Speaker 1: 0:16

Good morning everybody. My name is Jeremy. I'm a sophomore attending Benicia High School.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Come on, come on.

Speaker 1: 0:23

And today I'll be reading Matthew 22, 41 through 46. While the Pharisees were gathered together, jesus asked them what do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he? The son of David? They replied. He said to them how is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. If, then, david calls him Lord, how can he be a son? No one could say a word in reply and from that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Thank you. And from that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 1:00

So good. I'll say it was a close call. I was considering wearing that same jacket, so I'm so glad I went another way. That is something I cannot pull off, and you absolutely can. You look fantastic. What an awesome young man. I'm so grateful that he did that. Welcome, good morning. It's so good to see you.

Speaker 2: 1:18

My name is Jeff Bachman. I'm one of the pastors here on staff. I get the privilege of being able to teach today. If you're new to Northgate, welcome. Thank you for joining us and trusting us.

Speaker 2: 1:28

We don't take that lightly that you would give us your Sunday. We are, and have been, faithfully preaching through the book of Matthew. We've taken a couple breaks throughout, but we are preaching through the book of Matthew and the way that we're doing it is that we're saying this week we're going to preach this chunk and then we're going to go to the next, and so we open it up and we look at these passages and we say this is what it says. And there are some weeks that I'm given a passage and I'm like I'd like another one, please. I don't like that because I have to actually do some work in my own life before I go and tell you, so it becomes more of a mirror than it is a microphone. And so in these is that we open these up and say they're not written to us but they're for us, and how it is going to change and shape our lives. And so we are gonna continue to, until Matthew ends, preach faithfully through this, taking Christmas breaks and things like that. But I actually we are lining this up, the things like that, but I actually we are lining this up. The end of Matthew is going to be ending with Easter this next year, so it's going to be really cool, it's going to be a lot of fun, so join us and I hope to see you before Easter. So that too.

Speaker 2: 2:26

Have you ever played the Y game? Have you ever played the Y game? You may not know it. If you have ever had toddlers, then you've played the Y game. You've played, you've absolutely played the why game. Here's the why game.

Speaker 2: 2:37

The why game is this is that you have somebody make a statement, something that is true about themselves. It could be a good statement, a bad statement, something and then you just ask the question why? Five times? And I will tell you. If you do this like, do it as an experiment at lunchtime, say have somebody say something, ask with intent why, and then have them honestly answer and you will get to depths of things that I've never seen. I did this once with a group of life group leaders and I had them ask the question why. I said, if you don't know what else to ask somebody, just ask them why. And we went from. The one lady shared that she had bought a puppy and, after asking why five times, she was crying and talking about how she had just miscarried another child. And it's because of this Questions are powerful. Questions are powerful. I think somebody learned that probably more than ever.

Speaker 2: 3:28

In May 17th of 2021, a gentleman by the name of Kenneth Corbin learned that questions are powerful, and this is what he learned. He's a school bus driver in South Carolina and this bus was hijacked and it was a bus full of students by a 23-year-old gunman. Now let's pause the story for a second and go. I need you to not worry about the end of the story. Everybody's fine. Okay, there's something else in the story that I want you to hear in this because questions are powerful, everybody's fine. Can we go on?

Speaker 2: 3:57

Great, the bus driver is called a hero and he quickly gave the credit to the students, calling them the real heroes. Here's the quote that he says when the gunman entered the bus, he was clearly scattered by all of the students on the bus, which, if you get onto a school bus and you're surprised that there are students on a school bus, you need to make better choices. He decided to move all of the students to the front of the bus so that he could keep them in all close proximity and when he did, especially some of the kindergartners. They started asking questions, because kindergartners always ask questions and they ask questions like why are you doing this, what's that gun? Like, why are you doing this, what's that gun, are you going to hurt us? And other questions like that. Here's where it gets fun. The gunman sensed more questions were coming because they were kindergartners, and something clicked and he said enough is enough and he told me to stop the bus and everybody get off. So kindergartners and their questions were the hero of this whole story.

