Speaker: 00:00:00

Welcome everybody to Gospel Talks podcast where we help Christians all over the world

become more effective in relational evangelism and discipleship.

00:00:07,733 --> 00:00:12,756

My name is George Binoka joined by none other than Jeff Musgrave, the founder, author of

The Exchange.

00:00:12,756 --> 00:00:14,858

And we are so happy to be with you guys.

00:00:14,858 --> 00:00:22,184

This is the Christmas season and we've just had Thanksgiving and we're very thankful for

everything that God is doing.

00:00:22,184 --> 00:00:24,795

The topic today plays off the topic of last week.

00:00:24,795 --> 00:00:27,843

So if you didn't catch last week's episode, episode number 70

00:00:27,843 --> 00:00:32,156

You're wanna go back and listen to it, but these are two sides of the same coin.

00:00:32,156 --> 00:00:44,496

And so last week we talked about the need, the compulsion to bring up the gospel in every

conversation with every stranger you encounter throughout your life is maybe a degradation

00:00:44,496 --> 00:00:45,968

of God's sovereignty.

00:00:45,968 --> 00:00:47,649

Go back and listen to that.

00:00:47,649 --> 00:00:53,694

This week, what we're talking about is another thought I had sitting in the same exchange

seminar listening to Jeff is,

00:00:53,694 --> 00:01:04,634

The refusal to bring up the gospel in any relationship in your life is a degradation of

your moral agency, meaning your responsibility to God.

00:01:04,634 --> 00:01:10,938

I think that there's a character in the Bible that was put in this exact predicament.

00:01:10,938 --> 00:01:12,099

Her name is Esther.

00:01:12,099 --> 00:01:18,594

And remember when Mordecai said to Esther, and this is the question we're gonna be

answering today and Jeff's gonna be helping me answer is,

00:01:18,594 --> 00:01:23,243

He said to her, you know Esther, you were put there for such a time as this.

00:01:23,243 --> 00:01:29,099

And that statement is made in a book where God's name is never mentioned, but his

fingerprints are everywhere.

00:01:29,099 --> 00:01:32,542

And so you put in the palace for such a time as this.

00:01:32,542 --> 00:01:37,999

And he says to her, if you don't do anything, God's gonna make a way to preserve his

people, fret not.

00:01:37,999 --> 00:01:39,310

So trust God.

00:01:39,310 --> 00:01:43,760

He said, but you and all your descendants will be terribly

00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,223

terribly judged and cursed because you didn't do anything, so you're responsible.

00:01:48,223 --> 00:01:49,955

So that's a conundrum.

00:01:49,955 --> 00:01:52,927

He said to her, it doesn't matter what you do, but it matters what you do.

00:01:52,927 --> 00:02:00,763

And so, you know, how do we deal with this, moral agency in evangelism, without balancing

that with God's sovereignty?

00:02:00,763 --> 00:02:03,124

Well, isn't that the key word is balance.

00:02:03,124 --> 00:02:10,988

I just really believe that the key to the Christian life, mature Christian living is a

balanced Christian life.

00:02:10,988 --> 00:02:15,529

And someone has given and I don't know that this is a perfect illustration.

00:02:15,529 --> 00:02:21,842

But the balance is like walking down a road, there's a ditch on every on both sides of

that road.

00:02:21,842 --> 00:02:25,883

And you have to keep your car out of out of both of those ditches.

00:02:25,883 --> 00:02:29,787

And of course, the ditch that we talked about last week was that

00:02:29,787 --> 00:02:31,861

that sense of, it's all on me.

00:02:31,861 --> 00:02:34,784

And we talked about the word trust.

00:02:34,784 --> 00:02:44,494

And this week, the ditch that we're trying to avoid and stay out of is the ditch of

passivity that, you know, it's all on God.

00:02:44,494 --> 00:02:51,392

And that's the song that you talked about last week at the end of our session was trust

and obey.

00:02:51,392 --> 00:02:57,738

And there's, I love the rest of that phrase, for there's no other way to be happy in

Jesus, but to trust and obey.

00:02:57,738 --> 00:02:58,989

It literally is.

00:02:58,989 --> 00:03:02,382

This is the sole responsibility.

00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:04,994

We could literally say it is faith.

