WEBVTT

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Thank you. saw as you went along serving God?

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Who wants to go first? Alright, Tyson, you go

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first. Tell us something about God today. God

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really does. He loves us so much. Now, he would

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exist without us, of course, but he doesn't want

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to. Good. Alright, go. So, there's a person that

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I've been listening to a lot of his stuff on

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Facebook. His name is Cliff. He's an older gentleman,

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and he goes to a bunch of college campuses and

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talks about the gospel and the Bible. And from

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everything I've seen, everything he's ever said

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has been very biblical, and he is extremely knowledgeable.

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And one of the things I watched recently was

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about how we're supposed to not purposely live

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in sin. And he brings up, I think it was 1 John,

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when he talks about how we shouldn't. purposely

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live in sin, and if that's what we're doing,

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then we really need to check our salvation. So

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one of the things that I really was thinking

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hard about that is, he got asked the question,

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so if we're not supposed to live in sin anymore,

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then why is it we still sin? And that's when

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he goes into the description about how we are

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still going to sin. We're still going to fall

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short from Romans. Everyone falls short of the

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glory of God. So we are all sinners. We are all

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going to fall short. However, when we accept

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Jesus and we start living for God and we truly

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accept Jesus into our heart and we truly want

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to live for God, we should not be willing to

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purposely live in sin. We should be willing to

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repent, turn to God, and try to give up that

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sin and do something godly instead. So the problem

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that we face a lot is we don't want to change

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that because, for instance, and this is where

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the example comes in that he gave, and it's such

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a great example. So we get offended because we

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don't want our ethics to be changed. We don't

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want the way of our thinking to be changed. So

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if somebody's cursing you out and yelling at

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you and they beat you to a pulp, The world says

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you should hate that person. And you have every

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reason to hate that person. So then when we accept

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God and we start learning from Jesus, Jesus tells

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us, no, don't hate that person. You have to love

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that person. Regardless of what they're doing

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to you, regardless of what they're saying to

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you, you have to love that person. So then we

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get offended because we feel deep in our soul

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that we should hate that person for what they

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did. And one of my issues is I... am very protective

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of children. I've always been very protective

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of children. And for years and years and years,

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I struggled with that about anyone who hurts

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children, sex pedophilia. Years ago, I always

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thought that all those people should just be

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executed. And that's not how it is. That's not

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how I need to think. I should be loving that

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person, praying that they... turn from their

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ways and accept God and start living for God.

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Instead of knowing, no, that person just needs

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to die. Because that is not what God calls us

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to do. God calls us to love. He calls us to be

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that light when there's so much darkness. That's

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a good word. Alright, who else? So, a really

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popular saying that everyone believes is true,

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and even I believe it's true, is mistakes happen.

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And when I was driving back from gymnastics on

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Saturday, I was pretty tired, so a lot of times

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I just think. And while I was thinking, this

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topic came up in my mind. People know mistakes

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happen, and people sometimes learn from them

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if they choose to. People may forget too many

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times in their life because they simply keep

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saying too much. People say, this didn't happen.

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No one's hooked. But they always forget to say.

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They don't just disappear because they're not

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perfect. If you sin against God, you have to

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go, I sin. I'm sorry. It doesn't disappear. they

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forget the end of that saying, which is, if you

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don't do anything about it, it's not going to

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change. Jesus uses a description where you have

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light garments, and when you stand, it's like

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a crimson stain on the garments. If you get a

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crimson stain... On the dominance, he's the one

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who's supposed to wash it away. If you want someone

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to wash it away for you, how do they know to

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wash it away if you don't ask them? So when you

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sin or make a mistake, you don't want to forget

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that it's not just going to disappear. It's still

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there until you tell them and apologize to them

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that you did something wrong. Talk about the

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power of confession. 1 John 1 .9. Good work.

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Do you have a hand for this? Yeah. All right,

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Michaela, go ahead. So I've been looking for

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a church home since my grandparents. My grandfather

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passed away last October. And I feel like God

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has really spoken to me about being in this church.

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Amen. And I feel like God has just been really

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pushing me to do, be my best and finish my schooling

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so I can, even though I can't have biological

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kids, so I can foster kids and adopt and get

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them out of the bad situations that I was put

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in and just help others. What a exciting commission.

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Wow. I just... I'm really happy that I found

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a good church home. And we're happy, too. If

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you're happy that Michaela found a good church

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home, say amen. Amen. Amen. You are happy. Thank

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you. Good testimony. All right. Back here. Hi.

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Yeah. So for the women's Bible study that we

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just started, we've been doing a Bible study,

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and it's called They Fall Under Control. And

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I've been reading the book that accompanies it

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in addition to that, and we haven't gotten through

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a lot of it. I got to kind of break it down because

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it gets kind of emotional for me, but I want

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to share this activity with you. I think it's

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done a lot for me. Sorry, this is going to be

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very distracting. And the intro to the activity

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starts like this. It says, you have a race to

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run, but first you must strip off every weight

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that slows you down from running the course God

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has set out for you. Consider everything you

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feel responsible for at this time in your life,

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the good, the bad, the beautiful. The ugly, the

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hard, and the effortless. And then take an honest

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assessment of where you are now. Consider your

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work, household duties, children, relationships,

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volunteer assignments, church commitments, personal

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struggles, and parents, for instance. And consider

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other weights you carry. Are there areas where

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you said yes because you don't want to disappoint

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people? Are there weights you carry simply because

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you were trying to please people? Do you employ

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coping mechanisms such as exercise, food, or

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addictive substances to give you a sense of control?

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Now you're ready to begin creating your list.

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And this is the activity. It says, write this

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file versus the top of the page. Let us strip

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off every weight that slows us down, especially

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the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us

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run with endurance the race God set before us

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in his Hebrews 12 .1. Sorry. It says, draw two

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columns. Label one, my race, and label the other,

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junk in the trunk. And as you consider every

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weight you have identified, Ask God to help you

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discern what you were meant to carry and what

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you weren't. Under my race, list the items that

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you consider yours to carry on this journey with

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Jesus. This list will likely include many things

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you love. It will also include items that you

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feel especially heavy right now, responsibilities

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that you can't avoid, or difficult circumstances

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that you are facing today, such as grief that

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you must carry for a time. Under junk in the

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trunk, list items that you were never intended

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to carry. These are items that God may be calling

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you to strip off to slow you down. This list

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may take longer, Kyle, and it will involve ruthless

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honesty with yourself. The items on this list

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may include coping mechanisms, protective relationships,

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approval -seeking behaviors, duties that are

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no longer yours to perform or may have never

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been, and commitments that exhaust you. Look

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over your list, and as you do so, thank God for

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the race you're running, praise Him for the beautiful

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parts, and ask Him to help you through the hard

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parts. then seek his help in removing and having

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Trump fit by bit. This is where the real change

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begins. Let us strip off every weight that slows

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us down. We have a race to run. And I don't know

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if you've ever had this experience, but I read

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through this book feeling like the author was

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talking to me directly. And I was really very

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convicted of using other people's opinions as

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a motivation to do something. I've been, and

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I'm making this commitment today. I'm really

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smart. I didn't intend to get emotional about

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it, but I clearly have this very adorable support

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system. Well said, well said. Anyone else? President.

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Yeah, going, like, what our thing is, you know,

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I, you know, I'm not perfect, and there's a lot

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of things I do make mistakes, but One of the

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things that I'm trying to do is when they get

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a discussion and they want to tolerate, I want

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to walk away, you know. Or before I would tolerate,

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I would sit there and I would tolerate it back.

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But, you know, and like you said, this is a good

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church. When I walked in this church, so much

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love. Everybody treats everybody like family.

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I love it so much. And then, hey. I do know,

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and another thing you were saying, you know,

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is if I want forgiveness, then I better give

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forgiveness back as well as accepting it. You

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know, sometimes I want, you know, I want everybody

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to love me in the world the way it's supposed

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to be. But there's going to be some people in

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Milwaukee, there's going to be people in the

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world, there's going to be some stuff. It's how

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I react to it. You know, God wants me to be a

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better person. What would he do? Walk away. You

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know, shave away from it. I'm trying. There's

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some stuff I need to work on. But, you know,

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I don't feel nothing. I feel really good when

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I'm out of that picture and I'm doing what God

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wants me to do. And then I don't have no feelings

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of doing it for bad. You know, you did bad so

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long you get used to it. Not really bad, but

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you did miss it all your life. And, you know,

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some of the things are hardly changing the way

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you act, changing the TV, changing the, you know,

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the different radio stations, changing the different,

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you know, it is. It's hard, but I figure if I

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walk towards him and I do what he wants me to

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do, then I'll choose a better person. I come,

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I get on my knees, I pray, I walk out the door,

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and I'm good. You know, I feel, if Bob broke

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me that night before, and I'm really, I'm just,

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nobody can be around me, and I'm just, I'm just

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a stubborn. And I don't do nothing about it before

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I walk out the door. Chances are, I'm going to

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take it up. somebody I work with, somebody I

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say. And I don't mean to, but the culture of

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me being centered, I'm going to get back that

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old gentleman. I'm going to let it out, you know.

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So I have to check me. I have to do what he wants

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me to do in order for me to come out and be a

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better person for people. And I respect that

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because learning from here, you know, I don't

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know much, but I'm willing to try. Amen. Good

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words. Alright, anyone else? We're going to wrap

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it up. You were saving for the last minute. Now

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is your time. Alright. I'm going to ask that

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this time we pray together. Alright, so here's

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what's on our agenda. We're going to pray together.

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In a moment we're going to take up our tithes

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and offerings. Then we have another song, another

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presentation. The song is a special song that's

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been prepared in honor of Mother's Day. And then

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we have the first thing we're going to do is

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some Mother's Day gifts that we're going to present.

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And then... we'll sing one more song and release

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the children from the rapture. So that's pretty

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much the plan, and then we'll go to God's Word

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and let Him change our lives, as we've been trying

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to do ever since we got here, I hope. All right?

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So I'll ask Brother Tony Tate, would you lead

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us in this prayer, and we'll pray along with

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you? Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for this

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time. I want to thank you for this testimony.

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The thing is, God, we testify already these statements,

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but it's after the testimony. That is what people

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have seen in their daily lives every day, what

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you're doing in everybody's daily lives. Think

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of your word. It says, Surely goodness and mercy

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follow me all the days of my life. And you're

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the one that follows us with goodness in person.

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And also in James chapter 1, it says that every

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good and perfect gift comes from the Father and

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the life that comes from above. It does not change

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like shifting shadows. And any time you shift,

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that shadow shifts. You don't change like us.

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You don't move like us. You don't sin like us.

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You don't make mistakes like us. You truly are

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God. And you're the real God. The one that loves

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us. The one that died for us. You want to rose

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for us. God, as we do tithes and offerings and

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bring worship and thank mothers for what you

00:19:16.990 --> 00:19:20.089
do and the service of everything is according

00:19:20.089 --> 00:19:23.990
to your love, your purpose, your plan. We thank

00:19:23.990 --> 00:19:26.569
you for the strength and grace that we have to

00:19:26.569 --> 00:19:28.750
go do these things because it comes from you.

00:19:29.009 --> 00:21:30.329
In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

00:21:30.329 --> 00:25:41.960
you. Thank you. I push the button or not. Every

00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.220
time. I push the button or not. Every time. I

00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:46.039
never remember. I push the button one time. I

00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:47.880
can't remember, like, two minutes, how long I

00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.359
push the button. Anyway, one day I'll remember.

00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:51.779
Somebody's going to keep tracking me. They're

00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:54.339
like, if I stand up, they'll... Somebody's got

00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:58.799
to do it. Yeah. Except it started, like, a long

00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:02.920
time ago. I think it was early Mountain Dew consumption

00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.019
is what did it to me, I can't say. All right.

00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:08.500
So this is just a poem. It says this. It says,

00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:11.500
A mother's heart is gentle. Like a calm and steady

00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.759
stream, she nurtures every moment and supports

00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:17.660
our every dream. Her hands have held us tightly

00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:20.660
since the day that we were small. Her prayers

00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:23.140
have formed a shelter, a refuge through it all.

00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:27.299
She walks in quiet courage with faith in Christ,

00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:31.119
her guide. She teaches love and mercy with Jesus

00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.279
at her side. So here's to you, dear mother. With

00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:37.220
grateful hearts we say, your faith and love sustain

00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:42.250
us and bless us every day. This time, I'm going

00:26:42.250 --> 00:26:44.150
to do this, but we're going to distribute Mother's

00:26:44.150 --> 00:26:46.309
Day gifts. So actually, you know what? The hoister

00:26:46.309 --> 00:26:48.210
is saying something a little different. So if

00:26:48.210 --> 00:26:51.650
you're in the room and you're a minor female

00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:56.109
or an adult female who has aspirations of one

00:26:56.109 --> 00:26:58.250
day being a mother and you're not currently a

00:26:58.250 --> 00:27:03.390
mother, would you stand? Adam, you want to be

00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:08.890
a mommy someday? You can stand up. So what we're

00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:11.170
going to do, see, listen. The mothers that are

00:27:11.170 --> 00:27:15.170
in the room know that this is tough work. It

00:27:15.170 --> 00:27:17.890
is not an easy assignment. In fact, it's frankly

00:27:17.890 --> 00:27:20.230
heartbreaking. And so we're going to pray a prayer

00:27:20.230 --> 00:27:21.730
of commission. Normally we pray for the mothers

00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:23.390
who have. We're going to pray a prayer of commission

00:27:23.390 --> 00:27:27.569
for these who will soon or one day be, or for

00:27:27.569 --> 00:27:31.730
some of them not very soon, right? We'll one

00:27:31.730 --> 00:27:33.730
day be mothers. Let's see. That was something

00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:36.539
I felt proud to do. Father in heaven, we do praise

00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:38.900
you and thank you for, let's just call it this

00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:42.160
institution. It is so much more. It is a way

00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.299
you have written the history of men and women.

00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:52.279
It is part of the rules of this life. We know

00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:55.359
that in this room, there are a number of young

00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:59.000
people from Adeline and Zoe all the way up to

00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.460
those who are staying and will descend someday

00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:05.829
soon, perhaps. And Lord, We just ask you to commission

00:28:05.829 --> 00:28:09.029
them. And if it should be your will that they

00:28:09.029 --> 00:28:11.349
should have their children, that they would do

00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:16.349
so as proficiently and as often and as eagerly

00:28:16.349 --> 00:28:19.730
and as strongly and as powerfully and as creatively

00:28:19.730 --> 00:28:22.049
and as lovingly. And we could just go on and

00:28:22.049 --> 00:28:25.549
on with all of the good adverbs that are in.

