It's your one. Spam. Spam text. So I just wanted
to tell you something. Shout your fame. Jesus,
I decide to live a life that shouts your fame.
I decide to live and live a life that shouts
your name. Good evening! It's time for Whacked
Out Simple Stuff. We're going to talk about something
kind of depressing for a moment. I apologize.
We're not going to talk about it from the sense
of being depressing, but we're going to talk
about something kind of depressing. We're going
to talk about the crucifixion for a moment. There's
a couple of key things that a lot of people might
miss in the crucifixion. So first of all, you
know what crucifixion is, right? It's where a
person is nailed to a cross. So Jesus was nailed
to a cross, and that's how he died. So we're
talking about three things, three things about
crucifixion. So the first one is the nails. Okay,
so the nails would be put in the hand, quote
-unquote hand and feet of the person being crucified.
So their feet would be crossed like that, and
it's usually a single nail. And a lot of times
they might be wrapped around with rope so they
couldn't accidentally pull off, but sometimes
not, just the nail. And then their hands would
be nailed to the cross piece of the cross like
that. Some crucifixions were done on a cross
that looks like an X, and some were done on a
cross piece with a pole. The majority were like
that during the day that Jesus was crucified,
but either way it could be possible. In Jesus'
case, we know that it was a cross piece with
a pole, and his hands were nailed to the pole
that goes across, and his feet were nailed to
the one behind it. Now, interestingly enough,
there is some debate as to where the nails were.
The Bible says they were in his hands, but the
reason people kind of debate whether the nail
was right here in the palm of his hand or whether
it was in his wrist more If you can imagine,
put a great big spike in the middle of the palm
of your hand. First of all, it's extremely painful
because there's a nerve that runs through there.
You'd be crushing that nerve, and it's a pain
like you'd never know at any other time in your
life. That being said, if you put it right there,
you can imagine your hands have a hard time holding
your body weight. And so if you had a big spike
already going through your hand, your hand's
pretty torn up, maybe the bones back here are
broken, or at least not broken, but pushed apart,
right? the weight pulling on that could release,
and you could come off the spike. But if you
put it through your wrist right here, then it
still pierces that same nerve, and it would hold
a lot more weight. So a lot of them were pierced
through the wrist right here. If you see a picture
of Jesus' hand, if you've seen the Evangicube,
you know what the Evangicube is? In the Evangicube,
they show Jesus' hand reaching out to help us
to be saved, and the hole is like right there.
Jewish terminology for hand included that spot,
includes all the way up to where the wrist stops
and you're going into the arm bones. So we don't
really know for sure exactly where it would have
been, but we have a pretty good idea that it
was from here down into the hand, the Jewish
word hand, okay? Also, you know that when Thomas
was doubting Jesus, Jesus showed him his hands
and he could see the... mark there from the spike.
So we know it was here, somewhere between here
and here. That's about what we know. So the spikes
are the first thing we talk about. The second
thing we talk about is water and blood. So after
Jesus was crucified, he hung on the cross and
he was suffering. People didn't usually bleed
out on the cross, even though they were whipped
really bad and their back was raw and their hands
and feet would be bleeding. They didn't usually
bleed out. They usually suffocated. Okay, and
so if you can imagine if your feet are spiked
to the cross and your hands, you're going to
sag down like this because you're exhausted,
right? Even standing up is hard enough, but when
you're standing on a spike that's driven through
your feet, you sag down like that and you can't
hardly stand up. But when you do that and your
arms are up like that, you can't exhale. If you're
stretched out completely like that, you can't
breathe out. It's even hard. If you put your
hands up in the air now and try to breathe out,
you'll realize you can't fully breathe out. You
can't get the air out of your lungs. And then
if you let yourself come up, you can breathe
the rest of the way out. Well, it would have
been impossible for him to fully breathe out.
If you can't breathe out, guess what you can't
do? You can't breathe in. You can't breathe out.
You can't breathe in. And so you push with your
feet to get up so that you can breathe out. Take
another breath. And then sag back down again
because you're exhausted and there's a nail through
your feet. And so they would do that up and down
motion, trying to get breath for a long time,
and eventually they wouldn't be able to do it
anymore, and they would suffocate. On the off
chance that they had not suffocated, a soldier
would come along and whack their legs with a
club or a heavy piece of wood and break their
legs so they could no longer push themselves
up, and they would suffocate. It's a terrible,
terrible way to die. It is the worst. In fact,
the pain of crucifixion, there was no pain like
it. And so they made a word called excruciating.
And so when you stub your toe and you say, oh,
that was excruciating, it's not actually, because
that word literally means the pain of crucifixion.
So nothing is excruciating except crucifixion,
because the word means pain of crucifixion. But
at the end with Jesus, he did die. He was dead
on the cross, and they came and they checked
him, and they found he was dead. The Roman soldier
that found that he was dead, First of all, they
were a little surprised that he died as quick
as he did, but his beating was severe, worse
probably, and then his treatment was worse than
what others normally experienced. And so the
soldier checked and said, yeah, he's dead, but
here's the thing. If he would come down off the
cross and survive by some way, then that soldier
would have sacrificed his life. The law said
if a Roman soldier who was in charge of a prisoner
lost his prisoner, his prisoner escaped, and
if he was charged with putting that person to
death and that person lived afterwards, then
that Roman soldier would have been put to death.
So he wasn't going to take any chances. So what
he did was he ran a spear up into Jesus' side,
under his ribs probably, and pierced his heart
to be 100%, maybe 110%, because he was pretty
sure already that Jesus was dead. Now when that
happened, blood and water flowed out of Jesus'
side. Now here's what's really neat. This is
really neat. In modern day medicine, only for
less than about 150 years, have we known of a
thing called, what's called a pleural effusion.
And when a person undergrows a great deal of
stress, they get water in a sack around their
heart. And it makes it hard for your heart to
beat. And so you can eventually have a heart
attack and die if you're under too much stress
because of that very thing. So Jesus obviously
had gone through a ton of stress, and almost
certainly he had a sack of water around his heart.
So when that spear ran in there and pierced his
heart, and they pulled it back out, the blood
came out, and the water came out. But they didn't
understand that. They're like, wow, that's weird.
Why would that happen? We don't see that. We
don't see blood and water flowing out when you
stab somebody. Where would the water come from?
We didn't stab him in the bladder, right? That's
weird. Why would that happen? But later... 1
,800 years later or whatever, medicine found
out, because we got x -rays and things like that,
found out that that's what happens when a person's
under a ton of stress to get water in a sack
around their heart. And then if their heart would
be pierced like Jesus's was, then blood and water
would flow. Now, what's really neat about that?
They didn't know that. They just observed what
they saw. They didn't know why it would be like
that. Modern medicine had not learned that yet
for 1 ,800 years or whatever it was. And so they
recorded the facts as they saw them. And now
we have that, and we can say, man, for 1 ,800
years, people knew that blood and water flowed.
They just didn't know why. And then somebody
finally discovered why. That's proof that the
story is true and accurate. Does that make sense?
