Matthew 14:1-12, Silencing The King’s Herald

Matthew chapter 14 verses 1 through 12 you guys ready let's have an adventure Heavenly Father we commit this time to you Lord we're grateful for your love and the Grace and the mercy that you've shown us and Heavenly Father I know that there are men and women here that this is maybe the first Father's Day without their dad or maybe the second or the third or the fifth or the tenth and Heavenly Father we know that there are other dads who for whatever reason just aren't the part of our life and again I pray that by your Holy Spirit you would speak to our hearts that you yourself would be our husband and our Heavenly Father leading us guiding us protecting us and Heavenly Father I invite your Holy Spirit to come upon this place Lord I pray that you would strengthen us and encourage us Lord I pray that the Holy Spirit would prepare hearts and heavenly father I pray that the Holy Spirit would anoint me and fill me so that you would be honored and people would be given hope we commit these things to you and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen Matthew chapter 14 if you have a Bible you might want to read along with me in verse 1 it says at that time Herod the Tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants this is John the Baptist he's risen from the dead and therefore these powers are at work in him for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias his brother brother Philips wife because John said to him it's not lawful for you to have her and although he wanted to put him to death he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet but when Herod's birthday was celebrated the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask so she having been prompted by her mother said give me John the Baptist head here on a platter and the king was sorry nevertheless because of the ODEs and because of those who sat with him he commanded it to be given to her so he sent and had John beheaded in prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it and went and told Jesus we come to a brand new section in Matthew's Gospel in the first ten chapters we see the revelation of the king and then in chapters 11 through 13 the rebellion against the king but now we see the King begin to retreat in chapters 14 through 20 Jesus will begin this process of withdrawal from the multitudes and he's going to spin some very focused time with his disciples he needs to prepare them for the crisis of events that are about to unfold as he's going to offer his life in Jerusalem the teachings of Jesus about the confer kingdom confused his disciples and troubled them Jesus will begin a process of preparation for the events that are about to take place and the King's rejection will result in this chapter in part with a story of persecution in verses 1 through top 12 verses 1 through 12 then Jesus himself will make a provision in verses 13 through 21 and then he will provide protection as he prays for the servants and rescues the servants in verses 22 through 36 three groups are going to emerge in Matthew's Gospel the three groups are going to include the Kings enemies the needy multitude and the needy disciples but you can imagine with enemies needy people needy disciples it's going to take a mental and emotional toll on Jesus and so he's going to retire first a much-needed rest but the hostile forces are going to continue to try to destroy him and the needy people will continue to make their demands upon him and Jesus moved and motivated by compassion will unselfishly continue to minister to the needs of people even though he needs a timeout he needs some rest and some solitude Jesus is on a mission the mission that he's on remember is he's on a mission he has come from heaven to fulfill his father's plans he's not here subject to the whims of circumstances he has something in mind and he's going to accomplish what he has in mind and our attention returns to now john the baptist's and so part of what I think I want you to be able to do is you should be able to ask this question well why does Matthew bring this information at this point in his gospel remember what we've already learned Jesus has been rejected and it appears that John the Baptist has been murdered by Herod Antipas and in verses 3 to 12 it's like a parenthesis it's like going back he's going to explain what's going on and the followers of Jesus run the risk of persecution and death and I suspect that this seems to be part of the reason why Matthew has inserted this particular story at this particular time because the moment that you say I love Jesus and I want to walk with Jesus and I want to obey Jesus and I want to stop disobeying Jesus I want to say no to my sin and I want to say yes to Christ guess what there are going to be challenges that you will face you'll remember that Jesus himself said he who receives me receives you and he who receives you receives me and in Matthew chapter 10 verse 40 he's been rejected by the religious leaders he's been rejected by the people in his own hometown just like some of you may face times the misunderstanding of isolation and rejection and so in this section there are three main characters herod Herodias and of course john the baptists and the story is at once tragic and inspirational you'll remember that john the baptist came with the spirit and the anointing of elijah and luke chapter 1 verse 17 WHU Griffith Thomas and his outline studies in Matthew points out that the weakness he basically says quote Herodias certainly showed the wickedness of Jezebel and Herod the weakness of Ahab and behind these human personalities were the same unseen powers causing this notable likeness back of Elijah and John was the Holy Spirit inspiring them with faith and fortitude while back of the rulers and their womankind was the evil one inciting them to evil in word and deed unquote and when I was thinking about this I thought