John 11:45-12:11 - 3 Reasons Jesus Is Rejected

Main Idea: Jesus is rejected because accepting Him means losing this world.

JESUS WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE WORLDLY STATUS

- You won’t be in charge of your life anymore, He will.

- You’ll need to love His other children.

- You’ll need to carry His unwelcome message.

JESUS WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE THIS WORLD’S GOODS

- You’ll give your time and energy to serve Him.

- You’ll use His money in ways other people deem unfair or unwise.

- You may only receive spiritual honor for your physical investments.

JESUS WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE WORLDLY SECURITY

- You’ll not find security in the opinions of other people.

- You’ll not find security in your finances.

- You’ll not find security in this world’s systems of government.

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Well, we are going through a series in John 11 through 13, and we'll be in the Gospel of John through July of this year. But instead of saying, okay, we're going to have a 26-week series through the end of John. I was like, listen, I'll break it up.

There's some different themes and different things that we see in these portions of scripture. And so right now, we are in just a six-week series, going through John 11-13. And the series is entitled, A Rejected Savior.

A Rejected Savior. I want you to think about this. When you think about Jesus, this one that we've been singing about, about his power, about the amazing things that he has done.

When we think about the fact that we are forgiven, that we are accepted in him, you might wonder, why in the world would anyone choose to reject Jesus?

Specifically today, we are going to look at three reasons that Jesus is rejected, but I want you to consider rejection even in your own life.

Very unfortunately, as I this week was preparing for my sermon, I tried thinking of some examples of rejection that didn't have to do with me getting rejected, but I came up blank, so you guys are just gonna get some times that Bryon was rejected.

There was my senior year of high school. There was this girl that I just thought was amazing, 10 out of 10. She was in my youth group, and I just thought, man, this must be the one that the Lord has for me.

And so I tried to pursue her and win her heart for like four or five months, and nothing happened. There was no affection. It was just, yeah, you're a great friend.

And so I was soundly rejected. The first time that I took my driver's license test, I was rejected. Now, I got to be honest with you guys, I have never been pulled over.

I've never, you know, gotten in an accident with another vehicle. So I'm not totally sure what happened. All I knew is, as a result of that day, I felt very rejected by that driving instructor.

Before I met my lovely wife, I was rejected by an ex's dad, because my personality was too similar to that of his daughter. And so he thought, no, you guys shouldn't be together. You're too similar.

Some of you might be like, I wish my wife and I were a little more similar. But that was just that reason. And people have a myriad of reasons for rejection.

But today, as we come on the heels of what we learned last week, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, we're going to see that even this God who is victorious over death itself was rejected. And the question will be posed to you.

Will you choose to reject Jesus as well? I'm going to give you three reasons why other people reject him. You might go, well, I hadn't thought of those before, but I'll add those to the list.

You're free to do that if you want. But the larger call is that when Jesus is accepted, instead of being rejected, it will mean some things change in your life.

It will mean that you lose out on some things in this world, but what you gain will be a far greater impact and worth. Would you pray with me? And then we'll read through the passage and look at our points for today.

But as we pray, I want you to ask God, God, would you show me in my life where I am either accepting or rejecting you?

I'm not strictly today just talking about those that need to accept Jesus' payment for their sin, that they need to, if you will, become a Christian.

In this room, I know that we have many Christians, but the temptation for us today can still be to reject Jesus in our day-to-day life. So I want you to ask the Lord to speak to your heart today. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you. God, we ask that you would be glorified in your church even this morning.

Lord, as we consider why someone would reject you, Lord, as we think about the ways in which even in our own life we have rejected you, God, we pray that you would let our hearts know that you would bring conviction where we have not walked with you.

And Lord, we pray that as we hear from your word, we would be motivated not to give you up, but that we would love you, that we would make you our God personally.

Lord, I pray for those here today that do not know you as Savior, Lord, that if they have never before chosen Christ, that today would be the day that they get that settled. Lord, we love you, and we pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Amen. Well, we're going to start off in the passage. Well, I'm going to say one thing first.