It's proof that it's true and accurate. And then
the last thing about the crucifixion is the moment
of Jesus' death on the cross, which is probably
a bunch more of these that I could do. The moment
of Jesus' death on the cross, something happened.
Something incredible happened. Does anybody know
what it was? The moment he died, something happened.
What was it? The veil in the temple. Now this
is interesting because the veil was a four inch
thick. Go like this with your fingers. Measure
about four inches. It was a cloth four inches
thick. So if you have a cloth that's four inches
thick, you can imagine ripping that is virtually
impossible. It was a woven cloth, four inches
thick. And it was 40 inches. feet tall four inches
thick and 40 feet tall so to rip it you would
need oh i know big scissors a sharp knife a really
sharp knife you know a really sharp sword maybe
and then even then you'd be probably hacking
at it because it's four inches thick right except
guess what it tore from the top down So as if
somebody had gotten out a 40 -feet ladder and
crawled up to the top of the curtain and hacked
at it with a machete to get it started and then
really ripped at it for a while, because even
if you get it started, it's four inches thick.
It's not going to tear easily, right? You'd have
to put some serious muscle into it, serious weight
into it, and it tore from the top to the bottom.
And that, of course, is symbolic because that
curtain was the curtain that kept people from
God. It kept people who were in the outer temple
from being able to go into the inner temple where
God is. God's presence was what they call the
Holy of Holies. And so what God was showing us
is that in the death of Jesus, our coming to
God was paid for. And so we can, because of the
crucifixion, we can pray to God. We can walk
right into God's throne room with our prayers
and say, God, this is what I need help with.
God, this is what's on my heart today. God, this
is how I'm feeling today because of that. And
that's what God was showing us by the ripping
of the curtain. As I said, there's a lot more
there. So take time, get a Bible, and read the
story of the crucifixion. And then ask yourself,
that's a detail. That's interesting. I didn't
know that. What does that mean? What am I supposed
to know about that? What does God want to show
me about that? And if you find one and you don't
know what it is, you bring it next week and we'll
talk about it. If you say, why did that happen?
We'll get a little list and we'll talk about
those things and what God was showing us. Because
there was a lot going on right there. The crucifixion
was pointed to from the very beginning. God told
Eve that one of her offspring would crush the
head of the serpent in the garden. So from the
very beginning it was coming. And then we look
back on it now and we always will. As long as
the earth remains and human beings remain, the
crucifixion will not be forgotten. So that is
an important event. You can take a look at it
in your Bibles. Just wanted to share those few
interesting things with you. If your friends
say, well, how do you know it's real? We say,
well, if nothing else, we know because the people
who witnessed it recorded blood and water, and
medicine didn't even know about that until less
than 200 years ago, but they recorded it back
then, and that's proof above all other proofs,
or with all other proofs. So let's pray together.
We've got one more song, and then we'll release
the children to the classroom. Here we go. Father
in heaven, I praise you. That you had a plan
and you carried it out. I think about all the
times that I have had plans. I had ideas of what
I thought I would do. Some of them were pretty
extreme. Like I thought, I'm going to do that
if it kills me. And some of them happened and
some of them didn't. But you're not a God like
that. When you make a plan, it happens. When
you make a promise, it's fulfilled. When you
set out to do something, you never fail. As a
pastor said just right here in this room just
recently, you get your part right. And we are
grateful, Lord, that that's the kind of God that
we have. At the same time, we realize we've screwed
up. In our lives, we've lied or cheated or stolen.
We've done wrong things, the kind of things that
deserve justice or punishment or correction.
And because of that, you made a way. You sent
your son, Jesus, to take our sins on that cross
so that when we lied, The lie went on the cross.
When we stole, the theft went on the cross. When
we were angry at our brother, that sin of anger
at our brother went on the cross. Now, some people
know it. Some people realize it. Some people
believe it. And for them, it means eternal life.
It is ultimate forgiveness. I pray that everybody
in this room is like that, that we all realize
that Jesus paid the price so we could be forgiven
for the dumb things that we've done. Thank you,
Lord, for forgiving us through Jesus, your son.
Lord, we also know that because of what you've
done, and not just that, but creating everything,
creating us and taking care of everything, that
you have a right to be Lord. That means you tell
us what to do and we do it. And so, Lord, tell
us what to do and we'll do it. We know that we're
supposed to worship you. That's one of the things
you've told us to do, that our attention now
should be on worshiping you. That's what we're
going to do now with this song. And so, Lord,
help us do that. Help us put our attention on
worshiping you. You are awesome and you deserve
it all. We pray all this in Jesus' precious name.
Amen. I'm going to do it. I'm going to praise
him forever. You are my God. I will ever praise
you. promises. That's the series that we're working
through. We have, last week we fulfilled our
obligation to look into the command that comes
with a promise, the first such command that comes
with a promise. And today we're going to look
at three, their promises, but we're going to
see how they have some accompanying I think is
the way to say it. I'd say commands from the
Lord. Also, I just realized I did not bring my
bag of candy in here. I can't pelt people with
candy. Hey, Chris. Would you want to run to the
office and grab my bag of candy? It should be
on that table or it could be on my desk. I apologize.
Thank you, sir. How you doing, buddy? All right.
Okay, so we're going to get started. We'll make
sure that Chris gets caught up because I just
sent him on an errand to get the candy, and he'll
miss the first couple of blanks, okay? All right,
so it says soaring or not, and then you see a
pair of wings and the word you great big in the
middle of the pair of wings. The worksheet is
posted on Facebook, so those that want to can
find it on my profile. I don't know if it made
it on the New Heights profile or not, but it's
there. The reference we will first look at is
a classic reference. It is Matthew chapter 28,
verses 18 through 20. So that's what goes in
those first blanks. Matthew 28, 18 to 20. These
verses will be affectionately called by many
the Great Commission. They are... In theory,
Jesus' last words on the earth to his disciples
before leaving to go to heaven. They are the
last words Matthew recorded, in any case. Okay?
So, Matthew 28, 18 through 20. Okay? So I'm going
to read the verses. You're going to look at your
paper, and then you're going to fill them in.
That's going to be the plan. So we'll see how
well this goes. It's going to follow the verses
really closely, so pay close attention and you
should get it. Verse 18 says, And Jesus came
up and spoke to them, saying, All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations.
baptizing them in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow
all that I commanded you, and behold, I am with
you always to the end of the age. Okay? So now,
I might be able to do that from memory. Some
days I can, some days I can't. Probably not today
because I've had like a long migraine that's
coming to an end, but maybe. The very first two
words then should be? Go. Don't get too far ahead.
Tell. That's right. Good job, Tim. So go tell.
Okay? Say again? Yes, deceivingly long blank.
That happens at times. Go tell. All right? And
then in parentheses, I put in parentheses because
it is, you'll notice that the command portion
of this, go therefore. There could have been
a, it could have been therefore. The T could
have been therefore, right? The command is to
go and tell, and then there is a therefore there,
and we know what the therefore is there for,
right? Whenever you see a therefore, you always
want to know what's it there for. That's the
first cue to me to go and look. And so in the
parentheses, you could figure out the therefore
because it was in the verse before it. And so
what do you got? All? Yep. Yes, in heaven and
on earth. Yes. Sorry. Just take this back. All
right. So that's the therefore. So this is missed
by a lot of people. OK, so we talk about like
the even Paul wrote about the ruler of this world.
