Unquestionable Authority

[0:00] Well, if we could, this morning, with the Lord's help, the Lord's guidance, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the Gospel according to Mark, in chapter 11.

[0:18] Mark, chapter 11, and if we read again at verse 27. Mark 11, at verse 27.

[0:30] And they came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him. And they said to him, By what authority are you doing these things?

[0:41] Or who gave you this authority to do them? By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?

[0:53] At the age of only 17, Frank Abagnale Jr., he became the most successful bank robber in the history of the United States.

[1:13] Because for a time during the 1960s, the FBI tried to catch Frank Abagnale Jr. They tried to catch him, but they failed many, many times because he was always one step ahead of them.

[1:28] And the reason he was always one step ahead of them was due to the fact that he was always changing his identity. Because Mr Abagnale Jr., he always, he posed sometimes as a teacher, other times as a doctor, sometimes as a lawyer, and he even once posed as an airline pilot.

[1:49] And under every disguise and under every false identity, Abagnale managed to persuade bank tellers all over the world that his qualifications were real, that his uniform was genuine, and that his forged checks were all authentic.

[2:09] He managed to convince people that his identity was true. To the point that in a short space of time, Abagnale Jr., he had succeeded in cashing forged checks to the value of three million pounds, or dollars, which in the 1960s was worth far more than it is today.

[2:31] And this true story of a real fake, it was made into a film. You probably know the film. Catch me if you can. But what eventually stopped Abagnale, after all his lies and his deceit and his forgery, what stopped him in his tracks was the issue of authority.

[2:53] Because the qualifications which he claimed to have would have been undisputable if they were stamped by the authority of the university. The uniform which he wore, it would have been genuine if it had only been issued by the company he was representing.

[3:10] And the checks which he wrote, they would have been authentic if they had been stamped by the authority of the bank. And you know, I was thinking about this and applying it to what we're seeing here in Mark's Gospel.

[3:26] Because when we come to Mark's Gospel, the issue which Jesus is facing is one of authority. Because the religious FBI, you could say, the religious FBI consisting of the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, they begin to question the authority of Jesus and try and catch him out if they can.

[3:49] Because they're desperate for him to slip up so that they can arrest him and put him on trial. Simply because Jesus is now undermining their authority.

[4:04] An authority which was based upon corruption, lies, and deceit. And this whole question of authority, it arose because of what we saw last week.

[4:15] Because last week we were looking at Jesus in the temple. And he had gone in and he had driven out all the merchants in the temple. And he had overturned all the tables of the money changers.

[4:26] And the religious FBI who are now there, they're all wondering, who gave Jesus the authority to do this? Who gave Jesus the authority to go into God's house and drive everyone out?

[4:40] Who gave Jesus the authority to do this outrageous act? But as we shall see as we go through the passage, the issue isn't just one of authority.

[4:52] The issue is one of identity. Because the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, they not only want to know where Jesus gets his authority from, they also want to know who Jesus is.

[5:05] They want to discover his identity. Because if they discover that Jesus is claiming to be God and that his authority is all from God, well, they will accuse him of blasphemy and have him put to death.

[5:20] Have him put to death. But if they discover that Jesus, he's just a fraud, he's just in a disguise, and that everything he's saying is based upon his own authority, then they'll dismiss him as this religious fanatic.

[5:35] But you know, my friend, we should be coming to church asking the same questions. We should be coming to church wondering who this Jesus is and by what authority he speaks.

[5:49] Because if Jesus says who he says he is, then he is the son of God and he has authority over our lives. If Jesus is who he says he is, then we must bow down under his authority and submit our lives to him.

[6:08] And so this morning I want us to come to this passage and see that Jesus has unquestionable authority. Unquestionable authority.

[6:20] But unlike Frank Abagnale Jr., we'll see that Jesus has no desire whatsoever to conceal his identity or the source of his authority.

[6:31] Rather, the desire of Jesus is to reveal his identity and the source of his authority. And he wants to do it so that more and more people will commit their life to following him.

[6:48] And in this passage, Jesus is going to reveal his identity and his unquestionable authority. And he's going to do it using a predicament, a parable, and a prophecy.

[7:03] He's going to reveal himself using a predicament, a parable, and a prophecy. So if we look firstly at this predicament, the predicament, look with me at verse 29.

