1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,440 We are going to continue in our study of the Gospel of Luke, 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:14,320 specifically Luke chapter 6 in the section that is called the 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:18,080 sermon on the plane. So as you turn there, let me 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:19,880 just give us some things to consider. 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,880 And, and as I do that, even as I, as I start this sermon, in 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,240 fact, as I start every sermon, part of the introduction is me 7 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:29,520 just kind of calming my own nerves to speak and to preach. 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,200 And it, it really never goes away for as long as I've been 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,600 preaching. I have to confess that every 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,560 Sunday morning I just have to give the Lord all of my just 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,280 worries and fears of, of standing before you and 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,040 preaching. And that may surprise some of 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,400 you because I do it every week and it's still here every week. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 But it shouldn't surprise you because I'm a very normal human 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,920 being. And you probably have heard the 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,320 reporting or the, the, the public polls when people talk 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:05,160 about their biggest fears, by and large, the number one fear 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:07,960 that many of you can probably relate to right now that most 19 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:11,720 people would state as their greatest fear is the fear of 20 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,760 public speaking. And I, I feel it. 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,680 I feel it. In fact, you know, often times 22 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,600 you'll look at #2 and realize like in, in, in this case, 23 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,240 number 2 appears to be the fear of heights, that many people 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,880 would rather jump off a Cliff than stand in front of people 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,080 and, and share publicly. And I always find that 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,120 interesting. And sometimes I think why, you 27 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,880 know, and all of the times I've preached and all of the, the 28 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,800 public speaking opportunities I've ever done, it's never 29 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,680 turned into anything bad. No one's ever greeted me with 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,240 actual pitchforks or throwing literal tomatoes. 31 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,880 Occasionally people will stand up and leave and that hurts my 32 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,280 feelings a little bit, but it's not that big a deal. 33 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,720 And then I, I finished preaching, I move on. 34 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,200 And so the question is, what is it about this moment that all of 35 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,400 us realize is is kind of it weighs on our hearts And you 36 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,680 probably feel it outside of the call to preach and just your 37 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,000 everyday life when it's your moment for all eyes to be on 38 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,960 you. There the nerve set in for the 39 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,560 students among us in the moment where the professor's like, OK, 40 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,840 any questions, You're like, I have a question, but I'll never 41 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,760 ask because then people would look at me and what if I get it 42 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,360 wrong? You know, you, you, you think of 43 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,000 just in the modern day, what it's like to put your opinion 44 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,640 out there and have to read the comments section and all of us, 45 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:32,280 probably our own social media managers, like, would this 46 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,640 really help my public opinion? How would my opinion polls do 47 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,520 after this post? And there's, there's a reason 48 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:41,600 for that. I can tell you why you all 49 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,560 relate to the feeling that I'm expressing. 50 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,680 And it is because fundamentally in our heart of hearts, every 51 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,400 single one of us has a fear of rejection. 52 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,920 Nobody wants to stand before people and have the response be 53 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,280 we don't like you, we don't trust you, you're not good at 54 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,640 what you do, or we didn't like anything you said. 55 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,240 Because all of us have this thing that does not like when 56 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,720 others don't like us. And with that, I hope at the 57 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,960 surface of your mind, we now consider one of the surprising 58 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,920 blessings that Jesus is going to bless us with today that we are 59 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,640 working our way through in the Sermon of the Mount when he says 60 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,520 there is actually a blessed rejection, that even when your 61 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,560 biggest fear comes true, there is a way for it to turn into 62 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,080 another way that God can bless your life. 63 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,280 So today's sermon could simply be called blessed rejection. 64 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,480 And we find it as we left off in the Sermon on the Mount or 65 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,040 Sermon in the Plain, Luke chapter 6, verse 22. 66 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:54,160 He says blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:01,080 you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of 68 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,680 man's sake. Welcome to church everyone. 