Tag: Deception

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James Sermon

Doers and Hearers: James 1:22-25

Good morning church it’s blessing to see all of you in our online church service, we are going through the book of James under the theme “Faith in action”

I wanna start with a short story, In the month of April and May we see beautiful Gulmohar tree blooming all over our city, last year, I collect lots of seeds, so that someday I will plant the seeds somewhere, the seeds are still with me.

If I didn’t plant that seed I will never see beautiful Gulmohar flower. What I want to convey through this story is, God’s word is like a seed, we come to church hear great sermons and if we never apply those God’s word in our life, it’s like my story, you store those seeds and never plant we won’t harvest anything in our life.

This morning James is saying the same thing James 1:22-25, we shall meditate this text. l will like to read for all of us.

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Church, today we shall meditate together 4 very vital points under the topic DOERS and HEARERS. there are two kinds of people in every church, Doers – They heard the word and applied in their daily life.

Mere hearers – They heard the word but never applied in their life. We shall see both Doers and hearers character one after another. With that lets come to our first point.

1. BE DOERS OF THE WORD

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word. James wants all of us to be the doers of the word, The sentence Doers of the word is in imperative so, it is a command to every believer.

Every believer should be doers of the word. Why we be doers of the Word? because The Word of God calls us to action: Putting God’s word into action will change lives, Remember how God changes our lives, we believe the word of God and we allow God to process the word in our life and it brings life transformation.

Putting God’s word into action will change minds, As we process God’s word in our life, as we put the word of God into action, God’s word renew our mind daily and we are more and more like Jesus every day.

Putting God’s word into action will change hearts. As we put God’s word into action/practice, it makes our heart purer and closer before God. When we obey the word of God and when we put the word of God into practice, the word of God sanctify us and make us more like Him.

After preaching a sermon on the mount, Jesus said, we should be doers of the word. If we are not a doer of the word, we are building up our life in the wrong foundation, the wrong foundation that brings misery and destruction in our life.

Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus said,
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Anything we will build up apart from Christ will not last and will face great destruction. If you are a doer of the word that will prove that you love Christ. John 14:23. “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Application

Are you doers of the word?

In Israel there is a sea called Dead sea, you know river water flows in the dead sea and never flows out, as a result, Its salt concentration is 8.6 times saltier than ocean water.

There are no plants, fish, or any other visible life in the sea. Many people are like Dead sea, they heard and received all they need from word of God but they didn’t put into practice, nothing grows in their heart, Don’t be like the dead sea, those people are physically alive but spiritual dead, Church Let’s be doers of the word and grow in the Lord daily. With that lets come to our second point.

2. MERE HEARERS ARE DECEIVERS

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. James is saying that we are to be “doers” of God’s word, “and not hearers only, hearers only deceive selves” (v. 22b).

People who only “hear” God’s word but who do not “do” what it says, are fooling and deceiving themselves.

They think that they are receiving a benefit from ‘hearing’, when in fact they are robbing themselves of the blessing of God. What exactly does this deception look like?

When we say we believe one thing but don’t act upon it, It is really like we don’t believe it at all. This is similar to the double-minded living that James speaks of in verse 8.

Remember, in verse 8 James says the double-minded person is the one who professes belief but doubts. Here, James says we are deceived if we say we believe but don’t act on the Word. Jer.17:19 Our own hearts are deceitful so much so that we easily fool ourselves.

I have deceived many myself times in my life, I was born in pastor family, heard thousands and thousands of sermon in my life, I can clearly remember how I have deceived myself and God many times knowingly and unknowingly.

This was my idol for so long, I was lazy, I was forgetful, never take the word of God seriously, my life was like a dead sea, nothing growing in my heart, I was living unproductive life.

Slowly God shows my heart idol when I come to know I was deceiving myself, and breaking God’s heart by my sinful behaviour I repent my sin and receive His grace.

Illustration:

Judas Iscariot had the best pastor, the best leader, the best advisor, the best counsellor he saw all wonders and miracles, yet he deceives himself, the problem is not the leadership of the church you go to.

If your attitude or character doesn’t change or your heart doesn’t transform, you will always be the same.

Application: How many times have you deceive yourself and God?

