WEBVTT 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:34.149 Well, thank you to our worship team. If you're 00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:36.829 with us on most weeks, you'll notice that we 00:00:36.829 --> 00:00:38.689 kind of went a little acoustic this morning. 00:00:38.789 --> 00:00:40.990 And something we've started to do more frequently 00:00:40.990 --> 00:00:43.549 and based on your feedback, it's something I 00:00:43.549 --> 00:00:45.909 think we collectively love, be able to hear one 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:48.710 another's voices. Maybe that's good. Maybe that's 00:00:48.710 --> 00:00:52.969 not. I don't know. But grateful to the team for 00:00:52.969 --> 00:00:56.530 leading us. That song just feels timely. You 00:00:56.530 --> 00:00:59.229 know, we're all aware of the affairs of the world 00:00:59.229 --> 00:01:04.010 today. turbulence of the world, and I just feel 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:06.730 like if there's a message from God that just 00:01:06.730 --> 00:01:09.269 wants to sing over the world today, that Emmanuel, 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:13.290 God is with us, but that we would turn to Him, 00:01:13.409 --> 00:01:15.349 right? And that we would render our hearts and 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:18.250 return to the Lord, but He's with us, and He 00:01:18.250 --> 00:01:22.030 gives peace to us as we pursue Him, even in tough 00:01:22.030 --> 00:01:24.609 and turbulent times that we are living in, for 00:01:24.609 --> 00:01:28.719 sure. Before we jump to the series, I just want 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.840 to take a moment to plug something that you've 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:32.859 heard us talk about before, but it's worth just 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:35.659 an extra few minutes in this portion of the service. 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:38.319 It's our Foundations class. It is kicking off 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:41.680 a week from, two weeks from, two weeks from, 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.879 I believe. I don't know. March is flying. It's 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.599 kicking off soon on Thursday nights. I think 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.459 the date's there on the screen. And Preston is 00:01:49.459 --> 00:01:52.219 going to be teaching that class. For many, for, 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:54.120 I don't know, for the last three or four years, 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:55.719 we've done something called Alpha, and we're 00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:58.519 still going to do that. It's coming in the fall, 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:00.959 but we decided that we also wanted to kind of 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:02.920 give people an opportunity to go the next step. 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:06.439 So this foundations class is for anybody. Alpha 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.360 is not a prerequisite, although if you take an 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.099 Alpha, I think this might be a great next step 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:13.819 for you, but it's not a prerequisite. It's for 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:15.740 anybody who just wants to kind of go a little 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:17.759 deeper in their faith. Here's the way I would 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:19.560 differentiate it between Alpha. Alpha is like, 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:22.509 hey, is this? stuff true and can I believe it 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:24.370 and why should I believe it? Like, is the Bible 00:02:24.370 --> 00:02:26.689 true? How do we know that Jesus is really not 00:02:26.689 --> 00:02:29.009 some crazy lunatic? Like some of those maybe 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:32.110 why questions. Foundations is like, okay, I believe, 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:34.289 but I'm not really sure how to kind of take that 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:37.069 next step or what is that next step for me as 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:39.909 I think about my personal faith. And so I think 00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:41.629 there's already about 15 of you that have registered 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:44.569 for that. We'd love to see it be 20 or thereabouts, 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:47.430 but probably not too many more than that because 00:02:47.430 --> 00:02:49.969 we want to maintain a nice class size. that there's 00:02:49.969 --> 00:02:51.430 good dialogue. It's free. There's going to be 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:54.069 free child care. It is going to be a tremendous 00:02:54.069 --> 00:02:57.050 gift to our church, and I'm excited for that 00:02:57.050 --> 00:02:58.909 to kick off. But I really wanted to put that 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:00.990 in front of you because there's a greater emphasis 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:03.189 this year on our discipleship piece. You know, 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:05.729 we kind of rolled out this new vision in January, 00:03:05.729 --> 00:03:09.210 and in that vein, in that same artery, is just 00:03:09.210 --> 00:03:12.389 to give you and equip you with more. And so this 00:03:12.389 --> 00:03:14.789 is one of those things that is part of that new 00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:17.530 vision. So foundations, it's online. You can 00:03:17.530 --> 00:03:20.900 RSVP there. scan the, you can go to the church 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.020 center app. You can do all the things. It's probably 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:26.319 anywhere you access it, you can do it. And we're 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:28.599 ready for you. And Preston's working really hard. 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:31.180 I've seen most of the content for that. It's 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:33.680 just really, really good. And so I want to commend 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.680 you to do that. I'm grateful to be back with 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.039 you. How many of you were here last week? What 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:42.460 a blessing Joe was. Amen. Thank you, Joe. I'm 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:44.960 not sure if he made it this morning. He's like, 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.740 I'm not preaching. I'm not going. But he was 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:50.280 great. I was able to catch it online later in 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.520 the week and just continuing us forward in our 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.879 Before I Go series that we've been in, in Jesus's 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:58.759 farewell discourse. More on that in a moment. 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:00.479 The reason we weren't here last week, though, 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:03.000 Preston shared with you, is that myself and Tim, 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:05.159 who's a member of our management team, we were 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.460 in Stone Mountain. Georgia. Anybody ever been 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:09.919 to the actual Stone Mountain Park? It's the only 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.439 reason people go there. Stone Mountain, Georgia, 00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:16.480 to present a gift from LBC Gives to our, we have 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:18.540 a new church partner in Stone Mountain, Georgia. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.139 You're seeing some pictures there, I believe. 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:25.100 Yep, from last week. Kingdom City Church in Stone 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:27.480 Mountain, Georgia. We took them on last fall 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:30.480 as a new partner, as a domestic partner. We're 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.420 really committed to having local, domestic, and 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:37.259 then international partners. And so Pastor G 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:40.490 and his church in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Man, 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.889 God is on the move there. They have an afternoon 00:04:43.889 --> 00:04:46.269 service. It's at 4 .30. They're renting space 00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:49.610 from a church that's been in the community, an 00:04:49.610 --> 00:04:52.149 old Baptist church, for well over 100 years. 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:55.569 And this community has just been fractured by 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:59.029 racism. In fact, when you stand at the church, 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:01.529 if you look down the hill and just to the right, 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:03.829 there's a coffee shop there now. Out in front 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:06.410 of that coffee shop is a big oak tree, and there's 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:08.129 still chains hanging there from where they used 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:13.399 to hang slaves. And so the community very intentionally 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:15.720 decided to keep that there because they wanted 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:18.629 it. to mark the history of that community, but 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:20.550 the healing that's going on there as well is 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.110 phenomenal. So we were able to be there with 00:05:23.110 --> 00:05:26.829 Pastor G. They had 18 people. It was beautiful. 00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:29.250 And we were like, hey, man, you're doing the 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:31.990 hard work of starting. And us all the way in 00:05:31.990 --> 00:05:34.930 Arizona, in Vail, Arizona, are in this with you. 00:05:35.089 --> 00:05:37.509 And so we were able to support them not only 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:40.329 on a monthly basis, but then through a one -time 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:43.069 gift that you all made possible through LBC Gives. 