Speaker 2: 4:59

So questions are powerful, questions are powerful and we've actually if you've been with us for the last couple of weeks we've seen that because the teachers of the law, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, they were all asking Jesus questions and they were powerful and Jesus used them as teaching opportunities. The questions were this Three weeks ago, in Matthew 22, 15, pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words Matthew 22, 23,. Two weeks ago, that same day, the Sadducees came with him with questions and then last week, one of them, an expert of the law, tested him with questions. What I love about last week is, if you'll notice and if you were here, at the end of it, jesus acknowledged his questions and he said you're not far off from the kingdom of God. Even in your doubts, you are closer to God than you may think. So keep searching, keep looking.

Speaker 2: 5:51

My prayer for us today, here's what I hope for us is that we hear the questions that Jesus is now going to turn and ask the religious leaders and that we have, as we approach him, seeing these questions and probably having questions of our own is that we see him as worthy as the one worth giving the answers to those questions, because when he gave the answers, when he questioned the Pharisees, it forced them to determine an answer that they didn't like. They didn't like what they saw on the other side of those questions, and that these questions, I pray for us, that they don't frighten us, they don't turn us away from Jesus, make us run off a bus, that they allow us to see a bigger picture and a fuller view of the Messiah, the Christ, jesus of Nazareth. Because I'll tell you what. I got questions too. I got tons of questions, man.

Speaker 2: 6:41

You know, it's easy to sit here Everybody's got questions here right, it's easy to sit here and think that, because I stand here, that I've got more of this figured out than you. But I am in this journey with you and I have questions too, because, even though I can read it in here as I go, you're telling me all of scripture, even though it was written by human beings, is fully inspired by God. We're okay with that, right? You're telling, like I have questions. What happens when we die? Jesus says I tell you that today you will be with me in paradise to people who are dying. But is that today, right now? Is that chronologically Like? How does that work? Where are the people that I love? Where are they right now, even if they've said yes to Jesus? I've got questions. What about when I am at my lowest and everything is an absolute mess? God, where are you? Because it sure doesn't feel like you're here.

Speaker 2: 7:31

I got questions and they're very similar to what we asked right at the start why, why, why? Why this? Why that? I struggle too, and what I will say is that I think if we lean in and not run away, go silent, I believe that Jesus is right at the center of those questions. And if we don't come with an answer because I think that that's part of what was happening with these Pharisees they asked questions, but they already knew the answer that they wanted If we don't come with an answer and that we allow the full picture of who Jesus is in scripture to then begin to shape the answers, we will see a fuller version of who God is, and he will meet us in that. So we're going to get a chance to look at that as we chew through this today.

Speaker 2: 8:17

Matthew 22,. We're gonna read each one of these verses one at a time. Start at 41 and 42. It says when the Pharisees were gathered together, jesus asked them what do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he? The son of David? They replied because the religious leaders knew this answer. Now understand, the tables are now turned. I've already said they ask questions for three weeks.

Speaker 2: 8:38

In our context, this is all on the same day Questions from the Pharisees, questions from the Sadducees, questions from the Pharisees. And Jesus says sit down, it's my turn, riddle me this. You've asked questions, it's now my turn to do this. And so other translations for this. They ask who's the Messiah? That word Messiah also means Christos, which means Christ. Jesus is not his last name is not Christ. It is the anointed one, the Messiah, the one that was so for the religious leaders at this time. They were promised somebody who was going to come, and Jesus said it's me. And they're like no, it's not, we want somebody else. And so that's what they're debating about here right now. It's not, we want somebody else, and so that's what they're debating about here right now. So then they ask the question where did the Messiah come from? Who is his father? And again, this is while they were still here. So it's the same interaction.

