The Giant of Silence - Part A

Also, we should be all about speaking the truth in love, and that's wonderful, but is not always easy to do can be tempted to just focus on the truth speaking about love the all about love the speaking the truth in love, the magical combination of the Bible tells us there is a time to be silent time to speak today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip explores the times when we need to speak up and how God works powerfully through you. When you speak for him.

But before we begin to tell you about a resource that will encourage even more new rotate around crucial moments and decisions. Everything changes, and pivot points here. Skip, I think in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while if need be. You have been grieved by various trials. Peter is actually saying that there are times when God knows you see a trial to say exactly what you can prepare for inevitable upcoming pivot point in your life receive your copy of Skip's pivot point collection of six messages point package sticks to marriage – depression recovery. The future and moving to a new location, or job. This package includes a personal message of direction on each topic from scant point package is our thank you when you get $50 or more to this teaching ministry by calling 892 1888, or give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer. We hope will help us take our messages into the top 20 population centers in our country that's our vision for the coming year we help us make it happen.

Please call 892 1888, or give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer. Thank you for partnering with us in Matthew chapter 14 for today's much joint Skip Heitzig group of researchers wanted to study how different people think, so they brought small group of folks and called for a little short test people from different walks of life. The first one that came in the room with the researchers was an engineer and they say we are we.

We have one simple question we want you to answer 2+2 equals what and so the question was asked in the engineer, looked quizzically and said well if you're speaking in absolute terms to and two equals four. They were right notes down is thank you very much and dismissed him and he went on his way next person to come in the room was an architect and she sat down in the researchers said, we have one question asked you to question two makes what and she paused a moment and said well there are several possibilities sure to and to equals four. But three and one also makes for 2 1/2 and one half also makes for so it's all about choosing the right option. Spoken like an architect. The third person they brought in the room was an attorney and they said we have one simple question 2+2 equals what the attorney looked at the researchers looked around the room suspiciously furtively asked if he could close the door for privacy came back to the table, leaned into the researchers and said will you tell me what would you like it to be.

Now I know that attorneys often get the brunt of a lot of jokes like that, but there is a moral to this story. We can be tempted to do exactly that. When it comes to the truth. We have truth, but the people hearing the truth may be offended if we speak the truth and so were tempted to sort of bend in their direction. What do you wanted to be. What is your truth versus my truth in Ephesians chapter 4 Paul said that we should be all about speaking the truth in love, and that's wonderful, but is not always easy to do. We can be tempted to just focus on the truth speaking the truth and leave out the love we cannot be all about love. The love and we can leave out the truth. So, speaking the truth in love is the magical combination.

By the way, you need to know this. Speaking the truth in and of itself is an act of love that is one of the best, most loving things you could ever do to another person is to be honest, to tell them the truth no matter what it is.

If you can add to that a loving disposition, then you'll be further down the road Solomon in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 said there is a time to keep silence and there is a time to speak. Elijah the prophet that it was time to speak when he confronted Ahab and Jezebel. Samuel the prophet thought it was time to speak when he confronted King Saul with his disobedience.

Daniel the prophet believed it's time to speak when Belshazzar the king was frightfully indulging in idolatry. Nathan the prophet thought it was time to speak when he pointed his finger at King David. After his adult friends that you are the guy who did this year.

The man, all of them spoke up. Now it is dangerous to speak up will talk a little bit about that here. But you know there are consequences if you don't speak up dangerous if you don't. Edmund Burke is famous for a lot of things, but one of the most famous things he said is all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing and I think we could say with this message. All that is needed for evil to triumph is also for good men and women to say nothing was a problem in World War II and Nazi Germany. Many of the churches were silent when the atrocities of the Third Reich became known. I picked up the book again recently, I think you've heard of it. 1984 by George Orwell's amazing how contemporary, that book is become these days I George Orwell said this. If liberty means anything at all.

It means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear.

I believe that, but I also believe that what complicates telling people what they may not want to hear is that today, especially people get offended so easily.

In fact, I think it's not beyond the stretch to say ours is the most offended generation in all of history you say something and people need a safe space to process that in Matthew chapter 14 very refreshing story really. It's a story about a man of God who confronts a governing authority and he speaks up. He speaks out he is not silent.

