1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,960 Good morning everyone. It's good to see everyone who's 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,360 here today. We're thankful that you can be 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,200 here. We're thankful that our God is 4 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,120 still on his throne and thankful that all the words that we've 5 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:14,040 sung about and prayed to him are true and heard by the Father 6 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,640 that's in heaven. This morning. 7 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,600 I, as I prepared for this study, I, I have to admit to you, my 8 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,680 brain was a little scattered throughout the week. 9 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,240 As I'm sure many of you, you had a lot on your mind and, and a 10 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,880 lot happened this week and that's going to work its way 11 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:30,880 into my lesson somehow. It can't not. 12 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,280 But as we begin, I just want you to know that I'm not talking 13 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,320 from a political perspective. If you hear anything come up and 14 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,400 maybe you you've heard things regarding the events with 15 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,320 Charlie Kirk or maybe you have opinions about things. 16 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:45,960 It's really not about any of that today. 17 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,600 But it is valid to be weighted down by the things that happen 18 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:57,000 because the the backlash from everything has created quite a 19 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,160 stir in opposition to Christian beliefs and to the foundations 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,200 that God has established in his word. 21 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,520 And that is what set Charlie Kirk apart for many people in 22 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,760 his realm was, was his, his faith and his his groundedness 23 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,880 in the word of God. And so that feels like it's 24 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,480 under attack because of that. And some of the things we read 25 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,440 today are applicable because of that. 26 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,400 And, and I take, I hope you take it as far as that. 27 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,440 And if you have any questions or any disagreements that that we 28 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,080 would have a chance to talk after services. 29 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,160 But there is a backdrop this morning that has relation to 30 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,440 what they were going through during this day in in this time 31 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,240 that the letter of first Peter was written. 32 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,080 And I think it's a perfect time to, in light of all those 33 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,280 things, read what we just finished studying in first Peter 34 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,400 chapter 3. We're going to pick up in verse 35 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:49,840 8. And these are verses we already 36 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,680 covered, but I think they are the recipe. 37 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:59,280 They are the same words that are true for every situation, He 38 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,120 says Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for 39 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:10,000 one another, Love his brothers, be tender hearted, be courteous. 40 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,600 Not revile, not returning evil for evil or reviling for 41 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:19,160 reviling, but On the contrary, blessing, knowing that you are 42 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,360 called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 43 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,760 Do not restart now. It's always picking me. 44 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,280 I don't know why. Verse 10 For he who would love 45 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,560 life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and 46 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,720 his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,880 do good. Let him seek peace and pursue 48 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,160 it. For the eyes of the Lord are on 49 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,440 the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. 50 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,440 But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 51 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,040 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what 52 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,560 is good? But even if you should suffer 53 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,240 for righteousness sake, you're blessed. 54 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,080 And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 55 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,960 But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are 56 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,400 blessed, and do not be afraid of the threats, nor be troubled. 57 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,160 I think we just read that verse, verse 15. 58 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,200 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready 59 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,880 to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the 60 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,320 hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 61 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,680 I'm not going to rehash what we already talked about last week, 62 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,800 but I think this verse has enough to get us through 63 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,160 whatever might be an art in front of us. 64 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,800 That the answers you need to have aren't a debate. 65 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,680 The answers you need to have are not a retort that's going to 66 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,080 make someone look foolish. The answers you need to have are 67 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,000 in your heart. The answers you need to have are 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,000 a sanctified heart, a heart that sanctifies God. 69 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,800 Because when we will put God at the forefront and let Him be our 70 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,720 focus, everything else is going to work out. 71 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,800 And it's going to lead us to give a defence to people with 72 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,000 meekness and fear, to provide a reason for the things we have 73 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,640 with the right attitude that will not inflamed or antagonize 74 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,079 anything besides providing truth. 75 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:20,880 The Lord has first place. Verse 16, having a good 76 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,080 conscience that when they defame you as evil doers, those who 77 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,360 revile your good conduct and Christ may be ashamed for it is 78 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,280 better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than 79 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:34,040 for doing evil. I think all those words would 80 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,600 bring very true today. And here's where we left off. 81 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,400 We're going to call this lesson 6. 82 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,960 Remember, we're in the end of chapter 3 and we've just kind of 83 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,440 split it up wherever we've landed each week trying to make 84 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,480 some clean breaks. We'll continue on in chapter 3, 85 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:54,280 verse 18, he says for Christ also suffered once for sins, the 86 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:58,160 just, for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. 