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As we come into the final week 
before Christmas, I think most 

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of us are probably feeling 
something pretty specific today.

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A little stress. 
Life is full. 

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It's not necessarily sinful or 
rebellious, it's just a full 

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life. 
Maybe I'm just speaking about my

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own stuff, but man, it seems 
like calendars are full and 

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schedules are full. 
Houses are full. 

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The stores are full. 
I know that they like to make 

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some of the shelves look empty, 
but there's more in the back. 

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They make sure of that. 
The roads are pretty full. 

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You notice that mines are pretty
full. 

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And all too often our hearts are
full too. 

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And not necessarily with bad 
things, but too many things. 

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A few years ago and in March 
2021, something happened that 

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reminded the whole world about 
how powerful being too full can 

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be. 
And I didn't think anybody would

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remember this. 
And then I shared the story with

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my wife and she went, I'm 
actually, I remember that. 

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That's my interpretation of how 
she said it. 

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You look so beautiful today. 
And there was a massive 

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container ship called the Ever 
Given, and it was one of the 

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largest cargo ships ever built. 
And it became stuck sideways in 

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the Suez Canal. 
Does anybody remember this? 

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OK, All right, so it got stuck 
in the Suez Canal. 

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And that canal is one of the 
most important shipping routes 

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in the world. 
Just so that you understand, 

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about 12% of global trade, 12% 
flows through the Suez Canal. 

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But when that single ship got 
lodged in place, the canal was 

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completely blocked. 
And it wasn't just a problem for

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that cargo ship, it was a 
problem for every ship that was 

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behind that ship. 
And this is the illustration 

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that I want to open with today. 
Because nothing immoral happened

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there. 
There was no malicious intent. 

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Nobody sabotaged anything. 
There's not been a Lifetime 

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movie made about this because 
it's not juicy enough. 

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The ship was just too large for 
the space that it had. 

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And so it became stuck. 
And over 400 other ships got 

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stuck, supply chains froze, and 
billions of dollars in trade got

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delayed. 
Not because the canal was evil, 

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but because it was full and 
blocked. 

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You can go to Luke chapter 2. 
But for six days the world 

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watched while workers and crews 
worked to try and clear space 

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and remove the pressure on the 
ship and then do it in a way 

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that didn't break it so it could
continue to move. 

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And the progress didn't happen 
because there was a lot of blame

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shifting. 
Well, I think it was this person

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who designed the ship. 
Well, I think it was this person

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who was captaining the ship. 
It just happened because they 

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were cleaning up what obstructed
the flow. 

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And that story is actually a 
picture of things that happened 

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in the spiritual way too often, 
especially this time of year. 

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Often times, Jesus is not 
rejected in our lives because we

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hate him. 
He's crowded out because 

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everything else has taken up the
space. 

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And that's exactly the world 
that Jesus was born into. 

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When Luke tells the story of the
birth of Jesus, he intentionally

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slows us down and shows us all 
of the pressure surrounding it. 

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This is not a peaceful scene at 
first. 

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It is, for sure not a silent 
night. 

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It is disruption and exhaustion 
and movement and obligation all 

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in one. 
And it's interesting because we 

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feel like we already understand 
this story because everybody's 

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familiar with Christmas. 
Not everybody celebrates it. 

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But if you do celebrate 
Christmas, you're like, Oh, 

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yeah, the Christmas verses, 
there's the word Christmas isn't

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in the Bible. 
You're not even told to 

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celebrate Christmas. 
And I don't think it's evil if 

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you do want to celebrate it. 
But I think how you do things 

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really does matter. 
Listen to this. 

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Luke chapter 2. 
I'm going to say that while I'm 

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surrounded by all these lights, 
right? 

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Luke, chapter 2. 
At that time, the Roman emperor 

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Augustus decreed that a census 
should be taken throughout the 

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Roman Empire. 
What's more Christmas Eve than 

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government census? 
This was the first census taken 

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when Quirinius was governor of 
Syria. 

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That's in case you were getting 
them mixed up and you weren't 

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sure. 
Verse 3 All returned to their 

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own ancestral towns to register 
for this census. 

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And because Joseph was a 
descendant of King David, he had

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to go to Bethlehem in Judea, 
David's ancient home. 

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He travelled there from the 
village of Nazareth in Galilee, 

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and he took with him Mary, to 
whom he was engaged, who is now 

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expecting a child. 
And while they were there, the 

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time came for her baby to be 
born. 

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She gave birth to her first born
son. 

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First born son. 
That's interesting. 

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I, well, there's this whole like
schools of thought that say that

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she never had another baby. 
So it's interesting. 

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She wrapped him snugly in strips
of cloth and laid him in a 

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Manger because there was no 
lodging available for them. 

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Luke doesn't tell us that anyone
was cruel. 

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He doesn't tell us that anyone 
was immoral. 

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He doesn't tell us that anyone 
hated God. 

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He tells us that something 
happened that is far more 

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relevant to our life today than 
we would like to think. 

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There was no room. 
Now, if they had shown up and 

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they could convince an innkeeper
beyond a shadow of a doubt this 

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is God in the flesh and 
something really cool is 

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happening, you think they'd make
room? 

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I bet you they would make room. 
I bet you they'd be like, hey, 

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sorry, here's a refund, you're 
out, we've got somebody else 

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moving in. 
Which by the way, would not be 

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the heart of God, but I'm sure 
that's what we would do. 

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Why is it would we would do that
if we knew it was God himself. 

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But we won't do it for the 
people made in his image whom we

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claim that we love, Mary and 
Joseph. 

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Maybe it was their problem, but 
when you look at them, they 

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don't seem overly sinful here 
either. 

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Why would they be denied for 
what they asked for? 

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The truth is, they were just 
inconvenient. 

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The city is packed with people 
obeying the same decree. 

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They were all following the law.
Actually, aren't we supposed to 

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follow the law? 
We're supposed to obey the 

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governing authorities. 
Homes were filled and the ends 

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were filled and schedules were 
filled and space was filled. 

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So when God stepped into history
on this occasion, the issue 

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wasn't rebellion, it was just 
about the capacity. 

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And the reality is this, God is 
not limited, but we are. 

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We've only got room for so much.
When we have counselling 

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appointments that happen at the 
church, we try to limit them to 

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about an hour because after that
we start to cycle through and we

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we have trouble reconciling 
everything. 

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When you watch ATV show, it is 
generally formatted into the 

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time frame they think you can 
handle. 

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There's a reason why all the 
movies and the songs that hit 

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the radio are generally about 
the same. 

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It wasn't that way back in the 
80s. 

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I mean, you know, you'd have 
some 7 1/2 minute weird pop 

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jams, but now it's so uniform, 
isn't it? 

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Like, what is it? 
2 minutes and 45 seconds is the 

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perfect song. 
You know why? 

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Because we just don't have the 
attention span for more. 

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I want this story to inform the 
way that we understand holiness 

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today. 
Holiness is not primarily about 

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what you avoid. 
It's about what you make room 

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for. 
And the reason I'm talking about

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holiness is because nothing is 
more holy than Jesus himself, 

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and they didn't have room for 
him. 

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But oh how their story could 
have changed if they did. 

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The series is called Home for 
the Holidays and it's called 

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Home for the Holidays because if
there's one thing I want y'all 

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to do for the holidays is just 
come home to Jesus. 

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We talked about why it's 
important to be in His Word. 

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Of course, His word doesn't give
you everything that God would 

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offer to you. 
So we talked about prayer and 

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why that's important. 
Last week we talked about the 

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importance of turning a house 
into a home and being a part of 

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community. 
You've got to have other 

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believers that you know, love 
God that want the best for you. 

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But as much as we love these 
people, we also can't try to 

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mimic or replicate them. 
When Paul was saying follow me 

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as I follow Christ, he was 
saying follow me as I follow 

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Christ. 
You'll get the hang of it. 

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Could you imagine trying to walk
identically to your parents for 

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your entire life? 
And when I say that, I mean 

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literally walk. 
Because a lot of times when we 

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teach children to walk or ride a
bike, they're watching us. 

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They're watching our movements 
and they're mimicking them. 

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But our goal, at least hopefully
our healthy goal would be one 

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day you'll walk yourself in 
another direction and let me 

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breathe. 
We want them to learn to walk so

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that they're equipped to do it 
on their own. 

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And a healthy Christian finds 
people who love the Lord and 

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learns how to build a 
relationship with him so then 

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they can walk on their own. 
And when you learn to walk on 

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your own, and you've got the 
community around you and you 

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learn how to communicate to Him 
and you learn how to hear from 

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him, and you spend time in his 
word, you start adopting this 

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lifestyle of holiness, which is 
about the least popular thing 

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you could probably put on social
media these days. 

