WEBVTT 00:00:01.309 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:17.510 here. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this 00:00:17.510 --> 00:00:20.309 time together with each other and with you. We 00:00:20.309 --> 00:00:21.969 ask that you open our ears, our hearts, and our 00:00:21.969 --> 00:00:24.469 minds to all that you have to speak to us and 00:00:24.469 --> 00:00:28.289 help us to apply it to our lives. Amen. Again, 00:00:28.289 --> 00:00:30.170 good morning everybody. Welcome to Cross Christian 00:00:30.170 --> 00:00:32.850 Fellowship Route 66 and welcome to everybody 00:00:32.850 --> 00:00:39.729 who's joining us online. You know, last week 00:00:39.729 --> 00:00:41.590 we were looking... Give me a second here. I'm 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:43.149 going to take these off again. Still trying to 00:00:43.149 --> 00:00:44.530 get used to the glasses. I'm still learning where 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:48.530 to look with the... I'm getting there. Let me 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:49.890 just save the heartache and just take them off 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:53.570 now. Last week we were looking at how we are 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:56.880 like Adam and Eve. and have fallen short of the 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:01.320 glory of God. And how God, you know, we started 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.200 looking at how God provided Jesus to reconcile 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.659 us to him. And as much as I would love to spend 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:14.120 more time here, and believe me, we could, we're 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:15.799 going to have to wait and come back to it another 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.120 time to spend a little bit more time there because 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:21.000 we are steadily going down the Easter Trail. 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.280 And we need to stay on the trail because there's 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.859 just so much here for us to go through. And you're 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:27.219 going to see that there's a lot of spots here 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:28.819 that we can spend a lot of time and we're just 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:31.420 not going to right now. These are all parts that 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.980 we're going to come back to at other times because, 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:35.540 I mean, the word has so much to speak to us. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:41.700 We have a lot to learn from. All right. So last 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:43.359 week we were up at the beginning of the Bible. 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:45.859 This week we're going to jump much, much, much 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:48.319 further back. All right. Really, I should say 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.480 ahead. because we're going to be in the book 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:55.180 of John. So all of our eager beavers who like 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:56.879 to go ahead and turn, we're going to go ahead 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:02.859 and open up to the book of John, chapter 4. And 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:04.480 we're going to look at some of the important 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.840 lessons that Jesus has for us as he's walking 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.180 down that trail towards Golgotha. Specifically, 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.860 we're going to see how... Jesus interacted with 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:21.199 some certain people to teach us these lessons. 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:32.860 Looks like my battery's dying. Let's get some 00:02:32.860 --> 00:03:03.319 more batteries up here. There we go. Just John. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.560 Book of John, chapter 4. Sorry about that. I 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:13.159 had to swap out my batteries there. Anyhow, as 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:14.680 I was saying, we're going to be looking specifically 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:16.800 at how Jesus interacted with some very specific 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:21.759 people to teach us some very special and important 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.840 lessons. And for time's sake, especially for 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:27.860 this first part, I'm going to be doing a bit 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:30.729 of summarizing today. you know, the cliff notes, 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:33.650 if you will. But I really want to encourage everybody, 00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:36.310 when you have the time, go back, read the full 00:03:36.310 --> 00:03:38.770 passage for yourself. It's really beautiful. 00:03:38.870 --> 00:03:40.650 There's a lot there. All right, so like I said, 00:03:40.710 --> 00:03:42.150 first up, we're going to be starting in the book 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:46.310 of John, chapter 4. Specifically, when you're 00:03:46.310 --> 00:03:47.650 looking at this, we're going to be looking at 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:49.969 the woman at the well as our first stop along 00:03:49.969 --> 00:03:54.289 the way, okay? So, you know, here's a woman of 00:03:54.289 --> 00:04:02.219 not so great reputation. This is Jacob's well 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:03.979 to be specific. Jesus and the disciples were 00:04:03.979 --> 00:04:08.060 traveling through. They stopped here. Jesus has 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.180 sent the disciples forward into town to go and 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:12.900 get some food, right? And here's a woman, not 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:16.920 such great reputation. Matter of fact, you know, 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.079 for this point here with this specific well, 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:21.860 this well is located on the outskirts of the 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:24.060 town. And she's going out in the midday, the 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:26.759 hottest part of the time, to actually go and 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:29.699 collect from this well. Not the most popular 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:32.699 time, and most likely it's because she's trying 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:34.939 to avoid being around people. Because let's face 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:37.139 it, when there's people that we kind of look 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:38.680 down on, we don't treat them the best, right? 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:43.439 And there's no different then. So she was trying 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.019 to avoid other people, and Jesus stayed behind 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:52.180 specifically to talk to her. And here, Jesus, 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:55.060 he asked this woman for some water. And it was 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:57.310 shocking for her. And it would be shocking for 00:04:57.310 --> 00:04:59.689 anyone hearing this, especially from that time 00:04:59.689 --> 00:05:04.230 and that area. Because Jesus was a Jew and she 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:06.790 was a Gentile. And the Jews and the Gentiles, 00:05:06.850 --> 00:05:08.629 they didn't really interact with each other. 