Taylor Brown

April 5, 2026

Respect the Office

Because He is King, I Will Obey

Taylor Brown

April 5, 2026

Respect the Office

Introduction:

What Does God Want Me to See and Know This Easter? (Ephesians 1:15-23)

The HOPE THAT IS FOUND in Belonging to Christ. (Eph 1:18a)
The UNENDING RICHES THAT ARE AVAILABLE in Christ. (Eph 1:18b)
The RESURRECTION POWER of Christ. (Eph 1:19-20a)
The SIMPLICITY OF SUBMITTING TO THE KINGSHIP of Christ. (Eph 1:20b-23)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:05
Please turn your Bibles to where Sydney just read, Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.
00:06-00:10
Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.
00:12-00:16
You know, kids are so easily distracted, aren't they?
00:17-00:19
Their kids, their heads are often in the clouds.
00:20-00:22
They're not thinking about what they should be thinking about.
00:22-00:25
They're not looking where they should be looking.
00:25-00:28
They don't know important things that they need to know.
00:29-00:33
I know this from first-hand experience with my own kids, Sam and Emmy.
00:33-00:40
Sam and Emmy are so easily distracted, and it can be so hard to get their attention.
00:41-00:47
Sometimes I physically have to put my hands on their faces to redirect their focus.
00:47-00:49
Why do I do that?
00:49-00:55
'Cause I want them to see something so that they will know something.
00:56-01:02
Sam makes a huge mess and he's not cleaning up despite my many pleas for him to clean it up.
01:02-01:07
I have to gently put my hands on his face to redirect him to the disaster zone.
01:08-01:14
I want him to see the mess so he will know that he needs to clean up the mess.
01:15-01:21
Emmy throws a temper tantrum about something completely unreasonable and she's not listening to reason.
01:22-01:26
I lovingly put my hands on her face to redirect her focus to my eyes.
01:27-01:37
I want her to see the seriousness of my face so that she will know that she needs to say sorry, she needs to ask for forgiveness, and stop her pouting.
01:38-01:46
My kids are so easily distracted, and they need parental reminders from their mom and dad.
01:47-01:50
But if we're honest, we're not much better than kids, are we?
01:51-01:53
You and I are easily distracted.
01:54-01:58
You and I do not think about what we should be thinking about.
01:58-02:01
You and I do not look where we should be looking.
02:02-02:06
You and I do not know important things that we need to know.
02:07-02:15
You and I need our Heavenly Father to lovingly grab a hold of our faces and redirect our focus.
02:17-02:25
You and I need to see and know important truths that God wants us to see and know.
02:26-02:33
You and I need to truly see Jesus Christ for who he is so that we can truly know him both now and forever.
02:34-02:45
You and I need to truly see what is expected of us in this book so that we will know what responsibilities we need to carry out from day to day.
02:45-02:47
We're at the end of our latest series.
02:49-02:49
Respect the office.
02:50-02:53
Jesus' roles determine my responsibilities.
02:53-03:00
Last Sunday, we saw that Jesus is the ultimate prophet who perfectly represents and speaks for his Father.
03:01-03:10
When you truly see Jesus as prophet, you know that you must listen and believe whatever he says.
03:13-03:25
This past Good Friday, Pastor Jeff showed us that Jesus is our great high priest who laid down his own life, who shed his own blood as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
03:26-03:36
When you see Jesus as priest, you know that you must confess your sin, you must repent of your sin, you must ask for forgiveness of your sin.
03:38-03:51
This morning we will see that Jesus Christ is the king of all, who is high above any ruler, any president, any CEO, any billionaire, and nothing and no one can compare to Jesus Christ.
03:51-03:58
And when you see Jesus as King, you know that you must obey whatever he says.
04:00-04:10
As is our custom at Harvest, please pray for me that I'll faithfully proclaim God's word, and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive God's word.
04:13-04:18
Father, we come to you, And we thank you for what this day represents.
04:20-04:27
We thank you that because of your son, because of what he has done, we can have true hope.
04:27-04:30
We can have true life.
04:31-04:36
And if there are people in this room who do not have true life, may you seek and save the lost today.
04:36-04:39
May you bring the dead to life.
04:39-04:42
May you give faith where there previously was no faith.
04:42-04:48
And for the rest of us, Lord, may we be comforted, may we be encouraged, may we be challenged and built up by your word.
04:48-04:52
I thank you so much that you watch over your word to perform it.
04:52-04:54
Your word never returns to you empty.
04:54-04:57
It always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it out.
04:57-05:00
And Lord, I trust you and we trust you this morning.
05:00-05:03
We ask that you would do a great and mighty work in all of our hearts.
05:04-05:08
We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.
05:10-05:19
In the original Greek, the apostle Paul writes, one long run-on sentence in Ephesians chapter one, verses three through 14.
05:19-05:26
Have you ever listened to a family member or friend who breathlessly tells you a story, they're really, really excited, they just wanna get it out?
05:26-05:30
That was me growing up, no one could understand any story I was telling growing up.
05:31-05:33
That is the Apostle Paul in this passage.
05:33-05:40
He is so blown away by who Christ is and what he has done for the Ephesian church.
05:41-05:48
He gives a huge list, they have been redeemed, they have been rescued, they have been adopted into the family of God.
05:48-05:54
They have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and on and on the list goes.
05:56-06:03
In Ephesians chapter one, verse 15, Paul takes a deep breath, so he can go on for another run-on sentence.
06:04-06:07
So let's read the beginning of Paul's second run-on sentence.
06:08-06:10
In chapter one, verses 15 through 17.
06:10-06:12
of Ephesians.
06:12-06:38
He says, "For this reason, because I have heard "of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love "towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks "for you, remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him." Paul isn't indifferent to the Ephesian church.
06:39-06:40
He isn't like, eh, whatever.
06:41-06:46
He has a deep love for these people because he ministered in Ephesus for years.
06:46-06:50
He personally led many of the Ephesians to Christ.
06:51-06:55
And since the day he left Ephesus, he has been receiving reports about them.
06:55-06:56
He's been checking in on them.
06:56-07:01
He's been hearing about their deep faith in Christ and their love for one another.
07:03-07:13
All that the Ephesians have been given in Christ and all they've been doing for Christ Paul to constantly give thanks and pray for them?
07:15-07:16
What is he praying for?
07:17-07:19
What is he asking for on their behalf?
07:21-07:35
Well he tells us in verses 17 through 18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know.
07:38-07:39
Let's stop there for a minute.
07:39-07:41
pick up the rest of Paul's thought very soon.
07:42-07:44
What is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians?
07:45-07:48
To see so that they will know.
07:49-07:57
To see important truths with the eyes of their hearts so that they will know these truths in their hearts for the rest of their lives.
07:59-08:09
The truths that Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know are the same exact truths that you need to see and know on April 5th, 2026.
08:11-08:14
Some of you are here because you really wanna be here.
08:14-08:20
You couldn't wait to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
08:21-08:23
Others of you would rather be someplace else.
08:24-08:26
You're really hoping, I won't talk for too long.
08:27-08:37
You're really hoping that this service will be mercifully short so you can get back home, eat Easter lunch, hunt for some eggs, and pass out from a food comb on the couch.
08:38-08:42
And if that's you, I want you to hear a loud and clear message from me.
08:42-08:44
I am so glad that you're here.
08:45-08:48
I have been praying for you all week long.
08:48-08:54
I have been praying that you would see and know what God wants you to see and know.
08:55-09:01
Whether you are excited or unenthused to be here, you need to ask yourself one question this morning.
09:02-09:06
What does God want me to see and know this Easter?
09:07-09:11
What does God want me to see and know this Easter?
09:12-09:15
Number one, your outline, the hope that is found in belonging to Christ.
09:16-09:19
The hope that is found in belonging to Christ.
09:22-09:26
Let's return to Paul's thought that we left hanging a minute ago in verses 16 through 18.
09:27-09:45
He writes, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, "remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him, "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, "that you may know." What does he want them to see and know?
09:46-09:50
What is the hope to which he has called you?
09:51-09:57
Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know the hope that is found in belonging to Jesus.
09:59-10:02
Have you ever noticed that the hardest words to define are the simplest?
10:04-10:06
We use words like hope every single day.
10:07-10:08
But what does it actually mean?
10:08-10:10
What is hope?
10:12-10:13
There are actually two definitions for hope.
10:14-10:18
There is the worldly definition and there is the biblical definition.
10:19-10:24
There is the wrong definition and the right definition.
10:25-10:30
And your personal definition depends upon your status relationship with Christ.
10:33-10:38
If you do not love and follow Jesus, hope is only wishful thinking and nothing more.
10:39-10:42
Hope is crossing your fingers and wishing for the best.
10:43-10:47
Hope is knocking on wood and longing that nothing bad will happen to you.
10:49-10:52
You have no basis for this hope beyond your desire for it.
10:54-10:57
That kind of hope is no hope at all.
10:59-11:09
In the next chapter of Ephesians, Paul says that until you trust in Christ for salvation, you are without hope and you are without God in the world.
11:11-11:16
So that is the wrong and unbiblical definition of hope.
11:17-11:21
Let's talk about the right and biblical definition of hope.
11:22-11:28
According to God's word, hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.
11:29-11:34
Hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.
11:34-11:48
When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that every single one of your sins have been wiped away, have been paid for, that your past, present, and future offenses are no longer held against you.
11:49-11:57
When you trust in Christ and belong to him, You have a confident expectation that God will keep every single promise in this book.
11:57-12:06
When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that you are bound for heaven and not hell.
12:09-12:13
These hopes aren't maybes or mightbes that you're unsure of.
12:13-12:16
These are firm and fixed realities that cannot change.
12:18-12:23
If you're a true born-again believer in Christ, You have no need for wishful thinking.
12:23-12:25
You have no need for crossing your fingers.
12:25-12:27
You have no need for knocking on wood.
12:28-12:37
When you truly belong to Jesus Christ, you see that he is trustworthy, and you know that there is a 0% chance that he will fail you.
12:40-12:43
What does God want me to see and know this Easter?
12:44-12:48
Secondly, the unending riches that are available in Christ.
12:49-12:53
the unending riches that are available in Christ.
12:57-13:07
At the end of verse 18, Paul goes on to pray that the Ephesians would see and know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
13:08-13:14
If I were to ask you to come up with your net worth off the top of your head, would you be able to do it?
13:16-13:19
Some of you uber savvy and prepared individuals exact number.
13:20-13:25
This would also be really easy for you teenagers and college students because your net worth is practically zero.
13:26-13:27
You own nothing really.
13:28-13:30
Others of us would need to sit down and crunch the numbers.
13:31-13:33
Subtract our debts, add our assets.
13:35-13:39
Do you realize that all of your assets will belong to someone else?
13:40-13:43
All of your stuff will be passed on.
13:45-13:52
Maybe you've already thought about the family heirlooms, the keepsakes that you wanna pass down to your kids, your grandkids, your friends, your relatives.
13:52-13:57
Maybe you've already been the beneficiary of a very small or a very big inheritance.
13:59-14:01
You inherited a house and all that came with it.
14:02-14:06
You inherited a decent chunk of money that you were not expecting.
14:08-14:19
No matter what you've inherited in the past or what you plan to pass down to others in the future, these things pale in comparison to the inheritance that God gives to his children.
14:20-14:21
I mean, think about it.
14:21-14:22
What is God's net worth?
14:24-14:25
It's limitless.
14:25-14:26
It's incalculable.
14:26-14:28
What does God own?
14:30-14:32
You are the first service, so I'll give you some grace.
14:32-14:33
Let's try that again.
14:34-14:36
What does God own?
14:37-14:41
So if you belong to him, what do you stand to gain?
14:42-14:43
Everything.
14:45-14:46
God isn't a cheapskate.
14:47-14:53
If you're a born again believer in Christ, God doesn't put you on a weekly allowance plan that is based on your performance.
14:54-15:08
God's not up in heaven thinking, "Well, I was gonna loosen the purse strings a bit more "and give Taylor more this week, "but he really let me down, he really failed me, "so too bad for him, maybe next week, if he behaves better." That is not how God operates at all.
15:09-15:11
He is unbelievably generous towards you.
15:12-15:15
He's unconditionally loving towards you.
15:18-15:21
I know what some Christians in this room and watching online are thinking right now.
15:21-15:23
Taylor, that sure sounds nice.
15:25-15:26
But that's not my experience.
15:27-15:31
You're saying that I have everything, but I feel like I have nothing.
15:33-15:35
Life isn't going very well for me right now.
15:37-15:40
I get that, and I felt that.
15:41-15:43
You may feel like you have nothing.
15:44-15:47
You may feel like you are running on empty.
15:48-15:52
You may feel like you have nothing left to give.
15:53-15:59
But I want you to see and know all that is available to you in Christ.
16:00-16:04
In Christ, you have unlimited access to God the Father in prayer.
16:04-16:10
You can come to him 24/7 to bring your request, your Thanksgiving just to talk to him.
16:11-16:14
You've been given the very word of God.
16:14-16:18
You can talk to God in prayer and God talks to you in his word.
16:19-16:23
You've been filled with the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, and comforts you.
16:23-16:29
You have a protective and older brother named Jesus who is constantly interceding for you in heaven.
16:32-16:37
As a pastor, I hear so many people tell me, I just want more of God.
16:38-16:40
I just want more of the Holy Spirit.
16:40-16:42
I just want more from God.
16:43-16:48
Listen, in Christ, you have been given everything that God has.
16:49-16:50
You have been given all of him.
16:51-16:55
God cannot give you more of himself because he's given you all of it.
16:58-16:59
Do you really believe that?
17:01-17:03
Do you really live like you believe that?
17:05-17:07
No gift has been reserved.
17:07-17:09
No blessing has been withheld.
17:10-17:13
No grace has been kept back from you.
17:15-17:19
Even if you are financially poor, you are spiritually rich.
17:20-17:25
Even if you feel empty, you have been filled with the fullness of God.
17:27-17:31
If the past 12 years, my wife and I have shared a joint bank account.
17:31-17:41
And whenever we open that account, For some reason, PNC Bank put her name in bold letters on the top of the checks and me in smaller letters underneath of hers.
17:43-17:44
I'm told that's not how it usually goes.
17:44-17:45
Am I right?
17:46-17:47
It's very emasculating.
17:48-17:51
I think PNC laughs at me every time they print those checks for us.
17:52-17:53
But here's the thing.
17:54-17:56
My checks clear just as well as Kate's does.
17:58-18:03
My card withdraws money out of our account just like Kate's card does.
18:05-18:14
I have unlimited access to a bank account with my wife, but I also have unlimited access to an even greater account.
18:14-18:18
I share the resources of someone even greater than my wife.
18:18-18:21
I share the infinite riches of an infinite God.
18:22-18:31
On our account, his name is huge and mine is teeny tiny small, but I still get to access those riches whenever I want to, whenever I need them.
18:33-18:37
And the same is true for you if you've been adopted into the family of God.
18:38-18:48
And the same can be true of you today if you let go of the unsatisfying garbage of this world to grab a hold of the infinitely satisfying treasures of heaven.
18:51-18:56
God wants you to see and know the riches that are available to you in Christ.
18:58-19:01
What does God want me to see and know this Easter?
19:02-19:04
Thirdly, the resurrection power of Christ.
19:05-19:07
The resurrection power of Christ.
19:11-19:21
In verse 19, Paul prays the Ephesians would see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his, God's power towards us who believe.
19:22-19:23
Power.
19:25-19:28
Power is such a foreign concept to so many people.
19:28-19:34
Power is such a foreign concept to most people who fill churches Sunday after Sunday.
19:34-19:38
Most Christians feel so powerless.
19:40-19:44
They feel powerless to resist temptation so they give in without a fight.
19:45-19:49
They feel powerless to serve the church so they sit on the sidelines.
19:50-19:54
They feel powerless to share the gospel so they stay silent.
19:55-20:03
They feel powerless to be the husbands and wives they've been called to be, so they settle for being passive rather than active.
20:04-20:09
They feel powerless to be godly parents, so they make excuses.
20:12-20:13
How about you?
20:15-20:17
Do you feel powerless?
20:20-20:22
If you feel powerless, you're not alone.
20:23-20:24
I certainly feel that way.
20:26-20:31
I certainly feel that way as a homeowner because I am not a handyman whatsoever.
20:32-20:39
If there's something broken at your house, I wouldn't recommend calling me as your first, second, 20th, 100th option.
20:40-20:45
When something breaks at my house, I mostly feel powerless to address it.
20:47-20:52
Recently, the toilet paper roll holder ripped off our downstairs bathroom wall.
20:52-20:56
I wasn't surprised, it's the bathroom my kids use the most and they're not gentle with the toilet paper.
20:57-21:00
It's like they're on the Price is Right rolling down the toilet paper.
21:05-21:10
I walked into the bathroom, I assessed the damage and I'll be honest with you, I felt an initial wave of powerlessness.
21:12-21:16
And I thought, well, guess what's gonna be savages in keeping toilet paper on the bathroom sink from now on.
21:18-21:22
But then I thought to myself, wait a minute, I own a drill.
21:23-21:24
I own wall anchors.
21:25-21:31
I have a teeny tiny screwdriver set that can be used as teeny tiny screw that locks this toilet paper holder into place.
21:33-21:38
I realized that I already had all that I needed to fix this issue.
21:40-21:41
And guess what?
21:41-21:42
I did fix it.
21:44-21:45
Thank you.
21:48-21:52
The next time you come to my house, I'll show you the glories of the toilet paper holder.
21:57-22:09
Whenever you feel that initial wave of powerlessness as a Christian, remember that you already have all that you need to face the issue in front of you.
22:10-22:13
What you already have is far better than a cheap set of tools.
22:14-22:17
You have the very power of the God of the universe.
22:19-22:24
And Paul tells us in verses 19 through 20 what this power is truly capable of.
22:24-22:38
He says that he wants the Ephesians to see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.
22:41-22:47
The power of resurrection isn't just something that Jesus experienced and no one else will ever again.
22:49-22:57
The power of resurrection is something that everyone who trusts in Christ experiences right now.
22:57-23:03
It is something that you will experience for all of eternity if you've given your life over to him.
23:04-23:07
Please catch this because this is truly life-changing.
23:08-23:20
If you have trusted in Christ for salvation, that same power that brought him back from death and raised him from the grave 2,000 years ago resides within you.
23:21-23:26
That same power raised you from spiritual death and gave you new life.
23:27-23:36
That same power will enable you to share the gospel, not caring what anyone thinks about you, not worrying about what the response will be.
23:37-23:43
That same power will inspire you to not believe the lies and discouragement of the enemy.
23:43-23:49
That same power will motivate you to love your wife, respect your husband, serve your children.
23:50-23:56
That same power will equip you to use your spiritual gifts in the life of the church.
23:58-24:01
Yes, in and of yourself, you are powerless.
24:02-24:14
In and of yourself, you cannot do anything of value for anyone, but in Christ, you have access to the death-defying, life-giving power the God of the universe.
24:14-24:19
It is at your fingertips whenever you want it, whenever you need it.
24:24-24:33
Do not insult the sacrifice and resurrection of your Savior by believing that he has left you unequipped for the responsibilities you've been given.
24:36-24:41
At this point in the message, you may be thinking, wasn't this supposed to be about seeing and knowing Jesus as King?
24:41-24:42
when is that part gonna come up?
24:44-24:47
Well, I'm gonna take a page out of Pastor Jeff's preaching book.
24:47-24:49
Everything I've said so far has been the introduction.
24:50-24:51
Here's the actual sermon.
24:52-24:53
Don't worry, it'll be short, it won't be long.
24:55-24:56
Everything leading up to this has been the warmup.
24:57-24:57
Here's the main event.
24:58-25:01
What does God want me to see and know this Easter?
25:02-25:06
Finally, the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.
25:08-25:11
the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.
25:17-25:23
When you hear the gospel story, it's usually concluded with the resurrection of Jesus.
25:25-25:26
Usually goes like this.
25:26-25:30
Jesus, God himself, took on flesh and came to this earth.
25:30-25:31
He lived a perfect life.
25:32-25:36
He had a three year long ministry filled with miracles and sermons.
25:36-25:41
He was crucified in the tomb for three days, rose again, roll credits, the end.
25:44-25:45
Is that actually the end of the gospel story?
25:47-25:57
There is a major event that is missed, and that is the ascension of Christ, which is a fancy theological way of saying that Jesus went back to heaven.
25:59-26:05
Paul wants the Ephesians as well as you and I to see and know the importance of the ascension.
26:06-26:26
In verses 20 through 21, he says, the same power that raised Christ from the dead also seated him at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
26:28-26:33
Through his crucifixion, Jesus is the Savior who destroys the power of death.
26:34-26:39
Through his resurrection, Jesus is the victor who destroys the power of death.
26:41-26:48
Through his ascension, Jesus is the king who defeats the power of those who challenge his rightful rule and authority.
26:50-27:00
Yes, Satan and the forces of darkness seem to be winning right now, but I promise you they have lost already because they cannot compete with the one who sits on heaven's throne.
27:01-27:13
Yes, people do and can resist the king right now, but one day, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
27:15-27:16
You have two options.
27:17-27:23
You can willingly bow the knee right now, or you can be forced to bow in eternity.
27:25-27:35
You can joyfully proclaim that Jesus is your savior, your Lord in the present, or you can begrudgingly admit that you were wrong and he was right in the future.
27:38-27:45
No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you cannot change the reality of this universe's political situation.
27:46-27:49
Jesus Christ rules and reigns.
27:50-27:55
But your position, your side of this political reality can change.
27:56-27:58
Will you choose team pride?
27:59-28:00
The captain of that team is Satan.
28:01-28:04
Spoiler alert, that team is gonna lose big time.
28:06-28:14
There is team submission, and the captain of that team is Jesus Christ himself, who wins every single game in an absolute shutout.
28:16-28:17
What will you choose?
28:19-28:22
Will you resist, or will you submit?
28:24-28:29
Let's wrap up by reading more about the kingship of Jesus in verses 22 through 23.
28:29-28:48
Paul writes, "And he, God the Father, put all things under Christ's feet and gave him his head over all things of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Jesus Christ is the head, the ruler, the boss, the king of the church.
28:49-28:56
He's in charge around here, not me, not Pastor Jeff, not Pastor Rich, not the elders, not you.
28:56-28:59
Jesus Christ is head over the church.
28:59-29:03
He is in charge of every true church across the face of this planet.
29:04-29:11
And the church should be a living example of what it looks like to submit to the kingship of Jesus.
29:12-29:16
The church should be on the front lines displaying the love of Christ.
29:16-29:21
The church should show a watching world what it looks like to obey the word of God.
29:24-29:29
How are most Christians doing at setting that example of submission in 2026?
29:32-29:32
Not the best.
29:33-29:42
Most professing Christians act like they know Jesus, but they live like they do not know Jesus.
29:43-29:49
Many professing Christians seem to care more about their own personal opinions than the authoritative word of God.
29:50-29:58
Most professing Christians seem to love themselves more than the lost, more than their fellow church members.
30:00-30:04
Do you profess to know Jesus, but make Jesus look bad?
30:08-30:13
Do you give others around you a totally inaccurate picture of what it looks like to submit to King Jesus?
30:15-30:21
If your answer to those questions is yes, it's time for repentance, it's time to change course.
30:22-30:31
Earlier I said that God can never give you more of himself and that's 100% true, but you can always give God more of yourself.
30:32-30:34
God withholds nothing from you.
30:35-30:37
What are you withholding from him?
30:39-30:40
Is it your finances?
30:42-30:47
Do you foolishly think that all the money in your account belongs to you when it actually belongs to God?
30:48-30:49
Is it your time?
30:50-30:57
You've been wasting the most precious gift you've been given, time, by spending it on yourself and no one else.
30:59-31:00
Is it social media and entertainment?
31:01-31:06
You're constantly consuming garbage, yet you act surprised that garbage comes out of your mouth?
31:07-31:09
Is it your status and reputation?
31:10-31:16
You care so much about what people think of you that you're willing to tear others down and lie your way to the top.
31:17-31:22
Listen, care about nothing and no one more than Jesus.
31:24-31:26
The Christian life is so simple.
31:28-31:31
Do you want me to share the not so secret secret of the Christian life?
31:33-31:34
Doesn't seem like you want it, no one said anything.
31:35-31:38
Do you want the not so secret secret to the Christian life?
31:39-31:40
All right, fine, I'll share it with you.
31:41-31:43
Just do what Jesus says.
31:46-31:47
Just do what Jesus says.
31:48-31:50
Obey his word.
31:50-31:56
Life is so much simpler when you submit to Jesus in every single way.
31:56-32:00
It's so complex to figure out other masters to follow.
32:00-32:06
It's so unsatisfying to be the boss of your own life 'cause if you are honest enough to admit it, you are clueless.
32:07-32:08
You have no idea what you're doing.
32:09-32:10
You have no idea what's going on.
32:13-32:17
Yes, the Christian life is simple, but it's also challenging, isn't it?
32:18-32:24
It is absolutely pride crushing to admit that you know nothing and Jesus knows everything.
32:25-32:29
It's humbling to acknowledge that he is in control and you are not.
32:30-32:35
It's difficult to follow Jesus, not cater to your own personal preferences.
32:37-32:39
I have to tell you, you will feel miserable.
32:40-32:48
You will feel directionless until you see and know that submitting to Jesus is the only way to lasting joy.
32:50-32:52
The worship team can now make their way forward.
32:54-32:59
Do you see and know that Jesus is the ultimate prophet?
33:01-33:05
He spoke the truth 2,000 years ago and he still speaks the truth to this day.
33:06-33:10
Do you see and know that Jesus is the high priest?
33:10-33:17
He laid down his own life, he shed his own blood on the cross to wash away your many sins.
33:19-33:22
Do you see and know that Jesus is the king of all?
33:23-33:31
He resurrected from the grave, he ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand, where he rules and reigns right now.
33:32-33:37
This position of prominence proves that He is God and you are not.
33:38-33:45
This position of prominence proves that He is a rightful claim over your life and you have none.
33:47-33:52
If your heart is still unyielded to Christ, if your knee is still unbowed, what are you waiting for?
33:53-34:00
There is no better time to obey Jesus' command to believe in Him than this very moment.
34:02-34:06
There is no better opportunity to trust in Jesus for salvation than right now.
34:08-34:16
There is no better day than Easter Sunday to draw your line in the sand and say, today is the day when I gave my life to Jesus.
34:16-34:19
Today is the day when everything changed for me.
34:21-34:29
If you turn from your sin and you place your faith in Jesus, the old you will die.
34:30-34:33
never to be seen or heard from again.
34:34-34:43
A new you will rise from the grave with Christ, and one day you will live with Christ forever and ever.
34:45-34:51
That is the ultimate truth that God wants you to see and know this Easter.
34:52-34:53
Let's pray.
34:56-34:59
Father, this amazing news often seems too good to be true.
35:00-35:10
How could a holy, perfect, all-powerful God care about weak people like us?
35:11-35:15
People who have rebelled against you, who've wanted nothing to do with you.
35:16-35:34
Lord, instead of just turning your back on us, instead of just consigning all of us to hell forever, You sent your one and only Son to become one of us, to live the perfect life we could never live, to die the death that we deserved to die.
35:36-35:38
Lord, let this news never become old to us.
35:39-35:40
May it never become normal.
35:41-35:42
May it always blow us away.
35:43-35:49
And Lord, I do lift up those of us in this room who are still resisting, who are still doubting.
35:51-35:54
God, I can't change anyone, but you can.
35:56-35:57
I know you can save.
35:58-35:59
I know you can bring the dead to life.
35:59-36:02
Lord, I ask you would do that this very moment.
36:04-36:05
Lord, we thank you for who you are.
36:05-36:09
We thank you for what you've done, and we thank you for all that you continue to do for us.
36:10-36:13
We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Ephesians 1:15-23