00:05:43.089 --> 00:05:45.230 So hope to be able to provide you more updates 00:05:45.230 --> 00:05:47.860 with that. with Pastor G and what they're doing 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.439 out there in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:52.500 really, really special. I'm really grateful for 00:05:52.500 --> 00:05:54.819 the chance to support him. All right, we're in 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:59.040 week five of our series, which is a series capturing 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.660 what we know as Jesus' Farewell Discourse. That's 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:04.000 the name kind of attached to it. But a simpler 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.079 way to understand it is the final night of Jesus. 00:06:06.970 --> 00:06:10.189 with his disciples in this upper room, and they're 00:06:10.189 --> 00:06:13.089 sharing these very intimate moments. He's washed 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:15.870 their feet. They've had this meal together. He's 00:06:15.870 --> 00:06:18.529 telling them of this new season that's in front 00:06:18.529 --> 00:06:20.810 of them. This is all captured for us in the book 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:23.449 of John, chapters 13 to 17, and it's been kind 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:26.129 of the focus of this series for us. By the way, 00:06:26.149 --> 00:06:27.910 I'm a little jealous. Joe, if you were here last 00:06:27.910 --> 00:06:31.610 week, his passage was John 15, 1 through 15, 00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:33.829 which is the course of Scripture where we get 00:06:33.829 --> 00:06:35.610 our name from, which is Living Branch Church. 00:06:36.269 --> 00:06:38.569 I have an obvious bias towards that passage. 00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:40.810 And I was like, good luck, Joe. You've got to 00:06:40.810 --> 00:06:43.410 preach the name of the church. But man, did he 00:06:43.410 --> 00:06:46.009 do a good job. But we're going to pick up where 00:06:46.009 --> 00:06:49.050 you left off last week. Which was, if you were 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:51.410 here, it's that portion of scripture where Jesus 00:06:51.410 --> 00:06:54.209 is describing himself as the vine. We are the 00:06:54.209 --> 00:06:56.509 branches. And you're like, oh, I see the name 00:06:56.509 --> 00:06:59.589 now. And he's inviting us to abide in him, to 00:06:59.589 --> 00:07:02.189 remain in him, to make our home in him. He is 00:07:02.189 --> 00:07:04.589 the true vine that gives us life. And as we abide 00:07:04.589 --> 00:07:07.930 in him, we are connected to that and find life 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:10.949 as well. But if you were to go back and you were 00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:13.949 just to start over and just start reading this 00:07:13.949 --> 00:07:16.930 farewell discourse again from chapter 13 up to 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:19.120 the point. point, up to the point we're at now, 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:22.379 you would pick up a theme, I think, in Jesus's 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:24.399 words to his disciples. It's been around this, 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:27.459 his imminent departure. Like, I'm going to leave 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:31.720 soon. It's coming soon. And there's a reassurance 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:33.819 of the Holy Spirit. They would come someday. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.579 They would have this eternal future together. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.560 And so Jesus has been basically saying, up to 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:40.699 this point, I will come again and take you where 00:07:40.699 --> 00:07:43.579 I am. And Jesus has been making them these promises. 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:48.180 And right from the beginning, Jesus had declared 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:50.720 that all of this was because of his deep love 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.319 for these disciples, his guys. This was his crew. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.600 These were his guys. So at this point, I want 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.959 you to see the shift that's about to happen here. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.060 At this point, if you're one of the disciples, 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:08.040 you could be like, okay, this isn't ideal, but 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.360 we think we understand here. We think we understand 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.819 what's going on. We think we're good. Jesus is 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:17.079 like, you're going to go away. the helper, the 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.899 Holy Spirit is going to come. You still love 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:22.339 us. You're going to come back for us someday. 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:26.319 Seems okay. We can shake on it. We got a deal. 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:29.120 Well, this section is what I'll call the fine 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:32.100 print of the deal. I don't know if you've ever 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:33.700 found yourself in a situation where you're like, 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:35.840 this just seems to be a little bit too good to 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.419 be true, right? And perhaps it's too good to 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:39.779 be true. And then you're like, what's the fine 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:41.440 print? I'll tell you of one story that came to 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.899 my mind. Kendra and I were on our honeymoon in 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:46.080 Intervale, New Hampshire. Anybody ever been there? 00:08:46.539 --> 00:08:49.039 We went to a ski town and skied half a day over 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.120 a course of a week. But it was beautiful. We're 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.679 in Intervale. We're out walking this little quaint 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:57.019 ski town. And this person's like, hey, for 50 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.620 bucks, we'll give you $50 cash. You just got 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:01.980 to sit through this presentation. We're like, 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:06.470 we're poor as poor can be. $50 will get us like 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:09.690 a lot more back then. Three meals, like we're 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.789 in. This sounds too good to be true. Yeah, yeah, 00:09:12.809 --> 00:09:15.730 just come in here, sit in here, 50 bucks. So 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:21.250 anybody own a timeshare? My prayers are with 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:24.129 you, and I can give you my best legal lawyer 00:09:24.129 --> 00:09:26.389 counsel to advise you how to get out of it. But 00:09:26.389 --> 00:09:29.190 anyhow, this was when timeshares were still a 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:32.090 thing. Well, I don't need to tell you the story. 00:09:32.190 --> 00:09:33.950 It was this pitch for a timeshare. And we're 00:09:33.950 --> 00:09:37.370 sitting in there like, what? We don't even know 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:39.509 what this means. Much less in Intervale, New 00:09:39.509 --> 00:09:40.929 Hampshire. Like, we're never coming back here 00:09:40.929 --> 00:09:45.509 again in our lives. Thankfully, we did not sign 00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.710 anything. And at the end of it, he gives us this 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:51.009 $50 bill. And I'm like, giddy as can be, like, 00:09:51.049 --> 00:09:53.870 we did it. You know, we beat the system. We get 00:09:53.870 --> 00:09:56.289 to dinner. It's time to pay. I pull out this 00:09:56.289 --> 00:09:58.230 $50 bill, and it's been taped back together. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.120 And I'm like, oh, no. They did get us. Like, 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:04.139 this isn't even a real $50 bill. So it was like, 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:06.659 hey, we don't need change. It's all yours, you 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:09.000 know. Like, take it, take it. Never heard the 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.659 word about it. Point is, it seemed too good to 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:15.539 be true. There was some fine print to it. It 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:17.179 was like, hey, we're going to give you $50, and 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:18.600 then you're going to sign your life away to this 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:20.779 timeshare. Thankfully, somehow, by the grace 00:10:20.779 --> 00:10:23.600 of God, did not. But it seemed too good to be 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.700 true. Like, you just need $50 to watch, like, 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:29.809 a 20 -minute video? Like, okay. This is the point. 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:34.850 Here comes the fine print from Jesus. I am leaving 00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:38.429 you, and I am leaving and sending you out in 00:10:38.429 --> 00:10:42.210 the middle of a hostile world. This seems to 00:10:42.210 --> 00:10:45.809 kind of be new info from Jesus. Like all the 00:10:45.809 --> 00:10:47.730 other things that he was clear on. Like I'm leaving 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.409 you, but the good news is the Holy Spirit is 00:10:49.409 --> 00:10:51.490 going to come. And by the way, I'm going to prepare 00:10:51.490 --> 00:10:53.110 a place for you. So I'm going to come back. So 00:10:53.110 --> 00:10:55.509 this isn't going to be for forever. It's temporary. 