for enormous cathedrals.

383
00:19:30,375 --> 00:19:34,083
And we do want our money to go
toward people meeting

384
00:19:34,167 --> 00:19:37,333
the God of the Bible,
the Lord Jesus Christ.

385
00:19:37,375 --> 00:19:41,000
In the last year we've seen
over 1,200 people baptized.

386
00:19:41,083 --> 00:19:45,333
That's 14% of Mars Hills Church
was baptized in Mars Hill Church

387
00:19:45,375 --> 00:19:47,125
this past year.

388
00:19:47,167 --> 00:19:50,417
That means lots of
people are meeting Jesus.

389
00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:55,167
And so what Jesus here is
demonstrating is non-Christians,

390
00:19:55,250 --> 00:19:57,917
unbelievers should
always be welcome.

391
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:02,167
We shouldn't be fighting over
money and greedy and stingy.

392
00:20:02,250 --> 00:20:05,833
We should be generous and pay
for things so they can come

393
00:20:05,875 --> 00:20:07,625
and learn about God.

394
00:20:07,667 --> 00:20:10,500
And all the money shouldn't
be spent for, you know,

395
00:20:10,583 --> 00:20:12,667
very exorbitant,
extravagant things.

396
00:20:12,750 --> 00:20:16,292
It should, instead, be spent
reasonably to help more people

397
00:20:16,333 --> 00:20:20,167
meet Jesus, which is the
whole impetus for the temple.

398
00:20:20,250 --> 00:20:23,000
It was the place for God's
people to meet with him

399
00:20:23,083 --> 00:20:25,375
and other people to
come and meet him.

400
00:20:25,458 --> 00:20:28,792
And what it had turned into
was an enormous price-gouging,

401
00:20:28,833 --> 00:20:31,292
business fiasco.

402
00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:33,875
I mean, imagine--there's another
even aspect to this that makes

403
00:20:33,958 --> 00:20:37,708
it worse, and that is you had
to pay a temple tax to get in.

404
00:20:37,792 --> 00:20:40,833
But some people were using
different currency than

405
00:20:40,875 --> 00:20:44,708
the temple tax, so they would
have to have money exchange.

406
00:20:44,792 --> 00:20:47,333
You ever seen that when
you go to another country,

407
00:20:47,375 --> 00:20:49,417
you've got to have
currency exchange?

408
00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:52,208
Well, the currency exchange
there was also exorbitant so

409
00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:55,708
you'd come with your money, you
have to pay your temple tax

410
00:20:55,792 --> 00:20:57,708
to get in, you buy your ticket.

411
00:20:57,792 --> 00:20:59,500
And so you'd go
exchange your money.

412
00:20:59,583 --> 00:21:01,500
And the exchange
rate was exorbitant

413
00:21:01,583 --> 00:21:03,375
and ripping people off.

414
00:21:03,458 --> 00:21:06,000
And here's what's even
nastier about it all.

415
00:21:06,042 --> 00:21:08,333
A percentage of all
these proceeds went to,

416
00:21:08,375 --> 00:21:09,917
who do you think?

417
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000
The high priest.

418
00:21:12,083 --> 00:21:15,667
He was the man who was supposed
to serve God and his people.

419
00:21:15,750 --> 00:21:18,500
And so he would rent out
the booths and the businesses,

420
00:21:18,583 --> 00:21:22,125
and he would have his team set
up all the business dealings

421
00:21:22,167 --> 00:21:25,333
and help set up the currency
exchange so that he profited

422
00:21:25,375 --> 00:21:27,917
from every transaction and sale.

423
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,333
He was in on it.

424
00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:32,000
He got a cut of the deal.

425
00:21:32,083 --> 00:21:34,792
This would be like you
showed up at Mars Hill today,

426
00:21:34,833 --> 00:21:37,417
and to get in you
got to buy a ticket.

427
00:21:37,500 --> 00:21:40,417
But before you buy your ticket,
you can only buy your ticket

428
00:21:40,500 --> 00:21:41,833
in Mars Hill money.

429
00:21:41,875 --> 00:21:43,667
It's like going to
Chuck E. Cheese's.

430
00:21:43,750 --> 00:21:45,500
You got to get Mars Hill money.

431
00:21:45,583 --> 00:21:48,833
Well, Mars Hill money,
it's not dollar for dollar.

432
00:21:48,875 --> 00:21:52,917
The exchange rate
isn't very fair.

433
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,125
So we're gonna make money
on the currency exchange.

434
00:21:55,167 --> 00:21:58,333
Then we give you the Mars Hill
money and then you can buy

435
00:21:58,375 --> 00:22:00,208
the ticket with your
Mars Hill money.

436
00:22:00,292 --> 00:22:03,417
And then when you get in, well,
depending upon on how much money

437
00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:04,833
you gave for your ticket,

438
00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:08,875
that determines how good
your seat is.

439
00:22:08,958 --> 00:22:11,417
Oh, and by the way,
if you want a Bible,

440
00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:13,917
they're really expensive.

441
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,125
See, we get them at a discount,
but we sell them to you

442
00:22:17,167 --> 00:22:18,625
at a high profit.

443
00:22:18,667 --> 00:22:20,417
Oh, you want a cup of coffee?

444
00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:22,208
Well, those are $27 a cup.

445
00:22:22,292 --> 00:22:24,292
It's Jesus coffee.

446
00:22:24,333 --> 00:22:27,167
And you're not allowed to bring
coffee in from the outside.

447
00:22:27,250 --> 00:22:29,000
You're only allowed to drink
our coffee

448
00:22:29,042 --> 00:22:30,375
when you're in our building.

449
00:22:30,458 --> 00:22:33,000
Those kinds of rules.

450
00:22:33,042 --> 00:22:36,833
Oh, and by the way, Pastor Mark
gets a cut of everything because

451
00:22:36,875 --> 00:22:40,125
he is part owner in the coffee
company and he's part owner in

452
00:22:40,167 --> 00:22:43,000
the ticket company, he's part
owner in the Mars Hill money

453
00:22:43,083 --> 00:22:47,500
currency exchange scam.

454
00:22:47,542 --> 00:22:50,125
You see how all this works?

455
00:22:50,167 --> 00:22:53,500
Jesus shows up furious.

456
00:22:53,583 --> 00:22:56,583
This is not the way
it's supposed to be.

457
00:22:57,792 --> 00:23:02,917
This is not the way
it's supposed to be.

458
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,833
And so what Jesus
does is he disrupts

459
00:23:05,875 --> 00:23:08,000
their whole economic model.

460
00:23:08,083 --> 00:23:09,833
It's amazing he
didn't get thrown out.

461
00:23:09,875 --> 00:23:11,500
I mean, he disrupted business.

462
00:23:11,583 --> 00:23:14,208
Money did not change
hands that day.

463
00:23:14,292 --> 00:23:18,375
And as long as Jesus was around,
everybody knew it's not business

464
00:23:18,458 --> 00:23:20,000
as normal this year.

465
00:23:20,083 --> 00:23:25,500
Jesus is causing real economic
difficulty for those who had

466
00:23:25,542 --> 00:23:28,917
high profits that they
were anticipating.

467
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,292
Now Jesus is hurting
their income.

468
00:23:31,333 --> 00:23:33,792
This is one of the reasons why
people oppose Jesus

469
00:23:33,833 --> 00:23:35,292
and want him dead.

470
00:23:35,333 --> 00:23:37,792
Some of it was religious,
some of it was political,

471
00:23:37,833 --> 00:23:40,333
some of it was financial.

472
00:23:40,375 --> 00:23:43,208
Nonetheless, Jesus doesn't
have fear-of-man issues,

473
00:23:43,292 --> 00:23:45,708
he's not a coward,
he stays at the temple,

474
00:23:45,792 --> 00:23:47,833
and he preaches and teaches.

