We have been touched by God and our value is so much more , so much greater , because we have been touched by the living God . Right , the gospel reminds us that we don't have to wander in search of meaning or identity , because Jesus already secured our identity by his death and resurrection . What did he do For as many as received him ? He's given them the right or the power or the authority to be a child of God . We are children of the living King . It reminds me of a story that I heard .
Speaker 1I won't mention his name , but he was a missionary and he was in the back of a police car in Peru . And the police officer looked in the back and he saw him shaking , visibly shaking . It was his own car . Actually , it wasn't a police car , it was his own car . He looked at him and he saw that he was shaking and he asked him are you afraid ? And the missionary responded and said yes , I'm afraid . And the police officer responded and said good , you should be afraid he goes .
Speaker 1Oh , no , I'm not afraid for me , I'm afraid for you , because he knew who he was in Christ , and when somebody comes up against us , God takes that personal that you are not coming up against a mere mortal of a man . You are coming up against God , and God takes that very serious . Therefore , listen , as our portion , as our inheritance , as the one who will defend his children , he will always have the final word . You can be quiet knowing , and you can rest knowing that God will defend his children because you've been adopted into him . So we embrace our identity that has been given to us as a beloved child of God and we rest in the truth that our worth is found in him alone .
Speaker 2This from Ken Ham's X-Account . Ray Comfort , in his unique style affected by the fall wrote a supposedly humorous piece about our friendship , and he doesn't even work for Babylon Bee . Here's an excerpt , and I provided the link to the entire post below . Quote from Ray Comfort .
Speaker 2And so every day I get texts from Ken what's his name ? Telling me that I'm short , ugly , old , stupid , dumb , drongo , a twit and a nitwit . We swap memes , send each other new items and argue about who has the best weather beautiful California or humid Kentucky and this has been going on daily for about five years . Easy , the president of Living Waters is on the thread , and so he brings into play both adult sobriety and his own form of Arab insanity . Well , you will want to read the rest . This is Ken . Now , again , when you get to know Ray , you will understand why such an old little man can bring forth such unintelligible ramblings . But it's a sign of true friendship , which I do so appreciate , although I may deny at any time . Oh , and please inundate him with comments and tell him it's not a boat of true friendship , which I do so appreciate , although I may deny at any time . Oh , and please inundate him with comments and tell him it's not a boat , it's a great ship . Ray , what ?
Speaker 3a glimpse . He didn't quote the funny bit . There's a funny bit at the end and I had to write to our secretary my secretary and say is it bad that I laughed at my own article , because it really is a funny portion .
Speaker 2See , you're always accusing me of laughing .
Speaker 3Yeah , but yours aren't funny . This is justified .
Justification of laughing .
Speaker 4I always like to say who needs enemies when they're friends with Ken Ham . That's so true .
Speaker 2Ken is a drongo . Is that an Australian thing , do you guys ?
Speaker 3say it down under New Zealand . Down under drongo means a twit .
Speaker 2So it's all synonymous .
Speaker 3I think a twit is a pregnant goldfish . I'm not sure .
Speaker 2Is it ? Yeah , mark , look it up , is that ? What a twit is .
Speaker 3It means a foolish person , but I think the etymology according to a Chinese philosopher . I get so excited I'm bluffing it .
Speaker 2I get so excited . Sometimes in the morning I wake up and I see oh , 95 texts . I'm like oh , it must be a bunch of people that love me Nope , Ray and Ken in the middle of the night it is .
Speaker 1A twit is a somewhat old-fashioned term used by Kiwis to describe a person who is considered silly , foolish or annoying . It is typically used in a playful or mildly derogatory way , not as a serious insult . The word is more commonly used in British English , but can be understood in other English-speaking regions as well . It's akin to calling someone a fool . Did I really ?
Speaker 4say Kiwi . No , I made it up . We should redo the Living Water website to say Ray Comfort , founder , and twit Ah , twit-er yeah .
Speaker 2That's maybe why they changed it to X . Yeah , all right , friends . Anyway , if you want to read that , I guess you can go somewhere . I don't know where it's true Time for a cool , classy comment . This is from Gabby .
Speaker 3They can sign up for a newsletter . It goes out with a newsletter . Oh yeah , Get the newsletter . That is a good plug for the newsletter .
Speaker 2The newsletter is nice . Get it All right . This is from Gabby Guys . This was a really , really powerful letter .
