WEBVTT 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:06.559 Hello and thank you for joining us on the Sierra Bible Church Sermon of the Week. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.240 We hope you enjoy this message by Pastor Nate Levering. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:17.280 All right. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.559 Got some resources. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.839 If you have a bulletin, you might want to jot a few things down. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.320 We're gonna uh cruise through a number of things this morning. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:32.640 Uh I want to start with a little game of the prices right. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.280 Some of you may not even remember what that is. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:37.200 It was a long time ago. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:43.679 Basically, they would pull out like a GE dryer and they would say, like this costs this much, and then you would have to say over, under. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.920 My question for us today is a little bit different. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:53.520 What do you think these two size D batteries are worth? 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.119 So come up with a number in your head and share it with the person next to you. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:58.719 What are they worth? 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.560 Some of you are like, I'm not doing it. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.159 This is church, and those are batteries. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.359 We should come on, do it real quick, or I'm gonna wait here forever. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:08.640 What do you think they're worth? 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.079 All right. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:18.879 Um it would depend, and that's gonna be our answer. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:29.120 And what hopefully gets us into our teaching this morning, it would depend if you uh were in the context of Kathy and I on our first date. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:37.439 She didn't yet know we were on a date, but we were somewhat disoriented up in the mountains outside of Yosemite Valley in the snow. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.439 It got really, really dark. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:45.920 And if we had one of these for Kathy, these two batteries would have been worth what? 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:47.120 A lot. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.760 She wouldn't have had to hold my hand. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:55.760 Such a beautiful night hanging out in my mom's cabriolet. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:56.959 Do you remember those? 00:01:58.879 --> 00:01:59.840 Depends. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.079 What kind of path you're on. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.920 It depends how dark life is. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.159 It depends if the fog settles in. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:15.039 It depends on where you're at and what the consequences are to navigating the particular path you're on. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:25.680 If it seems somewhat treacherous, if there are sort of lives at stake, your life at stake, these might be worth a lot. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:37.039 If they meant in some way the difference between life and death. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:45.840 Jesus sets this context in the verses we've been looking at throughout this summer as a part of our discipleship series, and he says it this way. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.159 He says, to enter through the narrow gate. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.439 Commands us, narrow gate, enter there. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:58.639 Wide is the gate, broad is the road that leads to, help me out, destruction. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.560 Many are gonna go through that. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.159 Then he says, But small is the gate and narrow the road. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:10.639 Our summer series on discipleship is titled Narrow, narrow the road that leads to life. 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:32.000 Only a few, in other words, when sort of looking at the options, only a few are going to see correctly and manage to sort of choose their life onto what Jesus calls the narrow path. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:39.199 And we would know because life sometimes, right, and M said it well, gets dark. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:47.840 You know, if you're this guy, can't really see him, but he's there, might say, what are those batteries worth? 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:48.719 And it depends, right? 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:53.120 I mean, if he's on a path he knows before, if he's all by himself, he's like, I'll walk out of here okay. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:02.159 Give that guy a couple kids, add some sounds that seem somewhat dame, and the batteries might be worth a little bit more. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:12.159 There might stir in him a bit of a hunger that if by chance there's a way to navigate this picture with light. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:22.560 Kathy and I, uh a couple months ago, had the incredible privilege as a part of us celebrating our 30th anniversary to make our way down to Fiji. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:28.079 Part of what we wanted to do is get our uh dive certificate stuff together and so get certified. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:29.360 And so we did that. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:33.680 And I wanted to show you um, and it becomes an illustration too, but a couple of the pictures. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.079 We ended up on this place in the world called the Rainbow Reef. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:48.399 And it's world famous because of this wall, which is called the White Wall, because of the way two times a month it goes like full illuminescence style. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:50.079 We happened to be there at that time. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:51.279 It was amazing. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.800 Uh, then there were times, right, where like this next picture, that's just live coral. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:05.759 We would swim past like seemed like hundreds of these things, and our guide would just look at them, and rather than kind of pointing out all these small things, he would just go like this. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.040 And we're like, Yeah, you know, it's like you're already underwater, but it's like it's taking your breath. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.199 The beauty and the glory and the creativity of God was just amazing. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:30.160 We wanted to have the privilege of doing that, and so part of what we needed to do was to spend time in a swimming pool when we got there, and so we get there, they say, Hey, no breakfast, you're getting in the pool, we got stuff to do. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:37.600 So we jump in the pool and we're learning all the techniques, and it was super fun to do with Kathy, and so we were having a blast. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:45.040 And uh, Kathy, when they did one specific test, which was how are you going to react when your water when your air gets cut off? 00:05:45.199 --> 00:06:03.680 So your guide is kind of behind you in the pool, and he some of you have done this before, he turns your tank off, and so the breathing starts getting like you know, and you're like that cartoon image of like no air, and then you calmly let your buddy know, and he gives you or she gives you the regulator and you can begin to breathe. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:08.800 Well, Kathy would this start to happen, and she would start getting all excited, we'll say. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:16.480 And uh, you know, things would kind of happen faster than, and so we kind of pop up, and he's like, Kathy, you gotta like calm down. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:21.040 And I was like, Hey, if if it's really going that bad, like stand up. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:22.879 We're in like four feet of water, you know. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:27.199 I think we're safe here in the shallow end while we learn. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:33.199 So we're learning, doing all this kind of stuff, and they take us down to 60 feet and then 100 feet, and we got to do some cave dives. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:34.240 It was phenomenal. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:44.160 All of this training, though, I'm paying extra close attention to because something was on my bucket list when I got on a plane and headed for Fiji. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:52.959 And as a part of my bucket list event, we rode a took a boat out to a reef that's called the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:01.120 If you look at that left side of that, you're gonna see if you go there bull sharks, nurse sharks, tiger sharks, lemon sharks, gray reef sharks, black tips, sharks. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.519 Now, I don't have that great of a memory. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:14.879 A lot of things come in and they're like, You could ask me probably in about six hours what I preached on today, and I'm gonna be like, the Bible, probably something about Jesus. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:23.839 But what I do find interesting is I could describe just about every nook and cranny of that map to you after seeing it for 10 minutes. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:24.560 Why? 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:34.240 Because he or she who doesn't follow the map will have a physical life that ends in the mouth of Mr. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:36.639 Bruce, who you're gonna see in just a few seconds. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:40.560 We got to go face to face, not in a cage. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:50.319 But let me just tell you that the instructions were like I was so focused in every word. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:56.240 I was hungry, I was paying attention, I was why because my life depended on it. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:13.199 Jesus is going to invite us to consider that the proverbial batteries of the word of God, the light to your path, are worth your life. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:20.079 They're worth your your hunger, your your focus, they're worth your your every thought, your energy. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.199 And this is where we're going this morning. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:27.279 Jesus, in fact, says, you don't have to walk this path without light. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.120 Uh, he says in John chapter 8, I am the light. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.039 I am the light of the world, not one of the ways you can kind of light the world. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:35.679 He says, I am. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.679 And this is for Jesus a bold statement when he uses these I am statements. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.159 Then he says, This, whoever what follows me will never walk in darkness. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:45.039 We'll try that again. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.279 Whoever what follows me. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:51.600 It's sort of contingent on that little follows me thing. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.080 And this is why we're talking about this this summer. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:55.840 What does that look like then for us? 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.559 And this morning will be specific to that. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:03.919 He will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:13.679 And so part of what we do then is we seek to follow Jesus through the gospels, and we say, How did Jesus react when he was tired? 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.159 He did what some of you are already doing. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.720 He took a short nap and he rested. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:21.120 What did he do? 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:25.200 He he found places of community, he leaned into mission. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.120 Here's a question I want to ask you though. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.080 What is it that Jesus did? 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:35.360 This sort of struck me as somewhat interesting. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.919 What is it that Jesus does when he finds himself? 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:51.279 I would argue in all of his humanness, on a place in his path where it feels like the darkness has just closed in. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:58.320 Like maybe like some of us when we drive off the off the side of the hill into the valley in that Thule fog. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:09:59.679 Just what is it? 