He Kept Trying To See Him

I was talking to David this week and I was telling him we're finally back in the Gospel of Luke. And it's a relief to me. That's not a relief, that's not the right word. It's a joy to me. I'm glad to be back in the Gospel of Luke and to have some open road ahead of us. To be able to get going in this book. Our text this morning will be in Luke chapter 9, the beginning of it, verses 1 through 9. In our text this morning, well, preceding our text this morning, Jesus has been doing a lot of... performing a lot of miracles, a lot of strange things, casting out a lot of demons, and it's the sort of place that's uncomfortable. You don't really know how to get a firm footing when we're talking about casting out demons. It's just uncomfortable to us because of where we've grown up and what we're around. It seems otherworldly. And yet to this point, Jesus has been the one doing it. And in our text this morning, he sends out his apostles to do the same thing.

To cast out demons, he gives them authority to cast out demons. He gives them the ability to heal people. And he also tells them to go out and to proclaim the gospel, the good news. And he tells them how to do it. He tells them where to go, where to stay, when not to stay. And then at the end of our text, we see that Herod, sort of the leader of the occupying force, that he catches wind of this. all of these goings on, and we see Herod's response. So this morning what we're going to see is the effect of the gospel at work. It's sort of like you read the specs about something, you think about buying a car, you're thinking about buying a computer, something you want. You want to know what it does. How does it actually work? And what's the truth about MPGs with the car? Is what they put on the sticker true? No.

It doesn't do that. And so I want, you kind of think, well, it says it can do this and it says it can do that and it says this other thing, but we have sort of this disposition that, well, that's what they're trying. And under ideal, perfect circumstances, it's capable of that. But under normal circumstances, things don't do what they say they're going to do. This morning, what we're going to see is the effect of the gospel at work. I want you to be thinking right now, think, okay, what do I expect? What does the gospel working, what does that mean to you? What do you expect to happen? Tell me. What's the effect of the gospel supposed to be in your mind? Okay, so it's supposed to produce repentance in the hearers, is what you're saying? Okay, yep. It's supposed to produce faith? Yep. Okay. So it's supposed to produce glory to God? Yep.

Anyone else want to venture another? No? Okay. Healing, okay. Of various types, yeah, because we see that here. Now, there's one whole category of effect that you didn't mention. And I don't even think we think about. But what we're going to find this morning is one of the effects of the gospel. It's a scary effect. I'm not going to tell you what it is now. You're going to get to it at the end. But I want your interest piqued. I want you to think. What is the fruit of the gospel? How does it work? What are the specs? What are the stickers? What does it say it's going to do? Do I need to wear my seatbelt when I drive this car? Would you please stand for the reading of God's word from Luke chapter 9, verses 1 through 9. This is the word of the Lord and it is eternally true. And he called the twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff nor a bag, nor bread nor money, and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Now Herod the Tetrarch heard all of that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. Herod said to himself, I myself had John beheaded, but who is this man about whom I hear such things? And he kept trying to see him. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. So we start off our text this morning with Jesus calling.

the 12 disciples together, and giving them authority, power and authority to cast out demons. And so this text starts off with almost a non-starter for us. It's very strange. How do you categorize that? I'm giving you authority to go out and cast out demons. Very strange to us. And so I want us to begin our study this morning by looking at the relationship between miracles and preaching, because he gave them the authority. to cast out demons and also to heal people of their sicknesses or maladies, whatever they had. And he also gave them a message to proclaim. And we need to study the relationship of those two things. The first thing I want you to know about miracles and how they relate to preaching is that miracles facilitated the preaching of the ground. The miracles worked like a spade or a plow. They broke up the soil so that the seed could be planted. The preaching was the seed.

And the miracles prepared the way. In Ephesians 6.12, Paul writes, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. And we realize that the gospel is a spiritual message. It has to do with our souls. It has to do with eternity. And for that seed to be planted, we realize we're fighting, it's a spiritual battle that's going on. Now, who is fighting against that message? The demons are fighting against that message. At least in this time, there's clearly demons that people are possessed by. And Jesus says, here's the plow. You have authority to plow the ground up so that you can plant the seed of the gospel. You ever talk to somebody?

