Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 2: Enjoy the message. One thing I want to point out
Speaker 2: to you that you may not be aware of. We
Speaker 2: typically group our messages a different series, and I decided
Speaker 2: to preach a series called Savage Jesus. Why I did
Speaker 2: it is because I'm tired of us pretending like Jesus
Speaker 2: is safe. And one reason I wanted to use the
Speaker 2: term savage Jesus is because.
Speaker 1: I knew that religious people wouldn't like it.
Speaker 2: We typically like our heroes sath and we typically like
Speaker 2: them better after they're dead. You notice this sometimes, don't you?
Speaker 2: That the way that we present our heroes is that
Speaker 2: we prefer a certain version of them that is safe,
Speaker 2: that doesn't offend us. And one of the things that
Speaker 2: I hope about doctor Graham's legacy is that he is
Speaker 2: not just remembered for only the amazing invitations that he gave,
Speaker 2: but for the barriers that he broke down.
Speaker 1: It's good that we take a little time.
Speaker 2: This week to share some of his quotes about heaven.
Speaker 2: But what he did here on earth in bringing Heaven
Speaker 2: to earth and driving back darkness, I mean doctor Graham,
Speaker 2: doctor Demas.
Speaker 1: Was a savage in his own way.
Speaker 2: What he did in Chattanooga, Tennessee in nineteen fifty three,
Speaker 2: that was the most savage thing I ever read about,
Speaker 2: where he tore down the barriers that they had set
Speaker 2: up to keep black people separated from white people at
Speaker 2: his crusade and looked at two white ushers and said,
Speaker 2: you can either leave those down or have the crusade
Speaker 2: without me.
Speaker 1: That's pretty savage.
Speaker 2: I kind of like that version of doctor Graham, not
Speaker 2: just you know, my wife and I often talk about this,
Speaker 2: how for us growing up, Ray Charles was the pepsi
Speaker 2: guy because we came into his legacy at a time
Speaker 2: when he was older, and that's what we knew him as,
Speaker 2: and we disregarded You see this happen every year on
Speaker 2: the day that we celebrate doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
Speaker 2: You see the same three quotes. I've decided to stick
Speaker 2: with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
Speaker 2: The same three quotes I've been to the mountain, same
Speaker 2: three quotes I've had. But doctor King did a whole
Speaker 2: lot more than go to the mountain and have a dream.
Speaker 2: He went to prison, he suffered not only the scorn
Speaker 2: of those that he was trying to fight against, but
Speaker 2: those he was fighting for. And so when you forget that,
Speaker 2: when you sanitize some body down to the point that
Speaker 2: you try to make them almost like we make them
Speaker 2: a mascot. You ever see those little toys where you
Speaker 2: pull the string and they have a few sayings that
Speaker 2: they say, and there's like five.
Speaker 1: Things that they say.
Speaker 2: I'm afraid we've done that with Jesus. I'm afraid that
Speaker 2: we've got it down to the point now where we
Speaker 2: have a few things that Jesus said, you know, love
Speaker 2: people and turn the other cheek, and you know a
Speaker 2: few little things images of Jesus. Shepherd Jesus with a
Speaker 2: pull string and he says nice comforting things. This little
Speaker 2: little Jesus that we put on the shelf, and he
Speaker 2: says the things that we want to hear. You even
Speaker 2: hear people sometimes they'll say, well, that doesn't sound very
Speaker 2: much like Jesus. Did you ever read some of the
Speaker 2: things that Jesus really said. Jesus was more than free
Speaker 2: hugs and warm feelings.
Speaker 1: Jesus was Are you ready a savage? Gee?
Speaker 2: Jesus walked in church one day. The poor people were
Speaker 2: being exploited by being sold sacrifices at a marked up price,
Speaker 2: and they could.
Speaker 1: Not afford them, and so they were excluded.
Speaker 2: From worship because the temple had become more about profit
Speaker 2: and power than it had about the presence of God.
Speaker 1: Do you know what Jesus did. He prayed about it.
Speaker 2: Oh oh oh, he posted on Pinterest about it. This
Speaker 2: is not Pinterest, Jesus. This Jesus started kicking over tables.
Speaker 2: He ripped out the ATM machines.
Speaker 1: He drove out the tax collectors with the whip. Put
Speaker 1: that on Pinterest.
Speaker 2: Well to you, pharisees, blind guys, strain out a NAT's
Speaker 2: swallow a camel. You're of your father, the devil. I
Speaker 2: never saw that on a coffee. You are of your father.
Speaker 2: I am the way, the truth in the life. We
Speaker 2: like that Jesus. Jesus was a savage. He answered them
Speaker 2: not a word, because he was the word. He got
Speaker 2: so mad at death that he decided to overturn it.
Speaker 2: He got so cramped in his grave that after the
Speaker 2: price had been paid, after he had done what needed
Speaker 2: to be done, watch how savage he kicked the end
Speaker 2: off of a borrowed grave. Why borrowed. He wasn't gonna
Speaker 2: be there long. He was a savage when he got up,
Speaker 2: I got to show you one thing, and I shall
Speaker 2: save this for Easter. But the Bible says that he
Speaker 2: folded the linen they had wrapped him in. He was
Speaker 2: so savage that he folded it, because when you fold
Speaker 2: a linen at a meal, it means I will be
Speaker 2: back when he comes back. He's not coming back like
Speaker 2: a lamb. He is the lion of the trial Judah,
Speaker 2: and I feel his presence in this place.
