Jesus’ Radical Call to Discipleship - Tim Staples - WBC19

[Applause] all right and my voice is almost back almost amen this has been such a blessing I can't tell you guys how much we and I know I speak for all the Catholic Answers speakers and Stacy who is doesn't work for Catholic Answers although I offered her a job again I would love to have that woman in our office but I know I speak for everyone when I say thank you all so much for your hospitality oh my goodness I am taking back about an extra seven or eight pounds so I got to get back and get back to working out and and my diet but the hospitality is off the charts the joy and the love that we've experienced from you all we will never ever forget god bless you all and thank you but we're going to as Michael said wrap things up kind of we are going to bring I hope I'm gonna try God help me to kind of bring it all together everything that we've talked about and one nice package for you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Father we thank you for the gift of faith and we acknowledge it is just that a gift we've done absolutely nothing to merit this gift of faith and salvation that we've received yet we know we're called to nurture and nourish this great gift and not only for our own salvation but so that we might be instruments of God to bring this great gift of faith and salvation to others as well and so Heavenly Father we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in and through the power of the Holy Spirit that you would open our hearts open our minds and this one last time quick in our bodies that we might be receptive to the word of God that is able to make us wise unto salvation and we ask all this and the name above every name the name of Jesus Christ as we turn now to our Blessed Mother and we do so with confidence knowing she always leads us to Jesus hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death st. Joseph st. Thomas Aquinas Saint Justin Martyr st. Catherine of Alexandria name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen we have talked about a lot of things haven't way over the last few days we've talked about how that Jesus Christ is real he really did live he really did die and he is resurrected from the dead and he is alive and well in all the Tabernacles of all the Apostolic churches all around the world we've learned that our faith is reasonable in fact I've heard it said years ago and I've stolen this line many many times the most human thing you can do is get on your knees and worship God because we can in fact know that God exists through the pure and natural light of human reason we can know the truth of the moral law we've talked about that as well through the pure and natural light of reason we can know the reasonableness of our faith but my friends what I would like to do in bringing this to a conclusion is I would like us to consider or reconsider that everything we are about as Catholics everything we are about as Christians all comes to be centered in the person the life death resurrection of Jesus Christ and I believe that right now in the midst of a crisis in our Catholic culture around the world there is confusion there is what Pope Francis has called the demonic when it comes to priestly scandals scandals among bishops and such we are in the midst of a worldwide as I heard one Exorcist say it a worldwide demonic oppression perhaps unprecedented if you read Pope Benedict's assessment of the crisis Pope Benedict called it unprecedented and he is not one you know to use hyperbole he has a very circumspect man he said unprecedented in fact I believe in the history of the church my friends there have been times of crisis in the church to be sure I argue the fourth century was the darkest time in the history of the church when it comes to theology imagine in the mid fourth century around 350 to 355 imagine as Saint Athanasius said I awoke one morning to discover the whole world was aryan right and I don't mean Aryan as in white dudes with shaved heads but Aryan as following the heretic arias a priest of Alexandria who denied Jesus Christ was God he famously said there was a time when Christ was not we can hardly imagine when it is estimated that between 70 and 80 percent of the world's bishops were heretics you had patriarchs who were heretics but there was one patriarch they could never get and that's the Bishop of Rome amen in fact liberius was put sent into exile by the Emperor he was tortured for two years in an attempt to get to sign an Aryan Creed and at one point under duress he signed an ambiguous Creed it wasn't heretical but it was ambiguous after being tortured and obviously it wasn't considered in heretical because the emperor got mad and said I want a Creed that is clearly Aryan and forced that person to sign it and he refused of course imagine my friends it was so dark that while liberius was being tortured and attempted to sign a heretical Creed the Emperor put a false Pope on the throne in Rome and wanted to pass him off as the new pope to the people of God can you imagine what it'd be like and by the way his name was Felix can you imagine what it would have been like on Christmas Day and right around I can't remember the exact year in the early 350s quote-unquote Pope he was actually an anti Pope came in procession into the Cathedral in Rome and he proclaimed from the pulpit there was a time when Christ was not and can you imagine the devil's glee because he believed he had one he had patriarchs and now he had the throne in Rome here the Pope and of course he wasn't the real Pope he was the anti Popeil --ax declares the heresy you want to know what happened the lady rose up threw him off of the throne beat him half to death and chased him out of Rome now I'm not recommending this folks please but they did and the Emperor knew he was next and liberius was released from prison and can you imagine the glee when then as as dr. Warren Carroll in his famous Christendom series a tremendous work of history the late dr. Warren Carroll has in there that with whip marks still on his back liberius goes in procession into Rome and declares Jesus is God my friends there was a dark dark crisis in the fourth century and people that were living through it at times would fall into despair what is going on with my church right well I argue that today not on a theological level but on a moral level we're experiencing the deepest crisis in the history of the church I will piggyback on what Pope Benedict said unprecedented confusion and declined my friends we don't even know which bathroom to go to anymore we have reached a level of chaos and confusion to where we don't know what a man is we don't know what a woman is we don't know who we are and we don't know who we are in relationship to God and as a culture we are spiraling out of control and the confusion and the despair in fact we were talking earlier the apologists and I about over the last 10 years and in particular the last three years the numbers of suicides are increasing at dramatic levels people are falling into such confusion and despair and now it's not over whether Jesus is God or not it's over what it means to be a human being amen and people don't know which way to turn and I will tell you the confusion has ebbed its way into the church but I am here in my feeble way to attempt to communicate to you the perennial answer to every