WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.439 The Gospel according to John, beginning in chapter 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.619 1, verse 19. This was John's testimony when the 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:17.339 Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:22.000 to ask him, Who are you? He didn't deny it, but 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.719 confessed, I am not the Messiah. What then? they 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:28.660 asked him. Are you Elijah? I'm not, he said. 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:32.539 Are you the prophet? No, he answered. Who are 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:35.329 you then? they asked. We need to give an answer 00:00:35.329 --> 00:00:38.450 to those who sent us. What can you tell us about 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.350 yourself? He said, I am a voice of one crying 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.929 out in the wilderness, make straight the way 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:47.429 of the Lord, just as Isaiah the prophet said. 00:00:47.950 --> 00:00:50.590 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees, so 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:53.750 they asked him, why then do you baptize if you 00:00:53.750 --> 00:00:56.289 aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet? 00:00:57.009 --> 00:01:00.289 I baptize with water, John answered them. Someone 00:01:00.289 --> 00:01:03.159 stands among you, but you don't know him. He 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.659 is the one coming after me whose sandal strap 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:09.219 I am not worthy to untie. All this happened in 00:01:09.219 --> 00:01:11.859 Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:15.280 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.400 and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.019 the sin of the world. This is the one I told 00:01:21.019 --> 00:01:23.959 you about. After me comes a man who ranks ahead 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:27.200 of me because he existed before me. I didn't 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:29.920 know him, but I came baptizing with water so 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.000 that he might be revealed to Israel. And John 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.040 testified, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:39.040 like a dove, and He rested on Him. I didn't know 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.859 Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.719 told me, The one you see the Spirit descending 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.959 and resting on, He is the one who baptizes with 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.780 the Holy Spirit. I have seen and testified that 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:54.379 this is the Son of God. The Word of the Lord. 00:01:59.579 --> 00:02:07.680 You all can have a seat. You guys ready for John? 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:13.039 Hey, if you don't have one of these Bibles, this 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.479 is our gift to you. The cool thing about it is 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:18.819 you can write notes in it and write it all up 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:20.740 and do whatever you want with it. The first thing 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:22.759 you do is grab one of these. If you don't have 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:25.560 one right now, you can jump up. We won't be afraid. 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:27.979 We won't shame you. Just go in the back, grab 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:31.219 one off the table. They're there for you. And 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:34.039 then write your name in it so that when you leave 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:36.159 it here at the school, They know who it goes 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.240 back to. Just kidding. So keep it, all right? 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:43.080 Andrew, can you turn me down just a little bit? 00:02:43.180 --> 00:02:47.680 Thank you. All right, I can pull up. Notice today 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.680 I've got two, what I'm wearing. Just look at 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:52.960 me for a minute. Look at this craziness of what 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.680 I'm wearing. I've got the Radiant logo, and I've 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.240 got the Living Stones logo right here. Okay, 00:02:58.259 --> 00:02:59.919 what is Living Stones? Well, if you remember 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.520 a few weeks ago, I told you about I was down 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:07.969 in Reno. At South Reno, Livingstone, South Reno. 00:03:08.110 --> 00:03:12.289 So it's a church. So over a number of years ago, 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:18.050 we began kind of a close relationship with another 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:20.650 network of churches called the Livingstone's 00:03:20.650 --> 00:03:23.409 Family of Churches. So we have five Radiant Churches, 00:03:23.409 --> 00:03:26.030 and they have ten Livingstone's Churches now. 00:03:26.229 --> 00:03:28.509 And so we just began to say, let's work together. 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:32.550 find ways to help one another. In fact, when 00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:34.990 I was down there, I met with a potential church 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:38.430 planner that they're looking to start an 11th 00:03:38.430 --> 00:03:40.969 church, and we were talking about what would 00:03:40.969 --> 00:03:43.669 it look like for Radiant Matsu to financially 00:03:43.669 --> 00:03:48.009 contribute to help make that church to go. I 00:03:48.009 --> 00:03:49.289 don't know what just happened there, but anyway, 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:55.889 way down. So I was down there at South Reno. 00:03:55.909 --> 00:03:59.120 South Reno Church has financially... From the 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.000 very beginning, when we moved here, financially 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.439 jumped on board and said, we want to support 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.139 and believe in this church plant. And so Brad 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:12.039 Browski, who had been a part of the Living Stones 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:15.080 for a while, planted a church in Winnemucca. 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:17.620 Anybody know where Winnemucca is? Yeah, I've 00:04:17.620 --> 00:04:20.829 got like two people. Yeah, it's a... Kind of 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:23.449 like an Alaskan town. It's a mining town, ranching 00:04:23.449 --> 00:04:26.290 town in a sense of independence. Well, anyway, 00:04:26.430 --> 00:04:29.550 I've heard that. I've never been there. So Brad 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:32.329 planted a church there, and now he has moved, 00:04:32.449 --> 00:04:34.970 handed that church over, and he's at South Reno 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:39.449 Church in the south part of Reno. And he is the 00:04:39.449 --> 00:04:43.050 executive pastor of this church. When we were 00:04:43.050 --> 00:04:45.509 down there, I invited him up, and he's come up 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:48.790 to be a part of the Convergence cohort that we're 00:04:48.790 --> 00:04:51.850 launching this week, which we'll talk about that 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:54.509 more later. But Brad's come on up here, and Brad's 00:04:54.509 --> 00:04:56.389 a good friend. He's been to Alaska before. I 00:04:56.389 --> 00:04:59.709 won't tell all of his stories, but he's a good 00:04:59.709 --> 00:05:02.350 friend. And I asked him to preach because we 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:05.529 don't get this opportunity very often. And just 00:05:05.529 --> 00:05:08.230 so you know, he can preach pretty well. So we're 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:11.000 going to pray for you. We need it, though. Lord, 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.980 we just pray for Brad right now, that as he preaches, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.920 that by your spirit, not by what Brad does, but 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:22.899 by your spirit, you empower him to unpack this 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:27.779 amazing text. God, thank you for the relationship 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:30.199 we have with Living Stones. Thank you for the 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.240 relationship with Brad, and thank you that he 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.519 can be here with us. So will you work in our 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:45.129 hearts as well, by your spirit. Amen. Thank you, 00:05:45.149 --> 00:05:49.329 Caleb. And hello, Radiant. A lot of people struggle 00:05:49.329 --> 00:05:50.970 to tell Caleb and I apart because we have equally 00:05:50.970 --> 00:05:55.529 awesome beards. But yeah, it's great to be with 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:58.129 you. I've finally met you guys for the first 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.370 time today. But so you know, this is special 00:06:01.370 --> 00:06:04.279 for me. Like Caleb said, we've been supporting 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:06.639 and not just financially, but through prayer 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.879 and thinking about and hearing from and wanting 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.100 to know and be part of this church plant from 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:15.079 the very beginning. And so it's awesome to finally 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:17.100 be here. I've never been able to worship with 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.279 you guys and to meet all of you. And if you've 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:21.579 been coming to, if maybe you met Jesus here, 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.759 just so you know, people have been praying that 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:25.939 that would happen for you since long before. 