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On 2024 Alliance.

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The insurance company did a study
on the wealthiest generation, and it

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may not come as a surprise to you,
but they determined that in history,

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the wealthiest generation ever to
live is the baby boomer generation.

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So if that's you this morning, congrats.

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You are among the richest ever to live.

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You may not feel that way this morning.

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Some of you're wondering, uh, who they
talked to to get that information.

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Uh, hey, if you're a millennial
this morning, and I would count

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myself in that group, congrats.

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You are the worst off generation
ever to live, financially speaking.

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So, uh, maybe that gives you some comfort.

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Millennials, if you're going, why am I not
further along than I thought I would be?

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Well, the answer is, uh, we
had the 2008 financial crisis.

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We had COVID happen,
um, inflation recently.

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Thanks.

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Nevermind.

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I won't say that.

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Um, what are you laughing at?

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You don't even know what
I was gonna say, do you?

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Yeah.

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I mean, you think about it and, and
you think about the, the, the spread of

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wealth throughout the world, over the time
of, of history and I don't know, it's,

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it's kind of maybe comparing apples to
oranges to, to try to figure this out.

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Or what's the wealthiest generation?

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You'll notice on your your notes it
says the, the richest generation, the

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sermon's titled The Happiest Generation.

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That's my fault.

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I changed the title this morning.

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I can do that because I'm the senior
pastor and I, I wanted to do that.

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But it's not a typo on, on
Kelly's part, that's my fault.

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I had it titled one thing and I
changed it, and hopefully you'll

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see why by the end of the sermon.

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Otherwise, I didn't do my job very well.

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Regardless of who the richest generation
is, I think all of us in this room need

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to understand that this is who we are.

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We are or should be the
happiest generation.

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Spiritually speaking, we could
argue that we are the wealthiest

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generation that's ever lived.

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I I if you think about what we have access
to today as Christians, the, the wealth

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of resources available literally at our
fingertips, the, the apps that we have

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on our phones that take up less than a
gig, well less than a gig that contained

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the full revelation of God's word.

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That we have the full revelation
of God's word in scripture in the

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Bible, that we have all of these
riches, all of this wealth, all of

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this access that, that is an amazing.

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Amazing thing that no generation prior
to ours has had this much access to God's

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word and helps to understand God's word.

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As we enjoy today, the question
is, what are we doing with it?

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What are we doing with that privilege?

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And what I wanna argue this
morning is that privilege.

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And, and Peter's gonna unpack
some of that for us as well.

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Uh, that privilege should lead
to or result in us being the

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happiest people in the world,
the happiest people in the world.

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And maybe you don't feel that way this
morning, but I hope in our text you'll

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see why no matter where you're at
this morning, there's reason for us to

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be the happiest people in the world.

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So take your Bibles and open
up to First Peter chapter one,

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verses eight through nine.

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First Peter, chapter one,
verses eight through nine.

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We're gonna start there.

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We're gonna go down through verse 12
together as we work our way all the

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way through the text this morning.

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But starting in verse eight, we read this.

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Peter writes, though you have
not seen him, you love him.

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Though you do not now see him, you
believe in him and rejoice with joy

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that is inexpressible and filled with
glory, obtaining the outcome of your

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faith, the salvation of your souls.

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Peter says, though you have not seen him,
and though you do not now see him, there's

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something that Peter's original audience
had in common with you and I today, and,

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and that is they had never seen Jesus.

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Now, Peter had, Peter was one of the
original disciples, one of the apostles.

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He had been an eye witness of both
Jesus during his earthly ministry

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and during his resurrection ministry.

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But those that Peter was writing to
had never seen Jesus in that tracks.

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If they were Roman converts, if they
had been living in the area of Rome, in

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that region and had been, uh, saved at
some point later on, then they would've

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never encountered the risen Jesus, let
alone Jesus during his earthly ministry.

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We share something in common with them.

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And yet Peter says, though, you do not
see him, you love him and you believe him.

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We often like to see the
things that we believe in.

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In fact, a lot of times that
we feel like helps us believe

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when we can see something.

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And yet seeing isn't always
necessary for believing.

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Case in point, wifi, you can't see wifi.

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Some of you think that wifi is, is
doing things in our brains that it

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shouldn't be doing, and that's fine.

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But still you can't see that, right?

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You can't see wifi signals.

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You also can't see electricity.

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You can't see cell phone signals.

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You can't see the center of the earth.

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But from the time that we were
little, we were brought up to

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know that it's magna, right?

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We, we don't see these things yet.

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We believe in them, and we believe in
these things because we see their effects.

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Wifi, you, you've experienced the
effects of wifi because you've been

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able to get on the internet, which I'm
struggling to do, to be able to control

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my slides right now, funnily enough.

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Uh, but, but you've seen the effects.

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You've, you've been on
online or cell phone signals.

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You, you know that those are there
and you believe in them because

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you've sent the text message or
you've made a phone call, right?

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And so you've experienced the effects.

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Electricity, we all believe in electricity
because of the, the lights that are on.

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And just like that, God gave me
connection to my, my phone and

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slides to be able to work there.

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Thank you Lord.

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Um, because you can see the lights on.

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And so, you know, electricity
exists and you believe in it.

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You believe in, in the center of the
earth because volcanoes erupt and

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magma comes out as lava and explodes.

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So seeing isn't always
necessary for believing.

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But what made Peter's audience
believe and what makes us

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believe today, is it evidence?

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Is it that we've experienced the,
the results of who Jesus was during

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his earthly ministry and is today.

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In part it is, but evidence alone
is not enough to save anyone.

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What makes us believe is the same
thing that made Peter's audience

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believe, and that's in context.

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If we back up to verse three, the
fact that God has caused us to

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be born again to a living hope.

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We believe even though we
don't see Him, we love him.

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Even though we don't see him, we rejoice
with the joy that's inexpressible and

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filled with glory, even though we don't
see him, because God has caused us to

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be born again to a living hope or to go
back to week one, he has regenerated us.

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He has foreknown us, and now
we have the faith to believe in

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Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

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So we believe, even though we don't
see him, and we love him, even

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though we don't see him, because
of God's work on our behalf.

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So we believe we love, and also we rejoice
knowing that one day we will be with him.

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That's what Peter means in verse nine when
he says that they have rejoiced with joy.

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That's inexpressible
obtaining the outcome.

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Of your faith, the salvation of your
souls, the outcome of their faith was,

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uh, the, the, the being with Jesus.

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The word outcome there is the
Greek word te us, which is the

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word that means end purpose result.

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When we go to be with Christ, when we go
to glory, when we go to heaven, then we

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no longer need faith because at that point
we will walk by sight and not by by faith.

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So the tell us the outcome, the result,
the end of our faith is that we will

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go and we will get to be with Jesus.

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And Peter says that causes us to love
him, to believe in him, and to rejoice

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with a joy that's inexpressible y'all.

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Our salvation is about Jesus.

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Our salvation is about being with him.

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Our salvation is about the future
that he secured for us through

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his death and resurrection.

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Our salvation is about a life
free from the penalty, from the

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power and the presence of sin,
because we will be with Jesus.

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Our salvation is about
seeing Jesus face to face.

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Our salvation is about hearing well done
good and faithful servant from Jesus.

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So this Christianity, according
to Peter, looks like believing

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in Jesus, loving Jesus and
rejoicing about being with Jesus.

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But what's so hard about that
is what he identifies here.

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We've never seen him, and so we don't, in
some ways know what this is gonna be like.

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You know what it is to love your
family because you get to see them.

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You get to talk with them,
you get to, to FaceTime.

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If they're not here, you
get to call them on a phone.

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You get to send them text messages and,
and so you have this dynamic back and

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forth relationship with your family that
stirs your affections for them in such a

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way that you know what it is to love them.

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You don't struggle with that and
you rejoice at the thought of being

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with them when they come to visit
or when you get to be with them

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because you've experienced that.

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You know what that is to be with them.

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And yet, if we're honest with
ourselves, we don't know yet what

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it will be like to be with Jesus.

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We have some help in the Bible to
understand that, but so much of

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what the Bible describes about what
eternity with Jesus is gonna be like

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is so beyond our comprehension, y'all.

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I think this is why when a TV show comes
out that is about to be or, or that

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is supposedly about the life of Jesus,
or when we hear about Mel Gibson's

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the passion of the Christ, right?

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We gravitate towards those things
because I think there's an inherent

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curiosity within us to know what would
it have been like to be with Jesus.

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In some ways, even though it's
not, our faith can feel like

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a, a one way relationship.

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Like it's, it's us pursuing him.

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Because what we're left with to hear
from him is we're left with the word of

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God, we're left with the Holy Spirit.

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And, and that's not nothing
that's far from nothing.

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But at the same time, it's different
than the relationship that we have with

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people that we're around all the time.

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So this means that we have
to work at this, right?

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We have, we have to work to love Jesus, to
believe in Jesus and what Peter says here,

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to rejoice with joy that's inexpressible
and filled with glory about the future

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that we're gonna have with Jesus.

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I think for Peter's audience,
that part was probably a little

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bit easier than it is for us.

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Remember, they're in exile.

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They're not on vacation, they're in exile.

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They're, uh, living in a place
they didn't plan to live away from

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their family, away from what they
knew to and what they held dear.

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They didn't choose to go.

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They were forced out there.

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Add to that, there's a rising tide
of persecution against believers.

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Nero is ascending the throne,
and Nero is gonna do awful things

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to Christians during his reign.

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And it's not hard for them in that context
to believe that man, yeah, life with Jesus

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is gonna be better than life where I'm at.

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We have an uphill battle on that one
because of where we live in the time

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that we live in, the context that we
live, like we talked about in week

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one, we face the regular battle to fall
into the mindset of being a vacationing

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church instead of the exiled church
because it's comfortable for us,

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because we have things at our disposal.

