WEBVTT

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 Good morning folks, lovely to see you. Please do have that passage open in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

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 Make every effort to get God's Word in front of you this morning. In a sense it really isn't what

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 I say, you've got to always check it against what God says in his Word. So please do me a flavour

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 and do that and get the Word of God open in front of you. What a passage we have this morning.

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 I want to begin by getting us to think about a karaoke classic. So I was 15 years old when

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 this song came out in the year 2000, right? Now here's what I'm going to do. Put your hands

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 up if you were not born yet in the year 2000, right? My oh my, look at that. No nothing of Y2K,

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 you guys weren't panicking about the millennium bug. Those were great days. The year 2000,

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 but here's why it doesn't matter whether you're around or not because I'm pretty sure you'll

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 have heard this song. As I say, I was 15 at the time, written by a, I guess it's a band,

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 called Bon Jovi. The song is called It's My Life. The chorus goes like this. I'm not going

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 to try and hit those notes, okay? It's my life, it's now or never. I ain't going to live forever,

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 I just want to live while I'm alive. It's my life. Is that familiar? Yeah? This was my first

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 encounter with a modern day mantra. See if you've heard of this. The modern day mantra is, you only

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 live once. Here's what I think we're trying to do as human beings with that phrase. I think we're

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 going to square a circle. We're trying to make sense of the fact that we know that life is precious,

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 life is a gift, life is wonderful, and yet we also know that life is unpredictable, it's fragile,

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 and too often it's gone. What do we say before we know it? We are and we get the image of being the

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 proverbial candle in the wind. But here's where we go wrong. Instead of that slowing us down

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 and helping us think about what is life really all about, we respond by trying to make as many

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 Kodak moments as we possibly can, by squeezing as much happiness as we possibly can out of our three

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 score and ten existence. To think that this is all there is, is our default setting as modern human

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 beings. Now here's an insight from David Gibson. David Gibson's a pastor up in Aberdeen,

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 written some wonderful books that will get you thinking. Here's something I read of his recently,

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 an observation about modern people. He said this,

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 we are a generation who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

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 Here's what I want to suggest is true for every single one of us today. Whatever you think about

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 the God of the Bible, maybe you're here today, this is your first time in church in a long time,

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 you are so welcome, we love that you're here. And here's where you will connect with this passage,

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 here's where every single one of us will connect with this passage. Here it is,

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 what we think happens in the end totally shapes how we live in the present.

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 Have you ever thought about that? How what you think happens in the end totally shapes how you

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 live in the present. In all sorts of ways, the job you go for, the relationships that you have,

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 where you invest yourself, all of these things are driven by what we think happens in the end.

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 And here's the thing, if I can play on the words of this passage of verse seven,

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 our default setting in this world is to live by sight and not by faith.

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 And God, through the life and the pen of the apostle Paul, friends, he is lovingly wooing us

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 to come to Jesus and do the opposite. He's calling us to come to him, hold his hand and to live our

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 lives, as it were, backwards. And to live our lives backwards is to be so confident in what Jesus has done

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 to secure our future, that it completely shapes how we live today as we anticipate that future.

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 To know that Jesus loves us, has died for us, has shed his blood for us, has risen for us,

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 has ascended for us, holds our lives at the right hand of God in his hands. When you know that that is

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 who he is and where he is, it completely transforms how you view today and where we invest ourselves

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 today and what we love today. And here's the sharp end of this passage.

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 This is all about how we understand our physical bodies, right? How are you feeling about your body today?

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 Couldn't think of a more modern day question that we're asking ourselves right now as a society, right?

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 Here's the two polar reactions I think we're often tempted to go to.

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 And I'm saying this in pastoral love. As we live our lives in the world and as we watch the rest of

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 the people in the world, here's the two polar reactions. Number one is to obsess.

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 Putting in the hours at the gym, spending some serious time in front of the mirror,

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 stepping onto those scales. We can obsess or we can despair.

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 As our bodies age and we feel the aches and pains.

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 And as our mental health dips up and down, as our energy levels move in and out,

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 as we are plagued by disease and illness. And remember, Paul is suffering in his body.

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 We saw this last week in all sorts of ways as he lives his white life in the service of Jesus.

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 He is aware, if you tap back to verse 16, how he is outwardly, verse 16, wasting away.

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 Friends, how are you feeling today as you live your life in your body?

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 What does the future hold, do you think?

