1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,230 Ah, yeah. Well, good morning, everybody. 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,650 Thanks for that message, Deb. That was awesome. 3 00:00:05,180 --> 00:00:09,270 Once you turn your Bibles with me to Philippians Chapter one, a 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,650 little letter in the middle of the New Testament. 5 00:00:11,660 --> 00:00:14,770 If you're having trouble knowing where that is, table of contents 6 00:00:14,780 --> 00:00:16,730 on the screen help you to get there. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,190 Last week we started a message series and New Year's message 8 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,390 series called Living the Life. Question, Are you living the 9 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,980 life, friends? Are you living the life? 10 00:00:27,990 --> 00:00:30,850 We're talking about the Christian life, but we're not 11 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,720 talking about the things that we do in the Christian life 12 00:00:33,730 --> 00:00:36,080 specifically, as important as those things are. 13 00:00:36,130 --> 00:00:40,750 But we're talking about the life behind the Christian life. 14 00:00:41,630 --> 00:00:44,920 What gives us spiritual vitality, what gives us the 15 00:00:44,930 --> 00:00:48,470 energy and the unction and the power to live out the Christian 16 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:49,660 life. That's what we're talking about 17 00:00:49,670 --> 00:00:53,080 today. And last week is Deb spoke about 18 00:00:53,210 --> 00:00:56,040 we introduced this idea of crossing the line that that 19 00:00:56,090 --> 00:01:02,610 everything begins when we crossover from death to life. 20 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,250 That's where it all begins. You know, Jesus, John 524 says 21 00:01:07,260 --> 00:01:10,630 very truly. I tell you, whoever hears my 22 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:16,830 word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not 23 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:22,720 be judged, but it's crossed over from death to life. 24 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,690 I remember that moment in my life when I heard the word of 25 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:31,080 Christ and I believed Him who sent Him. 26 00:01:31,090 --> 00:01:33,110 Everything became God, became real to me. 27 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,590 I remember the moment became very real to me. 28 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,570 Suddenly I realized that God was not just an idea, not just a 29 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:43,750 concept, but He was a person who was real and He cared for me. 30 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:51,370 He loved me, He was near to me, and he was involved in my life 31 00:01:51,380 --> 00:01:52,860 and I could turn to him at any moment. 32 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,370 And this realization that he took on flesh and came to the 33 00:01:58,380 --> 00:02:03,910 earth to die in my place on a cross was like, whoa, I've heard 34 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,950 about a Jesus and I heard about a cross, but I did not connect 35 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,610 that with my own life. And suddenly it just became real 36 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:12,750 to me. All my sins were nailed to the 37 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,010 cross of Jesus Christ and were buried with him was like I was 38 00:02:16,060 --> 00:02:18,410 crucified with him and he brought me to new life. 39 00:02:18,420 --> 00:02:23,070 When he rose from the dead, He opened up a way for me to be not 40 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,940 just forgiven and not condemned, but for me to be approved as a 41 00:02:27,950 --> 00:02:31,840 dear child of God and to be given a new life. 42 00:02:31,850 --> 00:02:33,740 Like everything changed for me. Everything. 43 00:02:33,750 --> 00:02:37,460 It was like I had been living black and white all my life up 44 00:02:37,470 --> 00:02:39,110 until that point. Third year university. 45 00:02:39,890 --> 00:02:43,400 Suddenly everything became like colour to me, vibrant colour. 46 00:02:43,580 --> 00:02:48,660 The the sky was blue or the the clouds were whiter and the trees 47 00:02:48,670 --> 00:02:50,600 were greener. You know, you think, OK, well, 48 00:02:50,610 --> 00:02:55,110 John, that's spring, right? This was in the middle of winter 49 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:56,910 in in British Columbia, by the way. 50 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:01,490 But everything became new and fresh and new and vibrant to me. 51 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:05,220 People were more beautiful. I had a joy that could not be 52 00:03:05,230 --> 00:03:07,440 taken from me. And it still hasn't been stolen. 53 00:03:08,660 --> 00:03:12,690 A joy, not just in general, but a joy in serving people. 54 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:17,990 Like just enjoying the idea and the action of loving and caring 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:19,930 for people and seeing, seeing their joy. 56 00:03:20,220 --> 00:03:24,330 Something from the outside had come into my life. 57 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:30,620 Life had entered into my life. This is what the apostle Paul 58 00:03:30,630 --> 00:03:33,130 was talking about. Galatians chapter 2 verse 10. 59 00:03:33,140 --> 00:03:39,000 He says I was crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but 60 00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:42,220 Christ lives in me. That was my experience. 61 00:03:42,230 --> 00:03:44,900 Now I ask you, what has been your experience? 62 00:03:44,910 --> 00:03:46,730 If you call yourself a Christian, what has your 63 00:03:46,740 --> 00:03:49,100 experience been? I will tell you one thing. 64 00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:50,950 Your experience may not be exactly the same as my 65 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:52,470 experience. In fact, Helen, guarantee that 66 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,180 it's not exactly the same as my experience, because all of us 67 00:03:55,190 --> 00:03:56,460 are very, very different in that way. 68 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,030 You may not be able to point back to a moment in time where 69 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,350 there's this dramatic moment where you crossed over from 70 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,390 death to life. I didn't feel anything different 71 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:10,020 in particular, but you did cross over and that's the question. 72 00:04:10,030 --> 00:04:11,280 That's that's the main question for us. 73 00:04:11,290 --> 00:04:14,250 Did you have you crossed over from death to life? 74 00:04:14,260 --> 00:04:17,079 Some of us know it for sure. We're totally confident. 75 00:04:17,149 --> 00:04:18,500 I have crossed over from death to life. 76 00:04:18,510 --> 00:04:21,220 I know it. Others of us know for sure that 77 00:04:21,230 --> 00:04:23,550 we have not crossed over from death to life. 78 00:04:24,330 --> 00:04:27,440 And then there's others of us who are just a little unsure, 79 00:04:27,930 --> 00:04:31,860 not not, not very sure. What are the signs that would 80 00:04:31,870 --> 00:04:35,250 indicate that I have been that I've crossed over from death to 81 00:04:35,260 --> 00:04:36,990 life? What are what are we what are we 82 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,910 looking for? There are, you know, in the 83 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,810 medical community, we talk about vital signs. 84 00:04:41,820 --> 00:04:44,090 Mark, can you mind coming up? I know we haven't talked about 85 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:47,480 this, but let lie out, lie out here, right on the line. 86 00:04:47,490 --> 00:04:49,590 Just lie out there we go. Very good. 87 00:04:49,660 --> 00:04:51,590 Now, if I was if I had. Thanks, man. 88 00:04:51,820 --> 00:04:53,430 He's a good sport. If I was to come into the 89 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,510 sanctuary right now and see Mark lying down, my first thought 90 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,640 would be Marks falling asleep in the middle of my sermon. 91 00:04:59,650 --> 00:05:01,190 I mean that that might be my first thought. 