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.139 And God had a purpose, and that was fulfilled 00:06:29.139 --> 00:06:30.939 here. And you were able to meet Jesus because 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:35.639 churches a long way away from here prayed for 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:38.300 you and supported this ministry. And so there's 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:40.360 something big going on here. And I actually love 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.160 Alaska. I've been here. My uncle was stationed 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.819 in Kodiak when I was a kid, and so I can't come 00:06:46.819 --> 00:06:49.439 up here a bunch. I've got lots of stories. I 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.899 come up here a couple times a year to hunt and 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:56.550 fish and plan. in retreat, you know, while I'm 00:06:56.550 --> 00:06:59.329 hunting and fishing. But one time I brought my 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:01.189 wife up and I tried to convince her to move here. 00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:04.629 And she was totally on board until she found 00:07:04.629 --> 00:07:07.470 out about this thing called winter. And then 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:11.990 she was less on board. And so, actually, it's 00:07:11.990 --> 00:07:14.529 been record heat wave where I live. I don't know 00:07:14.529 --> 00:07:15.790 if you could tell, but I got a sunburn a couple 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:18.129 of days ago because I was outside too long in 00:07:18.129 --> 00:07:20.250 the nice sun. Did you guys see the sun two days 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:25.069 ago? Not sure? Too soon? Too soon? Is that a 00:07:25.069 --> 00:07:29.800 sore spot? Okay, I apologize. Again, we love 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:31.120 this church. I love this church. I've been praying 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.120 for you for a long time. And so you know, if 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.639 you've been coming, last week you started a series 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.540 in the book of John. And the book of John is 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:42.160 an awesome book. And we're actually, it's an 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.759 awesome book because it reminds us of the fundamentals 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.839 of what our hope is and what our purpose in life 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.339 is and who Jesus is. We always need that reminder, 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:51.980 right? Like Caleb said last week, the foyer. 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:53.819 We got to go back to the foyer and say, what 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:56.300 is all this about? Because it can seem kind of 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:58.680 hopeless and kind of routine. Life can just seem 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.420 sort of like that. And so we need to remind ourselves 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:04.300 of who Jesus is and why do we really follow him 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:06.480 and who are we really following. And if you're 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.639 a Christian, if you're a follower of Jesus, then 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.360 I'm guessing that you want to do that. You want 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.079 to follow him. And today we're going to talk 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.279 about exactly what that looks like. And maybe 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.160 this is your first time here. Maybe you're here 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:19.660 and you're a skeptic of all this. You actually 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:22.720 don't believe these things. And just so you know, 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:26.060 you're here on purpose too. People far from here 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:27.759 have been praying that you would be here today. 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:31.180 And God has a purpose for you. And just so you 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:33.399 know, a fundamental four -year type thing that 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:35.460 you need to know about. about Radiant and about 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:37.399 Living Stones too, and about gospel preaching 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:40.720 churches, is we believe that this Bible is God's 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.000 word. That every single word of this is from 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.379 the one who made us. And it's what we need in 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:49.019 order to know why we're here and what he did 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:51.799 to bring us back to him. And every single word 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.279 of this is important and vital for our living. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:56.820 And you may not believe that yet, but I'm going 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:58.860 to go out on a limb. And if you're a follower 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:00.399 of Jesus, then this is true for you too. It's 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.679 true for me. I bet you've spent at least a small, 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.200 if not a large portion of your life, trying to 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:09.379 live without a source of truth. Trying to live 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:12.340 by your own source of truth, by your own desires 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.200 and ideas and hopes, and without a clear path 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.879 of why you're here and what you're supposed to 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.399 be doing, without a constant hope that's never 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:22.500 going away. And I'm guessing you've probably 00:09:22.500 --> 00:09:24.580 realized, and if not, let me tell you today, 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:27.059 there's no other place you can find that except 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:29.980 in Jesus. There is no other way. There is no 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:32.179 other source of truth besides God's word. There 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:34.440 is no other hope besides what Jesus provides 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.200 for us. And so that's why we're in the book of 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.320 John. And Living Stones is actually preaching 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.860 through the book of John right now also. We're 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:43.139 a little bit further ahead. We've been in it 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:45.840 for a while. We're way further in chapter 12 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.240 or 14 or something. And I'm not going to give 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.019 you any spoilers. Actually, I am. I'm definitely 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:52.539 going to give you some spoilers and ruin the 00:09:52.539 --> 00:09:54.039 ending for you. But that's all right. We're going 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.320 to get into the passage. Let's turn to John chapter 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.759 1 as we just read. And by the way, I think I 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.279 could listen to that Bob guy read scripture all 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:06.440 day. Holy smokes. That was amazing. I kind of 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:07.820 want him just to come up and read my sermon so 00:10:07.820 --> 00:10:10.799 I can listen to it. His voice is soothing. All 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.879 right. Verse 19 of John chapter 1. This is John's 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:17.539 testimony. This just means story. When the Jews 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:20.519 from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.659 him, who are you? He didn't deny it, but confessed, 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.179 I am not the Messiah. What then? They asked him. 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:31.580 Are you Elijah? I am not, he said. Are you the 00:10:31.580 --> 00:10:35.370 prophet? No, he answered. Who are you then? They 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:38.830 asked, we need to give an answer to those who 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:42.009 sent us. What can you tell us about yourself? 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.740 Now, the first time I actually came to a Radiant 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:48.879 church, it was the Radiant in Fairbanks where 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:52.620 Caleb planted first. And this was long ago before 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:57.220 Matsu was in his view. And we went for a cohort. 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.120 We were gathering with a bunch of pastors. It 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.879 was actually during COVID. We were part of this 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:03.460 church planning network that put pastors together 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:05.820 to help each other, encourage each other, and 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:09.139 share ideas and support each other. And they 00:11:09.139 --> 00:11:11.100 said, no cohorts because it's COVID and people 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.000 can't travel. And we said, we're going to do 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.019 it. anyway, but we're going to go to where no 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:17.559 COVID could possibly be, and that's the wilds 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:19.539 of Alaska. So we went to Fairbanks, and then 00:11:19.539 --> 00:11:22.080 we went two hours outside of Fairbanks. But as 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:23.940 you guys know, because you were most likely here, 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:26.220 Alaska really didn't want anyone coming here, 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.240 right? Because then we might bring some germs. 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.279 And so it was tricky. You had to have a COVID 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.500 test within a certain period of time in order 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:35.860 to get on the plane or to be let in to the state. 