WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:21.700 And just bow our heads in prayer. Father, lots of things in your Word are things that are easily 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:28.439 mocked. We confess that sometimes we read things in your Word that if we were to tell them to our 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:34.260 neighbors, they'd maybe make fun about us behind our back. And Father, we confess before you that 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:40.060 sometimes that can make us a bit silent about things. But Father, we know that your Word is true, 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:47.320 and it is good, and it is beautiful, and it is you talk about and give us exactly what we need. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:53.900 So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move deep within us so that your Word would come 00:01:53.900 --> 00:02:03.599 into us and would mold us and form us and change us and conform us to your character and your purposes. 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:09.719 And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:09.819 Thank you. 00:02:13.659 --> 00:02:18.800 I'm not, I'm setting the stopwatch. I'm not checking my Instagram updates or anything like that, 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:28.340 just so you know. So, I don't know, about a month or so ago, we had a, maybe two months ago now, 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.960 I'm the chair of something called Dig and Delves. It's Dig and Delves. It's Ottawa's only apologetics 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:43.319 ministry. And we sponsored an apologetics event on demonology. And part of it, the main part of it, 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:48.379 of course, was just to talk about the beauty and the power and the wisdom of how the Bible, 00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:56.040 how Christianity understands angels and demons. But it was also partially to contrast what Christianity 00:02:56.039 --> 00:03:02.739 teaches with what Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and secular Canada thinks about such matters. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:11.459 And I was the fellow up at the front when there was a Q&A time. And I had my mobile phone, 00:03:11.519 --> 00:03:16.399 and there's this thing called Slido. People would type in their questions. And I could look and see 00:03:16.399 --> 00:03:22.379 what the most popular question was. And I would tell the speaker the next question. And one of the 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:31.139 questions was whether Christians should read Harry Potter novels. And so, I'm taking my life in my 00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:37.259 hands by mentioning this as a sermon illustration. And John gave, I thought, a very wise and helpful 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:43.379 answer to it. And he asked me what I thought, and I basically said, ditto. Well, within a couple of 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:49.960 weeks, we had two angry emails denouncing us as false teachers who are leading people astray, 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:56.020 because we didn't categorically denounce the Harry Potter books and say all Christians should be 00:03:56.020 --> 00:04:02.540 forbidden from reading them. Sometimes you get very pleasant emails that just make your whole day. 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:11.260 Anyway, by the way, if it was from one of you or one of you online, I'm over it, by the way. But I 00:04:11.260 --> 00:04:19.439 think it was not a very Christian email. It's really funny when people send me or sometimes really 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.719 un-Christian emails saying I'm being un-Christian. Like, I just sort of think, if you look in the 00:04:23.719 --> 00:04:28.219 mirror... Anyway, that's not the point of the sermon. Here's the point. I'm going to take my life in my 00:04:28.219 --> 00:04:34.019 hands. I'm going to talk about one of the reasons why Harry Potter novels and movies are very, very 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:41.060 popular and touch into one of the deepest longings of all human lives, especially human souls in Canada 00:04:41.060 --> 00:04:46.860 today. And by the way, I'm not making any pro or negative comment about the books or the movies. 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:52.000 You can make up your own decision about that in, you know, with your parents and your spiritual advisors. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:05:00.240 But this gospel, the text we're looking at today directly talks about what makes Harry Potter novels work. 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:08.180 So let's read. I'm looking at 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 13 and following, if you can follow along in your 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:13.199 Bibles. By the way, there's always some Bibles over here. If you come without a Bible, you can come and take one of 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:18.459 these Bibles and take it home if you want as a gift or to give away to somebody else. Now, just before I 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:26.180 start to read it, this is originally a letter that Peter was one of Jesus's closest disciples. He spent 00:05:26.180 --> 00:05:32.459 the full year, three plus years of Jesus's public ministry with him and was a leader of them. So he's 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:38.519 an eyewitness to what Jesus did. In fact, not only is Peter an eyewitness, Peter would know whether 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:45.099 Jesus snored. I mean, that's how close he was to Jesus. He would know whether Jesus snored. 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:51.879 If he had to go out to a restaurant to pick up some food, he'd know what the type of tabbouleh 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:57.500 and hummus that Jesus liked. Like, that's how close he was to Jesus. Okay? 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:06.500 And so this is a letter written about somewhere between the year 62, 63, 64, somewhere in there. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:11.459 It's written to a group of churches. It was a circular letter in churches which we now call 00:06:11.459 --> 00:06:21.279 Turkey. And Peter is going to die a martyr's death within a year or two of writing this letter. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:26.619 And he's going to die a martyr's death because he proclaims that Jesus had risen from the dead. 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:32.199 And that was an offense to the powers that be in the religions and the cultures of the day. 00:06:32.859 --> 00:06:37.719 And so Peter is going to pay for his life this proclaiming of the truth of the resurrection. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:43.439 Anyway, that's the context. He's writing a letter of encouragement to these Christians in what we 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:47.160 now call Turkey. And the letter continues like this. Verse 13. 