Speaker 2: 9:30

This question can appear to be very like, just very surface of going like who do you say the Messiah is and who do I say, and all those sorts of things. This is a crucial question for them and for us what do you think about the Messiah? What do you think about the Christ, who is the anointed one? And essentially, what he's also asking is is it me, or you say it's not me. So then, who is it, or how does that work out? Matthew 22, 43 and 44. He said to them this is still Jesus talking. How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

Speaker 2: 10:08

Jesus is quoting Psalm 110. So what we learn from this is that Psalm 110 was written by David. It was a prophetic Psalm that was telling of what was to come. David was forecasting and foreshadowing what would be, and it was Jesus saying you all agree that this is true. So then explain it, explain how this is true. Now here's what I'm gonna tell you, and my wife can attest to this.

Speaker 2: 10:30

I had to read this part of the passage a lot slowly, out loud to other people and I'm like, okay, I need something else, and so, not that you may not understand it, let me see, I put it in my own words. I'm going to read it one more time and then I'm going to tell you what I believe is the understanding of this. He said to them how is it that David, speaking by the spirit which, by the way, evidence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in different than what we see after Jesus ascends and sits at the right hand of the Father, that the Holy Spirit comes down on those who say yes to Jesus, but it's that the Spirit still leads and guides and teaches that's what we see here Calls him Lord, for he says the Lord said to my Lord sit at the right hand until I put my enemies under your feet, meaning God, the Father, god in heaven, until I put my enemies under your feet, meaning God, the Father, god in heaven, said to the Messiah, the chosen one, the Christos, the Christ who we know on this side to be Jesus or that we believe, sit at the Father's right hand, which is the place of highest honor and authority, while the Father in heaven puts the Messiah's enemies under the Messiah's feet, bringing about subjugation under their feet or footstool. Does that help at all? It helped me when I sat there and kind of laid it out. But here's what I know is that there's lots of references in the Old Testament. As you watch it, you track it then, and then they're reminded in the New Testament of saying there is a path, from the very start of scripture, all the way through shadows, of a Messiah, one to come.

Speaker 2: 11:55

And as we continue through the Old Testament and then, as Jesus arrives on the scene, they begin to go. It kind of looks like this guy, but I don't like what this guy is doing. I don't like what he's saying and he's messing up for the religious leaders all of what it is that they believed. And so Jesus is meeting them there and he's saying I'm going to build on what it is that you know, we're going to look at Psalm 110. We all agree on that one, sure? So let's start there and then let's build out of that. That.

Speaker 2: 12:19

How would it be that he would remain king beyond his years, david through lineage and then continue, and his enemies would be put under a footstool? It always seems. That seems to be like the best promise is that if you don't like somebody, make him your footstool. So I don't know, somebody cuts you off, you're like may you be my footstool. So this is where verse 45 then comes in.

Speaker 2: 12:41

Verse 45 says then, if David calls him Lord, how can he be son? So Jesus is asking the most important question of all, and it's really about Jesus's identity. It's saying David calls him Lord, but he comes from the line of David, so then shouldn't he call him son or grandson or grand-grand-grandson? How is he then calling him Lord? Answer me that. And if Jesus is indeed here's the thing If Jesus is indeed the one, that is what was promised, then it changes everything and it begins to undo and unravel everything that they have already lived in and experienced.

Speaker 2: 13:16

Have you ever watched a movie that you kind of get to the end and you solve it and then you have to kind of go back through the whole movie and go oh, if that's true, then that means that all of these other things are true as well. And so for Jesus saying if you call me Lord first off, that's gonna mess up your whole life, that's going to change and shift power for who you are and what you understand to be true. And if those things are true about me, then if that is true, what else? So then he asks how can God send the Messiah from the line of David? Yet David would call him Lord. That doesn't make cultural or genealogical sense.

Speaker 2: 13:52

What we know again on this side of it, 2,000 years later, is that there's something that you see in scripture called the Davidic covenant. The Davidic covenant, it's a promise that God made with David and it's an unconditional covenant. This promise that he made was that David and Israel, that there would be a Messiah who came out of their lineage, which was small but mighty, that would come out of that line in the tribe of Judah, which was also considered small. You can see it all throughout in 2 Samuel 7, in 1 Chronicles and in 2 Chronicles. All over there it's these signposts of saying this is how you can see where Jesus is coming from and how he fulfills not just one but all of these things that are foretold. And it's an unconditional covenant that's made between God and David.

