1 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,800 Oh, it's nice seeing everybody if we haven't met. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,440 My name is Chris and this is Alice. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,440 And Alice is going to be speaking to us. 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,680 And yeah, it's just good to be here, isn't it? 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,600 Good to be together, Good to be following Jesus? 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:18,560 Best thing we can do with our lives. 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:26,600 And let's pray, Lord, thank you, that we've got this little 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,680 window of time now to be together and to sit in the 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:37,040 scriptures together and to we just say that we want to grow in 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:38,880 our faith. We want to grow in our 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,680 recognition of who you are. We want to give our lives to you 12 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,800 and be shaped by you. We want to be used by you for 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:49,560 your Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. 14 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:57,040 And we pray that this this next half an hour or so is a really 15 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:02,680 nutritious, satisfying, equipping time for us. 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:09,600 Feed us, inspire us. Holy Spirit, come and make, Come 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:15,160 and make Jesus name to us. Amen. 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,280 We're going through a series this year. 19 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,000 What is the good news? And kind of dovetailing in with 20 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,360 just started a course called the Introduction to the Trinitarian 21 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,320 Faith course, which definitely needs a better title, although 22 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:34,680 you trust it more, don't you? It's not into branding or 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,080 marketing in any way. If you've looked at any of the 24 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,560 films or anything, they're like, yeah, they're just kind of 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,760 trying to say what they believe. They really haven't thought 26 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,720 through the sales side of it. And what? 27 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,400 So what I've been doing is, and once a month going through 28 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:53,560 different aspects of what the good news could be for us, kind 29 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,600 of living as we are in our time and place. 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,520 Bill has been going through the book of Romans, What is the good 31 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,080 news? And Paul has been going through 32 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,080 what is the good news in terms of the reality of being rooted 33 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,199 completely and fully and and embraced within the Godhead, 34 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:11,880 within the, the love of the Father, Son and Spirit and what 35 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,880 that means. So it kind of they, they sort of 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,800 work together, but have slightly different emphasis. 37 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,880 We probably land in slightly different places. 38 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,720 We think that's a very healthy culture to wrestle through what 39 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,160 we think reality is. I think if someone claims a 40 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,240 monopoly on reality, then they are deluded. 41 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,640 There is one person who claims their reality. 42 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:32,560 His name is Jesus and we're all feeling our way towards him, 43 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,720 feeling our way towards that revelation. 44 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,040 But I think we have an image of a diamond that all of us can get 45 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,120 a facet, A glimpse, a colour, a way of representing it. 46 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,080 And that's why we submit to one another out of reverence for 47 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,640 Christ, because I will submit to you and and get something of 48 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,600 Jesus that I couldn't bring to the table and vice versa. 49 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:58,840 So what I'm going to bring is if it's all true, if any of it's 50 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,440 true, Jesus has to be bigger than Adam. 51 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:08,680 And I'm really excited by this slide because that's Jesus and 52 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:17,480 that's Adam Sadler. Just remember that for the rest 53 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,600 of your days. And if you ever meet him, you 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,760 can say you came up. But Jesus was bigger. 55 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,680 It it was actually impossible to get an image to try and explain 56 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,400 what I meant by Jesus being bigger than Adam. 57 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,840 Adam, death, sin, evil. The most horrific things that 58 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,600 humans have ever done and could do to each other is this little 59 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,280 speck compared to the omniscience, the omnipresence, 60 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,520 the omnipotence of the Christ apparently, who holds the cosmos 61 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:54,160 and holds us all together. It's just so mind blowing. 62 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:59,120 It's hard to use words to articulate this reality. 63 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,280 If this is true that Jesus is bigger than Adam. 64 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,720 However, in our actual lives, waking up this morning who had 65 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,400 an argument with a family member if you live with someone this 66 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,040 morning or not an argument Because some people don't argue, 67 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,480 do they? Like Chris doesn't argue, I 68 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,760 argue so how does that work? It's like I'm trying to argue 69 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,040 but there's no argument anyway. And then some people are like 70 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,840 two people who don't argue, but they're just really angry inside 71 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,400 anyway. So hands up anyone who had any 72 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,720 of that. If you're not living with, I'm 73 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,320 going to get to you people living on your own, don't you 74 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:38,920 worry. But if you're living with anyone 75 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,160 else from about 678 AM this morning, how many of you felt 76 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,720 frustrated with someone else in your life this morning? 77 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:48,840 Gosh, you're so godly. Look at you all. 78 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:54,240 There's only a few of us, both the Robinsons. 