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:59.139 Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the 00:06:59.139 --> 00:07:05.279 grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, just sort of pause. A little 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:11.019 bit of an important aside here about this. First of all, preparing your minds for action. 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:15.259 Some of you might have a little note there. It's a really interesting phrase. It says, 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:21.419 girding up the loins of your mind. And it's an image. Just as I was leaving the service, 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:28.919 there were a couple of Muslim men wearing clothes that went all the way down, like a big robe that 00:07:28.919 --> 00:07:34.299 went all the way down to their foot. If they had to run, they'd have to pick everything up and sort 00:07:34.299 --> 00:07:40.019 of hold it and run. And that's the image, that you get things dealt with in terms of your clothing 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:45.079 and everything like that and be prepared to action. And that's what's being talked about. 00:07:45.500 --> 00:07:50.659 The other thing that's being talked about here in terms of hope is hope isn't optimism and hope 00:07:50.659 --> 00:07:56.500 isn't wishing. At least that's how the Bible understands it. So, you know, we might say that I 00:07:56.500 --> 00:08:03.680 sure hope that it's sunny all afternoon because I want to enjoy it when it's warm. But that's just a 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:08.859 wish. Some of you might say, oh, it's going to be sunny this afternoon. That just means you're an 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:13.160 optimist. I haven't lived in Ottawa for very long where the weather can change so quickly. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:22.199 The biblical virtue of hope is very different. It's a growing confidence and trust in the promises 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:32.480 of God. So I myself am not an optimist. My life would be easier if I was an optimist. I really think 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:37.620 that. But I'm not an optimist. As you know, if I had a patron saint, it would be Puddle Glum, 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:41.620 the Marsh Wiggle, who always thinks the worst things are going to happen but goes ahead and 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:46.679 does what has to be done anyway. That's sort of almost like that sort of me to a T in lots of ways. 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:52.500 But you see, if you ever read the story about Puddle Glum, the Marsh Wiggle, he's definitely 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:59.440 not an optimist. He's way off the scale and pessimism. But he believes the promises and acts 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.820 on them. And that's what hope is about. It's hearing the promises of God and growing into a 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:07.700 subtle conviction about them. So I'm going to read the verse again. Therefore, preparing 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:14.879 your minds for action, verse 13, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:19.660 that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So what that's saying is, listen, 00:09:20.420 --> 00:09:23.560 you're going to have bad things happen to you in your life. You're going to have good things 00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:26.820 happen to you in your life. You're going to have really, really hard times you live through 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:33.400 and really, really sweet seasons where everything is going fantastic. You might get falsely accused. 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:37.280 You might have things that happen to you that you definitely don't deserve. You might have 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:41.140 things that happen to you that you do deserve. All of us will grow old. And with growing old, 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:44.400 there will be certain types of aches and pains and other things that go along with it. 00:09:44.760 --> 00:09:50.080 But listen, amongst all of those things, it's more and more important that you set your hope, 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:55.460 hope, this overarching hope on the fact that when you have given your life to Jesus, 00:09:56.280 --> 00:10:05.500 the final, your final end will be seeing Jesus face to face. That's the end of grace in your life, 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:12.700 that you will see Jesus face to face. And when you see Jesus face to face, you will, in a sense, 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.440 you close your eyes on death and you open your eyes in the new heaven and the new earth. And the 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.780 first face you will see will be Jesus beaming at you with the biggest smile. 00:10:24.900 --> 00:10:30.160 That's your hope amongst the changes and chances of this fleeting world. 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:38.880 Get your mind sober and get your mind set so you can put that as your overarching hope. It doesn't 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:45.440 mean you can't have other smaller hopes, but that's the overarching hope that you, and whether that 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.560 means you see Jesus at the moment of death, or if we are alive when Jesus returns and you see him 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:56.100 face to face, it's exactly the same thing. And by the way, in the terms of the letter, this is sort of 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:02.080 a verse that looks back and then looks forward to explain other types of things. And it goes on like 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:07.080 this, because I'm still going to get to Harry Potter with this bit right here. Verse 14. 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:15.020 As Harry Potter, no, no, it's not in the Bible. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the 00:11:15.020 --> 00:11:22.600 passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:30.280 conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. Now, here's one of the... 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:37.500 I sometimes watch, I don't watch the whole comedy specials, but I sometimes watch comedy specials, 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:42.980 especially by certain types of comedians. Those of you who are regular here will probably guess 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:47.659 one of them, but the way I pronounce the name once, and it's only the way a certain comedian 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:54.980 pronounced that person's name. But I can tell you this. If I was a stand-up comedian, and I wanted to 00:11:54.980 --> 00:12:00.120 come on this stage because it's a comedy show, and I wanted to get laughs, I'd come walking on out, 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:05.360 and I'd stand here and say, I want to be holy. Everybody would laugh. No, no, that's my goal in life. 