Working Through Pain.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, my name is Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:12] As always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Matthew chapter 2. [0:19] We’re going to be starting in verse 13 this morning. Hopefully, we’ll make it all the way to verse 23. [0:24] What we’re going to see there is we’re going to finish the early life of Jesus. [0:29] Then next week, we’re going to fast forward with Matthew to John the Baptist when Jesus is a grown man who has a beard. [0:37] We will begin talking about the earthly ministry of Jesus in his adulthood.

[0:44] Now, what we’ve been doing over these two chapters is Matthew gives us a great perspective as to Jesus fulfilling all the prophecy of the Old Testament, [0:53] but also shows us that he is more than a man. He is the Son of God. [0:59] And he does this in a couple of different ways, but there seems to be this way that he writes where it looks over history. [1:06] Then it will zoom in to see how that affects the daily life. Then he zooms back a little bit at the beginning of chapter two. [1:13] What’s going to happen in verses 13 through 23 is we’re going to get really both perspectives as we take a look at what is one of the harder sections of Scripture to kind of apply to our lives. [1:27] But it shows us a great deal about the cosmic battle between God and man, good and evil.

[1:36] And it shows that God is the conquering God who rules and reigns over everyone by his hand. [1:44] And one of the things that I want to do is a little different than maybe we oftentimes do, because a lot of times we will kind of interpret the text. [1:50] Then we will get some application, then, you know, maybe a little more interpretation, then some heavier application. [1:56] And today I want to give us some application and then kind of zoom back and show you why that application is necessary on a cosmic worldwide level for us to understand the why and how that God works in history the way that he does. [2:17] And I’m going to use specifically a great tragedy and a great evil that is committed by Herod to talk about that. [2:26] But first, I want to start by reading in verse 13. Here’s what the word of God says.

[2:30] It says, Now, when the wise men had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. [2:36] The angel said, Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. [2:40] Remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. [2:45] And he rose, took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. [2:51] This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. [2:54] Out of Egypt I called my son.

[2:56] Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious. [3:01] And he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old and younger. [3:07] And so I want to reread that so that you’ll understand the importance and the power of this great atrocity. [3:15] It says that Herod became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, [3:27] according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [3:30] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

[3:33] A voice was heard in Ramah weeping and loud lamentation. [3:39] Rachel weeping for her children. [3:40] She refused to be comforted because they are no more. [3:45] But when Herod died, and that’s an important fact that will come later. [3:49] Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying, rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. [3:57] For those who thought, excuse me, those who sought the child’s life or death.

[4:02] And he rose, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [4:06] But when he heard that Archelius was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. [4:13] Being warned in a dream again, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a city called Nazareth so that what was written by the prophets might be fulfilled, [4:22] that he would be called a Nazarene. [4:25] Now, I want to start by talking about something where you are concerned. [4:29] So we’re going to zoom in on you and I want you to understand first this morning, self-centeredness ultimately hurts other people.

[4:36] Self-centeredness ultimately hurts other people. [4:39] Now, self-centeredness is the sin that you are guilty of, but you may not even realize it. [4:45] And you may not understand that many of the things that you do, many of the sins that you commit, [4:53] many of the things that you are capable of, that you don’t think you are capable of, are all rooted in self-centeredness. [5:01] Herod did not wake up one day and suddenly become capable of murdering every child in Bethlehem and in the surrounding areas. [5:13] And in a society like that, that was a large number.

[5:17] That was not a few families affected. [5:18] There were many, many children killed on that day. [5:23] He did not wake up in that condition.

[5:27] A series of choices. [5:29] Have you ever seen somebody walking down the street?

[5:32] And it was a street that normal people don’t walk down. [5:37] And they’re wearing clothes that you wouldn’t be caught dead in because they’re so dirty and tattered. [5:41] And have you ever thought, what was the first decision that led to a series of decisions that led that person right there? [5:50] Because nobody wakes up homeless. [5:53] It happens over time. [5:54] It happens over a series of bad decisions.

