Don't Lose Your Ought -- Derek Grier
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00:00 (whooshing)
00:02 How many of us come to church faithfully,
00:06 but still find yourselves bent over in some area?
00:10 When you've done everything the Bible tells you to do,
00:16 you've listened to the pastor,
00:19 you've read your Bible for yourself,
00:22 and you keep staying somehow in the same condition,
00:29 it may not be a flesh and blood issue.
00:32 More could be involved.
00:35 Now, today a doctor would probably diagnose her issue
00:40 as a curvature of the spine,
00:44 but the Scripture saw behind it,
00:49 saw deeper than just the surface,
00:54 just what you could read in a book.
00:57 The Scripture saw a spirit.
01:00 (upbeat music)
01:03 Luke chapter 13 and verse 10.
01:14 Now, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues
01:20 on the Sabbath.
01:21 By this time in Jesus's ministry,
01:26 he was not welcome in most synagogues,
01:29 but unlike many of us, he didn't crawl up into a ball
01:33 and hide in a corner saying,
01:34 I'm never gonna go to church anymore.
01:36 This is important.
01:39 The moment you make peace with the fact
01:42 everyone's not gonna like you
01:44 is when you take your power back.
01:47 (congregation applauding)
01:51 You know, I've learned to say to myself,
01:53 it's okay that some people don't like me.
01:56 Because God hasn't given everyone taste.
01:59 (congregation laughing)
02:03 So Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath
02:10 and despite the rejection, the opposition,
02:16 the animosity that some people showed,
02:18 all it did was make Jesus's character even clearer.
02:24 Because few things reveal our character like adversity.
02:28 Let's take a peek at Hebrews one and three,
02:32 we're gonna come right back.
02:33 In verse two it says,
02:37 God has in these last days spoken to us
02:42 not through a prophet, certainly not through an angel,
02:46 but by his Son, who he has appointed heir of all things,
02:53 and through whom he has made the worlds,
02:55 more literally, the ages,
02:58 who being the brightness of his glory.
03:02 The Nissin Creed interprets this verse
03:06 that Jesus is God from God, light from light,
03:12 true God from true God, but God not made,
03:16 and the same essence as the Father.
03:21 When God added deity, or better,
03:25 added humanity to his deity,
03:28 he bridged the gap from where we are to where God is.
03:33 R.C. Sproul says it this way,
03:36 touching his human nature,
03:40 Jesus is no longer present with us,
03:42 but touching his divine nature,
03:46 he's never absent from us.
03:50 And then it continues, and the express image
03:54 of his person.
03:57 These two words are the two words I wanna focus on
04:01 before we get back to Luke 13.
04:04 That term, or the two words express image,
04:09 is actually derived from one Greek word.
04:13 It's the term character.
04:15 And in Greek it has a K,
04:19 but what English word do you see in that term?
04:23 Character.
04:24 And this term character that the Greeks began to use,
04:30 it came from an engraving stone
04:35 that was used to make statues.
04:37 And by the time the New Testament was written,
04:40 it came to mean an exact expression.
04:44 So, you know, words kinda have an etymology,
04:47 and they kinda evolve into things,
04:48 but since, you know, statues were designed
04:52 to look just like the person,
04:54 character, the term evolved out of this particular tool.
05:01 It says here that Jesus is the express image
05:08 or the very character of God.
05:12 Which means when we see Jesus, we have seen God.
05:19 - Amen.
05:20 - And because of this verse, we can loosely say
05:24 that Jesus became God's living statue.
05:27 He's God's unique son and representative,
05:32 and he was always in character.
05:35 And if Jesus was a statue, we could kinda,
05:40 now listen, I loosely say that, Jesus was not a statue.
05:44 But we see such character in Lady Liberty.
05:48 No matter how hard it rains, her arm is up.
05:53 When a bird flies and poops on her head, her arm is up.
06:00 When two planes crash into the Twin Towers,
06:05 her arm stayed up.
