1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 2 00:00:05,083 --> 00:00:10,083 [music] 3 00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:33,125 Our eternal life does not begin on the day we die, 4 00:00:33,167 --> 00:00:35,875 rather it begins on the day that we meet Jesus 5 00:00:35,958 --> 00:00:39,125 and it alters the course of our life. 6 00:00:39,167 --> 00:00:43,000 It then ushers us through this life into something called 7 00:00:43,042 --> 00:00:45,125 the kingdom of God. 8 00:00:45,167 --> 00:00:47,708 Ultimately, that's our eternal destination according to 9 00:00:47,792 --> 00:00:49,792 the teaching of the Bible. 10 00:00:49,833 --> 00:00:54,000 And today in Luke 17:20-37, Jesus is addressing the issue of 11 00:00:54,083 --> 00:00:57,292 the coming of the kingdom of God. 12 00:00:57,333 --> 00:00:59,625 And it's a big idea that's predominant and prevalent 13 00:00:59,667 --> 00:01:01,667 throughout much of the Scriptures. 14 00:01:01,750 --> 00:01:05,000 And lots of people debate over how Jesus is going to come back 15 00:01:05,083 --> 00:01:07,708 and when Jesus is going to come back and exactly how 16 00:01:07,792 --> 00:01:09,125 the details will play out. 17 00:01:09,167 --> 00:01:12,167 And lots of arguments rage about the nature and essence 18 00:01:12,250 --> 00:01:14,667 and details of the kingdom of God. 19 00:01:14,750 --> 00:01:18,167 And so I thought it might be helpful to make it a little bit 20 00:01:18,250 --> 00:01:22,083 more practical and introduce you to my newest friend, 21 00:01:22,167 --> 00:01:25,167 somebody I had the privilege and honor of meeting yesterday and 22 00:01:25,250 --> 00:01:28,500 looking at the kingdom of God in the life of one little girl. 23 00:01:28,583 --> 00:01:31,500 Her name is, fantastically enough, Ella Mae, 24 00:01:31,583 --> 00:01:33,708 best name ever. 25 00:01:33,792 --> 00:01:37,417 My son, Zachariah Blaise Driscoll, buddy Zac, 26 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:40,833 had a baseball tournament yesterday in eastern Washington 27 00:01:40,875 --> 00:01:42,375 over in Wenatchee. 28 00:01:42,458 --> 00:01:44,208 So buddy Zac and I drove over 29 00:01:44,292 --> 00:01:46,792 and while hanging out at the baseball fields watching him, 30 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:50,500 the Acts 29 church planter from that town came to visit 31 00:01:50,583 --> 00:01:52,833 and hang out for the course of the day. 32 00:01:52,875 --> 00:01:55,583 Great guy, wonderful guy with a great church. 33 00:01:55,667 --> 00:01:58,833 And if you're new, the Acts 29 Network 34 00:01:58,875 --> 00:02:00,333 is our church-planting network. 35 00:02:00,375 --> 00:02:04,500 We give 20--10%, rather, of all of our dollars to Acts 29 36 00:02:04,583 --> 00:02:06,125 and we help plant churches. 37 00:02:06,167 --> 00:02:08,667 So there are 400 Acts 29 churches in the U.S., 38 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:12,083 500 potential church planters being assessed continually, 39 00:02:12,167 --> 00:02:14,875 and we love church planting. 40 00:02:14,958 --> 00:02:18,083 And so this young man came to hang out for the day 41 00:02:18,167 --> 00:02:22,208 and he brought his daughter, Ella Mae. 42 00:02:22,292 --> 00:02:26,125 And she's about 5 years old and brown hair, big eyes. 43 00:02:26,167 --> 00:02:27,875 She's really smart. 44 00:02:27,958 --> 00:02:31,667 She's hilariously funny and exceedingly cute. 45 00:02:31,750 --> 00:02:35,125 And if the guys have got the photo, I'll show her to you. 46 00:02:35,167 --> 00:02:37,125 I snapped this on my iPhone. 47 00:02:37,167 --> 00:02:39,125 As you can see, she's got a walker 48 00:02:39,167 --> 00:02:40,875 because she has spina bifida. 49 00:02:40,958 --> 00:02:44,208 And I'm not an expert on this by any stretch of the imagination, 50 00:02:44,292 --> 00:02:46,417 but as I understand it, that means her spine 51 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:48,208 is external to her body. 52 00:02:48,292 --> 00:02:50,875 There are some serious biological, 53 00:02:50,958 --> 00:02:54,833 neurological complications and implications for her condition. 54 00:02:54,875 --> 00:02:58,333 The lifespan is into the teens or 20s. 55 00:02:58,375 --> 00:03:02,708 I guess in part because a lot of fluid collects in the brain. 56 00:03:02,792 --> 00:03:04,833 She showed us over dinner last night 57 00:03:04,875 --> 00:03:07,000 as we were eating chips and salsa 58 00:03:07,083 --> 00:03:12,500 that she had a shunt put in with a drainage cord 59 00:03:12,583 --> 00:03:14,500 that goes down her neck. 60 00:03:14,583 --> 00:03:16,333 Her daddy, with tears in his eyes, 61 00:03:16,375 --> 00:03:19,083 explained that that will perhaps extend her life course 62 00:03:19,167 --> 00:03:21,167 into her 30s if Jesus doesn't heal her, 63 00:03:21,250 --> 00:03:23,500 something that we're praying for. 64 00:03:23,583 --> 00:03:26,000 When I first met her, she had her little walker 65 00:03:26,042 --> 00:03:27,833 and was at the little league field 66 00:03:27,875 --> 00:03:30,125 and she's just really fun and really cute. 67 00:03:30,167 --> 00:03:32,625 And I noticed she had a brace on one leg 68 00:03:32,667 --> 00:03:34,833 and she had a pink cast on the other. 69 00:03:34,875 --> 00:03:38,125 And she has no functionality below the waist, 70 00:03:38,167 --> 00:03:41,000 so bowel movements, standing up, walking, 71 00:03:41,083 --> 00:03:43,500 is not possible for her. 72 00:03:43,542 --> 00:03:46,500 But she's the most happy, conversant, 73 00:03:46,542 --> 00:03:49,167 pleasant little girl you could ever meet. 74 00:03:49,250 --> 00:03:51,333 And I wanted to buy her candy. 75 00:03:51,375 --> 00:03:54,333 So I got down on one knee, 76 00:03:54,375 --> 00:03:56,208 "Ella Mae, my name is Pastor Mark." 77 00:03:56,292 --> 00:03:59,333 And she said, "Pastor Mark, you are more handsome in person 78 00:03:59,375 --> 00:04:03,500 than you are on the computer." 79 00:04:03,583 --> 00:04:08,375 So she has the spiritual gift of discernment, obviously. 80 00:04:08,458 --> 00:04:12,083 And I looked at her, I said, "You need candy." 81 00:04:12,167 --> 00:04:15,917 So I picked her up and I carried her over to the snack shack 82 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,708 and gave her some money and we got her some candy. 83 00:04:18,792 --> 00:04:20,708 And I just got to visit with her 84 00:04:20,792 --> 00:04:22,583 and she is a wonderful little girl. 85 00:04:22,667 --> 00:04:26,208 And now what's interesting about Ella Mae is that 86 00:04:26,292 --> 00:04:30,208 she's already experienced the kingdom of God. 87 00:04:30,292 --> 00:04:32,708 The theologians, when they talk about the kingdom of God, 88 00:04:32,792 --> 00:04:34,708 they'll talk about the already but not yet. 89 00:04:34,792 --> 00:04:36,500 That the kingdom of God is started, 90 00:04:36,583 --> 00:04:38,625 but it's not yet concluded. 91 00:04:38,667 --> 00:04:42,333 It's in process, but it's not fully done. 92 00:04:42,375 --> 00:04:44,417 And she's experienced the kingdom of God. 93 00:04:44,500 --> 00:04:47,000 Ella Mae's a Christian, she loves Jesus. 94 00:04:47,083 --> 00:04:49,917 She's been born again, she has a new heart, 95 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,708 the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit radiates joy 96 00:04:52,792 --> 00:04:55,667 through her in a remarkable way. 97 00:04:55,750 --> 00:04:57,500 Her countenance and her disposition 98 00:04:57,583 --> 00:04:59,167 is a compelling sermon. 99 00:04:59,250 --> 00:05:02,208 Buddy Zac and I took her and her family out to dinner 100 00:05:02,292 --> 00:05:06,333 last night and afterward I asked Zac a question that I ask 101 00:05:06,375 --> 00:05:09,917 my kids a lot, "So what did you learn today?" 102 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,000 And buddy Zac said, "I learned that if you love Jesus, 103 00:05:14,083 --> 00:05:17,708 "you don't have to be bitter even if your life is hard. 104 00:05:17,792 --> 00:05:19,500 You can still have joy." 105 00:05:19,583 --> 00:05:22,292 Now that's a great lesson for an 11-year-old boy to observe 106 00:05:22,333 --> 00:05:23,708 from a 5-year-old girl. 107 00:05:23,792 --> 00:05:25,125 And he really liked her. 108 00:05:25,167 --> 00:05:27,000 She told him, "Zac, you're very cool." 109 00:05:27,083 --> 00:05:31,000 So Zac thinks she's pretty awesome too. 110 00:05:31,083 --> 00:05:33,708 And it was interesting as we were having dinner with her, 111 00:05:33,792 --> 00:05:37,000 you can see that the kingdom of God has begun in her life, 112 00:05:37,083 --> 00:05:39,000 her sins are forgiven, she belongs to Jesus, 113 00:05:39,042 --> 00:05:40,500 she's filled with the Holy Spirit, 114 00:05:40,542 --> 00:05:42,208 she has a daddy who's a pastor. 115 00:05:42,292 --> 00:05:45,625 And he absolutely adores and loves her. 116 00:05:45,667 --> 00:05:48,125 And in the providence of God, she has a wonderful, 117 00:05:48,167 --> 00:05:51,417 believing mother who's a nurse by trade. 118 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:54,417 And so she has the best physical and spiritual care that perhaps 119 00:05:54,500 --> 00:05:57,625 a little girl in her condition can have. 120 00:05:57,667 --> 00:05:59,500 And as we walked into the restaurant, 121 00:05:59,583 --> 00:06:01,500 I noticed that everyone came to her. 122 00:06:01,583 --> 00:06:04,875 She knew all of the workers, all of the servers, and the owner. 123 00:06:04,958 --> 00:06:07,417 And she, with her walker, would put it out, 124 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:10,000 and then drag her legs along because they're not functional. 125 00:06:10,042 --> 00:06:13,375 She holds herself up by her arms and then reach up with one hand 126 00:06:13,458 --> 00:06:15,875 and hug everyone and greet them. 127 00:06:15,958 --> 00:06:17,917 She's a citizen of the kingdom of God, 128 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,917 she's a servant of the kingdom of God, 129 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,917 and she brings the presence of the kingdom of God with her. 130 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,500 She's lovely. 131 00:06:25,542 --> 00:06:29,500 And she's still waiting, though, for the conclusion 132 00:06:29,583 --> 00:06:32,708 of the kingdom of God. 133 00:06:32,792 --> 00:06:38,583 That one day she, like you and I, will die. 134 00:06:38,667 --> 00:06:41,625 And her body, your body, my body, 135 00:06:41,667 --> 00:06:45,333 will go into the ground and our soul will go to be with the Lord 136 00:06:45,375 --> 00:06:47,167 in a place called heaven. 137 00:06:47,250 --> 00:06:48,708 We don't reside there forever. 138 00:06:48,792 --> 00:06:51,208 There is a day upon the second coming of Jesus, 139 00:06:51,292 --> 00:06:54,292 the return of our King, when our body and soul reunite 140 00:06:54,333 --> 00:06:56,125 and as Jesus resurrected from death, 141 00:06:56,167 --> 00:06:59,958 so we too rise in a new body to live on a new earth, 142 00:07:00,083 --> 00:07:02,625 free of sin and all its effects. 143 00:07:02,667 --> 00:07:04,625 Just like Jesus rose. 144 00:07:04,667 --> 00:07:07,625 And that will be the culmination of the kingdom of God and 145 00:07:07,667 --> 00:07:10,125 that'll be the final experience of the children of God, 146 00:07:10,167 --> 00:07:12,125 including Ella Mae. 147 00:07:12,167 --> 00:07:14,625 So the kingdom of God has begun in her life 148 00:07:14,667 --> 00:07:17,167 and there is still more to come. 149 00:07:17,250 --> 00:07:19,500 And in the meantime, she's journeying, 150 00:07:19,542 --> 00:07:23,917 she's venturing toward the kingdom of God. 151 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,167 And she has trials and tests, as we all do, along the way. 152 00:07:27,250 --> 00:07:29,417 The most recent was not long ago. 153 00:07:29,500 --> 00:07:32,667 Her daddy, with tears in his eyes, explained that--she said, 154 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:34,792 "Daddy, my hands are very tingly," 155 00:07:34,833 --> 00:07:37,500 and then all of a sudden, they became paralyzed. 