[0:00] Amen. Well, good morning, church. Glad to see that some of you are still in town.! I was remarking earlier, I was out Ubering last night,! There was nobody needing rides.
[0:17] I think Spokane is out camping somewhere this weekend. So it's good to see many of you here this morning and for us to be able to worship the Lord here this Memorial Day weekend.
[0:30] And beginning our summer schedule. I'm glad you guys made it up on time. So this is good. We're already winning, church. We're already winning. This is good. Go ahead and turn open to Colossians chapter 1.
[0:42] We'll be looking at verses 19 to 23. I know we're reviewing a couple verses last week. That's because Scott didn't really cover them. And to pay him back, I'm not going to really cover the final verse that we're going to be looking at for him next week.
[0:56] So you're welcome. That's what we do. So, it is good to be here this morning, church. Amen? Let me pray for us. Father, thank you so much for your goodness, for your presence, for your Word.
[1:14] Lord, we are reminded from Hebrews that the Word of God, it's living and active. It's not an ordinary book that we are cracking open this morning and considering.
[1:31] It's not a book of inspirational thoughts. These are your words, Lord. Lord, I pray that we would leave here having heard from you.
[1:50] Lord, I pray that we would stir our affections up towards you.
[2:07] Lord, we would love you a little bit more because of the time we've spent in your Word together. And Lord, I just want to pray for each of us this summer. Lord, that we would be hearing your voice this summer.
[2:19] You primarily speak through your Word. And I pray, Lord, that we would not be slack in seeking time with you. Lord, maybe it's just sitting out on the patio or porch or outside in a park and opening the Word and hearing from you.
[2:38] And Lord, I pray that you would be refreshing your people and we would have your thoughts this summer. And at the end of it, we would be closer to you, not further away. And so we commit this morning, but we commit the summer to you.
[2:49] And ask that you would be at work in each of us. I pray that we would find ways to serve one another this morning. Come, listen, encourage, exhort, and just there would be some good body life that would be occurring from our gathering.
[3:05] So we commit all that happens. We pray that it glorifies you, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. So a number of you just finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia as part of our Dead Theologians Society, our little book club we do here.
[3:20] Read a book quarterly. And we've got a new book, by the way. It's out on the resource board. You can take a look there if it's something that interests you. But the Narnia Chronicles are so good at engaging our imagination, right?
[3:35] Lewis talks about reason being the organ of truth and the imagination being the organ of meaning, right? Images bring clarity to truth. I make fun of Scott because he's got his box that sometimes he'll bring up here.
[3:48] I'm like, man, there's the box, right? There's the creation box. Everything's in the box, right? But Jesus is not in the box because he's not created. And I love that we have these images. And it's like, oh, that's okay.
[4:01] Jesus is like the eternal second person of the triune Godhead. And it just, it clicks. We've got these images that undergird or fortify the truth that God's Word speaks.
[4:14] Well, I love the words of Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia when he talks about Aslan, the lion, this picture of Jesus.
[4:24] And Lucy asks, is he safe? Right? Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe.
[4:36] But he's good. He's the king, you know. Last week we were confronted with Jesus as he has always been. The creator God himself.
[4:48] The king, I tell you. Not a tame lion. In fact, Jesus claimed to be God. John 8, 58. I think Scott maybe referenced this last week.
[4:59] But Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am. I am the same God. Right? Right? As revealed in Exodus 3, 14.
[5:10] Before Abraham was, I am. Jesus didn't say before Abraham was, I began. He's always existed in the second person of the triune Godhead. And the Jews responded.
[5:22] They knew what Jesus was saying. And they picked up stones to stone him. Jesus claimed to be God. Today, we're not going to be confronted with Jesus as God, that he's not a tame lion.
[5:34] But we're going to be confronted with the fact that he's good. We're going to be comforted that he's good. And that the gospel, which includes the incarnation, is the bedrock related to God's goodness.
[5:50] Okay? So last week, we talked about the fact that God, that Jesus is God, that Jesus is not this tame line. We're going to consider the fact that he's good.
[6:00] And it's highlighted nowhere better than in it proclaims that Jesus is indeed good. Here's the problem. Most of the world considers the gospel as foolish and irrelevant.
