WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.100 Father, we thank you that we can be in this place, a warm enough place and a dry place, 00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:12.380 after a wet couple of days and a cold sort of morning. Thank you that we can be here. 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:19.400 Father, more than the place, we give you thanks and praise that we can be together 00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:24.300 to be here in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to be in your presence. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:29.140 And we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move mightily in our hearts, 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:34.759 that your Holy Spirit would be poured out into our hearts to prepare our hearts and set our hearts 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:39.799 to know that we are in your presence, to be receptive to the grace that you desire to give us this morning 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:42.219 and to respond to you in a worthy manner. 00:00:42.939 --> 00:00:51.219 We ask, Father, that as part of your grace that you help us to fall in love with the Christian vision of life 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:56.620 and more and more and more to live out of that vision of what life really is. 00:00:56.619 --> 00:01:00.759 And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:01:01.339 --> 00:01:02.179 Please be seated. 00:01:05.179 --> 00:01:10.379 So those of you who've gone along with us, we're finishing 2 Timothy today. 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:12.039 We're going to be looking at chapter 4. 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:19.159 Just a bit of a heads up that starting next Sunday, we begin a brand new sermon series. 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:24.299 And with a nod to Kanye West, the sermon series is going to be called Jesus is King. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:33.920 And with a bit of a break in the latter half of December and the first Sunday of January for seasonal types of sermons, 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:36.400 we'll start this. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:42.780 And on Palm Sunday, we'll conclude the first half of Mark's Gospel by Jesus' prophecy. 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:52.340 The turning point in all of the Gospels is when Jesus reveals for the first time explicitly that he's going to be crucified, 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.859 he's going to be dead for three days, and then he's going to rise from the dead. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:03.780 And that prophecy of Jesus that he makes is the turning point in all of the Gospels. 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:06.280 And sort of the first half will go right up to that. 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:07.280 That's on Palm Sunday. 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:10.699 And then we'll finish the rest of Mark, I don't know, some other time later on, 22. 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:14.500 Unless Jesus comes back first, which would be a vastly better outcome. 00:02:15.139 --> 00:02:17.439 But if he doesn't, we'll keep working through. 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:23.699 We'll do the second half of Mark, which then the second half of Mark will be called Jesus the Crucified King. 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:25.219 Jesus is the Crucified King. 00:02:25.399 --> 00:02:26.819 So that's going to be the title. 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:29.859 So we're going to... 00:02:29.859 --> 00:02:34.280 You know, you're never supposed to begin a sermon by talking about boring stuff like that. 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:44.360 There's a Christian vision to life that is completely and utterly transformative. 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.740 And often people don't realize we get it in bits and pieces. 00:02:48.979 --> 00:02:50.020 We get it through stories. 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:52.439 We get it through the scripture text. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:53.800 We get it through songs. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:03:00.400 But there's this very, very deep Christian vision that's transformative of life. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.880 And it's shown up here in a very, very simple and unique way. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.800 Actually, the doorway into this Christian vision. 00:03:09.480 --> 00:03:15.220 And once you understand the Christian vision, the other things in the text, which seem very odd, become clearer to you. 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:18.380 And it's partially caught up by a Jewish expression. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.400 I don't know how many of you have had the privilege of being able to go to Israel. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.140 I know some of you have. 00:03:24.920 --> 00:03:31.000 If you ever go to Israel, I highly, highly, highly, highly, highly recommend that you do two things. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:37.599 First is that you don't just go to Jerusalem and some of the tourist sites, but you also go to Tel Aviv. 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:41.400 Because, in a sense, Tel Aviv is the real Israel. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.800 If you go to Jerusalem, that's where all of the Orthodox Jews live. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.099 Obviously, non-Orthodox Jews live there as well. 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:51.520 But it's very striking. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:57.320 You go to Jerusalem, and everybody, no matter how hot it is, is dressed quite modestly. 00:03:57.860 --> 00:03:59.939 And you don't see anybody with tattoos. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.120 Or you see very, very few people with tattoos. 00:04:02.160 --> 00:04:04.400 Because in the Old Testament law, tattoos are forbidden. 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:06.320 You go to Tel Aviv. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:12.120 And it's sort of like being in Montreal or Toronto or New York, but it's only on the Mediterranean. 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:16.420 Piles and piles and piles and piles of people have tattoos. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.259 And they don't dress modestly. 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:22.659 I mean, many of them do, but lots of them don't. 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:28.280 And you really get, in a sense, the sense of what current Israel is like far more if you go to Tel Aviv. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:35.240 But even more important than all of that, if you only have time just to go to Jerusalem and see a few other things, like the Sea of Galilee, 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:41.920 it's really important to take a couple of hours out of your day, and you go to see Yad Vashem. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:45.740 And I apologize to my Jewish friends if I'm not pronouncing these words correctly. 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:47.420 Yad Vashem. 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:48.300 It's really important. 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.160 It's known as the Holocaust or the Shoah Museum. 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:56.920 And it's worth setting aside about three hours in your day to go there and to go through it. 00:04:57.020 --> 00:04:59.920 It's profoundly, profoundly moving. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:07.020 And for people like us in the First World, given that, like, Germany was the elite country in terms of culture, 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:14.279 and yet they were able to go and do something so horrific, it is really important to take time to go see it. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:20.599 Now, one of the things that people don't always know is that I think often in this side of the Atlantic, 00:05:20.819 --> 00:05:23.060 people tend to refer to it as the Holocaust Museum. 00:05:23.719 --> 00:05:26.799 And the word Holocaust has two meanings in English. 00:05:26.799 --> 00:05:31.159 One of them is a Holocaust is a mass killing, like a killing of many, many, many people. 00:05:31.699 --> 00:05:34.959 But the other sense, the original sense, is actually that it's a sacrifice. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.759 It comes from the Tanakh. 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:39.000 It comes from the Old Testament. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.419 It's a type of a sacrifice which is made on the altar, 00:05:43.039 --> 00:05:46.379 where the sacrifice is completely consumed by fire. 00:05:46.919 --> 00:05:53.299 And so as part of the sacrificial system, it's partly how people are reconnected to God, 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:54.679 how they're made right with God. 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:59.439 And that's the sense, the original sense of Holocaust, that it's a sacrifice. 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.120 And sacrifices aren't pointless deaths. 00:06:02.479 --> 00:06:03.839 They have meaning and significance. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:13.359 But in fact, at a national level, when they remember what happened to the Jewish people under the Nazis, 00:06:13.799 --> 00:06:16.299 it's not referred to primarily as the Holocaust. 00:06:16.599 --> 00:06:18.019 It's referred to as the Shoah. 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:22.099 Once again, my apologies to my Jewish friends if I'm not pronouncing this correctly. 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.679 And the Shoah is a very, very radically different word. 00:06:25.979 --> 00:06:27.659 Shoah means catastrophe. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:29.539 It means disaster. 00:06:29.540 --> 00:06:38.100 And there is a huge world of difference between understanding something like this as a sacrifice 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:42.939 or as a catastrophe and a disaster. 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:53.040 The official day in Israel is marked as a national sort of day of remembrance and prayer and all. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.920 And it's actually called specifically the Shoah. 00:06:57.340 --> 00:06:58.600 That's the day that it's called. 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:02.379 That's what it was set aside as by the Israeli parliament. 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:05.500 And that's a very, very different... 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:06.939 You can just automatically understand. 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:07.939 It's a very, very... 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:11.360 It's like to go on the direction... 00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:14.040 I love this analogy. 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:16.259 And some of you have heard it so many times it puts you to sleep. 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:20.699 But if you go on the Trans-Canada Highway and you're driving west, I can't remember where it is. 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:22.740 I think it's somewhere just past North Bay. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:26.680 There's a sign on the side of the road saying that you've hit the watershed. 00:07:27.539 --> 00:07:31.980 And that up until this point on the road, if you're going from Ottawa towards North Bay, 00:07:32.039 --> 00:07:36.579 up until this point in time on the road, the water, any river that you see is flowing south. 