WEBVTT 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:04.780 Are you in need of hope today? Has life beat 00:00:04.780 --> 00:00:08.640 you down? Does God feel far away and you feel 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:12.179 very, very alone? Well, stay with me. Help's 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:19.679 on the way. Welcome to this edition of Living 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.620 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Our mission is 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.280 to inspire Christians to be genuine followers 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.559 of Jesus and to empower them to be active disciple 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.230 makers in our world. Thanks for being with us 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:33.549 today as Chip speaks directly to the powerful 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:37.009 emotion of discouragement by continuing our series, 00:00:37.130 --> 00:00:40.070 I Choose Hope. And let me encourage you to stick 00:00:40.070 --> 00:00:42.469 around after the teaching as Chip provides some 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:45.289 practical steps to help you overcome this obstacle. 00:00:45.670 --> 00:00:49.109 But for now, here's Chip with his message, Experiencing 00:00:49.109 --> 00:00:53.329 Hope, from Philippians chapter 3. I was thinking 00:00:53.329 --> 00:00:57.359 about... A story that I heard that is a true 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.200 story, it's kind of one of those you kind of 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.119 read in the paper and it goes on the AP wire 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.880 because it was so odd and then ends up in Reader's 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:07.079 Digest. True story of a woman in Florida, lived 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.459 in a trailer park, and hers was sort of a really 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:13.680 beat up, you know, not so good trailer. And just 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.760 everything about her life and practice, just 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:20.750 barely making it. And a very, very, very elderly 00:01:20.750 --> 00:01:22.969 woman, and eventually she died, and they found 00:01:22.969 --> 00:01:25.510 her in her trailer, and they went through all 00:01:25.510 --> 00:01:27.390 the right processes and found there was a distant 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:29.209 relative or something, and they came in from 00:01:29.209 --> 00:01:31.750 out of town and found out at least, oh, she had 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:33.989 a deposit box. And so they went to the deposit 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:37.569 box at the bank, opened the deposit box. It had 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:44.109 hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. And 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:46.950 yet it was like, you know, she's barely making 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:51.469 it, you know, walking to the little store. And 00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.349 I thought about that. In other words, I'm sure 00:01:53.349 --> 00:01:55.909 in her mind, something a little bit warped was, 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:59.769 you know, I'm saving this for a rainy day. Like 00:01:59.769 --> 00:02:02.370 I might live to be 150, you know. I mean, you 00:02:02.370 --> 00:02:04.549 know, you got to ask, so when do you think that 00:02:04.549 --> 00:02:07.989 rainy day? So she had everything she already 00:02:07.989 --> 00:02:11.599 needed. She had hope for today. She had. plenty 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.259 of money for as long as anyone has ever lived. 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:19.080 And yet, it's one thing to possess something. 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.680 It's something else to appropriate it and use 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.879 it. And I got thinking about my own life and 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:32.060 yours and thinking, you know, I possess all the 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:35.800 hope. I have been sealed by God's spirit, by 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.340 his grace. I have the absolute certainty that 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:40.740 Christ is coming back. I have the absolute certainty 00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.419 he's prepared a place for me and for all genuine 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:45.979 followers of Christ. I know that every promise 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:48.240 is true. He said he's going to provide for me. 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:50.060 He's going to protect me in the midst of a fallen 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:53.080 world. Anything I need, anyone I need to get 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.340 through anything, I have that hope. But I don't 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:02.000 always appropriate it. I live at times. And I 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:03.939 see lots of Christians live at times as though 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:06.979 they're hopeless. That this relationship went 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:09.539 south or the job situation or a health situation 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:12.479 or one of your kids or how long am I going to 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.360 be single or how long do I have to stay married 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:17.979 and all those kind of issues. And so I want to 00:03:17.979 --> 00:03:20.639 talk to you about not just the fact of finding 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.740 hope, but how do you experience it? Hope is the 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:28.659 mental and emotional attitude that life is good. 