79 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,040 You have honesty, integrity and transparency all over your 80 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,600 family if you're living on your own. 81 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,480 Did someone just say, Claire, come up here and tell me what 82 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,000 your morning experience? What was it like being you this 83 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,000 morning? Do you want to share something 84 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,520 that wasn't? Maybe Adam was a bit bigger than 85 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:17,320 Jesus. I don't really know what. 86 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,680 It was like being me. I got back very late last night, 87 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,640 so it's very tiring being me this morning. 88 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,720 Yeah, yeah. But anyway, nothing new to say. 89 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,000 Sometimes you can get quite frustrated with yourself, 90 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,520 though. Even if you don't live with 91 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,080 anyone else, you can still get frustrated. 92 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,600 You see, aren't we? Aren't we problematic? 93 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,280 Us humans? We have a fundamental 94 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:45,960 restlessness we can't do the most basic thing of at all, 95 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:47,960 which is accept ourselves and love the people. 96 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,120 Apparently he we're supposed to love more than anyone else in 97 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,560 the world, and we can't even bear them sometimes. 98 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,560 There is a real problem called Adam. 99 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,040 That's Adam right there. We get up in the morning, we 100 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,760 don't know how to do life. We get across with the people 101 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,200 we're supposed to love. We get across with ourselves for 102 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:04,840 getting across with the people we're supposed to love. 103 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,960 We soothe it with addictions. This is Adam, and either that's 104 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,280 it and that culminates in communities, nations, 105 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,120 international disputes because it's the same old basic problem, 106 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,160 or Jesus is bigger than that. That that's the issue. 107 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,680 There isn't any other issue. There isn't any other way out. 108 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,280 There has to be someone, something, a way of life that's 109 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:35,520 bigger than that. So we love the idea of feeling 110 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,760 in control. Most of us humans, we want to 111 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,960 feel in control. We want to feel in control of 112 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,400 our relationships, our finances, our life. 113 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,680 We want to feel like things are working the way we wanted them 114 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,000 to work. But almost all the time we feel 115 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,320 like they're out of control. We feel like we lack agency. 116 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,520 We lack powerless. We are, we are powerless in the 117 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:58,920 way we kind of instinctively think we shouldn't be. 118 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:03,760 And that is happening in our own levels, in our own households, 119 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:09,800 in our own lives this morning. But also it is really bizarrely 120 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,080 happening. And it may be because we're, 121 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,600 we've, we're now in a world of such instant access to anything 122 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,320 going on anywhere that's obviously income generated when 123 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,480 it's the most click baity. So it may be that the world has 124 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,320 always felt incredibly unstable and we just are more aware of it 125 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,520 now because that that is extractive it people make money 126 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,120 out of our awareness of instability. 127 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,440 But in the last five years, we've experienced a global 128 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,520 pandemic for the first time since the Spanish flu in 1918 to 129 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,440 1990. We've experienced the first war 130 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,760 in Europe since the Second World War. 131 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,520 We've experienced the virtual collapse of the oldest and most 132 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,600 successful political party, the Conservative Party in history. 133 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,280 Whenever you think about the Conservative Party, it's it's 134 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,160 been named the British Conservative Party by other 135 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,440 liberal democracies as the most successful political party in 136 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,320 history because it was kind of like that was the party that 137 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,200 represented how the West works. We do liberal democracy and that 138 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,280 party that still gets voted in, still is kind of nimble, 139 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,360 flexible, works for the times, delivers whatever it delivers. 140 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,720 Over 2-3 hundred years is a sign that liberal democracy is 141 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:22,520 working. And we've seen that in our 142 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,440 country virtually collapse. We've tasted the beginnings of 143 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,400 physical violence, breaking out of the largest ideological civil 144 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,080 war that we've ever had within the West. 145 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,400 So we had the Civil War, if you remember the Cold War between a 146 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,240 Western way of thinking, which is kind of rooted in what I've 147 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,799 said, liberal democracy, capitalism, freedom of speech, 148 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,440 against what we called communism, which is more like 149 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:51,560 totalitarian governments seeking to redistribute economically 150 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,680 through through kind of big government, rather than 151 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,720 capitalism, which is trying to redistribute through big 152 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,880 society. And they were, and that was like 153 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,600 a civil war, but it wasn't within the West. 154 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,760 This is the first ideological civil war we've had within the 155 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:12,600 West. And now we're seeing it break 156 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,920 out into violence where people are kind of like it should be 157 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,760 violent. Actually, the with the 158 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,400 assassination of Charlie Kirk was very polarising. 