Through the Bible

Okay, we are down to the triumphal entry in Luke's Gospel. So verse 28, after he'd said these things, after he talked to them about the responsibilities of the servants, and we finished that up last week, those entrusted with a certain amount and their responsibility to respond to that. After he had said these things, he was going on ahead and going up to Jerusalem. And when he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples saying, go into the village ahead of you and there as you enter you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it

here. And if anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say the Lord has need of it. And so those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of it. Now we read it and it seems pretty kind of redundant. It just seems kind of like, well they went and they

found it. We know that they're going to find it because we've already read it before. But you have to understand the disciples, as much as they had been with Jesus, they were still overwhelmed at the different things that happened. They were overwhelmed with all the miracles. They were overwhelmed with the miracles. There were still times of unbelief with them as well. They went

obediently. But I'm sure when they got there, I mean, how many times have you just in your daily activities decided you were going to meet somebody somewhere for something. And you set up a meeting time and you said, well, you know, there's this place and it's like this and I'll meet you there. And you try to go and you try to find it and it doesn't look. You don't find any place like that. The things

that they give you for a reference, I don't see anything like that. And they're referencing something that in their minds was there, but now it may have changed. They may have painted over it. They may have moved something. And so I'm sure the disciples are going, you really think we're going to find, you know, yeah, we're going to go into the city. And I'm sure they're not, you know, well, I wouldn't

think they were the only animals on the street in this little town. You just go and Jesus would have said, you go down to the main street and all you're going to see is a donkey and a colt. There had to be other animals around, other people around. And they're looking specifically for a donkey and a colt. And so they walk into the city and they find that combination together. And as they're

untying it, they're confronted, what are you doing? And they remember Jesus said, if somebody says when you're doing that, anyone asks you why you're untying it, you'll say, the Lord has need of it. Now, I don't know about you, but going to do something like that, you don't know the people, you know? And you're supposed to say a phrase, the Lord has need of it. I mean, I'd be wanting to say,

okay, my name's John and I'm with Jesus and we're down the road a piece. And Jesus said, go to this city and in the city you're going to find this thing. I'd be explaining myself. But all they say is, the Lord has need of it. They were obedient in that. But I'm sure they're waiting for, uh-huh, you know, yeah, right. As they were untying the colt, they found this, they said that. And obviously it worked because

they brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the colt and they put Jesus on it. And as he was going, they spread their coats on the road. And as soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now, a few years

ago, we shared this at an Easter service about the gospel according to the cult. Because you have to remember that this is a cult on which no one has ridden. Now, if any of you, and I know many of you have experience with horses, on which no one has ridden. And you don't just get on the horse which no one has ridden and ride it with any expertise at all. And donkeys, from what I

understand, and I now have two of them in the field right next to me, and they are really cute. They're just, they fenced off the area north of us and the guy brought in a couple of little donkeys, a little gray one, a little white one, and they love to come down to the fence when I'm outside. And I'll walk up to the fence and they'll let me stroke their head and scratch them underneath. But I know if I went in to try, if I even made a move into the fence, they'd be out of there. And then

to try and get on one is unthinkable. It would never happen. But Jesus gets on this cult, okay, never ridden. And as he was going, they're spreading their coats on the road. So here's a cult who's never had anybody on their back. And then all of a sudden, these people are flapping coats down in front of them. Now again, those two little donkeys next to me, just a certain movement towards them

and they're skittish and they move and they fly. So imagine people flapping coats down in front of them, in front of this donkey. Now on top of that, as he was approaching the descent of the Mount of Olives. Now the descent from the Mount of Olives down the Palm Sunday Road, and it's paved today, it's tarred, and yet it's still going down that road. They have built the walls along the side of

the road so that when you walk down the road, they zigzag it. And there's handles on the wall because you can get going at a pretty good clip. And if nothing else, you can slow yourself down by running into a wall. Because it's steep. But it was not paved when Jesus went down it. It was not zigzag. It was straight. It was dirt. And dust would be coming up. And the animal is trying to keep his footing

with Jesus on the back end, with people flapping coats and clothes down in front of it. And singing now. Declaring joyfully, verse 37, with a loud voice. Okay, now that donkey's either on drugs or he's obedient to the Lord. He knows his Lord. As Jesus is able to say to the storm, peace be still, somehow the donkey sensed and knew who it was. And Jesus had command over that particular situation

in such a way that it should have been totally obvious without him saying a word, that this has to be the Lord because of the circumstances with his entry. Now not on top of that, it's fulfilling prophecy. It's fulfilling prophecy that behold your king shall come to you riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And so that's a prophetic fulfillment. And yet the donkey's in full

control in the midst of all that's going on in front of him. Now, Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now that's a messianic declaration. That's an affirmation that this is the Messiah. That's a declaration from the Psalms, declaring from Psalm 118, it's one of the Psalms of Ascent, the great Hallel, the Psalms, the

declaration of the Messiah. So the Jews, the culture, would understand that that is a declaration affirming that this is the Messiah. So some of the Pharisees, verse 39, in the crowd said to him, teach or rebuke your disciples. They knew exactly what was going on. They knew that they were affirming that this is the Messiah. And so the Pharisees said, rebuke your disciples. This is blasphemy.