crisis in the history of the church and that is Jesus Christ and our radical commitment to him because my friends we can learn all the apologetics we can learn all the arguments but they will do nothing if we are not sold out to Jesus Christ if we don't answer the call ourselves that began at least in Mark's Gospel chapter 1 verse 15 what was the first thing that Jesus said in his ministry repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand amen he said repent and the very last thing he said before the Ascension in Matthew 28 is go into all the world teach all nations baptizing them name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I will be with you all days even to the end of the age and I believe my friends one of thee now the the crisis we find ourselves in of course finds manifold problems and involves manifold solutions but I'm going to present what I believe is a key without which we will not see healing in our church and then in the world and that is I believe today our tendency in Christian culture including Catholic culture is to present a Jesus so watered down so weak and so wimpy that he's beyond recognition compared to the Jesus of the Bible can I introduce you to the Jesus of the Bible and this is what we're gonna do I want to go through four biblical texts that I hope by the time we get through these four are going to challenge all of us including me I'm challenging me as well here to consider the Jesus of the Bible versus the Jesus of popular culture because the Jesus of popular culture you know it's the kind of Jesus that says oh I just love you just the way you are now of course that's true Jesus loves us fact that's all he can do remember Patrick often used to say on our radio show God loves us and there's nothing we can do about it because that's what he but you know what he loves us too much to let us stay the way we are amen see Jesus has come he ever heard the old si saying God comes to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable Amen that's Jesus so I want to begin I'm gonna talk about some biblical texts that I'll guarantee if some of you have never heard preached on before and I want some of you to tell me because I'll guarantee there's some in here who probably at least one or two of these you may not even know they're in the book because they're not exactly spoken about a lot we're gonna start in Luke chapter 9 verses 57 through 62 get ready we're gonna have some fun but I'm a kick in the rump at the same time but only in love okay only in love you know the story on this one a man comes to Jesus and he says Lord I want to follow you wherever you go oh my good let me tell you as a Pentecostal preacher man if somebody came up to me and said I want to be saved I want to you know what I do I'd say brother let's just kneel down right here we'll say the sinner's prayer we'll get you saved and then we'll get you your tithe and envelopes amen all right come on a little humor and you Catholics do it too don't be yes you do alright I'm joking with you it's say this is Jesus of course didn't get that memo you know the more I read Jesus the more I say I don't think he ever went to a Billy Graham crusade now don't get me wrong I love Billy Graham I watched him from the time I was eight years old I loved him but this whole idea of accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you're saved is nowhere found in the Bible in fact Jesus didn't get that memo because the boy says I want to follow you wherever you go and what does Jesus do oh thank you let's just say a prayer here is that what Jesus did no he said foxes have holes birds have nests the son of man hath not a place to lay his head oh my goodness Jesus you obviously never read the book how to win friends and influence people say when somebody comes up to you and says I want to follow you wherever you go you don't smack them in the head like that you welcome them you create a welcoming committee amen and you make them feel as good as you write know Jesus says foxes have a in other words he says I don't have a place are you sure you want to follow me I don't even have a place to lay my head the implication as you follow me the same might be waiting for you so think again about following me now that's kind of weird I got to tell you a quick story when I came home from Jimmy Swaggart Bible College years ago when I came to see the truth of the Catholic faith and I knew it meant I was gonna lose everything I lost my girlfriend that I was hoping to be my piano playing wife who would I'd be preaching on Sunday and she'd be playing the piano I lost my girlfriend I lost my church in fact the elders and deacons said don't talk to that boy he's a heretic back when I got home I invited my whole church we had a mega church similar gunshot massive Church and I basically stepped down from ministry just look if you haven't heard my story kid it's called Jimmy Swaggart made me Catholic but I had to step down because I had too much Catholic stuff in my head and I went off to Bible College to try to save my Protestantism and I ended up Catholic alright but the bottom line when I got home you know they like I said I invited the whole church to come to my house and the elder said don't come in I understand you know I talked to them and of course they didn't agree and they have to do what they think is right and protecting their people I get that they said don't talk to Tim because he's a heretic and one of my buddies his name was Wes fact he wouldn't mind me saying his name West Vaughn was his name he went to the elders and he said he said elder Gary that was one of the elders chiton was our he was our go-to guy he was the guy the apologist got I was when I was Protestant I used to defend the faith I suppose he said now you're telling us not to go see him why is this and Gary said I'll tell you why because if you go there he will confuse you and he will lead you to the Catholic Church that's why and what he said he turned around he walked away going was that supposed to comfort me what he said they must be afraid of something so he came and we only had 25 that came over the wall and they came to my house and I shared with them the reasons why I'd become Catholic and by the way today every single one of them are Catholic and two of them are priests just thought you might want to know but anyway the point is my friends this Catholic faith of ours was unsettling to me and I'll tell you why because when I got home and I was so excited that you know man I couldn't wait to call a priest on the phone because I had come to the faith through books and study I hadn't even met a priest yet so I called up on the phone and this old priest father Collins who has long since died he gets on the phone and I said father let me just tell you I'm Assembly God youth pastor I'm I've left the assembly God I'm ready to be Catholic what do I do and his response to me blew my mind he said are you sure you want to be Catholic I'm going he said tell you what come on over and we'll talk about it I'm going that's not exactly warm and welcoming so I go over there and we sit down and it was incredible he was like going through the Inquisition he was and you know at the time it was a little disconcerting but I realized oh my gosh he's acting like Jesus amen he's challenging me to make sure that I understand what it is I'm getting into and that blessed my socks off