WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.279 It is a lot, you guys. We are going to fly through 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:10.740 some stuff, but here's why. What you have, what 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:15.039 you know, you are responsible for. So what you 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:17.320 know to be true, you become responsible for. 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:20.960 And here's what I mean. You ever been driving 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.320 and you're on the road and you're just going 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.800 along and all of a sudden you go, what's the 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:25.579 speed limit? And you can't think what the speed 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:27.199 limit is. You're looking for a sign. You can't 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:28.899 see a sign. You're like, I don't know what the 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:30.679 speed limit is. I think I'm doing the right thing. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.899 I don't know, right? And then if you're going 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:38.000 along and as you go along, you know, you got 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.119 your maps on and in the corner, it's got the 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:42.359 speed limit. You know what I mean? But if that's 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:44.439 not there as well, now you're really panicking. 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:46.399 Like, okay, not even the maps knows what the 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.520 speed limit is. And then a moment hits you where 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:50.640 you're like, Okay, if I got pulled over and they 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:52.640 asked me the question that they always ask you, 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.460 do you know what the speed limit is? Do you know 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:00.759 how fast you were going? You can honestly say 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:03.820 in that moment, I have no idea. I'm like in no 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:06.439 man's land out here. And you're not responsible 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:08.420 for what you don't know. Police officer might 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:10.879 think differently, right? So try it out. See, 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:13.319 let me know how it goes. But here's the thing. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.400 You ever have that moment when you do see the 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:18.750 speed limit? And now you go, oh, I'm accountable 00:01:18.750 --> 00:01:21.950 to what I know. I'm responsible to what I know. 00:01:24.430 --> 00:01:28.870 Today is that for you. What we're going to cover, 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:33.930 where we're going to go, you're accountable for 00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:36.989 what you know today. And I don't know about you, 00:01:37.109 --> 00:01:41.069 I feel like it's only loving to go, hey, this 00:01:41.069 --> 00:01:45.189 is what is coming. This is what the future is. 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:47.950 And I prefer you to know now so that you can 00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:50.650 plan and prepare for what that is than to get 00:01:50.650 --> 00:01:53.650 there and go, I didn't know I was doing 40 over 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:57.549 the speed limit. Right? I would prefer you to 00:01:57.549 --> 00:01:59.590 know now. So this is why today is so important. 00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:02.790 So I'm going to ask you, I need you. I need you 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:05.530 to engage in the whole morning. What I mean by 00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:07.310 that is sometimes some people think that when 00:02:07.310 --> 00:02:11.150 I'm done, we're done. We're not done today. God 00:02:11.150 --> 00:02:15.110 wants to work in your soul today. And that means 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:17.590 all the way through response and worship, God 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:20.729 wants to work. So would you slow down enough 00:02:20.729 --> 00:02:26.050 to go, God, I need you to work today. We've been 00:02:26.050 --> 00:02:27.810 in a collection called Just Camping. We take 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:30.849 the concept of just camping out of 2 Corinthians 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:34.310 5, verse 1. For we know, and I would encourage 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:36.150 you, if you're taking notes, today's a note day 00:02:36.150 --> 00:02:39.009 again, like it was last week. It's a picture 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:40.689 day if you need to take pictures of screens or 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:43.719 whatever, or you just need to read along. For 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:45.639 we know that if the earthly tent we live in is 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.319 destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.180 house in heaven not built by human hands. We 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:54.099 know that when the earthly tent, this body, this 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:56.879 physical body is laid flat to the ground, we 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.139 know that when this body is laid flat to the 00:02:59.139 --> 00:03:01.340 ground, we have an upgrade waiting in the future 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:04.099 in heaven. That's what he's saying there, right? 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:07.159 So he's saying that this life is temporary. Verse 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:10.409 6 says this. We covered this last week. We are 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:12.870 always confident and know that as long as we 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:16.069 are at home in the body, we are away from the 00:03:16.069 --> 00:03:20.169 Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We 00:03:20.169 --> 00:03:23.210 don't see yet, so we're living by faith. We are 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:25.930 confident, I say, and we prefer to be away from 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:31.050 the body and at home with the Lord. That phrasing, 00:03:31.189 --> 00:03:33.430 if you've ever heard it, absent from the body, 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.349 present with the Lord, right? Like to leave this 00:03:36.349 --> 00:03:39.539 body, to leave this shell. and instantly be in 00:03:39.539 --> 00:03:42.060 the presence of God, this is where we get this 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:45.240 concept from, that when we lay down this tent, 00:03:45.379 --> 00:03:48.020 when the tent is laid flat, we are going to be 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:50.199 present with God Almighty. We covered this last 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:54.080 week. Now, it's so important that you are able 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.840 to kind of, if you were here, maybe you need 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:00.139 a recap, maybe you don't. But if you weren't 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.219 here, you have to understand where we were last 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:04.080 week to understand where we're going today. So 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:06.930 last week, we were talking about