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:32.909 That the future is promising and that progress 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:38.129 is absolutely certain, even in the midst of challenging 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:41.569 circumstances and difficult people. In other 00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:43.669 words, you wake up in the morning and most parts 00:03:43.669 --> 00:03:45.949 of the day, as you're relating to people, as 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:47.650 you think about work and your responsibilities, 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:50.389 there's this buoying up inside that, you know, 00:03:50.409 --> 00:03:53.530 life is hard, but it's good. The future is uncertain, 00:03:53.750 --> 00:03:57.909 but it's promising because God's in control. 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:01.590 I'm just saying, I'm not going to trust in any 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:04.050 sweetest frame, no other person. God is going 00:04:04.050 --> 00:04:06.469 to come through. I just don't know how. And progress 00:04:06.469 --> 00:04:09.349 is absolutely certain. He made this promise. 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:11.610 He who began a good work in me is going to complete 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:14.710 it until the day he comes back. Regardless of 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:17.110 the difficulty and the challenges, that everybody 00:04:17.110 --> 00:04:21.350 has difficulties. Everybody has challenges. But 00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:25.629 I have a hope. I have an anchor to my life. That's 00:04:25.629 --> 00:04:28.199 what we're talking about in hope. Three things. 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:30.660 One, wherever we put our hope will determine 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:35.060 what we worship. I mean, wherever my hope is, 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:37.379 if I think it's work that's gonna come through, 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:38.980 if I think it's this person that's gonna come 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:41.019 through, if I think fame is gonna come through, 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:43.980 wherever I put my hope, I worship. Second, is 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:48.060 false hope always ends in pride or despair? When 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:51.540 I put my hope in something or someone that doesn't 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:54.129 have the ability. to come through. Either I get 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:56.930 a bit arrogant when I make some success or it's 00:04:56.930 --> 00:05:00.170 despair because life isn't working. We found 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:02.629 that false hope is almost always focused on external 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:06.689 things. True hope is always about internal things. 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:09.410 False hope is what I can accomplish. True hope 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:11.269 is about what's already been accomplished by 00:05:11.269 --> 00:05:15.110 Christ for me. And third, we learned that true 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:17.970 hope is rooted in relationship and it results 00:05:17.970 --> 00:05:22.220 in joy. and endurance. I think joy is way underrated. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.199 C .S. Lewis said, joy is the serious business 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:29.959 of heaven. Jesus on the very last night after 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:32.399 they had gone through everything and he's in 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.800 this vineyard and he's talking about a deep connection 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.600 with him by abiding in him and the kind of rich 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:40.680 relationship regardless. He's already told him 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.800 it's going to be tough. And he says, these things 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.560 I've written to you that my joy might be in you. 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.620 The joy of Christ and that your joy might be 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:54.259 full or literally overflowing. See, real hope 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:56.579 produces a joy when the external circumstances 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:59.980 are going, no way. So here's what I want to ask 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:03.860 you, okay? I mean, a lot of what I'm going to 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:05.519 say for many of you that have been around for 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.040 a while, it's like, you know these things, okay? 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:11.540 The issue isn't, do you know them? The issue 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:14.300 is, are you experiencing them? And so I'm going 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:16.279 to ask you to do a little something. This is 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:19.160 very private. Don't write anything down. But 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:24.079 I want to ask you, what relationship or what 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:26.459 circumstance, just right now, just where you're 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:28.240 seated today, doesn't have to even be a huge 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.980 big thing, but it feels hopeless. I mean, just 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:35.379 in your life, it just feels hopeless. It might 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:37.819 be just an area of your marriage. It feels hopeless. 