Before And After | Savage Jesus | Pastor Steven Furtick

[Applause] one thing I want to point out to you that you may not be aware of we typically group our messages in different series and I decided to preach a series called savage Jesus why I did it is because I'm tired of us pretending like Jesus is safe and one reason I wanted to use the term savage Jesus is because I knew that religious people wouldn't like it we typically like our heroes better safe and we typically like them better after they're dead you notice this sometimes don't you that the way that we present our heroes is that we prefer a certain version of them that is safe that doesn't offend us and one of the things that I hope about dr. Graham's legacy is that he is not just remembered for only the amazing invitations that he gave but for the barriers that he broke down it's good that we take a little time this week to share some of his quotes about heaven but what he did here on earth in bringing heaven to earth and driving back darkness I mean dr. Graham dr. demas was a savage in his own way what he did in Chattanooga Tennessee in 1953 that was the most savage thing I ever read about where he tore down the the barriers that they had set up to keep black people separated from white people at his crusade and looked at two white Usher's and said you can either leave those down or have the crusade without me that's pretty savage I kind of like that version of dr. grim not not just you know my my wife and I often talk about this how for us growing up Ray Charles was the Pepsi guy because we came into his legacy at a time when he was older and and that's what we knew him as and we disregard it you see this happen every year on the the day that we celebrate dr. Martin Luther King jr. you see the same three quotes I've decided to stick with love hate is too great a burden to bear the same three quotes I've been to the mountain same three quotes I've had but dr. dr. King did a whole lot more than go to the mountain and have a dream he went to prison he suffered not only the scorn of those that he was trying to fight against but those he was fighting for and so when you forget that when you sanitize somebody down to the point that you try to make them almost like we make them a mascot you ever see those little toys where you pull the string and they have a few sayings that they say and there's like five things that they say I'm afraid we've done that with Jesus I'm afraid that we've got it down to the point now where we have a few things that Jesus said you know love people and turn the other cheek and you know a few little things four images of Jesus shepherd Jesus with the pull-string and he says nice comforting things just little little Jesus that we put on the Shelf and he says the things that we want to hear you then hear people sometimes they'll say well that doesn't sound very much like Jesus did you ever read some of the things that Jesus really said Jesus was more than free hugs and warm feelings Jesus was are you ready a savage [Applause] Jesus walked in church one day the poor people were being exploited by being sold sacrifices and at a marked up price and they could not afford them and so they were excluded from worship because the temple had become more about profit and power than it had about the presence of God do you know what Jesus did he prayed about it oh oh oh he posted on Pinterest about it this is not Pinterest Jesus this Jesus started kicking over tables he ripped out the ATM machines he drove out the tax collectors with the will but that on Pinterest will to you Pharisees blind guys strain out a gnat swallow a camel Europe your father the devil I never saw that on a coffee mug you are of your father I am the way the truth and the life we like that Jesus Jesus was a savage he answered them not a word because he was the word he got so mad at death that he decided to overturn he got so cramped in his grave that after the price had been paid after he had done what needed to be done he didn't watch how savage he kicked the end off of a borrowed grave well I borrowed he wasn't gonna be there long he was a savage when he got up I gotta show you one thing and I should save this for Easter but the Bible says that he folded the linen they had wrapped him in he was so savage that he folded it because when you fold a linen at a meal it means I will be back when he comes back he's not coming back like a lamb he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and I feel his presence in this place [Applause] so let's get started in the series mark chapter 1 verse 1 through 15 records these words the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God it is written in Isaiah the prophet I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way a voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way for the Lord make straight paths for him interesting that mark does not start with the birth of Jesus Christ wonder if he does that so that we will not be so attached to our image of him as a baby do you remember that movie with the racecar driver and do you remember he said I like I like the baby Jesus the best a lot of us do we worship a certain version of Jesus that is say well mark isn't going to give us that portrait of Jesus and it's correctly called a portrait because scholars say that Mark's Gospel is not only the oldest gospel from which the other Gospel writers would would take the base information and add their own commentary but one of the things about Mark's Gospel that we will notice because I plan to host our entire study from this gospel account is that he he wrote in terms of action and you don't get in this gospel a lot of the commentary about what Jesus actually taught