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:41.659 But after this point in time, when you see a river, it's flowing north to the Hudson's Bay. 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:47.400 It's a watershed going in radically different directions. 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:48.260 And the same it is. 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:54.260 To understand an event as a catastrophe is a radically different way to understand the event and life 00:07:54.260 --> 00:07:56.260 than to understand it as a sacrifice. 00:07:57.320 --> 00:08:01.660 And it's this bit of a difference which is captured in this text, believe it or not. 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.500 And if you see the difference, it helps to make everything else in the whole letter. 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:12.360 And in fact, it's a doorway into starting to understand the difference the Christian vision makes 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:17.160 as it captures you and as you surrender to it. 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.980 So if you would turn your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4, verse 6. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.100 We're going to look at this, and then we'll go back and we'll read the whole chapter. 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.139 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 and 7. 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:35.159 And it's just a small little bit, but it actually opens up into this. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:38.039 It's a watershed moment in the text. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:44.879 It's the watershed between a Christian vision of life and a Canadian vision of life. 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:46.740 And it goes like this. 00:08:47.539 --> 00:08:53.679 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:57.080 And just to sort of pause here. 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.139 I've said throughout these sermons that Paul knows that this time, 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:03.960 God is not going to miraculously deliver him from jail. 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:11.040 That this time, when he leaves the jail, it's only to take that short walk to where the executioner will kill him. 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:15.720 And this is the heart of the text that Paul understands this, 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:19.500 as well as the final bits at the end of 2 Timothy 4. 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:23.040 The word for departure is a perfectly good word, 00:09:23.140 --> 00:09:25.640 but in the original language, there's an image attached to it. 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:30.139 And for those of you who are boaters or canoers or sailors, 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:37.259 it's when the image is of untying the ship or untying the canoe from the dock to begin the journey, 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:39.960 to leave the solid land to go on a journey. 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:42.059 And so that's what Paul is saying. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:48.960 My time, in a sense, to be untethered from this world is about to come. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.480 I'll read it again. 00:09:50.560 --> 00:09:52.560 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.160 and the time of my departure has come. 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:55.840 It's arrived. 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:00.300 He doesn't know if it's going to be next week, next month, a couple of months later, but it's arrived. 00:10:01.160 --> 00:10:01.860 Verse 7. 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:04.080 I have fought the good fight. 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:05.840 I have finished the race. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.480 I have kept the faith. 00:10:08.419 --> 00:10:11.480 Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:13.120 Oh, that might not be on your text up there. 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:13.480 I'm sorry. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.800 Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.320 which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:25.080 and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:28.940 Now, this particular thing in verse 6, 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:31.440 for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, 00:10:32.280 --> 00:10:38.320 that is literally a reference to the Old Testament sacrifices. 00:10:39.379 --> 00:10:45.540 And he's comparing the end of his life as being the same as a sacrifice. 00:10:46.280 --> 00:10:50.020 And in fact, in the original language, you can see this here in English as well. 00:10:50.180 --> 00:10:51.860 It's partially captured it. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:53.680 It's passive language. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.679 It's not that he has made his life a sacrifice for God, 00:11:00.239 --> 00:11:03.179 as if he could just sort of determine that. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.479 I'm going to make my life a sacrifice for God. 00:11:05.579 --> 00:11:12.079 No, what the language is passive is God has made his life a sacrifice, 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.659 an offering to himself. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:18.299 It's passive language. 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:24.259 And so what Paul is understanding is that here he is. 00:11:24.579 --> 00:11:25.500 He's in jail. 00:11:25.819 --> 00:11:26.639 He's in a dungeon. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.399 He's going to be executed. 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:34.360 But the way that Timothy is to understand this is in keeping with the Christian vision. 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:36.259 His death isn't a catastrophe. 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:38.879 His death is not a disaster. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.959 His death is to be understood as a holocaust, 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.220 as a sacrifice, as an offering, 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:48.919 given by God, made by God. 00:11:48.959 --> 00:11:51.179 It's something that God has done in his life. 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:53.639 It's taken the bits and pieces of Paul's life. 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:58.439 And this is a very, very, very important thing for all of us to understand, 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.120 especially those of us who know a little bit about Paul. 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:05.479 You see, I'm going to talk in a moment about hope, 00:12:05.579 --> 00:12:08.539 but this is really, if I put you to sleep for the rest of the sermon, 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:11.139 this is something which is really important to understand, 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:15.039 that when God takes you, when the triune God takes you, 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:18.500 when Jesus takes you, and he takes your life, 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:22.159 and your life can start to become a sacrifice, in a sense, 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.519 that your life now has a type of a meaning that comes from God, 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:30.799 it takes all of your life and redeems it, 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:33.819 both before your conversion and after. 00:12:33.819 --> 00:12:39.779 You see, the thing about Paul is that Paul was complicit in the murder of Christians. 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:47.000 Paul was complicit in the murder of Christians. 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:51.259 And Paul was a persecutor and a tormentor. 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:56.819 And yet the final word about Paul isn't that he's a persecutor and a tormentor, 00:12:57.019 --> 00:12:59.100 but this is the final word about Paul. 00:13:00.199 --> 00:13:02.699 You see, this is really important for us to understand. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:07.360 Some of you are young, haven't made that many horrendous mistakes yet. 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:08.819 Maybe some of you have. 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:14.660 Those of us who are a bit older, you know, maybe our kids didn't turn out right. 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.100 Maybe we never were able to have children. 00:13:18.920 --> 00:13:20.440 Maybe we were never able to marry. 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:24.300 Our finances might have not been entirely good. 00:13:24.520 --> 00:13:27.820 We've had alcohol or drug or gambling issues in our lives. 00:13:28.900 --> 00:13:33.180 There's lots of things about our life which we aren't particularly proud about. 00:13:33.179 --> 00:13:39.379 But the point of this, you see, is that when God takes your life, 00:13:39.459 --> 00:13:41.939 when you get taken up, in a sense, into Christ's sacrifice, 00:13:42.459 --> 00:13:46.859 and when you get, in a sense, Christ takes a hold of you, 00:13:47.739 --> 00:13:51.539 that not only are those things in the past that you've done that are wrong 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:53.179 or the things that are shameful, 00:13:53.719 --> 00:13:56.079 are they dealt with by Jesus on the cross, 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:01.500 it means that whether or not you have a week left or a month left or a year left 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:03.100 or five years left in your life, 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.520 that because God is making your life a sacrifice, 00:14:06.660 --> 00:14:08.520 there's still things that you can do that can, in a sense, 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:11.480 completely redeem and have the final word about your life 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:13.220 be a very, very different type of word. 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:16.920 Maybe you've been a racist 00:14:16.920 --> 00:14:20.720 and you come to faith 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.779 and you've even been a racist for a while as a Christian 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:29.560 and then finally you get convicted of the sin of racism. 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.240 Well, then maybe one of the things that God is going to call you to 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:37.279 is a deep financial generosity, 00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:41.320 not only for efforts that try to deal with reconciliation, 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:45.020 but also to minister to people of very different color, 00:14:45.160 --> 00:14:46.520 people that you would have hated before, 00:14:47.260 --> 00:14:50.440 or to become a very, very important financial contributor 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.300 to an immigrant church, 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:55.820 the same people that you would have hated or despised. 