WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.080 If you wouldn't mind indulging me for just a second, I don't normally do this, but I'd like to start with a repeat after me this morning. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:07.759 And so, is that okay? 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.560 Can we do this? 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:10.160 Alright, it'll be quick, I promise. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:12.720 Not this is not like a theme that's running through the entirety of the message. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:13.439 Just quick. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:14.800 Everyone say I. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.320 Well, come on, like you mean it. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:19.760 Everyone say I. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:20.559 There we go. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:21.519 Yeah, there we go. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:21.839 Okay. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.519 Everyone say duh. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:26.800 Everyone say boss. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.199 Alright, now let's put it all together. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:30.800 Repeat after me one more time. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.479 I the boss. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.520 We I'm terrible at giving these directions. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:37.359 Some of you did it with me, some afterwards. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:38.479 Let's do it one more time. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:39.200 Just repeat after me. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:40.240 I the boss. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:43.840 I deboss. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:45.280 Someone said Lily. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:46.560 You said my daughter. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.679 Actually, Judah, my two-year-old. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.159 If you've never met Judah, that's my two-year-old Judah. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:58.320 That is Judah coloring on a dry erase board without dry erase markers, because that's what Judah does. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.439 Judah is the reason I now buy extended warranties on everything that we buy. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.840 Because he is the most mischievous child we have. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.200 He's cute as can be. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:08.000 He's funny. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:09.359 He's legitimately funny. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:13.599 He has comedic timing that I am envious of because he will do horrible things. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.640 And then you look at him, and then he just has this way of making a face, and you laugh, and he knows it, and he uses it. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:20.000 I love this kid though. 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:23.040 Um Judah's an amazing, amazing child, two years old. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.400 He's definitely in that kind of terrible twos stage. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:32.400 But one of the things I hear him say most often, right now, is I the boss. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.159 Judah, like most kids, likes to watch movies, and oftentimes young children will watch the same movie over and over again. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:41.760 I remember doing that as a child. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:48.640 We had VHS tapes, and I watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movie like four times a day for a solid two years. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:49.840 It was like the early 90s. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.799 That's I'd watch it, rewind it, watch it, rewind it. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.480 With Netflix and streaming services, now you can do that to a whole other level. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:01.280 And so every month there's a new movie that Judah watches over and over and over again. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.280 Two months ago it was the movie Boss Baby. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:04.719 Has anyone seen Boss Baby? 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:05.840 You seen this movie? 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.639 Anyone here have children that are grown or you don't have kids, and you're glad you don't have to watch these movies? 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:12.879 Yeah, I'm so jealous of you. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:18.159 Um, Boss Baby, and close your ears if you don't want it spoiled, like if you've really been meaning to watch this movie. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:18.639 Okay? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:20.879 Here's the basic plot. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.680 There's a baby, but he's the boss. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:24.240 Okay? 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:25.680 He's not really like a baby. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:37.039 He's voiced by Alec Baldwin, and and and he's actually like an executive in a really secret, completely and totally out of this world advanced company that's the most powerful company in the world, and it's all run by babies who are the bosses. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:38.479 It's the movie Boss Baby. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.919 And my son watched this movie approximately 30 times, and he really took it to heart. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:45.919 Like it it penetrated. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:49.599 He watched it and he said, Yeah, I'm the boss. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:53.360 And it just so happened that when he watched it, we didn't have Eli, our newest yet. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:57.919 So in Judah's mind, he was the baby, and he saw the baby in the movie calling the shots. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:05.680 And so Judah just decided I can be that, and all of a sudden I start hearing my son Judah tell me all the time, I'd a boss. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.000 And I have to argue with him, you know? 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:13.599 When he looks at me and he says, I'd a boss, I have to go, you are clearly not the boss. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.479 Obviously, your mother is. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.120 We all know how this works, right? 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.520 Let's be real here. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.520 No, but like he'll be at dinner, and we're telling him to eat his food, and he says, No, I'd a boss. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:30.080 And we go, no, you will eat your food, and he says it again. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.240 It's time for him to go to bed, and I put him in his bed, and he gets out of his bed, and I'm like, Judah, go back to bed. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.759 And he says, No, Ida Boss. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.319 And then I physically pick him up and put him in his bed. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:46.400 And look, if someone in your life has the ability to physically pick you up and move you where they want you, they are your boss. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:47.360 Right? 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:50.800 By definition, they're the boss. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.159 But I hear Judah say that all the time: I the boss. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:55.840 And that is his perspective. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.080 That's the way he sees things. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:02.319 The funny thing about perspective is that often perspective is not reality. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.280 There's a big difference between perspective and truth. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.039 And today we get to have a conversation about the concept of truth. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:19.519 If you're just joining us, you haven't been here in a while, we're in a series right now called Blessed, and we're looking at this specific section of scripture, Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, which begins this way. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:28.639 The author, a man named Paul, wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:33.040 So, in other words, blessed be God who has blessed us with blessings. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:34.720 It's a lot of blessed. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.319 But he's not talking about blessings in the way that we often think of blessings. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:41.120 He's not talking about circumstantial blessings. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:45.279 Something really nice happens to you, you have a good day, you feel blessed. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.160 Those are great. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:46.879 Those are nice. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:53.920 Oftentimes I believe those are from God, but when life gets really hard, which it often does, those blessings don't tend to matter a whole lot. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:57.279 He's talking about what he calls spiritual blessings. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:08.639 These are blessings that are so deep, so powerful, so personal, that if we will put our faith in their reality, believe that we actually have them, and live in light of them, it will change the way we live life. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.959 It will change the way we see things. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.439 We've been blessed by God. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.000 And we've been going through these different blessings. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.199 We looked at the blessing of holiness, we looked at the blessing of being adopted into God's family, we looked at the blessing of grace. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.399 Today we're going to look at the blessing of truth. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.000 Ephesians chapter 1, verse 12. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:37.360 God's purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ, and Paul is writing as a Jewish man, we who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:44.079 And now you Gentiles, which is a word that just means anyone who's not Jewish, have also heard the truth, the good news that God saves you. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:45.680 He says, Now you have heard the truth. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.839 You've been blessed with the truth. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:49.600 And that's what we're talking about today. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:54.319 Now I had a little bit of a panic attack yesterday as I was finishing up the message. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.079 I'm not a procrastinator, but it always comes right down to the wire. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.839 And I went, man, I feel like I've talked about this really recently. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:06.000 And so I do all my messages in Google Docs and I pulled up my Google Docs and I search truth. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.639 And it's just like, oh no. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:10.959 These poor people. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.839 Apparently, this is all I talk about. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:14.560 You know? 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:20.000 And I actually was like, oh man, I feel like I've talked about this a lot lately, and it's just like a repeat thing, and I'm like, what do I do? 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:24.720 And I'm praying about it, and God's like, hey, how many times do I talk about truth in the Bible? 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.079 And it's a lot. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.759 Like if you do a Google search of truth in the Bible, you're gonna get a lot of results. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.360 Jesus said the phrase, I tell you the truth, 70 times. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.040 Just that one phrase, I tell you the truth, 70 times. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:42.240 And so the reason that we talk about truth a lot here is because God talks about it a lot in his word. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:49.279 It's almost like God knew that we would need constant reminders to pursue the truth. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:56.240 Because we live in a world that is moving rapidly away from a belief in truth. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:04.959 We live in a world in a culture right now that is moving closer and closer to this idea of individualized truth, personal truth. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.000 We hear that a lot in our culture. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:07.839 You know, you gotta find your truth. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:14.959 And your truth might be different than my truth, and my truth might be different than your truth, but what matters most is that you just find your truth. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.240 We have this idea in our world right now that truth is up to us. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:20.560 We decide what is true. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.240 I decide what's true for me, you decide what's true for you. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:28.480 The problem with that is what happens when my truth isn't the truth. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:40.160 I mean, if I get pulled over on the way home today, and I'm going 75 and a 50, and the cop says that, and I go, well, officer, my truth is that the speed limit is whatever I want it to be. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:41.759 So I feel like I was going right where I should. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.360 It's not gonna fly. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.360 What happens when my truth isn't the truth? 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.079 See, my truth is just another way for me to say perspective. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:52.959 My perspective. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:58.480 When someone says, my truth is this, what they're saying is the truth the way I see it, the problem is we don't always see it right. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:07.199 If perspective was the same as truth, my two-year-old would be the boss of me because that's what he sees. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:17.680 So we live in this world that's that's programming us to believe that we get to be the ones that define what is true, and and the consequences of that are disastrous if we let that play out. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:18.720 They really are. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:23.920 See, if you search scripture, you find that Satan has some tendencies when it comes to temptation. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:34.559 And oftentimes the tendencies of Satan are to have us aspire to be like God, even though, ironically, God created us to be like God. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:35.519 It's a funny thing. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.559 Like, God is not an oppressor, God does not keep us down. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.399 You do not read the word and find God saying, Hey, you stay in your place. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:44.879 God always lifts us up. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:45.919 He does. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:50.399 In fact, the Bible says if you give your life to Jesus, that you become a co-heir with Christ. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:56.879 So God actually raises you up in status and in importance to be co-with Jesus. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:58.799 That's pretty awesome. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:06.320 But there's a big difference between someone in authority raising you up and someone trying to raise themselves up. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:08.320 And we've probably all experienced this. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:16.960 Like, like you've probably been at a company, you've worked at a job where someone recognized the hard work of someone else, that they were dedicated, that they were doing the right thing, and they gave them a promotion. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.240 They raised them up in status, in authority, and importance. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.279 And you're like, right on. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.879 That person worked, they they did that, and it was the choice of the person in charge. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.799 We've also probably all worked with people who like to weasel their way up the ladder, right? 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:39.360 People who like to use other people, people who like to lie, steal, cheat, whatever they have to do to get ahead, and they find a way to get up in an organization, but it's not done the right way. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:45.679 See, Satan doesn't want us to experience the blessing of God looking at us and saying, Let me lift you higher. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:52.559 Satan wants us to believe that God would not lift us higher, that God wants to keep us down, so we have to be the ones that raise ourselves up. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:57.120 And we find ourselves often being tempted to be our own God. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.960 We see that from the very beginning of Scripture. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:06.799 In Genesis, Satan essentially tempts Adam and Eve to say, Hey, no, no, don't listen to what God says is good. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:07.759 What God says is evil. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.879 You can define what is good, you can define what is evil for yourself. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:19.200 And see, when we begin to believe that we get to be the ones that define what is true, oh my goodness, the consequences. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:20.240 They're dire. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.679 Because only God can define truth. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:29.519 We can discern truth, we can perceive truth, but only God is the one who gets to define truth. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.000 And this isn't just talk, this isn't just like an idea. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:35.600 This is something that's actually played out in history. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:42.399 For example, Old Testament, in the book of Judges, we see this one phrase repeated twice, word for word, exactly. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.360 And keep in mind that 2,500 years ago there was no copy paste. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.559 So if you see the same exact words in multiple places, pay attention. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.480 Judges 17, 6 says, In those days, Israel had no king. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.840 All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:03.519 In Judges 21, 25, in those days Israel had no king, all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:05.840 I feel like I've read this somewhere before. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:07.919 It's the exact same words. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.159 And if you read that, you might go, wow, that seems like a good time. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.759 Those must have been the glory days, because there was no king, there really wasn't much of a government structure at all. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:21.120 Everyone just did whatever they felt was right for them. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:23.759 But these were horrible times. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.480 If you study the book of Judges, you find that Israel had had really some of the worst times they had in their entire history during this period. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:36.080 They're constantly oppressed, they're constantly on the brink of collapse, they're starving. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:42.159 They're literally hanging on by a thread because everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:49.759 And here's the funny thing: when everyone is committed to doing what is right in their own eyes, very few people actually do what is right. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:12:00.720 In a world where everyone's obsessed with what is right for them, very few people end up valuing what is right at all. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:07.759 And in this world where everyone decides what's true for them, things fall apart very quickly. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:11.840 That's what happened with the people during the time of the judges in the Old Testament. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.840 That's what happens when we decide to define what is true. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.559 So perception and truth are not the same. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.919 And when we start to elevate our perception to the level of truth, we find ourselves in real trouble. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:33.360 Number one, because it's silly for us even to believe we can do that in the first place, because of how easily lied to we are. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:35.759 Like, is anyone here willing to admit that you're gullible? 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.799 Is anyone here gullible? 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:38.480 Come on, any gullible people? 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:46.240 I once bought this device that you wrap around your waist, and it's supposed to electrically shock your abs into working. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.559 And the idea is that you can sit on the couch and watch a movie and get a six-pack at the same time. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:52.399 I bought that. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.000 As an adult man, I went, yeah, that's what I've been waiting for. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.519 And if I took my shirt off right now, you would know it did not work like at all. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:05.360 But I fell for it. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:06.559 Like, marketing is really good. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:07.120 I fell for it. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:08.559 We get lied to all the time. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:17.120 We get lied to so often and we fall for so many lies that it's crazy for us to believe that we could actually be the ones that define what is true and what is not. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:23.600 My son is, my oldest son, Liam, he's in school and so he's hanging out with all kinds of kids. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:30.240 And it's really weird when you're a dad of a young child that's also hanging out with other young children and you realize how much more you love your children than other people's children. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.720 It's a really interesting scenario because sometimes you feel like a real jerk. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:38.480 It's hard to look at a seven-year-old kid and be like, I don't like him at all. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:39.519 You know? 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.080 But I have that happen to me sometimes. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:51.840 And so my son has this one friend, and I'm sure he's gonna turn out great, but right now, uh, and so this kid, this kid comes over to our house and he just lies. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.120 He lies constantly, everything that comes out of his mouth. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.919 And he says it to me like he doesn't know that I'll know that it's it's not true. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.440 He'll say things to me like, you know, Mr. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:00.480 McTearr, blah, blah, blah. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.360 And I'm like, that is, mmm, you are a liar. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:04.240 You know? 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:05.440 But what do you say? 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:06.559 The kid's seven years old. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:07.519 What do you say to him? 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:08.879 You just kind of go, Oh, really? 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:09.919 Oh, interesting, hmm. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:11.200 You know, and you walk away. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:16.480 One day my son gets off the bus and he's like, Hey dad, you know, my friend, and he's talking about this kid. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.039 He said, Did you know he has a million dollars? 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:25.519 And they live in our neighborhood, and our neighborhood is fine, but it would be an interesting choice if you're a millionaire. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.679 Um, and I was like, Really? 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:34.799 Because I know his parents, I know what they do for a living, and unless they're doing something wrong, uh that seems unlikely. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:38.000 And he and he's like, No, no, no, he has a million dollars. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.519 Like, at his house, he has a million dollars. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.360 And I was like, Oh, son, I'm so glad you saw it. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:44.799 Let's talk about your friend. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.320 He's a liar. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:51.679 Do not listen to a word he says. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:52.799 Ever. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.960 If he tells you anything, first come talk to me. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.919 Then you can figure out if you're gonna do it or not, right? 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:01.039 My son fell for it. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:01.919 Oh, he's got a million dollars. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.200 All the kids said was I have a million dollars. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:04.639 My son's like, cool. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.440 Because by nature, we are susceptible to being lied to. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:08.799 We are, we're gullible by nature. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.399 The only reason we become cynical is because we're lied to so often. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:20.000 But even as adults, we fall for lies left and right, not just lies outside of us, what about lies within us? 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.440 You ever catch yourself lying to yourself? 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.440 You ever believe yourself when you lie to yourself? 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:29.200 That's possible. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:34.960 See, if you if you say something often enough, even if it's not true, you'll believe it. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.840 And if you believe something long enough, it'll crystallize and you'll actually see it as like a self-evident truth. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:41.120 You won't even need evidence anymore. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.600 You'll just be like, well, clearly this is the truth. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.679 Even if it's not. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.720 I've seen so many people do that. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:16:08.000 It's one of the unique situations I find myself in is oftentimes people come to me in situations of crisis and they want to meet with me and they want to talk with me about what's going on, and I get to walk through that with them, and I enjoy that in a strange way because I love people and I like being with people in hard times and praying for them and talking with them, but I watch people in those situations lie to themselves all the time. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:12.720 A few years ago, I had a gentleman that I had known for a while come to me and he was broken. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.399 He was in tears. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:21.679 And he confessed to me that he had done something really wrong, that he had he had broken the law several times, and that he had been caught. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.600 So his arrest was imminent. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:40.240 And he's talking with me and he's telling me what he did, and he knew he was wrong, and he knew he was wrong when he did it, and he just said, I just kind of found myself in this pattern where I couldn't stop, and I'm really scared for what's gonna happen because what I did was wrong, and I'm gonna get arrested, I'm gonna go to jail, I don't know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna lose everything, and I'm praying with him, and I'm just going, God, like, tell me what to say. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.320 I am not prepared for this. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:49.840 But he was humble, like he was contrite, he he was admitting his fault. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:51.759 He ended up getting arrested. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:52.639 Fast forward two months. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:58.720 I went to visit him in jail, and surprisingly, I found out that he was pleading not guilty. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.919 And it was so weird because I was like, that seems different than what you said. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:21.359 And you know, and I watched him as he sort of talked and rationalized, and you know, you talk to enough people, and you start thinking to yourself, well, you know, really this wasn't my fault because I was in this situation, and honestly, if if this hadn't happened, then I wouldn't have had to, and it really, really it's someone else's fault. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.359 But I could tell that he he that's what he believed at that moment. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.000 And it broke my heart. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.279 People lie to themselves often. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.799 I I once knew this college kid, this kid was a moron, okay? 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:36.720 Just uh, what an idiot. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.799 Um this kid was addicted to pornography, okay? 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:48.799 And his excuse for looking at pornography, like you guys need to understand, this kid was an idiot, okay? 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:54.160 His excuse for looking at pornography was that he was committed to a pure relationship with his girlfriend. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:56.880 So he was, and he was doing that. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.240 He was in a relationship with a girl, they were serious, but they were, they were doing it right. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:12.480 They were saving sex for marriage, he was committed to that, and he was actually saying that because he was so committed to purity in his actual relationship, that somehow justified his need to look at pornography. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:18.799 So this moron was saying, I'm so dedicated to sexual purity that I look at pornography. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.680 Isn't that crazy? 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.319 The idiot was me, so that's why I'm saying that. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:25.839 Like, I'm not a jerk, okay? 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.000 So if you're sitting there like, man, you're being kind of harsh on this kid. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:29.200 No, no, that idiot was me. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:30.160 That was me in college. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.680 College Justin was dumb. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:37.200 If I could go back in time and like see college Justin, I wouldn't even have a conversation with him. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.079 I would just punch him. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.359 That's all I would do. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:47.039 And it would be like a one-two punch for him because first he would like open the door and see older me, and he would go, oh no, I gained significant weight. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.880 And then, boom, punch. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:53.200 So it'd be like a whammy, like, oh no, double, double pain. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:19:07.599 But no, in college, I found myself saying to myself, man, if it wasn't for me being so focused in my relationship and making sure that I'm doing this right, I wouldn't, I wouldn't need this. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:19.119 And I lied to myself and actually convinced myself over time that because I was doing something so good, it made it somehow okay for me to do this other thing that was clearly not. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:26.240 We're all susceptible to lies, even lies in ourselves. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:36.799 And as susceptible as we are to being lied to, you'd think that we would learn that conflating our perception with truth is a really bad idea, but yet we do it. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.039 We're warned about this, by the way, in Scripture, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.960 Paul's talking about a time that he hopes we will grow to a place of complete maturity. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:48.079 And he says, if that happens, then we will no longer be immature like children. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.880 We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:55.519 We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.519 There are a lot of those lies out there. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.440 And there are a lot of those lies in here. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:05.200 And if we believe them and if we act on them, we find ourselves in serious trouble. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.039 There's an author named Jordan Peterson. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:12.160 I read this quote really recently, I uh blew me away. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:19.279 He says, if you betray yourself, if you say untrue things, if you act out a lie, you weaken your character. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:24.720 If you have a weak character, then adversity will mow you down when it appears, as it will inevitably. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:37.599 If we build our lives on something as shaky as our truth, if we build our lives on something as unsubstantial as our perception, we are in trouble. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:39.920 But see, Jesus promised us something better. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:51.119 Jesus said in Matthew 7, 24 that if anyone would listen to what he said and actually do it, he said, anyone who listens to my teachings and does it is like a person who builds their house on solid rock. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:52.240 On solid rock. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:21:04.000 And then he goes on to say that though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, in other words, no matter what comes its way, it will not collapse because it's built on bedrock. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.480 Jesus offers us the truth. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:14.799 Something far stronger, something far more dependable than our truth. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.640 We find Jesus talking about this all the time. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.319 Scripture talks about this constantly. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:21.440 Jesus brought it up a lot. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:27.039 In John 14, 6, Jesus had the audacity to say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.640 He said, I am the truth. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:36.480 In John chapter 8, Jesus said, You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:45.680 In John 16, 13, he says, when the Holy Spirit comes and he calls him the Spirit of truth, he says that the Spirit of truth will lead you into all truth. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:52.400 So to know God and to have the Holy Spirit active in our lives means that we will be led to the truth. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:59.759 Philippians 4 8 says, and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.519 And pure and lovely and admirable. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.599 Think about these things, things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.640 The truth will set you free. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.319 The truth stands up. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.799 The truth holds up. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:22.559 Set your thoughts, set your minds on the truth. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:27.039 Be relentlessly dedicated to learning the truth. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:40.319 If you want to find the life that God has for you, if you want to find a connection with God and a relationship with God that maybe you've never even experienced before, be relentlessly devoted to the truth. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:45.279 Be a person who refuses to settle for perception when you can know the truth. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.400 You do that, you will find God. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.359 You'll find God in places you never know He was. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:56.319 Because when you seek the truth, you find Jesus. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:04.880 In fact, it's that very thing that led the Greek people in Jesus' day to Jesus Himself. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:11.440 The message of Jesus began in the Jewish community, but it quickly spread to the Gentiles and in the Greek world, it exploded like wildfire. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:13.680 People were being baptized left and right. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:22.640 People were coming to know Jesus left and right, and it was spreading to such a capacity that the Jewish leaders, the people who were the leaders of the early church, they had to have like a big meeting to say, hey, what do we do? 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.759 This is growing so fast in the Greek community, we don't even know how to handle it. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:39.359 They hadn't even thought about that happening, and not that rapidly, but the thing that made the Greek people so ready for Jesus was that they were relentlessly dedicated to finding the truth. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.079 They'd had philosophers, men like Socrates, who had kind of stoked that in them. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:45.839 And these were men that wanted to know the truth. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.119 They had this idea that had formed in the Greek community called the Logos. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:53.839 And the Logos was a Greek word that meant like the eternal truth. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:03.759 And they believed in like a pantheon of gods, Zeus with the lightning bolts and Hercules and all those kind of guys, but but they even understood that, yeah, yeah, yeah, those gods, maybe they're real, maybe they're not, but there's something even bigger than that. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.960 They looked at the world and they saw the order in the world and they thought to themselves, there has to be some guiding principle. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:11.839 There has to be some truth that is over everything. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:13.920 And they called that truth the logos. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.640 And they talked about it and they sought it out and they tried to figure out what that was. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.200 And so John, Jesus' best friend, wrote his account of Jesus' life. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.319 We call it the Gospel of John. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:25.920 He wrote that to the Greek people. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:27.680 And he begins in a really interesting way. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:29.759 He doesn't talk about Jesus' birth or anything like that. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:36.559 He begins with this kind of poetic statement where he says, In the beginning, the word already existed. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:38.880 The word was with God, and the word was God. 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:40.880 He existed in the beginning with God. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.640 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:48.799 The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:52.400 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.319 He's talking about Jesus. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:57.920 We just sang about that, by the way, in the song right before the message. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.039 That the word was there at the beginning. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:09.680 And it's interesting because remember, John's communicating to the Greek people when he writes this, and the word in the Greek that we translate the word is logos. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:14.640 So if you read this in the Greek, John is saying, hey, the Logos was with God. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:16.559 And they would all have been like, Yeah, we know that. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.160 We've been seeking this, we've been talking about this, the Logos, the eternal truth. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.480 And he's saying, Yeah, you're right, there is an eternal truth. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.480 Yes, there is something that is above all things. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:27.039 Yes, there is something that everything was created through. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.000 There is that, that Logos, and his name is Jesus. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.400 And the Greek people found in Jesus the very thing they had been hungering for. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:36.000 They found the truth. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:40.799 Truth so strong you can build your life on it. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:47.519 We all know what it's like to have a shaky foundation. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:26:01.519 It's one of the hardest things as a parent is to watch your children build their lives on shaky foundations and find that balance between telling them that's gonna fail miserably and then letting them actually grow and develop as human beings. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.880 I have to do that even with my youngest kids when they build blocks. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:08.480 I'm like, that's gonna, that's that's a terrible, you're you're not a good architect. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:12.799 Like you've got the you've got the small block on the bottom, you've got the big block, you're not even balancing it correctly. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.559 Like, what are you, what is wrong with you? 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:15.519 What is wrong with you? 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:16.160 You're four. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.359 Come on, get this. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:18.240 You know? 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.799 This is basic math. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.440 And you watch you, I watch my my daughter build block towers, and she's like, Dad, watch. 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:26.559 And I'm like, that's great, honey. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:28.240 That's gonna, that's gonna fall down. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.720 It's gonna fall down real soon. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:34.000 But I have to let her, you know? 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.319 That's the balance that we have to walk. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:43.359 Well, we all know what it's like to build life on a shaky foundation in some way, whether it's our financial lives or our relationships. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:49.680 You know, if you get married because you're really attracted to the person, you know, beauty fades. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.799