1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:03,260 Speaker: We're continuing on in Romans chapter three. 2 00:00:03,260 --> 00:00:07,730 So why don't you turn there in your Bibles. 3 00:00:07,730 --> 00:00:12,950 Now, one thing that you may have noticed about Romans so far is a lot 4 00:00:12,950 --> 00:00:15,230 of these sermons sound the same, right? 5 00:00:15,230 --> 00:00:18,680 They sound pretty similar, and that's because we're, we're following 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:20,510 someone's train of thought, right? 7 00:00:20,510 --> 00:00:21,980 And honestly, though. 8 00:00:22,685 --> 00:00:27,005 It took me a long time to, to really understand some of the things 9 00:00:27,005 --> 00:00:27,575 that we're talking about here. 10 00:00:27,575 --> 00:00:31,264 When I was in middle school and high school and I was, especially when I was 11 00:00:31,264 --> 00:00:37,625 a freshman in high school, it took me so long to admit that I wasn't a Christian. 12 00:00:38,105 --> 00:00:44,285 It took me like a probably two years of being faced with God's word and 13 00:00:44,285 --> 00:00:47,045 then comparing it to my life and realizing that I wasn't a Christian. 14 00:00:47,195 --> 00:00:47,795 It took me like. 15 00:00:48,140 --> 00:00:49,370 A long time to admit. 16 00:00:49,370 --> 00:00:53,150 In fact, we used to do these things where we would, um, our high school, when I 17 00:00:53,150 --> 00:00:57,680 was in high school ministry, we would go and meet on campus and like, um, 18 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,330 we would have a Bible study on campus. 19 00:00:59,330 --> 00:01:01,129 Like all the true north students that went to my school. 20 00:01:01,370 --> 00:01:04,160 We would go and, and talk about about the Bible. 21 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,980 Sometimes we'd have pizza, we'd do all this cool stuff and my mom really 22 00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:08,600 wanted me to go to those and I hated it. 23 00:01:08,660 --> 00:01:10,940 I didn't want to go 'cause I knew that when I would go 24 00:01:10,940 --> 00:01:12,410 there, someone would ask me. 25 00:01:13,085 --> 00:01:14,495 Hey, what's your testimony? 26 00:01:14,675 --> 00:01:15,755 When did you become a Christian? 27 00:01:15,965 --> 00:01:17,735 And I did not want any of that smoke. 28 00:01:17,735 --> 00:01:18,664 I didn't wanna deal with it. 29 00:01:18,815 --> 00:01:19,895 I was so convicted. 30 00:01:19,925 --> 00:01:21,395 I was like, Nope, not for me. 31 00:01:21,395 --> 00:01:25,115 So I would tell my mom, I went, and then I would not go, or I would tell 32 00:01:25,115 --> 00:01:28,115 her, oh, I went and the door was locked and I couldn't get in, and I would just 33 00:01:28,115 --> 00:01:32,884 make up all of this stuff to get out of it because I did not want to admit. 34 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,470 Then what I started to do is then I would make up like a fake testimony. 35 00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:40,460 Like, oh, I went to summer camp when I was in junior high and I, I heard this sermon 36 00:01:40,460 --> 00:01:42,020 and whatever, and I became a Christian. 37 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,700 When I would try to make up stuff to like, sound right, I just wanted, I 38 00:01:46,700 --> 00:01:50,120 just didn't want to acknowledge the fact that I wasn't a Christian, right. 39 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,400 That my, my whole life up that point, I wasn't good enough. 40 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,140 I didn't deserve to go to heaven. 41 00:01:54,140 --> 00:01:56,090 In fact, I deserved God's wrath. 42 00:01:56,090 --> 00:01:57,440 And maybe that's you right now. 43 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,110 Maybe you've heard a lot of these sermons and, and you feel like you're, 44 00:02:00,140 --> 00:02:02,870 God's almost putting you into a corner and you're like, I, I need to get out. 45 00:02:03,454 --> 00:02:07,894 In fact, that's where a lot of these people in Paul's that Paul's writing 46 00:02:07,894 --> 00:02:09,454 to, that's what they feel like. 47 00:02:09,454 --> 00:02:11,165 That's what a lot of them feel like. 48 00:02:11,525 --> 00:02:14,420 It's, you're gonna see in our passage, there's people that are, that are 49 00:02:14,424 --> 00:02:17,285 trying to escape what Paul is saying. 50 00:02:17,315 --> 00:02:19,505 They're trying to escape what God is saying in the book of Romans, 51 00:02:19,894 --> 00:02:24,304 and they're gonna come up with some really creative ways to get out of it. 52 00:02:24,725 --> 00:02:26,915 There's some really creative ways to either say, well, that doesn't apply to 53 00:02:26,915 --> 00:02:28,894 me or Paul, what you're saying about God. 54 00:02:28,894 --> 00:02:29,855 That can't be true. 55 00:02:30,364 --> 00:02:31,595 People make up all kinds of things, maybe. 56 00:02:32,030 --> 00:02:34,370 For you, you've had a conversation with someone, you, maybe you are a Christian, 57 00:02:34,370 --> 00:02:37,310 you have a conversation with someone about the gospel, and then they try to throw 58 00:02:37,310 --> 00:02:41,360 you like a side, a sidetrack, and they say, well, what about the person in, in 59 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:42,800 the jungle who's never heard the gospel? 60 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:45,829 Or, oh, well if God is good, why do bad things happen? 61 00:02:45,829 --> 00:02:49,760 Those are real questions, but usually we ask those things so we 62 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,680 can get out of, well, what about you? 63 00:02:52,340 --> 00:02:52,610 Right? 64 00:02:52,610 --> 00:02:55,820 And that's what I want you to, to think about tonight is we, we cover 65 00:02:55,820 --> 00:02:58,820 Paul's argument and all these questions that he's answering, I want you to 66 00:02:58,820 --> 00:03:00,035 think about, well, what about me? 67 00:03:00,935 --> 00:03:01,775 What about me? 68 00:03:02,225 --> 00:03:05,225 And so I want you to be able to affirm something about God. 69 00:03:05,225 --> 00:03:10,055 I want you to be able to affirm God's master plan of faithful judgment. 70 00:03:10,055 --> 00:03:15,065 This is the, almost the, the penultimate step in Paul's argument. 71 00:03:15,065 --> 00:03:19,595 So it's the second to last thing before we reach his like big conclusion that 72 00:03:20,675 --> 00:03:25,295 we'll see next week, um, in chapter three. 73 00:03:25,325 --> 00:03:28,895 So what happens in the book of Romans, right? 74 00:03:28,895 --> 00:03:29,945 That what we've been seeing. 75 00:03:30,965 --> 00:03:35,045 Is that Paul's making a, like they're all connected, right? 76 00:03:35,045 --> 00:03:38,195 These aren't just isolated things that you can just look at and say, oh, cool. 77 00:03:38,225 --> 00:03:38,735 I like that. 78 00:03:38,735 --> 00:03:39,215 I like that. 79 00:03:39,215 --> 00:03:39,785 I like that. 80 00:03:40,235 --> 00:03:42,605 Um, Paul's making an argument, right? 81 00:03:42,605 --> 00:03:45,695 And he's, he's getting to this conclusion right here. 82 00:03:45,785 --> 00:03:47,255 No one is righteous, right? 83 00:03:47,255 --> 00:03:49,145 No one deserves to go to heaven. 84 00:03:49,145 --> 00:03:53,495 Everyone falls short of God's perfect standard and on his way there, right? 85 00:03:53,495 --> 00:03:54,275 We've covered a lot of ground. 86 00:03:54,275 --> 00:03:57,995 We've talked about how, um, everyone is responsible because everyone knows. 87 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:00,709 What everyone knows that God exists. 88 00:04:00,739 --> 00:04:04,190 Everyone knows that there's a God and that every everyone knows 89 00:04:04,190 --> 00:04:06,019 that they are accountable to him. 90 00:04:06,470 --> 00:04:10,970 And we also know that everyone, regardless of religious background, 91 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:12,650 isn't good enough, right? 92 00:04:12,650 --> 00:04:15,080 No matter how much you know, no matter how many Bible verses you memorize, 93 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,890 no matter who your parents are, no of us ultimately are good enough. 94 00:04:18,890 --> 00:04:22,219 None of those external things make us good enough for God. 95 00:04:23,179 --> 00:04:26,719 And then what we'll see next week is that all of us inherently are. 96 00:04:27,124 --> 00:04:27,754 Sinful. 97 00:04:27,844 --> 00:04:32,254 And so when Paul's making this argument, a lot of the people in 98 00:04:32,254 --> 00:04:36,844 his audience are Jewish and like we talked about last week, they are 99 00:04:36,844 --> 00:04:40,474 really holding onto the fact that, well, I'm part of God's people, right? 100 00:04:40,564 --> 00:04:41,944 I'm Jewish. 101 00:04:42,244 --> 00:04:44,614 I have the signs of God's people. 102 00:04:44,794 --> 00:04:46,414 I know the Bible really well. 103 00:04:47,069 --> 00:04:49,145 They, they hold onto these external signs. 104 00:04:49,145 --> 00:04:52,234 Maybe that's you, maybe you're holding onto Well, I was baptized. 105 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:58,969 Or I go to church or I serve in church, or I know that I'm a sinner, you hold 106 00:04:58,969 --> 00:05:01,640 onto these external things that maybe don't even make you a Christian. 107 00:05:03,289 --> 00:05:06,770 And so what these, but what the Jewish people actually did a lot in 108 00:05:06,770 --> 00:05:10,640 the early church is they would not just respond by objecting verbally. 109 00:05:10,849 --> 00:05:12,500 They would actually respond violently. 110 00:05:12,830 --> 00:05:16,909 There was a guy, um, his name's Steven, and in. 111 00:05:17,825 --> 00:05:21,304 He, uh, there's a story about him in the Bible and this guy named Steven, he 112 00:05:21,304 --> 00:05:23,195 was like a normal person in the church. 113 00:05:23,195 --> 00:05:26,914 He, his, his like serving position, his ministry, he, his job was to help 114 00:05:26,914 --> 00:05:29,044 the widows make sure they had food. 115 00:05:29,044 --> 00:05:31,955 'cause the, in that culture, they didn't have enough. 116 00:05:32,044 --> 00:05:32,344 Um. 117 00:05:33,110 --> 00:05:34,460 They didn't have, they couldn't get jobs. 118 00:05:34,490 --> 00:05:36,890 They didn't have as many rights as people do in our culture. 119 00:05:36,890 --> 00:05:38,570 And so he, his job was to make sure they got food. 120 00:05:38,990 --> 00:05:42,320 And Steven started talking about some of the things that, that Paul 121 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,130 talks about here, how no one's righteous before God and how well, 122 00:05:46,130 --> 00:05:47,525 you know, I know that God, I. 123 00:05:48,395 --> 00:05:51,364 His people were, were ethnic in the Old Testament, but in really 124 00:05:51,364 --> 00:05:52,414 what it's about is your heart. 125 00:05:52,414 --> 00:05:53,734 It's not about those external things. 126 00:05:53,914 --> 00:05:54,724 It's about your heart. 127 00:05:54,874 --> 00:06:00,784 And the people got so mad at him, they said in Acts six that he's blaspheming, 128 00:06:00,814 --> 00:06:02,645 he's saying bad things about God. 129 00:06:03,905 --> 00:06:09,124 So in the early church, the Christians actually were accused of disconnecting 130 00:06:09,124 --> 00:06:10,085 themselves from the Old Testament. 131 00:06:10,085 --> 00:06:10,684 Isn't that crazy? 132 00:06:11,465 --> 00:06:13,429 The Christians, they said, the Christians don't like God. 133 00:06:15,170 --> 00:06:17,780 So the Jews would say, oh, the Christians don't like God, and 134 00:06:17,780 --> 00:06:21,800 they actually end up killing Steven because he believes the things that, 135 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:23,330 that we're teaching in this letter. 136 00:06:23,750 --> 00:06:24,349 Isn't that crazy? 137 00:06:24,890 --> 00:06:28,880 If you lived 2000 years ago, you were in danger from some people 138 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,170 for believing the things that you're hearing from this letter. 139 00:06:34,190 --> 00:06:38,659 Now, the, the Jews, their objection to what Paul's saying. 140 00:06:38,659 --> 00:06:40,550 It comes in like three stages in our passage. 141 00:06:40,550 --> 00:06:40,820 Okay. 142 00:06:40,940 --> 00:06:42,110 And these are those. 143 00:06:42,364 --> 00:06:43,594 Three stages. 144 00:06:43,683 --> 00:06:46,294 So the first thing, the first argument that, that Paul is gonna 145 00:06:46,294 --> 00:06:49,775 tackle here is that the gospel is an attack on God's people. 146 00:06:50,224 --> 00:06:52,534 So what you're gonna see in the first couple verses is he's gonna ask, 147 00:06:52,534 --> 00:06:53,554 what's the point of being Jewish? 148 00:06:53,885 --> 00:06:54,094 Right? 149 00:06:54,094 --> 00:06:56,674 If, if really, what a, remember we talked about last week? 150 00:06:56,674 --> 00:06:59,015 I showed you that milk carton, the fake milk carton I made that said 151 00:06:59,015 --> 00:07:00,905 true Jew instead of true moo, right? 152 00:07:01,325 --> 00:07:06,455 That if true Jewishness, if really being part of God's people is about your heart. 153 00:07:07,430 --> 00:07:09,290 Then what's the point of the Old Testament? 154 00:07:09,290 --> 00:07:09,440 Right? 155 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:10,220 What's the point of the law? 156 00:07:10,220 --> 00:07:11,270 What's the point of the sacrifices? 157 00:07:11,270 --> 00:07:12,380 What's the point of the temple? 158 00:07:12,470 --> 00:07:13,550 Why do we have all this stuff, right? 159 00:07:13,550 --> 00:07:20,390 What, why did God waste 39 books of the Bible on that part of, of 160 00:07:20,390 --> 00:07:23,180 religion when really it's just been about your heart the whole time? 161 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:24,680 So that's, that's one thing they're gonna say. 162 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,250 They're gonna say that it's, it's Paul, your, your disconnect 163 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:29,630 from, from the Old Testament. 164 00:07:30,469 --> 00:07:32,120 The other thing they're gonna say is, well, what about 165 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,110 all these promises God made? 166 00:07:33,859 --> 00:07:34,549 To Israel, right? 167 00:07:34,549 --> 00:07:35,810 God made all these promises to Israel. 168 00:07:35,810 --> 00:07:38,119 He made promises to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. 169 00:07:38,179 --> 00:07:38,810 What about those? 170 00:07:38,810 --> 00:07:41,570 If God breaks his promise towards those people, how do you know 171 00:07:41,570 --> 00:07:42,530 he is gonna be faithful to you? 172 00:07:43,460 --> 00:07:45,260 That's a valid question, right? 173 00:07:45,679 --> 00:07:48,440 If you're saying that, well, God's not gonna fulfill his promises 174 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,789 to Israel, then what about you? 175 00:07:49,789 --> 00:07:52,039 How do you know that God's gonna fulfill his promises to you? 176 00:07:52,310 --> 00:07:55,310 And Paul's gonna ask that address that question, and then the next thing 177 00:07:55,310 --> 00:07:58,789 he's gonna talk about is there's these people who are gonna say something. 178 00:07:59,435 --> 00:08:04,294 How can God punish my sin if my sin is actually showing his righteousness? 179 00:08:04,955 --> 00:08:08,435 If my sin shows that God is a good judge, then why is it, how can 180 00:08:08,435 --> 00:08:11,284 God punish me for helping him out because my sin is really helping him? 181 00:08:11,854 --> 00:08:12,905 That's kind of a weird argument. 182 00:08:13,414 --> 00:08:17,044 That's like saying, well, should I right? 183 00:08:17,495 --> 00:08:18,245 Maybe you've heard it this way. 184 00:08:18,815 --> 00:08:20,734 You should sin so that God can forgive you more. 185 00:08:20,765 --> 00:08:23,645 'cause it shows how forgiving God is, right? 186 00:08:23,645 --> 00:08:26,165 That's kind of a similar argument to what they're gonna say. 187 00:08:26,810 --> 00:08:27,170 Anyway. 188 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,960 So all that to say, that's what we're gonna be looking at is three 189 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,970 objections that people might have to what we just talked about last week. 190 00:08:34,970 --> 00:08:38,929 So look with me at Romans three, verses one and two. 191 00:08:39,890 --> 00:08:43,970 So first objection is what about God's people? 192 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:44,690 What about the juice? 193 00:08:44,690 --> 00:08:45,380 What's the whole point? 194 00:08:45,650 --> 00:08:50,660 First one, then, what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? 195 00:08:51,470 --> 00:08:52,010 Verse two. 196 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,750 Much in every way, which by the way. 197 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,050 That's not what you'd expect Paul to say, right? 198 00:08:57,560 --> 00:08:59,660 You tell him to say no, it doesn't give you an innate advantage, right? 199 00:08:59,660 --> 00:09:02,480 That's the whole point of Romans two, I thought, is Paul 200 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:03,380 contradicting himself now? 201 00:09:03,380 --> 00:09:03,920 What's happening? 202 00:09:04,850 --> 00:09:07,790 Why is he saying that Jews have an advantage when he just said that 203 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:10,460 they're just equally guilty before God? 204 00:09:11,540 --> 00:09:12,200 That's confusing. 205 00:09:13,130 --> 00:09:14,060 And he says, why? 206 00:09:14,090 --> 00:09:18,530 To begin with, first of all, the Jews were entrusted with the Oracles of 207 00:09:18,530 --> 00:09:21,410 God, the words of God the Jews got. 208 00:09:21,470 --> 00:09:23,750 They received what God said. 209 00:09:25,070 --> 00:09:27,530 So Paul doesn't say, the Jews have no advantages. 210 00:09:27,530 --> 00:09:29,000 He says they have a lot. 211 00:09:29,990 --> 00:09:32,690 And then he says, first of all, what's funny too, I don't know if you guys 212 00:09:32,690 --> 00:09:35,780 know who Charles Barkley is, he does the same thing that Paul's doing here. 213 00:09:35,930 --> 00:09:38,150 He says, first of all, he's a guy, he's a sports guy on tv. 214 00:09:38,150 --> 00:09:40,460 He says, first of all, and then he doesn't say anything after, like 215 00:09:40,490 --> 00:09:42,110 he doesn't say second or third. 216 00:09:42,110 --> 00:09:43,010 He doesn't make any other points. 217 00:09:43,010 --> 00:09:45,590 He just says, first of all, for everything, that's what Paul's doing here. 218 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:47,600 He says to begin with, and then he says nothing. 219 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,750 He just makes one point, he says, first of all, and then that's it. 220 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:52,520 But I think what he's doing is he's saying. 221 00:09:52,910 --> 00:09:54,500 This is really the biggest advantage. 222 00:09:55,100 --> 00:09:56,720 This is the main advantage. 223 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:58,700 This is the one that you really need to care about. 224 00:09:59,540 --> 00:10:04,460 The first advantage that the Jews have is that they have God's very words. 225 00:10:04,670 --> 00:10:05,810 He doesn't say it's the temple. 226 00:10:06,020 --> 00:10:07,520 He doesn't say it's promises to Abraham. 227 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:11,630 He doesn't say it's stories about miracles that God did. 228 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:17,750 He says it's, they have the very words of God, and you have that same 229 00:10:17,750 --> 00:10:21,110 advantage today if you think about it, you have the very words of God. 230 00:10:21,110 --> 00:10:22,250 In fact, you have more. 231 00:10:22,910 --> 00:10:23,690 Of God's words. 232 00:10:23,780 --> 00:10:28,850 You have better access to God's words, and I want you to be thankful for that. 233 00:10:28,850 --> 00:10:33,710 But I also want you to feel the right way about the fact that you have God's words. 234 00:10:33,710 --> 00:10:35,960 So for our first point tonight, write down like this, treasure 235 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,510 what God has written for you. 236 00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:40,730 I want it to be precious to you. 237 00:10:41,450 --> 00:10:42,530 I want you to treasure it. 238 00:10:42,620 --> 00:10:45,260 I want it to be special to you, and I want it to be important. 239 00:10:45,350 --> 00:10:46,460 I want it to be valuable. 240 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,250 That's why I picked that word treasure. 241 00:10:52,685 --> 00:10:58,025 There's no greater privilege anyone can have than having the written words of God. 242 00:10:59,705 --> 00:11:02,435 And maybe you've never thought about this, but think about it the opposite way. 243 00:11:03,065 --> 00:11:07,025 What if you never received anything from God? 244 00:11:08,765 --> 00:11:09,755 No written words. 245 00:11:10,745 --> 00:11:12,275 You didn't know who Jesus was. 246 00:11:13,385 --> 00:11:16,595 You didn't know how someone paid for your sin. 247 00:11:17,015 --> 00:11:18,840 You didn't know that God loved you. 248 00:11:20,690 --> 00:11:23,450 You would be a totally different person if you had never 249 00:11:23,450 --> 00:11:24,950 heard of any of those things. 250 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,740 In our culture, we really like written, original, written things. 251 00:11:31,070 --> 00:11:32,420 I saw this recently. 252 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:38,780 There was a sports autographed card that sold for $12 million, 253 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,650 um, which, when you think about it, I also found that, so George Washington's 254 00:11:45,650 --> 00:11:47,060 own copy of the Constitution. 255 00:11:47,705 --> 00:11:53,045 That he like signed, like his actual copy was worth less than this card. 256 00:11:54,785 --> 00:11:56,795 George Washington's copy of the Constitution was 10 million. 257 00:11:57,035 --> 00:12:03,125 This card was worth almost $13 million 'cause it has Kobe's signature and 258 00:12:03,125 --> 00:12:04,505 it has Michael Jordan's signature. 259 00:12:05,915 --> 00:12:11,225 $13 million for this one card with two signatures on it, right? 260 00:12:11,225 --> 00:12:12,995 Two really like what four words. 261 00:12:14,135 --> 00:12:19,145 On this card, but because it has those very original words, right, the 262 00:12:19,145 --> 00:12:23,345 very words of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, it gets sold for $13 million. 263 00:12:23,345 --> 00:12:27,485 In fact, this is the second most expensive sports collective of all time, and it's 264 00:12:27,485 --> 00:12:32,584 only half of the most, which is Babe Ruth, babe Ruth's World series Jersey 265 00:12:33,515 --> 00:12:36,709 from the 1930s, which was $24 million. 266 00:12:37,835 --> 00:12:38,525 Which is crazy. 267 00:12:39,035 --> 00:12:41,135 So people are spending this type of money. 268 00:12:41,135 --> 00:12:44,285 Think of all the things you could buy for $13 million. 269 00:12:44,945 --> 00:12:45,815 Think of all the Dr. 270 00:12:45,815 --> 00:12:46,955 Pepper you could buy for 13. 271 00:12:47,525 --> 00:12:49,775 Um, 13 million. 272 00:12:49,865 --> 00:12:51,155 It's a lot of money, right? 273 00:12:51,155 --> 00:12:55,445 Someone spent $13 million on this card just to have it, right? 274 00:12:55,445 --> 00:12:57,005 Like, what good does this do them? 275 00:12:57,065 --> 00:12:57,605 Like, like, cool. 276 00:12:57,605 --> 00:12:59,525 They can show it to you when they, when you come over to their house 277 00:13:00,125 --> 00:13:01,595 like this does not really help them. 278 00:13:01,985 --> 00:13:04,475 Like this isn't gonna help them get a job. 279 00:13:05,210 --> 00:13:08,660 This isn't gonna help them be like a good family member. 280 00:13:08,930 --> 00:13:13,310 This isn't gonna help them live a second longer of their life. 281 00:13:13,730 --> 00:13:16,670 Like this is not gonna do anything for them, but they 282 00:13:17,060 --> 00:13:19,160 think it's worth $13 million. 283 00:13:19,460 --> 00:13:19,819 Right. 284 00:13:22,340 --> 00:13:25,699 So what's the advantage of having this card? 285 00:13:27,590 --> 00:13:28,460 I mean, you look cool. 286 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,490 You could sell it for more money maybe, right? 287 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:32,180 But why? 288 00:13:32,180 --> 00:13:33,470 Why would you buy it in the first place? 289 00:13:33,949 --> 00:13:34,310 Well. 290 00:13:35,390 --> 00:13:37,220 I want you to think about what's the advantage of 291 00:13:37,220 --> 00:13:39,230 having written words from God? 292 00:13:39,410 --> 00:13:39,590 Right? 293 00:13:39,590 --> 00:13:39,770 Why? 294 00:13:39,805 --> 00:13:41,180 Why did God write a book? 295 00:13:41,990 --> 00:13:44,060 Because I think a lot of us, if we're honest, we'd say, I 296 00:13:44,060 --> 00:13:47,570 would rather God show up, right? 297 00:13:48,350 --> 00:13:50,420 A lot of us think, oh, I wish I was one of the disciples. 298 00:13:50,420 --> 00:13:54,800 I could have seen Jesus and talk with him, or, I wish I was Moses 299 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,060 and I could have heard God's voice. 300 00:13:56,915 --> 00:13:59,180 Because I think a lot of us, if we're honest, that's how we feel. 301 00:13:59,795 --> 00:14:02,105 I wish God would just appear to me and show me that he's real and 302 00:14:02,105 --> 00:14:02,945 tell me what he wants me to do. 303 00:14:03,215 --> 00:14:04,535 Why did he have to give me a book? 304 00:14:05,285 --> 00:14:06,005 I don't like books. 305 00:14:06,005 --> 00:14:06,785 Books are confusing. 306 00:14:07,115 --> 00:14:07,835 Books are old. 307 00:14:08,165 --> 00:14:09,035 Books are hard to read. 308 00:14:09,395 --> 00:14:10,085 Books are boring. 309 00:14:10,475 --> 00:14:11,615 Why did God give me a book? 310 00:14:12,485 --> 00:14:14,375 I would, why didn't he give me a YouTube video? 311 00:14:14,915 --> 00:14:16,235 Why didn't, because he could've done that, right? 312 00:14:16,415 --> 00:14:18,605 Why doesn't he just show up to every single person and 313 00:14:18,605 --> 00:14:19,565 show them that who he is? 314 00:14:19,715 --> 00:14:21,665 Why did Jesus even go back to heaven in the first place? 315 00:14:21,755 --> 00:14:24,485 Why couldn't he just stay down here and walked around and, and 316 00:14:24,545 --> 00:14:26,975 he could have eventually talked to every single person, right? 317 00:14:27,425 --> 00:14:28,205 Why didn't he do that? 318 00:14:29,465 --> 00:14:34,475 It's really easy to, to forget the advantages and actually why? 319 00:14:34,564 --> 00:14:35,645 'cause God's really smart. 320 00:14:35,824 --> 00:14:39,574 I hope we all realize that God isn't like, oh, I never thought of that. 321 00:14:39,605 --> 00:14:40,775 I didn't know YouTube would exist. 322 00:14:40,985 --> 00:14:42,395 God knew YouTube would exist. 323 00:14:42,605 --> 00:14:46,895 God knew that you would maybe rather see him and hear him, 324 00:14:47,105 --> 00:14:48,245 but instead he gave you a book. 325 00:14:48,995 --> 00:14:50,345 So why, why would that be? 326 00:14:50,345 --> 00:14:51,275 Well, I want you to think about this. 327 00:14:52,055 --> 00:14:55,115 Think about even like with, um, think about with Abraham. 328 00:14:55,235 --> 00:14:55,505 Okay. 329 00:14:55,715 --> 00:14:57,425 Let's say you're one of Abraham's servants. 330 00:14:58,625 --> 00:15:02,435 Abraham said, you're living with Abraham in around like Iran. 331 00:15:02,975 --> 00:15:05,555 That's where Abraham was from, and you're one of Abraham's service. 332 00:15:05,555 --> 00:15:06,725 And Abraham says, Hey guys. 333 00:15:07,205 --> 00:15:14,525 Um, God told me that we have to move across like hundreds of miles to 334 00:15:14,525 --> 00:15:15,875 this land that he's gonna give me. 335 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:21,065 What would you say he'd be like, one, who's this God that you're 336 00:15:21,065 --> 00:15:21,965 talking about, never heard of him? 337 00:15:22,715 --> 00:15:23,195 Two. 338 00:15:23,465 --> 00:15:24,755 Why do we have to move three? 339 00:15:24,755 --> 00:15:25,625 How do you know he said that? 340 00:15:26,855 --> 00:15:27,425 Four. 341 00:15:27,455 --> 00:15:28,775 What did you eat for dinner last night? 342 00:15:29,525 --> 00:15:29,795 Right? 343 00:15:29,795 --> 00:15:30,935 You'd be like, what are we doing? 344 00:15:30,935 --> 00:15:35,075 And then when God tells Abraham, Hey, you need to do some stuff to show that you're 345 00:15:35,075 --> 00:15:37,835 part of my people, you'd be like, hang on. 346 00:15:38,795 --> 00:15:39,965 Why are you sharpening the rock? 347 00:15:40,625 --> 00:15:41,435 Let's not do that. 348 00:15:41,495 --> 00:15:41,765 Right. 349 00:15:41,765 --> 00:15:42,335 That would be weird. 350 00:15:42,335 --> 00:15:43,265 That probably went over most of your heads. 351 00:15:43,265 --> 00:15:43,425 That's okay. 352 00:15:44,405 --> 00:15:47,465 That you'd be like, what are we doing? 353 00:15:48,365 --> 00:15:50,675 Because God only gave that to Abraham, right? 354 00:15:50,675 --> 00:15:51,755 He didn't give it to Abraham's servants. 355 00:15:51,755 --> 00:15:52,625 He didn't tell Abraham's servants. 356 00:15:53,045 --> 00:15:56,045 Hey, but also what if Abraham misinterpreted it, right? 357 00:15:56,045 --> 00:16:00,755 What if Abraham heard what God said and then was like, Hey guys, uh, we're gonna 358 00:16:00,755 --> 00:16:02,435 move across the, you know, the desert. 359 00:16:02,435 --> 00:16:04,775 We're gonna, we're gonna walk with our camels all the way across 360 00:16:04,955 --> 00:16:05,975 and move there side of thing. 361 00:16:06,005 --> 00:16:07,535 And what if God really didn't mean that? 362 00:16:09,635 --> 00:16:14,555 Or what if Abraham forgot half of what God told him? 363 00:16:14,735 --> 00:16:15,155 Right? 364 00:16:15,815 --> 00:16:19,895 So the thing with getting a vision from God is that. 365 00:16:21,215 --> 00:16:22,745 One, you might forget it. 366 00:16:23,165 --> 00:16:24,215 You might forget parts of it. 367 00:16:24,995 --> 00:16:25,295 Right? 368 00:16:25,295 --> 00:16:28,715 You might misinterpret it Also, how you know it's really from God. 369 00:16:29,825 --> 00:16:34,685 Also, eventually you're gonna wanna write it down anyway because you're 370 00:16:34,685 --> 00:16:38,135 not gonna be able to, to just replay it all the time perfectly. 371 00:16:38,615 --> 00:16:42,245 So there's, there's a lot of things that are wrong with that are maybe 372 00:16:42,245 --> 00:16:45,695 disadvantages of having a vision compared to having a written sentence. 373 00:16:45,845 --> 00:16:47,555 Here's what God said, right? 374 00:16:47,555 --> 00:16:48,725 Because Abraham can't be like. 375 00:16:49,490 --> 00:16:50,329 This is what God said. 376 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:51,170 Don't take it from me. 377 00:16:51,319 --> 00:16:52,069 Take it from God. 378 00:16:52,430 --> 00:16:55,790 Because Abraham has to say, God told me this. 379 00:16:56,150 --> 00:16:56,570 Right? 380 00:16:57,830 --> 00:17:01,009 It's kind of like when you tell your siblings, right? 381 00:17:01,009 --> 00:17:03,920 When your, when your mom says, Hey, um, can you tell your 382 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:05,659 siblings to take out the trash? 383 00:17:06,019 --> 00:17:07,544 And you go, tell your siblings, take out the trash. 384 00:17:07,848 --> 00:17:10,699 Mom said so, and they're like, really? 385 00:17:12,499 --> 00:17:13,669 Did you, did she really say that? 386 00:17:13,669 --> 00:17:14,479 Or are you just making that up? 387 00:17:15,814 --> 00:17:16,444 You are like, no, no, no. 388 00:17:16,444 --> 00:17:19,983 Mom said so like, believe me, mom told, and then what do you have to say? 389 00:17:20,763 --> 00:17:21,665 Go ask mom. 390 00:17:22,204 --> 00:17:23,104 That's all you have to say. 391 00:17:23,284 --> 00:17:25,204 Unless your siblings trust you for whatever reason. 392 00:17:25,473 --> 00:17:30,754 I don't know why they would, but, um, so I want you to think about if God 393 00:17:30,754 --> 00:17:34,145 just gave everyone a vision, you'd have no way of actually knowing whether 394 00:17:34,145 --> 00:17:35,405 those visions agreed with each other. 395 00:17:36,304 --> 00:17:37,175 'cause you have to talk about it. 396 00:17:37,175 --> 00:17:38,975 And then someone could make it up, someone could lie about it. 397 00:17:39,155 --> 00:17:43,534 But the fact that you have a book from God means you can say, here's what God said. 398 00:17:44,945 --> 00:17:49,384 God said, you know, fill in the blank and you, you read a sentence, right? 399 00:17:49,894 --> 00:17:50,794 God said, 400 00:17:52,834 --> 00:17:53,675 Jesus wept. 401 00:17:54,304 --> 00:17:55,205 And you can say that. 402 00:17:56,165 --> 00:17:56,945 That's what God said. 403 00:17:57,965 --> 00:17:58,745 Easy, right? 404 00:17:58,804 --> 00:18:01,144 God said in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 405 00:18:01,594 --> 00:18:03,394 You can point to the Bible and say that if someone says, well, I 406 00:18:03,394 --> 00:18:04,144 don't know if he really said that. 407 00:18:04,144 --> 00:18:05,794 You can say, well, look, here's what he said. 408 00:18:05,824 --> 00:18:06,455 Don't take it from me. 409 00:18:06,485 --> 00:18:07,054 Take it from God. 410 00:18:07,475 --> 00:18:10,175 So there's advantages to having the written words. 411 00:18:10,175 --> 00:18:12,544 Also, if you forget it, guess what? 412 00:18:13,055 --> 00:18:14,975 You can read it, right? 413 00:18:14,975 --> 00:18:17,555 Imagine if you got a vision from God and then you forgot what he said. 414 00:18:17,585 --> 00:18:19,115 You are like, oh, I don't know if he said this or this. 415 00:18:20,255 --> 00:18:20,855 What do you do? 416 00:18:22,655 --> 00:18:24,395 You, you said to pick something, right? 417 00:18:24,785 --> 00:18:27,815 So there's advantages to having a written word. 418 00:18:28,505 --> 00:18:32,825 Also, they're so accessible, right? 419 00:18:32,825 --> 00:18:35,255 Because you can, you can copy it, you can pass it on to someone, 420 00:18:35,255 --> 00:18:36,035 you can give it to someone else. 421 00:18:37,535 --> 00:18:40,595 So they're easy to study because you can sit down and 422 00:18:40,595 --> 00:18:41,795 think about it and look at it. 423 00:18:42,544 --> 00:18:45,485 There's a ton of advantages to having a written word, but also, I don't 424 00:18:45,485 --> 00:18:47,194 just want you to be grateful for it. 425 00:18:47,374 --> 00:18:49,144 I want you to enjoy it. 426 00:18:49,144 --> 00:18:50,194 That's why I picked that word treasure. 427 00:18:50,194 --> 00:18:51,215 I don't want you to be like, all right, cool. 428 00:18:51,215 --> 00:18:52,384 I know I'm supposed to like the Bible. 429 00:18:52,384 --> 00:18:52,654 Great. 430 00:18:53,014 --> 00:18:55,955 I want you to feel a certain way about the Bible. 431 00:18:56,735 --> 00:19:00,995 It's kind of like, so, um, I went to someone's house recently and, 432 00:19:01,144 --> 00:19:06,424 um, they were awesome hosts and they made great food, but unfortunately 433 00:19:06,694 --> 00:19:11,344 they put cilantro in their food and I, I don't like cilantro. 434 00:19:12,530 --> 00:19:18,740 So I was very thankful for their food and I ate it and I enjoyed it a little bit, 435 00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:21,650 but I really didn't like it that much. 436 00:19:21,980 --> 00:19:22,160 Right? 437 00:19:22,190 --> 00:19:23,030 'cause it had cilantro in it. 438 00:19:23,150 --> 00:19:23,990 But I was grateful for it. 439 00:19:24,020 --> 00:19:25,070 I appreciated it. 440 00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:27,680 And maybe that's where you're at with the Bible. 441 00:19:28,490 --> 00:19:30,920 Maybe you're like, I'm grateful that God gave me a Bible. 442 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,430 I appreciate it, but I'd really prefer if it was something different. 443 00:19:35,390 --> 00:19:36,470 It's really just not my thing 444 00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:39,500 versus. 445 00:19:41,074 --> 00:19:45,695 If you went to In-N-Out, you wouldn't just be like, well, I'm really, 446 00:19:45,695 --> 00:19:47,824 if I thought, you know, if we came over to that person's house and they 447 00:19:47,824 --> 00:19:48,870 said, Hey, let's just go to In-N-Out. 448 00:19:49,564 --> 00:19:52,084 I wouldn't be like, oh yeah, thank you. 449 00:19:52,084 --> 00:19:52,894 I'm really grateful. 450 00:19:54,034 --> 00:19:55,174 I'd be like, that's awesome. 451 00:19:55,534 --> 00:19:57,034 Best idea you've had all day. 452 00:19:57,064 --> 00:19:58,414 Let's definitely go to Inn Out. 453 00:19:58,745 --> 00:19:58,955 Right? 454 00:19:58,955 --> 00:19:59,914 I'd be excited about it. 455 00:19:59,914 --> 00:20:02,404 I'd be think if they, or if they told me beforehand, like, Hey guys, 456 00:20:02,404 --> 00:20:03,544 we're having In-N-Out for dinner. 457 00:20:03,965 --> 00:20:04,174 Right? 458 00:20:04,174 --> 00:20:07,379 Imagine if you, I told you, Hey, we're having In-N-Out at True North. 459 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,810 Bet you would, you would be way more excited about True North, right? 460 00:20:12,649 --> 00:20:13,699 You would enjoy it more. 461 00:20:13,699 --> 00:20:16,999 You would enjoy the process of eating more because like I'm sitting 462 00:20:16,999 --> 00:20:19,969 there eating, you know, this meal that I'm really grateful for. 463 00:20:20,570 --> 00:20:23,509 I'm sitting there eating this meal and I'm just like, I'm eating it. 464 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:25,850 I'm digesting it. 465 00:20:25,850 --> 00:20:29,120 I'm chewing it, but it's not like I'm not savoring the meal. 466 00:20:29,959 --> 00:20:30,320 You know? 467 00:20:30,409 --> 00:20:32,090 And maybe that's you with your Bible. 468 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,675 You read it and you're like, it's like you're going to the dentist. 469 00:20:36,665 --> 00:20:40,264 It's like you're eating that, you're eating that meal. 470 00:20:40,264 --> 00:20:42,274 You're like, I'm grateful for this, but it's not my favorite. 471 00:20:42,514 --> 00:20:43,445 I'm not enjoying this. 472 00:20:44,794 --> 00:20:49,985 I want you to, to feel like your Bible is in and out. 473 00:20:51,784 --> 00:20:56,614 I want you to enjoy your Bible more than you enjoy in and out or your 474 00:20:56,614 --> 00:21:00,245 favorite food or whatever, because that's how the Bible talks about itself. 475 00:21:01,264 --> 00:21:04,235 The Bible compares itself to really good food. 476 00:21:05,629 --> 00:21:10,250 And so I want you to feel a certain way about the Bible. 477 00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:11,750 I want you to feel like I need the Bible. 478 00:21:11,990 --> 00:21:14,570 Like it's, I'm so excited to, to, to read it. 479 00:21:14,870 --> 00:21:16,790 I'm so excited to hear someone talk about it. 480 00:21:16,910 --> 00:21:18,200 I'm so excited to listen to his sermon. 481 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:24,920 I'm so excited to memorize it, and I want you to enjoy it because 482 00:21:25,129 --> 00:21:26,720 that's God's design for you. 483 00:21:27,350 --> 00:21:30,020 God's design is for the Bible to be your food. 484 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:32,690 God's design is for the Bible to be. 485 00:21:33,259 --> 00:21:34,399 Like treasure to you. 486 00:21:35,330 --> 00:21:38,600 That's what you, that's what his word says about itself. 487 00:21:38,629 --> 00:21:42,769 I want you to see that the Bible is sweet, that the Bible is enjoyable, 488 00:21:42,769 --> 00:21:43,939 that the Bible is precious. 489 00:21:43,939 --> 00:21:50,029 That the Bible is awesome because that's the way God designed it for you. 490 00:21:50,269 --> 00:21:54,169 And the the reason is not because it's some old book that tells you what to do. 491 00:21:54,590 --> 00:21:58,559 The reason that you're, that the Bible is supposed to be. 492 00:21:59,345 --> 00:22:00,755 This awesome thing for you. 493 00:22:00,755 --> 00:22:02,435 I realize I didn't even show you this picture. 494 00:22:02,435 --> 00:22:03,665 Isn't this just make you smile? 495 00:22:04,235 --> 00:22:05,135 Isn't this so good? 496 00:22:06,995 --> 00:22:12,335 See, y'all just like visibly reacted to that, right? 497 00:22:12,485 --> 00:22:15,665 When was the last time you had that type of reaction for God's word? 498 00:22:17,825 --> 00:22:18,215 Right? 499 00:22:18,485 --> 00:22:23,105 When was the last time that you saw your Bible and were like, that's awesome. 500 00:22:23,105 --> 00:22:24,065 I'm so excited for that. 501 00:22:24,290 --> 00:22:24,640 Right? 502 00:22:26,675 --> 00:22:29,855 I would say that most of you probably would rather think 503 00:22:29,855 --> 00:22:31,805 about this than think about this, 504 00:22:35,254 --> 00:22:39,605 and honestly that that shows that there's something wrong with us, right? 505 00:22:41,195 --> 00:22:43,895 Because we love this more than this, and 506 00:22:45,965 --> 00:22:47,405 that shows that there's something wrong with this. 507 00:22:48,995 --> 00:22:50,765 So what if you're like, oh, how do I get there? 508 00:22:51,725 --> 00:22:52,355 What do I do? 509 00:22:52,985 --> 00:22:54,785 Well, one, ask God. 510 00:22:56,659 --> 00:23:00,860 So many of, so actually the longest chapter in the Bible is about the Bible, 511 00:23:01,129 --> 00:23:07,250 Psalm one 19, and most of it is prayers for the, it's the guy talking to God 512 00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:11,510 about the Bible, and he's asking him, sometimes he's asking God to help him 513 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:13,460 feel the right way about the Bible. 514 00:23:13,665 --> 00:23:20,899 He's asking God to, to help him feel the right way about God's work. 515 00:23:22,219 --> 00:23:26,509 So ask God like, and I've legitimately prayed this before, I've sat down 516 00:23:26,509 --> 00:23:29,509 before my Bible reading and said, God, I don't feel like reading this right now. 517 00:23:30,439 --> 00:23:34,249 Please make this better to me than inn out. 518 00:23:34,729 --> 00:23:36,350 I have actually prayed that 519 00:23:38,689 --> 00:23:41,179 I've sat down and been like, God, I want to like this more than inn out. 520 00:23:41,239 --> 00:23:42,620 'cause I know it's better for me than inn out. 521 00:23:44,959 --> 00:23:47,360 Pray that it's, that's, that's a viable prayer. 522 00:23:47,749 --> 00:23:49,969 You can pray that prayer or pick your favorite food or whatever. 523 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,699 And the goal is for your spiritual taste buds to change, 524 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,919 and God can do that for you. 525 00:23:57,919 --> 00:23:59,540 But also the, the like. 526 00:23:59,780 --> 00:24:02,090 Also kinda like with, with coffee, right? 527 00:24:02,090 --> 00:24:06,139 A lot of people don't like coffee at first, but it's an acquired taste, right? 528 00:24:06,139 --> 00:24:08,330 They, they, that's what your parents tell you because you try coffee 529 00:24:08,330 --> 00:24:09,320 and you're like, this stinks. 530 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:10,040 This is terrible. 531 00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:11,149 Why do you drink this every day? 532 00:24:11,629 --> 00:24:15,050 One 'cause they need it and then they start to like it. 533 00:24:15,889 --> 00:24:16,310 Right. 534 00:24:16,970 --> 00:24:19,909 That's a lot of times how your relationship with the Bible is gonna work. 535 00:24:19,909 --> 00:24:21,200 You start because you need it. 536 00:24:21,230 --> 00:24:23,000 You say, I'm gonna die without this. 537 00:24:23,510 --> 00:24:25,310 God's word gives me life. 538 00:24:25,340 --> 00:24:26,480 God's word gives me wisdom. 539 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:27,440 I am foolish. 540 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:28,129 I need help. 541 00:24:28,610 --> 00:24:29,450 I need God's help. 542 00:24:29,450 --> 00:24:30,560 I don't just need human help. 543 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:31,340 I need God's help. 544 00:24:31,340 --> 00:24:32,570 And so where do I go for God's help? 545 00:24:32,570 --> 00:24:33,230 I go to the Bible. 546 00:24:33,260 --> 00:24:34,610 'cause the Bible is God's word. 547 00:24:34,970 --> 00:24:36,350 The Bible gets me God. 548 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,000 This is the closest I'm gonna get to hearing God speak out loud, is 549 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,879 reading the Bible and I need it. 550 00:24:44,419 --> 00:24:46,909 Then you read it and you read more of it and you say, oh, this actually 551 00:24:46,909 --> 00:24:47,870 God knows what he's talking about. 552 00:24:48,379 --> 00:24:51,709 God, there's no one like the God that I read about in these pages. 553 00:24:52,429 --> 00:24:53,720 There's, there's no one like this. 554 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:54,889 God, no one talks like him. 555 00:24:55,070 --> 00:24:56,720 No one says the things that he says. 556 00:24:57,139 --> 00:24:59,270 No one knows me the way he knows me. 557 00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:03,740 And you see those things and you're like, oh, this, this starts to make sense. 558 00:25:03,949 --> 00:25:04,580 And you read it. 559 00:25:04,580 --> 00:25:07,250 You encounter God in his word and he changes you. 560 00:25:09,110 --> 00:25:13,550 So I want you to, to see God's word the way. 561 00:25:14,735 --> 00:25:16,655 That God designed it to be for you. 562 00:25:16,685 --> 00:25:20,195 God didn't design Bible reading to, to be boring or lame. 563 00:25:22,325 --> 00:25:26,675 And the way you get there is sometimes an acquired taste, and sometimes 564 00:25:26,675 --> 00:25:27,875 you don't feel like it at first. 565 00:25:27,875 --> 00:25:30,935 And you start, and then you start and, and it gets better as you go. 566 00:25:32,465 --> 00:25:34,955 But also God will help you with that. 567 00:25:35,105 --> 00:25:37,325 And if you, you ask him, there's, there's a lot of prayers in the 568 00:25:37,325 --> 00:25:40,355 Bible that are, God help me, like the Bible, help me feel the way I'm 569 00:25:40,355 --> 00:25:41,375 supposed to feel about this thing. 570 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,929 Anyway, I spent way too long talking about that, but that's okay. 571 00:25:46,129 --> 00:25:49,129 So we're talking about objections to, to God's word, right? 572 00:25:49,129 --> 00:25:50,239 Objections to this passage. 573 00:25:50,239 --> 00:25:53,509 So the first objection was that the Gospel's attack on God's people. 574 00:25:53,629 --> 00:25:57,709 The second objection is that the gospel is an attack on God's promises. 575 00:25:57,739 --> 00:26:00,020 It makes God unfaithful to the Jews. 576 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,479 So look at verse three and four here. 577 00:26:03,980 --> 00:26:06,740 So what if some of the Jews were unfaithful, right? 578 00:26:06,740 --> 00:26:10,129 They disobeyed God does their faithfulness or faith? 579 00:26:10,129 --> 00:26:13,760 Let faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God. 580 00:26:14,210 --> 00:26:18,260 And then Paul says, by no means when you see that in the Bible, by no means, that's 581 00:26:18,260 --> 00:26:20,360 like the strongest way Paul can say no. 582 00:26:21,260 --> 00:26:22,760 That's like absolutely not. 583 00:26:22,850 --> 00:26:23,629 No way. 584 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:24,500 Not at all. 585 00:26:25,550 --> 00:26:26,930 Let God be true. 586 00:26:27,874 --> 00:26:31,654 Though everyone were a liar, as it is written that you may be justified in your 587 00:26:31,654 --> 00:26:34,324 words and prevail when you were judged. 588 00:26:34,324 --> 00:26:37,024 So this thing right here in quotes, right, that's a quote from the Old 589 00:26:37,024 --> 00:26:38,915 Testament, that's a quote from Psalm 51. 590 00:26:39,124 --> 00:26:43,415 Psalm 51, is when David is praying and he's confessing his sin to 591 00:26:43,415 --> 00:26:45,034 God, he's saying, God, I messed up. 592 00:26:46,475 --> 00:26:49,745 And part of confessing sin is acknowledging God. 593 00:26:50,134 --> 00:26:53,014 You have the right to judge me. 594 00:26:54,334 --> 00:26:55,834 You're God, I'm not. 595 00:26:55,985 --> 00:26:56,614 I'm guilty. 596 00:26:58,115 --> 00:26:59,465 That's what confessing sin is. 597 00:26:59,465 --> 00:27:02,044 It means agreeing with God about your sin. 598 00:27:02,735 --> 00:27:06,395 So that's what David's doing in this Psalm that Paul's quoting. 599 00:27:07,175 --> 00:27:12,965 So Paul is saying, actually, this is what the Old Testament says, and 600 00:27:12,965 --> 00:27:19,385 this is what I'm saying, that God is faithful even when he judges sin. 601 00:27:20,585 --> 00:27:25,024 God is faithful even when he judges sin, which is really 602 00:27:25,024 --> 00:27:25,925 interesting when you think about it. 603 00:27:25,925 --> 00:27:26,060 You probably. 604 00:27:26,645 --> 00:27:27,605 This might be new for you. 605 00:27:28,505 --> 00:27:31,685 God punishing sin is him keeping his promises. 606 00:27:33,455 --> 00:27:35,615 God punishing sin is him keeping his promises. 607 00:27:35,615 --> 00:27:39,485 So our second point tonight, see God's faithfulness in his judgment. 608 00:27:41,945 --> 00:27:43,955 See God's faithfulness in his judgment. 609 00:27:44,345 --> 00:27:48,130 I want you to see when God punishes sin, he's being true to who he says he is. 610 00:27:53,195 --> 00:27:57,245 When God condemns something for being sinful or when he sends a person to 611 00:27:57,245 --> 00:28:00,935 hell, he's being true to who he is. 612 00:28:01,324 --> 00:28:04,085 He's following through on what he said he was going to do. 613 00:28:04,865 --> 00:28:05,764 He's keeping a promise. 614 00:28:05,764 --> 00:28:07,865 Usually, we only think of God's promises in a positive light. 615 00:28:08,375 --> 00:28:12,845 Like, oh God promises that he won't lose any of his people. 616 00:28:13,895 --> 00:28:14,284 That's great. 617 00:28:14,284 --> 00:28:15,574 That's just an encouraging promise, right? 618 00:28:15,574 --> 00:28:16,504 To know that that. 619 00:28:16,820 --> 00:28:20,570 No Christian, no real Christian will ever lose their salvation. 620 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:21,770 That's such an encouraging promise. 621 00:28:22,639 --> 00:28:28,250 But another of God's promises is also that no one will escape his 622 00:28:28,250 --> 00:28:30,440 judgment if they're not saved. 623 00:28:30,710 --> 00:28:33,710 That's, and so when God follows through on that promise, he's keeping 624 00:28:33,710 --> 00:28:35,510 his promises, he's being faithful. 625 00:28:37,790 --> 00:28:39,350 One of my friends from. 626 00:28:40,189 --> 00:28:41,659 Seminary from school. 627 00:28:41,810 --> 00:28:45,290 He, um, had five kids and they were crazy kids. 628 00:28:46,070 --> 00:28:50,959 And one of the reason they were crazy kids is because my friend was not very 629 00:28:50,959 --> 00:28:53,600 good at following through as a dad. 630 00:28:54,679 --> 00:28:58,729 So what happened is he, his, he had three boys that were like eight to 631 00:28:58,729 --> 00:29:02,149 four, and they would do something crazy and he'd be like, stop it. 632 00:29:03,379 --> 00:29:04,070 And they would do it again. 633 00:29:04,070 --> 00:29:04,820 He'd be like, stop it. 634 00:29:05,719 --> 00:29:06,350 And they'd do it again. 635 00:29:06,350 --> 00:29:06,949 He'd be like, stop it. 636 00:29:07,835 --> 00:29:08,945 And he wouldn't do anything about it. 637 00:29:09,064 --> 00:29:11,254 He would just sit there and be like, oh, stop that. 638 00:29:11,254 --> 00:29:12,485 And then just like keep doing his thing. 639 00:29:12,605 --> 00:29:14,225 And he never followed through on anything. 640 00:29:14,764 --> 00:29:16,625 He would just tell him to stop it and then nothing would happen. 641 00:29:17,225 --> 00:29:21,365 So they learned, oh, he just says, stop it, and I can just keep doing it. 642 00:29:22,625 --> 00:29:26,915 So they learned that their dad was not faithful to his promises. 643 00:29:28,054 --> 00:29:33,875 They learned, oh, my dad doesn't keep his word so I can just keep doing it. 644 00:29:33,875 --> 00:29:34,564 He's never gonna do anything. 645 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,689 Sometimes that's how we think about God. 646 00:29:39,409 --> 00:29:40,939 Well, I sinned and nothing bad happened. 647 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:42,590 I sinned. 648 00:29:42,620 --> 00:29:43,370 Nothing bad happened. 649 00:29:44,510 --> 00:29:45,139 I'll sin more. 650 00:29:45,169 --> 00:29:47,179 Nothing bad happens, I'll sin more. 651 00:29:47,210 --> 00:29:51,350 Nothing bad happens, and we trick ourselves into thinking that God is not 652 00:29:51,350 --> 00:29:54,800 faithful to His promises, that God is just gonna keep being patient forever. 653 00:29:55,010 --> 00:29:58,970 Like we talked about a few weeks ago, we talked about that, that God's patience 654 00:29:58,970 --> 00:30:00,409 is meant to lead you to repentance. 655 00:30:00,409 --> 00:30:03,264 It's not meant for you to keep on going and going and going down. 656 00:30:03,949 --> 00:30:04,909 You're a sinful path. 657 00:30:07,070 --> 00:30:12,379 So I want you to remember that God is not just faithful to keep his good promises. 658 00:30:12,739 --> 00:30:15,500 He's also faithful to keep his judgment promises. 659 00:30:16,939 --> 00:30:21,649 So if you think God is like my friend who just says, stop it, and then doesn't do 660 00:30:21,649 --> 00:30:25,189 anything, you're tricking yourself, right? 661 00:30:25,189 --> 00:30:29,090 If you're sitting here and, and you know, oh, I'm sinning and nothing's 662 00:30:29,090 --> 00:30:30,620 bad, nothing bad's happened to me yet. 663 00:30:32,239 --> 00:30:34,639 You're really saying, God, you're not gonna keep your promises. 664 00:30:36,050 --> 00:30:39,739 That's what you do when you keep on sinning, even as a Christian. 665 00:30:40,550 --> 00:30:42,979 If you're a Christian, you say something like, oh, God will forgive me anyway. 666 00:30:44,959 --> 00:30:49,280 Well, God promises to discipline his children because he loves you. 667 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:50,389 He doesn't want you to keep sinning. 668 00:30:50,389 --> 00:30:54,530 He doesn't want you to keep hurting yourself by sinning, and so he'll 669 00:30:54,530 --> 00:30:56,300 stop you from sinning eventually. 670 00:30:57,020 --> 00:30:57,740 He'll either. 671 00:30:57,919 --> 00:30:59,870 'cause he, he loves you too much to let you keep sinning. 672 00:31:00,169 --> 00:31:04,100 And so he'll either stop you by helping you see that it's wrong 673 00:31:04,100 --> 00:31:07,610 and repent from it, or he'll stop you by disciplining you and he'll 674 00:31:07,610 --> 00:31:08,929 prevent you from sinning that way. 675 00:31:10,969 --> 00:31:15,379 But don't act like God is unfaithful to his word and keep 676 00:31:15,379 --> 00:31:17,629 on sinning and ignoring him. 677 00:31:19,429 --> 00:31:23,840 I want you to see that whenever God follows through on his judgment, it's him 678 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:25,760 being, it's him having integrity really. 679 00:31:26,434 --> 00:31:28,475 It's him being who he says he is. 680 00:31:29,674 --> 00:31:31,264 God always is who he says he is. 681 00:31:31,264 --> 00:31:36,844 He won't ever not be something that he isn't, right. 682 00:31:37,114 --> 00:31:40,624 And so if we say, you know what, God, you're just, you're a good judge. 683 00:31:41,465 --> 00:31:46,534 If we, if we affirm that, then you can count on him to punish sin, even if 684 00:31:46,534 --> 00:31:50,495 you think that you're gonna be the one person to get away with it, or you think 685 00:31:50,495 --> 00:31:51,874 you're the one person that can hide it. 686 00:31:52,864 --> 00:31:54,889 God is faithful in good ways. 687 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,959 Also in ways that maybe aren't so good for you, if you think that 688 00:31:59,959 --> 00:32:02,510 you can escape God's judgment. 689 00:32:02,510 --> 00:32:04,669 And that's what these people that Paul was writing to thought, they 690 00:32:04,669 --> 00:32:08,090 thought, well, we're part of the right group so we can escape. 691 00:32:09,590 --> 00:32:14,179 And that's not true, and that's not true for you if, if you just come to church and 692 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,830 say you're a Christian and have no heart change, you have no relationship with God. 693 00:32:18,949 --> 00:32:20,479 You've never trusted Jesus to save you. 694 00:32:20,870 --> 00:32:22,459 You just have all the external things, right? 695 00:32:22,459 --> 00:32:23,399 And you say, well, I'm part of the right group. 696 00:32:24,709 --> 00:32:26,120 I can escape God's judgment. 697 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:26,840 That's not true. 698 00:32:27,860 --> 00:32:31,969 God is faithful and he will follow through on his promises. 699 00:32:33,559 --> 00:32:37,189 Then our third objection was that the gospel is an attack on 700 00:32:37,189 --> 00:32:39,679 God's righteousness, and this is maybe a question that you might 701 00:32:39,679 --> 00:32:40,909 feel is more relevant to you. 702 00:32:41,029 --> 00:32:46,070 How can God punish my sin if my sin is actually helping him show hise? 703 00:32:47,044 --> 00:32:49,774 If my sin is actually giving an opportunity for God to show 704 00:32:49,774 --> 00:32:52,294 that he's a good judge, how can God punish me for that? 705 00:32:52,324 --> 00:32:54,574 I thought I'm, I'm doing God a favor. 706 00:32:55,715 --> 00:33:01,924 Well, that type of objection really is just us trying to work 707 00:33:01,924 --> 00:33:03,634 our way around God's justice. 708 00:33:03,814 --> 00:33:07,204 We're trying to get out of the consequences for our sin. 709 00:33:07,204 --> 00:33:11,794 So our third point tonight, don't try to outsmart God's justice. 710 00:33:14,524 --> 00:33:15,304 There's a couple. 711 00:33:16,955 --> 00:33:22,655 Arguments that you'll see in these few verses that are really just 712 00:33:22,655 --> 00:33:28,775 people trying to play word games to not admit that they're going to 713 00:33:28,775 --> 00:33:30,335 suffer punishment for their sin. 714 00:33:30,605 --> 00:33:34,655 It's really people just trying to, to outsmart God and, and get around his 715 00:33:34,865 --> 00:33:36,815 consequences that he'll give them. 716 00:33:38,435 --> 00:33:39,815 I tried to do this with my mom a lot. 717 00:33:40,715 --> 00:33:42,820 Um, I, so she would ask me to clean something. 718 00:33:43,895 --> 00:33:47,495 And I'd be like, well mom, I'm not the one who wants it to be clean, 719 00:33:47,645 --> 00:33:49,415 so really you should clean it. 720 00:33:49,985 --> 00:33:50,975 I shouldn't have to clean it. 721 00:33:51,514 --> 00:33:52,535 That's what I would tell my mom. 722 00:33:52,835 --> 00:33:53,045 Right? 723 00:33:53,045 --> 00:33:57,995 This is BC Lewis, and I would tell my mom, well, you're the one who 724 00:33:58,025 --> 00:34:00,515 who wants it to be clean, so I'm not the one who wants it to be clean. 725 00:34:00,544 --> 00:34:02,825 I really don't care if it's clean or not, so you should do, you 726 00:34:02,825 --> 00:34:03,785 should be the one who cleans it. 727 00:34:04,685 --> 00:34:07,504 That's really me trying to like just get out of doing 728 00:34:07,504 --> 00:34:08,705 what I'm supposed to do, right? 729 00:34:08,824 --> 00:34:12,215 That's just me saying, well, mom, I tolerate more. 730 00:34:12,784 --> 00:34:15,844 Gross stuff than you do, so you should clean everything. 731 00:34:16,175 --> 00:34:16,505 Right? 732 00:34:16,505 --> 00:34:18,455 That's not really a good argument. 733 00:34:20,435 --> 00:34:26,705 And so I would try to use that to get out of what I was supposed to do, right? 734 00:34:26,705 --> 00:34:29,915 Which was what my mom told me to clean things, right? 735 00:34:31,264 --> 00:34:35,375 There's some creative ways that you might think you can 736 00:34:35,975 --> 00:34:37,745 play word games and get around. 737 00:34:38,210 --> 00:34:41,540 God's judgment and may maybe not, you think that maybe someone, you know, 738 00:34:41,540 --> 00:34:44,960 might think that, and so the first one comes up in verses five and six. 739 00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:47,840 So if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness 740 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,550 of God, what should we say? 741 00:34:49,850 --> 00:34:50,179 Right? 742 00:34:50,540 --> 00:34:53,330 I'm helping God by being unrighteous. 743 00:34:53,330 --> 00:34:53,900 That's what they're saying. 744 00:34:53,929 --> 00:34:58,190 You see that here, they're saying, I'm being unrighteous, that lets God judge 745 00:34:58,190 --> 00:35:00,230 me, which shows that God is righteous. 746 00:35:00,290 --> 00:35:02,180 So I'm helping God show that he's righteous. 747 00:35:03,980 --> 00:35:05,390 That's what, that's, that's what they're saying. 748 00:35:06,005 --> 00:35:09,455 They're saying that it's not fair for God to punish me 'cause I'm helping him. 749 00:35:12,515 --> 00:35:13,355 And then what does Paul say? 750 00:35:13,654 --> 00:35:17,225 Definitely not because how could God judge any sin? 751 00:35:18,215 --> 00:35:20,525 He's saying that, well, if, if you think this way, you're saying that 752 00:35:20,525 --> 00:35:24,245 God shouldn't do anything about anything bad in the world, which 753 00:35:24,245 --> 00:35:25,565 really is how no one lives, right? 754 00:35:27,005 --> 00:35:30,904 Because if, if, if you are gonna argue that, well, God shouldn't 755 00:35:30,904 --> 00:35:33,065 punish me 'cause I'm helping him show his righteousness, then guess what? 756 00:35:34,565 --> 00:35:35,285 If I. 757 00:35:36,185 --> 00:35:39,965 Stole all your money, then I'd say, well, I'm just helping 758 00:35:39,965 --> 00:35:40,955 God show his righteousness. 759 00:35:41,525 --> 00:35:42,845 So you can't do anything bad to me. 760 00:35:43,445 --> 00:35:44,405 I don't deserve to go to jail. 761 00:35:45,275 --> 00:35:46,985 No one lives like this, right? 762 00:35:47,375 --> 00:35:48,905 No one actually lives like this. 763 00:35:49,025 --> 00:35:53,675 So it's really just a word game to get out of something that we don't like about God. 764 00:35:53,885 --> 00:35:55,655 The second way this happens is in the other two verses. 765 00:35:56,465 --> 00:36:01,145 If through my lie, God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned? 766 00:36:01,145 --> 00:36:01,715 Same kind of. 767 00:36:02,255 --> 00:36:03,095 Thinking here, right? 768 00:36:03,485 --> 00:36:04,175 I'm lying. 769 00:36:04,205 --> 00:36:05,525 It's making God look really good. 770 00:36:07,955 --> 00:36:13,805 It's like me saying, oh, well, um, I should just pretend 771 00:36:13,805 --> 00:36:15,245 like I'm an awful person. 772 00:36:16,145 --> 00:36:20,495 So that way people think Shay is super patient and kind and 773 00:36:20,495 --> 00:36:22,025 loving 'cause she's married to me. 774 00:36:23,495 --> 00:36:24,605 That's a terrible idea. 775 00:36:25,265 --> 00:36:25,595 Right? 776 00:36:25,655 --> 00:36:26,465 But that's what they're arguing. 777 00:36:26,855 --> 00:36:29,765 They're saying I should keep sinning so that good things will happen. 778 00:36:29,990 --> 00:36:30,340 Right. 779 00:36:31,820 --> 00:36:35,360 I should keep sinning so that God can show more of his forgiveness or more 780 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,000 of his grace or more of his justice. 781 00:36:39,230 --> 00:36:41,270 And Paul doesn't even really argue with these people. 782 00:36:41,270 --> 00:36:45,080 He's just like, look, they're just playing games. 783 00:36:46,580 --> 00:36:50,390 They're just trying to play Word games and, and get out of what's really 784 00:36:50,390 --> 00:36:52,760 true and what they know is true. 785 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,060 And I think what happens. 786 00:36:56,705 --> 00:36:59,645 Sometimes, and I, I know I've had this conversation with a lot of people. 787 00:36:59,795 --> 00:37:04,145 You start talking about, oh, like you start talking with someone, you're 788 00:37:04,145 --> 00:37:06,785 sharing the gospel, you're, you're trying to help them understand the 789 00:37:06,785 --> 00:37:08,285 gospel and, and become a Christian. 790 00:37:08,465 --> 00:37:13,295 And then they bring up all of these other things, and then it usually comes down 791 00:37:13,295 --> 00:37:16,295 to, well, they just want to keep sinning. 792 00:37:18,185 --> 00:37:20,345 And, and maybe that's you, maybe you have all these questions. 793 00:37:20,345 --> 00:37:21,545 Some of 'em are valid questions. 794 00:37:21,545 --> 00:37:23,885 I'm not saying those questions are all bad, but if that's you 795 00:37:23,885 --> 00:37:24,750 tonight, if you're sitting here. 796 00:37:25,775 --> 00:37:26,075 No. 797 00:37:26,075 --> 00:37:29,435 And you know, look, I've, I've tried to just make up a bunch of 798 00:37:29,435 --> 00:37:35,615 things and get, get out of this type of conversation, right? 799 00:37:35,615 --> 00:37:36,725 I just don't wanna deal with it. 800 00:37:36,785 --> 00:37:40,775 So I'm coming up with all these arguments of why I shouldn't become a Christian. 801 00:37:42,035 --> 00:37:45,995 Because really what it comes down to is, is you love your sin or you don't wanna 802 00:37:45,995 --> 00:37:52,145 submit to God, or you don't trust God, or you don't think God's good, right? 803 00:37:52,145 --> 00:37:53,345 Don't try to. 804 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:56,330 Skirt around those, the real issue, right? 805 00:37:56,330 --> 00:37:59,480 If you have a real question, great, ask your question. 806 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,830 But if you're just throwing up smoke screens, you're, you're, 807 00:38:03,860 --> 00:38:05,030 we are wasting your time. 808 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:09,920 'cause you're not helping yourself, and ultimately you 809 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:11,990 are still under God's wrath. 810 00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:15,440 Even if someone answered all your questions and you said, I still wouldn't 811 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:20,300 become a Christian, then you're just throwing up smokescreens and you're, 812 00:38:20,300 --> 00:38:22,280 you're just wasting your own time. 813 00:38:23,540 --> 00:38:23,960 So, 814 00:38:26,660 --> 00:38:28,640 and maybe right for you, maybe it's God will forgive me 815 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:29,960 anyway, so I you keep sinning. 816 00:38:30,230 --> 00:38:32,600 Or maybe for you it's, well, my sins not hurting anyone. 817 00:38:33,350 --> 00:38:33,530 Right? 818 00:38:33,530 --> 00:38:35,840 And those are just things that, excuses that we make even as 819 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:37,070 Christians, right, to keep sinning. 820 00:38:37,700 --> 00:38:43,310 So really what this comes down to is that we're all trying 821 00:38:43,310 --> 00:38:46,490 to evade the inevitable truth. 822 00:38:46,490 --> 00:38:50,570 That we're guilty, we're sinners, and. 823 00:38:51,185 --> 00:38:55,685 The problem is if you never admit that you're a sinner, you're never going 824 00:38:55,685 --> 00:38:57,395 to turn from your sin and trust Jesus. 825 00:38:58,535 --> 00:38:58,685 Right? 826 00:38:58,685 --> 00:39:02,735 You, you can't keep your sin and embrace Jesus. 827 00:39:02,735 --> 00:39:04,205 Jesus says you can't serve two masters. 828 00:39:04,655 --> 00:39:07,835 And so if, if that, even if, even if you are a Christian, maybe there's a 829 00:39:07,835 --> 00:39:10,235 sin that you just don't wanna repent of 'cause you love it too much. 830 00:39:13,055 --> 00:39:14,255 You can't hold on to both. 831 00:39:14,315 --> 00:39:15,485 You have to admit it. 832 00:39:15,515 --> 00:39:17,675 You have to bring it into the light and let God deal with it. 833 00:39:18,530 --> 00:39:21,860 That's the only way you're going to overcome a sin as a Christian, and 834 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:23,840 that's the only way you can ever become a Christian in the first 835 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:25,700 place is if you, you bring your sin. 836 00:39:25,700 --> 00:39:29,270 You just stop making excuses and you stop trying to, to get around why. 837 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:29,960 It's okay. 838 00:39:30,860 --> 00:39:32,240 Let's pray and we'll go to small groups. 839 00:39:35,180 --> 00:39:38,450 God, we are grateful that you love us enough to tell us hard things. 840 00:39:38,930 --> 00:39:44,780 We're grateful that you know that even though some of us will reject you. 841 00:39:45,605 --> 00:39:49,715 You still love us enough to tell us the truth, and we pray that tonight 842 00:39:49,715 --> 00:39:54,185 as we think about what you've said to us, that um, we would remember that 843 00:39:54,185 --> 00:39:56,585 it's coming from your love for us. 844 00:39:56,855 --> 00:39:59,135 The reason that you warn us is because you care. 845 00:39:59,345 --> 00:40:01,235 You didn't have to tell us anything. 846 00:40:01,235 --> 00:40:02,915 You didn't have to share the gospel with us. 847 00:40:03,215 --> 00:40:05,015 You didn't have to give us an opportunity to repent. 848 00:40:05,585 --> 00:40:08,375 Um, but you put us in the way of the gospel so that. 849 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:12,650 We might respond to it and embrace you and be with you forever. 850 00:40:13,010 --> 00:40:15,800 So I pray tonight as we go to small groups, that we would be focused, 851 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,830 that we would learn things, we'd ask good questions, um, and that we 852 00:40:18,830 --> 00:40:20,720 would honor you in our discussions. 853 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:21,980 We pray this in Jesus name, amen.