Here's the basic premise of the entire message. If you get nothing else, this will give you the clue. Jesus is rejected because accepting him means losing this world.

Jesus is rejected because accepting him means losing this world. Now, when I say this world, I don't mean the globe that we are currently on. I'm using the word world the way that Scripture does, which is this world's systems.

It's the way of living that as you interact with basically any other person on this planet, it's the way of the world, the way the world operates, what it values, and you lose that when you accept Jesus.

But the flip side is accepting this world means losing out on Jesus. Let's begin reading in verse number 45. Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.

If you weren't here last week, there was a great friend of Jesus, a man named Lazarus, and he had two sisters, Martha and Mary.

Lazarus had fallen sick, and so the sisters had sent word to Jesus to urge him to come quickly and to heal their sick brother so that he would not die.

These sisters and their brother, they lived in a town called Bethany, which was two miles from Jerusalem, where very recently the political and religious leaders of the day had attempted to stone Jesus to death as a result of his preaching.

So because Jesus declared himself to be God, to be God the Son, they wanted to kill him. However, Jesus, because of his love for Lazarus and for Martha and Mary, he chose to come anyway. And so he came, he came a couple days late by design.

Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus came in, raised him from the dead. You, as would I, you would probably go, wow, that's an amazing God.

If I saw him raise the dead, I'd certainly believe in him and follow him. And that's what happened to many of these that came and saw what he did. But verse 46 tells us some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Some people went and, if you will, tattled. We often have to work with Samantha. Is it Bea or Ev right now that tends to do more?

Yeah, it's Evelyn tends to do most of the tattling that she's like, hey, Baba's doing this. And we're like, okay, thanks. If he's in danger, let us know.

But you don't always have to proclaim all of your brother's sins. And here, this is what this group of people is doing. They see the dead come to life again.

And the response is, but the religious and political leaders said that Jesus is a troublemaker. He's one that is blaspheming God. So even though I can see God working, my religious structure doesn't allow me to be able to accept that.

8:32

Sanhedrinʼs Fear

Verse 47, so the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin. This was a group of 70 individuals that were some of the most powerful and influential rulers in Judaism in the first century in Israel.

They convened this group and were saying, What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? This is the same word as miracles. Now, this is the equivalent of the Supreme Court getting together to decide on a ruling.

So even though it's 70 people, instead of we've got nine in our Supreme Court, they had 70 people and they are deciding the fate of Jesus.

If you will, as you think about the Bible story, as you think about the most essential portion of scripture, which is Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, what we're seeing right here in this passage is why Jesus died, the actual human earthly

reason for it. It's that he rose Lazarus from the dead. Jesus tells us a few chapters after this, greater love is no man than this, than that a man lays down his life for his friends.

And Jesus, through coming, through raising Lazarus, he laid down his life so that his friend could live.

Just the same way, as for each of us, Jesus died in our place, so that we would not have to suffer the consequences of having lived our lives without God, without following his way, and as a result, experiencing death, both temporary and eternal

death in the place that scripture calls hell. But because Jesus died for us, we too can rise as Lazarus did.

Verse 48, the Sanhedrin continues, if we let him go on like this, if Jesus keeps on doing miracles, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both. What's that next word they have?

Our place, and what's that word after that? Our nation. Who are they concerned about here?

Themselves. My, our. They don't care that Jesus literally has power over death.

They don't deny that he's doing miracles. They just don't like it. And here it blows my mind.

Jesus conquered what when he raised Lazarus? He conquered death. But what are they scared of?

Like, there's a proper noun that's there right there in that second line. Who are they scared of? They're scared of the Romans.

What are the Romans going to do? Kill you? Jesus defeats death.

Here there is a total lack of understanding of what it means for Jesus, God the Son, to be on earth. The safety, the comfort, the joy that there should be is supplanted by self-preservation and worry.

One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. Sorry, I got to do my bad guy voice when it's Caiaphas.

He says, You're not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish. Okay, now, I want you to read that verse.

He's actually really, really, really correct in a way that he doesn't even recognize. One man died so that not everyone had to. Which is then what John tells us.

