The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - Jesus is Meek, Not Weak

00:00:00.000 Leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform.

00:00:03.960 I get it.

00:00:04.620 It's annoying.

00:00:05.380 Everybody asks, but I'm going to tell you why.

00:00:07.700 When you give us a positive review, what that does is it triggers the algorithm so that

00:00:12.440 our podcast shows up on more people's news feeds.

00:00:16.280 You and I both know that this ministry is willing to talk about things that most ministries

00:00:20.820 aren't.

00:00:21.860 We need this content for the glory of God to reach more people's ears.

00:00:27.080 Amen.

00:00:27.860 Let's stand for the reading of God's word.

00:00:29.460 we're continuing our series through the gospel according to Matthew. Our text for today is

00:00:33.520 Matthew chapter 12 verses 14 through 21. Again, that's Matthew chapter 12 verses 14 through 21.

00:00:41.080 I'll read our text for us in its entirety. When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say this

00:00:45.440 is the word of the Lord, at which point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by

00:00:49.580 saying thanks be to God. One final time, our text for today is the gospel according to Matthew

00:00:54.640 chapter 12 verses 14 through 21 the bible says this but the pharisees went out and conspired

00:01:01.960 against him how to destroy him jesus aware of this withdrew from there and many followed him

00:01:09.200 and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known this was to fulfill what was spoken

00:01:15.960 by the prophet isaiah behold my servant whom i have chosen my beloved with whom my soul is well

00:01:23.580 pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not

00:01:30.960 quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not

00:01:38.180 break and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his

00:01:45.940 name the Gentiles will hope. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated. Let's go

00:01:52.100 ahead and dive right in the first phrase that I want us to focus our attention on is as follows

00:01:57.720 but the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him Jesus in light of that

00:02:06.780 aware of their plot withdrew from there if you were with us last Lord's Day the most immediate

00:02:14.680 thing that we see Jesus doing right before this phrase that the Pharisees went out and conspired

00:02:20.880 against him, how to destroy him, the prior action of Jesus that provoked this anger and malice within

00:02:28.600 the Pharisees was that he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. And I think that

00:02:35.560 this is significant, right? What causes the Pharisees in this instance, and there are several

00:02:42.500 throughout the gospel narratives, but in this particular instance, what causes the Pharisees

00:02:47.840 to be stirred up with malice, contempt, and hatred towards Christ to the point that they are now 0.53

00:02:54.900 conspiring and plotting of how they might kill him and destroy him. It's not a particular sermon

00:03:02.400 that he preached, although they were certainly angry at his teachings and his words. And it's

00:03:09.720 not because he trapped them in some kind of word game or publicly humiliated them by being able to

00:03:20.060 get the best of them when they tried to accuse him or trap him there's some element of that

00:03:25.860 but the most immediate prior action on the part of Christ that leads into the first words of our

00:03:35.120 text today that the pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him is

00:03:40.820 jesus healing of a man who was suffering with a physical condition on the sabbath in other words 0.84

00:03:49.780 what roused these jewish pharisees to immense hatred to the point of wanting to kill christ 0.90

00:03:59.260 was not truth although they're angry with that 0.99

00:04:04.140 and not necessarily his own holiness the fact that they could not

00:04:10.440 pin him with any particular sin although christ of course is perfectly

00:04:15.120 holy but rather what made them so angry in

00:04:18.980 this instance is chiefly his mercy imagine that for a

00:04:25.420 moment i mean there are plenty of people that

00:04:27.880 were angry with Jesus throughout the course of his earthly ministry. There are plenty of people

00:04:31.980 who are angry with Jesus today. That hasn't changed. But in this instance, these particular men

00:04:39.240 are most angry with Jesus because of his mercy. Not because of an offensive sermon, not because

00:04:48.240 he publicly humiliated them, but because he chose to heal someone. Someone is physically suffering

00:04:55.360 and jesus chose to alleviate that man's suffering and the immediate instinctive action or reaction 0.71

00:05:05.200 of these pharisees is pure malice and hatred to the point of conspiring

00:05:12.300 to find a way to end jesus life i've written in your notes the following no sooner does christ