87 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,040 So with everything that's going on right now, there's a lot of 88 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,840 injustice everywhere. You don't need to draw any lines 89 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,840 of politics that you don't need to draw any lines of who's doing 90 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:09,160 what. There's a lot of injustice 91 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:16,160 everywhere and Jesus suffered. He was the just and He suffered 92 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,600 for the unjust. It hurts though, to see that lie 93 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,160 right in front of us. It hurts to see that play out 94 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,000 right in front of our eyes in a gruesome way. 95 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,680 But this is nothing new. We just get to see it, maybe for 96 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:37,560 the first time in many of our lives, that He might bring us to 97 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:42,680 God. Now the Bible says that the just 98 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:47,080 for the unjust suffered once. Now Christ suffered one time for 99 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,720 sins, and that was a picture laid out in the Old Testament a 100 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:52,960 long time ago. If you remember, back when Moses 101 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:57,600 was told to strike the rocks one time, he was told to strike the 102 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,560 walk. The rock and water would pour 103 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,440 out of it, and he was only told after that to speak to the rock. 104 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,560 Why? We later learned because that 105 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,320 rock was Christ. And here Peter is affirming that 106 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,760 truth. He says he only suffered once 107 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,040 for sins. This Saviour is not going to 108 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,320 continue to be beaten. And if we only remember him as a 109 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,440 beaten saviour, we're missing the picture because he was only 110 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,040 to be beaten once and to be respected and revered throughout 111 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,360 all of eternity, past and present and future as a result 112 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,560 of that. And may we not only have that 113 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,480 picture in our minds of a beaten Saviour. 114 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,200 I would almost guarantee that 98% of the images you've ever 115 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,280 seen of Jesus images quote UN quote, right? 116 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:44,280 We don't know what he looked like, but it probably wasn't 117 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,360 white. All the images of his Jesus are 118 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,040 a forlorn, beaten and dishevelled man. 119 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,640 But I want you to know from pictures that the Bible paints 120 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,680 in Revelation and many other places and even here, and we're 121 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,920 going to get to in a few verses, He's at the right hand of God. 122 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,680 He only suffered once. That's not what defines him. 123 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,640 I don't want to be. I don't want to remember my 124 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,200 grandpa for his last moments when he looked his worst. 125 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,720 He looked empty of life and weak. 126 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,080 I want to remember him for for all that all the other things. 127 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,040 And Jesus only suffered once. That's not all He is. 128 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,880 He is the one who's now sits at the right hand of the Father. 129 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,880 He is surrounded in revelation by the elders and the angels and 130 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,440 all who would worship and give allegiance to Him as the King. 131 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,400 He only suffered once for sins. But why did he do it? 132 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:44,800 That he might bring us to God? That's an amazing thought. 133 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,640 Because He wanted you that bad that he would suffer just so we 134 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,720 can get you from point A to point B. 135 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:59,640 God wants you and Jesus wants you so bad He wants to bring you 136 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,600 from damnation into into salvation so deeply. 137 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,200 He wants you to bring you out of darkness into the presence of 138 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:13,440 the Father, so bad that he would suffer in our place, that he 139 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,320 might bring us to God. That's how badly He wants you, 140 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,000 that he would suffer being put to death in the flesh, He says, 141 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,960 but made alive by the Spirit. Oh sure, Jesus was put to death 142 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,559 physically, but He is so alive today because of the Spirit. 143 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,760 By the Spirit that word Spirit is capitalized, I believe 144 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,280 because this is the Spirit of God, who who raised him from the 145 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:44,800 dead by the spirit in which also he went and preached to the 146 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,040 spirits in prison. The ESV and other translations 147 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,160 say preach to the spirits now in prison who formerly were 148 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,680 disobedient, when once the divine long-suffering of God 149 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,280 waited in the days of Noah. So it is by that same spirit, 150 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,440 here's the flow of thought, the same spirit that allowed Jesus 151 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,880 to be raised from the dead. It is by that same spirit that 152 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,160 he has not only preached to people now and tried to save 153 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,520 people now, He was preaching to people a long time ago. 154 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,080 As you read the Old Testament, I love how we've been studying and 155 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,720 trying to find Jesus in the Old Testament. 156 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,280 Look for it, it's everywhere. He is Spirit was back then 157 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,640 teaching to the people who are now in a spiritual prison. 158 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,960 Who is that? It's the people who have died 159 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,560 and who are unfaithful back then, according to what time 160 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:40,160 verse 20, who formerly were disobedient when once the divine 161 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,080 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. 162 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,240 He's referring back to times like then where God's judgement 163 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,000 was poured out on the people in Noah's day who did not hear the 164 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,440 preaching that God had had led to them. 165 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:00,240 And because of those people who did not respond, now they are in 166 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:01,600 prison. And some people want to make a 167 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,880 really complicated analysis of this passage, like Jesus somehow 168 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,040 went to the the demonic realm and preached to them. 169 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,880 And they say things like, well, he was preaching, you know, see, 170 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,080 you're wrong. I don't really see that here. 171 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,360 I see him saying he preached even back then. 172 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,840 This Jesus has been alive and the Spirit of God has been alive 173 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,080 and working throughout history. And he preached to the people 174 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,920 even who are now in prison. They all got the message. 175 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:35,200 It's not like they missed out and God was long-suffering with 176 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,760 them. Don't think for a second God has 177 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,440 just, he's not making a way for people and he's already got his 178 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,160 picked out and you know, and if you want to hear it, too bad he 179 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,760 didn't have you picked out. He says God was long-suffering. 