If you have your Bibles with you today, please take them and turn with me to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12. It was some 2,000 years ago that the Lord Jesus Christ, after completing his three years of ministry, that he made his way to Jerusalem. We have found him on the triumphal entry going into Jerusalem, and then on Monday, he and his followers literally take over the temple. When you get to Mark chapter 12, actually it takes place in Mark chapter 11 verses 27 on, Jesus is teaching in the temple. He's in the court of the Gentiles amongst those beautiful white colonnades, amongst those beautiful pillars that exist there. And as Christ is teaching, you'll remember that the Sanhedrists, the leadership of Israel, the spiritual hyphen political leadership of Israel, they not only are in opposition to the Lord, they want to put him to death. They want to kill him. And so they send little contingents to the Lord amongst the people as he's teaching in the temple edifice. They send these little groups to him, and they keep asking him questions. Well, the questions are designed to get an answer. The questions are designed to make him look bad in front of the people, to trip him up, to turn the crowds against him, because ultimately they have a goal. And they don't know how it's going to all work out, but they want to destroy the Lord. They want to kill him. Jesus, in chapter 12, is going to introduce the parable of the husbandman, and he's going to clearly liken Israel unto this vineyard, and he's going to liken himself unto the son that was sent there, and ultimately they're going to kill him. So Jesus exposes their plot to destroy him. And yet we understand that the sovereign hand of God is working in the affairs of men. As a matter of fact, tonight during our study at six o'clock, our study in Esther, we're really going to see that. We're going to see the hand of God as God's hand is over the nations, and though many times it doesn't seem like it, does it? It seems like God's hand is off and it's chaos. Well, you remember at the fall of Jerusalem in 606, 597, and ultimately in 586 brought the era of the times of the Gentiles prophetically. And that is going to continue clear up until the rapture takes place, Christians are caught away, and through the seven-year tribulational period before Christ comes and establishes his thousand-year millennial reign. So we are in the times of the Gentiles. We are under human government in the times of the Gentiles, and obviously it's not a theocracy. Obviously God does not have the same relationship He did with Israel in the Old Testament. And so during this period of time we need believers to stand up and be counted like Daniel was, and like you're going to see in our study in the book of Esther. As we're in Mark chapter 12, what I want to bring to your attention today, Mark is talking about us becoming disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ, getting meaning in our life. You know, as a young man, I remember coming home from parties. I remember being a teenager that was out in the world. I wasn't one of the really wild crowd. I wasn't really one of the conservative crowd. I was just a teenager that wanted to have fun. But many times, when I did things that I know were against the Bible and against Mom and Dad, when I would come home, I'd feel really guilty. And I remember laying in my room, feeling really guilty as a teenager, and mom and dad had provided a Bible for me, and I'd reach over and I'd grab the Bible and I'd start reading. Well, because I was not equipped to find the right places, sometimes, you know, I'd go back to Leviticus. You know, a teenager doesn't get a lot out of Leviticus. You know what I mean? It's just not that really contemporary. But it would have been better if I had flipped over to the Psalms or the book of Proverbs a little bit. But oftentimes that's what I would do. And I was doing so because I was trying to find real meaning for my life. Do you know something? This life is to be a preparatory life for eternal life. Now, even if you're blessed and you live to be a hundred years old, I saw that they were recognizing, I think, some war hero that's like a hundred and fourteen years old. Well, I don't even know if I want to live that long. But at any rate, they were recognizing this guy that was that old. And, you know, if you live even to be that ripe old age, believe me, you're going to live a lot longer in eternity than you're going to live on this earth. And so wisdom says that I need to prepare for the long run. I need to prepare my heart for that. That's what Jesus is trying to get people to recognize they need to do. To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to mean several things. Number one, it's going to mean that your life is going to have real lasting meaning and purpose. It means that the fun you're going to get out of life, and Christians do have fun, is going to be fun without guilt. It's going to be fun without consequence. It's going to be fun without judgment. It's going to be fun without incarceration and imprisonment. And we can learn these key things. That's what it means to be a disciple, to have meaning, authentic meaning and a genuine joy in your life. That's what God wants us to have. Now the world tells us that he who dies with the most toys wins. But he who dies with the most toys still dies. and leaves them all behind. Never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. And