WEBVTT 00:02:42.500 --> 00:03:13.879 The unfair advantage, I get to turn my page in 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:16.639 my Bible before I say the verse. All right, so 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.939 we are blessed today. It occurs to me that there 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:23.240 are two kind of conundrums that are going on 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:25.120 in the world, and we see the effect of that a 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.409 little bit after something like God showing up 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:31.080 and the gospel being saved, that kind of thing. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.080 So one of the things that's going on in the world 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:35.000 is it seems that there are a number of people 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.639 who just don't know Christ. They don't know about 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.280 God. they don't know about Jesus. They don't 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:41.939 know Jesus was the Son of God or that he came 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:43.199 to die on the cross for their sins. Now, they 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.840 may have heard about God, Jesus, Bible, but they 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.060 don't actually have the personal knowledge of 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:50.659 what it is that God is trying to accomplish in 00:03:50.659 --> 00:03:52.580 their life, to set them free, what's necessary, 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:54.860 that kind of thing. And for folks like that, 00:03:54.939 --> 00:03:57.810 something like circular, that's sort of maybe 00:03:57.810 --> 00:04:00.349 a little foreign concept. It's not uncommon for 00:04:00.349 --> 00:04:02.169 people who don't know Christ to serve in some 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:04.710 way. In fact, it's out of counseling and like 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:05.930 that, when a person's in depression, they'll 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.150 tell you. The cheap way to recover from depression 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:10.889 is to serve other people with no hope of compensating. 00:04:11.129 --> 00:04:13.090 So it's counseling, medication, and service are 00:04:13.090 --> 00:04:14.889 the three primary ways that people overcome depression. 00:04:15.110 --> 00:04:16.949 And a counselor will tell you, if you get medication 00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:18.769 and you get counseling and you start serving 00:04:18.769 --> 00:04:20.930 others, you will recover from depression. You'll 00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:23.329 also recover from depression if you just get 00:04:23.329 --> 00:04:26.089 counseling and serve, and almost as proficiently 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:27.649 as without the medicine. A lot of times you don't 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:29.389 need the medicine if you get counseling and serve. 00:04:29.569 --> 00:04:31.509 And you'll still recover from depression even 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:35.569 if you serve. Percentages are 99 % of people 00:04:35.569 --> 00:04:38.329 recover with all three, 97 % of people or something 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:40.449 like that recover with two of three, and just 00:04:40.449 --> 00:04:42.709 over 90 % of people recover just by serving. 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:44.810 So serving is a thing that people do. People 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:46.610 start to feel good about it. They're like, this 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:48.069 is the right thing. They get a little pat on 00:04:48.069 --> 00:04:50.009 the back. They start mentally thinking, I'm making 00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:52.430 a contribution to the world. People serve without 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:54.209 understanding what we're about to learn about 00:04:54.209 --> 00:04:57.300 Jesus today. The second one is that people, all 00:04:57.300 --> 00:05:00.060 people who claim the name of Jesus Christ, they 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.399 can maybe do some pretty fancy things in the 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.459 name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said there would 00:05:05.459 --> 00:05:07.360 be those who healed in his name and prophesied 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:11.839 in his name, but he was later saved. fancy things 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:13.819 in the name of Jesus Christ and they serve and 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:15.600 they give and they make a big difference. But 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:17.620 their Christianity doesn't seem to have any wheels 00:05:17.620 --> 00:05:19.360 on it. It doesn't really seem to be affecting 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.439 or changing their life or making a big difference 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.839 in their spiritual condition and their minds 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.240 and like that. I saw a number of people that 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:27.839 I talked to over the last two days and said, 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:29.480 yeah, I'm a Christian. Yeah, I go to church. 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:32.100 And I wanted to say and talk to them, kind of 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:34.040 like, what up? What about it? What's coming up? 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.360 What's that doing in your life? And a lot of 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.069 times the answer is, not much. They say they 00:05:40.069 --> 00:05:41.410 go to church and you talk to them a little more. 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:43.029 They go to church once a month. They go to church 00:05:43.029 --> 00:05:45.089 every so often. They go to church on holidays. 00:05:45.310 --> 00:05:47.129 They don't go to church at all. They don't serve. 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:49.129 They don't really give. They're not really making 00:05:49.129 --> 00:05:50.850 a big difference in the kingdom. But they think 00:05:50.850 --> 00:05:52.810 they're basically being a good person. And that's 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:54.310 what they think they're called to as a follower 00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:55.949 of Jesus Christ. And so they think they're living 00:05:55.949 --> 00:05:58.709 for Jesus. And it is something more than just 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:02.050 getting the wheels rolling, to get traction. 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:04.589 So as we look today, I'm going to submit to you 00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:07.110 that the problem is... have missed out on the 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:16.050 B -I -G Jesus. So grab your Bibles and let's 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:18.709 look at what the scripture says about the B -I 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:32.980 -G Jesus in John chapter 1. We will be listening 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:35.459 to exactly what it is that God sent us through 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:41.220 his word. Beginning in John 1 .1. I'm going to 00:06:41.220 --> 00:06:43.439 read the first five verses and verse 14, and 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.680 then I'll come back and I'll do this. John 1 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:49.300 .1 says, In the beginning was the word, and the 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.439 word was with God, and the word was God. And 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:55.379 so right there we see the B -I -G Jesus, and 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:58.970 I'll come back. was in the beginning with God. 00:06:59.170 --> 00:07:01.189 So now, if you hadn't figured it out already 00:07:01.189 --> 00:07:03.310 when you said the word was with God and the word 00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:06.529 was God, the he is a being, not just a speaking. 00:07:06.649 --> 00:07:09.250 In fact, that word there that is translated word 00:07:09.250 --> 00:07:13.209 is a Greek word called logos. And it's used in 00:07:13.209 --> 00:07:15.149 all kinds of Greek writings, and they've studied 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:17.769 it a lot, right? And so theologians will make 00:07:17.769 --> 00:07:19.089 a big deal out of it. It basically means two 00:07:19.089 --> 00:07:20.370 things. It doesn't mean one thing, it means two 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:22.689 things. The first thing it means is it's the 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:25.790 spoken word. So when God speaks, that's the logos. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.079 And we know that God inspired His Holy Word, 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:31.879 and so in some sense, this is the Logos. When 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:35.620 a prophet spoke for God, and then that was reported, 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:38.560 that's the Logos of God. When God gave in the 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.620 beginning, He created the heavens and the earth, 00:07:41.779 --> 00:07:44.259 that's the Logos. So when God speaks, that's 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:47.500 the Logos. But also, the Logos is the personality 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:50.160 that is involved. And so, for example, you can, 00:07:50.180 --> 00:07:51.920 and I kind of share a little bit about this, 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.740 you can say something and not really mean it. 00:07:55.029 --> 00:07:56.829 And that's a problem, right? It's a problem when 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:00.089 people say things like, I'm a believer in the 00:08:00.089 --> 00:08:01.850 Lord Jesus Christ, but they really aren't. They 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:03.790 just believe that Jesus existed, which isn't 00:08:03.790 --> 00:08:05.930 any better than what the demons do, right? So 00:08:05.930 --> 00:08:07.769 that's a problem. Just speak it, and it doesn't 00:08:07.769 --> 00:08:11.459 actually mean anything. The logos is both the 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:15.319 spoken and also the... So I want you to think 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.779 about that for a second. In the beginning was 00:08:17.779 --> 00:08:20.480 the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.519 Word was God. And so we're talking about the 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:25.620 spoken Word of God and also the personality of 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:28.459 God. He was in the beginning with God. So we 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.879 see that he was essentially a male, and he was 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.139 like a person. We got that much in verse 3. All 00:08:35.139 --> 00:08:37.940 things came into being through him. So now we 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:40.120 know that he is the originator of everything. 