Speaker 1: So let's get started.
Speaker 2: In the series, Mark, chapter one, verse one.
Speaker 1: Through fifteen records these words the.
Speaker 2: Beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Speaker 2: It is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will send
Speaker 2: my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way,
Speaker 2: A voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the
Speaker 2: way for the Lord, Make straight paths for him. Interesting
Speaker 2: that Mark does not start with the birth of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: I wonder if he does that so that we will
Speaker 2: not be so attached to our image of him as
Speaker 2: a baby. Do you remember that movie with the race
Speaker 2: car driver, And do you remember he said, I like
Speaker 2: the baby Jesus the best a lot of us. Do
Speaker 2: we worship a certain version of Jesus? That is said, well,
Speaker 2: Mark isn't going to give us that portrait of Jesus.
Speaker 2: And it's correctly called a portrait. Because scholars say that
Speaker 2: Mark's gospel is not only the oldest gospel from which
Speaker 2: the other gospel writers would take the base information and
Speaker 2: add their own commentary. But one of the things about
Speaker 2: Mark's gospel that we will notice, because I plan to
Speaker 2: host our entire study from this gospel account, is that
Speaker 2: he wrote in terms of action, and you don't get
Speaker 2: in this gospel a lot of the commentary about what
Speaker 2: Jesus actually taught. You get more of a picture. The
Speaker 2: scholar that I studied said that Mark writes with a
Speaker 2: paint brush. He would rather show you than tell you,
Speaker 2: because the highest level of proclamation of the gospel is demonstration,
Speaker 2: not explanation.
Speaker 1: Some people can explain.
Speaker 2: To you all about propitiation and atonement, but there's so
Speaker 2: mean to their wife, that why I wanted Jesus. That
Speaker 2: can't keep you from treating your family like crack. And
Speaker 2: so Mark is going to show us portraits of Jesus.
Speaker 2: We will be looking at least five or six in
Speaker 2: this series. But he starts it off and he goes
Speaker 2: to this scene in verse four, And so John came.
Speaker 2: And so John came baptizing in the desert region and
Speaker 2: preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
Speaker 2: and the whole Judean countryside, and all the people of
Speaker 2: Jerusalem went out to him, confessing their sins. They were
Speaker 2: baptized by him in the Jordan River. John was a savage.
Speaker 2: He wore clothing made of camels hair, with a leather
Speaker 2: belt around his waist, and he ate locust and wild
Speaker 2: gluten loaded honey. And this was his message. After me
Speaker 2: will come one more powerful than I. After me, will
Speaker 2: come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose
Speaker 2: sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and Untie,
Speaker 2: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you
Speaker 2: with the Holy Spirit. At that time, Jesus came from
Speaker 2: Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Speaker 2: As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he
Speaker 2: saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on
Speaker 2: him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven.
Speaker 1: You are my son, whom I love. With you, I
Speaker 1: am well pleased.
Speaker 2: At once the spirit sent him out into the desert,
Speaker 2: and he was in the desert forty days being tempted
Speaker 2: by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels
Speaker 2: attended him. After John was put in prison, Jesus went
Speaker 2: into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. The time
Speaker 2: has come, he said, the Kingdom of God is near
Speaker 2: pent and believe.
Speaker 1: The good news.
Speaker 2: I want to use as a construct for this first message,
Speaker 2: before and after, before and after, the way that I
Speaker 2: study scriptures.
Speaker 1: I was telling him Buck the other day. I don't
Speaker 1: know if he was listening, but I was trying to
Speaker 1: explain to him between.
Speaker 2: Sets, how I look for little words and commonalities in
Speaker 2: a text. And that's a great way for you to
Speaker 2: study the scripture as well. To observe patterns in the scripture.
Speaker 2: It help you know what to pay attention to. And
Speaker 2: I was noticing in this passage of scripture. In verse four,
Speaker 2: it says John came. In verse seven, it says after me,
Speaker 2: one will come. In verse nine, it says that Jesus came.
Speaker 2: And in verse eleven it says a voice came. In
Speaker 2: Verse thirteen, it says that the angels came. So John came,
Speaker 2: one will come, Jesus came, avoid angels came.
Speaker 1: I guess you could see.
Speaker 2: We're getting a picture here of Jesus Christ on the
Speaker 2: come up. And we start with this very powerful statement
Speaker 2: of validation where the Father says, you are my son
Speaker 2: whom I love with you, I am well please. But
Speaker 2: before that validation happened, there is a preparation that is mentioned.
Speaker 1: I think preparation is.
Speaker 2: So important, and obviously so does God, because when he
Speaker 2: sent his son into the world, before he performed any miracles.
Speaker 1: Before he.