you never will. You can't take it with you. But an interesting thing is, if you do it for the glory of God, you can send it on ahead. You can't. You can invest it in eternity if you live to the glory of God. Mark chapter 12, verses 35 to 40, this is an amazing portion of Scripture. Christ has put down all of the Sanhedrists that have come up and tried to rebuke Him. Now he's actually going to go on the offensive. He's going to turn the tables on him. Where had the scribes, Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, and Essenes failed? Where did they fail? In the interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures, and that's where Christ had excelled. And it's no wonder he could interpret the Old Testament Scriptures. Why? He wrote them. That's right, Roger. He wrote them. You know, when Bill's done with his book here, and we all read Bill's book, you've got any questions, don't ask me, even though I've read it more than anybody else on the planet other than Bill. Ask Bill about his book, because he wrote the book. Always go to the author, and you'll find out the greatest level of information. Let me read for you Mark chapter 12. Verses 35 through 40, And Jesus answered and said while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. And David therefore himself calleth him Lord. And whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. We'll go down to verse 40. And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware the scribes, which love to go in long clothing and long love salutations of the marketplace, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uttermost rooms at feasts, which devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive the greater damnation. Let's pray. Lord, make me a blessing to the hearers here today. And Lord, help me by the leading of the Holy Spirit to rightly divide your truth. I don't want them to leave this building today, Lord, just having heard a sermon from me. But Lord, it is my earnest prayer that you'd guide me so that they hear a message from you. And Lord, that you'd work in their hearts and give them an earnest desire to seek you, to love you, to know you. Because I know, Lord, a hundred years from this moment, they'll be really glad that they did. So to that end, give me your wisdom and thought flow and divine ability to share forth your truth. Help I pray in Jesus name, amen. Again, Christ is still in the temple complex, and He is teaching the Old Testament. And here He is on the offensive as the Lord Jehovah. He is the God of Israel. He is the God of the temple. He is there to teach His people. And He's trying to teach them what it really means to turn from their sins to the Savior. Now, Jesus, in His rebuke, will expound from the Old Testament who Messiah is. And we're going to get into some of the technical things about Messiah. As a matter of fact, that's going to be Christ's whole point. The title of my sermon is, The Messiah, Teaching About the Messiah. Because there's been much confusion, and there still is much confusion as to who the Messiah is and what it means to be the Messiah. So, the Messiahship, the Sonship, the Lordship of Jesus Christ is really the subject. So, Jesus' instruction is all about David's son, the Messiah. Look with me in verse 35, And Jesus answered and said while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of God? Now, Jesus questioned. His questioners, by the representative of the Sanhedrin, had met their questions with questions from Jesus himself. And now he continues with another question, and he's going to do it from the Old Testament. By the way, he's going to do it from the most quoted Old Testament passage in the entire New Testament. The New Testament quotes the Old Testament, which, by the way, that tells us how to interpret the New Testament. How Jesus interpreted the Old Testament teaches us how to interpret the New Testament, and so on. He is going to again show his mastery of the Scriptures as the eternal Son of God, but also as the greatest personification of wisdom that there is. Now, again, how is he going to do that? Well, you might be tempted to say, well, he's the Son of God, he can just do that. Remember, in his incarnation, he laid aside the independent exercise of his divine attributes so that he could be, as a priest, in all points tempted like as we are, and yet without sin. So he is not using his own divinity to accomplish super knowledge, to be able to read into people's lives, to do the miraculous. He's completely dependent upon whom? God, the Holy Spirit. You know, when you and I trust Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, for me, it was January 5th, 1973 as a 16-year-old boy. I knelt next to my bed and I said, Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died for everyone in the whole world, but please forgive me of my sin and be my Savior. At that moment, I was born again into the family of God. And God began to do a great work in my life. The Holy Spirit actually indwelled me. 1 Corinthians 3, 16 and 17, 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of God? The Holy Spirit actually comes to live within us. Ephesians 2, 1, and you hath He quickened, He hath made you alive. The Spirit of God comes to dwell within us. We are literally indwelt by the third person of the Trinity. Now, if we're going to live successfully for God, there are two things that we must be daily