you get more of a picture the the scholar that I studied said that mark writes with a paintbrush he would rather show you than tell you because the highest level of proclamation of the gospel is demonstration not explanation some people can explain to you all about propitiation and atonement but they're so mean to their wife that why would I want to Jesus they can't keep you from treating your family like crap and so mark is going to show us portraits of Jesus we will be looking at at least five or six in this series but he starts it off and and he goes to this scene in verse 4 and so John came and so John came baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River John was a savage he wore clothing made of camels hair with a leather belt around his waist and he ate locusts and wild glutton loaded honey and this was his message after me will come one more powerful than I after me will come one more powerful than I the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie i baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit at that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan as Jesus was coming up out of the water he saw heaven being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my son whom I love with you I am well pleased at once the spirit sent him out into the desert and he was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan he was with the wild animals and angels attended him after John was put in prison Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God the time has come he said the kingdom of God is near repent and believe the good news I want to use as a construct for this first message before and after before and after the way that I study scriptures I was telling buck the other day I don't know if he was listening but I was trying to explain to him between sets how I look for little words and commonalities in a text and that's a great way for you to study the scripture as well to observe patterns in the scripture it'll help you know what to pay attention to and I was noticing in this passage of Scripture in verse 4 it says John came in verse 7 it says after me one will come in verse 9 it says that Jesus came and in verse 11 it says a voice came in verse 13 it says that the angels came so John came one will come Jesus came a voice came angels came I guess you could see we're getting a picture here of Jesus Christ on the come-up and we start with this very powerful statement of validation where the father says you are my son whom I love with you I am well pleased but before that validation happened there is a preparation that is mentioned I think preparation is so important and obviously so does God because when he sent his son into the world before he performed any miracles before he before he raised any dead people before he opened and he blinded eyes he went through the waters of Baptism and before he went through the waters of baptism this this this man called John who was an unlikely looking preacher who did not fit the stereotype of how a clergyman should dress was was preparing the way for the Lord I broke in this introductory message into four sections the first one is called preparation preparation men prepare the way for the Lord and so John came to prepare the way for Jesus and Jesus came verse 9 from Nazareth and March said this is the beginning of the gospel but it was not the beginning of the life of Christ though the life of Christ in its early years place primarily in Nazareth when I say Nazareth that means nothing to you other than that you associated perhaps with Jesus and it meant next to nothing to the people in Jesus day in fact Nazareth was the kind of place now I grew up in in a place that is famous for its culture and its impact I grew up in monks corner but some of you grew up in places like Nazareth Nazareth was a no-name place for no-name people so when the Bible says that Jesus came from Nazareth that means that the Son of God and the savior of the world came from an unexpected place John the Baptist who many scholars associate with the tribe of the Essenes was was preparing the way in the wilderness and Jesus was coming up in Nazareth perhaps you've heard that he was a carpenter I think it must have been a real trip to be making wood out of the trees that you spoke into existence have you ever thought about what it would be like to make a table out of a tree that you put in the ground you know the Bible says in Colossians that all things were created and are sustained by the power of his word yet Jesus spent the first 30 in obscurity in Nazareth Hey they had a us saying where y'all from Valdosta Valdosta State they had a saying about Nazareth they would say can anything good come from Nazareth they said that about Jesus because the authority that he spoke with did not match the background that he came from and the works that he would do so outstrip the expectations of the people he taught with authority and not as one of their teachers of the law they had a saying can anything good come from Nazareth that no name place for no name people that that place that we don't plan our vacations to Jesus came from Nazareth not from Jerusalem it would have made sense for him to come Jerusalem the center of the temple Cole it would have made sense for him to come from perhaps a place in the Roman Empire that was more empirically important but Jesus came from Nazareth he came from Nazareth and the people wanted to know can anything good come from Nazareth but it was his place of preparation and when God has a great purpose for your life he will often involve a season of obscurity let's be honest about it in the beginning was the word in the Word was with God in the Word was God it's not like Jesus