Enjoy the Ride

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Here's what I would also say, and I know this is going to almost be over simplistic, but here's what I would define freedom in Christ is or this freedom that we have in Christ. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the ride, enjoy the walk, enjoy the relationship rather than nitpicking and worrying ourselves to death about is this right? Is that right? Enjoy the ride and do all that you can with all that you got and enjoy it. Not worry yourself to death or work yourself to death, but enjoy. Enjoy being with Christ and enjoy the freedom that he gives. [00:00:42] Speaker B: Your diet's a lot more effective than mine apparently, because mine was, let's see, Sunday. I ate a little bit yesterday. I had a one peanut bar, like one of the nature nature grain peanut. That was all I had all day. And I got up this morning, I did have chick fil a this morning. My stomach was like, you know, you're so hungry you're sick. I was that feeling this morning and doing all of this and I've been doing this for like three or four weeks. To lose five pounds in four weeks. That's how hard I've got a diet and you're able to eat hardee's and lose £5 in two days. That's impressive. [00:01:14] Speaker C: But, but I'm not. [00:01:15] Speaker A: See, I was afraid you've lost it weight you didn't want to lose. [00:01:19] Speaker B: Eat enough hardies that quick. [00:01:21] Speaker C: I can lose weight quick just keeping it all. [00:01:26] Speaker A: I said that's good and I'm mine, mine. I just can't lose it. [00:01:30] Speaker C: But I've gotten some of my pants and clothes, you know. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Yeah. What? [00:01:35] Speaker C: My pants and clothes. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Pants and clothes. [00:01:38] Speaker C: You see, you think I wear a lot of expensive clothes and I probably do, but you see where that is, [00:01:46] Speaker A: they are. [00:01:48] Speaker C: They might cost a lot, but you see where I get them. [00:01:52] Speaker A: He got his father in law's name. [00:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah, gotcha. [00:01:56] Speaker C: And most of my clothes are probably about 20, 30 years old anyway. [00:02:02] Speaker B: I was joking with somebody the other day. [00:02:04] Speaker C: Well, since he passed away, some of [00:02:06] Speaker B: my pants are getting loose but I don't think I've lost any weight. So it must mean that I've stretched them out far enough that that's caused the cause them to be loose. [00:02:16] Speaker C: I haven't seen that shirt. [00:02:18] Speaker B: This one? Yeah, yeah, I got this Christmas. [00:02:22] Speaker C: I hadn't seen them advertise that. [00:02:24] Speaker B: I don't know if they advertise it a bit. [00:02:26] Speaker C: So don't you get a. Yeah, okay, I get an email of what they're at. [00:02:30] Speaker B: So I just went through the. Through the app room for Christmas time while I was buying presents and got something for me. [00:02:35] Speaker A: Got my shirt. Merry Christmas to me. [00:02:39] Speaker C: All right. [00:02:40] Speaker A: I like it. I like it. [00:02:42] Speaker B: So welcome to other167. I listened to another podcast. Do you ever listen to the. Is it Live Free? Is that the name of it? [00:02:51] Speaker A: I think I saw something on it the other day. [00:02:53] Speaker B: I forget the pastor's name now. He's all over. I see his clips on YouTube, but like, Pastor to Texas, I think it's Live Free. Anyway, somebody sent me one of theirs. I was listening to it the other day and I was like. They were about 10 minutes into it before they ever started talking anything Bible. And I was like, okay, we're not the only ones that do that. [00:03:09] Speaker A: I think. I think that's what gives us a Gene Sequoia. [00:03:12] Speaker B: Is that what it is? We're gonna hopscotch? I think a little bit. As I was thinking through my questions and thoughts for today, they're like all over. The Bible is Hebrews. So. [00:03:22] Speaker A: Yes, yes. This is a very interesting verse. I love it. So we. [00:03:25] Speaker B: This came up last week on a Tuesday night Bible study. And I. I love Doug. It's so cute that he keeps writing up like these seven or eight questions. We never answer more than like two because we always get on these little tangents. [00:03:37] Speaker A: That's a good group that likes to discuss a lot of stuff. [00:03:40] Speaker C: Yeah, but. [00:03:40] Speaker A: And you got two or three there. That boy, they'll talk. [00:03:43] Speaker B: So somebody brought up Hebrews 5, 8, and all of us kind of had a. Interesting reaction to it. It was like, are you sure you said that verse correctly? I don't know if that's exactly as you know. [00:03:55] Speaker A: I'm going verse by verse through the book of Hebrews. And we spent quite a bit of time on that as far as the. And Hebrews 5, 8 talks about Jesus, he learned obedience. Well, you know, learning obedience is there is applying that he was still fully God, fully man. Yes. But that learning obedience is. He learned it and carried it out is. Is the whole gist of what's being said there. But he also learned how to depend upon the Father and the Spirit. Again, not that he didn't already. He remember when he came to. Came to the world, he limited himself. Meaning he didn't have full everything. [00:04:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Now he was able to sometimes know what was in the heart of man. And he said so. But he still. He got tired. He. He got hungry, he wept. He. He, you know, all the things that we do. He was tempted like us in every way. Yet without sin. And so he. This is something that, truthfully, it's. It's fair to say he learned obedience. [00:05:00] Speaker B: Well, so different sides of that, I guess. When I. The. The verse is, although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And somebody, you know, said, jesus can't learn anything. He already knows everything. And I said, well, I said, I don't know. I said, he. He probably learned how to. [00:05:18] Speaker A: Like, he had to learn how to walk. [00:05:19] Speaker B: He probably had to learn how to walk. [00:05:20] Speaker A: He had to learn how to go to the bathroom. [00:05:21] Speaker B: But I use that example. I use that example of the day, talking to somebody about it. And they said, no, he didn't have to learn how to walk. He knew everything. [00:05:28] Speaker C: And. [00:05:29] Speaker B: Right. [00:05:29] Speaker A: I mean, well, somebody had to feed him when he was first born. And so he had to learn how to be a human in a way, such as how to walk, how to. How to. I dare say his daddy probably taught him a whole lot about carpentry. I don't know that he came fully equipped to do everything in the world. I don't. Don't believe that. Because again, he limited himself. That's Philippians 2. Made himself nothing. [00:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah, well. [00:05:55] Speaker B: And it's learning. So, okay, learning how to walk, that's a basic one. I can get behind that I still struggle with. He learned obedience. Because if anybody knew obedience to the Father, naturally from the beginning, when. I mean, he had always been obedient. So it was. That was the part that really got me. It's like man learned. He already. Surely he already was obedient, even in coming or. [00:06:24] Speaker A: Well, I think he came with obedient. [00:06:25] Speaker B: Yes, but I just think it's another level. [00:06:28] Speaker A: To that level is what it's kind of getting at, too. And. And remember, I fully believe that when Jesus prayed, it was not just for me. I just don't think it was a time of just spending time with his Father. Yes, it was, but it was also a time of strengthening. It was also a time of. If you go to the Garden of Gethsemane, there it talks about how while he was praying, angels ministered to. I mean, he was just like us. He had weaknesses. He got tired. I'm sure there were times when, especially as you get to the end of his life and you begin to look at the Garden of Gethsemane and the prayers that he prayed, father, take this cup away from me. I'm not sure it was something he necessarily wanted to do. And so I think that is. I mean, if you look at the Context. That's what he's talking about. He offered up himself, and through prayers and pleas. He's talking about that time when he was in the guard of Gethsemane, and that's the ultimate test. He had the temptations in Matthew 4. They were strong temptations, don't get me wrong. But the ultimate temptation came that night in the garden of Gethsemane when he says, not my will, but yours be done. He could have easily said, no, I don't know if I want to do this. He had that choice. And so I think that's what he's getting at there, of learning obedience to the point of no matter what it cost me and no matter how hard it is, I'm doing it now. Did he already know that's why he came? Yes. Did he know that he was going to? Yeah, but this is when it gets real. [00:08:03] Speaker C: Let me ask you this, because this was. I want to see how you asked me, could Jesus sin? [00:08:11] Speaker A: That's a very interesting question. That's one that's been discussed. And there's people that would say, nope, he cannot. And then my. My response is, well, then, is he fully man? [00:08:23] Speaker C: Why was he tempted in the first place? [00:08:26] Speaker A: Well, that's. That's the easiest question is. And that also he was tempted like us in every way. But that doesn't mean. Just cause you're tempted doesn't mean you've. And their argument would be, well, he. He still couldn't have done it. Well, I disagree. I think he had free will just like we did. [00:08:43] Speaker C: I think could have. Yeah. [00:08:45] Speaker A: And I think that. That that night in the garden of Gethsemane, when he's coming face to face with what's about to take place, I think he is really struggling with God. I sure would love a different. Different option on this. [00:08:56] Speaker C: And why did he have to pray all the time? Yeah. I mean, to me. All right. I need to pray because I need to make sure I'm right. You. My spirit's right when I'm being tempted again. So I think he did a lot of prayer. So I think he. Jesus, could have sinned. [00:09:10] Speaker A: I do, too. [00:09:12] Speaker B: That one came up, I think, the other night. And I can't remember if this was on the Bible study or where this one came from, but it did come [00:09:18] Speaker C: up, because I know [00:09:20] Speaker B: you weren't there. [00:09:21] Speaker C: No, but I know. I know about it. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Somebody asked. [00:09:24] Speaker B: Somebody gives you the rundown. [00:09:26] Speaker C: Yes. Okay. He's part of Thursday Bible study. [00:09:32] Speaker B: Gotcha. [00:09:33] Speaker A: Probably a big part. [00:09:35] Speaker C: No, he's not. He's only in there for a few minutes. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Oh, really? Oh, I thought it had been probably the big part of it. [00:09:42] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Well, I know. [00:09:45] Speaker B: I know what that means. [00:09:47] Speaker C: Let's just throw that out there. Yeah. So that's. That's where the question. Because I never really thought about it. That's where I got back. [00:09:55] Speaker A: Believe it or not. There's actually some schools of thought and I remember studying theology that you. I had to defend. Could he or couldn't he? And really had to defend both to though both sides of arguments when I had a professor that feel good about. I want you to know both sides. [00:10:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:11] Speaker A: So that you. When you were down. When you know what you've nailed down. All right. This is why I don't get there. And so I fully believe that he could have. I fully believe that. I don't believe the enemy would have done what he tried to do if he thought, you know, well, he can't sin. [00:10:28] Speaker C: Well, then why did he say. And I think I know, but I want to hear what you have to say on this. Why did Jesus say, be therefore perfect, as the Father in heaven is perfect? And why did he also say when they came to him, so, teacher, you know, perfect in all your ways. Why did Jesus say the only perfect person is God? [00:10:49] Speaker A: Well, he said, why do you call me good? [00:10:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:10:52] Speaker A: I think what he was also getting at in that particular one was if you look at that context, he's also throwing it back to the Pharisee of you understand, or the man that asked it, you understand what you're saying here you are elevating me to a place that he really is. So if you look at that context is there. But yeah, I wholeheartedly agree that no, I think Jesus could have sinned just like the rest of us. He just didn't. Now what. What did he have a little bit of. A little bit of a advantage? I don't know I'd even go that far, but I might. [00:11:24] Speaker C: Maybe he knew the Father well. [00:11:26] Speaker A: He knew well his very nature was not sinful like ours. [00:11:31] Speaker C: Yes. I don't know. [00:11:35] Speaker A: And I think that's where their argument is. He wasn't born with a sin nature. So therefore is it the same temptations? And the Bible says tempted like us in every way. But was he. Did he have the same pull and the same. And my argument would be sin is sin and temptation is temptation. But it. Let's just be honest, having a sin nature means I'm fallen. I am prone to it. I am. I am sometimes. Well, that Was a slave to it. That's what I was. [00:12:05] Speaker C: And it's just like this, you know, I know what not to do. Right. I can play the tape forward, but I still doing it. I still do it sometimes know what the outcome's going to be. I already know what the outcome's going to be. But I still, you know, I have that fallen nature. I fall right into it again. And I'm saying that because Jesus has lived in heaven, knew, you know, all about heaven. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Right. [00:12:32] Speaker C: But he still had that same nature. Yeah. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Personal relationship with the Father. [00:12:35] Speaker C: Yes. When I say sin nature. He had that physical. [00:12:38] Speaker A: He was. He was a man, maybe didn't have the sin nature. [00:12:42] Speaker C: Right. But he was just. He was tempted just like we were. [00:12:47] Speaker A: And my argument is I'm just more prone to it. And I'm not saying that's necessarily what I would say. But their argument is that they. That we are more prone to fall because of what we already have in us. He didn't have that in us in him. [00:13:04] Speaker C: Sure you do me, I don't get that he. Yeah, I know he knew, but I don't get that he wasn't [00:13:14] Speaker A: as prone to it. Yeah. The only reason I'm saying that is, is because you and I, that is our very nature. We were born. We're born hardwired. Sinning. We're born hardwired. You don't have to teach us. We're born. [00:13:29] Speaker C: We are doing it automatically. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Yes. And is our propensity, honestly usually is towards sin. That's why we have to be born again and why they have that spirit where his. Maybe not was not that way. Is all I'm saying. [00:13:42] Speaker B: We. [00:13:42] Speaker A: That would be the argument. [00:13:43] Speaker C: We tend to go down spiritually. [00:13:46] Speaker A: Right. Maybe. I mean, I know what you're saying. Yeah. [00:13:50] Speaker C: It's always going down. We have to pray. We have to read the Word, our program. [00:13:55] Speaker A: We are hardwired hardcore sinners. [00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:57] Speaker B: Well, I think it's iron. I don't think it's a hard stance to defend though, that he would have been less prone to it. Because if you. The closer you are with God and the further along you are in your walk, the, the, the. The less likely you're going to be. The temptation may be there, but it's a heck of a lot easier for me to resist certain temptations now than it was five years ago. [00:14:20] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:20] Speaker B: And as you grow more and more in that, you know, it's habit, if any, if nothing else that your habits are. You're less likely to do. Used to have to really think really hard about don't do this or don't I. It's pretty rare that I do those things now. Right. Because it's just, it's. It's habit. So that his level of close, he definitely had the high, the highest level of closeness with God. [00:14:46] Speaker C: Right. [00:14:47] Speaker B: That anyone's had. [00:14:48] Speaker C: Well, I get that because that's the same way it happens to me. You know, once I became Jesus Christ, became my Lord and Savior, it was. It's a new ball game, a different ballgame. Things that I just like Paul said, things that I. Well, he little further. He knew he didn't want to do the things he did. And now he has a conscience a sinner don't have. They live by their own morality, which is no morality. [00:15:15] Speaker A: They have the law written on their heart though. Romans 2. [00:15:18] Speaker C: Yeah, but I still. [00:15:19] Speaker A: They know there's a morality, but they live by. Yeah, well some of them do. I mean you, you meet some lost people that they. They are probably nicer than some folks I know to be born again. [00:15:32] Speaker C: There is dramatic happens. [00:15:34] Speaker A: Well but here's the thing. We all are image bearers. It might be a distortion of the image, but everybody's born with that image of God that we know what's right and what's wrong. And so we have a conscience. I think where it comes in is, is the Holy. The difference maker for us of course is the Holy Spirit. And being born again, I mean we have a new nature and a lot [00:15:57] Speaker C: of sinners, their conscious is already seared. [00:15:59] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:00] Speaker C: And. [00:16:01] Speaker A: And because we have that new nature. But that old nature still raises itself up from time to time. That's where we, we struggle. [00:16:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:10] Speaker A: And I, I submit for your consideration. That's what Jesus maybe did not have was that old nature wanting to pop up every now and then at the same time. I don't know that I still admire. His level of obedience was far greater than anything we've ever done in the fact of he laid aside glory to become a slave and then on top of that to die to the point of death. Death on the cross. [00:16:36] Speaker C: You know, I don't think we can imagine his obedience. [00:16:40] Speaker A: No. And so learning it is. I can, I can see why the writer of Hebrews wrote that. [00:16:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Another one that I thought about this week that I just never noticed it before. How very familiar with the passage. Just had never really notice this particular part of it. But I didn't. Let me pull it up here. It's only five verses. Only five verses pass from Jesus giving Peter the name Peter and saying, he's the rock, which is the church will be built. And him calling Satan, saying, get behind [00:17:15] Speaker A: me, saying, you're being used by Satan right now. [00:17:18] Speaker B: Now, I don't know how much time elapsed in there. [00:17:21] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure that's about the same conversation. [00:17:23] Speaker B: Might have been the same conversation. [00:17:24] Speaker A: Because Jesus. I mean, if you read it in that context, it is shortly thereafter, he begins to tell them, I'm going to be going into Jerusalem, I'm being arrested, I'm going to be crucified. And. Well, no, no, no, not on my watch. [00:17:37] Speaker B: Yeah, but Peter was. I heard that one in. I think that was on that podcast I listened to. They were also talking about Peter and the length that Jesus went to after he was resurrected to reach out to Peter and to show him, hey, you still have a place in my kingdom. And just. I mean, Peter, you could do a whole episode on Peter pretty easily. Easily. But I mean, it's constantly rising and falling, rising and falling, and always the. That's an important thing for me to remember. I think there, too, there's a balance between don't be too easy on yourself, so that you just give yourself a pass all the time. But at the same time, don't forget how many times he. I mean, I literally. I was writing a description for one of the episodes I was editing, and I'm like, this is the guy who is one of the all stars of Jesus's team. And look how many times he failed, you know, in. In that. In his process. [00:18:37] Speaker C: But it's. [00:18:39] Speaker B: He's on top of the mountain and he's. He's great when Jesus is performing miracles, but, boy, things get tough, and it's like, that's not gonna happen. That's not happening. [00:18:47] Speaker A: Jesus gets arrested. [00:18:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:48] Speaker A: And the next thing you know, he's denied one. He leaves, then he denies him three times. You go on. What I love about the Bible is the people that we read and we study about that. They have clay feet, they're fallen. And that's good. It helps us to know that, okay, if these guys botched it, then, okay, we're going to botch it, too. I mean, it isn't that the Holy Spirit came and Peter never made another mistake. Because if you go to the book of Galatians, Paul has to confront him face to face. Now, whether or not that was a grave sin, I don't know. I'd call it a grave sin, but I would call that. I'd call it an error or sin that he. He began to Pull away from the gentile believers and started hanging with the Jewish believers because he was afraid of what people might say. And Paul says, no, I got in his shirt about it. [00:19:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:40] Speaker A: You know, and confronted him. So it's not like he. He, you know, got it where. Oh. No mistakes or anything. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Well, I think there's another thing to remember on that, too, is that don't let it sneak up on you and think that you're immune to it because you've reached a level of spiritual maturity that you won't fall for that again. [00:19:59] Speaker A: Well, the second you become complacent. [00:20:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:03] Speaker A: That is a dangerous place to be. Complacency in your walk with Christ can lead you to many. Led to many a person's ruin. I've seen even some. Some. Some guys that were way down the road and some guys that were spiritual leaders that got complacent. And boy howdy, they trip up. [00:20:23] Speaker C: Let me ask you a question. I mean, did you say. [00:20:29] Speaker A: Did I say. [00:20:29] Speaker C: Yeah, this. I'm gonna. This is the quote now. Did you say you get to go through something to realize what it means to realize God is a healer, Financial provider? Did you say that? I just want to make. [00:20:44] Speaker A: What I meant by that. [00:20:45] Speaker C: No, I like it. That's what I was saying. Well, this is your sermon, but I was. [00:20:50] Speaker A: How else am I going to realize that God is a healer unless either sick or somebody around me is sick? How am I going to realize that he's a provider unless I'm needy? How am I going to realize that he is whatever he's claiming to be unless I have experienced that? [00:21:06] Speaker C: Exactly what you said. No, that's. You. You even took a note. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:13] Speaker C: And that was a handwritten note. I know. [00:21:15] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. I didn't see it. [00:21:18] Speaker C: So. Yeah. Wow. I'm going by Panera anyway. [00:21:21] Speaker A: Yep. [00:21:22] Speaker C: That must be some Renee. That's the next. So I was there. I was in for a few minutes. [00:21:30] Speaker A: That's why we were singing. [00:21:32] Speaker B: You enjoyed Sunday in that. You didn't leave off either side of the coin there. You talked about that. The side of the. John 9. [00:21:45] Speaker A: John 9. And then a man born blind that [00:21:48] Speaker B: he said, you know, who's. Whose sins causes man to be blind? And he said neither. It was for the glory of God to be displayed. And that's a really important part of it because there. There's a really terrible example. This probably. But one of the most famous golf shots Tiger woods ever hit was probably when he chipped in at Augusta. [00:22:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:22:06] Speaker B: Right. And it hangs on the 5 minutes symbol. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Hangs out there. [00:22:09] Speaker B: Yes, well you can think of a hundred examples of this. But what made that shot so great was that he put himself in a really bad spot. Right. If he had stuck it to two feet and made the putt, that wouldn't have been that impressive. [00:22:21] Speaker C: Right. [00:22:22] Speaker A: So you'd be showing that shot. [00:22:23] Speaker B: Right, you'd be showing that shot. But when you think about sports or highlights or whatever, usually it's the extraordinary that really gets attention that people remember. Most of the time it's advert and that was some type of adversity that led to that situation in the first place. Whether it was a fourth quarter comeback or it was somebody hitting a miraculous shot out of the woods or if it was somebody, whatever. I mean it's, those are the types of things that, yeah, the 550 foot home runs get highlights too. But a lot of things that you're [00:22:53] Speaker A: celebrating sports come but usually it's in a clutch situation. [00:22:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:22:58] Speaker A: Game seven. You know, I think of step back State, Lorenzo Charles. Yeah, the glass slipper fits. That was a, that was a tight, tight ball game the whole time. It wasn't just state one. [00:23:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:10] Speaker A: No, it was a last he from Derek Wittenberg to the rim that Lorenzo Charles stuffs that wins the national championship and the last second Michael Jordan shot the next year. [00:23:23] Speaker B: And that's in some ways I think the way God has to work for us to see how great he is is that if things were just nice and normal and predictable and you always knew exactly what was going to happen and you never had any fear, you never had anything to worry about, nothing bad ever happened then yes, he would still be great and he would be great for providing all these things. But you wouldn't see it nor would [00:23:48] Speaker A: we depend upon it. [00:23:49] Speaker C: Right, right. That's the key. We wouldn't need God. [00:23:51] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:52] Speaker A: Because when things are easy, that's when, that's when we're dangerous of going to autopilot, being complacent because hey, I got this, I can just run. I see it in all the time with staff at churches and pastors that you know, things are just going easy, man. It's those hard times kind of like in a marriage. I mean I, I, Renee and I joke about the first few years of our marriage. We didn't have two dimes to rub together. But we look back on those are some of the happiest days. Not that we don't have happy days now. We do, we're very, very happy. But we look back on Those things when it was a pizza once a month type, but that was a splurge. Oh, this is. We're living up. I can't wait. Tonight's pizza night. Yeah. Won't be, won't get it for another month now. The Lord, you know, gotten a little more established. You got. Hopefully you've worked your way up in the wherever business, you're at work that you can afford a