WEBVTT - Invisible Prisons 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.479 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.160 Let's get into the scripture now, the Book of Matthew 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.599 chapter eleven, verse two and three. And as I share 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.079 this with you today, I pray that it will be 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:31.440 a very personal experience for you. Matthew chapter eleven, Versus 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.680 two and three. When John, who was in prison, heard 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:39.280 about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.920 to ask him, are you the one who is to come? 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:48.240 Or should we expect someone else? And really let's focus 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.479 on the first part of that, When John who was 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.360 in prison, You'll find my message right between those commas 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.720 in that little clause. When John and here's the phrase, 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.680 who was in prison him? Today, I'd like to speak 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.959 to you about invisible prisons. Invisible prisons, and let's pray 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.040 one more time. God, you hold the keys, you have 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.520 all authority, your sovereign, and we believe that you can 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.320 do anything. Now enable your servants to have the kind 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:16.640 of faith that will connect with Heaven, get us past 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:18.400 the point of our own perspective, and help us to 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.280 see things like you see him for a few minutes. 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:22.360 We believe that if we do, things will change in 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:26.600 our lives. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen, you may 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:37.720 be seated low ocd. My Bible was on the wrong 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:39.760 side of the thing. I have to keep it a 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.440 certain way. And you know, it's funny when you're married 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.800 to somebody, you notice all these little things about them. 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:52.240 Now listen, this is not hyperbole. Holly Ferdick is pretty 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:57.120 much the perfect wife. We don't have the perfect marriage, 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:02.280 but she's like, you know, nine point nine out of 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:06.360 ten on the way, and even look at me, Look 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.280 at me. I'm not just earning points up here trying 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:10.400 to get something started in the afternoon after I preach. 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.000 I promise you she really is. And even when we 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.880 miss each other just by that point zero zero zero 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:21.200 zero zero one, it's usually just she's even trying. And 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.640 sometimes it's just like she loves me so much and 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.840 messes things up, you know, like she she used to 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:29.760 introduce me. We would go to the different campuses and 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.160 have a campus vision night, and so we'd be like 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.200 at University City or at Riverwalk the artist formerly known 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.400 as Rock Hill, and she get up to introduce me 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.560 like she'd she'd read a scripture, greet the people, and 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.560 she would tell them, now, in a few moments, our 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:47.520 pastor is gonna come preach and let me tell you 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.960 it's going to be a good one tonight. And they 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:51.799 cheer a little bit, and she'd say, I mean, I'm 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.560 telling you he's been studying all day. I mean to 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:57.760 tell you he hadn't come out of his room. I 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:59.760 went in the room and he was on his face 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.359 on the carpet, seeking God and worshiping God. And then 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.520 he and then he on the way over, he had 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.200 a napkin out and he was writing his sermon notes 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.720 on a napkin. And he's just fired up. And I've 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.080 never seen him this fired up. And I think tonight 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:16.400 might be the best message that he's ever going to 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:20.160 preach in his life. And I'm like, shut up. This 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.639 is too much pressure, Like I cannot take the expectations. 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.080 And it's like ah, like everything she says, it's like 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.320 I can't possibly make it this good, you know, get 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.720 up and tell him I've been sick and and the 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.120 kids have been crazy, and it's just a miracle that 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:35.640 I'm here. And then, you know, I could just jump 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.240 over that. You know, I could dunk on that. Just 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.360 set the goal about five feet, I could dunk on that. 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:41.880 You know what I'm saying. She puts it up so 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:46.040 high I can't possibly reach it. It's about expectations. Marriage 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.720 is about expectations. I could I could preach a seminar 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.320 on that. Let's do another time, because it's just the 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:57.080 idea of when you don't understand someone's expectations, you can't 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:04.480 make sense of their disappointments. And faith when you get 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.920 to the essence of it is an expectation, a confident 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:14.880 assurance that a negative circumstance still holds the potential to 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.719 produce great purpose in my life. Come on, shout on that. 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.279 I'm gonna teach y'all where to shout. Y'all been coming 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.000 to church too many years to not know where the 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:27.000 shouting part is. That's the shouting part means I can 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.680 walk into something dark and light it up because of 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.719 my faith, because the light of the world lives in me. 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.120 You say, Jesus is the light of the world. Absolutely 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:40.360 he is, but guess where he lives. It's an expectation. 