00:05:20.880 heal and do good then the pharisees conspired to destroy him herein is shown the depth of man's

00:05:28.160 depravity that the light of the world is hated not for his iniquity that is his sin for there is none

00:05:35.860 in christ but for his holiness yes his truth yes and perhaps most of all his mercy the pharisees

00:05:46.600 hated mercy they hated mercy and i have found and i think that it's true but both experience

00:05:55.180 and the scripture that there is a particular type of person still to this day who hates

00:06:01.820 mercy and it is the type of person who is confident in and of himself that he has no need

00:06:09.560 of mercy that's the only person who gets angry at the mercy of christ it's a person who's convinced

00:06:17.140 that he has no need of the mercy of christ it is the self-righteous individual the person that

00:06:24.540 believes that they're righteous of their own accord and it's important that we keep in mind

00:06:31.080 that there's no particular group of people based off of culture or based off of religion or based

00:06:37.500 off of a political affiliation that somehow has attained a monopoly on self-righteousness.

00:06:46.220 I remember, you know, when I was younger, I would hear Christians speak about the church, 0.58

00:06:53.860 speak about fellow Christians, as though Christians were the only ones who were vulnerable or

00:07:00.660 susceptible to self-righteousness. But that's not true. There is a leftist self-righteousness.

00:07:09.860 It is alive and well. It exists. To think that conservative Christians somehow have an exclusive

00:07:18.940 monopoly on the sin of self-righteousness is naive at best and perhaps even deceptive

00:07:25.720 at worst. That's not the case. You can be self-righteous by your virtues that tend towards

00:07:35.480 conservatism, or you can be self-righteous by your perceived virtues, your pseudo-virtues that are

00:07:43.720 far more liberal. The person who's living in Seattle or San Francisco who has no children,

00:07:52.520 but you know a plethora of cats and maybe a few dogs that are about the size of a cat that they

00:07:59.880 can carry conveniently in a purse right and who gives money towards you know the environment and

00:08:06.920 these kinds of that person is self-righteous they are they're just attaining this illusion

00:08:15.720 a perception of their own self-righteousness through a separate avenue but it is self-righteousness

00:08:23.760 it is self-righteousness going on in your notes i've written this yet christ is not surprised

00:08:30.200 by this rejection of the pharisees it was foreknown and ordained by his father jesus fully knew that

00:08:39.920 But the opposition of the wicked does not in any way frustrate the counsel and plans of God.

00:08:47.180 Therefore, Christ withdrew, not in fear, but in wisdom, for he knew that his hour had not yet come.

00:08:56.760 All right, so the first phrase that we find in our text today is that the Pharisees went out,

00:09:01.580 immediately conspired against Jesus, seeking to kill him, to destroy him.

00:09:06.600 what is immediately prior to that statement what is it that stirs him up to such anger and malice

00:09:13.260 his mercy he healed someone there's a guy who's in pain jesus alleviates the pain and the natural

00:09:22.680 instinctive reaction of the pharisees is there was a guy hurting now he's not hurting so we're mad

00:09:28.820 that's the type of person that we're talking about these are jesus enemies his enemies are

00:09:36.500 those who don't just hate him but they hate this man with a withered hand they hate those who are

00:09:43.620 suffering they hate the lost sheep of israel who are longing for a shepherd they don't just hate

00:09:50.920 Jesus for Jesus' sake. They hate Jesus because he stands as a blessing and a provision and a benefit

00:09:59.600 to all these other people that they had bound with many burdens, that they had sought to oppress

00:10:06.660 and cause to suffer. These are malicious men. They're not just ignorant men or deceived men. 0.98

00:10:15.080 they are malicious men. They're not just enemies of Jesus. But these Pharisees were enemies of 1.00

00:10:22.160 all mankind. They hated to see someone in pain alleviated and blessed by the Son of God. And

00:10:31.360 they hated it so much that their instinctive thought, immediate reaction, is we have to kill 0.99

00:10:38.980 Christ. But Jesus is not surprised, and his response is something that we can learn from.

