1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,417


2
00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:07,500
[music]

3
00:00:17,833 --> 00:00:20,625
All righty, Mars Hill,
what book are we in?

4
00:00:20,667 --> 00:00:25,708
Luke, for 2 1/2 years,
2 1/2 years.

5
00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:28,083
For some of you,
you call that your freshman year.

6
00:00:28,167 --> 00:00:30,708
For us, we call it
the book of Luke.

7
00:00:30,792 --> 00:00:33,083
We'll spend 2 1/2 years
in the book of Luke.

8
00:00:33,167 --> 00:00:37,125
Today we look at Jesus before all,
Luke 9:51-62.

9
00:00:37,167 --> 00:00:38,875
While you're turning there,

10
00:00:38,958 --> 00:00:42,000
I'll tell you that this is
a hinge point in the book.

11
00:00:42,083 --> 00:00:45,667
So much of Jesus' life and ministry,

12
00:00:45,750 --> 00:00:51,250
hinges on what we see
in 9:51, which says,

13
00:00:51,333 --> 00:00:54,042
"When the days drew near for him
to be taken up,"

14
00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:55,417
That is, returned to heaven.

15
00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:58,292
This is after his death,
burial, resurrection, ascension

16
00:00:58,333 --> 00:01:01,500
that he ultimately would be
taken back up to heaven

17
00:01:01,542 --> 00:01:03,167
where he had come from as God.

18
00:01:03,208 --> 00:01:07,750
"He," Jesus, "set his face
to go toward Jerusalem."

19
00:01:07,833 --> 00:01:10,583
For Jesus, this is that day.

20
00:01:10,667 --> 00:01:13,875
That day is the day
when you stake your claim,

21
00:01:13,958 --> 00:01:15,458
you determine your future.

22
00:01:15,500 --> 00:01:19,333
"This is who I am, this is where
I'm going, this is what I'm doing.

23
00:01:19,375 --> 00:01:23,208
"I'm resolute in this decision.
I cannot be dissuaded.

24
00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:27,042
I am committed to see
this through to completion."

25
00:01:27,125 --> 00:01:29,667
And he is going to Jerusalem,

26
00:01:29,708 --> 00:01:32,792
and this is for the purpose
of his crucifixion.

27
00:01:32,833 --> 00:01:37,917
This is Jesus, with a furrowed brow
and a steely gaze, setting his eyes

28
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,958
ultimately toward the cross, where he
would go to atone for the sins of the world,

29
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,542
dying in our place for our sins
as our Savior and God.

30
00:01:47,625 --> 00:01:52,833
If this were a movie, this would
be when we see that climax point

31
00:01:52,875 --> 00:01:56,708
when the hero knows that
for him to get rid of the villain,

32
00:01:56,792 --> 00:02:00,042
he has to ride into the place
of battle and conflict.

33
00:02:00,125 --> 00:02:04,542
He needs to lay it all on the line,
and risk his life, as it were.

34
00:02:04,625 --> 00:02:08,458
And he makes that firm determination
that that's exactly where he's going

35
00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:10,583
and exactly what he's doing.

36
00:02:10,667 --> 00:02:14,292
And this is that transition point
in the book, and from here,

37
00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:20,000
Jesus will march, literally, toward
Jerusalem, toward his cross,

38
00:02:20,083 --> 00:02:26,000
toward his conflict with Satan to defeat
and disarm his great foe,

39
00:02:26,083 --> 00:02:27,708
and our great enemy.

40
00:02:27,792 --> 00:02:30,167
And the way this is going
to work is we'll see,

41
00:02:30,250 --> 00:02:34,667
in the ensuing months,
literally Jesus' months of journeying

42
00:02:34,750 --> 00:02:37,667
from Galilee to Jerusalem.

43
00:02:37,750 --> 00:02:42,167
And you won't even see Jesus
arrive in Jerusalem until Luke 19,

44
00:02:42,250 --> 00:02:44,292
and along the way he'll be preaching
and teaching

45
00:02:44,333 --> 00:02:46,375
and healing
and casting out demons.

46
00:02:46,458 --> 00:02:50,292
You'll meet some of the people
that he serves faithfully today,

47
00:02:50,333 --> 00:02:52,292
but he's heading toward Jerusalem.

48
00:02:52,333 --> 00:02:56,042
And up until this point, he's been
working in the region of Galilee.

49
00:02:56,125 --> 00:03:01,000
As we've examined it: small towns,
villages, dozens, hundreds of people;

50
00:03:01,083 --> 00:03:05,667
farmers, peasants, fisherman,
simple rural folk.

51
00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:07,875
But Jerusalem is
altogether different.

52
00:03:07,958 --> 00:03:09,583
This is the big city.

53
00:03:09,667 --> 00:03:13,083
In that day, it was upwards
of a 100,000 people.

54
00:03:13,167 --> 00:03:17,583
And if you came from a village
of 40, 50, 60 people like Jesus did,

55
00:03:17,667 --> 00:03:23,333
and you made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
to see Jerusalem is quite a sight.

56
00:03:23,417 --> 00:03:27,000
It's a city, if you've not been
there, literally set on a hill.

57
00:03:27,042 --> 00:03:30,583
It's called, in the Bible, the city
of God, and it's a city on a hill,

58
00:03:30,667 --> 00:03:33,750
and it's carved out of rock,
out of stone.

59
00:03:33,833 --> 00:03:36,250
It's a magnificent sight.

60
00:03:36,333 --> 00:03:41,125
It goes all the way
back to 3,000 years ago.

61
00:03:41,167 --> 00:03:47,625
If you go there today, ten layers of
civilization lie one on top of the other.

62
00:03:47,667 --> 00:03:50,167
That's why they keep
excavating and digging

63
00:03:50,250 --> 00:03:54,208
and finding different aspects of history.
It's amazing.

64
00:03:54,292 --> 00:03:57,917
In the days of Abraham, it was just
a common, simple area with few,

65
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,417
if any people, dwelling,
and it is the place

66
00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:07,417
where he nearly sacrificed
his only son, Isaac.

67
00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:11,167
And it was said that in that region,
God, himself, would provide.

68
00:04:11,208 --> 00:04:14,375
It was all a moment that
was pregnant with meaning,

69
00:04:14,458 --> 00:04:18,667
that ultimately Jesus would come,
the Son of God, as Abraham had Isaac

70
00:04:18,708 --> 00:04:22,500
carry his wood, so the Father
would have God the Son carry

71
00:04:22,542 --> 00:04:25,750
his own wood to his place
of bloodshed and death.

72
00:04:25,833 --> 00:04:29,292
And Jesus laid down his life,
and died in that same area

73
00:04:29,333 --> 00:04:32,875
of Jerusalem, which is why
the temple also was built there

74
00:04:32,958 --> 00:04:36,708
foreshadowing
the forthcoming of Jesus.

75
00:04:36,792 --> 00:04:39,708
Everything climaxes
in Jerusalem.

76
00:04:39,792 --> 00:04:42,792
It's mentioned about
800 times in your Bible.

77
00:04:42,833 --> 00:04:47,417
Today a multitude of world religions
would call it their home.

78
00:04:47,500 --> 00:04:51,500
Very, very, very significant city.

79
00:04:51,583 --> 00:04:56,333
Now let me tell you this,
that I love my job, I really do,

80
00:04:56,375 --> 00:05:00,625
and I love the day in which God
has chosen for me to work,

81
00:05:00,667 --> 00:05:05,250
because I get to take a camera with me
and go see things and show them to you.

82
00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:08,583
So we got to go to Jerusalem, and
I've been able to show you where

83
00:05:08,667 --> 00:05:10,917
Jesus was born,
and the town he grew up in,

84
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,542
and where he was transfigured.

85
00:05:12,625 --> 00:05:15,458
And you're gonna later see
ultimately where he was crucified,

86
00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:18,417
and where they believe he rose
and where he ascended from.

87
00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:21,167
You could pray; in the next year
we're gonna go to Turkey.

88
00:05:21,208 --> 00:05:23,625
We're gonna shoot
the seven churches of Revelation,

89
00:05:23,667 --> 00:05:26,625
we're gonna shoot the archaeological
dig in Ephesus.

90
00:05:26,667 --> 00:05:29,167
We're gonna show you more
than ever in the future.

91
00:05:29,208 --> 00:05:30,917
We want the Bible to come alive.

92
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,667
We want you to see it
as history, and reality,

93
00:05:33,750 --> 00:05:35,625
and not just philosophy.

94
00:05:35,667 --> 00:05:38,125
And so this last year, the tour
company was gracious enough

95
00:05:38,167 --> 00:05:42,917
to take us on a tour,
and to gift to the Mars Hill staff

96
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,833
the tickets for
our film crew to go with me.

97
00:05:45,917 --> 00:05:47,917
So it was a very generous gift.

98
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,250
And we actually had this opportunity
to go up on top of a building.

99
00:05:52,333 --> 00:05:56,000
Some non-Christians allowed us,
in the old quarters of Jerusalem,

100
00:05:56,083 --> 00:05:59,875
to get to the roof of their building
and to film it for you.

101
00:05:59,958 --> 00:06:04,167
So Jerusalem is a city that is
surrounded with an old wall,

102
00:06:04,208 --> 00:06:07,875
and it is very densely
packed within that wall.

103
00:06:07,958 --> 00:06:11,750
It's hard to walk and shops are close
together and tensions run high,

104
00:06:11,833 --> 00:06:14,708
and then the city spills
outside of those walls.

105
00:06:14,792 --> 00:06:18,333
And so, of course, there has been
some alteration in 2,000 years,

106
00:06:18,417 --> 00:06:21,708
but you can get some idea
of the topography,

107
00:06:21,792 --> 00:06:25,500
and the density of the city
from seeing it for yourself.

108
00:06:25,542 --> 00:06:28,583
So it's with great joy that I now
have the opportunity to show

109
00:06:28,667 --> 00:06:31,333
that to you,
and then we'll unpack it.

110
00:06:31,375 --> 00:06:33,250
Here's Jerusalem as it is today.

111
00:06:33,333 --> 00:06:35,542
Hi, Pastor Mark
here in Jerusalem.

112
00:06:35,625 --> 00:06:39,917
You know what's interesting
about the book of Luke, at 9:51,

113
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,167
the book breaks geographically.

114
00:06:42,208 --> 00:06:46,625
We see Jesus move from the region
and area of Galilee,

115
00:06:46,667 --> 00:06:49,708
and it says that he set his face
toward Jerusalem.

116
00:06:49,792 --> 00:06:54,583
It is speaking there of old Jerusalem,
the city within the walls,

117
00:06:54,667 --> 00:06:57,000
the city of King David.

118
00:06:57,083 --> 00:07:00,958
The remainder of Luke
from Luke 9:51 forward

119
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,917
shows Jesus' journey to Jerusalem
and then many of the major events,

120
00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,583
including his arrest, crucifixion,
burial, resurrection,

121
00:07:10,667 --> 00:07:14,500
all happen right here within
the walls called Jerusalem.

122
00:07:14,542 --> 00:07:18,167
And as we have been walking
around, we have found it difficult

123
00:07:18,250 --> 00:07:21,833
to be able to share with you exactly
how everything is laid out.

124
00:07:21,917 --> 00:07:24,292
That's because
the city is so compact.

125
00:07:24,333 --> 00:07:27,375
It's hard to get a good
panoramic scope of the city.

126
00:07:27,458 --> 00:07:29,667
And so we've come up here
on the rooftop,

127
00:07:29,708 --> 00:07:34,667
and I'd like to give you a brief tour
of both the old city, and the new city.

128
00:07:34,750 --> 00:07:38,417
If we begin off to the left,

129
00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,833
that is where Jesus ultimately

130
00:07:41,875 --> 00:07:46,667
would have been buried, his crucifixion
and burial ultimately outside

131
00:07:46,750 --> 00:07:49,000
of the city to my left.

132
00:07:49,083 --> 00:07:54,292
We swing over to the large mount.

133
00:07:54,333 --> 00:07:58,708
Underneath it are a number
of graves, and that is, in fact,

134
00:07:58,792 --> 00:08:00,917
the Mount of Olives.

135
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,417
Jesus prayed, and preached,
and taught there.

136
00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:09,208
Zechariah tells us that when he returns,
Jesus' feet will actually land in that place.

137
00:08:09,292 --> 00:08:14,500
At the base of that Mount
of Olives is the Kidron Valley.

