Let's open the Word of God, back to the twelfth
chapter of Mark, and so grateful that you are here tonight to keep the flow going in
this section of Mark's gospel. I want to read from verse 35 just through
verse 37. It's a brief portion of Scripture but it has
very, very far-reaching implications. "And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the
temple, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.' David himself calls Him Lord. So in what sense is He His son? And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him." This very brief but highly impactful conversation
that our Lord has on Wednesday of Passion Week in the temple as He teaches, addresses
the most important and foundational reality of His ministry and that is His identity. Who is He? Who is this man Jesus? And is He in fact the Messiah? And is He even more than that, the Son of
God, God incarnate? That, of course, is essential and foundational
to faith in Him. Now the Jews of history, including the Jews
of today, have widely held the same view concerning Messiah, that Messiah would be a man and no
more than a man. Messiah was to be an earthly ruler, a man
of immense unparalleled power and influence and impact and might. He was nonetheless to be a man. He would rise to conquer all of Israel's enemies
and He would then accomplish the fulfillment of all the promises that were given to Abraham,
passed on to Abraham's children and reiterated and expanded in the promises that were given
David of a coming King and Kingdom. All of the promises of the Old Testament that
are sort of grounded in the Abrahamic Covenant and expanded in the Davidic Covenant are tied
to the arrival of this man who is the Messiah, or the Christ. Christ meaning Messiah. Again to say it so that you understand, they
assumed and they believed that the Messiah would be a human being and nothing more, that
He would yield power that was beyond any king that the world had ever seen. There are plenty of promises in the Old Testament
about the extent of and the duration of the Kingdom of Messiah that transcend all other
historic rulers. They did not necessarily see the Messiah as
a Savior of individual souls. They saw Messiah as the Savior of His people,
the Jews. They did not, nor do they now view Messiah
as God in human flesh. He is in the minds of Jews, a man and that
was the reality that brought them into a direct collision with Jesus because Jesus claimed
to be more than a man. As we know by going through this portion of
Mark, the religious leaders of Israel hated Jesus. They hated Him with fiery resentment. They hated Him for His assault on their theology,
their hypocrisy, His attack on their operation in the temple. They hated Him for His influence which diminished
theirs in the eyes of the people. They hated Him for publicly denouncing them,
publicly exposing their corruption and their hypocrisy and basically presenting a divine
view of true religion that was in opposition to theirs. But on top of all of that for which they hated
Him, they hated Him for being a blasphemer because He made Himself equal to God. He said things like, "I and the Father are
one." Like, "I work and My Father works." They never misunderstood His claim. They knew He claimed to be God. In fact, His entire ministry was driven in
the direction of a conclusion that John articulates at the end of his gospel in words that are
familiar to us. "These four gospels have been written so that
you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God." He is the Messiah but He is more than a man
who is the anointed King, He is also God the Son." Now the Jews believed, and some still believe,
that the Messiah would not only be a man, but that He would be a man descendent from
David, that He would be a man not only descendant from David, but somewhat David-like, in that
like David He would defeat Israel's foes and bring about a glorious Kingdom fulfillment. They certainly didn't believe that Jesus was
the fulfillment of that Messianic hope. In fact, if you go back to chapter 11 and
verse 27, as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the
elders came to Him and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these
things?" And what they are referring to is what He
has just done which is throw them out of the temple and denounce them as a group of robbers
who had turned the temple area into a cave of robbers, a cave of corruption. When they say to Him, "By what authority are
You doing these things?"they are affirming for us the fact that they didn't believe that
He was that Messiah. "What gives You the right to do what You're
doing? What gives You the right to claim what You're
claiming? Who are You to declare on us that this is
a den of robbers? And who are You to say that this is what belongs
to Your Father and You know what Your Father wants and we don't?" They are not convinced that He is the Messiah. And they really had to fight to hold on to