This whole scene, this whole situation is a declaration of your messiahship. Rebuke your disciples. But jeez, now how they could have been heard with everything that's going on, and the coats flapping, and the blessed, you know, they'd have been running up alongside, teacher, you know, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.

Now I don't think that was just a poetic declaration. Like this is such a joyful occasion that everything would be picking up on this and just crying out. This is something that would have actually happened. Creation rejoices. Creation understands the will of God. It understands the presence of God. Again, Jesus with the storm. The sea and the winds respond, and

the Bible says they worship Him. The trees of the field clap their hands in worship of the Lord. To have the creator of the very rocks themselves there. Plus I believe that somehow the trees and the rocks could very probably acoustically retain sounds and all. And at the presence of Messiah, they would rejoice. I believe that those are, you know, who knows when the Lord at the great white

throne, judging the ungodly, the sinners and all, He opens His books. Okay, well, John in Revelation chapter 20 wouldn't have understood PDAs or computers or anything like that. And if we can build those, what does the Lord have? What does God have to record? Our actions and activities, our words, our very words, the Bible says, will be judged. Our individual words, things that were

spoken in secret will be shouted from the rooftops. I mean, we have satellites and all that can listen in on conversations from 50, 100 miles in the air. They can zoom down in and not only take pictures of the size of a postage stamp, but they can listen in to conversations going on. If we can do that, what does God have? What can God use? Well, I think He uses trees and rocks, anything. I mean, He can hear, He knows.

But I'm just saying, I think it's more than just metaphorical. I think it's more than just the rocks would cry out. Creation is responding and will respond to everything that God does. And especially with His triumphal entry when Jesus was entering Jerusalem. And when He approached Jerusalem, verse 41, He saw the city and He wept over it saying, If you had known in this day, New American Standard says, even you, the things which

make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side. And they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another. Because you did not recognize, and again, the time of your visitation. Now, King James says in verse 42, in this thy day, this

day, and then verse 44, you did not recognize the time of your visitation. Simeon and Anna, when Jesus was brought to the temple, 8 days old to be dedicated, knew who He was because they understood the times and the seasons. They obviously were students of the Word. They had read Daniel's prophecies. They had an understanding of Daniel's 70 weeks to the extent that by figuring in, in chapter 9, the number of days from the time of the decree

issued to go and begin to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of Messiah the Prince was going to be this many years, was going to be at 483 years, 183,000, 186,880 days, I have it written down in Daniel, I can't remember, 180 some thousand days. Specifically, they knew they were in the ballpark when they saw Jesus. Jesus, as He's coming in from the Mount of Olives, that's the day, the very day Daniel had said from the decree that is given to go and rebuild, restore and rebuild Jerusalem until this time, click off, 483 years.

Babylonian calendar, 360 day year calendar, would have been 173,880 days, and they could have pinpointed that, and they should have known that. If you had known, even you the things which make for peace, but now they've been hidden from you, from your eyes. And then he goes ahead and he tells, I believe, a prophecy that is two-fold. A prophecy that will happen about 40 years after this in 70 AD, 37 years later, when Titus and the Roman legions will come into Jerusalem and will actually level the city. And they'll burn

the temple, the temple will be burned, and because of all the gold that's in the temple, in the temple construction itself, as the temple fire superheats the insides of the temple and that gold melts and runs into the cracks, Titus has his army go ahead and tear that building down and scrape the stones off and cast the stones back off the temple mount to claim the gold that's on those. And Jesus mentions that. They'll throw up a barricade against you, they'll surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another. Over a million people died in that particular assault of Jerusalem, because

you did not recognize the time of your visitation. The implication is, had you recognized me, other than just this proclamation, that as I was coming down to Malabar, if you'd recognized me and surrendered unto me, that would not have happened. But also prophecy said it was going to happen, so he was just fulfilling prophecy. He was fulfilling the prophecies that God had given to Daniel. Verse 45, And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive

out those who were selling, saying to them, It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber's den. It actually combines two verses there. The first part is from Isaiah 56, verse 7. It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, and then he blends in with it, Jeremiah 7, verse 11, But you have made it a robber's den, or a den of thieves. Now we've talked about this before in the other Gospels. When

he did that, he was not upset that the merchandise was there. He wasn't upset that they were selling doves and lambs. He wasn't upset that they were changing currency. You could only pay the temple tax and all in the shekel, in the temple shekel. And so as they were migrating, as they were making their pilgrimages in from other lands, and they had other coinage,

they had to change their money into the currency of the temple so they could pay their tithes and their temple tax and all in. But the money changers were gouging them. They were charging such exorbitant rates to change the finances. Also with the sheep and the animals for sacrifice. People, to save them the money from bringing those in from a great distance,

they'd come and buy them there. Well, they were several times higher there than they could buy them in the regular marketplaces. Plus, when they did bring their own, the priests were finding some kind of fault with them. So they'd tell them that they couldn't be used for sacrificing. They'd have to buy one of theirs. And again, it tripled the price. And then after they bought one of theirs, they'd take the one that was brought and they'd