69 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,480 If you brought a friend, you picked a great week to come and 70 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,840 hear the message of what it is and what it means to follow 71 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,000 Jesus. He says that it's a blessing and 72 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,800 in this a preview of where the blessing takes you, he says in 73 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:24,920 verse 23, rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed 74 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:29,880 your reward is great in heaven. For in like manner their fathers 75 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,240 did to the prophets. So once again we are going to 76 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,120 look at something that Jesus gives us a lens for that is very 77 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,840 counterintuitive to what we would normally think is the 78 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,920 blessed or happy or peaceful, satisfied life. 79 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,840 And we'll do it with Jesus giving us a view of what's 80 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,720 beyond it. And so as we read that there, 81 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,520 there's actually a very simple flow to this promise, this 82 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,600 blessing. And and this is what we'll look 83 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,680 at today. First, we'll look at the reality 84 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,360 of rejection. It's going to happen if you're 85 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,160 doing this right. Second, very important second 86 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:12,040 piece to what Jesus says is there is a valid reason for your 87 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:17,240 rejection for those moments in life where you're hated because 88 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,520 you're a follower of Jesus. And then he gives us a tool in 89 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,680 the tool belt today, the response to rejection, when it 90 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,960 happens, why it happens, and what you do in response to it 91 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,240 happening to your life. And finally, as we do for all of 92 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,800 our our moments in the Sermon of the Mount, we look at the reward 93 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,760 that Jesus is pointing us to. So we start with the very simple 94 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,640 reality of rejection. He says blessed are you when men 95 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,120 hate you. This is one of those when not if 96 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,000 statements of the teaching of Jesus. 97 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,360 This is par for the course of following him. 98 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,840 It is something that you should expect as a byproduct of you 99 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,480 doing the will of God for your life and bearing the name of 100 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,880 Christ in your life. When not if we find this as a 101 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,080 promise in other areas of Scripture says in second Timothy 102 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,520 chapter 3. Yes, all who desire to live 103 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:20,640 godly in Christ will suffer persecution. 104 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,520 And this is a, a, a good thing for us to start with because we 105 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,480 live in two conflicting paradigms for this truth. 106 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,200 One is there is a Christian paradigm that says that if 107 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,000 you're doing it right, if you're actually following the will of 108 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,920 God for your life, right, and you have enough faith in his 109 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,720 word that there is a, a plan for your earthly life that just 110 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:43,800 avoids all suffering and you can have your best life now. 111 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,040 And, and, and that just completely misses the actual 112 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,360 words of Jesus. And the second tension that you 113 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,160 probably feel in reading this and trying to think of how to 114 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,360 apply it to your life is that right now we actually live in a 115 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,160 pretty blessed time to bear the name of Jesus in maybe the most 116 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,880 blessed region of the world to be a Christian, You know, we 117 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,600 live in a city where it's a badge of honor for businesses to 118 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,560 to let you know that their fellow believers put the put the 119 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,920 fish on the on the window and we can give each other business. 120 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,400 You know, I've heard the phrase Christian coffee shop and I've 121 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,400 come to the conclusion that every coffee shop in Boise is a 122 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,400 Christian coffee shop. I don't know if you've gone to 123 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,560 coffee lately and met up with someone, but you know, even this 124 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,480 week, as I was considering this word, I'm looking around at my 125 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,880 coffee dates and I'm like, there's a Bible study happening 126 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:36,320 right over there. We're talking about 127 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,360 discipleship. These people are asking about 128 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,080 which church to go to. The guys just moved here. 129 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,240 Just go to a coffee shop and you will see some Bible study break 130 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:44,640 out. It's it's what we do. 131 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,720 We love coffee in the Bible, but there's coming a day, the 132 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,680 horizon line of our country and culture. 133 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,280 There's coming today when when we will actually live this out 134 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,480 more clearly. We are on the heels of a post 135 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,520 Christian generation. We are on the heels of a a wave 136 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,560 of Bible illiteracy and people who have no reference point for 137 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,560 the things we'll take for granted today, like turn your 138 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,120 Bible to the gospel of Luke without any kind of back story 139 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,360 of of what any of that is. All of that's going to change. 140 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:25,000 And with that, the tides of Christian favor will also change 141 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:27,360 it it there's coming a day when it'll happen. 142 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,840 And this is now for you to know there's not AI. 143 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,440 Don't think there's a lot of great things to be excited about 144 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,400 for our culture shaking its fist at God and harden its heart to 145 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,480 the will of God. One of them is we're going to 146 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,679 find out in the coming years who the followers of Jesus are. 147 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,240 We're going to find out who the ones are are putting the 148 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,480 Christian fish on the business window and coming to church 149 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,520 because it's good for the social networking and the ones who 150 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,640 actually listen to this and they're ready to proceed. 