And we usually say the ruler of this world. To
whom are we referring? Well, usually you hear
that phrase ruler of this world. The devil, right?
Most people are talking about the devil when
they say the ruler of this world. He is certainly
not the ruler of heaven. But notice that at the
time of Jesus' ascension, at the time when he
is leaving this earth, he tells the disciples
to go and tell. And the reason he tells them
to go and tell, or what reason he gives is, all
authority has been given me in heaven and on
earth. So if you think that there is a battle
taking place between Satan and Jesus and Jesus
is just barely pulling it out, that is not correct.
That's not the math of it. If you're struggling
on a day -to -day basis, you have the Holy Spirit
in you, the Holy Spirit's lifting you up, the
Holy Spirit's encouraging, the Holy Spirit's
helping you to overcome and that kind of thing,
but you also have lots of schemes of the devil
and there's evil spirits involved, you put thoughts
in your head and you're barely winning out, that's
not the math of it. That's not the way it's supposed
to be. We have total victory in Christ. It's
already won. The battle is already determined.
I heard a pastor say it this way. I don't know
if you're aware of this or not, but during the
Civil War, Tennessee seceded from the Union.
It became one of the Confederate states. When
Tennessee conceded from the Union, part of Tennessee
seceded from Tennessee and said they were going
to stick with the Union. And when that happened,
the part of Tennessee that was seceding beat
them down. They put them down fast and hard.
And so what happened was that part that was trying
to stay with the Union became the rebellion against
the rebellion. And then the part of Tennessee
that was seceding said, no, we're not going to
let you rebel against us. And they forced them
to become a Confederate state. So what I'm getting
at is sometimes it looks like there's this massive
conflict. But the truth is that the outcome is
already determined. Jesus said, all authority
has been given me in heaven and on earth. So
when you have trials and tribulations, do not
mistake it for a lack of power or authority on
behalf of Jesus. Jesus does not lack the ability
to heal miraculously, to overcome your trials
or your temptations or to stop storms or any
of that. He does not lack in power in any way,
shape or form. All authority. had been, at the
time that he's speaking here, given him in heaven
and on earth. That was done. Now, elsewhere,
we will hear that there will continue to be a
rebellion, right? In a sense, you think it's
like the rebellion against the rebellion. And
that's what he was telling the disciples to do.
Go put down the rebellion. It's been settled,
right? There's just people that don't accept
that it's been settled. There are evil spirits
that don't accept that it's been settled and
so on. So go put down the rebellion. That's what
he's saying, okay? All right, so we're going
to move on. So we have go tell, and then in the
parentheses, all authority has been given me
in heaven and on earth. And then, and? Make disciples
of all nations. Perfect. Make disciples of all
nations. So real quick, what is a disciple? That's
half of it. Someone who follows Jesus or follows
God, that's only half of it. What's the other
half? And tells people. That's right. So you
learn from your master, which in our case is
Jesus or God. We learn from the master and we
deliver the teachings to others. If you don't
get to the point where you can deliver the teachings,
then you're not a disciple. You might be a student.
But if you go to class, let's say you go to college,
and you take Psychology 101. I've seen this happen
100 times, by the way. Aaron, you took Psychology,
didn't you? Okay, so you took Psychology, and
as you were learning new things in Psychology,
what were you want to do? Apply it. Okay, apply
it. Do something about it, right? And you start
talking to me about it, talking to other people
about it, right? Because you were learning it.
Now, some of that is cross -checking. Is this
really true? Does this really play itself out
this way? Right. Can I really do something with
this? But the truth is, when you get filled with
useful knowledge, like if I told you that you
go on right now, if you go out right now on Stack
Social and you can get a coupon for $40 off gas
at Circle K right now, go on there right now
on your phone. I'll give you the code and you
get $40 off Circle K and you don't have to register.
You have to put your cell phone number in. You
don't have to give a credit card, nothing. And
they'll give you a code. They'll send you a code
40 bucks and they'll never text you after the
fact. Right? You'd be like, uh -huh, yeah, I'm
going to do that because I can stop and get gas
on the way home. I probably need enough gas.
I can do that. And then what would you do? You'd
be thinking, well, who else needs to know this
information to get free $40 of gas? Why wouldn't
I? There's no negative, right? So when you get
valuable information, when you get valuable information,
then you share that information. It's a natural
outflow. Otherwise, you're disparaging the information
and saying, well, that's not really worth it.
So a disciple is someone who follows. Follows
and learns from the master and then delivers
it. So this is what some of my friends have made
the mistake of doing. They think that they are
making disciples of themselves. You are not a
disciple of Pastor Dan. In fact, though I may
stand up here and teach or preach, you do not
learn from me. You learn from me in the sense
that I'm the one doing the actual biological
talking, right? But the truth is you're learning
from God. So that if I stand up here and I get
something wrong, if I teach something that God
would not have you to know, then you'll ignore
it. Or you'll question me on it so I don't get
it wrong. You'll be like, hey, Pastor Dan, you
said this, but that's not quite right, is it?
And I'm like, oh, crud, yeah, that's not quite
right. So we've got to fix that or whatever.
So this is the crucible in which we learn from
Jesus. The disciples were going on behalf of
Jesus. They were not trying to make disciples
of John, even though that did happen. And they
weren't trying to make disciples of Peter, even
though that did happen to some degree. They were
always trying to point back to Jesus. So a discipleship
program is a program that points to Jesus, that
teaches people to learn from Jesus and then to
share whatever they got. That's so important
because every single one of us is unique. Every
single one of us has a different level. So like,
for example, in this room, phenomenal with language.
He's the closest thing to a linguist that we
have, right? He's super good with language and
even can do some computer programming like that.
So Aaron is super good with technology and especially
like the POS technology stuff that he works with
and that kind of thing. And so Tim, not a linguist,
not super good with technology, but able to communicate
with people on an empathetic level and talk to
people that some of us might not even be able
to talk to. So we're all unique, and you have
to get it from Jesus. And so if I get it from
Jesus, but you don't, then you're not going to
be able to deliver it to the people that you're
supposed to deliver it to. And some people are
going to hear from you that would not hear from
me, and vice versa. And so the bottom line is,
we are disciples of Jesus, and then we are going
to take those teachings to all nations, as this
command says. We're actually after the promise,
by the way, not the command, so I don't want
to dwell too long. Probably already went too
long right there. The rest of this should be
obvious. The B is definitely baptize them in
the name of the Father. So you'll notice there
is a blank between of and Father. You need to
write in the word the. Yep. So write in the word
the. There is no line there. Okay. I left that
there for a reason. The reason I left it there
is now you'll notice once the the is in there
that it all sort of connects together. But previously,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit stood off by themselves.