00:10:46.720 Verse 15, Jesus, aware of this, aware of what? That the Pharisees are now conspiring to kill him.

00:10:55.680 And Jesus, being aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed

00:11:03.940 them all. So Jesus' response, I think we could argue, is twofold. On the one hand, it's not a

00:11:12.040 response of cowardice. Jesus heals a man who's suffering. He knows, right? So it's not like

00:11:19.000 they're conspiring in secret. They probably were, but their secret conspiring is not

00:11:24.540 outside of the God-man's purview. Jesus is perfectly aware of their plots, of their schemes,

00:11:30.620 of their plans. So it's not that Jesus goes on doing what he's doing because he's blissfully

00:11:36.400 unaware. Jesus is perfectly aware that he just healed a man and that now his enemies in direct

00:11:43.780 response to that are conspiring to kill him and not in cowardice but rather in courage. Jesus says

00:11:51.560 you want to kill me because I just did this thing? Well I'm going to go and do that thing even more. 0.97

00:11:57.540 you want me to stop i'm gonna do it even harder that's that's the response of christ he withdrew

00:12:03.700 from there but look it goes on verse 15 many followed him and he healed them all you're mad

00:12:11.040 because i healed someone i'm gonna heal even more and yet i don't want us to just focus on the latter

00:12:18.060 portion of verse 15 the the former the first part of that verse is significant as well he did

00:12:26.520 continue doing what the father sent him to do in courage but he also withdrew from that particular

00:12:34.220 region so that he might be able to continue ministering longer he knew that it was not yet

00:12:41.180 his time so he was faithful and not a coward but he was also shrewd wise and not foolish and not

00:12:52.980 just for his own sake. All right. I'm reading into the text a bit here. I'm not going to say

00:12:58.200 that this is the explicit exegesis, but I think it's an implicit, plausible inference. Okay.

00:13:06.580 And a plausible inference from the text. Here it is. Jesus, aware of this, that they're

00:13:11.740 conspiring to kill him, withdrew from there and many followed him. I think that it's possible

00:13:19.940 that in the mind of the God-man,

00:13:22.020 part of his withdrawal was not only for his own sake

00:13:25.040 so that he could continue to publicly minister longer

00:13:28.660 because he knew that his time had not yet come,

00:13:31.480 but it was also for the sake of those following him.

00:13:35.260 He withdrew from there,

00:13:36.780 and those following him also withdrew with him.

00:13:39.880 He knew, if I get out of this place

00:13:43.380 where the targeted enmity is most severe

00:13:48.280 and most hostile these people that i care for they also will naturally follow me and remove

00:13:57.620 themselves from danger also and i think that there is a principle there when it comes to leadership

00:14:04.500 that it's not just you against the world but there are people following you if you are a husband

00:14:12.840 if you are a father, if you're an employer, whatever your station in life, especially for

00:14:20.160 those of you who are men and heads of households, there is a principle, there is an element in which

00:14:28.800 you need to be courageous and uncompromising, but also shrewd and wise. And there are times where

00:14:37.980 you can press and then withdraw and have those under your care withdraw with you so that they

00:14:46.580 don't become unnecessarily vulnerable to hostile attacks and then having withdrawn for a time

00:14:57.740 then press back in and we see this in the ministry of Jesus on multiple occasions

00:15:04.600 that he'll be somewhere he'll do good works he'll preach truth and enmity will be stirred up against

00:15:15.220 him and then he'll withdraw but in the final analysis Jesus against even the counsel of others

00:15:23.700 namely his disciples when it's time when he knows that the time is near he goes into the fray

00:15:31.460 rather than further away he goes into jerusalem even when his disciples are begging him not to

00:15:37.980 don't go to jerusalem that's where that's where it's hottest that's where there's the most

00:15:45.160 fear a fearsome concentrated hatred against you if you go to jerusalem you'll be a sitting duck

00:15:53.520 you'll be vulnerable you'll die to which when it is his time he responds by saying 0.99

00:16:00.260 can a prophet be put to death killed anywhere but jerusalem jerusalem is the place that kills

00:16:08.380 the prophets it's a long rich tradition and most importantly it has been prophesied

