WEBVTT - Use Your Inside Voice 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.160 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.560 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.360 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.560 Turn in your bible to Matthew. Excuse me. Mark chapter three. 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:23.919 I'll go to Matthew in a minute. I got so 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:28.840 much scripture. This is gonna be overwhelming today. I hope 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.560 you wore sweatpants because you're gonna get fat off of 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.480 this bread from heaven today. You need an elastic waistband 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.800 for this. God has been speaking to me because I 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:39.800 asked him. I said, God, give me a message for 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.600 your people, and he gave me so much to give. 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:45.919 We'll see if we can get it done all in 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.879 this one session. Mark chapter three. I'm gonna pick up 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.360 at verse twenty. Do you remember a couple of years 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:57.520 ago I preached savage Jesus and we were saying, how 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:05.160 Jesus isn't solved, Jesus isn't scared. Jesus is so great 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:09.800 and so awesome and so powerful, and he's confident in 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.000 that way that true authority always carries itself to know 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.600 who he is and what he came to do. So 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.120 I figured we spend some time with him today, our example, 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.160 the author and finisher of our faith. Let's spend some 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.959 time with Jesus, seeing his example. In his days, things 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.959 were much different than they are now. There was a division, 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:35.399 political division, it was different. The Bible's not as relevant 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.760 in our times. But in his day there was uncertainty, 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:42.040 there was instability, and so he was dealing with things 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.840 that we don't deal with as an advanced civilization. But 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:47.640 let's see if we can find any help at all 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.400 from this quaint book called the Bible that has absolutely 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.920 no bearing on our current lives. That was sarcasm. I 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.040 can see them taking that and putting that on YouTube, 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:02.480 So I have to okay, Mark three, verse twenty. This 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.400 is the message that I never got to preach from 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:09.960 savage Jesus, and so we're doing it today. Then Jesus 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:15.919 entered a house. Somebody say, come in my house. Lord, 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.240 come on, come in my house, Come in this room, 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.720 Come in my kitchen. God, come in this house, right now, 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.160 come in my house, Come in my heart. Then Jesus 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.320 entered a house. And I believe he's come into your 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:33.799 house today too. Okay, not mister Rogers, but Jesus come 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:38.119 into your house right now. He said that he entered 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.520 a house. This is what Mark said. And a crowd 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:44.119 gathered so that he and his disciples were not even 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.280 able to eat. And when his family heard about this, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.400 they went to take charge of him, for they said 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.760 he is out of his mind. And the teachers of 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.920 the law who came down from Jerusalem, said, he is 0:02:57.000 --> 0:03:02.880 possessed by Beelzeble, by the prince of demons. He's driving 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:08.160 out demons. So Jesus called them over to him and 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.560 began to speak to them in parables. How can Satan 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:17.080 drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:23.640 that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:28.760 that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:35.160 is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come. In fact, 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:39.040 no one can enter a strong man's house without first 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:43.800 tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. Truly, 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.400 I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.000 and every slander they utter. Some of you better praise 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.440 God with the some of the stuff you've said. That's 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:56.320 a good verse. Let me read it again. People can 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:00.960 be forgiven all their sins and every facebook they utter. 