interacting with and have dependence upon. And what is that? Number one, God the Holy Spirit, and number two, the Word of God. God the Holy Spirit is going to remind us of the Scriptures so that we might live to the glory of God. And how is He going to do that? Well, Ephesians 5, 18 and 19, and be not drunken with wine, wherein is success, but be filled with the Spirit. speaking among yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart unto the Lord." He's saying by song, by Scripture memorization, that's why we do the Scripture memorization, We remember verses moment by moment, day by day, and this helps us with our attitudes, our actions, and our appetites, our thinking self, our choosing self, and our feeling self to make decisions to the glory of God, being guided by Scripture. How did Paul put it in the book of Colossians? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly." By the way, and he reiterates it there again with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And so it's God the Holy Spirit who is leading the Lord Jesus Christ, who is informing, instructing, and guiding. Because if Jesus couldn't successfully live as a man to the glory of God by the Holy Spirit, you can't either. But He did. He did. And He did it to perfection. Therefore we have that Holy Spirit within us and He can help us. So, he's going to interpret the Old Testament Scriptures by the wisdom of God the Holy Spirit. And are we not taught in the New Testament that the Spirit of God is our illuminator? Will He not help us to come and understand the Bible as we study to show ourselves approved? Well, let's look in verse 35, because I want you to see the question that Jesus brings up. Now, remember, He's teaching amongst all of the, you know, there's Pharisees, there's Sadducees, there's Herodians there, there's a large contingent from Jerusalem, there's all those that have come down from Galilee there. At this particular time in Jerusalem, there was probably over two million visitors there for Passover week. So there was a large crowd that were gathered there to listen to the Lord Jesus Christ in Solomon's porch. And as he's teaching, there was a bunch of them that were in opposition. They have been put to silence. And now Jesus goes on the offense, and it's very interesting. What's He trying to do? He's trying to get them to see who He really is. He's trying to get them to recognize their Messiah. And as we learned before, the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians taught that the Messiah was going to be what? A warrior king for Israel. And that was it. A child of David, a warrior king! But that's all they saw Him as. Jesus is going to instruct that He is more than a warrior king. He is the second person of the Trinity. He is God Himself. Wow, are they going to have to make a quantum leap theologically, right? They're going to have to make a quantum leap in order to understand who Christ really is. And Christ sets it up with a question. Quoting Psalm 110 verse 1. Notice what it says in verse 35. And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, how say the scribes that Christ, and that's the word for Messiah, how say that the Christ is the son of David? Now, the question was not literally to correct the scribes on their teaching, because it says, how say the scribes, the scribes were teaching that the Messiah would be the son of David, would be in the lineage of David, not the direct son. So they were right in that. That wasn't wrong. They had got that right. Second question was designed to show that the teaching of the Scriptures was the whole, that the scribes were doing, was not the whole truth. They were leaving out an important part. By the way, be careful when people tell you half-truths. Don't walk around and they'll tell you half-truths. When someone is telling you a half-truth, mark it down there, not your friend. Mark it down, they're trying to influence you in a direction that God does not want you to be influenced. The scribes were trying to get the people to follow them and not God. Why? Well, because they wanted their money. Because they wanted power and influence over the people. They wanted to put their thumbs down on the people. Remember, we talked about the fact that the scribes and the Pharisees and Sadducees were talking and arguing with Christ about which one of the Old Testament commandments were the heavy commandments and which one were the light ones. Well, we'll get the people to obey the really heavy ones so that they're... Well, they do what we tell them. Watch out for politicians that tell half-truths. Watch out for them. They have an agenda, and it's not God's. They have an agenda, and it's not biblical. God wants full disclosure. Jesus, his question was designed to show that the teaching of the scribes was not the whole truth, and Jesus is really trying to point out something that you and I wrestle with, consistency. Are you a consistent, good person? All of us, if we were honest, are going to go, I fall short. I'm not always what I should be. I'm not always the kid, the dad, the brother, the uncle, the nephew, the brother, the sister, the mom, the dad, the grandmother, grandpa. Right? I mean, we're not always what we should be. There's a reason for that. You have a sinful old nature. And your sinful old nature is bent on selfishness and doing that which pleases you. One of the most important lessons that you can ever learn is to say no to your sinful self. When I was growing up, there was a lot of the young people that I knew, and they said, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to leave home. I'm going to run away. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to join the Marines. Oh, yeah, you go ahead and join the Marines. They won't tell you what to do there. No, you'll be free to get up when you want, as long as it's 430. You'll be free to eat when you want, as long as it's 8, noon, and 5. You'll be free to eat whatever you want. whatever they put on your plate. You'll be able to go to bed whenever you want, as long as it's 9.30. And you'll be able to exercise just whenever you feel like it. Drop and give me 50. Anytime you feel like it, they'll determine the feel like it. So one of the things in order to accomplish cohesion, consistency in the military, what do you gotta do? You gotta do what they tell them to do. Right now, Shania's husband, Tim, where is, and I'm not going to tell you, I know, but you don't know. Wherever he is, I guarantee you that there's someone over him that's telling him what he likes and what he doesn't like. And you're going to like it. At least you're going to act like you like it. And you might be sitting down on the inside, but you're going to be standing up on the outside whenever they tell you to come to attention. All of those things. You know what? As soon as you learn to discipline yourself, to say no to yourself for things that you thought it through from a biblical perspective, and it's going to be destructive if I do this long term, then don't do it. Why? For God's glory and for your good. Don't. Stop. Think it through. Think it about you. Think it through. Jesus is talking about consistency. The scribes maintaining a biblical stand on Old Testament truth, and they were inconsistent. By the way, there is only one who is consistent. Can I link some things together for you? Let me knit some thoughts together and some truths together. You want to live a consistent life. You want to be a good husband, father, grandfather, son, daughter. You want to be one of those, okay? You want to be consistent. Because of your old nature, you can't be. So what are you going to do? You're going to turn to the one who can make you consistent. Who's the only one that can make you consistent? God. Who is the one that was making Christ consistent? God the Holy Spirit. And how's God the Holy Spirit going to accomplish that in your life? Through the Word of God. So study to show yourself approved unto God. Memorize the Scriptures. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, but for the evil days come not. And you say, I have no pleasure in them." God says we need to study the Word. We need to let it rule and guide in our lives for Consistency. A consistent level in our lives of obedience to the glory of God. So, Jesus is saying, you want to be a consistent disciple? Listen to what He is saying. Invest yourself in His instructions. Now, look with me in verse 35. It says, "...and Jesus answered and taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ..." You see the word Christ there? It is a transliteration of the Greek Christos. And the meaning is the anointed one, and it refers back to the Old Testament kings when they were anointed, like Samuel did David, to become king. You want to study about that? We're studying that on Wednesday nights, aren't we, Aaron? We're studying about the kings, and we're studying about their anointings as to how they were anointed. David was anointed, Solomon was anointed, and there was some others that tried to be anointed, and wormed their way in, and it didn't work out so well because God protected. The Old Testament Scriptures promised a royal heir from David's line that would one day come and be the Messiah. If you want these references, I'll give them to you in detail later in 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 89, Isaiah 9 and 11, Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34. The Messiah, if the Messiah was going to be genuine, and wouldn't there be some false ones that came along? Yes, there would. Not the least of which in 164 Antiochus Epiphanes and some of those. The Messiah, if genuine, must claim the descent of David and fulfill this. Did Jesus fulfill this? That's exactly right. By the way, when you get into the New Testament first book, what does the genealogy show? That Jesus is the descendant of David, and you need to pay attention to that. But the Jewish masses followed the scribes' teaching, and what did they teach? That Jesus was just going to be the human warrior king. Now stop and think about it. What was Israel at the time? Well, they were a vassal kingdom. And we learned in Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 7 of the four great kingdoms, we saw the Babylonian empire, we saw the Medo-Persian empire, we saw the Grecian empire, and now the Roman empire. And who's in charge of Rome at this, excuse me, who's in charge of Jerusalem? Yeah, I gave it to you. It's Rome. They're in charge. And so because Rome is in charge, they're a vassal kingdom. Are the Orthodox, are the conservative Jews happy with Rome ruling them at this particular time? No. And whom are they looking for? Man, they have the menorah in the window. It's burning there. We're looking. We pray at the wall. We're hoping for Messiah to come. And what's that Messiah going to do? Well, man, I'll tell you what he's going