I'm not saying that they're demon-possessed, but I'm saying if you ever talk to someone and they're just blank, they're not there, they're just... You could tell them anything in the world and there's just nothing. No response. And what do you want to do with that person? Shake them. That's what I want to do. It's at least what Daniel wants to do. It's like you want to stir something up, like life. Is it in you? Are you alive? Do you care about anything? And you're looking for a response, any response. If someone came casting out demons and someone came healing people of their sicknesses, would they get your attention? Oh, yes. You'd say, cancel the plans, honey. There's something going on. We need to go see what this is about. And so miracles, in the way that they combat the spiritual opposition to the gospel, facilitate.

the ministry of the word. You know, we live in a time, we can't read our time and our understanding of the gospel back into this time. The message of the gospel was completely radical, completely other, different. They never heard this sort of stuff before. You remember when the Jewish leaders got together and what was the guy's name that gave him the council? Not to worry about it. No. Gamaliel, yeah. I wanted to say Galileo and I knew that wasn't right. Gamaliel tells them, he says, listen, stuff like that, you know, people with strange messages have shown up before, right? And what's always happened to them? They just, yeah, it's a flash in the pan and they go away. Here's the thing, guys. If these guys aren't legit, if their message isn't true, it's going to go away and don't waste your time fighting it. But if it is from God, then what?

You aren't going to be able to stop it. Just wait and see what happens. And you need to realize that his counsel is in regard to the gospel. This is uncharted territory for them. They aren't used to hearing this. This man that's here and he's healing people and he's the son of God and he's come to take away the sins of the world. This is news to them. It's only been talked about. vaguely, in the future, prophesied, there will come a Savior, there will be a Messiah, and now Jesus is here, and everyone's going, who is this guy, and how does he do that? He calls himself the Son of God. This is just completely new to them. Now, how many of you, when you hear something entirely new, you listen to the radio, and there's this new product, and it's going to help you lose weight. It's going to help, you know, and what is your disposition towards it?

Wait and see. What did you say? It's not true. Yeah. You're skeptics, right? And you're certainly not going to spend your money on it. And if it takes up too much, if the radio ad is too long, you change the radio. You're not interested. You're not interested. You're going, yeah, whatever. That doesn't fit into how my world works. No. And what do they always have? They have testimonials. Oh, I started taking this pill and all this. I lost 30 pounds in 12 hours. And I felt great. You know, and they have these miracles that attend their miracle drug. And you go, that's not for me. That's not how we do things here. That's how they would have approached the gospel at this time. Oh, so this one who's born of a carpenter and a woman, and she has a baby and she's not married, he's the Messiah?

Never heard this before. That wasn't written. We didn't see that in our scripture. And yet when the miracles came and they couldn't deny them, they went, oh, well, I'm... Huh. They didn't hear about the miracles. They saw them. Remember the apostles? They went out throughout the villages in the surrounding area doing what? Preaching and performing miracles. The people saw with their own eyes. He was blind. He used to be crazy. He used to not be able to walk, and here he is. What's going on? It piqued their interest. This is the work of miracles. It facilitates, it provides a hearing for the gospel. When that message is something that's new that people haven't heard before, and so they cast out demons, they also had the ability to heal. Now, if you had someone who was sick, where do you take them now in our life? Where do you take sick people?

You take them to the doctor, right? The hospital where the doctors are at. And so when the doctor says, I don't know what's going on, you go to another doctor. And you get more specialized. And eventually you're looking for the expert on this sickness. What's wrong with my child or me? And so finally you get to the expert and the expert has an answer for you. Oh, we figured out what's wrong. Here's what's wrong. What is your disposition toward that doctor? You believe them, what did you say? Thankfulness, yes. You like them. You're very grateful to them. You're grateful to God for them. You pray for them. You're endeared to them because they're able to help you with your sickness. And so the apostles were sent out with authority to perform miracles, both of casting out demons and for healing because you know what? That facilitates the ministry of the gospel.

