WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.759 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.479 --> 00:01:21.519 But let's pray. Father, sometimes we hear your Word and get offended by it. Sometimes, Father, 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:26.719 we hear your Word and don't get offended by it, but probably that's just because we're not paying 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.959 attention. But we know, Father, that you only confront us because you desire to connect with us. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:42.479 And so, Father, we ask that you would give us ears to hear this morning and minds to understand. 00:01:43.119 --> 00:01:50.799 And grant us, Father, hearts that desire to believe and knees that are willing to bend to confess that 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:55.919 Jesus Christ is Lord. So, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would do that gentle but wonderful work 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:01.040 in each of our lives. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:10.640 So, yesterday afternoon was a nice day. I got to do one of my favorite things to do in life. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:16.159 I'm joking, by the way, which is to pick up dog poop in the afternoon from our backyard. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:23.919 I cut the grass for the first time yesterday. Louise had started to cut the grass a bit on Friday, 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:29.919 and I finished the job. It really had probably needed to be cut for at least a week. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:37.680 But every time I had time to cut the grass, it rained. So I told people that it was God's will that I 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:44.000 not cut the grass that particular day. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. But finally, yesterday, 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.719 God granted a beautiful sunny day. No more excuses. And it is Mother's Day today, and we're having 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:54.639 company, so I cut the grass. The front of the yard is no particular problem. The back of the yard, 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:59.919 I have two particular problems cutting the back. First of all is we have two large dogs. Now, 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:05.199 that's not the problem. They don't harass me while I cut the grass. In fact, they, well, they can bug me 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:12.639 because they want to be petted too much, but that's how they bug me. But that means before I cut the 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:20.879 grass, there's dog toys, balls, sticks, bits of chew toys. You get the picture scattered all over the 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:27.199 yard. So, because it's not any good to grow over a tennis ball or some hard plastic thing. First, 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:31.599 I go throughout the whole yard picking up all that stuff and putting it somewhere. And then, 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:35.279 of course, there's something that comes from the other end of the dog that has to be dealt with, 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:41.359 namely the poop. And you go along with a bag, picking it all up and getting rid of it. And then I 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:46.320 can cut the grass. Now, I mention all of this because if I was to say to you, 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:52.960 to begin this sermon by saying, I always think, I always hate picking up the dog poop. It's so below 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:59.520 me. It's so beneath me. All of you would say, oh, come on, George, get a grip. It's your dog. 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:05.840 It's just a dog. Pick up the poop. It's not beneath you. Are you really, it would be a sign of deep 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:10.800 arrogance, wouldn't it, on my part? On the other hand, and of course, this is unbelievably 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.520 hypothetical, but just think about it for a second, that while maybe I'm in the house after, 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.079 I always cut the front yard first for a variety of reasons. I'm in the house having a glass of water 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:26.079 before going out to deal with the toys, the poop, and the grass. And I come out and there's this 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:32.480 elderly English man dressed in rough clothes. And as he turns to me and as he speaks, I realize it's 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:40.640 King Charles III picking up my dog poop in the backyard. Now, Louise had let him in. Now, 00:04:40.640 --> 00:04:44.000 of course, different things would go through your mind. Of course, the first one is that this must 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:50.240 obviously be a hoax. It can't possibly be King Charles III in my backyard picking up dog poop. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.000 But let's say for whatever reason, he was able to show me that he in fact was King Charles III for 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.560 some reason in the backyard picking up my dog poop. Well, then the second thing that would go through 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:06.240 your mind if it wasn't a hoax is that there must be somebody trying like me, they're trying to 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:12.639 humiliate him because it really, we would all say it's beneath Charles III's dignity in place to pick 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:19.759 up dog poop in my backyard. And so you'd wonder, are there terrorists who've kidnapped the royal family 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:24.879 and are going to kill them if he doesn't do this? Are they videotaping it so that it will go on YouTube 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:30.959 to be broadcast to the whole world to show how the terrorists have humiliated King Charles III? 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.319 And if you end up realizing that there's no thing, the only other thing that could possibly come upon 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:42.480 you is that you need to call 911 because King Charles III has gone completely lunatic and lost his mind. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:47.839 And he's wandered away from his carekeepers and is in my backyard picking up dog poop. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:57.199 Because he'd obviously be insane. Keep that in mind as we read our Bible text today. Because it actually, 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:02.319 believe it or not, all of those help you to understand this text. It's a text that if you 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:11.120 start to understand it on one level, the first part of it is very implausible and also very, 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.399 very confusing. And the second part of it is if you understand it, and in fact, 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:21.839 actually the first, the second part would be two things for most people. They both say that it's 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:27.359 offensive and also say that it's very predictable. Just the sort of thing you think the Christians 00:06:27.359 --> 00:06:32.319 would talk about. In fact, people would expect the second thing of Christians and surprised at the 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:36.799 first part because it's implausible. And I've maybe lost some of you, but here's the bottom line. I'm 00:06:36.799 --> 00:06:41.759 going to show you why that's the reaction that people would have to it. But the bottom line is this, 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:47.599 that when you get and actually hear what it's saying, it is the most profoundly beautiful and 00:06:47.599 --> 00:06:54.319 wonderful news you have ever heard in your life. It is the most profoundly beautiful and wonderful 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:02.639 news that anybody has ever heard, and it's true. So let's look. Get out your Bibles. It's Philippians 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:12.079 chapter 2, and we're beginning at verse 5. And it goes like this. And we're beginning at verse 5 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:18.560 because verse 5 is a bit of a hinge verse. It says, have this mind among yourselves which is yours in 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:26.000 Christ Jesus. And in some ways that hinge verse, verse 5, is why the verses 6 to 11, which Monique read, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.199 and I'm about to have us read through, that's what illuminates the whole book of Philippians. It's what 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:38.399 explains what goes before and what comes afterwards is verses 6 to 11. It's the lens by which we're to 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:46.079 understand sexuality, money, power, prestige, precision, being in our culture. It's how we 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:51.519 start to understand things if you've given your life to Christ. So it begins verse 5, have this mind 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:58.399 among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus. Now here's verses, you'll see basically verses 6 to 8 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:05.279 talk about a descent and 9 to 11 and ascent. But here's the first bit which is, well, you'll see 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:10.560 what I mean by it's implausible when we understand it and confusing because of the language. It goes 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:16.799 like this, verse 6, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to 00:08:16.799 --> 00:08:23.439 be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:28.879 and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:33.600 death on a cross. And you say, okay, okay, yeah, George, what's, well, here's, here's the thing if we 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:39.120 slow down and read it and, and think about it for a second. Listen to verse 6 again. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.919 Who though he was in the form of God. Well, what does that mean? Like, why does, is that trying to say 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.720 that he's God? But it actually sounds like he's saying that Jesus isn't God. Aren't Christians supposed to 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:58.000 believe that Jesus is God? So why would it say form of God and rather not just God? And then it says 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:05.759 here, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Like, does that, so is it saying that 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:12.080 Jesus is equal to God? Or is it saying that grasp is something that he's trying to grasp? He's trying 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:18.720 to reach up and to become equal with God? Or is it saying that, good grief, that God the Father made 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:26.000 Jesus get, go to the cross? And he was hanging on to the throne and saying, God, Daddy, Daddy, don't 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.639 send me down there. Like, what does it mean to say he's grasped? It's not, what does that mean, that 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:37.500 grasping thing? It's confusing. And then verse 7, emptied himself? Like, what did, like, how did he empty 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:43.220 himself? Does that mean that he stopped being God when he became a human being? But don't Christians 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:48.320 believe that Jesus is both fully God and fully man? And I know that's confusing, but George, it sounds here as 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:53.540 if he stopped being God. And what do you mean by taking the form of a servant? Does that mean he's 00:09:53.540 --> 00:09:58.280 just sort of pretending to be a servant? And what about being born in the likeness of men? That doesn't 00:09:58.280 --> 00:10:02.700 make any sense. Is it saying that he's like a robot that just looks like a human being, but he's 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:06.420 actually a robot? You know what I mean? Like, if you saw somebody and say, oh, that's not a human being, 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:11.060 it's just a robot, or it's just a cyborg. It's just, you know, some other type of science fiction 00:10:11.060 --> 00:10:14.560 thing. It's not actually a human being. It just looks like a human being. Is that what it's saying about 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:20.500 Jesus? And then what about verse 8, when it says, found in human form, and being found in human form? 00:10:21.079 --> 00:10:26.879 Like, what's going on there? Is it sort of like he had amnesia, and he wakes up and finds you 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.519 somewhere? Is it like, I don't know how many of you have ever been operated on and been knocked out? 00:10:31.859 --> 00:10:35.739 I don't know how many years ago now, 15 years ago or something now, I had a hernia operation, 00:10:35.739 --> 00:10:40.399 and to do that, they knock you out. And it's really odd, because they tell you, start counting, 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.220 I think backwards, I don't remember, I can't remember if it was 10 or 100, start counting backwards, 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:49.519 and I think I got to 6, and the next thing I know, because you go to sleep so quickly, the next thing 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:56.860 I know, I'm awake in a different room, looking at a different person. So is it sort of saying something 00:10:56.860 --> 00:11:01.659 like that happened to Jesus? Like something gave him like amnesia, and the next thing he knows, 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:06.419 he wakes up and he's a human being, so he decides he's going to do something about it? And then of course 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:11.379 we get the rest of it, but except that word there, 8, in verse 8, he humbled himself, 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:18.620 becoming obedient to the point of death. Like, so is he forced to do this? Even death on a cross? 