WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: For the joy set before Him Publishing Date: 2025-04-20T06:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/for-the-joy-set-before-him/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:25.520 On a title, it is, For the Joy Set Before Him. That's from Hebrews 12, For the Joy Set Before Him. 00:00:25.520 --> 00:00:33.520 So if you had been at the cross day before yesterday, you would have probably thrown up, 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:39.520 you would have vomited, you would have screamed, you would have pounded the ground with your 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:45.520 hands, you would have just cried yourself into exhaustion. That would have been your 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:52.520 reaction. Your stomach wouldn't be able to handle what happened there. You would have 00:00:52.520 --> 00:01:02.520 thrown up. It was that brutal. I mean, every year I force myself to watch the Passion of 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:09.520 the Christ. I force myself because it's difficult. But if I had been there as one of His disciples 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:17.520 or one of His friends or even a passerby or even a Roman soldier who perhaps had gotten 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:25.520 used to it, it would have been very difficult. And yet, why does He do this then? Why does 00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:31.520 it say in Hebrews chapter 12 that, For the Joy Set Before Him, He endured the cross? 00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:38.520 That's what we want to kind of find out. So even though you and I would not have been 00:01:38.520 --> 00:01:44.520 able to handle it, the fascinating fact is that Jesus volunteered for this. He chose 00:01:44.520 --> 00:01:51.520 it. Nobody forced Jesus. He chooses it. He chooses it. He volunteers for it. He chooses 00:01:51.520 --> 00:01:57.520 it. It was not forced on Him by His Father. It was not forced on Him by any man. He chose 00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:05.520 it. In fact, in John 10, 18, He says, No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on 00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:12.520 my own accord. No one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own accord. It's in 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:19.520 Matthew 26, 53. And so literally what He was saying is, I will be crucified. It's my choice. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:28.520 Even though I have the power to stop it, I won't. And that is God's definition of love. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:34.520 The question though is, how did Jesus endure it? Because it says in Hebrews 12, 2, For 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:46.520 the joy that was set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. So the question is, what's this 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:56.520 joy that He was looking forward to? He was looking forward to. And in finding that out, 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:15.520 you and I also have to subscribe to that joy so that we endure till the end. And if you endure 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:24.520 till the end, there is a reward. It says, To him who endures to the end, I will give authority 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:42.520 over the nations. And they get to sit on my throne beside me. But how do you get to a place 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:48.520 where you begin to endure? You can't get to the place that you can endure till you have joy. 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:55.520 I was just talking to Subin and Shikha, and I just quickly did a count of their children just to make sure 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:03.520 that it's still three and not four. Jocelyn's little brother was running around, and Shikha says, 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:14.520 I'm feeling that baby thing again. And I'm saying to her, I don't understand. But it's odd how 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:22.520 mothers go through the pang of labor, and it is painful to watch. I've only watched it once for about 00:04:22.520 --> 00:04:29.520 three minutes. At the beginning, I prayed and left because it was unbearable just to watch. And then 00:04:29.520 --> 00:04:33.520 they have a child, but they have another child, and they have another child, and Subin and Shikha are 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:46.520 planning a fourth one. How? No? Okay. They've been talking about it, and they've been feeling the pangs. 00:04:46.520 --> 00:04:54.520 I don't even know what that means. So the point being this, though, that why would a mother put herself 00:04:54.520 --> 00:05:04.520 through the pain of labor, and then why after being completely exhausted after giving birth, is there the 00:05:04.520 --> 00:05:13.520 kind of joy that comes even in the exhaustion? It's un-understandable. That's on a minor level. It is 00:05:13.520 --> 00:05:20.520 impossible to endure anything unless there's a joy that's set before me. Otherwise, endurance will 00:05:20.520 --> 00:05:27.520 fail. Very often, the reason faith is difficult is because faith does not look forward to something that 00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:34.520 one can see as joy. That's when faith becomes striving, faith becomes holding on, faith becomes, oh my God, 00:05:34.520 --> 00:05:40.520 I don't know why God isn't coming through. But whenever there's joy set before you, faith is something that 00:05:40.520 --> 00:05:51.520 endures surprisingly restfully, even though it's painful. Keep that in mind, eh? That it is impossible to 00:05:51.520 --> 00:05:58.520 endure without joy. That's why marathon runners, I mean, everything in them is burning up, eh, but they still 00:05:58.520 --> 00:06:10.520 keep going. Why? Paul put it this way, for a wreath. So one of the things that we rarely attach to faith is 00:06:10.520 --> 00:06:23.520 joy. We don't put joy as an end result of our faith. So what did Jesus, what was the joy that made his endurance 00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:30.520 possible? Despite the horror of the cross, despite the sin of man, despite separation, what was the joy that made 00:06:30.520 --> 00:06:42.520 this endurance possible? Here they are, and I'll list them down. One, he said, I'd destroy the temple in three days 00:06:42.520 --> 00:07:00.520 and raise it up, and raise it up. That's in John 2.19. And in saying that, here was what he was saying, my joy is in the access 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:29.520 you will have. My joy is in that you will be family, as in my brothers and sisters. My joy is in the constant presence 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:56.520 of God in your midst, bringing to completion the name Emmanuel. And my joy is the end of any divide between Yahweh 00:07:56.520 --> 00:08:11.520 and the sons of Adam. These are things that made him terribly joyfully, allows him to endure the cross. The first one is, 00:08:11.520 --> 00:08:21.520 listen, my joy is in the access you will have. The very fact that the curtain tears and it tears from the top to the bottom, not from the bottom 00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:28.520 to the top. People can tear a curtain from the bottom to the top. This is from top to the bottom. And the moment, and I've said this 00:08:28.520 --> 00:08:38.520 before, the moment the curtain tore, God moved out of a building into a people. God moved out of a building into a people. And so access, 00:08:38.520 --> 00:08:47.520 something he longed for. Why did he long for it? Because God has original intents. And one of his original intents with Adam and Eve 00:08:47.520 --> 00:08:58.520 was, hey, I want to live with you. It's like something being restored that he so longed for. He made man so that man could have the pleasure 00:08:58.520 --> 00:09:08.520 of his company. Like I often say, he could have made a walnut and been equally happy. He is not lonely. He didn't make us so that he can get worship. 