pizza once in a while more than just once a month. And it was those times that man, those were. Because we knew that's we. All we have was each other. And when you know all you have is Christ and when he is all that you treasure, that's when it's precious and that's learning how to do that in the everyday is key because. But it is those times when we're hurting, when we're sick, that or whatever we, we need a miracle. That's when we, we really draw close in it. We need him. [00:25:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:16] Speaker B: But the other point that you, you made and I appreciated that you pointed this out and spent some time on it is that everybody wasn't healed. And that's another thing that having an acceptance of his will, even if it isn't what you want it to be and stays the way you don't want it to be. Because that's the thing, you know, it's equally important to, maybe even more important to be able to maintain your faith even if that is the outcome because you know, hopefully it won't be. But you've got to be okay with. If that's what he wants, then. And that's probably one of the harder ones to. It's probably easier to have faith knowing eventually he's gonna deliver on this promise, whatever the promise is or whatever this situation. [00:26:03] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:04] Speaker B: I'm gonna be better. But being able to still worship him even when you don't get or you don't know or you don't know if you will. It's not just not know because you technically never know exactly what's. What the outcome's going to be. You can have faith that he's good, he'll provide, but at the same time it's having the faith to be able to say if he doesn't his grace is sufficient. That's harder to make. That's. [00:26:31] Speaker A: I think it is, I think it goes that. That's again going back to that leaning on depending on he's all I got. And that yeah, even though I'm in pain, even though I'm suffering, I know that God can sustain Me, and the point I was trying to make is both of them are for God's glory, man. You see God's glory in a healing man. That's easy to see, but you also see God's glory in the fact of he sustains us and provides grace because in our weakness, that's when his strength is perfected in us. And that's really getting to that place of understanding that and accepting that and then saying, God, I know your grace is sufficient and I'll trust you. [00:27:14] Speaker C: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that's a good example. But we're reading the whole story. We know the beginning and the end. They didn't know us. And they decided regardless, they weren't going to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar. And they told him that whether God delivers us or not, we're still not going to bow down to you. We're going to serve the living God. And they did get delivered, but they didn't know they were going to get delivered. And they probably weren't sure if they would. They probably thought they wouldn't. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Well, Abraham, when he drew the dagger back, did he know how it was going? I mean, we've talked about this before. You know, when he. At that moment in time, he didn't have the word. I'm thinking here is hope. I mean, when you're in a bad situation and you have hope that God's going to change it, that's one form of faith. But continuing to say Jesus on the cross, when the worst possible outcome is happening and you see that it's happening and there's nothing that's going to change that. Still, having faith in that moment is really what. That's maybe one of the toughest tests we can have. Abraham didn't have any assurance at that time. [00:28:29] Speaker A: He just had faith. [00:28:30] Speaker B: He had faith. [00:28:31] Speaker A: And I think that would be Hebrews 11 that. You know, I always used to make the joke that Abraham math works like this. Isaac minus Isaac equals Isaac. I don't know how that works because Isaac minus Isaac equals 0 in both math books. 5 minus 5 equals 0 in most math books. But somehow with God and faith in him, that, hey, no, you made me a promise. And that promise is my descendants will be more than the sands of the seashore and more than stars in the heaven. And if you made me that promise, then, okay, if you take away Isaac, somehow another, you're going to either give me another Isaac or something, because you're not going to over trump the promise. You just Made, didn't he? [00:29:13] Speaker C: Correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't Paul address it in Romans that Abraham believed God was raising back up from the dead? [00:29:21] Speaker A: But I'm just saying that takes a whole lot to believe that, especially when that's ever happened. [00:29:28] Speaker C: Six or five. [00:29:30] Speaker A: I think you're in. Yeah, you're correct. But I was thinking more along the lines of Hebrews 11 is where I'm getting it out. [00:29:35] Speaker C: Okay. Could be. I don't know. I think Paul addresses that. I'm not sure. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Well, I just know that. [00:29:41] Speaker C: I mean, I know it's in there. I just don't know where. Right. The sound. Just have some candy. This is probably a pound right here. [00:29:48] Speaker A: This is five. You gonna eat that and then lose five pounds, man? [00:29:54] Speaker B: This is Hebrews 11. [00:29:56] Speaker C: What does Hebrews 11 say? [00:29:57] Speaker A: Well, Hebrews 11. 19. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he had also received him back as a type. [00:30:07] Speaker C: It might have been in Hebrews. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, but I mean, basically Abraham's mind, Isaac minus Isaac still equals Isaac. I just. Man, that's pretty cool math. I'm just amazed that that's. That's that kind of faith that says, all right. But now, he also had a promise from what God had promised him at Genesis 12. So Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 and 17, I dare say, helped him help to shape the decision that's made in Genesis 22 or 23. [00:30:40] Speaker B: Well, and then you've got the apostles singing in the jail when they're imprisoned. And, you know, they certainly. I mean, the end of their earthly life didn't end. Didn't. Their earthly lives didn't end well. And every single one of them faced trials that never ended and ultimately ended in death for all of them, except [00:31:03] Speaker A: John, according to church tradition, except John, [00:31:07] Speaker B: who probably wish he was died in some of those. So, I mean, it's. And they had faith to the. Literally to the grave, Stephen. [00:31:20] Speaker C: Right. [00:31:21] Speaker B: So it's finding a way to be okay with it and to know that if it's. If. Even if it never gets better, even if it never. [00:31:30] Speaker A: If it. [00:31:31] Speaker B: If the. The pain, the suffering, the struggle, the whatever continues all the way to the end, he's still good. And that's the. [00:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think. And again, as Hebrews 11, he talks about some of that. And I think the thing that we have to keep in mind is for each one of those folks you're talking about, and I think it's something that we need to make sure that we nail down in our own Lives is for every one of those folks you talked about, whether it's an apostle in prison, those that were being sold asunder, those who were being persecuted, they realized this earth is not our home. We have a city whose builder and architect, so to speak, is God and it's not of this earth. And when we know we have a city that is not of this earth and is waiting for us, it kind of makes okay, the stuff that we go through now, it's going to be worth it. It's going to be. And I think that's one of the things that we have to always remind ourselves to be heavenly minded, thinking of that city which is waiting for us. [00:32:35] Speaker C: Most of the time we're not. [00:32:36] Speaker A: But, well, most of the time it's easy. We get tied up with the goods and the treasures and the trinkets of this world. And I believe God is saying, no, I've got something a whole lot better than that for eternity. And, and I'm not saying we, we need, we need things. You got to, you got to pay for your food, you got to pay for the shirts on your back and you got to pay for that thing. But I think so many times we get caught up in the treasures of this earth. And I believe the Lord is sometimes saying, no man, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven because treasures on earth, moth will eat them, they're going to rust, people going to try to steal them. But in heaven they can't be taken away. [00:33:19] Speaker C: And we can@matthew6 all day long, but do a lot of disbelief. Seekeepers, the kingdom of God, all those things will be added to you. Do we actually believe that? Are we willing to. [00:33:33] Speaker A: Well, we willing to seek it. [00:33:35] Speaker C: Yes. [00:33:36] Speaker B: Well, in seeking it, when we see the. Can you seek it just for the first half of that verse or are you only seeking it for the second half of the verse? [00:33:43] Speaker A: Well, I think, I think, you know, I'd go to the psalms too that Delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you the. Or the desires of your heart. I think once you begin seeking first his kingdom, your, your, your definition of treasures is going to change too. Or all these things will be added unto you. Though you'll see that there's a different, there's a different economic scale. You, when you, when you become fully, fully sold out to Christ, there's a whole economic scale that those things don't matter. [00:34:18] Speaker C: And the prosperity gospel has just butchered that. [00:34:23] Speaker A: Well, it's bogus. [00:34:24] Speaker C: Yeah. They have said seek God and you'll be financially rich where does that say that? [00:34:31] Speaker A: That's not as anything handed unto you. Yeah. [00:34:35] Speaker C: And ask anything. My name, it shall be given unto you. If you have this seal of, of a faith, of the seed of a mustard brain, you can move that mountain. Jesus wasn't talking about that. He just used that illustration. But that wasn't the point that Jesus was trying to make. [00:34:54] Speaker A: And again, Please understand, Matthew 6:33, 34 is not preaching. You can't have stuff. [00:35:00] Speaker C: No, no, no. [00:35:02] Speaker A: If God blesses you with stuff, man, I hope he does. I hope he blesses you with more than you know what to do with. But I pray that you'll know what to do with it. [00:35:09] Speaker C: It's going to make it as a God. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think, I think you. You begin to realize that because God's been generous with me, I'm going to be generous with what I. What he's given me. And I think you'll you to me when you see somebody who's truly born again. I've yet to meet one that is that. That is overly selfish and overly hoarding. Usually they're giving to the point of man. It's only money. [00:35:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:39] Speaker A: Or God's blessed them to the point of man. I love to give it. [00:35:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I see a lot of pastors that way. [00:35:46] Speaker A: A lot of money. Loaded, rich. Uncle Michael. [00:35:51] Speaker C: I know some personally. Yeah. I mean, just. I've had two or three vehicles everywhere building a new house. [00:36:01] Speaker A: Golly. Yeah. Gracious. What's up? My man is. I'm having to eat it. He is sold out. [00:36:11] Speaker C: I tell you. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably be a pastor. [00:36:16] Speaker A: There you go, man. So [00:36:20] Speaker B: that's where the money's up. [00:36:21] Speaker C: Yeah. One in the public county. Oh. [00:36:24] Speaker B: I was noticing something the other night and I don't this. There's nothing wrong with this necessarily, but I just started. Just got on my mind a little bit. So in my prayers, I love to have a ticker accounter for how many times the words please or thank you are said. I was thinking about it and I thought, you know, I guess it's. I think I was going through a little stage in that prayer where it was just like, please, please, please, please, please. And I was like, I'm getting tired of saying please. So I started saying thank you. And then I started thinking about it like, well, there's nothing wrong with saying please when I'm. Please help this person with this please when I'm praying for other people. But all of my prayers are please and thank you. It's please do this or thank you for doing that. And I thought there's gotta be something. I gotta figure out something else to say in these. In my conversations with God. So it's not just always merits basically of please do this or thank you for doing that. And I remember when I was a kid, I've maybe told this before, but back then I didn't know how to pray. So I literally just tell God about my day. And I told the kids the other day, I said, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Just, you know, yes, he knows what already happened in your day. But I think it's that fellowship is maybe what's missing sometimes from the prayers that, you know, every time I talk to mom or dad or talk to one of you guys or whatever. It's not all about pleas and thank yous and requests and thank you for what you. It's conversation. It's just having that relationship. And that's something that probably used to be better at that than I am. And I need to get back to it a little bit. But it's. [00:37:54] Speaker C: I don't know. [00:37:55] Speaker B: Nothing wrong with please and thank you. I just feel like that's monopolized my prayers. [00:37:59] Speaker C: Have you tried name it, claim it? [00:38:04] Speaker B: If name it, claim it's a thing. I've been doing it all wrong. [00:38:09] Speaker C: You don't have enough faith. You need to name it and claim it as it's yours already. Isn't that right? Isn't that scripture? [00:38:17] Speaker A: Must be. [00:38:18] Speaker C: Must be. Where is it at? That's where I need to find. Do you know where it's at? [00:38:23] Speaker B: But. [00:38:24] Speaker A: But I would say this. I don't think there's anything ever wrong with thank yous in a prayer. For the simple reason of gratitude is the whole. I think that is one of the anchors for the soul. I think gratitude is one of those things that when you are thankful, it helps you to grow and it helps you to realize how much he has done for you. So I would say I get what you're saying. The please is begging him to do something or asking him to do something, what you think might need to happen. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that per se, but I never think you can say thank you enough. Now, a lot of it might be thank you because you answered this and you answered this, and it's just okay. Rather than being thankful for, man, thanks for waking me up this morning. Thank you for what water tastes like or whatever, you know, all the simple things we need to thank him for never a problem with them. And I think too, I don't have a problem at all with reviewing the day. I always used to say, lord, thank you for this day. And Lord, you know, you know, what. What all transpired today. And kind of my mind thinks about it too, of, you know, is there something I need to confess this morning, this evening, that I did somebody wrong, or is there somebody I need to go and call back, that maybe I didn't say what I should have said to him? I don't think there's a problem at all with reviewing your day and just saying, lord, again, thank you for giving me this day. [00:39:57] Speaker C: Well, if you're not thankful, how do you get there? That's what a lot of people want to know. How do you get to be thankful? [00:40:05] Speaker A: How do you get to be thankful? Oh, I think there's a couple of things, but I think the number one thing is I sit down and just think about it. Think about all that God's done for you. Think about, look around. Is there something in your life you can be thankful for? Sit down, look around. Is there something God's done in your life that you can be thankful for? And begin there. I always tell people, you want to be. Learn how to be thankful. Just go to the cross. That's the first place to start. [00:40:34] Speaker C: Well, I've worked all my life. It's me that I've gotten. [00:40:43] Speaker A: My thing. [00:40:44] Speaker C: There's a couple of things because I work hard, Right? Right. Yeah. And what I've got, I've worked hard for. [00:40:50] Speaker A: And you, you have that ability to work. Where did. How did that come from? [00:40:55] Speaker C: You went to school, right? Well, I'm not talking about me. Oh. [00:40:58] Speaker A: I'm just saying. [00:41:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:00] Speaker A: And okay, so you went to school, and so who gave you the brain to be able to think? Did you make that? [00:41:09] Speaker C: No, I've been act like a person that didn't believe. [00:41:11] Speaker B: We're role playing now, just in case [00:41:12] Speaker C: anybody doesn't notice that I worked hard, I studied hard. Right, right. [00:41:17] Speaker A: But. But did you make your own brain? Who gave you. Who gave you the life and the ability? Who gave you the body that's able to move around and do what you do? [00:41:26] Speaker C: My parents. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Okay. And where did they come? We will play that all the way back generations. [00:41:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:31] Speaker A: Where did they come from? [00:41:32] Speaker C: Well, eventually we're going to get to the age, Right? [00:41:34] Speaker A: Well, that's it. I think that's going to show what Romans 1 is telling us. Is that the carnal man or the one that they're not thankful. [00:41:46] Speaker B: That's what they believe. [00:41:47] Speaker A: God. They go back because they're not going to recognize God. They did not recognize God or acknowledge God nor give him thanks. Now Paul wrote that in Romans 1, 18:21. So I think a lot of it is for the Christian. How am I going to be thankful? And that's who we're talking about here. Because that's who he tells us to always be thankful, be thankful in every circumstance. How do I do that? Start at the cross? How do I do that? Sit down and just begin to think about all that God's done and all [00:42:19] Speaker C: that God has given me. [00:42:23] Speaker A: Talk about haggai or all that God is. Why's it got to be what he's given me? Why can't it just be for who he is? [00:42:31] Speaker C: Yes, I agree. [00:42:33] Speaker A: Just throwing that out. [00:42:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:35] Speaker A: For our listeners. [00:42:35] Speaker C: I'm just playing the role here. Yeah. I'm just acting. This is my first acting job, so bear with me. But Hagia wife, are you talking about Jose? Yeah. Jose is what, Gomer? She is a prostitute. Yeah. And she, because she is a prostitute, she thought she earned all her money, you know, jewels and perfume, whatever she got. [00:43:00] Speaker A: How silly. [00:43:02] Speaker C: And then what did Hosea say that God actually provided that even though you were in sin, it was God that gave you that. That's right. But here's a question I got for you while we're talking about that. Why? How did God give her that when she's in sin? I mean, how did. Well, I mean, how did she have the riches of the earth by not serving him? [00:43:32] Speaker B: How does he reward you? Ask him. [00:43:33] Speaker C: How does he, I mean, why is he rewarding him? Why is he rewarding her for what she's involved in? [00:43:42] Speaker A: I mean, I mean she's involved in [00:43:44] Speaker C: sin, so why was she getting. [00:43:46] Speaker A: But it wasn't just her. I mean, if you stop and think about it, God makes the reign to fall on the justice. [00:43:51] Speaker C: Yes, yes, and I get that. [00:43:53] Speaker A: So. So just because you don't follow God doesn't mean you're not going to be blessed or not have riches or not have stuff. And I think even David wrestles with that. That's a, that's been going on since the dawn of time. But David wrestles with it and he says, why do the wicked prosper? You know, and I'd ask the same thing. Why is it that the wicked sometimes have more stuff or the wicked have, you know, because they, they don't mind. Who's could doing somebody out of money? They don't mind. So they, they are probably going to have more stuff and they're wiser to the things of the world. [00:44:29] Speaker C: Can we find that answer also in second chapter Romans, where God gives to, to the sinners too, and they are not thankful. [00:44:42] Speaker A: Romans 1 or Romans 2. [00:44:44] Speaker C: Well, might have been one of it's one or two. Rum is one. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Even the ungodly have something to be thankful for. Doesn't mean they give thanks. But we all have something to be thankful. [00:44:55] Speaker C: God gives them good gifts too. [00:44:57] Speaker A: Yeah, sure, maybe you're thinking James. [00:45:00] Speaker C: No, James. [00:45:01] Speaker A: Well, that's all good gifts come from God. [00:45:02] Speaker C: But no, you're thinking about. [00:45:05] Speaker A: Nor do they give thanks. And I think it's just fair to say that the rain is going to fall on the just and the unjust. There's going to be blessings even for those that are maybe some of the most immoral people in the world. And sometimes I think they're wiser of the things of the business world. Jesus even said that, that, you know, his children are not going to be the. As far as it goes as far as the world. That we're not going to be the wisest and the richest. Just not. But that's all right. And I think that's, that's a part of it. Because they are more. How did he put it? They are more. I'm trying to think exactly how he put it, but basically they're more skilled in the ways of the world. [00:45:51] Speaker B: Recess the other day, the difference between intelligence and wisdom, and we were talking about it, I said, you know, it goes back to the gratitude question, I think a little bit. The more I told them, sometimes intelligence can be a big hindrance to wisdom. If we're talking about godly wisdom. Because the smarter you become, the more you start to feel like you figure out all the answers and you don't [00:46:18] Speaker A: give God your own understanding. [00:46:20] Speaker B: Right? That's right. That's exactly right. I even mentioned that verse, the more you, the more you, the smarter you are, the more you tend to lean on your own understanding instead of God's. [00:46:30] Speaker C: And I've seen that you can see that. [00:46:33] Speaker B: And I think that it's. You say start at the cross. I think that with gratitude, I've, it's. I've opened my mind up a little bit more to more creative ways of seeing the beauties of God in the world. I think it's not just the obvious ones. A really silly example of this from a few weeks ago when it snowed. I love snow one time per year. And then I'm ready for Summer. [00:47:01] Speaker A: But I love ready for it right now I can't. [00:47:03] Speaker B: Me too. But when anytime it snows, if it's a good, you know, nice, pretty snow, I like to get out, walk around. And I don't like play necessarily. If I got the kids, I will, but I just love to walk around. And I was just thinking that night, I was like, why did God even make snow in the first place? It's really cool. It looks really pretty and stuff, but the earth, I don't think in any scientists out there. Feel free to contradict me on this. I don't know what purpose snow serves aside. I mean, it's precipitation. We need water. [00:47:29] Speaker A: But the only thing I'm thinking, why [00:47:30] Speaker B: did he make it so that we would have this pretty flu. Now I know some people. People don't like to know. And that's fine. [00:47:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:47:34] Speaker B: But what was the. You, you start looking around sunsets. Why are they as beautiful as they are? Why did he do all these things? There's so many really cool things that he. He gave us that we don't reason we don't need them other than they're just cool. [00:47:49] Speaker A: It just shows his power and his wisdom and his ability. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's just a. [00:47:54] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:47:55] Speaker C: In the. In the part two that in creation we could. We can see God in creation. Sure. So, you know, stone and the beauty of creation. [00:48:04] Speaker B: But I think if you really sit [00:48:06] Speaker C: down and that's in second Roman and [00:48:08] Speaker B: just look around, you can find all kinds of second Romans. [00:48:13] Speaker A: Oh man. [00:48:15] Speaker B: You can find all kinds of cool things that you never really thought that much about. But when you do think about them, they're all. Everything was from God. [00:48:24] Speaker A: No, no, I agree. He was just saying, how do I go from being ungrateful to grateful? I think the easiest thing to do is to go to the cross. And then once you go to the cross, you're exactly right, man. That's when you begin to look at all the other things, such as the world, your children. I mean, it doesn't take long for you to realize, man, we got a lot to be thankful for. It doesn't take long before you realize. You can make a list real quick. And I mean even. Even the things that are simple, such as the next breath I take, I owe that to the Lord. Those things you begin to understand. But for. But for me, start at the cross because I've been bought with a price. And therefore I'm. I'm his child. And if I'm his child, then I really began to Understand how good he is because he's provided. He's given, he's given me a house. He's given me the air to breathe. He's given me life. And so I, I don't know. I just, I think that's. But I do like the idea of as much as you can, wherever there's something to be thankful for. [00:49:34] Speaker B: And I don't disagree with the cross by any means. I'm just saying that mine are more, some of the things that I've, I think, obvious. [00:49:43] Speaker A: As you mature you, as you mature you, you'll see more and more things. [00:49:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:48] Speaker A: To be even more thankful for. [00:49:49] Speaker B: I like the way you said it in that sermon. That time of God took away all the things you don't say thanks for. That's probably the thing that got my eyes opened as much as anything. [00:49:57] Speaker A: What was being left with. [00:49:59] Speaker B: That's right. Oh, it was a Thanksgiving. [00:50:02] Speaker A: It was a good one. [00:50:03] Speaker B: It was [00:50:06] Speaker C: danger because I would have picked that one out. [00:50:09] Speaker B: It's not as great as chips out. [00:50:10] Speaker A: You don't remember that. [00:50:11] Speaker C: Yes. I might not have been here Thanksgiving. You were young. We usually go to the beach on Thanksgiving. [00:50:18] Speaker A: I think you'll hear that. Don't you use the watch on live stream? You say you do. [00:50:22] Speaker B: You don't watch when he's here. [00:50:25] Speaker C: I, I, I will say there pretty much most of the time I'm not in the convention because of the things I got to do. You know when you're preaching, if you [00:50:34] Speaker B: don't go back and watch it later, you don't go back and watch it later. Tell me. [00:50:37] Speaker C: Sometimes I do. I hadn't gotten to it yet, but all of them. But I don't have to this week because I was present. [00:50:43] Speaker B: Yeah, you were present sometimes between that. [00:50:46] Speaker A: It was around Thanksgiving because I just said what at the end of the day, God said, okay, everything you didn't say thank you for, I'm going