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.640 Faith is an expectation to know that, even if the 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.360 sequence of things doesn't make sense in my life, that God, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.080 who lives outside of time, because he is eternal, knows 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.839 the end from the beginning. So then I have to 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:57.440 trust him with element op if he is Z and A, 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.440 and if A is related to Z, because he is 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:02.919 Alpha and Omega beginning in the end, the first and 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.000 the last. My faith is an expectation that before the 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.640 movie even starts, he's already shot the closing scene. It 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:11.800 helps me to know today that I don't have to 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:13.839 live in suspense as to whether or not I will 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:15.720 see the goodness of the Lord in the land of 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:20.440 the living. Because faith is an expectation. Faith enables me 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.000 to wake up in the morning knowing that surely goodness 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.680 and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.240 And since this is one of the days of my life, 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.840 Goodness and mercy are my bodyguards, one on my right 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.159 and one on my left. You can't see them there invisible, 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.120 but if you look real close, I've got security. Tell somebody, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.640 say I got security. Goodness and mercy. The favor of 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.640 the Lord is the filter through which I view the 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.920 fights of my life. Knowing this that he who began 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.720 a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.880 Don't know when, don't know how, not even sure what 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.360 he's doing yet. But my faith gives me an expectation. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.159 Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.839 than we ask or imagine, according to his power that 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.479 works mightily in us, not according to my preference, not 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:15.880 according to my understanding or the finite finite you know, small, little, 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:19.240 puny way that I tend to come at situations. But 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:24.880 my faith is an expectation, and this expectation is contagious. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:32.760 Talk about talk about expectations. Man John, the Baptist who 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:39.679 we just read about, he was he was really, really 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:45.599 familiar with the pressure of high expectations because he was 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:51.200 a miraculous, miraculously born baby, and an angel prophesied his birth, 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:59.000 and in fact, when his mother, Elizabeth got pregnant, you know, 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.359 his father Zacho, was so shocked by it that he 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.280 told the angel it couldn't happen because they were kind 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:10.040 of old, and so his expectation, you know with age, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:11.920 one thing can happen with age. That's good. You can 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:17.520 get experience, but it can diminish expectation. Do you know 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.720 what I mean by that? I'm looking for over forty 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:29.240 because I'm not there yet. I'm familiar with this. But 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.880 John was born. Before he was born, you have to 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:38.200 understand that he was the voice that prepared the way 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:43.120 for the Lord that the entire nation was expecting to 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:48.240 deliver them from oppression. That was their expectation of the Messiah. 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.120 They looked for for hundreds of years, in centuries, so 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.720 that this generation that was alive at the time the 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.680 birth of Christ had heard the stories, the rumors, and 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.280 the rumblings about the possibility and potential of his coming 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:04.720 into the world, and this expectation from their heart was 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.800 that he would then set them free from oppression, whether 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:16.280 economic or political, or deliver them from their their circumstantial containment. 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.920 There's an expectation, and one thing you got to do 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:23.920 when you have an expectation is make sure that you 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:29.280 connect yourself with people who have a similar expectation. And 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:35.199 this is important because expectation is contagious. Say that out loud, 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:40.360 expectation is contagious. Those of you watching this message, you 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.440 didn't get to be with us in worship. I had 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.000 everybody in the church turn to each other, and I 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.280 had them check with their neighbor and make sure that 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.199 their neighbor was the right neighbor, because I don't want 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.160 them sitting next to anybody who's not expecting God to 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.119 speak today, just going to play something on their phone, 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.960 you know, candy Crush or whatever game is popular. Now, 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:04.080 play that stuff. I read my Bible in my free times. Kidding, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.040 I was kidding, read my Bible, watch YouTube in my 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.160 free time. But but I was just having them check, 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:14.679 you know, because expectation is contagious. Here's how contagious it is. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:19.120 When John the Baptist was still in Elizabeth's womb, an 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:23.560 angel appeared six months after Elizabeth got pregnant with John 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:27.040 the Baptist to Mary, who was a relative of Elizabeth. 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.640 Now you know, Mary, Mary, did you know from Christmas? 