Speaker 2I wish we had the time to read the whole thing . What's that ? Are you going to cry ? No , I won't cry , but it's powerful if you would have read the whole thing . But she begins by saying Hi there , I'm Gabby , 28 years old , mom of four under seven and wife of eight and a half years . And then she goes on to talk about how she discovered her husband was a massive hypocrite , had pretended to be a Christian , was in bondage to pornography , borderline adultery , and then she talks about how God brought him into repentance and reconciled their marriage . It was phenomenal . And then she says this despite the embarrassment of going to our pastor and our entire church family knowing we were separated .
Speaker 2I recently said to my pastor I would go through everything a thousand times over if it meant seeing my husband come to Christ . Not only did I witness his salvation and repentance , but I encountered God's love and tenderness in the midst of great heartache , betrayal and pain , and the gospel has come alive to me even more through the heartbreak . It was worth tanking our reputation as such a godly couple to be honest with our hearts before the Lord , and now he's given us a marriage far beyond what I asked for . My husband leads our family as he follows Christ , a prayer of mine since I was a little girl . My sorrow has turned to joy in the presence of my healer . To God be the glory . Thank you for everything you do .
Speaker 2Your podcast and YouTube channel has been a light for me during a dark time . My husband and I now spend our evenings watching and talking about all God is teaching us through your ministry and now together we long to share with the world the freedom we found in Jesus through the glorious gospel . I hope this is an encouragement to you for to keep serving the Lord through your ministry . Your sister in Christ , gabby .
Speaker 3It sure is . Praise the Lord .
Speaker 2You know what she said in there about how she would be fine with that reputation being tanked . And that's often the problem . People make an idol out of reputation or what people think of them . But look what God brought about through their brokenness , you know , and especially the salvation of her husband . So , gabby , god bless you . Sister , thank you so much for writing in . We're so honored that God has used us to any degree to be a help and encouragement to you . Keep pressing on in Christ . All right , and now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by Tough Questions . Apologetics made simple . Yes , it's the apologetics course that we put together a long time ago . Five session study .
Speaker 3And we can't even tell you what the questions are , because it's so tough .
Speaker 2It's so hard we don't even know , friends . Comes in DVD or MP4 . Again , that's five session and you get a study guide . Wow , all right . Don't forget the Living Waters mug and having a study Bible All at livingwaterscom . You diverted . It was supposed to be normal , oscar , normal , that was normal , all right . All right , friends , why you don't need to find yourself a biblical view of identity ? How often do we hear that ? I hear a lot about identity theft . Oh , have you seen those commercials ?
Speaker 3It's scary .
Speaker 2It'll be oh , they're so brilliant . It'll be like this little tiny old lady and she's talking with like a deep man's voice and they tie it in with someone stealing your identity . It's really brilliant actually , but how often we've heard that guys man's voice and they tie it in with someone stealing your identity . It's really brilliant actually , but you know how often we've heard that , guys . I'm just going to go find myself . Yeah , I'm going to go find myself .
Speaker 1And how do you do that Right ? I mean through personal exploration , through autonomy . I mean what do you ? What does that mean ?
Speaker 3Look in the mirror To find yourself .
Speaker 2Oh , there I am , hey there .
Speaker 3Wow , look at that . I could have just started right there . There you are . I was looking for myself my whole life and there , I was in the mirror .
Speaker 1When we look within ourselves for meaning , you will walk away depressed and discouraged and disheartened . I don't know what commentary I think we've all read it . But if you want joy in your life , it starts with Jesus , then others and then yourself . Right that you're always last , but being last you actually find yourself in Christ . Paul said in Galatians 2.20 , I've been crucified with Christ . It's no longer I who live , but Christ who lives in me , in the life that I now live in the flesh . I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me . Right , if any man is in Christ , he is a new creation . The old things have passed away . Behold , all things have become new . You don't want to find yourself , you want to lose yourself . It has nothing to do with you .
Speaker 1Colossians chapter 3-ish . It says that our lives , that we are hidden in Christ , right , our lives are not our own . John Piper said your life is not your own . You've been bought with a price and what lies before you is a stewardship from the owner for the owner . In fact , john Calvin said we are not our own . Insofar as we can , let us forget ourselves and all that is ours as much as is possible . Remember humility is not thinking less of yourself . It's not thinking of yourself right . And when you realize it is more blessed to give than to receive , you are finding everything that you'll ever need in Christ . When you're surrendering all that you can . Have you ever experienced that time where people are ridiculing you , they're making fun of you , they're mocking you ?