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What is the difference between worldly hope and biblical hope?
What are the riches and blessings that have been made available to you in Christ?
What does it mean that you share in the resurrection power of Jesus? How should this truth change how you live from one day to the next?
How are you failing to submit to the kingship of Christ right now?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

April 3, 2026

Respect the Office

Because He is Priest, I Will Confess

Jeff Miller

April 3, 2026

Respect the Office

Introduction:

Psalm 32:5 – I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Conceal or Confess? If You Want to Confess: (1 John 1:5 - 2:6)

You Have to Be Done LYING About Your Sin. (1 John 1:5-10)

3 Lies You Have to Stop Claiming:
1. I BELIEVE in God. (When You Don't LIVE Like It.) (1 John 1:6-7)
2. I'm a GOOD Person. (1 John 1:8-9)
3. I Don't SIN. (1 John 1:10)
You Have to Come to JESUS. (1 John 2:1-2)
Your LIFESTYLE Proves Your Sincerity. (1 John 2:3-6)

Hebrews 4:14 - Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:09
Open up those Bibles to the passage that Levi just read, 1 John 1.
00:12-00:14
While you're turning there, let's just quiet our hearts for a moment.
00:14-00:19
And I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to faithfully communicate God's Word.
00:21-00:29
And I'll pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us from His Word tonight.
00:29-00:31
All right, let's pray.
00:33-00:44
Father in heaven, I pray that this time would allow us to feel the weight of what it is we're remembering here tonight.
00:46-00:48
We're so distracted with so many things.
00:50-01:02
I just pray, Father, by the power of Your Spirit, everything is off our minds and hearts except your word.
01:06-01:14
And that we would be honest enough with ourselves to see things as you see them.
01:18-01:24
Thank you, Father, for the sacrifice that was made.
01:26-01:29
You spared not your own son.
01:34-01:38
We pray in the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.
01:40-01:41
Amen.
01:41-01:46
We're in this series, this short series called Respect the Office.
01:49-01:54
That if Jesus presented a resume, it would have a lot on it.
01:56-02:00
But there are three roles in particular.
02:02-02:07
We're just sort of slowing down and looking at, and last Sunday Pastor Rich talked about Jesus as prophet.
02:08-02:10
He is the word of God.
02:10-02:14
Who God is, is represented in Jesus.
02:16-02:22
Tonight, we're going to see that Jesus Christ is our priest.
02:25-02:27
What is a priest, anyways?
02:28-02:36
Well, in the simplest terms, the prophet represented God to man.
02:37-02:42
And the priest represents man to God.
02:43-02:50
And in the Old Testament, the priests offered sacrifices from sinners to God at the temple.
02:51-03:12
So tonight, as our minds naturally think of Jesus Christ on the cross, what you need to see in your mind in that moment when Jesus was on the cross, was He was not only the the sacrifice that was being offered for sin.
03:12-03:17
At the same time, He was the priest who was offering the sacrifice.
03:19-03:28
Jesus Christ, as our priest, came to deal with our sin.
03:32-03:51
There is one thing you must do Before you can receive forgiveness, before you can have a relationship with God at all, there's one thing you have to do.
03:52-03:53
You have to confess.
03:55-04:09
And if you're a Christian, if you are truly born again, and you're sitting here tonight, and you're wondering why your walk is so weak, why you aren't the strong Christian that you thought you would be by now.
04:13-04:15
Maybe you stopped confessing.
04:16-04:19
Look at verse 9 again.
04:21-04:30
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
04:34-04:36
We're going to talk about confess tonight.
04:37-04:39
What does it mean to confess?
04:41-04:44
Well, in the Greek, it's a compound word.
04:44-04:54
It literally means, "say the same." In other words, to confess means that you're agreeing with God.
04:56-04:58
Agreeing with God that you are a sinner.
04:58-05:02
Agreeing with God that your sin is wrong.
05:05-05:06
I agree with God.
05:07-05:08
It's saying I'm guilty.
05:09-05:11
I'm not a good person.
05:11-05:16
I look at my actions and I do things that are just shameful.
05:18-05:21
I hear the words that come out of my mouth sometimes.
05:22-05:24
What is wrong with me?
05:27-05:27
Shameful.
05:29-05:38
So I look into my heart and I realize, there's something broken in me.
05:40-05:41
There's something evil in me.
05:44-05:47
How is it that I can be so full of selfishness?
05:47-05:51
How is it that I can be so full of hatred sometimes?
05:52-05:53
How is it that I can be so full of lust?
05:55-05:56
Why is that?
06:00-06:01
Confessing is agreeing with God.
06:05-06:10
And the three hardest words that you will ever say, it's not, "I love you." Those ones are hard.
06:10-06:12
But there are three harder words to say.
06:13-06:24
And those words are these, "I have sinned." To get to the point where you are saying this from your heart, "I've sinned.
06:25-06:26
I have sinned.
06:27-06:30
You know, I was thinking about that a lot this week and preparing for this message.
06:31-06:32
Why is that so hard?
06:35-06:46
I mean, it's clear in the Bible, it's clear from observation that we have a problem, but why is it so hard for me to get to that place where I say, "I have sinned"?
06:46-06:49
Why is it so hard for you to admit that, to confess that?
06:52-06:53
I think it's a lot of things.
06:55-06:57
I think the big reason is pride, right?
06:58-07:02
To admit that you're a sinner is also an admission of weakness.
07:02-07:06
I'm not the morally strong person that I want to think that I am.
07:07-07:15
Maybe it's hard to confess that I am a sinner because deep down the reality is we actually kind of like our sin.
07:16-07:19
We would miss it if it wasn't in our lives.
07:19-08:13
is that. If you're sitting here tonight and you're like, "Well, I don't feel like I love my sin. I want out of it, but I feel trapped in it. I'm in bondage to it." That's hard to confess. That something is so ruling over you. "I don't want to do this, but I keep doing it. What is my problem?" You know, I think really for a lot of us, it's hard to say I have sinned because it's just so hard to not see yourself as the hero in your own story. Sometimes you're the bad guy. So am I. Acknowledging sin is uncomfortable. It's offensive. And it just it goes against our natural inclinations.
08:17-08:18
Here's the reality from God's Word.
08:20-08:21
Unsaved people.
08:22-08:29
People who don't sincerely know the Lord, are always going to try to downplay sin.
08:31-08:32
It's not that big of a deal.
08:33-08:36
And one of the ways they do that is by trying to redefine sin.
08:36-08:40
We won't call it sin, we'll call it something else and kind of soften the blow.
08:41-08:46
But the big one is, unsaved people conceal their sin.
08:47-08:48
Let's keep it hidden.
08:48-08:50
Let's make sure nobody finds out about it.
08:50-08:52
They conceal their sin.
08:55-09:05
Saved people, on the other hand, according to that passage Levi just read, saved people confess their sin.
09:08-09:10
So tonight I just want to ask you one question.
09:12-09:12
What are you doing?
09:16-09:18
Conceal or confess?
09:19-09:20
Which one are you?
09:25-09:32
Bible's so clear about this and what's at stake in this.
09:33-09:40
Psalm 32.5 says, "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.
09:41-09:49
I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." Do you see that?
09:51-09:52
Conceal or confess.
09:55-10:20
Same thing, Proverbs 28.13 says, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." So what are you doing with your sin? Are you concealing it? Or are you confessing it?
10:23-10:33
So on your outline, if you're taking notes, it says at the top, "Conceal or confess?" And there might be some people in here that are honest enough to say, you know what, I'd rather just conceal it.
10:34-10:37
And I would say respectfully, I don't know why you're here tonight.
10:41-10:42
You should have stayed home.
10:45-10:48
But I do know that there are some people here tonight that are like, you know what?
10:51-10:53
It's gone on beyond too long.
10:54-10:54
I need to confess.
10:56-10:57
I need to confess.
10:57-11:03
Well, I'm so glad you're here, if that's you, because I want to help you with that, from the Word of God.
11:03-11:07
So on your outline, if you want to confess, number one, this is where you have to start.
11:09-11:11
You have to be done lying about your sin.
11:11-11:12
You have to be done with that.
11:13-11:16
You have to be done lying about your sin.
11:18-11:19
Again, look at verse five.
11:20-11:29
He says, "This is the message we have heard from Him "and proclaimed to you, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
11:30-11:31
God is light.
11:32-11:38
We could spend a whole sermon series talking about that, but the bottom line is this, that represents life.
11:39-11:40
That represents holiness.
11:41-11:43
There is no death in God.
11:43-11:45
There's no unholiness in God.
11:45-11:46
There's no sin.
11:46-11:48
There's no darkness of any kind in God.
11:49-11:54
A man, on the other hand, I probably don't have to sell you on that, do I?
11:57-12:04
And you see, when we talk about confessing, yes, you absolutely must confess with your mouth.
12:07-12:10
But, it has to ultimately start in your heart.
12:12-12:18
Because you can say something with your mouth that isn't actually true in your heart.
12:20-12:27
And when you say something that's not true, that's called telling a lie.
12:28-12:30
And that's where John starts here.
12:31-12:32
Like, you want to confess?
12:33-12:33
You've got to be done lying.
12:36-12:46
You see, three times in this passage, he says, "if we claim" or "if we say" "if we say" "if we say" He's pointing out the lies We tell ourselves.
12:47-12:48
He goes, you've got to stop that.
12:49-12:50
Let's look at them quickly.
12:51-12:53
Three lies you've got to stop claiming.
12:54-12:55
You've got to stop these.
12:55-12:57
Number, or letter A, sorry, letter A.
12:58-13:00
Here's a lie that a lot of people are saying.
13:01-13:02
I believe in God.
13:05-13:07
When you don't live like it.
13:09-13:15
People are saying, yeah, I believe in God, but they don't live like they know Him at all.
13:16-13:18
It's a lie, right?
13:18-13:19
Not my opinion, look at verse six.
13:20-13:31
He says, "If we say we have fellowship with Him, with God, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
13:32-13:35
If we claim we have fellowship with Him," do you know what that is?
13:36-13:40
That's the guy or the girl that says, "Oh, I believe in God.
13:41-13:42
"Oh yeah, yeah, I believe in God.
13:42-13:43
I know God.
13:44-13:49
I mean, yeah, I'm a Christian." But he says they walk in darkness.
13:49-13:54
They're living in some secret, sinful lifestyle.
13:57-13:59
And John points out here, look, you're living a lie.
14:00-14:02
You're just, you're living a lie.
14:03-14:05
I don't know who you think you're fooling, but it's not God.
14:07-14:08
And this is a hard truth.
14:11-14:14
that I think tonight we need to confront ourselves with.
14:15-14:18
Not everyone who claims to know God actually does know God.
14:20-14:23
Not everyone who claims they know God is actually heading to heaven.
14:26-14:33
Not everyone who's sitting in a church, not just tonight, any church, week after week, not everyone sitting in a church is saved.
14:37-15:04
I got to tell you, I talk to a lot of people who will be talking about a family member of theirs, their brother, or their adult children, or their parents, and we'll be talking about these family members, and I'm like, "Well, do they know the Lord?" And they'll say, "Well, yeah, they're Christians." And then they say, "But they haven't gone to church "in years, they're not interested in praying.
15:05-15:08
They really don't want to have any spiritual conversations.
15:09-15:12
You know, I invited them to Good Friday service and they absolutely didn't want to come.
15:14-15:15
But yeah, he's a Christian.
15:18-15:24
I mean, yeah, he's living in adultery right now.
15:25-15:26
Oh, he's foul-mouthed.
15:27-15:29
And he is such a heavy drinker.
15:32-15:32
But he's a Christian.
15:35-15:36
Based on what?
15:37-15:39
What are you basing that on?
15:39-15:41
And you know what the response usually is?
15:41-15:47
Well, one time we were in a church and they said they believed in God.
15:48-15:51
They like raised their hand in a service one time.
15:54-15:55
But what does the Bible say?
15:56-15:58
Do you see that in verse six?
15:58-16:03
If we say we have fellowship, but we're walking in darkness, what does your Bible say?
16:04-16:05
It says you're lying.
16:06-16:06
It's just not true.
16:10-16:12
But on the other hand, look at verse seven.
16:12-16:25
He says, "But if we walk in the light, "as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, "and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." Walking in the light.
16:26-16:27
No hidden sin.
16:29-16:35
No secret sin that you hope to heaven nobody finds out about.
16:43-16:46
You sin, you confess.
16:48-16:49
You are walking in the light.
16:50-16:51
You're like, yeah, I did sin.
16:51-16:53
That was wrong what I did.
16:53-16:54
It was wrong in God's eyes.
16:54-16:55
I've sinned against my family.
16:55-16:56
I'm confessing that.
16:56-16:58
I'm getting with God on this.
16:58-17:04
I'm getting accountability on this to help me drag this to the light.
17:07-17:09
So what's your plan tonight?
17:09-17:10
Are you going to conceal?
17:12-17:13
Or are you going to confess?
17:20-17:23
You're walking in the light or you're walking in darkness?
17:26-17:28
There's no middle ground, by the way.
17:29-17:33
The Bible doesn't talk about walking in half light or half dark.
17:33-17:36
What typifies your life right now?
17:37-17:39
Which one describes you?
17:40-17:42
Are you walking in the light?
17:45-17:47
Or is there a whole lot of stuff that you're trying to keep concealed?
17:51-17:53
Well, John says, "Stop lying.
17:54-17:54
"Stop lying.
17:54-17:59
"Your claim of believing in God means nothing if your life is characterized by sin.
18:00-18:03
All right, so that's a lie you have to stop claiming.
18:03-18:06
Here's another lie you have to stop.
18:07-18:08
Letter B, I'm a good person.
18:11-18:12
I'm a good person.
18:12-18:14
Well, let's see what the Bible says about that, verse eight.
18:14-18:22
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
18:23-18:25
We claim we're without sin.
18:26-18:27
I'm not that bad.
18:28-18:32
I mean, I'm actually a good person.
18:33-18:39
Like deep down, you know, deep down, I have a good heart.
18:40-18:42
I'm a good person deep down.
18:44-18:45
God knows that.
18:48-18:49
Here's what God knows.
18:51-18:54
God knows that you were born with a sin nature that you inherited from Adam.
18:55-18:58
that's been passed down from generation to generation, and you got it.
19:02-19:02
Don't believe me?
19:04-19:07
Sometimes I have people challenge me on this, like I don't think that we're born with a sin nature.
19:08-19:09
I don't think that that's true.
19:09-19:11
I don't think that we are born with a sin nature.
19:11-19:13
I'm like, have you ever been around a kid?
19:14-19:15
Ever?
19:17-19:18
(congregation laughing)
19:19-19:21
That's exactly what I'm talking about.
19:25-19:28
That's exactly what I'm talking about, that little sinner tried to hijack the sermon.
19:31-19:33
You just proved my point, little lamb.
19:40-19:43
And look, if you don't have kids, there's plenty of people around here that do have them.
19:43-19:45
I'm sure they'll let you hang out.
19:47-19:49
I'm sure they might ask you to watch them for a few days.
19:55-19:56
Who has ever taught a kid?
19:58-19:59
I mean, think of a little toddler.
20:00-20:01
Think of little Joey back there.
20:02-20:06
Does dad ever sit down with him and say, "Listen, listen, Joey, I'm gonna teach you "something important here.
20:07-20:12
"If you learn how to lie convincingly, "you're gonna go far in life, all right?
20:13-20:17
"I guess, son, what I'm saying is "always cover your tracks, okay?
20:18-20:25
"Because if you got away with it, then you've mastered the art of deception.
20:26-20:29
Has any dad sat down with their kid and taught them that?
20:29-20:30
I sure hope not.
20:30-20:31
You're a monster.
20:31-20:33
You're a monster if you're teaching your kid how to sin.
20:34-20:36
But you don't have to.
20:37-20:45
How is it that these kids automatically know how to sneak, how to lie, how to steal, how to be selfish?
20:45-20:46
How do they know that?
20:47-20:50
Like, were they reading some manual in the womb?
20:50-20:51
Like, what is going on here?
20:54-20:55