needed to learn what he already was but even Jesus went through a season of obscurity before he fulfilled his purpose and some of you are in Nazareth right now and you're wondering the same thing that the people wondered about Jesus can anything good come from Nazareth can anything good come from singleness can anything good come from losing my job can anything good come from cancer can anything good come from middle school can anything good come from a broken heart can anything good come from depression can anything good come from divorce but I love him because he takes the most unlikely places and fulfills the greatest purpose and I need to the shout right now if you've ever been in Nazareth wondering God what am I doing here Jesus came from Nazareth [Applause] great things come from small places new beginnings come from dead ends Jesus came from Nazareth it was this place of preparation and preparation is uh kind of the opposite of the primary value of our day we live in the age of instant validation instead of instead of thinking an issue through we post it immediately to see if we can get someone to agree or disagree with us just because we want attention see how quiet it gets when I preach real good you see how they were shot in like 47 seconds ago did you see how quickly all the shouts dissipated from the room just because I told you the truth there is nothing off-limits we will stage our kids instead of raising them we're staging them for the approval of people stand here shut up smile stand here shut up smile cuz I'm I yelled at you all day but if I can post something that made it look like we had a good day maybe somebody will tell me I'm a good mom if it's too much come give me chunks I don't want to tear the church apart on the first week of the series I was planning to do like six weeks but I don't know if we're gonna survive the first Jesus came from Nazareth and he was baptized by John that confused me at first and so if you're reading this and you're like I don't read the Bible much but that's kind of weird don't you get baptized because you need to be forgiven of your sin and isn't Jesus the one who didn't have any sin that's what John thought John John was surprised when Jesus came to be baptized because you know he's lining him up and he's dunking him and John did not John's baptism was not like ours you know how our baptism we let you read something and share something John John was such a savage one time he looked at the crowd and said who told you to come out here you brood of vipers what if when you got in the tank let's go to gastón for a baptism can you imagine kid Hester telling that big boy that was in the tank today I was so nervous ken was gonna drop him imagine if he called him a snake before he dumped him [Applause] and John's baptism was a baptism of repentance he was he was fighting against the oppression of the system that had made principals more important than people and so he was he was rebuking really the leaders and he'd say you snakes repent you snakes repent you snakes repent he turns around and there's the savior of the world you savior of the world I should baptize you I was just telling them I'm not fit to tie your shoes this isn't right but Jesus says something in mark doesn't give it to us because um probably I really believe this hold on a most CD and this thing's crooked probably mark was writing his his recollections not based on his own personal experience we don't even historically know who who mark was with a hundred percent accuracy but we have reason to believe that these recollections were based on the memory of Peter Peter who tried so hard to keep Jesus from the cross Peter who had an expectation of an earthly kingdom that would overthrow Rome and it really matches the style of Peter that that Mark's Gospel would include very little detail is just really one thing after another after another his favorite word that mark uses and you'll see it over and over again when you come back to church every week of this series is immediately or suddenly and it's just Jesus is on the move now the thing about it was that for half of Mark's Gospel Jesus is on the move through Galilee where he did his ministry the other half he's headed to the cross the place he came for all along Peter did not understand that before but he did after and there's a breathlessness of this gospel that comes across because Jesus is headed to the cross headed to his purpose headed to Redemption which makes possible reconciliation and he has no time to waste so we will forgive mark if he leaves out a lot of the details he just tells us that Jesus came and was baptized but Matthew tells us because there are four gospel accounts that that Jesus told John the reason that he did it he said this must be done to fulfill all righteousness in other words it was an act of obedience and if there's any word that might be more unpopular than preparation in our culture its obedience nobody tells me what to do I pray to Jesus during football games but nobody tells me what to do Jesus power was in his submission to the will of his father he said I've got to do this in obedience John said it doesn't make sense and Jesus said it doesn't have to make sense it is written and therefore it must be accomplished and so John doesn't argue with him about it he just does it and when he does it the Bible says that a dove came from heaven descended on him the Dove is often used to symbolize peace here it is a symbolic indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit and God validates the sonship of Jesus Christ this is different than the Transfiguration Holly in the Transfiguration which happens many chapters later he will say this is my son whom I love listen