Speaker 2: Raised any dead people, before he opened any blinded eyes,
Speaker 2: he went through the waters of baptism, and before he
Speaker 2: went through the waters of baptism, this man called John,
Speaker 2: who was an unlikely looking preacher who did not fit
Speaker 2: the stereotype of how a clergyman should dress, was preparing
Speaker 2: the way the Lord I broke in this introductory message
Speaker 2: into four sections the first one is called preparation. Preparation
Speaker 2: and prepare the way for the Lord. And so John
Speaker 2: came to prepare the way for Jesus. And Jesus came
Speaker 2: verse nine from Nazareth. And Mark said, this is the
Speaker 2: beginning of the Gospel. But it was not the beginning
Speaker 2: of the life of Christ. The life of Christ in
Speaker 2: its early years took place primarily in Nazareth. When I
Speaker 2: say Nazareth, it means nothing to you other than that
Speaker 2: you associate it, perhaps with Jesus, and it meant next
Speaker 2: to nothing to the people in Jesus' day. In fact,
Speaker 2: Nazareth was the kind of place. Now, I grew up
Speaker 2: in a place that is famous for its culture and
Speaker 2: its impact. I grew up in Monk's Corner. But some
Speaker 2: of you grew up in places like Nazareth. Nazareth was
Speaker 2: a no name place for no name people. So when
Speaker 2: the Bible says that Jesus came from Nazareth, it means
Speaker 2: that the Son of God and the Savior of the
Speaker 2: world came from.
Speaker 1: An unexpected place.
Speaker 2: John, the Baptists, who many scholars associate with the tribe
Speaker 2: of the Essenes, was preparing the way in the wilderness,
Speaker 2: and Jesus was coming up in Nazareth. Perhaps you've heard
Speaker 2: that he was a carpenter. I think it must have
Speaker 2: been a real trip to be making wood out of the.
Speaker 1: Trees that you spoke into existence.
Speaker 2: Have you ever thought about what it would be like
Speaker 2: to make a table out of a tree that you
Speaker 2: put in the ground. You know, the Bible says in
Speaker 2: Colossians that all things were created and are sustained by
Speaker 2: the power of his word. Yet Jesus meant the first
Speaker 2: thirty in obscurity in Nazareth. Hey, they had us saying,
Speaker 2: where you're from Valdosta, Valdosta State.
Speaker 1: They had a saying about Nazareth.
Speaker 2: They would say, can anything good come from Nazareth? They
Speaker 2: said that about Jesus because the authority that he spoke
Speaker 2: with did not match the background that he came from,
Speaker 2: and the works that he would do so outstrip the
Speaker 2: expectations of the people. He taught with authority and not
Speaker 2: as one of their teachers of the law. They had
Speaker 2: us saying, can anything good come from Nazareth? That no
Speaker 2: name place for no name people, that place that we.
Speaker 1: Don't plan our vacations to.
Speaker 2: Jesus came from Nazareth, not from Jerusalem. It would have
Speaker 2: made sense for him to come from Jerusalem, the center
Speaker 2: of the temple call.
Speaker 1: It would have made sense for him to come from
Speaker 1: perhaps a.
Speaker 2: Place in the Roman Empire that was more empirically important.
Speaker 1: But Jesus came from Nazareth.
Speaker 2: He came from Nazareth, and the people wanted to know
Speaker 2: can anything good come from Nazareth? But it was his
Speaker 2: place of preparation. And when God has a great purpose
Speaker 2: for your life, he will often involve a season of obscurity.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest about it.
Speaker 2: In the beginning was the Word, and the word was
Speaker 2: with God, and the.
Speaker 1: Word was God.
Speaker 2: It's not like Jesus needed to learn what he already was.
Speaker 2: But even Jesus went through a season of obscurity before
Speaker 2: he fulfilled his purpose. And some of you are in
Speaker 2: Nazareth right now, and you're wondering the same thing that
Speaker 2: the people wondering about Jesus. Can anything good come from Nazareth?
Speaker 2: Can anything good come from singleness? Can anything good come
Speaker 2: from losing my job? Can anything good come from cancer?
Speaker 2: Can anything good come from middle school? Can anything good
Speaker 2: come from a broken heart? Can anything good come from depression?
Speaker 1: Can anything good come from divorce?
Speaker 2: But I love him because he takes the most unlikely
Speaker 2: places and fulfills the greatest purpose.
Speaker 1: How need you do to shout right now?
Speaker 2: If you've ever been in Nasareth wondering God, what am
Speaker 2: I doing here?
Speaker 1: Jesus came from Nasareth.
Speaker 2: Great things come from small places, New beginnings come from
Speaker 2: dead ends. Jesus came from Nazareth. It was his place
Speaker 2: of preparation. Preparation is kind of the opposite of the
Speaker 2: primary value of our day.
Speaker 1: We live in the age of instant validation.
Speaker 2: Instead of thinking an issue through, we post it immediately
Speaker 2: to see if we can get someone to agree or
Speaker 2: disagree with us, just because we want attention.
Speaker 1: See how quite gets when I preach real good.
Speaker 2: Just see how they were shouting like forty seven seconds ago.