this idea. that 00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:12.430 when God created, he created the heavens and 00:04:12.430 --> 00:04:14.289 the earth. And when he created the earth, he 00:04:14.289 --> 00:04:17.230 goes, it's very good. And what you see is you 00:04:17.230 --> 00:04:24.029 see God and the humans, and they are in perfect 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:28.579 unity. And why is this important? For us to understand 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:31.279 as humanity going, what is this all about? The 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:35.759 original intent of God in creation was that humans 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.680 and God would be in perfect relationship, that 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.120 they would be in such a perfect relationship, 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.259 in a perfect environment, that everything they 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:46.740 did was in sync with each other. That's why you 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:49.120 get the co -laboring with God, co -creating with 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:51.480 God. That's why you get this idea that we were 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.399 to push this world forward. It was supposed to 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.540 go from a garden to a city, and we were supposed 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:58.660 to be a part of it in perfect union with God. 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:04.579 Now, we know that sin entered the story in chapter 00:05:04.579 --> 00:05:09.600 3. And after sin, the wages of sin were death, 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:14.439 right? And so what you've had all the way along 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.459 is a whole bunch of people that they've been 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:19.459 born on the planet. And because of sin and the 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:22.839 wages of sin being death, they have laid down 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:25.000 the body. They've laid down the physical life. 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:28.459 And so over and over, you have a pattern of people 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:31.759 because of sin. Sin has destroyed what God intended. 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:34.420 Now, the person of Jesus, what does God do? God 00:05:34.420 --> 00:05:37.000 steps in in the person of Jesus. And what you 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.980 get is you get him going to a cross. And on the 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:46.629 cross, what does he do? He takes the sin. And 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:50.550 he puts it on himself. And he pays the penalty, 00:05:50.730 --> 00:05:54.350 which is death, by going into the tomb. He leaves 00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:57.649 death where it belongs, in the grave. And he 00:05:57.649 --> 00:06:00.110 rises again, which means that the empty tomb 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:02.889 now is the doorway. We talked about this last 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:07.379 week. It's now the doorway to life. to eternal 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:09.879 life according to Jesus as you believe in him. 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:13.360 And when you believe in him, you inherit, you 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.660 are given, you are granted eternal life. This 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:19.019 is where it's important. Eternal life doesn't 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:21.839 start when I get somewhere. Eternal life starts 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:26.980 now. So your life in Jesus has already started. 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.860 Which is why when Paul says here, absent from 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:33.600 the body is present with the Lord, it's because 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.800 there's no distinction. You're not waiting for 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:38.139 life to begin. You already have it. And death 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:40.439 is just a continuation to life. Why? Because 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:43.439 death is a doorway to life. Which is why when 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:50.459 Paul says here, then, that when the shell is 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:55.480 laid in the grave, when the shell... is put to 00:06:55.480 --> 00:07:00.399 rest, when the tent is dismantled, you are instantly 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:09.000 in the presence of God. What was the purpose 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.000 of the whole thing? That God would what? God 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.819 would dwell in perfect harmony. But in the present, 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:20.500 so this is present day. In present day, this 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:24.029 is where we live. Where people are still dying, 00:07:24.110 --> 00:07:25.730 right? Because the effects of sin are still on 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:28.810 this earth. And so the effects of sin mean that 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:31.550 someone dies, they are laid down, they are absent 00:07:31.550 --> 00:07:33.670 from the body as a believer, as a follower of 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:35.850 Jesus, someone who has said yes to Jesus. They 00:07:35.850 --> 00:07:37.930 are instantly in the presence of God Almighty. 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:41.629 And that's the confidence we have. Now, the Bible 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:44.970 also speaks of a future, a future when Jesus 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:52.689 is going to return. And it says the dead. meaning 00:07:52.689 --> 00:07:58.389 the shell that's left behind, all the dead, all 00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:01.689 of human history are going to rise and be joined. 00:08:01.810 --> 00:08:05.930 There's a reunion coming. Reunion, there we go. 00:08:07.129 --> 00:08:10.629 Right, there's a reunion coming. And it says 00:08:10.629 --> 00:08:12.829 specifically that those that have died that are 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:17.750 in Christ, they will return with Christ. And 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:19.350 we talked last week, you may be going, well, 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:21.310 what is that? That is you, that is the essence 00:08:21.310 --> 00:08:24.389 of you, right? Like when you talk about you, 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:26.769 if you've ever watched somebody pass away and 00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:28.730 they took their last breath, it's amazing how 00:08:28.730 --> 00:08:31.350 quickly they go from being there to you know 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:34.129 they're gone, right? And what happens is their 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:37.629 soul. their personhood, their essence, their 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:41.809 spirit leaves the body, right? And so now what 00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:44.330 we're told is it leaves the body. And in this 00:08:44.330 --> 00:08:46.490 present sense, this intermediate sense, because 00:08:46.490 --> 00:08:49.190 most people go, this is heaven. This is not heaven. 00:08:49.629 --> 00:08:52.649 In the sense of we think of heaven as our final 00:08:52.649 --> 00:08:55.129 resting place forever. This is just intermediate. 