475
00:23:47,875 --> 00:23:51,792
He plants himself right there so
that people could meet God

476
00:23:51,833 --> 00:23:55,667
and learn about God--the whole
reason the temple existed.

477
00:23:55,750 --> 00:23:58,792
So the next thing we see is
that Jesus preached and taught.

478
00:23:58,833 --> 00:24:03,625
Luke 19:47 through
the first half of 20:1,

479
00:24:03,667 --> 00:24:07,208
"And he was teaching
daily in the temple.

480
00:24:07,292 --> 00:24:09,833
"The chief priests and the
scribes and the principal men

481
00:24:09,875 --> 00:24:12,000
"of the people were
seeking to destroy him,

482
00:24:12,083 --> 00:24:14,292
"but they did not find
anything they could do,

483
00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:16,500
"for all the people were
hanging on his words.

484
00:24:16,583 --> 00:24:19,875
"One day, as Jesus was teaching
the people in the temple

485
00:24:19,958 --> 00:24:22,500
and preaching the gospel--"
and we'll pick it up here

486
00:24:22,583 --> 00:24:24,500
in a moment to see
what had happened.

487
00:24:24,583 --> 00:24:27,667
But there are two big ideas
here that I want you to see.

488
00:24:27,750 --> 00:24:30,500
Jesus spent a lot of his
time preaching and teaching.

489
00:24:30,583 --> 00:24:32,625
Preaching and teaching.

490
00:24:32,667 --> 00:24:35,667
This is absolutely core to
Christian ministry

491
00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:38,208
and Mars Hill Church--
preaching and teaching.

492
00:24:38,292 --> 00:24:41,208
Preaching and teaching
the Word of God.

493
00:24:41,292 --> 00:24:45,500
Some of you like to see Jesus as
one who helped the poor and fed

494
00:24:45,542 --> 00:24:48,917
the hungry and healed the sick
and cared for physical needs.

495
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,625
All of that is totally true,

496
00:24:50,667 --> 00:24:52,500
we're not arguing
against that at all.

497
00:24:52,542 --> 00:24:55,333
But don't miss that Jesus spent
the bulk of his time

498
00:24:55,375 --> 00:24:57,125
doing preaching and teaching.

499
00:24:57,167 --> 00:24:59,375
Opening the Bible,
teaching the Bible,

500
00:24:59,458 --> 00:25:01,917
helping people learn about
the God of the Bible,

501
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,208
turning from sin,
trusting in him.

502
00:25:04,292 --> 00:25:06,208
Jesus was, while on the earth,

503
00:25:06,292 --> 00:25:09,125
he's still alive in heaven
today, a preacher and a teacher.

504
00:25:09,167 --> 00:25:11,375
A preacher and a teacher.

505
00:25:11,458 --> 00:25:15,000
And so for us at Mars Hill,
because we love Jesus

506
00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:18,500
and we believe in Jesus
and we want to honor Jesus,

507
00:25:18,542 --> 00:25:21,708
we do hold the teaching and
the preaching of the Bible

508
00:25:21,792 --> 00:25:23,500
incredibly high.

509
00:25:23,542 --> 00:25:25,417
As high as we can.

510
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:28,417
We believe that preaching
and teaching is essential

511
00:25:28,500 --> 00:25:32,708
and central to everything that
it means to be Christians

512
00:25:32,792 --> 00:25:34,500
and the church.

513
00:25:34,583 --> 00:25:37,417
It's why we gather under
the Word of God every week

514
00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:40,000
and then we scatter into
groups to talk about life

515
00:25:40,083 --> 00:25:42,500
as it applies
to the Word of God.

516
00:25:42,583 --> 00:25:45,125
It's why we esteem Bible
preachers and teachers

517
00:25:45,167 --> 00:25:48,583
who faithfully open the Word of
God and teach us about Jesus.

518
00:25:48,667 --> 00:25:51,625
It's why we invite people in
from the outside to lecture,

519
00:25:51,667 --> 00:25:54,917
to preach, to teach, to do
seminars and classes

520
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,292
and retreats and conferences.

521
00:25:57,333 --> 00:26:00,708
Because we believe that central
and essential to everything

522
00:26:00,792 --> 00:26:03,208
that it means to be
the people of God,

523
00:26:03,292 --> 00:26:05,625
is a love for
preaching and teaching.

524
00:26:05,667 --> 00:26:08,792
Because none of us truly
knows who God really is,

525
00:26:08,833 --> 00:26:10,833
we have to be taught.

526
00:26:10,875 --> 00:26:13,583
We can't just trust all of
our feelings and experiences.

527
00:26:13,667 --> 00:26:17,500
Oftentimes we don't even
interpret them rightly.

528
00:26:17,542 --> 00:26:21,333
What we need is a clear,
concise, compelling,

529
00:26:21,375 --> 00:26:25,708
convicting Word from
the Word of God.

530
00:26:25,792 --> 00:26:28,500
And so Jesus spent his time
preaching and teaching

531
00:26:28,542 --> 00:26:30,583
and he was incredibly popular.

532
00:26:30,667 --> 00:26:32,583
It says that the crowds
were literally hanging

533
00:26:32,667 --> 00:26:34,167
on his every word.

534
00:26:34,250 --> 00:26:35,833
They were constantly around him.

535
00:26:35,875 --> 00:26:37,500
And what was
wonderful about Jesus,

536
00:26:37,583 --> 00:26:40,125
his preaching and
teaching was free.

537
00:26:40,167 --> 00:26:41,500
Let me say this.

538
00:26:41,583 --> 00:26:45,125
I absolutely love preaching and
teaching at Mars Hill Church.

539
00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:48,000
We have other preachers and
teachers as well, I'm not alone,

540
00:26:48,042 --> 00:26:51,625
we have a good team of leaders
and we have a good team of those

541
00:26:51,667 --> 00:26:54,833
who can preach and teach and
I'm not saying I'm the only one,

542
00:26:54,875 --> 00:26:58,833
but being the most high profile
preacher and teacher

543
00:26:58,875 --> 00:27:01,625
at Mars Hill, let me
say a couple of things.

544
00:27:01,667 --> 00:27:04,625
I love preaching
and teaching at this church.

545
00:27:04,667 --> 00:27:06,708
I love the freedom
that I get.

546
00:27:06,792 --> 00:27:10,417
I love the fact that I'm allowed
to take my time, and I do.

547
00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:13,417
If you're new, you'll notice
that when we're still going

548
00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:15,333
many minutes from now.

549
00:27:15,375 --> 00:27:18,333
In addition, I love the fact
that we have the freedom

550
00:27:18,375 --> 00:27:22,000
to do things like +2 years
in Luke's Gospel,

551
00:27:22,042 --> 00:27:24,792
as well as shorter series
and other things as needed.

552
00:27:24,833 --> 00:27:27,625
I love the fact that we have
a congregation of people

553
00:27:27,667 --> 00:27:29,292
who love to learn.

554
00:27:29,333 --> 00:27:31,292
That they listen,
they pay attention.

555
00:27:31,333 --> 00:27:34,000
That large crowds of people come
because they want to hear

556
00:27:34,083 --> 00:27:35,417
the Word of God.

557
00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:37,917
This is the same thing Jesus
experienced and enjoyed.

558
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,125
And Jesus did so
without charging people.

559
00:27:42,167 --> 00:27:45,125
It was not uncommon in that
day, if you were a rabbi,

560
00:27:45,167 --> 00:27:48,208
that it was like running
a small school and that people

561
00:27:48,292 --> 00:27:51,000
would have to pay a fee to
sit under your teaching,

562
00:27:51,042 --> 00:27:54,500
kind of like going to
a college or a grad program.

563
00:27:54,583 --> 00:27:58,875
And Jesus, his preaching
and teaching, he made it free.