[5:57] Well, Herod’s similar. [5:59] A series of decisions led him to the position where he’s capable of waking up and just arbitrarily saying, [6:05] well, if one of them is going to threaten me, kill them all. [6:08] And so what you need to deal with is the root of self-centeredness in your life, [6:13] because it is a sin that can just rot you from the inside and begin to manifest in actions years after it begins. [6:25] But it happens unchecked because no one sees it.

[6:29] It’s something that nobody can point out because maybe they don’t know the thought processes that are going on in your mind. [6:36] Maybe they don’t know the envy that’s happening in you. [6:40] They don’t know the covetousness that is happening inside of you. [6:43] They don’t see the jealousy that is happening inside of you. [6:47] They don’t see the victimization that is happening inside of you. [6:51] They don’t see the thought that plagues you.

[6:53] If that other person would do this, I would be happier. [6:59] If you people would just do for me, my life would be better. [7:05] I deserve better than I have. [7:09] I am under attack and assault daily by people who are my enemies. [7:17] People don’t see those thoughts, but those are thoughts that you have. [7:20] Maybe they don’t manifest themselves in that specific way.

[7:23] But maybe Susan in accounting is your mortal enemy because you’re afraid she’s going to get promoted before you get promoted.

[7:32] So day in and day out, you live this life where it’s all about what you think you deserve. [7:39] And it’s all about how other people aren’t treating you the way that you know that you deserve to be treated. [7:45] And this other person has this thing and they don’t deserve to have that thing. [7:49] I deserve to have that thing. [7:51] This other person had a baby. Well, I deserve their baby. [7:54] This other person’s getting married. Well, I deserve to get married.

[7:58] I’m a better person than they are anyway.

[8:02] And what happens inside of you is there’s this root of self-centeredness that is setting you up against the entire world. [8:10] And ultimately, what I want you to understand is it is going to manifest itself in hurting someone else.

[8:19] Self-centeredness ruins marriages. [8:22] Ruins them. [8:24] Because you get to a point in your marriage where you don’t think your needs are being met. [8:28] And it’s all your spouse’s fault. [8:32] I mean, if you’ve ever had that thought, which is every person that’s married, all right, you are a self-centered person. [8:40] You struggle with self-centeredness.

[8:42] Trust me, ain’t nobody enduring marriage without having that thought.

[8:47] But what you need to understand is there is a battle going on inside of you that you need to be honest about, or it will prevent you from having faith. [8:58] It will kill your worship of God because your life will become about what you don’t have and what you deserve to have rather than thanking God for just who he is in your life.

[9:14] And we’re all capable of this and what it leads Herod to is a great evil. [9:21] Self-centeredness is completely incongruent with faith. [9:24] It can’t exist. [9:25] Here’s what James chapter three says as it warns us about self-centeredness. [9:29] It says, for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

[9:37] Jealousy, selfish ambition. [9:39] Have you ever gotten to a place in your life where you are incapable of celebrating other people’s successes?

[9:47] It’s because you’re self-centered. [9:49] You ever look at someone and say, oh, you think you’re so great? [9:52] Well, yeah, you’ve got this, you’ve got that. [9:54] Well, if I had that, I would do better than you. [9:57] That’s because you’re petty and jealous.

[10:02] But then he goes further and says, selfish ambition, that tendency that we all have to want to get to the top, even if we have to step over other people to get there. [10:12] Where it’s all about you and you might get a promotion and think, oh, good, I deserve that promotion. [10:18] But do you immediately go on the defensive? [10:22] Where it’s like, wait a second, my position at work might be threatened by someone else. [10:25] That’s where Susan in accounting really becomes the worst. [10:30] I really hope no one in here named Susan is actually an accountant.

[10:33] I promise I’m not talking about you. [10:36] It could be Carl the accountant or Bill the accountant. [10:39] I don’t know. [10:41] But note where he goes. [10:42] He says that jealousy, which is hard in our culture because we have a culture that is obsessed at looking at fake pictures of other people’s lives. [10:53] And then saying, well, why don’t I have that?

