WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 Today is a joyous occasion. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:06.240 We celebrate the fact that our Lord and Savior is alive. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:07.679 He is risen. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:08.720 Amen. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.320 Let's give God a round of applause, of praise. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.039 All right, this morning. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:30.399 Let's start off by saying this: every person in this room, every single person in this room is finishing a sentence right now, whether they know it or not. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.399 To live is success. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:41.280 To live is the portfolio, the address, the lifestyle I've built. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.520 To live is my beauty, my killer good looks. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:51.679 To live is finding the right person, being loved the way I need to be loved. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:56.320 To live is my family staying intact. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.920 To live is proving everyone else wrong and that I'm right. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:09.359 To live is staying numb from the challenges of the world. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:16.319 Now you may not have said it, you may not have even thought about it until now. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.000 But something is filling in that blank. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:30.239 And whatever fills it is shaping your emotions, your decisions, your fears, and the way you face it, everything that's gonna come at you this week. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:38.159 The Apostle Paul gives us one answer, and it changes everything. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:54.239 Two weeks ago, we began a series asking why a man in a Roman prison could write one of the most joyful letters in history in the New Testament. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:02:05.599 We discovered that joy is possible even in chains, even when you're locked up in chains, because the news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was advancing through them. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:17.599 Last week, we introduced whether Jesus is your main thing or just an important thing alongside a bunch of other important things. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:18.479 Right? 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.680 When everything's important, nothing's really that important. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:31.120 Today is Easter Sunday, and today we're gonna double down on that and really understand what that actually means. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:36.560 So this morning, we open our Bibles to Philippians chapter 1. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:42.400 You've got Bibles in your pews, you've got Bible apps, or you can follow along on the screen as I read through it. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:49.360 Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse 19. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:00.960 For I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:16.960 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but what but have sorry but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:22.000 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.800 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.639 Yet what shall I choose? 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.080 I do not know. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:32.240 I'm torn between the two. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.319 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.319 But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:55.199 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:57.680 This is God's word. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.199 There's one sentence in this passage, ten words. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:08.240 Everything else Paul writes is basically context for this one sentence. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:20.560 And this one sentence is either the most delusional thing you've ever written or ever read, or it's going to be the most important thing that you hear all year. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:23.600 That sentence is verse 21. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:29.199 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:31.759 That's the whole sermon this morning. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.160 Two halves, one sentence. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.360 Because here's what that sentence means when it's actually true in a human life. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.600 You see, real joy isn't on that list that I shared earlier, right? 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.480 The palm beats lifestyle, the relationship, the beauty. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:52.079 No, real joy is found in a person you cannot lose. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.519 To live is Christ. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.160 See, Paul fills in that sentence without hesitation. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.279 To live is Christ. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:07.439 Not to live for Christ, to live is Christ. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:11.439 Now that let me help you understand, that's a different thing entirely. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:11.839 Right? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:18.480 If I said I live for my work, I'm telling you where all of my effort is pointing towards. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.680 You know, Christ is my goal, my direction, my aim. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:22.879 That's one thing. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:24.800 But Paul doesn't say that. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.759 He says to live is Christ. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:32.319 See, Christ isn't his goal, Christ is his life. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:39.680 I mean, if you stripped away everything else from him, Christ would still be there all the way down through and through. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:50.000 If you think of it this way, when someone says, Music is my life, they don't mean music is something they work toward. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:52.639 They mean music is what they're made of. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.439 It's everything, it's in everything to them. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.480 It's not something that they do, it's what they are. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.199 Paul is saying the same thing about Jesus. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.959 Christ is not what Paul points to. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.279 Christ is saying that that Christ is what Paul is made of. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.879 Now, this sentence, this sentence causes a question to come up. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.879 What organizes your life? 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:27.439 What is your life centered around? 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:34.000 Not what you believe, not when you you put at the top of your priority list, but what is the thing that drives you? 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:36.800 What's the thing that drives your decisions at 7 a.m. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.600 on a Wednesday when nobody else is watching? 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.759 Because whatever that is, that's your sentence. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.639 To live is blank. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:48.399 Whatever that is. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.120 And here's how you find out if you're not sure. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:56.639 If you're if you're struggling to think through this, let me give you some diagnostic questions to really help you think through this. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:04.399 What do you run to for comfort when things are just falling apart? 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.600 Not what should you run to? 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.240 What do you actually reach for? 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.560 What do you daydream about? 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.800 What's the thing your mind is so fixated on the most? 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.680 What are you afraid of losing? 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:29.680 What do you what are you most afraid of losing in your life? 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:32.959 Or how about this? 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.040 What makes you feel like you actually matter? 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.160 That you're actually worth something. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.399 See, Paul's answer is Christ. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:48.240 And a Roman prison proved it. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:08:01.839 Chains around the clock, career over, separated from everyone he loves, possible execution by every measurement the world uses to decide whether someone's winning or losing, Paul is losing. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.000 And yet his joy is completely intact. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:11.839 Which means whatever is consuming Paul is none of those other things. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:15.680 Yeah, I know we have a few engineers in the room. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.639 Engineers call this a stress test, right? 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:23.759 You apply enough pressure until you find out what something is actually made of. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:25.920 And look, you've all felt that. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.920 A diagnosis, a financial hit, a relationship breaking. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.200 Look, pressure in life, it doesn't just hurt. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:36.559 It hurts. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:38.399 Pressures of life, it can hurt. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.519 It can be challenging. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:40.559 It hurts. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:42.879 But it doesn't just hurt. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:50.720 It reveals anger, fear, anxiety, despair. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:53.519 Things you didn't even know were in there. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:09:01.840 And what starts coming out of you in those moments shows you what you're really living for, what you're really trusting in. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:09.679 And Paul's stress test is prison with a possible execution verdict. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:18.320 And what that pressure reveals in him is Jesus all the way down, through and through. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.120 And most of us can't say that. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.960 Think about the novel The Great Gatsby. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.320 For Gatsby, it was Daisy. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.399 He built everything around her: his money, his house, his life. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:38.159 He believed that if he could just get her, if he could just get Daisy, everything would finally be right. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.120 But she couldn't carry the weight. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.879 And when she collapsed under it, so did he. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.559 I need you to understand something. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:48.879 Right? 00:09:49.039 --> 00:10:04.000 The lesson from Gatsby, the lesson I'm trying to help you to see is that when you take any created thing, if you take any created thing from this world and you make it your everything, it will either crush you or you will crush it. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.879 And friends, we all have a daisy. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:14.000 Something or someone were afraid of losing. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:16.240 In fact, I'll tell you this. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:22.320 You show me what you're what you're afraid of losing, and I'll tell you what you're actually living for. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.320 And look, I say that, look, I know that because I've been there. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:29.919 I've lived it. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:35.840 Let me let me help you to see what my senses looked like before I knew what was actually filling it. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:44.320 See, I grew up in a Hindu family, genuinely devout, you know, maybe even more so than my parents. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:45.759 I would go to the temple. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:51.120 In fact, I would I would ask my parents, I would beg my parents at times to take me to the temple. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.399 I did the rituals. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.240 I was committed to the faith. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:03.360 When I was about 14 years old, there were these reports coming from India that Ganesh, the elephant god, was blessing people. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:04.320 Right? 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:08.559 That the statues were drinking milk offerings from spoons. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.279 So my mother gets a call from our relatives in Mumbai. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.039 We get super excited. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:18.559 We went to our mini at-home temple and we started doing the ceremony, our ritual offering. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:22.799 So my mother put milk in the spoon and we served it up to our to our God. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:27.600 We closed our eyes, served it up to the Ganesh statue, we closed our eyes, and we just sat there and we waited. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:29.759 And we waited and we waited. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:31.840 And church, you're not going to believe what happened next. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:33.039 You're not going to believe this. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:38.639 We waited there, and then when we opened our eyes, all the milk was still in the spoon. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:41.600 So my mother puts it down. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:46.960 She looks at me and she says, Veda, which is sun in our language. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.159 Looks like the gods aren't going to bless us right now. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.080 I went to school that day angry. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.840 And actually, I started asking questions I'd never asked before. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:02.080 You know, maybe there is a God, but maybe there isn't. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.159 Either way, for me, right now, it's irrelevant. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.320 So I did what most of us do. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.879 I swapped one answer for another. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.519 Popularity became my main thing. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:15.840 Then success, then wealth. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.639 And by the time I was in my early 20s, my wife and I had launched our first successful company. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.919 I started buying fancy cars, jet boats, real estate. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.759 I started showing it off to everyone. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:29.440 And soon people twice my age started looking up to me. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.639 I fell for the first time like, wow, I had made it. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:35.679 But then I needed a new goal. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.320 Because every time I hit the number, I walked away empty. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.600 You see, there was this hunger inside of me. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.320 There was this hunger that nothing in this world could satisfy. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.960 So I kept moving the goalpost. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.200 But you know what I never did? 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:58.240 I never, I never actually stopped to ask the question. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.399 Is all that I'm chasing after, is it actually worth my life? 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.799 I mean, I had never actually done the examination that Paul's describing in this passage. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.440 I just kept living for all these things. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:11.840 Without examining it. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.879 So here's what I want you to do right now. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:16.879 Not later, right now. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.240 At your seats, I want you to fill in the sentence honestly. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.320 To live is what for you? 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.679 Not the answer that sounds right in church. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:33.919 What's the real answer? 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:39.679 Let me give you a few other diagnostic questions that might help you think this through. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.960 Look at where your money actually goes. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.360 Where do you spend your money on most? 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:46.960 And I'm not talking about the essentials. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.360 I'm not talking about your mortgage or your rent payment or food. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:50.879 I'm not talking about all that. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.759 After all the essentials, where does most of your money go? 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:58.480 Might be the thing you're living for. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:07.600 What do you what do you spend most of your time doing when nobody is telling you what to do? 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.240 What are you fixated on? 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.080 What are you consumed by? 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:16.399 Maybe you're anxious right now. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.279 What are you anxious about? 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:26.159 See, you think through those questions, and you're gonna find your answer. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.399 Whatever that is, that is what you're living for. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:35.039 You see, for Paul to live is Christ. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.320 The question is whether you know what goes in your sentence. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:44.240 Because whatever goes there, that is what you're built on. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:49.440 And now Paul doesn't stop there, he goes further. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:52.720 And the second half of this sentence, I'm giving you a heads up. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.759 It's not a comfort, it's a test. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.080 It reveals whether the first half is actually true of you. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:02.799 He says, to die is gain. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:05.679 To die is gain. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.519 Try telling someone on the street that today. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:10.799 To die is gain. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.039 They're gonna look at you and think, What are you talking about? 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:14.159 To die is gain? 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:16.000 What craziness are you saying? 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:20.080 Look, this is not how human beings actually think about death. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:27.679 Death is loss, death is the end, death is what we spend our lives trying to avoid and not think about. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:29.759 So, how is it possible? 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.799 How does Paul say this without flinching? 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:36.559 How does he say die to die is gain and mean it? 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.080 Because he does mean it. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.120 In fact, he says elsewhere he desires it. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.039 You look at verse 23. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:49.039 He says, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.519 Better by far. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:52.799 Right? 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:57.440 He's not performing courage, he's done the math. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:58.879 Well, let me explain. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.240 Here's the math. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:10.320 If to live is Christ, if Jesus is what your life is actually made of, then death can't take your life. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:14.159 Death actually gives you more of what your life already is. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.720 You go from knowing Jesus partially to knowing him fully. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:24.159 You go from the presence of Jesus in part to the presence of Jesus without limit. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.919 Death, in other words, is not ending, it's arriving. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.360 And look, this isn't a theory for Paul. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.240 This is what he is living in real time. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:40.000 In fact, he's going through a tension and he opens it up to us so that we can see what tension he's going through. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:49.200 In verses 22 and 24, he says, If I'm go, if I'm to go on living in this body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:58.879 See, for Paul to stay alive means fruitful work for the churches he loves. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.639 It's a good thing. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:05.759 To die means to go and be with Jesus, which he calls far better. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.599 So he's torn between two good options, not two terrible ones. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:10.720 That's the point. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:13.680 But here's what makes it a test. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.160 Here's what makes it a test. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:24.640 The math only works if to live is Christ is actually true for you. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:31.920 See, because if to live is your is your business, to die is loss. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.680 If to live is your financial status, to die is loss. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:42.799 If to live is is making sure your family stays intact, well, to die is loss. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.720 If to live is your social media following, to die is loss. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.920 If to live is your relationship, to die is loss. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.440 Are you guys starting to track with me? 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:52.880 Are you understanding what I'm getting at? 