The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - Waging Holy Violence

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00:00:30.000 this morning we continue our series through the gospel according to matthew our text for today

00:00:34.800 is matthew chapter 11 verses 7 through 15. again that's matthew chapter 11 verse 7 through 15. i'll

00:00:40.400 read us our text in its entirety when i finish reading the text i'm going to say this is the

00:00:44.480 word of the lord at which point i would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks

00:00:48.800 be to god one final time our text for today is the gospel according to matthew chapter 11

00:00:54.240 verses 7 through 15, the Bible says this. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds

00:01:00.920 concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

00:01:07.540 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft

00:01:13.980 clothing are in king's houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you,

00:01:21.340 and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before

00:01:28.320 your face, who will prepare your way before you. Truly I say to you, among those born of women,

00:01:35.800 there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom 0.98

00:01:42.400 of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven

00:01:49.340 has suffered violence and the violent take it by force for all the prophets and the law prophesied

00:01:56.780 until john and if you are willing to accept it he is elijah who is to come he who has ears to hear

00:02:05.380 let him hear this is the word of the lord all right please be seated let's go ahead and dive

00:02:11.420 in by way of introduction i've written the following christ the great teacher of the church

00:02:17.500 takes this occasion to correct the people's misjudgment. He's speaking now to the people

00:02:24.920 at large correcting their misjudgment and misunderstanding. In their fickle hearts

00:02:32.020 they were ready to cast doubt on John's prophetic office simply because he, like all men, had

00:02:39.560 expressed a moment of weakness. But Christ in his kindness and truth reaffirms John's dignity.

00:02:47.500 Showing us that God's servants may waver in affliction, yet remain steadfast in calling.

00:02:53.700 If you were with us last Lord's Day, we dealt with a text where John the Baptist sends his disciples to go and question Jesus.

00:03:04.140 At that moment, John the Baptist is captured.

00:03:07.540 He is imprisoned by King Herod.

00:03:11.300 And he's awaiting what he probably knows is going to be his certain death.

00:03:15.900 And we know that that is in fact what takes place, that he's beheaded.

00:03:20.200 And as he's waiting for his execution, he sends his own disciples to go and to speak with Jesus

00:03:26.220 and to question Jesus to confirm whether or not Jesus is in fact the Christ.

00:03:33.060 In other words, what John the Baptist is doing in that moment is he is at some level

00:03:38.220 pleading with the Lord Jesus for assurance, for affirmation.

00:03:44.120 He wants to know that his own ministry as a precursor to the Christ, to the Messiah, has not been in vain.

00:03:52.920 He wants to know that Jesus, in fact, is the promised Messiah.

00:03:57.680 And Jesus answers the question.

00:03:59.480 He doesn't rebuke John, but he actually answers John's questions.

00:04:04.320 John is doubting in that moment, not disbelief, but doubt.

00:04:09.000 he's wrestling with his faith his ability by the spirit to trust in Jesus and so Jesus provides

00:04:17.540 for him assurance confirmation affirmation which is a gracious thing for Jesus to do and John

00:04:23.980 in his humanity infinitude and at some level even perhaps his fallenness is doubting because of his

00:04:32.300 current tribulation his life is now on the line he realizes that he is probably at the very end

00:04:39.400 of his race and he wants to know that he has not run that race in vain and so because John questions

00:04:46.620 Jesus through his disciples it's fitting that Jesus is now addressing this with his own hearers

00:04:53.460 many of them who are also disciples or followers hearers of John the Baptist he's saying you've

00:04:59.600 come to me to hear my teaching and many of you are the same individuals who would go out into

00:05:05.940 the wilderness to hear the teaching and preaching of John and he's kind of restoring in a sense

00:05:14.120 John's dignity he's not apologizing for John he's not sweeping any weakness of John under the rug

00:05:21.120 but he's saying that despite any weakness on John's part his weakness does not invalidate

00:05:28.520 the office of his ministry that the Lord appointed to him. He was a forerunner. He was a prophet. And

00:05:36.220 I tell you even more than a prophet. He was a voice crying out in the wilderness, make way,

00:05:42.860 make straight paths unto the Lord. He was a prophet. He was a man. We'll get to that here

00:05:49.580 in a moment not just male but masculine and he was steadfast not a reed that bends and breaks

00:05:58.940 but he was steadfast he was consistent he was unbending uncompromising so even in a moment

00:06:07.600 of weakness and and needing to reach out and to cry out to the Lord for assurance and confirmation

00:06:14.680 that he had not, in fact, run his race in vain.

00:06:18.360 Even in that weakness, he did not break.

00:06:22.020 Even in that weakness, he did not ultimately fail

00:06:25.800 or compromise or sell out.

00:06:29.560 He was not a reed bending back and forth.

00:06:33.900 He was not a politician or a prince in king's houses

00:06:38.580 wearing soft clothing, malakoy, soft.