If you have deceived like me, let us repent our sins and received God’s forgiveness and grace. May we all be doers of the word in our everyday life.

3. MERE HEARER ARE NEGLECTORS. (23-24)

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

Mere hearers are neglecters of the word, James uses an analogy of a man looking into a mirror, once he looks at himself and gone away and he immediately forgot what kind of person he is.

That person is like hearing a sermon or read God’s Word and think, “I must do something about that.”

But then when he gets home and life just gets busy. He has got things to do, people to see, places to go. And just forget. Gods word is like a mirror, and the purpose of a mirror is self-examination;

you can see the flaws and hopefully fix them. We should use God’s word as our mirror. As a mirror, allow it to reflect an image of who you truly are. When it shows you your gifts, use them.

When it shows you what you are doing is sin, repent and change it. When it shows how you can live in the power of Christ, live in it. The word should be a tool for you to use to examine your life, but it must be done truthfully.

Let your time of daily devotion be an opportunity to examine yourselves in the mirror of God’s Word. James brings this up because there are many who sit beneath the preaching and are forgetful and neglect hearers.

Forgetful in this sense: they hear the preaching and even agree with it, but the moment Sunday is over, they forget the Word. They do not carry it with them into their lives. Church let’s not walk away from the mirror of God’s Word.

Application:

Our life priority should be God, if you are neglecting His word and His instruction, If you are not giving priority to His word. You are inviting all life troubles, idols in your heart will control your heart.

Consequences of neglecting God’s word is huge.

1.You will go wrong direction in life coz you are not guided by God’s words

2. Your life will be confused.

3. Nervous, Anxiety and fearful will control your life.

4. You will be easily deceive

5. You wont know the will of God.

6. You will make wrong choices in life.

All these above consequences will face by those people who neglect the word of God. 2 Tim.3:16-17,

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

4.DOERS WILL BE BLESSED (25)

25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

James says if you do the Word; if you don’t neglect it; but if you look intently or look fully and deeply into the Word of God to see what it says for our lives.

Which he also calls the perfect law of freedom, you will be blessed. James lays out four steps that we can take to be blessed: Step One: “Look intently.” Gaze into the Word of God and keep looking until you find something. Step Two: “abides by it.”

Once you find something, keep looking. Find more. Step Three: “Not forgetting.” Don’t forget what you discover. Step Four: “But doing.” Do what you’ve learned. Let it change your life.

Just like in the mirror illustration: when we know what we’re supposed to look like, or what we want to look like, we look into the mirror to see if what we see matches how we want to look.

If it doesn’t, we adjust ourselves accordingly. So, also, we must look into the Word of God, see how our lives are supposed to look, and adjust our lives accordingly. We are to look into the “perfect law.”

This is the law that is found in Christ. This is the law of Christ; the law that gives freedom. The law in the Old Testament created burdens and expectations which we could not meet.

The law in the New Testament is fulfilled in Jesus and offers us freedom through Christ. Often we don’t think of a law as freedom. However, the law of Christ certainly does bring us freedom!

We are set free from the bondage of sin and death. We are set free to live for Jesus and live the lives that we were created to live. Jesus said in John chapter 8, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (John 8:31b-32). Psalm 1:1-3.

1. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

3. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Application: Are you living a blessed life? If you are not living a blessed life?

What is stopping you to receive all the blessings from God. If there is anything to repent?

If there is any idol that is controlling you or stopping you to received God’s blessing, Surrender you heart to God and Let Him bless you so that you will live a blessed and fruitful life.

Conclusion.

Church we have meditate together 4 vital points together under the topic “DOERS AND MERE HEARERS” My final conclusion words will be.

1. Be Doers of the word, when God gave you this life make use of every opportunity and serve Him with all your heart and soul and life because this is the things that matters most.

2. Secondly, don’t deceived yourself like Judas Iscariot. Don’t be like dead sea.

3. Thirdly, don’t neglect God’s word, When God gave you this moment, use it wisely for His glory and fame.

4. Fourthly, You are a blessed child if you are doers of the word. You are like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever you do, you will prosper.