you know what it's not your generation that invented the Kardashians of course for older people like myself if I use the word Peyton Place they'll understand what I mean if you're mature you'll remember Dallas but there's drama in every generation and now we look at the cowardice of a king and the conniving of a queen and the courage of a prophet look what it says in verse one the cowardice of Herod at that time Herod the Tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants Luce was John the Baptist he's risen from the dead no he is a really risen from the dead in that sense and therefore these powers are at work with them this is the statement of a man who's full of fear Herod the Tetrarch is also known as Herod Antipas now in order to understand this sordid story this peyton place you have to understand a little bit about the principles herod as the Tetrarch in Tetrarch means a fourth he's the ruler of a fourth of a kingdom herod antipas as is his name and he his father was herod the great herod the great you'll remember is the guy who slaughtered the children in Bethlehem in Matthew chapter 2 verse 16 because he lived in a world where you can't have two kings Jesus the King shows up in human history and the wise men you'll remember told him hey guess what the king of the Jews is Oh has arrived and you'll remember Herod's response what are you talking about I'm the King of the Jews he had sons era stimulus arc elias herod antipas but he had even way more sons than that he had several sons who he killed Herod the Great ruled from 37 BC to 4 BC he was appointed king by the roman senate under the direction of Mark Anthony of Cleopatra and Anthony Fame he was by birth an Edomite that means he was from the kingdom of Edom and since he was called an atom and hungers Bible Dictionary describes Herod the Great as a pagan in practice and a monster and character the reason why all of this becomes important is you are going to get an idea of the father that Herod Antipas grew up with Herod the Great had nine wives some historians even say ten he thought nothing of killing his wives or killing his sons Augustus who was the Emperor during Herod the Great said it was safer to be Herod's Pig than one of his relatives and again Antipas is called Tetrarch because upon the death of his father the kingdom was divided between the four brothers and he was the ruler of forth of the kingdom now it just so happened that he was the ruler over that portion of the world in which your savior grew up and lived in Nazareth in the Galilee Herod the Great is remembered by historians as being selfish and addicted to luxury and ambitious and so it was with Antipas his mother was a woman named Mao fake a the reason why this is important is because his mother married to Herod the Great was a Samaritan and so he had a half-brother Phillip now if you look at this I want you to do the math here Herod has a son our stimulus era stimulus one of his wife's gives birth to her odious Herodias winds up married to fill up her uncle she will ditch fill up for Herod Antipas and now all of a sudden you go kardashians all over Peyton Place all over this this thing is going to be filled with drama now all of the Herod's were descendants of Edom his half-brother Philip again the son of Herod and Miriam Herod the Great had his mother killed Herod Agrippa the son of Erised abuse imprisons Peter and James the Apostle before the james's beheaded in Acts chapter 12 he's the grandson of Herod the Great Herod Agrippa the second is the Herod who tries Paul in Acts chapter 25 verse 13 he's the son of a grip of the first so when you see the word Herod it's a family name in the New Testament making reference to this huge family so now Herod Antipas receives a report about Jesus the report is that Jesus has this powerful message remember Herod Antipas is receiving a report about everything that we've already read about in the book in Matthew's Gospel remember what jesus has done he's opened blind is he's open deaf ears he's brought the dead back to Rive heat life he's cleansed the leper he's done amazing things this is the report that this Herod is getting and Herod is attributing these powers to the spirit realm to the supernatural and spirit powers did Herod believe that in some way Jesus came to acquire these powers by the execution of John the Baptist maybe it may be that he believed that God somehow transferred John's powers to Jesus in Mark's Gospel we receive part of the report in mark chapter 6 verses 14 through 16 it says now King Herod heard of him Jesus for his name had become well known and he said John the Baptist is risen from the dead and therefore these powers are at work at him others said it is Elijah others said it is the prophet and I think that's a reference to the prophet that Moses prophesied about or like one of the prophets it says but when Herod heard it he said this is John whom I beheaded he's been raised from the dead it's his way of saying he's come back to haunt me he's come back to confront me he's come back to challenge me in verse 3 it says for Herod had laid hold of John now we've got the parenthetical note between verses the verses 3 through 12 it's an explanation for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias his brother his brother Philips wife and his niece remember the little chart that I showed you John condemned Herod Antipas for his unlawful marriage and by the way this isn't like I said Herodias is first incestuous marriage we know from Josephus that her first husband again Herod's half-brother Philip was also her uncle and so when she and herod antipas decided that they would be married let me tell you the story because Josephus relates it Herod Antipas goes to Rome where his brother Philip and his niece Herodias happened to be and he falls head-over-heels in love with her and who cares about the Jewish law I mean when people love each other who cares what God has