[6:19] In fact, they always have. And I can say that with good authority because the Bible describes the world this way. Let me give us a couple passages. In 1 Corinthians 1.23, Paul says, But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to the Gentiles.
[6:41] It's folly. The Greek word folly is moriah, which actually is where we get our word moronic from. The gospel is like an ancient myth, our world says.
[6:54] We might as well worship a magical unicorn in the sky. I drove a gentleman Friday night who was here up visiting from San Francisco.
[7:05] And as we were talking, he was here for a concert and shared that he once was religious, but he had left all that. It was foolishness to him.
[7:19] Here's another instance, Matthew 7.13. Jesus says, Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction. But those who enter by it are, how many?
[7:31] Many. Okay? That tells us that the majority of the world thinks the gospel is foolish. It's foolishness. And of course, Jesus asks the question in Luke 18.8, When the Son of Man comes, when He returns to planet Earth, will He find faith on Earth?
[7:52] For those of us who have responded to the gospel, we recognize the value, the splendor, the beauty, or at least we did at some point.
[8:06] And I don't know where each and every person is at this morning. Perhaps you're here today, and maybe you have forgotten. Maybe there is something else that has grabbed the affections of your heart.
[8:16] Maybe there's a jewel of the world that's just sort of the thing that you meditate on and think about. And you've forgotten how wonderful, how glorious, how beautiful the gospel is.
[8:27] Today, what I hope to accomplish is, well, I hope that the Spirit of God would accomplish and sort of renovate our heart thankfulness for the gospel. That we would increase in our delight of the gospel, as though it were a hidden treasure in a field.
[8:45] That we would see it as this pearl of great value. That we would desire, that we would have that sense of like, man, I would sell everything to continue to possess this thing.
[8:57] And what those images convey to us is that the gospel really is the most exquisite news we will ever hear in this lifetime. Regardless of what the world says.
[9:08] Even if they say, oh, that's moronic, that's foolish. What is it about the gospel that is so profoundly attractive to you?
[9:23] What is it about the gospel that just sort of blows you over? Because we need that. We need that posture of heart thankfulness for our own worship.
[9:38] For our own obedience. We need it so that the message, when we share it, it's compelling. I don't know if they still do these infomercials.
[9:56] I don't know if that's still a thing. But I remember at one point in time sort of being just sort of mesmerized. If I ever saw one, like the passion, right?
[10:06] Of that person selling that thing. And just, it's like, man, by the end of it, you're like, I need that thing, right? I need. I need to slice. And I need to dice.
[10:17] I need that thing. Because the person sharing about it is just making it sound so wonderful. They're so passionate about it. Someone making, unfortunately, the unreal seem real.
[10:30] Well, we are called to proclaim the real and make it really real and in our own personal wonder of it. And related to the gospel, just because you can't shoot holes in why not to believe, it doesn't tell you anything about why you should believe.
[10:49] What is it about the gospel that's so attractive? Not just why you can't poke holes in why not to believe.
[11:01] I mean, could you imagine, ladies, if you were shopping for a husband and if you're married, you're not. But if you're not married, you are. Or perhaps, I'm not assuming. But could you imagine shopping for a husband in that manner?
[11:15] Like, why should I marry this guy? Right? Well, he's not the worst looking guy on the planet. It's not really compelling. His school debt isn't that massive.
[11:30] Right? He's not balding as bad as a bunch of other guys I know. Like, no, what's so attractive? Why is this guy worth marrying?
[11:42] And hopefully, two of the primary answers are, he loves Jesus in a very real way that transforms his life, in the way that he conducts himself, the way that he actually conducts our dating relationship, that he's pursuing God and protecting my purity, and the Lord has his heart on these matters.
[12:04] But also, this guy has a great work ethic. I mean, these are things that you would say, man, these are laudable things. Guy worth considering. Well, this morning we're going to gain ground in the wonder of the gospel, because this is God's megaphone to his goodness.
[12:22] And so from the text we're looking at, I know you guys are like, man, this is a long preamble. I've never heard Jay do it this long. I know. I'm just trying things, okay? But I want to draw out three reasons why the gospel is so attractive from this text that we're looking at this morning.
[12:38] So let's look at it together. Colossians 1, 19 to 23. It's what Paul writes. He says, For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
[12:58] And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
[13:11] If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
[13:33] So here we go in verse 19. Paul begins, For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Well, first reason the gospel is attractive, it's attractive because of who Jesus is.