00:06:44.680 But he really was indeed a masculine, unbending prophet

00:06:49.680 who was appointed by God with a legitimate, valid office

00:06:54.520 as a precursor in the spirit of Elijah

00:06:58.700 to prepare the way for me.

00:07:02.520 So Jesus restores his dignity.

00:07:05.840 And even with his own hearers, it's all about Jesus.

00:07:08.580 This is the same John the Baptist who previously said

00:07:11.540 he must increase, speaking of Christ,

00:07:14.680 i must decrease so it's all about jesus and now here is jesus who knows that it's all about him

00:07:21.380 and that the whole focal point of john the baptist ministry is that he would slowly

00:07:27.020 decrescendo and that christ would crescendo and rise my mom would be very proud of me to use those

00:07:36.060 musical terms um she's not here this morning but she'll listen to this and she'll probably cry

00:07:41.800 It was all worth it. John the Baptist didn't run his race in vain, and I didn't run my race in

00:07:48.140 vain. All the piano lessons that I forced upon my son, they paid off. But this is Jesus who knows.

00:07:56.000 He knows that John's purpose was to prepare the way for Christ, and that he was to fade out as

00:08:03.700 jesus is rising up and yet jesus still gives to john dignity and part of it is his compassion and

00:08:12.780 love for john but part of it also is because his own not in the objective sense but in the

00:08:21.580 subjective sense his hearers and their perception of christ in the subjective sense jesus ministry

00:08:29.300 and his calling, his anointing as the Messiah,

00:08:33.320 it is resting on John saying that it was so.

00:08:38.360 And so Jesus is validating John

00:08:40.740 and saying this moment of John questioning me

00:08:43.920 is not a sign that he didn't finish the race well.

00:08:48.480 He may have doubted, but he did not disbelieve.

00:08:52.320 He may have questioned,

00:08:53.720 but he ultimately did not bend or break.

00:08:56.160 and he may have struggled at the end of his life but he was still a hard man he had grit grit's a

00:09:04.460 good word that's a word that i'd like to see come back around he was masculine he was not soft he's

00:09:11.720 not a soft man and so this is what's going on this is the context of our text today the first point

00:09:20.840 that I want to draw out of the text is this, ministers should be masculine. I think it's

00:09:25.900 important that we see ministers should be masculine in at least two regards, as we've already seen from 0.91

00:09:31.260 the text, that ministers of the gospel should not be as a reed bending, but they also should not be

00:09:38.980 as a prince in king's houses soft. Now, I don't think it's a coincidence. Obviously, you can have

00:09:46.800 malakoi, soft, effeminate men in virtually every realm, in every vocation, right? There's not like 1.00

00:09:55.300 there's one vocation or one category that has a monopoly on effeminate men. But I do find it

00:10:05.020 significant. I don't think it's a mere coincidence that Jesus, as he says, what did you go out into

00:10:10.900 the wilderness to see a soft man wearing soft clothing and then he could have said no you'll

00:10:17.840 find those people in the markets you know he could have said that right those are those are

00:10:23.840 businessmen that's where you'll find them or he could have said no you'll find you want a soft

00:10:31.300 man and soft clothing you'll find him over here you'll find him over there he could have named

00:10:35.760 you know listed any vocation any realm any category but he lists the political you want to

00:10:43.200 find a soft man wearing soft clothing then look to politicians that's where you'll find them

00:10:51.220 where do you find them in dc in king's houses you find them at the courthouse you find them at the

00:10:59.560 palace. You find them in Congress. That's where you find them. You don't find them in the wilderness

00:11:08.560 wearing camel skin and eating bugs, right? That's not where you find soft men. That's where you find 1.00

00:11:15.540 hard men. You want to find a masculine man? Then go off the beaten path. Do you want to find an 1.00

00:11:24.460 effeminate men, then look to the chief seats. Look to the places of honor, because soft men will 0.99

00:11:32.360 always find themselves clamoring and clawing and clinging to places of honor. So Jesus mentions

00:11:41.800 both of these aspects. He says, John the Baptist is not a reed. And in that sense, he is masculine. 0.97

00:11:50.880 He's not a reed. He's not bending.

00:11:53.620 And he's also not soft, wearing soft clothing.

00:11:57.720 But rather, he's in the wilderness.

00:12:00.060 He has grit.

00:12:02.600 Okay.

00:12:03.540 I've written this.

00:12:05.460 A reed easily moved by the wind symbolizes a man lacking firmness or conviction.

00:12:12.780 But John was no such man.

00:12:14.340 True ministers of the word must not be carried about by the changing winds of public opinion, but rather must stand firm.

00:12:23.440 Likewise, John's rugged austerity directly contrasts with the soft attire of those who dwell in king's houses.

00:12:33.120 His camel's hair garments and wilderness dwelling were outward signs of inward grit.