00:28:26.089 --> 00:28:28.329
the entire dictionary, Lord, that you would pour

00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:31.170
into them the power of your mother. I guess they

00:28:31.170 --> 00:28:32.710
could look around the room and see some of the

00:28:32.710 --> 00:28:36.569
mothers that we have in the room and be the effect.

00:28:38.130 --> 00:28:40.710
The power that you've already brought to bear

00:28:40.710 --> 00:28:43.809
our lives in this church. We have ladies in this

00:28:43.809 --> 00:28:47.670
room who are not mothers and maybe can't be for

00:28:47.670 --> 00:28:50.970
one reason or another. And yet, they have the

00:28:50.970 --> 00:28:53.190
opportunity inside the church of God, inside

00:28:53.190 --> 00:28:56.170
the kingdom of God. to help to fulfill that role.

00:28:57.130 --> 00:29:01.789
And they will. Because they love you. Because

00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:04.390
they know you. Because they know that our young

00:29:04.390 --> 00:29:07.150
people need those kinds of figures in their lives.

00:29:08.910 --> 00:29:12.509
So I ask your Lord to commission those who are

00:29:12.509 --> 00:29:15.150
yet to be mothers and bless them in such a powerful

00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:17.410
way. And they'll look back maybe on this day

00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:21.619
and say, you know, back on the 10th of May. In

00:29:21.619 --> 00:29:26.180
2025, we pray for this very thing. And man, God

00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:28.900
sure has done it. And we are grateful. And I

00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:31.119
thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay,

00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:34.700
so we're going to need a representative from

00:29:34.700 --> 00:29:38.200
each family. So you can wrestle amongst your

00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:41.240
siblings if you want. Because that would be true

00:29:41.240 --> 00:30:42.329
of Mother's Day. I say go right to the top. Thank

00:30:42.329 --> 00:30:49.009
you. Mommy's got one. Look, your brother beat

00:30:49.009 --> 00:30:51.470
you to it. You should have wrestled him before

00:30:51.470 --> 00:31:14.669
he came up here. Let's do the wrestling. All

00:31:14.669 --> 00:31:17.710
right. I hope we did it. I don't know. Welcome

00:31:17.710 --> 00:31:21.009
to my chaos. All right. Praise the Lord. We're

00:31:21.009 --> 00:31:26.930
going to sing another song. One more? This slide.

00:31:27.130 --> 00:31:29.809
This slide, the children are leaving with their

00:31:29.809 --> 00:31:32.109
leaders in the classroom. And then we have one

00:31:32.109 --> 00:31:34.789
more song? Two more songs before they work. All

00:31:34.789 --> 00:31:41.019
right. Praise the Lord. If the children are paying

00:31:41.019 --> 00:31:42.759
attention to the PowerPoint slide, they might

00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:44.759
know that they're supposed to leave now. Bye.

00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:49.660
Children, release. Release means get to go. I

00:31:49.660 --> 00:31:54.279
pushed the button, by the way. Push it again

00:31:54.279 --> 00:38:18.269
later. Come on. When I'm Thank you. Can you hear

00:38:18.269 --> 00:38:21.070
me now? Yeah, there we go. Okay, we got it. I

00:38:21.070 --> 00:38:23.590
did push it. I remembered I pushed it. It's not

00:38:23.590 --> 00:38:25.670
new to push it, but it is new to remember that

00:38:25.670 --> 00:38:30.409
I pushed it. How exciting is that? Today's sermon

00:38:30.409 --> 00:38:33.570
title is entitled Breaking Up the Royal Family.

00:38:33.630 --> 00:38:36.269
And if it doesn't sound like a good thing, in

00:38:36.269 --> 00:38:40.670
some cases, it's not a good thing. When I was

00:38:40.670 --> 00:38:43.139
in junior high, Had the distinct opportunity

00:38:43.139 --> 00:38:46.699
for just less than, well, really for one entire

00:38:46.699 --> 00:38:48.780
practice season, because I never actually competed

00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:53.460
in a track event, I ran in track. You know, they

00:38:53.460 --> 00:38:55.820
got that big oval thing out there behind the

00:38:55.820 --> 00:38:57.440
school, and we would go out there and we would

00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:00.019
run around that. And pretty much by the time

00:39:00.019 --> 00:39:02.840
we got through to pretty close to the first meet,

00:39:02.900 --> 00:39:07.039
I determined that I was probably almost the slowest

00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:09.239
guy on the team, even though I was pretty fast,

00:39:09.380 --> 00:39:11.039
but I was almost the slowest guy on the team.

00:39:11.719 --> 00:39:13.980
And I really didn't want to run any races and

00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:15.659
go out there as the almost lowest guy on the

00:39:15.659 --> 00:39:17.380
team and run against everybody else's fastest

00:39:17.380 --> 00:39:20.280
guy and lose by half a lap or a lap. And so I

00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:22.579
made up some excuse and quit, like I did a lot

00:39:22.579 --> 00:39:27.719
of things. But before I quit, I learned a valuable

00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:33.199
lesson. And that is that the inside track, the

00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:35.920
part of the track that is nearest the grass inside,

00:39:36.179 --> 00:39:37.739
like where all the people are gathering, they're

00:39:37.739 --> 00:39:40.150
on the teams. Maybe like where a couple of events

00:39:40.150 --> 00:39:41.530
are taking place, that kind of thing. That inside

00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:45.349
lane is the shortest lane. Now that's why they

00:39:45.349 --> 00:39:47.510
stagger the runners because the runner that's

00:39:47.510 --> 00:39:50.550
on the inside lane has to start further back

00:39:50.550 --> 00:39:54.369
because that distance to get to that first corner

00:39:54.369 --> 00:39:57.550
is less for them as the corner starts to come

00:39:57.550 --> 00:39:59.110
around. And so they stagger those lanes so everybody

00:39:59.110 --> 00:40:01.369
has the same distance to run if they stay in

00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:03.809
their lane. But back then, you didn't have to

00:40:03.809 --> 00:40:06.210
stay in your lane for long -distance races. I

00:40:06.210 --> 00:40:08.210
don't know if you do now or not. So the point

00:40:08.210 --> 00:40:10.670
was, by the first turn, the coach said, get over

00:40:10.670 --> 00:40:13.489
to the grass. Because you've got to be on the

00:40:13.489 --> 00:40:17.630
inside track. The inside track is the shorter

00:40:17.630 --> 00:40:21.429
track. In Jesus' day, being born into a Jewish

00:40:21.429 --> 00:40:24.829
family was definitely the inside track. From

00:40:24.829 --> 00:40:27.389
the very beginning, when Jewish boys could read

00:40:27.389 --> 00:40:30.590
or understand a language, they were memorizing.

00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:33.559
whole passages of Scripture, not just a few words

00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:35.940
here or there or one Bible. The verses didn't

00:40:35.940 --> 00:40:38.059
have references to them. So they weren't memorizing

00:40:38.059 --> 00:40:41.579
things like that was in chapter 33, verse 1,

00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:43.420
or anything like that. It was the book of Genesis,

00:40:43.619 --> 00:40:45.760
right? The story. They memorized the whole story

00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:48.980
of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah or whatever. And

00:40:48.980 --> 00:40:50.659
ultimately, as they got older, by the time they

00:40:50.659 --> 00:40:53.099
reached manhood, which was considerably older

00:40:53.099 --> 00:40:55.639
for them in a... Jewish family than what we might

00:40:55.639 --> 00:40:58.400
think of manhood. They would memorize the entire

00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:01.780
book of Genesis, for example. So to be in a Jewish

00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:04.019
family was definitely to have the inside track,

00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:06.460
knowledge of the word of God, knowledge of what

00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:08.179
it meant to be a godly man, knowledge of who

00:41:08.179 --> 00:41:10.440
God was, knowing about the prophets, knowing

00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:13.599
about Moses and Joshua and Abraham, Isaac and

00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:15.679
Jacob, and all of those interesting characters

00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:18.360
of the past, King David and so on. So to be born

00:41:18.360 --> 00:41:21.679
into a Jewish family was to have the inside track

00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:26.550
to knowledge about God. Today, in our day, being

00:41:26.550 --> 00:41:29.369
born into a godly church family seems like the

00:41:29.369 --> 00:41:31.369
inside track. You have the best chance that your

00:41:31.369 --> 00:41:33.789
parents will do a pretty good job of raising

00:41:33.789 --> 00:41:36.429
you. You have the best chance that your parents

00:41:36.429 --> 00:41:38.590
will do a pretty good job of introducing you

00:41:38.590 --> 00:41:41.849
to Jesus, maybe teaching you some Bible verses

00:41:41.849 --> 00:41:43.369
as you're growing up, teaching you a little bit

00:41:43.369 --> 00:41:45.250
about memorizing the Word or studying or being

00:41:45.250 --> 00:41:47.289
faithful to church, that kind of thing, being

00:41:47.289 --> 00:41:49.190
in worship, serving in the body. You have the

00:41:49.190 --> 00:41:51.610
best chance of an inside track if you're born

00:41:51.610 --> 00:41:54.840
into a godly church family. Now, in this room,

00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:58.460
some of us were and some of us weren't. And probably

00:41:58.460 --> 00:41:59.900
what you're thinking is those of you who were

00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:01.679
born into a godly church family are thinking,

00:42:01.699 --> 00:42:03.900
yeah, I'm not sure if I had the inside track

00:42:03.900 --> 00:42:06.260
because my parents were human and they made mistakes

00:42:06.260 --> 00:42:09.159
and things like that. But I see kind of maybe,

00:42:09.420 --> 00:42:11.639
right, because my parents didn't do this or that

00:42:11.639 --> 00:42:13.260
to me. The other families that don't know the

00:42:13.260 --> 00:42:16.630
Lord may have done. I don't know if I had the

00:42:16.630 --> 00:42:18.809
inside track for sure, if it was any way easier.

00:42:19.070 --> 00:42:21.429
Or if you're born in a family that was not a

00:42:21.429 --> 00:42:23.489
godly church family, then you might be saying,

00:42:23.530 --> 00:42:25.650
well, I don't really know that that's true because

00:42:25.650 --> 00:42:27.309
I feel like God really kind of stepped into my

00:42:27.309 --> 00:42:29.090
life and he took care of it and whatever. And

00:42:29.090 --> 00:42:30.570
even though I didn't have a godly church family

00:42:30.570 --> 00:42:32.349
growing up, it seemed like I had a pretty fast

00:42:32.349 --> 00:42:34.170
track into the kingdom. God made it all work

00:42:34.170 --> 00:42:38.429
and so on. So you might not for sure agree with

00:42:38.429 --> 00:42:40.670
those statements depending on your specific situation.

00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:44.559
But I will say to you that From an outside point

00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:47.300
of view, observing, it just makes sense that

00:42:47.300 --> 00:42:50.059
if a person has a godly church family and they're

00:42:50.059 --> 00:42:51.880
encountering the word of God, even if their parents

00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:53.619
aren't very godly, but they're encountering the

00:42:53.619 --> 00:42:57.440
word of God and memorizing it as a kid or things

00:42:57.440 --> 00:42:59.739
like that, that they have good access to know

00:42:59.739 --> 00:43:01.679
about God. They have better access to know about

00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:04.300
God than somebody that's born out there in the

00:43:04.300 --> 00:43:06.300
world, if you will. Nobody in their family is

00:43:06.300 --> 00:43:08.280
Christian. There's no Bibles around. So when

00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:11.239
I was a young child, At five years old, I got

00:43:11.239 --> 00:43:13.440
my first Bible, went to church for five months,

00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:16.199
and then my parents pulled us out of church,

00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:18.519
and I was never in church again for over 20 years.

00:43:19.280 --> 00:43:21.780
And so my dad was a backslidden Christian at

00:43:21.780 --> 00:43:23.059
the time. He was a Protestant Christian from

00:43:23.059 --> 00:43:25.460
being a kid, but at 17, he walked away from the

00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:27.280
Lord, and my mom was not a Christian. She didn't

00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:30.139
get saved until she was 56. So we didn't have

00:43:30.139 --> 00:43:33.420
God or Bible in our house, per se. We didn't

00:43:33.420 --> 00:43:35.159
pray before meals. We didn't talk about God.

00:43:35.579 --> 00:43:38.440
I never heard the phrase, what God would want

00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:42.820
you to do, not once in 20 years in my house.

00:43:43.579 --> 00:43:45.500
And the truth was, my grandfather was a preaching

00:43:45.500 --> 00:43:48.000
deacon, and I never even heard it from him. And

00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:50.420
I think it was because my dad had asked my grandfather

00:43:50.420 --> 00:43:52.619
not to do that. Does that make sense? It makes

00:43:52.619 --> 00:43:54.900
sense, right, Kenny? He would say, don't do that.

00:43:54.940 --> 00:43:56.719
Don't mess with my house. And so they didn't

00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:00.650
do that. And so it wasn't there. I'm telling

00:44:00.650 --> 00:44:02.750
you, in that sense, I did not have the inside

00:44:02.750 --> 00:44:05.869
track. So just buy into that enough with me to

00:44:05.869 --> 00:44:09.110
see it from Jesus' perspective. And grab your

00:44:09.110 --> 00:44:11.250
Bibles with you, if you will, and go with me

00:44:11.250 --> 00:44:14.829
to the book of Matthew, chapter 23. Thank you

00:44:14.829 --> 00:44:17.269
very much. This is God's Word. What I'm about

00:44:17.269 --> 00:44:19.469
to read to you, it doesn't take a long time to

00:44:19.469 --> 00:44:22.550
read it, but I will tell you that theologians

00:44:22.550 --> 00:44:25.130
have been working on digesting this short passage,

00:44:25.190 --> 00:44:28.119
four verses I'm about to read to you. I'm sorry,

00:44:28.199 --> 00:44:29.639
three verses I'm about to read to you, for a

00:44:29.639 --> 00:44:32.639
really long time. And I'm going to give you kind

00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:34.860
of a summary, or I think it's a Holy Spirit -led

00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:38.099
understanding of that, and cut out years of effort

00:44:38.099 --> 00:44:40.619
for you. Okay? If you would want to do the same

00:44:40.619 --> 00:44:42.900
steps that they took. So that's good. That would

00:44:42.900 --> 00:44:45.420
be worth your time if nothing else was. Okay?

00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:47.800
So Matthew chapter 23, I'm going to begin reading

00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:51.440
in verse 37. Some of you will recognize a little

00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:54.699
bit, and maybe just, in my case today, as I studied

00:44:54.699 --> 00:44:56.639
this, and this week as I looked at these verses,

00:44:57.079 --> 00:45:00.119
I had really not dug deeply into what's being

00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:02.039
said here. I took it on the surface. I'll show

00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:03.619
you the surface, and then I'll show you the deep.