156 00:07:37,583 --> 00:07:40,417 "And Daddy, my arms are very tingly." 157 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:43,000 And they became paralyzed. 158 00:07:43,083 --> 00:07:45,000 She's already paralyzed from the waist down, 159 00:07:45,083 --> 00:07:47,333 and now she's having neurological complications 160 00:07:47,375 --> 00:07:49,792 from her spine that are causing her arms 161 00:07:49,833 --> 00:07:51,625 to become paralyzed as well. 162 00:07:51,667 --> 00:07:54,500 Well, her daddy, obviously terrified, 163 00:07:54,583 --> 00:07:57,208 put her in the truck and made the almost 3-hour drive 164 00:07:57,292 --> 00:07:59,958 to Seattle in an hour and 20 minutes to get her 165 00:08:00,083 --> 00:08:01,917 to Children's Hospital, 166 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,125 where they performed an emergency surgery on her. 167 00:08:05,167 --> 00:08:07,917 And she reported to me, she was telling me the story. 168 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,500 She came around to sit near me, which was my day's highlight. 169 00:08:12,583 --> 00:08:14,333 I said, "Well, what did you do?" 170 00:08:14,375 --> 00:08:16,208 She said, "I was very scared." 171 00:08:16,292 --> 00:08:19,208 "But then when they did the surgery," she said, "I woke up, 172 00:08:19,292 --> 00:08:22,208 "I could move my hands so the first thing I did is 173 00:08:22,292 --> 00:08:24,000 "I stretched them out and I said, 174 00:08:24,042 --> 00:08:26,500 'Praise the Lord,'" as an act of worship. 175 00:08:26,542 --> 00:08:28,208 That's Ella Mae. 176 00:08:28,292 --> 00:08:31,917 And so as we were visiting last night over Mexican food, 177 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,208 she started telling me that one day she plans 178 00:08:34,292 --> 00:08:36,625 on being a ballerina. 179 00:08:36,667 --> 00:08:39,875 A ballerina. 180 00:08:39,958 --> 00:08:44,208 Now God could heal her in this life, but no matter what, 181 00:08:44,292 --> 00:08:47,125 in the kingdom of God, upon the resurrection of the dead 182 00:08:47,167 --> 00:08:49,292 and the full healing of the body, 183 00:08:49,333 --> 00:08:52,583 Ella Mae is going to be a ballerina. 184 00:08:52,667 --> 00:08:55,000 See, that's the full unveiling of the kingdom of God. 185 00:08:55,083 --> 00:08:57,292 And I already asked Jesus, "Can I please have 186 00:08:57,333 --> 00:08:58,708 "a front-row ticket? 187 00:08:58,792 --> 00:09:01,917 I want to see Ella Mae dance for the first time." 188 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,792 And as a further evidence of the kingdom of God, 189 00:09:04,833 --> 00:09:06,708 in telling that story today, 190 00:09:06,792 --> 00:09:09,583 a gal at Mars Hill who loves Jesus 191 00:09:09,667 --> 00:09:12,083 and is a ballet dancer for the Pacific Northwest Ballet 192 00:09:12,167 --> 00:09:15,125 said, "Next time Ella Mae is in town for a surgery," 193 00:09:15,167 --> 00:09:17,000 which will be shortly, 194 00:09:17,042 --> 00:09:19,208 "we'd love to have her come to the ballet 195 00:09:19,292 --> 00:09:20,625 and meet all the ballerinas." 196 00:09:20,667 --> 00:09:22,833 So that's going to be her little treat. 197 00:09:22,875 --> 00:09:25,500 Ella Mae is one story of one little girl who's wonderful. 198 00:09:25,583 --> 00:09:28,500 She has Jesus as her King, she's a citizen of the kingdom, 199 00:09:28,583 --> 00:09:31,292 she's on a kingdom mission to share the love of Jesus. 200 00:09:31,333 --> 00:09:34,583 She's experienced the kingdom of God already, 201 00:09:34,667 --> 00:09:38,000 but it's not yet completed in her life. 202 00:09:38,042 --> 00:09:41,167 There will be a day that Ella Mae rises from death 203 00:09:41,250 --> 00:09:44,833 and dances with Jesus as a ballerina. 204 00:09:44,875 --> 00:09:48,708 And it's important for us when we think of the kingdom of God 205 00:09:48,792 --> 00:09:52,500 to think of people whom Jesus loves and lives that he changes 206 00:09:52,583 --> 00:09:55,500 and eternities that he alters. 207 00:09:55,583 --> 00:09:58,625 And sometimes it becomes massive theological conjecture 208 00:09:58,667 --> 00:10:02,583 and speculation, as opposed to the simplicity that when we get 209 00:10:02,667 --> 00:10:05,625 to Jesus, everything's going to be okay. 210 00:10:05,667 --> 00:10:09,333 The world as we know it is going to come to an end and Jesus 211 00:10:09,375 --> 00:10:13,000 is going to remove sin and all of its effects and usher in 212 00:10:13,083 --> 00:10:16,792 a perfect world that never ends, the kingdom of God. 213 00:10:16,833 --> 00:10:19,375 And the kingdom of God starts with a king. 214 00:10:19,458 --> 00:10:22,083 You can't have a kingdom without a king. 215 00:10:22,167 --> 00:10:25,125 You cannot have a kingdom without a king. 216 00:10:25,167 --> 00:10:28,667 And so God's people in the Bible had been told through 217 00:10:28,750 --> 00:10:31,875 the prophets for many generations that God himself 218 00:10:31,958 --> 00:10:34,208 was coming as a king. 219 00:10:34,292 --> 00:10:37,000 So they were waiting with expectation and anticipation for 220 00:10:37,083 --> 00:10:41,083 the coming of a king, someone who would make it all better, 221 00:10:41,167 --> 00:10:46,417 someone who would set aside sin and put down suffering and bring 222 00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:50,625 blessing and life where there's been sadness and sorrow. 223 00:10:50,667 --> 00:10:53,208 And see, when God was done with the world, 224 00:10:53,292 --> 00:10:56,208 he said that everything was very good, and we sinned against God 225 00:10:56,292 --> 00:11:00,917 and as a result, everything has gone very bad. 226 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,583 A president won't fix it, a politician won't fix it. 227 00:11:04,667 --> 00:11:10,000 We need a king, a great, benevolent, generous, kind, 228 00:11:10,083 --> 00:11:15,333 merciful, authoritative, loving, humble king. 229 00:11:15,375 --> 00:11:17,625 That's what the world needs. 230 00:11:17,667 --> 00:11:19,667 And so God's people started getting prophecies 231 00:11:19,750 --> 00:11:23,208 from God's servants about the coming of a king. 232 00:11:23,292 --> 00:11:29,208 And one of the most popular was in Daniel 7:13-14. 233 00:11:29,292 --> 00:11:32,417 And the reason I'm going to share this with you in a moment 234 00:11:32,500 --> 00:11:35,083 is it's very important to the backdrop of our section on 235 00:11:35,167 --> 00:11:40,667 Jesus as king and the kingdom of God in Luke 17:20-37. 236 00:11:40,750 --> 00:11:43,333 In that small section, Jesus refers to himself 237 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:46,333 as the Son of Man four times. 238 00:11:46,375 --> 00:11:51,708 It's an office or a designation that he ascribes to himself. 239 00:11:51,792 --> 00:11:54,500 It's his favorite title and designation. 240 00:11:54,583 --> 00:11:56,667 He refers to himself, the Lord Jesus does, 241 00:11:56,750 --> 00:11:59,583 some 80 times in the 4 gospels-- Mathew, Mark, Luke, 242 00:11:59,667 --> 00:12:02,167 and John--as the Son of Man. 243 00:12:02,250 --> 00:12:04,583 And those who knew the Old Testament knew that 244 00:12:04,667 --> 00:12:08,125 he was lifting language given hundreds of years prior from 245 00:12:08,167 --> 00:12:13,500 Daniel 7:13-14 where we read that Jesus is the king. 246 00:12:13,583 --> 00:12:15,375 Here's what Daniel prophesied. 247 00:12:15,458 --> 00:12:17,708 "I saw in the night visions." 248 00:12:17,792 --> 00:12:19,875 Sometimes God speaks through visions. 249 00:12:19,958 --> 00:12:23,208 He oftentimes, in the Bible, not frequently to everyone, 250 00:12:23,292 --> 00:12:26,125 but to particular leaders, gives them visions. 251 00:12:26,167 --> 00:12:28,833 He gives them knowledge of the future 252 00:12:28,875 --> 00:12:31,625 because God is sovereign over history. 253 00:12:31,667 --> 00:12:35,125 In a few occasions in my life, I've had visions where God 254 00:12:35,167 --> 00:12:39,708 shows me something very specific in the future. 255 00:12:39,792 --> 00:12:42,333 It's not at the level of authority as the Bible. 256 00:12:42,375 --> 00:12:44,500 We don't believe it happens frequently. 257 00:12:44,542 --> 00:12:48,875 But God sometimes just does show us something that 258 00:12:48,958 --> 00:12:51,875 we need to know so that we can prepare for the future. 259 00:12:51,958 --> 00:12:53,708 And he does that here with Daniel. 260 00:12:53,792 --> 00:12:55,500 It's called a vision. 261 00:12:55,542 --> 00:12:58,125 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, 262 00:12:58,167 --> 00:13:02,000 with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man," 263 00:13:02,083 --> 00:13:03,833 right? 264 00:13:03,875 --> 00:13:05,333 Make note of that. 265 00:13:05,375 --> 00:13:07,000 Jesus is going to use that title. 266 00:13:07,083 --> 00:13:10,208 "And he came to the Ancient of Days," that is, God the Father, 267 00:13:10,292 --> 00:13:11,625 "and was presented before him." 268 00:13:11,667 --> 00:13:14,333 And here's all the language of this king and his kingdom. 269 00:13:14,375 --> 00:13:17,125 "And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom," 270 00:13:17,167 --> 00:13:18,917 there it is, "that all peoples," 271 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,500 regardless of nation or race or political persuasion or 272 00:13:22,583 --> 00:13:28,083 sexual orientation or religious predisposition, "all peoples, 273 00:13:28,167 --> 00:13:31,625 "nations, and languages should serve him; 274 00:13:31,667 --> 00:13:34,833 "his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 275 00:13:34,875 --> 00:13:37,333 "which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one 276 00:13:37,375 --> 00:13:40,917 that shall not be destroyed." 277 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,833 Jesus is a king. 278 00:13:43,875 --> 00:13:45,625 He's the King of kings. 279 00:13:45,667 --> 00:13:48,000 And Daniel has a vision where God the Father, 280 00:13:48,042 --> 00:13:52,000 the Ancient of Days, takes one like the Son of Man, 281 00:13:52,083 --> 00:13:55,833 this is Jesus Christ before his birth on earth because he 282 00:13:55,875 --> 00:14:02,000 preexisted eternally as God, and sends him to a sin-fallen, 283 00:14:02,083 --> 00:14:07,333 rebellious world on a kingdom mission as the Son of Man. 284 00:14:07,375 --> 00:14:13,125 God coming as a man into human history on a rescue mission 285 00:14:13,167 --> 00:14:15,333 for his enemies. 286 00:14:15,375 --> 00:14:18,417 And he's coming as a king and he's coming to establish 287 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:21,625 a kingdom that rules over all peoples, times, places, 288 00:14:21,667 --> 00:14:26,500 circumstances, and that his kingdom would never end 289 00:14:26,542 --> 00:14:30,000 and that it would be nothing but good all the time 290 00:14:30,083 --> 00:14:32,333 for all of its citizens. 291 00:14:32,375 --> 00:14:34,833 And it's a big vision and it's amazing, isn't it, 292 00:14:34,875 --> 00:14:37,583 that so many of our epic cultural narratives and films 293 00:14:37,667 --> 00:14:43,708 and storylines are built on this big idea, 294 00:14:43,792 --> 00:14:46,708 that things are not the way they ought to be. 295 00:14:46,792 --> 00:14:51,208 What we really need is a king to come and make everything better. 