00:08:55.970 --> 00:08:58.210 And we know there's bodily form. We talked about 00:08:58.210 --> 00:09:01.450 that last week. Now, the reunion that happens, 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:05.240 right? is our physical bodies are now united 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.120 back with your soul, your spirit, and who you 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:13.379 are. So what you have happening, it says that 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:15.559 in Philippians and other places, you're going 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:20.700 to have a glorified body. Which means, if you 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:22.659 were here last week, it's the chubby version 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:29.759 of you. Right? But what does God do? God creates 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:31.940 at the end of the story a new heavens, or he 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:35.919 renews, I should say, the heavens and the earth. 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.080 And what do you have? You have God coming down 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:45.440 out of heaven to dwell on planet earth, right, 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:50.279 on earth with us. Why? Because in our glorified 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.009 state, we'll be there. What was God's intent 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:56.009 all the way along? That we would what? Be in 00:09:56.009 --> 00:09:58.110 perfect unity. What do you see at the end of 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:03.149 the story? Us and God in perfect unity. That's 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:07.470 the story of God. That's the plan that God has 00:10:07.470 --> 00:10:09.250 been doing the whole time. That's the action 00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:11.610 plan of what God has done. He stepped into human 00:10:11.610 --> 00:10:14.610 history. Why? That we could spend through the 00:10:14.610 --> 00:10:17.049 doorway of life, being the person of Jesus, we 00:10:17.049 --> 00:10:19.250 can spend eternity with him. And so what you 00:10:19.250 --> 00:10:23.269 have next. is what we kind of ended on last week. 00:10:23.309 --> 00:10:24.950 We kind of said, hey, this is coming, right? 00:10:25.470 --> 00:10:29.570 And so what you had was this, verse nine. So 00:10:29.570 --> 00:10:31.529 he's just said, absent from the body, present 00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:33.909 with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please 00:10:33.909 --> 00:10:37.529 him, whether we are at home in the body or away 00:10:37.529 --> 00:10:40.350 from it. So he goes, whether you're here or you've 00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:42.470 already left this life, your goal is the same. 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:44.870 It is to honor God. And we'll talk about that 00:10:44.870 --> 00:10:50.210 more later. Verse 10, for we. must all appear 00:10:50.210 --> 00:10:55.570 before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each 00:10:55.570 --> 00:11:00.289 of us may receive what is due us for the things 00:11:00.289 --> 00:11:05.710 done while in the body. If you remember last 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:08.250 week, we talked about two specific judgments. 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:12.929 There's one that has books. And yes, those are 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:16.750 books before you judge it, not the Ten Commandments. 00:11:18.350 --> 00:11:20.470 And there's one that is the book of life, and 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:27.929 then there's a throne. And you're like, that's 00:11:27.929 --> 00:11:36.870 a throne? Yeah. It's getting there. There's two 00:11:36.870 --> 00:11:38.929 judgments that are spoken of. One of them is 00:11:38.929 --> 00:11:43.370 here, the judgment seat of Christ. And what you 00:11:43.370 --> 00:11:53.039 have is this is the future. He says, we must 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.620 all, we must all. So who's he talking to? He's 00:11:57.620 --> 00:11:59.440 talking to Christians, talking to the church. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:06.840 All, being inclusive, appear before the judgment 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:08.759 seat of Christ. So John, what you're saying is, 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:14.659 as a follower of Jesus, I will be judged. Absolutely, 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:19.629 is what I'm saying. And what that means is, what 00:12:19.629 --> 00:12:21.870 that means is that when it says the judgment 00:12:21.870 --> 00:12:25.889 seat of Christ, the word there is Bema. And what 00:12:25.889 --> 00:12:29.450 Bema was used for, it was a place you stepped 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:33.350 up onto. And when you stepped up onto it, think 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:36.070 of like the Olympic Games, you stepped up. And 00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.789 when you appeared there, what you had done in 00:12:38.789 --> 00:12:42.409 the race now showed up and you were rewarded 00:12:42.409 --> 00:12:46.470 for what you had done. So the behemoth seat also 00:12:46.470 --> 00:12:49.110 connected to the military, that in the military, 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:51.370 that if you've gone off and done things, then 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:54.169 the honor you received was when you stepped up, 00:12:54.330 --> 00:12:57.110 you would receive your medal of honor for your 00:12:57.110 --> 00:13:00.809 service. What you have done played into that 00:13:00.809 --> 00:13:04.149 moment and what you received. So what's happening 00:13:04.149 --> 00:13:08.970 here is Paul's telling us, hey, people, specifically, 00:13:09.309 --> 00:13:12.669 hey, church, there is a judgment coming and you 00:13:12.669 --> 00:13:15.340 will stand there. Romans 14 picks up on this, 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.659 just so you don't think it's only in one spot. 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:23.340 Romans 14, verse 10. You then, why do you judge? 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.779 So very practical conversation. Why do you judge 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:28.620 your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:35.019 with contempt? For we will all stand before God's 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:39.809 judgment seat. It is written. As surely as I 00:13:39.809 --> 00:13:42.649 live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before 00:13:42.649 --> 00:13:46.110 me. Every tongue will acknowledge that I am God. 00:13:46.190 --> 00:13:48.070 So he's saying there's going to be this day when 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.230 you get before a throne and you are going to 00:13:50.230 --> 00:13:52.710 bow your knee, whether you bowed it in this life 00:13:52.710 --> 00:13:55.210 or not. He goes, there's a judgment coming. Everyone 00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:57.649 will be there. So then each of us will give an 00:13:57.649 --> 00:14:01.009 account of ourselves to God. So you, you are 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:03.629 going to have to give an account of yourself 00:14:03.629 --> 00:14:09.889 to God. Hebrews says this. In verse 9, Hebrews 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:15.190 9, 27. Just as people are destined to die once 00:14:15.190 --> 00:14:21.110 and after that to face judgment. Just as people 00:14:21.110 --> 00:14:23.889 are destined to die. Why can he say destined 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:25.649 to die? Because the hit rate of death is what? 00:14:26.529 --> 00:14:30.850 100%. It don't matter. It don't matter how young 00:14:30.850 --> 00:14:32.789 you think you are. It don't matter how good looking 00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:35.159 you think you are. It don't matter if you're 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:37.379 a gym bro, right? Like you're just in there hitting 00:14:37.379 --> 00:14:38.840 it hard. You're gonna keep this thing alive. 