00:45:04.320 --> 00:45:07.539
So verse 37 says this. This is Matthew 23, 37.

00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:10.420
It says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the

00:45:10.420 --> 00:45:12.840
prophets and stones those who are sent to her,

00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:15.760
how often I wanted to gather your children together

00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:18.880
the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,

00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:24.059
and you were unwilling. So Jesus is in the middle

00:45:24.059 --> 00:45:26.380
of kind of like a woe passage. He's talking about

00:45:26.380 --> 00:45:29.400
how people have screwed up. And here he directs

00:45:29.400 --> 00:45:31.739
his statement at Jerusalem. Now because it's

00:45:31.739 --> 00:45:33.639
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, we kind of recognize that.

00:45:33.639 --> 00:45:35.380
If you read a lot of Bible, you kind of recognize

00:45:35.380 --> 00:45:38.860
that formation. And it's an Old Testament formation.

00:45:39.179 --> 00:45:41.139
You don't find it much in the New Testament at

00:45:41.139 --> 00:45:43.559
all. But you find it in the Old Testament quite

00:45:43.559 --> 00:45:46.059
regularly in the prophets. So those who were

00:45:46.059 --> 00:45:48.980
there, again, Jewish men inside track a lot of

00:45:48.980 --> 00:45:52.210
times. would recognize that phrasing, Jerusalem,

00:45:52.449 --> 00:45:55.869
Jerusalem, as an Old Testament prophet phrasing.

00:45:56.190 --> 00:45:59.489
So Jesus is likening what he is saying to an

00:45:59.489 --> 00:46:03.369
Old Testament prophecy. And he says this, he

00:46:03.369 --> 00:46:06.969
says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets,

00:46:07.030 --> 00:46:09.429
that's what they had done, and stones those who

00:46:09.429 --> 00:46:12.369
are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather

00:46:12.369 --> 00:46:14.190
your children together, the way a hen gathers

00:46:14.190 --> 00:46:16.449
her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

00:46:16.530 --> 00:46:19.590
He's going to go on a little bit further. But

00:46:19.590 --> 00:46:21.849
in this first part already, we can see that there

00:46:21.849 --> 00:46:25.289
is a major breakdown in what it means to be,

00:46:25.349 --> 00:46:27.909
quote -unquote, the people of God, or to be Jewish

00:46:27.909 --> 00:46:31.269
and have the inside track. He is accusing them,

00:46:31.449 --> 00:46:34.190
and rightfully so because we know their history,

00:46:34.329 --> 00:46:38.030
of persecuting the very people that God sent

00:46:38.030 --> 00:46:43.230
to them to call them to himself. So Jesus is

00:46:43.230 --> 00:46:46.110
saying, you did this. Now, when you get right

00:46:46.110 --> 00:46:48.389
down to it, we do not have a lot of stories.

00:46:48.889 --> 00:46:52.190
of them killing the prophets or stoning those

00:46:52.190 --> 00:46:56.250
who were sent to her. So we're not necessarily,

00:46:56.510 --> 00:46:58.250
when we say stoning those who were sent to Jerusalem,

00:46:58.309 --> 00:47:01.949
not necessarily talking about prophets. We don't

00:47:01.949 --> 00:47:03.550
have a lot of stories of that in the Old Testament,

00:47:03.630 --> 00:47:04.989
so they wouldn't have been studying a lot of

00:47:04.989 --> 00:47:07.630
that. But we do have stories of prophets being

00:47:07.630 --> 00:47:10.670
persecuted for sure, and at least one story of

00:47:10.670 --> 00:47:12.590
a prophet who was killed, even though he was

00:47:12.590 --> 00:47:15.329
clearly not a false prophet, and they were supposed

00:47:15.329 --> 00:47:18.389
to kill false prophets. That was what the Old

00:47:18.389 --> 00:47:21.030
Testament said. So we don't have a lot of stories

00:47:21.030 --> 00:47:23.789
of that in the Old Testament, but historically

00:47:23.789 --> 00:47:27.030
speaking, they had not listened to the agents

00:47:27.030 --> 00:47:29.610
that God had sent to call them to righteousness.

00:47:30.050 --> 00:47:32.650
That's true. We know that. We do read that in

00:47:32.650 --> 00:47:35.530
our Bibles. And what he was saying was, I have

00:47:35.530 --> 00:47:38.730
longed to draw together your children, that is

00:47:38.730 --> 00:47:41.469
to say, the offspring of Jerusalem, not just

00:47:41.469 --> 00:47:43.590
a man or a woman, although that would be included,

00:47:43.730 --> 00:47:45.409
but all the men and women that lived in Jerusalem.

00:47:45.980 --> 00:47:48.760
And by the way, all the men and women that live

00:47:48.760 --> 00:47:51.360
in Jerusalem are also the offspring of Jerusalem,

00:47:51.599 --> 00:47:52.920
right? Unless they came from somewhere else.

00:47:53.019 --> 00:47:54.820
But at this point in time, they are the offspring

00:47:54.820 --> 00:47:57.340
of Jerusalem. So this is not just saying when

00:47:57.340 --> 00:47:59.159
he says the children, and we talked about this

00:47:59.159 --> 00:48:02.199
on Tuesday night a while back, but a child of

00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:05.300
God, for example, is someone who loves the Lord

00:48:05.300 --> 00:48:07.239
and wants to learn from the Lord. And so, for

00:48:07.239 --> 00:48:09.219
example, my grandchildren are kind of like my

00:48:09.219 --> 00:48:10.980
children, even though they're biologically one

00:48:10.980 --> 00:48:14.179
step. And I am their children because I love

00:48:14.179 --> 00:48:16.699
them and want to learn from them. So it's not

00:48:16.699 --> 00:48:19.099
as simple to say that a child is someone who

00:48:19.099 --> 00:48:21.619
is born an offspring. But very generically saying,

00:48:21.860 --> 00:48:24.340
everybody that was living in Jerusalem was the

00:48:24.340 --> 00:48:26.380
offspring of Jerusalem, whether they were a child

00:48:26.380 --> 00:48:29.219
or an adult. But he's saying, the offspring of

00:48:29.219 --> 00:48:31.300
Jerusalem, I have yearned to draw you together.

00:48:31.360 --> 00:48:33.739
I want to do that like a hen gathers her chicks.

00:48:33.800 --> 00:48:36.300
So what does a hen do for her chicks? Well, she

00:48:36.300 --> 00:48:38.380
gathers them together. She protects them from

00:48:38.380 --> 00:48:40.599
predators. She provides for them. She provides

00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:43.199
warmth. So we're talking about protection and

00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:45.670
provision. So he's saying, I want to give protection

00:48:45.670 --> 00:48:48.829
and provision to the offspring of Jerusalem,

00:48:48.929 --> 00:48:53.889
but you were unwilling. So the you were unwilling

00:48:53.889 --> 00:48:56.349
means not only that the city was collectively

00:48:56.349 --> 00:48:58.170
unwilling, which we find to be very true, because

00:48:58.170 --> 00:49:00.070
in just a very short period of time after this,

00:49:00.090 --> 00:49:02.110
the city will go together, essentially. They

00:49:02.110 --> 00:49:04.929
will form an unholy allegiance to crucify the

00:49:04.929 --> 00:49:07.630
Christ, to crucify Jesus that's coming right

00:49:07.630 --> 00:49:11.079
after this text. So we're going to see the people

00:49:11.079 --> 00:49:14.000
crying out, not just the Sadducees and the Pharisees

00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:16.340
and the upper echelon, right? But the common

00:49:16.340 --> 00:49:18.719
people crying out, crucify him, crucify him.

00:49:18.739 --> 00:49:22.159
So it becomes a unity. So it is everybody in

00:49:22.159 --> 00:49:24.719
that sense that the city was unwilling. But also

00:49:24.719 --> 00:49:27.059
notice the way it's phrased, and you were unwilling,

00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:30.619
is to say that you might be the offspring and

00:49:30.619 --> 00:49:33.210
be unwilling. So you could be from Jerusalem

00:49:33.210 --> 00:49:36.070
as a child, an adolescent or an adult, and be

00:49:36.070 --> 00:49:39.170
unwilling to be gathered in. Or you might have

00:49:39.170 --> 00:49:42.010
offspring and be unwilling that your offspring

00:49:42.010 --> 00:49:46.809
would be gathered in. Then verse 38 says, Behold,

00:49:46.849 --> 00:49:51.530
your house is being left to you desolate. That

00:49:51.530 --> 00:49:56.050
just sucks. God is saying to them, remember this

00:49:56.050 --> 00:49:58.530
is in a woe passage. He's not declaring good

00:49:58.530 --> 00:50:01.880
things. He's saying to them, though you are from

00:50:01.880 --> 00:50:04.579
Jerusalem, I have yearned to grab you up and

00:50:04.579 --> 00:50:06.480
protect you and provide for you, but you have

00:50:06.480 --> 00:50:09.239
been unwilling, even having killed the prophets

00:50:09.239 --> 00:50:12.019
and stoned those who were sent to you, to declare

00:50:12.019 --> 00:50:15.119
my love and draw you in previously. He's saying,

00:50:15.219 --> 00:50:18.119
basically, y 'all are villains, and you're comfortable

00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:20.579
being villains, and you want your children to

00:50:20.579 --> 00:50:22.960
also be villains. You're comfortable, even though

00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:25.000
maybe your parents or those who went before you

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:26.800
might have even been godly, you're comfortable

00:50:26.800 --> 00:50:29.659
in your wickedness, and you're comfortable that

00:50:29.659 --> 00:50:32.139
your children would be wicked. And the question

00:50:32.139 --> 00:50:35.159
is, are your children comfortable in their wickedness?

00:50:35.300 --> 00:50:37.630
And that's essentially what he's saying. He says,

00:50:37.690 --> 00:50:40.269
behold then, the result of that is your house

00:50:40.269 --> 00:50:42.269
is being left to you desolate. Now this is where

00:50:42.269 --> 00:50:44.510
the big theological debate kind of comes in.

00:50:44.590 --> 00:50:46.210
And there's about three schools of thought. The

00:50:46.210 --> 00:50:48.269
first one is that the Lord's temple, which was

00:50:48.269 --> 00:50:51.190
in Jerusalem, that God was withdrawing his presence

00:50:51.190 --> 00:50:52.929
from the temple. So that it's kind of referring

00:50:52.929 --> 00:50:55.130
to the house of the Lord, which was also their

00:50:55.130 --> 00:50:58.369
house. And that's true. God does do that after

00:50:58.369 --> 00:51:00.769
Jesus is crucified or at the moment of his crucifixion.

00:51:00.769 --> 00:51:02.570
He withdraws his presence from the temple. You

00:51:02.570 --> 00:51:04.429
don't go into the Holy of Holies anymore to worship

00:51:04.429 --> 00:51:08.449
God. But in some sense, That's because God makes

00:51:08.449 --> 00:51:10.590
his presence available to everybody individually

00:51:10.590 --> 00:51:13.170
instead of it just being the house. And who owned

00:51:13.170 --> 00:51:15.949
the temple? It ought to should have been God.

00:51:16.150 --> 00:51:18.110
Right. But it really wasn't. It was the Jewish

00:51:18.110 --> 00:51:22.010
people owned the temple. Right. And so the theologians

00:51:22.010 --> 00:51:23.869
would say, well, that means their house, the

00:51:23.869 --> 00:51:26.170
house of God that they own, was becoming empty.

00:51:26.630 --> 00:51:28.489
God's presence no longer going to be in it. That's

00:51:28.489 --> 00:51:31.150
one theological meaning there. And that's true.

00:51:31.789 --> 00:51:33.289
It's not the only thing that could be there,

00:51:33.389 --> 00:51:36.460
but it's true. The second one, then, is to say

00:51:36.460 --> 00:51:39.820
that the house of the city, that the city was

00:51:39.820 --> 00:51:43.400
losing something that it had always had. Being

00:51:43.400 --> 00:51:46.219
known as a center for God's people. Being known

00:51:46.219 --> 00:51:49.039
as a center where the diaspora, Jewish men, and

00:51:49.039 --> 00:51:51.739
people who had converted to Judaism, came from

00:51:51.739 --> 00:51:55.139
all over the place. Hundreds, maybe a thousand

00:51:55.139 --> 00:51:57.199
miles to come and worship at Jerusalem, especially

00:51:57.199 --> 00:51:59.619
at the temples. They were crossing state boundaries.

00:52:00.239 --> 00:52:01.659
Leaving their country, crossing through three

00:52:01.659 --> 00:52:03.119
other states, and coming there to worship. Because

00:52:03.119 --> 00:52:05.579
everybody in the world knew that if you wanted

00:52:05.579 --> 00:52:08.360
to know God, that's where you had to go. And

00:52:08.360 --> 00:52:10.980
so theologians argue they were losing that. They

00:52:10.980 --> 00:52:14.460
were losing that presence of being called God's

00:52:14.460 --> 00:52:19.579
place. And that's true. They did lose that in

00:52:19.579 --> 00:52:21.460
some sense. In some sense, they still retain

00:52:21.460 --> 00:52:23.659
it. But the temple is no longer there. You can

00:52:23.659 --> 00:52:27.719
go stand at the wailing wall and cry. That's

00:52:27.719 --> 00:52:29.360
why it's called the Wailing Wall, because it's

00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:30.780
the only wall of the temple still standing. And

00:52:30.780 --> 00:52:33.059
that's where they go and cry over the loss of

00:52:33.059 --> 00:52:35.139
the temple. Because it is not there anymore.

00:52:35.760 --> 00:52:38.659
So you can go and see where Jesus walked. You

00:52:38.659 --> 00:52:41.539
can go and see about the people and how they

00:52:41.539 --> 00:52:43.260
lived and how they lived. And there's historical

00:52:43.260 --> 00:52:45.059
things you can study and look at, all that kind

00:52:45.059 --> 00:52:48.119
of thing. But there's no necessity anymore. There's

00:52:48.119 --> 00:52:49.980
nothing urging us anymore to go to Jerusalem

00:52:49.980 --> 00:52:54.260
to meet with God. And so that's true. And some

00:52:54.260 --> 00:52:56.039
theologians believe that's kind of what he was

00:52:56.039 --> 00:52:58.119
getting at. And then the final one, which hurts

00:52:58.119 --> 00:53:01.360
a lot more, is to say that they, because they

00:53:01.360 --> 00:53:03.820
were not interested in having their children

00:53:03.820 --> 00:53:05.639
have a right relationship with God, or their

00:53:05.639 --> 00:53:07.739
offspring, or the younger generation, if you

00:53:07.739 --> 00:53:09.820
will, have a right relationship with God, that

00:53:09.820 --> 00:53:11.960
their house, their personal house, where they

00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:14.719
lived, and it's a metaphor, I understand, but

00:53:14.719 --> 00:53:18.880
their personal house was being left empty. That

00:53:18.880 --> 00:53:23.059
hurts. To think that as Christians, Because we

00:53:23.059 --> 00:53:25.559
are not willing that the next generation, our

00:53:25.559 --> 00:53:27.920
nieces, our nephews, our children, our boys and

00:53:27.920 --> 00:53:31.340
girls, our grandchildren, even our spouses or

00:53:31.340 --> 00:53:32.920
people where we work or whatever, because we're

00:53:32.920 --> 00:53:34.820
not willing that people would be drawn in by

00:53:34.820 --> 00:53:37.460
God, though God clearly wants to do that, because

00:53:37.460 --> 00:53:39.159
we're not willing that people should do that,

00:53:39.179 --> 00:53:42.619
that our house would be left desolate. I'll break

00:53:42.619 --> 00:53:45.820
down desolate in a moment. Verse 38 then said,

00:53:45.980 --> 00:53:48.420
Behold, your house is being left to you desolate.