Speaker 1: Did you see how quickly all the shouts.
Speaker 2: Dissipated from the room, just because I told you the truth.
Speaker 1: There is nothing off limits.
Speaker 2: We will stage our kids instead of raising them, We're
Speaker 2: staging them for the.
Speaker 1: Approval of people.
Speaker 2: Stand here, shut up, smile, Stand here, shut up, smile
Speaker 2: Because I yelled at you all day. But if I
Speaker 2: can post something that made it look like we had
Speaker 2: a good day. Maybe somebody will tell me I'm a
Speaker 2: good mom.
Speaker 1: If it's too much, come give me chunks. I don't
Speaker 1: want to tear the church apart on the first week
Speaker 1: of the series. I was planning to do like six weeks,
Speaker 1: but I don't know if we're gonna survive. The first
Speaker 1: Jesus came from Nazareth and he was baptized John. That
Speaker 1: confused me at first.
Speaker 2: And so if you're reading this and you're like, I
Speaker 2: don't read the Bible much, but that's kind of weird.
Speaker 2: Don't you get baptized because you need to be forgiven
Speaker 2: of your sin?
Speaker 1: And isn't Jesus the one who didn't have any sin?
Speaker 1: That's what John thought.
Speaker 2: John was surprised when Jesus came to be baptized, because
Speaker 2: you know, he's lining them up and he's dunking them,
Speaker 2: and John did not. John's baptism was not like ours,
Speaker 2: you know how our baptism we let you read something
Speaker 2: and share something. John was such a savage one time
Speaker 2: he looked at the crowd and said, who told you
Speaker 2: to come out here?
Speaker 1: You brew the viperse?
Speaker 2: What if when you got in the tank, let's go
Speaker 2: to Gaston for a baptism. Can you imagine Kid Hester
Speaker 2: telling that big boy that was in the tank today.
Speaker 1: I was so nervous Ken was gonna drop him.
Speaker 2: Imagine if he called him a snake before he talked
Speaker 2: to him. And John's baptism was a baptism of repentance.
Speaker 2: He was fighting against the oppression of the system that
Speaker 2: had made principles more important than people, and so was
Speaker 2: he was rebuking really the leaders. And he'd say, you snakes, repent,
Speaker 2: you snakes, repent, you snakes, repent. He turns around and
Speaker 2: there's the savior of the world. You Savior of the world.
Speaker 2: I should baptize you. I was just telling them I'm
Speaker 2: not fit.
Speaker 1: To tie your shoes. This isn't right.
Speaker 2: But Jesus says something, and Mark doesn't give it to us,
Speaker 2: because probably I really believe this hold on I'm ocd in.
Speaker 1: This thing's crooked.
Speaker 2: Probably Mark was writing his recollections not based on his
Speaker 2: own personal experience. We don't even historically know who who
Speaker 2: Mark was with one hundred percent accuracy, but we have
Speaker 2: reason to believe that these recollections were based on the
Speaker 2: memory of Peter Peter, who tried so hard to keep
Speaker 2: Jesus from the Cross Peter, who had an expectation of
Speaker 2: an earthly kingdom that would overthrow Rome. And it really
Speaker 2: matches the style of Peter that Mark's gospel would include
Speaker 2: very little detail. Is just really one thing after another
Speaker 2: after another. His favorite word that Mark uses, and you'll
Speaker 2: see it over and over again when you come back
Speaker 2: to church.
Speaker 1: Every week of this series.
Speaker 2: Is immediately or suddenly, and it's just Jesus is on
Speaker 2: the move.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: The thing about it was that for half of Mark's gospel,
Speaker 2: Jesus is on the move through Galilee where he did
Speaker 2: his ministry. The other half he's headed to the Cross,
Speaker 2: the place he came for all along. Peter did not
Speaker 2: understand that before, but he did after. And there's a
Speaker 2: breathlessness of this god gospel that comes across because Jesus
Speaker 2: is headed to the cross, headed to his purpose, headed
Speaker 2: to redemption, which makes possible reconciliation, and he has no
Speaker 2: time to waste. So we will forgive Mark if he
Speaker 2: leaves out a lot of the details. He just tells
Speaker 2: us that Jesus came and was baptized, But Matthew tells
Speaker 2: us because there are four gospel accounts that Jesus told
Speaker 2: John the reason that he did it. He said, this
Speaker 2: must be done to fulfill all righteousness.
Speaker 1: In other words, it was an act of obedience.
Speaker 2: And if there's any word that might be more unpopular
Speaker 2: than preparation in our culture, it's obedience. Nobody tells me
Speaker 2: what to do. I pray to Jesus during football games.
Speaker 2: Nobody tells me what to do.
Speaker 1: Jesus power than his submission to the will of his father.
Speaker 1: He said, I've got to do this in obedience.
Speaker 2: John said it doesn't make sense, and Jesus said, it
Speaker 2: doesn't have to make sense. It is written, and therefore
Speaker 2: it must be accomplished. And so John doesn't argue with
Speaker 2: him about it. He just does it. And when he
Speaker 2: does it, the Bible says that a dove came from
Speaker 2: heaven descended on him. The dove is often used to
Speaker 2: symbolize peace. Here, it is a symbolic indication of the
Speaker 2: presence of the Holy Spirit and God validates the sonship
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ. This is different than the transfiguration Holly.