00:08:40.429 --> 00:08:42.830 He is the progenitor. He started it all. All 00:08:42.830 --> 00:08:45.529 things came into being through him. And apart 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:48.409 from him, notice these are all him, not it. Apart 00:08:48.409 --> 00:08:51.350 from him, not even one thing came into being 00:08:51.350 --> 00:08:53.210 that has come into being. Now there's an interesting 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:56.610 structure at the end of verse 3 and verse 4 that 00:08:56.610 --> 00:08:59.169 Greek scholars struggle with. I'm going to give 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:00.870 you both because your translation might have 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:03.309 it a little bit differently there. So it goes 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:06.269 like this. And apart from him, not even one thing 00:09:06.269 --> 00:09:07.769 came into being. Everything came into being that 00:09:07.769 --> 00:09:10.470 has come into being, right? That's one way that 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:11.830 you can look at it. And then the next sentence 00:09:11.830 --> 00:09:15.129 is, in him was life, okay? But in the Greek, 00:09:15.309 --> 00:09:17.809 the sentences don't have periods, right? So they're 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:19.929 not exactly perfectly clear where the sentence 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:22.950 starts and stops. And the object here is really 00:09:22.950 --> 00:09:25.009 all about Jesus, the him that's in question. 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:27.590 So it is possible to read the Greek this way. 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:29.879 I'll go back to the beginning. All things came 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:31.980 into being through him, and apart from him not 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:34.460 even one thing came into being, period. That 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:37.460 which has come into being in him was life. See, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.639 it's possible to read it that way, so that there's 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.500 a crossover. That last phrase could fit with 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:44.399 the previous sentence or it could fit with the 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.120 next sentence. But either way, God desires... 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.419 clearly that we would receive from him what we 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:51.399 need to be alive. And if you're dead in your 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:52.879 trespasses and sins, you're not really alive, 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.639 right? That's how the whole concept of zombies 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:57.559 and vampires and undead all came about. In fact, 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:59.980 when Jesus was on the cross that day, people 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:02.960 rose from their graves and walked the earth. 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:04.840 We'll read that elsewhere. The bottom line is 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.240 we have this idea of people looking like they're 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:08.659 alive, they're moving like they're alive, they're 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:09.879 doing things like they're alive, but they're 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:12.740 not really alive. But all things that have come 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:16.600 into being through him are life. So that's another 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.480 way of reading that. Now verse 4 then begins, 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:21.539 In him was life, and the life was the light of 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:24.240 mankind. So it was Jesus' idea that he would 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.240 bring a light into the world and that people 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.320 could embrace what he was doing and they would 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.039 be saved. In fact, at one point in time in his 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:31.679 public ministry, Jesus said, I have come to preach 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.460 the gospel to the world. So it really was about 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:35.620 saving souls. All that extra healing, bringing 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:38.120 people back to life, overcoming paralytic, overcoming 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:41.070 blind, all that was... out of compassion that 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:43.169 he was doing kind of along the way. His real 00:10:43.169 --> 00:10:45.590 mission was to bring the truth about God. Verse 00:10:45.590 --> 00:10:48.509 5 says, And the light shines in the darkness, 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:51.629 and the darkness, this version says, did not 00:10:51.629 --> 00:10:54.549 grasp it. Another version said, did not comprehend 00:10:54.549 --> 00:10:58.049 it. And yet another version says, did not apprehend 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:00.789 it. And so there's a word there that can mean 00:11:00.789 --> 00:11:04.250 grasp, can mean comprehend, can mean apprehend. 00:11:04.450 --> 00:11:05.970 then you know, without knowing the Greek word, 00:11:06.049 --> 00:11:07.330 you don't need the Greek word, you know that 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:09.529 it means that it's a thing that the darkness 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:12.409 cannot get a hold of, cannot understand. So there 00:11:12.409 --> 00:11:15.269 is a light that comes through Jesus that lost 00:11:15.269 --> 00:11:18.250 people, if they are wanting to stay lost, essentially 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:19.370 they're not wanting to come into a relationship 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:21.929 with God, they can't grasp it, they can't figure 00:11:21.929 --> 00:11:24.169 it out, they can't understand it, nor can they 00:11:24.169 --> 00:11:27.139 stop it. nor can they turn it back. Which means 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:28.879 if you go into a house, you've got four people 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.980 sitting there, and one of them is receptive to 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.019 the gospel of Jesus Christ, one of them is receptive 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:34.899 to be saved, and you share the gospel, that person 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:36.139 will get saved, while the other three people 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:37.700 will not have a clue about what's going on. Or 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.919 worse, they may vehemently resist, because they're 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.360 trying to get a hold on what's going on, trying 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:45.279 to stop it, trying to make something happen the 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:47.259 way they want it to, and that person will get 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:49.230 saved. And I've had that happen. I had a woman 00:11:49.230 --> 00:11:51.409 I was witnessing with who was very interested 00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:53.169 in getting saved. She was struggling with demons 00:11:53.169 --> 00:11:54.710 and evil spirits, and she was tired of it. She 00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:57.070 wanted the authority to be free. Meanwhile, her 00:11:57.070 --> 00:11:58.470 husband is telling her what she needs to know, 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:00.450 and every time I'm talking, he's talking over 00:12:00.450 --> 00:12:02.629 top of me and trying to polish everything that 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:04.129 I'm saying. But some of what he was saying, he 00:12:04.129 --> 00:12:05.850 was getting wrong. Finally, I had to tell him, 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:07.669 I said, just sit there and shut up. He was a 00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:09.269 professing Christian. Whether it was his demons 00:12:09.269 --> 00:12:10.830 and evil spirits that immediately responded to 00:12:10.830 --> 00:12:12.690 me, or he responded to me by the authority of 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:14.549 Christ because he was a Christian, he sat there 00:12:14.549 --> 00:12:16.940 and shut up. 15 minutes, she was praying the 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:19.179 prayer of salvation and asking God to leave her 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:21.460 life and become the Savior. Sometimes you go 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:23.980 into a family or into a crowd, right? There were 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:25.840 people out there, you know, people out there, 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.240 yes, I was preaching the gospel, giving me the 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.139 evil eye. But most of them were drinking it in, 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.279 very thirsty, very interested in what was being 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.100 said, right? So there are those who would apprehend 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:36.600 it. There are those who would grasp it. They 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.419 would take control of it. They would use it for 00:12:38.419 --> 00:12:40.299 their own purposes, something that is not the 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:42.679 gospel truly, right? But you get it. warp it 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:44.379 and trick it into being something that they can 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:46.500 use, or shut it down so it can't affect their 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:48.200 faith. But there are also those who are receptive, 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.659 and we must find those who are receptive. That's 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:52.580 what Jesus came to do, right? And that's what 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:54.340 he now sends us to do, getting ahead of ourselves. 