296 00:14:51,292 --> 00:14:53,917 When we're little kids, we read the fairytales and we use 297 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,708 our imagination and little boys dress up like kings 298 00:14:56,792 --> 00:14:59,333 and warriors and princes. 299 00:14:59,375 --> 00:15:02,125 They pretend that they have dominion, 300 00:15:02,167 --> 00:15:06,125 that they're going to slay giants and dragons and enemies. 301 00:15:06,167 --> 00:15:08,833 All of that's the heart of the Bible. 302 00:15:08,875 --> 00:15:11,083 Sometimes when we grow up, we lose our imagination; 303 00:15:11,167 --> 00:15:12,625 as a result, 304 00:15:12,667 --> 00:15:15,417 we don't worship as well as we ought. 305 00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:18,625 The story of the Bible is that we have a great enemy 306 00:15:18,667 --> 00:15:22,167 who's a dragon, there's a war between a kingdom of light 307 00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:24,125 and a kingdom of darkness. 308 00:15:24,167 --> 00:15:26,500 The people have believed lies and fallen into sin 309 00:15:26,583 --> 00:15:30,125 and joined the enemy in his battle against God. 310 00:15:30,167 --> 00:15:34,500 And that God is coming into human history as a king to 311 00:15:34,583 --> 00:15:39,833 defeat evil, to liberate people, and to bring a kingdom 312 00:15:39,875 --> 00:15:43,625 that never ends, filled with nothing but love and joy, 313 00:15:43,667 --> 00:15:45,625 peace and grace, goodness and mercy, 314 00:15:45,667 --> 00:15:49,000 where Jesus dances with Ella Mae. 315 00:15:49,042 --> 00:15:51,000 That's the heart of the Bible. 316 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:56,000 Now Jesus comes along and he says, "That's me." 317 00:15:56,083 --> 00:15:58,500 Some people say that Jesus never claimed to be God. 318 00:15:58,583 --> 00:16:00,208 He did repeatedly. 319 00:16:00,292 --> 00:16:02,875 He did emphatically. 320 00:16:02,958 --> 00:16:06,917 He did absolutely. 321 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,417 And here he's saying, "That's me." 322 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:12,000 This eternal king. 323 00:16:12,083 --> 00:16:18,292 We read of this in Luke 17:20-25. 324 00:16:19,792 --> 00:16:22,208 We'll read about not only Jesus being a king, 325 00:16:22,292 --> 00:16:26,125 but Jesus' kingdom is coming into human history. 326 00:16:26,167 --> 00:16:29,375 The world as we know it is going to come to an end 327 00:16:29,458 --> 00:16:33,375 and then the kingdom of God will be unveiled forever. 328 00:16:33,458 --> 00:16:35,833 "Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God 329 00:16:35,875 --> 00:16:38,708 would come," well, the Pharisees are the religious guys. 330 00:16:38,792 --> 00:16:40,917 Usually their questions are setups for Jesus. 331 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,833 This is actually a decent, fair question. 332 00:16:43,875 --> 00:16:47,708 "He answered them, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with signs 333 00:16:47,792 --> 00:16:50,875 to be observed,'" we'll talk about that. 334 00:16:50,958 --> 00:16:53,417 "'Nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" or "There!" 335 00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:56,417 for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.'" 336 00:16:56,500 --> 00:16:58,417 He says, "You want to see the kingdom? 337 00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:00,292 "My name is Jesus. I'm the King. 338 00:17:00,333 --> 00:17:01,667 It all starts right here." 339 00:17:01,750 --> 00:17:04,667 "And he said to the disciples, 'The days are coming when you 340 00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:08,667 will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man,'" 341 00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:10,292 where is that from? 342 00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:12,125 Daniel 7. 343 00:17:12,167 --> 00:17:13,667 "'And you will not see it. 344 00:17:13,750 --> 00:17:16,333 "'And they will say to you, "Look, there!" or "Look, here!" 345 00:17:16,375 --> 00:17:18,083 "'Do not go out or follow them. 346 00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:20,583 "'For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky 347 00:17:20,667 --> 00:17:23,583 from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man,'" 348 00:17:23,667 --> 00:17:26,000 back to Daniel, "'be in his day. 349 00:17:26,042 --> 00:17:28,417 "'But first he must suffer many things and be rejected 350 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:31,500 by this generation.'" 351 00:17:31,542 --> 00:17:34,167 Jesus here is talking about the kingdom of God. 352 00:17:34,250 --> 00:17:36,833 He speaks of the kingdom of God 27 times roughly 353 00:17:36,875 --> 00:17:38,625 in Luke's gospel. 354 00:17:38,667 --> 00:17:40,917 "The kingdom of God," one theologian says rightly, 355 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,417 "is the people of God, in the place of God, 356 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:46,583 under the rule of God." 357 00:17:46,667 --> 00:17:49,500 So the kingdom of God begins in this life and it's 358 00:17:49,583 --> 00:17:53,875 ultimately fulfilled upon the second coming of Jesus. 359 00:17:53,958 --> 00:17:56,375 And what Jesus is saying-- and they come to him 360 00:17:56,458 --> 00:17:58,208 and they have a very good question, 361 00:17:58,292 --> 00:18:00,500 perhaps it's a question that you've had as well, 362 00:18:00,583 --> 00:18:01,917 "Where's the kingdom?" 363 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,500 How many of you have read the Bible? 364 00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:08,167 You say, "You know what? No more Satan, sin, death. 365 00:18:08,250 --> 00:18:10,708 "No more war, atrocity. 366 00:18:10,792 --> 00:18:13,000 "Jesus wipes every tear from our eyes. 367 00:18:13,042 --> 00:18:14,500 "No one goes hungry. 368 00:18:14,583 --> 00:18:16,417 "Soldiers are out of a job. 369 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:19,833 "We don't need locks on our home, airbags on our cars. 370 00:18:19,875 --> 00:18:23,500 We don't need walkers for little girls." 371 00:18:23,583 --> 00:18:26,000 Praise God for all these things that make life bearable 372 00:18:26,083 --> 00:18:27,583 on the earth. 373 00:18:27,667 --> 00:18:29,792 But if there is a day that is forthcoming, 374 00:18:29,833 --> 00:18:32,792 when all of these things are no longer needed because sin and 375 00:18:32,833 --> 00:18:35,917 our enemy and the effects of sin and the works of our enemy 376 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,833 are removed forever, bring the kingdom, sounds great. 377 00:18:38,875 --> 00:18:41,167 Especially if you love Jesus. 378 00:18:41,250 --> 00:18:44,500 Jesus is in charge, perfect. 379 00:18:44,542 --> 00:18:46,583 I vote to never vote again. 380 00:18:46,667 --> 00:18:48,833 Give me the King. 381 00:18:48,875 --> 00:18:51,625 Just he can take it from here and I'll be happy. 382 00:18:51,667 --> 00:18:54,375 How many of you have had that feeling in your heart? 383 00:18:54,458 --> 00:18:56,000 Jesus, why the suffering? 384 00:18:56,042 --> 00:18:57,500 Why the wars? Why the poverty? 385 00:18:57,542 --> 00:18:59,708 Why the atrocity? 386 00:18:59,792 --> 00:19:03,583 Why so long? 387 00:19:03,667 --> 00:19:06,917 It's because, friends, God is patient. 388 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,125 The Bible says elsewhere, Peter writes, 389 00:19:09,167 --> 00:19:12,833 that God is not slow but rather God is patient. 390 00:19:12,875 --> 00:19:15,833 And what can happen is for those of us who are Christians, 391 00:19:15,875 --> 00:19:17,583 as soon as we become a Christian, 392 00:19:17,667 --> 00:19:20,333 we feel like God should be done with his work, right? 393 00:19:20,375 --> 00:19:21,833 "All right, God, you saved me. 394 00:19:21,875 --> 00:19:24,792 "Great, let's just finish now. 395 00:19:24,833 --> 00:19:28,000 "Don't save any more people or unroll any more history. 396 00:19:28,083 --> 00:19:30,208 "I've got a first-class ticket. 397 00:19:30,292 --> 00:19:34,000 Let's just board the plane and fly somewhere else." 398 00:19:34,083 --> 00:19:37,125 Aren't you glad, though, that Jesus didn't cease his work 399 00:19:37,167 --> 00:19:39,500 the day before you got saved? 400 00:19:39,583 --> 00:19:41,417 You're like, "Yeah, I appreciate that." 401 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:44,208 All right, then be patient as he's working on other people, 402 00:19:44,292 --> 00:19:46,583 he's unveiling the rest of history. 403 00:19:46,667 --> 00:19:48,000 He has a plan. 404 00:19:48,042 --> 00:19:49,500 He knows exactly what he's doing. 405 00:19:49,542 --> 00:19:52,417 He's not slow, he is, rather, patient. 406 00:19:52,500 --> 00:19:55,083 And so they come to the Lord Jesus and they say, 407 00:19:55,167 --> 00:19:57,292 "We really want this kingdom. It sounds pretty fantastic. 408 00:19:57,333 --> 00:20:00,292 "And if you really are the king that you say you are, 409 00:20:00,333 --> 00:20:01,667 where's your kingdom?" 410 00:20:01,750 --> 00:20:03,875 And they miss it because Jesus comes two times. 411 00:20:03,958 --> 00:20:05,708 The first time he comes in humility, 412 00:20:05,792 --> 00:20:07,500 the second time he comes in glory. 413 00:20:07,583 --> 00:20:11,500 The first time he comes born of a virgin, in a small town. 414 00:20:11,542 --> 00:20:15,625 He grows up in a small town with a teenage mother and 415 00:20:15,667 --> 00:20:19,625 a blue-collar working-class construction worker father. 416 00:20:19,667 --> 00:20:23,375 He's homeless, he's poor, his life is simple. 417 00:20:23,458 --> 00:20:27,333 The first time Jesus comes, he comes to identify with us, 418 00:20:27,375 --> 00:20:29,917 to live without sin, and to die for us. 419 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,625 That's exactly what he says. 420 00:20:31,667 --> 00:20:35,208 First, he must suffer many things and be rejected 421 00:20:35,292 --> 00:20:36,708 by his generation. 422 00:20:36,792 --> 00:20:38,708 Jesus says, "Before we get to the kingdom, 423 00:20:38,792 --> 00:20:40,583 "we have to go through the cross. 424 00:20:40,667 --> 00:20:42,792 "Before we can have the resurrection of the dead 425 00:20:42,833 --> 00:20:45,792 and the eternal kingdom to come, I need to atone for sin." 426 00:20:45,833 --> 00:20:48,708 At this point in his journey, from Luke 9:51 forward, 427 00:20:48,792 --> 00:20:52,708 he is venturing toward Jerusalem where he is going to suffer 428 00:20:52,792 --> 00:20:55,833 and die in our place, for our sins, as our substitute 429 00:20:55,875 --> 00:20:58,125 and our Savior. 430 00:20:58,167 --> 00:21:01,292 So Jesus is saying, "There is no kingdom without a cross." 431 00:21:01,333 --> 00:21:03,833 This is where I get very frustrated with those 432 00:21:03,875 --> 00:21:06,500 who would skip the cross and go to the kingdom. 433 00:21:06,583 --> 00:21:09,208 “Let's just help people and do nice things and just live 434 00:21:09,292 --> 00:21:11,625 and get along and have a better world.” 435 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:14,500 We believe in that through Jesus. 436 00:21:14,542 --> 00:21:17,000 Apart from Jesus, there is no unity. 437 00:21:17,042 --> 00:21:19,792 Apart from Jesus, there's not true generosity. 