Speaker 2: 14:38

Now I wanna read for you a couple different passages that start in the Old Testament and go all the way through to the New Testament. I'm going to ask that you stay with me on this, but it's important because we're going to start at Micah 5.2. And in Micah 5.2 is that they refer to this one that is to come, that comes out of Bethlehem Ephrathah. So now we all know Bethlehem. If you've grown up around church, is that we are familiar with the term Bethlehem, bethlehem Ephrathah, if you call it that, then you know that it's somebody who is actually in that town. It's kind of a term of endearment. It's the same as we were walking around Porchfest yesterday. And as we're walking around Porchfest you have the people that say welcome to Benicia. And then the people would say welcome to Benicia. You're like, oh, you've been here a bit, you know this place, welcome to Benicia.

Speaker 2: 15:18

So we're going to look at Micah, and I want you to see this because it's not only talking about it's not only talking about the line, but it's also just the fulfillment of this that what we are able to see is through Jesus. So Micah 5.2 says it like this but you, bethlehem, ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from the old, from ancient times. See, because King David was around 1000 BC, born and ruled. Micah was written around 750 BC. So 250 years later, they're still saying that that line is coming from David, who is long gone, it's coming from the tribe of Judah and that there is one to come. And so they are acknowledging, continuing to acknowledge that the Old Testament is pointing to one who will come, and they don't like that. It's Jesus. They don't like that.

Speaker 2: 16:13

If you start to add up all these different things, you start to go it's actually Jesus, and that's what Jesus is actually declaring. Is that? That's who he is? And so then here's what we know then, as we read the New Testament, is that the answer is Jesus. The answer is Jesus and again we'll talk about the benefit that we have on this side of it but the answer is Jesus. And it's actually why they go and put all these different genealogies in scripture, because they want us to see that you go. This isn't happenstance, we're not making this up.

Speaker 2: 16:42

This line comes and it's very clear that God has a roadmap and the answer is Jesus. So Matthew and I'm going to read Matthew 1, 6, and 16. Kind of skip a rock through this, because Niners play at 125. So this is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So it starts there, skip a rock to six and it says and Jesse, the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife. Keep going into 16. And it says and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who was called the Messiah. You see that. So actually this author is starting at the back and then going forward. I love that.

Speaker 2: 17:26

Then in Luke and in Luke it actually goes let's start with Jesus and let's work our way back. So Luke 1, 31 through 33 says it this way you will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of David and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever and ever. His kingdom, jesus's kingdom from the line of David, will never end just as it was promised. That's what's happening here and that's what we're seeing, and so it's very easy for us to sit on this 2000 years later and see that these puzzle pieces fit together.

Speaker 2: 18:08

But for them, their worldview was being really messed up, and people didn't like that, because they're saying you know how everything you've known to be true. Let's pretend for a second that somebody came to you and said you know how everything that you know to be true about anything your family, your favorite TV show, your job, whatever and to say none of it's actually true or that you were misinformed about that? How willing are you going to be to give that up? How willing are you going to be for these people who this also means positions and power and leadership that they've also been asked to protect this righteously? So, again, I have a little bit more compassion for the Pharisees, because they were doing what they thought God had instructed them to do, but because they were so unwilling to see any other way and that they had already come to the answer with the question that they were missing who Jesus was, and he was right in front of them. So, then, for us, is that we're able to see that from now, 2,000 years later, not these that are written, but that the New Testament continues to inform that. So then, look, because Paul also talks about this.

Speaker 2: 19:09

Paul talks about this very same thing in Colossians. He says in Colossians 2, 9 and 10, for in Christ, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority, saying all that stuff that you saw. He is there. I actually, paul. I had an interaction with Jesus, I met him. He is the one, he is the Christ. He is the anointed one, he is the one that we can trust because of that.