These men helped my family who no one could help. And it's endearing to you. It softens you up. It gives you affection for them. And isn't it interesting that when the apostles were sent out, they were told, don't take anything with you. Nothing. It'd be like if someone showed up here today and said, you are going to Alaska. From here. Now. Any of you ready to go? I want to go home. We need to pack. I need this. I need to buy that. No, you've got to go now. But we don't have any food. Now. And he gave them the authority to heal people. And then what would those people who healed them do? They would provide those things for them. God would provide those things for them through their work, through their ministry. Don't take any food. Don't take any money. Don't take any extra clothes. But when you come into a city and you stay in a house and it's like...

Isn't that weird? When was the last time some stranger from out of town stayed at your house? How were they supposed to get in their house? Now their culture was different and that wouldn't have been as uncommon then as it is now to us. But they were to be clothed, they were to be given shelter, they were to be fed. And that's the fruit of the miracles that they've performed. God's using that to provide for his people, for these apostles as they go out. It's like Abraham being called out of out of Haran. The Lord comes to him and he says, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you. Where am I going? I don't even know where I'm going. Go. Abraham and the apostles in this situation, they had to trust God for their provision. They had to trust God to give them the very basics of life as they left out to do their work. And they were given the ability to perform miracles, especially miracles of healing, so that the people would be endeared to them.

personally, not just to the message, and that their needs would be met. And so miracles facilitate the preaching of the gospel. So in addition to sort of preparing the way, there's sort of the confirmation of the preaching. When you see the miracle performed, when you see the blind receive sight, when you see the lame walk, you go, you know what? Not only am I willing to listen to what's being said, you know what? That might be true. What they said, I think that's true. Because how does this happen? How do the blind receive sight? We can't do that. How do the lame walk? Only through the power of God. And so it confirmed the message that was proclaimed to them. And yet while it confirms the message, I want you to know that the miracles are subordinate to the message. They're not more important than the message. They're not better than the message.

Miracles are not the sort of thing that we ought to seek in place of the word. And the reason is this. Every miracle that was performed ended in death, even resurrection. Whether the blind received sight, the lame walked, the dead were raised, they all had their end in death. And yet the gospel ends in life. The message leads to life. The miracles, they lead to earthly comfort, and yet they still end in death. But the gospel, it leads to life. And so the gospel is supreme. It's better. It's superior to the miracles that were performed. And yet God gave these miracles in this time because of the people's weakness to strengthen their faith, to cause them to believe. But the miracles were not superior.

Miracles function like earnest money when you buy a house. How do you show that you're interested, you're serious? Well, $5,000 will do that you can't have back. Oh, they mean they're serious about buying this house. It's not just talk. They put their money up. They perform miracles. Oh, these guys, they're serious about this stuff. They really mean what they're saying. And so miracles facilitate the preaching of the word. They confirm the preaching of the word, and yet they're subordinate to the preaching of the word. The most valuable thing that Jesus sent his apostles out with was the message of the gospel. So as Jesus sends them out with the authority to perform miracles and with the message that they're to preach, he gives them instructions about what to do. And he says, if you go into a city and you stay at a house, well, stay there. Don't move around.

And that assumes that they're welcome in the city, right? You go to the city, find a place to stay, stay in one place. Be accessible, be available to the people. Did you know that guy staying over at their house made my brother see? And then be there. And yet even with the miracles and with the message, Jesus knows that it's not always going to go well. And so he tells them what to do when it doesn't go well. They were instructed to leave the city. If they don't receive you, leave the city, shaking the dust off of their sandals. And they were to do this as a testimony, as a judgment against that city because they had rejected the message. They got to keep their miracles, but they didn't get to keep the gospel. Now, one of the practical things that we can learn from this about evangelism, about the spreading of the gospel, is that we ought to work where God's at work. What does Jesus tell the apostles to do where the message isn't received? He tells them to leave.

Leave. Now, that's a sword that cuts both ways. Because some of you would go, well, if I don't see fruit, I'm done. And you are real good at making that judgment real fast. You have your expectations, and when people don't rise to your expectations, they're cut off. But others of you think that loving people and ministering, being a Christian and... evangelizing them means that you just have to do, it's just misery, constant difficulty and hardship. And here you see that Jesus tells the apostles, listen, if the people aren't interested, if they don't welcome you, if they don't believe, leave. Work where I'm working. Don't be working somewhere I'm not working. And so we should seek to work in conjunction with the Spirit of God, not throwing our pearls before swine. God's hand should be evident in and through the work that we do.