438 00:21:19,833 --> 00:21:24,417 Apart from Jesus, there is no real kingdom because sin 439 00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:28,000 is the problem and it must be dealt with. 440 00:21:28,083 --> 00:21:30,000 And Jesus comes to go to the cross, 441 00:21:30,042 --> 00:21:33,125 to deal with our sin so the kingdom of God might begin 442 00:21:33,167 --> 00:21:36,417 in our life and in our midst and then we venture together 443 00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:38,917 as the people of God toward the kingdom of God. 444 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,333 And through our own death, we experience resurrection and 445 00:21:42,375 --> 00:21:47,625 new life as totally redeemed, new people on a new earth. 446 00:21:47,667 --> 00:21:50,000 And there's the kingdom of God. 447 00:21:50,042 --> 00:21:52,500 So Jesus is saying, "You can't just have the kingdom, 448 00:21:52,542 --> 00:21:54,208 you need to go through the cross." 449 00:21:54,292 --> 00:21:57,417 You can't just have a better world, we have to deal with sin. 450 00:21:57,500 --> 00:21:59,875 And once he deals with sin, it opens and unveils 451 00:21:59,958 --> 00:22:02,292 the opportunity of the coming of the kingdom. 452 00:22:02,333 --> 00:22:04,333 So Jesus comes the first time in humility, 453 00:22:04,375 --> 00:22:07,000 he will come the second time in glory. 454 00:22:07,083 --> 00:22:09,917 Friends, Jesus did go to the cross, he did suffer, 455 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,833 he did die, he did atone for the sin of the world, 456 00:22:12,875 --> 00:22:14,625 he did rise from death. 457 00:22:14,667 --> 00:22:17,625 We celebrate that every Easter and every Sunday, 458 00:22:17,667 --> 00:22:20,292 which is the day of Jesus' resurrection. 459 00:22:20,333 --> 00:22:23,333 He ascended back into heaven; Revelation says, 460 00:22:23,375 --> 00:22:27,583 45 times in 22 chapters, that he's seated on a throne. 461 00:22:27,667 --> 00:22:30,417 That is a king. 462 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:33,792 It says as well that he is the King of kings. 463 00:22:33,833 --> 00:22:35,208 And Jesus will return. 464 00:22:35,292 --> 00:22:39,083 Friends, we know not when, but we know he will. 465 00:22:39,167 --> 00:22:43,125 And when he does, all who are dead will rise, 466 00:22:43,167 --> 00:22:48,625 stand before him for judgment to go to heaven or hell, 467 00:22:48,667 --> 00:22:52,000 into the kingdom, or into condemnation. 468 00:22:52,083 --> 00:22:55,333 And that's the story of human history. 469 00:22:55,375 --> 00:22:58,833 And so the second time we see Jesus return to the earth, 470 00:22:58,875 --> 00:23:02,208 it will be in glory, not in poverty, but in riches. 471 00:23:02,292 --> 00:23:04,833 Not powerless but powerful. 472 00:23:04,875 --> 00:23:08,125 Not to suffer but to triumph. 473 00:23:08,167 --> 00:23:11,083 Revelation uses the most magnificent language. 474 00:23:11,167 --> 00:23:15,167 He's like a soldier, a warrior on a white horse riding 475 00:23:15,250 --> 00:23:19,417 into battle to defeat Satan, sin, death, and hell. 476 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:22,417 It's as big an epic as every little boy who's ever played 477 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:24,500 with swords could possibly imagine. 478 00:23:24,542 --> 00:23:27,167 So let your boys play with swords, 479 00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:30,583 not real ones, fake ones. 480 00:23:30,667 --> 00:23:35,125 All they're doing is acting as image bearers of God. 481 00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:40,500 Dragon-slaying, sword- carrying, kingdom warriors. 482 00:23:40,583 --> 00:23:42,375 That's our Jesus. 483 00:23:42,458 --> 00:23:44,375 He'll come again in glory. 484 00:23:44,458 --> 00:23:48,625 And he says, Jesus does, that the kingdom comes patiently. 485 00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:51,333 It doesn't come quickly. 486 00:23:51,375 --> 00:23:52,833 We've been waiting 2,000 years. 487 00:23:52,875 --> 00:23:55,500 Two thousand years ago, the question was: Is it time? 488 00:23:55,583 --> 00:23:57,375 Jesus, is the kingdom ready? 489 00:23:57,458 --> 00:24:01,417 It's kind of like a little kid in the back of a car on the way 490 00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:02,833 to vacation with a family. 491 00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:04,208 "Are we there yet?" 492 00:24:04,292 --> 00:24:05,917 "No, it'll be 2,000 years. 493 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,333 Just wait," right? 494 00:24:07,375 --> 00:24:09,333 "Plug in your Gameboy, the battery's definitely not 495 00:24:09,375 --> 00:24:11,000 going to last for this trip." 496 00:24:11,083 --> 00:24:13,125 They're asking Jesus 2,000 years ago, 497 00:24:13,167 --> 00:24:15,417 "Okay, Jesus, you say we're going to the kingdom. 498 00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:17,875 Sounds great. Are we there yet?" 499 00:24:17,958 --> 00:24:19,500 No. 500 00:24:19,583 --> 00:24:22,375 The kingdom of God comes patiently. 501 00:24:22,458 --> 00:24:24,292 So we need to be patient. 502 00:24:24,333 --> 00:24:28,125 Number two, the kingdom of God, Jesus says, comes unexpectedly. 503 00:24:28,167 --> 00:24:31,500 He says it doesn't come with a lot of signs and fanfare. 504 00:24:31,583 --> 00:24:34,333 It's not like before Jesus returns and the kingdom of God 505 00:24:34,375 --> 00:24:37,917 is unveiled and we stand before God for judgment, 506 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,583 all of a sudden, you know, there's just banners in the sky, 507 00:24:41,667 --> 00:24:43,625 "Tomorrow at noon, he's coming back. 508 00:24:43,667 --> 00:24:46,417 Note to self, get ready." 509 00:24:46,500 --> 00:24:48,333 It's not like that. 510 00:24:48,375 --> 00:24:52,167 And so what we need to do is always live preparedly, 511 00:24:52,250 --> 00:24:53,917 that if Jesus came back right now, 512 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,417 we'd be ready to meet him and stand before him 513 00:24:56,500 --> 00:24:59,208 and give an account to him. 514 00:24:59,292 --> 00:25:03,625 Now, what this means is most of the garbage sold in 515 00:25:03,667 --> 00:25:06,417 Christian bookstores is wrong, 516 00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:09,208 the stuff about the end times. 517 00:25:09,292 --> 00:25:12,583 Because what people try to do is exactly what Jesus said we were 518 00:25:12,667 --> 00:25:15,792 not supposed to do and that's take all the signs and try and 519 00:25:15,833 --> 00:25:18,208 put them together and predict when the end would be. 520 00:25:18,292 --> 00:25:20,583 People have been doing this since the days 521 00:25:20,667 --> 00:25:22,000 of the New Testament. 522 00:25:22,083 --> 00:25:23,625 The Thessalonians did this. 523 00:25:23,667 --> 00:25:26,125 They told all their stuff, they put together charts, 524 00:25:26,167 --> 00:25:27,625 sold books, freaked everybody out, 525 00:25:27,667 --> 00:25:29,833 sold canned goods and bottled water and huddled up 526 00:25:29,875 --> 00:25:31,583 and low and behold, 2,000 years later, 527 00:25:31,667 --> 00:25:33,833 swing and a miss. 528 00:25:33,875 --> 00:25:35,208 They didn't get it right. 529 00:25:35,292 --> 00:25:38,292 He didn't come back in their lifetime as they were expecting. 530 00:25:38,333 --> 00:25:41,125 So Paul tells them, "Go get a job, go to work. 531 00:25:41,167 --> 00:25:43,333 "It's going to be a while. Hang in there. 532 00:25:43,375 --> 00:25:45,625 There's still kingdom work to be done." 533 00:25:45,667 --> 00:25:48,125 So he says it won't be with lots of signs. 534 00:25:48,167 --> 00:25:51,125 Now some of you are too involved in what we'll call eschatology, 535 00:25:51,167 --> 00:25:53,125 which is the study of last things. 536 00:25:53,167 --> 00:25:55,917 You'll find somebody who reads the newspaper and, you know, 537 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,000 follows all of the news reports and then pulls it all together 538 00:25:59,083 --> 00:26:01,083 and pulls something out of context from Daniel 539 00:26:01,167 --> 00:26:03,417 and something really scary from Jeremiah and next thing 540 00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:06,083 you know, you're buying a book at the Christian bookstore and 541 00:26:06,167 --> 00:26:10,500 you're having nightmares and you're freaking out, you know? 542 00:26:10,583 --> 00:26:13,167 And Jesus says it's not going to be like that. 543 00:26:13,250 --> 00:26:15,667 We're in that time now too, over 200 different people 544 00:26:15,750 --> 00:26:18,625 have predicted the end of the world, professing Christians. 545 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:22,292 The latest of which is a guy who predicts it'll be next month. 546 00:26:22,333 --> 00:26:24,917 I think he's predicting May 21st. 547 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,792 He predicted it once before in 1994, 548 00:26:27,833 --> 00:26:31,208 obviously that didn't go as well as he was anticipating. 549 00:26:31,292 --> 00:26:33,917 So he's predicted May 21st. 550 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,500 So here's what I would recommend. 551 00:26:35,583 --> 00:26:37,708 And there's billboards everywhere and they're on CNN 552 00:26:37,792 --> 00:26:40,583 and it's a big whatever-whatever. 553 00:26:40,667 --> 00:26:44,000 On May 20th, I'm going to plant a tree. 554 00:26:44,083 --> 00:26:47,208 And on May 22nd, I'm going to get my photo taken in front 555 00:26:47,292 --> 00:26:49,667 of the billboard they have purchased in downtown Seattle 556 00:26:49,750 --> 00:26:52,667 with a smirk on my face. 557 00:26:52,750 --> 00:26:55,000 Because you don't know when Jesus is coming back. 558 00:26:55,083 --> 00:26:57,000 We don't know when Jesus is coming back. 559 00:26:57,083 --> 00:26:59,208 And it doesn't matter if they have a chart. 560 00:26:59,292 --> 00:27:01,208 Jesus isn't looking at the chart saying, "Well, 561 00:27:01,292 --> 00:27:03,917 "that's not what I was thinking, but it's on the chart. 562 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,583 "It looked very official, a committee met and took a vote. 563 00:27:06,667 --> 00:27:09,333 I guess I got to come back then." 564 00:27:09,375 --> 00:27:12,917 He really doesn't care about our charts. 565 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,500 He says that the kingdom comes patiently, unexpectedly, 566 00:27:15,583 --> 00:27:18,625 and it does come obviously, right? 567 00:27:18,667 --> 00:27:21,333 'Cause every once in a while you'll hear, "Oh, you know, 568 00:27:21,375 --> 00:27:24,667 "I hear that the kingdom of God is dawning here and maybe Jesus 569 00:27:24,750 --> 00:27:27,667 is coming back and it looks like we're getting to the end." 570 00:27:27,750 --> 00:27:29,083 It's not like that. 571 00:27:29,167 --> 00:27:30,917 It comes quickly, suddenly, obviously. 572 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,583 Jesus says it's like lightning in the sky when he comes back. 573 00:27:34,667 --> 00:27:36,708 Have you ever seen a good lightning storm? 574 00:27:36,792 --> 00:27:39,917 I can still remember the first one I saw as a little boy, 575 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:41,333 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 576 00:27:41,375 --> 00:27:44,708 I was at my grandma's house and I was maybe 10 years of age 577 00:27:44,792 --> 00:27:47,375 and we're out on the plains in the middle of nowhere 578 00:27:47,458 --> 00:27:49,208 on the old farmstead of the family. 