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Hey guys, I'm getting together 
for a workshop to see how we can

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live a holy life. 
Does anybody want to beat up, 

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you know, well, y'all didn't 
even say anything, so I'm not 

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going to put it on Facebook 
Hundreds of years earlier. 

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Listen to this. 
The prophet Isaiah spoke to 

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God's people as they were 
returning from exile and they 

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were coming home geographically,
but their hearts were misaligned

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spiritually. 
God was returning to dwell among

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his people. 
But Isaiah made something clear.

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He said God's glory doesn't 
typically just arrive. 

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It is prepared for Isaiah 40. 
Starting in verse three. 

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He says, listen. 
It's the voice of someone 

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shouting. 
Clear the way through the 

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wilderness for the Lord. 
Make a straight highway through 

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the wasteland for our God. 
Verse 4 is key here. 

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Fill in the valleys and level 
the mountains and hills. 

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Straighten the curves and smooth
out the rough places. 

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Then the glory of the Lord will 
be revealed and all people will 

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see it together. 
The Lord has spoken. 

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You may go on a journey and 
climb some mountains or climb 

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through some valleys to achieve 
presence of the Lord in your 

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life, and that's great, but what
about the other people? 

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So we are called to something 
where we level the mountains and

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we fill in the valleys so that 
we can experience the glory of 

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the Lord together. 
Valleys being lifted and 

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mountains being lowered sounds 
pretty, pretty heavy. 

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Pretty hard to do. 
But the prophetic call there 

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becomes even more important in 
the ministry of John the 

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Baptist. 
So if that sounded familiar to 

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you, This is why John appears in
the wilderness in Matthew 

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chapter 3. 
And he's not really a gentle 

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greeter when he's in the 
wilderness. 

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He he wouldn't make a good 
member of our care team. 

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When you walked up to the river,
if you encounter John, he wasn't

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walking up to you and giving you
a hug and saying, brother, I'm 

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so glad you're here today. 
He said, who told you to be 

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saved? 
We do train that right. 

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Our care team doesn't say that 
right, just making sure. 

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But here's the here's the deal. 
He's not a greeter, He's a 

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forerunner. 
He's a herald. 

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And his entire mission is to 
prepare the way for the Lord. 

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He doesn't come here to clean up
Rome or the government. 

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He doesn't reform politics. 
He doesn't try to prepare 

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individual hearts. 
He makes a way so that we can 

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prepare our hearts. 
And in the first verse of 

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Matthew 3, we see this. 
In those days, John the Baptist 

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came to the Judean wilderness 
and began preaching. 

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His message was repent of your 
sins and turn to God for the 

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Kingdom of heaven is near and 
listen to him. 

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In verse three, he says the 
prophet Isaiah was speaking 

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about John when he said he's a 
voice shouting in the 

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wilderness. 
Prepare the way for the Lord's 

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coming. 
Clear the road for him. 

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And John's clothes that were 
woven from coarse camel hair and

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he wore a leather belt around 
his waist for food. 

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He ate locusts and wild honey. 
He's a weird guy. 

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00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,480
People from Jerusalem and from 
all of Judea and all over the 

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Jordan Valley went out to see 
and hear John. 

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00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,280
And when they confessed their 
sins, he baptized them in the 

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Jordan River. 
Want to pause there? 

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We'll come back to verse 7 and a
second. 

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I say he's a weird guy. 
More than likely he was part of 

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00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,880
a, a sect of, of Judaism called 
the Essene. 

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00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:10,440
And so these were people who 
felt like they need to 

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completely remove themselves 
from modern community, what was 

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00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,720
modern at the time, in order to 
fully pursue what the Lord had 

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for them. 
And even out there in in the 

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00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,480
wilderness, people were finding 
their way to him. 

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00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,560
So for him to wear camel hair 
and be eating this diet was not 

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00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:28,520
odd for people around there. 
Pretty odd for us in North 

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00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:33,240
Carolina in 2025, though. 
And verse 7, when he saw many 

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00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,640
Pharisees and Sadducees coming 
to watch him baptize, he 

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00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,120
denounced them. 
Here's what he said to them. 

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00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,640
You brood of snakes who warned 
you to flee the coming wrath? 

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00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:44,760
And then he says, prove by the 
way you live that you've 

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repented of your sins and turned
to God. 

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00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:47,800
We talked about that not long 
ago. 

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00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,280
Don't just say to each other 
we're safe, for we're 

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00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,120
descendants of Abraham. 
That means nothing. 

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00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,360
Don't just say to each other I'm
safe. 

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00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,960
I was raised Episcopal. 
Don't just say to each other 

253
00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,560
we're safe. 
I was baptized when I was 5. 

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00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,520
Don't just that part was added 
by me. 

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00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:11,280
I thought you knew that, but I 
just want to make sure that 

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00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,320
means nothing. 
For I tell you, God can create 

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00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,360
children of Abraham from these 
very stones. 

258
00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,400
Even now the acts of God's 
judgement is poised, ready to 

259
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,200
sever the roots of the trees. 
Yes, every tree that does not 

260
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,240
produce good fruit will be 
chopped down and thrown into the

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00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,440
fire. 
And then he says, I baptize with

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00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,520
water those who repent of their 
sins and turn to God. 

263
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,480
But someone is coming soon who 
is greater than I am, so much 

264
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,760
greater that I'm not worthy even
to be his slave and carry his 

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00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,200
sandals. 
He'll baptize you with the Holy 

266
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,680
Spirit and with fire, and he's 
ready to separate the chaff from

267
00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:42,280
the wheat with his winnowing 
fork. 

268
00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:45,800
And then he'll clean up the 
threshing area, gathering the 

269
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,120
wheat into his barn but burning 
the chaff with never ending 

270
00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,760
fire. 
So John's message, it's pretty 

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00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,600
intense, but it wasn't random. 
It wasn't angry for the sake of 

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00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,040
being angry. 
He wasn't somebody who just 

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00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,720
said, ah, sorry, you know, it's 
profits. 

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00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,640
We got anger issues. 
He wasn't harsh just for the 

275
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,640
sake of getting attention. 
He could tell that this was an 

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00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,880
urgent mission. 
Preparing the way was not 

277
00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,480
something he could just take his
time with. 

278
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,400
And so he didn't tell people to 
feel bad about what they had 

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00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,760
done. 
He told them to repent. 

280
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,040
And repentance for his religious
a sounding word as that is, is 

281
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,120
not mentioned very often in 
culture today. 

282
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,480
Repentance is not about feeling 
bad about something you did. 

283
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,960
Repentance is about changing 
your course and changing your 

284
00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:36,920
mind and changing your heart. 
This was John's way of saying, 

285
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,360
if your life is full of things 
that leave no room for God, now 

286
00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,520
is the moment to make space. 
When Jesus shows up, of course, 

287
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,640
John says, I can't baptize you, 
you should be baptizing me. 

288
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:53,560
And then Jesus said this 
fulfills all righteousness. 

289
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,400
And he said, yes, Sir, he knew 
how to be obedient. 

290
00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,120
And this is the thread that 
connects all three of the 

291
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:00,600
scriptures that we went through 
this morning. 

292
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,760
And Luke 2. 
There was no room, not because 

293
00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,760
people were evil, because 
everything was. 

294
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,520
It was full. 
In Isaiah 40, the glory of the 

295
00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,360
Lord was coming, but the road 
needed to be cleared of 

296
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,520
mountains and valleys because 
the road was full. 

297
00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,240
And in Matthew 3, the Messiah 
was near, and John's role was to

298
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,080
help people make space for Him 
to reign. 

299
00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:22,640
They thought they had everything
they needed because of where 

300
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,840
they had come from. 
Holiness has to be understood 

301
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,560
correctly. 
We have to clear out space for a

302
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,000
king. 
I'm glad he's a personal 

303
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,080
saviour. 
I don't deny that he is and I'm 

304
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,320
so eternally grateful. 
But I also don't deny his 

305
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,600
kingship and his lordship and 
the fact that he can say jump 

306
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,880
and I got to say how high. 
I don't say my knees hurt. 

307
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,040
I just say, what do you want of 
me? 

308
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:45,600
God? 
He's holy. 

309
00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:47,600
He doesn't want anything for me.
That's bad. 

310
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,200
If he asks me to do something 
and I don't want to do it, 

311
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,640
before I understand why he wants
me to do what I already 

312
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,040
understand that it's better for 
me than what I want. 

313
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,720
He's holy and we have to learn 
to embrace that. 