Speaker 2: 19:39

And then it goes on. You see John write as he is in isolation on an island, writing from Revelation. And don't miss this, because John in 3.7, he now talks about this, and it says it this way they're the words of him. Who is holy and true, that's Christ, that's who he's calling, that's another name for Jesus. Who holds the key of David, who he opens? No one can shut. And what he shuts, no one can open. Almost a sense of saying it like this, because here's key holders. In those days they had authority. And again, and there's also something if I give you a key, you're now the only one who has a key to that. And so he's saying the keys have been given to Jesus.

Speaker 2: 20:20

And then it goes one more and it says like this Matthew 19, 15 through 19. And this is where we'll end. Matthew 16, 15 through 19 says but what about you? He asks what do you say? I am this, is Jesus talking to the disciples? Simon Peter answers you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. And Jesus replied blessed are you, simon, son of Jodah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven, god's spirit revealed to him, and I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome and I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Speaker 2: 20:58

Again, I'm giving you authority, and so this is where we then see the church go out and that they are then proclaiming because they were with Jesus, having apostleship and authority, but that they are then declaring and Jesus, it's this idea of saying I can't give what I don't have, but I have it and I give it now to you, and as many illustrations as I can give you and as many cute stories and photos and different things is what I see in scripture is there's a very clear picture of who Jesus is, and it is from the Old Testament all the way through that there is one, and he is Messiah, he is King, he is the risen Lord and he lived the life that you and I couldn't, and he died the death that we deserved, and he is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and that is the Jesus that I see in the scripture. It matches up pretty well. And so then Matthew 22, 46 ends, and it says it like this no one could say a word in reply and from that day forward on, no one dared to ask him any more questions. I mean, like that's funny. Everyone's like, hey, you know how we were like asking questions about Jesus. Don't do that anymore. That didn't go so well. So like stop, there's going to be a shift and you're going to notice it when you join us next week. There's a shift in chapters 23 through 25.

Speaker 2: 22:13

All of a sudden, jesus changes his tone for a few reasons. One is that from Matthew 1 all the way to 23 is that he's walked around. He assembled his team, he did a miracle, he proclaimed, and then he said don't say anything. He did it again. He did it again and all of a sudden, now it's now time. He always said it's not the time. It's not the time. It's not the time. It's now the time.

Speaker 2: 22:33

As I was studying this, I have a Bible program and I took a screenshot and I just want to show you this. Look at this right here. This is Matthew 23. In this Bible program, the way that they indicate the words of Jesus. Now I believe that all words are the holy, inspired words of God. But these are the words that they have recorded that come from Jesus, and they put them in red. And so up to this point it's been. It's not time anymore.

Speaker 2: 22:55

And now, in 23, he's like hold on, because now it's time 23,. It's Jesus. 24, it's Jesus. Go to the next one. It's still Jesus, go to 25. It's still Jesus. And what you know is that the scholars believe this is what he's saying. Here, this is Tuesday or Wednesday. Here, this is Tuesday or Wednesday.

Speaker 2: 23:22

He is arrested Thursday night. He is crucified Friday. He is out of time and though he was willing to take the questions for as long as he needed to, we're done with questions. It's now me declaring who I am and how we need to posture our lives, in that the time is now and it's done For us. We still have time and we know that God is gracious and he's kind. But we also see in James 4 that life is but a vapor, and so this breath right now is promised, and so I would welcome you today to say, my friends, bring your questions, bring your doubts, bring your worries, bring all of those. He is big enough to handle every part of that, and so I will ask you, because the answer is Jesus. So I will ask you again what is your question? What is your question? And don't shy away from that anymore what is your question for Jesus?

Speaker 2: 24:12

There's an old joke that goes something like this, where there's a Sunday school teacher who has all of their students and they're up there and they said okay, students, I need you to answer me this question. What is small and gray and has a bushy tail and climbs trees and eats acorns? And this little kid raises his hand and he goes. Well, I know the answer is Jesus, but that sure sounds like a squirrel. So what's your question? What is your question?