take it down and around and put it in line and sell it. So they were making merchandise of the people. And the people knew that that was happening. They knew that they were being gouged. And so as a result, they were being obedient to God by coming to worship. I mean, this is the time of the Passover that they're coming to celebrate. They're coming obediently

to celebrate it, but they don't want to be there. Because the religion had perverted the relationship. The priests, the one who should have been bringing the people before the Lord, were making such merchandise of them that the people didn't want anything to do with God. If this is what God is, I don't want anything to do with Him. And that's why Jesus did what He did, driving them out. That's why He said, this is supposed to be

a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. You've made it a robber's den. And the people know that. And He was cleansing it. Well, He was teaching then, verse 47, daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, because He's ruining business. And plus, He's taking authority from them. And they could not find anything that they might do, for all of the

people were hanging on to every word He said. And so chapter 20, on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him. And they spoke, saying to Him, tell us by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority? In their minds, they are the ones in authority. They are the scribes and the priests in Jerusalem,

And now they're back in a city, it's like, you know, we get to go serve at the big house for a season and then we go back out and we serve in the little cities as kind of like the itinerant priests. Now these were the kahunas, these were the Pharisees, these were the big guys who were there. All the pretty robes they had. This was the mega church, you know, this was the mega temple.

This was where everybody comes. And they look to the priests when now Jesus is disrupting their show. And they want to know where he's from, by what authority are you doing these things, who gave you this authority? And Jesus answered, verse 3, and said to them, I will also ask you a question and you tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him? But if we say from men, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. What was John's baptism? When the people came out, when these, probably these same scribes and Pharisees came out to John, they didn't ask him what he was doing.

We talked about this at our baptism the other day. Baptism wasn't uncommon, it was common in most other religions. It was an act of identification. It was marking your identity with whatever you're being baptized unto. When you were baptized, you were identifying yourself with a particular religion, a particular God. And so when the Pharisees and the scribes and the teachers of the law came out to confront

John the Baptist, they didn't say, what are you doing? They said, unto what are you baptizing? Who are you identifying these people with? Or what are you identifying these people with? And John said, unto repentance for sins. I'm identifying these people, when they come and I baptize them, they are agreeing that they are sinners and they want to turn from that sin and they believe that a Redeemer

is coming who is so worthy that I am unworthy to even loosen his sandals. And so they were coming out to identify with that. I am a sinner and there is a Savior coming. That's what John's baptism was all about. So Jesus says, his baptism, what he was doing, was it from heaven? Under what authority was he baptizing? And the Pharisees rightly reasoned, if we say, well it was from God, I mean his authority

came from God, then Jesus will say, so why didn't you? Are you greater? Are you without sin? Why didn't you affirm that and identify yourselves with it? If it's from God, I mean that's only natural, isn't it? If we say it's from God, then why didn't we do that? If it's from God, I mean, if you know something is from God, God wants you to do this, you better do it.

If you don't do it, that's blatantly sin. To him who knows to do good, James says, and doeth it not, to him it's sin. So if I know that that's from God and I don't do it, then I'm in sin, I'm professing myself to be a sinner. And the Pharisees are going, I can't do that. But if I say it's from men, everybody around here, obviously most of the people that were

standing there had gone to John, had been baptized by John. They believed in the coming of the Messiah. They believed that this was the Messiah. If we say it's from men, they'll stone us to death for blasphemy. And rightly so. They could do that according to the law. They would be within their legal right to do that for blasphemy. So they answered and said, we don't know.

We don't know where it came from. Line today in politics is, I don't recall. Senator, why did you do that? I don't recall. Mr. President, why did you make that decision? I don't recall. That's a typical political answer that goes clear back to the Pharisees. We don't know. We don't know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, verse 8, Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

In other words, he's affirming. He's probably said it with a smile on his face. You're not going to tell me because you're afraid. So I don't have to tell you either. But what authority I do these things. And then he, the idea is, if you have a study Bible and you have a black whatever header there saying like parable of the vine growers, just overlook that because this is a teaching

moment for Jesus. The whole issue is authority. The whole issue is the authority of God. And the responsibility of those under authority to God. So he uses it. It's a teaching moment. He began to tell the people this parable with the Pharisees still standing there. A man planted a vineyard and he rented it out to vine growers and he went on a journey for a long time.

At the harvest time he sent a slave to some vine growers so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard. But the vine growers beat him and they sent him away empty handed. And he proceeded to send another slave and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed. And he proceeded to send a third and this one also they wounded and they cast out.

And the owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him. When the vine growers saw him, they reasoned with one another saying, this is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours. And so they threw him out of the vineyard and they killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

He will come and destroy the vine growers and will give the vineyard to others. Ok, now hold your finger here and go back with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 5. Isaiah chapter 5. This whole concept of a vineyard and vine dressers was not new to the Pharisees, was not new to the Jews. And the Pharisees especially would understand it because they were raised with the knowledge

of the Scriptures. So they would know Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 5, verse 1, Isaiah writes, I'm going to start reading while you are turning. Isaiah 5.1. Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around and he removed its stones and he planted it with the choicest vine.