00:09:09.520 --> 00:09:22.520 He gives us the avenue of worship so that we can enjoy him. And so access was a big deal for him. The second one was family. We just say that everybody is 00:09:22.520 --> 00:09:29.520 the children of God. Everybody aren't the children of God. You become the children of God only through Christ. To anyone who believed him, 00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:39.520 he gave them the right to be the children of God. Otherwise it's just creation because of sin. His first words after he rose from the grave was what? 00:09:39.520 --> 00:09:53.520 Go tell my brothers that I'm going to their father and my father. I actually, and this is so weird, this one who I call Lord and Savior, the Christ, 00:09:53.520 --> 00:10:07.520 I actually am his younger brother. Jacob is Jesus' younger brother. Freaks you out, eh? Jane is Jesus' younger sister. 00:10:12.520 --> 00:10:21.520 Almost sounds sacrilegious to put it that way. But exactly what he says. Those are his first words out of the tomb. This morning when he rose up, the first words after 00:10:21.520 --> 00:10:31.520 Mary recognizes him and says, Rabbi, his response is, go tell my brothers and sisters. He doesn't even say my father first. Go tell my brothers and sisters that I'm going to 00:10:31.520 --> 00:10:43.520 their father. He wants them to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are actual family. The third thing he says is the constant presence of God. Never to leave us. 00:10:43.520 --> 00:10:52.520 Never to leave us. Never to leave us. Never to leave us. Never to leave us. Never to leave us. Access to the presence of God should be like drinking water for us. 00:10:52.520 --> 00:11:05.520 And if it is still difficult, it is not because of his absence. And then the last one, the end of the divide between Yahweh and us. There's no divide. No condemnation. 00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:25.520 Sin must make us run to him, not away from him. No condemnation. The end of any divide. Every time you think God is distant, feel the slipperiness of his blood stained path under your feet. 00:11:25.520 --> 00:11:42.520 It says in Hebrews that we have a freshly slain blood pathway to the throne room. Freshly slain. As in it's not old blood. Freshly slain. 00:11:42.520 --> 00:11:57.520 So that's one of the reasons he thought it was worth dying for. These are the things that made him joyful. Question is, are these things that make you joyful today? These are things to take joy in. 00:11:57.520 --> 00:12:18.520 Second thing he was really happy about, the irreversible blood soaked purchase of a perfect bride. 00:12:18.520 --> 00:12:32.520 The irreversible blood soaked purchase of a perfect bride. Ephesians 5, 26 and 27. Ephesians 5, 26 and 27. 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:50.520 Where's my phone? Ephesians 5, 26 and 27. 00:12:50.520 --> 00:13:05.520 Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. 00:13:05.520 --> 00:13:18.520 Did you see Jocelyn today? Her dress looked a little silky and she wanted every child here to know that she was wearing something gowny and she was dancing up and down, making sure that everybody noticed. 00:13:18.520 --> 00:13:33.520 The point being, that's how he wants a bride to look to the world. And it's his great joy. I remember, I mean I've written in my notes, I remember Derek and Dawn and how when first Kezia and Iris came into the church. 00:13:33.520 --> 00:13:48.520 My God, you should have seen Dawn the first time I met him and he introduced me to Kezia in Bahrain. Or the first time Iris came and met me in Chennai and how Derek had set her up and how everything was set up. 00:13:48.520 --> 00:14:04.520 Bridegrooms love showing off the brides they love. Means everything to them. For Christ, the bride, the church is everything. Guys, remember this. Please understand this. 00:14:04.520 --> 00:14:20.520 If the bride is not your magnificent obsession, then there is a gap between the heart of God and my heart. The bride is the father's magnificent obsession. He says, son, go down. Leave your father's house and go down. 00:14:20.520 --> 00:14:31.520 Genesis is being repeated. When a man marries his wife, he leaves his father's house and becomes one with her. The bride is the father's magnificent obsession. 00:14:32.520 --> 00:14:44.520 The bride is Christ's absolute delight. He doesn't live without her. He's the head, she's the body. He's the bridegroom, he's the bride. He will never be separated from her. He laid his life down for her. 00:14:44.520 --> 00:14:57.520 And the spirit of God is the one who forms the bride. At the heart of God is this magnificent thing called the church. And when I don't begin to love the bride as much as God loves the bride, there's a gap. 00:14:58.520 --> 00:15:02.520 And if I don't rejoice over the bride, there's a gap. 00:15:07.520 --> 00:15:10.520 You can't be British about the bride. 00:15:13.520 --> 00:15:17.520 You'll have to rejoice. It'll have to be expressive. 00:15:19.520 --> 00:15:22.520 Grunt. I do love you, but I don't say it too often. Doesn't work. 00:15:27.520 --> 00:15:30.520 This was the joy that was said before him, eh? 00:15:33.520 --> 00:15:42.520 Go to Revelation 21, Revelation 21, 9 to 11, Revelation 21, 9 to 11. 00:15:45.520 --> 00:15:51.520 One of the seven angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me, 00:15:51.520 --> 00:16:01.520 Come here, I'll show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Just straight out, eh? I'll show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 00:16:03.520 --> 00:16:10.520 He took me away in the spirit to an enormous high mountain and showed me holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. 00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:17.520 Resplendent in bright glory of God, the city shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:24.520 Go to verse 3 and 4. 00:16:24.520 --> 00:16:32.520 I saw heaven and earth, new created, gone the first heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. 00:16:32.520 --> 00:16:40.520 I saw holy Jerusalem, new created, descending, resplendent out of heaven, as ready for God as a bride for a husband. 00:16:40.520 --> 00:16:47.520 I heard a voice thunder from the throne. Look, look, God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women. 00:16:47.520 --> 00:16:51.520 They are his people. He's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. 00:16:51.520 --> 00:16:59.520 Death has gone for good. Tears gone. Crying gone. Pain gone. All the first order of things gone. 00:16:59.520 --> 00:17:04.520 This was another reason that he thought it was worth enduring the cross. 00:17:04.520 --> 00:17:08.520 Question is, how much will you endure for the bride? 00:17:08.520 --> 00:17:16.520 Ask yourself this question, eh? How much are you in love with a bride, which is a church? 00:17:20.520 --> 00:17:24.520 Is it even possible to function without her, without being part of her? 00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:29.520 Don, is it possible to function without Kezia? 00:17:32.520 --> 00:17:35.520 George, is it possible to function without Anne? 00:17:36.520 --> 00:17:38.520 It'd be like an empty hole, right? 