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March 2, 2021 · 26 min · Pray Radio
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With Pastor Mark, it’s all about Jesus! He is a spiritual leader, prolific author, and compelling speaker, but at his core, he is a family man. Mark and his
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0:00 This is Real Faith with pastor Mark Driscoll.0:04 A servant does 2 things. They lift burdens and give blessings. They lift burdens and give blessings. Jesus lifts burdens and gives blessings and then invites us to0:16 also serve by lifting burdens and giving blessings. This is the key to a healthy relationship. And they came to Jesus on 1 occasion, the disciples did, his followers, and they asked him, who will be greatest0:27 in the kingdom of God? This should have been a fairly easy question to answer. The guy whose mother is a virgin, who water skis without a boat, and feeds a stadium with a little boy's Lunchable, and cast demons out of0:39 people, probably that guy's the greatest. Nonetheless, they still were having this argument, which of us will be the greatest? Rather than rebuking them, Jesus redirected them. And he used himself as an example. He said,0:51 I did not come to be what? Serve. I came to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. Jesus was in heaven. He came down to earth to serve us. And I'll tell you what, right1:03 now, Jesus is still serving. He's answering prayers. He is lifting burdens. He is providing blessings. He is altering destinies. But Jesus is still serving. And so1:15 what Jesus says, if you wanna be the greatest, you need to be the servant of all.1:21 That should encourage you. More of today's message, Lost and Found, Finding God's Peace in a Moment. What do you know about predestination? Is predestination1:33 unbiblical, unfair, unloving, or uncaring? How did God answer? Today, we have an offer for you. It is a booklet called Duck Duck Doom, a study in1:44 predestination. Pastor Mark wrote this to help you understand what the debate is about and really what it means for your everyday walk. Duck Duck Doom is a gift to thank you for your1:56 financial support of Real Faith Ministries. Visit Real Faith dot com to give and get your copy of duck duck doom. Again, that's Real Faith dot com. Now here is2:08 pastor Mark Driscoll.2:11 3 times he was beaten with rods, that he was also stoned. If you're under 25, it's this, not this. It's people throwing rocks at you. In addition,2:23 he goes on to talk about shipwrecked, meaning he was on a boat. It capsized. He spent a whole night, he says, adrift on the open sea. He says, I have night2:35 and day, perils of water, robbers, perils of my own countrymen and gentiles, perils on the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brethren, weariness, toil,2:47 sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness. If you didn't quit your job by then naked, we're all out. He ultimately endured everything. Why?2:59 Jesus gave it all to serve him, and he would give it all to serve Jesus. And if Jesus would come from heaven to earth to pursue him, he would do anything he could to3:11 pursue others. You and I need to have this heart of Paul, not just the theology of Paul. We're gonna study Paul. And some of you will love the theology of Paul, but I want you to also have the heart of Paul.3:23 Not just think his thoughts, but have his zeal. He would do anything he possibly could to tell people about Jesus. He wanted the good news of the resurrection of Jesus to get3:35 beyond Israel to the nations, including ours. He is the apostle to the Gentiles. What that means is Jesus is Jewish, the early Christians were Jewish, and God wanted the message to get to the nations, including3:47 ours. Had it not been for Paul's zeal, you and I would not know about Jesus, and this church would not exist, and Christianity as we have known it for 2000 years would never have made it to the nations of the earth.3:58 There's something more important than your convenience, and his name is Christ. We live in a culture in Arizona that is really fashioned by retirement and vacation. And I'm just here to tell you that we serve Christ,4:10 not comfort. We serve Christ, not convenient. And ultimately, Paul was a man who had a very lavish and and a very secure lifestyle and gave it all up so that you and I could hear about Jesus.4:23 And what he adds in his testimony here, he said, and beyond it all, he concludes with this, my constant concern for the churches. I love Paul's heart, and I love the church.4:36 I love our church. Happy fourth birthday. What God has done here is supernatural. Amen? In addition, I love all churches that serve Jesus. And what we're