579 00:27:49,292 --> 00:27:54,417 And it was dark out and thunder just hit and shook the home. 580 00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:56,417 It freaked me out. 581 00:27:56,500 --> 00:27:59,125 I mean, I looked out the window, I could still remember, 582 00:27:59,167 --> 00:28:02,417 my grandma was by the sink, and I look out her kitchen window 583 00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:04,625 and then lightning just exploded out of the sky 584 00:28:04,667 --> 00:28:08,000 and lit everything up. 585 00:28:08,083 --> 00:28:10,500 Jesus is saying his return and the unveiling 586 00:28:10,583 --> 00:28:13,333 of the kingdom of a God will be like that. 587 00:28:13,375 --> 00:28:15,000 You won't need anyone to say, 588 00:28:15,042 --> 00:28:17,208 "Hey, there was lightning last night." 589 00:28:17,292 --> 00:28:22,792 "Yeah, I know. We all saw it and felt it. 590 00:28:22,833 --> 00:28:25,417 "It was obvious. 591 00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:27,708 "It was apparent, it was clear. 592 00:28:27,792 --> 00:28:30,917 "It wasn't off to the side and only a few people saw it 593 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,500 and then they had to give a report about it." 594 00:28:33,542 --> 00:28:35,125 The second coming of Jesus Christ, 595 00:28:35,167 --> 00:28:37,125 the unveiling of the kingdom of God, 596 00:28:37,167 --> 00:28:40,125 the judgment of the living and the dead, it will be suddenly, 597 00:28:40,167 --> 00:28:44,333 unexpectedly, obviously. 598 00:28:44,375 --> 00:28:46,417 That's the way it's going to be. 599 00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:50,792 Jesus is a king and Jesus' kingdom is coming. 600 00:28:50,833 --> 00:28:53,000 So here's the question for you. 601 00:28:53,042 --> 00:28:56,083 The question for you is, will you enter Jesus' kingdom 602 00:28:56,167 --> 00:28:58,500 or be condemned? 603 00:28:58,542 --> 00:29:01,500 When Jesus returns, will you be ready to meet him? 604 00:29:01,583 --> 00:29:05,000 Will you be a citizen of his--citizen of his kingdom? 605 00:29:05,042 --> 00:29:09,500 Will you be one who is loyal to him as king or not? 606 00:29:09,583 --> 00:29:12,333 And so Jesus gives us two examples from history of people 607 00:29:12,375 --> 00:29:16,583 who had an invitation to be citizens of his kingdom 608 00:29:16,667 --> 00:29:19,625 and one was a negative and one was a positive example. 609 00:29:19,667 --> 00:29:25,583 We'll start with the negative example in Luke 17:32-37 610 00:29:25,667 --> 00:29:28,500 with a woman named Lot's wife. 611 00:29:28,583 --> 00:29:30,208 I'll read you the story. 612 00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:32,208 Jesus says, "Remember Lot's wife." 613 00:29:32,292 --> 00:29:34,208 Now let me just stop right there. 614 00:29:34,292 --> 00:29:35,708 That seems like enough information. 615 00:29:35,792 --> 00:29:37,833 We'll just unpack that for a minute. 616 00:29:37,875 --> 00:29:39,417 "Remember Lot's wife." 617 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:42,417 Now what Jesus is going to do, he's going to talk about 618 00:29:42,500 --> 00:29:45,625 Lot's wife, who got turned into a pillar of salt, and then Noah 619 00:29:45,667 --> 00:29:48,708 who built a huge boat that floated through a flood. 620 00:29:48,792 --> 00:29:52,500 And what tends to happen is some people, we'll call them critics, 621 00:29:52,583 --> 00:29:55,417 and they're into something called higher criticism. 622 00:29:55,500 --> 00:29:56,917 These are, quote unquote, “scholars,” 623 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,292 which means educated beyond your intelligence. 624 00:30:00,333 --> 00:30:03,667 And what they tend to do is they tend to look at the Bible 625 00:30:03,750 --> 00:30:06,000 and anytime they see something that is supernatural and/or 626 00:30:06,083 --> 00:30:07,875 miraculous, they immediately dismiss and discount it, 627 00:30:07,958 --> 00:30:09,792 saying miracles can't happen. 628 00:30:09,833 --> 00:30:11,625 It's because they believe in something called 629 00:30:11,667 --> 00:30:14,167 a naturalistic worldview that has been purported 630 00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:18,167 in previous generations by philosophers like Hume, 631 00:30:18,250 --> 00:30:20,875 who said that the world is basically a closed system that 632 00:30:20,958 --> 00:30:23,875 runs according to laws, and whether or not there is a God, 633 00:30:23,958 --> 00:30:26,500 he never supernaturally intervenes in history 634 00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:29,333 and does anything miraculous. 635 00:30:29,375 --> 00:30:34,500 As a result, miracles are de facto dismissed. 636 00:30:34,583 --> 00:30:38,333 And as Christians, we say, "No, there is a God and he shows up 637 00:30:38,375 --> 00:30:40,708 "and does supernatural things. 638 00:30:40,792 --> 00:30:43,167 "We call them miracles because they're unusual. 639 00:30:43,250 --> 00:30:46,208 They don't happen a lot, but they do happen." 640 00:30:46,292 --> 00:30:49,000 And some of these things are like Lot's wife and Noah, 641 00:30:49,083 --> 00:30:51,000 which we'll read about today, and Jonah being 642 00:30:51,083 --> 00:30:53,708 in the belly of a fish for 3 days. 643 00:30:53,792 --> 00:30:55,500 And these kinds of things, curiously enough, 644 00:30:55,583 --> 00:30:59,208 are the exact things that Jesus says happened. 645 00:30:59,292 --> 00:31:03,000 Jesus doesn't say, "Remember the mythical archetypal story 646 00:31:03,083 --> 00:31:06,292 surrounding a woman named Lot's wife." 647 00:31:06,333 --> 00:31:09,708 What he says is "Remember Lot's wife, 648 00:31:09,792 --> 00:31:15,625 "that real lady who really got turned into salt. 649 00:31:15,667 --> 00:31:18,583 Remember her." 650 00:31:18,667 --> 00:31:20,583 Here's what I am telling you. 651 00:31:20,667 --> 00:31:22,500 Jesus is a teacher. 652 00:31:22,583 --> 00:31:24,000 There are other teachers. 653 00:31:24,042 --> 00:31:27,875 If those teachers disagree with Jesus, go with Jesus. 654 00:31:27,958 --> 00:31:29,917 I know he's not at your community college, 655 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,125 but he's got a better resume than your professor. 656 00:31:32,167 --> 00:31:34,708 That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. 657 00:31:34,792 --> 00:31:37,000 Remember Lot's wife. 658 00:31:37,083 --> 00:31:38,417 She's a negative example. 659 00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:41,208 He goes on to say, "’Whoever seeks to preserve his life 660 00:31:41,292 --> 00:31:45,583 "’will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 661 00:31:45,667 --> 00:31:48,792 "’I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. 662 00:31:48,833 --> 00:31:50,792 ";One will be taken and the other left. 663 00:31:50,833 --> 00:31:52,625 "’There will be two women grinding together. 664 00:31:52,667 --> 00:31:54,625 "One will be taken and the other left.’ 665 00:31:54,667 --> 00:31:56,375 "And they said to him, 'Where, Lord?' 666 00:31:56,458 --> 00:31:58,375 "He said to them, 'Where the corpse is, 667 00:31:58,458 --> 00:31:59,875 there the vultures will gather.'" 668 00:31:59,958 --> 00:32:02,417 The story of Lot's wife, if you want to read 669 00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:03,917 more thoroughly, comes from Genesis 19. 670 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:05,917 There was an area called Sodom and Gomorrah. 671 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,333 You've probably heard of it. 672 00:32:07,375 --> 00:32:11,792 It was an area notoriously filled with sin and rebellion, 673 00:32:11,833 --> 00:32:14,667 particularly sexual sin of all sorts and kinds. 674 00:32:14,750 --> 00:32:16,333 They probably called it tolerance, diversity, 675 00:32:16,375 --> 00:32:19,833 had a parade, but God called it an abomination. 676 00:32:19,875 --> 00:32:21,667 You know, different people have different perspectives 677 00:32:21,750 --> 00:32:23,500 on these things. 678 00:32:23,542 --> 00:32:26,208 And so God called it an abomination and it got to 679 00:32:26,292 --> 00:32:28,625 the point in Sodom and Gomorrah where their tolerance, 680 00:32:28,667 --> 00:32:30,333 diversity, and alternative lifestyle was so horrendous 681 00:32:30,375 --> 00:32:32,583 that even when strangers would show up in town, 682 00:32:32,667 --> 00:32:35,417 they would surround them, demand they come out of the house 683 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:36,833 so they could be gang-raped. 684 00:32:36,875 --> 00:32:39,333 And God looked at it and realized no one's 685 00:32:39,375 --> 00:32:41,333 going to repent, no one's going to change, 686 00:32:41,375 --> 00:32:44,500 we need to put an end to this, this just needs to stop, 687 00:32:44,583 --> 00:32:46,292 it's a horrible atrocity. 688 00:32:46,333 --> 00:32:48,208 And so God tells everyone, "Look, 689 00:32:48,292 --> 00:32:51,333 "I'm going to send literally fire and brimstone, 690 00:32:51,375 --> 00:32:53,583 road tar from heaven." 691 00:32:53,667 --> 00:32:56,417 Now there's one believing family there and I use the word 692 00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:57,833 believing very lightly. 693 00:32:57,875 --> 00:33:00,417 It's Lot, who's the head of household; his daughters, 694 00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:03,208 who have some serious issues if you keep reading the story; 695 00:33:03,292 --> 00:33:05,292 and also his wife, right? 696 00:33:05,333 --> 00:33:10,333 They are not elder material, we'll just say that. 697 00:33:10,375 --> 00:33:12,125 And what happens is God tells them, 698 00:33:12,167 --> 00:33:15,792 "Look, I am going to incinerate Sodom and Gomorrah. 699 00:33:15,833 --> 00:33:18,000 "You are living there in the midst of this 700 00:33:18,042 --> 00:33:19,500 "worldliness and sin. 701 00:33:19,583 --> 00:33:22,708 "I need you to pack your bags and get out of town before 702 00:33:22,792 --> 00:33:24,500 "everything starts falling out of the sky 703 00:33:24,583 --> 00:33:25,917 and your lives are taken." 704 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,792 There's no sense of real urgency among Lot and his family. 705 00:33:28,833 --> 00:33:30,167 They don't move very quickly. 706 00:33:30,250 --> 00:33:32,375 God basically has to escort them out of town. 707 00:33:32,458 --> 00:33:35,000 And just in the nick of time, before God incinerates 708 00:33:35,083 --> 00:33:40,625 and judges these people, they are venturing from the world 709 00:33:40,667 --> 00:33:44,500 into a new life that God has for them, and this is all sort of 710 00:33:44,583 --> 00:33:47,208 a big picture of what God does in our salvation. 711 00:33:47,292 --> 00:33:49,375 He takes us from worldliness and sin, 712 00:33:49,458 --> 00:33:52,917 and he delivers us in the nick of time to a new life. 713 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,708 Lot's wife turns her back on her family, essentially on God, 714 00:33:57,792 --> 00:33:59,417 and looks back. 715 00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:03,792 And she doesn't just look back, she longs back. 716 00:34:03,833 --> 00:34:06,208 She misses her old way of life. 717 00:34:06,292 --> 00:34:09,333 She really loved Sodom and Gomorrah, perhaps more than 718 00:34:09,375 --> 00:34:11,708 she even loved the Lord. 719 00:34:11,792 --> 00:34:15,833 She wanted to go back to her old lifestyle. 720 00:34:15,875 --> 00:34:19,375 Are you like that? 721 00:34:19,458 --> 00:34:24,000 Are you someone whom God is trying to deliver from a life 722 00:34:24,083 --> 00:34:27,500 of sin, folly, rebellion, and death, 723 00:34:27,583 --> 00:34:31,417 that God has you surrounded with people who belong to him, 724 00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:34,167 maybe friends, family, coworkers, community group, 725 00:34:34,250 --> 00:34:38,667 and he's trying to move you from the world to the kingdom, 726 00:34:38,750 --> 00:34:41,667 from an old way of life, to a new way of life, 727 00:34:41,750 --> 00:34:45,208 from condemnation to salvation. 