And I'll tell you this, whether you're inclined to cut people off quickly or you're inclined to just stick in these fruitless endeavors forever, I want to tell you, one, you should be able to see the work of God, his help, his hand in the situation. And I'll also tell you that it takes time to be sure. It takes time to be sure. And so whatever your temptation is, remember if you were in Sunday school, I said, don't fortify your strengths, guard your weaknesses. So if you're inclined to cut people off like that, then you need to stick at it. And if you're inclined to just be consumed on lost causes, then you need to learn when enough is enough. And over time, God will make that clear to you until Jesus tells them to leave if the people don't receive the message. So the apostles go out and they do all this work. They preach, they heal, they cast out demons. Some people receive them, some people don't. And Herod hears about it.

And I want you to note what he responds to. He doesn't respond to the apostles. He responds to Jesus Christ. He wants to meet Jesus. He doesn't want to meet the apostles. And he understands by what authority or who the head of all of this commotion, this uprising is. The apostles' work pointed to Jesus Christ. It increased his glory and his reputation, such that Herod, the Tetrarch, the royalty, He heard of Jesus' activity. It wasn't the apostles' reputation that increased. It wasn't about them. They were willing to do the humble work of, you think, man, if I had authority to cast out demons, if I had the ability to make the blind see, I would be something. And you would. And yet here we see that the apostles understood they weren't the something. They were the vessel. They were the channel by which God...

in these villages, in these cities. They knew it wasn't about them. And so when they went and did their work, we can't come to any other conclusion except that they gave glory to God for the work that they were able to do. The people understood there's a man, Jesus Christ, and he's able to make the blind see. It was his reputation and his glory that increased, not the apostles. So Herod hears about it, and he was confused. greatly perplexed because of what people were saying. This is John the Baptist. Come back from the dead. Well, that's a very personal thought for Herod. Why? Because he killed him. You remember, Herod's the one who killed John the Baptist. And so when the people are saying, here's John the Baptist, Herod's gone to the... He's executed the...

He's come to the extent of his authority. He can put people to death. And when the people are saying, he's back from the dead, Herod's going, this is beyond what I can control. I can manage. I can do. So he's very confused. Now there's something I want to say about John, since he's mentioned here in this text, and he was killed by Herod. Faithful ministry bears fruit even after the death of the person. And it's humble to realize that. I mean, we can grasp that truth out there for other people. Your legacy will go on. But we protect our lives, not our legacies. Not what we'll be remembered for. And what exactly was it that got John thrown in prison? Do you remember? Yeah. Yeah, Herodias, yeah. His brother Philip's wife. Yeah, it was this amazing, dynamic, engaging, powerful, authentic Christian message.

You shouldn't be sleeping with your brother's wife. That's wicked. This is what faithfulness looked like. It looked like him saying, that's adultery. God said don't commit adultery. And Herodias actually, more than Herod, Herodias hated him. And so one night, Herod was having a party. He'd already thrown John in prison because Herodias was angry. He's having a party and his... stepdaughter, Salome comes in, probably Philip and Herodias' daughter, comes in and she dances. And everyone goes, and as a reward, Herod says, I'll give, name your price. I'll give you anything you want, up to half of my kingdom. It can be yours. She's found favor in the eyes of the king. So what does she do? She goes, Mom, Mom, what should I ask for? And Herodias says, John's head on a platter. So Salome, Rush is in there. I want you to kill John the Baptist. I want his head on a platter. And Herod is stuck in public having said, I'll give you anything you want to half my kingdom. She says, I want John's head on a platter. Well, he's in a place where he can't repent, right? He can't say no. So he didn't. He killed John. So when the people are going around saying, we think John's raised from the dead, you realize Herod's interest is, he's interested. He's, hmm.