to him here it's personal he says you are my son whom I love with you I am well pleased it is a direct validation of Jesus ministry and it came after Jesus obedience I'm afraid that a lot of times we want validation before obedience but validation does not come before obedience it comes say the word this is a message of before and after now notice what hasn't happened yet at the moment that God the Father validates his son Jesus has not opened the first blinded eye Jesus has not healed anybody of leprosy or cleansed them of their condition Jesus has not caused any lame people to walk not at this point Jesus has not even taught the crowds in a way that would captivate them to the point that they would stay and skip dinner just to hear what this man has to say Jesus has not packed out the house to the point that some men will tear off a roof to get their friend in so he can be healed he has done none of that yet and before he ever performs his first miracle the Heavenly Father speaks a word a validation and maybe you need to hear that God's love for you is never based on your performance before he ever did anything it's kind of like he got the trophy before he even showed up for practice it's kind of like God does not validate how people validate because people will validate you based on what you do for them people will validate you based on the value that your actions carry that will contribute directly to their well-being but God does not validate based on performance he validates based on relationship he did not validate what Jesus would do he validated who he was and just in case you haven't heard it in a while and you feel kind of dirty and kind of ashamed of yourself and kind of like you don't belong in the presence of God and kind of like you're not one of those good church people I want you to know you're still his child you're still made in His image you're still bought with his blood every drop he spilled was on purpose and one of those drops had her name on it and the blood was enough for me it was enough for you and you don't have to stand here ashamed and look forward to one day win God will never love you any more than he loves you right now I said you're free right now love right now Clint's right now heal right now somebody's done I am I am this child I am accepted Jesus did not perform his ministry for acceptance that's why he didn't care what anybody thought about it when you know somebody more important approves of you it makes the opinions of people a whole lot less significant then that true I don't know I don't care this sounds bad this sounds unpassed oral but I don't care as much what you think about this sermon I care I will check Facebook Instagram but before that before before never said before I'll walk out the stage Holly will meet me and I look at her and she'll be like you slayed it when she says that that would matter a little bit more little bit more because she lives with me and if the person who knows me the best here's what I have to say and feels like it was aligned with the character of my life I don't need the gram no I think I think this is important I think it's so important that we receive the validation of God each day or we will need from people what they are not capable of giving us how are they going to accept you unconditionally they don't even like themselves some of the time [Applause] and a voice came and a voice came John came that's preparation a voice came that's validation but notice when he can't win it when the voice spoke his little stuff in the Bible don't just read 77 verses I'm gonna get coffee and dip and post about it I'm opposed to my reading so I read it it came before he performed any miracles it was not contingent upon his performance and it came after his obedience at that time Jesus came from Nazareth the Galilee was baptized by John in the Jordan check it out first him his first in on the screen is it on there as he was coming up that means as he was doing what he was supposed to do as he was coming up he saw heaven it's more an open is that what it says my eyes are closed I'm depending on you to validate the heavens torn open and the voice spoke so he saw a vision and he heard a voice but he didn't see it until he was on the way up so it meant that he went all the way out to the Jordan God in the water went down and on the way up God said I'm proud of you and and when he came up noticed this the synergy of the text is this when he came up the Dove came down when he came up to fulfill that which was spoken on that which was prophesied about him in obedience when he came up now here's where a lot of us get it twisted we want the Dove to come down before we get into the waters of obedience we want God to give us peace about a decision that we know we need to make but I found out that peace comes after obedience so when Jesus went down into the waters which signified his death and came back up which signified his resurrection it was on way up it was as he was doing the will of his father it was as he was in the process of fulfilling the purpose that he was put on the earth for that he saw the heavens open and he heard the voice of God saying this is my son and the Dove came down but the Dove didn't come down until Jesus came up and you know what you are not going to get the peace of God in your situation until you commit yourself to obey what he's speaking to your heart peace comes after obedience and if you don't have the peace of God in your situation God's peace might be awaiting your obedience but we want to experience before what we can only experience after so we put stuff off you know like well I'll do it when I feel a peace about it that's a Christian thing only Christians talk like that the