[10:55] Why am I not as happy as that person? [10:57] Social media can kill you if you are selfish and if you are self-centered. [11:02] Trust me, nobody’s life is as good as it is on Instagram. [11:07] All right. [11:08] I didn’t take a picture of the instant oatmeal I ate at five a.m. today because there was nothing glorious about it. [11:15] But I will take a picture of the feast at a breakfast buffet.

[11:20] You see what I mean? [11:21] It is not the norm. [11:23] It’s the exception. [11:24] That was free.

[11:27] I don’t feel as under a time crunch in the surface, but know where it leads. [11:32] There will be disorder. [11:36] Jealousy is disordering to your world. [11:41] And then it will bring every vile practice. [11:45] You see, vile practice is an interesting phrase because in the original language, what it literally means is that you lose all of your money. [11:51] You lose all sense of morality over those areas where self-interest reigns supreme.

[11:56] And so what happens is, is you will excuse your sinful actions because your situation is different. [12:05] Something is wrong if anyone else in the world does it. [12:10] But it’s OK because you’re in a unique place. [12:16] See, you lose all sense of morality because you deserve better than other people. [12:24] Therefore, you can do worse than other people and baptize it as good because you’re the exception to the rule. [12:34] And see, this is the lie that self-centeredness teaches you.

[12:38] It is not OK just because of your situation. [12:42] It is wrong because it is wrong. [12:46] That’s just the reality that you’re going to have to deal with when you do all sorts of hurtful things about other people. [12:54] And then you try to turn around and say, but my situation is unique. [12:58] You don’t know what type of person they are. I don’t care what type of person they are. [13:01] You’re not affecting them as much as you are affecting yourself.

[13:06] And when you do those things, it is because you are becoming Lord over yourself. [13:12] And there is no worse Lord over you than you.

[13:17] Because you will be capable of things that you never thought you were capable of because you don’t see self-centeredness in yourself.

[13:29] Because when you’re self-centered, you lie to you.

[13:34] There’s no greater defense attorney than the defense attorney that’s in every one of our brains. [13:41] That just defends ourselves and defends ourselves and defends ourselves. [13:45] And you may think to yourself, well, if you only understood my situation, here’s the deal. [13:51] Your situation is nowhere near as complicated as you think it is. [13:54] You are nowhere near as deep as you think you are.

[14:00] Here’s the question to ask to see how self-centered you are. [14:05] What are the areas in your life where you refuse to be told that there is a healthier path for you to walk down? [14:12] Because we’ve all got something. [14:14] We’ve all got that one area where we know we are not living up to the glory of God, yet we refuse to be told that. [14:23] Or somebody might challenge you. [14:26] Maybe it’s somebody in your community group.

[14:28] Maybe you enter into a discipleship group and somebody challenges you and they touch that area that’s very sensitive for you. [14:35] Because you have literally built your life around defending that thing in your life from any outside force. [14:44] And what do you do? Do you repent? No, you quit the discipleship group.

[14:49] You quit the community group. [14:51] Because who do they think they are to tell you, you should do differently in this one issue? [14:57] We are all great about sins that we aren’t guilty of.

[15:03] It’s like, yep, that’s immoral because I don’t do it.

[15:08] But the minute we get to what you are guilty of, that’s when the guns come out. [15:13] It’s because you’re self-centered. [15:15] And you desperately need to repent. [15:18] But it is difficult because self-centeredness convinces you that other people are the problem and you aren’t the problem.

[15:29] Maybe this will liberate you today and maybe it won’t. [15:32] But here’s the deal. You are the problem.

[15:37] The ultimate problem isn’t your spouse. [15:41] It isn’t your kids. [15:42] It isn’t your parents. [15:45] It isn’t your teachers. [15:46] It isn’t your boss at work. [15:48] It isn’t the guy who’s got a better lawn than you next door.