amen this is what Jesus did foxes have holes but are you sure you want to follow me oh okay then another man comes to Jesus you all know the story and he says Lord I want to follow you but first let me go bury my father oh my goodness his father had just died so you know what happened right Jesus said I'm so sorry for your loss here let's pray together for a while oh my god no Jesus that I know this is disconcerting some of you are going to get a little upset here but jesus said let the dead bury their dead you come follow me all my goodness Jesus you now we need some sensitivity training the man just lost his father and you're gonna see my friends are some powerful truths being revealed here Jesus see Jesus spoke as no other prophet had ever spoken see the prophets always point to Yahweh they always point outside of themselves but Jesus says follow me and he makes it absolute that is yes your father died but guess what God is standing right in front of you and I must come before ever and everyone my brothers and sisters this is what we need to hear today in Catholic culture that Jesus calls you sir to absolute commitment and he'll have it no other way amen another person comes Lord I want to follow you but first let me go back to the house and say goodbye to the folks amen and it's a very important verse here because Jesus says any man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is not fit for the kingdom right now the scripture scholars tell us this there's a very important allusion here to the Old Testament remember the calling of Elisha when Elijah calls Elisha remember Elisha says to Elisha I will follow you but first let me go back to the house and say goodbye and Elisha says go ahead and remember he goes back and he plows with I think twelve yoke of oxen which tells you that's a pretty determined dude right there twelve yoke of oxen but notice what Jesus is saying here is someone greater than Elisha is here no you don't go back to your family you follow me now amen absolutely that's biblical text number one biblical text number two let's go to Luke 13 verses one through six is anybody else having fun or is it just me Luke 13 verses one through six the Jews come to Jesus his disciples come to him and they say Lord have you heard that Pilate is mixing the blood of Jews with the evening sacrifices right what is that saying Pilate was killing Jews as sacrifices along with the sacrifices to the pagan and no doubt you know some of the disciples like Simon the zealot right and others were coming to rabble rousers and say Jesus do you see the injustice that's going on here my goodness they are killing what are you gonna do and you know what Shane they were hoping Jesus would say pick up a sword baby we'll take care of this but what does he do oh my goodness see Jesus doesn't fit the mold he says do you think the Galileans that were killed were greater sent where any greater sinners than anyone else he said no I say to you unless you repent you will likewise perish Jesus you're so harsh you're so harsh and then he adds something else right in the midst of can you imagine how the disciples would have felt especially the ones that wanted to rabble rousers and they get that response it's kind of like can we find another Jesus no that's not the answer I was looking for but you know what they continued to follow him there's something intriguing about this guy I can't get away from but now notice this he says or consider now he tosses out an idea they weren't thinking he says and consider those eighteen upon whom the tower at Siloam fell and crushed and killed all of them do you think they were sinners above all others I say nay but unless you repent you will likewise perish not exactly pastoral sensitivity amen but what is Jesus doing he's calling us to consider I remember hearing a bishop and I wish I could remember his name who preached at a conference I was at and he said this what we are endeavoring to do as pastors in his case a bishop as apologists as evangelists we are helping poke people to get their priorities right we are always attempting to help people to know that the most important thing is the most important thing is the most important thing amen did you follow me on that that's what we're trying to do is get our priorities straight and this is what Jesus came to do 2,000 years ago is to be sure that we all understand that the most important thing is that the most important thing is the most important thing that's biblical text number two let's move to biblical text number three and this gets even more disturbing you remember the story when Jesus comes to the rich young man and he says in the Bible says in Matthew chapter 19 verse 16 the rich young man comes to Jesus and says Lord what must I do to have everlasting life once again Jesus gets it wrong he had never been to a Billy Graham crusade because notice and and again I have to say not just Billy Graham but me somebody comes to me what must I do to have everyone what am I going to do well let's I'm gonna take you through Romans Road I don't know if any of you know what that means but basically I'm gonna teach you that you need to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior write that again Jesus didn't get the memo because what does Jesus say he says if thou will enter into everlasting life keep the commandments you're so confused you don't have to keep the commandments to have everlasting life haven't you heard Luther taught justification by faith alone now in our breakout session we went through without Amen those of you that were there well obviously Jesus didn't get that memo because he says if you want to have everlasting life keep the commandments now why would he say that because he's the head of the Catholic Church amen that's why but then the rich young man says but I've done this since I was a youth because remember he says which Commandments and Jesus lists some of them moral Commandments and he says I've kept these from the time I was a youth but then Jesus says if that will be perfect give everything you own to the poor and come follow me and you know my friends the story he walked away said and I want you to notice what Jesus didn't do he did not start bargaining with him wait a minute how about 50% hold it just stop look how about a tithe let's take 10% or in some churches we'll pay you okay just come we got Starbucks for you in the pews okay come on all right no Jesus doesn't bargain does he he walks away and in fact Jesus uses this as an occasion to teach something very important he says to the disciples that remained he said how hardly shall a rich man enter in the into the kingdom of heaven this is a real important point folks how hardly shall a rich man enter in the kingdom of heaven he says verily I say unto you it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven now I kid you not I remember reading a commentary years ago and I heard some sermons from some of my Protestant brothers I can picture oh lord have mercy them say that see this eye of the needle was actually a passageway in Jerusalem that had a real low pass that so camels had to get down on their knees it wasn't that it was impossible but they had to kind of go through like this so that they could make it but it was really different folks that's hogwash not only is that all a myth but and this is the entire point of what's being said here and I'm