Laws of Love - (Deut. 1-21; Mk. 11-14)

Mar. 8, 2018

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Transcription

Okay, hello, Mala Chindango in Malawi. Good to see you. Good to see you too, Scott. Yeah, so we're a long way from each other, but it's nice to be able to do this. I know you don't always have power down there in Malawi, but you've got it now.

So I'm really, really thankful for that. And here, we're going to talk about Deuteronomy 1 through 20. And we're also going to talk about Mark 11 through 14 and you know will these two glorious sections well let's just talk I want to start with Deuteronomy Deuteronomy is composed of three sermons that Moses delivered in the very last month of his life. In fact, the very last day of his life is recorded in chapter 31. So these speeches, you know, they roll on full of the shadows of the glory of the gospel, the recognition that perfect obedience is required and it's really only satisfied by Jesus Christ.

You're gonna read, well, in the next section, there's a song Moses taught the children of Israel, a song. Now, I want to just say a couple of things about Deuteronomy in terms of the laws. There are dozens and dozens of laws. And here's the problem. When people read the laws they often think that God is harsh.

Here's an interpretive framework that you should always use to read Deuteronomy. If you read a law that seems harsh or unjust or unloving, remember this, those laws were holy, just and good laws. The apostle Paul calls them that with those exact words. And when we look at a law of God and we think that it's unjust or unloving, the reason we do is because of our own corrupt hearts. We don't know love.

We don't know justice. We have to be taught it from an external source, the word of God. So these laws are all laws of love. And the apostle Paul makes this very clear in Galatians chapter five verse 14. He says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

So all these laws are laws of love. That just should be put down as a principle. Any thoughts about that, Lala? Yeah, so I'm so glad you said that it's true a lot of people read the Old Testament and that's what they see. The Lord, God doesn't want us to do this, the dos and the don'ts.

That's what a lot of people see. But Deuteronomy, I think, helps us to see completely a different picture. There are many passages of books of the Old Testament that helps us see the difference. But Deuteronomy, you can see that God is going after the heart. He's really going after people's heart.

And so you see the same thing. You see that in chapter four, you see God as he's speaking, addressing the children of Israel, He's calling them to himself, seeking to win their heart, to draw their hearts. And this is where we get the first and second commandments. God wants us to love him with all our hearts, our soul, and strength, and mind. And it's really about the heart.

Now you got it right when you mentioned that Deuteronomy is all about heartfelt obedience, that God wants us to obey Him from the heart and it's Throughout the whole book of Deuteronomy we see that very clearly Yeah, and what I believe Moses is doing in Deuteronomy is the exact same thing that Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount where he goes through and he Explains the commandments in there in greater detail. In Deuteronomy, Moses goes through all the commandments and he gives various applications, really practical applications of those laws. And what you learn from Deuteronomy is that the laws aren't wooden. They're spiritual. They reach all the way to the heart they reach every possible circumstance in life and in Deuteronomy there are lots of different kinds of circumstances that Moses identifies for the applications of Those laws And so you see the applicability of it in real life, because the laws had to do with real life.

And by the way, they aren't the only laws. In fact, Jesus made it very clear, like the law against adultery, the law against murder is deeper than just committing a sexual act with someone else that's not your spouse and it's more than killing someone. It goes to the heart And so the laws are not wooden at all. They go to the deepest part of the heart. And that's really the secret of the whole book of Deuteronomy.

Yeah, I mean, I think of chapter seven of Deuteronomy, it's where God reminds the children of Israel why he chose them, why he favored them, he saw the other nations that he didn't choose them before because of anything they had done. And that's how we understand the gospel, that God doesn't choose us because of anything we have done. When it comes to the law, we've broken every law and God choose us on the basis of his grace and mercy toward us. And so he makes it very clear in chapter seven that I did not choose you among the nations because you were great, because you were, you know, He chose them on the basis of His grace. And so even where we find the law being given a second time, God reminds his people, it's not because you obeyed the law, you brought the law, I chose you because of my grace.

Right, absolutely. And his grace is all over this book. In the very first chapter, Moses is recounting the command to enter into Canaan, and then he says that the laws that God gave them were for wisdom and understanding, and he says if you follow them you'll become a wise and understanding people. Now remember when Moses is writing at the very end of his life and back back before that are 40 years of wilderness wandering and he's looking back and I love I love the phrase in chapter 1 verse 31 where he talks about how he cared, how God cared for his people all throughout the wilderness wanderings. And he says to them, he says, you saw, you saw how the Lord carried you as a man carries his son.

