The Gospel of Luke #12

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.719 Well, as you have paid attention to the elements of worship this morning, 2 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:10.880 perhaps some of you have detected a theme already, but if not, that's 3 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.120 okay. You'll detect it by time I finished the message this morning. And 4 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:19.559 so, as I prepare to read God's word, let us pray that God 5 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:24.719 would illuminate his word to us. And now, our God and father, 6 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.640 we come to your most holy word that you have given to us, Lord, 7 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.759 has a gift and a blessing to us. We thank you, God, 8 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:39.119 for every page of this word, for it is all precious to us 9 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.479 and it all tells us your mind and your will to us. And Lord, 10 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:50.079 this morning, as we particularly look at you, Lord, as you 11 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.799 came into this world and the actions you undertook, and as we look at 12 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:59.119 that, help us to understand it better, help us to know why you 13 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.759 did what you do it, help us to understand it and to realize what 14 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:08.000 it means to us. And if there are those who do not understand it 15 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:12.879 and have not come to you and and confess their sins before your Lord, 16 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:19.280 I pray today that through your word, they would be encouraged to do that 17 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:23.000 and, Lord, that you would speak to their hearts. Holy Spirit, 18 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:30.719 please make your word real to us, illuminate it to our hearts, where 19 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:38.400 we ask this in the precious name of Christ. Amen. The text for 20 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:42.599 the message this morning comes out of the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Three. 21 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.400 I'm going to pick up where I left off last week and as I re 22 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.480 read this this morning again, I do want to remind you this is not 23 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:56.599 my word, this is God's holy word. As the people were in expectation 24 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.719 and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the 25 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:06.159 Christ, John answered them all saying I baptize you with water, but he 26 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.360 who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I'm not 27 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:15.039 worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 28 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:21.319 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his stretching for to gather 29 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:25.000 the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquestionable fire. 30 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.919 So, with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people. 31 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:35.520 But Herod, the Tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodius 32 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.199 his brother's wife and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added 33 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:43.879 this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. Now, 34 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:47.439 when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was 35 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:53.919 praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him and bodily 36 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:57.680 formed like a dove, and a voice came from heaven. You are my 37 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:02.080 beloved son, with whom I am well. please. Thus I end the 38 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:08.000 reading of God's word. Well, last week I gave you a week to 39 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:12.840 try to figure out what the title of today's message would be, but in 40 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.680 my introduction I gave you the wrong title of last week's message. So that 41 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:21.439 makes it pretty impossible for you to have come up with the right one today. 42 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.120 Um, last week was Luke Number, the gospel of Luke Number Eleven, 43 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:28.639 and I told you it was a gospel of Luke number ten. So 44 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.479 of course you would have come up with the wrong title. So you are 45 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:36.159 forgiven. Uh, it is the gospel of Luke number twelve this morning. 46 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.360 And so we are going to continue on looking at the message of John The 47 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:46.000 baptist, but particular in relation to the Messiah and also to the baptism of 48 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.800 Jesus. So we'll begin in our text with versus fifteen through twenty. We 49 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.520 see in verse fifteen at some for some reason at the time, these people 50 00:03:54.599 --> 00:04:00.479 are an expectation that the Messiah is going to come. Now we don't know 51 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.800 exactly why that is so accepted. Of course the Lord can put a spirit 52 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:09.000 of expectation on people, but it might be also because the Ministry of John 53 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.840 the Baptist had led people to be expecting something special. It might even be 54 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.600 if that some would remember back to the time when our Lord was presented in 55 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.800 the tempo and there were the UM prophecies that came out of the mouth of 56 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:25.199 Simeon and Anna, and maybe some would remember that and thought, well, 57 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.759 it's about thirty years perhaps this is the time that this is going to come. 58 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:34.000 Uh, we don't know. But people are in expectation, and this 59 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:39.720 would be, to quote Dickens, great expectation that they would be going at 60 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:44.680 this time. And so in Verse Sixteen, because they had this expectation and 61 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.680 because John seemed to be a pretty good candidate to perhaps be the fulfillment of 62 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.040 that, they are thinking perhaps John is the Messiah. And so John of 63 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.759 coorse has to correct them, and he does that in two ways. He 64 