1 00:00:01,180 --> 00:00:01,760 All righty. 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:04,520 Luke chapter 13. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:13,600 I got to give a few thank yous for the folks that give my wife and I those Resurrection Day cards. 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,460 They were very much appreciated. 5 00:00:16,620 --> 00:00:17,520 We read through all of them. 6 00:00:17,620 --> 00:00:18,500 Thank you so much. 7 00:00:19,499 --> 00:00:24,060 And she said, be sure and tell them thank you so I don't have to send out a bunch of thank you cards. 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:27,380 So thank you. 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,740 Also, coming up in May, the National Day of Prayer, May 7th. 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,220 The first Thursday in May is always the National Day of Prayer. 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,560 That will be a week of fasting and prayer for us. 12 00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:44,340 Well, we'll just do Monday through the National Day of Prayer on that Thursday. 13 00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:47,700 Man, does our nation need prayer? 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,000 So we'll be doing that. 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,120 With that, if you have your Bible, open it to Luke chapter 13. 16 00:00:57,060 --> 00:01:05,720 Jesus is coming off, warning people and telling people to watch and be faithful and all those things. 17 00:01:06,580 --> 00:01:10,960 And he continues in chapter 13. 18 00:01:11,340 --> 00:01:17,500 And the three points that I want to make this morning is be repentant, be patient, and be merciful. 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,980 And we're going to see that in our reading this morning. 20 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:26,780 So I'm just going to start and read through verse 17 in chapter 13 of the gospel. 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:33,720 of Luke. It says there were present at that season, some who told him Jesus about the Galileans 22 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:38,940 whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, 23 00:01:39,190 --> 00:01:44,560 do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they 24 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:51,440 suffered such things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 25 00:01:51,780 --> 00:01:56,760 Or those 18 on whom the Tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think, 26 00:01:56,780 --> 00:02:03,240 that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no. But unless you 27 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:09,700 repent, you will all likewise perish. He also spoke this parable. A certain man had a fig tree 28 00:02:09,940 --> 00:02:26,740 planted in his... Hello? Let me check my battery real quick. He says it's full. I am starting to lose my voice, so 29 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,280 If it gets too bad, I'm just going to say amen. 30 00:02:31,780 --> 00:02:32,640 We'll go have lunch. 31 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:35,960 Let me go. 32 00:02:36,150 --> 00:02:36,280 Okay. 33 00:02:37,180 --> 00:02:38,840 Also, he spoke this parable. 34 00:02:39,140 --> 00:02:41,980 A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. 35 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,080 And he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 36 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:53,220 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. 37 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:54,280 Cut it down. 38 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,720 Why does it use up the ground? 39 00:02:57,260 --> 00:03:05,200 But he answered and said to him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and fertilize it. 40 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:09,580 And if it bears fruit well, but if not, after that you can cut it down. 41 00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:12,720 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 42 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:21,300 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 43 00:03:21,460 --> 00:03:26,700 But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, woman, you are living. 44 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:28,020 loose from your infirmity. 45 00:03:28,580 --> 00:03:32,800 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. 46 00:03:33,180 --> 00:03:37,840 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. 47 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,740 And he said to the crowd, there are six days on which men ought to work. 48 00:03:42,860 --> 00:03:47,720 Therefore, come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. 49 00:03:48,230 --> 00:03:56,680 The Lord then answered him and said, hypocrite, why does not each one of you on the 50 00:03:56,780 --> 00:04:05,080 Sabbath day loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water so ought not so ought not this woman 51 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:14,860 being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound think of it for 18 years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath 52 00:04:15,540 --> 00:04:22,160 and when he said these things all his adversaries were put to shame and all the multitude rejoiced 53 00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:26,200 over all the glorious things that were done by him. 54 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:26,880 Let's pray. 55 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:28,820 Lord, thank you for your word. 56 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:44,720 And the truth's in it, Lord, that really are humbling as we look and see this need that we all have to be a repentant people, Lord, be a patient people, be a merciful people. 57 00:04:45,180 --> 00:04:46,740 You've called us to all these things. 58 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,240 May we fulfill that call, and may we be willing to yield to our God. 59 00:04:51,580 --> 00:04:53,560 And so would you speak to our hearts this morning? 60 00:04:53,610 --> 00:04:55,060 In Jesus' name, amen. 61 00:04:56,260 --> 00:04:57,920 So it starts right off the bat. 62 00:04:58,020 --> 00:05:02,700 It's kind of a bizarre story and not a lot of historicity to it. 63 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:08,680 It says there were present at that season some who told him about the Galileans 64 00:05:09,090 --> 00:05:12,640 whose blood pilot had mingled with their sacrifices. 65 00:05:13,580 --> 00:05:18,520 And this is kind of bizarre, but it does seem to be consistent with who pilot was. 66 00:05:20,300 --> 00:05:25,400 One commentator says the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 67 00:05:25,420 --> 00:05:30,560 We don't have a record in secular history about this specific incident mentioned here. 68 00:05:31,220 --> 00:05:34,760 But according to the old Scottish preacher William Barclay, he said, 69 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:44,760 there is a similar incident before the ministry of Jesus where Pilate wanted to build an aqueduct for the pools of Solomon to the city of Jerusalem. 