And he built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he expected it to produce good grapes. But it produced only worthless grapes, wild grapes, sour grapes, not good tasting grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones? So now let me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard, God says. And these are the I wills of God. I will remove its hedge, its protection, and it will be consumed. I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up.

I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his delightful plant. And thus he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed. For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. And then the next 20 verses are the woes of God against Israel and against those in authority in Israel who did not correctly tend the vineyard of the Lord.

So when Jesus is talking about a parable of the vineyard, they would absolutely, their minds would go right back to Isaiah chapter 5, and they would understand the idea of those who were in charge of the vineyard were them. Because the leaders of Israel in Isaiah neglected the Lord. And instead of it producing grapes, instead of Jerusalem producing the fruit of righteousness which God had desired when he chose Abraham and said, out of you I'm going to make a great nation of people and unto the world. He would use them to speak to the world, to declare his righteousness to the world.

And yet instead of producing this wonderful fruit of righteousness, they intermingled with the people of the world there in Canaan, and they went after false gods. They didn't stay true to the worship of the Lord. And so they produced wild grapes, sour grapes, and God had to bring judgment. He brought against Jerusalem, he brought the Assyrians in, but the Assyrians didn't conquer Jerusalem, so he brought the Babylonians in and they took Jerusalem captive and tore down in essence the vineyard of the Lord as an act of judgment.

Now Jesus is referencing this, talking about his vineyard, and he sent slaves to the vinedressers who the vinedressers would be the Pharisees and the scribes. And God sent the prophets to them to check on his vineyard and the prophets came and they declared to those in authority, this is what the Lord says, and yet those prophets were destroyed. Just recently John the Baptist, John the Baptist came in the authority of the Lord and was declaring the truth of the word and the truth of God, especially towards the king and he had him destroyed, he had him beheaded. And so they sent another slave and they beat him also and then he proceeded to send a third and this one they wounded and cast out.

So I will send my beloved son, verse 13, perhaps they will respect him. Now I see Jesus, if all of you know who Chuck Smith is, and you have watched Pastor Chuck teach on the DVDs and things we have shown of him here, Pastor Chuck has this marvelous gift of pause. When he will teach, he will say something, and then he spaces out what he says next, and there is this pause. Students of the Bible College hate that when they have to listen to Chuck tapes and write reports and so they are able to now, they have it on CDs as well, from what I understand now.

Back in our day when we would send people out to the Bible College from here, they had tape recorders when it was all on cassette tape and they could speed them up. He would listen to Pastor Chuck at higher speeds because he would talk very slow and then he would pause. And when you are listening to nothing on tape and you have to write a report and you are going, man it is 10 o'clock at night and I have to speed this thing up. But his pauses were so effective because when he would pause, what are you thinking about?

The very last thing he said. And that is what Jesus, I believe it is not written in the text, there is not a pause line like there is in Exodus when Moses is talking to God. But I really think that he would have paused. I will send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him and I can see Jesus just looking at him. Then he said, but when the vine growers saw him, they reasoned with one another saying,

this is the error, let's kill him so that the inheritance will be ours. And so they threw him out of the vineyard and they killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine growers and will give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, may it never be. But Jesus looked at them and said, why then is this that is written, the stone which the

builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. Now again, the first part of that is from Psalm 118 which is what they were singing as they were walking down the hill, the blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord back in chapter 19. This is, that was verse 26, this is actually right before that, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

In the construction of the temple, I understand that, well you read that when Solomon had the stones cut, the quarry was a distance away from the actual temple mount and the stones were cut precisely to size and then moved into place and were fit perfectly. They just dropped them into place and it says so that there was not the sound of a hammer or chisel on the temple mount. They were so precisely cut that when the stones came and were dropped into place, they did not have to shape them, you know, like we have to shape stuff to make it fit. They didn't have to do that.

Well evidently as the builders were preparing to go ahead and lay the foundation, they called back to the quarry and asked them to send up the foundation stone, the stone of foundation, the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone, the stone from which the rest of the temple was to be constructed. Stones were coming up evidently but that main cornerstone they couldn't find and it came back from the quarry that that stone had already been sent and evidently looking around they found it cast off to the side. It had come but they evidently for some reason didn't see that that was the cornerstone. It did not evidently look to them like the cornerstone so they set it aside thinking

it was another stone but they couldn't lay the foundation apart from that cornerstone. Everything else moved off the cornerstone. Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that he is a master builder and that a foundation has been laid and that foundation he says is Jesus Christ. There's no other foundation that can be laid and we are builders also. We build on top of that foundation.

Well the foundation stone was Jesus Christ but the builders of the temple missed the cornerstone and Jesus is asking when the people responded, oh may it never be and especially the Pharisees standing there going may it never be. We would never do that. We'd never kill the son. We'd never kill the son of him. Again they understand the vineyard parable. They understand because of Isaiah and they're saying just like Peter did, though everybody

else forsakes you, I will never forsake you. It can't be me. I would not do that. And Jesus then hits them with that psalm. Why then? What does it mean that the foundation, the chief cornerstone has been rejected? This became the chief cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces but on whomever it falls it will scatter him like dust.