gonna spend a couple minutes on this because I do believe it's important the whole point that Jesus is making here is that it's impossible for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven in fact my friends it's impossible for any of us to make it to heaven on our own power Amen this is the point that Jesus and you say how do you know that - keep reading listen to what he says the Apostles are so distraught they've never heard messages like this before easier for a camel to pass through in Ivany what that's impossible a camel can't pass through the eye of a needle and the disciples who were following Jesus they were so upset they said but well Lord who can be saved and what did Jesus respond with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible see what Jesus is saying here is not only is it impossible for a rich man in fact if you go through the Sermon on the Mount my friends this is one of the central points Jesus makes in all of his teaching is that it's impossible here let me give you another example you know y'all are about to get a Bible study right here are you ready for this alright in the Sermon on the mouth I'm gonna use the example of Matthew chapter 5 verse 20 you remember this Jesus makes an important point he says unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you will in no wise into the kingdom of heaven why would he say that because the Pharisees my friends were the Masters of the law right and in fact their job was to show the way everybody can fulfill the law they were minimalist they said okay you got to do this you got to at least do this in order to fill the law and then you got to do this and this not this you don't have to do but you have to do this right and they were minimalist teaching people how you can fulfill the law what Jesus is saying no that will not get you to heaven your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees why because Jesus calls us not to just to keep law he calls us to do what human nature cannot do he calls us to do the impossible he calls us as he says in jungle take this home with you in John 13:34 love one another as I have loved you amen what does that mean he's calling us to do something that we can't do he's calling us now some of you probably heard me say this before and people get mad at me when I say it I don't like this movement that talks about you know be the best version of yourself I don't like it it tends toward and I know some I know some good people who use it and and I know they don't intend this I get that but it drives me crazy because folks the best version of yourself is just good enough to get you to hell all right Jesus doesn't call you to be the best version of yourself he calls you to be Jesus in the middle of the world he calls you to love as he loves that is to go beyond what any law can do he calls us ultimately to die amen as martyrs that's what the sacraments are all about think about confirmation right why are we confirmed in order that we might die think of this when Jesus said tarry in Jerusalem write in Acts chapter one What did he say Terry in German wait for the promise of the Father that you may be imbued with Dunamis dynamite power you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon why so that you may be my what witnesses that's right we're all called to be Jehovah's Witnesses right oh oh no no I'm sorry that's not that's a joke hello we are all called so that you may be my witnesses and of course most of us know the Greek word for witnesses there is Marta Roy we are called to be martyrs to dye the sacraments empower us to do what we can't do because naturally Shane you and I want to run the other direction when a cross is placed right in front of us but we're empowered by Jesus to be able to do what our natures can't do that's what Jesus is all about not calling you to be the best version of yourself but to empower you to be Jesus in the middle of the world see I think this is a message we need to hear today because my friends if you're gonna live how many of you are married raise your hand oh my goodness you poor people raise your hand real high keep them up all right y'all see all these people in here on your wedding day you got in over your head amen and you want to know why because ultimately what are you called to do in the sacrament of holy matrimony get each other to heaven and to drag as many kids as you can with you and guess what in order to fulfill that calling you need supernatural power amen and that comes through the sacraments God is calling us to be supernatural people to go beyond what our natures are capable to do and if you don't understand that you're gonna be down here in mediocrity instead of understanding you're called to greatness amen to be faithful to your spouse men to die for your wife and your children in the image of Christ amen now the rich young man I wanted last point here and we're gonna go to our final Bible section although I am going to pull in a few more here but notice this because a lot of folks say well Tim you're you you got it wrong here because with the rich young man he says if you will be perfect he's only calling him to say the priesthood or religious life those who are called to perfection hogwash no he's not folks this is the same Jesus who said in Matthew 5:48 be he perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect perfection is not just for priests and religious anymore amen it's for all of us and also notice he's not just calling him to be blessed you know calling him to a higher level of discipleship as some say right no this is necessary for salvation and how do you know that because Jesus says right it's impossible for what the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven just as impossible as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle the point being my friends what we're called to is impossible and not just those of us that are married but how many of you are baptized raise your hand come on there's a lot of us in here yes you're in over your head - amen because in Baptism you have received a call to get your tail to heaven and you can't do that without supernatural power last Bible verse I'm gonna use and then I want to make some applications my friends see the Jesus of scripture calls us to radical discipleship because he knows that's the only way we can receive the power necessary to accomplish the call see if we hold on to idols in our lives God can't bless that Amen that rich young man see money was his idol and Jesus says you know I can't bless that give everything and how many of you know all of us are called to give everything not just the rich young man Amen can I do I need to do this one last thing before we get to the last verse and that is how many of y'all know tithing is not a New Testament concept raise your hand real high okay we've got some Catholics in here good good all right and why do I say that well tithing is an Old Testament concept right tithing needs to take a tenth now you'll find councils like the fourth Lateran Council who use the term tithing but tithing doesn't have the same meaning in the New Testament as the old the old it was give 10% in the New Testament guys we don't give 10% we give a hundred percent amen as the rich young man found out we give out now does that tip what are you saying you mean I got to go home and empty my bank account my my retirement