[7:18] Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question. Answer me. And I'll tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

[7:30] Answer me. At the beginning of this section, which we just read, Mark informs us that Jesus and his disciples came into Jerusalem again.

[7:41] And this is now the third time that Jesus and his disciples have entered Jerusalem in three days. Because when we were looking at the beginning of this chapter, beginning of chapter 11, we saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt with all these traveling pilgrims with him.

[7:59] And they're all going to the festival of Passover. And that event, we saw that it took place on a Sunday afternoon. A Sunday, which our calendar refers to as Palm Sunday.

[8:10] But then on Monday morning, which we were looking at last week, Jesus and his disciples, they again traveled into Jerusalem. And on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed a fig tree.

[8:23] And in his act of cursing the fig tree, Jesus was symbolically cursing the temple and all its outward religion and its inward spiritual deadness.

[8:34] Which is why Jesus went in afterwards and he went into the temple and turned over all the tables of the money changers and he drove out all the merchants. But now we're onto day three.

[8:47] It's now Tuesday morning. It's the morning after the chaos of throwing out everyone, throwing out everyone and everything out of the temple. The place is still a mess. The tables are still overturned and the temple is deserted.

[9:02] And so when Jesus and his disciples come into the temple, the religious FBI, they're all waiting for Jesus to bring him in for questioning. And that's what we're told in verses 27 and 28.

[9:16] They came to Jerusalem and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders came to him and they said to him, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?

[9:31] The religious FBI, they're all questioning the unquestionable authority of Jesus. And they're questioning Jesus as to who gave him the right to do such an outrageous thing.

[9:45] Because in their mind, there is no one who has the right to treat God's house the way they did, the way he did, except God. There is no one who has the authority to throw anyone out of God's house the way Jesus did, except God.

[10:05] And so the religious FBI, they all want to know what authority Jesus is basing his actions on. They want to know in whose name he's carrying out all these outrageous acts of desecrating God's house.

[10:18] And as we said, that if Jesus claims that his authority is from God, then the religious FBI, they'll put him to death for blasphemy.

[10:30] But if Jesus claims that he's doing these things under his own authority, then they will put him in prison as a religious fanatic. But what we see here is that Jesus doesn't answer the question of the religious FBI.

[10:45] He doesn't answer their question. He doesn't tell them about his authority or by whose authority he has carried out all these actions in the temple. Instead, we see Jesus answer a question with another question.

[11:00] And this action of posing a counter-question, it was something all the rabbis would do in order to enter into a deeper debate. Where one question would be presented and then the counter-question would be presented back.

[11:17] in order to deepen this debate. And that's what Jesus does. He says, I'll ask you one question. Answer me. And I'll tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

[11:33] Answer me. And this question, which the religious FBI have to answer, it's a question which sums up everything there is to know about Jesus.

[11:48] Because Jesus asks, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Now we have to understand that when Jesus uses the word heaven, he does so because out of reverence for God and for God's name, the Jews always avoided using a divine name.

[12:08] The Jews considered the name of God so holy that they would never say Lord or God and they would always replace it with something else. And this is, I suppose you could see why Matthew always calls the kingdom of God the kingdom of heaven.

[12:25] Because Matthew was writing to Jews and he didn't want to offend them. And the same is through here. Jesus speaks to the religious FBI and he uses their terminology.

[12:37] But the real question he's asking is, was the baptism of John from God or from man? And the question Jesus asks is brilliant because all these chief priests and scribes and the elders, they can't take their answer out of the Torah.

[12:55] They can't take their answer from the temple. They can't draw an answer from the authorities of the Romans. they have to take their answer from the words of John the Baptist who was the Lord's prophet.

[13:09] But the problem was these religious FBI, they didn't accept the teaching of John the Baptist because John preached a baptism of repentance.

[13:21] John preached to the people of Israel including the chief priests, the elders and the scribes, including them that they were to repent of their sins and turn back to the Lord.

[13:34] John preached that they would turn away from all their outward forms of religion and seek the Lord with all their heart. But now the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, they have to consider the ministry of John.

[13:49] A ministry in which he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness saying, prepare the way of the Lord. It was the ministry of John that pointed to Jesus and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

[14:06] And as they're now cornered by Jesus, the religious FBI, they have to take their answer from the event when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist.

[14:20] That's where they have to take their answer from, the baptism of Jesus. because everyone knew that the baptism of Jesus, at that great baptism, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and the voice of heaven declared about Jesus, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

[14:43] In other words, the baptism of Jesus was the occasion when Jesus was given authority and he was declared as God's son and he was at one with the Father.