He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God.

I'm so thankful that Jesus didn't just come to save those of Jewish ancestry.

He came to save you and me, no matter your age, no matter your ethnicity, no matter how much you have sinned or not sinned, no matter how far you've run or how close you've kept to all the religious rules. Jesus came for every single one of us.

And I love that it's not just so that we would be right with God, though certainly we are made right with God through Jesus. But we are united with the other children of God. Then verse 53, so from that day on, they plotted to kill him.

So Jesus would die so that the nation and all the scattered children of God would live. Jesus therefore, verse 54, no longer walked openly among the Jews, but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim.

And he stayed there with the disciples. One ancient pastor said this, As God, Jesus knew the secret plans of the Sanhedrin, even though no one reported them to him.

And Jesus withdrew, not because he was afraid, but so that his presence might not irritate those who were already seeking to kill him.

Here, he also teaches us to avoid stirring up the passions of those who are angry, and not to thrust ourselves into dangers, not even when it may be for the sake of truth. When we are overtaken by dangers, he teaches us to stand firm.

But when we see them coming, since it's unclear what the actual terms of the conflict may be, it is best for us to get out of the way. If you will, that's a lot of fancy terminology.

When you know someone wants to hurt you or get angry at you, don't make them angrier. Don't stir up the fight. And here that's what Jesus does.

He knows what happens. He also knows when the proper time for him to give his life will be. That is during the Feast of Passover.

So Jesus goes a few days away. Now the Jewish Passover was nearer, and many went up from Jerusalem to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover.

This is one of the three annual feasts that the Children of Israel, they would come to wherever their place of worship was here in Jerusalem, and they needed to make sure that they were ceremonially pure.

So let's say you had buried someone, there had to be like a seven day period before you could go back into a place of worship. It was ceremonial uncleanness. It wasn't a sin to bury a loved one, but you were ceremonially unclean for a few days.

And so here people, they are seeking ceremonial purity before the Passover. And as they were looking for Jesus and asking one another, while they stood in the temple, what do you think? He won't come to the festival, will he?

The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him. There's now a warrant out for Jesus' arrest. So, what do you guys think?

Is Jesus going to go to Jerusalem or is he going to hide away? He's going to Jerusalem. It doesn't matter what the cost is.

He's going.

15:51

Lose Worldly Status

Today we've got three things, three reasons that Jesus is rejected. And the first of these that I can see from these beginning verses is that Jesus will cause us to lose worldly status. Jesus will cause us to lose worldly status.

The Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, they did not want to lose, quote, our place and our nation.

They had their positions of authority, that they were well esteemed by everyone, that they were actually financially comfortable, both from the people of Israel and from the Roman government, who often would bribe them to do various things.

The Roman Empire would actually set up who was the high priest during any given period of time during this course of human history. And you might wonder, why would I have to lose worldly status when I follow Jesus?

Why would I reject him as a result of me losing my status? Well, you see, when you accept Jesus, you won't be in charge of your life anymore. He will be.

You won't be in charge anymore. He will be. When you answer to Jesus instead of to yourself or other people that want to influence you, the world will not appreciate it.

They will want you to fall into the same old conversations, the same habits, the same addictions. They want you to be just like who you always were.

And for some people, as they think about that in their life, they go, I would rather have the friendship of Daryl rather than choose to not be the same person that I was before. And can I tell you, there is no pleasure on this earth.

There is no friendship in the here and now that is worth your eternal soul. But people do often choose, I'd rather have this romantic relationship than a relationship with Jesus. Be prepared.

When you accept Jesus, you lose some status because you're not in charge anymore. He is. And that will change your behavior.

Jesus will cause us to lose worldly status because we will need to love his other children. Think in verse 52, where Jesus came to unite God's scattered children all across the globe. There are people that it is unpopular to love.

Now, that group of people changes from conversation to conversation. If you happen to be of a certain political party, it might be inconceivable to you that you would ever love someone that is part of a different political party.

Or if you were to tell your other Republican friends that you have a Democrat friend, they might stone you.

