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Howdy Mars Hill Church.

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Pastor Sutton Turner here
and I'm in Ethiopia.

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And I just want to thank Jesus

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for continuing to use
Mars Hill Church

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to make disciples
and plant churches.

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Mars Hill Global
is the arm of Mars Hill Church

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that makes disciples

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and plant churches
all over the world.

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We not only do church planting,

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but we help better equip
church planters.

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Most recently we shipped
and now distributed

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1,000 bibles into Amharic,

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which is the language
here in Ethiopia.

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And we launched a project

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to translate Pastor Mark Driscoll's
doctrine book into Spanish.

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We have people
from over 29 different countries

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that are giving on a monthly basis
to Mars Hill Global.

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So whether you're a member

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of one of our Mars Hill
church locations

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in the United States,

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or you're 1 of 100,000 podcasters
every single week,

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we encourage you to pray

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about giving above
and beyond your tithe

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to Mars Hill Global.

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Thank you and let's see
more materials translated,

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more pastors sent out,
more churches planted,

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and more people
saved by Jesus Christ.

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Questions are a part
of every relationship.

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You ask questions;
you answer questions.

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And I give you
three categories regarding this.

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Category one is
a healthy relationship,

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where there's an exchange
of questions.

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You know that a relationship
is getting unhealthy, however,

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when there's a lot of questions.

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One question after
another--cascading--

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and all of a sudden,
it feels like you're in

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a legal proceeding with
a cross-examining attorney.

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Question after question
after question.

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And here's
what I've learned:

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When there is high trust,
there are fewer questions.

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When there is low trust,
there are far more questions.

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And what we're
seeing in Malachi,

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they have some questions,
but now that we're getting

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a little further into the book--
if you've got a Bible,

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go to chapter 2,
verse 17--

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they've got a lot of questions,

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and those questions have turned
into category three,

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accusations.

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And there's a continuum there,

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and oftentimes it's
the motive of the heart.

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Sometimes our relationship
with one another,

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like our relationship
with God, you're like,

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"Well, I've got questions."
Well, that's OK.

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"I've got a lot of questions."

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Well, now you're in
more of a legal, judge,

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cross-examining-attorney
position where I need to answer

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to you and you're going
to overwhelm me

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with your never-ending series
of questions.

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Wow, these questions have
now morphed and turned

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into accusations against me.

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They're more the rhetorical kind
of questions that they're not

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even seeking an answer to;
they're making a statement from.

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We do this as well.

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So, you look at somebody, you
say, "Why are you so stupid?"

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That's not really
a question, right?

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It's an accusation.

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It's not like, "Help me
understand why you're stupid."

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It's not category one.

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"Why are you stupid?
Why are you always stupid?

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"Why are you stupid
like your mom?

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Why are you stupid
like your dad?"

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Whoa, there's a lot
of questions there.

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None of them are
really joy-filled.

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And what they ultimately
are are accusations.

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"You're a horrible person.

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"You're a dumb person.

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"You're a person who is not
valuable or not worthy

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of dignity and respect."

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It's accusations.

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So, as we're in Malachi,
here's what you need to know:

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God reveals himself in the book
repeatedly as a loving Father,

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and he's speaking
to his sons and daughters.

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And at first, if you're reading
the book, you're like,

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"Well, they've got
a few questions."

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Then you're like, "Actually, no,
they've got a lot of questions.

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These are accusations
against the goodness of God."

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We're going to examine more of
their accusations in the form of

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questions today,
but thus far in the book,

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they've asked stuff like,
"How have you loved us?"

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That's not a question;
that's an accusation.

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That's like if I sat down
at the dinner table

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with my five kids,

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and the first question was,
"How have you ever loved us?"

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OK, we have a problem
in our relationship.

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Another question that they
ask early in the book,

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"How have we
despised your name?"

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Another question,
"How have we polluted you?"

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You almost get the image it's
like God the Father

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sitting at the dinner table,
there's all the kids,

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and they're just
declaring war on Dad,

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and they've got a bunch
of accusations

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in the form of questions.

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Well, how's God the Father--

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how's Dad going to respond
to all this?

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What's he going to do
with these kids

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who are not being very fair
to him?

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He's going to respond to them
clearly with authority

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but also lovingly.

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And the banner that flies over
the whole book is, early on

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in chapter 1,
right around verse 2, he says,

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"I have loved you."

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So, he has a fatherly tone,
but it's an affectionate tone.

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Though it's still a firm tone,
it's an inviting tone.

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It's not a condemning tone.

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And he starts by saying
something that's actually

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kind of funny in Malachi 2:17.

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We learn about the God
who is the tired God,

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which is kind of funny because
one of God's attributes is

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he is omnipotent,
all powerful, and tired.

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You know you've worn God
out when God is like,

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"I am inexhaustible
and exhausted."

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That tells you about the kind of
people that he is dealing with

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and the kind of people
that we can be.

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"How"--here's how it goes.

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Malachi 2:17,
"You have wearied the Lord."

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God says, "I'm tired."

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And he's speaking
here metaphorically,

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a little bit of hyperbole.

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"With your words."

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Any of you have
a relationship like that?

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Some of you are like,
"I do, Pastor Mark, with you.

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Wearied by all the words,
so many words."

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OK, good, glad to have you.

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What he's talking about here is
a relationship where the person

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just can't let it
go, won't let it go.

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"We need to talk about it again.

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"We're going to bring it
up in a different way.

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"I know I said it was settled,
but it's not settled.

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"We're going to circle back
around again,

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"and again, and again.

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"Hey, get some more gas, another
trip around the cul-de-sac

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of that issue."

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God's like, "We have talked
about this a lot,

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and you won't stop talking
about it."

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"You've wearied
the Lord with your words.

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But you say,
'How have we wearied him?'"

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Do you see the irony here?

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"You don't stop talking,
and you're making me exhausted."

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"Well, how have
we talked to you?"

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Like, "Well, the example
would be now.

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"I tell you you talk too much

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and your answer is to talk
about it."

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OK, you didn't
think that was funny.

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It's because we're
like this, OK?

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"By saying, 'Everyone who does
evil is good in the sight

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"'of the Lord,
and he delights in them.'

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Or by asking"--here's
their other question,

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"'Where is the God
of justice?'"

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I mean, do you
see this one verse?

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"How have we wearied you?

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Where is the God of justice?"

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Just one question after
another just rolling right in.

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Let's not read this
religiously.

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Let's read this repentantly.

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To read it religiously is
to say this is an interesting

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historical examination of how
people in the past

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used to relate to God,

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and it's really sad that
they acted like that,

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and thankfully
we're not like that.

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Or we can read it repentantly
and say,

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"That's how I am.

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That's how I am."

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This isn't just
what used to happen;

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this is what always happens.

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This is not just how
people used to act;

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this is how people still act.

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Let me ask you this:

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If you could ask
God some questions,

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how long would the list be?

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Some of you are like,
"I have a very long list."

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Welcome to Malachi.

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And what would the questions be?

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You say, "Oh, I know."

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And if many of them are around
the goodness of God with issues

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in your life--"God, why do
you bless them and not me?

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"And why is it hard
for me and not them?

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"And why did you not show up?

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"And why did you not
protect me from this?

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"And why did you allow
this to happen to me?

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And why is it difficult for me?"

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If it's a lot of those, "I
question your goodness, God.

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"I sit on a throne;
you sit on the bench.

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"I ask you questions,
you give me answers,

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and I sit in authority over
you," welcome to Malachi.

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We've all been there.

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Some of you are there today;

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some of you will be there
tomorrow.

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We've all been
there yesterday.

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Me, too.

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I was reading this
like, "Oh yeah.

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"Man, when I'm hurting, when I'm
frustrated, when I'm struggling,

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the questions
that I would ask God--"

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And sometimes we'd say,

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"Well, I don't ask them;
I just think them."

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God knows your heart.

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Aren't you glad he didn't write
what he overheard in your heart

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down in a book for everybody
else to talk about?

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That's what's going
on in Malachi.

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It says earlier, God's
like, "I know your thoughts

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and I hear your conversations."

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You're like, "Really?

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"Man, if he knows my thoughts
and writes it down in the book,

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and 2,500 years later,
people get to talk about it."

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See, God hasn't done that to
us, but God did that to them,

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and we can learn
because we're like them.

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But God overhears our
hearts, and God overhears

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our conversations, and truth
be told, you and me both,

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when we're struggling,
when we're hurting,

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when we're suffering, when it's
hard, when we're frustrated,

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when we're exhausted, we
question the goodness of God.

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We can have questions about God

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that turn into accusations
about God.

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And for them,
this was a hard time.

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Economically,
things were bad.

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Politically,
the nation was struggling.

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Morally, spiritually,
it was in decline,

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and God's people were
in a difficult place.

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And these are hurting people,
these are frustrated people,

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these are wounded people
who are lashing out at God.

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This, this, this
is how we respond

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oftentimes to similar
circumstances.

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This is how I respond sometimes
to similar circumstances.

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So, for this text
to be helpful to us,

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let's all put our voices in
the choir of Malachi and say,

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"I've thought the same things.
I've said the same things.

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I've been the same way,
or maybe I am today."

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And here's their tactic,

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they're having a fight with God,
OK?

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Now, when we have
a fight with a person,

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usually it's not
a physical fight.

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It's an emotional fight,
it's a verbal fight,

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it's a spiritual fight,
it's a mental fight.

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They're having that
kind of fight with God.

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But to use an analogy from real
fighting--some of you know

245
00:11:23,542 --> 00:11:24,875
I'm a fight fan.

246
00:11:24,958 --> 00:11:27,875
I've liked mixed marital arts
since the early days of the UFC,

247
00:11:27,958 --> 00:11:29,833
and the old Pride days,
and stuff.

248
00:11:29,875 --> 00:11:32,708
And really, when it comes
to the stand up game

249
00:11:32,792 --> 00:11:35,625
of a competition of a fight,

250
00:11:35,667 --> 00:11:38,042
there's two ways
to go about it.

251
00:11:38,125 --> 00:11:42,042
Some guys, they've got a lot of
power and so their goal

252
00:11:42,125 --> 00:11:44,833
is to knock you out.

253
00:11:44,917 --> 00:11:48,042
And you can tell, these guys
their whole tactic is stuff

254
00:11:48,125 --> 00:11:52,958
the takedown, stay on your feet,
load up, and wait for the shot.

255
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,417
Usually it's an overhand right,
knock the guy out

256
00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:57,708
because you've got the power
to do that.

257
00:11:57,792 --> 00:12:01,333
The guys who don't have that
kind of power, their plan is,

258
00:12:01,375 --> 00:12:04,583
"I can't knock you out,
so I need to wear you out."

259
00:12:04,667 --> 00:12:10,625
And it's not knockout blow,
it's jab, jab, jab, jab, jab,

260
00:12:10,667 --> 00:12:12,667
jab, jab.

261
00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:16,125
Good cardio, good gas tank,
need to go the distance,

262
00:12:16,167 --> 00:12:18,000
going to grind out a win.

263
00:12:18,083 --> 00:12:20,375
"I'm going to wear you
out, wear you down,

264
00:12:20,458 --> 00:12:22,875
"and then my hand will
get raised in the end

265
00:12:22,958 --> 00:12:25,500
because I can go longer
than you."

266
00:12:25,583 --> 00:12:30,375
When it comes to fights,
some people are knock-you-out,

267
00:12:30,458 --> 00:12:32,833
some people are wear you out.

268
00:12:32,875 --> 00:12:35,042
Some people are just waiting for
the kill shot,

269
00:12:35,125 --> 00:12:37,542
"Boom, I said it,
you're out."

270
00:12:37,625 --> 00:12:41,042
Others, it's like, "Yeah, I
just kind of hang in there until

271
00:12:41,125 --> 00:12:45,542
they're exhausted and quit."

272
00:12:45,625 --> 00:12:47,958
So it is in our
relationship with God.

273
00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,833
They can't knock him out, so
they're trying to wear him out.

274
00:12:50,917 --> 00:12:54,042
Accusation, accusation,
question, question,

275
00:12:54,125 --> 00:12:57,042
issue, issue, confrontation,
confrontation.

276
00:12:57,125 --> 00:12:58,458
"You guys join it.

277
00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:01,000
More people, let's all jab
God, let's all jab God."

278
00:13:01,083 --> 00:13:03,000
And God's using a bit of
hyperbole saying,

279
00:13:03,083 --> 00:13:04,792
"Yeah, you guys are wearing
me out."

280
00:13:04,833 --> 00:13:07,500
The inexhaustible God
is getting exhausted.

281
00:13:07,583 --> 00:13:09,917
He's using some hyperbole.

282
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,417
But how many of you really are
at a place where your goal is

283
00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:16,917
not to change, not to
repent, not to let God win.

284
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,333
You're going to hang in there
because you're relentless.

285
00:13:19,375 --> 00:13:24,500
And let me say this: being
relentless is great

286
00:13:24,583 --> 00:13:27,708
if it's for the right thing.

287
00:13:27,792 --> 00:13:31,542
Just being relentless
can be a bad thing

288
00:13:31,625 --> 00:13:35,833
if you're relentless
for the wrong thing.

289
00:13:35,917 --> 00:13:39,333
I'm relentless.

290
00:13:39,375 --> 00:13:41,333
There's a good side to
that--I'll use myself

291
00:13:41,375 --> 00:13:47,458
as an example--to where in my
marriage or in my ministry,

292
00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:49,958
hang in there,
get into the latter rounds.