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:40.500 It might be something at work and a supervisor 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.459 or a frustration or a project. But it might be 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:45.160 one of your kids that you've tried, tried, tried, 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:47.620 tried. I don't know what it is, but what I want 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:50.259 you to get your arms around, we're going to talk 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:52.439 about how the Spirit of God wants to take the 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:54.939 truth of God's Word and help you not know about 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:57.240 hope, but experience it. One of the best ways 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.720 is to start with, where do I feel a little hopeless? 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:08.660 Have you got it? You didn't think I was going 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:11.300 to go on, did you? Okay, you need to get that 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.199 in your mind. And I'm not saying it's true, but 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:16.100 it's how you feel and your feelings influence 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:19.680 how you respond. The big question I want to ask 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.180 and answer with you today is this. How do we 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.860 experience true hope in everyday life? Monday 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.899 morning, Saturday night, Tuesday in the midst 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.480 of a meeting. Thursday, when a project's not 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.459 going well. Friday, when your kid's sick. How 00:07:36.459 --> 00:07:38.540 do you experience hope in everyday life? The 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:41.019 answer is Philippians chapter 3, verses 10 and 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:45.709 11. And there's an important context. If I would 00:07:45.709 --> 00:07:48.230 read what I'm going to read to you, and if I 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:51.250 knew historically like Paul, this hater of the 00:07:51.250 --> 00:07:54.029 church, this persecutor, this murderer, this 00:07:54.029 --> 00:07:56.589 super religious guy, totally out of touch with 00:07:56.589 --> 00:07:59.509 God, just came to Christ, and he'd been a Christian 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:02.149 like six months and was all fired up, I would 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:05.189 read this one way. But what I'm going to read 00:08:05.189 --> 00:08:11.310 to you is the Apostle Paul, former Saul, 30 years 00:08:11.310 --> 00:08:14.730 after his conversion. This is what he says after 00:08:14.730 --> 00:08:17.470 he's been beat up more than a few times, where 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:20.209 he's been left in the ocean. He's been left once 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:23.610 for dead already. I mean, his life. This is the 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:27.110 guy that was the rising star of Judaism. So he's 00:08:27.110 --> 00:08:30.170 a Roman citizen, city of Tarsus. He has wealth, 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:32.830 reputation, education from the Stanford, MIT, 00:08:33.090 --> 00:08:36.350 Yale of his schools. He has got it all, and this 00:08:36.350 --> 00:08:37.990 is how he's viewing life. Have you got it now? 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:41.190 30 years later, here's the passion that's pumping 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:43.750 through this guy's spiritual veins. He says, 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:46.889 what's more, I consider everything a loss because 00:08:46.889 --> 00:08:50.049 of the surpassing value of what? Knowing Christ 00:08:50.049 --> 00:08:53.690 Jesus my Lord. We underline that. This is his 00:08:53.690 --> 00:08:57.269 hope. The prestige, the power, the wealth, the 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:02.590 influence. All of that I consider a loss now 00:09:02.590 --> 00:09:05.379 in comparison to. A deep, personal, intimate 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:07.899 relationship with Christ for whose sake I've 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:11.220 lost all things. And here's our accounting term. 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:15.740 I consider them garbage or literally dung that 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:18.940 I might gain Christ and be found in him. Not 00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:20.980 having a righteousness of my own that comes through 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:23.399 the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:28.740 Circle, faith in Christ. Memo to people who like 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:34.799 to skip ahead. Faith is going to be the key to 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:38.200 moving from hope that I actually possess to hope 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:42.059 that I experience. It's the righteousness that 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:45.279 comes from God on the basis of faith. Now here's 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.419 verses 9 and 10 where he now just kind of zooms 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:52.460 in about his consuming passion and the source 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:56.559 of his hope. I want to know Christ. and the power 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:58.580 of his resurrection and the fellowship of his 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:01.419 suffering becoming like him in his death and 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:05.259 so somehow to attain to the resurrection from 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:08.960 the dead. I want you to understand exactly what 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:11.340 he means and then I'll talk about what it really 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:15.679 means to us. What he's saying is I don't want 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.019 to intellectual knowledge about God. I don't 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.679 want facts. I don't want data. I want a deep 00:10:22.310 --> 00:10:25.549 intimate relationship with God the Father through 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.830 the person of Christ. In fact, the Hebrew word, 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:32.370 when it's translated in this passage, if a Hebrew 00:10:32.370 --> 00:10:34.669 was translating this, he would use the word yadah. 