Or if you have your Democrat friends and you say, Oh yeah, I know this one person that voted for Trump, and I had them over to my house, and we had a meal together. You might get stoned by your Democrat friends.

Loving everyone is the way of Jesus, but it is not the way of this world. And there are faults and sins that people love to excuse.

And they would say, all right, it's fine if you're around the greedy and the selfish and the cruel, but you better not be around those that are homosexual, or you better not be around those that have sexual immorality.

Whereas Jesus says, no, no, no, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And just because you have a particular set of sins that you're fine with and a particular set of sins that you really dislike, that doesn't change who God has called you to love and to care for.

And when you love those that the world does not love, it will cause you to lose status.

People will view you as a sellout to that you're no longer following the party line or that you're not doing everything that other people think that you should be because you are choosing to love all of God's scattered children, not just the ones

that your group prefers. Jesus will also need us to carry his unwelcome message. You think of what Jesus died for. It was not for the fact that he lied to anyone or that he stole from anyone.

It was the message of him as God the Son come to save the world. That is what Jesus died for. And others are not happy about the Gospel.

This world system does not believe in the Gospel of Jesus. The message that God Jesus killed was not that God loves you. God does love you, by the way.

Jesus' message is that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and that we need to turn our lives, our rebel lives, back over to the one that we stole them from. That's why Jesus died. And that message is not popular.

And so for many people, they'd say, I don't want to become unpopular at my work, or in my school, or within my family.

And so I'm not going to become a Christian, because I know that that means I need to share with someone else what someone shared with me about Jesus, and I am unwilling to do that. So I reject Jesus so that I can maintain my worldly status.

I saw a stat that says, 38 unbelted people die in traffic accidents every day. And most of those people would still be alive today if they had simply fastened their seatbelt. But it's even easier to be saved than to buckle your seatbelt.

Scripture says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You don't have to do enough good works. You don't have to put in enough money.

You don't have to do, you know, Hercules' seven great feats in order to be saved. Scripture says we call on the one who accomplished it all for us, the Christ who won the victory. And as we call on him to forgive us and to save us, he will.

Yet many people still refuse to accept Jesus. Can I tell you today, don't value your job, your friendships, or others' respect more than you value Jesus. Choose the fear of God over the fear of man.

Think about this, what choices have you been allowing others to dictate for you instead of God? Who have you been refusing to love because it's not popular to love them with your preferred crowd?

And who do you need to stop fearing and simply share the gospel with for their sake and for Jesus's? I forgot that I had these slides over here. My bad.

So, reason number one, Jesus causes us to lose worldly status. Gonna hurry you through this next section here. It's a wonderful passage.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. So from now till July, we're gonna go over, literally, one period of 10 days.

We're looking at like 10 days of Jesus' life over the next six months. It's gonna be amazing. So Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.

So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. I'm sure you guys have seen the pictures before.

Eating in the first century, everyone reclined. You didn't have, you know, chairs at a table. Everyone was like laying on pillows and blankets and stuff and reaching into the middle and eating food.

It looks deeply unhygienic, but kind of comfortable. So I don't know if anyone still does that today. Verse number three, Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus's feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. You might go, wow, that really came out of left field. Absolutely.

And we read about this in all of the different portions of scripture. All four gospels record this action that took place. Just by way of explanation, here this nard would be from India.

It would be incredibly expensive, as we're going to see here in one second. You would have to work for 300 days. It was worth 300 days wages.

So, let's just say during a regular year, if you make $50,000, and that's what you get for your work week all throughout the year, this nard, this perfume would be worth $50,000, if that's what you make in a given year.

This would be a perfume that would most often be used by Jewish individuals during this first century by like brides on their wedding night, that they would be like, I smell great, honey.

Don't worry about all of the other, you know, rest of our life. But tonight, I smell great.

And so it was something that was so important that someone would do, and it would only be during maybe one portion of your life, if that, and then as well, you notice that it says that she wiped his feet with her hair.