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 You know, in the job I had before moving to Edinburgh, I shared an office with a guy called Duncan.

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 And Duncan was one of the most sharp legal minds I think I've ever met.

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 But Duncan always got put on the big cases, the corporate cases.

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 And he was the one, as I shared a room with him, that I saw him do for months and months and months.

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 He was the lawyer that worked in the deal that saw orange.

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 Orange, again, this is going to time some of you.

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 Orange become EE.

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 Right?

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 And he worked on this for months and months and months.

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 And what he'd do every day is he'd come into the office and he'd put on his Bluetooth headset.

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 And he'd ring the head office at Orange.

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 Because he was fluent in French as well as English.

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 And as he was being transferred to the right number, I could hear on his headset the on-hold music that was played as he was getting put through to the right person.

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 And every day I heard this phrase,

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 The future's bright, the future's orange.

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 Now, here's what I want to say to all of us today, if your hope is in Jesus.

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 Friends, the mantra of this passage is that the future's bright, the future's resurrection.

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 If you want to hold something and take it through this passage today, that's your phrase.

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 The future's bright, the future's resurrection.

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 There's two things here that Paul wants us, as followers of Jesus, to know about our bodies as we take in that.

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 And here's number one, and it just comes at verses one to five.

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 Is that they have a glorious future.

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 However you're feeling today, know that.

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 That we, because of Jesus, have a glorious future.

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 And what Paul does here is he sets up another compare and contrast.

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 Between our bodies now and our bodies then.

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 And I love hanging out with Paul, because the more I hang out with Paul, I realize that he is a visual learner.

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 He's a visual learner.

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 He's always giving people, and he's a very good preacher, because he's always tapping into everyday images, phrases, life, to make his point.

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 Right?

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 Last week, we thought about our bodies as being jars of clay.

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 And it was lovely to hear reports of conversations and growth groups and honest conversations and just people praying with one another and how helpful that metaphor was.

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 As Paul helped us think about the present, the present experience of the Christian, as we suffer in our bodies, and particularly as we suffer as we follow Jesus.

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 As we are like jars of clay, the treasure is inside.

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 What he does today is he helps us grasp something deep about the future by tapping into another image.

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 What is that everyday image?

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 Come and see it.

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 Then we get it verse 1 and verse 3 of chapter 5.

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 What is his image?

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 It's a tent.

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 And Paul's a tent maker by trade.

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 Right?

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 This is his game.

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 This is his gig.

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 He understands the world of tents.

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 But what we have to appreciate is that tents have moved on a bit since Paul's day.

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 Right?

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 So Paul isn't picturing the outdoor pursuit section at Mountain Warehouse.

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 This is not predicting glamping at Glastonbury.

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 Right?

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 Different kind of tents.

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 What he's picturing is a sheet, a couple of sticks for poles, way out in the wilderness, maybe with a tiny fire by the side, and nothing in the sky but stars.

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 You're playing this game, in the first century game of articulate, what's your word association with tents?

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 Temporary, fragile, easily destroyed.

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 That's what he's picturing there when he says the word tent.

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 But the image takes on greater significance.

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 It taps into new contours.

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 When you consider that God's people have a long history with tents.

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 And particularly in the season of their corporate life when God rescued them from Egypt.

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 And he was taking them through the wilderness to the promised land.

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 Right?

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 And what are they sleeping night after night as they do this?

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 Tents.

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 Imagine the repetition of that.

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 All those years wandering in the wilderness.

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 Imagine the repetition.

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 Right?

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 Imagine it.

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 Walking by day, stopping.

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 Building your tent, sleeping in it.

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 Taking it down.

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 Walking by day, stopping.

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 Building your tent, sleeping in it.

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 Taking it down.

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 What would we say today?

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 Rinse and repeat.

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 And in addition to the people's individual tents, right in the middle of their camp was another tent.

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 The tabernacle.

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 The place where God lives.

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 Right in the middle.

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 Right in the midst of his people is the camp round about.

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 God trying to help them understand that his desire is to dwell in the heart and in the midst of his people.

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 And it's the same gig.

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 God had prescribed that tabernacle.

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 How it was to be taken down.

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 It's the same gig.

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 Right?

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 Walking by day, stopping.

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 Building the tent.

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 Taking it down.

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 Rinse and repeat.

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 Do you know the phrase that we've banned saying on car journeys?

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 When will we be there?

