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Series A – Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, October 1, 2017 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:22	The holy Gospel
0:29	According to Saint Matthew chapter 21 verses 23-27 when Jesus entered the temple the chief
0:36	priests and the Elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said by what Authority are you doing
0:42	these things who gave you this Authority so Jesus answered them well I’ll ask you
0:48	a question and if you tell me the answer then I will also tell you by what Authority I
0:53	do these things the baptism of John from where did it come from heaven or from
0:58	man so they discussed it amongst themselves saying well if we save from Heaven he
1:04	will say to us well why then did you not believe him but if we say from man we are afraid of the crowd for they all
1:11	hold that John was a prophet so the answer Jesus we don’t know
1:16	and he said to them well neither will I tell you by what Authority I do these things this is the gospel of the Lord in
1:23	the name of Jesus all right so what on Earth is going on
1:29	in Our Gospel text today seems like a wee bit of a showdown and I love the artwork that is in the front of our
1:35	bulletins on this Jesus looks like he’s just about had enough of these fellows yeah so this is quite an interesting
1:42	story but in order to really get it we’re going to have to take a look at the context of it so let’s back up a
1:49	little bit in Matthew 21. I’ll start in verse 12. see if we can figure out what’s going on and you you’re going to
1:55	note that well earlier in the chapter Jesus has made his triumphal entry into
2:00	Jerusalem Palm Sunday we celebrate it right before Easter and Jesus is Palm Sunday entrance and
2:08	Jesus’s first order of business after uh writing into Jerusalem continues thus
2:14	verse 12. Jesus entered the temple he drove out all who sold and bought in the
2:19	temple he overturned the tables and the money changers in the seats of those who sold pigeons he said to them and listen
2:26	to these words it is written my house shall be called a House of Prayer but
2:32	you make it a den of robbers oh yeah that’s right Jesus just said this is my house now to kind of explain just how
2:39	awkward this might have seemed to the people there in the temple imagine if
2:45	somebody showed up at your home and decided that that they had the authority
2:50	to tell you well the the the um there’s a little too much dust on the coffee table and and the the the floor
2:57	needs vacuuming and that kitchen tile of yours when was the last time you mopped that thing if they came in and started
3:04	barking orders at you in your own home telling you to clean these things up you’d probably have words with them it’s
3:10	like who do you think you are and so Jesus here in this text makes it very
3:16	clear whose house this is this is the holy Temple in Jerusalem and he says
3:21	it’s my house wow that’s kind of interesting
3:27	after Jesus drives out the money changers and all those people had turned the temple into a Marketplace it says
3:34	this the Blind and the lame came to him in the temple yeah that’s right Jesus kind of sets up office hours if you
3:41	would and now the Blind and the lame are coming to them and they’re leaving with their sight the ability to walk and the
3:47	chief priests and the scribes when they saw watch what the text says the wonderful things that he had did you
3:54	wish that the text would then say these words they fell on their knees
3:59	praising God that they had been visited by God and you wish it had said that right but it says this that when they
4:06	saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying out in the temple Hosanna to the son of David they were
4:15	indignant that seems a little disjointed does it not
4:20	here you know so you got a blind person walking in to see Jesus in the temple the blind person how has their sight and
4:27	their praising God the children around seeing of this are just in awe and they’re singing and praising Hosanna to
4:33	the son of David and the chief priests are all huh
4:39	doesn’t make any sense does it you see our text is really all about Authority the text continues then says
4:46	so they said to Jesus do you hear what these children are saying and Jesus said
4:51	to them yeah of course have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise
4:58	Jesus seems a little non-plussed if you would that’s the context of what’s going on here and so as the
5:06	chapter continues Jesus after office hours day one in the temple he goes out
5:11	to the Mount of Olives he curses a fig tree comes back the next day that’s the
5:17	context of Our Gospel text so picking up then at verse 23 so Jesus coming back to