Speaker 2: 24:41

Let me ask it to you a different way. Does the picture of Jesus that we see in scripture conflict or confirm your already preconceived notion of who God is? When you walked through this door, did you already know the answer to the questions that we're telling you to ask? Jesus now may take, and here's what I would say it may take some time for you to establish who it is that you think Jesus is and then to begin to invite him into those different parts of your life, and it may come that they are there. They are conflicting with each other, and it actually may be that you need to do a little bit of dismantling of your life and your worldview.

Speaker 2: 25:21

Another word that I see used a lot in that is the word deconstruction, which is a really popular word right now to talk about that. I deconstruct my faith. I don't actually think that I'm talking quite as much about deconstruction as I am dismantling. In either way, though, what I would say is that, as you are breaking down your understanding and your preconceived notions of church, of community, of God, of scripture, is that you are willing to say. This may or may not be true, but I'm going to hold this up to the light against scripture and God's spirit and community, and as it continues to be rebuilt, it's rebuilt into a better, more clear picture of who Jesus is.

Speaker 2: 25:57

You cannot deconstruct or dismantle something if you leave it out on the lawn and let it get rusty. If you don't rebuild it, it's not going to work at all, and I would say the same thing is true for your faith. If you are dismantling or deconstructing your faith, if you don't rebuild it into something, it's going to be of no good, and here's what we are promised in scripture. Is that this deconstruction, this dismantling and this repairing, it's actually not supposed to be done by you. God is leading you in that and the Holy Spirit, who is faithful, who dwells and leads and teaches and guides, that is who we are then allowing to rebuild this full understanding of who Jesus is.

Speaker 2: 26:30

Philippians 1 says that who has begun a good work, and you will continue, as you continue to say who, how, why God, he will meet you in that. He will meet you in that, and I promise, because it's not done alone, it's done not only in community but, more importantly, being led by the spirit, and there is a full and complete picture of Jesus that we see in scripture, but it must include not only his life, also his death, also his resurrection, also his ascension and then the fulfillment of everything that he did from the Old Testament to the New. That's why, when we say that there is a confidence in who Jesus is, it's because it's not just off of some hot sports opinion that there is tested scripture that goes and is held up to the light and is said it is Jesus and the answer is Jesus. But for you, you have to decide, because every decision of a yes, you are Jesus then informs what you have done and what you will continue to do, and it starts. We get the privilege of looking at scripture and it's why we do it. For the last three weeks we've come to some sort of a determining answer that we then take that direction and continue to build on who God and Jesus are. Week one we walked away saying give to God what is his through one another. And then after that it said we are living as resurrection people and that through Jesus we have life and life abundantly and life eternally. And the last week is that we said we are going to be a community of people who love God and love people. And that is because of the picture that we see of Jesus and his life.

Speaker 2: 28:01

Jesus was foretold in Psalm 110. He was foretold 970 years before he stepped foot on the earth and then he lived his life and did what is recorded in scripture. So then there's a thousand years where people didn't have as full of a picture because they didn't see Jesus. In fact, if you look at the end of the Old Testament, there's 480 years of recorded silence where God didn't say boo that we know about, didn't say nothing, and then all of a sudden, out of the wilderness comes somebody who is proclaiming one who is yet to come. So for almost 500 years it is complete silence.

Speaker 2: 28:38

Let me ask you this question Are you okay if God's answer is hold on, help is on the way. Because I'm not sometimes, and there are times, and what I see in the Psalms is God, if you don't show up right now, I am going to die. And what I see here is it's hold on, help is on the way. And if you're not okay with that answer, then tell him. Tell him he is big enough for your questions and your doubts and your disappointments and your frustrations, because what I actually see being more conflict is not that people have a question with the authority of scripture. It's actually that they've come in with some sort of an expectation on what Jesus is supposed to be in their life. And you look at scripture and you go with some sort of an expectation on what Jesus is supposed to be in their life and you look at scripture and you go he never promised to be those things. That's never what he said he was going to be.