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.840 It don't matter. What I know is you and me and 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.240 all of humans have this thing called death and 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.240 it is coming for you whether you like it or not. 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:54.480 You don't escape. You may prolong, but you will 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.919 not escape. A wise person told me with this verse, 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.460 you can translate destined and you translate 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:03.200 it appointed. It goes appointed. It is appointed 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.840 to man once, man being all people, to die. Appointed 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:10.120 to die and then judgment. You have an appointment 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.220 you are going to keep. You don't know when it's 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:15.019 on your calendar, but you will keep it. There 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.460 will be a day when you stop breathing and you 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.159 will stand before Almighty God, which is what 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:27.240 Revelation 20, Revelation 20 picks up on. This 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.700 is John's vision of the future. Then I saw a 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:35.590 great white. Really important on great, white. 00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:39.429 The idea of great is that the being on the throne, 00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:42.809 there is no higher throne. There is no higher 00:15:42.809 --> 00:15:45.669 being. This is the ultimate supreme being that 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:47.750 is sitting on this throne. That's kind of the 00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:50.549 emphasis of that word great. So there is a great 00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:53.470 white, white being holy. So the being that's 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:56.700 on there, not only is he great. He is holy, meaning 00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:59.600 he cannot be in the presence of sin, meaning 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:04.139 he cannot allow anything around him that is unholy, 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:06.360 which is why the angels right now are singing 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:09.480 in his presence, holy, holy, holy is the Lord 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:12.799 God Almighty. Then I saw a great white throne 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.120 and him who was seated on it. The earth and the 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.000 heavens fled from his presence and there was 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:20.559 no place for them. That's speaking that this 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.659 was the end of the time, right? This is the future. 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:29.840 And I saw the dead great and small. Now, remember, 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.500 the story is there is Jesus is coming, right? 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:36.659 And so everybody is raised. Every single person 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:41.539 is raised. And you may be going, well, how is 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:45.519 that possible that every single person is raised? 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.779 Like I had this uncle and this uncle was cremated 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:51.419 and we went to the ocean and like his ashes went 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:54.299 everywhere. How is this true? How can this be 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:56.440 possible? Pretty sure, we talked about this last 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:58.279 week, but pretty sure that if God can create 00:16:58.279 --> 00:16:59.860 the heavens and the earth out of nothing, he 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:06.099 can find your uncle. He'll be just fine. And 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:08.119 he's going to collect every single person and 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:12.640 put them back together. And then it says, I saw 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:20.160 the dead, great and small. Great is a word that 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:24.660 you use to speak of. wealth, position, power, 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:28.720 influence, whatever, humanly speaking, we measure 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.680 a person to be great by. That's what that means. 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.180 On the other side, you have small, the insignificant, 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.059 the obscure, the isolated, the oppressed, right? 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:42.660 And so what it's getting at is there, if you 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:45.200 go to the extremes of both of those, that pretty 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:48.859 much captures all humans in between. He goes, 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.200 I saw the great. And the small. There's no favoritism 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.559 between you had this and you had that and I was 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:57.920 great and you were small, like whatever. He goes, 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.359 that doesn't matter, right? The great and the 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:07.839 small. They stand before the throne and books 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.059 were opened. Another book was opened, which is 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:12.900 the book of life. So you've got books and then 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:16.480 you have the book of life. The dead were judged 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.069 according to what? they had done as recorded 00:18:20.069 --> 00:18:25.029 in the book. So what he's saying is that in the 00:18:25.029 --> 00:18:30.769 future, at the great white throne, there are 00:18:30.769 --> 00:18:38.250 books. And specifically, there's a book called 00:18:38.250 --> 00:18:50.039 Life. They were judged according to what they 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:57.539 had done as recorded in those books. The sea 00:18:57.539 --> 00:19:01.859 gave up the dead that were in it, and death and 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:04.779 Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:10.640 each, get this, each person, each person was 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:22.210 judged according to what they had done. 100 % 00:19:22.210 --> 00:19:37.990 of people stand at this judgment. 100%. And it 00:19:37.990 --> 00:19:41.809 says that while it's 100%, which is the whole, 00:19:46.089 --> 00:19:48.490 Maybe a better way to do it so it stands out 00:19:48.490 --> 00:19:56.349 and you remember it. Each person. Know what that 00:19:56.349 --> 00:20:00.529 tells me? Your mama's faith ain't going to matter 00:20:00.529 --> 00:20:04.089 when you get there. You're not going to be hiding 00:20:04.089 --> 00:20:08.789 behind your mom in heaven. It's not going to 00:20:08.789 --> 00:20:11.009 matter that, oh, well, my family went to church. 