00:11:18.699 --> 00:11:24.939 And that word humbled, by the way, it's interesting. The scholars say that humbled is too weak a word, 00:11:25.699 --> 00:11:31.360 maybe humiliated is too strong a word, but it's somewhere between being humbled and being humiliated. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:40.259 So he humiliated himself? What's going on? Okay, well, we get the point, generally. Actually, 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:45.159 if you could put up the first point, Claire, that would be really helpful. God, the Son of God, 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:52.480 humbled himself going from his heavenly throne to a womb, a cradle, to be a laborer, 00:11:53.180 --> 00:11:58.759 and to a cross and a grave. Maybe the laborer word isn't up there. God, the Son of God, 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:03.840 humbled himself going from his heavenly throne to a womb, a cradle, a cross, and a grave. 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:11.360 So what the first part of that language is all trying to get, and if you really want to be nerded 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.840 out, you can read academic commentaries. They expend pages and pages and pages on this, trying to get 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:23.139 through the technical language. But it's trying to preserve three profound truths for us. And the first 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:29.899 profound truth is that God, the Son of God, always remains fully God and equal with God, and he never 00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:36.139 loses this. He doesn't lose it when he takes into himself our human nature. He doesn't lose it when 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:42.080 he's a zygote in the womb of Mary. He doesn't lose it when he's born in the cradle. He doesn't lose it 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:47.139 when he goes around walking and eating and talking. He doesn't lose it when he dies on the cross. He 00:12:47.139 --> 00:12:53.740 doesn't lose it when he goes to the grave. Jesus always remains God, the Son of God, fully God and 00:12:53.740 --> 00:13:01.419 fully equal. And then the other thing about this, and so what it's basically telling you in verse 6 00:13:01.419 --> 00:13:07.059 is that the question is going to be, what will God do to save human beings like you and me? 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:13.819 And so the fundamental image there is not that God, the Son of God, stops being God, 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:22.640 but that in a sense he disrobes. He takes a different status and he appears differently 00:13:22.640 --> 00:13:30.720 than what would be normally proper. So you see for a second here that it's as if 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:40.240 it's of my status. It is not beneath me to pick up the dog poop in the backyard of my yard. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:47.460 That's not beneath me. That fits with my status. But it wouldn't fit with the status of King Charles. 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:53.399 That's how we would all accept it. We might say he should pick up the dog poop in his own backyard 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:57.180 or something like that, but probably even then most of the people would say, no, no, no, no, George. 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:03.460 That's for a servant to do that. So what it's describing is that God, the Son of God, remaining God, 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:09.480 sets aside all of his appearance as God, all of the prerogatives, and in a sense what he's going to do 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.440 is going to change status. On one level, of course, his status is still God, the Son of God, 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:18.920 but he's going to take a different status. And what does that describe? That's what's described 00:14:18.920 --> 00:14:25.759 in verses 7 and 8. And there all of the verbs communicate that God, the Son of God, does this 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:36.840 himself. He humiliates himself. He humbles himself. There's no obligation for him to do it. He does it 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:43.259 out of love. He does it willingly. He does this to himself. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:55.220 Most Canadians hate Trump. They would love to see Trump humiliated by being forced to pick up the 00:14:55.220 --> 00:15:01.120 poop in my backyard. If that was videotaped, just in Canada alone, it would get a billion views, 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.980 many of them reviews, within the first week. Just the mere fact that many of you would like to see 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:11.960 Trump humiliated in that way probably shows you need to repent, by the way. This isn't an announcement 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:17.100 for Trump. It's just not the right attitude we should have to any person. Shows some pride in our part. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:23.700 But it would be humiliating if he was forced to do it. But that's not what's happening. Jesus does. God, 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:29.740 the Son of God, does all of these things himself. And even that language of grasp, what that doesn't mean 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:36.080 is this. It doesn't mean that he's trying to become like God. He's trying to grasp that. It also isn't like, 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.280 some of you might not know, but I have nine children. 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:45.879 And all of them, when they were young, back when they were very young, we would take them to see Santa Claus. 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:50.879 And I can't remember which of them, but many of them, when maybe they were two or something, 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:56.539 and you try to hand that baby off to go to that nice man with the white beard and the red suit, 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:05.059 they would scream and grasp, whether it was me or Louise, with unbelievable baby strength, 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:10.419 because there's no way they were going to leave the arms of their mother or father to go to that scary 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:16.460 man with a red suit and a white beard. And they grasped at us, and we had to, well, we wouldn't end up 00:16:16.460 --> 00:16:21.400 prying them away. We would just end up holding the baby and standing beside Santa herself or something 00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:26.560 with the other kids for the picture. But that's not what's going on here. That's not at all. It's 00:16:26.560 --> 00:16:30.700 just, it's literally telling, it's not like that at all. It's not that I'm trying to grasp anything. 