accounts and give it no I'm not we are called to be stewards in fact the the USCCB the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a wonderful document on its website on stewardship it's actually quite beautiful but it talks about how basically folks everything we have is not ours it belongs to God and in fact really a New Testament theology what matters is not what you give but what you keep amen we need to be free st. Paul says that 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 God loves a cheerful Giver you know in Catholic churches man when it's time to give we should all be going look it's time to give God loves a cheerful Giver we should be free to be able to give when there is need and of course now the 10% is a good rule of thumb to get you started no doubt I know my wife and I when we first got married we couldn't afford to hardly give everything we were so broke and I was in terrible debt but you know what we did we started giving as best we could and our goal was to get to 10% and we finally made it there and now we've gone beyond and we give a little bit more and we try to give a little bit more every year but God wants you so free that when Michael Chung asks you for money you guys are happy and you're just throwing money all over him amen all right I just thought I would mention that but let's move to our final Bible really a section of Scripture here and that's Matthew chapter 15 I'm gonna make application in the life of the Blessed Mother and then into our lives in Matthew chapter 15 verses 22 through 28 we have a powerful text you guys know the story when Jesus encounters the SERO Phoenician woman right the Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus and says Lord the Bible says she cries out Lord my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon remember that please heal her and what does Jesus do Jesus says all I'm so sorry to hear about that where is she I'll heal her no no he didn't do that see the Jesus of Scripture sometimes he's a little disturbing amen the Bible says he answered her not a word imagine this woman comes my daughter is great think about this moms how much pain was in this woman only moms can understand this amen how much pain is in her heart please come heal and the Majan you're that woman and I'm Jesus you run up to me please Hill and this is what this is what I do is Jesus and he just keeps walking and the Bible says he answered her not a word all this is so important this is so important that we understand folks do you understand that God is not a cosmic bubble gum machine did y'all know that right to where you just ask and if you ask enough times and you do it in the right way ching ching you get what you want amen how many of you know God sometimes will bless you with cancer did you know that God sometimes will bless you with things you'd rather not him bless you with but he always has a purpose and sometimes we don't see it immediately amen but we need to understand this principle because when calamity and hard times come into our life the the you know the Jesus of popular culture who just wants to hold you in his arms and just love you and give you whatever you want it doesn't work that health and wealth gospel that wimpy jesus gospel doesn't work it doesn't work when a mom is holding a baby that's gasping for its last breath at two days old and dies and mama saying why Lord why that kind of wimpy theology won't get you through amen but see the Jesus of the Bible answers her not a word keeps walking and then the Apostles come on the scene and they say Jesus this woman keeps crying after us right what are you gonna do with this woman now certainly Jesus would rebuke those apostles right for saying that about this woman no you know what Jesus does he says I am NOT come but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and he ignores her once again she cries after him all the more and now he says I'm not sent to you and he keeps walking oh my lord you talk about needing sensitivity training then what happens the woman cries out all the more but you know what's interesting is there's a change here you ever notice read that text because now the woman cries out and says lord please help me then that interesting she first came for her daughter but now she's saying help me there's something going on here Jesus is sneaky and he you know what he's doing he's helping her to see that the most important thing is the most important thing is the most important thing he's getting her to see who it is that she's talking to amen you can see there's a change now lord please help me and now certainly Jesus says oh I'm so sorry I love you let's heal no now a third time Jesus appears to rebuke her and this time it gets personal he says it is not right for me to take the food of the children and cast it to dogs and he walks away my goodness you know what would happen in the United States he would be under arrest for a hate crime now he calls her a dog oh my lord it's not fit for me to take the food of the children and cast it to dogs and what is her response of course in the United States she would be looking for an attorney to get a lawsuit going or worse in Australia amen but what does she say she says yes Lord yes Lord has st. francis of assisi famously said until we understand that we are pups dogs begging for crumbs at the master's table we're not going anywhere in the spiritual life amen many years ago I this was actually in my Protestant years and I had a buddy in the Marine Corps and we used to evangelize all the Marines on base sailors you name it I used to have a bus ministry where I we would go evangelize and invite everybody to church and I'd get Marines out of bed on Sunday morning I don't care if you're hungover get up we're gonna go to church all right and so I thought I was something you know and I remember I was getting ready to fly home on a vacation it was Christmas time and I jokingly said to one of my buddies from my church he was actually a Baptist boy really good boy Jim and I said you know what I'm gonna fly home I know I'm gonna be all right though because Jesus has plans for me man I know I'm gonna be all right my planes not gonna crash and I kind of said that tongue-in-cheek but I'll never forget you Jim Mark Lee said to me Tim God doesn't need you you need God Wow and you know what I kind of laughed at it and then I walked away oh my gosh yeah that's true isn't it it was one of those aha moments right see this Canaanite woman was learning something wasn't she that she is talking to the creator of the universe here amen who demands absolute obedience even in the midst of what appears to be that God smacking her in the face that God appears to be rejecting her but guess what Jesus wants to heal her daughter and her more than she wants her daughter healed and more she more than she wants herself to be healed but you know what he's doing he's getting rid of all the idols amen he's clearing away all the idols and he's helping her to see that what is required is absolute commitment last thing here and I want to make some final applications anybody learning anything Yeah right hang on yes Lord but even the pups eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table and Jesus says blessed are you can you imagine the elation in Jesus soul because basically what he was doing is testing her faith amen he was testing her to the nth degree