And Moses just saying, you saw how we were carried after all these 40 years, the manna in the wilderness, the protections, the victories in battle, the water that was provided where there was no water at all, I carry you. I love that image of the love of God who carries his children through the wilderness wonderings, even when they complain And even when they're dissatisfied with what God's given. Come on, and then, and I couldn't help it, but notice how many times God talks about the heart, the heart, the law has to be obeyed out of love. God is not seeking to have a relationship with his people. That's just dry and emotionless.

He goes because heart the heart, the emotions do this with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and he's always seeking to win their emotions and all the, you see, even when he brings in the rewards, I think it's in Chapter 11 where he talks about rewards, again he wants to win their affections and to arouse them to duty. And so the drone really brings out God's will and desire for us. And I was thinking about the whole idea of the will of God. And I noticed that in chapter 12 is where he instructs them concerning worship and how they are to worship God. And the regular principle of worship comes up very clearly in chapter 12.

And again, you see there that God is again after their heart, that they'll worship Him according to His will. But also because of their love for Him, He's not just looking for people that can worship Him and keep all their laws, but people that would keep the law from their heart because they love their God. It's very fascinating. Yeah, and I'm really glad you pointed that out because so many people misrepresent Deuteronomy. I heard someone say once that the Old Testament was about laws, the New Testament is about relationship.

The Old Testament is about legalism and the New Testament is about love. Nothing could be further from the truth. The heart, the love is all over Deuteronomy, from beginning to the end. Even when you get to chapter six and you have that great call to the fathers of Israel to teach their children, when they sit in their house, when they walk, by the way, when they lie down, when they rise up, he says this, these things shall be in your heart and you shall teach them. Even the teaching of a father is to come out of his heart of love toward his children.

So these false categorizations of particularly coming out of even Armenian and a dispensationalist framework are really not properly representing Deuteronomy. And some of that leads to people thinking, okay, so the God of the Old Testament, Jesus and his children, the God of the New Testament, it's all of grace, it's all of love, it's all of peace. And there's no chastening there. I couldn't help it but notice that the writer of the Hebrews borrows from chapter 8 where God says, Moses says to the children of Israel that you should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son so the road you've got chastens you And all of that chastening we see in the Old Testament was God being a father to the children of Israel. And we see him in the Gospel in Hebrews chapter 12, the writer saying the same thing that he disciplines those he loves.

Amen. You know, in chapter 10 verse 16, Moses says, therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff necked no longer. And there we learn, you know, circumcision really was a picture of the heart. It wasn't just a mechanical function that was performed on the males of Israel. It meant to point to the heart that way.

And that really, I mean, that really is the whole heart of Deuteronomy. The heart is the heart of the matter. Now here's a really practical thing for families. Make sure you teach your children the goodness of God's laws. Make sure that you help them understand every way that they really are laws of love.

Help them to understand that these aren't wooden at all. They're meant to go to the deepest part of your heart. And finally, really, that Jesus Christ is the only one who kept every law of God. And that's why Moses says, there's a prophet like me coming and his name is Jesus. Him you shall hear.

So there's, you know, all these laws point to Christ forward and, but they're all good laws. And I think we just need to help our children see the beauty of those laws. You know I preached through Deuteronomy a few years ago and you know preached lots and lots of sermons on this book, but I'll tell you, I was so amazed at how each law really is a law of love, and you can see it. Some of you might have to work to understand how they are really laws of love because of our own corruption. But the book of Deuteronomy is just such a marvelous thing.

So let's shift over to the New Testament to Mark 11 and to 14. And this section begins with Jesus cleansing the temple. This is the time he did it. He did it at the very first part of his ministry. By the way, I just preached a sermon on this in John 2 last week, where Jesus cleared the temple the first time and drove the money changers out of the temple.

And now he's doing it at the very end of his ministry. And he does the very thing. Obviously, all the money changers went back into the temple and took up residence again. Yeah. And, you know, it's important also to begin to probably think about what that might have looked like.

I think there is a lot of misconceptions that people thinking, oh, this is just a small place, a small building just goes in there very quickly within minutes, seconds, cleans up and chases everyone out. To understand that you're talking about hours of dealing with people that have been sitting in there for years doing business and the corruption and all that was going on in the temple of God. And that allows us the son of God to do this holy anger that he would drive. It doesn't indicate that the disciples helped him. I'm sure that might've been a confusing scenario for the disciples, what their masters do, something like that.