See the symbolism? Previously, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit stood off by themselves. But now,
because of Jesus, because of the crucifixion,
because of his call to us, we are part of the
team. We have a job to do. You could say a purpose,
although we wouldn't want to run on ahead. So
then not only are we going to baptize them in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
but on top of that we're going to, starts with
a T. Very good. Teach them to observe all that
I have commanded you. So again, they're getting
their directions from Jesus. They're delivering
the directions to the world. So as much as we
say it's really not going to be great to tell
somebody not to lie if they're lost because they're
just going to do it anyway. and they're probably
going to feel guilty from that point on or whatever.
Jesus did tell us, to be honest. There are a
lot of commands of Jesus that aren't necessarily
going to be worth something to the world. They're
not necessarily going to follow those commands.
But in delivering the truth about Jesus, they
may discover that they need him, and that's what
we're really after. Then you see a lo there.
What does lo mean? L -O. It's in the Bible a
whole bunch of times. Lo, L -O. Yep, behold,
look here. The word there means behold, look
here, pay attention. Okay, so in other words,
he gave them what they're going to be doing now.
And then he said, now pay attention. Watch this.
Look here. Here's your emphasis. And we already
read it. He said, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age. Okay, so with you always
is pretty straightforward, isn't it? He's going
to be with you. And even to the end of the age,
a little less so. We'll come back to that one
in a second. Notice this all goes together. It's
very clearly all goes together. It is what we
call the Great Commission. So if you want him
to be with you always, even to the end of the
age, what do you need to do? Say it again. Yep.
But more specifically. Go. Tell, make disciples
of all nations, baptize them in the name of the
Father, teach them to observe all things I have
commanded you. Lo, and lo, pay attention, look
here, I will be with you always, even unto the
end of the age. See, the problem is we've got
a lot of people who are claiming the I will be
with you always, even to the end of the age,
without doing the first part. That's the problem.
Okay? And it is all together. It was not separate.
His command to them was not separate from his
promise to them in this case. This is a command
that comes with a promise, or really a command
that arises out of the promise. Now, what does
even to the end of the age mean? You want to
take a stab at that? There are maybe some theories
about this. Go ahead, Tony Tate, tell us what
you think. End of age, well, that's true. So
there's the end of a possible... Correct. Correct.
Good. Okay, so good. So what he said was the
end of the time in which we are now living is
going to be when Jesus comes again. Okay? So
to see that very clearly, and that is the way
Bible scholars read it, theologians read it,
pretty much nobody disagrees. You might call
it the church age. You might hear somebody say
that. But this is what Jesus said. I'm going
to read from Matthew 13, 39. If you look, it
goes up the right -hand side of the page. You
see a guy there. The end of the age is the harvest.
Matthew 13, 39 says as follows. I'll go back
to 37 so we get a run up at it. And he said,
So what did Jesus say? The promise that he's
going to be with us, that's awesome, is it not?
I mean, I love that Jesus is with me. I'm okay
with the fact that it's tied to my being obedient
to his command. But if you love that Jesus is
with you, you realize there's going to be a moment
in time coming in the future. Like right now,
it's good that he's with me when I'm sick. It's
good that he's with me when I'm working. It's
good that he's with me when I'm going through
struggles or have a migraine, or it's good that
he's with me through all of that. But there's
going to come a moment in time at which it's
going to be super, super important that Jesus
is with me. And if he's not, I am screwed. And
that time is the end of the age. And so Jesus,
people always take it to say, well, he's going
to be with us for the whole time that we're living,
or the whole time that the earth is here, or
whatever like that. And that isn't even necessarily
true. Jesus could come again before we die of
old age, or we could die, and then sometime later
Jesus comes again before the next generation
dies, and so on. So the point is, We need Jesus
to be with us on a daily basis, but we really,
really need him to be with us at the moment of
the harvest. You do not want to be gathered up
as tares and burned. You want to be gathered
as wheat and taken into the storehouse, right?
And so this promise is more important that he's
going to be with us even to the harvest than
it is that he's going to be with us today, unless
the harvest is today. And people always leave
that off and don't really care very much that
he's going to be there. He's going to be with
us in the moment that the people are being sorted.
That's huge. All right, so we're going to go
down left now, going leftward across the kind
of comical display of people moving across the
page in the middle there. You'll notice that
there's a doorway on the far left that says exit,
and everybody's walking away from the exit, and
then they're going through the ups and downs.
even crawling on ropes some, and so on. Okay?
And we're going to look now at, if it starts
with a J, Jason, it's probably what book? New
Testament. Starts with a J, New Testament. John
is correct. Okay? So it's the book of John, and
it's 14, 26 to 27. I gave you the chapter and
verse. Okay? Also classic verses. that we're
drilling down on now. Jesus has just finished
saying, these things I have spoken to you while
remaining with you. So he said, this is what
I've been telling you is important, right? And
now he goes on to say in 26, but the helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name, he will teach you all things and remind
you of all that I said to you. Peace, I leave
you. My peace I give you, not as the world gives
do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled
nor fearful. Okay? So starting from the top right
under the reference, we're talking about a helper,
which is the Holy Spirit. Okay? You'll see the
Holy Spirit referenced as a he. Why do we say
that the Holy Spirit is a he when he almost certainly
does not have genitalia? Because what? Okay,
well, Jesus was clearly a he, and they are all
one in the sense the Trinity is all one. We say
he is a he because the Bible says he is a he.
The Bible always uses a masculine pronoun to
reference the Holy Spirit. There's no it. There's
no neuter to it. You could make a wide variety
of philosophical arguments as to why that is.
But we have God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit. At the very least, both a son
and a father are masculine gender. Whether or
not the Holy Spirit has gender in the sense that
we think of gender is debatable. He is a spirit,
but he is referred to as a he, not an it. So
if somebody says, I have the Holy Spirit, I love
it, or the Holy Spirit, it works in me, that
is incorrect. In fact, if you say it, there's
a substantial possibility you're talking about
an evil spirit. So you have to be kind of careful
of that. The Bible always refers to the Holy
Spirit as a he. So a helper, the Holy Spirit.
The Father will send in Jesus' name. Why is it
significant that the Holy Spirit would be sent
in Jesus' name? Why does that have to be mentioned?
Okay, so that's kind of using the word to define
the word, but yeah. So if it wasn't in Jesus'
name, then it wouldn't be Jesus. There is no
other name given on earth among men by which
we must be saved. Therefore, if you do not appeal
to God through Jesus to be saved, you will not
be saved. And when does the Holy Spirit come
into a person? At the moment of salvation. So
it is in the name of Jesus. Also notice, all
authority has been given me. in heaven and on
earth, as we read in the previous verses. It
is by Jesus and Jesus alone. So if people have
an alternative method, it's not going to work.
And there is no holiness, no amount of holiness
that will ever achieve the Holy Spirit coming
and taking up residence in a person. It must
be done in Jesus' name. All right, and we're
going to go on. Now we're talking a little bit
about what the Holy Spirit does. And so it says
he will. Teach us. And I understand my U looks
a little bit like a Y there, so I apologize.