Speaker 2: In the Transfiguration, which happens many chapters later, he will say,
Speaker 2: this is my son whom I love. Listen to him here.
Speaker 2: It's personal. He says, you are my son whom I love.
Speaker 1: With you, I am well pleased.
Speaker 2: It is a direct validation of Jesus' ministry, and it
Speaker 2: came after Jesus' obedience. I'm afraid that a lot of
Speaker 2: times we want validation before obedience. But validation does not
Speaker 2: come before obedience.
Speaker 1: It comes say the word.
Speaker 2: This is a message of before and after. Now, notice
Speaker 2: what hasn't happened yet. At the moment that God the
Speaker 2: Father validates his son, Jesus has not opened the first
Speaker 2: blinded eye. Jesus has not healed anybody of leprosy or
Speaker 2: cleansed them of their condition. Jesus has not caused any
Speaker 2: lame people to walk.
Speaker 1: Not at this point.
Speaker 2: Jesus has not even taught the crowds in a way
Speaker 2: that would captivate them to the point that they would
Speaker 2: stay and skip dinner just to hear what this man
Speaker 2: has to say. Jesus has not packed out the house
Speaker 2: to the point that some men will tear off a
Speaker 2: roof to get their friend.
Speaker 1: In so he can be healed. He has done none
Speaker 1: of that yet.
Speaker 2: And before he ever performs his first miracle, the heavenly
Speaker 2: Father speaks a word a validation, and maybe you need
Speaker 2: to hear that God's love for you is never based
Speaker 2: on your performance before he ever did anything. It's kind
Speaker 2: of like he got the trophy before he even showed
Speaker 2: up for practice.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like God does not validate.
Speaker 2: How people validate, because people will validate you based on
Speaker 2: what you do for them. People will validate you based
Speaker 2: on the value that your actions carry that will contribute
Speaker 2: directly to their well being. But God does not validate
Speaker 2: based on performance. He validates based on relationship. He did
Speaker 2: not v validate what Jesus would do. He validated who
Speaker 2: he was. And just in case you haven't heard it
Speaker 2: in a while, and you feel kind of dirty and
Speaker 2: kind of ashamed of yourself and kind of like you
Speaker 2: don't belong in the presence of God and like you're
Speaker 2: not one of those good church people. I want you
Speaker 2: to know you're still his child, You're still made in
Speaker 2: his image, You're still blood with his blood. Every drop
Speaker 2: he's spilled was on purpose, and one of those drops
Speaker 2: had your name on it.
Speaker 1: And if the blood was enough for me, it was
Speaker 1: enough for you.
Speaker 2: And you don't have to stand here ashamed and look
Speaker 2: forward to one day when God will never love you anymore,
Speaker 2: that he loves you right now.
Speaker 1: I set You're free right now, loved right now, cleansed,
Speaker 1: right now, healed, right now. Somebody shout, I.
Speaker 2: Am I am his child, I am accepted. Jesus did
Speaker 2: not perform his ministry for acceptance.
Speaker 1: That's why he.
Speaker 2: Didn't care what anybody thought about it. When you know
Speaker 2: somebody more important approves of you, it makes the opinions
Speaker 2: of people a whole lot less significant, isn't that true?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't care. This sounds bad, this
Speaker 2: sounds unpastoral, But.
Speaker 1: I don't care as much what you think about this sermon.
Speaker 1: I care. I will check Facebook, Instagram.
Speaker 2: But before that, before ever, I said, before I'll walk
Speaker 2: off the stage, Holly will meet me and I look
Speaker 2: at her and she'll be like you slated.
Speaker 1: When she says.
Speaker 2: That, that will matter a little bit more, a little
Speaker 2: bit more because she lives with me. And if the
Speaker 2: person who knows me the best here's what I have
Speaker 2: to say and feels like it was aligned with the
Speaker 2: character of my life, I.
Speaker 1: Don't need the Graham.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: I think this is important.
Speaker 2: I think it's so important that we receive the validation
Speaker 2: of God each day, or we will need from people
Speaker 2: what they are not capable of giving us. How are
Speaker 2: they going to accept you unconditionally? They don't even like
Speaker 2: themselves some of the time. And a voice came, and
Speaker 2: a voice came. John came. That's preparation. A voice came,
Speaker 2: that's validation. But notice when he came, when he when
Speaker 2: the voice spoke, church, pay did you just little stuff
Speaker 2: in the Bible?
Speaker 1: Don't just read seventy seven verses I'm getting coffee and
Speaker 1: then post about it and post about it. Read it?
Speaker 2: Do read it. It came before he performed any miracles.
Speaker 2: It was not contingent upon his performance, and it came
Speaker 2: after his obedience.
Speaker 1: At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth.
Speaker 2: The galley was baptized by John and the Jordan check
Speaker 2: it out first in his first in on the screen.
Speaker 1: Is it on there?