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:38.190 And the word yadah was when God is speaking about 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:41.629 Adam and Eve, and it says, Adam yadahed Eve. 00:10:42.870 --> 00:10:46.529 And she gave birth to a son. He takes the most 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:49.690 intimate moment. In the relationship between 00:10:49.690 --> 00:10:52.370 a man and a woman, the culmination of communication 00:10:52.370 --> 00:10:55.409 of spirit, mind, and body. And he says, I want 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:57.629 to have the kind of intimacy with the living 00:10:57.629 --> 00:11:02.649 God that a man and a woman who are unashamed 00:11:02.649 --> 00:11:05.350 and come together physically. He says, that's 00:11:05.350 --> 00:11:08.250 the depth. That's the level. And then grammatically, 00:11:08.309 --> 00:11:11.389 basically, it would be, I want to know Christ. 00:11:12.269 --> 00:11:15.330 Namely, now I'm going to give you three phrases 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:18.799 that identify how you experience this kind of 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:23.419 intimacy. First, namely, the power of his resurrection. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.980 He's not talking about someday, some way, after 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:32.139 he's resurrected with Christ. He's talking about 00:11:32.139 --> 00:11:35.320 the operational power, the supernatural power 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.440 in daily life, life -changing power over guilt, 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:41.379 life -changing power over addictions, life -changing 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:44.379 power over the way he used to think, life -changing 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.259 power to forgive the people and to receive God's 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.080 forgiveness and to experience the very living 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.080 Christ inside of him. He says, that's how I want 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.720 to know him. I want to know him so that every 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.720 day is different than any other day because the 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.960 living Christ lives in me. The same power that 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.860 rose him from the dead dwells in me. I want to 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:06.139 experience that. Second, I also want to know 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:08.879 him intimately through something that most of 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.799 us don't want and we would never welcome, but 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:13.960 it's a reality, the fellowship of his suffering. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.080 The word koinonia, we have a koinonia class. 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:19.620 It means to participate in, to associate with, 00:12:19.659 --> 00:12:22.500 to share, oneness, communion. It has this idea 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:25.899 of, A connection with someone that as you're 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:28.580 going through something, they're with you. They're 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.000 with you all the way. And the ups and the downs 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:34.440 and the struggles. And what you know, the people 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.320 that you're closest to in all the world are the 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:39.259 people that you have been through some huge, 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.360 difficult, painful thing, and you supported each 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.679 other on the journey. And he's saying, in my 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.559 life, if the suffering comes from without, if 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:49.940 it comes from persecution, if it even comes from 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:54.159 within, I want to experience the very presence 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.659 and the comfort and the enabling of Christ in 00:12:57.659 --> 00:13:00.539 the midst of that. And third, he uses this word, 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.580 becoming like him in his death. Morphe. You know 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:07.720 what the word morphing means? It means to change 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:11.600 intrinsically from the inside out. What he's 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.139 saying is, I want an intimate, deep relationship. 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:17.679 I don't want to know about God. I want to experience 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.559 him. And I want to experience him with a level 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.159 of power and energy and impact that transforms 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.419 me. And I see things happen that have no human 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:29.259 explanation. And I want to experience him in 00:13:29.259 --> 00:13:31.620 the lowest and the hardest and most painful things 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:34.799 of life so that I am actually morphed or transformed 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.240 from the inside out. How? Into the likeness of 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:40.940 his death. And you say, well, what do you mean 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:43.899 by that? Well, what was the likeness of his death? 