WEBVTT

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Okay, we're going to do... One second. We're

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going to do a brief activity together as a group.

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So this is not rhetorical. I'm going to ask some

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questions, but I'm not asking them for my own

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sake. We're going to do a brief activity together

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as a group. So our... spiritual discipline emphasis

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is on meditation and prayer. So we've got about

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two more months, a little over two months left

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to focus on meditation and prayer, and then we'll

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move on to another one or two spiritual disciplines

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that we'll focus on. And we're really talking

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about, because we're doing two at the same time,

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we're really talking about the crossover point

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between the two. So meditation, very simply put,

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is when you think deeply about anything. So you

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can meditate on other stuff. You can meditate

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on the formula for water or a painting that you

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see in an art museum. You can meditate on anything,

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right? But the Bible calls us to meditate on

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Scripture, calls us to meditate on things of

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the spiritual realm, calls us to meditate on

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how, for example, creation glorifies God and

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so on. Prayer should really be an ongoing conversation

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between you and God. You lift up your concerns.

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You adore God in prayer. You tell Him how grateful

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you are. You confess your weaknesses. You thank

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Him for gifts. You ask Him for other things.

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And that sort of follows the model of the Lord's

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Prayer that we looked at before that Jesus taught

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people. Zayden, I'm talking. Thank you. Appreciate

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you. Good job. So, that follows the model of

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the Lord's Prayer that we talked about. That

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kind of adoration, confession, thanks, supplication.

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But we really want to talk about the crossover

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between the two. How did these two things really

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work? Some people just, they think they're praying,

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but really they're just meditating. They're just

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thinking a lot about what they're going through

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or whatever. Some people think they're meditating

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when really they get into prayer. They're really

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praying, asking God for things, hoping for things,

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that kind of thing. And so we want to talk about

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that crossover point for a second. So to that

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end, I'm going to read a short passage of Scripture,

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and then as a group, We're going to talk about

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how we would meditate on that scripture. And

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then we're going to talk about how we would move

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from meditation into prayer. So I'm reading from

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Luke chapter 20. Those of you who have your Bibles

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and would like to go there and read, you can

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do that. I didn't pick this for no reason at

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all. So it's Luke chapter 20. Thank you. Praise

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the Lord. And I'm going to start reading in verse

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1. Alright, I'm just going to go for the first

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like seven or eight verses. I'll explain, just

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briefly explain just a little bit as we go. But

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then we're going to do a meditation together

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so that will get us all the explanation that

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we need. Okay, so Luke chapter 20 verse 1 says,

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And it came about on one of the days while he

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was teaching the people in the temple and preaching

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the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes

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with the elders confronted him. Sort of like

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three groups, chief priests, scribes, and elders

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confronted him. And they spoke, saying to him,

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Tell us by what authority you are doing these

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things, or who is the one who gave you this authority?

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Now we're in verse 3. And he answered, that's

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Jesus, and he answered and said to them, in my

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Bible it's in red text, I shall also ask you

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a question, and you tell me, was the baptism

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of John from heaven or from men? And they reasoned

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amongst themselves, saying, If we say from heaven,

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he will say, why did you not believe him? But

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if we say from men, all people will stone us

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to death, for they are convinced that John was

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a prophet. And they answered that they did not

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know where it came from. And Jesus said to them,

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neither will I tell you by what authority I do

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these things. Okay? Alright, so now the meditation.

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So if I was sitting, or if you were sitting,

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reading your Bible, What are some things that

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you would ask yourself or think about this text?

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Give me an example. We'll follow up on whatever

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you say. Alright, what do you got? What would

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come to mind? Okay, so he knows they know and

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they just don't want to say it. So they wouldn't

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tell him where the baptism was from, so he won't

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respond and say where his teaching's from. Good,

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okay. It's kind of like the debate and kind of

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the verbal gymnastics that Jesus goes through

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with the repeated accusations and this is a great

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example that just makes me think how... I guess

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I'm trying to think of the best way to word this.

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How consistently Jesus has the perfect thing

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to say when leaders in the church come to him

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and try to corner him. He turns right back around

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and corners them and they have to drown him.

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He's obviously inspired by God, but also incredibly

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intelligent. Yeah, I really think that to some

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degree that's the authority they're talking about.

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Because everybody else who would come against

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their teaching, they could easily corner them.

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They could easily bottleneck them, trap them

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to something that they wanted to be the case.

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But with Jesus, he stuck with what God said.

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So that didn't really work. That's very interesting.

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Okay, so let's take a poll real quick. How many

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people could tell me, based on this, what are

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the names of the three groups that are confronting

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Jesus in this story? Raise your hand if you can

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tell me. And I might call on you, so don't lie.

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Alright, so let's look at who the three groups

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were. So we read it, but it doesn't just jump

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out, does it? So he was teaching the people in

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the temple, preaching the gospel, and the chief

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priests, the scribes, with the elders confronted

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him. Do you know what a chief priest is? This

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is part of the process of meditation. So you'd

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ask yourself, what is a chief priest? Somebody

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tell me. Go ahead, Ariana. Right, so one of the

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leaders, one of the leader types, the chief priest.

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He leads the other priests, right? So these are

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people responsible for the priests who are then

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responsible for the people. So these people have

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authority within the body of faith, okay? How

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about, what is a scribe? That one's not too hard

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if you know the definition of the word. Yeah,

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so they wrote things down. And literally, they

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were probably responsible for writing down the

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scripture. They were copying copies of the scripture.

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Now, they might do other scribe duties as well,

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but they were copying, The Bible. What Bible

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were they copying? What translation? None, right?

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Okay, so what? Yeah, probably the Torah, right?

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Probably the original Hebrew or whatever. Did

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the New Testament exist at this time? No, it's

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being formed during this time, right? So these

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are the stories that have not yet been written

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down, essentially. Okay, so these scribes knew

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the Old Testament better than anybody. Because

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they literally wrote whole copies. Most of us

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probably haven't read the whole thing in one

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long stretch. They wrote the whole thing over

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months maybe, but they wrote the whole thing.

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And then they performed hundreds of checks to

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make sure it was perfectly accurate. They would

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count to the exact middle character. They knew

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how many characters were on every line. How many

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characters were total from beginning to end.

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They performed hundreds of checks to make sure

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that it was flawless after they would write it.

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So they knew it like anybody. So you've got the

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chief priests there, big time teachers, right?

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They're supposed to be teaching God's word to

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the people and to the other priests. And now

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you've got the scribes. And then what was the

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last one? The elders. So who are the elders?

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In that meeting, who would be the elders? Right.

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Yep, so the literal definition, that is... What

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an elder is, the literal definition means these

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are the older, wiser people that probably started

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the current body. They started it. They got it

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going. When you start a synagogue, for example,

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you have 12 elders, 12 men of the faith, devout.

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They put in the money, they put in the labor,

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they put in the time to get everything going.

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So these are the people that got everything going.

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So you think they know God's word? Probably pretty

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darn well, right? So these are three of the...

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The body of people that should know God's word,

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should know, like when you say, well, where does

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the baptism go? They should know. They should

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know everything that there is to know about God,

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pretty much, having lived a life like that, right?

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Do you need something? Go ahead, come on. Yeah,

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okay. But that's not what we're talking about

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right now, but yes. Okay, so that's an example

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of meditating as you think on the characters

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in the story. And we've got Jesus. What was the

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message based on what we read? What was the message

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that Jesus was sharing? In the temple. Okay,

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so we're meditating on the text. We look at it,

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and it came about. One of the days while he was

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teaching the people in the temple and preaching

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the gospel. So it's two -fold. He's teaching.

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What is he teaching? God's word. The Bible, right?

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He's teaching the truth about God and God's creation

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based on the Old Testament. But also, he's preaching

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the gospel. Alright, now I'll put you on the

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spot. Somebody tell me, just simply put, what

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is the gospel? Remember, Jesus is not crucified

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at this time. Right. So, everybody that's ever

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been saved, going all the way back to Adam and

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Eve, right, was saved by believing in a way that

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God would make. As the Old Testament develops,

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it's kind of explained what that person's going

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to look like. Right? And then you get a... In

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Isaiah 53, for example, and a few other places,

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you get a pretty clear picture that it's going

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to be a suffering servant, not just a king to

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come and rule. And so those paint a real good

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picture of who Jesus is if you compare the New

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Testament to the Old Testament. Hundreds of prophecies

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that the odds that they would be fulfilled in

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anybody else is impossible. So the point is...

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he's teaching them that a way was going to come.

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He's teaching them the gospel. He's asking them

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to believe, to be saved. In fact, there is a

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moment in time that Jesus says that's why he

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came. It was to teach the gospel. So now, we'll

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stop there. We can go further. But if you'd say

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you read it and you don't know what the three

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groups are, then that's where you need to think

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deeper on the text. When you read the text, you

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go, okay, who are these three groups? Don't just

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read. like it was a fiction book or something

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you picked up off a shelf, but think about what

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that means. That's meditating. Think a little

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deeper. Then you follow that rabbit trail. It's

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a chief priest. I know this about the chief priest.

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So what would the chief priest have been like?

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Who is possibly there? Some characters, some

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other characters that might have been there.

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Gamaliel. He was a great teacher and a chief

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priest and a member of the Sanhedrin. He might

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have been there. prominent men from that day

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that might have been in this crowd. So then you

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meditate on that. Now, when does it shift over

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to prayer? Because that's what we're actually

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after. When does it become prayer? So just think

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about what we just talked about. Can anybody

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think about anything to pray about out of there?