00:12:40.100 true ministers of the word must be masculine not merely male i'll come back to that in a moment

00:12:46.960 they are called to labor diligently often in hardship so it's not just for the sake of

00:12:53.660 appearance there's a purpose for this criteria why is it that ministers of the word should be

00:12:59.980 male and that we should assume that included in that criteria of maleness that that necessarily

00:13:07.400 also speaks to a masculine maleness not just in a biological strictly biologically I guess

00:13:14.220 technically the guy is a guy it's it's not just that he's male he must be masculine and this is

00:13:21.400 not capricious it's not arbitrary this criteria that the Lord gives the reason for it the purpose

00:13:29.820 for it is because ministers at times will be under fire. And so they have to be able to have

00:13:37.320 resolve. They have to be able to withstand hardship and opposition for the glory of God

00:13:45.760 and the good of the church. So that's the first thing that we see as Jesus is speaking to the

00:13:52.540 crowd. He's reaffirming the dignity of John. One, in compassion for John himself, I believe.

00:13:58.500 But secondly, insofar as not just John the man who struggled, at least at some degree, in his final moments of life, but not just reaffirming John's dignity for his own personhood in compassion, but also reaffirming John's ministry.

00:14:17.960 not just his person but his office and what that means its significance for Christ who comes as the

00:14:26.800 one who is after John who John was preparing the way for so this is what Jesus is doing he's

00:14:34.540 reaffirming John the man and he's also confirming John the prophet his office in order to further

00:14:43.180 validate himself that he is indeed the messiah and the christ and in doing so he uses at least

00:14:50.740 two criteria to say no john was authentic john was legitimate john was a man he was a prophet

00:15:02.160 he was not a reed uncompromising and he was not a politician he was not soft he was not merely

00:15:11.560 male, but masculine. And he was not compromising, but resolute. The second point, as I see it in

00:15:18.240 the text today, that I hope by God's grace to draw out for you, is this, the greatness of John

00:15:25.180 and the privilege for us. Jesus, he affirms that there was indeed a unique greatness that John

00:15:37.300 possessed. But he doesn't just leave it with John. But then he further fleshes out that John's

00:15:45.840 greatness was significant. It was high. It was lofty. It was respectable. And yet it pales in

00:15:54.580 comparison to the least in the kingdom of heaven. So John, in fact, really did possess a greatness.

00:16:02.180 And yet John's greatness means for us not an insubordinate, lesser, lesser gift that we receive, but if anything, an even greater privilege that we have today.

00:16:19.560 The text says this,

00:16:20.960 Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. 0.82

00:16:27.100 Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 0.94

00:16:32.280 In your notes I've written this. 0.92

00:16:34.160 Christ declares that no man born of women, namely those who are born according to natural birth, physical birth, that none were greater than John.

00:16:46.820 His greatness is not, what's not in reference here, his greatness is not moral perfection.

00:16:55.500 Because we see the weakness of John in the prior, immediate prior text, where he's questioning the legitimacy, validity of Christ.

00:17:07.360 So this greatness of John is not in reference to his own moral perfection, but his ministerial privilege.

00:17:15.940 He's great because he stood closer to Christ than any prophet who came before him.

00:17:23.140 John's greatness is measured by the clarity of revelation granted to him and his role in introducing the Messiah to the world.

00:17:33.560 Yet Christ declares that even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.

00:17:38.820 This does not mean that the believer, for us today, exceeds John in personal piety, meaning holiness, but rather in positional privilege.

00:17:52.600 It is not that believers today exceed John in personal piety, but rather positional privilege.

00:17:59.440 The smallest believer today enjoys a clearer view of God's grace than even John ever did.

00:18:08.820 In other words, the principle that we can find is this.

00:18:12.460 Greater grace means greater responsibility.

00:18:16.720 With great grace comes great responsibility.

00:18:22.280 The greater of God's revelation, which is, and you have to understand this,

00:18:27.900 God's revelation to man is always grace.

00:18:32.060 He is not obligated to reveal anything to us.

00:18:36.000 the fact that God has spoken to his people is grace the fact that God came God himself the son

00:18:45.300 of God in the incarnation and took on flesh and tabernacled among us dwelt among us and revealed

00:18:52.300 himself to us is grace and the greater God's revelation and all God's revelation is a gracious

00:19:00.120 revelation the greater god's revelation to us the greater moral responsibility we have

00:19:07.360 to live in light of that revelation the person who has received nothing no word from god

00:19:16.940 no revelation from god it will be required of him in terms of his moral obligation his

00:19:24.860 his life's response there will be a lower bar for him now you have to be careful with this

00:19:31.340 theologically some have gone so far as to say well those who have never heard the preaching

00:19:36.460 of christ at all who've never received a single page from the scripture or some tribe in the

00:19:44.040 deep dark jungles of the amazon where no missionary has ever gone no verse of the bible has have ever

00:19:51.260 reached that of of them there would be zero requirement but that's not true we know that's

00:19:58.680 not true from the scripture we know from romans 1 and romans 2 for that matter that all men have

00:20:06.540 at least some revelation from god through nature itself that god has revealed himself to all people

00:20:14.580 by what he has made the creation itself testifies to a creator therefore you oh man even the man

00:20:24.460 on a lonely island who's never heard the gospel all men are without an excuse

00:20:32.040 but the fact that all men have received some revelation from god merely by their own life

00:20:41.140 and the breath in their lungs and eyes and ears

00:20:43.900 to see the stars and the sun.

