1
00:00:11,762 --> 00:00:12,362
Joshua Kehler: Good.

2
00:00:13,812 --> 00:00:14,342
Come on.

3
00:00:15,472 --> 00:00:16,262
All right.

4
00:00:16,262 --> 00:00:16,862
Thanks.

5
00:00:16,862 --> 00:00:18,452
Yeah, it's not too early.

6
00:00:19,357 --> 00:00:21,777
Hey guys, good to, be
with you this morning.

7
00:00:21,797 --> 00:00:25,207
we're gonna jump right into Nehemiah
chapter 2, so go there, in your Bibles.

8
00:00:25,207 --> 00:00:28,317
Nehemiah chapter 2, if you
need a Bible, please let us

9
00:00:28,317 --> 00:00:30,007
know and we will get you one.

10
00:00:30,277 --> 00:00:33,727
we'll give you that, so that you
can, follow along, make notes

11
00:00:33,727 --> 00:00:37,117
in your, in your Bible, and just
grow in your knowledge of Jesus.

12
00:00:37,117 --> 00:00:39,887
yeah, Nehemiah chapter 2 this morning.

13
00:00:40,887 --> 00:00:43,707
This morning we'll be
looking at verses 11 on.

14
00:00:44,012 --> 00:00:47,262
so follow along, in verse 11 we begin.

15
00:00:47,632 --> 00:00:50,442
I went to Jerusalem and
was there three days.

16
00:00:50,902 --> 00:00:53,792
Then I arose in the night
and a few men with me.

17
00:00:53,992 --> 00:00:58,422
And I told no one what my God had put
into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

18
00:00:58,952 --> 00:01:01,492
There was no animal with me
but the one on which I rode.

19
00:01:01,492 --> 00:01:06,512
I went out by night by the valley gate,
to the dragon spring and to the dung gate.

20
00:01:07,162 --> 00:01:11,162
I inspected the walls of Jerusalem
that were broken down and its gates

21
00:01:11,382 --> 00:01:13,292
that had been destroyed by fire.

22
00:01:13,752 --> 00:01:17,432
Then I went on to the fountain gate and
to the king's pool, but there was no room

23
00:01:17,432 --> 00:01:20,382
for the animal that was under me to pass.

24
00:01:20,382 --> 00:01:25,252
Then I went up in the night by the valley
and inspected the wall and I turned back

25
00:01:25,271 --> 00:01:29,922
and entered by the valley gate and so
returned and the officials did not know

26
00:01:29,922 --> 00:01:31,792
where I had gone or what I was doing.

27
00:01:32,157 --> 00:01:35,507
And I had not yet told the Jews, the
priests, the nobles, the officials,

28
00:01:35,667 --> 00:01:37,977
and the rest who were to do the work.

29
00:01:38,347 --> 00:01:42,676
Then I said to them, You see the
trouble we are in, how Jerusalem

30
00:01:42,676 --> 00:01:45,917
lies in ruins, with its gates burned.

31
00:01:46,357 --> 00:01:51,347
Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem
that we may no longer suffer derision

32
00:01:51,616 --> 00:01:53,567
or be a reproach to the people.

33
00:01:54,192 --> 00:01:58,342
And I told them of the hand of my God
that had been poured out on me for good,

34
00:01:58,342 --> 00:02:01,882
and also of the words that the king
had spoken to me, and they said, let us

35
00:02:01,882 --> 00:02:08,222
rise up and build, so they strengthened
their hands for the good work.

36
00:02:08,262 --> 00:02:08,822
Let's pray.

37
00:02:08,822 --> 00:02:09,882
God, we come to you.

38
00:02:10,282 --> 00:02:15,097
Lord, we just are Just anticipating what
you want to speak to us this morning.

39
00:02:15,647 --> 00:02:20,977
God, we pray that you would, meet
us exactly, where we need it, Jesus.

40
00:02:21,247 --> 00:02:22,966
God, we don't want to just do sermons.

41
00:02:22,966 --> 00:02:25,767
We don't want to just hear Bible
studies and take in knowledge.

42
00:02:25,767 --> 00:02:27,327
We want to know you, Jesus.

43
00:02:27,937 --> 00:02:29,577
Lord, we want more of you.

44
00:02:29,657 --> 00:02:32,817
And Lord, we pray right now that,
you would search us, that you would

45
00:02:32,817 --> 00:02:36,547
know us, that you would see, our
hearts, that, Lord, our hearts would

46
00:02:36,557 --> 00:02:40,377
be laid bare before your word this
morning and before your presence.

47
00:02:40,377 --> 00:02:44,177
And then God, as we even talked about
last week, that potter taking that

48
00:02:44,177 --> 00:02:47,597
clay, that Lord, you would fashion
us and that you would begin that

49
00:02:47,597 --> 00:02:49,527
rebuilding process in our lives.

50
00:02:49,917 --> 00:02:51,067
We praise you, Jesus.

51
00:02:51,247 --> 00:02:52,097
We thank you.

52
00:02:52,417 --> 00:02:55,067
We know it's not by might nor
by power, but by your Spirit.

53
00:02:55,552 --> 00:02:57,522
And so Holy Spirit move this morning.

54
00:02:57,841 --> 00:02:58,682
let us know you.

55
00:02:58,692 --> 00:02:59,642
Let us love you better.

56
00:02:59,642 --> 00:03:01,092
Let us love one another better.

57
00:03:01,362 --> 00:03:03,592
For having been here this
morning, hearing your word.

58
00:03:03,862 --> 00:03:05,872
Take these lips, anoint them.

59
00:03:06,152 --> 00:03:07,402
May they be your words.

60
00:03:07,402 --> 00:03:09,412
And not just opinions of men.

61
00:03:09,722 --> 00:03:13,002
And, God, we just pray that,
we would meet with you now.

62
00:03:13,162 --> 00:03:14,232
We praise you, Jesus.

63
00:03:14,242 --> 00:03:14,752
We love you.

64
00:03:14,782 --> 00:03:15,732
In Jesus name.

65
00:03:16,082 --> 00:03:16,522
Amen.

66
00:03:16,522 --> 00:03:19,622
Amen.

67
00:03:19,622 --> 00:03:19,882
Amen.

68
00:03:20,487 --> 00:03:28,937
Whenever you see testimonies or you
hear the story of God working in a

69
00:03:28,937 --> 00:03:35,337
life, often we hear of the, from time
to time we hear of the triumph, of

70
00:03:35,337 --> 00:03:39,817
what happened, the circumstances,
that was happening in the life.

71
00:03:39,867 --> 00:03:46,737
the horrible enslavement to sin, and then
they met Jesus and, what happened then

72
00:03:46,947 --> 00:03:50,257
is, life just transformed and changed.

73
00:03:50,707 --> 00:03:54,466
And often those testimonies are given
and where those things are true and where

74
00:03:54,466 --> 00:03:57,177
God does change and transform a life.

75
00:03:57,406 --> 00:04:00,857
What's often not spoken of is the year.

76
00:04:01,862 --> 00:04:09,302
After you've been saved, that first
year can be a gnarly kind of thing.

77
00:04:09,312 --> 00:04:13,692
It can go on, into the next year
and the next year after that.

78
00:04:14,172 --> 00:04:18,802
And sometimes as we look back and we
testify, we can remember that as we

79
00:04:18,802 --> 00:04:21,411
came to Jesus, everything made sense.

80
00:04:21,442 --> 00:04:23,372
Everything was right.

81
00:04:23,432 --> 00:04:24,732
We were at peace with God.

82
00:04:24,732 --> 00:04:25,642
He forgave us.

83
00:04:25,642 --> 00:04:26,652
He cleansed us.

84
00:04:27,032 --> 00:04:28,402
But then we realized that.

85
00:04:28,452 --> 00:04:31,732
That, that the process of
saving was an ongoing thing.

86
00:04:32,132 --> 00:04:37,062
We realized just a few weeks after
that we still struggled with sin, that

87
00:04:37,062 --> 00:04:42,172
we still had to deal with it, that
it was still there, the flesh in us.

88
00:04:42,342 --> 00:04:47,692
And what's often, not talked about
a lot is that first year, That first

89
00:04:47,772 --> 00:04:54,162
two years, that first five years, that
process of the rebuilding, that process of

90
00:04:54,162 --> 00:04:57,732
rebuilding and, and how that goes about.

91
00:04:58,312 --> 00:05:04,082
Nehemiah is a story of a man who
heard not new information, but got

92
00:05:04,082 --> 00:05:05,642
a new heart when he heard about it.

93
00:05:06,167 --> 00:05:10,527
the walls of Jerusalem had been
broken down by the Babylonians as,

94
00:05:10,557 --> 00:05:14,997
Israel had rebelled, against the
world ruling empire at the time.

95
00:05:15,237 --> 00:05:21,557
And to, as they often did to a city, to,
the center of that nation, they took stone

96
00:05:21,567 --> 00:05:25,697
upon stone off, they destroyed the temple,
they destroyed the houses, they burned

97
00:05:25,697 --> 00:05:30,747
the place down so that they could not,
Just get more people and rebel once again.

98
00:05:30,977 --> 00:05:35,337
And so as the Israelites were carted off
to Babylon, eventually Persia took over.

99
00:05:35,627 --> 00:05:39,237
And here, Nehemiah is a cupbearer
serving in the Persian court.

100
00:05:39,647 --> 00:05:43,887
he's got, he's a slave, but he's
in this position of authority.

101
00:05:44,297 --> 00:05:47,797
So he gets a report and he
hears back about the gates.

102
00:05:48,072 --> 00:05:52,742
In the walls of Jerusalem, Ezra had gone
before and you can read that story in

103
00:05:52,742 --> 00:05:58,312
the book of Ezra and rebuilt the temple
and, in the Lord began a work there, but

104
00:05:58,312 --> 00:06:02,982
the work had been stopped and brought
to a standstill because every time

105
00:06:02,982 --> 00:06:07,422
the people would go to the temple to
worship God, the enemy would come in and

106
00:06:07,422 --> 00:06:09,462
they would rob and plunder and steal.

107
00:06:09,787 --> 00:06:11,857
The enemy had full access to the city.

108
00:06:11,857 --> 00:06:13,547
So the people lived in fear.

109
00:06:13,857 --> 00:06:14,997
They were never bold.

110
00:06:14,997 --> 00:06:16,047
They were never triumphant.

111
00:06:16,077 --> 00:06:21,477
They were never victorious because they
lived in constant threat of attack.

112
00:06:21,787 --> 00:06:27,527
Any movement to better themselves,
any movement to get past the rubble,

113
00:06:27,657 --> 00:06:31,797
to begin that rebuilding process
of their city would immediately,

114
00:06:31,927 --> 00:06:34,607
be thwarted by the enemy.

115
00:06:34,782 --> 00:06:40,262
As the enemy loved keeping a people in
such a place and in such a condition.

116
00:06:40,782 --> 00:06:42,882
And God, put on Nehemiah's heart.

117
00:06:42,882 --> 00:06:46,942
As Nehemiah heard the information,
141 year old information,

118
00:06:46,952 --> 00:06:48,432
it became new in his heart.

119
00:06:48,592 --> 00:06:52,102
He heard about the people and
the condition of the people

120
00:06:52,102 --> 00:06:53,892
and his heart absolutely broke.

121
00:06:54,142 --> 00:06:58,582
And so we learned as, in First chapter,
Nehemiah and the heart of Jesus.

122
00:06:58,632 --> 00:07:04,342
Very similar as Jesus looked at Jerusalem
before his death, and he cried and he

123
00:07:04,342 --> 00:07:09,062
wept and he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
if you had known in this thy day what

124
00:07:10,062 --> 00:07:15,832
made for your peace and how we long to
gather them as a hen gathers her chicks.

125
00:07:17,117 --> 00:07:21,917
And so, we learn that's what God does
in a life, is that somebody finally,

126
00:07:22,067 --> 00:07:26,497
because they are in communion with
God, gets tired of the status quo.

127
00:07:26,907 --> 00:07:28,527
Gets tired of the way things are.

128
00:07:28,547 --> 00:07:31,007
I'm excited about this
time in Stockton's history.

129
00:07:31,582 --> 00:07:33,792
I don't know if any of you
caught the Forbes story.

130
00:07:34,402 --> 00:07:38,262
We were voted the number one most
miserable place in the nation to live.

131
00:07:39,822 --> 00:07:41,162
that's quite a feat.

132
00:07:42,182 --> 00:07:45,922
When you consider we beat
Oakland and Detroit and Chicago

133
00:07:46,182 --> 00:07:47,842
and, some of these places.

134
00:07:48,437 --> 00:07:49,967
we're, yeah, a deal.

135
00:07:50,527 --> 00:07:54,337
and, but, and some people would look at
that and they would despair over such

136
00:07:54,337 --> 00:07:58,827
news, but it's beautiful because I think
what God is doing is turning the eyes of

137
00:07:58,827 --> 00:08:00,777
the nation onto this, what is Stockton?

138
00:08:00,777 --> 00:08:02,107
What is Stockton, California?

139
00:08:02,337 --> 00:08:06,707
So that when He takes it and He turns
it upside down, glory will be given

140
00:08:06,707 --> 00:08:08,347
to His name because people can only,

141
00:08:09,347 --> 00:08:10,767
they'll have to praise the Lord.

142
00:08:11,097 --> 00:08:13,737
It's not a man, it's not a
thing, it's not anything else.

143
00:08:14,227 --> 00:08:17,727
But it's God working, it's Jesus
working, and it's grace, and

144
00:08:17,727 --> 00:08:19,067
it's kindness, and it's goodness.

145
00:08:19,277 --> 00:08:23,987
And what God is doing then, in preparation
for such a work, is He's raising up

146
00:08:23,997 --> 00:08:26,387
people who are tired of the status quo.