92 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,930 But when I come over and really. And I just put your head down, 93 00:05:04,310 --> 00:05:05,400 stop. OK. 94 00:05:05,570 --> 00:05:08,360 And and I say, hey, Mark, Mark. Yeah. 95 00:05:08,370 --> 00:05:09,460 There you go. Mark. 96 00:05:09,470 --> 00:05:12,860 Any there's no response. I would start to worry a little 97 00:05:12,870 --> 00:05:15,000 bit, like this is more than just a deep sleep. 98 00:05:15,010 --> 00:05:18,480 Is this guy, is this guy dead? And so how would I check to find 99 00:05:18,490 --> 00:05:20,200 out if Marcus still living or not? 100 00:05:20,270 --> 00:05:23,270 And so I'd go down and maybe, I'd maybe listen to his voice. 101 00:05:23,310 --> 00:05:24,850 Getting really intimate with you, bro. 102 00:05:24,990 --> 00:05:28,000 Yeah, Not listen to his voice. Listen to his breathing. 103 00:05:28,010 --> 00:05:29,640 Is he breathing? Or maybe I'd check for some 104 00:05:29,650 --> 00:05:32,620 vital signs or feel this actually, these are cold hands. 105 00:05:32,750 --> 00:05:35,870 Is is this body cold or warm? Is he alive or is he dead? 106 00:05:35,950 --> 00:05:37,490 It had check for these vital signs. 107 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:38,830 Thanks, man. That's good. 108 00:05:38,890 --> 00:05:40,220 That's all. Thanks for that. 109 00:05:40,230 --> 00:05:46,480 Yeah, there's certain vital signs that we're looking for 110 00:05:46,490 --> 00:05:49,040 from a physical standpoint, but there's also vital signs that we 111 00:05:49,050 --> 00:05:52,610 can look for spiritually. What are those vital signs? 112 00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:55,250 We wanna take of just a few moments this morning to do a 113 00:05:55,260 --> 00:05:57,320 little bit of a spiritual assessment. 114 00:05:57,980 --> 00:06:01,330 Where are there signs of spiritual life in my life? 115 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,910 And where are there signs of perhaps spiritual death that 116 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,370 need to be addressed? And we're going to look at 117 00:06:07,380 --> 00:06:10,310 somebody's life. We're gonna look at someone who 118 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,580 we know has crossed over from death to life. 119 00:06:12,590 --> 00:06:15,380 And it's Apostle Paul. And he's written this little 120 00:06:15,390 --> 00:06:17,890 letter to the church in Philippi. 121 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,000 And Paul, you need to know, realizes that he's in prison and 122 00:06:22,010 --> 00:06:27,870 he's awaiting execution. Now when you're in prison 123 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,860 awaiting execution, would you call that a very difficult 124 00:06:30,900 --> 00:06:32,500 circumstance? That is a challenging 125 00:06:32,510 --> 00:06:34,920 circumstance. And whenever we are challenged, 126 00:06:34,930 --> 00:06:38,090 when we're facing heavy duty, circumstances are real. 127 00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:40,230 Colours tend to come out, don't they? 128 00:06:40,460 --> 00:06:46,890 The real me is shown. The real Paul is revealed in 129 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:49,280 this letter, and it is beautiful. 130 00:06:49,970 --> 00:06:52,260 And so we're gonna take a look at, I'm just gonna point out 131 00:06:52,270 --> 00:06:57,560 three spiritual vital signs that we see in the apostle Paul. 132 00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:02,380 And I'm not gonna be pointing out things that he did is 133 00:07:02,390 --> 00:07:06,610 important as you know, as as our actions or behavior are very 134 00:07:06,620 --> 00:07:08,270 important. But what I'm gonna be pointing 135 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:13,070 out is he's what he wanted, His desires. 136 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,350 You see, when he moved, crossed over from death to life, his 137 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,950 desires began to change. There was a shift in the things 138 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:23,510 that he wanted. And that's what we're gonna look 139 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:23,910 at. And why? 140 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,350 Why that's so important is because when our desires change, 141 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,130 our behavior changes. What we actually do is a follow 142 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:35,600 through of what we really want. And so, Lord God in heaven 143 00:07:35,610 --> 00:07:39,060 above, we thank you for this glorious book we call the Bible. 144 00:07:39,130 --> 00:07:44,630 And we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to illuminate 145 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,220 this word, to awaken us to the truth and bring us, Lord, to 146 00:07:49,230 --> 00:07:52,300 that place of fullness of life in Jesus Christ. 147 00:07:52,570 --> 00:07:55,150 But we pray it in His name. Amen. 148 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,380 I'm in Philippians chapter 1 and we're gonna read from verse 12 149 00:08:00,390 --> 00:08:05,860 to 26. Everybody with me, We good now. 150 00:08:06,300 --> 00:08:07,810 This is what Paul. Paul's ready now. 151 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:11,120 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened 152 00:08:11,130 --> 00:08:12,270 to me. He's talking about being in 153 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:13,710 prison. What has happened to me? 154 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,810 He's actually served to advance the gospel. 155 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,750 Talk about a positive outlook. OK, as a result, it has become 156 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,600 clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone 157 00:08:23,610 --> 00:08:24,950 else that I'm in chains for Christ. 158 00:08:25,780 --> 00:08:28,870 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have 159 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,409 become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim 160 00:08:32,419 --> 00:08:36,830 the gospel without fear. Now it's true that some preach 161 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,039 Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 162 00:08:41,770 --> 00:08:44,620 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I'm put here for 163 00:08:44,630 --> 00:08:48,240 the defence of the gospel. The former preached Christ out 164 00:08:48,250 --> 00:08:51,840 of selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing that they 165 00:08:51,850 --> 00:08:53,940 can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. 166 00:08:55,740 --> 00:08:58,470 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in 167 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,150 every way, whether from false motives are true, Christ is 168 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,080 preached. And because of this, I rejoice. 169 00:09:03,090 --> 00:09:05,010 We're just gonna pause there for a minute. 170 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,150 You might be reading this and thinking people out of envy and 171 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,910 rivalry or preaching the gospel. It doesn't seem to make sense 172 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,650 and scholars are trying to put putting this together like what 173 00:09:14,660 --> 00:09:17,350 is happening here. We don't exactly know who he's 174 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,450 referring to, but we can maybe surmise a few options. 175 00:09:20,460 --> 00:09:23,210 One maybe like Paul was very popular. 176 00:09:23,620 --> 00:09:26,290 He was very well known and he was highly respected and now 177 00:09:26,300 --> 00:09:28,470 he's in prison. There may be others that saying, 178 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,090 you know what, I'm gonna take the Super apostle job of Paul 179 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,610 and I'm gonna preach the gospel in this place and maybe I'll 180 00:09:34,620 --> 00:09:36,750 become popular. So there's this kind of envy and 181 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,600 rivalry, sort of a selfish ambition that maybe there or 182 00:09:40,610 --> 00:09:44,120 perhaps it could have been that someone is mocking Paul, like 183 00:09:44,130 --> 00:09:45,940 Paul's in prison. I wanna make life even more 184 00:09:45,950 --> 00:09:49,120 miserable. And so I'm just like, you know 185 00:09:49,130 --> 00:09:51,580 what, the Apostle Paul, he's an idiot, right? 186 00:09:51,590 --> 00:09:54,200 He's an idiot. And he's preaching this gospel 187 00:09:54,210 --> 00:09:59,200 that, that, that God came in the flesh and, and he, Jesus Christ 188 00:09:59,260 --> 00:10:02,630 died on the cross to pay for your sins and he rose from the 189 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:03,860 dead. So you can have newness of life. 190 00:10:03,870 --> 00:10:06,740 Like how ridiculous is that? The gospel is still being 191 00:10:06,750 --> 00:10:09,550 preached, right, Even though the motives are not quite right. 