00:20:46.720 The fact that all men have received some revelation of God

00:20:50.840 and therefore all men are rendered excuseless

00:20:54.040 does not mean that there's not a sliding scale.

00:20:58.880 So nobody is innocent.

00:21:02.080 Nobody gets a pass.

00:21:04.340 Nobody can stand before God's throne on that final day

00:21:07.740 and say, I didn't know.

00:21:09.840 but it is true that some know less all know in part and the knowing that all have received the

00:21:20.420 revelation that all have received make all at least responsible enough to where God is justified

00:21:26.900 as the judge to send those who do not have faith in his son Jesus to an eternity in hell

00:21:33.680 without God doing any wrong on His part.

00:21:38.040 So everyone has received enough gracious revelation from God

00:21:42.540 to therefore be excuseless and held accountable.

00:21:46.920 But that does not mean that everyone has received the same degree of revelation.

00:21:51.600 It is undeniably true that some have received more grace.

00:21:57.300 All have received some grace.

00:21:59.660 and enough grace sufficient grace for what judgment apart from faith in jesus christ

00:22:07.980 but that does not mean that all have received equal grace and that's what jesus is saying

00:22:14.440 here where he says john the baptist is the greatest born of women he's saying up until this

00:22:20.220 point, there is none born of women, no one of physical human birth who has been in a greater

00:22:29.420 position. Not just meaning he was the greatest person, not personally, but positionally. None

00:22:37.100 have been in a greater position of revelation to see with clarity who I am, what I've done,

00:22:48.360 And what I've said, John had, up to that point, the greatest degree, the highest degree of

00:22:56.580 gracious revelation from God. And therefore, Jesus says, without mincing words, complete integrity,

00:23:06.220 he's not being tongue-in-cheek. It is true when Jesus says, John the Baptist is the greatest man

00:23:12.400 born of women. And then it's also true when he says, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven 0.91

00:23:19.220 is greater than he. Another biblical reference to, to help validate this principle is when Jesus

00:23:30.300 pronounces judgments on certain Jewish towns in Israel. Woe to you, Tyre and Sidon. And, 0.98

00:23:39.820 then he compares. He says, for if the works,

00:23:44.320 the miracles that he performed in these places, 0.86

00:23:47.840 if they had been performed in Sodom

00:23:51.740 or Gomorrah, he says they would have repented.

00:23:56.760 And so what is Jesus essentially saying? Sodom and Gomorrah

00:23:59.960 are off the hook. No. No, the residents of Sodom

00:24:03.920 and Gomorrah were temporally judged by fire and brimstone.

00:24:09.820 God destroyed those cities and eternally judged.

00:24:15.480 Not just temporally, but eternally.

00:24:17.600 They died apart from faith in Christ,

00:24:20.100 as far as we know, as far as what the Scripture teaches.

00:24:23.240 So therefore, the cities were temporally burned

00:24:26.680 and the residents are also eternally in hell.

00:24:33.560 That's not something that we're happy about,

00:24:35.940 but we certainly have to acknowledge that

00:24:38.080 if we believe that the Scripture is true

00:24:39.640 in the Word of God. 0.93

00:24:40.960 So Jesus is not exonerating Sodom and Gomorrah.

00:24:44.680 He's not saying, hey, Tyre and Sidon,

00:24:46.780 because you're this bad,

00:24:48.520 that means that they're not bad at all.

00:24:50.920 And that they're off the hook.

00:24:52.740 No, he's saying they were judged.

00:24:54.360 They were judged by God justly.

00:24:57.060 They did not pass through the judgment.

00:24:59.380 They were temporally destroyed.

00:25:01.140 And eternally, those residents are also being destroyed.

00:25:05.500 And yet, the judgment for you

00:25:08.140 these towns in Israel

00:25:11.060 will be even greater.

00:25:13.160 Why? On what basis?

00:25:14.620 What's the determining factor?

00:25:16.880 Because, according to Jesus,

00:25:19.760 these Jewish towns had received more grace.

00:25:24.440 More grace by what means?

00:25:27.000 In what form?

00:25:28.560 Revelation.

00:25:30.040 They had seen more.

00:25:33.580 You saw me work mighty miracles.

00:25:36.320 You guys are witnesses of the resurrection of Lazarus.

00:25:43.020 Dead guys came back to life. 0.99

00:25:46.780 Lepers were healed. 1.00

00:25:49.520 The lame walked before your very eyes. 0.94

00:25:52.820 The blind see, the deaf hear. 1.00

00:25:56.060 You saw me multiply food for 5,000, just the men. 0.86

00:26:00.240 Listen, you've witnessed incredible divine revelation.