159 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,400 But one of the things that people felt who were pleased 160 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,840 that he died is actually he's been verbally violent that 161 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:35,640 justifies physical violence. So that kind of unspoken social 162 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,280 contract we used to have, which is you have freedom of speech, 163 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,320 you have the right to say whatever you want to say as long 164 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:41,920 as you say it honourably and respectfully. 165 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,160 And then we have this debate and we may not agree with each 166 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,480 other, but but what you're saying isn't violent has now 167 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,720 changed. We assume anything that causes 168 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,880 harm to someone else, if that social, emotional, psychological 169 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,920 can be deemed violent and therefore can be retributed with 170 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,200 physical violence, that is changed. 171 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,240 That was not in the social contract 5-10 years ago. 172 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:10,480 It's not in the social contract. People aren't regretting it. 173 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,160 Some people are. I as a Christian D, but as a 174 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:22,160 Westerner, we've changed. So that's happening in the world 175 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,280 we live in. We've got the rise of 176 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,160 nationalism, including Christian nationalism for the first time 177 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,240 ever that I've heard of on the right in response to the hyper 178 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,760 progressivism that that kind of Co opted through the left. 179 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,040 All in the midst of the rise of China actually as the global 180 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,680 superpower, a climate emergency and then transition from the 181 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,680 industrial age to the technological age. 182 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:50,800 So all of this, we are living in such a seismic shift of how we 183 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:56,440 actually do live that is akin to the change from the agricultural 184 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,440 revolution to the industrial. That changed everything. 185 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,280 It changed how people worked, where people lived, how they 186 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,120 related to each other, how they related to themselves, as as 187 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,320 economic, as products, as people who create products. 188 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,200 Everything changed in the industrial revolution because we 189 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,160 were born into that. We don't realise the change that 190 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,760 that brought to our humanity, but we are living through 191 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,240 exactly the same thing. In the technological age, which 192 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,520 people will look at probably say in about 2007 in the launch of 193 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,600 the smartphone, it happened. And so we're living in 194 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,800 unbelievable instability. It's unprecedented and people 195 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,600 use that word, but it really is, this is really unprecedented. 196 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:35,840 Partly what I'm going to be touching on is AI. 197 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,040 We've created for the first time ever a super intelligence that 198 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,800 in terms of processing speed is infinitely more intelligent than 199 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:49,080 humans. And these are all kind of forms 200 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:50,960 of death. They're forms of Adam, 201 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:59,440 instability, insecurity, financial concerns, obviously 202 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,640 physical and verbal violence are forms of death. 203 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,440 The fact that because the AI sector has to deliver a profit 204 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,920 to their shareholder, it's not driven by human interest. 205 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,240 Is this going to be like really in the, in the, in the interests 206 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:25,520 of the person who's using this or even if that heart's there, 207 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,760 even if that spirit's there? And I think we all have a 208 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,440 conscience and I think we all care. 209 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,720 There's this market forces, I talked about them, the spiritual 210 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,440 principalities and powers that are bigger. 211 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:38,680 And actually there's just this drivenness to deliver a profit 212 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:41,840 to the shareholders, so to develop the sector for that aim. 213 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,920 So these are all, all forms of death. 214 00:12:53,760 --> 00:13:00,280 But what's really interesting is us humans are actually still the 215 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,200 same. We haven't had. 216 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,480 We might have done, we might not realise it had a chip in our 217 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:15,320 brains. But anyway, I don't think that 218 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,880 has happened. Yeah, yeah. 219 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:26,960 So ultimately we are still human, and apparently the 220 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:32,080 highest calling on a human is not knowledge, power, security 221 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,440 or control. It's the capacity to love and be 222 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:43,920 loved. So Jesus says in a time of 223 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:51,520 unbelievable upheaval and brutality and actually really 224 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:57,240 what happened to Jerusalem under the oppression of Rome around 66 225 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,880 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed, was was one of the most brutal 226 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:08,720 experiences in history. Like many people were killed, 227 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,960 many were enslaved, Jewish people under Roman oppression. 228 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,880 Eventually in about 160 they were kicked out of the region 229 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,040 and suffered horrifically. And Jesus says to his followers, 230 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,920 who at this critical moment of like, what does it actually mean 231 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,720 to be Jewish? Who is the Messiah? 232 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,600 Are you the Messiah? And he says to those people 233 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,560 thinking maybe he is. You will hear of wars and 234 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,600 rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. 235 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,200 Such things must happen. But the end is still to come. 236 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,400 Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom. 237 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,280 There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 238 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,240 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 239 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,200 So he's framing something when he uses the word labour pains, 240 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:00,320 he's framing pain redemptively birth pains. 