Well, and there were probably three million people in the city and you know the courtyard of the Gentiles where he probably did this was full of people, tens of thousands. And he drove them out, they all left. And I've pondered why that was and nobody stopped him. But we can't forget that Jesus' parents took him to the Passover every year of his life. He was known there.

In fact, when he was 12 years old, he was astonishing the scribes and the Pharisees in the temple itself. And he was known. And so he comes into the temple and no one stops him and he wasn't Nobody thought it was a nutcase. In fact afterwards Their religious leaders come and say what sign you have and then right after that Nicodemus says we know that you're sent from God. But he drove them out and people didn't regard him as a terrorist at all.

He had an authority that must have been astonishing. Yeah, I find it very, very fascinating when you just something you pointed out that no one tried to stop him. It doesn't seem like there was, I'm sure there could have been opposition, but it doesn't seem like, it doesn't indicate that there was opposition. There are other places where we see the people around him acknowledging that Jesus had the authority. Now how that looked like and as people watched him do all those things, it's hard to tell.

But it does show that he carried with him a level of authority that many times people could not oppose or object to the things you're saying or doing. Yeah, and he cleared that temple. I believe he cleared it because the joy of the worship of God had ceased and because in the Old Testament's prophesied the Lord says they shall be joyful in my house of prayer and of course Jesus says stop making my Father's house a house of merchandise. It had shifted from a place of joy, true adoration, to a place of just doing business. And I really believe that this, the most violent act in his ministry took place because of how tragic it is to lose a sense of the love of God and the joy of God, just how harmful dead religion is.

And so he drives them out in order to make a statement against dead religion. And I think we should just think that the only thing that would bring such, and that we understand that we are at the temple of the Holy Spirit as believers, but also there is a sense in which as God's people gather together in his name, that he is there with them, And that has to do with communication and worship and God's people meeting. And what we do in there, there has to be a clear and careful study of the scriptures that we're truly doing God's will and not just doing what pleases us and what feeds our desires and the ways in which we want to worship Him. Right, yeah, that is so clear there. Moll, What else jumps out at you in this section that we're discussing in Mark?

There are a number of things. I think just at the end of the passage, what we talked about Jesus in authority, we see him sending his disciples and saying, you know, go in such such a place and you'll find a donkey there and bring it and just tell them that the master has used for them. And they go there, they bring a donkey for him and use it. And it was just quite interesting for me to, just to see that the same thing with authority, that they released that animal to come to Jesus and for Jesus to be able to ride on it into Jerusalem. Again, he really carried authority with him.

And there is also the question of how did he know that there was this little donkey there, this transport waiting for him somewhere under the tide of that tree. Isn't that amazing? Oh, that's amazing. There are many instances in scripture like that where people deny the deed of Christ that when he was, that he was 100% man and 100% God, that He never ceases to be God when He was man. He was a real man who never ceases to be God.

And there's so many places like that that actually shows us that Jesus, even in His place, He remained God, the very God, the very God. Amen, And all those miracles really proclaim that. And yeah, you know, I've been preaching through the Gospel of John and the signs are really prominent. And these miracles, these signs, in many ways are nothing for God to turn water into wine. That's nothing for God to do.

It's nothing to clear the temple and have no one assault you. But it points to something greater. It points to the really the great things of the kingdom of heaven. But what else here? There's so much of this fiction.

One other striking thing was just Peter's denial of Jesus. Oh my, Yeah. It's not so much reading Peter's name, Jesus. It's almost like you're reading your own biography. Oh, that's so painful, isn't it?

You know, places that we find ourselves ashamed of him. Not, not, you know, talking about him and loving him and proclaiming him as we should. You know, right, just as you bring that up, there was a moment that comes to my mind. I was in my late 20s. I think, oh, actually it was in the 1980, and I was around the table with some men, and some of them were famous men in their areas and a friend of mine asked me a question about what I was preaching on and the fear of man I just I acted I just I was just like Peter it was terrible but that's what I remember I was reminded of when you said that about Peter, who denied the Lord.

Oh my. I can read, so many times I've read this passage and I can help it all the time. Instead of thinking, oh, Peter, how can you deny Jesus? I'm always thinking, oh my, how can you deny Jesus? And I believe that there are so many ways in which we find ourselves denying our master.