06:07 Character is what you do when it's not easy.
06:12 Character is what you do when it hurts.
06:16 Character is when you keep your hands up to God
06:19 when everything around you is trying to pull them down.
06:22 (congregation applauding)
06:26 Back to Luke 13.
06:27 And Luke said, "And behold," meaning pay attention
06:33 to what I'm about to lay out.
06:35 There was a woman, and in some ways,
06:39 this woman was a whole lot like Jesus,
06:42 you know, despite the criticism,
06:43 Jesus kept teaching in church.
06:46 But likewise, despite this woman's condition,
06:50 she kept coming to church.
06:53 You see, I have no other strategy in life
06:55 except to keep showing up wherever Jesus shows up for me.
06:59 (congregation applauding)
07:02 And behold, there was a woman
07:05 who had a spirit of infirmity.
07:10 Now, some things in life are just random.
07:13 Don't get too deep on this.
07:16 But other things are not as arbitrary as we might think.
07:22 Some, you know, things that look like, you know,
07:26 just the toss of the dice really have deep spiritual roots.
07:31 And we need God's help to help us discern the difference.
07:36 Don't misread the passage.
07:40 Everything is not caused by a spirit,
07:42 but also everything is not just a result of chance either.
07:47 Yes, we have a friend in Jesus,
07:53 but the Bible's clear,
07:54 we also have an adversary in the devil.
07:57 God is real, but so is Satan.
08:02 She had this spirit of infirmity 18 years.
08:10 Literally, the writer says 10 and eight years.
08:15 And this was how numbers were commonly expressed.
08:18 But has anyone in this room had a problem
08:22 that you could divide into unequal halves?
08:25 At first, it was like this,
08:28 but it progressed into this.
08:32 So at first, it was just kind of a little lean,
08:35 but before long, it bent you completely over.
08:39 She had this spirit
08:43 and was bent over,
08:49 but she kept coming to church.
08:54 How many of us come to church faithfully,
08:59 but still find yourselves bent over in some area?
09:04 - Come on. - Yes, sir.
09:06 - When you've done everything the Bible tells you to do,
09:09 you've listened to the pastor,
09:12 you've read your Bible for yourself,
09:15 and you keep staying somehow in the same condition,
09:21 it may not be a flesh and blood issue.
09:25 More could be involved.
09:28 Now, today, a doctor would probably diagnose her issue
09:33 as a curvature of the spine,
09:37 but the Scripture saw behind it,
09:42 saw deeper than just the surface,
09:47 just what you could read in a book.
09:49 The Scripture saw a spirit.
09:53 And again, she had tried everything,
10:00 but she couldn't raise herself up.
10:05 And when you've done everything you know to do,
10:11 there may be more to your problem
10:15 than you might think.
10:19 But God, but God, but God.
10:22 (congregation applauding)
10:24 But when Jesus saw her,
10:30 he didn't just see her condition,
10:32 he didn't just see the spirit oppressing her,
10:37 he saw her.
10:40 Does anyone still believe in a God who sees?
10:44 (congregation applauding)
10:48 When Jesus saw her, he shooed her away,
10:52 shamed her for having a spiritual problem.
10:58 No, he called her to him,
11:03 not because she was better than anyone else
11:06 or worse than anyone else,
11:08 but because he saw her need.
11:11 And he spoke to her, said to her.
11:17 Now, in a room crowded with people,
11:19 this is a synagogue, and this is Jesus.
11:22 He's one of the most popular, loved,
11:24 and hated figures at this time in Israel.
11:27 So you know the room is full,
11:29 so in order for him to say what he said,
11:32 he had to project his voice in the crowd.
11:35 And when he spoke, though,
11:39 she heard in a special way.
11:42 And today, you may see some guy up there talking,
11:47 but if somehow in my voice, you can hear his voice,
11:51 you can have the same results
11:55 that this woman had on that day.
11:58 My Bible says faith comes by hearing,
12:02 and hearing by the word of God.