151 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,240 Even right now. We, we I'm preaching to a mixed 152 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,680 bag by all, by all accounts, there's a mixed bag of your 153 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,360 devotion and your following to Jesus. 154 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,200 And one of the ways that you will be separated in the coming 155 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,760 years is those of you who hear this message with ears to hear 156 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,440 and you're looking at the reward and not the warning. 157 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,640 There is a cost to following Christ. 158 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,200 Jesus says in Matthew chapter 16, if anyone desires to come 159 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,920 after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. 160 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,120 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever 161 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,880 loses his life for my sake will not will find it. 162 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:32,680 What does it mean to lose your life? 163 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,800 We think of that in the practical terms. 164 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,880 You might, you know it, for the sake of Christ, make a little 165 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,240 less money, share more resources. 166 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,320 Part of that, if you look at the way of Jesus, it says that He 167 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,520 made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. 168 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,920 The King of glory comes as a servant. 169 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,240 To follow Jesus is to be willing to lose some of that reputation 170 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,400 that all of us hold so dearly to be popular and well liked. 171 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:05,480 Reaction, rejection is a reality and Jesus says with this hatred, 172 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,960 it's not just an emotion or a feeling against one another. 173 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,800 This is going the the the screw is going to turn on what Jesus 174 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,400 is going to say will happen. It's not just hatred. 175 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,040 He says blessed are you when they hate you and when they 176 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,160 exclude you. There's actually practical 177 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,520 things that he's preparing his followers for that will happen 178 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,560 to their life because they follow him. 179 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:31,320 And isn't it interesting that Jesus includes the excluded in 180 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,280 the Sermon on the Mount? We've considered the poor and 181 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:36,640 we've considered the hungry. We've considered those who are 182 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,600 in a season of absolute weeping, and Jesus says you're all in and 183 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,400 all of those as we preach. It was like, not really great 184 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,800 things to be known for in this world, but in the Kingdom of 185 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,680 God, you're blessed. He includes the excluded. 186 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,560 And the world, conversely, excludes those who Jesus 187 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:58,320 includes. That's part of what will happen 188 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,680 when you actually stake your claim on anything that you're 189 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,760 bold for in this life, sports, politics, following someone's 190 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,320 teachings for your life, you will now be with them whether 191 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,720 people like it or not. Tim Keller says if you're not 192 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:19,040 being criticized or excluded at all for following Jesus, it may 193 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,520 mean you aren't following him very closely. 194 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,120 If if your devotion and faithfulness and desire to 195 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,040 submit to his perfect will for your life has cost you nothing, 196 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,520 it's cost you not one friend. It hasn't cost you one moment of 197 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,640 decreased popularity. 1 Unfollow on the socials. 198 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,800 It it's cost you no social advances, it might mean that you 199 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,760 aren't following him very closely. 200 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,720 To follow Him is to experience some exclusion volunteered by 201 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,320 the world. And I, I do find it interesting 202 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,480 that as our culture moves farther and farther away from 203 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,800 Christian doctrine, it it develops its own doctrine. 204 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,680 It's not that it's just becoming, you know, free for all 205 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,880 there is, you know, cultural flagships that you you'll hear 206 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,360 about all the time. And one of them is inclusion. 207 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,360 It's a word that you'll hear a lot about post Christian people 208 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,480 who leave the church and go into the culture and say, how should 209 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:17,960 I live now? They'll say, well, the, the 210 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,320 number one thing that you stake your life on now is just to 211 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,720 include everyone. And one of the ways that you 212 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,280 know, who is, you know, on the priority list of inclusion is to 213 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,320 just look, look for the root word preceding the word phobia. 