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:08.720 I want to be holy like God is holy. Everybody would laugh. Right? 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:17.060 Saying you want to be holy is not what gathers a pleasant crowd around you at a party. 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:23.259 But it will sure get you talked about with sniggers and mockery. 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:30.840 So here on one level, the Bible is telling you to do something that will make you mocked. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:41.159 But actually, all of the people who mock you long for it. Now, George, that's an outrageous claim. 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:48.279 Canadians long to be holy? That's like, George, you're completely not really wrong. Well, listen to me. 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:54.779 What is one of the things that drives the Harry Potter novels that makes them so popular? 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:59.680 I'll tell you. How does it begin? 00:13:01.420 --> 00:13:06.779 Harry Potter is completely and utterly oppressed by his prayers that he doesn't get along with. 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:10.940 They don't understand him. He has a very, very powerful sense that he's special. 00:13:10.940 --> 00:13:15.400 But all of the evidence is that he's not special. 00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:21.220 And one day, an owl comes with a letter. And then other letters come. 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:25.960 And then eventually, he discovers, you know what? I am special. 00:13:26.880 --> 00:13:28.760 Everybody around me is a muggle. 00:13:29.640 --> 00:13:30.480 I'm a wizard. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:36.879 Not only am I a wizard, my parents are legendary wizards. 00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:45.920 And in fact, not only that, but I have this vocation to be the person who's going to help defeat Voldemort. 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:49.300 Because my parents sent him back. 00:13:49.299 --> 00:13:58.120 I am not just an oppressed, bullied kid in my family where nobody likes me and they don't respect me. 00:13:58.219 --> 00:13:59.359 I'm really special. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:01.219 I always knew I was special. 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:02.240 And it's true. 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:03.439 I am special. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:09.899 Now, if you think about it, that move is wildly popular in our culture. 00:14:09.899 --> 00:14:16.519 Going back a while, for Christians who've never read the Harry Potter novels, you've probably read the Narnia Chronicles. 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:20.639 And if you've read the Narnia Chronicles, there's a story called The Horse and His Boy. 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:22.939 What is The Horse and His Boy all about? 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:25.139 It begins with the main character. 00:14:25.439 --> 00:14:27.019 One of the main characters, the boy. 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:29.399 And he's in a fishing village. 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:33.960 And his dad is a guy that's not a very, very nice man. 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.100 And he feels constrained. 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:37.720 He feels special. 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:42.540 But he's completely hemmed in by everybody else who doesn't think he's special. 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:45.080 And one day he meets a talking horse. 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:46.580 It's the Narnia Chronicles. 00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:49.560 And by the end of the novel, he is special. 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:52.540 In fact, he's the heir to the kingdom. 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:54.180 He's the next king. 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:55.480 He is special. 00:14:56.820 --> 00:15:00.519 What is the governing story for most Canadians? 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:02.420 What's the governing story? 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:03.819 I'll look at Steve. 00:15:04.459 --> 00:15:07.039 Steve, you need to be your authentic self. 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:09.799 I can't tell you what your authentic self is. 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:13.319 If your parents try to tell you what your authentic self is, you don't listen to them. 00:15:13.839 --> 00:15:17.599 If the church tells you what your authentic self is, don't listen to them. 00:15:17.699 --> 00:15:19.659 Only you can know your authentic self. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:22.099 You need to discover your authentic self. 00:15:22.219 --> 00:15:26.019 And once you discover your authentic self, you need the autonomy. 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.879 And you need the applause from everybody around you. 00:15:29.959 --> 00:15:31.259 I have to give you autonomy. 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:35.500 I have to give you applause as you pursue your authentic self. 00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:36.779 It's called actualization. 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:38.939 That's exactly the thing. 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:43.580 We all suspect, I'm not ordinary. 00:15:44.139 --> 00:15:45.019 I'm special. 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:47.279 I must be special. 00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:48.720 I have to be special. 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:54.059 And part of it is, by the way, that we think that we won't be loved unless we're special. 00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:57.559 Now, what does it mean to be holy? 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:01.599 What does it mean to be holy in the Bible? 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:06.299 What it means to be holy, as we are instructed by the gospel, is this. 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:11.119 God loved you so much that he sent his son to die for you. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:22.560 And not only has God loved you so much that he sent his son to die for you, but even from before you were born, God began to call you because he wants you to be his own. 00:16:23.060 --> 00:16:24.580 What does he want you to be his own? 00:16:24.580 --> 00:16:39.400 He wants you to be his own because he wants you to be his special, precious, treasured possession, set apart as his, deeply special and precious. 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:44.039 That's what we all long for. 00:16:48.019 --> 00:16:58.799 And just as in the governing Canadian story, you have to figure out who your authentic self is, and you need the applause and autonomy of others as you try to pursue all of that. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:16.220 The fact of the matter is that being holy is as you're called by God and you give your life to Christ or realize that you've given your life to Christ, if you've grown up sometimes in a Christian home, and you start to realize that you're God's special, precious treasure. 00:17:16.419 --> 00:17:18.299 That's who you are in Christ. 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:22.759 The world might mock you, but that's who you are in Christ. 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:35.460 And you're called to so be close to God and intimate with God and his wonders and purposes for you that you begin to conform your life to his character and his purposes. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.619 Now, some people might say, well, George, that's all very interesting, but I prefer my way. 00:17:43.619 --> 00:18:03.779 Well, the Bible text anticipates that, and will actually show why what we desire, on one hand, is something which is innately human after the fall, but that the way that we in our culture try to get that is doomed to failure. 00:18:05.439 --> 00:18:10.879 And you actually only will get what you desire by receiving the gospel. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.620 Well, let's see how that goes. 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:14.920 Let's continue on. 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:20.000 We're going to have to deal with, yeah, well, let's continue on. 00:18:20.040 --> 00:18:21.260 Look at verse 17, right? 00:18:21.340 --> 00:18:23.860 So verse 16 was, you shall be holy, for I am holy. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:35.700 And verse 17, and if you call on him as father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. 00:18:36.340 --> 00:18:37.940 Now, just sort of pause there. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:42.180 If I remember, I'm going to say a little bit about the fear of God. 00:18:42.259 --> 00:18:43.840 It seems like a discordant note. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:56.559 George, if you're saying that to be holy means that God redeems you through Jesus, and he makes you his special treasured possession, then why this language of fear? 00:18:57.120 --> 00:18:59.420 Well, I'll talk more about it at the end if I remember. 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:00.259 Hopefully I will. 00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:03.019 If I don't remember to do it at the end, you can ask me over coffee. 00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:07.319 But here's a really important insight about this. 00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:12.139 Now, once again, if I mention a movie, it doesn't mean you should watch it, okay? 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:22.460 I started to watch, just before I went off to Vancouver last week and came back on Friday, I started to watch The Beekeeper, starring Jason Statham. 00:19:22.460 --> 00:19:39.019 And in that is a very common theme in lots of Hollywood movies and lots of stories, that partly what drives the action is a mother who is indulgent about her son. 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:42.519 So, she's indulgent. 00:19:42.619 --> 00:19:45.920 It means that it doesn't matter how much evil her son does. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:49.019 She doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:51.759 Terrible things can happen to everybody else. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.019 But for her own son, she is terribly indulgent. 00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:58.720 And she's obviously a bad person in the movie. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:17.900 And if you think about it, that's actually part of what goes on with our cultural thing, that people think that because they're special and they've figured out their authenticness, what everybody else has to give them is applause and affirmation and autonomy. 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:22.440 And actually what they want is everybody around them to be indulgent towards them. 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:30.080 And the same people in our cultural story, it's one of those things about our cultural stories being incoherent. 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.980 On one hand, we desire indulgence for ourselves. 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:42.300 On the other hand, when we watch a movie like The Beekeeper, everybody doesn't like the mom because she's indulgent towards her son. 00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:43.880 You notice the inconsistency there? 00:20:44.100 --> 00:20:47.380 And so what the Bible is saying here is that the Bible is not inconsistent. 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:52.019 God is not indulgent to you. 00:20:53.340 --> 00:20:54.840 But he really loves you. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:02.180 And being holy means starting to cooperate with God as he transforms your character. 00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:08.560 To live a more moral, a life which is based on justice, not injustice. 00:21:08.820 --> 00:21:11.840 On generosity, not being ungenerous. 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:13.820 On love rather than hatred. 00:21:14.120 --> 00:21:15.680 On the truth rather than the lie. 00:21:15.780 --> 00:21:17.800 That's what God's push and desire is. 00:21:18.860 --> 00:21:21.740 And if you start to stray from that, he says, oh, well, that's fine. 00:21:21.820 --> 00:21:28.500 They can be as lying and as unjust and as ungenerous and greedy as they want because, oh, gosh, they're the apple of my eye. 00:21:28.540 --> 00:21:29.300 No, that's not God. 00:21:30.300 --> 00:21:31.040 That's the devil. 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:32.240 Not God. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.460 So it's actually a very, very powerful. 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:37.059 Even as we go into it, we can see why. 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:41.599 You know, you might say that my way of describing the Bible's way of describing holiness, you rather your own way. 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:43.759 Your own way has problems, Canadians. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:47.599 What you really are longing for is what the Bible is revealing. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:53.719 It's actually clarifying your desires and making you realize that only the gospel can solve it. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:55.699 But it continues. 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:56.939 Verse 18. 00:21:56.940 --> 00:22:26.940 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:32.380 Who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and your hope are in God. 00:22:33.340 --> 00:22:34.460 See, this is once again. 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:42.000 Remember, when he says that Jesus was risen from the dead, he's an eyewitness to the fact that the tomb was empty. 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:48.120 He's an eyewitness to the fact that the stone was blown out as if pushed out from within. 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.640 He's an eyewitness that the grave clothes were there. 