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What would you pray about? Go ahead. Praying,

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asking God to help you remember these things

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and apply them in your life so that you can follow

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them. Always valuable, right? Because until we

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read that passage of Scripture, we might have

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forgotten. How easy would it be to forget that

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Jesus crossed godly men, extremely wise men who

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knew the Old Testament and were supposed to apply

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it. Now we know that in many cases they were

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not. They're more like applying it to other people

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and then not following it themselves. But the

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point is, they were there in Jesus' day. Jesus

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did not come into a world that didn't know anything

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about God. That's not what happened. Right? And

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so how easy would it be for us to forget? So

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we beg God, help us don't forget. And God gave

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us some very practical steps by which we can

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do that. So then you can go into prayer about

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that. Give me another example. What else might

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you pray about? Yeah. Yeah, so that would be

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very... That's conviction you're talking about.

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To realize that we could do that. We could know

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a lot about God, but not actually know Jesus.

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And we want to make sure that's not the case.

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In fact, there will be those who cry out, Lord,

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Lord, and not enter the kingdom of heaven. So

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we definitely don't want to be that. And these

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probably could have been that, although most

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of them probably never did miracles, healing,

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or whatever. But it could be like that. So we

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don't want to be like that. So we say, I want

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to be a little more like Jesus. And I think you

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find Jesus, and pretty much can find Jesus in

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every story. If you meditate on it long enough,

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you can go, well, what about this guy? Oh, this

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is the Jesus -type guy in this story. This is

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the thing about Jesus that I need to know in

00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:26.059
this story. And then once you find that, then

00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:29.919
you can pray about that. So we're going to pray

00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.720
now. I'm going to ask Aaron, would you lead us

00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:34.480
in this prayer? But I want you right where you're

00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.700
seated. I want you to think of whatever it was

00:14:36.700 --> 00:14:39.139
that we meditated up, whatever it was that we

00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:40.799
brought up out of this text, whatever it was

00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:43.120
you felt like God was, hey, pay attention to

00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.600
that. You pray. And if you don't think of anything,

00:14:45.779 --> 00:14:47.679
then you pray along with Aaron. But if you're

00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:49.419
personally praying and you felt like God said

00:14:49.419 --> 00:14:51.639
something to you out of that text, then you pray

00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:54.120
about that. Okay? All right, here we go. Lead

00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:58.720
us. Lord, thank you for your creation and for

00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:03.870
putting us here. the opportunity that we have

00:15:03.870 --> 00:15:08.629
to experience and see your beautiful world that

00:15:08.629 --> 00:15:12.710
you created despite the separation from you that

00:15:12.710 --> 00:15:16.690
has sustained it. It's still beautiful and speaks

00:15:16.690 --> 00:15:21.929
magnitude to your greatness, Lord. Thank you

00:15:21.929 --> 00:15:24.690
for giving us your word and your son to save

00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:30.909
us. We pray that you would help us to see Jesus

00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:38.519
in everything that he represents to help us to

00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:44.379
embody those traits, help us to show him to those

00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:47.659
around us in everything we do every day, Lord.

00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:52.139
I pray that you're with us as we head back into

00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:54.840
worship and into the sermon. The kids go to their

00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.980
lesson that we can learn everything that you've

00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:02.259
prepared through the teachers, through the through

00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:04.720
our pastor and the sermon that you've given him,

00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.360
through the worship order that you've laid out,

00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.240
that we could learn and receive the message that

00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.340
you've prepared for us today. And I pray that

00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:18.340
your witness is to bring the offering, that you

00:16:18.340 --> 00:16:22.460
give us an offering heart, a heart of servitude,

00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:27.840
that we can be prepared and focused and play

00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.299
it all out before you, Lord, and do the same.

00:18:22.890 --> 00:18:27.470
we spent a little time on a visit to Bethany

00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:33.250
and saw some interesting things there, which

00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:36.410
was really, we noticed, brooking the opposition,

00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:40.390
really stoking up the opposition toward Jesus

00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:44.349
as he would head into Jerusalem. And from there

00:18:44.349 --> 00:18:50.369
would be, that's really the origin of what we

00:18:50.369 --> 00:18:53.099
call the triumphal entry. where he would walk

00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:56.339
with literally thousands of people. But the truth

00:18:56.339 --> 00:19:00.019
is that two -mile leg from Bethany to Jerusalem

00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:05.200
is small compared to the leg from Bethany back

00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.599
to Jericho. So today we're going to back up the

00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:11.660
line and we're going to look at Jesus' essentially

00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:16.059
last visit to Jericho before the triumphal entry

00:19:16.059 --> 00:19:22.910
and then his crucifixion. So Jericho is an interesting

00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:27.809
city. It has a commanding position there on the

00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:32.069
side of the rise, if you will. From Jericho up

00:19:32.069 --> 00:19:41.589
to Bethany was a 3 ,300 -foot rise over about

00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:45.009
15 miles. And so the path snakes back and forth.

00:19:45.230 --> 00:19:47.210
But those of you who have ever done any hiking

00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:50.849
or been out there, moving over broken terrain,

00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:53.990
that kind of thing. 3 ,300 foot change of elevation

00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:59.890
is a lot, and it's a lot over 15 miles. So the

00:19:59.890 --> 00:20:01.630
switchbacks don't make it a whole lot better.

00:20:01.690 --> 00:20:04.769
Years ago, Sherry and I tried to hike down into

00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:07.829
the Grand Canyon one afternoon. We started about

00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:09.869
11 o 'clock in the morning, actually. We had

00:20:09.869 --> 00:20:12.990
to be back to our train by 5 o 'clock, and it

00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:16.369
was like this. It was left and right along the

00:20:16.369 --> 00:20:17.750
top of the mountain, so it wasn't so steep that

00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:19.920
you'd be falling. But as we were going down,

00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:25.480
we covered about seven and a half miles going

00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.059
down in there. And the elevation change, our

00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:31.900
elevation change was about 1 ,000 feet. So it

00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:35.339
was not as much, even as steep as what this is.

00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.779
And I look back at that, I'm like, wow, that

00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:40.819
was something. And so this is significant terrain.

00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:44.000
Jericho was a lush, tropical oasis. It's a beautiful

00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.230
place. It had water. It had green. And around

00:20:48.230 --> 00:20:52.829
it was a lot of harsh desert, basically. And

00:20:52.829 --> 00:20:55.150
so a lot of people would come to Jericho, and

00:20:55.150 --> 00:20:58.309
if you'll just kind of like humor me a little

00:20:58.309 --> 00:20:59.950
bit, a lot of people came to Jericho thinking

00:20:59.950 --> 00:21:01.490
they were going to go to Jerusalem, and they

00:21:01.490 --> 00:21:04.730
looked up that hill and went, oh sure, we're

00:21:04.730 --> 00:21:07.930
going to do that after all. It was a real challenge.

00:21:09.829 --> 00:21:12.450
Also, there were a lot of people who would walk

00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:15.630
this road. that we're talking about here, up

00:21:15.630 --> 00:21:19.470
through Jericho and then up into Jerusalem. And

00:21:19.470 --> 00:21:22.970
they would walk it for the festivals. And so

00:21:22.970 --> 00:21:25.349
if you jump on that road and you're walking up

00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:28.009
from Jericho, there could be hundreds or thousands

00:21:28.009 --> 00:21:29.569
of people as the festival is getting ready to

00:21:29.569 --> 00:21:32.789
begin walking around you. And so if there was

00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:35.430
some kind of an inciting event that would get

00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:37.569
those people thinking about something crazy,

00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:40.269
something exciting that was happening, then those

00:21:40.269 --> 00:21:43.799
people would be all the way up that... I mean,

00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:45.660
it's back and forth, but all the way up that

00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:50.079
mountain, those people are on fire for God. They're

00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.420
excited already going to the temple, to the festival,

00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:56.359
and so on. And now, if there was something, it

00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:58.539
could really be an incredible time, an incredible

00:21:58.539 --> 00:22:01.680
walk. So that's what we're talking about. Now

00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.980
grab your Bibles, if you would, and turn with

00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:09.160
me to Luke chapter 18. So we get excited right

00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:11.000
here. We usually say amen, a little hoot, holler,

00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.359
hallelujah, something. As we go to the Word,

00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:15.380
because this is God's Word. So let's try it again.

00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:19.200
Luke chapter 18. That's better, but it isn't

00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:21.579
great. Alright, so get excited as we look at

00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:23.380
Luke chapter 18. We're going to see what is one

00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:26.740
of the most miraculous events of God. And it's

00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:31.559
right in the face of up to Jesus is walking up

00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.799
into Jerusalem. So at the end of chapter 18,

00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:41.509
beginning in verse 35. 1835, and it says that

00:22:41.509 --> 00:22:44.509
it came about that as he was approaching Jericho,

00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:47.529
so Jesus is coming into his last visit in Jericho,

00:22:47.650 --> 00:22:50.970
a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging.

00:22:51.730 --> 00:22:54.450
Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to

00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:56.269
inquire what this might be. So he's like, he

00:22:56.269 --> 00:22:58.109
couldn't see, can't see Jesus, can't see the

00:22:58.109 --> 00:22:59.930
crowd, but he can hear people passing by. Now,

00:22:59.990 --> 00:23:01.769
obviously the festival's going on, people have

00:23:01.769 --> 00:23:04.009
been passing by, so this is something additional,

00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:06.329
something that gets his attention above and beyond

00:23:06.329 --> 00:23:09.579
that. And so he starts to ask, who is it? What's

00:23:09.579 --> 00:23:12.279
going on? What's so special going on? Verse 37.