180 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,160 He says Jesus was suffering but also God the Father, the Godhead 181 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,560 was suffering for a long time as they waited in the days of Noah. 182 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:06,200 The SV says the the long the long-suffering of God continued 183 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,920 to wait that patience endured for so long trying to get people 184 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,880 to to come to this because Jesus wanted even to lead them to God 185 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:22,120 that badly. It says while the ark was being 186 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,600 prepared in which a few that is 8 souls were saved through 187 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,000 water. If you don't remember that 188 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,680 story, we're going back now when the world was that bad. 189 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:36,280 God told Noah to build an ark and prepare an ark, and he had 190 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,240 to build that ark for the destruction of the world that 191 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,320 was coming. That world was going to be 192 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,920 destroyed by water, not by fire like we're going to see in the 193 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,800 future. It was a world destroyed by 194 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,000 water. But God told him to build the 195 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,240 ark, and he was a preacher of righteousness. 196 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:55,120 He tried to show the way, but people were unwilling to hear. 197 00:11:55,240 --> 00:12:00,200 And the result was Noah, his wife, his three sons and their 198 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,800 wives. Eight people were all that were 199 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,160 saved. There's a lot of people in the 200 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,400 world right now who would love to hit a button and remove all 201 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:16,520 the opposition, remove all the common phrases, all the 202 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,520 liberals. Are you sure? 203 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,720 Are they sure they really want that to happen? 204 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,160 Are we sure we don't want the long-suffering of God in our own 205 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,280 lives? Are we sure that we want all of 206 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:35,400 our family members or our friends or our neighbors to be 207 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,680 gone just like that? That's not good. 208 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,800 God did not want to do that. This is horrible. 209 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,320 And so maybe we'd be careful as we evaluate and as we process 210 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,160 what's going on right now that we would not adapt this mindset 211 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,680 because even God was holding back for a long time and he had 212 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,280 the button. He had the button to press. 213 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,160 And may we never adopt that mindset because God is 214 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,560 long-suffering toward us. And I think we want that. 215 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,760 We want that patience with our current sins we struggle with. 216 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,360 But it happened back then. And the scary part is it's going 217 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,520 to happen again someday. But Jesus is always trying. 218 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,960 He's always been trying. He's always provided the message 219 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,520 and He went and He preached to them back then. 220 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,000 And this is the ESV. Like I said, the patience of God 221 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,400 kept waiting and there was just a few souls that were saved 222 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:35,960 through water. Now this is going to flow. 223 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:37,720 So don't lose that thought. Verse 21. 224 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,720 There is also an antitype which now saves us. 225 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,680 Baptism, not the removal of filth of the flesh, but the 226 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,480 answer of a good conscience toward God through the 227 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,840 resurrection of Jesus Christ. What is an anti type? 228 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,600 We don't use that word very much an anti type. 229 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,440 An anti type means the fulfillment of an earlier truth 230 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,680 laid out in Scripture, maybe as a picture that had its fullness, 231 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,960 it had its full message come out in a later event. 232 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,760 And this is the anti type, the anti type. 233 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,560 This is the the thing that corresponds, he says in just a 234 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:19,040 minute, he says baptism in the ESV corresponds to this. 235 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,280 And he says in this way, not the removal of dirt from the body. 236 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,240 So what is baptism? You might, you may have heard 237 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,920 this before, many of here have heard this, but baptism is not 238 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,360 even a translated word. It's a transliterated word. 239 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,080 What that means is they took the word in the original language 240 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,680 and either couldn't find an equal or more careful, so 241 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:43,240 careful to not try to mess it up. 242 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,080 They just brought it in and made it an English sounding word. 243 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,840 But it comes from the Greek baptizo, which means to immerse 244 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,240 or to plunge. This is not a a getting wet. 245 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,640 This is a immersion. If I say I immersed my chicken 246 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,120 nugget and ranch, you don't think I just flicked some ranch 247 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,680 on there? You think I went full down in? 248 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,960 That's the wrong way to dip. Don't dip immersion in in ranch. 249 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,200 That's going to be too much for the ratio. 250 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:15,080 But the Greek is just baptizo, and it's not the removal of the 251 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,640 filth of the flesh. It's not getting clean on your 252 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:20,640 outside. It's not wiping off the dirt. 253 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,360 And some people want to say that's the filth of the flesh 254 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,200 spiritually. I don't. 255 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:25,440 I don't think that's what he's saying. 256 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,280 It's not the removal of the physical dirt on your body. 257 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:34,800 It has a spiritual significance and the spiritual significance 258 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,840 is this answer of a good conscience toward God. 259 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,880 Now in the new King James, I think this is a little muddy. 260 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,360 I don't think it's the most easy to understand in the wording the 261 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,520 answer of a good conscience. My conscience is answering a 262 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,200 good. It's kind of weird. 263 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,120 So I like it better how it says in the ESV, and I think it's a 264 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,200 more clear translation. It says not the removal of dirt 265 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,880 from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience. 266 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,280 That's the spiritual significance. 267 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,560 It's not that you're wiping dirt off your body, It's that you are 268 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,200 making an appeal to God. I'm ready to be clean. 269 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:16,120 I'm coming to you. Please let me be clean in your 270 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,440 sight. I don't want to have a clean 271 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:19,840 conscience. I don't want to be dirty 272 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,560 anymore. I don't want to be burdened 273 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:26,720 anymore. But it's not because I'm trying 274 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,200 to save myself. It's not because I'm trying to 275 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,480 earn my salvation. It's not a work of salvation. 276 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,000 It's an appeal through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 277 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,480 It's not my power. It's only because I surrender 278 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,800 that the resurrection of Christ can lift me up. 279 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,680 And there are people who want to tell you that baptism is a work 280 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,200 of salvation. No, it's not. 281 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,280 I don't do anything. I lay down. 282 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,800 It took three of us to baptize Ray the other day. 283 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,960 Ray did absolutely nothing. Poor guy. 284 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,079 He was doing everything he could, but he did nothing. 