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:10.949 There was a lot of animosity between the two. 00:05:11.230 --> 00:05:13.329 You know, they try not to look at each other, 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.949 let alone, you know, to condescend to actually 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:18.209 speaking to one another. It was, you know, very 00:05:18.209 --> 00:05:20.730 much, you know, I'm better than you type mentality. 00:05:20.949 --> 00:05:22.709 You know, I'm not going to talk down and you're 00:05:22.709 --> 00:05:25.110 not worth wasting my time and that kind of thing. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:29.180 It was not a good relationship between the two 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:35.720 cultures. And it was very jarring. Even the woman 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:39.220 commented on this, showing just how taken back 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:44.740 she was. And Jesus spoke to her about the living 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.899 water. Now, if you recall, a couple weeks ago, 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.600 I talked about the living water. Just briefly, 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:51.899 I kind of hit on it, right? Saying, you know, 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:55.269 how... How tragic would it be to be offered the 00:05:55.269 --> 00:05:57.910 living water of Christ and to refuse it? How 00:05:57.910 --> 00:05:59.870 horrible. Why would you do that? But people do 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:04.569 it all the time. And this is a good spot to kind 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:05.889 of stop just a little bit. We're going to break 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:08.569 it down a little bit more. Just a little bit, 00:06:08.610 --> 00:06:14.769 though. Because here again, in verse 10, John 00:06:14.769 --> 00:06:18.250 4, verse 10, Jesus mentions the living water. 00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:22.060 And this is an Old Testament reference. As a 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:23.939 matter of fact, we can see reference to it in 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:27.980 Psalm 42, Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 2, Zechariah 13, 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.300 and all of these are talking about thirsting 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.839 after God as if you were thirsting for water. 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:39.220 Psalm 36 refers to God as the fountain of life, 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:43.139 and Jeremiah 17 refers to him as the spring of 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:46.740 living water. And by Jesus saying that he would 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:50.230 bring living water, It was a well -known reference 00:06:50.230 --> 00:06:54.610 to all these points. And basically he was saying, 00:06:54.649 --> 00:06:58.930 I'm the Messiah. Because only the Messiah could 00:06:58.930 --> 00:07:01.589 do such a thing. Only the Messiah could bring 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:05.670 something to quench the true desires of your 00:07:05.670 --> 00:07:10.430 heart and to satisfy the soul's true desire, 00:07:10.569 --> 00:07:12.250 right? Because we all have that hole that we're 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:13.709 always looking to fill, and the only way we could 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:16.930 fill it is with Jesus. And that's going to take 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:19.250 us into our first reading for today, which is 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:23.490 John 4, specifically verses 16 through 18. So 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:26.449 John 4, verses 16 through 18, the word says, 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:34.490 Jesus said to her, go, call your husband and 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:37.629 come here. The woman answered and said, I have 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:41.970 no husband. Jesus said to her, you have well 00:07:41.970 --> 00:07:44.839 said, I have no husband. For you have had five 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:48.540 husbands, and the one whom you now have is not 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:54.259 your husband, and that you spoke truly. So in 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.879 telling her to get her husband, Jesus was starting 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:01.439 to paint the picture, right? He's bringing a 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:05.680 fuller picture to her. And to start, he was laying 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.480 that base, and that base is a life of failure. 00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:12.420 Five failed marriages and now living with somebody 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:16.399 that she's not even married to. Not even a wedlock. 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:19.120 And really it's the same for us. Same for you, 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.439 the same for me. Which we go out, we live our 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:27.699 lives, and we try to do things on our own. Or 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:31.579 worse, we try to do it the way the world tells 00:08:31.579 --> 00:08:36.950 us to do it. Instead of the way the word. has 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:39.730 told us to do it. Instead of clinging to Jesus 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:47.009 and leaning into him for that help. Like I said, 00:08:47.049 --> 00:08:48.809 that's only the base. That's only part of the 00:08:48.809 --> 00:08:52.250 picture. We move a little bit further in to verses 00:08:52.250 --> 00:08:56.750 25 through 26. Still John 4, but verses 25 through 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:01.210 26. The word goes on to say, the woman said to 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:06.620 him, I know that Messiah is coming. who is called 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:09.980 Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. 00:09:10.500 --> 00:09:16.120 And Jesus said to her, I, who speak to you, am 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.919 he. The woman said, hey, the Messiah is coming. 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:23.259 And Jesus is like, yeah, I know. I'm right here, 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:26.039 dude. I'm standing in front of you. Come on. 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:29.860 Hi, nice to meet you. Hi, Jesus. Right? He's 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:31.600 just right there. And it is profound. Because 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.649 let me tell you how profound this is. This is 00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:36.309 kind of mind -blowing when we look at this part 00:09:36.309 --> 00:09:39.190 because when you read through the Bible, especially 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:42.309 when we're looking at where Jesus is alive and 00:09:42.309 --> 00:09:45.289 everywhere he goes, he doesn't actually typically 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:50.769 say, hey, I'm the Messiah. Matter of fact, even 00:09:50.769 --> 00:09:53.210 the religious people that he would come across 00:09:53.210 --> 00:09:55.690 would ask, hey, are you the Messiah? And you'd 00:09:55.690 --> 00:09:59.509 just be like, wouldn't answer him, just kind 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:02.230 of leave it there. He's like, you told me, right? 