and you know those whom Jesus loves he chastises amen Hebrews chapter 12 verses 8 through 12 tells us be if you are not experiencing the chastisement of the Lord then you're a bastard and not a son says that that's that's not Tim staples that's in the Bible as Hebrews chapter 12 and those whom Jesus loves greatly he tests greatly and in fact if you're going through very difficult times and in a situation in your life you should rejoice because Jesus loves you so much he is trusting you with a tremendous amount of testing but when that woman said yes Lord but even the pups Jesus says blessed are you and that woman's daughter was healed from that very hour finally I want to make some application to the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and I want to go to John chapter 2 and I know we ran out of my books behold your mother is there any way we can take orders out there because everybody in here it's gonna want to buy my book after this next high chess I'm just wondering but in my book I talk about John chapter 2 in relation to our Blessed mother's role and God's plan of salvation and I want to finish on this point but just by way of setting things up those of you that were in my talk that I just gave on justification salvation you know remember I talked about how justification salvation is not a one-time deal but it is a process over a lifetime I'm gonna give everybody in here homework I want you to go in your catechism of the Catholic Church and read paragraph 517 to 521 in fact you only need to read paragraph 517 and five 21 because in there the Catechism tells us I'll read from paragraph five 17 Christ's entire life was redemptive important point to remember we didn't get to this in the class so y'all gonna learn something too those of you who are in my breakout Jesus entire life was redemptive not just no we did touch on it we did touch on this not just his death on the cross you know the Protestant theology of he did it all in the cross is skewed of course he died and without the shedding of blood there is no remission for our sins Hebrews 9:22 of course that is true but what we need to know is Christ's entire life was redemptive and the Catechism gives us a series of five biblical texts that are really beautiful to accentuate this point it starts with second Corinthians 8:9 where the scripture says Christ though he were rich right he yet he became poor that we might be made rich in him and can I tell you that's not talking about your pocketbook amen I heard a TV preacher years ago I'm not kidding you and I don't like to call names cuz I don't want to pick on creflo dollar okay y'all y'all get creflo here in Australia creflo dollar I love watching those guys gives me lots of material you know but I do love them I mean they're good folks but oh my gosh their theology so bad anyway so creflo quotes this text though my lord well though he was rich he became Pope so that we might be made rich in him and he said to his congregation he said brothers and sisters I am not ashamed to say I am loaded he really did he said and I thought in my mind yet because they're giving all their money to you so that they can get rich this is not talking about pocketbooks this is talking about the fact that in the Incarnation in the infinite humiliation of God God think about it in an infinite act of humiliation God becomes man you talk about commitment my friends the fact that Jesus calls us to radical commitment he's already made a commitment that is infinite amen and he empowers us to make that radical commitment as well all right listen to this because in the Incarnation the word has made flesh he becomes a man I like to when I'm teaching high schoolers and stuff I'll use an analogy to get them to understand the seriousness of this the gravity of this imagine you have any young people in here oh you bunch of old people all right imagine if I had the power I'm gonna be you know Morgan Freeman now okay if y'all seen the movie Bruce Almighty or ever I thought Evan Almighty was better buddy right I'm gonna be Morgan Freeman and I'm gonna give you the power to be a let's say to shame I'm gonna give shame the power to become an ant now shame I just got to tell you when you become an ant you're gonna go down here on this ant hill and just so you know the other ants are gonna tear you apart and eat you okay so are you ready I don't think Shane would volunteer would you volunteer for that no I don't think so think about that and then I always say to the kids but guys for you to become an aunt is not an infinite act of humiliation why because you're not infinitely above an ant but God is infinitely above us so becoming man for God is an infinitely greater act of humiliation than for you to become an ant and be eaten that's what it's a and in that act of self-abnegation required from the instant of his incarnation he merited enough to save a billion worlds amen in fact he merited infinitely and the Catechism goes on to show from second Corinthians 8:9 to then Luke 2 51 and 52 follow me on this there's going to be a quiz in Luke to remember the finding of the Child Jesus in the temple when Mary comes to Jesus and says boy you know we can't even imagine what was going through Mary's heart separated from Jesus for three days and you and I understand that God was preparing Mary for the three days of darkness she would experience at the foot of the cross but imagine she comes to Jesus and says Jesus in good Jewish fashion what are you doing boy now that's not an exact interpretation there but he says no you not that I'd be about my father's business right and the Bible says they didn't understand completely what Jesus was saying there but Mary pondered these things in her heart Mary had a singular understanding that nobody else did but the Bible says then Mary says get your tail home to Jesus and he obeyed his parents and thus he grew an age and wisdom and grace before God and men Jesus grew in grace what not for himself but for you and I see he was redeeming us from the womb now as a child and then the next verse is Matthew 8 I'll do this fast Matthew 8 14 through 17 when he heals Peters mother-in-law remember he heals and he says the scripture says thus was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet he quotes Isaiah 53 3 through 5 remember he bore our sins and our iniquities by His stripes we were healed already in Jesus ministry he's already redeeming folks amen and then it goes to John 15:3 where I remember Jesus says on the night before he was crucified he says you to the apostles you are already made clean because you've received my work now wait a minute Jesus got to be confused they can't be clean because Jesus ain't died on the cross yet are you with me see the Protestant theology I was raised and said he did it all in the cross hello are you there hello no obviously Jesus hadn't read Luther and Calvin because they were already made clean why because he was already redeeming through his word and then even beyond the cost the Catechism quotes Romans 4:25 he was crucified for our sins he was raised again for our justification wait a minute that's after the cross I thought he did it all on the cross why did he have to be raised again for our justification you want to know why because he's the head of the Catholic Church not the Lutheran Church amen I hate to be harsh not really but are you with me the Catechism