He will teach us. I extended that to us because
this is written to the church. And a little more
tricky wording. You got it? What else will he
do? It's really a two -part ministry here listed.
Say it again. Yes, he will bring and bring to
remembrance. So why is, what does that mean,
bring to remembrance? What's he going to bring
to remembrance again? Let's be clear about that.
Everything. Everything that Jesus taught us.
So this is a huge piece of what the Holy Spirit
does for believers. You sit under teaching. Does
anybody remember what we taught the first four
weeks of last year on Tuesday night or Sunday?
I mean, the blessing is in our church, you can
go on the podcast and listen or on the live until
May. We have to download all the pack. Starting
in May, they're only going to have the last 30
days worth of live videos on our Facebook page.
We have to download all that so we can save it.
But our podcast has that. Right now, the Facebook
page has it all the way back. But even then,
you'd go back and go, oh, yeah, yeah, I remember
that now. But whatever is imbued in you, whatever
is coming from Jesus, the Holy Spirit serves
to bring up what you need when you need it. As
long as you don't quench that voice, right? As
long as you're willing to listen to the Holy
Spirit, then he'll bring it up, right? Now, that
means you do have to read your Bible. You meditate,
memorize. These are all things that are commanded.
So if they're commanded and we don't do them,
then we're taking away the fuel that the Holy
Spirit will use to bring up. We won't be able
to come up with what Jesus commanded us because
we never heard it. We don't know what Jesus said
on this topic. But if we know what he said and
we commit it to memory, commit it in our hearts,
that kind of thing, then he can bring it up.
And that's a big part of what he does. He brings
to remembrance all the things that Jesus taught
us. Okay? Jesus, the next word is Jesus, gives
peace. Very good. You're right on it. Gives peace.
And then there's a key phrase that's describing
that. Not as the world gives. Okay? Now, theologians
do a lot of debating about what not as the world
gives exactly means. How does the world give?
And some of it's cultural. So they kind of interpret
it on a cultural level. Like here in America,
we buy gifts and wrap them and give, or we give
quality time to people that we care about or
like that. Where in different parts of the world,
they think of giving differently. And so there's
a lot of different debates that follow not as
the world gives, but for sure we know what. What
can we know for sure about the way that Jesus
gives? It's like no other, right? So in other
words, you can't get it anywhere else. So in
other words, even if it was available in some
way, it still would not be the quality. So if
you could buy the same thing that somebody bought
you for Christmas, you could buy that same thing
on AliExpress for a tenth of the money, it's
probably not going to be as good because most
stuff comes on a slow basis. boat from China
has poor quality. Okay? And that's just the reality
of it. So it's not going to be any other place,
any other availability. So that's true. What
else? Jesus gives. What do we know about Jesus
that makes him a good giver? He knows our heart.
He knows you inside and out. So when I go to
buy a gift for somebody at Christmas time, birthdays,
something like that, I'm going to buy them a
gift. I want to buy a gift that fits, fits their
personality, something they mentioned a month
ago that they would like to have or something
I know. Oh, you know what? They had this problem.
I know they had the problem. They got a solution.
But here's a good lasting solution for their
problem. So I'm looking for something that's
really what they need, really what they want.
But they're going to go, oh, I didn't even know
I needed that. But now that I have it, wow, that
was the perfect gift. That's what I'm looking
for. And Jesus is the perfect gift giver, which
means he can give you the peace that you need
for exactly what you're going through. So the
world can't do that. The world doesn't know you.
Even if you tried to tell the world about you,
the world doesn't know you. It's hard for anybody
else in the church to even know you. And that's
if you took a lot of time, laid it out. They
read your journal for the last three years, everything
you wrote. You've described everything you've
ever been through. If you went to a counselor
for 40 years, they wouldn't know you. If you
told them everything, they wouldn't know you.
They'll never get close to knowing you like Jesus
knows. There you go. And there's another example.
We're talking about Jesus knows us. He also knows
the world, the need. He can define what peace
is, right? And has in some sense. All right.
So there's a lot there. that we can know for
sure. So when people get into a debate saying
it gives like the world doesn't give that way
or whatever, I wouldn't worry about the debate.
I would go with what you know, is what I'm saying.
Okay? All right. This is a trick one, so be careful.
So we have a command in here, and I gave you
a DT, and I busted the language for grammar to
do this. So it's don't this. Instead of do this,
commands are usually do this or prohibitions
are usually don't do this. So this is don't this.
So put don't and then this. And it is let your
heart be troubled or be fearful, right? Don't
let your heart be troubled or be fearful. Now
that sounds good. But we kind of have a problem
in that, first of all, what's our heart? So let's
get a biblical definition of the heart for a
moment. What is a heart? What's a heart of a
person? Okay, not too bad. Say it again. Okay,
it is an organ, but it's something more than
that. Okay, now you're getting somewhere, something
that makes you you. So when the Bible talks about
your heart, it is that place inside you where
your most crucial identity decisions are made.
So if you have a thought, I think I'll walk.
And then you go, no, I think I'll ride. Walking
is too much work. And then there's something
deep inside you, but walking is healthy. You
really should walk. Okay, fine, I'll walk. And
then you go, oh, but wait. I'm going to have
to carry back some heavy bags and stuff like
that, or I've got to get back by a certain time,
and that would be disrespectful to a promise
that I made because I said I'd be back by a certain
time or something like that. And something inside
you, deep inside you, says, no, I'm going to
have to ride today. But then when I get back
after everything's done, I'm going to have to
walk because that is healthy for me. So decision
-making goes deeper, deeper, deeper. Your convictions
are in your heart. Your beliefs, your thoughts
like that, they're up here. They're somewhere.
That's why they always say if it doesn't move
from your head to your heart, it doesn't make
a whole hill of beans. Because if you can think
it now, you can think something different later.
So your heart is like the internal part of you
that makes your decisions. RJ used the word soul.
The only reason I kind of get a sticking point
is because we have a verse that names heart and
soul. And it's not meant to be the same thing.
It's not your heart, which is also your soul.
It's your heart and your soul, which are named
as two different parts. But your soul regenerated
and your heart regenerated working inside. You
can do basically all the decision making, all
the... Responding to conviction, the deep beliefs,
etc. So, if that's what our heart is, and we
are commanded not to let our heart be troubled
or fearful, how do we do that? This is a command.
It's a command that you have to follow. How does
a person make it so that their heart is not troubled?
If that's your center, your core, decision -making,
how would you do that? Go ahead. Take a stab
at it. I was going to say, I say more reliance
on the Lord because our hearts can easily be
troubled or fearful. So we need to turn it to
God. I agree with you completely. Go ahead. And
I think that those two things mesh beautifully.
Okay? So in the Bible, we see the word believe
a lot. In modern day, ever since the Enlightenment,
there's been the thought that you can believe
something and it doesn't change who you are.
In the Enlightenment, they started thinking,
well, I think, therefore I am, rather than I
am, therefore this is the way I think. So they
started, that was, I can't remember, philosopher's
name who actually said that. Now it might be
Descartes, but anyway, he said, I think, therefore
I am, as a definition of how you can know that
you exist. How do I know I exist? Because I think.