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:05.360 Put the pieces together. And eventually they 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.240 would. They'd put the pieces together. Oh, I 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.200 know who this is. Oh, look who's with it. Look 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:16.039 at the entourage. That's him. That's Jesus. You 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:17.620 know, there'd be enough there. They'd start to 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:20.740 figure it out if their hearts weren't so hard. 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:28.879 You know, but here, here he is. He's with this 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:32.259 woman. This woman who's looked down on even by 00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:34.879 her own people. She's like, Jesus is coming. 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:39.100 He's like, ta -da. Hi, I'm Jesus. How you doing? 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:43.860 You know, that's not, if you think about it, 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:45.419 why wouldn't he go around introducing himself 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:48.379 as the Messiah? People would think he's nuts. 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.600 He wouldn't get very far. Even today, somebody 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:53.360 comes along and they try to say, yeah, hey, I'm 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.419 God, I'm Jesus, or whatever. We either laugh 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:57.259 at, well, we pretty much always laugh at them, 00:10:57.299 --> 00:11:00.460 or... We get them checked in for a psyche eval, 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:01.960 right? Like, there's something wrong with this 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:06.379 guy. He thinks he's God. He ain't God. He's over 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:07.919 there sipping on his juice box, thinking it's 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:15.620 wine. Right? We don't look too kindly. It wasn't 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:19.779 that different back then. You know, let's break 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:24.000 it down a little bit more as we bring it into 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:31.370 today. We look at a woman like this. We look 00:11:31.370 --> 00:11:33.450 at a woman, she's been around a little bit, right? 00:11:36.470 --> 00:11:39.429 How do we look at her? How do we refer to her? 00:11:42.570 --> 00:11:46.309 Unclean is a very nice way of putting it. But 00:11:46.309 --> 00:11:49.830 yes, you're right. We have some very choice words 00:11:49.830 --> 00:11:55.789 that aren't so nice, and we put them down. Like, 00:11:55.870 --> 00:11:58.480 yeah, no. You want to go down Easy Street, you 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.659 go right on over there. But that's not marriage 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:06.659 material. Right? But then we look at a guy doing 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:11.980 the exact same thing or worse. And how do we 00:12:11.980 --> 00:12:17.820 look at him? This guy's a stud. He's knocking 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:21.700 down all the ladies. Look at it. Yeah. It's not 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:23.340 right. It's not the way we should be doing it. 00:12:23.820 --> 00:12:25.539 It's definitely not the loving way. It's not 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:29.259 the Christian way. Even when we turn on the TV, 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.179 matter of fact, we have a couple of TV shows 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:33.460 that are just blatant about it. You know, it's 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.440 like we always, for decades now, we've had dating 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.860 shows and all that kind of stuff, right? Contestant 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:40.139 number three, how would you do blah, blah, blah, 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:43.659 right? But now we have a show, we have The Bachelor, 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.200 and we have The Bachelorette, front and center, 00:12:46.299 --> 00:12:50.399 right? We have the Fifty Shades of Whatever movie 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:56.269 series, book series. All these books, I mean, 00:12:56.269 --> 00:12:59.950 they're all smut. Let's be honest. They're smut. 00:13:01.549 --> 00:13:03.230 But we have all this stuff and put it out there. 00:13:03.309 --> 00:13:04.830 It's like, here's a guy. He's going to date these 00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:07.789 50 women or whatever and maybe find a wife. And 00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:09.950 then we got this girl and she's over here and 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.029 she's going to date these 50 guys and maybe find 00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:15.769 a husband. And we put them front and center doing 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:21.129 these worldly things. A lot of unsavory things. 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:25.409 And we have them on this pedestal like they're 00:13:25.409 --> 00:13:28.009 these great people that they're empowering other 00:13:28.009 --> 00:13:31.549 people instead of actually calling them out on 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:35.610 the worldly horrible things and the poor examples 00:13:35.610 --> 00:13:38.389 that they're setting, not only for their peers, 00:13:38.629 --> 00:13:44.490 but for the younger generations because they're 00:13:44.490 --> 00:13:47.350 watching. And unfortunately, most of the time, 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:49.029 they're sitting there with their parents and 00:13:49.029 --> 00:13:55.019 they're watching. It's like, yeah, look at how 00:13:55.019 --> 00:13:56.879 that girl's throwing herself at that guy and 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.759 what she's doing with him. Yeah, that's what 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.539 I want my daughter doing. Oh, and look at this 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:03.580 guy and what he's doing and what he's saying 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:09.120 about these. Yeah, no. It's a sinful world. It's 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.559 a poor precedent. It's poor examples. But the 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.559 plus side is, and it brings us to our first lesson, 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:21.220 we don't have to be tied to these things because 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:24.549 Jesus frees us from our past. We have people 00:14:24.549 --> 00:14:27.149 in here, and I can tell you when I was in the 00:14:27.149 --> 00:14:28.850 Marine Corps, I did a lot of the things that 00:14:28.850 --> 00:14:35.169 we all know Marines do. From the fighting to 00:14:35.169 --> 00:14:38.570 everything else in between, nothing that I'm 00:14:38.570 --> 00:14:42.210 that proud of. And I know I'm not the only person 00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:45.049 in here who has a past where they've done things 00:14:45.049 --> 00:14:50.710 that they're not that proud of. We all have things 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.200 in our past that we're not that proud of. things 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:54.659 that we know we shouldn't have done, things that 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:57.860 were very worldly, very sinful, hurt others and 00:14:57.860 --> 00:14:59.799 hurt ourselves, whether we acknowledged it or 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:07.000 not. But Jesus frees us from our past. You look 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.000 at the woman at the well. Let's go back to that 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.340 passage. Jesus sat down with her. He spoke with 00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:13.879 her. He had a conversation with her and showed 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:17.539 her, hey, yeah, this is your past, but you're 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:22.970 not defined by your past. You don't have to be 00:15:22.970 --> 00:15:28.509 chained in this bondage to sin any longer. You 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:34.549 can change, and I will help you. I will walk 00:15:34.549 --> 00:15:39.309 with you. And just like the woman at the well, 00:15:39.429 --> 00:15:42.529 we have a past that we don't have to be chained 00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:46.190 to. Jesus broke those chains with his blood. 