728 00:34:45,292 --> 00:34:49,625 But in your heart, you miss your sin. 729 00:34:49,667 --> 00:34:52,500 You miss your old days and your old ways. 730 00:34:52,542 --> 00:34:57,000 You look back, you long back, maybe you've even gone back. 731 00:34:57,042 --> 00:34:59,167 You're doing things you should not be doing, 732 00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:01,833 believing things you should not be believing, 733 00:35:01,875 --> 00:35:05,417 condoning things that you should be condemning. 734 00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:08,125 Is that you? 735 00:35:08,167 --> 00:35:12,792 If so, Jesus says, "Remember Lot's wife." 736 00:35:12,833 --> 00:35:14,833 Remember Lot's wife. 737 00:35:14,875 --> 00:35:18,708 Don't look back, don't long back, don't go back. 738 00:35:18,792 --> 00:35:20,792 Some of you are like that. 739 00:35:20,833 --> 00:35:24,208 Now let me say this about true and false Christians. 740 00:35:24,292 --> 00:35:27,000 True Christians have conflicted desires. 741 00:35:27,083 --> 00:35:29,167 True Christians are really tempted. 742 00:35:29,250 --> 00:35:32,208 True Christians are walking toward the kingdom of God, 743 00:35:32,292 --> 00:35:36,083 but the world looks pretty intriguing and there are days 744 00:35:36,167 --> 00:35:40,292 that we're sorely tempted to look back, long back, go back. 745 00:35:40,333 --> 00:35:42,000 There are days that we sin. 746 00:35:42,083 --> 00:35:44,375 We need to repent and then move forward again 747 00:35:44,458 --> 00:35:45,833 with Jesus and his people. 748 00:35:45,875 --> 00:35:48,125 But for the true Christian, though they have conflicted 749 00:35:48,167 --> 00:35:53,125 desires, their deepest desire is for Jesus and the kingdom of God 750 00:35:53,167 --> 00:35:56,708 and holiness and obedience. 751 00:35:56,792 --> 00:35:58,917 That's our deepest desire. 752 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,417 We'll have conflicted desires, but if you're a believer 753 00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:05,417 I would tell you go with your deepest desire. 754 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:07,917 For those who are non-believers, for those who are 755 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,500 non-Christians, they too will have temptation and conflicted 756 00:36:10,583 --> 00:36:14,833 desire, but their deepest desire, down deep in the roots, 757 00:36:14,875 --> 00:36:19,208 is going to be for worldliness, not the kingdom; 758 00:36:19,292 --> 00:36:23,833 for sin, not holiness; for death, not life; 759 00:36:23,875 --> 00:36:28,125 for condemnation, not salvation. 760 00:36:28,167 --> 00:36:30,375 I don't know whether or not you're a believer, 761 00:36:30,458 --> 00:36:33,375 but I give that to you to ask yourself the sincere question, 762 00:36:33,458 --> 00:36:35,708 "What are my deepest desires?" 763 00:36:35,792 --> 00:36:37,917 And when I counsel with people, I ask them. 764 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,917 They'll say, "I'm being tempted by this 765 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,875 and I'm sorely longing for this sin." 766 00:36:42,958 --> 00:36:44,375 What's your deepest desire? 767 00:36:44,458 --> 00:36:47,125 And when I hear, "Well, my deepest desire is to walk 768 00:36:47,167 --> 00:36:50,125 with Jesus and his people and get to the kingdom of God." 769 00:36:50,167 --> 00:36:52,125 You're a believer, go with your deepest desire. 770 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:55,792 "My deepest desire is to go back to the world, to go back to sin, 771 00:36:55,833 --> 00:36:57,167 to go back to death." 772 00:36:57,250 --> 00:36:59,667 Perhaps you are an unbeliever and what you need is 773 00:36:59,750 --> 00:37:02,083 a new nature with new appetites and new desires. 774 00:37:02,167 --> 00:37:04,583 Perhaps you've never really met Jesus and been born again 775 00:37:04,667 --> 00:37:06,875 as a true citizen of Jesus your king, 776 00:37:06,958 --> 00:37:09,625 and a member of his kingdom. 777 00:37:09,667 --> 00:37:12,333 Mars Hill is here to help you sort those things out 778 00:37:12,375 --> 00:37:15,125 in conversation in something we call community groups, 779 00:37:15,167 --> 00:37:18,583 where people talk and pray and eat and do life together 780 00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:23,917 and untangle the knot that is our soul. 781 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,833 Remember Lot's wife. 782 00:37:26,875 --> 00:37:30,792 Are you like her? 783 00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:36,125 Are you like her? 784 00:37:36,167 --> 00:37:38,333 See this all the time. 785 00:37:38,375 --> 00:37:40,833 "I'm walking with Jesus, but I miss my old boyfriend. 786 00:37:40,875 --> 00:37:43,125 "I'm walking with Jesus, I miss my old girlfriend. 787 00:37:43,167 --> 00:37:45,667 "I'm walking with Jesus, but I miss my old entertainment. 788 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:48,125 "I'm walking with Jesus, but I miss my old substances. 789 00:37:48,167 --> 00:37:52,875 I'm walking with Jesus, but I miss my old addictions." 790 00:37:52,958 --> 00:37:55,875 Keep going to the kingdom of God. 791 00:37:55,958 --> 00:37:58,792 It's nothing but fire and brimstone falling 792 00:37:58,833 --> 00:38:02,792 on what you have left. 793 00:38:02,833 --> 00:38:06,833 Number two, Jesus gives an example from Noah and he says 794 00:38:06,875 --> 00:38:10,292 that the story of Noah is true. 795 00:38:10,333 --> 00:38:15,083 He says it in Luke 17:26-31. 796 00:38:15,167 --> 00:38:19,292 He uses Noah as a positive example and he's saying 797 00:38:19,333 --> 00:38:22,625 we need look at Noah and understand that what happened 798 00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:26,417 in the day of Noah is going to happen again in the end, 799 00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:31,125 that Noah was a foreshadowing of the end of the world 800 00:38:31,167 --> 00:38:33,000 and the coming of a new world. 801 00:38:33,083 --> 00:38:37,583 Because the day of Noah was about the judgment of sin and 802 00:38:37,667 --> 00:38:42,500 then the ushering of a new world on the other side of a flood. 803 00:38:42,583 --> 00:38:45,500 Jesus is going to return, there will be judgment, 804 00:38:45,583 --> 00:38:49,000 and a new world that awaits us, not on the other side of water, 805 00:38:49,083 --> 00:38:51,625 but then fire. 806 00:38:51,667 --> 00:38:54,500 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, 807 00:38:54,542 --> 00:38:57,583 so will it be in the days of the Son of Man." 808 00:38:57,667 --> 00:39:02,375 Again, he quotes Daniel 7 and applies it to himself. 809 00:39:02,458 --> 00:39:05,000 "They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given 810 00:39:05,083 --> 00:39:07,500 "in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 811 00:39:07,583 --> 00:39:10,417 "and the flood came and destroyed them all. 812 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:13,125 "Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot-- 813 00:39:13,167 --> 00:39:15,083 "they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, 814 00:39:15,167 --> 00:39:17,833 "planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out 815 00:39:17,875 --> 00:39:21,125 "from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven 816 00:39:21,167 --> 00:39:22,875 and destroyed them all." 817 00:39:22,958 --> 00:39:24,500 Judgment. 818 00:39:24,542 --> 00:39:28,000 "So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 819 00:39:28,042 --> 00:39:30,708 "On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, 820 00:39:30,792 --> 00:39:33,917 "with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, 821 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,167 and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back." 822 00:39:37,250 --> 00:39:39,000 He says, "Remember the story of Noah," 823 00:39:39,083 --> 00:39:41,375 so let me tell you the story of Noah, 824 00:39:41,458 --> 00:39:45,000 and if you want to pick it up, you can start in a place like 825 00:39:45,083 --> 00:39:46,417 Genesis 6. 826 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:48,000 And Jesus is a Bible teacher 827 00:39:48,042 --> 00:39:50,000 and so he teaches from the Old Testament 828 00:39:50,042 --> 00:39:52,500 and he shows how it reveals to us the future. 829 00:39:52,583 --> 00:39:54,667 And the story of Noah is this. 830 00:39:54,750 --> 00:40:00,083 The world was filled with sin and God was going to judge 831 00:40:00,167 --> 00:40:03,875 the world, in that day through water, 832 00:40:03,958 --> 00:40:07,500 in a future day through fire. 833 00:40:07,542 --> 00:40:09,417 And God was patient. 834 00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:13,333 He sent prophets telling them to repent and warning them of 835 00:40:13,375 --> 00:40:17,000 coming judgment, that you would need to experience salvation 836 00:40:17,083 --> 00:40:19,417 to get through the judgment into a new world. 837 00:40:19,500 --> 00:40:21,667 That's exactly what's going to happen in the future. 838 00:40:21,750 --> 00:40:24,083 God has pronounced judgment on sin and sinners, 839 00:40:24,167 --> 00:40:26,417 an end of this world as we know it. 840 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:28,500 He's provided a means of salvation. 841 00:40:28,583 --> 00:40:30,500 In their day, it was through the ark 842 00:40:30,583 --> 00:40:33,417 and today our ark is Jesus Christ. 843 00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:36,333 And through that salvation, you can be delivered from the world 844 00:40:36,375 --> 00:40:39,083 that is destroyed into a new world. 845 00:40:39,167 --> 00:40:45,667 For them, it was a cleaned, remade world. 846 00:40:45,750 --> 00:40:51,125 For us, it will be the eternal kingdom of God, the new earth. 847 00:40:51,167 --> 00:40:52,833 And here's the story of Noah. 848 00:40:52,875 --> 00:40:59,000 Noah lived in the desert and God told him to build a huge boat. 849 00:41:00,042 --> 00:41:04,208 Now, we read it and we say, "Well, of course he obeyed." 850 00:41:04,292 --> 00:41:05,875 Seriously? 851 00:41:05,958 --> 00:41:07,500 Seriously. 852 00:41:07,583 --> 00:41:12,708 If you lived in the desert and you heard a voice telling you, 853 00:41:12,792 --> 00:41:15,333 "Build a huge boat," right, 854 00:41:15,375 --> 00:41:17,333 you would not spend your money on wood, 855 00:41:17,375 --> 00:41:20,167 but rather medication. 856 00:41:20,250 --> 00:41:25,417 You’d say, "That's it, I have lost my mind." 857 00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:28,125 Some commentators in Genesis--there is disagreement 858 00:41:28,167 --> 00:41:30,917 on this point, but some commentators say that it 859 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,500 is possible that it had never yet rained on the earth. 860 00:41:34,583 --> 00:41:36,500 That would make it great faith. 861 00:41:36,583 --> 00:41:38,208 "What are you doing?" "Building a boat." 862 00:41:38,292 --> 00:41:39,708 "Where?" "In the desert." 863 00:41:39,792 --> 00:41:41,208 "Why?" "It's going to rain." 864 00:41:41,292 --> 00:41:43,000 "What is that?" 865 00:41:43,042 --> 00:41:45,083 All right, that's a lot of faith. 