We're born with a sin nature.
20:57-20:59
So if you're like, "Well, you know what?
21:00-21:01
I'm really not that bad.
21:01-21:05
I'm not really a bad person." The Bible says you're deceiving to yourself.
21:05-21:09
You're telling a lie, and then you're turning around and believing the own lie that you just told yourself.
21:12-21:13
You say you have a good heart?
21:15-21:30
Actually if that's your stance, if that's your stance here tonight, to think that you're You're really a good person, I've got to tell you, you're in a hopeless situation when it comes to the gospel, because you're not going to confess.
21:32-21:36
What can God do for someone who doesn't think that they need Him?
21:39-21:40
It's a hopeless situation.
21:44-21:45
Look at verse nine again.
21:45-21:56
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, excuse me, forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
21:59-22:02
I did a lot of reading this past week in preparing for this.
22:02-22:12
And you get to this verse, and these scholars and commentators are like, is this verse for believers, or is this verse for unbelievers?
22:16-22:28
The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Confession is like repentance. Think about repentance.
22:29-22:44
Is repentance something you do when you first come to Christ? Yeah. But if you're a true born again believer in Christ, when do you stop repenting? Never. In Matthew 3.8, Luke 3.8, both say the exact same thing.
22:45-22:49
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
22:49-22:53
Repentance is to be the lifestyle of the follower of Jesus.
22:54-22:56
And confession is exactly the same.
22:56-22:59
In coming to Christ, you have to confess.
22:59-23:07
And if you're a Christian, your life is typified by constant acknowledgment of your sin before a holy God.
23:11-23:18
regular occurrence in our walk with Christ, Christians are characterized as confessors.
23:20-23:23
A true Christian is always going to God.
23:23-23:25
"God, I hate my sin.
23:25-23:27
God, this is what I did.
23:27-23:29
I messed up.
23:29-23:29
I sinned.
23:30-23:33
God, specifically, here is what I did.
23:34-23:35
God, I need to change.
23:35-23:37
God, I'm confessing that.
23:38-23:42
Thank You for the forgiveness that You've purchased through Your Son, Jesus Christ, God.
23:42-23:49
I need the power of Your Spirit to help me repent." That is how a Christian confesses their sin.
23:51-23:54
And John says that God's response is to forgive and purify.
23:56-23:57
Why does He do that?
23:59-24:00
Because you're worthy?
24:03-24:03
Not hardly.
24:04-24:09
John says he does that because he, he is faithful and just.
24:11-24:17
See, God's forgiveness is based on his promise, not your performance.
24:17-24:21
God's forgiveness comes to you on his terms, not your terms.
24:22-24:28
And God's forgiveness, the assurance that we have that we are forgiven is because of God's integrity.
24:30-24:39
that I can say, "I know that I have the promise of heaven," not because of me, I know I have the promise of heaven because I believe in a God who always keeps His word.
24:41-24:42
And this is what He's promised.
24:45-24:50
So if you're sitting here tonight, you're like, "Yeah, I'm a good person." You're really not.
24:52-24:59
As long as you think you are, you're not going to understand what the cross of Jesus Christ was all about.
25:01-25:03
Three lies you need to stop claiming.
25:04-25:07
Letter C, same vein here, right?
25:07-25:08
Letter C, I don't sin.
25:11-25:12
I don't sin.
25:13-25:15
Believe it or not, I've met people that have made that claim.
25:15-25:16
Look at verse 10.
25:16-25:30
He says, "If we say we have not sinned, "we make him a liar and his word is not in us." If we claim we have not sinned, that's the person, And again, I've met these people, they're like, "Sin?
25:33-25:43
I don't sin." Well, you did just call God a liar then because He says differently.
25:46-25:50
It's one of the interesting things about sin, wouldn't you say?
25:50-26:00
interesting, that we tend to minimize our sin and we maximize other people's sin.
26:02-26:08
Ours is so small and insignificant, but somebody else's, oh boy, they really blew it.
26:14-26:16
God wants to deal with you about your sin.
26:18-26:24
And you can't confess Jesus as a Savior if you say you don't have what He saves from.
26:27-26:36
And if you refuse to acknowledge your sin, you refuse to admit, you refuse to confess your sin, then the cross means nothing.
26:38-26:45
And we come to a service like this, we think of Jesus Christ on the cross, and we're really left wondering why did he die in the first place?
26:48-26:49
Concealer confess.
26:53-26:53
What are you doing?
26:58-26:59
Concealer confess.
26:59-27:01
Are you going to leave tonight lying to yourself?
27:04-27:07
Or are you going to finally agree with God?
27:12-27:23
So if you want to confess, if that's you, and I want to help you, first of all, you gotta stop lying to yourself, you gotta stop lying to God, you gotta stop lying to everybody, you gotta stop the lies.
27:23-27:27
Number two, you have to come to Jesus.
27:30-27:33
Confession is about the person of Jesus Christ.
27:33-27:47
Look at verse one, he says, in chapter two, "My little children, I'm writing these things to you "so that you may not sin." But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
27:49-28:01
John says, "Look, I'm writing this so you don't sin." God's Word doesn't allow us to have a dismissive attitude about sin, which a lot of Christians have.
28:02-28:05
It's like, "Well, yeah, I sin, but it doesn't really matter.
28:05-28:10
I'm forgiven in Christ." we just sort of dismiss it.
28:12-28:13
John goes, "No, no, no, no.
28:14-28:35
I'm writing these things to you so that you are turning from sin." He goes, "But if anybody does sin, and you will," spoiler alert, "you will," John says, "when you sin, you have an advocate, if you're in Christ." And this is one of the most beautiful pictures in all the Bible.
28:36-28:39
You know, it's a courtroom scene actually.
28:39-28:45
Revelation chapter 12 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren.
28:45-28:46
Do you know what Satan does?
28:47-28:52
He goes before God, and if you're a follower of Christ, Satan accuses you before God.
28:53-28:55
Satan's like, he's no good.
28:57-28:58
Did you hear what he said?
28:58-29:00
That's one of your guys?
29:00-29:01
Did you hear what he said?
29:02-29:03
That's what Satan does.
29:03-29:06
Satan, he's a slanderer, he's an accuser.
29:06-29:10
But you see, when Jesus Christ is your advocate, he is your defense attorney.
29:11-29:22
That when Satan says, "Do you see what a miserable person this is?" Jesus steps up and says, "He did sin, "but I took his sin on myself when I died on the cross." He's forgiven.
29:22-29:25
He is not guilty because I paid that penalty.
29:27-29:28
And Satan goes to the next person.
29:28-29:30
You see what a miserable person she is?
29:30-29:31
Do you hear how she talked?
29:31-29:32
Do you see what she did?
29:33-29:43
Jesus says, "I died for her." All of the sin that was committed by her, Jesus said, "When I was on the cross, I paid the penalty." She is not guilty.
29:45-29:50
That's what it means that Jesus as our advocate, and that is way better than Edgar Snyder.
29:53-29:55
Owen might not think so.
29:57-29:58
If you know, you know.
29:59-30:00
Look at verse two.
30:03-30:10
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
30:11-30:12
Propitiation.
30:12-30:15
Oh, that's like one of the best words in the Bible.
30:15-30:20
John's just hitting like all of the most awesome concepts in a row right here.
30:21-30:27
Propitiation, your Bible might translate it, atoning, sacrifice, but this is a concept that you really need to understand.
30:28-30:29
Propitiation just simply means this.
30:30-30:34
God is satisfied with what Jesus did on the cross.
30:35-30:36
That's what it means.
30:36-30:43
When Jesus was on the cross, God was pouring out his wrath on Jesus for my sin and for your sin.
30:44-30:47
God put all of the wrath that I deserve on Jesus.
30:47-30:50
And that is awesome news because you know what that means?
30:50-30:52
God has no more wrath left for me.
30:54-30:57
And if you're in Christ, he has no wrath left for you.
30:57-31:07
And Christian, you've gotta get this in your head I've talked to so many Christians that are like, "I just really feel like God's mad at me, "and I feel like God's so disappointed in me." He's not!
31:08-31:16
It's not like God poured out His wrath on Jesus, and then God turns around and sees you sinning, and is like, "Oh, I'm still mad!
31:17-31:20
"I gotta punish her now, too!" That's not how it works.
31:22-31:23
Propitiation, God is satisfied.
31:24-31:29
He has no wrath for you if you've truly received Jesus Christ.
31:32-31:47
And not just for you, not just for you, look at verse two, he goes on to say, "Not for ours only, "not for our sins only, "but also for the sins of the whole world." Again, this is where a lot of scholars get caught up.
31:50-31:55
I just, you're like, "Oh, you think you're smarter than those scholars." No, I don't.
31:55-31:57
I think they're too smart sometimes.
31:58-32:01
I think they make this way too complicated.
32:03-32:04
You know what I mean by that?
32:04-32:16
You know, I was reading, and I heard some pastoral panel thing, they were talking about this very verse, and they were like, what is being talked about here for the sins of the whole world?
32:16-32:19
Is he talking about the elect?
32:19-32:20
Like it's just for the elect?
32:22-32:25
Is this speaking to limited atonement?
32:28-32:33
You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be.
32:33-32:34
Do you know what this means?
32:35-32:36
Do you know what this verse means?
32:36-32:38
I'll tell you what this verse means.
32:39-32:39
Right here.
32:41-32:49
What this verse is saying is I can confidently say to anyone, when you believe in Jesus, you will be forgiven of your sins.
32:50-32:52
You will be adopted as a child of God.
32:52-32:54
I can say that to anybody, because it's for the whole world.
32:54-33:04
I can say that here, I can say that in Thailand, I can say that in Blonox, it doesn't matter where I am, this truth holds, Jesus forgives sin.
33:06-33:08
Let God figure out all that other stuff.
33:10-33:14
My job is to tell the world, and your job too.
33:16-33:17
Concealer confess.
33:19-33:19
Conceal or confess.
33:21-33:31
At this point, if you're still wanting to conceal, you're committed to walking out of here like, "Yeah, I just can't, I can't come clean about my sin.
33:31-33:38
"Not to God, not to anybody." Well, it's not gonna go well for you.
33:39-33:45
Remember what the Proverbs writers say, that if you conceal your sin, you're not gonna prosper.
33:46-33:48
It's not gonna go well for you.
33:51-33:57
But if you want to confess, that's business that you have to do with Jesus.
33:59-34:16
Not only confessing who you are as a sinner, but confession includes saying who He is, agreeing with God who Jesus is, agreeing with God that Jesus is your advocate, agreeing with God that Jesus is your propitiation, agreeing with God about that.
34:17-34:24
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
34:28-34:34
So this night more than any other probably reminds us why Jesus is the only one who can take your sin away.
34:35-34:36
Nobody else can do that.
34:38-34:46
Nobody else can make you be pronounced not guilty in the courtroom of God.
34:49-34:50
Conceal or confess?
34:52-34:59
Well, if you want to confess, number three, your lifestyle proves your sincerity.
35:02-35:04
Your lifestyle proves your sincerity.
35:05-35:07
Look at verses 3 through 6 again.
35:08-35:13
He says, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
35:15-35:20
Whoever says, "I know Him," but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
35:21-35:27
But whoever keeps His word in him, truly the love of God is perfected.
35:28-35:34
By this we may know that we are in Him.
35:35-35:41
Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
35:44-35:48
I'm sure if the hospitality team grabbed every person on the way out, do you wanna confess?
35:48-35:50
I'm sure they would get 100%.
35:50-35:51
Yeah, I confess.
35:51-35:52
I can, yeah, I confess.
35:58-36:02
We'll find out if it's sincere by how you live, right?
36:03-36:05
That's why he says it in verse three.
36:05-36:06
He says it at the end of verse five.
36:07-36:08
We know that we have come to know him.
36:09-36:10
We know that we are saved.
36:10-36:12
Like what's the evidence?
36:12-36:15
How do I really know if I'm saved or not?
36:15-36:16
How would I know that?
36:16-36:17
He tells you right here.
36:17-36:19
Here's how you know that you're saved.
36:19-36:20
You keep his commands.
36:22-36:28
The proof that you know God is just simply you do what he says.
36:32-36:34
It's not just what you claim.
36:37-36:38
Are you saved?
36:38-36:38
You know the Lord.
36:39-36:40
And people say, well, you know what?
36:40-36:46
I was baptized 17 years ago at First Baptist Church of so-and-so.
36:47-36:47
Goody.
36:49-36:51
That's not evidence that you're saved, though.
36:53-37:05
Or somebody says, "Well, I go to church almost every week." I mean, not when Declan has lacrosse, but every other week I'm in church.
37:05-37:06
Great.
37:08-37:10
I strongly encourage church attendance.
37:10-37:13
I think that's a good thing, but that's not evidence of salvation.
37:14-37:17
Evidence of salvation is I do what God tells me to do.
37:19-37:22
It's just that simple, according to John.
37:24-37:30
I believe, I believe not verified by what you say, I believe is verified by how you live.
37:30-37:32
Are you gonna conceal or are you gonna confess tonight?
37:33-37:34
Which is it?
37:36-37:51
Because obviously, if you really agree with God that sin is evil, you're going to be constantly confessing and forsaking sin.
37:55-37:57
So do you live a life of confession?
38:01-38:04
Do you agree with God about your sin?
38:06-38:19
And do you agree with God concerning what He said the crucifixion of His Son accomplished for the person who will turn to Him?
38:22-38:23
Our worship team would make their way back up.
38:26-38:54
And our communion servers, we're gonna close our time around the Lord's table And you do not have to be a member of Harvard's Bible Chapel to take communion, but you do have to be a born-again believer in Christ. This is for believers.
38:58-39:02
And fellow Christians, it is gathering around the Lord's table.
39:02-39:06
Well, this is a time to confess everything.
39:08-39:11
Everything that John said in this passage, we get to confess that right now.
39:13-39:21
When we take these elements, what we're saying, what we're confessing, I confess that my sin is evil and wrong in the eyes of God.
39:22-39:23
I confess that.
39:24-39:27
I confess that Jesus Christ died for my sin.
39:29-39:35
I confess that God is satisfied with the work that Jesus accomplished on my behalf.
39:37-39:40
I confess Jesus Christ is my advocate.
39:41-39:46
I confess that I need His Spirit to make me who God wants me to be.
39:49-40:00
I confess that I will prove that I believe when I obey God in every area of my life.
40:03-40:16
Hebrews 4.14 says, "Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.
40:18-40:22
Let us hold fast our confession.
40:24-40:36
We're going to ask, when you're ready, if you would come down to the center aisles and receive the elements from one of our pastors, and you can return to your seat by the outside aisle.
40:37-40:49
I'm going to ask that you hold on to it, and let's confess together tonight, church, that We are agreeing with God in all these things.
40:52-40:54
So please come, take the elements.
40:56-40:57
This is our confession.
40:59-41:05
This is our agreeing with God that Jesus is who God said He is.
41:06-41:09
And that Jesus accomplished what God said He accomplished.
41:11-41:16
The Bible tells us on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and he broke it and he gave thanks.
41:17-41:20
And he said, "This is my body, which is broken for you.
41:21-41:45
Eat this in remembrance of me." After the meal, Bible tells us that Jesus took the cup and he said, "This cup is my blood, the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sin.
41:46-41:48
Drink this in remembrance of me.
41:50-41:51
What are you doing tonight?
41:54-41:56
Conceal or confess?
41:59-42:01
Jesus has quite a resume.
42:04-42:06
As the prophet, he is the word of God.
42:08-42:11
As the priest, he takes away our sin.
42:12-42:15
I want to invite you to come back in two days on Sunday.
42:15-42:26
Pastor Taylor is going to talk about the other role that Jesus has, the King of Kings.
42:27-42:28
You don't want to miss that.
42:30-42:31
You are loved.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 John 1:5-2:6