00:20:13.130 --> 00:20:15.819 Why? Because it's not about your family. What 00:20:15.819 --> 00:20:20.420 you have is 100 % of people and each person, 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:23.660 it says individually, each person, that means 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:30.460 you will stand and was judged according to what 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:36.319 they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.920 into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.799 second death. Anyone whose name was not found 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.640 written in the book of life was thrown into the 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.140 lake of fire. So wait, they show up to be judged. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.599 They're judged by what they've done. And then 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.299 there's this book of life. And if your name is 00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:59.480 not in that book of life, it says that you are 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:04.019 thrown into the lake of fire. Okay, so just clarifying 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:08.460 terms. The term hell is... Lake of fire, okay? 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.859 So anyone whose name is not found in this book 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:20.759 of life is thrown into hell. Every person will 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:24.240 stand before that throne. Now, to understand 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.339 the consequences of this and make sure we're 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:28.700 all tracking on the same page, we have to understand 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.400 when we talk about hell, what is hell, right? 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.180 Because we have this weird kind of conversation 00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:39.059 or culture around, the idea that God creates 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:41.740 the heavens and the earth, right? And we've talked 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:45.440 about that, and he puts humans on them, but we've 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.640 kind of made the story of God to go like this, 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:51.440 that God created, and now the whole purpose of 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.359 your life is to try and get to this place called 00:21:55.359 --> 00:22:00.180 heaven, right? Because you don't want to be the 00:22:00.180 --> 00:22:09.650 person who goes to... Hell. So what we've made 00:22:09.650 --> 00:22:11.569 this whole life about is there's two destinations, 00:22:11.730 --> 00:22:14.250 and here's what happens. You just need to make 00:22:14.250 --> 00:22:16.990 sure that you have fire insurance, so to speak, 00:22:17.029 --> 00:22:19.509 to make sure you go to heaven and don't go to 00:22:19.509 --> 00:22:22.029 hell. You don't want to go to the lake of fire. 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:26.910 But the story of God is actually much different. 00:22:26.950 --> 00:22:32.490 The story of God is, yes, God creates the heavens 00:22:32.490 --> 00:22:37.599 and the earth. But the story of God is that this 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:43.700 thing that humans did, not God, humans, and it's 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:45.700 right here, we've already covered it, humans 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:50.720 sin, and what happens when humans sin is that 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:58.000 everything is affected by sin and evil and selfishness. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.740 So much so that when sin entered, the earth itself 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:05.660 is groaning, is what Romans says. The earth is 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:10.720 groaning to be released from evil, right? Everything 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:13.900 was affected by the choice that they made when 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:16.200 sin entered. So now here's how this plays out. 00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:18.839 I don't need to stand here and convince you that 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:21.839 something is wrong with our world. I don't need 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.589 to convince you of evil. I don't need to convince 00:23:25.589 --> 00:23:28.670 you that the abuse of another human is wrong. 00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:30.930 I don't need to convince you that when we talk 00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:33.430 about sex trafficking, we call it sex trafficking 00:23:33.430 --> 00:23:35.990 to actually clean it up because we don't like 00:23:35.990 --> 00:23:38.410 to talk about what it actually is where other 00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:42.490 humans are abused for sexual activity. We know 00:23:42.490 --> 00:23:45.369 there's something wrong with that. I don't have 00:23:45.369 --> 00:23:48.210 to convince you that the abuse of minors is wrong. 00:23:49.390 --> 00:23:52.269 Why? Because we internally know that something 00:23:52.269 --> 00:23:55.509 is broken, that sin has corrupted every single 00:23:55.509 --> 00:23:59.750 part of what we are. And guess what? God knew 00:23:59.750 --> 00:24:05.890 it too. Which is why God came to planet Earth 00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:12.769 in human form and went to a cross. What did he 00:24:12.769 --> 00:24:17.759 take to the cross? The consequence of sin is 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:19.859 death. And what did he do? He freed us from death. 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:24.160 Right? What was God doing? He was creating a 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:29.059 way. He was creating a way to life. Right? Through 00:24:29.059 --> 00:24:32.619 the tomb. And you see what happens is the end 00:24:32.619 --> 00:24:35.180 of the story isn't about escaping planet Earth. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:39.039 It's actually about God renewing the Earth and 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:44.559 a city, God's city, coming down so that God is 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:49.130 with us. But for this to happen, guess what God 00:24:49.130 --> 00:24:51.670 has to do? He has to purge the earth of what? 00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:56.490 Evil. It's interesting, when Jesus talks about 00:24:56.490 --> 00:24:58.769 hell, you know how he talks about it? Outside 00:24:58.769 --> 00:25:01.410 the city, outside the city, outside the city. 00:25:02.109 --> 00:25:06.349 Right? Well, the city of God comes down and what 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:09.750 happens to evil? What happens to hell? He gets 00:25:09.750 --> 00:25:16.450 the hell out of earth. Literally. And what happens 00:25:16.450 --> 00:25:20.589 is it's cast out. Why? Because if you never cast 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:24.170 out evil, there can't be a space where God can 00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:28.509 dwell. Remember, he's holy. God can't dwell unless 00:25:28.509 --> 00:25:30.829 the space is purified. How do you purify a space? 