00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:15.980
And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was

00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:20.059
passing by. So just to say the name Jesus of

00:23:20.059 --> 00:23:23.619
Nazareth has already begun to mean something.

00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:26.819
That's an important name. People have been healed.

00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:30.400
People have been able to walk. People have been

00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:35.680
able to see. It's important. But this man right

00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.200
away jumps to something. And he calls out and

00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:44.400
he says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.319
Now that's not built into the name Jesus of Nazareth.

00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:50.400
Nazareth is not Bethlehem. So it's not built

00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:51.799
into the name that he would automatically, so

00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:54.660
he knows something about Jesus of Nazareth. And

00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:56.819
he cries out, son of David, have mercy on me.

00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:58.380
Now what's interesting about this is this is

00:23:58.380 --> 00:24:01.680
the first time in the scripture, first time in

00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.420
Jesus' entire public ministry, after all the

00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.220
amazing things that... that he's getting this

00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:08.339
direct connection to David, and that means a

00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:10.380
direct connection to being the Messiah, and you

00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:12.559
can basically say that this man is essentially

00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.279
crying out to Jesus as God in the flesh, although

00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:18.779
it stops just short of that, but it's close.

00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:23.039
And he cries out to this massive crowd, Jesus,

00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:28.859
Son of David, have mercy on me. Notice that the

00:24:28.859 --> 00:24:31.539
Son of David would be on the throne eternally,

00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:33.950
and that's part of why we know that When people

00:24:33.950 --> 00:24:36.769
realize that's not just on the throne for a generation

00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:38.569
or generations or have an offspring set on the

00:24:38.569 --> 00:24:42.750
throne, but would be on the throne of God eternally.

00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:45.670
Verse 39, and then it says, and those who led

00:24:45.670 --> 00:24:48.430
the way were sternly telling him to be quiet.

00:24:48.789 --> 00:24:50.789
So all this huge crowd's going by, and those

00:24:50.789 --> 00:24:52.170
who were walking in front of Jesus are saying,

00:24:52.210 --> 00:24:55.930
shh, come on now. But he kept crying out all

00:24:55.930 --> 00:25:01.549
the more, son of David, have mercy on me. Verse

00:25:01.549 --> 00:25:04.289
40, and Jesus stopped. and commanded that he

00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:06.470
be brought to him. Mind you, this is a massive

00:25:06.470 --> 00:25:08.710
crowd around. People already thought Jesus was

00:25:08.710 --> 00:25:10.250
something really special, but also all these

00:25:10.250 --> 00:25:12.589
people are going up to the festival. Massive

00:25:12.589 --> 00:25:16.170
crowd. He commanded that he be brought to him.

00:25:16.490 --> 00:25:19.109
And when he had come near, he questioned him.

00:25:19.750 --> 00:25:23.490
What do you want me to do for you? What are you

00:25:23.490 --> 00:25:25.829
asking for? He said, have mercy, but what does

00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:30.289
that mean exactly? And he said, Lord, I want

00:25:30.289 --> 00:25:34.240
to regain my sight. Verse 42, and Jesus said

00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:38.480
to him, receive your sight. Your faith has made

00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:41.880
you well. And immediately he regained his sight

00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.680
and he began following him, glorifying God. So

00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:47.819
they would tell him, shh, quiet down, quiet down.

00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.160
Now he's glorifying God. But you can imagine

00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:53.960
that lots of people are glorifying God, right?

00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:56.220
After seeing that miracle, after hearing him

00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.960
called son of David, after knowing who they're

00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:00.240
actually traveling with. So there's a lot of

00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:02.299
glorifying God going on. So now he fits in with

00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:04.720
a crowd of people who are glorifying God. And

00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.059
when all the people saw it, they gave praise

00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:10.000
to God. And so the journey continues then up

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.539
that 3 ,300 foot walk toward Bethany. Alright,

00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:18.779
so here we go. Now chapter 19. The first nine

00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:21.480
verses. And he entered and was passing through

00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:25.579
Jericho. So this is still in Jericho. And behold,

00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:27.329
there was... The first one was on the way into

00:26:27.329 --> 00:26:29.390
Jericho, theoretically. Now he's in through and

00:26:29.390 --> 00:26:31.769
is passing through, through Jericho. It says,

00:26:31.789 --> 00:26:34.109
And behold, there was a man called by the name

00:26:34.109 --> 00:26:37.549
of Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax gatherer,

00:26:37.549 --> 00:26:40.769
and he was rich, and he was trying to see who

00:26:40.769 --> 00:26:44.789
Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd,

00:26:44.970 --> 00:26:48.210
for he was small in stature. So he was stuck

00:26:48.210 --> 00:26:50.289
at the back of the crowd, and he couldn't see

00:26:50.289 --> 00:26:51.990
past the people in front of him to see who Jesus

00:26:51.990 --> 00:26:55.309
was. Verse 4. And he ran on ahead and climbed

00:26:55.309 --> 00:26:58.309
up into a sycamore tree in order to see him.

00:26:58.750 --> 00:27:00.970
For he was about to pass through that way. So

00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:04.369
the crowd is moving. The rumors have circulated.

00:27:04.490 --> 00:27:06.910
Jesus is coming. He wants to see Jesus personally.

00:27:07.130 --> 00:27:09.569
So he crawls up in the tree to see over the crowd.

00:27:11.150 --> 00:27:15.109
Verse 5. And when Jesus came to the place, he

00:27:15.109 --> 00:27:17.450
looked up, saw Zacchaeus there theoretically,

00:27:17.589 --> 00:27:21.309
looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and

00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:24.769
come down. For today I must stay at your house.

00:27:25.210 --> 00:27:27.230
And he hurried and came down and received him

00:27:27.230 --> 00:27:29.789
gladly. And when they saw it, they all began

00:27:29.789 --> 00:27:32.609
to grumble, saying, He is gone to be the guest

00:27:32.609 --> 00:27:36.529
of a man who is a sinner. I'll stop there for

00:27:36.529 --> 00:27:39.309
one second. We'll come back in a second. So tax

00:27:39.309 --> 00:27:42.069
collectors were looked down on pretty bad. They

00:27:42.069 --> 00:27:44.609
were given the government's authority to collect

00:27:44.609 --> 00:27:47.710
taxes. And their salary came from whatever extra

00:27:47.710 --> 00:27:50.170
they collected. So there's this amount that's

00:27:50.170 --> 00:27:51.569
got to go to the government. If they collect

00:27:51.569 --> 00:27:54.170
10 % extra, that's their money. And they were

00:27:54.170 --> 00:27:56.289
given the authority to make that extra any amount

00:27:56.289 --> 00:27:58.150
that they wanted, and they had Roman soldiers

00:27:58.150 --> 00:28:01.089
to enforce the taxes. So they were not thought

00:28:01.089 --> 00:28:04.230
of well. And they were, a lot of times, Jewish

00:28:04.230 --> 00:28:08.089
men who had become part, essentially, of the

00:28:08.089 --> 00:28:11.349
government machine of the Romans. And they all

00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:13.829
saw the Romans as like a yoke that needed to

00:28:13.829 --> 00:28:17.400
be shaken off. So he's looked down on as a sinner,

00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.839
as a dirty man, as a villain, as a man who uses

00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:23.500
the Roman government for his own profit and already

00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:25.059
said he was a rich man, so you know he's taking

00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:27.259
a lot of extra taxes above and beyond what Rome

00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:30.599
required. He's not a good man based on society.

00:28:30.900 --> 00:28:32.759
So they're grumbling and they say, he's gone

00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:36.680
to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And

00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:39.880
Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold,

00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:42.480
Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the

00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.839
poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything,

00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:49.579
I will give back four times as much. So Zacchaeus

00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:52.140
is now speaking about acts of repentance, works

00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:55.299
arising out of repentance. Not sure he knows

00:28:55.299 --> 00:28:57.500
exactly what repentance is at this point, but

00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.799
he is talking about doing things in conjunction

00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:05.079
with Jesus' willingness to call him out, to make

00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:07.319
connection with him. And he starts thinking,

00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:08.599
I've got to do something. I've got to make a

00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:10.680
difference here. And he says, half of my possessions

00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:12.819
I'll give to the poor. And if I have defrauded

00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:15.160
anyone of anything, I will give back four times

00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:18.859
as much. Verse 9, And Jesus said to him, Today

00:29:18.859 --> 00:29:23.539
salvation has come to this house, because he

00:29:23.539 --> 00:29:28.940
too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has

00:29:28.940 --> 00:29:33.759
come to seek and save that which was lost. So

00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:36.759
during this trip to Jericho, Jesus essentially

00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:39.880
encounters two men, blind Bartimaeus and short

00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:42.799
Zacchaeus. Blind Bartimaeus is probably suffering

00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:44.720
pretty bad. He's been a beggar his whole life.

00:29:44.740 --> 00:29:48.859
He's not rich. He would really like to see. We

00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:50.660
have a pretty good understanding that he lost

00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:52.200
his sight somewhere along the way. He probably

00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:54.980
knows what seeing is. He doesn't say he needs

00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:56.380
to be able to see for the first time, but he

00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:58.240
says he wants to receive his sight back. So he's

00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:00.220
probably lost his sight. So he probably knows

00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:04.809
what seeing is. He's suffering pretty bad. And

00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:06.990
he sees the possibility of crying out to Jesus,

00:30:07.170 --> 00:30:10.970
and he does. And then Zacchaeus, he doesn't really

00:30:10.970 --> 00:30:13.250
have a hope of ever coming into direct contact

00:30:13.250 --> 00:30:16.509
with Jesus. Any devout Jew would have distanced

00:30:16.509 --> 00:30:19.369
themselves from Zacchaeus. Because they love

00:30:19.369 --> 00:30:21.890
God, because they want to be clean, because they

00:30:21.890 --> 00:30:26.210
don't want to be looked down on by the priests.

