C (2:42)

Yeah, a part of what Jesus is going to do is essentially that God wrote the law on stone tablets, but he elevates it to say, this law is written on our hearts. And again, a part of what he would echo is what Paul will say. It's not obedience to the law that's going to justify anybody, because nobody can pull this thing off. The first three commandments are about our vertical relationship with God. There's the hinge commandment, which is the fourth one about the Sabb. And then numbers 5 through 10. Commandments 5 through 10 are about our horizontal relationships with one another. Jesus uses a similar pattern in the Beatitudes, that the first three are really about salvation, and then the last ones are about our. How Christ in us helps us live a completely different way, and it changes our relationships with one another.

B (3:42)

I loved how you said that. I mean, Moses didn't go technically alone, but he went up and the. He said, people, don't come with me.

C (3:50)

He took three people.

B (3:52)

And then Jesus is like, the crowds came with him to the mountain.

C (3:56)

So, yeah, Moses actually made that request. God, show me your glory. He's like, nope, like, the lamb has not been slain for the forgiveness of sin yet. So because God is just, all sin must be judge, and yours has not been paid for yet. So you would be. You would burn up. But Jesus is like, to see me is to see the Father.

D (4:16)

Doesn't it feel like. I mean, the way you said blessed tonight, you know, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek. And you talked about the word blessed. And one of the ways that you explained it, which I think's very fitting, was congratulations.

C (4:27)

Right.

D (4:29)

And I think a lot of the ways, there's kind of two ways to interact with the law, specifically the Ten Commandments. And one is that their handcuffs trying to keep you from living, doing the things that you want to do. Or they're like carrots out there that God's dangling in front of you, by which he could then punish you too. You know, that's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is freedom.

C (4:54)

Freedom.

D (4:55)

And it's like, that's kind of what the law is, in a sense, is one. It changed everything about everything about everything in regards to how societies worked. And it was the law that propelled Israel forward as a small nation into a nation of conquerors, no question about it. And so when David says, your law is beautiful, I delight in it. He talks about, like, you know, the word. The puritan way to talk about it is delicious. You know that it was he just saw it as this life giving thing. And, and in the same way that there's that way to see the Ten Commandments as like, man, this is living like who? We talk about this in our staff meetings sometimes one of our code of conducts for our staff is we choose to trust. And one of the things I asked recently was who wants to live in a place where everybody's suspicious of everybody? Like who wants to live like that? How many people listening right now grew up in a house where everybody was suspicious or just one parent had a suspicious heart? And how much joy does that rob? How much distrust does that? So undeservedly how. And so it's the same thing with coveting. It's like who really wants to go through life with the spirit of covetousness in them? You know what I mean? And then you look at the Beatitudes and it feels very much like this is the fullest version of life. What the law was pointing at. Jesus is now saying this is the fullest what the Sermon on Mount is. This is what full living is really all about. So an interesting connection to your question.

C (6:30)

Something I forgot to say. Isn't it interesting if Jesus is the greater Israel? And the whole connection we've been making is that God blessed Abraham to be a blessing, but the problem was they got all self centered and they weren't a conduit of the blessing. And the first recorded sermon of Jesus, he starts out with blessed. Like this is how you are going to be blessed. And it's really through a relationship with him. You're absolutely right, man. The law gets a bad rap a lot of times. It just won't justify you. But if you just applied the Ten Commandments to your life in America today, your life will go way better. If you just had one God and you didn't have idols and you didn't use the Lord's name in vain and you lived in a Sabbath kind of rhythm where you rest and recouped and refilled with him and you obeyed your parents and you didn't murder. I mean, think about this. You didn't lie, you only had sex with your wife, you didn't steal and you weren't jealous of everybody, your life is going to go way better. This is the, the, the author of life knows best how to live it. And when you do it his way, it does go better. Generally speaking. Now if you live in some countries, it'll get you killed, but generally speaking it just goes better.

B (7:52)

I think some, some people can make a Similar mistake to the one you're pointing out with the Ten Commandments. Because you've pointed this out before that before the Ten Commandments Scripture is, you know, before it gets into it. He says, I am your Lord, your God, who delivered you out of slavery.

C (8:09)

Correct.

B (8:10)

So there is, hey, I've saved you. I've chosen you to be my special people. Now here's how I want you to live.

C (8:18)

Yeah. Grace is on display even at Mount Sinai. Like, he didn't send it to him in Egypt.

B (8:23)

Right.

C (8:24)

And say, I'm going to come back and we're going to do a progress report halfway through the semester. And if you're passing, then I will save you. So it is a foreshadowing of the gospel.

B (8:37)

And I think I've heard people talk about the Ten Commandments the same way, like, well, I better figure out a way to make sure I'm getting. It's like, almost like it's an exam. And it's the same thing that people tend to do with these.

C (8:49)

But we do learn from Galatians and Romans and several other places. If you think that's the entrance exam, then you're looking at it wrong. Because a part of what it does. When we teach on the ten Commandments, we'll often call it a map and a mirror. So it's a map to show us how to rightly live before a righteous king. But then it's a mirror to be like, I can't pull this off on my own, so I need an alien righteousness because I don't have a righteousness in and of myself.

B (9:16)

This might be really dumb, but when you said alien righteousness tonight, I thought there might be one person out there who thinks like space alien. And could you explain it for that person who might think. You mean like space alien righteousness?

C (9:34)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A righteousness, not of yourself. So the problem with the Pharisees is they tried to declare themselves righteous by their own activity and it didn't work. And so the reason I believe Jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit. That means blessed are you when you realize that you cannot produce the righteousness required of God. So you need someone else's righteousness.