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.920 corrects them by compare hearing his position to the Messiah. And then he does 65 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:11.000 it also by comparing his baptism to the Messiah's baptism. Now, in terms 66 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.000 of position, he uses a very well known saying at the time of a 67 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.000 very well known proverb. The idea that he says I am not worthy to 68 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:27.040 unloose the very sandal are very ties of his Sandal and in so doing John 69 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.319 is the practice of that time. Was this was the job, not just 70 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:33.360 as the lowest slave in the household, but it was the practice of the 71 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:40.360 lowest Um non Hebrew slave. They would be the one that would have that. 72 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.959 So John is comparing himself to the lowest of the low and this Um 73 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:49.959 statement of John is vivid enough that even Paul will recount that saying and his 74 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:56.399 first sermon in act. And then, in terms of his baptism, he 75 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:00.879 compares his baptism, his outward baptism, with the word baptism of Jesus. 76 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:06.120 John's baptism was external, with water. The Lord's Baptism is going to be 77 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:12.399 internal, in spirit and in fire. David gooding says this. John could 78 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:16.519 put repentant people in water. In a sense, anybody could, but only 79 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.920 one who was God could put people in the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit 80 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.240 in people. Now we don't know exactly what John Meant by a baptism of 81 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.720 fire. There are different ideas. One that is often suggested is what took 82 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:36.000 place at the day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of that when the Holy Spirit 83 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.040 came. That it came, and one of the signs of its coming was 84 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:43.920 cloven tongues like as a fire that sat upon each of them, and so 85 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.920 some believe that that is perhaps what John is talking about. Origin the early 86 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:53.879 church father thought that this referred to a fiery bath that believers had to go 87 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:59.120 through before they would get into eternal life. Others suggest that perhaps it's a 88 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.480 reference who lead us today, when the Lord will return and judge the world 89 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:09.000 and fire, and others simply think it is a reference to the cleansing that 90 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:14.439 we as believers receive when the Lord comes into our lives. And or it 91 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:18.040 could refer to the fires we have of trials in our life. A song 92 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:24.399 in our handnoll says when through fiery trials your pathway shall lie my grace. 93 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:28.959 All sufficient shall be thy supply, the flames shall not hurt. The only 94 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:34.160 design that I draws to consume and they go to refine. Peter says in 95 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:39.920 First Peter Twelve, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when 96 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:44.480 it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange we're happening to 97 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:51.160 you. Verse Seventeen gives to us a common agricultural illustration. When grain was 98 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:55.079 harvested, they would bring it in and they would put it on a hard 99 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.560 floor, they would lay it on the floor and then it would have these 100 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.560 winnowing forks that they could do was to pick the grain up and they would 101 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:03.800 pick it up and as they threw it into the air, the chaff of 102 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:09.120 the grain, the wind would blow that chaff away and, uh, they 103 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:13.279 would continue to do that to all the chaff was off of the grain. 104 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.560 Now, I have never used a winnowing fork, but in my first church, 105 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.639 forty five years ago, Um, I was able to help the farmers, 106 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.959 was made up almost entirely of grain farmers in our in our church, 107 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.879 and so I was able to harvest time to to help them. And the 108 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:37.799 worst, absolute worst stuff to do was barley and barley was just horrendous because 109 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.600 the chaff would get into your clothes. It felt like fiberglass like you were 110 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:45.879 working on fiberglass all day or getting your eyes your eyes would be bloodshot by 111 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.399 the end of the day. And I was working with a father of of 112 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:52.000 two of the farmers that I also worked with, and he said to me, 113 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.559 uh, they were working in the barley. He said, you know, 114 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.720 I think God put a special curse upon this stuff because of what we 115 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:01.559 use it for. Now. I was in the assemblies of God. Back 116 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.879 then we couldn't drink beer. Um, not now that I can, I 117 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.200 have a little different theological view on that. But the wind did blow it. 118 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:11.600 That's my point. Okay, the wind did blow the CHEFF. It 119 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:16.679 did do that. And Uh, and that's what someone forces. It says 120 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:20.480 the young goodly are not so, but they are like the chaff that the 121 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.559 wind drives away. So the MISSAIAH is going to judge between the righteous and 122 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.840 unrighteous, as Jesus will teach us in parables, like the sheep and the 123 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.080 goats and others. In verse eighteen we have the word I mentioned last week. 124 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.159 That's descriptive of John the Baptist Um Preaching and it is the word the 125 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:43.440 e s V translates good news. It is a translation of a Greek word. 126 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.679 Good news is two words to translate. One Greek word, which is 127 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:52.360 Hugh Angelian, and that word is most often translated into the Bible as Gospel. 