that belief because He had to get past the explosion of miracles that He did which could
only be described as those being done by the power of God, even if they believed He was
merely a man, they would have had to admit that the power of God came through Him in
unparalleled fashion. There had been men in the Old Testament through
whom God had done miraculous things. And even the Apostles were men through whom
God did miraculous things. But no one ever had been able to be such a
force of power over disease and demons and death and nature as this man. So they fought hard to sustain their conviction
that He is not the Messiah. That then becomes the issue here. Now remember, this is Wednesday during Passion
Week. Jesus is in the temple and He's teaching concerning
the Kingdom and preaching the gospel and He's being confronted by the Sanhedrin, they come
in waves, first the Pharisees with the Herodians, then the Sadducees and as we saw this morning,
then another representative of the Pharisees, a scribe who confronts Him with a third question. He answers every question and they are left
stunned and without an ability to entrap Him and turn the crowd against Him and raise the
rancor of the Romans against Him as well. And they're finished. The end of verse 34, "No one ventured to ask
Him any more questions. He thwarted all their attempts." Now He takes the initiative and in verse 35,
"And Jesus began to say as He taught in the temple..." Now He goes from answering their questions
to asking His own. The tables are now turned. And by the way, this is His final conversation
personally with the religious leaders of Israel. It's the last word and the last word that
Jesus has to say to these leaders who are responsible to disseminate divine truth to
the rest of the nation, the last word that He has to say to them is a word concerning
His identity, to demonstrate that He is in fact the Messiah who is a man but not merely
a man who is also Lord. We can entitle this passage, "David's Son
and David's Lord." Final testimony from Jesus as to His identity
is absolutely critical. I would like to suggest then that verse 35
is a final invitation...it is a final invitation. It is an invitation that I think in part is
prompted by a statement He made in verse 34 in the immediate preceding discussion with
the scribe. He said to him, "You are not far from the
Kingdom of God....You are not far from the Kingdom of God." He said that to him because the man understood
that the issues with regard to the Kingdom were spiritual issues, heart issues, internal
issues not external behaviors and sacrifices and ceremonies. So He knew at least one of them was not far
from the Kingdom of God. Here if nothing more is an invitation for
the one who is not far to actually come near, and the next step would be, of course, to
embrace Christ for who He is. To be saved, one must believe in the truth
concerning the person of Jesus Christ. You cannot be wrong about your Christology
and receive the gift of salvation. Even after all the hatred expressed from the
leaders, even after all the superficial interest of the fickle crowd, even after all the efforts
to entrap Him, feeling the rancor and the hatred coming His way from these leaders,
He is still and He is always the compassionate evangelist, inviting sinners headed for hell,
leaders and people, to reconsider who He is. And here we have a final invitation. One more moment in which they can cease their
open rejection, or their indecision, and for one scribe he can go from being not far to
coming all the way to the Kingdom. He had confronted them, as you know, with
the strongest rebukes. He had publicly shamed the leaders for their
deception, their hypocrisy, their deadly influence, their lies, but at the same time He has laid
out these indictments against them, He still manifests concern for them to know and believe
the truth concerning Him which is the only way of salvation. Scripture says that the Lord has no pleasure
in the damnation of the wicked. As we know, the joy of God is in the salvation
of sinners, the sadness of God is related to their destruction. In Luke 19 Jesus looks at Jerusalem and sees
the impenitent city and He wept....He wept. His heart is burdened, His heart is broken. In the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15,
do you remember how the father turned to invite the older brother to come to the celebration? That's the heart of God toward Jewish legalists,
Pharisees who have rejected Him. Now not all of the Pharisees, not all of them
were equally evil. Not all of the scribes were equally evil. Not all of the leaders permanently rejected
Christ. I say that because it's important to know
that where an invitation is extended, a response could be expected. Where the Lord gives an invitation, His Spirit
may move to produce the very response the invitation calls for. Illustration...Luke 23:50, a man named Joseph