B (10:03)

Yeah.

C (10:04)

That is what the puritans would call an alien righteousness, A foreign righteousness that when. That's why I read Romans chapter 3, that righteousness is Jesus the person. Work of Christ.

B (10:17)

What was that famous show in the 90s?

D (10:21)

Alf?

B (10:22)

No, with the. The X Files. Oh, yeah, dude, you were into the X File, bro.

D (10:29)

I actually caught an episode of the X Files.

B (10:31)

I was somewhere.

D (10:31)

I was out in Kansas City in a snowstorm not too long ago, and I turned the TV on and see X Files. And I'm watching it. Man, the cigarette man was in that one. If y'. All, if you're an X Files person, you know who the cigarette man is. Straight up. He wasn't in every episode. But when he showed up, you knew it was about to go down.

B (10:48)

I don't know why I thought that. Aliens, I guess. Pastor J. I told you before we started recording that it was such a beautiful. I felt like it was. I don't know how long it was. 50 something minutes. It was just like a gospel anvil.

C (11:04)

Boom, boom.

B (11:05)

Just a little bit, A little bit. And just over each step, I just felt like I was more and more captivated by this gospel pattern that you were laying out. I thought it was beautiful.

C (11:19)

Well, I. For. I never understood the Beatitudes until it dawned on me these are not eight circumstantial blessings because they didn't make sense to me. And I. I mean, this was a long time ago where it began to. Honestly, I was. I was the 1122. The service had started. I've never heard anybody talk about it this way that I'm aware of. But I was definitely ingesting way more gospel centered preaching at that point. Like a lot of Piper, a lot of Chandler, a lot of Driscoll, a lot of like just gospel centrality preaching. Whereas before it had been like way more just biblical principle, life application guys that I was mostly listening to. And so that just helped me put on the lenses and my confusion around it. But then when I, when I saw it this way, I was like, dude, this is it. And especially if you look at it as one big sermon and realize, I mean, you really know how. What he means by the way it starts, the way it ends. And the way it ends is just the gospel again. Like, you can build your house on the sand or on the rock, and the sand is the personal performance or what this world has to offer. And that's where he gives that stark warning, man. Not everybody in line is going to get in. And when I say depart, because I never knew you, they're going to show the resume. They're going to actually prove that he was right. Oh, I thought I could earn it. And so I think, like, if you, you know, I said this, if you read the Ten Commandments and be like, all right, well, this is going to be hard, but I can do this. You're like, oh, bro, this. You completely missed the point. The whole point. I mean, it starts with poor in spirit. Like you've got to realize you're spiritually bankrupt. You need, need to be saved.

B (13:12)

Yeah. I think for whatever reason, I noticed more the way you were pointing out how it wouldn't make sense if it was the other way.

C (13:20)

Especially the pural heart one.

B (13:22)

I thought the mourn one, like happy if you're sad, like that's an oxymoron, you know what I mean? Like, so that was. Can you talk a little bit? Like, sometimes it helps understand better if you maybe talk about the other side of it. What would happen or what does happen when people see these eight things? As if it's like, let me just try to add these eight things to my life and hope God will bless me. What would happen?

C (13:50)

It's very similar to the prosperity gospel. And what happens in that kind of equation is you are, you think you're preeminent and God responds to you. Dude, I'm telling you, I was about to scratch my eyes out. I, we, we're in Israel, we do our worship service. I go through the scratch my out. Everybody's all split up, going to read the Bible. It's so cool, man. You know, we've all been there. And I'm sitting on this rock and they have all these little gathering places in this little, this group gathers up and I'm not sure of the particular denomination, but they were, they had a lot of robes and things for the main, for the, the men of the cloth. And I just heard the most gospel absent description of this. And it was like, God lifts up those who help the down and out. And dude, I mean it's everything I had to not just interrupt and be like, that ain't it, y'. All, this is, this is not, this is a man centered gospelist take on the Beatitudes. Because you, I mean, honestly, you just got to skip a bunch of them. You know.

B (15:05)

It'S kind of like once you see it, you can't unsee it.

C (15:07)

Correct.

B (15:07)

Because I mean, think about that. Like, blessed are the pure in heart. What am I going to do? Just like, okay, be pure in heart or like, get sad, get sad, get sad. Or you know what? How do you even do that if you're, if you're producing it for yourself? How would you even do that?

C (15:25)

Well, like I said, I mean, if these are eight separate things and they say, all right, so we're gonna have eight different lines where we're giving out blessings. So the pure in heart line, the moment you self identify and put yourself there, you're not pure in heart man because you know you're self righteous. God opposes the proud. That is not pure.

B (15:48)

Yeah. I guess what's inherent in that view is that God's like kind of looking around, being like, oh, I found somebody over there who's a peacemaker, I'm going to bless them. Or you know, it kind of ignores the whole depravity of man thing.

D (16:03)

I don't remember if we talked about this last time or when we talked about it, but verse 12 it says, Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Did you already answer that? Are you asking this a different way later?

B (16:19)

No.

D (16:19)

Okay, great.

B (16:20)

Please go ahead.

D (16:21)

Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for. So they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

B (16:27)

Right.

D (16:30)

Every time I see the idea of reward and heaven connected, I think that's something that we've lost a little bit.

C (16:39)

The we've overreacted to the prosperity gospel.

D (16:42)

Yeah. Like there is a thing, I mean, you're going to be rewarded in heaven.

C (16:46)

Correct.