192 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:12,240 We don't know exactly what he's talking about, but Paul is 193 00:10:12,250 --> 00:10:15,400 celebrating the fact that the gospel is getting out. 194 00:10:15,770 --> 00:10:18,280 Let's continue on. Verse 18 continues. 195 00:10:18,290 --> 00:10:23,060 Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through 196 00:10:23,070 --> 00:10:26,780 your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 197 00:10:26,930 --> 00:10:30,580 what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 198 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:35,710 I eagerly expect and hope that I will no way be ashamed, but will 199 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,350 have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be 200 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,770 exalted in my body, whether by life or by death, who love it, 201 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:49,020 whether I live or whether I die, as long as Christ is being 202 00:10:49,030 --> 00:10:51,020 magnified, that's the most important thing to me. 203 00:10:51,030 --> 00:10:53,900 Let's stop there and let's talk about the first vital sign. 204 00:10:54,710 --> 00:11:00,540 This first vital sign is what I would call impact, a desire for 205 00:11:00,550 --> 00:11:03,550 impact. In other words, I wanna get the 206 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:05,900 word out. That was Paul's heart. 207 00:11:06,030 --> 00:11:09,140 I want to get the word out about who Jesus is and what he has 208 00:11:09,150 --> 00:11:12,400 done for us. He wants others to come to 209 00:11:12,410 --> 00:11:14,740 Christ. Listen to what he says, verse 210 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:16,010 12. He says, now I want you to know, 211 00:11:16,020 --> 00:11:18,710 brothers, sisters, that what has happened to me is actually 212 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,890 served to advance the gospel. Like he's rejoicing over the 213 00:11:21,900 --> 00:11:24,180 fact that the gospel is moving forward. 214 00:11:24,190 --> 00:11:27,040 It's getting out to more and more people and others are being 215 00:11:27,050 --> 00:11:28,650 saved. Their eyes are being opened. 216 00:11:28,660 --> 00:11:30,530 They're coming into a relationship with God through 217 00:11:30,540 --> 00:11:32,260 Jesus Christ. It is awesome. 218 00:11:32,410 --> 00:11:35,480 He's celebrating the fact that even though the motives may not 219 00:11:35,490 --> 00:11:38,680 be right with some people, the gospel is still being preached 220 00:11:38,950 --> 00:11:41,960 and as a response, people are waking up to it and coming to 221 00:11:41,970 --> 00:11:49,710 Christ and becoming Christians. Paul is so like, you know what 222 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,360 evangelism is like, sharing our faith at the heart and soul of 223 00:11:53,370 --> 00:11:55,500 it. It's really about wanting others 224 00:11:55,510 --> 00:11:58,240 to know the joy of knowing Christ. 225 00:11:58,590 --> 00:12:03,460 Like Paul was enjoying Jesus and he just wanted others to enjoy 226 00:12:03,470 --> 00:12:04,980 too. Like, who wouldn't want to enjoy 227 00:12:04,990 --> 00:12:07,340 this? This is real life. 228 00:12:07,390 --> 00:12:13,160 And so he's sharing the gospel in another letter he wrote 229 00:12:13,170 --> 00:12:18,040 Romans chapter in Romans chapter 10, he he's quoting Isaiah 52, I 230 00:12:18,050 --> 00:12:21,540 believe it was. And he says, how beautiful are 231 00:12:21,550 --> 00:12:25,320 the feet of those who preach, sorry, who bring good news? 232 00:12:25,710 --> 00:12:30,250 How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news? 233 00:12:30,260 --> 00:12:32,030 I remember the first time I read that verse. 234 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:33,650 I thought, that's a little strange. 235 00:12:33,660 --> 00:12:36,150 Like human feet. I haven't seen too many 236 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,360 beautiful human feet. Maybe you do have some. 237 00:12:39,260 --> 00:12:40,340 You don't have to prove me wrong. 238 00:12:40,350 --> 00:12:42,710 That's quite alright. But but what what is what's 239 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:44,770 being said there? It it's that that anyone who's 240 00:12:44,780 --> 00:12:48,450 bringing the message of good news of Jesus Christ is 241 00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:52,050 actually, it's a beautiful thing that they're doing this like 242 00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:56,410 Paul is rejoicing in the act of bringing the gospel to other 243 00:12:56,420 --> 00:12:59,750 people. That, my friends, is a sign of 244 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,170 spiritual life. That is spiritual vitality right 245 00:13:04,180 --> 00:13:06,350 there. Now what? 246 00:13:06,420 --> 00:13:11,390 Think about that and just assessing yourself is that, 247 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,190 would that be true of you? Now, I'll just say that maybe 248 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,210 you have never led another individual to Jesus Christ. 249 00:13:18,260 --> 00:13:21,210 Maybe you're kind of operating a little bit out of fear of 250 00:13:21,220 --> 00:13:23,520 sharing the Gospel with other people because you're worried 251 00:13:23,530 --> 00:13:25,670 that you're gonna be judged, you're gonna be condemned, gonna 252 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:27,310 be looked down on, whatever it might be. 253 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,700 I don't wanna ruin the relationship or whatever, but is 254 00:13:30,710 --> 00:13:35,300 there still a desire? Do you have a desire that others 255 00:13:35,310 --> 00:13:38,290 would know? Do you have a desire to get the 256 00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:40,780 word out, even if you're having trouble getting it out? 257 00:13:41,030 --> 00:13:44,100 You know, there were a lot of people in Paul's day who had 258 00:13:44,110 --> 00:13:47,280 fear. I mean, if they were to open up 259 00:13:47,290 --> 00:13:49,600 their mouths about Jesus, maybe they're gonna land in jail like 260 00:13:49,610 --> 00:13:52,360 Paul did. But when Paul landed in jail, it 261 00:13:52,370 --> 00:13:55,750 actually became a super big inspiration to them to start 262 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,420 sharing their faith. Just look at down in verse 14, 263 00:13:58,430 --> 00:14:00,880 he says. And because of my change, most 264 00:14:00,890 --> 00:14:04,400 of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and 265 00:14:04,410 --> 00:14:07,400 dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. 266 00:14:08,230 --> 00:14:12,270 This is a very real thing, Fear. But is there a desire? 267 00:14:13,060 --> 00:14:16,990 Is there a desire that is a sign of life? 268 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,530 So if we were to look at that and look at the opposite of 269 00:14:19,540 --> 00:14:22,310 that, what are the signs then of spiritual death? 270 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,750 If if wanting to get the word out as a sign of spiritual life, 271 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,290 what about the sign of spiritual death? 272 00:14:27,300 --> 00:14:28,790 Is that we don't want to get the word out. 273 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,570 Is that we're not very excited about gospel advancement in the 274 00:14:33,580 --> 00:14:37,660 world. That the idea of having a 275 00:14:37,670 --> 00:14:41,080 concern for lost people, people that are apart from Christ, it's 276 00:14:41,090 --> 00:14:43,320 just not a concern about. It doesn't bother me. 277 00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:48,970 I'm living next to neighbors who clearly do not know Jesus and 278 00:14:48,980 --> 00:14:56,790 ohhh well, and I have no desire at all to talk to anybody about 279 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,710 Jesus. These are signs of spiritual 280 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,420 death. And and if, if you can resonate 281 00:15:01,430 --> 00:15:03,580 with those things, I would just say this is a little bit of a 282 00:15:03,590 --> 00:15:08,370 wake up call that to realize that these are more signs of 283 00:15:08,380 --> 00:15:12,120 death than they are of life. Let's let's keep moving on back 284 00:15:12,130 --> 00:15:15,530 up to verse 20, the parcel post says. 285 00:15:15,540 --> 00:15:20,150 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but 286 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,510 will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will 287 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,340 be exalted in my body, whether by death or by life. 288 00:15:27,510 --> 00:15:33,780 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 289 00:15:34,950 --> 00:15:37,960 If I'm to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful 290 00:15:37,970 --> 00:15:40,360 labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? 