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:45.520 Mike, can you survive without her? 00:17:45.520 --> 00:17:47.520 Don't even need to ask Matt. 00:18:01.520 --> 00:18:08.520 If they can't survive without their bride, some that have known each other for 40 years, some that have known each other for 40 days or 40 months, 00:18:08.520 --> 00:18:14.520 then how is it that you and I survive without the bride, without loving the bride as one should love? 00:18:14.520 --> 00:18:22.520 It helps us endure, eh? Now serving or doing things for the bride comes easy because you're in love with her. 00:18:22.520 --> 00:18:34.520 The third thing he really desired to do was give his children his risen life. 00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:37.520 Give his children his risen life. 00:18:37.520 --> 00:18:47.520 As in, I will now share with you the life of the bride and the bride. 00:18:47.520 --> 00:19:02.520 As in, I will now share with you not the life of Jesus of Nazareth, 00:19:02.520 --> 00:19:13.520 but the life of the risen Christ. 00:19:13.520 --> 00:19:21.520 Indestructible, indissoluble, 00:19:21.520 --> 00:19:39.520 indissoluble, present before God, private, personal, nothing less. 00:19:39.520 --> 00:19:48.520 By whom? By the Spirit. 00:19:48.520 --> 00:19:50.520 Just think of that, eh? 00:19:50.520 --> 00:19:55.520 Paul put it this way, we no longer consider things after the flesh. 00:19:55.520 --> 00:19:58.520 We no longer consider things after the flesh. 00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:03.520 As in, we don't even think of the Jesus of Nazareth, we think of the risen Christ. 00:20:03.520 --> 00:20:07.520 After he is risen, they rarely refer to him as Jesus of Nazareth. 00:20:07.520 --> 00:20:14.520 They always refer to him as Christ Jesus, as in the anointed prince. 00:20:15.520 --> 00:20:22.520 As in, the ruler of heaven and earth, as in, the Messiah, the anointed one, the prince. 00:20:22.520 --> 00:20:25.520 That's how he's referred to us. 00:20:25.520 --> 00:20:29.520 Jesus was a name that was given to convey to us that he saves us from our sins. 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:35.520 But now that he has saved us from our sins and he's risen, he is Christ, the anointed prince. 00:20:35.520 --> 00:20:39.520 That is the life he's sharing with you. 00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:41.520 It's indestructible. 00:20:41.520 --> 00:20:45.520 The life that I presently have is indestructible. 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:48.520 It cannot be killed. It cannot be buried. 00:20:48.520 --> 00:20:50.520 It does not die. 00:20:50.520 --> 00:20:53.520 It does not die. Only my physical body dies. 00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:56.520 The life I have does not die. 00:20:56.520 --> 00:21:00.520 It's indissoluble, as in, it's mixed in with Christ. 00:21:00.520 --> 00:21:04.520 My spirit and the spirit of God have become one. 00:21:04.520 --> 00:21:06.520 1 Corinthians 6. 00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:08.520 We've become one. It's indissoluble. 00:21:08.520 --> 00:21:12.520 It's indissoluble. It's like tea and milk. It's like salt and sugar. 00:21:12.520 --> 00:21:14.520 You can't separate it. 00:21:14.520 --> 00:21:18.520 What I like most about it is it's Christ risen life. 00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:21.520 It's always present before the Father. 00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:24.520 I am always present before the Father. 00:21:24.520 --> 00:21:27.520 The reason the Bible says, I will never leave you nor forsake you, 00:21:27.520 --> 00:21:32.520 is God would have to forsake Christ before he can forsake me. 00:21:32.520 --> 00:21:35.520 Because my life and his life are entwined. They are wrapped up. 00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:37.520 And he's always present before the Father. 00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:39.520 I'm always present before the Father. 00:21:39.520 --> 00:21:44.520 Access is something we cannot frown upon, cannot dilute, cannot diminish, 00:21:44.520 --> 00:21:48.520 cannot play around with, cannot misuse, cannot underuse. 00:21:48.520 --> 00:21:51.520 It should be something that you should freely access always, 00:21:51.520 --> 00:21:54.520 because it's a special privilege. 00:21:54.520 --> 00:22:01.520 Learn to get in and out easily. 00:22:01.520 --> 00:22:07.520 It's one of the most fabulous things you have. 00:22:07.520 --> 00:22:12.520 Present before God, accessing the throne. 00:22:12.520 --> 00:22:15.520 And it's his private life. 00:22:15.520 --> 00:22:20.520 As in, you can't barge into someone's bedroom. 00:22:20.520 --> 00:22:23.520 You can't barge into a room in someone's house, 00:22:23.520 --> 00:22:25.520 just walk in and do what you want, 00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:29.520 unless you have access to their private life. 00:22:29.520 --> 00:22:33.520 You can't look at their private accounts. You can't look at their closet. 00:22:33.520 --> 00:22:38.520 But here is a God who says, I'm sharing with you my own private personal life. 00:22:38.520 --> 00:22:43.520 I'm not sharing with you some secondhand life, some special life prepared for you. 00:22:43.520 --> 00:22:49.520 Before we became believers, we had a life that was given to us 00:22:49.520 --> 00:22:55.520 that was not the same as the life we have right now. 00:22:55.520 --> 00:23:01.520 The life that God breathed into Adam is not the life that I possess. 00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:04.520 The life that God breathed into Adam made him a living creature. 00:23:04.520 --> 00:23:07.520 The life that God breathed into me when I got born again 00:23:07.520 --> 00:23:14.520 was the very life of Christ himself, Christ in me, the hope of glory. 00:23:14.520 --> 00:23:19.520 It's different, man. 00:23:19.520 --> 00:23:26.520 This is why we say, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 00:23:26.520 --> 00:23:29.520 This is a joy he looked forward to. 00:23:29.520 --> 00:23:34.520 Why do parents spend the first three months of their life trying to figure out 00:23:34.520 --> 00:23:36.520 whether the child looks like the mother or the child looks like the father? 00:23:36.520 --> 00:23:39.520 Because it's important to them. 00:23:39.520 --> 00:23:43.520 For the first three months, the child doesn't look like anybody, to tell you the truth. 00:23:43.520 --> 00:23:47.520 We just play along and say, yeah, looks like you don't. It's got your nose. 00:23:47.520 --> 00:23:52.520 And then when Kezia's around, Kezia, it's got your cheeks. 00:23:52.520 --> 00:23:56.520 It's a guessing game till they're six, but just fake it because both parents get happy. 00:23:56.520 --> 00:24:02.520 The point being that at the end of the day, 00:24:02.520 --> 00:24:09.520 parents want their children to have their very DNA, their very looks, their very everything. 00:24:09.520 --> 00:24:12.520 And God wanted me to have his private life. 00:24:12.520 --> 00:24:16.520 I love the fact that I have got Jesus' private, Christ's private life 00:24:16.520 --> 00:24:22.520 because now I have personal access to his thinking, to his ways of feeling, to the way he functions. 00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:26.520 There's nothing that's limited from it, nothing held back. 00:24:26.520 --> 00:24:31.520 What a joy he has. He loves giving this to Chava. He loves giving this to you. 00:24:31.520 --> 00:24:36.520 He's infinite. It's a matrix you can swim in. 00:24:36.520 --> 00:24:39.520 There's never an end to it. 00:24:39.520 --> 00:24:43.520 Nothing like thinking like how God thinks, eh? 00:24:47.520 --> 00:24:52.520 Some of the things that made him quite joyful. 00:24:52.520 --> 00:25:03.520 Once he rose, he had the keys of death and Hades. 