00:30:26.329 --> 00:30:28.529
They don't want to be cast out. They were unclean

00:30:28.529 --> 00:30:32.289
in their profession, who they were. They would

00:30:32.289 --> 00:30:34.700
probably never come into the... presence of a

00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:36.920
Jewish teacher. Maybe yearned for it, like a

00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:38.779
Jewish man would probably want to be taught by

00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:42.079
a teacher like that, but never could. Two men,

00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:45.619
Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus, surrounded by a huge

00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:48.599
crowd, right? He's walking, surrounded by a huge

00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:50.059
crowd, going up to the festival. Some of them

00:30:50.059 --> 00:30:52.220
know he's Jesus, some of them don't. There's

00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:53.660
three things I want you to think about today

00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:55.319
with this text that really the Lord sort of laid

00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:57.980
in my heart. The first one is this, and it's

00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:02.670
comforting. Jesus sees you. So in this room we

00:31:02.670 --> 00:31:05.210
have people from different walks of life. We

00:31:05.210 --> 00:31:09.109
have people that are wealthy -ish. Some in finances,

00:31:09.210 --> 00:31:11.569
some in relationships. Some in where they live,

00:31:11.670 --> 00:31:15.710
some in what they do. Some in the spirit. His

00:31:15.710 --> 00:31:18.309
presence fully in you. Some in the knowledge

00:31:18.309 --> 00:31:21.029
of the word. We have people that have a lot going

00:31:21.029 --> 00:31:23.970
for them like that. And then we have people not

00:31:23.970 --> 00:31:26.910
so much. You're scraping by. You're figuring

00:31:26.910 --> 00:31:29.599
it out. You're hurting. You've got health concerns,

00:31:29.819 --> 00:31:34.700
relationship concerns, doubts maybe, struggles

00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:38.980
in your faith. Wherever you're at, Jesus sees

00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:42.740
you. Not only that, but Jesus came to seek and

00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:45.680
save that which was lost. So Jesus knows your

00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.680
individual situation. He knows how boxed out

00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:51.359
you might be or what barriers might exist between

00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:53.579
you and having a good, profitable relationship

00:31:53.579 --> 00:32:01.589
with God. Jesus doesn't casually scan humanity

00:32:01.589 --> 00:32:03.910
and think, well, here is a mass of people that

00:32:03.910 --> 00:32:09.329
need something. Jesus' vision is an intentional,

00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:13.470
focused, personal recognition of your specific

00:32:13.470 --> 00:32:16.289
circumstances and your heart condition, whatever

00:32:16.289 --> 00:32:19.970
that is. Jesus knows when your heart would leap

00:32:19.970 --> 00:32:21.849
from your chest and try to do something for God

00:32:21.849 --> 00:32:23.690
and your mind would restrain you through doubts

00:32:23.690 --> 00:32:26.150
and fears or what it might look like or what

00:32:26.150 --> 00:32:30.619
it might cost you. Jesus sees you. In Genesis

00:32:30.619 --> 00:32:35.539
16, 13, Hagar was now exiled. And as an exiled

00:32:35.539 --> 00:32:39.660
servant of God in the desert suffering, she calls

00:32:39.660 --> 00:32:44.660
God El Royi, meaning the God who sees me. No

00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:47.700
matter how bad your situation gets, it does not

00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:50.299
go unnoticed by the God of the universe. He sees

00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:54.519
you. Psalm 33, verses 13 to 15 say, From heaven

00:32:54.519 --> 00:33:00.579
the Lord looks down and sees. All mankind. He

00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:03.220
who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything

00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:08.480
they do. See, God sees you. God sees you when

00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:10.839
your effort is good and you're putting in really

00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:12.880
the work. You're spending a little time in the

00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:14.500
Bible here and there. You're meditating. He also

00:33:14.500 --> 00:33:20.299
sees you when your attention is divided. When

00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:26.059
your heart is lukewarm. God sees you. Just being

00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:28.880
seen by God ought to be a motivator then. You're

00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:32.079
not hiding behind closed doors. You're not fooling

00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:34.160
anybody really. You may come across as something

00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:37.940
that you're not, but God sees you. Jesus sees

00:33:37.940 --> 00:33:40.960
you. And while you're coming across as something

00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:42.759
that you're not to other believers or on your

00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:44.259
job site or whatever, you're a professional,

00:33:44.359 --> 00:33:46.779
you're successful, you've got yourself all put

00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:49.099
together. But while you're telling your children,

00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:50.519
you need to listen to me because I know what

00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:53.609
I'm talking about. Or while you're telling your

00:33:53.609 --> 00:33:56.430
boss, I'll get it done, I'm dependable. Jesus

00:33:56.430 --> 00:34:00.049
sees you. He sees right through you. All the

00:34:00.049 --> 00:34:02.829
way to your very core. He knows what the real

00:34:02.829 --> 00:34:07.069
truth is. Now that's greatly comforting. Because

00:34:07.069 --> 00:34:12.269
you can just stop. Stop pretending. Stop acting

00:34:12.269 --> 00:34:17.469
like you're good. You can stop because Jesus

00:34:17.469 --> 00:34:20.889
sees you. And there really isn't any great advantage

00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:25.159
of it. In Luke 12, 7, Jesus explains that even

00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:30.340
the very hairs of your head are numbered. That

00:34:30.340 --> 00:34:34.880
proves God's granular attention to detail. Like,

00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:37.280
I know people will say, well, I had a rough upbringing.

00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:39.760
I went through some stuff when I was younger.

00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:43.219
That's why I act the way I do. Somebody introduced

00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:45.179
me to these things and now they're tempting in

00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:48.480
my life and I can't say no. There's a lot of

00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.309
things that you can blame. But the fact is that

00:34:51.309 --> 00:34:56.489
Jesus was there even then. He sees you. He sees

00:34:56.489 --> 00:34:58.730
what you went through. He sees what you've become.

00:34:59.190 --> 00:35:03.210
God knows that we are but dust. He sees our filth,

00:35:03.210 --> 00:35:06.829
our uncleanness. And even in the face of all

00:35:06.829 --> 00:35:10.909
of that, while we were yet sinners, he sent his

00:35:10.909 --> 00:35:15.550
son Christ to die for us. Imagine the difference

00:35:15.550 --> 00:35:20.179
between a searchlight and a lighthouse. A lighthouse

00:35:20.179 --> 00:35:22.219
sits on the shore. You can see a lot of them

00:35:22.219 --> 00:35:25.019
like in the upper peninsula of Michigan, on a

00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:27.699
lot of the rocky coasts of the east coast. There's

00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:28.980
still a lot of lighthouses. People are going

00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:31.659
to tour lighthouses, right? And a lighthouse

00:35:31.659 --> 00:35:34.900
shines its light out across the water. And it's

00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:37.119
shining that light as a warning to say, look,

00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:39.639
there are rocks here. The light doesn't shine

00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:42.949
on the rocks per se. It's a searching beacon

00:35:42.949 --> 00:35:44.829
so that wherever you're coming approaching the

00:35:44.829 --> 00:35:46.230
rocks, whatever angle you're coming from, your

00:35:46.230 --> 00:35:48.389
ship will see that there is a light there, and

00:35:48.389 --> 00:35:50.110
that means there's a problem there, right? There's

00:35:50.110 --> 00:35:52.349
something there to be aware of. That light is

00:35:52.349 --> 00:35:54.090
not bright enough to light up the rocks so that

00:35:54.090 --> 00:35:55.989
you can see the rocks and steer around or through

00:35:55.989 --> 00:36:00.269
the rocks, right? But it is a warning that there

00:36:00.269 --> 00:36:01.789
is something there to pay attention to. So it

00:36:01.789 --> 00:36:03.150
is a good thing. A lighthouse is a good thing.

00:36:03.190 --> 00:36:04.670
But now imagine a searchlight. The difference

00:36:04.670 --> 00:36:06.730
between a lighthouse and a searchlight. A lighthouse

00:36:06.730 --> 00:36:09.889
shines that broad beam to warn ships. But God's

00:36:09.889 --> 00:36:12.349
attention is like a precision searchlight. It

00:36:12.349 --> 00:36:14.650
doesn't just illuminate the life that you live

00:36:14.650 --> 00:36:17.170
in. It doesn't just show you up on a screen.

00:36:17.329 --> 00:36:22.750
It finds you as a specific person on a small

00:36:22.750 --> 00:36:27.210
boat in the middle of a dark world. It highlights

00:36:27.210 --> 00:36:31.610
your exact location and your exact need and gives

00:36:31.610 --> 00:36:36.429
enlightenment for that need. There's a big difference

00:36:36.429 --> 00:36:39.239
between What a lot of people think about Jesus,

00:36:39.380 --> 00:36:41.579
thinking, well, he was this guy, and he came,

00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:44.079
but it was a long time ago, and now he's not

00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:45.960
really a personal God. He's not really in my

00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:47.199
situation. He's not really making a difference

00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:50.800
in my life. He's not really tending to each person's

00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:54.719
cares. None of that's biblical. That's not what

00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:57.440
the Bible says. Our God is a God who is engaged,

00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:01.639
and he sees you, and he sees your exact need.