said I mean after all they love each other and clearly Herodias has a miserable marriage with Philip and so both of them agree to dump their respective spouses and so John condemns their so-called marriage Herod Antipas lived in a moral life he was married to the daughter of a Reedus the king of the Nabataeans who was the king of the rock city of Petra in Jordan and in order to understand this famous circumstance this is the king who challenged his father Herod and almost completely wiped out his army and so Herod Antipas marries the daughter of the king of the Nabataeans but then he ditches her as a matter of fact when she discovers that her husband is having an affair she runs for dear life because she thinks he's going to have her murdered because having a dead wife is a lot easier than living with a live wife so she flees to her father King arenas to the rock city of Petra because she thinks her life is at risk and so Herod's committed several sins first of all he's unlawfully put away his own wife how do you think it's gonna put a strain on the relationship if your husband comes home one day or finds out hey you know what but but you know I know that we've got a troubled marriage but I think that the best I don't believe in divorce so I think I'm gonna have killed see your eyes go up cuz you go uh yeah that's gonna put a strain on the relationship so she runs for her life to her dad and then he seduces his own sister-in-law now the Tetrarch could have easily have dismissed Jon's criticism as moral posturing or political posturing you know the reason why John the Baptist condemns my marriage is because he's a Republican well the Republicans didn't exist back in those days John isn't condemning the unlawful marriage because he's trying to get political favoritism John the Baptist this is just simply telling the truth what you're doing is wrong what you're doing is evil what you're doing is wicked and you'll notice that even in the text itself it says because John had said to them it is not lawful for you to have her and you'll notice also in the text it says in verse three for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias his brother Philips wife Herod Antipas says she's my wife according to John she isn't this is not a real marriage it's a sham it's a convenience in order to perpetuate sin and by the way the sins of kings and leaders affect nation's the sins of government affect citizens when people or leaders or governments promote wickedness and pervert something that's beautiful or something that's appropriate then clearly we are in trouble and in verse five it says and although he wanted to put him to death he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet clearly Herod wants to kill John the Baptist he wants to kill him for at least two reasons he resents John's message and he fears John's popularity according to Josephus it was Herod's ambition that led him to arrest and then execute John the Baptist he Josephus writes in in a generation later quote Herod who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion for they seemed ready to do anything that he should advise thought it best by putting him to death to prevent any mischief he might cause and not bring himself into difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent if it would if it shouldn't be too late in other words Joseph Josephus himself says rather than listening to his message and read and and admitting his wrong he will rebel against both the Prophet and his message he's been given an opportunity to turn from his sin and wickedness but he won't do it and so John is placed first in prison in order to make sure his message isn't heard and Mark's Gospel gives a detailed account of the event in mark chapter six verses four through twenty nine mark says that herod quote feared John knowing that he was adjust and a holy man and he protected him he did many things and heard him gladly in says in verse 20 of chapter six in Mark's Gospel it would appear that Herod's conscience was at first pricked convicted it would appear that things started off with John understanding wait a minute wait a minute what I'm doing is wrong this is wrong this is not good it's not good for anyone it's not good for me it's not good for the kingdom it this is not right but something shifted Herod began to hate John but then he also began to fear the people Samuel Johnson notes that shame arises from the fear of men but conscience from the fear of God and so you've got this shame and you've got this conscience and can you imagine where you live in a world where the vast majority of people say hey wait a minute marriage is between one man and one woman unless I say it's not but our government doesn't fear the people our government could care less what you think about a man going into a woman's bathroom or a woman going into him a man's bathroom they could care less they're not afraid of you your beliefs your opinions your deeply held convictions they could care less unless you do something about it unless at some point you go hey wait a minute there is such a thing as right and there is such a thing as wrong and there is such a thing as something good and decent and something that is wrong and evil Richard Armour said quote the conscience --is a built-in feature that haunts the sinner helps the preacher some sins it makes us turn and run from but most it simply takes the fun out of it William Gladstone said quote the disease of an evil conscience is beyond the practice of all physicians of all countries of the world but once a person knows a person knows they know in their deepest heart and soul that this is wrong they have to do one of two things repent or make the voice shut up so we see the cowardice of Herod and now the craftiness of Herodias look what it says in verse 6 but when Herod's birthday was celebrated the daughter of Herodias danced before them and it pleased Herod by the way in that