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:59.169 We're going to be reunited for eternity. These 00:10:59.169 --> 00:11:01.129 are all things that they are understanding. And 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:03.450 quite honestly, they're like, okay, we can do 00:11:03.450 --> 00:11:05.889 this. We can get through it. But then here comes 00:11:05.889 --> 00:11:08.269 the fine print. By the way. While you're waiting 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:10.269 for me, Jesus is telling me, you're going to 00:11:10.269 --> 00:11:12.090 go out into a hostile world, and there's going 00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:14.330 to be a response of opposition and rejection 00:11:14.330 --> 00:11:20.690 to you. This seems to kind of be new info, where 00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:23.730 they kind of sit up and like, wait, we were tracking 00:11:23.730 --> 00:11:25.870 with you up to this point, and now all of a sudden 00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:28.090 you're like, it's going to get bad. It's going 00:11:28.090 --> 00:11:32.509 to get hard for you. He has a new tone to him, 00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:36.149 in my opinion, as you read this discourse. How 00:11:36.149 --> 00:11:37.769 many of us remember as kids when our parents 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:39.889 would tell us hard things and then they would 00:11:39.889 --> 00:11:41.529 follow it up with, I only tell you this because 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:43.269 I love you. Anybody have those types of parents? 00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:45.129 And you would just think, you would roll your 00:11:45.129 --> 00:11:47.250 eyes and be like, no, this is the meanest thing 00:11:47.250 --> 00:11:50.049 anybody could ever say to me. And then now as 00:11:50.049 --> 00:11:52.389 a parent, you completely understand it, don't 00:11:52.389 --> 00:11:55.789 you? Like part of why you say hard things to 00:11:55.789 --> 00:11:58.389 your kids is because you love them so deeply. 00:11:59.590 --> 00:12:01.629 And it's our love for our kids. We tell them 00:12:01.629 --> 00:12:04.029 these hard truths. We warn them of hard realities. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.240 That's exactly what Jesus is about to do here. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.220 He's first going to give them the reality of 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:13.340 opposition. He just wants them to see it. He's 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:14.960 all but promised it. These are the next words 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.860 from Jesus. Verse 18, if the world hates you, 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.379 it's a strong word, understand that it hated 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:23.399 me before it hated you. If you were of the world, 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.200 the world would love you as its own. However, 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.120 because you are not of the world, but I chose 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.120 you out of it, the world hates you. Remember 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:43.129 the word that I spoke to you. So Jesus' words 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:45.669 are not exactly the words of a motivational speaker 00:12:45.669 --> 00:12:48.409 trying to win fans at this point, right? Instead, 00:12:48.730 --> 00:12:50.850 he's preparing his disciples for this really 00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:53.700 hard reality. that awaits them, that's ahead 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:56.059 of them. He knew that the message he was entrusting 00:12:56.059 --> 00:12:58.639 to them would be carried forward into a world 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.159 that would ultimately resist it, reject it, ridicule 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.659 it, even persecute it. And the word world that 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.519 Jesus uses there, by the way, hopefully a lot 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.700 of you are still engaged in the carry on or the 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:12.620 carry over, I should say. This week, especially 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:15.559 on Monday, which is tomorrow, Preston does a 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:17.240 really good job of kind of breaking this word 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.950 down even further for us. You can go read that 00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:22.909 for yourself. But the word world that Jesus is 00:13:22.909 --> 00:13:26.049 using here several different times, he means 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:28.710 as a way to describe those who blatantly reject 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:32.389 God and who ultimately are trying to live independently 00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:36.049 of their creator. That's a generalized way of 00:13:36.049 --> 00:13:39.679 thinking of that word world. And here's what 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.220 we should acknowledge. Jesus was and is the only 00:13:43.220 --> 00:13:45.720 perfectly loving, perfectly truthful, perfectly 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:48.480 compassionate person who ever lived, and yet 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.120 he was rejected by the world. And so what does 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.779 that mean? What it means is if that the world 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:57.559 rejected him, who's perfectly loving, perfectly 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.840 gracious, perfectly truthful, perfectly all things, 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:04.480 if that was their response to them, we don't 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.019 have a chance is what that means. I don't know 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:09.340 if you've ever watched a sporting event where 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:14.220 the favorite, if you will, loses. Like, oh, well, 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:16.799 they lost. We don't have a chance. They're the 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.159 favorite. They're not supposed to lose. Jesus 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.279 was not supposed to be rejected, if you will. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.799 I mean, he was, according to the sovereign plan 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:28.340 of God, predetermined before the world began. 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.639 But from our vantage point, he's not supposed 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.850 to lose. He's perfectly loving. He laid down 00:14:35.850 --> 00:14:38.029 his life. Like, what's your beef with Jesus? 00:14:38.990 --> 00:14:42.490 He's given his life for you. And so Jesus is 00:14:42.490 --> 00:14:44.610 like, hey, servant is not greater than his master. 00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:48.269 If this is their response to me, then this is 00:14:48.269 --> 00:14:51.110 going to be their response to you. That's what 00:14:51.110 --> 00:14:53.230 verse 19 means. I've called you to follow me. 00:14:53.370 --> 00:14:55.370 Therefore, you're different. Therefore, it will 00:14:55.370 --> 00:14:59.740 be a source of persecution for you. Maybe you've 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:02.179 heard of this spiritual tension. Back when I 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:05.480 was growing up in the church, in the 90s, there 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:07.559 was a lot of really bad Christian youth group 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.899 music. We survived that. And then there was a 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:12.659 lot of just, I don't know, people made money 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:15.039 off this stuff. But there were shirts, and some 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.320 of you still have them. Good, wear them. It says, 00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:20.960 in, not of, this idea of being in the world, 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.799 the spiritual tension that we live in the world, 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.879 but not of the world. What does it mean? It means 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:28.159 our values, our priorities, our loyalties are 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.500 different, but yet I pay my mortgage like someone 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:33.320 else does. I drive my car like someone else does. 00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.139 I go to the same schools and places that other 00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:38.779 people do. So you're in the world. We haven't 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:41.720 created a Christian bubble that we all just hide 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.899 in. We're in it, but we're not of it. And the 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:46.820 best example I can give you is a boat. If you 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:49.639 think about a boat, a boat belongs in the water. 00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:52.549 They don't make boats to just sit on a shelf 00:15:52.549 --> 00:15:55.389 to be looked at. Like, its intention is to be 00:15:55.389 --> 00:15:58.409 in the water. That's where it functions best. 00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:00.830 That's what it's designed to do. However, if 00:16:00.830 --> 00:16:03.149 water gets inside the boat, it sinks and it's 00:16:03.149 --> 00:16:06.230 catastrophic. And so that's the best picture 00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:08.710 that we can kind of paint for you in this, in 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:10.690 what Jesus is trying to describe here. It's like, 00:16:10.710 --> 00:16:13.789 you're in this thing. You're in the game, but 00:16:13.789 --> 00:16:16.210 you're different. And because you're different, 00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:18.649 There's going to be some persecution that comes 00:16:18.649 --> 00:16:19.950 your way. There's going to be some rejection. 00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:21.610 There's going to be some opposition that comes 00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:23.730 your way because you are different. That's what 00:16:23.730 --> 00:16:26.830 Jesus was trying to get them to understand in 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:28.929 this moment. We live in the world, but the world 00:16:28.929 --> 00:16:32.889 cannot live inside of us. And the outcome of 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.009 that is that as we follow Christ and the presence 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:38.289 of Christ at work in our lives, what does it 00:16:38.289 --> 00:16:41.070 do? It begins to expose the things that are broken. 