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:50.259 Jesus came to the point, Father, I do nothing 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:54.580 unless you say. He comes to the very end of his 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:58.379 life and he prays, Lord, if there's a different 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:00.980 way rather than going to the cross, let's go 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:05.419 with that plan. Nevertheless, not my will but 00:14:05.419 --> 00:14:09.220 yours. You're listening to Living on the Edge. 00:14:09.710 --> 00:14:11.850 We'll return you to Chip's message in just a 00:14:11.850 --> 00:14:14.470 minute. But first, let me tell you, God is doing 00:14:14.470 --> 00:14:17.230 incredible work through this ministry all around 00:14:17.230 --> 00:14:19.950 the world. And if you'd like to join us, consider 00:14:19.950 --> 00:14:22.509 partnering with us during our mid -year match. 00:14:22.889 --> 00:14:25.850 Every gift we receive until midnight on June 00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:29.129 30th will be doubled dollar for dollar. Join 00:14:29.129 --> 00:14:33.190 us today by going to livingontheedge .org or 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:39.240 call 888 -333 -6003. We appreciate your generosity. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.419 Well, with that, here again is Chip. Paul's praying, 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:47.200 I want to be so transformed in an intimate relationship 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.899 with Jesus that when my Gethsemanes come and 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:53.860 I have to make a crossroads decision about I 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:56.299 so want to do it this way, or I so want to cheat 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:59.980 just a little, or I so want to, I will say, not 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:04.279 my will, but yours be done, because he... would 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:06.419 come to the point where he'd be so changed that 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:09.000 he would actually believe that a good, kind, 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:12.659 loving, all -powerful, sovereign God that would 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:16.600 be for his best regardless of the front end cost. 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:20.740 And so somehow, here the somehow is not, he's 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:22.659 not doubting whether he's going to be resurrected. 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.299 So somehow to attain to the resurrection from, 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.500 to put a circle around from and write the little 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:31.019 word out of. It's a little Greek preposition. 00:15:31.019 --> 00:15:34.139 He's saying, I know that all people of all time 00:15:34.139 --> 00:15:36.740 are going to be resurrected. The righteous and 00:15:36.740 --> 00:15:38.779 the unrighteous will be resurrected. He said, 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.759 out of that general resurrection, he says, I 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:48.580 want to be reminded that whether you come back 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:51.059 or whether I die, because remember, he thinks 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:53.740 he's going to get executed or might be. He says, 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:57.039 out of that resurrection to the final end that 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:01.799 my faith in knowing you would turn to sight and 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:03.740 it would be forever. That's what he's teaching. 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:09.379 I want to kind of flesh out how do we experience 00:16:09.379 --> 00:16:13.580 this intimate relationship with Jesus in everyday 00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:16.960 life for you and me. And I'm going to suggest 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.039 that Paul has said, this is what I want, namely, 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:24.259 that there's three Things that we must know and 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:27.320 progressively, underline progressively. This 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:30.360 isn't overnight. This is like this morning early. 00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:33.879 I was in my study kind of reviewing everything. 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:36.799 And I was reading a psalm that talks about your 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.600 descendants and them walking in righteousness. 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.159 And three of my grandkids really, really just, 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:43.019 they just came to my mind. And I just, it was 00:16:43.019 --> 00:16:45.000 like, I'm going to go out of town tomorrow. I 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:47.019 just have to see them. So I got up and ran donuts 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:50.509 and grandfathering is a big plus. So I went to 00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:52.769 the little donut shop, and, you know, I drove 00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:54.629 over to my daughter's house and knocked on the 00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:56.809 door and came in, and I had a little bag for 00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:58.669 them, a little bag for them, and coffee for my 00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:00.029 daughter and her husband, and just, you know, 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:03.710 just 15, 20 minutes. But it was this, I just 00:17:03.710 --> 00:17:07.930 want to be with them. I just want to experience 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:11.869 life with them, and I long for them to experience 00:17:11.869 --> 00:17:15.390 what God has for them. And so it's, but when 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:17.609 I was there, my little one grandson, he just 00:17:17.609 --> 00:17:20.069 learned to walk about. two and a half weeks ago. 00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:22.369 I mean, we went from, you know, like, is he going 00:17:22.369 --> 00:17:25.549 to make it? And I mean, it was like, you know, 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:29.269 he gave me this. You know, he knows donut already. 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:33.609 And all you health food people, I eat very healthy 00:17:33.609 --> 00:17:35.410 normally. When you're a grandparent, you get 00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:37.049 to do this stuff. My daughter can feed him healthy 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:41.490 stuff all the time. I'm bribing them. Sort of. 00:17:44.089 --> 00:17:46.630 Here's what I want you to get. As you listen, 00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:49.299 I ask you to plant in the back of your mind, 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.420 where do you feel hopeless? I want you to begin 00:17:52.420 --> 00:17:55.960 now to take that thought as I walk through, how 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:58.700 can you progressively experience the power of 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:01.140 his resurrection? How can you progressively in 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:04.240 the midst of this experience him in your suffering? 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.980 And how can in the process you can come to, even 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:11.200 before we walk out of this room, a sense of morphing 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.319 and changing that even if you can't see it, by 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:18.849 the way, hope you can never see. It's a certainty 00:18:18.849 --> 00:18:21.730 of things unseen that you would say, Lord, not 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:23.750 my will, but your will, because I'm going to 00:18:23.750 --> 00:18:26.950 trust in what I can't see. You, your power, your 00:18:26.950 --> 00:18:29.569 love for me. And so with that, he says, what's 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:33.250 the power of his resurrection? How exactly do 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:36.509 you experience that? What the apostle Paul did 00:18:36.509 --> 00:18:40.710 in verses 10 and 11 is he gave you the overarching 00:18:40.710 --> 00:18:44.029 kind of big issues of how to have an intimate, 00:18:44.109 --> 00:18:47.309 personal relationship with God through Jesus. 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:50.720 But his teaching through all the epistles is 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.680 just filled with explaining these phrases. So 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.519 what I thought I would do is each time I'm going 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:59.700 to give you his theology of resurrection power, 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:02.099 and then I'll give you his experience. Then I'll 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:04.640 give you his theology of suffering, and then 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:06.900 his experience. Because as you see both those 00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:09.480 things, guess what you're going to do? You're 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:16.589 going to go, aha, I got it. It's his power in 00:19:16.589 --> 00:19:21.049 our weakness. The way the apostle Paul is going 00:19:21.049 --> 00:19:23.930 to teach us that we experience the resurrected 00:19:23.930 --> 00:19:28.529 power is out of our weakness. Romans 8 verse 00:19:28.529 --> 00:19:30.809 11 says, but if the spirit of him who raised 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:33.670 Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised 00:19:33.670 --> 00:19:36.589 Christ from the dead will also give life to your 00:19:36.589 --> 00:19:38.589 mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in 00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:41.349 you. In other words, the same power that raised 00:19:41.349 --> 00:19:43.569 Christ from the dead, when you turn from your 00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:45.970 sin, ask Christ to forgive you, come into your 00:19:45.970 --> 00:19:49.289 life, the same power, the same spirit lives inside 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:51.809 of you. So you should expect supernatural things 00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:55.210 to happen. And then what he's going to say is, 00:19:55.329 --> 00:19:57.769 but the way those supernatural things happen 00:19:57.769 --> 00:20:00.490 is a recognition that what you need is his strength 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:03.930 or you need his power in the midst of your weakness. 00:20:05.049 --> 00:20:09.140 Most of us, Just our mental, human, fleshly bent 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.940 is that I'm going to make it by what I do and 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:13.799 this is what I can accomplish. He's going to 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.640 say the flip with God is it's when you come in 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:20.180 humility and admit you can't. The 12 steppers 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:22.680 have a lot to teach us on that one. Bill Wilson, 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:27.059 by the way, was a believer. Anybody know what 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:31.559 the first step is? I'm absolutely powerless. 00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:35.240 I can't do this. I can't overcome this addiction. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:37.259 Well, guess what? You can't overcome forgiving 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:39.299 someone either. You can't overcome your fear 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:41.380 of failure. You can't overcome your family of 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:43.200 origin. You can't overcome your fear about the 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.000 economy. You can't overcome what's going to happen 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.119 to your kids. Right? Can you really? So what 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:50.799 the Apostle Paul is, he has this difficult situation. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.299 Three times he prays. God says, no, no, no. And 00:20:55.299 --> 00:21:00.000 then in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, notice what 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.289 he says. God, you have said no to me when I've 00:21:03.289 --> 00:21:06.869 asked you to remove this difficulty, this tribulation, 00:21:06.970 --> 00:21:11.130 some physical issue. Therefore, I'm well content 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:14.009 with weakness, with insults, with distresses, 00:21:14.009 --> 00:21:16.490 with persecutions, with difficulties. Did you 00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:20.069 notice they're all plural? For Christ's sake. 00:21:20.750 --> 00:21:28.759 Why? For when I am weak, then I am strong. This 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:31.619 is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and you've 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:34.400 been listening to Part 1 of Chip's message, Experiencing 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:37.880 Hope, from our series, I Choose Hope. Chip will 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:39.960 be back shortly to share some helpful application 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:42.980 for us to think about. In times of uncertainty, 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.920 where do you turn for hope? And how confident 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:48.180 are you in your source of comfort to provide 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:51.339 the stability you desire? As Chip teaches through 00:21:51.339 --> 00:21:54.119 Philippians chapter 3, he'll share what God has 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:56.480 to say about our fears about the future and how 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.519 feeling secure is possible, even when anxiety 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:02.579 comes. Learn how to embrace a more resilient 00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:05.700 hope that will help you face each day with certainty 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:09.200 and peace. Well, Chip's joined me in studio now 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.539 to share a really powerful challenge with all 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:14.799 of you. Thanks so much, Dave. Let's be honest, 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:17.900 the future of the church hinges on what we pour 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:20.480 into the next generation. And there's an alarming 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.680 number of young people walking away from their 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.339 faith because they haven't found relevant answers. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:28.900 And quite honestly, they haven't had godly models, 00:22:29.099 --> 00:22:32.500 even in their own homes. In addition, they're 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:35.779 enduring an unending barrage of secular messages 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.240 vying for their attention and their allegiance. 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.519 Young people are looking for meaning, for purpose, 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:44.640 and belonging. The recent research that just 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.400 came out through Barna is there's been a movement 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:51.700 of young adults, 12 % more in the last four years, 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.140 going to church, walking with God and making 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:57.140 a difference. In fact, in the UK, I mean, the 00:22:57.140 --> 00:23:01.420 UK is like dead spiritually from 2018 to 2024. 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:05.759 Two million more people are going to church, 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:08.119 and it's fueled primarily through young adults. 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:10.819 But, you know, young adults coming to know Jesus 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:13.900 is step one. Who disciples them? How do they 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:17.099 navigate through all the challenges, the worldviews, 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:19.940 what they've been taught all these years? In 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:22.680 our partnerships here and around the world, we're 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.720 helping young adults grow in Christ, get in the 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.559 Bible for themselves, creating resources that 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.779 make sense to them, that deal with the very controversial 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:35.160 and difficult issues of their day. If you care 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:37.460 about the next generation, can I encourage you, 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:40.190 partner with Living on the Edge. Double your 00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:43.029 prayers and give financially so that the young 00:23:43.029 --> 00:23:45.549 people that are turning to Christ won't simply 00:23:45.549 --> 00:23:47.890 have a great experience, but they'll go on a 00:23:47.890 --> 00:23:50.569 journey of becoming more holy and more loving 00:23:50.569 --> 00:23:53.349 and more faithful until the day they die. Our 00:23:53.349 --> 00:23:56.390 country and our world is in desperate need of 00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:58.809 a movement of God, and He's beginning to spark 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:01.869 things among young adults here and around the 00:24:01.869 --> 00:24:05.160 world. Join us in making a difference. Well, 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:07.180 if you want to join us in reaching today's youth 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:10.200 with the gospel, partner with us during our mid 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.240 -year match. From now until June 30th, every 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:16.279 dollar you give will be doubled for greater impact. 00:24:16.619 --> 00:24:21.640 To send a gift today, call 888 -333 -6003 or 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:28.180 go to livingontheedge .org. That's 888 -333 -6003 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:33.099 or livingontheedge .org. App listeners, tap Donate. 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:35.490 And thanks for praying and then doing whatever 00:24:35.490 --> 00:24:39.269 the Lord leads you to do. As we close today's 00:24:39.269 --> 00:24:43.009 program, lean back, will you? What relationship, 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:46.769 what circumstance, what's going on in your life 00:24:46.769 --> 00:24:50.190 that's nagging at you or literally makes you 00:24:50.190 --> 00:24:53.049 feel hopeless? I mean, we're studying Philippians 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:55.309 chapter 3, and I'm going to be honest with you. 00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:58.650 The Apostle Paul's perspective is pretty revolutionary. 00:24:58.970 --> 00:25:02.190 He counts all this success, all this education, 00:25:02.450 --> 00:25:05.730 all this career that he's achieved as loss compared 00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:09.069 to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus 00:25:09.069 --> 00:25:11.609 as Lord. And I'm going to just tell you right 00:25:11.609 --> 00:25:13.849 off the bat, that doesn't come naturally to me, 00:25:13.930 --> 00:25:15.750 and I'm guessing it doesn't come naturally to 00:25:15.750 --> 00:25:18.369 you. But this is what he says. He says, hope 00:25:18.369 --> 00:25:22.259 is rooted in the person of Christ. And it's interesting 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:25.279 to me that the first step to get there is to 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.779 recognize there's power in our weakness. You 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:30.819 know, for some of us, we've tried really, really 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:32.720 hard to be good Christians, right? You know, 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:35.819 read the Bible, pray, go to church, give, go 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:38.599 on a missions trip. For others, you know, we've 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.720 been taught that there's some miraculous emotional 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.480 experience and we can have that and everything's 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:46.259 going to be perfect. But the reality is we live 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:49.539 with this world of tension and struggle and it's 00:25:49.539 --> 00:25:52.369 a journey. And the Apostle Paul says that what 00:25:52.369 --> 00:25:55.950 he learned is that in his weakness, when he got 00:25:55.950 --> 00:25:58.450 to the point where it's not just hard, not just 00:25:58.450 --> 00:26:01.470 difficult, but when he got to where it was impossible, 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:04.869 that's in his desperate dependence. He said, 00:26:04.970 --> 00:26:08.369 God, I can't do it. Are you ready for this? That's 00:26:08.369 --> 00:26:11.210 when God meets you. That's when you'll experience 00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.369 his power. Do I understand it? Of course not. 00:26:14.450 --> 00:26:17.490 Is it true? Absolutely. So what I want you to 00:26:17.490 --> 00:26:20.210 know is that stop fighting the difficulty and 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:22.430 the challenges. What if you just said, okay, 00:26:22.470 --> 00:26:26.049 God, I'm putting up the white flag. I surrender. 00:26:26.269 --> 00:26:29.269 I recognize I can't make this marriage work. 00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:31.589 I can't make my relationship with you work. I 00:26:31.589 --> 00:26:34.349 can't be this perfect person, but I will be your 00:26:34.349 --> 00:26:37.670 son. I will be your daughter. And now I'm asking 00:26:37.670 --> 00:26:40.970 you today, fill me afresh with your spirit. Help 00:26:40.970 --> 00:26:43.930 me to depend on you and to walk in step with 00:26:43.930 --> 00:26:47.119 your spirit. As you open his word, he'll speak 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:49.940 to you. As you talk honestly from your heart, 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:53.019 he'll whisper to your soul. As you get connected 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.660 with other believers, he'll encourage you through 00:26:55.660 --> 00:26:59.079 them, and you will encourage them as well. Thanks, 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.420 Chip. And as we close, I want you to know that 00:27:01.420 --> 00:27:04.079 as a staff, we ask the Lord to help you take 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.160 whatever your next faith step is, and we'd love 00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:09.559 to hear how it's going. Would you take a minute 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:11.740 and send us a note or give us a call? Either 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:15.279 one is easy. Just email chip at livingontheedge 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:22.299 .org or call 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:27.779 -6003 or email chip at livingontheedge .org. 00:27:28.359 --> 00:27:30.559 We'll listen to next time as Chip picks up in 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.500 his series, I Choose Hope. Until then, this is 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:36.039 Dave Drewy saying thanks for joining us for this 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.920 edition of Living on the Edge.