00:12:54.580 --> 00:12:56.860 So, real quick, verse 5, And the light shines 00:12:56.860 --> 00:12:59.440 in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:01.139 it. That ends the first part of our text. We 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:03.879 just read 14, so we're super, super clear about 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.740 who we're talking about today. 14 says, And the 00:13:06.740 --> 00:13:10.690 Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. And we 00:13:10.690 --> 00:13:14.929 saw his glory, glory as the only son from the 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:18.049 father, full of grace and truth. All right. That 00:13:18.049 --> 00:13:20.590 last phrase is really important. We'll come back 00:13:20.590 --> 00:13:22.389 to it in a second, that glory that we're talking 00:13:22.389 --> 00:13:24.990 about. But there it becomes painfully evident 00:13:24.990 --> 00:13:27.549 that the being, the person that we are talking 00:13:27.549 --> 00:13:30.330 about is Jesus Christ. And so we go back and 00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:33.850 substitute. We got in the beginning was Jesus 00:13:33.850 --> 00:13:37.289 Christ and Jesus Christ was with God and Jesus 00:13:37.289 --> 00:13:39.940 Christ was God. It's very clear, right? Okay, 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:42.080 so let's look at the points here for a second. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:44.559 We live in a world that clamors for attention. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.220 So I get it. Even right now, there's things in 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.279 your mind. You saw stuff yesterday. You're thinking 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:50.879 about what will come this afternoon. The world 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.379 is always trying to get a hold on us, steer us 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:56.840 in a certain direction. The world demands that 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.360 we find our identity in our accomplishments. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:03.240 So last night at the CERB tour celebration, and 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.200 nothing meant, no harm meant, it was a good thing, 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.789 but they were talking about... the people served, 00:14:08.009 --> 00:14:10.409 things accomplished. It was all about what the 00:14:10.409 --> 00:14:12.610 servetour had accomplished, and then they were 00:14:12.610 --> 00:14:14.970 giving to God's glory for those accomplishments. 00:14:15.169 --> 00:14:17.690 The world will stop just short of that last point, 00:14:17.769 --> 00:14:20.659 right? This is what we accomplished. When I was 00:14:20.659 --> 00:14:23.679 back at church every year, all the program employees 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.100 would march in the March of Dimes. What you do 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:28.139 in the March of Dogs back then, in that day, 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:30.320 was you'd get people to sponsor you for marching. 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:32.580 They'd give you just a dollar a mile, or an amount 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:34.720 for how many miles you were going to go, or whatever 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:36.320 like that. So if you go one mile, they'd give 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:37.759 you a dollar. So then if you go three miles, 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:39.759 you get $23, right? And that money then goes 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:41.620 to the March of Dogs to help them with their 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:44.519 ministry. So just a couple years in a row, I 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.100 did the March of Dogs. And I went to drive my 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.279 motorcycle out there, park it, and we would walk. 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:51.720 And we just walked. It was like a long walk. 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.299 It's a long, certain game process, but it wasn't. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.460 And it was cold in the morning and hot in the 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:02.679 afternoon. Then afterwards, we could hear about 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.779 how much money was raised. And people would feel 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:07.960 good because their $40 or $50 or $60 that they 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:10.059 raised went into the $20 ,000, $30 ,000, $50 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:12.879 ,000 that was raised by the walk, right? And 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.960 that was an accomplishment. It was a great thing 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:16.720 that I did, that we did, and we could feel good 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.100 about ourselves. But I always felt like it really 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:22.200 wasn't enough. What did I really do? And that's 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.970 the way it is. The world is... Once you define 00:15:24.970 --> 00:15:27.629 your identity in your accomplishments without 00:15:27.629 --> 00:15:30.970 God getting the glory. And then once you define 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:33.590 your identity in your worries. For example, it's 00:15:33.590 --> 00:15:35.149 perfectly normal to worry about what's going 00:15:35.149 --> 00:15:36.710 to happen to our kids when they grow up. It's 00:15:36.710 --> 00:15:39.299 perfectly normal. It's perfectly normal to think 00:15:39.299 --> 00:15:41.320 you need this or that to solve a certain problem. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.620 There's ads for that subject. There's ads for 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:46.539 this exercise device. If they can get you worrying 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:47.919 about something you're concerned about, then 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.860 they can control your direction. The world wants 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:52.559 you to have your identity found in what you are 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.679 concerned about or in your status. Like, did 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:57.519 you get elevated? Did you get promoted? Did you 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.059 make enough money? Did you be considered upper 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:02.139 class or middle class or lower class? And status... 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:03.990 is another way that people define themselves 00:16:03.990 --> 00:16:06.049 and the world wants you to be one. But John's 00:16:06.049 --> 00:16:09.649 gospel pulls back the veil of eternity. We get 00:16:09.649 --> 00:16:12.409 to see from the very beginning, and it introduces 00:16:12.409 --> 00:16:17.710 us to the only one truly deserving our devotion, 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:20.509 our attention, our glory. If you do something 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:22.950 amazing, and you do, I see it, right? I can't 00:16:22.950 --> 00:16:26.070 look around this room right now, except I've 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:27.740 been doing it for very long. But other than that, 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:29.919 I can't look around and not be able to go, just 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:36.950 how can you do that? We can do amazing things, 00:16:37.129 --> 00:16:40.610 but the status is not ours. The accomplishment, 00:16:40.789 --> 00:16:43.110 not really ours. Being worried about the outcome, 00:16:43.389 --> 00:16:46.250 you can't control it. You just do your part and 00:16:46.250 --> 00:16:48.269 the outcome is what it is. So today we're going 00:16:48.269 --> 00:16:50.850 to look at the V -I -G reality of Jesus Christ 00:16:50.850 --> 00:16:52.850 and get these things back in order. First of 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:54.769 all, the V. Notice in the beginning of the first 00:16:54.769 --> 00:16:57.149 verse it says, In the beginning was the Word. 00:16:57.269 --> 00:16:59.690 We already know, we see that that Word is Jesus 00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.820 Christ. So, when was the beginning? The beginning 00:17:02.820 --> 00:17:05.559 that they're talking about is pre -what we would 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:08.220 consider time. It's before atoms, before water, 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:11.720 before space, before stars, before trees, before 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:13.740 Adam and Eve. We're talking about the beginning. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.920 We're not talking about how to start. Like, at 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.440 the beginning, God, boom, God existed. Now, so 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.839 did Jesus. It's not like that. God is in all 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.700 of these. We're talking about first cause. Is 00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:25.859 that a phrase that's familiar to you? So, everything 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:27.519 in life, without getting ahead of myself here, 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.240 I don't want to spend too long on it. Cause. 