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:37.480 I'm doing this all of my own volition. God, the Son of God, chooses to humble himself. He chooses to 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:43.600 leave his throne. He chooses to set aside all of his appearance as God. He chooses it himself. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:48.480 And the other thing which is going on in this text, and which is the language, you could nerd out, 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:53.560 try to, you know, get all the language and all, but what the language is trying to preserve are two 00:16:53.560 --> 00:17:01.159 other truths about Jesus being completely and utterly fully human. He is completely and fully human. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:06.500 And that's one of the reasons why Jesus doesn't come on earth one day as a 30-year-old man. 00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:16.279 That wouldn't really be human. He enters the human race the way all human beings begin, 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:23.400 by being a zygote attached to the mother's womb. He fully enters into human life. But there's two 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:29.079 things which are unique about Jesus which the language is preserving for us. The first one is 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:34.379 this, that on one hand, the thing which is unique about Jesus is even though he is fully human, 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:42.740 he's also God, the Son of God. So he is just as human as you and me on one hand, but on the other 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:48.000 hand, there's something unique about him because God, the Son of God, he's just one person. God, 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:53.220 the Son of God. It's not a matter of God, the Son of God, squeezing divinity into a human being, 00:17:53.220 --> 00:18:01.460 squeezing divinity into a zygote. It's a matter of God taking human nature into himself, but yet 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:06.680 being one person. So the language of appearing to be a human being and the likeness of human, all of 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:13.440 that type of stuff being found there, that means now that he's come to be a human being, he acts 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:19.620 according to a status. He has a mother and father. He has children. He would have buried his father 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:23.839 because Joseph died before the things in the crucifixion. He had to eat all of those things. 00:18:23.939 --> 00:18:27.959 He acted completely like a human being, but there's two things unique about him. One is that he's God, 00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:31.719 the Son of God, and the second is he isn't born with original sin. 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:38.399 He isn't born with original sin. That's why they use the language to protect 00:18:38.399 --> 00:18:43.659 these very powerful truths. Now you might say, well, if he's not born with original sin, 00:18:43.659 --> 00:18:49.339 does that mean he couldn't sin? Not at all. Adam and Eve were born without original sin and sinned. 00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:56.099 In fact, if you think about it for a moment, not being born with original sin might actually make 00:18:56.099 --> 00:19:06.659 sin both more tempting and more, just more tempting. I know that's a bit counterintuitive, 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:14.299 but it's almost as if it's so completely different and other, it is both repulsive at times and alluring 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:20.779 at times. And that's why it is says in the book of Hebrews and other places in the Bible that Jesus 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:27.259 suffered trials and temptations like all human beings, only without sin. And that really, really 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:33.419 is true. But that's this profound, all these things are trying to provide this very, very profound truth 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:40.060 that, um, if you could up the first point again, Claire, God, the son of God humbled himself going 00:19:40.060 --> 00:19:48.060 from his heavenly throne to a womb, to a cradle, to a cross, and to a grave. 00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:56.380 Now, why did I say, I mean, this is counterintuitive, isn't it? Because it's, it's counterintuitive 00:19:56.380 --> 00:20:02.620 because the way we normally would think is that King Charles III shouldn't pick up dog poop. That's 00:20:02.620 --> 00:20:08.220 beneath his status. There's others who are lesser status who do that for him. We who are of a lower 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:15.660 status serve those who are of a higher status. Uh, you know, King Charles III is maybe not somebody, 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:20.860 I mean, we have to give our life to protect him. He doesn't give his life to protect us. It's just the 00:20:20.860 --> 00:20:25.820 natural order of things. You know, it's one of the things where I, our, our Muslim friends find the whole 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:31.019 message of the gospel completely and utterly and massively counterintuitive that they, I mean, 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:37.500 they call God Allah, but they cannot possibly conceive that God would ever, ever, ever, ever 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:42.619 deign to come and humiliate himself in such a way. Like in a sense, this text is saying 00:20:43.419 --> 00:20:48.779 that if we went back in time, we would see Jesus picking up other people's dog poop. How could God, 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:54.859 the son of God, that's just completely implausible. But it's also unbelievably beautiful. 00:20:55.980 --> 00:21:04.139 It says that only the gospel describes a God who understands you and gets you and loves you. 00:21:05.419 --> 00:21:13.419 What do I mean? A couple of years ago, uh, uh, one of my, my kids, they, uh, left their four children 00:21:13.419 --> 00:21:17.960 over with us. I think at that time, maybe the kids were told this story before, but not in a while, 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:22.220 maybe three, five, seven, and nine, maybe four, six, eight, and 10, something like that. 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:26.220 And I'm having lunch at the same time as them. And they're having some grilled cheese sandwiches, 00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:30.059 and I'm eating whatever I'm eating. And we all have a comfortable silence. Their kids all like 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:33.420 each other, and I like them, and they like me. And we're all just comfortable, and we're all just 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:37.500 silent. You know, I may be reading, they're just daydreaming whatever kids do as they're eating 00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:40.619 grilled cheese sandwiches. And then my wife sits down. 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:47.900 And she sits down and says, if you could be an animal, what animal would you be? 