I think, therefore I am. And that reversed the
concept of I am, therefore I think a certain
way. Our emotions now in America, people's emotions
drive them. I'm mad, so I act grumpy. I didn't
get what I want, so I'm going to act stubborn
or be mean to people or something like that.
My wife said something I didn't like, so now
I'm fuming. And we think that what we experience
drives our emotions. But biblically speaking,
your heart, your core drives your emotions. So
you can decide to be, and I learned this, and
I'm not saying I'm great at it or anything, but
you can decide to be happy in the stupidest of
circumstances. At a time where no one would be
happy, you can be happy. You're going to heaven.
You've got the Holy Spirit. You've got spiritual
gifts that you couldn't buy with money. Not any
amount of money or any amount of effort. You're
blessed beyond measure. The truth is, if you're
here tonight, you are blessed beyond measure.
There are people in the world right now not knowing
where four ounces of clean water is going to
come tomorrow to be able to cook or drink. And
if we needed it, we'd just order a bottle of
water. Or we'd go to the store and grab whatever
we need. We are blessed beyond measure. So for
us to respond to something that happens to us
and let that affect our emotions, that's a mistake.
Tony Tate and Alicia were putting together, right?
Relying on the Lord, believing in the Lord then
should drive your actions. So if we get that
idea right in our heads, then we see Jesus say
in John 14, 1, he says, do not let your heart
be troubled. Oh, wait a minute. We just heard
that, didn't we? Do not let your heart be troubled.
Semicolon. So Josh, when there's a semicolon,
a sentence, what does the next part usually mean?
And it follows logically, right, the first sentence.
It could be sometimes, not always, it could be
a restatement of the first sentence. Some people
do that. It could be that it may stand alone
as a sentence by itself, but it's contingent
upon the first part. All of those things are
possible. That being said, he says this, do not
let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe
also in me. And I submit to you, this is a two
-part action plan by which you can not let your
heart be troubled, not let your heart be fearful.
As the psalmist said many times, Proverbs says
in a couple places, when you go into trouble,
what do you do? Trust in the Lord. So we have
to realize that Jesus said, all authority has
been given me in heaven and on earth. And so
now I'm going into a period of time where I'm
going through some stuff that I don't want to
go through. My life sucks right now by my own
decision -making process. But we have to realize
somebody is making the decisions that is a lot
smarter than we are. And whatever worst eventuality
you're possibly going through right now, you
definitely could be kept from something worse,
even if that something worse is hell for an eternity.
God is concerned about your eternity, not your
current comfort. All right, now God does want
you to be comfortable. He wants you to be happy.
He wants to take care of you. He loves you. He's
providing for you. He's doing a lot of things.
Purpose, provision, protection, and so on. Power,
right? That's all part of being a Christian.
But he says, do not let your heart be troubled.
And then he says, believe in God. Believe also
in me. I submit to you, this is what's happening.
When our hearts are troubled or fearful, it is
because either A, we are not believing in God.
And I'm not saying getting unsaved, right? We're
not placing our faith in God. that he knows what
he's doing, trusting him with wisdom, trusting
the circumstances, trusting his power, right?
Or we are not putting our faith in Jesus, one
or the other. I'm not talking about being unsaved.
At the moment you were saved, you trusted in
God, trusted in Jesus, the channel of faith was
open, grace came in, you were saved. Now, why
would you actively, day by day, not believe in
God and believe in Jesus? Well, because God didn't
do a miracle that I prayed for. I prayed and
I said, God, heal me, and God didn't heal me.
God didn't provide money or God didn't take away
my pain or God, you know, whatever. God knows
better than we do. When you face that moment
in time, there is a two -step action plan that
you need to do. And that is believe in God and
believe in Jesus. And I submit to you when life
gets really bad, there is a two -step action
plan to existing. It gets down to that. Get down
to just this. I could die in a second. Believe
in God. Believe in Jesus. I don't know. I can't
pay my bills. I could lose my house. Believe
in God. Believe in Jesus. I'm struggling emotionally
with the people in my life. Believe in God. Believe
in Jesus. When it gets so bad that you can't
do anything to fix the situation, that he's not
leading you to step in and make it better, just
believe in God. Believe in Jesus. And you see
that with martyrs. right, when they're on the
cross or when they're being burned, whatever,
what are they doing? Preaching the gospel, right?
No, not really. I mean, they're preaching it
without words. They're living it, but they're
believing in God and believing in Jesus. And
if you get wrapped up in a whole bunch of other
action, learning more, getting outside the word
to learn, becoming a psychologist or a counselor
or a doctor or all these other action plans that
make your life better, situation better, whatever.
ultimately is still going to have to come down
to believe in God, believe in Jesus. And I would
tie it together this way. He said, I am with
you even unto the end of the age. At the moment
of the harvest, will you be harvesting? No, you'll
be getting harvested. And when you're getting
harvested, will you be winning people to Jesus?
No. Will you be trying to live right? No. You'll
be getting harvested. That's the only thing that'll
be happening at that time. You'll be getting
harvested. And when you're getting harvested,
what is your two -step action plan that will
get you through to where you want to go? Believe
in God and believe in Jesus. Anything that jeopardizes
that two -step action plan should actually go
out of your life. If you're watching things,
seeing things, doing things, involved in relationships,
whatever, that are jeopardizing your ability
to believe in God, believe in Jesus on a daily
basis, then you should start weeding those things
out. Because sometime you're going to have just
that. That's all you have. You're going to get
down to, that's all I've got left. I just need
to believe in God and believe in Jesus. And you
need to do that. And you cannot allow anything
between now and then to make it more difficult
for you to do that. Last one. Over on the right
-hand side. This one is a classic verse. Romans
8 .28. Another verse that people often quote
without the... or the necessity. Romans 8 .28.
Does anybody have this memorized? I kind of do.
But there's a few words at the beginning that
I tend to leave off. For we know God can work
all things together for the good, for him who
loves the Lord. Yep. Well, now you do. All right.
I can't get to the Bible on the right spot. There
it is. So this is what we've got going on here.
26 says, Now in the same way the Spirit also
helps our weakness, for we do not know what to
pray for as we should. But the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
words. And he who searches the hearts knows what
the mind of the Spirit is because he intercedes
for the saints according to the will of God.
Then 28, here it comes. And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God and to those who are called
according to his purpose. And it's very simple.
So the first one is, We know. Next part. Okay.
God causes. I put can on my paper, but I like
causes better actually. All things to work together
for good. Did it say for the good? No. For good.
That's interesting, isn't it? Because the good
implies it's good for us. And that's how we usually
quote the verse. Okay. But realize that what's
good overall is also good for you. Even though
you may go, oh, this is not so good for me. You
might take a bullet for a friend and you survive
it or don't go straight to heaven, whatever.
You'd be like, well, that wasn't good. Right?
That's what we'd think. Well, I took a bullet.