241 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:08,120 That is a very different kind of framing to a kind of pain that 242 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:14,920 leads to death. So everything you've just heard, 243 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,760 warfare, pandemics, crisis, the drivenness to deliver a profit 244 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:25,240 to the shareholder, all of these he's reframing as potentially 245 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,960 birth pains that are going to heighten to such a degree that 246 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:32,800 they will actually deliver new creation. 247 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,440 They're going to birth something in and for and through humanity 248 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:39,800 that is fundamentally restorative. 249 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,040 Then you will be handed over to be persecuted. 250 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,280 You'll be put to death. We saw that happened in history. 251 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,640 The the blood of the martyrs, of the seeds of the church, and you 252 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,040 will be hated by all nations because of me. 253 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,040 At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will 254 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,760 betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear 255 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,400 and deceive many people because of the increase of evil. 256 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,920 The love of most will go cold. But the one who stands firm to 257 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:18,680 the end will be restored. Jesus is not dismayed by this 258 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,440 horrors, not only that his community are going to face, but 259 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:28,600 he himself is going to face. He knows what what will what 260 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,040 happen, what he has to go through to establish restoration 261 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,360 and redemption. He's taken all of that in 262 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:40,800 himself. Paul talked about this Paul golf 263 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,560 on the Trinitarian faith course on Wednesday. 264 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,920 This verse that is so true. It's one of those verses that's 265 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,440 so weighty and true. I sit in my life every day. 266 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,480 Since the children have flesh and blood sarks, humanity that 267 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,840 is subject to mortality and death, He too shared in their 268 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:03,360 humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who 269 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,560 holds the power of death, that is the enemy, the devil and free 270 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,880 those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of 271 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,240 death. Almost all our decisions are 272 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:19,240 made based on chronic, acute anxiety that we are going to 273 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,000 die. That's almost everything we do. 274 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,880 All our entertainment is just dispelling that reality. 275 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,240 We're just going to put that reality down, just be 276 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,960 entertained, because essentially we're going to die. 277 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,240 All our hoarding, all our fear of being generous, it's because 278 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,800 we think we're going to die. All our panicked parenting, it's 279 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,680 because we think we or our children are going to die. 280 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,600 Everything how we responded to the pandemic is about death. 281 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,400 Death literally is the master of us all. 282 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,840 Almost everything we do, we say, we think, we're motivated and 283 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,880 driven by this unbelievably profound self protecting drive 284 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:02,000 to evade or negotiate or somehow get out of this problem of 285 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:11,280 death. So Jesus has to be bigger than 286 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:15,000 that. Jesus has to be bigger than 287 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,120 Adam, who died, and in him we all died. 288 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,120 And Paul makes this claim, just as an Adam all have died, so in 289 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:30,040 Christ all will be made alive. So he's making this claim that 290 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,600 Jesus is bigger than Adam. It's not just about having a 291 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,800 nice life now, being kind to people, making the best that we 292 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,000 can with our heads down, and then we're all going to die. 293 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,120 And let's just make it rosy for as much as we can, for as much 294 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,800 of the world as we can, which is a secular humanist vision. 295 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:51,520 It's about something about that being so thoroughly conquered, 296 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,000 overcome and destroyed that we can actually live an 297 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:08,370 indestructible life. And Paul got this because he had 298 00:19:08,370 --> 00:19:12,890 an encounter with Jesus, because one of the things we're learning 299 00:19:12,890 --> 00:19:15,850 is this isn't something we can compute with our dark and 300 00:19:15,850 --> 00:19:18,210 alienated minds. That's controlled by death. 301 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,800 We need a an eruption of a spiritual revelation from within 302 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,480 that breaks out, realigns our thinking and breaks out into 303 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,600 good news for everyone else. This image of the river flowing 304 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,640 out of of Hope Chapel or flowing out of the temple, Jesus says 305 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,800 it's from here, from gut, from the depths of your being, 306 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,880 Streams, rivers of living water will flow and then that bubbles 307 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,360 up, realigns our thinking into reality. 308 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,680 But it doesn't start with our mind trying to work it out. 309 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,200 It starts with the revelation of a full and complete encounter 310 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:54,840 with Jesus who has been raised from the dead. 311 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,000 Paul had that. Paul the apostle had that moment 312 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,360 of encounter. He talks about it multiple times 313 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,320 in his writings. He testified to an encounter 314 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:06,920 with Jesus who'd been raised from the dead. 315 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,600 So when he's saying this, this isn't just a nice idea or a 316 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,760 philosophy or another way of dealing with the inevitable, 317 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,160 which is death, He'd actually. Encountered resurrection. 