138
00:08:14,583 --> 00:08:20,833
And then in front of me is Jerusalem
as was known in the days of Jesus,

139
00:08:20,875 --> 00:08:24,250
obviously with some alterations
but geographically,

140
00:08:24,333 --> 00:08:29,708
the roughly 240 acres
that comprise this area,

141
00:08:29,792 --> 00:08:33,958
were, in fact, the places
that Jesus went.

142
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,958
And today is it broken up
into four basic sections.

143
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,958
Of course, if you would look
with me straight ahead,

144
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,542
essentially where the crane is,
there's a white dome.

145
00:08:45,625 --> 00:08:49,833
In that general vicinity is what
is known as the Jewish Quarter,

146
00:08:49,875 --> 00:08:54,500
and about 3,000 or so live there.

147
00:08:54,542 --> 00:09:00,917
If we move then a bit to the right,
that is the Armenian Christian Quarter.

148
00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,333
They were a people group
that were Christians,

149
00:09:04,375 --> 00:09:08,000
and they were oppressed and
slaughtered by the Muslim Turks.

150
00:09:08,042 --> 00:09:10,917
As a result, they were refugees,

151
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,167
and there was some sympathy
for them for obvious reason.

152
00:09:14,208 --> 00:09:19,042
I'm told the number there is
very small, simply in the hundreds.

153
00:09:19,125 --> 00:09:23,792
Moving a little farther to the right,
there is the Christian Quarter.

154
00:09:23,833 --> 00:09:29,167
And the Christian Quarter, we are told,
is a few thousand people, perhaps.

155
00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:35,833
And then if you look at the remainder
of what constitutes the Old Jerusalem,

156
00:09:36,625 --> 00:09:40,167
that is the Arab Quarter.

157
00:09:40,250 --> 00:09:42,333
That is where the Muslims live.

158
00:09:42,417 --> 00:09:48,042
Today, many of you are likely unaware
of the roughly 25,000 residents

159
00:09:48,125 --> 00:09:51,375
in Old Jerusalem, the City of David.

160
00:09:51,458 --> 00:09:53,917
A few thousand of them are Jewish.

161
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,917
A few thousand of them are Christian,

162
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,333
and the vast majority, in this
particular area, are Muslim.

163
00:10:00,375 --> 00:10:04,000
And you can tell by the Dome of the Rock,
and other mosques

164
00:10:04,042 --> 00:10:08,625
that are in the topography,
in the cinematography, that Islam has,

165
00:10:08,667 --> 00:10:12,333
indeed, taken great
root in this area.

166
00:10:12,375 --> 00:10:16,500
Looking between the mosques
and over the Dome of the Eock,

167
00:10:16,542 --> 00:10:20,625
that is the direction toward Bethlehem
where Jesus was ultimately born,

168
00:10:20,667 --> 00:10:26,375
and the direction toward the Dead Sea,
the lowest place on the earth.

169
00:10:26,458 --> 00:10:32,583
That being said, I also want to
share with you the area up near

170
00:10:32,667 --> 00:10:36,375
and off to the side
of the white dome up on the hill,

171
00:10:36,458 --> 00:10:39,792
that place is known as Mount Zion.

172
00:10:39,833 --> 00:10:43,375
You'll hear of that place
oftentimes in the Scriptures,

173
00:10:43,458 --> 00:10:47,875
frequently, memory reminds me,
in the Psalms.

174
00:10:47,958 --> 00:10:53,792
And it is on that place that
David's tomb is to be found.

175
00:10:53,833 --> 00:10:58,333
It is there that Jesus ate the Last Supper,

176
00:10:58,375 --> 00:11:01,833
the Passover meal with his disciples.

177
00:11:01,875 --> 00:11:07,417
And lastly, it is also the place
that the Holy Spirit descended on

178
00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:14,333
the early church, 120 believers, on
the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost,

179
00:11:14,375 --> 00:11:18,042
and that is where Christianity
in its new covenant context,

180
00:11:18,125 --> 00:11:20,667
and the inauguration of
the Christian church,

181
00:11:20,750 --> 00:11:24,667
as we know it,
happened right there.

182
00:11:24,708 --> 00:11:26,250
How cool is that?

183
00:11:26,333 --> 00:11:29,917
I love showing stuff to you guys,
and I really want to thank

184
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,500
the elders for allowing me
to use all the technology

185
00:11:32,583 --> 00:11:34,708
to teach you as best I can.

186
00:11:34,792 --> 00:11:36,250
And here's why this matters.

187
00:11:36,333 --> 00:11:39,542
I want you to have an idea
of the topography of Jerusalem,

188
00:11:39,625 --> 00:11:45,333
the size and the scope, as well as
the proximity of a lot of major areas

189
00:11:45,375 --> 00:11:49,000
that we'll be hearing about
in the future of Luke's gospel,

190
00:11:49,042 --> 00:11:50,417
in the ministry of Jesus.

191
00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:53,625
But I also want to give you a
bit of a geographical sketch,

192
00:11:53,667 --> 00:11:55,625
because Jesus is journeying

193
00:11:55,667 --> 00:11:59,875
from Galilee in the north
to Jerusalem in the south,

194
00:11:59,958 --> 00:12:02,208
and he's passing through Samaria.

195
00:12:02,292 --> 00:12:04,750
And as he's making this journey,

196
00:12:04,833 --> 00:12:08,208
we're going to see how various
people respond and react to him.

197
00:12:08,292 --> 00:12:11,500
Today we'll see one people
group, the Samaritans,

198
00:12:11,542 --> 00:12:15,333
and then three individuals, and how
they respond and react to Jesus.

199
00:12:15,375 --> 00:12:18,333
So the first thing we learn is there's
a group called the Samaritans,

200
00:12:18,375 --> 00:12:23,833
and they have their tribe before Jesus,
and it has to be Jesus before tribe.

201
00:12:23,875 --> 00:12:28,333
We read this in Luke 9:52-56,
"And he sent," that is Jesus,

202
00:12:28,417 --> 00:12:31,167
"Messengers ahead of him,
who went and entered a village

203
00:12:31,250 --> 00:12:33,625
"of the Samaritans,
to make preparations for him.

204
00:12:33,667 --> 00:12:35,500
"But the people
did not receive him,

205
00:12:35,583 --> 00:12:37,750
because his face
was set toward Jerusalem."

206
00:12:37,833 --> 00:12:39,833
He's determined to
get to the cross.

207
00:12:39,875 --> 00:12:43,125
"And when his disciples James
and John saw it, they said,

208
00:12:43,167 --> 00:12:46,250
"'Lord, do you want us
to tell fire

209
00:12:46,333 --> 00:12:48,833
to come down from heaven
and consume them?'"

210
00:12:48,917 --> 00:12:51,667
Very patient,
gracious Christians there.

211
00:12:51,708 --> 00:12:53,875
"But he turned and rebuked them.

212
00:12:53,958 --> 00:12:55,750
And they went on to
another village."

213
00:12:55,833 --> 00:12:57,125
What's happening here?

214
00:12:57,167 --> 00:12:59,167
Well, I'll show it
to you on a map.

215
00:12:59,250 --> 00:13:02,667
Now Jesus, thus far, has been doing
the preponderance of his ministry,

216
00:13:02,708 --> 00:13:06,500
up north, in Galilee, small towns, villages.

217
00:13:06,542 --> 00:13:10,292
He is working around
the Sea of Galilee with peasants,

218
00:13:10,333 --> 00:13:12,625
fishermen, and farmers.

219
00:13:12,667 --> 00:13:16,833
He's making his multi-month walk
toward Jerusalem, toward the cross,

220
00:13:16,917 --> 00:13:19,750
toward his place of death, burial,
resurrection, ascension.

221
00:13:19,833 --> 00:13:23,500
And then he passes
through an area called Samaria.

222
00:13:23,542 --> 00:13:28,083
Now let me explain to you Samaria.
These people were kind of Jews.

223
00:13:28,167 --> 00:13:30,875
These were sort
of pseudo jack Jews.

224
00:13:30,958 --> 00:13:33,167
That's who they were in that day.

225
00:13:33,208 --> 00:13:36,500
They had intermarried with pagans,
and they established their own temple,

226
00:13:36,542 --> 00:13:40,417
their own Bible, their own religion,
their own theology,

227
00:13:40,500 --> 00:13:42,250
their own pastors.

228
00:13:42,333 --> 00:13:45,292
And the Jews didn't know
what to do with these people,

229
00:13:45,333 --> 00:13:47,708
because they were
just completely cuckoo.

230
00:13:47,792 --> 00:13:52,500
This would be like, let's see,
Mormon nudist scientologists.

231
00:13:52,583 --> 00:13:56,500
You'd be like, "I don't even know what
to do with them," right?

232
00:13:56,542 --> 00:14:00,292
"They say they're sort of
an offshoot of Christianity,

233
00:14:00,333 --> 00:14:02,583
but we don't even know
what to do with them."

234
00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:05,250
So what would happen is,
as God's people journeyed

235
00:14:05,333 --> 00:14:08,458
from Galilee to Jerusalem, they
would just walk around Utah.

236
00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:11,958
They would just go
completely around Utah,

237
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,667
and they didn't even know
what to do with Samaria.

238
00:14:14,708 --> 00:14:18,042
And the hostility between
the Jewish people

239
00:14:18,125 --> 00:14:20,292
and the Samaritans
was intense.

240
00:14:20,333 --> 00:14:22,333
Sometimes they would desecrate
one another's temple

241
00:14:22,375 --> 00:14:23,792
and a lot of infighting.

242
00:14:23,833 --> 00:14:26,417
"Your temple's wrong."
"No, your temple's wrong."

243
00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:28,917
"Your theology's wrong."
"No, your theology's wrong."

244
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,500
"Your Bible's--"

245
00:14:30,542 --> 00:14:34,958
Just a total mess.
Just an absolute conflict.

246
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,167
This weird heretical, bizarro
religion springs out of, you know,

247
00:14:39,208 --> 00:14:42,625
what was supposed to be faithful,
biblical worship of God.

248
00:14:42,667 --> 00:14:48,250
And so Jesus doesn't walk around Samaria,
he walks through Samaria,

249
00:14:48,333 --> 00:14:52,042
and he sends messengers
ahead of him, and here's why.

250
00:14:52,125 --> 00:14:56,167
A lot of these towns, as I've said repeatedly,
are very small, dozens, hundreds of people.

251
00:14:56,208 --> 00:14:59,833
And Jesus is rolling with
quite a large entourage.

252
00:14:59,875 --> 00:15:03,083
It's him, plus the 12
plus the 70

253
00:15:03,167 --> 00:15:06,875
plus however many
other Facebook friends have,

254
00:15:06,958 --> 00:15:10,750
you know, followed him on their app,
and been able to find him

255
00:15:10,833 --> 00:15:12,667
and come along for the ride.

256
00:15:12,750 --> 00:15:16,000
So you're looking at, I don't know,
80, a hundred plus people.

257
00:15:16,083 --> 00:15:20,333
And if you're a village of 40 or 60 people,
you don't have a Ramada Inn.

258
00:15:20,375 --> 00:15:22,958
You don't have a Costco
or a Sam's Club.

259
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,500
You're not set up to receive
this many visitors at one time.

260
00:15:26,542 --> 00:15:29,042
So messengers
would be sent in advance,

261
00:15:29,125 --> 00:15:31,333
"Hey, Jesus is coming.
There's a lot of us.

262
00:15:31,375 --> 00:15:34,208
"Do you guys have any food
to eat or place to sleep,

263
00:15:34,292 --> 00:15:38,458
"or is there a way we could purchase supplies
and take care of the ministry team

264
00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:42,417
"around Jesus, the apostles kind
of like his pastors, the 70,

265
00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:44,417
kind of like his deacons?"

266
00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:46,667
They said, "No, we can't
accommodate that many."

267
00:15:46,750 --> 00:15:49,083
"Okay, then we need
to roll into the next town,

268
00:15:49,167 --> 00:15:51,333
"and we need to figure out
where we're gonna lodge,

269
00:15:51,417 --> 00:15:53,500
and how we're gonna feed people,
and make preparations."

270
00:15:53,583 --> 00:15:57,625
So they roll into Samaria, "Jesus is
coming and here's what's going on."

271
00:15:57,667 --> 00:15:59,542
And the Samaritans said,
"You know what?

272
00:15:59,625 --> 00:16:04,000
"We really don't want Jesus,
because if he's determined to go

273
00:16:04,042 --> 00:16:08,333
to Jerusalem, that mean he's
not going to validate our tribe."