00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:04.179
And because he sees every detail of your life,

00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:05.780
he sees the thing that will strike you when you

00:37:05.780 --> 00:37:07.360
go around the corner and you're not expecting

00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:12.840
it. And he wants to help you with that. And sometimes

00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:15.219
he'll even allow hardship one way so that you

00:37:15.219 --> 00:37:19.539
don't face a crushing hardship another way. He

00:37:19.539 --> 00:37:25.280
sees you. Like a searchlight. Not like a lighthouse.

00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:28.099
The second thing I want you to see in the text

00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:30.639
there then is that God connects with people from

00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:34.920
all walks of life ever since the beginning. God

00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:36.760
has called the rich and the poor and the sick

00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:39.320
and the healthy and the man and the woman. and

00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:41.300
every skin color and every culture and every

00:37:41.300 --> 00:37:45.019
social background. If you could detail out everything

00:37:45.019 --> 00:37:47.460
about you and all the inciting events of your

00:37:47.460 --> 00:37:49.380
past and put it all on a piece of paper and call

00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:51.639
it a character sheet or a dossier or a resume

00:37:51.639 --> 00:37:54.699
and it's 5 ,000 pages long and you could then

00:37:54.699 --> 00:37:56.659
feed that into AI and AI could make all of its

00:37:56.659 --> 00:37:58.420
decisions for you just the way, based on who

00:37:58.420 --> 00:38:00.519
you are, right, with about a 95 % probability.

00:38:00.599 --> 00:38:04.079
If you could do all of that, you would find that

00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:11.829
all told, each individual is unique. I recently

00:38:11.829 --> 00:38:14.369
read a story about a train traveling through

00:38:14.369 --> 00:38:17.030
California where a guy got on the train and then

00:38:17.030 --> 00:38:18.889
a little while later, a half hour later, another

00:38:18.889 --> 00:38:20.750
guy got on the train who had the exact same name

00:38:20.750 --> 00:38:23.289
and the same basic description as him. And they

00:38:23.289 --> 00:38:24.309
found each other on the train. They're like,

00:38:24.389 --> 00:38:26.710
that's kind of freaky. You look a lot like me

00:38:26.710 --> 00:38:28.869
and you have the same exact name that I do. That's

00:38:28.869 --> 00:38:30.230
really freaky. And they went for like another

00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:32.769
hour. This is in the 1950s, I think. Went for

00:38:32.769 --> 00:38:34.389
like another hour on the train and another guy

00:38:34.389 --> 00:38:36.809
got on the train with the same name, first name,

00:38:36.869 --> 00:38:39.070
middle name, last name. I think maybe they didn't

00:38:39.070 --> 00:38:40.309
have middle names, but anyway, the same first

00:38:40.309 --> 00:38:43.070
and last name for sure, and looked basically

00:38:43.070 --> 00:38:45.170
the same. So there's three guys on the same train

00:38:45.170 --> 00:38:47.230
traveling across California that looked the same

00:38:47.230 --> 00:38:52.409
and had the same name, first and last. They traveled

00:38:52.409 --> 00:38:54.530
for a little while further, and before they got

00:38:54.530 --> 00:38:57.030
to their final destination, a fourth guy got

00:38:57.030 --> 00:39:00.989
on the train who had the same name and basically

00:39:00.989 --> 00:39:04.030
looked the same as the other three guys, generically

00:39:04.030 --> 00:39:06.539
speaking. At which point in time, the first three

00:39:06.539 --> 00:39:08.559
guys all got off the train. They said, we're

00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:09.920
out of here. They all got off the train before

00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:13.400
they got to their destination. Out there in the

00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:15.019
world, there's somebody that looks a little bit

00:39:15.019 --> 00:39:16.820
like you. They've got basically your same hair,

00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:19.340
same shape, same face. There's probably somebody

00:39:19.340 --> 00:39:20.900
out there where I happen to know that there are

00:39:20.900 --> 00:39:23.260
several other authors and several pastors that

00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:25.079
have the same first and last name that I do that

00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:26.360
most of them don't have the same middle name.

00:39:26.699 --> 00:39:29.760
That's the blessing of middle names. The bottom

00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:32.099
line is... You might look like somebody else.

00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:34.019
And if somebody diagnosed you saying, oh, okay,

00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:36.659
you came up through a rough childhood. You were

00:39:36.659 --> 00:39:38.719
malnourished between the ages of 9 and 12. And

00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.159
your parents were a little psychologically abusive.

00:39:41.579 --> 00:39:43.900
And you had this job, this job. You might paint

00:39:43.900 --> 00:39:46.320
a picture of yourself that looks a lot like somebody

00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:50.360
else's picture. You go to court and you say,

00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:52.519
my parents beat me all the time as a child. They

00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:56.179
might have lenience on you. Because... Well,

00:39:56.179 --> 00:39:59.000
we know that's when people are beaten as a child

00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:02.940
that they usually turn out this way. But the

00:40:02.940 --> 00:40:10.500
truth is, you're unique. You're you. The variables

00:40:10.500 --> 00:40:13.559
are too vast and too far that ever you'll be

00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:16.199
the same as somebody else. You can be a lot like

00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:18.079
somebody else. You might pick out your similarities

00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:19.659
and connect that way, but you're never going

00:40:19.659 --> 00:40:22.989
to be somebody else. You can do everything in

00:40:22.989 --> 00:40:24.750
your power to mimic somebody else and you still

00:40:24.750 --> 00:40:26.090
couldn't be somebody else. You literally could

00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:28.949
put your whole life, 50, 60 years together trying

00:40:28.949 --> 00:40:31.889
to be another person and then wind up on your

00:40:31.889 --> 00:40:33.369
deathbed and go, well, that was a failed effort.

00:40:34.210 --> 00:40:39.090
You are who you are. That's what makes us equal.

00:40:40.429 --> 00:40:43.369
Not that we're the same, but that we're all unique.

00:40:44.750 --> 00:40:46.349
And people look at other people and they start

00:40:46.349 --> 00:40:48.559
thinking, well... That person's like me, so they

00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.800
expect certain things from them. Or that person's

00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:52.360
not like me, so they expect certain things from

00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:57.960
them. Right? Jesus desires to connect with people

00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:01.360
from all walks of life. Unique individuals from

00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:05.219
unique situations. So God consistently bypasses

00:41:05.219 --> 00:41:08.900
generic social, racial, economic barriers to

00:41:08.900 --> 00:41:11.519
reach people. He is proving His grace is not

00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:14.400
a members -only club. You could be the dirty,

00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:17.539
nasty tax collector. You could be the blind beggar

00:41:17.539 --> 00:41:19.699
on the side of the road. You could be alright

00:41:19.699 --> 00:41:22.159
in your own skin and feel like, I got my stuff

00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:24.179
all together and it doesn't matter. You need

00:41:24.179 --> 00:41:28.699
Jesus and He's coming for you. Because He sees

00:41:28.699 --> 00:41:35.139
you. Because He desires a one -on -one relationship

00:41:35.139 --> 00:41:38.460
with you. And yeah, there's going to be barriers.

00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:42.840
Yeah, you might prefer to hang out with... Guys

00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:45.380
who play video games all the time rather than

00:41:45.380 --> 00:41:47.519
hanging out with a guy who created the universe

00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:51.099
and asks things of you and works in you. You

00:41:51.099 --> 00:41:54.320
might prefer to hang out with folks on social

00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:57.280
media who will show you all the things of their

00:41:57.280 --> 00:41:58.460
life and all the good things they have and you

00:41:58.460 --> 00:42:00.780
can feel good about that for them and for yourself

00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:03.559
because you get to control how fast you look

00:42:03.559 --> 00:42:06.639
and so on rather than hanging out with the God

00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:09.239
of the universe who did all that he's done. All

00:42:09.239 --> 00:42:10.860
that he's doing and all that he's going to do

00:42:10.860 --> 00:42:14.280
until the story comes to a conclusion with those

00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:18.699
who have trusted him in eternity in heaven. And

00:42:18.699 --> 00:42:24.280
God is able. He is able to get past your tendencies

00:42:24.280 --> 00:42:27.239
to hang out with the wrong people, to watch the

00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:30.380
wrong stuff. He is able. He can set you free

00:42:30.380 --> 00:42:33.219
from that and get rid of the parts of your personality,

00:42:33.500 --> 00:42:36.840
regenerate them really into something good that

00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:39.170
would keep you. from having a relationship with

00:42:39.170 --> 00:42:42.090
Him. Being a Christian is not a members -only

00:42:42.090 --> 00:42:44.510
club. In fact, if anything, when you become a

00:42:44.510 --> 00:42:46.269
member of the Christian club, if you want to

00:42:46.269 --> 00:42:49.349
call it that, you realize that you now also have

00:42:49.349 --> 00:42:51.050
become a seeker yourself, that you're supposed

00:42:51.050 --> 00:42:53.070
to take your knowledge of Jesus to everybody

00:42:53.070 --> 00:42:55.849
who will potentially listen, and you might have

00:42:55.849 --> 00:42:57.670
something that's a social barrier or a cultural

00:42:57.670 --> 00:42:59.989
thing in your life, and because you find a similarity

00:42:59.989 --> 00:43:02.210
with somewhere else, that pathway then is used

00:43:02.210 --> 00:43:05.610
to connect so you can share the gospel. Let me

00:43:05.610 --> 00:43:08.340
tell you about the guy I met. Let me tell you

00:43:08.340 --> 00:43:10.519
about the God who loves me. Let me tell you about

00:43:10.519 --> 00:43:16.460
the one who's not like a lighthouse, but like

00:43:16.460 --> 00:43:19.480
a searchlight. Let me tell you about the one

00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:23.119
who's pointing me towards you today. God connects

00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:26.960
with people from all walks of life. John 4, 7

00:43:26.960 --> 00:43:31.179
through 26, there's a story. Jesus, who's a Jewish

00:43:31.179 --> 00:43:34.179
teacher. initiates a deep spiritual conversation

00:43:34.179 --> 00:43:36.880
with a Samaritan woman who he's not really even

00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:38.539
supposed to be with at all, and he runs into

00:43:38.539 --> 00:43:40.340
her at the well. In fact, they really weren't

00:43:40.340 --> 00:43:42.000
supposed to be passing through that whole part

00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:44.199
of the country. Jewish men would literally go

00:43:44.199 --> 00:43:47.340
around through the desert an extra 30 miles or

00:43:47.340 --> 00:43:51.599
whatever to avoid Samaritan land. But not Jesus,

00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:54.719
and not his disciples. He engages that woman.