Speaker 3Every day on the podcast . Yeah , I do it in here . Yeah , every day . This is the Living Waters podcast .
Speaker 1When your eyes are on the Lord , you're just not moved , like somebody going off on you and everybody even agreeing with that person . You're just simply not moved because your identity is found in Christ . Tim Keller , he said you don't realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all that you have . He's all that I have . And then , yeah , I'm going to keep going on , but that's the idea that our identity is found in Christ , not in self . You know .
Speaker 2Mark , I love to think about what's possible in contrast to how we live in a manner that says , no , that's not really possible . So , in other words , when I think about what you're talking about people ridiculing you , mocking you , whatever you're not moved . Seriously , how cool would it be for someone to be in a spot where people are yelling at them , chewing them out , cussing them out , putting them down and , man , they are genuinely unmoved , like fully serene ?
Speaker 1I deserve that . It's like hey man .
Speaker 2God bless you . What can I do to serve you ? Not in a cynical or trying to be sometimes people try to act calm , to get under people's skin , but like genuinely you're like hey man guys look . I'm really sorry for anything I've ever done to hurt you or offend you . But now what , honestly , genuinely , what can I do ? You have a financial need . I have a little bit of money . I'd love to bless you , Do you ?
Speaker 1Oh my heart like yearns for that you know what kind of a servant you are when somebody treats you like one .
Speaker 2I've heard you put that before . That's good . I love that . That's good .
Speaker 4You know , one of the questions that I like to ask specifically younger people when I'm out on the streets witnessing , is what is the most important thing about you ? And the reason why I like to ask that question is because what we think about who we are or , in this case , our identity , dictates our entire lives . It tells us where we put our hope , it informs us on how we deal with suffering and what our perception of success is , on how we organize our lives and move forwards . What is the most important thing about you ? And Timothy Keller you quoted
him earlier .
Speaker 4He points out that there's two different ways of having identity out in this world . He says there's a traditional way and then there's the modern way . He says , in the traditional way of identity , throughout most of history what people did was they looked around at their tribe , at their nation , at their family , to discover who they were . They looked at the role that they were required to play within that tribe and they would say I need to submit my personal desires in order to fulfill my identity as a role player with this tribe , with this nation , with this family . He goes on to point out the problem with that is what happens when tribe nation family starts heading towards moral decay , because the reality is that the masses are terrible gods . And so we submit ourselves and identity to this lowercase g god that will ultimately destroy us or force us to betray our one true God , the modern view identity . So historic view of identity .
Speaker 4Traditional view identity is look around to determine who you are , submit the inner feelings to what the people around you have to say about you . A modern view identity is the complete opposite . He says you look inside of yourself , what do I feel ? What is my true , authentic self ? What are my passions ? What do I feel ? You know what is my true authentic self , what are my passions , what do I feel ? And then you go out into the world and you demand the world around you submit to what you see about yourself . This is a modern view and this is why you get the idea of following follow your own heart , be true to yourself , you be you . On and on and gone , on and on and on .
Speaker 4The mantra goes about discovering our identity and he goes on to say the problem with this is that our hearts are also terrible gods . I have said before what happens when an entire generation grows up thinking I need to look inside of myself to find out who I am . And they look inside themselves and they think I am a hypocrite . I'm a liar , I lust constantly , nobody knows the thoughts that I have better than me and I hate my own thoughts . You have an increase of depression and anxiety and you have the problems that we have today . The gospel tells us that we don't look around for identity and we don't look inside for identity . We look up .
Speaker 4We look up to the author of our lives , and this is good news , because the only person that can give you a life worth living for is the one who created you . Nobody knows Hamlet better than the author Shakespeare , right ? And in that same way , god is the author of your life . There's so much freedom to realize this that I don't have to go out there and discover who I am and define myself , but rather God has given me purpose and meaning in this life . That is so much greater than any purpose and meaning that I can give my own self . And what is that purpose ? To glorify him and enjoy him forever . That is the identity we all need , yeah .
Speaker 2Oh man , you know I love what Corey Tim Boom said Look around you and be distressed . Look inside you and be depressed . Look to Christ and be at rest . Wow , that's awesome and I'm convinced that .
Speaker 3Don't think of that before you get dressed .