318 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,160 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remind you of the 319 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,600 gospel I preached to you, which you received on, on which you 320 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,400 have taken your stand by this gospel. 321 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,360 You have been saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to 322 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:32,920 you. Otherwise you have believed in 323 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,600 vain. And this formulation here, it's 324 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,520 probably written in maybe the 50s, is one of the oldest 325 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:43,840 formulations of the gospel. And it's so simple, so 326 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:49,960 beautiful, so profound, and so utterly incomprehensible for 327 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,560 what I received. I passed on to you as a first 328 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:58,320 importance, this bit, this bit that Christ died for our sins. 329 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,520 What does that mean? What is that? 330 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,080 How is that? Why is that? 331 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,160 Christ died for our sins. Something happened in the Christ 332 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:12,280 event. It's called us. 333 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,600 Call it the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that 334 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,240 fundamentally changed everything. 335 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,680 And we all know that. Even people who don't believe 336 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,160 that Jesus was who He says He was, everyone knows something 337 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,440 changed through the Christ event, and there's something 338 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:30,440 about his death for our sins that changed everything. 339 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,200 As I said the other night when I was hosting Paul in the course, 340 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:40,160 I think a lot about why Jesus died, why he died the way he 341 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,480 did. Christ died for our sins. 342 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:49,120 This is what Paul's giving us, that he was buried, that he was 343 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,920 raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 344 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,800 That's the gospel. That's apparently the solution 345 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,840 to Adam. Christ died for our sins 346 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,040 according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was 347 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,080 raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and 348 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,080 that he appeared to Peter or Cephas and then to the 12 after 349 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:13,920 that. He appeared to more than 500 of 350 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,640 brothers and sisters at the same time. 351 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:17,880 This is what we're wrestling with. 352 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,120 What is that? What the heck is that? 353 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,280 How can that solve this? Everything I've been talking 354 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,480 about, what does it mean? Christ died for our sins, that 355 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,360 He was buried and that He was raised on the third day. 356 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,840 Something about death being fully absorbed into Him in every 357 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,960 way, past, present and future. The Lamb that was slain from the 358 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,240 beginning of before the beginning of time, before the 359 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,880 foundation of the world had covered and atoned everything to 360 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,480 the end of the age that death was completely conquered because 361 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,000 death couldn't hold him. Because as we learnt, he's God 362 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,280 in human form, not just a higher form of humanity. 363 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,080 He's God in human form and God is life. 364 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,080 So God couldn't be killed. He had to be raised again. 365 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,080 He has indestructible life that cannot be dead and buried and 366 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,480 left there, unlike all of us. He had to explode back out 367 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,960 because he is life. Apparently that's reality. 368 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,240 Apparently that changed the world forever. 369 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,040 Apparently that's changing us forever. 370 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,200 And I know what's happened to each one of us is we've tasted a 371 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,520 deposit of it, guaranteeing what is to come. 372 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:32,160 We've tasted something. I I feel at the moment I'm just 373 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,280 seeing Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the 374 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,040 world. That phrases in me all the time. 375 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:38,840 It moves into tears. I'm like, I know there's 376 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,000 something in this. It's almost impossible to 377 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,360 articulate it or express it, but there's something in this that's 378 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,720 like an explosive atomic bomb just waiting to get out and 379 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:56,320 disrupt all of us from this horrific fear of death that's 380 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,760 just brutal and has mastery over us. 381 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,880 There's something about this that's wanting to explode out of 382 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:14,360 us. But if it is preached that 383 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:17,200 Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say 384 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,000 there is no resurrection of the dead? 385 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,200 This was an unbelievably foolish claim. 386 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:28,720 People claimed a lot of things in the 1st century Pagan Roman 387 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,760 mythology, but no one claimed in in physical human resurrection. 388 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:40,160 That was utterly foolish. If there is no resurrection of 389 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,240 the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 390 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,160 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is 391 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,600 useless, and so is your faith. It's something about the 392 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,160 resurrection of the dead that the whole thing stands or falls 393 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,200 on. There's something about the fact 394 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,560 that death doesn't have the final word. 395 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,640 That's a conquest of death and overcoming A resurrection that 396 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,120 changes everything. This isn't just a nice idea or a 397 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:06,320 nice way to live, or if you're a Christian, you'll be a nice 398 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,200 person. This is about resurrection from 399 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,680 the dead. Fundamentally, that's what it's 400 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,080 about. And it's about something that 401 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:17,880 happened 2000 years ago before we we were even thought of or 402 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,000 even involved. Something happened in history 403 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,320 when Jesus took on incarnation sarks. 