5:22	the temple when he entered the temple you could hear security going God he’s
5:27	here again he’s here again you got to get get on it he’s he’s at the entrance of the temple quick quick quick quick so
5:32	the chief priests and the elders they came out to him as he was teaching and they asked this in amazingly bizarre
5:40	question by what Authority are you doing these things and who gave you this
5:48	Authority now real quick by way of clarification
5:53	Authority we oftentimes think authorities like raw naked Power mwah no
5:59	that’s not what Authority is Authority his permission in fact if you change
6:07	this word here by what permission or who gave you permission to do the things that you are doing who gave you this
6:13	permission that’s a better way to think about Authority people who have Authority have been given permission by
6:20	somebody greater than themselves does that make sense so watch how this works
6:27	the president of the United States I don’t care what you think about the fellow I mean there’s a lot of people
6:33	who seem to be really flustered about this fellow but he has been given
6:38	permission Authority by us we the people to do
6:45	business on our behalf in the executive branch of our government who gave him
6:50	that permission that Authority we did now by so that you don’t get
6:55	confused here ultimately it’s Christ who gave him that Authority Christ gave him that Authority through all of us and so
7:03	currently he has permission to do things on our behalf me Pastor I have
7:09	permission to do certain things very limited permission by the way as far as Authority I have the authority to preach
7:15	the word I have the authority to baptize I have the authority to administer the Lord’s Supper I have the authority to
7:21	forgive sins and retain them after that the details get really fuzzy
7:27	I don’t I’m pretty sure I don’t have any other authority after that who gave me this Authority
7:34	y’all did it was a congregational meeting he said we wanted to extend the call to this
7:40	pastor so and ultimately that call comes from Christ but the call comes from Christ through
7:46	y’all so I have permission to do certain things now I do not have permission to
7:52	do other things for instance what if I decided that in my studies that I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m truly
7:59	embarrassed that Christianity keeps getting clobbered by these evolutionary people and that the majority of the
8:06	people out there believe that we all evolve from Grandma and Grandpa monkey therefore I’m sick and tired of not
8:13	being invited to all the best parties in town and so in order to get rid of this
8:19	girds this stigma of believing that well what the Bible says I’ve decided that
8:25	we’re just going to not believe that anymore and so I’m going to start teaching evolutionary theory from here and we’re going to set up a new Saints
8:32	Day Saint Charles Darwin’s day do I have authority
8:39	permission to do that no not at all
8:45	and see this kind of helps here a little bit here because remember when Jesus comes into the temple he drives the
8:51	money changers out did they have authority to turn God’s Temple into a
8:56	Marketplace nope not at all in fact them challenging
9:03	Jesus regarding who gave him authority to do the things that they were doing is
9:08	actually quite ridiculous and that’s really the subtext of all of this these
9:14	fellows who were acting in ways that they had no authority to do were questioning Jesus who had every bit of
9:21	authority to do what he did because last time I checked it Go the authority goes
9:27	all the way to the top and Jesus is what God in human flesh that’s who he is
9:33	so you remember he comes in and says my house mine is mine he claimed the
9:40	authority to do what he’s doing based on the fact that the Lord’s House is his house because he’s the Lord that’s the
9:46	idea now to help us understand this concept here then is that we oftentimes
9:53	are tempted to believe or to do things that we do not have authority to believe
10:00	or do in second Timothy chapter four there’s a prophecy given of the state of the
10:07	visible Church in the end times and Paul writes that in those days a time will
10:13	come when people will not endure sound Doctrine but they will gather to
10:18	themselves preachers to but basically tell them what their itching ears want to hear and they will turn away from the
10:25	truth and wander off into myths do pastors have authority to preach
10:33	myths no so we got a problem here and this is
10:39	where authorities a very helpful thing for us because we can ask ourselves does
10:46	pastor have the authority to say the things he’s saying and then furthermore do I have authority from God to say to
10:53	believe these things or to do these things so you kind of think of it Authority in the sense of belief as well