I mean, it's a classic reflection of ourselves in so many ways. And also, as you read the Gospels, you just see also how presuming the disciples were in so many places. I mean, in the same chapters we're looking at, they come to Jesus and They say, you know, we want to ask for a favor. If one of us can be on your right and the other on your left and discussing and arguing about these things. And Jesus says, what are you talking about?

And Peter as well tells Jesus and assures him, I cannot deny you, I cannot deny you. Jesus says, you will deny me. It's fine since I was in there. And so it's just how presuming it was. But again, very encouraging that God in all our sinfulness and in all our being ashamed of him, that he keeps on pouring out his grace and his mercy.

And again, Peter, such a classic example of how people deny, the seven people that deny him, God restarts them and uses them in his kingdom. Yeah. And with Peter, if you look at the very last two words of chapter 14, It says that he thought about it and then these two words, he wept, he wept, and that ends that chapter. You know, It's just heartbreaking to us when we do that. But may it be that we don't do it at all.

Peter is there to remind us of our frailty. Be careful if you think you stand, unless you fall. Oh man, it's easy to read these stories and to think, you know, I wouldn't do that. And Peter tried it. Peter tried to make promises that he wouldn't deny Jesus.

And it's not only Peter. I mean, in this text, we see all the disciples left him, abandoned him. Oh, I know. Oh my, that's amazing in itself. What do you think about that?

They all abandoned him. It goes back to the same idea we're talking about, where we find ourselves ashamed of our master. And doesn't that remind us of if there is someone else out there struggling with loneliness, that this is Christ knows what loneliness looks like. He knows what it feels like and he's got his friends abandoning him. You know we see God pouring out his wrath upon him and all because of our sins and he understands the loneliness.

He understands the loneliness. These were men that walked with him for three and a half years, lived with him, walked with him. They ate, preached together, yet at this point, He's deserted. Amen. Well, you know, it's funny, you can see a very similar theme in Deuteronomy and in the section of the Gospels that we were just in.

And that's God's mercy towards sinners. You know, in the Old Testament God provided laws, there had to be perfect obedience, but there was a sacrifice for that sin that was sacrificed on an altar. And then the Lord Jesus Christ himself, he comes into the temple and he is the high priest. And he drives out the money changers, but He embraces sinners, frail men, fishermen like Peter, and he has mercy upon them. And he pours out his loving kindness upon them.

And it was said of Moses that he was the meekest man who ever lived. Jesus was the most meekest man, the only God-man, whoever. And in his meekness, He loved his sinful children and he embraced them. And he was a prophet like Moses, but far, far more than Moses. He was a prophet that atoned for all sin.

I mean, What we think of what Moses says at the end there, he points them, he knows his time has come to an end. He points them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants them to look to Christ. He wants them to have hope in what God is going to do. He's going to send His son, Jesus Christ.

Sure. Well, any final, we're kind of out of time now, Mala, do you have any final thoughts to leave with us? Just something I was thinking about back into the throne of me that, you know, you look at Moses, God tells him you're not going into the promised land, but I was just amazed with how Moses receives that discipline, that chastening of God in the midst of being told, you know, going into the promised land, Moses continues to minister faithfully to the Lord. And I was just thinking, you know, when God is chastening us, is disciplining us, How do we, our tendency is to sort of like, we should draw and mourn and seek sympathy and all of that. But Moses continues to take care of God's people.

And this shows us how to handle suffering. And ministers, we all go through trials. You don't have to be a pastor. All of us go through trials. Christians go through trials.

God will chasten them. But when God does that, it's not time for us to withdraw from our duties. It's time to embrace what God is doing in our lives and continue to serve him and walk in his ways faithfully. I thought that was quite something to look at Moses' life like that. He had looked forward to the promised land and God said, you're not going in.

Yeah, oh, I'm so glad you brought that up because Moses was prohibited from going into the promised land because he struck the rock out of anger. He got angry with the people and said speak to it. So God says, you're not going into the Promised Land. And I can't remember if it's two or three times, Moses turns to the Lord and says, please let me go. He says, No.

Then on the last day of his life, this is so amazing. God calls him to go up to Mount Pisgah and he goes to the top of Mount Pisgah and he looks over the land. He doesn't get to go in it, but he looks over the land and then God takes him to the real promised land. How about that? Transported instantly.