[14:57] And so if the religious FBI want to know where Jesus has received all his authority, then they must reconsider the baptism of John because it's a decision about John.

[15:09] The decision about John is a decision about Jesus. And that's the predicament that Jesus puts these elders and chief priests and scribes into.

[15:22] Because we're told if we go down to verse 31 and they discussed it with one another saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him?

[15:34] Why didn't you believe John? If John's baptism, they say, is from heaven, then Jesus has divine authority. If John's baptism was from God, then Jesus is God.

[15:47] And if Jesus is God, then they're saying, well, we must submit ourselves under his authority. If Jesus is who he says he is, then we must give up our lives and follow him.

[16:00] Of course, the religious FBI, they were completely unwilling to do such a thing. But the other half of their predicament also cornered them. They were completely cornered because the religious FBI, they knew that they couldn't say that the baptism of John was from man because everyone knew that John was a prophet.

[16:22] And so how did the religious FBI answer Jesus' question? All they say is, I don't know. We don't know. So they lie to Jesus.

[16:35] They lie to Jesus. And what we see here is that Jesus cornered them. He cornered them so that they had to give an answer. And yet they still refused to concede to his authority.

[16:48] Because the only conclusion that the religious FBI could ever come to was that Jesus' authority is unquestionable. It's absolute authority.

[17:01] And you know, my friend, that's what Jesus does with us. He corners us. He corners us. And he puts us into a situation where we are confronted with his identity and his unquestionable authority.

[17:19] Where the only option is to give up or to lie your way out of it. The only option is to give up this charade that you're not interested in the gospel.

[17:32] Or to give up running from him. Or to give up putting off following him. The only option is to give up denying him, to give up seeking a way out. But then when Jesus corners us, there's no way out.

[17:48] When he has cornered us, there is no way out. No way at all. And the reason he corners us and puts us into a predicament is because he wants us to confess his identity.

[18:00] authority. He wants us to see that he has absolute authority. And he wants us to bow down before him and acknowledge that he is the Christ, the son of the living God.

[18:12] He wants us to acknowledge that he is king. And if he is king, then he must be our king. And he must be king over our lives. But the problem many of you have, the problem you have is that you're like these religious men.

[18:35] You're willing to ask the questions. You're willing to come to church to find out more about Jesus. You're willing to question who Jesus is and what Jesus does.

[18:47] But when Jesus corners you with the truth that he is king, you want to walk away from him because truth be told, you will not have this man to rule over you.

[19:00] You will not let this man have authority over your life. Does that describe you? Is that you? Do you feel cornered by Jesus?

[19:16] I hope so. I hope so. because he's not only going to tell you that he puts you into a predicament.

[19:30] He's also going to tell you who he is and that he has authority by using a parable. A wonderful parable. So let's consider this parable.

[19:41] We go into chapter 12. Chapter 12 at verse 1. He began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and leased it to tenants and he went into another country.

[19:59] When the season came he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

[20:12] And he sent another and they killed him. And so with many others some they beat and some they killed he had still one other a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them saying they will respect my son.

[20:27] But those tenants said to one another this is the heir come let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours. And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

[20:40] And Jesus asks what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. We know that Jesus often spoke in parables but the parables of Jesus they weren't just sermon illustrations used to make his teaching easier to understand and they weren't this little story that Jesus would often use to try and entertain his crowd.

[21:09] The purpose of a parable was to get the listeners deeply involved. The purpose of the parable was to make the listeners see that they are being presented and represented in the parable and that when they see themselves in the parable and that they're being addressed by the parable it will compel them to make a personal decision about Jesus.

[21:33] And that's what Jesus does with this parable of the tenants or the parable of the vineyard. because in only a few sentences Jesus relays to this religious FBI he relays to them the entire history of God's people.

[21:51] Jesus retells the story of Israel's relationship to God. But the problem is it's not complimentary in any way.

[22:02] Because the vineyard which is the people of Israel and that's what we were singing about in Psalm 80 that I mentioned. The Lord has planted his vineyard in the promised land of Israel.

[22:14] And when the Lord did that as the parable says he put a hedge around it. He gave them laws to live by. The Lord gave directions in order to follow him and worship him.

