1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,720 Aloha and welcome to Amen podcast. 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,200 I'm your host. Look, Gilani, and today's 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,119 episode is called Nothing is Wasted. 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:13,800 Alex is walking us through Matthew chapter 27, verses 62 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,600 through 66. And what we're going to see is 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,960 that every scheme, every seal, every soldier posted at the tomb 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,280 was no match for the purposes of God. 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,640 Nothing the enemy does can derail what God has already 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:33,520 ordained, and that is just as true for your life today as it 10 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,560 was at the tomb. So let's get into it. 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:41,200 I'm going to read those verses. We're in the ESV version if 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,800 you'd like to follow along. The next day, that is, after the 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,080 day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,840 gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that 15 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,800 imposter said while he was still alive. 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,440 After three days I will rise, therefore order the tomb to be 17 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,320 made secure until the 3rd day, lest his disciples go and steal 18 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,520 him away and tell the people he is risen from the dead and the 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,840 last fraud will be worse from from the first than the first. 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,720 Pilot said to them, you have a guard of soldiers, go make it as 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,880 secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,960 secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. 23 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,800 Nothing is wasted because God doesn't make any accidents. 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,400 And we look at our story today, we're going to see that God 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,800 doesn't waste even the hatred of his enemies. 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,920 He uses it through his sovereign and purposeful plan for his 27 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,880 glory. Even evil serves God's purposes. 28 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,360 Example of this is Genesis chapter 50, verse 20. 29 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,160 Before we get into our text, it's the story of Joseph. 30 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,440 You'll remember when Joseph, you know, he gets this coat of many 31 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:58,920 colors. He gets these visions. 32 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,080 He tells his family about it. His family doesn't respond very 33 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,080 well. And so his brothers actually 34 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,320 sell him into slavery and they almost kill him. 35 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,639 But one of the brothers is like, no, don't kill him. 36 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,360 He's our brother and they sent him into slavery. 37 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,280 And then through a series of events, God actually uses that 38 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,160 selling into slavery and then later imprisonment to turn into 39 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,320 Joseph being the second most powerful person in all of Egypt 40 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:26,080 and effectively the world. Which allows him to have a key 41 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,720 pivotal point in the saving of his family who later fell into 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,200 famine with the rest of the surrounding region. 43 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,200 And because he was in that position, he was able to feed 44 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,440 his family, which means the Messiah was able to come through 45 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,640 that family. They didn't die because God used 46 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:47,520 the evil purposes of others for his own glory. 47 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,560 So nothing is wasted. And what Joseph says in Genesis 48 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,600 chapter 50, verse 20 is that what you meant for evil. 49 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,720 God meant for good, for the saving of many lives. 50 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,560 And that is a typology. It's called in theology of 51 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,360 Jesus. Joseph is a type of Jesus or 52 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,480 something that points us to Christ, and Jesus is the 53 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,680 fulfillment of that typology. It's the fulfillment of what 54 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,440 God's plan was in even saving Joseph and his brothers. 55 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,360 It was so that Jesus would come and later be the perfect human, 56 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,880 100% God, 100% man, to take away our sins completely. 57 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,160 So Joseph and his brothers and all those who are in Christ 58 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,320 would be saved and forgiven completely of all their sins. 59 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,240 So Christ is the fulfillment of that. 60 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,360 We see that happening right here in our story in Matthew 2762 61 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,360 through 66. Now it's Saturday and Jesus is 62 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,440 in the tomb. As it says in verse 62, it's the 63 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,960 day after the day of preparation. 64 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,400 So after the day of preparation, which would be Friday. 65 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:48,240 Friday is the day before Sabbath. 66 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,560 They would spend a lot of this day getting ready for Sabbath or 67 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,920 basically getting ready to do nothing because Sabbath was a 68 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,080 holy day according to the the Torah, the law of God that he 69 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,840 told them to rest and remember that I am God and you are not. 70 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,320 And so that day is coming up, but look what's happening. 71 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:10,840 We're going to see six things about our enemy and, and out of 72 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,360 those six things we're going to see at the end how God uses 73 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:20,600 their evil purposes for his own providential plan and for our 74 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,840 good. And so if you have enemies, 75 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,920 which you will as a follower of Christ, Christ's enemies are 76 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:32,400 your enemies. As a follower of Christ, the 77 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,560 enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? 78 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,080 That's what people say. So that means you're going to 79 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,560 have enemies and you're going to have other enemies who aren't 80 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,440 really friends with those enemies, but they're going to 81 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,920 join forces against you at times. 82 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,080 Why? Because an enemy of my enemy is 83 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,880 my friend. And so if you if your enemies 84 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,120 both hate you on both sides and they will rise up together 85 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,120 against you. But the same is true with saying 86 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,240 that the enemy of my friend is my enemy. 87 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,480 And because your friend is Jesus and his enemies 2000 years ago 88 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,800 handed them over to Pilate to be saved, those same enemies are 89 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,200 going to be your enemies. So what are those enemies? 