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Mark Sermon

Abomination of Desolation – Mark 13:14-27

In this sermon, we will be looking at a somewhat tricky as well a relevant passage. Let me warn you that this is not one of those passages that brings comfort to the soul. Instead, this passage will disturb us, convict us but at the same time also bring hope and assurance of God’s love and his faithfulness.

If I were a prosperity preacher I wouldn’t have preached from this passage because there is nothing in this passage that gives a prosperity feeling; instead, it gives us goosebumps and makes us uncomfortable.

I’m thankful that we choose to preach through the books of the Bible, and that we’ve stumbled upon this important passage this morning.

Let us come to God with an open mind and a humble spirit as we read from our passage today which is Mark 13:14-27

[READ]

The context of this passage is that as Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Our later passages reveal that Jesus was, in fact, talking about the destruction of the temple.

And as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, a couple of disciples privately asked him “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

In response, Jesus warns them against Counterfeits, Calamities & Persecution. Brother Jinson, in his last sermon, explained to us what our faithful reaction should be when we encounter counterfeits, calamities & persecution.

In our passage today Jesus continues his conversation and points the disciples to two events.

The first event is the destruction of the temple that was supposed to happen in their generation and to those people as per the prophecy made by Daniel which is recorded in the book of Daniel chapter 9. And the second event is the final day when Christ, the son of God will appear in heaven.

As per bible scholars, the destruction of the temple occurred in the year 175-64 B.C when a King Antiochus who ruled Palestine treated Israel with violence and contempt. When the people stood against him, he came with his forces, entered the temple, stopped the regular sacrifices, set up an idol of Zeus on the altar. This is an abomination because it is idolatry, and it brings desolation because it defiles the holy place at the heart of Israel. This act was the abomination “of” desolation, the abomination “causing” desolation.

And the second event, which Jesus talks about is his return, which is yet to be fulfilled. Which means, for us today, on a timeline we are somewhere right in the middle of these two events.

For those of you who are wondering about the difference in time between these two events, 2 Peter 3:8-9 tells us that a 100 years is like a day for God. Which means according to God’s calender it just been 2 days.

And for those who want to know when are the end times. The answer is we are in the end times. The end times began right after Jesus was ascended to heaven.

If I have to use a military analogy, then we are right now in the enemies camp where Satan is the god of this world. (2 Cor 4:4) We are living in an era where suffering, persecution, false prophets, false preaching of the Gospel is rampant.

We live in a world where world peace is just a dream. No matter which political party or leader arise to make this world a better place. We will never see that accomplished until the coming of our Lord Jesus.

Satan is ruling the hearts and minds of many and the people he hates the most is the elect children of God.

According to a report published by an organisation called Open Doors in Jan 2018, 1 in 12 Christians all over the world live in a place where Christianity is illegal, forbidden or are punished.

We all are under the schemes of the enemy, either physical, mental or spiritual where he is using every possible tool to take away our affections for God and erect an idol in our heart, mind and soul.

But there is a day coming when Christ our saviour will return to his chosen people, and take us out of this earth. It is written in 1 Cor 15:52, in a twinkle of an eye, we will be taken up with Christ.

Remember, this promise is only for those who’ve genuinely put their faith in Christ.

We were once in the enemies of God, born in sin, lived sinful lives, destined to die the eternal death. But God in his great mercy sent his son Jesus to rescue us from this wicked world by taking our punishment and dying in our place. And it is only when we repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus that we are called his elect.

I want to urge you, therefore, If anyone in this room who haven’t repented of their sins and hadn’t honestly put their faith in Christ, I want to urge you to do so without delay. So that you may also be rescued from this wicked world and taken up in heaven when our saviour Jesus comes.

This morning, my intention is not to spend time predicting the events and dissecting the prophetic fulfilment. But I want to focus more on what does all this mean to us today and how do we live our lives in the midst of all this.

I want to share 4 practical instructions I see in the text that can help us navigate our journey in this period of suffering, persecution and trouble.

1.We have to be well informed & alert

4 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Jesus to telling “let the reader understand”

A reader is someone who is a well-informed person. And then he says “When you see the Abomination of Desolation standing, run to the mountains.”