564
00:27:58,958 --> 00:28:02,625
And one of the things I love
is we get to make it free.

565
00:28:02,667 --> 00:28:04,875
Church is free.

566
00:28:04,958 --> 00:28:06,625
Classes are free.

567
00:28:06,667 --> 00:28:08,875
Sermon downloads are free,
like I've already said.

568
00:28:08,958 --> 00:28:10,417
But how wonderful it is.

569
00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:13,333
And I simply wanna say to those
of you who give generously,

570
00:28:13,375 --> 00:28:14,833
thank you.

571
00:28:14,875 --> 00:28:17,500
Because the truth
is, it's not free.

572
00:28:17,583 --> 00:28:19,125
You paid for it.

573
00:28:19,167 --> 00:28:22,208
And other people have, I hope
and pray, been served by it.

574
00:28:22,292 --> 00:28:24,625
And on their behalf I
wanna say thank you.

575
00:28:24,667 --> 00:28:27,292
That's what's happening
here with Jesus.

576
00:28:27,333 --> 00:28:31,917
He is able to serve others, and
many come because they love

577
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,500
his preaching and teaching.

578
00:28:33,542 --> 00:28:36,833
And I'm in no way saying I'm
anywhere near as good as Jesus,

579
00:28:36,875 --> 00:28:39,167
but to some degree
I get that same joy.

580
00:28:39,250 --> 00:28:42,375
Lots of people coming,
appreciating preaching and

581
00:28:42,458 --> 00:28:46,208
teaching, and I wanna thank you
for being that kind of people.

582
00:28:46,292 --> 00:28:50,917
What we find then is not only
does Jesus preach and teach,

583
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,792
he preaches and teaches
in a way that I don't.

584
00:28:53,833 --> 00:28:55,500
And in a way, quite frankly,

585
00:28:55,583 --> 00:28:57,833
that no one else ever has
or ever will.

586
00:28:57,875 --> 00:29:01,000
Because Jesus has all authority.

587
00:29:01,042 --> 00:29:03,833
In that day it was common for
the preachers and teachers

588
00:29:03,875 --> 00:29:07,125
to quote this rabbi and to quote
this teacher and to quote

589
00:29:07,167 --> 00:29:10,875
this tradition and this
document or this council.

590
00:29:10,958 --> 00:29:13,333
And Jesus had his own authority.

591
00:29:13,375 --> 00:29:15,292
He spoke on his own authority

592
00:29:15,333 --> 00:29:18,125
because he is
the highest authority.

593
00:29:18,167 --> 00:29:20,875
We read this in Luke 20,
a lengthy section from

594
00:29:20,958 --> 00:29:23,208
the second half of verse 1
through 8,

595
00:29:23,292 --> 00:29:25,917
"The chief priests
and the scribes with the elders

596
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,875
"came up and said to him,
'Tell us by what authority

597
00:29:29,958 --> 00:29:33,708
"'do you do these things,
or who is it that

598
00:29:33,792 --> 00:29:35,333
"'gave you this authority.'

599
00:29:35,375 --> 00:29:38,083
He answered them, 'I also
will ask you a question,'"

600
00:29:38,167 --> 00:29:39,500
--here we go--

601
00:29:39,583 --> 00:29:42,208
"'Now tell me, was the baptism
of John from heaven

602
00:29:42,292 --> 00:29:44,083
or from man?'"

603
00:29:44,167 --> 00:29:45,500
They call a committee meeting.

604
00:29:45,583 --> 00:29:48,292
"And they discussed it with one
another, saying, 'If we say,

605
00:29:48,333 --> 00:29:49,833
"'"From heaven,"
he will say,

606
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:51,333
"'"Why did you not believe me?"

607
00:29:51,375 --> 00:29:52,833
"'But if we say, "From man,"

608
00:29:52,875 --> 00:29:54,833
"'all the people will
stone us to death,

609
00:29:54,875 --> 00:29:57,833
"'for they are convinced
that John was a prophet.'

610
00:29:57,875 --> 00:30:01,625
"So they answered that they did
not know where it came from.

611
00:30:01,667 --> 00:30:04,625
"And Jesus said to them,
'Neither will I tell you by what

612
00:30:04,667 --> 00:30:07,667
authority I do these things.'"

613
00:30:07,750 --> 00:30:09,625
The religious leaders come.

614
00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:12,417
It tells us who they are:
chief priests, scribes, elders.

615
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:14,875
So these are high-ranking
religious leaders.

616
00:30:14,958 --> 00:30:17,333
These are people who'd written
books and spoken at conferences

617
00:30:17,375 --> 00:30:19,875
and they're the experts
when something comes up.

618
00:30:19,958 --> 00:30:22,375
Larry King, you know, would've
called them in that day.

619
00:30:22,458 --> 00:30:25,125
CNN would have got
a hold of them in that day.

620
00:30:25,167 --> 00:30:26,708
These are people who
are highly-respected

621
00:30:26,792 --> 00:30:28,708
religious leaders, authorities.

622
00:30:28,792 --> 00:30:30,375
They had more degrees
than Fahrenheit,

623
00:30:30,458 --> 00:30:32,000
educated beyond
their intelligence,

624
00:30:32,042 --> 00:30:34,333
went to the best schools,
read all the books.

625
00:30:34,375 --> 00:30:37,125
These are nerds who know the
footnotes and they're sick of

626
00:30:37,167 --> 00:30:41,125
Jesus because people love him,
they follow him, they enjoy him,

627
00:30:41,167 --> 00:30:45,000
they like him, and as a result
their power base is waning.

628
00:30:45,083 --> 00:30:47,000
All the money they
were making from

629
00:30:47,042 --> 00:30:48,917
the corrupt religious business?

630
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,333
Well, that money's
starting to dry up.

631
00:30:51,375 --> 00:30:54,375
And the people who would follow
them in fear have now

632
00:30:54,458 --> 00:30:57,500
abandoned them and are following
Jesus in love.

633
00:30:57,583 --> 00:30:59,833
Their lives have been changed.

634
00:30:59,875 --> 00:31:02,667
And rather than themselves
supporting Jesus

635
00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:05,792
and submitting to Jesus
and serving Jesus,

636
00:31:05,833 --> 00:31:09,125
they instead continually fight
with Jesus.

637
00:31:09,167 --> 00:31:12,333
This is how
religious people are.

638
00:31:12,375 --> 00:31:15,375
They're all about the money.
They're all about the control.

639
00:31:15,458 --> 00:31:17,667
They're all about the power.

640
00:31:17,750 --> 00:31:21,208
And so they meet and kind of get
this idea, they all pull aside.

641
00:31:21,292 --> 00:31:25,208
You can see a, you know,
a dark room, one light,

642
00:31:25,292 --> 00:31:29,917
they're all meeting around
a table, "We need to get Jesus.

643
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,625
"We need to publicly humiliate
him, we need to shame him,

644
00:31:32,667 --> 00:31:35,375
"we need to ruin his reputation,
he's getting too popular,

645
00:31:35,458 --> 00:31:37,417
we need to shoot him."

646
00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:40,417
Religious people
love to do this.

647
00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:42,208
"What can we do?"

648
00:31:42,292 --> 00:31:46,000
"Well, let's come up with
a theological question

649
00:31:46,083 --> 00:31:48,417
"that will stump him.

650
00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:50,875
"Let's come up with this
impossible,

651
00:31:50,958 --> 00:31:53,792
"difficult, hard question.

652
00:31:53,833 --> 00:31:58,417
"Let's ask it openly, publicly,
brazenly in front of everybody.

653
00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:02,000
Let's use it to
stick it to Jesus."

