1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:04,480 Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,280 Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,280 take hold of. So we hope this message inspires 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,560 you and build your faith that it helps you have more of a God 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,800 perspective for your day. Enjoy. 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:20,600 Bless. You guys have a seat. 7 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,960 Wonderful. I just love how excited you guys 8 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,160 get whenever you hear the word of God is going to be preached. 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,000 It does. It brings a smile to my face. 10 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,640 It's like, let's stand and celebrate the word of God. 11 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,840 And I just love how enthusiastic you all are. 12 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,120 Please never, ever lose that. Yeah. 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,560 Because the more you get to know God, the more you fall in love 14 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,280 with him, the more you realize it's not just about Amazing 15 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,200 Grace with God. It's like amazing everything. 16 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,560 I'm pretty sure for the first gazillion years been in glory, 17 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:54,600 there's some people, you know, they're the party people. 18 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,200 They're going to be worshiping, celebrating. 19 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,320 I'm I'm going to be standing there pretty much dumb struck 20 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,040 and just go for a very long time. 21 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,120 Someone's going to take me on the shoulder and go. 22 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:11,800 It's OK John, just move on. We are in a season of faith, 23 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,360 love and hope. The preach for today is called 24 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,800 the greatest of these. That's what I'm called the 25 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,360 greatest of these because that verse, when I was a child, that 26 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,560 verse really confused me. It's First Corinthians 1313, 27 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,120 which I'm sure for those who've been around for a while would 28 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,440 have heard multiple times, but I want to go through it now. 29 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,280 First Corinthians 1313 says, and now abide. 30 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:41,240 Faith, hope, love, these three, OK? 31 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,600 Abide means, you know, submerge yourself in it, live in it, 32 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,920 abide, faith, hope, love these three, but the greatest of these 33 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:56,160 is love agape. Love agape love is a selfless 34 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,160 love. It is a pouring out kind of 35 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,800 love. It's one of those loves that you 36 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,680 really kind of get more of a taste for as you become like a 37 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:10,880 parent or a grandparent and you just want to pour yourself out 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,320 for this object that will probably never do anything for 39 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,400 you. That particular the day you're 40 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:19,960 like, I gave you everything today. 41 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,920 Where's my stuff? Doesn't happen. 42 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,680 Yeah, Bubba. Hello, darling. 43 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:28,720 Like that. Well, that that was for me. 44 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,120 Thank you, darling. OK, so. 45 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,920 But this verse used to really confuse me when I was a child 46 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:40,760 because I thought faith, surely faith is the greatest of these. 47 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,040 Surely. Remember the old days when 48 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:49,360 people were told that salvation is by faith alone because they 49 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,640 never read the book of James? And so that was my childhood. 50 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,600 I'm like, well, you know, faith has to be faith. 51 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,240 So it can't be love has to be faith. 52 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,440 But as we read the Word of God, we find out that actually grace 53 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,000 is a gift. It's just the generous, 54 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,880 beautiful nature of God. It is that love. 55 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,920 It's that giving. It's the I want to extend and 56 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:18,040 give grace. One of the most beautiful verses 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,440 is an Acts 1511. It's on the screen. 58 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,400 But this is the apostles and this is Paul. 59 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:24,640 And they're all speaking to each other. 60 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,240 And they said we believe in James. 61 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:33,560 We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we 62 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,840 are saved. It's through his grace that we 63 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,120 are saved. He doesn't even mention the word 64 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,400 faith here. It's a beautiful gift. 65 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,400 It's the nature of God to want to give grace. 66 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,760 And then of course, we read in Ephesians 28 to 9:00 that this 67 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,320 happens through faith. But interestingly, grace also 68 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,720 occurs through repentance. It even says that repentance 69 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,080 leads to salvation in 2nd Corinthians 710. 70 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,960 And then as we read, it is also through the washing and the 71 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,320 rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. 72 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,000 And you read that in Titus chapter 3. 