D (16:48)

And there's a clear judgment for every thing done and said and that God's a good father and that he's going to want a reward. And so I just always find that so fascinating in Jesus's primary teaching and who's had a better view into heaven than him? And I don't think that this the gospel, setting up the gospel at the front end of his sermon, but as you go through his sermon, one of the things that's just deeply ingrained in this is like the, the spiritual practice, if you will, of waiting, that so much of prayer is waiting and so much of faithfulness is waiting and so much. It's not sit on your hands and do nothing, but it's that we're waiting for the greater thing. While we're working, while we're partnering with the Spirit of God in the harvest, we're waiting on this greater reward. And ultimately what he's saying here is that Jesus is the greater reward. Right. But with him come a lot of other really great rewards for sure too. And so I just feel like that's such a key to living the blessed life, if you will, is that we're not seeking the blessings only or limited to or even really in this life, is that there's a greater reward that we're seeking in heaven.

B (18:11)

And that's Piper's whole thing. Right. I will unapologetically pursue the greatest possible reward, the greatest possible happiness which is found only in God.

D (18:20)

Yeah, well we talked about that the other day at the creative off site the edwards his number 22 on his resolutions. Jonathan Edwards more or less in his hundred resolutions. Number 22 says some version of I make it my aim to live my life, to be as happy as I could possibly be in the next. That my entire aim is to have the most amount of gladness I can possibly have in the next, in the next life. I'm like, that's a, that's a heck of a way to think about things.

C (18:48)

So with that in mind, I mean, here. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst because we all hunger and thirst for righteousness, for a right standing before God. That means blessed are you when you fall in love with Jesus. Just deeper and deeper and deeper because. And the. And you'll be satisfied. There's nothing in this world that will satisfy. No amount of money, no amount of food. It is very temporary. You eat the best meal you've ever eaten, it will not sustain you for what, a day. You don't just get to not eat anymore. And so he's the only one that satisfies.

B (19:30)

Yeah, that's one that stood out to me that, what a miracle that when you, you hand over the reins like you were saying, and then suddenly it's like. It's not like it is. You become a new person and suddenly you want different. Like the whole thing of falling in love is a perfect way to say it. It's like you're obsessed with, with Jesus and more of Jesus and I mean, can you talk about how that happens? Like, because there's a lot of people who, who we see by God's grace come to know the Lord and they're like, I don't understand what's happening to me. I just, I want different things. And that's like hunger and thirst for righteousness, right? Yeah.

C (20:21)

I mean, Jesus gives this unbelievable invitation abiding me, and I'll abide in you. That's friendship language. That's relationship language. I don'. You call me Lord and master, and rightly so, but I call you friends. James says it in James 4:1 is the craziest and 4:8 is the craziest verse in the Bible. Man, draw near to me and I will draw near to you. And so a bunch of people in line were like, you talked about, you want me to love Jesus like you love Jesus. But I see you fired up. I don't have it. Like, what's wrong with me? I'm gonna Go, is there some junk in your life you gotta get rid of? It's either sin or stupid, but you've got some entanglement. You just got to get out of there, man. And you can see it in their face. I don't, I don't, I'm not going to. I'm just online in the lobby. I'm not going to be like, you know, what is it? And so it's the old puritan mortification and vivification, man. You got to kill the sin and not just the sin. You got to kill the stupid. If you spend more time scrolling than in scripture, bro, you, it's just, you're. Your heart is going to be damp towards the Lord, not on fire towards the Lord. And then you've also got to cultivate the things that, that grow your heart for Jesus. And again, it's, it might not be demonic, it might just be dumb. So if you spend the majority of your time chasing money and chasing likes and you're, you will not be cultivating your love for Jesus. You just will not be, you know, and so to one of the folks that ask, she's 25 years old, sweet, sweet as possible. She's moving here in three weeks or something. And then I was, because she's, I was like, listen, you're just thinking about yourself too much, man. If you just think around, evaluating how you feel all the time, it's. It is a one to one relationship with depression. You got to. I was like, do you serve? She's like, I don't do anything. I was like, all right, you just sit around and evaluate how you feel about God and is it enough or not. I was like, quit. Get in the game. Like, I spend the majority of my life trying to serve people, whether it's through preaching or like, you know, even when I'm studying the Bible, I'm not even just studying it for me, I'm like, lord, I got to understand this so I can be a conduit of your word. It makes me love him more. You start, you start caring about other people. Your heart for God grows because your dependence on him grows. These things matter. Yeah, because. And, but if you spend your whole life chasing after this world. So dude, Chris and I, she's, she's at the retreat center. She's writing a bunch of devos for the Women's encounter. So she went up there and so I FaceTimed her right before I was preaching, just asked for prayer and stuff and we were chatting and somehow we got on this conversation and I was like, is there anything materially that you want? And listen, man, some people would look at us, you know, it's all three little bears, right? So do we have money? Depends on who you're talking to. You know, there were some people, as compared to when I was a youth pastor, we're doing okay. There's a bunch of people I know in our church, and they were like, you poor pastor. Okay, whatever, whatever. That's how it always is. No matter how much you have. That's what it is, right? And she was just like, there is no thing in this, on this planet that I desire. I just want. Honestly, she's like, if I could buy just my kids to be on fire for Jesus, you know, and they know the Lord. That's it. What she's describing is there's nothing this planet could give me that could satisfy me. I have Jesus. And then after that, it's just your family, right? And think about it. What she's doing right now is she's got her Bible open first in. In second Corinthians 5:17. Is that new creation or is it first Corinthians, second Corinthians, second Corinthians, 5:17. And she's writing devote five days worth of devotions on what it means to be a new creation. So she's eyeball deep trying to hear from God to speak to women at the Women's Encounter. So her taste buds in that moment are not tuned up for, you know, I really do need some boots or need a car, whatever. None of that. All that stuff seems like, what is that? It's just fluff. That's what. Like an abiding relationship with Jesus. Is it? We've talked about this a million times. The spiritual disciplines is how you get there. That's how you cultivate your relationship with Jesus. There's 10 million books on it. There's about 800. You know, everybody's got this whole formula. As far as I can tell, it's always going to boil down to just three things. God's presence, God's Word, and God's people. That's it. So you get serious about doing those things, God's presence. And it's usually kind of like there's two edges of the sword. It's like God's presence is corporately, it's worship. Privately is prayer. Those things, God's Word, you got to be reading it for yourself and you got to be studying it together, like whether that's in a sermon or like in a group, you know, and it's God's people. You gotta be together with some people, like receiving, and you gotta be serving some people. You get those things right and that the whole John 15 is a garden illustration. There's gonna be some pruning, some cutting out of some junk, some weeds, and then there's gonna be some feeding of good growth. And then I'm telling you, dude, you wanna fight temptation in your life, get, get on the offense in regards to God's presence, God's people, and God's word, and man, it's almost like you ain't got time for that. The things of this world.

