WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.599 We are in a series right now titled He is Good based on Mark 1. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.280 He titles his own gospel. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.359 He titles his own gospel, This is the Good News, at the beginning of the good news of Jesus. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:22.160 And so just looking at Mark's gospel, not one verse at a time, but kind of section by section, looking at what is he seeking to tell us about how good Jesus actually is. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:27.199 And so this week is Mark 1, verses 6 through 8. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:32.320 And this is really John's testimony about Jesus, but this is what Mark writes. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:40.640 He says, Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locust and wild honey, because he was a vegan. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:42.240 I'm kidding, that's not a bad. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.119 Just seeing if y'all are paying attention. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:54.479 And he preached, saying, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am un I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.719 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.399 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:10.560 The um other day I asked Teddy if he could only choose three words, how would he describe me? 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:13.280 It's a dangerous game, but I wanted to see it. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:21.680 And so his words were uh loving, let's go, um, kind, awesome, and then fun. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.079 And I was like, I'm killing it as a parent. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:28.640 Like I'm just, I don't know, I mean you guys could take notes, maybe, I have no idea. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:34.159 But then he went on to like do it for Rainey, and I was like, okay, well, we don't have to, but it's okay. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.840 Um and he was like, what I'd say of mom is she's loving. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.879 I was like, all right, do you you only know three words? 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.200 She's kind, I'm like, here, okay. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.120 And then the last one, snuggly. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.040 She was Rainy is snuggly. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:49.359 And I was like, well, I got one up on her there. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:50.560 I'm fun. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:54.400 So and then he moved on to the dog. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.280 And I was like, this game is over. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:03.200 Like, we don't and he was like, the dog is loving, snuggly, and fun. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.319 I was like, bro, I'm basically the dog to you. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.280 And I was like, I don't want to play this game anymore, so we stopped. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.639 Uh but it was funny. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:16.400 But three words. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.039 In three words, how would you like to be described? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:26.479 And the reason I say all that is because John uses basically three descriptors to describe who Jesus is and what he's like. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:31.199 He's like, these this is who he is, this is this is what he's like, and then here's what he's come to do. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:37.039 And so in three words or in three statements, he's really giving us like this is what I think about him. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:38.719 And John's his cousin. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:41.599 And so I think many of us get our view. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:55.360 If you were to describe Jesus in three words or in three sentences, I think many of us would describe him based on what we've heard and seen from somewhere culture, media, the scriptures, other pastors in our lives, whatever. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:08.240 Um, but I think it's important to look at what John is saying about Jesus because he's literally related to the man, um, very closely connected to him, and he is stating something like, I have heard and seen firsthand, this is what he's like. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:14.400 And so using John's words to look at Jesus and go, why is he good is really what I want to do today. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:19.759 I just want to look at these three statements that he makes about who he is and what he has come to do, and then unpack those things. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:24.960 And so the first thing that John says is that he is the mighty one. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.400 That Jesus is the mighty one. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.080 He says, After me comes he who is mightier than I. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:35.039 And the word that John uses to describe Jesus is um where we get the word dynamite. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:36.800 It's like dunamis, dunamis. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:43.199 Um, and so it's the same word that we, it's powerful, it's big, it's TNT, it's it's that kind of thing. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.919 And that's the same word where we get our our word for dynamite. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:53.039 And I for us, I I don't want us to miss that the first thing he uses to describe Jesus is like, oh man, he's like dynamite. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.719 Like he's more dynamite than I am. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:56.000 Like he is phenomenal. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.159 Like there's he's mighty and he's powerful. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:04.319 The first descriptor that he gives isn't like he's loving, he's kind, he's funny, he's snuggly. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.159 Like it's not those things. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:12.400 And I think if we were to say, like, what would be the first word that you would describe Jesus as? 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.280 I think many people wouldn't start with, oh, his power. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:17.519 He's super powerful, he's super mighty. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:24.800 Maybe you would, but I think many people would start with, like, oh, he's loving, he's gracious, he's forgiving, he's merciful. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:31.120 And all of those things are true, but John has an experience with him where he's going, the first thing, he is mighty. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:32.639 You need to know that he's powerful. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:44.639 And the idea that he's presenting to people is like your primary experience with him may be in some sense that he's loving, kind, forgiving, merciful, gracious, whatever, but your primary experience should be of his power. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:46.720 There is something different about this, bro. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:49.199 He is very, very, very powerful. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.199 And we need to have that in our minds when we think about what he's like. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:05:01.360 And I think for us many times, we would describe Jesus in many ways, but experiencing his power on a daily basis in our lives, most of the time, isn't how we describe him. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:07.920 Annie Dillard, who is like my spirit animal, um, says this about most modern Christians. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.079 She says, On the whole, I do not find Christians outside of the catacombs sufficiently sensible of conditions. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.399 Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:21.199 Or as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:27.439 The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.800 It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats of church. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:32.399 We should all be wearing crash helmets. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:37.279 Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares and lash us to our pews. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:38.800 To me, like she gets it. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.319 Like there's just something there, like God shows up, and it's like there's never a time where he shows up, and everybody's like, Well, that's pretty good. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:45.199 It's pretty strong. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.319 Like it was never that. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:51.519 It was like there's just this shaking and quaking and people going, I don't want to hear the voice, you do the voice thing. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:53.040 I just can't stand it. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:54.720 There's something so powerful about him. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:01.360 And her point is that most Christians don't see or really even believe that he's mighty anymore. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:03.839 He was mighty in these old texts that we have. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:06.160 He was so powerful and what a gift. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.560 And we don't see him as mighty anymore. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:17.839 John Tyson says this psychologists who deal with the study of perception refer to a phenomenon called habituation. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:23.360 It's the idea that when a new object or stimulus is introduced into our environment, we are intensely aware of it. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.040 But the awareness fades over time. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:31.759 So, for instance, when we first begin to wear a new wristwatch, we feel it on our wrist constantly, but after a while we don't notice it, it's even there. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:38.560 When people move into a new home, they generally have a list of things they must repair or remodel because the sight of them is intolerable. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:45.360 Five years later, though, they may still have the same list of things to fix, but the lack of repair doesn't bother them anymore. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:54.560 And the only reason I say it is because to me, that seems to have happened in the church with the idea that God still moves in power. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:03.920 It's happened so much in the life of the church that you have people who believe in cessationism that, like, oh, that God only moved in power in seasons, and he doesn't do that anymore. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:10.160 And what happened is you have the early church in the book of Acts, that you read it, where power's breaking out on accident. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:15.839 Peter's walking in the streets and his shadow touches people and they're healed, and it's like, I didn't want to be healed, it's like too bad. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.600 Like that's like that's what like it's just breaking out everywhere in the church. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:31.600 And it says that that's the thing that's that's proving the word of God is preached, and then what's making people go, like, oh, I think it is the word of God is the power that happens behind it, which led Paul to say the kingdom of God is not about words, but about power. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:32.560 Like there's something there. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:37.519 And so the early church had this view and this expectation that like he's going to move with power. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.360 There's mighty things that are coming. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.720 And I think what happened was over time a generation rose up that didn't experience his power. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:48.399 And instead of going, like, wait, something's not right. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:51.759 Like, we should be, we should be experiencing more of this. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.240 Instead of doing that, we just habituated. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.240 And it was like, well, maybe that's fine. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:00.800 And then we settled for a big building or aligning ourselves with a political party, and it's like, that's how we'll get some power. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:04.319 And then all of a sudden the church became a little less powerful, and then a little less powerful. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:12.639 Until now, I think we currently live in a generation that is completely void of that idea, and we wind up in this space where it's like, you know, he's powerful. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.439 And it's like, yeah, I didn't even have that in my top three descriptors. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.639 I would have said that he's kind, he's good, not powerful. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:23.920 And I think the church has, for the majority, doesn't expect him to do powerful things anymore. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:32.000 And the problem with that, if that's you, and I think at times it's all of us because we've all been shaped by a culture where the church hasn't been moved in power. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.879 Powerful churches are just big churches, powerful churches, and it's like, man, it was never about that. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:42.240 Powerful churches are the ones that have some type of political legislation power or something like that, and it was never about that. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:49.279 The church moved in power the most during the time of Nero and Diocletian and Vespasian, like all these people that like hated Christians. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.519 Like they didn't align themselves with the political power. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:52.399 Now we got real power. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:57.279 They're like, no, man, we got actual power that comes from heaven, not the not the stuff that comes from here. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:09.200 And I think for us, the tragedy with experiencing no power and then going, well, I'll just make my peace with it, I'll habituate and not fight for it and wrestle with God for it. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:22.240 I'll just make it okay in our lives, is the testimony of scripture suggests that if we stop believing that God is mighty, that God is powerful, then we stop experiencing him as mighty in our lives. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.399 If we don't believe that he is, we stop experiencing him as those things. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:29.039 Because even when he does something powerful, I don't believe he's powerful. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.440 And so I'm gonna credit that to someone else. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:32.879 I'm gonna give it to somebody else. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.399 That that was coincidence. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:37.279 That wasn't God moving in power, that was gonna happen anyways. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:44.879 And when we stop believing that he is, we stop going to him in order to experience those things, and therefore, because we're not asking, we're not receiving power. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:46.639 And so you see this all throughout the scriptures. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:54.000 Numbers 14, when Israel is about to walk into the promised land, what happens is they're like, we're God has told them, you're going in. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.639 I'm gonna move in power, I'm gonna drive out the nations before you. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.080 And they're like, No, you're not. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.960 Those jokers are huge, like it's not going to work. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.399 We're grasshoppers in our own eyes and in theirs, like they're gigantic. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:05.600 There's no way this is gonna happen. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:12.000 And he's like, I have promised you, I will fight for you, and I will move in power, and I will drive those things out from those people out from you. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.840 But they don't believe him to be mighty, and therefore they don't experience him as mighty. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:20.480 They don't step into the promised land and they don't see him do the thing that he was powerful enough to do. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:28.639 And what happens is they all die in the wilderness, and then there are a new generation raises up that actually believes he has power to do it, and then they watch him do it. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.360 They didn't make him do it, the power was always there. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.840 It was just not used, it was not leaned upon, and the other ones just didn't believe that he could do it, and so they didn't see it. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:47.600 Saul and uh the army of Israel in uh 1 Samuel, where they're standing there, Goliath comes out and he's you know just taunting the people of Israel all the way through. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:53.600 For 40 days, he does that, and Saul and the army is like no one can defeat him, no one's strong enough, no one's mighty enough. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:58.320 And so they don't experience Goliath being killed and the army winning because they don't believe that. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:02.000 And then David rolls in and he's like, hey, I actually think the Lord can do this. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:02.879 I think he can do that. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.840 Not not me, I'm a tiny boy with a stick and some rocks. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.080 Like it's not me, but I'm not fighting in my name. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:09.279 I'm fighting in his name. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:10.720 He's mighty enough, he can do it. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:18.480 And then all of a sudden, because he believes that he can do it, he steps out in that faith, believing and leaning upon the Lord, and then seeing him actually move in power. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.360 It doesn't just happen in the Old Testament, it happens in the New Testament. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.840 Mark 6, we'll get to this in a little bit as we continue the series. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.399 But you see Jesus go back into uh a space of his own hometown, like where he grew up. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:38.559 And these people that he that were around him when he was a kid and like throwing rocks and doing normal stuff, they're like, isn't this the carpenter's son? 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.200 Like, isn't this Mary the one that kind of had, you know, she had a baby out of wedlock, and we're not so sure. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.559 She said it was God, but you know, like, isn't this that Jesus? 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:48.159 Like, isn't this the one? 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:54.159 And they take offense at him, and it says that because of their lack of faith, he couldn't do many miracles there. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:59.120 And you can read that and be like, oh, it was just faith would have just shot out the miracles, and it's not that. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.279 They didn't have faith, so they didn't go and ask him. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.159 They weren't asking for their sick to be healed. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.720 They they don't believe he is the mighty one. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.240 They believe a ton of stuff about him. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.639 They believe a lot of correct things about him. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:11.759 And I think that's the church. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.039 We believe a lot of correct things. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.919 He is loving, he is gracious, he is forgiving, but he is powerful. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:21.440 And if we don't believe that, we will miss out on his power breaking into our lives on a daily basis. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.279 And so for them, that's what they experienced. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:26.799 He says that it says in Mark 6 that only a few people received healing. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.480 And it's like, well, why did only a few people? 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:30.639 It's like, because only a few people asked. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:34.000 Only a few people actually went to him and was like, hey, could you do something? 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.679 I believe you are the mighty one. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.039 And then he was able to actually experience some of those things just with a few people. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:46.159 But most people knew a bunch of stuff about him and believed a lot of correct things about him, but they just didn't believe that he was the mighty one. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:52.000 And so their experience of Jesus was directly connected to their view of Jesus. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:57.279 And I believe our experience of Jesus will be directly connected to our view of him as well. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:02.480 And I think that's the testimony of scripture, and then just the warning that John is saying, like he is the mighty one. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:04.159 Believe that he is the mighty one. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.200 If you want him to move in might, you have to actually believe that he is. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.320 Otherwise, you won't go to him to ask for those things. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:16.799 It happens like this like uh the other night uh Teddy got really cold because we keep it like super cold at our house. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:21.200 Uh he got super cold and wanted to come get in bed with me uh to warm up. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.639 But he thought, I think dad will get mad if I do that, and so he decided not to come. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.639 And he told us the next morning, he's like, he just stayed awake all night fighting the cold. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.919 And I was like, dude, you should have just come and got in bed with me. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:34.720 Like it would have been fine. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:39.120 He's like, Well, I did I didn't do it because I thought that you would be angry at me. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.159 And I was like, I in reality, like I wouldn't. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.799 I you you could have stepped into that thing. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:52.799 In reality, you could have walked into this, but because you believed I would get mad at you, you chose, you actually made the decision for me and chose not to even ask. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:54.320 And that's how it works with us. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:14:01.279 If we believe he's not gonna do something, he's not powerful enough to do something, my request is too little, I'm unworthy to ask this, whatever. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.679 If we believe that he won't do it or can't do it, we just refuse to actually go and ask. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.840 And therefore, what we could have experienced, we don't step into because we don't ask. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:17.679 And this is the thing that scriptures are saying like make sure that your belief of him is worthy of him that it's true, so that you experience what's actually possible with him. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:22.399 And I think for us, our experience will be directly connected to our view of him. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:32.240 If you don't believe, if you don't believe that he can heal your marriage and do any work in your marriage, you won't look to him to do it, you won't expect him to do it, you won't ask him to do it. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.399 You might toss it up randomly here and there, it's like, yeah, he might do something, but you won't actually do it. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:43.360 If you don't think that he can help your business, regardless of what your business is secular or Christian or anything, like you, then you just won't look for him to do that. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.960 If you don't believe that he can heal, we won't ask for it or expect it. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:52.159 If you don't think that he can provide for you, then you will never allow him the space to provide for you. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.720 You'll never live sacrificially enough to actually wait for him to provide for you abundantly. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.840 You'll just live off of what you can do, having never experienced the abundance that he actually wants to have. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:10.320 And so all of these things that he's calling us to experience his power in our lives, if we don't believe that he can actually do it, we won't step into those spaces to watch him do it. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:15.360 And if we don't step into that, it's not like, well, I I'm getting punished. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:19.360 It's just like, no, you just didn't step into the space where the power actually is. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.919 You didn't move into that space of asking. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:22.559 You didn't do that. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.360 That's why James would say, you have not because you ask not. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.879 It's not that it's not available to you, you just have not because you ask not. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:34.399 And you're asked, you're not asking because you actually don't believe something about him that you should be believing about him. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:46.320 And so John's whole thing when he begins is like, make sure you remember that he is the powerful one, the mighty one, and that he has come not to do anything, you know, unmighty. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.399 He's like he actually wants to be mighty in your life. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.360 This is why he's coming. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.679 The one coming after me is the one who is mighty. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:58.080 And so, just not as guilt, but as reflection, just to consider, do you believe that he is the mighty one in your life? 00:15:58.399 --> 00:15:59.039 A couple of questions. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.679 Does your life reflect that you believe him to be mighty? 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:05.360 Would your prayer life reveal that you think that he's mighty? 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.120 Do your fears bow to him or do they tower over you? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.960 Do you complain more than you pray? 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:17.039 That last one maybe shows a little bit more, reveals a little bit more what we actually think that he can do. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:30.559 And again, not as guilt, but just a space of like just to consider like if you could, like John, describe what Jesus is like and what he has been for you and your primary experience of him, would your life describe him as mighty? 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:36.720 And if not, I would just encourage you to do what the guy does in Mark 9, where he says, Lord, I do believe in you. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.799 I believe things about you, but help the spaces where I'm dealing with unbelief. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.000 Like I this mighty peace, like help me with that. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:52.159 If you know the story, the man has a demon-possessed son and he goes to Jesus and the demon is really strong, and he goes to Jesus, like, hey, if you can do anything. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:58.559 But he's coming to Jesus, but he still doesn't trust or believe that he is bigger than whatever is taking over his son. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.519 And Jesus is like, if I can, he's like, all things are possible for those who believe that I can. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:05.279 And he's like, Oh Lord, I do believe. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:07.920 Help my unbelief, help the space where I'm struggling. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:09.920 And then Jesus answers that prayer. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.319 He helps his unbelief by actually healing his son. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.599 And you know that man walked away going, like, I prayed for help my unbelief. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:16.240 And he did. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:21.200 He actually answered a prayer, did something really powerful that made his unbelief turn into belief. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:30.160 And so if you're struggling to believe him as mighty, if you if you would describe him as like awesome and beautiful and merciful and so gracious and so generous and all that, like awesome. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:32.000 Those are great things. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:39.920 But if you wouldn't describe him as powerful in your life, I'm just telling you, you're missing a huge, huge piece that John would say, this is the first thing that you gotta know about him. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:41.279 The man's mighty. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:42.640 And he has something for you. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.359 He can change things in your life, he can move things in your life. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:47.200 There are mountains that you can't, that he can. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:53.119 There are things that you can't do that he's like, I can do those things, but if you don't believe I'm mighty, you'll never come and ask. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:18:00.240 And then you'll never, I'm not gonna force myself on you, I'm not gonna force my power on you, I'm never gonna force you into these spaces, and you'll always miss out. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:05.920 Talking about Jesus in great terms, but never experiencing the power of God in your time for yourself. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.039 I care about that one so much. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:18.799 I told, I told Randy, I was like, I just need to like just preach that one because I just, I think we as a church, the you the church, modern church, does not believe that he's mighty. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.960 They do not expect him to move in power. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.119 And because of that, we're missing out. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:27.519 Read the New Testament and go, like, are we experiencing everything that we're supposed to be experiencing in the church? 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.519 No, because we have forgotten to believe that it's available to us. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:36.319 And so there's Myron Augsburg is this quote that I really love. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.039 And I think this shapes the way most people think. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:44.000 People ask, and people ask me all the time, he knows my needs, God knows my needs, why do I need to pray? 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:46.960 If he knows I need power, why do I need to pray? 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.799 It is because he waits to move until we recognize him in his will. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:56.960 Prayer moves the hand of God by giving him the moral freedom to do in our lives what he's been wanting to do. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:04.640 He wants to do it, but prayer gives him the moral freedom to go, like, thank you for the space, because I'm never going to force myself on you. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.240 God in his sovereign practice does not impose his will upon us. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:13.200 Consequently, he can function in our lives in accordance with the degree of freedom we surrender to him. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:20.960 This is why the scriptures are constantly saying, if we pray, if we pray, if we pray, it's like, man, there's just a space of going, like, you can have this line. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:28.319 This is why Jesus tells us to pray, your kingdom come here on earth, in this piece of earth, and in that piece of earth, and in that piece of earth. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:34.000 We're just walking around giving him freedom to move, like just going like, your will be done here, your kingdom come here, here, here, and here. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:37.119 This is available to you too, because he's never going to, and y'all know this. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:41.680 He's never gonna look at a person's heart who doesn't want him and go, like, I'm coming in anyways. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.279 He's never going to do that. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:44.079 Ever. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:46.799 If you don't want him, he's like, I that's fine. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.799 I still want you, but I'm not gonna like tackle you in the spirit and be like, take me, like he's never going to do that. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.440 And so for us, he wants to do things in our lives, he wants to do things through your life. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.440 And we need to give him the space. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:08.319 And so, if you're like, I don't believe that he's actually mighty, fine, pray to help help my unbelief, help this space in my life. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.559 John gives one word to like what do I what's the first thing I need to know? 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:13.359 He's mighty. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:15.039 Okay, that took way too long. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:15.759 All right. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:17.200 Second point. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:21.759 John moves on and he says, He's the great king, the great king who came to serve. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:28.079 He says, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:38.400 This is a little confusing, but John is John is using something that they understood back in the day that uh a rabbi or a master of a slave was what could ask for almost anything. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.559 This the master could never ask the slave to untie his sandals. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.880 Um and so there's this space where he's going, even that, like a master can't ask that of a slave. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:52.079 He's like, I'm not even worthy to do that if he asked. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.559 Like, I'm he's so great, he's so wonderful. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.240 And so what's interesting about what John is saying here is this rabbinic teaching that talks about this. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.000 Um, this next slide here. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:10.160 It says, Um, a Hebrew slave must not, a Hebrew slave, listen, a Hebrew slave must not wash the feet of his master. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:11.440 Hold on to that in your mind. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:29.279 A Hebrew slave must not wash the feet of his master, nor put his shoes on him, nor carry his things before him when he goes to the bathhouse, nor support him by the hips when he's ascending the steps, nor carry him in a litter or a chair as slaves do, for it is said, but over your brothers in Israel, you shall not rule over another, one over another. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:34.799 And so what John is saying is that even though this thing isn't allowed, I'm not even worthy to do that. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:51.279 But what's crazy about what this is stating is that even though Jesus is so great that we're not worthy to untie his shoes, the Hebrew teaching is you can't wash a slave can't wash its master's feet, but Jesus is the master who washes us our feet. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:59.599 Like he's so great and he's so awesome we're not worthy to untie his sandals, but he's the one who stoops down and does the thing that even slaves aren't supposed to do. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.160 He's a great king who serves as a slave. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:07.920 And there's something here that he's trying to point at that Jesus is the great one who washes our disciples' feet. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:17.119 And so because of that, because of how elevated he is, and because of how great he is, that is the reason he is able to wash our feet. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:23.039 Which sounds weird, but because he knows how high he is, he doesn't mind stooping low. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.480 So y'all know this. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.480 Um bullies normally aren't like really secure people. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:32.000 They're just like, man, they just they love life and feel like they're the best at everything. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:32.319 No. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.759 Bullies normally bully people because they're riddled with insecurities. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:40.480 Like they're like, I they don't feel elevated, they don't feel high, they actually feel really low. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:45.039 And so they are mean to people and push people down in order to elevate themselves. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:47.599 And what John is saying about Jesus is he's not that way. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.920 He knows how elevated he is, so he has no need to make you feel worthless. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.200 He has no need to ever push you down or to shove you down or anything like that. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.319 He'll never do that to you. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:04.640 He understands how high and exalted that he is, and so he never feels the need to make you feel inferior because he knows how superior he is. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.319 There's no need for him to do that. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:12.960 Because he is superior, he uses his place to actually lift people up, not push people down. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:16.799 He wants to lift, not to push people down, and that's what he's saying about Jesus. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:24.480 There's this great story that John Maxwell uh tells about two men who are campaigning to be prime minister in Britain. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:35.200 And uh they're meeting with this woman who I think was the mother-in-law of uh Winston Churchill, but they're meeting with her to try and get her vote and her influence and so on and so forth. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:39.599 Um Benjamin Disraeli. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:41.759 You can Google this uh because it's true. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.680 Uh but both men went to dinner with this woman, they were seeking to win her over. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:47.759 Like they're just seeking to win her over. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.440 And it says that um you can, yeah, it's fine. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:24:04.880 Um Gladstone had dinner with her first on the first night, and then Disraeli the next night follows up, has dinner with her again, and when the woman finished the meal, uh she gives her opinion of both candidates, which is up on the screen right now. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:06.319 It says, When I dined with Mr. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:10.559 Gladstone, I left thinking that he was the cleverest man in all of England. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.599 But when I dined with Mr. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:15.680 Disraeli, I left thinking that I was the cleverest woman in all of England. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:26.160 And it's a small story, but I think it shows something that I think is really interesting that like Gladstone was seeking to elevate himself in the mind of this woman. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.839 And Disraeli was seeking to just elevate the woman in her own lives. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.079 Like, I want to make you, I want to lift you up. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.480 I don't need to lift myself up in your presence. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:35.599 I need to lift you up. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:39.279 And it's clear who got the vote because he ended up winning the election. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:44.000 But Disraeli spent the whole evening asking her questions and listening intently to her responses. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:48.240 He wanted to know everything about her and was constantly steering the conversation about her. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:25:02.240 And to me, this is what John is getting at when he's saying that, like, yes, he is the most elevated, exalted one that there is, but because he is this, he actually has no need to make you and to walk into your life and make you think he's great. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.359 He knows he's great. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:08.400 He's not gonna use you to try and like, I need to, I need you to obey me and follow me so that I look awesome. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.039 And we all have bosses or have had bosses like that. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:18.160 It's like you have a boss that is like they're asking you to do a bunch of work and do good work because it's some in some sense it benefits them. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:22.880 Like it, they need something from you, but about Jesus, like he needs nothing from you. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:27.920 And so his call to be obedient to him and to follow him isn't do this so that I look good. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:30.079 He's like, do this so it goes well for you. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.079 I'm the only reason I'm asking you to follow me is so that you experience being lifted up. 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:35.920 I don't need anything to be exalted. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:36.880 I am the exalted one. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.400 And so anything I ask you to do is actually just to lift you up, not to lift me up. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.599 We do this as parents. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.680 We want our kids to behave at a restaurant. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:52.480 And it's like, it's not so that it goes well with them, it's so that we're not embarrassed in front of the other people at the restaurant when our kids are falling out on the floor and making maybe you don't do that, but I do that a little bit. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:56.160 But we ask for their obedience for ourselves. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.480 There's something we need from their obedience. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.559 And what Jesus and what John is saying about Jesus is like, there's nothing he needs from our obedience. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.359 He'll never tell us to do something to elevate himself. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.400 He'll only ever call us to do something if it benefits us. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.039 And if it doesn't benefit us, he'll never call us to do it. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:13.279 And that's what he's seeking to say here. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:23.039 You see in the Gospels that Jesus never tells people to bow down and worship him, which is odd, but he never, he never walks up to somebody and is like, bow down, worship me. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.079 He never does that. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:31.599 He's constantly walking into people's lives and saying, like, stand up, lift up, come with me, be with me, come be with me. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:32.880 I want to spend time with you. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:38.720 The only person in the scriptures who asks people to bow down and worship him is Satan. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.160 He's the only one because he's small and needs to be elevated. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.400 He's weak and needs to feel strong. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.799 And so we asked Jesus, you should bow down and worship me. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:50.559 Jesus never rolls up to the woman at the well and it's like, hey, you know what you should do? 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.000 Get on the ground and grovel. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:52.880 Never that. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:54.799 But it was like, I want to lift you up. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:59.519 I want to actually make you feel like you are more important than you currently feel that you are. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:08.240 And so he uses his elevated status in order to actually make us feel more important, not to make himself more important. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.240 And so for us, this idea, this should be freeing for us. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:18.640 This should actually be something that like he's not impressed with your greatness, so you could just get to come to him as you are. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:24.079 You don't have to like come to him and be like, Thouest Lord, listen to my prayer. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:25.039 Not that. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:27.519 You should get to like, here's where I'm at right now. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:29.279 Here's what I'm dealing with in my life. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:34.480 He loves spending time with the lowly, the broken, the confused, the doubters, the sinners. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:41.519 I was uh talking, uh Hannah Shipley sent me something the other day, and it was this man that was talking about his experience at church. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:51.599 And he's like, I went into this church and I was trying to help this lady, went in this church, and the guy that was sitting next to me or something like that looked at me and was like, hey man, it doesn't look like you belong here. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.160 And like this is what the guy's sharing at church. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.880 And I'm like, good Lord, like, and this man saying, like, probably a deacon at a church or something like that. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:00.720 So he sent me this thing and it just broke my heart. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.880 Because I'm like, people think this about Jesus. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:06.880 People think that the oh, you'd walk in church and that Jesus would be like, you don't belong here. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:08.079 He would never do that. 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:13.359 Like if you think that you don't belong here, according to the scriptures, you were the people that he sought out the most. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.519 You're like Zacchaeus and the woman at the well. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.480 Like, no one would chase after them, and he's like, I will, I will. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:23.680 I don't, their lowliness and culture or status or anything like that doesn't make me lowly. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:24.880 I'm the exalted one. 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:26.240 No one can touch that. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.920 And so I hanging out with lowly people doesn't bring down my glory. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:30.960 It doesn't happen that way. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:37.599 Because I'm exalted, I can go hang out with whoever I want to hang out with and spend time wherever I want to spend time with, because it doesn't affect my glory. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:38.640 I know who I am. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.359 And so there's this space for us that that should be free and for us. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:47.599 He wants, if you feel like I don't know that he wants to spend time with me, I'm telling you, you are the person that he probably wanted to spend time with the most. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:49.119 That's who that's who you are. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:29:09.279 And it also means for us that if he is this way, uh, that he's safe to follow, he's safe for us to follow because again, he's never gonna ask something of us that seeks to elevate himself, but rather he's he asks us to follow him and to let him lead us into spaces so that it actually lifts us up. 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:11.119 That's what he's trying to do consistently. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:15.759