00:43:55.260 --> 00:43:59.139
Even though she's had multiple men as husband

00:43:59.139 --> 00:44:01.119
and the man that she was with right then was

00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:04.619
not even her husband. And by no means should

00:44:04.619 --> 00:44:07.980
a Jewish teacher be dealing with a woman. And

00:44:07.980 --> 00:44:10.840
certainly not a woman like that. And yet Jesus

00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:13.739
engages her in a deep spiritual conversation.

00:44:14.260 --> 00:44:18.260
She was a social outcast with a complicated past

00:44:18.260 --> 00:44:22.840
to say the least. And he breaks across gender

00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:28.070
and ethnic taboos. And through her sin, to get

00:44:28.070 --> 00:44:35.110
her to realize He is Jesus. And He wants a relationship

00:44:35.110 --> 00:44:39.829
with her. In Acts 10, 34 -35, Peter realizes

00:44:39.829 --> 00:44:43.250
that God does not show favoritism, but accepts

00:44:43.250 --> 00:44:46.369
from every nation the one who fears Him and does

00:44:46.369 --> 00:44:49.789
what is right. So wherever you're coming from

00:44:49.789 --> 00:44:54.190
today, there's your entry. Are you willing to

00:44:54.190 --> 00:44:58.000
have The Lord Jesus as your personal guide, director,

00:44:58.440 --> 00:45:02.159
boss. The one who created everything and nothing

00:45:02.159 --> 00:45:04.239
was created except that which was created through

00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:05.900
him wants a relationship with you and he's seeking

00:45:05.900 --> 00:45:08.079
you. It doesn't matter where you're coming from.

00:45:08.119 --> 00:45:10.380
It only matters where he's coming from. It doesn't

00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:12.659
matter who you are. It only matters who he is

00:45:12.659 --> 00:45:17.480
and who he can help you be. Luke 19 then here

00:45:17.480 --> 00:45:21.300
with Zacchaeus, a wealthy but hated tax collector.

00:45:22.030 --> 00:45:24.710
Jesus shows that even the villains of society

00:45:24.710 --> 00:45:31.269
are within Jesus' reach. Think for a moment about

00:45:31.269 --> 00:45:35.969
global Wi -Fi. We're going to get to the point

00:45:35.969 --> 00:45:39.130
where the Internet is available over the whole

00:45:39.130 --> 00:45:41.130
Earth with this whole StarNet thing that they're

00:45:41.130 --> 00:45:45.030
doing. With broad -reaching Wi -Fi or eventually

00:45:45.030 --> 00:45:48.150
like that, whether you're in a high -rise penthouse

00:45:48.150 --> 00:45:52.900
or a rural village, back darkest Africa or whatever,

00:45:53.219 --> 00:45:56.519
a signal is available to everyone regardless

00:45:56.519 --> 00:45:58.539
of your status. If you just have the necessary

00:45:58.539 --> 00:46:03.860
technology, you can get on the internet. The

00:46:03.860 --> 00:46:07.280
connection isn't actually then based on the quality

00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:14.199
of the device, right? So you don't need a more

00:46:14.199 --> 00:46:16.579
powerful phone than the next guy to be able to

00:46:16.579 --> 00:46:20.079
connect to Wi -Fi. Just a phone that can connect

00:46:20.079 --> 00:46:23.219
to Wi -Fi. The device that sends the Wi -Fi,

00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:26.019
that's where the power is at. A better router.

00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:32.639
A better satellite. It's available because you're

00:46:32.639 --> 00:46:36.960
willing to receive it. The availability of the

00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:39.739
network, which is God's grace. The availability

00:46:39.739 --> 00:46:42.159
of the router, which you could say is the Holy

00:46:42.159 --> 00:46:45.250
Spirit or Jesus. The bottom line is, God wants

00:46:45.250 --> 00:46:47.269
to make a connection with you, and it does not

00:46:47.269 --> 00:46:50.389
matter what walk of life you come from, He is

00:46:50.389 --> 00:46:55.429
willing if you are willing. And we see Jesus

00:46:55.429 --> 00:46:59.710
putting His thumbs on the eyes of unclean blind

00:46:59.710 --> 00:47:03.889
men. We see Jesus kneeling down in the street

00:47:03.889 --> 00:47:09.329
in front of paralyzed beggars. We see Jesus caressing

00:47:09.329 --> 00:47:16.519
the skin of lepers. If God will go that far to

00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:20.480
have you, how can you say no? And let's assume

00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:22.840
then that you've said yes. If God will go that

00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:25.260
far to have you and you've said yes, how could

00:47:25.260 --> 00:47:28.019
you become one of the barriers? How could your

00:47:28.019 --> 00:47:30.480
culture or your social attitude or your mental

00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:32.679
state or your health or your finances or your

00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:35.480
family or anything that you value in life ever

00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:39.280
stand in the way of that seeking Jesus getting

00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:43.840
to the people that he needs to get to? The answer

00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:45.900
is it should not. Those things are meant to be

00:47:45.900 --> 00:47:49.840
conduits for Jesus' love. So if you keep an aspect

00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:52.340
of your culture, then it is only there so that

00:47:52.340 --> 00:47:56.119
you can use it to spread the gospel. If an aspect

00:47:56.119 --> 00:47:58.360
of your personality is regenerated, it is only

00:47:58.360 --> 00:48:00.500
there so that you can then use that aspect of

00:48:00.500 --> 00:48:03.559
your personality to reach somebody else for Jesus.

00:48:04.239 --> 00:48:06.300
And that's why the church is full of so much

00:48:06.300 --> 00:48:09.139
diversity, or should be anyway. Because that

00:48:09.139 --> 00:48:11.420
diversity makes us able then to reach. Paul said,

00:48:11.460 --> 00:48:14.460
I became all things to all men that I might reach

00:48:14.460 --> 00:48:17.760
some. And the beauty of it is each one of us

00:48:17.760 --> 00:48:19.599
individually doesn't necessarily have to do that

00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:21.860
because we have in our midst others who are like

00:48:21.860 --> 00:48:23.320
the person. So you're talking to somebody about

00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:25.579
Jesus and maybe they're into a certain hobby

00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:27.539
or whatever and it's going okay, but you're really

00:48:27.539 --> 00:48:28.820
having a hard time connecting them because they

00:48:28.820 --> 00:48:30.239
don't think the same way you do. They're thinking

00:48:30.239 --> 00:48:32.599
about the things that they like and not the things

00:48:32.599 --> 00:48:34.019
that you like. You have a different type. Maybe

00:48:34.019 --> 00:48:36.340
you're into sports and they're into comic books,

00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:39.469
right? But you know somebody in your church,

00:48:39.510 --> 00:48:41.070
somebody in the kingdom that's a devout follower

00:48:41.070 --> 00:48:42.909
of the Lord Jesus Christ that's in the comic

00:48:42.909 --> 00:48:44.949
books. And you put those two people together.

00:48:45.090 --> 00:48:46.570
And now they can speak the same language. They

00:48:46.570 --> 00:48:48.949
have the same symbolism. It works. The kingdom

00:48:48.949 --> 00:48:51.170
works because we are made up of unique people

00:48:51.170 --> 00:48:53.969
coming from all walks of life. And regenerated,

00:48:53.969 --> 00:49:00.650
that walk then becomes powerful for God. The

00:49:00.650 --> 00:49:04.250
third thing to see and hear then, and it's a

00:49:04.250 --> 00:49:06.090
contested thing. I get that. And I'm not going

00:49:06.090 --> 00:49:08.010
to... prove it to you today. So if you contest

00:49:08.010 --> 00:49:10.449
this, then I would say do your homework because

00:49:10.449 --> 00:49:13.170
it is clearly proven in Scripture. And that is

00:49:13.170 --> 00:49:16.510
that God was represented here. In fact, Jesus

00:49:16.510 --> 00:49:19.849
is God. And to oppose Jesus is to oppose God.

00:49:20.309 --> 00:49:23.510
The New Testament is clear that Jesus was not

00:49:23.510 --> 00:49:26.469
just a representative of God, but God in human

00:49:26.469 --> 00:49:30.090
form. Therefore, your reaction to Jesus is your

00:49:30.090 --> 00:49:32.869
reaction to the creator of the universe. Now

00:49:32.869 --> 00:49:35.570
again, if you struggle with that concept, I'll

00:49:35.570 --> 00:49:38.559
give you a couple. But there are tons, right?

00:49:39.139 --> 00:49:42.800
John 10 .30, Jesus states clearly, I and the

00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:48.079
Father are one. Colossians 2 .9, For in Christ

00:49:48.079 --> 00:49:51.059
all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.

