Today's Sermon:

Was Jesus a Revolutionary?

I. Faith Follows Jesus in His Passion- 2:12-17

“Instead of solemn dignity and the murmur of prayer, there is the bellowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep. Instead of brokenness and contrition, holy adoration and prolonged petition, there is noisy commerce…This means that this act of prophetic symbolism was a denunciation of worship that was not pure. It was a prophetic invitation to worship God from the heart, without clamour or distracting influences.”-D.A. Carson

II. Faith Embraces Jesus’ Words- 2:18-22

III. Faith Perseveres, Heeding Jesus’ Warning- 2:23-25

Four Marks of Genuine Faith:

1) Faith Accepts the Supernatural

2) Faith Assents to the Truth

3) Faith Embraces Christ in the Heart

4) Faith Burns with a Holy Zeal

“A zealous man is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He sees only one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives or whether he dies- whether he has health or whether he has sickness- whether he is rich or whether he is poor- whether he pleases men or whether he gives offence- whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish- whether he gets honor, or whether he gets shame- for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God’s glory.”-J.C. Ryle

“Oh, that I might be a flaming fire in the service of the Lord. Here I am, Lord, send me; send me to the end of the earth…send me from all that is called earthly comfort; send me even to death if it be but in Thy service and to promote Thy kingdom.”-David Brainerd

“The work of missionaries . . . turns out to be the single largest factor in insuring the health of nations.”-Robert Woodberry

Quote- Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa…In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good…Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through…It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates. -Matthew Parris, London Times