Speaker 2: As he was coming up? That means, as he was
Speaker 2: doing what he was supposed to do. As he was
Speaker 2: coming up, he saw heaven torn open? Is that what
Speaker 2: it says? My eyes are closed and depending on you
Speaker 2: to validate the heavens torn open? And the voice spoke,
Speaker 2: so he saw vision and he heard a voice, but
Speaker 2: he didn't see it until he was on the way up.
Speaker 2: So it meant that he went all the way out
Speaker 2: to the Jordan, got in the water, went down, and
Speaker 2: on the way up, God said, I'm proud of you.
Speaker 2: And when he came up noticed this. The synergy of
Speaker 2: the text is this, when he came up, the dove
Speaker 2: came down. When he came up to fulfill that which
Speaker 2: was spoken of, that which was prophesied about him in
Speaker 2: obedience when he came up.
Speaker 1: Now here's where a lot of us get it twisted.
Speaker 2: We want the dove to come down before we get
Speaker 2: into the waters of obedience. We want God to give
Speaker 2: us peace about a decision that.
Speaker 1: We know we need to make.
Speaker 2: But I found out that peace comes after obedience. So
Speaker 2: when Jesus went down into the waters, which signified his death,
Speaker 2: and came back up, which signified his resurrection, it was
Speaker 2: on the way up. It was as he was doing
Speaker 2: the will of his father. It was as he was
Speaker 2: in the process of fulfilling the purpose that he was
Speaker 2: put on the earth for that he saw the heavens
Speaker 2: open and he heard the voice of God saying, this
Speaker 2: is my son, and the dove came down, But the
Speaker 2: dove didn't come down until Jesus came up.
Speaker 1: And you know what, You are not going to get
Speaker 1: the peace of.
Speaker 2: God in your situation until you commit yourself to obey
Speaker 2: what he's speaking to your heart. Peace comes after obedience.
Speaker 2: And if you don't have the peace of God in
Speaker 2: your situation, God's peace might be awaiting your obedience. But
Speaker 2: we want to experience before what we can only experience after,
Speaker 2: So we put stuff off.
Speaker 1: You note like, well, I'll do it when I feel
Speaker 1: a peace about it. That's a Christian thing. Only Christians
Speaker 1: talk like that.
Speaker 2: People who don't have this religious jargon to throw around
Speaker 2: to cover up their lack of decisiveness have to either
Speaker 2: do it or don't.
Speaker 1: But we wait for a peace. I was just reading
Speaker 1: that text over and over.
Speaker 2: And as he was coming up, the dove didn't follow
Speaker 2: him down to the water. Come on, Jesus, you got this.
Speaker 2: Come on, this is the right thing to do. I
Speaker 2: promise you, I promise you. The dove did not make
Speaker 2: its appearance until Jesus was already wet.
Speaker 1: Until you die to yourself and go down in the water.
Speaker 1: And as he was coming up, came down.
Speaker 2: So I had to do something the other day, and
Speaker 2: I didn't want to do it in my flesh, in
Speaker 2: my spirit, I am reborn, and I told somebody I
Speaker 2: was gonna do it, and they said, oh, do you
Speaker 2: have a peace about it?
Speaker 1: I guess you have a peace about it.
Speaker 2: I said no, That's why I'm doing it because I
Speaker 2: want peace and I don't have peace. And I have
Speaker 2: spent the last several months waiting for peace that only
Speaker 2: obedience can produce. Now, the love of God did not
Speaker 2: come because Jesus obeyed, but the peace of God, the dove,
Speaker 2: the validation came as he obeyed. I said, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do what I need to do.
Speaker 1: And the peace will follow.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna do what doesn't make sense and the peace
Speaker 2: will follow.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna join an e group at Elevation Church.
Speaker 2: I thought my leaders would shout and the peace will follow.
Speaker 2: But the peace came after the obedience. Peace comes after obedience.
Speaker 2: Peace comes after obedience. It's my whole message, and so
Speaker 2: I'm repeating it in case you think this.
Speaker 1: Is a sub point, it is not.
Speaker 2: Everything up until now was just to tell you this
Speaker 2: Lake Norman, peace comes after obedience. Jesus went down Jesus
Speaker 2: came up. As he's coming up, the doth comes down.
Speaker 2: The voice from heaven speaks, and the validation of Jesus
Speaker 2: Christ came.
Speaker 1: After his obedience.
Speaker 2: Stop waiting to feel like it, Stop waiting for people
Speaker 2: to understand it. Stop waiting until everything gets just right.
Speaker 2: This is the day that the Lord has made. I
Speaker 2: will rejoice today. If you hear his voice, do not
Speaker 2: hearden your heart, and then the peace of God, which
Speaker 2: passes all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind.
Speaker 2: In Christ Jesus and peace. Here comes to dove, Here
Speaker 2: comes to dove, Here comes to dove. But this dove,
Speaker 2: this dove has a mind of his own. This dove,
Speaker 2: this holy spirit. That's what it symbolizes in the Bible.
Speaker 2: And the dove comes down, and the dove is so beautiful.
Speaker 2: Come on, Eljay, play some dove music, some dove descending music.