293
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,958
I'm not going to tap out.

294
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,042
I'm not going to give up.

295
00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:58,125
But Grace would tell you that
that same resiliency is

296
00:13:58,167 --> 00:14:00,875
very complicated
when I'm wrong,

297
00:14:00,958 --> 00:14:07,667
because I will hang in there
and I'm wrong.

298
00:14:07,750 --> 00:14:11,125
I don't want you to be
a person

299
00:14:11,167 --> 00:14:13,583
that has no resiliency,

300
00:14:13,667 --> 00:14:16,625
but I want you to be a person
that has resiliency

301
00:14:16,667 --> 00:14:19,125
about the right things.

302
00:14:19,167 --> 00:14:22,375
And what these people have
decided is that they're

303
00:14:22,458 --> 00:14:25,000
resilient for the right thing,
and they need a voice like

304
00:14:25,083 --> 00:14:27,375
Malachi to come in and say,
"Actually, you're not."

305
00:14:27,458 --> 00:14:31,333
This is where wise counsel
is so helpful and important.

306
00:14:31,375 --> 00:14:32,833
Who speaks into your life?

307
00:14:32,875 --> 00:14:34,250
Who has authority over you?

308
00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:35,958
Who are your ears opened to?

309
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,458
And if they come along
and say, "You know what?

310
00:14:38,500 --> 00:14:40,958
"You need to give up.
You need to tap out.

311
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,667
"You need to quit on that
because you're wrong.

312
00:14:43,708 --> 00:14:47,667
"You're fighting for
the wrong thing.

313
00:14:47,708 --> 00:14:49,833
"And the resiliency
is a great thing,

314
00:14:49,875 --> 00:14:52,000
"but when it's resiliency
for the wrong thing,

315
00:14:52,083 --> 00:14:55,542
that's a dangerous thing."

316
00:14:55,625 --> 00:14:57,833
And they've got two accusations

317
00:14:57,875 --> 00:14:59,458
that they begin
with against God.

318
00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:05,167
The first is that God
is evil and we are good.

319
00:15:05,250 --> 00:15:07,375
You say, "How do they
get to this point?"

320
00:15:07,458 --> 00:15:09,500
Well, this is where
religious people get,

321
00:15:09,583 --> 00:15:12,083
this is where hurt people get,
this is where unforgiving,

322
00:15:12,167 --> 00:15:15,375
bitter people get, this is
where self-righteous people get.

323
00:15:15,458 --> 00:15:17,708
"Because I'm a good person,
or because I've suffered,

324
00:15:17,792 --> 00:15:19,917
"because I've been through
a lot, because I'm hurting,

325
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,625
"because it's an emotional
day, I'm a good person

326
00:15:24,667 --> 00:15:30,333
"and I'm struggling because
of those bad people.

327
00:15:30,375 --> 00:15:33,833
"And God, if you're letting
them do what they do,

328
00:15:33,917 --> 00:15:36,750
"you must be bad, too.

329
00:15:36,833 --> 00:15:38,417
"I'm good, they're bad.

330
00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:41,167
If you're not dealing with
them, then you're bad."

331
00:15:41,208 --> 00:15:42,833
You see this?

332
00:15:42,917 --> 00:15:45,333
Now we've inverted
the universe,

333
00:15:45,417 --> 00:15:47,042
kind of a big thing.

334
00:15:47,125 --> 00:15:49,417
No longer is God on
the throne judging us,

335
00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:52,458
we're on a throne judging him.

336
00:15:52,500 --> 00:15:57,125
How many of us emotionally
have been there?

337
00:15:57,167 --> 00:15:58,625
"God, that's wrong.

338
00:15:58,667 --> 00:16:00,500
"You shouldn't have
allowed that to happen.

339
00:16:00,583 --> 00:16:02,708
"You should have intervened.
You should have stopped them.

340
00:16:02,792 --> 00:16:05,917
"You should have done something.
You should have said something.

341
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,708
God is evil; I am good."

342
00:16:09,792 --> 00:16:13,000
And today, there are still
people who take this position.

343
00:16:13,083 --> 00:16:15,708
I get it all the time when
I do media interviews.

344
00:16:15,792 --> 00:16:18,208
The media, they'll want
to go to the Bible, like,

345
00:16:18,292 --> 00:16:20,708
"Let's talk about all
the things that God did wrong."

346
00:16:20,792 --> 00:16:22,125
"Oh really, like what?"

347
00:16:22,167 --> 00:16:24,625
"Well, he flooded the earth
in the days of Noah.

348
00:16:24,667 --> 00:16:26,000
"That was bad.

349
00:16:26,083 --> 00:16:27,708
"And he destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah.

350
00:16:27,792 --> 00:16:29,167
"That was evil.

351
00:16:29,250 --> 00:16:31,208
"He doesn't accept worship
from all religions.

352
00:16:31,292 --> 00:16:33,000
"You have to be saved
through Jesus.

353
00:16:33,083 --> 00:16:34,833
"That seems very narrow.

354
00:16:34,917 --> 00:16:36,833
"What he said to do
to the Canaanites,

355
00:16:36,917 --> 00:16:38,250
"that was despicable.

356
00:16:38,333 --> 00:16:41,667
"Oh, and he wants to tell you
who you can love, and not love,

357
00:16:41,708 --> 00:16:43,042
"and marry, and not marry.

358
00:16:43,125 --> 00:16:45,750
"Yeah, there's some stuff in
there, God sure got it wrong.

359
00:16:45,833 --> 00:16:47,333
"He's evil;
we're good.

360
00:16:47,417 --> 00:16:49,542
"He's intolerant;
we're tolerant.

361
00:16:49,625 --> 00:16:52,667
He's unloving;
we're loving."

362
00:16:52,708 --> 00:16:55,542
This still happens
today, correct?

363
00:16:55,625 --> 00:16:57,833
Sometimes by God's people
who are hurting,

364
00:16:57,875 --> 00:17:02,083
sometimes by people
who are enemies of God.

365
00:17:02,167 --> 00:17:07,667
Their second accusation is,
"Where is the God of justice?"

366
00:17:07,750 --> 00:17:12,500
We've all been here.

367
00:17:12,583 --> 00:17:17,125
Some catastrophe
comes into your life,

368
00:17:17,167 --> 00:17:20,833
something horrifying,

369
00:17:20,875 --> 00:17:26,083
or somebody you love is
victimized in a horrific way.

370
00:17:28,375 --> 00:17:33,667
"OK God, you know
all, you have power,

371
00:17:33,708 --> 00:17:40,250
"you can do whatever you want,
and you didn't do anything.

372
00:17:40,333 --> 00:17:44,250
"Where is--where's
the God of justice?

373
00:17:44,333 --> 00:17:48,833
Why don't you show
up and do something?"

374
00:17:48,917 --> 00:17:51,833
We've all been there.

375
00:17:51,917 --> 00:17:54,542
Usually it's when we're
hurting, we're very emotional,

376
00:17:54,625 --> 00:18:01,000
or someone we love is
hurting and very emotional.

377
00:18:01,042 --> 00:18:04,333
And what they're doing--and
this is what hurt people do,

378
00:18:04,375 --> 00:18:06,208
this is what
religious people do,

379
00:18:06,292 --> 00:18:09,917
and this is really what
hurt religious people do.

380
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,500
"I'm good; they're bad.

381
00:18:13,583 --> 00:18:19,833
They hurt me--show up
now and crush them."

382
00:18:19,875 --> 00:18:21,917
God's like, "You know
what's interesting?

383
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,167
"They were praying
too, and they said,

384
00:18:27,250 --> 00:18:29,208
"'They're good; you're bad--

385
00:18:29,292 --> 00:18:32,542
"'and that I should
crush you right now.'

386
00:18:32,625 --> 00:18:38,917
You're both asking
for the same thing."

387
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:44,333
We truly don't want
God to deal justly

388
00:18:44,417 --> 00:18:47,667
with everyone right now.

389
00:18:47,708 --> 00:18:49,833
Please don't pray that prayer.

390
00:18:49,917 --> 00:18:54,458
"Lord, give everyone what
they deserve right now."

391
00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:59,167
Because we're all sinners,
we all deserve it,

392
00:18:59,208 --> 00:19:01,875
and if God was going to deal
justly with everyone,

393
00:19:01,958 --> 00:19:05,000
he would send everyone to hell.

394
00:19:05,083 --> 00:19:07,625
See, God is just
and God is loving,

395
00:19:07,667 --> 00:19:10,583
and what happens is it says
early on, "I have loved you,"

396
00:19:10,667 --> 00:19:13,000
and here it says,
"Where's the God of justice?"

397
00:19:13,083 --> 00:19:16,208
So, when we sin,
we want God's love.

398
00:19:16,292 --> 00:19:18,875
When they sin,
we want God's justice.

399
00:19:18,958 --> 00:19:20,417
You get that?

400
00:19:20,500 --> 00:19:23,000
We call that hypocrisy.

401
00:19:23,083 --> 00:19:28,125
"You hurt me--justice.
I hurt you--love."

402
00:19:28,167 --> 00:19:31,125
They're doing the same thing.

403
00:19:31,167 --> 00:19:33,708
And because God is
loving and just,

404
00:19:33,792 --> 00:19:37,750
our sin makes it complicated.

405
00:19:37,833 --> 00:19:43,333
It's not exactly like this,
but it's kind of like this:

406
00:19:43,417 --> 00:19:45,167
a person has cancer,

407
00:19:45,208 --> 00:19:47,542
and the cancer cells
have attached themselves

408
00:19:47,625 --> 00:19:51,250
to the person's body.

409
00:19:51,333 --> 00:19:54,833
This is kind of the analogy that
Augustine, the church father,

410
00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:56,708
uses regarding sin.

411
00:19:56,792 --> 00:19:59,833
It says sin is not a thing;
it's the corruption of a thing

412
00:19:59,917 --> 00:20:01,250
that God made good.

413
00:20:01,333 --> 00:20:02,833
It's a privation.

414
00:20:02,875 --> 00:20:06,167
So, rust requires metal, right?

415
00:20:06,208 --> 00:20:10,667
Cancer requires a living person.

416
00:20:10,708 --> 00:20:12,167
It's a corruption;

417
00:20:12,208 --> 00:20:14,333
it's a privation of what God
made good.

418
00:20:14,417 --> 00:20:17,333
It's not a thing unto itself,
it's a parasite that feeds off

419
00:20:17,417 --> 00:20:19,667
of a good thing.

420
00:20:19,708 --> 00:20:23,250
Well, it's kind of like that.

421
00:20:23,333 --> 00:20:26,750
So, if all the cancer
patients--and some of you are

422
00:20:26,833 --> 00:20:29,167
cancer patients right now.

423
00:20:29,208 --> 00:20:31,958
If all the cancer patients went
to the medical industry and

424
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,917
said, "Whatever it takes, all
cancer needs to die right now.

425
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,333
Kill it all."

426
00:20:38,375 --> 00:20:42,333
The answer is,
"Kill everybody with cancer."

427
00:20:42,417 --> 00:20:44,542
You're like, "Well, no,
that's not what I want.

428
00:20:44,625 --> 00:20:47,250
I want the cancer to die
and the people to live."

429
00:20:47,333 --> 00:20:50,917
Well, that's going to take
a great physician to separate

430
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,167
the cancer from the person

431
00:20:53,208 --> 00:20:54,750
so that
the cancer would die

432
00:20:54,833 --> 00:20:56,542
and the person would live.

433
00:20:56,625 --> 00:20:59,833
And the Bible says that
God is a great physician,

434
00:20:59,917 --> 00:21:06,000
and that sin infects
all of our being,

435
00:21:06,042 --> 00:21:09,208
and that when we get impatient
and we want him to deal with

436
00:21:09,292 --> 00:21:13,083
everybody and everything right
now, we think that God is slow.

437
00:21:13,167 --> 00:21:16,125
And the Bible says, Peter
says, that God is not slow,

438
00:21:16,167 --> 00:21:19,417
that he's patient,
that he's saving these people,

439
00:21:19,500 --> 00:21:21,167
and working on these people.

440
00:21:21,250 --> 00:21:24,208
And he's separating the sin
from the sinner

441
00:21:24,292 --> 00:21:27,500
so that the sin can die
and the sinner can live.

442
00:21:27,583 --> 00:21:29,500
And sometimes, in the middle,
when we're hurting,

443
00:21:29,583 --> 00:21:31,125
when we're suffering,
when we're frustrated,

444
00:21:31,167 --> 00:21:33,167
we want it all done
right now.

445
00:21:33,208 --> 00:21:35,667
It's like somebody on the table
cussing out the doctor

446
00:21:35,708 --> 00:21:39,708
who's trying to save their life.

447
00:21:43,625 --> 00:21:49,625
I don't want to minimize
suffering, hurting people.

448
00:21:49,667 --> 00:21:53,333
Theologically, philosophically,
it's called the problem of evil.

449
00:21:53,375 --> 00:21:55,458
How do we reconcile
the goodness of God

450
00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:57,542
with the evil on the earth?

451
00:21:57,625 --> 00:21:59,250
There's a lot of answers.

452
00:21:59,333 --> 00:22:01,833
If you want to study it,
look for something called

453
00:22:01,875 --> 00:22:03,208
Theodicy.

454
00:22:03,292 --> 00:22:06,417
But let me give you what I
think are the four most popular

455
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:07,833
options in our day, briefly.