00:49:52.559 --> 00:49:56.300
Colossians 2 .9. And Luke 10 .16, Jesus tells

00:49:56.300 --> 00:49:59.099
his followers, Whoever rejects you rejects me.

00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:02.760
But whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.

00:50:03.179 --> 00:50:07.219
And so whether or not you can jump, and solidly

00:50:07.219 --> 00:50:10.199
stand on the truth that Jesus Christ is God the

00:50:10.199 --> 00:50:13.260
Son, clearly Jesus taught that if you reject

00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:16.579
Him, you are rejecting the God of the universe.

00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:22.179
Now that's a pretty big deal. There was a number

00:50:22.179 --> 00:50:24.760
of times when I was a young man that I got into

00:50:24.760 --> 00:50:27.300
some fights. I did a lot of fighting and then

00:50:27.300 --> 00:50:29.179
I spent about 20 years nursing my hands to try

00:50:29.179 --> 00:50:30.719
to get so I didn't have pain every single day

00:50:30.719 --> 00:50:32.159
after I did all that when I was in high school.

00:50:32.340 --> 00:50:34.420
I wasn't a very good fighter either, just a real

00:50:34.420 --> 00:50:36.400
stubborn fighter, you know what I'm saying. There

00:50:36.400 --> 00:50:38.519
was one particular instance where I went up against

00:50:38.519 --> 00:50:41.000
a guy who was about between 350 and 400 pounds,

00:50:41.300 --> 00:50:43.380
and he decided he was going to stick my head

00:50:43.380 --> 00:50:46.380
in the toilet. And I don't want my head stuck

00:50:46.380 --> 00:50:48.639
in the toilet. Plus, I was in my underwear. It

00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:51.000
was during gym class. And I really didn't want

00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:53.559
him anywhere near me or touching me while I was

00:50:53.559 --> 00:50:55.119
in my underwear. That was really creeping me

00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:58.280
out. He was in his clothes. I was in my underwear.

00:50:58.820 --> 00:51:02.940
At that time, I weighed about 117 pounds. He

00:51:02.940 --> 00:51:04.920
weighed three times my weight. And he decided

00:51:04.920 --> 00:51:06.579
he was going to pick me up and carry me in the

00:51:06.579 --> 00:51:10.199
bathroom and stick my head in the toilet. That

00:51:10.199 --> 00:51:13.360
was not a smart decision on his part because,

00:51:13.480 --> 00:51:17.360
number one, I was very egocentric. I was not

00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:19.000
a Christian. I was very concerned about appearances

00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:20.519
and things like that. I'm like, you stick my

00:51:20.519 --> 00:51:21.840
head in the toilet, I'm never going to get over

00:51:21.840 --> 00:51:23.639
it. I'm like, there's no way that's happening.

00:51:24.920 --> 00:51:29.340
So, this was in the Northwood locker room, guy's

00:51:29.340 --> 00:51:31.340
locker room. That's where this event took place.

00:51:33.610 --> 00:51:36.289
He's got me up on his shoulder. I'm elbowing

00:51:36.289 --> 00:51:37.969
him and kicking him and stuff, and it was probably

00:51:37.969 --> 00:51:39.670
like a stiff wind hitting him hard because he's

00:51:39.670 --> 00:51:41.949
a giant guy. And then I realized there's certain

00:51:41.949 --> 00:51:43.750
places you can hit a person who hurts a lot more,

00:51:43.869 --> 00:51:46.750
but I couldn't reach to kick him in the privates

00:51:46.750 --> 00:51:48.949
or anything like that. And so I grabbed the door

00:51:48.949 --> 00:51:51.250
of a locker, and I grabbed his head, which even

00:51:51.250 --> 00:51:53.369
a big guy, if you turn their head, it's hard

00:51:53.369 --> 00:51:55.590
for them to stop that because a lot of muscles

00:51:55.590 --> 00:51:58.409
in your neck, but my bicep versus his neck muscles.

00:51:58.670 --> 00:52:00.210
And I turned his head, and I took the door of

00:52:00.210 --> 00:52:01.570
the locker, and I went like this. Bang, bang.

00:52:01.710 --> 00:52:05.849
And I kept going until he fell over. And then

00:52:05.849 --> 00:52:07.949
I got my clothes on. It was like a rush to get

00:52:07.949 --> 00:52:11.269
dressed. He went to the hospital and got 13 stitches.

00:52:13.250 --> 00:52:15.250
So then at that point, you figure, I thought

00:52:15.250 --> 00:52:17.989
from then on, anybody 350 pounds or more, I could

00:52:17.989 --> 00:52:22.309
take them, right? No. If I see somebody that

00:52:22.309 --> 00:52:24.050
weighed twice my weight, I'm giving them a wide

00:52:24.050 --> 00:52:26.389
berth if I possibly can. I would never get in

00:52:26.389 --> 00:52:28.190
the ring against somebody like Mike Tyson or

00:52:28.190 --> 00:52:31.190
a major league boxer. I don't want to fight a

00:52:31.190 --> 00:52:33.849
construction worker. If I can help, I don't physically

00:52:33.849 --> 00:52:35.750
fight anymore at all. They're coming for me,

00:52:35.750 --> 00:52:37.590
I'll give them what they got coming, but I don't

00:52:37.590 --> 00:52:39.010
want to fight physically at all if I can help

00:52:39.010 --> 00:52:41.570
it. And there are some men in this room that

00:52:41.570 --> 00:52:45.210
are big men. Some of you guys are big men. And

00:52:45.210 --> 00:52:51.610
I'm not. And so, I'm going to not. Right? God

00:52:51.610 --> 00:52:59.070
is big. God is strong. God is intelligent. He

00:52:59.070 --> 00:53:03.829
knows your tomorrow. God does what intervened

00:53:03.829 --> 00:53:08.010
miraculously in creation. He changes the circumstances

00:53:08.010 --> 00:53:11.869
of our lives on a regular basis. He says, oh

00:53:11.869 --> 00:53:13.150
no, you're not going to go there. You're going

00:53:13.150 --> 00:53:15.750
to go there. This is not going to happen to you.

00:53:15.750 --> 00:53:18.190
This is going to happen to you instead. I'm not

00:53:18.190 --> 00:53:20.050
going to let them do that to you. I'm going to

00:53:20.050 --> 00:53:22.590
change that. You say, well, why doesn't God change

00:53:22.590 --> 00:53:24.829
everything for the good? Why doesn't God make

00:53:24.829 --> 00:53:28.420
everything go perfectly? I submit to you that

00:53:28.420 --> 00:53:29.980
whether you can see it or I can see it or not,

00:53:30.059 --> 00:53:34.019
God does do that. Suffering has a place in this

00:53:34.019 --> 00:53:37.380
world. It's a sucky place. It's not a place that

00:53:37.380 --> 00:53:40.000
we want or like or would ever desire, but out

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:43.519
of it comes something. And God turns out in the

00:53:43.519 --> 00:53:46.679
long run for your good that which you despise

00:53:46.679 --> 00:53:49.079
while you're going through it. That's why God

00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:53.119
says through our brother James, consider it pure

00:53:53.119 --> 00:53:55.440
joy when you face all manner of trials and tribulations.

00:53:56.090 --> 00:53:57.730
Because the stuff that happens to you that you

00:53:57.730 --> 00:53:59.789
really don't like is happening to you for a reason.

00:53:59.809 --> 00:54:02.210
It's building something. It's creating something.

00:54:02.510 --> 00:54:04.289
And if you want to be what it's building, you

00:54:04.289 --> 00:54:05.710
want to be what it's creating, then you can go,

00:54:05.750 --> 00:54:12.250
yay me, instead of, oh, me. Jesus tells his followers,

00:54:12.369 --> 00:54:15.590
whoever rejects you rejects me, but whoever rejects

00:54:15.590 --> 00:54:18.949
me rejects him who sent me. Do not reject Jesus.

00:54:21.130 --> 00:54:23.989
Because if you do, you're rejecting the God of

00:54:23.989 --> 00:54:26.809
the universe. And he has no limit to resources,

00:54:26.909 --> 00:54:29.030
power, authority, intelligence, capability. He's

00:54:29.030 --> 00:54:31.469
everywhere he wants to be. He has no limit in

00:54:31.469 --> 00:54:33.929
power and he knows everything there is to know.

00:54:35.289 --> 00:54:37.929
Consider a diplomatic ambassador. Like if we

00:54:37.929 --> 00:54:39.670
sent, if the United States sent an ambassador

00:54:39.670 --> 00:54:44.969
like Iraq, for example, or something. If a nation

00:54:44.969 --> 00:54:47.670
sends an ambassador who carries the full legal

00:54:47.670 --> 00:54:50.360
authority of the king or the president. That's

00:54:50.360 --> 00:54:54.119
basically the way it is. They still have to check

00:54:54.119 --> 00:54:55.940
in, but our ambassadors go to a foreign country.

00:54:56.159 --> 00:54:58.920
And if they get attacked or killed or that embassy

00:54:58.920 --> 00:55:02.679
gets destroyed, that's an act of war. The embassy

00:55:02.679 --> 00:55:05.320
on foreign ground is considered part of your

00:55:05.320 --> 00:55:08.059
country. It's the same way Nigeria sends an ambassador

00:55:08.059 --> 00:55:09.460
to the United States of America. They build an

00:55:09.460 --> 00:55:11.699
embassy in New York. When they're in that embassy,

00:55:11.820 --> 00:55:14.940
that's considered part of Nigeria. And so you

00:55:14.940 --> 00:55:17.139
mess with the ambassador, you mess with the king.