[22:27] And he leased it to vinedressers to the chief priests the scribes and the elders the religious FBI. But the problem was the vinedressers made it their own vineyard.

[22:41] And they did their own thing. And they acted under their own authority. And they ignored the unquestionable authority of the owner. And so when the owner sent his servants to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard which he's entitled to do the servants were the prophets.

[23:02] Because the role of the prophets was to tell the people of Israel to turn back to the Lord and serve him properly. But Jesus says that the response of the religious leaders was to beat some, to throw stones at others, and to go to the extent of killing them.

[23:22] And that's what happened. Elijah was threatened by death. Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned. Isaiah was son and two.

[23:35] And this is all done by the religious leaders in Israel, the religious FBI. But then Jesus says that the owner of the vineyard had one son, a beloved son.

[23:48] And he sent him last of all. He sent him and he sent his son as the father's representative bearing the father's authority. The son went to the father's property to claim what rightfully belongs to the father.

[24:04] But the vinedressers, they take it upon themselves to kill the son in order to inherit the vineyard and assume complete authority over the vineyard.

[24:15] But as Jesus concludes the parable, he asks the question, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

[24:28] church. And as we said, the purpose of a parable was to get the listener deeply involved. It was to make them see that they are being portrayed in the parable and that they are in the parable and they're being addressed by the parable.

[24:43] And it's to compel them to make a decision about who Jesus is. And that was certainly true of the religious FBI because they knew that Jesus was talking to them.

[24:55] that's what we're told in verse 12. They perceived that Jesus told the parable to them. They knew that Jesus had spoken the parable against them.

[25:07] They knew that their history was one of rebellion and disobedience against God and all his prophets. But more than that, they knew that Jesus was revealing himself to be God's beloved son.

[25:21] These religious leaders knew that Jesus was claiming the that he had God-given authority. And yet, what's frightening is that Jesus knew their heart.

[25:34] Jesus had not only cornered them and proved to them that what they're doing is completely wrong. He was also revealing to them that he knew the hatred in their heart.

[25:49] Jesus knew that their desire was to get rid of him no matter what. Jesus knew what they were planning on doing and putting him to death.

[26:02] Jesus knew their heart. But Jesus not only knew their heart, he also knows our heart. He knows what's in everyone's heart.

[26:17] My friend, Jesus knows what you think of him. Jesus knows what you think of his servants. Jesus knows what you think of his word. Jesus knows what you think of his day.

[26:31] My friend, Jesus knows your heart. But what's frightening is that just like these religious leaders, you are still unwilling to change your mind and change your course of action.

[26:48] You still want to silence Jesus, despite the fact he knows your heart. Because is it not the case that when Jesus corners you with the truth, you want to silence him and deny his authority over your life?

[27:07] Because if you can manage to silence the voice of God and deny his authority over you, then you can live as you please. And that has been history, not only of Israel, but of the entire human race.

[27:23] As one commentator said, if humanity can dispense with God or even kill God, then humanity can become God.

[27:35] And that's the way everyone thinks in the 21st century, isn't it? because there are so many people who say that they're atheists. They claim that God doesn't exist.

[27:49] Not because they've disproved the existence of God or that they've got any clear evidence with facts rather than probabilities or guesswork. And maybe for yourself you might not say that you're an atheist because you believe in the existence of God.

[28:06] Why else are you here today? But even though you may believe in the existence of God on a Sunday, Sunday morning, you might live the rest of the week like an atheist, as if God doesn't exist.

[28:22] But that's not why so many people claim that God doesn't exist. The real reason people claim that they're atheists and live their lives as if God doesn't exist is because if God doesn't exist, then he has no authority over us.

[28:40] And if God has no authority over us and over our lives, then we can live as we please and do what we want. Where life is ours, we are our own. We can live recklessly and loosely if we please, without any restraint, without any God telling me what to do.

[28:57] And if there's no God, then there's no authority over our lives. We can do what's right in our own eyes. We can do what's right, whatever we like. We can be gods over our own life and our own destiny.

[29:09] But the flip side of all this, aside which the atheist or the person living like the atheist will rarely if ever consider, is that if God does exist, and there is plenty evidence to prove that God does exist, the creation you see every day, the sunset over on this side of the island, his fingerprints are all over it.

[29:38] it couldn't have been an accident. We aren't an accident. We are not some random chance event. This world and all its times and seasons wasn't an accident, not a result of chance.

