Hope Church LV Sermons
Guest Spearker :: Bob Pitman
Well, good morning, it is a joy to be with you. Cheryl and I always enjoy coming to hope to be with you. It's not often that we're able to come, but it's always a delight and we want to thank you for the way that you love and take care of our son Vance and our daughter-in-law of Christi and our four grandchildren that are out here, Skillet, Scooter, Skeeter and Scamper. Well, I want you to take your bibles and turn to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, now Vance told you that I was old school, so I'm reading from the King James version of the Bible. Alright? So if it was good enough for Paul and Silas, it's good enough for me. Luke chapter 13 verse 31. "The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him unto Jesus, get thee out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee." And Jesus said unto them, "Go ye and tell that fox. Behold, I cast out devils." Now turn over to Luke chapter 23 and verse 6, just a few pages over. Luke 23 verse 6. "When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man Jesus were to Galilee. And as soon as he knew that Jesus belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him. And he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with Jesus in many words, but Jesus answered him nothing. The Bible is an amazing book. It is a book about God, but it is also a book about man. The Bible tells us everything about God that God wants us to know. And the Bible tells us everything about man that we need to know. As you read through the Bible, you find all kinds of people. We see them at their best, and we see them at their worst. We see them on the mountaintops, and we see them in the depths of the valley. All kinds of people from all different parts of the world are found in the pages of God's Word. As you read through the scriptures, you find that some people in the Bible actually live pretty pathetic lives. Have you ever wondered who the most pathetic person in the Bible was? Well, in the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the Bible tells us about a man who was poor. But not only was he poor, he was crippled. He was unable to walk, but not only was he poor and crippled, he was a beggar. His name was Lazarus, a poor crippled beggar. He could not work. He could not provide for himself. And the Bible says that every day, men carried him and laid him outside of the gate that led to the house of a rich man. And the hope was that every day there would be enough crumbs that fell off the table of the rich man onto the floor that would be thrown out in the garbage. And there would be enough there for this poor crippled beggar to live on for another day. But not only does the Bible tell us that he was a poor crippled beggar, the Bible tells us that from head to toe, his whole body was covered with lesions, with sores. And these sores were constantly oozing pus from them. And the Bible says that every day the dogs would come and lick the pus from those sores. Now, you have to admit that's a pretty pathetic man. Poor crippled beggar covered with sores, dog licking the sores. You say, well, surely, Brother Bob, he was the most pathetic man in the Bible, but he wasn't. In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, the Bible tells us about a man who lived in the town of Gdara. He was possessed by 6,000 demons. He had a legion of demons and a legion was 6,000. And so inside the body of this one man were 6,000 demons living and operating inside of it. And they caused him to live the life of a maniac. The Bible tells us that he was always nude, never wore any clothing, always roaming around naked, and he lived out in the tombs. And he would walk through the mountainsides in the night screaming and screeching and howling like a wild animal. The Bible says he was always picking up sharp rocks and cutting himself just for the pleasure of seeing his blood flow. The Bible tells us that there were times when the men of the city would come with chains and they would bind him, but he had the supernatural energy of all of those demons and he would break those chains and then he would assault the very men who had come to bind him. As you see that poor man living the life of a maniac, wandering nude, screaming and howling and cutting himself. And you say surely he was the most pathetic man in the Bible, but he wasn't. In Mark chapter 9 we read about a young man. He was demon-possessed, but he wasn't demon-possessed by 6,000 demons. He was only demon-possessed by one demon, but it was a demon of self-affliction and he was constantly trying to kill himself. He would throw himself into a fire to burn himself to death and he would throw himself into a river trying to drown himself and had it not been that his father was his constant companion, pulling him out of the fire and pulling him out of the river then he would have already been dead. The Bible said he would freeze up and fall back and form at the mouth like a wild man having seizures. You say surely, surely brother Bob, he was the most pathetic man in the Bible, but he wasn't. You see the truth is all three of those men did live, some pathetic lives, but the same truth is all three of those men went to heaven when they died. Now they did not go to heaven because they had lived pathetic lives. They did not go to heaven because they were demon-possessed or because they were poor or crippled or beggars. They went to heaven because they had an encounter with Jesus Christ. Jesus himself tells us that that man Lazarus the poor crippled beggar Jesus said when he died he was carried by angels into the very presence of God. The Bible tells us in Mark 5 that that man who was possessed with 6,000 