One of those guys. Or maybe it's Elijah. You know that guy that didn't die. That went up to heaven in a flaming chariot. Maybe he's back. Or maybe it's one of the other prophets that got put to death. Herod's very curious as to what's going on. What I want you to see is that the apostles' ministry struck at the conscience of Herod. His wickedness was recalled to mind. And he got worried. He remembered killing John. He doesn't believe that it's John. He says, I myself. I had John beheaded, but who is this man? So he doesn't think it's John. Who is this man? And then our text ends with he, Herod, kept trying to see him, to see Jesus. And so the fruit of Jesus sending the apostles out and them performing miracles and them preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, spreading throughout the land, Herod hears about it, he gets confused, says it's not John. The sum of it all is he says,

He wants to meet Jesus. He kept trying to meet him. Why? Why did he keep wanting to meet Jesus? What do you think? What's the fruit of the gospel at work? You're all confused. Remember at the beginning I asked you, what does the gospel look like when it's at work? Repentance, faith, the glory of God, all of these good things. So why does Herod want to see Jesus? Clearly, in our minds, it's because he's gained an interest in Christ. You think of the Apostle Paul. Those who are wicked, those who are the most awful persecutors, the worst detractors to the gospel, become the best disciples. And you think, Herod, he wanted to see Jesus. He was interested in the gospel, in the message. And yet that's not what's going on with Herod. Herod hasn't gained an interest in Christ. Herod was afraid of Jesus Christ. It says he kept trying to see him, but we have no record of him going to see him.

Now remember Nicodemus. He came to Jesus. He was a Jewish leader. And he came to Jesus by night. The record of it is in John 3. And he comes to him. He says, how can a man be born again? Is he supposed to get together with his mom and be born again? And Jesus says, no. But a man must be born again for him to enter the kingdom of heaven. And so Nicodemus, given his position, he found a way to go see Jesus. And it turns out that Nicodemus believed and that Nicodemus was one of the men who helped bury Jesus. He found a way, even with his position, he found a way to go and to see Jesus. He gained an interest because he heard the message. Herod, we don't have any indication that that's what's going on. All we know about Herod is that later on, once Jesus has been arrested and Pilate says, I don't find anything wrong with this. You deal with them yourself.

They're playing hot potato with Jesus, Herod and Pilate. And so Pilate sends him back and Herod gets him. And in Luke 23, 11, it says, Herod, with his soldiers, after treating him, Jesus Christ, with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back to Pilate. So did this man have an interest in Jesus Christ? Was he coming to faith? No, he was not. No, he was not. What was going on with Herod? Herod was being hardened, like Pharaoh. And Pharaoh had all these miracles like Herod, right? All these miracles going on around him. And the fruit of it all was he was hardened by them, not softened by them. Over time, Herod compounded his sin. He became harder and harder against Jesus Christ and his message until such time as he contributed to his death. So why do you want to see Jesus Christ? He wanted to see what he was up against. And there are a couple of applications.

Well, there's one application. I want you to learn from Herod. First, I want you to learn generally about the effect of the gospel. All of the answers that we gave and the things that we think about the gospel and its effect are always good. They're always positive. It always produces a happy ending. And that's not always true. Sometimes it produces, the gospel's given to people and the fruit of it is increased hardness. Now that's a depressing thought. Go out into the world, go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. And we think happy endings, good things, and that we see Herod, and it's not that way. And so you almost feel like when you see something like Herod, or you face this reality that sometimes the gospel produces a hardening, a calcification of the person's heart. They double down on their sin. You think, that's not a good thing.

It's really not a good thing. Make it really personal, okay? You all bring your kids to church. You all baptize them. Some of you are younger than others. You realize that bringing your children to church as they grow up, marking them with the sign of the covenant, stands as a testimony against them and it will increase their guilt if they don't repent and believe in Jesus Christ. You realize that. This isn't play. It will be worse for them. than the kid in Africa who never heard. Your children, it'll be worse for them. And yet you bring them here, and we have hope, and we trust God with them, and yet it's a vulnerable thing to do. And yet sometimes that's what the gospel does, is it hardens people. And there aren't groups of people who are entirely protected from that temptation. So what are we to do? Be depressed? Be sad? Be fearful? No. Well, how do you fight this?

How do you deal with this reality? When the gospel goes forth, sometimes it produces life. It's an aroma of life to life. And sometimes it produces death. And it reeks of death to those who hear it. How are you to do? Here's what you're to do. You're to work to maintain a clear conscience. This was Herod's failure. This was Herod's failure. Herod didn't maintain it. He did. What was wrong when he killed John? And he knew it. He knew it. If you read the account of Herod and John in Mark chapter 6, it says that Herod was afraid of John, knowing that John was righteous and holy. And because of that, he kept John safe. He put him in prison, but he kept him safe. He had respect for John. He had respect for John's message. And then he got himself into a pickle at the dinner.

Where someone says, we want John's head on a platter. And he went ahead and did it. Because of his reputation, because of what would happen. Do you remember when Nebuchadnezzar, was it Nebuchadnezzar who got tricked into sending out the edict? That if you worship, huh? Darius, I'm sorry. I get those guys confused. So he gets tricked by his counselors to send out an edict. Anybody who worships... who doesn't do all this and that and the other king, doesn't worship you, king, is to be put to death. And so Darius, not realizing what was really going on, sends out this edict. Right? So what's Daniel do? He's praying. And he gets caught. And what does Darius do when he sees, you know, I've got to kill these guys, and he tries, and then they don't die. Then what does he do? He repents. Yeah.

Whether it was salvific or not, he realized his error and he went, oh, no to that. This is what ought to be done. God's clearly at work in these guys. And to think that Herod couldn't is to believe a lie. And to think that you can't is to believe a lie. To think that your life circumstances, whatever they are now or in the future, that somehow your life... as such as it is, prevents you from doing what's right, is a lie from hell. And if you pursue wickedness, if you do what's wrong, it will corrupt you. It will afflict your conscience. And it will prepare you to do greater wickedness. This is what happened with Herod. He killed John and he knew he shouldn't have. And then when Jesus shows up, they say, it's John. He goes, it can't be John. And he wanted to see him. And when he finally does see him, He mocks him and contributes to Jesus' death. And so you have to work to maintain, to cultivate, and to maintain a clear conscience. You need to be convinced that the things that you do and the things that you don't do are pleasing to God. And some of those things will be universally true for all Christians, and some of them won't. Some of them will be particular to you because of your temptations and your strengths and your life such as it is.

And it's your work as a Christian to figure those things out, to get counsel about those things, to the end that you can maintain a clear conscience, that you can act in your life by faith and not by fear, and not because somebody told you to, and not because what will happen if I don't. Sin is corrupting. Sin's end is death. The wages of sin is death. And if you live with sins on your conscience that you won't confess, it will eat you from the inside out. And what at one point you couldn't have imagined doing, you'll end up defending your right to do it. How many times have you heard someone say, I never thought I could do that. I never thought it would ever end that way. It couldn't happen. Oh, yes, it can. And yes, it does. Just like it did to Herod. You feel like your hands are tied. You can't do anything else. And all of a sudden, your conscience is out the window. And you harden it further.

Because you can't bear the weight or the pain of it, the knowledge of the failure. And so you just go, I won't think about it. I will drown it out. Brothers and sisters, don't do that. It's your work to maintain a tender conscience, a clear conscience before the Lord. Yes, you'll sin. And when you sin, don't allow it to corrupt you. Confess your sins. Go to those that you sinned against and make it right so much as you're able. Because protecting and maintaining a clean conscience is central to the life of a Christian. You will not grow in holiness. You will not honor Jesus Christ if you don't. The final thing I'll say about this is maintaining a clear conscience is not only, that's not something that only Christians understand. Unbelievers understand this as well. They feel guilt. They know when they do things that are wrong. They know when they've compromised. They can grow to where they don't, just like we can. But this idea of a conscience and right and wrong,

is founded upon the reality that God wrote his law onto the heart of man. And you don't have to be a believer to know right from wrong. Little children know that stealing or hitting is wrong. And it's doubly worse when you see a little kid punch another little kid and have lost the knowledge that it was wrong. Because they lost it. They had it and they lost it. And so unbelievers have this... have a conscience. They have it written into their hearts that there is right and there is wrong. They have the law of God in its most basic form woven into them. And what that means is that we as Christians have grounds to talk to them about their conscience. They are bound, as we are bound, because they were made by God just like we were. The fact that someone doesn't believe doesn't absolve them from their responsibility.

to maintain a clear conscience. And then you think, well, how can they maintain a clear conscience? They're not Christians. And I say they can't. They can't. That's where you fit. That's where we fit. Because they can't. And they'll end like Herod. At the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, the conclusion when all has been heard is fear God and keep his commandments because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. And this judgment all will face, not just believers, not just unbelievers, all will face. And it's our good work as Christians to work to maintain a conscience, our conscience before God, to keep it tender, to keep it soft, to keep it clear. How do you do that when you sin? You just throw your hands up in the air and go, oh no, all is lost. Might as well continue. No, no.