147
00:08:26,717 --> 00:08:28,747
Who say, this isn't the way
that it's supposed to be.

148
00:08:28,917 --> 00:08:30,307
Something needs to be done.

149
00:08:30,477 --> 00:08:34,087
And they look at the gaps in the wall,
instead of complaining about the gaps,

150
00:08:34,277 --> 00:08:38,157
as long as there's been done instead
of complaining about the churches

151
00:08:38,157 --> 00:08:39,547
and the feebleness and the weakness.

152
00:08:39,557 --> 00:08:41,557
They say, now is the time to stand up.

153
00:08:41,577 --> 00:08:44,737
Now is the time to raise, and
now is the time to stand in

154
00:08:44,737 --> 00:08:46,617
those gaps as God's people.

155
00:08:46,617 --> 00:08:48,707
We begin to see that we're on his mission.

156
00:08:48,917 --> 00:08:52,817
His Nehemiah not only prayed for
Jerusalem, but said, what can I do to

157
00:08:52,827 --> 00:08:55,637
be a part of the restoration process?

158
00:08:56,097 --> 00:08:59,947
So each and every single one of us called
to be as ministers asked the same question

159
00:09:00,087 --> 00:09:01,647
or should be asking the same question.

160
00:09:02,647 --> 00:09:04,427
What is my part?

161
00:09:05,112 --> 00:09:07,022
And the restoration process of the city.

162
00:09:07,592 --> 00:09:08,452
What is my part?

163
00:09:10,072 --> 00:09:13,342
We all have a part to play
and we need to play it well.

164
00:09:13,902 --> 00:09:16,112
And so we come to this section.

165
00:09:16,727 --> 00:09:21,667
Nehemiah journeys, as we see in verse
11, from the winter capital city.

166
00:09:21,917 --> 00:09:23,857
and he journeys to Jerusalem.

167
00:09:23,857 --> 00:09:25,157
It wasn't a quick ride.

168
00:09:25,167 --> 00:09:26,537
It was a two month journey.

169
00:09:27,447 --> 00:09:28,787
And he makes his way there.

170
00:09:28,817 --> 00:09:31,657
And it's interesting about
Nehemiah because Nehemiah

171
00:09:31,697 --> 00:09:33,517
doesn't immediately go to work.

172
00:09:33,977 --> 00:09:35,717
He doesn't come in chaotic.

173
00:09:35,847 --> 00:09:39,407
He doesn't come in and, get there
and, have his guys blow the trumpet

174
00:09:39,427 --> 00:09:42,097
and they roll out the red carpet
and he say, this is what needs to be

175
00:09:42,097 --> 00:09:43,667
done, get to work, start doing it.

176
00:09:43,667 --> 00:09:44,767
Why haven't you been doing this?

177
00:09:44,967 --> 00:09:46,447
But he takes time.

178
00:09:46,887 --> 00:09:48,667
He gets there and he waits.

179
00:09:48,947 --> 00:09:52,137
And one of the things that he
does is before he makes known

180
00:09:52,347 --> 00:09:56,687
the plan, before he comes in and
he says, I've heard about this.

181
00:09:56,817 --> 00:09:59,297
He identifies himself with the city.

182
00:09:59,497 --> 00:10:03,217
He sits there, he waits,
he walks the streets.

183
00:10:03,277 --> 00:10:07,267
He sees the houses that have been
burned down before telling anybody,

184
00:10:07,267 --> 00:10:09,287
Hey, this is what you need to do.

185
00:10:09,367 --> 00:10:11,557
He becomes a part of the city.

186
00:10:11,747 --> 00:10:15,067
He becomes a part of the process
and you can see and all his

187
00:10:15,077 --> 00:10:17,027
language that it all becomes.

188
00:10:17,037 --> 00:10:18,017
We need to do this.

189
00:10:18,137 --> 00:10:19,127
We're in derision.

190
00:10:19,277 --> 00:10:20,837
We are a reproach.

191
00:10:20,997 --> 00:10:22,787
to the nations around us.

192
00:10:22,967 --> 00:10:28,587
And so he takes and quietly, just with a
couple people, he investigates the city

193
00:10:28,937 --> 00:10:33,727
to see if what his brother said was so, to
see if it really was in such a bad case,

194
00:10:33,907 --> 00:10:38,357
to see what the condition was, to get a
plan of how they were going to attack it.

195
00:10:38,637 --> 00:10:41,327
And what's beautiful is
Nehemiah sets out in the night.

196
00:10:41,572 --> 00:10:44,372
Just very quietly, and
he goes in the night.

197
00:10:44,502 --> 00:10:45,602
Why in the night?

198
00:10:45,982 --> 00:10:49,952
Because the night was the time
when the enemy had most access.

199
00:10:50,092 --> 00:10:52,112
It was the point of vulnerability.

200
00:10:52,462 --> 00:10:58,022
It was the time to see where there
was the most access as people slept.

201
00:10:58,172 --> 00:11:01,142
To see the people in their true condition.

202
00:11:01,292 --> 00:11:02,982
To see them in their houses.

203
00:11:03,142 --> 00:11:07,382
To see them, on their roofs as
they would set watches at night.

204
00:11:07,877 --> 00:11:13,337
Families banding together amongst the
rubble, hoping that, as one person

205
00:11:13,347 --> 00:11:16,787
takes a watch and the next person
that they'll have a night of peace.

206
00:11:16,787 --> 00:11:21,517
And so Nehemiah rides about the sea
and Nehemiah finds it broken down.

207
00:11:21,527 --> 00:11:22,977
He finds it battered.

208
00:11:22,977 --> 00:11:25,497
He finds it destroyed just as you said.

209
00:11:25,497 --> 00:11:28,947
In fact, at one point as he's going
from gate to gate or where the

210
00:11:28,947 --> 00:11:33,332
gates used to be, He finds that he
can't even get his animal across.

211
00:11:33,502 --> 00:11:34,612
It's too battered down.

212
00:11:34,612 --> 00:11:35,532
It's too destroyed.

213
00:11:35,782 --> 00:11:42,022
And so as he looks, and as he oversees and
investigate, he then begins to formulate

214
00:11:42,022 --> 00:11:47,062
a plan as God moves upon his heart, as
a wise leader, because in chapter three,

215
00:11:47,062 --> 00:11:53,052
we'll find that what Nehemiah did is
he strategically put people, in an area

216
00:11:53,072 --> 00:11:55,592
to build that mattered most to them.

217
00:11:56,257 --> 00:11:59,827
And so for the priest and the Levites,
he had them build near the temple.

218
00:12:00,297 --> 00:12:03,857
He had them rebuild the sheep gate
because the sheep gate was where the

219
00:12:03,857 --> 00:12:05,857
sheep would come in for the sacrifices.

220
00:12:06,107 --> 00:12:07,847
It was a place that they loved.

221
00:12:07,977 --> 00:12:09,597
It was a place that they cared for.

222
00:12:09,757 --> 00:12:12,327
It was a place that
they took ownership of.

223
00:12:12,927 --> 00:12:18,227
He had the people who lived near the wall,
that their houses were close to them.

224
00:12:18,347 --> 00:12:20,257
He had those families band together.

225
00:12:20,437 --> 00:12:26,457
Young girls, young boys, old men,
fathers, grandpas, blacksmiths, perfumers.

226
00:12:26,907 --> 00:12:31,447
from every walk of life, they worked
on the area in which they lived.

227
00:12:31,777 --> 00:12:34,157
Because it was the area
that mattered to them.

228
00:12:34,577 --> 00:12:38,827
It was an area that they lived in, that
they did life in, and they said this

229
00:12:38,887 --> 00:12:44,077
area is broken down, it's been battered,
it's thrashed, the gates are burned down,

230
00:12:44,217 --> 00:12:48,197
there's no safety, and so as they went
to work, they worked in the areas that

231
00:12:48,197 --> 00:12:49,587
mattered, and, that they, that mattered.

232
00:12:49,687 --> 00:12:53,237
cared about Nehemiah defining
some of the lines as there

233
00:12:53,237 --> 00:12:54,707
was too much rubble in places.

234
00:12:54,907 --> 00:12:56,947
And so they expanded in some areas.

235
00:12:56,947 --> 00:12:58,657
They brought the wall in some areas.

236
00:12:58,857 --> 00:13:01,247
But what he did is he investigated.

237
00:13:01,257 --> 00:13:04,427
He looked at the walls in their state.

238
00:13:04,767 --> 00:13:06,177
He brought back the report.

239
00:13:06,187 --> 00:13:10,247
He wasn't this Positive kind of,
encouraging, inspirational kind

240
00:13:10,247 --> 00:13:13,977
of guy, that said, ah, it's really
nothing, and don't worry about it.

241
00:13:13,977 --> 00:13:17,907
Let's just sing some songs, can you
play the guitar and let's just focus

242
00:13:17,907 --> 00:13:19,607
on, that he wasn't that kind of guy.

243
00:13:19,607 --> 00:13:24,152
He was realistic and he said, We're
a reproach to the nations around us.

244
00:13:24,182 --> 00:13:29,022
Here we are, in the city where we worship
God, where it's supposed to be the center

245
00:13:29,022 --> 00:13:32,662
of the earth, where the nations come, and
they can gather to see the true and the

246
00:13:32,662 --> 00:13:36,842
living God, and we are a reproach, and
something needs to be done, and we need

247
00:13:36,842 --> 00:13:39,212
to move, and we need to begin to do it.

248
00:13:39,212 --> 00:13:41,412
And so he calls his people into action.

249
00:13:41,572 --> 00:13:47,282
He calls them to action only after
investigation and examination.

250
00:13:48,982 --> 00:13:50,072
Very important.

251
00:13:50,122 --> 00:13:53,752
That there is examination
before there's action.

252
00:13:54,802 --> 00:14:02,252
as he sees the gates burned down with
fire, what Nehemiah would know is

253
00:14:02,252 --> 00:14:06,642
that not only walls were necessary
for defense, but gates were the

254
00:14:06,642 --> 00:14:09,272
health and the vitality of the city.

255
00:14:10,512 --> 00:14:12,462
A gate was the health and
the vitality of the city.

256
00:14:12,712 --> 00:14:15,352
Imagine, and we don't
have modern day cities.

257
00:14:15,352 --> 00:14:20,092
And so it's hard for us to imagine the
importance of a wall for security, but

258
00:14:20,092 --> 00:14:25,352
then a gate for health, for, bringing
people in and out, being able to shut

259
00:14:25,352 --> 00:14:29,752
the doors at night, being able to say
no, when the enemy surrounds it, being

260
00:14:29,752 --> 00:14:33,752
able to have a defense, but then being
able to go out to bring the commerce in.

261
00:14:34,032 --> 00:14:36,602
And in chapter three, you see 10 gates.

262
00:14:37,197 --> 00:14:39,557
That eventually are repaired and rebuilt.

263
00:14:40,207 --> 00:14:45,207
You have the sheep gate that's fixed,
you have the fish gate, and that was

264
00:14:45,207 --> 00:14:49,547
simply next to an area where they brought
fish and there was a fish marketplace.

265
00:14:49,737 --> 00:14:51,537
It just spoke to the health of the city.

266
00:14:51,537 --> 00:14:55,707
This gate, once this gates repaired, once
it's functioning, Once we can get through

267
00:14:55,707 --> 00:14:59,837
it, once we can close it off, it can then
begin to function like it was intended.

268
00:15:00,097 --> 00:15:04,447
The city originally intended to
be a city, flourishing, to have

269
00:15:04,457 --> 00:15:07,927
businesses and commerce and an economy.

270
00:15:08,127 --> 00:15:12,157
And so what happened is, as these gates
were repaired and restored, so it brought

271
00:15:12,167 --> 00:15:14,297
back health and vitality to the city.

272
00:15:14,607 --> 00:15:16,437
The city began to function.

273
00:15:17,402 --> 00:15:19,012
Like it was originally intended.

274
00:15:19,582 --> 00:15:21,412
And so you had the Old Gate.

275
00:15:21,622 --> 00:15:23,282
you had the Valley Gate.

276
00:15:23,292 --> 00:15:24,662
You had the Dung Gate.

277
00:15:24,832 --> 00:15:28,362
The Dung Gate is the gate in which they
took all the refuse out of the city.

278
00:15:28,512 --> 00:15:29,632
All the garbage.

279
00:15:29,772 --> 00:15:31,592
And they dump it into
the Valley of Hinnin.

280
00:15:31,822 --> 00:15:34,052
And it was a necessary part of the city.

281
00:15:34,252 --> 00:15:36,652
Because at this point,
with all the rubble around.

282
00:15:36,802 --> 00:15:39,372
The garbage just began
to pile up more and more.

283
00:15:39,532 --> 00:15:44,372
And so as that gate got put in place,
it was not only a functional, but it

284
00:15:44,372 --> 00:15:50,362
was symbolic that now we need to begin
that process of this city being a city

285
00:15:50,512 --> 00:15:55,802
of things operating and functioning the
right way, functioning the right way.

286
00:15:56,402 --> 00:16:00,002
And so these gates, as they were
rebuilt, as the walls joined from

287
00:16:00,002 --> 00:16:03,752
gate to gate, each gate important
to the function of the city.

288
00:16:03,912 --> 00:16:10,602
Of the city, every gate important to
the city, the city and big cities like

289
00:16:10,602 --> 00:16:13,602
Jerusalem were complicated and complex.

290
00:16:14,062 --> 00:16:15,962
They did not just have one big gate.

291
00:16:16,567 --> 00:16:20,777
you come in and you do all your things,
but because the city was big, because,

292
00:16:20,917 --> 00:16:25,017
there were hundreds of thousands of
people who lived in the city, there had

293
00:16:25,017 --> 00:16:27,437
to be multiple exits, multiple entrances.

