WEBVTT 00:00:03.980 --> 00:00:07.259 Well, what's up, my Pursuing Jesus homies? It 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:11.060 is so good to have you with us today. Today on 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:13.419 the podcast, we're going to be looking a lot 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:16.839 about self -reflection and truly what is in our 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:19.859 hearts. So sit back, grab your cup of coffee, 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:26.320 and come join us. You want me to count us in 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:33.630 again? Yeah, you count us in. You kind of said 00:00:33.630 --> 00:00:36.009 so that we're all on the same page about when 00:00:36.009 --> 00:00:38.329 we're starting. No, I'm just kidding. Go ahead. 00:00:45.750 --> 00:00:47.909 You still expected me to do it, didn't you? I 00:00:47.909 --> 00:00:49.789 did. I did. I know. I was waiting for it. Welcome 00:00:49.789 --> 00:00:53.670 to Pursuing Jesus. I'm Ben Smith. I'm Sean Griffin. 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:57.210 I'm John Ferguson. And we are, I think we're 00:00:57.210 --> 00:00:59.149 a little slap happy today, guys. We've laughed 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.179 at some dumb stuff before hitting record. More 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:03.979 so than normal, I guess, is the way that I would 00:01:03.979 --> 00:01:05.260 put it. Well, I had a Pokeball today, so that 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:07.480 makes me happy. You had a Pokeball today? What'd 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:09.959 you catch? Not a Pokeball. I did catch something 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:11.980 with Pokeball today, but that's a different story. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:16.579 No, I had a Pokebowl. That was delicious. Deconstructed 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:18.780 sushi, man. Deconstruct your sushi, not your 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:20.739 faith. That should be our new slogan for our 00:01:20.739 --> 00:01:23.299 church. Deconstruct your sushi, not your faith. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.719 You know what? If someone brought a big Pokeball 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:31.810 for a potluck, I probably wouldn't touch it because 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:33.430 that's raw fish, and I don't know about that. 00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:37.569 You know, that sentence went in a very different 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:39.430 direction than I was expecting it to. I was going 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.170 to be like, you know what, Sean, me too. I really 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:45.049 didn't. Gas station sushi kind of thing. You 00:01:45.049 --> 00:01:46.909 know what? I trust our church more than that. 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:49.489 I bet. I was going to say, there are some people, 00:01:49.510 --> 00:01:52.030 though, that I know if they brought it, I would 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:55.409 tear it up for sure. For sure. uh aldi sells 00:01:55.409 --> 00:01:59.250 frozen sushi it's not great but it gets by in 00:01:59.250 --> 00:02:03.090 a pinch yeah i guess that's fair yeah i guess 00:02:03.090 --> 00:02:05.689 that's fair in a world where like like you can 00:02:05.689 --> 00:02:07.909 get sushi so many places though now i feel like 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:10.569 the bar is higher like have y 'all had public's 00:02:10.569 --> 00:02:13.389 sushi oh public's and harris teeter have amazing 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:16.689 great sushi yeah yeah of course i'm hungry again 00:02:16.689 --> 00:02:18.789 in like an hour and a half but that's why you 00:02:18.789 --> 00:02:22.139 get two things that's right one to eat now And 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:24.759 one to eat later, John's just shaking his head, 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:27.960 even though he knows it's true. No, just go to 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:29.939 Mr. Tokyo and eat all you can eat so you feel 00:02:29.939 --> 00:02:33.960 sick afterwards. Yeah, that is true. Mr. Tokyo 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:37.800 is the place to go. Any buffet. I have not been 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.719 to Mr. Tokyo. It's a shame. I want to go to the 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:46.199 ones that have the conveyor belt sushi. I want 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:47.860 to go to one of those. I've never been to one 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:49.259 of those. I've heard there's one in Charlotte. 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:51.439 I don't know where it is or what it is. I've 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.080 heard there's one in Charlotte and I know that 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:55.439 there's one in the Raleigh area. There's a couple 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.689 in the Raleigh area. area i went to one at an 00:02:57.689 --> 00:03:00.710 airport and it was amazing how did they bill 00:03:00.710 --> 00:03:03.050 you is it all you can eat or based on the color 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:05.509 of the bowl depends on the price and so there's 00:03:05.509 --> 00:03:08.090 like four pieces of sushi in each bowl yeah and 00:03:08.090 --> 00:03:10.610 so they had different colored bowls and one was 00:03:10.610 --> 00:03:12.590 like three dollars one was four dollars you know, 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:14.530 and so on and so on. Okay. So did you find yourself 00:03:14.530 --> 00:03:16.629 in a position where you saw it come out that 00:03:16.629 --> 00:03:18.530 you wanted on the conveyor belt? And then like 00:03:18.530 --> 00:03:20.849 somebody got to it before you did, who was further 00:03:20.849 --> 00:03:23.590 up the line? No, I didn't do that. Nor did I 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:25.330 look at the price. I just kept picking up bubbles. 00:03:27.069 --> 00:03:29.650 I mean, that's a great, that's a great business 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:32.169 model, but that sounds dangerous. I think it's 00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:34.550 exactly what it is. Exactly. I was blessed that 00:03:34.550 --> 00:03:36.210 a guy from the church was with me and he goes, 00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:38.030 I'll take care of yours. And I was like, thank 00:03:38.030 --> 00:03:41.759 you. Oh man. John's over here sweating. I'm like, 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:43.500 how am I going to explain to Julie that I spent 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:47.159 $200? Well, I think I only had like $25 worth 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.259 of sushi, so I don't know. He paid, so I don't 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:51.900 know. Here I was thinking you were about to say, 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:55.300 I think I only had 25 helpings. I had seven bowls. 00:03:55.860 --> 00:04:00.060 My man. That's crazy. We, as some of the staff, 00:04:00.099 --> 00:04:01.919 Sean, you were so, I think it was when you were 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:03.360 on vacation. I must have been. Yeah, I was out. 