culture and society observant Jews for the most part according to Josephus did not celebrate their birthday by the way our Jehovah Witness friends will say you know the Bible forbids the celebrating of birthdays but they would be wrong the only reason why the Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays as they see the first mention of a birthday in the Bible being Pharaoh and this mention of Herod and they go hey you know what when when Kings have birthdays people die so but that's probably not a good enough reason not to celebrate your birthday just for your information and gee you have the freedom to celebrate your birthday just thought I'd let you know no it's Herod's birthday the palace throws a party there's some drinking there's some drugging there's some dancing we know that the party was held in Machias which was the prison fortress which was just outside of the desert domain of Herod he had a palace that was next to the Dead Sea and again in that culture in society the women would eat in one section and the men would eat in another section and so the feast and the prompting of the feast for Herod is nobles high officials the chief men of Galilee according to mark chapter six verse 21 it's a big party but somehow Herodias his daughter makes it to the place where women aren't supposed to be and she begins to dance now the daughters name isn't mentioned in the scripture but we know from ancient sources that her name is Salome she remember is the daughter of Philip and Herodias so now remember she's dancing for her stepfather who's really her father's brother who is really her uncle now again the Bible doesn't say that she took her clothes off it doesn't even say it was particularly sexually suggestive we have no reason to believe in that culture in society that this is some sort of ancient version of strip dancing or pole dancing or some sort of gentlemen's nightclub but whatever is going on and however she's dancing and however suggestive it is it elicits a response from the guys who are watching and the response isn't like when you see the Bolshoi Ballet it isn't when you're watching somebody dance on the hallmark in verse 7 it says therefore it says he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask once again Mark's Gospel adds the king said to her whatever you ask of me I will give you up to half of my kingdom scholars have raged about this statement because Herod is a part of a vassal state of Rome he doesn't have the ability to do that others have said you know what her father is Philip her mother is her odious she is a Herod through-and-through if anyone has the right to appropriate the goods and the resources of this kingdom it could have been her but whatever is going on it says in Mark's Gospel so she went out and said to her mother Herodias what shall I ask can you imagine her mother says ask for a supercharged camel wait a minute ask for an allowance for the rest of your life wait ask for a home in Beverly Hills no wait ask for up to half of the kingdom it seems that her response is immediate and without hesitation asked for the head of John the Baptist so she having been prompted by her mother said give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter you see she also wants the voice to stop apparently Herodias because she's left her husband and she's embraced this relationship with this man it's very very important to her that she have the acceptance of the people who matter and so it wasn't good that they would just simply condemn her relationship with her new boyfriend she wanted the people to celebrate her relationship and so she says you know what we've got to make the voices stop by the way I want you to pause for a moment and I want you to think about this what are we to think about a mother who asks her daughter to kill a human being in order to make her guilt and shame go away do you think there's something wicked about that is there something fundamentally wrong with that is there something fundamentally perverse about that what kind of a mother thinks it's a good idea for her daughter to dance in such a way to elicit a lust so powerful that men are willing to give up everything that they have in order to have her Herod was a coward but Herodias was crafty Herodias saw John's message as a constant source of on-going embarrassment and humiliation and his message reminded her not just of her failed relationship with Philip but the people's refusal to acknowledge what she wanted in her heart of hearts and soul of souls for people to recognize and embrace the decision that she made John's message about her unlawful marriage meant that the people in her kingdom would always see her relationship with the Tetrarch as illegitimate and so her odious needs the voice to stop John's message of her unlawful marriage meant that the people in the kingdom would see her relationship with the Tetrarch as a lie as a fraud as a sham Herodias wants acceptance she doesn't just simply want affirmation that her marriage with Herod is legitimate she wants everyone to embrace her for what she's done she wants the criticism to stop and she wants the guilt to go away and she thinks that the way to make it go away is to silence the voice that's condemning what she's done and she has him killed and look what it says in verse 9 and the King was read it for yourself sorry he was sorry I know it some of you may be well that makes it all right right thank God he offered an apology he's sorry nevertheless because of the othes and because of those who sat with him he commanded it to be given to her read it again and the king was sorry pause what what what did you just ask me I want you to kill John the Baptist out of everything you could possibly get from me this is what you want again there's something inside this King that still knows that something is horribly and terribly wrong nevertheless because of the ODEs and because of those who sat with him