who was a member of the Sanhedrin, a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
he had not consented to their plan and action, a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews who
was waiting for the Kingdom of God, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Now having said that, I have to say he's rare...extremely
rare. Our Lord then is asking a question, it's very
unlike theirs. They asked questions for ill-conceived motives. They asked questions to set traps. They asked questions for disastrous consequences. Our Lord asks the question with a positive
purpose, with a saving objective, to reach out one final time. And here's the question, verse 35, "How is
it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?" If you compare this with the parallel passage
in Matthew, and there is also a parallel to this in Luke's gospel as well, in Luke chapter
20. But if you go to Matthew, the conversation
kind of if you can put it all together unfolds like this, Jesus begins, according to Matthew
22:41, by saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Who's Son is He? What do you think about the Messiah?," Christ
meaning Messiah. "Whose Son is He?" The form of the question doesn't direct attention
immediately at Him, it's simply asking to identify the Messiah and whose son He is to
be, the anointed one. Well they respond in Matthew, "David's." They all say He is to be David's son. He has to be in the line from David. And our Lord affirms that here when we pick
up the conversation in Mark, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son
of David? Why do you keep coming up with David? Why is that your answer, because you've been
taught by the scribes and they tell us that that's the correct answer, why. Why is it that they say that the Christ is
David's son? And the question is really a loaded question
because what He means by that is this, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ
is only the Son of David? How is it that they say He is the son of David
and nothing more? That's the implication. And this opens up for us the fundamentally
wrong conception of the Messiah with which they were dealing, that He was a man, a gifted
man, a great leader, a military man, a man of might, influence, power, etc., etc. And that was all to be true but that wasn't
the complete answer. You remember back in Matthew 16 when Jesus
said to the disciples, "Who do men say that I am? 'Some say You're Elijah, they replied, some
say You're Jeremiah, one of the prophets.' Who do you say that I am? And Peter speaking for the rest by the inspiration
of God says, 'You're the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" That's the full answer to the question. Whose son is He? He is David's Son and He is God's Son. They had an incomplete understanding so the
final invitation allows the surfacing of what you could call the final misconception. All they had as an answer was David...David's
Son, this is what the scribes said. Where did the scribes get that? Well they would have gotten it out of 2 Samuel
chapter 7 verses 12 and 13 in the great promise of the Davidic Covenant where the Lord says
that there will come a great Son of David, not Solomon but a far-greater son of David
who will have an everlasting Kingdom and that is the promise of the Messiah to be a Son
of David. You need to read Psalm 89. Psalm 89 clearly indicates that the Messiah
is to be a Son of David. You see it in Amos 9:11, Micah 5:2, even Ezekiel
37:24 to 27, so they knew their Old Testament. And this is common knowledge with the people. Just a little bit of a look at Matthew for
a moment. We'll show you how that commonly people expected
the Messiah to come through the line of David. As Jesus went through His ministry, you remember
there were people who were ill, they needed healing and they would come to Him. In the ninth chapter of Matthew we read about
an incident in which two blind men follow Him in verse 27, crying out, "Have mercy on
us, Son of David." They mean by that Messiah, Son of David then
becomes a synonym for identifying the Messiah. Jesus had demonstrated Himself to have divine
power and there were many among the people who looked to Him as the one most hopeful
to be the Messiah. In fact, if you go to chapter 12, you see
in verse 22 a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, being brought to Jesus. He healed him so that the mute man spoke and
saw. All the crowds were amazed and were saying,
"This man cannot be the Son of David, can He?" So you can see they don't even refer to the
Messiah as the Messiah. They refer to Him as the Son of David. That title is actually synonymous in their
minds, the final, ultimate, long-anticipated Son of David. Jesus went in chapter 15 of Matthew, into
the district of Tyre and Sidon. This is in Gentile territory. And a Canaanite woman came out and began to