It's so, it's mercy. It's loving kindness towards sinners. Right away. Right away. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Okay, so Mala, Malamulo Chindongo from Blantyre, Malawi, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church. So good to see you and I can't wait to see you this summer we're gonna head out there and spend some time with you in the summer I can't wait to get out there looking forward to that all right God bless you balla I'll bless you too thank you Bye.

Bye.

Hello, Mala Chindongo in Malawi! Good to see you.

Good to see you, Scott.

So, we are a long way from each other but it's nice to be able to do this. I know you don't always have power down there in Malawi but you've got it now so I'm really, really thankful for that. We're going to talk about Deuteronomy 1-20. And we're also going to talk about Mark 11-14.

These are two glorious sections. Well, I want to start in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is composed of three sermons that Moses delivered in the very last month of his life. In fact, the very last day of his life is recorded in Chapter 31.

And so these features -- you know, they roll on full of the shadows of the glory of the Gospel -- the recognition that perfect obedience is required. And it's really only satisfied by Jesus Christ. You're going to read -- well, in the next section there's a song. Moses taught the children of Israel a song.

Now, I want to say a couple things about Deuteronomy in terms of the laws. There are dozens and dozens of laws. And here's the problem: when people read the laws, they often think that God is harsh. Here's an interpretive framework that you should always use to read Deuteronomy. If you'd read a law that seems harsh or unjust or unloving, remember this: those laws were wholly just and good laws. Apostle Paul calls them that with those exact words.

And when we look at a law of God and we think that it's unjust or unloving, the reason we do is because of our own corrupt hearts. We don't know love. We don't know justice. We have to be taught it from an external source -- the Word of God. So these laws are all laws of love. And the apostle Paul makes this very clear in Galatians Chapter 5 Verse 14. He says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" So, all these laws are laws of love that just should be put down as a principle. Any thoughts about that Mala?

Yes. If you read the Old Testament, that's what you see -- the Law. God doesn't want us to do these do's and don'ts. That's what a lot of people see. But Deuteronomy helps us to see a completely different picture. There are many different passages of books of the Old Testament that helps us to see the difference. In Deuteronomy, you can see that God is going after the hearts. He's leading the people's hearts. And so, you see that in Chapter 4. You see God as He is speaking, addressing the children of Israel. He's holding them to Himself seeking to win their heart to draw their hearts. And this is when we get the first and second commandments. God wants us to love him with all our hearts, all our soul, and strength and mind. And it's really about the heart.

You got it right when you mention that Deuteronomy is all about heartfelt obedience and that God wants us to obey Him from the heart. It's through all of the whole book of Deuteronomy that we see that very clearly.

Yeah. And what I believe Moses is doing in Deuteronomy is the exact same thing that Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount where he goes through and he explains the commandments there in greater detail. In Deuteronomy, Moses goes through all the commandments and he has various applications -- really practical applications of those laws. And what you learn from Deuteronomy is that the laws are good and they are spiritual. They reach all the way to the heart -- they reach every possible circumstance in life.

And in Deuteronomy, there are lots of different kinds of circumstances that Moses identifies for the applications of those laws. And so you see the applicability of it in real life because the laws have to do with real life. And by the way, they aren't the only laws. In fact, Jesus made it very clear -- like the law against adultery. The law against murder is deeper than just committing a sexual act with someone else that's not your spouse and it's more than killing someone. It goes to the heart. And so the laws are not wooden at all. They go to the deepest part of the heart.

And that's really the secret of the whole book of Deuteronomy.

I think of Chapter 7 of Deuteronomy, where God reminds the children of Israel why He chose them and why he favored them.

For all the nations, He didn't choose them because of anything that they had done -- it's the Gospel of God. God doesn't choose us because of anything that we have done when it comes to the law. We've broken every law. God chooses us on the basis of His grace and mercy toward us and so He makes it very clear in Chapter 7 that I do not choose you among the nations because you were great. You were chosen on the basis of His grace. And so even where we find the law being given a second time, God reminds His people it's not because you've obeyed the law, you broke the law. I chose you because of my grace.

Right. Absolutely. And His grace is all over this book. In a very first chapter, Moses is recounting the command to enter into Canaan and then he says that the laws that God gave them were for wisdom and understanding. He says if you follow them, you'll become a wise and understanding people.