294
00:16:27,617 --> 00:16:28,687
It had to function.

295
00:16:29,007 --> 00:16:30,337
You can imagine San Francisco.

296
00:16:30,337 --> 00:16:32,517
And if you just take away and
say, Hey, we're just going to

297
00:16:32,517 --> 00:16:34,797
repair all the bridges at once.

298
00:16:35,092 --> 00:16:36,162
So nobody can use them.

299
00:16:36,332 --> 00:16:39,032
The city would go nuts, it would go chaos.

300
00:16:39,162 --> 00:16:41,592
You say, oh, we're going to
repair BART at the same time.

301
00:16:41,762 --> 00:16:44,092
And you cut off all
entrances and approaches.

302
00:16:44,092 --> 00:16:47,372
What would happen to that city is
the city would begin to wither.

303
00:16:47,402 --> 00:16:48,822
The city would begin to die.

304
00:16:49,022 --> 00:16:51,682
The city would begin, you
couldn't get things into the city.

305
00:16:51,682 --> 00:16:53,272
You couldn't take things out of the city.

306
00:16:53,502 --> 00:16:56,122
The commuters would lose
their route into the city.

307
00:16:56,252 --> 00:17:00,882
and so it would begin to, be
a huge thing against the city.

308
00:17:01,362 --> 00:17:05,732
The city is a complex thing and all
the things, there, turn with me to

309
00:17:05,732 --> 00:17:10,452
John chapter 10 is what I want to
do this morning in this passage is.

310
00:17:11,217 --> 00:17:18,717
First of all, look at our lives and I
want us to be, just open, to the word

311
00:17:18,722 --> 00:17:23,357
of God this morning, as it as we will
see constantly throughout scripture.

312
00:17:23,477 --> 00:17:25,877
Scripture like Nehemiah
going around the city.

313
00:17:25,936 --> 00:17:28,847
Scripture is calling us
to examine ourselves.

314
00:17:29,422 --> 00:17:30,992
To examine ourselves.

315
00:17:31,522 --> 00:17:32,622
In Psalm 26.

316
00:17:32,632 --> 00:17:36,482
2 The psalmist writes, Examine
me, O Lord, and prove me.

317
00:17:36,692 --> 00:17:39,082
Try my mind and my heart.

318
00:17:39,592 --> 00:17:41,612
In 2 Corinthians, 13.

319
00:17:41,652 --> 00:17:45,332
5 It says, Examine yourselves as
to whether you are in the faith.

320
00:17:45,562 --> 00:17:46,372
Test yourselves.

321
00:17:46,372 --> 00:17:49,372
Do you not know yourselves
that Jesus Christ is in you?

322
00:17:49,642 --> 00:17:51,622
Unless, indeed, you are disqualified.

323
00:17:51,942 --> 00:17:55,242
Speaking of every time that we take
communion, and one of the reasons

324
00:17:55,242 --> 00:17:59,332
we take communion every week, in 1
Corinthians 11 it says, But let a

325
00:17:59,332 --> 00:18:03,322
man examine himself, and so let him
eat the bread and drink the cup.

326
00:18:03,342 --> 00:18:08,412
It's to be a moment where we look
as if Nehemiah, the comforter, were

327
00:18:08,412 --> 00:18:12,632
to go around the city and to find
where there are gaps and holes,

328
00:18:12,762 --> 00:18:15,132
where the gates are broken down.

329
00:18:15,477 --> 00:18:21,447
And just as gates were a vital
thing to a city, so is the gospel

330
00:18:21,467 --> 00:18:27,447
of Jesus Christ vital to our lives
in every avenue, in every respect.

331
00:18:27,797 --> 00:18:31,707
The interesting thing about
our lives is, what Jesus says

332
00:18:31,907 --> 00:18:33,677
in John 10, notice with me.

333
00:18:33,972 --> 00:18:38,712
In verse seven, he's talking to
his disciples in this passage.

334
00:18:38,712 --> 00:18:41,532
He's telling him that
he is the good shepherd.

335
00:18:41,842 --> 00:18:44,112
They don't really
understand what he's saying.

336
00:18:44,302 --> 00:18:47,352
And so he makes it a little more
plain for them in verse seven.

337
00:18:47,352 --> 00:18:51,582
So Jesus said again to them,
truly, I say to you, I am the door.

338
00:18:52,582 --> 00:18:55,242
All who came before me are
thieves and robbers, but the

339
00:18:55,242 --> 00:18:56,572
sheep did not listen to them.

340
00:18:56,862 --> 00:18:57,552
I am the door.

341
00:18:57,552 --> 00:18:59,872
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.

342
00:19:00,142 --> 00:19:03,552
And I will go in and out and find pasture.

343
00:19:03,752 --> 00:19:06,452
The thief comes only to
steal, kill, and destroy.

344
00:19:06,662 --> 00:19:09,562
I came that they may have
life and have it abundantly.

345
00:19:09,892 --> 00:19:11,152
I am the good shepherd.

346
00:19:11,322 --> 00:19:13,652
The good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep.

347
00:19:14,032 --> 00:19:19,792
He who is a hired hand, not a shepherd,
is the one who does not own the sheep.

348
00:19:19,972 --> 00:19:22,462
He sees the wolf coming and
leaves the sheep and flees.

349
00:19:22,462 --> 00:19:25,462
And the wolf snatches
them and scatters them.

350
00:19:25,792 --> 00:19:28,772
He flees because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep.

351
00:19:28,852 --> 00:19:30,642
I am the good shepherd.

352
00:19:30,872 --> 00:19:33,342
I know my own and my own know me.

353
00:19:33,677 --> 00:19:36,767
Just as the Father knows me,
and I know the Father, I lay

354
00:19:36,767 --> 00:19:39,417
down my life for the sheep.

355
00:19:39,807 --> 00:19:44,367
And what's incredible about this passage,
and we're moved from that culture, but

356
00:19:44,367 --> 00:19:49,067
what the readers and the hearers would
understand is that what he's talking

357
00:19:49,067 --> 00:19:53,367
about, as a shepherd would do, when he
would set up his sheep for the night,

358
00:19:53,547 --> 00:19:57,797
is they would take things, and they
would build this enclosure, a pen,

359
00:19:58,027 --> 00:20:00,157
if you will, to keep the sheep in.

360
00:20:00,367 --> 00:20:02,367
But the pen never had a door.

361
00:20:02,977 --> 00:20:09,382
What the shepherd would do is the
shepherd would lay In the doorway.

362
00:20:10,202 --> 00:20:13,792
And that's where the shepherd would
sleep and the sheep knowing and being

363
00:20:13,792 --> 00:20:19,422
familiar with the shepherd would not
leave, would not exit over the shepherd,

364
00:20:19,592 --> 00:20:21,382
but they would feel safe and secure.

365
00:20:21,552 --> 00:20:26,142
And then, the only access for wolves
to come in and to try to slaughter

366
00:20:26,142 --> 00:20:28,552
the sheep would be the shepherd.

367
00:20:29,047 --> 00:20:31,697
The shepherd would wake up, the
shepherd would defend the sheep.

368
00:20:31,897 --> 00:20:34,397
But when Jesus says, I am the
door, he's not speaking in

369
00:20:34,397 --> 00:20:36,167
some mystical kind of sense.

370
00:20:36,177 --> 00:20:38,747
He's taking an illustration
from the common day.

371
00:20:39,007 --> 00:20:41,997
And he's saying, look it, I
am the one, I am the doorway.

372
00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:43,267
I am keeping you.

373
00:20:43,367 --> 00:20:44,967
I'm keeping the wolves at bay.

374
00:20:45,217 --> 00:20:48,477
I am the gate, as it were, to your city.

375
00:20:49,917 --> 00:20:50,847
I am the door.

376
00:20:51,807 --> 00:20:56,387
And so as we come to Christ, as
we meet Jesus, as we begin and

377
00:20:56,387 --> 00:21:00,277
we make him our savior, as he
becomes our pastor, our shepherd.

378
00:21:01,317 --> 00:21:07,167
Then what happens is we need to take and
allow Jesus to be the gates in our life.

379
00:21:07,747 --> 00:21:12,977
We need to allow the gospel to be the
gates in our life, that as he rebuilds

380
00:21:12,977 --> 00:21:16,517
us and joins us together, as we go
through the first year, the second

381
00:21:16,517 --> 00:21:21,487
year, the fifth year, what we do is we
lay and we allow Jesus to be that gate.

382
00:21:21,487 --> 00:21:23,497
We allow the gospel to be that gate.

383
00:21:23,697 --> 00:21:26,077
So as the enemy rises up, we're secure.

384
00:21:26,657 --> 00:21:31,487
That it speaks to the health of the
entire city, that as we have often,

385
00:21:31,487 --> 00:21:35,267
and too many of us, when we think
about our lives, we've tried to put

386
00:21:35,277 --> 00:21:37,887
things other than Jesus in that place.

387
00:21:38,567 --> 00:21:44,177
We have tried to find security and a
great many saviors other than Jesus.

388
00:21:44,597 --> 00:21:47,137
And the thing is I don't know if
you guys ever go to the beach.

389
00:21:47,147 --> 00:21:47,787
It's amazing.

390
00:21:48,007 --> 00:21:49,247
Come

391
00:21:50,247 --> 00:21:50,887
back though.

392
00:21:51,887 --> 00:21:54,777
But the thing is that sometimes
you'll see on the beach, they have

393
00:21:54,777 --> 00:21:58,707
these, competitions and there's
these sand castles and they build

394
00:21:58,707 --> 00:22:02,327
these sand castles and they build
these incredible sculptures.

395
00:22:03,007 --> 00:22:05,977
And you look at them and their
artwork and you think, and some of

396
00:22:05,977 --> 00:22:08,917
that, the sand castles, you're like,
man, I want to live there, a thing.

397
00:22:09,157 --> 00:22:11,377
And, but they only last the day.

398
00:22:12,107 --> 00:22:16,997
And as soon as the tide comes in,
as soon as that water hits them,

399
00:22:17,167 --> 00:22:19,427
as soon as the wind begins to blow.

400
00:22:19,967 --> 00:22:25,277
As soon as the waves and the rain hit
that beach, it washes that beautiful

401
00:22:25,287 --> 00:22:29,507
thing away and it reveals that it was
never of anything of substance, that

402
00:22:29,517 --> 00:22:35,137
there was no foundation and it washes
out to become just another part of life.

403
00:22:35,897 --> 00:22:40,037
And so often in our lives we take and
we think about the gates in our lives,

404
00:22:40,037 --> 00:22:43,947
those things that are defensive, those
things that bring health and vitality

405
00:22:43,947 --> 00:22:48,157
to our lives, the things that we seek
to be a peace in our lives, and often

406
00:22:48,157 --> 00:22:50,657
what we do is we build them out of sand.

407
00:22:51,142 --> 00:22:53,732
We build them and we think,
Oh, they're beautiful.

408
00:22:53,762 --> 00:22:57,412
Oh, this is it, whether it's
a person or a relationship.

409
00:22:57,412 --> 00:23:01,102
And we invest everything in that
and we work on it and we work on it.

410
00:23:01,282 --> 00:23:06,492
But as the storms of life come, as the
tide of life pulls in, it erodes it and

411
00:23:06,492 --> 00:23:09,342
it washes it away and nothing is left.

412
00:23:10,662 --> 00:23:16,552
So often we try to build these gates,
with things that, can never hold.

413
00:23:17,662 --> 00:23:18,842
It could never be a gate.

414
00:23:20,282 --> 00:23:22,752
And Jesus says, I am the gate.

415
00:23:23,622 --> 00:23:24,592
I am the door.

416
00:23:25,442 --> 00:23:26,242
I am the gate.

417
00:23:27,552 --> 00:23:32,092
The interesting thing is we are called
to examine ourselves is sometimes we

418
00:23:32,092 --> 00:23:37,712
think that examination is a process
that only happens once in our life.

419
00:23:38,362 --> 00:23:43,712
that is a process that happens as we come
to Jesus, as we discover that He is the

420
00:23:43,712 --> 00:23:46,562
door, that He is the gate as we enter in.

421
00:23:46,962 --> 00:23:51,572
But throughout scripture is constantly
calling us to continue to examine our

422
00:23:51,572 --> 00:23:56,052
hearts because scripture knows, God
the Holy Spirit knows, that the natural

423
00:23:56,052 --> 00:24:01,602
proclivity, the natural inclination of our
hearts is to return to a self salvation,

424
00:24:02,352 --> 00:24:07,652
is to return back to a place where we're
erecting gates that would be the answer.

425
00:24:08,247 --> 00:24:11,817
You see it in the children of Israel
as they were redeemed by the powerful,

426
00:24:11,907 --> 00:24:17,227
hand of God, but they looked back
and they turned so often back, going

427
00:24:17,227 --> 00:24:20,787
back, wanting to go back to Egypt,
wanting to go back into bondage.

428
00:24:21,207 --> 00:24:22,207
And we read about that.

429
00:24:22,227 --> 00:24:25,487
And we think, here's a group of
people who, they were the workforce.

430
00:24:25,607 --> 00:24:28,027
And so maybe, they just feel like
they don't have a purpose there.

431
00:24:28,027 --> 00:24:28,777
They had a purpose.

432
00:24:28,967 --> 00:24:30,187
You don't understand.

433
00:24:30,437 --> 00:24:33,327
It was a decree that they had
to take their babies and that

434
00:24:33,327 --> 00:24:36,117
they had to take their male sons
and throw them and drown them.

435
00:24:37,247 --> 00:24:39,587
That was what they were
saying, I want to return to.

436
00:24:40,097 --> 00:24:42,877
That's what they were saying, I
want to get into bondage again.

437
00:24:43,217 --> 00:24:47,997
When they left, the Pharaoh had declared,
that the work would become so hard that

438
00:24:47,997 --> 00:24:49,937
they'd make bricks with no straw at all.

439
00:24:50,887 --> 00:24:52,697
And they're saying, that's
what I want to go back to.

440
00:24:52,827 --> 00:24:57,407
And the natural inclination of our heart
is, once we've discovered grace, is that

441
00:24:57,407 --> 00:24:59,297
we think we've got to keep ourselves now.

442
00:25:00,007 --> 00:25:04,367
That we think now we've got to work to
prove to God or to pay God back because

443
00:25:04,507 --> 00:25:08,207
we have to prove that we really are
good, that we really were worth saving.

444
00:25:08,817 --> 00:25:13,127
So we return naturally to this self
salvation and so throughout scripture

445
00:25:13,347 --> 00:25:16,047
we are constantly being called.

446
00:25:16,067 --> 00:25:22,607
To stand, to continue to
grow in the gospel of Jesus.

447
00:25:22,697 --> 00:25:28,907
In Romans 6 25, it says, now to him, who
is able to establish, and that word means

448
00:25:28,907 --> 00:25:33,887
rooted and grounded you according to my
gospel, in keep preaching Jesus Christ,

449
00:25:33,887 --> 00:25:38,867
according to the revelation of the mystery
kept secret since the world began, one

450
00:25:38,867 --> 00:25:42,347
Corinthians nine 14 says, even the Lord
has commanded that those who preach

451
00:25:42,347 --> 00:25:45,257
the gospel should live from the gospel.

452
00:25:46,812 --> 00:25:48,692
That we should live from the gospel.

453
00:25:48,692 --> 00:25:52,212
And often we think that the gospel is
the gate we walk through and we don't

454
00:25:52,222 --> 00:25:57,152
realize that it is also the path that
we walk on all of our Christian lives.

455
00:25:58,862 --> 00:26:03,172
First Corinthians also says,
moreover, brethren, I declare to

456
00:26:03,172 --> 00:26:07,302
you the gospel, which I preached to
you, which also you received and in

457
00:26:07,302 --> 00:26:11,432
which you stand in which you stand.

458
00:26:12,392 --> 00:26:12,592
And in Galatians 1.

459
00:26:12,592 --> 00:26:17,492
6 Paul writing to the Galatians
says, I marvel, he's at awe, he's

460
00:26:17,492 --> 00:26:22,002
dumbstruck that you are turning away
so soon from him who called you in

461
00:26:22,002 --> 00:26:24,782
grace of Christ to a different gospel.

462
00:26:25,722 --> 00:26:28,592
So he says not only can you stand
in it, can you be rooted in it,

463
00:26:28,752 --> 00:26:32,942
can you live your life out of it,
but you can be turned from it.

464
00:26:33,372 --> 00:26:37,512
And the problem with the Galatians
was that they went back to legalism.

465
00:26:37,877 --> 00:26:39,417
They thought I have to keep myself.

466
00:26:39,417 --> 00:26:42,907
Now that which they begun in the spirit,
they tried to perfect in the flesh.

467
00:26:43,177 --> 00:26:46,157
They thought, okay, God saved me, but
now I've got to make sure I've got

468
00:26:46,157 --> 00:26:48,107
to prove to him that I was worthy.

469
00:26:48,662 --> 00:26:52,562
Or I've got to do my part or some
people just love the work thing.

470
00:26:52,722 --> 00:26:56,632
They love to think that I had some part
in my salvation so that they can feel

471
00:26:56,642 --> 00:27:00,912
better about themselves and that they can
be better than other people around them.

472
00:27:00,992 --> 00:27:04,272
In Galatians 2 5, it says to
whom we did not yield submission,

473
00:27:04,282 --> 00:27:07,782
even for an hour, that the truth
of the gospel might continue.

474
00:27:08,007 --> 00:27:12,647
With you all words of action, all words
of growth, all words of something we

475
00:27:12,647 --> 00:27:16,317
stand in something that we grow in
something that we're rooted in something

476
00:27:16,317 --> 00:27:21,577
we continue in Colossians 1 23 says if
indeed you continue in the faith grounded

477
00:27:21,577 --> 00:27:25,407
in steadfast and are not moved from the
hope of the gospel, which you heard,

478
00:27:25,617 --> 00:27:30,297
which was preached to every creature under
heaven of which I Paul became a minister.

479
00:27:31,127 --> 00:27:34,827
on and on, we're called to walk
in the gospel, we're called to

480
00:27:34,927 --> 00:27:37,297
live our lives out of the gospel.

481
00:27:37,807 --> 00:27:42,477
Turn with me to 2 Peter
chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1.

482
00:27:43,477 --> 00:27:49,007
In verse 4 it says, By which he has
granted to us precious and very great

483
00:27:49,007 --> 00:27:53,687
promises so that through them you may
become partakers of the divine nature,

484
00:27:53,697 --> 00:27:58,027
having escaped from the corruption that is
in the world because of the sinful desire.

485
00:27:58,832 --> 00:28:01,952
For this very reason, make every
effort to supplement your faith with

486
00:28:01,952 --> 00:28:05,192
virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
and with knowledge, self control,

487
00:28:05,192 --> 00:28:08,952
and self control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness with godliness, and

488
00:28:08,952 --> 00:28:12,802
with godliness, brotherly affection,
and brotherly affection with love.

489
00:28:13,042 --> 00:28:16,972
For if these qualities are yours and
are increasing, they keep you from being

490
00:28:17,002 --> 00:28:22,082
ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whoever

491
00:28:22,452 --> 00:28:28,262
lacks these qualities is nearsighted
and so nearsighted that he is blind.

492
00:28:28,352 --> 00:28:28,932
Why?

493
00:28:28,962 --> 00:28:30,042
What is the reason?

494
00:28:30,292 --> 00:28:35,722
Having forgotten that he was cleansed from
his former sins, someone who has moved

495
00:28:35,722 --> 00:28:42,462
away from the gospel, they moved away
from the power and the life transforming

496
00:28:42,472 --> 00:28:45,102
work that is the gospel of Christ.

497
00:28:45,622 --> 00:28:49,062
Therefore, brothers be all
the more diligent to make

498
00:28:49,062 --> 00:28:50,492
your calling and election.

499
00:28:50,492 --> 00:28:53,042
Sure, Take that examination.

500
00:28:53,402 --> 00:28:54,892
Go around the walls.

501
00:28:55,292 --> 00:28:57,822
Is Jesus the gate on your city?

502
00:28:57,832 --> 00:28:59,392
Is he the gate of your life?

503
00:28:59,622 --> 00:29:01,342
And we're complicated creatures.

504
00:29:01,482 --> 00:29:02,812
We're complex.

505
00:29:03,152 --> 00:29:05,752
We don't just have one
gate that opens and closes.

506
00:29:05,942 --> 00:29:07,952
But there's many aspects to our lives.

507
00:29:08,072 --> 00:29:09,942
We don't struggle with one area.

508
00:29:10,122 --> 00:29:12,472
But there's this area and
we're this kind of person.

509
00:29:12,662 --> 00:29:13,922
And we have this kind of thing.

510
00:29:14,062 --> 00:29:17,012
And there's never a one size
fits all kind of person.

511
00:29:17,412 --> 00:29:21,432
So he says, Be sure to make your calling
election sure for if you practice

512
00:29:21,432 --> 00:29:23,042
these qualities, you will never fall.

513
00:29:23,402 --> 00:29:26,372
For in this way, there will be
richly provided you an entrance

514
00:29:26,372 --> 00:29:29,132
into the eternal kingdom of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

515
00:29:29,372 --> 00:29:33,382
He says, Peter writing, he says,
therefore, verse 12, I intend always

516
00:29:33,382 --> 00:29:36,232
to remind you of these qualities,
though you know them and are

517
00:29:36,232 --> 00:29:38,382
established in the truth that you have.

518
00:29:38,672 --> 00:29:40,442
I think it right that as
long as I am in this body.

519
00:29:40,442 --> 00:29:43,782
body to stir you up by way of
reminder, since I know that putting

520
00:29:43,782 --> 00:29:47,172
off my body will be soon as our
Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

521
00:29:47,382 --> 00:29:52,102
And so what Peter does is he tells
them, he says, the problem is that we

522
00:29:52,102 --> 00:29:56,692
stopped growing when we move away from
the gospel and he tells them, so it is

523
00:29:56,692 --> 00:30:02,982
going to be my heart, my mission and my
passion as a apostle, a preacher of Jesus

524
00:30:02,992 --> 00:30:05,842
Christ to proclaim to you the gospel.

525
00:30:05,952 --> 00:30:07,932
He tells them, but you don't even.

526
00:30:08,502 --> 00:30:09,942
Have need that I inform you.

527
00:30:09,942 --> 00:30:15,182
It's not new content, but I'm calling
you to remember, to ponder, to examine

528
00:30:15,182 --> 00:30:19,442
it, to examine yourself in light of
the gospel, to see if there's any

529
00:30:19,452 --> 00:30:24,452
area that you've moved away from
so that you might again, repent.

530
00:30:24,982 --> 00:30:29,312
And come back into the simplicity of
what Christ has done that you would

531
00:30:29,312 --> 00:30:31,472
live your life out of what he's done.

532
00:30:31,792 --> 00:30:34,132
And too often as Christians,
we come to the Lord.

533
00:30:34,132 --> 00:30:38,352
I'm saying it again and again, but we
come to the Lord, we find grace, but

534
00:30:38,352 --> 00:30:41,722
then we think we have to keep that
grace that we've got to prove to God

535
00:30:41,892 --> 00:30:43,602
when God would say, I've done it all.

536
00:30:44,567 --> 00:30:48,237
again, Hebrews 11 without faith,
it's impossible to please the Lord.

537
00:30:48,627 --> 00:30:50,727
Is it mean we got to get more faith?

538
00:30:50,977 --> 00:30:54,847
No, what he wants is he wants us to
realize that he doesn't want our stuff.

539
00:30:54,867 --> 00:30:55,877
He doesn't want our work.

540
00:30:55,917 --> 00:30:57,457
He doesn't want our good behavior.

541
00:30:57,597 --> 00:31:00,237
He wants us to live our lives in
the fact that he's already done it.

542
00:31:00,247 --> 00:31:01,407
That's what pleases him.

543
00:31:02,317 --> 00:31:05,017
That we don't come and try to bring
our own righteousness to him and

544
00:31:05,017 --> 00:31:06,687
say, God, look at how good I am.

545
00:31:07,247 --> 00:31:10,357
You got a good deal with me, but then
we would see that our righteousness

546
00:31:10,387 --> 00:31:14,087
is a filthy minstrel rag and that
we would come and we would stand in

547
00:31:14,087 --> 00:31:15,937
the righteousness he's provided us.

548
00:31:16,707 --> 00:31:19,907
And so what needs to happen
in the tendency of all of us.

549
00:31:20,467 --> 00:31:24,547
It's in our Christian walk that if
we are not pressing forward, if we

550
00:31:24,547 --> 00:31:28,287
are not daily rooted and grounded,
making sure that the gates are closed

551
00:31:28,297 --> 00:31:31,857
in our life, that Jesus is our gate,
that he's the chief cornerstone.

552
00:31:31,867 --> 00:31:34,137
He's the one we're
building our lives upon.

553
00:31:34,417 --> 00:31:38,867
Then what happens is we begin to try
to build that gate in some other way.

554
00:31:39,697 --> 00:31:41,267
Then we give in to the rubble.

555
00:31:41,477 --> 00:31:45,277
We give in to that state
of discouragement, despair,

556
00:31:45,437 --> 00:31:47,167
and doubt in our lives.

557
00:31:47,327 --> 00:31:50,717
And it keeps us in a place where
the enemy wants us, because we're

558
00:31:50,717 --> 00:31:53,747
never living in the power, and the
victory, and the authority that

559
00:31:53,747 --> 00:31:55,897
was won, by the cross of Christ.

560
00:31:56,587 --> 00:31:59,877
And so I'm not gonna, I'm gonna spend
a little bit of time now closing

561
00:32:00,087 --> 00:32:03,677
and looking because the gospel is
not, the gospel is also complex.

562
00:32:03,677 --> 00:32:04,417
It's like a jewel.

563
00:32:04,417 --> 00:32:05,237
It's a diamond.

564
00:32:05,617 --> 00:32:07,227
It's multi faceted.

565
00:32:07,817 --> 00:32:09,797
And there's many aspects to it.

566
00:32:10,237 --> 00:32:12,547
And so what I would ask this
morning is that your hearts

567
00:32:12,547 --> 00:32:14,777
would be open, truly open.

568
00:32:15,327 --> 00:32:19,117
And that you would ask the Lord, like
the psalmist asked the Lord, examine me.

569
00:32:20,012 --> 00:32:24,942
Examine me today, examine my heart
and that you would ask the Lord

570
00:32:24,942 --> 00:32:29,982
that and that instead of seeing the
problem and then saying, okay, I

571
00:32:29,982 --> 00:32:31,642
know I've got to take care of it.

572
00:32:31,842 --> 00:32:35,232
And then running out like every time
before to take care of it, only to

573
00:32:35,242 --> 00:32:39,412
have hands too feeble to lift the
stones, only having arms too weak.

574
00:32:39,467 --> 00:32:43,307
To carry the bars and to carry the
timber that is necessary in the

575
00:32:43,307 --> 00:32:46,717
construction that you would come
today and say, God, I'm not worthy.

576
00:32:46,717 --> 00:32:49,507
I see the problem and I
need you to lay in my door.

577
00:32:49,637 --> 00:32:51,087
I need you to lay in my way.

578
00:32:51,207 --> 00:32:53,437
I need you to be my gate.

579
00:32:54,187 --> 00:32:55,607
And he'll do that this morning.

580
00:32:56,607 --> 00:33:01,507
Some of you, as you examine your lives,
you would look and you would say,

581
00:33:02,137 --> 00:33:07,567
my condition, my whole, the rubble
in my life is that I'm ruled by sin.

582
00:33:08,987 --> 00:33:10,207
I am ruled by sin.

583
00:33:10,457 --> 00:33:11,507
I'm ruled by lust.

584
00:33:11,507 --> 00:33:15,287
It seems I get next to a computer
and it's a Jekyll and Hyde thing.

585
00:33:16,457 --> 00:33:18,147
I am ruled by sin.

586
00:33:18,587 --> 00:33:20,087
I'm ruled by my anger.

587
00:33:20,177 --> 00:33:20,937
I'm ruled by it.

588
00:33:20,937 --> 00:33:22,197
I'm a slave to it.

589
00:33:23,157 --> 00:33:24,147
I'm a slave to it.

590
00:33:25,277 --> 00:33:30,877
You need to know and you need to build
your gate that Jesus is your redemption.

591
00:33:31,592 --> 00:33:32,782
That Jesus is your redemption.

592
00:33:32,792 --> 00:33:37,022
Titus 2, 11 to 14 says for the grace
of God that brings salvation has

593
00:33:37,022 --> 00:33:43,222
appeared to all men teaching us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lust,

594
00:33:43,432 --> 00:33:47,552
we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in the present age, looking

595
00:33:47,552 --> 00:33:50,492
for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior,

596
00:33:50,492 --> 00:33:53,242
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us.

597
00:33:53,912 --> 00:34:00,772
That he might redeem us from every lawless
deed and purify for himself, his own

598
00:34:00,772 --> 00:34:03,772
special people zealous for good works.

599
00:34:04,372 --> 00:34:08,331
And so again, in the Bible, the
picture of redemption is that of

600
00:34:08,337 --> 00:34:12,222
the people being enslaved to Egypt.

601
00:34:12,612 --> 00:34:15,522
And what happened was God heard
the cries of their misery and

602
00:34:15,522 --> 00:34:16,572
there were cries of misery.

603
00:34:17,362 --> 00:34:20,782
They were not cries that said,
I'm going to be the best slave.

604
00:34:20,782 --> 00:34:23,362
I'm going to be this, but they
realized what they were doing.

605
00:34:23,362 --> 00:34:27,391
They realized that their work was a
work of bondage and they cried out for a

606
00:34:27,391 --> 00:34:29,972
deliver, and God had compassion upon them.

607
00:34:30,351 --> 00:34:35,172
And the act of redemption in the
old Testament is that of God coming

608
00:34:35,422 --> 00:34:39,931
in strength and might, as he came
through Moses, his instrument

609
00:34:40,081 --> 00:34:42,141
to tell the Pharaoh it is time.

610
00:34:42,377 --> 00:34:46,476
Your time of bondage, your time of
enslavement of this people is over.

611
00:34:46,667 --> 00:34:48,516
I want my people back.

612
00:34:48,726 --> 00:34:50,237
I want my people back.

613
00:34:50,387 --> 00:34:55,847
And the enemy of our souls fought against
that said, no, I will make it harder.

614
00:34:55,967 --> 00:34:57,317
I will turn up the temperature.

615
00:34:57,427 --> 00:34:58,967
I will make it more painful.

616
00:34:59,137 --> 00:35:00,797
And the, and what happened was.

617
00:35:00,947 --> 00:35:06,037
Even by the grace of God, as He didn't
just come in just and obliterate

618
00:35:06,037 --> 00:35:09,467
the Pharaoh, but the hardness of
Pharaoh's heart began to grow harder

619
00:35:09,467 --> 00:35:12,427
and harder until the final act came.

620
00:35:12,607 --> 00:35:16,517
And it was amazing, because what
that act spoke of was that night,

621
00:35:16,647 --> 00:35:20,407
in which, the angel of the Lord
came down and took the firstborn.

622
00:35:20,767 --> 00:35:25,547
And killed and destroyed the firstborn,
unless there was the blood put on the

623
00:35:25,547 --> 00:35:29,877
doorpost, the blood of a substitute,
the blood of a lamb, that the angel

624
00:35:29,877 --> 00:35:33,117
would look and say, there is a life
that has already been given, that has

625
00:35:33,117 --> 00:35:38,107
already been substituted for the lives
in this house, and so I will pass over.

626
00:35:38,107 --> 00:35:39,487
And that is why they celebrate.

627
00:35:39,667 --> 00:35:43,957
The Passover because it was the night
where, because the blood was recognized

628
00:35:43,997 --> 00:35:46,147
of a substitute, it was passed over.

629
00:35:46,147 --> 00:35:49,087
And then God took the
people and he redeemed them.

630
00:35:49,397 --> 00:35:54,107
And when the enemy came after them and
the enemy surrounded them and they were

631
00:35:54,107 --> 00:35:59,227
surrounded by the Red Sea and the enemy
was charging hard on them there, the

632
00:35:59,227 --> 00:36:00,877
enemy, even though they had been redeemed.

633
00:36:01,917 --> 00:36:02,177
grip.

634
00:36:02,187 --> 00:36:06,397
The people were in a state where
they said, no, that is our identity.

635
00:36:06,397 --> 00:36:07,587
Egypt is our identity.

636
00:36:07,587 --> 00:36:09,057
we've wronged our masters.

637
00:36:09,057 --> 00:36:09,587
They're mad.

638
00:36:09,587 --> 00:36:10,527
They're upset with us.

639
00:36:10,727 --> 00:36:13,767
And what God did is he opened
miraculously the Red Sea, the

640
00:36:13,777 --> 00:36:15,337
people walked through on dry land.

641
00:36:15,567 --> 00:36:21,247
The Egyptians then wrote into it
and God crushed them, redeeming them

642
00:36:22,247 --> 00:36:26,067
and putting a barrier back to Egypt.

643
00:36:27,067 --> 00:36:29,587
So some of us we're here
and we're ruled by sin.

644
00:36:30,587 --> 00:36:34,987
And I believe that we are ruled by sin
because as the children of Israel in

645
00:36:35,157 --> 00:36:40,157
numbers, as they came to the border
of the promised land, Kadesh Barnea,

646
00:36:40,157 --> 00:36:43,277
we find ourselves in Kadesh Barnea.

647
00:36:43,557 --> 00:36:49,677
And here we are and God is calling us into
abundant, amazing relationship with Him.

648
00:36:50,622 --> 00:36:52,262
He's calling us into the fullness.

649
00:36:52,362 --> 00:36:53,542
It's going to be a battle.

650
00:36:53,592 --> 00:36:55,712
Yes, there's going to be the enemy there.

651
00:36:55,712 --> 00:36:59,842
Yes, but it's going to be a place
that he longs to be with us, that he

652
00:36:59,842 --> 00:37:05,022
longs to put a permanent tabernacle
that he longs to abide permanently in.

653
00:37:05,807 --> 00:37:08,817
That we would make a home and
dwell there, and he calls us to

654
00:37:08,817 --> 00:37:12,477
that place, and yet what happens
is we want to go back to Egypt.

655
00:37:12,527 --> 00:37:12,907
Why?

656
00:37:12,917 --> 00:37:17,227
Because we have unbelief that fills
our hearts because truly in our heart

657
00:37:17,227 --> 00:37:21,687
of hearts, we think if I abandoned
myself to God and I give up this sin.

658
00:37:22,622 --> 00:37:23,882
I'm not going to be satisfied.

659
00:37:23,902 --> 00:37:25,032
I'm not going to be happy.

660
00:37:25,222 --> 00:37:28,842
I truly won't because God's going to
trick me or he's going to be like my

661
00:37:28,842 --> 00:37:31,092
taskmaster when it's, it looks good.

662
00:37:31,092 --> 00:37:32,292
Then he's going to pull it back.

663
00:37:32,502 --> 00:37:35,302
It's because we have the sin
of unbelief and it will keep us

664
00:37:35,382 --> 00:37:37,072
out of all that God has for us.

665
00:37:37,272 --> 00:37:38,872
And that needs to be repented of today.

666
00:37:38,872 --> 00:37:41,192
You need to see that the
enemy has been put down.

667
00:37:41,622 --> 00:37:43,502
You need to see that He has redeemed you.

668
00:37:43,652 --> 00:37:46,712
You need to remember once again
the misery and the bondage of it.

669
00:37:46,852 --> 00:37:50,072
And you need to build the gate of
redemption that Jesus is your redemption.

670
00:37:50,232 --> 00:37:54,122
You need to have Him lay in the door and
be that security in your lives today.

671
00:37:56,042 --> 00:37:59,382
Some of you say in this place,
But I've done such evil things.

672
00:38:00,242 --> 00:38:05,342
My past is so gnarly that
I can't give my testimony.

673
00:38:06,342 --> 00:38:10,202
It would be an offensive, or I've done
things that I've never even shared.

674
00:38:10,382 --> 00:38:14,242
I've done things that, that, are
too horrendous for God to forgive.

675
00:38:15,072 --> 00:38:20,822
And you need to understand today
that Jesus is your justification.

676
00:38:21,792 --> 00:38:23,842
And you need to build that
gate of justification.

677
00:38:24,062 --> 00:38:29,042
I heard a story about, this, World
War II, this soldier in World War

678
00:38:29,052 --> 00:38:35,602
II, and It's often told in the
way, to get us to understand how

679
00:38:35,602 --> 00:38:37,702
God's love operates in our lives.

680
00:38:38,232 --> 00:38:42,732
And, as these men were lonely on, in the
trenches and on the front lines, there

681
00:38:42,732 --> 00:38:45,632
was a group that developed a service
where you could write one another and

682
00:38:45,632 --> 00:38:49,432
they developed pen pals And basically
it's, before Facebook, the single

683
00:38:49,432 --> 00:38:51,022
status now he's in a relationship.

684
00:38:51,042 --> 00:38:53,672
Oh, now he's not in the, wow.

685
00:38:53,672 --> 00:38:54,582
Now the whole world knows.

686
00:38:54,592 --> 00:38:57,722
Great for good for you breaking
up so much harder nowadays.

687
00:38:58,142 --> 00:39:01,362
I was like, Oh, here, take
this fake bear or whatever.

688
00:39:02,362 --> 00:39:03,092
Have a drink.

689
00:39:03,122 --> 00:39:04,462
You're like, it's virtual.

690
00:39:04,462 --> 00:39:05,202
I guess so.

691
00:39:05,272 --> 00:39:10,142
I, but, you've got this, you've got, this
guy and they develop this relationship

692
00:39:10,142 --> 00:39:11,382
with the run and they fall in love.

693
00:39:11,392 --> 00:39:13,162
They profess their love
through the letters.

694
00:39:13,372 --> 00:39:16,302
And so the day when the war's over
and he's coming back home is the

695
00:39:16,302 --> 00:39:17,032
day that they're going to meet.

696
00:39:17,042 --> 00:39:17,902
They're going to be married.

697
00:39:18,492 --> 00:39:23,092
And so neither having seen one another,
they, have a sign and a symbol and the

698
00:39:23,092 --> 00:39:28,452
symbol is that she'll be wearing this,
yellow, corsage, type flower on her lapel.

699
00:39:28,452 --> 00:39:32,282
And what happens is he gets off the
train and he's eager and anticipating

700
00:39:32,332 --> 00:39:35,252
and he looks over and he sees a
woman, with this corsage and she's

701
00:39:35,252 --> 00:39:36,972
about 20 years older than he is.

702
00:39:37,542 --> 00:39:38,942
His heart just sinks.

703
00:39:39,242 --> 00:39:43,702
he's hoping he, it just such
great things and just not.

704
00:39:43,892 --> 00:39:46,732
It's not at all what he imagined and
pictured, and so he takes his bag,

705
00:39:46,732 --> 00:39:49,342
he turns his back, he begins to walk
away, but then he remembers the letters

706
00:39:49,342 --> 00:39:53,802
and how they got him through the hard
night, and he turns around and he goes

707
00:39:53,802 --> 00:39:57,622
up and he introduces himself and he
says, I am so and And this lady looks

708
00:39:57,622 --> 00:40:00,932
at him and says, I have no idea who
you are, just this young lady over

709
00:40:00,932 --> 00:40:02,822
here, wanted me to wear this flower.

710
00:40:02,822 --> 00:40:05,222
And he looks over and it's the
most beautiful girl he's ever seen.

711
00:40:05,957 --> 00:40:09,797
And often that story's told as of,
kind of God's love and how it operates.

712
00:40:09,817 --> 00:40:11,247
My question's always the same.

713
00:40:11,437 --> 00:40:13,757
What kind of a sick freak
would pull a stunt like that?

714
00:40:15,687 --> 00:40:16,007
Right?

715
00:40:19,497 --> 00:40:21,307
He's been fighting, are you crazy?

716
00:40:22,807 --> 00:40:26,487
But people think that God puts us
through the paces, that God tests us.

717
00:40:26,627 --> 00:40:29,767
We say, God, I've been too marred, and
so what God would do is He would hold

718
00:40:29,767 --> 00:40:33,607
back His love to make sure that He's
gonna prove Himself, that we prove

719
00:40:33,607 --> 00:40:37,037
ourselves to show that, okay, we really
are different, we really are changed,

720
00:40:37,207 --> 00:40:38,757
we really won't do that anymore.

721
00:40:38,787 --> 00:40:40,827
And then He'll go, okay,
now I'll love you, but God's

722
00:40:40,827 --> 00:40:42,607
love is not like that at all.

723
00:40:43,037 --> 00:40:44,237
It's not like that at all.

724
00:40:44,237 --> 00:40:49,807
God declares that he has
justified us in Romans 3 23 to 25.

725
00:40:49,807 --> 00:40:53,667
It says for all of sin and fall short
of the glory of God being justified

726
00:40:53,677 --> 00:40:55,867
freely by his grace through redemption.

727
00:40:56,067 --> 00:40:59,577
That is in Christ Jesus, whom God
set forth as a propitiation by his

728
00:40:59,577 --> 00:41:04,337
blood through faith to demonstrate his
righteousness because of his forbearance.

729
00:41:04,367 --> 00:41:07,317
God has passed over the sins
that were previously committed.

730
00:41:08,097 --> 00:41:08,927
He passed over.

731
00:41:08,927 --> 00:41:09,157
Why?

732
00:41:09,157 --> 00:41:13,357
Because he declares in heaven where
your file was thick, where your file

733
00:41:13,357 --> 00:41:15,277
was black, where it was all true.

734
00:41:15,277 --> 00:41:17,677
And the accuser of the brethren
stands night and day before

735
00:41:17,677 --> 00:41:19,017
the throne accusing you.

736
00:41:19,217 --> 00:41:20,107
And it's all true.

737
00:41:20,277 --> 00:41:24,107
He stands and he says, yes, but
I've justified him by my blood.

738
00:41:24,127 --> 00:41:25,457
I've declared him righteous.

739
00:41:25,627 --> 00:41:26,937
I've declared him clean.

740
00:41:27,107 --> 00:41:28,217
I've forgiven him.

741
00:41:28,217 --> 00:41:31,602
And as the accuser of the
brethren makes his accusation and.

742
00:41:31,612 --> 00:41:36,622
eloquence that has only been sharpened
through the history of mankind.

743
00:41:36,832 --> 00:41:41,052
He makes that accusation against the
sons and the daughters of men and

744
00:41:41,052 --> 00:41:45,622
yet our advocate Jesus Christ, the
righteous stands and he shows the scars

745
00:41:45,792 --> 00:41:50,262
and he says, I have given them my just
my righteousness and he declares us

746
00:41:50,272 --> 00:41:54,832
just and heaven of heaven declares
that our current state, if we know

747
00:41:54,832 --> 00:41:59,032
Jesus is that perfect righteousness.

748
00:42:00,952 --> 00:42:02,002
Perfect righteousness.

749
00:42:02,892 --> 00:42:07,232
So some of you are so in bondage
to your old past and to your deeds.

750
00:42:07,382 --> 00:42:09,082
And you hear things in third person.

751
00:42:09,082 --> 00:42:11,022
Often you hear you're not good enough.

752
00:42:11,072 --> 00:42:11,782
God won't love you.

753
00:42:11,782 --> 00:42:14,502
If you ever hear something in
third person, that's the enemy.

754
00:42:15,462 --> 00:42:17,302
we don't talk like that to ourselves.

755
00:42:17,302 --> 00:42:23,142
We're not like, Josh should go get a
taco, you know, taco trucks are amazing.

756
00:42:23,562 --> 00:42:27,192
we don't talk to our, so if the enemy,
if you hear that it's the enemy and

757
00:42:27,192 --> 00:42:32,162
we need to stand and we need to build
the gate, of our justification that

758
00:42:32,162 --> 00:42:35,732
it's not based on anything, it's based
on the life of Jesus that he lived.

759
00:42:36,032 --> 00:42:40,072
And as that gate begins to go up, we
become strong in that area and the

760
00:42:40,072 --> 00:42:42,402
enemy loses his place in our lives.

761
00:42:42,972 --> 00:42:47,862
Some of us in this room are really
convinced that we're good people, that

762
00:42:47,862 --> 00:42:50,152
we're good, that we don't need a savior.

763
00:42:50,162 --> 00:42:50,772
We're good.

764
00:42:52,422 --> 00:42:52,792
I'm good.

765
00:42:52,792 --> 00:42:53,402
I'm moral.

766
00:42:53,622 --> 00:42:55,512
I'm definitely better than
the people in this room.

767
00:42:55,512 --> 00:42:58,952
Maybe some of us think I'm
definitely better than my neighbor.

768
00:42:58,952 --> 00:43:00,172
I'm definitely better than this.

769
00:43:00,902 --> 00:43:04,032
I love Alfred Hitchcock and
in one of his stories, Alfred

770
00:43:04,032 --> 00:43:06,132
Hitchcock presents briefly.

771
00:43:06,662 --> 00:43:12,182
There's a story of a girl who's in
prison and she's awaiting to be hung.

772
00:43:12,732 --> 00:43:13,852
She can't take it anymore.

773
00:43:13,852 --> 00:43:15,032
She needs to escape.

774
00:43:15,392 --> 00:43:18,502
And so she devises a
plan with the caretaker.

775
00:43:18,792 --> 00:43:21,502
of the prison and the caretaker
was the guy who, made sure

776
00:43:21,502 --> 00:43:22,752
everything was running smoothly.

777
00:43:22,752 --> 00:43:25,262
If somebody died, he would take
them out and he would bury them.

778
00:43:25,262 --> 00:43:28,742
And so he devises this plan, there
would always be this bell that

779
00:43:28,742 --> 00:43:31,072
rung, whenever somebody died.

780
00:43:31,072 --> 00:43:32,892
And so he would know to do his duty.

781
00:43:32,892 --> 00:43:35,402
And so as they developed this
friendship, she said to him and she

782
00:43:35,402 --> 00:43:37,267
said, Hey, I've got this great idea.

783
00:43:37,457 --> 00:43:39,837
The next time somebody
dies, I will sneak out.

784
00:43:39,837 --> 00:43:43,497
I figure out how to open my door
and I will climb into the casket.

785
00:43:43,677 --> 00:43:47,967
You take me out, you bury me,
you come back for me and you get

786
00:43:47,967 --> 00:43:49,307
me out of here and I can escape.

787
00:43:49,307 --> 00:43:52,517
And so he agreed to it, thinking I'm
going to, this is a way to help a friend.

788
00:43:52,517 --> 00:43:55,707
And so sure enough, as weeks went
by, the bell rung and it was her

789
00:43:55,707 --> 00:43:57,877
chance and an only Hitchcockian way.

790
00:43:58,097 --> 00:44:00,987
She nearly gets into the,
room that's got the casket.

791
00:44:00,987 --> 00:44:01,667
It's all dark.

792
00:44:01,667 --> 00:44:02,387
And she feels it.

793
00:44:02,387 --> 00:44:02,547
She.

794
00:44:02,737 --> 00:44:06,247
Pulls the lid off and just in
time, she pulls the lid closed and,

795
00:44:06,387 --> 00:44:09,147
uncomfortable because there's a person
in there and everything, but she feels

796
00:44:09,147 --> 00:44:10,667
herself being loaded onto the cart.

797
00:44:10,687 --> 00:44:12,267
The cart then takes her out of the city.

798
00:44:12,547 --> 00:44:18,037
She feels the lowering of herself into the
hole, the thud of thought soft dirt, upon.

799
00:44:18,297 --> 00:44:22,597
the casket and, she sits there
waiting so excited that she's figured

800
00:44:22,597 --> 00:44:24,127
it out, she's beat the system.

801
00:44:24,307 --> 00:44:29,217
She's smart, she's brilliant, she's,
freedom is just minutes away and

802
00:44:29,217 --> 00:44:32,957
as she sits there she wonders what
poor sap had to die so that I could

803
00:44:32,967 --> 00:44:37,727
have my freedom and so she takes
her a match, she lights it and to

804
00:44:37,727 --> 00:44:39,717
her utter horror it's the caretaker.

805
00:44:41,042 --> 00:44:44,672
And the camera pans away from
the ground with her screaming.

806
00:44:46,432 --> 00:44:50,232
And I think, and not to be brutal and
just to shove that in your face, but some

807
00:44:50,232 --> 00:44:54,982
of us need to know, as we find ourselves
and we think we're in this state, that

808
00:44:54,982 --> 00:44:58,102
we've beat the system, that we're good
enough, that we're moral enough, that

809
00:44:58,102 --> 00:45:02,292
we've found people better than us, that
we think that, man, I've got it together.

810
00:45:02,302 --> 00:45:05,342
God would declare today that
your state is the most ruin gate.

811
00:45:06,967 --> 00:45:07,937
It's broken.

812
00:45:08,347 --> 00:45:09,547
It's broken.

813
00:45:10,407 --> 00:45:11,537
It's done.

814
00:45:11,557 --> 00:45:12,427
It's nothing.

815
00:45:12,597 --> 00:45:17,817
And that's the peril that you find
yourself in today when you base your life

816
00:45:17,947 --> 00:45:22,427
and your future and your eternity on your
own righteousness and on your own works.

817
00:45:22,427 --> 00:45:24,097
And God would say, don't do that.

818
00:45:24,097 --> 00:45:26,287
What you need is to put me in the gate.

819
00:45:26,437 --> 00:45:31,187
What you need is to have me lay there
and you need me to be your righteousness.

820
00:45:32,197 --> 00:45:33,367
You need me to be your righteousness.

821
00:45:33,377 --> 00:45:39,627
Second Corinthians 5 21 said, for he made
him who knew no sin to be sin, that we

822
00:45:39,627 --> 00:45:41,597
might become the righteousness of God.

823
00:45:42,597 --> 00:45:44,787
And so what Jesus did is he
said, Your righteousness is

824
00:45:44,827 --> 00:45:46,457
absolutely disgusting to me.

825
00:45:47,307 --> 00:45:50,587
Even if you lived a moral life and you
gave to charities, you went to church

826
00:45:50,597 --> 00:45:54,257
every day to me because I am a holy
God, because you've already sinned.

827
00:45:54,257 --> 00:45:58,697
And because typically when we do
things to better ourselves, we're

828
00:45:58,697 --> 00:46:01,127
doing it through some evil motivation.

829
00:46:01,127 --> 00:46:02,917
When we are true in our heart of hearts.

830
00:46:03,917 --> 00:46:08,477
Because ultimately, when good works, it
puts us in the place where we can be God.

831
00:46:08,477 --> 00:46:09,967
We can control our lives.

832
00:46:10,257 --> 00:46:12,307
We can do this and God has to do this.

833
00:46:12,477 --> 00:46:14,437
It's an ancient form of idolatry.

834
00:46:14,657 --> 00:46:19,057
And what happens is when we offer, can you
imagine going to heaven and God saying,

835
00:46:19,057 --> 00:46:20,727
Why should I let you into my heaven?

836
00:46:20,927 --> 00:46:24,237
And you take some stained blood
rag and you say, Here you go.

837
00:46:24,287 --> 00:46:25,237
What do you think?

838
00:46:25,277 --> 00:46:27,167
Holy and awesome God.

839
00:46:28,167 --> 00:46:29,807
But Jesus says that he took.

840
00:46:31,452 --> 00:46:35,362
And he took our sin upon him and
he gave us his righteousness.

841
00:46:36,362 --> 00:46:38,472
He gave you his righteousness
and you need to live in that.

842
00:46:38,472 --> 00:46:41,662
You need to know that
before heaven you're clean.

843
00:46:42,662 --> 00:46:47,482
When God looks at you, he's not looking at
you and going, I hope you don't blow it.

844
00:46:48,357 --> 00:46:52,367
But he sees you as righteous
as Jesus is because Jesus lived

845
00:46:52,367 --> 00:46:53,367
the life we couldn't have lived.

846
00:46:53,577 --> 00:46:54,437
He obeyed the law.

847
00:46:54,437 --> 00:46:55,047
He followed it.

848
00:46:55,077 --> 00:46:56,007
We never could have.

849
00:46:56,197 --> 00:46:58,337
That's why the law was
given to show us our need.

850
00:46:58,687 --> 00:47:01,707
And so he'd look and he did and he
said, you can't live the life here.

851
00:47:01,707 --> 00:47:03,077
Take my life.

852
00:47:04,077 --> 00:47:05,467
Take my approval.

853
00:47:05,797 --> 00:47:06,957
I approve of you.

854
00:47:07,127 --> 00:47:07,587
It's all.

855
00:47:07,617 --> 00:47:11,357
Often we try to find things to
approve of us anywhere to find

856
00:47:11,357 --> 00:47:15,137
that in the righteousness of
Christ were to build that gate up.

857
00:47:15,767 --> 00:47:20,997
Some of us say people have hurt me
and we have tremendous bitterness

858
00:47:21,237 --> 00:47:24,157
against them because people have
because we live in a fallen world

859
00:47:24,157 --> 00:47:25,557
and people take advantage of people.

860
00:47:25,557 --> 00:47:27,817
They do things that are monstrous.

861
00:47:28,817 --> 00:47:31,127
And we look and we go, what am
I supposed to do as a Christian?

862
00:47:31,327 --> 00:47:33,607
Am I just supposed to let that happen?

863
00:47:33,607 --> 00:47:35,047
Am I just supposed to let that go?

864
00:47:35,167 --> 00:47:36,897
Oh, I'm just supposed to say, I love you.

865
00:47:37,037 --> 00:47:38,777
And they've destroyed my life.

866
00:47:39,377 --> 00:47:40,077
They've ruined me.

867
00:47:40,077 --> 00:47:42,587
They've stolen my innocence
and they've trampled upon it.

868
00:47:42,787 --> 00:47:44,327
What am I supposed to do?

869
00:47:45,397 --> 00:47:49,437
And so bitterness wells up and it grabs
our hearts and it begins to dominate us.

870
00:47:49,617 --> 00:47:51,647
And we begin to pray curses upon people.

871
00:47:51,807 --> 00:47:54,857
We think about hate and malice
and all these things begin

872
00:47:54,857 --> 00:47:55,927
to come out of our lives.

873
00:47:56,167 --> 00:47:57,637
This bitter envy.

874
00:47:59,012 --> 00:47:59,812
What are we supposed to do?

875
00:47:59,812 --> 00:48:01,972
And you need to make
that broken down gate.

876
00:48:01,972 --> 00:48:03,952
Jesus needs to be your propitiation.

877
00:48:05,507 --> 00:48:09,227
Propitiation, it says in 1 John 4
10, and this was love, not that we

878
00:48:09,227 --> 00:48:10,777
loved God, but that He loved us.

879
00:48:11,007 --> 00:48:13,597
Sin is sun to be the
propitiation for our sins.

880
00:48:13,827 --> 00:48:17,077
Beloved, if God loved us, we
also ought to love one another.

881
00:48:17,297 --> 00:48:22,547
Propitiation is simply the element of
the gospel, the facet on the jewel that

882
00:48:22,547 --> 00:48:25,367
says God's wrath was burning against man.

883
00:48:25,367 --> 00:48:27,127
When man sins, God sees it.

884
00:48:27,617 --> 00:48:29,347
He sees every molested child.

885
00:48:29,457 --> 00:48:30,987
He sees every rape victim.

886
00:48:31,107 --> 00:48:34,297
He sees every, thing done under heaven.

887
00:48:34,347 --> 00:48:38,327
He sees it all, and his wrath,
it says, burns against men.

888
00:48:38,507 --> 00:48:40,137
It burns against injustice.

889
00:48:40,167 --> 00:48:41,627
It burns against sin.

890
00:48:41,982 --> 00:48:45,932
It burns against, it says, God
says, whoever touches me, you is

891
00:48:45,932 --> 00:48:47,762
like touching the apple of my eye.

892
00:48:47,992 --> 00:48:51,442
It's not a pleasant thing, but God is
communicating and saying, when I see my

893
00:48:51,442 --> 00:48:55,532
people suffer, when I see them hurt, when
I see innocence stolen from their life,

894
00:48:55,712 --> 00:48:59,157
it's like somebody's taking their eye,
their, Fist and shoving it in my eye.

895
00:48:59,397 --> 00:49:00,327
It's uncomfortable.

896
00:49:00,447 --> 00:49:03,537
It makes me rise up, and
my wrath is against man.

897
00:49:03,567 --> 00:49:08,247
And what Propitiation says is it says that
God is wrathful, that God is going to do

898
00:49:08,247 --> 00:49:13,557
something about sin, that God is, but that
Jesus stepped in the way and that he bore

899
00:49:13,557 --> 00:49:17,862
the wrath of God upon himself, upon his
shoulders, and all of it was poured out.

900
00:49:18,417 --> 00:49:21,837
Again, I come back to this illustration
because it's beautiful and it's about

901
00:49:21,867 --> 00:49:26,237
a true story of a family or a group of
people who are coming over, to California

902
00:49:26,417 --> 00:49:29,797
and they were making their way through
the plains, where it was dry brush.

903
00:49:29,917 --> 00:49:31,697
What happened was there was a wildfire.

904
00:49:31,697 --> 00:49:34,187
It was rushing toward them because
the wind was blowing against them.

905
00:49:34,467 --> 00:49:36,517
So somebody had the idea they
were going to be consumed.

906
00:49:36,517 --> 00:49:37,607
There's no way to outrun it.

907
00:49:37,797 --> 00:49:39,027
So they had the idea.

908
00:49:39,197 --> 00:49:41,577
They said, why don't we
light a fire behind us?

909
00:49:41,597 --> 00:49:44,917
The wind will blow that way and then
we can stand on the burned ground.

910
00:49:44,917 --> 00:49:45,937
So they did it.

911
00:49:45,997 --> 00:49:49,027
And, the little girl asking her dad,
are you sure this is gonna be safe?

912
00:49:49,207 --> 00:49:53,017
As the fire climbed like walls
around them, as they stood on that

913
00:49:53,017 --> 00:49:54,097
burned ground, they were safe.

914
00:49:54,127 --> 00:49:57,607
And she, he said, and comforted his
daughter and said, yes, because the fire

915
00:49:57,607 --> 00:50:02,287
can't go where the fire's already been and
the wrath of God has burned out for you.

916
00:50:02,292 --> 00:50:06,847
And I, if we stand in Jesus and
make him our gate, that wrath that

917
00:50:06,847 --> 00:50:10,867
was due us, that wrath that was due
us was been burned out on Christ.

918
00:50:10,867 --> 00:50:12,607
It's been poured out on him.

919
00:50:13,282 --> 00:50:15,382
He's become the propitiation.

920
00:50:15,582 --> 00:50:18,962
And so when we look and we think about
our own lives, when we look at people

921
00:50:18,962 --> 00:50:23,272
who've wronged us, we have to first and
fundamentally admit that we have wronged

922
00:50:23,352 --> 00:50:30,162
God, that we deserved his wrath, that
we have all sinned and fallen short.

923
00:50:30,272 --> 00:50:36,632
We have to realize that and that
God stood in the way for us and that

924
00:50:36,672 --> 00:50:39,312
others he stood in the way for as well.

925
00:50:41,102 --> 00:50:43,657
If they don't repent and they continue
in their sin, they're going to sin.

926
00:50:44,667 --> 00:50:45,737
Then they'll be judged.

927
00:50:46,737 --> 00:50:51,687
But that God stood in the way
be just as you hated because

928
00:50:52,047 --> 00:50:54,057
all of us deserve hell forever.

929
00:50:54,517 --> 00:50:56,207
All hell is God's active wrath.

930
00:50:56,207 --> 00:50:59,467
And it's just that place where we've
said, God, I don't want you anymore.

931
00:50:59,817 --> 00:51:00,897
And so God says, okay.

932
00:51:02,477 --> 00:51:06,737
And he gives us pictures in the Bible
about what his presence not being

933
00:51:06,737 --> 00:51:10,187
there is like a far horrible thing.

934
00:51:11,357 --> 00:51:14,187
And so we come to that knowledge
that we all deserve that, that there

935
00:51:14,187 --> 00:51:18,477
was nothing in us just like anybody
else, that we manipulated people.

936
00:51:18,487 --> 00:51:23,127
We did things in our own lives
and that it brought justice

937
00:51:23,307 --> 00:51:24,757
and, and his wrath against us.

938
00:51:24,757 --> 00:51:26,107
But he stood in our way.

939
00:51:26,107 --> 00:51:31,027
And so some of us need to look and we need
to first and foremost see our condition

940
00:51:31,757 --> 00:51:36,487
where we were, what we deserved and Jesus.

941
00:51:36,832 --> 00:51:43,792
Gladly, for the joy that was set
before Him, stood and took that for us.

942
00:51:45,232 --> 00:51:50,102
And then we need to rejoice as that
gate goes up, that no, nothing, God

943
00:51:50,102 --> 00:51:52,662
doesn't, He doesn't wrath us any longer.

944
00:51:52,752 --> 00:51:53,502
He can't.

945
00:51:54,292 --> 00:51:58,342
And so things that happen in our
lives, they have to be seen as

946
00:51:58,402 --> 00:52:00,612
He's making us more like Himself.

947
00:52:01,017 --> 00:52:04,217
It's not because we're this
and he's punishing us in

948
00:52:04,217 --> 00:52:05,707
that sense because of this.

949
00:52:05,907 --> 00:52:11,457
God's already born all that and so
there's complete pleasure in who we are.

950
00:52:12,957 --> 00:52:13,717
It's amazing.

951
00:52:13,717 --> 00:52:18,547
Just let me just finish.

952
00:52:19,617 --> 00:52:27,087
So some of us, our gate is that we
have been sent against and that it's

953
00:52:27,087 --> 00:52:30,807
left such deep scars and we feel dirty.

954
00:52:32,222 --> 00:52:36,392
We keep going back to that place
and we need to build the gate.

955
00:52:36,392 --> 00:52:38,592
We need Jesus to be our expiation.

956
00:52:39,272 --> 00:52:42,152
First John 1 7 says, but if we walk
in the light as he is in the light,

957
00:52:42,152 --> 00:52:45,182
we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Jesus Christ,

958
00:52:45,182 --> 00:52:46,962
his son cleanses us from all sin.

959
00:52:48,382 --> 00:52:52,162
And as we allow his work into our
hearts, he begins to take the things

960
00:52:52,162 --> 00:52:54,552
that were wrong and done to us.

961
00:52:55,752 --> 00:52:59,022
And he could take even
what Satan meant for evil.

962
00:52:59,457 --> 00:53:01,367
And he can use it for good in our lives.

963
00:53:02,807 --> 00:53:09,627
And the very scars can be marks of
praising him as we comfort those

964
00:53:09,707 --> 00:53:11,527
with the same comfort we've received.

965
00:53:12,777 --> 00:53:17,537
I think often of one of the greatest
things in my life, the, I never

966
00:53:17,537 --> 00:53:19,317
experienced bitterness in my life.

967
00:53:19,387 --> 00:53:20,497
I never had to deal with it.

968
00:53:20,767 --> 00:53:23,442
And something was done to me,
being abandoned by my brother.

969
00:53:24,322 --> 00:53:26,302
family of God and just gnarly.

970
00:53:26,502 --> 00:53:27,712
It tore, I was done.

971
00:53:27,712 --> 00:53:29,392
I didn't know what to do.

972
00:53:29,392 --> 00:53:32,672
I never experienced this
bitterness and I hated people.

973
00:53:33,672 --> 00:53:36,842
Just deep seated, absolute rage.

974
00:53:37,842 --> 00:53:39,302
Just murderous thoughts.

975
00:53:40,612 --> 00:53:43,252
Because I was wounded so badly.

976
00:53:44,972 --> 00:53:47,102
And yet, this Hebrew was my propitiation.

977
00:53:47,102 --> 00:53:47,722
I saw that.

978
00:53:48,722 --> 00:53:52,762
I was just as wicked and he
stood and he bore my sin.

979
00:53:53,582 --> 00:53:58,752
But then I found in him the
cleansing power of the cross.

980
00:53:59,332 --> 00:54:04,122
And what began to happen is he
began to take those very wounds and

981
00:54:04,122 --> 00:54:07,232
make them portraits of his grace.

982
00:54:07,232 --> 00:54:14,532
And I would not be here today if it
wasn't for those things and those scars.

983
00:54:15,532 --> 00:54:20,522
And if I was here without those wounds,
I would be a much different man.

984
00:54:21,522 --> 00:54:29,112
The expiating power of the cross, the
being a blanket over that defilement.

985
00:54:30,062 --> 00:54:33,182
That where sin was, it was
scarlet, it was crimson.

986
00:54:34,182 --> 00:54:37,482
That the snow of his grace falls
and it makes it white as snow.

987
00:54:38,492 --> 00:54:41,092
Do you understand why we
need to stand in the gospel?

988
00:54:41,092 --> 00:54:44,462
For Do you understand why we need
to live our lives out of the gospel?

989
00:54:44,502 --> 00:54:48,502
We need to establish ourselves that
He is the gate and He is the door.

990
00:54:48,702 --> 00:54:50,962
That we need Him to be that in us.

991
00:54:51,952 --> 00:54:53,472
and on, there's many facets to it.

992
00:54:53,732 --> 00:54:55,702
Some of us struggling with physical pain.

993
00:54:56,522 --> 00:55:00,362
We wonder why is God upset and
angry with me because of the pain

994
00:55:00,362 --> 00:55:01,632
I'm going through physically.

995
00:55:01,822 --> 00:55:03,032
1 Peter 2.

996
00:55:03,032 --> 00:55:07,892
21 says, For this you were called because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an

997
00:55:07,892 --> 00:55:10,212
example that you should follow His steps.

998
00:55:10,512 --> 00:55:14,692
That we look at Him, He suffered, and
that He becomes Christ our exemplar.

999
00:55:14,822 --> 00:55:19,302
He becomes our example, and that
it's the very time that you crush

1000
00:55:19,302 --> 00:55:20,872
a rose that it's most fragrant.

1001
00:55:21,307 --> 00:55:25,037
And there's a doctrine that says that
all God wants is you to be happy and

1002
00:55:25,277 --> 00:55:27,963
healthy and a whole kind of a thing.

1003
00:55:27,963 --> 00:55:34,027
And God calls us to deeper things so that
he can, how could we ever exemplify life

1004
00:55:34,027 --> 00:55:38,517
transforming power to people unless we
suffered loss, unless we suffered pain,

1005
00:55:38,637 --> 00:55:41,387
unless he allowed us to walk through
the valley of the shadow of death that

1006
00:55:41,387 --> 00:55:45,067
we'd see there is one in whom we need
not fear evil because he is with us.

1007
00:55:46,942 --> 00:55:51,342
So he becomes our example and then we
build that wall Christ our victor Christus

1008
00:55:51,352 --> 00:55:57,132
victor and here It says in Colossians
2 13 to 15 and you being dead in your

1009
00:55:57,142 --> 00:56:01,592
trespasses and in the uncircumcision
your fresh flesh He is made alive

1010
00:56:01,592 --> 00:56:05,142
together with him having forgiven you
all trespasses having wiped out the

1011
00:56:05,142 --> 00:56:09,837
handwriting Of the requirements that
was against us, which is contrary to us.

1012
00:56:10,007 --> 00:56:13,237
And he has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross, having

1013
00:56:13,237 --> 00:56:15,067
disarmed principalities and powers.

1014
00:56:15,067 --> 00:56:19,147
He made a public spectacle of
them, try opening over them.

1015
00:56:19,387 --> 00:56:22,917
And so what that says, and in that
day when Rome would take over,

1016
00:56:23,137 --> 00:56:25,517
take people, captivity, a nation.

1017
00:56:26,282 --> 00:56:29,662
That would rebel against them, they
would parade them into the streets,

1018
00:56:29,662 --> 00:56:33,112
they would parade and celebrate as they
were victorious, and they would take

1019
00:56:33,162 --> 00:56:37,212
the king of that rebellious people,
they would strip him of his clothes,

1020
00:56:37,392 --> 00:56:41,522
they would strip him of his crown, they
would bring him before the king, and

1021
00:56:41,522 --> 00:56:45,517
then the triumphant king, the man would
lay down on all fours, He would put his

1022
00:56:45,517 --> 00:56:50,287
head to the ground and then the king
would step on his neck and make a public

1023
00:56:50,317 --> 00:56:52,627
spectacle saying, I have defeated him.

1024
00:56:52,827 --> 00:56:54,047
He is humiliated.

1025
00:56:54,167 --> 00:56:55,557
He has no power.

1026
00:56:55,677 --> 00:56:56,937
He is a defeated foe.

1027
00:56:57,107 --> 00:57:00,857
And some of us live and we think, man,
the enemy sow this and the enemy sow that.

1028
00:57:01,067 --> 00:57:04,322
But Jesus at the cross, as was the
Proto Evangelion, the first one.

1029
00:57:04,322 --> 00:57:07,702
The first gospel preached in Genesis
chapter 3, that from the seed of the

1030
00:57:07,702 --> 00:57:11,552
woman would come one who would crush
the serpent's head, and just in that

1031
00:57:11,552 --> 00:57:16,542
way, Christ on the cross made a public,
display and a spectacle of the enemy,

1032
00:57:16,792 --> 00:57:18,722
having put him to an open shame.

1033
00:57:18,872 --> 00:57:20,462
He's triumphed over the, the false god.

1034
00:57:20,462 --> 00:57:22,112
and death.

1035
00:57:22,322 --> 00:57:23,462
he is our victory.

1036
00:57:24,462 --> 00:57:27,682
It's so this wall that's broken
down, defeat, discouragement,

1037
00:57:27,682 --> 00:57:29,962
dismay, and the enemy has access to.

1038
00:57:29,962 --> 00:57:34,082
We say, no, I'm going to stand in the
gospel, Jesus, you've defeated these.

1039
00:57:34,112 --> 00:57:36,632
That's the only way I can face these foes.

1040
00:57:38,462 --> 00:57:39,982
I stand in what you've done.

1041
00:57:40,042 --> 00:57:43,662
I stand in your love for me, that
you adore me, that you sing over me.

1042
00:57:44,047 --> 00:57:47,247
I stand in the fact that
you've betrothed me as a bride,

1043
00:57:47,367 --> 00:57:48,507
that you long to be with me.

1044
00:57:48,507 --> 00:57:51,957
I stand in the fact that you've gifted
me your righteousness, that you've

1045
00:57:51,967 --> 00:57:55,567
borne my wrath, that you've taken my
sin as far as the east is from the

1046
00:57:55,567 --> 00:57:59,167
west, that you've made me new, that
you're not just reforming me, you

1047
00:57:59,177 --> 00:58:02,907
have radically had me been born again,
that you've adopted me into your

1048
00:58:02,917 --> 00:58:06,837
family, that you call me your child.

1049
00:58:07,067 --> 00:58:11,167
Behold what manner of love is this, that
we should be called the sons of God.

1050
00:58:11,932 --> 00:58:15,202
Amazing that we are now where
we were enemies, where we were

1051
00:58:15,212 --> 00:58:18,742
violators of the law, where we were
transgressors, where all we deserve

1052
00:58:18,742 --> 00:58:20,712
were the wrath that God rejoices.

1053
00:58:20,852 --> 00:58:24,242
And he kills the fatted calf and
he makes a feast and he brings

1054
00:58:24,242 --> 00:58:25,772
us into his house to celebrate.

1055
00:58:25,992 --> 00:58:29,222
And he says, this, my son was
a dead, but is alive again.

1056
00:58:29,222 --> 00:58:31,222
Rejoice, be merry and be glad.

1057
00:58:31,542 --> 00:58:32,962
We stand in the gospel.

1058
00:58:33,092 --> 00:58:34,462
Our power is in the gospel.

1059
00:58:34,472 --> 00:58:35,392
We move from that.

1060
00:58:35,582 --> 00:58:40,062
Our lives change by it as we don't go
and say, okay, I need to work on this and

1061
00:58:40,062 --> 00:58:42,262
run away and drift into self salvation.

1062
00:58:42,452 --> 00:58:46,772
But we build the gate as Jesus is
the cornerstone and the chief of it.

1063
00:58:47,047 --> 00:58:50,297
And what begins to happen is our
lives change because he becomes

1064
00:58:50,337 --> 00:58:52,257
beautiful and we want more of him.

1065
00:58:52,437 --> 00:58:57,277
Because when the gospel is painted in
such a beautiful portrait, it's beautiful

1066
00:58:57,277 --> 00:58:59,177
and everything else fades in this earth.

1067
00:58:59,407 --> 00:59:03,257
And the way we grow as we've seen as
Christians is not by working harder

1068
00:59:03,397 --> 00:59:05,197
and earning it and earning his love.

1069
00:59:05,337 --> 00:59:10,527
It's simply by being intimate and
coming near to him and nothing, not all.

1070
00:59:10,542 --> 00:59:15,062
The host of hell, not all the cares of
this world that rise up to choke us out.

1071
00:59:15,302 --> 00:59:17,582
Once we see how beautiful he is.

1072
00:59:17,762 --> 00:59:20,492
Once when we were blinded,
our eyes are open.

1073
00:59:20,732 --> 00:59:23,382
Once that nearsightedness is cast away.

1074
00:59:23,632 --> 00:59:27,062
Once we remember that we've been
forgiven, our sins could keep us back

1075
00:59:27,062 --> 00:59:28,502
from such an incredible portrait.

1076
00:59:28,732 --> 00:59:30,822
He keep us back from so great a salvation.

1077
00:59:31,012 --> 00:59:32,942
We run with abandoned to him.

1078
00:59:33,122 --> 00:59:36,632
We give him everything and
we find everything in him.

1079
00:59:36,712 --> 00:59:37,362
Amen.

1080
00:59:38,362 --> 00:59:42,312
So if we can have the band come up, we are
going to close and we are going to allow

1081
00:59:42,542 --> 00:59:47,002
the comforter, the Holy Spirit of God
to examine our hearts to see if there is

1082
00:59:47,032 --> 00:59:51,462
any part that has a gap that has a flaw.

1083
00:59:51,882 --> 00:59:53,822
Remember the substitute this morning.

1084
00:59:54,822 --> 00:59:55,522
there's these

1085
00:59:56,522 --> 01:00:02,962
story told sometimes and I try
to not be, what's the word?

1086
01:00:03,022 --> 01:00:03,342
huh.

1087
01:00:04,667 --> 01:00:05,857
just to work on emotions.

1088
01:00:05,857 --> 01:00:06,917
I don't want to work on emotions.

1089
01:00:07,077 --> 01:00:11,057
I think the word of God wants to come
and work on our will because that's where

1090
01:00:11,057 --> 01:00:13,027
things, that's where permanent change is.

1091
01:00:14,527 --> 01:00:17,617
But I am mindful and that we would
be mindful of the substitute today.

1092
01:00:17,617 --> 01:00:20,737
And there's a story that goes
this way, that there's a father

1093
01:00:20,737 --> 01:00:21,637
who brought his son to work.

1094
01:00:21,637 --> 01:00:24,317
This father worked and
he operated a drawbridge.

1095
01:00:24,912 --> 01:00:28,612
And, and that there was, his son is,
they're having fun times together and

1096
01:00:28,612 --> 01:00:32,972
here's this innocent little boy who's,
there and he goes off to play and

1097
01:00:32,972 --> 01:00:36,412
everything and his father's just watching
his son and all of a sudden he, he

1098
01:00:36,422 --> 01:00:40,682
realized that there's a boat going way
past the speed limit and it's this boat

1099
01:00:40,682 --> 01:00:43,952
and then people are just going crazy on
the boat, they're partying and that if he

1100
01:00:43,952 --> 01:00:48,032
doesn't open the bridge, the thing's gonna
just, Hit the bridge and everybody's gonna

1101
01:00:48,042 --> 01:00:51,962
be lost on the boat And so he goes to push
the bridge But he looks and he remembers

1102
01:00:51,962 --> 01:00:55,682
where's my son at and he looks to see
that his son is playing around in the

1103
01:00:55,682 --> 01:00:57,312
gears and He begins to scream at his son.

1104
01:00:57,312 --> 01:00:59,122
He said get away from there.

1105
01:00:59,402 --> 01:01:03,667
Don't you know how and he's trying
and his son the commotion of the

1106
01:01:03,677 --> 01:01:04,937
oncoming boat and everything.

1107
01:01:04,937 --> 01:01:08,937
And so with tears in his eyes, he looks at
his precious, innocent son and he pushes

1108
01:01:08,937 --> 01:01:13,587
the button and his son is crushed so that
it's raised so that the people can go

1109
01:01:13,587 --> 01:01:15,867
through not even knowing what took place.

1110
01:01:16,177 --> 01:01:19,807
And yet a few looking up scene,
making eye contact with his father

1111
01:01:19,807 --> 01:01:25,307
as he's bawling his eyes out that he
just lost so that they could gain.

1112
01:01:27,307 --> 01:01:31,777
That is substitute for their life, and
we need to remember that this morning We

1113
01:01:31,817 --> 01:01:37,747
need to remember how we've been forgiven
and what it cost We need to take the

1114
01:01:37,757 --> 01:01:42,307
broken bread in our hands of the communion
before us and we don't just take it in

1115
01:01:42,307 --> 01:01:47,167
ritual But we remain to remember that
this was the son of the Living God and

1116
01:01:47,167 --> 01:01:52,792
he became despised and rejected That
he was crushed for our iniquities.

1117
01:01:52,982 --> 01:01:55,892
The chastisement, of, us
all was laid upon him.

1118
01:01:55,892 --> 01:01:57,582
We need to remember that this morning.

1119
01:01:58,802 --> 01:02:00,222
That there was a substitute.

1120
01:02:02,042 --> 01:02:06,632
But we also need to rejoice that he
was raised on the third day, saying

1121
01:02:06,632 --> 01:02:08,592
that God received that substitute.

1122
01:02:10,282 --> 01:02:15,352
We should be the most rejoicing people
because we walk and we live in the gospel.

1123
01:02:16,752 --> 01:02:19,522
It isn't just take and we
don't have to prove it now.

1124
01:02:19,532 --> 01:02:20,192
He's done it.

1125
01:02:20,232 --> 01:02:20,742
He's done it.

1126
01:02:20,752 --> 01:02:21,352
He's done it.

1127
01:02:21,602 --> 01:02:25,222
What pleases the Lord is that
we stand and we live in that.

1128
01:02:27,032 --> 01:02:27,842
So examine.

1129
01:02:28,892 --> 01:02:30,322
Let the Lord do a work.

1130
01:02:30,452 --> 01:02:31,302
Repent.

1131
01:02:31,892 --> 01:02:33,392
Repent of false gates.

1132
01:02:33,542 --> 01:02:36,402
Repent of things that
you've built up in life.

1133
01:02:36,422 --> 01:02:39,212
Saying, this is where I'll find
my security and my identity.

1134
01:02:40,202 --> 01:02:41,502
And ask Jesus to come lay.

1135
01:02:42,362 --> 01:02:47,132
And your doorway and to be the
gate to keep the enemy out and

1136
01:02:47,132 --> 01:02:50,722
to keep you near to him, that he
would come in and sup with you.

1137
01:02:51,732 --> 01:02:53,132
He longs to know you.

1138
01:02:53,872 --> 01:02:55,132
He longs to be with you.

1139
01:02:55,452 --> 01:02:57,442
He longs to change you and transform you.

1140
01:02:58,177 --> 01:03:00,717
He loves you and adores you.

1141
01:03:00,717 --> 01:03:01,937
Jesus, thank you for your word.

1142
01:03:02,257 --> 01:03:05,867
Thank you for the story of Nehemiah
this morning and make you Lord that this

1143
01:03:05,867 --> 01:03:09,867
leader went and he looked at the broken
than the rubble and then Lord, he called

1144
01:03:09,867 --> 01:03:13,377
the people and that Lord, he called it
a good work and the people responded.

1145
01:03:13,377 --> 01:03:14,387
It is a good work.

1146
01:03:15,387 --> 01:03:19,167
Praise you, Jesus, that
you call us the good work.

1147
01:03:20,527 --> 01:03:24,187
That Lord, you look at the rubble in our
lives and you say, he who's begun a good

1148
01:03:24,187 --> 01:03:25,747
work will be faithful to complete it.

1149
01:03:26,842 --> 01:03:27,752
Praise you, Lord.

1150
01:03:27,952 --> 01:03:28,672
You're amazing.

1151
01:03:28,682 --> 01:03:29,662
You're amazing.

1152
01:03:30,382 --> 01:03:31,362
You are amazing.

1153
01:03:32,322 --> 01:03:39,632
I pray, Lord, that you would, every facet
of that jewel, it would build us up.

1154
01:03:39,632 --> 01:03:41,682
It would root us and establish us.

1155
01:03:41,682 --> 01:03:42,372
Thank you, Jesus.

1156
01:03:43,022 --> 01:03:43,602
Work now.

1157
01:03:44,282 --> 01:03:47,532
We worship you in communion, and we
worship you in our tithes and offerings

1158
01:03:47,532 --> 01:03:49,412
this morning, and we just love you.

1159
01:03:50,172 --> 01:03:51,002
In Jesus name.

1160
01:03:51,722 --> 01:03:52,162
Amen.