[15:52] And any number of things. [15:55] You are your greatest problem. [15:59] But you will often die defending yourself rather than admitting that happiness is a choice that you make. [16:08] It is not a decision that someone else makes for you. [16:11] But you don’t understand. If they would do differently, if they would treat me better, they still can’t make that decision. [16:19] If it’s not them, it’s going to be somebody else.

[16:23] You need to own your own life rather than living to victimize yourself from other people who really aren’t doing that much to you anyway, [16:35] except for in extreme situations that I’m not going to qualify right now. [16:40] Note what Philippians says. It says the opposite of James 3. [16:43] It says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Did you catch that? [16:47] Nothing. Do nothing from self-centeredness. [16:51] But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

[16:54] That is difficult. [16:57] Because I am so much more significant than other people.

[17:04] I mean, isn’t that what you think about so many people? [17:07] And here’s the deal. [17:09] I am more significant than some other people. [17:12] I mean, I see some people on my street the way that they strut down their sidewalk to their cars in the morning. [17:19] I’m better than you and I know it.

[17:23] See, you don’t have to know anything about a person to think that you’re better than them. [17:27] But you do anyway. [17:30] Note that the text doesn’t say.

[17:34] Figure out what kind of person they are. [17:37] Then figure out whether you should count them more significant than yourself. [17:40] No, it gives no qualifications. [17:42] It just says, basically, before you even know this person, [17:46] make the decision that they are more significant than you are. [17:50] And he goes on, he says, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others.

[17:55] That’s a full-time job. [17:57] I’ve got so many interests of my own going on. [17:59] I’m going to think about somebody else’s. [18:03] Parenting really sets the greatest environment for this. [18:07] Parenting is sanctifying. [18:08] If you have the ability to have children, I’m just going to keep doubling down on this.

[18:12] If you have the ability to have children and you’re married and you haven’t had any children, what are you waiting for? [18:16] Have some. [18:17] That’s my as really as my core belief about that.

[18:21] But parenting is interesting because it’s different than marriage. [18:24] Marriage is like the preseason or the minor leagues or college ball because it’s two adults who’ve mutually decided we want to do life together. [18:37] And so you come together and you are adults. [18:40] And so this is a decision that you’ve made. [18:43] You’ve weighed this person. [18:44] You know, you’ve done inventory.

[18:45] You’ve done a first interview, second interview, third interview. [18:48] You know, you’ve taken a family history. [18:50] You know, you’ve done all sorts of things. [18:52] Children are just vampires.

[19:00] In many ways, they come out how they came out. [19:03] But one thing’s for certain, they’re going to take everything and they’re not going to give you anything in return. [19:11] I mean, they wake up. [19:12] What’s the first thing out of their mouths? [19:14] Give. [19:16] Give me food.

[19:18] Give me pants.

[19:21] I don’t even know how to put underpants on. [19:23] You’ve got to do that for me, too.

[19:27] My three year old, he’s regressed because I was so excited because we taught him how to use a fork and he’s feeding himself. [19:32] It’s great. [19:33] It’s like free time. [19:35] He just decided one day he’s brilliant. [19:37] My opinion, he said, you know, this is a lot easier when somebody else is doing this for me. [19:40] My arms are tired.

[19:42] So I’ll get halfway through a meal and he’ll look at my wife. [19:45] He doesn’t look at me. [19:46] He knows he’s not going to get anything. [19:47] He looks at my wife and it’s just despair.

[19:52] Feed me. [19:55] I know, son, the food’s just so heavy.

[20:00] But it’s literally this life where you are having to look at someone and you consider their interests rather than your own. [20:08] And I’m not saying treat other people like their children. [20:10] That’s rude. [20:11] But what I am saying is, is that type of ethic needs to extend past your own house. [20:18] And what he’s saying is the ethic that Jesus gives us that is so different than the ethic that Herod lives by is that other people need to be significant to you. [20:29] And other people need to be sacrificed for.

[20:32] Other people need to be loved because that is the ethic that determined Jesus’s life on this earth. [20:39] He emptied himself, the creator God, becoming a human being, living amongst imperfect people, imperfection, and loving them, serving them, giving to them, even though there is not a person in this world that had anything to offer to Jesus Christ.