Now, remember that Moses is writing at the very end of this life and back before that were 40 years of wilderness wandering. And he's looking back. And I love the phrase in Chapter 1 Verse 31 where he talks about how God cared for His people all throughout the wilderness wanderings. He says, you saw how the Lord carried you as a man carries his son. Moses was saying you saw how we were carried after all these forty years: the man in the wilderness, the protections, the victories in battle, the water that was provided where there was no water at all. I carried you.

I love that image of the love of God who carries His children through the wilderness even when they complained and even they're dissatisfied with what God has given.

Amen. I couldn't help but notice how many times God talks about the heart. The heart of the law has to be obeyed out of love. God's not seeking to have a relationship with his people that is just dry and emotionless. It goes to the heart, to the emotions.

Do this with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. And he's always seeking to win their emotions. And he brings that into Chapter 11 when he talks about rewards again he wants to win the affections and to arouse them to duty.

Deuteronomy really brings out God's will and desire for us and I was thinking about the whole idea of the will of God and I noticed that in Chapter 12 is where He instructs them concerning worship and how they are to worship God and the Regulative Principle for worship comes out very clear in Chapter 12.

And again, you see there that God is after their heart that they would worship Him according to His will. But also because of their love for Him, He's not just looking for people that can worship Him and keep all the laws, but people who love the law from their heart because they love their God. It is very fascinating.

Yeah and I'm really glad you pointed that out because so many people misrepresent Deuteronomy. I heard someone say once that the Old Testament was about laws. The New Testament is about relationship. The Old Testament is about legalism and the New Testament is about love.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The heart, the love is all over Deuteronomy, you know, from beginning to the end. And even when you get to Chapter 6 and you have that great call to the fathers of Israel to teach their children, you know, when they sit in their house, when they walk by the way, when they lie down, and they rise up. He says this: "These things shall be in your heart and you shall teach them."

Even the teaching of a father needs to come out of his heart of love toward his children. So, these false categorizations -- particularly coming out of an Armenian and Dispensationalists' framework are really not properly representing Deuteronomy.

And some of that leads to people thinking that God, you know the God of the Old Testament chastens his children and the God of the New Testament is all of grace, love, all of peace and there's no chastening there. I couldn't help but notice that the writer of Hebrews borrows from Chapter 8, where God says, Moses says to the children of Israel, that you should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son so the Lord your God chastens you.

All of that chastening we see in the Old Testament was God being a father to the children of Israel and the Gospel. And in Hebrews chapter 12, the writer is saying the same thing -- that He disciplines those he loves.

Amen. You know, in Chapter 10 verse 16, Moses says, "Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer. And there we learned, you know, circumcision really was a picture of the heart. It wasn't just a mechanical function that was performed on the males of Israel. It meant to point to the heart that way. And that really, that really is the whole heart of Deuteronomy. The heart is the heart of the matter.

Now here's a really practical thing for families: Make sure you teach your children the goodness of God's laws. Make sure that you help them understand every way that they really are laws of love. Help them to understand that these aren't wooden at all -- they're meant to go to the deepest part of your heart. And finally, really, that Jesus Christ is the only one who kept every law of God.

And that's why Moses says there's a prophet like me coming and his name is Jesus and you shall hear. So there's, you know, all these laws point to Christ forward but they are all good laws. And I think we just need to help our children see the beauty of those lost.

You know, I preached through Deuteronomy a few years ago and preached lots and lots of sermons on this book. But I'll tell you I was so amazed at how each law really is a law of love -- and you can see it.

Some of them, you might have to work to understand how they are really laws of love because of our own corruption. But, the book of Deuteronomy is just such a marvelous thing.

So, let's shift over to the New Testament, to Mark 11 to 14. And you know, this section begins with Jesus cleansing the temple of this and this -- He did it at the very first part of His ministry.

By the way, I just pressed a sermon on this in John 2 last week where Jesus cleared temple the first time and He drove the money changers out of the temple and now He's doing it at the very end of His ministry and He does the very same thing.

Obviously, all the money changers went back into the temple and took up residence again.

And you know, it's important also to begin to probably think about what that might've looked like. I think there are a lot of misconceptions where people are thinking, "This is just a small place, a small building Jesus goes in there and very quickly, within minutes or seconds, cleans up and chases everyone out," It's good to understand that you're talking about hours of dealing with people that have been sitting there for years doing business and corruption and all that was going on in the temple. And that allows the Son of God to this holy anger that He would drive -- it doesn't indicate that the disciples helped him, I'm sure that might have been a confusing scenario for the disciples for their Master to do something like that.

