WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 When I was converted, God wasn't standing on the door knocking, going, pretty pleased with heaven on top, Neil. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:07.200 It's me. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.679 Would you exercise your free will? 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.960 And uh because I'd like to come in, but there's no doorknob. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.240 What am I gonna do? 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:15.919 I'm the God of the universe. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:22.160 I spoke the world into existence, and yet I somehow can't figure out a way to get into your little punky heart. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.879 This is how I understand the Immaculate Conception. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:30.879 Because on July 5th, 1982, when I was converted, there was no knocking. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.079 It was like a SWAT team showed up in my front yard with a battery ram. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:41.039 Boom! I'm in back there playing mad and smoking weed, and Jesus kicks the door down, comes down the hall, kicks my bedroom door down. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:46.399 I'm like, you're violating my rights, gets me by the neck, and is kicking me in the butt, walking me out the door. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:49.119 This is and you know what he's saying? 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.439 He's going, This is all mine now, okay? 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:52.399 I own you. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:53.439 You're mine. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:02.960 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:08.640 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.680 Pray together, church. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.799 Lord, we uh truer words have never been spoken. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:16.879 There's nothing of which you are not worthy. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.879 And so let us uh square ourselves up today with that understanding. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.599 We also understand that all creation is groaning. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:33.920 So we watch the news, we're not going to be emotionally dysregulated because all creation, not just humanity, but the rocks and trees and skies and seas, and it's not climate change. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:46.879 It's creation is groaning because it's waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, for the daughters of God to be revealed, because creation knows what we need to understand today, and that is that things are not as as they were created to be. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.280 And it's because of sin. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.920 So all creation is groaning, and that's on one side of the scale. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.719 And on the other side, God, we have this beautiful reality that says a new creation is coming. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:04.400 An advent is a great time to remind ourselves that we're stuck between your first coming and your second coming. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.439 And when you come again, you're gonna you're gonna make all things new, you're gonna right every wrong. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.719 So we don't have to be justice warriors and scorekeepers. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.120 We can be the freest cat in the room. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.360 Winsome, liberated, full of grace and truth people. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.400 And so, Holy Spirit, illuminate the word today so that we that we see in the word. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:26.879 Not on some podcast, but we see in the word. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:28.479 This is this is how you get there. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.479 This is how you come to peace with what God is doing in the world. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.520 So, Holy Spirit, do that in us this morning. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:36.000 We pray. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:37.280 And we pray in Jesus' name. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.599 And everyone said, Amen, amen. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:40.879 You could have a C if you got a Bible. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.199 I invite you to take and open up to Matthew chapter 1. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:44.719 If you don't have a Bible, don't sweat it. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.560 It'll come up on the screen here behind me. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.719 Uh, if you're our guest today, let me say welcome. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:49.439 We're glad you're here. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.800 Thanks for giving us your morning. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:55.439 We pray that what you experience today will cause you to want to give us more Sunday mornings in the future. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.639 We are celebrating Advent here at Grand Parkway, which is the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.080 And each Sunday there's a theme. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:03.360 Last week was hope. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.960 We talked about from Matthew 1 finding hope in the genealogy of Jesus. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.120 Uh long list of names. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.000 Uh, and today uh the the theme is peace. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.599 And I'll talk to you about how to be at peace with what God does. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:17.360 How to be at peace with what God does. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.240 Because sometimes God does things that we do not agree with. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:21.120 Amen. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:23.120 I don't think you heard the question. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.080 Let me ask it again. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:29.120 Sometimes God does things that we do not agree with or we were not expecting, amen? 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.840 And you're kind of like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:32.639 Hello? 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.080 I didn't see that coming. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.280 See, here's the curse of not being sovereign, not being in charge. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.080 There's a look at me, there's a lot of things that are gonna happen in this life that you did not see coming. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.719 But there's nothing that will happen to you in this life that God did not see coming. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.000 Now, I'm not saying God is morally responsible for that. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:52.319 I'm just saying God is aware of that. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.479 Do you understand the difference in those two? 00:03:54.719 --> 00:04:00.080 And so when I talk about how to be at peace with what God does, I think Mary and Joseph are a great example of that. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.759 And I'll show you why in the Bible. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.879 I want to start reading to Matthew chapter 1, verse 18. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.080 Uh, I my fear is that we've heard this so much that it no longer burns and jolts us like, what? 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:14.400 But just try to hear this again this morning for the first time. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.199 Matthew 1, verse 18, the gospel says this. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.600 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:26.480 When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:32.560 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:40.879 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.519 For what for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:51.439 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.959 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:01.199 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:05.279 When Joseph woke from the sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.920 He took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.480 And he called his name Jesus. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.439 Now, what do I mean how to be at peace with what God does? 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.160 There's four uh five things in the text I want to point to. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.040 And the first one is a long one, but stay with me. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:27.120 And it's simply this you have to understand that life is designed to be a response to what God is doing. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.920 You have to you have to understand that life is designed to be a response. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.439 It's designed by God to be a response to what God is doing. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:36.720 That's verse 18. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.920 It says, now, now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.720 Now when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, big statement there. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:45.279 Two things. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.120 It says that they were betrothed. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:48.720 Uh, we don't have a concept for that. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.160 It's like they're not married. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.079 I remember in high school, my friends would date a girl for a while and they would give her a promise ring. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.360 Does anybody remember a promise ring? 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:56.000 Say amen. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:00.160 I had a friend, I bet he gave seven girls a promise ring before we graduate high school. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.720 I'm just like, dude, how many woman, how many promises can you make before no one believes you anymore? 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:05.439 Shut up, man. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.120 I'm gonna find my wife in high school. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:09.600 That's an East Texas phrase right there. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:11.920 Nobody in the city says that, okay? 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:14.879 And so, but betrothed, it was legally obligated. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.759 They weren't married, but it's like they were legally obligated. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.920 And if you were gonna break a betrothal, you had to give a you had to get a divorce. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:22.959 So this is serious. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:28.639 The Bible says they were betrothed, and here's what's shocking in this culture, they had not yet come together. 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:35.600 They had not been together physically, they were together in a relationship where there was no physical union between the two of them. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.920 And so Mary and Joseph had plans, and then God crashes in on it with these words before they came together. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.160 She was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:44.959 Uh-oh. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:49.759 She was pregnant with child. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:52.879 And they said this is from the Holy Spirit. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:57.279 And so I want you to understand that life is designed to be a response to what God is doing. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:12.639 Does anybody remember where you were in October of 1990 when this little workbook thing, kind of probably one of the first ones, I don't know if it was the first one, but really consequential ones, dropped out on us by a guy named Henry Blackaby, a little workbook called Experiencing God. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.480 Did anybody remember Experiencing God? 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.240 And it was a workbook, great thing. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.560 October of 1990, it made its debut. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:28.240 And basically the whole premise of experiencing God, which was apparently new to all Christians in America, was this: find out where God is at work and join him there. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.800 Find out where God is at work. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.439 Now, don't you go to work and say, God, I'm over here. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:34.959 Come find me and bless me. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.319 You find out where God is at work and you join him there. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.240 Now, just get that in your mind now. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:50.800 Have you ever look around and wonder if God really designed all of us to be pretty much the same, to love the same things, to have the same responses to all things, to live lives that love and value what everybody else loves and values? 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:57.040 Do you think God really said two years ago, all women and girls in America should wear Lululemon shorts? 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:02.000 I mean, do you really and I'm not hating on Lululemon? 