[13:51] The gospel is attractive because of who Jesus is. And as we saw last week, Jesus is God.
[14:03] Paul says here, In him, in Jesus, all, not some, not a portion, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
[14:16] And this statement actually is really alluding to the incarnation. The incarnation, Jesus, attaching himself to human flesh. Philippians 2 is the key text on that, verses 6 and 7, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
[14:41] And it's shocking that God would do this, that he would, that he would leave the prerogative of heaven. That he would give up that prerogative, that he would take on human flesh, that he would actually experience life, existence in the form of a man, and not a CEO, not a king, but as a servant.
[15:05] That he would live in order to die. And I was thinking about, man, what's the picture of this? As we think about, how do we bring meaning here, engage our imaginations, as Lewis says? And I was thinking about, there was an occasion, probably about a decade ago, when I had major health issues, and I couldn't do a lot, and there were some men from our church that came over, our fence that we had was in disrepair, and they're like, Jay, we just want to serve you.
[15:31] And so I had guys show up, I had CEOs, I had business owners, I had one gentleman that was a pilot for a major airline.
[15:44] And they came over, and they came over, and they were willing to help, they basically were saying, hey, we will give up our important positions, in order to take up a hammer and serve you, Jay.
[15:58] And it's like, that's a picture of the incarnation, right? That Jesus was willing to set aside his position, and actually pick up a cross.
[16:11] The incarnation, it's the first necessary step in offering good news to man. Jesus had to come as a man. In fact, Satan knew this.
[16:24] That's why he attempted to snuff Jesus out as a baby. Here's a very full verse, so we're not going to get all the details from, but Revelation 12, 4 says it this way, his tale, speaking of Satan, swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth.
[16:44] This is where we get the idea that a third of the angels rebelled with Satan. And later on in the text, verse 9, it mentions that Satan was thrown down, and his angels thrown down with him.
[16:55] But it says here, a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman, speaking of Israel, who was about to give birth, and we know that was through Mary, so that when she bore her child, he might devour her.
[17:15] And so we have here in Revelation, a reminder here that Satan used a human instrument, used Herod, to try to snuff out the life of Christ, before he was able to live a perfect life, and then to die in our place.
[17:32] And Herod failed in that. In fact, that's why he went and murdered any boy under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. The incarnation is the first necessary step in offering good news to man.
[17:48] Now, why mention Christ's deity prior to talking about his work on the cross? Well, as Dorothy L. Sayers, one of the Inklings, one of C.S. Lewis' friends, she's spot on when she says it this way, she says, if Christ was only man, then he is entirely irrelevant to any thought about God.
[18:12] We need God to reveal God. We actually need God to appease God. If Jesus is not God, then the cross church just becomes, it remains this event in history without any salvation power upon my life and yours.
[18:33] There's lots of people that have been crucified in history. I mean, it's awful, but it doesn't bear down upon our lives. Persian ruler Darius, he crucified 3,000 Babylonians.
[18:47] Those crucifixions don't mean anything to our lives. Alexander the Great sees the city of Tyre and then crucified 2,000 in his anger. Romans came to power in 63 B.C.
[18:58] and then used crucifixion extensively. There's one crucifixion that matters. It's because who was hanging on the cross? Only because Jesus is God did that deeper magic work when he was crucified.
[19:19] Listen, this is how Paul says it. Verse 20, he says, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
[19:32] Now the New Testament uses a number of words that unpack the richness of our salvation and what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
[19:47] Just three of those facets of that diamond. Redemption, justification, adoption. Those words show us how good the Gospel is and I think they show how good it is in sort of an escalating, an escalation of goodness.
[20:06] Like we're redeemed. Redemption. We're redeemed. We were once slaves to sin. Now we're granted freedom to live differently. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. We're also justified. Not just free from the slave market of sin but actually declared righteous.
[20:21] And not just declared righteous but now we're also adopted. We're made family. We're adopted into God's family. family. That's kind of a surreal thing.
[20:34] When Caleb and Sam came home that was kind of like it was very surreal. I get to tell them that they belong. And they belong to me.
[20:47] That's what God says to us. You belong to me. We're adopted into his family. Paul here, the word that he chooses in verse 20 is the word reconcile.