654
00:32:02,083 --> 00:32:05,583
People still do this, bloggers,
haters, trolls,

655
00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:08,708
Tweeters, Facebookers,
the whole lot of them,

656
00:32:08,792 --> 00:32:12,667
critics of every sort and
kind, "Let's stick it to him.

657
00:32:12,750 --> 00:32:15,500
"Let's show that we're better
than him and we're smarter than

658
00:32:15,583 --> 00:32:18,417
him and that people should
follow us instead of him."

659
00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:21,000
It's all about the money.
It's all about the control.

660
00:32:21,042 --> 00:32:24,375
It's all about the power.
It's not about the truth.

661
00:32:24,458 --> 00:32:26,292
So they come up
with their question.

662
00:32:26,333 --> 00:32:30,000
They walk up to Jesus, "Who gave
you the authority to do

663
00:32:30,083 --> 00:32:32,292
"what you're doing?

664
00:32:32,333 --> 00:32:35,292
"You didn't go to college,
you didn't go to grad school,

665
00:32:35,333 --> 00:32:37,833
"you didn't pass
an ordination council,

666
00:32:37,875 --> 00:32:42,583
"you didn't get all of
the degrees and support and

667
00:32:42,667 --> 00:32:46,208
"tradition that would give you
the authority that you have.

668
00:32:46,292 --> 00:32:48,208
Where do you get
your authority?"

669
00:32:48,292 --> 00:32:50,125
It's a question of authority.

670
00:32:50,167 --> 00:32:55,167
And the truth is this:
Jesus has all authority.

671
00:32:56,750 --> 00:32:59,375
Jesus doesn't derive his
authority from teachers

672
00:32:59,458 --> 00:33:01,583
or schools or traditions.

673
00:33:01,667 --> 00:33:03,792
He is God.

674
00:33:03,833 --> 00:33:09,333
There can be no higher authority
than Immanuel (God among us).

675
00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:12,333
Jesus said this after
he rose from death,

676
00:33:12,375 --> 00:33:14,208
he gave something called
the Great Commission,

677
00:33:14,292 --> 00:33:15,625
the end of Matthew's Gospel.

678
00:33:15,667 --> 00:33:18,167
He says, quote, "All authority
has been given to me."

679
00:33:18,250 --> 00:33:21,708
All authority.

680
00:33:21,792 --> 00:33:27,333
And so Jesus does not derive
his authority from any source

681
00:33:27,375 --> 00:33:31,625
because he is the source
of his own authority.

682
00:33:31,667 --> 00:33:34,500
Now, what I love about
Jesus, everybody's watching,

683
00:33:34,583 --> 00:33:36,875
here come all
the religious leaders.

684
00:33:36,958 --> 00:33:39,625
And you could just--can you
feel the tension in the air?

685
00:33:39,667 --> 00:33:43,000
I mean, it's the Passover,
huge crowds were in the temple,

686
00:33:43,042 --> 00:33:46,500
you know, one of those side
rooms or courts, massive crowds,

687
00:33:46,583 --> 00:33:50,083
famous teachers,
all the preachers, authors.

688
00:33:50,167 --> 00:33:53,625
I mean, this is the big
event, everybody's there,

689
00:33:53,667 --> 00:33:57,125
and in walks all of
Jesus' enemies and critics,

690
00:33:57,167 --> 00:33:58,833
all together.

691
00:33:58,875 --> 00:34:01,208
The crowd would
have gone silent.

692
00:34:01,292 --> 00:34:03,708
"What now?"

693
00:34:03,792 --> 00:34:05,708
And the leader of
them steps right up,

694
00:34:05,792 --> 00:34:08,708
the guy who's written the most
books and is the most famous,

695
00:34:08,792 --> 00:34:11,375
"Jesus, I have
a question for you."

696
00:34:11,458 --> 00:34:15,417
And he asks his question, "Where
do you get your authority?"

697
00:34:15,500 --> 00:34:17,417
And I love Jesus.

698
00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:19,625
I wonder how he did it.
I don't know.

699
00:34:19,667 --> 00:34:21,625
I wonder if he
winked at the crowd,

700
00:34:21,667 --> 00:34:25,333
I don't know if he played it
up, I don't know if he did it

701
00:34:25,375 --> 00:34:27,625
straight-faced, I don't know if
he was smiling and--

702
00:34:27,667 --> 00:34:29,375
I don't know how he did it.

703
00:34:29,458 --> 00:34:31,583
He says, "Well, while we're
at it, asking questions,

704
00:34:31,667 --> 00:34:33,125
"I got a question for you.

705
00:34:33,167 --> 00:34:34,917
"How about I make you a deal.

706
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,292
"You answer my question,
and then I'll answer yours.

707
00:34:37,333 --> 00:34:45,167
Now, John the Baptizer, his
baptism, was it godly or not?"

708
00:34:47,542 --> 00:34:49,792
Now, the situation
with John the Baptizer

709
00:34:49,833 --> 00:34:52,208
was he was Jesus' cousin.

710
00:34:52,292 --> 00:34:55,833
He was the prophet that was come
to prepare the way for Messiah,

711
00:34:55,875 --> 00:34:57,625
for God among us.

712
00:34:57,667 --> 00:35:00,875
He preached repentance,
people came, he was famous,

713
00:35:00,958 --> 00:35:04,208
he was a legend in his day.

714
00:35:04,292 --> 00:35:07,375
Early on he was even
more famous than Jesus.

715
00:35:07,458 --> 00:35:10,417
The ancient historian,
Josephus, a Jewish historian,

716
00:35:10,500 --> 00:35:13,833
he's not in the Bible,
he's outside of the Bible,

717
00:35:13,875 --> 00:35:16,833
but he writes more about
John the Baptizer than Jesus

718
00:35:16,875 --> 00:35:20,375
'cause for awhile John was
actually more popular

719
00:35:20,458 --> 00:35:23,083
than Jesus.

720
00:35:23,167 --> 00:35:25,125
And so the people loved John.

721
00:35:25,167 --> 00:35:26,708
But you know what?

722
00:35:26,792 --> 00:35:28,500
John was kind of like Jesus.

723
00:35:28,542 --> 00:35:31,000
Not in that he was God
and had all authority,

724
00:35:31,042 --> 00:35:34,208
but that he didn't come
from the right institution.

725
00:35:34,292 --> 00:35:37,083
It would be like today, he
wasn't part of a denomination,

726
00:35:37,167 --> 00:35:38,917
he didn't pass
an ordination council,

727
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,917
he didn't graduate
from seminary.

728
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,875
He just sort of did it.

729
00:35:43,958 --> 00:35:48,500
Just sort of did the work of God
by the power of God to the glory

730
00:35:48,542 --> 00:35:51,708
of God by the Word of God
and he didn't go through

731
00:35:51,792 --> 00:35:53,208
the traditional systems.

732
00:35:53,292 --> 00:35:55,792
And now, let me say this,
there's nothing wrong with

733
00:35:55,833 --> 00:35:57,625
going through
the traditional systems.

734
00:35:57,667 --> 00:35:59,958
You could be someone who
goes through a school,

735
00:36:00,083 --> 00:36:02,333
goes through a denomination,
goes through an ordination,

736
00:36:02,375 --> 00:36:04,208
loves and serves
the Lord faithfully.

737
00:36:04,292 --> 00:36:07,125
We don't critique that,
we don't negate that,

738
00:36:07,167 --> 00:36:08,875
we don't criticize that.

739
00:36:08,958 --> 00:36:11,000
We rejoice in that.

740
00:36:11,083 --> 00:36:14,000
But there are other people
that God just puts his hand on

741
00:36:14,083 --> 00:36:15,500
and they go do amazing things.

742
00:36:15,583 --> 00:36:19,000
And the question is, well why do
they have the right to do that?

743
00:36:19,083 --> 00:36:22,708
Well, 'cause God put his hand on
them and told them to go do it.