291 00:15:40,870 --> 00:15:42,880 I do not know. I'm torn between the two. 292 00:15:42,990 --> 00:15:45,720 I desire to depart and be with Christ. 293 00:15:45,730 --> 00:15:49,540 Which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I 294 00:15:49,550 --> 00:15:57,420 remain in the body, next vital sign, and that is intimacy. 295 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:02,190 Intimacy. I wanna know Christ more. 296 00:16:03,710 --> 00:16:07,940 Paul defines life in general as Christ being at the very centre 297 00:16:07,950 --> 00:16:10,500 of it. To me, to live is Christ. 298 00:16:10,510 --> 00:16:13,330 It's all about Christ. Doing life with Christ, doing 299 00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:16,840 things for Christ, allowing people to come to know Christ 300 00:16:16,850 --> 00:16:19,260 through me. Everything's about Christ, but 301 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:23,070 to die it's, it's even better because I'm gonna be with 302 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,150 Christ. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be close to 303 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:27,590 Christ. There's gonna be nothing in 304 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,150 between me and Christ. It's a win, win situation for 305 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:32,650 Paul. Whether I live or whether I die, 306 00:16:32,660 --> 00:16:34,070 it's a win, win. I've won. 307 00:16:34,900 --> 00:16:38,350 Can can you see that? Can you say that is a that's a 308 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,730 sign like he wants to know Christ more. 309 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,010 If I was to depart, it's better by far. 310 00:16:45,020 --> 00:16:47,920 Depart meaning if I was to die, it's better by far because I'm 311 00:16:47,930 --> 00:16:50,790 gonna really know Christ. Then later on chapter 3 verse 312 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,120 10, he says this. He says I want to know Christ 313 00:16:55,090 --> 00:16:56,880 and the power of his resurrection. 314 00:16:58,860 --> 00:17:01,930 I wanna know Christ. That word know means not just 315 00:17:01,940 --> 00:17:04,109 know about, but I wanna know experientially. 316 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:08,030 I wanna know personally this God, this, this, this Jesus. 317 00:17:08,339 --> 00:17:11,839 I wanna know Christ Now. Paul already knew Christ, but he 318 00:17:11,849 --> 00:17:16,140 wanted to know Christ more and the power of the resurrection 319 00:17:16,210 --> 00:17:19,940 life this is. He hungered to know Christ more. 320 00:17:20,030 --> 00:17:25,650 Is that true of you? That is a sign of spiritual 321 00:17:25,660 --> 00:17:28,540 vitality. I wanna grow in my knowledge and 322 00:17:28,550 --> 00:17:32,640 experience and understanding and appreciation of Jesus Christ. 323 00:17:33,370 --> 00:17:38,040 So if that's the case, what about the opposite? 324 00:17:38,190 --> 00:17:40,720 What are some of the signs of spiritual death? 325 00:17:40,770 --> 00:17:44,440 Is that I don't really care to know too much more about Jesus. 326 00:17:44,490 --> 00:17:46,330 I think I've heard enough, right? 327 00:17:47,580 --> 00:17:52,770 There may be little desire to pray, little desire to read 328 00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:57,990 God's Word, little desire really to enter into worship. 329 00:17:58,930 --> 00:18:00,920 Maybe somebody had to drag you here this morning. 330 00:18:01,270 --> 00:18:06,230 That's not a very good sign. That wasn't very good joke. 331 00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:12,600 Psalm 122. This is David speaking, he says. 332 00:18:12,710 --> 00:18:16,620 He says, I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the 333 00:18:16,630 --> 00:18:20,980 House of the Lord. David rejoiced over the thought 334 00:18:20,990 --> 00:18:24,740 of coming to God's house to worship God with his people. 335 00:18:24,810 --> 00:18:27,180 He rejoiced. He anticipated he was looking 336 00:18:27,190 --> 00:18:29,400 forward to it, as excited about it is. 337 00:18:29,410 --> 00:18:31,820 Is that you Now, the fact that you're here, this is a very good 338 00:18:31,830 --> 00:18:33,980 sign. Even if you were dragged here, 339 00:18:34,150 --> 00:18:36,960 that's alright, that's good. At least you're here, which is 340 00:18:36,970 --> 00:18:41,960 awesome. No, All that to say, little 341 00:18:41,970 --> 00:18:44,870 desire to pray, a little desire to get into God's world, little 342 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,700 desire to worship. There may be seasons of our 343 00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:50,220 life, like if your feet have been taken out from under you 344 00:18:50,230 --> 00:18:53,660 because of this, you know, or you've been blindsided by some 345 00:18:53,670 --> 00:18:57,320 horrific circumstance and you're totally disoriented in your 346 00:18:57,330 --> 00:18:59,580 life. You may have trouble praying. 347 00:18:59,950 --> 00:19:01,860 You may have trouble getting into God's Word. 348 00:19:01,870 --> 00:19:03,860 You may have trouble even entering into worship. 349 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,690 That's A season. If you if you're a follower of 350 00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:09,210 Jesus, that's A season and that season will pass. 351 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,810 What I'm talking about is this long standing lack of desire to 352 00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:19,430 pray, to talk to God, to read His word, and to gain something 353 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,190 personally from that and to worship. 354 00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:24,780 Those are signs of spiritual death. 355 00:19:26,270 --> 00:19:35,410 Um, no, some of us find a challenging with regard to 356 00:19:35,460 --> 00:19:37,790 relating to God. Like what does a relationship 357 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,680 with God look like? We might hear other people talk 358 00:19:39,690 --> 00:19:41,870 about their relationship with God and say, well, that's not 359 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,330 quite like it is for me. So am I really Christian Like 360 00:19:45,340 --> 00:19:47,490 we, we question that. I'll just say a couple of things 361 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:48,930 to that. One is, is that we're all very 362 00:19:48,940 --> 00:19:51,800 different. We all do relationships 363 00:19:51,810 --> 00:19:53,040 differently, every single one of us. 364 00:19:53,050 --> 00:19:55,760 God has made us differently and so we're gonna relate to him 365 00:19:55,770 --> 00:19:57,480 differently. There are some commonalities, to 366 00:19:57,490 --> 00:20:00,240 be sure, but there's so much that's different. 367 00:20:00,390 --> 00:20:02,880 You know, Mother Teresa. Would anybody doubt that Mother 368 00:20:02,890 --> 00:20:07,120 Teresa had crossed from death to life, totally committed her life 369 00:20:07,130 --> 00:20:11,310 to the ministry of Jesus, to the poor and destitute and the 370 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,640 disease in Calcutta, the streets of Calcutta? 371 00:20:14,660 --> 00:20:20,140 But when she passed away, in her journals you read that she had a 372 00:20:20,150 --> 00:20:24,200 lot of trouble with prayer, that though she did pray, she didn't 373 00:20:24,210 --> 00:20:27,820 hear the voice of God as much as she wished that she had. 374 00:20:28,230 --> 00:20:32,190 And very often she couldn't sense the presence of God, even 375 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,160 though she was doing the ministry of God in the streets 376 00:20:35,170 --> 00:20:41,010 of Calcutta. But she wanted more of Jesus. 377 00:20:41,660 --> 00:20:44,810 That's the difference. There was a desire there, no 378 00:20:44,820 --> 00:20:47,460 hunger to know more of Jesus. Even though there was a 379 00:20:47,470 --> 00:20:50,490 disappointment that she wanted more and wasn't experiencing 380 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:54,090 more, there was a desire. That's the vital sign we're 381 00:20:54,100 --> 00:20:58,050 looking for here. Do you want more of God? 382 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,130 Do you want more of God, or are you comfortable in the place 383 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:03,970 that you are at a distance from God? 384 00:21:04,490 --> 00:21:07,050 That's a very important question for us to consider. 