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:32.039 Effect, cause, effect. Something happens, another 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:33.640 thing happens. You've seen the dominoes fall, 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:35.640 right? One domino, another domino, another domino, 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:37.660 another. The domino pushes the lever, which pushes 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:39.200 the bowling ball. The bowling ball falls around, 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.539 affects the opposite thing. The other thing comes 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:42.579 up, and the dominoes fall again, right? It's 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:46.779 cause and effect. And Jesus is first cause. That's 00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:49.200 the bottom line. He is preeminent. He existed 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.579 before anything else existed. He is the eternal 00:17:52.579 --> 00:17:55.599 first cause. Now, everything that we encounter 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.240 today is an effect. It may feel like a cause. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.599 Like you're driving down the road and a nail 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:02.740 lands on your tire, the person's going flat, 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.180 and you're sitting on the side of the road. Why 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:05.880 am I sitting on the side of the road? Well, because 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.559 I got a nail in my tire. Okay, that is true. 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:10.299 And the reason you're sitting on the side of 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:11.700 the road might be because you got a nail in your 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:14.779 tire, but that's both a cause and an effect. 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:17.200 Because how did the nail get on the road? How 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.500 did you hit the road? How was the tire made in 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:21.220 such a way that the nail would go in such a way 00:18:21.220 --> 00:18:22.819 that the nail was lined up in such a way? What 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:25.259 were the causes that caused the nail to be facing 00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:27.000 up when the tire hit it so it would perforate 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.349 the tire? Why were you on the road in the first 00:18:30.349 --> 00:18:32.970 place that you're going down? Why was the guy 00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:35.069 who dropped the nail on the road in the first 00:18:35.069 --> 00:18:37.170 place that's going down? Why did people use nails? 00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:39.569 Why were nails invented? What's ever been done 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:41.650 with a nail? Why would a person have an extra 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:44.089 nail? The list just goes on. This is an effect 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:47.410 of a thousand things. Yes, it's the cause of 00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:49.529 your flat tire, but it is an effect of a thousand 00:18:49.529 --> 00:18:51.809 things. And you could go back a million ways. 00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:54.230 You could become Sherlock Holmes. Like, how did 00:18:54.230 --> 00:18:55.990 this nail get here? I want to know. I want to 00:18:55.990 --> 00:18:59.180 smack that nail. the road, and you could sort 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.460 it down to who put the nail on the road, who 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:03.519 made the tire the way it was, who caused your 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.640 schedule to be, who aligned, you could do all 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:07.880 that and get back down to cause. And if you really 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:10.099 did it well, guess what you'd find? If you went 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:12.339 back to the very first cause in the chain of 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:14.220 why you have a nail in your tire, guess what 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:16.859 you'd find? Jesus Christ. That's what you'd find, 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:18.960 because he is the first preeminent cause before 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.750 nails, before cars, before roads, before routes, 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:24.150 before jobs, before necessity, and before pop 00:19:24.150 --> 00:19:28.880 tires, Jesus Christ. So when you blow up about 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.470 the nail on the road, be careful. When you glorify 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:33.609 the nail on the road, think, that nail is super 00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:35.930 important today because now I'm late. Now my 00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:37.450 tire's flat. Now I've got to pay another 120 00:19:37.450 --> 00:19:39.789 bucks to retire, whatever, to the sidewalk, right? 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:42.650 Before that happens, you need to realize that 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.430 none of that happened if it were not for the 00:19:45.430 --> 00:19:48.470 preeminent cause, who is Jesus Christ. So this 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:50.809 causes a problem with people who are in anger 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:53.329 about what's going on because your anger glorifies 00:19:53.329 --> 00:19:56.059 your situation or glorifies the person who caused 00:19:56.059 --> 00:20:02.579 the problem. Anger is getting glory to Jesus. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.130 If you get angry at lost people for being stupid 00:20:06.130 --> 00:20:08.829 and ignorant and hurtful, and they will be because 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:10.769 that's the normal state of human beings, stupid 00:20:10.769 --> 00:20:12.910 and ignorant and hurtful. That's the normal state 00:20:12.910 --> 00:20:14.750 outside Christ. And I'm not saying every person 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:17.109 is a bad person. The bottom line is we have the 00:20:17.109 --> 00:20:19.190 mind of Christ. You have a higher responsibility 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:20.750 because you have the mind of Christ if you're 00:20:20.750 --> 00:20:23.349 a saved believer. So outside Christ, people will 00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.289 do things that you won't like. And we'll be angry 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:27.730 at them who are glorifying them and their bad 00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:31.049 choice rather than glory. Jesus who is the preeminent 00:20:31.049 --> 00:20:33.390 cause. We would have still believed it. It could 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:35.250 be anybody who would lie to anybody, anybody 00:20:35.250 --> 00:20:36.849 who could steal from anybody, anybody who could 00:20:36.849 --> 00:20:38.410 murder anybody. Nobody could get an abortion. 00:20:38.670 --> 00:20:40.950 Nobody could run their car and be proud of people. 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:43.170 No bonds could be strapped to people and blow 00:20:43.170 --> 00:20:45.710 them up in a coffee shop. Literally none of that 00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:48.650 could be happening if it were not for the preeminent 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:51.970 position of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so when 00:20:51.970 --> 00:20:53.890 we get angry at people who are blowing up coffee 00:20:53.890 --> 00:20:56.950 shops, remember, Jesus is the preeminent cause. 00:20:57.400 --> 00:20:59.759 they don't deserve your glory. They don't deserve 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.400 you to glorify them by being angry at them. Jesus 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.440 deserves your glory. So when something happens 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.000 to you and you think about worry, you think about 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.980 panic, you think about blame, you think about 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:10.400 anger, when mourning is going on and you're cycling 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.660 through those cycles, maybe you should just turn 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:15.220 the glory back to Jesus Christ. You couldn't 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:16.940 be sad if it weren't for Jesus. You couldn't 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:18.880 be mad if it weren't for Jesus. You can't think, 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:21.660 feel, or do anything at all if it weren't for 00:21:21.660 --> 00:21:24.910 the preeminent glory of Jesus Christ. He was 00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:27.750 before. In the beginning was the Word. He's the 00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:31.430 uncreated. Before the first Adam was born, before 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:34.589 history began, Jesus was. He is the first cause. 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:37.779 Everything else in existence, including our successes, 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:40.200 our struggles, our current circumstances, are 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:43.319 just effects. Yes, they'll become a cause if 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:45.420 time continues on. You understand that there 00:21:45.420 --> 00:21:48.480 will be a last cause. Can you imagine? So, at 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.779 some point in time in the future, just the... 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:53.019 before Jesus comes again. Somebody will share 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:54.759 the gospel. Somebody will get saved. Jesus comes 00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:56.940 again. No time for anything. They'll go home 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:58.759 and do their dishes. They'll go fix their car. 