744
00:36:22,792 --> 00:36:24,708
There's not a lot
of people like that,

745
00:36:24,792 --> 00:36:26,500
but John the Baptizer
was certainly one.

746
00:36:26,583 --> 00:36:28,500
He was set apart from
his mother's womb.

747
00:36:28,583 --> 00:36:30,708
He was filled with
the Holy Spirit from his

748
00:36:30,792 --> 00:36:32,833
mother's womb--we learned that
earlier in Luke's Gospel.

749
00:36:32,875 --> 00:36:35,500
He was prophesied about in
the Old Testament that he

750
00:36:35,542 --> 00:36:39,000
would prepare the way for the
coming of Jesus, and he did.

751
00:36:39,083 --> 00:36:43,917
And the people loved John
'cause he was like one of them.

752
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:50,333
He was the poor, rural, humble
outsider that spoke as a prophet

753
00:36:50,375 --> 00:36:53,417
with authority
the powerful Word of God.

754
00:36:53,500 --> 00:36:55,500
So they loved him.

755
00:36:55,583 --> 00:36:59,125
So the religious leaders have
got a real dilemma because if

756
00:36:59,167 --> 00:37:02,667
they say, "No, John did not work
for the Lord,"

757
00:37:02,750 --> 00:37:05,000
the crowd would assault them.

758
00:37:05,083 --> 00:37:08,417
This would turn
into a riot scene.

759
00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:12,083
And if they said, "Yes, he
worked for the Lord,"

760
00:37:12,167 --> 00:37:16,208
then Jesus would say,
"John said that I was God.

761
00:37:16,292 --> 00:37:19,000
"He said to turn from
sin and trust in me,

762
00:37:19,083 --> 00:37:21,667
so why don't you obey him?"

763
00:37:21,750 --> 00:37:24,833
Jesus has got them on
the horns of a dilemma.

764
00:37:24,875 --> 00:37:27,667
They're either gonna get
killed or become Christians.

765
00:37:27,750 --> 00:37:31,417
He's really got them in
the clench up against the cage.

766
00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:33,500
So what do they do?

767
00:37:33,542 --> 00:37:36,917
Well, sadly, they do what
religious people often do:

768
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,417
they walk away.

769
00:37:39,500 --> 00:37:43,417
They don't say, "I'm wrong."

770
00:37:43,500 --> 00:37:47,125
They don't say, "I'm sorry."

771
00:37:47,167 --> 00:37:49,708
They walk away.

772
00:37:49,792 --> 00:37:51,833
Now, religious people
can say they're wrong

773
00:37:51,875 --> 00:37:53,417
and they can say they're sorry.

774
00:37:53,500 --> 00:37:56,292
And sometimes guys in the Bible,
like another man named Saul,

775
00:37:56,333 --> 00:37:59,208
who's a good friend of Luke
and he became Paul the Apostle

776
00:37:59,292 --> 00:38:01,625
and wrote much of
the New Testament along with

777
00:38:01,667 --> 00:38:04,625
Luke, sometimes it does happen
where religious people say,

778
00:38:04,667 --> 00:38:06,125
"I'm wrong.

779
00:38:06,167 --> 00:38:07,625
I'm sorry."

780
00:38:07,667 --> 00:38:09,000
But they don't.

781
00:38:09,083 --> 00:38:11,875
Instead they walked away.

782
00:38:11,958 --> 00:38:14,917
So Jesus said, "Well, since
you won't answer my question,

783
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:16,917
I'm not gonna answer yours."

784
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,500
I'm assuming the crowd
had a good chuckle.

785
00:38:19,542 --> 00:38:21,917
Everybody laughed.

786
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,292
Everybody thought,
"This is hilarious."

787
00:38:24,333 --> 00:38:27,125
The whole committee met,
maybe for days, weeks,

788
00:38:27,167 --> 00:38:29,333
months they'd been working
on their one question,

789
00:38:29,375 --> 00:38:31,708
they finally walk
in, here it is.

790
00:38:31,792 --> 00:38:34,333
Jesus, on the spot,
in the moment,

791
00:38:34,375 --> 00:38:40,083
in a second stumps them all
because he tells the truth.

792
00:38:42,167 --> 00:38:44,500
He has all authority.

793
00:38:44,583 --> 00:38:46,375
Now, let me ask this of you.

794
00:38:46,458 --> 00:38:48,875
The whole point here is
about Jesus' authority.

795
00:38:48,958 --> 00:38:54,500
Do you truly, really believe
that Jesus has all authority?

796
00:38:54,583 --> 00:39:00,958
Do you live as if
Jesus has functional authority?

797
00:39:02,958 --> 00:39:05,875
See, I've seen some people,
they love psychology

798
00:39:05,958 --> 00:39:09,375
and they turn Jesus into
a really good psychologist.

799
00:39:09,458 --> 00:39:11,625
Or they love sociology
and they turn Jesus

800
00:39:11,667 --> 00:39:13,875
into a really good sociologist.

801
00:39:13,958 --> 00:39:16,667
Or they're into politics
and they turn Jesus into

802
00:39:16,750 --> 00:39:18,833
kind of a moral politician.

803
00:39:18,875 --> 00:39:22,000
Or they're into spirituality and
they take out all the God stuff

804
00:39:22,083 --> 00:39:25,000
but they leave all the "do good
works for the poor" stuff

805
00:39:25,083 --> 00:39:28,917
and they turn Jesus just
into a spiritual person.

806
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:33,000
I've seen people who don't
believe in miracles because

807
00:39:33,083 --> 00:39:35,583
they're more naturalistic
and, for them,

808
00:39:35,667 --> 00:39:40,708
their ideology and their
philosophy is in authority

809
00:39:40,792 --> 00:39:43,625
so if the Bible says that Jesus
performed miracles they say,

810
00:39:43,667 --> 00:39:45,208
"No, he didn't."

811
00:39:45,292 --> 00:39:49,167
I've seen people who hold
religious pluralism up as their

812
00:39:49,250 --> 00:39:51,708
highest authority, so when Jesus
says "I'm God" they say,

813
00:39:51,792 --> 00:39:54,708
"Well, that's probably
not true."

814
00:39:54,792 --> 00:39:57,000
How about you?

815
00:39:57,042 --> 00:39:59,708
I've seen people even do
this with sin in their life.

816
00:39:59,792 --> 00:40:01,500
There's something in
their life that's sinful,

817
00:40:01,542 --> 00:40:03,000
that is displeasing to Jesus.

818
00:40:03,083 --> 00:40:06,833
And they say, "Well,
that was a long time ago.

819
00:40:06,875 --> 00:40:09,167
"That was a different culture.

820
00:40:09,250 --> 00:40:10,583
"We've evolved.

821
00:40:10,667 --> 00:40:12,667
Things have changed.
That was primitive."

822
00:40:12,750 --> 00:40:16,917
What they're saying is something
is now in authority over Jesus.

823
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,000
Someone is in
authority over Jesus.

824
00:40:21,083 --> 00:40:24,833
Might be me, my religious
commitment, my political cause,

825
00:40:24,875 --> 00:40:28,125
my view of the world,
my philosophical presumptions

826
00:40:28,167 --> 00:40:30,917
and presuppositions,
my financial commitment,

827
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,417
my political preference,
whatever it is,

828
00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:37,625
my sexual orientation,
my religious affiliation,

829
00:40:37,667 --> 00:40:41,833
whatever it might be--what
you're saying is,

830
00:40:41,875 --> 00:40:45,917
"Yeah, there's Jesus, but he's
not the highest authority."

831
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,417
Someone or something
is above him.

832
00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:51,667
It was the debate in that day;
it's the debate in our day.

833
00:40:51,750 --> 00:40:55,917
As Mars Hill Church, we
believe that Jesus is Lord.