00:16:42.289 --> 00:16:44.809 None of us like the friend that's in better shape 00:16:44.809 --> 00:16:48.879 than we are, right? Why? Because it exposes that 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.159 I'm not in good shape. I'm not friends with any 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.799 46 -year -old men because that's what I should 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.399 be like, right? I'm kidding about that. Some 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.659 of you are probably 46. Most of you are not. 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:05.599 You're like 12. Welcome. Anyhow, you get it. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.880 Things that are right expose things that are 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.460 broken. That's what it is. That's how it works. 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:18.240 So as we live in Christ and the Spirit of God 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.059 lives in us through the Holy Spirit, it begins 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:23.019 to expose, if we're living in that light, so 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:25.720 to speak, it begins to expose the darkness in 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:28.960 the world around us. Have you ever noticed turning 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.500 on a light instantly changes the dynamic of a 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:34.160 room, right? In the dark, you don't see the dust 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.460 on the baseboards. You don't see whatever, the 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:38.480 imperfections of the room. As soon as you turn 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:41.099 the light on, the clutter becomes obvious. The 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:42.759 things that are hidden suddenly become visible 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:44.640 in the presence of Christ. That's what Jesus 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.859 is driving at, does that to the human heart. 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:50.819 And Jesus was saying, there are going to be people 00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:54.000 that are just not going to like that. They're 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.900 not going to like that. Not everyone is going 00:17:56.900 --> 00:18:01.390 to welcome that. So when the gospel calls people 00:18:01.390 --> 00:18:03.430 to something greater than their temporary pleasure, 00:18:03.549 --> 00:18:07.769 some respond with joy. I mean, Baptism Sunday 00:18:07.769 --> 00:18:10.529 is a response to that. You've seen it for yourself. 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:14.410 So some respond with joy, and some respond in 00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:16.589 surrender posture like, hey, yeah, you're right. 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:19.490 Things in my life need to change. There's some 00:18:19.490 --> 00:18:23.009 brokenness. There's some impurities. Things that 00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.150 I need to let go of and surrender and turn towards 00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:28.369 Christ. And the response of joy is evident because 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:29.829 they're up here in front of all of you saying, 00:18:29.890 --> 00:18:32.569 I'm ready. I'm ready to be made new in Christ. 00:18:33.829 --> 00:18:36.809 And then others respond with resistance. And 00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:38.769 Jesus wanted his disciples to know that this 00:18:38.769 --> 00:18:41.910 is to be expected. So this is the reality of 00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:47.069 opposition. all that we could say about Jesus, 00:18:47.109 --> 00:18:48.869 one of the things that certainly should be said 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:50.710 is that he was just a realist. Like he wasn't 00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:52.730 trying to pull punches with him. He's just trying 00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:55.890 to say, this is what it is. There's a reality 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:57.730 to this opposition that you're going to experience, 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:01.650 but rejection does not mean failure. It does 00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:03.470 not mean failure. Quite often it's evidence that 00:19:03.470 --> 00:19:05.750 you truly belong to Christ. There's an inescapable 00:19:05.750 --> 00:19:08.210 reality to it. And here's something that I want 00:19:08.210 --> 00:19:10.529 to see from this first part is that as Jesus 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:13.990 went first in love, Jesus also went first in 00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:18.799 rejection. If the response to Jesus extending 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.400 the most perfect form of love that has ever been 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:25.660 displayed was rejection and hatred, why should 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:31.240 I expect anything different? And I mean, just 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:34.380 this morning, I was, as we were singing, I was 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:37.380 thinking all the things that are in my heart. 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.220 I was thinking of a friend who no longer talks 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:44.759 to me because of my faith in Jesus. Someone that 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:48.119 I was close with for many years. And American 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.440 politics, thank you very much, divided that. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:57.160 But I think, you know, yeah, soapbox, but I'll 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:00.220 say it. It's not ultimately about politics. It's 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:06.640 about transformation in Christ. And faith in 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.420 Jesus sometimes becomes a source of division, 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:14.119 as much as I wish it wasn't. Because that's a 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:17.819 friend I miss. It's a friend that I would love 00:20:17.819 --> 00:20:21.400 to be reconnected to. But I don't know that that's 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:23.720 possible. So when I get in that headspace of 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:26.500 like, woe is me, I'm like, wait, Jesus went first 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:28.500 in love. He also went first in rejection. He 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:30.680 modeled this for us. He showed us how to do this. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.539 Do we like it? No. But it is a reality. He wanted 00:20:34.539 --> 00:20:37.099 him to grasp this reality before he was gone. 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:40.579 1 John 3 .13, don't be surprised, brothers and 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:43.859 sisters, if the world hates you. Strong words. 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:47.170 So that's the reality of the opposition. Then 00:20:47.170 --> 00:20:49.289 Jesus gives them the reason for the opposition. 00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:52.390 By the way, they don't all start with ours. If 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:54.470 you're getting excited that they do, they don't. 00:20:54.890 --> 00:20:57.390 The reason for opposition, reality, reason. We 00:20:57.390 --> 00:20:59.130 sort of already considered this, but let's look 00:20:59.130 --> 00:21:02.490 at a few more verses in John 15, verse 21. But 00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:04.029 they will do all these things to you on account 00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:06.670 of my name, because they don't know the one who 00:21:06.670 --> 00:21:09.210 sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, 00:21:09.289 --> 00:21:11.940 they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:14.019 no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:16.359 also hates my father. If I had not done the works 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.180 among them that no one else has done, they would 00:21:19.180 --> 00:21:20.960 not be guilty of sin. In other words, it exposed 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.200 them. Now they have seen and hated both me and 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:26.220 my father, but this happened so that the statement 00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:28.240 written in their law might be fulfilled. They 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.319 hated me for no reason. So Jesus sort of doubles 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.279 down here, right? He's taking this a little deeper. 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:37.660 A lot deeper, you should say. He wants them to 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:39.259 understand that the hostility that they're going 00:21:39.259 --> 00:21:42.900 to experience is not merely cultural or social, 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:46.619 but rather spiritual. As I was just describing 00:21:46.619 --> 00:21:49.920 to you with my friendship with this friend that 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.859 I had. He will tell you it's political. It's 00:21:52.859 --> 00:21:56.900 not. It's spiritual. And Jesus is trying to help 00:21:56.900 --> 00:21:59.640 them understand, like, it's not cultural. It's 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:02.359 not social. It's spiritual. That's what he meant 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:05.619 in verse 21. The fuel of their opposition. It's 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:09.359 not ultimately you, Peter and John and Andrew, 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.420 as he's looking around and talking to these disciples. 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:16.559 You're not ultimately their problem. That's not 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:18.759 ultimately what they're mad about or angry about 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:20.779 or rejecting. It has nothing to do with you. 