to take away from you. What would you have? And you know, it's just a, just a kind of a way to think [00:51:00] Speaker C: about what'd you have. [00:51:02] Speaker A: That's it. [00:51:03] Speaker B: It's a good thing that he doesn't do that because you would. I don't care how hard you tried, you would forget a lot. [00:51:10] Speaker A: Yeah. You can't think forever. [00:51:11] Speaker B: You would lose a lot. [00:51:12] Speaker A: But it's just one of those things of it teaches you to. What if he were to do that? Have I thanked him for. [00:51:21] Speaker B: You know, sometimes we find it's easy to look at the things that we have to be grateful for. But if you ever been everybody. When you're sick, one of the things you don't have. [00:51:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:34] Speaker B: When you're sick, the. All you want in the world is to feel normal. [00:51:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:39] Speaker B: You know what I mean? If I could just feel normal. That's. That's all you want. Well. Well, if you look at blessings that way, it's easy to say thank you for the things that I have, but there's also a lot of things that [00:51:48] Speaker A: we don't have that were thank you that well. [00:51:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:51] Speaker A: And I think that kind of goes with thank you that I have two legs that come on. Two eyes that can see. [00:51:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:56] Speaker C: We have a lot of things that we don't recognize to be thankful for. [00:51:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:00] Speaker B: I mean, there's the. [00:52:03] Speaker C: Really? That's a new one. Let me write that down. [00:52:06] Speaker B: Can you agree? [00:52:07] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Might be concerning. Actually. [00:52:10] Speaker C: I'll write it. Ready? [00:52:11] Speaker A: I don't know. You took so many notes. Wow. [00:52:14] Speaker C: I'll write it right next. I got off track there, I guess. Four minutes. [00:52:22] Speaker B: I'm telling. I don't know if I said this on the recording or not, but they're going to end up canceling the sip club if doing it. [00:52:27] Speaker C: Yes. It's true. [00:52:29] Speaker B: Kenny going to cause us all to lose. [00:52:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:35] Speaker A: He gets his money's worth, I'm telling you. [00:52:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:37] Speaker A: He was there Sunday. I. I can vouch for that little thing. [00:52:42] Speaker C: Yeah, you're right. Yeah. So I said what I said. Right. I do what I say I'm gonna do. Yeah. [00:52:49] Speaker A: He was there. He had two big old. Was it Cokes. [00:52:53] Speaker C: One of them's always water. A couple. [00:52:57] Speaker A: There was two brown jugs in front [00:52:58] Speaker C: of you or Nan. [00:53:01] Speaker B: So you're doing. [00:53:01] Speaker A: He had a tea, she had a green tea. [00:53:03] Speaker C: I was told while I got her an extra one. [00:53:05] Speaker A: Okay. But there was no water. [00:53:07] Speaker C: She went back and got me some water. No. And her glass. Actually, it's okay. I think. Yes. I think. Yeah. She had a glass of something, you're right. But then she went back and refilled it. [00:53:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:21] Speaker C: She might. [00:53:21] Speaker A: She may have had a water, but I didn't see one in front of you. [00:53:25] Speaker B: There were two. [00:53:25] Speaker A: Two brown drinks, like. [00:53:27] Speaker C: Well, you know, Tim had Pepsi. Was right upside me. [00:53:33] Speaker B: Did. So you doing John 10 this week? [00:53:35] Speaker A: John 10. [00:53:36] Speaker B: Which part you doing? [00:53:38] Speaker A: Probably doing the first 12 verses. [00:53:39] Speaker C: Oh, nice, Tom. [00:53:41] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:53:42] Speaker C: I like that, John. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Now here. Here's the thing. I'm going at a different angle. [00:53:48] Speaker C: I got to hear this. [00:53:49] Speaker A: I don't know if I. I don't know if I'm a hold into it or not, because it is parent child dedication. Oh, I'm tempted to try to make John 10 a prayer that you pray for your children, a prayer that you pray for these kids that have just been, you know, dedicated and for their parents. And part of it is that they would be able to recognize the shepherd's voice, that they would come by the only way of salvation through the gate, that they would experience the abundant life that's promised in 1010. And that we pro. We pray these things for them. And I'm not sure yet if I've. I still got some. A lot of time I got to spend in it, but there's just a part of me that wants to take it from the angle of, all right, how. How do I apply this to these children and these parents and my own life as a parent, my own life as a. So I don't know. I'm still working through that, but I really. And I know that's not the. Necessarily the gist of the text, but I think I can bring the gist of the text out through why we pray that, why we want them to know my sheep hear my voice, and why in a world filled with all kinds of other voices, we want them to hear that voice. [00:55:11] Speaker C: What's the abundant Life? [00:55:13] Speaker A: The Abundant Life. I think I've said it before. [00:55:16] Speaker C: Okay, you can repeat it. Don't you remember it? I mean, I know what it is. I just wanted to. [00:55:23] Speaker B: Kenny knows everything. Yeah, he just wants to hear you say it. [00:55:27] Speaker C: Yeah, I just want to be. [00:55:29] Speaker A: I want to hear if you remember what. What terms I gave it. [00:55:31] Speaker C: I don't know if you. On 1010, you hadn't preached on that. [00:55:35] Speaker A: No, no, I have. I have. [00:55:36] Speaker C: Recently that might have been. [00:55:38] Speaker A: I talked about what the abundant life [00:55:39] Speaker C: was, what to be abundant. [00:55:41] Speaker B: I'm pretty sure he literally asked us on the podcast what we thought the Abundant Life was, and we're thinking about it because he was going to be preaching on a Sunday that. [00:55:50] Speaker C: Okay, said. I've already answered that. I probably wasn't there on that, so. [00:55:56] Speaker A: But, but. But was it? [00:55:58] Speaker C: I mean, I know I've already answered. You get back to the podcast. When did you answer? When we were on the. [00:56:04] Speaker A: Well, we answered again. I think it's important. [00:56:08] Speaker C: Do you read them? [00:56:09] Speaker A: I won't write. [00:56:11] Speaker C: So you already know what I said. [00:56:14] Speaker B: Just knows it wasn't right. [00:56:16] Speaker A: I've always said that the abundant life is knowing the promises of God, walking in those promises of God, trusting in those promises of God, and then moving from There, I mean, that's really. When you are walking in those promises of God to walk by the Spirit and when you are growing closer to the Lord. That's really what the abundant life is. It's not so much about stuff as it is about the Spirit. [00:56:40] Speaker C: The abundant life is living worry free is. And without fear. Not worried about what's going to happen tomorrow or what you've done in the past. And you're free from all that. You're free from the cares of life. And knowing that the Lord will take care of you no matter what because he's already promised. And knowing that you have. I mean, there's more to it than there. That you have eternal life. Right. [00:57:14] Speaker A: Kind of. Kind of what I said. Yeah, but I like. I like where you're explaining it too. [00:57:18] Speaker C: Okay. [00:57:19] Speaker A: We're saying the same thing, but it's great. [00:57:21] Speaker C: Yeah. And just knowing that you have a father that is there, will never leave you nor forsake you. [00:57:30] Speaker A: That's walking in the promises. [00:57:32] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah. I'm just trying to bring up details in the walk. He's walking into files. [00:57:41] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:57:43] Speaker B: He's trying to add some color to your boring answer. [00:57:46] Speaker C: Yeah, walking. [00:57:47] Speaker A: And I'm trying to remember. I had a great answer back then. It was real easy to remember. And I'm trying to remember what it was. I'll come up with it by the end of the show. [00:57:54] Speaker C: I'll remember it. [00:57:55] Speaker A: You remember I had a great answer. [00:58:00] Speaker C: I've got five more minutes. [00:58:02] Speaker B: I can find the sermon notes. Give me long enough. [00:58:05] Speaker C: Yeah, he said he can come up with that. [00:58:07] Speaker A: I will. I'll come up with it. Because it was something similar. [00:58:10] Speaker C: I don't mean to put, you know, sometime last year. I can't remember 248. [00:58:14] Speaker A: So, yeah, I think it was something in the book of John we were going through. And that was. There was that. It was. It was like two words. And I'm trying to remember. Oh, man, I'll come up with it. [00:58:26] Speaker B: It'll take too long for me to get through all these. That's. I can't remember. See, I'm not as good with time as I used to be. I used to be able to tell you, oh, it was last July. Now I couldn't even tell you the year. [00:58:36] Speaker C: Do you need a quiet moment? [00:58:37] Speaker A: No, I'll come up with. [00:58:39] Speaker C: Okay, he's trying to make up something now. [00:58:43] Speaker B: No, One of the one question I'd have was on freedom. The. Because that's one of. I've heard that a lot. You know, the freedom you have and your salvation and your relationship with God. Sometimes it doesn't feel like freedom. It feels like I'm. I'm trying really, really hard not to mess up. Not necessarily out of the fear that I've once had, but more of a reverence and the. You know, just. I really want to make sure I get it right. And you know, it doesn't. It's not. Obviously it's not right, but sometimes it's. And it's not. I don't want to about. It's not a legalist. [00:59:25] Speaker A: Right. [00:59:25] Speaker C: Right. [00:59:26] Speaker B: Type thing. It's a. Just. Just wanting to please him and want. [00:59:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:59:31] Speaker B: You know, want to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Whatever. You can just. It's. It's like playing a sport. You can get too tight. When you get too tight, you're not going to play very well. [00:59:40] Speaker A: Right. [00:59:41] Speaker B: You. You need to have that freedom as sports to play well. A lot of times I think if I air one side or the other right now, I probably tend to get a little bit too tight in. Again, not legalist and trying not to mess up, but just trying really hard and trying not to mess up. And maybe not in the same. Don't break, you know, don't. Don't commit a sin. But just, man, I don't want to be stupid and drop the ball on something or just do something, whatever. So you can get in your head a little bit sometimes and not experience that freedom maybe is what I'm. [01:00:13] Speaker C: Well, I think freedom to me, and we always talked about the Lord, not freedom to do what I want to do. That's not right. That's bondage. But freedom to do what God wants me to do and I enjoy it. [01:00:27] Speaker B: Right. So that's the. [01:00:28] Speaker C: I'm happy doing it. [01:00:29] Speaker B: So saying that from the opposite perspective, I would say when you're not really close with God or you're not thinking about God a whole lot, you kind of do whatever you want to do and you don't. And you are kind of carefree. But that closeness with God makes you want to please him. And after that, you don't want to disappoint him. And then when you add his ways are not our ways and his wisdom is so unbelievably beyond ours. It can. It's. I can. Paralysis by analysis type thing. Sometimes I was like, okay, what does he want me to do here? What should I do about this? And then enough of that. That doesn't feel like freedom. You build your own little. You build your own chains in a [01:01:16] Speaker A: way, [01:01:18] Speaker C: but freedom to do what God wants us to do. I think that's the freedom that. Well, that's the freedom that I'm talking about. [01:01:25] Speaker A: Right. Well, I think there are several freedoms in the Bible. If you stop and think about it now, it might be just one, but, but all throughout we are free from [01:01:34] Speaker C: certain things, more free from sin. [01:01:36] Speaker A: We're free from sin, we're free from the law. [01:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, you're right. [01:01:39] Speaker A: There are the bondage of the law. We're free from, you know, basically, we used to be slaves to our old nature. Now we're slaves to righteousness. That's freedom. And I think that slaves to righteousness is what you're getting at. And I think it's, it's fair to say, you know, I even think it's freedom from worrying yourself to death about am I right? With God. Worrying yourself about of, of am I doing the right thing versus okay, Lord, by your spirit, I'm going to follow. And again, I think too oftentimes we have the row row mentality rather than the sail mentality. And we've used that of we feel like, okay, to make this boat go forward, I got to row hard and I got to get everything I got and pull on those oars and where if I just would pull that sail and that sail is the Holy Spirit, I take off, still have to work. Because if you watch on a sailboat, them boys are always working to catch the wind. I mean, they're running here, they're breathing it in everything else. And so it's not a work work, but it is just a. It ain't just, okay, let go and let God. That's like Christianity. There's a work out your own salvation. And so, so I think it still though goes back to that freedom from worrying yourself to death about am I