In the Middle East, even today, in many places, you would cover up your hair, you'd have a hair covering. And here, Mary undoes her hair covering. It wouldn't have been evil or some sin or wrong thing to do, but it would be very unconventional to do.

And here, she wipes his feet, which would be something that a servant or a slave would do, that as you walk around in sandals in the desert and on the roads, you know, they didn't have one spot for all of the horses and donkeys to walk, and then all

of the humans to walk, so you'd be walking behind all of these creatures. And so your feet would be filthy. And yet here, Mary wipes the Lord's feet with perfume and with her hair. Wow, what a picture of devotion that she has.

But as always, then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, and John pipes in, I think I mentioned this back in Chapter 6, because that's when Judas piped up last time, who was about to betray him.

John, a solid, you know, 60 years after this has still not forgiven Judas for his betrayal of Jesus. Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray him, said, Why wasn't this perfume sold for 300 denarii? That's 300 days wages, and given to the poor?

John fills in for us, he didn't say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

And actually, we're told in Mark's Gospel that though Judas here is the first one to say something, and he's kind of the ringleader, the other disciples chimed in too, and started to deride Mary for what she did for Jesus.

Verse seven, Jesus answered, leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

Here he's quoting from Deuteronomy, the statement here is not, ah, poor people will all be around, don't do anything for them.

No, he's specifically quoting the portion of scripture to say, you will always have opportunities to do good to the poor, but you only have a very short amount of time to do good to me, and she has chosen to do this.

Second reason today that people reject Jesus.

28:09

Lose Worldly Goods

First is they will lose worldly status. And secondly, we will lose this world's goods. When you accept Jesus, you will give your time and your energy to serve him.

Here this is what Mary did. You can think of all of the days that she would have had to work throughout her life in order to be able to purchase this pound of perfume.

And she gave her time and her energy not so that she could even gain favor with God. She doesn't say, God, because I've done this, would you forgive me or would you love me because I've done this? She just does it in service to him.

Can I ask you, will you view your time as well spent if you used your time for Jesus?

If no one else saw it, if no one appreciated it, if as Mary here, if when you've given of yourself to serve, when some Judas complains about the work that you did that they did not do, will you still view it as worth it because you gave it to Jesus?

There's a pastor in the 13th century, Albertus Magnus, who said we should offer myrrh to the Lord. That's another kind of perfume.

By the hardness of our lives, that is, he suffered in the body many hardships for our sake, so we also should suffer some inconveniences for his sake. Jesus suffered for us. May we suffer for him.

But some people, because they know that serving Jesus means that they don't determine all of their calendar or all of their efforts, they go, I don't really want to do the whole Jesus thing because that's going to mean that I change my time and what

I give my energy and my purpose and my service to. So I'm not really about the Jesus thing. Secondly there, you will, when you accept Jesus, you will use his money in ways that other people deem unfair or unwise.

Here as Judas has this response of, oh, she could have sold that and given it to the poor.

Even today, you can look online and there are even people that have become rather famous on TikTok, specifically through scamming churches and having a recording of a baby crying in the background and trying to get them to say, yes, we will send you

money immediately for formula for this infant. And the person that's doing these things and calling through churches and trying to get them to give the response in the specific way that she wants, it's because she only views churches and their work

as valuable if they are functioning like a food bank. And that's the only reason that in her mind, a church should exist. Now, is it good to give food to the hungry guys? Yes or no?

Yes. Is it good to give formula to those that are in need, to infants? Is that good or bad?

That's good. But the point here is not, are there many good things to do? But when you follow Jesus, it will sometimes mean that you do things with your finances that other people think are stupid.

I can't tell you the amount of times that I've seen on Facebook, even when someone says that they tithe to the Lord, that they give 10% of their income to the Lord. That's a practice I personally do in my own life.

Scripture doesn't command it for those in the New Testament. It is a pattern in the Old Testament that many people have adopted through the years, and you won't be worse off with God if you do it that way.

But so many people, as they've posted online about, man, I'm so glad that I have dedicated a portion of my finances every single week to God's work, that you have countless people on the internet that will then go, oh, you're so stupid.