274
00:16:08,417 --> 00:16:12,333
See, the Samaritan people were
a religious group, a political group,

275
00:16:12,417 --> 00:16:15,333
a racial group,
a cultural group, a social group.

276
00:16:15,417 --> 00:16:17,917
They were a tribe.

277
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,167
They were like people who,
today, have all of their life

278
00:16:22,250 --> 00:16:26,667
and identity wrapped up
in some tribe or grouping.

279
00:16:26,750 --> 00:16:31,750
They said, "Well, we're willing to have
Jesus, providing he joins our tribe.

280
00:16:31,833 --> 00:16:35,542
"He needs to validate our theology.
He needs to go to our temple.

281
00:16:35,625 --> 00:16:40,167
"He needs to support our leaders.
He needs to reinforce our theology.

282
00:16:40,250 --> 00:16:42,750
"He can't go to Jerusalem.

283
00:16:42,833 --> 00:16:47,292
"That would show the world that
Jerusalem, and not Samaria,

284
00:16:47,333 --> 00:16:50,458
"is where God wants to begin
his redemptive work.

285
00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:54,000
"That would show that their interpretation
of the Bible is right

286
00:16:54,083 --> 00:16:56,000
"and ours is wrong.

287
00:16:56,083 --> 00:16:58,458
Rather than repenting,
we'll reject Jesus."

288
00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:01,500
Those are your only two options,
repent or reject Jesus.

289
00:17:01,583 --> 00:17:05,292
And they don't repent,
they reject Jesus.

290
00:17:05,333 --> 00:17:08,708
And what they do is they
put their tribe above Jesus.

291
00:17:08,792 --> 00:17:12,333
They're willing to have Jesus,
providing he will support them,

292
00:17:12,417 --> 00:17:14,292
and he won't.

293
00:17:14,333 --> 00:17:16,958
Let me ask you,
what is your tribe?

294
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,333
Who's your group?
What's your identity?

295
00:17:19,417 --> 00:17:22,833
Is it your family, your race,
your culture, your language,

296
00:17:22,917 --> 00:17:26,458
your religion, your ethnicity,
your political orientation,

297
00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:28,708
your sexual preference?

298
00:17:28,792 --> 00:17:33,083
It is your spiritual experience?
Is it your cause?

299
00:17:33,167 --> 00:17:35,500
I don't know what
your cause might be.

300
00:17:35,583 --> 00:17:38,000
Many of you are young
and cause-oriented.

301
00:17:38,083 --> 00:17:42,833
And as long as Jesus supports
your tribe, you're fine with Jesus.

302
00:17:42,875 --> 00:17:46,792
But if Jesus would call you
to repent of your mission

303
00:17:46,833 --> 00:17:51,167
or your identity or our community,
then he's not welcome.

304
00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:54,333
And the truth is this is
how a lot of people work.

305
00:17:54,417 --> 00:17:57,917
They want Jesus in their tribe
on their terms,

306
00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,333
and he comes and says,

307
00:17:59,375 --> 00:18:04,917
"No, I'm God. You don't tell me to
follow you, I tell you to follow me.

308
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,083
I don't join your
team, you join mine."

309
00:18:08,167 --> 00:18:11,250
And Jesus' team is very diverse,
different races and languages

310
00:18:11,333 --> 00:18:14,625
and nations and cultures
and socioeconomic backgrounds.

311
00:18:14,667 --> 00:18:21,417
And he invites all to follow him,
but he does not follow anyone else.

312
00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:23,583
He's God.

313
00:18:23,667 --> 00:18:27,000
And even religions will do this,
and some of you are trying to do this.

314
00:18:27,042 --> 00:18:29,875
You say, "I like Jesus, and I'm totally
fine with him, providing

315
00:18:29,958 --> 00:18:35,000
he does what I tell him, providing
he supports what I already believe."

316
00:18:35,042 --> 00:18:37,833
But what if Jesus doesn't support
your political party, your cause?

317
00:18:37,917 --> 00:18:42,458
What if he doesn't support your national
interests or your racial preferences

318
00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:46,875
or your cultural biases
or your sexual orientation?

319
00:18:46,958 --> 00:18:50,583
What if he says,
"No, that's not what I'm into.

320
00:18:50,667 --> 00:18:53,833
You need to lay that down
and follow me and start over."

321
00:18:53,875 --> 00:18:59,000
Would you be willing to receive him,
or would you reject him?

322
00:18:59,042 --> 00:19:01,458
And this is the way that it works.

323
00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:06,833
This is why even religions like to
try and stick Jesus on their team.

324
00:19:06,875 --> 00:19:09,375
So the Mormons try
and have a place for Jesus,

325
00:19:09,458 --> 00:19:12,167
and the Jehovah's Witnesses
have a place for Jesus,

326
00:19:12,208 --> 00:19:15,500
and the Jews try and figure
out what to do with Jesus.

327
00:19:15,542 --> 00:19:20,708
And the Muslims and the Buddhists
and the Baha'is and the Hindus.

328
00:19:20,792 --> 00:19:24,667
They all try to find a place for Jesus.
The general, vague spirituality

329
00:19:24,667 --> 00:19:26,333
will find a place for Jesus.

330
00:19:26,333 --> 00:19:28,458
Oprah's trying to find a way
to Photoshop him,

331
00:19:28,458 --> 00:19:29,833
you know, into the set.

332
00:19:29,875 --> 00:19:32,000
You know, everybody's
trying to find a place.

333
00:19:32,042 --> 00:19:33,667
"Oh, he's a nice guy,
good teacher.

334
00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:36,292
"Helped the poor, fed people,
loved the oppressed.

335
00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:39,917
We got a place for him
on our team."

336
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,875
Let me tell you this:
Jesus isn't Muslim.

337
00:19:42,958 --> 00:19:46,458
Jesus isn't Jehovah's Witness.
He's not Mormon.

338
00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:48,708
He's not Scientology.

339
00:19:48,792 --> 00:19:51,333
He's not general,
vague spirituality.

340
00:19:51,375 --> 00:19:53,833
Jesus is God.

341
00:19:53,875 --> 00:19:57,875
He doesn't join any religion,
team, or tribe.

342
00:19:57,958 --> 00:20:01,167
He's God.
We follow him.

343
00:20:01,208 --> 00:20:03,167
He doesn't follow
and reinforce us.

344
00:20:03,208 --> 00:20:06,167
He calls us to repent
and follow him.

345
00:20:06,250 --> 00:20:08,833
And when this message gets to
the Samaritans, they're like,

346
00:20:08,875 --> 00:20:12,000
"He's going to Jerusalem, and
he wants us to follow him?

347
00:20:12,042 --> 00:20:15,333
"We have a totally
different agenda and ideology.

348
00:20:15,417 --> 00:20:18,500
 Jesus can either
submit to us or leave."

349
00:20:18,542 --> 00:20:23,000
They lose the blessing of enjoying
friendship, fellowship with Jesus.

350
00:20:23,042 --> 00:20:24,833
Some of you have done that.

351
00:20:24,875 --> 00:20:26,917
You say, "I'm fine with Jesus,

352
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:32,125
"as long as he doesn't act like
he's God, Lord, in charge.

353
00:20:32,167 --> 00:20:35,792
"As long as he reinforces what
I believe and how I behave,

354
00:20:35,833 --> 00:20:38,042
"then I will tolerate him.

355
00:20:38,125 --> 00:20:42,458
"But if he calls me to repent,
or he shows that I'm wrong,

356
00:20:42,500 --> 00:20:44,083
then I will reject him."

357
00:20:44,167 --> 00:20:46,792
Please don't do that.
The Samaritans did.

358
00:20:46,833 --> 00:20:49,625
God came to earth,
walked through Samaria,

359
00:20:49,667 --> 00:20:51,667
the place where
nobody else wanted to go.

360
00:20:51,708 --> 00:20:54,208
He extended a hand of friendship,
and they rejected it.

361
00:20:54,292 --> 00:21:00,417
So two of his disciples decide, "Let's
call fire down from heaven," right?

362
00:21:00,500 --> 00:21:02,500
These are those guys, right?

363
00:21:02,583 --> 00:21:06,000
These are the "turn or burn"
sign guys, right?

364
00:21:06,042 --> 00:21:07,500
These are those guys.

365
00:21:07,542 --> 00:21:10,167
"You want to receive Jesus?" "No".

366
00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:12,333
"Then you're gonna burn in hell! Next."

367
00:21:12,417 --> 00:21:17,042
I mean these are not, these
are not patient guys, right?

368
00:21:17,125 --> 00:21:20,250
This is one shot,
"turn or burn" Johnny.

369
00:21:20,333 --> 00:21:21,625
This is how he operates.

370
00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:24,750
James and John. Now I'll tell
you what I like about this,

371
00:21:24,833 --> 00:21:26,375
these guys don't lack confidence.

372
00:21:26,458 --> 00:21:29,042
They just think, "We can just
call down fire from heaven,"

373
00:21:29,125 --> 00:21:31,500
which that's sort of
a big assumption.

374
00:21:33,542 --> 00:21:37,542
They don't even tell Jesus, "Hey, we think
you should call down fire from heaven."

375
00:21:37,625 --> 00:21:39,458
They're like,
"We totally got this.

376
00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:43,292
"Fire from heaven, we're ready to
roll if you're cool with that.

377
00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:46,333
"We think 'Samaria' is
Greek for 'kindling,'

378
00:21:46,417 --> 00:21:50,083
and we're ready to give it
a run," you know?

379
00:21:50,167 --> 00:21:53,583
And what's weird is like this actually
happened in the days of Elijah.

380
00:21:53,667 --> 00:21:55,500
Elijah is debating
the prophets of Baal,

381
00:21:55,542 --> 00:21:57,917
and fire's called down
from heaven.

382
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,292
Now I could see where, yeah,
there are times in the Bible,

383
00:22:02,333 --> 00:22:04,250
like Sodom and Gomorrah,

384
00:22:04,333 --> 00:22:07,500
like the days of Elijah,
God brings down fire from heaven.

385
00:22:07,583 --> 00:22:10,167
But this is not that day,
so Jesus rebukes him.

386
00:22:10,208 --> 00:22:12,708
He's like "Hey, Pete and Repeat,
calm down.

387
00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:16,750
You know, you guys
aren't very loving," right?

388
00:22:16,833 --> 00:22:18,333
I wonder if Jesus was thinking,

389
00:22:18,375 --> 00:22:20,875
"If I was gonna call down
fire from heaven,

390
00:22:20,958 --> 00:22:23,208
"I would start with a few
of my own guys

391
00:22:23,292 --> 00:22:24,833
who are driving me crazy."

392
00:22:24,875 --> 00:22:28,333
Jesus says, essentially this:
"It's not time."

393
00:22:28,417 --> 00:22:31,667
Right, there is a season,
a time for condemnation,

394
00:22:31,750 --> 00:22:34,375
but this is a season
and time for salvation.

395
00:22:34,458 --> 00:22:36,833
Jesus is saying,
"Look, I'm going to Jerusalem.

396
00:22:36,875 --> 00:22:39,000
"I'm gonna die on a cross.
I'm gonna suffer.

397
00:22:39,042 --> 00:22:41,375
"I'm gonna atone for sin.

398
00:22:41,458 --> 00:22:43,250
"You guys can come back to Samaria,

399
00:22:43,333 --> 00:22:46,375
"we'll send some of my people to say
that I've atoned for sin,

400
00:22:46,458 --> 00:22:48,667
"and conquered sin and death
through the resurrection,

401
00:22:48,750 --> 00:22:52,833
"and let's give the Samaritans another
opportunity to receive grace,

402
00:22:52,875 --> 00:22:55,458
and mercy,
and forgiveness, and salvation."

403
00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:58,000
See, as long as you're alive,
there's a chance, and yeah,

404
00:22:58,042 --> 00:22:59,958
the Samaritans blew
their opportunity.

405
00:23:00,083 --> 00:23:02,375
They didn't have
a right sense of urgency,

406
00:23:02,458 --> 00:23:04,292
but Jesus is not
to be dissuaded.

407
00:23:04,333 --> 00:23:07,542
He's gonna go and atone for sin,
and he's gonna be patient with them

408
00:23:07,625 --> 00:23:10,792
as he's patient with you,
as he's patient with me,

409
00:23:10,833 --> 00:23:14,000
and as he's patient with his own disciples,
James and John.

410
00:23:14,042 --> 00:23:16,042
He's really patient with us.

411
00:23:16,125 --> 00:23:19,708
It doesn't mean we should be lazy
or not have a sense of urgency.