00:53:50.460 --> 00:53:52.599
basically what we know for sure is that there

00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:54.780
would be a loss of status, a loss of wealth,

00:53:54.860 --> 00:53:58.159
a loss of family. That they would be left alone

00:53:58.159 --> 00:54:03.440
in the dwelling place given them by God. Look

00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:06.559
here and realize that you can lose everything

00:54:06.559 --> 00:54:10.800
and be left empty. That's what Jesus was saying.

00:54:12.619 --> 00:54:14.460
Verse 39, then the last one we're going to read

00:54:14.460 --> 00:54:19.579
right here right now. It says, From now on, and

00:54:19.579 --> 00:54:21.559
that little phrase there, that little phrase

00:54:21.559 --> 00:54:22.599
there we're going to come back to and look at

00:54:22.599 --> 00:54:26.260
in a second, is so cool. In Matthew, you can

00:54:26.260 --> 00:54:29.260
see it three times. I'll break it down for you,

00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:31.380
but I would like to suggest you want to look

00:54:31.380 --> 00:54:34.599
at that later, like tonight or tomorrow or over

00:54:34.599 --> 00:54:36.500
throughout this week. Look at those three passages

00:54:36.500 --> 00:54:38.559
of Scripture and what Jesus says from now on

00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:40.019
about it. I'll show you how important it is in

00:54:40.019 --> 00:54:44.280
a minute. He says, For I say to you, from now

00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:48.800
on you will not see me until you say, Blessed

00:54:48.800 --> 00:54:51.079
is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Does

00:54:51.079 --> 00:54:52.880
that sound kind of familiar to anybody? Remember

00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:55.360
on the triumphant walk into Jerusalem and they

00:54:55.360 --> 00:54:57.039
were crying out, blessed is he who comes in the

00:54:57.039 --> 00:54:58.840
name of the Lord, right? But it didn't last,

00:54:59.159 --> 00:55:01.139
right? Because some of the same people probably

00:55:01.139 --> 00:55:03.079
who were there were later crying crucify him.

00:55:03.579 --> 00:55:06.800
But there was a moment in which that, I submit

00:55:06.800 --> 00:55:08.599
to you that that was a teaching moment. It was

00:55:08.599 --> 00:55:10.039
a moment for them to realize that this is the

00:55:10.039 --> 00:55:12.820
way it's supposed to be. And yet they would crucify

00:55:12.820 --> 00:55:18.070
him not much later. So he says, From then on,

00:55:18.389 --> 00:55:21.789
they would not experience God. Remember, these

00:55:21.789 --> 00:55:24.050
are the Jewish people. They are the people of

00:55:24.050 --> 00:55:26.409
God. If you think just very briefly about the

00:55:26.409 --> 00:55:28.550
commission of Jerusalem and the Jewish people,

00:55:28.670 --> 00:55:31.230
the people of God, they were given to have a

00:55:31.230 --> 00:55:33.010
relationship with God and then to show it to

00:55:33.010 --> 00:55:35.610
the entire world. The idea of forming Israel

00:55:35.610 --> 00:55:38.250
originally was that Israel would then show the

00:55:38.250 --> 00:55:40.909
entire world what it means to be a people of

00:55:40.909 --> 00:55:43.389
God. That's why they had commands that were kind

00:55:43.389 --> 00:55:46.849
of strict. tattoos, and clothing, and the way

00:55:46.849 --> 00:55:48.510
they were supposed to act, and what they were

00:55:48.510 --> 00:55:49.750
allowed to do and not allowed to do, and they

00:55:49.750 --> 00:55:52.170
continued to drift and breach those commands,

00:55:52.449 --> 00:55:55.050
and then return back to God, repent, return back

00:55:55.050 --> 00:55:56.590
to God, and then drift and breach those commands

00:55:56.590 --> 00:55:58.530
again, which is what the book of Judges is all

00:55:58.530 --> 00:56:00.409
about. The spiral down into sin, repent, turn

00:56:00.409 --> 00:56:03.190
back, a judge, he dies, she dies, spiral down

00:56:03.190 --> 00:56:05.610
into sin, and it goes on and on and on until

00:56:05.610 --> 00:56:07.429
eventually they need a king. Someone will call

00:56:07.429 --> 00:56:08.710
them so they can have righteousness, at least

00:56:08.710 --> 00:56:12.010
for more than one generation. And they do call

00:56:12.010 --> 00:56:14.920
a king, and they do get righteousness. For a

00:56:14.920 --> 00:56:17.300
number of generations throughout the time when

00:56:17.300 --> 00:56:20.219
a king is ruling the kingdom. Bottom line is

00:56:20.219 --> 00:56:25.000
this. They would lose that coveted position of

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:27.800
being able to experience God even intermittently

00:56:27.800 --> 00:56:33.000
until a certain thing would transpire. And he

00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:35.079
tells them what that certain thing is. Until

00:56:35.079 --> 00:56:38.980
they say, blessed is he, who is he, by the way,

00:56:39.000 --> 00:56:41.579
who comes in the name of the Lord? Jesus Christ.

00:56:42.509 --> 00:56:45.429
Until they say, blessed is he who comes in the

00:56:45.429 --> 00:56:49.769
name of the Lord, they would not see him. They

00:56:49.769 --> 00:56:53.469
would not know God. And they have. There have

00:56:53.469 --> 00:56:55.170
been prophets, there have been priests, there

00:56:55.170 --> 00:56:56.829
have been visions, there have been miracles.

00:56:57.130 --> 00:56:59.949
They have intermittently experienced God in a

00:56:59.949 --> 00:57:03.130
very powerful way up until this moment in time.

00:57:03.170 --> 00:57:07.309
And Jesus is declaring, that's done. That's over.

00:57:09.579 --> 00:57:11.920
So that phrase that I pointed out to you that

00:57:11.920 --> 00:57:14.840
was super, that I think is super cool and important,

00:57:14.940 --> 00:57:18.280
is the phrase in the Greek, it said, ap arti.

00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:21.960
It's two little words, ap and arti. It's A -P,

00:57:22.099 --> 00:57:23.760
like you'd say app, like an app on your phone,

00:57:23.860 --> 00:57:29.780
and arti. A wrote, so it's A -R -T -I, essentially

00:57:29.780 --> 00:57:32.920
in English, that sound. And Jesus says it twice

00:57:32.920 --> 00:57:35.239
else. Matthew records him saying it twice else.

00:57:35.280 --> 00:57:37.739
One is in 26, 29, so it's a little bit after

00:57:37.739 --> 00:57:41.360
this. And then he says, Hereafter I will not

00:57:41.360 --> 00:57:43.659
consume this drink ever with you again until

00:57:43.659 --> 00:57:46.260
we do it in the kingdom of God. You might recognize

00:57:46.260 --> 00:57:48.639
that one, maybe, I don't know. And then also,

00:57:48.840 --> 00:57:52.980
he says it a little later, he says, From now

00:57:52.980 --> 00:57:54.880
on, the high priest stood up and said to him,

00:57:54.980 --> 00:57:57.079
Do you not answer? This is while he's being accused,

00:57:57.360 --> 00:57:59.260
right? Do you not answer? What is it that these

00:57:59.260 --> 00:58:01.809
men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept

00:58:01.809 --> 00:58:03.829
silent, and the high priest said to him, I adjure

00:58:03.829 --> 00:58:06.409
you by the living God that you tell us whether

00:58:06.409 --> 00:58:08.269
you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said

00:58:08.269 --> 00:58:10.550
to him, You have said it yourself. Nevertheless,

00:58:10.730 --> 00:58:13.469
I tell you, hereafter, there it is, ap arti,

00:58:13.489 --> 00:58:16.989
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right

00:58:16.989 --> 00:58:20.010
hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

00:58:20.190 --> 00:58:22.510
Then the high priest tore his robes and said,

00:58:22.630 --> 00:58:25.909
He is blasphemed. What further need do we have

00:58:25.909 --> 00:58:28.010
of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the

00:58:28.010 --> 00:58:30.510
blasphemy. What do you think? They answered,

00:58:30.880 --> 00:58:33.639
He deserves death. And so how important is the

00:58:33.639 --> 00:58:35.960
apartheid? The apartheid is so important that

00:58:35.960 --> 00:58:37.920
it was pretty much the last thing that Jesus

00:58:37.920 --> 00:58:42.800
said before they sentenced him to be crucified,

00:58:43.039 --> 00:58:46.679
at least in the Jewish courts, which were not

00:58:46.679 --> 00:58:49.039
right anyway, but the bottom line is he says

00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:52.579
that. And what did he say? Hereafter, you will

00:58:52.579 --> 00:58:55.000
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand.

00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:57.599
of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

00:58:57.659 --> 00:58:59.099
Now they understood that, not without getting

00:58:59.099 --> 00:59:01.400
deeply into it, they understood that as a reference

00:59:01.400 --> 00:59:04.059
to Daniel chapter 7, where the prophet Daniel

00:59:04.059 --> 00:59:07.539
points out that God will send, someone will come.

00:59:07.739 --> 00:59:11.239
And he's pointing out a Messiah, a Christ, an

00:59:11.239 --> 00:59:13.280
anointed one of God that will change everything

00:59:13.280 --> 00:59:17.019
forever. And Jesus is here telling us by op arti

00:59:17.019 --> 00:59:20.079
that he is the one who will change everything

00:59:20.079 --> 00:59:23.139
forever. And then back in 23, when we read it,

00:59:23.159 --> 00:59:28.480
he said, from now on, you will not see me until

00:59:28.480 --> 00:59:33.639
you say, blessed is the one who comes in the

00:59:33.639 --> 00:59:36.199
name of the Lord. So they will lose the Christ.

00:59:36.280 --> 00:59:38.579
They will lose the Messiah. They will lose the

00:59:38.579 --> 00:59:42.940
presence of the living God until they say, Jesus,

00:59:43.059 --> 00:59:45.699
blessed is the name of Jesus. There is no other

00:59:45.699 --> 00:59:48.679
name under heaven given among men by which we

00:59:48.679 --> 00:59:51.739
must be saved. All right, so there are three

00:59:51.739 --> 00:59:53.739
things in this text, and I broke it down for

00:59:53.739 --> 00:59:56.139
you kind of like, what does it mean, theologically

00:59:56.139 --> 00:59:57.699
like that. There are three things that the Lord

00:59:57.699 --> 00:59:59.619
really laid on my heart that we need to see,

00:59:59.739 --> 01:00:03.219
and they're pretty rough stuff. So if you're

01:00:03.219 --> 01:00:05.780
squeamish in your faith, I apologize for where

01:00:05.780 --> 01:00:07.840
we're about to go, because it's pretty rough

01:00:07.840 --> 01:00:11.079
stuff. I'd say put your dentures in and let's

01:00:11.079 --> 01:00:13.260
chew on it, because it's a pretty big deal. First

01:00:13.260 --> 01:00:17.789
one is this. Falling far from the tree. You remember

01:00:17.789 --> 01:00:19.670
who that's saying, right? The apple doesn't fall

01:00:19.670 --> 01:00:22.269
far from the tree, right? So falling far from

01:00:22.269 --> 01:00:26.670
the tree would not be enough, especially if it's

01:00:26.670 --> 01:00:29.409
in word alone, which for them and many since

01:00:29.409 --> 01:00:33.309
them is all it has ever been. So if your dad

01:00:33.309 --> 01:00:37.230
was a drunk and you said, the apple's going to

01:00:37.230 --> 01:00:39.050
fall far from the tree, I'm not going to be a

01:00:39.050 --> 01:00:43.949
drunk. If your mom was foul -mouthed, she smoked

01:00:43.949 --> 01:00:50.639
marijuana. 15 hours a day. Or your dad quit every

01:00:50.639 --> 01:00:53.980
job he ever had before he had a new one. And

01:00:53.980 --> 01:00:55.840
the family would suffer for weeks or months with

01:00:55.840 --> 01:00:58.239
not enough money to put food on the table. If

01:00:58.239 --> 01:00:59.719
that was what your parents were like, you'd say,

01:00:59.780 --> 01:01:01.900
no, apple's going to fall off the tree. I'm not

01:01:01.900 --> 01:01:04.400
going to be like them. I'm here to tell you today

01:01:04.400 --> 01:01:07.260
that Jesus was saying ever so clearly, that's

01:01:07.260 --> 01:01:12.440
not enough. Denouncing the faults of those who

01:01:12.440 --> 01:01:18.159
have gone before us will not make us right. Each

01:01:18.159 --> 01:01:21.320
new generation sees very clearly the errors of

01:01:21.320 --> 01:01:23.519
those who went before. Teenagers in the room,

01:01:23.619 --> 01:01:31.219
we know you can see us. We understand that you

01:01:31.219 --> 01:01:33.300
can see the weaknesses, the failings, and the

01:01:33.300 --> 01:01:38.420
faults of your parents better than we can see

01:01:38.420 --> 01:01:42.300
them ourselves. It's a fact. The next generation

01:01:42.300 --> 01:01:47.179
will look at you in the cold light of day. And

01:01:47.179 --> 01:01:49.420
that applies not only in the biological family

01:01:49.420 --> 01:01:51.400
in the home or in the family of foster children

01:01:51.400 --> 01:01:53.920
or adopted children, but it applies also in the

01:01:53.920 --> 01:01:57.380
church. Understand that the God's kids that are

01:01:57.380 --> 01:01:58.900
meeting over there right now studying the Bible,

01:01:58.960 --> 01:02:01.139
they're going to hear things about what it means

01:02:01.139 --> 01:02:03.400
to be a Christian. And then they're going to

01:02:03.400 --> 01:02:06.840
look at you and they're going to say, are there

01:02:06.840 --> 01:02:10.300
any Christians in the world at all? If indeed

01:02:10.300 --> 01:02:13.079
you are living the hypocritical life and not

01:02:13.079 --> 01:02:15.840
actually looking like a Christian. And falling

01:02:15.840 --> 01:02:19.119
far from the tree, being different than your

01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:21.079
parents who lived a hypocritical life and didn't