00:25:31.430 --> 00:25:34.170 Peter talks about it with fire, right? The refiner's 00:25:34.170 --> 00:25:37.970 fire purifies. What is he doing? He's removing 00:25:37.970 --> 00:25:42.170 hell from earth. We celebrate, you guys, when... 00:25:43.340 --> 00:25:46.240 We celebrate, right, when Satan is cast out, 00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:48.480 when the enemy is cast out, and he's in hell. 00:25:48.660 --> 00:25:51.440 We're like, yeah, Jesus won. Well, you know what's 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:54.059 happening at the book of life? What's happening 00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:56.200 at the book of life? And I'm going to be really 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:58.279 honest with you. Church people in the room, if 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:00.200 you're not familiar with church, this isn't for 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.039 you. You don't have to think I'm mad at you, 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:05.299 right? But church people, stop arguing about 00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:10.140 dumb stuff. Right? I spent way too many arguments 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:12.380 trying to figure out what's the timeline and 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.779 how does it work. I'm just here to tell you what 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:18.200 I know. And what I know is there is a day coming 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:23.019 when I will stand before Almighty God. And I'm 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:25.440 going to stand before Almighty God and he's going 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:29.500 to open a book that has my deeds in it. And I 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.880 don't know how you feel. I just know me. I got 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:36.369 a lot of bad in my life. I have a lot of sin 00:26:36.369 --> 00:26:38.769 in my life. I have a lot of things that are evil 00:26:38.769 --> 00:26:41.809 in my life. I have thoughts that are broken. 00:26:42.990 --> 00:26:46.349 And on that day, they will be revealed before 00:26:46.349 --> 00:26:49.250 Almighty God. But I need you to understand at 00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:52.349 the great white throne where the books are, guess 00:26:52.349 --> 00:26:55.529 what? I'm going to understand how good grace 00:26:55.529 --> 00:26:59.940 is. Because what's going to happen is my sin 00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:03.559 and my shame and my guilt and my evil is going 00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:07.859 to be put forward. And Jesus is going to go, 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:16.960 I paid for it all. I paid for it all. I know 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:21.319 today 100 % without a shadow of a doubt, without 00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:25.099 any kind of lack of confidence, the same confidence 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:28.440 that Paul has when he wrote, I know that I know 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:31.140 that I know that because of Jesus, my name is 00:27:31.140 --> 00:27:35.240 in the book of life, which means this judgment 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:39.920 is not for me because of Jesus. How do I know 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:44.759 that? Because what Jesus said over here is that 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:48.500 when you believe, When you believe, what do you 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:51.599 receive? Eternal life. What does that mean? Your 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:54.599 name. When you believe in Jesus, your name is 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:57.759 put into the book of life. I know that when I 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.880 stand at the great white throne, my name will 00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:08.180 be in the book of life. Do you? Do you know? 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:11.559 Do you know that you know that your name is in 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:13.779 the book of life? That's the question that you 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:16.480 have to wrestle with. Because the only way your 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:18.960 name gets there is by trusting in what Jesus 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.019 has done, that he has paid your sin and he has 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:25.819 paved the way for all of eternity. Now, we started 00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:31.240 this talking about 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:40.960 in 2 Corinthians 5, if I can find it, it said 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:48.160 this, must all appear before the judgment seat 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.000 of Christ. So wait, there's a second judgment. 00:28:52.259 --> 00:28:56.019 This one is your name in the book of life. There's 00:28:56.019 --> 00:28:58.140 another judgment. Remember the Bema seat where 00:28:58.140 --> 00:29:07.480 you step up? The judgment seat of Christ? Something 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:12.279 like this, kind of? If you think you can do better, 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:24.740 you know, we can try. See what happens. But there's 00:29:24.740 --> 00:29:27.740 a judgment seat of Christ. Who is the judgment 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:29.339 seat of Christ for? Well, the judgment seat of 00:29:29.339 --> 00:29:31.759 Christ is for all of those whose name is in the 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.839 book of life. You still will be held accountable. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:37.079 So here's the good news, right? Good news is 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:43.279 100%. of people with life because they trusted 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:46.319 Jesus will show up here. So the good news is 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:49.420 you're not alone. However, at the judgment seat 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:54.640 of Christ, you will be just you. Nobody else 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.839 is going with you in that moment. When you step 00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:59.740 up and everything is shown for what it is. Now, 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:02.680 the good news about this is the judgment seat 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:05.220 of Christ isn't about whether you are saved or 00:30:05.220 --> 00:30:12.759 not. It's about what you've done. You know that 00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:15.039 you're saved, but when you get to the judgment 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:17.319 seat of Christ, what's going to happen is that 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:20.700 you're going to be held accountable. What did 00:30:20.700 --> 00:30:24.500 you do with what I gave you? God's going to look 00:30:24.500 --> 00:30:28.599 at you and go, I gave you eternal life. So you 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:30.720 didn't have to spend your life looking for life. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:34.400 You already had it. And I think he's going to 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.180 ask, so what did you do with what I gave you? 