00:26:08.180 God has graciously revealed much of himself to you.

00:26:15.480 And so therefore, what you're rejecting is more.

00:26:19.500 And therefore, your rejection is worse.

00:26:22.460 you are more morally responsible for your rejection of God's grace through the means of

00:26:31.400 revelation than others who also rejected God's revelation which is also gracious but a smaller

00:26:38.740 degree. Sodom still had revelation. Well what revelation did Sodom have? Well two. They had

00:26:47.240 natural revelation and special revelation. How? Well, natural or general revelation, they had

00:26:54.220 beating hearts. They were alive. They saw the stars. They saw the sun. And it's a Romans 1

00:26:58.820 situation. God has made himself plainly manifest by what he has made. Special revelation now,

00:27:05.060 they had Lot. Now, I'll be the first to say, Lot is no Jesus. Right? He's not performing signs

00:27:13.820 and wonders he's not going around raising the dead and he's also a little bit of a deadbeat

00:27:21.180 morally speaking and yet the scripture says righteous lot was his soul not tormented within

00:27:31.240 him as he lived among the heathen year after year righteous lot and this is the same lot who carried

00:27:38.900 his own family line in some very distasteful ways. And I'll just, for the adults, you can

00:27:48.480 look that up in the Bible later if you're unfamiliar with what I'm saying. But we are

00:27:52.060 family integrated and have kids in the church. And so I want to be careful. But Lot did some

00:27:57.660 not great things. Okay. Not great things. And yet the New Testament refers to him as righteous,

00:28:05.640 which is crazy.

00:28:09.620 And whatever righteousness Lot possessed,

00:28:13.140 certainly I think positional righteousness,

00:28:16.020 forensic righteousness,

00:28:17.240 I believe that Lot is a Christian. 0.97

00:28:18.900 I believe that Lot is in heaven. 0.93

00:28:21.040 So he had the positional righteousness,

00:28:22.740 the perfect righteousness,

00:28:24.200 not of his own,

00:28:25.500 but of Christ,

00:28:26.920 which is received through faith,

00:28:29.380 regardless of what time in history you live.

00:28:32.160 Old Testament saints are saved

00:28:33.540 the same way New Testament saints are.

00:28:35.060 God has only saved people one way, through faith in Christ. Old Testament saints are looking forward

00:28:44.060 to Christ through prophecy, through types, through shadows. And we are looking back toward Christ,

00:28:53.400 which is the whole point that I'm making, that I believe Jesus is making in the text. That's why

00:28:58.420 we are so privileged, because in looking back to Christ, we're able to look to Christ with

00:29:04.780 more clarity, more revelation. And therefore, it is more gracious on God's part to reveal to us

00:29:17.720 so much more of himself. We see this in Hebrews chapter 1. Long ago, God spoke

00:29:25.260 to our fathers through the prophets and the law

00:29:29.440 in many ways, many times.

00:29:33.480 But in these last days,

00:29:35.340 He has spoken to us through His Son.

00:29:40.040 Who is what?

00:29:41.180 What is Jesus in that context of Hebrews 1?

00:29:44.100 He's the exact imprint.

00:29:46.980 Right?

00:29:48.040 No more types and shadows.

00:29:50.760 No, He is the substance.

00:29:52.000 He's the exact imprint of the Father's nature.

00:29:55.260 by just a chip off the old block.

00:29:57.820 Nope, he is the block.

00:30:01.160 He's the exact imprint of the Father's nature

00:30:03.540 and the full radiance of the glory of God.

00:30:11.340 So for those who are looking back to Christ,

00:30:14.780 whether you were privileged to see him in person

00:30:17.620 2,000 years ago at the time of his earthly ministry,

00:30:22.000 or whether you are a New Testament saint,

00:30:25.260 such as you and I, who still get to see Jesus with far more clarity than Old Testament saints,

00:30:33.120 not because we get to shake his hand or watch him on earth raise the dead,

00:30:38.260 but because we get to read of Jesus all his teachings and works.

00:30:44.620 Not all. If all his works were written down, then all the world would not be able to contain the books.

00:30:50.320 That's what the Gospel of John says.

00:30:51.340 But we get to read much of his works, his miracles, and his teachings, his sermons,

00:30:58.360 that Old Testament saints, before Christ came, did not have access to.

00:31:03.180 Because it hadn't happened yet.

00:31:05.120 And yet we do.

00:31:06.380 We have greater revelation.

00:31:07.960 We have greater clarity.

00:31:09.000 We have greater grace.

00:31:11.300 So whether it's Tyre and Sidon.

00:31:13.840 It's not that Tyre and Sidon.