doing the right thing? And even, even the remotely of what do I need next? That's okay. Because we make it our ambition to be pleasing to him. And that ambition means I'm going to have. What is it that drives me, is my goal, what is it that makes me want to please him. And so I think there's nothing wrong with always in the back of my mind, Lord, I just want to please you, Lord, I just want to do the things that make you happy, make you smile, that make you look good. There's nothing wrong with being driven by that. It's just that when we do it so much that it cripples us. I think he's like, well, okay, quit telling me and just, you Know, just do it. Nike. [01:03:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:42] Speaker C: You know, well, some. Sometimes I think, did I do enough, right? Or did I do the best I could? [01:03:49] Speaker B: Right. [01:03:50] Speaker C: Now that I do have that in the back of my mind that I do. Could I have done better? And always, I always think I could have done better. [01:04:00] Speaker A: I think where, what I would think freedom comes in for that is if you're carrying a bunch of guilt because [01:04:07] Speaker B: of that, [01:04:09] Speaker A: okay, what I see it, if you want guilt, why would you carry guilt? You're free from that. And I think that's the thing is. [01:04:16] Speaker C: And I did I prepare myself the best I could? Did I put the time in that I should have chosen? Yeah. And some of those answers are no. [01:04:27] Speaker A: Well, it's not free from conviction. [01:04:30] Speaker C: Right? [01:04:30] Speaker A: He never says, you're free from that, but he is. Says you're free from guilt and you're free from the penalty of sin. You're free from. But if you're sitting there wallowing in your guilt. [01:04:40] Speaker C: Right, right. [01:04:41] Speaker A: Then, yeah, you're free from. [01:04:42] Speaker C: There are sometimes man or. I wish I would have said that, you know, or. [01:04:50] Speaker A: But it's that. [01:04:51] Speaker C: But, but I'm wondering about it afterwards and maybe I should, maybe if I, if I put enough time in it, I would have known to say that before. That's what I'm talking about. [01:05:02] Speaker A: But even I think even that is a remote of, of a conviction. That's the Holy Spirit showing you, hey, repent and confess it and move on. You know, where a lot of times people, it ain't always just about, if God would have showed me this, it might be I didn't do this, or I, I never took the time to do what I should have done with that person and they let that guilt on them. No, you, you, you have been free from that guilt. You don't have to live in guilt and shame, nor do you have to be under the bondage of law because you've been free from that. [01:05:40] Speaker C: Sometimes I wonder. See, we're all going. And I know what you're going to say, but I'm going to say this. We're all going to be judged. It's a different judgment. I know, but the Bible and I've looked at every translation, everybody, we're going to be judged by what we did for Christ. Now, judgment, when I sit here, word judgment, I think bad, something bad. I mean, because we're not supposed to judge people. That's taken out of context, a lot of that, that, that scripture's taken out of context. [01:06:19] Speaker B: Are you saying we are allowed to judge People. [01:06:21] Speaker C: Well, yeah, you judge the office. I mean, I wouldn't, I wouldn't tear him down, but you know, I would. He has to uphold the, the rules. I can't judge that he's saved or unsaved because that's not my, that's not. God has not given me that. Certain things we can judge, but it's not really judging. We, you know, you got to keep those of the laws or the rules. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not going to tear down somebody personally. [01:06:52] Speaker A: But remember what measure of judgment you judge come back. So I always want to exercise a lot of grace. [01:06:59] Speaker C: Yes. But I'm not talking about that type of judgment. I'm talking about. [01:07:02] Speaker A: You're talking about the beaming seat of Christ in Second Corinthians. [01:07:05] Speaker C: But I do want to answer his question is I'm not talking about judging somebody personally when I say you judge the office. The president is not doing his job. Get it? I'm not going to criticize him. No. Good. [01:07:20] Speaker A: Come on. Yeah, we will. [01:07:23] Speaker C: Well, I'm just saying. But if he's not doing what he said he was supposed to do, then let's get a new one. That's what I'm talking about. [01:07:32] Speaker A: But, but going back to what you started, Second Corinthians 5, we have this and basically he talks about a respect, a fear, because we will all appear before the judgment. Yes. [01:07:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:07:43] Speaker A: The Bema seat was a seat that was used in athletic contests and other things, what's fair and what's right. And so, yeah, all our works are going to be be judged, but it's by the, the, the one that does count. [01:07:56] Speaker C: But what, I guess what I want to know on that, what type of judgment are we talking about? Or is it judgment? [01:08:04] Speaker A: That's what I was telling you. Yeah. [01:08:05] Speaker C: I mean, is that it's your purpose. [01:08:07] Speaker A: It's the things you did, it's the things you said. [01:08:09] Speaker C: But when the Bible says it's going [01:08:11] Speaker A: to be judged by what? What was it that really made a [01:08:14] Speaker C: difference when it comes in English? I don't know what the Greek word is for judge. Judgment. I mean, it's being a. Okay, but I'm saying every word in every translation that I have seen and I talk about where we stand before Christ and we will be judged according to our works. Right. It's always judged. But I don't know what that Greek word. Could it be another. Every Bible I've seen. [01:08:39] Speaker A: What else you go, I don't know what you translate it as. I don't know what the word is, but that's it. That's the word. [01:08:46] Speaker B: Oh, maybe there's a Greek word. [01:08:47] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:08:47] Speaker A: I don't know what the Greek word is. So there's. To get it for you. [01:08:50] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. [01:08:50] Speaker A: There's. But it, but it is. I mean it's a. It's pretty straightforward because the verse is just dealing with what the judgment is. And basically it means to be weighed in the balance. And so you're going to be. Your, your works are going to be weighed in the balance of. Were they wood stay stubble, were they hay or were they something of value? Yeah. So that's what it means to be weighed in the balance of. Did it really carry weight? [01:09:17] Speaker C: So then what's the purpose of being if you know you have eternal life. Yeah. You're going to be with Jesus forever. Right. What's the purpose of that type of judgment? Or is it a ward's banquet? I am not. [01:09:29] Speaker A: Well, it sort of kind of is bank. But that's what I'm. It is more to do with your rewards, but it also is to deal with. But it also. Yeah. For us to realize, make the most of our time. Deem the time is what Paul says in Ephesians 5 and what Jesus says in John 9:4 of We've get. We must do the works of the one who sent me while it's still day because it ain't going to be [01:09:56] Speaker C: day much longer while you're still around. [01:09:59] Speaker A: Exactly. You get one shot. [01:10:01] Speaker C: Right. But it just doesn't. I'm trying to. And I don't know if I can because I don't know if I have enough information. The Bible doesn't talk a whole lot about the beam of sea. Not enough information. Well, it does, but not in detail. It's not like salvation where you know, you know, God loves you. [01:10:23] Speaker A: That's the whole purpose of the Bible. [01:10:24] Speaker C: Yes. And God loves you. We can throw theology or doctrine, all that stuff, but the Bema seed is just like. And it might be because we're not there yet. It's just like the Old Testament prophets couldn't understand salvation. No, but we. What are you talking about? Because they never seen it before. They didn't know how that was, how that was going to work out. There probably was a lot of theories about, I don't know on what would happen. And, and, and so I'm at that point that's, I think that's where we are. That point when we're talking about the White Throne, we Know what's going to happen? [01:11:09] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a different judgment. [01:11:10] Speaker C: It's a different judgment, yes. Or we just don't know the details, I guess is what we just know a little bit, not a whole lot. [01:11:18] Speaker A: I don't know if I, I think the verse gives us enough that we didn't know about. Well, verse nine, he says 2 Corinthians 5 is one of my favorite chapters. Second Corinthians 5 says, we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. So to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord. Is that verse then? Verse 9. Therefore, we have as our ambition, whether we are at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. Now here's why we want to please the Lord, for we must all appear before the judgment Seat of Christ. That's the beam of seat. Now listen, New American standard captures it so that each one may receive compensation for its deeds done through the body in accordance to what he has done, whether good or bad. [01:12:08] Speaker C: One of my. I guess maybe I'm looking at it from a physical standpoint. Imagine what I know what you're saying and I agree. I just don't know what the purpose is for it. Are some people going to be above us, below us, or is it going to be more recognized or because we're all children of God? [01:12:32] Speaker A: I'd be willing to say there is going to be. [01:12:34] Speaker C: Well, I, I, that's what I suspect. Yes. [01:12:37] Speaker A: Well, I mean there, there's five crowns and some of the crowns have stipulation for those who love the coming of the Lord or love the appearing of coming of the Lord. Several of these crowns are deserved. So I do believe there's going to be rewards, but we give them all back to Christ. Right, right. [01:12:56] Speaker C: I knew that. [01:12:57] Speaker A: But the beauty of it is to one is, I think there's a couple of things. One is, I like that when I work for somebody, at least they recognize I do a good job for them. I'd love for the Lord to say, well done, my good and faithful servant. How are you going to know well done, my good and faithful servant, unless you waive what you've done. [01:13:17] Speaker C: You know, I know about the talents. One guy, 10, you know, double didn't do do it. But that parable is not really talking about. [01:13:26] Speaker A: It's not necessarily the same, but it is the same. [01:13:28] Speaker B: Did I tell you, speaking of that verse, did I, did I tell you what I thought God was going to say to me instead of that we [01:13:34] Speaker C: didn't talk about that on the show. [01:13:37] Speaker B: I would love to hear. Well done, my good. Of course. I just have a feeling that when I get up there, my. His response is going to be, well, that's one way to do it. [01:13:47] Speaker A: Okay, I don't. [01:13:50] Speaker B: I don't see. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Being. Being the way you're. [01:13:54] Speaker C: What was that parable for? What was Jesus talking about on that? Parable talents. Yes. I can't remember why he brought that up. [01:14:06] Speaker A: Well, I mean, the. [01:14:07] Speaker C: I mean, what was happening before you? [01:14:09] Speaker A: I mean, the whole setting was. [01:14:11] Speaker C: That's what I'm asking said. [01:14:13] Speaker A: I mean, the context is in Matthew. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I believe it's just a parable that [01:14:20] Speaker C: he tells off the top of his head. [01:14:22] Speaker A: No, no, that was necessarily off the top of his head. [01:14:24] Speaker C: I mean, why did. [01:14:25] Speaker A: But I don't know if there was a specific thing that happened that made him. Then tell the parable. Go ahead, talk amongst yourselves while I come up with this. But because I do want to know the context. [01:14:42] Speaker C: Yeah. And that's the second thing that we [01:14:45] Speaker A: know because there are several. I mean, if you look in Matthew 13, he breaks bad with a whole bunch of parables. [01:14:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a parable chapter. Yes. [01:14:57] Speaker A: He does leaven hidden treasure, weeds, dragnet. That's not the parables. The talents, though. [01:15:03] Speaker C: No, no, I think. Is it closer to 23? 