00:55:17.679 --> 00:55:19.860
You mess with the ambassador, you mess with the

00:55:19.860 --> 00:55:21.920
nation. You kill the United States ambassadors

00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:24.460
and you can expect missiles within 24 hours.

00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:28.360
This is the reality. And so people don't mess

00:55:28.360 --> 00:55:30.340
with the ambassadors of the United States because

00:55:30.340 --> 00:55:32.519
if they do, the United States will put them in

00:55:32.519 --> 00:55:40.820
a hole. But people mess with Jesus. And I submit

00:55:40.820 --> 00:55:43.360
to you, if you mess with Jesus, someday God's

00:55:43.360 --> 00:55:45.760
going to put you in a hole. The kind of hole

00:55:45.760 --> 00:55:48.920
you ain't going to come back out of. Do not reject

00:55:48.920 --> 00:55:54.699
the Son of God. If you do, you reject God the

00:55:54.699 --> 00:55:59.500
Creator. Any action of aggression against Jesus

00:55:59.500 --> 00:56:04.239
would be legally viewed as an action of war against

00:56:04.239 --> 00:56:08.860
God Himself. And so now, to the Christians in

00:56:08.860 --> 00:56:10.300
the room, you say you're a follower of the Lord

00:56:10.300 --> 00:56:17.380
Jesus Christ? Walk circumspectly. Walk soberly.

00:56:18.559 --> 00:56:21.199
Submit yourself to what you know is right. James

00:56:21.199 --> 00:56:23.179
4 .17 says, If you know what is right to do and

00:56:23.179 --> 00:56:25.360
do not do it to him, it is sin. You do that.

00:56:25.480 --> 00:56:29.159
That's sin. Do not ignore what is right. Do the

00:56:29.159 --> 00:56:31.760
right thing whenever you have it in your mind

00:56:31.760 --> 00:56:35.659
to do so. Pick your strength, your will, your

00:56:35.659 --> 00:56:40.670
wisdom, your finances, your presence. Submit

00:56:40.670 --> 00:56:43.769
and walk forward victoriously in the Lord. Because

00:56:43.769 --> 00:56:47.150
if you reject Jesus now, after having come to

00:56:47.150 --> 00:56:49.150
knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not think

00:56:49.150 --> 00:56:52.809
that you are not rejecting God. No, it's still

00:56:52.809 --> 00:56:55.849
the same. You may not lose your salvation, assuming

00:56:55.849 --> 00:56:58.349
you have it. I question why, if you have it,

00:56:58.349 --> 00:57:01.510
you would even do that. But if you have salvation,

00:57:01.690 --> 00:57:03.090
you're not going to lose your salvation by sin.

00:57:03.130 --> 00:57:06.369
Grace will cover that. But you cannot claim to

00:57:06.369 --> 00:57:09.150
respect the king while striking the person that

00:57:09.150 --> 00:57:12.090
he sent to represent his very heart and laws,

00:57:12.269 --> 00:57:20.409
who is Jesus. Interesting that we see these lessons

00:57:20.409 --> 00:57:23.389
arising out of these two encounters, Jesus' last

00:57:23.389 --> 00:57:26.210
trip to Jericho, and from there, having heard

00:57:26.210 --> 00:57:28.940
now... Blind Bartimaeus crying out, and I submit

00:57:28.940 --> 00:57:30.539
to you over and over again as he glorified God,

00:57:30.719 --> 00:57:33.019
that this is the Son of David. This is God in

00:57:33.019 --> 00:57:34.639
the flesh. This is the Messiah. This is the One.

00:57:35.079 --> 00:57:37.559
And thousands and thousands of people gather

00:57:37.559 --> 00:57:40.119
around as they come into Bethany next, and they

00:57:40.119 --> 00:57:41.559
spend a little time there before they make that

00:57:41.559 --> 00:57:44.199
last two -mile walk into Jerusalem, right? As

00:57:44.199 --> 00:57:49.380
that happens, as all of that happens, God is

00:57:49.380 --> 00:57:52.940
getting the glory. Jesus, they're talking about

00:57:52.940 --> 00:57:58.670
Jesus. And then, And a little over a week at

00:57:58.670 --> 00:58:01.150
that point, or yeah, at the point of Jericho,

00:58:01.150 --> 00:58:05.230
it's a little over a week. They will cry, crucify

00:58:05.230 --> 00:58:14.250
him, crucify him. God sees you. God's calling

00:58:14.250 --> 00:58:17.530
you right in your walk of life, right where you

00:58:17.530 --> 00:58:21.650
are. And God is saying, do not reject my son.

00:58:25.759 --> 00:58:29.119
As we sing a closing song today, I want to ask

00:58:29.119 --> 00:58:31.199
you if you're here today, and if you have rejected

00:58:31.199 --> 00:58:33.239
Jesus to this point in your life, and you realize

00:58:33.239 --> 00:58:35.719
that God is calling you, that God sees you, seeking

00:58:35.719 --> 00:58:38.219
after you, sent His own Son to die for you, then

00:58:38.219 --> 00:58:40.579
you say, okay, I'm in. Just say it right now,

00:58:40.599 --> 00:58:41.960
right where you're sitting. I'm in. I'm good.

00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:45.599
Yeah. I'm with you, Jesus. Salvation is a lot

00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:48.019
like that. The Bible says that in that moment,

00:58:48.159 --> 00:58:50.039
you're born again. You're made new, made fresh.

00:58:50.199 --> 00:58:53.039
You start over. Everything that was behind goes

00:58:53.039 --> 00:58:55.320
behind and stays there. Your screw -ups, your

00:58:55.320 --> 00:58:58.460
sin, it's all gone. All washed away in the moment

00:58:58.460 --> 00:59:00.380
of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

00:59:01.539 --> 00:59:03.619
And then yeah, you're pitting yourself to live

00:59:03.619 --> 00:59:07.039
no longer rejecting Him. Live for Him. Do your

00:59:07.039 --> 00:59:09.739
best. Day in, day out. Your best knowledge. Your

00:59:09.739 --> 00:59:16.440
best presence. So if you're here and you've never

00:59:16.440 --> 00:59:17.860
accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then

00:59:17.860 --> 00:59:21.119
do that today. and the Bible says you believe

00:59:21.119 --> 00:59:22.840
in your heart, confess with your mouth that Jesus

00:59:22.840 --> 00:59:25.000
Christ is Lord, and that God raised Him from

00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:28.380
the dead, you will be saved. And He'll never

00:59:28.380 --> 00:59:32.400
let you down. He sees you. Maybe you're here

00:59:32.400 --> 00:59:34.019
today and say, I'm already a Christian, but I

00:59:34.019 --> 00:59:36.019
realize I've been doing some things that really

00:59:36.019 --> 00:59:38.719
kind of almost amount to my rejecting Jesus after

00:59:38.719 --> 00:59:40.820
the fact. The Bible says that He would just willingly

00:59:40.820 --> 00:59:43.300
continue in sin after coming to Christ, basically

00:59:43.300 --> 00:59:49.360
crucifies Him again. That's not good. So maybe

00:59:49.360 --> 00:59:51.260
you say, no, I'm going to live for Jesus like

00:59:51.260 --> 00:59:53.679
I thought I was going to live for Jesus. You

00:59:53.679 --> 00:59:55.699
say, but there's that thing that's in my life

00:59:55.699 --> 00:59:59.280
that tempts me. God knows that you are but dust

00:59:59.280 --> 01:00:02.500
and he sees you. And you say, well, I might fall

01:00:02.500 --> 01:00:07.980
to temptation again. Sure, probably. It's not

01:00:07.980 --> 01:00:09.380
about whether you'll ever fall to temptation

01:00:09.380 --> 01:00:11.900
again, whether you'll ever sin again. Grace covers

01:00:11.900 --> 01:00:15.559
that. It's about your heart. Is your heart desiring

01:00:15.559 --> 01:00:19.619
to follow God? You get that heart when you're

01:00:19.619 --> 01:00:21.119
born again. So you might be sitting here going

01:00:21.119 --> 01:00:22.619
like, if I decide to follow God, it's going to

01:00:22.619 --> 01:00:25.579
be too hard. But you're going to get a new heart.

01:00:27.019 --> 01:00:29.199
Like the broken down car that gets a new engine

01:00:29.199 --> 01:00:32.059
and it can move again. That's going to be you.

01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:36.659
And you can change the world around you uniquely

01:00:36.659 --> 01:00:39.519
coming from where you come from, empowered by

01:00:39.519 --> 01:00:42.599
Christ to deliver the gospel into your situation

01:00:42.599 --> 01:00:47.539
wherever you wind up. And never reject Him again.

01:00:48.940 --> 01:00:50.559
I'll ask the praise team to lead us in this song.

01:00:50.619 --> 01:00:52.380
If you would stand with me, we're going to stand.

01:00:52.639 --> 01:00:55.639
And then if you're led to sing, sing along with

01:00:55.639 --> 01:00:57.360
the song. But if you're led to make some kind

01:00:57.360 --> 01:00:59.059
of a decision, then you make that decision today

01:00:59.059 --> 01:01:01.139
and come and make it publicly before the group.

01:01:01.420 --> 01:01:04.539
And that would be great. Here we go. We're singing

01:01:04.539 --> 01:01:08.460
or we're deciding. Jesus' last visit to Jericho

01:01:08.460 --> 01:01:41.980
informs us. Praise God. Thank you.