00:31:14.920 This is important to get. 0.99

00:31:15.920 it's not that these jewish towns had committed more heinous acts there's at least two i think

00:31:24.480 two categories okay two categories of of degrees of sin have you heard right we'll do some bible 0.85

00:31:33.560 myth busters for a moment all sin is equal right wrong no it's not all sin is equal insofar as all

00:31:42.480 unrepentant sin, apart from faith in Christ, is equal in its ability to separate you

00:31:50.740 from God for all eternity. So in that sense, yes, all sin, be it serial killer or white lie,

00:32:01.180 all sin is equal in that sense. Yes. But not all sin is equal in its temporal consequences,

00:32:09.200 right we don't teach our children hey you know what if you do this some small infraction you

00:32:15.740 get a timeout and then if you do this other thing that's also a timeout no we we teach our children

00:32:22.180 from a young age well there are certain behaviors that have more severe consequences than others

00:32:27.520 i don't want my kids to grow up and become adults and think you know what if i get a little cute on

00:32:34.660 my taxes, that's bad. And also if I murder my neighbor, that's kind of bad too. And, you know,

00:32:40.040 tomato, tomato. No, no, no, no, no. It's not tomato, tomato. All right. One of these things is not like

00:32:45.940 the other. These things are different. And so there is a category of greater degrees of sin

00:32:53.820 in terms of the infraction, the transgression itself. But there's also, and I think this is

00:32:58.360 what many pass over, there's also what's clearly expressed in the scripture by Christ himself

00:33:03.820 is another category of determining

00:33:06.480 whether someone gets a light beating

00:33:08.560 or a severe beating.

00:33:11.200 And those are the words of Jesus.

00:33:12.560 Like Joel's talking about beating people.

00:33:14.400 I'm not exegeting right now.

00:33:15.720 I'm just quoting.

00:33:16.640 Quoting Jesus.

00:33:17.980 Your problem, once again, is with Jesus.

00:33:21.020 He says, to one will be given a light beating.

00:33:23.200 To another, a severe beating.

00:33:25.680 Based off of what?

00:33:27.740 Well, in that context,

00:33:29.520 what Jesus is talking about is, again,

00:33:31.720 not the the degree of transgression or the degree of infraction but in that category he's talking

00:33:39.440 about transgression in the midst of varying degrees of revelation varying degrees of grace

00:33:46.540 that's why Jesus is saying woe to you Tyre and Sidon why because you've done worse things

00:33:55.220 maybe but that's not explicitly referenced in that context that may be the case but what Jesus

00:34:00.260 says for sure is, woe to you because you have hardened your hearts, rejected me, gone on in

00:34:07.500 your rebellion and sin in the midst of great revelation. And Sodom and Gomorrah, also guilty,

00:34:17.100 also judged him poorly and eternally. But their rebellion was in the midst of some revelation,

00:34:24.640 enough to condemn them to make them morally culpable but a lesser degree of revelation

00:34:31.400 and therefore their punishment will be lesser a punishment nonetheless eternal nonetheless i'm

00:34:37.540 not teaching annihilationism john stott's hardest hit god bless him he had a lot of good stuff but

00:34:44.340 not that so i'm not saying that you know the people in sodom and gomorrah will go to hell for

00:34:49.260 you know temporarily you know they'll be there for 10 000 years and then other people will be

00:34:53.860 there for 20,000 years. No, it is eternal. It's what the Bible teaches. And I don't know exactly

00:34:59.100 what that looks like, but according to the words of Jesus, there are some people that will be in

00:35:04.120 hell forever and it will be miserable. And there are others who will also be in hell forever and

00:35:10.320 it will be more miserable. I think that the scripture teaches this, right? Which is just

00:35:17.200 another, it's funny, it's just another example that just rubs our liberalism a little raw, right?

00:35:25.760 I'm a modern Christian, right? 20th century liberalism, in the heart of liberalism, in many

00:35:31.900 ways, is egalitarianism. But according to scripture, egalitarianism doesn't even exist in hell. Even in

00:35:38.500 hell, there's a hierarchy. Even hell has a hierarchy. Different degrees of judgment and

00:35:45.480 punishment hell is not equal heaven is not equal there are varying degrees of eternal reward

00:35:54.720 everyone will be eternally happy peace joy wiping away every tear no more sorrow we know that but

00:36:04.940 there are scriptures that speak to varying rewards heavenly rewards for our lives here on earth the

00:36:12.060 reward of salvation itself is a reward not for our work but for Christ's work on our behalf which

00:36:17.800 we receive by grace alone through faith alone in him alone but we know that heaven will have

00:36:24.520 degrees of honor hell has degrees of misery and earth has degrees of vocation and role and influence

00:36:35.500 and authority.

00:36:37.940 Hierarchy is inescapable.

00:36:40.040 It's God's world.

00:36:41.020 It's not ours.

00:36:42.120 It's His world.

00:36:43.080 He designed it.

00:36:43.760 He made it.

00:36:44.380 And He determines the rules.

00:36:47.460 And God is not egalitarian.