12:04 Listening to God is the first step
12:08 of every answered prayer.
12:10 So out of everyone in the room,
12:16 he addresses this bent-over woman.
12:20 He doesn't just feel pity for her.
12:25 Obviously, he's moved with some compassion.
12:27 He didn't even know the woman's name,
12:31 which means she wasn't in his family,
12:33 it wasn't an associate or a near friend.
12:36 But he saw this stranger in this condition,
12:41 and he said, "Woman, you are loose."
12:45 Again, he projected his voice.
12:48 But here's our problem.
12:49 We can be in a situation so long,
12:54 we can become so used to suffering,
12:59 so familiar with issues and problems,
13:04 we don't raise our voice anymore.
13:07 We're too scared of what people might think,
13:11 what people might say, what people might do.
13:15 But with every eye on him, everyone watching,
13:18 he raised his voice and said, "Woman,
13:23 I can't stand by and watch you that way.
13:25 I can't preach this message I'm about to preach
13:30 with you in that condition.
13:31 Woman, you are loose from your infirmity."
13:37 How many believe that Jesus only did God's will?
13:41 Yeah.
13:43 If Jesus didn't want this woman
13:45 living with her physical illness,
13:50 God doesn't want you living with whatever ails you either.
13:54 Whether it's physical, psychological, financial, social,
14:04 God cares about the types of spirits
14:09 that are showing up in your life.
14:12 Then watch verse 13.
14:17 This is why you can't put God in a box.
14:21 "And he laid his hands on her."
14:23 So we see here it was both a word, he spoke it,
14:27 you're loosed, and a touch.
14:30 It was faith and action.
14:35 All this woman did to get free
14:39 was hear the voice of Jesus in her heart
14:42 and she was healed.
14:45 And each person listening, whether you're live streaming
14:49 or in this room, you could be healed today
14:51 if you keep listening until you hear.
14:54 No, no.
14:55 It's one thing to hear with the ears on your head,
14:59 but when you hear it with the ears in your heart,
15:02 that's when faith arises.
15:04 You see, sometimes, at least with me,
15:06 I'm a little bit stubborn in my brain.
15:08 I might hear it a thousand times with my natural ears,
15:11 but it's that thousand and first time
15:13 that finally it drops down into my heart
15:16 and I know I've heard from the Lord
15:18 and freedom and deliverance springs.
15:21 Immediately, she was made straight and glorified God.
15:28 When you finally realize that this book called the Bible
15:35 is not made for a preacher, it's made for you.
15:38 Every promise, every word spoken,
15:41 every story is to say something to you.
15:46 When you realize that even a devil of 18 years
15:50 is no match for the God of eternity,
15:53 when you realize that, you'll glorify God too,
15:55 just like this woman.
15:58 But now watch the contrast.
16:03 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation.
16:08 He got mad.
16:13 Christ's power and this woman's praise
16:16 absolutely annoyed him.
16:19 It was like the demon left her body
16:23 and went right into this man's heart.
16:25 Be careful about wrongly criticizing someone else's praise.
16:30 (congregation cheering)
16:33 You see, this leader was more concerned with appearances
16:41 than the ultimate well-being of God's sheep.
16:43 And he was mad because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath.
16:49 So this man was more concerned
16:52 about his particular denomination's rule book,
16:54 more concerned with the opinions of the learned in culture
17:00 than the opinions of God.
17:03 And instead of addressing Jesus,
17:07 well, he couldn't control Jesus,
17:08 but he was the pastor, if you will.
17:10 He was the rabbi, he was the ruler of the synagogue.
17:14 He could address those that were under his authority.
17:17 So he said to the crowd, but he makes the mistake here.
17:22 When you're uncomfortable with something
17:24 the Holy Spirit is doing or does,
17:27 before you go to people, you need to go to God.
17:29 (congregation cheering)
17:33 I mean, all Jesus did was set a woman
17:37 that had been bound for 18 years free.