10:59	as actions the two go together now I want to give you an example historically from the Old Testament where this
11:05	concept is actually played out very interestingly in the life of Jeremiah the prophet if you want to turn over
11:11	Jeremiah chapter 27 this is a fascinating chapter actually we’re going
11:16	to take a look at parts of two chapters but if you’re familiar with the story of
11:21	Jeremiah the prophet he’s the last prophet before Israel is sent into Exile
11:28	in Babylon for their persistent idolatry
11:33	absolute persist refusal to repent refusal to be forgiven and God finally
11:39	says enough is enough Jeremiah is the guy who gets to deliver the enough is
11:44	enough message Jeremiah’s career is one as you read it
11:49	you sit there and go oh man poor Jeremiah but pay attention to who had
11:56	Authority from God to say certain things that’s kind of the point we’re going to
12:01	make here so Jeremiah chapter 27 we’ll start in verse 1. and here’s what it says in the beginning of the reign of
12:08	zedekiah zedekiah was the king of Judah the son of Josiah the king of Judah this
12:13	word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh so we know where it came from it came all the way from the top from God himself thus
12:20	Yahweh said to me make yourself straps and yoke bars and put them on your neck
12:28	so God told him to make a costume the costume involved him making for himself
12:34	a yoke to wear like The Oxen did in those days aren’t you Farmers glad that
12:40	they don’t do it this way anymore so he’s putting he God says make a costume you’re going to put on yoke bars on
12:46	yourself put them on your neck so this is a visual aid to what’s coming next send word to the king of Edom the king
12:54	of Moab the kings of the son of Ammon the king of tire the king of sidon by
12:59	the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to zedekiah the king of Judah let me explain you you familiar with
13:06	from time to time we have foreign dignitaries visit Washington D.C and from time to time the president of the
13:12	United States puts on what’s called a state dinner and so you know maybe the the guy who’s in charge of the Prime
13:19	Minister of Great Britain will be there or maybe the prime minister of Russia but a state dinner is a big deal and
13:25	usually everybody’s on their best behavior during State dinners because if
13:31	you do something wrong it creates what’s called an intern National incident remember years ago when George Bush
13:39	threw up on the Japanese guy that it was terrible okay they were putting on a state dinner and he wasn’t feeling well
13:44	you know that created an incident international incident well I’m going to explain to you here what what God is
13:52	telling Jeremiah to do is to create an international incident and he has
13:57	impression from God to do it it’s actually quite funny when you think of the details so right so you got the king
14:03	of tire you got the king of Edom and Moab everybody’s in town in Jerusalem
14:09	for the state dinner that zedekiah is putting on and God wants Jeremiah to give them this
14:15	message give them this this charge to their masters thus says Yahweh of hosts
14:21	Yahweh Sava oath hosts by the way means armies and so the god of Israel this is
14:27	what you shall say to your Masters it is I who by my great power and my
14:33	outstretched arm have made the Earth with men and animals that are on the
14:38	earth and I give it to whomever seems right to me now I have given all these
14:44	lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant and I
14:50	have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him all the nations Shall
14:55	Serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes
15:01	then many nations and great Kings shall make him their slave but if any Nation
15:07	that includes everybody here in town in Jerusalem or Kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and
15:14	put its neck under the Yoke of the king of Babylon hence the prop that
15:19	Jeremiah’s wearing I will punish that Nation with the sword with famine and
15:25	with pestilence declares the Lord until I have consumed it by his hand so do not
15:30	listen to your prophets or your diviners or your dreamers your fortune tellers or
15:35	your Sorcerers who are saying to you you shall not serve the king of Babylon for it’s a lie that they are prophesying to
15:42	you with the result that you will be removed far from your land and I will drive you out and you will perish but
15:49	any nation that will bring its neck under the Yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him I will leave on its own
15:55	land to work it and to dwell there declares the Lord could you imagine