[29:51] Therefore, if God does exist, and that he is your creator, and as your creator, he has absolute authority over you and over your life, and if God exists, then he's king, and you're subject to him.

[30:08] If God does exist, and you reject his son, and you live as you please, and you claim that you are the only God in your own life, or you live like that, then God has the right and the authority to execute his just judgment upon you for denying his existence, for undermining his authority, and for rejecting his son.

[30:39] And the punishment for such crimes is eternal imprisonment in hell. What will the owner of the vineyard do, says Jesus?

[30:55] He will come and destroy the vinedressers. He will destroy everyone who rejects the authority of God and his son.

[31:07] But what's so awful about this parable of Jesus is that Jesus directly addresses the hearts of these religious leaders, and yet they are still unwilling to listen.

[31:23] They knew that Jesus had spoken the parable against them. They knew the message was for them, yet they wouldn't repent. Jesus had convicted their conscience, but they were unwilling to do anything about it.

[31:37] Jesus had spoken directly into their heart, but they refused to bend their knee before him. And you know, my friend, my biggest fear for you, my biggest fear for you as your minister is that you hear Jesus speaking to you all the time.

[31:57] You know Jesus is talking to you. You know he's addressing your heart and your life and your situation, and you feel convicted by what he's saying to you.

[32:09] But my greatest concern is that as far as it will ever go. Is that as far as it will go? Will you be just content for Jesus to speak to you and for your conscience maybe to be pricked for a little while on a Sunday morning?

[32:28] You're happy to be challenged, but sit here quite relaxed in your spiritual state of deadness. My friend, don't relax under the sound of the gospel.

[32:44] Don't ignore what Jesus is saying to you. Don't let it pass you by. There are many others who sat here, sat in your pew.

[32:57] where you sit right now. And they're in hell. They woke up in hell.

[33:12] And you know, I look at you and in a small measure I understand what Jesus meant when he wept over Jerusalem.

[33:27] Because when Jesus wept over Jerusalem and all the lost people in it, he cried, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.

[33:46] How often I wanted to gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you were not willing. You were not willing.

[34:01] My dear friend, how I would love to take you into the kingdom myself. How I'd love to save you myself if I could. How I would love to bring you to know Jesus and the blessing it is to know him and to love him and to follow him.

[34:20] To have that peace in your heart. How I would love to protect you from the awful destruction of hell if I could. But the problem is you are unwilling to come.

[34:38] Unwilling to come. Unwilling to listen. Unwilling to take heed to the solemn warning. My friend, I cannot stress to you enough. That you need to submit to the authority of Jesus and commit your life to following him.

[34:58] And so Jesus reveals his unquestionable authority not only by a predicament and a parable but lastly and briefly by a prophecy.

[35:10] A prophecy. Look at verse 10. Have you not read the scripture, he says? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it's marvellous in our eyes.

[35:26] Jesus has been repeatedly questioned by this religious FBI. He's been challenged as to the source of his authority and its origin. But now Jesus affirms to the chief priests and the scribes and the elders who all knew their Old Testament like the back of their hand.

[35:42] They knew their Bibles and he affirms to them his identity by using evidence from scripture. And Jesus quotes to the religious FBI the prophetic words which we were singing earlier on in Psalm 118.

[35:57] The words of verses 10 and 11. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. And Psalm 118, we've mentioned it before, it was mentioned earlier in chapter 11.

[36:14] It's one of the great Hallel Psalms that was always sung at the end of the Passover. It's a hymn of thanksgiving in which it praises the Lord, it gives its hallelujah for the provision of salvation.

[36:30] But what the psalmist is praising the Lord for in these verses that Jesus quotes, what he's praising the Lord for is that even though the Messiah is God's precious stone who will be rejected by his own people, even though Jesus will be despised and rejected of men, he will become the chief cornerstone.

[36:52] He will still become the chief cornerstone. And when we hear the words chief cornerstone, we often think it's the first stone that was laid in the foundation of a building.

[37:08] But in the ancient world, the cornerstone wasn't the foundation stone. It wasn't the first stone to be set in place. It was the last stone to be set in place.

[37:20] Because the literal meaning of the word cornerstone is the head of the corner. It's the chief stone. It's the last stone. It's the final stone of the construction.

[37:33] And the last stone on the structure was usually placed in this prominent position where everybody could see it. Not on the corner of a building, but right on the front of a building.