70 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,220 To pay for it, he demanded money from the temple treasury. 71 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,280 money that had been dedicated to God, and this outraged the priests and the people. 72 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:58,340 And when the Jews sent a delegation to beg for their money back, 73 00:05:58,460 --> 00:06:02,080 Pilate sent into the crowd soldiers dressed as common people, 74 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:08,320 and at a certain signal, they took out daggers and attacked the people asking for the money. 75 00:06:09,100 --> 00:06:16,080 And so the people were outraged at the fact that Pilot was willing to shed blood at a worship service. 76 00:06:19,020 --> 00:06:20,840 And I don't know how the Lord sees that. 77 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,640 We see quite a bit of that going on in our world, right? 78 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,940 You know, people tell me all the time, Scotty, what are we going to do? 79 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:28,040 What are we doing about security? 80 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:31,180 Well, we're Idahoans. 81 00:06:32,300 --> 00:06:33,440 There's a lot of guns in this room. 82 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,600 Now, I do realize that we do have to have a plan, 83 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:44,060 and there's some things that we definitely can get dialed in. 84 00:06:45,740 --> 00:06:47,260 But the fact is, is there, 85 00:06:47,340 --> 00:06:56,180 was a lack of reverence in Pilate's heart and this doesn't seem to be the incident that 86 00:06:57,100 --> 00:07:04,520 that's talked about here but it shows that Pilate was willing to shed the blood of Galilean Jews 87 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:10,200 on you know on their way to sacrifice to the Lord and that's consistent with what he did to Jesus 88 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:16,439 right he wasn't he wasn't concerned enough to 89 00:07:17,380 --> 00:07:23,760 save him, but he, with his authority, he tried to get a skirt around it. You remember what he did? 90 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:28,600 He says, I washed my hands of this man because he declares him innocent. He says, what evil has he done? 91 00:07:30,699 --> 00:07:37,780 And we talked about that a little bit last week. But we get stuck on things like this, don't we? 92 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:45,060 When people just die so, what do I want to say? So, 93 00:07:46,699 --> 00:07:55,460 completely innocently, that they, we have this thought that good people are supposed to have 94 00:07:55,540 --> 00:08:01,480 good things happen to them. And bad people are supposed to have bad things happen to them. 95 00:08:03,020 --> 00:08:09,380 We got it all messed up, folks. We're messed up. We're just messed up in our thinking. It's kind of 96 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:15,100 like the funeral I did for a high school kid back in the late 90s. It might have been 2000. 97 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:21,140 and I remember walking up and ministering to the mother who had lost this son, she had three sons. 98 00:08:22,380 --> 00:08:25,460 And she looked at me and she said, God took the wrong son. 99 00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:32,180 And I thought, woman, you're messed up. 100 00:08:33,940 --> 00:08:35,780 And people are messed up, right? 101 00:08:36,300 --> 00:08:39,580 We get this, we get stuck in these categories. 102 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,120 And the fact is that Solomon said it better. 103 00:08:45,140 --> 00:08:51,780 time and chance happens to everybody, right? None of us are out of the woods. None of us are 104 00:08:52,280 --> 00:09:01,080 immune for these things. And here, they're outraged at what Pilot did, but then Jesus will be, 105 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:06,640 Jesus tries to reel them in and put it into perspective. He goes, listen, you think because 106 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:14,140 Pilate did that to these people that they were worse sinners, like they deserved it, than other people? 107 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:15,700 He says, I tell you no. 108 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:18,680 The issue is repent. 109 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:20,600 That's the issue. 110 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:22,580 That's the issue for you. 111 00:09:22,980 --> 00:09:24,180 That's the issue for me. 112 00:09:24,580 --> 00:09:27,080 That's the issue for these people that pilot killed. 113 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:29,020 That's the issue. 114 00:09:30,780 --> 00:09:31,560 You're going to die. 115 00:09:32,140 --> 00:09:33,440 You have to be ready to die. 116 00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:37,000 And that's what the point that Jesus is making. 117 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:43,060 And then the horrific tragedy of this tower of Silo 118 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:48,040 falling on these people killed 18. That's a bad day. 119 00:09:51,460 --> 00:09:57,360 I remember the look on the people's faces as they watched the space shuttle explode. 120 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:03,620 The mom and dad of the gal that was the guest, right, on the space shuttle. 121 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:08,760 And their faces right before their eyes, their daughter was vaporized. 122 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:15,860 And I mean, it was just like, it's horrific. 123 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,920 But Jesus said, it's not the issue. 124 00:10:21,620 --> 00:10:23,120 It's not the issue that you're going to die. 125 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:28,920 Whether tragically, whether you get a long, drawn out death process, 126 00:10:30,180 --> 00:10:31,200 I don't know if I want one of those. 127 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:31,760 What do you think? 128 00:10:34,940 --> 00:10:35,060 Right? 129 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,980 Blaze of glory is my mode, you know. 130 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:39,900 Just go out and a blaze of glory. 131 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:48,340 But Jesus says, no, they weren't worse sinners because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time when the tower fell on. 132 00:10:48,420 --> 00:10:52,500 They weren't worse sinners than you and me because we're all the same, folks. 133 00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:54,700 Nobody has arrived. 134 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:56,540 No everybody is above anyone else. 135 00:10:57,660 --> 00:11:02,700 Well, maybe our kids are above us because they have more faith than we do, right? 