16:02	so here you’ve got this International Entourage of royalty in town for the
16:08	State Dinner being put on Judah and there’s Jeremiah with a big old yoke around his neck saying you got to put
16:14	yourselves under the Oak and Nebuchadnezzar if you don’t you’re gonna die
16:21	International it this was all over the Jerusalem times I’m just saying you kind of get the picture
16:27	now as ridiculous as this all kind of sounds it’s important to note
16:32	who had Authority here Jeremiah did he had it directly from God
16:39	the message he was speaking not only did he have permission but he was actually pushed and told by God to
16:45	go and do this did this make him popular in Jerusalem let’s take a look ahead now
16:52	to chapter 28 and see what ends up happening and you’re going to notice a fellow Rises up who does not have
16:59	authority but who speaks in the name of the Lord the 28 verse 1. that same year at the
17:05	beginning of the reign of zedekiah the king of Judah in the fifth month of the fourth year hananiah the son of azure
17:11	the prophet from gibeon spoke to me in the house of the Lord
17:16	so isn’t this fascinating same place as our gospel text today this all takes
17:21	place in the temple so there’s Jeremiah in the temple and guess who shows up hananiah he’s a
17:29	prophet from gibeon and here’s what ends up happening so he spoke these words to me in the house of the Lord in the
17:34	presence of the priests and the people saying thus says Yahweh of hosts the god
17:40	of Israel I have broken the Yoke of the king of Babylon within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels
17:47	of the Lord’s House which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon I will also
17:53	bring back to this place jaconiah the sin of jehoiakin the king of Judah and all the Exiles from Judah who went to
18:00	Babylon declares the Lord for I will break the Yoke of the king of Babylon
18:05	did he have permission to give this message not at all
18:13	and yet you’re going to note he followed the exact prophetic template as Jeremiah
18:19	invoking Yahweh Sava oath saying that this is the god of Israel who’s speaking
18:24	and he just gave a completely contradictory message than that
18:31	of Jeremiah who had Authority here did hananiah have authority none
18:38	whatsoever and that’s kind of the rub watch the response the Prophet Jeremiah spoke to
18:44	hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priest and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord and the Prophet Jeremiah said well amen May
18:51	Yahweh do so and may Yahweh make the words that you have prophesied come true and bring back to this place from
18:57	Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the Exiles which by the way the Lord had prophesied through Jeremiah
19:03	that the vessels of the house of the Lord would be returned to Jerusalem but not within two years
19:10	70. longer time than that so he says Amen to that piece of it yet here now this word
19:17	that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people the prophets who preceded you and me from ancient
19:22	times prophesied War famine pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms as far as the prophet who
19:28	prophesies peace when the word of the Lord of that Prophet comes to pass then it will be known that the Lord has truly
19:35	sent the prophet and that’s what Deuteronomy says you can tell somebody speaking the truth if they say something’s going to happen and it comes
19:41	to pass then the prophet hananiah got this took the Yoke bars from the neck of
19:47	Jeremiah Jeremiah had been wearing those for a little bit of time now continuing to make his point everybody needs to put
19:53	themselves under the Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar and Hannah and I have broke the Yoke bars and Hannah and I
20:00	have spoken the presence of all the people saying thus says Yahweh even so I will break the Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
20:06	the king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years but Jeremiah the prophet went his way
20:12	now I’m sure hananiah’s message oh man I bet that just scratched everybody’s ears
20:19	it made them feel good I mean oh it’s kind of like a warm Snuggie on the
20:25	chilly Autumn morning or maybe it’s like getting it into one of those warm
20:32	Jacuzzis ah we just relaxed or maybe sitting in a sauna and just
20:39	letting all the stress out oh two years the Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar is going to be broken but see the reason why
20:46	hananiah’s message was so warm was because it was heated from the fires
20:51	of hell he had no authority to speak these words none whatsoever and it goes on to say sometime after the