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.440 I gave you some really cool gifts. I gave you 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:43.740 some really great influence. I gave you a job 00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:45.660 that meant that you never had to worry about 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:48.740 anything financial. Why? So that you could build 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:54.000 the kingdom of God. I gave you a family. What'd 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.980 you do with them? Where did you leave them? How 00:30:55.980 --> 00:30:59.200 did you build for eternity? I believe that everything 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:02.559 he's put in your hand, he's going to ask, what'd 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.220 you do? In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 00:31:07.939 --> 00:31:09.720 Paul's writing to the church of Corinth. He says 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.140 this, by the grace God has given me, I laid a 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:15.299 foundation as a wise builder and someone else 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:17.359 is building on it, but each should build with 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:20.000 care. So he goes, hey, I built in my time on 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.599 earth. I built into the kingdom of God, into 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:25.460 the glory of God for the things of God. And he 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:26.900 goes, somebody else is coming and building on 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:31.680 top. But he goes, be careful. Verse 11, for no 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:33.940 one can lay a foundation other than the one already 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:37.519 laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:42.140 on this foundation using gold, silver, costly 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:46.200 stones, wood, hay, or straw, their work will 00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:52.279 be shown for what it is. Because the day of judgment 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:55.599 will bring to light, and it will be revealed 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:58.839 with fire. Fire purifies, right? So what's going 00:31:58.839 --> 00:32:02.019 to happen is your work, the things you did with 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:05.309 what God gave you, The way that you built, the 00:32:05.309 --> 00:32:10.589 way that you use this life. I loved it in 2 Corinthians 00:32:10.589 --> 00:32:14.289 5 .10. It says good or bad. So it's a both and. 00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:19.470 But you know what the bad is? Worthless. So did 00:32:19.470 --> 00:32:21.529 I take everything I was given and put it into 00:32:21.529 --> 00:32:25.170 worthless stuff is what he's saying. I don't 00:32:25.170 --> 00:32:27.049 think we get to step up at the judgment seat 00:32:27.049 --> 00:32:29.490 of Christ. I don't think we step up as believers. 00:32:29.930 --> 00:32:32.349 Into that moment and go, hey, God, aren't you 00:32:32.349 --> 00:32:41.269 proud of my 14 years I spent on TikTok? We already 00:32:41.269 --> 00:32:44.710 know it's worthless. That's why we call it doom 00:32:44.710 --> 00:32:49.210 scrolling. We already know that there's stuff 00:32:49.210 --> 00:32:52.789 that we do that is just worthless. That when 00:32:52.789 --> 00:32:55.490 the fire comes to it, it's just going to disappear. 00:32:56.730 --> 00:33:01.869 And you have this moment. Where he says the fire 00:33:01.869 --> 00:33:03.869 will test the quality. You know what the quality 00:33:03.869 --> 00:33:08.730 is? It's the motive that you did it with. What's 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:13.190 the motive behind how you live your life? Because 00:33:13.190 --> 00:33:15.369 there's going to be a moment when you stand before 00:33:15.369 --> 00:33:21.470 God. And as a believer, I give an account for 00:33:21.470 --> 00:33:28.650 the motives that drove my life. Verse 14, if 00:33:28.650 --> 00:33:32.180 it has been built. If what has been built survives, 00:33:32.460 --> 00:33:35.259 the builder will receive a reward. We don't have 00:33:35.259 --> 00:33:37.940 time to talk about this, but there are rewards. 00:33:38.180 --> 00:33:44.160 That's the good news. Right? But this isn't kids' 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:49.500 soccer. It's built on your work. Right? You don't 00:33:49.500 --> 00:33:52.480 get a participation medal. You don't show up 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:57.559 and go, hey, here you go. Good job. There's five 00:33:57.559 --> 00:33:59.319 rewards. We don't have time to talk about those. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:06.119 But what's happening in this moment? You're standing 00:34:06.119 --> 00:34:12.619 before God and God says, I'll give you a reward 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:17.460 if it survives. Verse 15, but if it is burned 00:34:17.460 --> 00:34:25.320 up, the builder will suffer loss. But yet, listen 00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:30.170 to this, but yet will be saved. Why? Because 00:34:30.170 --> 00:34:31.949 this throne isn't about whether you're saved 00:34:31.949 --> 00:34:34.630 or not, right? It's what you did with what you 00:34:34.630 --> 00:34:37.409 had. So this isn't about whether you're saved 00:34:37.409 --> 00:34:39.889 or not. We're already at the great white throne, 00:34:40.070 --> 00:34:41.690 book of life. My name's in the book of life, 00:34:41.730 --> 00:34:47.150 so I stand at this one. And I know, he says, 00:34:47.150 --> 00:34:49.050 yet will be saved, even though as one escaping 00:34:49.050 --> 00:34:52.190 through the flames. You know what? Another way 00:34:52.190 --> 00:34:54.929 to say that is, it's an old saying, by the skin 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:59.139 of your teeth, you were saved. Right, like you, 00:34:59.260 --> 00:35:05.039 only Jesus, that's it. God's gonna look at you 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:06.739 and go, only Jesus, because everything else is 00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:11.780 gone. Only Jesus. But what'd you do with what 00:35:11.780 --> 00:35:16.400 I gave? And I think it's interesting. We have 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:20.719 such weird, like we think we're gonna. Because 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:22.380 we're in relationship with Jesus. We spend time 00:35:22.380 --> 00:35:24.219 with Jesus. We try to make Jesus as tangible 00:35:24.219 --> 00:35:26.059 as possible, right? Like we see Jesus on the 00:35:26.059 --> 00:35:28.579 earth. And so I think sometimes we have this 00:35:28.579 --> 00:35:30.699 image in our head that when it comes to judgment 00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:32.820 and it comes to that, we're just gonna walk into 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:37.139 that throne room and be like, hey, Jesus. I don't 00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:38.760 think it's gonna be like that at all. Here's 00:35:38.760 --> 00:35:43.360 why. Revelation chapter one. John is writing 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:47.059 about what he saw in heaven. Verse 12, I turned 00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:50.119 around to see. the voice that was speaking to 00:35:50.119 --> 00:35:53.440 me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:55.260 and among the lampstands was someone like the 00:35:55.260 --> 00:35:59.599 Son of Man, a name for Jesus, dressed in a robe, 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:01.800 reaching down to his feet with a golden sash 00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:04.659 around his chest. The hair on his head was white 00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:06.960 like wool. Nothing wrong with white hair, just 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:12.179 saying, right? As white as snow. And his eyes 00:36:12.179 --> 00:36:19.320 were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze 00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:21.940 glowing in a furnace. His voice was like the 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:25.199 sound of rushing waters. In his right hand, he 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:27.920 held seven stars and coming out of his mouth 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:30.719 was a sharp double -edged sword. His face was 00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:35.440 like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:40.079 I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:44.199 