to do. He's going to come riding into town on a white Charger, and he's going to throw off Rome, and he's going to throw off all that. He's going to establish himself as the king. And boy, oh boy, we're going to experience a millennial reign of this warrior king. What was wrong with that? Well, number one, Jesus didn't come in on a white charger. He came on a donkey. He came in as the servant. He came in in humility. The Messiah had come, yes, to one day establish the earthly millennial reign of Jesus Christ, but the only way to get there was via the cross. The only way to get there was to die for all sinful mankind. And they didn't understand the suffering Messiah and the reigning Messiah from passages in the Old Testament like the passages in Isaiah. So, the quotation from Psalm 110.1, notice what it says there in verse 36, For David saith unto him by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord. Now, it's very interesting, when Jesus is trying to persuade that crowd, you know what he does? He quotes David's words exactly. Why? Because they were very impressed with David. Who was the greatest king in Israel's history? It was David, wasn't it? He was the warrior king. He was the tough guy. Man, I'll tell you what, David and his warriors, you know, I don't care if you put up a bunch of our modern Navy SEALs, and I have a friend who's a super Navy SEAL, but I'm sorry, when God is totally on your side, you're not going to win against that crowd. Those guys were amazing. Those guys were absolutely amazing. what David and his number one warriors did. So he quotes David exactly. And then secondly, he says, in the middle of verse 36, that David said these things by inspiration. Notice what it says? That it was done by the Holy Spirit. This directly came from God. He received these words in a prophetic vision from God, the Holy Spirit. David did. And he was speaking about this future event. And what is Jesus trying to say? He's trying to say he was speaking about me. That's what Jesus is trying to teach. He's trying to say, get your attention. Let me get your attention. He's talking about me. This is who he's talking about. The scribes of Jesus' day agreed with Jesus that Psalm 110 was written by David, but today the so-called pseudo-intellectual liberal critical scholars reject David's authorship of this Psalm. Why would they do that? Hmm. I wonder why they would do that. Why do the liberal scholars reject this? Because in doing so you deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, you deny the virgin birth, you deny that you need him as your Savior, you deny that you're going to sit before him, that he's going to judge you one day, and you're just saying that you can work yourselves to heaven. That's why the liberal scholars do that. But in verse 36, it says, the Lord said to my Lord, Jesus is clearly teaching about the deity and the humanity of Messiah, something that the scribes did not understand and that they were not teaching. It is my earnest prayer that those that are listening via the internet, if you've gone to a church for many years, you know, for 18 years, I went to a church that told me, be nice and be good. And one day I'd be there. The problem is, is that wasn't biblical. And my dad sat me down and taught me that Jesus is Messiah. He truly is God. He truly is man. And he truly is one. and that Christ died for me on the cross of Calvary. And if you're listening via the internet and you have a pastor that is telling you that Jesus really isn't God, that the Bible really isn't the Word of God, that Jesus really isn't the Savior, that we can be saved by being baptized or being good or just working your way to heaven, run from that church. leave that church just like I did after 18 years of attendance. Because if what is said from your pulpit doesn't match what is read from the Bible, you need to find another church. The Lord said to my Lord. The deity of Jesus Christ is what he's trying to make very clear. Now, I've got to point something out. You'll notice there in verse 36 it said, the Lord said to my Lord. The English uses the same word for Lord twice. But in the Hebrew in Psalms chapter 1 10 and verse 1 there are actually two different words in the Hebrew So would you would you fasten your seat belt for just a second? I'm gonna give you a little Hebrew Greek lesson. So now you'll know a little Hebrew, okay? But anyway, that was a terrible joke. I understand. No wonder you didn't laugh. But anyway, let me read for you Psalm 110. Can I do that for you? Psalm 110. By the way, this is the most quoted Psalm in the entire New Testament. The Lord said unto my Lord, Psalm 110.1. Direct quote that you find over in Mark chapter 12 and verse 36. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The people shall be willing in the day of thy power in the beauty of holiness. From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." What is his point? What's the psalmist's point? That you're talking about members of the Trinity here. You're talking about the Godhead here. Verse 5, "...the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through the kings in the day of his wrath." That corresponds to what? Revelation chapter 19 and the coming of Christ to establish His earthly millennial kingdom. Verse 6, he shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the palaces with the dead bodies, he shall wound the heads over many countries, he shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head. And obviously those are going to be fulfilled during that millennial period of times. Psalm 110 shows that the one that is mentioned there that Christ is quoting here in verse 36 when he said, the Lord send to my Lord, it's more than just a mere man. Well, the problem is, as the scribes said, when Messiah comes, he's going to be this man who's going to be the great deliverer. He's going to be this conqueror. He's going to be the ultimate warrior. He's going to be the tough guy. He'll make sure Rome is overthrown. When the Roman armies come marching in their metal skirts, he'll wipe them out. But Christ was much more than that. And if you misunderstand who Jesus is, there is eternal, not only temporal, consequences. So it is clear that both these names in the Hebrew are referring to the Godhead. Now, let's look very carefully at verse 36. We're going to walk you through this. Look what it says. The Lord said unto my Lord. You see the word Lord in your English Bible? It is translated from the Greek word Kyrios, which is just the word for Lord. But in Psalms chapter 1 and verse 110-1, the first word there, Lord, comes from the Hebrew word Yehovah, which as we translate, Jehovah. That is the name of God that is related to the nation of Israel. Jehovah was their God. And who is the Lord Jehovah? By the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, Colossians makes it very clear, Philippians makes it very clear, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Jesus Christ is the Jehovah of the whole Testament. And His point in bringing this verse up is to teach them that, that He truly is Jehovah. But in Psalm 110 verse 1, the second name, Lord, that is given there, which again is translated in the Greek from Kyrios, it's the same Greek word, but in the Hebrew, it's the Hebrew word Adonai. And this is the name of God that means Lord and Master. So what Jesus is saying, and the reason he's quoting this, is he is saying, not only am I Lord and Master of all of the earth, over all the powers, over all the armings, but I am the God of Israel. I am, in Exodus chapter 3, I am the I Am. I am the one that created everything in the very beginning. I am the one who created you. I am the God of the universe who has taken on the form of a servant. He's come in the flesh to do what? To die for you in the cross of Calvary, which Jesus would do. What? This is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday morning. He is going to die. He's going to sacrifice himself. So they're going to say, no way can he be the king. No way he can be the Messiah, because they misunderstood his mission. His mission was the gospel. The scribes thought that Messiah was a warrior king, David's offspring, and would rise up and conquer. But let me ask you a question. If Jesus would have conquered Rome, if he would have conquered Persia, if he would have conquered Greece, Babylon, Egypt, you name it, the world powers, if Jesus would have conquered all of those in an earthly physical power, what would you and I be left with? We would still be left with the load of our sin. We would not have a Savior. We would not have a Redeemer. There would not be mercy. There would not be grace. There would not be righteousness. There would not be the impartation of salvation to you and me if all we had was a Rescuer. Now, in World War II, they call it the greatest generation. My uncle was in the Battle of the Bulge. As best as we can figure, helped free two concentration camps. He was in the 772nd Tank Destroyer Battalion. And they'd use the tank destroyers to crash the gates at the concentration camps like Dachau and Auschwitz. That generation went over there and defeated the fascism of the Nazis. Defeated the fascism and the murder. They had killed six million Jews. How many Poles? And it was just an atrocity. But you'll notice something. We're up against world battles again right now, aren't we? The potential is there. North Korea just unveiled their major missiles that they have the potential for a ICBM to go to even reach the United States. We're there again. You see what happens when deliverance is only human? It doesn't last. But if you'll turn to the Savior and you'll say, Dear Lord Jesus, I know you died for me. You paid my penalty on the cross and I trust you as my personal Lord and Savior. What kind of life does he give you? Eternal life, life that lasts forever. Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So Jesus now designates Messiah as God, the son of David. How can David's son be God? How can David's son be God? The virgin birth. The virgin birth. That's what it's all about, what we celebrate at Christmas time. The incarnation of the Son of God. Upon the Holy Spirit is teaching us, Psalms 110, how do you put these truths together that Jesus is truly a man and Jesus is truly God? How do you put those truths together? Where do I look to figure that out? Look at me. Look at Jesus and you've seen it. He is the unique God-man. Jesus was not a godly man or a manly God. Jesus is God. Jesus is man. Jesus is one. There's only been one like that. There's only been one like that. He's the only one. He is truly God. He is truly man. And as man, He could die for you. As God, He could give you eternal life. That's what it took. That's who He is. That's who Messiah is. Jesus' point, the scribes must have a higher view of the true nature of the Messiah. Scribes' Messiah was just