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:24.160 The fuel of their opposition would be simply 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:26.839 their ignorance of God. And I say that in a compassionate 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:31.339 way, like they just don't know God. There's a 00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:33.819 relational disconnect behind the opposition and 00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:35.819 behind the hatred that just don't know the Father. 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:38.519 And no doubt, you've experienced this before. 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:42.799 If somebody misunderstands me deeply, they're 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:45.400 more likely to criticize me. They're more likely 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.299 to make unfair statements about me. They're more 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:50.259 likely to show opposition towards me. If they 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:52.640 misunderstand me, they assume motives that you 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:54.940 never had. I mean, you understand it. They might 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:57.819 even just flat out reject you entirely because 00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:02.089 they've heard about you. so to speak. Why? Because 00:23:02.089 --> 00:23:06.829 they don't truly know you. Jesus says the same 00:23:06.829 --> 00:23:11.069 dynamic happens with God. Humanity, who was created 00:23:11.069 --> 00:23:13.769 to know him, but sin has distorted that relationship, 00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:17.809 and so there's two roads ahead. One is to fix 00:23:17.809 --> 00:23:21.089 that, if you will. Thank you, Jesus. The other 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:23.170 is just to continue forward in this state of 00:23:23.170 --> 00:23:25.750 brokenness and ignorance, if you will, towards 00:23:25.750 --> 00:23:29.779 God. And so Jesus is saying that this is, In 00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:32.380 a perfect world, God has created you to know 00:23:32.380 --> 00:23:35.400 the Father. That's what you're created to do 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:37.440 and to know and to experience. But sin has distorted 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.079 that. And so we don't fully know God as he's 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:43.220 designed us to. And yet, here's the paradox that 00:23:43.220 --> 00:23:46.180 Jesus gives us. The very presence of Christ removes 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:49.319 that excuse of ignorance, if you will. That's 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.519 what verse 22 is. If I had not come and spoken 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:54.779 to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But 00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:59.240 now, now they have no excuse for their sin. What's 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:04.099 the old saying? Ignorance is what? Bliss. Why 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:06.500 don't people, for example, go to the doctor? 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:09.900 Because they don't want to hear what they don't 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.640 want to hear. Right? Ignorance is bliss. And 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:15.819 by the way, I'm guilty of that. I can't tell 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:18.400 you the last time I went to the doctor. And it's 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.920 because the dude moved and didn't tell me he 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:23.900 was moving. But I'll get over it. I just haven't 00:24:23.900 --> 00:24:26.619 got around to finding a new one. Why don't we 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:29.019 go? Because we don't want to hear. The hard truth. 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:33.839 Like, eh, I'm good. Until the doctor's like, 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:36.779 no, this is A, B, and C. You need to fix this. 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:39.720 They don't want to hear the hard truth. So if 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:41.799 they just don't know, then they don't have to 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:44.819 act. They don't have to do differently. I don't 00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:46.660 have to act if I don't know. I don't have to 00:24:46.660 --> 00:24:49.500 do differently if I don't know. And Jesus was 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:52.000 saying, me, him, the light has come into the 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.059 world, and people must choose how to respond. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.380 The doctor has given you the news. You got to 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.480 decide what you're going to do with it. Are you 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:06.380 going to ignore it and this disease will kill 00:25:06.380 --> 00:25:11.940 you? Or will you follow my instructions and advice, 00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:17.480 if you will, and be made whole and healthy? Some 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:21.619 people will, right? I mean, baptism Sunday, some 00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:24.549 people will open the door. And the light will 00:25:24.549 --> 00:25:26.369 come in and expose it. Others will just pull 00:25:26.369 --> 00:25:29.329 the curtains tighter. But either way, Jesus is 00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:32.269 forcing a decision. This is why Christianity 00:25:32.269 --> 00:25:34.769 has been both attractive and controversial, right? 00:25:34.869 --> 00:25:36.950 Because it draws some people in with life -changing 00:25:36.950 --> 00:25:39.269 power that transforms them. We hear their stories. 00:25:39.349 --> 00:25:43.369 We celebrate that. And others, it provokes resistance 00:25:43.369 --> 00:25:48.069 and persecution. The message of Jesus confronts 00:25:48.069 --> 00:25:52.410 our pride, our self -sufficiency. our illusions 00:25:52.410 --> 00:25:57.769 of control. It tells us that we cannot save ourselves, 00:25:57.789 --> 00:25:59.730 and for many people, that is just the hardest 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:03.869 truth of all. I mean, I've been a pastor long 00:26:03.869 --> 00:26:07.470 enough to know, like, nobody has a problem with 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:11.250 Easter. If Jesus wants to rise from the dead, 00:26:11.410 --> 00:26:16.150 good. No skin off my back. They don't care. That's 00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:19.529 not controversial. What's controversial about 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:22.599 Easter? It's like, hey, by the way, because of 00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:26.619 his resurrection, he invites you into a new life, 00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:29.480 which means you have to make some changes to 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:33.400 your life. You have to get rid of some demons, 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.500 if you will, that are in the closet. You've got 00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:38.640 to get rid of some pet sins. You've got to pursue 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:40.940 holiness. You've got to strive for obedience. 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:46.140 That's the rub for people with Jesus. Easter 00:26:46.140 --> 00:26:50.200 is fun. It's fine. Christmas Eve is beautiful. 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:54.640 We have all the adjectives to go with it. What's 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:56.640 the rub with Jesus is that Jesus is like, by 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.640 the way, because you celebrate Easter and because 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:01.740 of Christmas Eve, the fact that I was born as 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:03.799 a human and came and lived a human life and died 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:06.539 a human death and rose again, you got to make 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:12.599 a decision. You got to make a decision. And that 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:17.500 bothers some people. And so when I... Where I 00:27:17.500 --> 00:27:19.420 was going with that is when I encounter people 00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:24.299 who are resistant to Jesus, I don't know that 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:26.140 at their core they have a problem with Jesus. 00:27:26.619 --> 00:27:31.700 Like, first century Jewish man is fine, nice, 00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:35.880 did good things. They have a problem with what 00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:40.420 Jesus demands of their life and what he's asking 00:27:40.420 --> 00:27:43.759 them to do with their life, which is to what? 00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:47.279 Pick up your cross and come follow me. down the 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:52.220 narrow path that few will find and that is difficult 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:54.680 to walk versus the broad path that many will 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:58.579 find that leads to destruction. But Jesus reminds 00:27:58.579 --> 00:28:01.920 his disciples that none of this takes God by 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:05.079 surprise. The rejection of Christ was foretold 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:08.299 in scripture and fulfilled in history. The cross 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:11.119 was not an accident. It's not an accident. It 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:13.059 wasn't just like the Romans were like, we don't 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:15.920 know what else to do, kill the guy. It was... 00:28:17.230 --> 00:28:21.250 predetermined. It was part of God's perfect loving 00:28:21.250 --> 00:28:23.630 plan, if you can try and get your head around 00:28:23.630 --> 00:28:26.529 that, which is difficult to do. It wasn't an 00:28:26.529 --> 00:28:28.309 accident. It was the culmination of the world's 00:28:28.309 --> 00:28:30.529 rebellion and the beginning of God's redemption 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:34.490 story. Like, imagine if Jesus is on the earth 00:28:34.490 --> 00:28:36.650 and he's doing all these things and he's healing 00:28:36.650 --> 00:28:38.710 people and he's making all these promises and 00:28:38.710 --> 00:28:42.329 then just gone. And there is no crucifixion and 00:28:42.329 --> 00:28:44.210 there is no resurrection. Like, what a cruel 00:28:45.579 --> 00:28:48.720 divine, sick joke that God would be playing on 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.779 us. Like, we tease this with Jesus, but he didn't 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:53.940 go to the cross. He didn't fulfill the mission. 