00:15:49.610 --> 00:15:51.570 We get to release that baggage. We don't have 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:53.669 to drag it around anymore. It's not that ball 00:15:53.669 --> 00:16:01.850 and chain, right? It's gone. And the beautiful 00:16:01.850 --> 00:16:03.830 thing is because of this change, because we are 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:08.269 all a new creation in Christ, people can look 00:16:08.269 --> 00:16:12.169 at you and they can see the change. They should 00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:14.389 look at you and see the change, that you are 00:16:14.389 --> 00:16:18.850 not the same person as who you used to be. This 00:16:18.850 --> 00:16:20.710 should be one of those times where you get that 00:16:20.710 --> 00:16:22.250 call from someone you haven't talked to for a 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:23.950 long time and they're talking to you about those 00:16:23.950 --> 00:16:26.509 old things that are no longer a part of your 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:29.570 life and you get to tell them, hey, stop visiting 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:32.889 me in the past. I don't live there anymore. I've 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.289 moved on. When you're ready to catch up, I'm 00:16:35.289 --> 00:16:41.629 at this address now. Right? Now we're going to 00:16:41.629 --> 00:16:44.129 turn back a little further in John to chapter 00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:55.360 8. So John 8, verses 1 -5. And in John 8, 1 -5, 00:16:55.419 --> 00:16:59.539 the word says, But Jesus went to the Mount of 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:02.620 Olives. Now early in the morning he came again 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:05.339 into the temple, and all the people came to him, 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.079 and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.680 and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:35.490 in adultery. And when they... Remember earlier, 00:17:35.549 --> 00:17:38.690 I already started talking about this. Men sleeping 00:17:38.690 --> 00:17:41.170 around versus women sleeping around. And right 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:43.869 here, you know, this is just a show. It's been 00:17:43.869 --> 00:17:47.950 happening for centuries. And right here, they 00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:49.829 just drag out this woman. I will remind you, 00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:53.549 it takes more than one person to commit such 00:17:53.549 --> 00:18:00.690 an act. More than one. And the religious zealots 00:18:00.690 --> 00:18:04.869 were up very early that day. And they were. They 00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:09.150 were zealots. Very legalistic. And they dragged 00:18:09.150 --> 00:18:14.690 this woman out. In front of Jesus, in front of 00:18:14.690 --> 00:18:16.250 all these other people, these other witnesses. 00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:24.130 She's an adulteress. Just think of the picture, 00:18:24.170 --> 00:18:28.750 think of this woman and the shame she must have 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:33.930 felt. Whether it was founded or unfounded, true 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:39.289 or not, the shame that she had to have felt. 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:43.980 Had to have been absolutely incredible. To say 00:18:43.980 --> 00:18:46.480 she was embarrassed is to putting it mildly because 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:50.960 she was being paraded, paraded in front of dozens. 00:18:54.539 --> 00:18:58.579 And her near future was looking pretty grim and 00:18:58.579 --> 00:19:00.680 she knew it, especially when they put it out 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:02.799 there saying the Mosaic Law says we should stone 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.970 her to death. It's one of those times where you're 00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:09.210 like, man, this is so embarrassing. Just get 00:19:09.210 --> 00:19:17.930 it over with. Right? Now, even with that, thinking 00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:20.430 about what's probably about to happen to her 00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:25.950 with being stoned to death. Has anybody in here 00:19:25.950 --> 00:19:30.490 ever had somebody throw a rock at them? Pretty 00:19:30.490 --> 00:19:32.450 much everybody in here, right? I know I have. 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.210 Anybody who has a sibling, I can pretty much 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:38.150 guarantee has had a rock thrown at them, right? 00:19:38.670 --> 00:19:40.849 I can tell you from my own experience, getting 00:19:40.849 --> 00:19:47.049 hit with a rock hurts. It hurts. And you figure 00:19:47.049 --> 00:19:48.690 that's someone who's just throwing a rock at 00:19:48.690 --> 00:19:56.769 you, not even trying to kill you. Now think of 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:59.500 the pain that she's already... Looking forward 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:01.059 to, because odds are she's already witnessed 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:03.500 such a thing in her life, because that was the 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:05.720 law back then, where people would pick up these 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.660 heavy stones and be lobbing them at somebody 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:15.980 with the intent to kill them. Flesh being torn. 00:20:18.180 --> 00:20:21.359 A throne being heavy enough or thrown hard enough, 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:25.579 maybe broken bones. Getting clobbered by dozens 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:30.559 and dozens and dozens of stones. hoping that 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.720 very quickly you'll get hit with that one stone 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.740 that just takes the lights right out and you 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:43.079 don't have to feel it anymore. That's a torture 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.799 in itself. And that's what she's looking forward 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:51.480 to. I could tell you for myself, I'd much rather 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.200 stand in front of a firing squad and hope that 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:55.380 they hit a vital organ very quickly than get 00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:59.650 stoned to death. It's much more humane. Our methods 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:01.470 today are a lot more humane than they used to 00:21:01.470 --> 00:21:03.869 be. You know, people are like, oh, it's inhumane. 