136 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:14,200 But Jesus says, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 137 00:11:16,300 --> 00:11:23,940 The Christian life, listen, the Christian life requires that we be people, repentant people. 138 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:25,340 It's a way we live our lives. 139 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:27,160 We need to just repent. 140 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,000 It's a daily thing yesterday. 141 00:11:31,460 --> 00:11:35,360 I prepare for this because Connie and I were going back to Gooding now on Saturdays, 142 00:11:36,419 --> 00:11:38,940 and I share this message with them down there. 143 00:11:39,580 --> 00:11:44,220 And I remember sitting down and starting to kind of put all of my notes together and everything and thinking, 144 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,580 Oh, Lord, forgive me for my sins, for they are many. 145 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:49,500 They are many. 146 00:11:51,180 --> 00:11:53,740 And I probably should have went in and said the same thing to my wife. 147 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:54,320 Oh, honey. 148 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:56,780 Forgive me for my sins, for they are many. 149 00:11:59,420 --> 00:12:01,920 And she's been very gracious over the years to forgive me. 150 00:12:01,980 --> 00:12:04,600 I mean, obviously, for two reasons. 151 00:12:04,820 --> 00:12:05,740 one, she hasn't killed me. 152 00:12:06,980 --> 00:12:08,400 And she's still with me, right? 153 00:12:09,900 --> 00:12:13,060 But we know all too well because of our sin, right? 154 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:18,020 We're not out of the woods yet, and things could fall apart, you know, if one of the other 155 00:12:18,140 --> 00:12:18,680 gets stupid. 156 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,360 So we've just given permission to each other. 157 00:12:22,370 --> 00:12:23,000 You just kill me. 158 00:12:23,010 --> 00:12:24,120 If I get stupid, just kill me. 159 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:27,500 And then it's final. 160 00:12:33,980 --> 00:12:34,780 But we can. 161 00:12:34,820 --> 00:12:40,780 get stuck on these things and we try to process it through in our mind. You know, I'm just thinking 162 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,420 right now of what's going on in Iran and the threat that Trump made. Do you guys remember 163 00:12:47,540 --> 00:13:00,000 World War II when President, I'm having a blank? Who was after FDR? Truman. Yeah, when President 164 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:04,760 Truman called for the bomb and how many people he was going to destroy. 165 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:11,760 with that bomb? There was a guy in our fellowship some years ago and he was he was 166 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,840 in the Marine Corps and they were staging in southern Japan and they were going to make a 167 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:21,200 campaign from the south to the north. They said the U.S. would have lost a million men. 168 00:13:24,340 --> 00:13:31,140 And you're thinking and Truman was a believer and he called for the 169 00:13:32,740 --> 00:13:34,740 annihilation of over a quarter of a million 170 00:13:34,820 --> 00:13:41,180 people. Many think it was much more than that, but at least that's just like, how could you do that? 171 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:50,600 How could anyone do that? And yet, when you look back at it, it saved thousands and thousands of 172 00:13:50,920 --> 00:14:01,560 American lives. The issue is repentance. That's the issue. When Jesus started his ministry, 173 00:14:01,660 --> 00:14:04,720 that's what he said. Listen, repent for the kingdom of 174 00:14:04,780 --> 00:14:11,680 heaven is a hand. And you've got to get good at it. I love people that are good or repenting, 175 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:18,780 right? But so many aren't. They set their jaw, they harden their heart, they stiffen their neck, 176 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:28,860 and they won't repent. And we're called to be. It's an imperative now, because we know, 177 00:14:29,380 --> 00:14:34,700 we know that we should repent. We know that we should forgive. And Jesus was very absolutely, 178 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:43,820 adamant about that. Paul in Acts, and I had mentioned this last week, this passage, but I'm going to 179 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:50,120 read it to you again. It's found in Acts chapter 17, verses 26 through 30. And Paul says, 180 00:14:50,260 --> 00:14:57,940 and he, God, made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. 181 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:04,240 One blood. That is, there's one race. It's the human race. Okay. 182 00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:10,720 there's one. That'd be us. Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. 183 00:15:11,380 --> 00:15:18,420 Right? He's made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has 184 00:15:18,660 --> 00:15:26,140 determined their pre-appointed times and boundaries of their dwellings. God has done that. Right? 185 00:15:26,980 --> 00:15:31,960 So this verse should tell you there should be no argument about Israel. 186 00:15:33,980 --> 00:15:42,140 so that they should seek the Lord in hope that they may might grope for him and find him, 187 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,440 though he is not far from each one of us, that they would grope. 188 00:15:50,620 --> 00:15:50,800 Right? 189 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,440 That words usually has a bad connotation. 190 00:15:58,600 --> 00:15:59,560 But I'm going to go on. 191 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,940 For in him we live and move and have. 192 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:10,080 have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. 193 00:16:11,580 --> 00:16:18,680 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is 194 00:16:18,820 --> 00:16:23,920 like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. 195 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:31,920 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked. He overlooked their idolatry. He's, he's 196 00:16:32,420 --> 00:16:34,240 He didn't kill them for what they were doing. 197 00:16:34,740 --> 00:16:35,600 He was merciful. 198 00:16:36,020 --> 00:16:40,180 But now he commands all men everywhere to repent. 199 00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:42,080 That's what he's saying. 200 00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:44,920 So what are you groping for? 201 00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:46,220 Grooping. 202 00:16:47,140 --> 00:16:47,840 It's interesting. 203 00:16:48,620 --> 00:16:55,500 It's used as a Greek verb here that carries the idea of extended exploratory touch. 204 00:16:57,940 --> 00:17:00,880 George King and I used to artificially breed mares. 205 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,839 And you would have to palpate them, right? 