people who don't have this religious jargon to throw around to cover up their lack of decisiveness have to either do it or don't but we wait for a piece I was just reading that text over and over and as he was coming up the Dove didn't follow him down to the water come on Jesus you got this come on this is the right thing to do I promise you I promise you the Dove did not make its appearance until Jesus was already wet until you die to yourself and go down in the water and as he was coming up the Dove came down so I had to do something the other day and I didn't want to do it in my flesh in my spirit I am reborn and and I told somebody else gonna do it they said oh dear you have a piece of I guess you have a piece about it I said no that's why I'm doing it because I want peace and I don't have peace and I have spent the last several months waiting for peace that only obedience can produce now the love of God did not come because Jesus obeyed but the peace of God the Dove the validation came as he obey I said I'm gonna do what I need to do and the peace will follow I'm gonna do what doesn't make sense and the peace will follow I'm gonna join an e group at elevation church I thought my leaders would shout and the peace will follow but the peace came after the obedience peace comes after obedience peace comes after obedience it's my whole message and so I'm repeating it in case you think this is a sub point it is not everything up until now was just to tell you this Lake Norman peace comes after obedience Jesus went down Jesus came up as he's coming up the Duff comes down the voice from heaven speaks and the validation of Jesus Christ came after his obedience stop waiting to feel like it stop waiting for people to understand it stop waiting until everything gets just right this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart [Applause] then the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart in your mind in Christ Jesus in peace it comes to duff here comes the dove here comes a doll but this dove this stuff has a mind of his own this dove this holy spirit that's what it symbolizes in the Bible and the Dove comes down and the Dove is so beautiful come on LJ play some dub music some dove descending music [Music] [Applause] I think that's twinkle twinkle little star and then abrupt change you got to get used to mark because he's our tour guide for this entire series at once first of all he doesn't even give us a time to hang out with the dog get a selfie with the dog that was at once immediately suddenly the spirit the dog sent him into the desert why is he going to the desert verse 13 fills fills it in and he was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan why would the Dove lead you into a place where the devil was waiting I like that tough I want the other dog give me anotherjob real quick [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and suddenly right after the validation came the temptation because any time God speaks a promise over your life you will immediately have the opportunity to prove the promise in the tester the same top that presided over his baptism now leads him into the desert which seems on the surface to be a contradiction of the Lord's Prayer you know our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come Jesus taught us this prayer your will be done on earth I know people don't think that football locker room made this prayer up but Jesus thought this prayer on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation so why did the Spirit of God lead Jesus into the very temptation that he told us to pray against see Jesus was a savage and he knew what to do in the desert and you know that the desert is the place where you prove the promise of God I wanted to include this point because some of you are not in the place of validation as I speak today you are in the place of temptation so remember mark doesn't really break it down he just tells us real quick because Peters just giving him the the highlights and he's writing in a style that keeps the action moving because this thing is headed to the conflict of the Cross and he has no time to waste so he just tells us simply he was in the desert forty days he doesn't even mention that Jesus didn't eat in those forty days doesn't even mention it being tempted by Satan he was with the wild animals and angels and that's all he says about it if I went 40 days with the animals I would want to describe every detail of it the mark says he was there and he was tempted but it didn't work by the way you don't have to you don't you don't have to explain every nuance of all of the trials that you go through sometimes we are so busy describing what we are going through that we miss the opportunity to declare the praises of the one who brought us truly he gives one verse 240 days he was tempted and in the Angels can but the angels did not come to protect him from the temptation the Angels came after the temptation and sometimes we are expecting God to protect us from stuff when he wants to use the stuff to prove his power in our lives and so he puts you in a lonely place but even in a lonely place you are under an open heaven the greatest temptation of life is to find your validation in a source other than Christ it is life's greatest temptation where will you find your validation and so Satan says to Jesus if you're hungry during the stones into bread Jesus said I don't need it I don't live by bread alone I live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God by the way it's a bad idea to get in a scripture quotation contest with the one who is the Word of God he didn't just write it he wasn't now you're debating scripture with the one who is it in flesh okay then