01:02:21.079 --> 01:02:22.500
actually look like Christians if that was the

01:02:22.500 --> 01:02:26.380
case, will not suffice for them to look at you

01:02:26.380 --> 01:02:28.659
and say, oh yeah, that's what a Christian looks

01:02:28.659 --> 01:02:32.079
like. Every new generation sees very clearly

01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:36.179
the errors of those who went before, whether

01:02:36.179 --> 01:02:39.650
they want to or not. It undermines their ability

01:02:39.650 --> 01:02:41.750
to do the right thing when they see their parents

01:02:41.750 --> 01:02:44.869
lying, deceiving, not showing up, not keeping

01:02:44.869 --> 01:02:47.409
their commitments, not stretching themselves

01:02:47.409 --> 01:02:50.170
to serve God, not working hard to give and give

01:02:50.170 --> 01:02:52.050
more, give above and beyond what they're comfortable

01:02:52.050 --> 01:02:53.809
with giving. That's the New Testament standard,

01:02:53.949 --> 01:02:57.150
to give sacrificially, not just to tithe and

01:02:57.150 --> 01:02:58.329
give an offering, which is the Old Testament

01:02:58.329 --> 01:02:59.710
standard, but above and beyond that, to give

01:02:59.710 --> 01:03:03.670
sacrificially of time and money, whatever you

01:03:03.670 --> 01:03:06.849
got. And they see that and they know that Jesus

01:03:06.849 --> 01:03:09.670
said they've heard the story of the widow and

01:03:09.670 --> 01:03:11.590
her two mites and how she put in and the two

01:03:11.590 --> 01:03:13.989
tiny pennies that she put in was more than the

01:03:13.989 --> 01:03:16.789
big suitcases of money they were dumping into

01:03:16.789 --> 01:03:21.269
the trumpets. Try to say that twice fast. Dumping

01:03:21.269 --> 01:03:24.409
into the trumpets and all that money's laddering

01:03:24.409 --> 01:03:27.590
down and there into the offering plate. And all

01:03:27.590 --> 01:03:29.449
those guys looked so good and that widow gave

01:03:29.449 --> 01:03:32.369
her two little coins. And Jesus said that she

01:03:32.369 --> 01:03:36.130
gave out of her need. She pushed herself. She

01:03:36.130 --> 01:03:39.869
sacrificed to give. And she gave more than those

01:03:39.869 --> 01:03:44.030
suitcases of coins. And they hear that story,

01:03:44.170 --> 01:03:46.190
and then they look at us and they say, why are

01:03:46.190 --> 01:03:50.849
they not sacrificing that much? Why do they not

01:03:50.849 --> 01:03:54.150
push that much? If the Jesus that I want to follow

01:03:54.150 --> 01:03:58.789
at 10 or 15 is the Jesus, that I see in scripture,

01:03:59.110 --> 01:04:03.449
then why are my adults not following him that

01:04:03.449 --> 01:04:07.309
way? They see us very clearly. I saw my parents

01:04:07.309 --> 01:04:09.590
very clearly. I was not saved. My dad was a backslidden

01:04:09.590 --> 01:04:11.750
Christian. My mom was not a Christian. And yet

01:04:11.750 --> 01:04:15.070
I could see my parents' hypocrisy very clearly.

01:04:15.250 --> 01:04:17.110
And my mother would talk about her mother and

01:04:17.110 --> 01:04:18.610
the things that went on in her home when I was

01:04:18.610 --> 01:04:21.070
a kid by way of telling me how good I had it.

01:04:21.679 --> 01:04:23.840
because her apple fell far from the tree by her

01:04:23.840 --> 01:04:26.639
own estimation, and it was not sufficient. I

01:04:26.639 --> 01:04:30.260
could see her hypocrisy. I could see her lies.

01:04:30.380 --> 01:04:33.139
I knew something wasn't right. My dad was a man

01:04:33.139 --> 01:04:34.619
of integrity, and the closest thing that I knew

01:04:34.619 --> 01:04:37.559
to a man of integrity when I was growing up,

01:04:37.559 --> 01:04:39.239
and I didn't know my grandfather all that well,

01:04:39.360 --> 01:04:42.139
but he also was a man of integrity, and I later

01:04:42.139 --> 01:04:43.920
in life found out that he was much more so than

01:04:43.920 --> 01:04:46.579
my dad, because my dad didn't follow in his dad's

01:04:46.579 --> 01:04:49.860
footsteps until he was in his 60s. And so the

01:04:49.860 --> 01:04:52.929
point is, My dad was a man of integrity, but

01:04:52.929 --> 01:04:55.369
I knew that his integrity had all these holes

01:04:55.369 --> 01:04:56.570
in it. It was things that weren't right. Why

01:04:56.570 --> 01:04:57.949
wasn't he doing that? Why would you do the one

01:04:57.949 --> 01:04:59.590
thing with my brother and have a different standard

01:04:59.590 --> 01:05:01.750
for me? Have a standard with my mom and a different

01:05:01.750 --> 01:05:04.090
standard for his family and so on. It wasn't

01:05:04.090 --> 01:05:06.349
quite right, and I could see that. And I'm telling

01:05:06.349 --> 01:05:08.690
you, when you were a teenager, when you were

01:05:08.690 --> 01:05:11.429
an adolescent, you could see it. And in fact,

01:05:11.429 --> 01:05:13.670
you probably can see it now. You can see it now

01:05:13.670 --> 01:05:16.239
of people who are in the faith who... seem to

01:05:16.239 --> 01:05:17.920
be a little further along or whatever like that,

01:05:17.980 --> 01:05:19.239
and you look at them and you go, but if they're

01:05:19.239 --> 01:05:21.039
a little further along, then why doesn't this

01:05:21.039 --> 01:05:24.559
add up? We can look at the generation that goes

01:05:24.559 --> 01:05:26.539
before us, whether it's biologically or in the

01:05:26.539 --> 01:05:28.679
city or in the government or in the town that

01:05:28.679 --> 01:05:31.420
we live in or the town that we look at from afar,

01:05:31.659 --> 01:05:34.460
from our national government, into the church,

01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:36.960
in the kingdom of God, wherever, and we can see

01:05:36.960 --> 01:05:40.719
the faults. And I'm telling you. Denouncing the

01:05:40.719 --> 01:05:42.739
faults of those who have gone before you will

01:05:42.739 --> 01:05:46.179
not make you right. That's what Jesus is saying

01:05:46.179 --> 01:05:49.380
when he says, I long to bring you in. I sent

01:05:49.380 --> 01:05:52.460
representatives, God says. I sent prophets. I

01:05:52.460 --> 01:05:54.559
sent people to tell the story the way it really

01:05:54.559 --> 01:05:57.699
is. What you are supposed to do is not what you

01:05:57.699 --> 01:06:02.670
are doing. Far from making you innocent, then,

01:06:02.710 --> 01:06:05.409
when you look at their mistakes and you can see

01:06:05.409 --> 01:06:08.170
them clearly. Far from making you innocent. Even

01:06:08.170 --> 01:06:09.889
if you denounce. You say, well, my dad did this

01:06:09.889 --> 01:06:11.630
and it was wrong and I recognize that and I'll

01:06:11.630 --> 01:06:14.369
never be like that. Far from making you innocent.

01:06:14.389 --> 01:06:16.730
It actually makes you the offspring of a person

01:06:16.730 --> 01:06:19.230
who's guilty. That's what it actually does. When

01:06:19.230 --> 01:06:21.130
you can see the weaknesses of the people who

01:06:21.130 --> 01:06:25.800
have gone before you. you're actually guilty

01:06:25.800 --> 01:06:28.219
of those to some extent. In fact, he says it

01:06:28.219 --> 01:06:29.780
very clearly. A little before this when he's

01:06:29.780 --> 01:06:32.199
talking, he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

01:06:32.199 --> 01:06:34.659
hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophet

01:06:34.659 --> 01:06:36.920
and adorn the monuments of the righteous. In

01:06:36.920 --> 01:06:39.039
other words, they knew who went before who was

01:06:39.039 --> 01:06:42.239
right. They built the tomb of Isaiah. They adorned

01:06:42.239 --> 01:06:47.480
the grave of David. And he says, And say, if

01:06:47.480 --> 01:06:50.199
we had been living in the days of our fathers,

01:06:50.280 --> 01:06:52.159
those who had gone before us, we would not have

01:06:52.159 --> 01:06:54.000
been partners with them in shedding the blood

01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:56.119
of the prophets. See, they were denouncing what

01:06:56.119 --> 01:06:58.360
had gone before them. And then 31, he says, so

01:06:58.360 --> 01:07:01.659
you testify against yourselves that you are sons

01:07:01.659 --> 01:07:04.800
of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then

01:07:04.800 --> 01:07:07.360
the measure of the guilt of your fathers. It

01:07:07.360 --> 01:07:10.750
doesn't just go away. Generational sin is a very

01:07:10.750 --> 01:07:12.650
real thing. When you screw up, your kids will

01:07:12.650 --> 01:07:14.230
follow you in some of your screw -ups, no matter

01:07:14.230 --> 01:07:16.550
how far from the tree they fall, and they will

01:07:16.550 --> 01:07:19.190
own the pain. They will feel the guilt. They

01:07:19.190 --> 01:07:22.570
will suffer under our mistakes. And so it is

01:07:22.570 --> 01:07:25.969
a responsibility then that we embrace the teachings

01:07:25.969 --> 01:07:28.650
of Jesus and find another plan, because it is

01:07:28.650 --> 01:07:31.170
not good enough. If I teach my son to follow

01:07:31.170 --> 01:07:34.130
in my footsteps, that will not get him to heaven.

01:07:34.269 --> 01:07:36.010
It will not get him into a right relationship

01:07:36.010 --> 01:07:37.449
with Jesus. In fact, we already heard what the

01:07:37.449 --> 01:07:41.639
only way to do that is. So the point was, falling

01:07:41.639 --> 01:07:43.579
far from the tree and being able to denounce

01:07:43.579 --> 01:07:45.599
the faults of those who went before you, that

01:07:45.599 --> 01:07:48.480
is not enough to make you right. In fact, it

01:07:48.480 --> 01:07:50.539
makes you culpable in their guilt because you

01:07:50.539 --> 01:07:53.659
can see what they did wrong means you need to

01:07:53.659 --> 01:08:00.139
do right. Point two, to deny God's request for

01:08:00.139 --> 01:08:02.840
a relationship is to run from his provision,

01:08:03.019 --> 01:08:07.090
his protection, his power, and his purpose. As

01:08:07.090 --> 01:08:10.329
those before us did. In every generation since

01:08:10.329 --> 01:08:13.090
Adam and Eve, there have been those who declined

01:08:13.090 --> 01:08:16.350
the purpose, power, protection, provision, all

01:08:16.350 --> 01:08:20.310
of God's presence. Adam and Eve themselves did

01:08:20.310 --> 01:08:24.029
it. It is the sin of man. It is what we do. To

01:08:24.029 --> 01:08:26.590
deny his request for relationship is to run from

01:08:26.590 --> 01:08:29.550
his provision, his protection. Provision is when

01:08:29.550 --> 01:08:32.289
he takes care of you. Protection is when he...

01:08:33.020 --> 01:08:34.960
shields you from the world, shields you from

01:08:34.960 --> 01:08:36.880
the things that you face. His power is when he

01:08:36.880 --> 01:08:39.340
gives you the ability of God to do what you need

01:08:39.340 --> 01:08:40.960
to do, and his purpose is when he sets you on

01:08:40.960 --> 01:08:42.560
a course to do what it is, and you're running

01:08:42.560 --> 01:08:45.920
from all of that, as those before us did. Moreover,

01:08:46.159 --> 01:08:49.220
he has tried to call his people from every generation.

01:08:49.340 --> 01:08:51.619
God has not stopped. The church is still present.

01:08:51.880 --> 01:08:54.439
Prophets were before. The lesson, the word of

01:08:54.439 --> 01:08:56.359
God has been protected. It's always been available

01:08:56.359 --> 01:08:59.800
to us. He's been calling us all the while. God's

01:08:59.800 --> 01:09:02.069
never stopped calling. He has tried to call his

01:09:02.069 --> 01:09:04.609
people from every generation, and those who failed

01:09:04.609 --> 01:09:07.649
to come hated those who did come. That's how

01:09:07.649 --> 01:09:09.750
it always goes. Think of the story of Cain and

01:09:09.750 --> 01:09:12.350
Abel. Why did Cain kill Abel? Because Abel's

01:09:12.350 --> 01:09:14.369
offering to God was acceptable, and Cain's was

01:09:14.369 --> 01:09:18.850
not. And in every generation, those who truly

01:09:18.850 --> 01:09:22.470
come to God and follow Jesus wind up being hated

01:09:22.470 --> 01:09:26.369
by those who refuse God's call. We talked last

01:09:26.369 --> 01:09:28.789
week about how it's kind of because it almost

01:09:28.789 --> 01:09:33.149
doesn't seem fair. But it is just because it's

01:09:33.149 --> 01:09:35.229
available to all of us. He has tried to call

01:09:35.229 --> 01:09:37.109
his people from every generation, and those who

01:09:37.109 --> 01:09:40.510
failed to come hated those who came, killed them,

01:09:40.649 --> 01:09:43.909
and they raced through their own lives over way

01:09:43.909 --> 01:09:46.710
sooner than they expected and right into hell,

01:09:46.850 --> 01:09:50.939
despite the offer of God. Many have wanted the

01:09:50.939 --> 01:09:53.340
resources of the kingdom without the relationship

01:09:53.340 --> 01:09:55.819
with God that is offered, and the results are

01:09:55.819 --> 01:09:58.300
always the same. Think about Cain and Abel. Cain

01:09:58.300 --> 01:10:00.920
killed Abel. Think about Esau and Jacob. Esau

01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:03.720
gave up his birthright, gave up his inheritance.

01:10:05.640 --> 01:10:09.319
And the list just goes on and on and on. People

01:10:09.319 --> 01:10:11.800
want the resources of the kingdom of God, and

01:10:11.800 --> 01:10:13.479
they'll even rush to get it. They'll do whatever

01:10:13.479 --> 01:10:15.060
is necessary to say, I'm going to fall far from

01:10:15.060 --> 01:10:17.279
the tree. I'll denounce all of those that I don't

01:10:17.279 --> 01:10:19.060
like, all of those who said things I don't like.