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Rich Sprunk

March 29, 2026

Respect the Office

Because He is a Prophet, I Will Believe

Rich Sprunk

March 29, 2026

Respect the Office

Introduction:

Hebrews 1:1-3 - Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high...

The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:14-22):

Will Speak God’s Words – But they did not all listen

See: John 12:49-50 and John 14:10, 24
Will be Like Moses – But they did not all believe

See: John 6:32-35 and John 6:51, 57b-58
Will Die if He Lies – But they killed Jesus for telling the truth

See: John 8:26b-28 | Psalm 22:7-8, 16-18 | Psalm 22:22-25

Jesus is the Prophet – Will You:

Listen to Him?
Believe Him?
Speak His words?

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:01
Good morning, Harvest.
00:03-00:05
It's a joy to be with you this morning.
00:06-00:11
Open your Bibles, please, if you haven't already, to Deuteronomy chapter 18.
00:12-00:16
It's where we will be studying God's Word this morning.
00:18-00:37
And as is our usual, sometimes usual custom, I would ask, please, that you pray for me, that I would clearly, accurately preach God's Word, and I will pray for you that your hearts will be open to receive it.
00:37-00:37
Let's pray.
00:43-01:18
Gracious and holy Father, I pray, Father, you would open our hearts and minds to receive your word, that we would be absolutely convinced beyond all doubt that your word is true and that Jesus is your prophet who speaks your truth to us through your word, through your spirit at all times.
01:19-01:30
And I pray as we believe and trust in Him, you would transform our lives and make us more like Him every day.
01:30-01:33
We pray in Jesus' great name, Amen.
01:35-01:44
So in preparation for Resurrection Sunday, we are beginning a three-part series examining the three offices of Christ.
01:45-01:47
the office of prophet, priest, and king.
01:49-01:53
And we begin this morning with the first of these, which is prophet.
01:55-01:59
Now, we may listen to a lot of modern day prophets for advice on how to live.
02:00-02:12
The experts, the doctors, the internet influencers, the media talking heads, podcasters, entertainment celebrities, even astrologists and politicians.
02:14-02:16
The sources of information are endless.
02:17-02:24
And now we have AI at our fingertips to synthesize and summarize the sum and substance of human experience.
02:27-02:40
Now to be clear, I'm not talking about doctors who say eating this one food three times a day cures sleep apnea or the weird trick that cures tinnitus caused by eating this one food three times a day.
02:40-02:47
Now I'm talking about the major life information, answers to questions like, "Who am I?
02:48-02:49
What's my purpose?
02:50-03:03
What's the best way to live?" And when it comes to that kind of information, few to none of the infotainment talking heads can really help us, because they can only tell us what they know.
03:04-03:11
I'm not suggesting they aren't intelligent, but what they say may or may not be true.
03:12-03:15
But you say like, well, no, hold on, hold on Sprung.
03:15-03:20
I've heard it said that all truth is God's truth, wherever it's found.
03:22-03:24
Well, let's think about that for a minute.
03:25-03:29
God's word is perfect, pure and true according to Psalm 19.
03:30-03:44
So I have a metaphor this morning for us, For God's word, I think that everyone can relate to the delight over opening a brand new container of Play-Doh.
03:45-03:46
It's all one color.
03:47-03:49
Nobody's played with it yet.
03:49-03:51
It's not mixed up with other colors.
03:52-03:57
It's just fresh and clean, and it's ready for my artistic expression.
04:00-04:04
But you know, the inevitable happens, doesn't it?
04:04-04:19
Soon, what was once pure and clean, it's all mashed together with a lot of other colors and that original color becomes unidentifiable.
04:22-04:23
I think you get the point.
04:25-04:29
How do you discern God's truth in a mishmash of worldly ideas?
04:30-04:37
How do you extract the truth once it's all blended into futile human thoughts?
04:40-04:45
Well, this is the problem with the infotainment experts.
04:46-04:53
Their learning and experience and perspective is just a conglomeration of worldly thinking.
04:54-05:09
They can make educated guesses as to how to live and what's going to happen, but ultimately every single one of them is going to reach a point where they have to say, "I don't know." And some of them are speaking directly out of the pit of hell.
05:10-05:13
And those folks will drag you down to hell with them.
05:14-05:20
So you see, that's why when it comes to the astrologists and the mediums and perhaps the to celebrities and influencers.
05:22-05:33
Verse 14 of this morning's passage says that, "As for you, the Lord, your God, has not allowed you to do this." So to whom or what can we turn?
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Where can we get truth for an accurate world view?
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Because we need a perspective that is outside of ourselves.
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Outside of this world, really, and that's what God's Word is.
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It is the specific and special revelation of God about himself.
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It comes from the throne of God.
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The problem with the world is, people in the world, they look at the Bible and like, "Well, yeah, that's just one more system of thought like any other." In fact, it's probably even not as good as what AI can tell us now.
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They have a low view of scripture.
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We need to have a high view of scripture.
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And as we learn from the word that was just read, we can get the truth from the prophet.
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It is to him we must listen.
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But what is a prophet anyway?
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What does a prophet do?
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We typically think of prophets as forecasting future events, often in a cryptic or mystical way, like that Nostradamus guy.
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But biblically, that is only a partial description of what a prophet does.
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Basically a biblical prophet speaks God's words to people.
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The Old Testament prophets revealed three basic messages.
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The first was that God sent many prophets to his people to rebuke them for breaking the covenant and worshiping idols.
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This was perhaps the prophet's most important function, to remind the people of Israel that they, and only they, were in a covenantal relationship with the Lord God Most High.
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and they were violating His covenant in a high-handed way.
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Time and again He warned them to return to Him, or they would face the ultimate covenant punishment of being expelled from the Promised Land.
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Not only did the prophets warn Israel and Judah that they would be punished by pagan nations for their idolatry, God also spoke to them about a future restoration, both near and at the end of the age.
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And indeed, after the exile, they would return to the promised land.
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And the nations that assaulted and tormented Israel in their exile, they would in turn be punished and overthrown by God.
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And then finally, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming Messiah, a sometimes suffering, but ultimately victorious anointed servant.
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The anointed one would bring salvation to his people.
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He would inaugurate a new covenant between God and his people.
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And the prophets gave many clues that would help the people identify the anointed one when he arrived.
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Now, what did God expect his people to do in response to the prophets' messages?
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expected, well no, he commanded them to repent and believe the messages to return to him and live in accordance with the covenant he made with them at Mount Sinai. And yet the Old Testament records a nearly continuous account of Israel's idolatry. They worship the idols of the nations around them. They And they sought out and listened to the words of false prophets, mediums, fortune tellers, and diviners.
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They did not listen.
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They did not believe.
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They became futile in their thinking and their worship.
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They mixed God's truth with the religions and lifestyles of the surrounding nations, and they ended up with the equivalent of this, gudo.
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It's just a mash, a mishmash of ideas.
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And when the prophets exposed their sin and their hypocrisy, they took offense and they put them to death.
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So God, after bearing with his people for hundreds of years, he brought the covenantal curses down upon their heads and inflicted the ultimate punishment.
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He exiled them from the promised land.
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Now God of course kept his promises and he returned them to the land.
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And roughly 400 years after that, the anointed one who was known before the foundation of the world, he was made manifest in the last times for the sake of all who would believe in and through him.
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We of course know from the New Testament that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
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He's the Son of God who fulfilled all that was spoken of Him by the Old Testament prophets.
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As the writer of Hebrews says, "Long ago and at many times and in many ways, "God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
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"But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, "whom He appointed the heir of all things, "through whom also He created the world.
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"He's the radiance of the glory of God God in the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.
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After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." And this verse summarizes the three offices of Christ that we're going to be studying this week.
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First is prophet.
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"In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son." And then priest, he has made purification for sins.
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And then finally king, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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So how do we know Jesus is the prophet foretold by Moses?
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What evidence is there to conclusively connect Jesus to the promise of a prophet just like Moses?
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Well, first the prophet will speak God's words.
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Look at verse 15 of chapter 18 in Deuteronomy.
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Verse 15 says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.
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It is to him you shall listen." Thus the prophet would be raised up by God from among the Israelites.
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And the gospels of Matthew and Luke establish that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and he was adopted by Joseph.
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And both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David.
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Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
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His birth was attended by an angelic announcement.
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And then when John baptized Jesus, God the Father announced that Jesus was his beloved son with whom he was well-pleased.
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All of these events attest that Jesus was indeed raised up by God the Father from among the Israelites.
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And these events disprove the idea that Jesus was merely a self-appointed and possibly deluded religious figure, as some people think he was.
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And then verse 18 tells us that God's words would be in his mouth.
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"I will put my words in his mouth and He shall speak to them all that I command Him." Now, we've already established that the prophets spoke God's words to the people.
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But whereas they prefaced their statements with, "Thus saith the Lord," Jesus spoke as the Lord, out of the oneness that existed between Him and the Father.
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For example, in John 12, verses 49 and 50, Jesus said, "For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak.
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And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
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What I say therefore, I say as the Father has told me." And then in John 14, verses 10 and 24, he said, "The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
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And the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." As further proof of his prophetic office, Jesus spoke God's words in the way that the Israelites requested.
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What I mean is this, In Exodus chapters 19 and 20, God descended in a dark cloud on Mount Sinai with thunders and lightnings and the mountains shook.
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And out of that cloud, God spoke the 10 commandments to the people.
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And when all the people saw the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet that they heard and they were seeing the mountain shake and the ground shaking beneath their feet, They were terrified and they stood far off and they told Moses, they said, "You speak to us and we will listen, "but do not let God speak to us lest we die." Certainly Moses continued to speak to the people and gave them God's commands during their journey to the promised land and during their wandering for 40 years in the desert.
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And then in his final address to them in the book of Deuteronomy.
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But in chapter 18, verses 16 and 17, Moses told the people that God would send a prophet in direct response to their request at Mount Sinai, to let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire anymore, lest I die.
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So how did Jesus, in his speaking, demonstrate that he was the prophet sent by the Lord?
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Well, there's three events that directly identify Jesus as the prophet.
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And all of them occurred, not coincidentally, on a mountainside.
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First, he was on the mountain when he was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
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and while talking with Moses and Elijah, and a bright cloud appeared and God said, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
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Listen to him." And the three disciples were like the Israelites of old, terrified by the voice of God.
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But when they looked up, they saw only Jesus.
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Second, the most direct connection A connection between the prophet and God speaking in the 10 commandments out of a stormy cloud is found in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount.
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Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up on the mountain.
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And when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
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And he opened his mouth and taught them.
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And what did he teach them?
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Well, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exegeted the law, including most of the 10 commandments.
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The greatest commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then to love your neighbor as yourself.
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In that sermon, he showed the people that righteousness was not about outwardly keeping rules, but inward devotion to God that flowed from a broken and contrite heart.
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a heart that revealed itself in confident dependence on God.
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Instead of fire and terror, Jesus spoke to the people face to face on the mountain, just as they requested of Moses so long ago.
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He revealed God to be merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
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And when Jesus finished, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority.
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And yet, as so often happened in Israel's history, they did not all listen.
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Yeah, there were those who did, but it seems for the most part, people were going out to Jesus for signs and wonders.
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The crowds were fickle.
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They were ambivalent about him.
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and the religious leaders were so hostile, they wanted to kill him.
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In Jesus, Israel got what she asked for hundreds of years earlier, a prophet speaking God's words to them face to face.
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And even though his teaching astonished them, they eventually decided that Jesus really wasn't the prophet or Messiah they wanted after all.
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They wanted a vending machine God.
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They wanted a Messiah-o-matic and give them what they wanted.
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You see, the divide between what the people craved and who Jesus is, is revealed in a third event that demonstrated the prophet would be like Moses.
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The third thing Jesus did on a mountainside that proved He was the prophet like Moses is this.
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He fed well over 5,000 people with bread and fish.
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According to John 6, after everyone had eaten their fill and 12 baskets of leftovers were collected, the people said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." And a day or two later, the people went looking for Jesus in Capernaum because they wanted more bread to eat.
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Jesus knew what they wanted and he told them, "Do not work for the food that perishes, "but for the food that endures to eternal life, "which the Son of Man will give you.
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"For on Him, God the Father has set His seal." And then the people said to him, "What must we do to be doing the works of God?" And Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." So the people said, "Jesus, what sign do you do that we might believe you?
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What are you going to do for us, Jesus, that will persuade us to believe in you?" And then they said, "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness.
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Have you got more bread?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, "it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, "but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
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"For the bread of God is he who comes down "from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life." The people responded to Jesus' assertion with grumbling.
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First, because he said, "He's the bread that comes down from heaven." They're like, "We want food.
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We want bread.
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We don't want you." But their grumbling increased because of Jesus' next extraordinary statement.
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He said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
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"If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
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"And the bread that I will give "for the life of the world is my flesh.
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"Whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
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"This is the bread that came down from heaven, "not like the bread the fathers ate and died.
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"Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." Well, this was just all too much for the Jews.
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This was just too bizarre.
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Jesus was speaking of himself as eternal nourishment, and all they could think about was their temporary physical hunger.
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Like the Jews in the wilderness who grumbled about God providing manna for 40 years, the crowds and even many of Jesus' disciples grumbled about Jesus being the true bread of God.
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Like Moses, Jesus led and fed the people in ways that revealed His prophetic office.
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But they did not all believe.
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They took offense at Him.
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Many turned back and no longer walked with Him.
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So Jesus asked the 12 if they too wanted to leave Him.
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But Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?
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You have the words of eternal life.
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And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.
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You see, Peter recognized Jesus is more than the prophet.
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He declares Jesus is the anointed one, the Son of God, because Jesus spoke God's words of eternal life.
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And what was the most important thing that Jesus said during his earthly ministry?
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What did he explicitly prophesy at least three times?
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And what did he emphasize in other ways multiple times to his disciples?
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That he would be mocked and flogged and crucified and that he would be raised to life the third day.
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It's a pretty extraordinary prophecy.
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But you see, this was extremely perplexing to the disciples because they said, "Jesus, you're telling the truth." And along with the words that he spoke and the signs and wonders that he performed, all of this amply demonstrated that Jesus was in fact the Messiah.
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There's no way he could be a false prophet because they knew that a false prophet will die if he lies.
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Look at Deuteronomy 18.20.
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"The prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die." The religious leaders, particularly the Pharisees and their lawyers, they insisted that Jesus was a liar.
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They claimed he was merely witnessing about himself and that his testimony wasn't true.
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Well, Jesus countered that by saying that God the Father is also born witness about me and that he who sent me is true and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.
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They did not understand that he'd been speaking to them about the Father.
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So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me." In this passage from John chapter 8, Jesus hints at what the religious leaders are planning to do to him.
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They want to kill him, and he knows that their murderous maneuverings will result in his crucifixion.
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You see, this is the supreme irony.
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A prophet will die if he lies.
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But they killed Jesus for telling the truth, just like they did the prophets of old.
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And when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, his opponents thought he got what he deserved.
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They were certain he was a false prophet, because if he wasn't, he wouldn't be suffering a vicious and humiliating death at the hand of Gentiles.
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He was on the cross, the chief priests and other religious leaders mocked Him, saying, "He saved others. He can't save Himself.
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Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." And yet in the midst of His agony, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" His enemies might have said, You're forsaken because you're a liar.
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Everyone who gets hung on a tree is accursed.
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The fact that we were able to get you crucified is proof that you, Jesus, are accursed by God.
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You're no prophet.
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But by crying out the first line of Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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Jesus continues to speak the word of God in a way that reveals that the cross is the culmination of his earthly mission.
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Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm.
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It summarizes the Messiah's humiliation and exaltation.
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Let's look at a few passages.
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Verses seven and eight.
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All who see me mock me.
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They make mouths at me.
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"For they wag their heads.
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"He trusts in the Lord.
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"Let Him deliver him.
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"Let Him rescue him, for He delights in him." Then verses 16 and 18, through 18.
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"For dogs encompass me.
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"A company of evil doers encircles me.
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"They have pierced my hands and feet.
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"I can count all my bones.
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"They stare and gloat over me.
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"They divide my garments among them.
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"For My clothing they cast lots." And finally, verses 22-25, "Reflect the Father's care in the midst of Jesus' great suffering and His resurrection." He says, "I will tell of Your name to My brothers, and in the midst of the congregation, I will praise You." Stop there for a minute and think about that.
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Christ is on the cross, and he's telling the name of God to his brothers.
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In the midst of the congregation, he is praising God.
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All you who fear the Lord, praise him.
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All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him.
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All you offspring of Israel, for he is not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, "And He has not hidden His face from him, but He has heard when he cried to Him.
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And from you comes my praise in the great congregation, my vows I will perform before those who fear Him." You see, even in the throes of death, Jesus preached to all who would listen and believe.
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If those who heard Jesus cry began themselves to recite this Messianic Psalm, perhaps the realization began to take hold that what they were reciting was happening right before their eyes.
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The psalmist's words are being fulfilled here and now, just as Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, "then you will know that I am He." And perhaps the horrible realization set in, we've killed the Messiah.
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And perhaps that is why, as Luke records, all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, they returned home beating their breasts.
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We have killed the Messiah.
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But what looked like an accursed death to the crowd instead a triumph over death.
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On the cross, Jesus put death to death, and in his resurrection, he offers eternal life to all who would believe in him.
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All that Jesus said came to pass.
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He said he would die, and he did.
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He said he would return to life, and he did.
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He is the reliable and trustworthy prophet.
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Every word He spoke was true.
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And He is still our prophet today.
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We have His word.
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We have God's word and His Spirit to lead us into all truth.
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You know, everyone who preaches is obligated to faithfully and accurately speak in the name of the Lord Jesus and to preach His words, not our own.
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In this way, Jesus is still our prophet.
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He indwells his people to speak to his people from his word.
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Therefore, now that you know that Jesus is the prophet, will you listen to him?
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Will you daily cast off worldly thinking and unbiblical ideas and commit to reading and meditating on God's word?
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Are you willing to jettison old patterns of negative thinking and replace them with what the Bible says about your worth and your purpose in Jesus Christ?
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Will you conform your thinking to God's truth and Jesus' example and teaching?
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Or will you continue to seek advice from the influencers and false prophets clamoring for your attention?
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Will you look for guidance?
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Will you look for guidance in the gudo that shapes and drives the lives of so many people?
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The skeptic will say, "Ah, I don't believe anything in the Bible is true.
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It offends my reason.
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I'm an independent thinker.
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I don't need a God or a religion to tell me what to do." But that same person has no problem with the collective hive mind telling them what to think.
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And they'll employ artificial intelligence to do their thinking for them.
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So much intelligence, so little wisdom.
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The short of it is, if you refuse to listen to what Jesus says, If you take offense at him and his words, you're just like the Israelites and the religious leaders in past time.
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You're essentially putting him to death in your heart and in your mind.
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Now, there are probably very few people in this room that hate Jesus.
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And if we took a survey of the people in this room, probably most of you would agree that, Yeah, we shouldn't be committing the kinds of sins which the world heartily approves.
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We shouldn't be following all that chatter out there.
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And yet how many of us choose to remain on friendly terms with the world and feel free to indulge in all its whims and entertainments and pleasures so long as we avoid open sin.
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The most dangerous sin is the idea that we can listen to worldly prophets advocating for the lusts and pleasures of the world and follow along and yet still be devoted to Christ.
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Beloved, you cannot listen to and serve multiple masters and still walk uprightly before Jesus Christ.
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You must listen to Christ and serve Him only.
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Jesus is the prophet. Will you believe in him? In some ways I have laid this sermon out like a closing argument in a court case. You've heard from the witnesses Moses, God the Father, Peter, and of course Jesus himself. And you have evidence to consider more than 5,000 people fed on a mountainside. Jesus transfigured on a mountain. And of course Jesus crucified on a cross just as he said he would be.
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And then this singular fact. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures and according to his own prophetic words. He to pay the penalty for their sins and remove the penalty of death.
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And rising again, he offers forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all who would believe in him.
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So you've heard the evidence.
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You must now render a verdict.
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Will you believe that Jesus is everything he says he is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?
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He's the one mediator between God the Father and humanity.
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He is the only priest, prophet, and king.
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And Jesus is the only name given among people under heaven by which we can be saved.
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If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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With the heart one believes and is justified.
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and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
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Jesus is the prophet.
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Will you speak His words?
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As disciples of Christ, we are all prophets of His gospel.
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We are to proclaim His life, death, and resurrection until He returns.
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This is no mystery religion.
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There is no hidden knowledge in the Scriptures.
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There are no secret rites to perform.
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The words of Christ are all out in the open.
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And we have the awesome privilege of possessing the oracles of God, the word of God.
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We have God's words in our hands.
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It's not always been true, but it's true for us.
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Do we have the ability to read it, to reason through it, to engage with it by the help of the Holy Spirit?
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We can personally and intimately know God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
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Jesus reveals the truth so that we can repent of our sins, trust in His finished work on the cross and receive the gift of eternal life now and forever.
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And we have the responsibility of repeating his words clearly to others so that they may hear and believe in him by faith too. God forgive us for shirking our responsibility to share the gospel and for being insensible to the the spiritual condition of the lost and the dying.
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We must speak His words.
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We must share the good news of what He has done.
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We are like beggars dressed in fine linen telling other beggars where to find bread and new garments.
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It is the most loving and kindest thing we can do.
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as our worship team returns to the stage.
39:45-39:46
I will conclude with this.
39:49-39:52
Not everyone will listen to us.
39:53-39:55
But then they didn't all listen to Jesus either.
39:57-39:58
Not everyone will believe.
40:00-40:02
But then they did not all believe in Jesus either.
40:04-40:08
We are not responsible for the results of sharing the gospel.
40:09-40:11
The results are for God to work out.
40:13-40:18
Our responsibility is to faithfully speak the words of God from Scripture.
40:19-40:24
For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
40:25-40:25
Let's pray.
40:28-40:31
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
40:32-40:36
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
40:37-40:40
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
40:42-40:45
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
40:47-40:49
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
40:51-40:54
The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
40:56-41:04
Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight.
41:04-41:08
O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer.
41:09-41:09
Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Deuteronomy 18:14-22