285 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,319 He was just heavy and and weightless. 286 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:10,560 But he got baptized. Did Ray earn his salvation? 287 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,240 No way. It is an appeal to God for a 288 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,920 clean conscience, for a conscience that is right with 289 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,599 God. All you do is lay down. 290 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,520 You relinquish control and yes, somebody else get you out of the 291 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:30,800 water because you'd drown if they did it. 292 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,120 But it was Jesus and his resurrection that pulls you out 293 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:37,680 of the grave. And because of that, don't let 294 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,400 anybody tell you this is a work that you're trying to save 295 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,000 yourself. It's the perfect picture of 296 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,240 submission that says I can't do anything. 297 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:51,960 You usually cross your arms. This is an appeal to God for a 298 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,480 clean conscience. If anything, baptism is more 299 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:02,360 akin to outwardly showing you are poor in spirit than it is 300 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,080 you are trying to merit salvation. 301 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,040 Why? You're admitting you're poor in 302 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,320 spirit. I surrender. 303 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:13,400 I can't do anything. It's a lot more close to that 304 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:18,840 than emeritus salvation work. We surrender, but you know, this 305 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,520 is nothing new. This pattern of being baptized 306 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,000 or being saved through water. This is a pattern. 307 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,200 God does it a lot in the Bible. He does things that are similar 308 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,680 and you start to notice what happens. 309 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,080 He just referenced Noah's day, how the few souls were saved 310 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,720 through water. We talk about, you know, how we 311 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,320 are saved today. You just mentioned through 312 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:43,080 baptism, but even in Moses day in 1st Corinthians 10, it 313 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,080 references this event. It says, moreover, brethren, I 314 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,240 don't want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under 315 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,000 the cloud. What is cloud? 316 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,240 The Bible said the waters above the cloud is water. 317 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,520 They were baptized in the cloud, under the cloud. 318 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,120 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 319 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,640 All ate the same spiritual food and all ate the same spiritual 320 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:08,960 drink. This is not new for God's 321 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,600 people. They were surrounded on every 322 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,760 side by water from above, by the cloud, the moisture, by the 323 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,840 walls of water in the Red Sea. They were surrounded. 324 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,440 That is a type or a form of baptism. 325 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,080 God's. God's got patterns. 326 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,880 You start to see this everywhere and it's through the 327 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,680 resurrection of Jesus Christ that this reaches its 328 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,040 fulfilment. It reaches its full picture, 329 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:43,200 anti type verse 22, this Jesus who is resurrection, who is 330 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:48,520 resurrected, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand 331 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,800 of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made 332 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:58,520 subject to him. Angels are obviously spiritual 333 00:19:58,520 --> 00:19:59,960 beings, they're messengers of God. 334 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,400 But it appears throughout scripture there are some form of 335 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,120 rake, there are archangels, there are authorities and 336 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:08,680 powers, maybe with different levels, and they're all under 337 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,080 him. Doesn't matter if you're an 338 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,680 Archangel, doesn't mean if you are. 339 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,200 AI don't know what kind of angels there are underneath 340 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,120 that, but Jesus is over all of it. 341 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:23,280 They're subject to him. He suffered once, but he is now 342 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,600 on the throne. Going on to chapter 4 now. 343 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,960 First Peter chapter 4. Therefore, since Christ suffered 344 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,040 for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same 345 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:43,360 mind. You can actually have the mind 346 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,360 of Christ. You know, in my life how many 347 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,400 times I've heard the phrase you're never going to be like 348 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,040 him, you're never going to be perfect, you're going to never 349 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:51,400 going to, you're never going to, you're never going to. 350 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,800 The Bible doesn't talk about that. 351 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:59,560 The Bible says you should have the mind of Christ. 352 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,800 Now it's an obvious you're not going to be perfect, but you can 353 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:10,440 have the same mind as Christ. Yes, that is God's intention for 354 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,600 you. Don't submit to a mind that says 355 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,280 I'm always going to be I'm always going to be miserable, 356 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,360 I'm always going to be hopeless. No, that is not that's counter 357 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,720 biblical. You know, there's a commercial 358 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,920 set of commercials you probably remember from back in the day 359 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,320 where Michael Jordan was out and everything was be like Mike and 360 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,200 it was obvious. Just you know, it's a it's a 361 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:33,520 marketing thing. They, they weren't trying to 362 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,560 really say you're going to play basketball like Michael Jordan. 363 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,600 If you have his Jordan shoes. It was, but you get him, you're 364 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,760 going to be like Mike. You drink Gatorade, be like 365 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:42,680 Mike, right? And there was even a movie where 366 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,040 this kid put on Michael Jordan's shoes. 367 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,360 He became like Mike. That's all silly. 