214 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,880 So you've got all of these classes and if you hear phobia 215 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:38,040 after it, you know that they have to be in, otherwise you 216 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,480 will be called out in shame. So in the inclusion of the world 217 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,800 you have, you could be called homophobic if you're not 218 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,080 inclusive. You could be called transphobic 219 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,200 if you're not fully inclusive. You could be called xenophobic 220 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,200 if you're not fully bringing people in, Islamophobic if 221 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,480 you're not inclusive to everyone one, I'm sure you've never heard 222 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,400 no one's ever been accused of being Christian phobic. 223 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:01,680 It's never happened. They're like, really? 224 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,280 You don't like my ideas? You don't like my Lord, You 225 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,320 don't like my God. And, and, and, and it's not, 226 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,520 it's not a stripe on the flag. It is the one group that can be 227 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,680 excluded in the world of inclusion. 228 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:16,240 And why do I say that to you? It is not so that we all pat 229 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,400 ourselves on the back for standing up against the culture 230 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,040 war. It's the same reason Jesus says 231 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,560 it. He's given you a mark that you 232 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:27,200 know, you're actually with him, that you are excluded. 233 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:28,880 It's it's something that we're going to get to. 234 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:30,760 But he's saying this is a good sign. 235 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,320 It's because you're not actually in the world's tribe. 236 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,080 And, and I, and I know that I've already mentioned this is a 237 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,480 mixed bag of of devotion to Christ. 238 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,560 All of us probably waver, but many of you already know this 239 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:50,920 message. Many of you already know that 240 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,640 there is an absolute cost of exclusion to your social classes 241 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,920 if you're too Christian. It is why people prefer to be 242 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,320 what Jesus calls lukewarm. This is why people are like, 243 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,560 yeah, I'm a little Christian. They wouldn't say that This is 244 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,200 why people are like, I go to church, but I'm I'll never tell 245 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,240 anyone about it. I'm never going to offend my 246 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,000 coworkers. I'll never let my neighbors 247 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,000 know. And the fundamental reason for 248 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,120 that is because you know what Jesus is saying. 249 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,240 You know that if you actually picked up your cross and 250 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,000 followed him, regardless of what people thought, it would 251 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,720 actually cost you some social points. 252 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,360 And so this is I'm just confirming what you already 253 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,120 know, but the now the invitation is to say, now the real question 254 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,960 is not whether or not you'd lose friends or the approval of 255 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,920 neighbors is is it worth it? Is it actually worth it to do 256 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,880 what Jesus told his disciples would happen? 257 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,760 And as you ponder that question, let's consider a few more things 258 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:50,360 on the list. They'll hate you, they'll 259 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,840 exclude you, he says they'll revile you. 260 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,040 Revile is to insult, to speak abusively, to shame you 261 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,320 publicly. And so our our once again, not 262 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,120 can't celebrate much about our culture. 263 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,360 One of them is the comment section. 264 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,000 We get to see what reviling looks like. 265 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,760 Look at it, everyone. If you have the wrong opinion, 266 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,640 there's reviling, there's shame. There's someone who is who's 267 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,480 who's being called out as being of the wrong thought. 268 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,720 And it goes on to just publicly shame. 269 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,240 And he actually attaches to that cast out your name as evil. 270 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:27,040 It's your name on the line. They're going to call you by 271 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:31,320 your name and say, did you hear? And I get the experience of 272 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,200 going, you know, the point of the arrow on a lot of the 273 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,000 messages because I stand on the stage. 274 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,800 And so I get to I get to experience some of this in like 275 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,560 low hanging fruit kind of way. But, you know, I was not always 276 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,040 a preacher. I spent years being a normal 277 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,320 reveler of life. And I've heard the things people 278 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,280 say about Tucker Mail. Did you hear about Tucker Mail? 279 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,760 I heard he's a cult leader now, you know, sorry, guys, I guess 280 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,480 you know, that's on you, too. But did you hear about Tucker 281 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Mail? He's like turned into a 282 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,880 religious fundamentalist. It's really strange. 