412
00:23:19,792 --> 00:23:22,667
But it does mean that
as long as we're breathing,

413
00:23:22,708 --> 00:23:25,500
it's not yet the time
of condemnation.

414
00:23:25,583 --> 00:23:29,750
Now, once somebody dies,
there is fire from heaven.

415
00:23:29,833 --> 00:23:32,833
Hebrews 9:27, "it is appointed once
for a man to die, then judgment."

416
00:23:32,875 --> 00:23:35,667
You die, it's over.
Nothing more can be done.

417
00:23:35,708 --> 00:23:37,667
You're judged.
It's heaven or hell.

418
00:23:37,708 --> 00:23:39,292
That's the way that it is.

419
00:23:39,333 --> 00:23:41,667
No reincarnation,
no second chance,

420
00:23:41,708 --> 00:23:45,167
so have a sense of urgency,
unlike the Samaritans.

421
00:23:45,208 --> 00:23:49,167
But as long as you're alive, it's not yet
the season of condemnation.

422
00:23:49,208 --> 00:23:53,958
There's still the invitation to salvation
by followership of this man,

423
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,875
God-man, Jesus Christ.

424
00:23:56,958 --> 00:24:00,625
As he's continuing his journey,
we then see three people come up

425
00:24:00,667 --> 00:24:06,208
and have very interesting conversations
with Jesus, and like the Samaritans,

426
00:24:06,292 --> 00:24:11,667
each has this error of putting someone
or something ahead of Jesus,

427
00:24:11,708 --> 00:24:16,083
and they're happy to have Jesus
provided he's in second place.

428
00:24:16,167 --> 00:24:18,917
As long as he's not first priority,

429
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,625
as long as he's not first treasure,
first love, first commitment,

430
00:24:23,667 --> 00:24:29,042
he's welcome to be somewhere
in the list of priorities, but not in front.

431
00:24:29,125 --> 00:24:35,000
And so we see this with a man
who has comfort before Jesus.

432
00:24:35,042 --> 00:24:38,667
And the truth is, it's always
Jesus before comfort.

433
00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:42,333
In Luke 9:57-58, "As they were going
along the road, someone said to him,"

434
00:24:42,417 --> 00:24:46,250
So a guy comes up,
"'I will follow you wherever you go.'

435
00:24:46,333 --> 00:24:49,833
"And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have
holes, and birds of the air have nests,

436
00:24:49,917 --> 00:24:53,333
but the Son of Man,'" His favorite title
of himself from Daniel,

437
00:24:53,417 --> 00:24:56,333
God in the flesh,
"'has nowhere to lay his head.'"

438
00:24:56,417 --> 00:24:59,875
So again, this guy walks up to Jesus,
"Jesus, I want to follow you.

439
00:24:59,958 --> 00:25:02,167
I'm gonna go wherever you go."

440
00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:04,792
Jesus says, "You sure about that?

441
00:25:04,833 --> 00:25:08,042
"Before you sign up to follow me,

442
00:25:08,125 --> 00:25:13,833
"let's make it clear
that it's not going to be easy.

443
00:25:13,917 --> 00:25:19,000
"I'm a homeless guy who's flat broke,
gonna get crucified.

444
00:25:19,083 --> 00:25:24,042
"You ready to sign up to
follow me wherever I go?

445
00:25:24,125 --> 00:25:26,167
You okay with that?"

446
00:25:26,208 --> 00:25:29,583
And see what happens sometimes
in Christianity is in an effort

447
00:25:29,667 --> 00:25:35,042
to get people to pray to
receive Jesus, we lie to them.

448
00:25:35,125 --> 00:25:37,875
"Oh, you're sick, come to Jesus,
he'll make ya healthy.

449
00:25:37,958 --> 00:25:40,292
"Oh, you're poor, come to Jesus,
he'll make you rich.

450
00:25:40,333 --> 00:25:45,125
Oh, you're sad, come to Jesus,
he'll make ya happy."

451
00:25:45,167 --> 00:25:47,583
People come to Jesus
and say, "You know what?

452
00:25:47,667 --> 00:25:51,083
"It didn't work.
I'm more broke than I was.

453
00:25:51,167 --> 00:25:55,292
"I started giving him 10%,
that didn't help anything.

454
00:25:55,333 --> 00:26:00,417
"I was sad, now I'm really sad,
'cause now I know how sinful I am.

455
00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:03,208
"My circumstances haven't
changed, but my awareness

456
00:26:03,292 --> 00:26:06,708
"of my shortcomings
has only increased.

457
00:26:06,792 --> 00:26:11,542
"And I used to have a friend,
now I don't.

458
00:26:11,625 --> 00:26:17,500
"Man, life has gotten really hard.
I didn't get healed, I got cancer.

459
00:26:17,583 --> 00:26:20,500
"This isn't working.
I'm disappointed with God.

460
00:26:20,583 --> 00:26:24,625
"Jesus, I thought were a piñata,
where's my stick?

461
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:26,375
"How does this work?

462
00:26:26,458 --> 00:26:29,833
"Where's all the goodies and
the trinkets and the blessings?

463
00:26:29,917 --> 00:26:32,167
This is kind of hard."

464
00:26:32,250 --> 00:26:35,250
Let me tell you this right
upfront, following Jesus is

465
00:26:35,333 --> 00:26:40,208
the best life, but it's certainly
not the easiest.

466
00:26:40,292 --> 00:26:44,792
And what he is essentially telling this
man is, "If you want to follow me,

467
00:26:44,833 --> 00:26:47,167
"I don't know where I'm sleeping tonight.

468
00:26:47,208 --> 00:26:50,083
"If you want to follow me, I don't
know what I'm eating tonight.

469
00:26:50,167 --> 00:26:53,333
"If you want to follow me,
that's fine, I'm just telling ya,

470
00:26:53,417 --> 00:26:57,667
this is gonna be
a rough road for us."

471
00:26:57,750 --> 00:27:01,792
And you'll take that deal
if on one side of the scale,

472
00:27:01,833 --> 00:27:05,750
you have all your possessions
and your comforts and your security,

473
00:27:05,833 --> 00:27:11,875
and on the other you have Jesus,
but you treasure Jesus above all,

474
00:27:11,958 --> 00:27:13,833
and say, "You know what?

475
00:27:13,875 --> 00:27:20,083
"I would rather be broke and sick
and sad with Jesus,

476
00:27:20,167 --> 00:27:25,292
"than rich and healthy and
seemingly happy without him.

477
00:27:25,333 --> 00:27:28,750
I'll take Jesus,
whatever the cost."

478
00:27:28,833 --> 00:27:33,167
And it's this issue of Jesus
before comfort.

479
00:27:34,167 --> 00:27:38,958
See, some of you, you live under
this myth that if you walk with Jesus,

480
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,250
everything's gonna be great.

481
00:27:41,333 --> 00:27:44,625
Just so you know, you're following
a broke homeless guy

482
00:27:44,667 --> 00:27:49,000
who got betrayed
by a friend and murdered.

483
00:27:49,042 --> 00:27:53,625
That doesn't mean for you and I,
that the path of followership is

484
00:27:53,667 --> 00:27:58,000
always going to be an easy one,
but it's the best one.

485
00:27:58,042 --> 00:28:00,500
So I tell you that up front.

486
00:28:00,542 --> 00:28:02,333
I want you all
to become Christians,

487
00:28:02,417 --> 00:28:05,750
and I know this isn't much
of a sales pitch, right?

488
00:28:05,833 --> 00:28:07,958
This isn't much of a sales pitch.

489
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,458
You know what?
We're not selling anything.

490
00:28:11,500 --> 00:28:15,917
We're offering God as the gift,

491
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,000
not what he gives, who he is.

492
00:28:19,083 --> 00:28:21,750
God is the gift.
God is the treasure.

493
00:28:21,833 --> 00:28:25,208
God is the joy,
his name is Jesus.

494
00:28:25,292 --> 00:28:31,125
And I don't want to sell you Jesus
in a way like a marketer

495
00:28:31,167 --> 00:28:34,208
or an advertiser or a salesman.

496
00:28:34,292 --> 00:28:37,500
I want you to know
the truth going into it.

497
00:28:37,542 --> 00:28:44,500
To follow Jesus could mean
a very hard path of life filled with joy

498
00:28:44,542 --> 00:28:50,125
if you treasure Jesus above all.
Amen? Amen.

499
00:28:50,167 --> 00:28:52,583
So it's Jesus above comfort.

500
00:28:52,667 --> 00:28:55,500
Secondly, another man
comes to him,

501
00:28:55,542 --> 00:28:58,667
and his issue is that
he has security before Jesus,

502
00:28:58,750 --> 00:29:01,458
and it's always Jesus
before security.

503
00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:02,917
Here is the story.

504
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,375
Luke 9:59-60, "To another he
said, 'Follow me.' But he said,

505
00:29:06,458 --> 00:29:09,417
"'Lord, let me first go
and bury my father.'

506
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:11,250
"And Jesus said to him,

507
00:29:11,333 --> 00:29:13,167
"'Leave the dead to
bury their own dead.

508
00:29:13,250 --> 00:29:15,667
But as for you, go and proclaim
the kingdom of God.'"

509
00:29:15,708 --> 00:29:18,083
Now these next two guys,
they're gonna use the same language.

510
00:29:18,167 --> 00:29:19,667
They're both going to say,

511
00:29:19,750 --> 00:29:22,333
"Jesus, I want follow you,
but first, let me do this."

512
00:29:22,417 --> 00:29:25,250
What they're saying is,
"Jesus, I want following you

513
00:29:25,333 --> 00:29:27,833
"to be my second priority.

514
00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:29,917
"My first priority
is something else.

515
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,333
"So how about if we negotiate
a deal that my first priority,

516
00:29:34,417 --> 00:29:38,750
"I can pursue,
and you will permit followership of you

517
00:29:38,833 --> 00:29:40,667
to be my second priority."

518
00:29:40,708 --> 00:29:43,417
Some of you would be that way,
school, first priority.

519
00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:47,583
Career, first priority.
Recreation, first priority.

520
00:29:47,667 --> 00:29:50,167
Some kind of security,
first priority,

521
00:29:50,208 --> 00:29:56,417
and I want Jesus
to accept second position.

522
00:29:56,500 --> 00:29:58,083
That's the issue.

523
00:29:58,167 --> 00:30:02,333
Now admittedly, this is one
of the most difficult sayings of Jesus

524
00:30:02,417 --> 00:30:07,917
in the whole Bible, 'cause it looks
like Jesus is being mean.

525
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,792
"I want to go bury my dad."

526
00:30:09,833 --> 00:30:11,542
"No."

527
00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:13,708
"It's my dad."

528
00:30:13,792 --> 00:30:17,917
Like, how many of you, you got a dad,
you love your dad? I love my dad.

529
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,583
If I went to Jesus
and was like, "Jesus, I love ya,

530
00:30:20,667 --> 00:30:22,875
I'm gonna follow ya.
I gotta go bury my dad."

531
00:30:22,958 --> 00:30:26,500
He's like, "No, don't do that.
Let the dead bury their own dead."

532
00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:30,625
I'd be like, "I read this book that
said honor your mother and father.

533
00:30:30,667 --> 00:30:34,042
I'm very confused now," right?

534
00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:36,833
That book being the Bible,
if you're new.

535
00:30:36,875 --> 00:30:39,542
It says that in the
Ten Commandments.

536
00:30:39,625 --> 00:30:42,000
It says to what your
mother and father?

537
00:30:42,083 --> 00:30:44,125
Honor them.
This is very confusing.

538
00:30:44,167 --> 00:30:46,167
Did Jesus love his parents?
Yeah.

539
00:30:46,250 --> 00:30:49,250
Did he love his mom?
Did Jesus love his mom?

540
00:30:49,333 --> 00:30:50,625
Totally.

541
00:30:50,667 --> 00:30:53,833
A friend of mine said it well,
he said, "Jesus loved his mom

542
00:30:53,917 --> 00:30:55,333
without being a mama's boy."

543
00:30:55,375 --> 00:30:57,250
Some of you gotta thread
that needle, gentlemen.

544
00:30:57,333 --> 00:31:00,542
All right, he loved his mom
without being a mama's boy.

545
00:31:00,625 --> 00:31:05,500
Even from the cross he looks down,
there's his mother, Mary.

546
00:31:05,542 --> 00:31:12,458
He looks at John, who's like a kid
brother to him and a good friend.