368 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,680 The mindset of Christ, the mind of Christ is not a joke. 369 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,160 The mind of Christ is. You can have the same mindset as 370 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,840 Jesus Christ. That got him to the point that 371 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,000 he did things that he did, that he thought about people like he 372 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,960 did, that he loved the world like he did. 373 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,600 It's a command to arm ourselves with this same mind. 374 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,920 We have all fallen short in the past, but Scripture never 375 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:23,920 undermines your future. We have all, Romans 323 says, 376 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,520 fallen short of the glory of God. 377 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:32,120 There's no Scripture that I can think of where God undermines 378 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:37,480 your future potential. All expectations of your future 379 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:43,160 potential are Christ, whether to live is Christ or to die is 380 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:44,920 gain. We are going to be like Christ 381 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,680 in the future. We are going to arm ourselves 382 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,680 with Christ's mind and we are going to, as some people have 383 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,920 said this week, pick up where he left off. 384 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,080 We're going to have a mindset that doesn't let Jesus 385 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,360 principles go by the wayside, but that are picked up right 386 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:06,600 where he left off. Jesus power is so great that it 387 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,760 can even influence you. Some people say Jesus power is 388 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,720 so great that you're never going to be like it. 389 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,440 I disagree. Jesus power is so great that he 390 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:21,080 can make you like it. That is the power of our 391 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:26,400 Saviour. Arm yourselves also with the 392 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,640 same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased 393 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,440 from sin. You know what? 394 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,800 There's a lot of suffering we could talk about here, but the 395 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,800 general principle is when you suffer in the flesh, it gives 396 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,360 you a different mindset toward what sin is and why you have 397 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:43,760 one. Have nothing to do with it. 398 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Now, what does he mean? What's suffering the flesh? 399 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,880 I think most directly he's probably talking about the 400 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,080 suffering that was caused upon them by other people. 401 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,080 And when you go through suffering for your faith, it's 402 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,480 like, well, I've been through that. 403 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,440 Why would I give in the temptation? 404 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,120 I'm already going through so much already, I might as well 405 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:05,840 stick this thing out. But I think the principle is 406 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,440 that suffering can come from a lot of places. 407 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,600 It could come from other people it come from it could come from 408 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,840 suffering. We endure and are fighting 409 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,760 against sin because whenever you oppose a sin, there's some kind 410 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:21,960 of suffering that happens in your body that I don't want to 411 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:27,360 give in to this temptation to backbite, to let my body indulge 412 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,760 in that sin. No, I engage in a little bit of 413 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,520 suffering because that hurts to fight against what I want to do, 414 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:39,800 to be what God wants me to be. And when you go through that 415 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,600 process, that suffering, it's like, hey, we don't need sin 416 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,000 anymore. I'm not here for my own 417 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,480 pleasure. I've suffered either at the 418 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,960 hands of other people or I've suffered inside. 419 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,840 I'm not going back to that. I'm done. 420 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,080 I'm done with it. Sin. 421 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,560 Once you've tasted steak, Skittles are not the same. 422 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,640 Once you've tasted the good stuff, the cheap is not the same 423 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,000 anymore. Because what you do is you have 424 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,680 chosen. I would rather hurt myself than 425 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:16,280 to hurt God. You can do that. 426 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,680 There's not a whole lot you can do in your life to do something 427 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,520 great, but you can choose that. I would rather hurt myself than 428 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:31,440 to hurt God or others. And when you do that, what is 429 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,200 sin? It's cheap. 430 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,680 Verse 2, that he should no longer live the rest of his time 431 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,000 in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 432 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,800 Now I'm not going to claim I've suffered in the flesh that much, 433 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:52,520 but this scripture is commanding me that I should welcome 434 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,760 suffering because it's going to produce in me a lifestyle for 435 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:02,240 the rest of my life, hopefully that will surrender to God. 436 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,440 May I surrender to the will of God for the rest of my life and 437 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,720 have that mindset. Verse 3 For we have spent enough 438 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,240 of our our past lifetime and doing the will of the Gentiles, 439 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,040 enough is enough. When we walked in. 440 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,960 Lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties and 441 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,200 abominable, abominable idolatries. 442 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,000 Most of these are pretty straightforward. 443 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,120 Lewdness is kind of a strange word, but basically lewdness 444 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,000 means with no moral restraint. Sometimes we think of it as a 445 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,840 sexual thing. Yeah, but are you showing 446 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,720 restraint in wherever you're at right now? 447 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,320 You may be in a position where you've put up enough boundaries 448 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:45,440 where certain temptations don't hit you anymore. 449 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,880 Great. But where are you showing moral 450 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:52,160 restraint? Where are you using that muscle 451 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,600 in your mind that says I'm going to pull against what I want and 452 00:26:55,600 --> 00:27:00,240 show restraint against my flesh? Because we all have it. 453 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,200 If we don't have it, we're probably asleep. 454 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,040 We're probably sleeping. We don't want to be at any point 455 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,320 in our life not actively opposing sin and showing 456 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,880 restraint. Lust that could be lust of the 457 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,320 flesh, lest of the eyes. Drunkenness pretty 458 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,920 straightforward. Revelries, parties, drinking 459 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,840 parties and abominable disgusting of of horrible 460 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,400 idolatries. Putting something else ahead of 461 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,120 God or worshipping something else. 462 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,080 In regard to these these things you just listed. 463 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:38,120 They think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same 464 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,320 flood of dissipation speaking evil of you. 465 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,800 What is dissipation? It's it's an empty, it's a 466 00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:48,560 disintegrating, it's a squandering, it's kind of almost 467 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,720 an oxymoron. It's a flood of dissipation. 468 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,040 It's a, it seems like there's so much, but it's really so much of 469 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,760 nothing. You're emptying yourself when 470 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,680 you show go along with the same flood of dissipation as they 471 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,800 speak evil of you, verse 5. They will give an account to him 472 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,960 who's ready to judge the living and the dead. 473 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,120 It's kind of like when we were little and our parents, you 474 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:15,080 know, we'd be getting us in trouble. 475 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,480 We'd be pointing at them. You know what they did they and 476 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,360 they would say, I'm not worried about them. 477 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,960 Focus on me. I'm talking to you right now. 478 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,320 Let's focus on you. That's the message to get from 479 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,160 God. God's going to they're going to 480 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:29,880 give an account to God. You don't worry about them. 481 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,760 It will be taken care of. Keep your eyes on me. 482 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,280 Keep your eyes off of off of the rest of that flood of 483 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:42,280 dissipation. He's ready to give, ready to 484 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,160 judge the living and the dead. How is he ready? 485 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,560 He's prepared. He knows his scripture. 486 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,840 He knows what's right and wrong. He's in a position of authority. 487 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,360 He has the authority to judge. It's long overdue. 488 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,040 He's been patient for so many millennia, and he's even in some 489 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,480 ways motivated with wrath. The Bible talks about the wrath 490 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,320 of God. He's ready. 491 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,840 Don't you worry about them. Verse 6. 492 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,720 For this reason, the gospel was preached also to those who are 493 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:11,280 dead. He's referring back, I believe, 494 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,040 to the same people in the last chapter. 495 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,560 The gospel was preached to those people. 496 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:17,560 For what reason? For the reason that he's about 497 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:23,520 to be judging them. God, Jesus preached to those who 498 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,200 are now dead. He preached to them back then 499 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,240 because they're going to be judged and he's ready to judge. 500 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,440 So he preached to them to try to bring them all out from a bad 501 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,400 judgement that they might be judged according to men in the 502 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,560 flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit. 503 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,760 That's His ultimate goal with the judging is that He wants you 504 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,280 to live in God. He wants you to be made alive 505 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,040 and not condemned. Verse 7. 506 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,840 But the end of all things is at hand. 507 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,640 Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 508 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,520 You know, we are kind of unique in this time period in life. 509 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,600 Not everyone has been able to say that. 510 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,800 If you go back to the Old Testament, they couldn't say the 511 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:11,800 end is at hand. What does that hand mean? 512 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:12,840 I mean, it means it's right here. 513 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:14,760 It's at almost at your arm's length away. 514 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,600 The end is right here, the end of everything. 515 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,480 Before Jesus came, there's a lot of things that had to unfold. 516 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:28,560 There was, there was empires, there was prophecies, there was 517 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,200 maybe covenants to work through. And so there was a lot of things 518 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,160 to happen. It wasn't right there in front 519 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:35,560 of you. For the Christian in the 520 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,280 Christian age, though, he says it's right there. 521 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:44,080 He could be coming today. It's this close to us that we 522 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,960 could touch it. And we uniquely can say that in 523 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:53,320 this dispensation. He says, therefore, because it's 524 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,240 right here, be serious and watchful in your prayers. 525 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,520 Why be so serious? Sometimes we're like this man 526 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,160 walking through a battlefield oblivious to the war that's 527 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,280 going on around us. Not that you need to live 528 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,760 paranoid. Some people take it to a 529 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,800 different level of of, you know, everything is the Illuminati. 530 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,000 That's not what I'm talking about. 531 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,320 I'm talking about living in light of the spiritual war 532 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,040 that's going on. So why should we be so serious 533 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,040 in our prayers? Maybe you're this guy who's kind 534 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,720 of oblivious, or maybe you're this guy who has purpose, but 535 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,320 you're oblivious to the real fight. 536 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,240 Whether you are not are just distracted or whether you have 537 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,000 purpose is just not the right focus. 538 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,560 Why so serious? Because of our tasks. 539 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:44,720 If you look at the responsibilities in your life 540 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,840 like they don't deserve serious attention from a spiritual 541 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,480 perspective, they're going to be sorely lacking. 542 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,400 Throughout this letter, he's taught us how to be submissive 543 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,120 and good to our employer, to our employers, to the government, to 544 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,480 to be loving and and submissive. There's a lot going on in every 545 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,760 one of our tasks at work with family or responsibilities. 546 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,720 That's why because our tasks are that important that we would 547 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,560 need to be serious and watchful as we pray about how these 548 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:19,120 things are in a spiritual fight. Where do my tasks fall into the 549 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:27,160 spiritual fight, the war of the worlds, the spiritual war, the 550 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,160 strength to do it with all your might? 551 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,480 Scripture say takes a seriousness to give glory to God 552 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,440 #2 what about my weaknesses? Why be so serious? 553 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,760 Because I have weaknesses. And if I'm not closely watching 554 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,040 those and praying for help in those weaknesses that identify 555 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,120 in my progress along the way, I'm not going to make any 556 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,040 progress. I have to be serious and 557 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,080 watchful of those things and keep an eye on how I'm making 558 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,960 progress. Why be so serious? 559 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,520 Because of the enemy, he's going to say later on. 560 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,080 The devil's walking about like a lion. 561 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,960 That's why we need to be serious and watchful. 562 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,440 If there was a lion in this building, you'd keep your kids 563 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,640 behind you. You'd be watchful. 564 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,720 That is life verse. Or then maybe #4 why so serious? 565 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,160 Because of those who need us. He's talking about being serious 566 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,920 in prayer, right? So there are people who need us 567 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,560 to pray for them. There are people in under our 568 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:29,720 sphere of influence that need us seriously. 