B (26:03)

Do you talk to a lot of people like that who are kind of waiting for the desire thing to turn on?

C (26:09)

I think what happens is like, yeah, I do. When we go to Israel, a lot of times the big warning we give is, please don't chase a feeling. Please don't chase a feeling. Everybody's looking for that moment. You know, that's scary. Or sometimes it does happen. Like by the nature of the services that we have here, people get. Have having a. A very positive emotional response to the Lord. There's nothing wrong with that. God says, love me with all your heart. So you don't want to not do that. And then they're trying to chase that moment again and they think something's wrong with them. That's not a good way to look at it.

D (26:45)

Or.

C (26:47)

I have a tendency when I'm preaching to get very passionate and emotional. And when I say, I want you to love him, I want you to love him, I love him, and I can't get over the gospel. And then they take that, that one little three minutes of my life and think, well, that's how that guy lives every second of his life. That is not the case. You know what I mean? So we just won't be able to be careful of that. But the promise is, I mean, tell you think about this. If you were an investor and somebody said, I got a promise, if you will just invest this, I promise this return, you'd be like, okay, I'll sign up for that. The promise from the Bible is, draw near to me and I will draw near to you. You can hold God to his promises. So lean into his presence, his people and his word, and watch what happens.

B (27:38)

Isn't it kind of like your other relationships? Like we're married?

C (27:44)

Yes.

B (27:45)

And if you just sat around in your marriage and thought, I'm just waiting for that affection to just come on, it just. Sometimes we, we're. We try to be passive Instead of cultivating those desires through intentional. That's like you're saying those things actually intentionally cultivate the result that we want. And for some reason, maybe it's our instant microwave kind of society we live in, but we think just sitting there waiting for it just kind of fall from the sky, you know, I don't know where that. Where do you think that comes from?

D (28:23)

Yeah, I don't know, man. I mean, I do think it's just. Pastor Jeffy preaches about it all the time. I think there's the. The God of the air in our culture is feelings. And we've actually really minimized the value of. And the potency of feelings by directly connected them to primarily pleasure. And so really, we're just chasing pleasure. We've talked about it a hundred times here. Mostly. Mostly what happens is people are just trying not to feel negative emotions. And if there's a moment in their marriage where they didn't feel a negative emotion or they didn't feel, you know, bored, they try to get back to that thing over and over and over and over again, you know? And so, man, I think the. The idea is ultimately Philippians 2, right, is how do we treat someone as more significant than ourselves over and over and over and over again. And regardless of how it makes me feel to empty the dishwasher or how it makes me feel to do this or to do that or whatever, I do it because I know I'm sowing seed in the ground by which good things grow. And. And so I think that's it. I think it's just the king of the air, if you will, is chase a positive reinforcement of self and call it feelings, you know? So one thing I was thinking about tonight is, you know, blessed are the pure in heart, and blessed are the peacemakers. And I totally get. And that these are not individual blessings. And they even gets a little wonky to think about it that way. But I've been. I was thinking tonight about the person that's just like, man, they're like, they've been a Christian for a while, walking with the Lord, you know, trying to be faithful. Everything was going fine right up until it wasn't. And they get hurt, they get betrayed, whatever it is. And they read, blessed are the pure in heart. And it's just like right now, they just got a hard heart, you know, or blessed are the peacemakers. And they're like, what are you talking about, peace? Like, I wake up six, seven times a night. I'm wracked with anxiety. I feel Dejected and rejected. You know, I think people, this happens, right? And so for that person that's just brokenhearted that it feels like they've been trying to live in the kingdom and sin and the collateral damage of sin just happened in their life or happened to them. Like what are the years they need to put on by which to hear? You know, because you go keep reading and Jesus is like, forgive, if you want to be forgiven, forgive. But in order to hear for if you want to free, if you forgive others who are trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. You can't separate that from this. And so there's some kind of. Anyway, you get what I'm pointing out here?

C (31:23)

I do. I probably should have said this tonight. The Beatitudes is not a one time linear climb. And you like there's not like stepping stones and you get to the top. But Jesus says that if you want to follow him, you daily take up your cross. And so you're going to be back to the poor in spirit over and over and over.

B (31:45)

Yeah.

C (31:45)

You're going to be back to the morning of broken relationships and broken and what sin has done in this world over and over and over. Yeah. You're going to constantly be saying, jesus, take the reins because I tried to take control of this relationship or this business or whatever. You know, these are just, you just, it's just, I mean, it's a merry go round. You're just going to keep going around it and around it and around it of this constant gospel life. Because the gospel not just save you, it sustains you.