01:10:19.140 --> 01:10:20.840
They'll pick on anybody who's actually doing

01:10:20.840 --> 01:10:22.979
whatever it is that God wants them to do so that

01:10:22.979 --> 01:10:25.279
they have an excuse not to do exactly what they

01:10:25.279 --> 01:10:29.220
are supposed to do in the Lord. They want the

01:10:29.220 --> 01:10:31.380
resources of the kingdom without the relationship,

01:10:31.600 --> 01:10:35.640
and the results are always the same. To deny

01:10:35.640 --> 01:10:38.180
God's request for relationship is to run from

01:10:38.180 --> 01:10:40.960
his provision and protection, his power and purpose

01:10:40.960 --> 01:10:44.140
as those before us did. The third thing to see

01:10:44.140 --> 01:10:48.180
in there then is the now on. From then on. From

01:10:48.180 --> 01:10:51.060
then on, they would either accept Jesus gratefully

01:10:51.060 --> 01:10:59.739
or be left with an empty, earthly domain. You

01:10:59.739 --> 01:11:02.439
get it? This is the Son of God who came from

01:11:02.439 --> 01:11:04.869
heaven. who lived a sinless life and would die

01:11:04.869 --> 01:11:07.369
on a cross just a very short time after he's

01:11:07.369 --> 01:11:11.430
speaking here. And then rise again and institute

01:11:11.430 --> 01:11:14.710
the church. And those who will not have him cannot

01:11:14.710 --> 01:11:18.569
have God. And it's right that it should be so.

01:11:18.949 --> 01:11:21.390
He came from heaven and lived a sinless life

01:11:21.390 --> 01:11:23.390
and died on a cross and rose again. It is right

01:11:23.390 --> 01:11:26.609
that those who reject him cannot have God. From

01:11:26.609 --> 01:11:29.229
then on, it would be that either you accept Jesus

01:11:29.229 --> 01:11:33.420
gratefully or be left with an empty, Earthly

01:11:33.420 --> 01:11:38.680
domain. Purpose. All gone. Provision. All gone.

01:11:39.260 --> 01:11:44.819
Power. All gone. Presence. All gone. Hold on.

01:11:46.359 --> 01:11:53.840
Family. All gone. I have a good friend of mine

01:11:53.840 --> 01:11:55.739
who's a brother in the Lord. His name's David.

01:11:56.479 --> 01:11:59.359
He told me I could share this testimony. As David

01:11:59.359 --> 01:12:03.119
was a young parent, His first child was born

01:12:03.119 --> 01:12:06.079
when he was in his early 20s. David was a drinker.

01:12:06.640 --> 01:12:09.600
He drank quite a bit. So on Sundays, he had to

01:12:09.600 --> 01:12:10.899
work Monday through Friday to provide for his

01:12:10.899 --> 01:12:12.479
family. On Sundays, he'd stay home and drink.

01:12:12.579 --> 01:12:15.880
Seen a lot, a lot of men who would do that. Stay

01:12:15.880 --> 01:12:18.119
home and drink. But he sent his kids to church

01:12:18.119 --> 01:12:22.079
faithfully every Sunday. Most times in the morning,

01:12:22.159 --> 01:12:23.640
most times at night, most times in Wednesday.

01:12:23.739 --> 01:12:26.100
So as they were growing up, he was doing what

01:12:26.100 --> 01:12:29.439
he could to give them the inside track. He was

01:12:29.439 --> 01:12:33.859
trying to expose them to God. In his own heart,

01:12:33.899 --> 01:12:35.800
he kind of wondered whether God existed or not.

01:12:36.640 --> 01:12:39.640
But he knew that if God did exist, he wanted

01:12:39.640 --> 01:12:41.739
what was best for his kids. So he tried to send

01:12:41.739 --> 01:12:45.340
them to church at every opportunity. As they

01:12:45.340 --> 01:12:47.699
got to be older in their late teens, one by one,

01:12:47.859 --> 01:12:52.180
they pulled away from their profession of faith,

01:12:52.640 --> 01:12:54.640
if they'd been baptized, whatever they were doing

01:12:54.640 --> 01:12:58.079
in the church. David's now in his early 60s.

01:12:58.910 --> 01:13:01.329
He's a faithful attender. Every time the church

01:13:01.329 --> 01:13:05.010
is open, he's there. He serves, volunteers on

01:13:05.010 --> 01:13:09.689
all the work days. He teaches at the devotional

01:13:09.689 --> 01:13:11.550
breakfast that they have once a month. He teaches

01:13:11.550 --> 01:13:14.649
the word. And to do so, he reads his Bible every

01:13:14.649 --> 01:13:20.729
day, an hour or more. Studies it. Looks for what

01:13:20.729 --> 01:13:22.960
God would have him to say. And then once a month

01:13:22.960 --> 01:13:25.979
sits there for 20 minutes and teaches out of

01:13:25.979 --> 01:13:32.239
the storehouse of the goodness of the word. David's

01:13:32.239 --> 01:13:36.779
kids have never come back to the Lord. They never

01:13:36.779 --> 01:13:41.460
do anything with the church. He says, in fact,

01:13:41.460 --> 01:13:43.039
they all pretty much say they don't believe in

01:13:43.039 --> 01:13:46.000
God. They don't pray. They just don't believe

01:13:46.000 --> 01:13:53.760
at all. He prays and his heart is broken. He's

01:13:53.760 --> 01:13:56.920
like, I can't do it. I know now. I met Jesus.

01:13:57.159 --> 01:13:59.020
I've had a personal experience with him. I've

01:13:59.020 --> 01:14:00.739
had a relationship with him for this many years.

01:14:01.260 --> 01:14:03.680
There's nothing I can do. There's nothing I can

01:14:03.680 --> 01:14:08.859
do. So after Bible study, he goes home to an

01:14:08.859 --> 01:14:14.970
empty house. No kids. No grandkids. They don't

01:14:14.970 --> 01:14:16.670
come to special events at his church when he

01:14:16.670 --> 01:14:18.909
invites them. None of them have ever heard him

01:14:18.909 --> 01:14:25.609
teach the word. From now on, they would either

01:14:25.609 --> 01:14:29.670
accept Jesus gratefully or be left with an empty

01:14:29.670 --> 01:14:33.710
earthly domain. Purpose gone. Provision gone.

01:14:34.010 --> 01:14:40.310
Power gone. Presence gone. Family gone. Not my

01:14:40.310 --> 01:14:48.300
words. Jesus' words. But it could be right in

01:14:48.300 --> 01:14:50.880
your face and you still not get it. Worse, you

01:14:50.880 --> 01:14:52.779
could begin to get it. You could start to believe.

01:14:52.859 --> 01:14:54.960
You could start to follow and still have it stolen

01:14:54.960 --> 01:14:58.779
from you before you really get it. The disciples

01:14:58.779 --> 01:15:01.260
came to Jesus and said, why do you speak to people

01:15:01.260 --> 01:15:03.539
in parables? And he replied, because the knowledge

01:15:03.539 --> 01:15:05.579
of the secrets of the king of heaven has been

01:15:05.579 --> 01:15:08.939
given to you, but not to them. Pardon me. Whoever

01:15:08.939 --> 01:15:12.140
has will be given more and they will have in

01:15:12.140 --> 01:15:14.659
abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they

01:15:14.659 --> 01:15:16.279
have will be taken from them. Talking about,

01:15:16.729 --> 01:15:18.869
The knowledge of the word, the knowledge of God's

01:15:18.869 --> 01:15:21.050
presence, all coming through Jesus. This is why

01:15:21.050 --> 01:15:23.090
I speak to them in parables. Though seeing, they

01:15:23.090 --> 01:15:27.890
do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear

01:15:27.890 --> 01:15:30.649
or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy

01:15:30.649 --> 01:15:33.550
of Isaiah, which he then quotes. But blessed

01:15:33.550 --> 01:15:36.989
are your eyes, because they see, and your eyes,

01:15:37.010 --> 01:15:39.590
because they hear. For truly, I tell you, many

01:15:39.590 --> 01:15:41.909
prophets and righteous people longed to see what

01:15:41.909 --> 01:15:45.069
you see, but did not see it. And to hear what

01:15:45.069 --> 01:15:48.050
you hear, but did not hear it. Listen to then

01:15:48.050 --> 01:15:51.250
what the parable of the sower means. When anyone

01:15:51.250 --> 01:15:52.909
hears the message about the kingdom and does

01:15:52.909 --> 01:15:55.270
not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches

01:15:55.270 --> 01:16:00.210
it away. What was sown in his heart? This is

01:16:00.210 --> 01:16:03.949
the seed sown along the path. The seed falling

01:16:03.949 --> 01:16:06.590
on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the

01:16:06.590 --> 01:16:08.970
word and at once receives it with joy. But since

01:16:08.970 --> 01:16:11.489
they have no root, they last only a short time.

01:16:11.829 --> 01:16:13.890
When trouble or persecution comes before the

01:16:13.890 --> 01:16:17.170
world, I'm sorry, because of the word, they quickly

01:16:17.170 --> 01:16:20.369
fall away. The seed falling among the thorns

01:16:20.369 --> 01:16:22.149
refers to someone who hears the word, but the

01:16:22.149 --> 01:16:24.489
worries of this life and the deceitfulness of

01:16:24.489 --> 01:16:26.989
wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

01:16:27.170 --> 01:16:30.170
But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone

01:16:30.170 --> 01:16:32.710
who hears the word and understands it. This is

01:16:32.710 --> 01:16:35.750
the one who produces a crop, yielding 160 or

01:16:35.750 --> 01:16:42.850
30 times what was sown. It's possible to be that

01:16:42.850 --> 01:16:48.199
close. To be so close. To be able to call yourself

01:16:48.199 --> 01:16:52.979
a Christian. And yet, to not actually have it.

01:16:54.199 --> 01:16:56.960
Have it snatched away from you. Or burnt off

01:16:56.960 --> 01:17:00.380
by worries and anxieties or persecutions. That's

01:17:00.380 --> 01:17:03.399
what Jesus said. Furthermore, he said that titles

01:17:03.399 --> 01:17:06.100
and wealth and education, none of these affect

01:17:06.100 --> 01:17:09.880
whether you get it or not. For there is no partiality

01:17:09.880 --> 01:17:13.569
with God, Paul writes in Romans 2. He will divide

01:17:13.569 --> 01:17:19.729
families to deliver one willing and not to another

01:17:19.729 --> 01:17:24.909
who's not. Matthew 10, 34 -39, Jesus says, Do

01:17:24.909 --> 01:17:27.489
not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.

01:17:27.590 --> 01:17:30.899
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For

01:17:30.899 --> 01:17:33.340
I came to set a man against his father, and a

01:17:33.340 --> 01:17:35.239
daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in

01:17:35.239 --> 01:17:37.359
-law against her mother -in -law, and a man's

01:17:37.359 --> 01:17:39.159
enemies will be the members of his household.

01:17:39.439 --> 01:17:41.800
He who loves father or mother more than me is

01:17:41.800 --> 01:17:44.579
not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter

01:17:44.579 --> 01:17:47.310
more than me is not worthy of me. Jesus said,

01:17:47.390 --> 01:17:51.069
from then on, very real efforts of the world

01:17:51.069 --> 01:17:53.750
system to keep persons from coming to the one

01:17:53.750 --> 01:17:57.270
and only available salvation must be seen for

01:17:57.270 --> 01:17:59.569
what they are. That includes your mother, your

01:17:59.569 --> 01:18:01.630
father, your brother, your son, your sister,

01:18:01.710 --> 01:18:05.250
your wife, your husband. Any attempt. To stop

01:18:05.250 --> 01:18:08.029
a person from embracing God, from being brought

01:18:08.029 --> 01:18:10.289
together as a mother hen brings together her

01:18:10.289 --> 01:18:12.930
chicks, to missing out on the power and the provision,

01:18:13.109 --> 01:18:15.409
the purpose and the presence of the Lord, must

01:18:15.409 --> 01:18:19.909
be seen for what it is. Decide this day whom

01:18:19.909 --> 01:18:26.869
you will serve, Joshua said. And in that same

01:18:26.869 --> 01:18:28.550
passage of Scripture that I just read to you,

01:18:28.960 --> 01:18:31.100
Continuing into verse 38, it says, And he who

01:18:31.100 --> 01:18:34.560
does not take his cross and follow after me is

01:18:34.560 --> 01:18:38.300
not worthy of me. He who has found his life will

01:18:38.300 --> 01:18:41.100
lose it. And he who has lost his life for my

01:18:41.100 --> 01:18:46.960
sake will find it. And then Peter writes, When

01:18:46.960 --> 01:18:49.119
the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation

01:18:49.119 --> 01:18:52.760
and to keep the unrighteousness under punishment

01:18:52.760 --> 01:18:55.239
for the day of judgment. and especially those

01:18:55.239 --> 01:18:57.479
who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires

01:18:57.479 --> 01:18:59.899
and despise authority, daring, self -willed,

01:19:00.000 --> 01:19:03.619
they do not tremble when they revile angelic

01:19:03.619 --> 01:19:06.340
majesties. In other words, in your very house,

01:19:06.359 --> 01:19:12.159
on your pew, in the row of chairs with you, may

01:19:12.159 --> 01:19:15.880
be somebody who will make it in because they

01:19:15.880 --> 01:19:19.220
are willing to be... received by the Lord Jesus

01:19:19.220 --> 01:19:22.399
Christ. While you personally might not make it

01:19:22.399 --> 01:19:25.199
in because you will receive only the Christ that

01:19:25.199 --> 01:19:28.439
you choose. The Christ that's your way. The Christ

01:19:28.439 --> 01:19:31.579
that's not inconvenient. The Christ that is just

01:19:31.579 --> 01:19:34.039
different enough to be different from your dad

01:19:34.039 --> 01:19:37.220
or your mom or your family or whatever. Just

01:19:37.220 --> 01:19:39.359
different enough to be what you want him to be.

01:19:40.100 --> 01:19:44.600
Jesus said, you will not see me anymore unless

01:19:44.600 --> 01:19:48.869
you come. Saying, blessed is he who comes in

01:19:48.869 --> 01:19:51.649
the name of the Lord. You get the Jesus that

01:19:51.649 --> 01:19:55.010
God sent, or no Jesus at all. Which means you

01:19:55.010 --> 01:19:57.149
could be sitting right next to somebody you love

01:19:57.149 --> 01:20:00.149
very deeply. That you would give anything, your

01:20:00.149 --> 01:20:03.029
whole self, everything that you are to see that

01:20:03.029 --> 01:20:05.069
person in heaven when you get there. And then

01:20:05.069 --> 01:20:07.010
they do go, they go to heaven, and you're not

01:20:07.010 --> 01:20:09.989
there. Because instead of focusing on the Jesus

01:20:09.989 --> 01:20:12.970
whom God sent, you focus on making sure they

01:20:12.970 --> 01:20:17.329
get the Jesus whom God sent. Does that happen?