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:10.040 I lost, y'all. But whoever blasphemes listen to this against 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:14.360 the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They are guilty 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:18.120 of an eternal sin. He said this because they were 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.960 saying he has an impure spirit. Then Jesus' mother and 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:26.760 brothers arrived right just at that moment of pension, this 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.920 climax of conflict with the scribes. Here come his family members, 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.039 and standing outside. I want you to pay attention to 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:44.120 this standing outside, they sent someone to call him. Standing outside, 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:49.720 they sent someone in to call him. What I want 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:51.520 to talk to you today is from something you might 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.000 have heard in school from your teacher. The message is 0:04:55.040 --> 0:05:01.240 called use your inside voice. Did you ever have a 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.880 teacher tell you that? Did you ever tell those fifth 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:07.000 graders at Township three Elementary? Paul Holly was a school 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.280 teacher when we first got married, and she taught these 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:16.640 wild kids use your inside voice. And of course, you know, 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.560 I always love to talk about my kids any chance 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.320 I get, because I'm proud of them and using them 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.720 as sermon illustration, as a way that I have them 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:26.240 earn their keep around the house and they don't do 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:31.719 anything else. But I figure, Abby is what do you 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.400 call it? A paradox because she's the littlest one in 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:40.000 our family and the loudest, and we often wonder about Abby. 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.200 How can she be so little and so loud? It's 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:47.240 baffling to the mind. I had to slash back whilst 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.120 preparing this week, thinking about use your inside voice of 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:52.719 one time she came to me, and I'm not going 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.000 to make up what she said, because honestly don't remember, 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:59.120 but she was probably fussing about her brother's The odds 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:03.279 are very high that she that's what she was tweaked about. 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:07.440 She said, uh, she says, A there's a lot of 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.839 people around. I think it was at church and he 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.640 was at church and there were people around. So she's 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:14.479 so loud and she doesn't even know how loud she is. 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:19.400 And I say, baby, I'm listening, use your inside voice. 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:24.760 She goes without adjusting her volume one decibel. This is 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:31.120 my inside voice. She was so confused, so frustrated. This 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.839 is my inside voice. I wonder about your inside voice, 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:40.719 and what I wonder is what is your inside voice? 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:46.040 Mine would scare you my inside voice. I'm using that 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.520 not to mean my volume level. I'm using that to 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:53.240 mean my thought process and how critical I am of myself. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.640 Even right now, in this moment, there are two preachers preaching, 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:03.800 the one you hear and the one I hear. And 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.640 in between everything that the one you hear is saying, 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.320 the one I hear is trying to stop me from 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:15.080 saying what I'm saying, your inside voice, because I wonder 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:19.400 about your inside voice, because Holly's not that self critical 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.160 like I am, and I've often wished that I could 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.400 take a break from my brain and spend a day 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.000 inside of hers. I thought that would feel like a vacation, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.520 because she's really nice to herself. It turns out, and 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.120 one time we were watching this movie and they were 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:38.480 externalizing an inside voice, and it was so harsh and 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.400 it was so bad and it was almost demonic. And 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:44.160 I told her after the movie, I said, that's exactly 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.080 what it sounds like in my head. She's really that's 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.080 the dumbest movie scene I've ever seen in my life. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.680 I didn't relate to it at all. And we were 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:56.840 watching the same movie and having a completely different experience 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:05.120 within our own minds. About your inside voice, Abby said, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.960 this is my inside voice. It's just normal to me. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.720 I just walk around talking at this volume all the time. 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.720 Somebody asked me sometimes, are you the same off the 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:16.360 stage as on the stage. I was like, well, I 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.600 hope I have the same character, but I don't speak 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.200 at the same volume. It would be so weird to 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.800 walk in the house. You know, this is offside my pavia, 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:31.800 sit down, they got the trash. This is all lotsed dishes. 