Either you believe that Jesus indeed is the Messiah, is the Savior, is your Savior and you fall upon that rock. You just cast yourself upon that rock and your pride is broken as you humble yourself before him and fall at his feet on the rock of Christ. That's what breaks. That's what's broken to pieces is your pride and your own self-centeredness and your own self-ambition, your own trust in your own abilities.

That cracks and falls when you come to Christ. You fall on him and his mercy. You cry out entrusting him completely and when you do that you are broken to pieces but then he raises you back up strong and complete. But if you fail to fall on him that way then he will fall on you. The stone of judgment will fall upon you and it will scatter, it will crush, break to pieces

and scatter him like dust. So the Pharisees are given the presentation of the gospel pointing out exactly what they are going to do if they don't repent. The choice is theirs. And the scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him that very hour and they feared the people for they understood that he spoke this parable against them. And so they watched him and they sent spies who pretended to be righteous in order that

they might catch him in some statement so that they could deliver him to the rule and the authority of the governor. So by whose authority? Either he is under the authority of God and they affirm that and they fall on him. They fall at his feet broken before him or they seek to deliver him unto the authority of the governor. And they questioned him saying, Teacher we know that you speak and teach correctly and

that you are not partial to any but you teach the way of God in truth. I mean what they say is right on but they don't believe that. They are affirming what the people believe because the people are listening to them. And remember that is what they are trying to do is trap him in front of the people to make him look foolish in front of the people. Last night's debate.

What were they trying to do? They weren't really trying to convince us of anything. They were trying to make the other one look foolish in front of the people. They were trying to keep their cool and make their statements sound like they spoke with authority. And they were speaking in such a way as to try and make the other individual look foolish like he did not understand authority or have authority.

That's what these guys are trying to do. That is a political statement. It's a statement of truth but not that they believed. They were affirming that and the people would agree with that.

Taxes to Caesar or not, says Tom Brokaw, or Charlie Gibson, or Katie Couric, or whichever one is doing the questioning. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? What are they expecting? Same thing that they expected last night with the questioning. Yes or no? Is it lawful? Yes or no? That's what the question is asking. And you heard how the candidates last night answered the questions.

As a matter of fact, Tom Brokaw even asked the question, all I want from this is a simple yes or no. Did he get one? No. Is it lawful or not? But he detected their trickery and he said to them, show me a denarius, show me the common coin of the kingdom of the earth, of the kingdom of Israel. Show me a common coin, actually the kingdom of Rome, whose likeness and inscription does

it have? And they said, Caesar's. Now it's interesting that he didn't say, show me a denarius, and he took the denarius. He didn't say, there's Caesar's inscription. He didn't say that. They said, show me a denarius. And they held it up to him and he looked at it and he said, whose inscription is on it? Whose picture is on that coin? And he made them say it.

Very smart, very technical, because they affirmed it. They affirmed, that's Caesar's picture, that's Caesar, Caesar's inscription. And he said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and again there's a comma, but I think he paused, and I think he looked right at the Pharisees. And to God, the things that are God's. Remember the thought is still carrying with us about whose, John's baptism, where did

it come from? Was it from God? Okay, if it was from God, then these people are identifying themselves with God, with the need for repentance, with the need for a Savior. And so Jesus has taken them right back to that. Whose inscription is on there? Why it's Caesar's, they said. Well then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but give to God the things that

belong to God. And you are made in the image of God. God's created inscription is on every one of you. You belong to the Lord. And they were unable to catch him in a saying, in the presence of the people. And being amazed at his answer, they became silent. So now there came to him some of the Sadducees, who are Sadducees. They don't believe in anything. They are the liberals of their day.

They say that there's no resurrection. They didn't believe in the supernatural at all. They were just religious politocrats. They were the political religious community, more so than the Pharisees. At least the Pharisees believed in some things, scriptural. The Sadducees didn't. They were just using their position for personal gain. And they questioned him saying,

Teacher Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. Now that's actually exampled in Genesis. It's exampled in Genesis chapter 38 verse 8. And then it's declared as part of what's called the Leverite Law in Deuteronomy chapter 25, that that is indeed the case.

Moses declared that. It was exampled, I think it was by Judah, in Genesis. But it was declared as part of the law, the Leverite Law, the law to raise up seed in the individual's name so that his name would not die out. And so he says, Now there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and died childless, and the second and the third married her, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children.

Finally the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, which they did not believe in, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had married her. They didn't believe in the resurrection, they didn't believe in the supernatural. And so Jesus said to them, The sons of this age, he starts off relating to them in their sphere of reference. The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.

But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Now that hangs a lot of people up right there without them continuing on to read. And Luke gives a better explanation of it than Matthew does, I think. Verse 36, For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Now hang with me with that.