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.100 He's an eyewitness that the body was never found. 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:56.759 He's an eyewitness of Jesus actually being alive. 00:22:57.099 --> 00:23:03.059 He's a witness, eyewitness of the fact that you could touch Jesus, that you could hear him, that you could see him in different things. 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.379 He's an eyewitness of the truth of that. 00:23:05.639 --> 00:23:14.379 And this is one of the most important things, you see, because a hope that is not based on truth is vain and futile and will only disappoint you. 00:23:14.439 --> 00:23:22.000 And the Bible is saying when you put your hope and your faith and your trust in Christ, you're putting your hope and faith and trust in Christ. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.259 And it's true. 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:25.480 He really did rise from the dead. 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:35.240 And if he really did rise from the dead and defeat that which sin, the sin which causes death and death itself, he does in fact stand on the far side of death. 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:45.579 When he calls you to believe in him, he's calling you from the far side of death to be with him and to share in all that he has done and accomplished on the cross. 00:23:45.579 --> 00:23:47.240 That's what he's calling you to. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:48.699 It's based on the truth. 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:52.259 And it's based on his great love for you. 00:23:54.899 --> 00:23:56.039 It's very beautiful. 00:23:57.500 --> 00:23:59.819 Now, there's a hint in here about another thing. 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:13.439 I told you why there's another reason, a more powerful reason why the hope that you get in Christ is actually that and the identity and the specialness that you get in Christ is actually that which you deeply long for. 00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:15.379 And it's better than anything Canada can offer. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:17.740 It is better than anything Canada can offer. 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:25.240 And it's already been hinted there, but I want to show how it's said a bit more before I draw it to your attention. 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:30.019 And so verse 22, and here's one of the things about verse 22. 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:37.799 It's another sort of a nail in the coffin about the way, I mean, you know, here's the thing. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:43.539 We have this inherent deep longing to be special. 00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:52.920 And we don't think we can find it in the triune God in Christ, so we try to find it in other places. 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:55.700 That the desire is a good desire. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:56.900 It's a true desire. 00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:01.240 It's just we go in wrong places to pursue it. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.840 And so, and we probably, many of us have seen this. 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:19.380 The people who most embrace the idea that they need to be their authentic self and that everybody has to recognize that authentic self and we have to applaud it and we have to give them autonomy and help them in their pursuit. 00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:25.580 That ends up being a type of life absent of love. 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:35.820 If Louise and I are both pursuing that, demanding everything of the other, how on earth could we ever love each other? 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:49.339 If you have somebody in a group of friends and everybody in the group of friends is demanding constant affirmation and applause, that's inherently competitive. 00:25:50.139 --> 00:25:56.279 It inherently creates suspicion and unhappiness because of your longings. 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:05.660 It's inherently going to uproot and disrupt and tear apart the type of communal love that you actually also deeply desire. 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:13.960 And in fact, it's the lack of love in our culture which is maybe pursuing people in this path which is ultimately very narcissistic and dark. 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:22.819 But you see, here's, and this is the division between verses 14 and 21 and 22 to the part we're going to read now. 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:26.299 The first part is this call to George as George. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:27.980 George, you are to be holy. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:35.500 You are to, you are to cast no longer, George, you need to be the biggest non-conformist in Canada. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:40.460 You need to stop conforming to everything that the culture says. 00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:43.019 And you need to pursue holiness. 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:44.819 And that's what you need to do. 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:51.880 But now, for me, who've given my life to Jesus or recognize that, I become part, I become a follower of Christ. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:53.980 But I never follow Christ alone. 00:26:54.100 --> 00:27:00.700 It's part of his whole design that we follow Christ together with friends in the context of a local church. 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:08.440 And so now, after this call to George as an individual person, now there's this call to George to live with others. 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:09.080 Right? 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.920 It's inherently that it's a very, very wise and powerful vision. 00:27:14.100 --> 00:27:15.259 And listen to what it says. 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:16.299 Verse 22. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:28.059 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere, brotherly, sisterly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:31.920 Now, just a bit of an aside to my Muslim friends. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:39.340 One of the things that I think you need to wrestle with, I know you say lots of things you think I need to wrestle with, and that's fine. 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:41.539 We can have a conversation about it, hopefully sometime. 00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:52.060 But you need to acknowledge that one of the profound differences between Christianity and Islam is Allah boasts that he is the greatest deceiver of all time. 00:27:52.059 --> 00:27:56.179 He's proud of the fact that he can deceive. 00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:02.919 And that creates a radical difference between Allah and the triune God. 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:07.299 The triune God never says, I am the best deceiver. 