Speaker 2I'm convinced that anyone who quote , unquote finds themselves in a real sense will wish they could immediately like un-find themselves . And what I mean by that is that if we truly understand who we really are , If we truly get a glimpse of our wicked , fallen , sinful nature , we will want nothing to do with it , nothing to do with ourselves . And that's why I've often said this right when I ask the Lord to give me more of him and less of me , he shows me more of me , which makes me want less of me and more of him . The more I see my corruption , my wickedness , my flakiness . I mean , guys , look , we've had the highs right when we're like , oh man , I want fire for the Lord , and like , hours later you're contemplating foolish stuff and you're heading towards sin . When I see all of that , it disgusts me . And what I want is I want stability , I want constancy , and what I really want is I want righteousness , and Jesus gives you all of that .
Speaker 2All of that you know he will keep him in perfect peace . Whose mind has stayed on him ? Because he trusts in him , he becomes our everything . Ray , say something .
Speaker 3Yeah , when we talk about someone finding themselves , it's deeper than just finding what to do in this life , or what your name is or your , whatever your history . It's finding out why you exist as a human being . And it's a horror beyond words to be searching for yourself , like this world is , and finding nothing . I heard a quote from a man . I lost his name . Life is waiting for an explanation that never comes , and I didn't realize that before I was a Christian , I didn't realize what I was searching for . I just had this cry in my heart , and it was when I showed myself a surf movie on the wall of my home before I showed it to a whole lot of unbelievers one night , just after I got saved . And right at the end it just said and you shall know the truth , and the truth shall make you free .
Speaker 3One Bible verse John 8 , 31 , 32 . And I looked at it and thought , oh , that's what I've been looking for , that's what I've found in Christ , and my heart just exploded . And the only analogy I can think of when it comes to this world searching for the reason to exist is that it's like a baby that's firstborn and the baby screams as you take it from the mother and you say what are you screaming about ? You know , this is life , you're here , yeah . And the baby says I don't know , there's just something not right , I don't know . So you take the baby and put it on the mother's breast and her suckles and the baby goes quiet and you tap it on the shoulder and say what's the story now ? And it says this was what I was looking for , but I didn't know what it was because I'd never experienced it before , and it's only when we come to Christ and suckle in that sense and find our existence in Him , that we find the truth , and the truth makes us free .
Speaker 3I look back on surfing and it was such a huge self-denial to give it up . But I look back and say I don't need it , I don't need music , I don't need surfing , I don't need wealth and the qualification is I love sport , I love music and I want to be able to pay my bills . But these things are all secondary in my life . Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and all that stuff will be added .
Speaker 2Wow .
Speaker 3Well put .
Speaker 2Ray , that's so good .
Speaker 2You know , there's nothing more sweet than to see a man or a woman who knows who they are , who understands who God is in them , who understands their destination and who understands all that they're supplied with in this life to be able to weather every storm .
Speaker 2I mean that to me is like the epitome of tranquility . And in addition to that , someone who's not looking for the approval of man , who's not looking for position or prominence , not looking for position or prominence , who doesn't care , who is inviting them or who is including them in their circles it's this picture of like in my mind . A person who's dressed up like a butler , who's got their arm out and has that , you know , that towel hanging over it , just ready to serve , ready to serve the Lord , ready to serve people . Do to me what you will . In essence , I'm invincible because , look , if things don't go well for me in circumstances , then I'm confident because I know God and what his word says , that he's going to cause it to work together for the good , in what sense , that he's conforming me into the image of Christ , which is my greatest desire , and if people persecute me , well blessed am I , and if I get killed , I'm in heaven .
Speaker 3Oh , if a golf ball hit me in the head .
Speaker 1Mark , does that resonate with you , man ? I can listen to that all day . It's something that I long for , strive for , something that I think about often . The call is not to find yourself , but to deny yourself , to die to yourself for God's glory , right To lose your life in order to find it . Matthew 16, .
Speaker 1Jesus told his disciples if anyone would come after me , let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me , for whoever would save his life will lose it , and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it . Romans 12, . I'm going to be teaching at this at a men's conference in a couple weeks . Down at Compass it said I appeal to you , therefore , brothers , by the mercy of God , that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice . You present your bodies as a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable to God , which is your spiritual worship . Dietrich Bonhoeffer he said when Christ calls a man , he bids him to come and die .
Speaker 4Ray's dying right now . He's dying right now .
Speaker 3I'm just choking on nothing .
Speaker 1What are you choking on ? You're not eating , you're not drinking .
Speaker 3It's just one of those it's a tadpole trying to evolve into a frog . I'll try and drown it .