834
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,500
That's a simple way of saying
he's the highest authority.

835
00:40:59,583 --> 00:41:02,625
There's no one equal to Jesus,
there's no one above Jesus.

836
00:41:02,667 --> 00:41:04,833
He is in highest authority.

837
00:41:04,875 --> 00:41:07,208
When he says something,
we believe it.

838
00:41:07,292 --> 00:41:09,500
When he commands something,
by the grace of God,

839
00:41:09,542 --> 00:41:11,208
we seek to obey it.

840
00:41:11,292 --> 00:41:14,208
And if someone or something
should disagree with him,

841
00:41:14,292 --> 00:41:20,500
they are wrong and they need to
repent and agree with him and

842
00:41:20,542 --> 00:41:27,208
not just walk away, but change
their mind and say,

843
00:41:27,292 --> 00:41:29,917
"I'm wrong, I'm sorry."

844
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:33,208
And friends, it's not that we're
right, it's that he's right.

845
00:41:33,292 --> 00:41:36,167
Because the truth
is, we're all wrong.

846
00:41:36,250 --> 00:41:39,583
None of us begin
submitting to Jesus.

847
00:41:39,667 --> 00:41:42,000
We all have sin and folly.

848
00:41:42,083 --> 00:41:44,917
We all think we're
right when we're wrong.

849
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:47,625
And we all have to say,
"I'm wrong and I'm sorry.

850
00:41:47,667 --> 00:41:50,208
Jesus, you're right."

851
00:41:50,292 --> 00:41:53,917
Now, where does
all of this happen?

852
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,208
Jesus gets angry,
preaches and teaches,

853
00:41:56,292 --> 00:41:58,500
and exercises all authority.

854
00:41:58,583 --> 00:42:00,625
Where does this happen?

855
00:42:00,667 --> 00:42:03,000
It happens at the temple.

856
00:42:03,083 --> 00:42:07,375
Some of you may ask, "Why
don't we go to the temple?

857
00:42:07,458 --> 00:42:10,583
"If Jesus went to the temple and
for years God's people had been

858
00:42:10,667 --> 00:42:13,333
going to the temple, why
don't we go to the temple?"

859
00:42:13,375 --> 00:42:16,208
Well, two reasons.
Number one, there's no temple.

860
00:42:16,292 --> 00:42:19,708
The temple was destroyed in
70 AD, so if you go to Israel,

861
00:42:19,792 --> 00:42:22,917
as I did, there's
just a pile of rubble.

862
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,292
There's no temple.

863
00:42:25,333 --> 00:42:28,708
I'll tell you why we don't
need it in just a moment.

864
00:42:28,792 --> 00:42:31,708
Number two, we're not going to
the temple for the same reason

865
00:42:31,792 --> 00:42:33,792
I'm not going to college.

866
00:42:33,833 --> 00:42:38,000
I graduated from college
a long time ago, like 1993.

867
00:42:38,083 --> 00:42:41,208
I recently had this
really terrifying dream.

868
00:42:41,292 --> 00:42:45,208
I went to bed a few nights ago
and I had this dream where I got

869
00:42:45,292 --> 00:42:48,208
a call from my college--I went
to college and then later on

870
00:42:48,292 --> 00:42:49,625
finished grad school.

871
00:42:49,667 --> 00:42:53,083
And I had this bad dream that
I got a call from my college

872
00:42:53,167 --> 00:42:55,083
saying, "There was a problem
with your transcript.

873
00:42:55,167 --> 00:42:56,500
"We made a mistake.

874
00:42:56,542 --> 00:42:58,125
You didn't finish
all your classes."

875
00:42:58,167 --> 00:43:01,417
So in my dream I actually had
this nightmare where Grace and I

876
00:43:01,500 --> 00:43:05,417
had to pack up all of our stuff
with our five kids and move back

877
00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:08,875
and I had to go back to
undergraduate college,

878
00:43:08,958 --> 00:43:11,500
like twice the age of
all the other students,

879
00:43:11,542 --> 00:43:15,000
and that I had to go to class
and I had to quit pastoring

880
00:43:15,042 --> 00:43:17,333
Mars Hill for awhile and quit
preaching and teaching

881
00:43:17,375 --> 00:43:19,625
'cause I had to go
back and knock out

882
00:43:19,667 --> 00:43:21,500
like a semester or two
of credits.

883
00:43:21,542 --> 00:43:23,792
This was actually a horrifying
nightmare that I had.

884
00:43:23,833 --> 00:43:27,500
And I think, in my nightmare, I
think Grace and I were actually

885
00:43:27,542 --> 00:43:29,667
living in a dorm
with our five kids.

886
00:43:29,750 --> 00:43:33,708
This is how--this is my version
of an absolute, Freddy Krueger,

887
00:43:33,792 --> 00:43:37,833
"Nightmare on Elm Street"
horror film.

888
00:43:37,875 --> 00:43:42,875
Me and Grace and our five kids
living in a dorm at a college.

889
00:43:42,958 --> 00:43:44,417
And this was my nightmare.

890
00:43:44,500 --> 00:43:47,625
And I woke up and I remember
for a minute I started thinking,

891
00:43:47,667 --> 00:43:49,000
"Was that prophetic?

892
00:43:49,083 --> 00:43:50,792
"Do I have to go to college?

893
00:43:50,833 --> 00:43:53,292
"You know, am I gonna be
in sociology next to

894
00:43:53,333 --> 00:43:56,000
"a 19-year-old kid who says
nasty things on my Facebook page

895
00:43:56,083 --> 00:43:57,500
'cause he's one of my haters?"

896
00:43:57,583 --> 00:43:59,500
I mean, this is one of my, "Ahh!

897
00:43:59,583 --> 00:44:01,083
What am I getting myself into?"

898
00:44:01,167 --> 00:44:03,833
And then it kind of hit
me, it was like, no,

899
00:44:03,875 --> 00:44:05,208
I really did graduate.

900
00:44:05,292 --> 00:44:07,208
And because all my graduation
requirements are fulfilled,

901
00:44:07,292 --> 00:44:10,417
glory to God, I don't need
to go back to college.

902
00:44:10,500 --> 00:44:15,125
Some of you say, "What's that
got to do with anything?"

903
00:44:15,167 --> 00:44:18,125
We don't need to go to
the temple because all of those

904
00:44:18,167 --> 00:44:21,333
requirements of the law
have been fulfilled.

905
00:44:21,375 --> 00:44:22,917
It's not that they
were unimportant,

906
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:24,667
it's that they're now fulfilled.

907
00:44:24,750 --> 00:44:26,417
Just like all my
graduation requirements.

908
00:44:26,500 --> 00:44:28,083
It's not that they
were unimportant,

909
00:44:28,167 --> 00:44:29,500
but they're fulfilled.

910
00:44:29,542 --> 00:44:32,333
Once I fulfilled them, I
move on, I'm done, I'm free,

911
00:44:32,375 --> 00:44:35,792
I don't need to go back, I don't
need to play by those rules,

912
00:44:35,833 --> 00:44:37,833
I don't need to live that way.

913
00:44:37,875 --> 00:44:41,708
The Bible is filled with
requirements, with laws.

914
00:44:41,792 --> 00:44:44,417
They're all fulfilled
in Jesus Christ.

915
00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:47,000
Once we have faith
in Jesus Christ,

916
00:44:47,083 --> 00:44:52,000
we don't need to live a life
that qualifies us because

917
00:44:52,083 --> 00:44:56,125
Jesus' life is the life that
qualifies us to graduate,

918
00:44:56,167 --> 00:44:59,833
to be free from the law, to go
on with the rest of our life

919
00:44:59,875 --> 00:45:02,917
filled by the power
of the Holy Spirit.

920
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:04,833
So here's what
we're not gonna do.