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:10.339 It's always a love for truth. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:12.919 Always a love for the truth. 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:17.640 And so here we can see right here, once again, verse 22. 00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:25.940 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, this is going to lead to a sincere, brotherly, sisterly love. 00:28:26.080 --> 00:28:29.860 Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:38.779 Since you have been born again, verse 23, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. 00:28:38.779 --> 00:28:46.200 For, and now he's going to quote from the book of Isaiah, all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:53.339 The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever, and this word is the good news that was preached to you. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:29:02.259 Now, you might not have noticed it, but in the first half and the second half, the individual call and the call to be part of a community, 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:05.799 there's a same point made. 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:12.519 The perishable, there's a difference between the perishable and the imperishable. 00:29:13.159 --> 00:29:15.659 The impermanent and the permanent. 00:29:16.680 --> 00:29:25.200 And it's actually, and if you think about it for a moment, the perishable can never produce the imperishable. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.819 The impermanent can never produce something which is permanent. 00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:36.720 It's actually a category of thought that an effect cannot be greater than its cause. 00:29:36.980 --> 00:29:38.500 Ask those who've studied philosophy. 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:39.519 Ask scientists. 00:29:39.899 --> 00:29:41.939 An effect cannot be greater than its cause. 00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:47.659 And so if you think about it, if you who are perishable, the most you can ever do, 00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:52.519 I as a perishable person in Canada, if I listen to the best wisdom of Canada, 00:29:52.859 --> 00:29:56.439 I'm listening to perishable people giving me perishable advice. 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:57.840 I am impermanent. 00:29:58.019 --> 00:30:01.700 I'm listening to impermanent people giving me impermanent advice. 00:30:02.360 --> 00:30:09.000 And what we long for is something better than that. 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:14.559 If my authentic self and my pursuit for that and my desire to be special, 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:20.120 if that's just a perishable search, if that's an impermanent search, 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:23.239 that makes my life completely and utterly unstable. 00:30:23.239 --> 00:30:29.279 What I actually long for is to be special in some type of way that is not perishable, 00:30:29.439 --> 00:30:33.939 but imperishable, that is not impermanent, but permanent. 00:30:34.239 --> 00:30:35.679 That's the longing of my heart. 00:30:35.779 --> 00:30:37.019 That's the greater thing. 00:30:37.979 --> 00:30:45.219 And reason itself will tell you that all of your own efforts will only create things which are perishable. 00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:51.400 We need an act of grace from the imperishable, permanent God 00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:57.140 that calls us to himself and makes us special and holy. 00:30:58.620 --> 00:31:02.299 Now, some of us might hear that and instantly we get a little bit uncomfortable 00:31:02.299 --> 00:31:06.660 because on one hand what we long for is that which is imperishable and permanent, 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:11.680 but at the same time the main way that we think of things which are imperishable and permanent 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:14.000 is very, very sterile. 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:15.560 It's very, very plastic. 00:31:15.560 --> 00:31:18.640 It's not something which is very, very desirable. 00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:22.160 And dear ones, that is why the gospel is so precious. 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:28.000 It is why only the Christian faith has the answer to the longings of your soul 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:29.460 and the longings of your heart. 00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:36.880 Because only in Christianity do we understand that that which is imperishable and permanent 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:40.480 is not static and sterile. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:48.200 It is that from all eternity the love of the Father has flowed endlessly and ceaselessly 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:49.860 towards the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:31:50.299 --> 00:31:55.420 And from all of eternity the deep love of the Son for the Spirit and the Father 00:31:55.420 --> 00:31:58.259 has been dynamic and flowing from all eternity. 00:31:58.460 --> 00:32:02.059 And the love of the Holy Spirit for the Father and the Son from all eternity 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:07.759 has been this Niagara of ongoing love. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:13.420 And the love of the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit. 00:32:13.420 --> 00:32:15.480 And the love of the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit. 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:21.460 But to something which on one hand is like the most serene flowing lake 00:32:21.460 --> 00:32:23.940 and like the most powerful rushing waterfall. 00:32:24.879 --> 00:32:26.799 And both are true at the same time of God. 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:31.680 That's what the permanent is. 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:39.579 And that's why God's act to save you is the great love of God, the Son of God. 00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:46.159 God has called you to this. 00:32:47.259 --> 00:32:49.440 Just before I go, I'm going to wrap up now. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:52.620 Now, just before I go any further in terms of how we should live. 00:32:54.860 --> 00:32:57.259 I mean, this is the great beauty and wonder of the gospel. 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:00.440 Before I called out to God, God was calling me. 00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:03.180 And I just want to say to anybody who is here, 00:33:03.600 --> 00:33:05.860 if you at all feel a tug in your heart, 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:09.400 if you at all feel a little tiny even hint or whisper 00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:11.440 that you wish that something like this was true, 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:14.180 I just want to tell you that's God calling you. 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:17.400 That's the triune God calling you. 