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:37.360 I don't do that at home. Liver approaches right. And 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.760 what I noticed about Jesus, I promised, this is a sermon. Uh, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:42.840 this is a sermon from the Bible, from the passage 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:46.280 I just read you. What I noticed about Jesus is 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:52.280 that he was rarely, if ever, driven by the opinions 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:58.600 of outside voices. Think about it. I grew up hearing 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.320 all about how Jesus died for our sin, and he did. 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:08.160 That's foundational. But what I wonder about for a lot 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.960 of us, your inside voice, my inside voice, All of 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.880 the voices that we consume on a daily basis, whether 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:15.720 we read them with our eyes or hear them with 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.120 our ears, all of the inputs, all of the noise 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:21.360 that I mentioned earlier. What I wonder about that is, 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.600 have we accepted that Jesus died to forgive us for 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:32.720 our sin, but not experienced that he also died to 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:39.640 deliver us from cynicism. Can I preach for three and 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.800 a half hours today? Maybe we'll do that. Maybe we'll 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:45.520 just preach and chop it up and run it to 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.880 the end of the year. Because Jesus didn't just die 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:55.080 for my sin. He died for my cynical heart, which 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.960 I will mention multiple times in this message, but it's 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.320 all from the text. I mean, think about it. Jesus's 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.040 greatest struggle in life was not the temptation to sin. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.199 He was perfect, blameless, God of God. He was the 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.720 son of David. But he was also the Lamb slain 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.080 from the foundation of the earth. That means he was 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:16.720 perfectly pure. That means it no matter what he was 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.600 tempted with, he knew within who he was. Yet we 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:25.880 see him in this passage, like so many passages, dealing 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:34.199 with the cynicism of those he came to save, not 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:40.560 the people outside the church, but the passage I read. 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:45.640 You said that the scribes king all the way from 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:50.200 Jerusalem to Capernaum, where he was doing his ministry around 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.360 the Sea of Galilee. Remember he was born in Bethlehem, 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:58.160 grew up in Nazareth, and then he moved to Capernaum. 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:03.600 That's cool. He moved away from where he came from 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:07.160 to do what he came to do. I'll come back 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.079 to that, I promise. If I forget, come up here 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:11.800 and tell me to go back to it, because it's 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:16.120 very important. Now. These rulers come from Jerusalem and they 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:23.160 come to accuse Jesus. They're fired up and mad, probably 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.360 not because of what he's doing, but because they are 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.640 not able to do it. So when you see someone 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.440 who is able to do something that you can't do, 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.679 it is easier to criticize it than it is to 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:43.360 be challenged by it. For many of us, I feel 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:50.240 like preaching cynicism has become our strategy. It's how we 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:55.280 deal with disappointment. We don't get our hopes up, then 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:59.079 no one can bring them down. For many of us, 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:03.160 cynicism sir as a shield to keep us from ever 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.600 exposing ourselves to the elements of mystery, which are the 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:14.240 essence of faith in God. These cynical scribes. Can I 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.760 tell you about the scribes. They had a lot of knowledge, 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.200 but they didn't have real wisdom. They had a lot 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:27.080 of knowledge. Information was their specialty. They were trained in 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.760 the law and discipline. These were not pornographers. These were 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.880 valued members, esteemed members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.760 Them that should have known that the one who was 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.720 the fulfillment of the law that they had expertly divined 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.920 was standing right in front of them, But they criticized 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:54.600 the very one that they spoke of, and they didn't 0:12:54.640 --> 0:13:00.800 even know it, because Jesus was doing weird stuff, healing 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:05.040 shriveled hands, packing out crowds. And I wanted to tell 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.320 you this, Annah. In Mark's Gospel it says crowd thirteen times, 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:15.400 and it's never positive. Me. As a preacher, I always 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:19.880 wanted to draw a crowd. But when Mark records his gospel, 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.440 the thing that most preachers are trying to create was 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.880 the thing that actually got in Jesus' way of doing 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.960 what he came to do. That's not just for preachers. 