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.319 If to live is being right all the time, to die is gonna be a loss. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.400 If to live is anything on the list other than Jesus, guess what, folks? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.720 To die is going to be a loss. 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:03.200 Why? 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:06.880 Because everything on that list is losable. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.880 The only joy you cannot lose is Jesus. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:17.200 To live is Jesus, to die is Jesus. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.279 It is all about Jesus. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:23.359 That is why Paul has a joy that he cannot lose. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:29.279 Not because his circumstances are good, but because both answers are Jesus. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:31.920 He can't lose either way. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.799 How many of you can say that this morning? 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:40.079 Not as a Sunday churchy answer, but as your actual life. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:43.759 As your actual life. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:09.839 Not whether you believe it, whether it is actually true. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:18.160 See, when theologian John Owen was dying, he had his secretary write a letter for him. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:23.839 Secretary begins the letter with, I am still standing at the land of the living. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.119 Owen stopped him. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.720 No, no, no, change that. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:28.559 Write this instead. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.400 He says, I am yet in the land of the dying. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:38.000 But I hope soon to be in the land of the living. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:40.240 Here's what he meant. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.640 This world, it's not your real home. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.200 We're all moving toward death. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:54.160 But for the person whose life is built on Christ, what comes next is real life. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.359 See, this is a man who's done the math. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.279 And his confidence came from an event, the resurrection. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:07.359 The moment Jesus Christ walked out of a sealed tomb three days after he was crucified and buried. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.359 Not a metaphor, not a symbol, a historical event. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.440 And John Owen had confidence in that event. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:21.279 Now let me tell you where I was at with my own story. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:24.000 Still running away from that event. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:30.240 My wife Sarah started going to a Bible study. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.680 God began to work in her heart. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.160 So she starts going to church. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.000 Then she invites me to church. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.480 And I said, Nope, hard no pass. 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:46.960 But I went a few times, really to keep the peace. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.400 And then there was this Christmas service, big production. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:56.400 At the end of the service, Pastor, you know, asked everyone to close their eyes, bow their heads down. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:01.279 And for those who accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, raise your hand up high and pray this prayer. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:07.599 So I kept my eyes open and I started scanning the room to see what suckers felt for this brainwash. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.440 You know what I saw? 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.440 I saw my brother with his hand raised. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:15.519 And I was like, oh. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:18.799 I don't know if he even knows this. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:19.839 He's here today. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.759 But I was furious. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.119 I felt like a betrayal just happened. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:29.359 Like he had cheated on our family, our roots, our Hindu religion. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:36.160 And in fact, after the service, I go to my wife, Sarah, and I said, You look, if you want to do this whole church thing, you know, I respect it, that's fine. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:37.039 You know, go for it. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:38.400 But leave me out of it. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:39.680 I'm done. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.200 She said, Okay. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:52.400 A few days later, middle of the night, she wakes up from a very vivid dream that she believes was coming from God. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:59.759 And God was basically showing her, helping her to see that there was a separation happening between her and I. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.880 That she was going in one direction and I was going in another. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.319 And she started to cry out to God, God, there's got to be something you can do. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:07.279 Help me with this. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:09.359 My marriage can't end this way. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.000 God says to her, speak to him. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:15.599 Okay, okay, yeah. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.000 You know, in the morning, I'll talk to him. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.519 Speak to him now. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:22.720 I'm not gonna wake up my husband in the middle of the night. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:23.519 That's a bad idea. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:25.759 I'll just talk to him in the morning. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:27.680 My phone rings. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.519 I crawl out of bed. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.359 I go and pick it up. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.200 No one on the other line. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.759 God says to her, I've woken him. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.440 Now speak to him. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.799 So she starts speaking to me. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:50.799 She starts telling me about how God is doing all these amazing things in her life, all these amazing, you know, testimonies and just great change that's happening in her life, all these blessings that are happening in her life. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:55.440 And then she tells me about the dream and about how we're separating. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.720 Like God's showing her that the separation is happening. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.000 I lost it. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:04.000 I started yelling at her. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:05.519 I said things that I regret. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:12.400 But the last thing I said to her was this: if God is showing you all these things, then why is he showing me nothing? 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.079 I'm done with this conversation. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.359 I'm going back to bed. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:19.519 I jumped up into the bed, threw the blanket over me, and I just laid there. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:27.039 Now, looking back, I do see what was going on underneath it all. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.920 I was struggling with a few things. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:32.400 I was struggling with pride. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.240 I needed to be right. 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:40.240 If Sarah was right and her God was real, well, that means I've been wrong. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:46.160 And my identity that I had been building was an identity being built on being the one who had it all figured out. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.079 So she can't be right. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.039 What husband wants their wife to be right? 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:51.839 Amen? 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:52.960 Joking. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.920 I was going through some fear. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:00.720 I felt like I was losing myself. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:09.519 Not just a belief in Hinduism, but my identity, my family, my history, everything I was made of, I thought I might be losing. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.119 But the worst thing that was underneath it is I thought I was being manipulated. 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:18.559 Like I was being pushed to give up one thing that I had. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:20.319 Because let me tell you something. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:26.000 There's some of you in here who got invited by a friend or a family member. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.799 They brought you here not to manipulate, but because they care about you, because they love you. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:42.079 But sometimes, right, what I was going through, sometimes when when someone is trying to take what you build your life on, everything starts to sound like a threat. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:50.160 And there's some of you in this room that cannot let go of what you're depending on because it's not just a thing. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.839 It's who you are. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:57.039 Your career isn't just your job, it's your identity. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:02.480 Your relationship isn't just a relationship, it's your reason for living. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:07.440 Your certainty about something isn't just a belief, it's how you get to keep control. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:14.880 And the thought of Jesus Christ asking you to hold it loosely can sometimes feel like a threat. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:21.440 Like you're losing yourself, like you're being manipulated into giving up the one thing you have. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:23.200 And look, guys, I understand that. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:24.720 I've lived it. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:34.000 But what if, what if the thing that you're most afraid of losing was never meant to be your foundation? 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.119 Well, it was never meant to be the ultimate thing that you're living for, was never meant to be the anchor of your life. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:52.240 What if the same Jesus who walked out of the tomb isn't just history to believe, but a foundation that you can stand on right now in the middle of whatever you're facing this week? 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:57.119 What if Jesus is the one you were designed for? 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.960 I went back to bed that night, angry. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:10.720 Having said, if if God is showing you all these things, then why is he showing me nothing? 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.920 You know, I meant it as a as a dismissal. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:15.759 You know, I'm done with this. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:22.880 What I didn't know was that he was about to answer that question. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:30.400 But before I tell you what happened to me, I need you to see what Paul figured out. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:38.079 Because what Paul discovered in a prison cell is the same thing that was about to find me in that bed that night. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:40.400 See, Paul's in a prison cell. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.160 He might die tomorrow. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:48.240 And he writes that he's become convinced that he's gonna remain, that that he's he's gonna live. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:50.160 Not because he chose to. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:54.480 See, the emperor at the time, Emperor Nero, he holds that verdict. 00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:04.240 But Paul had reasoned it through from his love for these people, and something, God had done something to have it settled in him. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:09.200 He he came to a place where he believes God intends for him to stay. 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.000 And look at how he receives that. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:21.920 He says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you, with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:30.559 So that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:39.279 No bitterness, no disappointment, no wishing things were different. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:44.799 He was settled, he will stay for their growth and joy as they follow Jesus. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:52.400 See, this is what it looks like when what you're living for cannot be taken away from you. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:28:01.359 See, even the question whether you live or die stops being a threat because for Paul, both answers are Jesus. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:07.920 How does a man receive news like this with such open hands? 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:10.799 Because he has seen something. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:13.680 He has seen something that changed everything. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:18.720 He has seen someone so great that everything else just lets go. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:28.319 The success, the portfolio, the reputation, the puppy's lifestyle, all of it gone quiet in the presence of something more real. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.680 Look, this is not a religious achievement. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:52.319 This is a response to a person, and not just any person, the only one who cannot be taken from you, the only one who does not crush you when you build your life on him, the only one who, when you fail him, doesn't walk away. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.480 In fact, he moves towards you. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:29:01.839 There's everything else in this world, every other thing that you build your life on in this world says, if you fail me, I'm done with you. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.480 But Jesus says, You failed me, and I stayed. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.359 And that is the whole story of the Bible. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:16.640 While we were still running from him, he moved toward us. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:20.400 So here's who this person is. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:24.640 This is a person who didn't stay at a safe distance. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:33.839 He came, he took on flesh and bone and walked into the suffering of this world, not as an observer, as a participant. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:35.920 And here's why he came. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:43.519