Speaker 1: I think that's Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. And then abrupt change.
Speaker 1: You gotta get used to Mark, because he's our tour
Speaker 1: guide for this entire series. At once, verse.
Speaker 2: Twelve, he doesn't even give us time to hang out
Speaker 2: with the dove, get a selfie with the dove at once.
Speaker 2: At once, immediately suddenly the spirit the dove sent him
Speaker 2: into the desert. Why is he going to the desert
Speaker 2: verse thirteen?
Speaker 1: Fill it in.
Speaker 2: And he was in the desert forty days being tempted
Speaker 2: by Satan.
Speaker 1: Why would the dove lead you.
Speaker 2: Into a place where the devil was waiting. I don't
Speaker 2: like that dove. I want the other dog. Give me
Speaker 2: another dove real quick. And suddenly, right after the validation
Speaker 2: came the temptation. Because anytime God speaks a promise over
Speaker 2: your life, you will immediately have the opportunity to prove
Speaker 2: the promise.
Speaker 1: In the desert.
Speaker 2: The same death that presided over his baptism now leads
Speaker 2: him into the desert, which seems on the surface to
Speaker 2: be a contradiction of the Lord's prayer. You know our Father,
Speaker 2: who are in heaven, Hello, will be your name, your
Speaker 2: kingdom Come. Jesus taught us this prayer, you will be.
Speaker 1: Done on earth.
Speaker 2: I know people think that football locker room made this
Speaker 2: prayer up.
Speaker 1: But Jesus taught this prayer on earth as it is
Speaker 1: in Heaven. Give us us there daily bread, forgive.
Speaker 2: Us our deathtints, we forgive our debtors, and lead us
Speaker 2: now into temptation. So why did the spirit of God
Speaker 2: lead Jesus into the very temptation that he told us
Speaker 2: to pray against. See, Jesus was a savage and he
Speaker 2: knew what to do in the desert, and he knew
Speaker 2: that the desert is the place where you.
Speaker 1: Prove the promise of God.
Speaker 2: I wanted to include this point because some of you
Speaker 2: are not in the place of validation as I speak today.
Speaker 2: You are in the place of temptation. So remember, Mark
Speaker 2: doesn't really break it down. He just tells us real quick,
Speaker 2: because Peter's just given him the highlights, and he's writing
Speaker 2: in a style that keeps the action moving, because this
Speaker 2: thing is headed to the conflict of the cross, and
Speaker 2: he has no time to waste. So he just tells
Speaker 2: us simply, he was in the desert forty days. He
Speaker 2: doesn't even mention that Jesus didn't eat in those forty days,
Speaker 2: doesn't even mention it being tempted by Satan. He was
Speaker 2: with the wild animals and angels that did.
Speaker 1: And that's all he says about it.
Speaker 2: If I went forty days with the animals, I would
Speaker 2: want to describe every detail of it. But Mark says
Speaker 2: he was there and he was tempted, but it didn't work.
Speaker 2: By the way, you don't have to do You don't
Speaker 2: have to explain every nuance of all of the trials
Speaker 2: that you go through. Sometimes we are so busy describing
Speaker 2: what we are going through that we miss the opportunity
Speaker 2: to declare the praises of the one who brought us
Speaker 2: through it. He gives one verse to forty days he
Speaker 2: was tempted, and then the angels came. But the angels
Speaker 2: did not come to protect him from the temptation. The
Speaker 2: angels came after the temptation. And sometimes we are expecting
Speaker 2: God to protect us from stuff when He wants to
Speaker 2: use the stuff to prove his power in our lives.
Speaker 2: And so he puts you in a lonely place. But
Speaker 2: even in a lonely place, you are under and open heaven.
Speaker 2: The greatest temptation of life is to find your validation
Speaker 2: in a source other than Christ. It is life's greatest temptation.
Speaker 2: Where will you find your validation? And so Satan says
Speaker 2: to Jesus, if you're hungry, turn the stones into bread.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, I don't need it. I don't live by
Speaker 2: bread alone. I live on every word that proceeds from
Speaker 2: the mouth of God.
Speaker 1: By the way, it's.
Speaker 2: A bad idea to get in a scripture quotation. Contest
Speaker 2: with the one who is the word of God. He
Speaker 2: didn't just write it.
Speaker 1: He wasn't.
Speaker 2: Now you're debating scripture with the one who is it
Speaker 2: in plesh.
Speaker 1: Okay, then prove it.
Speaker 2: This is life's great temptation to find your validation in
Speaker 2: anything other than God.
Speaker 1: Prove it.
Speaker 2: Throw yourself off the temple, prove it, make more money,
Speaker 2: prove it, show him how great you are. Prove it.
Speaker 1: Jes said, I don't need to prove it. It is written.
Speaker 1: It is written. I've already been.
Speaker 2: Validated in the waters, so I don't have to prove
Speaker 2: anything in the wilderness.
Speaker 1: I already ate.
Speaker 2: I do this anytime I'm going over to somebody's house
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure if they can cook.