00:16:15.280 and scripture must be fulfilled jesus is not on a suicide mission

00:16:22.200 he's not he is seeking to be wholly obedient to his father to fulfill every dot every iota

00:16:33.000 of scripture and that which was prophesied in regards to him and so when he appears to be

00:16:41.220 foolish he's being subject to the father and courageous and when he appears if we're not

00:16:49.780 careful and our own fallible perception when he appears to be cowardly withdrawing he is not 0.99

00:16:58.980 he's being timely he's being shrewd he's being wise and not only for his own sake because it

00:17:06.340 it was not yet his time, but for the sake of others who would follow him. And he knew they

00:17:12.600 would follow him out of danger and live to see another day. Not for the sake of perpetual comfort,

00:17:20.760 though. And we have to understand the difference, because if not, it's easy to use the wisdom of

00:17:26.780 Christ as a euphemism for our own cowardice. Jesus is not doing this for his own comfort,

00:17:33.780 and he's not doing it for the perpetual

00:17:36.360 indefinite comfort of his followers.

00:17:41.900 Because this is the same Jesus

00:17:43.780 who even said that Peter one day,

00:17:47.140 his arms would be stretched out,

00:17:48.920 that he would be led away to a place

00:17:50.660 where he does not want to go.

00:17:52.360 He was predicting his own disciples' martyrdom

00:17:55.580 that he would be put to death.

00:17:59.040 And in that instance, Jesus does not say,

00:18:01.760 hey run hide this is going to happen but here's how you can avoid it he gives him no such counsel

00:18:08.660 because it's the will of God so this is Jesus who leads his followers out of harm's way

00:18:17.640 and yet also commissions them and commands them to do that which later on will lend towards their

00:18:24.060 own death so Jesus is not protecting his people so that we can be comfortable throughout the

00:18:31.680 entire course of our lives just for comfort's sake. Everything is for the kingdom of God.

00:18:39.000 Seek first these things, higher things, heavenly things, and everything else that you need that is

00:18:45.560 necessary in God's purview will be added unto you. There are times to lay low. There are times to be

00:18:54.480 wise. And there are also times where we go into the fray knowing, knowing that it would lend

00:19:01.700 towards our own death. And the determinative factor between the two is ultimately the providence

00:19:09.660 and will of God. It's not something that we decide in our own wisdom. And it's not something that we

00:19:18.420 do for our own comfort it's something that we do to the best of our ability as we're seeking to

00:19:25.260 co-discern with others who we believe are spiritually mature and the whole end you have to have

00:19:31.680 the goal the the aim in mind the the ultimate aim is how can i use the life that god has given me

00:19:38.960 the resources that he's provided to bring about the most optimal glory for god possible possible

00:19:47.360 how can i minister the most possible how can i be the most effective how can i put the most

00:19:56.420 damage to the gates of hell possible with the feeble fragile temporary life that god has

00:20:05.020 graciously given me and that seems to be the mind of christ and we should seek to have that mind

00:20:13.340 ourselves. How can I be wise, but not a coward? How can I be courageous, but not a fool?

00:20:23.640 How can I get longevity in my ministry, but not longevity to the point where my ministry becomes

00:20:31.660 impotent? Who cares if you minister for 50 years, but your ministry is not a threat?

00:20:38.680 right so you want a ministry that is a threat that's potent but you also don't want to be a

00:20:46.500 flash in the pan unless god has made that explicitly clear and especially as fathers

00:20:53.920 and husbands you're not just looking to get out of harm's way temporarily so that you can

00:20:59.580 rally another attack yourself but you're also looking to those who you lead

00:21:05.580 Jesus withdrew those he was leading followed him it secured their safety for the necessary time

00:21:16.140 as he rallied his attack to go back in to the belly of the beast Babylon namely Jerusalem when 0.55

00:21:25.000 it was time when it was time and even when he withdrew notice his withdrawing is not it's

00:21:32.560 withdrawing from the place where the attack was the hottest. But it's not a withdrawal of

00:21:39.380 compromise. Jesus doesn't withdraw in the sense that he goes and gets a cabin and stops preaching

00:21:45.300 and stops healing and stops ministering. No, he continues to do the very thing that put a target

00:21:52.380 on his chest that rallied the malice and anger of the Pharisees to begin with. He's still healing.