385 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:13,450 Are we comfortable in behavior that is clearly not of God's 386 00:21:13,460 --> 00:21:15,200 behavior that we would consider sinful? 387 00:21:16,130 --> 00:21:18,440 No. For example, how are we dealing 388 00:21:18,450 --> 00:21:19,580 with our money? How are we? 389 00:21:19,590 --> 00:21:21,650 How are we? You know, we might think, well, 390 00:21:21,660 --> 00:21:24,440 I'm just very frugal and I'm a good steward of the money, but I 391 00:21:24,450 --> 00:21:26,740 will not part with my money. I will not be generous. 392 00:21:26,990 --> 00:21:32,270 God calls us to be generous on every occasion, and yet am I 393 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:37,070 generous? Maybe you're in an inappropriate 394 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,330 relationship right now. You're you're doing stuff that 395 00:21:39,340 --> 00:21:42,950 you know you shouldn't be doing, but you're comfortable there. 396 00:21:44,940 --> 00:21:47,610 You're OK with it. That's a sign of spiritual 397 00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:51,470 death. Maybe you are just locked up in 398 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,140 bitterness towards someone who has hurt you or maybe someone 399 00:21:54,150 --> 00:21:57,750 that you love and you cannot forgive them and you will not 400 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,510 forgive them and you're comfortable in that place, not 401 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,090 forgiving, which is totally, you know, in, in offence to the 402 00:22:05,100 --> 00:22:09,620 commands of God. That's a sign of spiritual 403 00:22:09,930 --> 00:22:14,280 death. Maybe it's pornography, maybe 404 00:22:14,290 --> 00:22:18,340 it's gambling, maybe it's some other addiction that you seem to 405 00:22:18,350 --> 00:22:21,960 be quite comfortable in right now and it doesn't bother you 406 00:22:21,970 --> 00:22:25,690 that it's a great offence to the God who has made you. 407 00:22:25,780 --> 00:22:27,230 That's a sign of spiritual death. 408 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,260 But, and here's the big butt, if it does bother you, maybe you 409 00:22:31,270 --> 00:22:34,420 are locked into. Maybe you're in bondage to to to 410 00:22:34,430 --> 00:22:38,400 porn or gambling or whatever it might be or to unforgiveness. 411 00:22:38,450 --> 00:22:42,590 But you don't wanna be. I want to know Christ. 412 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,600 I wanna grow closer to Christ. That is a sign of spiritual 413 00:22:45,610 --> 00:22:48,970 life, even if there is a challenge to follow through on 414 00:22:48,980 --> 00:22:50,700 it. And so we're called. 415 00:22:50,710 --> 00:22:53,690 Scripture calls us to acknowledge that fact and to 416 00:22:53,700 --> 00:23:00,050 confess our sin and to cry out to God and he will save all 417 00:23:00,060 --> 00:23:04,870 those who call to him. Flee it and then flee. 418 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,010 Flee from it with, with everything we have. 419 00:23:07,020 --> 00:23:08,590 OK, we gotta, we gotta keep moving here. 420 00:23:10,020 --> 00:23:14,130 Verse 23. I'm torn between the two, 421 00:23:15,110 --> 00:23:17,520 whether it's better to live or whether to die. 422 00:23:17,530 --> 00:23:22,130 I'm torn between the two of this part of my life, a desire to 423 00:23:22,140 --> 00:23:24,650 depart and be with Christ, which is better, but by far. 424 00:23:24,660 --> 00:23:28,210 But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body, 425 00:23:29,550 --> 00:23:31,980 convinced of this. I know that I will remain and I 426 00:23:31,990 --> 00:23:35,560 will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the 427 00:23:35,570 --> 00:23:39,590 faith, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in 428 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,760 Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. 429 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,240 That's where we're stopping. Last vital sign is love. 430 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,150 It's love. I want the best for my Bros and 431 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:58,010 sisters in Christ, right? I want the best for those who 432 00:23:58,020 --> 00:24:03,910 also call themselves Christians. This love, listen to it here, he 433 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,070 says. You know, hey, even though my, 434 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,350 my preference would be to be with Jesus Christ, I'm gonna be 435 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,330 put here and I'm gonna rejoice over because I'm gonna be here 436 00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:16,900 helping you to progress and to find joy in your faith. 437 00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:23,030 Paul had found the secret of joy and it was the joy of seeing 438 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:29,390 others joyful as a result of what he has done and you see it 439 00:24:29,460 --> 00:24:32,950 all the way through this letter, his deep love for the people of 440 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,790 God. Look back in verse 3 says I 441 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,130 thank my God every time I remember you in all my prayers 442 00:24:38,140 --> 00:24:40,870 for all of you. I always pray with joy because 443 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,260 of your partnership in the gospel. 444 00:24:44,130 --> 00:24:47,210 Down to verse 7, he says. It is right for me to feel this 445 00:24:47,220 --> 00:24:49,370 way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. 446 00:24:50,180 --> 00:24:53,550 And then down to verse 8, he says God can testify how I long 447 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:57,750 for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 448 00:24:58,100 --> 00:25:02,850 The apostle Paul, he loved the people of God and he showed it. 449 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,890 He had a desire. I want what's best for you. 450 00:25:05,900 --> 00:25:08,090 That is a sign of spiritual vitality. 451 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:12,450 It's actually, you know, what's explicitly spoken and in first 452 00:25:12,460 --> 00:25:16,670 John chapter 3 verse 14, it says this. 453 00:25:16,740 --> 00:25:22,050 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love 454 00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:29,660 each other. Sign of spiritual life is that 455 00:25:29,670 --> 00:25:32,820 of that we've crossed over from death to life is that we love 456 00:25:32,870 --> 00:25:34,340 each other. He's referring to love. 457 00:25:34,350 --> 00:25:37,170 He's talking, I mean love in general with all people. 458 00:25:37,180 --> 00:25:39,180 That's a given. But he's talking specifically 459 00:25:39,190 --> 00:25:42,160 about our love for other followers of Jesus Christ. 460 00:25:42,390 --> 00:25:45,760 Anyone who does not love remains in death. 461 00:25:47,350 --> 00:25:51,260 So what's the contrast here? If love is the sign of spiritual 462 00:25:51,270 --> 00:25:53,690 life, what's the sign of spiritual death? 463 00:25:53,700 --> 00:25:57,820 There's a lack of love that our love is has grown cold, that I'm 464 00:25:57,830 --> 00:26:01,600 now turned inward. My concern is for me and not for 465 00:26:01,610 --> 00:26:07,880 you, not not for others. And I have no real desire and 466 00:26:07,890 --> 00:26:11,400 don't feel really any need to connect with other followers of 467 00:26:11,410 --> 00:26:13,840 Jesus Christ to have fellowship with him. 468 00:26:14,030 --> 00:26:17,010 I'm perfectly content to come and worship on a Sunday morning 469 00:26:17,020 --> 00:26:20,640 because it's between me and God. But this between us and and each 470 00:26:20,650 --> 00:26:23,610 other, I'll leave that. I'll leave that for someone 471 00:26:23,620 --> 00:26:26,640 else. Now, you may have been burned by 472 00:26:26,650 --> 00:26:32,050 someone in the church. You may be in a season if you're 473 00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:34,240 a follower of Jesus. There are seasons where we may 474 00:26:34,250 --> 00:26:38,500 have trouble enjoying fellowship with other believers, and that 475 00:26:38,510 --> 00:26:42,050 can be OK for a time, but that's A season that's gonna pass. 476 00:26:42,780 --> 00:26:48,560 I'm talking about long standing lack of desire to love other 477 00:26:48,570 --> 00:26:50,780 fellow believers. That's a sign of spiritual 478 00:26:50,790 --> 00:26:53,520 death. But if there is a desire, even 479 00:26:53,530 --> 00:26:56,740 if we have trouble following through on it, which me 480 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,240 everybody does, that's a sign of spiritual life. 481 00:27:00,250 --> 00:27:03,320 OK, so let's, let's just step back from this just for a minute 482 00:27:04,570 --> 00:27:08,540 and realize that Paul is in incredibly stressful and 483 00:27:08,550 --> 00:27:10,300 difficult circumstances right now. 484 00:27:10,570 --> 00:27:14,100 I mean, I, I, I can't visualize a more, a more stressful 485 00:27:14,110 --> 00:27:17,080 situation, but notice how he approaches it. 486 00:27:17,350 --> 00:27:21,780 There's no poor me going on. He's not grown inward. 