866 00:41:45,167 --> 00:41:47,208 So God tells Noah, "Build a big boat." 867 00:41:47,292 --> 00:41:49,083 Not just a boat, basically a battleship. 868 00:41:49,167 --> 00:41:51,833 Next time you look at a container ship or a battleship 869 00:41:51,875 --> 00:41:54,083 think, "Noah built one of those with his sons." 870 00:41:54,167 --> 00:41:58,333 It was big enough to hold 522 railroad cars. 871 00:41:58,375 --> 00:42:00,875 I did the math on it, so it's probably wrong 872 00:42:00,958 --> 00:42:02,875 because I went to public school. 873 00:42:02,958 --> 00:42:06,792 But it's 1.4 million cubic feet. 874 00:42:06,833 --> 00:42:09,083 That's a big boat. 875 00:42:09,167 --> 00:42:13,333 What this means is it took Noah a long time to build a boat 876 00:42:13,375 --> 00:42:15,333 and it cost him a lot of money. 877 00:42:15,375 --> 00:42:18,667 I don't know how much it cost to build one, but it's expensive. 878 00:42:18,750 --> 00:42:21,333 All that wood, all those tools, all those days. 879 00:42:21,375 --> 00:42:24,333 The only helpers that he had that we have any awareness of 880 00:42:24,375 --> 00:42:26,000 were his sons. 881 00:42:26,042 --> 00:42:28,708 Do you think anybody ever made fun of Noah? 882 00:42:28,792 --> 00:42:32,208 Mm-hmm, I would have and I'm a preacher, all right. 883 00:42:32,292 --> 00:42:34,167 He was just crazy. 884 00:42:34,250 --> 00:42:36,917 Can you imagine him being a bit of a tourist attraction? 885 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:38,333 "Hey, welcome to town. 886 00:42:38,375 --> 00:42:41,500 "You want to go see the guy building a boat in the desert? 887 00:42:41,583 --> 00:42:42,917 "It's awesome. 888 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,625 "Yeah, he heard from the Lord. Ha, ha! 889 00:42:46,667 --> 00:42:49,125 "Yep, sure he did, you know? 890 00:42:49,167 --> 00:42:50,833 "He's building it with his sons. 891 00:42:50,875 --> 00:42:55,000 "Yeah, the whole family, not real smart, right? 892 00:42:55,083 --> 00:42:56,792 "Corncob pipe, banjo. 893 00:42:56,833 --> 00:43:00,083 You get the picture." 894 00:43:00,167 --> 00:43:03,833 You kind of get the idea that Noah's the laughingstock 895 00:43:03,875 --> 00:43:05,333 and everybody's making fun of him. 896 00:43:05,375 --> 00:43:06,833 So what does Noah do? 897 00:43:06,875 --> 00:43:09,500 Every day, he gets up as an act of faith. 898 00:43:09,583 --> 00:43:11,292 He sits down to have his breakfast. 899 00:43:11,333 --> 00:43:14,500 Do you think there was ever a day Noah looked at his wife 900 00:43:14,542 --> 00:43:17,500 and said, "I really don't feel like working on that boat today. 901 00:43:17,542 --> 00:43:19,000 "It's getting really expensive. 902 00:43:19,042 --> 00:43:22,500 "It's a whole lot of work and people come and make fun of me. 903 00:43:22,542 --> 00:43:24,333 "And we do live in the desert. 904 00:43:24,375 --> 00:43:26,625 "And even if it does rain, whatever that is, 905 00:43:26,667 --> 00:43:29,125 "it seems like it would take a lot of rain 906 00:43:29,167 --> 00:43:32,000 to lift this battleship." 907 00:43:32,042 --> 00:43:35,000 Do you think his sons ever came up to him and said, 908 00:43:35,042 --> 00:43:37,167 "You know, Dad, it's kind of hard meeting girls 909 00:43:37,250 --> 00:43:41,000 "with this whole boat thing. 910 00:43:41,083 --> 00:43:45,667 "Not a lot of girls want to marry the boat kid. 911 00:43:45,750 --> 00:43:48,875 "And by the way, Dad, you're taking all of our money and all 912 00:43:48,958 --> 00:43:51,417 "of our inheritance and all of our family future 913 00:43:51,500 --> 00:43:54,708 "and possessions and legacy and you're buying tools and wood 914 00:43:54,792 --> 00:43:57,792 and building a boat." 915 00:43:57,833 --> 00:44:03,208 But every day, in faith Noah got up and he worked on the boat. 916 00:44:03,292 --> 00:44:05,875 The Bible says in addition to being a boat builder, 917 00:44:05,958 --> 00:44:07,875 Peter says in the New Testament, Noah was, 918 00:44:07,958 --> 00:44:09,917 quote, "A preacher of righteousness." 919 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:11,500 So he's a prophet. 920 00:44:11,583 --> 00:44:13,083 He's saying, "Repent, judgment's coming! 921 00:44:13,167 --> 00:44:14,833 "The end of the world is coming! 922 00:44:14,875 --> 00:44:17,625 "The world as we know it is coming to an end! 923 00:44:17,667 --> 00:44:20,125 "Repent, turn to God. The problem is sin! 924 00:44:20,167 --> 00:44:22,917 "God has a means of salvation. 925 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,125 "Turn to him, trust in him. 926 00:44:25,167 --> 00:44:29,417 Get on my boat." 927 00:44:29,500 --> 00:44:37,083 No one, no one, no one believed him. 928 00:44:38,875 --> 00:44:41,667 And the day comes where the construction of the boat 929 00:44:41,750 --> 00:44:44,000 is completed. 930 00:44:44,083 --> 00:44:48,583 Noah and his family get on the boat and it starts to what? 931 00:44:50,750 --> 00:44:53,167 It starts to rain. 932 00:44:53,250 --> 00:44:55,333 It keeps raining. 933 00:44:55,375 --> 00:45:00,333 And the rain gets harder and harder, steadier and steadier. 934 00:45:00,375 --> 00:45:05,292 Next thing you know, there's reports of flash flooding. 935 00:45:05,333 --> 00:45:09,833 Next thing you know, there's a lot of water. 936 00:45:09,875 --> 00:45:14,000 Next thing you know, the boat starts rising. 937 00:45:14,083 --> 00:45:18,000 And Jesus tells us what people were doing. 938 00:45:18,083 --> 00:45:20,125 They're going to the grocery store. 939 00:45:20,167 --> 00:45:23,125 They're doing their laundry. 940 00:45:23,167 --> 00:45:26,208 All right, they're returning their e-mail. 941 00:45:26,292 --> 00:45:29,708 They're running errands. 942 00:45:29,792 --> 00:45:32,917 They're trying to figure out what settings they should have 943 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,917 at their wedding, none of which are bad things, 944 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,833 but they're not the first priority. 945 00:45:40,875 --> 00:45:43,208 How many of you are like that? 946 00:45:43,292 --> 00:45:45,417 You really haven't given much thought or consideration 947 00:45:45,500 --> 00:45:49,125 to Jesus, the end of your life, the end of the world, 948 00:45:49,167 --> 00:45:53,583 the kingdom of God, heaven and hell, the big issues. 949 00:45:53,667 --> 00:45:57,292 Instead, it's down your list of priorities. 950 00:45:57,333 --> 00:45:59,583 You're saying, "Well, I got to do the dishes, 951 00:45:59,667 --> 00:46:02,500 "I got to cook dinner, I got to do the laundry, 952 00:46:02,542 --> 00:46:05,833 "I got to cut the grass, I got to return my e-mail. 953 00:46:05,875 --> 00:46:07,708 "And then I went to hell. 954 00:46:07,792 --> 00:46:11,583 At least I was wearing clean socks." 955 00:46:11,667 --> 00:46:13,875 Think about it. 956 00:46:13,958 --> 00:46:20,333 Most people are far more prepared for a vacation than 957 00:46:20,375 --> 00:46:22,875 they are for eternal life. 958 00:46:22,958 --> 00:46:26,792 They think about it, prepare for it, plan in advance. 959 00:46:26,833 --> 00:46:30,125 Have you done that for forever? 960 00:46:30,167 --> 00:46:33,500 Are you ready to stand before God? 961 00:46:33,542 --> 00:46:36,500 Have you had your sin dealt with through Jesus 962 00:46:36,583 --> 00:46:39,417 or will you face judgment? 963 00:46:39,500 --> 00:46:43,125 Noah and his family by faith trusted in the Lord, 964 00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,625 entered the ark, the means of salvation that God 965 00:46:45,667 --> 00:46:48,625 gave to deliver them from judgment to a new world. 966 00:46:48,667 --> 00:46:51,333 For us, that ark is Jesus Christ, 967 00:46:51,375 --> 00:46:55,583 our humble servant king. 968 00:46:57,333 --> 00:46:59,833 They're on the boat. 969 00:46:59,875 --> 00:47:02,000 The door is open. 970 00:47:02,083 --> 00:47:06,500 It's one of the most horrifying pictures in the Bible. 971 00:47:06,583 --> 00:47:09,292 The water level's rising. 972 00:47:09,333 --> 00:47:12,625 Family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, 973 00:47:12,667 --> 00:47:14,792 Noah's a preacher of righteousness. 974 00:47:14,833 --> 00:47:21,125 "Repent, repent, join us! Please come with us! 975 00:47:21,167 --> 00:47:23,375 "Judgment is coming! 976 00:47:23,458 --> 00:47:26,208 Flee from the wrath to come!" 977 00:47:26,292 --> 00:47:30,333 No one comes and Noah knows that they're all going to die in 978 00:47:30,375 --> 00:47:35,583 the flood because they were too busy to be reconciled to God. 979 00:47:37,583 --> 00:47:40,500 And in one of the most haunting statements, 980 00:47:40,542 --> 00:47:46,292 the Bible says that God closed the door to the ark. 981 00:47:46,333 --> 00:47:48,500 I don't know why this is. 982 00:47:48,583 --> 00:47:52,125 Perhaps it is because Noah could not bring himself 983 00:47:52,167 --> 00:47:55,792 to no longer provide an opportunity for people 984 00:47:55,833 --> 00:47:59,167 to be saved from judgment. 985 00:47:59,250 --> 00:48:03,125 Or perhaps it is because it is God himself who determines 986 00:48:03,167 --> 00:48:07,875 the day at which his offer of grace comes to an end 987 00:48:07,958 --> 00:48:10,833 and all that remains is judgment. 988 00:48:10,875 --> 00:48:14,500 Friends, you and I have a day when the proverbial door 989 00:48:14,583 --> 00:48:18,500 of opportunity shuts. 990 00:48:18,542 --> 00:48:22,083 You're going to die and you know not when. 991 00:48:22,167 --> 00:48:27,333 Today, the door is open, so we're inviting you to Jesus, 992 00:48:27,375 --> 00:48:31,500 we're inviting you to salvation, we're inviting you to avoiding 993 00:48:31,583 --> 00:48:35,708 punishment, judgment, wrath, hell, and condemnation. 994 00:48:35,792 --> 00:48:37,500 The door is open. 995 00:48:37,583 --> 00:48:39,292 That's a gracious gift. 996 00:48:39,333 --> 00:48:42,125 For some of you, God has been waiting a long time 997 00:48:42,167 --> 00:48:45,500 and you've still not yet come. 998 00:48:45,583 --> 00:48:48,333 And we would compel you to come. 999 00:48:48,375 --> 00:48:51,625 There will be a day upon your death or the second coming of 1000 00:48:51,667 --> 00:48:55,000 Jesus, whichever happens first, that the door of opportunity 1001 00:48:55,083 --> 00:49:00,417 shuts and judgment and justice is all that remains. 1002 00:49:00,500 --> 00:49:03,417 Jesus says believe that. 1003 00:49:03,500 --> 00:49:05,917 In the days of Noah, they didn't believe that 1004 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,083 until it was too late. 1005 00:49:08,167 --> 00:49:11,792 And Jesus is saying that you and I can respond to his invitation 1006 00:49:11,833 --> 00:49:14,208 in one of three ways. 1007 00:49:14,292 --> 00:49:16,708 Like those in the days of Noah, saying, 1008 00:49:16,792 --> 00:49:18,125 "I'm busy, I'm not interested. 1009 00:49:18,167 --> 00:49:19,833 "I don't think judgment is coming. 1010 00:49:19,875 --> 00:49:21,417 "I don't think death is inevitable. 1011 00:49:21,500 --> 00:49:25,125 I don't think God is going to do anything." 1012 00:49:25,167 --> 00:49:28,000 And you will regret that decision. 1013 00:49:28,083 --> 00:49:32,708 Or like Lot's wife, we venture toward the kingdom of God, 1014 00:49:32,792 --> 00:49:36,500 but then we go back into a pattern of sin and we suffer 1015 00:49:36,542 --> 00:49:39,625 and those who love us suffer as she suffered and her daughters 1016 00:49:39,667 --> 00:49:42,500 suffered and her husband suffered. 1017 00:49:42,542 --> 00:49:47,000 We cause others to suffer as well as ourselves. 1018 00:49:47,042 --> 00:49:50,167 Or we respond like Noah and his family. 1019 00:49:50,250 --> 00:49:53,125 We take the ridicule and rebuke of being Christians. 