206 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,939 That way is where you go up and you blindly try to find where that baby is. 207 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:13,400 In pre-checking, same with cattle. 208 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:15,240 They call it palpating. 209 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,900 Palpated cows, palpating horses. 210 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,079 But you're looking for something specific. 211 00:17:21,819 --> 00:17:28,380 I see people all over the world groping for some kind of spiritual significance in their life. 212 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:31,040 It's kind of wild. 213 00:17:32,020 --> 00:17:36,920 In fact, the Catholic Church has this huge wave of young people joining the Catholic Church. 214 00:17:38,420 --> 00:17:38,560 Right? 215 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:43,240 Some people just feel like they need that liturgy and that structure, right? 216 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:44,520 This is what you do. 217 00:17:46,100 --> 00:17:47,200 This is how you look. 218 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,940 We're really good at that in this part of the country. 219 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:51,500 About how you look. 220 00:17:53,980 --> 00:17:56,080 But we know that God looks at the heart. 221 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:01,080 More than a casual contact, this groping, it is the deliver. 222 00:18:01,100 --> 00:18:04,640 handling by which one verifies the truth. 223 00:18:06,820 --> 00:18:07,860 Are you seeking the truth? 224 00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:11,120 Are you looking for it? 225 00:18:11,180 --> 00:18:12,540 You're trying to lay hold of it? 226 00:18:17,900 --> 00:18:20,500 In the scripture, the word functions both literally 227 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,680 and when the risen Lord invites the disciples 228 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,380 to handle his body and figuratively, 229 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,460 as when Paul pictures humanity groping for God 230 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:37,680 in every setting, it underscores tangible certainty rather than abstract speculation. 231 00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:39,940 You can know. 232 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,400 You can know that you're right with God. 233 00:18:43,540 --> 00:18:44,880 You can know that you're going to heaven. 234 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:46,900 And so many people don't know that. 235 00:18:47,540 --> 00:18:49,680 There are people sitting in this room right now. 236 00:18:49,980 --> 00:18:50,840 You've been groping. 237 00:18:52,540 --> 00:18:53,320 You've been searching. 238 00:18:54,440 --> 00:19:00,440 And you haven't come to the simple fact that it is an unadulterated faith in the 239 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:08,420 the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And by his grace that you're saved. That's what it is. It's that simple. 240 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:17,940 I don't have to have a robe on or a hat with phalactries. I don't have to do that. I don't have to do a ritual 241 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:29,340 every morning, though I do. Right? Every morning I try to read God's word. And I try to acknowledge my God. 242 00:19:30,620 --> 00:19:36,020 otherwise I get going off doing my own thing and having my day and forget about him 243 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:48,100 how easy that is and Paul quotes 244 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,660 Paul quotes Deuteronomy 3010 in Romans chapter 8 245 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,560 Romans excuse me chapter 10 verse 8 246 00:19:58,980 --> 00:20:01,300 And I got to turn there real quick and read it to you. 247 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,280 Thought I had it. There it is. 248 00:20:10,980 --> 00:20:13,120 It says, but what does it say? 249 00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:16,000 The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. 250 00:20:16,380 --> 00:20:21,860 That is the word of faith, which we preach, that you come to Jesus by faith. 251 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,780 Not with some, you know, dog and pony show. 252 00:20:29,140 --> 00:20:29,800 what do you need 253 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,980 is it not significant enough to know that God loves you 254 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,180 and he simply has a plan for your life 255 00:20:40,940 --> 00:20:42,900 and that you can nurture a relationship with Jesus 256 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,320 because he goes on and he says right 257 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,740 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus 258 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,320 and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead 259 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:51,520 you will be saved 260 00:20:54,580 --> 00:20:55,519 what's wrong with that 261 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:07,900 why do we got to go after these other things and yet we do especially in the west i was reading this morning 262 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:16,240 and uh was just struck by it in ecclesiastes chapter six if you got a bible turn there it's ecclesiases 263 00:21:16,620 --> 00:21:23,599 chapter six starting in verse one and i want to read this to you and and see if it doesn't sound familiar 264 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:25,760 This is some serious groping here. 265 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:28,600 Verse one, it says, 266 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,800 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, 267 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,160 and it is common among men, 268 00:21:34,820 --> 00:21:37,980 a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor. 269 00:21:38,540 --> 00:21:38,960 Is that you? 270 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:40,480 That's most of us, right? 271 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:45,280 So that he lacks nothing for himself for all he desires. 272 00:21:45,780 --> 00:21:48,300 Yet God does not give him power to eat of it, 273 00:21:48,660 --> 00:21:50,580 but a foreigner consumes it. 274 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:53,180 This is vanity. 275 00:21:53,700 --> 00:21:55,560 and it is an evil affliction. 276 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,180 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years 277 00:22:01,420 --> 00:22:03,640 so that the days of his years are many, 278 00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:07,940 but his soul is not satisfied with goodness or intended, 279 00:22:09,460 --> 00:22:11,800 or indeed he has no burial, 280 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,680 I say that a stillborn child is better than he. 281 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:23,180 For it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, 282 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,680 and its name is covered with darkness. 