WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.879 Well, welcome to Awakening. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.800 We're in, I think, like part five of this series on Jesus Is. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:31.359 And if you don't know where you're going in the old days, I guess some people use this still, it's called a compass. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.200 And you don't know where you're going. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:35.840 And it's interesting, there's a true north. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:42.240 There's this magnetic thing about the whole earth that no matter where you are, this thing will tell you where north is. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:47.200 Because you don't know how to get to where you need to go unless you know where you're at. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:51.600 And then in the older, older days, this is actually it's a vintage thing. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.200 It's called a map. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:05.439 It is uh it was used by uh a group of people in another era uh before you said, Hey Siri, uh, how do you get to, or in my car, navigation. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:13.439 And what we want to talk about is this classic passage, in fact, I think perhaps the most controversial of all the things that Jesus said. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.480 He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:19.760 No one comes to the Father except by me. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:31.760 And my experience is when we hear that, it's often been in the context of maybe apologetics, or maybe it's been at a coffee shop and there's uh some believers and unbelievers. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:34.799 And are you really saying that Jesus is the only way? 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:41.760 I mean, how narrow, how anti-intellectual, how bigoted, how can anyone say that with a straight face, et cetera, et cetera? 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:51.359 And it usually diminishes into either not such good conversations or squeamish kind of Christians going, I wish I could explain this a lot better. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:02:04.319 And I want you to know that this passage, although it has a strong, clear, apologetic application, Jesus didn't share this as a theological construct. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.479 He shared it privately with his closest friends. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:17.439 And what he wanted them to know in the midst of fear and confusion and uncertainty and overwhelming anxiety. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:19.039 What's the way? 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:28.240 The word in Greek is hadas, it means a path, or it could mean a road, or it actually refers at times to a journey. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:29.439 What's the way? 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:30.639 What's the path? 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:37.439 Now, by the way, you don't use a compass probably or a map, but you have a way. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:56.879 You have an internal compass, you have an unconscious or very intentional compass about this is the way I'm gonna do my life because this is how it works, and this will bring success, and this will bring right relationships, and this will bring happiness, and I think this is the way to live because it's going to bring life. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.360 And for many of you, think you're following that path because it's true. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:18.960 And so, what I'd like to do, rather than apologetics, and if we have time at the end, maybe I'll share a tiny bit of my journey because I didn't believe the scripture, I'd never opened the Bible, had a lot of philosophical questions, and I had to find the path after searching a lot. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:25.280 But if you open your Bibles to John 13, I want you to get this passage in context. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:32.639 And this is one where uh you may go away thinking, you know, I don't think we really had a sermon, I think we had a Bible study together. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:35.840 The notes are here, they'll be important to follow along. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.599 And in John 13, it's the context of this passage. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:48.400 And what I would like to do is I would like you to understand this passage and know so, when did he say this? 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:50.639 Where did he say this? 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:52.800 And why did he say this? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:04:00.000 And so, picking it up at the very beginning of John 13, it says, it was just before the Passover feast. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:05.840 Jesus knew that his time had come for him to leave the world and to go to the Father. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:15.520 Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them, this is the key, the full extent of his love. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:30.959 The goal of this passage from beginning, and we'll see it at the end, Jesus is expressing the full extent of his love to people that he cares deeply about who will be on their own very shortly. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:40.560 Notice the evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:50.879 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, that he had come from the Father, and was returning to the Father. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.160 And then you have a little word if you look in your text. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:55.439 So that. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:04.399 Now notice in your notes, just by way of just Jesus knew his time had come to leave the world and return to the Father. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.399 The goal is to show his disciples how much he loves them. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.879 And third, he knew three vital things. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.720 This is so interesting. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:20.959 He knew where he came from, he knew exactly where he was going, and he was aware that all power had been given to him. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.600 So he's not a victim of the cross. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:40.800 And now he's going to prepare his disciples, and he wants to teach them the way and the life and the truth, and he's going to teach them that not only by what he's going to say, but he's going to help them connect all that he's done from the early time until later. 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:42.480 This has been his MO. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.240 So notice what he does in this critical moment. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:50.720 By the way, the context, they've just had a pretty good argument about who's the greatest. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.560 They're sitting around a very low table to have the Passover meal. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:01.920 And as they're sitting there, all their feet are dirty because each one of them walked by a big jar and there was no servant there. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.920 And each one of them privately said, Well, I'm not going to wash everybody's feet. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:15.920 And so Jesus comes in last, so that he got up from the meal and took a towel and took off his outer clothing, and he wrapped a towel around his waist. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:23.120 And after that he poured water into the basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.160 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.560 And Jesus replied, You do not realize now what I am doing. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.240 Later you'll understand. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.519 No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.759 And Jesus said, Unless I wash your feet, you have no part with me. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:47.199 Then Lord Simon Peter replied, Not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:53.759 And Jesus said, A person who has been bathed needs only to wash his feet. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.920 His whole body is clean. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.759 Don't miss this, because it keeps coming back around, this roll. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.399 And you are clean, though not every one of you. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:12.480 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that is why he said to them, Not every one of you is clean. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:20.959 And then he will say to them after he finished, I being your lord and teacher, have washed your feet. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:23.360 He gives them a little terrible. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.480 Who's most important, the teacher or the student? 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:27.360 And they all nod. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:28.240 Well, the teacher. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:32.000 Who's more important, the person who sends the message or the one who receives the message? 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:33.360 Well, the one who sends it. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.360 I being your lord and your teacher have washed your feet. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.160 Wash one another's feet. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.360 You'll be blessed if you do this. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:52.000 Now we we want to jump to I'm the way, the road, the path, I'm the truth, and I'm the life. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:08:03.040 And the first thing he models is what is the way to treat other people in horizontal relationships that is true and that brings life? 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:05.040 Answer. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:07.120 Wash their feet. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.000 Put their needs ahead of your own. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:18.959 When everyone else is looking at rank and who's most important and comparing themselves with one another, the way is what Jesus did. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.519 Humility, servanthood. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.639 The truth is this is how relationships work. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:32.559 And when you give your life away to others, it brings life for you and life for the relationships. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.559 Now, after he does that, um a discussion. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.559 And the discussion is he just said, one of us is going to betray him. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:53.360 We've been with him about three, possibly three and a half years, and now they're at this table sitting around, looking at one another, going, is it him? 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:54.320 Is it me? 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:55.360 I wonder. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:01.039 And so Peter, being a bit of the leader, he kind of gives a nod over to John and says, you know, find out. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.200 And so John is next to Jesus. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:06.639 It's a very low table, so you would kind of recline on some pillows. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:13.039 And from the text, it would appear John is on his right, and Judas is on his left. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:21.919 Or even perhaps, because we're not sure the text doesn't say, but what we know is that if you sat at the right or the left of the teacher, it was a place of honor. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.879 And Peter says, Hey, hey. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.159 And so he whispers, leaning back, Jesus, which which one? 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:28.799 Who is it? 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.960 And Jesus says, When I take this piece of bread, the person I give it to, and he gives it to Judas. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:43.440 And Judas has been a deceiver and a hypocrite and stealing money all along. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.840 And he realizes that he can make his biggest payoff by betraying him. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:54.320 He doesn't fully grasp the consequences or what's going to happen, but 30 pieces of silver is 30 pieces of silver. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:56.639 And so he takes the bread, he eats it. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:58.960 It says Satan enters his heart. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.440 Jesus says, Go do what you need to do quickly. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.519 The other disciples think maybe he's on an errand, maybe he's going to go feed the poor. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:16.720 And then at that moment, he says, Now, now, with a trusted group of friends, the Father is going to be glorified in the Son, and the Son in the Father. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.200 And he begins to describe this moment in time about the resurrection. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:22.720 But here's what I want you to get. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.240 This statement that I am the way, the truth, and the life is more than a theological construct. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.039 What has he modeled for them? 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:39.039 What is the way that you treat people who betray you and hurt you? 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.360 Anyone here ever been betrayed? 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:43.039 Lied to? 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.879 Find out your mate or boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on you? 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.080 Had a business partner, got unfairly laid off. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.159 Anybody in that, you know, right? 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:59.200 I mean, just been absolutely a really close friend and you find out they said this or that about you, and you're going, what? 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:01.200 You see something posted, right? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:11.840 If you live, if you're breathing, A, if you haven't been betrayed, then you probably your intellect is not working because it really's happened. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.639 But you will be. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.480 What is the way to respond to those who betray you? 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:23.759 That is the truth and that'll bring life. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.799 Jesus obviously extends forgiveness. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:30.480 It's not received. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.399 But it's not just Judas. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:40.960 What we'll find just a little bit later, Jesus will say to them, because he said to the Jewish leaders, I'm leaving, but where I'm going, you can't come. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:50.559 And the disciples are a little confused, and he says to them near the end of the supper, uh, I'm going to a place, but where you where I'm going, you can't come right now. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.120 And Peter says, wait a minute, why can't I come? 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:54.399 Why can't we come? 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.159 And he says, Peter, you don't understand it right now, but you will understand it later. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.279 And then Peter with bravado goes, I will die. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:02.639 I'm with you. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:04.799 I'm coming with you no matter what. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:12.639 And of course, many of you know the passage where he says, Peter, before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times tonight. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.279 Knowing that, how did Jesus treat Peter? 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:24.320 See, the way of forgiveness over resentment and bitterness. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:30.000 You do realize in the world that we live in, you did this to me, I do this to you. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.519 It's about payback. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.600 You posted this, I'll post that. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:36.080 You said this about me, this is what I'm gonna say. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:37.679 I will retaliate. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.480 And what's it produce? 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.399 It's like pouring gasoline on a fire. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.159 It's like eating poison and thinking it's gonna kill the other person. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:53.759 See, what he's going to say is, I am the way, and he's leading up to the final way. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.519 I am the way to the Father. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:01.519 I'm the way to the Father because the issue of mankind, the big issue is their sin. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:02.879 It's the human heart. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:27.039 It's not external environment, it's not philosophical systems left to themselves, whether it's capitalism, socialism, communism, whatever ism and whatever model people they talk about, in the human heart, you will find people rise to power, rise to influence, use one another regardless of what they say or what they say will work. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:31.919 And because the human heart is the issue, forgiveness is the solution. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.480 Love is more powerful than evil. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:39.360 And he's going to say and model, this is the way you treat those who've hurt you. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.600 You release them, you forgive them. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:48.320 Doesn't mean there's not consequences, doesn't mean that under control there aren't some things you need to do to address the situation. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:58.639 For your soul, the way to treat the people who hurt you, who betray you, who wound you, is to treat them the way Jesus has treated you. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:00.320 Why? 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.080 Because it's true. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:08.240 And when you walk in the truth, you're free, and it brings life to your soul. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:22.240 Now he gets to the not only the what and the when and the where, but as chapter 14 opens up, he's gonna address the why. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.000 Why did he say, I'm the way, the truth, and the life? 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.000 And you'll notice in your notes I said, because the disciples are distraught. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:31.519 Circle the word distraught. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.360 I chose that carefully. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:38.879 You can be troubled, you can be confused, you can be anxious. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.480 There's times in life where you're uncertain, you're not sure what to do. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:44.480 Distraught is where they're at. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:46.720 They're anxious, fearful, confused. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.200 Their leader is telling them, I'm leaving. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.279 Rome is after them. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:53.919 They've already been kicked out of the synagogue. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.679 Peter has left his wife and family for significant seasons. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:02.000 The disciples have left their jobs, they're full-time in the ministry. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:06.159 They've put all their hopes on you're the Messiah, and you're leaving? 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:07.279 You're what? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:12.000 They're anxious, they're fearful, confused. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:15.279 Everything is uncertain, and they're deeply troubled. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:34.240 And so, what Jesus is about to say is to address their emotions, to calm their fears, and to show them the way and the truth and the life when you are anxious and fearful and confused, and when you have no idea what's around the corner. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.519 Does that sound anything like the world today? 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.919 Does that sound anything like what some of you are living in right now? 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.120 I mean, some of you got laid off recently. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.159 Some of you, you should have seen the heads bob when I said, Have you ever been betrayed? 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:53.200 Apparently, there's been a lot of hard stuff in this group. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.039 And so this is what Jesus says to them. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:04.399 Notice in your notes, Jesus confronts their emotions and their emotional trauma with a command. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.519 And with a commands don't always have to be harsh. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:15.200 Literally, as they're feeling all of this, and and and Peter's made this big deal about I'll be with you. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.279 I'll never desert you. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:26.320 He reminds us that none of us know what our faith or how strong our faith is until it's tested. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.919 I believe it was, I think he was sincere as he could be. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.360 And I think many of us are as sincere as we can be. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:34.879 This is what I really believe. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:36.159 This is what really matters. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.279 You don't know what you believe until it's tested. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.279 And when Peter is tested, he fails miserably. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:49.200 And he meets a God who models forgiveness and restoration. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.440 But he commands them this you believe in God, right? 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:57.039 All these all these young disciples, they were followers of Yahweh. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.200 I mean, these are good Jewish boys. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.639 You believe in God, yes, believe also in me. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.839 You trust God, yes, trust me. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.319 And then he gives them six promises about why they can trust him. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:12.400 Notice what the text says. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:17.680 He says, In my father's house are many rooms, and if it were not so, I would have told you. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:20.240 I'm going there to prepare a place for you. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:28.000 And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back, and I will take you to be with me that you may be also where I am. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:33.039 You know, here's our word, the way to the place where I'm going. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.799 And I love Thomas. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:39.759 He said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:46.160 And Jesus answers, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:54.240 If, this is the part we don't read, if you really knew me, you would know my father as well. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:56.960 And and notice these six promises. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:58.480 Look, look at your notes. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:03.279 He says, In my father's house, literally, there's many residents. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:26.799 It's a picture of the sort of the patriarch, and and they would often, as the you know, multiple children, they would get married in their families, they they might make sort of a you or even a circle, and then the father's house, he's saying, just like how you all do life, you're going to have a place that's specifically made for you so you can have intimacy with the father. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:36.960 He says, I've come so that you, the way to the Father, is me. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.519 And then notice he goes on. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.319 He says, I go to prepare a place for you. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:47.440 In the ancient Near East, uh, remember, these are these are Jewish boys. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:50.960 And Jesus will make clearly he's the groom, right? 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:52.640 And the church is the bridegroom. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:19:07.200 Well, the groom in the ancient Near East, in preparing for a wedding, he would propose there would be a season of betrothal, often six months or maybe even a year, and then the groom's job was to go prepare a home for he and his wife. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.079 So Jesus, and these Jewish boys are starting to pick up. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.160 So you're actually preparing a special place for us. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:22.799 And if you were preparing a place for your wife, you wouldn't prepare it for some woman, you would prepare it for your wife. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.119 What they would need, what she would like, what's made special. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:35.359 And he's beginning to help them see your anxiety and your fear and your confusion and your uncertainty. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.880 What he's he's driving a stake and saying, there's hope. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.079 I will come back again for you, third promise. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.000 I will receive you to myself. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.599 I'm not going away forever, because here's the goal. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:49.839 Where I am, you're going to be. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:51.119 But it's future. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.160 And by the way, you do know the way where I'm going. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:58.079 Everything I've taught, all everything, my life. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:00.480 I came to explain the Father. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.880 I'm the path, I'm the road. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:08.880 And so then we get this great line where Thomas says, We don't know the way. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:16.480 And Jesus explains, the Father and I are one essence. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:23.200 Let me pick up the text and just listen to what he says and the flow of the text. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:30.160 And what I want you to get is he takes them from the fear to the future hope. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:36.640 And then he begins to talk about, well, how is life going to work now that I'm physically going to be gone? 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.160 Someday, some way, their minds are spinning. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.519 Okay, you're coming back, you love us, you're not going to forsake us. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.599 But how is life going to work? 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:49.680 What is the way that life's going to work when you're not here? 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:54.319 Because the way it works now is you, and the truth is you. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:59.599 And what we all have experienced is the peace and the joy and the life. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:06.400 We have believed you're the Messiah, and now you're throwing all these curveballs, and we don't really know how it's going to play. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:11.359 And so he goes on and says to them, From now on, right? 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:16.960 You do know him and you have seen him. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.200 And so Philip says, Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:30.240 And Jesus answered, Don't you know, Philip, that even after I've been among you for such a long time, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.640 How can you say, show us the Father? 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:37.599 Do not you believe that I'm in the Father and the Father is in me. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:40.799 And then notice this: this is so key to Jesus. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:46.720 His relationship with the Father is the model for our relationship with him and the Father. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.880 It always comes back to his word. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:52.559 He says, The words I say to you are not my own. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.559 Rather, it is the Father living in me who is doing his work. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:04.559 Believe me when I say I am in the Father, and the Father is In me, or at least believe on the evidence of the works of the miracles themselves. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.640 And then he talks about the future. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:13.680 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do even greater works than I have done. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:21.519 I am going to the Father, and whatever you ask in my name, I will give to you, so the Son may bring glory to the Father. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.720 You can ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:25.920 Do you see the hope? 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:27.119 I'm going to be gone. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.400 I'm a conduit. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:32.240 You have access directly to the Father, and it's going to be through me. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:34.799 And then he says, here's the key. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:36.559 Here's the condition. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:42.880 In uh grammatically, you know, for you Bible students, in Greek it's called a third-class condition. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.160 In other words, it's a condition that is uncertain. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.440 In other words, if you do this, here's the results. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.000 And if you do this, these will be other results. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.000 If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.480 And don't think love is a feeling. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:04.720 Love in the New Testament, love largely in the Bible, is a matter of loyalty. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.839 It's not a matter of my experiential feelings, although I sure love those and we want good ones. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:24.240 But he says, if you love me, if you're loyal to me, not loyal to yourself, not loyal to others, not loyal to the world system, you obey my commandments, result, and I will ask the Father, and he'll give you another counselor to be with you how long? 