Tell me. What happens in a war when people are stuck in the enemies camp and they are totally lost and unaware of what’s happening around them? They die.

In a battle, the enemy will do anything to keep our minds distracted, so that, when we are attached we are clueless.

1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. “

We need to identify areas in our life where the enemy is keeping us occupied & distracted?

  • For some of you, he’s kept you distracted with the pleasures of this world
  • For some with all kinds of personal problems (within the family, within the church, etc)
  • For some with great Career aspirations
  • For some with the lust of the flesh
  • For some with pride of Life

And because of our distracted pursuits apart from living out the plan and purpose of God in our lives we’ve put ourselves in situations and in places that are danger zones.

In Colossians 4 Paul writes “Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity.”

Brother and sisters, in this battle, if we do not stay well-informed & alert, we will get injured, and we will die in the hands of the enemy.

A well informed Christian is one who is reading and meditating on the scriptures day and night. Looking for clues and answers to difficult circumstances and finding ways to tackle them in Godly ways.

We have to be aware of our own weaknesses and how to protect our lives from our own self.

We have to know the truth of God’s word in its entirety so that we are not swayed away by false prophets, wrong doctrines and false gospels.

2. We have to take careful steps

The second instruction I see in the passage is to take careful steps and flee when the enemy comes to destroy our soul and erect an Idol in place of God.

It is not enough for us to be well-informed, but we also need to be obedient and take necessary actions to flee from evil.

The meaning of the word Abomination of Desolation is the Establishment of an Idol in place of God that has the potential to bring destruction.

By idols, I just don’t mean the physical structures made out of mud and sand but also the hidden idols in our hearts that take away our place of affection for God.

It could be a person in your life
It could be a thing in your life
It could be a desire in your life
Our job can become an idol
Our children can become our idols

Mark 13:14-18 Jesus

“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.

Jesus is saying when you see the sign of the Abomination of Desolation, his instruction is to flee.

When we are in places, in relationships, in circumstances where the enemy is trying to erect an idol in our heart, we have to flee from it.

Paul often uses the words ‘flee’ in his letters to help us draw near to God.

1 Corinthians 10:14
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

2 Timothy 2:22
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

If we have to survive, don’t let the enemy construct an idol in your heart, a place where God dwells and take necessary action whenever it is required.

To the extreme where Jesus said in Matthew 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”

3. We have to depend on the Master’s providence

V20. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

What this verse suggests is that even in times of trouble, suffering and persecution, the Lord’s grace & providence is always upon us.

He works everything for the good of those who love and trust in him.

When we are in the battle, there will be temptations to trust in our humanly instincts and abilities which can lead us to more trouble. But instead, we have to always trust in God’s providence for the moment.

Whether we face people who threaten us, situations that seem dangerous, temptations that push us to the limits. Always trust in God’s providence and his grace.

We see Paul’s dependence on God’s providence as he writes in 2 Cor 12:10 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

In his weakness, he knows he can trust in God’s strength.

And our greatest comfort comes from the presence of the Spirit of God dwelling among us. So trust in God’s providence and not on our strength.

Ask more for his Holy Spirit and Pray diligently at all times. And he will guide us at every step of our lives.

4. We have to wait for the Master’s return

And finally, we have to spend your days waiting for the Master to return and take you with him without losing hope.

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

In the light of the latter event of our Lords coming back for us, we have to be like the 5 virgins mentioned in Matthew 25:1-13 who kept their lamps burning until they saw the bridegroom arrive.

We can’t give up, no matter how badly we are injured. No matter how secluded our life has become while living in the enemy’s territory.

We have to hope in the Lord and his promises.

A day will come when our Lord, our saviour will come to take us with him. Even if we are dead physically, our bodies will rise and meet with our Lord and saviour.

We ought to live with hope in our hearts, that we will one day enter into his presence with joy and satisfaction.

Conclusion

As I conclude, let us examine our lives. Have we been living all these days carelessly?

Distracted with the things of the world and uninformed of the truths. Are we failing to take careful steps and make wise decisions for our lives? Are we failing to depend on the providence and grace of God? Are we living without hope?

It’s time that we repent and turn to God.

Lets Pray.