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.160 They won't ever get another flat. A moment later, 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:03.000 they'll be translated into heaven. And so the 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.279 gospel shared equals people saved, equals people 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:08.519 doing what people do when they're saved. The 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:10.619 gospel shared equals people not saved when they 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.339 refuse it or can't grasp it, and then doing what 00:22:13.339 --> 00:22:15.000 they do when they're not saved. And it's cause 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.799 and effect, cause and effect. But there's going 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.539 to be a last effect, which also would be a cause, 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:22.430 and that cause won't affect anything. There's 00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:23.890 got to be a moment in time in which it stops 00:22:23.890 --> 00:22:29.190 and people just go to heaven. We often try to 00:22:29.190 --> 00:22:31.470 steal the spotlight, believing our current events 00:22:31.470 --> 00:22:34.230 are the main story. Somebody hurts us, we're 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:35.829 going to make sure they know. That's not going 00:22:35.829 --> 00:22:38.329 to happen again. Or we isolate because we don't 00:22:38.329 --> 00:22:40.289 like the way we feel at a certain time. We go 00:22:40.289 --> 00:22:43.089 home, stay home, stay away, bury ourselves in 00:22:43.089 --> 00:22:45.890 our phone, right? Watch some more sports, recreation, 00:22:46.230 --> 00:22:49.210 or cat videos. Something like that. Rejecting 00:22:49.210 --> 00:22:51.630 the focus that we are supposed to have. Because 00:22:51.630 --> 00:22:53.710 our story matters so much, right? Because what 00:22:53.710 --> 00:22:56.130 happened to you matters more than the fact that 00:22:56.130 --> 00:22:57.970 your neighbor is going to hell. Because what 00:22:57.970 --> 00:22:59.849 you're going through is causing you struggles. 00:22:59.890 --> 00:23:01.589 Or that you could be going through. That you're 00:23:01.589 --> 00:23:03.450 worried about going through. That matters more 00:23:03.450 --> 00:23:05.750 than the fact that the guy that lives down the 00:23:05.750 --> 00:23:08.109 block from you is going to hell. Right? Wrong 00:23:08.109 --> 00:23:12.250 answer. Not true. Jesus matters more. Salvation 00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:14.809 matters more. You don't have time. to get wrapped 00:23:14.809 --> 00:23:17.910 up in glorifying the things of your life, you 00:23:17.910 --> 00:23:21.329 only have one life to live, and it is meant to 00:23:21.329 --> 00:23:25.210 be used to glorify Jesus. Jesus is the creator. 00:23:25.569 --> 00:23:30.809 He alone deserves all glory. Colossians 1 says 00:23:30.809 --> 00:23:33.390 it this way. It's Colossians 1, 16 and 17. Somebody 00:23:33.390 --> 00:23:35.130 probably has it memorized, but I'll read it for 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:37.869 you to see. It says, for by him all things were 00:23:37.869 --> 00:23:39.970 created, both in the heavens and on the earth, 00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:43.089 visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions 00:23:43.089 --> 00:23:46.089 or rulers or authorities. All things have been 00:23:46.089 --> 00:23:49.609 created through him and for him. Your situation, 00:23:49.769 --> 00:23:52.390 as sucky as it might get at some point in time, 00:23:52.490 --> 00:23:54.940 for you have... dementia as an 80 -year -old 00:23:54.940 --> 00:23:56.680 or whether you're wetting yourself because your 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:58.799 bladder no longer holds back the flow of urine, 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:01.240 your situation when you take a bullet in the 00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.019 chest and you've got a sucky chest wound and 00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:04.579 have to stick a pen in the side like they do 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:06.940 on NCIS all the time to let the air out, your 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:11.099 situation, as sucky as it might get, has a single 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:16.230 purpose. One. And it is to bring glory. to the 00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.849 God of the universe and his son Jesus. So before 00:24:18.849 --> 00:24:21.789 you start to react to your situation, you might 00:24:21.789 --> 00:24:24.730 want to remember that Jesus Christ is the first 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:28.849 cause. When we fret or we grieve in an ungodly 00:24:28.849 --> 00:24:30.970 fashion, we are giving God's glory to someone 00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:35.420 or something else, even if it's us. I don't like 00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:37.539 it when I don't want that to happen. I'm all 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:39.339 about what the future's going to be. I want the 00:24:39.339 --> 00:24:41.359 promotion. I want the problem solved. I want 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:43.200 him or her to say this or that or the other thing. 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:49.490 Jesus has the right to all the glory. He is the 00:24:49.490 --> 00:24:51.650 eternal first cause, and he has the right to 00:24:51.650 --> 00:24:54.769 all the glory. The I, then, is identity. Listen 00:24:54.769 --> 00:24:57.230 back in John 1. In the beginning was the Word, 00:24:57.349 --> 00:25:05.269 and the Word was with God. He is distinct, separate, 00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:08.289 if you will. Nor for me to be with Aaron, I have 00:25:08.289 --> 00:25:12.170 to be a different person from Aaron. And yes, 00:25:12.369 --> 00:25:17.160 the Word was God. So he has identity. God emphasizes... 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:19.480 that the Word was with God, maintaining a distinct 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:21.819 personal identity within the Trinity while being 00:25:21.819 --> 00:25:24.519 eternally united with the Father, setting a standard 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:26.559 for the goal of mankind. This is what we're supposed 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:28.779 to be doing. We're supposed to be united as part 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:31.279 of God's faith. Hebrews 1 .3 tells us that Jesus 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.759 is the, quote, radiance of the glory of God and 00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:37.180 the exact imprint of his nature. He is not merely 00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:41.319 a messenger. He is God. Distinctly the person, 00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:45.259 the Son, and yet also God. We often justify sinful 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:47.829 behaviors, anger, isolation, to pursue a worldly 00:25:47.829 --> 00:25:50.769 status, because we think our problems are big 00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:54.329 enough to excuse our beliefs. There's a story, 00:25:54.390 --> 00:25:56.069 I want you to read it. It's terrible, but Jesus 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.009 told about a wedding feast, and there were some 00:25:58.009 --> 00:25:59.450 folks who were invited to the wedding feast. 00:25:59.589 --> 00:26:02.119 One man had just bought two oxen. come, because 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:04.079 right now, we had to go look at who actually 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:06.079 bought it. Another man bought a piece of property 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:07.720 and would take care of that. Another man just 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:09.819 married a wife and would take care of her, and 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:12.359 so on. And all of these seem perfectly reasonable 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:14.960 excuses for why not to come when Jesus calls, 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:17.200 but Jesus is very clear that none of them are. 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:19.299 In fact, he goes on to say, go into the highways 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:21.859 and the byways and invite all the worthless people 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:25.220 that you can find, the vagabonds, the dirty, 00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:26.880 the thieves, whatever, invite everybody that 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:28.619 you can possibly come, because those worthless 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:30.920 excusers, if you will, those people who have... 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:33.410 Why? That they wouldn't come when they were called. 00:26:33.509 --> 00:26:36.150 Those people will never see the way Jesus would 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:38.349 make sure that the house was filled with others. 00:26:38.630 --> 00:26:42.309 It's a little dangerous to be a Christian who 00:26:42.309 --> 00:26:46.069 knows that Jesus has a distinct identity and 00:26:46.069 --> 00:26:47.890 deserves all the glory as the commandment of 00:26:47.890 --> 00:26:50.170 the Creator and cause of everything, and then 00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:52.829 to sort of just kind of hang him up there with 00:26:52.829 --> 00:26:55.779 other stuff. Because here's what happens. He's 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:57.380 up there with other stuff, and sometimes the 00:26:57.380 --> 00:26:59.319 other stuff is going to take precedent over what 00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:03.089 it is that Jesus made. In fact, it's going to 00:27:03.089 --> 00:27:05.269 take precedence over Jesus getting killed in 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:08.079 verse. But we justify. We say, well, he hurt 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:10.259 me, and I didn't mean to lash out, but I did, 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:12.420 because that's just what people do. We justify. 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:14.960 I feel alone, even when I'm proud of people, 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:17.000 so I'm just going to go away and be alone. We 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:19.480 justify. I need to get this promotion, so I'm 00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:20.900 going to have to work a few extra hours, which 00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.259 means I can't do a family devotion for my kids. 