WEBVTT 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:13.359 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.399 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:27.039 Before I pray, I want to draw your attention to something that said earlier that God speaks a language that we understand. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.000 There's a lot of names for God in the Bible. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:40.640 Some of them are pretty big and hard to understand, but uh there's one you just sang about that's uh really simple and available to everybody in this room. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.920 There's a guy a long time ago, very smart, named Augustine, and he said this. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.640 Augustine was a pagan, he was a womanizer. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:47.920 He he couldn't stop. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.600 He said, Boundlessly, I'm held by a love and lust for women. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:53.039 He just couldn't stop. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.640 Uh and finally he came to faith, and all that stopped. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:57.759 He wrote these words. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:02.719 He said, God, our hearts are made for you, and they're restless until they find their home in you. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.680 Uh, you don't have to be very religious, you don't have to know the words to any of the songs we sang today. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:08.959 It doesn't mean you're a bad person. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:15.920 It just means, hey, you need to come and keep coming, and you'll kind of learn some new ways to thank God for being God, okay? 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:21.359 But one of the things I want you to know about God, one of the names that we believe applies to God is home. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.920 When he says come home, he's saying, Come here. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:27.599 Come home. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:28.400 Why? 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.519 Because you were created for a relationship with God. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:36.000 You're created by God for a relationship with God that glorifies God. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:38.799 And so he's gonna speak a language today you understand. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:41.760 So when you just think about God, just think in terms of home. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:42.879 This is what I was made for. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:45.680 You may like, eh, yeah, dude, I've done a lot of bad stuff. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.120 Though you have sinned, he has mercy and pardon. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:49.920 Okay? 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.719 The Bible says where sin did abound, grace did abound all the more. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:58.239 God has more grace than you have sin. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.879 God has more goodness than you have badness. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:03.760 It's not a contest, it's an invitation. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:05.200 Remember that today. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:05.920 Let's pray. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:07.760 Lord, thank you for the truth of your word. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:09.199 Thank you for the reality. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.560 Is that where sin did abound, grace did abound all the more. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:18.159 There were times in my life where I just thought I'd sinned so much as there's no way God could forgive me, but you did. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:19.680 And you said, Come home. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:20.400 Come home. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:21.599 That's not home. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:22.879 That is not home. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.400 It's not what I created you for. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.120 Your heart is never gonna be at peace in that. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.039 And so, Lord, I pray that we would just bring our hearts home to you today. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:37.520 So, Lord, speak to our hearts, fill our head with the truth so it finds expression in our hands this week. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.639 We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:41.120 Amen. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:42.479 You can have a C if you've got a Bible. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.080 I invite you to take it and open it up to John chapter 8, John chapter 8. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.800 And we're in this uh little three-part little thing we're calling a conversation in three movements. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.439 And uh uh, because it starts back in verse 31. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:03:06.879 Jesus would have conversations that are so consequential uh that they just kind of flowed over a period of time, and they were so much said, we gotta just kind of break it down and kind of say, okay, let's take what this means, take what this means, take what this means. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:16.400 And so uh we we we did the pr the previous two movements, uh, and this third movement is just it asked this question what are the implications of Jesus being God? 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.439 What are the implications of Jesus being God? 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:20.800 Because let me just say this. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:25.439 I know it's easy to come to church and kind of think, yeah, I don't know how that really affects my life. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:34.800 Uh I want you to see how the Bible, how practical and relative the Bible is, and how relevant because it relates to where you are and how we live. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.240 And so I just want to jump in and start reading verse 48. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.719 Now, this conversation has been going for a while now between Jesus and these very religious people, the Jews, the Pharisees. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.520 And the more Jesus talks, the angrier they get. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.919 I mean, these cats are amped up and they're kind of like, now, wait a minute, we want to believe in you. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.240 And Jesus says, Well, this is what it means to be a Christian. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:55.759 This is earlier in this chapter. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.080 And they're like, no, wait a minute, we we don't want to do that. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:02.240 And he's like, Well, you don't get to, there's no such thing as self-defined Christianity. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.360 And it applies to them and it applies to every one of you in this room. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:13.199 Anybody that's watching or listening online, you cannot just say, Well, I've got my own special relationship with God, and me and God got it all figured out. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.879 That's not Christianity, that's your version of humanism. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.399 And the Bible does not condone that, it doesn't endorse that. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:26.000 And so these guys are kind of mad because they think Jesus ought to be grateful that they've chosen to believe in him. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:39.040 And Jesus says, Here's the implications of believing in me, and now it comes to a crescendo as he kind of in no uncertain terms lets them know, hey, I'm not just a good moral teacher or prophet. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.199 I'm God with flesh and blood. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:42.399 And they go berserk. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:44.560 The Bible says it like this in verse 48. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:51.360 The Jews answered him, because Jesus says, Whoever is of God hears the words of God, and the reason why you do not hear them is that you're not of God. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:52.399 That's verse 47. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:59.439 In verse 48, they respond, the Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and you have a demon? 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:07.199 Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me, yet I do not seek my own glory. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.839 There's one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.399 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.000 The Jews said to him, Now we know you have a demon. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.279 Abraham died as in the prophets, yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:27.439 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died and the prophets died? 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.439 Who do you make yourself out to be? 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.519 Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:34.800 Hear that again. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:39.040 If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:44.879 It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God, but you have not known him. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:45.839 I know him. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.639 If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.040 But I do know him, and I keep his word. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:57.199 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it and was glad. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.000 So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and you've seen Abraham? 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:07.040 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.279 So they picked up stones to throw at him. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.879 But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:14.639 Now, what do you mean? 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:23.279 It it it it all this all kind of comes unhinged because Jesus says, Hey, I I I am, I know I've seen Abraham, I was before Abraham. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:28.480 I am the pre-existent God, I'm the Son of God sent to the world, and they're like, that just does it. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:29.759 We have got to kill you. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:35.040 Ask yourself, when's the last time you made someone so angry they picked up rocks to kill you? 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:40.720 Now, when my wife gets angry at me, which for whatever reason, I don't know why she gets them angry, but sometimes she does. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:41.439 She does this. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.920 She holds her finger up and she says, Stop talking. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:45.279 Just stop talking. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:50.240 And I'm like, No, I just gotta talk more because clearly you're not understanding me, because if you understood me, you would agree with me. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.480 And then she does the other finger and she goes, Stop talking now. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:58.879 And I'm like, just let me no, no, stop talking. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.199 I know it's hard for you, but stop talking. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.160 My wife is so nice, she will not say, shut up. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:06.560 And I say, You want me to shut up? 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:08.639 No, I want you to stop talking. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.879 And then if I persist, she'll go, full of love, shut up. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.720 I'm going, see, that didn't feel so bad, did it? 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:22.000 Never once in my in my life has my wife said, wait right here, I've got to get a rock and big enough to kill you with. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:24.800 But that's what happens here. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:27.519 That why do these people get so angry? 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.399 And what are the implications of Jesus being God? 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.360 There's three of them. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:34.560 Number one, first of all, we're free from seeking our own glory. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.399 We're free from seeking our own glory. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:37.360 Look at verse 50. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.199 This is what Jesus says to these guys. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.120 I mean, this is he's kind of explaining it. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:50.959 He that they they they accuse him of being a Samaritan and having a demon, and he says, Hey, I don't have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me, yet I do not seek my own glory. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.079 There's one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:08:00.959 Now later on, he says, uh, down about verse 54, he says, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.240 If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:11.600 Just lay that phrase over all of your social media platforms and just ask yourself, what is motivating my behavior? 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.120 Just kind of let this settle in. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:16.079 Whose glory am I seeking by what I'm about to do? 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.519 I had a conversation a while back with a 17-year-old young man. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:20.959 I like 17-year-olds. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:27.759 I remember being 17, and sometimes I want to go back and choke that 17-year-old now that I'm not 17 anymore. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.759 But he was talking about social media and he's talking about all these things I've never heard of. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:41.039 He goes, I'm on this and I'm on that, and you know, and because he said, you know, I spend about two to four hours a day, sometimes more, on all my kind of building my social media. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.879 And I said, managing my social media, and I said, What do you, what do you mean? 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.440 So he goes, Oh man, I gotta build my brand. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:50.240 And I was like, what? 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:52.080 He goes, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:53.120 Your church should be out there. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:54.320 Man, you should have a brand. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:59.360 You should be you should be engaging in branding marketing, and you personally, you should have a brand. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.279 And I'm like, dude, I have a minivan. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:02.399 I don't get a brand. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:03.679 Are you kidding me? 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.039 And everything's about that. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:06.960 And so I just thought, let me just ask this question. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:08.639 I said, hey, what motivates this? 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:09.840 Who are you trying to glorify? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:11.519 I said, because show me what's on there. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.720 There's pictures of him. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.279 Now, if you've ever done this, I'm not mocking you. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:16.240 I kind of am. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:22.639 There's pictures of him with his shirt off, turned sideways in a mirror, taking a picture of himself. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.159 And I'm like, for the love of God, my man, whose glory is this? 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.600 And he goes, I'm looking good. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.120 I got a six-pack and everything. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:30.960 And I said, and the world needs to know that. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.200 He goes, Yeah, I said, I got a 12-pack. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:34.720 The world doesn't even know that. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.039 And he's like, oh, dude, it's all about brandy, man, because chicks check me out. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:40.879 And I was like, what in the world? 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.559 I just kept coming back and I said, hey, what motivates this behavior? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.080 Whose glory are you seeking? 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:46.480 Who are you? 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:47.600 He goes, I don't know about glory. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:49.120 I said, who are you making much of? 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.360 And he goes, Well, me, who else? 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.039 Remember being so young you couldn't lie? 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:57.120 You're just so full. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.360 And he's just like, hey, I'm just kind of full of myself. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.759 So I stand in the mirror, I take my shirt off, and I take pictures of myself. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:08.799 Now again, if you do that, I'm not making fun of you, but I kind of am. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:10.559 Because here's the deal. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.240 I mean, whose glory? 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.200 And Jesus' life is so countercultural. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:16.720 Don't miss this in the text. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.120 His life is so countercultural. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:21.519 They say to him, Aren't you a Samaritan? 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:25.679 Are we right in saying that you're a Samaritan and you have a demon? 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.080 Ask yourself, what does the culture around you accuse you of? 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:36.720 And if the answer is nothing, then it may just be an indication to you that maybe you seek the same things that they seek. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:46.240 Because one of the things we should notice from the submitted life of Jesus is how consequential our lives become when they're no longer lived for our glory. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:51.120 The life of Jesus stands out from this culture, and they have to mock him. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.919 They have to say, and he just explains by saying, Hey, I don't seek my own glory. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:02.000 My life is submitted to the cause of someone else's glory, and they go berserk. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.799 Now, the Bible talks about this in a couple places. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:10.879 One of them is in Psalm 115, verse 1, that Psalmist says, Not to us, O Lord, but to your name be the glory. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.039 But I want you to see in graphic detail how real the Bible is. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.039 This is in 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.759 This is after the Gospel of John. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:26.480 Peter is kind of writing and kind of saying, Yeah, that thing that Jesus talked about, it's real for Christians too. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.759 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 1 says this Since, therefore, Christ suffered in the flesh. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.919 Arm yourself with the same way of thinking. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:42.799 For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:49.279 In other words, no longer for human passions, no longer for me and my appetites, my favorite addiction, but for the will of God. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:53.360 Said differently, no longer for my glory, but for the glory of God. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:54.559 He continues. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:12:00.879 Verse 3, for the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:02.639 Now just stop right there. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:10.720 For the time that is past, for the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:12.720 In other words, I've sinned enough. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.679 I'm tired of being ruled by my appetites. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:18.000 I'm tired of scratching every itch I have. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.120 And I want to grow up and grow out of this behavior. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.399 For the time is past that suffices for doing what Gentiles want to do. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.159 Now, if you're thinking, Gentiles is a reference to people that don't know God. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.080 What do these people want to do? 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:34.799 The Bible's unblushing in its honesty and its knowledge of human depravity. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:36.399 He says, the time is past. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.679 That is past suffices for doing what Gentiles want to do. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:40.559 What do they want to do? 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:46.639 Live it in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:53.279 With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.559 They call, they say you're a Samaritan and you have a demon. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:01.200 One translation says that you don't plunge into the same flood of dissipation. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:06.720 They malign you, but they will give an account to him who's ready to judge the living and the dead. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.360 Hey, they're surprised when you're not joining them in the same flood of debauchery. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:16.080 Ask yourself this question: What surprises other people about you? 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:24.080 What surprises other people about you that they kind of go, hey, I just kind of thought and I said, No, no, no, I don't live for my own glory. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:33.679 See, the submitted life of Jesus is so counter-cultural that people have to accuse him of things because they just can't fathom that not everybody lives like them. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:40.159 So the first thing the Bible tells us, this first implication of Jesus being God is that we're free from seeking our own glory. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:48.799 We're free, we're liberated from smallness, and we're invited into the muchness of God to live for something bigger, better, and beyond ourselves. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:52.320 Secondly, the Bible tells us that death no longer has power over us. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:14:01.600 Now, when Jesus talked, it's it's kind of like the lyrics to an old school Eminem song, uh, Marshall Mathers, uh lyrical genius. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:08.080 Like he says things like when he first came out, like working at the Burger King, spitting in your onion rings, and you're like, I'm not going to Burger King anymore. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.519 I'm done with that. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:17.039 But I mean, the kid, the guy is just a genius, but he's angry and he's just can just torch people lyrically. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:21.440 But you have to kind of listen to his music four or five times to get what he's saying. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:27.759 Uh, same way with Jesus, because in verse 50, he describes himself, it just says, Hey, let me explain my life. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.279 I don't seek my own glory. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.039 That's that's why I'm like I am. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.159 Verse 51. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:38.639 Right on right underneath that he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:42.879 And he goes on and unpacks it because the Jews said, Now, now it's official. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:44.559 We know you have a demon. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.279 And then they relate to all these famous religious people. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:48.639 He says, Abraham died. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:49.519 Is it the prophets? 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.639 Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death? 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.000 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died and the prophets who died? 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.080 I mean, who do you make yourself out to be? 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:04.879 See, Jesus is saying something about himself when he said, Hey, whoever keeps my word, they'll never see death and they'll never taste death. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.200 Let me explain to you what Jesus is saying here. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.759 Have you ever go eat with somebody that eats fast? 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:16.000 You get your food and you're like cutting into it, and three bites in, they're done, and your first question is like, Man, did you taste it? 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.879 My friend Billy Foote is that way. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.919 Billy Foot just, I mean, he just scarfs it down, and Marcy's like, Can you please tell Billy not to eat fast? 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.960 I've known Billy since he was 20, 19 years old. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:28.159 He eats that way all the time. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:32.480 And you're like, okay, I'm cutting my second piece of steak. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:34.559 And then he just sits there and watches you eat. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:36.000 It's really awkward. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.320 It's not that he eats fast, it's that he's done. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.080 He's like, so, hey, are you gonna eat that? 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:41.519 Here, just eat mine too. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:42.559 Just take it. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.559 But every time I think, hey man, did you taste that? 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.039 Okay, did you savor and enjoy that? 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.480 No, no. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:16:01.919 By the same token, when Jesus says, Hey, whoever keeps my word, they'll never see death, they'll never taste it, ask yourself this question: How do you die and not taste death or see death? 