283 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,480 I'm like, whatever, I don't care. 284 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,000 Sometimes I do care. But when the Holy Spirit is 285 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,520 working on my heart, I realized that that was a cost that I was 286 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,200 willing to pay to stand before people and preach the gospel and 287 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,000 admit that the real name is Tucker Mail. 288 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,600 And those who know me that think I'm crazy, I'm just going to 289 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,560 have to live with that. And so are you. 290 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,080 People are going to say things about you and they're going to 291 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,520 say your name, and it's going to hurt your fleshly feelings and 292 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,080 it's going to hurt not only because of a comment section, 293 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,080 but look what he says again. The Scrooge just keeps getting 294 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,440 tighter and tighter on what he's actually predicting his 295 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,560 followers will experience for bearing his name. 296 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,360 They're going to exclude you, revile you, cast you out and 297 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,200 cast out your name, and then he's going to say they're 298 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,880 actually going to call you evil. This is not just a matter of 299 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,760 religious opinion. This is not something that you 300 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:56,840 can say, well, this is just my world view and I understand your 301 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,200 world view. Your world view according to 302 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,320 Jesus, will be thought of as evil. 303 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,720 And we know that from the very beginning that Jesus gave this 304 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:10,920 message. The disciples would experience 305 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,119 this, the early church would experience this from every 306 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,560 single direction. The first church had to deal 307 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,800 with the the, the Roman Empire that they lived in and all of 308 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:27,400 the slander that was put on these strange people who talked 309 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,360 about eating the body and the blood of their leader. 310 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,200 And they called each other brother and sister. 311 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,440 Even if they were married, it seemed as this cannibalism and 312 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,520 incest and they didn't bow the knee to Caesar. 313 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,240 So they were anarchists and all of the things that people could 314 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,440 look in and say they're strange turns into evil and they had to 315 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,440 bear that. And it wasn't just from the 316 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,640 direction of the pagans, it was from the direction of the their 317 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,400 fellow Jewish people who are unbelieving. 318 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,640 Their fellow Jewish people thought they were heretics. 319 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,240 They thought they had abandoned the law and they followed A 320 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,040 cursed man who hung on a tree who was dead in his grave. 321 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:08,000 And they were all delusional. And the message has survived 322 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,240 such hatred and evil speak for 2000 years. 323 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,760 And it's not because the evil speaking went away, it's because 324 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,840 the Holy Spirit fills people to endure through what will happen 325 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,520 when you actually stake your life on the claims of Jesus and 326 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,720 you call him your Savior and your Lord and your Lord and you 327 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,640 say his teachings are real in my life. 328 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:35,280 And I can give you one verse that if you absolutely with with 329 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,360 abandoned put your faith and made your message to your 330 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:41,520 neighbors, friends and coworkers, you would experience 331 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,080 some of what Jesus is saying. It says in John chapter 14 verse 332 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,240 6 for all of you who sang praises to Jesus today, you 333 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:54,360 believe in this narrow gate. Jesus said I am the way the 334 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,880 truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through 335 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,160 me in that one verse. I have absolutely cut against 336 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:10,680 the grain of all of the cultural message, the way that that would 337 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,840 be called objective morality, that there is actually a design 338 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,360 that your life is meant to live by, that there are commandments 339 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,080 that are not optional. There are teachings of Jesus 340 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:22,840 that are not just good advice, good ideas. 341 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,440 This is the way to live your life. 342 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,440 And if you violate that way, then you're outside of God's 343 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,160 will for your life. Tell that to a relativistic 344 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,960 culture, that there's a way. There's a way for marriage, 345 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,760 there's the way for parenting. There's a the way for the way 346 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,800 that you handle your money, the way for your commandment to 347 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:53,160 forgive, to reconcile, to hope in the future, to engage with 348 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,800 the affairs of the world. There is a way that Jesus says 349 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,160 is the way, and you're going to cut against the grain of culture 350 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,640 to live under that message. He says it's the truth. 351 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,280 There is a moral objective and there is objective truth. 352 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,080 And once again, I'm equipping you to be very unpopular in your 353 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,640 day to listen to this message. And I'm not giving you a message 354 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,080 to, to, to unlock the secrets to financial success, to get more 355 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:26,560 friends, to have more business. I am helping you unlock a way to 356 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:31,200 find the narrow gate that's full of unpopularity, moral truth. 357 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:34,360 Our culture says, well, this is my truth. 358 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,600 That's your truth. Jesus says there is the truth, 359 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:44,360 it's Jesus, there is a truth. The truth is, is that we have 360 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:46,200 all fallen short of the glory of God. 361 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,640 Every single one of us are qualified sinners. 362 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:52,400 That's the truth. The truth is that not one single 363 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,680 person can save themselves. We are all in need of a savior. 