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 And the annoying thing is now when the kids ask it, there's a sat-nav right there on the phone that tells them exactly when they can get there.

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 Whereas before phones, you could say we're going to get there when we're going to get there.

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 Now you have to say it's going to be seven hours and 15 minutes.

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 But imagine that in the Israelite camp day after day.

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 Child to parent.

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 Why are we doing this again?

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 When are we going to get there?

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 What's this all about?

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 Parent to child.

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 Why are we doing this?

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 It's because God is taking us to a greater home.

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 He is taking us to the place, the land that he promised he would take us.

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 God is taking us out of this black and white 2D experience.

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 And he's taking us to the place where everything this is will be HD color.

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 Where we will leave this tent existence behind and where we will be home.

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 And the Christian believer, even though we exist in a different generation, friends, we are caught up in that same line of longing.

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 Our home is not a piece of land.

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 It is in everything that that land symbolized.

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 It is God's people in God's place, in our new bodies, enjoying God's presence for eternity.

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 And Paul says our bodies are like tents.

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 What is our present experience?

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 Verse 5, we are burdened.

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 Do you know that today?

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 And we're groaning.

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 And verse 4, we are longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.

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 Where what is mortal?

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 Well, like Pac-Man, it will just be swallowed up by life.

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 Whatever you're going through here today, that is your future.

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 The shape of Jesus' life and his death will be the shape of our life and death.

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 Because Jesus' resurrection in the past, it guarantees our resurrection in the future.

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 I see the two quickfire encouragements from verse 5.

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 Firstly, that God has fashioned us for this.

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 Now, I don't know if you're up for this, but go with it.

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 Picture yourself as a bride-to-be.

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 Not long after getting engaged, and you go to the shop in search of your dress,

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 and the person comes and gets you perfectly measured for your perfect dress,

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 and you're looking at yourself thinking,

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 it's wonderful, it's glorious, I'm going to look radiant.

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 But the thing about that dress is it's not for today.

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 It's for that day.

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 And it's almost like when God saved us, he fitted us perfectly for our resurrection bodies.

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 He guaranteed it.

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 And he said, it's there.

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 It's up ahead.

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 But it's not for this day.

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 It's for that day.

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 That is, in the words of verse 5, that is what is to come.

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 And the second encouragement, the indwelling spirit of God inside of us,

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 he guarantees that.

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 And I take it at times he reminds us of that, the glorious future that's ahead of us.

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 It's interesting the amount of times in this letter that Paul talks about the spirit being a guarantee.

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 I wonder whether in Corinth there's a lot of mysticism, there's a lot of new age spirituality going on,

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 and Paul is saying, actually, the spirit inside of us.

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 He's helping remind us of this.

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 Our bodies have a glorious future.

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 And secondly, they have a present purpose.

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 Because going back to that analogy,

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 when you know that you're going to be wearing that dress on that day,

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 anticipating that changes everything about how you live in the moment, doesn't it?

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 And that's the logic that Paul is using here.

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 He wants us to put on our resurrection spectacles, if you like,

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 and view the world today through those lenses.

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 Because here's what he knows.

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 Here's what is true in life.

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 That where we're looking impacts how we're living.

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 Where we're looking impacts how we're living.

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 And we move into verses 6 to 10,

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 and Paul is telling us where he is looking.

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 Do you see these wonderful phrases?

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 Paul longs to be, do you see the phrase,

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 at home with Jesus.

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 It's his longing.

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 And all death can do to him is to make his life infinitely better.

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 When a Christian dies before Jesus' return,

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 that is where they are.

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 They are, and this is precisely where people get the phrase from,

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 they are home with the Lord.

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 They are spiritually in heaven with Jesus,

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 awaiting his return,

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 at which point our bodies will be physically raised,

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 and we will be with God in the new creation.

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 And Paul says,

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 I long to be with Jesus.

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 I long to be with my Lord.

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 Friends, there is no greater joy in this life

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 than to know and to walk with this good God

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 who created and saved us.

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 A father loving his son in the joy of the spirit.

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 This is who our God is.

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 He is triune.

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 And the fact that he is father, son, and spirit

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 means that he is at his heart relational.

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 And this is what distinguishes the Trinity,

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 the triune God of the Bible from Allah.

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 Our God longs to be known.

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 He can be known.

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 And there is no greater joy than to know him.

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 And I take it that heavenly homesickness

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 is a good thing.