20:58	prophet hananiah had broken the Yoke bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah you go tell hananiah thus says
21:06	Yahweh you have broken wood bars but you have made in their place bars of iron for
21:12	thus says Yahweh of host the god of Israel I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve
21:19	Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and they shall serve him for I have given to him even the beasts of the field and
21:26	Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet hananiah listen hananiah Yahweh has not
21:32	sent you you have made this people trust in a lie
21:40	and that’s what everybody who speaks in the name of the Lord
21:45	who gives a message that they do not have permission to give does
21:51	they cause people to trust in lies therefore thus says Yahweh behold I will
21:58	remove you from the face of the Earth this year you shall die because you’ve uttered Rebellion against the Lord and
22:05	that’s what it is If This Were in Greek and this is not a Greek text it’s a Hebrew text but the
22:10	Greek word for Rebellion we all know it apostasia you’ve heard of apostasy that’s what it
22:17	is it’s Rebellion you have preached you’ve uttered Rebellion against the
22:22	Lord so we need to pay very close attention to who has authority to speak what and
22:30	to do what when somebody comes along and speaks things that they do not have
22:35	authority to speak or does things that they do not have authority to do
22:41	then those should be the red flags make you sit there and go whoa we’ve got a problem here see Authority is a big
22:48	thing so coming back to our text then Jesus answered these fellows who were
22:54	questioning his authority and the irony is thick I’ll I’ll ask you one question Jesus said you tell me and then I will
23:01	tell you by what Authority I do these things the baptism of John the Baptist where did it come from from heaven or
23:06	from man now consider this for a second these Chief priests these Elders these
23:13	Elders of the people they believed in baptism baptism was a Jewish practice at
23:18	that time for the catechumens for the newbies those who are studying to become
23:23	Jews it wasn’t for those who were born into it who were lifers if you would so
23:29	they didn’t think they needed John the Baptist baptism but let me ask you this did Jesus submit to John the Baptist
23:35	baptism yes he did it was a sinner’s baptism but Jesus had
23:42	committed no sin what was the purpose that Jesus gave for doing so in order to fulfill all
23:49	righteousness so notice Jesus didn’t consider John the baptism’s baptism beneath him
23:56	he got under it you see it these fellows on the other hand are now
24:01	thrown into the horns of a dilemma so you’re going to notice that Jesus isn’t reasoning with them saying come on
24:07	here’s the reason why it is this that or the other thing he just takes their unbelief pins it to the wall so you can
24:13	see it for what it is so they say hmm if we say it’s from Heaven he’ll say to this then why did
24:19	you not believe him right yeah but if we say it’s for man we’re afraid of the
24:24	crowd ah see there it is fearing people rather than God
24:32	how many churches have found themselves hearing and listening and believing doctrines that they have no permission
24:39	or authority to believe because the people in the congregation fear the
24:44	scorn of the people who are out there in the culture around them they take Christianity and kind of
24:52	smorgas borget together HomeTown Buffet well I’ll take a little bit of this and
24:58	a little bit of that but I’ll leave that out it’s like working through the Nicene Creed and kind of going I believe in one
25:04	God the Father Almighty well maybe maker of heaven and Earth no and of all things visible and invisible definitely not and
25:12	in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God yah sign under that begotten of his father before all worlds
25:17	who knows God of God light of light very God of very God sounds a little high and mighty to Me Maybe not by whom all
25:22	things were made no who for us men and for our Salvation came down from heaven was incarnate of the Holy Spirit of the
25:28	Virgin Mary no virgins don’t give birth that wasn’t true you see it
25:33	that’s the doctrine version of it that this also has to do with morals and over and again I have seen
25:39	Christians and spoken with people who are Christians who are thrown on the horns of a dilemma do they believe God’s
25:45	word or do they modify God’s word because somebody that they love is doing
25:51	something that is sinful I remember one time having a very very difficult conversation with a mother who
25:58	contacted me because her son had decided to engage in the gay lifestyle and was
26:04	attracted to another fellow and she said to me how can God condemn