00:25:03.520 --> 00:25:10.520 Revelation 1.18. He says, I'm alive forever and I have the keys of death and Hades. 00:25:10.520 --> 00:25:13.520 No longer would death begin to affect man like it did. 00:25:13.520 --> 00:25:18.520 No longer could people be tossed into Hades like they used to. 00:25:18.520 --> 00:25:22.520 He now has the keys of death and Hades and he ultimately wins over death. 00:25:22.520 --> 00:25:26.520 The final enemy to be destroyed is death. 00:25:26.520 --> 00:25:32.520 In his triumph, one of the things he was looking forward to was to end the fear of death. 00:25:32.520 --> 00:25:41.520 Ever since the apple or the fruit from the tree was eaten, the fear of death crept in. 00:25:41.520 --> 00:25:44.520 Man was afraid to die. 00:25:44.520 --> 00:25:47.520 One of the things Jesus looked forward to. Why would he look forward to it? 00:25:47.520 --> 00:25:53.520 Because his very, what did he say he was? I am the way, the truth and the life. 00:25:53.520 --> 00:26:00.520 I mean, can you imagine how much he hates death? 00:26:00.520 --> 00:26:08.520 It's like white and black. He hates death. 00:26:09.520 --> 00:26:14.520 One of the things he really loved about rising up that he said, I will endure the cross 00:26:14.520 --> 00:26:23.520 because on the cross, death died. 00:26:23.520 --> 00:26:27.520 Death died. 00:26:27.520 --> 00:26:29.520 This he was looking forward to. 00:26:29.520 --> 00:26:37.520 Now every person on the face of the earth has the opportunity to escape death. 00:26:37.520 --> 00:26:41.520 And there is not a single person. There are people that may not hear of Jesus Christ being preached to them. 00:26:41.520 --> 00:26:47.520 But it says in Psalm 19 and it says in Romans chapter 1 00:26:47.520 --> 00:26:54.520 that there is not a person on the face of the earth that will not be given an opportunity to recognize God. 00:26:54.520 --> 00:26:58.520 Either through his handiwork or through creation or through just a knowing. 00:26:58.520 --> 00:27:05.520 There's not a person who will not be given that opportunity by God. 00:27:05.520 --> 00:27:15.520 And that anyone who seeks once that opportunity is given will find forever in the life of any human being presently alive on planet earth. 00:27:15.520 --> 00:27:21.520 Eight billion people. There's not one that has to be subject to eternal death. 00:27:21.520 --> 00:27:28.520 Not one. Do you know what kind of a victory that is? 00:27:28.520 --> 00:27:32.520 I was at Simon and Maria. Simon's mom died. 00:27:32.520 --> 00:27:37.520 So that's the reason I came home, came back to Vancouver late. I went for the funeral. 00:27:37.520 --> 00:27:44.520 But one of the stories I said there, and I may have shared it here, is this little boy and his dad traveling in a car. 00:27:44.520 --> 00:27:48.520 A wasp comes into the car. The boy panics. 00:27:48.520 --> 00:27:55.520 He has seen other boys stung by wasps and they begin to go into shock and they've got to get that injection and stuff like that. 00:27:55.520 --> 00:28:02.520 The boy panics. The dad says, calm down. He puts out his hand and grabs the wasp. 00:28:02.520 --> 00:28:06.520 The wasp stings him and the father releases the wasp. 00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:09.520 And the boy can't understand why the father released the wasp. 00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:15.520 And the father says, it doesn't matter. It stung me and it can never sting you again. 00:28:15.520 --> 00:28:21.520 Because once a wasp stings you, that's it. Maybe it's a bee, not a wasp. 00:28:21.520 --> 00:28:25.520 Once a bee stings you, it will not sting you again. 00:28:25.520 --> 00:28:31.520 It only can sting you once. And then it's floating around inside the car. 00:28:31.520 --> 00:28:34.520 The boy is panicking, but the dad wants the boy to know. 00:28:34.520 --> 00:28:38.520 It doesn't matter that it is still around. It has lost its sting. 00:28:38.520 --> 00:28:43.520 Death, where is your sting? That's the very idea. 00:28:43.520 --> 00:28:48.520 It cannot sting. People may be dying around it, but they don't really die. 00:28:48.520 --> 00:28:53.520 They join the cloud of witnesses if they're actually ones who walk the earth in faith. 00:28:57.520 --> 00:29:04.520 This was a big thing for Jesus, eh? For the life giver, the end of death was huge. 00:29:07.520 --> 00:29:12.520 Another thing he loved being was eternal priest. Eternal priest. 00:29:12.520 --> 00:29:18.520 It talks about it in Hebrews 7, 15 onwards. If you go to Hebrews 7, 15, 00:29:18.520 --> 00:29:21.520 I'm reading from the message. Hebrews 7, 15. 00:29:24.520 --> 00:29:27.520 Hebrews 7, 15. 00:29:27.520 --> 00:29:45.520 But the Melchizedek story provides a perfect analogy. 00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:50.520 Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent, 00:29:50.520 --> 00:29:54.520 but by the sheer force of resurrection life, he lives. 00:29:54.520 --> 00:29:57.520 He was a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek. 00:29:57.520 --> 00:30:01.520 The formal way of doing things, a system of commandments that never worked, 00:30:01.520 --> 00:30:05.520 never worked out the way it was supposed to, was set aside. 00:30:05.520 --> 00:30:11.520 The law brought nothing to maturity. Another way, Jesus, a way that does work, 00:30:11.520 --> 00:30:14.520 that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place. 00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:19.520 The old priesthood of Aaron perpetuated itself automatically, father to son, 00:30:19.520 --> 00:30:22.520 without explicit confirmation by God. But then God intervened 00:30:22.520 --> 00:30:27.520 and called this new permanent priesthood into being with an added promise. 00:30:27.520 --> 00:30:31.520 God gave his word. He won't take it back. You're the permanent priest. 00:30:31.520 --> 00:30:36.520 This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God, 00:30:36.520 --> 00:30:39.520 one that really works, a new covenant. 00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:45.520 Beautifully. One of the things Jesus looked forward to undoing is legalism, 00:30:45.520 --> 00:30:49.520 ritualism, and man-made traditions. 00:30:50.520 --> 00:30:57.520 We don't realize that legalism was finally what drove Jesus to the cross, 00:30:57.520 --> 00:31:04.520 that it was the legalists, the ones who refused to live by the spirit of the law, 00:31:04.520 --> 00:31:07.520 but by the letter of the law. 00:31:07.520 --> 00:31:14.520 You know that emoji which has little snot, smoke coming out of it? That's legalism. 00:31:14.520 --> 00:31:17.520 Everything that happens, they go... 00:31:19.520 --> 00:31:21.520 Children dancing. 00:31:26.520 --> 00:31:29.520 I have a long list, but I don't want to offend anybody. 00:31:29.520 --> 00:31:34.520 But the point is this, that at the end of the day, 00:31:34.520 --> 00:31:39.520 one of the things Jesus looked forward to undoing was the traditions, 00:31:39.520 --> 00:31:46.520 the rituals, and the religious laws that he wanted to undo. 00:31:46.520 --> 00:31:48.520 He looked forward to doing that. You know why? 00:31:48.520 --> 00:31:53.520 Because from the beginning of time, it is the wanting that has kept man away from God. 00:31:53.520 --> 00:32:00.520 Listen, if right now our hearts have two things missing, love and joy, 00:32:00.520 --> 00:32:07.520 then consider the possibility that perhaps you are legalistic. 00:32:10.520 --> 00:32:17.520 Legalism will always banish love and joy from our relationship with God. 00:32:18.520 --> 00:32:21.520 How do you identify legalism? Two things. 00:32:21.520 --> 00:32:27.520 In our interaction with God, if love and joy are missing, 00:32:27.520 --> 00:32:30.520 then there is only one way for a Christian. 00:32:30.520 --> 00:32:35.520 It is to practice traditions that will make us feel approved. 