569 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:36,080 But also for new frontiers. Because we're going to see in 570 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:40,800 this chapter that we are often sorely lacking on taking on new 571 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,360 ground for Christ throughout the Old Testament. 572 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,760 They wanted to stay put right where they're at, get 573 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,440 comfortable, build a tower and God said go. 574 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:53,920 You and I want to get comfortable right where we're 575 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,400 at. We want to get easy. 576 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,880 We want to get a autoplay, autopilot, Tesla self driving 577 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:02,520 car and we want to let it do the work. 578 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,520 That is not the biblical way. We need to take a risk. 579 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:11,159 We need to go out and seek new frontiers of maybe those who 580 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:13,679 need us, maybe service to others. 581 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:17,520 Maybe there are needs that you need to be feeling that you just 582 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,199 don't see yet. I love the words of this song 583 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:23,719 that kind of hit on this principle. 584 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,280 This song in the chorus says, give me your eyes for just one 585 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,440 second. He's speaking to God in this 586 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,600 song. Give me your eyes so I can see 587 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:36,280 everything I keep missing. Give me your love for humanity. 588 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,719 Give me your arms for the broken hearted, the ones that are far 589 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,920 beyond my reach. Give me your heart for the ones 590 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,960 forgotten. Give me your eyes so I can see 591 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:49,480 there are frontiers of our faith we need to wake up to. 592 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,400 I'm going to try to get through this next section because we're 593 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,200 still talking about prayer. So as we consider prayer, I pray 594 00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,280 that a serious and watchful Frank has covered prayer 595 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:00,680 recently. I just want to give you a 596 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,760 different set of scriptural guidance on this. 597 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,680 Daniel is a good example of prayer in Daniel 6, verse 10. 598 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:15,120 At this point, Daniel has just been told that there's a decree 599 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:20,080 that's gone out to catch him, to trip him up, and to get rid of 600 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,000 him. A plot was made to get rid of 601 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,880 this man, to get him killed. And when he hears about it, the 602 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,000 decree said, if if anyone prays to you the king, instead of or 603 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,160 prays to God instead of you the king, we're going to put him to 604 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,200 death in the lion's den. Now, when Daniel knew that the 605 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:37,720 writing was signed, he went home. 606 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,120 And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, 607 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,560 he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and 608 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,720 gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. 609 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,680 If you don't do this, are you sinning? 610 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,560 That's not what I'm saying. But if you seek a relationship 611 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:02,040 with God that is close and serious and watchful, here's a 612 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,000 good example. What are some tips? 613 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,680 There's a lot of things in this set of verses that Daniel did 614 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,920 that we can learn from #1 He had an eye toward his goal. 615 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,800 He had his window open toward Jerusalem. 616 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,200 Why? Because they were in captivity, 617 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,600 Him and others were in a nation. It wasn't theirs and He. 618 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,480 They were trying to get back to the Holy Land. 619 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:23,520 That was their goal, Mountain Zion, the city of the living 620 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,720 God. The scriptural pictures were of 621 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:29,360 Jerusalem. They wanted to build a Kingdom 622 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,600 for God in Jerusalem. Now today we have the spiritual 623 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,000 Jerusalem we're looking for, but He was looking toward His goal 624 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,600 of Jerusalem. So that's how He prayed with an 625 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:43,800 eye toward His goal #2HE prayed with consistency. 626 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,480 It says this was his custom since the early days. 627 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,800 If you are trying to develop a prayer life or you want to now 628 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:56,080 develop one, consistency is the hallmark of men like Daniel. 629 00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:00,760 Since his early days, it was frequency three times a day. 630 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:03,360 It says that was his custom since he was early aged. 631 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,400 Now, when we say frequency that many times, we're not talking 632 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,360 about, you know, I ate three times, I prayed 3 times, I ate 633 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,520 four times, I prayed 4 times. That's not what we're talking 634 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,120 about. He went to a secluded place. 635 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,000 The upper room was a place that was secluded in their houses 636 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,280 during that time. We don't, I don't have our upper 637 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:26,680 room, but that's what theirs was. 638 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:31,640 It was a secluded place where he was now talking to God, not 639 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,920 talking to himself in the form of a prayer. 640 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,480 He was talking to God in a secluded place. 641 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,160 He had a posture of prayer. Now, and it's true Frank's 642 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:43,920 mentioned it, there is no required posture of prayer. 643 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:49,360 But if you were struggling with some prayer ruts, try some other 644 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,160 stuff. Maybe you struggle with mindless 645 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:54,520 prayer. Maybe you struggle with looping 646 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,160 the same phrases. Your mind disengages. 647 00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,520 Maybe you are having some phantom prayers where you're 648 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,280 like, was I praying? I forgot when I started, ended 649 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,840 my prayer. Maybe you have distracted 650 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,920 prayers. Some things you can do to be 651 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,880 intentional about pulling your mind and your spirit into the 652 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,640 right place is having a posture. Try it. 653 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,720 Try the posture that Daniel tried. 654 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:24,520 Try another one next. His routine was not built to 655 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:29,080 show people or hide from people. It says this was his custom 656 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:33,480 since his early days, and so he wasn't trying to show. 657 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,520 That's why he went to his upper room, a secluded place. 658 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,680 But at the same time, when push came to shove and the people 659 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,800 were watching, he didn't hide. He's not afraid, but he also 660 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,120 didn't start the practice to get people attention. 661 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,240 The origin of his prayers. Next, if you're trying to build 662 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,880 your own prayer life, the origin where it started did not start 663 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,600 when all these wonderful things happened in Daniel's life. 664 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,080 You read about the miracle, the miraculous gifts he had to 665 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:06,800 interpret and tell dreams. It says this was his habit since 666 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,800 early days, since probably before all these wonderful 667 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:12,840 things happened. So if you're waiting for 668 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,280 something big to happen in your life, don't make it your custom. 669 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:21,160 Make it your habit. And what's funny is we talked 670 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,560 about that dangerous lion. God literally shut the mouth of 671 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:26,960 the lion as a result of his prayers, as a result of his 672 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:29,760 faithfulness to God, the the lion's mouth was shut. 673 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:34,440 These are some of my prayer rats. 674 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:35,640 I don't know if you have some of those. 675 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,800 The the me prayers where I start the prayer talking about me. 676 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,600 I, I ask him for things for me. I thank him for things for me. 677 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,720 Remember, it's not all about us. And if you are looking for some 678 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:53,440 things to try, maybe try some of these suggestions in addition to 679 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,040 others. Maybe write your prayers down 680 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,920 like David did. We learned that David was an 681 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,360 inspired man of God, but maybe there were motivations inside of 682 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:03,920 him that led him to write them down. 683 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,080 Sometimes when I write my prayers, they don't feel so 684 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,000 abstract. Sometimes they just they, they 685 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,480 feel concrete. They feel real when I put them 686 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,080 on paper so I can see them. Maybe they'll help you. 687 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,000 Maybe you should pray it out loud like Jonah. 688 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,440 Many times in the Bible when they cried out to the Lord, it 689 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,000 was a verbal prayer. Sometimes when you only pray in 690 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,160 your head, we have a lot of ADHD in our world and we can get 691 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,240 caught between a lot of different things. 692 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:34,600 So saying it out loud, your brain can focus more easily on 693 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:37,760 one thing. Maybe, maybe we need a system 694 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:39,680 like Paul. You know, Paul is mentioned in 695 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:44,280 the letters as saying, I consistently, every time I pray, 696 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,840 I'm praying for you. He had a habit of praying for 697 00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,240 these people over and over. I'm like, man, Paul was Paul was 698 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:51,600 on it. I need to get better at that. 699 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:54,000 And so maybe we need a better system. 700 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,680 Maybe you need a prayer bank. Maybe you need a list of people 701 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:03,640 to pray for, struggles to pray about, maybe challenges for the 702 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:07,520 future or hopes for the future. Make a list, make a Bank of 703 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,920 those items, and then you can, if you forget to what to pray 704 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,560 for, draw from that list and it may help you have a more full, 705 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:17,720 engaging prayer life. Maybe it'll give you a rotation. 706 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:20,160 I need, maybe I need to pray for people in this congregation 707 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,120 today. Maybe I'll pray for specific 708 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:23,880 people on another congregation tomorrow. 709 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,400 Try some things that may help your prayer life grow. 710 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,800 You may expand your prayer horizon by praying the prayers 711 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,800 of others. I think that's why God gives us 712 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,240 the Psalms. It's because we can get stuck in 713 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:40,920 our own words, but we use the words of somebody else and it 714 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:47,400 helps lift our hearts to God. Maybe we need to remember the 715 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,880 things we tell kids when we're talking to kids. 716 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,400 We are children of the father. And one of the first things I 717 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:57,320 always tell Charlie when he's spinning off and he's asking for 718 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,560 things but not really asking, he's just kind of like saying 719 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:00,760 stuff. I'm trying to give it to him and 720 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:04,320 he's not even paying attention. I say, Charlie, look in my eyes 721 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,480 because it gets his attention to see that I'm listening to you, 722 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,160 but you also need to talk to me. You're just talking. 723 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,440 You're not even asking anybody. You're just talking in the air 724 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,080 and so I have to tell him, look in my eyes. 725 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:23,240 You're asking me directly. Now I'm listening to you speak. 726 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:27,800 Sometimes we need to reproach God that way, to remember to 727 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,560 start our prayer by looking into who we are really talking to. 728 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:37,840 We're going to pause here where he says, but the end of all 729 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,880 things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and 730 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,760 watchful in your prayers. And he's got some really good 731 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,840 instruction coming next, but we'll have to push that maybe to 732 00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:56,360 another lesson Today we've learned what it takes to be 733 00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:59,120 saved. It told us just a second ago in 734 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:03,360 the scriptures it said that we are saved. 735 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,320 We have an anti type that now saves us baptism, but how do you 736 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:08,080 get there? How do you come to the point 737 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:10,800 that you want to be baptized? Well, you could write it out in 738 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,200 a very detailed set of steps like this, or you can use a 739 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,400 little bit of common sense too. I there's no way I can surrender 740 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:17,880 to something that I don't believe in. 741 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:19,920 How am I going to believe it? I got to hear it first. 742 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:24,400 And really surrendering does not just mean being baptized. 743 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:25,960 It means I'm going to repent of my whole life. 744 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,440 I'm going to turn from my will to do God's will, and I'm going 745 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:33,160 to immerse myself in that life, and I will immerse myself in the 746 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:36,320 waters of baptism to be saved. If you've already done that, but 747 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,640 you need to get your life right and you haven't lived 748 00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:42,480 faithfully, we can come together and support one another in 749 00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:46,000 prayer today and petition on God's behalf on your behalf to 750 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,000 God that we would be forgiven and restored. 751 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:51,280 Or if you need prayers of the Saints for any other reason, 752 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,320 we'd be happy to take care of that while we stand and see.