404 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,360 He took on the flesh of the human condition. 405 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,760 He lived it. It he, he died, it died with 406 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,640 him, was buried and completely raised from the dead. 407 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,080 That somehow releases atonement to all of us. 408 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,040 Or it's nothing. It's nothing. 409 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,160 There's nothing. There's nothing beyond our 410 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:45,360 materiality. There isn't any other way to to 411 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,200 solve the problem of death. No other religion or worldview 412 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,000 can solve the problem of death. And in fact, none of them even 413 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,440 want to or try to. Only this extraordinary claim is 414 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,720 saying that problem is there, and that problem's been solved. 415 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,960 More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God. 416 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,880 For if testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, 417 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,040 but he did not raise him, if in fact the dead are not raised. 418 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,920 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised 419 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:15,320 either. And if Christ has not been 420 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,840 raised, your faith is futile. You're still in your sins. 421 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:21,360 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 422 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,040 If only for this life. We have hope in Christ. 423 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,400 We are of all people to be most pitied. 424 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,480 You don't need to lay down your life, your job. 425 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,000 You don't need to lay down your marriage or the way you work. 426 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,600 You don't need to think about your mind, you all of that. 427 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:37,600 You do. We do because we believe in 428 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,760 resurrection. If we're just trying to follow 429 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,000 Christ now, why the heck wouldn't you just eat, drink, 430 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,920 and be merry? Because tomorrow we die. 431 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,280 That's the that is the world view of death, and that is how 432 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,960 most people live. And if we're actually what we 433 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,720 it's been called practical atheists in that we say we 434 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:56,800 believe in resurrection, but essentially we don't. 435 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,080 We're most pitied. We don't get to eat, drink and 436 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,920 be merry for tomorrow we die. And we've laid down everything 437 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,760 for the gospel, which we don't believe in, hot or cold, but 438 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,520 lukewarm. I'll spit you out of my mouth 439 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,400 like it's either true or it isn't. 440 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,120 And if it isn't true, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we 441 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:16,720 die. For Christ has indeed been 442 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,920 raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen 443 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,240 asleep. For since death came through a 444 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,880 man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 445 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:33,120 For is in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, 446 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,440 but each in turn Christ the first fruits. 447 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,400 Then when He comes those who belong to Him, then the end will 448 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,920 come, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after 449 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,640 he's destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 450 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,640 For He must reign until he has put all his enemies under His 451 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,600 feet. The last enemy to be destroyed 452 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:58,120 is death, for He has put everything under His feet. 453 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,280 Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is 454 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,280 clear that this does not include God Himself who put everything 455 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,160 under Christ. When He has done this, then the 456 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,720 Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under 457 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,200 Him, so that God may be All in all. 458 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,240 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 459 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:21,120 If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 460 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,680 It is written the first man, Adam, became a a living being, 461 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,680 the last Adam a life giving spirit. 462 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,480 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and 463 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,520 after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of 464 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,280 the earth. The second man is of heaven. 465 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,920 As was the earthly man, so are those are of the earth. 466 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,200 As is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 467 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,760 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so 468 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,720 shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. 469 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,680 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that Sark's flesh and 470 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,080 blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable 471 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,960 inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery. 472 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,400 We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, 473 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,520 in the twinkling of eye at the last trumpet. 474 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,720 For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised 475 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,640 imperishable, and we will be changed. 