314
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,160
Where this becomes personal for 
us is because when you think 

315
00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,520
about it, John prepared the way 
once historically, but the 

316
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:12,160
church, us, we prepare the way 
continually spiritually for 

317
00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,000
other people to come and 
experience the Lord for our 

318
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,280
loved ones, for our children, 
for our friends, and for the 

319
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,480
people who are watching us. 
It is our job to handle things 

320
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:23,800
like sons and daughters of the 
Most High. 

321
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,960
So as we move into the main part
of what I want to share today, 

322
00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,360
I'm just praying that we have 
ears to hear because this is not

323
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,600
a sermon about trying harder to 
achieve holiness. 

324
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,560
It's not about cleaning yourself
up before Jesus shows up. 

325
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,920
It's not what is it they used to
say back in the day, What if? 

326
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,520
What if God comes back and 
catches you in an R rated movie 

327
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,200
or something? 
It's not about that. 

328
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,480
This is about recognizing how 
crowded our lives are and how 

329
00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,480
little room we've actually 
reserved for Him. 

330
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,760
And so believers, I want you to 
know Jesus is not normally 

331
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,680
rejected by our hostility. 
He's just crowded out by 

332
00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,880
fullness of the blessings that 
He's provided for us. 

333
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,680
So we're going to talk about 
lowering the high places and 

334
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,480
then filling in the low places. 
But first lowering the high 

335
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,440
places. 
You can go to Daniel chapter 4. 

336
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,880
When Isaiah talks about 
mountains being lowered, he's 

337
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:14,680
obviously not talking about 
geography. 

338
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:16,440
That would be quite a mission, 
wouldn't it be? 

339
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,400
He's talking about whatever's 
grown too tall in our lives. 

340
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,720
And so mountains and Scripture 
often would represent pride or 

341
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,240
self-reliance or power or 
generally anything that has 

342
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,079
elevated itself so high that it 
blocks our view of God. 

343
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,040
One of the clearest pictures of 
that kind of mountain is found 

344
00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,720
in the life of King 
Nebuchadnezzar. 

345
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,040
King Nebuchadnezzar. 
That's a it's a fun name. 

346
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,800
If you've gone to church for a 
while, you've probably heard 

347
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,000
about him in some form. 
And this is one of the weirdest 

348
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,080
stories in the whole Old 
Testament. 

349
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,440
But Daniel 4 is not the story. 
I want you to understand where 

350
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:50,640
where we're going before we 
read. 

351
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,840
It's not the story of a wicked 
atheist king who hated God. 

352
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,680
It's important that you know 
that because truthfully, 

353
00:17:57,680 --> 00:17:59,800
Nebuchadnezzar was not hostile 
towards God. 

354
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,800
He wasn't trying to erase God 
from history. 

355
00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,800
In fact, by this point in the 
book of Daniel, he's already 

356
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,960
acknowledged God's power 
multiple times. 

357
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,080
He had seen miracles and witness
God rescue Shadrach, Meshach, 

358
00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,640
and Abednego from the fire. 
He even praised God publicly. 

359
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,560
But the issue wasn't rebellion, 
it was what he allowed to also 

360
00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,680
be elevated. 
And I'll show you what I mean 

361
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,440
because Nebuchadnezzar's life 
was full of successes, 

362
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,840
achievement, and power. 
He was admired and one of the 

363
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,920
most impressive empires in the 
world had ever been seen in in 

364
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:31,880
Babylon is being ruled by 
Nebuchadnezzar. 

365
00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:35,280
His Kingdom didn't even lack as 
much morality as you would 

366
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,160
think, as it lacked appropriate 
boundaries and standards. 

367
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:43,800
Nebuchadnezzar himself opens 
Daniel Four with these words. 

368
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,400
Listen, King Nebuchadnezzar sent
this message to the people of 

369
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,640
every race and nation and 
language throughout the world. 

370
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,040
Tell me if it sounds bad. 
Peace and prosperity to you. 

371
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,400
I want you all to know about the
miraculous signs and wonders the

372
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,160
Most High God has performed for 
me. 

373
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,480
How great are His signs? 
How powerful His wonders? 

374
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,760
His Kingdom will last forever. 
His rule through all 

375
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:09,160
generations. 
Those words sound pretty 

376
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,400
spiritual, and you might be able
to hear them in in a lot of 

377
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:12,600
churches around our country 
today. 

378
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,440
In fact, you might hear those 
words from a politician if you 

379
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,840
listen. 
But we all know that we can 

380
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,400
trust words from politicians. 
So these words sound reverent. 

381
00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,720
But notice that while God is 
praised, Nebuchadnezzar is still

382
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,720
at the center of the story. 
God is honored, but he's the one

383
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,160
that says look at all the things
the most high God has performed 

384
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:37,200
for me. 
That's often how mountains start

385
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,360
forming in our lives. 
It's not always through open 

386
00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:41,880
rebellion, just this subtle 
shift into a self focus. 

387
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,960
Nebuchadnezzar has a dream as 
time goes on that none of his 

388
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,280
wise men can interpret. 
So once again, Daniel's brought 

389
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,960
in. 
We're going to scoot on over to 

390
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,600
verse 10. 
This dream describes a massive 

391
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,120
tree. 
He says this while I was lying 

392
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:56,680
in my bed. 
This is what I dreamed. 

393
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,040
I saw a large tree in the middle
of the earth. 

394
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,360
The tree grew very tall and 
strong, reaching high into the 

395
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:04,360
heavens for all the world to 
see. 

396
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,920
It had fresh green leaves and it
was loaded with fruit for all to

397
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,640
eat. 
Wild animals lived in its shade 

398
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,520
and birds nested in its 
branches. 

399
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,240
All the world was fed from this 
tree. 

400
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,760
Does that sound bad? 
But the dream shifts. 

401
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:25,160
Verse 13, he says. 
Then as I lay there dreaming, I 

402
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,000
saw a messenger, a holy one. 
That's the term often used for 

403
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,680
an Angel from the Lord. 
Coming down from heaven. 

404
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,320
And the messenger shouted, Cut 
down the tree and lop off its 

405
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,880
branches. 
Shake off its leaves and scatter

406
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,080
its fruit. 
Chase the wild animals from its 

407
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,920
shade and the birds from its 
branches. 

408
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,400
Now as you continue to read 
here, Daniel tells 

409
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,400
Nebuchadnezzar plainly what the 
dream means. 

410
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,160
The tree is him, and his power 
has grown too great, his 

411
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,840
confidence has grown too high, 
and his successes elevated him 

412
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,240
beyond dependence on God. 
We say this a lot around here, 

413
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,040
but a lot of times your gift and
call will take you where your 

414
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,920
character can't sustain you. 
So always be working on your 

415
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,480
character, but unless a mountain
gets lowered, God will intervene

416
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,440
at some point. 
Daniel even pleads with him. 

417
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,120
He tells Nebuchadnezzar he 
should repent and turn and 

418
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:14,840
humble himself and show 
righteousness before judgement 

419
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,080
comes to his doorstep. 
Have you ever been there? 

420
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,080
Have you ever been there? 
Have you ever loved somebody and

421
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,080
been like, please stop making 
these decisions, Please stop 

422
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,880
doing this and you watch them. 
Go ahead and do it. 

423
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,000
Have you ever been there on the 
other side of it? 

424
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,760
Have you ever been the one where
somebody's like, please don't do

425
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:31,160
this, please don't do this and 
you're like this, I've been on 

426
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,720
both sides of this. 
I've been on both sides of this,

427
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,400
But listen to this verse 27, 
just so you know, don't take my 

428
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,880
word for it. 
Daniel says in verse 27, King 

429
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,760
Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my
advice. 

430
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,680
Stop sinning and do what is 
right. 

431
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,040
That's great advice, isn't it? 
Let's go to lunch. 

432
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,520
Stop sinning and do what is 
right. 

433
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,720
Break from your wicked past and 
be merciful to the poor. 

434
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:56,880
Perhaps then you'll continue to 
prosper. 

435
00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,680
He's not denying that he is 
prospering, but he's also 

436
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,160
recognizing that there's sin 
happening. 

437
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:03,240
So God gives Nebuchadnezzar 
time. 

438
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,920
How much time, you ask? 
About a year, about a full year 

439
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,040
passes after this warning. 
In a dream, the mountain could 

440
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:15,120
have been lowered voluntarily, 
but Nebuchadnezzar is walking 

441
00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:17,080
one day on the roof of his 
palace, looking out over the 

442
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,320
city of Babylon. 
And listen to this in verse 29, 

443
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,080
12 months later, he was taking a
walk on the flat roof of the 

444
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,120
royal palace in Babylon. 
As he looked out across the 

445
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:29,800
city, he said, look at this 
great city of Babylon. 