547
00:31:12,500 --> 00:31:15,333
he says, "Hey John,
look after my mom,

548
00:31:15,417 --> 00:31:17,000
Take care of her, I love her."

549
00:31:17,042 --> 00:31:20,292
He's making preparations for his mom.
He loves her.

550
00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:22,875
So what's going on here?
What's Jesus saying?

551
00:31:22,958 --> 00:31:26,375
I tell you what he's not saying, he's
not saying what the cult leaders say,

552
00:31:26,458 --> 00:31:30,375
and sadly, I have seen cult leaders
use this verse

553
00:31:30,458 --> 00:31:35,958
and others like it to isolate people
from family and friends,

554
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:42,292
to pull them out of healthy community,
to cause them to be emotionally,

555
00:31:42,333 --> 00:31:47,708
spiritually, psychologically,
physically vulnerable.

556
00:31:47,792 --> 00:31:49,542
I'll give you one example.

557
00:31:49,625 --> 00:31:51,833
I actually argued over this verse
with a young woman.

558
00:31:51,917 --> 00:31:55,250
Early on in the days of Mars Hill,
she started coming to a few services.

559
00:31:55,333 --> 00:31:57,750
She was quite young,
perhaps 19 or 20,

560
00:31:57,833 --> 00:32:00,500
and I would classify her
as very emotionally fragile.

561
00:32:00,583 --> 00:32:03,458
Very sweet gal, but she had
been abused, traumatized.

562
00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:05,333
Her life had been very hard.

563
00:32:05,417 --> 00:32:08,833
She was essentially a runaway
from a very traumatic home,

564
00:32:08,917 --> 00:32:11,667
and she hooked up
with a very charismatic--

565
00:32:11,708 --> 00:32:16,375
I mean that in the sense of a big personality,
a spiritual leader,

566
00:32:16,458 --> 00:32:18,833
self-proclaimed spiritual leader.

567
00:32:18,875 --> 00:32:20,875
I think I know where
his spirits came from.

568
00:32:20,958 --> 00:32:22,708
They weren't from God.

569
00:32:22,792 --> 00:32:27,750
And he was an older man who set
himself up to prey on particularly

570
00:32:27,833 --> 00:32:30,833
young girls who
didn't have a father figure

571
00:32:30,917 --> 00:32:33,125
and were emotionally fragile.

572
00:32:33,167 --> 00:32:36,958
Really dangerous,
nefarious situation.

573
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:42,458
And he told her, as well as these
other girls, verses like this.

574
00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:45,750
"You know, Jesus says to not
even talk to your parents,

575
00:32:45,833 --> 00:32:50,208
"so don't call them, don't meet
with them, don't talk to them.

576
00:32:50,292 --> 00:32:54,208
"They're dead to you.
Follow me.

577
00:32:54,292 --> 00:32:57,667
Be part of my little circle
of followers like Jesus had."

578
00:32:57,750 --> 00:33:01,625
And he put himself in the position
of Jesus, essentially,

579
00:33:01,667 --> 00:33:03,917
and he isolated them
from family and friends.

580
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:05,917
And she was very confused,
and I met her,

581
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,583
and I'd pick her up on occasion

582
00:33:07,667 --> 00:33:10,875
that she'd be willing to go to church,
and talk to her along the way.

583
00:33:10,958 --> 00:33:13,167
She didn't have a car,
she needed a ride.

584
00:33:13,250 --> 00:33:16,167
And I remember telling her,
this is really not healthy.

585
00:33:16,250 --> 00:33:20,333
This has all the
psychological trappings of a cult.

586
00:33:20,375 --> 00:33:25,167
This has all of the grooming
for sexual abuse,

587
00:33:25,208 --> 00:33:30,458
and for you and these girls to be
taken advantage or committing crimes

588
00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:32,708
to pay the bills for this guy.

589
00:33:32,792 --> 00:33:35,833
This is gonna end really bad,
and I don't want that for you.

590
00:33:35,917 --> 00:33:40,667
Let us help you get out of this.
Let's get you some support.

591
00:33:40,750 --> 00:33:42,667
And she said no.

592
00:33:42,708 --> 00:33:46,417
She said no, and we argued over
this very verse.

593
00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:50,000
"Jesus said to hate and leave
and ignore your mother and father,

594
00:33:50,042 --> 00:33:51,875
and that's what I'm doing."

595
00:33:51,958 --> 00:33:54,875
"No, I don't think, sweetheart,
that's what Jesus was talking about."

596
00:33:54,958 --> 00:33:58,000
She ended up disappearing,
leaving with this cult leader.

597
00:33:58,083 --> 00:34:00,792
They traveled a lot,
wandering all over

598
00:34:00,833 --> 00:34:03,917
so that you couldn't maintain
any contact with them.

599
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,042
And then I saw her a few years ago,
she dropped by Mars Hill.

600
00:34:07,125 --> 00:34:09,583
They happened to be passing
through town again after many years,

601
00:34:09,667 --> 00:34:11,542
and she came up
and said hi.

602
00:34:11,625 --> 00:34:13,417
She said, "Yeah,
I'm still with that group.

603
00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:15,250
And yeah, you're right,
it's gotten pretty dark."

604
00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:19,250
And I mean, I can tell by the look on
her face, she was in a rough place.

605
00:34:19,333 --> 00:34:21,875
I said, "You can still get out,
and we love you,

606
00:34:21,958 --> 00:34:23,875
"and we would love
to help you get out.

607
00:34:23,958 --> 00:34:26,667
"And we've got way more
resources than we ever did.

608
00:34:26,750 --> 00:34:28,167
"We'd do anything to help you.

609
00:34:28,250 --> 00:34:30,000
Please, would you
be willing to leave?"

610
00:34:30,042 --> 00:34:32,708
"Well, you know, I'm worried
about the other people in the group,

611
00:34:32,792 --> 00:34:34,333
and what if he's right?"

612
00:34:34,417 --> 00:34:37,833
And she's still very confused and refused
to get help and disappeared.

613
00:34:37,917 --> 00:34:39,583
Very sad.

614
00:34:39,667 --> 00:34:42,000
Is Jesus like that?
Is that what he's doing?

615
00:34:42,042 --> 00:34:46,042
Is he is a cult leader taking
impressionable people to surround him

616
00:34:46,125 --> 00:34:49,500
and telling them to break off
all ties with their family,

617
00:34:49,583 --> 00:34:52,417
and to ignore their mother
and father?

618
00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,708
Very dangerous stuff.
No, that's not what he's doing.

619
00:34:55,792 --> 00:34:59,167
That's not what Jesus is doing.
So what is going on here?

620
00:34:59,208 --> 00:35:02,458
Well, let me give you some
cultural background that I think

621
00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:06,167
the original hearers would have understood
the context in a way that we don't,

622
00:35:06,250 --> 00:35:09,167
so we need to pack in how
that culture worked to

623
00:35:09,208 --> 00:35:11,833
interpret and understand
what is occurring here.

624
00:35:11,875 --> 00:35:17,000
In that day, it was very much
expected of children to honor

625
00:35:17,083 --> 00:35:18,792
their mother and father,

626
00:35:18,833 --> 00:35:21,125
based upon the Ten Commandments'
exhortation to do so.

627
00:35:21,167 --> 00:35:22,875
And as your parents got older,

628
00:35:22,958 --> 00:35:24,917
you're supposed to look
after and care for them.

629
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,083
And as they were dying, you were
definitely supposed to be there for them.

630
00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:33,167
And when they died, there were very
strict and orchestrated procedures

631
00:35:33,208 --> 00:35:36,750
by which you were to prepare
their funeral and their burial,

632
00:35:36,833 --> 00:35:42,667
certain music and meals
and gatherings and clothing

633
00:35:42,750 --> 00:35:46,292
and wailers;
and this is a big event.

634
00:35:46,333 --> 00:35:49,625
This encompasses the family.
This takes days.

635
00:35:49,667 --> 00:35:52,958
The whole neighborhood,
the whole village is invited.

636
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,875
This is a very big deal.

637
00:35:55,958 --> 00:36:02,208
And...what I can infer from
that is that when he says,

638
00:36:02,292 --> 00:36:06,875
"Jesus, I totally want to follow you,
but first, let me go bury my dad."

639
00:36:06,958 --> 00:36:10,917
Number one, his dad's
not dead or even dying.

640
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,375
If his dad was dying,
where would he be?

641
00:36:13,458 --> 00:36:15,292
With his dad.

642
00:36:15,333 --> 00:36:17,500
If his dad was dead,
where would he be?

643
00:36:17,542 --> 00:36:20,917
At the funeral, overseeing
the affairs of the family.

644
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:22,667
Here's my presumption.

645
00:36:22,708 --> 00:36:25,500
I don't think the dad
is anywhere near dead.

646
00:36:25,583 --> 00:36:29,708
His dad's got years,
maybe decades to live.

647
00:36:29,792 --> 00:36:33,708
And what he's telling Jesus is
"I totally want to follow you, Jesus,

648
00:36:33,792 --> 00:36:38,083
"but if I tell my parents
I'm following you,

649
00:36:38,167 --> 00:36:40,042
"they're kind of devout Jews.

650
00:36:40,125 --> 00:36:42,917
"I don't think they're gonna
be really excited about this.

651
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:48,125
"Furthermore, if I don't hang
in there and obey them,

652
00:36:48,167 --> 00:36:52,250
"and if I don't see them through to
their death and do everything right,

653
00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:54,583
"I'm not going to get my inheritance.

654
00:36:54,667 --> 00:36:56,500
My inheritance is big."

655
00:36:56,583 --> 00:36:59,000
This is how it worked,
you take care your family,

656
00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:01,417
and then they give you
a big inheritance.

657
00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:03,458
So I think what he's
telling Jesus is this,

658
00:37:03,500 --> 00:37:06,333
"Someday, some year in the future,
I'm gonna follow you.

659
00:37:06,375 --> 00:37:10,250
"Remember my face,
I'll be back later.

660
00:37:10,333 --> 00:37:13,458
"In 10, 15, 20 years
when my dad dies,

661
00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:18,625
"and I get this big fat inheritance check,
then I'm gonna be a Christian.

662
00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:22,167
"I'm gonna tithe off the top,
and I'm gonna follow you,

663
00:37:22,208 --> 00:37:24,000
"and I'm gonna preach
and go into ministry,

664
00:37:24,083 --> 00:37:29,125
and it's gonna be great,
someday, but not today."

665
00:37:29,167 --> 00:37:33,083
And for that man, I believe,
it is security over Jesus.

666
00:37:33,167 --> 00:37:35,292
He wants the approval
of his family,

667
00:37:35,333 --> 00:37:38,792
and he wants
his inheritance more than Jesus.

668
00:37:38,833 --> 00:37:42,958
And it has to be
Jesus above security.

669
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,333
How about you?

670
00:37:44,417 --> 00:37:46,708
See, some of you are
like that, you're like,

671
00:37:46,792 --> 00:37:53,208
"I will totally, wholeheartedly, passionately
follow Jesus once I'm out of college.

672
00:37:53,292 --> 00:37:55,083
"In college I'm busy studying.

673
00:37:55,167 --> 00:37:57,500
"I don't have time for church, Bible
study, prayer, community group.

674
00:37:57,542 --> 00:37:59,000
"I don't.

675
00:37:59,083 --> 00:38:02,125
"I need to get school knocked out
'cause that sets up my future.

676
00:38:02,167 --> 00:38:04,208
That will help me be secure."

677
00:38:04,292 --> 00:38:05,875
Or some of you, you're single.

678
00:38:05,958 --> 00:38:09,458
You're like, "I'm in my 20s and 20s
are all preparation for rehab."

679
00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:11,458
That's just what you do.

680
00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:13,500
You just get cold sores
and prepare for rehab.

681
00:38:13,583 --> 00:38:17,667
And then when I turn 30,
when I get married, when we have kids,

682
00:38:17,708 --> 00:38:22,208
I'm gonna get so serious
about Jesus, you just wait.

683
00:38:22,292 --> 00:38:25,875
I'm just saving up all the enthusiasm,
and it's just gonna,

684
00:38:25,958 --> 00:38:28,625
it's gonna lurch forward
in an instant, just wait."

685
00:38:28,667 --> 00:38:31,583
Some you are saying, "As soon
as I pay off my college debt.

686
00:38:31,667 --> 00:38:34,250
"I really don't have time for Jesus
right now and to mature

687
00:38:34,333 --> 00:38:37,500
"in a relationship with him, 'cause
I'm really trying to pay off my college debt.

