1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:03,480 Well, good morning everyone. It is great to see everyone 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,040 who's here today want to say a special Happy Mother's Day to 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,560 all the the mothers, whether you are a a physical mother or even 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,080 a spiritual mother, there are women written about in Scripture 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,079 who had a motherly influence on people. 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,840 And whatever your role is, thank you because we as men have our 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,120 role. But we cannot do what you can do 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,680 in in any of the ways that God has designed you to be special 9 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,320 for what you provide. We simply cannot do it as men. 10 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,360 And any attempt to try to do that is going to be pretty 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,640 embarrassing and often times not what people really need. 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,920 And you guys are the heart and soul of many of our lives. 13 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,280 And so thank you for what you provide to us and for the 14 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,440 church, especially as we are a body here together. 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,560 We're going to continue on in first Peter. 16 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,440 We didn't finish chapter one the first time. 17 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,040 So if you'd like to open up with me there, we'll be spending all 18 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,440 of our time here in first Peter one and and getting a little bit 19 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,920 into chapter 2. But please turn there with me if 20 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,800 you'd like to follow along. And we're going to do a quick 21 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,800 run up. I don't want to take more than 22 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,600 just a few seconds to get us some momentum, but I want to 23 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,480 make sure we remember where we left off. 24 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,280 As we just mentioned a second ago, he's writing to the 25 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,120 pilgrims of the dispersion, people who are persecuted, 26 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:23,320 likely by the Emperor Nero, who is running them out of the the 27 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:25,600 running them out into the countryside. 28 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:30,040 And they were spreading off into these greater regions over here, 29 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,480 Bithynia, Cappadocia, all these regions. 30 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,400 And he reminds that they that they are elected by God, that 31 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,320 they have a deep connection with God the Father, the Holy Spirit, 32 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,920 and Jesus Christ and these different ways, letting them 33 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,720 know that the the Godhead has not abandoned you just because 34 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,720 you're suffering, just because you feel like everything is all 35 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:53,760 turned upside down for their world. 36 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,360 He's letting them know that God has abundant mercy toward them 37 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,000 and has given them a living hope in the face of their adversity. 38 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,280 He doesn't want to them to just sit and dwell on their problems. 39 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,480 He wants them to remind them of the hope they have. 40 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,200 And that hope is because of what our Lord did for us. 41 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,600 Because Jesus Christ died, He himself suffered and was 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,960 resurrected by God through his suffering into life. 43 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,440 That now gives us hope. And because of that, they share 44 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,280 in Jesus's sufferings. They rise from sufferings into a 45 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,200 living hope. Just as Jesus rose from the 46 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,440 dead. He talked about how they have an 47 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,880 inheritance that is reserved for them, that they are kept by the 48 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:40,840 power of God and they right now are being tried in various ways. 49 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,560 And he's acknowledging that. But he reminded them of the 50 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,880 value of their of their faith. He reminded them that it's like 51 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,640 gold that is needs to be refined by the fire and it's made more 52 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:53,560 pure and precious. And even though they haven't 53 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:58,080 seen it, they have faith in it. And that is the definition of 54 00:02:58,080 --> 00:02:59,680 faith. It's when you walk by what you 55 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,200 can have faith in, not by what you can see. 56 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,840 And we'll can start to slow down now as we enter what we have not 57 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,080 covered yet. So we finished off talking about 58 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,560 this, he says of the salvation. The prophets have inquired and 59 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,000 searched carefully, searching what or what manner of time the 60 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,400 Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified 61 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,160 beforehand. He said the prophets have always 62 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,960 wanted to know what you get to enjoy as Christians today, the 63 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,400 sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 64 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,200 Just like these people who are pilgrims to them. 65 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,160 It was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were 66 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,120 ministering the things that which have now been reported to 67 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,000 you. He said you guys are the ones 68 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,400 who have been everybody's been waiting for. 69 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,120 You're the ones who get to hear this message and get to have be 70 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:49,600 served by their thousands of years of of prophetic work that 71 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,400 was leading up to this point through those who have preached 72 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,160 the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit set from heaven. 73 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,360 Things which even angels, not just prophets, angels desire to 74 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,240 look into. He's showing them how they're in 75 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,560 a tough spot, but a special spot. 76 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,680 So here's where we left off. We just barely touched on this 77 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,880 verse, verse 13. He says, therefore gird up the 78 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,000 loins of your mind. And because I just bounced over 79 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,640 this verse, I want to talk a little bit more about here. 80 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,560 We talked about how we need to tie up the excess. 81 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:25,760 We need to get the things out of our way. 82 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,480 They're going to hold us back in battle. 83 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,080 And we talked about how that could be seen, that could be 84 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:31,720 distractions that we're aware of. 85 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,920 Maybe it's excess things, but I want to confess to you this 86 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,880 morning you'll go a little bit deeper because I personally 87 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,800 underestimate the control I have over my mind. 88 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,160 I do. And I even underestimate the 89 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,520 impact that my mind has on everything about me. 90 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:52,840 It's simple. We can't see it. 91 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,320 It's not like you know you. You see it. 92 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:57,720 It's clear. It happens. 93 00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,520 You know you. You pop one thing in the oven, 94 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,920 something comes out. It's not that simple with our 95 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,520 with our minds. Our minds are complicated and I 96 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,280 personally underestimate the influence. 