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.560 A lot of the times, the things that the world 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:36.600 celebrates actually get in the way of God doing what 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:42.480 he wants to do in your life. So everybody wants 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:45.400 to be busy, that's another way of saying crowded. But 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.360 sometimes our busyness is the very thing that keeps God 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:53.560 from doing his work his business. Now, now, Jesus said, 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:58.680 I have to be about my father's business, not what 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:02.559 the crowds or the consumers wanted him to do. He 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:04.760 had to be about building what he called in this 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.960 passage his father's kingdom, or the Kingdom of God, the 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.520 kingdom of Heaven. It was a phrase that was unique 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.480 to Jesus. He came to inaugurate that kingdom, and he 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.920 was doing it. And in order to do that, he 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:21.320 had to drive out Satan. So this man comes to him, 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.640 and we don't read about him in Mark's Gospel, but 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.040 we read about him in the other gospels where he 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.520 was possessed with a demon and he couldn't speak, he 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.800 was mute, and he couldn't see, he was blind. And 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.520 so the Bible says that Jesus dealt with both of 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:40.920 those issues. And since we're talking about inside voice, it's 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:47.200 significant that the man left speaking right, that the man 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:51.240 who could not speak now could speak. Hold that for 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.760 a moment, now here come. The Pharisees describes it was 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.560 their job to interpret the law, and now they can't 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.800 even interpret the actions of the one who stands in 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.840 front of them to fulfill the law. I'm going deep today, 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:10.200 Are you with me? So? What God showed me in 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.480 this context is that the cynicism of the scribes was 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.360 one thing because they had too much knowledge, and it 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:23.040 blocked wisdom. Too much noise, too much of how we 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.320 think things are supposed to be, too much of our 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.120 mastery of God closes us from the mystery of God, 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.800 and it makes you cynical. It makes you start to 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:45.480 think that you know God better than God. Before he 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:51.240 died for our sin, he had to deal with their cynicism. Now, 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.040 can I really freak you out? Go to Matthew twelve 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.680 Real Quick twenty five. This is the same account. He 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.080 heals this demon possessed man, and the scribes don't like it. 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:06.640 They don't like it. It threatens them. So they do 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.200 what we do when we get threatened. They criticize, They 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.920 become cynical. They don't want to learn anything, They don't 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:19.240 really want to experience what God came to bring. They 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.520 just want to defend themselves. You know how you hide 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.600 your own dysfunction. I'm not breaking it down fine enough 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.200 for you. You You know the thoughts you have when you 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:33.240 go through your Instagram feed about other people. A lot 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.560 of those are designed to keep you from having to 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:42.800 be alone with you. So the scribes have their scrolls right, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:49.040 and they interpreted the scrolls. What's it called when you're 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:58.200 on your phone? Say that they and they accuse him 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.160 of doing the devil's work, but they don't do it 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:04.240 out loud. This is what I want to show you 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:12.040 Verse twenty five. Jesus knew their thoughts. If that happened 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:16.919 every time you came to church, your stuff coming, be 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.800 honest about it. Come on, tell me about your inside voice. 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.240 I've told you about mine. Mine will tell me the 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:28.480 most horrible things about myself about others. It is unthinkable. 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.600 It is not Pg. Thirteen what my inside voice says 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.800 to me. I'm sorry, but it's not King James English. 