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:38.340 And so all of us had to deal with that. And one 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:39.919 of the pastors, we get to the Fairbanks airport, 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.789 and we're waiting for him to come. through the 00:11:42.789 --> 00:11:44.649 checkpoint. He had to get off the plane. He had 00:11:44.649 --> 00:11:45.870 to go to the checkpoint. They had to get your 00:11:45.870 --> 00:11:49.309 documents, you know, and he had apparently some 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:51.929 issues with his document, right? The doctor signed 00:11:51.929 --> 00:11:54.610 it wrong or the test he got was not quite right 00:11:54.610 --> 00:11:56.590 or whatever, and they sat there. They like took 00:11:56.590 --> 00:11:58.769 him into a side room and like held him there 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:01.409 for like 45 minutes, almost not letting him out, 00:12:01.470 --> 00:12:05.289 almost like trying to send him back to California 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:09.049 or wherever he was from. And they were just grilling 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:11.549 him. Hey, what actually did you get? Can you 00:12:11.549 --> 00:12:13.830 log on to this thing? Can you call the doc? I 00:12:13.830 --> 00:12:14.990 mean, they were grilling him. They were trying 00:12:14.990 --> 00:12:18.409 to figure out if he was legitimately able to 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:21.649 come into the state. And that's exactly what's 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:25.399 happening here in John 1. Right? These Pharisees, 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:28.100 in fact, the Pharisees, by the way, are the religious 00:12:28.100 --> 00:12:29.820 leaders, right? So they're kind of the stewards. 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:31.899 They have portions of the Old Testament in there 00:12:31.899 --> 00:12:33.379 and they're like trying to make sure people are 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:34.940 believing the truth, right? It's a good thing 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:37.440 to try to do. They kind of added a bunch of their 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.019 own rules in there and so that got complicated. 00:12:39.220 --> 00:12:41.019 But basically what they do is they're trying 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:43.659 to keep the people from believing false prophets 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:47.580 and people who... preach who claim God's word 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:49.759 but aren't really true. And what we find out 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.559 later is these aren't the Pharisees themselves. 00:12:51.740 --> 00:12:53.620 They actually send some lackeys, some interns, 00:12:53.940 --> 00:12:56.720 some Pharisee interns to John because they hear 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.399 this guy's been preaching. And they're like, 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:00.200 you guys need to go and find out who he's claiming 00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:04.539 to be, what he's claiming to do. Now, they grill 00:13:04.539 --> 00:13:06.519 him with all these questions. Hey, who are you? 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:07.940 Who are you saying you are? Are you saying you're 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:09.899 the Messiah? Are you saying you're Elijah? Are 00:13:09.899 --> 00:13:12.500 you saying, who are you? What is going on here? 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:14.679 These interns are like grilling this guy. Now, 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.360 we love to hate on the Pharisees, right? Jesus 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.080 is constantly, you know, making them look stupid. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.039 They're constantly asking dumb questions and 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.139 doing shady things, and Jesus is like tossing 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.840 tables and constantly making them look dumb and 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:30.779 arrogant, and he's like, don't be like those 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:33.840 guys, right? But these are actually really good 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.120 questions. Like, if we're honest, it doesn't 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.980 denigrate the Pharisees or their interns from 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:41.379 asking John these questions. If someone comes 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:44.769 claiming, Like an authority from above. If I 00:13:44.769 --> 00:13:48.009 were to come and say, hey, you don't need to 00:13:48.009 --> 00:13:50.970 worry too much about what Caleb's saying. You 00:13:50.970 --> 00:13:53.970 just need to listen to me. You need to have some 00:13:53.970 --> 00:13:56.070 questions. What exactly are you saying? Where 00:13:56.070 --> 00:13:58.129 are you claiming your authorities from? These 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:00.009 are good questions. This dude comes on the scene. 00:14:00.049 --> 00:14:04.289 He's preaching. He's baptizing. And by the way, 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:06.450 baptizing was something that only the Pharisees 00:14:06.450 --> 00:14:08.679 were supposed to do. And they were doing it to 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.759 take people who were not Jews to baptize them, 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.519 to symbolically make them Jews. John the Baptist 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:19.320 over here is over here baptizing Jews into something 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:21.559 else. They're not quite sure. And so he's doing 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.639 some strange things. And so the Pharisees are 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:27.120 like, we're only supposed to do that. What are 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:28.580 you claiming? What are you baptizing people? 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.649 Why are you preaching? What's going on? And he's, 00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:33.610 not only that, he's saying some new ideas and 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:35.309 they're not quite sure what he's claiming to 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:37.690 be. So they send these people to ask him, to 00:14:37.690 --> 00:14:39.629 grill him, say, who are you? Who are you claiming 00:14:39.629 --> 00:14:42.389 to be? What authority are you claiming to have? 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:44.629 And really the question they're asking is, why 00:14:44.629 --> 00:14:49.750 should we listen to you? The story we're going 00:14:49.750 --> 00:14:53.490 to talk about today has three questions, really 00:14:53.490 --> 00:14:56.289 three truths that we can, we'll bring your questions 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:59.649 in later, that are just baked into creation. 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:03.220 First one is this. You are shaped by who you 00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:07.019 listen to. You are shaped by who you listen to. 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:11.559 Who you follow. Who you respect. Who you spend 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:15.100 time with. And not people you listen to once, 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:18.600 but people you repeatedly listen to. What are 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.980 the voices that you constantly listen to? You 00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:24.779 are shaped by those. And that's by design. Psalm 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:27.519 1, 1 -2, it says, Blessed is the man who walks 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.129 not in the counsel of the wicked, but his delight 00:15:30.129 --> 00:15:31.929 is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he 00:15:31.929 --> 00:15:36.250 meditates day and night. Proverbs 13 says, he 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.129 who walks with the wise becomes wise, but the 00:15:38.129 --> 00:15:40.909 companion of fools will suffer harm. This dynamic 00:15:40.909 --> 00:15:45.029 is part of God's creation order. It's a principle. 00:15:45.129 --> 00:15:47.129 You can't get away from it. We were made with 00:15:47.129 --> 00:15:48.850 purpose in mind, and that's one of the purposes 00:15:48.850 --> 00:15:51.889 is that we're shaped by the voices that we listen 00:15:51.889 --> 00:15:54.450 to, and the fact is if you listen to the voices 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:56.750 you shouldn't, you'll become the person you shouldn't. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.779 And the religious leaders knew this, right? The 00:16:00.779 --> 00:16:02.480 Pharisees knew this. And so that's why when this 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.779 guy comes on the scene, he's baptizing, preaching 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:07.120 some weird things. They send the interns to go 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.240 find out what's going on. And so they start grilling 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.159 him. So he responds. They're like, who are you? 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.759 He responds in verse 24. He said, I am a voice 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:19.580 of one crying out in the wilderness. Make straight 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:23.340 the way of the Lord, just as Isaiah the prophet 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:28.679 said. Now. These Pharisee interns would have 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:30.919 had this memorized. They were supposed to memorize 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:32.700 the entire first five books of the Bible and 00:16:32.700 --> 00:16:34.279 a bunch of Old Testament scriptures. They would 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:35.500 have had this memorized. They would have known 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:38.940 what he was referencing. When John the Baptist 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.419 responds and says this, this is actually a quote, 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:45.179 as he says, from the prophet Isaiah. And see, 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:47.759 the Pharisees knew something. One of the reasons 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.039 they were so hard after asking them, are you 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:51.919 the Messiah? What does that mean? Well, there 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:56.159 was very clear. voice from god in the early days 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.500 saying i'm gonna send someone to you called the 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:01.899 messiah and this goes back to the very beginning 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.539 of creation right the genesis chapter one god 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:06.700 makes us and just so you know this is the story 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:10.019 of you as well he makes humanity to listen to 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:12.180 him to be shaped by him to trust him to follow 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:14.220 him to glorify him to enjoy him in his world 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:16.980 and we decided we didn't want to do that we wanted 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:18.799 to go and forge our own path and find our own 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:22.250 way and do our own thing and so God said, he 00:17:22.250 --> 00:17:25.470 promised that one day he was going to send someone. 