00:21:59.060 He's still preaching. He's still ministering. But he moves his vicinity slightly, temporarily,

00:22:08.880 so that the heat might die down in the targeted region where it's hottest, so that he can get

00:22:14.760 longevity in his ministry according to the fulfillment of Scripture, and so that his

00:22:20.140 followers might have relief and be alleviated, because it wasn't their time either. And all this

00:22:28.460 I admit, requires immense wisdom. Much of the wisdom and discernment required for us in our

00:22:36.980 own lives, with our families, with our ministries, be they formal or organic, much of this wisdom

00:22:44.720 and discernment is significant. And so we must lean on God and rely on the Lord and rely on

00:22:53.740 others that we value and trust as we seek to be faithful. So the first point of the text that we

00:23:01.920 see today is the malice of man. The second is the meekness of Christ. The text says he will not

00:23:11.300 quarrel or cry aloud. This is Isaiah prophesying and Christ now being a fulfillment of this. He

00:23:20.720 will not quarrel or cry aloud. A bruised reed he will not break. In your notes, I've written this.

00:23:27.440 Here is a picture of Christ, not as one who is weak, but one who is meek. He is full of mercy

00:23:36.000 for the weak, the faint-hearted, and the broken. Who are those who are like a bruised reed or a 0.99

00:23:43.760 smoldering wick? Those who are weak and faint-hearted and the broken? It is those who are weary by 0.99

00:23:50.460 their sin. Jesus is meek, but he is meekness to one, and simultaneously a consuming fire to another.

00:24:03.280 It is not as though Jesus is only meek, and that he is meek universally across the board.

00:24:10.720 That's not what the text is referring to. His meekness is propelled toward the bruised reed,

00:24:19.740 and the smoldering wick. His meekness is not toward the Pharisees. It's not toward his enemies.

00:24:28.680 His meekness is for you. His meekness is for his disciples, his followers. And again, what does it

00:24:37.100 mean to be a bruised reed or a smoldering wick? If it were to be defined by one particular

00:24:45.400 characteristic, it would be this. The acknowledgement of your own sin and a hatred and weariness and

00:24:56.820 holy misery over your own sin. You see your sin, acknowledge your sin, and hate your sin.

00:25:07.460 For that man or woman or child, Christ Jesus in his earthly ministry and still the Spirit of the

00:25:17.820 risen Christ to this very day is meek. He is meekness toward the sinner. The sinner who

00:25:26.520 acknowledges he is a sinner and who is miserable with his sin. He is not meek towards his enemies.

00:25:34.880 he will consume them as a fire and when he finally appears in his final physical return

00:25:44.980 he will be nothing but destruction to all his enemies the difference is self-righteous

00:25:55.320 or self-aware awareness of sin brokenness over sin and not just as i preached a couple weeks ago

00:26:07.460 brokenness over the sin of the world or brokenness over the sin of others but an awareness and

00:26:14.840 brokenness over your own sin going on in your notes i've written this christ does not quench

00:26:23.080 the smoking wick, but fans it into flame. He does not break those who are already bending,

00:26:30.840 but binds them up. Therefore let none despair of coming to him, but take heed. This gentleness

00:26:38.540 is reserved for those who bend the knee. The proud shall find him to be a consuming fire.

00:26:45.900 it's been said before but it bears saying again that every knee will bow on that final day and

00:26:54.340 every tongue will confess some knees will bow because they bend by grace and other knees will

00:27:00.520 bow because they break and they will be broken by christ that he who rules the nations with an iron

00:27:08.460 scepter will break their kneecaps and force them to bow. You can bow because you're forced to by

00:27:15.580 Christ, or you can bow by grace. Break or bend, but everyone will bow. Break or bend, but everyone

00:27:25.560 will bow. To those who bend by grace, Christ is meekness for you. Christ is compassion for you.