128 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.639 It comes from two Greek words, you, which means well, and 129 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:03.600 then also angelias are angelous, which means message or Messenger. It's of course, 130 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.720 often translated into Bible as angel and we have to just kind of discern 131 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:11.960 when that Greek word means Angel and then when it may refer to a Human 132 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.279 Messenger as well. The word you know, it means good or well, 133 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:18.120 unfortunately, might be familiar to you because of a way it's used when people 134 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:22.320 speak about euthanasia, which comes from the Greek word Anitas, for death, 135 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.559 and means, of course, a good death or a well death. I 136 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:31.919 would probably quibble with that description, but nonetheless that's where that word comes from. 137 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.960 And then when we when we read John's preaching like you do in verse 138 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:41.919 seventeen, it doesn't necessarily seem like good news. Saying like the Messiah is 139 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.519 gonna Comedy's gonna blow the Chaff Away and and uh, and and then he's 140 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.960 going to have fire and all that. And I think what that doesn't sound 141 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:54.600 like very good news at all. Is it good news to preach about the 142 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:58.039 fires of judgment? Well, it is, if you're telling people how to 143 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.799 get away from it, right, then it is good news. The author 144 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:07.080 of the Book Peter Pan, man by name of James Barry, said Heaven 145 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.960 for climate, hell for company. I don't agree with that, but I 146 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:16.799 have spoken to many people on the streets that have that theology and I've I've 147 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:20.879 talked to them and I've heard this and I'm sure you've heard it many times. 148 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.720 Right, I want to go to hell because that's where all my friends 149 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.679 are. I'm sure you've heard that by many people. But the Bible indicates 150 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.000 there is no company in Hell. The rich man in anguish didn't look up 151 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.320 and say hey, this is great, I'm with all my friends. He 152 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:43.679 said I am in anguish here. But the Good News, the Gospel is 153 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.799 you don't have to end up like the rich man, but we can trust 154 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:52.960 in Christ and his death. But John is preaching the Gospel. The Gospel 155 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:56.960 has many parts to it, some of which we might like, some of 156 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:01.320 which we may not like so much. And so the pillar commentary says it 157 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:07.480 is good news, not because it's nice but because it's true. There was 158 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:13.039 a paraphrase of the Bible that came out in nineteen sixty six and it was 159 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:18.159 entitled Good News for Modern Man. Some of you may have seen it or 160 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.759 may even have it. If you don't, you can probably find a copy 161 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.200 of it in your local youth bookstore, check book, when I'm sure there's 162 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:30.320 one there. There usually is. And but and then in nineteen eighty four, 163 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.759 Frank Schaeffer, who was the son of Francis Schaefer, put out a 164 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:39.080 book with reference to it that he called bad news for modern man. Now 165 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.639 I understand that Frank Schaeffer has not going down a good path since then, 166 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:48.200 but that book was actually a good book. And so, in verses eighteen 167 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:54.240 and nineteen, Luke described what John does has preaching, exhorting and reproving, 168 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:58.480 which is what all preachers are called to do. Proclaiming, we are called 169 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.919 to proclaim the Gospel. That is what we are supposed to do. Exhorting, 170 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:07.080 we are supposed to exhort people to trust in Christ but also to obey 171 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:11.399 Christ. And reproving, we are to reprove those who are in sin and 172 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:16.679 to tell them they need to flee from that. And then, in versus 173 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:20.279 nineteen and twenty. Luke gives us something that we will lead to something a 174 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.200 little later on, Herod, who has been reproved by John and will be 175 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:26.879 reproved by John, particularly for the instance of taking his brother's wife uh he 176 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.879 and takes Um John into prison and of course eventually will kill him and he 177 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:37.799 becomes the first in a long chain of martyrs for those who give witness to 178 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.000 Christ. Um in one of the groups this week, Liz reminded me that 179 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:46.039 that day was the anniversary of John Who'Sas Martyrdom, and there have been many, 180 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:52.080 many martyrs like that throughout the years who have given their life for Christ. 