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.159 How does Jesus respond in moments like that? 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:03.279 What does he do? 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:04.399 Tell me out. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:05.360 What? 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:06.480 Pray. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:16.559 In the worst moments of Jesus' life, the darkest moments, answer is not prayer. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:18.240 What does Jesus do? 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:19.840 What? 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:21.440 Trust? 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.080 What? 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:24.399 Quote scripture. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:29.519 The word of God becomes that which comes out of his mouth. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:31.840 I mean, this to me was fascinating because I was with you. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.840 I was like, I mean, and he does pray. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.279 But when it gets the darkest, we see it on both ends of Jesus' life. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.639 If you have your Bible open, look at uh Matthew chapter 4. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.120 Matthew chapter 4 is an amazing text. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.960 This is early on in Jesus, what we call his public ministry. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.679 So we know very little, we'll hit on a couple things of Jesus' early development. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:00.240 When we get from Christmas to Matthew chapter 4, about 30 years have taken place. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:07.440 Jesus here is baptized in the Jordan River by John. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.000 And then we pick up chapter 4. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:31.840 Right after this section, we're going to find Jesus beginning these three years of ministry, which will end, we'll look at the end in just a moment, with him hanging on a Roman cross, proclaimed guilty for my sin. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:34.559 So this is where he's going in three years. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:35.840 How does it begin? 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.080 He's baptized, God the Father, God the Spirit show up. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:42.559 Big old Trinity party here. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.720 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit, verse one of chapter four. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.879 Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:12:00.399 After fasting for 40 days and forty nights, he was hungry. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.240 Probably an understatement. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:17.039 Verse 3 the tempter came to him and said, This if, this is oftentimes how the devil starts a conversation, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:25.440 Jesus answered, it is written. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:32.879 This answer, it is written, is three words, of course, in our English translation. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:34.080 It's one word in the Greek. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:41.440 It's a word or phrase that's translated, or that's excuse me, written in the New Testament over 60 times. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.440 Over 60 times, Jesus and others will say, It is it is written. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:54.080 If you've ever heard a Supreme Court justice with sort of a trump card, they will quote the what? 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:55.919 The who? 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:57.600 The Constitution. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:58.320 Right? 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:05.759 Well, and part of what they're saying is, hey, it doesn't matter what you and I think now, it doesn't even matter what we feel. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.720 Like you could be really excited, I could be really excited. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:15.279 What matters is that there's a governing authority, and it is the Constitution. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.919 This is what Jesus is doing in the New Testament authors. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:28.159 When they say it is written, what Jesus is saying to the devil is hey, it doesn't matter what what you think maybe is true. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.159 It doesn't matter what I think at this point. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:33.360 Why? 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:38.480 And here's what Jesus says it is written. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.000 He's in a, I mean, this is in it as intense a moment as you're gonna find. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:43.759 Face to face with the devil. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.799 He's exhausted, he's hungry, he's just starting his ministry. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:48.559 I mean, life has closed in. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:53.360 What comes out of Jesus is it is written. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.879 There's a higher authority. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:59.600 I don't know about you guys, but when I get hungry, I start thinking all kinds of different things. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:07.600 And Jesus helps us in his humanness come back to not what I think or feel, but what is true. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:09.120 Where is that? 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.279 It's in the word of God. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.840 So Jesus takes us back then here to the New Testament. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.039 Let's just read the rest of uh what Jesus has to say. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:23.759 He says, uh, man shall not live on bread alone. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:36.080 But, and remember this phrase for later, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God, Jesus is actually uh quoting Deuteronomy, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.600 It's one of Jesus' favorite books. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.159 He quotes from it a whole bunch. 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:45.039 And so he's taking the devil back to that place to say, this is what is true. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:52.240 Jesus sort of gets the devil to back down after this first temptation, the devil tempts him again. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:15:00.320 This time, the devil, and again, this is interesting when we think about uh understanding the it is written, because the devil spins the word of God. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:04.799 So if you look at that next, he's like, hey, that this time the devil decided I'm gonna quote the word of God. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:10.080 And Jesus teaches us you can't just kind of throw a verse out there as sort of a gospel bomb. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:16.639 He says, No, you need to read it well, you need to interpret it in light of what scripture is teaching. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:24.879 Jesus already right here saying, Man, you got to understand it, you've got to know it, you've got to ask questions of it, you've got to study it. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:31.039 Third temptation, finally, uh Satan finds Jesus says, Hey, get away from me, I'm done. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.039 Another quote from Deuteronomy, and this is ended. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:51.039 When it seems, Jesus has the darkness surround him, the light to his feet is the word of God. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.279 And I don't think he's doing this as an example for us to follow, even here. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.120 He's doing it because he's human. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:07.519 And this is what human beings do to walk this path that God has for us, to step into those places where, as we sang, trust has no borders. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.120 It's fun to sing, isn't it? 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.799 Until you're on that path and you're going, wait, what do I hang? 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:13.759 How do I? 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.200 And Jesus here is saying, hang on to the word of God. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:25.360 Know what the word says and allow it to be that which lights your path, the other end of Jesus' life. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.799 And again, all he's crowded with prayer and all kinds of things. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.799 But what's fascinating to me is think about Jesus on the cross. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:34.240 Jesus on the cross, right? 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.039 We said about three years, maybe three and a half, and he's hanging on the cross. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:38.639 He says seven statements. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.799 Four of them are direct references to the Old Testament. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.080 Two of them, it's as if, and some of you guys have been there. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.000 Man, you know the dark night. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:51.440 You know the kid that got sick, and you held them in your hands. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:55.200 You knew the standing there by the graveside, you know those moments. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:07.599 And for Jesus, in those darkest moments, he doesn't rewrite things, he goes back to and gives voice to what has already been written. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:15.759 The word of God becomes the foundation, it becomes the anchor, it becomes the thing that he holds on to in the midst of those dark times. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:20.480 Here's a couple of the things that Jesus says: two direct quotes uh from Psalms. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.920 I think we have them. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:26.319 He right, he cries this out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:33.920 We know that, and we might think he's like, he's actually quoting scripture from hundreds and hundreds of years ago, written down in Psalms. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.640 Next one reaches again for the Psalms. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.359 And um Psalm 31, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.119 And if you've ever been there and you're like, words aren't gonna make sense of this. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.680 God says, But my word can. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.920 So know it. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.160 Allow it to be in your heart, allow it to be the place you go. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:01.759 Charge up those batteries, they could be worth your life. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:10.720 Now, one of the things that I I've sort of struck me uh as I was kind of getting ready for this week is that I have studied Jesus in a lot of different contexts. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:23.920 I've studied Jesus on prayer, I've studied Jesus on flipping the sort of social structures, I've studied Jesus on race, I've studied Jesus on generosity, I've studied Jesus on leadership. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:38.640 But I don't think I've ever followed him as he invites us to through the gospels and studied how he, as a human being, used and accessed the light that is the word of God for his path. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.599 And it was kind of a fascinating thing to do. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:46.319 You know, we if we we look back, part of it is we never really see Jesus studying scripture. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.519 We get one little phrase, I want to show you, one little phrase. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:59.839 But what we do get is we get Jesus in his kind of maturity using what's in him on the path that he's walking out. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:08.799 But we don't necessarily see him like in Sunday school class, although we get one little uh passage in Luke, if Carrie can find them, skipping around a little bit, says this. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.880 This says, After three days, they found him, Jesus, in the temple courts. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:14.160 Interesting little phrase. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.480 That's a loaded phrase if you know the story. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:19.920 Early on, Jesus is we think about 12 or so here. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:27.599 Uh his family goes from where they're living up to the temple to uh have the Passover, and so they're doing their worship thing. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:29.519 All the families get ready, right? 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.880 They pack up the family, they start heading back home. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:40.079 Jesus, we're told, decides, bon voyage, I'm gonna hang out here and do my own thing. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:47.920 And so, three days in, we know Joseph's probably not paying that great of attention, but Mary probably is like, Where's yeah, where's Jesus? 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.680 Again, you don't look for Jesus until three days because he's pretty much perfect at this point. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.359 So you figure he's just kind of there. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:59.039 He wasn't there, and so after three days, they go back to the temple and find Jesus. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.319 What do they find him doing? 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:04.160 This again, this is about all we get from Jesus' early life. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:12.720 Sitting amongst the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:18.480 We see a hunger in Jesus to know and to understand and to wrestle with. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.920 I don't think here as a 12-year-old, he's you know, speaking to the Pharisees as one with authority. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:28.640 He's learning, he's understanding, he's memorizing, he's taking it in. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:34.079 He's starting to some degree like you and I, adolescent in our faith. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:42.000 And he's growing through this hunger and through the leadership and teaching of others, an understanding of God's word. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.759 I do not believe that Jesus just sort of had this encoded in him. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.599 So it's like you pull the string and out came Deuteronomy. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:55.119 No, they memorized it, they were discipled in the word of God. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.799 And then for Jesus, he watches that come out. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:11.440 If you study or follow Jesus through the gospels, one of the things that you'll realize is one in five of the things that Jesus says is referencing the Old Testament. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:14.160 20% of what comes out of Jesus. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:20.880 So if you just read the red letters, how many of you guys have a Bible where it's like all of Jesus' language is red letter language, right? 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:22.000 We probably know that phrase. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:24.000 I think they're helpful Bibles sometimes. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:27.759 Um, and and some people even say, I really only stick with the red letters. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:29.680 Here's what's somewhat ironic. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:37.440 If all you do is read the red letters, you're gonna get 20% of that Jesus quoting teaching on the Old Testament. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:22:01.279 He is, if you will, saying, hey, part of what it looks like to walk this path well, the one that leads to life, is to power up this tool God's given us and allow it free reign as a governing authority over and in our Lives. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.359 Jesus uses it as the light to his path. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:10.240 300 plus statements Jesus makes to the Old Testament. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:16.480 The psalmist says it this way, in one of those key phrases which we've alluded to a couple of different times. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:20.319 And you know, we've some of us grew up singing songs with these kinds of words. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:21.359 Can you flip to the next one? 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:22.559 Sorry, the psalm. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:24.960 Isn't there one in between? 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:34.480 Your word, help me out, is a light for my feet and a light on my path. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:40.079 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:44.640 And I don't know what the stakes are exactly for you. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.480 But for me, let's just say that's true. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:55.279 I got four kids, I have a wife, a bit of leadership. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:05.279 How I navigate the dark nights, the foggy seasons, they seem to matter. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:25.039 And if God's promise is that his word in us, alive in us, could become, if I follow him, a light to help me navigate, I'm gonna go on record and say these are worth a lot. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:27.119 It matters. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:28.160 Lean in. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:44.480 So my question then was like, why don't I always feel, or why do I occasionally, sometimes more often than I'd like, not have that kind of Jesus sitting before the Word of God asking questions, wrestling with it kind of hunger. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:24:09.039 And in fact, this message in some way comes from a devotional time I had with the Lord a couple weeks ago when I was thinking about this follow me, and I was thinking about the light, and and and I was wrestling with the reality that sometimes I come out in the morning, make my coffee, and almost most mornings it's open the word, it's spend time with him, it's journal, it's process. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:13.599 But sometimes I wake up and I'm like, I'm just gonna go outside and have a drink of coffee. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:17.200 I don't really have a hunger to spend time in God's word. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:18.559 Been there, read that. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.640 I'm studying it a lot all day today because I'm gonna teach it, and so I'll be in it. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:27.200 But not for not for my path, although it's both and. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:28.480 So I wrestled with that. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:39.920 And so I kind of like three reasons I think that many of us sort of live life without this sort of Jesus-like hunger to allow the word of God uh to be a part of the way that we live our lives. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.839 So first one is this sometimes I just think we're living on the wide path. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.160 Like, think about a hike you've gone on recently. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:51.839 If it's a hike you know so many times, are you concerned that the sun's going down? 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:52.799 Not really. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:55.519 Because you're gonna make it fine, you know how to get out. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:06.880 But if the stakes are raised, if indeed it's gonna get dark and you haven't been there and it's gonna be cold, and you have children with you, all of a sudden the stakes change. 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:15.039 So when we realize we're living on the wide path, oftentimes we don't have that sense of hunger for God's word. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:32.240 Some of us, and sometimes yours truly, convince ourselves that sort of the end goal of this Christian life is scuba tank on in the shallow end of the pool. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:44.880 I got Jesus hanging out, but let's be honest, I have a lot of insurance, got some money in the bank, even got some retirement stuff getting worked out. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:50.640 So I'm not all that hungry and in need. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.359 We don't feel it that often. 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:55.119 Sometimes we're just on the white path. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:09.839 Here's the the journal entry that I just wanted to share a little disclose a little bit from uh a couple of weeks ago that caused me this sort of aha and then started me down the path of looking at following Jesus through the gospels and asking him how he used the word. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:17.279 If I don't need the word of God to light the path I'm on, there's a good chance I'm on the wide path. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:19.759 And then I describe the wide path for me. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.599 And you have to describe your own because it's probably different than the wide path that I go on. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:36.240 But it's the wide path of ease, it's the wide path of convenience, it's the wide path of self-preservation, moral justification, sort of spiritual apathy, harsh judgment, PA retaliation. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.839 Do you know what that stands for? 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:39.839 Oh, come on, some of you do. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:42.000 Passive, aggressive. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:42.960 I don't actually write it out. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.720 I have to write PA so often in my journal. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:45.599 It's like, there it is. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:46.400 Just PA. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:49.039 PA retaliation, bitterness, and boredom. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.160 That when I'm on that path, let's be honest, I don't really need the word. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:56.799 Because I got me. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:05.519 And that sort of does pretty good on the broad path. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:11.599 Ronald uh Rollheiser says it this way, and this is a little softer, maybe. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:17.200 He says this it is not that we have anything against God, depth, and spirit. 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:19.039 We would like these. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:27.279 It's just that we are habitually too preoccupied to have any of these show up on our radar screens. 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:39.759 We are more busy than bad, more distracted than non-spiritual, and more interested in the movie theater, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:49.440 Maybe fill in like Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, and the fantasy life that they produce in us than we are in church. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:51.119 He goes on, he reads my lunch. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:58.319 Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.240 And Ronald wrote this before we had cell phones. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:08.000 And I think it's telling that that's oftentimes us walking on the wide path. 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:12.480 And Jesus invites us into those places where our trust has no borders. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:13.759 The second reason is this. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:15.839 Um, I think that sometimes we just love the darkness. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:16.720 The scripture says this. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:17.680 Some of us just love it. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.680 We've made peace with our secrets. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:40.000 We're like, I mean, it just it feeds us with a little bit of what we think is life, a little hit, a little of, you know, we just hang on to those things and we think, gosh, if if I were given the option of like having that sort of lit up and keeping it secret, I think I'm gonna stay here. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:50.799 And so we don't develop that hunger that God has to just expose all of who we are, and then follow him and the freedom that he offers. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:57.279 And then I think there's you know, there's another part of this too, of course, is sometimes we just don't know how to read it and we don't understand it. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:02.319 And let me just tell you this we've all been there if you've tried to read it. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.359 It's it's a challenging book, amen. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:10.079 Some parts crystal clear, other parts like, whoo, I don't know. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:10.880 Where is that? 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:11.440 How did they? 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:14.960 And then people are quoting at you, like, I'm not sure that seems, but I don't really know what to do. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:16.160 How do we read it? 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:19.119 Acts 8 is this beautiful picture, it's a story many of you know. 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:29.759 And in the early church is just starting, there's this great sort of early theologian named Philip, and Philip's hanging out, angels shows up in Philip's life, and he's like, Hey, go hang out by that chariot. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:36.799 What does he hear when he walks up next to this chariot being read by this Ethiopian kind of prince? 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.680 But the word of God, Isaiah. 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:42.880 Now, we don't exactly know, but but maybe Philip's read Isaiah. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:44.240 How many of you read Isaiah? 