00:32:39.520 --> 00:32:43.520 Legalism will always rob you of your childlikeness. 00:32:49.520 --> 00:32:53.520 You have homes where you have to call your dad, sir. 00:32:57.520 --> 00:33:01.520 Sir, I love you is a little different from daddy, I love you. 00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:03.520 But it's the way people have grown up. 00:33:03.520 --> 00:33:07.520 Army homes? Oh my God, you have to salute them at times. 00:33:08.520 --> 00:33:15.520 The point is Jesus looked forward to undoing religious laws, 00:33:15.520 --> 00:33:19.520 rituals, legalism and man-made traditions. 00:33:22.520 --> 00:33:29.520 He banishes these because if they don't get banished, they banish love and joy. 00:33:31.520 --> 00:33:39.520 Any questions before we go on? Any questions? Any challenges to what I'm saying? 00:33:39.520 --> 00:33:41.520 I said traditions of men. There are some traditions that are godly. 00:33:41.520 --> 00:33:46.520 I'm talking about traditions of men. Any questions? 00:33:49.520 --> 00:33:53.520 You would think really Jesus would be joyful enough to die on the cross to undo this? 00:33:53.520 --> 00:33:57.520 Yes, because for years it has trapped man in bondage. 00:33:57.520 --> 00:34:00.520 He's a bondage breaker. He loves doing this. 00:34:00.520 --> 00:34:02.520 He looked forward to it. 00:34:02.520 --> 00:34:06.520 Axis was just meant to destroy the bondage of the people. 00:34:06.520 --> 00:34:10.520 Axis was just meant to destroy rituals. 00:34:15.520 --> 00:34:17.520 No questions? 00:34:20.520 --> 00:34:22.520 Another thing he loved establishing. 00:34:23.520 --> 00:34:30.520 Why did he endure the cross? To establish the kingdom. 00:34:33.520 --> 00:34:35.520 To establish the kingdom. 00:34:35.520 --> 00:34:56.520 In Revelation 12, verse 10 to 12, it talks about how salvation, salvation and power, 00:34:57.520 --> 00:35:03.520 salvation and power was established by him. 00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:09.520 Salvation and power of the kingdom was established by him. 00:35:12.520 --> 00:35:19.520 How did he establish it? By the blood of the Lamb. 00:35:21.520 --> 00:35:25.520 I've said this before, we do not invite Jesus Christ into our lives. 00:35:25.520 --> 00:35:27.520 That's the way we've been taught. 00:35:27.520 --> 00:35:30.520 But Jesus never said, invite me into your life. 00:35:30.520 --> 00:35:34.520 Jesus said, I have a kingdom. I invite you into the kingdom. 00:35:34.520 --> 00:35:37.520 If you want to enter this kingdom, you have to be born again. 00:35:37.520 --> 00:35:41.520 Unless you be born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. 00:35:41.520 --> 00:35:47.520 And then he established this is the power and the salvation of this kingdom all across the earth. 00:35:47.520 --> 00:35:51.520 And he does it by his blood, which is why it says in Revelation 12, 00:35:51.520 --> 00:35:56.520 that they overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. 00:35:56.520 --> 00:35:59.520 And that the dragon was cast out. 00:35:59.520 --> 00:36:03.520 There was a kingdom that was established. Jesus looked forward to establishing the kingdom. 00:36:03.520 --> 00:36:10.520 One of the reasons he endured the cross was so that, as it says in Revelation 11, 13 or 14, 00:36:10.520 --> 00:36:18.520 it says, a day will come when all the kingdoms of the earth will become the kingdom of our Lord and Christ. 00:36:20.520 --> 00:36:28.520 One of the reasons he looked forward to dying was so that he could bring back the kingdom that was lost in the Garden of Eden. 00:36:28.520 --> 00:36:33.520 The cross becomes his throne. 00:36:33.520 --> 00:36:40.520 The most kingly moment in Jesus' life was hanging like a naked criminal on a cross. 00:36:40.520 --> 00:36:43.520 That was his most kingly moment. 00:36:43.520 --> 00:36:48.520 Hey, there was not a loin cloth to hide anything like we see in the movies. 00:36:48.520 --> 00:36:51.520 That's just to give Jesus dignity. 00:36:51.520 --> 00:36:56.520 He was naked on the cross, mocked, spat on, 00:36:57.520 --> 00:37:01.520 stick taken, hit on his head a few times, six inch, twelve inch nails. 00:37:01.520 --> 00:37:08.520 And yet the most majestic kingly moment was when a naked man hung on a cross. 00:37:08.520 --> 00:37:16.520 And in the process, a kingdom that he spoke about, that he continuously spoke about, begins to form, is established. 00:37:16.520 --> 00:37:20.520 And he rises up. And as he rises up, his name changes. 00:37:20.520 --> 00:37:24.520 He's no longer Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary. 00:37:24.520 --> 00:37:29.520 He is now Christ Jesus, the anointed Messiah, the prince. 00:37:29.520 --> 00:37:33.520 Every prince, every anointed king has a kingdom. 00:37:33.520 --> 00:37:39.520 You read Psalm 2 and you realize that Psalm 2 is an installation psalm. 00:37:39.520 --> 00:37:42.520 I have set my king on that holy hill. 00:37:42.520 --> 00:37:44.520 Ask now for your inheritance, Jesus. 00:37:44.520 --> 00:37:45.520 He has your inheritance. 00:37:45.520 --> 00:37:48.520 All the nations of the earth are your inheritance. 00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:50.520 Ask of me and I'll give it to you. 00:37:50.520 --> 00:37:55.520 You think he won't endure to bring back his father's kingdom? 00:38:00.520 --> 00:38:09.520 Another thing you look forward to was not just the return of his glory, but for us to see it. 00:38:09.520 --> 00:38:13.520 Go to John 17. Sorry guys. 00:38:13.520 --> 00:38:16.520 Go to John 17. 00:38:16.520 --> 00:38:18.520 Go to John 17. 00:38:18.520 --> 00:38:20.520 John 17. 00:38:23.520 --> 00:38:45.520 You know, he looked forward to repossessing the glory that he had set aside. 00:38:46.520 --> 00:38:56.520 Remember in Philippians 2 it says, he didn't grab on to the glory he had, 00:38:56.520 --> 00:39:00.520 but he divested himself off it and became like a bond servant. 00:39:00.520 --> 00:39:02.520 Philippians 2 talks about it. 00:39:02.520 --> 00:39:07.520 One of the things Jesus knew he needed to do to die and rise again, 00:39:07.520 --> 00:39:15.520 and that he looked forward to the joy was, Father, once again, the glory that I laid down, I will repossess. 00:39:15.520 --> 00:39:17.520 And that's not it. 00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:22.520 I want them to see it so they know what they are heading for too. 00:39:22.520 --> 00:39:24.520 Go to John 17. 00:39:24.520 --> 00:39:26.520 John 17. 00:39:26.520 --> 00:39:29.520 Verse 4, 5 and 24. 00:39:29.520 --> 00:39:30.520 John 17. 00:39:30.520 --> 00:39:34.520 Verse 4, 5 and 24. 00:39:34.520 --> 00:39:35.520 John 17. 00:39:35.520 --> 00:39:36.520 Verse 4. 00:39:37.520 --> 00:39:47.520 I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do. 00:39:47.520 --> 00:39:51.520 And now, Father, glorify me with your own splendor, 00:39:51.520 --> 00:39:55.520 the very splendor I had in your presence before there was a world. 00:39:55.520 --> 00:39:58.520 You can't even imagine this, eh? 00:39:58.520 --> 00:40:03.520 There was a glory he possessed before the world even existed. 00:40:03.520 --> 00:40:04.520 That was brilliant. 00:40:04.520 --> 00:40:05.520 That was resplendent. 00:40:05.520 --> 00:40:06.520 That was magnificent. 00:40:06.520 --> 00:40:10.520 That was one with a father like you and I cannot even imagine. 00:40:10.520 --> 00:40:15.520 There were limitations to Jesus in his physical body. 00:40:15.520 --> 00:40:20.520 He only starts moving through walls and appearing in rooms after he rose again. 00:40:20.520 --> 00:40:25.520 Before that, he could not do it. 00:40:25.520 --> 00:40:28.520 And look at his words there in verse 5. 00:40:28.520 --> 00:40:31.520 And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor. 00:40:31.520 --> 00:40:33.520 What kind of splendor are we talking about? 00:40:33.520 --> 00:40:35.520 There are glimpses of it in the book of Revelation. 