Speaker 2: 29:23

And so then the thing that you're actually disappointed in is some Sunday school teacher from 20 years ago, or a parent or somebody that you were talking to in your youth group, and they've given you information that Jesus, jesus, is like. I didn't say that. That wasn't me and for me I don't want to ask God some sort of an audacious question because I'm afraid he's going to give me an audacious answer and the answer might be yes or it might be no, and frankly, sometimes a no is just it's more than I can handle, because at least if I don't get an answer, then I can hold on to hope of something that might still be there and it's floating around, but a no closes the door, and so then I'm afraid to ask him another question. But what I was so faithfully reminded of today is that we are not given a spirit of fear by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. 2 Timothy 2 reminds us we're not given a spirit of fear, and so then, when we are afraid of taking questions and wonder and doubt to God, then that then becomes God to us, and I think that Jesus came to be Messiah and reign in our lives, and so that fear, it becomes the God that Jesus always wanted to be, and fear was never meant to. So we have to live in allowing Jesus to reign in our lives, because here's what I know he's going to give you an answer, even if you don't want it, and so I'll ask you this or I'll tell you this.

Speaker 2: 30:41

Jesus isn't tired of your questions, he's not tired of you. He's not tired of your doubts. He's not tired of your failures Because, frankly, who determined that it was a failure? You or him? Probably you. Jesus is not tired of you and he's not tired of your question and he wants to take wherever you are at today and to build on that, because I've seen some people in scripture who are very close to Jesus have some really dumb questions as they're walking around. They're like hey, jesus, hey, when we're in heaven, can I sit like right to the side of you, like, like right? I think it's interesting.

Speaker 2: 31:24

I think Jesus actually came to dismantle that, because what I find in their questions and even in my life is the questions I often have for Jesus are the most burning ones, have to do with money, power and comfort, and I want to know how I'm going to be, how am I going to be taken care of in this situation? What I know is that if money, comfort and power are the answer to God's questions that we're giving him, then he's an absolute failure, because there's a lot of people who die poor, broke and alone and they are directly in the center of God's will. And I don't want that for you, I for sure don't want that for myself. But what I know and we sit here and we talk about this life, and life abundantly at the end of every service if we're going to talk about that, then I think that we have to redefine what an abundant life is. What I know it's not based on what I see in the disciples living out the full obedience of what Jesus is called into is that at the end of their lives is that they really suffered and they struggled. It didn't go well for the disciples, and so then, when we sit here and talk about this idea of abundance, I think that we've actually defined American abundance with something that God never desired for us to live and experience.

Speaker 2: 32:34

Now, that's not saying that you can't have a lot or some, or more or a little, but it is saying that's not at the end of a question or a fulfilled life with Jesus. My friends, if you are here and you are hurting today because you are struggling with money or mental illness or physical illness or your career or relationships or a marriage. It's not because you didn't pray hard enough. Now you are to take a responsibility in that and to participate in it. But, as we see in John 9 too, is that they asked for the blind man. They say, who sinned that man or somebody else?

Speaker 2: 33:07

And they say, actually the life that that person, that blind person, is living right now is to proclaim the power and authority of who Jesus is. So then, allow in all of your bumps and bruises and the highs and lows of your life. Invite Jesus into that, knowing that he will give you an answer that will be sufficient for you, and it may not be for them, and I have a hard time looking at this. I go what about them? He's like that's not you. So then, live in the questions and the answers and the authority of what it is that I am doing for you, because Jesus has given us full authority to live in that and to take his word and the spirit and to live and to dwell. And while we're taking ownership over our questions and forming the full right person and the picture of who Jesus is, he wants to meet you in that. So I'm going to say it again for the people in the back what is your question for Jesus? What is it? What is your question? Because I pray that Jesus's authority and God's answers don't keep you silent and scare you away.