73 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,640 So faith is important, but it's only one of many, many important 74 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,640 things. And of course there's hope, but 75 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,000 hope in our modern understanding can sound an awful lot like a 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,440 pipe dream. For those who don't know what a 77 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,360 pipe dream is, it actually is a term that started from the opium 78 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:29,680 dens, right? So what would happen is 79 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280 especially 18th and 19th century, early 20th century, 80 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,480 there was a thing about, you know, opium, right? 81 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,920 And that would get into these dans and they would be smoking 82 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:43,800 away and it would fill the room with opium, which is basically a 83 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:45,760 drug. And it fills the room with 84 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:47,320 smoke. And people would have these 85 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,760 wonderful dreams and visions. And they were doing it not just 86 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,600 because they were addicted to drugs. 87 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,520 It was one of the painkillers back then. 88 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,520 So people would smoking opium for pain relief, then they were 89 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,280 getting wildly addicted to it, and then they'd end up in these 90 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,800 dens all together doing it. But that's where the term pipe 91 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,280 dream come from. Because as soon as the smoke 92 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:15,720 went away, so did the dream and the vision and the enthusiasm. 93 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,600 And we tend to see hope that way as well. 94 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,680 So in today's understanding, things like faith and hope are 95 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,040 intangible. They're unreal. 96 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,000 You know, you'll often hear people say, you know, I believe 97 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,800 in science, not faith, because faith is imaginary. 98 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,000 But that's not what faith and hope are. 99 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:48,760 In the Bible, the original foundation of faith and hope is 100 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:54,960 actually tangible. And they both point to love, 101 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,840 which is why the greatest, the greatest of these is love. 102 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,960 So .1 for those who are point takers, faith anchors us, which 103 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,240 is bizarre because an anchor is something that has to be true 104 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,760 and real. Hey, you know, you can't just 105 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,120 anchor yourself to something that's imaginary, you know, 106 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,200 imagine, like if you know, trying to anchor or hold on to 107 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,200 something that's not real. So how does faith anchor us if 108 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,280 it's not real? And I guess the best way for me 109 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:32,520 to explain this is that faith and belief are different in 110 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,880 their structure. So for example, I believe that 111 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,600 when I walked up here on the platform that it would support 112 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,720 my weight and it would be fine. You know, you can jump up and 113 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:49,000 down and it won't collapse under me, but I have faith that the 114 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,640 words that I'm speaking will change your life and your heart 115 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:58,120 through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that hopefully it 116 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,000 will produce a walk that's even closer to God. 117 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:06,000 That's faith. Now, who's to say that my belief 118 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,520 in the platform is more real than my faith in the 119 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,200 transformation of your life of the Holy Spirit? 120 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,360 Like, who's to say which is more real? 121 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:17,000 And people like. Oh, yeah. 122 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:18,920 But John, you can touch the platform. 123 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,560 Yes, but my faith touches heaven. 124 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,640 I don't see heaven, John. OK, but you know, I don't see 125 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:33,000 gravity either. I see how it affects everything 126 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,960 around me. If I drop the mic, bam. 127 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,400 But I don't see gravity. Anyone here seen the gravity 128 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:40,960 lately? Can you bring it up here? 129 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,400 Do you believe in gravity? Oh, that's weird. 130 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,040 Hey, something you see or can't see? 131 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,000 What about wind? Feel like I see wind? 132 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,840 No, you don't. What you see is how it affects 133 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,840 things around you. So, you know, one of my favorite 134 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:58,160 things is actually to sit on the patio. 135 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,400 I really do like the trees in the background when it's windy 136 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,720 because they sway slowly. Have you seen that? 137 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,280 It's like lovely. Now I don't sit there and freak 138 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,920 out and go, it's magic. They're moving by themselves 139 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:18,840 because I don't see wind, but I know it's there and it's real. 140 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,000 And just because you can't see something or even touch 141 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,840 something doesn't mean it's not real. 142 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,960 Good example is your thoughts. Anyone here touch somebody's 143 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,760 thought lately? No. 144 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,440 OK, But we're pretty sure thoughts are real. 145 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:42,200 Yeah, so just because you can't see or physically touch 146 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,760 something also doesn't mean it's not true. 147 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,920 In Romans 1 chapter 17 and in Galatians 311, Paul quotes an 148 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,160 ancient prophet by the name of Habakkuk. 