[37:46] And some of the churches in our island, they have these cornerstones. They have adopted this idea of a chief cornerstone. Because if you go next door or up to Shabost or even the one in Borv, we don't have one in this building, but they've all got a chief cornerstone, a headstone, a chief stone.

[38:08] You'll probably notice it when you go home, but the purpose of the chief cornerstone is to be the focal point of the building structure. Because it's the chief stone.

[38:20] Now the context to Psalm 118 is that after the temple had been rebuilt, which is the time when Haggai lived, who we will be looking at this evening, during the time of the prophet Haggai, the work on the temple stopped.

[38:38] And the work stopped because the people became more interested in serving themselves rather than serving God. And as a result, the cornerstone was rejected. The chief stone was never put in place because the building wasn't completed.

[38:54] But even though years later, the chief cornerstone was finally set in place and the temple was finally completed, the prophetic words described the Messiah's experience.

[39:07] These prophetic words explain why Jesus the Messiah was going to be put to death. Because as we've seen, the religious leaders, they were far more interested in serving themselves than serving God.

[39:22] But even though Jesus would challenge their religion and question their authority and reveal to them his authority, Jesus knew that they would still put him to death.

[39:35] Jesus knew that they would still reject him and mock him and crucify him. And yet despite his rejection by men, the prophecy stood.

[39:46] Jesus still became the chief cornerstone. because when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he was given all authority in heaven and on earth and he was exalted, he was lifted up, he was raised up and put in position to be the head and focal point of his church.

[40:13] he became the chief cornerstone. He became the chief cornerstone despite everything they tried to do against him.

[40:25] But you know, and with this I'll close. When the apostle Peter was given the opportunity to preach to these same religious leaders in Jerusalem after the death and the resurrection of Jesus, he preached to this religious FBI and he stood up before them and he reminded them of what Jesus said.

[40:49] Because he said in Acts chapter 4, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief of cornerstone.

[41:14] But Peter then went on to say to the religious FBI, and he goes on to remind us all, that after we have heard all about the authority of Jesus, he says, there is salvation in no other.

[41:33] There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. other than the name of Jesus Christ.

[41:47] My friend, you must come to this chief stone who has all authority. You must come and bow before him and acknowledge that he is king, that he is Lord, that he is sovereign.

[42:05] but even if you don't want to come and bow today, or in your lifetime, you will bow.

[42:21] You will bow. Make no mistake of that. I hope it's today that you bow. I hope it's before you leave the scene of time that you bow.

[42:40] But the word of God affirms to us that you will bow. Because the promise of scripture is that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and in hell.

[42:56] And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord. We will confess that he has all authority to the glory of God the Father.

[43:15] My friend, you come today. You come now. and bow before him and discover that this Jesus is a great God and a great King.

[43:34] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord our God, help us not to run, but help us to fall before thee and acknowledge that thou art God indeed.

[43:49] bless thy truth to us, we pray, that O Lord, there would not be the voice of man, but the voice of God, speaking to our heart and to our soul, that we would know what it is to follow Jesus, and that we, O Lord, would take up our cross today and follow him.

[44:08] Bless thy truth to us, we pray thee. Bless this day to us, a day that is set aside for us, to rest in the Lord and to wait patiently upon him. do us good, then we pray, go before us, for Jesus' sake.

[44:23] Amen. I shall conclude by singing in Psalm 89. Psalm 89 in the Scottish Psalter, page 3, 4, 5.

[44:43] Psalm 89, singing from the verse marked 15 down to the verse 18. Psalm 89 from verse 15.

[44:57] O greatly blessed the people are, the joyful sound that know, in brightness of thy face, O Lord, they ever on shall go. Down to the verse marked 18. For God is our defence, and he to us doth safety bring, the Holy One of Israel is our Almighty King.

[45:16] These verses to God's praise. O greatly blessed the people are, the joyful sound that know, and brightness of thy face, O Lord, they ever on shall go.

[45:52] Within thy name shall all the day rejoice exceedingly, lead, and in thy righteousness shall thee exalted be, O I, because the glory all best rest, thou only stand in thee, and in thy favor shall j場 vast and h Romanian bottoms eowedanti be,

[46:59] O dis constraint, his heart,路 be fed bid, hiv Vaclleicht a lue gam畏 h connected, s Kara man to Holy One of Israel is our almighty King.

[47:31] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.