456
00:22:07,875 --> 00:22:10,500
Atheism says there is no God.
It is what it is.

457
00:22:10,583 --> 00:22:13,917
God's not involved in evil
because there's no God.

458
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,708
Deism says, well, there is
a God, but he's far, far away.

459
00:22:17,792 --> 00:22:20,917
He's inactive, he's distant,
he's an absentee landlord.

460
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,292
He's like your dad who walked
out on you when you were a kid,

461
00:22:24,333 --> 00:22:27,500
and you don't know even know if
he's alive, or where he lives,

462
00:22:27,542 --> 00:22:30,000
or what he's doing because
he has nothing to do

463
00:22:30,042 --> 00:22:31,375
with your life.

464
00:22:31,458 --> 00:22:32,750
You're on your own.

465
00:22:32,833 --> 00:22:34,958
Monism says that God
is both good and evil.

466
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,958
This is a lot of eastern
religion, the yin and the yang,

467
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,958
black and white,
God is good and evil.

468
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,167
So, the good and evil we see
in the world is a reflection

469
00:22:43,208 --> 00:22:44,542
of the character of God.

470
00:22:44,625 --> 00:22:47,333
He's good and evil, which is
scary because when evil happens,

471
00:22:47,375 --> 00:22:48,708
would you run to God?

472
00:22:48,792 --> 00:22:50,708
Why would you run
to God who's evil?

473
00:22:50,792 --> 00:22:52,917
And then there's Christianity
that says God is good,

474
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,333
and he's not done with evil.

475
00:22:54,417 --> 00:22:56,708
He's not done yet.

476
00:22:56,792 --> 00:22:59,458
We're in the middle of history.

477
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,125
It's like we're
halfway through a film.

478
00:23:02,167 --> 00:23:04,875
We're predicting the end
wrongly and then cussing out

479
00:23:04,958 --> 00:23:11,000
the director as we exit
the theater.

480
00:23:11,083 --> 00:23:14,167
And they've got
a lot of questions.

481
00:23:14,250 --> 00:23:18,000
They've got a lot of questions.

482
00:23:18,083 --> 00:23:21,708
They've got a list
of accusations,

483
00:23:21,792 --> 00:23:24,500
and God has one answer.

484
00:23:24,583 --> 00:23:28,208
Jesus is the answer.

485
00:23:28,292 --> 00:23:30,875
"God, we want to talk about our
suffering, and those people,

486
00:23:30,958 --> 00:23:32,333
"and the hurting,
and the politics,

487
00:23:32,417 --> 00:23:34,042
"and the finances,
and the morality,

488
00:23:34,125 --> 00:23:35,833
and the bad pastors,
and the issues."

489
00:23:35,917 --> 00:23:39,000
God's like, "I want
to talk about Jesus."

490
00:23:39,083 --> 00:23:41,417
When someone is hurting,
when someone is struggling,

491
00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:46,458
when someone is suffering, when
they become absolutely concerned

492
00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:48,958
with themselves,
and every time you see them,

493
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,625
all they want to talk about
is, "What I'm going through,

494
00:23:51,667 --> 00:23:54,125
and how I'm feeling, and
what I'm doing," you're like,

495
00:23:54,167 --> 00:23:57,333
"I love you, and I love you so
much I'm going to change

496
00:23:57,375 --> 00:24:03,417
the subject," because the answer
to the questions

497
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:07,583
is always the same,
and his name is Jesus.

498
00:24:07,667 --> 00:24:10,500
This is not trite;
this is true.

499
00:24:10,542 --> 00:24:12,000
"How have you loved us?"

500
00:24:12,083 --> 00:24:15,583
One of their questions,
the answer is Jesus.

501
00:24:15,667 --> 00:24:18,000
"Where's the God of justice?"

502
00:24:18,083 --> 00:24:19,500
Hanging on the cross.

503
00:24:19,583 --> 00:24:23,375
His name is Jesus.

504
00:24:23,458 --> 00:24:25,500
Their questions are
all answered in Jesus.

505
00:24:25,583 --> 00:24:29,833
Hear me in this: most of your
questions will not get answered

506
00:24:29,875 --> 00:24:32,000
in this life.

507
00:24:32,083 --> 00:24:34,500
Many of your questions about
suffering, and injustice,

508
00:24:34,583 --> 00:24:37,667
and evil, the Bible says
in 1 Corinthians 13 that,

509
00:24:37,708 --> 00:24:39,958
"Now we see in part,
we know in part,

510
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,958
"and when we see
the face of Jesus,

511
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,417
we'll know as
we're fully known."

512
00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:46,167
Until the kingdom of God,
there's going to be things

513
00:24:46,208 --> 00:24:47,833
that we don't know.

514
00:24:47,917 --> 00:24:49,833
It doesn't mean that
there isn't an answer,

515
00:24:49,917 --> 00:24:54,750
but there's not an answer
that is revealed to us yet.

516
00:24:54,833 --> 00:24:59,250
And so God redirects
the conversation toward Jesus,

517
00:24:59,333 --> 00:25:02,083
as he is for us today.

518
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:04,208
I want to redirect
the conversation toward Jesus

519
00:25:04,292 --> 00:25:07,667
because that's God's
answer to your question,

520
00:25:07,750 --> 00:25:10,208
whatever your question might be.

521
00:25:10,292 --> 00:25:12,833
Malachi 3:1, "Behold,
I send my messenger,

522
00:25:12,875 --> 00:25:14,875
"and he will prepare
the way before me.

523
00:25:14,958 --> 00:25:17,792
"And the Lord whom you seek will
suddenly come to his temple;

524
00:25:17,833 --> 00:25:19,292
"and the messenger
of the covenant

525
00:25:19,333 --> 00:25:20,667
"in whom you delight,

526
00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:22,875
behold, he is coming,
says the Lord of hosts."

527
00:25:22,958 --> 00:25:24,625
So twice, your God
says, "Behold, behold."

528
00:25:24,667 --> 00:25:26,125
It's like,
"Hey, don't miss this.

529
00:25:26,167 --> 00:25:27,625
"Pay attention.
This is really important.

530
00:25:27,667 --> 00:25:29,125
"Highlight this,
underline this,

531
00:25:29,167 --> 00:25:30,500
"grab this, cling to this.

532
00:25:30,583 --> 00:25:33,042
"This is life raft for
you to climb into.

533
00:25:33,125 --> 00:25:35,958
"This is a life preserver
for you to hold onto.

534
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,000
"The storm is raging,
here you go.

535
00:25:38,083 --> 00:25:41,000
Grab this."

536
00:25:41,083 --> 00:25:43,458
And he starts talking about
Jesus 400 years

537
00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:45,458
before Jesus would even come.

538
00:25:45,500 --> 00:25:48,542
And here's what they
wanted: answers.

539
00:25:48,625 --> 00:25:52,833
And here's what God
gives: presence.

540
00:25:52,917 --> 00:25:58,542
God won't answer all of
your questions in this life,

541
00:25:58,625 --> 00:26:03,625
but his answer to your questions
is his presence in your life.

542
00:26:03,667 --> 00:26:06,375
The Bible says that
he'll never leave us,

543
00:26:06,458 --> 00:26:07,792
he'll never forsake us.

544
00:26:07,833 --> 00:26:10,875
He'll be with us always
until the end of the age.

545
00:26:10,958 --> 00:26:14,000
The number one command in
the Bible, about 150 times,

546
00:26:14,083 --> 00:26:17,000
the Bible says, "Fear not,"

547
00:26:17,042 --> 00:26:19,792
and right around it,
somewhere in the text,

548
00:26:19,833 --> 00:26:21,625
almost every time that
I've examined it,

549
00:26:21,667 --> 00:26:24,167
says, "For I am with you."

550
00:26:24,250 --> 00:26:29,000
Not, "Because I have
an answer for you," but,

551
00:26:29,042 --> 00:26:31,708
"Because I'm there with you."

552
00:26:31,792 --> 00:26:35,542
The answer to our questions
is the presence of God.

553
00:26:35,625 --> 00:26:40,750
The only thing worse than
suffering is suffering alone.

554
00:26:40,833 --> 00:26:44,333
Sometimes you need a counselor;
most of the time

555
00:26:44,417 --> 00:26:47,542
you need a comforter.

556
00:26:47,625 --> 00:26:50,625
And God says, "I'm going
to come and be with you.

557
00:26:50,667 --> 00:26:56,833
I'm going to come
and be with you."

558
00:26:56,875 --> 00:26:59,833
Who is coming?

559
00:26:59,917 --> 00:27:01,708
What's it say?

560
00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:05,667
Who is coming?

561
00:27:05,750 --> 00:27:08,708
"The Lord whom you seek will
suddenly come to his temple."

562
00:27:08,792 --> 00:27:10,417
So, we've got the temple.

563
00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:12,625
It's his temple.

564
00:27:12,667 --> 00:27:14,417
Who's coming to the temple?

565
00:27:14,500 --> 00:27:17,417
The Lord is coming
to his temple.

566
00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:20,333
So, the Creator's
entering into creation,

567
00:27:20,375 --> 00:27:22,000
that God's going
to become a man.

568
00:27:22,083 --> 00:27:23,792
And here's what's important:

569
00:27:23,833 --> 00:27:26,500
other religions teach that we
ascend up to God through

570
00:27:26,583 --> 00:27:29,125
our reincarnation,
paying off our karmic debt,

571
00:27:29,167 --> 00:27:31,500
through our good works,
through our obedience to God,

572
00:27:31,583 --> 00:27:33,500
that we ascend.

573
00:27:33,583 --> 00:27:35,750
No, no, the Bible doesn't
teach that at all.

574
00:27:35,833 --> 00:27:38,458
The Bible teaches
that God descends,

575
00:27:38,500 --> 00:27:40,833
that God condescends down to us.

576
00:27:40,875 --> 00:27:43,708
This is what we celebrate every
Christmas where we say that

577
00:27:43,792 --> 00:27:49,042
Jesus is Immanuel, which
means, "God with us."

578
00:27:49,125 --> 00:27:52,667
Malachi's telling us
the Christmas story, Mars Hill.

579
00:27:52,708 --> 00:27:57,458
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light.

580
00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:00,333
It's Immanuel, God with us.

581
00:28:00,375 --> 00:28:02,167
God's come down to be with us.

582
00:28:02,250 --> 00:28:03,583
So, who's coming?

583
00:28:03,667 --> 00:28:05,000
It's the Lord.

584
00:28:05,042 --> 00:28:07,000
Ultimately, we know that's
the Lord Jesus Christ.

585
00:28:07,042 --> 00:28:08,583
Where's he coming to?

586
00:28:08,667 --> 00:28:10,000
A lot of clues here.

587
00:28:10,083 --> 00:28:11,833
Where's he coming to?

588
00:28:11,875 --> 00:28:14,708
"Will suddenly
come to his temple"--

589
00:28:14,792 --> 00:28:17,625
this magnificent
house for God.

590
00:28:17,667 --> 00:28:19,792
It was high and exalted.

591
00:28:19,833 --> 00:28:21,625
It was the place of the Lord.

592
00:28:21,667 --> 00:28:24,583
It was the center of worship,
and teaching, and adoration.

593
00:28:24,667 --> 00:28:28,500
And it was the connecting
point between heaven and earth,

594
00:28:28,542 --> 00:28:31,667
that God's presence was in
the temple and God's people

595
00:28:31,708 --> 00:28:36,167
would come to the temple
to be near to God's presence.

596
00:28:36,208 --> 00:28:40,542
It says that the Lord
is coming to his temple,

597
00:28:40,625 --> 00:28:42,833
and all of this is
foreshadowing Jesus.

598
00:28:42,917 --> 00:28:45,917
The whole point of the temple
was to get people ready

599
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,750
for Jesus.

600
00:28:47,833 --> 00:28:51,542
You'd repent of your sin,
you'd bring your sacrifice,

601
00:28:51,625 --> 00:28:55,042
blood would be shed, a priest
would intercede for you so that

602
00:28:55,125 --> 00:28:57,833
forgiveness could be granted
and you could have access to

603
00:28:57,917 --> 00:29:01,333
the presence of God, all of
which foreshadow Jesus--

604
00:29:01,375 --> 00:29:03,000
the temple,
the presence of God,

605
00:29:03,083 --> 00:29:05,333
the priest
who offers the sacrifice,

606
00:29:05,375 --> 00:29:09,167
the sacrifice who lays down his
life and gives us his blood

607
00:29:09,250 --> 00:29:11,333
for the remission of our sins.

608
00:29:11,375 --> 00:29:14,125
Jesus is the connecting point
between heaven and earth.

609
00:29:14,167 --> 00:29:15,917
He's the mediator
between us and God.

610
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,917
The whole point of the temple
was to get people ready for

611
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,917
Jesus, and when Jesus comes, he
goes to the temple to fulfill

612
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,292
the entire purpose of
the ministry of the temple.

613
00:29:24,333 --> 00:29:25,667
Who's coming?
Jesus.

614
00:29:25,750 --> 00:29:27,167
Where's he coming?
To his temple.

615
00:29:27,250 --> 00:29:28,667
How will we know it's him?

616
00:29:28,750 --> 00:29:31,083
Because there's false christs,
false messiahs, false saviors,

617
00:29:31,167 --> 00:29:32,542
false teachers.

618
00:29:32,625 --> 00:29:35,958
A lot of guys are going to
show up and say, "I'm the one."

619
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,958
How do we know
it's the real one?

620
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:39,333
That's the question.