00:27:34.920 Christ is mercy for you. You have nothing to fear in Christ if, by God's grace, you contain

00:27:46.040 repentance. You are aware of your sin, broken by your sin, and see Christ as the only remedy

00:27:55.620 for sin. If that be the case, you have nothing to fear. Run to Christ. He'll scoop you up.

00:28:04.120 He'll embrace you with open arms.

00:28:07.500 But the person who should be trembling and very afraid

00:28:12.060 is the person who is self-righteous.

00:28:16.440 And again, there are so many different avenues

00:28:19.200 to ultimately landing

00:28:22.060 in the position of having a self-righteous heart.

00:28:28.040 You can be a liberal who is self-righteous.

00:28:31.460 you can be a conservative who is self-righteous you can be progressive and leftist and communist

00:28:37.000 who is self-righteous you can be a nationalist who is self-righteous the question is am i burdened

00:28:47.580 over my own sin and these are well these are the arenas where christians have to be able to think

00:28:56.180 in categories right for a long time it has been preached from the pulpit that we should be broken

00:29:03.520 over our own sin which is true but that's all we should be and that because we ourselves are

00:29:11.440 sinners that we can't seek to make any political practical cultural difference in the world and

00:29:19.020 that's a lot. You can seek in practical, tangible, political ways for your nation to be a God-fearing

00:29:28.820 nation. You can fight against, as some have called it, gay race communism, which I think is a good 0.99

00:29:37.520 label. You can say, no, no, I don't want globalism. I don't want 20th century liberalism. I don't want 1.00

00:29:45.600 leftism. I don't want communism. I want Christian nationalism. I want a God-fearing government. I

00:29:53.740 want God-honoring laws. I don't want to be a liberal. I want to live in the world that God

00:29:59.800 made and see it as good. Not with arrogance, not with pride, not with oppression, but recognizing

00:30:05.800 that according to God's natural order, it is not an egalitarian system. That God has necessarily,

00:30:13.160 in the world that he has made, he has placed hierarchy. And the correct response, wherever we

00:30:19.360 fall in God's providential station that he's assigned to us, is not that we be arrogant and

00:30:25.660 also not that we be envious, but that we be grateful for the station in life that the Lord

00:30:31.180 has assigned to us. And we seek to honor those above and be kind to those below. You can live

00:30:39.120 in the real world, the natural world, God's world, without artificially manufacturing and 0.57

00:30:46.440 manipulating everything with worldviews that are the antithesis to the Christian faith, once and

00:30:53.040 for all passed down to the saints. You can do that, and you will be labeled all kinds of names.

00:30:59.920 Ask me how I know. You will be persecuted. You will be hated. But you can do it, and you can do it

00:31:06.940 courageously and with shrewdness at times and with wisdom. And here's the final thing with our text

00:31:14.360 today. And acknowledge before the Lord and others on a daily basis that you yourself are a sinner

00:31:21.920 and that you hate your sin and that you are miserable under your sin and that your greatest

00:31:28.980 longing. First John, that when we see him, we shall be sinless, for we shall see him as he is.

00:31:40.080 The greatest suffering in this life is not sickness, and it's not death even, and it's not

00:31:48.460 political persecution. It's not the oppression and attacks of others. It's not an economy that

00:31:57.300 has been rigged to steal from you before you were ever born and that does exist. All these things

00:32:04.760 are terrible. It's not a full-scale invasion of your country to where you don't even feel like

00:32:12.620 you have a home anymore. True but not the greatest evil. The thing that makes me most miserable

00:32:21.900 is it christ bled out and died for me and yet i can continue to commit treason against my savior

00:32:31.300 and king every single day after all his mercy after all his kindness after all his grace i keep

00:32:40.900 failing i do i fail privately i fail publicly for me it's really hard because a lot of my failures

00:32:50.800 are recorded. I can go back and watch them. Have mercy on me, O God, a sinner. Forgive me.

00:33:01.960 Forgive me. That's the bruised reed. That's the smoldering wick. You are not a raging flame.

00:33:13.020 You're not a force to be reckoned with. You're not. You need to get that through your head.