26:11	my son for this he loves that fellow why would God condemn somebody for being
26:18	in love what does God’s word reveal regarding that sin
26:23	it’s a sin you can’t bend what is true just because
26:29	somebody you love is doing different in fact that creates all kinds of conflict
26:36	the type of conflict that Jesus says will lead to father against son mother
26:41	against daughter and things like that you can’t change the truth just because
26:47	someone you love is decided that they have they’ve they’re going to go a different way
26:52	so they feared the crowd and they say well if we say it was he wasn’t a prophet they fear the crowd because they
26:58	thought he was a prophet so they gave Jesus this completely non-committal answer which is a total lie we don’t
27:04	know yeah well you have an opinion you haven’t shared it and he said to them all right then I’m not going to tell you
27:09	by what Authority I do these things so Authority is a big deal let me ask a couple questions what are we to do as
27:16	Christians what do we as Christians have the authority to hear to Believe In
27:21	Christ Church what do I have the authority as a pastor to preach in Christ Church notice it’s
27:27	not mine next question what are we to do when we discover that something that we believe
27:32	or that we are doing that we do not have permission or authorization from God to believe or to
27:39	do and by the way there are far too many ways that this happens in each of us me
27:44	included far too many ways for me to begin to list them all this kind of takes some introspection on
27:51	your part well the answer to what you do in this situation is actually found in our Old Testament text
27:58	part way through our Old Testament text Ezekiel 18 25 it says God’s saying to
28:04	the people of Israel you say that the way of the Lord is not just here now o House of Israel is my way not
28:11	just is it not your ways that are not just you see in when Israel was in a similar
28:18	situation they ended up blaming God and saying God this is your fault if you
28:24	were just you wouldn’t demand this of us and so they were actually complaining about God being not just which is silly
28:31	and so God responds back and says no no I’m not the problem you are is my way
28:37	not just it’s is it not your ways that are not just when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and
28:45	does injustice which is a great way to describe sin especially sins against neighbor
28:51	work through the list not honoring parents murdering
28:57	committing adultery stealing slandering coveting all of these things cause you
29:03	to create an injustice committed Injustice against your neighbor so when the righteous person does injustice he
29:10	shall die for it for Injustice for the Injustice that he has done he shall die again when a wicked person turns away
29:17	from the wickness that he is committed and does what is just and right he shall
29:22	save his life because he considered and turned this is repented away from all the transgress transgressions that he
29:29	had committed he shall surely live he shall not die yet the house of Israel says the way of the Lord is not just o
29:36	House of Israel are my ways not just is it not your ways that are not just
29:43	you kind of get the gist of what’s going on there you see over and again we want to blame
29:49	God we want to blame God because we want to do this he says no and then we sit there
29:57	and say it’s your fault God you’re not just this is not fair
30:03	and God says no no my ways are just you
30:09	are not and it requires us to repent and repentance is the daily walk of the
30:16	Christian Life so what do we do when we find that what we want to do or what we are doing or
30:22	what we believe or want to believe that we do not have authority to believe or do any of those things
30:29	what do we do Ezekiel says repent
30:34	turn from your wickedness so I noted the fact that our gospel text
30:40	finds us in the context of Jesus in Jerusalem at the very end of his life he’s just days away in Our Gospel text
30:47	from going to the cross and bleeding and dying for your sins and for mine and so what do we do we repent and we
30:56	trust that when Jesus was stripped and beaten and flogged and nailed to the
31:01	cross and bled and died for our sins that he bled and died for all of the
31:07	different ways in which we rebel against What God Says and have done and believe
31:13	things that we do not have authority to believe or do and the good news is this
31:19	is that I do have authority I have authority to tell you
31:24	that your sins are forgiven Christ has given me this Authority so repent believe be forgiven bear fruit
31:33	in keeping with repentance in the name of Jesus Amen [Music]

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