364 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,600 And the truth is, is there's one Savior. 365 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,200 There is not many roads that lead to Rome, that lead to 366 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,000 heaven. There is one Savior, the Lord 367 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,680 Jesus Christ. The truth will set you free, but 368 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:14,040 first it'll make you really mad and you are people who are 369 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,040 following in the way and the truth. 370 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:20,200 And now Jesus says go make a bunch of disciples, take the 371 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:25,120 message to unreached people groups, to cultures that are 372 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,360 outside of your own, and the world will look at you and they 373 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,920 will say you are Christian colonizers and your message is 374 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,640 evil. But Jesus says no man comes to 375 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:43,160 the Father except by me. The message is a message of a 376 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,960 narrow gate, that the wrath of God is poured out against all 377 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,320 ungodliness. But the love of God is free for 378 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,680 all who repent and believe. That message will set you free, 379 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,120 and that message will cost you friends. 380 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,280 And this brings us to the reason for rejection. 381 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,760 Read with me verse 22. Blessed are you when men hate 382 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,600 you and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your 383 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:17,560 name as evil. Why for the son of man's sake. 384 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,960 This is not a license for all of you to hook up the fire hose of 385 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,040 truth and blasted at anyone you want. 386 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,480 And when people respond with the the the hurt that would come 387 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,920 from that, you say, well, I'm under persecution now you can't 388 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,360 handle the truth. This is not a license for us to 389 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:47,160 be condemning and unloving and messengers with no regard for 390 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,360 the kindness of God that leads to repentance. 391 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,280 Jesus says in John chapter 15, if you were of the world, the 392 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,080 world would love its own yet because you are not of the 393 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,880 world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world 394 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,800 hates you. Remember the word that I said to 395 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:05,720 you, A servant is not greater than the master. 396 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,040 If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. 397 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,960 The servant is not greater than the master. 398 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,240 This whole series is actually called the way of Jesus and what 399 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,080 we see in every blessing is Jesus perfecting them. 400 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,960 Jesus perfected the hatred of enemies and turned it into the 401 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:28,960 love of a Savior, and we are only blessed in the way that we 402 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,360 experience. The downstream from that is if 403 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:36,360 we are servants of the Master, meaning we represent His heart 404 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,920 and His character. We we consider the way that He 405 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,560 would approach the lost and dying sinners of our world, and 406 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,320 we do everything unto His honor and glory. 407 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:54,880 In other words, not every rejection is blessed, not every 408 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,800 way you were experienced. Conflict in this world can be 409 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,920 attributed to Christian persecution. 410 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,800 Peter actually gives this message to the church that he's 411 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,880 writing to, speaking in the same manner, the blessing of 412 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,000 suffering for the name of Christ. 413 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,320 But he says in verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer 414 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,720 or a thief, an evildoer or a busy body and other people's 415 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,760 manner matters. If anyone suffers as a 416 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:22,400 Christian, let him not be ashamed. 417 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,640 So let him glorify God in that matter. 418 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:26,880 You see what he says? He says don't suffer For these 419 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,520 reasons. Don't suffer because you're 420 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,280 murdering people. You're stealing from people. 421 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,440 You're you're, you're, you're sowing seeds of evil in the 422 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,480 community that you live in and that you're a busy body and 423 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,040 other people's matters. So side note, seems like that 424 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,800 list is kind of all equal murderers and gossips. 425 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,320 It's like, watch out. And he says that's not a reason 426 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,920 to suffer. It's not a reason to say, man, 427 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:56,680 it's so hard to be a Christian. And this message is not for some 428 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,880 of the the trivial ways that we see the culture turning against 429 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,160 God. You know, if you're if you're 430 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,560 barista doesn't say Merry Christmas, but says happy 431 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,760 holidays, there's no reason to go off on that. 432 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:11,000 Just turn the other cheek. Keep walking. 