Why would you do that? You could do this or that or this other thing instead. Why in the world would you give to a church?

And can I tell you, if you give to Tabernacle, wonderful, praise the Lord. If you don't give to Tabernacle, wonderful, praise the Lord.

If you give to, if you are visiting here today, you have another church that is your home church, and you give to them, wonderful. That doesn't get you closer or further away from the Lord.

But can I encourage you to let Jesus dictate what you do with your wallet? Whether that's giving here or not, that's fine. But when you turn your life over to Jesus, what is the wallet comes with?

Jesus tells us where your heart is, that is where, sorry, where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also. And many people know, if I turn over the keys to my life, those keys also open my, you know, Wells Fargo bank account.

Can I encourage you, be open to saying, God, whatever you want to do with my life, I am willing and eager to let you do what you want. You died for me, you purchased me, and so I will be open to letting you do whatever you want with my life.

Here, Mary, she serves the Lord, she gives a costly gift to him, she's derided, but she didn't allow that to have her reject Jesus. She still chose him even when it brought her scorn from others.

And then lastly, you may only receive spiritual honor for your physical investments.

Mary got honor from Jesus, even though she got honor from no one else, she didn't get some super great place in Jesus' inner circle, she didn't buy access into the 13th apostle of Jesus through doing this, but she got spiritual honor from Jesus, that

here, we are still telling her story 2,000 years later. Can I tell you today, giving money to a church doesn't mean that they get one baptism for every $200 invested.

We could frankly pour $4 million into our church and our community, and there is no guarantee that anything spiritually tangible, to use y'all's word, spiritually tangible to happen.

There's no guarantee that anything will happen if you just throw money at stuff. From a worldly perspective, there is no need to give your money to God's work, unless it's operating as a proxy to relief of the poor.

But in God's economy, generosity and spiritual investment is something that Jesus honors. Is the honor of the Lord enough for you? An application from this point can be, don't love the possessions or wealth of this life more than you love Jesus.

Choose generosity over greed. What can you do with your time or effort this week to serve Jesus? Now, serving Jesus doesn't just mean, hey, come run some cables for the sound booth, and there you're serving Jesus.

Now, serving Jesus might mean you go over to Teresa. I think a couple of you guys are over, is that Tuesday nights over at Freedom Church off of Middle River Road, and they are caring for the poor and the homeless and those that are disenfranchised.

And that can be serving Jesus. Can I encourage you this week? Each one of us are in different places in our life.

Some of us have more energy. Some of us have more time. Some of us have more funds.

But whatever God has given you, utilize it to serve the Lord, to serve people, to give to others. What will you do with your money this week that would glorify God and probably tick off a Judas Iscariot?

I think that's so funny in the story of sometimes you do good, and when you do good, sometimes it can be a badge of honor if it angers a particular group of people.

You're like, yeah, I am probably serving the Lord if the people that hate the Lord really hate this thing that I'm doing, not because I'm obnoxious, not because I'm a jerk, but just because they disagree with the value set that I hold it with, I can

go, okay, I am probably following the Lord here even if I only get spiritual honor from him as a result of doing it. Then as we end today just with verses 9 through 11, we'll see lastly that Jesus causes us to lose worldly security.

So accepting Jesus means we lose this world's status. It means that we lose this world's goods. And then lastly, we lose this world's security.

Verse 9, then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there.

37:03

Plot Against Lazarus

They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, the one he'd raised from the dead. But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

I think that's such a cool statement. Like, obviously bad. They're now trying to murder multiple people, Jesus and Lazarus.

But I want this to be said of me, because he was the reason many were deserting them and believing in Jesus. I don't know what that might look like in your life, that as you share your faith, others might desert a god of greed.

They might desert a god of immorality. They might desert maybe some actual legitimate other god, and instead they now choose to believe in Jesus as a result of your faith. Are you risen?

Are you acting like you have been raised from the spiritually dead and that the Holy Spirit of God has given you new life? Is that life that you are living a reason for someone else to believe in Jesus?