90 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,320 Well, we know they're all dead, but they their type is still 91 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,920 going on, right? They're religious leaders, the 92 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,560 Pharisees, those who claim religion or claim spirituality, 93 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,360 but do not follow Christ. Those people are going to be 94 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,080 your enemies too. And we'll find them even in 95 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,120 Christianity, even in the church where people name the name of 96 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,000 Christ, but their hearts are far from him. 97 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,600 So so as we look at the at these six things about our enemy, 98 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,240 we're going to get to know our enemy a lot better, but we're 99 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,240 also going to see how through these things, especially the 100 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:46,400 last two, God shows us that nothing is wasted, even the 101 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,000 stuff that our enemies do to us. So look at verse 62. 102 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,280 It says day after preparation, the chief priest and the 103 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:55,040 Pharisees gathered together before Pilate. 104 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,320 This shows us that number one, our enemies are fake. 105 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,600 Now that they don't exist, they're very real, but they're 106 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:03,920 not real. They're fake. 107 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,320 How do we know they're fake? Well, the Pharisees and the 108 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,440 chief priests more than anyone would have taken Sabbath very 109 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,240 seriously. And if it says it's the day 110 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,080 after preparation or after the day of preparation, and that 111 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,120 means they're not celebrating the Sabbath, which means they're 112 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,120 doing, they're breaking the law by working and how they know 113 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:21,760 they're working. It looks like they're just 114 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:23,960 meeting with Pilot. They're having a conversation 115 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:25,760 with Pilot. Surely they're allowed to talk 116 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:29,680 on the Sabbath, right? This word gathered in verse 62 117 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,880 is the Greek word that means formal meeting. 118 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,640 So this is a business meeting that they're having with Pilot. 119 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:37,840 They're going over business. It's formal. 120 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,280 Again, this shows us how fake they really are. 121 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,800 But their fakeness goes deeper as it spills into our second 122 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,400 thing we see about our enemy and that is flippancy, right? 123 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,520 Look at verse 63 and it says and they said, Sir, we remember how 124 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,440 that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days I 125 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,440 will rise. So their fakeness and their 126 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,800 flippancy are seen in this and that they call pilot Sir, but 127 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,320 they call Jesus imposter. Now, who are they technically 128 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:15,560 more in common with Jesus? Because Jesus is Jewish, Jesus 129 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,440 is a rabbi, they are chief priests. 130 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,000 They are Pharisees, by the way. They're not friends, right? 131 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:26,280 These are rival groups. Chief priests are like a sect of 132 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,240 the Sanhedrin, which is a political, spiritual group. 133 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,640 Pharisees are strictly spiritual. 134 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,200 They're teachers of the law and and they focus on law. 135 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,760 They believe in the resurrection, and yet they've 136 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,600 joined forces against Jesus. Why? 137 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,240 Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 138 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,280 And so they don't, they both don't like Jesus. 139 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,520 So they become friends. With that said, they have more 140 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,240 in common with Jesus because Jesus shares in their culture. 141 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,960 Pilot is, you know, of Roman culture. 142 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,920 So they don't share a lot with him and they're just using him 143 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,280 in this, in this matter to get what they want. 144 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:01,560 And yet they call Pilot, Sir, and they call Jesus imposter or 145 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,160 deceiver. Your Bible might say this shows 146 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,720 their flippancy. Flippancy is lack of respect. 147 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,560 They show no respect for Pilot and the fact that they don't 148 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,000 really mean what they're saying to him. 149 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,440 Hey, Sir, can you please help us if you don't really like this 150 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,600 guy? But on top of that, they're 151 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,840 showing their flippancy and how they're disrespectfully calling 152 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,760 Jesus an impostor or a deceiver. And yet they're also showing 153 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:29,120 their fakeness even in this, you know, point #2 because one, they 154 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,080 say after three days he will rise. 155 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,520 Now the Pharisees, according to Acts chapter 23, verse 8, 156 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,200 believe in the resurrection. And so shouldn't they be stoked 157 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,840 that Jesus said he's going to raise after three days? 158 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,880 Even if they don't like Jesus, this would prove their spiritual 159 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,920 point better than anyone because Elijah had risen someone from 160 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:52,160 the dead. But they went around to see 161 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:53,600 that. They just read about it. 162 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,200 If Jesus rose, this would make the Pharisees look really, 163 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,640 really good, especially against the Sadducees. 164 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:00,840 There's another spiritual group that don't believe in the 165 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,840 resurrection yet they're so hell bent on proving Jesus wrong and 166 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,800 taking away Jesus's popularity and driven by their envy that 167 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,400 they just want to, they just want to do away with them 168 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,320 completely and they want to make sure he has no more influence 169 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,680 after he's, you know, well and gone. 170 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:20,520 But that's not enough to stop them. 171 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,680 So let's look. Look at the third thing that we 172 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,280 see about our enemies and that is that they are feeble. 