prove it this is life's great temptation to find your validation in anything other than God prove it throw yourself off the temple prove it make more money prove it show them how great you are through she said I don't need to prove it it is written it is written I've already been validated in the waters so I don't have to prove anything in the wilderness I already ate I'd do this any time I'm going over to somebody's house said I'm not sure if they can cook it's just pre-emptive its wisdom Jesus said I'm not hungry for that bow down and worship me why would I bow down to what is already under my feet and the angels came and then the angels came and then the Angels gained not before the temptation but after the demonstration and so if God has put you in a wilderness situation today this could feel lonely this could be emotional this could be in your body every wilderness looks different but the purpose for your wilderness is that you demonstrate the power of God in your life and the power of God does not come until after after after maybe that's what faith this is believing before what you will only understand after [Applause] by the time mark writes down these miracles it's been 30 years since they happen and Peter is talking to mark telling him what to write and he said oh he said I want you to use half of half of this gospel account to talk about the last week in Jesus's life Peter was the one who told Jesus you can't go to the cross it will mess up our PR campaign you can't die that's bad for ratings but after he had risen from the dead then they remembered his words and the same disciple that spent all three years of Jesus ministry trying to keep him from the cross took half of the gospel account that he recollected to talk about the very thing that he wanted to keep Jesus from it goes to show that some of the dry places that we would avoid are the very places that God will use the most the key is can I believe it before I see it can anything good come from Nazareth can anything good come from my dysfunctional past can anything good come from this season that I want out of so bad and then the angels game I came with an announcement your angel is already on the way your angel is on the way and don't give in to the temptation to bow down and worship something that is less than God or to compromise your values in this season you know who you are you heard it in the waters of baptism this is my child I am well pleased with him this is my daughter I am well pleased with her that's my boy that's my girl I got a purpose for you do not doubt in the wilderness what God showed you in the water your angel is on the way your angel is on the way don't turn the stone into bread just yet you brought to get some angel food cake your angel is on the way the God of all grace after that you have suffered after you have suffered a little while will himself restore you make you strong the strength comes after their suffering and that's what Jesus knew that's what he knew with the animals that was proven after the Angels okay there is something today that you need to believe that you cannot see something that you need to believe that you cannot feel and it only makes sense on this side of the cross and after you suffer well first was that that said after you've suffered we just talked about it first what first who st. Peter who finally got it after after but let's just take a moment let's do something that'll really drive the devil out of our desert let's go ahead right now at every location and praise God before [Applause] for what we will only understand after come on let's worship in the wilderness a little bit if you don't feel it good that gives you a chance to kiss the broom that is faith not feeling faith not sight [Music] Heavenly Father we thank you for this moment you have brought us to and we thank you for the voice that came from heaven that spoke into our souls today that before we were ever created you had a plan for our lives that before we ever did anything right or wrong you had already determined our purpose in the earth we thank you that everything that we're going through in this season in the wilderness will prepare us for the purpose that you know about in our lives that you know about you know the plans you have for us plans the prosperous not to harm us to give us hope and a future we thank you for the after but we want to thank you for the after while we're still living in the before we don't want to wait for the angels to come to give you glory we know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are Lord to the glory of God the Father but we don't want to wait for that day so we make our decision to worship you right now and to declare right now that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father we give you glory right now hey thanks for watching two things I want you to do first click our logo to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single video second you can click the give Now button to support the ministry and we'll be able to continue reaching people all over the world thanks again for watching [Music]

Channel: Elevation Church

Views: 598,230

Rating: 4.8806801 out of 5

Keywords: Elevation Church, Pastor, Steven Furtick, Sermon, Savage, Jesus, Mascot, Gospel, Action, demonstration, explanation, before, after, validation, preparation, baptism, baptized, validate, prepare, purpose, can anything good come from, obedience, on the move, peace, feelings, motivation, do it, temptation, depression, obstacle, hard time, conflict, loneliness, heaven, the Bible, faith, belief, miracle, Christian, move, lonely, feels

Id: xQlVKZjEY8Y

Length: 48min 25sec (2905 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 26 2018