181 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:56.759 In Verse Twenty One, John Sums up something that other gospel writers will 182 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:01.279 will give us a little more detail lot, and that is the baptism of 183 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:09.360 our Lord. Now, the baptism of Jesus is something that has been perplexing 184 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:16.279 the church almost since the beginning of its existence. Why would Jesus, the 185 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.720 holy son of God, the sinless son of God, why would he need 186 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:26.440 to be baptized? If John's baptism it was, as a scripture tells us, 187 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.279 a baptism of repentance, on the forgiveness of sins. Why would our 188 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:35.279 Lord have needed to submit to that? And they'll come back to that at 189 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:41.440 the end. But what's interesting here is that Luke, who gives us more 190 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:46.159 of the contrast and intertwining of the lives of Jesus and John, never actually 191 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.679 mentions the two of them meeting. You say, well, pastors, the 192 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:54.360 baptism of Jesus and John did it. I know that, but Luke doesn't 193 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.720 tell us that. Luke doesn't tell us that. We find it from other 194 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.799 gospels. And so the only real kind of meeting we ever have, and 195 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.759 it's not a face to face meeting that Luke mentions, of Jesus and John, 196 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.159 is later on when the disciples of John Come to Jesus, when John 197 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.600 is in prison, and Jesus sends them back telling them that indeed he is 198 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:20.639 the Messiah. So then let's look at versus one and twenty two, particularly 199 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:26.000 Um Verse Twenty One. Luke is not telling us that Jesus was back. 200 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.679 Well, you can read it this way, that Jesus was baptized after everybody 201 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.440 else was baptized. He's just telling us that in process John was baptizing a 202 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.480 number of people and he also baptized Jesus. Jesus was also baptized, and 203 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:43.360 Luke tells us that at the time Jesus was praying. I'll come back to 204 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:48.279 that at the application. But then it says the heavens were opened. This 205 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:52.200 was a messianic sign. This is what Isaiah said in chapter sixty four, 206 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.440 verse one, Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, 207 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.879 that the mountains might quake at your presence. There's a couple of references in 208 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.159 some of the student Pagrifo books that are not scriptured, they're not inspired, 209 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.559 nothing like that. But there is a reference in the testament of Levi and 210 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:14.679 the testament of Judah to the heavens being opened at the time of the Messiah. 211 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:18.279 And so we have this. And so whenever the heavens are being opened, 212 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.399 it's assigned to us that God is revealing himself to mankind in some special 213 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:27.320 way. Now, verse twenty two has long been used in the church to 214 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:33.279 teach the doctrine of the trinity, and rightly so. Here we have three 215 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:38.480 persons clearly delineated. The Sun is on the earth being baptized, the father 216 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.679 is in heaven speaking. You know, I'd say, well, it doesn't 217 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:47.000 tell us it was the father's voice in Luke here? No, it doesn't, 218 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:51.000 but he does say this is my beloved son. So that kind of 219 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.279 gives us the clue right that it was the father. And then we are 220 00:16:53.320 --> 00:17:00.360 told that the spirit descends has a dove, and so the father says you 221 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.359 are my beloved son. Now this doesn't mean at the time that God is 222 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.400 now conferring sonship on Christ, that he never had it before. That's not 223 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.880 true at all. But has a KH rain store says the Voice of God 224 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:18.799 does not establish Jesus sonship, it presupposes it. We know he already is 225 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:22.079 the son of God. We have the fulfillment of PS him to seven. 226 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:27.000 The Lord said to me, you are my son Today I have begotten You, 227 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:33.000 and the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form like a dove. Now it's 228 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.000 not clear whether it was like a real dove or what it was, or 229 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:40.599 it's just telling us of how it was that the spirit descended, and there's 230 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:44.599 been different ideas on that and why a dove, and I think there's been 231 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:51.160 different ideas throughout history because of its purity or because of his gentleness. Last 232 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.519 Sunday evening I spoke about the idea that Gideon had seen at the AP when 233 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:59.119 he saw the angel of the Lord, and I define the thought is the 234 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.559 pre incarnate to appearance of Jesus Christ. Here we have a theophany of the 235 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:11.759 Holy Spirit, a pre pentecost manifestation of the Holy Spirit. In my devotional 236 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:15.279 reading I've been doing a lot of reading on the Puritan from the Puritan Thomas 237 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.880 Goodwin, and they came across the court of his but not in my devotional 238 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:22.920 reading. Actually came across it in a commentary I was using on Luke, 239 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:26.960 and here's what he says. For a dove, you know, is the 240 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:33.319 most meek and the most innocent of all birds, without gall without talents, 241 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.480 having no fierceness in it, expressing nothing but love and friendship to its mate 242 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:41.960 in all its carriages and mourning over its mate in all its distresses. And 243 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.880 accordingly, a dove was the most fit emblem of the spirit that was poured 244 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.279 out upon our savior when he was just about to enter on the work of 245 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:56.599 our salvation. For sweetly as doves to converse with doves, so may every 246 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:03.559 sinner in Christ converse together men. But the spirit descends on Jesus, not 247 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:07.400 because he didn't have the spirit. Of course he did, but to show 248 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:12.839 that the spirit would be anointing the Human Jesus. Okay, he is God, 249 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:18.279 he is man, but anointing him to helping him in everything that he 250 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:22.559 does, in being upon him. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, Peter 251 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:27.000 says, who went about doing good and healing all those that were afflicted by 252 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:33.480 the devil. And so we we have this. Now there are people that 253 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.920 deny the trinity. You probably know some. I know several people, uh, 254 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:42.200 that are proclaimed Christians, say they're Christians but deny the trinity, and 255 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:45.519 there are different ways they go about it. One one way they go about 256 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:49.119 it is to say that through the years God has appeared in different modes, 257 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:55.440 and this is called modalism, or Sabellianism, is is what it's called. 258 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.799 And Uh, in this belief they will say that in the Old Testament God 259 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:06.960 revealed himself as father, and then the Gospels God revealed himself has as Jesus, 260 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.359 and then in the after that pentecost, God reveals himself as the Holy 261 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:18.400 Spirit. This teaching today is held by Oneness Pentecostals, but our text clearly 262 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:23.119 contradicts that there are all three members of the Godhead, and his teaching has 263 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:27.839 been condemned by the church almost since the very beginning. To Talian condemned it 264 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:33.640 and it was also condemned later on by the Bishop of Roman. To Sixty 265 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:38.319 two, a D tri theism said there were three gods who shared the same 266 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.720 substance. Another heresy, condemned by the church, Arianism, said there was 267 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:48.039 one God and Jesus was not God, nor was the Holy Spirit. That 268 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:53.000 heresy continues today in the form of Jehovah witnesses who confessed that same thing. 269 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:59.160 Another heresy. Another heresy said the father, son and Holy Spirit were only 270 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:04.240 part God and only became God when they were all together. Again, heresy. 271 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:10.359 But the church, throughout history, the true church, has always proclaimed 272 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:18.599 the triune God, one God forever existing in three persons, and we believe 273 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:25.720 that and we confess as Christians a triune God, and it's important that we 274 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:30.519 do. Now let me give you some application. One thing I'd like you 275 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.200 to notice in particular. I didn't get this far, but but we talked 276 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.559 about it earlier, we talked about today and we'll talk about next week, 277 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:44.079 and that is that Luke combines things together to stress the phrase the son of 278 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:48.400 God. And so in the baptism of Jesus we have the voice from heaven 279 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:53.920 saying this is my beloved son, he is the son of God. In 280 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:00.000 his genealogy that we will look at next week it says again that take trade, 281 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.720 says Jesus Genealogy back and says that Adam was the son of God. 282 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:10.720 And then in the temptation in the Wilderness and the next chapter we'll see where 283 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:15.240 Satan tempts Jesus with the phrase if you are the son of God. So 284 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:21.480 Luke has been very clear about who Jesus is and in these three UH stories 285 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.359 he uses that prey son of God, and he uses it nine times in 286 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:27.480 his gospel. But most of them are here. Form are here, should 287 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.880 say most of them, but four of them, and then only five more 288 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:34.880 times where he used it in the rest of the book. Now ask the 289 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.319 question why would Jesus need to be baptized by John? It's a good question. 290 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:45.160 Now how do I know it's a good question? I know it's a 291 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:49.720 good question because John the Baptist asked it also. He said to the Lord, 292 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.279 you know I have needed to be baptized by you why would you becoming 293 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:57.759 to me to be baptized if John asked it? It's a good question and 294 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:02.400 and so we need to look at it for a second. Now. There 295 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:06.359 have been various answers that have been given in the church throughout its history, 296 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:08.400 and I'm not gonna bore you with all of those. I'm gonna mention two. 297 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.279 I'm going to mention the one that I kind of hold to. I 298 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:15.119 don't know if I should or not, but I kind of hold I'm usually 299 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:18.680 not a heretic but, um, I don't think this as heretical, but 300 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.839 I kind of hold to this view, um a little bit. And I'll 301 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:25.960 give the second one. That is the most widely accepted view, and then 302 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:30.000 that's the one you probably should believe. But nevertheless, I want to give 303 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.039 you two facts from the book of Luke. Number One, in verse twenty 304 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:38.160 three, we'll see that Jesus began his ministry when he was about thirty years 305 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.200 of age. Luke makes that statement. Nobody else tells us that. And 306 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.759 then I want to remind you something else Luke tells us is that John the 307 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:52.759 Baptist was from the line of Levin, that his parents were Levites and Zach 308 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:56.640 I saw Zach Rya was a priest, and so John reminds us of this 309 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:00.759 fact. So, keeping those two facts in mind, I want you to 310 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:06.960 notice something. First, concerning the age of Jesus. The the age of 311 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:12.599 