B (32:12)

Yeah. Another danger of the. I mean, it's probably either way you look at it. But if you're focused on do I measure up? You're going to be thinking about the first half of each one of these and then you might miss the second half because if you string those second half promises, I mean, that's crazy stuff. You said they'll be satisfied. You hang out on that. Like just think about it. You want to be satisfied right there it says they will be satisfied. Like there's a big, big time promise at the end of each one of these. That's wild.

C (32:55)

Yeah. Paul says, I've learned the secret of being content in every situation. Imagine that. I mean, just imagine like complete contentment. It didn't take away his gospel ambition, but whether he was in prison or in the palace, he was like, I'm fine. Like I well fed or starving. I learned a secret. And you know, the secrets out is Jesus.

B (33:26)

Pastor Joby, you Said when you were talking about blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. That we are meant to see God. You said it's imprinted.

C (33:37)

Yeah.

B (33:38)

So I figured you could talk about turkeys for a minute.

C (33:40)

That's the first time I really thought about it. Was that there's this cool documentary. I've never seen the X Files, but there's this thing called the Life of a Turkey. And there's this Auburn grad and that's what he is. He's like a. He's got his PhD in Turkey Life. And so he hatches, he incubates these turkey wild turkey eggs. And as they are fighting through the egg and he does a whole thing there too. If you break the egg, if you break them out, then they'll die. Because it is in cracking themselves out of the egg that they develop the neck strength and the beak strength that propels them into life. That'll.

B (34:19)

I mean, that'll preach.

C (34:21)

This dude is not talking about Jesus. Not one time in this whole turkey documentary thing. So the guys at DDOT told me to watch it years ago. And then as they're coming out of the egg, he is an incredible turkey caller. Like with his mouth, he doesn't need a diaphragm or anything. And when they come out, his face is right there by the eggs and he's like going like making little turkey putts and purrs and turkey noises, you know. And then he walks around with these jokers. So the first thing these birds see is his face. And I'm telling you, they think he is their mama. And these wild turkeys that is like this the most is. Is so skittish. These animals, if they see you blinking 100 yards, they turn and run away. Well bro, these little polts start following him around and, and he. And he just walks around with him. He studies them to the point where he can.

D (35:13)

He.

C (35:14)

He knows what they're saying. He knows their language. They have. This is way too much turkey than you want to talk about. But it starts soon. He can tell the difference between the noises they make between a poisonous and a non poison Jake. Wow. And he's putting in parting with him and they follow him around. I mean bro, just walking through the woods. These jokers just follow him around because they think that's my mama. Because the thing that they saw the first time they opened their eyes was that. Okay. Then it gets really gospel because the, the boy, the Jake gets older and turns on him and attacks him as he gets older and he's Got to kick him out because he gets violent. And I'm like, bro, there's the fall right there. Wow. So anyway, when I saw that turkey video, Life of a Turkey, it just, I thought of Adam. He opened his eyes and that was imprinted upon him. That's what I was made for. That's my dad. And I mean, you know that, that's the, the, the, the gospel shaped hole in our life. The God shaped hole in our life. We all were made for that moment. That's why even if you achieve all of your hopes and dreams, then you lay down on the pillow and you're like, is this it? That ain't it, man. You don't know the peace of God until you're at peace with God through his son Jesus.

B (36:33)

I've always had a hard time reconciling that concept with we're dead in our sins and enemies of God. Do you have anything like, how can we have that imprint of God, the Father on us that we're looking for?

C (36:47)

Because you're an image bearing God. It's just a shattered image. So when, when every single person has the fingerprint of God on it, like a mirror that would reflect God. Sin took a hammer to it. So it is broken for sure, but it still reflects God.

D (37:08)

Yeah, I think a great gospel analogy is. And maybe it breaks down somewhere, but I think a great gospel analogy is when you surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ in heaven in the fullness of time, when you look in the mirror, you'll only see Jesus looking back at you.

B (37:25)

That's right.

D (37:27)

And so there's sometimes the mago day gets a little. It's not all the way untrue, but it gets a little slighted in that it's like the idea would be when you look in the mirror, what you see back is the truest version of yourself. And it's like, I don't. That's not really the gospel.

B (37:46)

What.

D (37:47)

When you look in the mirror, what you see looking back at you is the truest version of reality, which is the truest version of the perfect man who is Jesus Christ. That's what imputed righteousness is like from God's perspective. He only sees Jesus and Jesus's robes of righteousness covered all over you. And that's all he's ever going to see. And all your identity and all your individuality will have its absolute fullness in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so I've always thought about that as a really good, a really good way to think about it, when you look in the mirror, it's actually Jesus looking back at you. And you'll see yourself as God sees you. And you won't even have any affection anymore for yourself at that point in time, you know, all your effect, you'll be as happy as you could possibly be. And Jesus is the thing that'll make you the happiest.

C (38:42)

Yeah, I mean, the. The human self is just an amalgamation of misaligned desires, looking on the wrong place for what only God can give you. So you want the. You want approval, and so we seek it in the pride of life. But ultimately, what you're looking for is your creator, your heavenly father, to be like, well done. And you want some stuff. And God's like, man, I got eternal stuff. Like that moth won't eat and rust won't corrode. And you want to feel. He's like, yeah, in me, I've got joy unspeakable and a peace that transcends understanding. But instead we go looking for the temporary. So both of those things are simultaneously true.

B (39:29)

Yeah.

C (39:29)

The fingerprints of God are there. That's Romans 1. And yet all things have been shattered and broken because our federal head sinned and we inherited that sin nature.