17:40 But this man acted like Jesus smacked his mama.
17:43 (congregation laughing)
17:45 Like Jesus ate his last French fry.
17:48 And then he goes on to preach to the crowd
17:54 when Jesus is supposed to be the one talking.
17:56 He said, "There are six days on which men ought to work.
18:01 "Therefore, come and be healed on them
18:03 "and not on the Sabbath."
18:07 See, a tradition arose that a doctor
18:11 could only act or use medicine in life or death cases.
18:16 But if it was just a chronic disease,
18:20 the doctor on the Sabbath wasn't supposed to do anything.
18:22 But the problem is, but the problem is,
18:25 there's nothing in the law of Moses,
18:27 there's nothing in the first five books of the Bible
18:30 that forbids a person from being healed on the Sabbath.
18:35 But here's what I've learned.
18:38 Most people will not let God's word
18:41 get in the way of what they believe.
18:43 I know, I, ooh, yeah.
18:45 Think about that.
18:48 Well, mom and them did it that way.
18:50 My old church did it that way.
18:52 Not the Bible says.
18:56 (congregation applauding)
19:00 Okay, okay, I lost everyone in the room.
19:03 (congregation laughing)
19:05 I wanna say it one more time.
19:07 Most people won't let God's word
19:13 get in the way of their beliefs.
19:15 So after he preached his little sermon,
19:18 the Lord answered him.
19:21 Jesus is a bad boy, you don't wanna mess with Jesus.
19:25 Jesus was not scared, he was unintimidated,
19:29 he was not bothered by this man's position or his title.
19:34 But we're about to learn something here.
19:36 We quote the first part of Isaiah 54,
19:40 and we say, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper."
19:43 That's good, and that's true.
19:45 But we leave out the part that we play.
19:48 Because the next piece says,
19:51 "In every tongue that rises up against you,
19:55 "you, you shall condemn."
20:00 Meaning you got to open your mouth.
20:02 (congregation applauding)
20:06 When my kids were still in the house
20:09 and we watched television
20:10 and somebody would do something sideways,
20:12 I'd speak to the TV.
20:13 I drove my children crazy,
20:17 but I'd have an ongoing conversation
20:19 with the television set.
20:21 Because there were certain things
20:22 that were being done and said,
20:23 I didn't wanna land in my home.
20:25 (congregation applauding)
20:28 (congregation cheering)
20:30 So every tongue that, you got to open your mouth
20:34 and address and condemn.
20:39 Do not fear confrontation.
20:42 Fear what happens if you don't speak up for yourself,
20:44 if you don't speak up for God.
20:46 (congregation applauding)
20:48 The problem is not what they're saying,
20:50 the problem is your silence.
20:52 (congregation applauding)
20:55 We're to study to show ourselves approved
20:56 to give an answer for the hope that's within us.
21:01 But watch Jesus.
21:04 Like I said, Jesus is a bad boy.
21:06 He didn't pull him off to the side,
21:08 take him into the private room in front of everybody.
21:12 And that's the problem.
21:15 You come at somebody in public,
21:16 they might have to come, okay, let's keep, okay.
21:19 (congregation laughing)
21:22 Jesus looked at this learned man.
21:26 He's like the mayor of the city.
21:27 I mean, you can't buy and sell
21:28 without the approval of the synagogue.
21:30 A man of reputation.
21:33 Looked him in the face and said, "Hypocrite."
21:38 Jesus took my stroke.
21:42 He immediately addressed the man's motive.
21:46 He was saying, "If you can't rejoice
21:50 "over this woman's freedom, you are only an actor.
21:54 "You act like you love God, but you don't."
21:56 People are often opposed to good, not because it's bad,
22:01 but because it's not done their way.
22:02 And Jesus said, "Okay, you preach, let me preach."
22:10 Does not each one of you on the Sabbath
22:14 lose his ox or donkey from the stall
22:17 and lead it away to water it?