476 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,600 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, 477 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,480 and the mortar with immortality. When the perishable has been 478 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,160 clothed with the imperishable and the mortar with immortality, 479 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,040 then the saying that is written will come true. 480 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,600 Death has been swallowed up in victory. 481 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,520 Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? 482 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,920 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 483 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,400 But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord 484 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,920 Jesus Christ. And I've put this last verse 485 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,000 we're going to read now because according to Steve Covey, the 486 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,200 Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we live with the end in 487 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,760 mind. Whatever we think the end in 488 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,280 mind is, we'll in frame and inform everything we do. 489 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,720 And I mean what we really think the end in mind is not all we 490 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,600 kind of think, but what we really think, what our actual 491 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:04,400 actual belief system is. This is why I do everything I 492 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,520 do. This is why I've made the 493 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:12,480 decisions I've made. This is why I've chosen the life 494 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,520 I've chosen, If you can say that I think He chose me. 495 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,720 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. 496 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,680 Let nothing move. You always give yourselves fully 497 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,240 to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the 498 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,120 Lord is not in vain. It changes everything. 499 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,120 It's why people took out their coffins to countries who didn't 500 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,040 know about Jesus. It's why people from the 501 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:41,120 Moravian movement who enslaved themselves to hang out with 502 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,920 enslaved people and share the good news about Jesus. 503 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,920 It's why people went and just immediately died of diseases 504 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,520 knowing that they would because of Jesus. 505 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,480 It's about the people in the first few centuries. 506 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,320 It's about Paul going to Nero and saying you're not Lord. 507 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,640 Jesus is Lord. At some point he'd broken 508 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:04,400 through death as his mastery into the resurrection, enough to 509 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:15,480 take the bullet for Jesus. I just don't know how much I've 510 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:17,040 been scraping the surface of that. 511 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,920 So I've said I've made some decisions, but in the last few 512 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:25,520 weeks I've been thinking a few months, how much am I convinced 513 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,640 by the resurrection of the dead? That's my journey, that's my 514 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,600 curiosity. Is that real? 515 00:31:53,610 --> 00:31:56,810 So what I want to do is really we want to have some ministry 516 00:31:56,810 --> 00:32:00,010 time. Now for some of us, there are 517 00:32:00,010 --> 00:32:03,890 big things that we we find incredibly difficult and really 518 00:32:03,890 --> 00:32:07,170 struggle with it, like climate anxiety people, some people 519 00:32:07,170 --> 00:32:09,810 really struggle with that. The rise of Christian 520 00:32:09,810 --> 00:32:11,690 nationalism, some people really struggle with that. 521 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,000 The grip of hyper progressivism. There are big things that 522 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,120 certain people struggle with. We want us to. 523 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:23,000 They are pain points for us. Other people, it's actually a 524 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:28,840 lot more personal, a lot more, not deep, but a lot more 525 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,000 vulnerable. Maybe in terms of our actual 526 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:36,480 lives, there may be some relationship pain points we're 527 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:41,640 in. There may be real, real anxiety 528 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:46,160 about money that grips us and keeps us awake at night or 529 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,280 something we may have done or thought or said or shame. 530 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:54,960 And when we're on our own in a dark place, that's the thing 531 00:32:54,960 --> 00:33:03,520 that's ruling us. And I want, I want this time for 532 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,880 us to, to begin to make that move from unbelief to faith, 533 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,400 from death to life, from Adam to Jesus. 534 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:17,680 I want for us all the repentance is, is a metonoid reframing in 535 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:24,920 the light of reality to see clearly that extraordinarily 536 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:29,640 brutal and vulnerable thing in our lives, in the light that 537 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,320 Jesus is bigger than Adam. And I think Lazarus does, sorry. 538 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,560 Jesus does this beautifully with Adam, with Lazarus. 539 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,080 So Lazarus was a very close friend. 540 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,480 He loved him. He was often hosted in the house 541 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,800 and he felt he only does what he sees the Father doing. 542 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,920 And he knew he was ill, He knew he could heal him. 543 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,280 But the Father said don't go, don't go, don't go. 544 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:55,160 He dies and then he dies for four days, which is really dead. 545 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,800 Before that you could get a resuscitation in. 546 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,200 By day four you're in the tomb, you're decaying, you are dead. 547 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:07,320 The only option is resurrection and Jesus has to try, as the 548 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:12,520 humanity of Jesus has to trust that his status, his his reality 549 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,360 is the beloved son. So much to go. 550 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,760 I'm not going to go, I'm not going to go, I'm not going to 551 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:17,960 go. He goes. 552 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:22,679 His son, his friend has died. He weeps, he's broken hearted. 553 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,320 He he he meets death and he grieves it because it's not 554 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:28,800 right that his friends should die. 555 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:31,800 Everything in your life that you're thinking about now is not 556 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,880 right. That is not what we're designed 557 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,920 to do or bear or carry or know about or experience. 