thirty years is an important age in scripture. It is the age of Joseph 312 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:18.200 when he was exalted and begin to reign under feral. It is the age 313 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:22.599 of David, we are told in Second Samuel five four, when he begins 314 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.319 to reign, and we are told in numbers four twenty three, as well 315 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:30.599 as a couple of other verses, maybe more than a couple, uh in 316 00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:37.960 numbers, that priests were numbered from thirty years old up to fifty. And 317 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:44.759 according to exodus, four priests were consecrated by being washed with water. Now 318 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:49.000 I'm just going to postulate here that John, being a levite Jesus entering the 319 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:53.599 ministry at Thirty years of age. Is it possible that this is fulfilling the 320 00:24:53.680 --> 00:25:00.279 Old Testament Law of the consecrating of priest when they became thirty years of age? 321 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:03.799 And then John would need to do it because he was of the tribe 322 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:08.119 of Levin? Well, that's my view, but you don't have to believe 323 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:12.359 it. So let me give you the more Orthodox of you. Jesus submitting 324 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:18.960 to baptism is in line with other things that oftentimes we don't question. For 325 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.519 one, he was circumcised when he was a child. Why would he need 326 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:26.680 circumcision? Was a cutting away of the flesh. That the symbolism of sin 327 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:32.240 being being done away with. Why would Jesus need to submit to circumcision? 328 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:36.319 Now I realized his parents did it, but God could have prevented that. 329 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:41.720 And we in the reform tradition do believe that circumcision has now been replaced by 330 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:45.440 baptism. And Paul says in Collossians, to and him also, you were 331 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:49.720 circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the 332 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:55.920 flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism 333 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:00.000 in which were raised with him through faith and the powerful working of God who 334 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:04.440 raised him from the dead. There Paul tells us we were circumcised in baptism, 335 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:11.200 and it was the putting off of the flesh. And so Jesus submitted 336 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:18.119 himself to that. And perhaps, uh in doing so, Jesus is identifying 337 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.799 with the people and Luke even puts it in context of Jesus Baptism, telling 338 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:27.799 us that all the people were baptized and Jesus was baptized as well. Not 339 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:33.720 only that, Jesus kept the Passover meal and went up to the various feast. 340 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:34.960 Again, we could say he was fulfilling in the law, but he 341 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.400 didn't have to. He was the Passover. Paul tells us that in First 342 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:45.119 Grintian five Jesus was the Passover and uh, and so he submitted to that. 343 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.559 And then we can even ask the question which which is an obvious question 344 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.240 with an obvious answer, but it really sheds lights on all the other why 345 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:56.880 was he crucified? He didn't need to die. He had never done sin. 346 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:59.319 There was no sin, there was no guile in his mouth. Why 347 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:03.319 was he Christoph Five? He was crucified for us. So everything he did 348 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:07.359 he did for us. It was always for us. And so recognize that 349 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.319 in all of these things and that that that Jesus was doing it in identification 350 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.480 with us. And I'm not saying even after truth, choose one or the 351 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:18.759 other. You can. You can believe in both of those. They both 352 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:23.319 can can join together. And then I want to stress the same point. 353 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:29.039 I stressed last week from from John, and that is that his purpose was 354 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.880 to point people to Jesus. He was to lift up Jesus. That's that's 355 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:34.559 what he wanted to do in his ministry. As he said this here, 356 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:38.599 he later on saying John, three thirty, he must increase, but I 357 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.960 must decrease. And the point is that's what a preacher is to do. 358 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.079 He is to lift up Jesus, not himself, not his own self, 359 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:51.839 but he's to lift up Christ to the people. That is the job of 360 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:56.519 the preacher. Kent Hughes and his commentary tells the story of what happened in 361 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:02.400 a Baptist Church pastored by E v Hill, and there was a dear saint 362 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:07.319 in in the in the congregation, and the congregation called her old eighteen hundred 363 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:10.960 because nobody knew how old she was, so they called her old eighteen hundred 364 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:14.680 and that's how they referred to her. And Uh, when, Um, 365 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:19.640 when a guest preacher was was there in the service that day, she'd set 366 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:26.160 up in the front row and before he started she allowed get him up and 367 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:30.119 the preacher wasn't quite sure what was going on. uh, but but after 368 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.599 a while, if she thought that the preacher still wasn't lifting up Jesus enough, 369 00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:37.960 she yelled at again get him up and and all through the sermon she 370 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.400 would do that whenever she thought the preacher wasn't lifting up Christ enough, and 371 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:45.720 she she would say that. But, but that's what we are to do 372 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.799 as preachers, is to lift up Christ. And the last thing I want 373 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:53.799 to bring to you this morning is the topic that I placed throughout the service 374 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:59.920 this morning and that his prayer. We saw in verse twenty one Jesus was 375 00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:04.279 praying. Prayer is something that Jesus did and he certainly did it more than 376 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:11.880 anyone. Luke stresses this in his Gospel several times. He mentions about Jesus 377 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:15.279 praying. In Chapter Five and Verse Sixteen, he said he would withdraw to 378 00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:22.599 desolate places and pray, indicating that this was a common practice of our Lord. 379 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:26.160 Luke six twelve. In those days he went out to a mountain to 380 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:32.240 pray and all night he continued in prayer to God. Luke nine eighteen had 381 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:36.119 happened that, as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. 