demons that he had an encounter with Jesus and Jesus changed his life and the Bible said when Jesus got through with him he was sitting and clothed and in his right mind. That young man in Mark chapter 9 who was constantly trying to take his own life, he had an encounter with Jesus, Jesus cast a demon out of him, transformed his life and he was never the same again. Yes, they did live pathetic lives, but Jesus changed their life and they went to heaven when they died. Well then who is the most pathetic man in the Bible? I read to you from God's word about him. He is identified in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 13 and again in chapter 23, not by name, but by title he is referred to as Herod. Now as you read the Bible there were more than one Herod in the Bible, there were several, but this one is Herod Antipas. And most of the time when you read the New Testament and you read about Herod it's about this man Herod Antipas because he was the governor of Galilee at the same time Jesus was performing his earthly ministry so their lives and their times meshed. Herod Antipas is the most pathetic man in the Bible and I'll tell you why in just a minute. He was the son of Herod the Great. You remember Herod the Great? Dr. A.T. Robertson, one of the greatest Greek scholars southern Baptist ever had. Dr. Dr. Robertson called him Herod the Great pervert and I think that said him well. You remember Herod the Great? He was the king when Jesus was born and after Jesus was born they began to say well he's the king of the Jews. Well Herod the Great didn't like that. He thought he was the king of the Jews and he did not want any rivalries. He didn't want any competition so he issued that hellish decree that all Hebrew baby boys two years of age and under are to be put to death and many of them were but Jesus and his mother Mary and her husband Joseph they escaped. They fled down to Egypt and the life of Jesus was spared. That was Herod the Great. Herod Antipas is his son and I want to tell you a few things about Herod Antipas and then we'll have our prayer. First of all I want you to know that he was an ambitious man. He was an ambitious man. Now ambition in and of itself is not bad. I hope that all of you have some ambition. I hope to you young people who are in school looking forward to graduation. I hope you have some ambition in life and ambition is not in and of itself bad but when ambition becomes the driving craving passion of your life it is like a cancer that eats away from the inside. You see when Herod Antipas was just a little boy his daddy Herod the Great said son one day all that I have is going to be yours. All of my wealth all of my power all of my kingdom it will all belong to you and so even as a little boy that ambition began to churn inside it. Well before his daddy Herod the Great before he died he changed his mind and instead of giving Herod Antipas all of it he only gave him one fourth of it. He only got one fourth of the kingdom one fourth of the money one fourth of the power and so Herod Antipas he didn't get as much as he thought he was going to get he didn't get as much as he thought he should have gotten but that ambition was still churning inside it. He married a woman but now he did not marry her because she was attractive he did not even marry her because he loved her he married her because her daddy was a king and his thought was one day her dad will die and all that he has she will get and she belongs to me so what she gets I get so it was a marriage for political and financial reasons that's Herod Antipas an ambitious man but he also became Herod Antipas an adulterous man. Herod Antipas had a brother named Philip and Philip married a woman named Herodias. Now Herodias had already been married before she had a beautiful daughter but that didn't bother Philip Philip saw Herodias and I'm telling you she was a knockout. On a scale of one to ten she was a twelve and a half. Her eyes sparkle like diamonds her hair was immaculate her face was strikingly beautiful her lips were full and all the rest of her was put together very much. And so Philip married Herodias and he said I want to take my new bride and show her off to my brother. Oh he's got the power and he's got the money but I have the pretty wife and so he carries his wife Herodias over to visit his brother Herod Antipas and his wife whoever she was. And when Herod when Herod Antipas saw his new sister-in-law when he saw Herodias I tell you his book his eyes popped out of his head and he had never seen anything that beautiful and he said in his old vile wicked heart I'm going to have her. I don't care if she's my sister-in-law I don't care if she's my brother's wife I'm going to have her and have her he knows they have an affair and out of that illicit affair later she divorces Philip and Herod Antipas divorces his wife and now Herod and Herod Antipas and Herodotius become husband and wife and all the people begin to whisper and they begin to murmur and finally Herod has enough and he says stop it I'm the governor here I'm the tetrarch here I'll do what I want to do I'll have what I want to have I'll say what I want to say and you better shut up or I'll kill you. And so now he's Herod the adulterous man the third thing I tell you is not only was he an ambitious man and an adulterous man he became a murderous man when Herod had said you better shut up I've had enough don't talk about me don't talk about my wife or I'll kill you everybody shut up except one fella his name was John the Baptist John the Baptist had never been schooled in political correctness John the Baptist knew nothing about social tolerance or theological inclusiveness John the Baptist pointed his finger in