97 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,680 But there is a man named Wim Hof that Tina introduced me to the 98 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:17,640 other day that is really unlocked and showed us the power 99 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,960 of our minds, the power of our habits over our minds and over 100 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,480 our bodies. And that's just a reminder to 101 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:26,120 me. This is not a lesson on him. 102 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,720 He is not the guru that you and I should be following with our 103 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:35,240 whole life, but he discovered that he can control his own 104 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,840 bodily automatic functions like his immune system through some 105 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,480 simple steps like meditation and even cold therapy. 106 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,880 There's things that inhabits that he has embedded in his 107 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,800 life, but he can literally control his immune system. 108 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,760 I have. We have a lot more control over 109 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,680 what we what goes on with us then we want to admit. 110 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,120 Why? Because the more control we 111 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,920 admit we have, the more responsibility it takes from us. 112 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,520 And as soon as I admit that I have responsibility over my own 113 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:14,160 mind and what happens in here and what I take in, as soon as I 114 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,320 admit that, life gets a little bit harder because now 115 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:19,680 everything you do and everything we do matters. 116 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,520 But here's a reminder for me that I need to be responsible 117 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,000 for my own mind in my hope. Hope's not easy, as we were 118 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,600 talking even about as an extension of this conversation. 119 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:37,000 Hope, empathy, joy, peace, restfulness, these are not easy 120 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,880 things to achieve. They're not just going to happen 121 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,920 to us. But I'm responsible for how my 122 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,240 mind is in respect to these concepts. 123 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,240 How do I know that's true? From Scripture? 124 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,480 1st Corinthians 10 verse 4 says for the weapons of our warfare 125 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,560 are not carnal but mighty, and God for pulling down 126 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,880 strongholds. Those strongholds can be a lot 127 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,080 of different things. The devil can establish places 128 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,440 on the earth where he has a lot of influence. 129 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,400 He can establish places in our hearts where he has a lot of 130 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,840 influence. He can establish and build up 131 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,960 overtime things that work against the work of God. 132 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,480 Who am I to think that that can't happen inside of me, A 133 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,520 Christian who's doing his, maybe doing his best, you might say. 134 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,840 I might think, but also has areas that the devil is working 135 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:33,320 on. Our weapons are for casting down 136 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,240 arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the 137 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,800 knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity, to the 138 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:46,800 obedience of Christ, every thought into captivity. 139 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,840 Do I underestimate the value and the literality of what that 140 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,560 statement is saying that all of my thoughts need to be 141 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,640 surrendered and humbled to God? And I'm not saying the like, 142 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:04,120 I've, you know, sometimes when people become very interested in 143 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,600 God, it's sometimes it's like they can't talk about you can't 144 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,080 talk about work. It's like all I can talk about 145 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:11,720 is God. And I'm not saying there's 146 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:16,040 anything wrong with being consumed with God, but the point 147 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,360 is, do all my thoughts, do my anxious thoughts surrender to 148 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,680 God? Do my trust, my hopes, surrender 149 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,000 to God instead of relying on things in the future or with a 150 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,320 person or with a time or a place that is going to make me where I 151 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,000 need to be? Does every thought, every area 152 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:42,799 of my heart surrender to God? And is it and is it impacted by 153 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:44,640 the work of God's will in my life? 154 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,640 And I would submit that I have a lot of work to do in that 155 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:56,160 regard. We have weapons of our warfare 156 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,720 and we need to be fighting against the things internally 157 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,040 and externally that might be strongholds for the devil. 158 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,760 Now, maybe this is a way to start with your diet if you are 159 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,920 feeling unhealthy or if you are looking or or anything 160 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,120 unhealthy, typically they'll say start with your diet and the 161 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,400 only way to evaluate your diet is to track things. 162 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:21,000 OK, so you make a list, you write a journal. 163 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,720 Monday I ate eggs and toast. For breakfast. 164 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:25,160 I had two eggs and one piece of toast. 165 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,920 For snacks, I had a granola bar. For lunch I had a cheeseburger 166 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,040 and fries. For dinner I had pizza and a 167 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,640 salad. And for dessert I had ice cream. 168 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:33,960 OK, you start to just log information. 169 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,240 You start to see what am I taking in, what are my patterns 170 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,960 that is creating what you see in front of you or what I feel 171 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,960 inside of me for physical health. 172 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,880 OK, the point of making a list is not to say every one of these 173 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,320 things is wrong. Pizza in itself is probably not 174 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,160 that bad, or cheeseburger by itself is not that bad. 175 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,360 But you might look at this and say, OK, I could see where 176 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,200 there's some things that might, you know, give you some some 177 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,680 acid reflux. Or you might before dinner, 178 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,960 probably don't want to eat that ice cream without pizza. 179 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,680 And you're just going to say this is what's going to come out 180 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:08,440 of this. If you do this, it's not 181 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,280 necessarily a a criticism of somebody, but you start to track 182 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,520 the intake and it results in a product. 183 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,160 What if we do that with our minds? 184 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,880 Have you ever done this with your mind to consider why you 185 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,120 are way the way you are right now with regard to peace or 186 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,760 stress or lack of empathy or empathy? 