00:28:54.299 --> 00:28:56.440 And so there is no redemption for us. It was 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:57.940 like, well, that's what it would have looked 00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:01.660 like, but you don't get a chance at it. But that's 00:29:01.660 --> 00:29:04.700 not how it unfolded, right? This was a culmination 00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:06.680 of the world's rebellion and the beginning of 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:09.640 God's redemption story before Jesus left and 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:12.380 before the Holy Spirit came. And then you come 00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:14.160 to the end of chapter 15, the beginning of chapter 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.440 16, and Jesus picks back up the promise of the 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.059 Holy Spirit. So he gives us next our responsibility 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:23.059 despite opposition. It's found primarily in verses 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:26.880 26 and 27. It says this, when the counselor comes, 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:28.819 that's the Holy Spirit, the one I will send to 00:29:28.819 --> 00:29:31.079 you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:33.000 proceeds from the Father, he will testify about 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:35.720 me. Here it is. Here's our responsibility. You 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:38.059 also will testify because you have been with 00:29:38.059 --> 00:29:41.460 me from the beginning. So Jesus is now describing 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:43.279 the mission of the church and the mission of 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:45.619 his followers. Notice the sequence. Opposition 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:48.920 does not cancel the mission. It clarifies it. 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:53.299 Opposition does not cancel the mission. It clarifies 00:29:53.299 --> 00:29:56.480 it. So as a follower of Jesus. I'm called to 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:58.519 be a witness. I'm called to testify about what 00:29:58.519 --> 00:30:01.000 I've seen and experienced in Christ. And a witness 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:04.619 does not create the truth. A witness simply testifies 00:30:04.619 --> 00:30:07.180 to what they know. Think of a courtroom and a 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:10.019 legal proceeding when they call witness to the 00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:12.559 stand, right? The witness doesn't argue the entire 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:15.680 case. That's the job of the attorneys. The witness 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.500 is simply up there to say, this is what I saw 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:20.240 and this is what I experienced. This is my word. 00:30:21.619 --> 00:30:23.859 This is the heart of Christian witness. It does 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:27.420 not... merely presenting arguments or debating 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:29.579 ideas. It is sharing the reality of what Christ 00:30:29.579 --> 00:30:33.660 has done. And the testimony carries a powerful, 00:30:33.900 --> 00:30:36.720 carries power that no argument can replace. I 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:38.339 think of, I'm going to show you this. This is 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:40.819 a scene in John chapter 9 where Jesus heals the 00:30:40.819 --> 00:30:43.400 blind man. And what's so interesting is that 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:46.220 they're questioning the blind man who, by the 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:48.119 way, is no longer blind because Jesus has healed 00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:50.259 him, about who is Jesus. And they're trying to 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:52.960 put him in the corner like, come on. Wrap this 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:55.099 guy out for who he really is. So here it is in 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:57.180 John 9. So a second time they summoned the man 00:30:57.180 --> 00:30:58.900 who had been blind and told him, second time, 00:30:58.900 --> 00:31:01.000 by the way, first time didn't go, they didn't 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:03.700 get the answer they wanted. Second time they 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:05.240 summoned the man who had been blind and told 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:07.619 him, give glory to God. We know, meaning Jesus, 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:10.819 that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether 00:31:10.819 --> 00:31:14.440 or not he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:18.799 I do know, my testimony, I was blind and now 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:23.829 I can see. In other words, You can debate theology 00:31:23.829 --> 00:31:27.170 all day. You can debate theology all day, but 00:31:27.170 --> 00:31:30.890 my transformation, my testimony is undeniable. 00:31:31.329 --> 00:31:34.289 And never more so in his case, he was literally 00:31:34.289 --> 00:31:38.529 blind and now he could see. I would imagine there 00:31:38.529 --> 00:31:40.190 wouldn't be an empty seat in the room if I had 00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:43.109 a former blind person come in here and say, Jesus 00:31:43.109 --> 00:31:44.910 healed me and I fully see. It would be like, 00:31:44.990 --> 00:31:51.059 oh my, it's undeniable. And I've had so many 00:31:51.059 --> 00:31:53.700 people tell me that they love Baptism Sundays 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:56.819 at LBC. And the way that we do it, primarily 00:31:56.819 --> 00:32:00.599 because they get to hear the testimony of every 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:03.279 person that goes into the waters of baptism. 00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.519 And look, that's our way of doing it. I'm not 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:11.059 saying it's right, although it is. But I'm saying 00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:15.420 it's powerful. It's a story. It's a testimony 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:18.839 that you're like, ah. Theology seems a bit over 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:21.160 my head, but man, that's a story of transformation 00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:25.160 that you cannot deny. That person used to do 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:27.619 this and be this way and live this way, and now 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:30.640 they're surrendered their life to Christ. And 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:33.299 you're like, I don't know about what some of 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:36.660 these scriptures mean. I don't know what sanctification 00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:39.240 means. I don't know what transformation means, 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.099 but I know that I'm seeing somebody who is different 00:32:42.099 --> 00:32:46.910 and has been transformed by Jesus. And the disciples 00:32:46.910 --> 00:32:49.069 had walked with Jesus. They had listened to his 00:32:49.069 --> 00:32:50.869 words. They had watched his miracles. They had 00:32:50.869 --> 00:32:52.630 witnessed the resurrection. They were living 00:32:52.630 --> 00:32:55.970 testimonies. And that's why most of them lost 00:32:55.970 --> 00:32:59.450 their life for the gospel, because they couldn't 00:32:59.450 --> 00:33:02.910 silence their testimony. Like, your story is 00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:05.549 your story. You don't have to like my theology, 00:33:05.789 --> 00:33:09.309 but you can't deny my story of transformation. 00:33:10.569 --> 00:33:12.529 And that's exactly what happened with the disciples. 00:33:12.569 --> 00:33:15.519 When Jesus was gone, they're like, We're never 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:19.859 going to be the same because of him. And, I mean, 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:22.359 they all had their story, and most of them, if 00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:25.160 not all of them, were eventually martyred because 00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:29.900 of that. The same is true today, not in America 00:33:29.900 --> 00:33:34.039 primarily, but what is true in America is that 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:35.920 we each have a story of grace, and each one of 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:38.900 us is called to be a witness, to be a witness. 00:33:40.089 --> 00:33:43.029 And to the people that are so afraid on baptism, 00:33:43.170 --> 00:33:44.829 I mean, bless their heart. There's so many people 00:33:44.829 --> 00:33:46.250 over the years that are like, I'm just scared 00:33:46.250 --> 00:33:47.829 to talk in front of people and I tell them this. 00:33:49.430 --> 00:33:51.589 You need to tell your story because somebody 00:33:51.589 --> 00:33:54.890 needs to hear your story. Like, there's going 00:33:54.890 --> 00:33:58.549 to be a me too moment when you're up there shaking. 00:33:59.750 --> 00:34:02.009 Someone else needs to hear your story. It's a 00:34:02.009 --> 00:34:04.230 story of grace. It's a story of transformation. 