00:40:35.520 --> 00:40:41.520 There are glimpses of it in Revelation 1 where it says his face is as bright as the midday sun. 00:40:41.520 --> 00:40:47.520 And he's saying, can you once again glorify me with your very own splendor, 00:40:47.520 --> 00:40:53.520 the very splendor I had in your presence before there was a world? 00:40:53.520 --> 00:40:55.520 And he'll endure the cross. 00:40:55.520 --> 00:40:56.520 You know why? 00:40:56.520 --> 00:40:58.520 Not so he can wear it again. 00:40:58.520 --> 00:41:00.520 Go to verse 24. 00:41:01.520 --> 00:41:09.520 Father, I want those you gave me to be with me right where I am so they can see my glory, 00:41:09.520 --> 00:41:14.520 the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there ever was a world. 00:41:14.520 --> 00:41:16.520 Beautiful, eh? 00:41:16.520 --> 00:41:18.520 Look at the conversation between son and father. 00:41:18.520 --> 00:41:21.520 You loved me long before there was a world. 00:41:21.520 --> 00:41:22.520 And then we created. 00:41:22.520 --> 00:41:26.520 And everything that was created was created through me. 00:41:27.520 --> 00:41:31.520 And now, oh God, these ones that you've created and that have begun to follow me, 00:41:31.520 --> 00:41:37.520 like the ones sitting here, could you bring about a day when they can see how you and I used to be, 00:41:37.520 --> 00:41:43.520 where they can see resplendent glory, where they can see what it used to be like? 00:41:43.520 --> 00:41:45.520 My God, for this! 00:41:48.520 --> 00:41:53.520 My dad used to take me on the back of his scooter when we would go to his hometown in India. 00:41:53.520 --> 00:41:56.520 He would take me to places where he had moments of victory. 00:41:56.520 --> 00:42:01.520 He would sit me down before, besides ponds, besides trees, besides schools, 00:42:01.520 --> 00:42:03.520 and he'd tell me, Jacob, this is what I did here. 00:42:03.520 --> 00:42:04.520 Manek, this is what I did there. 00:42:04.520 --> 00:42:06.520 Manek, this is what happened here. 00:42:06.520 --> 00:42:08.520 He would tell me. 00:42:11.520 --> 00:42:12.520 A time like that awaits us. 00:42:12.520 --> 00:42:14.520 And he'd look forward to it. 00:42:14.520 --> 00:42:18.520 Every time I'd return from Vancouver and go back to visit my dad, 00:42:18.520 --> 00:42:21.520 he would look forward to it because he would repeat some of the stories. 00:42:21.520 --> 00:42:23.520 He would look forward to it. 00:42:24.520 --> 00:42:34.520 This is why Jesus says, hey, a day is coming when I will not drink of the wine of this cup till I sit with you. 00:42:34.520 --> 00:42:37.520 And then when I sit with you, I'll begin to tell you. 00:42:37.520 --> 00:42:42.520 And when I sit with you, you won't see me as the Jesus that you saw in Nazareth. 00:42:42.520 --> 00:42:48.520 You will see me and my father in resplendent glory, something I've longed to share with you. 00:42:49.520 --> 00:42:54.520 And for this joy, yes, it's worth enduring the cross, Jacob. 00:42:59.520 --> 00:43:04.520 In verse 25, righteous father, the world has never known you, but I've known you. 00:43:04.520 --> 00:43:07.520 And these disciples know that you sent me. 00:43:07.520 --> 00:43:11.520 I've made you very being known to them, who you are, what you do. 00:43:13.520 --> 00:43:14.520 Beautiful. 00:43:14.520 --> 00:43:17.520 And God is never ashamed of his glory, eh? 00:43:19.520 --> 00:43:20.520 What is his glory? 00:43:21.520 --> 00:43:23.520 We defined this some weeks ago. 00:43:23.520 --> 00:43:26.520 His glory is his holy gone public. 00:43:27.520 --> 00:43:31.520 His glory is his holy gone public. 00:43:33.520 --> 00:43:37.520 When his holy goes public, it's called his glory. 00:43:39.520 --> 00:43:42.520 If he wasn't holy, he would not be glory. 00:43:42.520 --> 00:43:45.520 If he wasn't holy, he would not be glorious. 00:43:45.520 --> 00:43:48.520 And if he wasn't true, he wouldn't be holy. 00:43:48.520 --> 00:43:49.520 Just remember that, eh? 00:43:49.520 --> 00:43:54.520 If he wasn't holy, he would not be glorious. 00:43:55.520 --> 00:43:59.520 And if he wasn't true, he would not be holy. 00:43:59.520 --> 00:44:01.520 I didn't say if he didn't speak the truth. 00:44:01.520 --> 00:44:08.520 I'm saying if he wasn't true, as in in everything he does, he's so straight. 00:44:08.520 --> 00:44:10.520 His judgment is so perfect. 00:44:10.520 --> 00:44:12.520 His wisdom is so kind and noble. 00:44:12.520 --> 00:44:14.520 His love is so beautiful. 00:44:14.520 --> 00:44:17.520 Everything is so true that it makes him holy. 00:44:18.520 --> 00:44:20.520 And because he's holy, he's glorious. 00:44:21.520 --> 00:44:23.520 And he's a transcendent being. 00:44:23.520 --> 00:44:24.520 Nobody like him. 00:44:25.520 --> 00:44:27.520 Holy is his otherness. 00:44:33.520 --> 00:44:36.520 And it is into this otherness that he's calling us. 00:44:36.520 --> 00:44:38.520 We have such a beautiful hope. 00:44:38.520 --> 00:44:40.520 I'll end in two or three minutes. 00:44:40.520 --> 00:44:43.520 He won't. He won't. 00:44:43.520 --> 00:44:45.520 He hasn't been here for two weeks. 00:44:54.520 --> 00:44:55.520 Let's touch on one more. 00:44:56.520 --> 00:45:02.520 One of the things he knew would happen if he endured the cross was that all authority 00:45:04.520 --> 00:45:05.520 in heaven and earth 00:45:09.520 --> 00:45:10.520 would be his 00:45:14.520 --> 00:45:15.520 for the church. 00:45:18.520 --> 00:45:20.520 This is importantly the last bit. 00:45:21.520 --> 00:45:26.520 We shouldn't think that Christ did not have authority till he died and rose again. 00:45:27.520 --> 00:45:28.520 Obviously he did. 00:45:29.520 --> 00:45:31.520 Eudicus to anybody who's sleeping. 00:45:31.520 --> 00:45:33.520 There are a couple of eudicus that may fall off. 00:45:33.520 --> 00:45:34.520 That's okay. 00:45:34.520 --> 00:45:35.520 So, 00:45:38.520 --> 00:45:42.520 all authority in heaven and earth would be his. 00:45:43.520 --> 00:45:46.520 All authority in heaven and earth would be his for the church. 00:45:46.520 --> 00:45:52.520 It was not as if Christ did not have authority before. 00:45:53.520 --> 00:45:54.520 Because what was he then before? 00:45:55.520 --> 00:45:57.520 He was the one who was the authority. 00:45:57.520 --> 00:45:58.520 He had authority before. 00:46:00.520 --> 00:46:01.520 Because what was he then before? 00:46:01.520 --> 00:46:02.520 He was God. 00:46:02.520 --> 00:46:03.520 So obviously he had authority. 00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:05.520 But in dying something happens. 00:46:05.520 --> 00:46:07.520 Go to Philippians 2, 69. 00:46:08.520 --> 00:46:09.520 Philippians 2, 69. 00:46:12.520 --> 00:46:13.520 Philippians 2, 69. 00:46:13.520 --> 00:46:15.520 And then Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. 00:46:16.520 --> 00:46:17.520 Philippians 2, 69. 00:46:19.520 --> 00:46:22.520 Philippians 2, 69. 00:46:27.520 --> 00:46:29.520 He had equal status with God. 00:46:30.520 --> 00:46:35.520 But didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantage of that status no matter what. 00:46:35.520 --> 00:46:36.520 Not at all. 00:46:37.520 --> 00:46:42.520 When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave. 00:46:42.520 --> 00:46:43.520 He became human. 00:46:44.520 --> 00:46:46.520 Having become human, he stayed human. 00:46:47.520 --> 00:46:48.520 It was an incredibly humbling process. 00:46:49.520 --> 00:46:50.520 He didn't claim special privileges. 00:46:50.520 --> 00:46:56.520 Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death. 00:46:56.520 --> 00:46:59.520 And the worst kind of death was that, a crucifixion. 00:47:00.520 --> 00:47:07.520 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far above anyone or anything ever. 00:47:08.520 --> 00:47:16.520 So that all created beings in heaven and on earth, even those long ago dead and buried, will bow in worship before Jesus Christ. 