921
00:45:04,875 --> 00:45:07,500
We're not gonna go to Jerusalem.

922
00:45:07,583 --> 00:45:09,500
We're not gonna go
rebuild the temple.

923
00:45:09,583 --> 00:45:12,000
We're not gonna go
get some priests.

924
00:45:12,083 --> 00:45:14,500
We're not gonna go
slaughter some animals,

925
00:45:14,583 --> 00:45:16,333
which is what they were doing.

926
00:45:16,375 --> 00:45:17,708
Why?

927
00:45:17,792 --> 00:45:19,667
Because Jesus is greater.

928
00:45:19,750 --> 00:45:21,667
I'll explain it to
you in this way.

929
00:45:21,750 --> 00:45:23,333
Jesus is greater.

930
00:45:23,375 --> 00:45:25,917
First of all, Jesus
is a greater temple.

931
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,333
The temple was
a foreshadowing of Jesus.

932
00:45:28,375 --> 00:45:30,917
It was the place between
heaven and earth,

933
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:34,167
where God and man would connect.

934
00:45:34,250 --> 00:45:36,625
Jesus is the greater temple.

935
00:45:36,667 --> 00:45:39,583
He is God become a man.

936
00:45:39,667 --> 00:45:42,333
So the presence of
God is in Jesus.

937
00:45:42,375 --> 00:45:45,292
The reconciliation
with God is in Jesus.

938
00:45:45,333 --> 00:45:48,833
The holy place of meeting and
worship between heaven and earth

939
00:45:48,875 --> 00:45:50,208
is Jesus.

940
00:45:50,292 --> 00:45:53,125
That's why Paul says there's one
mediator between man and God:

941
00:45:53,167 --> 00:45:54,833
the man Christ Jesus.

942
00:45:54,875 --> 00:45:57,500
We don't go to a place,
we go to a person.

943
00:45:57,583 --> 00:46:03,083
The place was just requirements
that were held until Jesus came

944
00:46:03,167 --> 00:46:07,125
and fulfilled the law and
now we don't need the temple.

945
00:46:07,167 --> 00:46:09,083
See, the temple had
the Holy of Holies;

946
00:46:09,167 --> 00:46:10,667
Jesus is the Holy of Holies.

947
00:46:10,750 --> 00:46:12,417
The temple was
the presence of God;

948
00:46:12,500 --> 00:46:13,917
Jesus is the presence of God.

949
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,667
The temple was where we
would go to meet with God;

950
00:46:16,750 --> 00:46:18,917
Jesus is where we
go to meet with God.

951
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,917
The temple is what got us close
to God; Jesus is what--who,

952
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:23,917
I should say, gets
us close to God.

953
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:26,917
The temple is where you'd go
to sacrifice and shed blood and

954
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,833
have your sin atoned for it;
Jesus is where we go now to have

955
00:46:30,875 --> 00:46:37,000
our sin atoned for and blood
shed and our lives transformed.

956
00:46:37,042 --> 00:46:40,583
And the temple was the center of
faith and life and worship

957
00:46:40,667 --> 00:46:43,333
and God's people would all
come to that place.

958
00:46:43,375 --> 00:46:45,833
And today we don't need to go
to that place

959
00:46:45,875 --> 00:46:47,333
because we go to Jesus.

960
00:46:47,375 --> 00:46:48,917
He's the greater temple.

961
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:52,208
The center of our faith is
not a place, it's a person.

962
00:46:52,292 --> 00:46:55,417
We don't believe in a Holy
Land, we believe in a holy man,

963
00:46:55,500 --> 00:46:58,125
the God Man, Jesus Christ.

964
00:46:58,167 --> 00:46:59,917
And Jesus is greater
than the temple,

965
00:47:00,042 --> 00:47:02,208
so the temple was
destroyed in 70 AD.

966
00:47:02,292 --> 00:47:03,875
There's been no temple since.

967
00:47:03,958 --> 00:47:06,625
God doesn't even make it
possible to go to the temple.

968
00:47:06,667 --> 00:47:09,833
And one of the things that
grieved me so deeply when I went

969
00:47:09,875 --> 00:47:12,333
to the location where the
temple had been, number one,

970
00:47:12,375 --> 00:47:15,000
there's a wall,
the Wailing Wall.

971
00:47:15,083 --> 00:47:17,500
It grieved me, broke my heart.

972
00:47:17,583 --> 00:47:20,208
People wrapping up prayers
into a little pieces of paper,

973
00:47:20,292 --> 00:47:23,125
walking up and sticking
them in the wall.

974
00:47:23,167 --> 00:47:24,708
When I asked why
they said,

975
00:47:24,792 --> 00:47:26,625
"Well, that wall
is closer to God

976
00:47:26,667 --> 00:47:28,833
"so if you put the
prayers in the wall

977
00:47:28,875 --> 00:47:30,208
they get to the Lord."

978
00:47:30,292 --> 00:47:32,708
No, that wall doesn't get
you closer to the Lord;

979
00:47:32,792 --> 00:47:34,500
Jesus gets you
close to the Lord.

980
00:47:34,542 --> 00:47:37,000
If you want your prayers
to go to the Father,

981
00:47:37,083 --> 00:47:40,167
don't stick them in the wall,
give them to the Son of God.

982
00:47:40,250 --> 00:47:41,583
He is our mediator.

983
00:47:41,667 --> 00:47:44,583
Told all my kids, "Do not
put any prayers in the wall.

984
00:47:44,667 --> 00:47:46,708
We're Christians, not pagans."

985
00:47:46,792 --> 00:47:49,792
We don't believe that a wall
mediates between us and God.

986
00:47:49,833 --> 00:47:52,292
If you want your prayers
to go to the Father,

987
00:47:52,333 --> 00:47:54,000
give them to the Son.

988
00:47:54,083 --> 00:47:56,708
What also grieved me is
the closest place to where

989
00:47:56,792 --> 00:47:59,917
the Holy of Holies and the
center of the temple used to be

990
00:48:00,042 --> 00:48:01,375
is underground.

991
00:48:01,458 --> 00:48:04,375
So we took an underground tour
at night and there's a wall

992
00:48:04,458 --> 00:48:07,792
that is closest to where
the temple used to be.

993
00:48:07,833 --> 00:48:10,792
And you would literally see
women pressed up against

994
00:48:10,833 --> 00:48:14,333
the wall, weeping
and wailing and praying,

995
00:48:14,375 --> 00:48:16,917
thinking that by
being on that wall,

996
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,625
as close as they could
physically be now that

997
00:48:19,667 --> 00:48:22,708
the temple's been destroyed to
where the temple used to be,

998
00:48:22,792 --> 00:48:27,000
that they were closer to God.

999
00:48:27,042 --> 00:48:31,917
And it's tragic because
Jesus is the greater temple.

1000
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,167
They could have stayed
home in their apartment,

1001
00:48:34,250 --> 00:48:36,083
been filled with
the Holy Spirit,

1002
00:48:36,167 --> 00:48:37,667
worshiping Jesus.

1003
00:48:37,750 --> 00:48:41,000
And that's as close to the Lord
as you could possibly be in

1004
00:48:41,083 --> 00:48:45,333
this life, because it's about
a person, not about a place.

1005
00:48:45,375 --> 00:48:47,000
Jesus is the greater temple.

1006
00:48:47,083 --> 00:48:48,625
Jesus is the great high priest.

1007
00:48:48,667 --> 00:48:52,417
What happened at Passover, and
what was happening in that day

1008
00:48:52,500 --> 00:48:54,917
is that the high priest would
represent the people

1009
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,917
and he would mediate between
the people and God.

1010
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:00,917
And here's Jesus,
the great high priest.

1011
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,000
So friends, I'm not your priest,

1012
00:49:03,042 --> 00:49:05,500
and I'm certainly not
your high priest.