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:08.160 I just think it's it's just that, oh, I'm supposed to be and look like everybody else, and if I don't, I'm somehow out of sync. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.000 Here's what I'm suggesting this morning. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:17.920 This happens because we've been raised to believe in a God who responds to what you're doing and which teaches you to live life backwards. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:23.360 In this setting, God is the handmaiden of your whims, as Jordan Peterson said recently. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:27.040 Again, our lives are designed to be a response to what God is doing. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:35.200 And this is why so many people can be successful and dissatisfied because uh even their success is not connected to anything bigger than them. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:42.480 And I submit to you this morning that Mary and Joseph are a great picture of what life looks like when it is a response to what God is doing. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.039 And let me tell you, understatement of the morning, God was doing a lot. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.080 Let me just read from the last part of verse 18 again. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.960 And she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.240 Now, what does this mean? 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.679 Okay, let's establish this fact that no sexual act took place. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:07.679 Now that may seem obvious to us, but it's important to state that explicitly because it's exactly what Muslims and Mormons believe, okay? 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:13.200 To them, the title Son of God means a physical union took place between God the Father and Mary. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:24.080 This is one of the reasons that uh that our belief of the deity and the sonship of Christ is a stumbling block to Muslims because they're like, hey, your God slept with Mary, and that's how baby Jesus is the Son of God. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.399 How can it be the Son of God if this didn't happen? 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.960 Because he does not understand, they do not understand the immaculate, it's called the Immaculate Conception. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.519 And so they're like, I I don't know what you mean. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.000 And so uh Luke 1 gives us a lot more granularity, so I want to read from it. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:45.039 Uh, and I don't want to read all that I have because the beautiful Fleming family read it earlier, but I just want to jump in. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.480 Come on on the screen a little past halfway in verse 35. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:49.360 It says this. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.320 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be? 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:57.679 Because the angel said to her, Hey, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.519 Because but let me back up a little higher. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.039 The angel said to Mary, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.519 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.919 You shall call his name Jesus, he will be great, and we'll be called the Son of the Most High. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:16.559 The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:21.279 And like, if you I mean, I love that the Bible is just like, hey, this is the way humans respond to this. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:28.240 It's like, God, we're doing this, we're betrothed, we're abstaining from sex, we're saving ourselves for marriage, kooky biblical idea. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.759 And you're telling me that I'm c I have a child in me? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.240 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin? 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:42.080 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.240 Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:47.919 Now hear that again. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.440 And Mary said, How will this be since I am a virgin? 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:56.000 Now, if you're sitting here today and you're like, this whole virgin birth thing, you Christians, I don't know where you get that from. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:57.360 This is where we get this from. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:04.559 And I talked about it last week, so I won't I won't go into much detail other than just to say again, the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:06.320 You have a frame of reference for this. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.559 You just don't, you just don't realize it. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:10.720 And the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.879 The power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.360 Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:26.879 Now, Mary's conception, here's what I'm getting at, okay, was totally an act of God and did not involve Joseph, watch me, or Mary. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:36.399 Was totally an act of God, did not involve Joseph or Mary, which is why verse 35 is so essential to our understanding. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.279 Now you may be thinking, ah, I don't know about that. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.919 If you're a Christian, you have a frame of reference for the Immaculate Conception. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.000 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.159 Because the same thing happened to you at conversion. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:49.440 Hear this language again. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:58.879 The Holy Spirit came upon you, the power of the Most High overshadowed you, and you were born again, called holy, a child of God. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.679 You did not play a role in that. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:09.039 I sat recently and listened to a man just try to explain to people the gospel, and I was like, this is not true. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.320 And I just felt sad. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:11.600 I wasn't angry, I was just sad. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.639 He said, you know, Jesus is standing on the door and knocking, and there's not a doorknob on the outside. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:17.679 Jesus can't get in. 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.879 You got to get up and exercise your free will and open, turn the doorknob and let Jesus in. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:25.919 And I'm like, please don't let people believe this, God. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:27.600 I'm praying against this. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.960 Here, because here's why. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:29.679 Conversion. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:35.840 When I was converted, God wasn't standing on the door knocking, going, pretty pleased with heaven on top, Neil. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.039 It's me. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.519 Would you exercise your free will? 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.799 And uh because I'd like to come in, but there's no doorknob. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.000 What am I gonna do? 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.759 I'm the God of the universe. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:52.000 I spoke the world into existence, and yet I somehow can't figure out a way to get into your little punky heart. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.639 This is how I understand the Immaculate Conception. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:00.639 Because on July 5th, 1982, when I was converted, there was no knocking. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.840 It was like a SWAT team showed up in my front yard with a battering round. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:10.799 Boom! I'm in back there playing Madden and smoking weed, and Jesus kicks the door down, comes down the hall, kicks my bedroom door down. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:16.159 I'm like, You're violating my rights, gets me by the neck, and is kicking me in the butt, walking me out the door. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.960 This and you know what he's saying? 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.279 He's going, This is all mine now, okay? 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.960 I own you, you're mine. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:24.320 Get out of the front yard. 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:29.679 Then he got to Madden and wrapped the cords up and threw it in the bathtub and ran water on it. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.440 You're not gonna need this anymore. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.279 I'm so much more fascinating than fantasy, son. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.200 And guess what? 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:46.320 As a result of that, because the power of the Most High overshadowed me, I was born again, called holy, and a child of God. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.320 I am a product of immaculate conception. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:51.840 Spread the word. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.159 Yes, there was no. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:13:59.840 Guess who it is? 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:02.399 Because look at me. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:08.320 Your free will loves you too much to subject you to this. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.000 Your flesh? 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.039 Whoo! Oh, are you serious? 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.440 Do you not know yourself that well? 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:17.200 Yes. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:17.919 Yes. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.360 Second thing I want you to understand is that who you are informs your response. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.559 What do you mean, who you are informs your response? 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.440 Uh so here's the the easy part of this. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:32.559 If you don't like who you are, or excuse me, if you don't like how you respond, change who you are. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:38.080 I gotta confess that I always thought that these experiences uh made them into these kind of people. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:49.840 But as I read over this and kind of immersed myself in it, the Bible's very clear that that how they were, this is who they were and how they were before this happened, before the angel, before the dream, all this stuff. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.879 And this is why God involved them on such a grand scale. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.240 So we gotta be asking ourselves, why does not God involve me more? 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.720 It's not because God's not on the move. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:03.440 It's because who we are could not contain all that God wanted to do. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.399 And there's not a sadder statement in the world, beloved. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:11.600 You just gotta could all of us tonight before you go to bed just say, Lord, I don't want to miss out, okay? 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:16.159 I don't want to worship a Jesus that knocks on my door, the door of my heart and asks me for permission. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:21.679 I want the Jesus that kicks the door down and takes me and says, I you belong to me, okay? 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:29.039 This this is as as miraculous as the Immaculate Conception, because you by nature could not get this on your own. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.200 You don't even desire this on your own. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.720 And so there's two things that should strike you about Mary and Joseph, okay? 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:38.240 Number one, how heaven talks about these people of earth. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:40.639 How heaven talks about these people of earth. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:41.200 What do you mean? 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:44.080 The Bible says that Joseph being a just man. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:50.399 Joseph being he didn't become a just man, he was being a just man when this happened. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:59.200 And Joseph, Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:00.879 No, why is that such a big deal? 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:02.720 Because just men act justly. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:07.840 Just men, fellas, we don't re-in-the-they don't reinvent themselves in every ethical dilemma. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:09.440 Most of us are good. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:14.080 Uh uh, I want to talk to you about vertical righteousness and horizontal righteousness. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.320 Most of us are good at vertical righteousness. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.879 Vertical righteousness is what you understand, no believe in practice between you and God. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:21.519 We got that. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:22.559 I believe in God. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:23.440 I love God. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:24.960 I believe Jesus was the Son of God. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:26.240 I believe in the virgin birth. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.080 All that's vertical righteousness. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.799 Horizontal righteousness is the way you treat other people. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:39.279 And Joseph was just horizontally in the way he treated Mary. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:40.480 Does that make sense? 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:41.519 Say amen. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.919 Vertical righteousness, that is great. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:52.080 Let me confess my horizontal righteousness and how every once in a while I gotta, I think God puts me in situations like at Costco the other day. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:58.159 I'm I'm I'm coming down the aisle because I start in the very front row because I think the Lord, I'm his favorite, he's gonna open up a parking space for me. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.360 And lo and behold, I saw some white reverse lights. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:07.359 I slammed all my brakes and I kind of did, and the person, but they backed out and they backed out towards me. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.359 And I backed up a little bit and they backed out, they backed out too much. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:16.480 And a little MG midget, whatever, Mini Cooper, shot in there. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:20.240 And my first thought was, oh no, you didn't. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:27.920 And then the person in front of me waved and then pulled off, and I was like, You ain't gotta back up 40 feet, lady, just get out of the way. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.000 So I had to park in Egypt. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.960 I had to stop for a snack on my way to the front door. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:41.519 And don't think as I was walking, I didn't see the person driving the Mini Cooper who got out and was looking for her Costco card. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.400 And I was like, mm-hmm, yeah, how you feeling now? 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.799 I got the stink eye on you, lady. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:52.960 And we just so both told me happened to be in the Coke Zero aisle five minutes later. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.720 Somebody's following the dialogue. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.160 Somebody out here went, uh-oh. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.279 Yes. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.079 And guess what? 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:05.039 That little voice in my head said, This is where we practice our horizontal righteousness. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:10.559 You mean I get to tell her how right I was and how wrong she was for taking my parking space? 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.160 No, no, and she's like, ha ha ha ha ha. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.759 And I said, Hey, I needed to walk anyway, it's no big deal. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:19.599 And she said, Well, I felt kind of bad. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.279 I mean, I feel bad. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.039 I needed to walk. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.279 Well, I wonder if you remembered. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.599 No, I didn't remember, I just guessed. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.079 Yes, look at me. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:36.720 You're gonna have opportunities this week to practice your horizontal righteousness. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:41.279 It's it's not enough to say vertically, I'm I'm good, I'm righteous. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:48.000 Joseph, being a just man, he didn't become some of you are waiting to become what you should already be. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.359 He being a just man, okay? 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:58.799 Most of us, again, are good at uh when our righteousness is vertical, but when it's horizontal, I remember years ago meeting with a couple in counseling. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:07.200 Um the woman had been unfaithful, and the man was like, and and and and we were like six sessions in, and and I it something got named for me. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:09.839 I was like, man, you are very self-righteous. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:10.880 And I said, Can I ask a question? 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:11.440 He goes, Yeah. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.960 I said, Do you think your wife being unfaithful made you more righteous? 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:16.240 He's like, What do you mean? 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:19.440 I said, Because you are very self-righteous, very noble. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.720 You you almost you might as well come out and say, I mean, she ought to be glad that I chose to forgive her. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.319 And he goes, I think that. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:32.720 I think that I said, You're just holding this over her head, like, hey, you cheated, and now I get to be in charge of the relationship. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.440 You think your wife's infidelity gives you power? 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.559 Well, I don't know about that language, but I I do think I'm a good man. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:40.319 I said, not about being a good man. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.480 There's a difference in good and self-righteous. 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:49.200 I said, your vertical righteousness is one thing, your horror, your horizontal righteousness stinks. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:50.640 He said, Well, what do you mean? 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.960 I said, here's how your wife will know you've forgiven her. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.000 You stop relating to her, like, eh, you and I both know. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:57.680 Aren't you glad I forgave you? 00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.960 He goes, I don't know what you mean. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:00.640 I said, You ever read the Old Testament? 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:01.839 He said, I'm not much. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.559 I said, Are you familiar with the story of Hosea and Gomer? 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:06.160 And I don't know what you're talking about. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.480 I said, Hosea was a guy that married to a woman named Gomer. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.680 First of all, that name that should have been a bad sign right there. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:17.119 None of you named your daughters Gomer, and you will not after this. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:20.240 And so Gomer was she was unfaithful. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:22.880 She was cheated on him multiple times. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:31.519 And then he's back at home just chilling, and he gets word, by the way, she has been unfaithful multiple times, and now no one wants her. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:33.519 They're selling her down there at the slave market. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.039 And God told Hosea, you go down there and buy her back. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.079 Now this guy is like, Are you serious? 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.440 That's in the Bible? 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.960 Yes, yes. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:49.599 And he goes down there, and if you read it, it's Hosea chapter 3, it's only like six or seven verses. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:54.960 It's not that long, but basically it lists out all her sins, and then he says, and so I bought her. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.400 And he's like, So what do you say? 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.920 And I said, Physically, you're Hosea, and your wife is Gomer. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.960 Let's just take the obvious. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.079 He goes, Okay, yeah? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:06.880 And I said, Oh man, your nobility loves that. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:08.160 But look at me. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.559 Spiritually, you're Gomer. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:20.720 You hoard around on God, and you're down there being sold to the highest bidder of the slave market, and God went down there and raised his paddle and said, I want that one. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.880 Unless you can, this is where you get the capacity to be gracious to your wife. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:26.720 You embrace that you're Gomer. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.880 And he's like, the wife is bawling. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.119 He's like, I don't know about that. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:34.799 That's because you're self-righteous. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.319 Your righteousness doesn't come from God, it comes from yourself. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.839 Well, I wasn't expecting this today. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.519 Do you know what to expect in every encounter you have? 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.279 If you do, you don't need counseling. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.920 Just stay home and look in the mirror and talk to yourself. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.319 I'm available this week, by the way. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:58.720 If you're visiting. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.759 And his wife holding on to the arms of the chair, sobbing. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.160 I mean, she's deep into the ugly cry. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.279 She just said, I'm Gomber, I'm Gomber. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:12.799 I said, Not in God's eyes. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.119 No, he bought you back. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.960 He got he ain't got a list of all your transgressions. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:21.359 He said, Why are you telling me that? 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:23.519 It's easy to be righteous vertically. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.559 It's quite another thing to be righteous horizontally. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:32.240 Especially to those who've sinned against you or wronged you or violated you. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.559 The gaping need in the church today is not for more people. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:38.000 Let me say that again. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:41.599 The church today does not need more people, contrary to popular opinion. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:43.440 We need just and righteous people. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.680 And to be just is to be righteous. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:51.759 And it describes a person whose way of thinking and feeling and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.799 To Mary, the angel says, Greetings, O favored One. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.000 The Lord is with you. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.279 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you found favor with God. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:02.319 If an angel greeted you today, what do you think they'd say? 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.240 Hey, let's cut back to one pack a day. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:08.400 Listen to this. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:09.839 This is beautiful. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:11.440 Greetings, O favored One. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.400 The Lord is with you. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.720 Don't you want to hear that once before you die? 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.039 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:20.079 Here's the second thing. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.799 I told you there's two things should strike us about Mary and Joseph. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.119 Number one, how heaven talks about these people of earth. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.039 Number two, how they respond. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.480 Especially Mary. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:30.559 Think about this just for a minute, ladies. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:32.799 I mean, you're you're you're you're you're doing everything right. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:38.079 You're betrothed, you're not sleeping with your boyfriend, saying we love each other, we're gonna get married, so it's okay. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:41.599 No, it's like, hey, we're we're we're we're doing the deal here. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.640 Can you imagine? 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.519 What Mary doesn't say is, hey, this is all well and good and everything, but God didn't consult me before he knocked me up. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:52.720