688
00:38:37,583 --> 00:38:39,917
"As soon as I get
that debt knocked out, Jesus,

689
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,167
"I'll telling ya,
I'm gonna be red hot.

690
00:38:42,250 --> 00:38:44,000
I'll be ready to go."

691
00:38:44,042 --> 00:38:46,125
And oftentimes people
just continue to push it out

692
00:38:46,167 --> 00:38:48,125
into a future life stage.

693
00:38:48,167 --> 00:38:52,833
"Someday when I get everything
else lined up, my life is secure,

694
00:38:52,875 --> 00:38:57,167
"things are in order,
when I've got extra time or money,

695
00:38:57,208 --> 00:39:04,167
then I'm totally gonna follow Jesus,
but not today, someday."

696
00:39:04,208 --> 00:39:06,750
But Jesus is saying, "Today."

697
00:39:06,833 --> 00:39:10,792
There needs to be
a sense of urgency.

698
00:39:10,833 --> 00:39:13,375
And when he says, "Let the dead bury
their own dead,"

699
00:39:13,458 --> 00:39:18,833
what he's saying is this, "Someday
your parents are gonna die.

700
00:39:18,917 --> 00:39:22,833
"And those who
are spiritually dead, unbelievers,

701
00:39:22,917 --> 00:39:26,292
they can even bury
the physically dead."

702
00:39:26,333 --> 00:39:29,083
Why?

703
00:39:29,167 --> 00:39:32,500
Well, because there's nothing
you can do for a dead person.

704
00:39:32,542 --> 00:39:34,250
It's over.

705
00:39:34,333 --> 00:39:36,208
There's no reincarnation.

706
00:39:36,292 --> 00:39:38,292
There's no second
chance of salvation.

707
00:39:38,333 --> 00:39:40,542
So Jesus is looking
at this man basically asking,

708
00:39:40,625 --> 00:39:43,250
"How many years
of your life do you want to blow?

709
00:39:43,333 --> 00:39:45,708
You could be serving the living."

710
00:39:45,792 --> 00:39:50,167
So what he tells him is,
"Go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

711
00:39:50,208 --> 00:39:53,333
"Look, go preach, go teach,
go lead a community group,

712
00:39:53,375 --> 00:39:59,000
"go plant a church, go do evangelism,
all right, have a sense of urgency.

713
00:39:59,042 --> 00:40:05,667
"Don't blow another day, week,
year, decade, don't blow it.

714
00:40:05,708 --> 00:40:10,458
"Go do something, 'cause if you wait,
you'll never do anything.

715
00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:13,667
"And even if you do something,
what about all of those people

716
00:40:13,708 --> 00:40:16,708
"that you will not have loved,
not have helped, not have taught,

717
00:40:16,792 --> 00:40:18,667
"not have reached, not have served?

718
00:40:18,708 --> 00:40:21,083
"What about them?

719
00:40:21,167 --> 00:40:24,375
"What about all the living people
who still have a shot at salvation?

720
00:40:24,458 --> 00:40:27,083
What about them?"

721
00:40:27,167 --> 00:40:31,667
And I would ask you, what security is
more important for you to than Jesus?

722
00:40:31,750 --> 00:40:35,625
And I'm just, I'm mindful
of a guy some years ago.

723
00:40:35,667 --> 00:40:39,250
He had a nice wife, he had
beautiful kids, and he'd started

724
00:40:39,333 --> 00:40:43,292
this company that
had great possibility.

725
00:40:43,333 --> 00:40:46,667
And I said, "How come your
family comes to church alone?

726
00:40:46,750 --> 00:40:48,500
"I don't see you very much.

727
00:40:48,583 --> 00:40:51,125
"How come your family goes
to community group alone,

728
00:40:51,167 --> 00:40:56,292
and we don't see you there either,
and what's going on?"

729
00:40:56,333 --> 00:40:58,500
He said,
"Well, I'm gonna get there.

730
00:40:58,583 --> 00:41:00,792
"Here's my plan, I'm gonna
build up this business.

731
00:41:00,833 --> 00:41:02,833
"I got this great opportunity.

732
00:41:02,917 --> 00:41:04,458
"I think we're gonna hit
the jackpot.

733
00:41:04,500 --> 00:41:06,500
"I'm gonna sell it
and then I'm gonna retire,

734
00:41:06,542 --> 00:41:09,375
"and then I'm gonna totally have time
for Jesus and my family.

735
00:41:09,458 --> 00:41:10,750
That's what I'm doing."

736
00:41:10,833 --> 00:41:16,125
No, you need to walk with Jesus
and your family right now.

737
00:41:16,167 --> 00:41:19,875
That day may never come,
and even if it does, you're wasting

738
00:41:19,958 --> 00:41:24,583
all the time between now
and then to follow Jesus as a father,

739
00:41:24,667 --> 00:41:26,958
as a husband,
with your family.

740
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:31,375
He said no. His business
went well, he is divorced.

741
00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:34,833
His family is destroyed.

742
00:41:34,917 --> 00:41:37,333
And the myth that he believed was,

743
00:41:37,375 --> 00:41:41,750
"If I put security before Jesus,
I can have both."

744
00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:46,167
No, no, you can't.

745
00:41:46,250 --> 00:41:49,583
Because if you worship security
as an idol, as God,

746
00:41:49,667 --> 00:41:54,708
and you devote your whole life
to it, it will fail you,

747
00:41:54,792 --> 00:41:58,042
disappoint you, and destroy you.

748
00:41:58,125 --> 00:42:03,292
But if Jesus is in first position,
the rest of life will work itself out.

749
00:42:03,333 --> 00:42:05,417
And it doesn't
mean you'll be rich.

750
00:42:05,500 --> 00:42:07,083
It doesn't mean
you'll be successful.

751
00:42:07,167 --> 00:42:09,542
It doesn't mean you'll be profitable,

752
00:42:09,625 --> 00:42:14,042
but it does mean you'll be with Jesus,
and he'll get you through it.

753
00:42:14,125 --> 00:42:19,542
I can promise you this man would
be still married to a sweet gal,

754
00:42:19,625 --> 00:42:25,000
tucking his kids in at night,
and not having a tragic shipwrecked life

755
00:42:25,042 --> 00:42:29,125
that is verging on the brink
of absolute disaster,

756
00:42:29,167 --> 00:42:33,333
as he is a guy who is beside
himself with selfishness

757
00:42:33,417 --> 00:42:36,458
and grief and bitterness
and addiction;

758
00:42:36,500 --> 00:42:39,083
he could have avoided
all of that if for him,

759
00:42:39,167 --> 00:42:44,042
Jesus was just ahead of his pursuit
of what he considered to be security.

760
00:42:44,125 --> 00:42:46,208
We want good for you.

761
00:42:46,292 --> 00:42:48,333
So when Jesus looks
at this man and says,

762
00:42:48,375 --> 00:42:54,667
"No, not 'someday I'll become
a Christian and follow Jesus,' today."

763
00:42:54,708 --> 00:42:56,667
That's my exaltation
to you, today.

764
00:42:56,750 --> 00:43:01,292
Is this that day for you,
that day where your whole life

765
00:43:01,333 --> 00:43:03,333
swings on that hinge?

766
00:43:03,375 --> 00:43:06,500
And someday in the future when
people ask you your story, say,

767
00:43:06,542 --> 00:43:09,500
"My life was like this, and there
was this day that I decided

768
00:43:09,542 --> 00:43:14,208
to follow Jesus first, and that's
where everything changed."

769
00:43:14,292 --> 00:43:18,625
And that's what he's inviting
this man to have is that day.

770
00:43:18,667 --> 00:43:23,958
He's not saying hate your parents,
but he's saying love God first and most.

771
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,792
Lastly, another guy comes to him,
and he wants to have the past

772
00:43:28,833 --> 00:43:32,625
in front of Jesus, and it is
always Jesus before our past.

773
00:43:32,667 --> 00:43:37,667
Luke 9:61-62, "Yet another said,
'I will follow you, Lord, but--'"

774
00:43:37,708 --> 00:43:39,667
There it is again.

775
00:43:39,750 --> 00:43:41,667
"'Let me first,'"
you see that?

776
00:43:41,708 --> 00:43:43,458
I'll follow you, but first.

777
00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:45,333
That means
"Jesus, you're second."

778
00:43:45,375 --> 00:43:47,333
Never works like that.

779
00:43:47,375 --> 00:43:50,208
"Yet another said, 'I will follow
you, Lord, but let me first say

780
00:43:50,292 --> 00:43:52,583
"farewell to those at my home.'
Jesus said to him,

781
00:43:52,667 --> 00:43:54,042
"'No one who puts his hand

782
00:43:54,125 --> 00:43:57,000
to the plow and looks back is fit
for the kingdom of God.'"

783
00:43:57,083 --> 00:44:00,083
What he's saying is this,
"Jesus, I totally want to follow you,

784
00:44:00,167 --> 00:44:03,167
"but first, I have something
more important I need to do.

785
00:44:03,208 --> 00:44:06,958
"I need to go home, and I need to
tell my family and friends that

786
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,000
"I'm now gonna become a Christian,

787
00:44:09,042 --> 00:44:12,542
"a follower of you and gonna
give my life to ministry.

788
00:44:12,625 --> 00:44:17,292
But first, I need to go back,
and talk to them."

789
00:44:17,333 --> 00:44:20,000
Now, what he's asking is
not necessarily a sin.

790
00:44:20,083 --> 00:44:25,875
It's the same thing that Elisha
asked Elijah back in 1 Kings.

791
00:44:25,958 --> 00:44:28,500
Elijah was a prophet of God.

792
00:44:28,583 --> 00:44:35,000
He was a preacher, gives us Scripture,
and God chose for him a successor

793
00:44:35,083 --> 00:44:38,500
to carry on his ministry named Elisha.

794
00:44:38,542 --> 00:44:40,792
Elisha went to Elijah,
his mentor, and said,

795
00:44:40,833 --> 00:44:46,083
"Can I go back and tell my family
that I have had a course correction in life,

796
00:44:46,167 --> 00:44:47,917
and now I'm going into ministry?"

797
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:49,375
Elijah said, "Please do."

798
00:44:49,458 --> 00:44:51,875
So the Bible records
that Elisha went home,

799
00:44:51,958 --> 00:44:56,167
told his family and his friends,
"I'm going into ministry. I'm leaving.

800
00:44:56,208 --> 00:44:58,458
"Love you, pray for me.

801
00:44:58,500 --> 00:45:00,208
"I'm going for it.

802
00:45:00,292 --> 00:45:04,875
"I'm gonna go preach and teach
or plant a church or go to Bible college

803
00:45:04,958 --> 00:45:08,833
or seminary or missions,"
you know, this is the equivalent.

804
00:45:08,875 --> 00:45:11,458
The Bible says that they
had a big feast,

805
00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:16,875
and that Elisha burned
his plow, okay?

806
00:45:16,958 --> 00:45:20,833
Now, this is a big move
for a guy.

807
00:45:20,875 --> 00:45:23,167
In that day,
you're a farmer.

808
00:45:23,208 --> 00:45:25,708
You're plowing your family's land
that's been handed

809
00:45:25,792 --> 00:45:27,375
from one generation to the next.

810
00:45:27,458 --> 00:45:29,958
It's not like our day with modern
machinery where you're sitting

811
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,000
in your tractor with air-conditioning,
and your iPod,

812
00:45:33,042 --> 00:45:35,958
and, you know, Wi-Fi.

813
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,500
You either have an ox who's
dragging your wooden plow,

814
00:45:39,583 --> 00:45:45,208
or you're dragging your wooden plow,
or pushing your wooden plow.

815
00:45:45,292 --> 00:45:46,917
You're plowing your field.

816
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,167
Most of us have no
idea what this is like.

817
00:45:49,250 --> 00:45:51,875
Right, most of you are like,
"Carrots come from the store."

818
00:45:51,958 --> 00:45:54,875
No, actually they come from
the farm, and somebody there

819
00:45:54,958 --> 00:45:57,417
has got to plow the dirt
to get the carrots,

820
00:45:57,500 --> 00:45:59,792
and then somebody else
drives them to the store.

821
00:45:59,833 --> 00:46:01,875
Right, and some you
do a little gardening.

822
00:46:01,958 --> 00:46:04,875
You have a hoe, and you're like,
"Look, I grew a carrot."

823
00:46:04,958 --> 00:46:07,833
We're taking about here--
you know, congratulations.

824
00:46:08,167 --> 00:46:11,042
What we're talking about here is
if you want to eat,

825
00:46:11,125 --> 00:46:12,583
you need to plow your field.

