WEBVTT 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:20.320 Whoever you are and wherever you are, I pray today's message that challenges you and encourages you on your walk with Jesus. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.000 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.920 Enjoy today's podcast. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.440 We are starting a brand new series today that I'm really excited about. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:35.359 Just a short one, just a three-week series called Sit, Walk, Stand. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:37.920 Sit, Walk, Stand. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:43.759 And then we will, uh in October, we will jump into a long series for the rest of October, all of November, leading up to Christmas. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.520 About a six or seven-week series leading up. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:48.399 So we'll do a long one here in a little bit, but just a short little three-week series. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:55.280 And I want to talk about those three words because those three words are the three positions a Christian must learn how to do. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:57.759 Sit, walk, and stand. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.280 We're gonna read out of the book of Ephesians today, actually, all the series. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:11.760 It's gonna be like a 30,000-foot view of the book of Ephesians, a more thematic view of the book of Ephesians that Paul is teaching us how to sit, how to walk, and how to stand. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.719 Here we go, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 17. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:18.719 Ephesians chapter 1, verse 17. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.239 So that you may know him better. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:32.400 Man, I love this one sentence right here. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.680 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:37.760 Do you realize that? 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:39.280 That your heart has eyes. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:41.840 Your heart sees things. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:42.959 And I love that prayer. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.239 That's a pastor's prayer. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:46.000 God, I pray that your heart is opened. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:54.480 The eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you and the riches of his glorious inheritance and his holy people. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.480 And his incomparable great power for us who believe. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:03.519 That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.159 And look at this, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:12.400 Far above all rule, authority, power, dominion. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.000 And every name that is invoked. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:20.080 He also says this again in Philippians 1, that Jesus was given the name above every name, and the heavens, the earth, and under the earth. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:24.000 He reigns and rules, has dominion, all rule, all authority is given to him. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:29.039 And every name that is invoked, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:41.680 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:43.360 The jump down to chapter two. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:50.319 He says that Christ has been seated, Jesus has been seated in the heavenly realms at the right hand of God, everything's been put under his feet. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:03:01.599 I'll rule, authority, dominion, reign, every name to be invoked, every name, he's reigning supreme, he's reigning at the right hand of God, and then he jumps to chapter two and he says this. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:17.199 But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, no, he's not rich in judgment, he's rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.240 It is by grace you have been saved. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:29.199 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:29.919 Why? 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:39.840 In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.439 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:52.159 And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:04:04.400 For we are God's handiwork, or we're God's workmanship, created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:09.680 Today I want to just talk from that subject here in the week one of this series, seated in heavenly realms. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.240 Seated in heavenly realms. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:14.159 Maybe you've heard that phrase growing up in church. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.079 Maybe your grandma prayed that or your mom prayed that. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:17.759 I pray that I'm seated in heavenly realms. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.079 What does that mean to be seated in heavenly realms? 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.000 Let's pray as we jump into God's word today. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:23.040 Father, I thank you for your word. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.199 I thank you for the people getting baptized today. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:27.839 I thank you for the gathering of the saints, God. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:39.040 How important this is every single Sunday for the orientation of our heart, God, and the the mind uh that our mindset each week that is set and formed in these rooms. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:40.160 God, we thank you for church. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:41.839 We thank you for the gathering of the saints, God. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.639 I pray for the mariners, Lord, will they win a few games in a row, God? 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.639 We're believing for the playoffs in Jesus' name. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:47.360 Lord, I thank you. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.360 The beavers aren't gonna win any more games in mighty name. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:50.079 I pray. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:52.639 And Jesus said, Amen. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:55.279 Amen. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:57.759 That was just for you, sir. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:08.639 Um did you notice when we read these texts, Ephesians 1, 17 to 21, and then Ephesians 2, verses 4 to 9. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:14.879 Do you notice all the language that maybe you just skipped over as I was reading it, but you can go read it back and just read it again maybe later today? 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:16.480 It is all past tense. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.560 None of the language that we just read is future forward hope. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:26.000 It is not one day Christ will be seated. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:27.439 And we wait for that. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:29.759 One day you will be seated with Christ. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.600 One day he'll be given the authority and the power and the rule and the reign and the dominion. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:35.279 It is all past tense. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.720 He has been given authority, rule, reign, and dominion. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.879 He has been seated in heavenly realms. 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.519 We have been, it's all past tense. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:50.000 So today the things I want to talk about in this series are not something we have hope for. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.279 It's something we have faith in that's happening right now. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:57.920 This is not future forward language, like, hey church, one day this is gonna happen. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.040 I can't wait for heaven. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:00.639 This is happening right now. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.800 You just get to choose to operate in it or not, but it's already going. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:10.079 This is already happening that you and I have been seated in heavenly realms. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.519 We've been seated with Christ. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:17.360 Today I want to talk about where you've been seated, how you've been seated there, and why you've been seated there. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:22.000 Where you've been seated, how you've been seated, and why you have been seated. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:23.040 Number one, where? 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:24.959 Where you've been seated. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:34.879 For those of you maybe newer to the Bible or been reading it for some time, have you noticed in the New Testament really specifically, there are so many what maybe you and I would call random details? 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.560 Why do we need to know there was 12 people there? 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.360 Why do we need to know it was at the third hour? 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.839 Why does it matter there was six water jars? 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.720 Why does it matter there's 120 in the upper room? 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.040 Why does it matter that she was 12 years old? 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:52.639 Why does it matter he was born since he was blind since birth? 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:57.439 Like, why are these seemingly random details put into the Bible? 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.319 It's not like the authors were just trying to fill space. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:04.160 Those details are not for literature, they're for theology. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.399 They're not just trying to tell a good story, those details are telling us something. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:14.319 And Paul in Ephesians 1 and chapter and chapter 2, he does not just say, we've been seated with Christ. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:16.399 Though that would probably suffice. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:17.680 We we've been seated with him. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.639 That's good enough for me to know I've been seated with Christ. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.279 But Paul adds a location to it. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.639 We've been seated in heavenly realms with him. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:32.079 He wants us to know not just the fact that we've been seated, but the location we've been seated in. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.600 And we'll get into this today. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.279 Why does he want us to know the location? 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:42.160 Because it should and must, as a Christian, change your perspective on where you are seated. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.600 It changes the angle in which you see things. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:50.879 It changes the perspective that you have about the thing that you're looking at. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.079 You know, and in high school, I played a lot of sports. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:59.920 Um I was not friends with like the theater kids and the art kids and that side of the world. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.519 I was not, those that weren't my friends. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.240 All my friends were wrestlers or athletes, and that was my world. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:14.560 And then God had me marry um an upstate New York thespian Broadway trained singer, artist, like the complete opposite of me. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:21.120 And um and I remember we're in New York where Joey's from and we're we're in Manhattan, and she's like, We're going to a Broadway play. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.079 And I was like, You are going alone to a Broadway play. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.680 I will not waste my money nor time on a Broadway play. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:29.360 And she's like, You're going, I already bought the tickets. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:30.560 And I was like, Where are we going to see? 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:32.879 She's like, We're gonna go see Wicked on Broadway. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.559 And I was like, Cool, well, it sounds demonic. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.639 I don't think I should be attending such things. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:38.080 I'm a man of the cloth. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.159 I don't attend things called Wicked. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:43.840 And she's like, We're going. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:48.000 Okay, so we get there, and and the last seats that were left, um, because she bought them that day. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:52.879 Um, if you've ever been like a theater and a play, that usually the stage wraps and you know the seats wrap around it. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:58.320 We had a seat way over to the side where on our angle I could see behind the stage. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:03.279 I could see behind the curtain, and I'm seeing all the wardrobe changes and all the sets coming. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:09.360 And I honestly was like mesmerized by the impressive nature of a play. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:16.399 It completely changed my mind on wardrobe changes, set changes, mic changes, people changing characters. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:25.840 Like I'm still I'm not even watching what's going on stage, I'm just watching behind the screen, and I left with a whole new appreciation for what happens. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:26.159 Why? 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:35.360 Because my seat was changed because of what I was able to see, I was able to have a different view on what plays are. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.440 What a simple little dumb illustration. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:53.279 How much more that you and I have been seated in heavenly realms, that where we are seated, it should change how we view our spouse, it should change how we view our country, it should change how we view our friends, it should change how we view our money. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:00.480 In other words, he's saying we should have a heavenly perspective on how we view the things going on down here. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:00.799 Why? 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:04.720 Because we've been seated in heavenly realms. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:14.720 He says again in Colossians, Paul also wrote Colossians, he says, make sure you set your mind on the things above, not on earthly things. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:35.840 If you read Colossians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, all these like small books from Paul, you'll find out our king is in heaven, our citizenship is in heaven, our minds should be in heaven, our treasure is in heaven, our inheritance is in heaven, our dwelling place is in heaven, our hope is in heaven, our family is in heaven, like everything is heaven-oriented. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:43.200 So, in other words, the the journey of a Christian is learning how to sit there but live here. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.960 How am I seated there, but I'm still living here? 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:58.080 So, so my prayer for you this week, church, even just a simple little talk today, is Lord, give me a heavenly perspective. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.879 Let me view things how you view things. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.600 Let me talk about things, how you talk about things. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:09.759 Let me look at my job and my life, my marriage, my friends, and the world, the economy, my money, everything in my hand. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.000 Let me view it from a heavenly perspective. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:13.519 So we're gonna ask yourself this question. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:14.240 Something pops up. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.519 Lord, how do you view this? 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:19.039 Because I should view it the same because I'm seated with you. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:20.639 I'm seated in heaven. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:25.919 God, how do you view my friends and my spouse and my money and my job and my career and my future and God? 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:27.360 How do you think about this stuff? 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.879 Because I'm seated with you. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.600 So let my mind be heaven-bound, let my mind be heaven-formed. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.519 Because I've been seated with Christ in heavenly realms. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.879 See, I'm about to say something right now that I don't know if I agree with. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.039 It's bothering me a lot. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:58.879 Because it's it sounds like so ethereal and sounds so otherly, but like, if this is true, if what I'm saying is true and biblically accurate, that means a part of me is already living in eternity. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.559 Think about what I just said. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:13.519 That means a part of me is already viewing things from eternity backward. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:24.080 So no wonder there's something in you longing for home because you're already there. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.960 No wonder you're longing for something better because you're already in something better. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:34.080 No longer, no wonder you have a taste of a perfect world because you've already experienced, apparently. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:35.679 I'm already there. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:48.399 So so then apparently, my eternity self should inform my natural self about how I think and how I live and how I walk. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:50.320 But this is what you and I do. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:51.200 God, you better come down here. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.279 He's like, I won't come down there, you come up here. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.600 How often do we tell God in our prayers, you better come down here and fix something? 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.919 God, you're you're not really paying attention down here. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:01.279 Do you see the world at large, Lori? 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:02.559 He's like, Oh, I see it. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.240 It's not how you see it. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:13.120 And how often is the character of our prayers, God, come down instead of God, pull me back up. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.559 For I am seated in heavenly realms. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.799 Let me think different, let me pray different, let me see things differently. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.120 Because apparently I'm already there. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.759 In Christ Jesus, I have been seated. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.639 So that is where I'm seated. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.480 And don't forget it this week and remind yourself I'm seated in heavenly realms. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:34.799 This world cannot touch me. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:36.480 This world has no hold on me. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:38.320 I'm seated in heavenly realms. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:40.399 Okay, then the next question is, well, how do I get there? 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:45.440 If I if I'm seated, then I hopefully something in your heart right now is like, I want to be seated in heavenly realms. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:50.639 I want to have a heavenly perspective, but I'm gonna have a heavenly mind, and I'm gonna think about things differently because it's not really working down here. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.320 And I want to think like God, and I want to see things like God, and I want to think like him. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.720 And so hopefully something in your heart right now is like, that's what I want. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:59.200 So the next question is, well, then how do I get there? 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:02.559 So look what he says in verse 7. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:10.720 In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:11.279 Look at it. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.759 For it is by grace you've been saved through faith. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.919 And this is not from yourselves, it's a gift of God. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:21.279 Why? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.519 Not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.080 People like myself, and I've I'm sure I've done this before. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:35.200 I don't mean anything by it, I don't even think about it sometimes, but unfortunately I've been formed in this world at times. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:41.360 And so sometimes when people get saved at church or a new believer, and they come up to me or a staffer and go, I just got saved last week. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:42.720 What do I what do I do next? 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:49.519 We go, okay, you should go to water baptism, you should go to welcome dinner, you should serve, make sure you join a connect group. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:54.000 Do you notice even in our rhetoric to new believers, we tell them go do something. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.000 We don't tell them you need to learn where you're seated. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:03.840 Because we think the journey of Christianity is learning how to walk before you learn how to sit. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.840 The journey of Ephesians is sit here, learn how to walk, and then stand firm. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:19.279 But because we are so formed in the image of the world, we think if we are really strong, we'll walk really well, and then we walk really well, we'll be good enough to sit. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:29.759 And we've inverted the biblical process that we need to learn that the only reason that we have been sat with Christ is because of his work, not yours. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.720 You are saved by grace through faith that no man may boast. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.399 We live, I talked about this a long time ago in the parable series. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:47.679 We live in an upside-down kingdom, a paradoxical, opposite, upside-down world called the kingdom of God. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:51.279 And in this kingdom, we advance by sitting. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:58.159 We grow by sitting, we move forward by resting. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.120 So, how do we get to sit here? 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:08.799 Because of the work of Christ has set us in heavenly realms that no man may boast. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:10.960 Why does this I think matter? 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.840 Maybe you feel like I'm I'm teasing words out that are the same thing. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:14.960 They're really not. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:27.360 Because we live in such a Western American, Portland-centric, New Age-centric, this idea that your performance matters so much. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:43.360 What you do, who you are, how much money you make, your positions, your titles, the letters behind your name, where you live, what school you went to, how much you've traveled, who you married, what's in your bank account, where you've been, your life experiences, what jobs you had. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:52.000 We are so, as Americans, especially Westerners, and really in this city, we are so consumed with my performance. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:17:00.639 And if we're not careful, that mindset seeps its way into our spirituality, and then we are running the spiritual rat race. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.759 If I perform better, God will let me sit one day. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:13.759 If I serve more and give more and tithe more and be on more connect groups and five connect groups and three Sundays and two serve teams, and God, do you see my performance? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.480 And then we think our performance lets us sit one day. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:25.200 Because we are, as a Westerners, we are so performance-driven, we also think that God thinks the same way that we do. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:30.000 And so then our identity becomes our performance. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:31.680 And friends, this is the thing. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.519 Uh, the way that you get to sit down is the way that you have to stay there. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:40.559 So if you are good enough to sit, you have to be good enough to stay. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.160 Do you see? 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:52.960 If you think that your spiritual performance gets you a seat with Christ, what happens when your performance isn't good? 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.000 Do you get kicked out of your seat? 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:04.400 What happens when you have a bad Friday night and a bad moment, you make a bad decision and do something you said you would never do, and you go back to an addictive pattern, you go back to relationship? 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.119 What happens when your performance is not good enough? 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.880 Do you lose your seat? 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:18.880 And some of you won't say this, but that's how you act when you walk into church because you know your performance last night wasn't good enough, and now you think you have to worship your way back into your seat. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:32.240 As if your God is watching your performance like an angry kid on an ant-handle with a magnifying glass, just waiting for you to make one performance mistake so you can lose your seat. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.440 Get off the spiritual rat race, friends. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:46.079 You've been seated with Christ because of his performance, which means your performance can't lose your seat. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.680 So your position is supposed to inform your performance. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:58.000 See, but if you think your performance is your identity, no wonder no one can challenge it. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:07.039 If you think every time somebody criticizes your work, they criticize you, it's become your identity. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:13.759 Every time you lose a position, after you want another one, you feel like you're less of a person, your job has become your identity. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.759 If no one is allowed to critique your performance, it has become your sole identity. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.240 But when you know my position is who I am, you can address whatever you want. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:25.359 This is not who I am. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:29.440 Sir, you lost that sales call. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:30.319 Oh, I'm a bad person. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:31.519 No, I'm not a salesman. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.039 I've been seated with Christ. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.319 Now, friends, I'm not saying next time you get a performance review, you go, sir, I've been seated with Christ. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.920 I don't care what you have to say about it. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:43.279 That will get you fired. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:46.319 Ma'am, you haven't had a quote in six months. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:47.920 I'm seated with Christ. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:50.480 That's so good. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:51.920 That made me laugh. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.240 That'd be an awesome response. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:56.079 More than let you go. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:57.839 I don't care, I'm seated with Christ. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:01.599 I'm not saying, listen, I'm not saying you don't care about performance. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:03.680 I'm not saying it doesn't mean anything to you. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:05.119 I'm not saying you don't try hard. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:08.559 All I'm saying is, where is your identity coming from? 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:12.319 Where's the core of who you are coming from? 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:18.720 How good you are, how good you perform, or that you've been seated in heavenly realms. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.759 Because of his work, not because of yours. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:32.720 See what you need, what we need in 2026, what we need is an identity that success and failure can't ruin. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:40.000 Because then you start having really high highs and really low lows. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:47.759 You need an identity in this day and age that the high highs and the low lows don't change how you view yourself. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.079 Because success and failure both are not your identity. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:21:00.079 So, what right now in your life is a title that if I took from you, you lose who you were? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:05.519 I'm a business owner. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:07.680 What happens if you lose it? 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:09.519 I'm a mom. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:10.720 What happens when they move out? 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:14.640 No, you're still a mom, but like what happens when they move out, you're not functioning mom life every day. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:15.839 Who are you? 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.279 I'm rich. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.359 What if 2008 comes back? 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.079 I'm a fill in the blank. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:30.079 What title that if it was removed from your mind and heart, would you be like, I don't know who I am then? 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:40.799 If if you have an answer in your mind, that's you showing yourself that you you put too much equity in your performance and not being seated with Christ. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:42.559 Friends, this happens with me. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:46.720 There's some Sundays I walk off this stage and I was like, Lord, that was pretty good. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:51.920 I don't know if you saw, Lord, but that was pretty good. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.079 And then there's other Sundays I walk off, and I was like, Lord, I'm so sorry. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:58.160 I will do better next Sunday. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.759 As if my profession. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.720 Performance. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.279 Even right now, in this very moment, when I walk off that stage, changes anything. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:13.200 How good the sermon was, how big the church is, how small the church is, how much we grow, how much we don't grow. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:19.279 As if what God has asked me to do in this season of my life leading this church changes my position in him. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:23.039 I have a lot of thoughts about heaven. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.440 I don't have too many because the Bible's not too descriptive about heaven. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:30.319 So I have a lot of questions at what it's going to be like, but let's just play holy conjuncture for a moment. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:33.599 I don't think I'll be pastoring in heaven. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.359 I hope I'm not pastoring in heaven. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.079 I can't do this for eternity, friends. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:41.359 I quit, dude. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.440 If this is eternity, I'm out. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:46.720 The next pastoral situation comes up. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:47.920 I'm like, Holy Ghost, you have this. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:48.720 This is eternity. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:49.519 You can take care of this. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.279 Omnipresent God, this is your turn. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:52.480 I did it back there. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.759 So, like, I don't think I'm going to be pastoring in heaven. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:00.000 So, if this is the most important thing to me, I'm going to get to eternity having an identity crisis. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:07.440 If the only time I feel God's pleasure is when I preach good, what happens if I'm not preaching in heaven? 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:12.079 I'm serious. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.240 Like, I don't know what I'm going to be doing in heaven. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:15.519 I don't know what it's going to be like. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.839 I have so many questions, but like, let's just assume I'm not leading people to Jesus. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:22.480 Because it's eternity. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:29.359 Let's assume I'm not having to like pasture people because we all have now been perfected, right? 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.799 Like, so I'm assuming my role will cease in some way. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:34.559 So then who am I? 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:41.279 Of course, I know this is like a maybe a simple question to you, but it is a seriously deep. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.680 This is not some menial, I'm not teasing words out. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:50.480 Look at what Henry Nowen says. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.319 You have to listen to the voice who calls you beloved. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:00.559 Because otherwise you will run around begging for affirmation. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.799 For praise and for success. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:07.839 And then you are not free. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:16.640 If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect somebody in the community to make us feel that way. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.759 And they can not. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:24.480 What a profound thought. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.960 So maybe those people didn't let you down. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.440 Your expectations of them let yourself down. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.240 Where does the resentment and bitterness and unforgiveness typically come from? 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:41.839 Unmet expectations. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:44.240 Unmet expectations. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.720 I thought you would do this and you did not. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:54.880 I thought your expectations for your mom or your dad or siblings or me or your friend or your connect leader or your ex-spouse or your best friend or your boss or whoever. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.480 Where does that really come from? 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.400 Expectations that were not met. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:07.119 And in a Christian world, sometimes our expectation is for the church to treat us like sons and daughters, and they cannot. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:12.720 If you don't know who you are in God, I can't make you feel that way. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:19.279 A better sermon, a better worship set, a longer pursuit, a better connect group, will not give you that. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.200 Edmund Clowney, who was the president of What's Mr. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:27.039 Theological Seminary in Philadelphia probably 100 years ago, he died a while back. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:34.559 He has this profound idea when it comes to identity that when a human becomes a Christian, they are given their last name. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:40.160 And then they spend the rest of their life learning what their first name means. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:42.559 It's a profound thought. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.519 In other words, Joe and I, we have three children. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:50.559 And when all of them were born, they became Demasios the day they were born. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:52.480 They didn't earn that last name. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.480 They didn't pray to become Demasios. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.480 They were born into our family. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.720 They were given a name. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:06.960 And now, my son Cruz or my daughter Quinn or my son Rhodes are all trying to figure out what their first name means within their family. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:11.519 They can't do anything to earn being a Demasio. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:14.880 And they can't do anything to take away being a Demasio. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:16.079 They are a Demasio. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:20.000 But they're trying to figure out what their first name means within the family. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:22.240 That is the same with Christianity. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:25.119 You can't earn your last name being salvation. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:26.720 You are given a name. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:31.920 And now you're trying to figure out who you are within the name that you've been given. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:36.480 Where am I seated? 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:37.759 In heavenly realms. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:39.039 How do I get there? 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:40.240 The work of Christ. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:41.440 How do I stay there? 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:42.400 The work of Christ. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:43.519 Why am I put there? 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:44.240 The work of Christ. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:45.359 Do I belong here? 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:46.960 Because of the work of Christ. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.960 So that no man may boast. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.839 This is why humans were made on the sixth day in creation. 00:26:58.720 --> 00:26:59.839 Not the first day. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:04.480 Humans were the last thing to be created, by the way. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:05.440 You know why? 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:17.200 Because God, in his omniscience and all-power, all-knowing, knew that if he made Christians on the first day and he kept creating, we'd walk around telling people, you see what me and God did? 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:22.079 Yeah, me and the Lord worked on that stars for quite a while. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.839 You know, that those were those stars were pretty difficult. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:25.440 See those animals that me and God made? 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:26.640 You see the waters that we separated? 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:28.799 Yep, I was here when those skies and the waters separated. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.160 I was there when the land separated. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:34.079 If we were made on day one, we would take ownership over something we were never involved in. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:40.160 So God, in his genius and grace, waited until everything was done. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:44.319 And then hear me, we woke up to the finished work of God. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:50.480 We woke up on day six going, wow! God's like, yeah, I did that. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:53.359 Welcome to my finished work. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:56.000 And then, friends, what was Jesus one and Tuesday? 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:59.200 On the seventh day, God rested. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.160 So Adam and Eve's first day was resting in God's finished work. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:07.759 Could you imagine them just waking up? 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:09.519 Let's do something. 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:10.480 Sit down. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:12.559