1013
00:49:05,542 --> 00:49:09,167
And we don't have priests and
we don't have a high priest,

1014
00:49:09,250 --> 00:49:11,708
other than Jesus.

1015
00:49:11,792 --> 00:49:14,417
And because of the presence
of the Holy Spirit in us,

1016
00:49:14,500 --> 00:49:16,708
the Bible says we're
a kingdom of priests,

1017
00:49:16,792 --> 00:49:20,125
we all get to do what the
priests used to do: pray for

1018
00:49:20,167 --> 00:49:24,000
people and love people and serve
people and intercede between

1019
00:49:24,083 --> 00:49:27,875
them and God and love them with
a love of God and introduce them

1020
00:49:27,958 --> 00:49:30,208
to Jesus, our great high priest.

1021
00:49:30,292 --> 00:49:33,208
It's exactly what Hebrews is all
about, over and over and over.

1022
00:49:33,292 --> 00:49:35,583
Jesus is our high priest.

1023
00:49:35,667 --> 00:49:38,000
He's the one who
brings us close to God.

1024
00:49:38,083 --> 00:49:41,833
He's the one who offers the
sacrifice for sin so that sin

1025
00:49:41,875 --> 00:49:44,000
might be forgiven
and atoned for.

1026
00:49:44,083 --> 00:49:47,125
So friends, we're not going to
a temple today, and we're also,

1027
00:49:47,167 --> 00:49:50,625
furthermore, not
offering any sacrifices.

1028
00:49:50,667 --> 00:49:52,833
We're not slaughtering any
animals because Jesus

1029
00:49:52,875 --> 00:49:54,792
is the greater sacrifice.

1030
00:49:54,833 --> 00:49:57,667
They would bring a lamb and
they would sacrifice the lamb

1031
00:49:57,750 --> 00:50:00,792
in their place for their
sins as their substitute.

1032
00:50:00,833 --> 00:50:03,667
That lamb's blood would be shed,
and there's Jesus

1033
00:50:03,750 --> 00:50:06,667
the Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world.

1034
00:50:06,750 --> 00:50:10,917
Jesus, the Passover lamb
who's been slain.

1035
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,333
As glorious as it was for them
to come together for Passover,

1036
00:50:14,375 --> 00:50:16,208
it's more glorious for us.

1037
00:50:16,292 --> 00:50:18,917
They have a temple; Jesus
is our greater temple.

1038
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:22,417
They had a high priest; Jesus
is our great high priest.

1039
00:50:22,500 --> 00:50:27,125
They had to sacrifice; Jesus is
the sacrifice given once

1040
00:50:27,167 --> 00:50:30,333
for all sin and sinners.

1041
00:50:30,375 --> 00:50:34,167
And when we gather,
we gather around him.

1042
00:50:34,250 --> 00:50:38,500
It's not about a place,
it's about a person.

1043
00:50:38,583 --> 00:50:43,500
This means individually,
the Spirit of God dwells in us.

1044
00:50:45,167 --> 00:50:47,333
And we get to experience
the Holy of Holies

1045
00:50:47,375 --> 00:50:48,875
in the center of our life.

1046
00:50:48,958 --> 00:50:50,500
Not that we're
sinless and perfect,

1047
00:50:50,583 --> 00:50:52,833
but that the presence
and the power of God

1048
00:50:52,875 --> 00:50:54,625
would be at work in us.

1049
00:50:54,667 --> 00:50:57,083
And that corporately,
as the church,

1050
00:50:57,167 --> 00:50:59,833
that God the Holy Spirit
would dwell in us.

1051
00:50:59,875 --> 00:51:02,917
And that together as the
people of God gathered around,

1052
00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:06,000
not a place but a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ,

1053
00:51:06,083 --> 00:51:09,333
we would come to worship and
to celebrate and open up

1054
00:51:09,375 --> 00:51:12,667
the proverbial court of the
Gentiles to invite those who are

1055
00:51:12,750 --> 00:51:15,500
non-Christian to come in,
and that we give generously

1056
00:51:15,542 --> 00:51:18,125
to pay the bills, that they
might learn about him.

1057
00:51:18,167 --> 00:51:20,167
And if you're among
us as a non-Christian,

1058
00:51:20,250 --> 00:51:23,667
we say God bless you, we love
you, we want nothing from you.

1059
00:51:23,750 --> 00:51:26,667
Jesus has something for
you: forgiveness of sin,

1060
00:51:26,750 --> 00:51:30,875
eternal life,
and friendship with God.

1061
00:51:30,958 --> 00:51:33,333
Father God, we thank
you for the Scriptures

1062
00:51:33,375 --> 00:51:35,708
and an opportunity to study
them.

1063
00:51:35,792 --> 00:51:39,167
And Jesus, I thank you
that you got angry.

1064
00:51:39,250 --> 00:51:41,500
Some of us need to
learn to get angry.

1065
00:51:41,583 --> 00:51:44,500
Some of us get angry too
much for the wrong things,

1066
00:51:44,583 --> 00:51:47,583
and we need to learn how to
have a godly, righteous anger.

1067
00:51:47,667 --> 00:51:51,000
Jesus, thank you that you
were, while on the earth,

1068
00:51:51,083 --> 00:51:52,917
and still are through
your servants,

1069
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:55,417
a preacher and a teacher.

1070
00:51:55,500 --> 00:51:58,417
That Lord Jesus, you don't just
call us to figure life out,

1071
00:51:58,500 --> 00:52:00,292
but you teach us.

1072
00:52:00,333 --> 00:52:03,792
You've sent
the Holy Spirit to teach us.

1073
00:52:03,833 --> 00:52:07,167
You've given us
the Scriptures to teach us.

1074
00:52:07,250 --> 00:52:09,917
Pray for those of us who have
the privilege of preaching

1075
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,208
and teaching, all the way
from moms and dads,

1076
00:52:12,292 --> 00:52:14,417
all the way up to
deacons and elders

1077
00:52:14,500 --> 00:52:16,708
and Community Group leaders
and Redemption Group leaders

1078
00:52:16,792 --> 00:52:18,708
and worship team leaders,
that God,

1079
00:52:18,792 --> 00:52:21,792
we would excel at
preaching and teaching

1080
00:52:21,833 --> 00:52:25,708
by your grace, for your
glory and others' good.

1081
00:52:25,792 --> 00:52:29,833
And thank you,
Lord Jesus as well,

1082
00:52:29,875 --> 00:52:32,417
that you really are greater.

1083
00:52:32,500 --> 00:52:36,833
You're greater than the temple,
you're greater than the priest,

1084
00:52:36,875 --> 00:52:39,917
you're greater than
the sacrifices.

1085
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,500
You're the greatest of all.

1086
00:52:42,542 --> 00:52:46,708
Jesus, it's remarkable to think
that the whole Bible's

1087
00:52:46,792 --> 00:52:50,708
about you and all of human
history is about you.

1088
00:52:50,792 --> 00:52:53,917
And Jesus, we now confess
individually and corporately

1089
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,833
that you have all authority,
there's no one alongside of

1090
00:52:56,875 --> 00:52:59,417
you, there's no one above you.

1091
00:52:59,500 --> 00:53:02,417
It doesn't matter
what the experts say,

1092
00:53:02,500 --> 00:53:06,333
what the professors teach, what
the media would communicate,

1093
00:53:06,375 --> 00:53:09,333
what the philosophers
would pontificate,

1094
00:53:09,375 --> 00:53:12,333
or what the religious
people would speculate.

1095
00:53:12,375 --> 00:53:14,417
Jesus, you are
the highest authority.

1096
00:53:14,500 --> 00:53:16,417
Help us to take
you at your word.

1097
00:53:16,500 --> 00:53:18,000
Amen.