Speaker 1DJ , excuse me , yeah , cs Lewis . He said give up yourself and you will find your real self . That's the call Give up yourself and you will find your real self . Spurgeon said the nearer a man lives to God , the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart .
Speaker 2Mark , I'm glad you cited what Jesus said in regards to our life and losing it . John 12 , beginning of verse 25, . He says he who loves his life will lose it , and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life . If anyone serves me , let him follow me , and where I am there , my servant will be . Also , if anyone serves me , him my father will honor . And so you know , ray , I'd love you to speak to this because you've talked before , like about different things that are said that seem to be far-fetched and maybe it's in the realm of hyperbole , but where Jesus says right , if you don't hate your father and mother and so on and so forth , but he's talking about hating your life . This is in such contrast to you need to love yourself , because the greatest love of all , anyway .
Speaker 3We've got a video that we put up two years ago . It's called Is Elon Musk a Christian . Now that's coming up to 5 million views . I think it's just passed 5 million views and in it and I've just got to say this , I'm qualifying Einstein was an absolute genius . His name is synonymous with genius .
Speaker 2Einstein One of us , yeah .
Speaker 3One of me .
But Musk makes him look like a dummy when you look at what Musk is doing with his inventions and a $10,000 portable house and an iPhone for what ? $200 , $100 , and just stuff that he's coming up with . I've just noticed just absolutely amazing . But in that video there are probably eight to ten quotes of him saying I don't know why I'm alive .
Speaker 3And if anyone epitomizes success in the American dream , it's Elon Musk . He came from South Africa to America and he's the richest man in the world . He's attaining things that are beyond our wildest dreams and he doesn't know why he's alive . And that's a horror beyond words and that makes the American dream a nightmare of futility . He wants to go and live on Mars because he doesn't know what he's doing here on Earth . Martin Lloyd-Jones says we must come back to the soul and to God who made it . We were made for him . We must come back to the soul and to God who made it . We were made for him , we were meant for him and we'll never come to rest until , like the needle on the compass , we strike that northern point and there we must come to rest , nowhere else Wow so good , easy .
Speaker 4I'm imagining somebody coming across this podcast and listening for the first time and really it's coming from a different mindset , in which they've grown up with the mantras to follow your own heart for self-love . Unpack that . That sounds on the surface like well , why wouldn't I have self-love ? Why wouldn't I follow my heart ? Unpack that from one . How do you explain that to somebody who's got that mantra , who's got that mindset ? And how do you transition that to somebody who's got that mantra , who's got that mindset ? And how do you transition to seeing how the gospel offers so much more ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I would say . First of all , there is not a lack of loving yourself , and when scripture says to love your neighbor as yourself , it's a commentary on the fact that all of us know how to naturally love ourselves , fact that all of us know how to naturally love ourselves . And so , in that context , loving yourself is basically having the wherewithal to take care of your needs and to look out for yourself and to protect yourself and to nurture yourself , and so on and so forth , and so there's no lack of that . All of us have that in us . What we have on top of that is the inordinate love of self , and that's what the world is aiming for .
Speaker 2So it's unbiblical when we look at what the world is calling us to do . What it's calling us to do is it's calling us to set ourselves up as our own God . There's no way around it . Of course , the world isn't articulating that , but that is , in essence , at the heart of what the world is pushing us to do . You make yourself the center of your own universe . You become the most important person within that universe and you do everything you need to do to make sure that you get everything that you want in this life at the expense of the glory of God and at the expense of loving and serving others .
Speaker 3And it said everything you deserve .
Speaker 2You deserve a break today , yeah right , I deserve this , I deserve that . Well , we know what we deserve . And so , oscar , that's what that's playing to right . And so from that we get all these other mantras like follow your heart . Well , if you are the one who is the center of your own universe and the whole purpose of your existence is to love yourself , then of course you need to make sure that you know you follow this heart of yours . It's going to tell you exactly what you want and what you need , and so it goes on and on from there .
Speaker 2But that's why we see , you know these celebrities that loved themselves and looked out for number one and became the center of the universe . That's why we see them , many of them absolutely miserable and committing suicide , and so on and so forth . And this isn't the health , wealth , prosperity , gospel . This isn't the happiness . We know that some may feel happy or whatever , but I'm talking in an existential sense of what life is all about . Ray just talked about Elon Musk . Yeah , it comes to the point where you're like there's got to be something else . What am I looking for ? Why am I crying out ? And , man , when a person finds Christ and when a person learns about what Jesus did , like he right Philippians 2, . He , being in the form of God , didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God or something to be held onto , made himself of no reputation , taking the form of a bond servant , coming in the likeness of men and being found in obedience as a man , he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death , even the death of the cross , to give us life .