a human being. Messiah, according to Christ, is literally the God's man. Now, Mark's point in including this truth is that we, as modern New Testament Christians, need to live our lives in that view. Okay, something tragic happens in your life. You know, when Colleen and I were early married, I've told you about the fact that she was diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma, pituitary gland right in the middle of her head. They took her into surgery at university hospitals. Dr. Seljuskog went in, made an incision underneath her upper lip, lifted up literally the nose and went back and drilled a hole in the very center of her brain, went and cut the pituitary in half. Let me tell you, when things like that are going on, you need more than people. You need more than humans to trust. sitting in that room that day, do you think I was praying?" Does it matter who you pray to? 1 Timothy 2.5 says, for we have one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. When you pray to the Lord and ask Him to intervene, isn't it Wonderful to know that you're not just praying to a man. That's why we don't, as Baptists, pray to St. Christopher. We don't pray to Mary. We don't pray to the saints. We don't pray to the angels. We pray to the God-man. Jesus said, after this manner, therefore you pray, pray ye our Father, which art in heaven. We have direct access to the Father because of the God-man. He is the mediator between God and man. And so you and I have access to call upon Him. He is the God with us. Isaiah 9, 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. God sent us His only Son. The Emmanuel concept. Jesus had a divine and a human nature. Not just a divine nature, not just a human nature. And this is why they could not out-debate Him. This is why Jesus won the arguments because of His dependency on the Holy Spirit as Messiah Savior. Now, did the scribes listen to Jesus? Did they get the point? Did they understand? Now, I'm not saying they trusted Him as their Savior, but did they understand that Jesus was saying that He was Messiah and that He really was God? Did they get the point? Turn with me over to chapter 14. And look with me at verse 61, Jesus, now it's Friday night, they've come and taken Him from the garden of Gethsemane, He's in the temple edifice, and He's in one of the three trials of the night, and He's standing before Caiaphas. And look, did the scribes that were listening to Him teach in the temple, Did they understand what Jesus was claiming, that He truly was the God-man? Well, look when verse 61, "...but he held his peace and answered nothing. And again the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Did they understand what He was trying to say? They understood it, but please listen, they rejected it. They rejected it. What would happen to the nation of Israel because they rejected the Messiah? What's going to take place in 40 years? The Roman general Titus is going to come to town. He's going to level the temple right to the ground. He's going to take all of the young men of Israel and he's going to crucify them for miles in each direction going out of Jerusalem. The decision you decide about Christ is going to determine your future. And that's exactly what took place back then. So the crowd's reaction, look at verse 37, David therefore himself calleth him Lord. And whence is he Lord? The Son? Well, obviously he said David's son is both man and is God because of the virgin birth. We understand that. But notice what it says in the end of verse 37, and the common people heard him gladly. You see the word common there in the Greek? This comes from the Greek word polis. And it literally means the multitudes. The multitudes were listening to him. The contrast is between the great Passover crowd that was there in town and a few Jewish leaders that were opposing the Lord Jesus Christ. The crowds appreciated Jesus' use of Scripture. They did. Jesus was a master of Scripture, obviously because He was the originator of these Scriptures. So they heard Him gladly. Yet being convinced, and were the multitudes convinced against the Sadducees and Pharisees? Were they convinced? Being convinced is one thing. being converted is something completely different. The multitudes were convinced, but they weren't converted. There needed to be something else in their lives. They accepted Jesus as a great teacher, but they didn't accept him as their savior. One of my Bible college professors said, you know, when we get to heaven, Ross, he said, I think we're going to really be surprised who's there and really be surprised who's not there. There are a lot of people who look to Jesus as a moral example. They look to Jesus as a great teacher. They look to Jesus to give us guidelines for living. Do you know what? That's what believers should do. But that does not make you a believer. Being committed to Christ does not mean that you're a believer. I know many preachers, I know many priests, I know many who proclaim the name of Christ, that because of what they believe, they're not going to go to heaven, because what they say does not match what God said. They are committed to God, but they're not converted by God, because they haven't listened to the words of the Lord. So, how do we become more than just convinced. How do we become converted? Well, it's very interesting. There was one in that crowd that was listening, and he was an important guy. As a matter of fact, he's