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:09.099 We made the trek to Mr. Tokyo and Monroe. And 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:12.460 it's true. I think we all walked away sick. Put 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:15.659 that $14 .99 to good use. Yes, we did. That's 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:17.300 the dangerous thing about any kind of buffet, 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:19.339 though. Because once you pay your money, you're 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:21.660 like, I'm going to get my money's worth. Oh, 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.939 100%. And your money's worth always makes you 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:28.660 sick. 100%. Yeah. Makes you want to say, whoa. 00:04:30.330 --> 00:04:32.709 Which means moving on to your text. There it 00:04:32.709 --> 00:04:36.529 is. Yes. We're terrible at transitions. Oh, my 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:38.230 God. No, that was actually pretty good. Thank 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:41.350 you. These are getting worse and worse and worse. 00:04:41.389 --> 00:04:44.449 What would you have said, Sean? Nothing. Nothing 00:04:44.449 --> 00:04:46.629 at all. I would have said, that was wonderful. 00:04:46.689 --> 00:04:48.589 Hey, we should talk about the Bible now. Well, 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:51.389 woe be unto you. See, there you go. Do you want 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:53.870 to say it again? No, we're going. No, I feel 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:55.089 like the moment's gone. We need you to transition. 00:04:55.089 --> 00:04:58.339 No, it's done now. It's done. Now you're just 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:03.100 making it awkward. And I hope you cut none of 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:08.860 this out. There's so much power in the hands 00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:12.060 of the guy who edits the podcast. So we're to 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.240 the woes. This is a really interesting passage 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:19.620 to me. I landed here May 14th, the Jesus's woes, 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:23.240 the scribes and the Pharisees. And y 'all kind 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.720 of get used to my rhythm of like, I like to read 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:27.639 the whole text and kind of pull different points 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.000 from it. But I had a major Sean moment where 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.899 like just one phrase. You wanted tacos and you 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:36.899 didn't have tacos. That happens to me a lot. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.379 That is a major Sean moment. Yeah. But that's 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:40.779 not what you're talking about. Not this time. 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:42.980 Oh, my bad. The thing that stood out to me was 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:44.720 this one little verse 41. So I'm going to read 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.920 37 through 41. Oh, one of those moments. Yeah, 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:51.860 that is a Sean moment. Thank you, Sean. Verse 00:05:51.860 --> 00:06:22.050 37, Luke 11. the inside also, but give his alms 00:06:22.050 --> 00:06:24.509 those things that are within and behold, everything 00:06:24.509 --> 00:06:28.370 is clean for you. It's the phrase that just like 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:31.430 rocked me as I read this passage. And like, I 00:06:31.430 --> 00:06:34.089 tried to, I tried to move on down to 42 and all 00:06:34.089 --> 00:06:35.470 that stuff. One, I want, cause you always want 00:06:35.470 --> 00:06:37.009 to get context to the passage that you're studying. 00:06:37.290 --> 00:06:40.310 I just kept coming back to verse 41, give his 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:43.490 alms to the, give his alms those that are within 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:46.790 and behold, everything is clean for you. Gents, 00:06:46.810 --> 00:06:51.259 what does that mean? What does that make you 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:53.800 think of when you hear that? Give as alms those 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.199 things that are within. Well, mine says give 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.699 that which is within as a charitable gift. So 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:02.579 I would assume alms being a charitable gift, 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:06.959 our tithe unto the Lord or even beyond that. 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:10.660 I don't know. I hadn't studied this passage as 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:14.019 much as I probably should have. And going back, 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.019 like you said, going to the context, he's talking 00:07:16.019 --> 00:07:17.420 to the Pharisees. He's talking about how they 00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:20.220 are full of greed. And then so here's the interesting 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:22.660 thing, right? He says they're full of greed and 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:25.550 evil. And then in verse 42, but woe to you, you 00:07:25.550 --> 00:07:27.970 give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of 00:07:27.970 --> 00:07:29.389 herb. So he's talking about, all right, you're 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:33.529 greedy, but you make sure you give every little 00:07:33.529 --> 00:07:36.410 tiny bit of your income. So even if you sell 00:07:36.410 --> 00:07:39.189 some mint, that little bit of a tenth of that 00:07:39.189 --> 00:07:43.310 coin that you get for your mint or your dill 00:07:43.310 --> 00:07:46.170 or whatever, like you're going to sell. So what 00:07:46.170 --> 00:07:48.870 he's showing is, hey, this has nothing to do 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:52.939 with like. what you think you should be giving 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:55.660 to the Lord, this is a heart. This is what your 00:07:55.660 --> 00:07:59.220 heart is at. And so, like I said, in my translation, 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:02.259 verse 41, it says, but give what is within you 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:05.160 to the poor, and then everything is clean for 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.120 you. And so I think that's what it's... Like 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:12.040 so many areas with Jesus, he's trying to get 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:18.120 people to understand that... actions without 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.579 a clean heart are pointless. Yes. Right? Doing 00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:25.360 things just so that you can say you did them, 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:30.040 like, what do you get out of that? That's self 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:31.420 -pride. It actually has a little bit of what 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:33.419 I'm going to talk about in my passage. And so, 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.639 it's like, it's all about you. It's like, that's 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.000 not, no, no, no, no, no. You need to do things 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.139 for others genuinely. When you give, give genuinely. 