433 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,400 Jesus still loves you. The world still hates you has 434 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,640 nothing to do with what your barista puts on your Starbucks 435 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,360 cup. And down the line, there's all 436 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:22,720 sorts of ways that we've been so used to the comfort of Christian 437 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,360 culture that as we lose a little bit of ground, we're like, Oh my 438 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:27,960 goodness, what's happening. What's happening is that we're 439 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,240 actually experienced the world as it usually is around the 440 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,160 world. And one of the reasons I think 441 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,200 it's so powerful to to pray for the underground church and to 442 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,600 send workers into that field is so they can give a report that 443 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,840 there are people connected to this corner of the Kingdom that 444 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,080 we get to pray with and and serve and and build up and and 445 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,400 and teach the commandments of God to that are going through 446 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,280 actual count the cost persecution in this world. 447 00:25:54,760 --> 00:26:00,320 And they are blessed for it and they are receiving joy because 448 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,920 of it. There is a reason, and the only 449 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:08,200 reason is if we are radically in love with God and intimately 450 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,600 following Jesus. And that leads us now to the 451 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,280 response that Jesus gives all of us. 452 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,480 The response itself is a blessing, he says, in that when 453 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:24,120 that happens, when you actually experience your name so closely 454 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:26,680 associated with the person of Jesus that you have to 455 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,440 experience some of the world's hatred, he says rejoice in that 456 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,240 day and leap for joy. This is a great thing. 457 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,360 This is this is not likely to be on our list that we put in the 458 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:44,480 category of what makes us joyful and excited, leaping for joy. 459 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:49,160 But Jesus says there's something happening in your life when 460 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,280 you're so closely associated with him that you're willing to 461 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:57,440 suffer for him that will give you joy in your life with the 462 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,960 right perspective. And that's what he's going to 463 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,360 give us as as we as we consider the end of this. 464 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,520 But first let me just once again for my own heart and mind when 465 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,120 this happens. Let's just consider what he 466 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:15,520 doesn't say. He doesn't say to you know, get 467 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,040 angry and and fire back and Christian destroys atheists and 468 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,960 and and and be depressed or sad or or or at all surprised and in 469 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,520 all of the ways that the common reaction for for mean things 470 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,920 that happened to your life is to is to do one of those negative 471 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,040 responses. Jesus says don't do it. 472 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:44,200 Don't go there just rejoice be overjoyed and here's the why we 473 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,480 read the verse in first Peter. Peter actually gives some 474 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,080 clarity on why this is such a exciting thing to happen to your 475 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:54,240 life, says if your reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are 476 00:27:54,240 --> 00:28:00,120 you for the spirit of glory and God rests upon you. 477 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,960 On their part he's blasphemed, but on your part he's being 478 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,560 glorified. Now I've already pointed this 479 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,120 out. There's coming a day when we'll 480 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:16,240 have a much clearer idea of who our fellow believers are in 481 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:22,560 Christ. And when that day comes, we are 482 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:28,280 going to get in our own lives an answer to a question that I hope 483 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,520 you all wrestle with at times in the culture of Christian 484 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,120 comfort. Do you ever wrestle with Lord? 485 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:39,720 Am I really with you? Am I really devoted at all costs 486 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,600 to following you if you ever wrestled with that question? 487 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,640 Well, if you do, one of the things that you can examine your 488 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,840 life by is the Sermon on the Mount, the Sermon on the plane 489 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,960 in Luke chapter 6. It is not a sermon designed to 490 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:56,520 tell you how to get into the Kingdom. 491 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,840 It is not a sermon that says, you know you're a Sinner, you 492 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,400 need to repent and there's the love of God that will give you 493 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,320 grace to newness of life and a preview of the cross and 494 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,400 resurrection. It's not a sermon of the 495 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:13,480 function of salvation. It's a sermon for you and for me 496 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,400 to have a vision of what a Christian looks like. 497 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,880 This is what it looks like. This is how you can examine your 498 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,640 life and say, I've experienced that. 499 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,880 I've seen that in my life. And that in itself is a blessing 500 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,280 for you to know that you're with Christ. 501 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,400 And that's why as we read in the very end of the of the the 502 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,840 Scripture we read, he says at the end of verse 23, rejoice and 503 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:40,840 leap for joy. Why? 504 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,640 For in like manner their fathers did it to the prophets. 505 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:51,600 You're being counted in the number of the people that God 506 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,520 uses. And this is usually what happens 507 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,280 when someone is used by God. Study the life of the prophets 508 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,960 and what you will find is people who had a message of God's love, 509 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,440 of God's warnings of the way to live. 510 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,600 And he says, and Jesus says, blessed are you because the 511 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:15,320 exact same things happened to you that happened to them last 512 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:16,800 year. This time we were in Hebrews. 513 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,440 Remember, we did the Hebrews Hall of Faith, Hebrews Chapter 514 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,280 11. Much of it is is just the heroes 515 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,800 of the faith that we think of is the big names. 516 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,400 And they'll have the longest lines of people wanting to talk 517 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,120 to them in heaven. I don't think that will actually 518 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,120 happen, but sometimes you're like, oh, I can't wait to see 519 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,120 Abraham. I can't wait to see Moses. 520 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,040 But he ends the. Hall of Faith, simply by saying 521 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:43,120 this is more of a category, and here's a mark of someone who's 522 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,080 really living by faith, said Still others had trials of 523 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,440 mockings and scourging, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 524 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,400 They were stoned, they were sewn into, they were tempted, they 525 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,640 were slain with the sword. They wandered about in 526 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,720 sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, 527 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,360 of whom the world was not worthy. 528 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:06,720 Blessed are you that's. What they did to the Father, the 529 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:14,000 prophets before you, of whom the world was not worthy, you are 530 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,560 being separated by God, volunteered by the world. 531 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:21,960 For some other place. Than this one. 532 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,920 It's the story. Of God's people from the 533 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:29,640 beginning to the end when he's returning. 534 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,680 And so he gives 2 reasons that we can respond with joy. 1 You 535 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,400 just look back and see this is how God's people are greeted 536 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,280 when they have a message from God. 537 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,840 You're in great number. Rejoice that you've been counted 538 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:46,880 worthy of the sufferings of Christ. 539 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,720 Look back. But he also says look forward. 540 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,760 The sermon. Scripture this morning ends. 541 00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:01,440 We'll look at the last part when he says rejoice in that day, for 542 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,720 indeed your reward is great in heaven. 543 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,480 And I will. Say this once again. 544 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:11,520 And I say once. Again, because the first time I 545 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,280 really. Brought the sermon. 546 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,640 On the mount to our church this year was during Easter. 547 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:18,760 You know, we went down the whole thought experiment. 548 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,920 If Christ didn't raise, what would the consequences be? 549 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,320 And Paul says if he didn't raise, the consequences would be 550 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:28,280 that you are the most to be pitied because you've staked 551 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:33,360 your life on teachings that only work if suffering is temporary 552 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,040 and they're far outweighed by an eternal glory. 553 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,360 None of. Your life in Christ works if 554 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,560 there is no heaven. None of it will. 555 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,640 Work. If you're continually measuring 556 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,280 your success and your blessings by how well your life is going 557 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:55,160 right now or for the next 80 years, the you have to have in 558 00:32:55,160 --> 00:33:00,000 your mind that whatever you lose in following Christ, whatever 559 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:05,080 you have exchanged from this world, to follow Jesus with your 560 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,280 whole life. Will be followed with. 561 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,600 Indescribable joy of eternity, and that's why he says for great 562 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:19,920 is your reward in heaven, to suffer in this earth. 563 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:22,960 As a follower of. Jesus. 564 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:30,000 Only makes. Sense if you believe that your 565 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,120 greatest reward, your greatest treasure, your greatest honor, 566 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,280 we'll be meeting God face to face and having him say well 567 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,680 done. Enter into my joy. 568 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,120 And I'm so grateful. As we were singing, considering 569 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,120 all of this that we in in a preview of this message, the 570 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:52,200 chorus of our church was viewing. 571 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,120 A day you all said. And all the earth will shout his 572 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,880 praise, do you? Understand what you're saying. 573 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:04,080 That you made sense of this life by allowing your soul to 574 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,120 consider this coming day. It's not today. 575 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:08,639 The earth is not shouting His praise. 576 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,760 We're weird, but there's coming a day when all the earth will 577 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,520 shout His praise, and you will be counted in that number. 578 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,239 Leap for joy because the glory of God is upon you now, and 579 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,679 you're reminded of that as you're being separated from the 580 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,360 world for His glory for eternity. 581 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:29,000 Thanks for joining us. Today, if you would like to 582 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,920 watch the full service, check out the link in the description. 583 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,199 For next steps and to learn more, visit calvaryboise.com.