Speaker 1: It's just preemptive. It's wisdom.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, I'm not hungry for that. Bow down and
Speaker 2: worship me. Why would I bow down to what is
Speaker 2: already under my feet?
Speaker 1: And the angels came, and then the angels.
Speaker 2: Came, and then the angels came, not before the temptation,
Speaker 2: but after the demonstration. And so if God has put
Speaker 2: you in a wilderness situation today, this could feel lonely,
Speaker 2: this could be emotional, this could be in your body.
Speaker 2: Every wilderness looks different. But the purpose for your wilderness
Speaker 2: is that you demonstrate the power of God in your life.
Speaker 2: And the power of God does not come until.
Speaker 1: After, after after.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's what faith is. Wow is believing before what
Speaker 2: you will only understand.
Speaker 1: After.
Speaker 2: By the time Mark writes down these miracles, it's been thirty.
Speaker 1: Years since stay happened.
Speaker 2: And Peter is talking to Mark, telling him what to write,
Speaker 2: and he said, he said, I want you to use
Speaker 2: half of half of this gospel account to talk about
Speaker 2: the last week in Jesus's life. Peter was the one
Speaker 2: who told Jesus, you can't go to the cross. It
Speaker 2: will mess up our pr campaign. You can't die, that's
Speaker 2: bad for ratings.
Speaker 1: But after.
Speaker 2: He had risen from the day and that then they
Speaker 2: remembered his words, and the same disciple that spent all
Speaker 2: three years of jesus ministry trying to keep him from
Speaker 2: the cross took half of the gospel account that he
Speaker 2: recollected to talk about the very thing that he wanted
Speaker 2: to keep Jesus from Wow. It goes to show that
Speaker 2: some of the dry places that we would avoid are
Speaker 2: the very places that God will use the most. The
Speaker 2: key is, can I believe it before I see it?
Speaker 2: Can anything good come from Nazareth? Can anything good come
Speaker 2: from my dysfunctional past? Can anything good come from this
Speaker 2: season that I want out of so bad?
Speaker 1: And then the angels I came with an announcement. Your
Speaker 1: angel is already on the way. Your angel is on
Speaker 1: the way. And don't give into the temptation.
Speaker 2: To bow down and worship something that is less than God,
Speaker 2: or to compromise your values in this season.
Speaker 1: You know who you are. You heard it in the
Speaker 1: waters of baptism. This is my child. I am well
Speaker 1: pleased with him.
Speaker 2: This is my daughter, I am well pleased with her.
Speaker 2: That's my boy, that's my girl. I got a purpose
Speaker 2: for you. Do not doubt in the wilderness what God
Speaker 2: showed you in the water. Your Angel is on the way.
Speaker 2: Your Angel is on the way. Don't turn the stone
Speaker 2: into bread just yet. You brought to get some angel
Speaker 2: food cake. Your angel is on the way. And the
Speaker 2: God of all grace, after that you have suffered, after
Speaker 2: you have suffered a little while, will himself, restore you,
Speaker 2: make you strong.
Speaker 1: The strength comes after the suffering.
Speaker 2: And that's what Jesus knew. That's what he knew with
Speaker 2: the animals. That was proven after the angels came. There
Speaker 2: is something today that you need to believe that you
Speaker 2: cannot see, something that you need to believe that you
Speaker 2: cannot feel. And it only makes sense on this side
Speaker 2: of the cross, and after you have suffered. What verse
Speaker 2: was that that said after you've suffered?
Speaker 1: We just talked about it first what first? Who Saint Peter?
Speaker 1: We finally got it after after. But let's just take
Speaker 1: a moment. Let's do something that will really drive the
Speaker 1: devil out of our desert.
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead right now at every location and praise
Speaker 2: God before for what we will only understand after. Come on,
Speaker 2: let's worship in the wilderness a little bit. If you
Speaker 2: don't feel it good, that gives you a chance to
Speaker 2: prove that.
Speaker 1: It is faith, not feeling faith not silent.
Speaker 2: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment you have
Speaker 2: brought us to, and we thank you for the voice
Speaker 2: that came from heaven that spoke into our souls today
Speaker 2: that before we were ever created, you had a plan
Speaker 2: for our lives that before we ever did anything right
Speaker 2: or wrong, you had already determined our purpose in the earth.
Speaker 2: We thank you that everything that we're going through in
Speaker 2: this season and the wilderness will prepare us.
Speaker 1: For the purpose that you know about in our lives.
Speaker 2: That you know about, you know the plans you have
Speaker 2: for us, plans to prosper us, not to harm us,
Speaker 2: to give us hope and a future. We thank you
Speaker 2: for the after, but we want to thank you for
Speaker 2: the after while we're still living in the before. We
Speaker 2: don't want to wait for the angels to come.
Speaker 1: To give you glory.
Speaker 2: We know that one day every knee will bow and
Speaker 2: every tongue will confess that you are Lord to the
Speaker 2: glory of God the Father.
Speaker 1: But we don't want to wait for that day.
Speaker 2: So we make our decision to worship you right now
Speaker 2: and to declare right now that Jesus.
Speaker 1: Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Speaker 1: We give you glory right now. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org. Slash podcast for more
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.