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Because generally speaking, especially
when you consider the world at large,

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we live in a very, very wealthy
area, and most of us in the room

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would be on the world standard,
considered very, very wealthy.

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It's easy for, in that context, our
affections for Jesus to wane, for our

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desires to be with Jesus, to fade.

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It's easy for us even to take Jesus
for a test run to say, well, let me

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try this whole Christianity thing
out, because it really doesn't cost

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us anything to be a follower of Jesus.

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It can often be hard for us, unlike
Peter's original audience, to remember

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or to imagine that life with Jesus
is gonna be better than anything

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this life offers us here and now.

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But Jesus should be just as
desirable for us as he was for them.

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The thought of being with Jesus should
inspire us and excite us and cause

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us joy just like it did for them.

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The thing is, we're gonna have to work
at that to work to remember that our

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greatest wealth, our greatest source of
happiness is not our possessions or the

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numbers in our bank accounts or anything
else this world offers us, but that

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we should be the happiest generation
because of what we have in Jesus.

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Point number one this week is this work?

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Or keep rather your
affections stirred for Jesus.

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Keep your affections stirred for Jesus.

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When I said work, I meant we're gonna
have to work to do this, to keep

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our affections stirred for Jesus.

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If you've been around me, you've
heard that phrase, it's not mine

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00:12:24,165 --> 00:12:27,735
originally, I think I got it from Matt
Chandler is the first one that I heard

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00:12:27,735 --> 00:12:30,795
about, stirring your affections for
Jesus, and it's just stuck with me.

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And, and if you're around much
longer, you're gonna hear it again

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00:12:33,855 --> 00:12:37,185
and again and again from me because
this is the life of being a, a

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believer of being a follower of Jesus.

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We live in a world that wants
to rob our affections from Jesus

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that wants to put our affections
on anything other than Jesus.

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And so for us, our daily task is
to stir our affections for Jesus.

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What does it look like?

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00:12:50,505 --> 00:12:53,235
Well, let's like, let's break it down the
way that Peter did in this first point.

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00:12:53,715 --> 00:12:59,055
We need to be loving Jesus, trusting
Jesus and rejoicing in being with Jesus.

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00:13:00,420 --> 00:13:01,770
Let's talk about our love for Jesus.

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00:13:01,770 --> 00:13:03,570
Peter says it this way,
though, you have not seen him.

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You love him.

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00:13:04,890 --> 00:13:07,410
This is the agape love there in the Greek.

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00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:10,110
Again, we have to work for this.

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00:13:10,530 --> 00:13:14,670
You don't have to work super hard,
I hope to, to love those that

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are closest to you in your life.

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00:13:16,980 --> 00:13:18,720
Again, you're why,
because you're with them.

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00:13:19,079 --> 00:13:23,310
You get to have that, that close, intimate
relationship with them, and so you have

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00:13:23,310 --> 00:13:25,230
a natural love that overflows from that.

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00:13:25,470 --> 00:13:29,670
But we can't see, feel, hear, or
touch Jesus, at least not in the

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00:13:29,670 --> 00:13:33,570
traditional sense, so, so how do we
stir our affections for one like that?

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00:13:34,140 --> 00:13:38,220
How can I increase my love for Jesus when
I don't know what it is to be with him?

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00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,430
I've never experienced that
on this side of eternity.

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00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:43,470
A few thoughts here.

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First is this.

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00:13:45,750 --> 00:13:49,890
If you want to love Jesus, fill your life
with things that make you love Jesus.

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00:13:51,300 --> 00:13:53,250
Fill your life with things
that make you love Jesus.

259
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:54,720
What does that look like?

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00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,720
Well, for me, this place
makes me love Jesus.

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00:13:58,890 --> 00:14:00,180
I, I love being here.

262
00:14:00,180 --> 00:14:01,140
I love being with you.

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00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:05,520
I love being with, with the
saints week in and week out there.

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00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,520
There's something here that is
significant, not just temporarily

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00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,630
speaking, but eternally speaking, that
we are around each other as brothers and

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00:14:12,630 --> 00:14:16,170
sisters in Christ that are going to spend
forever and ever and ever with one another

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00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:18,720
in heaven that's unique to this place.

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I love being here.

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Y'all make me love Jesus more.

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00:14:21,900 --> 00:14:26,040
I love when we're worshiping and I hear
the voices lifted in song praising Jesus.

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00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:29,400
Something else that makes me
love Jesus more is good coffee

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00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,900
in my Bible in the morning that
stirs my affections for Jesus.

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00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,260
Good audio books on my drive
stirs my affections for Jesus.

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But how do I know?

275
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How do I know what makes
me love Jesus more?

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How can I identify some of these things?

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Well, lemme suggest that we look for
things that increase our devotion to

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00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:55,530
him, that increase our worship of him,
and that increase our obedience of him.

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Loving Jesus.

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00:14:58,485 --> 00:15:03,704
Looks like my devotion goes up, my worship
increases and my obedience increases.

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00:15:04,244 --> 00:15:08,025
And so that looks like adding things
that make me think of him more often.

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00:15:08,954 --> 00:15:12,465
To be devoted to somebody is to have
them at the forefront of your mind.

283
00:15:13,815 --> 00:15:16,724
You can't be devoted to somebody
and, and go through out of outta

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00:15:16,724 --> 00:15:18,105
sight, outta mind with that person.

285
00:15:18,105 --> 00:15:21,735
Can you, we do wedding
rings in our culture, right?

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00:15:21,735 --> 00:15:24,045
And, and one of the reasons we
do wedding rings is to tell other

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00:15:24,045 --> 00:15:25,545
people, Hey, back off, I'm taken.

288
00:15:25,545 --> 00:15:25,815
Right?

289
00:15:26,594 --> 00:15:29,565
But the other reason we do a wedding
ring is so that when we look down

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00:15:29,565 --> 00:15:32,025
at our hand and we see that ring,
we're reminded of the person that

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00:15:32,025 --> 00:15:34,034
we are devoted to in this life.

292
00:15:35,290 --> 00:15:37,155
It's the same thing
with an engagement ring.

293
00:15:37,155 --> 00:15:39,824
That's why we do an engagement
ring so that the person who has the

294
00:15:39,824 --> 00:15:42,494
engagement ring, the woman can look
down at that ring and re be reminded

295
00:15:42,494 --> 00:15:45,645
of the promise that that man has
made to say, I'm devoted to you.

296
00:15:47,295 --> 00:15:47,474
Yo.

297
00:15:47,474 --> 00:15:51,315
We need to fill our lives with things
that make us think about Jesus.

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00:15:51,315 --> 00:15:53,085
Like the wedding ring
or the engagement ring.

299
00:15:54,270 --> 00:15:56,730
That cause your thoughts
to be on him regularly.

300
00:15:57,659 --> 00:16:01,349
It's hard for us to love
someone on a consistent basis if

301
00:16:01,349 --> 00:16:02,670
we're not thinking about them.

302
00:16:03,750 --> 00:16:07,170
So things that you can add into your life
would be things like scripture, memory,

303
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,860
worship playlists, devotional books.

304
00:16:10,860 --> 00:16:13,829
These are things that can cause you
to think about Jesus on a daily basis.

305
00:16:15,599 --> 00:16:18,810
So add the things that make you think
of him, but but also remove the things

306
00:16:18,929 --> 00:16:21,089
from your life that he died for.

307
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,779
And also the things that cause you to be
entertained by things that he died for.

308
00:16:26,534 --> 00:16:29,130
So, so sin, put sin off in other words.

309
00:16:30,299 --> 00:16:34,110
And then also a, a lot of times y'all,
we will put sin off, but then we will

310
00:16:34,110 --> 00:16:39,659
be entertained by watching things that
glorify that which Christ died for.

311
00:16:41,699 --> 00:16:46,770
And that's wrong too, whether
it's a TV show or we're listening

312
00:16:46,770 --> 00:16:49,290
to music or it's a podcast.

313
00:16:50,460 --> 00:16:51,569
If, if this is.

314
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:57,120
Building entertainment off something that
Christ died for, then we as Christians

315
00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,350
should not be entertained by these things
that doesn't increase my love for Jesus.

316
00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:09,839
Also, consider how neutral things could
also stir your affections for Jesus.

317
00:17:10,650 --> 00:17:15,270
So not only add things into your life that
make you think about him again, scripture,

318
00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:16,740
memory, worship, playlists like that.

319
00:17:16,740 --> 00:17:21,480
Remove things that he died for, and then
finally consider how even the neutral

320
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,530
things, okay, so this is not celebrating
something that he died for, but, but

321
00:17:25,530 --> 00:17:27,210
how does this make me love Jesus more?

322
00:17:29,340 --> 00:17:30,780
And look for those, those ways.

323
00:17:30,780 --> 00:17:32,400
For example, a a ball game.

324
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,230
You go to watch a ball game with
your family that can make you

325
00:17:34,230 --> 00:17:36,630
love Jesus more because you get to
create memories with your family.

326
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:37,980
You'd be thankful for that.

327
00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,280
Going on a walk outside can
make you love Jesus more.

328
00:17:41,385 --> 00:17:44,160
'cause you can look up at the sky and
see creation and be in awe of him.

329
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,090
And so love Jesus.

330
00:17:48,420 --> 00:17:48,810
More.

331
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:49,200
Right?

332
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,410
That's one of the ways that we stir
our affections for Christ, even though

333
00:17:52,410 --> 00:17:54,540
we're not with him, we love him.

334
00:17:55,110 --> 00:17:57,840
Maybe a close parallel to something
like this is when we carry on a

335
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,680
tradition of someone we love, after
they they die, after they pass away.

336
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,350
Maybe you keep making the meal that they
was their favorite meal and it causes

337
00:18:07,350 --> 00:18:11,639
you to think about them and remember
them fondly when you do that, or you keep

338
00:18:11,639 --> 00:18:14,670
cheering for their favorite sports team
'cause it, it's connected to that person.

339
00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:19,470
Or you keep remembering their
birthday because of how important

340
00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:20,910
they were to you in significant.

341
00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:25,470
Or maybe you've got a note saved
from them, or maybe you've got a

342
00:18:25,470 --> 00:18:28,530
voicemail still on your phone with
their voice on it that you'll go back

343
00:18:28,530 --> 00:18:32,460
to and listen to because it stirs
your affections anew for that person.

344
00:18:33,780 --> 00:18:35,820
That's what we need to do with Jesus,
even though he is not here, even though

345
00:18:35,820 --> 00:18:40,889
we don't see him with us physically, at
least we should stir our love for him.

346
00:18:41,310 --> 00:18:42,930
Not just our love, but also our trust.

347
00:18:43,410 --> 00:18:45,210
So we love him and we believe in him.

348
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:50,520
If you want to trust Jesus more
like love, fill your life with

349
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,080
things that make you trust him more.

350
00:18:53,250 --> 00:18:55,950
And this is one of those areas, as
Christians, we think, well, well trust.

351
00:18:56,130 --> 00:18:56,910
I've done that.

352
00:18:56,910 --> 00:19:00,360
I repent it from my sins and I put
my trust in Jesus as my savior.

353
00:19:00,540 --> 00:19:01,680
So I'm done with the trust part.

354
00:19:02,970 --> 00:19:03,330
No, we're not.

355
00:19:04,650 --> 00:19:07,050
Trust is dynamic, not static.

356
00:19:08,010 --> 00:19:11,280
And if you don't work out your
trust muscle, it will atrophy.

357
00:19:12,270 --> 00:19:16,830
If you don't put things in your life
that bolster your faith in Christ,

358
00:19:16,980 --> 00:19:19,320
your faith in Christ will weaken.

359
00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:24,060
Now, not to the point of you abandoning
and walking away, no, but to the point

360
00:19:24,060 --> 00:19:27,780
of lacking assurance or confidence
to the hurt and and detriment of your

361
00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:29,460
testimony, your witness with other people.

362
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,820
And so fill your life with things
that increase your trust in Jesus.

363
00:19:33,030 --> 00:19:36,000
This is a, I think an area where
apologetics can be most helpful

364
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,600
for the Christian apologetics
is helpful in in our witness.

365
00:19:39,660 --> 00:19:40,050
Sure.

366
00:19:40,050 --> 00:19:42,630
But apologetics is also
helpful for us as individuals.

367
00:19:43,125 --> 00:19:45,795
When we read about archeological
evidence that confirms something in

368
00:19:45,795 --> 00:19:48,735
the Bible that should fire you up, that
should be like, yes, this is awesome.

369
00:19:49,125 --> 00:19:49,665
Praise God.

370
00:19:49,665 --> 00:19:53,715
When you think about the force of gravity
that that we're not either crushed under

371
00:19:53,715 --> 00:19:58,245
the weight of our own bodies or floating
into outer space because this world is so

372
00:19:58,245 --> 00:20:00,495
fine tuned, this earth is so fine tuned.

373
00:20:00,885 --> 00:20:03,495
Not just the force of gravity,
the tilt of the Earth's axis, the

374
00:20:03,495 --> 00:20:07,965
amount of oxygen in our atmosphere,
that's just right for life to exist.

375
00:20:08,745 --> 00:20:12,045
When you think about those things
that should increase your trust in

376
00:20:12,045 --> 00:20:14,655
Jesus, right, that should fire you up.

377
00:20:14,685 --> 00:20:16,005
That should get you excited.

378
00:20:16,305 --> 00:20:18,075
That should stir your
affections for Christ.

379
00:20:18,075 --> 00:20:19,395
So apologetics is key on that.

380
00:20:19,725 --> 00:20:23,355
Something else that's key on that
is spending time daily in his Word.

381
00:20:24,375 --> 00:20:28,035
The more you know the word of
God, the more you will be prone to

382
00:20:28,035 --> 00:20:29,985
trust him during times of trial.

383
00:20:31,755 --> 00:20:32,775
So spending time in his word.

384
00:20:32,775 --> 00:20:35,415
That's why we do our daily Bible
reading program here as the church.

385
00:20:38,475 --> 00:20:39,495
So love him, trust him.

386
00:20:39,495 --> 00:20:42,255
And then third, under this
first point here, rejoice.

387
00:20:43,139 --> 00:20:44,730
Rejoice over your future with him.

388
00:20:45,719 --> 00:20:50,489
Rejoice, he says, with joy, that's
inexpressible, filled with glory,

389
00:20:50,489 --> 00:20:53,070
obtaining the outcome of your
faith, the salvation of your soul.

390
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,880
We rejoice even though
we're not yet there.

391
00:20:58,650 --> 00:21:02,100
My wife and I are coming up on 19
years of marriage on Tuesday, and

392
00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:07,409
we, uh, got engaged and then I moved
to New Braunfels, uh, for about

393
00:21:07,409 --> 00:21:08,699
six months before we got married.

394
00:21:08,699 --> 00:21:11,340
And, and that was a long six months.

395
00:21:11,909 --> 00:21:15,420
Uh, not only 'cause I, I lived in an
apartment with a futon with no cushions.

396
00:21:16,290 --> 00:21:20,909
Um, he finds a wife finds a good
thing because you get cushions

397
00:21:20,909 --> 00:21:22,139
on your couch afterwards.

398
00:21:23,159 --> 00:21:24,870
Other reasons to, but that's one of them.

399
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,029
But it was long because I wanted to be
with her and she was back in California.

400
00:21:30,534 --> 00:21:34,949
And, and so for those six months, I had
this joy that I knew was going to be

401
00:21:34,949 --> 00:21:38,400
mine that was sustaining me through those
six months as I waited for that time.

402
00:21:40,020 --> 00:21:42,570
Paul says in Philippians chapter
four, he says, rejoice always

403
00:21:42,570 --> 00:21:43,800
again, I will say rejoice.

404
00:21:44,790 --> 00:21:46,050
Rejoice always.

405
00:21:46,110 --> 00:21:47,220
Again, I'll say rejoice.

406
00:21:47,639 --> 00:21:50,040
The word that Peter uses here
though, for rejoice is actually

407
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,540
a stronger word in the Greek.

408
00:21:51,929 --> 00:21:56,159
It's a word that means to exalt in,
in when it's used in in scripture,

409
00:21:56,340 --> 00:21:58,980
it, it is to exalt it in worship.

410
00:21:59,250 --> 00:22:02,400
And so this is used in
context of worshiping God.

411
00:22:02,699 --> 00:22:06,270
So here Peter is calling us to rejoice
with the joy that's inexpressible about

412
00:22:06,270 --> 00:22:11,730
this future being with Jesus that should
cause us to worship God in response.

413
00:22:12,810 --> 00:22:16,470
Now, I I, I know what you may be thinking.

414
00:22:16,830 --> 00:22:19,889
Yes, but Pastor Pier joy is
different from happiness.

415
00:22:20,790 --> 00:22:23,100
Joy is not dependent on
my, upon my circumstances,

416
00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:27,030
isn't it though?

417
00:22:28,830 --> 00:22:29,460
In other words,

418
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:36,030
I think we say that to excuse
a lack of faith in how good

419
00:22:36,030 --> 00:22:37,409
eternity with Jesus is gonna be.

420
00:22:39,014 --> 00:22:43,364
I think we say that to let ourselves
off the hook of not being so monomania

421
00:22:43,634 --> 00:22:46,725
focused on the trial that I'm going
through, that I don't zoom out and

422
00:22:46,725 --> 00:22:48,375
remember how good Eternity's gonna be.

423
00:22:50,594 --> 00:22:51,585
We should be.

424
00:22:51,585 --> 00:22:53,745
Randy Alcorn says this in his
book, happiness, which I would

425
00:22:53,745 --> 00:22:54,735
commend to you by the way.

426
00:22:55,125 --> 00:22:57,884
We should be the happiest
people on earth because we're

427
00:22:57,884 --> 00:22:59,625
going to be with Jesus someday

428
00:23:02,054 --> 00:23:05,054
and that joy should be a sustaining,
abiding joy, and I get it.

429
00:23:05,054 --> 00:23:06,795
There's going to be the
trial, there's going to be the

430
00:23:06,795 --> 00:23:08,235
value you are going to weep.

431
00:23:08,235 --> 00:23:11,054
The Bible says we need to
weep with those who weep.

432
00:23:11,235 --> 00:23:15,134
And yet the Bible also says that we
should be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

433
00:23:18,255 --> 00:23:21,315
I think about the Protestant reformers
during the English reformation who

434
00:23:21,315 --> 00:23:24,585
were burned at the stake and they
were singing hymns to the Lord

435
00:23:24,585 --> 00:23:26,114
as they were being burned alive.

436
00:23:27,525 --> 00:23:31,065
Man, that is a joy, that's a tangible
joy that is not circumstantial

437
00:23:31,065 --> 00:23:32,324
and yet is still expressed.

438
00:23:35,100 --> 00:23:37,185
There are no eos in Christianity.

439
00:23:40,830 --> 00:23:42,030
God has saved you.

440
00:23:42,930 --> 00:23:43,230
Right?

441
00:23:43,230 --> 00:23:46,410
And, and so yeah, we may be like
the kid who's looking forward to

442
00:23:46,410 --> 00:23:49,770
summer vacation and yet we still got
final, final exams in front of us.

443
00:23:50,730 --> 00:23:53,160
But man, find the, the
summer vacation's coming.

444
00:23:55,110 --> 00:23:56,310
Yeah, we still gotta study.

445
00:23:56,310 --> 00:23:57,630
We still gotta go through the difficulty.

446
00:23:57,630 --> 00:24:02,100
We still have to do the hard part, but
we're willing to do that because we

447
00:24:02,100 --> 00:24:07,410
see the end, Christian, whether the
end for you is in a year, five years,

448
00:24:07,410 --> 00:24:15,750
10 years, 40 years, 50 years or five
days, that end is to be with Jesus.

449
00:24:17,190 --> 00:24:19,110
And that's why today you
can rejoice with joy.

450
00:24:19,110 --> 00:24:20,250
That's inexpressible.

451
00:24:21,090 --> 00:24:26,370
My son, Jonathan, I love him,
but he struggles to tell a story.

452
00:24:28,965 --> 00:24:32,475
I love it because this is what I think
about with joy that's inexpressible.

453
00:24:33,045 --> 00:24:37,485
He'll be so amped up about what he wants
to tell us that he false starts like

454
00:24:37,485 --> 00:24:39,855
400 times trying to get this story out.

455
00:24:40,545 --> 00:24:43,574
And what's awesome is when he, it's
something that he thinks is funny.

456
00:24:43,935 --> 00:24:47,025
He cracks himself up,
he's laughing about it.

457
00:24:47,565 --> 00:24:50,475
And that just makes it harder for
him to get the good news out to us.

458
00:24:52,215 --> 00:24:55,815
You know, that's how much
the gospel should excite us.

459
00:24:57,284 --> 00:24:59,324
That's how much being with
Jesus should excite us.

460
00:25:00,344 --> 00:25:01,545
And, and I think the thing that the,

461
00:25:04,364 --> 00:25:08,745
the fact that we find that so hard to do
is just more indicative of the brokenness

462
00:25:08,745 --> 00:25:11,864
and lostness and fallenness of this world
that we live in than it is a deficiency

463
00:25:11,864 --> 00:25:13,185
in the joy that we have in Christ.

464
00:25:15,105 --> 00:25:17,145
The joy that we have
in, in Jesus is plenty,

465
00:25:19,185 --> 00:25:22,815
but like this point says, we
have to, we have to keep our

466
00:25:22,815 --> 00:25:24,045
affections stirred up for that.

467
00:25:24,884 --> 00:25:25,755
We have to work at that.

468
00:25:27,405 --> 00:25:30,735
So I hope this morning you're working
to love him, to trust him, and to

469
00:25:30,735 --> 00:25:36,135
rejoice in the future that you have
guaranteed with him because of Jesus.

470
00:25:38,054 --> 00:25:41,565
Speaking of that salvation, Peter
continues in verses 10 through 12.

471
00:25:42,495 --> 00:25:47,445
He writes this, he says, concerning
this salvation, which is that salvation

472
00:25:47,895 --> 00:25:51,375
that you are rejoicing about with the
joy that's inexpressible and filled

473
00:25:51,375 --> 00:25:56,115
with glory, concerning this salvation
that is to be with Jesus, the prophets

474
00:25:56,115 --> 00:26:00,195
who prophesied about the grace that
was to be yours searched and inquired

475
00:26:00,195 --> 00:26:04,815
carefully, inquiring what person or
time the spirit of Christ was in them,

476
00:26:04,815 --> 00:26:08,804
was indicating when he predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the glories

477
00:26:09,105 --> 00:26:10,815
to come, the subsequent glories.

478
00:26:12,255 --> 00:26:15,135
If we were to pull the room for
everybody's favorite Bible verses,

479
00:26:15,135 --> 00:26:17,835
my guess is what we would get is
a lot of New Testament verses.

480
00:26:19,155 --> 00:26:23,205
We would hear a lot of John three 16
or Philippians four six, or Ephesians

481
00:26:23,205 --> 00:26:27,885
two, eight and nine, maybe Matthew
28, 19 through 20, we would get a

482
00:26:27,885 --> 00:26:31,335
lot of New Testament verses, maybe
some Psalms mixed in there as well.

483
00:26:31,665 --> 00:26:35,534
But generally speaking, we as the church
gravitate towards the New Testament.

484
00:26:35,685 --> 00:26:38,145
And that's understandable
because the New Testament was

485
00:26:38,145 --> 00:26:39,525
written primarily for the church.

486
00:26:39,945 --> 00:26:42,315
But what Peter's saying is,
so is the Old Testament.

487
00:26:43,455 --> 00:26:47,475
In other words, our faith in Jesus,
the gospel that we believe in, the

488
00:26:47,475 --> 00:26:51,705
gospel that is realized and applied in
the New Testament was foreshadowed and

489
00:26:51,705 --> 00:26:57,195
forecasted, and prophesied about in the
Old Testament, the cross is not plan B.

490
00:26:58,605 --> 00:27:02,324
It's not as though God watched the Old
Testament unfold with Israel and was

491
00:27:02,324 --> 00:27:03,824
like, Jesus, this is not working out.

492
00:27:03,824 --> 00:27:05,355
We gotta do something about these people.

493
00:27:07,005 --> 00:27:08,655
I know I sent them the prophets.

494
00:27:09,435 --> 00:27:10,665
They, they're killing them.

495
00:27:11,355 --> 00:27:12,495
They're not listening.

496
00:27:14,385 --> 00:27:16,155
So, Jesus, I'm, I'm
gonna have to send you.

497
00:27:17,985 --> 00:27:19,215
The cross was not plan B.

498
00:27:20,715 --> 00:27:23,324
From the moment God said, let there
be light, the cross was in view.

499
00:27:25,485 --> 00:27:28,514
And we know this because
right away, so Genesis three,

500
00:27:29,025 --> 00:27:30,165
we've got the fall of mankind.

501
00:27:31,845 --> 00:27:36,255
Genesis three 16, you've got what's
known as the proto un gian in the

502
00:27:36,255 --> 00:27:40,965
Greek, which means the first gospel
and Genesis three 16 is, is God, is,

503
00:27:40,995 --> 00:27:43,365
is issuing forth the judgment for sin.

504
00:27:43,365 --> 00:27:46,125
He says this to Satan.

505
00:27:47,745 --> 00:27:51,855
He says, the offspring of the woman,
he says, you are going to strike his

506
00:27:51,855 --> 00:27:54,915
heel, but he's going to crush your head.

507
00:27:56,655 --> 00:28:01,125
The offspring of that woman is
Jesus and Jesus at the cross.

508
00:28:01,185 --> 00:28:04,395
His heel would be struck by the
enemy, but at the cross, Jesus

509
00:28:04,395 --> 00:28:05,475
would crush the head of the enemy.

510
00:28:07,230 --> 00:28:09,690
So we see that the, the
cross was never plan B.

511
00:28:09,690 --> 00:28:12,480
It's been from the beginning of
time, and that's why Peter says this,

512
00:28:12,810 --> 00:28:14,820
the, the, the, the prophets of old.

513
00:28:14,910 --> 00:28:17,820
They, they wanted to understand
the things that you and I now

514
00:28:17,820 --> 00:28:19,530
know so freely and so easily.

515
00:28:21,030 --> 00:28:25,110
Again, reason for us to be so joyful and
happy that we understand these things.

516
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,030
Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah,
Zechariah, and the others.

517
00:28:30,210 --> 00:28:33,270
They didn't know what
you and I know today.

518
00:28:34,860 --> 00:28:39,780
You know, more sitting here this morning
than Moses knew when Moses was alive.

519
00:28:40,380 --> 00:28:42,540
You know, more sitting here
this morning than David knew.

520
00:28:43,470 --> 00:28:48,420
You know, more sitting here this
morning than Isaiah knew, than Daniel.

521
00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:51,990
Hannah and I, Azariah, Misha,
you know, more than all of they,

522
00:28:51,990 --> 00:28:57,570
them put together knew concerning
the gospel of Jesus Christ.

523
00:28:58,710 --> 00:28:59,760
Think about Isaiah 53.

524
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,130
Isaiah's writing Isaiah 53.

525
00:29:02,565 --> 00:29:05,955
About how God was gonna lay on
him, the iniquities of all that.

526
00:29:05,955 --> 00:29:08,534
It was the, the Lord's
good pleasure to crush him.

527
00:29:10,875 --> 00:29:11,440
Think about this.

528
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,505
Isaiah's writing that knowing that he's
writing about the Messiah, but having no

529
00:29:14,505 --> 00:29:16,125
clue how this is gonna work itself out.

530
00:29:16,844 --> 00:29:23,505
And what Peter says is that Isaiah was
searching and inquiring, longing to know,

531
00:29:23,565 --> 00:29:29,355
to understand who it was and what the
time was gonna be that he was writing

532
00:29:29,355 --> 00:29:32,505
about, that the spirit of Christ was
indicating in the things that he wrote.

533
00:29:34,125 --> 00:29:37,784
And so Isaiah's writing these things
under the inspiration of the spirit, the

534
00:29:37,784 --> 00:29:40,995
authority of God's word, and yet he's
writing them wanting desperately to know,

535
00:29:40,995 --> 00:29:44,505
in fact, that word searched when it says
he searched these things, or any of the

536
00:29:44,505 --> 00:29:49,634
prophets search these things that word
searched it means to intensely desire.

537
00:29:50,355 --> 00:29:54,585
It's used in Hebrews chapter 12,
verse 17, when it says that Esau

538
00:29:54,944 --> 00:29:58,875
searched or sought, that he might also
receive a blessing from his father.

539
00:29:59,895 --> 00:30:04,634
After Jacob stole the blessing from Esau,
Esau, and desperation was desperately

540
00:30:04,634 --> 00:30:07,844
seeking another blessing from his father.

541
00:30:09,225 --> 00:30:12,134
That's the way the prophets felt
about understanding the things

542
00:30:12,134 --> 00:30:12,945
that they were writing about.

543
00:30:14,565 --> 00:30:19,065
Things that we now know freely
inquiring what person or time the

544
00:30:19,065 --> 00:30:21,764
spirit in Christ and them was indicating
when he predicted the sufferings of

545
00:30:21,764 --> 00:30:23,054
Christ and the subsequent glories.

546
00:30:23,324 --> 00:30:24,674
How would the Messiah suffer?

547
00:30:24,764 --> 00:30:27,645
Why would he suffer and
why can't we understand?

548
00:30:27,645 --> 00:30:28,844
That's what they were asking.

549
00:30:28,844 --> 00:30:34,485
And yet, verse 12 says, it was revealed to
them that they were serving not themselves

550
00:30:34,634 --> 00:30:40,279
but us, not themselves but us, in

551
00:30:43,424 --> 00:30:46,424
the things that have now been announced
to you through those who preach the good

552
00:30:46,424 --> 00:30:50,025
news to you, the grace, as he says in
verse 10, the grace that was to be ours.

553
00:30:51,495 --> 00:30:54,195
And so, Jeremiah, Isaiah,
David, Zechariah, Micah, et

554
00:30:54,195 --> 00:30:56,025
cetera, they were serving us.

555
00:30:56,565 --> 00:31:00,405
So that we would better understand the
gospel when it was then preached to us,

556
00:31:00,465 --> 00:31:05,745
and now God has caused us to be born again
in this time, in this position in history

557
00:31:05,895 --> 00:31:09,405
with the full corpus of God's revealed
word in our possessions, taking up less

558
00:31:09,405 --> 00:31:12,945
than a gig on our phones, and we have
it all and we have it in our possession.

559
00:31:12,945 --> 00:31:14,895
The question is, what
are we doing with it?

560
00:31:16,514 --> 00:31:17,475
What are we doing with it?

561
00:31:18,375 --> 00:31:23,475
A major component, y'all, to our happiness
in exile as the exile church is what we

562
00:31:23,475 --> 00:31:28,695
do with the, with the precious riches that
we have in the full revealed word of God.

563
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:34,875
You, you think about if, if Isaiah
was here and you said, Isaiah

564
00:31:34,875 --> 00:31:35,835
here, I've got a gift for you.

565
00:31:35,835 --> 00:31:36,975
I want you to read this.

566
00:31:38,054 --> 00:31:38,895
Can you imagine?

567
00:31:40,425 --> 00:31:42,074
He doesn't want to be here
now, by the way, he's good.

568
00:31:42,345 --> 00:31:43,304
He's good where he is.

569
00:31:43,784 --> 00:31:48,014
He's got the full revealed word of
God right in front of him in Jesus.

570
00:31:48,554 --> 00:31:49,425
He knows now.

571
00:31:49,485 --> 00:31:53,205
But, but can you imagine how precious
this would've been in the side of

572
00:31:53,205 --> 00:31:54,405
the eyes of the Old Testament saints?

573
00:31:54,405 --> 00:31:56,445
In fact, the writer of Hebrews
in the Hall of Faith says,

574
00:31:56,445 --> 00:31:57,375
by faith, by faith, by faith.

575
00:31:57,375 --> 00:31:58,065
All of these people.

576
00:31:58,155 --> 00:32:00,195
And then the very end of chapter
Hebrews chapter 11, he says, and

577
00:32:00,195 --> 00:32:03,105
yet they would not be made perfect.

578
00:32:03,105 --> 00:32:05,655
They would not be brought to
completion except for what we now

579
00:32:05,655 --> 00:32:08,205
know, except for our, our arrival here.

580
00:32:08,295 --> 00:32:11,865
Not because of us, but because we
have seen the cross realized so that

581
00:32:11,865 --> 00:32:14,625
the object of their faith in the
Old Testament is now fully realized

582
00:32:14,625 --> 00:32:15,825
in the person of Jesus Christ.

583
00:32:16,275 --> 00:32:18,795
They were believing something that
they couldn't fully comprehend.

584
00:32:18,975 --> 00:32:22,215
We get the whole thing again.

585
00:32:22,305 --> 00:32:24,525
A major component of our
happiness as exiles in this world

586
00:32:24,525 --> 00:32:25,485
is what we do with the Bible.

587
00:32:25,845 --> 00:32:29,325
Point number two along those
lines this morning is this work to

588
00:32:29,325 --> 00:32:35,235
mine the gold of God's word work
to mine the gold of God's word.

589
00:32:36,585 --> 00:32:39,555
You've probably heard by now that
they've banned cell phones in

590
00:32:39,555 --> 00:32:40,875
schools here in the state of Texas.

591
00:32:42,165 --> 00:32:44,025
Uh, it's ruining lives left and right.

592
00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:47,355
I have two that are.

593
00:32:49,155 --> 00:32:52,935
Uh, recipients, I guess is, is the
one way to put it of that band and,

594
00:32:52,935 --> 00:32:54,675
and wishing that it wasn't that way.

595
00:32:54,885 --> 00:32:55,215
Right.

596
00:32:56,175 --> 00:32:59,325
Thi this was one of those moments though,
as my, my teenagers were complaining to

597
00:32:59,325 --> 00:33:02,955
me, where I finally got the chance to
be the old man that I was born to be.

598
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,575
I, I finally got the chance to be
able to bring out unironically.

599
00:33:07,575 --> 00:33:15,135
You know, back in my day, back in my
day, we didn't have it back in my day.

600
00:33:16,395 --> 00:33:18,195
We didn't have fantasy
sports back in my day.

601
00:33:18,195 --> 00:33:19,695
We didn't have Spotify back in my day.

602
00:33:19,695 --> 00:33:21,585
We didn't have streaming back in my day.

603
00:33:22,365 --> 00:33:22,635
Yeah.

604
00:33:24,285 --> 00:33:27,015
But I think we could all admit
that the way things used to be

605
00:33:27,015 --> 00:33:28,515
isn't always the better way, is it?

606
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:32,715
And, and I think we should say
that about where we find ourselves

607
00:33:32,715 --> 00:33:36,045
today with the access to God's
word and the rich resources that

608
00:33:36,045 --> 00:33:39,135
we have to help us understand
God's word that are unprecedented.

609
00:33:40,469 --> 00:33:43,739
I, I wouldn't wanna go back to the
time of Whitfield Edwards and Spurgeon.

610
00:33:43,739 --> 00:33:46,440
I wouldn't wanna go back to the time
of the early church fathers when

611
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:47,819
things were written down on a scroll.

612
00:33:47,819 --> 00:33:51,719
I, I, I love the fact that we have
the Bible so readily available to us.

613
00:33:54,299 --> 00:33:59,429
Can you imagine what Spurgeon Edwards
Whitfield, CT stud, Adam Irem, Judson

614
00:33:59,429 --> 00:34:02,669
Hudson Taylor, can you imagine what
they could have done with logos, Bible

615
00:34:02,669 --> 00:34:08,040
software at their disposal, or having
an iPhone with instant translations of

616
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,020
the Bible ready at their fingertips?

617
00:34:11,969 --> 00:34:14,489
Although perhaps if they had
an iPhone, they wouldn't have

618
00:34:14,489 --> 00:34:15,569
been as productive as they were.

619
00:34:18,694 --> 00:34:20,159
I want you to imagine
something for a second.

620
00:34:20,730 --> 00:34:23,520
If you woke up tomorrow in a world
where you no longer had your Bible

621
00:34:25,049 --> 00:34:31,679
gone, physical copies gone, digital
copy's gone, you have no more Bible,

622
00:34:33,690 --> 00:34:36,600
how much of that word, how much
of the Bible, how much of God's

623
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,940
word would you have stored up
in your heart, in your mind?

624
00:34:39,344 --> 00:34:43,455
To be able to recall it and still
read it even though it wouldn't

625
00:34:43,455 --> 00:34:44,534
be in your possession anymore.

626
00:34:46,844 --> 00:34:55,335
How much of this treasure trove do
you have within you such that if it

627
00:34:55,335 --> 00:34:59,535
were taken away completely, you'd
still be able to quote, unquote read

628
00:34:59,535 --> 00:35:01,455
it even though you don't possess it?

629
00:35:02,595 --> 00:35:08,175
There are stories of, of POWs during
World War II who were in prison camps

630
00:35:08,355 --> 00:35:12,315
and they had said, Hey, what, what
kept you going when they were released?

631
00:35:12,315 --> 00:35:14,715
And a lot of them said, it was the
scripture that I had memorized,

632
00:35:14,715 --> 00:35:16,005
that I kept going over in my mind.

633
00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:18,885
How much would you have stored up?

634
00:35:19,605 --> 00:35:21,885
Now, I want you to, and, and
this is where I step on my own

635
00:35:21,885 --> 00:35:26,085
toes as well, so, so don't be too
offended here, but compare that.

636
00:35:26,145 --> 00:35:29,445
Compare that to how much of
sports statistics you have

637
00:35:29,445 --> 00:35:30,135
sorted up in your mind.

638
00:35:31,515 --> 00:35:32,835
Rosters you have memorized.

639
00:35:33,885 --> 00:35:34,910
Ladies, Taylor Swift lyrics.

640
00:35:39,030 --> 00:35:40,290
If that hurt, just shake it off.

641
00:35:45,660 --> 00:35:46,200
I'm a dad.

642
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:46,950
I'm allowed to do it.

643
00:35:49,110 --> 00:35:50,160
Political knowledge, right?

644
00:35:52,260 --> 00:35:53,730
Images from TikTok and Instagram.

645
00:35:55,830 --> 00:35:59,100
We, we chase the fool's gold
that the world offers us.

646
00:35:59,100 --> 00:36:02,310
Instead of mining the, the,
the pure gold of God's word.

647
00:36:04,710 --> 00:36:09,570
We have an amazing treasure trove right
in our laps on our phones, at our disposal

648
00:36:10,170 --> 00:36:14,970
that Saints of old would've loved and
given anything to have what we have.

649
00:36:19,710 --> 00:36:22,230
And I wonder if they showed up, if
we'd be more excited to show them the

650
00:36:22,230 --> 00:36:24,990
latest meme that we found instead of
showing them that we have the Bible.

651
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:30,870
Why don't we go to the
Bible more often than we do?

652
00:36:31,890 --> 00:36:34,500
Why don't we choose to pick up the
word instead of doom scrolling.

653
00:36:35,955 --> 00:36:39,765
Why are we more enthralled
with fantasy sports than we are

654
00:36:39,765 --> 00:36:41,504
with being in the scriptures?

655
00:36:43,335 --> 00:36:47,055
I think if we're honest, we might say,
well, we're, we're more entertained

656
00:36:47,055 --> 00:36:48,314
by those things than we are the Bible.

657
00:36:49,964 --> 00:36:51,585
But there are times that
we find the Bible boring.

658
00:36:53,955 --> 00:36:57,044
If we're honest, we might say, well,
those things, they, they, they satisfy

659
00:36:57,044 --> 00:36:58,575
me more than reading The Bible does.

660
00:37:00,884 --> 00:37:03,464
If we're honest, we might say,
well, the, the Bible is difficult,

661
00:37:03,464 --> 00:37:04,814
and I often find it confusing.

662
00:37:05,895 --> 00:37:06,765
It's hard work.

663
00:37:08,654 --> 00:37:11,564
I think those are some reasons why
we don't go to the Bible more often

664
00:37:11,564 --> 00:37:14,805
than we do, and this is where we
have to acknowledge and admit that

665
00:37:14,805 --> 00:37:20,294
yes, it is hard work, just like
mining for gold is hard work, but

666
00:37:20,294 --> 00:37:23,745
the things that are most worth it in
the end usually do involve hard work.

667
00:37:25,964 --> 00:37:28,515
John MacArthur was asked about his sermon
prep process, and one of the things he

668
00:37:28,515 --> 00:37:32,595
said, one of the, the key components of
preparing his sermons was this keeping his

669
00:37:32,595 --> 00:37:34,245
rear end in the seat until it was done.

670
00:37:37,515 --> 00:37:42,345
Some of us need that approach when it
comes to the Bible, and I find the Bible

671
00:37:42,734 --> 00:37:44,895
to not be super exciting and entertaining.

672
00:37:46,365 --> 00:37:48,315
Keep your rear end in the
seat and push through.

673
00:37:49,754 --> 00:37:51,794
Read the DBR passage for the day.

674
00:37:52,605 --> 00:37:53,924
Discipline yourself to get through.

675
00:37:53,924 --> 00:37:54,194
Pray.

676
00:37:54,194 --> 00:37:56,265
God enliven your word in my heart.

677
00:37:56,714 --> 00:37:58,995
Cause me to crave your word
in, in my as I read it.

678
00:38:01,365 --> 00:38:03,765
Or maybe if, if you find the
Bible difficult to understand,

679
00:38:03,765 --> 00:38:05,625
confusing, you're not alone in that.

680
00:38:07,515 --> 00:38:09,404
In fact, even Peter said, man,
some of the things that Paul

681
00:38:09,404 --> 00:38:11,654
wrote pretty hard to understand,

682
00:38:15,044 --> 00:38:18,044
but once again, let me remind us that we
live in a time of unprecedented access

683
00:38:18,044 --> 00:38:19,754
to helps in understanding his word.

684
00:38:21,825 --> 00:38:23,714
Logus Bible software is a great help.

685
00:38:24,030 --> 00:38:25,710
The ESV study Bible is a great help.

686
00:38:25,710 --> 00:38:27,450
The Bible Knowledge
commentary is a great help.

687
00:38:27,450 --> 00:38:29,970
The MacArthur single volume commentary
on the Bible is a great help.

688
00:38:30,540 --> 00:38:34,980
We have other things to help us mine
the gold from God's Word, so we don't

689
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:38,070
have to say, well, it's just, it's
just too hard for me to understand.

690
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,880
There's resources at our disposal
to help understand these things.

691
00:38:44,285 --> 00:38:47,910
Maybe another help that would
be beneficial for you, if you're

692
00:38:47,910 --> 00:38:50,820
saying, man, I, I want to jump
start, jumpstart my time in the word.

693
00:38:50,820 --> 00:38:54,660
I just, maybe you've been in, in one
translation for so long that you find it

694
00:38:54,660 --> 00:38:56,520
difficult to come to the Bible afresh.

695
00:38:57,990 --> 00:38:58,980
Change up your translation.

696
00:39:00,570 --> 00:39:02,520
I know that's heretical
in some circles, not here.

697
00:39:03,390 --> 00:39:03,900
It's okay.

698
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:05,940
It depending on your translation,

699
00:39:07,950 --> 00:39:10,860
we preach from the ESV because we
find the ESV to be one of the more

700
00:39:10,860 --> 00:39:13,560
faithful versions when it comes to
the original languages, and that's

701
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:17,280
important when it comes to exe, the
text exing the scriptures, right?

702
00:39:18,314 --> 00:39:21,194
If you're reading the Bible
at home, pick picking up.

703
00:39:21,194 --> 00:39:23,745
Another translation is, is not anathema.

704
00:39:24,975 --> 00:39:28,185
Reading the csb, the Christian Standard
Bible, great version of the, the Bible.

705
00:39:28,214 --> 00:39:33,015
It's, it's a little bit more readable than
the ESV is picking up that NIV reading.

706
00:39:33,015 --> 00:39:35,745
The NIV more readable
than the ESV and the CSB.

707
00:39:36,404 --> 00:39:37,605
You can go one step further.

708
00:39:37,605 --> 00:39:41,984
NLT there's a difference between reading
and studying and, and we can have

709
00:39:41,984 --> 00:39:43,214
that conversation at a different time.

710
00:39:43,214 --> 00:39:46,634
But man, reading God's word and, and
maybe one of those other translations

711
00:39:46,845 --> 00:39:50,444
is gonna help you see things afresh and
different and that may enable you to mine

712
00:39:50,444 --> 00:39:53,595
more of God's gold out of the scriptures.

713
00:39:54,015 --> 00:39:58,274
And if it excites you to be in the
Bible by changing up your translation

714
00:39:58,274 --> 00:40:00,585
a little bit that you're reading
on a regular basis, praise God.

715
00:40:00,705 --> 00:40:01,394
Get in God's Word.

716
00:40:03,944 --> 00:40:06,075
Let me ask you, church, do you
believe that we serve a God

717
00:40:06,075 --> 00:40:07,394
who desires to be known by us?

718
00:40:08,894 --> 00:40:11,745
Do you believe that we serve a God who's
revealed himself to us in the scripture?

719
00:40:12,495 --> 00:40:14,295
Do you believe that we serve a
God who has given us the Spirit

720
00:40:14,295 --> 00:40:15,234
to understand the word of God?

721
00:40:17,340 --> 00:40:20,970
Then we need to give ourselves
over to its study and pursuit.

722
00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:23,904
So here's my challenge for you this
week, for the next seven days, I,

723
00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:25,500
I want to challenge you to do this.

724
00:40:26,010 --> 00:40:28,920
When you're normally tempted to pick
up your phone to doom scroll, pick

725
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:30,149
up the Bible instead and read it.

726
00:40:31,980 --> 00:40:35,340
I, I've been doing this the last week
in preparation for this, and it has been

727
00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:39,600
convicting how often I'm tempted to just
reach over and grab my phone and open up

728
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:40,920
Twitter and, and scroll through Twitter.

729
00:40:42,569 --> 00:40:44,460
Pick up your phone and, and
go to the Bible app instead.

730
00:40:44,700 --> 00:40:47,370
When you would normally be tempted
to, to check your fantasy scores,

731
00:40:48,450 --> 00:40:50,130
pick up the Bible app, open it up.

732
00:40:50,370 --> 00:40:51,840
Check your Bible app.

733
00:40:51,899 --> 00:40:56,640
Check the word of God instead, when
you'd be tempted to get in the car and,

734
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,970
and turn on talk radio or, or whatever.

735
00:40:59,970 --> 00:41:02,069
Taylor Swift, definitely
more than Taylor Swift.

736
00:41:03,090 --> 00:41:04,170
Pick up your Bible instead.

737
00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:07,410
Put on the audio Bible in the
card Dwell audio Bible app.

738
00:41:07,410 --> 00:41:08,399
Great resource there.

739
00:41:08,730 --> 00:41:09,690
Worth the investment.

740
00:41:09,690 --> 00:41:11,340
I think it's like 35 bucks for the year.

741
00:41:11,580 --> 00:41:12,359
Well worth it.

742
00:41:13,830 --> 00:41:14,700
Well worth it on that.

743
00:41:15,750 --> 00:41:17,820
When you go to the bathroom, we're
getting a little in the kitchen,

744
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,850
a little personal here, I guess,
in the bathroom here, right?

745
00:41:21,810 --> 00:41:22,680
Take your Bible with you.

746
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:25,380
Take your Bible with you
at a seminary prophet.

747
00:41:25,380 --> 00:41:27,180
He said, I always keep a Bible
on the back of my toilet to be

748
00:41:27,180 --> 00:41:28,590
reminded of the stench of my sin.

749
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,180
That's mine and gold from God's word.

750
00:41:37,020 --> 00:41:38,310
But I want you to do
that for the next week.

751
00:41:38,310 --> 00:41:38,820
And here's why.

752
00:41:38,825 --> 00:41:41,490
It, it, it's not that I'm asking you
to completely give up all of those

753
00:41:41,490 --> 00:41:46,920
other things, but sometimes just
like physically and, and for our

754
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:48,660
health, we need to, we need to reset.

755
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:54,270
We've had so much junk in our lives
that we need to reset and, and we do a

756
00:41:54,270 --> 00:41:58,080
cleanse or something like that so that
then we can get back to a, a healthy

757
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:01,230
position and then we can begin to add
things back in, in, in moderation.

758
00:42:02,490 --> 00:42:04,530
Church, I'm, I'm saying
spiritually, let's get a reset.

759
00:42:06,030 --> 00:42:08,160
Let's flood ourselves this
next week with the word of God.

760
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:09,900
And, and I think you're
gonna see a payoff.

761
00:42:10,980 --> 00:42:11,940
I think you're gonna find that.

762
00:42:12,389 --> 00:42:15,509
Scripture is more quick to come to
your mind during your free time.

763
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,269
I think you're gonna find that it's
gonna help you respond to difficult

764
00:42:18,269 --> 00:42:19,710
situations in difficult people.

765
00:42:20,729 --> 00:42:23,880
I think you're gonna find that it's
going to just richly bless you, that

766
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:27,569
you're gonna notice things from these
passages that you've never noticed before.

767
00:42:28,889 --> 00:42:34,380
If you'll do this with us for the next
week, to work hard to mind the gold of

768
00:42:34,380 --> 00:42:38,040
God's word, because God has given us
immeasurable riches in the pages of the

769
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:42,420
Bible, and it's one of the key components
in us being the happiest generation.

770
00:42:44,580 --> 00:42:48,210
Finally, look at the last
phrase here in verse 12.

771
00:42:49,769 --> 00:42:52,290
He says, through those who preach the
good news to you by the Holy Spirit

772
00:42:52,290 --> 00:42:53,550
sent from heaven, and this is it.

773
00:42:53,910 --> 00:42:59,189
Things into which angels
long to look things into.

774
00:42:59,189 --> 00:43:02,819
Which angels long to look a, a
little angel ology for us here,

775
00:43:03,779 --> 00:43:07,559
angels are not saved, okay?

776
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,639
'cause to be saved implies that
you are delivered from something.

777
00:43:12,090 --> 00:43:15,570
When we talk about being saved, we're
talking about being delivered from sin.

778
00:43:16,260 --> 00:43:20,310
There are elect angels and
there are the non elect angels.

779
00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:20,640
Okay?

780
00:43:20,910 --> 00:43:23,490
So there are angels that
are in the presence of God.

781
00:43:23,490 --> 00:43:25,260
There are angels that are
in the service of God.

782
00:43:25,260 --> 00:43:26,820
Those are the elect angels.

783
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:31,050
Uh, they are electing that God,
from the moment before he, or from

784
00:43:31,050 --> 00:43:34,080
before time before he created them,
he chose them to be the elect.

785
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:34,470
Angels.

786
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:39,180
There are other angels that we know
as demons, the chief demon being Satan

787
00:43:39,180 --> 00:43:43,350
himself that rebelled against God
and fell from heaven before creation.

788
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,790
Those angels have no gospel.

789
00:43:48,690 --> 00:43:52,380
The the fallen angels have
no shot at ever being saved.

790
00:43:53,190 --> 00:43:55,020
They're condemned to darkness.

791
00:43:55,020 --> 00:43:58,920
In fact, some of them, those from Genesis
six, we believe are committed to chains

792
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:01,080
of darkness until the very end times.

793
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:06,180
So Satan and his angels, there's no good
news to be preached to them, and, and that

794
00:44:06,180 --> 00:44:07,865
means also for the elect angels in heaven.

795
00:44:08,655 --> 00:44:11,865
They never had anything from
which they needed to repent and

796
00:44:11,865 --> 00:44:13,635
trust in Jesus for salvation.

797
00:44:13,635 --> 00:44:17,655
And, and so Peter says, the elect
angels who are in heaven with God.

798
00:44:18,255 --> 00:44:20,355
So fascinating is the gospel.

799
00:44:20,355 --> 00:44:23,535
So amazing and incredible is
the good news of the gospel.

800
00:44:23,895 --> 00:44:28,755
That the angels who exist in the
presence of God long to understand it.

801
00:44:30,405 --> 00:44:31,635
The angels think about that.

802
00:44:32,085 --> 00:44:35,445
Who exist in the eternity,
in in the presence of God.

803
00:44:37,515 --> 00:44:40,155
They want to know what
the gospel's all about

804
00:44:42,705 --> 00:44:44,205
and what do we do with the gospel?

805
00:44:45,465 --> 00:44:46,125
Oh yeah, the gospel.

806
00:44:46,575 --> 00:44:47,145
It's good news.

807
00:44:48,315 --> 00:44:48,975
Oh yeah, the gospel.

808
00:44:48,975 --> 00:44:49,935
Jesus died for my sins.

809
00:44:49,935 --> 00:44:50,355
That's awesome.

810
00:44:50,355 --> 00:44:50,535
Yeah.

811
00:44:50,535 --> 00:44:50,775
Good.

812
00:44:50,865 --> 00:44:51,555
That's, that's great.

813
00:44:53,655 --> 00:44:54,405
But what's next?

814
00:44:56,205 --> 00:44:58,935
I'm just saying on this third point, as we
think about being the happiest generation,

815
00:45:01,365 --> 00:45:04,545
we, we have such a rich treasure
in the good news of the gospel.

816
00:45:05,295 --> 00:45:08,775
And it's so easy for us to, to think
of about the gospel and just to

817
00:45:08,775 --> 00:45:11,625
think, okay, yeah, that was great,
but, but, but, but what's next?

818
00:45:13,605 --> 00:45:18,975
Understanding the good news
and how great it truly is.

819
00:45:19,095 --> 00:45:21,525
Great enough to capture the attention
of the angels in the presence of

820
00:45:21,525 --> 00:45:24,945
God is another reason for us to be
the happiest generation on Earth.

821
00:45:25,005 --> 00:45:27,285
Final point this morning is this,
don't treat the good news, like old

822
00:45:27,285 --> 00:45:29,655
news, don't treat the good news.

823
00:45:29,655 --> 00:45:30,285
Like old news

824
00:45:32,535 --> 00:45:36,045
y'all, I went to from Texas.

825
00:45:36,045 --> 00:45:41,025
I, I moved up to, to Kansas City
for a few years and in Kansas City

826
00:45:41,055 --> 00:45:42,165
they've got barbecue up there.

827
00:45:42,165 --> 00:45:43,815
It's not as good as Texas
barbecue, but it's good.

828
00:45:44,325 --> 00:45:44,745
It's good.

829
00:45:45,555 --> 00:45:47,655
And so I was there for a few
years and, and it was all right.

830
00:45:48,435 --> 00:45:49,155
It was passable.

831
00:45:50,385 --> 00:45:52,935
And then from there, I, I moved out
to Arizona and there's some Texas

832
00:45:52,935 --> 00:45:55,005
establishments in Arizona and it was okay.

833
00:45:55,010 --> 00:45:55,725
It was, it was all right.

834
00:45:55,725 --> 00:45:57,705
It wasn't Kansas City, it
definitely wasn't Texas.

835
00:45:57,705 --> 00:45:58,065
It was okay.

836
00:45:58,575 --> 00:46:02,205
I went to California and
I found, I, I barbecue.

837
00:46:03,420 --> 00:46:04,529
Per perdition.

838
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:05,310
Lemme put it that way.

839
00:46:06,899 --> 00:46:11,430
Barbecue does not exist in
California anywhere unless it's

840
00:46:11,430 --> 00:46:13,170
in your backyard on your smoker.

841
00:46:13,890 --> 00:46:15,240
They have this place called Lucille's.

842
00:46:15,240 --> 00:46:16,950
You've, you've probably heard
me talk about this before.

843
00:46:17,700 --> 00:46:19,920
Lucille's is the Mormonism of barbecue.

844
00:46:21,240 --> 00:46:21,600
Okay?

845
00:46:22,170 --> 00:46:23,069
Because here's the deal.

846
00:46:23,130 --> 00:46:25,140
Mormons will tell you,
oh, we're Christians.

847
00:46:25,260 --> 00:46:26,010
We're Christians.

848
00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:29,310
Meanwhile, they'll lead to anyone
that joins them straight to hell.

849
00:46:29,790 --> 00:46:31,560
Lucille says, we're barbecue.

850
00:46:32,700 --> 00:46:35,160
And yet they lead Anyone who
attends there straight to barbecue,

851
00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:37,950
perdition, it's not barbecue.

852
00:46:38,609 --> 00:46:41,670
They put brisket on your plate and you're
like, who roasted this in the oven?

853
00:46:41,670 --> 00:46:41,880
Where?

854
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:42,630
Where's the smoke?

855
00:46:42,630 --> 00:46:44,819
This is not seen smoke ever.

856
00:46:46,290 --> 00:46:50,279
They're doing damage to the cows
that are, are being killed to put

857
00:46:50,279 --> 00:46:52,020
food like they're dishonoring them.

858
00:46:52,020 --> 00:46:53,100
That's how bad it is.

859
00:46:54,660 --> 00:46:56,609
What's my point in all this
other than to say, don't try

860
00:46:56,609 --> 00:46:57,599
to get barbecue in California.

861
00:46:57,599 --> 00:46:58,710
They've got other things that are great.

862
00:46:59,040 --> 00:46:59,970
Don't do barbecue there.

863
00:47:00,389 --> 00:47:03,630
My point in all this is, is I didn't
realize what I had here until I went

864
00:47:03,630 --> 00:47:04,889
there and it wasn't there anymore.

865
00:47:06,090 --> 00:47:07,139
It was commonplace here.

866
00:47:07,319 --> 00:47:08,700
It was like, oh yeah, barbecue's great.

867
00:47:08,700 --> 00:47:11,460
We can go, you know, wherever and
get good barbecue around here.

868
00:47:12,630 --> 00:47:16,769
Coming back here, not only returning
to the promised land, but getting

869
00:47:16,769 --> 00:47:22,349
the sweet manna of Hutchins brisket
of tender ribs from tender barbecue.

870
00:47:22,859 --> 00:47:23,519
I know it's lunchtime.

871
00:47:23,519 --> 00:47:24,090
This is cruel, huh?

872
00:47:25,260 --> 00:47:27,300
That was like I realized all over again.

873
00:47:27,300 --> 00:47:32,040
Just how, how good we have it here
with the barbecue that we have y'all.

874
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:32,790
The gospel

875
00:47:35,580 --> 00:47:42,000
is so good, and yet we can become so
familiar with it that it loses its impact.

876
00:47:43,229 --> 00:47:46,740
It loses the fact that it's one of
the reasons why we should be the

877
00:47:46,740 --> 00:47:49,810
happiest people on earth because
of the good news of the gospel.

878
00:47:51,194 --> 00:47:53,265
There's an old worship song
and there's a line in it.

879
00:47:53,325 --> 00:47:57,404
The the worship song is called Above
All, and, and the line in it that I take

880
00:47:57,495 --> 00:48:01,305
issue with the line, but there's some
something there that I do wanna draw out.

881
00:48:01,394 --> 00:48:03,825
The line says this, like a
rose trampled on the ground.

882
00:48:03,825 --> 00:48:06,285
He took the fall and
thought of you above all

883
00:48:08,354 --> 00:48:12,885
the, the issue I take is this, Jesus
Christ has never thought of anyone

884
00:48:12,885 --> 00:48:17,505
above all, other than the Father and His
glory and the, the glory of the Godhead.

885
00:48:17,955 --> 00:48:18,255
Okay?

886
00:48:19,005 --> 00:48:20,295
That's the issue I have with the line.

887
00:48:22,455 --> 00:48:27,465
What I appreciate about it is
understanding that he did die for you.

888
00:48:28,785 --> 00:48:30,734
He did love you so much.

889
00:48:30,734 --> 00:48:36,404
The Son of God loved you so much that
he went to the cross and took your sin

890
00:48:36,404 --> 00:48:41,265
and died in your place, that he bore
the full wrath of God on your behalf.

891
00:48:41,790 --> 00:48:44,550
That right now he sits at the right
hand of the father interceding for

892
00:48:44,550 --> 00:48:48,810
you, such that the writer of Hebrew is
able to say that he, he is able to save

893
00:48:48,810 --> 00:48:52,800
to the uttermost, those who draw near
to him because he ever lives, he ever

894
00:48:52,830 --> 00:48:54,300
lives to make intercession for you.

895
00:48:54,300 --> 00:48:57,120
He will never fail to intercede
for you before the father, which

896
00:48:57,120 --> 00:48:58,620
is why you are secure in him.

897
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:00,569
And you will one day be
delivered into his presence.

898
00:49:00,569 --> 00:49:00,660
And

899
00:49:04,140 --> 00:49:05,220
we're like, oh yeah, the gospel.

900
00:49:05,220 --> 00:49:06,000
That's, that's great.

901
00:49:06,210 --> 00:49:06,390
Yeah.

902
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:07,410
It's, it's good.

903
00:49:07,710 --> 00:49:07,800
Yeah.

904
00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:08,580
I'm a, I'm a Christian.

905
00:49:09,930 --> 00:49:10,470
What's next?

906
00:49:12,750 --> 00:49:14,610
And we, we can never get over the gospel.

907
00:49:15,779 --> 00:49:17,400
We can never get over the gospel

908
00:49:19,805 --> 00:49:20,700
in, in the text.

909
00:49:20,700 --> 00:49:23,400
I notice this, it says they were
serving not themselves but you.

910
00:49:24,569 --> 00:49:27,210
They were serving you in the things
that have now been announced to

911
00:49:27,210 --> 00:49:31,560
you through those who preach the
good news, the, the gospel to you.

912
00:49:32,370 --> 00:49:34,890
Things that capture the attention
of the angels in heaven.

913
00:49:37,290 --> 00:49:38,430
And we have the gospel.

914
00:49:38,430 --> 00:49:39,400
Jesus died for us.

915
00:49:41,415 --> 00:49:43,995
That's one of the reasons why we can
rejoice with joy that's inexpressible

916
00:49:43,995 --> 00:49:46,305
and filled with glory, obtaining the
outcome of our faith, the salvation of

917
00:49:46,305 --> 00:49:48,675
the souls, because the gospel is true.

918
00:49:48,675 --> 00:49:50,925
There's nothing that can take
that away from you this week

919
00:49:51,434 --> 00:49:52,455
because the gospel is true.

920
00:49:52,455 --> 00:49:56,144
You can weep with those who weep and yet
rejoice when you zoom out to say, but

921
00:49:56,144 --> 00:49:58,064
we don't mourn as those without hope.

922
00:49:58,095 --> 00:49:58,125
'cause

923
00:50:00,524 --> 00:50:01,575
you know where you're going.

924
00:50:02,325 --> 00:50:04,694
You know that you're going to be
with your living hope you know

925
00:50:04,694 --> 00:50:05,925
you're going to be with Jesus.

926
00:50:06,104 --> 00:50:08,625
Listen, y'all, next week we're
gonna get into this new series on

927
00:50:08,805 --> 00:50:10,995
how we respond to our living hope.

928
00:50:12,075 --> 00:50:16,785
But, but this is, is a fitting transition
as we land here because the, one of the

929
00:50:16,785 --> 00:50:20,475
key ways that we should be responding
to our living hope is carrying with

930
00:50:20,475 --> 00:50:24,524
us the joy that is in expressible and
filled with glory over the outcome

931
00:50:24,524 --> 00:50:27,524
of our faith, the salvation of our
souls, that we get to be with Jesus.

932
00:50:27,795 --> 00:50:32,024
One of the ways that we should be a,
a known entity here in this world as

933
00:50:32,024 --> 00:50:35,654
an exiled church is people should look
at us and say, what is wrong with you?

934
00:50:35,835 --> 00:50:37,064
Why are you so happy?

935
00:50:37,215 --> 00:50:38,234
Why are you so joyful?

936
00:50:40,050 --> 00:50:42,300
And they should also look
at us and say, I want that.

937
00:50:43,710 --> 00:50:44,280
How do I get it?

938
00:50:47,310 --> 00:50:53,520
How are we representing the riches that
we have in Christ to the world around

939
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:55,080
us that's watching us and looking at us?

940
00:50:56,850 --> 00:50:58,620
When your neighbors find
out that you're a Christian,

941
00:51:01,110 --> 00:51:03,840
are they thinking to themselves,
oh man, that must be why

942
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:05,430
there is joyful as they are.

943
00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,930
To whom much has been given,
much will be required.

944
00:51:14,310 --> 00:51:17,070
And church, make no mistake, we
have received so much from the Lord.

945
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:23,190
The riches that we have in the Word
of God are abundant, and it's a reason

946
00:51:23,190 --> 00:51:28,560
for us to be the happiest generation
as we go from this place this week, I

947
00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:32,190
pray that we would give ourselves over
more and afresh and new this week to

948
00:51:33,930 --> 00:51:35,340
plunging ourselves into the word of God.

949
00:51:35,340 --> 00:51:37,030
To say, God, show me
more about who you are.

950
00:51:38,490 --> 00:51:41,760
More about who I am and more
about the glories of what you've

951
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:45,359
done about that through Jesus
Christ, by grace through faith.

952
00:51:46,260 --> 00:51:46,889
Will you stand with me?

953
00:51:46,889 --> 00:51:48,990
And then we'll pray and be dismissed,

954
00:51:54,630 --> 00:51:57,840
Lord God, what glorious realities that
we have entertained this morning as we've

955
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:01,260
studied your word, as we've looked at
what Peter wrote about our living hope,

956
00:52:03,300 --> 00:52:07,920
Lord, the call to be those that rejoice
with the joy that's inexpressible and

957
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,160
filled with glory, obtaining the outcome
of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

958
00:52:12,330 --> 00:52:15,059
Sometimes it's easy to preach about
that on Sunday morning when everybody's

959
00:52:15,059 --> 00:52:17,790
dressed up and looking nice and
here at church, and we're thinking

960
00:52:17,790 --> 00:52:19,410
about barbecue after the service.

961
00:52:20,490 --> 00:52:23,370
But that's a different reality to live
out when Monday hits, when we go back

962
00:52:23,370 --> 00:52:26,340
to work, when we step back into the
reality, when we have to deal again with

963
00:52:26,340 --> 00:52:27,960
the sick family member or the loved one.

964
00:52:29,370 --> 00:52:30,660
And so, God, I pray about your spirit.

965
00:52:30,660 --> 00:52:33,029
You would help us to live out the
truths contain in your word that

966
00:52:33,029 --> 00:52:37,050
we've just studied together, not
just in concept, but in reality.

967
00:52:37,995 --> 00:52:42,315
Lord, use your people to encourage
one another this week to be those

968
00:52:42,315 --> 00:52:44,265
that have this great joy in Christ.

969
00:52:45,315 --> 00:52:47,565
We do want to be a church that
does weep with those who weep,

970
00:52:48,675 --> 00:52:49,845
but not as those without hope.

971
00:52:50,925 --> 00:52:53,835
Lord, we always wanna be those that
are ready to zoom out and to look

972
00:52:53,835 --> 00:52:55,365
to our future with you, with Jesus.

973
00:52:56,445 --> 00:52:57,345
And we do pray.

974
00:52:57,585 --> 00:53:01,155
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly
for your bride, the church.

975
00:53:01,875 --> 00:53:05,325
But until that time, may we be
found faithful, may we be found

976
00:53:05,325 --> 00:53:10,275
joyful, and may we be found
effective in our pursuit of Christ.

977
00:53:10,275 --> 00:53:11,565
We pray this all in Jesus' name.

978
00:53:11,865 --> 00:53:12,255
Amen.