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.160 Look at your Bible. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.480 Another counselor, the Holy Spirit. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.039 He'll be with you forever. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:32.240 And who is he? 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:33.759 The Spirit of truth. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.200 The world cannot accept him because it neither has seen him nor knows him. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.759 But you know him, for he lives. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:40.960 Notice the difference now. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.559 He lives with you. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:44.559 Remember when he sent them out? 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.119 They did miracles, they cast out demons. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:48.559 God used them to heal. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:50.000 They've seen him anything saying. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:55.440 The Spirit has been with you, and now future will be in you. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.599 I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:06.960 And before long, you will not see me anymore, but then you will see me, speaking of the resurrection. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.279 Because I live, you also will live. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:15.680 On that day, you'll realize that I'm in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:20.319 And whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one that really loves me. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:28.640 He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him, and I love this line, will show myself. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:30.559 We get our word manifest. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.359 In other words, I'll make myself known. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:37.039 Jesus loves all of us all the time. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:47.599 But there are certain Christians that experientially have him reveal himself or manifest himself or make himself real in your experience. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.160 I had that experience this morning. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:51.839 And it's when we obey. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:25:00.319 It's when we obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit fundamentally, obeying his word, obeying, you know, the wisdom that God gives us through other believers. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:07.759 And so I was sitting all the way in the back, and um I was praying as we were singing and the service was starting. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.240 And as I sat there, God prompted me. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:18.720 There was a um a young man that I just saw, and I had a deep sense in my spirit that he was troubled deeply. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:27.920 And so as we sang, I began to pray for him, and I asked the Lord to speak to him very, very powerfully uh during the service, and especially during the message. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.119 I had no idea why. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:30.000 I don't know him. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.640 I think I may have bumped into him once. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:37.839 And then when we got done, um, again, this is, and for me, like all of you, right? 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:39.279 So did God answer that prayer? 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:40.319 I wonder what happened. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:40.880 I don't know. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:46.000 And so when I got done, uh we were singing the very last song, and I kind of needed to clear my mind. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.160 And when we got to the second song, I went outside. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:58.799 I put my feet up in the sun and I prayed, Lord, um, you know, I could chit-chat with lots of people, but I really want my mind, my heart to be clear. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:05.680 If there's anyone you want to talk with me, would you have them walk over and sit down in front of me? 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:08.480 Guess who came? 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:10.480 That young man. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:11.440 Guess what? 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:13.279 He was deeply troubled. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:14.319 Guess what? 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:21.680 We have some really common personal challenges that we shared with one another. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.680 That's not because I'm special. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:37.440 Jesus promised when you obey him, when you trust him, when you hear his voice, he's the way for relationships to work. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:40.960 Other centeredness, sacrifice, servant. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:46.720 He's the way in a fallen world when you forgive those who betray and hurt you. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:56.079 He's the way to experience the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's work inside you as you obey and as you listen and as you. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:00.880 Jesus says, you may have a road, you may have a compass, you may have a map. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:09.119 Social media has a map for you, the culture has a map for you, the university has a map for you, other isms and philosophies have a map for you. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:11.200 Jesus says, I have a map. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:12.640 It's me. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:15.279 It's personal, intimate relationship. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:18.240 The way you follow the map is obedience. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:23.519 Not rules, not principles, obedience to me, the person. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:24.559 I'll be with you. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.640 I've got to anchor your hope. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:28.960 You don't have to be afraid in the future. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:36.880 Not only that, but as I as I do this, I'm going to give you a spirit of truth that's not just going to be available, he'll live in you. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:38.720 Notice it goes on. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:47.680 Then Judas, not Judas Iscariot, said, But Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:52.079 He said, Anyone who loves me, he will obey my teaching. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:55.440 It's like it just gets from good to better to best. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:28:03.039 My father will love him, and we, plural, will come to him and make our home with him. 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:18.640 Now, when you walked in this morning, were you at least intellectually aware that when you turned from your sin and in the empty hands of faith, turned away from your sin and asked Christ to forgive you based on what he did on the cross? 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:39.279 And the moment that you received Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit entered your life and sealed you with the Spirit, deposited spiritual gifts, took you out of the kingdom of darkness, placed you in the kingdom of light, and now the Holy Spirit's role is to actually manifest the actual dwelling of the Father and the Son in your physical body? 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:40.960 Like you knew that, right? 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:45.039 And when you pray, that's how you think about it, right? 