621
00:29:39,417 --> 00:29:41,042
"I will send my messenger,

622
00:29:41,125 --> 00:29:43,042
and he will prepare the way
before me."

623
00:29:43,125 --> 00:29:45,833
God's saying, "When I come,
you're going to know it's me

624
00:29:45,875 --> 00:29:47,833
because I'm sending
a guy out ahead."

625
00:29:47,875 --> 00:29:49,667
Think of it like this.

626
00:29:49,708 --> 00:29:54,458
How many of you watch
the holiday parades on TV, OK?

627
00:29:54,500 --> 00:29:56,208
How many of you men?

628
00:29:56,292 --> 00:29:59,708
You can admit it publicly:
you watch the holiday parade,

629
00:29:59,792 --> 00:30:03,708
the singing, the dancing,
the floats, the balloons.

630
00:30:03,792 --> 00:30:05,333
How many of you watched that?

631
00:30:05,417 --> 00:30:08,708
OK, I didn't, but
if you did, OK--no,

632
00:30:08,792 --> 00:30:11,333
actually the kids had it
on, I caught part of it.

633
00:30:11,417 --> 00:30:13,542
Here's how the parade works.

634
00:30:13,625 --> 00:30:15,750
How do you know that the parade
is started

635
00:30:15,833 --> 00:30:19,000
and that the special guest is
coming soon?

636
00:30:19,083 --> 00:30:20,542
How do you know?

637
00:30:20,625 --> 00:30:23,333
There's a grand marshall
at the front of the parade.

638
00:30:23,417 --> 00:30:26,333
All right, so the cameras come
on, everybody comes out.

639
00:30:26,417 --> 00:30:28,000
Are we started?
Are we waiting?

640
00:30:28,083 --> 00:30:30,667
Is the special guest coming?
Are they on their way?

641
00:30:30,708 --> 00:30:32,667
They must be, here comes
the grand marshall

642
00:30:32,708 --> 00:30:35,708
leading the parade.

643
00:30:35,792 --> 00:30:39,542
And then the grand finale at
the end of the parade is who,

644
00:30:39,625 --> 00:30:42,042
at least on TV?

645
00:30:42,125 --> 00:30:44,375
It's Santa.

646
00:30:45,625 --> 00:30:47,333
It's Santa.

647
00:30:47,417 --> 00:30:50,833
What he's saying here is
that John the Baptizer is

648
00:30:50,875 --> 00:30:53,417
the grand marshall.

649
00:30:53,500 --> 00:30:57,000
The parade comes to town
and everybody's out to see it,

650
00:30:57,083 --> 00:31:02,417
and the unveiling is the special
guest in the end, Jesus Christ,

651
00:31:02,500 --> 00:31:08,917
Immanuel, "God with us,"
the Lord coming to his temple.

652
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,292
And we know this is
John the Baptizer,

653
00:31:11,333 --> 00:31:13,625
Jesus' cousin.

654
00:31:13,667 --> 00:31:16,167
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
all four gospels point back

655
00:31:16,250 --> 00:31:17,792
to Malachi 3:1.

656
00:31:17,833 --> 00:31:19,417
They all say it's John.

657
00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:22,875
Jesus, in Matthew 11:10,
says it's John.

658
00:31:22,958 --> 00:31:25,625
Here's what he says.

659
00:31:25,667 --> 00:31:28,125
Jesus says, "This is he
of whom it is written."

660
00:31:28,167 --> 00:31:31,125
He goes back to Malachi 3:1.

661
00:31:31,167 --> 00:31:33,333
Some people say,
"I believe the New Testament

662
00:31:33,375 --> 00:31:34,917
but not the Old."

663
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,833
The New Testament keeps quoting
the Old Testament

664
00:31:36,917 --> 00:31:39,042
because they go together.

665
00:31:39,125 --> 00:31:41,042
"This is he of whom it
is written,

666
00:31:41,125 --> 00:31:43,167
"'Behold, I send my messenger
before your face,

667
00:31:43,208 --> 00:31:45,167
"'who will prepare
your way before you.'

668
00:31:45,208 --> 00:31:46,667
"Truly, I say to you,

669
00:31:46,708 --> 00:31:48,625
"among those born of
women there has arisen

670
00:31:48,667 --> 00:31:52,542
no one greater"--huge
statement by Jesus,

671
00:31:52,625 --> 00:31:54,042
"than John the Baptist."

672
00:31:54,125 --> 00:31:56,542
Now, we know Jesus is
in a category unto himself.

673
00:31:56,625 --> 00:31:59,625
He's not just a good man;
he's the God-man.

674
00:31:59,667 --> 00:32:01,917
But of mere mortal
men like you and I,

675
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,417
the greatest man in the history
of the world is

676
00:32:04,500 --> 00:32:05,917
John the Baptist.

677
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,333
That's a huge statement.

678
00:32:07,375 --> 00:32:09,833
What that means is every year
when Time Magazine does

679
00:32:09,875 --> 00:32:12,000
"Person of the Year,"
it should always be John.

680
00:32:12,083 --> 00:32:15,000
Every single year,
it should be John.

681
00:32:15,083 --> 00:32:17,000
"Yeah, the committee
thought maybe this guy,

682
00:32:17,083 --> 00:32:19,375
but Jesus said John,
so John won again."

683
00:32:19,458 --> 00:32:22,000
OK, John's the greatest man
who's ever lived in the history

684
00:32:22,083 --> 00:32:23,833
of the world.

685
00:32:23,875 --> 00:32:25,833
Why was he great?

686
00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:27,625
Well, he was raised by
spirit-filled parents.

687
00:32:27,667 --> 00:32:30,125
He gave his life
and service to the Lord.

688
00:32:30,167 --> 00:32:31,500
He was Jesus' cousin.

689
00:32:31,583 --> 00:32:34,708
He loved and served Jesus,
and he was a messenger.

690
00:32:34,792 --> 00:32:37,167
That's what he says:
"I will send my messenger."

691
00:32:37,208 --> 00:32:41,458
Malachi, his name literally
means, "My messenger."

692
00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:44,333
Four hundred years later comes
the last Old Testament prophet,

693
00:32:44,417 --> 00:32:47,333
John the Baptizer,
"My messenger."

694
00:32:47,417 --> 00:32:49,333
These are spokesmen,
prophets, preachers,

695
00:32:49,417 --> 00:32:52,125
proclaimers on behalf of God.

696
00:32:52,167 --> 00:32:54,125
John preaches repentance of sin.

697
00:32:54,167 --> 00:32:59,333
"The Lord is coming, repent
of sin, and prepare for him,"

698
00:32:59,375 --> 00:33:00,792
and people repent.

699
00:33:00,833 --> 00:33:03,000
And John is
a bit of a rock star.

700
00:33:03,042 --> 00:33:06,917
He's a young, wild eyed,
crazy, very rural,

701
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,125
steady diet of bugs and honey.

702
00:33:10,167 --> 00:33:13,375
He's quite
a character, this guy.

703
00:33:13,458 --> 00:33:16,208
He walks out of the woods
screaming and yelling,

704
00:33:16,292 --> 00:33:18,292
and people get saved.

705
00:33:18,333 --> 00:33:20,208
It's like mass revival.

706
00:33:20,292 --> 00:33:23,333
It's like Easter every day.

707
00:33:23,375 --> 00:33:26,417
And they're coming
forward to get baptized,

708
00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:29,500
and John's baptizing people,
preparing people for the coming,

709
00:33:29,542 --> 00:33:32,542
unveiling of his cousin, Jesus.

710
00:33:32,625 --> 00:33:35,667
At this point, hardly
anybody knows about Jesus.

711
00:33:35,708 --> 00:33:37,750
He hasn't been preaching,
teaching, doing miracles.

712
00:33:37,833 --> 00:33:39,542
He's been doing carpentry
business with his

713
00:33:39,625 --> 00:33:41,750
adoptive father, Joseph.

714
00:33:41,833 --> 00:33:46,250
And then Jesus shows up
to be baptized by John.

715
00:33:46,333 --> 00:33:48,417
And John says,
"I can't baptize you.

716
00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:51,958
"I'm not even worthy
to untie your sandals.

717
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,750
You are great and I am not."

718
00:33:56,833 --> 00:34:02,125
Part of John's greatness was his
humility, his devotion to Jesus,

719
00:34:02,167 --> 00:34:05,625
and his willingness
to make it all about Jesus.

720
00:34:05,667 --> 00:34:07,625
Later on, John would
say, "I must decrease,

721
00:34:07,667 --> 00:34:09,125
he must increase."

722
00:34:09,167 --> 00:34:12,417
What he's saying is, "It's not
about me, it's all about Jesus."

723
00:34:12,500 --> 00:34:14,417
And John had quite
a thing going.

724
00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:16,417
Crowds loved this guy.

725
00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:18,208
And as soon as he
baptized Jesus,

726
00:34:18,292 --> 00:34:19,917
it was to fulfill his ministry.

727
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,833
His ministry at that
point was concluded.

728
00:34:22,875 --> 00:34:25,792
It's like track where a runner
hands the baton

729
00:34:25,833 --> 00:34:28,292
to the next runner,
and their leg is done,

730
00:34:28,333 --> 00:34:31,417
and now it's off
to the next runner.

731
00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:33,833
Well, John handed his
ministry to Jesus.

732
00:34:33,917 --> 00:34:36,000
All the people that
were following John,

733
00:34:36,083 --> 00:34:37,417
they're now following Jesus.

734
00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:41,417
Some of Jesus' first disciples,
they were followers of John.

735
00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:43,333
And John says,
"I give all the people,

736
00:34:43,417 --> 00:34:44,750
"I give all the glory,

737
00:34:44,833 --> 00:34:46,500
"I give all the opportunity
to Jesus.

738
00:34:46,583 --> 00:34:49,000
"I'm going to go stand over
here on the sidelines.

739
00:34:49,083 --> 00:34:50,417
My race is done."

740
00:34:50,500 --> 00:34:52,417
They behead him,
he dies and goes away,

741
00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,167
and then Jesus moves
the kingdom of God forward.

742
00:34:55,208 --> 00:34:57,667
He's the greatest man who's ever
lived because he made

743
00:34:57,708 --> 00:35:01,000
Jesus' name great, and Jesus
made his name great.

744
00:35:01,083 --> 00:35:02,500
Hear me in this.

745
00:35:02,583 --> 00:35:05,208
Those who seek to make their
name great never end up

746
00:35:05,292 --> 00:35:06,625
with a great name.

747
00:35:06,667 --> 00:35:08,875
Those who seek to make
Jesus' name great,

748
00:35:08,958 --> 00:35:11,667
he makes their name great.

749
00:35:11,750 --> 00:35:13,833
That's what
he does with John.

750
00:35:13,875 --> 00:35:15,292
Who is coming?
The Lord.

751
00:35:15,333 --> 00:35:17,000
Where is he coming?
To the temple.

752
00:35:17,083 --> 00:35:18,500
How will we know it's him?

753
00:35:18,583 --> 00:35:20,500
John the Baptizer
will be the grand marshall

754
00:35:20,583 --> 00:35:22,167
leading the parade.

755
00:35:22,250 --> 00:35:23,583
When will he come?

756
00:35:23,667 --> 00:35:25,083
This is significant.

757
00:35:25,167 --> 00:35:26,833
There's a clue here
in the Scripture.

758
00:35:26,875 --> 00:35:28,708
"He will come to his temple."

759
00:35:28,792 --> 00:35:32,000
If you went to Israel today,
you would not find a temple

760
00:35:32,083 --> 00:35:34,042
because it was destroyed.

761
00:35:34,125 --> 00:35:35,667
It does not exist.

762
00:35:35,708 --> 00:35:37,833
There's no priest;
there's no sacrifices.

763
00:35:37,917 --> 00:35:39,833
The Holy of Holies is gone.

764
00:35:39,917 --> 00:35:41,417
God's presence is unleashed.

765
00:35:41,500 --> 00:35:43,625
The Holy Spirit's at
work in the whole earth.

766
00:35:43,667 --> 00:35:46,333
God makes us into a temple
of his Spirit

767
00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:47,958
as he dwells in believers.

768
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,000
Everything's
fulfilled in Christ.

769
00:35:50,083 --> 00:35:52,667
And if you go to the temple,
it's not there.

770
00:35:52,708 --> 00:35:54,167
Now, here's the point:

771
00:35:54,208 --> 00:35:57,333
God wanted to make sure that
the way we used to worship him

772
00:35:57,417 --> 00:35:59,667
is no longer the way
we worship him.

773
00:35:59,708 --> 00:36:02,208
We don't go to the temple,
we go to Jesus.

774
00:36:02,292 --> 00:36:05,417
We don't go to a priest, we
go to the great High Priest.

775
00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:06,833
We don't offer a sacrifice;

776
00:36:06,875 --> 00:36:08,833
we have faith in the sacrifice
of Jesus.

777
00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:11,000
God made it certain that we
couldn't worship him

778
00:36:11,083 --> 00:36:13,208
in the future as we did
in the past.

779
00:36:13,292 --> 00:36:16,000
That was all to prepare us
for the coming of Jesus,

780
00:36:16,042 --> 00:36:17,500
and once he fulfilled
all righteousness,

781
00:36:17,542 --> 00:36:19,500
there was no need for
the temple anymore.

782
00:36:19,542 --> 00:36:22,208
My question to you is this:
when was the temple destroyed?

783
00:36:22,292 --> 00:36:23,625
Do you know?