00:03:04,994 --> 00:03:10,273

So it's only faith, but those who genuinely believe will obey.

00:03:10,273 --> 00:03:11,580

I mean, that's really the key.

00:03:11,580 --> 00:03:24,392

Yep, and it's the complaint of some people that this relational approach to evangelism,

again, we would go back to the Bible and say this is the approach that Jesus establishes

00:03:24,392 --> 00:03:25,873

and how he conducts his ministry.

00:03:25,873 --> 00:03:30,398

But that aside, one of the complaints is it can seem really passive.

00:03:30,398 --> 00:03:33,540

Like, wow, how long are you gonna wait in this relationship?

00:03:33,540 --> 00:03:35,472

And shouldn't you have some urgency?

00:03:35,472 --> 00:03:36,614

Shouldn't you just preach?

00:03:36,614 --> 00:03:40,089

the gospel and let the preaching of God's word do the work and that kind of thing.

00:03:40,089 --> 00:03:46,008

And so I understand the complaint is because sometimes what can happen is we shirk our

responsibility.

00:03:46,008 --> 00:03:47,469

Yeah, yeah.

00:03:47,469 --> 00:03:52,176

And passivity is unbecoming to a believer.

00:03:52,176 --> 00:03:56,579

It is it is not what we see in the life of Jesus.

00:03:56,579 --> 00:04:02,236

You know, that passage that we talk about on a weekly basis that we're praying the Lord of

the harvest.

00:04:02,236 --> 00:04:12,217

It's preceded by a statement that says that Jesus went to all the cities in the villages

of Galilee preaching the gospel.

00:04:12,217 --> 00:04:12,945

Mm-hmm.

00:04:12,945 --> 00:04:16,038

representative of about three million people.

00:04:16,038 --> 00:04:20,771

What we recognize is that when Jesus was here on earth, he worked hard.

00:04:20,771 --> 00:04:22,983

He did live in an urgency.

00:04:22,983 --> 00:04:35,764

And so this this passivity that plagues many of us as believers is is not becoming to us

as Christians because Christ followers, if we're going to follow in the footsteps of

00:04:35,764 --> 00:04:39,257

Jesus, we've got to stay urgent and we've got to stay busy.

00:04:39,257 --> 00:04:41,610

Hmm, it's very, very true.

00:04:41,610 --> 00:04:51,010

There has to be this intentionality in our lives, but at the same time, have this balance

of not crossing a threshold and taking a responsibility that's meant for the shoulders of

00:04:51,010 --> 00:04:55,125

God and putting it on our shoulders, because as soon as you do that, that will crush you.

00:04:55,125 --> 00:04:59,047

I mean, you are not designed to bear a weight like that.

00:04:59,047 --> 00:05:01,080

And so, we have to, our, we,

00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:03,061

actually this is a matter of humility, right?

00:05:03,061 --> 00:05:12,714

Is we have to make sure that in our heads we realize, no, this is where God has put me and

I'm responsible for this and he knew this is what I can be responsible for and I'm gonna

00:05:12,714 --> 00:05:14,478

do this in his power and with him.

00:05:14,478 --> 00:05:21,270

I am not, this is where George gets in trouble, having these thoughts of like, man, I'm

gonna win thousands of people to Christ.

00:05:21,270 --> 00:05:24,212

Jesus had 12, you know?

00:05:24,212 --> 00:05:24,683

amazing.

00:05:24,683 --> 00:05:30,994

I think that's there were 1000s who wanted to hear him, but he chose 12 and spent time

with 12.

00:05:30,994 --> 00:05:33,388

That was that was his model of ministry.

00:05:33,388 --> 00:05:34,690

So that's pretty amazing.

00:05:34,690 --> 00:05:41,496

I think that just like God hasn't called me to reach the entire world.

00:05:41,496 --> 00:05:46,481

He certainly has called me to reach some so how do

00:05:46,481 --> 00:05:50,906

How do I come up with the sum that God wants me to reach?

00:05:50,906 --> 00:06:00,945

And I think of the acts chapter one, verse eight passage to kind of give a delineation of

priority.

00:06:02,126 --> 00:06:12,716

in that passage, Jesus is talking to his disciples, those 12 we were talking about, and he

says, okay, I want you to stay here in Jerusalem until you receive the power of the Holy

00:06:12,716 --> 00:06:13,147

Spirit.

00:06:13,147 --> 00:06:23,478

And I think we should just stop right here and say, none of this is possible without the

Holy Spirit working in us through us and in the hearts of the people.

00:06:23,478 --> 00:06:24,809

We don't have to wait anymore.

00:06:24,809 --> 00:06:28,221

That's the work of the Holy Spirit is ongoing today.

00:06:28,221 --> 00:06:31,554

But we are dependent and we have to keep it's not about me.

00:06:31,554 --> 00:06:32,595

It's not about what I do.

00:06:32,595 --> 00:06:35,237

It's about him and me working together with him.

00:06:35,237 --> 00:06:39,553

So then he goes on and he says, and you will be my witnesses to me.

00:06:39,553 --> 00:06:40,325

So that's

00:06:40,325 --> 00:06:50,133

that we talked about this word in the Charlie Kirk timeframe, that word witnesses the word

martyr, and literally they did become martyrs.

00:06:50,133 --> 00:06:52,634

Their witness brought on martyrdom.

00:06:52,634 --> 00:06:58,439

That's how serious that's how urgent that's how unrelenting they were in this

responsibility.

00:06:58,439 --> 00:07:06,207

But he goes on to say, you're to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in

Samaria.

00:07:06,207 --> 00:07:07,958

and into the uttermost parts of the earth.

00:07:07,958 --> 00:07:11,873

Now, if you're not familiar with the geography, it's just a bunch of words.

00:07:11,873 --> 00:07:17,466

But in if you're familiar with the geography, they're in Jerusalem as he's speaking.

00:07:17,466 --> 00:07:19,908

So we're in this city right now.

00:07:19,908 --> 00:07:29,867

And then when he says the word all Judea, what what he's saying is, there is a larger area

of Jewish people that I want you to go to.

00:07:29,867 --> 00:07:35,021

And I think so far, the these Jewish minded people are getting it.

00:07:35,021 --> 00:07:37,472

Messiah wants us to reach the Jews.

100

00:07:37,472 --> 00:07:49,954

And then he says, and Samaria, that's a broader region, that's a different area that's now

leaving just the place of the Jews, and broadening the horizon outward, and then

101

00:07:49,954 --> 00:07:53,117

eventually says, to the end of the world.

102

00:07:53,117 --> 00:07:55,297

So, you know, you were talking about the fact that

103

00:07:55,297 --> 00:07:59,931

that you get a little too big for your britches sometimes and you're thinking, I got to

reach the whole world.

104

00:07:59,931 --> 00:08:03,634

I do think that God wants us to have a world mindset.

105

00:08:03,634 --> 00:08:06,266

I do think he wants us to have a big vision.

106

00:08:06,266 --> 00:08:13,372

And I know that as my partner in the exchange, you have a big vision for what God wants to

do with the exchange.

107

00:08:13,372 --> 00:08:19,328

And I really appreciate that that that that really comforts my heart to know that there's

someone

108

00:08:19,328 --> 00:08:22,602

uh in this yoke with me that has this big vision.

109

00:08:22,602 --> 00:08:31,799

But as an individual responsibility, I am first and foremost responsible for the people of

my Jerusalem.

110

00:08:31,799 --> 00:08:38,317

And I think each of one of us need to look out and say, okay, who is it that is my

Jerusalem?

111

00:08:38,317 --> 00:08:41,561

Who is it that God is gonna hold me responsible for?

112

00:08:41,561 --> 00:08:42,241

Hmm.

113

00:08:42,241 --> 00:08:49,845

That's, I love that because that is trusting God and saying, this is where God has put me.

114

00:08:49,845 --> 00:08:56,197

Sometimes we have this lingering question in the back of our heads that is really driven

by pride is, am I meant for something more?

115

00:08:56,197 --> 00:09:00,615

And the reality is if you pick up your head and look around, you're meant for exactly

where you are.

116

00:09:00,615 --> 00:09:03,076

And so those people, you go, who am I meant to reach?

117

00:09:03,076 --> 00:09:03,817

Look around.

118

00:09:03,817 --> 00:09:06,169

The people you see in your life on a weekly basis.

119

00:09:06,169 --> 00:09:07,459

Those are who you're meant to reach.

120

00:09:07,459 --> 00:09:13,237

And I do think that we are meant for more, but it's more connection with the people God

has given us.

121

00:09:13,237 --> 00:09:14,659

Does that make sense?

122

00:09:14,659 --> 00:09:20,676

In other words, God wants to be using me more in the people that he's placed me with right

here.

123

00:09:20,676 --> 00:09:24,852

So this small place is where God wants me to focus my attention.

124

00:09:24,852 --> 00:09:25,743

Yep, yep.

125

00:09:25,743 --> 00:09:31,834

And a lot of times as Americans, we think so much in terms of quantity, whereas we should

be thinking in terms of quality.

126

00:09:31,834 --> 00:09:37,754

And there is more to be had qualitatively in your life than just quantity.

127

00:09:37,754 --> 00:09:45,114

It's not just about numbers because those 12 that Jesus had turned around and changed the

world.

128

00:09:45,114 --> 00:09:47,294

They turned it upside down.

129

00:09:47,580 --> 00:09:48,386

Yep, yep.

130

00:09:48,386 --> 00:09:48,877

Yeah.

131

00:09:48,877 --> 00:09:55,588

Um, you know, we've been using the word sovereignty and the concept of trust.

132

00:09:55,588 --> 00:10:04,299

And I am afraid that some of us are tempted to, and I don't even know that this is

possible.

133

00:10:04,299 --> 00:10:08,490

I'm going to use words and I'm gonna have to turn around and explain what I mean by them.

134

00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:11,461

Over emphasize the sovereignty of God.

135

00:10:11,461 --> 00:10:21,177

And really, it is not so much that I am overemphasizing the asamfordity of God as it is

that I am being negligent to the human responsibility God's put on me.

136

00:10:21,177 --> 00:10:29,459

Yeah, think that's the point is we have to give each of those the emphasis that the Bible

gives them and the Bible gives emphasis to both.

137

00:10:29,459 --> 00:10:30,934

I mean, God judges.

138

00:10:31,444 --> 00:10:35,498

he gives almost a complete emphasis on each.

139

00:10:35,498 --> 00:10:36,859

If that makes sense.

140

00:10:36,859 --> 00:10:45,876

I am completely dependent upon the sovereignty of God, but I am completely responsible to

everything God has called me to.

141

00:10:45,876 --> 00:10:46,436

Yep.

142

00:10:46,436 --> 00:10:47,478

Yeah.

143

00:10:47,478 --> 00:10:54,485

When people come to you as a pastor and they go, hey, there's these two girls I like, so

which one is God's will for me to marry?

144

00:10:54,485 --> 00:10:58,438

The reality is what they're asking is they're asking you about God's sovereign will.

145

00:10:58,438 --> 00:11:02,251

And the truth is that you don't know because you're not invited to that meeting in heaven.

146

00:11:02,251 --> 00:11:09,528

So, but there's this two aspects of God's will that, you know, and there's one that we

tend not to think about, and there's one that we think about too much.

147

00:11:09,528 --> 00:11:11,370

Often we wonder, where am I going to be in five years?

148

00:11:11,370 --> 00:11:13,031

I wonder what's going to happen to that in 10 years.

149

00:11:13,031 --> 00:11:15,103

You know, I wonder what's God's will for this, this.

150

00:11:15,103 --> 00:11:17,356

We're usually thinking in terms of God's sovereignty.

151

00:11:17,356 --> 00:11:23,281

What the will that God asks us to follow is his moral will, which is recorded in

scripture, right?

152

00:11:23,281 --> 00:11:25,163

This is what we're responsible for.

153

00:11:25,163 --> 00:11:30,748

And so what happens is these are like two concentric circles, God's sovereign will and

God's moral will.

154

00:11:30,748 --> 00:11:35,303

And the overlap is our life, where God's sovereign will and his moral will are interacting

together.

155

00:11:35,303 --> 00:11:45,136

in my life where he's guiding me in his sovereignty and he's opening and closing doors,

but he's also asking me to walk in a way as he's guiding me that gives brings him glory in

156

00:11:45,136 --> 00:11:45,988

obedience.

157

00:11:45,988 --> 00:11:51,183

And so where we should be concerned, what we know for sure is God's moral will.

158

00:11:51,183 --> 00:11:55,444

What you're never invited to and never made a part of is God's sovereign will.

159

00:11:55,444 --> 00:11:57,536

Those meanings are way above our pay grade.

160

00:11:57,536 --> 00:12:00,138

Yeah, I let me give you another take on that one.

161

00:12:00,138 --> 00:12:04,160

Just a not not different, but another take on it.

162

00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:12,029

And that is I am responsible today to take the steps God wants me to take today.

163

00:12:13,202 --> 00:12:16,282

I love the verse that says in your light, we see light.

164

00:12:16,282 --> 00:12:19,294

And it's like God gives me this puddle of light.

165

00:12:19,294 --> 00:12:22,015

And there's clarity in the puddle of light.

166

00:12:22,015 --> 00:12:22,906

I get

167

00:12:22,906 --> 00:12:28,260

I get to know what God wants me to do in this puddle of light that he's given me.

168

00:12:28,260 --> 00:12:36,793

As I take steps forward, the puddle moves forward with me and I see more responsibility.

169

00:12:36,793 --> 00:12:43,835

it's kind of like, is a, I am responsible for the specifics that God calls me to.

170

00:12:43,835 --> 00:12:44,806

some people,

171

00:12:44,806 --> 00:12:47,731

say it in this very simple way.

172

00:12:47,731 --> 00:12:51,186

Just do the next right thing.

173

00:12:51,186 --> 00:12:58,004

And what that statement does is marry together what you're saying and what I'm saying

about this moral will of God.

174

00:12:58,004 --> 00:12:59,387

Just do the next right thing.

175

00:12:59,387 --> 00:13:00,877

Right, yeah, I love it.

176

00:13:00,877 --> 00:13:03,427

So I let me give you an illustration.

177

00:13:03,427 --> 00:13:09,071

I gave you an illustration last week of a woman who felt guilty about not witnessing to

somebody.

178

00:13:09,071 --> 00:13:21,470

I once worked with a group of pastors and this was a group that were all associated with a

similar school and in my associations with them I trained in several different places in

179

00:13:21,470 --> 00:13:26,014

this association and I worked with them for a period of about two years.

180

00:13:26,014 --> 00:13:28,836

And they would get real excited about the gospel.

181

00:13:28,836 --> 00:13:31,177

mean, they really loved talking about it.

182

00:13:31,177 --> 00:13:34,320

They they loved getting into the theology of it.

183

00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:39,432

They were really confident in the sovereign work of God.

184

00:13:39,432 --> 00:13:47,849

But I didn't know a single one of them in that two year time period that did an exchange

Bible study with somebody.

185

00:13:47,849 --> 00:13:52,282

And I didn't know a single one of them that personally led someone to Christ.

186

00:13:52,282 --> 00:13:55,858

Now, to me, that's that's falling into the wrong ditch.

187

00:13:55,858 --> 00:13:57,549

There's a negligence there.

188

00:13:57,549 --> 00:14:00,771

There's a sense of God just going to make it happen.

189

00:14:00,771 --> 00:14:08,678

And and they were being negligent and not actually following through with their side of

human responsibility.

190

00:14:08,678 --> 00:14:09,301

Right, It's...

191

00:14:09,301 --> 00:14:09,875

192

00:14:09,875 --> 00:14:18,524

I don't want to characterize anybody or paint anybody with a broad brush, but that type of

theology tends to make a person very unloving, very cold.

193

00:14:18,524 --> 00:14:24,781

so what it is for me, what I particularly see as a neglect of is our responsibility to

love the people around us.

194

00:14:24,781 --> 00:14:30,869

And it's like, guys, preaching, God will change a life through preaching, but it's truth

and love.

195

00:14:30,869 --> 00:14:33,826

And so if you're not loving, I mean, what does Paul say?

196

00:14:33,826 --> 00:14:43,246

If I have this gift or if I can speak in tongues or whatever, it's like I'm just a

clanging symbol if I don't love.

197

00:14:43,246 --> 00:14:46,346

It's like love and truth together, guys.

198

00:14:46,346 --> 00:14:47,546

Love and truth together.

199

00:14:47,546 --> 00:14:51,017

And so it's like when these guys say, well, God's sovereignty and I'm just gonna go there.

200

00:14:51,017 --> 00:14:52,037

My job is to preach the truth.

201

00:14:52,037 --> 00:14:52,477

I don't care.

202

00:14:52,477 --> 00:14:53,477

I don't have to love anybody.

203

00:14:53,477 --> 00:14:57,975

You've only read, right, you've only read half the New Testament.

204

00:14:57,975 --> 00:14:59,652

What's wrong with you?

205

00:14:59,652 --> 00:15:01,311

So, you know, it's...

206

00:15:01,311 --> 00:15:04,576

Come on love and truth together.

207

00:15:04,576 --> 00:15:07,071

How will they know you by your love for one another?

208

00:15:07,071 --> 00:15:09,626

So it's like that that's what the Bible teaches

209

00:15:09,626 --> 00:15:21,160

And I do think that there is something unbelievably beautiful about the supernatural love

that God gives to a local church and that that that in and of itself is attractive and

210

00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:22,561

attracts people.

211

00:15:22,561 --> 00:15:28,495

uh That's just that's a beautiful reality of what God has has given to us.

212

00:15:28,495 --> 00:15:35,868

This is I I do believe in the sovereignty of God, so I don't want to ever give anybody a

thought process that I am.

213

00:15:35,868 --> 00:15:38,480

over emphasizing human responsibility here.

214

00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,863

That's you got to listen to both podcasts to be able to get the balance.

215

00:15:42,863 --> 00:15:45,606

But here's how I see the sovereignty of God.

216

00:15:45,606 --> 00:15:50,360

That right now God is wooing people to himself in my sphere of influence.

217

00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,904

And I get real excited about trying to figure out who those people are and see him come to

Christ.

218

00:15:55,904 --> 00:16:00,323

I mean, there's an urgency that goes with that, that sovereign work of God.

219

00:16:02,206 --> 00:16:13,117

That's the analogy of doors, you know, like there's a room full of doors and God, you

know, know that God has kept some unlocked and some that are locked and the whole fun of

220

00:16:13,117 --> 00:16:16,901

it is that you get to go and test doors.

221

00:16:16,901 --> 00:16:26,010

if you knew that there's at least one door that's unlocked in that room and that behind it

was a treasure that you could never comprehend or imagine,

222

00:16:26,010 --> 00:16:29,914

you would not be disappointed every time you hit a locked handle.

223

00:16:29,914 --> 00:16:32,225

You would just be like, okay, I'm one closer.

224

00:16:32,225 --> 00:16:35,558

I'm one closer to a treasure, right?

225

00:16:35,558 --> 00:16:43,598

And so that's how we have to approach the doors in our neighborhood, the doors in our

family, the doors in our workplace, is I know that God has put me here for a reason.

226

00:16:43,598 --> 00:16:44,901

I'm in the room.

227

00:16:44,901 --> 00:16:48,441

I assume I'm in the room for a gospel purpose.

228

00:16:48,441 --> 00:16:50,803

Let me go test door handles.

229

00:16:50,803 --> 00:16:53,045

Let's get closer to this treasure.

230

00:16:53,045 --> 00:16:56,253

That's the mentality of, that's the balance.

231

00:16:56,253 --> 00:17:07,024

you've given of that treasure behind the door because every single soul that we lead to

Christ is literally a an eternal treasure that God allows us to spend eternity with that

232

00:17:07,024 --> 00:17:09,597

these these are eternal friends.

233

00:17:09,597 --> 00:17:11,528

We're gonna have fellowship with that person.

234

00:17:11,528 --> 00:17:15,602

It's a spiritual child that God has given me for eternity.

235

00:17:16,041 --> 00:17:16,943

What a treasure.

236

00:17:16,943 --> 00:17:18,085

That's it, yep.

237

00:17:18,085 --> 00:17:20,989

It's the treasure that the disciples were to Jesus.

238

00:17:20,989 --> 00:17:25,686

That's the treasure the people we lead and introduce to Jesus become to us.

239

00:17:25,686 --> 00:17:38,332

You know, in the passage where Jesus is speaking to his disciples in the upper room, he's

just, he's revealed himself to them for the first time, he is the risen Savior.

240

00:17:38,332 --> 00:17:50,460

And he immediately sends them, he says, as the father sent me, so I am sending you, he

breathed on them, said, receive the Holy Spirit.

241

00:17:50,460 --> 00:17:52,821

gave them the enabling to be able to do it.

242

00:17:52,821 --> 00:17:54,652

And then he makes this statement.

243

00:17:54,652 --> 00:17:58,564

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.

244

00:17:58,564 --> 00:18:03,166

If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.

245

00:18:03,166 --> 00:18:09,068

Now, I know God didn't give us the ability to forgive and to withhold forgiveness.

246

00:18:09,068 --> 00:18:10,939

That's that's solely his.

247

00:18:10,939 --> 00:18:16,193

But the message that we carry of forgiveness can be withheld.

248

00:18:16,193 --> 00:18:17,463

And you know, the

249

00:18:17,514 --> 00:18:23,700

in Second Corinthians, he says, if our gospel be hidden, it's hidden from those that are

lost.

250

00:18:23,700 --> 00:18:35,550

And we dare not take upon ourselves the responsibility to hide the treasure, to not show

it to people to not shine the light to those who need it.

251

00:18:35,550 --> 00:18:39,104

Yeah, it's like you say, gotta wear it comfortably on our shirt sleeve.

252

00:18:39,104 --> 00:18:48,404

um That might be some of the most significant ministry you have in your life is to just be

transparent about your relationship with Jesus.

253

00:18:48,404 --> 00:18:48,835

Yeah.

254

00:18:48,835 --> 00:18:52,807

And I hear people say it's like they're casting out seeds.

255

00:18:52,807 --> 00:19:03,325

And what that means is that as I am working at connecting with people on a gospel level,

and they begin to say, Hey, I'm interested in that.

256

00:19:03,325 --> 00:19:05,966

That's, that's where you continue to pursue.

257

00:19:05,966 --> 00:19:10,049

And then you go into those gospel, prolonged gospel conversations.

258

00:19:10,049 --> 00:19:10,556

Right?

259

00:19:10,556 --> 00:19:12,264

Nope, I'm 100%.

260

00:19:12,264 --> 00:19:13,345

Yeah, yeah.

261

00:19:13,345 --> 00:19:24,113

You know that passage where he says, if you withhold forgiveness, it reminds me of another

passage where Jesus uses a different analogy says on this rock, I will build my church.

262

00:19:24,113 --> 00:19:26,363

And I think that's, that's the sovereignty side.

263

00:19:26,363 --> 00:19:28,055

God is the one who's calling people.

264

00:19:28,055 --> 00:19:30,056

He's the one who's building the church.

265

00:19:30,056 --> 00:19:32,338

The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

266

00:19:32,338 --> 00:19:35,420

Nothing can stop the church triumphant.

267

00:19:35,420 --> 00:19:38,453

But then he goes on and he says, I will give to you.

268

00:19:38,453 --> 00:19:41,034

individually, the keys to the kingdom.

269

00:19:41,034 --> 00:19:49,550

And he's talking about the fact that when he defeated death, he brought the keys of death

and hell back with him.

270

00:19:49,550 --> 00:19:52,632

He handed those keys to us in the gospel message.

271

00:19:52,632 --> 00:20:00,417

And then he says, and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and

whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

272

00:20:00,417 --> 00:20:05,140

How we utilize the gospel message is making a difference in eternity.

273

00:20:05,140 --> 00:20:07,512

And we have to take it seriously.

274

00:20:07,512 --> 00:20:10,576

There has to be this sense of obligation.

275

00:20:10,576 --> 00:20:17,764

Paul said it this way in Romans one, I am debtor, I'm under obligation to preach the

gospel.

276

00:20:17,764 --> 00:20:18,926

Yep, yep.

277

00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:20,907

You've been entrusted with a treasure.

278

00:20:20,907 --> 00:20:25,768

Jesus in John says, you've been given a light, you don't hide it under a bushel.

279

00:20:25,768 --> 00:20:30,912

You put it on top of the stool, it's like a city set on a hill.

280

00:20:30,912 --> 00:20:35,724

You don't wanna hide this thing because it is not stewardship.

281

00:20:35,724 --> 00:20:38,515

It was given to you to share.

282

00:20:38,935 --> 00:20:41,203

In part to share, yeah.

283

00:20:41,217 --> 00:20:41,768

Yeah.

284

00:20:41,768 --> 00:20:47,451

And and it's interesting because in that passage where it says of our gospel be hidden,

it's hidden from those who are lost.

285

00:20:47,451 --> 00:20:57,096

It does say that Satan is blinding the eyes of the lost, that they might not see the light

of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

286

00:20:57,096 --> 00:21:05,371

In the very next verse, it says we have this treasure, this light in earthen vessels.

287

00:21:05,371 --> 00:21:08,831

And we, you know, we're all a bunch of crackpots.

288

00:21:08,986 --> 00:21:15,046

But the light is what is so important and shining that light out into people's lives.

289

00:21:15,046 --> 00:21:16,586

That's what God's called us to do.

290

00:21:16,586 --> 00:21:18,316

No, that's exactly it.

291

00:21:18,316 --> 00:21:30,584

we should have the contentment to be used as a vessel in the way that God has decided to

use us instead of us all deciding we all need to be, you know, we can't all be Jeff

292

00:21:30,584 --> 00:21:31,304

Musgrave.

293

00:21:31,304 --> 00:21:37,683

There's one Jeff Musgrave, God's put him on earth, he's got his mission, he's got his

purpose, just like Jesus had his ministry.

294

00:21:37,683 --> 00:21:42,438

You know, people tell me, and why can't I walk around and heal people and stuff like that?

295

00:21:42,438 --> 00:21:43,452

It's well, it's like the

296

00:21:43,452 --> 00:21:48,586

mother of James and John saying to Jesus, hey, make sure you keep a place on the left and

right for my sons.

297

00:21:48,586 --> 00:21:50,348

And he goes, do you really know what you're asking?

298

00:21:50,348 --> 00:21:52,710

Do you even understand what the purpose of my ministry is?

299

00:21:52,710 --> 00:21:54,321

So you don't have Jesus's ministry.

300

00:21:54,321 --> 00:21:55,352

You're not Jesus.

301

00:21:55,352 --> 00:21:56,874

I'm not Jesus.

302

00:21:56,874 --> 00:21:58,495

I'm not Charles Spurgeon.

303

00:21:58,495 --> 00:21:59,986

I'm not Adoniram Judson.

304

00:21:59,986 --> 00:22:01,117

I'm George Benoka.

305

00:22:01,117 --> 00:22:03,619

I'm going to live in Santan Valley, Arizona.

306

00:22:03,619 --> 00:22:06,542

And I'm live on a street where half the houses aren't even built yet.

307

00:22:06,542 --> 00:22:07,923

The foundation's not even laid.

308

00:22:07,923 --> 00:22:11,677

And I'm going to look around in my life and say, this is what God

309

00:22:11,677 --> 00:22:19,755

This is how he wants to use me as his vessel and it is his prerogative how he uses you as

his vessel.

310

00:22:19,755 --> 00:22:24,360

It is not the vessel's prerogative to say, well, this is the kind of vessel I want to be.

311

00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:24,881

No.

312

00:22:24,881 --> 00:22:34,580

We look around and we say we trust God's sovereignty in where he's placed us and we are

willing and humble heart to our Savior obey and be used in the ways he wants us to be

313

00:22:34,580 --> 00:22:35,701

used.

314

00:22:35,701 --> 00:22:36,351

if...

315

00:22:37,493 --> 00:22:38,127

Amen.

316

00:22:38,127 --> 00:22:38,637

Amen.

317

00:22:38,637 --> 00:22:39,819

Well, we love you guys.

318

00:22:39,819 --> 00:22:45,062

We pray with you as you pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers.

319

00:22:45,062 --> 00:22:47,446

Let's trust God's sovereignty.

320

00:22:47,446 --> 00:22:55,391

Let's obey his call in scripture to go out and share his word, his treasure with those he

puts in our path.

321

00:22:55,391 --> 00:22:56,261

We love you guys.

322

00:22:56,261 --> 00:22:57,763

We will see you next week.