he commanded it to be given to her in other words Herod fearing the opinion of people rather than the opinion of God gives in Mark's Gospel adds quote and the King was exceedingly sorry and Mark's Gospel doesn't just simply say he's sorry it says he's read sorry yet because of the ODEs and because of those who sat with him he didn't refuse her I'm gonna suggest to you that if we could go back in time and in space and literally find ourselves in that moment with those people you would see a Harrod begin to shake and to tremble I'm even going to suggest to you that tears welled up in his eyes I'm gonna suggest to you that he began to sob but those aren't real tears of repentance those are crocodile tears I think it's possible for people to do wicked sinful things to be really really sorry for what they've done I think it's possible for wicked and sinful people to say I'm so sorry that I destroyed our marriage I'm so sorry that now you the kids are gonna for the most part grow up without a dad and a mom together I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry but sometimes sorrow isn't good enough the King was sorry in what sense his conscience knew that he had made a foolish vow he knew that his foolish boast was motivated by a combination of lusts and an incessant need for affirmation and admiration and there was this sort of Cataclysm this Avalanche that sort of filled him at the moment but it was sorrow that didn't become repentance in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10 it says that there's a there's a godly sorrow for sin and there's a worldly sorrow for sin in 2nd Corinthians 7:10 it says for godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of or without regret but the sorrow of the world works death one of the ways that you can tell that it's worldly carnal fleshly sorrow is that in the end one the decision is made if somebody has to die or somebody has to get hurt then the chances are that that's not repentance at all sorrow that leads to killing someone or killing yourself is not repentance Esau was sorry that he gave up his birthright for a bowl of stew and then he embarked on a plan to have Jacob killed judas was sorry that he betrayed Jesus he was sorry that they arrested him and that they they crucified him he was sorry and he took the blood money that he accepted for the betrayal and he brought it to the priest and he says I have I have betrayed innocent blood and they said what's that to us what do we care about that and he threw the shekels on the temple mound and they gathered them together and they bought a potter's field where they could bury his body he saw was sorry and Judas was sorry Judas was sorry and he killed himself and Herod was sorry and he kills John the Baptist if your sorrow means that the baby dies if your sorrow means the marriage dies if your sorrow means that the sin gets to continue then it's not godly sorrow sorrow isn't necessarily repentance sorrow can accompany repentance but whatever repentance means it has to mean that you're sorry enough to not only stop doing what you're doing but you're willing to obey God and trust him you're willing to say I'm not gonna do this anymore and I'm gonna trust the Lord we live in a world that's filled with sorrow and regret we live in a world where a lot of people are really truly sorry for what they've done but they're not sorry enough to stop and they're certainly not sorry enough to turn from their sin and turn to the Savior so don't be deceived do not be deceived do not be deceived when a person says I'm sorry and the choice leads to death or destruction don't be deceived by the person who steals the money kills the child abuses the child destroys their marriage and the marriage that they ruined or steal the husband or the wife and they don't think for a moment they don't think that for a moment that the world is a better place they they think that the world is a better place because of their sin they're not sorry John Carson was fond of saying sin is not bad because it's forbidden sin is forbidden because it's bad be careful what you asked for just ask Herod but look at the courage of John the Baptist's it says so he sent and had John beheaded in prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it and they went and they told Jesus John dies we're not told what John thought or what John said in those closing moments the Bible doesn't offer us an invitation what what was he thinking and what what did they say when they marched into the cell and when they said bend over and they chopped off his head and they put it in a platter and they walk marched into the place where they were celebrating we're not told what he said and we're not told what he did and we're not told how he responded but we have plenty of evidence about his life and about his message and about his ministry he preached the gospel he confronted sin he called people to repent to turn from their sin and to turn to the Lord and he feared nothing but God and I'm sure that he realized that by a confronting the unlawful marriage of Herod and Herodias that he was going to run the risk of being killed and the moment that you decide to say what is right and say what is true and say what is good you run a terrible risk that there are going to be people who will call it hate speech John feared nothing but God Herod feared everything but God what is it that you're afraid of what will happen if you tell the truth Herod was afraid of his new wife and he was afraid of the people and he was afraid of a read as his father-in-law who almost wiped out his father's army he was afraid of everything the historian Josephus said of John the Baptist now when many others came in they crowded about him because they were exceedingly moved by his words John the Baptist spoke to tens of thousands of people in such a way that they were convicted in their heart and they wanted to turn from their sin and they wanted to