00:14:56.460 --> 00:14:57.920 Maybe you've never been blessed 00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:00.580 and you view it as a deep failure 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:01.940 to have been able to have had children 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:05.220 or that you've been involved in alcoholism 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:07.020 or some other types of things like this. 00:15:08.920 --> 00:15:11.100 But the fact of the matter is that after your conversion, 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.080 there's ways that you can be maybe as a mentor, 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:17.260 a supporter, a financial giver, 00:15:17.660 --> 00:15:19.520 pouring your life into children 00:15:19.520 --> 00:15:20.720 or ministries to children 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.560 or to teenagers or to university students. 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:28.160 Paul went from being a person who persecuted Christians 00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:30.660 to being a person, 00:15:31.020 --> 00:15:33.280 and this is part of God's profound sense of humor, 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.660 that Paul was the one out of all of the apostles 00:15:36.659 --> 00:15:41.019 who had the greatest role in bringing the Christian faith 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:44.240 to the pagans that he despised before his conversion. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:48.279 And here he is dying in jail. 00:15:48.339 --> 00:15:49.959 He's about to die and he's in jail. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.079 His life has not been a catastrophe. 00:15:54.659 --> 00:15:56.039 It's not been a disaster. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.659 He has been caught up by Christ 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:00.299 and his life has meaning. 00:16:00.299 --> 00:16:03.019 You see, behind all of this text 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:04.139 is something very different. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:05.620 The Bible doesn't condemn hope. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.240 One of the things is we all know that hope is needed to live. 00:16:08.299 --> 00:16:09.279 If we have a friend 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.339 and they start to talk 00:16:11.339 --> 00:16:14.339 in terms of having absolutely no hope in life, 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.399 it's a very, very difficult thing for us. 00:16:17.059 --> 00:16:18.459 And one of the things that we try to do 00:16:18.459 --> 00:16:21.379 if we have friends who go through a very, very dark season, 00:16:21.459 --> 00:16:23.259 first of all, we call it a dark season. 00:16:23.359 --> 00:16:24.639 We don't call it a light season 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.919 when a person loses all hope. 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:31.819 To not have any hope is to fall into despair. 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:34.120 And when people fall into despair, 00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:35.519 when they fall into hopelessness, 00:16:35.580 --> 00:16:36.740 we try to cheer them up. 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:39.639 We try to think of reasons why they should have hope. 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.879 You should hope that you can see your sister again 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:43.139 or you can see your best friend 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:44.779 or you can go out or whatever. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:46.279 We try to give them hope 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:49.000 because we understand at a very, very deep level 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.220 that to live a life that is... 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:53.879 to be able to live, you need to have hope. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:58.279 But at the same time that we have this... 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.679 I mean, here's the thing. 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:02.279 If at the end of the day... 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:08.099 The average Canadian, when they talk about death, 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:09.119 talks like this. 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:12.619 Your granny or your mom... 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:14.259 Actually, I shouldn't use a woman as an example. 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:15.480 I use myself. 00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:18.819 You know, your father, your papa has died 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:20.539 and he's gone to a better place. 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:24.819 He's in the trees. 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:26.119 He's in the wind. 00:17:26.899 --> 00:17:28.000 He's in your heart. 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:29.859 He's watching over you. 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:33.200 Because as Canadians, 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:36.220 we have a very, very hard time actually saying, 00:17:36.899 --> 00:17:39.579 your dad's died. 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:40.519 That's it. 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:43.079 It's all over. 00:17:43.639 --> 00:17:44.899 It doesn't exist anymore. 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:50.140 Because we have a very, very basic sense 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:53.300 that if actually that's what death really is, 00:17:53.320 --> 00:17:55.540 it's the final word, it's the end, 00:17:56.540 --> 00:18:00.019 then really, what do a lot of these other smaller, 00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:02.220 more minor hopes actually mean? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.340 They end up being like Disney types of things, 00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:08.000 greeting card types of things, 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.880 things to help us pass the time and get through the day. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:14.320 But if at the end of the end of the end of the end, 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:15.700 all that means is that you die 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:17.560 and your death is final 00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.840 and your death is the final word about you, 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:22.480 we all instinctively understand 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:23.840 that to come to think about that 00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:25.460 would mean that hope is not real 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:29.160 and that our lesser hopes aren't really hopes at all. 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:30.940 They're not really hopes. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.160 They're just distractions 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.980 that distract us from the true and final word 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:36.960 about every human being, 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:38.920 that every human being dies. 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:41.460 And when they die, that's it. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.440 The Christian message is, amongst other things, 00:18:47.860 --> 00:18:49.100 is that there's a reason 00:18:49.100 --> 00:18:52.400 that human beings hope for the future 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.160 and need hope to live. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.480 That's an event and sense how God wired you. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:00.320 He wired you for more. 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:03.300 If you ever read the Narnia Chronicles 00:19:03.300 --> 00:19:06.519 and you come to the seventh and final book 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:07.579 of the Narnia Chronicles, 00:19:07.700 --> 00:19:10.500 which talks about basically the end of all things, 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.900 it's in a sense a Christian version of the, 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:17.139 a mythic type of story version 00:19:17.139 --> 00:19:18.299 of the book of Revelation. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.259 Once they've come to the new heaven and the new earth 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:25.059 and they've died and they're in the new heaven 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:25.599 and the new earth, 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.639 there's this constant phrase. 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:30.240 I think it goes higher up and farther in. 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:32.980 Those of you who are Narnia Chronicle experts, 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:34.599 that it is higher up and farther in. 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:36.359 That it's not as if death, 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:40.459 and in a sense death and the new life isn't the end. 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:41.859 I mean, one level it is the end, 00:19:41.959 --> 00:19:43.879 but another way for Christians to understand it 00:19:43.879 --> 00:19:44.899 is it's actually the beginning. 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:46.740 It's the real beginning. 00:19:47.719 --> 00:19:49.959 And C.S. Lewis has perfectly captured this 00:19:49.959 --> 00:19:53.639 by this image that we are to go higher up and farther in, 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:55.139 higher up and farther in. 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:57.459 That higher up there's even more glories, 00:19:57.659 --> 00:19:59.259 farther in there's even more glories. 00:19:59.439 --> 00:20:02.639 And that you go with this type of hope and expectation 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:04.680 of that there's more, there's more, there's more, 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:05.259 there's more. 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.300 And that everywhere you are is a place of joy, 00:20:08.420 --> 00:20:10.100 but you go to even greater joy, 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.700 deeper joy, higher joy, farther into joy. 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:18.080 And that's how God has designed human beings. 00:20:18.540 --> 00:20:19.420 And so in a sense, 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:20.920 what to understand the Christian faith 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:21.900 and the Christian message 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:23.420 and the Christian vision is this, 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.259 is that hope became fact. 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:29.879 That if you understand the fact that we human beings 00:20:29.879 --> 00:20:31.420 understand that there's a need for hope, 00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:32.599 it's hard to ground hope, 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:34.259 but because, you know, 00:20:34.420 --> 00:20:36.379 in some religions like in Islam 00:20:36.379 --> 00:20:37.839 where everything is just fate 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.619 and most people don't end up going to whatever the, 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:41.700 to be with Allah, 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:44.099 but most people are fated to be apart from him, 00:20:44.140 --> 00:20:44.839 especially women. 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:47.519 I think in Islam, I don't know, 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:49.079 it says very, very, very few women 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.740 will actually be in their heaven. 