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:59.820 Well, all of the kids' eyes light up, and they chatter away. Every child instantly has an animal that they 00:21:59.820 --> 00:22:05.740 would be. And maybe he say, I can't decide if I'd like to be this type of animal or that type of animal. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:12.300 And all the kids talk. What has she done? She has descended to their level and understands them. 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:21.899 And when you hear of God, the Son of God, humbling himself in this way, there is no way that the God 00:22:21.899 --> 00:22:27.980 of Buddha can understand you. There is no way that the God of Islam can understand you in this way. 00:22:27.980 --> 00:22:34.539 There is no way that the God of boutique spirituality in Canada will understand you in this way, because 00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:41.419 only the God described in this text has humbled himself. And this is profoundly important for those 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:52.300 of us who have experienced deep shame and humiliation. Only Christ understands your deep humiliation. 00:22:53.259 --> 00:23:00.140 He humiliated himself that you might be reconciled to God. It's beautiful. 00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:15.340 But the next part almost seems to contradict it. Well, what do I mean? Let's look. This is the part that I said, 00:23:15.340 --> 00:23:21.420 on one hand, if people understand what it's being said, many Canadians would find it deeply offensive. 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:27.900 They'd also find it deeply predictable. They haven't got their mind. I mean, that's part of our job is to 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:32.380 tell people there's this wonderful Savior who left the throne of heaven, set aside his glory and 00:23:32.380 --> 00:23:38.140 prerogatives, and died on a cross all because he loved you. But look at the next part, verses 9 to 11. 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:44.380 Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every knee, 00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:51.100 sorry, every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under 00:23:51.100 --> 00:23:55.900 the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 00:23:55.900 --> 00:24:01.180 Now, for many of us as Christians, we say, okay, that's fine. And many, maybe if I was to even share 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:04.780 this at my local coffee shop, they'd say, oh, that's sort of interesting. But that's because 00:24:04.780 --> 00:24:10.540 they don't really believe it's true. They would just sort of think that it's some pleasant thoughts 00:24:10.540 --> 00:24:15.500 that amuse Christians. And if that turns your crank, then so be it. But they don't understand that if they 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:19.740 were to go back in a time machine and to say that to Paul, Paul would say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:24.460 that's not what I'm saying. I'm actually saying that there will come a day that if God could put you into 00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:30.860 the future, there will come a day when you will be at a great plane, and you will see all human 00:24:30.860 --> 00:24:36.220 beings who've ever lived, and you will see all spiritual beings that have ever lived, that's 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:43.019 angels and demons, and you will see them all arrayed. And somebody will come, God the Father will say, 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:49.019 here is the Lord Jesus Christ. And at that moment that he declares that, you will see every single 00:24:49.019 --> 00:24:59.579 spiritual, spiritual being and human being bend their knee and say, Jesus Christ is Lord. You 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:06.379 will see Goetheuma bend his knee and say that Jesus Christ is Lord. You will see Trump bend his knee and 00:25:06.379 --> 00:25:12.059 say, Jesus Christ is Lord. You will see the president of China bend his knee and say that Jesus Christ is 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:17.159 Lord. You will see the Ayatollah of Iran bend his knee and say that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:25:17.419 --> 00:25:22.639 And you will see George bend his knee and say Jesus Christ is Lord. And then Paul would say 00:25:22.639 --> 00:25:32.659 to them, and you will bend your knee and say that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is what will happen. 00:25:34.919 --> 00:25:40.339 That is what Paul is saying here. If you could put up the second point, Claire, that would be 00:25:40.339 --> 00:25:48.759 very helpful. Jesus Christ was exalted from the depths of death to the throne of God. Jesus Christ 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:54.679 was exalted from the depths of death to the throne of God. So that to understand that when Jesus rose 00:25:54.679 --> 00:26:02.220 from the dead, it is the first step of his exaltation. Where was Jesus between his resurrection 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:09.819 appearances? Well, he wasn't hiding in a grove, sitting by a stream, by some cafe. No, he's in 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:16.460 heaven. He's exalted. He comes from his exalted place in heaven to appear, to show and prove time 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:22.619 and time and time and time again, beyond all reasonable doubt, that he has triumphed. He has 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:27.839 tasted all there is to taste of death, and he has risen from the dead. That is why the body is gone. 00:26:27.919 --> 00:26:33.919 The tomb is empty. He appears. He eats fish. He shows the scars. He has resurrected. But more than that, 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:41.400 he is exalted. And by being exalted, he has been vindicated by Almighty God. And if you could put up 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:47.220 the next point, Claire, that would be very helpful. Every knee will bend and every tongue will confess 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:59.100 that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every tongue. You and you and you and you and you and you and me and every 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:09.439 person we see today, that will happen to them one day. Back a hundred million years ago, when I was 00:27:09.439 --> 00:27:18.719 in university, there was a woman, I think I was in my third year university, and she was always trying 00:27:18.719 --> 00:27:24.759 to find excuses to be around me. And she told me one day that God had assured her that we were going to 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:33.900 marry. God had spoken to her very clearly, and we were going to marry. Now, you know, one of the things 00:27:33.900 --> 00:27:42.119 which is so bad about this is I didn't like her at all. Like, I had to exercise all my Christian charity 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:49.480 to even talk to her. Like, I really, really didn't like her. Like, really didn't. You know, if there 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:54.660 were, I don't know, 30,000 women at Carleton, she would have been like the 30,000 that I liked. 