00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:06.710 It's a story of redemption. Like, this is a moment 00:34:06.710 --> 00:34:10.760 of celebration. that you cannot deny. And that's 00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:13.039 the calling, even in spite of the opposition, 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:15.659 that we have a responsibility to still carry 00:34:15.659 --> 00:34:18.500 out the mission. And that is done primarily through 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:22.920 just living into your story and to be a witness 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:27.880 for it and not back down from it. The world may 00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.360 debate theology, but it cannot ignore or erase 00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:32.500 a transformed life. Our responsibility remains 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:34.579 in spite of opposition. What is it? First Peter 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:37.800 chapter three, but in your hearts. regard Christ 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:40.159 the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:42.179 defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for 00:34:42.179 --> 00:34:44.760 the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness 00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:47.920 and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:51.519 that when you are accused, those who disparage 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:53.480 your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. 00:34:53.699 --> 00:34:56.719 It's a simple way of saying like, be ready when 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:58.619 people ask you like, what's the deal with your 00:34:58.619 --> 00:35:02.360 life? You tell them your story of redemption 00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:05.639 and grace. Notice that it's from a place of, 00:35:07.980 --> 00:35:12.860 testimony, not condemnation. So when people ask 00:35:12.860 --> 00:35:15.400 me about Jesus, I tell them about Jesus, how 00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:19.239 Jesus has worked in my life. I don't say, hey, 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:24.099 by the way, dude, what is the deal with whatever's 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:28.239 going on in their life? And it's a place, it's 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:32.909 leading from a platform of grace. confidence 00:35:32.909 --> 00:35:35.469 in the power of the gospel, like as I share and 00:35:35.469 --> 00:35:37.550 as I live into that and I'm consistent in that, 00:35:37.590 --> 00:35:39.789 that that does the transformational work to get 00:35:39.789 --> 00:35:43.409 people curious towards what this thing about 00:35:43.409 --> 00:35:47.070 Jesus is all about. Last part of the text, chapter 00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:50.050 16, Jesus' promise to the Holy Spirit, a passage 00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:52.250 you might be familiar with from our Things Unseen 00:35:52.250 --> 00:35:54.250 series, but here we get from Jesus, this is the 00:35:54.250 --> 00:35:57.610 last one, the help for opposition. So Jesus knew 00:35:57.610 --> 00:35:59.250 that the mission would be impossible without 00:35:59.250 --> 00:36:01.309 divine help, so he makes them this promise. I 00:36:01.309 --> 00:36:03.130 have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. 00:36:03.269 --> 00:36:07.110 What does he mean? He means when it squeezes 00:36:07.110 --> 00:36:09.449 you and you want to give up, I'm telling you 00:36:09.449 --> 00:36:12.070 these things so that you won't. Because when 00:36:12.070 --> 00:36:14.469 it gets hard, you're going to be inclined to 00:36:14.469 --> 00:36:17.650 stumble and to quit. I have told you these things 00:36:17.650 --> 00:36:19.269 to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:21.050 from the synagogues. In fact, the time is coming 00:36:21.050 --> 00:36:22.949 when anyone who kills you will think he is offering 00:36:22.949 --> 00:36:26.030 service to God. They will do these things because 00:36:26.030 --> 00:36:27.789 they have not known the Father or me. But I have 00:36:27.789 --> 00:36:29.510 told you these things so that when their time 00:36:29.510 --> 00:36:31.429 comes, you will remember that I told them to 00:36:31.429 --> 00:36:33.510 you. I did not tell you these things from the 00:36:33.510 --> 00:36:35.750 beginning because I was with you. You didn't 00:36:35.750 --> 00:36:38.570 need to know them. But now I am going away to 00:36:38.570 --> 00:36:40.210 him who sent me. And none of you asked me, where 00:36:40.210 --> 00:36:41.989 are you going? Now that's kind of confusing because 00:36:41.989 --> 00:36:44.489 Peter was like, show us the way. Don't have time 00:36:44.489 --> 00:36:46.570 to explain that. It's in this week's carryover. 00:36:47.650 --> 00:36:49.809 Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, 00:36:49.849 --> 00:36:52.920 sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I'm 00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:54.500 telling you the truth. It is for your benefit 00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:57.440 that I go away. Because if I don't go away, the 00:36:57.440 --> 00:36:59.420 counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:03.420 send him to you. When he comes, he'll have some 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:05.000 work to do. He will convict the world of sin, 00:37:05.179 --> 00:37:07.800 righteousness, judgment, about sin because they 00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:10.119 do not believe in me, about righteousness because 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:13.300 I'm going to the Father, and you will no longer 00:37:13.300 --> 00:37:15.019 see me, and about judgment because the ruler 00:37:15.019 --> 00:37:17.300 of this world has been judged. I still have many 00:37:17.300 --> 00:37:19.780 things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. 00:37:20.590 --> 00:37:22.710 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide 00:37:22.710 --> 00:37:24.590 you into all truth. For he will not speak on 00:37:24.590 --> 00:37:26.550 his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. 00:37:26.630 --> 00:37:28.449 He will also declare to you what is to come. 00:37:28.849 --> 00:37:30.989 He will glorify me because he will take from 00:37:30.989 --> 00:37:33.730 mine what is mine and declare it to you. Everything 00:37:33.730 --> 00:37:36.269 the Father has is mine. This is why I told you 00:37:36.269 --> 00:37:38.230 that he takes from what is mine and will declare 00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:42.489 it to you. I pointed it out in our Things Unseen 00:37:42.489 --> 00:37:44.949 series, but it's worth stating again. Jesus says 00:37:44.949 --> 00:37:47.170 something so remarkable in verse 7. It is for 00:37:47.170 --> 00:37:51.820 your benefit that I go away. Imagine hearing 00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:55.340 that as you're one of the disciples in that room 00:37:55.340 --> 00:37:56.920 that night, especially after this new little 00:37:56.920 --> 00:37:59.260 bit of news from Jesus, the fine print, if you 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:01.820 will, like, oh, by the way, they're going to 00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:03.039 ban you from the synagogue, and they're going 00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:04.079 to try and kill you, and they're going to hate 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:06.619 you. And, oh, it's to your advantage that I'm 00:38:06.619 --> 00:38:10.519 not here with you. Like, what? You're our muscles, 00:38:10.679 --> 00:38:14.199 man. You're our protector. And Jesus is like, 00:38:14.260 --> 00:38:18.900 it's better that I go away. How could it possibly 00:38:18.900 --> 00:38:21.420 be better? I mean, we wrestled with this in that 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:23.260 series, right? How could it possibly be better? 00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:25.000 Because through the Holy Spirit, Christ's presence 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.559 would dwell within every one of them. So what 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:30.460 does that mean? Instead of Christ beside them, 00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:33.119 they would have Christ within them. And that 00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:36.300 would change everything. That would change everything. 00:38:37.340 --> 00:38:39.320 And this promised spirit that would be within 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:41.440 them would perform several vital works according 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:43.300 to Jesus. What would it do? Convict the world 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:45.199 concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. 00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:48.539 And it should be stated. That conviction is not 00:38:48.539 --> 00:38:51.960 condemnation. Conviction is illumination. It 00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:56.260 just turns the light on. It is the moment when 00:38:56.260 --> 00:38:58.639 truth becomes undeniable. It's like the light 00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:00.119 being turned on in the room that we talked about 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.460 earlier. And the Spirit awakens people to the 00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:06.360 seriousness of sin. When do your kids learn hard 00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:10.199 things? When they learn it for themselves. You 00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:12.480 can stand there and tell them all day, don't 00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:15.880 touch the burner when it's hot. when are they 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:18.619 most inclined to not touch the burner? After 00:39:18.619 --> 00:39:26.139 they what? Touch the burner. And I believe for 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:30.300 all of my friends that are far from Jesus, don't 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:32.739 believe in Jesus, don't like the church, don't 00:39:32.739 --> 00:39:35.239 like Christianity, not many of those friends. 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.340 Where it will click for them when it's illuminated 00:39:40.340 --> 00:39:43.320 for them in their lives rather than me with my 00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:47.260 Bible over their head all the time. As you know, 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:51.159 you're a sinner. There has to be conviction. 00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:54.000 It's not condemnation. Conviction is illumination. 00:39:54.059 --> 00:39:55.539 It's like the light being turned on. And the 00:39:55.539 --> 00:39:58.619 Spirit awakens people to the seriousness of sin, 00:39:58.780 --> 00:40:01.059 to the beauty of righteousness, and to the certainty 00:40:01.059 --> 00:40:05.150 of judgment. And no human persuasion can produce 00:40:05.150 --> 00:40:06.949 this kind of transformation. Only the Spirit 00:40:06.949 --> 00:40:09.969 of God can open spiritual eyes. And Jesus also 00:40:09.969 --> 00:40:11.789 says the Spirit will guide believers into truth. 