[21:00] Through him to reconcile to himself all things. Now, the English definition of reconcile to cause to be friendly again, to bring back into harmony, to make peace. The Greek word for reconcile, katalaso, to change or to exchange.
[21:17] So, God changed the hostility that were between us and him and he changed the hostility into friendship.
[21:31] That's what Jesus was able to do because he died on the cross, catch this, as God. Only because he was God.
[21:42] sin was our issue. God still initiates with this olive branch of peace. It's astounding.
[21:56] I think of that image of Corrie Ten Boom who went to the concentration camps during the Second World War and at the end of that she makes it out.
[22:07] Her sister dies in a concentration camp. Her father. But Corrie Ten Boom she has a chance then to later meet a German guard who comes to faith in Christ after the events of the Holocaust and after one of the meetings where Corrie Ten Boom was speaking this gentleman comes up to her and says, you don't remember me but I was the guard at this camp where you were and he extends his hand and she's just like frozen like how can I shake this guy's hand?
[22:39] Like she's remembering the brutality and just the unkindness and the way that she was mocked and shamed and she was able to extend her hand and it's like a picture of the Gospel and I think of that like this is God He extends His hand to us but we weren't like that guard who were like offering a hand our backs were turned and God still offered His hand that's how good the Gospel is you know in this verse Paul also tells us there's this universal scope to what is in need of being brought back into right relationship with its Creator he says this and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things whether on earth or in heaven I just want to be clear on this point so I need to read things in context all things
[23:42] Paul here is not proclaiming teaching universalism Scripture rejects the notion that everything will move into harmony with the Creator let me give you a couple verses here Revelation 20 verse 10 says and the devil who has deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever Satan is not reconciled to God ever Matthew 25 46 and these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life this is not Scripture doesn't teach universalism and in fact Paul later in this letter to the Colossians in chapter 3 he writes it this way in verses 5 and 6 he says put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry on account of these the wrath of God is coming so not everything is going to be reconciled to God all things then must relate to all that has capacity to be reconciled and I believe what Paul is actually doing here when he says and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on heaven or whether on earth or in heaven
[25:15] I think this is a snapshot of the new heavens and the new earth and all that take up residence in if you want to say it true Narnia have been reconciled to God the fact that God is going to restore harmony with all things tells us that all things that currently things are not the way they're supposed to be things are fractured but the new heaven new earth it includes even creation and I would say the second aspect or attractive bit of the gospel it's attractive because of this actually because it explains why things are not the way they're supposed to be that things need to be reconciled now certainly it's not attractive that things are messed up but what is attractive is that we have answers for why they're messed up our theology the bible's teaching it actually aligns with reality that's a good thing we have answers for why things are the way they are
[26:29] I drove a couple Friday night and they were out on date night this young couple and they were going to this I've never seen these films I don't plan to see these films but this is horror genre the final destination film and they were explaining this because I don't watch this so I'm like well educate me what is this about and man they were so excited to share things and they're like man death comes for everybody and death is the bad guy in these movies and you can't avoid it you can't outwit death and as they're sharing this I actually was like you know that's actually that's good theology theology I don't know if they've ever heard the word theology before but like oh I'm like yeah yeah yeah that things are not the way they're supposed to be right and then I got to say that death is actually a consequence of man's rebellion in the garden and they're like whoa like and I got to share the gospel
[27:33] I got to share with them you know what but God has given us a remedy in Jesus and he's actually reversed the effects of this where death is no longer the enemy like death is now a transition into God's presence if we know if we know Jesus as our savior and they're just like oh yeah I think maybe they had heard it before but it was just this interesting like I mean I've never evangelized you know using like the horror genre of film to get to the gospel but it worked and we actually had a really pleasant conversation and I know they enjoyed it because they gave me a three dollar tip guys I mean just saying I don't think I was coming on too strong it was just it was really fascinating because they were so caught up like at death and I'm like yeah we're all gonna die and they're like yeah we just got to enjoy life now and I said well we gotta make sure that we know Jesus is savior and
[28:33] I don't know if they'd ever heard that before but it was a delight to be able to share that the gospel is attractive because it actually tells us why things are broken and this ripple effect of man's sin church it's touched everything it's touched everything Romans Paul says to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 22 he says for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now so even the creation and some of you guys this weekend have been working out in the garden and you're like man I see it the weeds are already coming up things are not the way they're supposed to be right we know things break down second law thermodynamics everything's moving to a state of disorder right you guys have a pastor who turned 50 I mean guys it's bad I mean it's Scott was painting on his birthday that's what he wanted to do