00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:05.369 We shouldn't be putting people to death or whatever. 00:21:05.490 --> 00:21:09.670 You know what? I don't wish death on anybody, 00:21:09.789 --> 00:21:13.829 but if it has to be done, I'd rather it be done 00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:17.490 the way we had today than it was back then. Even 00:21:17.490 --> 00:21:19.950 hangings weren't surefire ways to kill anybody. 00:21:21.950 --> 00:21:25.410 You know, hangings, somebody get lynched and 00:21:25.410 --> 00:21:30.119 maybe, they weren't dropped fast enough or something 00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:31.920 else happened, maybe the rope was too thick or 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.740 whatever, and instead of dropping, having a broken 00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:38.940 neck and hanging there, it would slowly tighten 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:40.940 around them and slowly choke them to death and 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:43.200 they would spend minutes there in agonizing pain, 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:50.859 suffering, and getting strangled to death. These 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:52.759 are pretty gruesome things. These are the things 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:53.980 that people have had to worry about throughout 00:21:53.980 --> 00:22:01.519 the ages. And this is something, these are all 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.740 deaths that all of us at some point in our lives, 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:07.779 whether we realize it or not, we are subject 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:11.680 to these types of laws. If you've ever lost it 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:15.559 after somebody, you've ever looked at somebody 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:19.839 that you know is married going, mmm, man, they're 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:27.740 hot. Yeah. It must work out. Guilty. You're married 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:30.190 and you're looking at somebody, mmm. If I wouldn't 00:22:30.190 --> 00:22:32.970 tag down, I'll tell you what. 20 years younger, 00:22:33.150 --> 00:22:39.029 guilty. Line up, pick your rocket crew. It's 00:22:39.029 --> 00:22:41.589 time to get stoned. And I'm not talking 420. 00:22:46.250 --> 00:22:52.049 Guilty. Whether you're single, whether you're 00:22:52.049 --> 00:22:53.589 married, if you've ever lusted after somebody 00:22:53.589 --> 00:22:56.109 like that, you're guilty. And all of us have 00:22:56.109 --> 00:22:59.029 done it. We're going to keep this chain moving 00:22:59.029 --> 00:23:02.009 though. John 8, we're going to go back to just 00:23:02.009 --> 00:23:05.549 a couple more verses to 10 and 11. So John 8, 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:10.710 10 and 11. The word tells us, when Jesus has 00:23:10.710 --> 00:23:13.329 raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, 00:23:13.390 --> 00:23:17.529 he said to her, woman, where are those accusers 00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:22.769 of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, 00:23:22.789 --> 00:23:27.349 no one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither 00:23:27.349 --> 00:23:34.990 do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Jesus took 00:23:34.990 --> 00:23:39.690 this woman who's been slammed down by the world, 00:23:39.809 --> 00:23:45.329 right? A woman who the legalists are very quick 00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:47.210 to attack. And even today, the legalists are 00:23:47.210 --> 00:23:51.049 quick to attack. That hasn't changed. It's not 00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:55.109 going to change. Not until Jesus comes back. 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:01.440 But you look at this event, and it is an unmistakable 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:08.799 act of true love, of mercy and grace. Because 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.619 Jesus accepts the woman. Now, make no mistake, 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:16.720 he's not accepting the sin. Nor should he, nor 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.940 should we. But he's accepting her as a person. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.609 Her as a human being. which is how we all should 00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:30.450 be. And I'd be like, oh, this person's down and 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:33.269 out. No, get them away from me. You know, or, 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:36.130 you know, this person, you know, did this or 00:24:36.130 --> 00:24:41.089 did that, you know, whatever. No, we've all made 00:24:41.089 --> 00:24:43.950 mistakes. Some of us worse than others, right? 00:24:44.630 --> 00:24:47.009 But we should still accept the person. We should 00:24:47.009 --> 00:24:50.849 still bring them to Christ. And in an instant, 00:24:51.009 --> 00:24:53.250 though, you look at this woman, and it's no different 00:24:53.250 --> 00:24:57.119 for us. In an instant. This woman went from being 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:03.259 judged guilty and sentenced to death to a life 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:09.619 of hope with Jesus Christ. And that's our second 00:25:09.619 --> 00:25:14.259 lesson. It's just like that. Jesus gives us all 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:16.839 hope, and he gives us all hope here and now. 00:25:18.019 --> 00:25:20.359 You know, there's those whispers of the enemy, 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:23.210 and we all hear them. Let's say you're not good 00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:24.569 enough. You're not lovable. You're never going 00:25:24.569 --> 00:25:27.089 to amount to anything. You're not smart enough. 00:25:27.349 --> 00:25:30.069 You're not good looking enough. You're not important 00:25:30.069 --> 00:25:34.529 enough. You're not lovable. You're nobody. You 00:25:34.529 --> 00:25:41.529 don't matter. That's the enemy. Every time where 00:25:41.529 --> 00:25:46.730 Jesus is saying, I hear you. I see you. You're 00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:52.910 important to me. And I love you. And you matter 00:25:52.910 --> 00:26:01.150 to me. You have a place at the table with the 00:26:01.150 --> 00:26:04.470 Father. And I'm preparing a place for you now. 00:26:08.250 --> 00:26:12.210 You're not defined by your past. And you have 00:26:12.210 --> 00:26:15.809 a place in the kingdom with the Father through 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:19.089 Christ. You're not defined by your passing. You're 00:26:19.089 --> 00:26:22.390 not defined by your current sin. You're a new 00:26:22.390 --> 00:26:32.309 creation. Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. 00:26:35.089 --> 00:26:38.829 How important is that? Let's hope. Because how 00:26:38.829 --> 00:26:40.609 many people are so broken, they're like, I've 00:26:40.609 --> 00:26:44.190 got to get right before I go to church. I can't 00:26:44.190 --> 00:26:46.089 go because I'm so messed up. I'm drinking. I'm 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:48.650 gambling. I'm doing drugs. I'm sleeping around. 