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:25.019 I need to pay my bills, so I'm going to get a 00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:28.000 second job, maybe some more money. I need a better 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.700 place to live, so I'm going to go live there, 00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:30.980 because it's a better place to live, even if 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:35.059 it makes it hard. We justify all of these different 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.839 choices. And you're preaching. In Christ, you're 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:40.220 preaching. But do not kid yourself in thinking 00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:42.359 that they will not rear up their ugly heads and 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:44.599 try to draw you away, try to make it difficult 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:46.259 for you to do what God has called you to do, 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:49.559 or become your excuse for some kind of sinful 00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:51.980 behavior. When we see the perfect identity of 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:54.579 Jesus, we realize that no earthly circumstance 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:58.180 justifies living. I have seen people. who were 00:27:58.180 --> 00:28:00.319 so close to death that all they could get left 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.220 was barely breathing, and they were living for 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:04.960 Jesus. As you're young and strong, or younger 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.559 and stronger, right, than you were when I saw 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:09.799 those 85 -year -old people on ventilators in 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.019 their beds, still living for Jesus, I submit 00:28:12.019 --> 00:28:13.539 to you it's possible that when they were 18, 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:16.220 they partially lived for Jesus, too, and probably 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:18.140 lived to regret it. What I'm saying to you is, 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:19.980 wherever you are, with whatever strength that 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:23.059 you have, there is no excuse. He is the perfect 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:26.000 representation. And he deserves your complete 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.900 loyalty. Excuses, distractions, looking back. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.559 Jesus warns that Jesus will come again. And when 00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:34.279 he comes again, it goes looking back, left behind. 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:36.299 What do you love on this earth? What are you 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.140 friends with? What do you care about the most 00:28:38.140 --> 00:28:40.140 on this earth? When the trump sounds, will you 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:41.940 race back to grab your baby to make sure your 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:43.619 baby's going to go to heaven? Will you race back 00:28:43.619 --> 00:28:46.779 to grab your pictures of your kids? Will you 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:48.579 race back to grab your checkbook in case you 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:49.980 need to buy something when you get there? Will 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:52.289 you grab a snack? money in case you need it along 00:28:52.289 --> 00:28:54.069 the way. Will you be concerned about what's on 00:28:54.069 --> 00:28:56.930 the TV? I've just got to find out whether Gibbs 00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.549 solves the mystery or not, or what happens at 00:28:59.549 --> 00:29:01.730 the new version of Endgame, or whether or not 00:29:01.730 --> 00:29:04.150 the touchdown pass is caught, or will you just 00:29:04.150 --> 00:29:07.059 simply say, because that's what you're supposed 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:08.940 to do. But don't think that's the integrity of 00:29:08.940 --> 00:29:11.319 this world. In fact, it's so clear, so painfully 00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:14.019 clear that it would be said, who is a friend 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:16.920 of the world? Because these things do have a 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.099 tendency. to raise up maybe good excuses or reasons 00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:22.839 why you behave outside His will. And we must 00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:25.880 see clearly that we must not act outside His 00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:28.440 will whenever it is of us. That brings us to 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.339 the G then. It is simply God. It's a capital 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:36.190 G, and so it's God. In the beginning was the 00:29:36.190 --> 00:29:37.890 Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 00:29:37.890 --> 00:29:41.920 was God. It was in the beginning with God. John 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:44.160 leaves no room for confusion. Jesus is not a 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:47.380 created being. He is God. Titus would write it 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:50.819 this way. Paul would write it this way to Titus, 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:53.599 I should say. In chapter 2, verse 13, he writes 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.599 this. He says, and it's in the middle of a sentence, 00:29:55.619 --> 00:29:57.240 but I'm just going to read the verse. Looking 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:59.480 for the blessed hope and the appearing of the 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:02.599 glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. 00:30:03.130 --> 00:30:05.869 who gave himself for us to redeem us from every 00:30:05.869 --> 00:30:09.130 lawless deed, and to purify for himself a people 00:30:09.130 --> 00:30:12.289 for his own possession, eager for good deeds. 00:30:14.190 --> 00:30:17.829 The bottom line is, this kind of God, boy, he's 00:30:17.829 --> 00:30:20.950 tough to swallow. He came and walked among us 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:23.269 as a man, and gave us an example of what it looks 00:30:23.269 --> 00:30:25.849 like to be God in the flesh. So when we look 00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:27.549 at our Bibles and read the Gospels and the story 00:30:27.549 --> 00:30:30.069 of his existence, we get a good example of what 00:30:30.069 --> 00:30:32.460 it looks like, this standard of greatness. Because 00:30:32.460 --> 00:30:35.539 he is God, his kingdom standards defy our logic. 00:30:35.559 --> 00:30:37.400 It is kind of hard to swallow. At one point in 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:39.980 time, two of the disciples go to Jesus and say, 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:41.740 Hey, if you want to sit in your right hand in 00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:43.680 the kingdom of God, we want to rule with you. 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:46.240 And Jesus explained to them, it's not going to 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:47.980 be like they're thinking. It's like sinners who 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:50.019 are in charge, they have authority, and they 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:52.440 sort of lord it over others who do not have authority. 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:54.200 They're good bosses, but not great servants. 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:55.900 And Jesus said, it's not going to be like that. 00:30:56.099 --> 00:30:57.700 The true greatness in this world will be found 00:30:57.700 --> 00:30:59.940 in being a servant. If the Almighty God stood 00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:02.839 to serve, how can we justify who we are trying 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:05.299 to keep from serving? And so yes, he's God, and 00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:07.299 yes, that means he has all the authority, right? 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.319 God says, light. B, and light leaps out of non 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:11.960 -existence into existence. I don't know where 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:13.700 non -existence is at exactly, but it's there 00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:16.000 somewhere. And God lightly leaps out of existence 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.940 just because he told it to exist. He has all 00:31:18.940 --> 00:31:21.279 the authority. He can turn back anything that's 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:23.299 happening, and he can make anything happen. He 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:26.519 can wrap you in one face, and you'll never know 00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:29.059 better peace. His kingdom standards were by our 00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:31.619 logic, and he told them that instead, the greatest 00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:33.539 amongst the kingdom would be their servant. I 00:31:33.539 --> 00:31:35.000 think that's the problem. I think we're getting 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.940 to the crux of the matter. It's why some people... 00:31:37.339 --> 00:31:39.339 Christians aren't doing so good in the kingdom. 00:31:39.420 --> 00:31:41.299 It's because they don't really want to serve. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:42.900 They don't really want to give. They don't want 00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:45.220 to suffer. Jesus served, gave, and suffered. 00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:46.880 What did he give? He gave literally everything. 