What you do is you come to the cross of Jesus Christ and you acknowledge what you've done. And you ask him to wash you and to clean you and to make you holy and to renew your conscience. That's what you do. And that's the message that you have to take to those who don't know how to do that. Oh, it's just how I am, is what they say. I couldn't help it. I try not to. Nobody's perfect. What a dreadful thing to be wrong about that when it's too late to change your mind. Herod was not a believer. And John was faithful to him. And there were seeds planted in Herod by John. And Jesus' work through the apostles stirred all that stuff up. Herod didn't seek repentance, and he didn't find it. And it didn't end well for him when he died. And the same is true for you and me, and it's true for your neighbors. You're to maintain a clear conscience before God. You're to do what's pleasing to him. And you're to trust God with the outcome. Consider John's position.

You know, when he's there with Herod and with Herodias, what do you think his temptation was before he spoke? You shouldn't be sleeping with your brother's wife. Don't you think there's, are we the only ones who face temptations to not speak? No, John, whether John particularly did or not, I don't know. But I do know that we face those temptations and that faithfulness is what's required of us, what's provided for us through Jesus Christ, not fear. There are things in our lives that we cordon off and we go, well, that's just not an area where I can say or be or do Christian. I can't be a Christian there because I could get in trouble. I can't be a Christian at work. Well, I can be, but I can only speak to my peers. I can't speak to my boss. I can only speak to the other Christians there at work. Even if they're my boss, well, I can speak to them, but I can't speak to the unbelieving ones because they don't know.

They don't have. And I say, these are man's boundaries. These are your boundaries and mine. These are not God's boundaries. You can honor a pagan employer or a pagan politician or a pagan police officer and be a faithful Christian as well. What John said to Herod and Herodias wasn't dishonoring. It was true. And it cost him his head. And yet he was faithful. He maintained a clear conscience. You ever think about people that you love who aren't Christians when they die? I think it's universal that we all get this feeling in our stomach of like, there's this thing I should have done. It's not something I could have done. It's something I should have done. And you knew you should have done it before they died. And you chose not to. And now they're dead. And now you can't. And it makes you sick to think about it. I don't want us to live in that fear. I want you to live in that guilt.

Because you know what that will produce the next time you should do something? It will produce further unfaithfulness. Will it be painful? It may be. It may be. It may not be. The more you do it, the less painful it will be for you. You'll get your sea legs and you'll learn how to do it better. But this is the work before us. Because I don't want you or me or the people that we love to end up like Herod. And so it takes real discernment. Is God at work in this relationship? Are they softening? Are they not? Are they hardening? What should I say? What shouldn't I say? Should I say? Should I not? The answer to those questions lies in your conscience. Maintaining a clean conscience. And I don't want you to harden your conscience because you can't handle the guilt. If you're convinced that you've done something wrong, confess it. Ask for Jesus Christ to forgive you. Tell your brother and ask him to pray for you.

And then seek to be faithful next time. Jesus came to save sinners. And so don't live between your two ears bearing all of the worry and the anxiety of past sins. They will corrupt you if you don't bring them to the light and bring them to the cross. But if you do those things, God will heal you from them. And he'll help you. And he'll work faithfulness in the future in you, greater faithfulness. And that's what I want you to pursue. I want you to spend your life pursuing faithfulness, not avoiding unfaithfulness. I don't want you becoming more and more afraid to move. I want you becoming more and more adept at moving and working and loving people. This is how God's kingdom will go forth. And some people will die like John did. And some people will repent like Paul did. And this is our work. And this works in your home. And this works in your family house. And this works in your workplace. And this works in your neighborhood.

This is your work. It's my work. It's good work. Let's pray.