dealing with right now4:47 is churches are closed, and the message of Jesus is not moving forward. And they're saying that 1 in 3 Christians will never return to church, and that 20 percent of churches will possibly close in the next 18 months.5:00 And what I'm telling you is this, if we care about suffering and human suffering, we have to care about the worst suffering, the eternal suffering. Then ultimately, I don't know when you will die, and5:11 everybody's freaking out. Oh, we're gonna die. We all knew this well before. Everybody dies.5:25 Did anyone not know this? The question is, what happens next? And so we need to tell people about Jesus so that he can prepare them for eternity5:37 because for us, this is as close to hell as we will get. That's why it's all on fire right now. Let me reload. In addition,5:49 Paul not only serves in deed, he serves in word. This is how we serve, in word and deed. He is a wise man filled with the spirit of wisdom. He had an6:00 incredible, impeccable education. In Acts 22, it says he studied under the leading rabbi in that day, Gamilah. This would be like getting into an Ivy League school and then graduating at the top of the class. He was6:12 fluent in 3, possibly 4 languages. The Old Testament language of Hebrew, Aramaic, the New Testament language of Greek, and possibly Latin. He has an6:23 incredible, impeccable mind. He writes books of the Bible. I'll explain those in a moment. But on 100 occasions, he just quotes the Old Testament. Hundreds and thousands of times, he references6:35 and alludes to it. He does so from memory and heart because he is walking, and he is also in prison. Now when it comes to your Bible, and I know many of you are new, and we're glad to6:47 have you. The the Bible is really a book in 2 parts. The Old Testament is 39 different books preparing us for the coming of Jesus. The New Testament is 27 books telling us about the coming of6:58 Jesus and the ensuing movements of Christianity. Of those 27 books in the New Testament, 13 are written by Paul. He may have written Hebrews. We're uncertain of its7:10 authorship. If so, he would be the author of 14 books. In the book of Acts, which is the history book of the New Testament from chapter 13 through the end of Acts and Acts 28, the focus is on the mission work of7:22 Paul. In addition, the number 1 contributor to the New Testament is an author named Luke. He's a medical doctor. He writes Luke on the life of Christ and acts on the life of Christians, and7:34 he is traveling companions with Paul. Paul is his pastor, dear friend, and Luke, the medical doctor, is the 1 who puts Paul back together after the beatings, riots, and imprisonments. What I am telling7:46 you is, in addition, in second Peter 3, Peter, who is the leader of the disciples, writes 2 books of the New Testament, first and second Peter. He says that Paul is a beloved brother7:57 who writes scripture with the wisdom that god gives him. So, everyone knew that Paul is writing books of the Bible. Furthermore, what I'm telling you is if we lose Paul, we lose the majority of the8:09 New Testament. So much of what we know and believe about the person and work of Jesus Christ does not exist apart from Paul serving us inward,8:21 giving us the word of God. How many of you are so sick of bad news? Whole is all8:33 about good news. How many of you are sick of all the problems? Paul is all about Jesus as the solution. I would argue that, at least in8:45 our nation, there has perhaps never been a more incredible opportunity for the hope of Jesus Christ to be known and the good news of Jesus8:57 Christ to be proclaimed as Paul instructs and models than right now. I believe there is a divine time right now where the word of God needs to be9:09 unleashed, and the need is perhaps greater than ever. Now when it comes to Paul, what I want you to know is that his insight is unprecedented and unparalleled. Let me give you a few9:20 quotes. The early church father John Chrysostom, he anticipated it in the image of scales, weighted balance. He says, put the whole world on 1 side, everything that everyone has ever taught or thought.9:33 And on the other side of the scale, he says, you will see that the soul of Paul outweighs it. What he's saying is this, everyone versus Paul, Paul's thoughts are heavier. They are weightier. They are9:44 deeper. In addition, Augustine, the church father, said that he wished to have seen Christ in the flesh and Paul in the pulpit. He's saying, I wish I could have seen Jesus and heard Paul.9:56 In addition, Martin Luther calls Paul, quote, the wisest man after Christ. Now let me say, our world values10:09 intellect but not wisdom. There are people that are educated beyond their