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Can you assess how deeply worldly ideas influence your thinking? What about how deeply they influence your view of Scripture? How about your walk with Christ?
What expectations do you have of God? That is, what do you want from Him, and what do you want to hear from Him? How do these questions and your answers relate to Israel’s history with the LORD?
It was said the sermon was constructed like a closing argument, requiring a verdict. Imagine you are a jury member – was enough evidence and testimony presented to render a judgment that Jesus is the Messiah? If not, what further evidence would you seek? Where would you look for that evidence?
What are some reasons we don’t take seriously our responsibility share the Gospel of Christ with others? How valid are those reasons?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

March 22, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Why Should I Deny Myself?

Jeff Miller

March 22, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

Are You Committed to Winning People with the Gospel? (1 Corinthians 9:15-23)

SACRIFICE: Do You Give Up Your Rights in Order to WIN People?
STEWARD: Do You See Yourself as ENTRUSTED with the Gospel?

2 Corinthians 5:19 - that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
SHARER: Do You Know the Joy of Sharing the Blessings of the Gospel?

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:04
Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9.
00:07-00:10
While you're turning there, let's just take a moment.
00:10-00:18
I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to proclaim the Word of God as I should.
00:19-00:26
And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today.
00:27-00:28
Let's pray.
00:31-00:38
Father, we understand that what is about to happen is supernatural.
00:42-00:46
This isn't giving some TED Talk.
00:48-00:55
This is the proclamation of your eternal word that somehow your Holy Spirit works with your word.
00:59-01:01
to conform us into the image of your Son.
01:03-01:08
Father, I pray that you would do a mighty work in all of us this morning.
01:11-01:16
Thank you, Father, in advance for the work that you're going to do.
01:17-01:20
We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
01:22-01:24
1 Corinthians 9, are you there?
01:24-01:29
Before we start this, Doug, did Taylor get paid this week?
01:31-01:31
He did not.
01:32-01:34
We don't usually do this publicly, but would you pay Taylor?
01:40-01:41
(congregation laughing)
01:45-01:49
You gotta keep the pastor humble, thank you, Doug.
01:50-01:51
You gotta keep the pastor humble.
01:54-01:56
Don't expect anything else for like a month.
01:58-01:59
You're gonna have to stretch it.
02:01-02:03
You got him the king-size Kit Kat, right?
02:03-02:06
Okay, then I don't wanna hear nothing about no second service.
02:07-02:09
You got plenty.
02:10-02:10
Don't be a hog.
02:14-02:33
When Erin and I were first married, we lived in town and we had a neighbor up the street that would often walk his dog right by our house and he would often stop in our front yard and let his dog do what dogs do on walks.
02:35-02:37
And there was no cleanup, by the way.
02:39-03:09
But this went on for some time and one day he was walking the dog up the street on the sidewalk in front of our house and Erin was outside and she said, "Hey, I'm buying you a shovel for Christmas." He got a little smile on his face and he goes, "So, you think I'd look pretty good with a shovel?" I think he thought that Erin was flirting with him.
03:10-03:15
And if so, that is a really weird pickup line to use.
03:17-03:19
Hey baby, you look good with a shovel.
03:22-03:23
It's pretty easy to miss the point, isn't it?
03:24-03:25
At least it was for him.
03:25-03:28
It was easy to miss the point.
03:29-03:40
And as we get to this next section in 1 Corinthians, I think that's what's going on here is I think Paul wanted to make sure that none of the Corinthians missed his point.
03:42-03:42
All right?
03:42-03:44
This is the Q&A section.
03:44-04:03
In this section in particular, they had asked him about eating meat that was used in pagan worship and they're like, "Well, it's just meat, but it bothers some of the weaker Christians that are, you know, just kind of fresh coming out of paganism." So what do we do about that, Paul?
04:04-04:21
Paul says, "You are free." But love says, "I will lay down my rights so that I don't offend a weaker brother." And then Paul, led by example, that's what we saw last week.
04:21-04:24
Paul goes, "Look, I'm showing you an example from my own life.
04:25-04:36
I have every right to be paid to preach." And he went through all the reasons it is legitimate for the pastor to get paid.
04:36-04:38
He gave us five very compelling reasons.
04:39-04:43
"Yes, the pastor should be paid." He said, "That's a right that I have.
04:44-05:48
That's a freedom that I have, but I'm laying it down for the sake of the gospel." And I think when you get to this point in chapter 9, Paul knew that some of the Corinthians were going to miss the point, and Paul's talking about paying the pastor, paying the pastor, while you pay the past year's while and they're like, "Ah, um. Yeah, Paul, we asked about meat. That was what we asked about. It's a bigger issue. It's not about the meat." "Oh, not about the meat. Oh, oh, this is about getting paid to preach. No, no, no, it's not about the money. That's like saying the fall of man. That's like saying Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden is a story about fruit trees. You missed the point.
05:50-05:59
The bigger issue is this, examining how does what I do affect somebody else?
05:59-06:00
That is the issue.
06:03-06:12
It's about not letting anything be an obstacle to not only loving a weaker brother, but winning people to Christ.
06:19-07:26
people to Christ. How high of a priority is that for you? I mean, can we just take an honest assessment today? How often do you think about winning somebody to Christ. How committed are you to personal evangelism? I thought so much about this this past week. And I want you to hear what I'm saying here because this isn't pack your bags we're going on a guilt trip. This is deeply convicting to me. And I'm right here with you, church. Please hear me, corporately and individually, corporately and individually, church, we are distracted and we are insulated.
07:29-07:36
We are, first of all, distracted. We're distracted. We are so distracted. Winning people to Christ, What are you talking about?
07:37-07:38
Oh yeah, I guess that is a thing.
07:38-07:43
I've been so distracted, distracted with good things.
07:44-07:48
Work and sports and home projects.
07:48-07:53
There is so much that demands our attention.
07:56-08:00
I think especially in a church like ours, we're insulated.
08:02-08:10
How much of our lives revolve around going to church, going to small group, going to event at the church.
08:11-08:20
And then when we're not at Harvest Bible Chapel, we are sending our kids to Christian school, or we volunteer at a Christian school.
08:20-08:25
And all of that is great stuff, obviously.
08:26-08:31
But I have to ask, how often are we even interacting with lost people?
08:33-08:35
I think we're insulated.
08:38-08:40
Look, there's so much.
08:42-08:48
There's so much that this church does so well when it comes to discipleship.
08:49-08:51
We have an excellent small group ministry.
08:55-09:02
We just had two excellent conferences, one for the men last month, one for the women yesterday.
09:03-09:04
Excellent.
09:08-09:12
Our giving to missions, I've never seen a church like this one.
09:13-09:22
Whether it's the Vision Appalachia or Thailand or somebody taking a short-term trip, our Forgiving to missions is excellent.
09:28-09:34
But when we get to this passage, we have to ask ourselves, "When was the last time that you led somebody to Christ?
09:37-09:39
When was the last time that happened?
09:41-09:45
When was the last time that you even shared the gospel with someone?
09:45-09:51
When was the last time that you even invited somebody to come to church to hear the gospel here?
09:56-09:58
Are you committed to personal evangelism?
10:02-10:06
Not just talking about the church at large, obviously that is a concern for me.
10:06-10:07
I'm talking about you as an individual.
10:08-10:09
Are you committed to that?
10:12-10:14
Look down at verse 23 here in chapter 9.
10:16-10:27
Paul says, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel." Paul says, "Everything in my life revolves around the gospel.
10:27-10:41
Everything in my life revolves around winning people to Christ." And this verse has a very special place in my heart because our missionary in Thailand, This is His verse.
10:42-10:46
This is the verse that fuels everything that He does.
10:46-10:55
Several years ago, He was at our house and He was talking to Erin and I about how this verse fuels everything in His ministry.
10:55-10:58
"I do all things for the sake of the gospel." He kept going back to that.
10:58-11:04
"I do all things for the sake of the gospel." Twenty-three churches, four children's homes, a Bible institute.
11:06-11:12
I do all things for the sake of the gospel." That's how that mission started, by the way.
11:12-11:13
Do you know how that started?
11:14-11:20
It was Barnabas, this Burmese man going through the northern mountain jungles of Thailand looking for villages.
11:22-11:30
Looking, looking for lost people in the middle of the jungle and finding a village and walking in and just sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
11:31-11:32
That's how that started.
11:36-11:38
All things for the sake of the gospel.
11:39-11:43
He is like spiritually hilarious to talk to.
11:43-11:50
He was telling me recently about a telemarketer that was calling to try to sell him on some kind of goofy energy pills or something.
11:50-11:52
And do you know what he told her?
11:54-11:54
The gospel!
11:55-11:56
He told her the gospel.
11:56-11:58
He also told me, this was just a couple weeks ago.
11:59-12:04
He had a couple guys show up to pump their septic tank.
12:04-12:05
And do you know what he told them?
12:06-12:08
The gospel, yeah.
12:10-12:13
One of my favorite stories, he had to get some sound equipment.
12:13-12:18
They do this big outdoor Christmas program as an outreach.
12:20-12:25
It's kind of like open air preaching and the Lisu tribe, they're dancers and there's this whole thing, right?
12:26-12:27
But he had to get like this PA system.
12:28-12:35
So he goes into the store, the electronics store, where they sell these things, and he wants to buy one.
12:35-12:37
He goes, "I wanna try it out." Remember this, Justin?
12:37-12:49
He goes, "I wanna try this out." And they're like, "Okay, you can try it out." He's like, "I wanna make sure it works." So they fire up this PA system, and he gets on the microphone, and do you know what he says?
12:51-13:06
"He proclaimed the gospel to the whole store!" I'm gonna give you the short version of the story, I don't have time to get into all of it, but he told me about a village across the border that was guarded by four armies that needed fish.
13:08-13:12
And he took them fish, and I said, "How did you keep the fish from spoiling?" He's like, "What are you talking about?
13:13-13:29
"What do you mean spoil?" I'm like, "Well, he said it took him 10 days "to walk through the jungle with these fish." I'm like, "Fish is gonna get bad after a while." He goes, "No, no, no, no, no, no, live fish." I'm like, "How did you take live fish?" And then it hit me.
13:30-13:31
I said, "Hang on, hang on.
13:33-13:53
"Did you carry bags of water full of fish "through the jungle for 10 days "to take fish to a village?" And as a matter of fact, he just says, "Yeah, they needed fish." You carried an aquarium through the jungle for 10 days.
13:54-14:00
He's like, "They needed fish." Why would somebody do something like that?
14:01-14:04
What would possess a man to do something like that?
14:04-14:06
I'll tell you what possesses a man.
14:07-14:09
He does all things for the sake of the gospel.
14:09-14:19
He says, "The reason I'm taking these fish to them is it's going to open the door for me to share the gospel with them." Who does something like that?
14:20-14:23
A person who wants to win people to Christ, that's who.
14:28-14:28
So what about you?
14:30-14:31
Do you love lost people?
14:38-14:53
You're like, "Man, I guess I don't love lost people like that." Now, this section here in 1 Corinthians shows us what the heart of an evangelist looks like.
14:55-14:56
I think there's something here for all of us.
14:56-15:09
I just want to go through the text, and then I want to go back and pick up some of the key principles that motivated Paul here, but let's pick up in verse 15.
15:13-15:21
Paul says, "But I have made no use of any of these rights." He didn't use his right to get paid to preach.
15:21-15:22
That's what he's talking about.
15:22-15:24
Like, why didn't you do that?
15:25-15:26
Well we talked about that.
15:27-15:32
Paul didn't want anybody to think that he was using some new religion to try to get rich.
15:36-15:38
He didn't want people to assume that he had bad motives.
15:39-15:40
Time out here for a second.
15:40-15:52
They're like, "Well, if Paul had this conviction, why didn't the other apostles have this conviction?" I mean, it makes sense, but why didn't the others have this conviction?
15:52-15:53
And the answer is very simple.
15:53-15:56
Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.
15:58-15:59
He was reaching pagan people.
16:00-16:06
That Peter and the rest that were going to the Jews, the Jews already had this system in place about paying the spiritual leaders.
16:07-16:08
That wasn't a weird concept to them.
16:09-16:11
Paul going to the Gentiles, it was a different ball game.
16:14-16:15
All right, look, keep going to verse 15.
16:16-16:27
He says, "Nor am I writing these things "to secure any such provision." Paul's like, "I'm not writing this to you "to secure provision." Like, what's he mean by that?
16:27-16:34
Paul's saying, "To be clear, "I'm not trying to use reverse psychology here "to make you pay me." All right?
16:34-16:44
Paul's like, "I'm not trying to be like, "Well, you know, I'm just out here preaching for free." And then you're like, "Oh, poor Paul, preaching for free.
16:45-16:46
"We should pay him.
16:46-16:47
"He shouldn't have to do that.
16:47-16:51
"We should pay him." Paul's like, "I'm not trying to reverse psychology you, okay?
16:52-17:00
"This isn't, I'm not throwing this out there "so that you're convicted to pay me." He goes, "That's not it at all." All right, go on.
17:01-17:09
He says, "For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting." Wow.
17:10-17:24
Paul says, "I would rather die than somebody accuse me of using the gospel to rip people off." But what's this boasting thing?
17:25-17:26
You see that?
17:26-17:35
He says, "Deprive me of my ground for boasting." So that word for boasting literally is rejoicing.
17:35-17:38
Usually when we hear boasting we have a bad connotation with that.
17:38-17:40
The word literally is rejoicing.
17:41-17:41
Okay?
17:42-17:45
And boasting is really not a bad thing, it just depends on what you're boasting in.
17:46-17:48
Because we're called to boast in the Lord, right?
17:50-17:52
But the question is, what is Paul's ground for boasting?
17:52-17:53
What is it?
17:54-17:55
What's he boasting about?
17:55-17:58
What about this is occasion for boasting?
17:58-18:01
Well, first he tells us what it's not.
18:01-18:08
Look at verse 16, he says, "For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting.
18:09-18:11
For necessity is laid upon me.
18:11-18:14
Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.
18:16-18:28
If I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship." He says, first of all, the boasting is not about preaching the gospel.
18:28-18:29
Let's get that off the table.
18:29-18:34
That's not...because that's not in the actual preaching the gospel itself.
18:34-18:47
I'm not like boasting in the opportunity to preach, because you realize, church, the gospel leaves no room for boasting, right?
18:49-19:00
You can't earn your salvation not by what you do, not by who you are, not by who you You know, you cannot do a thing to earn your salvation.
19:00-19:08
You can't do a thing to make God happy with you because you are a guilty, rebellious sinner before the eyes of your holy creator.
19:08-19:09
That's reality.
19:10-19:12
There is not a thing that we can do.
19:12-19:14
We are guilty of sin.
19:15-19:18
But God, because of His great love, He's given us grace.
19:18-19:30
God says, "Because I love you, I am providing salvation, not through what you do, but through what my son did on your behalf." It is a gift, and when you receive a gift, there is no room for boasting.
19:34-19:36
So okay, so what is the reward?
19:36-19:37
What is it?
19:38-19:40
Well, he tells us, look at verse 18.
19:41-19:43
He says, "What then is my reward?
19:44-19:59
That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." See, Paul says, "You know what thrills me?
19:59-20:02
Do you know what I'm really like fired up about?
20:03-20:04
It's this.
20:05-20:19
There's this one thing, this one thing that I can choose to do, and that is to preach the gospel for free." In other words, Paul is saying, "God's not making me do this.
20:22-20:27
God's not making me lay down my right to be paid." Paul goes, "I chose that.
20:27-20:29
That is my contribution.
20:29-20:31
That is Paul's contribution to the kingdom.
20:32-20:38
I choose to do it for free." He's so excited in this passage.
20:39-20:45
He's so excited to forfeit his rights so he can preach.
20:45-20:52
Paul's like, it is such a joy for me that I have the ability to love people in a unique way.
20:52-20:56
That I can give to them and not get a thing in return from them.
20:56-20:58
That is such a joy for me!
21:01-21:05
Right now, somebody's like, look good with a shovel.
21:05-21:08
I don't get it. I don't get it.
21:10-21:19
Who gets joy from denying themselves something that they are rightfully entitled to?
21:23-21:24
Who does that?
21:26-21:29
The person who wants to win people to Christ, that's who.
21:33-21:48
Verse 19, he goes on, "For though I am free from all, "I have made myself a servant to all "that I might win more of them." He's like, I'm free, I'm a child of God.
21:49-21:55
My salvation is not based on my performance, but I made myself a servant for the sake of winning people.
21:57-22:00
Paul is always about winning people.
22:01-22:05
And Paul would do anything to win someone to Christ.
22:05-22:10
He found so much joy that he could give up his rights to win people to Christ.
22:12-22:21
So what does that look like, to lay down your rights in order to share the gospel?
22:21-22:25
What does that look like, to lay down your rights for the sake of evangelism?