382 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:40.480 Luke. Now, about eight days after these things, he took with him 383 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:44.599 Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. Now 384 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:48.400 I can't emulate Jesus in that in Minnesota, but you can do that in 385 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:52.920 Tucson. You can go up into a mountain to pray if you want to 386 00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:56.480 verse. Twenty nine says, and while he was praying. And then we 387 00:29:56.519 --> 00:30:00.599 have the account of the transfiguration. Luke. Eleven one, Jesus is praying 388 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:04.599 in a certain place and when he finished, one of his disciples said to 389 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.000 him, Lord, teach us to pray. Has John taught his disciples? 390 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:12.799 Now? I like the idea that they asked the Lord to teach them to 391 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:17.400 pray. and not so crazy about that last part. Like Lord, teach 392 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:19.880 us to pray, you know, like John, like then Jesus. I 393 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.160 said, Hey, you know, I invented prayer. That don't don't bring 394 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:26.279 in John in this, you know. But but never nevertheless, they asked 395 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:30.039 the Lord to teach him. And look one of course, to get Semite 396 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.240 Account, and he withdrew from them about a stone strow and knelt down and 397 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:40.920 prayed. And there are several incidental references of prayer, as before and after 398 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.319 the feeding of the five thousand. Has he met with the Amaus road disciples 399 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:48.680 and and later on where Jesus tells Peter That even though Satan was going to 400 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:52.799 sift him his wheat, that he had prayed for him. Now Jesus prayed 401 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.119 often. There's no question about that. He did. But the point I 402 00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:00.559 want to stress in that is if Jesus, the son of God, felt 403 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:06.440 that he needed prayer that desperately, how much more do we need prayer? 404 00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:12.680 And I think the question I asked myself more than any other is why don't 405 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.680 I pray more? I don't know if any of you ever asked that question 406 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:19.240 of yourself, but as a question I ask often, why don't I pray 407 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:22.440 more? I'm not saying they don't pray. I do pray, but I 408 00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:27.200 think, why don't I pray more? I don't understand that about myself. 409 00:31:27.880 --> 00:31:30.880 Why don't pray? Not I'm not praying. I'm not here to put guilt 410 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:36.000 trip or condemnation on anybody because of your lack of prayer life. Anythink that, 411 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:41.200 but I'm trying to encourage you to say we need prayer and God will 412 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:47.359 be faithful in answering prayer. Now there are many examples through history. Of 413 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:49.359 course we have the examples of scripture. But I want to give you one 414 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:53.759 example from history as I closed this morning, just to kind of remind you 415 00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:59.880 of how God can work. Maybe you know the story of Jeremiah Land for 416 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:06.160 probably some of you do. He was appointed as pastor of the Dutch Reformed 417 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:12.440 Church in Manhattan, New York. As he became a beginning his pastoral work, 418 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:20.480 he appointed a prayer meeting in the North Dutch church on Wednesday and he 419 00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:24.000 was inviting other churches to join with him and he said the prayer meeting would 420 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:27.839 be designed that he didn't have to stay the whole hour but people could come 421 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:31.440 in and pray five or ten minutes and leave and that would be okay. 422 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:37.839 The first week he went there at twelve o'clock waiting for people and waited and 423 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:43.480 waited and waited and nobody was showing. But about twelve thirty he heard some 424 00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:49.319 steps, footsteps on the stairs and and uh, six men from different denominations, 425 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:52.039 all of them from different denominations, came in and they joined him in 426 00:32:52.079 --> 00:33:00.160 prayer from twelve thirty to one o'clock. Stay they had fourteen to twenty any 427 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:05.440 people. The third week they had between thirty and forty. They became so 428 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:09.240 encouraged they decided instead of just Wednesdays, they'd meet daily and they would gathered 429 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:15.559 together particularly to pray for the conversion of their neighbors and friends and Co workers. 430 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:20.640 By the beginning of the next year attendants had increased so much they had 431 00:33:20.680 --> 00:33:24.319 to use three rooms in the church. Soon they had to start meeting and 432 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:30.880 other buildings. In New York one was started in a large theater. One 433 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:34.920 half hour before the prayer meeting was to start, they had to close the 434 00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:42.000 theater because it was already full to capacity. The very famous Newspaperman some of 435 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:45.160 you may be familiar with by the name of Horse Greeley, sent a man 436 00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:49.079 and horse and buggy and to go from one meeting to another to see how 437 00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:52.960 many people were praying at these meetings. He could only get the twelve of 438 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:59.839 the meetings, but he reported to Greeley that he found six thousand men praying. 