[29:35] I want to paint my garage and so he's like painting his garage off white like I can't even begin to go there he's just so excited to have a white garage and then this morning I'm like hey how you doing I mean come on come on like last year at 49 he would have been feeling good I'm just saying and I think thank you Scott for allowing me to make fun of you in public church this is not as good as it gets it can't be it can't be and we know this I mean on a serious note church right children go to bed hungry this planet is very broken in a lot of different places bodies are ravaged by disease human trafficking it continues across this world people harm one another they exploit one another they use one another all the time things are very broken
[30:47] I mean who has a better answer related to the issue with the human condition or even an answer at all well it's just an illusion the brokenness the evil is just an illusion that's not that's not a good answer I mean I think Buddhism is bankrupt on that front oh we just have the wrong form of government if we just had the right form of government man all the evil would go away really the Christian message has the answer and it actually points back to the fall of man the man was created in the image of God to know God to enjoy God and shows hey I don't want God's authority in my life and the fact that man has this sin condition it means that man it has to be remedied!
[31:43] It has to be remedied! From the inside out! But see there's a future day when all that's going to change! Things on heaven things on earth and in heaven they'll be reconciled!
[31:58] And the cross is the beginning of the reversal related to Adam's sin! I love this picture that we get from Isaiah the prophet 65 17 looking ahead just beautiful says for behold I create new heavens and a new earth and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind it won't even come to mind it's going be so good like this life the suffering the eternal weight of glory being laid up for us this is small potatoes we have an answer for why things are not the way they're supposed to be but also that they will not always be as they are church and and I think that's the third and most attractive piece of the gospel let's read it in verse 21 to 23 Paul writes and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him if indeed you continue in the faith stable and steadfast not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which i paul became a minister the gospel is attractive church because of who jesus is that he's god it's attractive because it explains why things are so broken in the world around us but i think centrally here thirdly the gospel is attractive because an offended god is relentless in making enemies into friends so attractive i mean let's face it we could care less we were we were jerks to god says who once were alienated and paul writes it this way and were hostile in mind the imagination hostility and this is doing evil deeds not just here but then act it out what is our birth condition as sons of adam hostility of mind towards god friends we were born bent towards loving our sin we're not born neutral i mean if you don't believe this you can live in your ivory tower but have some children and then you'll find out and you'll go wow i was wrong depravity is our default setting when the twins were toddlers they were a tag team of demonstrating this one would push the other would then bite back one would steal food the other one would rip the bib off the other and you just see it we're bent towards evil that's why jesus entered into our suffering but just as paul said that we were hostile in mind that we're alienated you know we couldn't care less right the light has come but men preferred darkness and yet god still initiated our forgiveness god the gospel is so good we didn't want it and yet god still initiated romans 5 7 and 8 says it this way familiar verse you know this but listen one would scarcely die for a righteous person you're a good guy you're a good gal but i don't know if i want to sacrifice my life for
[35:58] you but maybe maybe because you're you're pretty good person though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die that wasn't us but god shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners christ died for us when the transcendent creator allowed his own creation you and me to scantily shame him to murder him in order to offer us healing we were not good men when we lived on the west side incarnation one afternoon there was a gray cloud that swept over our home and descended into the backyard and it was a swarm of bees actually a hive broke off and there was like 70 000 bees that just immediately showed up and the children were out playing and i saw this i'm highly allergic and yet in an instant i ran through the door and i started yelling grabbing as many children as i could getting in the house but i went out there going even if i get stung it's okay i gotta get my kids in the house now the picture of the gospel is like there were some squatters in your backyard who you wanted out of there and you're instead of saying oh the bees are going to get you still ran out and you really you still risk your life to care for to protect see the fact that jesus is god that he's king means actually that we're supposed to worship him he's god he gets our worship he deserves our worship but the fact that he went to the cross it actually compels us to want to worship him oh he's that good he's that good church my dad was my dad and i was supposed to obey and honor him because of that title because of that position he was my dad between my middle school and high school year my dad moved our family from bellevue to redmond we moved houses why because his son that's where i talk about myself in the third person i learned this from scott um i wasn't allowed to play football i was sick as a kid and i think i've shared before i have an ostomy bag and so i wasn't allowed to play sports growing up middle school kids went to p.e.