00:08:42.939 --> 00:08:45.580 Well, it also makes me wonder, too, because it's 00:08:45.580 --> 00:08:47.620 similar to a passage in Matthew, but it's not 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:50.299 on the same format. So I'm guessing it's kind 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.539 of going along with that, because when he does 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:54.559 that one where he talks about tithing of mint 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:58.639 and rue and the spices, he says, but do the weightier 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:01.539 things, mercy and grace and love. He's talking 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:05.460 about doing the things that are, I don't want 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:10.850 to say more biblical, but I mean, it's... more 00:09:10.850 --> 00:09:14.909 of a heart issue versus a exterior issue. Yeah. 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:17.389 What I see here is kind of like what you talked 00:09:17.389 --> 00:09:20.230 about when you preach through Jesus and Nicodemus' 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:23.330 conversation. Jesus is always trying to take 00:09:23.330 --> 00:09:26.450 people from the physical to the spiritual. And 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.309 I think this is no exception. So I didn't look 00:09:29.309 --> 00:09:31.509 at the other translations. I was reading ESV 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:34.690 because that's what I've grown up reading. But 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:36.409 that phrase, give his alms the things that are 00:09:36.409 --> 00:09:39.149 within, I mean, Jesus is taking them from the 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:41.929 external, right? My clean or unclean hands, this 00:09:41.929 --> 00:09:44.389 clean or unclean cup, and taking them to the 00:09:44.389 --> 00:09:47.970 spiritual. The Pharisees have put so much attention 00:09:47.970 --> 00:09:51.929 to external things, what they give in public. 00:09:52.289 --> 00:09:55.470 It talks about them loving the best seats in 00:09:55.470 --> 00:10:00.960 the synagogue, but not beginning. not even beginning 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.059 to care about the things that are internal realities. 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.940 The thing that stood out to me is that an external 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:10.539 focus becomes a vain attempt to deceive God. 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:14.559 Look what he says in 41. Don't you realize that 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.259 he who made the outside made the inside too? 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.440 And so when we focus on our externals, how good 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:23.440 we look, how people esteem us in the house of 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:28.570 God, how we're supposed to appear to the people 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:31.629 around us. And we don't look at what we're doing 00:10:31.629 --> 00:10:35.879 internally. that hypocrisy is not lost on God. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:39.639 I mean, Hebrews 4 talks about, right, like God's 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.759 word is sharper than a two -edged sword. And 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:46.039 it's like this all -seeing eye, you know, that 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:49.879 pierces bone and marrow and soul and spirit. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.759 He can see everything. I think it says we're 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.620 laid naked and bare before him. And so like, 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:00.919 but I think in order to even make an attempt 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.220 at that deceiving God, by cleaning up our external 00:11:04.220 --> 00:11:06.759 and not working on our internal, we have to deceive 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:10.440 ourselves first. I think we truly have to get 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:14.659 into this kind of delirious place where we are 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:16.379 looking to ourselves for our own righteousness. 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:21.820 We are trying to put ourselves up, to make ourselves 00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:24.659 feel good about ourselves by what we do, by how 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:28.220 we look. And in that, we're deceiving ourselves, 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.220 and then we try to pawn that deception off on 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:34.120 God. And so my question for you guys is this, 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:41.120 how can we as believers cultivate that? How can 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.639 I put this? How can we cultivate that inner knowledge 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.039 of ourselves? If the Pharisees were deceiving 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:48.200 themselves, their external righteousness was 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.460 enough to please God. And we can end up in the 00:11:51.460 --> 00:11:55.039 exact same position. What can we do as believers 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.799 to increase that understanding of who we are, 00:11:57.899 --> 00:12:01.840 our flaws, our tendencies, so that we can bring 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.620 those things before the Lord as He's working 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:05.820 on them in us? The very first thing I thought 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:09.279 of when you were saying that is something that 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:12.600 I say often whenever I preach God's Word, and 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:14.320 that is make sure that whenever you're reading 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.639 God's Word, it's a mirror and not a window. Make 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:19.159 sure it's not something that you're reading it, 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:20.779 looking through it, looking at somebody else. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.419 But whenever you're reading it, that you're actively 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:26.600 thinking, all right, Lord, what are you teaching 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.919 me? What is in my life that you have to teach 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.759 me in this moment? And I have found myself doing 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:37.220 that more and more strategically, not just a 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:40.580 background thought, but on purpose, like, okay, 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:45.889 Lord, here's a difficult passage. And if my instinct 00:12:45.889 --> 00:12:49.690 is to think of somebody else, I'm thinking about 00:12:49.690 --> 00:12:52.389 this wrong right now. Show me what I need to 00:12:52.389 --> 00:12:55.289 learn in this passage. And so it's, I mean, the 00:12:55.289 --> 00:12:57.529 Pharisees, like you said, everything they did 00:12:57.529 --> 00:12:59.450 was for show. They didn't want to get to the 00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:01.950 heart. It was all about themselves, all about 00:13:01.950 --> 00:13:04.549 what they could do to show off how good they 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:08.409 were for God in their eyes. But when we have 00:13:08.409 --> 00:13:11.309 an attitude of when we come to the Lord of like, 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:15.240 all right, humble me. show me the areas in your 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:17.399 words, show me the areas of my life that I need 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.519 to be worked on, and to be honest with ourselves 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:22.419 and be willing to see our own flaws, because 00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:24.740 that's difficult. We don't want to admit those 00:13:24.740 --> 00:13:27.919 things. We don't want to admit the areas that 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:32.059 we're struggling with. And so to come and to 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:36.220 open God's Word truly, truly as a mirror, with 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:38.639 that as our forethought as we are reading God's 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:40.240 Word, I think that's a great place to start. 00:13:41.529 --> 00:13:44.250 I think for me, it's sitting in the stillness 00:13:44.250 --> 00:13:48.690 and silence and just asking God to reflect on 00:13:48.690 --> 00:13:51.289 my heart. Just open it up, kind of like David 00:13:51.289 --> 00:13:53.049 did in the Psalms, you know, search me, God. 00:13:54.570 --> 00:13:57.809 I don't want anything hidden. I've been down 00:13:57.809 --> 00:14:00.129 that path before thinking I could hide something, 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:03.789 just not worth it. I'd rather God reveal everything. 00:14:03.929 --> 00:14:06.409 Just God show me, because there are times that 00:14:06.409 --> 00:14:09.299 I don't intentionally. It's just you forget. 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.559 If you didn't repent right when you did it, you 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.860 may forget about it later, and then you want 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:17.480 God to show it to you and say, hey, buddy, you 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:19.399 need to get this right. So for me, it's really 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:20.820 just being in the stillness and saying, okay, 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:25.919 God, look at me. Show me. Help me see what I'm 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.659 missing. And if there's something I need to repent 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:30.320 of, please reveal it so that I can get this out 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.720 of my life. You know what I love about that? 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:36.639 is that he's doing that for our benefit, not 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:40.940 for his. Because when we accept Jesus as the 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:45.340 Lord of our life, our sins are paid for, dead, 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:49.740 gone, done. We are justified before him. But 00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:53.500 when he is ready to deal with a specific area 00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:56.279 of our lives, he's not calling us to repent of 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:59.440 those things. Um, so that he can be satisfied. 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.539 He, he is already satisfied. It's actually so 00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:04.360 that we can get closer to him in relationship. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.940 And so like God's designed for us, even in the 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:11.159 repentance process is not to like, it's not just 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.899 a, I told you cosmic, I told you so us into guilt, 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:17.639 tripping us into feeling better. It's actually 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:21.460 for him. It's, it's him restoring just that little 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:26.340 bit of lost goodness and creation, um, in us. 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:28.480 Little bit by little bit. That's the sanctification 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.759 process. Sitting in the stillness and letting 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:36.059 him sift your heart and change you. At least 00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:41.460 in my own life, guys, I have found that I've 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:43.960 come to a place of peace, and then the Lord will 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:45.379 show me something else that he wants me to work 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:48.139 on. Or something else that he specifically wants 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:51.620 to do battle with in my heart. And I'm like, 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:55.129 oh, I thought I, you know. The younger Ben said, 00:15:55.269 --> 00:15:57.610 you know what, I thought I was all right. And 00:15:57.610 --> 00:15:59.929 then you get settled again, and he's got another 00:15:59.929 --> 00:16:01.690 thing for you. And you get settled again, and 00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:03.809 he's got another thing for you. But God does 00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:07.049 that at his pace. And as we continue to present 00:16:07.049 --> 00:16:08.970 ourselves before him, sometimes he's got things 00:16:08.970 --> 00:16:12.750 to work on, and other times he is already and 00:16:12.750 --> 00:16:14.889 still working, but we just can't see it yet. 00:16:16.169 --> 00:16:19.409 The last thing I will say about this, I looked 00:16:19.409 --> 00:16:21.570 a little bit into almsgiving, where Jesus says, 00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:25.820 give his alms, those are things within. you could 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:28.179 say a lot about what giving alms are, that charitable 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:30.460 giving that Jesus is talking about, that he criticizes 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:33.039 the Pharisees for doing incorrectly. But at the 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.759 end of the day, almsgiving is a volitional act 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.460 of worship that the people of Israel did. It's 00:16:39.460 --> 00:16:42.059 a choice that they made that they were obligated 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:45.919 to do as worship. And so us coming to the Lord 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.759 with that genuine heart, that willingness to 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:53.080 be changed, is an act of worship. And I just 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:54.419 love that he's at the beginning and the end of 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:57.600 it. He's the one who brings the things in. He's 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.179 the one who shows you, hey, your cup is clean 00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:01.460 on the outside but dirty on the inside. He's 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:04.039 the one who cleans the cup, and he's the one 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:07.539 who is receiving the worship and the glory from 00:17:07.539 --> 00:17:10.980 the cup being clean. He's at the beginning, the 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:14.059 middle, and the end, and I just love it. I just 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:18.500 love it. Well, John, do you want to share from 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:21.339 your passage a little? Yeah, sure. I chose to 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:24.380 do May 11th, which would have been Monday's passage. 