149 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:00,160 All right, so Habakkuk 2 verse 4, it says the just shall live 150 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,680 by faith. The Hebrew word there is MNR or 151 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:06,240 MNR. All right. 152 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,680 So lots of different ways to explain that. 153 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,560 But Paul saw the word MNR as a way live faith. 154 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,560 All right. But the bizarre thing about the 155 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:22,560 word MNR is it's really closely related to the word Amit. 156 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:29,240 Amit means truth, not some fanciful weird like magical 157 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,240 thing called faith. No, it's very, very closely 158 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:39,320 related to the word truth. And in fact, faith and truth are 159 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,000 interchangeable. In Deuteronomy 32 verse 4, this 160 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,360 is what it says. It says he is the rock talking 161 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,360 of God. His work is perfect for all his 162 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,120 ways of judgement. Give this a God of a MENA, a God 163 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:58,440 of truth and without iniquity, just and right He is. 164 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,840 You could only say that because the words a MENA that He is a 165 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,000 God of faith. If faith and truth are 166 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,440 interchangeable. So if faith is true, doesn't 167 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:16,320 that make it real? So you think me standing on the 168 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,400 platform is the truth because you can see it. 169 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,240 But technically, biblically standing in the Kingdom of 170 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,600 heaven is even more real than the things that are around me 171 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:34,280 because it's truth, which is why in Hebrews 11 verse one very 172 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:39,640 popular verse now faith is this substance of things hoped for, 173 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,720 the evidence of things not seen. The thing is that word 174 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:43,920 substance, You've got to look it up. 175 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,440 This is it's OK in Hebrew, it's hopistas all right? 176 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:52,560 Hopistas. It is 99% of the time it gets 177 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:54,520 translated as the word confidence. 178 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,160 In fact, this is verse in Hebrews 11, verse one. 179 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,360 It's the only time that it gets translated as the word 180 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,840 substance. Now, why did good old King James 181 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:07,360 decided for that one verse change it from confidence to 182 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,440 substance? It's because context. 183 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,960 Also, hooperstasis means like foundation. 184 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:16,960 It means something that's so real. 185 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,520 You can you can actually put weight on it. 186 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,240 It holds things up. You'll find hooperstasis. 187 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:24,920 It can be translated as a person. 188 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,040 If that person's holding you up, it's a real thing. 189 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,280 It's not just an airy fairy pipe dream. 190 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,960 It's a real thing. Some that's foundational. 191 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,640 So King James is like, well, you know, we can't just do the word 192 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,640 confidence here. We're going to have to explain 193 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,480 that it's something so tangible that faith is the substance, the 194 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:50,360 upholding of things hoped for, the evidence, the truth of 195 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:55,760 things not seen. So what about hope then? 196 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:01,280 All right, .2 hope sustains us so this is the things that are 197 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:06,480 hoped for, not a pipe dream, not you know, the smoke goes away 198 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,360 and well that was nice to hope for that. 199 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,040 We have really misunderstood the word hope because you know 200 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,080 people say, oh you man, their hopes were dashed. 201 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,920 I'm like that actually doesn't make sense when you understand 202 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:24,360 what the word hope is the the word for hope in Hebrew is 203 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:27,640 Tikva. Now Tikva is a very Jewish and 204 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:32,680 historical if you know the national anthem of Israel, it's 205 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:36,680 called the Hatikva. Hatikva means the hope, right? 206 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:40,720 So even the national anthem is based around this word hope. 207 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:46,240 But the literal translation of Tikva is rope chord. 208 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,760 It's not like a like smoke. It's a tangible thing that you 209 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:56,000 hold on to. Rock climbers would hold on to a 210 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:02,640 Tikva in in Joshua chapter 2, verses 18 to 21, there's an 211 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:07,160 event that occurs where Joshua sends spies into this place 212 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,680 called Jericho, and they nearly get caught. 213 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,560 And there's this woman there, her name's Rehab. 214 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,600 And she hides them. And they're like, sweet, thank 215 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,320 you for hiding us. How can we repay you? 216 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:23,320 So basically the whole deal is they said if you hang out your 217 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:30,720 window a Scarlett Tikva people say the scarlet rope, scarlet 218 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,440 cord, whatever, but the words Tikva A scarlet rope. 219 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,360 If you throw out your the scarlet rope, then you'll be 220 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,840 saved. Says this in Joshua 2 verse 21. 