00:20:51.879 --> 00:20:53.339 And in Buddhism and Hinduism, 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.980 the end of all of the cycles of death and rebirth 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:57.799 and death and rebirth and death and rebirth 00:20:57.799 --> 00:20:59.919 is really, in a sense, a final death, 00:21:00.579 --> 00:21:01.879 a merging with the one 00:21:01.879 --> 00:21:03.899 where you lose any type of being yourself 00:21:03.899 --> 00:21:04.579 or being unique. 00:21:04.679 --> 00:21:06.419 It's just another way to describe death, 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.079 but it's trying to describe death 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.779 as if it's somehow a positive thing, 00:21:09.879 --> 00:21:12.099 but to completely and utterly lose your existence 00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:13.019 and lose your identity 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:16.159 is just the same as a secular understanding of death. 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:19.819 And so we have this sense of hope, 00:21:19.899 --> 00:21:20.819 all of these hopes, 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:21.919 and in a sense, 00:21:22.259 --> 00:21:23.779 what the Christians understand is 00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:26.039 is that hope became a fact. 00:21:26.439 --> 00:21:28.039 Hope took on flesh. 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:30.220 Hope walked among us. 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:31.559 And it's emphasized 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:32.899 because in the New Testament, 00:21:33.099 --> 00:21:34.279 time and time and time again, 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:35.679 they don't just talk of Jesus, 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:36.839 although they use his word, 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:38.220 and they use Jesus 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.679 and they add the word Christ. 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:41.359 And it's really important 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:42.740 that those two words go together. 00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:45.399 You see, the word Jesus emphasizes the fact. 00:21:45.659 --> 00:21:47.939 It means that if you were able to go back in time 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:49.360 and see Jesus 00:21:49.360 --> 00:21:52.380 and you were able to learn the language that he spoke, 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:53.360 you'd be able to ask him, 00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:54.680 and he would tell you precisely 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:56.200 why his mother's hummus 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:58.380 was better than anybody else's hummus. 00:21:59.360 --> 00:22:01.080 And he would be able to tell you 00:22:01.080 --> 00:22:03.360 in Jerusalem where the best baker was 00:22:03.360 --> 00:22:05.759 to get the absolute best bread. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.120 And he would be able to tell you 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:09.519 the types, 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:12.039 how much garlic he liked in his tabbouleh. 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:16.159 One of the wonderful things about the Bible 00:22:16.159 --> 00:22:18.039 is that it doesn't tell us those things. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:20.319 I mean, otherwise, 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:22.319 we'd all have to have Jesus's taste 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:23.759 in garlic in our tabbouleh. 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:25.079 Some of us don't even like tabbouleh. 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:26.099 I love tabbouleh, by the way. 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:27.019 Some of you don't like it. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:28.399 Some of you wonder what's tabbouleh. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:29.759 You can go and look it up. 00:22:30.099 --> 00:22:31.420 Go to a Lebanese restaurant. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:32.720 Have some. 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:33.220 It's delicious. 00:22:34.659 --> 00:22:37.359 But the point is that Jesus is historical. 00:22:37.659 --> 00:22:38.720 You go back. 00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:39.399 He had a beard. 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:40.059 He had skin. 00:22:40.180 --> 00:22:40.799 He cried. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:41.559 He was hungry. 00:22:41.639 --> 00:22:42.680 He had to walk places. 00:22:43.159 --> 00:22:43.720 He talked. 00:22:44.139 --> 00:22:45.980 He did things in the real world 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:48.079 that there's even pagan sources 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.099 that talk about the reality of the Jesus 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:51.519 that actually existed. 00:22:51.639 --> 00:22:54.200 But Christians never just refer to him as Jesus. 00:22:54.419 --> 00:22:56.079 They also call him Christ. 00:22:56.419 --> 00:22:58.980 Christ Jesus or Jesus the Christ. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.480 And Christ is just sort of a different way 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:02.720 of saying the word Messiah. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.539 And what the Jewish people come to understand 00:23:05.539 --> 00:23:07.200 is with the word Messiah, 00:23:07.419 --> 00:23:09.500 it technically just means anointed one. 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:11.660 But what it means for Jewish people 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:12.240 is that in a sense, 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:14.720 all of the hopes of the Jewish people, 00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:17.019 all of the promises that God has made 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:17.960 to the Jewish people, 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.779 all of the meaning in life that God has said 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:22.680 is available to the Jewish people 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:23.380 in their scriptures, 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:25.259 that all of those, in some sense, 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:27.880 they all know that that has been incomplete. 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:29.380 They're waiting for it to come 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:31.660 to complete and utter fulfillment and fruition. 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:33.099 All of the longings, 00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:34.160 all of the hopes, 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:35.680 all of the dreams, 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:37.640 all of the sense of redemption 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:39.100 and of the new heaven and the new earth, 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.160 all of these things get captured 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:43.400 with this word Christ, Messiah. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.519 And when Christians say Jesus is the Christ, 00:23:46.600 --> 00:23:47.820 they're saying that this man, 00:23:48.120 --> 00:23:48.779 the Christ, 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.240 all these hopes, 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:51.519 all these dreams, 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:52.720 all these promises 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.140 that they hope will be fulfilled, 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:57.279 that this hope becomes fact. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:03.819 And the hope that becomes fact 00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:05.220 meets death. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.359 And hope wins. 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:13.319 In fact, 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:16.200 to sort of just play with a phrase, 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:20.160 it looks at first as if 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.319 Jesus is just like every other man 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:23.279 and death is swallowed. 00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:24.420 Jesus. 00:24:25.339 --> 00:24:26.500 But what we understand 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:27.799 is that on the third day, 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:29.539 as a fact, 00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:31.059 the grave is empty. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:32.019 On the third day, 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:32.680 as a fact, 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:34.440 the stone is rolled away, 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:35.759 not so Jesus can get out, 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:37.039 but so people can come in 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.859 to see that the grave is empty. 00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:40.500 And what we know as a fact 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:42.200 is the body was never found. 00:24:42.599 --> 00:24:43.839 And what we know as a fact 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.220 is that Jesus appeared alive, 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:47.019 resurrected, 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:48.799 to many different people 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:51.359 over quite a period of time. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.819 We know the body was never found. 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:54.279 We know that these are facts. 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.139 And so it looked, 00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:58.279 on Good Friday, 00:24:58.379 --> 00:24:58.740 in fact, 00:24:58.779 --> 00:24:59.319 it appeared, 00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:00.240 on Good Friday, 00:25:00.339 --> 00:25:00.920 that death 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:02.680 had swallowed hope. 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:05.519 But Christians now understand 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:06.420 that hope 00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:07.440 swallowed 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:08.519 death. 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:12.980 And this means 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:16.059 that there is a hope 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:17.139 which is true, 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:18.220 a hope which is 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:18.819 thick, 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:20.799 a hope which has substance, 00:25:20.879 --> 00:25:21.879 a hope upon which 00:25:21.879 --> 00:25:22.960 you can base your life, 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:24.860 a hope that can draw you 00:25:24.860 --> 00:25:25.680 into the future, 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:26.620 a hope 00:25:26.620 --> 00:25:27.880 that is connected 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:28.600 to meaning 00:25:28.600 --> 00:25:29.519 and significance 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:30.940 and direction 00:25:30.940 --> 00:25:32.480 that can start to understand 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.460 and become the lens 00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.019 by which you look at politics 00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:36.160 and you look at COVID 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.920 and you look at economics 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:39.180 and you look at the arts. 