784
00:36:23,667 --> 00:36:25,333
70 A.D.

785
00:36:25,375 --> 00:36:26,708
Jesus' death,
burial, resurrection,

786
00:36:26,792 --> 00:36:32,042
ascension back into heaven, and
then the temple is destroyed.

787
00:36:32,125 --> 00:36:35,042
If you ask a Jewish friend,
"What are you waiting for?"

788
00:36:35,125 --> 00:36:37,750
"We're waiting for Messiah to
come, and set up the kingdom,

789
00:36:37,833 --> 00:36:39,167
and usher in peace."

790
00:36:39,208 --> 00:36:42,167
You missed him.

791
00:36:42,208 --> 00:36:46,708
Malachi promised in your
Scriptures and ours that

792
00:36:46,792 --> 00:36:48,208
the Lord would come to where?

793
00:36:48,292 --> 00:36:49,708
His temple.

794
00:36:49,792 --> 00:36:52,333
If the Lord came today,
could he go to the temple?

795
00:36:52,417 --> 00:36:54,708
No, there hasn't been
a temple since 70 A.D.

796
00:36:54,792 --> 00:36:57,708
I had the privilege of going
to Israel a few years ago,

797
00:36:57,792 --> 00:37:00,792
my family, and I, and some
of the folks in the church.

798
00:37:00,833 --> 00:37:02,167
We took some video footage.

799
00:37:02,250 --> 00:37:03,667
I'll show you all that's left.

800
00:37:03,750 --> 00:37:05,083
It's just an archeological dig.

801
00:37:05,167 --> 00:37:06,500
It's a ruins.

802
00:37:06,542 --> 00:37:09,000
There used to be a temple;
there's now a hole.

803
00:37:09,042 --> 00:37:11,500
Some of you say, "Oh, I
see something in tact."

804
00:37:11,542 --> 00:37:12,875
Yeah, a Muslim mosque.

805
00:37:12,958 --> 00:37:15,875
What's left of the temple is
an archeological dig and a wall

806
00:37:15,958 --> 00:37:19,167
where people come to put
their prayer requests in,

807
00:37:19,250 --> 00:37:23,583
women on the right,
men on the left.

808
00:37:23,667 --> 00:37:26,917
That's all that's left.

809
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,125
The Holy of Holies is now
wherever the Holy Spirit is.

810
00:37:31,167 --> 00:37:34,208
"God does not live in
temples built my human hands,"

811
00:37:34,292 --> 00:37:37,042
Paul tells the Athenians.

812
00:37:37,125 --> 00:37:38,917
Did you notice
some of the people

813
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,042
were walking away backwards?

814
00:37:42,125 --> 00:37:45,042
They believe that God's
presence is in the wall,

815
00:37:45,125 --> 00:37:48,250
and they don't want to turn
their back on the wall

816
00:37:48,333 --> 00:37:51,167
because that would be turning
your back on the Lord.

817
00:37:51,208 --> 00:37:53,500
We don't believe that.

818
00:37:53,583 --> 00:37:56,917
We believe that to get close to
God, you don't go to a place,

819
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,208
you go to a person named Jesus,
that the connecting point

820
00:38:00,292 --> 00:38:03,625
between heaven and earth
is not a wall, right,

821
00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:07,500
it's a risen Savior.

822
00:38:07,583 --> 00:38:10,500
So, historically, we've got
all the facts we need to know.

823
00:38:10,583 --> 00:38:12,125
Who's coming?
The Lord.

824
00:38:12,167 --> 00:38:13,625
Where?
To his temple.

825
00:38:13,667 --> 00:38:15,000
How?

826
00:38:15,083 --> 00:38:16,708
By the preparation
of John the Baptizer.

827
00:38:16,792 --> 00:38:18,125
When?

828
00:38:18,167 --> 00:38:19,500
Before 70 A.D.

829
00:38:19,583 --> 00:38:23,208
Now, all of this is in your
Bible and there's three things

830
00:38:23,292 --> 00:38:26,417
I want to tell you
about the Bible.

831
00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:31,333
Number one,
the Bible's from God.

832
00:38:31,375 --> 00:38:34,458
This is the book
that God wrote.

833
00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:37,833
One of the ways we know that
is something called prophecy,

834
00:38:37,917 --> 00:38:39,750
that in the Old Testament
in particular,

835
00:38:39,833 --> 00:38:44,042
25% of the time what is
written is prophetic in nature,

836
00:38:44,125 --> 00:38:48,708
telling the future,
oftentimes in great detail.

837
00:38:48,792 --> 00:38:51,833
Only God knows the future,
only God rules over the future,

838
00:38:51,875 --> 00:38:55,667
only God can bring
the future into reality.

839
00:38:55,708 --> 00:39:01,333
I mean, just in this one verse,
John the Baptist, Jesus Christ,

840
00:39:01,375 --> 00:39:07,000
the temple, the new covenant
of salvation, before 70 A.D.

841
00:39:07,042 --> 00:39:10,333
That's a lot for one verse,
would you give me that?

842
00:39:10,375 --> 00:39:12,083
For those of you who would say,

843
00:39:12,167 --> 00:39:14,125
"This is not the book
that God wrote,"

844
00:39:14,167 --> 00:39:16,625
then I would push
the burden of proof to you

845
00:39:16,667 --> 00:39:18,125
and ask, "Then who wrote this?"

846
00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:20,375
This was written
400 years before it happened.

847
00:39:20,458 --> 00:39:24,000
If I told you in 400 years
who was running for president,

848
00:39:24,083 --> 00:39:28,208
where they were born, and who
their running mate would be,

849
00:39:28,292 --> 00:39:31,667
and I nailed it, that
would be amazing.

850
00:39:31,708 --> 00:39:34,667
This prophecy is more
amazing than that.

851
00:39:34,708 --> 00:39:36,667
There are other prophecies
in the Bible saying

852
00:39:36,708 --> 00:39:38,167
he would be born in Bethlehem,

853
00:39:38,208 --> 00:39:39,833
that his mother
would be a virgin.

854
00:39:39,917 --> 00:39:42,750
Lots of details, really narrows
down the list of potential

855
00:39:42,833 --> 00:39:45,250
Savior candidates.

856
00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:48,042
This is the book
that God wrote.

857
00:39:48,125 --> 00:39:52,458
Number two, this book is
the only book that God wrote.

858
00:39:52,500 --> 00:39:53,833
It's unique.

859
00:39:53,917 --> 00:39:55,625
Some of you have wrongly
been taught,

860
00:39:55,667 --> 00:39:57,125
"Oh, there are
different religions,

861
00:39:57,167 --> 00:39:58,625
"and they all have
different books,

862
00:39:58,667 --> 00:40:00,625
but they all basically
teach the same thing."

863
00:40:00,667 --> 00:40:02,625
The only people who say that
are people

864
00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:04,125
who have not read the books.

865
00:40:04,167 --> 00:40:07,125
They'll say, "Well, it tells
you how to be a good person.

866
00:40:07,167 --> 00:40:08,750
It gives you basic,
moral values."

867
00:40:08,833 --> 00:40:10,167
No, it doesn't.

868
00:40:10,208 --> 00:40:13,167
The other religions do not have,
as part of their, quote unquote,

869
00:40:13,208 --> 00:40:14,958
"sacred writings," prophecy.

870
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,333
It's not there.

871
00:40:16,417 --> 00:40:19,833
The only place you'll find
stuff like this is in the Bible

872
00:40:19,875 --> 00:40:22,458
because this alone is
the book that God wrote.

873
00:40:22,500 --> 00:40:25,833
And I'm telling you this because
bedrock at Mars Hill is we

874
00:40:25,917 --> 00:40:29,458
believe the Bible is the book
that God wrote,

875
00:40:29,500 --> 00:40:33,125
and we base everything
on that conviction.

876
00:40:33,167 --> 00:40:35,042
We begin with that assumption.

877
00:40:35,125 --> 00:40:37,750
And I didn't always believe
that, and perhaps you don't.

878
00:40:37,833 --> 00:40:39,750
But I was in college
and I thought,

879
00:40:39,833 --> 00:40:42,250
"Well, I think all religions
basically teach the same thing,

880
00:40:42,333 --> 00:40:44,250
"so I'm going to examine
all the religions,

881
00:40:44,333 --> 00:40:46,958
and look at their sacred texts,
and find what I learn."

882
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,667
And the prophecy in the Bible
absolutely convinced me

883
00:40:49,708 --> 00:40:51,958
this is the book that God wrote.

884
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:57,000
And I couldn't find prophecy
like that in any other religion.

885
00:40:57,083 --> 00:41:01,333
Number one, this is
the book that God wrote.

886
00:41:01,375 --> 00:41:03,583
Number two, it's
the only book that God wrote.

887
00:41:03,667 --> 00:41:05,000
It's utterly unique.

888
00:41:05,083 --> 00:41:09,083
And number three,
it's all about Jesus.

889
00:41:09,167 --> 00:41:10,708
It's all about Jesus.

890
00:41:10,792 --> 00:41:13,500
The point of the whole Bible,
and all the concepts,

891
00:41:13,542 --> 00:41:15,708
and themes,
and directions, and stories,

892
00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:18,417
and trajectories of
the whole Bible is about Jesus.

893
00:41:18,500 --> 00:41:20,292
And here,
we see it in Malachi.

894
00:41:20,333 --> 00:41:21,917
It's God's final word.

895
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,125
He's not going to speak
again for 400 years.

896
00:41:24,167 --> 00:41:27,625
Last book of the Bible,
leaning into the end, right?

897
00:41:27,667 --> 00:41:29,583
We're near the end of the book.

898
00:41:29,667 --> 00:41:31,000
What's God talking about?

899
00:41:31,042 --> 00:41:32,458
He's getting
everybody together.

900
00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:34,208
He's like, "I know
you're all hurting.

901
00:41:34,292 --> 00:41:36,958
"I know you're all poor.
I know it's a rough day.

902
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:38,333
"I know you're all frustrated.

903
00:41:38,417 --> 00:41:40,333
"I know you all wonder
what I'm doing.

904
00:41:40,417 --> 00:41:41,833
"I know exactly what I'm doing.

905
00:41:41,917 --> 00:41:43,250
"Let's talk about Jesus.

906
00:41:43,333 --> 00:41:45,500
"There's hope for you.
There's forgiveness for you.

907
00:41:45,583 --> 00:41:47,500
"There's provision for you.
There's love for you.

908
00:41:47,583 --> 00:41:50,250
"There's answers for you
and it's all in Jesus.

909
00:41:50,333 --> 00:41:52,250
Let's talk about Jesus."

910
00:41:52,333 --> 00:41:54,042
This is the book
that God wrote,

911
00:41:54,125 --> 00:41:55,750
it's the only book
that God wrote,

912
00:41:55,833 --> 00:41:57,208
and it's all about Jesus.

913
00:41:57,292 --> 00:41:59,833
If Mars Hill can't amen
that, I need a new job.

914
00:41:59,917 --> 00:42:01,500
Yes or no, you believe this?

915
00:42:01,583 --> 00:42:02,917
Amen?

916
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:07,667
OK, and if you're here--if
you're here and you're saying,

917
00:42:07,750 --> 00:42:10,167
"I don't know if
I believe that,"

918
00:42:10,250 --> 00:42:13,625
then follow the truth
wherever it leads,

919
00:42:13,667 --> 00:42:17,417
and you'll end up believing
the Bible and receiving Jesus.

920
00:42:17,500 --> 00:42:19,500
Study it for yourself.

921
00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:22,083
Study it for yourself.

922
00:42:22,167 --> 00:42:26,792
It changed my life,
and it's why I love teaching.

923
00:42:26,833 --> 00:42:29,333
So, what God has done--they're
suffering in the present,

924
00:42:29,375 --> 00:42:31,333
hurting in the present,
struggling in the present,

925
00:42:31,375 --> 00:42:33,625
frustrated in the present,
and God starts looking

926
00:42:33,667 --> 00:42:36,542
into the future about
the legacy they'll live,

927
00:42:36,625 --> 00:42:39,208
not just the suffering
that they're enduring.

928
00:42:39,292 --> 00:42:42,958
So, he takes them to the first
coming of Jesus, "He's coming."

929
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,667
And then he moves further to
the second coming of Jesus.

930
00:42:46,708 --> 00:42:49,167
Malachi's got quite a horizon.

931
00:42:49,208 --> 00:42:50,833
He's saying,
"Well, in 400 years,

932
00:42:50,875 --> 00:42:52,208
"Jesus is going to come,

933
00:42:52,292 --> 00:42:54,958
and then he's going to come
again"--first and second coming.

934
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:57,167
We've been waiting 2,000 years
since his first coming

935
00:42:57,208 --> 00:42:58,542
for his second coming.

936
00:42:58,625 --> 00:43:01,000
God opens Malachi's
understanding to get

937
00:43:01,083 --> 00:43:04,000
a very long view of history.

938
00:43:04,083 --> 00:43:06,500
Here's what he has to say:

939
00:43:06,583 --> 00:43:11,333
Malachi 3:2-5,

940
00:43:11,375 --> 00:43:13,500
"But who can endure the day
of his coming."

941
00:43:13,583 --> 00:43:15,333
See, God's got questions, too.

942
00:43:15,375 --> 00:43:17,292
Malachi's got questions, too.

943
00:43:17,333 --> 00:43:19,292
But they're not questions
that accuse God,

944
00:43:19,333 --> 00:43:23,833
they're questions that accuse
others who accuse God.