Paul even says in Ephesians chapter 5, after he explains the responsibilities of the wife and the responsibilities of the husband, and after verse 21, verses 22 on down, then he gets down to about verse 30 and he says, Behold, I show you a mystery. He's been talking about the husband and the wife and the man's responsibility towards the wife to love her as Christ loved the church and all, and he's going to present him to himself spotless and all, and so should the husband love his wife as himself, for no man ever hated his own body, but he cherishes it, he takes care of his body and all, and so should a man take care and love his wife. And then he says, he throws this in right at the end of it,

Behold, I show you a mystery, but I'm talking about Christ and the church. Well, no, wait a minute, you're talking about a husband and wife. I go back to verse 21 and I see all things, the husband's love your wives as Christ loved the church, wives submit yourselves unto him, you're talking about husbands and wives. And Paul says, No, I'm showing you a mystery, I'm revealing something to you about the husband wife relationship.

It's a picture of the intimacy of relationship that Jesus has for his church and wants with his church. That beautiful picture of the closeness of the oneness of relationship that Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17, that we'd come to understand, Paul says, you'll understand it best from the marriage relationship. And that's why the enemy's trying to squirrel it all up, mess with it, mess it all up. So the people lose sight of the blessed intimacy that Jesus wants to have with us through his church.

So in this age, that is really marriage's highest purpose. Oh yeah. Husbands and wives, it's the most satisfying relationship in the world because you're experiencing a oneness with another person, it's, you know, you raise kids, I mean, your life is spent in a marriage relationship with each other. And having kids and raising kids and having grandkids, I mean, that's, we almost equate that with the American dream.

But it's God's created purpose for a marriage relationship at the ultimate, ultimate highest level purpose of that is to experience the intimacy and oneness that Jesus wants to have with us. That's the goal of the marriage relationship. So in this age, it's people marry and are given in marriage. But to those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage for they cannot even die anymore.

When you take a vow, I promise to love you, to cherish you until death do us part. And Jesus said, they don't die anymore because they are like the angels and are sons of God being sons of the resurrection. Well, now, people still go, yeah, but it's like they're saying we lose when we go to heaven. And I'm really looking forward to being with Jesus, but, you know, I've got pictures on my wall of my kids and my grandkids and their grandparents and, you know, we've got generational, we have a hall of fame at our house.

It's down the hall on your way to the bathroom. On both sides of the wall are family pictures. My folks, I have a generational picture. It's a four generational picture and my mom is sitting on her mom's lap as a baby. And it's an old picture with a beveled glass front. It's really cool. You know, we like that. That's the generational picture. That's family.

And somehow, though, we think when we all go to heaven, we're going to lose all of that. Our grandkids are going to be scattered and our kids are going to be scattered and we're not going to be kids and family and anymore. And we're going to lose. Boy, does that blow the image of God, of who God is and His great mercy and His great loving kindness and His generosity and the plans that He has towards you.

Plans to prosper and to give you a desired end. Except I'm going to lose everything that I hold dear here in this life. No! This is a picture of what's there. The marriage relationship, the family relationship is a picture. It's only a picture. 1 Corinthians 13 is through a glass darkly. It's a shadowed picture of what's there. When we get there, we're going to go, wow!

Is this cool or what? You talk about family and extended family. And wow! Is this cool? It's going to be so awesome. So don't get hung up on that, that there is no marriage because we'll be like the angels. Like the angels are some mute, neutered nothings up there that just fly around all day doing stupid boring things. No! They're in the very presence of God.

That's what Jesus is equating this with. They're like the angels. They are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the burning bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For all live to Him.

So there is a resurrection. God, you know, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now they were really great guys and I wish you could have known them, but they're dead and gone. And I'm identifying myself as the God of those guys that are dead and gone, never to be seen again. How ridiculous that is. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Jesus says they're alive.

They're living. And so will you. And some of the scribes answered and said, Teacher, you have spoken well, for they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything. And then He said to them, How is it that they say that Christ died? Jesus isn't done, you know. You know, it'd just be kind of cool if one of the moderators on the political conventions

would say, Well, okay, that's all we have today. And one of the candidates would go, Tom, I have a question for you. Answer this if you would. And ask the press, the heads of the press, some question that would really expose their ignorance and their stupidity. He said to them, How is it that they say that Christ is David's son? For David said, David himself says in the book of Psalms, quoting Psalm 110 verse 1,

The Lord said to my Lord, Now Yahweh said to Yahweh, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And therefore David calls Him Lord, Adonai. How is He His son? And while all the peoples were listening, He said to the disciples, Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in synagogues and places of honor at banquets who devour widows' houses and for appearance's sake offer long prayers.

They will receive greater condemnation. Now the question about David's son, who is he? The Lord said to my Lord, This is David saying this in Psalm 110, The Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore David calls Him Lord, and yet He is the son of David. The messianic identifier is, Bartimaeus said it just a chapter or two back, Jesus, son

of David. How can He be David's son if He's His God, if He's His Lord? They couldn't answer that unless they would say, because the Bible says that He was going to be born of a virgin, that He would actually come to earth, that they would actually understand their own scriptures and understand that Jesus the Messiah would be born of a virgin and would have to, of necessity according to Isaiah, die to redeem. And they couldn't understand that and they couldn't explain it.