01:20:17.710 --> 01:20:20.750
Oh, you better believe it happens. People get

01:20:20.750 --> 01:20:23.270
real wrapped up in the people that are around

01:20:23.270 --> 01:20:26.609
them. The situations that are going on in this

01:20:26.609 --> 01:20:31.850
life. Jesus came to rightly divide. There will

01:20:31.850 --> 01:20:36.489
always be those who wind up desolate so that

01:20:36.489 --> 01:20:40.529
there may also be those who are adopted as sons

01:20:40.529 --> 01:20:47.319
and daughters of the king. But there is hope.

01:20:48.819 --> 01:20:53.439
There is hope in the opportunity. It's interesting.

01:20:53.800 --> 01:20:55.560
As I was thinking about that, I thought, you

01:20:55.560 --> 01:20:57.739
know, we are capable. Sometimes we feel like

01:20:57.739 --> 01:20:59.260
we're not, but we are capable of learning how

01:20:59.260 --> 01:21:02.939
to work just about any kind of machine or process.

01:21:03.560 --> 01:21:05.359
You know, like, I don't like computers. I don't

01:21:05.359 --> 01:21:06.840
want to program computers. But the truth is,

01:21:06.899 --> 01:21:09.960
if you took the time, got with the right teachers,

01:21:10.199 --> 01:21:13.619
you could program HTML or whatever. You could

01:21:13.619 --> 01:21:15.279
program computers. You could learn how to work.

01:21:15.949 --> 01:21:17.630
Some of us, it would take longer because that's

01:21:17.630 --> 01:21:19.869
not our mindset or whatever. But the bottom line

01:21:19.869 --> 01:21:22.069
is you could learn how to work any machine. You

01:21:22.069 --> 01:21:24.050
say, I don't know how to drive. But you could

01:21:24.050 --> 01:21:26.789
learn how to drive. It might not be convenient.

01:21:26.869 --> 01:21:28.550
It might take a long time. You might not even

01:21:28.550 --> 01:21:30.689
be very good at it, but you could do it. You

01:21:30.689 --> 01:21:34.750
say, I don't know how to change spark plugs or

01:21:34.750 --> 01:21:38.159
points. To replace a fuel injector system. You

01:21:38.159 --> 01:21:40.560
could learn how to do it. We can learn how to

01:21:40.560 --> 01:21:42.840
do it. If there is a system, if there is a set

01:21:42.840 --> 01:21:45.500
of instructions and guidelines, we can learn

01:21:45.500 --> 01:21:49.100
how to work it. That's the nature of human beings.

01:21:50.680 --> 01:21:54.520
Now let me tell you what the system is. Do not

01:21:54.520 --> 01:21:57.960
live your life as a response to past examples

01:21:57.960 --> 01:22:01.739
of your family, your city, or even your church.

01:22:04.560 --> 01:22:07.359
If it leads to right living, you will at best

01:22:07.359 --> 01:22:10.260
be making a God of men, but you will die for

01:22:10.260 --> 01:22:12.939
sure and wind up with a desolate house in the

01:22:12.939 --> 01:22:17.239
meantime. Don't follow the people who went before

01:22:17.239 --> 01:22:21.340
you. Follow Jesus. It doesn't matter if they

01:22:21.340 --> 01:22:23.520
were a worldwide evangelist sharing the gospel

01:22:23.520 --> 01:22:26.600
and you're like, I'm 100 % sure that my dad,

01:22:26.739 --> 01:22:29.140
the pastor, or my dad, the deacon, or my dad,

01:22:29.180 --> 01:22:31.159
the evangelist is saved because look at all the

01:22:31.159 --> 01:22:34.010
people who professed Christ. Paul said that he

01:22:34.010 --> 01:22:36.670
was concerned that after all the people he had

01:22:36.670 --> 01:22:39.029
preached to, he might arrive at the end and not

01:22:39.029 --> 01:22:41.229
receive the very salvation that he preached.

01:22:41.670 --> 01:22:45.090
And he was making sure, by coming to God through

01:22:45.090 --> 01:22:47.930
Jesus alone, that that was not going to happen

01:22:47.930 --> 01:22:50.489
to him. That's what he said. You do the same.

01:22:50.989 --> 01:22:53.869
You come to God through Jesus. Blessed is he

01:22:53.869 --> 01:22:56.170
who comes in the name of the Lord. You do not

01:22:56.170 --> 01:22:58.829
live your life as a response to past examples

01:22:58.829 --> 01:23:01.350
of your family, your city, or even your church.

01:23:01.760 --> 01:23:03.840
Even if it would lead to right living, you would

01:23:03.840 --> 01:23:07.140
at best be making a God of men. And then die,

01:23:07.380 --> 01:23:10.779
for sure. Meanwhile, winding up in a desolate

01:23:10.779 --> 01:23:18.319
house. Either for generations to come, or God

01:23:18.319 --> 01:23:20.619
will adopt your children through Christ. In other

01:23:20.619 --> 01:23:24.279
words, if you cannot be following the Lord Jesus

01:23:24.279 --> 01:23:26.619
Christ in earnest, then your children, your grandchildren,

01:23:26.760 --> 01:23:28.760
whatever, they still have a chance to get saved.

01:23:28.760 --> 01:23:31.029
That's the beauty of the apartheid. They can

01:23:31.029 --> 01:23:33.189
still come to God in the name of the one whom

01:23:33.189 --> 01:23:35.710
God sent. They can still cry out, blessed is

01:23:35.710 --> 01:23:38.989
the name of the one whom God sent. Blessed is

01:23:38.989 --> 01:23:42.090
he. They can still cry that out. And if they

01:23:42.090 --> 01:23:44.409
will do that, even though you raised them to

01:23:44.409 --> 01:23:46.010
be disciplined or not, even though you raised

01:23:46.010 --> 01:23:47.869
them to be fixed up or not, even though you raised

01:23:47.869 --> 01:23:49.710
them to be able to run the machines or not, even

01:23:49.710 --> 01:23:51.449
though you raised them to eat right or not, if

01:23:51.449 --> 01:23:53.770
they will cry out in the name of Jesus and be

01:23:53.770 --> 01:23:56.930
truly saved, they will do so over your corpse,

01:23:57.069 --> 01:24:01.029
if they must. Because that's the only way it's

01:24:01.029 --> 01:24:05.510
done. One person at a time. No grandchildren

01:24:05.510 --> 01:24:12.210
of God. The generations to come will leave us

01:24:12.210 --> 01:24:17.390
in distant memory if we do not also come to God

01:24:17.390 --> 01:24:20.750
through Jesus Christ in earnest. If you love

01:24:20.750 --> 01:24:23.590
God, you will encourage your followers, whoever

01:24:23.590 --> 01:24:25.050
there are, there's people that's looking at you.

01:24:25.620 --> 01:24:27.760
Your children, your grandchildren, nieces, nephews,

01:24:27.760 --> 01:24:29.520
friends, younger people in the church, younger

01:24:29.520 --> 01:24:31.319
people in the faith, people at your work, whatever.

01:24:31.420 --> 01:24:35.039
You encourage your followers in every context

01:24:35.039 --> 01:24:41.760
to follow him through Jesus, not you. You'd have

01:24:41.760 --> 01:24:43.359
to be pretty arrogant to think that you're getting

01:24:43.359 --> 01:24:44.939
it so right that if they follow you, they'll

01:24:44.939 --> 01:24:49.000
get saved. But if you teach them to follow Jesus,

01:24:49.910 --> 01:24:52.329
Go ye therefore and make disciples. If you teach

01:24:52.329 --> 01:24:54.069
them to follow Jesus, not disciples of me, not

01:24:54.069 --> 01:24:56.109
disciples of you, not disciples of you, not disciples

01:24:56.109 --> 01:24:59.069
of you, but Jesus. If you make them a disciple

01:24:59.069 --> 01:25:02.149
of Jesus, the best you know how, and if they

01:25:02.149 --> 01:25:04.869
earnestly call out to God through Jesus, then

01:25:04.869 --> 01:25:08.869
they'll make it in. Their calling out to God

01:25:08.869 --> 01:25:10.770
through Jesus will in no way ensure that you

01:25:10.770 --> 01:25:12.449
will make it in. You will still have to do that

01:25:12.449 --> 01:25:14.510
yourself. No matter how many people you tell,

01:25:14.630 --> 01:25:16.010
you will still have to do it yourself. You will

01:25:16.010 --> 01:25:17.569
still have to come to God through Jesus alone.

01:25:18.660 --> 01:25:22.899
Blessed is the name of Jesus. Blessed is the

01:25:22.899 --> 01:25:27.560
one whom he sent. Seek ye first always the kingdom

01:25:27.560 --> 01:25:30.520
of God and his righteousness, and all these things

01:25:30.520 --> 01:25:33.439
will be added unto you, Jesus said. He was talking

01:25:33.439 --> 01:25:36.720
about needed things. But I submit to you that

01:25:36.720 --> 01:25:39.439
there are also kids. Do you realize that it is

01:25:39.439 --> 01:25:41.000
entirely possible, for example, if you have a

01:25:41.000 --> 01:25:43.399
child, that you could call out to God through

01:25:43.399 --> 01:25:45.579
the name of Jesus, that you could earnestly follow

01:25:45.579 --> 01:25:48.699
the Lord with all that you are? And then, wait

01:25:48.699 --> 01:25:51.560
for it, as if that wasn't incredible enough,

01:25:51.680 --> 01:25:54.779
your child, as soon as they're old enough to

01:25:54.779 --> 01:25:57.819
understand, could cry out to God through Jesus

01:25:57.819 --> 01:26:00.100
and become a follower of the Lord. And wait for

01:26:00.100 --> 01:26:02.659
it, you could be in the kingdom of God with an

01:26:02.659 --> 01:26:05.520
actual child that's a Christian, that's actually

01:26:05.520 --> 01:26:07.039
following the Lord too. And you're like, if you

01:26:07.039 --> 01:26:08.119
sit there, you're like, I think I'm going to

01:26:08.119 --> 01:26:09.340
do this. And you're like, I don't know if I should

01:26:09.340 --> 01:26:10.399
do that. You're going to go to your daughter,

01:26:10.520 --> 01:26:12.300
as I often do with Arianna. I say, well, what

01:26:12.300 --> 01:26:14.539
do you think about this? And they'll be like,

01:26:15.000 --> 01:26:16.930
oh, I guess what God would want. And you're like,

01:26:17.029 --> 01:26:19.369
you know what? I think you're right. We're not

01:26:19.369 --> 01:26:21.529
going to do that. Or let's get the family together

01:26:21.529 --> 01:26:23.470
and pray. And y 'all can sit there and pray and

01:26:23.470 --> 01:26:25.430
have every reasonable certainty that everybody

01:26:25.430 --> 01:26:27.510
that's sitting there is praying, seeking the

01:26:27.510 --> 01:26:29.609
face of the Lord to do what God would want through

01:26:29.609 --> 01:26:34.449
Jesus Christ the Son. Blessed is He. And the

01:26:34.449 --> 01:26:38.970
truth. And the truth comes. And it actually happens.

01:26:39.250 --> 01:26:41.909
Boy, that would be awesome. Or you could try

01:26:41.909 --> 01:26:43.850
to seek the kingdom of God through your own power,

01:26:43.949 --> 01:26:45.710
by your own might, by someone's teaching, by

01:26:45.710 --> 01:26:47.810
something you heard, even by the word of God,

01:26:47.890 --> 01:26:50.310
the written word, and you'll never, ever, ever

01:26:50.310 --> 01:26:53.329
see it. You will never see it because no one

01:26:53.329 --> 01:26:56.890
will ever see it unless they see it through the

01:26:56.890 --> 01:27:00.949
blessed name of the one whom he sent. So saith

01:27:00.949 --> 01:27:05.159
God. And then finally, from now on. Come to God

01:27:05.159 --> 01:27:08.159
through only Jesus and welcome him every day.

01:27:08.220 --> 01:27:10.239
The one thing that we've talked about that I

01:27:10.239 --> 01:27:11.659
haven't hammered yet, and I just want to make

01:27:11.659 --> 01:27:14.039
you really certain that you understand this,

01:27:14.220 --> 01:27:21.340
is everything here is about relationship. The

01:27:21.340 --> 01:27:23.380
mother hen gathers her chicks because they're

01:27:23.380 --> 01:27:27.680
her chicks. Jesus longs to gather you into relationship,

01:27:27.739 --> 01:27:30.100
inside a relationship in which we'll have those

01:27:30.100 --> 01:27:31.939
things and the purpose, the power, the presence,

01:27:32.020 --> 01:27:38.989
the provision. And family. He longs to gather

01:27:38.989 --> 01:27:42.729
us in that way. And if we will welcome him every

01:27:42.729 --> 01:27:45.930
day and say, blessed is he who comes in the name

01:27:45.930 --> 01:27:49.550
of the Lord. Jesus said this, he said, Matthew

01:27:49.550 --> 01:27:52.670
10, 40, he who receives you, talking about the

01:27:52.670 --> 01:27:54.689
disciples, he said to the disciples, he who receives

01:27:54.689 --> 01:27:57.550
you, receives me. Boy, that would be cool. If

01:27:57.550 --> 01:27:59.170
we could say to him, if God would say to you,

01:27:59.229 --> 01:28:01.829
whoever receives Tim, receives Jesus, wouldn't

01:28:01.829 --> 01:28:04.789
that be awesome? What do you think? That would

01:28:04.789 --> 01:28:06.270
be awesome, wouldn't it? And that's what he said

01:28:06.270 --> 01:28:08.710
to the disciples, to the believers. If you come

01:28:08.710 --> 01:28:11.409
to God through Jesus, then this is true of you.

01:28:11.489 --> 01:28:15.550
That he who receives you, receives Jesus. And

01:28:15.550 --> 01:28:17.189
then we wouldn't stop there. It says, he who

01:28:17.189 --> 01:28:20.210
receives Jesus, or Jesus said, he who receives

01:28:20.210 --> 01:28:25.189
me, receives him who sent me. Do you want to

01:28:25.189 --> 01:28:28.010
go to heaven or not? Do you want to be eternal

01:28:28.010 --> 01:28:31.470
or not? Do you want to make the kingdom advance

01:28:31.470 --> 01:28:35.500
or not? Do you want to be right or not? Do you

01:28:35.500 --> 01:28:36.960
want to be healed or not? Do you want to be saved

01:28:36.960 --> 01:28:38.699
or not? Did you screw up? You know you screwed

01:28:38.699 --> 01:28:40.340
up, then this is how you get saved. You come

01:28:40.340 --> 01:28:44.819
to God through Jesus Christ. Do you want to possibly

01:28:44.819 --> 01:28:47.840
have children or family members or co -workers

01:28:47.840 --> 01:28:49.699
or students do the same? Then you come to God

01:28:49.699 --> 01:28:51.939
through Jesus Christ. And then you tell them

01:28:51.939 --> 01:28:53.920
that they must come to God through Jesus Christ.