446
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,280
By my own mighty power, I've 
built this beautiful city as my 

447
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,200
royal residence to display my 
majestic splendor. 

448
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,960
Now most of us don't speak this 
way, but in our secret part of 

449
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,440
our hearts, the deepest part of 
our hearts, do we Look at our 

450
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,600
home and say I did this, I 
earned this. 

451
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:50,480
Look at my beautiful Christmas 
tree. 

452
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,320
Look at all the gifts I have for
my loved ones. 

453
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,120
Look at look at what I've 
provided. 

454
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,560
Look at what, look at my new 
award I got at work or whatever.

455
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,240
These things are good. 
They're not bad unless 

456
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,120
immediately. 
Then the dream he thought he had

457
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:08,320
avoided becomes a reality. 
And a lot of times, I know you 

458
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,040
all will hear me on this. 
God warns us, but we don't see 

459
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,520
it happen. 
Trouble's coming, Trouble's 

460
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,200
coming. 
Trouble's coming really. 

461
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,040
Because it's been 8 months and 
nothing's happened yet. 

462
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,040
Been 10 months, nothing's 
happened yet. 

463
00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:22,400
It's been about a year, God, and
nothing's happened yet. 

464
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,880
And then you arrive in verse 31 
while these words were still in 

465
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,400
his mouth. 
It's pretty quick. 

466
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,120
A voice called down from heaven.
O King Nebuchadnezzar, this 

467
00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:37,880
message is for you. 
You are no longer ruler of this 

468
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,640
Kingdom. 
You'll be driven from human 

469
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,040
society. 
You'll live in the fields with 

470
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,160
the wild animals and you'll eat 
grass like a cow. 7 periods of 

471
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,880
time will pass while you live 
this way until you learn that 

472
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,640
the Most High rules over the 
kingdoms of the world and gives 

473
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,640
them to anyone He chooses. 
And that's key for you and I 

474
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,800
because God didn't remove 
Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom 

475
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,600
permanently. 
He removed his elevation 

476
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,200
temporarily. 
The discipline that happens here

477
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,200
was not about destroying him and
punishing him. 

478
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,920
It was about getting him back in
line with where he should have 

479
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,040
been all along. 
The mountain had to come down so

480
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,280
that God could still be in his 
rightful place. 

481
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:18,800
Now, I want to take a moment 
here because like I said, it's 

482
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,720
one of the crazier stories in 
the Old Testament. 

483
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,200
And a lot of times critics of 
the Bible, they'll say, well, 

484
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:27,760
where's the external proof that 
this king walked around like a 

485
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,400
cow or whatever? 
Well, I don't have anything for 

486
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,480
you that says he walked around 
like a cow and ate grass. 

487
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,480
But what I do have for you is 
several different historical 

488
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,600
accounts that support this idea 
that something really 

489
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,880
significant disrupted the reign 
of King Nebuchadnezzar towards 

490
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:44,600
the end of his life. 
And you need to know this. 

491
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,720
Babylonian kings were meticulous
record keepers. 

492
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,360
They were very arrogant. 
This is how they established 

493
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:52,120
their legacy. 
So every time that they would 

494
00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:54,120
build something and put their 
name on it was documented. 

495
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,320
Every time they conquered 
something, it was documented. 

496
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:58,640
Every time there was a time of 
peace, they took credit for it. 

497
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,280
It was documented. 
And then, towards the end of 

498
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,880
King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, it 
goes silent. 

499
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,880
Not at the very end of his life,
the end of his reign. 

500
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,440
It picks back up later. 
If something was unfavourable, 

501
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,640
if they lost a war, if they lost
a battle, do you want that one 

502
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,960
included, Chief? 
Scrub it right. 

503
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,160
But there is a huge gap. 
He has no accomplishments, no 

504
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,360
achievements, no great 
conquerings, nothing that is 

505
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,520
noteworthy, even though his 
entire life had it until then. 

506
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:33,320
And this is according to all of 
the different records that are 

507
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,520
around that area. 
But in addition to this, there 

508
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,120
is an ancient text that is found
in the Dead Sea Scrolls called 

509
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:42,040
the Prayer of Nabanidis. 
And it describes A Babylonian 

510
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,600
king that was afflicted by 
severe illness for several 

511
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,520
years, lived in isolation, and 
then was restored after 

512
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,320
acknowledging the authority of 
the Most High. 

513
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,560
I'm just telling you the proof 
is out there. 

514
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:55,080
So it's important that you know 
that. 

515
00:25:56,360 --> 00:26:00,240
And it's significant because God
is got to be the guy who had a 

516
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,680
hand in restoring him. 
Because I don't care. 

517
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,680
I don't care if it's a 
Republican, Democrat or a 

518
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,680
British crown. 
If somebody starts walking 

519
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,840
around like an animal and eating
grass today and a couple years 

520
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,240
goes by and they're like, hey, 
that was a crazy time, wasn't 

521
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:15,400
it? 
Can I have my job back? 

522
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:20,960
I don't think most of us are 
voting for him, but something 

523
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,680
happened and he was restored to 
his Kingdom. 

524
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,960
You have to understand how 
ancient history works. 

525
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,280
Kings never recorded their 
weaknesses or mental collapses 

526
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:34,160
or issues, but God did. 
The other thing I want to just 

527
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,080
to present for you is the term 7
periods of time. 

528
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,800
Most theologians will say that 
that was seven years. 

529
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,080
We don't know that for sure. 7 
periods of time is the Jewish 

530
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,280
way of also saying completeness.
Anytime you see them highlight 

531
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,880
the number seven, it means when 
time was right complete when it 

532
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,280
was full, could have been seven 
months, could have been seven 

533
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,480
different term periods, could 
have been seven seasons. 

534
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,520
But whatever it was, they said 7
periods of time. 

535
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,120
The way I read that as long as 
it took for Nebuchadnezzar to 

536
00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,200
finally come to his senses. 
So maybe you're in a place where

537
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,800
you have wandered into a place 
where now the Lord is is is 

538
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:08,960
taking you away. 
He's removed and lowered a 

539
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,040
mountain and you're dealing with
it and you're like, how long 

540
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,880
will this be God? 
7 periods of time. 

541
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,040
What is that when you've gotten 
enough Lord, what do I need to 

542
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:20,560
know so I can speed up this time
frame? 

543
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:26,720
Listen to this in verse 34. 
After this time had passed, I, 

544
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,040
Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to 
heaven. 

545
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,200
My sanity returned, and I 
praised and worshipped the Most 

546
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,560
High and honored the One who 
lives forever. 

547
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:42,120
His rule is everlasting and his 
Kingdom is eternal, and all the 

548
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:44,200
people of the earth are nothing 
compared to him. 

549
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,320
He does as he pleases among the 
angels of heaven and among the 

550
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,240
people of the earth. 
No one can stop him or say to 

551
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,720
him, What do you mean by doing 
these things? 

552
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,480
When my sanity returned to me, 
so did my honor and glory in 

553
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,880
Kingdom. 
My advisors and nobles sought me

554
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,040
out and I was restored as head 
of my Kingdom with even greater 

555
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,760
honor than before. 
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise 

556
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,760
and glorify and honor the King 
of Heaven. 

557
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,440
All his acts are just and true, 
and he is able to humble the 

558
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:19,760
proud to say the least. 
This is where holiness becomes 

559
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:24,320
far more doable than we think. 
Holiness is not about removing 

560
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:25,920
everything that's enjoyable from
your life. 

561
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,080
It's just about lowering 
whatever has grown too high. 

562
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,560
I wouldn't tell you to get rid 
of all the grass in your yard, 

563
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:35,520
but if you can't see out of your
window, it might be time to 

564
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,000
lower it. 
Let me give you another 

565
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:45,440
historical illustration. 
Back in December of 2025, Jake 

566
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:54,520
Paul stepped into the ring. 
Against former world heavyweight

567
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,440
champion Anthony Joshua in a 
pretty highly anticipated fight.

568
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,440
Although to be honest, most 
people I talked to, they were 

569
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:01,760
like, I just want to see him get
punched. 

570
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,560
This event was a headline. 
It was streamed on Netflix. 

571
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,640
And Jake Paul has been really 
trying to push himself as a 

572
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:12,400
boxer. 
And I'm not saying he's got no 

573
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:13,560
talent. 
He's got more than I do. 