B (39:44)

Yeah. Maybe another way to say it is the pattern of behavior is there, but it's pointed at a different object.

C (39:52)

Right.

B (39:52)

Pointed at a different end, which is what makes you. Which puts you at enmity with God.

C (39:56)

Right.

B (39:59)

I also, there's. There's two verses that. Two passages that I love, because this whole idea of seeing God and seeing his beauty, that's what I think of when I think of the expulsive power of a new affection. It's. You need to see him. You know, anybody out there struggling with lust, you need to see God. You need to see the beauty of God because everything else pales in comparison. And it's well known. Psalm 27:4 says, One thing, I have asked of the Lord, that I may dwell in his temple and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. And then Paul in 2nd Corinthians 3, he says, we behold him with unveiled face, making that comparison back to Moses. Right. That Moses put that veil over his face. And when we behold them, we're changed from one degree of glory to the next. That's what we're made for. I guess we get to quote Dr. Piper again, seeing and savoring Christ.

C (41:03)

Right.

B (41:03)

That's what we're made for. When you said peacemaker. I love that because prior to today, I was going to ask you about that misunderstanding. But you explained it, you know, like, it doesn't mean nobody could argue ever. But then I thought when you said, it's making peace, helping people be at peace with God, it brought me back to fishers of men. Right. So are those. Is that. I mean, is that the right connection to me?

C (41:37)

Yeah. It said, you'll be called a son of God. That. That's the Greek New Testament way of saying being godly. So the godliest thing you can do is what God the Son did. He reconciled people to God the Father. And so Paul says in Second Corinthians, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, pleading on his behalf that people would be reconciled with God. Yeah, that's a peacemaker.

B (42:08)

You said it a lot recently. You'll never have peace if you don't have peace with God.

C (42:13)

Right. And peace is not an absence of war. The. The biblical understanding is the word shalom. This is like completeness or wholeness or the fullness of God's intent for you and God's desires that every single person would be made right with him.

B (42:32)

Yeah, that. That idea of shalom, it's one of those. One of those examples which there are many. You mentioned a couple of Greek examples of like. Yeah, it's not quite even the word blessed. Right. But shalom is one of those things that's hard for us to really fully grasp because English doesn't really have a word for it.

D (42:51)

It's like all incomplete, universal flourishing. It's kind of the. The best way to understand it, but then to actually practically get in there and be like, what does universal flourishing actually mean? Because that's Genesis 1:31. Right. And God looked at all that he had made and saw that it was very good. And that word eventually became the word shalom, if I'm not mistaken. And so. And the idea is that all things would flourish under God's rule, in God's reign. And so anytime. See our conversation earlier about the law, anytime God says, don't go over there, what he means is you can't flourish over there as you're designed to flourish. And I want you to. To have universal flourishing. And so that's the best way to understand shalom. But practically, when. How does that move from idea into actual living? I feel like that's some of what the Sermon on the Mount's pointing at.

B (43:43)

Right, Right. And then this, like, if you want.

D (43:47)

To flourish, like where we're going next week. Right. If you want to flourish, be the salt of the earth, be the light of the world, you know, if you want to flourish, you know, don't let anger dominate you. You know, if you want to flourish, don't let lust control you.

B (44:05)

Don't.

D (44:05)

You know what I mean? Do whatever you got to do in order to be godly and Christlike in your marriage and those kind of things. And so I think this is kind of the fulfillment of univers, universal flourishing we find here.

B (44:20)

Yeah. And the section ends with one that maybe is a little surprising. You know, blessed are you and others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you. Rejoice and be glad. And you said, if that's not. If it hasn't happened to you in a while, pay attention. You know, why is it so hard for us to rejoice in that kind of opposition?

C (44:49)

The air that we breathe in this wonderful country that we live in, where we have been told that it is our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That last one is completely up against what Jesus is talking about when we think it's our right to be happy. And if we walk in the footsteps of Jesus and he is going in the opposite direction in the ways of this world, there should be resistance. And if there's not, you're going with the flow or you are indistinguishable from the world.

B (45:33)

Does that mean that most of us have I an idol of approval of man?

C (45:41)

That's a big one. I think that's kind of a sub idol to our own comfort. It makes us more comfortable when more people approve of us. So we'll keep our mouth shut. We won't stand up for us. Right.

B (45:54)

Isn't that one of the. In one of the three. Is that pride of life, like when 100 status? Yeah, everybody likes me.

C (46:01)

Yeah. The pride of life is the. Is the applause of man.

B (46:04)

That.

C (46:05)

That is 100% it. Yeah.

D (46:07)

I think it's interesting. You know, there's a form of persecution out there, what would be called persecution, where people. Let's just put in the context of the verse, when people say true things about you because of things that you've done and you don't like it, that makes me mad. Like somehow that's fallen into the category of persecution. Does that make sense?

B (46:35)

You mean like by. By a world?

D (46:36)

It's like you make some choices in your life that just have consequences and then people offer opinions on those consequences or they're sharing the choices that you made and you don't like it. It's like only God can judge me, you know? What I mean, like, that's not persecution. That's not what we're talking about. And somebody making me. Somebody breaking in front of me in line at, you know, checking out at the store or something. This is not. That's not what we're talking about, Jesus. Like, blessed are those. Blessed are you, and others revalue and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely. And this is the key on my account, you know, Christian persecution and just bum luck are not the same thing.