[21:02] All Herod can do is defend his kingdom while Jesus came and gave his way. [21:12] Because he gave his life. [21:14] You see, friends, Jesus is the end of having to fight for your kingdom and the beginning of belonging to a greater kingdom. [21:24] Because Herod had to defend. [21:26] Can you imagine being a member of a kingdom that you don’t have to defend?

[21:31] Can you imagine being a member of a kingdom that you do not have any say in the eternal destiny of that kingdom? [21:39] Well, that’s the kingdom of God. [21:40] That’s the kingdom of heaven. [21:41] And that is the kingdom that Herod couldn’t control. [21:44] So rather than become a member of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, rather than celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Herod fought to defend his from Jesus Christ. [21:55] Number two, God is the solution for pain.

[21:59] Now, self-centeredness manifests itself in cosmic evil in this narrative.

[22:05] Herod literally brought genocide into an entire region of Judea. [22:13] He killed every male two years old and younger. [22:17] That is wicked, wicked, wicked. [22:20] And so I think sometimes we are desensitized to this type of wickedness because we have attempted to flatten sin, say sin is sin is sin. [22:30] All sin is equal. [22:31] That’s stupid.

[22:33] And it’s not true. [22:34] The Bible doesn’t say that it’s true. [22:36] God’s law completely defies that type of logic. [22:40] There is a big difference between stealing a Snickers from 7-Eleven and the wholesale slaughter of children in Bethlehem. [22:48] I mean, you want to break into my house and steal a loaf of bread. [22:52] Guess what?

[22:52] Thou shalt not steal. [22:53] That is wrong. [22:55] But if you look at me and say, Steve, what is worse, stealing a loaf of bread from your pantry or killing one of your children? [23:02] I will buy you all of the loans. [23:05] Rather than lose one of my children. [23:08] Natural revelation should teach us that.

[23:10] But we are desensitized to cosmic evil in this regard. [23:16] Sometimes because it helps us ignore inconvenient truths like the slaughter of babies that goes on in almost every hospital in this area. [23:26] Over 50 million children have been murdered because of matters of inconvenience. [23:33] It is our modern day Holocaust. [23:36] And it is cosmic evil. [23:38] It’s evil on a scale unheard of.

[23:42] But it is ordained by the government. [23:43] So we ignore it.

[23:47] See, friends, God, though, is the solution.

[23:52] When you have to understand that when you look at situations like this, we have to give a little credence to questions like the question, where was God?

[24:04] And the text actually tells us God was right there. [24:07] Because it says that this slaughter actually fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. [24:12] And so a lot of people who would struggle with the existence of God, and I don’t know, I’m not going to suppose this, but maybe you’re in here and you struggle with the idea in light of events like this in light of great atrocities that have happened in history, because we have had many of them. [24:29] You might say, if God is good, how does this happen? [24:33] Or a bigger question. [24:35] If God is both good and in control, how could he let this happen?

[24:42] Where was God? [24:45] God was right there because the text tells us it says in verse 17, then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah voice was heard in Rama weeping and loud lamentation. [24:55] Rachel weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted because they are no more.

[25:00] In Proverbs 1633, the wisdom tells us that the lot is cast into the lap. [25:06] Now, we don’t do that. [25:07] But basically, the closest equivalent that we have is, you know, throw in the dice in Vegas, because this is about gambling. [25:14] He says the lot is cast into the lap, but it’s every decision is from the Lord. [25:19] In other words, if you go to Vegas and you throw the dice, and I’m not advocating or not advocating. [25:24] But if you do that and it comes up snake eyes, that wasn’t chance because chance doesn’t exist.

[25:33] God was right there. [25:34] He determined the snake eyes. [25:37] The Prince of Preachers from the 1800s, Charles Spurgeon, used to put it this way. [25:40] He says that when you see the sunlight entering in through a window and you see the dust mites floating, every dust mite holds its position under the decree of an almighty God. [25:50] There’s nothing that happens outside of God’s control. [25:53] Nothing.