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.760 I'm sorry, it's not Greek, it's not its compound. Cuss 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.919 words is cuss words in tongues, is cuss words that 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:47.720 bypass cultural cuss words. I'm talking about my inside voice, 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:53.080 and Jesus heard what they said in their heart. So 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.520 it goes to show you can have all the words right, 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.320 you can sing all the songs, you can do all 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:04.800 the stuff, you can call yourself a certain label. Jesus 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:08.760 knew their thoughts, and we think that he came to 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:13.080 deal with our external values. He came to deal with 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:19.160 your inside voice. I want to talk about your inside voice. 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.320 I want to talk about the temptations that you don't 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:26.439 bring up in e group. Ah ah. They are not 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.399 Zoom appropriate, they are not church appropriate. You don't need 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:38.719 to tell anybody. But he knew their thoughts. The word 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:45.240 was made flesh. That means he already knows. He knows 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:51.439 it before you speak it. It's so silly what we 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:56.240 try to hide from God. When he hears your inside voice. 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.879 He hears your inside voice. One scripture says that his 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:04.320 spirit interprets their grooms. When you don't know what to pray, 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.080 and you can't find anything to pray, and all you 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.879 can barely do is move your lips, he interprets that 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:14.960 the scribes can't do it, the Savior can't. He knows 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.560 how to interpret the events of your life. He's good 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:23.040 at that, but we're not. So they see him he 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.120 makes a mute man speak and they go, that must 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.880 be the devil. Because you know in church we love 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:35.399 nothing more than to blame the devil. We should do 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.160 a word count of one of my sermons one day 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.080 and see if I say Jesus or the devil more 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:45.840 in my sermon, I might be embarrassed. Well, we do 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.320 it all the time, when we give the devil credit 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:56.360 for something that God is actually trying to do. That's 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.480 what they were doing in the passage. Oh, the devil 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:04.359 did that. The devil attacked me. I was the devil. 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:06.639 It wasn't the devil. And I don't know. If you 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.760 want to write this down, you write it down. The 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:14.240 devil didn't do it. The devil didn't do it. Sometimes 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:20.560 your decisions did it. The devil didn't wreck your car. 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:24.760 You're trying to turn the radio station at the same 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.720 time you tried to return the text that wrecked your car. 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.520 That wasn't the devil. That's what Jesus said. The devil 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.399 didn't do this. In fact, it was Jesus doing it. 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:42.280 But they blamed the devil. It's like this voice that 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:49.280 always makes you a victim, this voice that always tries 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.560 to give the devil credit for things that God is 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:55.480 actually doing. It'tn' crazy that the Kingdom of God was coming, 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:02.120 but their cynicism stopped them from participating in it. Oh, 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.320 the number of times that you and I have missed 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:07.720 the God who was in our midst and the miracles 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:13.040 he was performing because of a cynical spirit. And I'm 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:15.119 going to show you where all that comes from in 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:17.879 the text. See in the text, you have a contrast 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.639 is the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:26.880 Did you notice that he said if Satan's kingdom is divided, 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:31.080 it will fall. And the crazy thing about it is 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:36.399 Satan is more strategic about his kingdom than a lot 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:42.080 of God's children are about God's kingdom, because we do 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:44.879 all the time what the devil knows better than to 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:49.200 ever do. He says, Satan won't fight Satan. He's bringing 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:54.439 a kingdom. But we, as God's children, we don't have 0:21:54.640 --> 0:22:01.160 enough good sense, so we embrace strategies of cynicism, and 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:06.560 we call it wisdom. So let me tell you something 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:08.520 and it'll come up on the screen when I say 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.720 it online later, not right now. They'll put it on later, 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:13.440 And I promise you's gonna come up on the screen. 