Speaker 3If anyone out there has got Elon Musk's personal cell phone number , please let us have it .
Speaker 2I think we know who might Our friends at Babylon Meet . That's who that video is connected to . They sat down with him and they have a relationship with him . But we need to pray for Elon Musk and people like him . I think we forget . They are people .
Speaker 3Yeah , god's no respecter of persons . It's like Elon who but we know the effect he could have if he had a real God conversion Saul of Tarsus and testified he wouldn't be embarrassed to do so .
Speaker 2Knowing him , he doesn't care what people think and look , we've been seeing people to different degrees now I'm not talking necessarily genuine conversion , but that are beginning to look around and say , wasn't it , I think , tucker Carlson who said he finally realized that the only people who really are the wise people that know what's going on are the Christians ? And he said they've been saying this stuff that we're seeing happening in the world all along , and it's like I think people are starting to start to kind of realize we're getting tired of this , we're seeing where this is taking us .
Speaker 3I'm praying for Tucker Carlson because when I did the video on him I had to cut out so much cussing that he was doing . It was a real potty mouth through the hole , as bad as you could get .
Speaker 2While he's talking about . You know , christians have got the truth , but he is using filthy language . You know who went on with tucker carlson , our very own alan pearson . Yeah , he , he , somehow there was something where he said send in a question you have and maybe I'll bring you on my show some kind of like , some form of a contest like that or whatever . So alan went on and then he he said , hey , I want to bring you on again . He brought him on another another time . No way .
Speaker 3Yeah , it's crazy .
Speaker 2So for those of you that don't know Alan Pearson , he used to be in Oscar's role actually here and he had mentored Oscar in this realm and Oscar came on . But Alan now serves on our board here at Living Waters .
Speaker 3He's the original dad joke .
Speaker 2Is he ever OG ? Dad joke , his uncle Giuseppe , all his jokes about his jacket and . Yeah . So , mark , what would you say to those that are listening right now who are saying , well , what is my biblical identity ? Can you give me some input on ? Who am I then ?
Speaker 1Yeah , your biblical identity needs to be rooted in adoption . It needs to be found as a son and daughter of the true and living God . Amen , Right , you don't need to go searching for it , you need to receive it . Right , I found Christ . No , listen , he's not lost . You are Right , I was once lost , but now I'm found . Our ultimate identity is not in something that we have to search for . It's given to us by God when we are adopted into his family .
Speaker 1Romans 8 , it says for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear , but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba , Father , and the Spirit himself bears witness , with our spirit , that we are children of God . I cannot tell you how many times I've been going through different things , especially this past year it's been a rough year for the Spence household and I would find myself I'm just saying Abba , Father , Lord , Dad , Lord , help , and you think of like the call of a sheep , just Baa , Baa , however they would say it and I just find myself going Dad , Dad , Father , Father . Where are you ? Do you see where I'm at ? Do you see the predicament that I'm in ? Do you see what's happening . How much can one man handle ? I can't handle it anymore .
Speaker 1And 1 John 3 , 1, . It says see what kind of love the Father has given to us , that we should be called children of God and so we are . That everything tends to just melt , fall by the wayside . Perhaps Nothing really matters when your eyes are on the Lord , that my adoption in Christ has kept me grounded , that my identity in the Lord . John Owen , he said the greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father , the greatest unkindness you can do to Him is to not believe that he loves you . And that is what has kind of kept me in the midst of the different trials and circumstances that I've gone through . You know I can have many questions , but I don't question the love of God . If you want to know how much God loves you , you look back at the cross .
Speaker 2Amen .
Speaker 1Everything else can fall into place and you don't need to understand anything else that is happening around you . Lord , I don't know , I have many questions , but I'm not going to question your love and your kindness . No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly . And if I don't have it , it's because I don't need it and I can plead for it , and God says no , I'm all that . You need that . He is my portion , my inheritance , my self , my sustainer found in him . He's my horn , my salvation , he's my buckler , he's my shield , he's my sure foundation , he's my source of code , he's my password to get to heaven . It is well with my soul . It is well with my soul , amen .