945
00:43:23,875 --> 00:43:26,000
"Who can endure
the day of his coming"--

946
00:43:26,083 --> 00:43:28,417
that's the second
coming of Jesus--

947
00:43:28,500 --> 00:43:30,833
"and who can stand
when he appears?"

948
00:43:30,875 --> 00:43:33,750
This issue of a fight--there's
nobody who's going to be able

949
00:43:33,833 --> 00:43:37,833
to plant their back foot,
stiffen their neck,

950
00:43:37,917 --> 00:43:43,542
hold their chin out when Jesus
comes again, and be OK.

951
00:43:43,625 --> 00:43:46,958
Nobody's going to win
that fight.

952
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,708
"For he is like a refiner's
fire, like fullers' soap.

953
00:43:50,792 --> 00:43:53,208
"He will sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver,

954
00:43:53,292 --> 00:43:55,250
and he will purify
the sons of Levi"--

955
00:43:55,333 --> 00:43:57,333
those are religious
leaders, like pastors--

956
00:43:57,417 --> 00:43:59,333
"and refine them
like gold and silver,

957
00:43:59,417 --> 00:44:01,875
"and they will bring offerings
in righteousness to the Lord.

958
00:44:01,958 --> 00:44:03,708
Then the offering of Judah
and Jerusalem"--

959
00:44:03,792 --> 00:44:05,125
that's God's people--

960
00:44:05,167 --> 00:44:08,125
"will be pleasing to the Lord
as in the days of old

961
00:44:08,167 --> 00:44:09,500
"and as in former years.

962
00:44:09,583 --> 00:44:12,625
Then I will draw near
to you for judgment."

963
00:44:12,667 --> 00:44:15,208
Jesus' first coming
was for salvation.

964
00:44:15,292 --> 00:44:18,167
His second coming
will be for damnation.

965
00:44:18,250 --> 00:44:20,500
"I will be a swift witness
against the sorcerers,

966
00:44:20,583 --> 00:44:22,625
"against the adulterers,
those who swear falsely,

967
00:44:22,667 --> 00:44:25,417
"those who oppress
the hired worker in his wages,

968
00:44:25,500 --> 00:44:28,000
"the widow and the fatherless,
against those who thrust aside

969
00:44:28,083 --> 00:44:30,333
the sojourner"--
or the visitor--

970
00:44:30,375 --> 00:44:36,042
"and do not fear me,
says the Lord of hosts."

971
00:44:36,125 --> 00:44:41,250
He talks about Jesus'
first coming for his people

972
00:44:41,333 --> 00:44:44,833
and Jesus' second coming
for his enemies,

973
00:44:44,917 --> 00:44:46,625
and you've got a decision
to make,

974
00:44:46,667 --> 00:44:51,250
whether you're one of his
people or one of his enemies.

975
00:44:51,333 --> 00:44:54,458
And he gives us two ways that
he relates to his people

976
00:44:54,500 --> 00:44:57,333
and one way that he relates
to his enemies,

977
00:44:57,417 --> 00:45:01,875
and he uses two images
that are timeless.

978
00:45:01,958 --> 00:45:05,708
The first is that Jesus
is like a cleaner.

979
00:45:05,792 --> 00:45:10,375
OK, how many of you are sort
of clean freaks a little bit?

980
00:45:10,458 --> 00:45:12,000
You carry--what do you carry?

981
00:45:12,042 --> 00:45:14,000
Ladies, what do you
carry in your purse?

982
00:45:14,083 --> 00:45:18,375
Hand sanitizer,
just to make sure.

983
00:45:18,458 --> 00:45:20,500
What's in your car?

984
00:45:20,583 --> 00:45:23,000
More hand sanitizer, OK?

985
00:45:23,083 --> 00:45:25,500
What's at your house
by all the sinks?

986
00:45:25,583 --> 00:45:31,625
A lot of soap, plenty of soap,
soap and back up soap, OK?

987
00:45:31,667 --> 00:45:33,708
We use a lot of soap.

988
00:45:33,792 --> 00:45:36,458
How many of you guys, right,
you took a shower today?

989
00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:37,833
We're all grateful.

990
00:45:37,917 --> 00:45:39,542
You should take another
one tomorrow, right?

991
00:45:39,625 --> 00:45:41,167
We use a lot of soap.

992
00:45:41,208 --> 00:45:44,167
We use shampoo for our hair.
We use soap for our body.

993
00:45:44,208 --> 00:45:46,667
We have a different kind
of soap for our dishes.

994
00:45:46,708 --> 00:45:49,167
We have a different kind
of soap for our laundry.

995
00:45:49,208 --> 00:45:50,542
We should.

996
00:45:50,625 --> 00:45:53,542
Don't be like the guy I know
who put the laundry soap

997
00:45:53,625 --> 00:45:54,958
in the dishwasher.

998
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:58,125
It was exciting and messy.

999
00:45:58,167 --> 00:45:59,958
We have soap to wash our car.

1000
00:46:00,083 --> 00:46:01,792
We have soap to wash our floor.

1001
00:46:01,833 --> 00:46:03,500
We have soap to wash our dishes.

1002
00:46:03,583 --> 00:46:06,208
We have soap to sanitize
our countertops.

1003
00:46:06,292 --> 00:46:09,000
We use a lot of
different kinds of soap.

1004
00:46:09,042 --> 00:46:11,500
How many of you have realized
if you clean something,

1005
00:46:11,583 --> 00:46:16,000
you're going to have
to clean it again?

1006
00:46:16,083 --> 00:46:18,292
You don't say, "Well,
I did the dishes once.

1007
00:46:18,333 --> 00:46:21,000
Glad that's checked
off my bucket list."

1008
00:46:21,083 --> 00:46:22,500
You're like, "What?
They're dirty again?"

1009
00:46:22,583 --> 00:46:24,208
Yeah.

1010
00:46:24,292 --> 00:46:28,667
What he's saying is this, that
Jesus works with us like that.

1011
00:46:28,750 --> 00:46:30,417
So, every time you're
mopping the floor,

1012
00:46:30,500 --> 00:46:32,000
every time you're
doing the laundry,

1013
00:46:32,083 --> 00:46:33,500
every time you're
cleaning the car,

1014
00:46:33,583 --> 00:46:35,000
every time you're
doing the dishes,

1015
00:46:35,083 --> 00:46:39,042
every time you're washing
your hands, for a moment,

1016
00:46:39,125 --> 00:46:43,333
stop and say, "Oh,
and Jesus does this with me."

1017
00:46:43,417 --> 00:46:45,750
And don't feel
devastated because,

1018
00:46:45,833 --> 00:46:47,333
"Oh, he already cleaned this up

1019
00:46:47,417 --> 00:46:49,042
"and then I made
the mess again.

1020
00:46:49,125 --> 00:46:51,250
I went back and did
the same old thing."

1021
00:46:51,333 --> 00:46:53,458
Well, just like you doing
the dishes every day,

1022
00:46:53,500 --> 00:46:57,750
sometimes he's still cleaning
up the same parts of your life.

1023
00:46:57,833 --> 00:47:04,417
And what happens when we sin
is that, legally, we're guilty,

1024
00:47:04,500 --> 00:47:09,417
but practically, we're dirty.

1025
00:47:09,500 --> 00:47:11,292
And some people know
that they're forgiven,

1026
00:47:11,333 --> 00:47:13,375
but they still feel dirty.

1027
00:47:13,458 --> 00:47:16,083
The Old Testament's going
to use a dozen plus words:

1028
00:47:16,167 --> 00:47:20,417
defiled, unclean, dirty.

1029
00:47:20,500 --> 00:47:22,417
It uses this language.

1030
00:47:22,500 --> 00:47:26,292
How many of you, right now,
there's sin in your past,

1031
00:47:26,333 --> 00:47:30,875
something you've done, and you
just feel really gross about it,

1032
00:47:30,958 --> 00:47:33,417
you feel very dirty about it?

1033
00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:35,750
It's like, "I know
Jesus forgives me,

1034
00:47:35,833 --> 00:47:38,333
"but it's still part
of my identity.

1035
00:47:38,417 --> 00:47:41,458
"I'm haunted by it.
It was gross.

1036
00:47:41,500 --> 00:47:44,125
I can't believe I did that."

1037
00:47:44,167 --> 00:47:46,750
How many of you, it's not
just sin you've committed,

1038
00:47:46,833 --> 00:47:52,333
but sin that's been
committed against you?

1039
00:47:52,375 --> 00:47:56,333
Every woman I've ever spoken to
who was a sexual assault victim,

1040
00:47:56,417 --> 00:48:00,292
one of the first things she
does after her assault is what?

1041
00:48:00,333 --> 00:48:04,917
Take a shower because
she feels defiled.

1042
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:09,917
And Jesus cleans all the way
down to the depths of the soul.

1043
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,208
Jesus doesn't just
forgive us of our sin,

1044
00:48:12,292 --> 00:48:14,333
he cleanses us from
our unrighteousness.

1045
00:48:14,375 --> 00:48:15,875
That's what 1 John says:

1046
00:48:15,958 --> 00:48:18,375
"If we confess our sins,
he's faithful and just

1047
00:48:18,458 --> 00:48:21,917
to forgive us our sins"--
deals with our guilt--

1048
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,667
"and cleanses us of all of our
unrighteousness"--

1049
00:48:24,750 --> 00:48:26,417
deals with our filth.

1050
00:48:26,500 --> 00:48:27,833
Here me in this:

1051
00:48:27,875 --> 00:48:30,125
you're not just
forgiven and dirty,

1052
00:48:30,167 --> 00:48:32,833
you're forgiven and clean.

1053
00:48:32,917 --> 00:48:37,042
That's huge.

1054
00:48:37,125 --> 00:48:40,458
And you go live a clean life
because you've already been made

1055
00:48:40,500 --> 00:48:43,833
a clean person in Christ.

1056
00:48:43,917 --> 00:48:47,500
So, at the cross, all of our
filth went to Jesus

1057
00:48:47,583 --> 00:48:51,833
and all of his righteousness
came to us.

1058
00:48:51,875 --> 00:48:55,625
"God made him who knew
no sin to become sin."

1059
00:48:55,667 --> 00:48:58,167
Jesus took it all, and he's
still cleaning us up

1060
00:48:58,208 --> 00:49:01,500
and working on us.

1061
00:49:01,583 --> 00:49:04,792
And the way that the Bible
denotes this is that

1062
00:49:04,833 --> 00:49:07,792
God's people get to wear white.

1063
00:49:07,833 --> 00:49:11,000
So, in the Old Testament, when
they go to meet with the Lord,

1064
00:49:11,042 --> 00:49:13,417
they literally would go
through a ceremonial washing,

1065
00:49:13,500 --> 00:49:17,000
put on white,
and say, "You know what?

1066
00:49:17,083 --> 00:49:21,583
When I stand before God,
he sees me as clean."

1067
00:49:21,667 --> 00:49:25,333
It says in Revelation that
at the end of history,

1068
00:49:25,375 --> 00:49:28,583
there'll be a great wedding, and
the church will be like a bride,

1069
00:49:28,667 --> 00:49:30,583
and Jesus will be like a groom.

1070
00:49:30,667 --> 00:49:32,917
And ladies, what color
does the church wear?

1071
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:34,333
White.

1072
00:49:34,375 --> 00:49:36,125
Because she's without sin?

1073
00:49:36,167 --> 00:49:38,208
Not this church.

1074
00:49:38,292 --> 00:49:40,417
Not any church.

1075
00:49:40,500 --> 00:49:46,042
But because God sees her through
the finished work of Jesus.

1076
00:49:46,125 --> 00:49:48,167
I've had women ask
this over the years.

1077
00:49:48,208 --> 00:49:50,458
"Pastor Mark, I've done some
things that I regret

1078
00:49:50,500 --> 00:49:54,500
"and I'm ashamed of,
and I'm going to be married.

1079
00:49:54,583 --> 00:49:57,833
Somebody in my family said
I shouldn't wear white."

1080
00:49:57,917 --> 00:50:00,042
I had a single mother
say this one time.

1081
00:50:00,125 --> 00:50:03,042
"I was sleeping around,
got pregnant, single mother.

1082
00:50:03,125 --> 00:50:05,542
"Now I'm getting married,
everybody knows I've got a kid,

1083
00:50:05,625 --> 00:50:07,750
"and there's some stuff
I've done I regret.

1084
00:50:07,833 --> 00:50:10,333
Pastor Mark, do I
get to wear white?"

1085
00:50:10,375 --> 00:50:11,958
What's the answer?

1086
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:15,667
Yes, and it comes from Jesus.

1087
00:50:15,708 --> 00:50:19,750
He's the one who hands
you the white gown.

1088
00:50:19,833 --> 00:50:23,708
All who are in Christ
are forgiven and clean,

1089
00:50:23,792 --> 00:50:25,417
made righteous.

1090
00:50:25,500 --> 00:50:29,708
So, the first image is
that Jesus is like soap.

1091
00:50:29,792 --> 00:50:32,458
He cleans us up.

1092
00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:35,333
It's probably an analogy that
a lot of you ladies like.

1093
00:50:35,417 --> 00:50:37,042
He's then got one
for the guys,

1094
00:50:37,125 --> 00:50:39,250
a metalworker, a miner.

1095
00:50:39,333 --> 00:50:41,750
Any of you guys watch any
of those mining shows?