Well, there were probably three million people in the city. And you know the courtyard of the Gentiles where He probably did this was full of people -- tens of thousands -- and He drove them out, they all left.

And you know, I've pondered why that was and nobody stopped him. But I can't forget that Jesus parents took him to the Passover every year of his life. He was known there -- in fact, when He was 12 years old, he was astonishing the Scribes and the Pharisees in the temple itself and He was known.

And so, He comes into the temple and no one stops Him and nobody thought He was a nutcase. In fact, afterwards, their religious leaders come and say "What sign do you have?" And then, right after that, Nicodemus says, "We know that you're sent from God." But He drove them out and people didn't regard Him as a terrorist at all. He had an authority that must've been astonishing.

I find it very very fascinating -- just as you pointed out, no one tried to stop Him. It doesn't seem like there was. I'm sure there was opposition, but it doesn't seem like or indicate that there was opposition.

There are many other places where we see the people around Him acknowledging that Jesus had the authority. Now, how that looked like as people watched him do all those things it's hard to tell, but it does show that He carried with Him a layer of authority that many times people could not oppose or object to the things you are saying or doing.

You know, He cleared that temple -- I believe He cleared it because the joy of the worship of God had ceased and because in the Old Testament, it's prophesied, "The Lord says, 'They shall be joyful in my house and prayer.'" And of course, Jesus says, "Stop making my Father's house a house of merchandise."

It had shifted from a place of joy. True adoration took place of just doing business and I really believe that this, the most violent act in His ministry, took place because of how tragic it is to lose a sense of the love of God and the joy of God. Just how harmful dead religion is. And so, He drives them out in order to make a statement against dead religion.

And I think -- we should just think -- that the only thing that would bring such change is to understand that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit as believers but also, there is a sense in which as God's people gather together in His name that He is there with them and that has to do with congregational worship, God's people meeting.

What we do in there, there has to be a clear and careful study of the Scriptures that we are truly doing God's will and not just doing what pleases us and what feeds our desires and the ways in which we want to worship Him.

Right. That is so clear there.

Mala, what else jumps out at you in this section that we're discussing in Mark?

There are a number of things. I think just at the end of the passage what we talked about -- Jesus in authority. We see him sending his disciples and saying, you know, go in such a place and you'll find a donkey there and bring it and just tell them that the Master has use for it. And they go there and bring a donkey for Him and He uses it, And, it was just very interesting for me to just see that authority -- they released that animal to come to Jesus and Jesus was able to ride on it into Jerusalem.

Again, He really carried authority with Him. And there is also the question of how did He know there was this little donkey that was waiting for him that was tied to that tree --

Isn't that is amazing?

There are many instances like that in Scripture like that where people would deny the deity of Christ, that He was 100% man and 100% God, but he never ceases to be God when he was man -- he was a real man who never ceased to be God. There's so many places like that. And actually, it shows us that Jesus, even in his flesh, He remained God.

Amen, and all those miracles really proclaim that. You know, I've been preaching through the Gospel of John and the signs are really prominent and these miracles and these signs, in many ways, are nothing for God -- to turn water into wine, that's nothing for God to do. It's nothing to clear the temple and have no one assault you.

But, it points to something greater. It points to the great things of the Kingdom of Heaven.

But, what else here? There's so much of this action!

Well, another striking thing was just the denial of Jesus.

Oh my.

It's not so much reading Peter denying Jesus -- it's almost like you're reading your own biography.

Oh that's so painful, isn't?

You know, places that we find ourselves ashamed of Him. It's not, you know, talking about Him and loving Him and proclaiming Him as we should.

Right. Just as you bring that up. There was a moment that comes to my mind. I was in my late 20s I think -- actually it was in 1980 and I was around the table with some men and some were famous men in their areas. And a friend of mine asked me a question about what I was preaching on. And the fear of man. I just, I was just like Peter -- it was terrible. But, I was reminded of that when you said that about Peter who denied the Lord. Oh my. That's not good.

There are so many times that I've read this passage and I can't help it all this time instead of thinking, "Oh Peter, how can you deny Jesus?" I'm always thinking, "Oh Mala, how could you deny Jesus?"

There are so many ways in which we find ourselves denying our Master. I mean, this is a classic reflection of ourselves in so many ways. And also, as you read the Gospels, you just see also how presuming the disciples were were in so many places -- I mean, in some of the chapters we are looking at, they come to Jesus and say, "We want to ask for a favor if one of us can be on your right and the other on your left."