[25:55] And that’s called providence. [25:57] By the way, if you ever wondered what the providence of God is, it is how he exhibits his sovereignty over everyday events. [26:04] It is his control over everything. [26:07] The book of Daniel, which is usually misunderstood with end times charts, is really a book about providence. [26:15] In Daniel 435, the prophet says, all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. [26:19] He does according to God does according to God’s will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

[26:26] And get this. [26:27] None can stay his hand. [26:31] What was Herod trying to do? [26:34] Stay the hand of God. [26:36] Daniel had already warned them. [26:38] It’s fruitless endeavor, friend.

[26:40] None can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

[26:49] So again, God wasn’t ignoring it. [26:52] It didn’t catch him off guard. [26:55] It wasn’t outside of his watch. [26:56] God was there. [26:58] And you say, that isn’t comforting.

[27:02] And I say, I believe that it is. [27:04] And here’s a few reasons. [27:06] The biggest one is this. [27:08] If you don’t believe in God or if you say he can’t be good or he can’t be in control, and you demean him in one of those two ways, [27:15] then I will have a caveat for you. [27:18] OK, well, then remove God.

[27:21] Let’s say there is no God. [27:23] Let’s say he’s not there. [27:26] What have you saw?

[27:29] Does that eradicate the evil?

[27:33] Does that do anything to stop many of the moments of extraordinary pain that have happened through history? [27:40] I mean, many people will say and it’s kind of just glib. [27:44] I was like, oh, history is as bad as it’s ever been. [27:46] Well, you don’t know anything about the Roman Empire.

[27:49] I mean, that was when you could literally just kill every child, two years old and younger in Bethlehem. [27:55] That’s a pretty bad time.

[27:59] Say there is no God. [28:00] Does that solve Hitler? [28:02] Does that stop Chairman Mao, who wanted to install an atheistic regime and he starved millions of Chinese to death under the hand of atheistic communism? [28:15] Doesn’t stop him.

[28:18] It doesn’t stop pain. [28:19] It doesn’t stop chattel slavery. [28:22] It still happens. [28:23] Why? [28:24] Because human beings did it and without God, we would keep doing it. [28:31] But you would remove one thing.

[28:33] You would remove hope.

[28:36] If you take God out of the scenario, philosophically speaking, you lose hope.

[28:44] You see, what happens in this narrative is so powerful and we miss it is that God sent Jesus, his son, to be the solution. [28:53] To pain. [28:56] To be the redeemer from evil. [29:00] And Herod’s response was I will fight God to the death rather than lose what I’ve built on this earth. [29:09] See, every instance of great evil isn’t done outside of the watch of God, but it is done to slight the hope of God. [29:18] Because God sent Jesus to be the ultimate hope for our lives.

[29:23] You see, God did not do this. [29:25] Herod did. [29:25] That’s what we ultimately get from Scripture.

[29:29] People hurt people. [29:31] People commit great atrocities. [29:33] Whether it’s one person doing great atrocity or whether it is a thousand people coordinating great atrocity. [29:39] People do it. [29:42] I don’t necessarily understand how Providence works in every situation. [29:46] Anybody that says they do is crazy and they act like they’ve tapped into the mind of the immortal, eternal God.

[29:52] Anybody that says they’ve done that, don’t trust them. [29:55] Because God has a brain that is a lot bigger than mine. [29:58] So He can handle things that I can’t. [30:01] But understand this. [30:03] In every moment of pain, God is trying to bring us hope. [30:06] The problem is we are often too self-centered to find it.

[30:10] And by faith, He says, trust me, even in the pain. [30:15] Because it is easy to blame God. [30:19] It is difficult in pain to trust God.

[30:24] I mean, have you ever blamed God? [30:25] Have you ever gotten mad at God? [30:26] Have you ever questioned God? [30:28] I have. [30:29] I mean, have you ever been in a parking lot praying for a space and you said, the Lord answered my prayer and someone took it? [30:38] Where was God?