283 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,460 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, 284 00:22:30,740 --> 00:22:33,380 this has more rest than that man. 285 00:22:35,300 --> 00:22:37,460 Even if he lives a thousand years twice, 286 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,960 this really stuck a chord with me because mankind is coming to that place 287 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,280 where he really wants to live forever. 288 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,240 Yeah, but not in this old stinking thing. 289 00:22:51,430 --> 00:22:52,520 I mean, it stinks. 290 00:22:53,180 --> 00:22:53,820 smell it 291 00:22:55,660 --> 00:22:56,600 it's just nasty 292 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,160 no there was just a 293 00:23:07,879 --> 00:23:08,440 article 294 00:23:08,900 --> 00:23:09,820 at one of the 295 00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:11,400 universities that they now 296 00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:13,720 can actually create a body 297 00:23:13,780 --> 00:23:14,940 a headless body 298 00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:17,060 a headless body 299 00:23:17,660 --> 00:23:18,920 that has a beating heart 300 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,440 that you can make for yourself 301 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:22,500 in case you can make for yourself 302 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:28,000 a transplant or a, you know, you get cancer or something. And because it doesn't have a head, 303 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:39,380 that's okay. So they can harvest organs out of it. It's just weird. The world is getting weird. 304 00:23:41,940 --> 00:23:48,760 Even if he lives a thousand years twice, but has not seen goodness, do not all go to one place. 305 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:52,460 Yeah. We're all headed there, really. 306 00:23:52,540 --> 00:23:57,540 fast, like breakneck speed. And I'm looking out over this crowd and some of you are way ahead of us. 307 00:24:02,780 --> 00:24:07,740 So the issue is, be ready. Right? 308 00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:19,760 The second thing, first repent, second thing is be patient. You've come to the Lord. You're 309 00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:22,460 grown in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord. I know some people, 310 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,520 people that get saved and they want to teach in seminary the next day. 311 00:24:27,260 --> 00:24:29,620 Oh, I can teach this Bible, man. I'm excited. 312 00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:32,000 Yeah, you're excited, but you don't know nothing. 313 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,340 I heard an excited guy with a cowboy hat on today on Facebook, 314 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:43,040 telling us why Christian Zionism, he disqualifies it in 60 seconds. 315 00:24:43,660 --> 00:24:45,040 And he's just, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, 316 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:49,420 shooting all these scriptures. And I'm just going, yeah, but you just passed about 40 317 00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:52,440 promises that God made to Israel that he's going to fulfill. 318 00:24:52,460 --> 00:24:57,480 ill. Because they take Genesis 12. I don't think they read anything but Genesis 12, 319 00:24:58,260 --> 00:25:02,480 three, that it says God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those, or excuse me, 320 00:25:03,180 --> 00:25:08,860 Abraham. And that's their argument. Oh, God was talking to Abraham. He was talking to Abraham. 321 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,420 And Abraham's descendants. And he said, I will make from you a great nation. And didn't we just read 322 00:25:14,420 --> 00:25:20,040 that he sets boundaries? He establishes nations. He does that. But in Genesis chapter 27, 323 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:26,460 obviously this guy hasn't read read because you know Jacob he God tells Jacob those who bless you all 324 00:25:26,620 --> 00:25:34,040 bless those who curse you all curse well who's Jacob okay Jacob is Israel this boy don't know he's 325 00:25:34,140 --> 00:25:41,780 hind in from the hole in the ground and he is just spouting it off man he's the most confident 326 00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:43,580 idiot I had ever heard 327 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,760 But we come to Jesus and he saves us, 328 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,400 and then he starts cleaning us up. 329 00:25:56,620 --> 00:26:00,740 And some of you have a sense in your life that God has a calling on your life. 330 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:01,680 And he does. 331 00:26:02,220 --> 00:26:03,240 And he'll open a door. 332 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:05,360 And you've got to do your part. 333 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:07,140 Right? 334 00:26:07,900 --> 00:26:13,000 And so that's where he talks here in verses 6 through 9, 335 00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:18,260 where he says, and he also spoke, a parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, 336 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,740 and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 337 00:26:24,020 --> 00:26:29,340 look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. 338 00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:35,300 Why does it use up the ground? Wasted space. You know people like that? 339 00:26:37,060 --> 00:26:42,500 Just a waste of flesh. I am that sometimes. 340 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,820 just a waste, not bearing any fruit. 341 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,760 But notice the patience, right? 342 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:51,900 I love this keeper. 343 00:26:51,980 --> 00:26:52,780 I love this picture. 344 00:26:54,060 --> 00:26:57,900 It just struck me last night as I was reading it for three years. 345 00:26:59,300 --> 00:27:01,220 How many years did Jesus walk on the earth? 346 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,400 It's a three-year ministry. 347 00:27:05,420 --> 00:27:06,560 Were the disciples very fruitful? 348 00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:09,880 No, they were always sticking their foot in their mouth. 349 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:11,380 Right? 350 00:27:13,580 --> 00:27:15,340 or wanting to be like Elijah. 351 00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:16,420 Remember John and James? 352 00:27:16,660 --> 00:27:19,620 Lord, can we call fire down from heaven and fry these guys? 353 00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:20,640 That would be so cool. 354 00:27:23,180 --> 00:27:24,880 And Jesus gets after him. 355 00:27:25,220 --> 00:27:27,080 He says, you know, not what spirit you are of. 356 00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:28,740 Right? 