He overcomes the giant of silence but a custom custom his life in this case what I want to do is look at the first 10 verses of Matthew chapter 14 with you. I want to consider it in three segments. The first segment being the guilty conscience of a politician, so it's John the Baptist.

Any politician named Herod the tetrarch and it's really not a story about them per se.

It's a story about how Herod is reacting to the ministry of Jesus, but then Matthew harkens back to an example to show us why he is feeling a certain way because of something that happened this week. The story at that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants.

This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead and therefore these powers are at work in him, for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife because John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her and although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet but when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod, therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask in Mark's account of the same story.

He said that Herod promised her up to have his kingdom so she per se, having been prompted by her mother said, give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter. The king was sorry. Nevertheless, because of the oath's because of those who sat with him. He commanded it to be given to her so he sent and had John beheaded in prison.

The name Herod is one of the most famous names in all of the New Testament, but whenever you read the name Herod they're not always the same God is a very complex family system. The Herod that we read about here is not the famous Herod that shows up in the beginning of the gospel stories who is called Herod the great. Now Herod the great who is the father of this Herod was a notorious cold-blooded murder he would kill members of the Jewish ruling class Sanhedrin if they disagreed with his policies he on one occasion murdered his own wife. He and another occasion, murdered two of his sons he on another occasion tried to murder all the did murder all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the environs to kill Jesus Christ. That's Herod the great. This is Herod's son Herod Antipas. Now Herod the great died shortly after that whole Bethlehem scene. He died before he died he gave his empire of ruling Israel to his sons, half went to Herod Archelaus 1/4 of it went to Herod Philip and another quarter of it went to this guy. Herod antibodies who ruled what is called Perea and Galloway, so it is that Herod Antipas know what Matthew is doing is giving us a literary flashback to help us understand how John the Baptist was killed. So the idea that that he hears about Jesus. Herod hears about Jesus Christ and immediately think it's the guy I killed because he is plagued with a guilty conscience now something else Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee, most of Jesus Miracles Took Pl. in Gallo so the teachings of Jesus.

The miracles of Jesus. The controversy swirling around the person of Jesus Christ was coming to the years of Herod and here Herod says it's John the Baptist. So what. It shows us is that whatever time elapsed between the death of John the Baptist and the report of Jesus in the ears of Herod. This guy is suffering from a guilty conscience because of what he had done and and what utilizes conscience. Guilt each Herod murdered the one man who called him out on his sin mentioned in verse four is unlawful for you to have her. He said to give you the back story about on one occasion this guy Herod Antipas was in Rome while he was in Rome he seduced the wife of his brother Herod Philip. Her name was Herodias. He he lured her away from Philip to himself to marry her in order to do that he had to divorce his first wife, his first wife was the daughter of King veritas of Arabia when King veritas of Arabia heard about how his son-in-law treated his daughter. He almost had Herod killed, but Rome intervened. So it is a mess. This family is dysfunctional to say the least and the check that he's hooking up with here. Herodias, herself. She she has such a sordid background. She's one of the most wicked women in all of the Bible because we read in this account and in the gospel of Mark's account that she told her daughter to dance before Herod to get something she wanted done, and the dance was a very lustful sensual dance. Scholars believe the daughter was between age 14 date 16.

Imagine using your daughter to dance sensually sexually lustfully before a king so that he could get that king to do what you want back. Look at verse six when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and notice the word pleased and pleased Herod that work please is a euphemism for being sexually aroused. So John the Baptist called them out. Herodias, the new life gets involved. John the Baptist gets executed. So Matthew is filling us in on the back story. This is how J the B John the Baptist died. Here's what happened. This is how we got killed knowing that happened and for during this time, this whatever time. I was, Herod felt uneasy about what he had done this. Look at verse nine it says and the king was sorry. I just gotta say that's not a strong enough word when you kill people. She I'm sorry that I did that the king was sorry. Nevertheless, because of the oath's and because of those who sat with him. He commanded it. That is the head of John the Baptist to be given to Herod was remorseful but Herod was not repentant is a big difference between being remorseful for a situation and being repentant of your sin. The Bible says godly sorrow produces repentance.

This is not godly sorrow produces no repentance. Herod was a politician and Herod.

Like most politicians, was fearful of ratings.

He was fearful of people.