[30:41] That’s the closest to life of Job I’ve ever gotten. [30:44] It’s real pain, friends. [30:46] Real, real pain.

[30:50] But it is so easy to blame God when life is painful. [30:54] Because there are many things, and I am not trying to minimize anyone’s pain. [30:59] I’m actually trying to tell you pain is real. [31:02] Suffering is real. [31:03] We will all endure it from one degree or another degree.

[31:09] But God is present in every moment of pain, trying to draw us into His Kingdom where His hope will reign eternally. [31:21] How do I know that? [31:23] Because number three this morning, God’s purposes will always outlast human agendas. [31:29] I think that this entire narrative, because I love to just take chunks of the Bible and find where that chunk hinges on. [31:38] I think it hinges on a part that we often just pass over, and it’s in verse 19. [31:44] And it’s four words.

[31:46] And I’m probably going to talk about those four words the rest of our time. [31:50] But when Herod died, and that’s it.

[31:54] I think in this narrative, those are the four most important words. [31:57] But when Herod died, and all of His power, and all of His might, and all of His control over that area, [32:07] and all of His ability to oppress people, and victimize people, and hurt people, [32:13] and cause the mothers of Bethlehem and the surrounding areas to endure so much mourning, [32:20] and to weep so loudly that the world took note, and Matthew knew. [32:26] And he says, it is so loud that it’s fulfilling prophecy.

[32:33] Herod did not have the power, the control, or the authority to not die.

[32:45] He didn’t have the power to even control when he died.

[32:51] Neither do you. [32:52] Neither do I. [32:55] Neither do any of the people who have ever hurt me. [32:57] Neither do any of the people that I have probably hurt in my life.

[33:02] See, in a world that’s obsessed with governmental power, and we all are, [33:07] it doesn’t matter whether you’re in a democratic republic, or whether you’re in a monarchy, [33:10] or whether you’re in a utilitarian dictatorship, everybody’s obsessed with power, [33:15] because that’s what it’s all about, power. [33:17] When one regime takes over another regime, or one person gets elected over another person, [33:24] whichever side that you fall on, and if the person that you wanted to get elected,

[33:29] or wanted to rise to power, didn’t rise to power, what do you do? [33:33] I mean, we see this cycle all the time, is you despair, and you say, oh, it’s ruined! [33:39] It’s over! Freedom’s gone! [33:43] Might as well get the mark of the beast.

[33:47] We lose hope! [33:50] And it doesn’t matter which side, or philosophy, or which part of the spectrum of belief and philosophy you fall on, [33:57] if it doesn’t go your way, you question the goodness of God, even if it’s just for a moment.

[34:05] I try not to do that. I’ve never done that, because I know one thing. [34:11] Every president in the United States has ever had his day.

[34:16] Every king any monarchy has ever had has died. [34:20] Every communist dictator this world has ever seen has died. [34:25] Kim Jong-il was supposed to be immortal. [34:29] Dead.

[34:31] Herod.

[34:33] Dead.

[34:36] Jesus. [34:37] Alive.

[34:41] Psalm 103. [34:42] The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. [34:52] Daniel chapter 2, verse 21. [34:58] God changes times and seasons. [35:02] That’ll just blow your mind during allergy season.

[35:07] We’re in it now, aren’t we, baby? [35:09] I woke up this morning, and I was like, I don’t have nasocort!

[35:15] Why, God?

[35:20] God dictates when winter ends and spring begins.

[35:27] He removes, underline this, so that in 2020, you will have a place in the word to go. [35:36] He removes kings and sets up kings. [35:42] He gives wisdom to the wise, knowledge to those who have understanding.

[35:50] Here’s what I’m trying to say.

[35:53] You can resent God for your pain.

[35:58] You can blame him for your suffering. [36:01] You can question God because of real things that happen, and you don’t understand the how, and you don’t understand the why. [36:11] But one thing you cannot do. [36:14] You cannot win against God.