intelligence. There are people that have more degrees than Fahrenheit, but if10:21 they don't have the spirit of God, they have no wisdom. If you don't know what this looks like, find a college, walk on the campus, find a professor, and just ask a few questions. You'll see that this is confirmed10:33 fact, that you can have a great education and no wisdom. That's why some of the smartest people do some of the dumbest things. Amen?10:45 Some are like, this is very offensive. We've only begun. This is the introduction. We're still on verse 1. It has 434 verses. Imagine how bad it's gonna get.10:57 Now this being said, here's what I want you to know. When you study Paul, and we're gonna study him together for the better part of the year, 2 things are gonna happen. First thing, there are things that he is going to11:08 say that you're gonna find very complicated and confusing. Peter says this in second Peter 3. He said there are some things that Paul writes that are hard to understand. Here's what11:19 Peter's saying. I'm filled with the spirit of God. I wrote 2 books of the Bible. Jesus taught me for 3 years, and Paul's way smarter than me and gives me a headache. That's what he's saying. So if you read Paul, you're11:29 like, he's smart. I'm not. Welcome to the club. You're in good company. When you read Paul, there will be things that are hard to understand. I'll give you some clues. We're gonna get into something called predestination11:40 and election. 1 of you are like, yay. The rest of you are no. Okay. Now here's a big idea. Because some of you are Americans, and you think, no. No. No. We need to vote. Here's what I would ask. How's11:52 that going? How's anybody it's working so well. We're all unified looking forward to the future. It's no. You know what we need? Let Jesus vote. What election is is that ultimately12:04 Jesus votes. He votes for who gets to enter the kingdom of God. So we're gonna get into things like election and predestination and the Holy Spirit and all these things. And you know what? Your brain's gonna hurt. You're12:15 just gonna be like, oh gosh. My brain hurts. It's because your brain is smaller than Paul's. That's why. He's wiser than you. So here's what I'd say. Don't skip it. Don't change it. Dig into it.12:27 Dig into it. Amen. Number 2, as you read Paul, you're gonna be very offended. He's gonna say some stuff. You're gonna be like, that's very offensive. My inner12:39 child just got a spanking. You're gonna feel it. K? You're gonna feel it. Let me give you some examples. Paul's gonna say very soon that we're all bad sinners. So he'll be12:51 like, not me. I'm a good person. My mom said, I have a good heart. Your mom's a false prophet.13:00 She's a liar.13:06 Pastor Mark will be back in a moment. Right now, Mark has a resource for you to help you dive deep into a question that many Christians struggle to answer. The topic of predestination, election,13:18 free will, and God's sovereignty. How do you make sense of it all? Well, there's a brand new booklet from pastor Mark called Duck Duck Doom, a study in predestination, written to help you get a clear view of13:30 what this means for you and your family. Visit realfaith dot com to give and receive a copy of Duck Duck Doom. The booklet is a gift to thank you for your financial support of Real Faith Ministries. Find13:42 it at realfaith dot com. Now let's get back to pastor Mark Driscoll with more of today's message.13:49 In a few weeks, probably when Facebook bans me, I'm gonna be in Romans 1. And it has it has these these14:01 crazy ideas like male and female. Okay? And you're be like, no. It's a spectrum. No. It's not. It's not. Boy, girl. Boy, girl.14:13 And it says that sex is for Marriage. Marriage. Marriage is for a boy and a girl. Crazy ideas. I know. Wacky. And it's14:25 gonna talk about all kinds of gender issues and sexual issues and gender confusion and transgenderism. It's just an old book. It doesn't relate to us. Yeah, it14:37 does. And what's gonna happen is you're gonna be very offended by it. K? And and some of you you single guys, here's what you do. Bring your girlfriend so I can make her your ex girlfriend. That's where we're14:49 going in Romans 1. K? So now when we get there, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna read it, and you're gonna think it's15:01 wrong. You know what? You're wrong. That's so offensive and insightful. Very helpful. So when you read15:12 Paul, either he's wrong or you're wrong. You're wrong. And I know right now on social media, there's some 22 year old15:24 guy at his mom's house borrowing the Internet she paid for, typing, I disagree. You don't count. You are not15:36 Paul. You're not that smart. I'm gonna tell your mom to change the password to the Internet so you can stop saying things. I actually had a single guy tell me this 115:48 time. He's like, well, that's Paul's opinion. You're16:01 Oh, please listen. So what's gonna happen then is when you read Paul and you disagree, here's what I want you to practice. Well, I'll practice it right now. Repeat after me. I'm I'm wrong.16:14 And if you're married, I just saved your marriage. Say it all the time. Just saved your marriage. There are times you read the word of God, if you disagree, you gotta say, I'm wrong. I'm wrong. Because16:26 ultimately, we cannot be conformed to the pattern of this world. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Paul says that later in Romans. That ultimately, worship including our lives16:38 must include our thoughts as we think God's thoughts after him. Repentance is this concept of change, and repentance starts in the mind. If I disagree, I'm wrong, and I need to16:49 change my mind so that I can agree with the word of God. And what he is doing is he is modeling for us through his own testament. Let me say this. If there's hope for Paul, there's hope for all of us. If there's grace17:00 for Paul, there's grace for all of us. If Jesus can fix Paul, Jesus can fix any of us. If Jesus can use Paul, Jesus can use any of us. Amen? Amen. K? So he uses the worst guy to do the best things to17:12 give the rest of us a little hope. But it all starts with being served by Jesus and then taking the posture of a servant. And if you will adopt this as your lifestyle as Paul did, I'm just telling you, you'll have a17:24 better marriage, better relationships, better friendships. We'll have a better church. You'll contribute to a better company, and we'll have a better world because there's only 3 kinds of relationships. And and let me17:33 just start by saying, we all live on a spectrum, from very selfish to a servant. We all start very selfish. And by the grace of God, we need to actively pursue service.17:45 To selfish people, it's a brutal relationship. It's a war. I'm gonna win. No, I'm gonna win. You're gonna lose. No, you're gonna lose. A selfish17:57 person and a servant, that's an abusive relationship. I give, you take. I win, you lose. A servant and a servant is a beautiful relationship. What God wants for18:09 your marriage is 2 servants. What God wants for your family is servants. Now let me say this. How many of you are parents? Here's a little parenting tip. The lie is,18:22 if our children just had better servants, they would be better children. If we could just get a better teacher, if we could get a better coach, if we could a better kids ministry director, if get a better student18:33 ministry director, if we get a better tutor, if we get a better nanny. All of those things might help, but your child will never mature by being served only by serving. You cannot be18:45 like Jesus without serving. The best thing for you is to serve, and the best thing for everyone is to serve. And the point is this, that your life18:57 is gonna have problems and pains. And so what you need over your life is a purpose that is greater than your problems and your pains. And that purpose is to serve your Lord Jesus Christ.19:09 And what this is a great opportunity is your role as servant never changes, though your responsibilities of serving can change. So whether you're single, married, or divorced, whether you19:21 have kids or are an empty nester, whether you are employed or unemployed, whether you're going up the corporate ladder or fell to the bottom, you could still serve. Your role never19:32 changes, though your responsibilities will change. And no matter what, there is always a purpose over your life that is greater than the pains and the problems of your life. That's the testimony of Paul.19:45 That was a good first verse. Okay. Let's get another 1. Okay. Here we go. It's all about Jesus. This is what I love to say. He's gonna talk about the gospel. That literally means good news. In a world filled with19:57 bad news, we need some good news. The gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures. He's talking about the Old Testaments and the prophets who prophesied the coming of20:09 Jesus. I'll share a few with you in a moment. Concerning his son, that's Jesus, who was descended from David. That is indicating that he would come as a king over a kingdom.20:21 According to the flesh, that Jesus would come in a physical body, was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit. He was anointed, filled, and led by the Holy Spirit and gives the same20:33 spirit to us, the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead. I have really good news. Jesus isn't dead. I have really good