22:26-22:27
Well, he tells us what it looks like.
22:27-22:28
Look at verse 20.
22:30-22:36
He says, "To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews.
22:37-22:53
To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law." So Paul says, let me tell you what that's like.
22:53-22:57
When I'm with the Jews, I'm not going to violate the law in front of them.
22:59-23:04
Paul saying, "I'm not going to walk into the synagogue eating a ham sandwich in front of them.
23:04-23:06
That would really offend them.
23:06-23:08
Like, "Look, I'm free in Christ.
23:08-23:17
I can eat a ham sandwich." Like, he goes, "I would never do something like that." I mean this is all through the book of Acts.
23:20-23:24
All throughout, you see in Acts chapter 15 with the Jerusalem council, that's what that whole thing was about.
23:25-23:27
You see it in Acts chapter 16, that was an interesting story.
23:28-23:30
Paul had Timothy circumcised.
23:31-23:31
Like why?
23:31-23:32
So Timothy can get saved?
23:32-23:34
No, no, no, that has nothing to do with that.
23:36-23:42
Paul had Timothy circumcised so that they didn't offend the Jews that they were trying to win.
23:47-23:49
Boy, that had to have been an awkward exchange, don't you think?
23:53-23:53
Did you imagine?
23:53-24:28
Paul's like, "I will do whatever it takes to win people!" And Timothy's like, "Yeah!" And Paul's like, "Make any sacrifice for the gospel!" And Timothy's like, "Yeah!" And Paul's like, "Circumcise Timothy!" And Timothy's like, "What?" Paul's like, "Are you committed or not?" That's the point, though.
24:30-24:31
Anything.
24:31-24:32
What's it going to take?
24:32-24:33
What's it going to take?
24:36-25:05
He goes on, verse 21, he says, "To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law," being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, clarifying. We'll talk about that more in a minute. He says that I might win those outside the law. You see, you also see that in Acts, right? When Paul was with the Gentiles, he acted like the Gentiles.
25:05-25:11
Not in a sinful way, but he assimilated with them. You see it in, what is it, Acts 17.
25:12-25:14
Paul quoted one of their poets.
25:14-25:15
It was a bridge.
25:15-25:17
He goes, "You know what one of your poets says?
25:17-25:24
Ah, he was on to something." And he uses that as a bridge, but he assimilated with them.
25:24-25:25
That's what he's talking about.
25:25-25:33
Verse 22, he says, "To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak.
25:33-25:39
I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some." The weak.
25:40-25:41
We've been talking about the weak.
25:41-25:42
These are the baby Christians.
25:43-25:45
These are the people that are coming out of paganism.
25:45-25:50
It's just so hard to let go of things that we were so used to.
25:50-25:54
And that's what really the whole meat issue was about, right?
25:54-26:06
And Paul goes, "Oh, if eating meat is a problem for them, I will be a vegan." And then we land on verse 23.
26:06-26:06
Here it is.
26:08-26:20
I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings." That's the thesis.
26:21-26:24
That's the thesis of the passage.
26:25-26:30
That's the thesis of Paul's whole life.
26:31-26:33
Everything I do is for the gospel.
26:35-26:36
Is that the thesis of your life?
26:41-26:45
You see the passion for winning lost people in the past?
26:45-26:45
Did you see it?
26:49-26:50
Don't miss it.
26:51-26:53
You think I'd look good with a shovel, don't miss it.
26:58-26:59
It's passion for the lost.
27:01-27:03
So on your outline, I just want you to draw some things down here.
27:06-27:17
You see, three big ingredients, three things that motivated Paul that I have to ask myself and you have to ask yourself.
27:20-27:22
Are you committed to winning people with the gospel?
27:22-27:22
Are you?
27:23-27:24
Are you?
27:25-27:30
Are you committed to winning people with the gospel?
27:39-27:42
The first ingredient, it's the most obvious one, right?
27:42-27:43
It's sacrifice.
27:44-27:47
Sacrifice, do you give up your rights in order to win people?
27:49-27:51
Do you give up your rights in order to win people?
27:53-27:58
Again, Paul found laying down a freedom for the sake of the gospel to be an absolute joy.
27:58-28:00
He goes, "I will go along with whoever I'm with.
28:02-28:19
Gray areas, I'll give up anything that might cause an offense." You're like, "Wait, wait, so you're saying that you win people by accommodating them?" No, that's not what we're saying at all.
28:20-28:23
You accommodate yourself so that you have the right to speak to people.
28:24-28:25
That's what he's saying.
28:26-28:34
If you offend somebody because you insist on your freedom, you lost the audience.
28:35-28:36
They're not going to hear you.
28:37-28:41
That's what he's talking about, removing anything that would offend.
28:44-28:45
What does that look like today?
28:48-28:50
Here's a few examples today of what that could look like.
28:50-29:04
Let's say you have some Catholic friends that you've been witnessing to, and you know that they're faithful Catholics, but you're not sure if they truly know Christ.
29:04-29:10
And it's Lent season, and you invite them over to your house for dinner on a Friday.
29:12-29:13
You're not serving hamburgers.
29:16-29:16
You see?
29:18-29:20
You're gonna offend them right out the gate, and they're not gonna hear you.
29:24-29:30
Let's say you have some Muslim neighbors, and it's summertime, and you're like, "I wanna reach them with the gospel.
29:30-29:34
"I wanna have an opportunity to share Jesus with them." You invite them over to your house for a barbecue.
29:34-29:36
You're not having pork at your barbecue.
29:38-29:41
You offend them, you've lost your audience.
29:46-29:48
Let's talk about the big one.
29:49-29:56
Is there any issue in our day that really quickly brings offense?
29:57-29:58
Can you think of anything?
29:59-30:00
Say anything at all.
30:00-30:03
Anything at all that you could mention that people would immediately get offended.
30:05-30:07
Politics, right?
30:10-30:18
Let's say that you have a neighbor that is a true blue Democrat and you are of the MAGA persuasion.
30:18-30:20
This isn't a political statement, okay?
30:21-30:22
This is an illustration.
30:23-30:29
But if you're inviting your hardcore Democrat friend to your house, you're putting away the MAGA stuff, okay?
30:30-30:32
You're not wearing your little red ball cap to the dinner table.
30:40-30:44
Why would you want to offend them over something you don't need to offend them over?
30:44-30:45
It works the other way too, by the way.
30:47-30:54
If you're a Democrat and you have a Republican friend over, take down your Bernie Sanders banner.
30:57-30:59
By the way, it's 2026.
31:01-31:02
You've needed to take that down anyways.
31:07-31:13
And I think one of the biggest places where we're so quick to offend people is in social media.
31:15-31:20
Look, if you're one of these social media people, yes, post your Bible verses, sure.
31:20-31:23
Post your excerpts from the devotional.
31:24-31:26
But can I tell you this just lovingly?
31:27-31:31
Stop posting all the political garbage, because you know what you're doing?
31:32-31:34
You're losing half your audience.
31:35-31:38
And someday you're going to want to tell them about the gospel.
31:38-31:47
Someday you're going to have an opportunity, and they're not going to want to hear it because they know that you're on the other side of the political aisle, and we know that automatically makes you a demon.
31:50-31:56
Either way, all things to all people.
31:58-32:00
Not compromising the gospel.
32:00-32:01
We have to be clear about that.
32:01-32:03
Not compromising the gospel.
32:03-32:05
Church, this is a call for discernment.
32:05-32:08
You have to discern what is optional and what is not.
32:09-32:12
Some things are not optional, right?
32:12-32:26
Some things are not optional, like the truth, like Jesus, like the gospel, like God's command to repent, God's command to believe, not optional.
32:28-32:29
Truth is not optional.
32:29-32:30
You know what else is not optional?
32:35-32:48
walk." Meaning, in no way is Paul saying, he made this very clear, that you should sin to fit in. Right? You think, "Oh, I'm gonna win them. I'm gonna be just like them.
32:49-33:03
We're gonna get into the crude anatomy jokes so he'll know I'm one of the boys." No. No. Gossip. Well, they're all gossiping. I jump in the gossip with them. No.
33:07-33:33
Getting drunk. No. We're not compromising our walk. That's not optional. But there are some things that are optional. Like we've said, food, music played. Maybe you know they have a big issue with tattoos, and you go to tattoo, you wear long sleeves and cover it up, so you don't offend them.
33:38-35:08
Nothing at the expense of the gospel, nothing at the expense of being an ambassador of Christ, but if it's a gray area that might offend, I'll always seek to take the high road, because committed to winning people means committed to giving up your rights. So that's the first S and these are all alliterated. I get paid more when that happens. The second S is steward. What are the ingredients? What are the ingredients of somebody that's committed to people with the gospel? The second one is steward. Do you see yourself as entrusted with the gospel? Do you see yourself as entrusted with the gospel. Look at verse 17 again. The very last phrase, he says, "I am still entrusted with a stewardship." God is trusting you to give this out. He's trusting you. You got a Bible on your lap? He's trusting you with that, to give it out. You're entrusted. Like, "Well, yeah, that's good for Paul. I mean, he obviously was. What about the rest of us? He ropes us all in." Look at 2 Corinthians 5.19. Look, that is, "In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, thanks to Jesus.
35:09-35:21
Look at this last phrase, "and entrusting to us, us, the message of reconciliation." Do you realize how awesome that is?
35:22-35:32
That the God of the universe, your Creator and your Savior said, "Here, here, here is the message that's going to forgive sin.
35:32-35:35
Here is the message that's going to transform people.
35:36-35:39
Here is the message that's going to save people from hell.
35:40-35:40
Here it is.
35:40-35:41
Here it is.
35:41-35:42
And I'm giving it to you.
35:47-35:48
Do you know the gospel?
35:50-35:51
You know it?
35:53-35:56
If you do, that means that God's entrusting you to make sure that people hear it.
35:57-35:58
He's trusting you with it.
36:02-36:13
You know, last week, Bob Brown and Jesse Boggs went down to deliver some boxes that were packed.
36:13-36:22
Our small groups donated boxes for the needy that were given out through the ministry Vision Appalachia.
36:24-36:28
And to nobody's surprise, they packed way more boxes than our target goal, right?
36:29-36:31
How many boxes were sent, Bob?
36:32-36:33
250.
36:34-36:38
How many were asked, like, we were shooting for like 25 or something from this church, right?
36:39-36:41
And didn't we get like, we got 30.
36:41-36:42
All right.
36:43-36:44
Nobody's shocked, Bob.
36:44-36:45
Nobody's shocked.
36:46-36:48
Again, you guys are so generous.
36:50-36:53
But Bob and Jesse took the boxes down.
36:54-36:58
Let me ask you, they had the U-Haul trailer right out here.
36:59-37:08
Bob, want you another van we had out here?" With all these boxes with the donations for Vision Appalachia, let me ask you this.
37:09-37:11
Did Bob and Jesse have a choice in what happened with those boxes?
37:13-37:14
Did they have a choice what would happen with them?
37:16-37:16
No.
37:17-37:17
No.
37:20-37:21
Not convinced of that?
37:21-37:21
Okay.
37:22-37:27
What if Bob would have drove that U-Haul back to his house and him and Jesse threw the mother of all block parties with those supplies.
37:31-37:32
Would you have been like, "Good for you, Bob.
37:33-37:36
Live it up." Is that what you would have said?
37:38-37:39
You would have been like, "What are you doing?
37:40-37:43
That was given to you to give to them.
37:44-37:51
What are you doing?" We trusted that stuff to them, and they are faithful stewards.
37:51-37:53
They got it where it needed to go.
37:53-37:54
principle here, church.
37:55-37:57
God is trusting you with His message.
37:58-37:59
You don't have a choice.
38:01-38:03
Like, I don't really feel like a steward.
38:03-38:04
You are a steward.
38:09-38:12
God did not give you the option to keep it to yourself.
38:13-38:14
He didn't give you that option.
38:17-38:25
And somehow we get saved and down the road we forget and we get all self-focused and all we care about is our walk with Christ.
38:31-38:39
I'm going to tell you, it's so convicting to me, you know, you plant a church because you want to win lost people for Christ.
38:39-38:43
You want to win lost people, and then you get down the road, you know what we end up doing?
38:43-38:47
We end up swapping complaining sheep with other churches.
38:47-38:48
That's what we end up doing.
38:50-38:59
The guy complaining about his last church is now here, and the person leaving this church complaining about this one is going there, and we call that doing gospel ministry.
39:04-39:11
You know, we're talking about putting up this new building, an opportunity to win more people to Christ, but are we winning people to Christ here and now?
39:14-39:26
If we're not passionate for the gospel and reaching lost people here and now, what makes us think that we're going to get this new building and all of a sudden we're going to be magically converted into evangelists.
39:32-39:35
Committed to winning people means you've got to see yourself as entrusted with the gospel.
39:37-39:38
You're a steward.
39:41-39:45
The third S, number three, is shareer.
39:46-40:00
a word. You know how I know it's a word? Is my computer didn't give me a red squiggly line underneath it when I typed it. And in my world, that's a word. Share.
40:02-40:27
Do you know the joy of sharing the blessings of the gospel? Look, there is there is nothing more exciting than leading someone to Christ. Have you ever done that? If you have, you know, right? If you have, you know. There is nothing more exciting than that, seeing them baptized and knowing that God used you to reach somebody for eternity. There is nothing in the world greater than that.
40:30-40:45
Look at verse 23 again. This is the verse, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel," look, "that I may share with them in its pleasures," in its blessings, excuse me, "share with them and its blessings.
40:51-40:53
Think of everything you've experienced as a follower of Jesus.
40:55-40:57
Everything you experienced, think of it.
40:58-40:59
If you're a Christian, you get it.
41:00-41:01
You know the forgiveness of sin.
41:01-41:03
God will never hold your sins against you.
41:04-41:17
You know the joy that comes, the peace that you have no matter how horrible things get, The comfort God gives you in the tragedies of life, the fellowship of the church, oh and the hope of heaven that our best days are ahead of us.
41:18-41:25
Everything you experience as a Christian, to go to somebody that doesn't have that and say you can have all of that too.
41:31-41:36
Sharing the blessings, that should be a natural inclination, you know?
41:37-41:37
You know?
41:38-41:40
It's like, imagine this scenario.
41:40-41:47
Imagine Erin and I are at a restaurant and we order different dishes, something neither of us have ever had before, but we got different things.
41:47-41:52
And I take a bite and I'm like, this is the best thing I've ever tasted.
41:54-41:55
I gotta be sure.
41:55-41:56
And I take another bite.
41:57-41:58
I'm like, yeah, verified.
41:58-42:02
This is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life.
42:06-42:08
What's the next part of that story?
42:09-42:18
Oh, oh, Erin goes, "Can I try it?" I'm like, "No, eat your own." That's not how the story goes, is it?
42:18-42:19
That's not how it goes.
42:19-42:21
The story goes like this.
42:22-42:23
This is the best thing I ever had in my life.
42:24-42:25
Erin, you have got to try this.
42:26-42:27
You have got to try this.
42:27-42:29
And she's like, "I don't want to try it." You're trying it.
42:31-42:33
That's actually happened, hasn't it?
42:34-42:34
Both ways.
42:35-42:37
I'm like, she's like, this is so, I don't wanna try that.
42:37-42:41
Erin's like, you know, next thing you know, she's like, the fork can go in your mouth or in your forehead, pick one.
42:52-42:53
You gotta try this.
42:54-43:02
See, when you have something, when you experience something so glorious, so beautiful, there's something in you that wants to share that.
43:04-43:05
God put that in us.
43:06-43:08
That's how it is with the gospel, by the way, to that lost person.
43:09-43:11
Like, bro, you have got to get in on this.
43:12-43:33
You have got to get in on all of the blessings that comes in the gospel, knowing Jesus, the fellowship of the church, serving Him locally and in international missions, worshiping Him together, oh, and heaven, we'll get to share that one for all of eternity.
43:36-43:42
One of your greatest joys in life should be winning people to Jesus and sharing in the blessings of knowing Him.
43:44-43:49
Because committed to winning people means sharing in the blessings of the gospel.
43:50-43:55
Our worship team would make their way back up front.
43:58-44:02
Next week, our Easter series begins.
44:04-44:05
I don't really like the word Easter.
44:06-44:07
It doesn't mean anything to me.
44:07-44:11
I call it Resurrection Day, but you know what I mean.
44:15-44:47
Our Easter series begins next week, and it's a season where talking about Jesus and inviting someone to church is going to be much more natural. God is entrusting you to share the blessings of the gospel. Will you do whatever it takes to win someone? Let's pray.
44:50-45:58
Father in heaven, I confess before you in front of my brothers and sisters here that this passage tears me up because we look at the life of Paul and we look at the life of like Barnabas today, we look at people like that and we see Father Such passion to win lost people and we look inwardly and don't see that in ourselves sometimes, a lot of times. Father we come to you because you're the God who changes us, you're the God who transforms us, and I pray Father, I just pray simply this, that you would stir in the hearts of all of your people here to have the same mindset of Paul, an attitude of sacrifice, an attitude of being a steward, and the joy that comes in sharing the blessings of Christ.
45:58-46:15
Stir that spirit in us, Father, so that evangelism isn't some mechanical, obligatory thing that we think we have to do, but it's just so natural for us to to share the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
46:16-46:18
It's in his name that we pray, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 9:15-23