How can the Lord be the son of David and yet still His Lord? So he didn't even wait for an answer. He knew that their head would be spinning and their eyeballs were probably rolling around in their head and they couldn't answer it. So then he turns to the people and says, Beware of these guys. They like to make you think, really, that they know what they're doing.

They just simply want recognition. They are boasting their authority. They are pushing their authority for recognition and personal gain. Beware of them. They simply want what you have. They devour widows' houses. They just simply want the profit. They're the ones that set up the money changers and all. They simply want the profit. They make appearances. They have long prayers.

They make it sound like they know what they're doing. But by their actions, you realize what they are. That's true today, sadly, to a greater extent than I'd like to acknowledge within the church itself. With those who are demanding authority, who are claiming authority. And don't question my authority because I'm speaking the oracles of God. If Paul commended the Bereans who checked him out according to the Word and challenged

him according to the Word, then how much should we also not do that with all of those in authority who claim to be teachers of the Word? Quickly, chapter 21, and he looked up. They are in the temple area. He's been teaching. I believe he's talking and walking. And they are moving out. They were in the court of the priests, I believe, as he was beginning and then moving towards

the court of the priests because he wasn't actually a registered priest. He couldn't have gone in there, but he was in the court of the men. And then they are moving out now from the court of the men in past the court of the women. Now the court of the women is where the treasury is. And so as they are coming out through the gates into the court of the women, he looked

up and he saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. Now this, again, people massed around him, people coming in. This is the center of activity of this particular court. It's as far as the women could go. It's where the treasury was, people coming in for Passover and putting their tithes and

all into the treasury, into the horns there at the treasury, the big horns that were receiving all of this. A lot of activity. And Jesus watches the rich and the poor. He sees the rich casting in the things that they could afford to give. And he sees this woman, sees a poor widow putting in two small coins. And he says, truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them.

Now, it's just me, but I don't think they are watching the people. I think they are watching Jesus. I think they are watching Jesus watch the people. To them, again, this is something that happens all the time. The people coming in and putting their money in the treasury. It wasn't something new. If you see any of the movies about Jesus, it shows them kind of standing off to the

side and the disciples are gathered around him and they are sitting there watching the people coming in and putting money in. And Jesus makes a comment like, there's a spotlight on this widow that walks up and she's the only one putting money in the thing. I don't see it that way. I see it as masses of people walking up. And Jesus and the disciples are actually walking the other way.

And he's looking as he's walking by, he's kind of looking down and seeing the horns and the people coming up and putting their finances in the treasury receptacles. These big horns like a cornucopia, like a horn of plenty. And he makes a comment about this widow. I don't think they had any clue as to who he was talking about. I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them, for they all out of their

surplus put in the offering, but she of her poverty put in all that she had to live on. He's commenting on what she gave of herself out of her want. Now the reason I believe that they didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about really is the next verse. I don't see any time space here. I see this as they're walking out and he says as he's walking by and they're walking

together, this widow put in more, and he may have pointed to her, this widow put in more than all the rest of them because they gave out of their surplus but she gave out of her need and all that she had to live on. And they just went on talking about the temple. Okay. Yeah, cool, Jesus, that's cool. Some were talking about the temple that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive

gifts. None of them said, what? What are you talking about? I mean, I would have been, now wait a minute, you know, okay, I mean, back a little while ago, remember Jesus was saying with the rich guy that came and Jesus said, he said, what must I do to be saved? And he went through the one side of the Decalogue and the guy said, all that I've kept since

the needle then for a rich man to get into heaven. What about us? The disciples said. We've given up all that we have. I mean, they made a big deal out of that. Now here, Jesus is just a couple chapters down the road going, this woman is, I really noticed her. She made a big impression on me and they're going, look at the stuff in this temple, would you? It didn't make any impression on them until after

the resurrection. And Luke writes this down. And Jesus said, as for these things, verse 6, which you are looking at, see, he's saying that's the most important. You're looking at stuff. And see, that's what we do today. The most important thing is how we're worshiping the Lord with what we have and who we are. And we're measuring stuff. We're measuring success by stuff.

Look at this stuff, Jesus. Look at this stuff. This has been 47 years in the making. Isn't this just amazing? Just amazing stuff. And Jesus is going, the amazing stuff is that widow who put in all that she had. That's amazing. Yeah, but Jesus, look at this stuff. He says, truly I say to you, as for these things, you're looking at the days will come in which there will

not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down. And they questioned him saying, teacher, tell us more about the widow and the two mites. No, they said, teacher, when therefore will these things happen and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, see to it that you are not misled for many will come in my name saying, I am he and the time is near. Do not go after them.

When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified for these things must take place first. But the end does not follow immediately. Now that should kind of take care of the preterist people. Because the next major war that they would have heard of is 70 AD. And he said, you're going to hear of wars and rumors of wars, and these must take place first, but the

end does not follow immediately. So rather than saying, well, everything culminated in 70 AD, because that's, well, no, not according to Jesus, the end doesn't follow immediately. Preterists say, well, Jesus is ruling now through his church and we're in the millennium, we're in the millennial kingdom. Well, no, not according to the scripture, if you really take scripture literally, which they don't.