points out here that Jesus entire life and we could go into eternity he ever liveth to make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father Hebrews 7 24 so that he is able for all time to save those who come to him he is still saving folks amen in his priestly ministry at the right hand of the Father and in and through the Eucharist which is his ministry in heaven brought down to earth amen then we go we're coming to the end folks it's gonna get so good Oh Shane I wish I was sitting where you are so I could hear this do you understand because this is about to get good because in paragraph 521 the Catechism then says this quoting the great st. John us it says the spiritual life in essence is nothing more nothing less than our allowing the life of Christ to be lived in us and through us just as Christ from the womb to the tomb redeemed us we are called through baptism amen even Shane you're just a little baby yeah where are you a cradle Catholic you were baptized as a baby you know what all you were doing is laying there pooping right you're laying there that's all you're doing right but when that priest poured that water on your head and said i baptize you in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit you were incorporated into Jesus Christ given the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit the right to all the other sacraments in accordance with your calling in life you were empowered to go out and change the world amen and what was Shane doing you didn't merit anything that's why I prayed at the beginning this we give thanks for the gift of faith and we acknowledge it it's just that we've done absolutely nothing to merit the gift of faith we've received yet we call we know we are called to nurture and nourish this great gift and not only for our own salvation but so that we might be instruments of God to bring that great gift of faith and salvation to others as well and so just as Jesus from the womb to the tomb became a grace machine my friend so that in every human act of Jesus Christ he is redeeming all of us and grace is exploding down through the eons of time to redeem us and to empower us amen so that in Baptism to all of the sacraments and day in and day out we are called to allow the life of Christ to be lived in and through us from the womb to the tomb amen now the Blessed Virgin Mary is I argue the ultimate example of this you know we say the Blessed Virgin Mary is the hammer of heretics right say how did the Blessed Virgin Mary be the hammer of heretics she only spoke five times in the Bible right how was well lumen gentium 65 in the dogmatic Constitution on the church says this in her life and person we find re-echoed all of the most important doctrines of the faith all right think about the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and what we see revealed in Scripture she you know folks will ask all the time remember when I was writing my book I was reading a book by a wonderful Protestant apologist named Ron Rhodes good man one of the blessings one of the many blessings of being an apologist is we get to meet great men and women from all different religions you name it and talk with them and share with them and Catholicism amen Shane but Ron Rhodes makes this point he says that the Catholics so greatly exaggerate the role of Mary because Mary had nothing to do with God's plan of salvation except we could say in one way he says for example giving birth to Jesus but other than that she has nothing to do with God's plan of salvation and when I read that now I'm not making fun because I used to preach that from the pulpit but I remember when I first read Ron's book there and I owe Lord that's painful I mean I just say all she did was give birth to Jesus I mean that's kind of like saying well other than that mrs. Lincoln how was the play now that might not go over well in Australia see Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president he got shot in the all right some of you will get that on the way home anyway to say all she did was give birth to Jesus I mean that's like saying all she did was everything because when Mary says let it be done unto me in those words she changed the universe of course God through her because when she said let it be the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and you and I could be saved that's kind of important but did it stop there did Mary's roll stop there of course not what we see in Sacred Scripture is Mary continues in John chapter 2 which we're gonna get to right now I'm gonna take it apart where she basically kick-starts Jesus into his ministry she basically says now it's time you know what I like to do I like to say in John - basically what Mary did is she said to Jesus Jesus you're 30 years old living at home it's time to get out of the house and of course Jesus says but mom he says TM oi Kai soy Geun a what to me and to you woman my hour is not yet come what did Mary say yes it has and I'm gonna tell you why all right but we're gonna come back to that but beyond that we see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Simeon in Luke were coming to the end here folks hang with me Luke chapter 2 you guys are gonna get bypass purgatory passes in Luke chapter 2 verse 34 and 35 member Simeon the Prophet sees the Holy Family and we cannot even imagine what went through simians mind because the Holy Spirit had told him he would not die until he sees the Messiah and he had prayed for decade after decade in the temple and the Holy Spirit says there he is we can only imagine how his heart lept as he walks over and the Bible says he went right to marry his mother poor st. Joseph he gets left out again he goes right to marry his mother and says behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and to be a sign of contradiction which shall be spoken against and a sword will pierce your what-not heart soul that's very important because she's being called to be a white martyr here it's not hard it's okay a soul will a sword will pierce your soul that the thoughts of many hearts may be manifest I want you to notice the same many that Jesus dies for Mary is called to suffer for here as Pope Saint John Paul the great put it Oh y'all got to get my book behold your mother because I go through this in great detail but as Pope st. John Paul the great says in his great encyclical letter south of Fiji Dolores paragraph 25 he says the sufferings of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are so integrally joined to the sufferings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that they become a participation in the redemption of us all and that is exactly what you see in Sacred Scripture the same many that Jesus is called to suffer for Mary is called to suffer for and we see that fulfilled on the cross when in the most sacred moment in Salvation history Jesus says behold your mother and in that suffering of son and mother a birth happens John son behold Your Mother woman behold your son and we know John is in the place of all of us how do we know that not only from the leg get my book because I talk about the language that's used there in John 19 we don't have time to get into it right now but we can do it the easy way instead of getting into the Greek go to Revelation chapter 12 the same John who was standing there wrote the book revelation and notice he says in Revelation 12 4 and 5 that