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:28.029 He was going to come and he was going to die 00:17:28.029 --> 00:17:30.710 for the ways that we've ruined his world with 00:17:30.710 --> 00:17:32.950 our rebellion. And he was going to pay for those 00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:35.230 sins and he was going to rise from the dead. 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:37.660 And he was going to prove that he had the keys 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:39.920 to death itself. And that person was going to 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.019 be called the Messiah. Now, this is kind of cryptic 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:44.519 in the Old Testament. It's sort of hard for them 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.500 to understand. So they kind of had an idea. But 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:48.759 basically, their role, the Pharisees' intern's 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.740 role, was basically just to squash anyone's claiming 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:53.400 to be that. They didn't really want him because 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:55.319 they had the power. They didn't want someone 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:58.400 trusting in someone else besides them, even if 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.619 it was God's Messiah, the one he had promised. 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:02.880 And so they knew that there was someone supposed 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:06.660 to be sent to save the world. called the messiah 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:09.380 but to be fair there's a lot of people that claimed 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:11.240 this and so there's a whole lot of times where 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.759 someone claimed hey i'm him follow me and they 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:18.099 had to go down and squash it and so that's why 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:19.759 the pharisees themselves didn't go there's too 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.980 many people claiming this and so they sent some 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:24.519 folks to go do it and basically they were just 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:26.960 there to confirm that he was saying he was the 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.019 messiah so that they could write him off that's 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:31.710 what they were doing So they're like, are you 00:18:31.710 --> 00:18:33.730 claiming to be him? Because if so, then we can 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:37.730 ignore you because we know you're not him. And 00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:40.390 he says, no. He says, no, I'm not the Messiah. 00:18:40.890 --> 00:18:43.089 He says, I, if you remember from your studies, 00:18:43.329 --> 00:18:45.390 John the Baptist, this random homeless guy from 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:47.890 the woods, schools them in Old Testament scripture. 00:18:48.109 --> 00:18:51.130 He says, if you remember from your studies, Isaiah 00:18:51.130 --> 00:18:53.250 actually said there would be one that comes before 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:56.529 the Messiah. God's going to send someone beforehand 00:18:56.529 --> 00:18:59.400 to... tell everyone that he is coming, and that 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:04.980 will be part of the proof that he is really him. 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:10.220 And so, basically, they say, okay, this is above 00:19:10.220 --> 00:19:11.819 our pay grade, we're not quite sure, they scurry 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:15.420 away, right? Sometimes it's easy to know truth, 00:19:15.579 --> 00:19:17.579 and sometimes it's hard, and they're above their 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:20.500 heads, and so they run away. So, the question 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:25.230 for us is, who do you listen to? What are the 00:19:25.230 --> 00:19:28.849 voices that you listen to the most? You can probably 00:19:28.849 --> 00:19:33.369 think of your day in terms of what voices are 00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:36.009 constantly talking to you and how is that shaping 00:19:36.009 --> 00:19:38.170 you? Because you're going to be shaped by the 00:19:38.170 --> 00:19:41.950 voices you listen to. John the Baptist had steeped 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:44.289 himself in God's words so much that even in the 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:46.309 moment when they were trying to prove him wrong 00:19:46.309 --> 00:19:47.789 and he could have said, well, yeah, I'm here 00:19:47.789 --> 00:19:51.049 to do something great. I'm here to baptize. He 00:19:51.049 --> 00:19:53.190 just ignored all that and he just... basically 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:56.009 went back to God's word and they couldn't say 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:59.809 anything. What voice do you agree with and consume 00:19:59.809 --> 00:20:04.910 the most? Obviously, we believe that this is 00:20:04.910 --> 00:20:07.750 God's word and this is something we should listen 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:11.869 to. This is a voice we should be dwelling in. 00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:14.690 Now, if you grew up in church like I do, you 00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:17.210 have an immense amount of guilt that you don't 00:20:17.210 --> 00:20:20.430 spend enough time in this book. I'm just guessing 00:20:20.430 --> 00:20:23.329 if that's you. That's how I am. If I don't spend 00:20:23.329 --> 00:20:25.130 enough time in this every day, I feel guilt and 00:20:25.130 --> 00:20:30.869 shame galore. I want to free you. You actually 00:20:30.869 --> 00:20:35.289 don't have to read this book every day. You don't. 00:20:35.990 --> 00:20:38.789 In fact, you don't have to read it at all. The 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:40.289 only question you have to ask is, how dumb do 00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:43.569 I want to be? Then you don't have to read this 00:20:43.569 --> 00:20:46.390 if you're cool being as dumb as possible. Now, 00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:48.890 that's a joke. Really, you guys are really in 00:20:48.890 --> 00:20:50.779 March Madness. Goodness gracious. I'm trying 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:57.339 to bring some, like, joy here. Look, God gave 00:20:57.339 --> 00:21:01.039 this to us as a gift, not to guilt us that we 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.500 don't listen to him enough. Jesus already paid 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:06.700 for all of our guilt, even every day when you 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:08.519 don't read this as much as you should on the 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:11.039 cross, which means that now we're free. We get 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.259 the opportunity to read this and to know more 00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:15.079 about him and to steep ourselves in this voice 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:18.180 so that we can live in more truth and have more 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:22.220 joy. But if we want to become like Jesus, we 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:24.579 need to listen to his voice because we're shaped 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:29.339 by that. Okay, so John talks to them. They run 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:31.819 away. It says, now they had, in verse 25, now 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:33.819 they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:36.460 asked him, why then do you baptize if you aren't 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:39.680 the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet? I baptize 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.940 with water, John answered them. Someone stands 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:44.480 among you, but you don't know him. He is the 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.180 one coming after me whose sandal strap I'm not 00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:49.990 worthy to untie. All this happened in Bethany 00:21:49.990 --> 00:21:53.849 across the Jordan where John was baptizing. So 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:57.549 the second truth is who you talk about reveals 00:21:57.549 --> 00:22:02.009 what you worship. You can say what you talk about 00:22:02.009 --> 00:22:05.210 as well, but who you talk about reveals who you 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:08.750 worship. Notice John the Baptist immediately 00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:11.950 directs them to Jesus. I guess they haven't scurried 00:22:11.950 --> 00:22:15.140 away yet. They're going to in a minute. They're 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:16.599 asking him, who are you? What are you saying? 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.740 Why are you baptizing? You're not supposed to 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:21.339 do that. And he's like, look, it's not important. 00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:25.119 I'm just a guy dunking dudes in water. The point 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.920 of my life is to point to his life. The point 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.740 of my life is to prepare you and to point you 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:37.880 to Jesus. And he says, someone stands among you, 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:41.319 but you don't know him. Jesus is already on the 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:44.180 scene, right? He's there. He says, Jesus is already 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:46.359 here. The Messiah is already here. The one God 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:49.160 sent to save you from your sins is already here. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:52.000 You just don't recognize him. You're just ignoring 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.640 him. He's among you, but you don't know him. 00:22:54.700 --> 00:22:57.779 And this is really important for us today. Because, 00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:02.240 and this is true whether or not you're a follower 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:06.339 of Jesus, but we spend so much time talking around 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:11.319 Jesus, but not talking about Jesus. You know 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:13.799 what I mean? We spend so much time talking about 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:15.640 what we think Jesus would want the government 00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:18.640 to do. Or what we think Jesus would want to happen 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.819 in politics. Or how we think Jesus would want 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:23.880 us to treat one another or other people to treat 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:26.759 us. How we think Jesus would want us to talk 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:31.039 to each other. And how we think Jesus would want 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.240 our laws to be constructed. But we don't spend 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.920 a whole lot of time talking about Jesus. We have 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.440 a lot of opinions that we think are shaped by 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:42.490 him. About what we want to happen in his world. 