00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:59.759 You know, that's how I felt about her. But I was with a Christian group. I couldn't act that. And I 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.579 think one day I said, it's never going to happen. And, but here's the thing. I actually, especially 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:09.039 because, you know, I mean, nowadays in some ways she stalked me, you might even say, right? She'd 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:14.960 figure out ways to be with me and all of that type of stuff. And, but here's the thing. I don't know 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:20.460 whatever happened to her. I really hope and pray that there was some, a man who, you know, and part of 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:24.460 the reason I didn't like her was, who knows, probably terrible things in my part, by the way. Maybe you 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:28.960 should, she was too like me. I don't know what, but hopefully she found somebody who would marry 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:33.360 her and love her. I mean, I really hope that would be her destiny. But here's the thing. 00:28:34.360 --> 00:28:41.100 We'll call her Sue. If there was a man who loves Sue like that, and there was Sue and that fellow, 00:28:41.099 --> 00:28:48.599 we'll call him Bob and me, both Bob and me are in Sue's presence. I'm experiencing torment. 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:55.539 He's experiencing delight. And she's just being her. 00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:03.319 So here's this thing about, if you, you need to understand, if you could put up the next point, 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.079 that would be very, very helpful, Claire. 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:16.859 The bending of the knee and the confessing of your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord will be either 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:28.359 the beginning of eternal joy or the beginning of sadness and pain. Choose joy. Choose Jesus. 00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:37.459 The bending of the knee and the confessing of your lips will be either the beginning of eternal joy. 00:29:40.219 --> 00:29:44.759 I've used this analogy so much. I love that old African-American spiritual. 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:55.460 And I, when that time comes, this is my hope. And in my resurrected body, it is proclaimed that Jesus 00:29:55.460 --> 00:30:02.420 Christ is Lord and Savior God, the Son of God. And I, with all those countless throngs, I will bend my knee 00:30:02.420 --> 00:30:08.980 and I will confess with my lips that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. And in my spirit, 00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:18.420 I am singing like I have never sung before and inwardly dancing, free at last, free at last. 00:30:19.019 --> 00:30:22.259 Praise God Almighty, I am free at last. 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:27.680 And that is the beginning of an eternity in joy. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:31.019 For others. 00:30:34.820 --> 00:30:43.019 Forst to bend the knee and confess, it will be beginning of sadness and pain. Choose joy. 00:30:47.060 --> 00:30:53.420 Now, what follows from all of this, we need to wrap it up. And if you could go back, Claire, 00:30:53.420 --> 00:30:57.880 and put up verse 5, that would be helpful. How did this begin? 00:30:58.039 --> 00:31:03.120 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:07.779 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:31:08.620 --> 00:31:10.080 You see, in a sense, 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:16.759 actually, if you could put, we have that, if you could put a point number 5, that would be helpful. 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:25.700 The Christian life begins and grows by bending the knee to Jesus and confessing to him that he is Savior and Lord, 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:28.920 that he is your Savior and Lord. That's how the Christian life begins. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.180 You don't have to do, I mean, you could do it physically right now if you haven't given your life to Christ, 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.460 but if you haven't given your life to Christ, that's, in a sense, 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:41.500 there's no better time than right now just to stop listening to me. 00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:46.200 And it may be in your imagination, if you're a person that uses their imagination, 00:31:46.420 --> 00:31:49.380 to just picture yourself looking at Jesus and bending your knee 00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:51.839 and saying, Jesus, you are my Savior and my Lord. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:53.519 And that's how the Christian life begins. 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:58.299 There are many here who can't remember a time they weren't Christians. 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:01.079 And that's very appropriate. 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:02.960 You were raised with Christian parents. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:06.000 And you don't have to have a moment that you know that. 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:09.940 I mean, what really happens is at some point in time in your life, you realize you've done it. 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:12.360 Some people, they realize they've done it in children. 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:15.460 There's been many people who've become Christians, and they couldn't tell you the moment. 00:32:15.580 --> 00:32:17.440 They might say, you know, six months ago I wasn't a Christian. 00:32:17.799 --> 00:32:18.400 Now I am. 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:21.640 I don't know when that moment happened, but somewhere along that line, 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:23.900 that transition happened in me. 00:32:24.019 --> 00:32:27.039 And now I know that I would gladly bend the knee to Jesus 00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:29.380 and confess that he is Savior and Lord. 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:31.420 And the Christian life begins that way. 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:34.460 And that's also how you grow as a Christian. 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.559 To grow as a Christian is to have more and more areas, 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:41.519 the height and depth and breadth and width of your life. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:45.500 To realize when it comes to your intellect, when it comes to how you think, 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:47.539 when it comes to the content of your mind, 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:50.460 when it comes to what you see with your eyes, 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:53.299 when it comes to how you think about your money, 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:54.899 how you think about your family, 00:32:55.059 --> 00:32:56.339 how you think about sexuality, 00:32:57.019 --> 00:32:58.319 how you think about power, 00:32:58.679 --> 00:33:00.119 how you think about time, 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:02.299 how you think about marriage, 00:33:02.539 --> 00:33:04.200 how you think about child raising, 00:33:04.399 --> 00:33:05.960 how you think about everything. 00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:12.400 In every place, it's a matter of bending the knee to Jesus and confessing that he is Lord. 00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:17.120 And that's how you become more Christ-like, the same way you become a Christian. 00:33:18.019 --> 00:33:23.579 And in heaven, we will bend the knees together, confessing him as Savior and Lord. 00:33:23.819 --> 00:33:28.200 What is it we are invited to do as a church together is we are to be a community who bends 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:32.480 our knees to Jesus Christ, confessing that he is Savior and Lord. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:35.559 That is to describe our community life together. 00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:40.779 And so it's so beautiful here in this text, you see, because when I talk about the union 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:44.920 with Christ, when you put your faith and trust in Christ, you really enter into him. 00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:47.100 He really enters into you. 00:33:47.340 --> 00:33:50.600 And you enter into all of him. 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:53.640 And he enters into all of you. 00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:59.840 He enters into, is in union with you from the moment you were conceived in your mother's 00:33:59.840 --> 00:34:02.539 womb to your death. 00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:06.379 He is in union with all of that. 00:34:06.380 --> 00:34:19.099 And that means that anything that you have done wrong and any even original sin fell on 00:34:19.099 --> 00:34:19.300 him. 00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:20.160 He dealt with it. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:26.659 And his perfect destiny and status of standing before God and all of that glory. 00:34:26.759 --> 00:34:30.679 Obviously, you're not on the throne of heaven with him, but he carries you right up before 00:34:30.679 --> 00:34:31.299 the throne. 00:34:31.299 --> 00:34:35.199 And all of that glory comes to you when you put your faith and trust in him. 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:41.439 And it's not just him dealing with your humiliation and shame and sin, but also the bestowing of 00:34:41.439 --> 00:34:43.339 glory upon you. 00:34:44.339 --> 00:34:46.059 And that is what he does upon the cross. 00:34:46.059 --> 00:34:55.380 I might go a little bit past 35, but I want to show you two other things. 00:34:55.380 --> 00:35:00.259 Because you see, the problem for some Christians is they take things like this and then they 00:35:00.259 --> 00:35:04.299 start to think, well, that sort of means that I should rule, that I should always be successful, 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:05.480 I should always triumph. 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:07.699 But that's the wrong lesson to take. 00:35:07.779 --> 00:35:09.099 That's why we need all of the Bible. 00:35:09.099 --> 00:35:17.460 Take up your Bibles and turn with me to verse 27 of chapter 1, verse 27. 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:25.480 If you think now that this verses 6 to 11, this provides a way to understand all that happens 00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:25.900 in the book. 00:35:25.960 --> 00:35:28.239 And the book helps you to understand what all of this means. 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:34.739 That this book, this 6 to 11 isn't telling you because of my exalted destiny that I will 00:35:34.739 --> 00:35:36.460 share Christ's glory. 00:35:36.599 --> 00:35:38.099 I will be filled with his glory. 00:35:38.099 --> 00:35:39.239 Therefore, I should... 00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:40.779 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:43.519 That's not what the story is to form you into. 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:45.639 The story forms you into humility. 00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:49.099 Into humility and love. 00:35:50.059 --> 00:35:54.420 Not the exercise of power over others as your destiny. 00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:56.199 Listen very briefly. 00:35:56.360 --> 00:35:58.400 Look at how it goes in 127. 00:35:59.219 --> 00:36:02.799 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:04.960 There's that big... 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:05.819 How is my... 00:36:05.820 --> 00:36:10.280 To be worthy of the gospel of Christ means that the story of the gospel forms me. 00:36:10.660 --> 00:36:15.360 Forms, as I said, how you think about money and sexuality and power and time and family 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:18.480 and singleness and life and death. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:30.059 So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. 00:36:30.059 --> 00:36:34.840 And not frightened in anything by your opponents. 00:36:34.900 --> 00:36:40.320 This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. 00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:42.460 Think of what I just said in verses 6 to 11. 00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:50.119 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. 00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:55.440 Engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. 00:36:55.579 --> 00:36:57.460 He's talking about himself, 6 to 11. 00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:59.859 If you could put up the point, this would be very helpful. 00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:00.739 What's he saying? 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:02.179 It's a very simple point. 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:11.920 When you follow Jesus, when you're in Jesus, and swim against the current and the crowd, you will be bruised. 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:23.539 All the world says the powerless should die and the powerful. 00:37:24.680 --> 00:37:27.659 That's the natural way that human beings think. 00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:29.840 Jesus went right against that. 00:37:30.059 --> 00:37:31.619 He swam against the stream. 00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:34.440 He swam against this crowd to save you. 00:37:35.980 --> 00:37:38.780 And what he's saying to his contemporaries is this. 00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:46.019 Listen, in the ancient world, all the smart people, all the rich people, everybody knew that there were many gods. 00:37:46.180 --> 00:37:47.960 Everybody knew that the powerful should rule. 00:37:48.120 --> 00:37:50.019 Everybody knew that slavery was all right. 00:37:50.120 --> 00:37:51.620 In fact, it was a very, very good thing. 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:56.880 In fact, for an ancient Roman to see a crucifixion, they would say to their young son, 00:37:57.160 --> 00:38:01.900 that proves the glory of Rome and that we will never end. 00:38:03.180 --> 00:38:08.100 And we look at a cross and say, that reveals the glory of God. 00:38:08.780 --> 00:38:10.460 Not the glory of Rome. 00:38:11.540 --> 00:38:15.580 The crucifixion reveals what should be a shame to Rome. 00:38:16.360 --> 00:38:19.900 And God used that which was shameful to save you and me. 00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:23.019 And so in the culture, it's just like now. 00:38:23.140 --> 00:38:26.480 You know, we have to fit in with all sorts of political causes. 00:38:26.600 --> 00:38:29.620 And if you don't fit in with political causes, it might cost you promotions. 00:38:29.820 --> 00:38:32.200 It might cost you being invited to parties. 00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:38.739 And there's all this cultural pressure to go along with all these things which are just lies and just evil. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:41.359 And it's so easy for us to get sucked in. 00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:47.119 And that's why Paul is saying, you need to be formed by the story of verses 6 to 11. 00:38:47.259 --> 00:38:53.759 And when you're formed against it, you're going to be flowing with Jesus against the crowd and against the current. 00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:56.100 And when you do that, you will be bruised. 00:38:57.440 --> 00:38:58.440 Maybe even die. 00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:01.160 But that's what you choose. 00:39:02.760 --> 00:39:05.520 And if you could look at just these last few verses and then we'll close. 00:39:05.600 --> 00:39:10.200 Look at verses 1 to 4, just before Have This Mind Among Yourselves, of chapter 2. 00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:16.300 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, this story which I've just told you from 6 to 11. 00:39:16.300 --> 00:39:20.900 If there is any comfort from love, just think of the love that God showed. 00:39:21.260 --> 00:39:25.820 It's the love that held Jesus to the cross that drove him to humiliate himself in such a way. 00:39:26.180 --> 00:39:30.280 If there is any koinonia, union in the Holy Spirit. 00:39:30.640 --> 00:39:34.980 If there is any affection and any sympathy, the words there could also be compassion. 00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:38.700 Complete my joy by being of the same mind. 00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:40.720 Having the same love. 00:39:41.240 --> 00:39:43.560 In other words, having the same story form us. 00:39:43.640 --> 00:39:45.539 Having the same love form us. 00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:48.860 Being in full accord with each other and of one mind. 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:52.300 And do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:56.219 But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. 00:39:56.559 --> 00:40:00.840 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. 00:40:01.099 --> 00:40:04.039 That is swimming against the crowd and swimming against the current. 00:40:04.099 --> 00:40:05.659 And you do that, you will be bruised. 00:40:05.900 --> 00:40:08.099 And that is to describe our life together. 00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:10.219 And here's the thing. 00:40:10.219 --> 00:40:15.639 Evil flattens. 00:40:16.980 --> 00:40:18.959 Virtue grows. 00:40:19.779 --> 00:40:25.359 If you go to see a room of drunk people, when they're not drunk, they might be witty. 00:40:25.879 --> 00:40:27.039 They might be pleasant. 00:40:27.659 --> 00:40:28.539 They might be gentle. 00:40:28.619 --> 00:40:29.839 They might be all sorts of those things. 00:40:29.899 --> 00:40:31.679 Those are all sucked out of them when they're drunk. 00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:40.419 To see a group of men or women fixated on a screen looking at pornography, it reduces and removes their humanity. 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:48.559 Looking at a beautiful sunset brings out all sorts of stuff that's beautiful in a person, doesn't it? 00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.579 You get to hear joy. 00:40:50.739 --> 00:40:52.420 You get to hear jokes. 00:40:52.860 --> 00:40:55.579 Maybe somebody bursts into song, does a little dance. 00:40:56.299 --> 00:40:57.420 Beauty does that. 00:40:57.880 --> 00:40:58.840 Evil flattens. 00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:00.900 You see, here's the thing. 00:41:01.259 --> 00:41:02.940 The last point, that would be helpful. 00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:06.940 Pride leads to noise. 00:41:07.699 --> 00:41:09.840 Humility in Christ grows. 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.519 Not sameness, but a melody and harmony of beauty. 00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:18.880 Be the difference if we all just started yelling. 00:41:19.500 --> 00:41:26.460 Be another thing in a few moments when Jono leads us and we are of one mind, of one voice, around a beautiful melody. 00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:35.139 And for those of you, maybe sit beside Deborah or some other people who know how to do harmony, so we're not all just singing the melody. 00:41:35.579 --> 00:41:36.199 It's beautiful. 00:41:36.300 --> 00:41:37.940 That's what God is calling us to in Christ. 00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:41.280 I invite you to stand. 00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:52.619 And just as we're about to pray, just to reiterate, there is no shame that is so shameful. 00:41:53.300 --> 00:41:57.440 There is no brokenness that is so broken that Christ did not die for you. 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:06.220 And just as my wife was able to get to the level of children and enter their world in a way that brought joy, 00:42:07.220 --> 00:42:19.700 even in your worst trauma, Christ has entered into your level and speaks to you at your level so that when you turn to him and bend the knee and confess with your lips, 00:42:19.699 --> 00:42:26.359 it is the beginning not of sadness and sorrow and pain, but the beginning of joy. 00:42:26.819 --> 00:42:27.839 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:42:29.139 --> 00:42:30.419 Father, thank you for Jesus. 00:42:31.419 --> 00:42:36.179 Thank you, Father, that you and your word preserve these wonderful truths. 00:42:36.179 --> 00:42:47.460 Thank you, Father, that you've called people like myself and Joey and Steve and Daniel Avitan and Colton and others to study so that we can understand these things 00:42:47.460 --> 00:42:51.980 and that we together might read the word together and be formed by it. 00:42:52.059 --> 00:42:55.299 And, Father, thank you so much for what Jesus has done for us. 00:42:55.300 --> 00:43:07.220 Thank you, Father, that you have made right with us, that you have made right with us, that you have made right with us, 00:43:07.220 --> 00:43:15.960 and, Father, we ask that you would help this profound story to shape us and to make us, to be our comfort and our joy, our hope, 00:43:16.220 --> 00:43:23.780 that it would so form us that we are willing to swim against the current in the crowd, all for the good of the crowd and for your glory. 00:43:23.780 --> 00:43:30.760 And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior and all God's people said, Amen.