cry out saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David." There's a woman outside the borders of Israel
who even views Him with this Messianic reality and identifies Him by the title, "Son of David." Two blind men on the road coming up from Jericho
to Jerusalem, chapter 20 verse 30, "Lord have mercy on us, Son of David." And when He comes into the city in Matthew
21:9, the crowds were saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David." So you get the picture. He is viewed as the Son of David. That's the messianic title. So that was simply to clarify for you, the
people universally understood that the Messiah was to be David's Son...David's Son. Why do I make a point out of this? Because it's very important to say this, Matthew
goes to great length to prove this is true. He does it in his genealogy. Matthew's genealogy in the first chapter of
Matthew, which is right at the start of the New Testament, is the record of the genealogy
of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David. And it traces His lineage from Abraham through
David, down through His father, Joseph, His earthly father, not the father of His birth
but the father of His legal identity as a son. Luke also makes a critical point out of this
in the third chapter of Luke. He gives us the genealogy of Mary. And the genealogy of Mary is also in the line
of David, so that Jesus' earthly father was in the line of David and Jesus' mother herself
was a descendent of David. Jesus then fits the necessary feature of the
messianic lineage. He is legally David's son. He is in the Davidic line, both sides of His
family. Now there could not have been a more successful
attack on the identity of Jesus than to prove that He was not a descendent of David. If they had been able to do that, it would
have ended everything. And by the way, all the genealogical records
were kept in the temple. And so the religious leaders and the Sanhedrin
would be the caretakers of those records. You can be sure those records were examined
very carefully. The scribes themselves kept the records with
great care. Pure ancestry couldn't be claimed, it had
to be proven for a man to exercise any kind of civic rights. Every Israelite knew his tribe, knew his ancestry,
his forefathers. It could be easily examined as to the lineage
of the father and mother of Jesus and they would have found that He indeed was a son
of David. As I said, if they could have disproven that,
it would have ended all claims that Jesus had to be the Messiah. So their answer is correct in the sense that
He is the Son of David, but it is inadequate. It comes short of the full picture. It doesn't go far enough. Frankly, David had many sons. And there would have been many people alive
throughout Jewish history and even many people alive at the very time of Jesus who were descendants
of David. You can understand that, right? By the time you spread out from David, there
are lots of folks who can trace their line back to David. How is He then to be distinguished from all
of the many who that have come out of the loins of David? Davidic descent is only one mark, there must
be more. And so the final invitation leads to the final
misconception which brings us to the final exposition in which our Lord answers the very
question that they must now be pondering in their minds. Verse 3, David himself said in the Holy Spirit,
"The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies beneath Your
feet." David himself calls Him Lord, and so in what
sense is he his son? Our Lord was an expository preacher, this
is an exposition of Psalm 110...Psalm 110 verse 1 is here recorded. "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right
hand until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet, or make Your enemies Your footstool." It's not enough to say the Messiah is the
Son of David. Why is it not enough? Because David refers to Him as Lord. If Messiah is only a man, how can David call
Him Lord? How can He be David's Son and David's Lord? Now look at that statement, "The Lord said
to My Lord." The Father is speaking to the Son who is David's
Lord, the one who will be exalted to reign and under whose feet all enemies will be placed. David himself calls Him Lord. Now Lord is kurios , the Hebrew equivalent
would be Adonay . It's a title for God used throughout the Old
Testament. David calls Him "My Lord." You say, "Well maybe David was just mistaken." No, look back at verse 36, "David himself
said...what's the next phrase?...in the Holy Spirit...in the Holy Spirit." Even Matthew 22:43, the parallel, says, "In
the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit." The idea is that when David called the Messiah
Lord, he was speaking by inspiration from the Holy Spirit. So David, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