And they're discussing and arguing about these things and Jesus says, "What are you talking about?" And Peter as well tells Jesus and assures Him I cannot deny you. Jesus says, you will deny Me three times and tells him that. But again, it's very encouraging that God in all our sinfulness or our being ashamed of Him that He keeps on pouring out His grace and His mercy. And again, Peter is such a classic example of how people -- the same people that deny Him, God restores them and uses them in His kingdom.

And with Peter, if you look at the very last two words Chapter 14, it says that he thought about it and then these two words: "He wept." And that ends that chapter. You know, it's just heartbreaking to us when we, when we do that and may it be that we don't do it at all.

But, Peter is there to remind us of our frailty -- be careful if you think you stand lest your fall.

Amen, it's easy to read this story and to think, you know, I wouldn't do that and Peter tried it. Peter tried to make a promise that he wouldn't deny Jesus. And it's not only Peter -- in this text, we see all the disciples left Him and abandoned Him.

Oh my. That's amazing in itself. What do you think about that -- they all abandoned him?

It goes back to the same idea we're talking about, where we find ourselves ashamed of our Master and doesn't that remind us that if there is someone else out there struggling with loneliness that Christ knows what loneliness looks like. He knows what feels like, He's got his friends abandoning him. You know, we see God pouring out His wrath upon Him and all because of our sins. And He understands loneliness. These were men that walked with him for three and half years. They lived with Him, walked with him. They ate and preached together. Yet at this point, He's deserted.

Amen. Well you know, it's funny to see a very similar theme in Deuteronomy and in the section of the Gospels that we were just in. And that's God's mercy towards sinners. You know, in the Old Testament, God provided laws. There had to be perfect obedience but there was a sacrifice for that sin that was sacrificed on the altar. And then the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, He comes into the temple and He is the High Priest and He drives out the moneychangers but he embraces sinners. Frail men, fishermen, like Peter, and He has mercy upon them and He pours out His loving kindness upon them.

And you know, it was said of Moses that he was the meekest man who ever lived. Jesus was the meekest man -- the only God man who ever lived. And in his meekness, he loved His sinful children. And he embraced them and he was a prophet like Moses but far far more than Moses. He was the Prophet that atoned for all sin.

What we think of what Moses says at the end there, he knows that his time has come to an end. He points them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants them to look to Christ, he wants them to have hope in what God is going to do -- He is going to send his son Jesus Christ.

Sure. Well, we're kind of out of time now, Mala. Any final thoughts to leave with us?

Just something else I was thinking about back in Deuteronomy.

You look at Moses -- God tells him you're not going into the Promised Land. I'm just amazed with how Moses received the discipline, the chastening of God in the midst of being told, "You're not going into the Promised Land." Moses continues to Minister faithfully to the Lord.

I was just thinking -- when God is chastening us or He's disciplining us, our tendency is to sort of like withdrawal, mourn and seek sympathy and all that. But Moses continues to take care of God's people and it show us how to handle suffering. And as ministers -- we all go through trials, you do not have to be a pastor all of us go through trials. Christians go through trials.

God will chastent them but when God does that it's not time for us to withdraw from our duties, it's time to embrace what God is doing in our lives and continue to serve Him and walk in His ways faithfully. I thought that was quite something to look at Moses' life like that.

He had looked forward to it to the Promised Land, but God said, "You're not going in.".

I'm so glad you brought that out because Moses was prohibited from going to the Promised Land because he struck the rock out of anger instead of speaking to it. So God says, "You're not going into the Promised Land."

And, I can reference two or three times that Moses turns the Lord and says, "Please let me go." He says, "No."

Then on the last day of his life -- this is so amazing -- God calls him to go up to Mount Pisgah. He goes to the top of Mount Pisgah and he looks over the land. He doesn't get to go in it but he looks over the land and then God takes him to the real Promised land - how about that? Transported instantly!

So it's mercy, it's loving kindness towards Moses right at the end of his life.

Okay, so Malamulo Chindongo from Blantyre, Malawi -- pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, it's so good to see you. I can't wait to see the summer! We're going to head out there and spend some time with you in the summer. Can't wait to get out there.

Amen, looking forward to it!

Alright, God bless you all, Mala.

God bless you too, thank you!

Alright, bye bye.