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:48.740 He literally gave everything. He didn't just 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:50.339 die. I mean, that would have been bad enough, 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:52.099 right? He could have taken a bullet or a bolt 00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:54.519 to the head, a spear in the neck, something like 00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:55.759 that, and that would have been horrible. And 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:57.180 we could say, man, he died. That's terrible. 00:31:57.299 --> 00:31:58.579 He gave to the earth, he preached the gospel, 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:01.440 and he died. He didn't just do that. He endured 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.019 the kind of suffer that they invented a word 00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:05.759 for, crucifixion. And we say, that's excruciating. 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:07.579 I mean, it's pain of the cross. They invented 00:32:07.579 --> 00:32:09.900 a kind of suffering just to kill Jesus. I never 00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:12.380 endured that kind of suffering. I don't care 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:16.880 what you've been through. That's the standard 00:32:16.880 --> 00:32:19.500 that Jesus set for a Christian. because he has 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:21.700 got his kingdom standards to apply logic, the 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:23.680 greatest amongst the kingdom will be a servant. 00:32:23.859 --> 00:32:26.019 So that means when no one else is doing what's 00:32:26.019 --> 00:32:27.859 right, you have to do what's right. When no one 00:32:27.859 --> 00:32:29.319 else is carrying a load, you have to carry the 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:30.900 load. When no one else is speaking up, you have 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:32.640 to speak. When your life is falling apart and 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:34.420 you have not a thread to pull, you're not going 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:36.700 to come up with an extra spare piece somewhere, 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:38.599 you don't have any money to come up with, you 00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:40.019 don't have any problem solution, there's nothing. 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:41.900 You don't have anybody to ask. In that moment, 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:43.720 you should be found serving. I'm not talking 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:45.619 about serving yourself, although you can do that. 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:47.299 I'm talking about serving others. That's what 00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:50.319 Jesus did. While he was crucified, crying, Lord, 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:51.799 forgive them, for they know not what they do. 00:32:51.940 --> 00:32:53.759 That's a pretty good example. That's the kind 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:55.640 of example that the Lord doesn't trust too well. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:00.279 It's the Almighty God's spirit to serve. How 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:02.720 can we justify believing in our Father and refusing 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.019 to serve at some moment when we think our life 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:08.160 is so bad that we can't serve Him? We struggle 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:10.539 to find freedom because we're trying to be lords 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:13.609 of our own. True freedom comes when we bow before 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:15.930 the one who is God, surrendering our need to 00:33:15.930 --> 00:33:19.099 be recognized so that we might reflect His. humble, 00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:21.819 serving nature. This is nothing less than a call 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:23.779 to freedom. The gospel is a call to freedom. 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.140 The power of the gospel is that people can be 00:33:26.140 --> 00:33:28.720 free. You're not subject anymore to lust of the 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.180 flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. If 00:33:30.180 --> 00:33:31.740 you're a believer, you can now choose not to 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:34.160 go after what looks good to you, what feels good 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:36.519 to you, what you think will help you. You can 00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:38.619 choose instead to go after what's right. True 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:40.980 freedom comes when we bow before the one who 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.809 is God. That's where freedom is. And then we're 00:33:43.809 --> 00:33:46.150 indoctrinated, if you will, enlisted, if you 00:33:46.150 --> 00:33:48.490 will, and bathed in the Holy Spirit as a member 00:33:48.490 --> 00:33:52.289 of his family. People cling to, quote -unquote, 00:33:52.390 --> 00:33:58.529 beneficial distractions. At the end of a hard 00:33:58.529 --> 00:34:01.670 day, I like to sit down and have me some, insert 00:34:01.670 --> 00:34:04.509 whatever. And when I'm done having me some, insert 00:34:04.509 --> 00:34:07.589 whatever, I feel better. Then I get a good night's 00:34:07.589 --> 00:34:10.239 rest, and I'm ready to go again. next day. Insert 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:12.559 whatever means you an idol worshiper. You like 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:14.920 to watch TV and watch the TV makes you feel better 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.139 at the end of the day? You're not an idol worshiper. 00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:19.019 That's the reality. You like to watch football 00:34:19.019 --> 00:34:21.460 or play sports and that makes you feel better 00:34:21.460 --> 00:34:23.400 about yourself? You're an idol worshiper. Why 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:25.739 isn't it I like to pray? Why isn't it I like 00:34:25.739 --> 00:34:28.059 to sing worship songs? Why isn't it I like to 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:30.320 read my Bible, memorize my Word? Why isn't it 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.079 I'm not meditating on the things that I know 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:34.139 about Christ or what He's doing in me? Where's 00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:36.780 the TV in the Bible? How does that equal rest? 00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:39.500 Last thing, I know this for a fact. I like to 00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:41.099 watch TV. I like to watch a lot of different 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:43.000 shows. And I try to restrain what I watch that's 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.239 not pure. But I like to watch TV. I have nothing 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:47.260 against watching TV. But I'll tell you one thing 00:34:47.260 --> 00:34:49.539 it ain't. Rest. Watching TV ain't rest. Because 00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:51.900 you get drawn into the story. Your mind's active. 00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:53.699 You're stressing just a little bit. That's why 00:34:53.699 --> 00:34:55.880 people like it. Riding roller coasters? Not rest. 00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:58.619 Playing football? Not rest. Playing softball? 00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.159 Not rest. These things are not rest. We know 00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:02.960 they're not rest. Are they enjoyable? Yes. Do 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:05.190 they provide some benefit? Perhaps. Should they 00:35:05.190 --> 00:35:07.090 get some kind of glory or become the reason that 00:35:07.090 --> 00:35:09.690 we may refuse to choose Christ? Absolutely not! 00:35:10.010 --> 00:35:12.369 The reason some people are unwilling to choose 00:35:12.369 --> 00:35:14.289 Christ is because they don't want to give up 00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:17.110 their own glory. They claim to beneficial distractions, 00:35:17.489 --> 00:35:19.730 work, status, emotional indulgence, recreation, 00:35:20.170 --> 00:35:22.570 whatever, and those things keep them from the 00:35:22.570 --> 00:35:25.190 cross. That happens to lost people, and then 00:35:25.190 --> 00:35:27.880 it happens to sin. The original plan for your 00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:30.500 life is not to be served, but to be a vessel 00:35:30.500 --> 00:35:33.340 of the gospel. Jesus, the eternal God, became 00:35:33.340 --> 00:35:36.639 a servant so that he could pay the debt of your 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.139 sin on the cross. He died, was buried, and offered 00:35:40.139 --> 00:35:44.050 you new life. Will you serve? Will you give God, 00:35:44.170 --> 00:35:45.869 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all 00:35:45.869 --> 00:35:48.570 the glory? And the next time you find yourself 00:35:48.570 --> 00:35:51.730 by some twist of fate, some slip, or some struggle, 00:35:51.869 --> 00:35:54.489 giving glory to yourself, or giving glory to 00:35:54.489 --> 00:35:56.650 your house, or giving glory to your TV, or the 00:35:56.650 --> 00:35:58.889 stars or actors thereon, or giving glory to your 00:35:58.889 --> 00:36:01.269 favorite sports star, or giving glory to your 00:36:01.269 --> 00:36:04.289 hobby, will you instead say, wait, I'm supposed 00:36:04.289 --> 00:36:07.869 to give glory to God, to God alone. When you 00:36:07.869 --> 00:36:10.769 surrender, you give God the glory that he is 00:36:10.769 --> 00:36:13.679 due. When you make Jesus. Lord, you are liberated 00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.880 to love, to serve, and to share the truth with 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:18.599 me. I know. If you were old enough when you got 00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:20.199 saved, you know. You know that before you got 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:22.699 saved, a lot of times it was about what you wanted. 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:24.679 And you're finding a way to get it. And if you 00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:26.619 can find a way to get what you wanted without 00:36:26.619 --> 00:36:29.739 sin, without holding yourself to a risk of getting 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:31.920 caught, risking punishment for the law, then 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:33.440 you would find a way to get what you wanted. 