1020 00:49:53,167 --> 00:49:55,875 We invest the labor and the money that it is required 1021 00:49:55,958 --> 00:50:00,000 for obedience to God, and by faith we trust 1022 00:50:00,083 --> 00:50:01,875 that the Word of God is true 1023 00:50:01,958 --> 00:50:04,500 and that the judgment of God is coming. 1024 00:50:04,542 --> 00:50:07,000 And some of you will ask, "How can I receive 1025 00:50:07,042 --> 00:50:09,417 what Noah received: salvation?" 1026 00:50:09,500 --> 00:50:16,333 And I'll close in Genesis 6 and I'll tell you how God saved Noah 1027 00:50:16,375 --> 00:50:21,000 and it's how God saves everyone whom he saves. 1028 00:50:21,083 --> 00:50:24,292 And if you were here when I went through Genesis some years ago, 1029 00:50:24,333 --> 00:50:27,500 and I had a great year teaching through the book of Genesis and 1030 00:50:27,542 --> 00:50:31,000 one of the things I love about Mars Hill is I get to teach 1031 00:50:31,042 --> 00:50:33,333 the Bible and you guys are a teachable people. 1032 00:50:33,375 --> 00:50:35,125 And as we were going through Genesis, 1033 00:50:35,167 --> 00:50:38,333 looking at the story of Noah, if you will remember if you were 1034 00:50:38,375 --> 00:50:41,500 here, I lost my mind a little bit because the story of Noah 1035 00:50:41,583 --> 00:50:43,000 is usually butchered. 1036 00:50:43,083 --> 00:50:45,792 The story of Noah is usually told that everybody was bad 1037 00:50:45,833 --> 00:50:47,292 except for one guy named Noah. 1038 00:50:47,333 --> 00:50:50,417 So all the bad guys had to swim and Noah got a boat. 1039 00:50:50,500 --> 00:50:53,167 Be a good guy and you get a boat named Jesus. 1040 00:50:53,250 --> 00:50:55,000 That's kind of how the story's told. 1041 00:50:55,083 --> 00:50:57,500 And that becomes moralism and religion and what we'll call 1042 00:50:57,583 --> 00:50:59,875 works righteousness, that God hates bad people 1043 00:50:59,958 --> 00:51:01,375 and God loves good people. 1044 00:51:01,458 --> 00:51:05,833 The truth is the world is filled with bad people and Jesus. 1045 00:51:05,875 --> 00:51:08,500 And so here's how we read it in Genesis 6, 1046 00:51:08,583 --> 00:51:13,125 back to the days of Noah where Jesus is teaching from. 1047 00:51:13,167 --> 00:51:15,625 "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great 1048 00:51:15,667 --> 00:51:18,125 "in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts 1049 00:51:18,167 --> 00:51:20,500 "of his heart was only evil continually... 1050 00:51:20,583 --> 00:51:22,917 "And it grieved him to his heart. 1051 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:26,417 "So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from 1052 00:51:26,500 --> 00:51:29,708 the face of the land...for I am sorry that I have made them.'" 1053 00:51:29,792 --> 00:51:32,583 God made us in him image and likeness to reflect his 1054 00:51:32,667 --> 00:51:37,417 goodness and glory, his love, mercy, truth, compassion. 1055 00:51:37,500 --> 00:51:39,208 Much like a mirror reflects our image, 1056 00:51:39,292 --> 00:51:42,083 we are to be mirrors reflecting the goodness of God. 1057 00:51:42,167 --> 00:51:45,667 And instead, we've all sinned, we've rebelled. 1058 00:51:45,750 --> 00:51:49,292 The inclination of our hearts, we're only evil all the time. 1059 00:51:49,333 --> 00:51:52,667 This is the theological doctrine of total depravity. 1060 00:51:52,750 --> 00:51:55,417 We're selfish and self-centered and self-seeking 1061 00:51:55,500 --> 00:51:57,792 and self-serving. 1062 00:51:57,833 --> 00:52:00,500 We think nothing of God and the well being of others. 1063 00:52:00,583 --> 00:52:02,208 It's deep down in the roots. 1064 00:52:02,292 --> 00:52:05,375 It's only, continually, all the time our predisposition 1065 00:52:05,458 --> 00:52:09,208 because of our sinful condition. 1066 00:52:09,292 --> 00:52:10,667 And what does it do? 1067 00:52:10,750 --> 00:52:12,167 It breaks the heart of God. 1068 00:52:12,250 --> 00:52:14,667 Friends, you need to know this, that when we sin, 1069 00:52:14,750 --> 00:52:17,417 it is not just breaking the laws of God, it is. 1070 00:52:17,500 --> 00:52:20,125 Furthermore, it is the breaking of the heart of God, 1071 00:52:20,167 --> 00:52:22,333 much like a parent who loves a child. 1072 00:52:22,375 --> 00:52:25,292 When the child disobeys, it's not only the breaking of law 1073 00:52:25,333 --> 00:52:30,625 or a rule, it is the breaking of the parent's heart. 1074 00:52:30,667 --> 00:52:36,083 God is a Father and when we sin, we break the rules 1075 00:52:36,167 --> 00:52:39,375 and we break his heart. 1076 00:52:39,458 --> 00:52:43,917 And so in the days of Noah, God realized--God knew is probably 1077 00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,625 more accurate language. 1078 00:52:46,667 --> 00:52:48,625 God knew that no one would repent, 1079 00:52:48,667 --> 00:52:51,917 that no one would change, that no one would stop. 1080 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:55,625 And so he had to put a stop to it through a flood. 1081 00:52:55,667 --> 00:52:59,917 Everyone was only evil all the time. 1082 00:53:00,042 --> 00:53:02,500 “Everyone” includes a man named Noah. 1083 00:53:02,583 --> 00:53:06,000 He was a sinner just like everyone else. 1084 00:53:06,083 --> 00:53:08,500 And why did he get spared? 1085 00:53:08,583 --> 00:53:12,625 We read, "But Noah found," what? 1086 00:53:12,667 --> 00:53:15,375 "Favor in the eyes of the Lord." 1087 00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:17,333 This was originally penned by Moses, 1088 00:53:17,375 --> 00:53:21,500 Jesus says that elsewhere, in a language called Hebrew. 1089 00:53:21,583 --> 00:53:25,833 And that word for favor is our word “grace,” 1090 00:53:25,875 --> 00:53:30,208 the same name that my wife's parents gave her, 1091 00:53:30,292 --> 00:53:35,000 one of the most important words in all of Christianity, “grace.” 1092 00:53:35,083 --> 00:53:37,000 Noah was bad as everyone else. 1093 00:53:37,083 --> 00:53:38,417 He was a sinner. 1094 00:53:38,500 --> 00:53:42,625 He deserved condemnation, death, hell, and the wrath of God. 1095 00:53:42,667 --> 00:53:44,625 Say, "Why didn't he get that?" 1096 00:53:44,667 --> 00:53:47,000 God gave him grace. 1097 00:53:47,042 --> 00:53:52,000 That's unmerited, undeserving, ill-deserving. 1098 00:53:52,042 --> 00:53:56,583 God just decided to love Noah, not because he was lovely 1099 00:53:56,667 --> 00:53:59,583 or loveable, but because God is loving. 1100 00:53:59,667 --> 00:54:02,625 To give him mercy and grace, to give him what he doesn't 1101 00:54:02,667 --> 00:54:05,125 deserve, to spare him when he could condemn him. 1102 00:54:05,167 --> 00:54:08,000 Friends, all of us who are Christians, 1103 00:54:08,083 --> 00:54:11,875 and we would beg you who are not Christians to come to Jesus 1104 00:54:11,958 --> 00:54:16,125 and become a Christian today, we're saved by grace. 1105 00:54:16,167 --> 00:54:18,833 It's not what we do, it's what Jesus does. 1106 00:54:18,875 --> 00:54:21,833 It's not who we are, it's who Jesus is. 1107 00:54:21,875 --> 00:54:23,333 We don't save ourselves. 1108 00:54:23,375 --> 00:54:26,000 God saves us by grace. 1109 00:54:26,042 --> 00:54:28,333 If you're here and you say, "You know what, 1110 00:54:28,375 --> 00:54:30,833 Christians are no better than me," we agree! 1111 00:54:30,875 --> 00:54:33,833 Some of us are worse. 1112 00:54:33,875 --> 00:54:38,000 And it's not about who's good and bad because we're all bad. 1113 00:54:38,042 --> 00:54:42,625 It's about who receives grace and who receives justice. 1114 00:54:42,667 --> 00:54:45,333 For the Christian, Jesus received the justice 1115 00:54:45,375 --> 00:54:49,333 on the cross so that we could receive the grace. 1116 00:54:49,375 --> 00:54:52,125 If you don't receive the grace of God in Jesus Christ, 1117 00:54:52,167 --> 00:54:54,667 then all that awaits you is justice. 1118 00:54:54,750 --> 00:54:57,667 And don't mock it and don't risk it. 1119 00:54:57,750 --> 00:55:01,083 They did that in the days of Noah and Jesus says to learn 1120 00:55:01,167 --> 00:55:04,917 from their example. 1121 00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:08,500 If you are saved, you're saved by the grace of God. 1122 00:55:08,583 --> 00:55:10,875 You are kept by the grace of God. 1123 00:55:10,958 --> 00:55:13,833 You are sustained by the grace of God. 1124 00:55:13,875 --> 00:55:18,917 That allows us to Rejoice, not in ourselves, 1125 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:22,667 but that we have found favor in the eyes of God. 1126 00:55:22,750 --> 00:55:24,500 Jesus is a king. 1127 00:55:24,583 --> 00:55:26,667 His kingdom is coming. 1128 00:55:26,750 --> 00:55:30,083 The question is, are you ready for Jesus' kingdom 1129 00:55:30,167 --> 00:55:33,708 or will you be condemned? 1130 00:55:33,792 --> 00:55:37,875 I leave that decision to you and I love you very much 1131 00:55:37,958 --> 00:55:43,500 and the door is still open, though one day it will close. 1132 00:55:43,583 --> 00:55:47,167 That day could be today and I want you to have a sense of 1133 00:55:47,250 --> 00:55:51,875 urgency about turning from sin and trusting in Jesus 1134 00:55:51,958 --> 00:55:55,708 as humble servant king. 1135 00:55:55,792 --> 00:55:57,208 I'll pray. 1136 00:55:57,292 --> 00:55:59,708 Father God, thank you for the Scriptures. 1137 00:55:59,792 --> 00:56:01,167 We love your Word. 1138 00:56:01,250 --> 00:56:04,375 Your Word is truth, just like Jesus says. 1139 00:56:04,458 --> 00:56:07,417 Jesus, we thank you that you're a king. 1140 00:56:07,500 --> 00:56:11,000 You're the Son of Man sent by the Ancient of Days on 1141 00:56:11,083 --> 00:56:16,708 a rescue mission that we might find favor in your eyes. 1142 00:56:16,792 --> 00:56:20,417 Lord Jesus, thank you that you came humbly 1143 00:56:20,500 --> 00:56:23,000 and that you're coming again in glory. 1144 00:56:23,042 --> 00:56:26,000 Thank you, Lord Jesus, that the world as we know it 1145 00:56:26,042 --> 00:56:28,167 will come to an end. 1146 00:56:28,250 --> 00:56:31,000 Sin will cease, suffering will cease. 1147 00:56:31,083 --> 00:56:33,292 Death will be no more. 1148 00:56:33,333 --> 00:56:39,625 Injustice, tyranny, poverty, God it is coming to an end 1149 00:56:39,667 --> 00:56:43,500 when the king returns and the kingdom is unveiled. 1150 00:56:43,583 --> 00:56:47,333 And so, Lord Jesus, I pray for my friends that today, 1151 00:56:47,375 --> 00:56:51,833 this day, when the day of salvation is made possible 1152 00:56:51,875 --> 00:56:56,167 and the door is still open, that we would respond by faith 1153 00:56:56,250 --> 00:57:02,000 as Noah did to trust you, to endure the criticism 1154 00:57:02,042 --> 00:57:06,500 and the ostracism, to invest the money and the labor 1155 00:57:06,583 --> 00:57:10,125 that is required to be a disciple and a follower, 1156 00:57:10,167 --> 00:57:11,875 that we would not, like Lot's wife, 1157 00:57:11,958 --> 00:57:14,667 long back, look back, go back, that we would not, like 1158 00:57:14,750 --> 00:57:17,333 the people in the days of Noah, tragically, sadly, 1159 00:57:17,375 --> 00:57:22,792 but foolishly be so consumed with secondary, 1160 00:57:22,833 --> 00:57:26,875 tertiary things that we die and go to hell with our inbox 1161 00:57:26,958 --> 00:57:33,417 cleaned out, clean socks on our feet, and food in our fridge, 1162 00:57:33,500 --> 00:57:36,208 but no grace for our soul. 1163 00:57:36,292 --> 00:57:38,708 And God, thank you that there will be the resurrection 1164 00:57:38,792 --> 00:57:43,208 of the dead and thank you 1165 00:57:43,292 --> 00:57:46,583 that Ella Mae is going to be a ballerina. 1166 00:57:46,667 --> 00:57:49,292 In Jesus' name, amen.