C (47:18)

And there are levels, for sure. I read, man somewhere. It was like 10 levels of persecution. And the first one was kind of like mean tweets and stuff or, you know, like, people say the popular opinion on you is negative, worldly speaking. The last one was like, they kill you. So while I do think it's a good idea to keep these things in perspective, like, there are Nigerians right now begging God that they can live totally, but they will not renounce Jesus. And they're getting heads cut off. No press about it, because there's Christians being killed. But that doesn't mean that if you feel persecuted because people are mean to you online because you post Bible verses, that is a level of it. It for sure is. And there are. Dude, there. There are. I know some men in our church that were removed from boards because they're members of our church. And our church fights for the right to life and defines marriage the way the Bible defines marriage. And they were removed from company boards because of that. That's a level of persecution. That's beyond a mean tweet. That's real. And that's in America. It's that we're talking about crazy. Look at the UK right now, bro. Christians are. Pastors are being arrested for preaching the Bible on the sidewalk because it's called hate speech. That is persecution in the West. So it's a thing, dude. It's an actual thing.

B (48:51)

You talked about Mr. Roll and what he said.

C (48:56)

He said Jesus seven times, bro.

B (48:58)

He did. And you've. You've gotten to know him a bit, and I didn't. I haven't seen it. Did. Did he. Did he experience a lot of. Was there neg. What was the negative that you were referencing? I didn't watch the Grammys. I'm gonna watch the clip now.

D (49:12)

But it's kind of like if you put it up in contrast against a bunch of the other things that were being said, it was like, if you're in. I'm not putting words in your mouth. But my experience in watching A little bit of it back was like, I'm sure you could just cut the tension with like, with a butter knife. You know what I mean? Like, it. That's. That's the way it came off to me. 100 something different.

C (49:37)

No, I mean, about half the people liked it, but half the people didn't. About half the Christians said, way to go. And about half the Christians said, how dare he? So I told him and saw three little bears. No matter what you do, no doubt. I mean, you get up there, bro. Listen, the dude loves Jesus, man. It's the Lord. I hear you. He. He comes broken saying, only Jesus saves. Jesus is for everybody, right? He's not. He doesn't. He's not owned by a political party. Okay? And then right at the end, if you look, I want you to listen to it about 10 times, he's going to say the name of Jesus seven times. Do you want to talk about being bold with your faith? This is not a crowd that's going to applaud him for this. Reba did praise God, but most people are like, right? And in that room, he. He proclaims the name of Jesus. He honestly had more boldness than half the pastors that'll preach this weekend. And then just right at the end, just what bubbles up out of him? The last little thing he says, he's almost leaving the mic. He just says, I love you, Lord. You know what Romans says? Romans 8 says, you know what the spirit of God causes in the true believer? A spirit that cries out, abba. Father, I love you, dad. That's it, dude. That's it. He just made much of Jesus.

D (50:55)

And so I think it's a thing to think about. Like, I'm the last person that would probably ever encourage anybody to spend more time online or whatever. Certainly scrolling, but, I mean, we all get sucked in in various different ways at different times here. I do think it's an interesting thing to Christians, though. Like, it is an interesting medium right now where the majority of, at least in my experience, the majority of online chatter is critics and people that are, like, trying to clarify what they think you meant or they're trying to help you. Whatever. It's just very critical, Stu. You know what I mean? Or they're trying. What if the Christians took seriously the command to exhort, to encourage, to edify, right? And for every one negative comment, they got posted on something where jelly roll Christians jumped in and put a thousand comments on it and you just drown out the. The negativity with the encouragement and the Exhortation, you know what I mean? And so I think that's a legit opportunity. If you're going to be on it anyway, you might as well jump in there and salt and light. Be. Salt and light. Be encouraging. Be about it. Believe the best.

C (52:12)

You know, bro, the reason I brought it up is because he started with. After he said, I hear you, Lord. Then he. Then he's like, I was broken. I was the worst of humanity. I'm in a 6x8 jail cell, and I had a Bible and a radio, and God saved me. He is not saying, look at me, follow me. He's not. And I'm not saying he's going to be the pastor of our church next week either. You know what I mean? I mean, Paul does warn in Timothy. He's like, hey, don't lay hands on too quick. But he doesn't say, question the motives of everybody that follows after me. For sure, bro. So I'm. I'm anybody that's taking positive steps towards Jesus, I want to be in the cheering crowd, not the critic crowd. Because I'm telling you, dude, you look through. We're gonna. We're gonna run into this over and over and over and over. In Jesus day, woman's gonna walk in with an alabaster jar. She's gonna bust it and anoint Jesus. And one crowd's gonna be like, you know how expensive that was? We could have. We could have fed the poor with that. You want to be on that team? Another lady comes in and what? And she's a, you know, woman of the night. Like, she. She's saved out of prostitution, and she falls on her face and cries on the face of Jesus. And there's a group that looks at her and goes, if he knew who she was. All right, so what team you want to be on? And team Jesus is like, yeah, you didn't do that, because you don't know what it's like to be forgiven. So I want to be on Team Jesus like that with the. With the anointing oil. He's like, as long as the gospel's talked about, we still going to talk about her. Nobody's going to know your name, so be really careful. If you're like the HOA of heaven, walking around with a clipboard trying to point out what everybody ain't doing right. Man, don't takes me off.

B (54:02)

It is also another.

D (54:03)

Heaven will not have an hoa. Let's just go ahead and clear that up right now.

B (54:10)

It's another interesting comparison to the ethos of the Mosaic Law, which was like, don't touch stuff, it's going to make you dirty. And then Jesus's ministry was like, I touch stuff and it gets clean. You, you kind of said this, but it is really wild when you think about it, how totally one sided the opposition is to Christ. The Christian message, especially like media related things. Like you could say just about anything about anybody and. But just don't talk about Jesus. You know, I mean, or you could promote your thing or you, you know, it is wild.