Categories
Mark Sermon

True Authority – Mark 11:27-12:12

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! What a joy it has been for us to be studying through the gospel of Mark. As a church we’ve enjoyed the whole process of knowing Jesus through the lens of this gospel as we study it passage by passage.

Right now we are in Mark chapter 11 verses 27. As we’ve noticed over the past few weeks, these passages are placed in the context of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem which actually begins his journey toward the cross. Last Sunday we read how the temple needed to be cleansed.

The cleansing was required because the people & the religious leaders replaced the worship of God with self-centered gain. And Jesus by driving out the sellers and the buyers, overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons showed how holiness & reverence for God was so important to God’s heart.

This didn’t go down well with the chief priests and the scribes. Interestingly this passage says that this resulted in them wanting to destroy him because they feared him. They weren’t ready or prepared to receive this Jesus Christ who literally turned their religious system and traditions upside down. This forms the context for today’s passage:

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

I believe there are 3 things we can see from this passage:

  1. Struggle for authority
  2. Sinful Authority
  3. True Authority

Struggle for authority (v27-28)

So the location is the Jerusalem temple and the Top religious leaders of the time come to meet Jesus. These are not ordinary Jews – these are the pastors, theologians, worship leaders, Sunday School teachers, authors – the most learned and scripturally qualified Jews of the day.

And they ask Jesus by what authority is he doing these things? Basically, they are asking Jesus “Who gave you the right to overturn the tables of the money changers and drive out the sellers from the temple”? Who do you think you are to do this in the temple?

And who are they asking this question to? Jesus Christ. The Son of God. He was there in the beginning with God and He is God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made. (John 1:1-3) In Him all things hold together (Col 1:17) He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col 1:19). And yet they ask him “Who gave you this right to do this”?

And this is not a new question. It is symptomatic of man’s constant struggle to submit to God’s authority. Right from the garden of Eden man has struggled to submit to God’s authority.

When we look at Genesis 3, what was the bait given to Adam and Eve? The serpent told them that when they eat of the tree – their eyes will be opened and they will become like God, knowing good and evil.

And that’s the heart of sin…the core of sin…to take the place of God in our lives, trying to make moral decisions apart from God. In other words, Adam and Eve had this insecure desire to become their only authority over their lives. They wanted to determine for themselves what was right or wrong for their lives. They didn’t want to be dependent anymore on God.

And we know what happened when they became the authority of their lives – all of humanity was thrown into a world of brokenness and sin and death. And that nature to not want to submit to God’s authority is there in all of us.

Campus Crusade had this illustration that has been really helpful for me over the years. They had this picture of a throne seat located at the centre of an individual’s heart. All of us have a throne seat in our lives. That’s the place from where we make all our decisions and choices. Everything that we chose to do is controlled from this throne seat.

Whoever sits on that throne is the authority of our life. And then they would ask this question: who is seated on the throne seat? Is it God or is it us? Is it God or is it me? Now I know that I’m preaching to people to publicly claim to be followers of Jesus so why am I still asking this question? It’s because I’m very aware of our tendencies to enthrone ourselves as the authority in areas of our lives. Christian life is all about yielding control.

Giving back the authority to God. In this life we’ll always find ourselves with plenty of reasons to repent of those areas and turn back to Christ. Just last night when I got the call from the hall owner regarding the change of timings and venue for our Gathering, I really saw how anxious my heart was & how I was planning my responses apart from trusting God.

For me that was a reminder of how real is my struggle for authority.

Sinful authority

Not only is there a struggle for authority but when we claim authority of our lives – it is a sinful authority! When Jesus is asked the question on whose authority…he responds back by asking another question to show them what’s really hindering them from submitting to God’s authority. “Was the baptism from John from heaven or from man”?

From their responses there are two things we can see are hindering them:

Unbelief

31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ (v31)

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. People were coming to the river Jordan confessing their sins openly and then getting baptized as a symbol of repentance expressing a 180 degree turn from sin and toward God.

In Matt 21:32 it tells us that the Pharisees and religious leaders did not believe John. In their pride they didn’t think it was necessary for them to be baptized. Tax collectors and prostitutes got baptized in front of them but still they didn’t change their mind.