[36:18] He will reign forever and ever. [36:23] That needs to be a sobering reality for every day of your life, for every decision that you make, for every choice that you have, for every reaction that you have for a choice someone else has made.

[36:46] Herod died.

[36:49] You see, what’s interesting, Herod had a great ability, and we have to admit that. [36:54] Herod knew how to make people afraid of him. [36:57] I mean, he knew how to make people fear him. [36:59] That’s pretty easy to see.

[37:04] But Herod wielded his power for only fear, for only terror, and he couldn’t make people trust and love him. [37:15] You see, the answer to whether or not someone is good and whether or not you love someone who is in power or whether or not you trust someone who is in power with your life is literally how they wield their power. [37:30] Herod wielded his power to kill, to hurt, to cause pain. [37:37] He took from people what he wanted for himself. [37:42] Jesus is this eternal God who has established his own throne, and he rules over every other throne. [37:54] Jesus sets kings up.

[37:57] Jesus takes kings down. [37:59] Jesus sets a different king up. [38:01] He says, winter, stop being cold. [38:04] Spring, start being warm. [38:06] Jesus does that unmatched, unparalleled power, and he wielded his power to give life rather than to take life. [38:19] He wielded his power to become part of his creation, to serve created beings that he had spoken into existence.

[38:32] He wielded his perfection so that he could be a substitute for the imperfect. [38:40] He wielded his power over life and death by dying to pay the penalty for my sin and for your sin. [38:51] Herod tried to kill God, and from a human perspective, we have to admit, Jesus shows you can kill God. [39:00] The problem is, just when you start getting the party to celebrate really good, Jesus shows up. [39:09] You’re like, wait a second, we killed you. [39:12] I know.

[39:14] I just don’t like staying dead.

[39:20] Friends, pain is real. [39:23] God is not far off from the pain. [39:25] He is in it with us every step of the way. [39:28] And the reason that we can trust God in every moment of pain is because God has shown he sinks himself into suffering for us, [39:39] and then rises from the dead to give us life.

[39:45] He is a good God.

[39:49] Everything Scripture says about him is true. [39:53] The question is, how will you respond? [39:57] Will you trust him with every moment? [40:00] Will you trust him with every pain? [40:02] Will you trust him with every victory? [40:05] Will you trust him with every defeat?

[40:08] You must submit to his reign, because you will not win.

[40:16] But he wants your submission to be to your benefit, not to your detriment. [40:21] He is for you, he is not against you. [40:24] Trust Jesus in it all. [40:28] Every week we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper. [40:34] The broken bread and the tables in the front and the back represent the broken body of Jesus the cup, represents his shed blood. [40:42] What’s fascinating about this simple meal is the simplicity.

[40:46] It gives us one message. [40:48] And that message is that your sin needs to be paid for so that you can have fellowship with God. [40:58] But it represents more so that that debt has been paid at great cost to God himself. [41:06] When you eat and when you drink, it represents your submission to King Jesus. [41:14] He purchased your ability to come, eat and drink. [41:19] And if you have faith in him, I invite you to come, eat and drink.

[41:23] But if you don’t have faith in Jesus, I’m going to ask you not to come. [41:28] Not because anybody is better than you, but because I don’t want you to feel like you have to lie. [41:34] This is a meal for Christians. [41:36] And if you’re not a Christian, I want you to feel the freedom to be that honest. [41:39] But I do want to tell you something. [41:43] You must become a Christian if you hope to survive.

[41:47] Our King will reign forever. [41:49] He’s not going to barter with you. [41:51] He’s not going to compromise with you. [41:55] Submit to him because he’s good, because he’s trustworthy, because he loves you, and because he’s proved it. [42:03] If you’re in that situation, I want you to do something a little different. [42:06] I want you to have the faith.

[42:08] Just step out into the foyer where somebody will pray with you. [42:12] Somebody will tell you how you can become a Christian today. [42:17] You turn from your sins and you can trust Jesus today. [42:21] If you are a Christian, come show your submission to King Jesus. [42:25] And then go live as one of his servants.

[42:48] You