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:40.100 It's a hope 00:25:40.100 --> 00:25:40.980 that not only 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:42.000 is talking about these things, 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:42.880 but can be something 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.480 that can be the guide 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.700 to having your family 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:47.220 and how you, 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:48.740 to shape and structure 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:49.440 your marriage, 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.779 that there is this vision 00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:54.360 that comes 00:25:54.360 --> 00:25:55.420 that hope 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:56.360 is real, 00:25:56.580 --> 00:25:57.680 not just any hope, 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:58.120 not just, 00:25:58.460 --> 00:25:58.640 you know, 00:25:58.680 --> 00:25:59.500 there can be vain 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.320 and cruel hopes. 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:01.840 The Nazis had a hope 00:26:01.840 --> 00:26:03.039 that they could exterminate 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:03.799 the Jewish people. 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:04.860 That's a vile, 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:06.320 repulsive hope. 00:26:06.860 --> 00:26:07.559 Slave owners 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:08.299 and racists 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:09.320 had vile, 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:10.539 repulsive hopes 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:11.600 of diminishing 00:26:11.600 --> 00:26:12.440 and destroying 00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:13.820 and treating human beings 00:26:13.820 --> 00:26:14.940 as if they're even worse 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:15.480 than animals. 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:16.980 And those are vile, 00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:17.920 destructive, 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:19.220 evil hopes. 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:20.160 And what basis 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:21.140 do we have to say 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:22.180 that those are vile, 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:22.940 destructive, 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:23.940 evil hopes? 00:26:24.099 --> 00:26:25.200 We have a basis 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:25.980 to say that 00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:27.240 because hope 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:28.200 is a fact 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:28.980 and hope 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:29.860 met death 00:26:29.860 --> 00:26:30.920 and triumphed 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:31.480 over death 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:32.460 and swallowed death 00:26:32.460 --> 00:26:33.640 and that true, 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:34.579 deep hope 00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:35.319 is the hope 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:36.099 that judges 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:38.400 all human hopes. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:40.319 To show some 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:40.960 is vain, 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:42.660 some is completely 00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:43.599 and utterly foolish 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:45.719 and some is deeply evil 00:26:45.719 --> 00:26:47.099 and to be completely 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:48.740 and utterly rejected 00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:50.019 by Christians 00:26:50.019 --> 00:26:52.899 and all people. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:56.639 But we should be the leaders 00:26:56.639 --> 00:26:58.419 in rejecting 00:26:58.419 --> 00:26:59.799 cruel, 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:00.459 evil, 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:01.219 false, 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:02.000 vain, 00:27:02.579 --> 00:27:03.759 self-flattering, 00:27:07.539 --> 00:27:08.599 deceptive, 00:27:09.899 --> 00:27:11.519 delusional hopes. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:12.319 Why? 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.859 Because hope 00:27:15.859 --> 00:27:16.559 became a fact 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:17.159 and met death 00:27:17.159 --> 00:27:17.959 and defeated death 00:27:17.959 --> 00:27:19.719 and that's the Christian vision. 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.319 And in this Christian vision, 00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:23.579 when we understand 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:24.319 that hope 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.019 has triumphed, 00:27:26.219 --> 00:27:27.339 it's come, 00:27:27.399 --> 00:27:28.019 it's a fact, 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.059 it's triumphed, 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.119 it starts to mean 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:31.659 that the things 00:27:31.659 --> 00:27:32.399 in your life 00:27:32.399 --> 00:27:34.299 don't necessarily 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:35.119 have to be things 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:35.759 without meaning 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:36.939 or things without hope. 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:42.539 they don't have to be 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:43.160 understood 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:45.519 as a shoah 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:47.920 but can be understood 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:49.779 as a sacrifice, 00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:51.500 something that God 00:27:51.500 --> 00:27:52.460 takes 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:54.039 and redeems 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:56.160 and can bring good 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:56.660 out of. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:27:59.940 Let's just finish 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:00.680 by looking through 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:01.380 the whole text. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:02.880 So if you turn in your Bibles 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:04.880 or read the whole text 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.700 just to bring a few comments 00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:07.580 to it as we bring it 00:28:07.580 --> 00:28:08.220 to a close 00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:08.940 because, 00:28:09.380 --> 00:28:09.620 you see, 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:10.520 once you understand 00:28:10.520 --> 00:28:11.440 this thing 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:12.300 about the difference 00:28:12.300 --> 00:28:13.360 between a shoah 00:28:13.360 --> 00:28:14.340 and a holocaust, 00:28:15.100 --> 00:28:16.140 it helps you to understand 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:16.980 how Paul says 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:17.900 the things he says 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:18.720 and it helps to get 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.780 more shape 00:28:19.780 --> 00:28:20.740 to the Christian vision 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:21.220 of life. 00:28:22.020 --> 00:28:22.400 Verse 1, 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:25.500 Notice that, 00:28:25.580 --> 00:28:26.140 Christ Jesus, 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:26.980 not just Jesus 00:28:26.980 --> 00:28:28.040 but Christ Jesus 00:28:28.040 --> 00:28:30.940 who is to judge 00:28:30.940 --> 00:28:32.019 the living and the dead 00:28:32.019 --> 00:28:33.640 and by his appearing 00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:34.380 in his kingdom 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:35.480 preach the word. 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:37.259 That word preach, 00:28:37.360 --> 00:28:37.700 by the way, 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:39.440 could also be translated 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:40.460 as herald, 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:43.180 not H-A-R-O-L-D 00:28:43.180 --> 00:28:43.640 the name 00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:44.280 but herald 00:28:44.280 --> 00:28:45.840 as in the town herald. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:47.160 A herald is one 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:48.500 who doesn't invent something, 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:49.700 a message, 00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:51.140 but carries a message 00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:52.080 from the king 00:28:52.080 --> 00:28:53.360 to the people 00:28:53.360 --> 00:28:54.700 and that's, 00:28:54.860 --> 00:28:55.220 in a sense, 00:28:55.300 --> 00:28:56.460 what a church is to do. 00:28:56.560 --> 00:28:56.880 We are, 00:28:57.040 --> 00:28:57.420 in a sense, 00:28:57.540 --> 00:28:59.100 these next nine things 00:28:59.100 --> 00:29:00.060 which are to be described 00:29:00.060 --> 00:29:01.080 as imperatives, 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:02.180 it's helping us 00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:02.720 to understand 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:03.580 what the local church 00:29:03.580 --> 00:29:04.240 is to be like, 00:29:04.340 --> 00:29:05.759 that the local church 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:07.080 is to study the Bible, 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:08.520 to study the word, 00:29:08.620 --> 00:29:09.920 to understand the gospel 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.000 and then it's not so we can, 00:29:12.080 --> 00:29:12.240 you know, 00:29:12.280 --> 00:29:13.620 I think I could improve on that, 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:14.620 I think there's ways 00:29:14.620 --> 00:29:15.500 that we could make that 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:16.759 like a little bit better, 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:18.060 I need to wordsmith 00:29:18.060 --> 00:29:19.080 this stuff for God 00:29:19.080 --> 00:29:19.620 because he got it 00:29:19.620 --> 00:29:20.340 a little bit right, 00:29:20.339 --> 00:29:21.619 I need to be a spin doctor 00:29:21.619 --> 00:29:22.059 for God. 