357 00:27:29,380 --> 00:27:32,000 Did you see the Lord looking down and seeing the disciples going, 358 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,300 hey, son, what's up with your disciples? 359 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,320 There's no, they're a waste of flesh. 360 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,220 Maybe they're the ones that should be fried. 361 00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:47,440 But this keeper is somebody that's patient and gracious. 362 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:48,600 Oh, no, no, no. 363 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:49,120 Give me time. 364 00:27:49,940 --> 00:27:50,660 I'll fertilize. 365 00:27:51,340 --> 00:27:52,520 See what the next year brings. 366 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:57,200 If they maintain this fruitlessness, then chop it down. 367 00:27:58,460 --> 00:27:59,840 What's the fruit like in your life? 368 00:28:01,060 --> 00:28:02,260 I know some people get freaked out. 369 00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:03,400 I don't know if there is any. 370 00:28:03,850 --> 00:28:04,900 Do I have any fruit in my life? 371 00:28:04,910 --> 00:28:06,460 Am I, is he going to chop me down? 372 00:28:07,860 --> 00:28:08,380 Oh, maybe. 373 00:28:15,580 --> 00:28:17,400 That's why it's important to daily. 374 00:28:18,380 --> 00:28:19,700 Jesus said, pick up your cross. 375 00:28:20,780 --> 00:28:20,900 Right. 376 00:28:21,060 --> 00:28:22,620 Every day, you've got to do it. 377 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:24,820 You don't want to. 378 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,140 I don't want to some days. 379 00:28:28,300 --> 00:28:29,360 Every day pick up your cross, 380 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:30,200 die to yourself. 381 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:31,540 Go be like Jesus. 382 00:28:32,260 --> 00:28:34,080 Love, be patient, 383 00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:36,400 be willing to repent, 384 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:37,560 willing to yield, 385 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:44,040 be like him. Why? Because judgment is coming. Judgment will come. 386 00:28:47,820 --> 00:28:57,020 And so here is a picture of God's patience, right? The owner yielded. He yielded. Oh, okay. Well, wait. 387 00:28:58,540 --> 00:29:04,120 Isn't that what Paul's talking about? In these times of foolishness, God overlooked all your wickedness. 388 00:29:05,140 --> 00:29:07,360 But now, now you know. 389 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:17,920 right so repent in turn and it does take time and we will stumble and we will fall how many people 390 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:23,240 I've talked to over the years who won't come to Christ because they say I can't measure up well join the 391 00:29:24,050 --> 00:29:30,920 club right what do you mean you can't measure up well I'm going to fail and I'm going to sin duh right 392 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:37,360 don't we all and it becomes different our sin becomes different my sin today is so much different 393 00:29:37,380 --> 00:29:44,320 was 40 years ago, but it's still sin when I know to do good and I do not do it. 394 00:29:46,060 --> 00:29:47,440 And so God has been patient. 395 00:29:49,300 --> 00:29:58,200 And 2 Timothy, chapter, excuse me, 2nd Peter chapter 3, verses 8 through 10. 396 00:29:59,380 --> 00:30:07,340 He says this, but beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand. 397 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:12,420 thousand years of the day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises as some count slackness, 398 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:17,120 but is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to 399 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:24,320 what? Repentance. God's patient. I love his patience. I'm thankful for his patience. 400 00:30:26,580 --> 00:30:31,980 And so he says, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens 401 00:30:32,140 --> 00:30:37,320 will pass away with great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heath, both the earth and the 402 00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:46,000 works that are in it will be burned up. And so the Lord is patient, but the fact is, it is coming. 403 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:53,960 It is coming. And so because the Lord has been patient with us, we must also be patient. 404 00:30:57,580 --> 00:31:03,860 Who likes that? Being patient. You should ride with me in a car sometimes. 405 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:11,860 Now, between the Holy Spirit and my wife, I have gotten a tiny bit better in 40 years. 406 00:31:16,380 --> 00:31:20,640 But this impatience, I want it and I want it now. 407 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:22,300 Kind of an attitude. 408 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,340 But good things come to those who wait and wait on the Lord. 409 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,380 Dennis reminded me that on Friday we were talking about, 410 00:31:31,860 --> 00:31:35,040 we thought we would get much more done Friday than we did in the first. 411 00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:40,060 framing of the bathrooms, and then they went ahead and worked yesterday and got a good portion done. 412 00:31:40,540 --> 00:31:42,400 But Dennis, he threw out the cliche. 413 00:31:43,020 --> 00:31:45,020 It's almost become a cliche, right? 414 00:31:45,740 --> 00:31:46,420 Lord's timing. 415 00:31:48,380 --> 00:32:00,620 But it is the Lord's timing in spite of us, whether it's laziness or, you know, putting up an unplum wall that you're going to have to tear down or whatever it is, it's the Lord's timing. 416 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:03,820 He's going to get it all worked out. 417 00:32:04,460 --> 00:32:09,020 Psalm 2714, wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. 418 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:10,940 Wait, I say, on the Lord. 419 00:32:11,540 --> 00:32:12,160 What does that mean? 420 00:32:13,100 --> 00:32:13,540 I don't know. 421 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:14,560 It means wait on the Lord. 422 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:22,540 Isaiah 40, verse 31, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. 423 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,440 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. 424 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,600 They shall run and not be weary. 425 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:28,960 They shall walk and not faint. 426 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:40,100 And so waiting on the Lord, waiting for the Lord to open a door 427 00:32:41,779 --> 00:32:43,800 and occupying until he comes. 428 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,360 Psalm 377, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. 