calls Messiah Christ his descendant, his son to come, Lord. That's Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said to my Lord." Yahweh speaks to the one who is my Lord, who
is the one who is my Lord, the one who will be set on a throne and the enemies placed
beneath His feet. That's a messianic description. The Jews had always acknowledged, and this
is important. The Jews had historically always acknowledged
that Psalm 110 was a messianic Psalm. That had never been debated in ancient times. And by the way, it is the most often quoted
Psalm by the New Testament writers. It is quoted more than any other Psalm. It is quoted by Peter in Acts 2, by Paul in
1 Corinthians 15, a couple of times by the writer of Hebrews. In all three gospels this Psalm is attributed
to David by Jesus. So when it says "My Lord," it is David identifying
the Messiah as his Lord. Our Lord's use of this Psalm and is significant,
it is a messianic Psalm. So strong was this Psalm in Jewish tradition
as to its messianic identity, that in the early church the Jews had a problem with it
cause Christians started applying that Psalm to Christ, as the New Testament writers do. The Jews then, for hundreds of years, abandoned
the messianic view, they changed their interpretation of Psalm 110 and some of the rabbis applied
it to Abraham and some applied it to Melchizedek and some later even applied it to Judas Maccabees. Others applied it to other rulers or even
some priests. And some rabbis in fits of manipulation rearranged
the Hebrew to create acrostics to give it other meanings. Anything to get Jesus out of that Psalm. It is a messianic Psalm. They acknowledge it as a messianic Psalm. It is oft quoted in the New Testament many
parts of that Psalm are connected to the work and the person of Christ. And what did Yahweh say to David's Lord? "Sit at My right hand till I put Your enemies
under Your feet." David, who wrote the Psalm, is saying that
God Himself, the Yahweh of Israel, creator of the universe, God a very God, the one true
God has designated a position for Messiah...listen...at His own right hand. Sit at My right hand. God gives to Messiah the place at His right
hand. God identifies the Messiah as Lord, taking
a place at the right hand of God makes Him co-equal in rank and co-equal in authority
and virtually declares His deity. Literally, present imperative, "Take Your
permanent seat." Yahweh's right hand is His power. There's not actually a chair there, it is
a way of saying He is in the place of divine power. Many Old Testament passages assign the power
of God to the right hand of God. To be placed permanently at the right hand
of God is to be placed in the position of power and authority to the max. That is why Philippians 2 says that He was
exalted, given a name above every name and that is the name Lord. And at that name, everyone is to bow. That is why in Ephesians 1 it says He is the
Lord over all things, over all things who has then been given to the church as the church's
head. His enemies become His footstool. His enemies become His footstool. There's further explanation of that in Psalm
2 which is a messianic Psalm, verse 9...well, verse 8, "We'll give You nations as Your inheritance,
the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and
shatter them like earthenware." You're going to crush Your enemies. So what we see here is a picture of the one
who will take the throne beside God and take the rule and crush God's enemies. He is a Son of David by Old Testament testimony,
but He is also David's Lord. This is the God/Man, this is the incomprehensible,
infinite mystery of the person of Jesus Christ, David's Son, and David's Lord, born a man
in the line of David and yet He is the Lord of David, no Middle Eastern father would ever
call a son of his Lord. This is completely and utterly unique. He is David's Son and He is David's Lord. The deity of Christ then is the issue here. And the Lord goes to a Psalm that they all
confess was a messianic Psalm and shows them by that very Psalm where David points to the
one who would reign that not only will He be a man who reigns and rules, but He will
rise to the very right-hand of God and be an expression Himself of the divine nature. Certainly the New Testament overflows, doesn't
it?, with evidences of the fact that He was God. He shared with God the mutual attributes of
omnipotence. He claimed to be the creator, the commander
of the elements, the commander of all creatures, the provider of food, the healer, the raiser
of the dead, the forgiver of sin and the judge of all. He had the attributes of omnipresence, thus
was able to be everywhere at all times. He was omniscient, He knew everything, even
what was going on in the minds of men. He was holy, true, wise, sovereign, loving,
eternal, glorious. He possessed all the attributes of God, put
them all on display. He accepted worship. In fact, He demanded worship. He was to be sought in prayer, as the source