173 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,520 And the reason why we're going through these six things is 174 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,000 because it's very important for you to know your enemy because 175 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,840 if you don't know your enemy's character, you will start to 176 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,880 blame your own lack of character for something that they do to 177 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:38,320 you. So let's say that, you know, 178 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,680 you're minding your own business and you're going to Bible study 179 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:43,880 and you're the quiet one that has their Bible open and they're 180 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,160 reading and someone asks you to share about what's going on in 181 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,280 your life. And you share a very vulnerable 182 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,680 story about how you were raised as a child or something and, and 183 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:55,360 something that God is teaching you. 184 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:57,800 And afterwards, nobody's talking to you. 185 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,880 Everyone just kind of shuns you. Why would that happen? 186 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:04,360 It could be that you're shining your light and in shining your 187 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,240 light, you end up exposing the darkness to somebody else. 188 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,080 If you don't know that that is the character of the enemies of 189 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:15,480 Christ, character of those who are religious leaders or or 190 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,440 hypocritical or fake or flippant kind of people, if you don't 191 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:22,960 know that about them, you'll blame yourself. 192 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:24,920 Maybe I said too much. Maybe I shouldn't have shared 193 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:26,400 that. Maybe I was too vulnerable. 194 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,080 Maybe I overshared and you just go over and over and over and 195 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,440 you blame yourself. And then it leads you into sin 196 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:33,680 because now you're leading. You're listening to worry and 197 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:38,160 fear and not listening to how the Holy Spirit might have been 198 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:39,920 encouraging you to share that story. 199 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,200 So that's why we're talking about this. 200 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,000 It's very important for you to know your enemy. 201 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,960 Now the third thing we see about our enemy is in the next verse, 202 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,240 verse 64, and that is that they are feeble. 203 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,440 It says therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the 3rd 204 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,080 day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the 205 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,200 people he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be 206 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,520 a worse than the first. So we see that they are fake, 207 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,680 flippant and now feeble or weak. How do we know that? 208 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,160 Two things in this verse #1 it says therefore, right? 209 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,480 What is that? Therefore, therefore, what did 210 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,720 they just go to pilot for? They went to pilot and they said 211 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,600 Jesus claimed to raise from the dead. 212 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,440 Now, how would they have known that? 213 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,040 Commentators have seen that most of the time Jesus talked about 214 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,080 raising after the third day, He was talking to His closest 215 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,920 friends. There's at least one time where 216 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:40,040 He says this in the midst of His enemies, the Pharisees and other 217 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:43,520 religious leaders, and that is Matthew chapter 12, verse 40, 218 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,920 where he says just like Jonah was in the whale and a rose, I 219 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,160 will rise out of the grave. You know, the he mentions that. 220 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,240 So that was one time they definitely heard him say that. 221 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:58,080 Also, Judas could have jogged their memory and said, hey, as I 222 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,640 was hanging out with Jesus and now I'm betraying him, I want 223 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,240 you to know he did say that he'll come back after three 224 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,560 days. So just remember that as I take 225 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,160 this money and betray Jesus. So any of those things could 226 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,680 have happened, right? Also Jesus was very popular. 227 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:13,840 The word could have got out and the report could have spread 228 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,480 that he said he would die and raise again after three days. 229 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,640 So that's what's happening. That's what what happens before 230 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,120 the therefore and then 64 he's they say therefore make sure the 231 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,600 tomb can't be opened make sure it's secure and nobody can get 232 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,160 it. What they're worried about and 233 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,280 why why they're so feeble as they're worried about the 234 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,800 prophecy of Jesus. They're worried about him saying 235 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,760 he would raise again from the dead him prophesying that 236 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,040 they're not worried about grave robbers right. 237 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:43,640 So don't get it don't get it twisted. 238 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,160 It's not that they're, they're like it's Sabbath or no, it's, 239 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,760 it's a, it's a crime to, to rob the grave. 240 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,480 While they would have known that, that's not what they're 241 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,360 afraid of. Jesus doesn't even have any 242 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,880 money. And so if if people did rob the 243 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,600 grave, they wouldn't be getting anything right. 244 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,840 He's homeless, he's very poor. He's even you, they even the 245 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:04,760 tomb he's in his borrowed. So they're not worried about 246 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,400 grave robbers. They're not even worried about 247 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,480 the disciples stealing the body. It's not just that it's what it 248 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,440 would look like if the disciples stole the body. 249 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,360 It would look like his prophecy came true. 250 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:21,800 They don't really believe he can raise from the dead. 251 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,560 They just don't want it to look like he rose from the dead 252 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,040 because that would make his prophecy look true and that 253 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,400 would make the people believe in him and his influence continue 254 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,840 to grow. So they're, they're so feeble 255 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,400 and weak in their authority and in their leadership and in their 256 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,400 insecurity and their low self esteem. 257 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:45,720 They're falling apart and their feebleness because of a prophecy 258 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,520 that Jesus gave. You see what I'm saying, just a 259 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:53,520 sheer sentence that he gave and often repeat it is making them 260 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:57,520 shiver in their boots. You see how feeble they are. 261 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,200 And The thing is, what we're trying to get at is your enemies 262 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,680 will be this exact same way. They will be fake. 263 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:05,800 They'll be hypocritical, but Jesus calls them and Matthew 264 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,800 2323 talking of the same guys in this passage. 