826
00:46:12,667 --> 00:46:15,000
To plow your field,
you need your plow.

827
00:46:15,042 --> 00:46:18,042
And when Elisha burns his plow,
what he's basically saying is

828
00:46:18,125 --> 00:46:20,833
"I'm not coming back.
There's no plan B.

829
00:46:20,917 --> 00:46:23,208
"I'm fully devoted in my
followership of God,

830
00:46:23,292 --> 00:46:27,250
"and I'm gonna go where he wants me
to go, say what he wants me to say,

831
00:46:27,333 --> 00:46:30,417
"do what he wants me to do,
be who he wants me to be.

832
00:46:30,500 --> 00:46:31,875
This is what I'm doing."

833
00:46:31,958 --> 00:46:35,083
It's like that story where soldiers land
on a beach,

834
00:46:35,167 --> 00:46:39,625
and they take a beach, and they're
proceeding forward for war,

835
00:46:39,667 --> 00:46:41,917
and they just burn the boats.

836
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:46,250
Those are guys who are saying,
"Win or lose, we're in it till the end, 

837
00:46:46,333 --> 00:46:49,583
"and there will be no retreat,
there will be no return

838
00:46:49,667 --> 00:46:51,583
to our former way of life."

839
00:46:51,667 --> 00:46:53,458
It's like that.

840
00:46:53,500 --> 00:46:58,625
Now, in this instance,
this man says to Jesus,

841
00:46:58,667 --> 00:47:00,667
"I want to do what Elisha did.

842
00:47:00,708 --> 00:47:04,000
"I want to go home,
and I want to talk to my family,

843
00:47:04,042 --> 00:47:07,042
and I want to let them know."

844
00:47:07,125 --> 00:47:10,958
Now, I think I know
what's going on here.

845
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:13,625
Jesus knows this man's heart.

846
00:47:14,167 --> 00:47:16,458
Jesus knows this man's heart.

847
00:47:16,500 --> 00:47:18,333
We've seen repeatedly
that Jesus knew

848
00:47:18,417 --> 00:47:20,167
their thoughts or Jesus
knew their heart.

849
00:47:20,208 --> 00:47:22,000
He knows what's going on.

850
00:47:22,083 --> 00:47:24,833
He knows if this guy
goes back, he's never,

851
00:47:24,875 --> 00:47:27,917
he's never gonna
move forward.

852
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:29,958
I get this all the time
at Mars Hill.

853
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:31,583
You know a gal will come up.

854
00:47:31,667 --> 00:47:33,875
"Oh Pastor Mark, I'm thinking
about becoming a Christian,

855
00:47:33,958 --> 00:47:37,500
"but, you know, my boyfriend who's living
with me and sleeping with me

856
00:47:37,542 --> 00:47:39,083
"and eating my food,
watching my television.

857
00:47:39,167 --> 00:47:42,417
You know, before I commit,
I want to go home and talk to him."

858
00:47:42,500 --> 00:47:44,333
"No! No! No!

859
00:47:44,417 --> 00:47:50,625
"Don't talk to him.
He's not helpful at all, at all.

860
00:47:50,667 --> 00:47:52,333
"Don't go back and talk to him.

861
00:47:52,417 --> 00:47:54,167
"You don't make this
decision together.

862
00:47:54,250 --> 00:47:57,000
"We'll never see you again.
He's gonna talk you out of it.

863
00:47:57,042 --> 00:47:59,167
No."

864
00:47:59,208 --> 00:48:01,250
See, some of you are
like that, you're like,

865
00:48:01,333 --> 00:48:03,917
"Oh, but before I go forward,
I want to go back."

866
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,292
You know, "I want to go back to
the frat and finish off my year.

867
00:48:07,333 --> 00:48:09,333
"I want to go back
to my buddies

868
00:48:09,375 --> 00:48:11,750
"and go do stupid things
and drink some more.

869
00:48:11,833 --> 00:48:13,833
"I want to go back
to my old lifestyle.

870
00:48:13,875 --> 00:48:15,833
"I want to go back to sleeping
with those people.

871
00:48:15,875 --> 00:48:17,875
"I want to go back
to those proclivities,

872
00:48:17,958 --> 00:48:21,083
"back to that spiritual--I want to
go back for a little bit, hang out

873
00:48:21,167 --> 00:48:23,500
"in that lifestyle and, yeah,
then I'm gonna be

874
00:48:23,542 --> 00:48:24,875
a fully devoted follower of Jesus."

875
00:48:24,958 --> 00:48:26,875
"No, don't go back,
you'll never go forward."

876
00:48:26,958 --> 00:48:30,167
J.C. Ryle, he was an Anglican bishop
in the 19th century, said,

877
00:48:30,250 --> 00:48:35,000
"Those who look back
want to go back."

878
00:48:35,083 --> 00:48:39,167
That's right. See, it's not a problem
to look back at your life and say,

879
00:48:39,208 --> 00:48:40,708
"Boy, that was a wreck.

880
00:48:40,792 --> 00:48:43,458
"Wish I wouldn't have done that.
There's something to repent of.

881
00:48:43,500 --> 00:48:45,000
I need to learn from that."

882
00:48:45,083 --> 00:48:46,875
That's an evaluation of your life.

883
00:48:46,958 --> 00:48:48,708
This is looking back with longing.

884
00:48:48,792 --> 00:48:52,167
This is revisionist history.

885
00:48:52,250 --> 00:48:54,333
This is what the Israelites did.

886
00:48:54,417 --> 00:48:57,917
They were in bondage and slavery
in Egypt to Pharaoh

887
00:48:58,000 --> 00:48:59,500
who thought he was God.

888
00:48:59,583 --> 00:49:03,792
For 440 years he tormented them,
he beat them, he killed them.

889
00:49:03,833 --> 00:49:06,917
He was bad to them.
God liberated them.

890
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:09,375
They're walking around the desert,
and what do they do?

891
00:49:09,458 --> 00:49:10,792
Complain.

892
00:49:10,833 --> 00:49:12,875
"Ah, you remember the
good ole days in Egypt?"

893
00:49:12,958 --> 00:49:16,000
"Yeah, Egypt rocked.
I miss Egypt."

894
00:49:16,083 --> 00:49:22,083
"Really? You were a slave!
You were a slave."

895
00:49:22,167 --> 00:49:24,333
"Yeah, but at least
we had food to eat."

896
00:49:24,375 --> 00:49:28,917
Oh, gosh, but see, we laugh,
but then we're like that.

897
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:31,333
Some of you, you're like,
"Oh, yeah, I'm a Christian,

898
00:49:31,375 --> 00:49:33,375
but man, remember high school?"

899
00:49:33,458 --> 00:49:35,375
Really?
Really?

900
00:49:35,458 --> 00:49:37,167
Really?

901
00:49:37,208 --> 00:49:40,708
"Oh, high school was awesome."
Really?

902
00:49:40,792 --> 00:49:43,208
"Remember, oh, man,
remember college?

903
00:49:43,292 --> 00:49:44,875
College was great."

904
00:49:44,958 --> 00:49:49,167
Ask your liver, was it that great?
Was it that great?

905
00:49:49,250 --> 00:49:54,333
See, we tend to romanticize and perform
revisionist history on the past.

906
00:49:54,417 --> 00:49:57,125
"Oh, it was awesome."

907
00:49:57,167 --> 00:50:00,833
Jesus is saying, "Don't look
back like that,"

908
00:50:00,917 --> 00:50:06,000
because what happens
is you're gonna ruin your life.

909
00:50:06,083 --> 00:50:08,833
You're gonna ruin your life,
and he uses this analogy of plowing,

910
00:50:08,875 --> 00:50:11,375
and I love this analogy.

911
00:50:11,458 --> 00:50:13,625
Let me tell you
what Jesus is doing.

912
00:50:13,667 --> 00:50:16,208
Jesus is plowing
his row, all right?

913
00:50:16,292 --> 00:50:19,375
Even geographically from Galilee
through Samaria all the way

914
00:50:19,458 --> 00:50:22,750
to Jerusalem right to the cross,
here's what Jesus has done.

915
00:50:22,833 --> 00:50:25,958
That's his row to plow,
so he uses this analogy.

916
00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:28,167
Jesus has got his
hand on the plow.

917
00:50:28,208 --> 00:50:31,833
He's got his face set toward
Jerusalem, that's what we read,

918
00:50:31,875 --> 00:50:34,583
and he is just pressing
forward to the cross.

919
00:50:34,667 --> 00:50:37,083
He's not looking back.

920
00:50:37,167 --> 00:50:39,708
He's not saying, "Boy, I remember
when my life was easier.

921
00:50:39,792 --> 00:50:41,333
"I remember when
I didn't get criticized.

922
00:50:41,417 --> 00:50:43,708
"I remember before I started
preaching and teaching publically

923
00:50:43,792 --> 00:50:46,208
and casting out demons,
boy, the good ole days."

924
00:50:46,292 --> 00:50:50,750
He doesn't look back at all.
It's forward to the cross.

925
00:50:50,833 --> 00:50:56,417
And Jesus plows his row in
a straight line, and he picks up

926
00:50:56,500 --> 00:51:01,167
this analogy and he says,
"Your life is like a field, and God has

927
00:51:01,208 --> 00:51:05,958
"apportioned to you a row to plow.

928
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,333
"And you need to put your hand on
the plow, and you need to set

929
00:51:09,417 --> 00:51:13,000
"your eyes toward the New Jerusalem
that will be coming down out of heaven,

930
00:51:13,042 --> 00:51:16,667
"the one the ascended Jesus is
preparing for us right now.

931
00:51:16,750 --> 00:51:20,083
"And just like he plowed a straight
line right into Jerusalem,

932
00:51:20,167 --> 00:51:22,833
"we need to plow a straight line
right into the New Jerusalem,

933
00:51:22,875 --> 00:51:24,875
"and not be looking back.

934
00:51:24,958 --> 00:51:28,417
"Eyes forward, hands on the plow,
feet always moving, working hard,

935
00:51:28,500 --> 00:51:31,792
doing our best till we
see him face-to-face."

936
00:51:31,833 --> 00:51:35,667
And what he says is,
"If you don't do that,

937
00:51:35,750 --> 00:51:37,833
"you'll take your hand off the plow.

938
00:51:37,875 --> 00:51:40,583
You'll stop plowing
or you'll look back."

939
00:51:40,667 --> 00:51:46,250
What he says is, "You can't plow
a straight row looking back, you can't."

940
00:51:46,333 --> 00:51:49,292
It's a great analogy.

941
00:51:49,333 --> 00:51:51,042
"Well, I could have
married that person.

942
00:51:51,125 --> 00:51:53,625
"I could have done that.
Boy, I could have had that.

943
00:51:53,667 --> 00:51:57,000
"I could have enjoyed that.
No more getting drunk, oh boy.

944
00:51:57,083 --> 00:52:00,125
"I gotta give up my gambling addiction,
dang it.

945
00:52:00,167 --> 00:52:02,583
"I can't be selfish.
Oh.

946
00:52:02,667 --> 00:52:06,000
"Wow, they're attractive.
Dang it.

947
00:52:07,958 --> 00:52:14,500
I could have--if I lied, or
cheated, or stole, or man,"

948
00:52:14,583 --> 00:52:17,792
and you're double minded,
and you're conflicted.

949
00:52:17,833 --> 00:52:20,250
And some of you feel
that in your soul.

950
00:52:20,333 --> 00:52:22,875
It's like, "Okay, Jesus,
I got my hand on the plow.

951
00:52:22,958 --> 00:52:26,542
Oh, wait a minute,
I'm not sure."

952
00:52:26,625 --> 00:52:30,708
Then you look at your life,
and it's all crooked row.

953
00:52:30,792 --> 00:52:34,875
It'd be like today--don't do this,
but it'd be like braving home saying,

954
00:52:34,958 --> 00:52:38,417
"Okay, I'm gonna drive home
looking over my shoulder,

955
00:52:38,500 --> 00:52:42,625
just to see if this principle
is timeless."

956
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,875
And as the air bag deploys
and Jesus shakes his head at you,

957
00:52:46,958 --> 00:52:51,583
'cause you'll meet him face-to-face,
you'll realize, "Yes,

958
00:52:51,667 --> 00:52:53,500
"this is a timeless principle.

959
00:52:53,583 --> 00:52:59,500
I can't go straight and forward while
looking backward," can't do it.