So here, Jesus will cause us to lose worldly security.

38:13

Lose Worldly Security

When you accept Jesus, you'll not find security in the opinions of other people. If you would say, yeah, I'm a bit of a people pleaser, like I'm not all about my own way, but like I really need other people to like me.

If you're like that, would you raise your hand? We've got a couple of you. It's not every person.

Some of us are like that. And this point speaks directly to my heart to go, Brian, you cannot live to be the most popular. You cannot live to be even the most popular at Tabernacle.

You have to live for Jesus. You have to find your security, not in Cathy's opinion or in Zoe's opinion or in Judy's opinion. You have to find your security in the opinion of Jesus.

When you follow Jesus, you are guaranteed to be unpopular with others, to be misunderstood, to be maligned, to be misrepresented. Paul tells us all that will choose to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

And some people, they want to find security in another person, or they want to find security in a friend group. And so they choose to reject Jesus so that they can find security in other people's opinions. I love this quote by Francis of Assisi.

He said, blessed is the servant who does not regard himself as better when he is esteemed and extolled by men than when he is reputed as mean, simple, and despicable. For what a man is in the sight of God, so much he is, and no more.

We find our true value not in people's estimation of us, but in God's estimation of us. Secondly, we can see that you'll not find security in your finances when you accept Jesus.

When you follow Jesus, you somewhat lose the ability to be able to say, I'm set for life. I'm super comfortable, and my life is only going to get better and better.

We don't know what God will have us to do with his money, and so we can't anchor ourselves to it. Then we go, God, this is yours. And you might say, Brian, I want you to give to Jackson or to Cole.

I might go, God, but I don't want to do it. He's like, yeah, but you're not in charge of you anymore, and they have a need. And, you know, Jackson needs 3000 new jackets for some reason.

And so you got to give to him. But as we follow the Lord's leading, that we realize my security is not found in my money because my money isn't my money. It belongs to the Lord.

And lastly today, you will not find security in this world's systems of government.

This was very literally what Jesus and Lazarus and the people were going through at this point, that the government of their time was actively trying to harm and kill them to arrest them.

This is the same truth we see in Psalm 2 that talks about all the nations of the world. It wasn't just this system of government here in the first century that was corrupt or evil. It is every government.

It is every nation across the world because these nations that we have, they are not God's nations. They are the nations of man. And so they follow man's way.

Psalm 2 says, Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against Yahweh and his anointed one. Let's tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.

No political party is the party of Jesus.

Satan desperately wants to blind you to the ways that your preferred political party is in rebellion against God, so that you will spend your time defending human evil instead of calling your party to God's way.

And if you need examples of that, even within your own party, I encourage you, listen to someone from the opposing political party.

It doesn't mean that you have to adopt their platform, but you might be able to see, oh, this is a spot where we are not following God as a party. And the goal then is not throw away all of your associations with everyone.

It is call people to faith in Christ. You, I think we've got an election of some sort coming up this coming November here in 2026. As elections happen, that we vote in line with our consciences according to the Word of God.

That we don't say, okay, well, if it's got an R or if it's got a D by their name, then I suppose that I need to vote for them. No, let us vote based on our convictions from the Word of God. That we don't excuse human evil.

We don't endorse it, but instead we say, this is an area where they need to be following Christ. You can write letters. You can take phone calls.

You can work close enough. You can visit DC and encourage your representative to do what is right. But do not find security in this world system of government.

Don't anchor your hopes or your confidence in man, money or this world's management. Choose to be confident in Jesus, not in this world. So why would someone reject Jesus?

Because Jesus will cause us to lose worldly status. Jesus will cause us to lose this world's goods, and he will cause us to lose worldly security. But what you gain is the presence of God and His Holy Spirit inside of you.

You gain God's family, that united children of God that were once scattered. You gain eternal life. You gain wisdom.

You gain a family. You gain everything. It is worth it.

Don't be like Judas. Don't be like the Sanhedrin. Don't be like these ones that rejected Jesus in order to be accepted by this world.

Choose to accept Jesus and to lose this world.