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.759 Or is God way off there somewhere? 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:55.039 He is completely transcendent and simultaneously eminent and personal. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.680 And what's the conduit? 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:02.400 The conduit of experiential relationship is obedience. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:08.640 These words you hear, even Jesus, he keeps modeling. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:09.759 He keeps modeling. 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:10.799 These aren't my own. 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.559 See, I'm walking in dependence on the Father and the power of the Spirit. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.920 These words here are not my own. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.079 They belong to the Father who sent me. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:35.759 All these things I've spoken while I was with you, but the comforter, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he'll teach you things and he'll remind you of everything that I've said to you. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.640 Now do you remember what he said, how he started this? 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:39.839 Peace. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:41.920 Relax. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.079 Take a step back. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:52.880 You believe and trust in God, trust also in me, and now, peace, I leave you with the peace that I give. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:30:06.720 I do not give you the peace that the world gives that's temporary, that rises and falls with the relationship's going well, or circumstances change, or I get a good job, or we just had a baby, or remodeled the kitchen. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.079 Nothing wrong with those things. 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:13.119 He says, I give you a peace that transcends those. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:16.799 Don't let your heart be troubled. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:18.720 Do not be afraid. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:32.799 The context of I am the way and the truth and the life is to a group of intimate friends in a private dinner where he wants them to know I really get your anxious. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:35.920 I really understand your fear. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.880 I can certainly identify that confusion is raining. 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.119 And I know that the future seems completely uncertain. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:49.039 Here's the solution in horizontal relationships. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:55.519 Here's the solution when you're betrayed, and here's the solution when you don't know what the future is going to hold. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.319 I'm the way, my person. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.240 I'm the way to do horizontal relationships. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:05.839 I'm the way to forgive others the way I've forgiven you. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:13.839 I'm the way because, like the groom has gone and prepared a place, your future is absolutely secured. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:28.480 You may not know what is around the corner, or which person is going to be a friend or a future mate or a roommate, or where you're going to work, or how things are going to work out, or whether a health issue is going to take you to heaven, or whether something he's going to take you through. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:32.400 But here's what you can know: the final destination. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:34.319 And here's what you can know. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:36.559 I won't leave you as orphans. 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:44.880 The call of Jesus isn't that he makes our life out wonderful if we just believe in him like some sort of magical guru. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:51.920 And if we, you know, I believe in Jesus and I pray to prayer and I read the Bible sometimes, and I try really hard to be nice. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:57.759 And boy, when we worship sometimes, I have some really ooey-gooey experiences, and wow, wow, wow. 00:31:58.160 --> 00:31:59.680 I'm all for that. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:08.559 But your experience will not sustain you when you get wounded or when you get cancer or lose your job. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.759 Or someone you love dies. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:16.000 Jesus will. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:21.200 And as you obey him, he will allow your experience to get richer and deeper. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:27.519 And according to Jesus, he didn't trust his emotions, he trusted the Father, but he trusted the Father's word. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:33.279 And so he anchored his life in the word and the Holy Spirit. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:37.599 And so what this text is really teaching us, I put a little summary. 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:43.359 It was really all about God expressing his love to his closest friends. 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:45.839 Is there a theological construct? 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:46.880 Of course. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:50.160 But because God loves me, you might get your pen out. 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:52.160 I think there's a couple fill-ins here. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:56.640 And I know that some of you will be very mad if I go too fast, you don't get to fill them in. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:13.200 But uh but by way of summary, uh I I just I wanted you to know that uh Jesus really I mean, it's such a generic word. 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:14.799 He loves you. 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:19.039 Well what does that mean in real life? 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:24.400 Because God loves me, Jesus is preparing a place for me. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:25.920 Underline me. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:28.880 And that me is you. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:34.720 Because God loves me, he sent Jesus to make a way for me to be with the Father. 00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:45.279 In the midst of their confusion and anxiety, there's a way, there's a door, there's access, there's certainty. 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:50.079 Because God loves me, he sent Jesus to reveal to me what God is really like. 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:51.440 You don't have to wonder. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:34:02.400 If you've seen Jesus, the reason this whole year at this church, the focus is on Jesus, is because if you get to know Jesus, you'll know exactly what God is like. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:04.640 You'll know exactly how he responds. 00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:17.599 When you fail and when you sin, and when you're resentful, and when you feel far from God and you want nothing to do with him, and at in a moment the little light says, turn, and you said, I don't want to turn, you'll know exactly how he feels. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.000 He feels like you just like he did the woman who was caught in adultery. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:28.000 He feels the way about you just like he did Jesus, where he offers forgiveness and offers the bread. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:39.199 He feels the way about you that he thought about Peter afterwards, where after he failed him after his big bravado, he met with him privately and loved him and restored him. 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:41.760 Doesn't mean there aren't consequences. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:49.840 Jesus is not the genie in the bottle, but he is your loving, faithful, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful Savior. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:58.000 Because God loves us, he will use you and use me greatly, even more than what he did. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:34:59.840 He says, Greater works you'll do. 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:00.559 Why? 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:03.360 Because he was confined to a body. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:07.599 And Jesus' hands touched this person, and a leper was healed. 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:12.239 Now we're his body, and he has millions of hands, over two billion people. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:17.679 I think it's 2.3 is the estimate, of the 8 billion people in the world. 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:23.119 Claim some level allegiance to Jesus Christ, would call themselves Christians. 00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:51.440 Greater works, hospitals and orphanages and children, and people rescued from the sex trade and jobs offered and clean water and the hands and the feet and the eyes and the love and the heart of Jesus all over the world and all over the Bay Area and all over Silicon Valley as we get our focus off of ourselves and off of our anxiety and off of getting our little phones out to find out what everyone else thinks about us. 00:35:52.079 --> 00:36:02.719 And into the word to say, as I obey and saturate my mind with God's word, the Father and the Son are going to come and they're going to manifest their presence. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:07.599 And I will have experiences where I'll learn to hear his voice. 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:12.239 Just like little babies learn to hear their mom's voice. 00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:15.840 And the moment they walk in the room and say something, they calm down. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:27.679 As you spend time with God, then you can sit in the back of a room and just be a normal regular person like me and have the Spirit of God say, I'm concerned about that young man. 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:29.199 Pray for him. 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:32.719 And that will be normal. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:42.239 God wants you to have many, many experiences with him that are other centered, sacrificial relationships. 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:44.239 And then the weird thing will be, right? 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:48.880 As you give your life away, you experience a joy that you couldn't comprehend. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:37:00.719 Finally, he says, because God loves me, he sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of me to manifest the presence, the personality, and the power of Jesus. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:01.519 24-7. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:02.239 You know what? 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:03.679 That's a great sentence. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:05.760 I mean, not because I wrote it. 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.719 It's because it's true. 00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:13.920 I mean, that you understand that is the Holy Spirit isn't like the force. 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:18.639 The Holy Spirit is the third part of the triune God. 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:20.960 And he dwells inside of you. 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:22.159 He's a person. 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:25.519 You know he's a person because he can be grieved, see? 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:28.639 In other words, you can hurt the Holy Spirit's feelings. 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:32.960 When I'm prompted and I say, I don't want to leave me alone right now. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:38.719 This movie's too interesting, or leave me alone right now, I'd rather eat, or leave me alone right now, I don't feel like it. 00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:41.039 I can hurt the Holy Spirit's feelings. 00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:43.840 So it says, grieve not the Spirit. 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:48.719 When I don't forgive someone, I grieve the Holy Spirit, I make him sad. 00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:57.679 He lives inside of you to manifest the person and the personality and the power of the Lord Jesus. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:59.360 Well, how do we respond? 00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:03.440 Because I love God, I will not fear because my future is secure. 00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:07.599 Some of you are gonna have to really renew your mind on that one. 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:11.760 You don't have to fear because He's preparing a place for you. 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:17.760 Second, because I love God, I will trust in Jesus as the only way to eternal life. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:25.760 We can talk about that as a theological construct and the intellectual basis for that. 00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:32.880 Because I love God, I will make knowing God the number one priority in my life of all the things. 00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:37.760 We talked about that last week, and Ryan's talked about that through this series. 00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:46.320 There is such a difference of believing in Jesus as a portion or a part of your life and making the number one priority. 00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:49.280 It's what I do first, it's what matters most. 00:38:49.440 --> 00:39:01.599 It's I evaluate where my time goes, where my money goes, who my friends are, what I do, what I don't do, where I'm gonna work, where I'm gonna relocate or not relocate, who I'm gonna marry, who I'm not gonna marry. 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:14.400 The number one priority is I'm gonna passionately, intentionally, diligently discipline my life to know God and then make him known. 00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:20.639 Not as a rule, not as rigid, not as relation, but as a relationship. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:31.440 Because I love God, I'll use my time, talent, and treasure and platform to make Jesus love known by my mind and by my deeds. 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:42.639 And finally, because I love God, I will submit my heart and mind and obey the Holy Spirit's direction through his word, his people, and his promptings. 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:49.920 So, kind of all I want to say is um Jesus is the way to life. 00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:52.079 Jesus is the truth. 00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:55.039 Jesus, if you've seen him, you've seen the Father. 00:39:55.280 --> 00:40:10.639 Now, by way of a just a quick ending on the theology, because this has come up with Izzy the only way, um, two or three really quick stories because I just want you to sort of get the ground level as we think about this. 00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:16.320 I was coming back from Singapore and had a stop from Singapore to Cree, about four hours. 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:18.880 I'm sitting next to about a 35-year-old. 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:22.239 Um great conversation, super interesting guy. 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:23.440 I really liked him. 00:40:23.679 --> 00:40:25.840 And finally, it was such a rich conversation. 00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:27.280 I said, Well, tell me, what do you believe? 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:28.960 It's kind of what's your spiritual journey? 00:40:29.119 --> 00:40:30.320 And he goes, Well, I'm a Buddhist. 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:31.519 I said, a practicing Buddhist. 00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:32.880 He said, Yes, absolutely. 