[39:11] jay went to the library and so bellevue said no can't play sports but lake washington school district said we'll let your kid play have to be in redmond so my dad inconvenienced our entire family we've moved houses so that his son could play sports on that day it wasn't about having to obey him it was a delight i wanted to honor and obey him because i knew how good he was church that's the gospel that's what the gospel does it it transforms our supposed to obey to we get to obey our benevolent king our god moved his family if you want to say it that way i know that's kind of heretical but just the second person of the triune godhead moved out of heaven took up new residence in order to give up his life to offer us healing the gospel is so good church when we give the gospel its proper weight it then leads to what proper worship awe gratitude it's how we ought to respond to jesus with our lives it impacts our obedience it's a delight to obey this king who would give up everything it's now bringing power to the message we proclaim because we've experienced the goodness and i think there's power when we share the message when we talk about the gospel then with others it's so good church it's so attractive i got to visit israel years ago and i still remember um visiting the holocaust museum yad vashem and it just left this imprint if you've been there you know it just it it it changes this number this statistic six million jews executed that just it's just too big you can't i don't know what to do with that but then you go to the museum and you see the photographs and you hear the names and you have these images of people that actually suffered and all of a sudden it gets very personal there's a children's um memorial at yad vashem there's just a single flame in this pitch black room that just burns very personal like real people suffered and you hear the names spoken aloud over audio on a continuous loop and you're just like wow it's very personal church the cross i think it loses power when it stays in the realm of the general like the sins of the world but actually it's quite personal amen amen it's quite personal or we would not be here the gospel is about jesus dying for you for me there's nothing else of greater significance in our lives that's it that's the best sharing the good news is the best thing we can offer it's the best you know how i know it's the best and i'll end with this scott and myself got to spend time with marie owen over the last few weeks and marie's not here this morning she would have been right here in front row and she's with
[43:13] the lord she's with jesus she's doing very well this morning but she died friday night um 91 this woman of remarkable joy but i got to sit at her bedside a few times and in those moments when you're interacting with her and scott and myself got to share some promises of the lord with her and pray over her and pray with her and man the gospel wasn't just the best thing the gospel was the only thing it's the only thing and she was just laying there on her deathbed not in fear she was laying there in expectation it was incredible she was like kept opening her eyes going you guys still like she just wanted to be with the lord she's like she wants to be with jesus and she just laid there like like a queen of narnia right just just waiting to see her king she trusted in jesus as her savior and she was ready to bound into heaven and that expectation existed church because as lewis says the lion although not tame he's actually that good that's the gospel that's the gospel church how wonderful today that because of jesus your sins are forgiven your past has been dealt with and so your future is secure so today you can walk and live with joy serving others like not walking guilt ridden and if you're out of fellowship with the lord for whatever reason repent of that sin so that you can enjoy the goodness again and i would just commend us with that and i think that's actually how paul ends when he says friends continue in the faith continue in the faith friends it's everything father thank you for your word thank you that this book is unlike any other thank you that these words are true words and lord it's just remarkable to me to even to to have some of these conversations with folks that know nothing of the good news when when you begin to to share the fact that there's reasons why things are as broken as they are and that there's actually hope and and there's purpose and that there's something about that that just it causes people to pause there's something that just it rings true and it rings true because because it is so lord we are the most blessed of people because we know you jesus and i pray that we would we would we would foster intimacy with you this summer we would enjoy you jesus we love the gospel we're thankful that it was god who was willing to get up on a cross it explains why things are the way they are and lord we're so thankful that you're relentless in building a family and that for those of us here that have claimed jesus that have trusted in in you jesus as our personal savior that we're your sons and daughters and if there's folks here this morning that have never bowed their knee to you jesus they've never confessed their sin and asked you to be their savior i pray today would be the day they would cry out to you and lord they would not let they would not miss this opportunity this could be the day of their salvation and if you pray that
[47:16] then share that share that with a friend share that with me or one of the other pastors lord we love you thank you for the gift of today in jesus name amen