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:27.400 And the reason why I picked this one is just 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:31.200 because this is one that most people have a lot 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:36.259 of questions about. And I hate to say, I kind 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:38.339 of looked at a little bit of May 15th as well 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:41.440 to go along with it. because it kind of finishes 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.400 this passage, even though there is a lot of content 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.180 that goes in between them. It's okay. It's all 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:49.319 scripture. But it was really about when Jesus 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:53.460 cast out the demon, and then immediately they're 00:17:53.460 --> 00:17:55.920 looking at him going, how did he do this? And 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.859 they're trying to villainize him because he did 00:17:58.859 --> 00:18:02.980 something that people began to look at and celebrate. 00:18:03.180 --> 00:18:05.579 And so they immediately said, well, this man 00:18:05.579 --> 00:18:08.980 cast out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:11.339 And He's on Satan's side is what they're basically 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.700 saying about Jesus. And so Jesus makes a couple 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:16.859 of statements that really stand out to me. He 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:18.779 says, knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:20.400 every kingdom divided against itself has laid 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.660 waste. No city or house divided against itself 00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:25.039 will stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.019 he has become divided against himself. How will 00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:31.230 his kingdom stand? And it's interesting because 00:18:31.230 --> 00:18:35.190 Satan will not be disunified with his minions, 00:18:35.450 --> 00:18:39.769 right? They're on the same page. Their page is 00:18:39.769 --> 00:18:43.670 to steal, to kill, and to destroy. It is to basically 00:18:43.670 --> 00:18:48.309 tear a relationship apart from God. And so for 00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:49.849 them to even make the statement that Satan was 00:18:49.849 --> 00:18:53.049 casting out his own minions was foolish, but 00:18:53.049 --> 00:18:55.890 yet it's where they wanted to go to or where 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.230 they felt they needed to get to because they 00:18:58.230 --> 00:19:01.990 had to villainize Satan. And he just makes the 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:03.990 point blank statement. He's like, a house divided 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:07.869 isn't going to stand. So then he comes up with 00:19:07.869 --> 00:19:11.309 a note. He goes on, he says, but if I cast out 00:19:11.309 --> 00:19:13.109 demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom 00:19:13.109 --> 00:19:15.990 of God has come. And then he uses illustration. 00:19:16.089 --> 00:19:19.190 We see it in Luke's gospel where he says, well, 00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:21.849 what about your sons? How do they do it? So if 00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:25.109 your sons cast out demons, then are they casting 00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:27.250 them out by Beelzebub? And so he uses just all 00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:31.990 these. different examples. And I call this, Jesus 00:19:31.990 --> 00:19:35.529 comes to that conclusion of what I call the Spock 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:40.329 or Sherlock conclusion in this passage, because 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:43.630 he says, if these things aren't so, if Satan's 00:19:43.630 --> 00:19:46.109 not divided and your sons are doing the same 00:19:46.109 --> 00:19:49.089 thing, and then the logical conclusion is to 00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:52.150 come to this, the kingdom of God is here. And 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:54.450 so the quote that I'm talking about that comes 00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:57.390 from both Spock from Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes 00:19:57.390 --> 00:20:00.369 is if you eliminate the impossible, whatever 00:20:00.369 --> 00:20:04.269 remains, however improbable must be true. And 00:20:04.269 --> 00:20:06.950 so what he does is he eliminates every excuse 00:20:06.950 --> 00:20:09.829 they make. He eliminates everything that they're 00:20:09.829 --> 00:20:12.950 saying. And he says, okay, this may seem improbable 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:16.650 to you, but if you recognize what I've done and 00:20:16.650 --> 00:20:20.269 the only logical conclusion to come to is the 00:20:20.269 --> 00:20:22.890 kingdom of God is here and there's no way you 00:20:22.890 --> 00:20:26.940 can get around it. So I love the fact that Jesus 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:30.119 just throws the logic in there and says there's 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.119 nothing you can do. You can't disagree with what 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:37.980 I'm saying. So I like this passage, but if I'm 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:40.660 honest, we go down just a couple of verses later 00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:43.400 in 31 and 32, and this is where the biggest question 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:44.980 comes. So I'm going to ask you guys this question, 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:50.579 and that is, what is the unpardonable sin? Right? 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:52.740 That's what everybody comes to because they see 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:55.140 this passage. They read it. They see that they're 00:20:55.140 --> 00:20:57.519 speaking against Christ, against the Holy Spirit. 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.400 Jesus says it's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:05.000 So what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? That's 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:06.980 what most people want to understand. It's very 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:14.519 simple, John. It's getting a tattoo. That's some 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:17.539 good Southern Baptist theology right there. No. 00:21:20.389 --> 00:21:23.950 Oh, man. Speaking a little tongue -in -cheek 00:21:23.950 --> 00:21:26.490 here. I mean, the way that I've heard... No, 00:21:26.490 --> 00:21:30.769 hold on. We need to clarify. That is why I said 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:37.829 no. This is Editor Ben. I am joking. Sean and 00:21:37.829 --> 00:21:42.390 I both have tattoos, and we are not actively 00:21:42.390 --> 00:21:44.690 blaspheming the Holy Spirit. No, we are not. 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.140 No, I've always heard this passage interpreted, 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:50.940 or I've heard this passage interpreted in several 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:53.799 ways. The way that I have seen it interpreted 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.640 is, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.200 you are actively resisting the call of the Holy 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.799 Spirit on your life. Yeah. Like when you hear 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:04.220 God's voice, when you recognize the gospel, and 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:07.079 you turn and look at him and you say, no, I don't 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:10.740 want this. Now, are more Calvinist brothers interpret 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:13.420 this differently? Because they believe in, what 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:15.240 is it, irresistible grace? Irresistible grace, 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:18.180 yeah. That when God calls, you cannot say no. 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:23.099 I am not of that persuasion. Does anybody know, 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.259 what did they, because like I said, I'm with 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:28.319 you guys on that one. I interpret this the same 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:32.609 way. But I also have some amazing friends that 00:22:32.609 --> 00:22:35.809 are Calvinists that love Jesus. And so now I'm 00:22:35.809 --> 00:22:37.970 curious because I'd never thought about that 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:40.450 from their perspective of how they would interpret 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:42.609 this passage. Do y 'all know? I don't know. So 00:22:42.609 --> 00:22:45.670 they take the same line of logic and they turn 00:22:45.670 --> 00:22:47.369 it a different way. Because like you, I've got 00:22:47.369 --> 00:22:49.750 some good friends who are faithful to the Lord 00:22:49.750 --> 00:22:53.069 and reform. And as a side note, I believe that 00:22:53.069 --> 00:22:55.670 this is a tertiary issue. You've got your primaries, 00:22:55.670 --> 00:22:58.269 your secondaries, and your tertiaries. Like, 00:22:58.269 --> 00:23:00.750 that's another conversation for another day. 00:23:00.910 --> 00:23:03.430 But I think the way that I've heard them explain 00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:07.869 this passage is the people that blaspheme the 00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:11.369 Holy Spirit, that resist God's call, were predestined 00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:15.089 to blaspheme the Spirit. And so it's kind of 00:23:15.089 --> 00:23:17.029 like taking the same line of logic and just kind 00:23:17.029 --> 00:23:19.230 of scooting it back one stop on the bus. That 00:23:19.230 --> 00:23:22.529 makes sense. But see, I've heard it interpreted 00:23:22.529 --> 00:23:24.109 so many different ways. Yeah, what have you heard? 00:23:24.769 --> 00:23:27.599 Catholicism. will tell you suicide is an unpardonable 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.160 sin, right? I've heard that. And what it is is, 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:32.259 and this is the question that I had Wednesday 00:23:32.259 --> 00:23:34.240 night, which I thought, you know. But they don't 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:36.200 get that from this passage. They just assume 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:39.180 that from other things. Well, if it's an unpardonable 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:42.819 sin, it has to be suicide. They really do use 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:45.059 this passage to bring that out. It's surprising. 00:23:46.040 --> 00:23:49.180 And so, and the reason being, and I heard a lady, 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.619 she asked this question to me Wednesday night. 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:53.259 She said, you know, if I commit suicide, I don't 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:55.140 have time to repent. And so I just simply asked 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:57.059 her this question. I said, have you absolutely 00:23:57.059 --> 00:23:59.180 repented of every single sin you've ever committed? 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:02.740 And she said, no. And I said, okay, well then 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:04.359 I guess according to that logic, you're going 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:06.940 to hell too. And I said, so it can't be based 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.299 on not being able to seek forgiveness after you've 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:13.859 done the act. I said, because we are forgiven. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.920 We are justified, which means all of our sins 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:20.059 have been paid for. Now, we are still being sanctified. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:21.740 We're still being turned away or turning away 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:25.240 from sin. I said, so it's not suicide. I said, 00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:28.619 and I've heard another one. It's when we speak 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:31.839 ill of people like a Benny Hinn, some of these 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.700 faith healers, and we say. something that really 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:36.799 is of the Holy Spirit is not of the Holy Spirit, 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.559 that we're blaspheming. They weaponize that. 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:43.579 Oh, they weaponize that. Yes, yes. So if we speak 00:24:43.579 --> 00:24:46.319 against anything that people quote -unquote call 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:49.420 the Holy Spirit, if it actually is the Holy Spirit, 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:51.420 we're blaspheming the Holy Spirit. And I said, 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.519 but here's the thing. When you look throughout 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.700 all of Scripture, the only thing that is unpardonable 00:24:57.700 --> 00:24:59.720 that will send us to hell is not having a personal 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:02.470 relationship with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, 00:25:02.569 --> 00:25:05.230 like you said, is the initiator of that faith, 00:25:05.309 --> 00:25:09.730 drawing us to the Lord. And if we refuse Him, 00:25:09.910 --> 00:25:12.230 and if you read through Matthew, if you read 00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:14.589 Matthew's Gospel in order, you'll see where the 00:25:14.589 --> 00:25:16.869 Pharisees denied the Father, denied the Son, 00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:18.630 and now they've denied the Holy Spirit. Who's 00:25:18.630 --> 00:25:21.109 left to save them? Ain't nobody. Yeah. So, I 00:25:21.109 --> 00:25:23.670 mean, they're in grave, grave trouble. So, I 00:25:23.670 --> 00:25:24.930 just thought it would be interesting to talk 00:25:24.930 --> 00:25:26.410 about this passage because it's