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:34.480 I said, you know, that's very rare. 00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:35.360 He goes, I know. 00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:37.360 He said, Everyone just piecemeals it. 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:39.360 And I said, Well, what's the goal? 00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:40.719 What what is your way? 00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:49.039 He said, it's the it's I'm just I just it it helps me maintain or or experience peace in the midst of all that's coming at me. 00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:51.039 I said, Yes, but what's the goal? 00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:52.559 He said, What do you mean? 00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:55.360 I no, no, I mean the the goal, the end result. 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.320 You see, in Buddhism, it's it's it's cyclical. 00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:02.320 It's he said, Well, it's really there's none. 00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:13.039 There's, you know, various, I guess I want to be that drop of water that gets in harmony with the big ocean of life and return back. 00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:16.159 And so that's your way. 00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:17.840 It's my way. 00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:21.119 It's how I man it's how I manage my life. 00:41:21.360 --> 00:41:28.719 I remember being on the um plane uh a little time ago with a I call it a moderate Muslim, and we had a great conversation. 00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:34.159 One of those two or three hour congregations, you know, this is by the way, this is what we need to do in the Silicon Valley. 00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:38.079 Stop telling people stuff and just ask questions and listen. 00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:41.119 And you know, I listen, and you know, he's a he's a moderate Muslim. 00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:43.679 And um I said, well, like, do you believe the Quran? 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:44.960 He goes, Yeah, some of it. 00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:46.719 And I said, Well, do you practice it? 00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:50.320 I mean, like, I mean, like Ramadan and this, and you know, I knew enough about it. 00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:51.280 He goes, nah. 00:41:51.760 --> 00:42:04.480 He goes, you know, I skip a few meals, and you know, he was like a Christian that goes, you know, I I do Easter and I do Christmas, and you know, I I think I got baptized when I was 12, and I believe in Jesus intellectually. 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:07.679 And so I said, Well, how do you know what parts are true, what's not? 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:11.519 And so what what you find is his way, his way is materialism. 00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:14.480 His way was, you know what, just be nice to people. 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:27.840 And the way is what I'm really hoping to do, he talked about his business, and you know, we talked about the tech world because where I was from and some of my friends, and his way was, I really want to have enough money to get rich enough to be at peace and control my life. 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:28.400 Okay. 00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:45.039 Now, third conversation with a uh a radical Muslim who's come to know Jesus, and he was on his way, actually on his way, and he'd um blown up a number of other things on his way to um to kill a number of people. 00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:48.880 And as I got talking to him, I said, Well, tell me what what do you believe? 00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:50.000 Because I believe the Quran. 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:51.679 I said, I mean, like all of it? 00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:52.800 He goes, all of it. 00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:56.800 And he said, if you believe all of it, it says that you're an infidel if you don't believe. 00:42:56.880 --> 00:42:58.159 You talk about narrow. 00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:04.800 And if you don't believe, you're an infidel, and I'm responsible to please Allah by killing you. 00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:15.360 And he said, I was on my way to do that, and on my journey there, Jesus showed up at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night and told me who he was. 00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:19.920 And since that time, I've been rescuing people that I used to kill. 00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:35.199 And I'll tell you what, you get with a born-again radical Muslim or or or people from other parts of the world that I'm hanging out with, when they read the Bible, they don't read it like you know, good, autonomous, independent Americans. 00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:36.639 We read it like this. 00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:38.719 Wow, this is really interesting stuff. 00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:39.440 That was pretty cool. 00:43:39.679 --> 00:43:43.039 Ryan really liked the message, tacos relator, sounds cool. 00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:45.519 Um, you know, I I I love Jesus. 00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:50.559 And uh, oh yeah, you know, the Jesus about love, I'm there, Jesus about heaven, I'm there. 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:53.119 I'm not really sure about all that moral stuff. 00:43:53.280 --> 00:44:01.599 You know, I can sort of take it or leave it, or do you know what I'm I'm gonna know how they read the Bible? 00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:09.199 Each day, they read a section, and then it's what do you want me to do? 00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:14.719 Radical, costly, immediate obedience. 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:17.920 And they get promptings and they act. 00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:19.440 And guess what? 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:40.559 All that stuff about Jesus manifesting the Father and the Son in supernatural ways, and choosing to heal people, and choosing to rescue people, and choosing people who we would think who are literally out to kill us infidels, are coming to Jesus in ways the fastest growing church in the world is in Iran. 00:44:41.840 --> 00:44:44.000 You know what Jesus is looking for here? 00:44:44.719 --> 00:45:06.159 He's looking for an awakening among God's people, especially the next generation, who would get off of how everyone else thinks, and not be sort of Jesus people that really the way is secularism and prosperity and happiness is the map. 00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:27.920 But who would read the scriptures and do life and community in a way that your response would be immediate, radical, costly obedience that might alienate you even from other Christians, but would make you one of God's favorite sons or daughters, and you would see him work like never before. 00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:30.880 And that is the need in our day. 00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:49.519 So, Father, will you please by your grace help us to know that your way to you, your word, and your spirit is accessible to each one of us. 00:45:50.320 --> 00:45:54.320 Would you show us where in any way our life is not aligned? 00:45:56.159 --> 00:46:05.199 Not for some way to make us feel bad, but to show us so we can realign, so we can receive the kind of forgiveness that Peter got. 00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:15.679 That we would grasp how good and kind and loyal and loving and just and fair and powerful you are. 00:46:17.280 --> 00:46:21.519 Lord, we would pray, have your way in our lives. 00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:22.800 Amen. 00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:26.880 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:46:27.039 --> 00:46:31.519 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:33.760 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:46:33.920 --> 00:46:39.840 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.