WEBVTT 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:22.800 Well, uh uh, you know, I in the lobby, I was trying to say hello to everybody. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.640 All everybody else wanted to do was say you're wearing a coat. 00:00:29.119 --> 00:00:33.520 And you know, once a year I get I get it on. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:36.079 So uh it's good to see everybody this morning. 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:39.600 And listen, if I'd have known y'all were gonna come, I'd have prepared something. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:55.679 Uh I remember the first time I I was uh was asked to preach at uh at the at my church in Dallas, and I remember being just terrified because there's you know it's two services, and you know, I don't know, 1500 people, whatever, and I remember being so terrified thinking about that. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:01.280 And I remember the one thing that made it okay, and that was the fact that I was not going up here alone. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:05.280 I was not going up here to to deliver a TED talk that was going to do whatever. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.920 I I went up on the authority of the Bible. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.760 And so, with that, like I can do that. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.480 Like I can read this, I can understand this, and I could proclaim that. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.320 So that's what we're gonna do this morning. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.439 This is not uh, hopefully, it's not the insight of Steve. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:22.000 It is the it is the word of God, hopefully uh unpacked and made clear. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:27.920 A man dying on a cross and then coming back on the third day is an amazing story. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.319 And to say he is risen is a beautiful sentiment. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:38.239 But the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus 2,000 years ago is not simply a good story. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:48.159 This historical work of God and Jesus is the eternal hinge point of all human history and will continue to reverberate throughout eternity. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.959 The resurrection of Jesus Christ will never not matter. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.200 What was accomplished in these things will never be undone or reversed. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:07.599 It is the power of God for all those who believe for salvation from eternal death and unto eternal life. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.039 From eternal death unto eternal life. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:12.960 But we must not miss why. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.680 Because the why of these works of God in Christ Jesus is what gives us hope. 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:30.800 We have to understand why this God man uh put himself in the flesh, uh, live the perfect life, die the death we deserve, was raised on the third day, ascended, and we know we'll will come again. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:31.520 Why then? 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:32.560 To what end? 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:33.919 To what purpose? 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.319 Well, for his glory and our good. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:38.560 Spoiler. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:40.240 Let me say this. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:47.120 So let's say you go on a vacation, and when you're on vacation, if someone comes and you know, uh, I don't like not today, not today. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:48.319 Today's weather is nice. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.479 If you're not from this area, this is not, we're faking it. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:54.719 This is not Mississippi. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:58.960 So don't think about moving here until you see what it's like in July. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:02:59.439 Okay? 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.199 Don't be tricked. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:10.159 Uh uh, so anyway, uh, so let's say you go on vacation and somebody in the middle of July, and you know how hot it is, you know the the birds we call mosquitoes here. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:15.840 And so let's say uh let's say, let's say somebody, you come back from vacation and somebody has cut your grass. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.560 Your grass is is nice and and cut. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:24.479 Now, now that's that's great, that's so nice, but you want to you want to understand why that happened. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:27.199 If it were a company, you would assume what is the why? 00:03:27.359 --> 00:03:32.400 If it's a company, you would assume the why is that they would be paid or they're trying to get new business. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:39.759 If it were a neighbor, the why was because maybe they need somebody to cut their grass when they go on vacation. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:41.120 It's a favor. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:47.599 Well, if it were a family member, the why, we assume, would be out of love. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:49.759 And your love for them would grow. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:51.359 The why matters. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.080 The why matters somebody would cut your grass. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.800 It changes then how you move forward. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:58.319 Am I gonna have to pay an invoice? 00:03:58.479 --> 00:03:59.840 Am I gonna have to return a favor? 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.759 Or does my heart grow in love? 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:12.719 This morning, what we celebrate is that the eternal God of all creation did a work that we could never do for ourselves, and the why he did these things is his great love for us. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:22.480 And so, there are no invoices to be paid this morning, there are no favors to return, there is only a shout of praise and love for the power of God for our eternal salvation. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:27.280 There is only our hearts captured by his love and then growing in love for him. 00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:34.720 On this special Sunday, what I'd like you to know is that God's word tells us that he loves you. 00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:40.960 And so he cares for you, and therefore he will never abandon you. 00:04:41.520 --> 00:04:43.200 I know it's so basic. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.080 Even our four-year-old can sing Jesus loves you. 