Then he placed his right hand on me and said, 00:36:44.340 --> 00:36:46.619 do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:49.820 I am the living one. I was dead and now look, 00:36:49.940 --> 00:36:52.500 I am alive forever. And I hold the keys to death 00:36:52.500 --> 00:36:55.880 and Hades. I think when we get to heaven, remember 00:36:55.880 --> 00:36:58.739 who John was? John was the disciple that at a 00:36:58.739 --> 00:37:01.119 meal was reclining on Jesus because they were 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:05.710 that close. He was that comfortable. He sees 00:37:05.710 --> 00:37:08.750 the glorified, resurrected Jesus, the Jesus that'll 00:37:08.750 --> 00:37:11.190 sit on a throne. And what does he do? He's on 00:37:11.190 --> 00:37:13.230 his face. Why? Because of the brilliance and 00:37:13.230 --> 00:37:16.449 the glorification of who Jesus actually is. He's 00:37:16.449 --> 00:37:19.469 on his face as though he is dead before him. 00:37:25.170 --> 00:37:28.650 I'm reading this this week. I'm preparing. It's 00:37:28.650 --> 00:37:33.989 a normal Monday. Sitting in Starbucks. Got my 00:37:33.989 --> 00:37:41.309 blonde Americano, so life is okay. I got worship 00:37:41.309 --> 00:37:46.309 music in my headphones, ears, whatever they are, 00:37:46.369 --> 00:37:52.090 AirPods, whatever you call those. And then I 00:37:52.090 --> 00:37:55.989 read this. And in the middle of an average day 00:37:55.989 --> 00:38:04.679 in Starbucks, I fall into confession. Because 00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:10.739 when I read about standing before Jesus, and 00:38:10.739 --> 00:38:14.880 I read about what have you done with what I gave, 00:38:15.019 --> 00:38:20.519 and he's gonna see the motives of my heart, I'm 00:38:20.519 --> 00:38:24.559 undone. Because I know there are far too many 00:38:24.559 --> 00:38:29.579 times I do things out of pride. There are far 00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:33.039 too many times when it's about me. There are 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:37.340 far too many times when raising my kids, I don't 00:38:37.340 --> 00:38:39.420 have eternity in mind in raising my kids. I just 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:41.280 want them to do what I want them to do. And I 00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:43.599 want you to do it now and not let me ask again. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:48.719 I think he's gonna look at the gifts that he's 00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:52.480 given. He's gonna look at the good and the bad. 00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:54.079 And so what happened for me in that Starbucks 00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:57.519 is I just began to agree with God. What does 00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:59.900 that mean? Like confession is just that I agree 00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:04.059 with God. God, you're right. The motive is often 00:39:04.059 --> 00:39:09.179 this. And I acknowledge that. I confess that 00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:13.079 to you. God, I confess that with all of the things 00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:15.079 you've put in my life, all of the resources, 00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:17.760 all of the influence, all of the gifts, all of 00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:21.579 the people, all of the... God, I confess that 00:39:21.579 --> 00:39:24.380 I don't always use those in a way that's appropriate 00:39:24.380 --> 00:39:34.300 for the kingdom of God. God, I confess that my 00:39:34.300 --> 00:39:37.679 motives are off. And then it leads to repentance. 00:39:38.420 --> 00:39:42.000 You know what repentance is? I change my mind. 00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:44.159 How do I change my mind? I agree with what God 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:46.420 said, and now I'm gonna go a different direction 00:39:46.420 --> 00:39:50.079 from the direction I've been. So I was sitting 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:52.099 there in Starbucks, confessing and repenting, 00:39:52.099 --> 00:39:54.940 confessing and repenting. And I wrote the team 00:39:54.940 --> 00:39:56.619 and I said, hey, you guys, I just feel like God 00:39:56.619 --> 00:39:59.480 is calling us to spend time. in confession and 00:39:59.480 --> 00:40:03.599 repentance this weekend. Because I don't know 00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:07.699 how you read any of this and go, I'm perfect. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:10.699 I don't know how you read any of this and go, 00:40:10.739 --> 00:40:13.099 I don't waste time. I don't see how you read 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:16.340 any of this and go, man, I got this all together. 00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:20.920 It's a sobering fact that I will stand before 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:26.780 my maker. And then there's another piece to it 00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:31.070 that was burdening. is that there are people 00:40:31.070 --> 00:40:38.530 right here, right now, across screens, in other 00:40:38.530 --> 00:40:42.610 locations, and you don't know that your name 00:40:42.610 --> 00:40:52.110 is in the book of life. You couldn't say today 00:40:52.110 --> 00:40:57.469 because you've never fully trusted the person 00:40:57.469 --> 00:41:03.440 of Jesus for life. And I'm burdened for you today. 00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:07.000 Because I know what that means for eternity. 00:41:07.079 --> 00:41:12.579 I understand how eternity works. Jesus has made 00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:15.119 it so difficult, Levi Lusko said, that you have 00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:17.840 to trip over the cross of Christ to get to hell. 00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:21.659 You literally have to trip over Jesus to get 00:41:21.659 --> 00:41:27.039 there. Don't let another day go by where you 00:41:27.039 --> 00:41:30.929 go. I'm good. I'll figure it out at some point. 00:41:31.030 --> 00:41:36.409 You may not have another point. And you don't 00:41:36.409 --> 00:41:38.690 get to play around with eternity. It's coming 00:41:38.690 --> 00:41:40.849 whether you are ready or not. You don't know 00:41:40.849 --> 00:41:43.309 when your tent is laid down, but you do know 00:41:43.309 --> 00:41:45.369 this, that you have today and you have right 00:41:45.369 --> 00:41:50.750 now. And it's real easy. If you're in the room 00:41:50.750 --> 00:41:52.409 and you go, I don't know, John, if I'm in the 00:41:52.409 --> 00:41:55.190 book of life, it's real easy. Jesus, I give you 00:41:55.190 --> 00:42:01.949 my life. thank you for saving me. Jesus, I trust 00:42:01.949 --> 00:42:05.369 that you died for me. I trust that you grant 00:42:05.369 --> 00:42:09.510 life. If you're in the room and you don't know, 00:42:09.590 --> 00:42:11.769 if your name is in the book of life, that's your 00:42:11.769 --> 00:42:14.750 prayer today. Jesus, thank you for saving me. 00:42:15.710 --> 00:42:21.170 I give you my life. For those of you that know 00:42:21.170 --> 00:42:25.880 Jesus, I think we just need to spend some time 00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:32.380 talking to him, letting him search us and confess 00:42:32.380 --> 00:42:37.460 and repent. So the next moments are yours. Church, 00:42:37.699 --> 00:42:40.139 I don't care if you stay where you are. I don't 00:42:40.139 --> 00:42:41.780 care if you come down front. I don't care what 00:42:41.780 --> 00:42:44.159 you do. I just, please don't miss this opportunity 00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:48.579 to talk to God. Please don't miss this opportunity 00:42:48.579 --> 00:42:55.329 to confess, repent, and step in. to be saved. 00:42:56.789 --> 00:42:58.590 So next moments are yours and then we're gonna 00:42:58.590 --> 00:43:00.550 worship together, you guys. We're gonna worship. 00:43:02.070 --> 00:43:03.230 So next moments are yours.