22:22 Religious pride is the worst kind of pride at all.
22:26 It destroys your sense of reason.
22:29 It dulls your normal sense of compassion and sympathy.
22:35 And Jesus was saying, "How is it
22:41 "you're more loving toward animals
22:43 "than the people?"
22:47 (congregation applauding)
22:50 - Amen, amen!
22:52 - Now, verse 16 is really where Jesus leans in.
22:59 Elsewhere, there's this widow woman,
23:03 and I see the clock, just stay with me.
23:05 Unjust judge, whole situation, waiting for a bribe.
23:11 She'd had the money to bribe him.
23:12 And at the beginning of the parable,
23:16 he says the meaning of the parable before he tells it,
23:19 which is rare for Jesus.
23:21 And he said he's telling this parable
23:23 so men could learn that they ought to pray,
23:26 ought to pray, and not faint.
23:29 Men ought always pray, okay.
23:34 Ought, ought, ought, ought, always pray and not faint.
23:39 Okay, it makes sense in a minute.
23:41 He says, "So ought.
23:48 "The problem is many of us have lost our ought.
23:51 "We've become so sophisticated
23:56 "that we lost our normal common sense.
24:01 "Never lose your sense of outrage.
24:05 "Just make sure you direct it properly.
24:08 "Get me mad, I'll turn over my plate.
24:10 "I'll be found on my knees.
24:11 "I will cry out to my God."
24:16 So ought, hear Jesus's indignation
24:21 at that woman's condition.
24:24 Ought not this woman, a member of your congregation,
24:31 being a daughter of Abraham.
24:35 Now I want you to notice the only reason
24:39 Jesus used the term ought here
24:42 is not because she was better than anyone else
24:45 or she did everything right.
24:46 It was only because she was a daughter
24:50 of someone God honored.
24:53 Don't tell me what God won't do for someone else
24:59 because of his relationship with you.
25:01 Don't tell me what he won't do for your children,
25:07 for your neighbor, your brother, your sister,
25:09 your mother, your father, your church,
25:11 your community, your nation
25:13 because of his relationship with you.
25:17 If my people who are called by my name
25:20 would humble themselves, pray,
25:23 seek my face, turn from their wicked ways,
25:25 I'll hear from heaven and heal their land.
25:27 Never lose your sense of outrage.
25:34 Just direct it properly.
25:40 Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham
25:44 who Satan has bound.
25:47 God is not our problem, Satan is.
25:50 Again, whether it's physical as in this case,
25:55 mental, spiritual, otherwise.
25:58 Watch what Jesus does here.
26:01 He's really trying to help the man.
26:03 Yeah, he's rebuking him, but ultimately it's redemptive.
26:05 He's trying to help him.
26:08 And he says, dude, use your head.
26:11 Think of it.
26:13 Come back to your sense of reason.
26:15 Dude, you're so religious, you're dumb right now.
26:18 Think, think, think, think of it.
26:22 This woman's been coming to your church
26:25 for 18 years with a problem.
26:26 And Rabbi, you're okay with that.
26:30 But when she got free,
26:36 you get mad because it didn't go exactly
26:40 the way you would have liked.
26:41 And Jesus is saying, listen, I know you're the head
26:46 of the synagogue and everything,
26:47 and I salute you for all your work and labor,
26:49 but who are you compared to God?
26:50 Ought, ought, ought.
26:58 We've become so accustomed to trying to survive
27:05 and just make it, so accustomed to the level of pain
27:08 in our life, we have adapted, we have adjusted,
27:12 and we lost our ought.
27:14 My life ought not be like this.
27:18 My brain ought not be like this.
27:21 My situation ought not be like this.
27:23 I am a child of the most high God.
27:26 This ought not be this way.
27:27 I no longer accept this.
27:30 I reject this.
27:31 I deny this.
27:34 I have an ought in my heart.
27:36 (congregation cheering)
27:39 And Jesus was trying to return the ought,
27:47 spiritual indignation.