In Luke 7:30, it says that the religious leaders rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not being baptized by John. Wow! That sounds like an opposite statement.

The most religious people of the day rejected the purposes of God for themselves? How is that possible? That’s because it meant that they would need to humbly accept their position as a sinner. And if they did that, they would be in the right posture to receive the provision of God – Our Savior Jesus.

We keep talking about believing in the gospel & constantly growing in belief. What does that actually mean? Is it just intellectually changing the way you think about some facts? I think what it means from this passage is constantly repenting before God about areas of your life that are against His character and will.

Unbelief at its core is a prideful position that doesn’t want to humble itself before God. And that’s why we see in Scripture…a true believer is always being aware of His sins and always repenting before God because what he desires the most is a right relationship with God.

Fear Of Man

32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

The other motivation that hindered them from submitting to God was the fear of man. Why were these religious men afraid of the people?

  1. They feared losing their reputation. They didn’t want to be discredited for telling that John got his authority to baptize from man. It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “What will people think of me if I do that?”
  2. They feared losing control. Would they end up losing control over people if they said something controversial? Would people leave them and go somewhere else if they said something controversial? It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “Would I still be able to influence people if I did that?”

I remember back in the youth ministry days during a Youth Camp. We had something called a 4 corners talk which was a weird name because sometimes we had just 2 or 3 people. During one of my 4 corners session with a youth, I could see how he knew that he had to submit to the authority of Christ but he didn’t want to do so due to the fear of man.

He was fearful of what his friends would say. He was fearful of being called as “uncool”. And it just saddened me to see someone so close yet so far.

And the fear of man isn’t just a struggle for my young friend but it’s something that we face daily when we think of sharing the gospel with the people around us.

The fear of man is a real when we have to make decisions on whom to marry – in my lifetime I’ve seen so many professing believers who said that they wanted to marry a believer but when it actually came down to marriage – they married an unbeliever.

The fear of man is also real at our jobs when either there are conversations or decisions made which are unethical and immoral. Would you take a stand because of your faith?

True Authority

You might think that Jesus denies to answer their question on authority but Jesus infact does answer their question using a parable. He talks about a man who plants a vineyard. The man is God and the vineyard is Israel – God’s people.

Using the illustration of the wine-press, the tower and the fence – showing God’s protection and God’s provision for everything needed for them to flourish. And this vineyard was leased to tenants. Another version says he rented out the vineyard to farmers.

The farmers are the religious leaders who were supposed to steward and care for the field. And then God would send servants to get the fruit of the wine – these were the prophets. But what did the farmers do to them? They beat them, hit them, treated them shamefully and killed them.

Finally the Owner sends his beloved Son. What do the farmers do to him? They kill him thinking that the inheritance will be theirs. Again the same theme – it’s always a struggle for authority. It’s always a struggle for ownership.

Like the farmers we are stewards of the life that God has given us. What should’ve been our ideal response to God? We should submit to God and give what is His – our whole lives. What is instead our natural response? Take what is not ours and make it ours.

God reaches out to us and reminds us through various means – through our daily time with God in Scripture and prayers, through sermons or our brothers and sisters. However, it’s not enough to just do all these things – what matters is our response. So how do we respond?

In our sinful self, we are all like these murderous farmers. We are all responsible for the death of Jesus on the cross. Which is why God’s wrath and judgment is directed toward us. (v9) But the story doesn’t end in judgment. In v10 we hear the good news of Jesus:

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

God used the very same death of His Son Jesus Christ to protect you and I from being judged & destroyed forever. In doing so, he poured out all His love, all His mercy, all His compassion and His righteousness upon us! And that’s the greatest news brothers and sisters. Christ came not to condemn but to save! And that’s message that the religious leaders didn’t hear.

They perceived that the parable was about them but they failed to see the answer that Jesus Himself was going to provide. And I want us to once again think about that throne seat of ours – consider how our lives have actually been messed up by us sitting on the throne.

And now think about this Jesus – the rightful owner of our lives because He created us, the one who can enact judgment but instead gave up His life to remove judgment and set us free forever. Isn’t He the best one to sit on that throne? Let’s willingly submit to His authority.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]