487 00:27:21,890 --> 00:27:24,980 He's not blaming God for what he's going through, what's 488 00:27:24,990 --> 00:27:27,050 happening. He sees this as an opportunity. 489 00:27:28,060 --> 00:27:35,140 It's an opportunity to get the word out and to get to know 490 00:27:35,150 --> 00:27:39,710 Jesus more and an opportunity to love my brothers and sisters in 491 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:40,760 Christ. Like here he is. 492 00:27:40,770 --> 00:27:42,890 He's in prison. If if you're this could be your 493 00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:44,270 last days, you're gonna be executed. 494 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,260 What's he doing? He's writing a letter to 495 00:27:46,270 --> 00:27:49,800 encourage other believers in Jesus Christ like with is that 496 00:27:49,810 --> 00:27:51,200 what you and I would be doing now? 497 00:27:51,210 --> 00:27:54,020 I just think this is that's a sign of spiritual life right 498 00:27:54,030 --> 00:27:57,810 there. Now we're going to find 499 00:27:57,820 --> 00:28:00,800 ourselves continually in places that we would rather not be, 500 00:28:01,940 --> 00:28:03,730 right? Whether it's in a hospital room, 501 00:28:04,390 --> 00:28:08,110 whether it's, you know, we're in a job that we don't like or 502 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:11,400 we're in a family that we can't handle or whether we're in a 503 00:28:11,410 --> 00:28:14,750 school that we don't fit in. You know, we we're in those 504 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,570 kinds of circumstances or maybe we're in jail. 505 00:28:20,140 --> 00:28:24,880 How will we respond and what response will that be? 506 00:28:24,890 --> 00:28:28,050 Will it show signs of life or signs of death? 507 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,470 And here's that invitation, that Jesus saying, come and have 508 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:38,380 life, come and have life. Believe me who I am, what I've 509 00:28:38,390 --> 00:28:40,600 done for you. Believe me that I've got you 510 00:28:40,610 --> 00:28:44,050 covered, because when you know you, I've got you that God's got 511 00:28:44,060 --> 00:28:47,040 us covered. Then we can go about getting the 512 00:28:47,050 --> 00:28:53,020 word out in drawing close to Christ and to love others. 513 00:28:53,350 --> 00:28:57,600 It's only when we believe that, when we know that, when we see 514 00:28:57,610 --> 00:29:02,350 that in other people, when we see these signs of, of life, 515 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,510 spiritual life and other people is not encouraging, is it not 516 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,450 inspiring. Dave, would you mind, mind 517 00:29:08,460 --> 00:29:09,750 joining me up here? Yeah, come on up. 518 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,470 I know when the last time is you had a conversation with my 519 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,770 friend Dave Snow, but we're gonna have a little mini 520 00:29:19,780 --> 00:29:23,290 conversation with him here today because you will likely have not 521 00:29:23,300 --> 00:29:26,490 left that conversation without in some way being inspired. 522 00:29:28,100 --> 00:29:32,050 So Dave is a member of Forest View and let's see here. 523 00:29:32,140 --> 00:29:35,770 We good, there is life. OK, there we go. 524 00:29:35,850 --> 00:29:39,670 That's here. But but some, some who are here, 525 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,590 Dave, may not know about your recent diagnosis and what are 526 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,430 the treatments that you're doing right now. 527 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,310 Just give us a little little update. 528 00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:52,610 Great, so last year about this time I started to feel really 529 00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:56,130 itchy all over my body. Said something to my Doctor 530 00:29:56,140 --> 00:29:59,570 Who's also a believer and he started to put me suit. 531 00:29:59,580 --> 00:30:02,880 Through some tests everything came back negative. 532 00:30:02,890 --> 00:30:06,740 He gave me a save for the itchiness and that carried on 533 00:30:06,750 --> 00:30:09,600 and on. And then around August of last 534 00:30:09,610 --> 00:30:12,400 year, I just started to feel myself getting a little bit 535 00:30:12,410 --> 00:30:17,840 weaker, notice that I had some more weight loss and sent my doc 536 00:30:17,850 --> 00:30:20,940 an e-mail. And I said, doc, I, I think, I 537 00:30:20,950 --> 00:30:22,220 think something's not right here. 538 00:30:22,230 --> 00:30:28,640 I need to get tested some more. And I said, if we tested for 539 00:30:28,650 --> 00:30:29,980 everything, he said, I'll get started. 540 00:30:29,990 --> 00:30:32,100 And so they did. They did the blood tests and I 541 00:30:32,110 --> 00:30:35,280 went back and forth for blood tests and various testings. 542 00:30:35,290 --> 00:30:37,400 He gets me back into his office in September. 543 00:30:37,410 --> 00:30:40,110 He says, Dave, he said, we've tested for everything. 544 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,530 You keep coming back negative. And I said, Doc, I'm feeling a 545 00:30:44,540 --> 00:30:46,610 little bit of abdominal pain as well. 546 00:30:46,620 --> 00:30:49,910 I said, have we tested for pancreas and liver? 547 00:30:50,140 --> 00:30:53,810 And he said, no, I have not yet ruled out either of those. 548 00:30:53,820 --> 00:30:56,430 And I said, well, I said I'd feel better if we did. 549 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,190 So I guess a couple weeks later, he sends me an e-mail. 550 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,470 He says, listen, tomorrow I'm in the emergency at Lincoln over 551 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,850 here. And he says, why don't you come 552 00:31:06,860 --> 00:31:08,590 by and I'll get you in for a CAT scan. 553 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:13,090 So so I did. And ironically, that particular 554 00:31:13,100 --> 00:31:15,770 day was feeling even more pain. I felt like there was something 555 00:31:15,780 --> 00:31:17,490 not right. And true enough, I had a bladder 556 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:21,550 infection as it turned out. And but he put me through the 557 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,710 CAT scan, through the whole process of being in the 558 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,150 emergency, came back to me that night and said probably around 559 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,050 midnight and said, and he looked like death warmed over. 560 00:31:32,140 --> 00:31:36,510 And he said, Dave, he said, you've got a bladder infection, 561 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,480 he said, but there is a a spot on the pancreas. 562 00:31:41,710 --> 00:31:45,950 And he said, he said it doesn't look good. 563 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:49,730 And he said you've also got a, a blood clot in the pancreas as 564 00:31:49,740 --> 00:31:52,530 well. I said, and I could tell he 565 00:31:52,540 --> 00:31:56,290 looked guilty. And I said, doc, I said, are you 566 00:31:56,300 --> 00:32:00,290 feeling bad here? He said, I feel terrible. 567 00:32:00,340 --> 00:32:04,190 I said, don't. I said, Doc, I am prepared for 568 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:08,750 this moment. I feel zero fear and no despair. 569 00:32:08,940 --> 00:32:13,230 I said, and you know as well as I, we have a promise of eternal 570 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,550 life. So this is just another day at 571 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,150 the office. I said I don't want you feeling 572 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,750 bad. It's all good. 573 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,230 What's the next step? So that's where we went from 574 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:23,910 there. Yeah. 575 00:32:23,980 --> 00:32:27,190 So pancreatic cancer. They later determined it was 576 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,870 stage 3, where I'm at right now as I finished my 2nd chemo 577 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,670 treatment. Tomorrow is in fact the third 578 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,420 chemo treatment. And if I may, first of all, if 579 00:32:39,430 --> 00:32:43,480 you ever feel extreme itchiness, take it seriously because as I 580 00:32:43,490 --> 00:32:45,860 read more and more about it, it's typically an early warning 581 00:32:45,870 --> 00:32:49,620 sign for cancer. And then abdominal pain is also 582 00:32:49,630 --> 00:32:53,340 not good. But the good news is, if you're 583 00:32:53,350 --> 00:32:56,710 going to get sick, this is absolutely the best place in the 584 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,800 world to get sick because the care is over the top. 585 00:33:00,850 --> 00:33:03,460 It's amazing, absolutely amazing. 