20. [01:15:06] Speaker A: Well, that's the end times as you're getting into that. [01:15:09] Speaker C: Okay. It might not be that far. [01:15:11] Speaker A: Parable of the marriage feast. I'm looking, looking, looking. Parable of the two sons. Parable of the landowner. Hold on. [01:15:21] Speaker C: What's the name of the parable talents? [01:15:25] Speaker A: Didn't know what you called it. [01:15:26] Speaker C: No. [01:15:27] Speaker A: Here we go. Matthew 25, Matthew 25. You got the parable of the ten virgins, you got the parable of the talents. And all of that is having to do with. That's the Olivet discourse. That's probably towards the end of times, really. It's a matter of use. What you got there is going to be rewarding and there is going to be gnashing of teeth. [01:15:49] Speaker C: Why is the faithful service. Yeah, that's right after the bridesmaids and [01:15:55] Speaker A: be ready for his coming from the [01:15:57] Speaker C: traveling owner of the house. Right, okay. [01:16:00] Speaker A: So, so the, the. The key is. All right, you get one life. Let's make it count for Christ. And how are we going to know if it counted for Christ? Well, you can know a little bit on this side. Sure. It'd be nice to. [01:16:15] Speaker C: Well, I guess what way I'm thinking is probably how well I'm exposed to you. There's going to be certain levels ahead. [01:16:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I wouldn't say levels. [01:16:26] Speaker C: Yeah. I just don't really quite. [01:16:28] Speaker A: I wouldn't say levels as. Yeah, we're going to have rewards. [01:16:31] Speaker C: But what does that mean? What does the rewards. Do we have enough information to know what it means? [01:16:37] Speaker A: I think so. [01:16:38] Speaker C: Okay. [01:16:39] Speaker A: So, I mean, why wouldn't you. [01:16:41] Speaker C: I don't know. I mean, I'm asking. I'm asking. [01:16:44] Speaker A: I don't know that it's a grade that you. Oh, you got an A. [01:16:47] Speaker C: That's what I'm saying. Yeah. [01:16:48] Speaker A: I mean, I don't know that necessarily. Jewels and rewards. Yes. [01:16:54] Speaker C: I just don't know. [01:16:55] Speaker A: I just think it's going to be. I think there's several things. Like I said, there's plenty of crowns. We know that's listed. So if it's crowns, that makes me think there's probably some other things like unto crowns that I worry about. All I know is I know what he said. I don't care what it looks like. [01:17:12] Speaker C: Right. Right. [01:17:13] Speaker A: I just need to make sure I'm doing what I can today to make the most of it. [01:17:18] Speaker B: Not. [01:17:18] Speaker A: Not because I'm greedy and I want the stuff. [01:17:21] Speaker C: Because you want to be pleasing. [01:17:22] Speaker A: That's it. [01:17:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:23] Speaker A: That's a whole. Rather than worrying about what it's going to look like or what are these rewards? No, let's just know that he's promised them. But I want to make sure that I'm making my ambition to be pleasing to him. [01:17:36] Speaker C: How we got on that conversation is because I did I do enough with what I had? That's where I was kind of coming from. Did I do my best? It's not like it's a legalistic question. I mean, I'm not trying to be legalistic, but could I have done better? Sure. [01:17:56] Speaker B: Well, I think that's part of. Part what I was maybe getting at with my question about freedom too, a little bit in the. You know, I love using golf analogies because it's such a perfect understanding. You're never going to be perfect at either. Right. And I don't care what I shoot, what I. I'm always going to find. So I was looking at my swing the other day. [01:18:16] Speaker A: My swing hit it down the middle. [01:18:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:18:18] Speaker A: Well, what's perfect in golf? 18. [01:18:20] Speaker B: Yeah, my. My swing the other day, I was looking at it and it. It looks about as good as it's ever looked. And I'm still nitpicking 25 different things that I'm trying to work on. And it's the same way with my walk with God. Is it better now than it was for years? I sure hope so. But at the same time, I'm always nitpicking. I shouldn't have done that. I should have done that. Why did it? And, you know, why am I not understanding this God? And what am I not doing that I do this wrong? And. And I. I go back and forth between, you know, too legalistic to two, you know, spiritually lazy, maybe, or whatever you want to call it, the other direction. And it just kind of. I'm. Sometimes it feels like a tightrope. And some of it is, is that it's trying to. You don't want to miss opportunities. You don't. You want to do your best. And you're. And sometimes I've learned the harder I try to do my best. It's like you said before, stop trying. So it needs to be less trying and more dying to self, more submitting to him. And sometimes it can. That can not feel. It can take away the freedom maybe as well as getting that with. [01:19:25] Speaker C: Well, have you ever had anybody known anybody that's had two holes in one [01:19:30] Speaker B: 18 in one round? [01:19:32] Speaker C: One round thing has been done. [01:19:37] Speaker B: I think I. [01:19:38] Speaker A: If you listen to the. Well, that's Emperor of North Korea. He shot a 18 one time. I think he said he shot at 18, but that's again the emerald North Korea, Kim Jong Un. [01:19:50] Speaker C: No, I think he said 16. It was on the second. [01:19:54] Speaker A: No, I've. [01:19:55] Speaker B: I've seen somebody hunt. [01:19:57] Speaker A: The lowest you could make is 18. [01:20:00] Speaker C: It did hit in the hole. Then it bounced out and went down to the next fairway. [01:20:03] Speaker A: But he did claim one time to shoot. Like, I want to say might have been 30, because they were like, nobody's gonna play by 18. [01:20:09] Speaker C: Yeah, right here. [01:20:11] Speaker A: Yeah, but look up Kim Jong Un's golf claims. But here's what I would also say. And I know this is going to almost be over simplistic. And I almost hate to say it because I don't know that I buy every bit of it. But here's what I would define freedom in Christ is, or this freedom that we have in Christ. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the ride, enjoy the walk, enjoy the relationship rather than nitpicking and worrying ourselves to death about, is this right? Is that right? Enjoy the ride and do, do, do all that you can with all that you got and enjoy it. Not. Not worry yourself to death. Or work yourself to death, but enjoy the. Enjoy being with Christ and enjoy the freedom that he gives. I don't know, maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but I. [01:21:02] Speaker C: Well, I thought it would be a little more profound. Your answer. [01:21:04] Speaker B: No, I liked it. [01:21:05] Speaker C: That. [01:21:06] Speaker B: That. That's right on my. I like that [01:21:11] Speaker C: said just enjoy. I was. I thought you were going to use some big words. [01:21:16] Speaker A: Let's keep it simple. [01:21:17] Speaker C: Yeah. That. [01:21:18] Speaker A: Why not. Why not just enjoy Christ? I think that's the freedom that we have is. You know, I'm telling you because I know in my own wall, the first years, I didn't know anything about enjoying the Lord. [01:21:32] Speaker B: Right. [01:21:33] Speaker A: It. My. My walk with him was enduring the Lord not. Not enjoying. And I think the freedom is enjoying the goodness and the mercy and the love and just moving on. And. Yeah. Don't worry yourself to death about did I do this or didn't do that? Should I have done that? Yes. When the Lord deals with things in your life, deal with them. But at the same time, understand that his grace is going to be one of showing you what you need to do and correct. Correcting it and then moving on down the road again. [01:22:06] Speaker C: And I will. This is for. For your consideration. Now, I. I submit for your consideration that a lot of leaders. I'm not talking about you and I probably not even talk about the Baptist church or any Baptist church. [01:22:20] Speaker A: Okay. [01:22:23] Speaker C: No, that's definitely not them. [01:22:24] Speaker A: Okay. [01:22:25] Speaker C: I'm talking about, you know. Or not go to the movies or legalistic Pentecostal holiness. Yeah. Church of Christ. A lot of fear comes from your leaders on that. Sure, sure. Because. Or it comes from. That's our worldview. Yeah. It comes from. [01:22:47] Speaker A: And your worldview. [01:22:50] Speaker C: And I'll just say, in my experience, I believe in the Pentecostal doctrine. It's really close to. The assemblies are really close to. [01:23:02] Speaker A: This theology is not bad off of Baptist. [01:23:05] Speaker C: No, it's not at all. No. I mean, there's a couple areas that y' all need to work on, but we'll get there. [01:23:14] Speaker A: True. [01:23:15] Speaker C: I mean, you are raising your hands. A few of you. Yes. [01:23:19] Speaker A: And. But not very high, though. [01:23:21] Speaker C: No, no. [01:23:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Matt's got his. [01:23:26] Speaker C: Yeah, he's got. Yeah. But there's a lot of people raising hands. Like you say it just a. But. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've seen it. A lot of it. But when you're exposed to that every sermon, it's hard to understand the love of God when you're preaching damnation all the time. [01:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah. If you're not hearing about the love of God and the grace of God. [01:23:56] Speaker C: And I'm sure I'm not saying people don't come because I did. I'm not saying that people don't come to Christ. [01:24:03] Speaker A: Yeah, you get saved through it. A lot of people do. [01:24:06] Speaker C: But you get more. I seem to have a better turnout. I wouldn't say turn out, but more success in. In response with preaching the love of Christ. [01:24:21] Speaker A: Well, I think. I think the gospel needs to be about. Is a little bit of both. That's right. The gospel is a little bit of both. The gospel is I know what I deserved. Yes. And I think that's the whole thing is, as we talked about two chapters ago, I believe in John, chapter eight, if I'm not mistaken, with the and I can't remember was 8 or 7. But oftentimes the hardest thing of getting someone saved is getting someone lost. You got to help them to realize. You got to help them realize that. No, in fact, the first step in salvation is realizing I know what I deserve. I deserve to bust hell wide open. That's fearful to me. But at the same time, let's come with that grace shortly thereafter of. But you don't have to. [01:25:09] Speaker C: Well, surely you're right. You cannot come to Christ unless you recognize you're a sinner. [01:25:13] Speaker A: That's right. [01:25:15] Speaker C: If you don't recognize you're a sinner, you're still in pride. [01:25:17] Speaker A: And there's a lot of people that you only never realize that or never realize. I need a savior. I'm decent. I know I'm a good person. And they may even say they're a sinner, but I'm a decent person. I've done my best and I've done more than you have. [01:25:31] Speaker C: And I haven't been in prison. [01:25:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And I've done a lot more nice things than you. [01:25:34] Speaker C: Yes. And I get that. Yeah. I mean, that's what's in that. A lot of our people. I hate to say it, but [01:25:43] Speaker B: yeah. [01:25:44] Speaker A: I think. [01:25:44] Speaker B: I don't know if this is true or not. It's just a hunch, but I think sometimes people try to. It's like, okay, I don't really know if I believe in all this stuff, but I'm going to follow all the rules just in case. And hopefully I'll get in by at least. I was a good person. [01:26:00] Speaker A: If there is a God. [01:26:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:26:01] Speaker B: If there is a God, he'll let me in because I was a good person. [01:26:04] Speaker A: You know, kind of. [01:26:06] Speaker B: I'm going to follow his rules even Though I, I don't believe you kind [01:26:09] Speaker A: of thing hedge my bits and just, just in case. Yeah, it's kind of an insurance policy. [01:26:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:26:14] Speaker A: And, and, and, and I know folks who basically have come to Christ just as an insurance policy. I don't want to, I don't go to him. I don't want to burn in burning [01:26:23] Speaker C: flame, come back, you know, nothing to [01:26:26] Speaker A: do with the love and the grace and the what he offers and who he is. It's just, I'm just trying to save my rear end from. [01:26:33] Speaker C: But, and that's the horrible. Is that God is so holy that we don't realize how bad our sins are. Sure. That's the problem. My sin is not as bad as yours. But in God's eyes, you tell a wild lie or anything else, you're doomed. [01:26:54] Speaker A: False. [01:26:55] Speaker C: So we just don't realize how holy God really is. We can't imagine. And that's. I think that's a big problem with a lot of people that I guess a lot of people don't realize that. A lot of non Christians do not realize that. [01:27:13] Speaker B: Well, I think it's also hard to. I don't care where you are on the spectrum really. When we are on the other side, one day we're all going to be blown away at how much we sold God short in our own mind. I think, I mean, I don't care how, how awesome you think he is now. It's still going to be so far beyond anything that our human brain can even comprehend. And I think that's one of the things that scares me too is just like no matter how hard I try to remember how great he is, I'm never going to know how I'm still going to get up there and be like, wow, I didn't realize it was this great, you know. [01:27:49] Speaker A: And I think, I think that's one of the things that God's been showing me is where exactly does the fear of the Lord come in and what exactly does the fear of the Lord look like? Is the fear of the Lord a. Oh my goodness. He is a wrathful and judging God. There's a part of that. But is the fear of the Lord more of. He is an awesome and holy and mighty God that I don't want to go before in front with my sin. He is one that is righteous and just and judges righteous and justly, but he's not a harsh and cruel. I love the line in Lion Witch in the Wardrobe of you know, when they're scared to go see Absalom and they talk about, you know, he's a lion, and is he a fierce and roaring lion? Yes, he is. But then the next line is, but he's good. And I think that's the thing of how do you balance the good. [01:28:47] Speaker B: Right. [01:28:47] Speaker A: Fear for the Lord, a reverential. And at the same time, I'm not scared of him, but I'm also not making him, you know, this little guy down the street that's a good guy. Yeah, yeah. I want to keep that balance of he's a holy God. At the same time, he called me friend. He's a just God. And at the same time, he is kind and compassionate and merciful, forgiving generation after generation. So I don't want to belittle his holiness, but I also don't want to make light of his love. And so I want to have a. The balance is there. Again, that's what that bema seat is about, is weighing the weighing out. Was this a good deed or a bad deed? Well, a lot of it is I want to make sure I'm weighing Christ, God's attributes and making sure that my life is showing that balance. [01:29:38] Speaker B: And that's a hard. That's a tough one, too. Balance, because I've gone both. [01:29:43] Speaker A: Both directions, really. There are times when I feel like I go more towards the faith. He's so gracious and gracious. And gracious and gracious. Versus. But also, don't forget, don't forget was that. And so mine's leaning more towards the grace side. And again, I'm not saying that's bad. I just think that we just have to have that Right. [01:30:01] Speaker C: Right amount of fear, easy grace. [01:30:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm not. I don't know that I'm calling it that cheesy grace. You call it greasy grace. And I don't know that it's the same as that as much as it is, you know, that. That. Okay. He's my friend, my buddy, my versus. [01:30:21] Speaker C: But he is too. [01:30:22] Speaker A: Yes. And I think it's because I hear preachers all the time talking about we don't have fear for the Lord and people, da, da, da. And I. And I get that to some degree. At the same time, though, it's like you said, if you go so far to that side of the law, law, law, and he's a justful, vengeful God, then you miss the. And so again, relax and enjoy the ride. [01:30:46] Speaker C: But our problem is we get too far. We go too far. Left or right? [01:30:51] Speaker A: Right. And even that, even when I say relax and enjoy the Ride. I'm sitting there saying well that's too far to the. To the grave side or whatever. I think that's the freedom in Christ and I think that's where we need to have that of enjoying the ride is having a right for your. Enjoying the ride is having a worship of his holiness. But it's also enjoying the ride of enjoying the freedom that is there through the grace by faith. [01:31:18] Speaker C: Just driving the middle of the road. Yep. [01:31:20] Speaker A: Keep it in the ditches boys. [01:31:22] Speaker C: Get out of the ditches. [01:31:23] Speaker A: Keep it out of the ditches. What is. Keep it between the trenches. [01:31:27] Speaker C: Just drive on the middle of the road. You pay taxes, you can drive on both sides. Yeah. [01:31:31] Speaker A: Just don't. I think. I think it's one of. But now let's just be honest. I think there are times when this. This road called Christianity about as wide as your car and so one. One little veer over to the left or right. Not necessarily you're going to be in the ditch but you begin not to enjoy the ride. [01:31:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:31:50] Speaker A: It's a lot harder and bumpier. [01:31:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:31:52] Speaker A: Does that make sense? [01:31:53] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Off road driving. [01:31:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's not enjoying the ride when you're. [01:31:59] Speaker C: Well it depends on if you run in deep sand. Take you a little ways or whatever. [01:32:06] Speaker A: But if you can keep it in the middle of where. Where the word of God is showing us again. I know that's hard because we're fallen. But if you can't do that I think that's where the freedom is of. Okay. It's not about me trying, it's about me dying. And once I die to self is Christ living in me. That's freedom that it's no longer about me trying to keep the rules or trying to make sure I did all the right stuff or said the right things. It's Christ in me. [01:32:34] Speaker C: I do have a question. I know where it is. But this. I don't want you to answer this this because I need to read it. [01:32:39] Speaker A: This is homework for you. [01:32:41] Speaker C: Yeah. And you too. [01:32:42] Speaker A: Look at you. You bringing homework assignments? [01:32:44] Speaker C: Deuteronomy. Professor 22:4. Tell me what you think that is talking about 22:4. I just never saw that verse before. [01:32:57] Speaker A: Were you looking at that when I mentioned something the other day in Deuteronomy? [01:33:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:33:02] Speaker A: Was it? [01:33:03] Speaker C: Yeah, it might have been. Did you mention read it Because I read it and you weren't talking about that. What? I read the 22 5. That's not. I don't think you would have quoted that. [01:33:15] Speaker A: No, my mom was not that I could Tell. [01:33:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. [01:33:20] Speaker A: So what's your question? Pretty simple to me. [01:33:26] Speaker B: For the listeners who don't want to look it up or don't know it, it's. A woman shall not wear man's clothing, nor shall a man put on woman's clothing. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. [01:33:35] Speaker C: I know how people interpret it, but what. How do you interpret it? [01:33:38] Speaker B: I think it means that a man should not wear man's clothing, nor should a man put on woman's clothing. [01:33:44] Speaker C: I think it's more transgender. [01:33:46] Speaker A: But that's. [01:33:46] Speaker C: Yeah, but that's what I'm talking about. It's not wearing a dress. It's trying to change your sexuality. [01:33:53] Speaker A: Well, but I think. [01:33:55] Speaker B: I think that goes without saying. If he told you you can put on the clothing. [01:33:59] Speaker C: I'm saying. And people read it as clothing. Right. But I'm reading it as. More. That's. [01:34:06] Speaker A: Well, you're reading more behind the principle behind the law. [01:34:08] Speaker C: Yes. [01:34:09] Speaker A: Where that's a law and that's a rule. [01:34:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:34:12] Speaker A: What's the principle behind the law is. No. And I don't know, I might need to read a little bit further and just see if there's some more in there explaining that as far as. Probably not. Because I don't know that in the Old Testament, with the Jewish mindset and the way they were, I don't know that God had to do much explaining [01:34:30] Speaker C: of why, like, I don't know, these guys were pretty. Pretty messed up. [01:34:34] Speaker A: No, I think for the Jews, they would understood why clothes. [01:34:38] Speaker C: And when he gave that out, there's some young dudes in there. [01:34:44] Speaker A: I don't think that was one of the things. [01:34:46] Speaker B: I'm almost picturing the opposite. I'm picturing these people reading that and thinking, well, obviously, why would he have [01:34:51] Speaker C: to say that for me, too? [01:34:53] Speaker B: This is for the future. [01:34:55] Speaker C: That's something I thought about. I don't know why I got onto that. Is it really talking about clothing? Because women wear men's clothing all the time here. Pants, suit, tie. [01:35:07] Speaker A: Well, I think that's. And then again, when he gave that law, I don't know that suits and ties and pantsuits were necessarily. [01:35:15] Speaker C: I did that. That. [01:35:17] Speaker A: Okay. [01:35:18] Speaker C: We. [01:35:18] Speaker B: We. [01:35:18] Speaker A: We sit there and we've kind of defined. Well, I mean, look around. We're all wearing men's shirts, right? [01:35:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:35:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:35:24] Speaker A: Who said they're a men shirt? [01:35:26] Speaker C: Yeah. Right. [01:35:27] Speaker A: Whoever made them or society or whatever. And I think they knew by society what was men and what was women. You know, pants. Now, that's not necessarily something that's just men. Maybe to some folks back in the 50s it was. [01:35:42] Speaker C: Oh yeah, yeah. I mean I. I'm with you on that. I just want. What I just want to know which [01:35:47] Speaker B: is what about skinny jeans? Where do they fall on the. [01:35:50] Speaker A: I was scripture right there. Be careful. [01:35:56] Speaker C: If you get a chance, just see research it a little bit, think on [01:36:01] Speaker B: us more and see if you come [01:36:02] Speaker C: up with a different answer what other people think. [01:36:05] Speaker A: I'm going to come up with that. I'm going to change. [01:36:08] Speaker C: But okay. See if you see if you see any commentaries that might. [01:36:14] Speaker A: Well, look it up. [01:36:15] Speaker C: Because what you're telling me is of course the Bible never changes, but our. How we. Our society changes. So why would they even be in there about clothing? It's like. I guess it would be like what's the one in women can't cut their hair, right? I can't remember. [01:36:37] Speaker A: I mean you also got to keep in mind when you're talking about the. When you're talking about the law in the Old Testament, there's some things in there such as, you know, bull code in its mother. [01:36:50] Speaker C: But what's the principle? That's. It's not the act. I don't think. [01:36:54] Speaker A: Well, I think that's the whole thing. And that's what you're getting at. [01:36:56] Speaker C: Yeah. The principle of these clothing is that's how we. [01:37:02] Speaker A: A man look like a man. [01:37:03] Speaker C: A woman should look or cut your arm off if your hand offends you. What it's a. It's not cutting your arm off or your hand off. That's not what Jes. What Jesus is talking about about. He's talking about something completely different. Don't associate with these people that are doing things, you know, that's going to let you astray. That's where really what he's talking about. [01:37:24] Speaker A: And I think that's the whole principle. And I see what you're saying, the principle behind the law. At the same time though, for. For these Jews to do that, I understand that but I think they understood the principle when it comes to that one. [01:37:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know. They sure didn't act like it. Like it for a thousand years. [01:37:46] Speaker A: You got. You got proof they were wearing dresses. [01:37:49] Speaker C: I've got proof that they did a [01:37:50] Speaker A: lot of different things I'm saying. But then again that's. [01:37:54] Speaker C: Why not break them all? [01:37:55] Speaker A: Well, but I'm saying that's. That's the thing is the law is so, so varied, especially this one. I don't know that that was necessarily one that they had widespread but it had to be had somebody so there [01:38:07] Speaker C: had to be something for him to be put out there. [01:38:09] Speaker A: I'm sure that there were pagan nations around that I'm sure they did some things like that. [01:38:13] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. [01:38:15] Speaker A: Some of the most carnal things you ever saw. I always wondered why on earth did was idolatry and the worship at the foreign temples such a draw to the Jews when you got the living God? Why would that be? Because I don't get it. If you offer sex at every worship service, there might be a lot of people go there. Yeah, I mean you allow to draw a big crowd of men. And that's exactly what was going on in, you know, BAAL and all that. They were fertility gods did not know that. [01:38:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I know what the idol worship, all that stuff. We really tell it all that. [01:38:53] Speaker A: Oh man. Do some research and again, if we're not recording, I'll go into it, do some research. I mean they are. Their symbols and everything are you know, basically phallic system symbols. And it was very much a harlotry slash, you know, a lot of flesh pleasing worship. [01:39:17] Speaker C: It wasn't the idol worship. It's what it was. Well, I mean it was. [01:39:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. [01:39:22] Speaker C: That's why their idol worship was not just having a grave in that image. [01:39:27] Speaker B: I came across it more. [01:39:30] Speaker A: Oh, it was the ceremonies and the temple prostitutes and the. [01:39:34] Speaker B: That's it. I, I was, I did. [01:39:35] Speaker A: Oh man. [01:39:36] Speaker B: Re Wikipedia or something. I saw something about a temple prostitute. I was like, what in the world is a temple prostitute? That's an oxymoron I've ever heard one. And when I looked it up, I was like, oh, okay. So that's, that's the extent that I've. I guess I knew that, that a [01:39:50] Speaker C: lot of times we think of worshiping other gods. That's just what they did. But there's more to it. Yeah, that was the draw. Wasn't just worshiping a false image. [01:40:01] Speaker B: Yeah, there was. There were other attractions to those establishments. [01:40:05] Speaker C: Enjoyed the ride. I mean, I don't know what else to say. I've just used his Ben's word. [01:40:12] Speaker B: We don't have to think too hard about the title this time. Enjoy the ride. [01:40:15] Speaker A: Enjoy the ride. [01:40:16] Speaker B: Bye, everybody. [01:40:17] Speaker A: All right. [01:40:20] Speaker C: I tell you, just got to tell out some things. [01:40:23] Speaker A: That's true. [01:40:24] Speaker C: Got out. Fancy it. Chocolate's okay. [01:40:30] Speaker B: Does peppermint not count? [01:40:32] Speaker C: Make sure you eat lunch at Hardee's now. Get the big. The value pack. The big meal, I guess. Yeah, yeah. [01:40:40] Speaker B: This is your diet plan. [01:40:41] Speaker C: Yes. The new. [01:40:42] Speaker A: You ain't lost five pounds doing that. Please tell me you're recording this. [01:40:46] Speaker B: I am. [01:40:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [01:40:48] Speaker C: Okay. [01:40:49] Speaker A: This is solid gold. [01:40:51] Speaker B: This is. He starts giving diet advice. We. We rush the record button. [01:40:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:40:55] Speaker C: I get him some of my clothes, too. I think it better for her to have a. And I'll have to show you what I got Renee. Yeah, really should. [01:41:06] Speaker A: You throwing you up? [01:41:08] Speaker C: No, I've.