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How would you respond to someone who says, “I don't really share the Gospel with anyone. I don't know what to say.”?
Reread 1 Cor 9:17. What does Paul mean that he was “entrusted with a stewardship.”? Is that true of all Christians? See 2 Corinthians 5:19.
What are the “blessings to be shared” when you win someone to Christ (1 Cor 9:23)?

Breakout

When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone or invited them to church? What happened?

Who has God put on your heart to win with the Gospel? What are you doing about it?

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

March 15, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Should Pastors Be Paid?

Jeff Miller

March 15, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

5 Reasons Pastors Should Be Paid: (1 Corinthians 9:1-14)

It's COMMON Sense. (1 Cor 9:7)
It's a CONCERN in the Law. (1 Cor 9:8-11)

1 Timothy 5:17-18 - Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
It's CLAIMED By Others. (1 Cor 9:12)
It's a CUSTOM from the Old Testament. (1 Cor 9:13)
It's COMMANDED By Jesus. (1 Cor 9:14)

Luke 10:7 – for the laborer deserves his wages.

Matthew 10:10 - the laborer deserves his food.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36-00:40
Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9.
00:44-00:52
The title of today's message is, "Should Pastors Be Paid?" Yeah.
00:54-00:57
I'd like to invite the worship team to come back up as we close.
00:58-01:00
If you want to worship through giving, the offering.
01:04-01:09
You're like, "You better earn that pay." Fair, fair.
01:09-01:12
You know, I was associate pastor for 11 years.
01:12-01:16
And one of the things that I did was run the Wednesday night program.
01:16-01:18
It was pioneer clubs like Awana's.
01:18-01:26
But I'll never forget one girl who was lifelong member of the church from forever.
01:26-01:27
She the one little girl came up.
01:28-01:39
She goes, "Pastor Jeff, where do you work?" And I'm not gonna say her name 'cause she's an adult now and might be watching this, but I said, "Well, you know where I work.
01:40-01:42
"I'm one of the pastors here at the church." She just rolled her eyes.
01:42-01:46
She goes, "I know that, but I mean, where do you work?
01:46-01:49
"Like, what's your job?
01:49-02:02
"Like, what do you do to get paid?" I'm like, "You know, just when you start "to feel pretty good about yourself." Along comes some kid to bring you right back down to earth, right?
02:03-02:03
Where do you work?
02:07-02:09
Many people hold that opinion, right?
02:10-02:12
I mean, being a pastor isn't really work.
02:15-02:19
You know, my favorite, you only work for one hour a week.
02:23-02:24
And you know what?
02:24-02:25
I've heard that so many times.
02:25-02:27
I'm quick to correct people on that.
02:28-02:28
I'm like, "No.
02:31-02:32
I don't work the whole hour.
02:34-02:36
My part's only like 35 minutes.
02:37-02:43
I work 35 minutes a week." So should pastors be paid?
02:44-02:47
When you bring it up, people get weird.
02:48-02:49
People get weird.
02:49-02:51
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's car.
02:53-02:55
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's house.
02:55-02:58
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's clothes.
02:59-03:00
How much is he making?
03:03-03:05
You know nobody does that for other professions, right?
03:08-03:18
Like for example, if somebody here is a nurse and you pull up to church driving a Boxter, what are people gonna say?
03:18-03:20
"Good for her, good for her.
03:21-03:23
Wow, I am so happy for her.
03:26-03:31
If I drove up driving a Porsche, what are people gonna say?
03:35-03:36
How much is he making?
03:40-03:49
I've heard a lot of things over the years, statements people have made, their little evaluations on how pastors should be paid.
03:49-03:51
I just want to share a couple with you.
03:51-03:53
Just this is, these amuse me.
03:54-03:57
But one person told me this regarding how a pastor should be paid.
03:58-04:10
He said, "A pastor shouldn't make more "than the lowest paid congregant." So we should find out who in the church makes the least and that should determine the pastor's salary.
04:13-04:17
Because after all, the pastor shouldn't make more than anybody else in the church.
04:19-04:20
I had one guy tell me this.
04:21-04:31
He goes, "I have a real problem "with preachers getting paid by the church." And I said, "What's the issue with that?" He goes, "Think about it this way.
04:33-04:35
"You teach tithing, right?
04:35-04:55
"10%." I'm like, "I'm following you." He goes, "Okay, so if 10 people give 10%, "now automatically the pastor's making "more than everybody in the church." And I'm like, you're gonna have to back up here 'cause you lost me somewhere on that math.
04:57-04:58
I mean, does that math work out?
05:01-05:02
Should pastors be paid?
05:04-05:05
Awkward.
05:05-05:07
Right, it's an awkward subject.
05:07-05:10
Can we just get that under, it's an awkward subject to stand up and preach about.
05:10-05:11
You're like, well then why are you?
05:12-05:17
Because we're going through the book of 1 Corinthians and guess what the subject is of this next section that we are going in?
05:18-05:24
"Should pastors be paid?" Yeah, it's going to be awkward to talk about, but you don't be more awkward than that, skipping it.
05:26-05:26
Right?
05:26-05:29
Because didn't God put it in His Word for a reason?
05:30-05:31
And we don't skip anything here.
05:32-05:33
So we're going after it.
05:34-05:35
We're just going to go after it.
05:35-05:36
Should pastors be paid?
05:37-05:39
The Bible is clear, yes.
05:41-05:50
But some ministers, you know, they live lavishly, and they demand that the church pay for the their extravagant lifestyle, and that is wrong.
05:52-05:59
But we can't just disregard what the Bible says just because some people have abused the privilege.
06:02-06:06
This section here, we're in 1 Corinthians, it's about liberty.
06:08-06:21
You're like, "Well, what is liberty?" It's this, you know, to be saved means that you have to turn from your sin and receive Jesus Christ.
06:21-06:34
And when you receive Him, you believe that Jesus died for your sin, when you believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead, when you believe that, the Bible says you are adopted as a child of God.
06:34-06:36
And nothing can change that.
06:37-06:40
Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
06:41-06:41
Nothing.
06:42-06:46
When you are saved, you are saved as a gift of God's grace.
06:47-06:48
Nothing can change that.
06:51-06:54
So understand your salvation is not performance-based.
06:56-06:58
So that means there's nothing you can do.
06:58-07:01
If you're saved, there's nothing you can do that would disqualify you from being a child of God.
07:01-07:02
It's not performance-based.
07:04-07:12
So the extreme view of that is, well, if it's not performance-based, I'm free to do whatever I want.
07:15-07:16
And that's what we're looking at in this section.
07:17-07:19
Am I free to do whatever I want?
07:19-07:38
Their particular issue, we talked about this last week, was they were, some of the more mature Christians were eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, and they were like, "A burger's a burger." But it bothered some of the weaker Christians who came out of the pagan background and said, You don't want to touch meat that was used in pagan worship.
07:39-07:46
And Paul says, "Love says, 'I will give up my rights if it keeps a brother from stumbling.'" I'll give up my rights.
07:49-08:02
So understand here in this section that we're looking at today, Paul is saying, "Corinthians, I'm not asking you to do anything that I'm not willing to do.
08:05-08:10
Paul is saying here in this section we're looking at, I am laying down a freedom that I have.
08:10-08:13
I have the freedom to get paid by the church.
08:13-08:15
And Paul says, I laid that freedom down.
08:17-08:23
We're going to talk more about that part of it next week, but why would Paul lay that freedom down?
08:23-08:25
He knew it would bring offense.
08:27-08:31
You see, he knew that there were going to be some people that thought, "Oh, look at this guy.
08:31-08:35
There's this new religion and he's using it to cash in.
08:35-08:36
He's using it just to make money.
08:37-08:40
He's trying to rip you off." So Paul got a job making tents.
08:40-09:03
So he's like, "I'm not going to be a financial burden to anybody because I don't want anybody to think that I have an ulterior motive in preaching the gospel." So chapter 9, the section we're looking at today illustrates this whole giving up my liberty issue. I have the freedom to not use my freedom.
09:05-09:18
All right, let's bow. I'm going to ask you to pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive it, and then we'll go right after it. Let's just take a moment and pray.
09:22-09:23
by your name and your word, Father.
09:26-09:30
We ask you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior forever.
09:31-09:35
And all of God's people said, amen.
09:36-09:42
All right, so the Corinthians are like, hey, we are free in Christ to do what we want.
09:42-09:44
Look at chapter nine, verse one.
09:45-09:46
Paul says, am I not free?
09:48-09:49
Am I not an apostle?
09:51-09:52
Paul's like, "I'm free.
09:53-09:55
"I'm free to, you know about your freedom?
09:55-10:08
"I'm free too." And Paul says, "By the way, I'm not just a pew sitter." Okay, he's like, "I'm an apostle." And as always, when the issue comes up, you're going to have a group of people that were like, "Are you, Paul?
10:08-10:09
"Are you really an apostle?
10:09-10:13
"Are you really?" Oh, look at what he says.
10:15-10:18
"Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
10:18-10:25
"Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?" Paul was always defending himself.
10:25-10:27
And right here he goes, "Yeah, I am an apostle.
10:27-10:28
"I'll give you two proofs.
10:28-10:30
"One is the big one.
10:30-10:37
"To be an apostle, you had to have seen "the resurrected Jesus Christ." And Paul's like, "I've seen him." Like, did Paul see Jesus?
10:37-10:39
Yeah, at least three times.
10:39-10:42
Oh, by the way, one of those times was actually in Corinth.
10:42-10:43
What's that, Acts chapter 18?
10:46-10:56
Paul says, "I have another proof." He goes, "You want another proof of my apostleship?" He goes, "You, you are my proof." What do you mean by that?
10:56-10:57
Look at verses two and three.
10:58-11:07
He says, "If to others I am not an apostle, "at least I am to you, "for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
11:08-11:30
"This is my defense to those who would examine me." Paul says, "Some might not believe that I'm apostle, but you cannot deny the way that the Lord has worked through me to you." He says, "You're my seal." See, in those days, if somebody wanted to authenticate a letter, they would put a wax seal with the signet ring.
11:31-11:32
That was to say, "This is genuine.
11:32-11:35
This is real." Paul goes, "You want to know that I'm real?
11:35-11:48
Do you want to know that I'm authentic?" He goes, "You're my proof, because God has ministered the gospel through me to you." These are the evidences that I'm an apostle.
11:48-11:53
So, verse 4, do we not have the right to eat and drink?
11:55-11:57
That's obviously sarcasm.
11:58-12:03
I was like, "Yeah, I'm an apostle and God has used me, so I'm not allowed to eat?" Is that what you're saying?
12:06-12:10
I've been faithful to your souls, I've been faithful to the Lord, but I don't get to eat?
12:11-12:20
He's saying, "I don't get to… are you saying that I don't get to earn a living from the work that I do in the Lord?" Look at verse 5.
12:24-12:32
He says, "Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
12:34-12:39
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
12:41-12:49
Paul's like, "Other ministers are supported." So much so that other ministers actually take their wives along with them.
12:50-12:52
So you support them.
12:56-12:57
What about me?
12:57-13:00
Do I have the right to be supported by the church?
13:01-13:03
See what Paul's doing here.
13:03-13:06
in this little introduction, he's setting this all up.
13:07-13:19
He goes, "This freedom that I am laying down, is it actually a freedom that I have?" As we look at verses 7-14, Paul here is establishing that this is a right.
13:19-13:21
This is legitimate.
13:21-13:25
Ministers have the right to be supported by the church.
13:25-13:26
He's proving that in this section.
13:29-13:35
And in Paul's day, as in ours, there are people that are going to doubt the premise.
13:36-13:38
Like, really, should ministers be paid?
13:38-13:38
Really?
13:39-13:40
Not sure about that.
13:40-13:41
Should they, is it really work?
13:42-13:46
35 minutes, rather, 35 minutes a week, is that really work?
13:47-13:48
Should we be paying you for that?
13:52-13:56
Well, Paul gives five reasons why you should pay the pastor.
13:57-13:57
All right?
13:59-14:00
"Jot these down.
14:00-14:08
By the way, you're paying me overtime this week 'cause I spent some extra time making sure these were alliterated.
14:09-14:12
I don't always do that, but when I do, I charge extra.
14:13-14:23
And I charge by the word, that's why the sermons are so long." So five reasons a pastor should be paid.
14:23-14:24
Number one, I love this.
14:24-14:26
He just knocks this one right out.
14:26-14:26
It's common sense.
14:27-14:28
It's common sense.
14:28-14:30
Look at verse 7.
14:32-14:36
Paul says, "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?
14:38-14:40
Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit?
14:41-14:48
Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?" Obvious point, right?
14:49-14:52
A man earns his living by his work.
14:53-14:55
And he gives three examples.
14:56-15:00
A soldier, a farmer, and a shepherd.
15:03-15:09
Imagine as Paul calls us to here, imagine doing those jobs at your own expense.
15:10-15:11
Imagine that.
15:11-15:13
That's ludicrous, right?
15:14-15:14
Like what do you do?
15:14-15:15
I work at Target.
15:17-15:17
Why do you work at Target?
15:18-15:25
"Well, just trying to pay the bills so in my free time I can be in the army." Like what?
15:26-15:27
Paul's like, "Who does that?
15:28-15:36
That's called a hobby if you're doing it without being compensated.
15:36-15:41
Their families are fed from the work that they do." So it should be true for pastors.
15:41-15:42
It's common sense.
15:43-15:47
should earn from the work that they do.
15:50-15:55
And I have to add, church, that this is also extremely practical when you think about it.
15:55-15:57
The church benefits from a focused pastor.
16:00-16:05
You're going to get your best work from the pastor if he's not distracted.
16:06-16:07
I mean, think about it.
16:07-16:43
If the pastor has to provide for his family by working another job, how much gas is left tank to be a pastor. And you're like, "Eh, doesn't look that hard." Well, I want you to think about your job, whatever you do. You're nine to five, whether you work in a bank, work in HVAC, community, you know, some kind of like social service function, think Think of what you do.
16:44-16:52
When your shift ends, do you feel like you would be able to effectively pastor a church on top of that?
16:55-16:59
Again, I don't care if you're with the police, a computer programmer.
17:00-17:05
Imagine working all day doing that, and then you get home and now you've got to write a sermon.
17:06-17:07
Oh, and you have two counseling appointments.
17:07-17:09
And make sure you squeeze time in.
17:09-17:17
you've got to follow up with these new people at church, oh, and then you have a ministry team meeting on top of that.
17:17-17:21
Are you really going to do all of that on top of your nine to five?
17:24-17:25
It's common sense.
17:26-17:33
You see, if a pastor has to work another job, it's easy for him to phone it in when it comes to the church work, right?
17:33-17:37
Well, I've got to work at Target so that I can pay my bills.
17:38-17:39
the church stuff is just going to have to wait.
17:39-17:42
I sure hope they're not expecting a decent sermon this week.
17:44-17:45
It's just common sense.
17:45-17:47
People should get wages.
17:49-17:52
People should benefit from their workplace.
17:52-17:53
That's where he starts.
17:54-17:55
It's common sense.
17:55-17:58
Number two, five reasons pastors should be paid.
17:58-18:02
Five reasons Paul says this is a right for pastors to be paid.
18:02-18:05
Number two is it's a concern in the law.
18:05-18:06
It's a concern in the law.
18:09-18:10
Like, what do you mean?
18:10-18:11
Well, look at verse eight.
18:12-18:17
Paul says, "Do I say these things on human authority?" Like, you think I'm making this up?
18:19-18:22
He says, "Does not the law say the same?
18:23-18:37