586 00:33:03,530 --> 00:33:06,600 And the other thing to say about chemo is everything I'd heard 587 00:33:06,610 --> 00:33:09,340 was negative, but I don't feel negative. 588 00:33:09,430 --> 00:33:13,690 Had abdominal pain, I had back pain, all kinds of stuff before 589 00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:16,690 the chemo. And since the chemo started back 590 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,350 on December 12th, I've had no back pain, no abdominal pain, no 591 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:26,070 nausea, no nothing. The 1st 7 to 10 days is really 592 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,450 bad fatigue after the chemo and then I feel like the first day 593 00:33:29,460 --> 00:33:31,630 of spring. So today I feel great. 594 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,880 If it wasn't for the weight loss, I'm ready to run in the 595 00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:37,850 Olympics tomorrow. Except tomorrow's chemo day, so 596 00:33:37,860 --> 00:33:40,130 it ain't happening, right? So. 597 00:33:40,250 --> 00:33:41,930 But Dave, you've been given a diagnosis. 598 00:33:41,940 --> 00:33:44,630 Did they give you a time frame and how? 599 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,190 Right. So the good news is stage 3 600 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,620 means it's not stage 4. The other thing was they felt 601 00:33:51,300 --> 00:33:54,990 that it had not spread to other organs. 602 00:33:56,410 --> 00:34:00,740 So Amen to that. And and their hope is that they 603 00:34:00,750 --> 00:34:05,380 shrink it and then remove it. But listen, pancreas is a death 604 00:34:05,390 --> 00:34:09,380 sentence. It's let's less than 1% chance 605 00:34:09,389 --> 00:34:12,340 of survival. My prayer is not, I don't even 606 00:34:12,350 --> 00:34:17,420 think in terms of healing. My level of gratitude is off the 607 00:34:17,429 --> 00:34:22,199 charts for each day that I get. But also I feel prayers. 608 00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:25,940 I feel your prayers. I, I really do. 609 00:34:25,949 --> 00:34:28,120 It's very empowering. It's been incredible. 610 00:34:28,130 --> 00:34:32,620 This feeling of immense gratitude that I have total, 611 00:34:32,630 --> 00:34:36,960 complete lack of fear and despair and knowledge and 612 00:34:36,969 --> 00:34:41,920 conviction of not only my salvation, but the promise of 613 00:34:41,929 --> 00:34:43,600 eternal life is a beautiful thing. 614 00:34:43,690 --> 00:34:46,770 And so you know what I'm loving every day. 615 00:34:46,989 --> 00:34:49,179 It's all good. Where were we? 616 00:34:50,710 --> 00:34:59,880 I think you covered it bro. Definitely there's, you know, 617 00:34:59,890 --> 00:35:05,780 when I read these words of Paul, you know to live as Christ, to 618 00:35:05,790 --> 00:35:09,360 die is gain. If I'm to go on living in the 619 00:35:09,370 --> 00:35:11,130 body, some more fruitful labour for me. 620 00:35:11,140 --> 00:35:12,750 Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. 621 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,070 I'm torn between the two desired apart with Christ, which is 622 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,910 better by far, I think of you. Dave, Yeah. 623 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,570 Thank you. Listen, I I can't, I can't say 624 00:35:21,580 --> 00:35:24,750 enough about what a blessing it is to be at this church. 625 00:35:24,820 --> 00:35:28,810 From day one, from the moment I set foot in here, I felt 626 00:35:28,820 --> 00:35:30,530 welcome. This church is an amazing 627 00:35:30,540 --> 00:35:32,350 church. I've always felt it was a 628 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:33,870 special place. So thank you. 629 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:34,510 Thank you. Thank. 630 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,580 You thank you. You're a man of great. 631 00:35:36,700 --> 00:35:38,870 You're a man who's, you know, getting the word out. 632 00:35:39,050 --> 00:35:41,960 Be sure and continue to do that. But your man of great faith, 633 00:35:42,030 --> 00:35:43,800 yes, I know you believe in healing. 634 00:35:43,870 --> 00:35:45,840 Yes. Well, I, you know, it's, it's a 635 00:35:45,850 --> 00:35:47,860 funny thing. People, you know, think, OK, I'm 636 00:35:47,870 --> 00:35:49,600 always praying for you. To be honest. 637 00:35:49,610 --> 00:35:52,310 That is not something I ever think in terms of. 638 00:35:52,630 --> 00:35:59,050 I feel healed. The healing is, you know, first 639 00:35:59,060 --> 00:36:03,140 of all, his will be done. I told Jacob today, play that 640 00:36:03,150 --> 00:36:04,800 song. Your will be done every Sunday. 641 00:36:04,810 --> 00:36:07,820 I'm happy. But you know, the you know, the, 642 00:36:07,830 --> 00:36:11,820 the wonderful opportunity I've had in sharing my sickness is, 643 00:36:11,890 --> 00:36:14,980 you know, I feel worse for the people I'm telling than I do for 644 00:36:14,990 --> 00:36:18,070 me. But it's a wonderful open door 645 00:36:18,470 --> 00:36:21,780 to plant seeds. I don't think in terms of 646 00:36:21,790 --> 00:36:25,280 leading people to Christ. I never really have, but I do 647 00:36:25,290 --> 00:36:29,580 think in terms of seed planting, seed planting, seed planting. 648 00:36:29,750 --> 00:36:33,120 And I even tell people that I'm sharing when I share the story 649 00:36:33,130 --> 00:36:35,000 of the cross, I say, listen, I'll be honest. 650 00:36:35,130 --> 00:36:38,880 I I love to plant seeds. The day will come where every 651 00:36:38,890 --> 00:36:41,580 knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is 652 00:36:41,590 --> 00:36:43,800 Lord. I said, so right now I'm giving 653 00:36:43,810 --> 00:36:46,320 you the truth. You may not see that, but I'm 654 00:36:46,330 --> 00:36:49,400 preparing you to make the right decision when that time comes. 655 00:36:49,810 --> 00:36:53,800 And so that is what will happen. You now have that information. 656 00:36:54,070 --> 00:36:55,820 You'll be able to refer back to it. 657 00:36:55,830 --> 00:36:59,200 And on that day, you will make an 11th hour decision for 658 00:36:59,210 --> 00:37:02,970 Christ, no different than the criminals who said, Lord, take 659 00:37:02,980 --> 00:37:04,750 me with you. And Jesus said today you'll be 660 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:06,930 with me in paradise, right? Yeah. 661 00:37:06,940 --> 00:37:09,390 So it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, it's good. 662 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:10,770 It really is a beautiful. Thing. 663 00:37:10,780 --> 00:37:13,800 Anything else you want to share with the congregation, just give 664 00:37:13,810 --> 00:37:14,980 the opportunity. You shared quite a. 665 00:37:14,990 --> 00:37:16,420 Bit I. Do yeah. 666 00:37:16,490 --> 00:37:18,340 Yeah. One more thing I want to share, 667 00:37:18,530 --> 00:37:21,540 and that is that, you know Daniel, when he prophesied in 668 00:37:21,550 --> 00:37:27,340 420 BC that Mashia would come before destruction of the Second 669 00:37:27,350 --> 00:37:31,940 Temple. Well, 490 years later, 7 * 70 670 00:37:31,950 --> 00:37:35,170 biblical numbers. Of course the Romans destroyed 671 00:37:35,180 --> 00:37:39,190 the Second Temple 40 years earlier. 672 00:37:41,130 --> 00:37:46,460 You're sure was crucified. Another biblical #40 And so you 673 00:37:46,470 --> 00:37:50,710 could Google, and I did this morning, you could Google the 674 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:56,080 last year that God received animal sacrifice from the Jews 675 00:37:56,090 --> 00:37:59,060 on Yom Kippur, and you'd probably get two different 676 00:37:59,070 --> 00:38:00,980 answers. There's only 1 truthful answer. 677 00:38:00,990 --> 00:38:05,360 1 might be that it would be a D70 when the Second temple was 678 00:38:05,370 --> 00:38:07,460 destroyed. But no, that's not the truth. 679 00:38:07,470 --> 00:38:11,240 The truth is that the last time God received animal sacrifice, 680 00:38:11,450 --> 00:38:15,340 there were four points of confirmation that that God sent 681 00:38:15,390 --> 00:38:18,770 to the Jews so that they would know to always sacrifice on Yom 682 00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:20,450 Kippur. That is the Jewish Day of 683 00:38:20,460 --> 00:38:22,850 Atonement. The last year of animal 684 00:38:22,860 --> 00:38:28,740 sacrifice was 30 AD. The Jews have not sacrificed 685 00:38:28,750 --> 00:38:34,960 animals on Yom Kippur since 30AD, and of course we know why. 686 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:39,350 Doesn't get any better than that. 687 00:38:40,180 --> 00:38:43,150 Doesn't get any better. Proof of God is everywhere. 688 00:38:43,220 --> 00:38:44,870 Yeah, proof of God is everywhere. 689 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:49,570 Yeah, Father, we thank you for David and we thank you that his 690 00:38:49,580 --> 00:38:53,950 heart is still singing over the beauty of the gospel of Jesus 691 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,430 Christ and we pray that you would meet him in the place that 692 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,540 he is a prayer of blessing on on every part of his life. 693 00:39:01,550 --> 00:39:03,870 We pray you administer to to Carol as well. 694 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:07,910 Father, we thank you for the life that is being lived that 695 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,950 magnifies Jesus Christ. Lord, we do pray for healing for 696 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:12,830 day. We pray that he would have many 697 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,260 more years of life on this planet, but Lord, we thank you 698 00:39:16,270 --> 00:39:18,440 that he is in your hands and He knows it. 699 00:39:18,810 --> 00:39:21,580 Continue to magnify yourself through him. 700 00:39:21,630 --> 00:39:23,980 We thank you. In Jesus name we pray. 701 00:39:24,410 --> 00:39:25,800 Amen. Amen. 702 00:39:25,950 --> 00:39:42,450 Thanks brother. Bless you, Erwin McManus. 703 00:39:42,580 --> 00:39:44,860 Probably inspired by the movie Braveheart. 704 00:39:44,870 --> 00:39:46,600 You know William Wallace, he said. 705 00:39:46,610 --> 00:39:52,720 You know, the real tragedy is not that we might die young, but 706 00:39:52,730 --> 00:39:56,290 that we might live to old age and not truly live. 707 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:03,030 Jesus Christ is calling every single one of us to life, to the 708 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:07,720 fullness of life in Him. Are you alive in Christ? 709 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,450 Are you have you crossed from death or life? 710 00:40:10,460 --> 00:40:15,680 Are you experiencing that life? Maybe there's a pulse but you're 711 00:40:15,690 --> 00:40:18,610 barely breathing. Maybe you're bodies, maybe 712 00:40:18,620 --> 00:40:20,950 spiritual bodies is growing a little bit cold. 713 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,070 How do we restore those vital signs? 714 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:24,690 Just wanna close. Just with just a couple of 715 00:40:24,700 --> 00:40:28,210 things. First of all #1 bar none. 716 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,710 Absolutely critical. We need to, if we're in that 717 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:35,050 place where we see more signs of spiritual death and spiritual 718 00:40:35,060 --> 00:40:37,660 life, we need to call a code blue. 719 00:40:39,540 --> 00:40:41,890 If you're, if you're from the medical community, you know, a 720 00:40:41,900 --> 00:40:46,750 cold code blue is like this is a critical medical emergency that 721 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,850 requires immediate attention. Like it's not something that can 722 00:40:49,860 --> 00:40:53,020 be pushed off. It's like now something has to 723 00:40:53,030 --> 00:40:57,810 be done and I'm going to turn to the one who can heal me, and 724 00:40:57,820 --> 00:41:02,510 that is the Lord Jesus Himself. And to call on his name, to call 725 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:07,260 on his name to give you life, to breathe new life into you, 726 00:41:07,310 --> 00:41:08,920 that's number one. That's number one. 727 00:41:08,970 --> 00:41:13,920 Maybe it means seeking out the council of another wise believer 728 00:41:13,930 --> 00:41:15,940 and just to process these things together. 729 00:41:15,990 --> 00:41:21,550 But do something now and do not focus on the behaviors. 730 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,110 OK, I need to. I better read my Bible more. 731 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:26,230 I better be more generous. I need to, you know what? 732 00:41:26,380 --> 00:41:30,660 That's the outward stuff. That stuff comes as a result of 733 00:41:30,670 --> 00:41:32,810 the desires that change in our heart. 734 00:41:32,820 --> 00:41:37,450 We need to recognize that there are desires in our life that 735 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:43,940 militate against these desires. Getting the Word out, knowing 736 00:41:43,950 --> 00:41:47,590 Christ more, loving other people. 737 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:51,250 There are other desires that we have that rival those desires, 738 00:41:51,260 --> 00:41:54,370 and those are the desires we need to put on the altar. 739 00:41:54,580 --> 00:41:59,050 We need to acknowledge them and confess them and turn from them 740 00:41:59,140 --> 00:42:01,230 and ask for God's healing from them. 741 00:42:01,340 --> 00:42:05,550 That's where change happens. That's when we crossover from 742 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,940 life to death. That's when new spiritual life 743 00:42:08,950 --> 00:42:11,700 is breathed into us. So we what we need to do is take 744 00:42:11,710 --> 00:42:15,320 the the medicine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 745 00:42:15,750 --> 00:42:20,830 We need to hear that word of Christ and believe it, that He 746 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:25,780 loves you, that He cares for you, that He knows you, that He 747 00:42:25,790 --> 00:42:30,150 knows exactly what your struggle is, and that He has clothed 748 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:35,090 himself with flesh and has lived the life that we were intended 749 00:42:35,100 --> 00:42:36,700 to live. But all of us feel miserably at 750 00:42:36,710 --> 00:42:41,700 doing it. And He has had all of our sins 751 00:42:41,770 --> 00:42:44,780 nailed to the cross with Him, and He's brought them to death. 752 00:42:44,870 --> 00:42:49,490 And He has risen from the dead to conquer sin and death, to 753 00:42:49,500 --> 00:42:54,040 make a way for us to experience new life for all of us who put 754 00:42:54,050 --> 00:42:58,230 our trust in Him. No condemnation, not a sin being 755 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:00,870 counted against us. We have the approval of our 756 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,570 heavenly Father, and it requires nothing on our end to do. 757 00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,680 No works can get that. It's a gift of eternal life. 758 00:43:09,670 --> 00:43:13,750 Let that gospel captivate you. Don't just hear from me. 759 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,940 Get seriously read a few places in the Bible. 760 00:43:16,950 --> 00:43:20,470 Just recommend a few places. Romans chapter 8 might be a good 761 00:43:20,510 --> 00:43:24,680 passage to reflect on Romans 8. Another one, art preached on it 762 00:43:24,750 --> 00:43:28,740 before Ephesians chapter 1 and two, another great place to 763 00:43:28,750 --> 00:43:34,730 reflect on maybe John chapter 3. Reflect on these and allow God 764 00:43:34,740 --> 00:43:37,680 to speak to you and bring it to that place. 765 00:43:37,950 --> 00:43:42,680 A full acceptance of him. Thank him, thank the God, the 766 00:43:42,690 --> 00:43:47,090 Lord, celebrate him. Surrender your life to Him and 767 00:43:47,100 --> 00:43:49,810 purpose to worship Him. Let's pray, Let's pray. 768 00:43:51,260 --> 00:43:56,500 Father in Heaven, thank you for the gift of physical life, and 769 00:43:56,510 --> 00:44:01,100 we thank you, Lord, for the gift of spiritual life to all who put 770 00:44:01,110 --> 00:44:06,010 their trust in you. Bring us to that place of 771 00:44:06,020 --> 00:44:11,230 fuller, deeper trust that we would be so inspired that we 772 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:13,660 would want to get the word out about Jesus. 773 00:44:14,170 --> 00:44:19,010 Lord that we would want to know you more in the joy of walking 774 00:44:19,020 --> 00:44:21,310 with you. And Lord, that we would have a 775 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:26,170 love for your people and a love even for our enemies. 776 00:44:27,430 --> 00:44:30,180 There is a sign that heaven really has entered our heart. 777 00:44:31,940 --> 00:44:36,510 Call us to life, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.