00:19:22.299 --> 00:19:24.980
 Do you see how he uses the word confident twice there?

00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:31.720
 And that confident leads him to the conclusion of verse nine.

00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:32.299
 He says,

00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:33.859
 while I'm in my body here on earth,

00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:36.140
 what is my life going to be all about until then?

00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:38.400
 It's going to be all about, do you see the phrase,

00:19:38.820 --> 00:19:40.180
 pleasing him?

00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.460
 How do we respond to the glorious future?

00:19:44.580 --> 00:19:46.740
 We respond to it by present godliness.

00:19:49.560 --> 00:19:53.100
 Godliness is the game that we're called to play.

00:19:53.099 --> 00:19:56.859
 I always love how I pray in the valley of vision.

00:19:57.059 --> 00:19:57.419
 And if you've,

00:19:58.199 --> 00:20:01.559
 if you look for something new devotionally to do in your own times,

00:20:01.659 --> 00:20:04.759
 the valley of vision is just this collection of Puritan prayers.

00:20:05.419 --> 00:20:08.159
 Just found it immensely useful when I did it a number of years ago.

00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:08.819
 Here's the prayer.

00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:13.480
 Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal

00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:17.099
 with a mind intent on things eternal.

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:17.819
 Eternal.

00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:21.699
 Really practically,

00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.819
 have a think about in your own life how you can please him.

00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:30.039
 Do you see how this gives dignity to everyday steps of obedience,

00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:34.879
 flowing from a love for Jesus in our everyday bodies,

00:20:35.139 --> 00:20:36.480
 in our everyday existence?

00:20:38.959 --> 00:20:40.159
 Where has he put you?

00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:44.699
 Around whom has he put you?

00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:47.759
 What decision are you facing?

00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:50.660
 What person can you love?

00:20:51.620 --> 00:20:53.860
 What new habit can you pick up?

00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.500
 What sinful habit do you need to destroy?

00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:03.500
 How can we please him in our bodies?

00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:08.279
 And the fact that this God sees it all,

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.680
 I take it leads us into the dignifying

00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:13.120
 and yet the sobering news that comes at verse 10.

00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:16.539
 Here's the thing.

00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:17.720
 See, when Jesus returns,

00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.900
 he will have the perfect and final say

00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:24.059
 on the things that every human being has done

00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:26.680
 in their bodies, whether good or bad.

00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:28.080
 That's exactly what he's saying.

00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:31.120
 I know one of the big issues

00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:35.500
 with the whole you only live once mindset.

00:21:36.340 --> 00:21:38.660
 Friends, it knows very little of justice.

00:21:40.120 --> 00:21:41.299
 And if that's your game today,

00:21:41.360 --> 00:21:42.279
 if that's what you're thinking,

00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:43.700
 and if that's where you currently are,

00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:45.660
 can I ask you just to lovingly

00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:47.339
 wrestle with that question?

00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:50.899
 If you believe this world is all there is,

00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.379
 then you have a massive problem.

00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:56.480
 Those people who have done terrible crimes

00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:58.519
 and who were never held account

00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:00.119
 for them on earth,

00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:02.480
 they really have pulled a fast one.

00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:04.839
 Haven't they?

00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:08.019
 Jamie Savile, Adolf Hitler,

00:22:08.139 --> 00:22:09.740
 those are just the ones that we know about.

00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:10.779
 Can you imagine

00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:13.579
 if we got started on the ones

00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:15.039
 that were done in the shadows?

00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:18.659
 Here's what you need to know today.

00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:21.480
 The goodness and justice

00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.839
 are part of God's character.

00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.179
 It's who he is.

00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.679
 He must punish wickedness.

00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:34.519
 Or he would be inconsistent with himself.

00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:37.580
 No, because God is good,

00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:39.840
 he acts justly,

00:22:40.060 --> 00:22:43.640
 and he will bring every deed into judgment.

00:22:44.820 --> 00:22:48.759
 Now, many people never face justice in life,

00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:50.039
 in this life.

00:22:50.100 --> 00:22:52.240
 And maybe that's really raw for you right now.

00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:54.420
 Ways that you've been wronged,

00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:56.100
 hurts that you're carrying,

00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.380
 whether big or small.

00:22:58.380 --> 00:23:01.220
 Maybe this is extremely raw for you.