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:14.960 Here's what Jesus is teaching them and teaching us that for the Christian, now, if you're not a Christian right now, I'm not mad at you, I'm not hating on you, but I'm gonna shoot you straight. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.279 What I'm fixing to say doesn't apply to you. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:18.000 Okay? 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:28.879 It's one of the things you should think about because in this little subtle Bible passage, Jesus is answering one of the fundamental questions of human existence, and it's this what happens when I die? 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:30.639 What happens when I die? 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:41.279 Some people think that when you die, it's like this you die, and then you know you're in the grave and you're in what's called soul sleep, and then thousands of years later when Jesus comes back, oh, everybody get up. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.840 Time to go to heaven, and everybody's like, oh, okay, good. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.960 By the way, the Bible nowhere teaches soul sleep, purgatory, limbo, any of that. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:49.919 Nowhere in the Bible. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:50.720 It just doesn't. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:51.200 Okay. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.240 Some people think, uh, another way of looking at it, some people kind of think, hey, I died. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:04.720 And then it's a couple hours, they gotta check my papers and see if I did enough good stuff to bad stuff, see if I got the stamps I can cross the border into heaven. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.200 And so a couple hours later, when I pass through customs, boom, I get in. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.759 That's not biblical either. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:13.519 What is biblical? 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:18.240 I'll read it to you in the Bible in just a second, but I'm gonna give you an audio of what it's like. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.759 The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.640 Now look at me. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:24.319 It doesn't matter how you die. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:28.799 How you die, the manner in which you die, does not affect your eternal destiny. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:29.839 I get asked all the time. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.440 People say, hey, well, so-and-so, you know, he died from this and he died, da da da da da. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.960 The manner in which you die doesn't change your relationship with God. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.400 Do you feel that in the room right now? 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:46.640 Some of y'all are like, oh, what you because I get asked all the time. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.039 And so, this is what the Bible says death is like. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:49.519 Look at me. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:50.720 The Bible says it's like this. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:54.799 The other thing is like, hey, you die, and then thousands of years later, oh, get up. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.880 Some say you die, and then maybe they check your papers, you get to go in. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.559 The Bible says it's like this. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.440 The moment that person ceases life in this world, they wake up in the presence of God. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.119 Their spirit's in the presence of God. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:09.680 Why? 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.039 Because to be absent from the body is to be present with God. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.079 Where do you get that? 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:15.440 I tell you where I get it. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.400 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 to 10 says this. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:26.079 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.400 Now notice that he says, For we know. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.519 For we know, because the Bible is saying, I want you to know this. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:36.640 I want you to be certain of this, that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, now look at me. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.559 It doesn't matter if somebody else destroyed it or you destroyed it yourself. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:42.720 That doesn't change anything. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:47.119 We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:52.319 For in this tent, this body, we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.279 If indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:59.519 For while we are st while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:05.920 Not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:11.039 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.279 So we are always of good courage. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.720 We know that while we're at home in the body, we're away from the Lord. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:23.920 For while we walk by faith, not by sight, yes, we're of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.920 So whether we're at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:36.319 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he's done in the body, whether good or evil. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:41.440 Now, if you're an observant person, you look up there and you go, hey, some of that stuff's in bold and some of it's not. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.400 Why is that? 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.039 Because the Bible is never one-dimensional. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.440 It's beyond 3D. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.240 It's like 4D or 8D because there's so much here. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:53.920 And so, so what do I take away from a passage, from this passage? 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:55.519 Uh, don't try to joll us down. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.680 Just get your phone out and just snap a picture of the screen. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:01.759 Let me just point to about seven or eight realities just in this text right here. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.039 The first one is this I was created to live forever. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.039 I was created to live forever. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:11.599 He says, Hey, we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.559 That your body, this is the tent. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:22.799 I've been in the room, in the hospital room, when they unhook a man from life support because he's just not there, and they're just breathing for him. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.359 And the minute that thing just goes flat, and I just say, Hey, your dad, your grandpa, he that he's not here. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.799 This is just the tent he lived in. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:36.000 The moment he's his life stopped in this earth, his life began in heaven. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.920 One guy was standing at the foot of the bed and he's like, I'm gonna get a cup of coffee. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.519 Just walk to the nursery station. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:43.440 Other people were singing, other people were crying. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.599 Somebody said, Well, should we go after him? 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:46.960 He's he's not grieving. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:48.559 He doesn't have to grieve like you do. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.880 He just realized, hey, this ain't my dad. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.839 This is a tent my dad camped in for 88 years. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.119 My dad just struck his tin and moved into his permanent dwelling. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.359 And what he's saying is, I'll drink to that. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:01.920 I said, I want to drink with him too. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.240 I said, Yeah, down the hall, bring me a cup of that coffee. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:06.480 And the nurse was standing in the corner of the hospital room. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.400 She goes, Well, this is kind of strange. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.400 I said, as Christians, death doesn't have power over us. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:13.920 We don't even taste it. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.720 And she was like, Okay, whatever that means. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.599 Which means, stop talking, leave me alone. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:21.039 I was created to live forever. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:23.279 Secondly, in this body, I'm going to suffer. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.720 See, the body, the Bible's not idealistic or Pollyanna. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.079 Hey guys, no. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.839 In this body, you're going to suffer, for in this tent we groan. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.519 While we're still in this tent, we groan, being burdened. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.799 You're going to suffer. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.079 Thirdly, it's not about being set free, which is a Greek mindset. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.720 It's about being, uh it's about being forever. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:43.759 What do you mean? 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.920 Because he says, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:56.559 When Jesus lived, there are a lot of Greek uh uh philosophers, and and and and the way a lot of people thought was that the body was evil, flesh was evil, spirit was good. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:00.960 So they would say, especially this group of people called the Gnostics, they're like, We don't have flesh. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:01.759 We're spirits. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:02.880 We don't have sin. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:08.160 1 John, the epistle of 1 John, towards the back of the New Testament, is written to combat this heresy. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:12.000 That's why he says in chapter 1, hey, if anyone says without sin, they're a liar. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:13.519 And then it got out to be a liar. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:16.000 Because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:17.920 That's what Paul is getting at here. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.400 He says, hey, it's not about not that we'd be unclothed and just set free from this evil body. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:22.960 Look at me. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.160 Your body's not evil. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.960 Your body's created by God in the image of God, and you should steward your body. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.279 He says, not that we'd be unclothed, but that we'd be further clothed. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.240 In other words, hey, we're prepared for forever. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.480 Four things for the Christian, death is a transition to life. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:44.319 He says that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.880 Another thing, the Holy Spirit resides in us as assurance of these things. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:51.920 He says He's given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:56.640 The God of the Bible is the only God that is, is the only deity. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:02.319 I mean, there's a lot of other false gods, but the only God that is, he says, hey, I don't just say things. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:09.519 I put my spirit inside of you as it is earnest money, it's down payment as a guarantee that what I'm saying is true. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.200 Another thing, these truths are intended to encourage me. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:15.920 He says, so we are always of good courage. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:20.559 You can be getting the snot kicked out of you by life and be of good courage. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:21.279 Look at me. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:22.079 Let me just say this. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.480 Let me speak to what's in the room because we live in a culture that is glorified suicide. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:29.519 There's a show on Netflix, 13 Reasons or whatever. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:31.839 Now we're all trying to combat, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:33.359 Hey, we all get it pointing. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.480 There's people in the Bible that were just like, you know, God, this stinks. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:38.400 I'm just ready to check out, okay? 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:39.440 Look at me. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.519 We all get to low points in our life. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:47.119