Speaker 4JI Packer
. I think the quote that you're alluding to is one of my favorite things . Knowing God is one of my favorite books . Ja Packer is an incredible author . He says in that book I think it's chapter eight adoption is the highest privilege the gospel offers , higher even than justification . The traitor is forgiven , brought in for supper and given a family name to be right with God . The judge is a great thing , but to be loved and cared for by God , the Father , is greater .
Speaker 2Wow , oh , mark , oscar , you guys , man , you really stirred my soul with what you said , mark , in that quote . Oscar , we don't think about adoption often enough .
Speaker 3Oscar and Mark stir my soul too .
Speaker 1Tim Keller . He said the only person in the universe whose opinion counts . He looks at me and he finds me more valuable than all the jewels in creation .
Speaker 2Wow , yeah , that means there's something coming .
Speaker 3The purpose for existence , ultimately , is that we're being created by God for his pleasure and our pleasure is his pleasure . Yeah , I had a very joyful experience last week , that is , I got to witness to a young man who was born blind at the local college . He wasn't born blind at the local college . There was a comma in there , it was the local college , and he had been born blind at the local college . There was a comma in there , it was the local college and he had been born blind .
Speaker 3So when it comes to lusting after women , I said obviously you haven't lusted after women , but the Bible in Genesis speaks of the imagination of men's hearts being continually evil . Do you have sexual imaginations ? And he said yeah , and he didn't want to let go of his sins . I could feel him holding on to them , even though he is blind . And I talked about conversion , that God would open the eyes of his understanding and he will see the invisible when he comes to Christ . But I said I don't want you to die in your sins and the first thing you ever see is a holy God .
Speaker 1And you're still in your sins , and you can watch that video of Ray interacting with that gentleman on our YouTube channel how to properly handle the fall of a pastor . Interesting enough , but so well done . And you go back and forth with another guy who looks like a gang member oh yes , with a tattoo on his head , Did you know he wouldn't look at me for the whole ? Thing , oh , I was .
Speaker 3I found that interesting he would not look at me and right at the end , after we prayed , he looked straight at me . After we prayed , he looked straight at me .
Speaker 2It was quite wonderful , isn't the guy that had the tattoo ? Fear God .
Speaker 3Fear God on his forehead .
Speaker 2On his forehead . Yes , Fear God .
Speaker 3Yeah , and a cross on his cheek and he wasn't saved . That is insanity . It was a sign for me , I should witness to this guy .
Speaker 2Good sign . Yeah , I was blown away by that on his face because it was evident he wasn't a believer . And I'm thinking , man , you just engage in a bunch of filth and sin and then you look in the mirror and you see on your face fear God , and you just did the opposite of that . That's crazy .
Speaker 3Well , maybe God will wake him up one day and connect it with what you shared with him . I actually wrote it on his forehead just before the interview . Can I write this on here and make good for the video ? Not raise hand , that's right .
Speaker 2You know , mark , you talked about something that really kind of blew my mind . In that I realized we don't think this way , like when we think identity , we're thinking you know , I'm a child of God , yeah , I'm adopted , that's a part of it . I'm redeemed , you know Stuff like that , but we never think of it in terms of my identity as loved by .
Speaker 4God Prized possession . That's what the scripture says .
Speaker 2I mean , let's unpack that a little bit . Loved by God , Oscar . Why is that so significant and so important for the believer to claim that as a part of their identity ?
Speaker 1First of all , define love first of all , because that's different than the world and when we start talking about that , I'm loved by God . It's different than my last girlfriend loved me Right .
Speaker 4Yeah , the love of God . It's multifaceted in the scriptures . In one way , it talks about it as a fatherly love , which we're talking about . In another way , christ's love for his bride , the church , is a sacrificial affection for his church . And so the love of God is broad and deep . And more than anything , I love the way the scriptures talk about how his thoughts are higher than my thoughts . His ways are higher than my thoughts . His ways are higher than my ways .
Speaker 4I'm always careful to talk about this aspect of what the scripture says about how God views his children , because it can often sound like motivational , speaking self-help , and it has to be couched in the context of we are sinners who are saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ . And once we understand that , then what we see is that , because I think sometimes what ends up happening in our minds is that we think of ourselves as like okay , we're a part of God's family , but we're kind of like that stepson , yeah , I'm the black sheep Right Like God's , just like , don't forget what it took to get you here , don't mess this up Everybody else deserves to be here , but you All , the angels and God are like , yeah , good thing , you barely got in .