574
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,680
I'm not trying to box anybody. 
But what happened was pretty 

575
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,520
humbling. 
I didn't watch it but I saw some

576
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:24,080
clips and if you did watch it 
then you already know Joshua 

577
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,760
knocked out Jake Paul multiple 
times, knocked him down multiple

578
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,200
times. 
There's lots of images you can 

579
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:35,000
see online of him like grabbing 
onto Joshua's legs because he's 

580
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,000
so desperate. 
Most people believe that Joshua 

581
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,920
could have actually knocked out 
Jake Paul before the 6th round 

582
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,360
when he did, but he decided to 
make it last longer so it'd be a

583
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,120
better show for people watching.
Jake Paul suffered a broken jaw 

584
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,240
in two different places and was 
hospitalized immediately 

585
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,920
following the match. 
Don't feel too bad for him. 

586
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,680
He got like $90,000,000 out of 
this. 

587
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,560
OK, he's fine, he can pay his 
bill. 

588
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,960
But what I'm saying is, while he
says he wants to return to 

589
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,920
boxing, and we'll see on that, 
that match to me is a very 

590
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,880
public reminder that your 
confidence is no substitute for 

591
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,240
preparing the way for the Lord 
to build a humble spirit before 

592
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:15,840
an even greater challenge comes 
your way. 

593
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,720
You may feel like you can handle
anything that life throws at 

594
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,680
you, but you can't unless you 
have Him. 

595
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:26,640
Sometimes the mountain that 
needs to come down is a habit or

596
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,240
just a distraction, and 
sometimes the mountain is us. 

597
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,400
Our need for control or 
self-sufficiency or identity is 

598
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,920
built on our achievements. 
It's got to get lowered one way 

599
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,200
or the other. 
Isaiah says that the mountains 

600
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,400
have to get lowered. 
Daniel showed us what that 

601
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,800
looked like with Nebuchadnezzar.
But when the Old Testament also 

602
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,320
talks about high places, I can't
go through this point in the 

603
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:47,800
sermon without telling you about
this. 

604
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,760
High places were places that 
were considered convenient for 

605
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,160
worship. 
And we know that there's a lot 

606
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,600
of Pagan worship that happened 
at places that were called high 

607
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,200
places throughout the Old 
Testament. 

608
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,280
But I want you to understand 
that most of the time the Pagan 

609
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,200
worship happened, there wasn't 
the only sin. 

610
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,320
It was also a sin because it was
more convenient to do it there 

611
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,160
instead of at the temple, 
instead of where the Lord said 

612
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:09,880
to go and worship. 
And so you know what we do? 

613
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,200
Well, I'll just go up here 
because the higher the, the, the

614
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,960
mountain, then the closer I am 
to heaven because we're, so 

615
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,080
we're so smart. 
We know how it all works. 

616
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,200
So we'll just go and we'll set 
it up over here. 

617
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,520
And a high place was considered 
disrespectful. 

618
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,120
Most of the kings that are 
criticized throughout the Old 

619
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,240
Testament, you'll see something 
along these lines. 

620
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,880
They did such and such a things,
but they neglected to remove the

621
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,240
high places. 
And that's what it's talking 

622
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:35,960
about. 
Well, they did some good things 

623
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,360
in their tenure, but they didn't
take down these places that were

624
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:45,680
stealing worship from the Lord. 
That's why throughout the Old 

625
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,040
Testament, you can see it. 
For me, I remember very 

626
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,480
specifically when I was in my my
previous career and I was 

627
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:55,280
working in my own previous 
career. 

628
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,840
The Lord told me to leave and to
pursue him. 

629
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,360
And it sounded scary. 
It sounded like it was too hard 

630
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,520
to do. 
And for years I would hear it 

631
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:05,040
and I would say one day I'm 
going to do it. 

632
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,960
And then one day I did it 
because I got fired. 

633
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,600
That's what it took, had that 
high place lowered. 

634
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,480
And then I was willing to pursue
it because I got bills. 

635
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,640
So then I found some other jobs 
and I got humbled. 

636
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,000
And I had the Lord Speaking of 
my life, and I had Him refine my

637
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,080
character, and He's still doing 
it. 

638
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:31,040
I'm just telling you, if you 
don't listen to the warnings, it

639
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:35,880
doesn't make them go away. 
When we hear those high places 

640
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,080
today, I don't want you to think
about the ancient stone altars 

641
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:39,080
they had. 
I want you to think about 

642
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,320
anything in our life that has 
been elevated to a place of 

643
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,760
trust or identity. 
It could be financial security 

644
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,240
or it could be busyness that 
makes you feel valuable, that 

645
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:49,400
you're the helper. 
It could be a tradition or 

646
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,680
nostalgia or freaking out 
because this Christmas isn't 

647
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,240
going to look the same and it's 
not going to be perfect. 

648
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,200
I want you to hear this Hosea 
chapter 10, verse one. 

649
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,080
You don't have to turn there. 
It's just one verse, but Hosea 

650
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,880
10/1. 
The Lord says how prosperous 

651
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,920
Israel is, a luxuriant vine 
loaded with fruit. 

652
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,240
But the richer people get, the 
more Pagan altars they build and

653
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,240
the more bountiful their 
harvests, the more beautiful 

654
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,040
their sacred pillars. 
These altars and sacred pillars 

655
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,760
are high places. 
And the sad truth is that unless

656
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:25,600
we are vigilant, all of our 
blessings only open a path for 

657
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,000
us to set up high places. 
And that's something to do with 

658
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,240
the blessings that God gives us,
with the people he gives us, 

659
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,960
with the finances he gives us 
with, with the opportunities he 

660
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:35,800
gives us. 
And then it becomes about us. 

661
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:40,960
I'm just going to do this and 
I'll make it make sense after 

662
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,640
the fact, even though people are
telling me not to. 

663
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,520
And I want you to know this. 
That verse is not condemning 

664
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,440
prosperity. 
If you are well off and you are 

665
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:50,160
comfortable in your finances, 
God bless you. 

666
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:51,720
There's plenty of those people 
in the Bible. 

667
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,080
But this is exposing what 
prosperity can quietly do to a 

668
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,600
heart if you let it. 
So lower in the high places 

669
00:33:58,600 --> 00:33:59,920
doesn't mean cancelling 
Christmas. 

670
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,720
It doesn't mean rejecting joy or
stripping life of all its good 

671
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:03,800
things. 
You don't have to make a vow of 

672
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,880
poverty or anything, but you do 
have to ask an honest question. 

673
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,440
What have I allowed to be the 
rudder that steers my happiness 

674
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,880
and my joy? 
Holiness is not about 

675
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,560
deprivation. 
It's about lowering what's been 

676
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,480
standing between you and a 
surrendered life to the Lord. 

677
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:21,120
And then you've got those holes 
in your life you got to fill in.

678
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,560
Let's talk about filling in the 
valleys. 

679
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,040
You got to lower the things that
have too much place in your 

680
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:28,679
life. 
But we're all missing something 

681
00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:31,360
in our disciplines. 
So turn to Second Chronicles 29.

682
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,320
See, when Isaiah talked about 
filling in the valleys, he's 

683
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:36,960
describing a different kind of 
work than lowering the 

684
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,760
mountains. 
Mountains are removed, valleys 

685
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,159
are restored. 1 is subtraction, 
the other is addition. 

686
00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:46,520
It's testing you. 
Low places in Scripture 

687
00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:51,280
represent neglect, emptiness, or
broken rhythms in our spiritual 

688
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,040
life. 
Valleys are not always caused by

689
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,320
rebellion either. 
A lot of times they're caused by

690
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,160
fatigue or discouragement or 
compromise or spiritual drift. 

691
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,320
When you find yourself in a 
valley, a lot of times you look 

692
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,000
up and you say, I'll never make 
it up there. 

693
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:04,920
Well, how do you make it? 
You start filling in that 

694
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:09,640
valley. 
Prayer happens when we really, 

695
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,720
really need God. 
But a disciplined person, a 

696
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:15,600
disciplined believer prays at 
all times and in all seasons. 

697
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,760
And the more that you pray, the 
more that you get into a rhythm 

698
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,760
of prayer when it's genuine. 
And now it's not an emergency. 

699
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,280
You know, something you break 
just in case something happens. 

700
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,360
But the more that you step away 
from the Lord, the more that 

701
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,720
slow fades and slow shifts start
to happen. 

702
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,200
Those prayers that you pray, 
they get a little shorter and 

703
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,280
Scripture time, it becomes a 
little more sporadic. 

704
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:39,800
We say it's a crazy season, but 
I'll start it next month. 

705
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,000
Community becomes optional. 
If I'm not too busy, then I'll 

706
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,120
connect with other believers. 
The love that we're supposed to 

707
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,520
show everybody made in God's 
image becomes selective. 

708
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,080
And over time, these low places,
they get deeper and deeper. 

709
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:55,560
And before you know it, well, 
you don't have to go to church 

710
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,800
to be a Christian, but you 
don't. 