187 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:35,840 Have you ever tracked what you're taking in? 188 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,320 Let's say we did this without food, but let's say it's with 189 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,600 our minds food. Let's say for the 1st 30 minutes 190 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,080 of my day, my breakfast so to speak, I spent my day watching 191 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:47,680 the news where they told me the economy's collapsing, morality 192 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,200 is crumbling, our government is corrupt and three people were 193 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,520 arrested for robbing a locally owned business. 194 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,600 Then I rushed to get ready for work and the 15 minutes I had 195 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,000 left before I had to leave. I looked in the mirror, unhappy 196 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,920 with my appearance, my age, my fitness, maybe my lack of sleep, 197 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,120 beauty care, and then I told God thank you for my food and I was 198 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,040 out the door. OK, as we think about our diet, 199 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,560 what is this diet going to result in? 200 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,640 I drove to work anxious about being late and frustrated with 201 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,640 myself because I did not wake up early enough. 202 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:17,680 I was annoyed by all the people in Bakersfield. 203 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,760 We have some of the worst driving rates and statistics in 204 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,320 the country, so it's maybe a valid annoyance for all the 205 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:25,880 people in Bakersfield who don't know how to drive. 206 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,280 Then when I got to work, a Co worker talked to me about how 207 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,680 much they were tired of this job and the frustrations that come 208 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:32,640 with it. At lunch I spent 30 minutes 209 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,000 scrolling on my phone. Random people that either made 210 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,840 me laugh about ridiculous things or made me annoyed that some 211 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,520 people can be so dumb before I moved on to look at somebody 212 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,000 else doing the same thing. And those extremes left me 213 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,920 internally numb to low stimulation activities that I 214 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,880 was going to be engaged with it with at work ahead of me. 215 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,680 I went back to work dreading the last three hours of the day. 216 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:57,600 I'm not saying this is me. I'm not saying this is any of 217 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,520 you. I'm just saying here's a sample 218 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:04,000 of what might happen in our minds that we might be feeding 219 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,000 on. So then at dinner, I got home so 220 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,920 tired after work, I just wanted to relax. 221 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,400 So I turned on the TV and watched insert any whether it's 222 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,880 sport, whether it's reality TV show, whether it's movie for 90 223 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:17,360 minutes where I caught up emotion. 224 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,560 When I got caught up emotionally in the plot of something that 225 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:23,560 has nothing to do with me or has no bearing on my life. 226 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,760 I got a prayer request. I got an e-mail from GAIL that 227 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,240 says and someone needs an our prayers. 228 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,960 And so I said a three second prayer for them and I moved on. 229 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,880 I got up, I looked at the house, I saw 13 things that needed to 230 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:40,880 be done and I felt overwhelmed. Before bed, my bedtime snack. 231 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,760 Mentally you might say. I read my Bible for 10 minutes, 232 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,880 but I was very sleepy and not interested in what I was 233 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,800 reading. I said a prayer and mentioned a 234 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,120 family member who was sick. I went to sleep worried about 235 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,000 them. I blew through that to try to 236 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,880 give us some idea of what we might be feeding on. 237 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,800 Is this what we're feeding our minds and non judge mentally, 238 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,040 completely, objectively? What am I going to get out of a 239 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:14,280 mind that feeds like this? Let's try to identify whatever 240 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:18,280 fruits might come off of or products might come from this. 241 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,840 Is this going to create peace, anxiety, closeness with God, 242 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,320 selflessness, hopefulness about the future, empathy, hunger for 243 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,480 righteousness? Is it going to create hunger for 244 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,360 entertainment? Is it going to give me a restful 245 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,840 mind? Is it going to give me joy or is 246 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:38,360 it going to give me stress as we evaluate what we're feeding on, 247 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,560 You know what social media, they call it your feed. 248 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:47,680 It's what we feed on mentally. Is this going to give us what we 249 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:51,800 need to fight the spiritual warfare that we're fighting? 250 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:57,520 I ask you this from a place of lowness on this scale as well. 251 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:02,280 If you feel that way. Let's let's evaluate. 252 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,000 I'm going to try to blow through because I don't want to spend a 253 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,320 bunch of time with with these hypotheticals, but let's say 254 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,000 just a completely different mental diet. 255 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:09,920 Again, this is not the perfect thing. 256 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:11,640 This is just a let's just throw this out there. 257 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,040 Let's say I woke up to the first minute of my day. 258 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,080 One minute I spent was on my knees. 259 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,840 I thanked God forgive me. Whatever rest I did get. 260 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:20,680 I remember the stresses ahead of me. 261 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,760 So I asked the father to walk with me and whatever was to 262 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,600 come. I took a deep breath and thought 263 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,080 about the fact that he really just heard my prayer. 264 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,640 I ate breakfast and read 3 verses on a daily schedule. 265 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,360 I'm on one phrase in first Peter. 266 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,800 One reminded me to love my brethren with a pure heart. 267 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,040 That made me think about my brother who is in need. 268 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,560 I said a prayer for them and sent them a text message. 269 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,040 I drove to work and had to remind myself to be peaceful on 270 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,480 the road and to give preference to others even here. 271 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,880 I sing praises to God in the privacy of my car that made me 272 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,560 think about His greatness and His loving qualities. 273 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,400 I picked a parking spot that was further away from the building 274 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,280 so that others could get to a closer spot in case they needed 275 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,360 it. I took the first two minutes of 276 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,720 my lunch break to be alone, to breathe deep, and to thank God 277 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,320 in prayer for both my job and for the rest I get with a quick 278 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,480 break. I spent 10 minutes of my break 279 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,360 reading and meditating on scripture. 