00:36:50.800 So, the greater the grace,

00:36:53.540 the greater the responsibility.

00:36:55.960 What does that mean for us?

00:36:57.800 Well, what it means is this.

00:37:02.420 On this side of Christ,

00:37:04.140 with all the resources

00:37:06.560 that in God's gracious providence

00:37:08.620 have been made available to us today.

00:37:11.360 All men are without an excuse,

00:37:13.340 but we especially are without an excuse.

00:37:19.000 You have the Bible, brothers and sisters.

00:37:22.680 You have the infallible words of God inscripturated,

00:37:26.520 both inspired by the Spirit

00:37:28.220 and preserved by the Spirit.

00:37:30.780 And on top of the Bible,

00:37:32.540 if it could possibly get any better.

00:37:36.840 We, sitting on the precipice of a millennia of Christendom

00:37:42.360 in the West and what God has done,

00:37:45.600 we have volumes of commentaries

00:37:49.360 and systematic theologies.

00:37:54.040 If you're too lazy to even read them,

00:37:57.200 you can now listen to them.

00:37:58.640 you can be washing dishes and listening to john owen

00:38:03.360 and you don't even have to go out and buy a book you can find most of it for free

00:38:10.400 we have received so much revelation and i want you when you hear revelation i want you from now

00:38:21.120 on to think revelation, grace, revelation, grace. We have received so much revelation. God has

00:38:30.860 revealed so much truth to us, which is a gracious thing of him to do. So you have received so much

00:38:40.640 grace. Rebellion toward God is always wrong. And we are always responsible for that moral failure.

00:38:52.120 But rebellion toward God

00:38:54.300 on the backdrop of greater degrees of grace

00:38:58.540 is even more of a moral failure.

00:39:03.980 And I think that that's one of the main points

00:39:06.860 from the text today.

00:39:08.560 John the Baptist really was great.

00:39:10.860 And at that time, up to that point in redemptive history,

00:39:14.520 he was truly the greatest.

00:39:17.620 And yet for you and I,

00:39:19.340 right? On one hand, it's encouragement. It's hopeful. It's a great honor. On the other hand,

00:39:26.660 though, we should hear it with fear and trembling. It's like, John the Baptist is the greatest. I

00:39:32.960 don't like that. That sounds like hierarchy again. And I believe that the Bible is liberalism.

00:39:39.720 It's not. It's not. But I understand. I too live in 2025. I feel it. I've been indoctrinated

00:39:47.440 Just like you, I've been trained to bristle, you know, every time I hear something that, you know, comes from, I don't know, something, you know, before the 1960s, the way that everyone used to think, not just Christians, but everyone. 0.78

00:40:02.780 So I get it.

00:40:03.640 I have the natural aversion that you do.

00:40:06.840 But then, you know, with that, as a modern Christian, modern Western Christian, John the Baptist is the greatest.

00:40:13.040 No.

00:40:13.360 but then you can kind of almost have like a like a a sigh of relief that at least it's followed up

00:40:20.860 with but even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than oh and at that precise point that's

00:40:28.940 where i want to respond and just with a pastoral warning and say um don't be relieved by that

00:40:37.060 when when the statement of john the baptist is the greatest but even the least in the kingdom

00:40:43.240 of heaven is greater than him? Don't hear that with a sigh of relief. Hear that with a, oh no.

00:40:52.600 What then does God require of me? What then is God's righteous and just expectation for me?

00:41:03.040 How then will I be expected to live my life if John was not a reed and didn't bend or break? 0.77

00:41:09.600 how much more resolute and steadfast and firm should i be if john was not a politician in soft 0.98

00:41:18.480 clothing in dc king's houses how much how much more grit must i have i think that's what jesus

00:41:28.580 is getting he's doing more than one thing at the same time yes he is reaffirming john and restoring

00:41:36.380 his dignity. And yes, he is doing that both in compassion for John's person, but also to validate

00:41:41.740 himself as the Messiah and the Christ because of John's office as a precursor. And I think he's

00:41:47.400 also then raising the bar for everyone else, for you and I, even 2,000 years later, to say,

00:41:56.360 yeah, John was great, but his greatness was not ultimately stemming from his personal piety,

00:42:03.860 but his positional privilege and your positional privilege, if anything, is even greater than his.

00:42:12.460 You have even more revelation. To you has been given even more grace. And with great grace

00:42:21.400 comes great responsibility. Final point, waging holy violence. Waging holy violence.

00:42:29.280 the text says from the days of john the baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered

00:42:34.540 violence and the violent take it by force i've written in your notes the following christ

00:42:41.880 declares that from the days of john the baptist until now the kingdom has suffered violence the

00:42:46.300 violence shall take it by force this does not mean that men can somehow in their own strength

00:42:52.640 wrestle the kingdom from God's hands, but rather that true conversion always involves

00:42:59.400 earnestness, spiritual struggle, and holy zeal. Salvation is not gained by sloth, but by the

00:43:09.240 Spirit's quickening power. It is the Spirit. Notice this. By the Spirit's quickening power,

00:43:15.520 which leads to urgent and effectual seeking of God.