00:33:18.540 you're not a bonfire you're a little dinky candle from bed bath and beyond that's barely sparkling

00:33:26.080 and yet that's the person that christ loves that everything in him moves powerfully towards that

00:33:39.380 person. If there is a condition. If you own it, you hate it, and you desire Him. Own your sin.

00:33:51.780 Hate your sin. Desire Christ. Own your sin. Hate your sin. Desire sinlessness.

00:34:00.720 Who is Christ and only Christ.

00:34:04.160 because if we ever lose that then it's not christian nationalism anymore

00:34:12.140 it's not it's just another secular political strategy or a pagan political strategy which

00:34:23.120 to be fair this will probably weird some of you out but i do prefer the pagan alternative to

00:34:30.180 secular. Not because it's Christian. Not because it doesn't have massive problems. But one of the

00:34:36.080 most timeless pagan traditions is eventually converting to Christianity. So I am more hopeful

00:34:41.820 in that regard. I'm like, oh, you guys, you think Thor's gonna get the job done, right? We're gonna

00:34:46.100 revert to, you know, Nordic pagan tribes. Okay, that's, it's kind of silly. But, you know, I feel 0.99

00:34:53.680 like we have a ticking timer now. If you truly convert to paganism, it's like rock, paper, scissors.

00:34:58.320 right secularism is like paper it's covering the rock of christendom right now uh but but if

00:35:06.660 secularism you know folds and gives up to scissors that is paganism then the rock of christianity

00:35:13.280 is pretty effective historically we've got a rich tradition of of pagan stone idols having their

00:35:21.240 heads, you know, sawn off, you know, or crosses etched into, you know, the idol. That's what

00:35:28.100 pagan tribes have done for hundreds of years, converting to Christianity. See St. Boniface 0.59

00:35:33.520 as a prime example. So we must fight. Yes, we want to be potent. We want to be potent in our

00:35:41.580 ministry, politically, culturally, in our families, first and foremost, starting at home and broadening

00:35:47.120 out. We want to do all these things and if Christ would bless it, if Christ would bless it, then his

00:35:53.360 people, the church, can change the world. But at the same time, what makes us different is not just

00:36:02.580 our views, although our views are different. It's not just our ideology, although our ideology is

00:36:08.560 different. It's not merely our virtues, although our virtues and values are distinct. But chiefly,

00:36:17.120 it is an awareness of our sin a misery for sin and a desire for christ 0.89

00:36:25.460 jesus hated the pharisees not just because they were malicious and not just because they were 0.95

00:36:32.920 deceitful and not just because they had twisted and perverted the law of moses to oppress others 0.98

00:36:39.660 under their authority which they had but he also hated the pharisees because the pharisees 0.98

00:36:47.080 were arrogant the pharisees were blind guides blind to what blind to the ways of god blind

00:36:56.700 to his holy law but most importantly blind to their own sin i've quoted it several times but

00:37:04.780 i'll quote it again charles spurgeon famously said that a man cannot appreciate the beauty of christ

00:37:11.560 lest he first come to see the necessity for Christ.

00:37:15.620 And we can't see the necessity for Christ

00:37:18.560 lest we see our own sin,

00:37:21.620 our own need for Christ.

00:37:25.120 The final point,

00:37:27.400 malice of men,

00:37:29.020 meekness of Christ,

00:37:30.560 and the majesty of God's redemptive plan

00:37:33.800 for all peoples,

00:37:35.800 all nations.

00:37:37.780 In the final two verses,

00:37:39.680 beginning with verse 20,

00:37:41.560 We see these words, a bruised reed he will not break,

00:37:44.840 a smoldering wick he will not quench

00:37:46.980 until he brings justice to victory.

00:37:50.200 Verse 21 now, and in his name, the Gentiles will hope.

00:37:57.420 Some translations say the nations will hope.

00:38:01.360 In your notes, I've written the following.

00:38:04.240 This entire passage is a fulfillment of scripture.

00:38:08.680 Christ is not merely a good teacher or healer.