1096
00:50:41,833 --> 00:50:43,167
You guys like those?

1097
00:50:43,208 --> 00:50:44,542
I do.

1098
00:50:44,625 --> 00:50:47,125
Like, guys
are going to get equipment,

1099
00:50:47,167 --> 00:50:49,667
go out into the wilderness,
and come back with gold.

1100
00:50:49,708 --> 00:50:51,042
That's amazing.

1101
00:50:51,125 --> 00:50:54,042
I want to watch that because
I've been out in the wilderness,

1102
00:50:54,125 --> 00:50:55,542
I've never come back with gold.

1103
00:50:55,625 --> 00:50:57,542
How do you do that?
That's pretty amazing.

1104
00:50:57,625 --> 00:51:00,125
So, he uses the language here.

1105
00:51:00,167 --> 00:51:04,667
Jesus cleans us and he also
is not only like a cleanser,

1106
00:51:04,750 --> 00:51:07,167
but he's like a metalworker.

1107
00:51:07,250 --> 00:51:10,583
And the way it would work in
that day is that you would go

1108
00:51:10,667 --> 00:51:15,125
out and you would pan, or dig,
or sluice, or however it worked,

1109
00:51:15,167 --> 00:51:17,417
and you would get--it mentions
it here--your gold

1110
00:51:17,500 --> 00:51:21,375
or your silver, your precious,
precious metals.

1111
00:51:21,458 --> 00:51:24,292
But, the problem is
they're not pure.

1112
00:51:24,333 --> 00:51:26,417
There's a lot of
impurities in them.

1113
00:51:26,500 --> 00:51:29,125
They're commingled with a lot
of other things that are not

1114
00:51:29,167 --> 00:51:31,958
valuable or precious.

1115
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,833
So, you need to separate that
which is precious from that

1116
00:51:34,875 --> 00:51:37,208
which is not.

1117
00:51:37,292 --> 00:51:39,125
How do you do that?

1118
00:51:39,167 --> 00:51:40,708
How do you separate like that?

1119
00:51:40,792 --> 00:51:44,167
And the answer is heat.

1120
00:51:44,208 --> 00:51:47,417
So, he's going to talk
about a refiner's fire.

1121
00:51:47,500 --> 00:51:51,917
You get a lot of
heat from the flame,

1122
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:55,958
you put the metal over it,
and the metal melts if you get

1123
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,500
the high enough temperature.

1124
00:51:58,583 --> 00:52:01,500
And then what would happen is
the precious metal would fall to

1125
00:52:01,542 --> 00:52:05,583
the bottom and the impurities
would rise to the top.

1126
00:52:08,042 --> 00:52:14,000
And then, the owner would skim
all the impurities off the top

1127
00:52:14,083 --> 00:52:17,667
so that the metal became
more precious, more valuable,

1128
00:52:17,750 --> 00:52:20,125
more perfect.

1129
00:52:20,167 --> 00:52:23,917
And according to some, they
would say that when this process

1130
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,917
would begin and all of
the contaminants were in that

1131
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:28,417
which was precious,

1132
00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:30,917
the owner would look down
and they couldn't see

1133
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:34,167
their reflection because it
was clouded and muddied.

1134
00:52:34,208 --> 00:52:37,542
But as they would heat
and clean, and heat and clean,

1135
00:52:37,625 --> 00:52:40,042
and heat and clean, and this
process would happen over,

1136
00:52:40,125 --> 00:52:43,042
and over, and over, they would
know that they were getting to

1137
00:52:43,125 --> 00:52:47,167
pure and precious because they
could see their reflection

1138
00:52:47,208 --> 00:52:49,833
in the silver or gold.

1139
00:52:49,875 --> 00:52:56,708
What he's saying is
Jesus is like that,

1140
00:52:56,792 --> 00:52:59,250
that in your life
and in my life,

1141
00:52:59,333 --> 00:53:03,417
there's character problems,
and sins, and bad habits,

1142
00:53:03,500 --> 00:53:07,125
and false teaching,
and erroneous conclusions,

1143
00:53:07,167 --> 00:53:10,000
and self-righteous assumptions.

1144
00:53:10,042 --> 00:53:15,500
There's a lot of dross in there,
and the only way the Lord Jesus

1145
00:53:15,542 --> 00:53:20,583
can get it out is through heat.

1146
00:53:20,667 --> 00:53:26,000
And most of us don't like living
over the flame because it hurts.

1147
00:53:27,667 --> 00:53:29,500
It's very uncomfortable
and painful,

1148
00:53:29,542 --> 00:53:33,000
and then what
surfaces is shameful.

1149
00:53:33,083 --> 00:53:35,042
"That's who--oh,
that's what I think?

1150
00:53:35,125 --> 00:53:37,500
"That's what I do?
That--oh man.

1151
00:53:37,583 --> 00:53:39,917
"I don't want people
to see that.

1152
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,125
"Like, keep that
down at the bottom.

1153
00:53:42,167 --> 00:53:47,125
Don't let that rise
up to the top."

1154
00:53:47,167 --> 00:53:50,333
What happens then is some of us
want to be pure,

1155
00:53:50,417 --> 00:53:51,958
and we want to be precious,

1156
00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:56,042
we just don't want pain
and we don't like heat.

1157
00:53:56,125 --> 00:53:59,333
And there's always a lot of
teachers going around saying,

1158
00:53:59,417 --> 00:54:02,667
"There's a way to be
precious without the heat."

1159
00:54:02,750 --> 00:54:05,417
Those are called
false teachers.

1160
00:54:05,500 --> 00:54:11,833
There's no way to be
purified without the heat.

1161
00:54:11,875 --> 00:54:15,833
Sometimes, this heat
you caused.

1162
00:54:15,875 --> 00:54:19,667
You did something, made
your own life pretty hard,

1163
00:54:19,750 --> 00:54:21,708
and God's going to use it.

1164
00:54:21,792 --> 00:54:23,667
Sometimes, somebody else sinned
against you,

1165
00:54:23,750 --> 00:54:25,708
and they brought the heat.

1166
00:54:25,792 --> 00:54:29,208
Sometimes, Satan just attacked
you and he brought the heat.

1167
00:54:29,292 --> 00:54:31,958
And the times that
I have failed,

1168
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:34,250
the times that I've
not responded rightly,

1169
00:54:34,333 --> 00:54:37,500
or times that I was more worried
about where the heat came from

1170
00:54:37,583 --> 00:54:40,833
than what I was
going to do with it.

1171
00:54:40,875 --> 00:54:45,958
And that's exactly what's
going on here in Malachi.

1172
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:48,125
And they've got a lot
of "why" questions.

1173
00:54:48,167 --> 00:54:49,833
"Why God?
Why me?

1174
00:54:49,875 --> 00:54:51,458
"Why this?
Why that?

1175
00:54:51,500 --> 00:54:52,958
"Why them?
Why now?

1176
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:54,833
Why, why, why?"

1177
00:54:54,917 --> 00:55:01,500
How many of you, right now,
heat, you're over it.

1178
00:55:01,583 --> 00:55:04,583
Financial heat, emotional heat,
spiritual heat, relational heat,

1179
00:55:04,667 --> 00:55:06,333
physical heat.

1180
00:55:06,375 --> 00:55:09,917
You say, "This is painful.

1181
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,583
"What's under my life right now,
I would like to move away from,

1182
00:55:14,667 --> 00:55:19,708
but God's got me there
and I can't go anywhere."

1183
00:55:19,792 --> 00:55:26,417
Their mistake was, "It hurts,
he doesn't love me."

1184
00:55:26,500 --> 00:55:29,000
That's not true.

1185
00:55:29,042 --> 00:55:33,458
Just because it hurts doesn't
mean he doesn't love you.

1186
00:55:33,500 --> 00:55:37,208
Just because it hurts
doesn't mean he's not good.

1187
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:47,667
You will not get all the "why"
questions answered in this life.

1188
00:55:47,708 --> 00:55:52,500
Don't start accusing God
and questioning his character.

1189
00:55:54,792 --> 00:55:59,708
Don't try to live your life
to avoid all heat because

1190
00:55:59,792 --> 00:56:05,833
you will not become more
precious and valuable.

1191
00:56:05,875 --> 00:56:08,833
The Lord Jesus wants to
look down on you and see his

1192
00:56:08,875 --> 00:56:12,875
reflection in your character,
and to get there is going to be

1193
00:56:12,958 --> 00:56:16,708
some heat and cleanings.

1194
00:56:16,792 --> 00:56:20,125
Now, I tell you this,
I love this text

1195
00:56:20,167 --> 00:56:22,792
because I really need it.

1196
00:56:22,833 --> 00:56:25,208
See, in God's grace,
I get to teach the Bible,

1197
00:56:25,292 --> 00:56:26,708
and I love what I do.

1198
00:56:26,792 --> 00:56:28,417
And every week, it's
like, "OK Lord,

1199
00:56:28,500 --> 00:56:31,417
I want to honor you and I
want to help the people."

1200
00:56:31,500 --> 00:56:34,125
And God's so gracious that
the text also applies to me

1201
00:56:34,167 --> 00:56:36,125
and I get a bonus out of it.

1202
00:56:36,167 --> 00:56:40,042
I don't need to gossip or
make this all about me,

1203
00:56:40,125 --> 00:56:44,333
but let me just say, recently,
it's been a little hot,

1204
00:56:44,375 --> 00:56:47,750
a little heat.

1205
00:56:47,833 --> 00:56:52,167
I'm not a big fan of it.

1206
00:56:52,208 --> 00:56:57,958
Given a choice, I would
have had something else,

1207
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:01,917
but what God's teaching me,
and God's teaching them,

1208
00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:07,583
and what I hope God can help us
all to learn is to stop asking

1209
00:57:07,667 --> 00:57:09,167
the, "Why, why, why?"

1210
00:57:09,250 --> 00:57:14,292
and to start asking the, "How
are you going to use this?

1211
00:57:14,333 --> 00:57:17,625
"What in my character
do you need to change?

1212
00:57:17,667 --> 00:57:21,208
"How am I going to
become more like Jesus?

1213
00:57:21,292 --> 00:57:25,625
What do you have
for my future?"

1214
00:57:25,667 --> 00:57:28,500
See, God is trying to get the
imperfections and the impurities

1215
00:57:28,583 --> 00:57:32,417
out of your character and mine
so that he would get more glory

1216
00:57:32,500 --> 00:57:36,542
and we would be
prepared for our future.

1217
00:57:36,625 --> 00:57:39,042
See, they hear,
"Jesus is coming."

1218
00:57:39,125 --> 00:57:45,542
It doesn't say quite yet,
"And it'll be 400 years."

1219
00:57:45,625 --> 00:57:49,208
But he wants them to have
character that is refined

1220
00:57:49,292 --> 00:57:51,542
through fire
to teach their children,

1221
00:57:51,625 --> 00:57:53,542
and their children's children,
and their children's children,

1222
00:57:53,625 --> 00:57:55,250
so that when Jesus does come,

1223
00:57:55,333 --> 00:57:57,000
there would be people waiting
for him.

1224
00:57:57,083 --> 00:58:00,833
They'd be all lined up along
the parade route, "He's here."

1225
00:58:00,875 --> 00:58:04,333
You and I are waiting for
the second coming of Jesus.

1226
00:58:04,375 --> 00:58:09,000
We're in the time
between the times.

1227
00:58:09,042 --> 00:58:12,000
And our life, for those
of us who are believers,

1228
00:58:12,042 --> 00:58:16,833
is in part about enduring
the heat to have our character

1229
00:58:16,875 --> 00:58:21,208
refined so that we're more like
Jesus, and when he comes back,

1230
00:58:21,292 --> 00:58:25,125
we're more precious and pure
because we've received

1231
00:58:25,167 --> 00:58:30,417
his painful work in our
life as an act of love.

1232
00:58:30,500 --> 00:58:32,042
Do you get that?

1233
00:58:32,125 --> 00:58:33,458
As an act of love.

1234
00:58:33,500 --> 00:58:35,958
And I don't know about
you, if you're like me,

1235
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:38,167
when it hurts I wonder
if God loves me,

1236
00:58:38,208 --> 00:58:42,750
and here in Malachi he's
saying he surely does.

1237
00:58:42,833 --> 00:58:46,917
It's easy to remember that on
the other side when you

1238
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:50,042
look back and you show the good
that God used out of

1239
00:58:50,125 --> 00:58:51,750
difficult circumstances.

1240
00:58:51,833 --> 00:58:54,750
It's hard to remember that
when you're in the midst of it,

1241
00:58:54,833 --> 00:58:57,750
and that's where we want friends
and Bible teachers to walk with

1242
00:58:57,833 --> 00:58:59,167
us along the way.

1243
00:58:59,208 --> 00:59:02,208
That's what Malachi's doing for
them and that's what I want you

1244
00:59:02,292 --> 00:59:03,625
to do for one another.

1245
00:59:03,667 --> 00:59:06,292
How does God deal with his
people at the first coming

1246
00:59:06,333 --> 00:59:07,667
of Jesus?

1247
00:59:07,750 --> 00:59:09,667
Well, it's like a cleaner
and a metalworker.

1248
00:59:09,750 --> 00:59:12,333
How does God deal with his
enemies at his second coming

1249
00:59:12,375 --> 00:59:13,708
of Jesus?

1250
00:59:13,792 --> 00:59:15,500
As a judge.

1251
00:59:16,875 --> 00:59:18,583
As a judge.