00:23:43.250 --> 00:23:44.890 But we don't spend a lot of time talking about 00:23:44.890 --> 00:23:53.650 him. Did you know that our life is a vapor? We're 00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:58.289 going to be here and then we'll be gone. The 00:23:58.289 --> 00:23:59.970 only thing that matters is how much attention 00:23:59.970 --> 00:24:03.849 we give and bring to the one who can actually 00:24:03.849 --> 00:24:07.650 save the world through the gospel message that 00:24:07.650 --> 00:24:13.380 he's given us to preach. If all we have as our 00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:16.319 legacy is that other people get to meet the one 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:20.059 who died for them and are saved from their sins 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:23.259 forever so they can be with him now and experience 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:26.500 freedom now and eternal life forever, that is 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:29.619 worth. If it's just one person, that is worth 00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:34.859 giving all of our time. But we've got to talk 00:24:34.859 --> 00:24:38.819 about him. We can't talk around him our entire 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:45.339 lives. and not lead people to him. Now, one of 00:24:45.339 --> 00:24:47.160 the reasons we don't want to do this is because 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:52.940 if we really talked about Jesus a lot, we're 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:57.799 going to be weirdos. It's true. We're going to 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:00.140 look weird. I mean, look at John the Baptist, 00:25:00.339 --> 00:25:03.000 for example. He doesn't say it in this particular 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.119 passage, but John the Baptist, it's not wrong 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:08.710 to say he lived a weird life. I mean, he was 00:25:08.710 --> 00:25:11.609 a homeless guy, lived in the woods, wore camel's 00:25:11.609 --> 00:25:13.490 hair clothing, which is a famously uncomfortable 00:25:13.490 --> 00:25:17.710 clothes. You could barely call it clothes. He 00:25:17.710 --> 00:25:19.869 ate locusts and honey. That's how he survived. 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:25.990 Bugs. It's important, as a side note, to recognize 00:25:25.990 --> 00:25:28.910 that the Bible has two types of commands. One 00:25:28.910 --> 00:25:33.509 is, or two types of thoughts. One is descriptive 00:25:33.509 --> 00:25:36.420 and one is prescriptive. right? The difference 00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:39.220 is sometimes the Bible says this person did this 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:41.880 thing. Sometimes the Bible says you should do 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:44.380 this thing, and thankfully this is one of those 00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:47.380 descriptive things. John the Baptist did all 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:50.299 this stuff, and it doesn't say you need to do 00:25:50.299 --> 00:25:54.000 this stuff. Thank the Lord, right? We don't have 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:55.960 to go live in the woods. We would all instantly 00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:57.759 die if we tried to do that right now here in 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.519 this part of the world. Well, maybe I would. 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:06.680 You guys would. In Matthew 11, Jesus actually 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:08.880 talks about John the Baptist. He says, truly 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:12.359 I say to you, among those born of women, there 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:15.220 has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.779 If you forgot about biology, that's all people, 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.400 everyone. You guys get this. You guys are like, 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:25.420 there's like a thousand kids here. You guys know 00:26:25.420 --> 00:26:29.380 how that works. So that's everybody. Why would 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:31.720 Jesus say this? Of all the prophets, I mean, 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:33.440 some prophets did some awesome stuff, right? 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:35.839 Like Elijah, you know, like did the whole like 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:37.720 calling fire from the heaven. Like that was pretty 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.119 epic. Why did Jesus say, among those born of 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:43.420 women, there has arisen no one greater than John 00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:49.079 the Baptist? What do we need to learn from John 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:52.339 the Baptist? Of all the prophets, why does he 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:56.039 so great? Three reasons. Three reasons he's great. 00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:59.839 Number one is his clarity. He had a clarity like 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:03.259 no one before him. He knew exactly who Jesus 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:06.740 was. And you can't say this for the prophets 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:08.000 in the Old Testament. I don't know if you've 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:11.000 read some of the Old Testament prophets. They're 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:14.759 not clear. Like there's a story in Ezekiel. Ezekiel 00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:16.700 is a prophet. God sent to tell people stuff, 00:27:16.819 --> 00:27:20.039 right, from him. There's a story where he tells 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:26.259 Ezekiel to like go and take his hair and to do 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:29.779 three things with it. To burn some, to take his 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:31.829 hair and burn a third of it, to take another 00:27:31.829 --> 00:27:34.029 third and throw it up and chop it with a sword, 00:27:34.150 --> 00:27:36.230 and then to take another third and throw it into 00:27:36.230 --> 00:27:38.069 the wind. And that was supposed to symbolize 00:27:38.069 --> 00:27:41.009 something to the people. Do you know how many 00:27:41.009 --> 00:27:42.809 people understood what Ezekiel was doing out 00:27:42.809 --> 00:27:46.289 there? I guarantee you it was zero. No one understood 00:27:46.289 --> 00:27:53.150 that. Daniel 12. I love Daniel. You see, God 00:27:53.150 --> 00:27:55.970 shows him all this stuff, and it's crazy, you 00:27:55.970 --> 00:27:58.390 know, a bunch of like angelic things. And he 00:27:58.390 --> 00:28:02.509 literally says, I have heard, but I did not understand. 00:28:03.529 --> 00:28:06.029 He's like, I saw a bunch of stuff. I don't know 00:28:06.029 --> 00:28:08.849 what's going on. I'll just write it down and 00:28:08.849 --> 00:28:10.769 see if people can figure it out. I have no idea. 00:28:11.890 --> 00:28:14.769 John had a clarity. He knew exactly who Jesus 00:28:14.769 --> 00:28:17.210 was and why he was there. He said, I'm the voice 00:28:17.210 --> 00:28:19.849 preparing the way. Remember Isaiah? I'm who he 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:22.430 was talking about. See that guy? That's Jesus, 00:28:22.509 --> 00:28:28.410 right? He's got a clarity like no one else. The 00:28:28.410 --> 00:28:30.849 next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and 00:28:30.849 --> 00:28:34.349 said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the 00:28:34.349 --> 00:28:38.230 sin of the world. Right? He did exactly his job. 00:28:38.450 --> 00:28:40.250 And unlike any prophet before him, he was able 00:28:40.250 --> 00:28:42.569 to be like, you know what God's telling you to 00:28:42.569 --> 00:28:47.029 do? Look over there. Look to that guy. Number 00:28:47.029 --> 00:28:50.730 two, his humility. Prophets were famously not 00:28:50.730 --> 00:28:54.529 humble. But he knew not only exactly who Jesus 00:28:54.529 --> 00:28:58.259 was, but exactly who he wasn't. These guys come 00:28:58.259 --> 00:29:00.400 in and say, who are you? Are you someone great? 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:02.779 Are you like Elijah reincarnated? Are you in 00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:06.960 some sort of, we need to know. Are you worth 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.700 listening to? And he's like, look, it's not important. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.400 I'm not important, but let me tell you who is. 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:15.700 There's a guy who's right over there, and I'm 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:18.660 not even worthy to untie his sandal. Who I am 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:20.559 and what I'm here to do is not important. Just 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:25.509 go look to him. Just go listen to him. And gosh, 00:29:25.569 --> 00:29:28.750 you and I get mad at Jesus when he doesn't give 00:29:28.750 --> 00:29:31.710 us instant gratification over the things we want 00:29:31.710 --> 00:29:37.230 from him. And we shouldn't feel too out of sorts 00:29:37.230 --> 00:29:38.769 about that because the disciples did the same 00:29:38.769 --> 00:29:40.910 thing. They really wanted to be great. In fact, 00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:43.970 one time they were arguing about who was greater 00:29:43.970 --> 00:29:45.869 and they're like, Jesus, which one of us is best 00:29:45.869 --> 00:29:52.049 to Jesus? He's like, neither. You both suck. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.640 John the Baptist had a humility, even unlike 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:06.119 Jesus' disciples. And he saw Jesus and says, 00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:09.279 look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:12.440 of the world. He's on the greatest mission. He's 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:14.660 the greatest one to ever walk the earth. I'm 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:18.259 not even worthy even to look at him. This is 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:21.099 he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:27.109 before me because he was before me. Jesus. literally 00:30:27.109 --> 00:30:30.710 made the world tells us father son holy spirit 00:30:30.710 --> 00:30:33.150 he's god the son he he didn't just start walking 00:30:33.150 --> 00:30:35.670 the earth he's he's fully god and fully man he's 00:30:35.670 --> 00:30:37.829 existed since the beginning of time and this 00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:39.950 is another proof of jesus divinity that he's 00:30:39.950 --> 00:30:42.670 he's god walking among us and that's why john 00:30:42.670 --> 00:30:45.769 unlike anyone else actually recognized who jesus 00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:51.250 was and pointed to him now this is kind of confusing 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:54.920 And if John really wanted to get a lot of followers, 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:57.819 he probably wouldn't talk like this. But John 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:00.700 didn't care. Jesus was way greater than him, 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:03.839 and it wasn't even close. Let me ask you, would 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.480 you rather have greatness in this life, or would 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:12.160 you rather people forget about you and see Jesus? 