00:38:11.420 he is the servant of the Lord. He is chosen and anointed by the Spirit to accomplish all the

00:38:19.440 Father's will. And what is this will? To proclaim justice to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to

00:38:27.700 the nations, and to cause hope to arise in those who previously sat in darkness. The calling and

00:38:37.000 mission of Christ extends far beyond Israel to all peoples. This was always the plan. Romans chapter

00:38:47.020 1 verse 16 is not meant to express levels of love, but a sequence of salvation. I'm going to say that

00:38:57.400 again. Romans chapter 1 verse 16, which is often quoted by those who are Judeo-Christians.

00:39:07.000 and not historic Christians. It is misquoted, tweaked, and twisted. Romans chapter 1 verse 16,

00:39:16.140 which is the infallible Word of God, but it must be used rightly. The law is good if it be

00:39:22.860 used lawfully. What the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, means to convey is not

00:39:30.760 an order of god's love but a sequence of his redemptive plan of salvation romans 1 16 to

00:39:39.860 refresh your memories says this for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god

00:39:46.600 for salvation to everyone who believes that is to all the elect and all the elect among every tribe

00:39:55.840 and tongue and nation. And then we have an order to the Jew first and also to the Greek, 0.87

00:40:05.060 or some texts say the Gentile, to everyone else. Again, this is not a hierarchy of God's love.

00:40:14.680 This is not God's ordo amoris, the order of loves that God himself contains for people.

00:40:24.580 No, this is rather not an order of loves, levels of loves, but a sequence of salvation.

00:40:33.880 It's speaking not to a hierarchy of affection, but the timing of God's redemptive plan.

00:40:40.900 That it was prophesied by God that salvation would come to the Jews. 0.68

00:40:47.420 But then from them, it would then extend to all peoples. 0.60

00:40:51.520 So not that God loves Israel, old covenant Israel, more than other nations, but that Christ would come to them first.

00:41:03.000 And this is the fulfillment.

00:41:05.880 Verse 21, again of our text, in his name the Gentiles will hope.

00:41:12.180 Christ came to his own, Isaiah says, but they received him not.

00:41:17.640 it was prophesied that christ would come and that he would come at a particular time to a particular

00:41:25.700 people but that those people would reject him and ultimately that those people would crucify him

00:41:32.600 some of those people would be saved

00:41:35.220 and others would be condemned but the plan the redemptive plan of god for christianizing

00:41:44.940 discipling all nations was never meant to stay in that one place but always intended by God to

00:41:52.880 extend from that place to all the world. Christ came as the hope of Gentiles the hope of nations

00:42:01.740 even when he flips over the tables of the money changers and fashions a whip of cords and drives 0.95

00:42:09.280 them out what does he say my father's house is a house of prayer a lot of times we forget the

00:42:18.360 second half of his statement for all nations but you have turned it into a den of thieves

00:42:25.960 the salvation of the world has always been the intent of god before the foundations of the world

00:42:35.400 were ever even laid, the world's salvation has been God's stated plan. For God so loved the world

00:42:43.840 that he gave his only son, that whoever should believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal

00:42:50.820 life. Yes, Christ came to the Jews. He was rejected and killed by the Jews. And yet in all of this,

00:43:00.420 it was so that his gospel might go out from there and be a light unto the Gentiles. A hope and

00:43:08.200 salvation to all people. Again, verse 21 of our text. And in his name, the Gentiles, the nations,

00:43:18.700 all peoples will hope. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Bless it to your people.

00:43:25.500 help us to see the malice of men and to see the sin in even our own hearts not just malicious men

00:43:36.800 but to see ourselves as bruised reeds and smoldering wicks lord help us see for us the

00:43:45.360 meekness of christ but to know that his meekness towards the broken is not weakness towards the

00:43:54.640 wicked. And lastly, Lord, help us to exult in and to have joy in the majesty of your redemptive plan

00:44:06.540 for saving all nations. Thank you for saving us. Help us to do the work of an evangelist

00:44:14.460 in the context where you've placed us, that we would see the nation's hope in Christ and nothing

00:44:22.000 else. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

The NXR Podcast - August 31, 2025

THE SERMON - Jesus is Meek, Not Weak

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript