1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,390 Speaker: you want to know something depressing? 2 00:00:01,390 --> 00:00:03,519 That's what you always want to know when you start out a sermon, don't you? 3 00:00:03,530 --> 00:00:04,550 Something depressing. 4 00:00:04,550 --> 00:00:09,059 Yeah, 1983, 41 years ago, it's 41 years ago. 5 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,219 Because in 1983, this movie came out, The Right Stuff. 6 00:00:13,220 --> 00:00:16,419 Some of you know that movie, and if you do, you've dated yourself. 7 00:00:16,764 --> 00:00:21,685 Uh, the rest of you, let me introduce you to the concept of the Mercury 7. 8 00:00:22,055 --> 00:00:25,544 Uh, the Mercury 7 were the original 7 that the United States were 9 00:00:25,565 --> 00:00:27,544 after to send into outer space. 10 00:00:27,574 --> 00:00:29,395 The 7 original astronauts. 11 00:00:29,824 --> 00:00:32,215 And they were trying to find the guys with the right attitude. 12 00:00:32,325 --> 00:00:36,695 Stuff and for the mercury seven that came down to courage. 13 00:00:36,735 --> 00:00:39,455 I mean they were gonna go into outer space No one had ever been there from our 14 00:00:39,455 --> 00:00:43,905 nation before that was that was something overwhelming so courage skill they needed 15 00:00:43,905 --> 00:00:47,775 to have the skill to be able to pilot a spaceship and Everything else all the 16 00:00:47,775 --> 00:00:51,094 survival and everything else necessary out there and then on top of that resilience 17 00:00:51,094 --> 00:00:53,104 They needed to be men with thick skin. 18 00:00:53,225 --> 00:00:55,495 They need to be able to handle the challenges that were gonna come 19 00:00:55,495 --> 00:00:59,160 their way I want us to think this morning and ask ourself the question 20 00:00:59,739 --> 00:01:03,509 when it comes to being a follower of Jesus, what is the right stuff? 21 00:01:04,089 --> 00:01:06,279 What is God looking for in us? 22 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:07,499 Is it skill? 23 00:01:07,499 --> 00:01:07,980 Is it courage? 24 00:01:07,980 --> 00:01:08,659 Is it resilience? 25 00:01:08,660 --> 00:01:09,700 Sure, we could say that. 26 00:01:09,789 --> 00:01:12,230 In fact, we could say that God's looking for a lot of things. 27 00:01:12,850 --> 00:01:17,020 In us when it comes to the right stuff, uh, but I think in our passage this 28 00:01:17,020 --> 00:01:21,680 morning, which is in John chapter 16 verses 25 through 33, I think 29 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,819 we're going to find three things at least that God is looking for 30 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,299 in his followers, in his disciples. 31 00:01:28,039 --> 00:01:32,169 Those three things include first a humble awareness of just 32 00:01:32,170 --> 00:01:34,580 the position of privilege that you and I get to enjoy today. 33 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,649 The second thing is a hunger to always be learning and knowing 34 00:01:38,649 --> 00:01:40,270 more and more and more about God. 35 00:01:40,729 --> 00:01:45,419 And then the third thing is an ever present awareness of our frail humanity. 36 00:01:46,119 --> 00:01:50,039 Take your Bibles, John chapter 16, verses 25 through 33. 37 00:01:50,039 --> 00:01:52,210 Let's begin in the first three verses there. 38 00:01:52,490 --> 00:01:57,380 Beginning in verse 25, John says this, or Jesus says this, I have said these 39 00:01:57,380 --> 00:01:59,330 things to you in figures of speech. 40 00:01:59,740 --> 00:02:03,059 The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but 41 00:02:03,059 --> 00:02:04,929 will tell you plainly about the Father. 42 00:02:05,430 --> 00:02:08,800 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the 43 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,910 Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you've loved 44 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:15,660 me and have believed that I came from God. 45 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,320 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving 46 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,299 the world and going to the Father. 47 00:02:21,850 --> 00:02:25,180 Alright, so he begins, he says, I've said these things to you in figures of speech. 48 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,260 It's the same word that we get the understanding or idea of a, of a parable. 49 00:02:29,660 --> 00:02:31,660 Now, the parables were figures of speech that were meant 50 00:02:31,660 --> 00:02:33,760 to conceal or hide a truth. 51 00:02:34,069 --> 00:02:37,260 Here, I think Jesus is simply referring to the fact that He has used 52 00:02:37,260 --> 00:02:39,199 metaphorical language with the disciples. 53 00:02:39,199 --> 00:02:43,380 And more than that, He's used language that until they go to the backside of 54 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:46,750 the cross in the empty tomb, they're not really fully going to understand 55 00:02:46,750 --> 00:02:47,790 what He's talking about here. 56 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,079 Uh, we can see evidence of this all the way back in John chapter 10 as 57 00:02:51,079 --> 00:02:55,300 Jesus is talking about being the good shepherd and the door of the sheepfold. 58 00:02:55,540 --> 00:02:56,650 Uh, those are realities. 59 00:02:56,650 --> 00:02:59,290 Those are truths that they're going to understand better after 60 00:02:59,549 --> 00:03:01,980 the cross and the empty tomb than they are on this side of it. 61 00:03:02,940 --> 00:03:05,520 Or think about washing the disciples feet in the upper room. 62 00:03:05,970 --> 00:03:09,130 The figure of speech and the language that he was using as he was talking to 63 00:03:09,130 --> 00:03:12,830 Peter, saying, Peter, listen, unless I wash you, you have no part in me. 64 00:03:13,495 --> 00:03:15,225 And Peter's saying, Well, Lord, wash all of me. 65 00:03:15,225 --> 00:03:19,745 And Jesus saying, All I need to do is wash your feet because you're already clean. 66 00:03:20,375 --> 00:03:23,375 Or think about the vine and the branches from John chapter 15. 67 00:03:23,395 --> 00:03:26,935 That metaphor and the disciples trying to understand at this point in time 68 00:03:26,935 --> 00:03:28,484 what he's talking about with that. 69 00:03:28,825 --> 00:03:32,235 Or even last week, we looked at the woman in labor, the labor pain, 70 00:03:32,245 --> 00:03:35,505 the anguish that she feels that's replaced by the joy of the new 71 00:03:35,505 --> 00:03:37,145 life that's brought into the world. 72 00:03:37,855 --> 00:03:41,315 And so Jesus is acknowledging with his disciples here saying, Look, I've been 73 00:03:41,315 --> 00:03:44,685 telling you things that Right now you're just not gonna be able to understand. 74 00:03:44,685 --> 00:03:46,565 I've been using these figures of speech. 75 00:03:46,995 --> 00:03:51,385 But he says the hour is coming when I will tell you plainly 76 00:03:53,829 --> 00:03:56,920 In John's Gospel, a lot of times the word hour, ora, there in the 77 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,040 Greek, it refers to the, the cross. 78 00:03:59,050 --> 00:04:00,240 It refers to the resurrection. 79 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:01,850 It refers to what's about to happen. 80 00:04:01,850 --> 00:04:04,760 And we're going to see that in just a little bit here in our passage. 81 00:04:05,259 --> 00:04:08,839 But here I think the, the hour that's coming is the hour post 82 00:04:08,839 --> 00:04:10,200 resurrection, post ascension. 83 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,219 This is the hour of the church exploding onto the scene. 84 00:04:13,219 --> 00:04:16,709 This is the hour when the spirit, like we looked at not too long ago in 85 00:04:16,709 --> 00:04:20,745 John 16, is going to take the things of Christ, The teachings of Jesus 86 00:04:20,765 --> 00:04:22,604 and declare them to the disciples. 87 00:04:23,075 --> 00:04:27,335 So that hour is coming when he's going to speak plainly because the disciples 88 00:04:27,335 --> 00:04:30,864 are going to have a frame of reference to understand the truths that right now they 89 00:04:30,864 --> 00:04:35,464 can't fully grasp because Jesus hasn't yet died on the cross and risen again. 90 00:04:35,935 --> 00:04:39,295 And so that hour is coming and Jesus just wants them to know 91 00:04:39,545 --> 00:04:41,545 that that hour is indeed coming. 92 00:04:42,155 --> 00:04:44,385 He says in verse 26, In that day. 93 00:04:45,010 --> 00:04:48,550 That day when I'm speaking plainly to you through the Spirit, in 94 00:04:48,550 --> 00:04:50,620 that day you will ask in my name. 95 00:04:50,750 --> 00:04:52,720 We talked about that last week, didn't we? 96 00:04:53,159 --> 00:04:55,960 Jesus, last week, he said, listen, you're going to ask in my name 97 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,949 and whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 98 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:00,379 Verse 23. 99 00:05:01,390 --> 00:05:05,340 To ask in the name of the Son is to ask for the glory of Christ and for his 100 00:05:05,340 --> 00:05:07,159 sake and in accordance with his will. 101 00:05:07,890 --> 00:05:11,909 And so he says again in verse 26, In that day you will ask in my name. 102 00:05:12,579 --> 00:05:16,069 But notice this, he says, I don't say to you that I will ask the Father on 103 00:05:16,069 --> 00:05:20,529 your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me 104 00:05:20,529 --> 00:05:22,210 and have believed that I came from God. 105 00:05:22,729 --> 00:05:23,479 This is amazing. 106 00:05:23,479 --> 00:05:26,299 Jesus is saying you're going to pray for things in my name, 107 00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:29,140 but he's trying to get them to understand how this is going to work. 108 00:05:29,710 --> 00:05:31,689 He's saying it's not like you're going to come to me and say, 109 00:05:31,699 --> 00:05:32,919 Jesus, this is what I need. 110 00:05:33,505 --> 00:05:36,455 And that Jesus is going to then go to the Father and say, Ah, Father, 111 00:05:36,605 --> 00:05:38,635 Pastor Rod would really like this. 112 00:05:39,125 --> 00:05:40,295 Could you do this for him? 113 00:05:41,675 --> 00:05:43,475 Jesus is saying that's not how it's going to work. 114 00:05:43,884 --> 00:05:45,594 I'm not going to need to ask the Father. 115 00:05:47,875 --> 00:05:49,675 Because you're going to be able to ask him directly. 116 00:05:50,645 --> 00:05:53,795 And so Jesus is trying to get his disciples to understand the paradigm 117 00:05:53,795 --> 00:05:55,675 shift of their relationship with God. 118 00:05:55,884 --> 00:05:57,645 Something they've never before known. 119 00:05:58,664 --> 00:06:02,784 No Jew at this time was addressing God in a direct and personal 120 00:06:02,784 --> 00:06:04,584 sense in the term of a father. 121 00:06:05,135 --> 00:06:07,114 They knew him as father corporately. 122 00:06:07,455 --> 00:06:09,735 He was the father of the nation of Israel. 123 00:06:09,735 --> 00:06:11,315 He had birthed The nation of Israel. 124 00:06:11,315 --> 00:06:16,165 They knew that concept of God as father, but for a, a Jew, first century Jew to 125 00:06:16,175 --> 00:06:21,515 be thinking about Yahweh and calling him father or addressing him to that extent 126 00:06:21,515 --> 00:06:26,285 or asking him directly for anything, that was as foreign as the day is long. 127 00:06:26,355 --> 00:06:29,325 I mean, think about the Old Testament, what we're reading right now in the 128 00:06:29,325 --> 00:06:33,065 book of Leviticus, and Numbers, and all of the rules and regulations about 129 00:06:33,065 --> 00:06:37,045 approaching God, and how only the high priest could go in before the holy of 130 00:06:37,045 --> 00:06:38,634 holies, and not only one time a year. 131 00:06:38,985 --> 00:06:42,165 And he had to offer a sacrifice first before he could enter into the presence 132 00:06:42,165 --> 00:06:46,045 of God, and now Jesus is saying, you're not going to need me to ask the Father 133 00:06:46,045 --> 00:06:48,365 for you, because the Father loves you. 134 00:06:48,365 --> 00:06:53,455 You see, he's teaching them about the relationship that they're 135 00:06:53,455 --> 00:06:55,665 going to have with God now as a result of what's about to happen. 136 00:06:56,620 --> 00:07:02,240 He's teaching them that because they love God and that they believe that 137 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,869 Christ had come from God, that's why they're not gonna need Jesus to go 138 00:07:06,870 --> 00:07:09,240 to the Father and say, Hey, Father, would you do this on behalf of him? 139 00:07:10,109 --> 00:07:12,680 Because they're gonna be able to go directly to the Father himself. 140 00:07:14,870 --> 00:07:17,950 John 6, just to remind us here, I think this is the foundation of, 141 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:19,770 of their belief and their love. 142 00:07:20,150 --> 00:07:24,530 John 69, if we can recall all the way back there, this is right around the time 143 00:07:24,530 --> 00:07:27,580 that everybody was leaving Jesus because He was saying some weird things about 144 00:07:27,610 --> 00:07:29,490 eating His body and drinking His blood. 145 00:07:30,219 --> 00:07:31,699 And you remember He looked at the disciples and said, 146 00:07:31,709 --> 00:07:32,689 Do you want to leave too? 147 00:07:33,509 --> 00:07:38,490 And Peter said this, Peter answered Jesus, Lord, to whom shall we go? 148 00:07:39,125 --> 00:07:43,794 But you have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to 149 00:07:43,794 --> 00:07:47,594 know that you are the Holy One of God. 150 00:07:48,955 --> 00:07:51,485 Or think about Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi. 151 00:07:51,875 --> 00:07:54,775 When Jesus was with the disciples and said, Who do people say that I am? 152 00:07:54,775 --> 00:07:56,965 And, well, some say this, some say this, some say this. 153 00:07:57,335 --> 00:07:58,784 Yeah, but who do you say that I am? 154 00:07:59,585 --> 00:08:01,205 And Peter said, We believe that you're the Son of God. 155 00:08:02,465 --> 00:08:05,844 And so they had a knowledge, they had a belief, that was going to be 156 00:08:05,844 --> 00:08:07,234 brought to completion at the cross. 157 00:08:07,235 --> 00:08:09,244 Remember the upper room as Jesus was washing Peter. 158 00:08:09,244 --> 00:08:11,644 That's why he tells Peter, All you need is your feet to be washed. 159 00:08:12,255 --> 00:08:13,565 And then you're going to be fully clean. 160 00:08:13,715 --> 00:08:15,885 All you need is the cross, and then you're going to be fully clean. 161 00:08:15,895 --> 00:08:17,185 You've got the seedbed of faith. 162 00:08:17,185 --> 00:08:18,705 It's going to be brought to completion there. 163 00:08:19,315 --> 00:08:21,885 But at this point in time, they're still trying to wrap their minds 164 00:08:21,885 --> 00:08:24,515 around all of the, the, the privileges that they're going to possess. 165 00:08:24,735 --> 00:08:27,075 And that's just what I want us to start to think about first this 166 00:08:27,075 --> 00:08:31,395 morning, is that we think about these things as just commonplace. 167 00:08:32,855 --> 00:08:37,115 The plain revelation of God, the fullness of direct revelation in 168 00:08:37,115 --> 00:08:40,615 the Bible, you've never known a day where you haven't had access to that. 169 00:08:41,709 --> 00:08:45,469 The idea of being able to pray to the Father and ask the Father for something. 170 00:08:46,310 --> 00:08:49,810 As a Christian, you have never known a minute where you would 171 00:08:49,810 --> 00:08:53,599 even think twice about saying, Father, this is a need that I have. 172 00:08:54,569 --> 00:08:57,740 And yet, for the disciples, this was brand new for them. 173 00:08:58,734 --> 00:08:59,964 This was foreign to them. 174 00:09:00,305 --> 00:09:02,254 They didn't have what you and I have. 175 00:09:02,254 --> 00:09:03,994 They didn't have the privilege that you and I have. 176 00:09:03,994 --> 00:09:07,954 And here's the reality, y'all, we need to be humbly grateful for that because none 177 00:09:07,954 --> 00:09:12,904 of us did anything to cause ourselves to be born at this time in history with these 178 00:09:12,925 --> 00:09:14,795 privileges that we hold in our laps today. 179 00:09:15,925 --> 00:09:19,194 And all I'm saying is let's make sure we're not wasting that point. 180 00:09:19,194 --> 00:09:22,995 Number one, this morning is this don't waste your privileged position. 181 00:09:24,234 --> 00:09:27,404 Don't waste that privileged position that you have. 182 00:09:30,630 --> 00:09:31,410 Theologian B. 183 00:09:31,410 --> 00:09:31,560 B. 184 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:37,469 Warfield talked about the difference between the Old Testament and the New 185 00:09:37,469 --> 00:09:41,400 Testament and some of the knowledge here, and I think the metaphor is apt for us. 186 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,160 He said this, he said, The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber 187 00:09:45,199 --> 00:09:47,550 richly furnished but dimly lit. 188 00:09:48,249 --> 00:09:54,550 The introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before, but 189 00:09:54,969 --> 00:10:00,000 It brings it out into clearer view, much of what was in it, but was only dimly 190 00:10:00,020 --> 00:10:02,650 or even not at all perceived before. 191 00:10:03,519 --> 00:10:07,400 Thus, he says, the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the 192 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:12,810 fuller revelation which follows it, but only perfected, extended, and enlarged. 193 00:10:13,269 --> 00:10:16,470 I bring up that quote because that's what the disciples were up against. 194 00:10:16,959 --> 00:10:18,240 They had the Old Testament. 195 00:10:18,675 --> 00:10:22,724 Revelation and Warfield is saying what Christ is going to declare to 196 00:10:22,724 --> 00:10:25,614 them, what Christ is going to bring to them is not going to be new. 197 00:10:25,614 --> 00:10:28,645 It's not going to take what was old and say, you need something radically 198 00:10:28,645 --> 00:10:32,114 different, but it was going to expand it, enlighten it, be able to, to help 199 00:10:32,114 --> 00:10:34,234 us to understand it that much better. 200 00:10:34,265 --> 00:10:37,655 And what I want us to see is we sit as, as the beneficiaries of 201 00:10:37,664 --> 00:10:39,025 having that process completed. 202 00:10:40,185 --> 00:10:43,814 We have the direct, full revelation of God in our possession. 203 00:10:45,175 --> 00:10:48,415 Think about the, just the magnitude of the Bible for just a minute. 204 00:10:49,125 --> 00:10:51,965 It was written across about 1, 600 years. 205 00:10:53,064 --> 00:10:56,594 So if we think that Moses began writing the Pentateuch somewhere in the 1400s, 206 00:10:57,035 --> 00:11:03,234 so the 15th century BC, and it was completed by the Apostle John somewhere 207 00:11:03,244 --> 00:11:07,314 towards the end of the 1st century AD, we're dealing with 1, 600 years 208 00:11:07,555 --> 00:11:10,094 of writing the pages of God's Word. 209 00:11:11,420 --> 00:11:15,340 That was done across three different continents during that time, 210 00:11:17,470 --> 00:11:24,430 40 unique authors making up the authors of the Bible, 66 211 00:11:24,529 --> 00:11:27,730 books, one consistent message. 212 00:11:29,819 --> 00:11:33,890 This is what we have, and we have it in our possession, and it's in our 213 00:11:33,890 --> 00:11:38,220 possession, and we just don't often think about how much of a privilege 214 00:11:38,230 --> 00:11:41,250 it is for us to have what we have 215 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,480 first of the fullness of God's revelation with us. 216 00:11:47,369 --> 00:11:50,089 Such that the disciples were sitting there trying to wrap their minds around 217 00:11:50,089 --> 00:11:52,859 things that have been commonplace for us from the time that we came to Christ. 218 00:11:54,869 --> 00:11:57,920 I wonder if you're familiar with a man by the name of William Tyndale. 219 00:11:59,579 --> 00:12:00,189 William Tyndale. 220 00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:04,959 He was one of the earliest pioneers in taking the Bible 221 00:12:04,959 --> 00:12:06,589 and translating it into English. 222 00:12:07,380 --> 00:12:09,659 Taking the Bible, taking God's Word and putting it into 223 00:12:09,659 --> 00:12:10,869 the language of common man. 224 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,780 And for his efforts and for his labors in that, he was ultimately arrested, 225 00:12:16,790 --> 00:12:18,110 strangled, and then burned to death. 226 00:12:20,050 --> 00:12:22,820 Tyndale wasn't alone in his efforts here. 227 00:12:22,860 --> 00:12:26,460 One of his followers, one of his contemporaries, a man named Thomas Hitton. 228 00:12:27,220 --> 00:12:30,530 Thomas Hitton was caught in possession of two Tyndale New Testaments, 229 00:12:30,530 --> 00:12:33,899 and he was burned at the stake for that in February of 1530. 230 00:12:34,929 --> 00:12:36,279 Thomas Bilney was another. 231 00:12:36,849 --> 00:12:40,060 Thomas Bilney was one who gave out Tyndale New Testament and preached 232 00:12:40,060 --> 00:12:41,810 against the corruption of the church. 233 00:12:42,310 --> 00:12:45,880 And he was taken, arrested, and burned at the stake in 1531. 234 00:12:45,890 --> 00:12:48,800 By the way, this is him while in prison. 235 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,919 He would hold his finger above the candle flame because he 236 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:52,979 knew what was coming for him. 237 00:12:52,979 --> 00:12:57,439 And he was rehearsing, practicing, so that he would not recant his 238 00:12:57,450 --> 00:12:58,650 faith when the fires were lit. 239 00:13:00,579 --> 00:13:01,200 Thomas Bilney. 240 00:13:01,839 --> 00:13:05,900 Richard Bayfield, caught smuggling Tyndale New Testaments and tortured and then 241 00:13:05,900 --> 00:13:08,209 burned at the stake in November of 1531. 242 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:14,029 John Tewksbury, arrested, burned at the stake in February of 1531 for 243 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,409 having the Bible and trying to get the Bible into the hands of the people. 244 00:13:18,449 --> 00:13:20,790 James Bainham, another one. 245 00:13:20,909 --> 00:13:24,990 Here he's depicted holding a bundle of sticks with a flame in the other hand. 246 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,820 You can guess at what the symbolism was there. 247 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,950 Bainham initially recanted, and this was part of his punishment. 248 00:13:32,584 --> 00:13:35,865 He recanted preaching against the, the Catholic Church and he was arrested and 249 00:13:35,865 --> 00:13:39,905 he was made to stand in front of this sermon holding the bundle of sticks and 250 00:13:39,905 --> 00:13:44,315 the candle as a symbol of what would happen to anyone who dared challenge 251 00:13:44,344 --> 00:13:45,504 the authority of the Catholic Church. 252 00:13:45,504 --> 00:13:49,964 Well, Bainham repented from his recantation and held up a Tyndale 253 00:13:50,084 --> 00:13:54,825 New Testament aloft in the church and confessed that he was wrong to recant. 254 00:13:55,675 --> 00:13:58,334 Well, he was arrested and burned at the stake in April of 1532. 255 00:13:58,655 --> 00:14:02,815 A man named John Frith was one of Tyndale's closest friends. 256 00:14:04,370 --> 00:14:08,229 Tyndale wrote to Frith as Frith was arrested and waiting his own execution 257 00:14:08,229 --> 00:14:13,089 and Tyndale said this a light Must be fed with the blood of faith. 258 00:14:14,319 --> 00:14:17,159 John Frith was burned at the stake in July of 1533. 259 00:14:21,109 --> 00:14:24,400 It's heavy I get it. 260 00:14:24,459 --> 00:14:30,730 I get that that's heavy for us and yet I bring up those names Because 261 00:14:30,739 --> 00:14:35,080 all of them gave their life to get this into the hands of people 262 00:14:39,069 --> 00:14:41,310 And how often do we say, I'm sorry, I just didn't have enough 263 00:14:41,310 --> 00:14:42,510 time to read God's Word today. 264 00:14:46,540 --> 00:14:47,980 We are privileged. 265 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,460 And it has nothing to do with your race or ethnicity. 266 00:14:56,169 --> 00:14:57,959 You're privileged because of this. 267 00:15:02,340 --> 00:15:07,699 These men dying horrible deaths so that somebody can have the 268 00:15:07,710 --> 00:15:11,029 Bible, the New Testament, and read it in their own language. 269 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:14,920 And we have it at our disposal. 270 00:15:16,959 --> 00:15:19,420 And it's something that we say, I'll get around to it, hopefully. 271 00:15:23,389 --> 00:15:26,830 The privilege that we have, just think about, we sing a 272 00:15:26,830 --> 00:15:28,249 song called, Oh Church, Arise. 273 00:15:29,274 --> 00:15:32,824 One of the lines in that song is as saints of old still line the way 274 00:15:32,824 --> 00:15:34,544 retelling triumphs of his grace. 275 00:15:35,954 --> 00:15:38,234 Or think about Hebrews chapter 11 in the hall of faith. 276 00:15:39,044 --> 00:15:43,244 By faith Moses, by faith Abraham, by faith on and on and on and on. 277 00:15:44,264 --> 00:15:46,774 And yet at the same time, as we think of so many of those saints 278 00:15:46,774 --> 00:15:50,504 of old still lining the way or the hall of faith, all of those voices. 279 00:15:50,764 --> 00:15:54,524 Y'all, we sit having a much greater privilege where we are 280 00:15:54,524 --> 00:15:56,084 today than any of them ever knew 281 00:15:58,105 --> 00:16:03,244 because you hold in your hands the word of God because you have the access to the 282 00:16:03,244 --> 00:16:07,204 throne of God to pray to him at any time and you've never known anything but that. 283 00:16:11,114 --> 00:16:16,435 Even think about Paul, Peter, James, John, you're more privileged than 284 00:16:16,435 --> 00:16:21,174 even they were because you have God's word at your disposal at 285 00:16:21,194 --> 00:16:22,564 such a readily accessible means. 286 00:16:24,275 --> 00:16:26,285 And my question is, are we wasting our privilege? 287 00:16:27,485 --> 00:16:28,974 Are we wasting our privilege? 288 00:16:29,874 --> 00:16:32,294 Some of the resources, the ways, think about different ways that we 289 00:16:32,294 --> 00:16:35,844 can take in the Bible or lean into the privilege that we have today. 290 00:16:37,765 --> 00:16:39,954 Just the Bible itself, you have that. 291 00:16:39,954 --> 00:16:41,464 If you don't have one, we have Bibles. 292 00:16:41,464 --> 00:16:42,674 We'd love to give you one this morning. 293 00:16:43,314 --> 00:16:47,535 You can also download it in electronic form for free an audio Bible would 294 00:16:47,545 --> 00:16:50,694 be a great investment for you dwell is a great app It's an audio 295 00:16:50,694 --> 00:16:52,584 Bible app for 30 for the year. 296 00:16:52,584 --> 00:16:54,114 You can subscribe to dwell. 297 00:16:54,395 --> 00:16:57,534 It's got great readers on there They do a wonderful job with it. 298 00:16:57,534 --> 00:17:01,234 You can read in in different translations our ESV translation that we preach 299 00:17:01,234 --> 00:17:05,473 from is on there It's a great app great resource there, but all of the 300 00:17:05,675 --> 00:17:08,733 different resources that we have just for the Bible alone Let's add to that. 301 00:17:08,733 --> 00:17:13,180 Okay podcast the different sermons, the different theological podcasts, 302 00:17:13,190 --> 00:17:15,680 doctrinal podcasts that exist out there that you can listen to. 303 00:17:16,010 --> 00:17:18,839 YouTube channels that you can find where you've got people that 304 00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:21,118 are, are feeding you truth there. 305 00:17:21,589 --> 00:17:24,650 American Gospel TV, AGTV, that's an app that you can get on your, 306 00:17:24,650 --> 00:17:27,319 your Apple TV, on your iPad, your phone, your Android, whatever. 307 00:17:27,810 --> 00:17:29,980 And you can subscribe for, I think, six bucks a month, and they've 308 00:17:29,980 --> 00:17:31,429 got wonderful resources there. 309 00:17:31,429 --> 00:17:36,350 Movies, doctrine, theology that's conveyed and taught through AGTV. 310 00:17:36,779 --> 00:17:39,919 That's a resource that you and I have today in our privileged position. 311 00:17:40,419 --> 00:17:41,929 We've got prayer apps. 312 00:17:42,300 --> 00:17:45,129 Maybe you're saying, okay, my intake of God's Word is good, but I could, 313 00:17:45,149 --> 00:17:48,070 yeah, I could do better at praying, at taking advantage of that privilege. 314 00:17:48,570 --> 00:17:49,110 PrayerMate. 315 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,560 is a great app for you to curate your prayer list, for you to be 316 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,220 intentional about building a prayer list, and it will send you reminders. 317 00:17:56,220 --> 00:17:58,300 And you can have a prayer list for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 318 00:17:58,300 --> 00:17:59,630 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 319 00:18:00,510 --> 00:18:02,490 And you can mark when a prayer has been answered. 320 00:18:02,490 --> 00:18:03,519 You can archive things. 321 00:18:03,590 --> 00:18:06,919 Prayer Mate Echo is another one that's super helpful with that. 322 00:18:07,409 --> 00:18:12,149 Or think about the Bible software, Logos or Accordance Bible software. 323 00:18:12,549 --> 00:18:15,399 Can you imagine what Luther would have been able to do with Logos 324 00:18:15,399 --> 00:18:16,789 Bible software in his possession? 325 00:18:17,959 --> 00:18:19,269 I don't know, he did plenty already. 326 00:18:19,279 --> 00:18:25,389 But Uh, we just, we have resources, we have an embarrassment of riches when 327 00:18:25,389 --> 00:18:26,949 it comes to our privileged position. 328 00:18:27,139 --> 00:18:29,610 CBI, you might be wondering what is that, Compass Bible Institute. 329 00:18:30,229 --> 00:18:33,599 That's a, a, a thing that is, is put on, it's a, it's an institute 330 00:18:33,599 --> 00:18:36,729 that our sending church has that we hope to teach some classes even here 331 00:18:36,729 --> 00:18:40,580 where, uh, you can take college level classes even, Bible classes, theology 332 00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:46,439 classes, doctrine classes, and learn more about who God is and about Christ. 333 00:18:47,300 --> 00:18:49,550 These are all ways for us to take advantage of our privileged position. 334 00:18:50,639 --> 00:18:52,620 You may say, okay, how do I begin with this? 335 00:18:52,620 --> 00:18:53,199 What does that look like? 336 00:18:53,199 --> 00:18:54,919 I want to suggest some strategies to us this morning. 337 00:18:54,919 --> 00:18:56,959 Number one, schedule your time with God. 338 00:18:58,870 --> 00:19:03,229 Any appointment that you have in your day that, that's any important 339 00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:04,999 appointment, you put it on your calendar. 340 00:19:05,349 --> 00:19:06,119 You block it out. 341 00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:09,450 And if somebody comes to you and says, hey, can you meet at this time? 342 00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:11,399 And you've got an appointment on that time, you say, no, I'm sorry, 343 00:19:11,399 --> 00:19:12,450 I can't meet with you on that time. 344 00:19:12,450 --> 00:19:13,720 I'm already meeting with somebody else. 345 00:19:14,459 --> 00:19:15,469 And yet, what do we do with God? 346 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:17,290 We squeeze Him in. 347 00:19:18,389 --> 00:19:20,820 We give Him our leftovers on our calendar, not our first. 348 00:19:22,250 --> 00:19:23,950 So church, schedule your time with God. 349 00:19:25,144 --> 00:19:26,784 And don't let anything else take that spot. 350 00:19:27,284 --> 00:19:28,094 Make sure it's there. 351 00:19:28,094 --> 00:19:29,725 Second, plan mental breaks. 352 00:19:30,455 --> 00:19:30,754 I get it. 353 00:19:30,754 --> 00:19:31,614 Mental breaks are good. 354 00:19:31,735 --> 00:19:32,264 I'm getting old. 355 00:19:32,264 --> 00:19:33,894 So I do a crossword puzzle and I play the wordle. 356 00:19:33,894 --> 00:19:34,495 That's what I do. 357 00:19:35,194 --> 00:19:35,894 I love doing that. 358 00:19:35,914 --> 00:19:37,135 Or I'll, I'll jump on X. 359 00:19:37,135 --> 00:19:40,635 I love to jump on X and scroll X or I'll jump on, you know, my trade rumors 360 00:19:40,635 --> 00:19:41,654 app and see what's going on in there. 361 00:19:41,854 --> 00:19:42,824 But I have to schedule that. 362 00:19:42,854 --> 00:19:46,534 Otherwise, if I let that happen to me, then I'm just going to waste my time. 363 00:19:47,289 --> 00:19:49,620 And at the end of the day, I'm going to be like, man, I, I guess I just didn't 364 00:19:49,620 --> 00:19:50,919 have time to get in more prayer today. 365 00:19:50,919 --> 00:19:52,499 I didn't have time to get in more time in the word today. 366 00:19:52,739 --> 00:19:53,549 No, I did. 367 00:19:53,929 --> 00:19:55,469 I just wasn't intentional with my time. 368 00:19:56,050 --> 00:19:57,510 So plan your mental breaks. 369 00:19:57,570 --> 00:19:59,770 Put those on your calendar and say, okay, I'm going to give myself 370 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,620 10 minutes here to check and see what's going on in the world. 371 00:20:02,110 --> 00:20:03,219 I'm going to do this at this time. 372 00:20:03,929 --> 00:20:05,029 So plan your mental breaks. 373 00:20:05,590 --> 00:20:06,649 Third, put the phone away. 374 00:20:07,689 --> 00:20:08,419 Put the phone away. 375 00:20:08,999 --> 00:20:11,410 Don't feel like you always have to have it in your possession. 376 00:20:12,294 --> 00:20:13,885 I'm preaching myself here, right? 377 00:20:14,054 --> 00:20:16,495 My wife sits front row, so I have to be accountable. 378 00:20:17,024 --> 00:20:18,325 She knows my life, right? 379 00:20:18,544 --> 00:20:21,754 When I get home, I need to do a better job of saying, I'm going to put the phone away 380 00:20:21,754 --> 00:20:25,345 so I can be present with my family, but also so that I can use time that otherwise 381 00:20:25,345 --> 00:20:28,744 I would pick up the phone to do something mindless, to say, let me instead pray. 382 00:20:28,785 --> 00:20:30,025 Let me instead pick up my Bible. 383 00:20:30,025 --> 00:20:31,974 Let me instead pick up a book over here and read more. 384 00:20:32,774 --> 00:20:34,574 Take advantage of that privileged position that we have. 385 00:20:36,114 --> 00:20:37,854 Fourth, redeem your commute or your dead air. 386 00:20:39,149 --> 00:20:41,060 That time that you're doing something that you can't be 387 00:20:41,060 --> 00:20:42,330 productive doing something else. 388 00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:44,439 You're driving somewhere. 389 00:20:44,439 --> 00:20:45,250 You're in the shower. 390 00:20:45,250 --> 00:20:46,189 You're getting ready in the day. 391 00:20:46,199 --> 00:20:47,300 Use that time. 392 00:20:48,230 --> 00:20:49,730 Fill that time with praying. 393 00:20:49,750 --> 00:20:51,659 Fill that time with meditation on God's Word. 394 00:20:51,659 --> 00:20:53,229 Fill that time with listening to a sermon. 395 00:20:53,229 --> 00:20:55,439 Fill that time with listening to the Bible on Audible. 396 00:20:57,050 --> 00:20:57,790 Do something. 397 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:58,990 Use that dead air. 398 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,330 I'm mindful of what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12, verse 48, when he said 399 00:21:05,330 --> 00:21:09,180 this, Everyone to whom much has been given, of him much will be required. 400 00:21:11,580 --> 00:21:14,839 Church, can I just say to all of us in this room, if you're sitting here 401 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,949 in earshot, you have been given much. 402 00:21:19,650 --> 00:21:20,770 Much will be required. 403 00:21:22,239 --> 00:21:25,780 The day that we stand before Christ at the Bema seat, we will 404 00:21:25,780 --> 00:21:27,230 answer for our privileged position. 405 00:21:28,879 --> 00:21:31,139 And I just want to challenge us, to encourage us, to say don't 406 00:21:31,169 --> 00:21:32,899 waste your privileged position. 407 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:36,430 His disciples respond to him though. 408 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,729 They say, ah, verse 29, now, now you're speaking plainly and 409 00:21:39,729 --> 00:21:41,060 not using figurative speech. 410 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:42,320 Now you're doing it, Jesus. 411 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,240 Now you're doing what you said you would do back in verse 25. 412 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,059 They're beginning to assume wrongly that, that this is already in fulfillment. 413 00:21:49,645 --> 00:21:51,205 But again, we give them the benefit of the doubt. 414 00:21:51,215 --> 00:21:53,065 They didn't have the, the rest of the story. 415 00:21:53,524 --> 00:21:58,645 Verse 30, now we know, now we know, we get it now, that you know all things and 416 00:21:58,645 --> 00:22:00,374 you don't need anyone to question you. 417 00:22:00,574 --> 00:22:02,704 This is why we believe that you came from God. 418 00:22:02,935 --> 00:22:05,704 So we're watching them struggle in real time to understand 419 00:22:05,704 --> 00:22:06,814 what Jesus is talking about. 420 00:22:07,335 --> 00:22:08,995 They're like, okay, now, now we get it. 421 00:22:09,335 --> 00:22:11,175 Okay, you're talking plainly now, Jesus. 422 00:22:12,134 --> 00:22:15,774 And, and, and yes, we know no one has to ask you anything when Jesus 423 00:22:15,774 --> 00:22:17,314 said, you won't ask me anything. 424 00:22:17,725 --> 00:22:21,584 They're, they're not, we're watching them in real time, try to understand 425 00:22:21,584 --> 00:22:23,684 what's really only going to be understandable after they get the 426 00:22:23,684 --> 00:22:25,294 spirit, after the ascension of Christ. 427 00:22:26,274 --> 00:22:28,395 And so now they're, they're, they're wrestling through these things. 428 00:22:28,395 --> 00:22:32,895 They're presuming to understand what he meant in John 16, 23 about asking him 429 00:22:32,895 --> 00:22:34,794 and, and, and the father will respond. 430 00:22:35,064 --> 00:22:36,965 And yet they, they don't fully get it. 431 00:22:36,965 --> 00:22:38,175 And we can't blame them. 432 00:22:38,784 --> 00:22:41,224 Because again, we're sitting in the privileged position, understanding 433 00:22:41,224 --> 00:22:43,405 this through our privileged position, knowing the rest of the story. 434 00:22:44,075 --> 00:22:45,814 But right now, they're, they're trying to get it. 435 00:22:45,814 --> 00:22:47,004 They're trying to understand. 436 00:22:47,164 --> 00:22:49,055 Do you, are you familiar with this meme, this guy? 437 00:22:50,185 --> 00:22:51,665 I understand it now, that guy. 438 00:22:52,074 --> 00:22:53,074 He's phenomenal. 439 00:22:53,185 --> 00:22:56,445 He's a, a, a coach, a shooting coach for some NBA players. 440 00:22:56,814 --> 00:23:00,404 And this whole thing, you'll see, there's a bunch of nails on that basketball goal. 441 00:23:00,404 --> 00:23:01,254 This was his first thing. 442 00:23:01,254 --> 00:23:02,404 This is kind of when he hit the scene. 443 00:23:02,814 --> 00:23:05,554 And he set up all these nails and he shot the ball and it, it 444 00:23:05,554 --> 00:23:06,914 punctured on one of those nails. 445 00:23:07,294 --> 00:23:08,344 And he made this statement. 446 00:23:08,344 --> 00:23:09,964 He goes, okay, I understand it now. 447 00:23:10,294 --> 00:23:13,834 And then he began to shoot and was just draining him over these, this nail basket. 448 00:23:13,845 --> 00:23:15,075 Well, that's kind of his bit now. 449 00:23:15,075 --> 00:23:16,615 So he does that over and over again. 450 00:23:16,985 --> 00:23:17,965 He's like, I understand it now. 451 00:23:17,965 --> 00:23:18,564 I get it now. 452 00:23:18,855 --> 00:23:21,335 In other words, I'm good, I can move forward now, I get it. 453 00:23:22,095 --> 00:23:23,805 I think that's kind of the disciples right now. 454 00:23:24,274 --> 00:23:26,314 They're trying to put that front out with Jesus. 455 00:23:26,594 --> 00:23:29,804 They're trying to be like, okay, Jesus, we get it now, we're good, we understand it. 456 00:23:30,225 --> 00:23:33,384 In fact, maybe there's even a little bit of going, hey, can we just enjoy the 457 00:23:33,385 --> 00:23:34,745 nice night while we're out for a walk? 458 00:23:34,754 --> 00:23:37,044 Can we stop talking all this about you leaving? 459 00:23:37,044 --> 00:23:38,965 We know now you're speaking plainly, you're going back 460 00:23:38,965 --> 00:23:40,074 to the Father, we get it. 461 00:23:40,925 --> 00:23:43,824 And then Jesus, with just that simple statement, kind of 462 00:23:43,855 --> 00:23:45,165 undermines their confidence. 463 00:23:45,165 --> 00:23:48,905 He says, do you, verse 31, do you believe? 464 00:23:49,764 --> 00:23:50,395 Do you really? 465 00:23:50,395 --> 00:23:50,974 Do you get it? 466 00:23:51,025 --> 00:23:55,285 Listen, church, I'm going to flank this a little bit for our second point here, 467 00:23:55,285 --> 00:23:56,815 but I want us to think about it this way. 468 00:23:57,225 --> 00:24:00,135 I think the disciples were kind of thinking, okay, we get it enough. 469 00:24:00,155 --> 00:24:01,255 We know enough to get it. 470 00:24:01,284 --> 00:24:02,585 We know enough to understand Jesus. 471 00:24:02,585 --> 00:24:04,934 So, can we, can we move on now? 472 00:24:06,185 --> 00:24:10,074 Listen, church, for us as disciples, we never get there. 473 00:24:11,075 --> 00:24:12,374 We never get to that place. 474 00:24:13,105 --> 00:24:14,774 I talked about our humility and point number one of just 475 00:24:14,945 --> 00:24:16,274 understanding our privileged position. 476 00:24:16,805 --> 00:24:20,155 As we move into this point number two, I want to talk to us about our hunger. 477 00:24:20,784 --> 00:24:24,014 That we should always have a hunger and an awareness because of our 478 00:24:24,014 --> 00:24:25,435 human frailty, because of who we are. 479 00:24:25,735 --> 00:24:27,985 I mean, we're never going to get to that place of going, Man, I got it. 480 00:24:28,044 --> 00:24:28,485 I know it. 481 00:24:28,524 --> 00:24:28,994 I'm good. 482 00:24:29,804 --> 00:24:31,715 Doesn't matter how many initials you have after your name, how 483 00:24:32,085 --> 00:24:35,215 much school you've gone to, who taught you, what they taught you. 484 00:24:35,610 --> 00:24:38,649 You will always have an opportunity to deepen your understanding 485 00:24:38,649 --> 00:24:39,530 and knowledge of Jesus. 486 00:24:39,530 --> 00:24:41,790 In fact, that's another part of what the right stuff of 487 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,129 being a follower of Jesus is. 488 00:24:43,129 --> 00:24:43,990 Point number two is this. 489 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,710 Accept your position as a perpetual learner. 490 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,720 Accept your position as a perpetual learner. 491 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:59,889 Discipleship requires a humble hunger that's ever aware, yet 492 00:24:59,990 --> 00:25:03,020 always looking to overcome the limits of our human understanding. 493 00:25:04,479 --> 00:25:06,719 We're going to bump into that glass ceiling. 494 00:25:07,294 --> 00:25:09,354 Where, where it's like, okay, God, you're God and I'm not. 495 00:25:09,364 --> 00:25:13,735 And, and we're going to have those moments where we say, I don't understand this. 496 00:25:14,985 --> 00:25:18,074 And yet the hunger needs to be there for us to always understand more. 497 00:25:20,034 --> 00:25:22,344 Heaven forbid that we should ever get to the place that the writer 498 00:25:22,344 --> 00:25:24,965 of Hebrews had to address with the, the church that he was writing to. 499 00:25:25,715 --> 00:25:29,995 When he said to them in Hebrews 5, 11, he said, About this, we have much more to 500 00:25:29,995 --> 00:25:34,895 say, but it's hard to explain since you have become, here it is, dull of hearing. 501 00:25:36,064 --> 00:25:38,999 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, You need someone 502 00:25:38,999 --> 00:25:42,640 to teach you, again, the basic principles of the oracles of God. 503 00:25:42,899 --> 00:25:44,910 You need milk, not solid food. 504 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,340 For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of 505 00:25:48,340 --> 00:25:50,070 righteousness since he is a child. 506 00:25:50,479 --> 00:25:53,459 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers 507 00:25:53,459 --> 00:25:58,490 of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 508 00:25:59,620 --> 00:26:04,579 Church, I want us to be a church that is never prone to the 509 00:26:04,590 --> 00:26:06,099 charge of being dull of hearing. 510 00:26:07,504 --> 00:26:10,134 I want us to be a church that's always hungry to know, 511 00:26:10,184 --> 00:26:12,004 to learn, to understand more. 512 00:26:12,845 --> 00:26:15,314 That when we encounter something that might be confusing, like these 513 00:26:15,314 --> 00:26:18,355 disciples listening to Jesus, that we're not going to tap out and 514 00:26:18,365 --> 00:26:19,385 be like, okay, yeah, we get it. 515 00:26:19,395 --> 00:26:20,125 We get it now. 516 00:26:21,385 --> 00:26:23,784 But to be able to say, we don't get it, but I want to get it. 517 00:26:24,695 --> 00:26:25,284 I want to know. 518 00:26:26,034 --> 00:26:27,544 I want to understand what you're talking about. 519 00:26:28,005 --> 00:26:28,644 And I don't get it. 520 00:26:29,235 --> 00:26:29,875 Help me to know. 521 00:26:30,215 --> 00:26:30,965 Help me to grow. 522 00:26:31,455 --> 00:26:32,665 Help me to understand more. 523 00:26:34,784 --> 00:26:37,965 We're going to have to go counter cultural to embrace that mentality. 524 00:26:39,294 --> 00:26:39,874 I talked about. 525 00:26:40,425 --> 00:26:44,835 You know, using our phones earlier, you know what the word of the year 526 00:26:44,835 --> 00:26:47,095 was in 2024 for the Oxford Dictionary? 527 00:26:47,735 --> 00:26:48,505 It's actually two words. 528 00:26:48,505 --> 00:26:50,845 They cheated, but I guess they're allowed to because they're a dictionary. 529 00:26:51,075 --> 00:26:51,885 Who's gonna correct them? 530 00:26:52,445 --> 00:26:52,975 Not me. 531 00:26:53,585 --> 00:26:55,155 It's this brain rot. 532 00:26:55,975 --> 00:26:59,254 That was the word of the year for 2024 for the Oxford Dictionary. 533 00:27:00,185 --> 00:27:01,264 You say, Well, what is brain rot? 534 00:27:01,274 --> 00:27:01,994 That's a great question. 535 00:27:01,995 --> 00:27:02,945 They define it for us here. 536 00:27:03,385 --> 00:27:03,855 Here it is. 537 00:27:04,145 --> 00:27:04,505 It's this. 538 00:27:04,889 --> 00:27:09,060 It's the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual 539 00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:13,680 state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material. 540 00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:19,499 Now, particularly online content, considered to be trivial or unchallenging. 541 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:25,669 That's really convicting, isn't it? 542 00:27:26,919 --> 00:27:31,615 Convicts me, and that's why I say we're gonna have to go countercultural because 543 00:27:31,860 --> 00:27:34,439 what's being fed to us is just disengage. 544 00:27:34,470 --> 00:27:37,229 What's being fed to us is the scrolling culture. 545 00:27:37,229 --> 00:27:38,519 What's being fed to us is doom. 546 00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:38,879 Scrolling. 547 00:27:38,879 --> 00:27:39,689 It's disengaging. 548 00:27:39,689 --> 00:27:40,680 It's unplugging, it's not. 549 00:27:42,860 --> 00:27:45,630 But it's let me just unplug and let things happen to me. 550 00:27:49,020 --> 00:27:51,379 If we're going to accept our position as a perpetual learner, 551 00:27:51,379 --> 00:27:52,550 we've got to overcome that. 552 00:27:53,610 --> 00:27:57,250 And listen, this is a battle, parents, for the minds of our young 553 00:27:57,250 --> 00:28:00,820 ones, for our students, for our kids that are over on our kids ministry. 554 00:28:02,089 --> 00:28:07,700 In 1976, 40 percent of high school seniors had read six or more books for fun, okay? 555 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:14,110 In 1976, 40 percent of high school seniors had read six or more books just for fun. 556 00:28:15,679 --> 00:28:18,520 By 2021, that number dropped to 13%. 557 00:28:20,310 --> 00:28:25,540 13 percent of all high school seniors had read six or more books for fun as of 2021. 558 00:28:26,399 --> 00:28:29,750 The number of high school seniors who didn't read even one book for 559 00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:32,750 fun in that same year was 41%. 560 00:28:34,950 --> 00:28:37,870 That means 41 percent of the high school seniors that were graduating 561 00:28:37,870 --> 00:28:40,090 and churning out to be the next leaders, the next doctors, the 562 00:28:40,099 --> 00:28:41,909 next lawyers, the next engineers. 563 00:28:42,810 --> 00:28:46,959 Are saying outside of what's absolutely required of me to pass a class. 564 00:28:47,239 --> 00:28:48,129 I'm not picking up a book. 565 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:51,559 That's a problem. 566 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:53,870 That's a problem 567 00:28:56,679 --> 00:29:01,439 Combine that with this bit of information here the average American 568 00:29:02,239 --> 00:29:09,669 the average American scrolls 305 feet on Facebook alone every single day. 569 00:29:11,159 --> 00:29:12,560 You say well 305 feet. 570 00:29:12,709 --> 00:29:12,929 Okay. 571 00:29:12,929 --> 00:29:13,770 What does that mean? 572 00:29:13,770 --> 00:29:15,379 That's 30 and a half basketball hoops. 573 00:29:15,389 --> 00:29:18,750 What what else is three and a hundred three hundred five feet Statue of Liberty? 574 00:29:20,090 --> 00:29:23,070 The average American is scrolling the length, the height, of the 575 00:29:23,070 --> 00:29:24,820 Statue of Liberty every single day. 576 00:29:25,229 --> 00:29:26,039 Just on Facebook! 577 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,040 You're like, well, I'm not on Facebook. 578 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:29,810 Whatever, whatever your app of choice is, right? 579 00:29:30,860 --> 00:29:31,690 You're scrolling on that one. 580 00:29:33,449 --> 00:29:37,149 And, and, and that, the majority of that is just mindless, isn't it? 581 00:29:38,449 --> 00:29:40,129 You're not thinking it. 582 00:29:40,149 --> 00:29:41,189 This is brain rot. 583 00:29:42,049 --> 00:29:46,040 And that's why I'm saying we have to work counter cultural as disciples of Christ. 584 00:29:47,075 --> 00:29:50,565 Because to be a follower of Jesus implies us applying our 585 00:29:50,565 --> 00:29:54,625 minds, applies us accepting our position as a perpetual learner. 586 00:29:55,105 --> 00:29:56,965 Jesus told the parable of the talents, right? 587 00:29:57,695 --> 00:30:00,405 And he gives talents to different people and he gives them in different measure. 588 00:30:00,405 --> 00:30:01,905 But what did he expect when he came back? 589 00:30:01,905 --> 00:30:02,905 He expected a what? 590 00:30:02,925 --> 00:30:04,835 An ROI on those talents. 591 00:30:05,885 --> 00:30:08,935 And the ones that came back and said, teacher, I took your talent and 592 00:30:08,935 --> 00:30:10,185 here's what I brought back to you. 593 00:30:11,135 --> 00:30:12,875 He said, well done, good and faithful servant. 594 00:30:12,875 --> 00:30:14,585 But the one that said, hey, I took what you had and I didn't 595 00:30:14,585 --> 00:30:15,495 want anything to happen to it. 596 00:30:15,495 --> 00:30:17,335 So I just buried it over here and I didn't do anything with it. 597 00:30:18,565 --> 00:30:19,575 He calls that servant what? 598 00:30:19,575 --> 00:30:20,765 Wicked and slothful. 599 00:30:22,195 --> 00:30:24,855 Y'all, if we can think of the the the privileged position that I 600 00:30:24,915 --> 00:30:27,705 talked about in point number one as the talent that you've been given, 601 00:30:29,255 --> 00:30:30,485 we got to do something with it. 602 00:30:31,465 --> 00:30:32,655 We got to take that and deepen it. 603 00:30:33,905 --> 00:30:36,325 And you might be thinking, okay, is this all just about the intellectual? 604 00:30:36,325 --> 00:30:38,215 No, it's it's about the experiential. 605 00:30:38,755 --> 00:30:40,225 It's about growing in our knowledge. 606 00:30:40,225 --> 00:30:43,165 It's being a perpetual learner in deepening our knowledge and our 607 00:30:43,165 --> 00:30:45,235 experience of our relationship with Jesus. 608 00:30:46,660 --> 00:30:50,620 Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 15 through 18. 609 00:30:51,130 --> 00:30:54,380 2 Corinthians 3, 15 through 18, Paul says this, he says, Yes, 610 00:30:55,010 --> 00:30:58,510 to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 611 00:30:59,890 --> 00:31:02,780 When one turns to the Lord, this veil is removed. 612 00:31:03,070 --> 00:31:06,980 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 613 00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:11,520 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, 614 00:31:11,550 --> 00:31:13,740 are Notice the progression here. 615 00:31:13,980 --> 00:31:15,860 We are being presently. 616 00:31:16,870 --> 00:31:21,740 We are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 617 00:31:21,740 --> 00:31:24,600 For this comes from the Lord, whose spirit, 618 00:31:27,550 --> 00:31:29,320 this progression is what we're after here. 619 00:31:29,410 --> 00:31:32,890 This deepening of our understanding of Jesus that's going to be experienced, yes, 620 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:34,650 intellectually, but also experientially. 621 00:31:34,890 --> 00:31:36,790 It's knowledge that transforms. 622 00:31:36,790 --> 00:31:38,130 It's knowledge that shows up. 623 00:31:38,130 --> 00:31:39,550 It's knowledge that lives. 624 00:31:40,990 --> 00:31:45,620 This is, I think, what Paul meant in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 29, 19, not 29. 625 00:31:45,940 --> 00:31:47,600 I don't know what Ephesians 3, 29 says. 626 00:31:48,060 --> 00:31:48,980 Something good, I'm sure. 627 00:31:49,030 --> 00:31:50,070 But that's not the point right now. 628 00:31:51,110 --> 00:31:55,060 Ephesians 3 19, when Paul says this, he says, we're praying that you would 629 00:31:55,060 --> 00:31:59,450 come to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and that you might 630 00:31:59,450 --> 00:32:00,860 be filled with all the fullness of God. 631 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,270 He talks about doing the breadth and the height and the depth. 632 00:32:05,220 --> 00:32:09,430 It's this ever deepening, ever growing pursuit of knowing Christ. 633 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,170 If less of me means more of you take everything that that's what we prayed. 634 00:32:14,170 --> 00:32:15,380 That's what we sang earlier. 635 00:32:16,140 --> 00:32:18,230 This deepening of our relationship with him. 636 00:32:18,270 --> 00:32:20,760 That's not interested in saying, okay, I think we get it. 637 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:21,650 Can we move on now? 638 00:32:22,495 --> 00:32:24,635 And again, I don't mean to beat up the disciples. 639 00:32:25,725 --> 00:32:27,135 They weren't playing with the full hand. 640 00:32:27,135 --> 00:32:28,495 They didn't know the rest of what we know. 641 00:32:28,625 --> 00:32:33,505 But we have to guard against that ourselves as we sit where we are. 642 00:32:34,885 --> 00:32:36,855 A key component to the heart of any disciple has to be this 643 00:32:36,855 --> 00:32:38,475 hunger to know more about God. 644 00:32:38,965 --> 00:32:39,525 And I get it. 645 00:32:39,585 --> 00:32:42,265 Maybe you're out there saying, well, you know what? 646 00:32:42,265 --> 00:32:44,555 That's fine, Pastor PJ, but I'm not really a reader. 647 00:32:46,025 --> 00:32:48,215 Okay, there's ways around that. 648 00:32:49,105 --> 00:32:50,075 You can become a reader. 649 00:32:51,655 --> 00:32:57,980 My guess is if something happened to your wife, your spouse, And all of a 650 00:32:57,980 --> 00:33:03,670 sudden they couldn't speak audibly to you and they couldn't sign to you and you 651 00:33:03,670 --> 00:33:06,480 don't know sign language anyway so you wouldn't understand it even if they did. 652 00:33:07,110 --> 00:33:10,200 And the only way they could communicate with you is by writing to you. 653 00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:16,280 And at the end of every day, you came home and your, your spouse had a four or 654 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,360 five page letter that they had written to you about their day and about their 655 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:20,420 feelings and about everything else. 656 00:33:20,650 --> 00:33:22,920 My guess is you who would say, well, I'm just not a reader would 657 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:24,150 still read that, wouldn't you? 658 00:33:25,350 --> 00:33:25,800 Why? 659 00:33:27,110 --> 00:33:28,170 Because you love the one who wrote it. 660 00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:35,370 So, can I challenge that excuse a little bit on our time in the Word and our time 661 00:33:35,370 --> 00:33:38,700 learning about Jesus and learning more about God and to say, man, if we love 662 00:33:38,700 --> 00:33:42,110 the one who wrote it, let's get into it. 663 00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:43,720 Let's spend the time there. 664 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,970 I want us to be a church, again, that isn't prone to the charge 665 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:51,220 you become dull of hearing. 666 00:33:52,110 --> 00:33:55,260 There's two types of people in the world when it comes to air travel. 667 00:33:55,820 --> 00:33:59,130 There's those of you that like to just cut it to the last second. 668 00:33:59,465 --> 00:34:02,665 You know who you are and traveling with you for the rest of us is the 669 00:34:02,665 --> 00:34:05,915 worst experience on the face of the planet because all y'all have TSA 670 00:34:05,915 --> 00:34:08,505 precheck and then the rest of us do. 671 00:34:08,864 --> 00:34:11,155 So you're waltzing in there 10 minutes before the flight and we're 672 00:34:11,155 --> 00:34:12,195 in the back of the line going. 673 00:34:12,195 --> 00:34:12,925 I'm not gonna make it. 674 00:34:13,304 --> 00:34:13,935 They're gonna make it. 675 00:34:13,955 --> 00:34:14,844 I'm not gonna make it. 676 00:34:15,195 --> 00:34:17,034 I'm the guy that's there two hours early because why? 677 00:34:17,034 --> 00:34:18,324 Because that's what they tell me to do. 678 00:34:18,344 --> 00:34:19,264 That's what they say. 679 00:34:20,025 --> 00:34:22,864 They say, be there two hours early and I don't want the plane to leave without me. 680 00:34:22,864 --> 00:34:23,855 I want to be on the plane. 681 00:34:24,445 --> 00:34:24,905 My wife. 682 00:34:26,380 --> 00:34:29,580 Yeah, she loves me in spite of my, my, my quirks. 683 00:34:30,670 --> 00:34:31,760 But I'm the one that's there. 684 00:34:31,770 --> 00:34:32,600 And here's the thing. 685 00:34:32,630 --> 00:34:35,679 If you've ever flown out of John Wayne on American Airlines to go back to Dallas, 686 00:34:36,100 --> 00:34:38,510 typically that flight is waiting for you. 687 00:34:38,510 --> 00:34:40,949 That gate is waiting for you as soon as you go through security. 688 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:42,000 I don't know why it is. 689 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,929 Every time I fly back to Dallas from John Wayne in Orange County, the American 690 00:34:44,929 --> 00:34:47,199 Airlines Dallas flight is right there, right on the other side of the gate. 691 00:34:47,230 --> 00:34:49,210 I still get there two hours early as though I'm going to need to 692 00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:50,699 walk a long way to get to my gate. 693 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:51,239 I don't. 694 00:34:51,570 --> 00:34:52,380 So what am I left to do? 695 00:34:52,460 --> 00:34:55,110 Get McDonald's and then sit down at my gate and wait for my plane. 696 00:34:56,670 --> 00:34:59,560 Y'all, Christianity is not sitting at our gate waiting for our plane to heaven. 697 00:35:00,950 --> 00:35:02,100 I want you to think about it differently. 698 00:35:02,710 --> 00:35:06,200 I want you to picture that time that you've been landing in a massive airport, 699 00:35:06,210 --> 00:35:08,000 like DFW, or another airport like that. 700 00:35:08,470 --> 00:35:12,130 And you're connecting, and your plane that's landing, it's running a little 701 00:35:12,130 --> 00:35:15,130 bit behind, and you don't know exactly when they're going to start boarding the 702 00:35:15,130 --> 00:35:16,161 next plane, but you know it's imminent. 703 00:35:16,161 --> 00:35:16,384 It's imminent. 704 00:35:16,715 --> 00:35:19,285 And, and you're over here on this side of the airport and you've got to get 705 00:35:19,285 --> 00:35:23,585 to this side of the airport to get, to catch your flight, that's Christianity. 706 00:35:24,765 --> 00:35:29,615 We need to be moving all the way to get there until Christ comes back and 707 00:35:29,615 --> 00:35:30,945 we board the flight to get to heaven. 708 00:35:32,635 --> 00:35:34,485 By the way, I don't know what airline is going to get us to heaven. 709 00:35:34,485 --> 00:35:37,285 Not Delta, apparently, because they like to flip planes upside down, so, 710 00:35:39,865 --> 00:35:40,905 but you get the point, right? 711 00:35:41,715 --> 00:35:43,485 And, and along the way, sometimes what do we find? 712 00:35:43,515 --> 00:35:46,465 We find those people movers and you jump on the people mover and it 713 00:35:46,465 --> 00:35:47,595 gets you there a little bit faster. 714 00:35:49,255 --> 00:35:53,625 Y'all, Christianity is being on the people mover, not at the gate, not at the gate. 715 00:35:54,195 --> 00:35:55,545 And so keep going. 716 00:35:56,380 --> 00:35:57,360 Keep pressing on. 717 00:35:58,390 --> 00:36:01,090 Verse 32, Jesus continues. 718 00:36:01,530 --> 00:36:02,960 He said, Behold, the hour is coming. 719 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,150 Indeed it is come. 720 00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:07,130 And now he's talking about the hour of his crucifixion and his resurrection. 721 00:36:07,630 --> 00:36:10,330 And when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, 722 00:36:10,340 --> 00:36:11,830 and he will leave me alone. 723 00:36:11,990 --> 00:36:14,320 Yet I'm not alone for the Father is with me. 724 00:36:15,170 --> 00:36:18,140 And so Jesus deals this blow now to the disciples who are going to 725 00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:19,560 be reeling and listening to this. 726 00:36:20,260 --> 00:36:23,510 Because they've just been professing, we get it, we understand, we know now. 727 00:36:23,510 --> 00:36:25,490 And Jesus is going, do you really believe? 728 00:36:26,020 --> 00:36:27,720 Here's what I'm about to tell you. 729 00:36:28,380 --> 00:36:31,750 I'm about to tell you like Zechariah, the shepherd's about to be struck 730 00:36:31,750 --> 00:36:32,970 and the sheep are going to scatter. 731 00:36:32,970 --> 00:36:35,109 Zechariah 13, 7. 732 00:36:35,790 --> 00:36:37,310 And you are the sheep. 733 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:38,670 You're going to scatter. 734 00:36:38,670 --> 00:36:40,740 That word scatter means to run in every direction. 735 00:36:41,910 --> 00:36:43,860 It's not an organized run. 736 00:36:43,860 --> 00:36:46,080 It's, you're scattering because you're afraid. 737 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:47,400 You're running for your life. 738 00:36:48,180 --> 00:36:50,800 And Jesus says, that's about to happen right now. 739 00:36:51,825 --> 00:36:52,475 It's imminent. 740 00:36:52,575 --> 00:36:53,235 It's coming. 741 00:36:54,425 --> 00:36:58,415 And, and so you can imagine that this would have been a blow to the disciples. 742 00:36:58,415 --> 00:37:00,775 And what Jesus is doing here, like I've, I've said, a 743 00:37:00,775 --> 00:37:02,045 disciple is one that's humble. 744 00:37:02,265 --> 00:37:04,225 It, they're, they're hungry like we just talked about. 745 00:37:04,485 --> 00:37:07,535 But third, they're aware of their, aware of their frail humanity. 746 00:37:08,075 --> 00:37:10,425 And Jesus is really bringing that to the light here. 747 00:37:11,225 --> 00:37:16,315 He's saying, don't bow up too much, y'all, because you're about to run. 748 00:37:16,735 --> 00:37:17,445 You're about to flee. 749 00:37:17,445 --> 00:37:18,585 You're about to scatter. 750 00:37:18,900 --> 00:37:23,570 For your life, and so he's lovingly rebuking here their their overconfidence. 751 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,230 He says the hour is coming indeed. 752 00:37:25,230 --> 00:37:30,780 It has come The reason he's saying it has come is is we're about to find out 753 00:37:30,780 --> 00:37:33,990 in verse in Chapter 18 that they're getting ready to cross over the Kidron 754 00:37:34,020 --> 00:37:38,090 Valley brook So they're walking through Jerusalem as Jesus is teaching them 755 00:37:38,090 --> 00:37:42,780 these things the hour is upon them It's it's imminent and he says that's why 756 00:37:42,780 --> 00:37:49,125 it's it's here and you're about to run I mean, if 16 ended there, that'd be 757 00:37:49,165 --> 00:37:50,425 pretty disheartening, but it doesn't. 758 00:37:50,465 --> 00:37:51,315 Look at verse 33. 759 00:37:52,015 --> 00:37:54,125 He says, and I've said these things to you. 760 00:37:54,175 --> 00:37:56,725 And I think in these things, he's talking about everything in the, 761 00:37:56,755 --> 00:37:58,005 the upper room discourse here. 762 00:37:58,735 --> 00:38:03,295 He said, I've said these things to you that in me, you may have peace. 763 00:38:03,485 --> 00:38:05,225 Hey, listen, you're about to scatter. 764 00:38:05,225 --> 00:38:06,145 You're about to run. 765 00:38:06,485 --> 00:38:07,315 Things are going to be tough. 766 00:38:07,575 --> 00:38:12,885 Things, things are going to terrify you in just a minute here, but I've 767 00:38:12,885 --> 00:38:17,145 said everything that I've said to you that you might have peace in the world. 768 00:38:17,145 --> 00:38:18,215 You're going to have tribulations. 769 00:38:19,110 --> 00:38:21,250 You're about to know that in a real way here. 770 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:22,600 You're gonna have opposition. 771 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:23,460 You're gonna have tribulation. 772 00:38:23,980 --> 00:38:25,570 But he says this, but take heart. 773 00:38:25,610 --> 00:38:26,360 I love that phrase. 774 00:38:26,370 --> 00:38:26,850 Take heart. 775 00:38:26,860 --> 00:38:29,580 It's, it's to stand firm in the face of opposition. 776 00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:30,570 That's what the word means. 777 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:32,220 Take heart. 778 00:38:32,530 --> 00:38:34,790 I have overcome the world. 779 00:38:35,990 --> 00:38:39,270 Jesus moves from the loving rebuke to this more encouraging thought. 780 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:40,470 Again, these things. 781 00:38:40,690 --> 00:38:43,270 And he says there's two spheres that you're gonna exist in here. 782 00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:47,060 The sphere of the world in which you're gonna find opposition and tribulation. 783 00:38:47,950 --> 00:38:50,090 But then the other sphere is the sphere of Christ in which you're 784 00:38:50,090 --> 00:38:51,350 going to experience peace and victory. 785 00:38:52,170 --> 00:38:55,320 And so he's encouraging them, saying regardless of the world's 786 00:38:55,320 --> 00:39:00,020 opposition, despite our failures, we can confidently have peace because 787 00:39:00,020 --> 00:39:01,740 Christ has already defeated the enemy. 788 00:39:02,990 --> 00:39:06,330 And this third point here, I love the patient mercy of 789 00:39:06,330 --> 00:39:07,610 God that we see on display. 790 00:39:08,930 --> 00:39:11,110 Because again, he's just told the disciples, y'all 791 00:39:11,110 --> 00:39:13,300 are about to fail big time. 792 00:39:14,270 --> 00:39:15,840 You've been talking a big game. 793 00:39:16,390 --> 00:39:18,220 You've been talking about being willing to die for me. 794 00:39:19,430 --> 00:39:24,150 But you're about to run for your life, but then he follows that up by 795 00:39:24,150 --> 00:39:28,520 saying, but in me you'll have peace. 796 00:39:29,300 --> 00:39:29,930 Because why? 797 00:39:30,780 --> 00:39:34,230 Not because of what you can do, but because what I'm about to do. 798 00:39:34,870 --> 00:39:36,510 I have overcome the world. 799 00:39:37,190 --> 00:39:39,810 Point number three this week, our final point is this, take heart 800 00:39:40,170 --> 00:39:42,910 because of God's merciful patience. 801 00:39:44,290 --> 00:39:47,230 Take heart, just like it says in our text. 802 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,865 Stand firm, be resolved to Be encouraged. 803 00:39:52,715 --> 00:39:56,975 Strengthen your faith because of God's merciful patience. 804 00:39:57,515 --> 00:39:59,885 Listen, as a church, one of our distinctives is that we seek 805 00:39:59,885 --> 00:40:01,285 to maintain a high view of God. 806 00:40:02,645 --> 00:40:05,205 And part of what that means is, yes, His holiness. 807 00:40:05,975 --> 00:40:08,005 And we're going to treat Him with the reverence and the respect 808 00:40:08,005 --> 00:40:09,465 and the dignity that He is due. 809 00:40:09,625 --> 00:40:12,475 And that also means that because He is holy, we desire to be holy. 810 00:40:13,795 --> 00:40:16,195 But we also have to remember that part of maintaining a high view 811 00:40:16,195 --> 00:40:20,075 of God also means we have a high view of His mercy and His grace. 812 00:40:21,935 --> 00:40:23,825 And we are so thankful for those two attributes. 813 00:40:25,635 --> 00:40:28,935 How many times, let me ask you, how many times Christian has your faith faltered? 814 00:40:30,475 --> 00:40:33,315 We look at the disciples and they're about to run from the cross. 815 00:40:33,535 --> 00:40:39,335 How many times have we metaphorically run when we faced opposition in this world? 816 00:40:41,165 --> 00:40:43,475 How many times has your faith faltered in the last week? 817 00:40:45,085 --> 00:40:48,485 How many times has your faith faltered in the last 24 hours? 818 00:40:50,655 --> 00:40:54,755 And can you imagine trying to live as a follower of Jesus in a world 819 00:40:54,765 --> 00:40:56,395 without the merciful patience of God? 820 00:40:57,685 --> 00:40:58,365 The answer is no. 821 00:40:58,715 --> 00:40:59,135 You know why? 822 00:40:59,135 --> 00:41:00,415 Because none of us would be in this room. 823 00:41:01,755 --> 00:41:03,785 Starting with the fact that this pulpit would be empty right now. 824 00:41:05,545 --> 00:41:08,035 If it weren't for God's merciful patience, 825 00:41:10,055 --> 00:41:14,345 none of us could stand and offer our worship. 826 00:41:14,375 --> 00:41:15,405 None of us could pray to him. 827 00:41:15,415 --> 00:41:16,705 None of us could stand in his presence. 828 00:41:16,955 --> 00:41:18,725 We would all be completely destroyed. 829 00:41:20,595 --> 00:41:23,435 If his standard was, if you're not perfect, then I'm done with you, 830 00:41:25,975 --> 00:41:27,715 then he'd be done with every single one of us in the room. 831 00:41:29,845 --> 00:41:31,385 Think about those that were in the midst here. 832 00:41:31,955 --> 00:41:35,305 Peter, James, they're gonna run. 833 00:41:36,005 --> 00:41:37,825 Peter's gonna deny him three times. 834 00:41:39,185 --> 00:41:41,455 And yet, what is God gonna do through Peter, through James? 835 00:41:42,345 --> 00:41:43,725 Is he gonna still use them in the future? 836 00:41:43,825 --> 00:41:44,205 Little bit? 837 00:41:44,745 --> 00:41:45,145 Tiny bit? 838 00:41:45,975 --> 00:41:46,795 Yeah, book of Acts? 839 00:41:47,765 --> 00:41:50,815 Peter's standing up saying, hey, listen, this Jesus who you guys crucified, 840 00:41:51,325 --> 00:41:53,375 God has made him both Lord and Savior. 841 00:41:53,865 --> 00:41:54,695 Repent and believe in him. 842 00:41:55,595 --> 00:41:57,565 James, the leader of the Jerusalem church? 843 00:41:58,165 --> 00:42:02,965 Yeah, it's so encouraging because when our faith falters, and it does, it 844 00:42:02,965 --> 00:42:04,385 doesn't mean that God is done with us. 845 00:42:04,855 --> 00:42:06,285 It doesn't mean that discipleship's over. 846 00:42:06,925 --> 00:42:09,385 But his merciful patience is gonna enable you to keep going. 847 00:42:09,595 --> 00:42:12,495 His merciful patience means that God is still gonna use 848 00:42:12,495 --> 00:42:15,265 you to do great things for him. 849 00:42:16,095 --> 00:42:18,425 You may be wondering what is my faith faltering look like? 850 00:42:18,425 --> 00:42:21,305 Here's just a few examples of the ways that our faith can falter. 851 00:42:22,475 --> 00:42:25,695 Sometimes our faith falters when we give into our fears and anxieties 852 00:42:25,745 --> 00:42:27,215 when we face the world's opposition. 853 00:42:28,225 --> 00:42:32,425 Sometimes our faith falters when we doubt God's goodness, when we 854 00:42:32,425 --> 00:42:33,655 encounter the world's opposition. 855 00:42:35,055 --> 00:42:40,035 Sometimes our faith falters when we trust in ourselves, when we 856 00:42:40,035 --> 00:42:41,405 encounter the world's opposition. 857 00:42:42,135 --> 00:42:46,315 Sometimes our faith falters when we fall into a spiritual apathy or just a lethargy 858 00:42:47,905 --> 00:42:49,265 because of the opposition of the world. 859 00:42:50,275 --> 00:42:53,855 Sometimes our faith falters when we yield to temptation or yield to compromise 860 00:42:56,355 --> 00:42:58,065 when we face the world's opposition. 861 00:42:59,075 --> 00:43:02,245 And sometimes our faith falters when we retreat from a gospel opportunity 862 00:43:03,265 --> 00:43:04,425 because of the world's opposition. 863 00:43:05,745 --> 00:43:08,505 Church, I just want you to take heart this morning that because of God's 864 00:43:08,505 --> 00:43:14,110 merciful patience, because He has overcome the world, When your faith falters, it 865 00:43:14,110 --> 00:43:15,220 doesn't mean that he's done with you. 866 00:43:16,670 --> 00:43:19,950 His merciful patience means that when we repent, when we seek 867 00:43:19,950 --> 00:43:23,690 forgiveness, then we are going to be brought back in and restored to 868 00:43:23,690 --> 00:43:28,130 that right relationship, and he will continue to work in and through us. 869 00:43:28,150 --> 00:43:33,090 A few things that it means for us today to think about Him having overcome the world. 870 00:43:33,410 --> 00:43:34,930 How do we experience that tangibly? 871 00:43:34,980 --> 00:43:35,730 What does that mean for us? 872 00:43:35,730 --> 00:43:38,850 Well, He tells us, one at least, right off the bat, is the peace 873 00:43:38,850 --> 00:43:39,900 that we have because of that. 874 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,560 God's merciful patience in our lives and His victory over sin and victory 875 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:46,360 over death means that we can have peace. 876 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:51,430 John 16, 33, take heart, I've come that you might have peace in this world. 877 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,980 Second, we can have hope because of this. 878 00:43:55,980 --> 00:43:58,000 We can have hope, first, in the face of death. 879 00:43:58,850 --> 00:44:00,799 1 Corinthians 15, 20 22. 880 00:44:01,450 --> 00:44:04,250 That He has risen from the dead as the firstfruits, and we will also 881 00:44:04,250 --> 00:44:06,060 to one day rise from the grave. 882 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:10,110 So we have hope because of this, because He's overcome the world in the face of 883 00:44:10,110 --> 00:44:11,600 death, but also in the face of suffering. 884 00:44:11,650 --> 00:44:13,899 2 Corinthians 4, 17 18. 885 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:16,730 This light momentary affliction, what's it doing? 886 00:44:16,730 --> 00:44:19,610 It's preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. 887 00:44:22,660 --> 00:44:24,750 We can also experience His victory over the world through 888 00:44:24,750 --> 00:44:25,990 our own victory over sin. 889 00:44:27,420 --> 00:44:31,500 His merciful patience with us means that, man, you fall yesterday, you get to 890 00:44:31,500 --> 00:44:33,300 fight tomorrow, you get to fight today. 891 00:44:33,300 --> 00:44:33,340 Amen. 892 00:44:33,860 --> 00:44:34,940 You get to battle that sin. 893 00:44:34,950 --> 00:44:38,010 You get to, with Paul in Romans chapter 6, I am not going to present myself to 894 00:44:38,010 --> 00:44:42,120 sin as an instrument of unrighteousness, but to God as a slave of righteousness. 895 00:44:44,210 --> 00:44:47,540 It also means that we can have confidence and hope in true justice 896 00:44:47,550 --> 00:44:50,639 being done, Revelation 19 and 20. 897 00:44:51,820 --> 00:44:54,160 When Christ comes back, man, justice is going to follow. 898 00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:57,690 And so, when we face the world's opposition, when we look at something 899 00:44:57,700 --> 00:45:01,590 and say, that's not just, because Christ has overcome the world, we can have 900 00:45:01,590 --> 00:45:03,910 confidence that justice will be done. 901 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,150 I, I love this point because I need this point. 902 00:45:10,210 --> 00:45:12,950 I need to be reminded of God's merciful patience in my life. 903 00:45:14,150 --> 00:45:19,540 When I fall, when I falter, when I doubt God's goodness in my 904 00:45:19,540 --> 00:45:22,780 life, and God is patient with me. 905 00:45:27,140 --> 00:45:30,830 John 16, 32 33, these last two verses are such a great source of 906 00:45:30,830 --> 00:45:33,850 encouragement to us because God understands our frail humanity. 907 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:38,940 And yet, in His patience, He still wants to use us to accomplish His purpose. 908 00:45:40,590 --> 00:45:45,000 Now the only caveat I want to add to this is that this last point is 909 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:49,390 not a golden ticket to sin, right? 910 00:45:50,115 --> 00:45:52,695 This last, last point is not like, okay, God's mercifully 911 00:45:52,695 --> 00:45:53,785 patient, so what does it matter? 912 00:45:53,785 --> 00:45:55,475 Paul answers that in Romans 6. 913 00:45:56,255 --> 00:45:56,995 He says, what then? 914 00:45:56,995 --> 00:45:58,275 Should we sin that grace may abound? 915 00:45:58,275 --> 00:45:59,355 And what does he say in response? 916 00:45:59,355 --> 00:46:04,495 He says, no way, except he says it way stronger than that. 917 00:46:05,115 --> 00:46:08,195 May it never be the most emphatic statement, negative 918 00:46:08,205 --> 00:46:09,415 statement he can make in Greek. 919 00:46:10,005 --> 00:46:12,915 And so his merciful patience is not licensed for licentiousness. 920 00:46:14,125 --> 00:46:18,895 His merciful patience rather is that encouragement for us to go, okay, I'm 921 00:46:18,895 --> 00:46:24,345 going to get back on the horse tomorrow, today, right now, and keep serving. 922 00:46:27,855 --> 00:46:31,175 Humility, hunger, and that awareness of our frail humanity. 923 00:46:32,495 --> 00:46:35,655 It's not everything that goes into the right stuff of his disciple, but it's at 924 00:46:35,655 --> 00:46:39,075 least some important stuff that goes into the right stuff of what makes a disciple. 925 00:46:40,345 --> 00:46:42,515 And so I hope and I pray that maybe this week is going to see a little bit 926 00:46:42,515 --> 00:46:48,435 more grateful pursuit of, of utilizing that privileged position that we have. 927 00:46:49,615 --> 00:46:52,095 Maybe it's going to spark the increased desire to keep growing in 928 00:46:52,095 --> 00:46:55,885 our knowledge of God, and I also hope this week that we will be mindful of 929 00:46:55,885 --> 00:47:01,085 God's merciful patience with us, and not live defeated, but say, okay. 930 00:47:02,110 --> 00:47:03,170 I can keep going. 931 00:47:03,170 --> 00:47:03,920 I can keep serving. 932 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:04,540 I can repent. 933 00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:07,750 I can keep going and keep pursuing Christ's likeness right now. 934 00:47:08,570 --> 00:47:10,680 Will you stay with me as I pray for us?