558 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,880 Our bodies simply can't handle the weight of mortality. 559 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,239 We're not designed for it, and it kills us. 560 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,840 So he wept, and then he moved to a place where Jesus was bigger 561 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,080 than Adam and he physically raised Lazarus from the dead. 562 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,640 People think at the political, social level was the thing that 563 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,920 got him crucified because that that was just too 564 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,880 discombobulating, too costly, too disruptive for the religious 565 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,600 elite at the time. This person really does have 566 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:16,360 resurrection power. We've got to kill him because 567 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,600 Rome will take our temple and our nation. 568 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,160 So with the the thing we're thinking about that we want to 569 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,360 pray through and pray through with someone else, I want us to 570 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,560 think about that moment for Jesus with Lazarus where he is 571 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:37,000 able both to weep, to lament, to bring his complaint, to be 572 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:42,960 bitter and open and honest and travail and cry and have those 573 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:47,480 labour pains that you think you're going to die, you think 574 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,560 you're going to die, you do. I think there's something in 575 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,240 labour pains. You're supposed to think you're 576 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:58,440 going to die because it's a kind of metaphor of the birth pains 577 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,320 of suffering that bring about new creation, where you have to 578 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,360 go through death to get to the resurrection. 579 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,840 Jesus talks about it in John 14. He says a woman is in anguish 580 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,520 until her time has come. Everything in this age is a 581 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:12,040 metaphor for reality. And I think labour pains, what 582 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,800 you think are going to die, is part of a daily experience for 583 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,760 so many people, so many people around the world forever. 584 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,840 That there is death is not the end, there's always 585 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,160 resurrection. Everything can be framed by 586 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,360 labour pains, giving birth to new creation. 587 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:34,840 So I want you to hold that thing and feel the complaint and the 588 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,760 grief and the sadness. And then I also want you to pray 589 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,200 with someone. Hold someone, put your arm 590 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:46,120 around someone and pray. Just pray. 591 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,320 Jesus can be bigger than Adam in that thing. 592 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,200 Pray for resurrection in that thing, Pray for healing, 593 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,680 restoration, whatever it is that Jesus wants to do to show he's 594 00:36:55,680 --> 00:37:00,920 bigger than Adam in that area. So it could be a big area that 595 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,400 you find extremely difficult. It could be a very personal 596 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:09,720 area, but I don't want anyone to go away today unless they want 597 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:13,880 to because we always have agency believing that Adam is bigger. 598 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,880 If you have agency, you do have agency and you want to believe 599 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:25,720 this is a moment of transaction where you can say get me to to 600 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:29,240 such an encounter with Jesus that I can believe in 601 00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:34,200 resurrection. So I'm going to pray now. 602 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:37,280 And what we're going to do is you can either find someone near 603 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,200 you to pray with or you can come up to the front. 604 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,880 I'll pray crystal pray other people where we, we mobilise 605 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:45,080 here. We believe in every member 606 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,160 ministry. So everyone's authorised to 607 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,920 minister and to pray. But sometimes we want to pray 608 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:52,560 with someone who almost who doesn't know. 609 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,040 And other times we want to pray with someone who does know. 610 00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:58,560 And that's we respect both those approaches here. 611 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,840 So I'm going to pray and then we're going to minister to each 612 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,200 other. Lord, we just, we just need 613 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,320 breakthrough revelation of who you are. 614 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,680 We need what Paul had on the Damascus Rd when he was going to 615 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:17,440 kill and put followers of the way in prison and he encountered 616 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:22,480 you in such a way that he death wasn't the end for him anymore. 617 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,240 That he believed in resurrection and he lived the rest of his 618 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,160 life towards that end. And he would say things like to 619 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:32,360 I'm torn. It is better for you communities 620 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,880 of believers that I live. But if I die, I will be with 621 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,960 Christ, which is better by far. He had something he'd 622 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,440 encountered, someone that changed him forever. 623 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,640 And we need that. We need that for ourselves. 624 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,720 And Lord, all of us are in the birth pains. 625 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,800 All of us are in pain in different areas for different 626 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,160 reasons. And so we invite you, Holy 627 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,800 Spirit, as our counsellor, as our comforter, as we pray for 628 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:01,480 each other and minister to each other now that Adam is bigger 629 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:05,760 than Jesus, that the river of life that flows from the temple 630 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:10,120 is able to heal and bring back to life the dead things that 631 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:17,160 they are small in the river. Glorify your name, magnify your 632 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:21,280 name, reveal your reality to us in such a way that we can come 633 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:26,240 into agreement with Paul and say Christ was raised from the dead. 634 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:28,920 Amen.