280 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,040 At the end of my break, when I was tired, I asked God for 281 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,200 strength to continue on and to have a good attitude and work 282 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,200 ethic through the weakness I felt. 283 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,120 I went home and just rested after my work day in a 284 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,040 comfortable chair for 30 minutes, no stimulation, no 285 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,480 shows, no nothing. And I went for a 15 minute walk 286 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:33,320 and admired the things around me. 287 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:38,960 I admired the trees, the birds, the natural beauty that is here 288 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,080 even in Bakersfield, the low stimulation, peaceful things. 289 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,960 My mind was unoccupied. I had space to think about my 290 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:49,600 friend and something I can help them do. 291 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,640 I sent them a message offering my help a few days from now. 292 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,480 For my bedtime snack, I read the Bible for 10 minutes, praying to 293 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,360 God about the things I read. I said a prayer and mentioned a 294 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,680 family member who was sick, and I went to sleep comforted that 295 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:05,880 God can watch over them in ways I cannot. 296 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,280 I hope I didn't take too much time in your perspective going 297 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,680 through this. But the point is, what do we 298 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,160 think the results of a day like this might yield? 299 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:21,280 If I'm feeding on this kind of mental food, what do we think 300 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:21,960 it'll create? Do we? 301 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,320 Do we think it'll create restful mind, A hunger for 302 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,960 righteousness, or a hunger for entertainment, anxiety or peace? 303 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,720 Sometimes we want the results without the resolve. 304 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,160 Sometimes we want to have the shortcut to a mind that is 305 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,080 strong and peaceful without the mental diet that it takes to 306 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,040 achieve that. And maybe there's things where 307 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:54,280 you felt peace without doing some of these really hard habits 308 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,520 that you felt younger in life that now where you're at in 309 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:58,960 life, you don't have peace anymore. 310 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,320 What's funny is we say that about our diets. 311 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,480 I used to be able to eat that and I can't eat that anymore. 312 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,160 It leaves me feeling bad. And so I have to change my diet 313 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,520 physically now that I'm older. For whatever reason, it's just 314 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,800 where I'm at in life. Maybe spiritually you're there. 315 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:13,640 Maybe you're thinking I used to be at peace. 316 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,400 Life used to be good, and I wasn't doing all this stuff to 317 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:22,000 be a better Christian or to change my mind or to develop 318 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:27,079 peace. Maybe the answer is I Maybe it 319 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,920 was a grace of God that allowed me to find peace even without 320 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,240 all these habits. And maybe now we need to find a 321 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:39,040 healthy diet intellectually by girding up the loins of our mind 322 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,640 and resting our hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought 323 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,240 to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 324 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,120 I hope you and I will both consider what we are feeding 325 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:57,320 ourselves mentally so that we can really gird up our loins for 326 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:02,200 the Lord's work. Let's continue on verse 14 as 327 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,520 obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the 328 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,520 former lusts as in your ignorance. 329 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,960 Obedience will change our mind as we talk about all the ways to 330 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,320 change your mind and fill with better. 331 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,200 Obedience will do that. And there's a tendency for our 332 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,480 minds to be conformed like an old extension cord to a shape 333 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,480 that it's been in before, and it wants to go back to that old 334 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,400 shape. He says don't be conformed to 335 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,480 that. Don't go back to that in the 336 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,760 former lusts as in your ignorance before you knew, but 337 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,400 as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your 338 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:39,040 conduct because it is written the holy for I am holy. 339 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,920 You know what makes it worth it to fight your way out of that, 340 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,480 that shape that the extension cord used to be in, how to fight 341 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,120 your way out of that place in your mind. 342 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,880 What makes it worth it is the one who's calling you is holy. 343 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,360 He makes it worth it to come out of that. 344 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,800 He says verse 17. And if you call on the Father, 345 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,080 who with art without partiality judges according to each one's 346 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,760 work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay 347 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,320 here in fear. What he's telling Wade Branch is 348 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:12,120 if I want to call on the Father, if I want to address him as 349 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:17,040 Father, I need to walk the walk. I need to conduct myself in 350 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,760 fear. Now that fear is an active 351 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,920 awareness of the presence and greatness of God. 352 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,000 He even tells me there that God judges without partiality. 353 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,360 He's not going to favour one person because of who they came 354 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:40,200 from or their background or any other thing. 355 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,680 And maybe they need to hear that because maybe when you're 356 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:45,600 suffering, you can give yourself excuses. 357 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,000 Maybe when we're going through a hard time, it's like, you know 358 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,200 what, the least I can do is indulge in this. 359 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,840 But he says there's no partiality. 360 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,000 That's a good thing and sometimes a challenging thing 361 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,640 that God judges without partiality. 362 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,960 According to our work. Throughout the time of your stay 363 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,160 here in fear, it's just like this is a a visit at this this 364 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:11,080 hotel of life. He says knowing that you were 365 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,280 not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from 366 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,600 your aimless conduct received by tradition from your Father's, 367 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,960 but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without 368 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,640 blemish and without spot. Did you know you don't own 369 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,960 yourself? Our culture wants to say the 370 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,360 exact opposite. That is almost the ideal we can 371 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:36,280 achieve is you are your own person, you do whatever you want 372 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:37,640 to do. And in a sense that's great. 373 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,840 We have free will. We are blessed with that. 374 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,720 And we live in a country that is free, but we don't own 375 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:46,440 ourselves. We were bought. 