of answered prayer and the one who opened the resources of God to pour out blessing
on His people. Everything He said was to be believed as the
truth of God. And He was to be believed on for salvation. He took the titles of God...Rock, Stone, Savior,
Redeemer, Holy One, Lord of Hosts, King, First and Last, Light, Law-giver, all Old Testament
titles for God that Jesus attributed to Himself. Absolutely, unequivocally the testimony of
the four gospels is that He is Lord. That then becomes the confession which saves. Romans 10:9, "If you believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead," that's the faith element in His work which assumes
the cross. But more importantly, "If you confess with
your mouth Jesus as Lord. He is Lord." Think about it this way. If God became a man, we would expect His human
life to be sinless. And Jesus was. The uniform testimony of friends and enemies
is the sinlessness, the blamelessness, the faultlessness of Jesus, no one could find
any fault in Him from the beginning to the end of His life. And the testimony of God sums it up, "This
is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And God had the highest standard which our
Lord never violated. He had no capacity to sin. Let's be hypothetical again. If God were a man, we would expect Him to
live perfectly, to live righteously, to live in a holy fashion. That's the positive side. No sin, but the overwhelming evidence of the
presence of perfection, righteousness, purity, devotion to God. And you look at Jesus, and that's what you
see. Love for God, communion with God, a desire
to honor God, to please God, "I only do what I see My Father do, what My Father tells Me
to do, what pleases My Father." Perfect illustration of sinlessness and a
perfect illustration, perfect model of piety, devotion to God. If God hypothetically were a man, we would
expect His words to be the greatest words that were ever spoken. There can be no argument there. Jesus' words were and even those who didn't
agree with Him said, "Never a man spoke like this Man." His teaching, as we've seen His answers to
the questions that were posed to Him, left people dumbfounded at His profound wisdom
and perfect knowledge. If God were a man, we would expect Him to
exert a profound power over His creation. Jesus did that. Every aspect of it...the material, the spiritual,
the supernatural. If God were a man, we would expect then many
supernatural acts. Jesus controlled nature, healed people, walked
on water, ended funerals, demonstrated transcendent glory in the Transfiguration, you know the
litany of things that put this on display. And there may be one other thing to think
about in a hypothetical sense, if God were a man, we would expect Him to manifest the
attributes of God. And they're all there in Christ...the love
of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, we see magnificently in Christ. All of these come together to attest the fact
that the Messiah is Christ who is not only David's Son, but who is also David's Lord. What a magnificent exposition. And our Lord forces them to live with their
own interpretation. You've always said it was a messianic Psalm. And David was referring in the Psalm to the
Messiah who would reign and rule. Let me push you on that. David called Him, that One who would rule,
My Lord and David described His rule as rule from the right hand of the power of God. Well, the best that can be said about it,
"A large crowd enjoyed listening to Him." That's really pathetic, isn't it? Don't you wish it had said, "The large crowd
fell on their faces in the presence of the incarnate God?" The leaders were done. Matthew adds a postscript. Matthew 22:46, "No one was able to answer
Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question." That clammed up the leaders. And Mark simply says, "The crowds enjoyed
listening to Him." Either way, you're going to end up in hell. You might be entertained by Jesus and that's
as deadly and damning as hating Him. This masterful exposition of Psalm 110, and
where's the repentance? And where's the faith? And where's the affirmation of who He is? It's going to even get worse. Judas was there, he heard all that. Chapter 14 verse 10, "Judas Iscariot, one
of the Twelve, went off to the Chief Priests in order to betray Him to them." Inconceivable, isn't it? How can you be in the face of all of that,
hear all of that, and then go sell Jesus for money, knowing the people are going to kill
Him? Chapter 14 verse 43, "While He was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were
from the Chief Priests and the scribes and the elders." Now they're amassing to arrest Him. Verse 53 of chapter 14, "They led Jesus away
to the High Priest and all the Chief Priests and elders and scribes gathered together." Chapter 15 verse 1, "Early in the morning,
the Chief Priests with the elders and scribes and the whole council immediately held a consultation