"For it is written in the law of Moses, "you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." That's Deuteronomy 25 verse 4.
18:38-18:43
Like, what do you mean an ox treading out the grain?
18:43-18:47
It was actually an Egyptian trick that Israel adopted.
18:49-19:01
They would tie a big round flat stone to an ox, and they would have the ox drag the stone over the wheat to crush it to remove the husk.
19:03-19:13
Okay, so you have this ox helping you prepare food, doing this hard work of dragging a stone.
19:13-19:19
Now how cruel would it be to put a muzzle on the ox while he's doing that?
19:19-19:22
Like you have to drag the stone, but you're not allowed to eat.
19:23-19:27
Oh, you're going to stand on top of food all day, but you're not allowed to take a bite.
19:28-19:28
That's inhumane.
19:36-19:37
That's the point.
19:39-19:41
Look at verse 9, second part.
19:44-19:56
He says, "Is it for oxen that God is concerned?" Does He not speak entirely for our sake?
19:57-20:15
It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop." See Paul's point, you know, the whole don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain.
20:15-20:27
Paul's like, "You think God's concerned about the ox?" Look, I don't think God has anything against ox, oxen, oxes, oxen, oxen.
20:27-20:28
Thank you, Randy.
20:28-20:28
Oxen.
20:28-20:31
I don't think God's against oxen.
20:31-20:32
He created them.
20:32-20:33
I think God loves oxen.
20:34-20:42
Paul's like, "Do you think he wrote that in the law for the oxen who are going to be reading the law?" Like, "Hey, wait a second.
20:43-20:48
You're not supposed to muzzle me while I'm working." I think he didn't write that for the oxen.
20:50-20:51
But don't do it now.
20:51-20:52
You can do it later.
20:53-20:56
You get some time, turn back to that reference in Deuteronomy.
20:56-21:01
And you're going to see that section of Deuteronomy has nothing to do with animals.
21:02-21:05
Nothing to do with how to treat the livestock.
21:05-21:06
It has nothing to do with that.
21:07-21:12
It has everything to do with people.
21:12-21:13
And how you treat people.
21:15-21:17
You see, it's a figure of speech.
21:17-21:21
We use animals in figures of speech all the time, don't we?
21:22-21:25
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, two birds with one stone, all of that.
21:25-21:26
It was a figure of speech.
21:28-21:36
And Paul reminds us here, look, when God wrote that through Moses, He wasn't really concerned about the oxen, He was concerned about man.
21:38-21:44
And the point of that expression is the worker deserves to benefit from his work, obviously, right?
21:45-22:02
Luke 11, he says, "If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?" Sown spiritual things.
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That's all I'm trying to do for this church.
22:10-22:13
There are many people in this church that I have led to Christ.
22:16-22:23
There's many people in this church that I've not only taught the Bible, but I've taught how to teach the Bible.
22:25-22:35
There are people in this church that I have counseled out of disaster, comforted you and your family at funerals.
22:36-22:37
I married a lot of people here.
22:39-22:45
I've come along leaders to try to encourage them in their particular ministries.
22:46-22:57
None of this is meant to be boastful or "Hey, look at me." I'm just saying objectively, this is what I'm striving to do among you.
22:59-23:01
So is it out of line to support me in doing those things?
23:03-23:05
Am I asking too much?
23:07-23:10
Or do you see no value in anything that I do?
23:12-23:16
Now look, I am so thankful.
23:16-23:18
This church has always supported me and my family.
23:20-23:24
And I am so thankful to God for you and your support.
23:27-23:34
It would absolutely grieve me though if you thought that I wasn't worth it.
23:35-23:43
Like, yeah, we'll support him, but I mean, does he really bring something to the table?
23:48-23:57
Some churches, well, they do justify no pay or meager pay for the pastors.
23:58-23:59
Some churches justify that.
23:59-24:01
You can't pay the pastor very much.
24:01-24:01
Why?
24:02-24:04
Gotta keep 'em humble, right Pastor Taylor?
24:06-24:07
Gotta keep 'em humble.
24:07-24:11
Pastor Taylor gets paid two Kit Kats a week, that's all he gets from the church.
24:12-24:14
Because we're gonna keep 'em humble.
24:16-24:18
We don't want 'em to get swollen head.
24:19-24:21
So we gotta keep 'em humble.
24:21-24:30
Listen, that is an unbiblical mindset, completely backwards to what the Bible says about the way you treat your pastor.
24:31-24:32
Right?
24:34-24:37
1 Timothy 5, look what Paul told Timothy.
24:38-24:50
He says, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching." You know what he means by double honor?
24:51-24:55
He doesn't mean like, thank you, thank you.
24:58-24:58
Great job, great job.
24:58-24:59
That's not what he means at all.
25:00-25:02
You look at the context, he's talking about pay.
25:04-25:07
He's saying you should double my pay.
25:09-25:11
You get the point there, right?
25:12-25:14
Not keep them humble.
25:14-25:17
He's like, those who preach the word of God deserve double honor.
25:18-25:24
He says, for the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.
25:25-25:29
and the laborer deserves his wages.
25:33-25:37
And right now some Bible scholar is like, oh, okay, don't muzzle the ox.
25:38-25:40
Okay, Pastor Jeff, that's Old Testament.
25:40-25:42
We don't live under the Old Testament.
25:45-25:52
Well, we abide under the principles of the law, especially when they're repeated in the New Testament.
25:53-25:53
All right?
25:54-25:55
The five reasons pastors should be paid.
25:56-25:58
Paul says it's common sense.
25:58-25:59
It's a concern in the law.
25:59-26:01
Number three, write this down, it's claimed by others.
26:02-26:04
It's claimed by others.
26:07-26:21
Verse 12, he says, "If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?" Paul's like, "Oh, by the way, it's not weird or unusual.
26:23-26:25
In fact, there's precedent for it.
26:27-26:27
Right?
26:28-26:30
Many of you do support others.
26:31-26:39
And you should, but there's many people here that you're like, I support certain missionaries or I support world vision, or I support Samaritan's Purse.
26:39-26:41
I support all these people.
26:41-26:46
And Paul here is just simply saying, hey, what about the shepherd who has devoted his life to caring for you?
26:47-26:47
What about that guy?
26:48-26:49
Should he be paid?
26:49-26:50
Should he be supported?
26:53-27:03
And my whole life revolves around caring for you, praying for you, discipling you.
27:06-27:15
And some people are like, "Well, you know, I listen to such and such preacher on the Facebooks or the YouTubes or whatever.
27:15-27:22
I listen to Jack Hibbs, so my tithe goes to Jack Hibbs." Okay.
27:28-27:32
But when you need counseling, do you think Jack Hibbs is going to come and counsel you?
27:34-27:39
You know, if you have a tragedy, do you think Jack Hibbs is going to be at your house to pray for you, pray with you?
27:42-27:43
Does Jack Hibbs even know who you are?
27:46-27:46
That's Paul's point here.
27:47-27:49
Paul's like, "Others share the rightful claim.
27:49-28:12
"You support others." Paul's like, "How can you not support the one who loves you?" He goes on in verse 12, he goes, "Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, "but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle "in the way of the gospel of Christ." That's the whole point of broaching the subject.
28:13-28:25
We have the freedom to get paid, but Paul says, "I laid that freedom down." Just as I'm telling you to do about eating the meat sacrifice to the idols, it's okay.
28:25-28:28
It's okay to lay your freedom down sometimes.
28:30-28:32
We're going to get into that more next week.
28:33-28:36
This week though, he's giving us five reasons a preacher should be paid.
28:36-28:39
And here's number four, it's a custom from the Old Testament.
28:40-28:46
It's common sense, it's a concern in the law, it's claimed by others, and it's a custom from the Old Testament.
28:47-28:48
Look at verse 13.
28:49-29:03
He says, "Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.
29:06-29:09
Do a little study sometime, Old Testament law.
29:09-29:16
In the Old Testament, priests were supported for their work by their work.
29:18-29:26
All of the sacrifices that were given under Old Testament law realized the priest received a portion of what was offered in some way, shape, or form.
29:26-29:27
That's what Paul's talking about here.
29:31-29:41
And I was studying this this week, and I'm like, why did he sort of, he kind of said that in verse seven, right?
29:42-29:43
The same thing.
29:43-29:46
So why did he bring this up again?
29:46-29:47
And then it hit me.
29:50-29:54
Verse seven, he gave secular examples.
29:56-29:57
You know, the soldier, the farmer, the shepherd.
29:57-29:59
He gave secular examples.
29:59-30:23
And there are some in the church that would say, "Okay, Paul, you're using secular reasoning and you're trying to apply it to the spiritual realm." And I think what Paul's doing here is saying, "Look, yes, this principle, you should be supported for the work that you do, by your work." It's true in the secular world and it's true in the sacred world too.
30:23-30:25
So Paul's like, "Don't act like this is a new thing.
30:26-30:31
supporting the spiritual leaders, because it's a custom that goes way back to the Old Testament.
30:35-30:40
Number five, five reasons pastors should be paid.
30:41-30:45
It's common sense, it's a concern in the law, it's claimed by others, it's a custom from the Old Testament.
30:46-30:57
Last and probably most important, I would say, I think that's why it's last, it's commanded by Jesus.
31:00-31:01
It's commanded by Jesus.
31:02-31:17
Look at verse 14, "In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." Wait a minute, when did Jesus say that?
31:18-31:20
Well, He said that a couple of times.
31:21-31:34
In Luke chapter 10, Jesus was sending out the 72 and He was talking about, you can look this up later, the people that believe you should be the ones that feed you.
31:34-31:41
So Jesus in sending them out said, "For the laborer deserves his wages." What's the context of that?
31:42-32:06
And again in Matthew 10, verse 10, Jesus was sending out the twelve, and He says, "The people that believe you should be the people who support you." And that's why He said, "The laborer deserves his food." In both cases, Jesus was saying those who preach the gospel must be supported by those who believe the gospel.
32:07-32:14
In other words, believers, we could say church members, should financially support their leaders.
32:17-32:23
If you're a guest here today, I want you to understand you're under no obligation to give.
32:24-32:29
Don't feel guilty or like, "Well, I probably should." If you're a guest, be our guest.
32:31-32:32
There's zero obligation.
32:35-32:37
is something that we are to share as a church family.
32:39-32:39
All right?
32:43-32:45
But nevertheless, the Lord commanded it.
32:46-32:48
Those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
32:50-33:01
So Paul, in this whole section, is saying as a minister of the gospel, I have every right to expect you to support me, but I laid that right down.
33:03-33:19
I thought it might be an obstacle to the work, so because I love you, I didn't take financial support from you." Paul's like, "I'm trying to show you something, that when you love, you're willing to lay down your rights.
33:21-33:56
When you love, you're willing to lay down your freedoms." Paul is just simply saying, as we'll see next week, "Follow my example." Right now you're like, "Okay, pay the pastor, fine." Well my hope is not that you reluctantly get on board with giving, but I want you to see the bigger picture of why you give.
33:57-34:00
Yes, giving primarily is an act of worship.
34:00-34:01
We've had a whole sermon series about that.
34:02-34:03
Giving is an act of worship.
34:04-34:08
But also I want you to think about the tangible effects of giving.
34:11-34:14
When you give, my family is supported.
34:16-34:22
And that frees me from trying to do ministry on top of a nine to five job.
34:22-34:25
It lets me stay focused on caring for you.
34:25-34:35
Understand that when you give, look at the big picture, you're freeing me up so that I can care for everybody in this church to the best of my ability.
34:39-34:39
Everyone benefits.
34:41-34:44
When you give, other staff are paid.
34:44-34:47
That allows us to worship in excellent music.
34:48-35:07
It helps us disciple your children and young adults to minister on a personal level through the oversight of our entire small group ministry and so many more things that are able to happen that couldn't happen if you weren't financially supporting the leadership of the church.
35:09-35:15
Oh, oh, oh, and when you give, understand that you're supporting a whole network of ministers in Thailand.
35:17-35:30
Do you know in northern Thailand and beyond, we have 23 churches, we have four children's homes, we have a Bible institute, and do you know how many people stateside support them?
35:33-35:34
Just this church.
35:35-35:49
You, when you give, you are allowing the work of evangelism happen all over that area of the world through our network of churches.
35:52-35:55
Disciples are made all over Northern Thailand and beyond.
35:57-36:08
When you give, that is your way of actively partnering with me in advancing the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
36:10-36:12
I'd like you to bow your heads as the worship team makes their way up.
36:16-36:29
Father in heaven, it felt awkward to have to give a message like this, but God, it's your word.
36:29-36:30
We don't skip anything.
36:32-36:34
We just want to go after what you said.
36:35-36:46
Father, I thank you for the way that this church has always sought to support me and my family.
36:48-36:53
Financially sure, but so many other ways this church has sought to bless and protect my family.
36:54-36:55
God, I thank you so much for these people.
36:56-36:58
This is from you, God, and I thank you for that.
36:59-37:11
I just pray, Father, that looking at a passage like this, you would give us sort of a bigger picture of the way your economy works and why you have called us to certain things that you've called us to.
37:15-37:24
God, we believe that all things are yours, and we believe, God, that you have called us to be faithful stewards with everything that you give us.
37:27-37:32
We thank you for the privilege and all the ways that you've called us to partner with you in the work of the ministry.
37:33-37:38
Thank You, Father, for the spirit of generosity that You have stirred among Your people here.
37:39-37:47
And as King David prayed in preparation for the temple, might that spirit always be found in Your people.
37:48-37:50
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-14

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain why Paul broaches the subject of paying the pastor in the first place. What does that have to do with their question about Christian liberty?
What are some practical benefits that come when a pastor doesn't have to work outside the church?
How would you respond to someone who says, “Pastors should have a job like everyone else! It's not fair that the pastor has money when some people in the congregation are struggling financially.”

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Because He is King, I Will Obey

Introduction:

What Does God Want Me to See and Know This Easter? (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Because He is Priest, I Will Confess

Introduction:

Conceal or Confess? If You Want to Confess: (1 John 1:5 - 2:6)

3 Lies You Have to Stop Claiming:

Because He is a Prophet, I Will Believe

Introduction:

The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:14-22):

Jesus is the Prophet – Will You:

Why Should I Deny Myself?

Introduction:

Are You Committed to Winning People with the Gospel? (1 Corinthians 9:15-23)

Should Pastors Be Paid?

Introduction:

5 Reasons Pastors Should Be Paid: (1 Corinthians 9:1-14)

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

What Does God Want Me to See and Know This Easter? (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Conceal or Confess? If You Want to Confess: (1 John 1:5 - 2:6)

3 Lies You Have to Stop Claiming:

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Introduction:

The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:14-22):

Jesus is the Prophet – Will You:

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Introduction:

Are You Committed to Winning People with the Gospel? (1 Corinthians 9:15-23)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

5 Reasons Pastors Should Be Paid: (1 Corinthians 9:1-14)

Audio Transcript