Speaker 2: 34:02

And I recognize that there are people in here who have been questioning for days, weeks, months, years, and you're tired and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for that and I'm sorry that God in his grace and mercy and how he is dispensing his information to you, it doesn't match what you see in somebody else, and I have lived in that. I prayed for somebody to come to faith for over 20 years and I stopped, said the pastor. I stopped. They've come to face, but I didn't get to experience it in the way that I was probably designed to, because I lost hope and I said clearly you aren't hearing me, god, because my picture of who you were was that you were going to show up in a way that I expected. Mark's version of this same account ends like this, it says the large crowd listened to him with delight. They didn't understand the ramifications of Jesus's answers. Maybe, maybe they like a good fight, I don't know. What I hope is that they saw in the fulfillment of who Jesus was, a coming King who would be able to reign in their life and could hold everything of who they were.

Speaker 2: 35:26

For us, and I think here's my hope and where I wanna leave us today is that what is it gonna take for you to step into and live into motion the answers that you may or may not have gotten, the yeses, the noes, the maybes, the holds on? What's it going to take for you to live in the full, in that abundant life that we talk about? I think it's different for everybody. There's some consistence that I see is that there is. There does need to be some version of prayer, and I know, like I said, it's not. It's not like a spell where you have to say the right words, but it is faithfully sitting and saying God, I am here, what do you want from me? How can I align my life towards you, which I think is more of what prayer is about.

Speaker 2: 36:06

I think that there needs to be a healthy journey of journaling and writing down. I'm always amazed when I look back at what I've written years ago as to how active God was in the middle of those parts of my life. I also think that you need to find some trusted people in your life who can give you guidance, and whether that is counseling, spiritual direction or just some trusted friends. Now, I don't think that everyone should be able to tell you the wonderful will and answers of God in your life. That's a disaster. But prayerfully, finding those people that, with wisdom, are able to help to guide you, as we've said, spending time in God's word, and then I think I love what Job even says when he talks about faith. He says God, you're too wonderful for me to know.

Speaker 2: 36:46

And so some of this is going I'm going to be okay in the gray, and that there's some days that I'm not okay in the gray. I'm not, but there are some days that I am. What are you missing out on by not living in that part of the effects of having a proper view of Jesus? What does the abundant life then look like for us? So then I'm going to ask you the question one more time, because I think that Jesus asked it of them, he asked it of us. I think that Jesus asked it of them, he asked it of us.

Speaker 2: 37:23

Who do you say that I am? We have to wrestle with that, and I think that that's been the start of going on a beautiful relationship journey with Jesus. When we establish who Jesus is, when he takes that proper place in our lives, based on what we see in scripture, based on the Holy Spirit who leads and teaches and guides and convicts us as we then put Jesus in his proper place. That comes from the Old Testament and he fulfills, and has fulfilled, everything that he said he would do. Who do you say that I am? You owe yourself an answer. You really do, and so I pray that you will experience that today, because at Northgate is that we will. Like we said last week, we are going to do the best we can in loving God and loving people. We're only able to do that first because God loved us, and we're only able to have that access to God because of the sacrificial foretold love that comes from Jesus, just as it was promised all the way from the start, and we now get to live in the fulfillment of that.

Speaker 2: 38:29

This last week I've been spending time not rewriting, like in my own words, but just writing Psalms out, and I came across in the message, which is kind of a paraphrased translation. I was rewriting Psalm 118, and I'd love to read this over you because I believe it's what is on the other side of a life full of questions and doubts and fear and faith and resting that all in the proper view of who Jesus is. So I'd love to read this over you as you stand up, because we're gonna step in and we're gonna respond to who God is and what his word has said, and we're gonna respond through song. So I would love to close our time with this, and it's Psalm 118 and it's verses 17 through 25. It says this I didn't die, I lived, and now I'm telling the world what God did. God tested me, he pushed me hard, but he didn't hand me over to death.

Speaker 2: 39:24

Swing wide the city gates, the righteous gates. I will walk right through them and, thank God, the temple gates belong to God, so the victors can enter and praise. Thank you for responding to me. You've truly become my salvation. The stone the Masons declared as flawed is now the capstone Jesus. This is God's work. We rub our eyes. We can hardly believe it. This is the very day God acted. Let's celebrate and be festive. Salvation now, god. Salvation now. Oh yes, god, a free and full life, amen.