He then continued saying to them, we've got to move quickly, I'm sorry, we could spend days in this. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be global conflict. Nation, nation, they understood that. Kingdom, kingdom. There's only one kingdom right now and that's Rome. Well, now you're talking about kingdom against kingdom. Well, yeah, we've seen Greece defeated by Rome, but there's no other

kingdom on the horizon that we can see. They could see, if you lived in the kingdom of Greece, you could see Rome rising up. You could see it building up, but there's, there in Rome, nothing else is rising up. And you're talking about kingdom against kingdom, that's more of a global conflict. That's way down the road. That's nothing yet. And there will be great earthquakes and in various places plagues and famines.

There will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all of these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my namesake. Now remember prophecy, talking to Brian earlier, prophecy has an immediate fulfillment always and a future fulfillment. Immediate fulfillment and a later fulfillment. It's like it's layered and you peel layers off to

understand it. The immediate fulfillment was going to happen almost immediately after the resurrection. The disciples would be hauled into court. Many of them, most of them, they would all be killed over a period of time, over the period of years. Be brought before kings and governors, Paul was. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony, which it did. We know for sure

from Paul and we assume from the others as well. But it also has a future application down the road at the time of the Great Tribulation. When they will be persecuted, the Jews literally will be persecuted. Believers will be hauled into prison at that particular time during the Great Tribulation period. Many killed. So make up your minds, verse 14, not to prepare beforehand to defend

yourselves for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and they will put some of you to death. Now follow me with this one. And you will be hated by all because of my name, yet not a hair of your head will perish. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

We're going to be hated and betrayed even by family members and they're going to put some of us to death but not a hair of my head will perish? Well that's great. I'm going to be killed but at least my hair is going to be okay. It sounds like an oxymoron. It's not. You're not going to perish. Even if you are delivered unto death, you will not perish. You're assured

by your endurance you will gain your lives. Jesus talks about that to the seven churches in the book Revelation, the first three chapters. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies and that will happen in 70 AD and it did and that will happen again at the end of the seven year period of the tribulation period for the preparation for the battle of Armageddon. Then recognize that our desolation is near and then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

70 AD also happened in the middle of the tribulation and those who are in the midst of the city must leave and those who are in the country must not enter the city because these are days of vengeance so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people. It would have been tough to flee in 70 AD to flee the Roman armies coming in. It will be tough in the middle of the tribulation period when the Antichrist sits himself on the throne proclaims himself to be God and goes after the Jews with a vengeance. It'll be tough for

them to flee especially if they're pregnant especially if they have nursing kids. There will be great distress upon the land and upon the land and wrath to this people. Verse 24. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be left captive to all the nations and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot. Now this is that immediate time from 70 AD on have an immediate application will be trampled under the foot

underfoot by the Gentiles until the times the Gentiles be fulfilled. I believe that has happened. Jerusalem is now under the authority and control of Israel. We're just waiting to be taken out of the way. There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars and on the earth dismay among the nations. Asian stock markets down. European stock markets. 25 nations are

gathering together to mix together to figure out how to stop the leak in the banking system. Russia shut its whole market system down until Friday. There's calamity in the world. We're in those times. Perplexity and the roaring of the sea and the waves. Men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man

coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Did not happen in 70 AD. Is going to happen at the end of the of the tribulation period. But when these things begin to take place, and I like New American Standard, it says straighten up. Lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Then he told them a parable. Behold the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as

they put forth leaves, you see it and you know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away. So be on guard so that your hearts will not be

weighted down with dissipation. The Greek word means to be tossed about, tossed to and fro. And drunkenness and the worries of life and that day will come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before

the Son of Man. That is what we are doing. That is what we need to do. That should occupy our time. Yeah, I wonder who's going to be elected president. I wonder what's going to happen if so-and-so is elected president. Are we going to have a rise of the brown shirts again, of Hitler's brown shirts? I sent around an email to you all that were on the prayer list that are on our computer email list and it had some video clips

that were very disturbing to me. If it is, so be it. God's allowing. Whatever happens, we keep straightened up and look it up and we're waiting for the Lord to come. Verse 37, Now during the day he was teaching in the temple but at evening he would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet and all the people would get up early in the morning

and come to him in the temple to listen to him. And Father, we are seemingly in those days just preceding the last seven years. We're seeing things, signs in the heavens and signs on the earth. Everything from UFOs to strange formations in the skies. Earthquakes on the earth increasing with intensity and frequency. Markets changing, a global community emerging.

The need for global oversight of the banking systems is declared by all the the nations of the earth. We see the preparations for war in the Middle East and Ezekiel 39's fulfillment. And Lord, we know that you're coming as soon. And so help us to straighten up and to take heed and to press on and be about your business. Telling others about Jesus. Encouraging the downtrodden. Lifting up the hands that are hanging down.

Strengthening the feeble knees. Helping one another. Proclaiming the soon coming of the Lord and the love, his love for people. Lord strengthen us for that I pray and use us mightily to that end. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.