1252
00:59:18,667 --> 00:59:20,333
Jesus came the first
time for salvation,

1253
00:59:20,375 --> 00:59:23,917
coming the second time
for damnation.

1254
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:26,667
And it says in particular that
nobody is getting away with

1255
00:59:26,750 --> 00:59:29,333
anything, all right?

1256
00:59:29,375 --> 00:59:31,125
Do not be deceived.

1257
00:59:31,167 --> 00:59:32,667
God will not be mocked.

1258
00:59:32,708 --> 00:59:35,250
We all reap what we sow.

1259
00:59:35,333 --> 00:59:39,042
Hear me in this,
non-Christian.

1260
00:59:39,125 --> 00:59:43,333
You are in grave,
great, imminent danger.

1261
00:59:43,417 --> 00:59:46,000
You may think that God
is someone he's not.

1262
00:59:46,083 --> 00:59:48,458
You may think that you're
getting away with

1263
00:59:48,500 --> 00:59:50,917
something you're not.

1264
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:55,250
I mean, just, "Who can
endure the day of his coming?

1265
00:59:55,333 --> 00:59:57,958
Who can stand when he appears?"

1266
00:59:58,000 --> 01:00:01,667
He's trying to get
our attention and keep it.

1267
01:00:01,708 --> 01:00:04,333
He says he's going to deal
with seven kinds of people.

1268
01:00:04,417 --> 01:00:07,333
Sorcerers, these are people
who try to manipulate God.

1269
01:00:07,417 --> 01:00:10,042
They want to use God
to get the ends they want.

1270
01:00:10,125 --> 01:00:13,417
Christianity says God is
sovereign, gives us commands.

1271
01:00:13,500 --> 01:00:15,958
Paganism, sorcery
says we're sovereign,

1272
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:19,542
we can make God do
what we want God to do.

1273
01:00:19,625 --> 01:00:21,167
You can't control God.

1274
01:00:21,208 --> 01:00:22,542
You can't manipulate God.

1275
01:00:22,625 --> 01:00:23,958
You can't cajole God.

1276
01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:28,833
You can't force an outcome that
you want by pressing his hand.

1277
01:00:28,917 --> 01:00:31,458
That's sorcery.

1278
01:00:31,500 --> 01:00:35,750
Most religious
teaching is sorcery,

1279
01:00:35,833 --> 01:00:40,667
how to get God to give
you what you want.

1280
01:00:40,708 --> 01:00:44,333
Adulterers,
the sexually immoral,

1281
01:00:44,375 --> 01:00:46,333
nobody's getting
away with anything.

1282
01:00:46,375 --> 01:00:49,750
False witnesses, those who
lie and don't tell the truth.

1283
01:00:49,833 --> 01:00:52,208
Those who oppress the poor
and take advantage of those

1284
01:00:52,292 --> 01:00:54,125
without means.

1285
01:00:54,167 --> 01:00:56,167
Those who take advantage
of widows, and orphans,

1286
01:00:56,208 --> 01:01:00,125
and single mothers, and those
who are more vulnerable.

1287
01:01:00,167 --> 01:01:01,917
Those who take
advantage of outsiders,

1288
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:04,875
visitors to our country, those
that have just moved here,

1289
01:01:04,958 --> 01:01:07,208
those that don't know
the language, and the customs,

1290
01:01:07,292 --> 01:01:09,875
and the laws, and who's
trustworthy and who's not,

1291
01:01:09,958 --> 01:01:12,333
and take advantage of those
who are to be welcomed

1292
01:01:12,375 --> 01:01:14,792
and not abused.

1293
01:01:14,833 --> 01:01:18,417
And he says, number seven, "It
all comes from not fearing me.

1294
01:01:18,500 --> 01:01:22,667
"There's no respect, there's
no regard, there's no honor.

1295
01:01:22,750 --> 01:01:25,000
"There's not listening to me,
there's arguing with me.

1296
01:01:25,042 --> 01:01:26,875
"There's not obeying me,
there's fighting me.

1297
01:01:26,958 --> 01:01:29,375
"There's not revering
me, there's rebelling

1298
01:01:29,458 --> 01:01:32,333
and reviling against me."

1299
01:01:32,417 --> 01:01:39,333
It's all about
the fear of the Lord.

1300
01:01:39,417 --> 01:01:43,708
Some of you are going to hell
and the fire you will experience

1301
01:01:43,792 --> 01:01:48,458
is not a fire of refinement,

1302
01:01:48,500 --> 01:01:53,167
not a fire that makes you
better.

1303
01:01:53,208 --> 01:02:00,125
It's a fire of judgment that
causes you misery forever.

1304
01:02:00,167 --> 01:02:06,125
We're all going to
sit over a flame.

1305
01:02:06,167 --> 01:02:09,500
We do it now in the love of God
to become more like Jesus,

1306
01:02:09,583 --> 01:02:13,625
or we do it forever
under the wrath of Jesus.

1307
01:02:13,667 --> 01:02:18,000
Jesus came in humility;
he's coming again in glory.

1308
01:02:18,083 --> 01:02:21,292
He came as a Savior
the first time;

1309
01:02:21,333 --> 01:02:25,500
he comes as a Judge
the second time.

1310
01:02:25,542 --> 01:02:28,333
He came to save us from
eternal fire the first time;

1311
01:02:28,375 --> 01:02:31,000
he's coming to light
the eternal fire

1312
01:02:31,042 --> 01:02:33,000
the second time.

1313
01:02:33,083 --> 01:02:35,833
Friends, we live in
the time between the times.

1314
01:02:35,917 --> 01:02:39,500
God is not slow;
God is patient.

1315
01:02:39,583 --> 01:02:44,125
God is not wanting
people to perish,

1316
01:02:44,167 --> 01:02:48,208
but all to come to eternal life,
and he's inviting you

1317
01:02:48,292 --> 01:02:51,500
to turn from sin
and to trust in him.

1318
01:02:51,583 --> 01:02:54,542
And their question is, "Where
is the God of justice?"

1319
01:02:54,625 --> 01:02:58,417
Justice comes for all
in one of two places:

1320
01:02:58,500 --> 01:03:01,208
at the cross of Jesus or
the white throne of Jesus.

1321
01:03:01,292 --> 01:03:04,417
When Jesus came the first time,
he went to the cross to die

1322
01:03:04,500 --> 01:03:06,708
in our place for our sins
as our substitute.

1323
01:03:06,792 --> 01:03:10,125
There's the justice and the love
of God kissing

1324
01:03:10,167 --> 01:03:13,000
on the cross of Jesus.

1325
01:03:13,083 --> 01:03:15,333
For those who reject that,

1326
01:03:15,375 --> 01:03:17,875
justice comes
at the white throne,

1327
01:03:17,958 --> 01:03:20,875
the second coming of Jesus,
where the dead will rise,

1328
01:03:20,958 --> 01:03:23,125
and stand before him, and he
will sentence them

1329
01:03:23,167 --> 01:03:25,833
to their eternal fate.

1330
01:03:25,875 --> 01:03:27,417
Justice comes.

1331
01:03:27,500 --> 01:03:29,917
When they ask, "Where
is the God of justice?"

1332
01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:32,167
His name is Jesus.

1333
01:03:32,208 --> 01:03:35,667
I would beg you to give him your
sin and receive his salvation

1334
01:03:35,708 --> 01:03:38,458
today so that your day
of judgment would be at

1335
01:03:38,500 --> 01:03:42,542
the cross of Jesus, not at
the white throne of Jesus,

1336
01:03:42,625 --> 01:03:44,333
that you would be forgiven
by Jesus

1337
01:03:44,375 --> 01:03:47,458
and not condemned by Jesus.

1338
01:03:47,500 --> 01:03:52,042
And for those of us who are
believers, I promise you this.

1339
01:03:52,125 --> 01:03:58,500
The most painful things, even
if they are not from the Lord,

1340
01:03:58,583 --> 01:04:03,917
they're used by the Lord to
make us more like the Lord.

1341
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:06,125
Father God, thank you for giving
me an opportunity

1342
01:04:06,167 --> 01:04:08,625
to open your Word.

1343
01:04:08,667 --> 01:04:13,917
This is an amazing Word.

1344
01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:17,292
It's a timeless Word so
it's always a timely Word.

1345
01:04:17,333 --> 01:04:19,500
Father, I thank you
in your grace

1346
01:04:19,583 --> 01:04:25,792
that this is a really helpful
Word for me,

1347
01:04:25,833 --> 01:04:29,208
and I pray
with a father's heart

1348
01:04:29,292 --> 01:04:32,000
that it would be helpful to
your sons and daughters.

1349
01:04:32,083 --> 01:04:36,917
I pray you would allow us to
take all of our questions

1350
01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:42,583
and find our answer in Jesus in
whose name we pray, amen.

1351
01:04:43,708 --> 01:04:45,083
Pastor Sutton here,

1352
01:04:45,167 --> 01:04:48,125
we've just finished our services
here in the Bellevue church

1353
01:04:48,167 --> 01:04:53,958
and really excited today to tell
the extended family of Mars Hill Global

1354
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:55,625
about Text to Give.

1355
01:04:55,667 --> 01:04:58,333
Just came out
and many of you know my story:

1356
01:04:58,417 --> 01:05:02,583
2007 heard Pastor Mark
at a pastor's conference

1357
01:05:02,667 --> 01:05:04,875
went there, started podcasting.

1358
01:05:04,958 --> 01:05:07,833
I still gave my tithe
to my local church,

1359
01:05:07,875 --> 01:05:11,208
however, gave a contribution amount
to Mars Hill Church.

1360
01:05:11,292 --> 01:05:15,875
So this Text to Give, the video
that we have produced for you,

1361
01:05:15,958 --> 01:05:18,125
you're going to love,
so check this out.

1362
01:05:20,292 --> 01:05:23,000
Hey Mars Hill, my name is Rene
and I work here

1363
01:05:23,042 --> 01:05:25,500
at the Media and Communications
team at Mars Hill Church.

1364
01:05:25,583 --> 01:05:27,292
If you're a mobile user like me,

1365
01:05:27,333 --> 01:05:29,458
I've got some exciting news
to share with you.

1366
01:05:29,500 --> 01:05:31,917
There's a new way to give
at Mars Hill Church

1367
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:34,167
and it's just as easy
as sending a text.

1368
01:05:34,250 --> 01:05:36,958
Now, many of you take advantage
of our online giving options,

1369
01:05:37,000 --> 01:05:39,667
which is a great way 
to set up recurring gifts,

1370
01:05:39,750 --> 01:05:42,917
but until now, we haven't had a way
to set up mobile,

1371
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,833
where you can give on the spot
during our services.

1372
01:05:45,875 --> 01:05:47,833
If you're like me, 
you don't carry cash

1373
01:05:47,917 --> 01:05:51,458
you don't carry a checkbook,
so Text to Give is the way to go.

1374
01:05:51,500 --> 01:05:55,875
It's fun, it's simple,
and best of all, it's secure.

1375
01:05:55,958 --> 01:05:57,833
I want you 
to do something with me.

1376
01:05:57,917 --> 01:05:59,792
Take out 
your smart phone right now;

1377
01:05:59,833 --> 01:06:01,667
we're going to do
something together.

1378
01:06:01,750 --> 01:06:03,625
Don't worry,
you're not obligated to give,

1379
01:06:03,667 --> 01:06:05,625
but try this out.

1380
01:06:05,667 --> 01:06:08,500
Simply send the amount
you want to give

1381
01:06:08,542 --> 01:06:14,500
and the word "Mars Hill" at the end
to the following number: 45777.

1382
01:06:15,708 --> 01:06:17,375
The first time
you give via text,

1383
01:06:17,458 --> 01:06:20,042
you will be asked to fill out
a one-time form,

1384
01:06:20,125 --> 01:06:23,167
which will safely link your card
to your smart phone.

1385
01:06:23,208 --> 01:06:26,583
Now, this new way of giving
doesn't go into your phone bill,

1386
01:06:26,667 --> 01:06:28,500
and in case you make a mistake,

1387
01:06:28,542 --> 01:06:32,208
you can always get a refund
for the gift that you've given.

1388
01:06:32,292 --> 01:06:34,250
And that's it;
you're done.

1389
01:06:34,333 --> 01:06:36,417
You'll receive a text back
confirming your gift

1390
01:06:36,500 --> 01:06:38,958
and from this moment forward, 
you'll be able to give

1391
01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:41,667
anywhere, anytime
with just a single text.

1392
01:06:41,750 --> 01:06:44,458
Don't forget to save the number
in your contact list.

1393
01:06:44,500 --> 01:06:47,583
I've saved it 
as "Mars Hill Text to Give."

1394
01:06:47,667 --> 01:06:49,458
For more information 
about our giving options

1395
01:06:49,500 --> 01:06:52,708
you can visit marshill.com/give.

1396
01:06:57,292 --> 01:07:00,292
Each year, over 10 million
Mars Hill church sermons

1397
01:07:00,333 --> 01:07:03,375
are downloaded
worldwide for free.

1398
01:07:03,458 --> 01:07:06,000
This ministry is generously supported

1399
01:07:06,042 --> 01:07:08,625
by Mars Hill church members
and listeners like you.

1400
01:07:08,667 --> 01:07:12,167
If you'd like to support our efforts
to preach Jesus to the world,

1401
01:07:12,250 --> 01:07:15,167
Please consider making
a tax-deductible donation

1402
01:07:15,250 --> 01:07:18,083
by visiting marshill.com/give.