1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,920 It's nice to see you. If we have not yet met, my name 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:04,800 is Cole. I'm the lead pastor here. 3 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,960 I get to preach on the majority of the Sundays. 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,440 If you've got a Bible, though, let's jump right into it for the 5 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,800 last time. Go ahead and turn that open to 6 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,360 the book of Titus. We are at the very end of the 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,800 book of Titus. We are just going to preach on 8 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,360 the last couple verses, which are the verses that you 9 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,760 generally skip over. It's a few obscure names, a 10 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,520 couple peace be with yous, and that's, that's really it. 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,760 But 18 weeks in the book of Titus and we're crossing the 12 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,680 finish line. So thank you so much for your 13 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,280 patience. If you have sat underneath my 14 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,680 leadership for a while, you know that I absolutely love the army. 15 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,280 Cross slowly through the word of God and explore every every 16 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,880 little nook and cranny that God's word has to offer. 17 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,400 And that requires us to get nerdy sometimes. 18 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,840 So I appreciate your patience and even the positive feedback 19 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,880 we've had in the book of Titus. As you're turning there, let me 20 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,720 poke you. I hope, I hope that you do not 21 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:08,320 exclusively come to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. 22 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,040 Exclusively. I hope you do. 23 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,080 That's one thing that Jesus offers, but it's one thing of 24 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:19,720 many. Amen. 25 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,760 And so I hope that you don't own. 26 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,360 I think the temptation is, I think the temptation is to 27 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,240 shrink Jesus down to like 10% of our life, to delegate him to 28 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:37,040 like one day out of the week Sunday, or to delegate him to 29 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,480 like one need that he meets. He's the forgiveness guy. 30 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,320 And when we do that, we essentially reduce Jesus to like 31 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:47,120 10% of our life. And I think that every 32 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,400 relationship with Jesus begins with us coming to him for the 33 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,800 forgiveness of sins. And that's a wonderful thing. 34 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,920 Maybe that's true for you. Maybe one night you woke up in 35 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,360 the middle of the night and your soul just felt like a sore 36 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,800 tooth. There was something wrong with 37 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,480 it. It was throbbing with pain while 38 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,520 the rest of the world slept. That night you tossed and 39 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,479 turned. There was the weight of sin on 40 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,560 your heart. There was this weight, this 41 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,600 suffocating weight of pain, this dread of some terrible thing 42 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,520 that you've done because human beings do human things. 43 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,680 And what I hope this pain did was I hope it drove you rightly 44 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,800 to the cross of Jesus where it can and will be forgiven. 45 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:36,520 But I also hope that you know that everything you could ever 46 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:41,280 need is in Jesus Christ, right? We've already sang that this 47 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,680 morning. If I thirst, I want to go to 48 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,520 Jesus. If I fear, I want to go to 49 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,920 Jesus, right? He's the beginning and end of 50 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,320 all things. He's the Alpha and Omega of all 51 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,120 things. He created all things, sustains 52 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,560 all things, and in Him are all things. 53 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,400 So yes, in Jesus there is forgiveness, but also in Jesus 54 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,880 there is righteousness. In Jesus there is life. 55 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,920 In Jesus there is hope. In Jesus there is growth. 56 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,720 In Jesus there's power. In Jesus there's meaning. 57 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,440 In Jesus there's fulfillment. Like, what do you need? 58 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:20,840 Just be honest with yourself this morning. 59 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,800 Like what's the thing that you need? 60 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:30,520 That thing is, in Jesus everything you could possibly 61 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,320 need is in Jesus. In Jesus there's joy. 62 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,160 In Jesus there's happiness. In Jesus there's treasure. 63 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,360 And when you start to understand Jesus as the fulfillment of 64 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,680 anything you could ever need, then you are only dipping the 65 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,840 very fringe of the distal edge of your toenail into the sea of 66 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,560 all the riches that are in Jesus. 67 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,280 And I'm bringing this up because this morning what we need to 68 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,560 explore is that in Jesus alone there is significance. 69 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:03,640 Significance because we're going to walk into these last couple 70 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,720 verses and we're going to see a couple small, obscure, 71 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:14,760 insignificant names. And I think these small obscure 72 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,839 insignificant names pose a question, which is do you feel 73 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,960 insignificant? Do you feel like I nobody, 74 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:29,160 sometimes I feel like the vast majority of your life is hidden 75 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:40,040 and like nobody sees it. Because if you do, what does 76 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,280 Jesus have to say about that? If you're able, let's go out and 77 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:51,160 stand for the reading of the Word of God, verse 12 of chapter 78 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,240 3. Again, a few verses. 79 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,680 Paul's farewell has greetings at the end of the letter. 80 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,840 I don't think anybody in our church has these verses tattooed 81 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:11,080 on them. Paul says when I send Artemis, 82 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,800 you guys know Artemis or Tiki Kiss to you. 83 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,560 And then we got a few people in our church named after Tiki 84 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:22,800 Kiss, right? A couple of ties. 85 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,320 Do your best to come to me at Nakopolis, for I've decided to 86 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,040 spend the winter there. So do your best to speed Zenith, 87 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:36,760 the lawyer and Apollos on their way, see that they lack nothing. 88 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,800 And for like the seventh time let our people learn to devote 89 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,680 themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and 90 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,800 not be unfruitful. In fact, all who are with me 91 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,560 send their greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the 92 00:05:53,560 --> 00:06:03,600 faith and grace be with you all. Artemis, it's the first name. 93 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,320 Tiki Kiss, that's the second name. 94 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:14,640 Zenus, that's the third name In Apollos, that's the fourth name. 95 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,640 What do these names mean to us, Heavenly Father, right now, in 96 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,080 this moment, I ask that your Holy Spirit would stir. 97 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:37,040 He would stir our souls. And my heart feels far from this 98 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:42,960 sermon right now. It feels kind of cold, kind of 99 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:47,360 tired, kind of exhausted, and kind of indifferent. 100 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,560 I don't feel like you have any surprises for us in the sermon. 101 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,240 I fear it will be insignificant and do nothing. 102 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,280 And so I just, I'm taking my heart, Lord, and I'm putting it 103 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,480 before you and I'm asking you, would you change it? 104 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,600 Would you put my heart on the edge of its seat? 105 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,240 If our hearts are far away from the Word of God, would you grab 106 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:19,200 our hearts by the shoulders and pull them in clothes and make 107 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,680 divine eye contact with us and just do something amazing in our 108 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:25,160 hearts? Maybe we've just never even 109 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:31,160 thought that Jesus had anything to offer us besides forgiveness. 110 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,760 Maybe nobody told us that He is the fulfilment of every desire 111 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,920 the human heart could ever have. Maybe nobody's told us he's the 112 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,360 beginning and end of all things, and whatever our need is, we can 113 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,080 come to Jesus for that. Maybe nobody ever told us that 114 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:56,320 he makes us significant and infuses our mostly invisible 115 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,880 lives with purpose and dignity and value. 116 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:04,600 And so change our hearts this morning. 117 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,000 It's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 118 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,240 prayed. And then you can have a seat. 119 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:18,320 I'll go ahead and I'll give you the main point of the sermon, 120 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:20,160 right, right up front. You don't have to wait for OK, 121 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,280 this text, like you just read this text is Paul's conclusion. 122 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,520 And like most of Paul's conclusions in most of his 123 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,080 letters, it's really just a couple throwaway phrases and 124 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:30,840 some names that are hard to pronounce. 125 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,200 But here's the main point that's going to come across these 126 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,880 couple of names from these few verses. 127 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:35,840 I'll give it to you right up front. 128 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,080 Here's going to be the main point of the next 30 minutes. 129 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,200 The work of changing the world for the gospel. 130 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:50,400 The work of changing the world for the gospel is mostly done by 131 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:58,640 faithful nobodies. Faithful nobodies look at verse 132 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,760 12. Paul says when I send Artemis, 133 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:05,880 if you've got a pen, go ahead and circle the name Artemis 134 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:07,800 right there. Now, you probably went to 135 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,360 school, high school with an Artemis, So I'm guessing that 136 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:11,920 you're probably familiar with that name. 137 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,800 And of course, if you know your Bible, then obviously you know 138 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,880 who Artemis is. Artemis is the faithful leader 139 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,800 of the people of God, who speaks to God in the burning Bush and 140 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,200 like George Washington in the Delaware crossing, give me 141 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,440 victory or give me death. Artemis is the man who 142 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,640 faithfully led the people of God out of slavery in Egypt and 143 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,880 through the parting of the Red Sea to the Promised Land. 144 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:41,760 That's Artemis right now. That's Moses. 145 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:48,640 The name Artemis appears in all 66 books of the Bible Exactly. 146 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:53,560 And I'm being exact when I say this exactly 0 other times 147 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:57,960 besides right here, it's not in any other book of the Bible. 148 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,560 This is the one and only time we see the name Artemis. 149 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,560 We know nothing about him. We don't know if he had a 150 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:07,320 family. We don't know if he had a 151 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,880 spouse. We don't know where he was born. 152 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,320 We don't know how he died. We know nothing about him. 153 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,040 And one of the most helpful phrases I've heard on this comes 154 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,240 from Philip Towner, one biblical scholar. 155 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:24,880 Philip Towner says quote. What strikes the reader is how 156 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,400 little we actually know about these Co workers at the end of 157 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,880 the book of Titus. Their anonymity in the 158 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:37,560 historical record only underlines how many faithful 159 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:43,000 believers labored behind the scenes to support and extend 160 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:49,880 Paul's mission. Artemis is a nobody, but he was 161 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,160 a faithful nobody. Are we learning this morning or 162 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,920 what? Artemis is a nobody, but he's a 163 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,160 faithful nobody. Look back at verse 12 when I 164 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:04,320 send Artemis or Tiki Kiss to you, If you have a pen, go ahead 165 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,040 and circle Tiki kiss right there. 166 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,080 We're just going to call him Ty when I sign. 167 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:10,480 When I send, we're just going to westernize it like we do 168 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,800 everything. When I send Artemis or Tie to 169 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,120 you, do your best to come to me and Acopolis for I've decided to 170 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:18,640 spend the winter there. Pause for a second. 171 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,360 What's happening is Paul is writing Titus this letter to 172 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,400 help Titus lead these churches on the island of Crete. 173 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,760 And we don't know where Paul is writing from. 174 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,840 We've got some guesses, but at the end of the day, we don't 175 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:31,640 really know. But what's happening here is 176 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,200 there's some sort of ministry swap that's going on. 177 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,800 It's like the trade deadline in the MLB. 178 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,440 He's sending a few people to go help out with the church plants 179 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,800 over in Crete and Titus over and Crete is going to send Paul a 180 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,720 couple people to help out Paul with whatever it is that Paul is 181 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,760 doing. And so Paul's going to send 182 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:51,600 Artemis. I know buddy. 183 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:57,560 And he's also going to send Ticky Kiss, Ticky kiss tie Ticky 184 00:11:57,560 --> 00:11:59,440 kiss. Ticky Kiss was my nickname in 185 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:04,240 high school. Don't ask me why it wasn't, but 186 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,120 it's obvious why ticky Kiss is in this verse, right? 187 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,440 It's because Tikikis is the man who slew the giant Goliath and 188 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,960 warfare and established the worship of the people of God and 189 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,480 wrote many of the 150 psalms in the Old Testament, right. 190 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,640 Joseph Levi looked it up for Joseph. 191 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,880 That was good. That was good, bro. 192 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:32,320 No, that's King David. Who's Tikikis. 193 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:36,400 We know almost nothing about Tikki kiss. 194 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,240 He doesn't show up and several different places in the New 195 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,640 Testament 3 or 4 times, but whenever Tikka shows up, he 196 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,640 never shows up as the star of the plot. 197 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,920 The most specific thing we learn about him is when Paul is 198 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,920 sending him to Ephesus and calls Tikka kiss in the book of 199 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,400 Ephesians quote. A beloved brother and faithful 200 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:57,560 minister in the Lord. That's it. 201 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:02,760 We know nothing about his family, nothing about his wife, 202 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:09,240 nothing about his story. He is mostly strangely absent 203 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:11,680 from the rest of the biblical drama. 204 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,160 Here's what biblical scholar John Stop says about him. 205 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:24,920 Quote the very obscurity of these men. 206 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:32,600 And Paul's final greetings in Titus reminds us that most 207 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:38,600 Christians service is unspectacular and unnoticed. 208 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:45,160 Yet God uses such obscure believers to accomplish his his 209 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,360 purpose. What is ticky kiss? 210 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:55,000 Ticky kiss is a nobody, but he's a faithful nobody. 211 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,720 Look at verse 13. Paul goes on to say, do your 212 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:00,840 bet. Here's the trade. 213 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,760 I'm going to send you Apollo's and Tiki Kiss to help you plant 214 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,240 this church. But you got to do your best to 215 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,280 give me Zenus the lawyer speed, Zenus the lawyer my way. 216 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,200 Pause. This is name #3 Zenus. 217 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,080 We do know something about Zenus. 218 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,560 Zenus was the towering historical theological figure 219 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,840 who over the course of his life, preached 3500 sermons that 220 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:30,880 filled over 65 volumes of books and preached to up to 20,000 221 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:37,960 people in a single setting. Right Right now, that's Charles 222 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,480 Spurgeon. Zenus wasn't a towering 223 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,400 theologian or preacher. Look at the text. 224 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,600 What was Zenus? You can say it. 225 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,040 He's a lawyer. Why would Paul need a lawyer? 226 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:57,360 Because Paul's always getting in trouble, always, right? 227 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,120 It's like he gets to go do the fun stuff and preach about 228 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,080 Jesus, and then Zenith is like, oh gosh, more paperwork, right? 229 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,160 That's their relationship, probably in a nutshell. 230 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,160 If you Leopold's ministry in the New Testament, he's constantly 231 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,800 travelling, getting arrested, being pushed into hearings about 232 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,360 Jesus. And I don't know if you know 233 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:16,240 this about charismatic authors or teachers or even some 234 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,080 preachers, but sometimes the reason why some preachers are so 235 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,440 good at teaching is because they're so bad at everything 236 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:27,880 else. Paul was a brilliant preacher, 237 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:35,400 but he did not know how to run QuickBooks or fix the boiler. 238 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:42,040 You know how to do that. So for his mission, for Paul's 239 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,760 mission, Zenith was probably carrying legal documents 240 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,840 connected to Paul's defense and providing him with the legal 241 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,280 help that Paul clearly didn't know how to do on his own. 242 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,840 Paul needed this guy. The mission of God needed this 243 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,120 paper pusher. I was, I was talking to 244 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,520 somebody, I know somebody who started a bookstore. 245 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,840 And a couple of weeks ago, I was in a bookstore and I was, I 246 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,160 needed some recommendations. So I was asking about some books 247 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:08,760 and she was sharing some recommendations. 248 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,920 It's a beautiful bookstore in downtown Des Moines. 249 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:19,040 And I, I stepped back and I was like, I was like, hey, is this 250 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,480 what you thought it would be like when you thought about your 251 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:29,600 expectations of what it would be like to start your own coffee 252 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,080 shop or not to start your own bookstore? 253 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:34,840 Like, is this what you thought it would be? 254 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,080 And she laughed at me, Right. I've actually, I've been asking 255 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:40,920 people that question a lot the last couple months. 256 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,560 I'd say, hey, is your life what you expected it to be? 257 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,680 Almost everybody laughs at that question. 258 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,920 So I said, is this what you thought it would be like to run 259 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,520 and operate and own your own bookstore? 260 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:56,120 And she laughed, and she said, you know, when I imagined myself 261 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,600 opening my own bookstore, what I imagined was me spending all day 262 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:07,280 talking to lovers of literature about plot devices and rich 263 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,800 character development and our love of extraordinary 264 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,960 literature. And for the most part, I spend 265 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:19,440 most of the day in the backroom behind a computer. 266 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:25,520 Isn't that? Isn't that adulthood? 267 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,160 Isn't that just adulthood right there? 268 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:36,720 You just spend most of your days in the backroom behind a 269 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,520 computer. That's Zenith. 270 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:45,320 One mention in the Bible. One mention Other than that, he 271 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,080 just spends a lot of time in the backroom behind closed doors. 272 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:53,520 Zenith was a nobody, but he was a faithful nobody. 273 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,000 Look at verse 13 again, do your best to speed Zenith the lawyer 274 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,160 and Apollos, that's name #4 Apollo's on their way. 275 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,360 See that they lack nothing and let our people learn to devote 276 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:09,840 themselves to good work so as to help cases of urgent need and 277 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,280 not be on fruitful. So time out for a second, 278 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,720 Apollos. Now Apollos, we actually do have 279 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:16,440 some information on him. I'm not making it up. 280 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,840 I know I've misled you the last couple names, but Apollos was a 281 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,360 brilliant orator and teacher that Paul took on the road with 282 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,880 him to be on mission for the gospel. 283 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,080 His name does roughly show up 10 times in the New Testament. 284 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,120 And in the book of Acts, Luke refers to him as quote, an 285 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,360 eloquent man competent in the scripture. 286 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:37,080 So Apollo's he does get some airtime in the Bible. 287 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,320 But here's the thing, not a lot, not a lot. 288 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,480 He didn't write any of the books in the Bible. 289 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,400 Some people will try to attribute Hebrews to him. 290 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,440 I don't think that's the case. Maybe I'm wrong. 291 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:51,520 I don't think he wrote any books in the Bible. 292 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,400 There's no Bible verse that calls us to imitate Apollos's 293 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:57,840 life. Growing up in the church, you 294 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,880 didn't sing any songs called Be Like Apollos. 295 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,360 You didn't have any sermon series that were titled Be Like 296 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:08,720 Apollos the way that you had Be Like Esther or Be Like David. 297 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,080 Netflix isn't making any animated series on the life of 298 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,000 Apollos. I haven't seen any summer Bible 299 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,400 camps called All In Like Apollos. 300 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:27,160 Maybe we should do that, though. No VBS camps called all in like 301 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,720 Apollos. So despite his 9 or 10 passing 302 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,520 references in the New Testament, that's what they are. 303 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:37,000 They're passing. He's mostly well. 304 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,640 Here's William Barclay, an academic theologian, on the 305 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,680 presence of his name in this letter, Barclay says, quote, 306 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:53,280 these final names and Titus belong to the great company of 307 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:58,760 the unknown soldiers of Christ. That would make a great metal 308 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:03,440 band name. Tell me we shouldn't do that, 309 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,240 Joseph, the unknown soldiers of Christ. 310 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:07,720 OK, we shouldn't do it. You're right. 311 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:13,080 They did their work. They rendered their service. 312 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,120 Then we know nothing more about them. 313 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:23,360 And yet the church could not have survived without such men. 314 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:28,560 Apollo says mostly a nobody, but Paul needed him. 315 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,640 He was mostly a nobody, but he was a faithful nobody. 316 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:40,280 In fact, the whole island of Crete, this little letter was 317 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,960 written to Titus, who's on the island of Crete, and he's 318 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,000 learning to lead these new churches. 319 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,800 And this island of Crete in the ancient world is an undesirable, 320 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,880 insignificant, small, immoral little island. 321 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,240 Even geographically, that's true. 322 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,440 It was the butt of all the jokes. 323 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,200 It was filled with literal pirates and immoral soldiers for 324 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,720 sale. It wasn't Jerusalem, that great 325 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,280 and holy city of God. It was just Crete. 326 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,240 It wasn't. It wasn't even Rome, the great 327 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,440 horror of Babylon. It was just Crete. 328 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,760 It wasn't even good at farming. Crete had bad soil. 329 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:28,800 They couldn't even do that right. 330 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,920 Like those football signs at the game of Nebraska versus Iowa. 331 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,360 Crete has bad corn. They can't even do the farming 332 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:39,680 piece right. We're not good at anything. 333 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,320 Crete was, and it is just an island of nobodies that nobody 334 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,720 really cared about. In fact, when this letter was 335 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:53,840 written, less than 1% of the island of Crete knew Jesus. 336 00:21:54,920 --> 00:22:00,400 It's actually much less than 1%. It's like .001% of the Cretan 337 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:07,480 island were Christians. Less than 1% of this whole 338 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:13,840 island were Christians. They were nobodies, but Paul 339 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,640 still loves them. All right. 340 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,400 Look at his greeting. Look at his conclusion. 341 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,760 Verse 15, the last three sentences in the book. 342 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,520 All who are with me, we're thinking about you. 343 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,120 We're praying for you guys. We love you guys. 344 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,680 All who are with me send greetings to you. 345 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:36,640 And so greet those who love us in the faith and grace. 346 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,120 Be with you all. And then the letter ends. 347 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:50,600 Grace be with you all. Was it was the grace of God with 348 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,280 them? Was Jesus with them? 349 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:54,800 Did they win? Because by all modern accounts 350 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,720 of measuring success, these little churches in Crete that 351 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,560 Paul is writing to by modern accounts have been failures. 352 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,360 Consider there are 0 known martyrs from Crete in the first 353 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,920 3 centuries. There are 0 celebrity preachers 354 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,560 or church fathers that came out of Crete. 355 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:22,160 No ecumenical councils were held on Crete where they determined 356 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,120 important decisions for the future of the Christian Church. 357 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:30,200 None of that happened on Crete. No major theologian represented 358 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,920 it. When this letter was written, no 359 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,480 church on the island of Crete was bigger than 30 people in 360 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,760 attendance. These churches were about the 361 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:44,280 size of your community group. They seemed irrelevant. 362 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:50,040 They seemed insignificant. I think that's the hardest thing 363 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,240 about growing up. I think the hardest thing about 364 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,560 growing up is feeling like with each and every passing year, 365 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,040 part of what maturity is, is it's actually just growing more 366 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,120 and more insignificant, isn't it? 367 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,240 It sure feels that way when you were a kid. 368 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,600 When you're a kid, bro, the whole universe revolves around 369 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,520 you and bows its knee to every single need of yours that 370 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:14,600 emerges. Even when you're in high school, 371 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,960 they have parades for you when you win the football game. 372 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,160 They they throw assemblies for you if the band wins the 373 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:24,440 competition. Even when you're done with high 374 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,240 school, young adulthood is kind of similar. 375 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,280 You still kind of feel like you're in the center of the 376 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,680 universe because at least you have your expectations. 377 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,880 And young at all, you can sit around and spend so much time 378 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,800 and energy imagining and daydreaming about what you might 379 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,520 become someday and who you might become someday. 380 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,760 No doubt an important CEO or an entrepreneur, or if not those 381 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,560 things, at the very least a manager at a reputable, 382 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,120 fast-paced company where you wear a casual tweed blazer with 383 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,840 elbow patches and people ask you to be on their podcast. 384 00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:04,320 Obviously that's your future. And then adulthood hits and 385 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,000 you're just mostly insignificant. 386 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,920 Most of your life is behind closed doors in the backroom, 387 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,520 with you spending time behind the computer. 388 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,560 The older you get, the more irrelevant you feel. 389 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,080 It's slower climbing up the corporate ladder than you 390 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,920 thought. Your resume is less attractive 391 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,120 to the sexy startups in Des Moines than you thought it would 392 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,400 be. Maybe you even have kids. 393 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,680 And suddenly, most of your life, it seems, it's changing diapers 394 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,080 and having wars over bedtime routines. 395 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,920 Right, dads? As a dad, sometimes you feel 396 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,800 like Pluto. You were never at the center of 397 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:53,560 the solar system, and you knew that, but at least you were like 398 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:59,960 on the poster. And then suddenly you're not 399 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:05,520 even a planet anymore. You're just an icy rock doing 400 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,760 your best, forgotten in some third grade school classroom. 401 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,840 Not even a planet. Nobody even seems to notice that 402 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,880 you eat the heel of the loaf of bread so that they can have the 403 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:22,280 middle slices. Such insignificance doesn't even 404 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:27,240 get noticed. And yes, I do use the pulpit to 405 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:35,480 air some of my personal stuff. Suddenly, generic questions 406 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:40,080 don't feel generic anymore, and they arrive in your life with a 407 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,120 force that you didn't expect. Suddenly you find yourself 408 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,320 asking the question, Does my insignificant life even matter? 409 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:58,520 Nobody seems to notice. All I do is clock in and clock 410 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,680 out at work and my boss doesn't even know I exist. 411 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,840 Just seems like I'm raising kids. 412 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:14,920 Nobody sees what I do. What makes me sad about this is 413 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:21,800 that what makes me very sad about this is that we live in a 414 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,440 world where we constantly hear, implicitly or explicitly or 415 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,440 both, from pretty much every strand of pop culture, music, 416 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:38,200 movies, news, social media. The messaging we constantly hear 417 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:44,800 is that hidden, obscure, small lives don't matter. 418 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,400 Do you feel this way? Do you feel insignificant? 419 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,440 It's tough. And don't act like this isn't a 420 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,120 big deal. Sometimes Christians act like 421 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:09,160 this isn't a big deal. You you are designed with a need 422 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:17,680 within you to be significant for your life, to matter, for it to 423 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,200 count, for it to count for something. 424 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,240 And sometimes Christians take the topic of significance and 425 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,440 they place it on this tertiary shelf and they're like, well, 426 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:36,000 it's not as important as the forgiveness of sins or avoiding 427 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,040 the wrath of God or making sure you don't spend an eternity in 428 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:41,640 hell. It's not as important as those 429 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,040 things. Are you sure about that? 430 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:51,760 Are you sure about that? Read Genesis 3 really closely 431 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,920 and what you'll notice is that if you don't have your need for 432 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:03,840 significance met in the person and presence of God, you will 433 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,080 make some very foolish decisions with your life. 434 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,760 Did you see Satan's strategy? He didn't get Adam and Eve to 435 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,160 bite the apple by making it look red, juicy and delicious. 436 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,840 It was the promise he attached to it. 437 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,320 Hey, if you eat this thing, what's what's the temptation? 438 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,880 If you eat this thing, you'll become like God. 439 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,720 What did Satan appeal to? He appealed to Adam and Eve's 440 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:38,480 need to be significant. Oh my God. 441 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,920 So if you don't think about this, if you don't think about 442 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,560 what's does it look like for me to go to Jesus and have my 443 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:53,840 significant significance met in him, then you will make some 444 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,360 foolish decisions in your life like that. 445 00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:02,600 For me, like my main sin temptations in my life, it's 446 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,080 it's me failing to have my significance met in the Lord and 447 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,280 me thinking, well, if I do X&Y, then I'll finally be important. 448 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:12,800 Like is that is that not true for you? 449 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:18,440 Like if your significance is for sale and Satan will buy your 450 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:25,400 soul. Being insignificant sucks. 451 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,680 Being a nobody is brutal and there's only one way I think 452 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,000 people can embrace this cosmic insignificance. 453 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,840 It's possible there are people who make peace with the fact 454 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,320 that they are in the words of the Bible, but a miss that 455 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,800 vanishes after a short time. There are people who are secure 456 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,720 and even joyful in their recognition that all their life 457 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,320 is is just briefly a name that gets mentioned once in the book. 458 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:01,320 We are Artemis, right? We are Zenus. 459 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,680 We are ticky kiss. We probably won't be Apostle 460 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:09,640 Paul's, who plant dozens of churches and become towering 461 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,680 theological figures in Christian history and have statues built 462 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,200 in our likeness and festival days named after us. 463 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:21,200 We will probably spend most of our time clocking in, clocking 464 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,760 out, doing invisible work, changing diapers, laboring to 465 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,000 put our kids to sleep at bedtimes, struggling to come to 466 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,720 church. Most of us, that's who we are. 467 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,000 We're mostly just nobodies. How do you make peace with that? 468 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,520 How do you make peace with that? And the answer to that question 469 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:47,040 is so overwhelmingly simple that you know it's true. 470 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,720 How do you make peace with that? You find your significance in 471 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,720 Him. That's it. 472 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,040 That's all I can tell you this morning. 473 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,600 This is all I know how to do is you find your significance in 474 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,720 Jesus. I don't know if you have ever 475 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:15,360 looked at the cross of Jesus and said to your soul, I have 476 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,880 everything I could ever need hanging on that cross right 477 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,000 there. Have you ever done that? 478 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,400 Have you ever looked at the cross of Christ and said to your 479 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,680 soul, there could be nothing in this entire world that could 480 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,720 give me close to what Jesus Christ gives me, right? 481 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,760 If the recent scientific speculations are accurate, and 482 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,520 who knows if they are about the nature of the earth as merely a 483 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,640 speck of dust existing in a black hole, or true, then there 484 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,080 could be nothing even in the entire cosmos that would give me 485 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:52,080 close to what Jesus Christ has given me. 486 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:57,240 Have you ever done that? If life gave me all the lemons 487 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,080 I've ever wanted, All the stupid lemons I've ever wanted. 488 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:04,640 The admiration that deep down I have craved from people. 489 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:09,200 The attention from social media that sometimes I have itched 490 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:13,040 for. A perfect group of angelic 491 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:17,240 friends who never offended me. A couple kids who always obeyed 492 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,040 on a first commandment. A paycheck with a number that I 493 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:20,960 wouldn't even know what to do with. 494 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:25,840 If the world gave me everything in it, I would leave it all 495 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:30,320 behind for Jesus, and leave it all behind on the coldest night 496 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,520 of the year and walk 100 miles barefoot for the mere sight of 497 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,440 Jesus. There is more to be gained in 498 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:42,440 one gazing at Jesus than in ownership over the entire world. 499 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,640 There's more there for you. You could never thank God enough 500 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,080 for the riches that he has hidden from you in this world 501 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,480 and revealed to you only through Jesus. 502 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,680 It's all in Jesus. He's the beginning, He's the 503 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,720 end. He's the Alpha, is the Omega. 504 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,280 Create all things. He's sustaining all things. 505 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,680 All things are in him. In Christ alone, you have 506 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,160 everything. Yes, in Christ alone you have 507 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,480 the forgiveness of sins, all that guilt deep down inside of 508 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,560 you that keeps you tossing and turning at night, driving you to 509 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,400 destroy your relationships, that list of terrible things that 510 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,440 you've done, because frankly, every human being has that list. 511 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:24,600 Every single penalty for every single sin perishes in the body 512 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,679 of Jesus. You have the forgiveness of sins 513 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,520 in Jesus for those who trust them. 514 00:34:29,679 --> 00:34:33,920 There will not be one sin. Remember, if you trust in Jesus, 515 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:40,080 there will not be 1 objection raised to you sprinting into 516 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,040 glory on the day of your death. You have that. 517 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,080 That's just not it. That's one 100th of what you 518 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:50,920 have in Christ. In Christ you have the 519 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,360 forgiveness of sins, but in Christ you also have the gift of 520 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,280 righteousness. It's not merely that you've been 521 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:59,880 forgiven and restored to some neutral state of at least she's 522 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:03,840 not a Sinner. No, you're not neutral putty. 523 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:09,480 You're not merely sinless. You are righteous because of the 524 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,360 gospel. You've been clothed in the 525 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,640 achievements of Jesus and the prodigal son. 526 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,760 The Son doesn't just welcomed back and forgiven, He gets his 527 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:21,760 Father's ring on his finger. He gets to enjoy the feast that 528 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,320 his Father paid for. To be in Christ means that God 529 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,560 sees you as he sees Christ. He sees you with the merits of 530 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:30,880 Jesus. He sees you with the 531 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,080 achievements of Jesus. He sees you with the robe of 532 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:35,680 Jesus. He sees you with the 533 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,440 righteousness of Jesus. In Christ alone you have the 534 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,120 gift of righteousness, and in Christ alone you have the joy of 535 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:47,480 the Lord. Like the very pleasures of God. 536 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,080 Like think about that. There is more to praise in Jesus 537 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,120 than there is time in your life to do it. 538 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:59,760 There's more to enjoy in Jesus then you have time to enjoy it, 539 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,560 right? This, oh man, I love this. 540 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,720 The joy of the Lord is my strength, is what he says, not 541 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:11,880 the joy that the Lord gives. Although that's true, it's not 542 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,440 the joy that the Lord gets. What is it? 543 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,720 It's the joy of the Lord. It's the joy that's within the 544 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:19,960 Lord. It's the joy that the Lord 545 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,040 experiences. It's the joy that the Lord has 546 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,680 within himself. Think about this. 547 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,160 This is the joy that has existed forever in God through Jesus, 548 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,120 and it now exists in the end in you. 549 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,520 This is the joy that has no beginning or end. 550 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,600 This is the joy that's always existed between Father, Son, and 551 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,320 Holy Spirit. Before the sparkle of a single 552 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:44,400 star, before the creation of a a single Adam, there was God 553 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,680 rejoicing in himself for eternity. 554 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,640 God the Father rejoicing in God the Son, God the Son rejoicing 555 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,040 in God the Spirit, God the Spirit rejoicing in God the 556 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:56,240 Father. And through the death of Jesus 557 00:36:56,240 --> 00:36:59,520 on the cross, you get invited into that party. 558 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,640 The Bible says it makes you a this is God's word, not mine, a 559 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:12,720 partaker in the divine nature. You participate in his nature. 560 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:17,360 That's why when you worship God, you sense a joy that's origin is 561 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:21,080 not in your own strength, a joy that has its roots not in you 562 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,280 but in The Fountainhead of God. That's why when you experience 563 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,080 the joy of the Lord, you experience what scientists call 564 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:33,040 flow, this transcendent experience of time melting away, 565 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:34,800 right? That experience of thinking, 566 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,760 whoa, how much time has passed? The reason why time disappears 567 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,520 in moments of joy is because you do step outside of time, and you 568 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:45,320 step into the God who exists outside of time. 569 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,040 You participate in the divine nature of a joyful God who 570 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,440 exists outside of time. That's given to you in Jesus. 571 00:37:55,440 --> 00:38:01,240 And in Jesus you have significance, he says. 572 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:08,560 I was reading this this morning. He says, aren't 2 sparrows worth 573 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:13,880 a penny? Even two sparrows for a penny 574 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:18,200 worthless, Jesus said. Aren't 2 sparrows worth a penny? 575 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,720 And yet not one of those suckers drops to the ground outside of 576 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:27,120 the sight of God. Why would Jesus be talking to 577 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:34,240 you about the value of sparrows? He goes on to say, Are you not 578 00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:40,920 worth more than sparrows? Not one hair on your head 579 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:45,160 escapes the attention of God. Think about that. 580 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,640 That's the most ridiculous thing Jesus could say. 581 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,680 What's the most insignificant thing about a human being? 582 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:02,440 One single hair? OK, in Christ that one hair has 583 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:07,360 significance to the Lord. So what about your whole life? 584 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:15,560 If one hair has significance before the Lord, what about your 585 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:17,000 whole life? Are you seeing the like? 586 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:21,960 You're so significant in Christ. This is the God honest truth. 587 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:30,160 You're one single hair of yours has more significance to the 588 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:33,640 Lord than your whole life does to the world. 589 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:45,760 And how, how can you taste that? How can you experience that and 590 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:55,520 still feel insignificant? Test me right now when you go to 591 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:58,240 the Lord in prayer, asking for something, anything. 592 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:02,000 I don't care what it is, a spiritual need. 593 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:04,400 Maybe you just want me to stop preaching. 594 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:09,920 Try it, try it, pray for it, pray for anything. 595 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,040 In this moment. Right now God is in glory, 596 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:24,760 seated on his throne surrounded by angels and seraphim who are 597 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:31,400 worshipping him and have 6 wings and weird eyes and these 598 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,920 incredibly majestic and powerful creatures. 599 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:41,720 When you pray, God on his throne raises his hand up to those 600 00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:46,520 angels and says quiet, my daughter is speaking, my son is 601 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,320 speaking. You have an intimacy with the 602 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:55,360 Lord through the gospel of Jesus that even the angels don't have. 603 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:03,480 Do you still feel insignificant? You can't, because when you find 604 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,440 your significance in Jesus Christ, you make peace with 605 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:09,160 living your life as mostly just a faithful nobody. 606 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:14,080 Because that task, if we really do have all of our significance 607 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,720 in the Lord, then that task of just being faithful to Him is 608 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:20,480 enough to infuse like every square inch of your life with 609 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:22,400 significance. And that's a mission that's 610 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,800 worth giving all the attention that you can give to it for the 611 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,040 rest of your life. And that's more than enough, 612 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:32,120 even if nobody sees it. And then you can finally just 613 00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:35,360 live your life for Jesus and draw people to him and tell 614 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,840 people about him and make his name famous and win the world to 615 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:40,840 Jesus. And all of a sudden all those 616 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:44,400 gnawing questions that arrived at your life with a force you 617 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,800 never imagined finally have answers. 618 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,560 Nobody seems, nobody seems to notice. 619 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:54,000 My life doesn't even matter. It feels like I'm just punching 620 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,120 in and punching out at work feels like I'm just raising 621 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:58,800 kids. I'm just showing up work. 622 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:08,400 Nobody sees what I do. Not in Christ, not in Christ. 623 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:11,360 In Christ. There's not one thing you can do 624 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:15,760 that goes on notice to God. All those things, they matter 625 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:16,960 more than you could ever imagine. 626 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,880 When you change diapers for the glory of God, or when you fill 627 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:23,080 out spreadsheets for the glory of God, or when all you can do 628 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,320 was walk into church 15 minutes late and sit in the back row at 629 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:29,560 church and chase your kid around for 60 minutes, that is 630 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,720 eternally significant. When you do it in the sight of 631 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:36,520 God and for the glory of God eternally. 632 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:44,880 And this ordinary experience of being faithful nobodies matters. 633 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:56,760 It matters because it was these faithful nobodies who just by 634 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:00,600 being faithful nobodies won the entire island of Crete to Jesus, 635 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:04,440 right? Think about, think about Crete 636 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:06,520 again. Think about this these churches. 637 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,080 Paul is writing to our smaller than your community groups. 638 00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:13,760 There are 0 known martyrs in the first 3 centuries that come from 639 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:18,640 Crete, 0 celebrity preachers, 0 church fathers from Crete. 640 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,600 When this letter was written, no church on Crete was bigger than 641 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,800 30 people in attendance. When this letter was written, 642 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:30,440 less than 1% of the population on Crete knew Jesus. 643 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:33,640 Do you know what that percentage is today? 644 00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:37,400 Couple years ago they did a census. 645 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:43,000 By the estimates of that census, the percentage of people on the 646 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:47,160 island of Crete that now identify as being Christian as 647 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:59,640 95%, 95%. These nobodies, they did it. 648 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,840 They did it. They were faithful to Jesus. 649 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:11,640 They won the island to Jesus. They won the island of Crete for 650 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,440 Jesus. So why can't we win the Des 651 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:18,240 Moines area for Jesus? We can. 652 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:21,360 And to do it, you don't need to be somebody. 653 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,000 You don't need followers. You don't need a cooler job. 654 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:27,760 You don't need more significance. 655 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:30,120 You don't need to be more remarkable. 656 00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:32,000 You don't need to be more important. 657 00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:36,840 You just need Jesus. So be a faithful nobody. 658 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:41,360 For the glory of God, read your Bible, pray. 659 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:49,000 Be a good husband, be a Good Wife, be a good father, be good 660 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,600 at being a mom, be good at being single. 661 00:44:51,720 --> 00:44:56,400 Build the church, tell people about Jesus. 662 00:44:57,560 --> 00:44:59,680 Do everything you do for the glory of God. 663 00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:02,840 To quote Count Zinzendorf a long time ago. 664 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:08,480 Preach the gospel, die and be forgotten. 665 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:12,680 Amen. Preach the gospel, die and be 666 00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:15,360 forgotten. That's as close as I can get to 667 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:19,200 a summary on the book of Titus. Hope you've enjoyed these last 668 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,480 18 weeks in it, because the good Lord knows I have. 669 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:26,360 Heavenly Father, make us into faithful nobodies. 670 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:30,280 We don't. We don't need anything that the 671 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,000 world can offer us. Our souls are not for sale. 672 00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:38,120 Our need for significance has been met and the person of 673 00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,240 Jesus. And so the only thing that 674 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:45,560 matters, the only thing that could give us life, joy, eternal 675 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:49,240 significance is Jesus. And so if someone in here 676 00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:52,880 doesn't know Jesus, I pray that your Holy Spirit would wake up 677 00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:58,960 their heart, shine upon their heart, illuminate the person of 678 00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:06,680 Jesus, and spark a new faith journey this morning, 1% to 95% 679 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,400 on the island of Crete. Oh, I pray that you would give 680 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,760 us that vision for our city. It's in the precious name of 681 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:14,520 Jesus that all God's people prayed. 682 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:18,240 Let's stand and let's worship this Jesus together.