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:53.809 You know, I left my kids, whatever. Jesus is 00:26:53.809 --> 00:26:58.609 saying, yeah, you know what? You messed up. There's 00:26:58.609 --> 00:27:00.190 still hope for you. There's still a chance for 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:03.049 you. Come to me. Come to me now. Don't wait. 00:27:03.210 --> 00:27:05.289 You can't do it on your own. You can't do it 00:27:05.289 --> 00:27:07.009 in the ways of the world. You have to do it with 00:27:07.009 --> 00:27:15.660 me. Come here. Take my hand. And I know I'm not 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:17.740 the only person in this room who's invited somebody 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:22.099 to come to service just to be told, you know, 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:23.940 I really can't. You know, I got to get right 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:29.099 first. It's like, no, this is the hospital. We're 00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:31.279 talking to you out there. That's the triage. 00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:33.700 This is the hospital. This is the emergency room. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:41.519 Get in here. Get saved. Unfortunately, it's a 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.180 stumbling block when a lot of us might run into 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:45.059 that wall. We're not quite sure how to get over 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:47.079 it or how to get around it. I'm going to tell 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:51.420 you now, do it the Marine Corps way. Blow a big 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:52.900 hole in that sucker and walk right through it 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:56.440 and say, nope, you're coming with me. Now, whether 00:27:56.440 --> 00:27:58.059 they come or not, you know, there's going to 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:03.140 be resistance, but be like the Terminator. Come 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:08.660 with me if you want to live. And that's going 00:28:08.660 --> 00:28:13.329 to take us to... Our next passage and our final 00:28:13.329 --> 00:28:19.109 stop. John chapter 11, specifically verses 38 00:28:19.109 --> 00:28:21.130 through 40. So let's all turn to John chapter 00:28:21.130 --> 00:28:29.509 11, verses 38 through 40. This is a fun one because 00:28:29.509 --> 00:28:33.369 this is Lazarus, all right? So John 11, 38 through 00:28:33.369 --> 00:28:36.990 40, the word tells us, then Jesus, again groaning 00:28:36.990 --> 00:28:40.839 to himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:45.240 and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:49.619 away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who 00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:53.779 was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there's 00:28:53.779 --> 00:28:57.400 such a stench, for he's been dead four days. 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:02.440 And Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:04.920 if you would believe, you would see the glory 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:08.599 of God? In other words, he's like, did I stutter, 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:11.960 move that stone? I don't care how bad it smells 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:17.180 in there. Get it done. You know, it's like he's 00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:18.640 grown. I kind of had this picture of him coming 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.920 up, seeing the tomb with the stone rolled in 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:24.700 front of him. Move this thing. Come on. Get it 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:26.900 out of the way. You're slowing me down here. 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:29.680 Come on. It's like I'm the Messiah. Do you believe 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:34.589 in me or not? Get it gone now, right? Now, like 00:29:34.589 --> 00:29:36.630 I said, this is the story of Lazarus. Lazarus 00:29:36.630 --> 00:29:38.769 had become sick. Word had been sent to Jesus. 00:29:40.369 --> 00:29:42.369 Jesus kind of waited a little bit before going 00:29:42.369 --> 00:29:47.369 to see the family, right? Go to see Lazarus. 00:29:49.089 --> 00:29:52.170 And by the time he showed up, like I said here, 00:29:52.230 --> 00:29:54.789 Lazarus had been dead for four days. At this 00:29:54.789 --> 00:29:57.589 point, nobody has hope of him being healed, let 00:29:57.589 --> 00:29:59.369 alone getting up and walking out again, right? 00:29:59.569 --> 00:30:01.470 It's like he's dead, he's gone, stick a fork 00:30:01.470 --> 00:30:05.210 in him, bye -bye. Right? They're in mourning 00:30:05.210 --> 00:30:12.049 now. It's a sad day. It's a sad few days. And 00:30:12.049 --> 00:30:14.029 now they're like, really? Like, he's in there 00:30:14.029 --> 00:30:18.130 rotting. He's decomposing. You know? It's pretty 00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:20.509 gross. They didn't have the embalming techniques 00:30:20.509 --> 00:30:22.829 that we have today. And if you've ever been in 00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:25.089 a morgue with the back end of a funeral home, 00:30:25.369 --> 00:30:29.880 you know it doesn't smell that great. Because 00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:31.339 even with all the techniques and stuff that we 00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:33.140 had today, there's still a very distinct smell. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:35.259 I can tell you when I worked at OMI, because 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:36.980 I was there for years and years, you get little 00:30:36.980 --> 00:30:39.259 kids who come in, they don't have anything to 00:30:39.259 --> 00:30:42.940 compare the smell to. So they all come in, and 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:44.700 they all say the same thing every single time. 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:47.460 It smells like fish in here. It's like, no, that's 00:30:47.460 --> 00:30:52.579 decomposition. But thank you for trying, buddy. 00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:55.440 You get teenagers in like these scared straight 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.599 type programs. They come in for the tours. Same 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.339 thing. They take them. They stand them in the 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:01.339 cooler. They're with all these bodies and the 00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:03.559 bags and the crips and all that. Smells like 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:07.279 bad fish in here. Bad something. Yeah. It's going 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.819 to be you if you don't change your ways. It's 00:31:11.819 --> 00:31:15.079 pretty distinct. And you figure here's an area 00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.500 that's not exactly known for being cold. Right? 00:31:19.509 --> 00:31:22.670 Got pretty decent temperatures year -round. And 00:31:22.670 --> 00:31:25.069 even though it's a cave that they're put in, 00:31:25.089 --> 00:31:27.150 they rolled a stone over it, there's still ways 00:31:27.150 --> 00:31:29.069 for air and stuff to get in there. That stone 00:31:29.069 --> 00:31:30.349 and everything had been moved out of the way 00:31:30.349 --> 00:31:32.990 for days and everything beforehand. You know, 00:31:33.009 --> 00:31:34.089 because it wasn't exactly an easy... It's not 00:31:34.089 --> 00:31:35.609 like opening a door or anything like that. They 00:31:35.609 --> 00:31:37.529 had to take it, set it, the whole bit. There's 00:31:37.529 --> 00:31:39.309 a lot of weight there. That thing isn't going 00:31:39.309 --> 00:31:41.630 to get open unless there's people, not person, 00:31:41.750 --> 00:31:44.410 people there to move this stone. It's not an 00:31:44.410 --> 00:31:50.410 easy task. So the smell's pretty bad. You know? 00:31:50.829 --> 00:31:55.109 So people are mourning. They're not happy. It's 00:31:55.109 --> 00:31:59.210 a really gross thing that's going on. Hope is 00:31:59.210 --> 00:32:02.410 gone. It's out the door. And people are acting 00:32:02.410 --> 00:32:07.509 like anybody else would. You know, going up to 00:32:07.509 --> 00:32:08.789 it when they set for Jesus. They didn't want 00:32:08.789 --> 00:32:11.069 to lose him. Like, come on, really? This guy's 00:32:11.069 --> 00:32:14.089 dying. He's sick. Come quick before it's too 00:32:14.089 --> 00:32:17.750 late. You know? Because losing someone's hard. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:19.940 All of us in here have lost somebody. You know 00:32:19.940 --> 00:32:23.319 it's hard. Even losing a pet is hard. I have 00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:26.440 a good friend this week. He lost his dog. I think 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:28.240 he said like 13 years, something like that, to 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:32.980 old age. He lives alone. That's his one companion. 00:32:33.619 --> 00:32:37.920 It's very hard for him. You know, because we're 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:44.480 not ready to let people go. But here's the thing. 00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:46.140 Even with the way you think about it, the way 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:48.339 Jesus came, Here's this people that are now in 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:52.880 mourning. God does not always answer prayer the 00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:56.519 way we want him to, let alone the way we expect 00:32:56.519 --> 00:33:01.319 him to. He does it his way and the way he wants 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:11.259 to. And this is that perfect example. Because 00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:15.619 when he answers prayer, it's usually in a way. 00:33:16.250 --> 00:33:19.049 Where it's not just you, but other people. For 00:33:19.049 --> 00:33:25.549 other people to see his glory. Because it's not 00:33:25.549 --> 00:33:28.269 about you, it's about him. It's not about me, 00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:32.029 it's about him. Everything and anything here 00:33:32.029 --> 00:33:36.210 is about him, not us. We're just supporting characters 00:33:36.210 --> 00:33:40.470 in his story. He's not the supporting character 00:33:40.470 --> 00:33:43.789 in our story. He is the main. He is the head 00:33:43.789 --> 00:33:51.180 honcho, period. So here he comes in his own time 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:55.819 to perform this feat, this miracle, to answer 00:33:55.819 --> 00:34:00.380 prayer and to show people his glory and his greatness 00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:04.279 and to point the way to his kingdom. So watch 00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:05.559 what happens here. We're going to move back just 00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:11.760 a little bit. There we go. To verses 43 through 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:16.420 44. Still John 11, but verses 43 through 44, 00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:20.429 the word says, now. When he had said these things, 00:34:20.510 --> 00:34:24.409 he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! 00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:31.250 And he who had died came out bound, hand and 00:34:31.250 --> 00:34:34.530 foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped 00:34:34.530 --> 00:34:39.210 in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Loose him and 00:34:39.210 --> 00:34:46.510 let him go. Can you imagine that? This guy coming 00:34:46.510 --> 00:34:48.230 out, he's wrapped in all these linens and garments. 00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:54.590 You know? He just comes walking out like... Right? 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:56.829 I'm sure someone in here, I'm not the only one, 00:34:56.869 --> 00:35:02.610 like pictures of mummy. Right? It's not a zombie, 00:35:02.610 --> 00:35:06.969 guys. Don't worry. Lazarus, though, he was dead 00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:08.949 and gone. He had no future. There was no hope. 00:35:10.650 --> 00:35:13.469 As far as anybody and everybody there was concerned. 00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:17.320 His story was done. The book had been closed. 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:25.019 That is, until Jesus called him out. And Jesus 00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:30.920 called him out by name. Come on, Lazarus. Get 00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:34.699 off your lazy keister. Let's go. We've got stuff 00:35:34.699 --> 00:35:39.400 to do. He called him out by name. He called him 00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:42.949 back to life. And I'm here, I'm telling you now, 00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:45.409 Jesus is out there and he's calling each and 00:35:45.409 --> 00:35:48.050 every single one of us by name to come out of 00:35:48.050 --> 00:35:51.409 our graves and back to life with him, that we 00:35:51.409 --> 00:35:55.849 have a future with him that no one can rob us 00:35:55.849 --> 00:36:04.690 of. Each and every one of us. And in doing this, 00:36:04.690 --> 00:36:10.340 and doing this for Lazarus, it's all... to show 00:36:10.340 --> 00:36:15.860 the world his glory and his love. Our third lesson, 00:36:16.059 --> 00:36:19.179 Jesus cares about you, and he cares about your 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:26.460 future. He cares about your future. In life, 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:30.260 sometimes we think we don't matter. Nothing that 00:36:30.260 --> 00:36:35.679 we can do is going to have an impact. Not in 00:36:35.679 --> 00:36:40.369 the future, not even today. It's just that way 00:36:40.369 --> 00:36:42.909 we feel, right? It's very lonely. It's a lonely 00:36:42.909 --> 00:36:44.590 place. It's a lonely way to go through life. 00:36:46.989 --> 00:36:49.150 You know, sometimes, let's face it, we've all 00:36:49.150 --> 00:36:51.210 come to that point where we think we're at the 00:36:51.210 --> 00:36:52.469 end of the rope and that we'd just be better 00:36:52.469 --> 00:36:59.690 off dead. But we're not. You know, it's those 00:36:59.690 --> 00:37:01.250 moments where you say, take me, Lord. I'm ready. 00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:11.989 I'm done. I can't do this anymore. Y 'all remember 00:37:11.989 --> 00:37:17.449 saffron, son? Ah, it's the big one. Right? Take 00:37:17.449 --> 00:37:26.130 me, Lord. Ready. Yeah. Exactly. We all hit those 00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:29.070 points. We're just kind of done. We're done with 00:37:29.070 --> 00:37:32.889 the people we're around. Because we haven't taken 00:37:32.889 --> 00:37:34.590 care of ourselves. We haven't leaned into the 00:37:34.590 --> 00:37:37.710 Lord like we're supposed to. Our focus needs 00:37:37.710 --> 00:37:42.579 to be reset. Other times, we feel defeated and 00:37:42.579 --> 00:37:44.340 broken down because we have people who belittle 00:37:44.340 --> 00:37:46.719 us, people who talk behind our backs, people 00:37:46.719 --> 00:37:49.480 who slam us down. Sometimes those people that 00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:53.340 we even think are our friends, and we find out 00:37:53.340 --> 00:37:57.940 they're really not. Now, I'm going to tell you, 00:37:57.940 --> 00:38:01.619 especially with these people, these are the people 00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:04.480 that the Bible tells us are our enemies. And 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:06.280 the Bible also tells us that we need to pray 00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:12.300 for them. Don't be the hurt person who's hurting 00:38:12.300 --> 00:38:14.679 people. Be the hurt person who's praying for 00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:18.019 those who hurt them because God's going to heal 00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:23.099 you. Jesus has your back. In fact, praying for 00:38:23.099 --> 00:38:27.260 these people may just be the most loving thing 00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:29.739 that you can do and the most loving thing that 00:38:29.739 --> 00:38:34.940 anybody on this earth can do for them. That's 00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:36.679 a powerful act of love right there in itself, 00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:40.440 and we don't even realize it. Because we get 00:38:40.440 --> 00:38:42.139 caught up in that victim's mentality, right? 