376 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,480 The price has already been paid. And it's funny, he was talking 377 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,760 about gold in the in the past sense, like gold was the ideal 378 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,480 that you refined by fire. But he's saying in this context, 379 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,800 gold is worthless, gold is corruptible, it's trash, it's 380 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:02,440 going to be burned up in the final day. 381 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,520 But we were purchased with the precious blood of Christ. 382 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,760 That is beyond the value of any earthly thing because it's 383 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,320 spiritual in nature. And not only is it spiritual in 384 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:18,040 nature, it is the highest quality of blood that the 385 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,960 spiritual realm had the offer. It wasn't angelic blood. 386 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:29,960 It was the blood of the divine as of a lamb without blemish and 387 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,120 without spot. In the Old Testament, they had 388 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,840 to make a sacrifice of a land that was perfect. 389 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,800 It couldn't be that the land they wanted to throw away 390 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,640 anyway, that was going to get shipped out to pasture anyway. 391 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,120 It was the lamb that had nothing wrong with it, that was not 392 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,880 going to be wasted, but it was the top of their crop. 393 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,560 This is Jesus, He is the tip of the top. 394 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:59,000 He is the only sacrifice that could buy us and He bought us 395 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,240 from our aimless conduct received from our fathers. 396 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,440 We are thankful for our ancestors because they brought 397 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:12,880 our family line to this point. But many times we look back and 398 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,960 there was aimlessness there. Doesn't mean that they weren't 399 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,600 good people, but maybe that there wasn't a a point, there 400 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,760 was an aim. There wasn't a focus of life 401 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,520 that led to the point where I'm going to heaven. 402 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,960 That's my aim and I'm going to glorify God with my life. 403 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,320 He says you had that and you were purchased out of that. 404 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,680 It was a system that you were going to be stuck in just like 405 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,120 your Father's and you were purchased out of that. 406 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,000 And this Lamb who that was without blemish and without spot 407 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,600 was foreordained. Verse 20 He would He indeed was 408 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,640 foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was 409 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,680 manifest in these last times for you there was a plan ahead of 410 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:03,560 time before their sufferings for them who through him believe in 411 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,800 God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. 412 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:11,440 So that your faith and hope are in God since you have purified 413 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,600 your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere 414 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:20,480 love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure 415 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,360 heart. So this is part of the reason we 416 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:24,920 know he's writing to Christians. He's saying you have purified 417 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,040 yourselves. He's not writing to random 418 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:28,840 people. He's writing to people who have 419 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,560 purified themselves in obeying the truth through the Spirit. 420 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,760 We get the truth from the Spirit of God and the and the Spirit 421 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,240 works in US and sincere love of the brethren. 422 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,600 He says because of this, he's commanding them to love one 423 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:50,960 another fervently. Now he's saying you already have 424 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,800 a sincere love. What is this command to love 425 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,640 fervently? As I understand this word, 426 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,880 fervent was often used to describe a stretching or a 427 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,000 straining. And specifically in the in the 428 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,880 ancient days, it would describe a horse running across the 429 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,320 battlefield going full speed to attack the enemy. 430 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,120 It's a stretching and a straining. 431 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:15,640 As you see, this horse is is just a full gallop launching 432 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,480 itself. That's the verb he uses to 433 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:21,760 describe the way he wants us to love each other. 434 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:32,320 Do we love like that? Do I love my brethren like that? 435 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:39,120 Do I just exist as part of the church now? 436 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,720 I don't at all want you to feel like you're existing in the 437 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,080 state that you're in right now is a problem. 438 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,800 You are sitting in your seats showing respect and reverence to 439 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,760 the Word of God and a care for the Word of God. 440 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,600 It's not the sitting right now that's under consideration. 441 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,240 It's what is our life like outside of these seats, outside 442 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,280 of this room? Do we love each other? 443 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:04,160 Do I love you all with the kind of love that I would describe as 444 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:09,160 a stretching or a straining? You might even give a visual of 445 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,680 somebody lifting weights with with a strain. 446 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,720 Do I love like that? Do you love like that? 447 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,800 Do you Would you describe your work for the people in this room 448 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,720 as a stretch and a strain? Because in order to participate 449 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:32,680 in the glorious honours of this message, to truly be Christians, 450 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,080 this is the kind of love he commands of us. 451 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,480 Just like we're commanded to worship God on the first day of 452 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:47,040 the week in the commune, we are commanded to love with a fervent 453 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:53,080 and a almost an aggression that we are going to serve. 454 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,040 Now we can't just do it with with it with reckless abandoned, 455 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,960 but he says to do with a pure heart that we would have pure 456 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,280 intentions, pure motives, not trying to be better not than 457 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,640 other people and and make ourselves somehow lifted up 458 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,400 because we are loving others better. 459 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:15,040 This has to do with the pure heart having been born again, 460 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:18,320 not a corruptible see, but incorruptible. 461 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,040 He says you, you, you guys are are have a new life and it's not 462 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,520 just a new life like the one you got when you came into this 463 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,640 world through your through through your mother. 464 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,680 It's a life that is different in the sense that this time the 465 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,760 seed that you are part of we read in the Corinthian letter is 466 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:39,080 going to not be corrupted. It's going to be incorruptible 467 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,200 through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. 468 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:49,160 The second time we were born. It is so much different round 469 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,800 two. We are a whole different seed 470 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:56,600 verse 24, because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of 471 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,560 man has the flower of grass. The grass wizard Withers and 472 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,920 it's flower falls away. I've got weeds right now in my 473 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,720 in my garden that were so bright and green and just a couple days 474 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:09,280 later now they're completely brown already. 475 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,320 We see that in this state. We know what that looks like, he 476 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,160 says, but the word of the Lord endures forever. 477 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,800 We will go away so fast. It's like grass, but the word of 478 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,400 the Lord endures forever. The word endures in integrity. 479 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,240 People try to speak against the word of the Lord like it's been 480 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,480 polluted. It has never been polluted. 481 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,480 Jesus says heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by 482 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,720 no means pass away. It is. 483 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,240 It endures forever in importance. 484 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,720 The Word of God still has the importance it has. 485 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,760 It had thousands of years ago today and the impact it has on 486 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:51,000 people's life, as we have been seeing recently, it still has 487 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,880 the impact and it endures forever. 488 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,160 I think of it almost like the Sequoia standing above all the 489 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,320 other pesky things that come and go. 490 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,240 The word of the Lord endures forever. 491 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:07,560 Now this is the word by the gospel, which by the gospel was 492 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,280 preached to you going on in chapter 2. 493 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:15,320 He says Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, all 494 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:21,120 hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking, this is kind of a kind 495 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:23,480 of a, you might say some other instructions as to how to gird 496 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,640 up your minds. Malice, what is that? 497 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:31,480 Malice is evil intention. It's not having the best 498 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,160 interest for somebody else, but having contrary intentions, all 499 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,520 deceit that my words and my intentions would not be 500 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,120 completely true and straightforward and honest with 501 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:42,480 people. He says get rid of that. 502 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,560 All hypocrisy, the tendency to want to portray yourself like 503 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,120 you're something different that you're not. 504 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,480 He says get rid of that. Be straightforward, he says, 505 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,120 laying aside all envy. So sometimes the roots of this 506 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:57,560 is you want what someone else has. 507 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,920 You long for somebody else's things, Get rid of that. 508 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,720 And all evil speaking, Sometimes this is the roots of these other 509 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,280 things, the way we talk about people, the way we speak of 510 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,440 people, he says. Lay all that aside, get that out 511 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,400 of here. And as newborn babes desire the 512 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:21,480 pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you 513 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,360 have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 514 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,400 This phrase reminds me that he's writing to people who have 515 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,080 tasted it. He's saying you have seen this 516 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,560 before. Now go back to the word. 517 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,920 Go back to the pure milk of the word. 518 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,200 And especially I believe he's saying in times of trial, 519 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,240 sometimes we need to go back to the basics. 520 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,600 When we're in times of trial, we don't always need to go to the 521 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,200 to the depths of meat. I know of people in my life who 522 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,040 they were going through something very difficult, but 523 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,560 all they wanted to study was the end times of revelation and the 524 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:57,960 the rapture. They wanted to study these all 525 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,000 these concepts that are not milk. 526 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,880 But when people are struggling, he says, go back to the milk you 527 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:11,200 need to grow right now. And as babies grow from the from 528 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:16,200 the milk of the word, from the milk, he says, so you may grow 529 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:17,920 thereby from the milk of the word. 530 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,920 It is natural for a baby to crave milk, Taylor tells me. 531 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,120 Sometimes she has been nursing for two hours straight. 532 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,640 It's constant. It's just ridiculous. 533 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,400 I've fed her 17 times a day, she said. 534 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,800 And we need to desire the milk of the word because that's why a 535 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:43,400 baby grows. If you were a baby spiritually, 536 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:48,200 would you survive on the milk of the word that you are taking in? 537 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:55,000 Would you survive if you were a literal baby based on what 538 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,880 you're taking in from Scripture? We grow from it. 539 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,360 If you want to grow, it always starts there. 540 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:11,400 He says verse 4, coming to him as to a living stone, rejected 541 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,840 indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. 542 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,200 You remember who's writing this? It's Peter. 543 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,600 Remember what Peter's name is? It's a Little Rock, a fragment 544 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,120 of a rock compared to Jesus Christ. 545 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,760 You were going to see in a minute is the is the bedrock of 546 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,800 our foundation. He's saying you also are living 547 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,120 stone. It's not just me, Peter. 548 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,120 You are living stones. You're you're not just aimlessly 549 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,600 thrown into the regions of Galatia and Cappadocia and 550 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,800 Bithynia. You are part of a building. 551 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:44,320 You are a rock that is being rejected by men, but you are a 552 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,920 stone that is alive. You're part of the building. 553 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:53,760 You're a living stone, but chosen by God and precious. 554 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,960 We're going to come back to this first chosen. 555 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,640 If you've noticed he's used chosen elect and appointed 556 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,280 several times. We'll come back to this in just 557 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,280 a minute. He says you're being built up a 558 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,320 spiritual house. You also as living stones are 559 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,680 being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to 560 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,840 OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus 561 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,160 Christ. We together or a spiritual 562 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,640 house, a dwelling place for God, not a literal temple, but a 563 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,360 spiritual one. Therefore it is also contained 564 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,440 in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion. 565 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:36,320 Zion is is a is the mountain of the Lord. 566 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,080 It's the place where you go to the Lord. 567 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,120 It's the place where his power and strength comes from. 568 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,720 He says, behold, I lay in this mountain where the Lord comes 569 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,320 from, a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. 570 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:54,280 He's Speaking of Jesus, and he who believes on him will by no 571 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,320 means be put to shame. He's he's showing them the part 572 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,680 of this house that Jesus is also part of their value and their 573 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,640 role in the Kingdom. And he who believes on him will 574 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,600 by no means be put to shame on earth. 575 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,360 Yes, there's shame for Christians. 576 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,840 They're treated shamefully, but the shame that actually matters 577 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,800 is the final shame where the Lord either confirms or denies 578 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:20,760 us, and He says that will happen. 579 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,600 You won't be put to shame in the end. 580 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,680 Verse 7. Therefore, to you who believe He 581 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,360 is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which 582 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,720 the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a 583 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,360 stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 584 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:43,880 They threw him away. They buried him, but on the 585 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,880 place where he was buried, a spiritual house was erected. 586 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,720 A spiritual house was then built piece after piece on the place 587 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,800 where they thought he was going to be buried in the lay. 588 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:57,680 That spiritual house grew, and it still grows today, and they 589 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,600 were part of it. And he wanted them to know 590 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:02,160 they're being treated the same way. 591 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,920 And you may be treated the same way, insignificant and rejected, 592 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,560 but you're part of that same house. 593 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,199 And if you're unfamiliar with cornerstones in building, 594 00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:16,080 basically you have to have something to ground to. 595 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,600 Back in those days, they can't necessarily make their own 596 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,760 stones. Today we can make our own stones 597 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:24,280 with concrete footings and we can anchor to those. 598 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,920 But to them it became a rock, a rock of stumbling, an offence. 599 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:35,040 It says they stumble being disobedient to the word to which 600 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:40,520 they also were appointed. OK, so we've talked about being 601 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,199 chosen, elected, and even other people are appointed. 602 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,880 What's going on? This phrase he says verse 9. 603 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,719 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy 604 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:59,520 nation, his own special people. OK, let's consider this chosen 605 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,240 and elected. I brought this up slightly in 606 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:03,120 our last lesson. I told you we're going to talk 607 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,840 about it more. We've already talked about in 608 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,600 the book of Galatians and several other places, how 609 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:15,240 understanding the election of God, how God chooses us there. 610 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:18,240 There's a lot to it and it's, it's beyond us to be honest with 611 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:20,240 you. But we talked about how, you 612 00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,200 know, there's the difference between conditional election and 613 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,440 unconditional election, meaning God chooses me if I'm willing to 614 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,080 serve him or God chooses me regardless of anything I do. 615 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:36,200 We talked about general election being God chooses a group of 616 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,200 people, Christians who will serve him that he's going to 617 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:43,760 save versus choosing individual people that he's going to save. 618 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,920 These are concepts we've already addressed, but I think there's 619 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:53,400 an issue here to address that we are jumping to a discussion of 620 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,800 salvation. That election we always end up 621 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,480 talking about like you're like you're saved. 622 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:04,400 And I want to challenge that a little bit by discussing what 623 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:08,120 the role of election and chosen the Bible is as a whole. 624 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,480 First of all, let's look at the promise to Abraham in Genesis 625 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,080 12, verse one. Now the Lord said to Abram, get 626 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,720 out of your country from your family and from your father's 627 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:19,400 house to a land that I will show you. 628 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,520 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and I will make 629 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,600 your name great and you shall be a blessing. 630 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,960 I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse 631 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,760 you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 632 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:39,160 This is super important. The God chooses people to use 633 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,840 throughout the Old Testament. This is one of many examples, 634 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:51,640 but it never is in the context from my studies of I'm saving 635 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,480 you. It's not. 636 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,200 It's not not even what he's saying. 637 00:36:55,480 --> 00:37:01,920 He's saying I'm choosing you for a role and actually I'm choosing 638 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,440 you so that you shall bless other people. 639 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:10,280 The role, I believe of election and choosing the Bible is God's 640 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,000 giving people a purpose in his master plan. 641 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:20,200 Now being saved is often part of that. 642 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,360 Obviously if you're going to be part of God's plan, you want to 643 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:25,760 be saved. And so that's the goal of is 644 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:35,640 saving but. He goes on to say in Genesis 17 645 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,760 verse 9, and God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall 646 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,120 keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout 647 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:45,560 their generations. So he had a he had a purpose 648 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:52,600 tied to it. Part of the reason I think 649 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:58,120 that's important to note is he just said Jesus was elect. 650 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,120 My slide got out of order, so let me go back. 651 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,960 He says the stone which the builders rejected has become the 652 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:08,440 chief cornerstone, that being Jesus. 653 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,800 He says the chief cornerstone was elect. 654 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:16,240 My point I'm making is election I don't believe is a synonym for 655 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:18,960 saved. We wouldn't say Jesus was a 656 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:20,400 chief cornerstone. He was saved. 657 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,880 Jesus wasn't saved. Jesus was perfect, he was God. 658 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:27,760 Election and saved are not synonyms. 659 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:34,120 The point is, God has chosen Jesus for a work and Jesus has 660 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:39,440 agreed and surrendered to that work just in the same way that 661 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:44,840 God has chosen us for a work. Sorry, I bounced around a lot. 662 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:51,680 That we are the living stones chosen by God for a work so that 663 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,840 we are the only ones who saved. No, so that we will then in turn 664 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,080 hope to save others and bring them into God's family. 665 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,280 I believe that's the biblical picture of election and that's 666 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,640 why these people who are appointed, I don't believe it's 667 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,200 saying these people were chosen by God to be damned, that 668 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:11,080 they're chosen to go to hell. I don't believe that's what it's 669 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:12,680 saying. I believe what it's saying is 670 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,160 they were drawn in to God's planet. 671 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:16,440 That's the side they're going to be on. 672 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,520 He is going to put them into a use. 673 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,600 Now, why is that important? I believe it illustrates that 674 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:27,520 God is going to be deeply involved in everybody's life, 675 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:32,160 whether you or I choose to serve God or not. 676 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,720 He's like, I'm going to appoint you for a purpose. 677 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,160 I'm going to use you in my master plan. 678 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,120 If you're going to serve me, I will use you for my glory and 679 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:49,600 for your eventual glory. The point is, God has a purpose 680 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,840 and a role for everybody, and He is going to be deeply involved 681 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,680 in our lives, whether we wonder or not, whether it's for a good 682 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:04,440 thing or for a bad thing. So may we be those chosen that 683 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:11,000 surrender to Him and appointed for good things because they 684 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,040 probably didn't feel like a chosen generation? 685 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,280 You go back to maybe why he was even he was even writing this. 686 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,040 These people were probably feel like the lost generation, the 687 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:22,760 scattered generation into the into the regions of Cappadocia, 688 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,960 Asia and Bithynia. But he says, no, you're a chosen 689 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,800 generation. You're a royal priesthood in the 690 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,320 Old Testament. They had these people who are 691 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:36,680 all performing their orderly work in the temple, and that 692 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:39,760 probably felt so empowering to be part of that system, he says 693 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,960 you are also a royal priesthood, scattered into the regions and 694 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:47,400 dispersed like pilgrims. You are still a royal priesthood 695 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:52,280 because the priesthood wasn't about the robes or the temple. 696 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,000 The priesthood was about faithfulness and service to God. 697 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:58,480 And these people he's writing to are doing that, He says. 698 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,520 You are a holy nation. They probably felt like they had 699 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,040 no nation, that they were pilgrims and dispersed, 700 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,760 persecuted. But he says you have a you are a 701 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:12,120 holy nation still. At least the Jewish people had a 702 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:14,760 nation. He says you are still a nation, 703 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:20,520 his own special people. They probably felt like a 704 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,640 forgotten people because of their current persecution. 705 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,720 But he says, You are a special people closing up here, that you 706 00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:33,880 may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness 707 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:42,200 and into his marvelous light. What a picture who are once not 708 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:47,360 a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained the 709 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:50,560 mercy, but now have obtained the mercy. 710 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:55,480 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims that you are, He 711 00:41:55,480 --> 00:42:00,680 says Abstain from from fleshly lusts which war against the 712 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:02,240 soul. We've talked about that a lot 713 00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:04,880 today. Let's stay away from the things. 714 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:06,640 Don't make our fight harder than it needs to be. 715 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:10,400 If we're going to fight this fight, don't make it harder than 716 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,360 it needs to be on ourselves. Having your conduct honourable 717 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,280 among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evil 718 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:24,440 doers, as rejected stones, they may by your good works which 719 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:28,600 they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 720 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:36,960 We want people to come to God, We want people to be saved. 721 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,400 And if you can't muster the strength to care about people 722 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:44,280 enough to want that, at least do it for God, because God deserves 723 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:48,000 their glory. May we act in a way that will 724 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,320 lead them to God so that God gets the glory that He has 725 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:58,120 always deserved. In the day of visitation, He's 726 00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:00,760 going to visit us again. He'll be back. 727 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:06,160 We want God to get the glory from every person possible. 728 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:13,720 Have you started this walk? Romans 10/17 says faith comes by 729 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:15,200 hearing and hearing by the word of God. 730 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:20,280 We're told to believe and that's where that that belief comes 731 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:24,640 from is hearing the word of God. Mark 16 and 16 tells us that and 732 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,480 and we're told to repent according to Luke 13 and 3. 733 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:33,120 We're told to confess called according to Romans 10 verse 9 734 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,880 and 10. And if we confess the Jesus 735 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:38,000 Christ and the Son of God, we can be baptized for the 736 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,040 remission of our sins, have our sins washed away. 737 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,920 And if you've done that, it's time to live faithfully. 738 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:47,920 It doesn't end there. That's the point at which you 739 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:51,240 enter and contact the blood of Christ and have sins washed 740 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:53,160 away. But it's not the end, it's the 741 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,680 beginning. And if you have started this 742 00:43:56,680 --> 00:43:59,160 walk, well, if you have not started this walk, you can be 743 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,160 advertised today, as we saw last week, it can be very fast. 744 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:05,280 We can take care of that today. Or if you have started, you need 745 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,520 to get back on the right track. You need the prayers of the 746 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:09,040 Saints. Please come while we stand and 747 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:09,200 see.