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:24.920 Cynicism is counterfeit wisdom. It looks like wisdom. It looks 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:28.879 like that tag Lawyer watch that I bought for thirty 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:33.080 dollars in New York. It looked like a tag. It 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:37.080 wasn't a tag. It looks like the truth. It isn't 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:42.080 the truth. It looks like righteousness. It's not righteousness. It 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:49.359 looks like faith. It's really manipulation. Cynicism is counter It's 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:53.480 as fake as that Louis v. Gucci bag that you 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.720 picked up online from an It's as fake as that. 0:22:57.040 --> 0:22:59.879 When you go through life with a cynical spirit, that 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.480 is not the spirit of God. And let me just 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:07.080 tell you something right now, I don't intend to run 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:10.879 this pulpit with the spirit of cynicism. No matter what 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:16.959 happens in the world. Gospel means good news, good news, 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:22.520 good news, freedom. I'm gonna preach that for this pulpit. 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.040 I'm gonna preach that from this pulpit. How about your pulpit? 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:40.000 Whose report? Will you believe? Bus Her inside voice, So 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:42.879 he's building this kingdom in the contrast. At first I 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.680 thought it was God versus Satan. Then I thought, well, 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:49.320 that's kind of it. But it's something else too, And 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:55.440 then I thought, well, maybe it's maybe it's maybe it's 0:23:56.920 --> 0:23:59.680 maybe it's about the strong man versus the weak man, 0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:02.360 because in the text too. And then there's this verse 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:04.880 that people worry about where it says, if you've blasting 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:07.160 the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. And people 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:10.560 are thinking, oh, no, have I done that? But if 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:13.120 you're even asking have I done that, you haven't done that, 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:16.680 because that is the Holy Spirit convicting you, which means 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:19.080 that you are not denying His work inside of you. 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:22.120 So when he says anything you say or do can 0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:24.960 be forgiven, that's based on the finished work of Christ 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:29.359 that he was completing. But what cannot be forgiven is 0:24:29.400 --> 0:24:35.880 a sin that you will not deal with. And that's 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:39.800 why he mentions the Holy Spirit. So on one hand, 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:43.280 you have the kingdom of Satan versus the Kingdom of God. 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:46.359 On the other hand, there's like a division, he says, 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:49.360 a house divided against his self. He's talking about the 0:24:49.400 --> 0:24:55.720 eternal versus the temporal, the eternal versus the ephemeral, what 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.399 lasts forever versus what's gonna wither in faith word of 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:03.720 the Lord versus the values of the world. But here 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:05.600 came the real thing for me, and it went all 0:25:05.640 --> 0:25:07.320 the way back to the beginning. Do you remember how 0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:10.919 when I started reading the text in verse twenty, I 0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:17.600 stopped and said, then Jesus entered a house. And you're 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:19.240 probably thinking, like, come on, man, get on with it, 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:22.200 you know, don't make a big deal about this. No, no, no, 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:27.400 Everything significant that happens in this text happens on the inside. 0:25:29.720 --> 0:25:36.320 He entered a house, probably Simon's house, Peter's house. That's 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:38.359 where he stayed in Capernaum. Yeah, that's where he stayed. 0:25:39.119 --> 0:25:43.560 And they probably just got done repairing the roof because 0:25:43.600 --> 0:25:46.560 in Mark chapter two, there was a big crow and 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:48.280 the man who really needed help couldn't get in, so 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:49.880 they tore off the roof to get the men down 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:53.520 to Jesus. So now the roof is freshly repaired, there's 0:25:53.560 --> 0:25:57.280 another crow. Peter's telling Mark the gospel. He's the one 0:25:57.280 --> 0:25:59.359 who gave Mark the account to write, and Mark wrote 0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:01.920 it for Peter. So Peter puts in there, we didn't 0:26:01.920 --> 0:26:06.400 even have a chance to eat. I think that's probably 0:26:06.520 --> 0:26:09.280 due to what he was really focused on, you know, like, 0:26:09.320 --> 0:26:12.240 of all the things to remember, Jesus is driving out devils, 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:16.159 and Peter's like and we miss lunch, you know, we 0:26:16.200 --> 0:26:23.159 get focused on the temporal. But really the contrast that 0:26:23.160 --> 0:26:28.000 I want to bring up is external internal, because not 0:26:28.040 --> 0:26:32.760 only is Jesus receiving criticism and opposition from the scribes, 0:26:35.000 --> 0:26:41.040 but his own family. I never heard more people tell 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:44.439 me than this year, in fourteen years of pastoring, how 0:26:44.480 --> 0:26:48.480 they're not even speaking to their own family. It's got 0:26:48.520 --> 0:26:50.560 us so divided with different things that are going on. 0:26:52.920 --> 0:26:57.320 And yet when I preach the passage, everybody thinks they're Jesus. 0:27:03.320 --> 0:27:07.439 Everybody thinks they're Jesus. So if I preach this and 0:27:07.480 --> 0:27:10.720 I say his family was standing on the outside of 0:27:10.760 --> 0:27:17.880 the house, everybody thinks that they're Jesus in the passage. 0:27:19.920 --> 0:27:22.560 And I came with something real deep to tell you, you 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:31.400 you and Jesus. In Jesus, I see a wife elbowing 0:27:31.400 --> 0:27:33.400 her husband right now on a couch in Minnesota, saying, 0:27:33.440 --> 0:27:35.040 you and Jesus, I did not tell you to tell 0:27:35.080 --> 0:27:38.120