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.360 She was told that she was going to have a 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.320 baby and she hadn't had relations. And it's kind of 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.679 hard to believe a revelation that completely contradicts the circumstances 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.320 surrounding it. So the first thing that she did when 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.240 the angel left was going to the Hill country to 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.200 see her relative named Elizabeth, because the angel said, she's 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.840 also expecting. The best thing you can do when you 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.800 are expecting is to get around somebody else who's expecting. 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.640 If you get around somebody who's expecting, your expectation will rise. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.280 That's why I come to church, to be honest with you, 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:07.960 because you know what, I could watch it on my phone, 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.200 but there's something about being in an atmosphere with people 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.800 who are also expected. You know what, if you're watching 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:17.080 this message in your house, next time you watch it, 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:21.360 invite somebody over and you'll drink some coffee together and 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.840 get some expectation between the two of you, and get 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:28.080 a Bible and break out your Bible and stand up 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.080 on your feet while I'm preaching. Even if you're watching 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.440 in your kitchen, if you got somebody next to you, 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.520 grab them right now and tell them I'm expecting something, 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.240 and what I need is somebody who will help me 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.920 with this expectation, because if I don't get around somebody 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:54.160 who's expecting something. This is so real. This is so 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:59.120 real that we've got worship leaders in this church who 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:06.920 lead worship and don't even have a microphone, because when 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.840 we're pulling in today, Graham, who's eleven, said to me, 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.640 we listened to hes Ki Walker on the way to 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.240 church today, So I had, I had, I had the 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.480 car bumping on the way in the parking lot. And 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:21.960 then we moved over into Israel Hoten circa. Two thousand 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:28.959 and six, and and then we pulled by the parking team. 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:30.360 And do you know my son said to me when 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.640 we pulled by the parking team, he said, I love 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:37.000 that guy. Now this is Graham. Graham doesn't has never 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.040 even said he loved me, but he he was like, 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:48.000 I love him. You can tell he's excited. Graham never 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:52.960 said I love Chris Brown. He never said it once ever. 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.920 But that parking attendant, Graham said, he does so much 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:04.720 for our church. What could we do for him? But 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:08.400 it was a childlike faith. And I promise I'm gonna 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.960 talk about John the Baptist in a minute. But it's 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:15.920 the craziest thing that when somebody is also expecting, you know, 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.640 it created an expectation. Even in the parking lot, my 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.440 son felt something. What he felt though he didn't know, 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:26.640 it was the Holy Spirit in that man. The Holy 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.680 Spirit in that man who didn't need a microphone. He 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:35.319 had an orange baton, and he was expecting that when 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.080 you pull in my parking lot, you're pulling up on 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:52.240 the holy ground. So get ready something good. I'm expecting something. 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.920 So when Elizabeth and Mary got together, Mary said, oh, 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.959 I just got bumped. Mary said, what do you mean, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:01.959 I just got bumped? This is the new modern steam 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.720 for the translation of Bible. What do you mean you 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.400 just got bumped? She said, When you got here, the 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:13.800 baby in your womb made the baby in my womb 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:19.559 leap for joy. Now you can't see it, it's invisible. 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:24.920 But something in you, the Jesus in you, the Christ 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.160 in you. I'm gonna calm down in a minute of preach. 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:32.559 But somebody who's got a purpose on the inside, sound 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:45.640 like you're expecting the greatest days of your life. Come 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.720 on on, every campus. Let's take nineteen seconds and praise 0:13:49.800 --> 0:14:07.920 a minute. There. It's all right, it's all right. It's 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:12.000 all right to be expected, it's all right, it's all right. 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.600 It's all right to love Jesus. It's all right to 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.440 be enthusiastic. It's all right. It's all right to lift 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.200 up your eyes to the hills. And know where your 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:40.560 health comes from. Expectation is contagious, so is skepticism. Sit down, 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:50.040 we gotta modulate because a lot has happened since John 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.600 the Baptist was jumping up and down in Elizabeth's womb 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.800 as a fetus. You know what I mean? Like a 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.800 lot happens between when something gets birthed and the point 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:05.480 now where's he started his ministry. He's like, he's been 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.440 doing his job. You've been doing your job. Just remember 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:13.560 the Titans. You've been doing your job. He's been doing 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:24.040 his job. And Jesus now is really really getting He's 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:29.760 getting popular. He's blowing up, as some would say. Now 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.080 this is not before the blow up. Jesus is blowing 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:39.480 all the way up, all the way up. And John, 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:47.800 according to the text, is in prison. When John first 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.400 saw Jesus as an adult, and whether or not they 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.760 had much contact during their teenage years is not recorded 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:57.200 in scripture. But one thing we know is that when 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.720 John saw Jesus at one point when he was baptizing 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:06.160 in the Jordan River, John identified Jesus not by the 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:11.480 activities that he did, but he identified him based on 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.320 the essence of who he was, which is really important 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.440 in how we relate to God, because if we only 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:21.880 learn to identify God by what he does and what 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:27.000 he does for us, then our expectation will be attached 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:32.600 to his activity. And that's dangerous. It's very dangerous to have. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.680 It's very dangerous to have a low expectation of God. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:37.720 Then you just live the life at the level of 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.960 your disappointments and then wonder why everything turns out exactly 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:42.520 the way you imagined it to turn out because you 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.680 didn't have any faith for anything else. It's a self 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:49.480 fulfilling prophecy. But it's also very dangerous, isn't it, to 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:54.120 have an expectation of God that is not congruent with 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:58.160 his character. And this is where it gets difficult for us, 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:03.240 because and babies in the womb is one thing. But 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:08.639 now when John who was in prison, not in prison 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.760 for a meth laugh, not in prison because you know, 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:17.639 not in prison for a domestic disturbance, in prison for 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:22.840 standing up to a wicked king herod and because he 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.359 wouldn't say what was expected of him to be said, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.800 because he was a prophet and he didn't operate like 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.199 that and he was kind of rough, y'all. John the 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.760 Baptist was if he had a Twitter account, it would 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.560 definitely it would definitely need to be suspended. He would 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.040 definitely be deplatformed in this day. In this PC day, 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.600 John the Baptist would not have much of an audience, 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.160 but he was very popular in his time until Jesus came. 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.240 And when Jesus came, he said, look, Lamb of God 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.280 takes away his sins the world. Don't follow me, follow 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.440 him John three thirty. He must become greater. I must 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.840 become less. Follow him, not me. Whole reason i'm here 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:58.960 is point to him. Here he is, y'all go with him. 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.040 I'm gonna do my thing prepared the way. I'm just 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.159 a voice. I'm not the one. I'm just a voice 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:04.960 pointing to the one. So I know my place. So 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.600 I'm gonna fall back now so he can do what 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.040 he came to do, and what he came to do 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:14.360 watch this was to judge the unwickedness and to bring 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.040 the people to repentance. That was John's favorite message. He 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.960 loved that word repent. He just preached it all the time, 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.560 and when they would come out to be baptized by him, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.840 he would call him names. He one time called the 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:34.560 Pharisees a brute of vipers. I thought that would be 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:40.199 an interesting way to welcome the campuses one weekend. And 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:44.159 yet there was a prophetic power to his ministry that 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:48.159 people were attracted to because he would say things that 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.000 were true, whether they wanted them to be true or not. 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:54.439 And yet that same spirit. And I really want to 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.439 isolate this. I didn't do it last night, but I 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.800 was thinking the same thing that made him so great 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.239 got him in trouble, the same thing that made him 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.000 able to just take a stand. And I'm not moving. 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:08.600 And this is how it's gonna be. Repent, Repent, repent. 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:10.119 Let me show you one example. Can I show you 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:12.720 one example of what his message was. So he's out 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.919 baptizing at the Jordan. He baptized Jesus. He said, uh, 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.680 I'm not worthy to untie your thong of your sandaljes said, 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.040 we got to do it to fulfill all righteousness. It's proper, 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.440 it's appropriate. Stop thinking about how you think it needs 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:27.199 to be, and I'm telling you how it needs to be. 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.680 You're just the voice. You're not You're not the message. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.040 You're just the voice. Again, You're not the message. You're 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.560 just the voice. One more time. You're not the message, 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.600 You're just the voice. And so he baptized Jesus in obedience, 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:42.840 even though it didn't make sense. And now watch this. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.639 This is something that he said that shows us what 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:50.240 his expectation was. And if you don't understand his expectation, 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.840 you can't make sense of his disappointment. This was his 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:59.439 expectation of the Messiah. This was his expectation of the 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.720 one that he gave away his ministry to. This was 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:06.720 his expectation of the Lamb of God, who takes away 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.560 the sin of the world and is found in Matthew 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.480 chapter three. Watch this, he's talking to the crowds. I 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:18.480 baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:23.480 one who is more powerful than I, who sandals I 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.000 am not worthy to carry. He'll baptize you with the 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:32.240 Holy Spirit and fire. Watch this verse twelve. His winnowing 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.960 fork is in hand. Ooh, that's what you used to 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.680 get the chaff owl the wickedness. You winnow it out, 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:42.560 and you separate the sheep from the goats, the good 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:46.840 from the bad, the righteous from the wicked. He's got 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.879 his winnowing fork. He's here now, and it's about to 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:52.760 go down. It's about to get good. The Lamb of 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.520 God is here, and he's got his winnowing fork in 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:59.359 his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.480 his wheat to the barn and burning up the chaff 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:06.080 with unquenchable fire. It's about to be fire. The Son 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:08.600 of God is here. It's about to be fire. He's 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.280 got a fork and he's about to start a fire. 