one of the three richest men in Jerusalem. He was probably a Sadducee, which means he didn't necessarily even have to be a priest, but he was of that ruling class. He was a millionaire. He was absolutely a millionaire. And he was listening, he was committed to God, and he was listening to what Jesus had said. And he's going to, you know, he met with Jesus, talked with Jesus, and now he's going to listen. And in John chapter 19, verses 38 to 41, This is what it says, "...and after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate, that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also," and this introduces us to the person I'm talking about, Nicodemus, "...which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred weight, Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now the place where he was crucified was, now there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never a man laid." Nicodemus was someone who totally was convinced that Nicodemus needed to be converted. Now the scriptures are silent as to what happened in the future for Nicodemus, but the early church records him as becoming a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, literally losing. Because of it he was persecuted financially, his businesses was persecuted, he lost his standing with the Sanhedrin, he lost all of his money even though he's one of the three richest men in Jerusalem. And later it says that he became absolutely poor and many believe that he was probably the brother to the historian that wrote much at that time, Josephus. And if you ever want to read just the history of Israel, you read Josephus. Now Jesus, in verses 38 to 40, is going to go on and rebuke the scribes, and Lord willing, we'll look at that next week. And then finally, Jesus is going to teach about the widow's mite. But I want to ask you a question, because this is totally relevant to what it means to be a disciple. Who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to you? Your life's over. Let's just say your life ended right now. Don't want that, but let's say your life ended and you stood before him. What is he to you? Let me ask you a question. Are you going to die? Where will you be 100 years from now? Are you going to die? The fact of the matter is none of us are going to get out of this one alive unless the rapture takes place, right? None of us are going to get out of this life. What is your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? What is your relationship with him? What was the relationship of the Sadducees, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Herodians? Well, they were convinced that he said that he was Messiah, but they were not converted by the truth. There are many who are convinced that Jesus is who he says he is, but they never got to the place as to where they were converted. You know, for 16 years, I sat in a church that told me to be convinced about who Jesus was, and I was convinced. But I wasn't converted until my dad told me the story of the cross, that Jesus died for me. He took my penalty upon himself. He paid my penalty for sin. And that if I would ask him to be my Savior because he died in my place and rose again from the dead, that if I would call upon him and ask him to be my Savior, I could be born again. Romans 10, 13 says, listen very carefully, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know that means you, that means me. And that's why a 16-year-old boy could kneel next to his bed, January 5th, 1973, and say, Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for everybody in the whole world, but I believe you died for me. Please forgive me of my sin and be my savior. I went from being convinced to converted. I went from believing about God to being a believer in God. I went from being a child of God's truth to an adopted child of God, and the difference is all the difference in the world. Where are you today? What do you believe? Right where you're seated in the quietness of your own heart, let's bow our heads together. Right where you're seated in the quietness of your own heart, if you know that you are convinced, but you need to be converted, Fulfill what the Bible says and call on the name of the Lord. Don't call out loud, just call to him in the quietness of your own heart. Dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Please forgive me of my sin. Call that to him. I trust you, Jesus, and you alone to take me to heaven after I die. Call that to him. I believe, Jesus, you died for me. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I will not point you out by name or location, but if you did call on the name of the Lord right now, would you simply lift up your head and look me in the eye and say, yes, I did that, and I'll pray for you in the days ahead. Say, yes, I did that right now. Would you lift up your head and look me, just for a second. Yes, I prayed that right now. Anyone? Anywhere. Did you do that? Father in heaven, thank you for the wonderful message that Jesus saves. And I pray that all of us in this room would be more than committed, that we would be converted. And from that position of being a child of God, then we can be committed. We can be committed to your truth because we love you, not because we think it's made us a child of God. And so, Father, I pray that you'd use your word in our hearts and in our lives to make us to become more like you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.