the woman gives birth to the Messiah but in verse 17 she gives birth to all of us have the testimony of Jesus Christ and keep his Commandments amen so she has prophetically said by Simeon to at the foot of the cross where this is fulfilled suffer with Jesus and give birth to all of us amen and then we see into eternity Mary the woman clothed with the Sun on her head a crown of twelve stars who is involved in the cosmic battle between good and evil from the very beginning to the end that's mama final thing my friends we're going to go to John 2 and make a final application here in John 2 verses 1 through 5 we can only imagine my friends how powerful this would have been 2,000 years ago when the Bible says there was a wedding at Cana and the disciples were there with Mary and the unthinkable happened they ran out of wine do you know that whether it's a Jewish wedding or a Catholic wedding if you don't have any wine it's not a valid marriage that is true we just got that message from the Vatican no I'm joking they ran out of wine mama goes to Jesus and I mentioned Jesus response baits basically mama says it's time to perform a miracle and Jesus says no I am NOT going to do this he says TM oi KY soy Geun a what to me unto you woman my hour has not yet come follow me on this folks we're bringing it home that language that Jesus uses is disturbing in my book I quote the great scripture scholar father William Leonard who points out here that this is a Hebron ism that goes back to the Old Testament it's a phrase T Amoy chi SOI GU name which basically is a rebuke it's the strongest language Jesus could use to say no I am NOT going to do this in fact in my book I give you a litany of examples from the Old Testament and in fact we don't even have to go the Old Testament you can go to the New Testament in Matthew chapter 8 verse 29 remember the dim the domani acts of Ghidorah remember when Jesus goes to Ghidorah and he just walks into town there and what happens Linda Blair right her head spins around and she's spitting oh no that was a movie I'm sorry are y'all the demons manifest and what do they say to Jesus they say what is this between you and us are you come to torment us before the time it's the same language except it's in the plural mary says t and Moy Caixa or Jesus says to Mary kia muy que soy goon a what is this between you and me in other words no I'm not gonna do it I'm not get away from me woman and what does Mary do hey get ready here comes the miracle see we've got to understand I got more pushback on that point in my book than anything else I wrote people got mad Jesus would never test his mother oh shut up are you kidding me Luke chapter 4 says the Spirit of the Lord led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil is Mary above Jesus please say no real loud because he's God and she's not amen you better believe she was tested this was an incredibly powerful test Jesus says no get away from me but notice she comes through in flying colors ma'am you know the Canaanite woman it took three times with Mary it was immediate right he tested her get away from me no I'm not gonna do it what does she do get ready here comes the miracle why cuz I said so I'm the mummy and he performs the miracle my friends whereby the Bible says Jesus began to manifest his glory and apostles believed in him or it says the disciples believed in him in John chapter 2 verse 11 now why do I bring that up if we had time I could go through the entire example of the life of Mary we don't have time but you're gonna get the book so you'll be able to go home and read it final word my friends in the Blessed Virgin Mary we see incarnate outside of the Godhead amen the grace of God perfected through her entire life paralleling the life of Jesus Christ so that in her is perfected all of the graces that you and I hope will be perfected in us notice how her whole life just as the life of her son was redemptive amen and guess what that's what we were called to we are called to be grace machines like Jesus and Mary from the womb to the tomb by our cooperation to bring life and love first into our own lives but then into the lives of others but I am convinced what we are lacking in our Catholic culture is the commitment the radical call of the site discipleship that is necessary for any of this to be effectual in our lives we have too many Catholics in the pew who don't know Jesus and what we're trying to do is get people to live for Jesus when they don't have the power to do it in fact Pope John Paul in a and now you what do they call that a talk I remember John Paul making that point specifically about marriage that my friends as I told you before when you enter into Jesus Christ and baptism you're in over your head because you're called to do something it's impossible for you to do by nature you need grace and grace comes when you're committed to Jesus Christ amen the sacraments don't work by magic the sacraments work when we cooperate with God's grace because if we receive the sacraments we're not even in a state of grace amen not only is it not going to do us any good but it can take us to hell ooh where'd you get that from first Corinthians chapter 11 verses 27 through 29 amen if we eat this bread or drink the cup of the Lord unworthily we eat and from skipping down to verse 29 we eat and drink damnation to ourselves not discerning the body of the Lord amen what we need are Catholics to understand that God is calling you to give up everything and to follow him and that's the only way you can experience love in life if you're having sin that cycle it talked about that recurring sin in your life I got good news for you go to confession and before you go get on your knees and beg Jesus say lord I give everything to you please heal me amen and then go and experience the power of God's grace to transform you amen you see my friends a lot of the problems not all of them a lot of the problems go away in our church if we understand that's John Paul what once said we're you know we have retreats for married couples we have married couples that are in in difficult marriages and such and we we're preparing people for marriage and we're asking them to live the sacrament but they don't know Jesus to start with we got to get back to basis and ask people have you given your life to Jesus because when we do that and we need to do it not just one time amen but over and over and over again allow Jesus to transform our lives and I will guarantee you my friends if we hear the words of Jesus from the beginning to the end as I started in mark chapter 1 verse 15 repent and believe the gospel to the end we believe all things that Jesus teaches to be revealed by God in all things that the church teaches to be revealed by God and we are sold out to Jesus let me tell you the devil is going to be shaking in his boots because you give me a catholic who is sold out for Jesus with a Bible in one hand and the Catechism in the other and they are the most dangerous individual on this planet and you get a whole group of folks like this together will change Australia in one generation god bless you [Applause]

Channel: Michael Chong

Views: 1,791

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus, Catholic Answers, Tim Staples, Evangelisation Australia, Catholic

Id: 7pds5Arx_2M

Length: 79min 55sec (4795 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 22 2020