C (54:48)

Yeah, you violence towards our law enforcement men and women was cheered. Think about that. Encouraged and cheered. And Jesus is for everybody, skeptical. That's the world we live in right now. So Jesus knew what he was talking about. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness. Sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

B (55:23)

You said this. I think I forget which week. The darker it is, the brighter the light.

C (55:32)

We were made for this day. Don't be scared.

B (55:35)

So let's end by just talking a little bit about how this is the lens we need for the rest. But you talked about that tonight. We've said it a couple times, even right here. But how does this help us see the rest of this whole greatest sermon ever?

C (55:48)

Yeah, we can't pull it off without Jesus. Now what I'm not doing is a cheap grace thing. I wrote a whole book called Run over by the Grace Chain that the grace of God changes everything about everything about everything. So when you realize I'm broken and need a savior and you are convicted of sin and mourn that and repent and hand the reins over to Jesus, the spirit of God fills you. And this is how, this is how the Christian ought to walk and act. We do different man because we are different. Because we're a new creation. So I don't have to do the stuff I used to do. And I will not be ruled by this world. So we're going to do money different. We're going to do sex different. We're going to do oaths different. We're going to do marriage different. We're going to do it God's way, not the world's way. And when we stumble and when we fall, we fall on that same grace that brought us to him to begin with. And he's a good dad and he picks us up and he dusts us off and the same grace that saved us sustains us and then we repent and get after it again.

B (56:54)

And would you also warn against making the same mistake? You could make the same mistake with the whole sermon Right. Which is to read. Okay, here's how I have to behave when it comes to laying up my treasure in heaven or when it comes to being like, just stop being like. If somebody looks at it only as a surface level behavior modification, you're gonna.

C (57:15)

It all all depends on perspective. If you think I'm going to obey so that I will be accepted, you will fall flat on your face. That is a house built on sand. If you think because I have been accepted, I should obey because that's where life is. That's the house built on rock. And so it's crazy. It's the. The activities could be the exact same. And one be filthy rags to God. It won't be a life of worship. So take. When you. If you bring to God a portion of what he has trusted you with is. Does he, like, depends, bro. If you're like, I got a big interview this week, so I'm gonna bring a little money so maybe God will like, hook me up. That ain't good, man.

D (58:03)

You.

C (58:03)

You think you're preeminent and you're trying to put God in your debt. That ain't good. He doesn't play well with idols. If you were overwhelmed with gratitude of God's blessing first and foremost for Christ, and then anything you've been given to steward and you want, you know where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So you're like, jesus, I treasure you before all things. The amount of money is irrelevant in those two situations. One of them is worship to God, and one of them is idolatry of self. And it's the same activity. So you pick whatever it is. Honestly, you can be faithful to your wife your whole life, never touch another person and treat her like a slave and it ain't good. And hold her to a biblical ethic like chains. And you are not loving your wife like Christ loved the church, but you never cheated on her. You know what I mean? And so never lied to her.

D (58:59)

Spoilers.

C (59:00)

What I did. You see what I'm saying?

B (59:04)

Yeah.

C (59:05)

And the fundamentalists. That's where it goes, bro. I mean, dude, it's that Ray Cortez thing. When that guy came to him in his church and was like, that's right. My wife has no biblical grounds for divorce. And he's like, dude, you just need to go repent and say you're sorry because you're the worst. And he was like, my wife has no biblical grounds. And that guy's a miserable, lonely man now because he's using this thing like a Sledgehammer instead of the sword of the spirit to fight against the devil, and a mirror to show him all the cracks in his own life.

B (59:37)

It's that whole. Earn effort versus earning.

C (59:40)

My favorite example of effort versus earning is saving Private Ryan because they get it right. So if you're a grown man and you get to the end, like, grown, grown. When he looks at his wife at the grave of Private Ryan and is like, tell me I was a good man. Well, you go all the way back where he saved Private Ryan in there on that bridge, or, you know, Tom.

D (60:08)

Hanks saved Private Ryan.

C (60:09)

Yes. And as Tom Hanks is dying, he's like, earn it. What he's not saying is, if you earn it, I'll save you. I have saved it, so don't waste your life, man. I laid down my life so you could live. Don't you screw this thing up. Let your motivation of gratitude propel you to be a good man. That's what he's saying. So now he's at the end of his life. Private Ryan is when his grandkids are out there playing, and he's looking at his wife and he's going, tell me I was a good man. Please tell me I did not waste the sacrifice of Tom Hanks. For me, that. That is what motivates the Christian life. Christ laid down his life for me. It's not like I owe. That's not the right way to think about it. I am compelled by the love of Christ to be different, to act different. And everything that he tells me to do leads to abundant life. And every time I say to know that, it leads to death and destruction. And so not only was he for me at the cross, he's for me in every command that he gives me, every one of them. And so let, like, get. Get so mangled by the grace train that your whole life is unrecognizable. And so when this whole world screams, this is what you do with money, you're like, not me. Because it ain't mine. It's all his. And this is how you do sex. You're like, no, not me. He made it up. I'm gonna do it his way. It's better, you know? Yeah, that's it. That. That's what it means to the. The epistles will say, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not walk in a manner that you may earn the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the difference. So go watch Saving Private Rhyme and think of the Gospel.

B (61:58)

Amen. Want to pray for us.

C (62:00)

No. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you that you love us, that you died for us. Lord, forgive us when we get wrapped around self and may we just be focused on you and your sacrifice. And may that compel us to live a life you've called us to. In Jesus name.

B (62:19)

Amen.

C (62:20)

Thank you for listening to the podcast the End.

B (62:23)

You nailed it.

A (62:28)

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