439 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:07.800 Soon counts said that ten thousand businessmen were attending those meetings. Conversions in 440 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:12.079 churches. During that time, when it had done a very dry time, 441 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:20.920 all of a sudden we're experiencing conversions at amazing rates. Over ten thousand conversions 442 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:25.599 were recorded in one week. There were more prayer meetings then started in other 443 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:31.079 major cities and by eighteen fifty nine, less than two years after they had 444 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:35.719 started this prayer meeting after one man and started in the Dutch reformed church, 445 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:43.559 they had been recorded over one million conversions. Now you're not going to find 446 00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:45.760 accounts of those meetings in the secular history books. They're not going to be 447 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:50.360 found there. And again, I don't bring it up to say, you 448 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:52.960 know, we need to all get together every noon and we still got to 449 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:57.719 start doing this and all of that, but I want to just encourage you 450 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:01.679 to how God can answer prayer. I've had people say to me, and 451 00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:06.320 I'm guessing some of you have had this close with this, that they'll say, 452 00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:08.360 you know, you reformed, you say God ordains everything, so why 453 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:10.760 in the world you pray? I don't know if you've ever heard that, 454 00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:14.960 but I've heard that so many times. Why do you pray if God ordains 455 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:19.119 it anyway? What's the difference? I have my stock answer I give to 456 00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.559 that question now, and it's not a total answer, but it does kind 457 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:27.760 of hush them up. I say, you know, I can tell you 458 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:32.119 exactly why I pray, but for the life of me I've never been able 459 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:37.119 to figure out why you pray, and I can't. I asked them. 460 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:38.599 I said, what are you doing when you pray? I don't understand. 461 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:44.119 Are you trying to convince God of something? Like God, in his infinite 462 00:35:44.159 --> 00:35:46.440 wisdom and goodness and love, is going to listen to me? Oh, 463 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:51.840 I've got a better idea. Why would you do that? I want God 464 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:53.079 to do what God wants to do. I don't I don't want to be 465 00:35:53.639 --> 00:35:58.360 telling God what to do. So I asked him. I say, why 466 00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.480 are you praying? Do you know? Anyone I've ever asked that question to? 467 00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:06.119 Nobody has ever given me an answer. They don't know. The best 468 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:07.840 they can do is the same one I can give them, which is God 469 00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:13.400 commands us. That's right, but you need to know more than that. 470 00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:17.599 But let us as we look at Christ as a savior who died for our 471 00:36:17.639 --> 00:36:22.519 sins, who paid the price for us the Cross and tells us in Matthew, 472 00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:28.880 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labors in 473 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:31.119 the harvest. You know, I had a past feight years ago. Sometimes 474 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:34.840 you you know, you hear a lot of sermons right and you don't remember 475 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:38.519 many of them, but I always remember this sermon. My pastor is just 476 00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:43.920 the Young Bible College student and he preached neglected a sermon called neglected prayers, 477 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:46.000 and he mentioned prayers in the Bible that we don't really pray, and this 478 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:51.840 is one of them. Do We pray enough? Lord, send labors into 479 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:54.239 the harvest, but let us look at Christ, if we are his, 480 00:36:54.920 --> 00:37:00.800 and emulate him in his prayer life and follow him in what has instructed us 481 00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:04.360 to do. Let's pray, Lord. You. Thank you for your word, 482 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:08.519 thank you for the example we have of you and how you taught us 483 00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:15.719 so clearly the importance of prayer in your own life. You, who are 484 00:37:15.800 --> 00:37:22.920 very god of Very God. You withdrew yourself from the disciples and others to 485 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:29.119 pray again and again and again. And Lord, we oftentime, as we 486 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:34.320 have prayed in our prayer of confession, we are not as often in private 487 00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:37.760 prayer as we ought to be. So I pray you to help us, 488 00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:45.039 encourage us, teach us, Lord, the value of prayer, help us 489 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:46.800 to see the reward. As you said, your father, who sees you 490 00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:52.840 in secret, will reward you openly. Help us to lay our eyes on 491 00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:58.119 the reward and see what it is to pray, and see how we become 492 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:04.480 conformed to your image in our prayer, and Lord, teach us and, 493 00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:09.639 above our Lord, may our prayer always be to be like Christ, and 494 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:15.000 may our prayer be that we trust in him and in him alone for our 495 00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:20.320 salvation, that there's no work, not even prayer, that could buy a 496 00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:24.199 salvation, but it's only through your grace that you have given to us. 497 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:31.679 We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. M can we stand together 498 00:38:34.119 --> 00:38:35.199 and turn the number five