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:22.359 No, 00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:23.859 the goal of the church 00:29:23.859 --> 00:29:25.259 is to actually try to hear 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:26.220 the Bible 00:29:26.220 --> 00:29:27.619 more and more clearly 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:29.139 and as we hear the Bible 00:29:29.139 --> 00:29:30.359 to look out at the world 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:32.939 and see how things are wrong 00:29:32.939 --> 00:29:34.439 and be willing to say things 00:29:34.439 --> 00:29:35.959 even if it offends people. 00:29:36.659 --> 00:29:36.879 Like, 00:29:36.939 --> 00:29:39.039 one of the great mysteries of life 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:40.019 is that how is it 00:29:40.019 --> 00:29:40.939 that Alabama 00:29:40.939 --> 00:29:42.759 could be one of the most 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:44.299 evangelical states 00:29:44.299 --> 00:29:45.079 in the United States 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:46.819 but also have so much racism? 00:29:47.179 --> 00:29:47.379 Like, 00:29:47.379 --> 00:29:48.619 how is that possible? 00:29:50.339 --> 00:29:57.079 And we want to be a people 00:29:57.079 --> 00:29:58.240 who look at the word 00:29:58.240 --> 00:29:59.279 and even if the world 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:00.720 doesn't want us 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:02.279 to talk about sexuality 00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:03.220 or doesn't want us 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:05.179 to talk about euthanasia, 00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:05.699 it doesn't want us 00:30:05.699 --> 00:30:06.819 to talk about abortion, 00:30:06.959 --> 00:30:07.539 it doesn't want us 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:08.839 to talk about certain types 00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:09.279 of things, 00:30:09.439 --> 00:30:10.799 we need to be people 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:12.319 who look at the word 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:14.099 and then use the word 00:30:14.099 --> 00:30:14.720 to judge 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.299 and understand the world 00:30:16.299 --> 00:30:17.720 and not to condemn 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:18.659 the world in a way 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:19.660 that doesn't have it hope 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:20.800 but to come in 00:30:20.800 --> 00:30:21.900 and to be salt and light 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:22.279 and say, 00:30:22.360 --> 00:30:22.640 listen, 00:30:22.820 --> 00:30:22.980 you know, 00:30:23.040 --> 00:30:24.000 the Bible doesn't even 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:25.660 have the category of race. 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:26.880 Do you realize that? 00:30:26.940 --> 00:30:27.759 The Bible doesn't have 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.240 a category for race. 00:30:30.580 --> 00:30:31.900 There's only one category 00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:32.400 in the Bible 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:33.320 and that's human. 00:30:34.600 --> 00:30:35.900 That's the only category. 00:30:35.900 --> 00:30:39.100 And it doesn't matter 00:30:39.100 --> 00:30:40.120 if you're in China 00:30:40.120 --> 00:30:41.540 or if you're in Nigeria 00:30:41.540 --> 00:30:43.019 or you're in Argentina 00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:44.519 or you're in Malaysia, 00:30:44.940 --> 00:30:45.680 it doesn't matter 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:46.560 if you're in England 00:30:46.560 --> 00:30:47.920 or France or Canada, 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:48.980 there's only human. 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:51.980 And every human being, 00:30:52.080 --> 00:30:53.400 whether it's in the womb 00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:54.460 or a person 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:57.480 with severe mental illness 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:58.220 or a person 00:30:58.220 --> 00:30:59.720 at the end of life 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:01.640 ravaged body with disease, 00:31:01.780 --> 00:31:03.259 you're made in the image of God 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:04.100 and have a worth 00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:04.759 and a dignity 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:06.099 that should be respected. 00:31:07.259 --> 00:31:08.439 And even if the world 00:31:08.439 --> 00:31:09.439 doesn't like that, 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:11.619 we shouldn't be shaped 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:12.279 by the world. 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:14.639 Our goal is to understand 00:31:14.639 --> 00:31:15.099 the word 00:31:15.099 --> 00:31:16.699 and to faithfully proclaim it. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:18.379 That's the job of the church. 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:23.919 Preach the word, 00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:24.939 be ready in season 00:31:24.939 --> 00:31:25.639 and out of season. 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:27.599 That means if it's 1951 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:29.240 and Christianity is on the rise 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:30.459 or if it's 2021 00:31:30.459 --> 00:31:32.199 and people don't like Christianity, 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.240 do the same thing. 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:36.480 Reprove is another word 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:37.080 for correct. 00:31:37.259 --> 00:31:38.220 Rebuke is rebuke. 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:39.220 Exhort is another word 00:31:39.220 --> 00:31:39.759 for encourage. 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:42.000 You do this with complete patience 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:42.660 and teaching. 00:31:43.360 --> 00:31:44.539 For the time is coming 00:31:44.539 --> 00:31:45.799 when people will not endure 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:46.559 sound teaching 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.640 but having itching ears, 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:48.380 they will accumulate 00:31:48.380 --> 00:31:49.580 for themselves teachers 00:31:49.580 --> 00:31:50.819 to suit their own passions 00:31:50.819 --> 00:31:52.000 and will turn away 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:53.039 from listening to the truth 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:53.720 and wander off 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:54.380 into the myths. 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:57.200 Myths of the prosperity gospel. 00:31:57.600 --> 00:31:58.539 Myths of racism. 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.759 Myths of class superiority. 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.180 Myths that 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:06.580 upper class people 00:32:06.580 --> 00:32:07.580 are worth more 00:32:07.580 --> 00:32:09.019 than working class people. 00:32:12.860 --> 00:32:13.819 As for you, 00:32:14.259 --> 00:32:15.700 always be sober minded 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:16.620 and endure suffering. 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:18.140 Do the work of evangelists. 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:19.500 Fulfill your ministry. 00:32:20.700 --> 00:32:21.539 The evangelist says 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:22.539 that we're to look beyond. 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:22.819 You see, 00:32:22.860 --> 00:32:23.759 it's not just a matter 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:24.840 to say to the Nazi 00:32:24.840 --> 00:32:25.720 or to the communist 00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:27.400 that what you're doing 00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:27.920 is evil. 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:32.360 What's more important 00:32:32.360 --> 00:32:33.480 is not only say 00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:34.120 that it's evil 00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:36.019 but that God loves you 00:32:36.019 --> 00:32:36.660 and he wants you 00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:37.960 to be his child 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:39.120 by adoption and grace. 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:41.380 He wants you to lay down 00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:42.060 your racism, 00:32:42.340 --> 00:32:43.460 lay down your communism, 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:46.259 lay down your greed, 00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:49.380 lay down your lust for power, 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:54.480 lay down your ungenerous heart 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:57.460 and allow the loving arms 00:32:57.460 --> 00:32:59.019 of Jesus who died for you, 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:00.400 who defeated death, 00:33:00.860 --> 00:33:04.980 to put his arms around you 00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:06.519 and to include you in himself 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.779 so that you will have a hope 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:09.960 that is stronger 00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:11.039 and deeper than death. 00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:15.019 Verse 6, 00:33:15.019 --> 00:33:40.920 Here's one of the things. 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:42.339 The Bible doesn't say 00:33:42.339 --> 00:33:43.759 that all of our lesser hopes 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:44.920 don't matter. 00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:46.700 What it does 00:33:46.700 --> 00:33:48.359 is it reorders our hopes 00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:49.960 in light of this 00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:51.480 ultimate hope 00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:54.640 of being reconciled 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.759 and reunited to God 00:33:55.759 --> 00:33:56.579 in a sense that 00:33:56.579 --> 00:33:57.259 when we die 00:33:57.259 --> 00:33:57.940 and when the new heaven 00:33:57.940 --> 00:33:58.839 and the new earth comes, 00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:00.619 our cry will be farther up, 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:02.379 higher in. 00:34:03.619 --> 00:34:05.559 And we run that race 00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:08.320 and swim those rivers 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:09.559 and climb those mountains 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:11.860 with redeemed humanity. 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.020 But in the meantime, 00:34:15.140 --> 00:34:15.700 our other hopes 00:34:15.700 --> 00:34:17.200 are put in proper place 00:34:17.200 --> 00:34:17.880 and put in order 00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:18.400 and sometimes 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:19.880 we will sacrifice them 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:20.780 for that great 00:34:20.780 --> 00:34:22.180 and supreme hope. 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:23.900 And in the same way, 00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:24.960 the Bible doesn't tell you 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:25.920 that you never pay attention 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:27.160 to what other people think. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.100 It doesn't want you 00:34:28.100 --> 00:34:28.780 to be completely 00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:30.220 and utterly antisocial 00:34:30.220 --> 00:34:31.800 as if you were a person 00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:33.220 who cannot pick up 00:34:33.220 --> 00:34:34.340 on social cues. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:36.380 But what the Bible 00:34:36.380 --> 00:34:37.500 wants you to understand 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:38.640 is how people think 00:34:38.640 --> 00:34:39.220 about you need 00:34:39.220 --> 00:34:40.220 to be put in order 00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:41.159 and what ultimately 00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:42.279 finally matters 00:34:42.279 --> 00:34:43.259 is the final word 00:34:43.259 --> 00:34:43.719 about you 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:44.919 is made by the Lord 00:34:44.919 --> 00:34:45.719 Jesus Christ 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:46.899 and His word 00:34:46.899 --> 00:34:47.480 is the word 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:48.619 that matters the most. 00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:51.039 And you are to hear 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:52.219 the words of other people 00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:53.899 in light of your knowledge 00:34:53.899 --> 00:34:55.259 of what His final word 00:34:55.259 --> 00:34:56.159 will be about you. 00:34:57.699 --> 00:34:58.399 Verse 9, 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:58.980 Do your best 00:34:58.980 --> 00:34:59.859 to come to me soon 00:34:59.859 --> 00:35:00.539 for Demas 00:35:00.539 --> 00:35:01.899 in love with his present world 00:35:01.899 --> 00:35:02.759 has deserted me 00:35:02.759 --> 00:35:03.939 and gone to Thessalonica. 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:05.319 That's bad. 00:35:06.019 --> 00:35:06.439 Crescens 00:35:06.439 --> 00:35:07.519 has gone to Galatia. 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:08.900 See, here it is 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:09.719 that Paul knows 00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:10.300 he's going to die 00:35:10.300 --> 00:35:11.699 but he sends Crescens 00:35:11.699 --> 00:35:12.920 to Galatia 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:13.699 a place in what 00:35:13.699 --> 00:35:14.759 we would now call Turkey. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.599 He sends Titus 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:17.420 to Dalmatia 00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:18.239 what we would now 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:19.340 call Croatia. 00:35:20.059 --> 00:35:20.659 Luke alone 00:35:20.659 --> 00:35:21.340 is with me. 00:35:21.900 --> 00:35:22.440 Get Mark 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:23.300 and bring him with you 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:24.239 for he is very useful 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:25.280 to me for ministry. 00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.139 Tychicus I have sent 00:35:27.139 --> 00:35:27.699 to Ephesus 00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:28.559 and when you come 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:29.259 bring the cloak 00:35:29.259 --> 00:35:30.420 that I left with Carpus 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:31.119 at Troas 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:32.219 also the books 00:35:32.219 --> 00:35:32.699 and above all 00:35:32.699 --> 00:35:33.460 the parchments. 00:35:34.019 --> 00:35:35.340 Alexander the coppersmith 00:35:35.340 --> 00:35:36.380 did me great harm. 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:37.780 The Lord will repay him 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:38.720 according to his deeds. 00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:39.760 Beware of him yourself 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:40.840 for he strongly opposed 00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:41.460 our message. 00:35:42.200 --> 00:35:43.160 At my first defense 00:35:43.160 --> 00:35:43.880 no one came 00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:44.860 to stand by me 00:35:44.860 --> 00:35:45.920 but all deserted me. 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:46.980 May I not be charged 00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:47.660 against them. 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:49.800 But the Lord stood by me 00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:50.700 and strengthened me 00:35:50.700 --> 00:35:52.039 so that through me 00:35:52.039 --> 00:35:52.640 the message 00:35:52.640 --> 00:35:53.920 might be fully proclaimed 00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:55.099 and all the Gentiles 00:35:55.099 --> 00:35:55.820 might hear it 00:35:55.820 --> 00:35:57.360 so I was rescued 00:35:57.360 --> 00:35:58.480 from the lion's mouth. 00:35:59.160 --> 00:36:00.500 The Lord will rescue me 00:36:00.500 --> 00:36:01.640 from every evil deed 00:36:01.640 --> 00:36:02.579 and bring me safely 00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:03.740 into his heavenly kingdom. 00:36:04.260 --> 00:36:05.079 To him be the glory 00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:05.780 forever and ever. 00:36:05.940 --> 00:36:06.160 Amen. 00:36:07.340 --> 00:36:08.460 Just pause here 00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:09.000 as part of this 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:09.820 Christian vision. 00:36:13.260 --> 00:36:13.780 Paul 00:36:13.780 --> 00:36:16.000 the people 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:17.440 who put him in jail 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:18.900 the people 00:36:18.900 --> 00:36:19.320 who were 00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:21.320 charging him 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:21.760 the people 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:22.039 who wanted 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:22.920 to put him to death 00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:25.140 what does he say? 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:26.660 I want them 00:36:26.660 --> 00:36:27.579 to hear the gospel. 00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:31.579 If you go back 00:36:31.579 --> 00:36:31.920 and you look 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:32.920 at all of those names 00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:34.140 there's people 00:36:34.140 --> 00:36:35.079 who had been pagans 00:36:35.079 --> 00:36:36.099 their entire lives 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:36.779 people who had been 00:36:36.779 --> 00:36:37.159 Jewish 00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:38.000 people from many 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:38.619 many people 00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:39.960 different people groups 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:41.340 and as you'll see 00:36:41.340 --> 00:36:41.860 at the end 00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:42.500 when he mentions 00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:43.400 these last few names 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:43.819 in a moment 00:36:43.819 --> 00:36:44.880 what does he call them all? 00:36:45.759 --> 00:36:46.319 He calls them 00:36:46.319 --> 00:36:47.500 his brothers and sisters. 00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:50.420 that's the Christian category 00:36:50.420 --> 00:36:52.059 brothers and sisters 00:36:52.059 --> 00:36:54.559 that's the Christian vision 00:36:54.559 --> 00:36:59.980 and it's the Christian vision 00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:02.000 that it would matter to you 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.420 I mean 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:04.400 God will deal 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:05.000 with those 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:05.800 who 00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:06.760 completely 00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:07.159 and utterly 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:08.619 reject all of these things 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:08.860 and 00:37:08.860 --> 00:37:09.920 at the end of the day 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:11.099 will choose greed 00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:12.280 over hope 00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:13.219 true hope 00:37:13.219 --> 00:37:14.320 they'll choose racism 00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:15.300 over true hope 00:37:15.300 --> 00:37:16.300 they'll choose oppression 00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:17.539 over true hope 00:37:17.539 --> 00:37:19.960 they'll choose personal power 00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:20.719 over true hope 00:37:20.719 --> 00:37:22.099 and that's in God's hands 00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:25.360 but can I tell you 00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:26.099 about Jesus? 00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:30.579 Verse 19 00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:31.840 greet Prisca and Aquila 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:33.340 it's men and women as well 00:37:33.340 --> 00:37:33.920 in the household 00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:34.880 of Anisiphorus 00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:36.300 Erastus remained at Corinth 00:37:36.300 --> 00:37:37.340 and I left Trophimus 00:37:37.340 --> 00:37:37.960 who was ill 00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:39.320 at Miletus 00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:40.739 do your best to come 00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:41.420 before winter 00:37:41.420 --> 00:37:42.659 Eubulus sends greetings 00:37:42.659 --> 00:37:43.119 to you 00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:44.320 as do Pudens 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:44.860 and Linus 00:37:44.860 --> 00:37:45.340 and Claudia 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:46.059 and all the brothers 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:46.639 and sisters 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:48.559 the Lord be with your spirit 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:49.820 grace be with you 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:51.460 just two final things 00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:52.340 and it's in closing 00:37:52.340 --> 00:37:53.880 you notice what Paul has done 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:55.199 he's talking about 00:37:55.199 --> 00:37:56.400 the people who are with him now 00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:57.539 he just said earlier 00:37:57.539 --> 00:37:58.000 that those 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:59.299 nobody stood by 00:37:59.299 --> 00:38:00.500 when he actually got arrested 00:38:00.500 --> 00:38:02.799 and almost got killed 00:38:02.799 --> 00:38:03.840 right the first time 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:06.519 he uses this powerful image 00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:07.820 of being in the lion's mouth 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:09.159 but God does something 00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:09.759 to drop him 00:38:09.759 --> 00:38:10.599 from the lion's mouth 00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:11.860 to give him this extra season 00:38:11.860 --> 00:38:12.259 of time 00:38:12.259 --> 00:38:13.340 to proclaim the message 00:38:13.340 --> 00:38:14.519 including the message 00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:15.199 to the lion 00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:18.199 and what does he say now 00:38:18.199 --> 00:38:18.980 about these people 00:38:18.980 --> 00:38:20.219 who've now come back around 00:38:20.219 --> 00:38:20.779 and he doesn't say 00:38:20.779 --> 00:38:21.579 you dirty rats 00:38:21.579 --> 00:38:22.719 why did you abandon me 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:24.159 he calls them his brothers 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:24.799 and sisters 00:38:24.799 --> 00:38:28.199 he forgives them 00:38:33.779 --> 00:38:34.980 like isn't that 00:38:34.980 --> 00:38:36.339 a captivating vision 00:38:36.339 --> 00:38:38.419 that you could be so 00:38:38.419 --> 00:38:39.339 have hope 00:38:39.339 --> 00:38:40.579 swallow you up 00:38:40.579 --> 00:38:41.819 true deep hope 00:38:41.819 --> 00:38:42.839 swallow you up 00:38:42.839 --> 00:38:43.779 in such a way 00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:45.760 that when you think 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:46.220 of others 00:38:46.220 --> 00:38:47.440 at the end of your life 00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:48.019 it's not 00:38:48.019 --> 00:38:49.200 it's not 00:38:49.200 --> 00:38:50.560 gosh I wish 00:38:50.560 --> 00:38:51.519 I could have gotten them 00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:52.400 gosh I hope 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:53.140 terrible things 00:38:53.140 --> 00:38:53.780 happen to them 00:38:53.780 --> 00:38:55.420 but that the final word 00:38:55.420 --> 00:38:56.140 that's on your 00:38:56.140 --> 00:38:57.220 that the thoughts 00:38:57.220 --> 00:38:57.740 in your head 00:38:57.740 --> 00:38:58.280 and the words 00:38:58.280 --> 00:38:58.820 on your lip 00:38:58.820 --> 00:38:59.960 are forgiveness 00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:01.620 like isn't that 00:39:01.620 --> 00:39:03.060 a more powerful vision 00:39:03.060 --> 00:39:04.000 to live by 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:07.940 that hope 00:39:07.940 --> 00:39:09.240 became a fact 00:39:09.240 --> 00:39:10.080 that hope 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:11.240 swallowed death 00:39:11.239 --> 00:39:12.039 that there is 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:12.859 that there is a true hope 00:39:12.859 --> 00:39:13.719 and that as you're 00:39:13.719 --> 00:39:14.939 shaped by that hope 00:39:14.939 --> 00:39:16.159 your words 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:17.459 are words 00:39:17.459 --> 00:39:18.179 of forgiveness 00:39:18.179 --> 00:39:19.279 and then the very 00:39:19.279 --> 00:39:19.979 final word 00:39:19.979 --> 00:39:20.799 the Lord be with 00:39:20.799 --> 00:39:21.359 your spirit 00:39:21.359 --> 00:39:22.319 grace be with you 00:39:22.319 --> 00:39:23.500 that the final words 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:23.959 that we have 00:39:23.959 --> 00:39:24.799 the words of Paul 00:39:24.799 --> 00:39:25.799 now come to an end 00:39:25.799 --> 00:39:27.199 he obviously spoke others 00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:27.759 but the words 00:39:27.759 --> 00:39:28.319 that are recorded 00:39:28.319 --> 00:39:29.259 his final words 00:39:29.259 --> 00:39:30.219 are words of blessing 00:39:30.219 --> 00:39:31.899 isn't that a compelling vision 00:39:31.900 --> 00:39:41.260 to live a life 00:39:41.260 --> 00:39:42.660 that is marked 00:39:42.660 --> 00:39:43.160 more and more 00:39:43.160 --> 00:39:43.800 by the ability 00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:44.480 to forgive 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:47.139 that's more and more 00:39:47.139 --> 00:39:48.980 concerned with reconciliation 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:50.480 that is more and more 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:51.940 concerned to bless 00:39:51.940 --> 00:39:54.820 and it all emerges 00:39:54.820 --> 00:39:55.700 out of true hope 00:39:55.700 --> 00:39:58.680 please stand 00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:01.480 for those of us 00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:02.099 who are Christians 00:40:02.099 --> 00:40:02.799 every Sunday 00:40:02.799 --> 00:40:03.659 is an opportunity 00:40:03.659 --> 00:40:05.419 to renew the vision 00:40:05.419 --> 00:40:07.480 that's why we need 00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:08.559 to gather in church 00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:10.139 whether it's in person 00:40:10.139 --> 00:40:11.980 or through YouTube 00:40:11.980 --> 00:40:13.099 we need to renew 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:13.579 the vision 00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:15.319 and all I can say 00:40:15.319 --> 00:40:16.099 is if you are 00:40:16.099 --> 00:40:16.699 on the outside 00:40:16.699 --> 00:40:17.699 of the Christian faith 00:40:17.699 --> 00:40:20.079 you don't know 00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:20.500 where you are 00:40:20.500 --> 00:40:21.179 with Jesus 00:40:21.179 --> 00:40:23.440 all I can say 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:24.099 to you 00:40:24.099 --> 00:40:26.099 is this is a very 00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:26.500 person 00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:26.859 and you know 00:40:26.859 --> 00:40:27.419 maybe if you're 00:40:27.419 --> 00:40:28.019 a type of a 00:40:28.019 --> 00:40:28.900 visual person 00:40:28.900 --> 00:40:29.440 or a person 00:40:29.440 --> 00:40:30.179 who likes to do 00:40:30.179 --> 00:40:31.079 things 00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:33.099 like 00:40:33.099 --> 00:40:34.759 empty your hands 00:40:34.759 --> 00:40:36.980 and get on your knees 00:40:36.980 --> 00:40:39.019 and say hope 00:40:39.019 --> 00:40:40.500 please take me 00:40:40.500 --> 00:40:41.420 and capture me 00:40:41.420 --> 00:40:41.980 Jesus 00:40:41.980 --> 00:40:43.360 you are the true hope 00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:44.800 take me 00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:45.599 and capture me 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:46.579 you know my fears 00:40:46.579 --> 00:40:47.539 about being captured 00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:48.119 by you 00:40:48.119 --> 00:40:49.639 you know my fears 00:40:49.639 --> 00:40:50.960 about belonging to you 00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:52.420 you know my fears 00:40:52.420 --> 00:40:53.360 that I will be thought 00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:54.119 of as weird 00:40:54.119 --> 00:40:55.259 Father 00:40:55.259 --> 00:40:56.659 Jesus 00:40:56.659 --> 00:40:58.519 I fall on my knees 00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:01.299 I can't capture hope 00:41:01.299 --> 00:41:02.799 but I believe 00:41:02.799 --> 00:41:03.379 and trust 00:41:03.379 --> 00:41:04.940 what the Bible says 00:41:04.940 --> 00:41:06.159 that you can capture me 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:07.699 and I surrender 00:41:07.699 --> 00:41:08.299 to you 00:41:08.299 --> 00:41:10.119 let's bow our heads 00:41:10.119 --> 00:41:10.539 in prayer 00:41:10.539 --> 00:41:13.480 Father we ask 00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:13.799 that 00:41:13.799 --> 00:41:15.980 this vision 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:16.799 of what the Christian 00:41:16.799 --> 00:41:17.440 life is 00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:18.739 this vision 00:41:18.739 --> 00:41:19.079 of 00:41:19.079 --> 00:41:19.960 Holocaust 00:41:19.960 --> 00:41:21.699 of 00:41:21.699 --> 00:41:22.739 sacrifice 00:41:22.739 --> 00:41:23.500 versus 00:41:23.500 --> 00:41:24.099 Shoah 00:41:24.099 --> 00:41:24.960 of catastrophe 00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:25.779 and disaster 00:41:25.779 --> 00:41:27.440 Father 00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:27.860 it's 00:41:27.860 --> 00:41:28.960 hearts 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:29.659 we long 00:41:29.659 --> 00:41:30.079 for this 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:30.900 at the same time 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:31.239 Father 00:41:31.239 --> 00:41:31.960 it can be hard 00:41:31.960 --> 00:41:32.519 to keep it 00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:32.880 and Father 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:33.400 we give you 00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:34.099 thanks and praise 00:41:34.099 --> 00:41:34.599 that you know 00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:35.400 this about us 00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:36.339 you know 00:41:36.339 --> 00:41:36.839 how weak 00:41:36.839 --> 00:41:37.339 we are 00:41:37.339 --> 00:41:38.920 it was your 00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:39.420 intention 00:41:39.420 --> 00:41:40.219 that we have 00:41:40.219 --> 00:41:40.699 mentors 00:41:40.699 --> 00:41:41.699 and discipleship 00:41:41.699 --> 00:41:42.299 and small 00:41:42.299 --> 00:41:42.779 groups 00:41:42.779 --> 00:41:43.219 and 00:41:43.219 --> 00:41:44.219 spiritual 00:41:44.219 --> 00:41:45.019 friends 00:41:45.019 --> 00:41:47.179 and weekly 00:41:47.179 --> 00:41:47.619 worship 00:41:47.619 --> 00:41:48.719 to be 00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:49.440 recaptured 00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:50.219 to recapture 00:41:50.219 --> 00:41:50.719 the vision 00:41:50.719 --> 00:41:51.539 to rekindle 00:41:51.539 --> 00:41:51.960 the vision 00:41:51.960 --> 00:41:52.539 rekindle 00:41:52.539 --> 00:41:53.000 the hope 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:54.380 Father 00:41:54.380 --> 00:41:55.079 we give 00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:55.460 into your 00:41:55.460 --> 00:41:55.800 hands 00:41:55.800 --> 00:41:56.420 those things 00:41:56.420 --> 00:41:56.699 that we 00:41:56.699 --> 00:41:57.579 despair of 00:41:57.579 --> 00:42:00.099 those things 00:42:00.099 --> 00:42:00.539 that we 00:42:00.539 --> 00:42:01.579 confused about 00:42:01.579 --> 00:42:02.019 and we don't 00:42:02.019 --> 00:42:02.460 know what to 00:42:02.460 --> 00:42:02.619 do 00:42:02.619 --> 00:42:02.900 Father 00:42:02.900 --> 00:42:03.259 we give 00:42:03.259 --> 00:42:03.400 them 00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:03.759 into your 00:42:03.759 --> 00:42:04.159 hands 00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:05.619 and we 00:42:05.619 --> 00:42:05.840 ask 00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:06.199 Father 00:42:06.199 --> 00:42:06.579 that you 00:42:06.579 --> 00:42:06.920 fill us 00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:07.539 with hope 00:42:07.539 --> 00:42:09.659 a hope 00:42:09.659 --> 00:42:10.179 that allows 00:42:10.179 --> 00:42:10.579 us to 00:42:10.579 --> 00:42:11.119 press into 00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:11.880 these things 00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:12.360 and to 00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:13.340 walk towards 00:42:13.340 --> 00:42:13.539 them 00:42:13.539 --> 00:42:13.779 and to 00:42:13.779 --> 00:42:14.259 deal with 00:42:14.259 --> 00:42:14.500 them 00:42:14.500 --> 00:42:15.440 all for 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:15.960 your glory 00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:16.300 and the 00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:16.719 furtherance 00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:17.039 of your 00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:17.400 kingdom 00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:19.619 and we 00:42:19.619 --> 00:42:20.019 ask all 00:42:20.019 --> 00:42:20.519 these things 00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:20.940 in the name 00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:21.380 of Jesus 00:42:21.380 --> 00:42:21.960 your son 00:42:21.960 --> 00:42:22.280 and our 00:42:22.280 --> 00:42:22.599 savior 00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:23.260 and all 00:42:23.260 --> 00:42:23.579 God's 00:42:23.579 --> 00:42:24.220 people said 00:42:24.220 --> 00:42:25.180 amen