the one that 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:29.759 really... other than the second most asked question 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.140 I get as a pastor. The first one being, how do 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:34.099 I know I'm saved? The second one is, what's the 00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:38.279 unpardonable sin? And I think that's a very human 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:44.339 desire. It reflects what we believe and what 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:47.460 we care about as just the human race of like, 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:49.299 well, I want to make sure I don't get this one 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:53.220 wrong. But I mean, the answer to the unpardonable 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:58.440 sin is still is grace. The Lord makes a way for 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:01.180 us to know him. And in a very real sense, if 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:04.119 you're tweaking about having committed the unpardonable 00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:07.099 sin, you probably haven't committed it. Yes. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.759 You're not going to be concerned if you've done 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:12.400 it. Exactly. If you're actively resisting the 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.519 Spirit's work in your life, you're not going 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:16.880 to care. You're not going to call. Now, for us 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.180 who are believers, I firmly believe that there 00:26:20.180 --> 00:26:24.380 is a, not salvation related, but a version of 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:27.440 this that we have to be careful. of, that as 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:31.220 we hear God's voice, as we clear out the noise 00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:33.200 in our lives and we sit in the silence and we 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.099 present our heart to the Lord, didn't mean to 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:36.420 tie this together with the verse we were talking 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:38.140 about earlier, but here we go, the Holy Spirit 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:41.039 will move and he does speak and he does have 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:46.500 specific things for us to do. And we've got a 00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:48.630 choice. I've encountered that in my own life 00:26:48.630 --> 00:26:50.710 where he's asked me to do some hard stuff. And 00:26:50.710 --> 00:26:53.890 we have a choice whether we're going to obey 00:26:53.890 --> 00:26:57.650 or whether we're going to resist. And if we resist, 00:26:58.109 --> 00:27:01.650 absolutely there is grace for us. And this is 00:27:01.650 --> 00:27:04.450 not a salvation question, but it is a relationship 00:27:04.450 --> 00:27:07.769 question. If Maddie keeps asking me to take out 00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:11.509 the trash, my beloved wife Madison asks me the 00:27:11.509 --> 00:27:13.950 very, very, very small favor of taking out the 00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:17.420 trash, and I continue not to, Two things are 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:19.099 going to happen. One, that trash is going to 00:27:19.099 --> 00:27:20.700 pile up and our house is going to start to stink. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.960 And two, eventually she's going to ask me, stop 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.940 asking me to take out the trash because she knows 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:30.200 that I'm not going to do it. Our spiritual lives 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:32.779 can be like that too. When we resist the Holy 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:34.880 Spirit, when we resist what God is asking us 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.839 to do, the trash of our life starts to stink 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:39.599 and we start to lose on that felt presence and 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.019 relationship with the Lord. There's always room 00:27:42.019 --> 00:27:45.390 though, always room and time. to repent, to make 00:27:45.390 --> 00:27:48.089 that change into your account. Yep. All right, 00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:50.029 Sean, how about you? What's your passage today? 00:27:50.369 --> 00:27:53.009 So I'm looking at the day before. I'm looking 00:27:53.009 --> 00:27:56.799 at May 10th. Hey, guess what? It's another one 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.019 of those times where Ben had a Sean moment. You 00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:01.539 know what, Sean? There's a reason he called it 00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:04.160 a Sean moment, because Sean had that moment too. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.480 I intended no derision. I like what you pull 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.680 out of your passages. No, I get it. And I'm just 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:11.619 saying, I got another one. And so, because there's 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:14.099 a lot going on in this passage, and there's a 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:17.000 lot that we can look at. There's just one verse, 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:18.940 and I want to read this verse, because it's truly 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:23.170 like, I read this and I just stopped. And like, 00:28:23.309 --> 00:28:25.769 you know, I don't know if y 'all have ever like 00:28:25.769 --> 00:28:29.490 daydreamed on topic during a Bible study. You 00:28:29.490 --> 00:28:31.410 know what I mean? Like I've definitely daydreamed 00:28:31.410 --> 00:28:33.269 not on topic and I've been like, hold on, I got 00:28:33.269 --> 00:28:35.309 to get back. Right. But this was one of those 00:28:35.309 --> 00:28:37.569 moments where I just stopped and just my mind 00:28:37.569 --> 00:28:41.589 just started going and going and going. And it 00:28:41.589 --> 00:28:43.869 led me to just worshiping the Lord even more, 00:28:43.930 --> 00:28:46.569 which is so cool when that happens. But verse 00:28:46.569 --> 00:28:50.180 54. Verse 54 says this, if I glorify myself, 00:28:50.500 --> 00:28:54.220 Jesus answered, my glory is nothing. My father 00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:57.099 about whom you say he is our God, he is the one 00:28:57.099 --> 00:29:00.259 who glorifies me. So here's what was going through 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:02.660 my brain as I was reading this early one morning. 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:08.299 I was reading this and Jesus says, if I glorify 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:10.759 myself, my glory is nothing. And the thought 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:14.619 immediately came to my brain of how much I am 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:17.759 always trying to lift up the name of Jesus. And 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:21.980 it was thinking of like, if the thought came, 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:26.039 if Jesus, if anyone could glorify themselves, 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.200 you would think it would be Jesus, right? Because 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:32.380 of what he was going to do for us, for what he 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:34.220 knew he was going to do for us, for what he had 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:36.500 already done, and just for everything, for who 00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:39.519 he is. But even being in the position of the 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:43.299 one who's actually able to glorify himself. he 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:45.420 realizes that's not my position. That's what 00:29:45.420 --> 00:29:48.160 the Father's for. So one, it's really cool. I 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.259 mean, just for Trinitarian theology, it shows 00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:51.900 some interesting differences between the Father 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:54.799 and the Son. But without going down that rabbit 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:59.519 trail, to show right there, like going once again 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:02.809 back to our sinful human nature of... of the 00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:05.730 things we do on the outside. And this just showed 00:30:05.730 --> 00:30:08.289 me once again, just the carefulness, how careful 00:30:08.289 --> 00:30:11.930 I need to be about any prideful decisions or 00:30:11.930 --> 00:30:14.470 prideful things I am doing in my life. It's like 00:30:14.470 --> 00:30:16.990 not even Jesus was going to lift himself up. 00:30:17.609 --> 00:30:20.789 He was going to make sure the father did all 00:30:20.789 --> 00:30:24.130 of that for him. And he wasn't going to boast 00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:28.829 about himself. He was going to instead humble 00:30:28.829 --> 00:30:32.900 himself. And it just shows me like, okay, I need 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:34.920 to make sure that everything I'm doing is not 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:37.759 about me. It's not about Sean's desires. It's 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:40.480 not about Sean's name. It's not about my legacy. 00:30:40.819 --> 00:30:43.339 It's about what can I leave behind for Jesus? 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:47.900 What can I do for him? And it's so hard because 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:54.009 we do live in a time. where so many people are 00:30:54.009 --> 00:30:56.890 worried about their name. What are people going 00:30:56.890 --> 00:31:00.230 to remember me for? What of all this? And it's 00:31:00.230 --> 00:31:02.990 just like, no, it's not about me. It's not about 00:31:02.990 --> 00:31:05.970 me. I want people to know Jesus, and I want to 00:31:05.970 --> 00:31:09.869 lift him up. So who am I? Who am I to try to 00:31:09.869 --> 00:31:11.950 lift myself up if not even Jesus was going to 00:31:11.950 --> 00:31:15.670 do it? That is huge. And I think that degree 00:31:15.670 --> 00:31:18.069 of humility is really important for any believer 00:31:18.069 --> 00:31:21.089 trying to do anything. Because like you said, 00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:23.910 our world says succeed, succeed, succeed, succeed. 00:31:24.150 --> 00:31:28.930 Dog eat dog world. Like at every turn, make your 00:31:28.930 --> 00:31:33.630 name. Great. I heard a Tim Keller sermon one 00:31:33.630 --> 00:31:35.670 time, and he pulled from the Lord's Prayer, where 00:31:35.670 --> 00:31:38.009 thy kingdom come, thy will be done. He goes, 00:31:38.089 --> 00:31:42.250 our hearts are constantly crying out, my kingdom 00:31:42.250 --> 00:31:45.349 come, my will be done. But Sean, as you were 00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:49.349 talking, it reminded me of a different part of 00:31:49.349 --> 00:31:52.509 this discourse, where Jesus is talking to the 00:31:52.509 --> 00:31:56.190 Pharisees more about, I don't do my own stuff, 00:31:56.230 --> 00:31:58.640 the Father does. And I'm pretty sure he says, 00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:02.019 I don't do my will, I do the will of my Father. 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:06.700 And so as we seek to glorify Jesus, not ourselves, 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:11.900 it is the Lord who works in us. I mean, heck, 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:13.440 we were talking about this, the three of us earlier, 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.359 when we were meeting as a staff, about gauging 00:32:16.359 --> 00:32:21.440 our success not on numbers or on... or on something 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:26.480 visual, but on our faithfulness, about how sticking 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.660 with what the Lord has set before us and stewarding 00:32:29.660 --> 00:32:32.160 the opportunities he has before us well in a 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:33.880 way that pursues faithfulness, not perfection. 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:38.099 And so as we seek not to glorify ourselves the 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:40.559 way that Jesus sought not to glorify himself, 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:44.119 it is our Father who works in us, not just us 00:32:44.119 --> 00:32:47.720 out there on our own trying to figure it out 00:32:47.720 --> 00:32:50.599 and make it. Good stuff. Well, I tell you, it 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:53.680 truly is a blessing to see God's Word opened 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.000 up in such a powerful way, especially when we're 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:58.099 talking about glorifying His name. Because that's 00:32:58.099 --> 00:33:00.859 what we're all about, pursuing Jesus. And it's 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:03.559 about glorifying His name. It's not about making 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:07.019 a name for ourself. It's not about exalting ourself 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:08.859 or even our church. It's not about us getting 00:33:08.859 --> 00:33:11.220 our name out in the community. It is about exalting 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:13.539 the name of Jesus Christ. And that's what we 00:33:13.539 --> 00:33:16.599 want to be about. And as we pursue Jesus in everything 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:20.460 that we do, We're here to glorify him. Absolutely. 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.039 What a blessing it is. So take what you got from 00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:27.000 this and go out. Remember that you're not glorifying 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:29.819 yourself and that the Father works in you. This 00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:31.700 has been Pursuing Jesus. I have been Ben Smith. 00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:34.420 I have been Sean Griffin. And I'm John Ferguson. 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:36.680 We really need to work on our have -beens or 00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:38.359 ours. We need to get these lined up at some point. 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:41.660 But either way, we'll catch you guys next week. 00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:46.759 Okay, bye -bye. Pursuing Jesus is a ministry 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:49.420 of Memorial Baptist Church in Norwood, North 00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:49.839 Carolina.