embrace the promises of God the disciples came and they buried his body and the disciples of John the Baptist do a death notification they tell Jesus they let Jesus know and I'm sure that Jesus is touched Jesus is touched by every death when the disciples of John were distressed and discouraged they they went to Jesus and they talked to Jesus and when you are distressed and you are discouraged and you are completely overwhelmed because the thing that you cared the most about seemed right on the verge of disappearing forever and maybe it has disappeared that you go and you talk to Jesus you know I wish I could spend time with each and every one of you with each and every one of you who goes through a trauma who experiences pain who experiences grief who experiences difficulty because your life matters your marriage it matters your children and your grandchildren they matter I'm not always available to talk to everyone but Jesus is always available when your spouse leaves you when a person says it's over when a person makes a decision to do something so horrible and terrible and painful that it's going to create as you already know a kind of an existence that means you don't get to be a part of their life John could have kept his mouth shut and lived but he had the courage to tell the truth even when he knew that the truth would cost him dearly we remember Herod's cowardice and we remember Herodias as conniving ways but most of us remember John's courage and you know what it's interesting to me that when we meet Herod again he wants to meet with Jesus in Luke chapter 9 verse 9 it says that Herod kept trying to see him Herod made repeated attempts to encounter and engage Jesus and Jesus ignored him and when he does finally meet Jesus Herod says to Jesus hey I've heard a lot about you hey why don't you do a miracle why don't you do something spectacular why don't you do something incredible like like everyone has said that you're capable of doing and you know what Jesus a response was silence he has nothing to say to him he will remain silent Herod silence the messenger Herod shut the mouth of John the Baptist Herod made sure that God's messenger and his message would be quiet and the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter three verse seven today today if you will hear his voice don't harden your heart the writer says if you're contemplating doing something if you're living in such a way that's dishonouring to God listen to what God has to say Herod refused to listen to the voice of the Prophet and then he refused to listen to the voice of his own conscience and so Jesus had nothing to say to him there are people who all will already make their choice they don't care what the messenger has to say and then they make the silence of their conscience they put a piece of tape over its mouth and they refuse to hear they want the voice to be quiet and when Jesus refuses to speak to him Herod will send him to Pontius Pilate where he'll be executed and Herod must have thought if he doesn't have anything to say to me then I'm gonna make sure that he doesn't have anything to say to anyone else if ever there was a time for us to listen to the voice of God to listen to the voice of a reason to listen to the appeal do what's right honor the Lord Jesus Christ with your life honor him in your marriage honor him at your work honor him in your your church honor him in the culture in which you live and by the way I wish I could say to you that every marriage will go hey I think it's great that you're honoring God in our marriage it isn't always gonna be that way is it hey I want to honor the Lord in raising my children I want to honor the Lord at work I want to honor the Lord and the culture in which I'm living in but sometimes they're not going to greet you happily and readily but make sure make sure make sure that you're willing to hear what Jesus has to say and what your conscience is confirming inside of your heart what you know to be true lest when you least expect it when you want to hear so desperately from God and all you hear is silence there may come a time in our culture where the words that I've just spoken will be so unwelcome that the people will come and they'll take me away my one request pray for me a little bit bring these chick-fil-a if you can think about it let's pray Heavenly Father Lord we thank you that there are still voices that are willing to say I love you that there are still voices that are willing to say I believe you that there are still voices who are willing to acknowledge that there is such a thing as right and there is such a thing as wrong and some things just aren't right Lord we pray that by your Holy Spirit you would give us a keen sense of discernment Lord we pray that we would behave ourselves with those on the outside with a profound sense of respect but with a complete commitment to doing what's right and saying what's right Lord we know that wicked people and evil people will conspire together to figure out a way to make sure that we stay silent but lord we pray that you would give us the courage to speak while there's still time and whilst something can still be said and Lord we know that there's no more important message than the message of the gospel that hurt people lonely people MD people can experience your love and your grace and your forgiveness if we'll just cry out to you and believe it and so Lord again I pray that each and every man and each and every woman would be reminded of just how much you care for them how much their life matters how much their family matters how much their marriage matters how much their children matter in Jesus name Amen let's stand

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 2,976

Rating: 4.6666665 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, John The Baptist, Matthew

Id: rJhY4Ggaw-4

Length: 54min 58sec (3298 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 21 2016