221 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,800 Then she said this is rahed. She said according to your 222 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,240 words, so be it. And she sent them away and they 223 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:57,080 departed and she bound the scarlet Tikvath cord in the 224 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,000 window, tangible, not just smoke. 225 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:06,160 They could see it now. So she put this scarlet coloured 226 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,560 tikvah hope, a scarlet hope out the window. 227 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,880 So it was hope that physically led to her salvation. 228 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,160 Now get this, this is real cool part, right? 229 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:26,040 So that Scarlett Tikvah, that Scarlett rope, that Scarlet hope 230 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,040 wasn't just about a pretty rope that she put in a window 231 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,800 biblically, that scarlet rope weaved its way all the way 232 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,960 through her descendants, all the way to Jesus, because she was 233 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,680 the great, great, great, great. You've got to do it 40 times. 234 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,880 I'm not going to do it right, but she's the great, great, 235 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:49,360 great times 40 grandmother of Jesus. 236 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:54,360 So that that rope, it wasn't just a symbol, it ended up being 237 00:14:54,360 --> 00:15:00,120 the bloodline tangible, tangible. 238 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:08,840 In Romans 15 verse 13, it says, now may the God of hope fill you 239 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,840 with all joy. Never is God the God of like 240 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:19,120 imaginary stuff. Then why would it be called the 241 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:26,400 God of hope if it wasn't real? Now, may the God of hope fill 242 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:31,760 you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in 243 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,120 hope. Not imaginary stuff, but abound 244 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,560 in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 245 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,040 I like to say this. I like to say God is the God of 246 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:40,560 hope. Ropes. 247 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:41,320 Is it? OK? 248 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:44,880 How fun of you read this. I want you to. 249 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:46,800 I want you to say that for me, it'd be great. 250 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,160 All right. May I may be the God of a hope 251 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,080 rope because you've heard of Nope ropes, right? 252 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,440 You know, snakes, snakes and Nope ropes, right? 253 00:15:55,240 --> 00:16:00,520 But God is the hope group. So how does this attach? 254 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,360 Then you think about this. OK, So remember, remember, faith 255 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,520 is what anchors us. Yeah. 256 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,520 So anchored toward right? So if you can imagine from a 257 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,800 rock climbers perspective, you've got your hope rope, but 258 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,840 you have to attach yourself to it. 259 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,040 And how do you do that? Well, you get those D clips and 260 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:22,360 you click it on so that if you fall, you're caught. 261 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,160 And when you're caught, you've been saved. 262 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:35,760 So faith and hope, tangibly working together so that you and 263 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,800 me can be saved. Because all of these things 264 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,560 point to love. Yeah, well done. 265 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:51,760 Say .3 it is the greatest is love again, First Corinthians 266 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,320 1313 as a reminder, this is now abide faith, hope, love, these 267 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,560 three, but the greatest of these is love because it actually all 268 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:04,240 starts with love, not the way that the world explains love at 269 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,119 all. You know, love is love or 270 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,599 really, why is it the same people that say love is love? 271 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,079 The same people say, well, that 60 year old shouldn't have 272 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:16,319 married that 30 year old. It's like weird, hey, how they 273 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:19,400 still think love is defined by their own opinions. 274 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:25,599 So there is no such thing as love as love except for God's 275 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:31,440 love, Biblical love. Everything else is very in 276 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:32,760 Greek. If you ever look at the 277 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,760 different types of love, there's technically 8. 278 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,960 Some people say there's nine, some people 7, but there's 8 of 279 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,920 them and only one of them is like full of it's agape love 280 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,600 that that selfless pouring out love. 281 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,800 Everything else is like feelings or metaphors in many ways. 282 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,000 For example, Eros is very sexual. 283 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,960 You know, filio is what you would feel for your family and 284 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,440 friends. Lots of different types of love, 285 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,400 but there's only one that's the highest and greatest love, which 286 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,360 is the one that we talked about when it comes to God, which is 287 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:10,440 agape love. All right, because everything 288 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,440 else is an expression, but there's only one love of and 289 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,880 biblical love is different, very different. 290 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,440 In one John 48 and verse 8 and verse 16, it says that God is 291 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,800 love. God is agape. 292 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:27,800 It doesn't say Eros, it doesn't say filia. 293 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,600 It says God is agape, not that God. 294 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:37,560 It doesn't say God is loving. He is, but it sets a precedent 295 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:43,080 where it says no, God is love. It's like water is wet. 296 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,960 You can't divide it. It's like God is love. 297 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,560 And because God is love, he gets to define what love is. 298 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,320 You know, I've heard Rachel say this and other people for from 299 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,760 the platform. It's like God isn't what you 300 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:02,960 think he is. God is exactly what he says he 301 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:03,960 is, right? Yeah. 302 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,360 So when God says I'm love, he's saying I also know what that 303 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:10,960 means. If you're a builder of the 304 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,640 house, you get to choose how to build the house. 305 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:17,880 You get to choose its shape and how it's put together. 306 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,400 So God designed love. So he gets to determine what 307 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:27,720 love is, how you feel, whether it's sexually, enthusiastically 308 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,960 it. It's related to love in some 309 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,760 ways, but it's not the fullness of biblical love. 310 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,320 It's like, I love coffee. Yeah. 311 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,160 You know, you're not going to see that in the Bible. 312 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,600 Should be, you know, what is it? It's like Hebrews, right? 313 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:45,760 Yeah. And you're going to say that 314 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,800 anyway, if you, if you look, get a chance to look through 315 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,880 Scripture, the first time you see the word love in the Bible 316 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,600 is like revolutionary. I hope you get this in your 317 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,280 heart. OK, so it's like chapters and 318 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:04,560 chapters. And you'd think you'd see the 319 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,920 word love, which in Hebrews Ahava, but you'd think you'd see 320 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,000 it early in the Bible. It's not actually. 321 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,520 It takes chapters after chapters after chapters. 322 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:18,960 But the very first time you see the word love, it's about a 323 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:24,640 beloved son. Being offered as a sacrifice on 324 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,160 a mountain that we now know is in Jerusalem. 325 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:31,880 Now some of you like, wait, I've heard that story before. 326 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,880 That's in the New Testament. No, the very first time we ever 327 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,440 see the word love is the pre, the foreshadow of what Jesus is 328 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:45,920 going to do In Genesis 22, verse 2, it's about Isaac and Abraham. 329 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,400 It's the first time and it says this is what it says. 330 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,960 It says this is God speaking to Isaac, to Abraham about Isaac, 331 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,120 and God says to Abraham, then he said, take now your son, your 332 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:04,440 only son, Isaac, whom you love. First time you ever see it. 333 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,040 You know why? Because God's like the first 334 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,000 time you ever need to know about the word love is so that you 335 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,200 identify that this is what I'm going to do for you. 336 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,680 It's not feelings based. It's this is my sacrifice. 337 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,600 This is why you go back and you find where's the first time I 338 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,840 see a word because that's its original definite meaning and 339 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,320 its original purpose. So love, the very first time you 340 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,800 see the word love in the Bible is always about what God wants 341 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:42,920 to do for you. So he said, take your son, your 342 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:49,520 only son whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, offer him 343 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,880 there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I should 344 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,840 tell you, just an amazing name. It's really weird that the very 345 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,840 first explanation of love is the story of the cross. 346 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:06,160 Moving on. So the Super old King James 347 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:11,400 Version, right, of getting back to First Corinthians 1313. 348 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,600 This is in the English versions that we have now, then we we've 349 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,000 already read it twice, but it says and now abide faith, hope, 350 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:21,400 love. OK. 351 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,920 In in the very early King James version, they didn't translate 352 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:27,280 it as the word love. Are you aware of that? 353 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,080 Yeah. Translated as the word charity. 354 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,880 This is now abide, faith, hope, charity, giving these three. 355 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,880 But the greatest of these is charity. 356 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,800 It's like, why? Because you can't separate love, 357 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,800 proper love, agape love, a pouring out love. 358 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,600 You can't separate it from giving. 359 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:56,680 Giving is actually directly read a love. 360 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,040 I've got some Hebrew up in there. 361 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,360 Have you got a picture of the Hebrew things? 362 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:01,400 Sweet. OK, sure. 363 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,880 Great. So this is what the word give is 364 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,320 in Hebrew 1/2 right? And it's behold how generous 365 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:10,680 generosity is the strength of the house. 366 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,400 That's like if you have a look at the pictogram. 367 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,960 OK, so alef means God, but also means strength. 368 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,280 The very next one. Hey, it means to to see, behold 369 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,480 and abate means house, so you can't actually put it in as a 370 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,360 sentence. And yes, behold, how generosity 371 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,000 is the strength of the house. Why? 372 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,800 Because love is the strength of a house. 373 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,440 All right, but here's the crazy part. 374 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,640 Let's get to the next one. This is the word love, ahava. 375 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,240 It's the same word, right? The only difference being the 376 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,800 letter hey, at the very end. I mean beginner. 377 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,760 Why? Because it's so important to 378 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:50,760 behold it twice. And you'll notice that as I just 379 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:56,840 said moments ago, you can't have biblical love unless you have 380 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,080 give. You just can't separate the 2 381 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:09,120 from the very beginning. It's always been about God and 382 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:13,760 His love for us, you know, and it's from this love that begets 383 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,880 salvation and that God gives faith. 384 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,680 And you know, something tangibly hold on, which is hope. 385 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,720 In Ephesians 28 it says for by grace you have been saved 386 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,040 through faith, and that not of yourselves. 387 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,080 It is a gift of God because God gives. 388 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:30,840 He's a God of love. He can't help himself. 389 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,200 John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave. 390 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,960 He can't help himself. He is not just loving. 391 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,360 Remember his love, which means he gives. 392 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,960 They love the world they gave. His only begotten Son, that 393 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:47,680 whoever believes in him should not perish. 394 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,920 But I've everlasting life and I love this one. 395 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,560 John 4/19. This is so accurate. 396 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:58,440 It says we love him because he first loved US. 397 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:06,000 He first loved us. Anything we've ever done back 398 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,040 for him, anything we ever give back to him, it is simply 399 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,000 reciprocal. It is just us going, you know 400 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,600 something? Thank you. 401 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,880 Just give this back to you. I mean, you gave everything. 402 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,680 Remember, Amazing Grace, amazing everything. 403 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,160 So what can I give back to you? What can I give back to you? 404 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,880 God. Because the creation of the 405 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,120 universe and humans began in love. 406 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:34,520 Musicians, you can come up now. Sorry, I should advise you to 407 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,080 come up a little bit earlier. Oh, there we have thrown their 408 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:38,480 way. How good is that? 409 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:39,960 Well, looking nice team. Brilliant. 410 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:42,520 You can also come out from hiding. 411 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:51,760 OK, Glory to God, I really love this church. 412 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,960 It's actually really great to be home as some of you know, I 413 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,520 travel a lot and you know, occasionally I get to go to 414 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,480 other churches and just, you know, I happen to be there on a 415 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,160 weekend or sit and I'll be like, this is good. 416 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:09,520 Love the presence of God here. But gosh, I love my church, you 417 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:10,560 know? Amen. 418 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:16,360 Anyway, so we loved him because he first loved us. 419 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:23,720 Revelations 13 says that Christ the Lamb was crucified from the 420 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:30,560 foundation of the world. His love for us extends way past 421 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,280 the eternal parameters. I was having chat to someone 422 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:37,960 recently actually because I was explaining how we misunderstand 423 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:42,440 the word eternal God. The word eternal God does not 424 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,760 mean that he lives for a long time. 425 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:51,440 The word eternal God means he lives every moment in eternity 426 00:26:51,440 --> 00:27:00,880 simultaneously right now, which means for every moment for all 427 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,080 time. He sees his Son being crucified 428 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,160 brutally to save us. Kind of about you. 429 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:14,240 But if I had to live with that nightmare forever, but I would 430 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,320 probably just give up on you. I'm like, Nope, I'm not sure 431 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:21,360 this is worth it. But it says that he sees the 432 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:29,280 sacrifice of his son as a sweet smelling aroma because even in 433 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:35,480 eternity, he thinks you're worth it from the foundation of the 434 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:40,680 world. He's loved you in Matthew 25 435 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,840 verse 34, and I'll finish with this, it says this is this is 436 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,360 beautiful. It says then the king will say 437 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:53,160 to those on his right hand, come you blessed are my father, 438 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,080 inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 439 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,760 world. You know, he wasn't just talking 440 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,560 about his sacrifice that occurred from the foundation of 441 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,920 the world. He was planning your inheritance 442 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:12,360 from before you. You could even think that you 443 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,200 ever existed. We're talking gazillions, 444 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,040 gazillions, gazillions of years ago. 445 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,720 He saw you and thought I've got an inheritance for you. 446 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:22,960 And he's just been waiting for it. 447 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,440 I love it. How you doing, Sir? 448 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,560 But how do we start our journey? Let's go there. 449 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:38,800 Because if God first loved us, that's why we love him. 450 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:45,760 How do we begin that journey? We remember like this way love 451 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:51,240 and giving simultaneous. You, you can't, you can't have 452 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:56,960 biblical love, original love, true love without an emptying. 453 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,360 So what's that got to do with us? 454 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,640 Then we'll see. God emptied himself from the 455 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:07,280 very foundation of the world. What's your part to now give 456 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,440 yourself back to Him? That's all he's ever wanted. 457 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,200 That's all He's ever wanted. It's all like I've said this 458 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,320 before from the platform. I am convinced that God's 459 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:25,200 obsessed with us like and that must maniac away with all due 460 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,440 respect, because he's been thinking about you before you 461 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,360 even knew he existed. And isn't it right then come on, 462 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,040 I'm just going to be a bit challenging then isn't it right 463 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,640 then that we should give ourselves back to him? 464 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:44,520 I don't know. It might be your first time 465 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:45,920 here. We've been here 1000 times. 466 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,840 But just like Justine was saying earlier, in fact, I was I was 467 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,840 thinking about it is finished earlier today before I knew you 468 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,440 were going to do that message. And I'm just like, isn't that 469 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,240 beautiful though? The plan of God to finish it all 470 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,400 this up and why did he go through the cross and 471 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:03,160 everything? It's so we can have an 472 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:09,880 inheritance with him, right? So surely, surely we, he 473 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,760 deserves for us to give ourselves back to him. 474 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,760 So if it was, if this is your first time or we've been here 475 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:20,240 1000 times, let's do it daily. That's what Justin was saying. 476 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,440 It's not just about a A1 moment. It's not just that, oh, it is 477 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:25,760 finished, great, cool, let's give our life. 478 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,520 So just move on now. How about we make a decision to 479 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:36,440 give ourselves back to God on a daily, momentarily, hourly, 480 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,760 minute by minute moment. And that's not, doesn't mean 481 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,480 you're going to be perfect, but it's so good to realign yourself 482 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,000 back. That's actually what the word 483 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,440 repentance means for the word, for those who knew. 484 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,000 I don't know if you've heard this, but the word teshuva, OK. 485 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,280 It gets translated as the word repentance, Repent. 486 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:56,920 All right. And I've heard lots of people 487 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,640 say, Oh yeah, teshuva, it means to turn away from sin. 488 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:03,640 It's 180° turn, all these other pretty cool things that are 489 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:08,840 somewhat true, but teshuva actually means to turn towards 490 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,800 something. Yeah. 491 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,120 It's not. It's not just a, oh, I'm going 492 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:14,880 to going to stop doing that bad stuff. 493 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,480 I mean, like, you know, drug addicts when they get out or 494 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,920 Alcoholics when they get out of that whole mess, right? 495 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:22,720 They do that to clean their lives up. 496 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,280 They do have to clean their lives up, but that's not 497 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,040 repentance. That's just stopping the bad 498 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,880 stuff. So repentance has to be 499 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,440 directional. It has to be facing towards 500 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,840 something. So when people say do you live a 501 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,960 repentant life, like every moment, I think thank you God, 502 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,200 then yes, that's what a repentant life is. 503 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,520 It's not just feeling bad about things that you've done or yeah, 504 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,000 I'm pretty perfect today. That's not a repentant life. 505 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:58,120 That's just good stuff. Repentant life is, are we facing 506 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,520 God? Are we coming back to him? 507 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:07,080 Are we in a love relationship with God where we give back to 508 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,320 him? Let's pray. 509 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,160 If everyone, if you don't mind, just close your eyes, bow your 510 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:14,280 head. Just want to give people an 511 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,040 opportunity. If you're thinking you know 512 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:23,280 something could be your first time or yes, I just want again a 513 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,520 declaration that of God. I just I just give myself back 514 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,240 to you. If that's you just want to put 515 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,200 your hand up.