news. Jesus conquered Satan, sin, death, hell, the wrath of20:44 God. We killed him. He killed death. He is alive right now. He is answering prayers. He is changing lives. He is forgiving sin. He is altering destiny. He's still serving right20:56 now. He's resurrected.21:00 Pastor Mark will be back in a moment with 1 more thought from today's message. The great Christian debate on predestination, total depravity versus free will, can be a complex topic.21:12 Walk with pastor Mark as he takes a biblical look at predestination through his booklet, Duck Duck Doom, a study in predestination. For the rest of this month, you can visit real faith dot com and get a21:24 copy of Duck Duck Doom when you give to Real Faith Ministries. The booklet is a gift to thank you for your financial support. And with each gift, Real Faith Ministries will help bring clarity and21:35 encouragement to all who are searching. Visit real faith dot com to give today, and don't forget to get a copy of Duck Duck Doom, a study in predestination. Visit real faith dot com.21:47 Now here is pastor Mark with 1 more thought from today's message.21:52 Jesus Christ, our Lord. We want you all to participate in this allegiance to Jesus as our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship22:04 to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. What he's saying is this, everyone needs Jesus. Every culture needs Jesus. Every nation needs Jesus. Every22:16 language needs Jesus. Every race needs Jesus. And we live in this foolish world where we think that the highest authority is culture. Over all cultures is Christ. Well, these people think22:28 this way, and these people think that way. Well, over them all is Jesus. And we all need to be in allegiance to the same Lord. And culture does not replace Christ. Culture needs to22:40 bend its knee to Christ because Christ belongs to all nations and rules over all nations. Our Jesus is a big Jesus. Our Jesus is an in charge22:52 Jesus. Our Jesus is an anointed appointed authority. That's our Jesus. Amen? Amen. Alright. You're both fired up. Let me let you know a little secret. This ain't a library. Okay?23:03 You can make noise. I know that you've not been out of the house much, and everywhere kinda stinks right now. But we're pretty excited to see you. So if you wanna make a little noise, you're welcome to. Okay? Alright?23:17 I know it's NFL kickoff day, and you guys are gonna go home. And here's what you grown men are gonna do. You're gonna sit on the couch and critique athletes.23:30 You should go faster. You can't even get up. You'd spill the chili. You're gonna sit on the couch. But if a guy carries a dead pig over a chalk line, you're gonna jump23:42 up, shout, and cheer. What I'm saying is be as excited about the resurrection of Jesus as you are touchdown. I'm just throwing it out there as an encouragement. That's all I'm saying. So23:55 he's gonna tell us here about Jesus. Let me tell you about Jesus. His first name is a derivative of Joshua. Christ means anointed, chosen by God as the savior and Messiah. He lived about24:07 2000 years ago. He grew up in a small rural town with peasant parents who were probably teenagers. The size of the home he grew up in was most likely about the same size as the parking stall you parked your car in.24:19 For the first 30 years of his life, he lived in obscurity. He swung a hammer as a carpenter with his adoptive dad. And then he had a 3 year ministry that included preaching sermons and healing sick people and casting out24:31 demons and doing the supernatural. Religious people hated him. Broken people loved him. Arrogant people hated him. They opposed him. They harassed him. They lied about him. They ultimately betrayed24:43 him. They arrested him, and they crucified him. And just as he promised, 3 days later, after dying in your place for your sins as the suffering servant, He came back24:54 roaring very much to life. He conquered sin. He conquered death. He conquered Satan. He endured the wrath of God. And he showed up to Paul. And Paul couldn't deny25:06 this fact. Jesus is who he says he is, and Jesus does what he says he does. And Paul became a Christian.25:16 Real faith is all about Jesus. At realfaith dot com, you'll find Bible centered teaching, daily devotions, classes, videos, study guides, and more created for real people25:28 with real questions about real life with Jesus. And don't forget today's offer for you, the booklet called Duck Duck Doom, A Study in Predestination. Get your copy at realfaith dot25:39 com. More of today's message, Lost and Found, finding God's peace with Pastor Mark tomorrow, right here on Real Faith Radio.
Mark Driscoll
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