00:38:42.820 --> 00:38:50.960 And we shouldn't. We need to pray for them. But 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:53.679 we also need to remember not to place any value 00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:56.300 in the horrible things that they've said or done. 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:03.539 Because to Jesus you matter, and to Jesus... 00:39:07.210 --> 00:39:09.030 well, Jesus wants what's best for you. Let's 00:39:09.030 --> 00:39:11.329 put it that way. He wants what's best for you. 00:39:12.190 --> 00:39:15.349 And he's calling you to that life in him. And 00:39:15.349 --> 00:39:17.869 it's a life that matters beyond anything that 00:39:17.869 --> 00:39:21.570 any of us can even imagine. As he tells us in 00:39:21.570 --> 00:39:26.610 Jeremiah 29, verse 11. So Jeremiah 29, verse 00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:32.769 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward 00:39:32.769 --> 00:39:36.300 you, says the Lord. thoughts of peace and not 00:39:36.300 --> 00:39:47.780 of evil, to give you a future and a hope. He 00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:52.539 cares for our future. So we're going to start 00:39:52.539 --> 00:39:54.440 running and wrapping up there a little bit now. 00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:57.280 So there's a commonality here between all these 00:39:57.280 --> 00:39:59.980 people. All these people have something in common. 00:40:02.179 --> 00:40:07.369 Is anybody in here? know what all these people 00:40:07.369 --> 00:40:09.110 that we just looked at with all these lessons 00:40:09.110 --> 00:40:18.610 had in common. Yes, all are sinners. But it's 00:40:18.610 --> 00:40:20.670 a little bit deeper than that. You're on the 00:40:20.670 --> 00:40:29.550 right path. All these people that Jesus met on 00:40:29.550 --> 00:40:33.309 his way to Golgotha, they had something in common. 00:40:34.250 --> 00:40:36.510 And it's something that we have in common with 00:40:36.510 --> 00:40:38.809 them beyond just the fact that they're sinners. 00:40:40.590 --> 00:40:42.750 And it's the fact that he was going down this 00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:47.710 path to die for them, to take on their sin and 00:40:47.710 --> 00:40:51.170 die for them, to take on our sin and die for 00:40:51.170 --> 00:40:58.210 us. People, they look at the Old Testament, they 00:40:58.210 --> 00:41:00.409 look at the New Testament, they look at the time 00:41:00.409 --> 00:41:02.329 difference and everything, and they wonder, how 00:41:02.329 --> 00:41:06.650 does this relate to me? Plain and simple. Everything 00:41:06.650 --> 00:41:10.429 in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, all 00:41:10.429 --> 00:41:13.230 of it has to do with Jesus and the fact that 00:41:13.230 --> 00:41:17.489 he came, he took on our sin, paid the price that 00:41:17.489 --> 00:41:21.849 we all should have paid, and died for us, rose 00:41:21.849 --> 00:41:24.690 again, ascended, and is coming again for his 00:41:24.690 --> 00:41:35.309 people. It's a beautiful thing. He's going to 00:41:35.309 --> 00:41:36.750 the cross for each and every one of them, each 00:41:36.750 --> 00:41:42.030 and every one of us. He's on his path. This path 00:41:42.030 --> 00:41:44.170 that we've been looking at the last couple weeks 00:41:44.170 --> 00:41:45.590 and we're going to keep looking at as we go into 00:41:45.590 --> 00:41:52.070 Easter. He's on this path for you. Because we 00:41:52.070 --> 00:41:59.150 all need to be freed from our past. Because we 00:41:59.150 --> 00:42:04.880 all need hope for the here and now. And tomorrow. 00:42:06.679 --> 00:42:08.460 And we all need to know that there's someone 00:42:08.460 --> 00:42:13.000 who loves us beyond all comparison and is willing 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:16.800 to sacrifice and has sacrificed everything for 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.139 each and every one of us who believes in him 00:42:19.139 --> 00:42:22.639 and is willing to accept his gift of life. To 00:42:22.639 --> 00:42:27.119 accept the living water that is he in eternity. 00:42:32.170 --> 00:42:34.349 To accept that spot that he's preparing for each 00:42:34.349 --> 00:42:38.889 and every one of us. And it's just that easy 00:42:38.889 --> 00:42:43.650 gift of salvation. Where we know that he is our 00:42:43.650 --> 00:42:45.570 Lord and Savior. We accept him as our Lord and 00:42:45.570 --> 00:42:50.070 Savior. And we proclaim it to the world. Jesus 00:42:50.070 --> 00:42:52.170 went to the hill for you. He poured out his blood 00:42:52.170 --> 00:42:59.619 for you. Have you accepted his loving gift? Have 00:42:59.619 --> 00:43:01.480 you accepted the fact that you need him as Lord 00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:05.059 and Savior in your life? And if you haven't, 00:43:05.079 --> 00:43:09.400 now is the time. Time is drawing short. It's 00:43:09.400 --> 00:43:14.179 very quick. We're already in the throes of it, 00:43:14.199 --> 00:43:19.960 those pains, right? Can't delay it any longer. 00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:23.980 We have the evidence. He lived. He walked this 00:43:23.980 --> 00:43:25.820 earth, not just in the Bible, but historically. 00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:29.739 He was a real human being who rose. died, or 00:43:29.739 --> 00:43:32.920 came, died, rose again for each and every one 00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:36.840 of us. So I'm telling you now, if you haven't 00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:40.260 already, you need to accept his gift. You need 00:43:40.260 --> 00:43:43.280 to accept him before it's too late and your time 00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:47.059 runs out. And it's running out for all of us 00:43:47.059 --> 00:43:54.420 very, very quickly. Let us pray. Lord, we thank 00:43:54.420 --> 00:43:57.159 you for these precious lessons. Precious lessons 00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:02.320 that you have for us in love. The fact that you 00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:06.820 recognize us as who we are in you and who you 00:44:06.820 --> 00:44:10.860 intend for us to be rather than those who we 00:44:10.860 --> 00:44:12.500 were when we lived in the world and the worldly 00:44:12.500 --> 00:44:16.840 ways. We ask that you forgive our sins. And we 00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:19.920 have many. We ask that you continue to work in 00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:24.889 us. Mold us. Change us. From the inside out, 00:44:24.969 --> 00:44:29.889 help us to learn to forgive those who have, still 00:44:29.889 --> 00:44:37.090 do, and those who will sin against us. To recognize 00:44:37.090 --> 00:44:42.130 that it's the world and them, and that each time 00:44:42.130 --> 00:44:47.170 it's an opportunity to pray for them. And hopefully 00:44:47.170 --> 00:44:50.230 we can find the door to open so that we can introduce 00:44:50.230 --> 00:44:53.360 them to you. your glory, your hope, your love. 00:44:55.099 --> 00:44:56.960 Help us to take all that we've learned here today 00:44:56.960 --> 00:45:01.679 and apply it to our lives. And all of his people 00:45:01.679 --> 00:45:04.960 said, amen and amen. Remember, as you leave here 00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:08.320 today, you are loved and you are blessed. So 00:45:08.320 --> 00:45:14.579 go and be the church. Thank you for joining us 00:45:14.579 --> 00:45:35.170 at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Until next 00:45:35.170 --> 00:45:37.570 time, take care and God bless.