429 00:32:47,850 --> 00:32:50,860 Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way 430 00:32:51,420 --> 00:32:54,840 because of the man who brings wicked schemes to past. 431 00:32:55,940 --> 00:32:56,800 Don't fret about that. 432 00:32:58,100 --> 00:33:00,300 Keep our focus on the Lord. 433 00:33:02,460 --> 00:33:06,140 And watch him grow you in the grace and the knowledge, right? 434 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,260 Now, God being patient with us is a glorious thing. 435 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:15,480 Us being patient with God is really no sweat because of who he is. 436 00:33:17,220 --> 00:33:19,900 But then he wants us to be patient with others too. 437 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,480 That's a little tougher, right? 438 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:31,460 How often I've looked at Christians, and in my heart I just want to say, would you please just grow up? 439 00:33:33,020 --> 00:33:34,220 Right? Grow up. 440 00:33:40,660 --> 00:33:45,360 First Leslonians chapter 5, verse 14, says, 441 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:52,640 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, hold up the weak, be patient with all. 442 00:33:55,020 --> 00:34:04,500 Then 15 says, verse 15 says, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. 443 00:34:05,980 --> 00:34:06,980 And that's not our bent. 444 00:34:08,060 --> 00:34:13,340 That's a supernatural thing that we talk about when this Christian life, when we can't do it. 445 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:21,679 No, God's got to help us do that because I don't think we've got that kind of moxie to do what Paul was encouraging there. 446 00:34:22,919 --> 00:34:27,100 Then in Colossians chapter 3, we're encouraged. 447 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:33,139 It says, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, 448 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,840 humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. 449 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:43,820 If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, you must also do. 450 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,540 But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 451 00:34:49,820 --> 00:35:00,720 patiently loving one another. Do we have to? We have to. Yeah. We have to because most of the time we don't want to. 452 00:35:03,260 --> 00:35:13,620 So be repentant, be patient, and last of all, be merciful. We see Jesus with this woman here in verse 10. 453 00:35:13,620 --> 00:35:19,300 It says now as he was teaching in one of the synagogues, behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity. 454 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,240 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 455 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,360 But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, 456 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,140 woman, you are lursed from your infirmity. 457 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:33,080 That's merciful. 458 00:35:34,380 --> 00:35:39,180 How many people do you think that Jesus walked by that needed a touch from him but never got it? 459 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:41,380 Right? 460 00:35:41,460 --> 00:35:46,940 We know the guy probably at the gate beautiful, you know, that after Jesus ascends to heaven, 461 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:48,740 you know, Peter, James, and John, 462 00:35:49,300 --> 00:35:51,780 They go to the temple and heal this guy. 463 00:35:53,940 --> 00:35:55,860 But the Lord reached out to this woman. 464 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,120 And no doubt, he sees what's ailing her. 465 00:36:07,180 --> 00:36:08,140 And he says, be loosed. 466 00:36:09,580 --> 00:36:13,380 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. 467 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:18,020 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, 468 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,640 Because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. 469 00:36:21,580 --> 00:36:22,540 And he said to the crowd, 470 00:36:22,780 --> 00:36:24,820 there are six days on which men ought to work. 471 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,240 Therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. 472 00:36:29,340 --> 00:36:31,400 And the Lord answered and said to him, hypocrite. 473 00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:35,960 Hypocrite, you stinking actor, you two-faced dog. 474 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:47,560 Does not each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water? 475 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:49,560 I had to do this. 476 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,260 It was my job on a ranch I worked on. 477 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,520 We had a stallion that we kept, obviously, away from the mares 478 00:36:55,700 --> 00:36:59,160 through all the winter months, you know, before the breeding season. 479 00:36:59,660 --> 00:37:01,700 And I had to go, he didn't have any water in his pen. 480 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,520 I had to lead him to the creek every single day to water. 481 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,880 And the old saying is true, you can lead a horse to water, 482 00:37:07,980 --> 00:37:09,360 but you can't make him drink. 483 00:37:12,459 --> 00:37:13,760 And it was a labor. 484 00:37:15,140 --> 00:37:17,580 And he's saying, listen, you go water your day. 485 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:26,060 donkey and your ox and you don't think this woman should be healed and he goes think of it think of it 486 00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:36,060 18 years and you're crying about it being a sabbath day hypocrite hypocrite 487 00:37:44,099 --> 00:37:47,560 so be merciful so be merciful he should be merciful he should 488 00:37:47,620 --> 00:37:54,860 showed us how to be merciful here. He saw a need and he ministered to it. That's how simple it is, 489 00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:04,480 folks. How many needs do you see around you? Even on a daily basis. Right? We just see it all the time. 490 00:38:06,860 --> 00:38:17,260 And it's so simple. And we just want a quick fix sometimes. Sometimes we ministered, and I'm sorry, I'm guilty of this. 491 00:38:17,580 --> 00:38:19,880 Sometimes I minister to people just so they'll go away. 492 00:38:25,980 --> 00:38:26,640 Isn't that terrible? 493 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:31,100 Is that really mercy? 494 00:38:32,300 --> 00:38:34,680 Or is that hypocrisy in its purest form? 495 00:38:40,260 --> 00:38:42,560 We're merciful because God's been merciful. 496 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:44,100 Has he been merciful to you? 497 00:38:44,780 --> 00:38:47,220 If you're drawn breath, God's been. 498 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:53,100 merciful to you. If you're here, you got up this morning. Clay told me, say, yeah, watch the sun come 499 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:58,880 over the teetons. Any day you can do that. That's a good day. Even though the body's hurting and you're 500 00:38:59,060 --> 00:39:06,640 getting older and things are harder, God's still merciful. And that's what he told Paul, right, in 501 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:13,600 2nd Corinthians 12.9. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. For my strength is made perfect in 502 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:19,680 weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ 503 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:32,960 may rest upon me. No matter what state I am, Paul said, I'm content. God's mercy is awesome. 504 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:43,580 So he desires mercy from himself and from us. Because God's merciful to us, he demands. 505 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:48,800 of others, Matthew chapter 9, two times in Matthew, Jesus talks about this. He says, go and learn 506 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:54,060 what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners 507 00:39:54,200 --> 00:40:02,240 to repentance. God loves to show mercy. It's like he's got this bucket and he walks around. Who can 508 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:11,740 I throw this on? This bucket of mercy. Who can I throw this on? Is that you? And the only way, 509 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:14,220 the only thing you have to do, 510 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:19,800 the only thing you have to do to get God's mercy is repent. 511 00:40:21,100 --> 00:40:22,060 Oh, God, forgive me. 512 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:25,640 We're going to get to that, you know, the two guys that go up to pray 513 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,700 and the one, he beats on his chest and he looks down, 514 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:29,960 he won't even lift up his eyes. 515 00:40:30,300 --> 00:40:32,900 He says, oh, Lord, forgive me a sinful man. 516 00:40:33,980 --> 00:40:36,160 And Jesus said, that boy went away justified. 517 00:40:43,740 --> 00:40:48,400 go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, right? 518 00:40:50,180 --> 00:40:57,280 Then he says, but if you had known, Matthew chapter 12, 7, if you had known what this means, 519 00:40:57,720 --> 00:41:03,900 I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. 520 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:07,980 You would not have condemned the gillus. 521 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,720 This man is basically condemning this woman because she's in the Sabbath. 522 00:41:13,220 --> 00:41:16,340 She's there at church on the Sabbath they all bent over. 523 00:41:18,020 --> 00:41:22,240 And Jesus bringing her health is condemned. 524 00:41:25,740 --> 00:41:27,840 So the takeaways from this morning. 525 00:41:28,420 --> 00:41:29,840 Live a life of repentance. 526 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,780 Be patient with yourself, with God, and with others. 527 00:41:33,300 --> 00:41:33,920 Be merciful. 528 00:41:35,780 --> 00:41:39,720 all of God's promises to Israel, I see, are merciful. 529 00:41:40,660 --> 00:41:41,520 They don't deserve it. 530 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:43,340 Like you and I do. 531 00:41:44,620 --> 00:41:45,980 You and I deserve the mercy of God. 532 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:47,680 No, we don't deserve the mercy of God. 533 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,220 But he promises that he'll be merciful to those who humble themselves. 534 00:41:57,580 --> 00:42:03,920 A scripture I kind of wanted to close with is in Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22 and 535 00:42:03,940 --> 00:42:05,680 And it's almost like this. 536 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:08,420 It doesn't belong in lamentations 537 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,840 because lamentations mean to weep or to wail or to mourn. 538 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:13,660 But I love this scripture. 539 00:42:13,780 --> 00:42:17,120 It says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 540 00:42:17,740 --> 00:42:19,360 His mercies never come to an end. 541 00:42:19,900 --> 00:42:20,920 They are new every morning. 542 00:42:21,500 --> 00:42:22,780 Great is your faithfulness. 543 00:42:23,700 --> 00:42:25,100 Guys, listen, we have a great God. 544 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:28,140 And it all starts with humbling ourselves before him 545 00:42:28,500 --> 00:42:32,440 and let him grow us in patience and in being merciful. 546 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:35,640 And I love verse 17, how it all ended up. 547 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:40,320 And it says, and when he had said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame. 548 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:46,220 And all the multitude rejoice for all the glorious things that were done by him. 549 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:47,700 Let's all stand, shall we? 550 00:42:49,980 --> 00:42:55,440 Father, thank you for loving us, being merciful to us. 551 00:42:56,420 --> 00:43:01,020 Lord, help us to be a people who have a great habit of repentance. 552 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:04,920 Lord, just knowing that we so miss the mark. 553 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:13,440 And yet you're so full of grace and mercy and so patient with us that you're growing us, 554 00:43:13,860 --> 00:43:15,720 even though it's just a little bit at a time. 555 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:21,340 So help us to be steadfast and immovable in these days, Lord. 556 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:22,360 It's wild. 557 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:28,980 The people that I see getting tripped up and, Lord, not pressing in to the Word of God 558 00:43:29,180 --> 00:43:31,120 and putting it up on the pages of their heart. 559 00:43:31,620 --> 00:43:36,860 Lord, that they wouldn't be deceived because in these days it's a crazy world out there. 560 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,820 There's so much information flying around that isn't true, Lord. 561 00:43:40,460 --> 00:43:41,660 You're the way the truth in the life. 562 00:43:41,780 --> 00:43:43,180 May we seek you with all of our hearts. 563 00:43:43,660 --> 00:43:44,760 Bless your people this week. 564 00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:50,660 May we go out and be salt and light in this world and that we would point others to you, Lord, 565 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:56,880 to find the hope and the abundant life that we've experienced by walking with our Lord Jesus. 566 00:43:57,460 --> 00:43:59,320 So we pray it in Jesus' mighty name. 567 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:00,600 Amen. 568 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:01,080 Amen. 569 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:04,840 God bless you guys. The prayer team's going to be up here if you need prayer this morning. 570 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:09,060 Please do that. And have a glorious week.