00:43:20.440 Romans 3, a description of unregenerate man.

00:43:25.220 The Bible's anthropology, if you will. 0.80

00:43:27.660 One of the characteristics, no one seeks for God.

00:43:32.220 And yet, Matthew chapter 6, the Sermon on the Mount,

00:43:35.760 Jesus says, seek and you will find.

00:43:39.000 Knock and the door will be opened.

00:43:40.860 Ask and you will receive.

00:43:42.220 well we've just found another biblical contradiction the schizophrenic god who can't

00:43:52.060 make up his mind no no wherever there seems to be a contradiction in the word of god i assure you

00:43:58.600 the contradiction lies ultimately in you not god when jesus tells us that we should seek him

00:44:06.160 it's because for the christian seeking god really is possible because we've been given eyes to see

00:44:13.720 and ears to hear new hearts that are inclined towards the things of god we've been given new

00:44:19.300 hearts a new nature if any man is in christ he is a new creation and with this new nature there is

00:44:25.100 to us afforded new desires and with new desires therefore it is made available to us a new

00:44:33.400 spectrum of choices. One of those choices being seeking after God, knocking at the door of heaven,

00:44:41.360 asking and petitioning the Lord of hosts that he might reveal himself to us and be kind to us.

00:44:49.700 So the Christian must seek God and can, by the Spirit's quickening power, seek God. The Christian

00:44:58.440 must not be slothful the christian must not be apathetic the christian must be violent 0.87

00:45:07.740 in terms of spiritual violence he must wage holy violence the christian should daily

00:45:18.560 be seeking the kingdom of heaven with on the one hand an assumption that christ is holding fast to

00:45:27.580 him and with assurance of his salvation and on the other with an assumption that we must

00:45:37.480 work out our salvation with fear and trembling and that no one waltzes into heaven

00:45:45.900 and that if we are vigilant and violent to use the word of the text not my own

00:45:54.060 if we are spiritually violent righteously violent in the context of what jesus is saying

00:46:01.880 we should know that that is required to enter the kingdom of heaven and also if we meet that

00:46:08.920 requirement we should know it is the spirit's work within us that caused us to meet such a

00:46:16.540 requirement well how do we know this i think perhaps one of the best texts in scripture that

00:46:21.820 describes this miracle is Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 to 13 which says

00:46:28.900 this therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only in my

00:46:35.320 presence this is the Apostle Paul speaking but now that I'm gone even much

00:46:40.360 more in my absence work rest work relax work no work out yours own salvation with fear and trembling

00:46:56.580 the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent will take it by force wage holy

00:47:04.520 violence work spiritually work out your own salvation with holy fear holy trembling holy

00:47:12.480 violence that's on the one hand and both of these things believe it or not while seeming to be a

00:47:18.940 contradiction are actually simultaneously true here's the other side of the coin for assuming

00:47:25.980 that you do it is ultimately God who works in you both to will and to work both your desire

00:47:35.540 your will your choice and your action your life and your work it is God through you in you doing

00:47:44.340 this who is working in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure so who will enter the

00:47:51.820 kingdom of heaven the violent that is the vigilant the diligent the disciplined

00:48:02.020 and who are such people well those who the spirit is producing that within

00:48:10.800 so that there really is a criteria and yet at the same time if this criteria be met it really is

00:48:19.240 God who gets all the glory. Because it really is his work in and through us that brings this

00:48:25.760 about. So I think those are the three big ideas from the text today. Ministers should be masculine,

00:48:33.040 not soft, and not bending. Not a reed, not a politician, not a prince. Also, the greatness of

00:48:42.860 John only speaks to an even greater privilege for us with great grace comes greater responsibility

00:48:51.000 and lastly the need to wage holy violence to be vigilant about the things of God to seek first

00:48:59.000 his kingdom and his righteousness and to do so not with sloth but with diligence and yet at the same

00:49:05.460 time to maintain a position of humility knowing that if we do so well it is the spirit's work in

00:49:13.580 us and not our own so in conclusion in this passage christ honors his forerunner john the

00:49:20.260 baptist corrects the people's misconceptions and reveals the inbreaking of god's kingdom

00:49:26.260 john stood as a faithful witness unshaken by popular opinion or the comforts of the world

00:49:32.740 yet even his greatness pales in comparison to the glory now revealed in christ the kingdom has in

00:49:39.920 fact come therefore let us on this side of the cross especially strive by the spirit's strength

00:49:48.600 to press into this kingdom with holy violence let's pray father thank you for your word bless

00:49:55.340 it to your people that you might bring about for yourself greater glory we pray this in jesus name

00:50:00.900 and for Christ's sake, amen.

The NXR Podcast - August 03, 2025

THE SERMON - Waging Holy Violence

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