00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:05.920
 Friends, God tells us

00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:07.560
 that a final day of judgment is coming

00:23:07.560 --> 00:23:10.100
 when everything will be held to account.

00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.880
 And Jesus Christ will return.

00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:14.480
 And with his return,

00:23:14.580 --> 00:23:16.160
 that judgment day will begin.

00:23:16.300 --> 00:23:17.500
 And there'll be two reactions.

00:23:17.760 --> 00:23:19.280
 The humble will rejoice

00:23:19.280 --> 00:23:21.660
 at Jesus' coming

00:23:21.660 --> 00:23:22.920
 because we love him.

00:23:23.060 --> 00:23:24.400
 We've longed for his appearing.

00:23:25.100 --> 00:23:26.800
 We acknowledge him as our king,

00:23:26.800 --> 00:23:28.080
 our savior and Lord.

00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:30.740
 We long for his coming.

00:23:30.820 --> 00:23:31.500
 And you need to know

00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:32.720
 that the bad that we have done

00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:33.640
 in our bodies, guys,

00:23:33.780 --> 00:23:34.360
 and oh man,

00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.720
 how much we have messed up.

00:23:36.760 --> 00:23:38.360
 He took the punishment for that

00:23:38.360 --> 00:23:39.240
 in his body.

00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:43.040
 Our sins are no match for his mercy.

00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.180
 So if you trust in him today,

00:23:46.280 --> 00:23:48.780
 your judgment day was 2,000 years ago

00:23:48.780 --> 00:23:50.960
 on an old wooden cross.

00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:52.319
 The return of our king

00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:53.500
 is not a day of fear.

00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:55.259
 It's a day of rejoicing.

00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:57.920
 However,

00:23:59.360 --> 00:24:00.160
 the proud,

00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:01.480
 I take it those who

00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:02.360
 just say,

00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.100
 I'm not going to accept Jesus

00:24:04.100 --> 00:24:05.140
 as my Lord and my king

00:24:05.140 --> 00:24:06.400
 will be filled with fear

00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:08.620
 because this day is a day

00:24:08.620 --> 00:24:10.240
 when all deeds will be counted.

00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:12.740
 And we will have to answer

00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:14.519
 for what you've done

00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:15.539
 in your body.

00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:18.420
 And you'll have to answer

00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:19.519
 before the king of kings,

00:24:19.619 --> 00:24:20.359
 Jesus Christ.

00:24:21.899 --> 00:24:22.940
 And so maybe that's where

00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:23.920
 you are this morning.

00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:25.159
 Maybe you're sitting on the fence.

00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:26.159
 Maybe you're not sure.

00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:28.359
 Would you hear God's loving appeal

00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:30.039
 to you to repent,

00:24:30.139 --> 00:24:31.460
 which just means to turn

00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:32.700
 from your way

00:24:32.700 --> 00:24:34.339
 and turn to God's way.

00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:34.799
 And actually,

00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:35.399
 once you,

00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:36.879
 God opens your eyes

00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:37.639
 to see that,

00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:38.420
 you realize,

00:24:38.539 --> 00:24:40.379
 you turn from the death,

00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:41.480
 which was your sin,

00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:43.339
 and the empty things

00:24:43.339 --> 00:24:43.860
 of this life

00:24:43.860 --> 00:24:44.740
 that we were pursuing.

00:24:44.860 --> 00:24:45.620
 And God in his grace,

00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.599
 he's turned us.

00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:48.680
 Repentance was an act of grace

00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:49.620
 and he's turned us

00:24:49.620 --> 00:24:50.259
 towards him

00:24:50.259 --> 00:24:51.680
 who is the very source of life.

00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.579
 The fact that God

00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:54.900
 would warn you here

00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.980
 is an act of his mercy.

00:25:00.900 --> 00:25:01.500
 Oh friends,

00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:02.620
 some of us have been wronged

00:25:02.620 --> 00:25:03.960
 in all sorts of ways.

00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:06.900
 But walking by faith

00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:07.839
 and not by sight

00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:08.400
 means

00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.200
 that you and I

00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:11.360
 do not need to seek

00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:12.159
 to create

00:25:12.159 --> 00:25:13.799
 our own justice day.

00:25:17.419 --> 00:25:17.899
 Actually,

00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:18.779
 we can leave this

00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.359
 with Jesus.