00:40:12.250 --> 00:40:14.670 He's doing that for us. Christian growth is not 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:17.510 merely intellectual learning. It's spiritual 00:40:17.510 --> 00:40:19.349 illumination that comes through the Spirit of 00:40:19.349 --> 00:40:22.150 God. Have you ever read a passage in the Bible 00:40:22.150 --> 00:40:25.210 that you've read so many times before, but then 00:40:25.210 --> 00:40:28.269 suddenly it just kind of comes alive? Maybe it's 00:40:28.269 --> 00:40:29.849 a season that you're in. Maybe it's something 00:40:29.849 --> 00:40:31.730 that somebody shared with you. Whatever. Maybe. 00:40:33.110 --> 00:40:35.670 Words that seem distant suddenly feel personal. 00:40:35.909 --> 00:40:38.829 And this is the quiet work of the Spirit of God 00:40:38.829 --> 00:40:41.489 to illuminate truth in your life and in my life. 00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:44.630 He helps us discern truth in a confusing world. 00:40:44.690 --> 00:40:50.210 Is the world confusing? Yes. Yes. The Holy Spirit 00:40:50.210 --> 00:40:53.809 is like a skilled guide that's walking us through 00:40:53.809 --> 00:40:56.190 unfamiliar territory. And without him, we are 00:40:56.190 --> 00:40:59.210 prone to wander. You know that. But with him, 00:40:59.230 --> 00:41:02.710 we move forward. And then finally, Jesus says 00:41:02.710 --> 00:41:05.030 the Spirit's ultimate purpose is to glorify him. 00:41:05.150 --> 00:41:07.409 And the Spirit does not draw attention to himself, 00:41:07.550 --> 00:41:10.230 but rather he points people towards Christ. This 00:41:10.230 --> 00:41:14.489 is some pneumatology, some theology of the Holy 00:41:14.489 --> 00:41:17.710 Spirit. Don't get lost in it. It's not the intent. 00:41:17.829 --> 00:41:19.829 I'm just trying to clarify for you what Jesus 00:41:19.829 --> 00:41:23.429 is saying. This Holy Spirit is not just Casper 00:41:23.429 --> 00:41:26.809 the friendly ghost who has a job to do. And these 00:41:26.809 --> 00:41:30.550 are its jobs, if you will. Spotlight illuminates 00:41:30.550 --> 00:41:33.289 an actor on a stage. The Spirit of God illuminates 00:41:33.289 --> 00:41:36.610 Christ at the center of history. And he helps 00:41:36.610 --> 00:41:40.010 us see Christ more clearly, love him more deeply, 00:41:40.130 --> 00:41:42.570 follow him more faithfully. I would say if those 00:41:42.570 --> 00:41:44.650 are struggles for you, that you're probably not 00:41:44.650 --> 00:41:47.769 listening to the Holy Spirit. Because the role 00:41:47.769 --> 00:41:49.989 of the Holy Spirit is to help those things happen 00:41:49.989 --> 00:41:58.480 in our lives. In our lives. So, to wrap up. If 00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:01.340 your faith in Jesus brings criticism or misunderstanding, 00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:05.059 I would say remember that Jesus predicted it. 00:42:05.659 --> 00:42:11.059 And the goal of Christianity is not just to have 00:42:11.059 --> 00:42:14.800 the loudest voice in the room and to be the most 00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:18.219 persuasive theologically. The goal of Christianity 00:42:18.219 --> 00:42:22.510 is faithfulness to Christ. Popularity is temporary. 00:42:23.050 --> 00:42:25.630 Faithfulness is eternal. But here's the danger 00:42:25.630 --> 00:42:27.809 of this text, and I promise I'll close with this. 00:42:28.010 --> 00:42:29.829 I know when Joe was here, you got out like 25 00:42:29.829 --> 00:42:34.869 minutes early, and he's your hero. He's not here 00:42:34.869 --> 00:42:38.250 today for a reason. I'm just kidding. I'm just 00:42:38.250 --> 00:42:41.389 kidding. I'm just kind of, but anyhow. Here's 00:42:41.389 --> 00:42:43.510 the danger of this text. I promise I just, I 00:42:43.510 --> 00:42:45.260 need you to hear this. And then we'll close. 00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:47.340 The danger of this text is that some of us will 00:42:47.340 --> 00:42:50.059 hear Jesus' words and think, it's me versus the 00:42:50.059 --> 00:42:55.139 world. Come and get me. Like, they're going to 00:42:55.139 --> 00:42:58.380 hate me. I'll show them. And we puff up our chest 00:42:58.380 --> 00:43:00.820 and we flex our muscles and we're ready for war. 00:43:03.179 --> 00:43:05.739 That's the danger of this text. Because you hear 00:43:05.739 --> 00:43:06.940 like, oh, the world will hate you. You're like, 00:43:07.059 --> 00:43:11.460 oh, no, they won't. I'm going to hate them. being 00:43:11.460 --> 00:43:14.480 not of the world does not mean withdrawing from 00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:17.780 people who might, in the words of Jesus, hate 00:43:17.780 --> 00:43:21.800 you. That is not what being not of the world 00:43:21.800 --> 00:43:23.599 does not mean that. Because if you look at the 00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:25.719 life of Jesus, he ate with sinners, he spoke 00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:28.099 with outsiders, he showed compassion to the broken. 00:43:28.159 --> 00:43:31.239 That was the source of rub against all the religious 00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:34.519 leaders of the day. Who are the people that hated 00:43:34.519 --> 00:43:38.420 Jesus most? The religious leaders. because he 00:43:38.420 --> 00:43:40.780 didn't march to their orders and he sat around 00:43:40.780 --> 00:43:42.699 tables with people that they were like, no, you 00:43:42.699 --> 00:43:48.260 don't. So the drive of this text is not to get 00:43:48.260 --> 00:43:50.079 you to go home and build your spiritual bubble 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.300 and be like, I'm never talking to anybody who 00:43:52.300 --> 00:43:55.780 doesn't live exactly like me, go to my church, 00:43:55.980 --> 00:43:59.340 listen to my music, think my thoughts. Not the 00:43:59.340 --> 00:44:02.679 goal of this. We are called to stand out and 00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:06.340 be a light on a hill, to draw near relationally. 00:44:06.940 --> 00:44:09.000 Where were Jesus' strongest moments of impact 00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:12.920 when he was right next to people? Right next 00:44:12.920 --> 00:44:16.239 to people. Truth without love becomes harsh. 00:44:16.340 --> 00:44:20.199 Love without truth becomes hollow. Truth without 00:44:20.199 --> 00:44:23.099 love becomes harsh. Love without truth becomes 00:44:23.099 --> 00:44:25.579 hollow. And the gospel holds together these things 00:44:25.579 --> 00:44:29.159 in perfect union in a weird tension that I can't 00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:33.900 totally understand myself. But you cannot do 00:44:33.900 --> 00:44:36.559 this in your own human strength. Because one 00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:39.139 of two things will happen. You will become so 00:44:39.139 --> 00:44:41.639 self -righteous that you will lose your ability 00:44:41.639 --> 00:44:45.840 to have an impact for the gospel. Or you will 00:44:45.840 --> 00:44:50.519 stumble and fall away from the influence of the 00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:54.860 world. It's so hard to get it right. That's why 00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:57.039 you can't get it right in your own strength. 00:44:58.030 --> 00:45:00.849 The courage to stand firm, the wisdom to speak 00:45:00.849 --> 00:45:03.670 truth, the love to reach others all come from 00:45:03.670 --> 00:45:05.269 the Spirit. We need the Spirit's guidance every 00:45:05.269 --> 00:45:07.489 single day. And Jesus spoke these words to prepare 00:45:07.489 --> 00:45:09.130 his disciples for the road ahead. They would 00:45:09.130 --> 00:45:11.170 face rejection. They would face persecution. 00:45:11.409 --> 00:45:13.789 They would face hardship. But he also knew something 00:45:13.789 --> 00:45:15.469 greater, which is that the Spirit would come. 00:45:15.809 --> 00:45:18.510 And when it did, the gospel would spread and 00:45:18.510 --> 00:45:21.809 the kingdom of God would advance. From ordinary 00:45:21.809 --> 00:45:23.969 people empowered by an extraordinary God. And 00:45:23.969 --> 00:45:26.650 within a few short decades, the message that 00:45:26.650 --> 00:45:29.750 began in this upper room would spread to cities 00:45:29.750 --> 00:45:33.030 across the Roman Empire. And the world that would 00:45:33.030 --> 00:45:35.409 eventually crucify Jesus would hear his name 00:45:35.409 --> 00:45:39.369 proclaimed everywhere. Everywhere. And it happened. 00:45:39.449 --> 00:45:43.329 It happened. Because of ordinary believers, followers 00:45:43.329 --> 00:45:45.389 of Jesus, trusting the promise of Christ and 00:45:45.389 --> 00:45:48.599 the power of the Spirit. You are not alone. and 00:45:48.599 --> 00:45:51.179 you are not powerless, and you are not abandoned, 00:45:51.219 --> 00:45:52.900 and the Spirit of God is within you, and the 00:45:52.900 --> 00:45:55.659 light of Christ still shines in the darkness 00:45:55.659 --> 00:45:58.260 today. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? 00:45:58.300 --> 00:46:00.980 It's through you, and it's through me. Let's 00:46:00.980 --> 00:46:03.920 pray together. Father, thank you. Thank you for 00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:08.420 this promise. It's heavy. Jesus said so clearly, 00:46:08.780 --> 00:46:12.940 if they rejected you, if they hated you, know 00:46:12.940 --> 00:46:17.480 that that was true for me first. A servant is 00:46:17.480 --> 00:46:21.380 not greater than his master. And you are our 00:46:21.380 --> 00:46:26.300 master. We surrender to you. We live our lives 00:46:26.300 --> 00:46:31.460 in obedience to you, albeit imperfectly. All 00:46:31.460 --> 00:46:35.940 of us have at one point or another avoided going 00:46:35.940 --> 00:46:39.679 to the doctor, quote unquote. It's just easier 00:46:39.679 --> 00:46:43.400 to kind of live in a place of ignorance. than 00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:46.099 it is to be really confronted with the truth 00:46:46.099 --> 00:46:51.460 and to make a decision. And so give us grace 00:46:51.460 --> 00:46:57.380 in our own journey and give us confidence in 00:46:57.380 --> 00:47:01.920 our story. We have a story to share. It's one 00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:04.000 of grace. It's one of transformation. It's one 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:08.500 of redemption. Let us step into those moments 00:47:08.500 --> 00:47:10.260 rather than to back down from those moments, 00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:14.449 believing that Just like the blind man in John 00:47:14.449 --> 00:47:17.789 chapter 9, whether or not Jesus is this or that, 00:47:17.889 --> 00:47:20.949 I don't know. There are some things that maybe 00:47:20.949 --> 00:47:24.449 are confusing to me, but one thing I'm certain 00:47:24.449 --> 00:47:30.469 of is that I was blind and now I see. Indisputable 00:47:30.469 --> 00:47:34.190 transformation. Make us confident ambassadors 00:47:34.190 --> 00:47:37.110 of that today. We pray these things in Jesus' 00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:38.230 name. Amen.