711
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,480
But what does that have to do 
with being obedient to the other

712
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,320
communes? 
I'm just going to tell you that 

713
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:07,640
if there's a valley in a road, 
it takes longer to get there. 

714
00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:13,680
We go to Guatemala every year on
mission trips. 

715
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,120
There's a lot of mountains 
there. 

716
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:19,400
There's a lot of valleys there. 
And often times where you're 

717
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,920
going has both. 
And man, if I could just walk 

718
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:26,640
from here to there, it would 
take so much less time. 

719
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,320
But I can't because I have to 
walk from here and then go down 

720
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,920
into this valley and hop over 
this little Creek and then go up

721
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,160
this hill and then go across 
here and go up this mountain 

722
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,520
before going down here to where 
they live, for example. 

723
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,120
That's not an official address 
here. 

724
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,040
We're spoiled with it. 
Where do we go? 

725
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,800
We just pop our address into GPS
and then we drive there. 

726
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:54,920
It's what we do. 
You don't have that there. 

727
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:56,880
You better know the markers. 
You better know where you're 

728
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,360
going. 
And my point is this, if there 

729
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,520
was a straight shot, you'd get 
there a lot quicker. 

730
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,160
So clearing and preparing the 
way for the Lord, living a 

731
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,680
lifestyle. 
Holiness is designed so that you

732
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:11,160
can embrace the Lord and, and, 
and integrate His Holiness in a 

733
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,360
much quicker fashion. 
You're like, well, I'll get 

734
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:15,840
there in the end. 
Yeah, but wouldn't you rather 

735
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:19,120
get there sooner? 
Holiness is never just about 

736
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,320
removing what's wrong. 
It's also about restoring what's

737
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,320
missing. 
In Second Chronicles 29, we're 

738
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,240
going to start in verse 3. 
We're talking about King 

739
00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:27,840
Hezekiah. 
And you need to know that his 

740
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,840
father was an awful king, and 
his father was one of those 

741
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,240
kings that I was talking about 
that didn't remove high places. 

742
00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,520
And he was very much pandering 
to the other cultures around him

743
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:40,960
and saying, yeah, let's do this,
Let's embrace everything. 

744
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,920
And all of a sudden you find 
yourself here in verse 3. 

745
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,120
And Hezekiah says this. 
In the very first month of the 

746
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:51,200
first year of his reign, 
Hezekiah reopened the doors of 

747
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,560
the Temple of the Lord and 
repaired them. 

748
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,560
Why were they closed and not 
being used? 

749
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,280
Was it because they had been 
sacked and they didn't have time

750
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:00,880
to repair it? 
No. 

751
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,440
Was it because they were lazy? 
No. 

752
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:09,760
It's because the king prior said
it's not a priority and so 

753
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,720
people were copying the prior 
king rather than making their 

754
00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:16,400
own relationship with the Lord. 
Well, if that king says it's OK,

755
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,240
I guess that's what I'll do. 
Here's why I want to drive this 

756
00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,760
home real quick. 
What Christian have you been 

757
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,720
copying? 
And it's time to step out and be

758
00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:31,680
your own man or your own woman 
of God because you'll say, well,

759
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,440
he's still preaching and he's 
doing a good job. 

760
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,360
How many of y'all have had 
somebody you loved online that's

761
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:38,560
preaching and before you know 
it, scandal. 

762
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,200
You cannot put your hope in man.
You cannot put your hope in a 

763
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,040
woman. 
You can only put your hope in 

764
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,360
him. 
Listen to this verse four. 

765
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,400
He summoned the priests and the 
Levites to meet him at the 

766
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,640
courtyard east of the temple. 
And he said to them, listen to 

767
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,880
me, you Levites. 
Levites were the priestly order 

768
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:57,200
from from all of the tribes. 
He said purify yourselves and 

769
00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:00,080
purify the temple of the Lord, 
the God of your ancestors. 

770
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,680
Remove all the defiled things 
from the sanctuary. 

771
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,360
Those are mountains that are 
getting removed, right? 

772
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,320
Our ancestors were unfaithful 
and did what was evil in the 

773
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,320
sight of the Lord our God. 
They abandoned the Lord and his 

774
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,400
dwelling place. 
They turned their backs on him. 

775
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,360
They also shut the doors to the 
temple's entry room and they 

776
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,480
snuffed out the lamps. 
They stopped burning incense and

777
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,680
presenting burnt offerings at 
the sanctuary of the God of 

778
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:22,920
Israel. 
And he says that is why the 

779
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,320
Lord's anger has fallen upon 
Judah and Jerusalem. 

780
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,800
He's made them an object of 
dread and horror and ridicule, 

781
00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:31,880
as you can see with your own 
eyes. 

782
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:34,960
Because of this, our fathers 
have been killed in battle, and 

783
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,320
our sons and daughters and wives
have been captured. 

784
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,960
But now I will make a covenant 
with the Lord, the God of 

785
00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,680
Israel, so that the Lord has 
chosen you to stand in his 

786
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,120
presence and to minister to him 
and to lead the people in 

787
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,000
worship and present offerings to
Him. 

788
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,520
And what stands out to me here, 
just to be honest, is how 

789
00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:55,240
practical and doable this is. 
What has been ignored? 

790
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,440
What needs to be restored to the
house? 

791
00:39:57,680 --> 00:39:59,240
Do you need to pray with the 
family? 

792
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,240
Do you need to leave the family 
in communion? 

793
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,480
Do you need to reintegrate 
prayer? 

794
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,240
Like do you need to let your 
kids see you pray? 

795
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:07,440
What is it? 
Do you just need to lay hands on

796
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:11,000
one another and just pray life 
and speak life into one another?

797
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:15,200
What is it that's missing? 
Look at it and restore it and 

798
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:16,920
you'll see God come back pretty 
quickly. 

799
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:22,400
Book recommendation Holier than 
Thou by Jackie Hill Perry. 

800
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,360
It's a short book. 
But I just have one or four 

801
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:30,720
quotes for you. 
In her book, Holier Than Thou, 

802
00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:32,840
she makes the case that holiness
is not something you can 

803
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,520
scramble for when life 
collapses. 

804
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:37,160
Maybe you can get a miracle. 
You can get some deliverance or 

805
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,480
some forgiveness. 
But listen to this, she says. 

806
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:42,480
Holiness is not a detour from 
joy. 

807
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:46,280
It is the pathway to it. 
A lot of times we say I need to 

808
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,040
get disciplined. 
It's like one of those delayed 

809
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:49,920
gratifications. 
Yeah, I don't like the grind of 

810
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:51,280
my spiritual life, but I got to 
do it. 

811
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,040
So eventually it'll pay off. 
No, no, no. 

812
00:40:53,040 --> 00:41:00,120
It is the pathway to your joy. 
She also goes on to say this. 

813
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:04,040
We don't pursue holiness because
we want to look holy. 

814
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:07,120
We pursue holiness because we 
want to see God clearly. 

815
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:10,880
For some of us, we know he's 
real. 

816
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,120
We've seen glimpses of him, but 
we haven't experienced him in a 

817
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:19,440
tangible, personal way yet 
because we haven't been willing 

818
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:25,200
to make space for holiness. 
And for a king that is filling 

819
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,040
the low places. 
It's intentionally adding those 

820
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:31,440
rhythms and habits and Speaking 
of those habits, she says. 

821
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:35,160
Here's your third quote. 
Many of us don't lack desire for

822
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,480
God. 
We lack discipline for him. 

823
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,040
Who in this room would walk out 
and be like, I don't want God. 

824
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,040
Most of us would say, yeah, we 
want God. 

825
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:48,880
We want him to show up. 
I want him to speak with me. 

826
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,120
And if he were to give you a 123
checklist, you could probably do

827
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:54,880
it. 
But it needs to be your 

828
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,800
discipline and your relationship
and your commitment. 

829
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:01,200
If I walk up to my wife and I'm 
like, look, 2026 is going to be 

830
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,120
busy. 
I just need you to give me a 

831
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,000
list of what you want me to do 
so you can feel loved. 

832
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,200
I'll check it off the list. 
And I don't want to hear any 

833
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,240
complaints after that. 
How would that go for me? 

834
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:13,320
There's a reason why she doesn't
have a microphone right now. 

835
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,760
I have to continually make space
for a healthy relationship with 

836
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,280
my wife. 
I have to continually make space

837
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:25,360
for a healthy relationship with 
my children, with my friends. 

838
00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:27,320
I have to continually invest in 
it. 

839
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:29,200
And the Lord is not any 
different. 

840
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:31,760
As a matter of fact, He's more 
important than even my wife, who

841
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:33,960
I love so much. 
It's all important. 