He was afraid of Jesus in verse two is afraid of his wife in verse three he is afraid of the crowds in verse five. He's afraid of his peers. In verse nine, and according to Luke chapter 6, he was afraid of John the Baptist, you got to know fear is a poor motivator. If you make judgments and decisions and live your life by fear. You will constantly make bad decisions and he made a whole list of but politicians will do almost anything to get elected and once elected they will do anything to stay in power and so here fear is driven by fear that protect. On the other hand, John the Baptist also had fear but fear the John the Baptist had was the good kind of fear. He had the fear of the Lord, the fear of God. The Bible speaks so much about why that's so good to live with the respect literally the idea of reverence and respect for God.

That's a holy fear. That's a healthy fear. So he had the fear of God. Herod did not have the fear of God. Herod was consumed by controlled by the fear of men, but not John the Baptist. And because of that he did what he did and said what he said see when you fear God, you don't have to fear anybody else. When you fear God, you don't have to fear anything else. If you can.

If you kneel before God. You can stand up to anybody and John the Baptist is a case in point. So let's let's go to zero in on the on the issue here because we we are given in verse four, the courage, the gutsy courage of this profit it. It's a short sentences is because John said to him, and obviously this was a public declaration to them. It is not lawful for you to have her. That is your brothers wife is not lawful know what love was he referring to that Roman law, Jewish law is not lawful for you to have if you read much of the New Testament effect really takes is one reading of it get off even get very far and it would you come up to a point about John the Baptist pretty quickly.

The man was not a diplomat man was a prophet.

He was hard-hitting he was outspoken time and time again, very bold, very courageous when he comes on the scene. John the Baptist almost singular, singularly beat one drum. The drum of repentance was his first message, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and the different groups came to him and he confronted them. He said to the religious leaders who came to him and chided him. You brood of vipers. That's a King James way of saying you bunch of slimy snakes who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come see he was not a diplomat and then the tax collectors came and he said don't overtax people. The soldiers came to him.

He said don't intimidate people. So he was always upfront, honest, bold, courageous, preaching the gospel just preaching the gospel is going to cost you and be offensive.

The first recorded message out of John the Baptist's mouth repent. The first recorded message out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, repent, so I'm guessing that the first message, or at least early on in the conversation. Out of our mouth to unbelievers is going to be what repent. I'm guessing if I follow the role model of the New Testament. John and Jesus early on in the conversation, he called people to repent, to turn around to change to inform people of the danger they are in the gospel.

You know what the gospel means was gospel, becoming good news. It's good news. But you know that the good news begins with the bad news. You see, if you don't know the bad news. The good news is and all that good but it is okay. It's another religion.

Now you need understand how good the good news is, by understanding how bad that bad news is it's bad in the bad news is all people left alone, are facing the short eternal punishment of a righteous holy God in hell.

That's pretty bad. Don't get much worse than that, of course, the good news is, God loves you. God will forgive you but you must repent, you must turn around and and that message of the gospel is a hard-hitting message.

I just want to say.

Don't try to remove the offense. If you try to remove the offense of the gospel you are doing the devil's work. People need to know why the good news is so good, and the danger therein without Christ, so I'm not saying you should try to be offensive.

Don't do that. Try to be respectful. Try to be nice. We covered that last week but listen, just even with a smile on your face and a hug. The message of the gospel itself is offensive right that Peter called Jesus a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense and Paul said the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, so just living in a secular culture bringing the good news of Jesus Christ as being the only means by which a person could ever be saved in a rock people's world to get people uncomfortable. They're not gonna like hearing that there bad off and need him. But here's what I want you to see a much you notice something your John the Baptist does not confront Herod with the salvation message.

He confronts them with a moral issue. Adultery again verse four. It is not lawful for you to have her now just hold that thought. Why does he do this we carry stock into a king. A monarch saying you you shouldn't have other women went what King doesn't have other women. That's what kings did, especially in ancient times, then a whole slew of women at their disposal so so why does John the Baptist at the risk of his own life confront a political authority with a moral issue about his personal life that is fair that he had a marriage. They had two Herodian that's good message for series contingent you speak with an important message. Simply put God's Word has the power to change lives. That's why together were taking these Bible teachings to more people around the world because we want to see lives transformed. If you've been encouraged by these teachings and of grown closer to Christ through his word that I want to ask you to give a gift today to help make these teachings available in more places, and through more outlets.

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