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:13.679 And he's burning up all y'all that don't want to 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.080 do it, and get right and get left, and you know, 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.119 all this stuff he had John the Baptist had a 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:20.520 church sign. It would have all those things about hell 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.240 on it, you know, about the fire and the wicked 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.880 and the righteous and turn or burn, and you know, 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.439 and he's got his fork in one hand. Now watch this. 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:35.960 He's in prison now. He's in prison now, and something 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.320 is making him doubt what he was so sure about 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:44.040 from the time even before he was born, what he 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:50.879 knew before he was even born, he's now doubting in 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:58.679 this prison. Sends messengers one hundred miles on foot just 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:04.640 to ask Jesus one question. And I get it, because 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:08.679 you know, we're supposed to be partners. And here I 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:12.080 am in prison, and all I keep seeing is you 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:17.240 healing people, blessing people. All I see, all I keep 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.720 seeing is the reports of how awesome it's going for you. 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.560 But I stood up to a king and I'm here 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:27.600 in prison, And here's what he's wondering. Did you catch it? 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:31.280 In the verse? He said, are you the one? Or 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:36.280 should we expect someone else? In other words? Is it 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:43.240 always gonna be like this? In other words, I thought 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:51.080 I thought I thought you were gonna Have you ever 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.960 thought God was gonna where'd y'all go? Y'all were fired 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.240 up when we had a little praise moment and all that. 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:05.159 Have you ever thought God was gonna you? Have you 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:07.720 ever wondered? Because John the Baptist is just wondering. He's 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:11.800 just wondering. He's not denying Jesus. He's not. He's not. 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.280 He's not turning away from the sovereign Lord who bought him. 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:19.160 He's not. He's he's he's not contradicting what he said 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:26.199 to begin with. He's just thinking, now, maybe God isn't 0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:30.840 what I thought he was. Maybe the one that I 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:35.640 trusted in, maybe I trusted in the wrong one. Now 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:37.800 You don't say it like that, because if you said 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:40.320 it like that, you would be scared. God would hit 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:43.680 you with the lightning bolt. But you just send messengers. 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:48.080 You don't say it like that directly, but indirectly. Somebody 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:51.040 came in here wondering, and you don't talk about this. 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:55.119 You're you're wondering. You know, God made some promises and 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:57.840 and here's the here's the interesting thing about it. A 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:03.040 lot of times our entire faith journey is sabotaged because 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:08.160 of our expectation of salvation when it gets started. And 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:11.240 I'm not sure that as preachers we've been very responsible 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:14.200 about it, because a lot of times we will preach 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:17.919 that salvation from your sin is a one time event. 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:22.639 In fact, it is you will never pay the penalty 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:25.760 of your sin. Jesus is the lamb of God. This 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:28.960 is what John knuw who takes away the sin of 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:33.159 the world. But the power of sin is very different 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:36.359 than the penalty of sin, and the patterns of sin 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:39.800 are very different than the penalty of sin. So when 0:24:39.800 --> 0:24:42.600 we preach that you've been forgiven of your sin, you 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:45.439 are set free from the penalty of your sin. But 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.560 if the pattern of your sin has been ingrained, not 0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:51.600 only just throughout your lifetime, but some of it is 0:24:51.640 --> 0:24:55.360 even generational, and some addictions that you are fighting against, 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:58.800 you know, the invisible prisons that you live in, the 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:01.600 things that you do over a over again. I was 0:25:01.640 --> 0:25:05.639 thinking about how some of us are in invisible prisons today, 0:25:05.960 --> 0:25:09.280 even as we try to appear free to people. There 0:25:10.160 --> 0:25:14.480 is a spiritual depression on so many, so many thousands 0:25:14.480 --> 0:25:17.360 that I will preach to this weekend, and nobody can 0:25:17.400 --> 0:25:20.720 see it because we paint the walls with a smile, 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:24.440 but we live behind bars on the inside. It's an 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:29.280 invisible prison. It's ways of thinking and reasoning and fearing. 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:37.760 Because when I realized John was in two different prisons 0:25:37.800 --> 0:25:40.280 at the same time, it clarified the text for me. 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:43.880 One was the one that herod Antipus put him in 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:47.800 for saying what he didn't want to hear. But the 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:55.080