265 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,520 He calls them hypocritical. They'll be flippant, they'll 266 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,480 lack respect, will treat you terribly, treat you less than 267 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,880 human, but they'll also, you have to understand that they're 268 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:19,920 feeble. You don't need to fight fire 269 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,240 with fire. You don't need to come down to 270 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,680 their level. You don't need to entertain 271 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,240 what's going on and how they attack you. 272 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,640 Why they're fighting from a defeated position. 273 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,160 They're fighting from a weak position. 274 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,000 They're fighting from a feeble position. 275 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,360 So let's look at verse 65. The next thing we see about them 276 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,640 is that pilot said, I'm sorry, let me explain this last part of 277 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:40,920 64. So you're probably thinking, 278 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:45,120 what does that mean when they say the last fraud will be worse 279 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,120 than the first? The the last fraud, they're 280 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,920 talking about the disciples stealing the body, making it 281 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:53,280 look like Jesus throws from the dead. 282 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,640 The first fraud is Jesus claiming that he would raise 283 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,520 from the dead after three days, right? 284 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,280 So he's saying that we don't want that to happen, otherwise 285 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,840 the last fraud will be worse than the first. 286 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,080 And so that's what they're trying to prevent. 287 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,880 Now let's go to 65, Pilate said to them, You have a guard of 288 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,400 soldiers, Go and make it as secure as you can. 289 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,080 They are fickle. You're just your enemies, Christ 290 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,640 enemies, which are your enemies. They're fickle. 291 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,360 Verse 65, Pilate responds to them saying, Hey, you guys are 292 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,200 asking me for a guard of soldiers to guard the tomb. 293 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,800 Don't you have a guard at the temple? 294 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,360 Use them. So this is written in either the 295 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,160 imperative or the indicative tense imperative or the 296 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,600 indicative tense imperative means this was a command. 297 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,040 Go use the guard. I'll give you a Roman guard. 298 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,720 Go put them up. Do what I command you. 299 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:56,360 If it's indicative, that means it's written as you guys already 300 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:00,680 have a guard, so use that guard. Imperative would be a command 301 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,960 indicative would be, I'm saying this because there's something 302 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:05,640 that already exists. There's something that's already 303 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,000 happening. And So what I'm saying now is 304 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,960 indicative of what is already going on. 305 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,040 You already have a temple guard, so use them. 306 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,320 I believe that makes more sense just based on the character of 307 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,880 the disciples that we see, or that, I'm sorry, not the 308 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,200 disciples, the character of the Pharisees and the chief priest 309 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,680 that we see so far, they're already acting out of character. 310 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,240 They're already being fickle in other ways, right? 311 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,040 The Pharisees say they're supposed to believe in the 312 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,880 resurrection. Here is a rabbi saying that he 313 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,040 does believe in the resurrection. 314 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,240 He will raise from the dead, and yet they're fighting against 315 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,440 him. The Sanhedrin and the political 316 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,280 figures, they are spiritual and political. 317 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,520 Here's someone that claims that he will liberate the Jews and 318 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,320 yet they're trying to kill him. And so they're already showing 319 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,160 lack of character and their fickleness. 320 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,160 They're going back and forth, back and forth. 321 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:56,880 They're unstable in all their ways. 322 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,920 So it would make most sense that, as the ESP translates it, 323 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,640 you have a guard of soldiers. Go make it secure as you can. 324 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,680 He says you already have a guard. 325 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,599 Use them. If they take the guard away from 326 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,920 the temple and put the guard at the tomb, who is watching the 327 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,800 temple? How is that responsible? 328 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,560 Aren't they the leaders of the temple? 329 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:23,480 Aren't the Pharisees and the chief priests? 330 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,480 Aren't they responsible for what goes on at the temple, 331 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,560 especially on the holiest of days Sabbath? 332 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,160 So if they take away the guard from the temple and put them at 333 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,600 the tomb, is that responsible? Is that a leadership that you 334 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,120 want to get behind? What they're done, what they've 335 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:44,800 done is they're now using the researches resources of the 336 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,000 temple for their own benefit, for their own mission. 337 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,720 And oh, how we see this in the church today. 338 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,400 How many times do pastors and elders and leadership use the 339 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:00,120 resources of the volunteers or the money or the the property or 340 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:05,880 the things that they have to do what to push the ball down their 341 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,160 own fields too serve their own purposes and their missions. 342 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,160 Not the church is not the Kingdom of gods. 343 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,560 The church will use all kinds of different ministries and all 344 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,880 kinds of different money to set up ministries that are not even 345 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,440 mentioned in the Bible. And that you can go on and on. 346 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:22,560 The oh, Alex Will, this ministry is not mentioned in the Bible. 347 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:23,680 That's not mentioned in the Bible. 348 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,560 It's not about the ministries. It's about the heart of those 349 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,640 ministries. So like one thing that we just 350 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,800 don't do at house church as an example of this is we don't have 351 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,040 a kids ministry. And I'm not saying kids ministry 352 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,480 is bad. I'm not saying that just because 353 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,720 we don't see kids ministry mentioned in the Bible 354 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:46,040 explicitly that it's bad. What we just don't see is God 355 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,880 ever being for the splitting up of the family. 356 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,400 We just don't see that. Even Christ who didn't have kids 357 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,800 of his own, because he came to rescue God's kids and to make 358 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,160 him his own. He says let the little children 359 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,080 come to me. And so we will not take the 360 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,040 resources. I've worked at churches where 361 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,920 it's thousands upon thousands of dollars to get the curriculum 362 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,880 for the children's ministry. Just the curriculum. 363 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,960 Not to mention all the goldfish and seed oils and stuff that we 364 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,240 have to buy to feed the kids, but all the other stuff on top 365 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:23,000 of it. When these guys are taking the 366 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,040 temple guards and putting them at the tomb, they're leaving the 367 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,080 temple unprotected. They're leaving the people of 368 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,760 God, the sheep, unprotected. All kinds of crazy stuff could 369 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,000 happen at the temple, and certainly did. 370 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,160 They had enemies who hated the people and hated the temple. 371 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,360 With no guard, even on this one weekend, a lot of terrible can 372 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,560 stuff can happen. This is a very popular weekend 373 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:47,800 too. It's Passover weekend. 374 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,440 And so if we step off our guard as leaders of the church and 375 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,360 start serving our own mission, it's to the detriment of the 376 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:59,080 people who were were meant to protect them, the people that 377 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,760 were meant to lead. And that's what's happening 378 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,720 here. This kind of fickle leadership 379 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,520 is detrimental. The lastly are two more things 380 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,400 we see in verse 66. It says, so they went and made 381 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,080 this tomb secure by sealing that stone and setting a guard. 382 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,200 They seal the stone and set the guard. 383 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,440 So now the guard is at the tomb and they set it with a seal. 384 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,880 What does this mean? Well, in Daniel chapter 6 verse 385 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,040 17, we see when Daniel gets arrested and put in the lion's 386 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:33,320 den, the king sets a seal on the den of the lions. 387 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,400 The seal means nobody can open it. 388 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,880 It's by decree. You can't get in. 389 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:39,040 It's done. Don't open it. 390 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,720 You know it's good as gold. It's secure. 391 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:45,160 They do the same thing. They set a seal on it. 392 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,960 This is not to be opened ever, which is interesting because 393 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,840 Joseph of Arithmia, this is his tomb and there's, it's a brand 394 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,800 new tomb, which means none of his family members have been put 395 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,320 in this tomb yet and only Jesus is in there. 396 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,240 So they seal it. But like Joseph's like, hey, 397 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:02,880 what's the big deal? Like this is my tomb. 398 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,920 I need to open it again in order to if someone dies in my family, 399 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,760 which they will, this is my, this is my thing. 400 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,520 And certainly the seal probably would have worn off at at times 401 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:16,520 over time, but it's just, it shows how futile this whole 402 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,200 thing is. Just like in Daniel who is a 403 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,480 type of Christ as well, was put in that lion's den as good as 404 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,280 dead and they sealed it and he still lived and walked out the 405 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,080 next day as the king checked on him. 406 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,760 So it is 3 days later, Jesus will rise and walk out of the 407 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,040 tomb even if the seal is there. You can't seal what God has 408 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,360 revealed. You can't seal what God has 409 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:47,920 chosen to not conceal. It's futile. 410 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,000 It's it's meaningless, it's empty, it's vain. 411 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:53,240 What they're doing. They can't stop. 412 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,200 They can't seal what God is about to open. 413 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,560 And so it is with your enemies. They may try to set their seal 414 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,320 on you and saying this guy is done, this girl is done. 415 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,320 This is the last straw. This is the this is the end of 416 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,800 them. They shall never be influential 417 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,280 or speak again. They shall never be able to move 418 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,160 in the direction of God again. They shall never be able to stop 419 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,240 what God has done or they should never be able to keep on doing 420 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,040 what God, what they claimed God was doing in their life. 421 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,200 They cannot stop what God has done and what God will do in 422 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,920 your life, no matter how many seals they try to put on Jesus. 423 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:31,720 The last thing that we see here in verse 66 is that they are 424 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,800 infallible or the I'm sorry, they are fallible. 425 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,760 God is infallible. God is not only infallible, he 426 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:46,960 is also inerrant, infallible, and in there. 427 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,640 And we'll talk about what that means, but let's look at how 428 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,360 fallible they are. They're fallible because they 429 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:56,160 don't look at the whole picture. Then setting the guard, setting 430 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,600 the seal, proves the resurrection is true. 431 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,760 The next day Jesus is going to race in the dead and everyone's 432 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,200 going to know that the chief priests and the Pharisees sealed 433 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,160 the tomb and had a Roman guard there. 434 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:20,440 If the tomb is empty on Sunday, which it is, what happened? 435 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,680 Didn't you guys set the seal? Didn't you guys put a guard 436 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,320 there? How was the tomb empty? 437 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,240 What they have done is they have, they just proved the 438 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,440 resurrection even more truthful and reliable, because if that 439 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,560 tomb is empty, that means Christ had to get past the seal and the 440 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,800 guard and walk out of there. And so they're fallible in that 441 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,280 the word fallible means to make mistakes, to not know 442 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,760 everything. And your enemy, God's enemies 443 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,800 don't know everything. They're fallible. 444 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,840 God is infallible, which means he does not make mistakes. 445 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:02,080 He's incapable of failing, of falling, of making mistakes. 446 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,840 But a better word in theology is inerrant. 447 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,160 And the reason why is because people will often try to use the 448 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,640 word infallible to talk about scripture, to talk about God so 449 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,000 that they don't have to use the word inerrant. 450 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,320 The word inerrant is more powerful because it means 451 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:24,800 without error, cannot error. Without error. 452 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:29,400 It's one thing to say that God is doesn't make mistakes, but 453 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,400 it's another thing completely to say that he is without error. 454 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,640 And that scripture, this Bible on your lap, hopefully, or maybe 455 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,480 you're driving or at the gym, the Bible that you read every 456 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,600 morning, that you read every week at church or at your home 457 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,840 is inerrant. It's completely without errant 458 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,080 error. And that is our God. 459 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,200 And so he can, and because he is sovereign and purposeful, he can 460 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,640 use what his enemies have done, even in this story. 461 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:58,720 And to say, I will use this to prove my point even more. 462 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,360 I will use this to make it even more powerful. 463 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,320 And what we're going to see is on Sunday morning, talk about 464 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,760 this next episode, The guard is going to encounter an Angel. 465 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,000 And as they encounter the Angel, they're going to get scared. 466 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,560 They're going to run away. They're going to tell the chief 467 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,440 priest and the Pharisees, listen, the chill is empty and 468 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,120 the stone has been rolled away and we had no control over it. 469 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,240 And, and the chief priests and the Pharisees are going to say 470 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,280 in our next episode, we want you to tell everybody that you fell 471 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,040 asleep and they came and they stole the body. 472 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,800 So weren't you guys trying to keep that from happening? 473 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,280 Well, they didn't steal the body. 474 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,840 Jesus walked out of the grave, but now he, the chief priests, 475 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:42,240 tell them, I want you, Roman guard, to tell everybody that 476 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,280 you fell asleep and then they stole the body. 477 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:48,800 They just spread the story even more. 478 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,440 They just told everyone essentially to tell, they just 479 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,680 told the guard to tell everyone that the God, that the tomb is 480 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,560 empty. So now they're essentially also 481 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,960 spreading the news of an empty tomb covered up in a lie. 482 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,920 But it's still the fact that they're saying the tomb is 483 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,680 empty. And so do you see how fallible 484 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,720 they are? Your enemies don't know 485 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,600 everything. God's enemies don't know 486 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,480 everything. And God will certainly use that 487 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,120 in his Providence. Now. 488 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,240 We saw that in Joseph's story. You can go all the way to 1st 489 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,040 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 8 as well. 490 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,880 And Paul says to the Corinthian church that the rulers of this 491 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,160 age would not have crucified the Lord of glory if they knew that 492 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,040 it was through His death He might save us. 493 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,680 So he's talking about the chief priests, he's talking about the 494 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,200 Pharisees, he's talking about Pilate, but he's also talking 495 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,800 about the principalities and the evil forces that the chief 496 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,240 priests, Pilate and the Pharisees are just puppets of 497 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,120 Satan and his demonic rulers that are allowed a little bit of 498 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,600 play right now, but ultimately will be defeated. 499 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,480 And why are they allowed a little bit of play? 500 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,520 We don't know exactly everything, but we do know that 501 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,840 because God is so sovereign and providential that He can even 502 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,400 use what the world and the enemy and the devil is doing right now 503 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,440 for his own providential plan and his own purposes, for His 504 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,120 glory and for our satisfaction. God is infinitely wise and 505 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:18,000 totally sovereign and purposeful, and so even evil 506 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,720 serves him. And so as we look at 507 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,120 resurrection, as we look at Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday coming 508 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:29,160 up, take courage knowing these six things about your enemy, but 509 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,440 especially the last two, because the last two will give you the 510 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,680 power to persevere. They'll give you the power to 511 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,600 keep on going. Knowing that, you know, 512 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,360 ultimately what my enemy is trying to do to me is futile. 513 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,440 It is. It's it's going to be ultimately 514 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,920 ineffective. But lastly, they are fallible. 515 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,760 They don't see the full picture. They may have got me good. 516 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,080 They may have hit an arrow straight to my heart, but they 517 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,800 may they will not win because they don't know everything. 518 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,320 They don't know the end of it and God is going to use this 519 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,360 evil attacks for his glory and for my good. 520 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,560 I'll leave you with this. Romans chapter 8 verse 33 says 521 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,480 who can bring a charge against God's elect? 522 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,400 Who can bring a charge against God elect? 523 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,720 It is God, he justifies. What that means is whatever is 524 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,160 done against you, whatever is slandered against you or 525 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,000 whatever persecution, whatever charges are brought against you, 526 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,280 you are God's chosen. You are God's elect. 527 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,120 And with that said, it is he who justifies you. 528 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,280 It is he who makes you right with God through what Christ has 529 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,680 done. And if you are right with God, 530 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:39,640 what or who could do anything to you that could old ultimately 531 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,280 make you not right with God? Whatever charge is brought 532 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,560 against you as God's child, you are right with God and you will 533 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:48,520 always be right with God because of what Christ has done. 534 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:54,280 It is finished. And so in that, what a great 535 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,640 reminder that whatever our enemies do against us, it is 536 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,280 futile and it is fallible. It's not the full picture. 537 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,280 It's not the end of the story, and it is weak and feeble in 538 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,560 comparison to what God has already done on the cross. 539 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,280 And he will have the last word. Amen. 540 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,440 Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for 541 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,320 this opportunity to open up your word and to and to teach it and 542 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,880 to see these six things about our enemy. 543 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,200 But most importantly, that you don't waste or that nothing is 544 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:30,560 by accident and nothing is wasted because you even use the 545 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,840 attacks of our enemies for your glory and for our good. 546 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,840 And that means even in our lives, Lord, whatever is done, 547 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:43,160 whatever mistakes we make, that you waste nothing because you 548 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,600 cannot be stopped. And so even if we become our own 549 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,120 worst enemy and try to stop what you're doing in your life, we 550 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,080 cannot stop what you're doing because you cannot be stopped. 551 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,200 You are much more greater and sovereign and supreme and 552 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,280 purposeful and providential, and you govern all things high above 553 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,000 the plane of our own existence. But you enter into our 554 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:05,760 existence. God. 555 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,880 Just show us how much you love us and show us how providential 556 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,560 and powerful you are, because your glory satisfies. 557 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:16,920 And so we pray, Lord, that we would just rest in the fact that 558 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:20,400 nothing is wasted, because you don't make any accidents, You 559 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,480 don't make any mistakes. In your name we pray. 560 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,320 Amen. Amen. 561 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,520 This is the part of the episode called After the Amen where we 562 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,160 ask you a question to help apply this message to your life. 563 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:37,120 Our question today is, if nothing our enemies do can stop 564 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:41,720 God's purposes, what are you still trying to protect yourself 565 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,680 from that you could actually just trust Him with? 566 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:50,240 I'll say it again, if nothing our enemies do can stop God's 567 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,840 purposes, what are you still trying to protect yourself from 568 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,080 that you could actually just trust Him with? 569 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:01,280 I'll answer 1st and then it's your turn to respond. 570 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:09,120 I think for me it would be, I love how like just basically all 571 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:17,120 of the sermon gets at like man's plan, the versus, like God's 572 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:24,320 plan, the enemy's plan through man, you know, versus God's. 573 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:32,160 And I think I was sharing this last night, but I have more fear 574 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:37,320 of man than I have, I think, fear of myself messing things 575 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:38,920 up. I have more fear of like man 576 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:45,000 messing things up or like affecting God's plans for my 577 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,360 life. And I think I try to protect 578 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:59,200 myself from that by just trying to figure out why. 579 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,920 Like if we if I have an enemy coming in stuff. 580 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,840 So if we have enemies coming in, So why are they doing this? 581 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:06,560 Why is God allowing it to happen? 582 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,680 Like how is this going to affect us? 583 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:13,920 Like just really submitting to fear instead of trust and 584 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:20,000 freedom and just depending on the Lord and knowing that 585 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,840 regardless, like he's he's going to vindicate us. 586 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,960 He's going to work it out. And through this, he's actually 587 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,760 sanctifying me. It's easy to just like not look 588 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,240 at that the truth of that, which is like all over Scripture, Old 589 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,760 Testament, New Testament about just talks about God's 590 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,880 protection for his children. And it talks about or how many 591 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,600 times, 365 times says do not fear, you know? 592 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:51,760 And so I, yeah, I think I can, I can just be in my head, me 593 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,720 trying to figure out how to fix the situation or make our 594 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:02,520 enemies understand the truth of who we are or whatever it is. 595 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:12,320 And yeah, I think I'm just trying to protect myself from, I 596 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,800 mean, like, in a way I'm trying to, like, without knowing it, 597 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,760 like, stop his sanctification in my life because he's allowing 598 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,760 the suffering. He's allowing these persecutions 599 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:26,280 to not only make me more dependent on him, but also to 600 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:33,160 make me more like Christ and to continue to just weed out the 601 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:39,040 old man, you know, the flesh. And when I try to obsess over it 602 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,840 or figure out how to do it on my own, it's like I'm kind of 603 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,400 trying to stop that process, you know? 604 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,360 And I think that there can really be something beautiful 605 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,480 when we choose to lean on him and to trust in him instead of 606 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,120 trying to figure it out ourselves. 607 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,640 Have the conversations you need to have to try to live at peace 608 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,480 with everyone, like the word says. 609 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,920 But at the end of the day, like, do your part and then get let it 610 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,520 go. Like give it to him. 611 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,360 You know, it's what I am learning. 612 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:19,199 And it's just like, what a, I don't know, like why when I 613 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:26,239 choose to trust in myself or to worry, it's like I am just, what 614 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:31,120 a gift I am like throwing away by not just trusting in him. 615 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,040 You know, like we are ultimately we are all of these things too. 616 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,800 Like we are flippant, we are feeble, we are fickle at times 617 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,760 we're futile, Some of our efforts are futile, you know, 618 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:50,760 and a lot of times we're wrong about the way we see things. 619 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,320 But when you run to his word, it really, truly, it's not going to 620 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,440 say this is the specific answer to this specific thing that you 621 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,320 are going through. But his word does speak to the 622 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,400 specific things that we are going through. 623 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:09,400 Not word for word, but it is living and active and an 624 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,600 inerrant like Alex was saying. So it really does. 625 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,120 I find my greatest source of encouragement from going to the 626 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,720 word. I feel like I find the deepest 627 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:23,120 insight into what I'm facing by just going to his word. 628 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,880 And that's when I can, like, really relinquish control of my 629 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,760 own life or the outcome of a situation. 630 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:36,200 And yeah, it's a gift. It's a treasure, and it's 631 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:41,160 readily available to us. And so I think I can just 632 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,280 constantly remind myself that He is God and I am not. 633 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:48,680 Yeah, very good. Yeah. 634 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,840 Just trusting that he will work it all out and not like keeping 635 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,240 ourselves up about it because the gospel really does like 636 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:02,080 answer everything in our hearts, even like the fact that we are 637 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,920 being mistreated or we have enemies or whatever. 638 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,880 Like if Jesus really rose and he really died to make us right 639 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,200 with God and he really got the final word and his enemies 640 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:12,840 didn't win. And that means our enemies won't 641 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,880 win. And yeah, we don't have anything 642 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,920 to fear like you're saying, which was which is really good. 643 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:26,880 It's like a like he brought that up the 365 times or more that do 644 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,000 not fear. As mentioned, it's because every 645 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,320 day we need to wake up fearless and every day there's a huge 646 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:37,400 temptation to fear. Yeah, just. 647 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,960 But I like what you said, just remembering that he is 648 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:48,280 trustworthy with everything that we go through and how we're 649 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,640 surrendering so much of that gift. 650 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,480 And like I said, that it is trying to stop the 651 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,600 sanctification process because God is like allowing suffering 652 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:03,160 to to test us by fire, to give us to, you know, clean us. 653 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,600 You know, the suffering is for our good as well. 654 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:09,760 And so trying to stop that is futile because we can't stop 655 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,080 that process is his promise to us that the Holy Spirit would 656 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,720 sanctify us and make us more like Christ. 657 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:17,760 And so it's all part of the plan. 658 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:23,280 Yeah. Really good. 659 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:24,840 Really good stuff. Yeah. 660 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,840 I pray that this is encouraging to you and we'd love to hear 661 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,080 what you have to share. Yeah, I'd love to hear what you 662 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,760 have to share about the answer to the question. 663 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:34,440 What was the question again? One more time. 664 00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:38,280 If nothing our enemies do can stop God's purposes, what are 665 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,640 you still trying to protect yourself from that could 666 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,640 actually that you could actually just trust Him with? 667 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,560 Yeah, very good, very good. Well, cool. 668 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,040 We love you guys. Amen. podcast.com, if you want 669 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,800 to support us and keep us going. And all the money that you guys 670 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,840 just send our way allows us to keep doing this sponsorship 671 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,320 free. And it also allows us to, you 672 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:05,800 know, raise our family while also doing house church. 673 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:10,200 So we have house church here in our family room or our garage 674 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,520 outside, and we're sitting right next to it right now actually. 675 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:17,000 And yeah, every Sunday dozens of people come and we share the 676 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,400 same message that you just heard. 677 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,440 And we worship and we have communion together. 678 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,720 And it's a very inclusive, intimate community. 679 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,560 But it's a very simple church gathering with no bells and 680 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,880 whistles, just food, fellowship, praying, the gathering together 681 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,800 around the apostles, teaching, just like Acts 242. 682 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,880 And so we love it. We'd really love that you guys 683 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:42,760 allow us to be able to do this. And it was all a part of God's 684 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,640 providential plan. You know, even with the enemies 685 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:47,680 that we've encountered, even with the setbacks that we 686 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:50,960 thought were setbacks, but they were really setups by God. 687 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,480 And so, yeah, you guys have been a part of that the whole time. 688 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:56,640 So we're just so grateful and we don't take it for granted. 689 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:01,120 Anything that you give, whether it's a dollar to $100 to 1000, 690 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:05,920 to 1,000,000 or whatever you give it all is a part of God's 691 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,320 sovereign plan. And it it's been used, trust me, 692 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:12,080 to to further his Kingdom. So we love you guys. 693 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,240 Thank you. Rate and review us. 694 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,440 Like and subscribe. Follow us on Instagram. 695 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,480 We'll see you in the next one. Until then, go out and be the 696 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:21,960 church. Amen.