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:51.360 But I'm telling you, as a 48-year-old, sometimes it's real easy to forget that. 00:04:53.200 --> 00:04:55.040 Jesus loves you. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:58.320 I mean, I know. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.920 Y'all are like, okay, is this why we're here this morning? 00:05:02.080 --> 00:05:05.760 It's so that we can hear that Jesus loves you, and let me tell you the answer is yes. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:08.320 It's easy to forget. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:12.800 It's easy to allow that to be our functioning, working understanding. 00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:16.000 Every day we face, remember, Jesus loves you. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.200 Every lie the enemy tells you, remember, Jesus loves you. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:24.000 Today, what I'm gonna spend my time do is making the art time doing is making the argument from scripture. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:25.440 Again, it's not my TED talk. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.760 It's not my TED talk about the love of God for you. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.280 This is what the Bible says. 00:05:29.520 --> 00:05:31.440 This is the argument of Scripture. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:39.840 So then, to do this, we'll look at a passage we recently considered, but this morning I want to drill down on the why of all these things. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.000 If you have a Bible, Ephesians 2, 4 through 8. 00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:44.320 I'm gonna read this passage, Ephesians 2, 4 through 8. 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:46.240 I'm reading from the ESV. 00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:47.760 Here's what it says. 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:53.760 But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:54.480 Okay? 00:05:54.880 --> 00:05:57.920 Right off the bat, in this passage, we see the why. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.440 There's no invoice, there's no favor to be repaid. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:02.240 Hear it. 00:06:02.640 --> 00:06:04.400 Again, 4 through 8. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:13.680 But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:30.240 By grace you've been saved and raised up, raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:32.240 We'll stop there. 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:33.040 Let me pray. 00:06:33.280 --> 00:06:35.600 Heavenly Father, thank you for this day that you gave us. 00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:38.640 Father God, I pray that we would remember that you gave us this day. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:40.720 You command the morning light. 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:47.520 Father, may we remember that you commanding the morning light to come up today was a common grace. 00:06:47.760 --> 00:06:56.560 A common grace that we would uh we would remember that not only are you in control, but that you care for us because we know if the morning light doesn't come up, we are in trouble. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.000 To the trouble we are in. 00:06:59.280 --> 00:07:02.880 The problem we are we have if we are stuck in our sin. 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:07.680 And so we are thankful for this hinge point. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:16.880 But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love you have for us, you sent Jesus Christ to do these things, to work these things out. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.880 To make us alive, to seat us with your son. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:29.440 That we would be able to, for all of eternity, grow an understanding of the immeasurable riches you have for us in your son, Jesus. 00:07:29.760 --> 00:07:30.800 Thank you for all of these things. 00:07:30.880 --> 00:07:36.080 Father God, we ask your Spirit to help us see these things, that we would not be numb to these things. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:37.920 May they land on good soil, good soil. 00:07:38.080 --> 00:07:40.480 It's in the name of your Son Jesus we pray this and all things. 00:07:40.640 --> 00:07:41.280 Amen. 00:07:41.840 --> 00:07:46.160 So then let me give you a purpose statement, a summary statement of this morning from that passage. 00:07:46.320 --> 00:07:54.320 By considering the great worth of Christ, we are captured by his cost, convinced of his care, and made confident of our eternal and infinite joy. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:57.520 So to summarize, Ephesians 2, 4 through 7. 00:07:57.760 --> 00:08:03.920 By considering the great worth of Christ, we're captured by his cost, convinced of his care, and made confident of our eternal and infinite joy. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.560 So three things, three legs to that stool. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.680 His cost, his care, and our confidence. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:12.480 His cost, his care, and our confidence. 00:08:12.880 --> 00:08:14.320 So first, his cost. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.040 Verse 4 and 5, it's on the screen, it's in your Bible. 00:08:17.200 --> 00:08:26.720 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace, you have been saved. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.520 The great love with which he loved for us. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:30.160 That's important. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:31.680 Again, that's the why. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.840 So what is that great love? 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:45.519 If you read a story of a person in the Philippines spending 3.5 million Philippine pesos on a gift for their spouse, that would be interesting, I assume. 00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:49.279 You would say, well, that's that's that's neat. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.120 But you cannot understand the weight of that gift, I assume, unless you've looked it up. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:03.840 You cannot understand the weight of that gift unless you understood how much a peso is worth and how long it would take someone to earn that much money. 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:07.120 The answer for an average family is 10 years. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.639 So understanding now, you're like, oh no, that's a really good gift. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.360 That's 10 years' wages on a gift. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.360 And so by understanding that, you can say, wow. 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:33.440 So to begin to understand and feel, just like with the Philippine peso, to understand and feel the weight of the truth, great of great love with which he loved us, we must understand the great worth of Christ. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:45.120 So if Christ is what God sent, if that's how he paid for our ransom, it makes no sense to just say, okay, to understand the weight of it, we would have to say, but how much is that worth? 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:46.639 How much is Christ worth, right? 00:09:46.800 --> 00:09:48.480 We've got to look at Christ. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:56.639 So if giving Christ is what our being made alive costs, then who is Christ to God? 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:02.240 The longer you treasure something or someone, the more it or they mean to you. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:08.480 We learn in John 1 that for all of eternity Jesus was with God before his face. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:13.600 The Trinity for all time has delighted in one another in perfect fellowship. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.320 Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. 00:10:16.560 --> 00:10:20.879 Eternity, in case you didn't know this, eternity is a long time. 00:10:23.680 --> 00:10:29.040 We cannot imagine, then, the love of the Father and the Spirit for the Son. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:34.080 Their love for one another is greater than any love we could ever even relate to. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:36.879 Tracking? 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:41.840 They've been together for a while in perfect fellowship. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:47.279 The second person of the Trinity, Son of God, that's who Jesus, that's who God sent in love. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.080 You understand the weight of that decision? 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:53.360 Think about that. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.200 I remember as a kid hearing someone say that an artifact was priceless. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.800 You know, you say, oh, that that thing, that thing in the city in the museum, that's that's priceless. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:08.000 And I remember thinking as a kid, that doesn't make sense, is there not a number that could be offered that would eclipse the value of that thing? 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:10.720 Like, name your price, there's gotta be a number. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.040 Like everybody will sell it for something. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.279 How can it be priceless? 00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:21.759 And I realized that when something is priceless, it means it cannot be replaced. 00:11:21.920 --> 00:11:23.759 No dollar amount could satisfy its loss. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:25.759 It is too precious to put a price on it. 00:11:25.920 --> 00:11:34.399 But this is what we read in John 3.16 that God so loved us that he sent one of his sons, his only son. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.759 His only son, that is his unique and only son, to come to earth and pay the cost for our sin. 00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:47.040 So to appreciate the great love of God for us, we must consider the great worth of Jesus Christ. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:51.279 And connected to that, we must also remember that Christ did not go with a grudge. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:54.320 No, he willingly emptied himself of that which was his. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:01.360 Remember in Exodus chapter 33, when God told Moses that he would give the promised land to the children of Israel, but he would not go with them? 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:04.960 And remember, they've been wandering the wilderness for a while. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:06.399 And God says, Okay. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:11.360 And he God was God was provoked to anger, right? 00:12:11.680 --> 00:12:15.519 He is he is steadfast in his love, but he can be provoked to anger. 00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:16.639 So he's provoked to anger. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.560 And God said, Okay, Moses, I'm gonna give you the promised land. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.480 I'm gonna give you the thing that you've been journeying to, all the land you want, right? 00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:25.200 And that's what they want. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:26.639 The people want their land, right? 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:27.920 So you're gonna have the land. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.879 I'm gonna send an angel, the angel's gonna defeat all the military forces in that land. 00:12:33.040 --> 00:12:35.840 You can have your land, I'm not going with you. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.639 What does Moses say in response? 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:40.720 I don't want the land. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.080 I'd rather stay in the wilderness. 00:12:44.160 --> 00:12:45.600 I'm paraphrasing. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:50.480 I'd rather stay in the wilderness than go to the promised land without you. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.560 It's not about the land. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.279 God, I want your presence. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:57.440 This is my inheritance. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.120 This is what makes me a people, is your face. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.120 Do not bring us out of the wilderness without you, God. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.200 Keep us in the wilderness if Dad is where you are. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:14.560 Side point. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:20.960 Like, can you in whatever suffering, and I know there are people in this room suffering. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:23.200 Think about that prayer. 00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:44.080 God, if this is where you are, if you meet me in my suffering, if you meet me in my confusion and in this dark valley, if this is where you meet your people, if if the green pasture is where I'll forget you, if that's where I'll forget you, I want to stay here. 00:13:44.560 --> 00:13:45.920 I want to stay here. 00:13:46.160 --> 00:13:47.680 If this is where you are. 00:13:47.920 --> 00:13:50.080 Okay, that was that was a bonus point. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:51.600 Sorry, it just hit me. 00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:53.440 I gotta chill, but I think it's the AC. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:53.920 Okay. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:55.120 So great. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:56.240 I wear a jacket. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.759 So, and so, see the great love of Christ on the cross. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:05.279 If the great hope and treasure of eternity is a relationship, think of Moses, I don't want the promised land, I want you. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:11.840 If the great hope and treasure of eternity is a relationship, then see that Christ bankrupted himself for us. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:17.040 His wealth is the Father's face, and he lost it for us on the cross. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:23.600 When Christ took our sin upon himself and drank the full cup of God's wrath upon sinners, he gave everything he had. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:33.920 If the great wealth of our eternity is the face of God, Jesus Christ bankrupted himself on the cross when he took our sin upon himself and it went dark. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.720 This is the great love, the great love of God upon us. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.920 Understood by seeing the great worth of Jesus to the Father and the great worth of the Father to the Son. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.240 You have to understand the relationship. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:47.840 See how much God loved the Son. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.519 See how much the Son loved the Father. 00:14:49.680 --> 00:14:55.840 Understand Christ bankrupted himself on the cross when the face was turned, and understand that Christ and God sent the Son in love. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:57.920 You want to understand that Jesus loves you? 00:14:58.800 --> 00:15:00.480 Look at the great worth of Christ. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.320 Look at the relationship. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.960 And before we move on to the next point, see verse 5. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:08.000 It's on your screens. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.680 Yep, it's still nobody deleted it. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:12.160 It's still on your screens, and it's in your Bible. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:19.680 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.120 So again, this is what the great love, this is the consequence of the great love. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.639 We were dead in our trespasses, we are made alive. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.360 If you're very sick and dying and go to the hospital and someone saves your life, that's wonderful. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:36.639 But you know that the saving is temporary because there'll be another day when you will pass away. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:41.920 So, yes, you celebrate, but you know, okay, that's a temporary thing, right? 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:49.920 Conversely, let's say you were in prison and died there, but then a year later someone found some new evidence that showed you were innocent. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:55.279 That would be great for your legacy and maybe a comfort to your family, but it would not change your fate. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.200 So, my goodness, two thoughts. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.200 You're in a hospital and somebody saves your life, and you celebrate. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:02.800 Oh my goodness, that's so great. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:08.720 I I I live another day, but you know at some point there will be a day when that is not going to happen, right? 00:16:09.040 --> 00:16:11.040 So, yes, but okay. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:20.720 And on the other side, let's say again, you're in prison for for for you know, and and that's where you die, and then they find new evidence, and it says, Oh no, actually, he he or she didn't do that. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:25.440 That is a great comfort to your family, but you you're still in tune, right? 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.240 Here's why I say that. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.040 At great cost, Jesus died for those who were dead. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:31.519 Amen. 00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:35.759 Praise the Lord for the cost he paid on the cross, but also on the third day he arose. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:42.480 That means that the great love of God is not just to pay a dead man's debt, it was to make dead men alive. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:50.639 The work of love on the cross was that we are forgiven, but again, God did not pay such a great price so that we would simply be forgiven in our tombs. 00:16:50.800 --> 00:16:54.000 He paid the great price so that we could also have life eternal. 00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:55.120 And we need both. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:06.079 The resurrection without the cross would make us like Lazarus, it would simply prolong the death that was inevitable, and the cross without the resurrection would only mean that our tombstone would declare us as innocent. 00:17:06.399 --> 00:17:07.440 You understand? 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:08.960 We need both. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:17.200 We don't want to be innocent dead men, and we don't want to just simply uh have another temporary life. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.120 But with both, those who are dead in their sin are made alive eternal. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.640 What a grace fueled by the great love of God. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:27.920 That's the great love of God. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:29.279 Let's look at second. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:30.799 His care. 00:17:31.360 --> 00:17:33.519 So his cost, now his care. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:40.000 I'm gonna look at this one passage, 1 Peter 5.7, and then we'll jump back to the Ephesians passage in the end. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:45.039 1 Peter 5 7, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:47.360 Okay, another illustration. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:52.799 Okay, let's say your friend gave everything they had, they emptied their bank account to purchase a piece of art. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:54.480 Say, I oh, I gotta have that piece of art. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.920 They sold everything they had, and they purchased this piece this piece of art. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.279 You say, Hey, I want to come see it. 00:17:59.360 --> 00:18:06.079 So you go over to their house, you come to see it, and they and you're looking for it in their living room over their mantle, and they say, Oh, it's in the garage. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.720 You're like, Okay, you must have a really nice garage. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:13.600 And so you go into their garage, and it's like our garage, and it's not that awesome. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:29.680 Uh, and so you go in there, and it the this piece of art that they emptied all of their accounts for that they sold everything they had, and they they they used their bank accounts, and they saw they bought this piece of art, and it's sitting on the ground, and it's getting dirty, uh, and it's got oil splattered on it, and whatever else. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:32.559 I assume you would say that's strange. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:37.279 Wait, you you gave everything you had for this piece of art and now it's in your garage? 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:38.559 Like you don't even care for it. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:45.200 And we in our family, if it's in the garage and on the floor, it probably means Goodwill's about to get a donation. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:54.079 So it would be strange for you to go and see this thing that uh that somebody gave everything they had for on the floor. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:55.680 That's important. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.559 So then, let's be thoughtful about what this great cost and love mean for us today. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:10.559 Do we think that God sent his son in love, and that son emptied himself on the cross and into the tomb, to then say with resentment, there I paid for you. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.440 Now don't mess up, I'll see you when I see you. 00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:28.240 So, do we think that when we are struggling and we feel alone, when we are up against insurmountable feelings or hardships or addictions, that our king with the stars in his hands is now saying, I don't care what you're facing, suck it up. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:36.400 Do we think we are in his garage covered in dirt and oil, and he is indifferent to what we are going through? 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:41.839 And I know again, I understand because of the illustration, everybody's saying, of course not, of course not. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:42.799 I get it. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:52.079 But my goodness, I'm telling you, this week when I when I remembered 1 Peter 5 through 7, uh 1 Peter 5, 7, like I was like, oh, God cares for me. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.000 God cares for me. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:00.319 Is there anything else we could ever need or want, but God cares for me? 00:20:01.120 --> 00:20:02.559 God cares for me. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:04.559 Do you know who God is? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:15.680 Putting these two things together, the worth of the son, the cost, and the logical argument of his concern for us, he's not putting you in the garage. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.039 Paul writes this in Romans 8, Romans 8 32. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:24.400 He who did not spare his own son, he being God, the creator, in the beginning, that's him. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.200 Speaking things into existence when there was nothing, there was something. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:39.360 He, that he, who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he also not with him graciously give us all things? 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:46.240 Still, haven't we all at all haven't we all at times felt like we've been forgotten and neglected? 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.000 Where would that thought come from? 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.200 The thought of neglect. 00:20:49.360 --> 00:20:50.720 It doesn't come from our logic. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.960 I assume you think it's strange that somebody put an expensive piece of art in the garage. 00:20:55.120 --> 00:20:56.480 You think that's strange? 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:02.880 You understand that Christ was costly, a costly price to pay for your salvation, you understand that. 00:21:03.120 --> 00:21:13.360 So then, if we are logical, if God has made us to be rational, where would the thought come from that in your hardship and struggle, you would say, God has forgotten me? 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.680 Where would that come from? 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.839 That's not our logic and our rationale. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.319 We don't function that way in any other part of our life. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:20.880 Why? 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.279 Why would we think this when we have so much evidence against it? 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.680 In the presence of difficult things, where would a lie come from that we've been abandoned? 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.400 1 Peter 5.7, remember, cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:35.279 We know that verse. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:37.759 Do you know what comes after that in 1 Peter 5.8? 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:44.880 The answer to why we would have this thought about God putting an expensive piece of art in the garage, to use the illustration. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.360 1 Peter 5.8, here's what it says. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.200 Be sober-minded. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:49.920 Why? 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.600 Because the thought that he doesn't care for you is not sober minded. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:54.720 Be watchful. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:55.279 Why? 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:56.480 Because there's a liar. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:57.200 Who? 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.960 Your adversary, this comes right after Castor cares upon him. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:06.000 Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.440 Where does the lie come from that you don't matter to God? 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.920 Where does the lie come from that he has abandoned you? 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:12.319 It's not 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:16.000 From God, it's not because you're rational or logical. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.160 It's from the adversary. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:25.039 And understand that clearly in this context, this is not saying, child of God, be careful of a big, scary lion of your nightmares. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.319 This is not the terrifying beast of a horror movie. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.680 This is an enemy whose fangs of an attack are a lie. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.960 And to be devoured, then is to believe that lie. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.759 How does the roaring lion that is like the enemy? 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:45.519 How does the enemy who is like a roaring lion devour us with a lie? 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:46.880 Okay? 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.160 Horror movies do no good because they show you some beast that's coming at you with a pitchfork. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:53.440 That's not the enemy. 00:22:53.600 --> 00:22:57.440 The enemy comes beside you with a lie that says, I don't think God cares for you. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:22:58.960 Look at your suffering. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:22:59.920 Look in the mirror. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:00.880 Look at what happens. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:01.839 Look at your thoughts. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:02.720 Look at all these things. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.720 Look at look at look at your deficiency. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:05.680 Look at your chemistry. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:06.400 Look at all of these things. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:07.440 Look at the job you didn't get. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:08.720 Look at the spouse you didn't have. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.839 Like, look at all of these things. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:11.360 I'm not sure if God loves you. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:12.880 And the lion roars. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:18.640 Trying to devour you, trying to separate you from the one who does love you at great cost. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.319 And what is the lie again? 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:36.480 In your anxiety, in your concerns, in your life, in your struggles against sin, in your physical sufferings, your king, the lie is that your king does not care for you. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:39.600 You cannot and should not even try to cast these things upon him. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:41.440 He is not there and he does not listen. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.279 You are not worth his attention. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:44.880 This is what the enemy whispers. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:47.279 So then, child of God, what are we going to do? 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.920 What does it look like to resist the devil, this vendor of lies and accusations? 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:00.960 The best way to appreciate and understand God's care for you is to turn your eyes upon Christ, see his great worth, and then push back on the whispers of the enemy that tempt you to believe a lie. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:06.640 A lie that says, Because you have sin in your life, because you struggle, you have no value to God. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.000 You may be a part of his household, but you are in the garage. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.960 Because you took the fruit, you should run and hide from God. 00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:14.640 Cover yourself from him and others. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.519 Let your shame lead you away from God instead of to him. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:21.839 And we take that thought, that temptation captive, and we say, He paid too much. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:24.720 Look at his words, he paid too much to bring me home. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:27.600 He has not and will not ever leave me alone. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.600 So then, child of God, memorize 1 Peter 5 through 7. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:35.519 Memorize Romans 8:32. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.279 That's what Christ did in the wilderness. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:39.360 He spoke back to the devil with God's word. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.400 He said, Don't tempt me. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:44.480 Don't put the Lord your God to the test. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:46.720 Man shall not live by bread alone. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.880 So then, in the in the lie, oh, I think you're in the garage. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:52.400 Steve, I think you're in the garage. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.839 Do you hear what that person said to you? 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:55.279 I don't think God cares for you. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:56.640 I say, okay. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.240 And you know what the answer is not? 00:24:58.400 --> 00:24:59.039 The answer is not. 00:24:59.120 --> 00:25:03.120 I go to my bathroom and look at my mirror and say, Ah, I mean, God cares for me. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.079 Look at me. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:05.200 Look at me. 00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:07.039 How could God not care for me? 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:08.720 I wore a suit on Easter. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:09.680 Yeah, that's not a suit. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:10.799 Let's be honest. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:12.559 Okay, that's out of hand. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:14.079 Sorry, the emotion got me. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:15.200 It's a jacket. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.440 Okay, I wore a jacket on Easter. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.360 How could God not care and love me? 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:20.720 I'm looking in the mirror. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:23.039 That's not the answer to the to the enemy. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.000 That's not the answer to the one who walks around like a roaring lion. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:31.279 The answer is we go to the mirror and say, then we turn our heads up and we look at the worth of Christ. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.519 That was point one, right? 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.720 Look at how much, look how much God loved the Son. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.319 Look how much the Son loved God. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.079 And he came in love, great love, so that we I could be made alive. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.360 And now I'm gonna listen to this that I'm not worth it. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.799 That God purchased me at great cost and then put me in the garage. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:49.839 Am I gonna believe that? 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:51.120 Crazy. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:52.799 He didn't even spare his own son. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.880 How will he not give everything, everything? 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:58.240 How will he not continue to empty himself for those whom he loves and love? 00:25:59.120 --> 00:25:59.360 Okay. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:02.319 We're rational, we're logical, don't listen to the enemy. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.839 Third, our confidence. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:04.720 Finally. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:10.720