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:22.600 And I just want to urge you to just don't try to stifle it. 00:33:23.340 --> 00:33:26.040 You can think about the fact that if you give your life to Christ, 00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:29.840 your friends might think you're weird and all sorts of other things can happen. 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:31.980 But listen, let me tell you, it is so worth it. 00:33:32.080 --> 00:33:35.820 It's the creator of all things is calling you to himself. 00:33:36.660 --> 00:33:40.980 The creator and sustainer and end of all things is calling you, 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:44.000 unworthy as you are, to himself. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:47.700 Do I tell you this because I have any type of worthiness? 00:33:47.859 --> 00:33:50.839 No, I believe very deeply what Spurgeon once said, 00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:52.279 that the whole Christian faith, 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:56.460 I am a beggar who's received free bread, 00:33:56.920 --> 00:34:01.359 telling you another beggar where to get that free bread as well. 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:08.000 And I just say it's time just to stop pushing him away 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:10.980 and just say, come, Holy Spirit. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:12.699 Come, Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:13.780 Come, Father. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:15.940 Come, Jesus, and be my redeemer. 00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:22.920 We live by breathing in and breathing out. 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:27.119 You can't live by endlessly breathing out because you have no air. 00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:31.719 And you don't live by just endlessly breathing in without breathing out. 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:35.099 And Christian growth is the same basic principle. 00:34:35.759 --> 00:34:37.339 If you looked earlier on, 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:41.199 you can look at it for yourself in terms of your own private call for holiness. 00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:45.039 It tells you to, on one hand, and it's really interesting, 00:34:45.379 --> 00:34:46.719 outside of the Christian faith, 00:34:46.779 --> 00:34:49.899 and even some versions of Christianity are very rules-based 00:34:49.899 --> 00:34:52.819 and all about no, no, no, no, and all the things you shouldn't do. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:56.299 That's my memory of the type of Christianity I learned growing up, 00:34:56.300 --> 00:34:59.620 that it had a long list of all the things that I wasn't allowed to do. 00:35:01.180 --> 00:35:01.780 You know? 00:35:02.019 --> 00:35:04.400 And I wanted to do almost all of those things. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:07.400 And frankly, does God really care if you play a card game? 00:35:08.180 --> 00:35:09.740 Like, I just never understood that. 00:35:10.260 --> 00:35:13.900 But anyway, I learned lots of good things from my background, too. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:14.900 I'm very grateful for it. 00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:15.940 Overwhelmingly grateful. 00:35:16.640 --> 00:35:19.260 But if you look at it, you go back and look at the first part, 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:22.560 you'll see that the breathing in, as God says, purify. 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:22.599 Why? 00:35:24.179 --> 00:35:25.179 You know, sort of that. 00:35:25.779 --> 00:35:28.820 So in a sense, another way to put it is not just breathing in and breathing out, 00:35:28.940 --> 00:35:30.880 but to embrace and reject. 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:37.559 And it says to breathe in or embrace setting your hope on the grace that you'll get at the end. 00:35:38.139 --> 00:35:41.299 And you're to embrace or breathe in being holy. 00:35:41.659 --> 00:35:44.880 And you're to embrace and breathe in fearing God, 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.320 which is just very, very briefly what fearing God is. 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:50.059 Because if you go back and you read the Old Testament, 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:55.400 there's this weird connection between longing for God and fearing God. 00:35:55.480 --> 00:35:56.820 It's often in the same psalm. 00:35:57.660 --> 00:36:03.519 And what the fear of God is at its very root is an increasing awareness of where you begin and end 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:07.059 and where God begins and ends, and you don't confuse them. 00:36:07.900 --> 00:36:08.640 If you think about it, 00:36:09.160 --> 00:36:14.000 how dare me who is perishable confuse myself for the imperishable? 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:19.820 How wrong is it for me who am impermanent that I confuse myself with the permanent? 00:36:20.780 --> 00:36:24.820 And as I become clearer and when I begin and end, 00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:28.159 and clearer about where God begins and ends, 00:36:28.500 --> 00:36:30.239 then you can truly long for him. 00:36:33.219 --> 00:36:36.760 Anyway, breathe in or embrace that your hope on the grace, 00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:38.380 be holy, fear God. 00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:43.539 What you breathe out or reject is being conformed to the passions of this present age. 00:36:43.539 --> 00:36:47.619 And now look at the next bit, the last bit, chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. 00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:51.259 Put away all malice. 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:53.860 That's an ill will towards other people. 00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:55.119 All deceit. 00:36:55.619 --> 00:36:57.980 That's where you're lying to other people. 00:36:58.820 --> 00:36:59.300 Hypocrisy. 00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:01.840 Another way of lying with other people. 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:02.420 Envy. 00:37:02.779 --> 00:37:05.539 That's where you want to bring people down who are around you 00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:07.699 because they have some good that you don't have 00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:09.179 and you want them to be squashed. 00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:10.380 And slander. 00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:12.059 That's telling lies about other people. 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:13.719 Put all those things away. 00:37:15.659 --> 00:37:17.199 And like newborn infants, 00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:19.880 long for the pure spiritual milk 00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:22.239 that by it you may grow up into salvation 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:25.380 and if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.139 And if you go back and you read from verse 22 on, 00:37:28.219 --> 00:37:29.079 it says, you know, 00:37:29.139 --> 00:37:31.799 embrace purifying yourself by loving truth. 00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:33.440 Embrace loving, 00:37:33.759 --> 00:37:36.000 a life of love that is earnest and pure. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:41.440 And embrace a longing for sustenance that comes from God. 00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:43.199 That's what this spiritual milk is. 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:44.860 A sustenance that comes from God. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:45.440 It not means, 00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:47.619 not only does it mean reading God's word, 00:37:47.739 --> 00:37:48.559 it means praying, 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:52.380 it means being part of a fellowship in a local church, 00:37:52.460 --> 00:37:55.500 it means the sacraments of baptism in the Lord's Supper, 00:37:55.900 --> 00:37:58.179 it is receiving grace from God. 00:37:58.179 --> 00:38:00.460 And we're to long to be fed, 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:03.440 to crave that which comes from God. 00:38:03.739 --> 00:38:05.239 And while we're craving that, 00:38:05.419 --> 00:38:07.199 we try to, as much as we can, 00:38:07.299 --> 00:38:08.339 put away malice, 00:38:08.819 --> 00:38:11.039 put away slander, 00:38:11.319 --> 00:38:12.399 put away hypocrisy, 00:38:12.579 --> 00:38:13.619 put away deceit, 00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:14.819 put away envy. 00:38:15.379 --> 00:38:15.639 You see, 00:38:15.839 --> 00:38:17.440 there's this whole Christian life 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:19.539 is embrace and reject. 00:38:20.019 --> 00:38:21.919 Breathe in and breathe out. 00:38:22.259 --> 00:38:23.219 And that's how we grow. 00:38:23.839 --> 00:38:24.599 Let's stand. 00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:24.639 Let's stand. 00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:26.639 Father, 00:38:35.239 --> 00:38:37.559 we give you thanks and praise that you, 00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:38.940 Father, 00:38:39.059 --> 00:38:41.059 our hearts are restless till they rest in you. 00:38:42.379 --> 00:38:44.839 You are the creator of all things 00:38:44.839 --> 00:38:46.000 and you have created us 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.599 so that we have certain basic longings 00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:50.239 that can only, 00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:53.539 and yearnings that can only be met in knowing you. 00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:56.619 And we give you thanks and praise 00:38:56.619 --> 00:38:59.019 that you didn't take those longings 00:38:59.019 --> 00:39:00.299 and yearnings away from us 00:39:00.299 --> 00:39:02.920 when we fell and rejected you 00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:05.299 and chose being proud 00:39:05.299 --> 00:39:06.799 over being humble 00:39:06.799 --> 00:39:09.059 and being held in the hollow of your hand. 00:39:09.779 --> 00:39:11.739 And we give you thanks and praise 00:39:11.739 --> 00:39:13.679 that your strong hand of love 00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:14.819 reached down from heaven 00:39:14.819 --> 00:39:16.079 in the person of your son 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:17.960 who lived amongst us 00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:19.039 and died on the cross 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:20.259 and rose from the dead 00:39:20.259 --> 00:39:22.519 and is coming again. 00:39:22.519 --> 00:39:22.980 And, Father, 00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:24.440 we give you thanks and praise 00:39:24.440 --> 00:39:25.420 that you call us, 00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:26.559 you reach out to us, 00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:28.679 that we might put our faith 00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:29.780 and trust in Christ 00:39:29.780 --> 00:39:31.619 and that as we put our faith 00:39:31.619 --> 00:39:32.500 and trust in Christ, 00:39:32.619 --> 00:39:32.820 Father, 00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:34.380 we become your special, 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:35.420 precious, 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:37.259 treasured possession. 00:39:38.340 --> 00:39:38.980 And so, Father, 00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:40.079 we ask that you help us 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:41.599 to grow into that identity 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:43.000 and to know that identity 00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:43.900 so truly 00:39:43.900 --> 00:39:45.259 that we are freed up 00:39:45.259 --> 00:39:47.000 to love the truth 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:48.920 and to deeply love others 00:39:48.920 --> 00:39:50.619 and to live lives 00:39:50.619 --> 00:39:51.659 which are generous 00:39:51.659 --> 00:39:53.639 and lives which are just 00:39:53.639 --> 00:39:54.519 and beautiful 00:39:54.519 --> 00:39:55.500 and good 00:39:55.500 --> 00:39:57.280 as we, 00:39:58.680 --> 00:39:59.300 well, Father, 00:39:59.440 --> 00:39:59.960 as we just 00:39:59.960 --> 00:40:01.659 have our lives 00:40:01.659 --> 00:40:02.780 conform more and more 00:40:02.780 --> 00:40:03.659 to who you are 00:40:03.659 --> 00:40:06.039 and our purposes 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:07.519 conformed more and more 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:08.260 to the purposes 00:40:08.260 --> 00:40:09.420 that you have for us. 00:40:10.180 --> 00:40:10.639 Father, 00:40:10.700 --> 00:40:11.440 we give you thanks 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:12.039 and praise 00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:13.159 that this is not something 00:40:13.159 --> 00:40:14.360 we do on our own effort, 00:40:14.559 --> 00:40:16.680 that Christ is with us 00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:17.239 and in us 00:40:17.239 --> 00:40:18.699 and moves us 00:40:18.699 --> 00:40:19.359 in that direction. 00:40:19.460 --> 00:40:20.339 Your Holy Spirit 00:40:20.339 --> 00:40:22.460 grounds and propels 00:40:22.460 --> 00:40:23.440 and draws us 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:24.139 that we might grow 00:40:24.139 --> 00:40:24.699 in holiness 00:40:24.699 --> 00:40:26.500 and that that is a good thing 00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:27.739 even if people mock it. 00:40:28.179 --> 00:40:29.059 It is a good thing, 00:40:29.219 --> 00:40:29.399 Father, 00:40:29.460 --> 00:40:30.039 to be holy. 00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:31.379 So, Father, 00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:32.139 help us to grow. 00:40:33.139 --> 00:40:34.500 Help us to set our minds 00:40:34.500 --> 00:40:36.500 on this great hope 00:40:36.500 --> 00:40:38.719 of seeing you smile at us 00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:40.579 at the end of the end of the end. 00:40:40.839 --> 00:40:42.079 And we ask all these things 00:40:42.079 --> 00:40:43.419 in the precious name of Jesus, 00:40:44.039 --> 00:40:45.359 your Son and our Savior 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:47.000 and all God's people said, 00:40:47.720 --> 00:40:48.099 Amen.