and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate." The ending is so tragic from the standpoint
of these people. A final invitation, an effort to overturn
a final misconception with a final exposition of a pertinent text had no real impact on
the leaders at all. They were so resolute in their hatred, so
profoundly deep in the darkness of their own sin that they couldn't see the light when
it was shining in front of them. At this moment, and we'll see this in our
next message in Mark, at this moment, verse 38, He turns to the crowd and He says, "Beware
of the scribes...beware of the scribes. They're going to lead you to hell." Sometimes people like to assume that being
religious is a noble thing, being the leader in the false religion, whatever false religion
you pick, is to be more closely associated with Satan than those who are utterly irreligious,
because Satan disguises himself as...what?...angel of light. They were the agents of hell who produced
the sons of hell. And there He was and they couldn't see the
darkness of their hearts. The love of sin, the love of self-pride, self-satisfaction
in religion, damning reality. And Jesus says, "Beware, people, beware of
these leaders." Beware of anybody who ever leads you to a
wrong view of Christ. I don't care if it's a Jehovah's Witnesses,
the Mormons, the Muslims, the Buddhists...and we heard about that tonight. Any religion that has a skewed view of Jesus
Christ is deadly, and I mean in an internal sense. "These things are written that you may know
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that you may believe on His name and
by believing have eternal life." If you don't get Christ right, you can't have
eternal life. You have to believe the truth concerning Him. Father, it's been a wonderful evening, tonight,
to worship and fellowship and enjoy the evidences of Your grace in the lives of these folks
who have given testimony. We thank You for the simplicity of Scripture. We thank You, Lord, for the clarity of it. There are many who would say that the Bible
is too hard to understand and they're so many different interpretations, how can we know
what it means? But when you just read it and look at it and
open your heart to it, its meaning unfolds so clearly and so wonderfully. And in that truth comes life, by that truth
comes blessing. Your Word is our live, Your Word is our bread. It is our soul satisfaction. It is also our message. We take in the truth for our own soul's benefit,
we give out the truth for the benefit of others. May we be faithful in regard to these things. We ask, Lord, that You would use this wonderful
congregation to be a force of people in this community, in this city, and even beyond for
the true understanding of Christ. The first question that has to be answered
correctly in any gospel presentation is who is Jesus Christ? Who is this One? The God/Man? A Man...yes, a Son of David., but also David's
Lord and the One who is forever seated as the power of God on the very throne of God,
God Himself. What wondrous reality this is and how simply
and clearly explained to us. I pray, Lord, that You would draw to Yourself
any in our midst who have not come to faith in Christ. I pray, Lord, that You would break the barriers
that stand between them and repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. Clear out the darkness and misunderstanding. Bring the light of truth, the light of life. May the darkness be shattered. May the barriers be broken. And may the souls of such persons be flooded
with the true knowledge of Christ that comes when Your Spirit provides that truth. Do that, Lord, as You said, "Let there be
light in the act of creation. May You speak light into darkened souls, even
tonight, that they may see the glorious truth of Christ and receive His salvation. Thank You for all that You have done in our
lives, those of us who know You and love You and serve You. And we would ask that You would enable us
to be a continual blessing and to be useful to You in the days ahead. In particularly we think about this week,
Lord, as so many of us will be interacting with people coming from all over the world. We just pray, Lord, that Your will be will
accomplished and that You would achieve things that just can't be explained humanly at all,
that things will happen that can't be explained by the speakers or the church or the people
involved, but can only be explained by the power that comes from You. Do a great work, this week. We thank You for what we expect will happen,
and rejoice in anticipation of that. And now, Lord, we pray as we go, we might
do so with joy and that we might return again to this place where corporately we come together
to worship You. We don't leave You and You don't leave us,
but we leave empowered, encouraged, stimulated to love and good works by the fellowship we
enjoy and we thank You for the privilege in Christ's name. Amen.