00:47:16.520 --> 00:47:20.520 And call out and praise that he is the master of all to the glorious honor of God the Father. 00:47:20.520 --> 00:47:28.520 Ephesians 1, verse 20 onwards. 00:47:29.520 --> 00:47:31.520 Ephesians 1, verse 20 onwards. 00:47:32.520 --> 00:47:34.520 All this energy issues from Christ. 00:47:34.520 --> 00:47:39.520 God raised him from the dead and set him on a throne in deep heaven. 00:47:39.520 --> 00:47:41.520 In charge of running the universe. 00:47:41.520 --> 00:47:43.520 Everything from galaxies to governments. 00:47:43.520 --> 00:47:46.520 No name and no power exempt from his rule. 00:47:46.520 --> 00:47:49.520 And not just for the time being, but forever. 00:47:49.520 --> 00:47:50.520 He is in charge of it all. 00:47:50.520 --> 00:47:52.520 He has the final word on everything. 00:47:52.520 --> 00:47:56.520 At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. 00:47:56.520 --> 00:47:59.520 The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world. 00:47:59.520 --> 00:48:01.520 The world is peripheral to the church. 00:48:01.520 --> 00:48:04.520 The church is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts. 00:48:04.520 --> 00:48:07.520 By which he fills everything with his presence. 00:48:08.520 --> 00:48:11.520 And so one of the things Jesus, and we'll end with this point. 00:48:11.520 --> 00:48:16.520 One of the things Jesus looked forward to was the ability to give to the church. 00:48:17.520 --> 00:48:26.520 The realization that all authority in heaven and earth now belongs to him. 00:48:27.520 --> 00:48:28.520 For the church. 00:48:31.520 --> 00:48:34.520 This would not have been possible without his death as a man. 00:48:36.520 --> 00:48:37.520 The son of man dies. 00:48:37.520 --> 00:48:38.520 The son of man dies. 00:48:38.520 --> 00:48:41.520 The son of God rises as the anointed prince. 00:48:41.520 --> 00:48:46.520 And then he says, church, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 00:48:46.520 --> 00:48:47.520 I'm the ultimate. 00:48:48.520 --> 00:48:50.520 Nothing moves without my permission. 00:48:50.520 --> 00:48:57.520 And by the way, I give that authority to you because you are the body, I am the head. 00:48:59.520 --> 00:49:03.520 This would not have been possible if Christ had not died and risen. 00:49:04.520 --> 00:49:06.520 He gives us authority. 00:49:07.520 --> 00:49:11.520 And now that he's given the authority to us, he says, go talk to the communists. 00:49:11.520 --> 00:49:12.520 Go talk to the atheists. 00:49:12.520 --> 00:49:14.520 Go talk to the democrat. 00:49:14.520 --> 00:49:15.520 Go talk to the republican. 00:49:15.520 --> 00:49:16.520 Go talk to the buddhist. 00:49:16.520 --> 00:49:17.520 Go talk to the muslim. 00:49:18.520 --> 00:49:22.520 Why? Because I have paid for every one of them. 00:49:23.520 --> 00:49:26.520 They all belong to me. 00:49:26.520 --> 00:49:30.520 I have purchased their lives and I have paid for their sins. 00:49:31.520 --> 00:49:34.520 You go tell them because I have all authority. 00:49:34.520 --> 00:49:39.520 When you go tell them and you have to tell them the gospel, not your testimony alone, 00:49:39.520 --> 00:49:44.520 when you tell them the gospel, if they accept me, they have what I got for them. 00:49:44.520 --> 00:49:47.520 If they do not accept me, they do not have what I got for them. 00:49:52.520 --> 00:49:54.520 Because everything belongs to him. 00:49:54.520 --> 00:49:58.520 Why? Because he reconciled everything back by his blood. 00:50:00.520 --> 00:50:03.520 Everything that was separated, he reconciled it back. 00:50:03.520 --> 00:50:04.520 Read the scripture. 00:50:14.520 --> 00:50:16.520 Colossians 1, 15-23. 00:50:16.520 --> 00:50:18.520 Colossians 1, 15-23. 00:50:21.520 --> 00:50:24.520 Colossians 1, 15-23. 00:50:30.520 --> 00:50:31.520 Beautiful, man. 00:50:31.520 --> 00:50:33.520 Some of these scriptures are so rich. 00:50:33.520 --> 00:50:38.520 We look at the sun and we see the god who cannot be seen. 00:50:38.520 --> 00:50:43.520 We look at the sun and see god's original purpose in everything created. 00:50:43.520 --> 00:50:52.520 For everything, absolutely everything, above, below, visible, invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels. 00:50:52.520 --> 00:50:56.520 Everything got started in him, finds its purpose in him. 00:50:56.520 --> 00:50:59.520 He was there before any of it came into existence. 00:50:59.520 --> 00:51:02.520 He holds it together right up to this moment. 00:51:02.520 --> 00:51:07.520 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together like a head does a body. 00:51:07.520 --> 00:51:11.520 He was supreme in the beginning, leading the resurrection parade. 00:51:11.520 --> 00:51:12.520 He's supreme in the end. 00:51:12.520 --> 00:51:16.520 From beginning to end, he's there, towering far above everything. 00:51:16.520 --> 00:51:23.520 So spacious is he, so roomy that everything of god finds its proper place in him. 00:51:23.520 --> 00:51:27.520 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe. 00:51:27.520 --> 00:51:34.520 People, things, animals, atoms get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies. 00:51:34.520 --> 00:51:38.520 All because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. 00:51:38.520 --> 00:51:41.520 As yourselves are a case study of what he does. 00:51:41.520 --> 00:51:48.520 At one time, you had all your back turned to god, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him troubles every chance you got. 00:51:48.520 --> 00:51:56.520 But now, by giving himself completely at the cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to god's side. 00:51:56.520 --> 00:52:00.520 And put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. 00:52:00.520 --> 00:52:03.520 You don't walk away from a gift like that. 00:52:03.520 --> 00:52:08.520 You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned into the message. 00:52:08.520 --> 00:52:10.520 Careful not to be distracted or diverted. 00:52:10.520 --> 00:52:12.520 There is no other message, just this one. 00:52:12.520 --> 00:52:16.520 Every creature under heaven gets the same message. 00:52:16.520 --> 00:52:19.520 And I, Paul, am a messenger of this message. 00:52:20.520 --> 00:52:28.520 If you read it from the NIV or ESV or NIRV, it talks about how god reconciled everything through his blood. 00:52:28.520 --> 00:52:29.520 Reconciled everything. 00:52:29.520 --> 00:52:34.520 And because he is in all authority, he's going to come back as a judge. 00:52:34.520 --> 00:52:38.520 He's going to come back as a judge. 00:52:38.520 --> 00:52:43.520 And when he comes back as a judge, he will divide the sheep and the goat. 00:52:43.520 --> 00:52:45.520 What gives him the right? Again, the cross. 00:52:45.520 --> 00:52:47.520 What do you mean the cross gives him the right? 00:52:47.520 --> 00:52:51.520 Because he was judged for the earth, he now has the right to judge the earth. 00:52:51.520 --> 00:52:53.520 Tremendous, eh? 00:52:53.520 --> 00:52:55.520 It's so mathematical. It's so logical. 00:52:55.520 --> 00:53:01.520 Because he was judged for the earth, he now has the right to judge the earth. 00:53:01.520 --> 00:53:10.520 And if you don't have Christ and you died today, having heard about him, then you will be judged. 00:53:10.520 --> 00:53:25.520 And then the last thing he does is in 1 Corinthians 15, having defeated all powers, all principalities, and finally having defeated death. 00:53:25.520 --> 00:53:27.520 What does Christ do? 00:53:27.520 --> 00:53:31.520 And he's defeated powers, principalities, and death only because he died and rose again. 00:53:31.520 --> 00:53:32.520 He looks forward to this. 00:53:32.520 --> 00:53:39.520 And the ultimate scene, the ultimate scene after we are all dead, is the death of Jesus. 