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:16.980 I had a professor in seminary. He wrote a book 00:31:16.980 --> 00:31:19.119 called Nobody's for Jesus. It was one of my favorites. 00:31:19.690 --> 00:31:21.589 That God does his greatest work through people 00:31:21.589 --> 00:31:24.390 who are content to be unknown so that Christ 00:31:24.390 --> 00:31:28.009 is known. This is a temptation for people who 00:31:28.009 --> 00:31:30.430 speak before people. And maybe in your job, you're 00:31:30.430 --> 00:31:32.450 really good at your job, and there's a temptation 00:31:32.450 --> 00:31:34.869 for you that you want to be known. You want to 00:31:34.869 --> 00:31:37.250 be impressive. You want people to remember you. 00:31:39.930 --> 00:31:42.809 Like Caleb said, I planted a church 12 years 00:31:42.809 --> 00:31:48.599 ago in Winnemucca, a small town in Nevada. My 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:50.460 wife and I grew up in Florida, and so we moved 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:52.079 there to start the church. So from the very beginning, 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:55.460 you know, I led this church, and it was great. 00:31:55.559 --> 00:31:59.220 And God blessed us, and it was an awesome, awesome 00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:02.299 church. And then he called me out of it years 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:05.460 ago. He called me to lead the lead pastor role 00:32:05.460 --> 00:32:08.099 of a church I started and to become the executive 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:11.140 pastor of another church that someone else started 00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:14.920 and to kind of hand off that church to someone 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:19.049 we had raised up. That's an emotionally difficult 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:23.670 request. But the fact is God showed me that this 00:32:23.670 --> 00:32:26.230 was where he was calling me and gifting me to 00:32:26.230 --> 00:32:32.130 be. And just a couple months ago, that church 00:32:32.130 --> 00:32:34.950 in Winnemucca celebrated their 200th baptism. 00:32:36.269 --> 00:32:39.109 200 in the last 10 years. And that church is 00:32:39.109 --> 00:32:45.190 only 250 people. It's a small town. And you know, 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:47.759 I want to go back and like be there for it, you 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:49.640 know, celebrate with them. And the fact is I 00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:51.200 had this realization the other day. If I went 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:52.819 back there, it's so transient. If I went back 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:55.180 there, I don't think most of the people would 00:32:55.180 --> 00:33:01.079 even know who I was. That's a tough thing, right? 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:07.079 We have to be okay choosing Jesus as our legacy 00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:12.880 over our own reputation. What's worth living 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:19.680 for? John the Baptist knew. Clarity, humility. 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:21.839 The third thing that made him great was purpose. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:26.160 He knew what he was living for. He said, in verse 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.160 31, I myself did not know him, but for this purpose 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:32.519 I came, baptizing with water, that he might be 00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:35.880 revealed to Israel. That he might be revealed 00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:40.859 to Israel. Is that your purpose? Would I know 00:33:40.859 --> 00:33:42.720 that if I walked around listening to who you 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:45.759 talk about? Or would I think that your whole 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:49.859 life is oriented and devoted to worshiping and 00:33:49.859 --> 00:33:54.460 making your kids name great? Or your grandkids? 00:33:55.099 --> 00:33:58.640 Or an athlete that you talk about? Or a politician 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:03.839 that you won't shut up about? Now I'm in the 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.740 same boat, right? I'm sure I talk about other 00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:08.320 things a lot more than Jesus. Most of the time 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.420 I spend time talking about the next hunt I want 00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:12.360 to go on. Like I want to go on this caribou hunt. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.579 I was just at Caleb's house last night, and the 00:34:14.579 --> 00:34:15.780 first thing I started talking about was I want 00:34:15.780 --> 00:34:17.619 to go on this caribou hunt. It's a 20 -hour drive. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:19.619 You guys probably are familiar with it up the 00:34:19.619 --> 00:34:21.380 hall road, and no one will go with me because 00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:25.699 it's a 20 -hour drive up a hall road. And I spend 00:34:25.699 --> 00:34:27.840 time talking about hunts. I spend time when I 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.440 come to Alaska just talking about all the times 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.480 I've been to Alaska. came and almost died waiting 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:34.920 across Eagle River, when I came and almost died 00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:36.960 flying a plane over the Kachemak, when I came 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:38.820 and almost died on a four -wheeler up in Fairbanks. 00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:41.820 I should probably stop coming up here, I think. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.179 But I like talking about going places and doing 00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:48.260 things. I'm almost addicted to adventure, and 00:34:48.260 --> 00:34:50.380 I want to be out and do things and enjoy God's 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:52.480 world. But enjoying God's world is not the same 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:56.760 as enjoying God and worshiping Him and making 00:34:56.760 --> 00:35:01.139 Him known. I have to ask the same question that 00:35:01.139 --> 00:35:04.420 you do. What kind of legacy are you trying to 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:09.480 leave? What is your purpose? Because your life 00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:12.659 will point to some hope and other people will 00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:15.079 learn what they should hope in by what you are 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:18.400 hoping in. And if it's the next adventure or 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:23.679 the next child or the next government, are you 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:25.340 teaching them that their purpose is something 00:35:25.340 --> 00:35:32.289 that is not going to hold their hope long? The 00:35:32.289 --> 00:35:36.030 next thing we see, we see that you're shaped 00:35:36.030 --> 00:35:39.710 by who you listen to. Who you talk about reveals 00:35:39.710 --> 00:35:42.389 who you worship. And three, your behavior proves 00:35:42.389 --> 00:35:46.590 your belief. Your behavior proves your belief. 00:35:46.769 --> 00:35:48.829 And John shows us this in verse 32. John testified, 00:35:48.949 --> 00:35:50.929 I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like 00:35:50.929 --> 00:35:54.130 a dove, and he rested on him. I didn't know him, 00:35:54.190 --> 00:35:56.769 but he who sent me to baptize with water told 00:35:56.769 --> 00:36:00.150 me. The one you see the Spirit descending and 00:36:00.150 --> 00:36:02.780 resting on, He is the one who baptizes with the 00:36:02.780 --> 00:36:05.539 Holy Spirit. I have seen and testified that this 00:36:05.539 --> 00:36:09.639 is the Son of God. John's like, look, I was like 00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:13.760 you. I had no idea who Jesus was. All I know 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:17.360 is that I listened to God. I listened to him. 00:36:17.460 --> 00:36:21.610 I leaned in and I asked, and God said, go. and 00:36:21.610 --> 00:36:24.269 baptize people with water, preparing them for 00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:26.429 the one who's going to baptize them in the Holy 00:36:26.429 --> 00:36:28.829 Spirit. Meaning you're going to do a symbol. 00:36:28.909 --> 00:36:31.670 The baptizing with water represents us dying 00:36:31.670 --> 00:36:34.469 to ourself and rising to new life. Just like 00:36:34.469 --> 00:36:37.730 Jesus literally dies on the cross and is buried 00:36:37.730 --> 00:36:39.949 for our sins. He pays the price that you and 00:36:39.949 --> 00:36:43.030 I deserve for ruining our life and God's world 00:36:43.030 --> 00:36:46.170 with our rebellion. And Jesus rises from the 00:36:46.170 --> 00:36:48.579 dead. And that's that symbol. And he does that 00:36:48.579 --> 00:36:51.239 spiritually, whereas baptism with water is just 00:36:51.239 --> 00:36:54.719 a symbol. But Jesus baptizes us eternally. He 00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:57.239 actually rises us to new life with God. He takes 00:36:57.239 --> 00:36:59.940 our dead spiritual life, our dead relationship 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:01.760 with God that none of us have when we're born 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:04.179 because of the sinfulness of the world. You and 00:37:04.179 --> 00:37:07.780 I start in the same place. And Jesus died to 00:37:07.780 --> 00:37:09.860 give us a relationship with him again. And he 00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:12.579 gives us the Holy Spirit to give us an eternal 00:37:12.579 --> 00:37:17.659 hope with God. That we're not just going to have 00:37:17.659 --> 00:37:24.659 him now but forever. John listened. And he oriented 00:37:24.659 --> 00:37:27.960 his whole life over that. He forsook even a bed 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:31.260 to sleep in. So that he could point everything 00:37:31.260 --> 00:37:34.820 to Jesus. Again, he has not said you have to 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:38.420 do that. But he did that. And he's called us 00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:41.159 to a unique version of that that he's gifted 00:37:41.159 --> 00:37:43.539 us and wired us and positioned us for so we can 00:37:43.539 --> 00:37:45.820 point with the things he has given us, the time, 00:37:45.820 --> 00:37:48.059 the resources, the talent, and the treasure so 00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:50.280 we can point to Jesus so other people can know 00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:55.639 him. And there's so many places in my life and 00:37:55.639 --> 00:37:59.460 maybe yours that I just, I'm like, God, I'll 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:01.719 do it. I'll do what you want. I just want you 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:05.019 to show me what's on the other side of the request. 00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:09.460 Give me the next three or four steps, and there 00:38:09.460 --> 00:38:12.820 we go. I'll see it. He's asking us to take the 00:38:12.820 --> 00:38:15.139 one, and if you give me the next three, he's 00:38:15.139 --> 00:38:17.300 like, no, I'm not doing it. That's not how he 00:38:17.300 --> 00:38:20.099 works. We don't grow in faith when we don't have 00:38:20.099 --> 00:38:26.940 to trust him. Some of you, maybe say you believe 00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:32.480 in Jesus. You say that you're a follower of his, 00:38:32.619 --> 00:38:36.119 but no one would know that. If they look at how 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:37.659 you spend your time, talent, and your treasure. 00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:43.159 Your behavior doesn't look like it at all. And 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.980 that's okay. We're all in the same boat where 00:38:46.980 --> 00:38:49.380 we're constantly failing. This is why we need 00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:56.599 Jesus to pay for our sins. But have you been 00:38:56.599 --> 00:38:58.000 called to something and you're making excuses? 00:39:00.139 --> 00:39:03.659 You're not going to find... The hope of Jesus 00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:05.940 that way. I'm not trying to shame you. Jesus 00:39:05.940 --> 00:39:09.159 did. In fact, later on in the book of John, he 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:11.039 says he didn't come to condemn the world but 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:13.340 to save it. But what it means that Jesus came 00:39:13.340 --> 00:39:15.880 to baptize with the Holy Spirit is that the things 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:18.860 that are keeping you from being with God now 00:39:18.860 --> 00:39:21.280 and forever are your sin and he wants to free 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:25.880 you from them. And the longer you spend not listening 00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:29.539 to him and not talking about him and not... orienting 00:39:29.539 --> 00:39:31.539 your behavior around him, the less of that freedom 00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:42.159 you will experience. He inspired John, the author 00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:44.500 of the book, and John the Baptist, and me, to 00:39:44.500 --> 00:39:46.659 do for you what John the Baptist does for his 00:39:46.659 --> 00:39:48.739 disciples right here. The next day, again, John 00:39:48.739 --> 00:39:51.699 was standing with two of his disciples, and he 00:39:51.699 --> 00:39:54.099 looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, behold, 00:39:54.380 --> 00:39:57.860 the Lamb of God. Your Bible says, look. the Lamb 00:39:57.860 --> 00:40:00.039 of God. Behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:02.840 heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:05.380 So John's got disciples. He's literally got a 00:40:05.380 --> 00:40:07.539 following. People are like, wow, you're definitely 00:40:07.539 --> 00:40:09.320 preaching the truth. We've been ready for this. 00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:11.340 We're jiving with what you're saying. We believe 00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:13.519 that you are this voice crying out in the wilderness, 00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:14.760 and they're following him. They're disciples. 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.280 He's literally got an entourage, and instead 00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:19.340 of being like, yeah, bud, you know, like, follow 00:40:19.340 --> 00:40:21.300 me. Like, come, let's create a compound and do 00:40:21.300 --> 00:40:25.119 our thing. He's like, see Jesus? Go over there 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:29.420 to him. I'm nobody. Go over there. Behold, look 00:40:29.420 --> 00:40:36.320 to Jesus. And they go. Why does he do this? The 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:39.420 main point of the message today is you become 00:40:39.420 --> 00:40:44.139 what you behold. You become what you behold. 00:40:46.460 --> 00:40:48.599 Like I said, in your Bible, John said, look. 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:53.340 I'm using the ESV, which is what I normally use. 00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:55.400 And I came up with the main point before Caleb 00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:57.219 told me you guys use the CSV, which doesn't have 00:40:57.219 --> 00:40:58.840 the word behold in it. But that's my main point. 00:40:59.199 --> 00:41:04.340 You become what you behold. His whole life is 00:41:04.340 --> 00:41:08.219 about helping people behold Jesus. And what does 00:41:08.219 --> 00:41:12.920 it mean to behold? Well, it means to listen to 00:41:12.920 --> 00:41:16.389 his voice the loudest. Behold is like more, I 00:41:16.389 --> 00:41:18.449 like it better than look, even though look technically 00:41:18.449 --> 00:41:21.110 is a better translation for us today because 00:41:21.110 --> 00:41:23.869 we don't use the word behold ever. But behold 00:41:23.869 --> 00:41:28.269 to me gives this deeper spending more attention 00:41:28.269 --> 00:41:30.650 and time than just like a passing glance. And 00:41:30.650 --> 00:41:32.730 so that's why I like it. But it's first to listen 00:41:32.730 --> 00:41:35.789 to his voice the loudest. To behold someone is 00:41:35.789 --> 00:41:37.829 to kind of spend some time hearing what they 00:41:37.829 --> 00:41:42.010 have to say when deciding how to think or how 00:41:42.010 --> 00:41:46.650 to live or how to plan your future. Are you beholding 00:41:46.650 --> 00:41:51.710 Jesus before you make those decisions? It's sitting 00:41:51.710 --> 00:41:55.730 with and it's dwelling in his words. And number 00:41:55.730 --> 00:41:59.050 two, it's talking about him. To behold someone 00:41:59.050 --> 00:42:02.449 is not just silent, it's active. It's I'm going 00:42:02.449 --> 00:42:04.969 to actually spend some time talking about him. 00:42:05.010 --> 00:42:08.230 Like when I first beheld my wife, before she 00:42:08.230 --> 00:42:10.809 was my wife, when I first met her, I was like 00:42:10.809 --> 00:42:14.480 everything in me wanted to tell someone. You 00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:17.559 see how freaking beautiful she is? There's something 00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:20.420 that has to come out when you behold something 00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:22.960 beautiful, something incredible. You want to 00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:25.219 tell people about him. And if you really believe 00:42:25.219 --> 00:42:28.000 that Jesus is the savior of the world that will 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.059 take away the sins and bring about the joyful 00:42:31.059 --> 00:42:34.340 freedom forever, then you can't not talk about 00:42:34.340 --> 00:42:45.099 him. Remember, what you talk about reveals what 00:42:45.099 --> 00:42:50.880 you worship. Number three, behave like Jesus 00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:54.599 did. To behold Jesus means to listen to his voice 00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:57.559 the loudest and to talk about him. And three, 00:42:57.639 --> 00:43:01.960 to behave like he did. Here's the reality. Every 00:43:01.960 --> 00:43:06.420 single major religion and even atheists, they 00:43:06.420 --> 00:43:13.599 want what Jesus talked about. I mean, they either 00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:16.920 think he was a good teacher, he said good things, 00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:19.599 talked about good things, or every major religion 00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:22.840 has Jesus somehow in their doctrine or theology 00:43:22.840 --> 00:43:24.860 as he was some sort of prophet or something. 00:43:24.920 --> 00:43:29.340 Why? Because when Jesus, the fruit of the life 00:43:29.340 --> 00:43:31.619 Jesus lived and the fruit of what he tells people 00:43:31.619 --> 00:43:34.820 is exactly what all of us know we deeply long 00:43:34.820 --> 00:43:41.079 for inside. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. 00:43:42.819 --> 00:43:45.300 Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control. 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:48.139 The fruit of the Spirit, right? The fruit of 00:43:48.139 --> 00:43:50.639 Jesus baptizes us in the Spirit, shapes us from 00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:53.900 the inside out. His salvation makes us new, and 00:43:53.900 --> 00:43:55.699 then we can experience those things the more 00:43:55.699 --> 00:44:01.019 we walk and behold Him every day. Everyone knows 00:44:01.019 --> 00:44:03.719 we want all these things. None of us don't want 00:44:03.719 --> 00:44:09.639 those things. We just don't want to, like, surrender 00:44:09.639 --> 00:44:14.300 our way. To get them. We just don't want to stop 00:44:14.300 --> 00:44:17.980 following our own path in order to follow Jesus' 00:44:18.139 --> 00:44:21.840 where those live. We want the sculpted body without 00:44:21.840 --> 00:44:23.739 the tracking the calories and lifting weights. 00:44:24.679 --> 00:44:28.280 We want the caribou without the 20 -hour drive. 00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:32.400 We want the unmatched Alaskan summer without 00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:36.500 the harsh Alaskan winter. Which is why many people 00:44:36.500 --> 00:44:41.619 stay consumers and spectators like me. And we 00:44:41.619 --> 00:44:46.639 get to experience one fiftieth of being Alaskan 00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:49.099 and enjoying one of those beautiful places in 00:44:49.099 --> 00:44:53.360 the world that you get because you're here and 00:44:53.360 --> 00:44:58.739 you dwell and you behold it every day. John the 00:44:58.739 --> 00:45:02.440 Baptist is an excellent example for us on living 00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:06.599 a life that matters and beholding what God has 00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:10.780 called us to behold. Jesus said it. No one's 00:45:10.780 --> 00:45:13.420 been greater than John the Baptist, but that 00:45:13.420 --> 00:45:17.099 verse doesn't end there. Truly, truly, I say 00:45:17.099 --> 00:45:18.800 to you, among those born of women, there has 00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:21.119 arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. 00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:26.119 Yet, the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven 00:45:26.119 --> 00:45:32.599 is greater than he. How is that possible? John 00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:34.900 the Baptist is so great. How is the least, the 00:45:34.900 --> 00:45:37.059 person who struggles to follow Jesus the most, 00:45:37.099 --> 00:45:41.860 which is me, How am I greater than he? And maybe 00:45:41.860 --> 00:45:44.559 that's how you feel about yourself. He says you 00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:47.300 are greater than even John the Baptist in directing 00:45:47.300 --> 00:45:50.599 people to me. Why? Well, because the three things 00:45:50.599 --> 00:45:53.500 that made him great, clarity, humility, purpose. 00:45:53.619 --> 00:45:56.599 We can have more. We can have greater clarity. 00:45:57.199 --> 00:46:01.059 We know exactly not just who Jesus is, but what 00:46:01.059 --> 00:46:04.719 Jesus did and what happened after. We know that 00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:06.400 Jesus died and rose. John the Baptist didn't 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:07.699 get to see that. He got his head chopped off 00:46:07.699 --> 00:46:10.469 before that happened. For following Jesus and 00:46:10.469 --> 00:46:12.190 teaching people and directing people to him. 00:46:13.690 --> 00:46:17.789 That's a spoiler. But we're not there yet. We 00:46:17.789 --> 00:46:19.429 can have greater clarity. We know the whole story. 00:46:20.190 --> 00:46:22.289 We can have greater humility because we know 00:46:22.289 --> 00:46:25.150 that Jesus, it wasn't just John the Baptist believed 00:46:25.150 --> 00:46:27.130 Jesus was going to rise from the dead. We actually 00:46:27.130 --> 00:46:30.809 saw him do it. And the world changed. Everyone 00:46:30.809 --> 00:46:33.210 saw it in front of them that Jesus rose from 00:46:33.210 --> 00:46:38.239 the dead. There's nothing greater. positions 00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:40.199 him as clearly greater than all of us. We can 00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:42.719 have greater humility. And we can live with greater 00:46:42.719 --> 00:46:47.179 purpose. Because we know that Jesus said, go 00:46:47.179 --> 00:46:49.920 into all the world, make disciples and baptize 00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:54.239 them. He gave it to us right there. So I want 00:46:54.239 --> 00:46:57.800 us to do an analysis today. And maybe you probably 00:46:57.800 --> 00:46:59.619 already have, hopefully a little bit, but later. 00:47:00.039 --> 00:47:03.920 Do an audit of your life. And just ask the question, 00:47:04.039 --> 00:47:10.420 who am I beholding? Because you become who you 00:47:10.420 --> 00:47:17.119 behold. For most of us, it's probably yourself. 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:20.619 If we're honest, we talk to ourselves the most, 00:47:20.639 --> 00:47:23.980 we listen to ourselves the most, we talk about 00:47:23.980 --> 00:47:28.239 ourselves the most, and the problem is our hearts 00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:32.239 are deceptive and wicked. We all know this. If 00:47:32.239 --> 00:47:33.880 you haven't figured this out, just everyone does 00:47:33.880 --> 00:47:36.070 at some point. You can't trust your own feelings. 00:47:36.170 --> 00:47:42.250 You can't trust your own thoughts. Maybe the 00:47:42.250 --> 00:47:44.670 person you're beholding the most is a politician 00:47:44.670 --> 00:47:49.929 or journalist or an influencer online. And let 00:47:49.929 --> 00:47:52.730 me just ask you, the church is not about politics, 00:47:52.809 --> 00:47:54.389 but let me ask you, is the person you're listening 00:47:54.389 --> 00:47:58.590 to make your heart harder or softer toward those 00:47:58.590 --> 00:48:03.650 Jesus died to save? Does it make you more... 00:48:04.849 --> 00:48:13.929 Loving or more ready for a fight? Who are you 00:48:13.929 --> 00:48:18.929 beholding? The invitation is that Jesus says, 00:48:18.989 --> 00:48:22.789 I can free you if you come to me. If you deny 00:48:22.789 --> 00:48:28.210 yourself and you follow me, you can be with me 00:48:28.210 --> 00:48:31.690 now and forever. You can know the freedom. You 00:48:31.690 --> 00:48:33.570 can know the joy. You can have the fruit of the 00:48:33.570 --> 00:48:36.570 Spirit. You can have it. Pastor wrote a book 00:48:36.570 --> 00:48:40.070 that I love about hospitality. He says the gospel 00:48:40.070 --> 00:48:43.389 is not about trying to wedge a little Jesus into 00:48:43.389 --> 00:48:45.909 our crazy lives. The gospel is about letting 00:48:45.909 --> 00:48:48.550 God bring redemption and the way of his crazy 00:48:48.550 --> 00:48:51.030 kingdom into our frantically dysfunctional patterns 00:48:51.030 --> 00:48:56.530 of living. I got here this morning and a dozen 00:48:56.530 --> 00:49:00.320 of you showed up to help set up. everything you 00:49:00.320 --> 00:49:03.860 see. There's cords literally every square inch 00:49:03.860 --> 00:49:09.179 of this stage. Someone put those there. Literally 00:49:09.179 --> 00:49:12.420 so that they could create a place for you to 00:49:12.420 --> 00:49:15.699 hear about God's great love for you and sing 00:49:15.699 --> 00:49:17.800 and worship the one who made you and reconnect 00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:22.679 with Jesus. What a purposeful use of time. What 00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:27.760 a lasting legacy. Who are you beholding? Imagine 00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:31.820 a life centered around beholding Jesus, sitting 00:49:31.820 --> 00:49:34.980 with him, listening to him, talking with others 00:49:34.980 --> 00:49:38.639 about him, adjusting your behavior and your actions 00:49:38.639 --> 00:49:41.320 and your attitude and your rhythms of life around 00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:44.360 seeing him and beholding him more. That's literally 00:49:44.360 --> 00:49:46.340 the point of this church. That's what we prayed 00:49:46.340 --> 00:49:49.199 for seven, eight years ago, whenever it was, 00:49:49.260 --> 00:49:58.110 that would happen here in this place. The fact 00:49:58.110 --> 00:50:01.030 is we all need a Savior. What John the Baptist 00:50:01.030 --> 00:50:04.150 shows us is not about us. Everyone needs a Savior 00:50:04.150 --> 00:50:08.550 and we are not him. That Jesus came to die for 00:50:08.550 --> 00:50:13.789 you and he rose to behold, to help you behold 00:50:13.789 --> 00:50:17.349 the one who made you so that you could find life 00:50:17.349 --> 00:50:22.409 again. And that's why we come. That's why we 00:50:22.409 --> 00:50:24.789 gather. That's why we preach. That's why we... 00:50:25.099 --> 00:50:27.599 Listen, it's why we open the Bible is because 00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:30.900 that truth is the foyer of our life. We always 00:50:30.900 --> 00:50:37.800 have to go back to it. It's why we, after we 00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:40.079 hear God's word preached every week, we take 00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:43.559 communion or the Lord's Supper. We take these 00:50:43.559 --> 00:50:46.980 elements. Jesus gave us this ritual, kind of 00:50:46.980 --> 00:50:49.860 like baptism, to remind us of this truth that 00:50:49.860 --> 00:50:52.480 it's not just... We come on Sundays and that's 00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:56.059 it. It's that we are actually now a part of his 00:50:56.059 --> 00:51:00.159 family. That he wants to be with us, not just 00:51:00.159 --> 00:51:03.059 tell us what to do. He wants us to spend time 00:51:03.059 --> 00:51:05.420 with him. He wants us to be with us. He gathers 00:51:05.420 --> 00:51:07.579 disciples together and he put them at a table 00:51:07.579 --> 00:51:10.400 and he said, I want you to remember this moment. 00:51:10.639 --> 00:51:13.619 I want you to remember me and what I'm going 00:51:13.619 --> 00:51:17.800 to do for you. doing for you on the cross is 00:51:17.800 --> 00:51:20.260 to bring you back to the table with me so you 00:51:20.260 --> 00:51:22.019 can be with me like you were intended to be. 00:51:22.900 --> 00:51:24.840 So I'm going to invite the band back up, and 00:51:24.840 --> 00:51:27.400 we're going to sing, but we're also going to 00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:28.900 take communion, and there's going to be communion 00:51:28.900 --> 00:51:33.980 in the back of the room. But what that is is 00:51:33.980 --> 00:51:37.280 it's bread and it's wine or juice that represents 00:51:37.280 --> 00:51:39.960 Jesus' body and blood that was broken for us, 00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:43.119 that his love was so great that in order to bring 00:51:43.119 --> 00:51:45.480 us back, he had to die. So that he could pay 00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:47.960 for your sin. But that in his death and resurrection, 00:51:48.300 --> 00:51:51.500 that's what he did with his disciples. He gave 00:51:51.500 --> 00:51:53.380 them the bread and the wine to represent how 00:51:53.380 --> 00:51:57.599 we can take his death and we can live life from 00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:01.960 it. How it's all paid for. Every way you fail 00:52:01.960 --> 00:52:05.000 to behold him with your whole life. And so we're 00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:07.719 going to do that as an act of worship. It's part 00:52:07.719 --> 00:52:11.949 of beholding. It's part of this. This lifestyle, 00:52:12.090 --> 00:52:16.010 we get a tangible witness of the gospel in the 00:52:16.010 --> 00:52:17.449 bread and the juice, and that's why we do it. 00:52:18.090 --> 00:52:20.289 And so I'm going to pray, and then we're going 00:52:20.289 --> 00:52:22.909 to sing some more praise to him. We're going 00:52:22.909 --> 00:52:25.090 to take communion together, and then we can go 00:52:25.090 --> 00:52:28.269 and hopefully behold him more in a lot of ways 00:52:28.269 --> 00:52:35.769 this week as well. Let's pray. Lord, we know 00:52:35.769 --> 00:52:41.429 that we're strugglers. in your world. And we 00:52:41.429 --> 00:52:47.269 don't, we rarely know what to do or what to think 00:52:47.269 --> 00:52:51.889 or how to live. Lord, even the moments we think 00:52:51.889 --> 00:52:55.309 we do, we quickly recognize we're wrong. And 00:52:55.309 --> 00:52:57.429 so, Lord, we thank you deeply for your word. 00:52:58.269 --> 00:53:00.670 Thank you for this truth that we can stake our 00:53:00.670 --> 00:53:03.429 life on, that we can trust, that has stood the 00:53:03.429 --> 00:53:07.920 test of time, that is adequately described. and 00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:10.239 us and what's in us and around us. And Lord, 00:53:10.300 --> 00:53:13.699 we thank you for Jesus who died to save us. We 00:53:13.699 --> 00:53:15.639 thank you for sending your son and doing what 00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:18.400 we couldn't do, which is live that perfect life. 00:53:18.599 --> 00:53:21.860 And thank you for taking our penalty. Thank you 00:53:21.860 --> 00:53:24.739 for giving us freedom. Thank you for the reminder 00:53:24.739 --> 00:53:28.760 from John the Baptist of the life worth living. 00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:33.719 Lord, we ask that you give us clarity today, 00:53:33.840 --> 00:53:37.940 maybe for the first time. about your love for 00:53:37.940 --> 00:53:40.920 us. Give us humility if we've been arrogant and 00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:44.480 proud about our own entrenched ways of living. 00:53:46.780 --> 00:53:48.739 Remind us of our purpose and fill it with us 00:53:48.739 --> 00:53:52.300 when maybe we lack hope, we lack meaning in our 00:53:52.300 --> 00:53:55.679 days. But I pray that this week is filled with 00:53:55.679 --> 00:53:58.280 hope for this amazing church and that you get 00:53:58.280 --> 00:54:01.300 all the glory and the credit. Your sons and we 00:54:01.300 --> 00:54:02.320 pray. Amen.