842
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,040
And she would agree with that. 
So I heard an 0. 

843
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,160
Just want you to know she would 
agree with that. 

844
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:40,240
Here's your final quote from 
her. 

845
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,000
And I definitely wanted to to 
share this because it was like 

846
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:45,200
devastating to me when I read 
it. 

847
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:51,680
So I don't want to suffer alone.
Jackie says if our habits do not

848
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:54,960
help us behold God, they will 
eventually help us forget him. 

849
00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:00,280
So the habits that you have and 
the rhythms and the routines 

850
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,040
that you embrace, they are 
either pulling you closer to Him

851
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:04,880
or they're leading you away from
Him. 

852
00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:07,240
And you are not treading water 
on this. 

853
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:11,880
And you may say, well hasn't 
hasn't chased me away from God 

854
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:13,560
yet. 
Well haven't been 7 periods of 

855
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:15,560
time yet, has it? 
We're on month 10. 

856
00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:20,680
I'm trying to warn you, prepare 
the way for Him in your life. 

857
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,360
I had a prophetic word just this
morning before service. 

858
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:26,400
The Lord is doing incredible 
things. 

859
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,560
He is going to get the glory. 
He's going to win in the end. 

860
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:31,400
He is the one who is winning 
right now. 

861
00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:34,200
I don't want to be on the 
sidelines watching it happen. 

862
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:36,400
I want to be in the spot where 
he wants me to be. 

863
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:40,080
He'll have his way. 
I want to be part of preparing 

864
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,720
him. 
Holiness can't be reactive to 

865
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:45,160
something God is doing. 
It's a rhythm. 

866
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:46,280
It's something we're committed 
to. 

867
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,920
And when somebody says why do 
you do that, other people don't 

868
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:50,280
do that. 
Yeah, well, I'm not them. 

869
00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:55,600
I'm me. 
You know, there's a really sad 

870
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:59,080
story actually about Kevin Hart.
Kevin Hart is a really funny 

871
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:00,440
comedian. 
I'll talk about a couple famous 

872
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,000
people real quick since that got
a little heavy. 

873
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,680
But Kevin, Kevin Hart, he was, 
he was really raised very close 

874
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:09,320
to his mom and his mom would 
always push him to scripture. 

875
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:11,840
And his mom would always say you
need to go to the Bible for 

876
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:12,840
this. 
You need to go to the Bible for 

877
00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:13,840
this. 
But she knew he didn't go to the

878
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:15,160
Bible for it. 
Like he was raised in it. 

879
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,080
He kind of knew enough he didn't
really want to go to the Bible 

880
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:18,240
for it. 
And he was having trouble with 

881
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:19,720
his finances early on in his 
career. 

882
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:23,640
And she was telling him to go to
a specific Scripture to go and 

883
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,520
read about the finances. 
And finally, one day, he sat 

884
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:27,800
down. 
He said, I need to do this. 

885
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,600
And he opened it. 
And when he did, there was money

886
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:36,200
in there that his mom had put to
help him pay his bills. 

887
00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:39,040
But she wanted to know that he 
had cracked open the Bible. 

888
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:42,880
But of course, Kevin Hart got 
popular. 

889
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:45,520
He got successful. 
And as that happened, times got 

890
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:48,360
busier for him. 
And his mom would call, and he 

891
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:50,760
wouldn't always answer it. 
And he would say, I'll get back 

892
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:52,520
to her tomorrow. 
And then it became fewer and 

893
00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:55,000
fewer and more far between. 
And sometimes it would be weeks 

894
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:59,120
and one day his mom passed away.
And he's quoted in a couple 

895
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:01,480
different interviews saying I 
didn't lose my mom in one 

896
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:03,960
moment. 
I actually lost her over several

897
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:05,960
moments where I neglected a 
relationship to help. 

898
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:12,960
For me, she had prepared the way
for him and he failed to pick up

899
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:14,520
the baton at that moment and run
with. 

900
00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:17,320
It doesn't matter how famous or 
how successful you are. 

901
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:21,320
We all need this before we do 
what we're going to do next. 

902
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:22,560
I just want you to think about 
this. 

903
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:26,640
I want you to think about 
somebody that you have copied in

904
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,960
your Christian life. 
By the way, we've all got them. 

905
00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:31,080
We've all got them. 
OK. 

906
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,520
I can think of Pastor Tom. 
I learned so much from Pastor 

907
00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:36,280
Tom. 
I can think of Pastor Carter at 

908
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,920
the last Lutheran Church I went 
to a long, long time ago. 

909
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:41,640
I can think about men of God 
that I love and I look up to 

910
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:44,640
that I've copied things from and
I've had to make my own. 

911
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:46,760
OK. 
Does everybody have somebody in 

912
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:48,440
their mind? 
Hopefully you do. 

913
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:51,840
Now I want you to think about 
somebody else. 

914
00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:56,280
Dwayne the Rock Johnson. 
Does he seem like he's got it 

915
00:45:56,280 --> 00:45:58,680
all put together? 
Seems like it. 

916
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:00,720
Seems like it. 
Still pretty buff. 

917
00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:02,000
I know he's a little skinnier 
than he used to be. 

918
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,680
He's still pretty buff. 
Cool tattoos, lots of money. 

919
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,920
He's an actor, famous, all that.
What I'm about to show you is a 

920
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:11,400
picture of Dwayne the Rock 
Johnson. 

921
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:19,360
But they ran it through. 
You ready Christians AI now 

922
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:24,560
listen, They ran it through 
ChatGPT and said this replicate 

923
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:27,120
this image, don't make any 
changes. 

924
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:33,360
And then they did it 101 times. 
Let's see what happened. 

925
00:46:39,810 --> 00:46:41,850
I stripped the audio from it 
because it was a really creepy 

926
00:46:41,850 --> 00:46:44,770
audio, but it's not like it's 
not getting creepy, right? 

927
00:46:54,520 --> 00:47:06,380
It's a nice shade of blue. 
Can we pause it? 

928
00:47:09,260 --> 00:47:13,940
Is that possible? 
No. 

929
00:47:14,300 --> 00:47:18,140
Look at this. 
And I just want to ask you, does

930
00:47:18,140 --> 00:47:21,620
this look like the Christianity 
that you would want if you were 

931
00:47:21,620 --> 00:47:23,460
telling somebody, hey, look. 
Yeah, that's great. 

932
00:47:23,460 --> 00:47:29,040
Look at this. 
What if what Jesus designed for 

933
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:34,480
us was so authentic and so real,
and it's available for you to 

934
00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:37,240
grab a hold of, but you're just 
trusting what somebody else did,

935
00:47:37,240 --> 00:47:40,000
but they're copying what 
somebody else did, but they were

936
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:43,400
copying what somebody else did. 
But eventually we end up with 

937
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:48,280
this Christianity serve God, and
nothing bad happens. 

938
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:54,120
And this looks like really bad 
hotel artwork and it came from 

939
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:58,920
Dwayne the Rock Johnson. 
I show that to you and here's 

940
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:01,640
why. 
Holiness only becomes real when 

941
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:03,680
it moves into the priorities of 
your daily life. 

942
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,520
And you don't do things just 
because somebody else said this 

943
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:08,040
is what we do. 
You learn about it. 

944
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,320
Nobody can do this for you. 
You can't copy somebody else's 

945
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,480
rhythms. 
When somebody says they get up 

946
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:15,920
at 5:00 AM and they love to be 
with the Lord and you can't get 

947
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,560
up at 5:00 AM and have a a 
cognizant mind, It needs to be 

948
00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:22,400
when you can do it. 
You can't borrow somebody else's

949
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,680
convictions or outsource your 
intimacy with God. 

950
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,520
And So what clear space in one 
person's life might not be the 

951
00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:30,360
same for another. 
And the challenge is to own your

952
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:32,520
own spiritual walk. 
I've got just a couple steps 

953
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:37,760
before we go home today. 
First of all, identify your 

954
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,520
mountains and I say your 
mountains. 

955
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:42,880
If you notice something's 
capitalized in each one of these

956
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,200
because very often we're like, 
well, I know a lot of things 

957
00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:48,120
that are obstacles for people in
in Christian walks. 

958
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:50,280
Yeah, yeah, that's cool. 
Don't worry about their 

959
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:53,760
mountain. 
What's blocking your view from 

960
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:56,480
the Lord? 
You need to be able to look at 

961
00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,120
that and you need to be able to 
identify it because too often 

962
00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:01,360
we'll look at the mountains that
are in other people's lives 

963
00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:04,000
because it's easier than doing 
the work of breaking down a 

964
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:08,520
mountain in our own. 
Number two, add 1 discipline 

965
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:12,480
that you need. 
And I say that because you may 

966
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,120
say, well, my mentor doesn't 
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 

967
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:18,320
Cool, maybe he or she doesn't 
need it. 