00:53:39.520 --> 00:53:44.520 The ultimate scene after we are all gathered, we bowed before him. 00:53:44.520 --> 00:53:47.520 We laid our crowns before him. 00:53:47.520 --> 00:53:57.520 And then when death is defeated, when death no longer exists, when death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire, once that's done, the Bible says, 00:53:57.520 --> 00:54:05.520 will take everything that he has reconciled and he will take himself and he will lay down before the father and says, 00:54:05.520 --> 00:54:09.520 all this I now place before you. 00:54:09.520 --> 00:54:11.520 That's the last scene. 00:54:11.520 --> 00:54:13.520 You should read that. 00:54:13.520 --> 00:54:31.520 1 Corinthians 15, 24-26. 00:54:31.520 --> 00:54:32.520 But we have to wait our turn. 00:54:32.520 --> 00:54:35.520 Christ is first and those with him and his coming. 00:54:35.520 --> 00:54:50.520 Verse 24. 00:54:50.520 --> 00:54:53.520 If you read from the NIV. 00:55:05.520 --> 00:55:11.520 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 00:55:11.520 --> 00:55:14.520 So here's the question. 00:55:14.520 --> 00:55:21.520 Do you take joy in any of the things that Jesus is taking joy? 00:55:21.520 --> 00:55:24.520 So let's just pick on Diana. 00:55:24.520 --> 00:55:27.520 So she doesn't have to answer, but it's questions. 00:55:27.520 --> 00:55:33.520 Does Diana take joy in the bride like Jesus does? 00:55:33.520 --> 00:55:36.520 Is she passionate about the bride? 00:55:36.520 --> 00:55:45.520 Does the bride, is the bride her magnificent obsession? 00:55:45.520 --> 00:55:53.520 Does Diana exercise authority that has been won for her? 00:55:53.520 --> 00:55:54.520 Because she's part of the church. 00:55:54.520 --> 00:56:02.520 Does she exercise that authority for the freedom of others? 00:56:02.520 --> 00:56:03.520 Take another one. 00:56:03.520 --> 00:56:10.520 Does Diana look forward every day and advantage the access that God has given her? 00:56:10.520 --> 00:56:13.520 Does she see him as her elder brother? 00:56:13.520 --> 00:56:17.520 Is that the relationship? 00:56:17.520 --> 00:56:20.520 Is presence something she cannot live without? 00:56:20.520 --> 00:56:23.520 Thirsty for it. 00:56:23.520 --> 00:56:34.520 Her mouth dries up if presence is absent. 00:56:34.520 --> 00:56:39.520 Does Diana look forward to here on earth, 00:56:39.520 --> 00:56:45.520 catching glimpses of his glorious splendor in worship, 00:56:45.520 --> 00:56:50.520 in the morning sun, 00:56:50.520 --> 00:56:57.520 in the way he paints the skies, in babies, 00:56:57.520 --> 00:57:01.520 in times of prayer, in speaking in tongues, 00:57:01.520 --> 00:57:03.520 in discovering his mind? 00:57:03.520 --> 00:57:06.520 Is this what she's consumed with? 00:57:06.520 --> 00:57:10.520 And does hope arise in her heart when she thinks of a day 00:57:10.520 --> 00:57:14.520 when she will see the glory he possessed with his father and will be part of it? 00:57:14.520 --> 00:57:20.520 Does it encourage her? Does it make her burst into song? 00:57:20.520 --> 00:57:29.520 Does Diana enjoy the mystery of God and revel in it? 00:57:29.520 --> 00:57:34.520 Is her faith mixed with joy? 00:57:34.520 --> 00:57:40.520 Can she endure difficult times without mourning, without complaining, like all of us do? 00:58:04.520 --> 00:58:17.520 Does she share, does she recognize that she at present shares the private life of the King of the Universe, 00:58:17.520 --> 00:58:22.520 the private personal life, the thinking, the emotions, the interests, the disinterest, 00:58:22.520 --> 00:58:26.520 the indissoluble, indestructible life of Christ? 00:58:26.520 --> 00:58:33.520 And is that how she lives from event to event, situation to situation, trouble to trouble, success to success? 00:58:33.520 --> 00:58:42.520 Is that how she lives? 00:58:42.520 --> 00:58:49.520 That's Hebrews 12.2, for the joy that is set before us will you endure? 00:58:49.520 --> 00:58:54.520 And Hebrews 12.1, guess who's watching? 00:58:54.520 --> 00:59:16.520 Abel, Enoch, Moses, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, 00:59:16.520 --> 00:59:20.520 some of the pastors you've known who've died and gone. 00:59:20.520 --> 00:59:28.520 My friend Bonnie, who brought me to the Lord, who died about 15 years ago, they're all watching. 00:59:28.520 --> 00:59:35.520 And what are they watching for? Hey Jacob, let me see whether you can endure this walk of faith. 00:59:35.520 --> 00:59:39.520 And what are they doing when they watch? They begin to clap, they begin to applaud. 00:59:39.520 --> 00:59:46.520 They are more real in this room than most other things. 00:59:46.520 --> 00:59:57.520 It says, therefore, since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. 00:59:57.520 --> 01:00:02.520 Right now, listening to what we are saying, some of them did not know this message 01:00:02.520 --> 01:00:11.520 because Abel and Noah and Enoch died before. 01:00:11.520 --> 01:00:21.520 Every time you or I run a race that is worthy of endurance, for his glory, with faith, 01:00:21.520 --> 01:00:28.520 we don't realize what happens to them because they know it is worth it. 01:00:28.520 --> 01:00:34.520 That in a world that sneers at you, in a world that spites you, in a world that persecutes you, 01:00:34.520 --> 01:00:39.520 in a world that makes it difficult for you to stand up and say, I belong to Christ. 01:00:39.520 --> 01:00:45.520 Every time you and I begin to take a stand that is for the truth or that is Christ-like, 01:00:45.520 --> 01:00:56.520 this cloud of witnesses that surrounds you that is more alive right now than you and I can imagine. 01:00:56.520 --> 01:01:04.520 They begin to say, it is worth it, it is worth it, it is worth it, it is worth it. 01:01:04.520 --> 01:01:13.520 And sometimes we need to be aware of them. 01:01:13.520 --> 01:01:22.520 That I want to get to a place where like Enoch, my life will be such a pleasure to God. 01:01:22.520 --> 01:01:34.520 But one day I was and then one day I'm not. 01:01:34.520 --> 01:01:37.520 Let me pray. 01:01:37.520 --> 01:01:42.520 Father, as I look around this church, I thank you for men and women that endure. 01:01:42.520 --> 01:01:47.520 Men and women that have chosen to turn their back on legalism and tradition. 01:01:47.520 --> 01:01:51.520 Men and women that have been through tough times, that have flaws, that have defects, 01:01:51.520 --> 01:01:56.520 that have fallen, that have gotten up. 01:01:56.520 --> 01:02:03.520 Father, I just thank you right now for you want us to know that there is a cloud of witnesses 01:02:03.520 --> 01:02:08.520 that are cheering us on saying, we went through this, stand up and go through this, 01:02:08.520 --> 01:02:16.520 because so much on the earth is at stake and if you stand, the earth will benefit. 01:02:16.520 --> 01:02:21.520 Father, this is a strange way to say it, but you're saying, 01:02:21.520 --> 01:02:29.520 listen to the voice of the Spirit who brings to you the cheer from the stand of the witnesses, 01:02:29.520 --> 01:02:36.520 saying, take a stand, endure, stick with the mandate you have been given, 01:02:36.520 --> 01:02:40.520 because if you do, the earth will benefit. 01:02:40.520 --> 01:02:44.520 We endured it and you are the beneficiaries. 01:02:44.520 --> 01:02:48.520 Will you stand so that the earth can benefit? 01:02:48.520 --> 01:02:53.520 What May explained was just a taste of what awaits the earth. 01:02:53.520 --> 01:02:56.520 Will you continue to stand? 01:02:56.520 --> 01:02:59.520 Strangely enough though, it is the voice of the Spirit to us, 01:02:59.520 --> 01:03:09.520 conveying to us the echo of the witnesses that surround us, even now. 01:03:09.520 --> 01:03:11.520 So how do we end, O God? 01:03:25.520 --> 01:03:28.520 Father, I'm going to ask Derek to come up and sing a song, 01:03:28.520 --> 01:03:33.520 and choose a song that is right, and as he sings it, you sing with him. 01:03:39.520 --> 01:03:41.520 Thank you.