01:28:54.640 --> 01:28:56.539
You know what? You really probably ought not

01:28:56.539 --> 01:28:58.500
even get around to teaching anything else that's

01:28:58.500 --> 01:29:00.340
in the Word until you've told them that they

01:29:00.340 --> 01:29:02.380
need to come to God through Jesus Christ. Because

01:29:02.380 --> 01:29:04.800
no matter how much they know, they know 99 %

01:29:04.800 --> 01:29:06.840
of it, but don't know God through Jesus Christ.

01:29:06.899 --> 01:29:11.319
They cannot know Him. That's what God says. That's

01:29:11.319 --> 01:29:14.359
what Jesus said. And He said it to the people

01:29:14.359 --> 01:29:18.020
who up until that moment had the inside track.

01:29:19.650 --> 01:29:21.970
It's as if the track team went out to run the

01:29:21.970 --> 01:29:24.689
relay, and the first runner ran and put the baton

01:29:24.689 --> 01:29:26.630
in the hand of the second runner. And when the

01:29:26.630 --> 01:29:30.210
baton was passed, they had half a lap lead. Running

01:29:30.210 --> 01:29:33.409
on the inside track, half a lap lead. And they

01:29:33.409 --> 01:29:36.010
went a whole other lap. And as they come around

01:29:36.010 --> 01:29:39.010
and pass the baton, they had a whole lap lead.

01:29:39.109 --> 01:29:40.970
They had a whole lap lead. The baton's with the

01:29:40.970 --> 01:29:44.789
third runner, and the whole lap lead on the inside

01:29:44.789 --> 01:29:49.369
lane. And the baton is passed one more time.

01:29:51.170 --> 01:29:53.109
They're running around the inside of the track

01:29:53.109 --> 01:29:57.310
with over a lap lead. And here comes a runner

01:29:57.310 --> 01:30:00.689
coming up from behind. Not even running on the

01:30:00.689 --> 01:30:04.149
inside of the track. Doesn't need it. Halfway

01:30:04.149 --> 01:30:08.130
out the lanes. Four lanes out. But moving like

01:30:08.130 --> 01:30:13.289
40 miles an hour. And runs that last lap so fast.

01:30:15.310 --> 01:30:17.829
That that team, that last anchor runner that's

01:30:17.829 --> 01:30:20.789
running the inside lap, just blows right on by.

01:30:23.529 --> 01:30:27.210
And on the way by says, you'll never see me again.

01:30:30.289 --> 01:30:35.069
That's our Jesus. You don't have the inside track.

01:30:35.729 --> 01:30:38.850
The rich don't have the inside track. People

01:30:38.850 --> 01:30:40.510
raised in a godly household don't have the inside

01:30:40.510 --> 01:30:44.899
track. Jews don't have the inside track. Because

01:30:44.899 --> 01:30:50.739
there is no inside track anymore. You win or

01:30:50.739 --> 01:30:54.199
lose based on whether your daily life is about

01:30:54.199 --> 01:30:58.539
your relationship with Jesus Christ. Because

01:30:58.539 --> 01:31:01.779
through Him, we know the Father. Through Him,

01:31:01.779 --> 01:31:04.020
we are adopted into the family. And if you will

01:31:04.020 --> 01:31:07.260
do that, and begin to offer that to your family

01:31:07.260 --> 01:31:09.119
and your friends and your co -workers and people

01:31:09.119 --> 01:31:11.239
in your church and people wherever you run into

01:31:11.239 --> 01:31:13.810
them, then the family will grow and more and

01:31:13.810 --> 01:31:17.390
more people will be adopted in. But if you will

01:31:17.390 --> 01:31:19.970
not do that, then you had better ask yourself

01:31:19.970 --> 01:31:29.670
why. Do you hate them that much? I ask the praise

01:31:29.670 --> 01:31:31.649
team to come forward at this time and lead us

01:31:31.649 --> 01:31:35.310
in our final closing song. As we do so, I'm asking

01:31:35.310 --> 01:31:37.949
you today, if you have not embraced God the Father

01:31:37.949 --> 01:31:40.270
through Jesus Christ the Son specifically, if

01:31:40.270 --> 01:31:42.250
you have not come to God by the way of Jesus,

01:31:42.550 --> 01:31:45.930
do that now. And if you have said, you know,

01:31:45.970 --> 01:31:48.750
I want my children so desperately to be raised

01:31:48.750 --> 01:31:50.789
in the Lord. I want my friends or my nieces,

01:31:50.789 --> 01:31:52.109
my nephews, whatever these people that I can

01:31:52.109 --> 01:31:53.949
influence to be so desperately to come in a relationship

01:31:53.949 --> 01:31:56.130
with God, but I've never done anything about

01:31:56.130 --> 01:31:59.670
it. Not only have I not lived in perfect integrity,

01:31:59.829 --> 01:32:02.350
which, by the way, nobody does that. Not only

01:32:02.350 --> 01:32:03.909
have I not lived perfectly before them, but on

01:32:03.909 --> 01:32:05.569
top of that, I haven't performed the thing that

01:32:05.569 --> 01:32:07.430
they need more than anything, which is just to

01:32:07.430 --> 01:32:09.069
come to God through Jesus, and that's the only

01:32:09.069 --> 01:32:12.270
way. I have not adamantly presented that truth.

01:32:13.189 --> 01:32:15.210
Can you repent today and just say, I'm taking

01:32:15.210 --> 01:32:18.529
that truth with me everywhere I go? If you truly

01:32:18.529 --> 01:32:19.810
have a relationship with the Lord and you're

01:32:19.810 --> 01:32:20.989
spending time with him in the morning, you're

01:32:20.989 --> 01:32:22.090
spending time with him in the afternoon, you're

01:32:22.090 --> 01:32:23.430
spending time with him at night, you're spending

01:32:23.430 --> 01:32:25.170
time with him 24 hours a day, then would you

01:32:25.170 --> 01:32:26.529
eventually, would you have like an encounter

01:32:26.529 --> 01:32:28.210
with a friend of yours where Jesus is not there?

01:32:28.689 --> 01:32:30.270
And we're like, I don't need you right now, Jesus,

01:32:30.329 --> 01:32:34.319
I'm going out to lunch. That's not how it works.

01:32:34.899 --> 01:32:36.460
When you come into a relationship with him, he

01:32:36.460 --> 01:32:37.840
comes and lives in you and you don't go anywhere

01:32:37.840 --> 01:32:40.420
without him. And that's what I'm asking you to

01:32:40.420 --> 01:32:42.859
do. Say, okay, Lord, I'm not going to go anywhere

01:32:42.859 --> 01:32:45.859
without you. Would you stand with me and sing

01:32:45.859 --> 01:32:47.699
this song and just respond however the Lord is

01:32:47.699 --> 01:34:21.989
laying on your heart today. Thank you. ourselves

01:34:21.989 --> 01:34:24.329
to Christ, by no means do we surrender any part

01:34:24.329 --> 01:34:28.850
of our lives to the world. We are meant to stand

01:34:28.850 --> 01:34:32.630
up. We are meant to do the work of the kingdom.

01:34:33.390 --> 01:34:36.270
There are heavy loads to be borne. I know the

01:34:36.270 --> 01:34:38.270
verses. The verses say, come unto me, those of

01:34:38.270 --> 01:34:41.130
you who have any burden, and give it to him,

01:34:41.210 --> 01:34:44.010
and he'll take care of it. But where's he at

01:34:44.010 --> 01:34:48.609
when he's taking care of it? He's in you. There

01:34:48.609 --> 01:34:51.810
are loads to be carried. There's trouble in the

01:34:51.810 --> 01:34:53.770
world. Fear not, for I have overcome the world.

01:34:53.810 --> 01:34:56.729
So there's trouble. You'll face trouble. As men,

01:34:56.770 --> 01:34:58.750
we can stand up and face that trouble. We can

01:34:58.750 --> 01:35:00.529
make a difference. I'm asking you to fight for

01:35:00.529 --> 01:35:02.829
your homes. Fight for your job sites. Fight for

01:35:02.829 --> 01:35:07.090
schools. Fight for conversations. Fight for your

01:35:07.090 --> 01:35:10.069
wives or your brothers or your sisters or whatever.

01:35:11.670 --> 01:35:16.109
He's the Lion of Judah. When the world was under

01:35:16.109 --> 01:35:19.750
the sway of the evil one, he came and conquered.

01:35:22.040 --> 01:35:24.720
Let's call his faith his faith. He did it alone.

01:35:25.939 --> 01:35:31.460
Stand up. He did it alone. It's 2025. He could

01:35:31.460 --> 01:35:34.899
come in 2025. I don't know how close it is. It's

01:35:34.899 --> 01:35:38.420
time we stand up. Christianity is not a timid,

01:35:38.439 --> 01:35:40.380
it is not a weak man's religion. If you say that

01:35:40.380 --> 01:35:42.539
you have followed Jesus and yet you are not a

01:35:42.539 --> 01:35:44.460
man of integrity, you're not keeping your word,

01:35:44.600 --> 01:35:46.279
you're not standing up for what is right, you're

01:35:46.279 --> 01:35:48.000
not telling the truth, you're not confronting

01:35:48.000 --> 01:35:52.039
people when things are wrong. That's not the

01:35:52.039 --> 01:35:58.260
Christianity of the Bible. Stand up. Let's pray

01:35:58.260 --> 01:36:00.779
together and we'll be through. Father in heaven,

01:36:00.840 --> 01:36:03.939
we praise you for being the kind of God who would

01:36:03.939 --> 01:36:07.539
not let us go silently into that dark night.

01:36:08.140 --> 01:36:10.819
For being the kind of God who would not let humanity

01:36:10.819 --> 01:36:14.739
go to hell for eternity with the demons and those

01:36:14.739 --> 01:36:19.149
who rightly deserve the abyss. We praise you

01:36:19.149 --> 01:36:21.710
for being the kind of God who would take on flesh.

01:36:22.550 --> 01:36:25.310
The truth is there are days with what I experience

01:36:25.310 --> 01:36:27.689
and what I go through that I think if I were

01:36:27.689 --> 01:36:30.130
in heaven and had the choice to become this man,

01:36:30.310 --> 01:36:35.329
Dan Stevenson, I'd be like, no way. It's too

01:36:35.329 --> 01:36:38.449
hard. It's too much. I don't want to ever be

01:36:38.449 --> 01:36:40.289
sick. I don't ever want to be hurt. I don't want

01:36:40.289 --> 01:36:41.949
to be tempted like that. I don't want to struggle

01:36:41.949 --> 01:36:43.670
like that. I don't want to have to overcome like

01:36:43.670 --> 01:36:46.770
that. If I could see that and see this, I would

01:36:46.770 --> 01:36:51.369
take that and never take this. But Jesus took

01:36:51.369 --> 01:36:56.029
it. He took the worst of it. He took the crucifixion.

01:36:56.630 --> 01:36:59.390
He took the chastisement that he did not deserve.

01:36:59.729 --> 01:37:03.050
The scourging. Persecution. They tried to kill

01:37:03.050 --> 01:37:06.930
him before ever it was his time. But I pray that

01:37:06.930 --> 01:37:09.229
we would be a people as the body of Christ, as

01:37:09.229 --> 01:37:11.680
Christ's body that already suffered. Already

01:37:11.680 --> 01:37:13.600
died and rose again. And if we are the church

01:37:13.600 --> 01:37:16.199
and we are the body of Christ, then when it comes

01:37:16.199 --> 01:37:18.899
to suffering, we ought to be really good at it.

01:37:19.680 --> 01:37:24.600
And overcome it. And have joy during it. And

01:37:24.600 --> 01:37:27.079
fight the battles that need to be fought. Stand

01:37:27.079 --> 01:37:29.939
up for what's right. Am I talking about violence?

01:37:30.020 --> 01:37:33.000
No. Am I talking about sometimes taking a hit?

01:37:33.479 --> 01:37:37.380
Almost assuredly. Lord, I pray that we will be

01:37:37.380 --> 01:37:40.109
your church. And as we go out, we will take the

01:37:40.109 --> 01:37:43.050
gospel everywhere it can be taken. That we will

01:37:43.050 --> 01:37:47.229
reconcile the lost to the God that yearns to

01:37:47.229 --> 01:37:50.949
draw them in under his protective wings. That

01:37:50.949 --> 01:37:53.569
we will listen to the teachers of old who proclaim

01:37:53.569 --> 01:37:56.310
righteousness without also following their stupid

01:37:56.310 --> 01:38:01.829
mistakes. That if we are a descendant of Jesus,

01:38:01.890 --> 01:38:06.090
our apple will not fall far from that tree. Or

01:38:06.090 --> 01:38:12.359
what tree? of the cross. Lord, help us and we

01:38:12.359 --> 01:38:16.159
know that from now on, and that from now on came

01:38:16.159 --> 01:38:19.300
back then when Jesus was crucified, dead, buried,

01:38:19.359 --> 01:38:24.720
rose again. From now on, we come to you in the

01:38:24.720 --> 01:38:29.520
precious name of Jesus. For what's been paid,

01:38:29.800 --> 01:38:36.880
for what's ever been known, we will be your church.

01:38:37.340 --> 01:38:40.079
and your people, and we will overcome. We will

01:38:40.079 --> 01:38:42.699
overcome 2025 and every year that you yet give

01:38:42.699 --> 01:38:45.600
us. We will overcome every notion that sets itself

01:38:45.600 --> 01:38:55.180
up against God. We will be men and women calling

01:38:55.180 --> 01:38:57.659
on the God of heaven and receiving his power

01:38:57.659 --> 01:39:02.279
and purpose and presence, protection, and family.

01:39:04.590 --> 01:39:07.930
To no end until Jesus comes again or until our

01:39:07.930 --> 01:39:11.270
bodies break down and can't do it anymore. But

01:39:11.270 --> 01:39:13.810
we commit ourselves to you. Thank you, Lord,

01:39:13.869 --> 01:39:16.590
for paying to make it possible. This we pray

01:39:16.590 --> 01:39:19.810
in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you very much. This

01:39:19.810 --> 01:39:20.609
concludes our service.