That wasn't good. Right? But your friend survives,
goes on, does amazing things for God. It was
in God's plan, whatever. Maybe you survived.
You have a great testimony and all that. So the
overall, the good. Okay? not our good, not for
the good of us, but the good overall. Okay? And
he says to work together for good. Okay? And
then he goes on to say, let me find my spot again,
to those who are called according to his purpose.
Okay? So then this is a command to what? Be this.
Two things. What? What are the two things? He
does this for those who what? Love God. Be called
according to his purpose. So now what I've given
you is some examples on the bottom of the box
there of things that people will generally say
are what might be being called according to God's
purpose. So are we called to love? Sure we are,
right? You can say that. That's God's purpose.
Love God is love and so on. Are we called to
witness? Evangelism. That means to spread the
good news. Do good. Faithfulness. All your blanks
are filled out, but there's a little bit left,
so don't give up on me. Okay? Faithfulness. Serve.
Believe. Deny self. Jesus said, who would be
my disciple? Deny yourself daily, right? Take
up your cross. Yeah, that fits in there. All
things that we do, do as if we do them for him.
That makes sense. Fear not. Overcome. So here's
what I want you to do. On that list, I would
like you to circle three, not more than three,
just three things on that list that you feel
like God has called you to do. Take the top three.
Any of them could be, right? You could just circle
the whole box. But if you did, you still wouldn't
have the whole answer. I could have given 40
more examples, couldn't I? So pick three of those
things that you think God has called you personally
to do. And then we're going to look at, if you'll
notice up there on the right -hand side, you've
got some little doodles and some verses. The
first one is 1 Peter 2 .9. I've written it in
there for you. We are in the very ends of it
here. Almost there. Go. 1 Peter 2 .9 says as
follows. Wrong page. Here we go. But you are
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God's own possession, so that you
may proclaim the excellencies of him who has
called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. He has called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light. So if God has called us
out of darkness into his marvelous light, then
what should we do based on that? What is the
calling of God? He called you to leave the darkness,
come into the light, and so now what? Live in
the light, right? Abide in the light. Abide where
he has called you to be. He called you out of
the darkness to live in the light. So you do
that in community with other believers. You do
that by speaking out about what you know. You
do that by living as a godly man or woman, right?
Which would include a lot of those other things
that are on that list. But it's just living in
the light. He called you out of the darkness
into the light. Now in the Bible, a lot of times
darkness represents ignorance and light represents
knowledge, right? So you didn't know and now
you're called to live knowing. Does that make
sense? You didn't know. He called you out of
not knowing into living knowing. So that's one
possibility. Sometimes in the Bible, darkness
represents evil or wickedness. And he called
you out of evil or wickedness into light represents
goodness, cleanness, holiness. And so now you're
not supposed to live like you did over here in
wickedness or evil. You live like you are over
here in goodness or holiness. So basically, it's
just simply this. And it will look different
for every person. If the calling of God was to
leave this people and become part of this people,
then you will live as part of this people. And
if you answer that call and live as part of this
people, what? God can work all things together
for good. But if you will dilly -dally, or cross
the line or live straddling, so you're part over
here in the darkness, part over here in the good,
there is no promise that God can work all things
together for the good. In fact, you're going
to be doing certain things that really stand
in his way. Just like when Jesus went through
Galilee and there were people that didn't believe
in him and he was only able to do a few miracles
of healing. So in your life, he's not going to
go do the things that he wants to turn those
bad situations out for good. Sometimes it'll
be straight up your good, and sometimes it's
good of all mankind, good of the gospel, good
of the kingdom, like that, right? And sometimes
that'll look bad for you. That's what martyrdom
is. Otherwise, because how did God turn martyrs'
deaths out for good? They died. So if it was
just stuck in this lifetime, they didn't get
good. They got filleted or drawn in quarter or
burnt or crucified. That's not good. So did God
fail to turn that out for good? No, he didn't
fail. Actually, what you find is that typically
right after a martyrdom like that, the gospel
spreads like wildfire, and tons of people saw
them living for Jesus at their death, and they
got saved. And that's been like that every time
that ever happens, somebody's martyred. And it
even happens when somebody's martyred not for
the cross, that people tend to pay attention
to them. They think, wow, that person really
had strong convictions, and so on. So the point
is, it's not simply that it will be good for
you or what you think is good. It will be that
it will be good, and it is promised at first
because we respond to the calling, which is us
called out of darkness to live in the light.
The second thing then comes from Ephesians 3
.10. Number two is Ephesians 3 .10. Just so the
teenagers know, there are a couple of questions
out of what I'm talking about right now, because
I've already got questions written on the back
of my paper. Ephesians 3 .10. It says this, so
that the multifaceted wisdom of God, or the amazing
manifest wisdom of God, or there's a variety
of different words translated there, but the
multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made
known through the church, oh, that's us, to the
rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realm.
So based on that, what has God called us to do?
What was God's purpose in calling us out? Say
it again. By who? By your family? By your boss?
By your friends? By the angels. See, the mystery
of the gospel of what Jesus would do was kept
secret until it happened, until Jesus' crucifixion.
That was the reveal, right? Crucifixion and resurrection
was the reveal. From then has been the turn and
the reveal known. We talked about that seven
weeks ago on Sunday, right? And it is our job
to make sure that those who are in the heavenly
realms get the message. So when you witness and
share the gospel, somebody asked them to be saved.
They don't get saved. That was a failure, right?
Wrong. Because it wasn't even about them. This
is what you got to get through your head. When
you're talking to somebody about Jesus, If they
are being called by God, if God is calling them
out of the darkness into the light, they will
be interested and possibly get saved. And that
would be great. But if you share with them and
they are not interested and don't get saved,
you still did what God commanded you. Your belief
meets the commands of God. You're still living
in the light. You're doing everything that God.
And so, first of all, we know God can work that
for the good. And secondly, we know that the
angels, evil spirits, demons, powers that be
in the otherly realms will be able to witness
that and they will know the truth of it. They
will learn over and over again how supreme God
is, how awesome God is, how capable God is, how
much God's plan actually worked. So you share
the truth, live the truth, live in the light
as God has called you so that the angels can
see. Now you can't see the angels so that the
demons and evil spirits can see. You can't see
the demons and evil spirits, at least usually
not. You might see some effect of them, right?
But in living this way, you are testifying to
the host of heavenly realms about the truth about
God, and they can figure it out, okay? And then
the last one, 1 Corinthians 1, 9. And this is
our last verse of the day, and we're done, and
then we got questions. That's it. 1 Corinthians
1, 9. Here we go. It says, God is faithful through
whom you were called into fellowship with his
son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And so if we were
called into fellowship with his son, what should
we do? It's not complicated. Fellowship with
his son. You spend time in prayer. You spend
time in the Word. You spend time in the church.