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:50.640 If you read Isaiah from chapter one, verse one to the end, whoo! There are times you're like, this is amazing. 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:54.000 And then there's other times we're like, how in the world did this get in the Bible? 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:56.000 Like, seriously, I should just flip a few pages. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:56.880 This part's tough. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:58.799 Most likely they're on this tough part, right? 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:00.000 And so he's reading along. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:01.039 Philip comes up. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:02.880 Do you remember what Philip asks him? 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:05.359 Hey, do you have any clue what you're reading? 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:07.599 He's reading Isaiah, he's reading the word of God. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.759 The word is a light to my feet, lamp to my path. 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:11.519 He's reading, he's reading, he leads it down to Philip. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:14.319 He's like, I got no clue what this means. 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:20.880 And Philip looks up and he's like, Well, good luck with that. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:23.039 No, he doesn't do that. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:29.839 Philip looks up and he says, Well, let me pray for you that God will reveal to you what's in his word and make sense of it for you. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:32.400 No, Philip doesn't do that. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:48.160 Philip climbs up into the chariot and it says, starting with where the Ethiopian is, takes him through the scriptures to the good news of Jesus. 00:30:48.799 --> 00:31:00.319 And this is what it looks like to walk in the scriptures, to know them, to walk with each other in the scriptures. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:16.640 You know, for some of us, we have studied this for a while, and it's time to start asking the question: who is it that God wants me to climb up into their chariot and help get them from wherever they are to the good news of Jesus? 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:26.799 This is one of the reasons we we like to fight and wrestle and pray over our counselors, over our student ministry leaders, over those that are with our kids and kids, because this is what they're doing. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:33.519 They're opening up the word of God, trying to say, however, you came in, how can we get you from that place to who? 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:34.799 Jesus. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:36.720 This is what Philip does. 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:38.720 Some of us need a Philip. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:43.759 Some of us need to be a Philip and help walk others. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:52.799 God has given you experience, knowledge, and it's your responsibility to be that Philip, not just like good good luck with that. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.880 I know it's confusing, hang in there, but to walk with someone. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:05.119 One of the things that you'll see is one of our plans as we roll out this summer of trying to connect those kinds of dots. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:08.079 Okay, we need those people. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:08.799 Here we go. 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:13.759 We are going to, man, we didn't have enough time today. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:19.359 Um, I'm just gonna give you a couple lists of things real quick, and then we'll kind of land with a little bit of application. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.559 Um, but a couple things that I can expect from reading God's word. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:24.720 Here's what the Bible says about itself. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:27.039 Um, this is what the word of God says about itself. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:31.680 It says this, that the word of God, when reading it, you can experience honey. 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.480 Now, for them, it was like the sweetest of flavors, right? 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:38.640 And some of us know passages that say the Bible is like sweet as honey. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:52.160 What there's a cool uh there's a cool practice that families would do in medieval Judaism, and they would actually have their kids dip their finger in honey and they would write the scriptures and then get to lick their fingers. 00:32:52.319 --> 00:33:01.200 And the idea, of course, was that you had that sensory impact of the word of God is sweet to know it and to allow it to be part of our story. 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:04.559 The word of God, as we've been talking about, is light in the darkness, it's bread from heaven. 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:15.039 This is what Jesus says when he says that, you know, man can't survive alone on food bread, but on every word that comes, he's quoting Deuteronomy chapter 8. 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.680 The word of God is treasure for those that have it. 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:20.720 The word of God is the key to our freedom. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.920 Remember what Jesus says. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:26.960 He says, you know, if you know the truth, if you live the truth is what he's saying. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:29.839 The truth will set you free. 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:31.279 That truth is the word. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:35.119 The word of God is a sword for spiritual battle. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:37.839 What is it that the word of God promises for us? 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:46.640 Just three things, which again become motivators for me to develop that kind of Jesus-like hunger to sit under its authority and to study. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:49.039 Uh, what does the word God of God promise? 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:58.319 It promises to ground you in a storm, promises to be the thing that anchors your life in any storm, in any darkness. 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:02.160 It is the promise of hope that light is possible. 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:04.319 We watch Jesus practice this. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:10.079