the face of Herod Antipas and he said you are a wicked vile immoral and godly man you've brought shame upon our nation you are living in sin you're an ungodly man and your wife is just as ungodly as you are now for some strange reason unbeknownst to me that didn't sit well with Herod but not only did it not sit well with Herod it sat even less well with his wife Herodia now I want to give you some north Alabama philosophy if a man says to you I'm going to kill you forget it each supper have a good time go about your business but if a woman says to you I'm going to kill you you best get ready to die and Herodias was mad she didn't like what the Baptist had said about her and Herod said now put him in prison I'm not I'm not going to kill him I like him and I don't know why but he liked him but I've put him in prison he'll never be out nobody'll ever hear him again he can't bother us but that didn't satisfy that woman Herodias hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and John the Baptist had scorned her well and so she wanted him dead oh and so in her mind she can seize the plot Herod Antipas has a birthday coming and Herodias says to her daughter many-collar salami sweetheart in just a few days your stepfather's going to have a birthday and everybody's coming all the big shots the blue bloods everybody that's somebody they'll be here and there'll be a lot of drinking and you know how your stepfather is he'll get drunk and I've seen the way he looks at you and so when he gets good and drunk I'll have the music arranged and I'll nod to the orchestra and they'll begin to play a very selective song and then I want you to go and dance before your stepfather heaven and as you dance I want you to do the dance of the seven veils as you whirl and twirl I want you to drop a veil and drop another veil and as more of your body is exposed the more while he will become and at some point he will say to you what can I give you and you tell him you want the head of John the Baptist on a platter so the night of the birthday bash comes everybody that's there the big shots the upper crust they're all there and they drink and they sing and they drink and they dance and they drink and they eat and they drink and they tell jokes and then they really drink and sure enough Herod gets drunk and Herodias nods to the orchestra and they begin to play one of those berry white songs and she nods to Herodias to salamate her daughter and she begins to get before her stepfather and to dance seductively and then she drops a veil here and she drops a veil there here the veil there the veil everywhere are they there and pretty soon most of the veils are gone and Herod in his drunken stupor gazes upon her exposed body and his eyes bows and his mouth becomes dry and his temples begin to throb and sweat breaks out all over his body and he looks at her and he says what what did I do for you and she said I want the head of the Baptist on a platter so Herod sends word to the prison bring to the head of John the Baptist they bring Herod out of his prison cell put him all home the block the axe falls down on the back of his neck his lifeless body falls to the ground they pick up his dead head by the hair and they place it upon the platter and here it is brought into the party as the main entree for gaping lookers so now he is a murderous man the fourth thing I tell you about Herod not only was an ambitious man a murderous man a murderous man but then he became a superstitious man because when Jesus began his public ministry here's what people said he's John the Baptist come back from the dead now they didn't call Jesus John the Baptist because he dressed like him nobody dressed like John the Baptist they called Jesus John the Baptist because he preached like John the Baptist when John the Baptist began his public ministry he preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and when Jesus began his public ministry he preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and they said this is John the Baptist why he's the man that Herod beheaded he's the man Herod Kiel and he's come back from the dead and word got the Herod John the Baptist is back and Herod becomes terrified overwhelmed with superstition every time he stands up his knee is knocked every night when he tries to sleep cold shivers run up and down his spine he's back he's back and he's back to get me he's back Jesus comes in the Galilee on a preaching mission and they say Herod Herod he's here he's right here in your kingdom he's here and Herod sends Pharisees religious men out to where Jesus is and so these Pharisees go at the request of Herod Antipas and they say to Jesus get out of here we don't want you here leave and leave now and if you don't leave Herod we'll kill you now what do you think Jesus reaction to that's going to be do you think Jesus is going to save a great god of mighty fellows we better run and we better run quick no that's not what he did Jesus said to those religious leaders you go tell that fuck now why did Jesus call Herod of Fox all the writers of common territories they go bonkers here they say that Jesus called Herod of Fox because he was so sly and crafty and canning like a fox that's crazy if Jesus had called Herod of Fox because he was sly and canning and crafty that would have been a compliment and Jesus had no compliment for Herod Jesus had only disgust and disdain for him Jesus said you go tell that fox the word fox is in the feminine in the New Testament language and it refers to those little female foxes of the day they were known for two things number one they were known for being thieves they would slip up under the vineyards and they would steal all the grapes and nothing would be left but leaves but not only were they known for being thieves they were known for being cowards if you ever confronted one they wouldn't stand their ground they wouldn't grow they'd turn it run as fast as they could run these religious leaders said Jesus you get out of here and leave or heaven's going to kill you Jesus said you go tell that little girl fox that I cast out devils and if I'm not afraid of devils I'm not afraid of him I like that I like Jesus you like Jesus you say we're brother Bob I love Jesus well I love Jesus too but there are some people I love but really don't like you ought to see some of my cousins I love Jesus but I like him real man you go tell that little girl fox I'm not afraid of him well time passes and you know how superstition is it comes and it's real for a while and then it vanishes away there was a day there was a day in your life if you were driving down the street in a black cat running across your path you turned the car around but now you just run over the cat and he's gone that's the way it is with superstition they come and they go and so word begins to come to Herod why you know he's really not John the Baptist come back from the dead he's his own man and I tell you he's quite a man why why he walks on water he comes to storm he tells the wind to stop blowing and it stops blowing why why he he used to sit well he even raises the dead and so now Herod the ambitious man the adulterous man the murderous man the superstitious man he becomes the curious man and he says I want to see him I'm not afraid of him anymore I want to see him if I ever get a chance to see him I'm going to make him put on a show for me I'm going to make him do a miracle just for me I'll make him entertain me well Herod has to go to Jerusalem because it's Passover and all the men have to go to Jerusalem during Passover Jesus is arrested just prior to his crucifixion they carry him to Pilate he's the Roman governor there and and Pilate finds out that Jesus is a Galilean and Pilate was a typical politician like politicians of our day they really don't like to deal with hot potato issues and so Pilate says well I shouldn't have to deal with him he belongs under Herod's jurisdiction Herod's in town he's over to holiday in take him over there and so word comes to Herod Herod he's coming he's coming Pilate is sending him to you Jesus the one you wanted to see Jesus the miracle worker and the Bible said Herod was exceeding glad you know what that means the best way to describe it's like a little boy on Christmas Eve who can hardly go to sleep because of anticipation of what he's going to see in the morning that Santa has brought to his that's what it means to be exceeding glad and so here Jesus walks through the door and the Bible says and Herod questioned him with many words you can just hear it who are you what's your name who's your mama who's your daddy where are you from how long you've been here where are you going next what are you going to do here and listen to the Bible and Jesus answered him nothing that word nothing means the nothing of nothingness nothing not one sentence not one word not one vowel nothing and when Jesus won't speak to you you cannot be saved those of you who are here this morning that are Christians and most of you I'm sure are you're not a Christian because you joined hope back this church you're not a Christian because you walked on an aisle and filled out a card you're not a Christian because you were baptized in water you're not a Christian because you turned over a new leaf or even stopped committing one or two sins if you are a Christian you're a Christian because you came to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and he spoke salvation into your life he has the words of life and when Jesus will not speak to you you have no hope of eternal life and Jesus said nothing to heaven now that's interesting because as you read the New Testament Jesus spoke to prostitutes Jesus spoke to thieves Jesus spoke to murderers Jesus even spoke to Pilate the Roman governor but Jesus had nothing to say to Herod because you see Herod had crossed the line when Herod murdered John the Baptist Herod killed his own conscience and when you kill your conscience Jesus has nothing to say to you there may be some here this morning and you maybe have been here many times many Sundays and heard brother Vance or brother Travis or whoever it may have been speaking on that day maybe you've had a number of opportunities to give your life to Christ and thus far you said no not today I'll wait maybe later but you see every time you say no you move closer to a line that is drawn there's an old old old song I haven't heard it in 40 years but it goes something like this it says there's a line that is drawn by rejecting our Lord where the call of his spirit is lost and you hurry along with the pleasure man throng have you counted have you counted the cost and the chorus asked this question have you counted the cost if your soul should be lost though you gained the whole world for your own even now it may be that the line you have crossed have you counted have you counted the cost every time you have an opportunity to give your life to Christ and you say no not today not this time no no no you move closer and closer to that line and one day you'll say no for the last time and the Lord will never speak to you again there's some of you here this morning he's speaking your heart you've never given your life to him you've never been saved maybe you didn't come today expecting to hear from him but but here you are and you know he's speaking to your heart if he's speaking to your heart today he wants you to be saved today don't wait don't wait too late [ Silence ]