The church is the body of Christ. You spend time
with God's people and participating. You work
together as brothers and sisters in Christ. We
fellowship. And our fellowship is with God the
Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The second half
of 1 John 1 .3, which is our key verse. We are
New Heights Fellowship. So we live in fellowship
with Christ always. This prohibits certain actions
that would be considered wicked. Jesus will not
go with you while you sleep with your girlfriend
or your boyfriend. He will not go with you while
you post nudie pictures online or look at nudie
pictures online. He is not going to be a part
of that type of activity. Now, he's not going
to abandon you. If you're a follower of Christ,
he's not going to cause you to be lost and go
to hell, right? But at the same time, he is not
going to be in fellowship with you while you
engage in actions that are directly contrary
to what the Father wants. Jesus said, I only
do what I see the Father doing. That's what he
said while he was alive. And that type of action
has... has not changed now. So if we are called
to fellowship with him and we fellowship with
him, then he can work all things together for
good. But if we do not fellowship with him, or
if we step in and out of the darkness, or if
we do not live in the light, do not live by his
his commands, his teachings, etc., then he may
not work everything for the good. Don't you want
to know that if you sacrifice, your sacrifice
is worth something? Don't you want to know that
when things go wrong and you have to endure it,
that something positive is coming out of it,
even if it's not something that you would say
is positive for yourself? That's what Romans
8 .28 is actually about. When you suffer, the
bad things you went through, it all comes down
to, are you going to have them be good? Are you
going to make them into a good thing? And the
way to do that is to, as we talked about, those
things with God, with Christ, in community, and
so on, and then God can turn them into something
good. Otherwise, you may suffer for no good reason,
no good outcome, let's say. All right, so we've
got some questions. First of all, does anybody
have any questions about anything I just said
before I ask my questions? All right, so these
are promises and commands. Next week, RJ will
be teaching. and no idea what he's going to teach
about. It could be promises and commands. It
could be something else that the Lord leads him
to. And then I also want to make it, if you are
willing to teach a lesson on one or more promises
or commands from Scripture in the next few months,
I need to know your name. And what we're going
to do is we're going to lay out a long list of
promises and commands that we're going to go
through, and then you'll have one assigned to
you, and then on Tuesday night you will come
up here and teach that lesson. And we'll all
sit and take notes and fill out the worksheet.
If you need help making the worksheet, I will
help you make the worksheet. You can do this.
It's not that complicated. Haley, we're happy
to draw it for you, won't you? Won't you? Won't
you? But Hannah would draw it. Natalie's not
in here. She'd probably draw it too. Haley, Hannah.
Yep, you guys would draw it. If you need somebody
to draw it. All right? And then what we're going
to do is, like I said, we have three people who
are ready to teach on a given Tuesday night.
Then when we come in, we won't know who's going
to teach. We're going to randomize who's going
to teach that night. So literally, when somebody
steps up to teach that Tuesday night, we'll roll
a dice, spin a spinner, whatever. And whoever's
ready, so if there's three people ready, one
of those three people will teach. And then once
that person teaches, they'll come out of the
mix. And if we have two people ready the next
night, then one of those two will teach. But
then probably by the next one, the first one
will be ready again, or somebody else will be
ready. That's how we're going to do it. Okay?
So I'm excited about it. If you want to be able
to try, let me know. We'll put you on the list.
Okay. Based on today's scripture, this is teenagers
only at the moment, so I can throw candy at them
because I just get joy out of that. Okay. Based
on today's scripture, who is commanded to go?
Jason was the first hand I saw. Us. Look at that.
Right on target. I'm getting good at this. All
right. Ready? Based on today's scripture, who
is commanded to teach? Haley? Us is correct.
Why is that important? Not the pastor, not the
preacher, not the Sunday school teacher. It didn't
say that. It said go and teach them, and it was
directed at Christians. We are commanded to teach.
Now, in Ephesians 4, it says there are teachers
given in the church, and who do those teachers
who are given in the church teach? Us. So the
teachers that are given to the church teach in
the church. Then when you get outside the church,
or when the church goes into the world, it would
be a better way of saying that, who teaches?
everybody, including the teachers that would
teach in here. So I teach in here, for example,
and I go out there and I also teach and Tony
teaches and Alicia teaches and Tim teaches, Brady,
man, got to get with it. You're supposed to be
teaching. We all got to go out there and teach
because that's what we're commanded to do. And
when we do that, he will be with us even unto
the end of the age, which is super important
because the harvest will come and it comes, you're
going to want him with you. Okay? All right.
If we are his and follow The commands of Matthew
28, 18 through 20. How long will Jesus remain
with us, Hannah? Even unto the end of the age.
That hits you in the head, and it was a very
enjoyable moment for me. One of them could have
been caught, but she didn't know which one to
catch, I think. Okay. So, according to Matthew
28, 20, what is it that we are supposed to teach
the disciples? Haley? Say it again. No. Jason?
Going once? No. Close. Go ahead. Let me see if
maybe he was quoting the exact words. Oh, I apologize,
Jason. You quoted the exact words. I didn't have
that in my answer. So you are correct. And Brady's
correct as well. All right, here we go. I'm going
to ask you. I'm going to ask you. That was just
extra special fun right there. Okay. According
to John 14 .1, what is the two -part tactic?
Go ahead. I'm listening. I'm ready for you. Hannah's
going to answer. Yep, say it. Okay, that's one.
Okay, good enough. Trust in God and Jesus, or
believe in God and Jesus. That's correct. And
it is what all things come down to. Okay. Okay.
This is the reason Jesus said we were being commanded
to go, tell, teach, baptize disciples, etc. What
was the reason he said we were being commanded
to do that? Jason? That is correct. Good job,
sir. One bad throw. My apologies. Make sure he
gets his candy. No scamming the candy. Okay.
According to one of the verses I read in the
final section, we were called out of this. What?
Chris? Darkness. That's right. Okay. Adults are
in here. Let's put them to shame. Are you ready?
Okay. One of the purposes was to reveal. Finish
the sentence. We're called to reveal. It's not
on the sheet. The blank's not there. I warned
you there were questions from that section. What
are we revealing and to whom? Okay, I'll give
you the what. God's manifold wisdom and to whom?
The angels. Entities in the heavenly realms.
You're just a victim now. Okay. Going on this
entire page, there is one time where it says
that Jesus gives us something. What does it say
he gives us, Haley? Peace. Peace, that's correct.
Good job, good job. She's quick with the uphand
thing. She caught one of them. Okay. This is
worded a little bit differently, but you should
get it if you pay attention. Because Jesus was
going back to heaven, he would pray the Father,
and the Father would do this. Jason? That is
correct. When Jesus was telling them that he
gave peace, he said that he would not do it a
certain way. What way was that? The way the world
does, right, and which theologians have argued
about what that means exactly. Okay. Brady saved,
and that last one was going to hit, too. All
right. We're going to pray together, and we'll
be out of here. I was close enough. You got a
bit. You can catch it. All right. Aaron, do you
want to pray us out? We're praying along with
Aaron. Here we go. Lord, thank you for this day.
Thank you for weather. Thank you for spring.
Thank you for us being able to gather here and
worship you and learn about you and fellowship
with your children, Lord. Pray to be with us
as we go out into the world and help us teach
those around us what you've taught us here today,
Lord.