960
00:52:59,583 --> 00:53:04,083
What are you looking back
at, regretfully, mournfully?

961
00:53:04,167 --> 00:53:08,000
What do you feel like in your life would
be better if it weren't for Jesus?

962
00:53:08,083 --> 00:53:10,792
What do you feel like Jesus
is withholding from you,

963
00:53:10,833 --> 00:53:15,875
not granting to you?

964
00:53:15,958 --> 00:53:20,500
You can feel that silence
in the soul, can't you?

965
00:53:20,583 --> 00:53:24,500
"Yeah, I do think I would have
that were it not for Jesus,

966
00:53:24,583 --> 00:53:27,292
and sometimes I want
to go back."

967
00:53:27,333 --> 00:53:30,375
He says, "No.
It's all a mirage.

968
00:53:30,458 --> 00:53:33,792
It's all an illusion.
It's all a lie."

969
00:53:33,833 --> 00:53:37,458
Feet moving, eyes forward,
hand on the plow.

970
00:53:37,500 --> 00:53:39,292
Keep your row straight.

971
00:53:39,333 --> 00:53:41,500
If you want to have
any harvest in your life,

972
00:53:41,583 --> 00:53:43,875
if you want to have
any fruitfulness in your life,

973
00:53:43,958 --> 00:53:46,042
you want your life
to count for God.

974
00:53:46,125 --> 00:53:51,333
You want to live a life with no regrets,
plow a straight row.

975
00:53:51,417 --> 00:53:56,208
And I'll close with this, and
I think this is interesting.

976
00:53:56,292 --> 00:53:59,208
We don't know what these men did.
We don't know.

977
00:53:59,292 --> 00:54:02,083
It doesn't tell us what they did.

978
00:54:02,167 --> 00:54:05,833
Did they choose their tribe,
their comfort, their security,

979
00:54:05,875 --> 00:54:07,458
or their past over Jesus?

980
00:54:07,500 --> 00:54:08,792
We don't know.

981
00:54:08,833 --> 00:54:12,000
It's as if Luke leaves
this question hanging,

982
00:54:12,042 --> 00:54:14,500
and we have to answer it
for ourselves.

983
00:54:14,583 --> 00:54:20,583
"Will I follow Jesus first, right now,
no looking back, or not?"

984
00:54:20,667 --> 00:54:22,917
That's the question for you and I.

985
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,875
For some of you that means you're
gonna become a Christian today

986
00:54:25,958 --> 00:54:27,708
and follow Jesus.

987
00:54:27,792 --> 00:54:29,917
This is that day for you.

988
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:35,625
For others of you, you realize
"My life is just a crooked row.

989
00:54:35,667 --> 00:54:39,417
"I push for a while, and look back,
and then push a little more,

990
00:54:39,500 --> 00:54:43,000
"and it's real crooked, and it's time
to really be wholeheartedly,

991
00:54:43,083 --> 00:54:46,500
"fully, by the grace of God,
through the power of the Holy Spirit,

992
00:54:46,583 --> 00:54:50,542
"devoted to following Jesus,
wherever he takes me,

993
00:54:50,625 --> 00:54:53,167
whatever that means."

994
00:54:53,250 --> 00:54:56,000
And in the providence of God,

995
00:54:56,042 --> 00:55:01,792
I want to share with you
why I'm really filled with joy today.

996
00:55:01,833 --> 00:55:07,375
Gracie said that, she said,
"You're very happy today."

997
00:55:07,458 --> 00:55:10,500
I really am.

998
00:55:10,583 --> 00:55:16,458
In the grace of God, I woke up today
just overwhelmed

999
00:55:16,500 --> 00:55:20,417
by the fruitfulness that surrounds me.

1000
00:55:20,500 --> 00:55:23,000
Just really in awe.

1001
00:55:23,333 --> 00:55:26,833
It's like my eyes opened up,
and all the evidences of God's grace,

1002
00:55:26,917 --> 00:55:32,167
and all of the fruit of the
life that he's given me to enjoy.

1003
00:55:32,250 --> 00:55:36,917
And I don't say this in a boastful way,
and I'm not without sin,

1004
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:40,125
and there's not times that I have
made my row crooked and God,

1005
00:55:40,167 --> 00:55:42,958
in his grace, has gotten
me back on course.

1006
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:47,750
But for me, that day came 20 years ago,
the day that I realized,

1007
00:55:47,833 --> 00:55:51,250
I belong to Jesus now,
and I'm gonna read my Bible.

1008
00:55:51,333 --> 00:55:52,917
I'm gonna pray.

1009
00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:55,250
I'm gonna repent of sin.
I'm gonna go to church.

1010
00:55:55,333 --> 00:55:57,000
I'm gonna be under
spiritual authority.

1011
00:55:57,042 --> 00:55:59,458
I'm gonna be in Christian community,

1012
00:55:59,500 --> 00:56:02,667
and I hope you hear this humbly,

1013
00:56:02,750 --> 00:56:06,250
by the grace of God,
I'd never look back.

1014
00:56:06,333 --> 00:56:09,500
My wife would tell you,
she's known me since I was 17.

1015
00:56:09,542 --> 00:56:12,542
I got converted at 19.
I've never backslid, never.

1016
00:56:12,625 --> 00:56:16,000
I've always read my Bible.
I've always studied.

1017
00:56:16,083 --> 00:56:21,208
I've always went to church
since I devoted myself to Jesus.

1018
00:56:21,292 --> 00:56:24,958
There's never been
a day that I didn't.

1019
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:28,625
Have I been perfect in that?
No, no, no, not at all.

1020
00:56:28,667 --> 00:56:32,500
But to say that 20 years later,
by the grace of God,

1021
00:56:32,583 --> 00:56:38,500
trying to plow one straight row
till I see Jesus, it works.

1022
00:56:38,583 --> 00:56:40,667
There's a harvest.
There's fruitfulness.

1023
00:56:40,750 --> 00:56:42,833
Good things happen.

1024
00:56:42,875 --> 00:56:45,833
And in the kindness of God,
I get to preach this sermon today.

1025
00:56:45,875 --> 00:56:47,833
It's one of the reasons
I'm so happy.

1026
00:56:47,917 --> 00:56:51,500
It was 18 years ago
today that I married Gracie.

1027
00:56:51,542 --> 00:56:55,542
This is our anniversary day.
It's our anniversary day.

1028
00:56:58,750 --> 00:57:02,667
And I knew that she loved Jesus,
and she wanted to follow Jesus,

1029
00:57:02,750 --> 00:57:05,667
and she and I both
wanted Jesus to be first.

1030
00:57:05,750 --> 00:57:08,833
Last thing I needed was
a woman who would put me first.

1031
00:57:08,875 --> 00:57:10,583
We'd have all kinds of problems.

1032
00:57:10,667 --> 00:57:13,292
I knew for her Jesus was first,
so I asked her,

1033
00:57:13,333 --> 00:57:15,167
I didn't ask her in this way,

1034
00:57:15,208 --> 00:57:18,083
but, you know, "Do you want
to put your hand on my plow?"

1035
00:57:18,167 --> 00:57:20,875
I wouldn't have said it like that,
it's not the most romantic.

1036
00:57:20,958 --> 00:57:24,000
It's not the most romantic,
but you know, "I gotta plow this row.

1037
00:57:24,083 --> 00:57:27,833
"You want to plow this row with me,
and put your hand on my plow,

1038
00:57:27,875 --> 00:57:29,542
and we keep our eyes
forward together?"

1039
00:57:29,625 --> 00:57:31,833
And that's what we've
been doing for 18 years.

1040
00:57:31,917 --> 00:57:34,833
There's Gracie and I
18 years ago today.

1041
00:57:34,917 --> 00:57:38,000
For those of you guys, yes.

1042
00:57:38,042 --> 00:57:41,417
For you men who are like, "I don't
know if I have the capacity

1043
00:57:41,500 --> 00:57:45,542
to attract a sweet glorious woman,"
there's hope for you.

1044
00:57:45,625 --> 00:57:48,500
Look, look at me, look at her.

1045
00:57:48,542 --> 00:57:52,917
You realize, I got the good end
of that deal for sure.

1046
00:57:53,792 --> 00:57:58,042
God answers prayer, and he still
does miracles. There it is.

1047
00:57:58,125 --> 00:58:03,000
And for 18 years, Grace and I have been
trying to plow our rows straight,

1048
00:58:03,083 --> 00:58:04,958
and we've been faithful
to one another.

1049
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:07,875
And we've worked through sin,
and we do love each other,

1050
00:58:07,958 --> 00:58:10,542
and we're happy, and we've been
totally faithful to each other;

1051
00:58:10,625 --> 00:58:13,792
physically, emotionally,
the whole deal, everything.

1052
00:58:13,833 --> 00:58:15,917
We're happier than
we've ever been.

1053
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:17,500
I love her.
I adore her.

1054
00:58:17,583 --> 00:58:20,542
We have problems,
usually I cause them,

1055
00:58:20,625 --> 00:58:22,875
but by the grace of God,
we get through them.

1056
00:58:22,958 --> 00:58:25,542
It was 14 years ago that
Mars Hill Church started.

1057
00:58:25,625 --> 00:58:28,000
We had the core group,
and we're getting ready to launch,

1058
00:58:28,042 --> 00:58:31,667
and since then it's just been okay,
eyes forward, hands on the plow.

1059
00:58:31,750 --> 00:58:36,000
Try to keep this a straight row,
and all this fruitfulness.

1060
00:58:36,042 --> 00:58:40,042
Thirteen years ago, Ms. Ashley was born,
my sweetie pie, my oldest daughter,

1061
00:58:40,125 --> 00:58:43,167
and we got to enter into
the season of parenthood,

1062
00:58:43,208 --> 00:58:45,833
and we have five beautiful kids.

1063
00:58:45,875 --> 00:58:52,375
And I can tell ya, life with Jesus is
not the easiest, but it is the best.

1064
00:58:52,458 --> 00:58:54,708
And if by the grace of God,

1065
00:58:54,792 --> 00:59:00,708
you're willing to receive Jesus
in first position,

1066
00:59:00,792 --> 00:59:04,750
which is truly who he is
and what he deserves, he's God,

1067
00:59:04,833 --> 00:59:09,042
and to put your hand to the plow,
and to work hard,

1068
00:59:09,125 --> 00:59:14,500
and to plow a straight line
of holiness and obedience

1069
00:59:14,583 --> 00:59:17,167
and humility and repentance

1070
00:59:17,208 --> 00:59:22,500
without looking back, there's
a harvest of fruitfulness.

1071
00:59:22,583 --> 00:59:26,625
And there's no regrets at all,
and it's the best life there is,

1072
00:59:26,667 --> 00:59:28,833
and I want that for all of you.

1073
00:59:28,917 --> 00:59:32,667
So I hope that this
is that day for you.

1074
00:59:32,750 --> 00:59:36,125
Father God, I thank
you on this great day.

1075
00:59:36,167 --> 00:59:41,208
I thank you that 18 years ago today,
you entrusted to me a woman

1076
00:59:41,292 --> 00:59:46,292
that I absolutely
adore and I enjoy.

1077
00:59:46,333 --> 00:59:52,292
I thank you, Lord, that in our marriage,
she has you first and me second,

1078
00:59:52,333 --> 00:59:56,667
that she has
her priorities in order,

1079
00:59:56,750 --> 01:00:00,000
and that God you have saved us
from ourselves.

1080
01:00:00,042 --> 01:00:06,125
I know that apart from you, my life
would be one really cooked row

1081
01:00:06,167 --> 01:00:09,917
with little fruit, all of it bad.

1082
01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:15,875
But because of your grace and your mercy,
the row is much straighter

1083
01:00:15,958 --> 01:00:19,083
than it would have been,
the harvest is much greater

1084
01:00:19,167 --> 01:00:21,833
than it would have been,
and the fruit is much sweeter

1085
01:00:21,917 --> 01:00:23,792
than it would have been.

1086
01:00:23,833 --> 01:00:25,667
I pray that for my
friends, Lord God.

1087
01:00:25,750 --> 01:00:29,083
I pray that it would not be
a commitment to their tribe,

1088
01:00:29,167 --> 01:00:33,667
a commitment to their comfort,
a commitment to their security,

1089
01:00:33,708 --> 01:00:38,542
or a commitment to their past, but
it would be a commitment to you,

1090
01:00:38,625 --> 01:00:40,792
Lord Jesus, that would mark
their future.

1091
01:00:40,833 --> 01:00:44,833
And I ask for this grace upon my friends
in your good name, Amen.