00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:36.159 If you can do it, fine. And society allows certain 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:37.559 things. It doesn't allow certain things. And 00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:39.639 so whatever you're trained, coming up as a child 00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:41.900 to do, probably affected what you thought you 00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:43.460 were willing to do to get what you wanted. But 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:45.139 your life was largely about getting where you 00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:47.559 want. That's how I got started. I'm on my closing 00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:50.559 illustration. When I was five years old, I told 00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:52.679 my dad to Bowling Green to buy a riding lawnmower. 00:36:52.820 --> 00:36:54.519 Put it in the back of my dad's pickup truck. 00:36:54.559 --> 00:36:56.139 His main reason he was there. That and because 00:36:56.139 --> 00:36:57.960 my dad knew stuff about lawnmowers. Throw it 00:36:57.960 --> 00:36:59.940 down there. On the way back... I now had a riding 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:01.440 lawnmower, so I wouldn't have to push mow my 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:03.199 lawn anymore, which was a pretty good size, and 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:04.519 I really didn't like push mowing. So I thought 00:37:04.519 --> 00:37:06.159 that was a real achievement. I had a beautiful 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:08.539 wife. I had one child, and it just found out 00:37:08.539 --> 00:37:10.420 my wife was pregnant with my second child. I 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.699 had a house. I mean, it was mortgage. I would 00:37:12.699 --> 00:37:14.320 have banked a lot of money on it, but I had a 00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:16.219 house. I was living in a house. I had a yard. 00:37:16.340 --> 00:37:18.320 I had two cars. They both had loans on them, 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.519 but I had two cars. I had a motorcycle, and I 00:37:20.519 --> 00:37:22.219 didn't want an RV, and I didn't want a boat. 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:25.019 So I'm like, guess what? I think this is it. 00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:28.750 This was the final life. I had achieved literally 00:37:28.750 --> 00:37:31.389 everything that I wanted. What would I do? One 00:37:31.389 --> 00:37:32.909 day my motorcycle would break down a little too 00:37:32.909 --> 00:37:34.929 much, I'd just replace it. One day one car would 00:37:34.929 --> 00:37:37.349 go out, I'd replace it eventually someday. I'd 00:37:37.349 --> 00:37:39.230 probably go on some vacations, but by that time 00:37:39.230 --> 00:37:41.570 I'd been in 42 states and I wasn't super excited 00:37:41.570 --> 00:37:43.230 about going on vacations because I'd seen a lot 00:37:43.230 --> 00:37:45.949 of stuff. I felt like I had pretty much achieved, 00:37:46.150 --> 00:37:48.789 25 years old, I had achieved everything in my 00:37:48.789 --> 00:37:51.809 life that I'd ever dreamed of. That was it. Now 00:37:51.809 --> 00:37:56.210 what? There isn't much left. And I realized everything 00:37:56.210 --> 00:37:59.010 that I actually had was nothing at all. Mist 00:37:59.010 --> 00:38:01.809 and vapor. So we started going to church. After 00:38:01.809 --> 00:38:03.889 six months of debunking Christianity, I mean, 00:38:03.909 --> 00:38:05.849 all worried about what things were true, weren't 00:38:05.849 --> 00:38:08.110 true, and stressing over. I'd go home after the 00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:10.309 sermon, and I would look up things, try to find 00:38:10.309 --> 00:38:11.809 things. This is before you get all the super 00:38:11.809 --> 00:38:14.510 easy stuff on, like, AI or the Internet, right? 00:38:14.650 --> 00:38:16.750 So I would look up and try to find things, debunk 00:38:16.750 --> 00:38:18.150 whatever the pastor said, and I did that for 00:38:18.150 --> 00:38:20.659 six months. I bought books on apologetics. to 00:38:20.659 --> 00:38:28.059 be able to try to disprove those arguments. And 00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:29.619 so I started listening to the pastor and what 00:38:29.619 --> 00:38:32.000 he was saying as if it applied to me. And I remembered 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:33.719 stuff from that six months because I'd taken 00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:35.320 notes so that I could debunk it. I'd look them 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:36.840 back and look and I'd go, I tried to disprove 00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:38.960 this, but it wasn't. And so now I know that's 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:40.480 true. So what am I going to do about that? I 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:42.900 started asking myself and then my dad said, it's 00:38:42.900 --> 00:38:44.940 time. You can do it. You can collect cars and 00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:48.239 houses. I know a man who collected, had 17 cars 00:38:48.239 --> 00:38:51.360 and 21 houses. He had 17 cars and 21 houses. 00:38:51.460 --> 00:38:53.500 He was married, had a kid and grandkids and he 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:57.059 was selling drugs. houses and the federal government 00:38:57.059 --> 00:38:59.139 confiscated it all. There's a way that you can 00:38:59.139 --> 00:39:01.960 get through to get whatever it is that you want 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:03.739 in life. Some of you are hard workers. You're 00:39:03.739 --> 00:39:05.820 intelligent people. Bottom line is that is not 00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:07.440 what you're called to. Getting what you want 00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:10.059 is not what you are called to. What you are called 00:39:10.059 --> 00:39:13.320 to is glorifying the living God. Existing in 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:15.599 a proper relationship with your Father. That's 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:17.719 what you're called to. And that means if it ain't 00:39:17.719 --> 00:39:19.900 going right, peace. the first preeminent cause 00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:23.260 that deserves all the glory. Back to him. I got 00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:25.579 a flat tire on the expressway. Somebody in there, 00:39:25.659 --> 00:39:28.039 I could get really upset about that. But listen, 00:39:28.159 --> 00:39:30.280 I got a car and I was on the expressway and I'm 00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:32.280 living, breathing, doing stuff and it wouldn't 00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:34.639 be so and I'm saved as a believer and it wouldn't 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:36.599 be so and I'm going to have it one day when I 00:39:36.599 --> 00:39:39.000 die and that wouldn't be so and I'm... telling 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:40.780 people about Jesus, and that wouldn't be so. 00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:42.699 And I'm serving and being compassionate to others, 00:39:42.760 --> 00:39:45.320 and that wouldn't be so. And I'm not driven by 00:39:45.320 --> 00:39:47.179 my passions and desires and going after what 00:39:47.179 --> 00:39:49.019 I want all the time. I'm free to make choices, 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:52.400 and that wouldn't be so. Oh my goodness, my God, 00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:55.690 the God of heaven, deserves the glory. It's time 00:39:55.690 --> 00:39:57.829 we got there. And when you get there, and you 00:39:57.829 --> 00:40:01.590 recognize how B -I -G our Jesus is, you'll get 00:40:01.590 --> 00:40:04.090 through day after day after day, putting him 00:40:04.090 --> 00:40:06.480 first. And after 40 days, it'll be a habit that 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:08.659 every time something goes wrong, you glorify 00:40:08.659 --> 00:40:11.400 Jesus instead of getting frustrated. Glorify 00:40:11.400 --> 00:40:13.400 Jesus instead of getting angry. Every time something 00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:15.800 might go wrong, you glorify Jesus instead of 00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:18.119 getting anxious or worried or conniving or bragging, 00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:19.900 trying to make it come out your way. Instead, 00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:23.400 glorify Jesus. Jesus, thank you for letting me 00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:25.639 have this problem so that in this dark and difficult 00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:29.719 situation, I might glorify you. That's what it 00:40:29.719 --> 00:40:31.980 means to be a Christian. And that's got wheels. 00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:34.760 That'll get things done. And you will find yourself 00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:37.260 like the God of heaven, serving the people around 00:40:37.260 --> 00:40:40.150 you with no thought of compensation. You don't 00:40:40.150 --> 00:40:42.829 even care if people say thank you. Why? Because 00:40:42.829 --> 00:40:45.449 that's not the result you're looking for. This 00:40:45.449 --> 00:40:47.869 life is temporary. You're storing up treasures 00:40:47.869 --> 00:40:50.510 for yourself in heaven at that point. Or you 00:40:50.510 --> 00:40:52.309 can keep going after the things that your body 00:40:52.309 --> 00:40:54.090 wants, things that your mind wants. Keep thinking 00:40:54.090 --> 00:40:56.250 about how frustrated, angry, worried, anxious, 00:40:56.409 --> 00:40:58.690 upset you are with people quite the way you want 00:40:58.690 --> 00:41:00.650 them to go. And your people have very little 00:41:00.650 --> 00:41:03.150 traction. You'll do very little to change their 00:41:03.150 --> 00:41:07.369 life. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. Let us 00:41:07.369 --> 00:41:09.730 serve the risen Savior. Let us glorify the only 00:41:09.730 --> 00:41:12.130 one who actually deserves glory. When you find 00:41:12.130 --> 00:41:13.909 yourself glorifying someone or something else, 00:41:13.929 --> 00:41:15.949 even if it's yourself, you repent. And again, 00:41:16.050 --> 00:41:22.119 glorify Jesus. I hope you will glorify Jesus. 00:41:33.719 --> 00:41:41.159 ... ... ... ... ...