00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:22.199
 And we can trust

00:25:22.199 --> 00:25:24.000
 that he will have

00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:25.399
 the final and perfect say

00:25:25.399 --> 00:25:27.000
 over everything.

00:25:27.179 --> 00:25:27.759
 And would that,

00:25:28.659 --> 00:25:29.519
 maybe even this morning,

00:25:29.639 --> 00:25:31.139
 that anger that's inside,

00:25:31.379 --> 00:25:33.500
 that desire for justice

00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:34.259
 is inside.

00:25:34.459 --> 00:25:35.539
 What we'll see next week

00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:36.379
 as Paul goes on

00:25:36.379 --> 00:25:37.199
 to talk about

00:25:37.199 --> 00:25:39.639
 reconciliation and healing.

00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:43.099
 And of course,

00:25:43.179 --> 00:25:43.819
 the Apostle Paul

00:25:43.819 --> 00:25:44.479
 has been wronged

00:25:44.479 --> 00:25:45.559
 in all sorts of ways.

00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:48.379
 And yet he's leaving it

00:25:48.379 --> 00:25:49.059
 with the Lord.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:51.240
 Because what we think

00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:52.559
 happens in the end

00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:55.079
 totally shapes

00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.979
 how we live in the present.

00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:59.980
 And just as we close,

00:26:01.059 --> 00:26:01.799
 let me tell you

00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:02.480
 about one of my new

00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:03.360
 heroes in life.

00:26:05.860 --> 00:26:06.660
 I've got a good friend

00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:07.500
 called Colin Adams

00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:08.460
 who's the pastor

00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:09.559
 at Greenview Church

00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:10.140
 in Glasgow.

00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:12.180
 And he told me recently

00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:13.500
 about a man in his church

00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:14.180
 called Joe.

00:26:15.620 --> 00:26:16.700
 And Joe is,

00:26:16.860 --> 00:26:17.339
 get this,

00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:18.579
 102.

00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:23.460
 Joe's eyesight

00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.460
 has all but gone.

00:26:26.379 --> 00:26:27.500
 For you and I

00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:28.179
 see people,

00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:30.339
 Joe sees

00:26:30.339 --> 00:26:31.339
 shadows.

00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:34.019
 But here's what Joe

00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:35.000
 does every week.

00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:37.240
 He zooms into

00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:38.259
 his Bible study.

00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:41.000
 To study a book

00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:42.399
 that he can no longer read.

00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:45.859
 To interact with people

00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:47.519
 who he can no longer see.

00:26:48.699 --> 00:26:50.479
 To engage with some people

00:26:50.479 --> 00:26:52.099
 who he's never even met.

00:26:53.159 --> 00:26:54.740
 And talk with them

00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:57.179
 about God's word.

00:26:58.879 --> 00:26:59.579
 And what happens,

00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:00.279
 Colin is saying,

00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.500
 when they're on that call,

00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:02.839
 just when the rest

00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:03.679
 of the group think

00:27:03.679 --> 00:27:04.339
 that the internet

00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:05.179
 has dropped out,

00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.019
 we haven't heard from Joe

00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:06.439
 in a while,

00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:07.019
 is he okay?

00:27:08.159 --> 00:27:09.039
 All of a sudden

00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:09.859
 he'll just speak.

00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:12.000
 And it turns out

00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:12.679
 he was listening

00:27:12.679 --> 00:27:13.919
 the whole time.

00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:15.179
 And Colin says,

00:27:15.180 --> 00:27:16.580
 when this guy speaks,

00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:19.460
 everybody listens.

00:27:20.120 --> 00:27:21.600
 Because what he says

00:27:21.600 --> 00:27:23.400
 is golden.

00:27:26.420 --> 00:27:27.960
 This passage calls us

00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:29.259
 to live by faith

00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:31.880
 and not by sight.

00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:34.519
 My new goal in life

00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:35.740
 is to be average Joe.

00:27:37.560 --> 00:27:38.019
 Yeah?

00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:39.240
 There is a man

00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:40.640
 who is not living

00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:41.500
 thinking that you

00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:42.620
 only live once.

00:27:42.619 --> 00:27:44.759
 actually,

00:27:45.239 --> 00:27:46.859
 Joe's life tells us

00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:49.000
 and it bursts the bubble

00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.399
 and actually says

00:27:51.399 --> 00:27:51.859
 all of us

00:27:51.859 --> 00:27:52.759
 are going to live twice.

00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:53.859
 through the전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전