968
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:22,760
What do you need? 
My mentor doesn't have 

969
00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:25,240
visibility with his finances. 
My mentor doesn't, you know, 

970
00:49:25,720 --> 00:49:31,400
shut up about your mentor #3 I'm
going to say this multiple times

971
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:33,040
every year. 
Obey the Lord quickly. 

972
00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:37,480
Delayed obedience is a long way 
of saying disobedience. 

973
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:42,160
And I know that because when I 
tell my kids to clean their 

974
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:45,880
room, right, obey the Lord 
quickly when he tells you to do 

975
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:48,000
something, He has the right 
time. 

976
00:49:49,080 --> 00:49:50,680
He has a better timing in mind 
than you do. 

977
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:53,600
And the last one is no copying 
anyone else. 

978
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,160
We can't help it to some extent 
when you grow up. 

979
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:01,240
Sometimes I have found like 
people will worship the way that

980
00:50:01,240 --> 00:50:03,520
the person that taught them, you
know, worships. 

981
00:50:03,520 --> 00:50:06,440
They'll hold their hands in a 
similar way or whatever somebody

982
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:10,040
showed you the way. 
But we're not little John the 

983
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:13,680
Baptist's, we're Christians, 
which means a smaller Christ. 

984
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:18,800
So we close today. 
I really want to take one final 

985
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:21,800
look at the life of Jesus 
because it reveals something 

986
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,000
that's important about what he's
really passionate about. 

987
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:26,920
Before I go into it, I just want
to take a moment to invite you 

988
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:30,840
to Christmas Eve service. 
Be about one hour, 6:00 on the 

989
00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:34,280
24th this Wednesday. 
We'll have communion, we'll have

990
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:37,920
some Christmas songs, and we'll 
talk about the true message of 

991
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:41,240
Christmas. 
It'll also be your chance to get

992
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:43,640
your chronological Bible reading
plan for the brand new year. 

993
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:46,680
It's going to be a real 
challenge. 

994
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:49,920
I showed them this on Wednesday.
I mean starts really nice 

995
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,400
Genesis 1 and two who who can't 
do that in a day And the next 

996
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:56,200
day is Psalm 8 and Psalm one O 
4. 

997
00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:59,200
And John won the first 3 verses 
because in the beginning the 

998
00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:01,160
Word was with God and the Word 
was God, right? 

999
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:04,840
Wait until you get to the 
gospels. 

1000
00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:09,400
Can you see this at all? 
But they're not all full 

1001
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:11,080
chapters. 
They're pieces of chapters 

1002
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:14,040
because we want to take a look 
at this and see the grace of God

1003
00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:17,760
at work from Genesis to 
Revelation in the order that it 

1004
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:18,920
happened. 
And we're going to go on that 

1005
00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:20,520
journey together. 
This will be your Christmas 

1006
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:22,600
gift. 
Then I, I got mine early. 

1007
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:30,040
Now, Jesus does something that 
is a Christian's favorite thing 

1008
00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:33,720
to talk about a lot of times. 
He does it twice, once towards 

1009
00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:35,640
the beginning of his public 
ministry and once towards the 

1010
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:37,240
end. 
What am I talking about? 

1011
00:51:39,640 --> 00:51:43,120
He's flipping those tables. 
He's clearing out the temple, 

1012
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:47,480
and at the end of his ministry, 
Jesus enters the temple in 

1013
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:49,440
Jerusalem. 
This was the place that was 

1014
00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:51,400
meant for worship and prayer and
sacrifice. 

1015
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,280
You remember the painstaking 
steps that Hezekiah took to 

1016
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:57,200
reopen those doors, get them 
repaired, light those lamps 

1017
00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:00,560
again, start leading people in 
worship, taking their faith 

1018
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:04,240
seriously. 
And by the time Jesus gets 

1019
00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:07,960
there, he does not find prayer. 
He finds noise. 

1020
00:52:09,080 --> 00:52:11,920
He finds commerce and 
distraction and misuse. 

1021
00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:15,960
Tables have been set up, animals
are being sold and money's being

1022
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:18,120
exchanged. 
And none of that is overtly 

1023
00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:22,000
sinful on the surface, but it 
was clogging a place that was 

1024
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:25,520
meant to be a House of prayer. 
A lot of it would have been 

1025
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:28,680
justified and practical or even 
religiously helpful in the right

1026
00:52:28,680 --> 00:52:31,600
way, but it crowded out the 
purpose of the temple. 

1027
00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:38,160
So Jesus responds strongly, He 
flips tables, he chases money 

1028
00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:40,280
changers out. 
He's got a whip. 

1029
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,480
You don't see that as much in 
Renaissance art. 

1030
00:52:43,480 --> 00:52:46,520
There are some out there. 
He chases them out with a whip. 

1031
00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:48,680
He is not playing around about 
it. 

1032
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:51,920
Why does he do this? 
He says my temple will be called

1033
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:54,440
the House of prayer, but you've 
turned it into a den of thieves.

1034
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:57,440
And this is not about Jesus 
being angry at people for being 

1035
00:52:57,440 --> 00:52:58,880
bad. 
I want you to know this is Jesus

1036
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:00,480
being passionate for the temple.
Why? 

1037
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,640
Because the temple is where the 
very presence of God dwells. 

1038
00:53:05,120 --> 00:53:08,360
He wasn't cleansing it because 
he hated the people, He was 

1039
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:11,560
cleansing it because he loved 
the temple having space for the 

1040
00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:14,360
Lord and he loved the people. 
He was removing what didn't 

1041
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:16,720
belong so it could function the 
way it was supposed to. 

1042
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:20,560
Another thing that Jesus said, 
he said in the Gospel of John 

1043
00:53:20,560 --> 00:53:22,880
when he was questioned what 
authority he had to do the 

1044
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:26,240
things that he did, He said 
this, destroy this temple, and 

1045
00:53:26,240 --> 00:53:29,160
in three days I'll raise it up. 
Scripture tells us he wasn't 

1046
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:31,400
talking about a building. 
What was he referring to when he

1047
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:33,960
said destroy this temple, His 
body? 

1048
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:39,520
So now you and I have a temple 
and that's where it comes home 

1049
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:42,920
to us. 
Through Jesus, the dwelling of 

1050
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:46,640
God has changed. 
The presence of God is no longer

1051
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:49,680
confined to a stone building or 
a sacred location. 

1052
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:54,520
Through Christ, you are the 
temple of the Holy Spirit. 

1053
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:59,240
God's Spirit lives in you, which
means holiness is no longer 

1054
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:02,680
about protecting a place, it's 
about preparing a life, and you 

1055
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:07,080
can only really prepare yours. 
Jesus is still passionate about 

1056
00:54:07,080 --> 00:54:10,440
clearing his temple, and he's 
still passionate about it being 

1057
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:13,720
usable in a place of worship. 
He doesn't need it to be perfect

1058
00:54:13,720 --> 00:54:15,640
or sterile. 
He doesn't need it to be 

1059
00:54:15,640 --> 00:54:17,200
impressive. 
He just needs it to be 

1060
00:54:17,200 --> 00:54:19,320
available. 
He needs it to be a place where 

1061
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,760
prayer can happen and a place 
where God's presence is always 

1062
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:24,320
welcomed and it's not too busy 
and you don't have to squeeze 

1063
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:28,320
him in. 
Lowering the high places removes

1064
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:31,840
what's taking God's place. 
Filling the low places restores 

1065
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:35,960
what keeps us connected to them.
Pursuing a lifestyle of holiness

1066
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:39,400
is not about being restricted, 
it's letting Jesus lovingly 

1067
00:54:39,400 --> 00:54:41,720
overturn whatever keeps His 
presence from moving in your 

1068
00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:43,760
life. 
So as we head into this 

1069
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:46,840
Christmas week, this is the 
offer I have for you. 

1070
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:51,720
Make way for the King. 
You don't have to clean yourself

1071
00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:55,200
up to get God's nearness, but to
ask an honest question of 

1072
00:54:55,200 --> 00:54:57,960
yourself. 
What has filled the temple of 

1073
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:02,800
the Holy Spirit so completely 
that prayer has been pushed 

1074
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,200
aside? 
What tables need to be 

1075
00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:06,960
overturned? 
And I would just tell you, Jesus

1076
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,280
does come gently, but he also 
comes intentionally, and he will

1077
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:13,760
clean out his dwelling place. 
So this morning I encourage you 

1078
00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:16,880
to make room for a king. 
Amen.