27:55 If I belong to God, it shouldn't be this way.
28:00 I dedicated my child on that altar.
28:02 He shouldn't be walking that way, acting that way,
28:04 living that way.
28:06 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,
28:12 who Satan has bound, and he said, think of it, guy,
28:15 for 18 years, be loose from this bond on the Sabbath.
28:20 And what Jesus was trying to do in this synagogue
28:25 and what he's trying to do in each of our hearts
28:27 is to help us get our ought back.
28:32 And when you embrace the ought, you'll get free.
28:37 He'll untie you.
28:40 He will loose you.
28:42 The true Sabbath is not a rule to be kept,
28:47 but freedom God wants to release.
28:51 (congregation applauding)
28:54 And when he had said these things,
29:00 all his adversaries were put to shame,
29:03 and God still knows how to silence his critics.
29:06 Let them argue, but they won't be able
29:09 to argue with the results.
29:10 I just came from Missouri this week,
29:16 and Missouri's a show-me state.
29:17 And a lot of people are not gonna believe it
29:21 'til they see it.
29:22 And don't argue with the manner, show them the results.
29:29 Jesus said it this way,
29:31 wisdom is justified of her children.
29:33 Then he said, "And all the multitude rejoiced
29:37 "for all the glorious things that were done by him."
29:41 The religious leaders, or leader, got angry,
29:48 but people with common sense rejoiced.
29:52 And my prayer is that God would simplify our faith
29:56 one more time again.
29:58 We read thousands of books and listen to thousands
30:02 of hours justifying our mess,
30:05 and we lose our sense of, it ought not be like this.
30:10 I don't need to read a thousand pages of excuses.
30:13 Jesus said it in just one sentence,
30:17 what things soever you desire when you pray?
30:19 Seek me, you'll find me.
30:27 Ask, it be given.
30:29 Knock, the door shall be opened.
30:31 We've gotten so sophisticated.
30:34 We've gotten away from the very clear and direct promises.
30:40 When I knock on the door and I know that my wife's
30:44 on the other side of that door, I expect the door to open.
30:47 She ought to open it by virtue of our relationship.
30:50 And we go to God in prayer knocking on his door,
30:55 and he calls us sons and daughters.
30:58 The door ought to open.
31:00 There ought to be an expectation.
31:04 When we pray, there ought to be a sense of demand,
31:06 and Lord, I trust you as, listen, I don't just call you God,
31:09 I call you Father.
31:11 And there's something to that title.
31:13 And if you're my daddy, I'm not gonna go hungry.
31:17 If you're my daddy, you're gonna take me to the doctor
31:21 and get me well.
31:23 If you're my daddy, you're gonna protect me
31:25 if I'm out there running on the street
31:26 and some folks try to run on after me.
31:28 If you're my daddy, I got an expectation.
31:32 He's saying she's a daughter of Abraham.
31:37 How much more sons and daughters of God?
31:40 God is saying where's your expectation?
31:43 Where's your art, where's your fire?
31:47 Where's your passion, where's your zeal?
31:49 Where's your earnest expectation of God doing
31:52 what only God can do?
31:54 (congregation cheering)
31:58 God is saying when you let that rise up,
32:02 you're gonna be loosed, you're gonna be untied,
32:05 you're gonna be healed.
32:07 Give God a hallelujah.
32:09 Thank you, Jesus.
32:12 Yeah, yeah, don't accept it anymore, don't accept it.
32:17 Don't beat up on people, but deal with the spirit.
32:20 God didn't build you for that.
32:22 (congregation cheering)
32:26 (upbeat music)
32:28 (upbeat music)
32:31 (upbeat music)
32:33 (upbeat music)
32:36 (upbeat music)
32:38 (upbeat music)
32:41 (upbeat music)
32:44 (upbeat music)
32:46 (upbeat music)
32:49 (upbeat music)
32:51 (whooshing)