Speaker 4That is not how God treats his children , and one part of the scriptures says we are his prized possession . Let your mind rest on that reality . I mean , think about all of God's creation , from the supernomas to like string theory , from the chasms of the great canyon to the massive stars that are out there in this world . He's created everything , every critter that roams the mountain , everything that swims in the sea . Out of all of his creation , he says that his adopted children are his prized possession . Think about another part of scripture where it says that God is our inheritance . Then Paul says we are his inheritance . What does God have to get out of all of this ? What does God have to get out of all of this ? You , you , you are his children . Once we come to understand the way in which God loves us and sees us through the blood of Christ , what more could we possibly need ? How much more understanding of who we are could we possibly seek ? After what ? The approval of men .
Speaker 2For what ?
Speaker 4For what we are his prized possession .
Speaker 2So good , I love that and yeah , it's everything paling in comparison to possessing the greatest when you possess the greatest . Possessing the greatest when you possess the greatest , like you don't care about anything else . Like if it's , if it's definitive that this is like the greatest violin ever designed and nobody debates that . Like someone comes up and says , hey , look at this , you know a hundred thousand dollar violin I just bought , that's nice , right , but you know yours is worth millions . It's the greatest violin in the history of the world . Like you don't know that's nice Can .
Speaker 1I comment on that , please . We had a young lady who came in here who was one of the youngest Juilliard students , right , I remember , and she was given a violin on loan , which increased in price millions of dollars simply because she touched it . The violin increased in price because she touched it . Wow , we have been touched by God and our value is so much more , so much greater , because we have been touched by the living God . The gospel reminds us that we don't have to wander in search of meaning or identity , because Jesus already secured our identity by his death and resurrection . What did he do For as many as received him ? He's given them the right or the power or the authority to be a child of God . We are children of the living King , you know .
Speaker 1It reminds me of a story that I heard . I won't mention his name , but he was a missionary and he was in the back of a police car in Peru and the police officer looked in the back and he saw him shaking , visibly shaking . It was his own car . Actually , it wasn't a police car , it was his own car . He looked at him and he saw that he was shaking and he asked him are you afraid ? And the missionary responded and said yes , I'm afraid . And the police officer responded and said good , you should be afraid he goes . Oh no , I'm not afraid for me , I'm afraid for you , because he knew who he was in Christ .
Speaker 1And when somebody comes up against us , god takes that personal , that you are not coming up against a mere mortal of a man , you are coming up against God and God takes that very serious . Therefore , listen , as our portion , as our inheritance , as the one who will defend his children he will always have the final word . You can be quiet , knowing and you can rest knowing that God will defend his children because you've been adopted into him . So we embrace our identity that has been given to us as a beloved child of God and we rest in the truth that our worth is found in him alone . Amen .
Speaker 2Touched by God and given the privilege of being his image bearer . That's what gives us value and Ray .
Speaker 3I'd like to touch that expensive violin . Please no longer be worth it Speaking of violins two young men and their mother came to the ministry on Friday and played music for us . It is time to say goodbye in prayer . One of my favorites .
Speaker 2Have you seen that ?
Speaker 3video yes , it's on Just Witnessing Very , very moving , such talented guys who totally sold out for God . Talking about the love of God , the Bible doesn't say God commended His love toward us in that he created us and gave us life . It says God commended His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners , christ died for us . So don't look to the blessings of life and health and prosperity and all those things . Look to the cross and you'll never lose sight of his love .
Speaker 2Yeah , and it should be so ingrained in our hearts and our minds and the very depth of our soul that we can be the type of person who can run around and gleefully shout nothing but God loves me , god loves me , god loves me . Like that , as scripture says that you may know what is a width and length and depth and height , to know the love of Christ which passes , knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God .
Our problem is we're distracted with worthlessness , absolute worthlessness . Forget what we say about what we feel about the stuff that we're distracted by . Oh , I think it's , you know , I think it's worthless . We are saying it's not worthless to us because of how much we indulge in it , how much stock we put in it , how much we allow it to affect us . It is utter worthlessness .
Speaker 2Look , you can go out to the world and you can get endless loads of counsel on what to do and what kind of therapy you need and what kind of medication you need . And I'm not saying any of that is discounted , hear me on that but I'm telling you right now that there is no greater cure really for your soul . I'm not saying none of those things can help , but for your soul there is no greater cure than God loves me To be consumed with that until it becomes ultimate reality in the very depth of your being . So I hope you do that . Friends , that's all we have for you today . God bless you . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast .