WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Thank you, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks. 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.060 Wow, well I have no jokes today. 3 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:17.240 I could find him if I needed to. 4 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:18.680 I wasn't in the mood. 5 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:23.140 So, it's so good to be here. 6 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:25.760 It's such an incredible privilege 7 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:27.880 to have such large family, you know. 8 00:00:30.220 --> 00:00:31.220 We love you. 9 00:00:37.220 --> 00:00:39.120 Thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks. 10 00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:43.300 I'm just glad, I'm glad for the privilege 11 00:00:43.300 --> 00:00:45.560 to be with family and friends. 12 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:50.560 And I found out during the COVID thing 13 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:52.960 that I was addicted to people 14 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.480 and that addiction has only gotten worse. 15 00:00:55.480 --> 00:00:58.720 So, you will never get rid of me. 16 00:00:58.720 --> 00:01:02.880 So, I'm thankful for the privilege of this morning as well. 17 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:04.319 I did not wanna miss this morning, 18 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.640 but I also knew I could not do this four times. 19 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.280 So, this is the only time I show up today 20 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:12.580 other than I'm gonna get raptured 21 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:14.080 right when this is over with. 22 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.960 I will not be around to clean up any mess that I make, so. 23 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.680 The backslider in heart will always judge God 24 00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:30.520 by what he didn't do. 25 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:43.160 But those who run with tenderness for who he is 26 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:48.560 will always define him by what he has said, 27 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.860 by what he's promised and by what he has done. 28 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:56.640 And to be as honest as I know how to be, 29 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.600 I've seen too much of his kindness 30 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:04.640 to think anything other than he is absolutely good. 31 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.100 Always, always good. 32 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:13.240 We don't get to choose stuff like, 33 00:02:15.720 --> 00:02:18.740 like I don't wanna experience any pain. 34 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:20.720 That's not an option we get, you know. 35 00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:22.840 It's where we do life. 36 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:24.760 In fact, let's be really honest. 37 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.000 He says things like, 38 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.480 rejoice always, pray without ceasing 39 00:02:30.480 --> 00:02:31.560 and everything give thanks. 40 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:33.600 Those verses are completely useless 41 00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:37.200 unless you're gonna experience loss and disappointment. 42 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:39.640 I mean, nobody needs to be taught to rejoice 43 00:02:39.640 --> 00:02:42.800 if everything works the way you want it to work. 44 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:43.760 Right? 45 00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:46.220 It's like, it's pointless. 46 00:02:46.220 --> 00:02:49.000 So, his nature is defined by promise 47 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:50.880 and by his history, his testimony. 48 00:02:51.720 --> 00:02:53.720 And that's what we build theology around. 49 00:02:53.720 --> 00:02:55.680 That's who he is. 50 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:57.480 But what about loss? 51 00:02:57.480 --> 00:03:00.440 That's the mystery that we have the privilege of carrying. 52 00:03:01.640 --> 00:03:03.560 The level of revelation God gives you 53 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.280 will always be equal to the measure of mystery 54 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:08.120 you're willing to live with. 55 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.880 And the inability to live with mystery 56 00:03:10.880 --> 00:03:13.580 is your resistance to childlikeness. 57 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.960 It's childlikeness that actually gives us access 58 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:19.800 to dimensions and realms of the kingdom 59 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.240 that you can't get in any other way. 60 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.720 There are certain things that he has hidden in the journey. 61 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:27.440 For example, several years ago, 62 00:03:27.440 --> 00:03:28.960 I discovered something about 63 00:03:29.920 --> 00:03:31.760 in the valley of the shadow of death, 64 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:34.120 I will fear no evil because you're with me. 65 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.200 And what I found was there are measures of his presence 66 00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:40.280 you can only find in the valley of the shadow of death. 67 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.720 And we say we'll have presence and we do. 68 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:45.960 We're a people that gather to celebrate 69 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.160 and honor who he is and thrive on 70 00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:50.360 just that presence of the spirit of God 71 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:51.520 who is always with us. 72 00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:54.600 There is no greater treasure than him. 73 00:03:54.600 --> 00:03:56.160 Never will be. 74 00:03:56.160 --> 00:03:57.520 Heaven itself is him. 75 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.760 And yet there are aspects of presence 76 00:04:02.760 --> 00:04:05.520 you can only find in the valley of the shadow of death. 77 00:04:06.720 --> 00:04:09.720 It's only in darkness, in darkness of soul, 78 00:04:09.720 --> 00:04:12.520 in the trial of not knowing what's going on 79 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:14.320 and doing everything you know to do 80 00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:18.120 and having things not work out like you think they should. 81 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:20.720 He's not a vending machine. 82 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:23.600 You know, I don't get to put a quarter in 83 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:24.800 and get out what I want. 84 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:26.360 It's a relational journey. 85 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:31.160 And I've experienced his kindness, 86 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:36.160 his miracles at a level that I could never earn or deserve. 87 00:04:38.640 --> 00:04:40.200 And I just don't have the right 88 00:04:41.320 --> 00:04:43.800 to reevaluate what he's like 89 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:45.960 because I've experienced loss. 90 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.440 I've experienced loss. 91 00:04:47.440 --> 00:04:48.880 It doesn't work that way. 92 00:04:51.880 --> 00:04:53.360 It just doesn't work that way. 93 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:57.160 Everybody in the room has experienced this. 94 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.040 So I don't stand here as, you know, the only. 95 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.640 The guy who has experienced pain, 96 00:05:01.640 --> 00:05:05.160 I understand that, I do life with you 97 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:08.920 and we've wept together and laughed together 98 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:10.520 and I get that. 99 00:05:10.520 --> 00:05:13.880 But I just wanna tell you that God gives us 100 00:05:13.880 --> 00:05:17.960 these special moments or he gives us these opportunities 101 00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:22.960 to grow down, to become more childlike. 102 00:05:22.960 --> 00:05:27.960 It's the simplicity of faith that just trusts him 103 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:32.760 no matter what. 104 00:05:32.760 --> 00:05:36.040 It's the simplicity of childlikeness that just says, 105 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.720 you know what, he knows what's happening, I don't. 106 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.420 And I'm gonna trust him. 107 00:05:42.440 --> 00:05:43.280 I'm gonna trust him. 108 00:05:43.280 --> 00:05:47.880 I don't want my why to ever take me away from him. 109 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:53.720 I don't ever want to be the one who critiques God. 110 00:05:59.760 --> 00:06:00.960 He critiques me. 111 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.080 I wanna keep that, keep aware of that. 112 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:13.840 None of us would choose loss, pain, disappointment, 113 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:15.280 any of that stuff. 114 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:16.120 I get that. 115 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:18.680 None of us would ever choose that for ourselves. 116 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.120 We wouldn't choose this for, you know, your biggest enemy. 117 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:24.440 I mean, it's just, you would just not do that. 118 00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:27.880 It's not something that any of us would gravitate towards. 119 00:06:27.880 --> 00:06:31.960 And yet we don't have options at times. 120 00:06:31.960 --> 00:06:33.280 And so what am I gonna do? 121 00:06:38.440 --> 00:06:39.960 Is God my friend? 122 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:42.560 Yeah, but he was my Lord before he was my friend. 123 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:43.440 Yes. 124 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.800 And my friendship with God can only go 125 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:49.600 where his Lordship has already been. 126 00:06:57.320 --> 00:06:59.520 I can't go in a friendship with God 127 00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:01.380 where I haven't gone in Lordship. 128 00:07:01.380 --> 00:07:02.220 Amen. 129 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:13.900 And one of the things that has been 130 00:07:13.900 --> 00:07:18.900 such a valuable thing for us through the years 131 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:22.500 has been the realization, 132 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:25.820 and I discovered this quite accidentally 133 00:07:27.260 --> 00:07:28.340 when my dad died. 134 00:07:28.340 --> 00:07:30.500 And many of you have heard me share the story, 135 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:33.540 but when he died, 136 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:36.620 I was faced with learning something 137 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:39.260 I had never known at that level before. 138 00:07:39.260 --> 00:07:40.200 And it was this. 139 00:07:43.460 --> 00:07:45.180 I've just experienced loss, 140 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:47.440 and I have just experienced loss. 141 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:51.020 And the disappointment is huge. 142 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:02.900 The pain is annoying. 143 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:08.220 It is, it's just. 144 00:08:11.380 --> 00:08:16.380 The questions, the what if, all the stuff, you know. 145 00:08:20.200 --> 00:08:24.340 But all of that pain, that discomfort, 146 00:08:24.340 --> 00:08:28.780 that the questions, all the stuff, 147 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:31.400 I'll never have any of that in heaven. 148 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:37.400 I'll never have, I will be a worshiper for all of eternity. 149 00:08:37.400 --> 00:08:39.440 I will glorify him for all of eternity. 150 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.179 I will bow before the Lamb on the throne 151 00:08:42.179 --> 00:08:43.159 for all of eternity. 152 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:45.020 I will declare his wonders. 153 00:08:45.020 --> 00:08:47.980 I will celebrate his greatness, his grace, his kindness 154 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:49.460 for all of eternity. 155 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:54.260 But I'll never have the chance to do it with pain. 156 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.560 That's only in this life. 157 00:08:57.560 --> 00:09:00.720 And I want to give him the most priceless gift 158 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:05.200 I can give him, and that is joy in loss. 159 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.240 That is celebration in pain. 160 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:12.040 That is giving up my right to understand. 161 00:09:12.040 --> 00:09:14.000 He gives the peace that passes understanding, 162 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.380 which means I have to give up my right to understand 163 00:09:16.380 --> 00:09:19.320 to enjoy the peace that he has purposed to give me. 164 00:09:20.280 --> 00:09:22.440 And we're in that place, and some of you, 165 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:24.360 you have your own stuff going on in your life 166 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.640 where this becomes a very painful process. 167 00:09:27.640 --> 00:09:32.000 But what we do is we just give him thanks. 168 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.400 And this morning, my goodness, so wonderful 169 00:09:34.400 --> 00:09:36.280 to be with you and our online family 170 00:09:36.280 --> 00:09:38.520 and to be able to celebrate the goodness of God. 171 00:09:38.520 --> 00:09:41.600 It's not, you know, it's not forced. 172 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:45.440 It's not hard to do, not once you've tasted. 173 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.920 Not once you've tasted. 174 00:09:47.920 --> 00:09:51.820 You never forget the taste of his kindness. 175 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:56.960 And it puts everything else in perspective, everything. 176 00:09:58.100 --> 00:09:59.780 And so the privilege to just. 177 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.000 offer him celebration and praise. 178 00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:07.200 It almost sounds contradictory, 179 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:08.840 and for some it would sound forced, 180 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:12.880 but to honor him as being the healer 181 00:10:13.920 --> 00:10:17.760 when you've just lost somebody you love through disease. 182 00:10:19.640 --> 00:10:24.640 But it's not fake, it's not hype, this is who he is. 183 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:27.320 This is who he is. 184 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:29.200 Well, why did this happen? 185 00:10:29.280 --> 00:10:32.240 I don't know, he doesn't work for me. 186 00:10:33.880 --> 00:10:35.320 I work for him. 187 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:40.440 He never owes me an explanation, never. 188 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.680 He often gives them, but he doesn't owe me. 189 00:10:45.180 --> 00:10:46.020 I owe him. 190 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:51.120 Every day of my life, I am indebted to him. 191 00:10:53.680 --> 00:10:58.680 And so the privilege of lifting hands and voice 192 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.560 and in the midst of tears, I remember my aunt, 193 00:11:03.560 --> 00:11:05.680 who is in heaven now, Mount Helen, 194 00:11:07.520 --> 00:11:12.080 I remember her saying once that laughter with tears 195 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:13.560 makes a beautiful rainbow. 196 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.320 I don't understand it, but I like it. 197 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.360 So I'm just gonna do it. 198 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.280 I'm gonna make sure that I laugh 199 00:11:23.280 --> 00:11:25.240 while I'm crying my head off, you know? 200 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:31.080 And just, oh, you're a nice guy. 201 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.040 Do you have any more boxes of this? 202 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.760 I need to take some of these home, thank you. 203 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.440 So to grab your moments, you know, 204 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:49.800 we get certain moments in life 205 00:11:49.800 --> 00:11:52.480 that we never get them back again. 206 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.080 They're at once, they come and then they're gone. 207 00:11:55.920 --> 00:11:57.840 And I never have a chance to steward that moment again. 208 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.000 I get one crack at it. 209 00:12:01.160 --> 00:12:04.080 And to take the moment of greatest pain 210 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.520 or the greatest loss or the greatest confusion or whatever, 211 00:12:08.520 --> 00:12:13.200 and just grab it and determine, 212 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.240 I'm going to do the best I can 213 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.260 to give him an offering that costs me. 214 00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:21.520 That's what I'm gonna do. 215 00:12:21.520 --> 00:12:24.640 I'm gonna give him an offering that costs me something. 216 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:29.600 I'm gonna give him a sacrifice 217 00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:33.360 that I'll never have a chance to give him again. 218 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:37.600 I get one chance at this painful moment. 219 00:12:46.760 --> 00:12:49.680 In many ways, I feel like the richest guy on the planet 220 00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:51.560 because I get to do this with you. 221 00:12:51.560 --> 00:12:52.400 I get to do this. 222 00:12:52.400 --> 00:12:55.000 I have so much of my family down here. 223 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:57.240 We've been together hour after hour after hour, 224 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:58.920 day after day after day. 225 00:12:58.920 --> 00:13:00.520 Some of them moved in with me. 226 00:13:06.760 --> 00:13:07.600 They did. 227 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.060 They're everywhere. 228 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:15.040 Wherever there's a couch, there's a body, you know. 229 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:20.160 It's just been the coolest thing. 230 00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:24.440 Just to know that you don't have to do stuff by yourself. 231 00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:28.280 And then I've had so many of our own team, 232 00:13:28.280 --> 00:13:32.120 you, that have rallied around us, 233 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:34.760 and it's priceless, it's priceless. 234 00:13:34.760 --> 00:13:36.020 I am thankful. 235 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.520 There are some things you can only find 236 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.640 in the valley of the shadow of death, 237 00:13:42.640 --> 00:13:44.400 and there are some aspects of the kingdom 238 00:13:44.400 --> 00:13:46.700 you can only find through childlike trust. 239 00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:49.280 You can try as hard as you want 240 00:13:49.280 --> 00:13:50.600 to be as smart as you can be, 241 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:52.680 but you can only get it through childlike trust, 242 00:13:52.680 --> 00:13:54.720 and to do that, you have to have mystery. 243 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.280 There's certain things that just open up. 244 00:13:57.280 --> 00:13:59.520 They only open up in childlike trust. 245 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.460 I want to read a scripture to you. 246 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:06.480 I've actually got, 247 00:14:08.760 --> 00:14:11.120 I've got two clocks up there, and I'm not sure. 248 00:14:13.640 --> 00:14:15.800 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 249 00:14:15.800 --> 00:14:17.080 We'll just tell the next service. 250 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:18.120 Just go home. 251 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:18.960 Just go home. 252 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:23.080 I, when does this one end? 253 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:23.920 12.15. 254 00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:24.760 12.15? 255 00:14:24.760 --> 00:14:26.320 So I actually do have a half hour. 256 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.120 Oh, goodness, that's enough time to make you miserable. 257 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:29.960 That's awesome. 258 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.680 I want to share something that I, 259 00:14:44.680 --> 00:14:48.280 that at least for me is a life-giving, 260 00:14:49.560 --> 00:14:54.560 a life-giving perspective on truth. 261 00:14:56.520 --> 00:14:57.360 Here's the deal. 262 00:14:58.520 --> 00:15:00.240 Mourning is biblical. 263 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.580 not tomorrow morning, the weeping kind of morning. 264 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.520 It's not smart to avoid mourning when you have loss. 265 00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:12.560 It's not a good thing to do 266 00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:15.200 because you end up getting stuff going on inside 267 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:17.020 that you just can't manage well. 268 00:15:17.020 --> 00:15:19.260 Mourning's just, you know, 269 00:15:19.260 --> 00:15:23.040 and mourning with family, with friends, you know, 270 00:15:23.040 --> 00:15:28.040 in some way, give before God and mourn good, mourn good. 271 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.120 Mourn good, because there's two options in mourning. 272 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.760 Mourning will either take you to the comforter, 273 00:15:35.760 --> 00:15:37.780 into the presence of the Holy Spirit, 274 00:15:37.780 --> 00:15:39.240 or it will take you to unbelief. 275 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:40.480 There's only two options. 276 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:44.160 Blessed are those who mourn. 277 00:15:44.160 --> 00:15:46.200 It's Matthew five, verse four. 278 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:51.200 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 279 00:15:52.680 --> 00:15:57.120 Mourning can take me into presence 280 00:15:57.160 --> 00:16:00.440 to experience what I don't understand. 281 00:16:01.400 --> 00:16:03.360 And it's important, because most of the time 282 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.200 when we experience loss or whatever, 283 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.320 answers won't fix the problem. 284 00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:10.640 Presence will. 285 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:15.200 So God shows up and he says, 286 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:17.700 this happened for this reason, this reason, and this reason. 287 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:18.920 Still, I hurt. 288 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:21.640 That doesn't fix anything. 289 00:16:21.640 --> 00:16:23.040 What I need is I need him. 290 00:16:23.040 --> 00:16:25.480 I need him to come so near 291 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:28.480 that everything that's out of sorts in me 292 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.460 somehow finds its place, and there's peace there. 293 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:34.480 It doesn't mean I have every question answered. 294 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:38.720 It just means that I'm just being inundated 295 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.680 with the Spirit of God who has promised 296 00:16:40.680 --> 00:16:42.480 to never, ever leave me. 297 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.520 And in that presence, there is a comfort. 298 00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:49.400 It's almost like I find my place. 299 00:16:49.400 --> 00:16:50.880 I don't know what's going on, 300 00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:55.140 but I have a place in presence that is irrevocable. 301 00:16:56.020 --> 00:16:57.220 This is forever. 302 00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:03.680 And you only find that measure in mourning. 303 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:07.579 So there's the mourning that leads you to the comforter. 304 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:11.640 But in Mark 16, we've studied this 305 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:13.040 a number of times through the years, 306 00:17:13.040 --> 00:17:15.240 but I keep going back to it for my own sake. 307 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:19.420 It's at Mark 16, Mary Magdalene, 308 00:17:21.819 --> 00:17:23.940 in verse 10, she went and told those 309 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:26.260 who had been with him, the disciples, 310 00:17:26.260 --> 00:17:28.520 as they mourned and wept. 311 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:32.860 So Mary Magdalene had seen the resurrected Christ, 312 00:17:32.860 --> 00:17:35.500 and she runs to the disciples, 313 00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:38.220 and she said, he's alive. 314 00:17:39.620 --> 00:17:42.620 And she said it while they were mourning and weeping. 315 00:17:42.620 --> 00:17:45.620 Now remember, mourning can take you into presence 316 00:17:45.620 --> 00:17:47.660 or it can take you where these guys went. 317 00:17:49.340 --> 00:17:51.540 And it says, and when they heard it, 318 00:17:51.540 --> 00:17:55.300 that he was alive and had been seen by her, 319 00:17:55.300 --> 00:17:56.500 they did not believe. 320 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:05.640 After that, he appeared in another form to two of them 321 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:07.400 as they walked and went into the country, 322 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.500 the whole road to Emmaus story. 323 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:12.220 And they went and told it to the rest, 324 00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:14.380 but they didn't believe them either. 325 00:18:16.540 --> 00:18:17.380 What happened here? 326 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:20.460 We've got the wrong kind of mourning. 327 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:23.220 Yeah. 328 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:28.140 And I hope to define the right kind of mourning next week. 329 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:29.420 No, I'll try to do it. 330 00:18:31.860 --> 00:18:34.020 It says after that, he appeared in another form 331 00:18:34.020 --> 00:18:37.520 to two of them as they walked and went into the country, 332 00:18:37.520 --> 00:18:39.800 and they went and told it to the rest, 333 00:18:39.800 --> 00:18:42.020 but they didn't believe them either. 334 00:18:42.020 --> 00:18:46.180 Later, he appeared to the 11 as they sat at the table, 335 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:50.660 and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart 336 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:54.460 because they did not believe those who had seen him 337 00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:55.580 after he had risen. 338 00:18:58.540 --> 00:19:00.220 You've got to see this. 339 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:02.340 So here's Mary Magdalene. 340 00:19:02.340 --> 00:19:03.780 She sees him. 341 00:19:03.780 --> 00:19:06.580 She has a story to tell. 342 00:19:06.580 --> 00:19:11.580 That's not just to appease their curiosity. 343 00:19:11.580 --> 00:19:14.260 There is a story that when it is spoken, 344 00:19:14.260 --> 00:19:18.200 releases the presence of the person she's talking about. 345 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:20.260 So there is a witness. 346 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:25.380 There is an experience to be had in God, in the story, 347 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:27.660 but their mourning disqualified them. 348 00:19:28.860 --> 00:19:29.760 Their mourning, 349 00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:35.900 their mourning, like a dislocated arm or something, 350 00:19:35.900 --> 00:19:39.860 they were so disjointed that they couldn't respond 351 00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:43.260 or receive to the gift of God 352 00:19:43.260 --> 00:19:45.180 that he brought into their life in that moment. 353 00:19:45.180 --> 00:19:48.140 He actually sent a woman with a gift 354 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:50.500 and they could not benefit from the gift 355 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:51.700 because of the mourning. 356 00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:56.900 And so then he sent two more and the same thing happened. 357 00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:59.980 So he rebuked them because they didn't. 358 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.960 believe the story, let me rephrase it. 359 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:06.480 He rebuked them because they didn't believe 360 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.120 the experience of another person. 361 00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:11.640 How could he require them to believe 362 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:13.200 the experience of another person? 363 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.720 Because in the telling of the experience, 364 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.480 a person becomes manifest. 365 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:20.920 And they were so blinded by their mourning 366 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:24.620 that they couldn't recognize who just came into the room 367 00:20:24.620 --> 00:20:27.920 in the story by the two guys in the road to Emmaus 368 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:30.980 as they talked and they said, it was read this morning 369 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:33.880 that when he broke the bread, their eyes were open 370 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:35.840 and they began to tell the disciples, 371 00:20:35.840 --> 00:20:37.840 this is what we just had happen. 372 00:20:37.840 --> 00:20:39.880 And that person came into the room, 373 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.360 but not one of them recognized him when he showed up 374 00:20:43.360 --> 00:20:45.360 because of mourning. 375 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:49.640 So you've got a mourning that leads you to him, 376 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:52.640 we have a mourning that leads us to resistance 377 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:55.720 to the God who's actually speaking and reaching out to us, 378 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.920 bringing us the gift of life and encouragement and strength. 379 00:21:02.520 --> 00:21:05.440 In this journey that I'm in right now, 380 00:21:08.120 --> 00:21:13.120 I found language for this that I never knew, 381 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.760 I didn't understand this. 382 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.160 And it's in First Thessalonians chapter four. 383 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:30.720 First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13. 384 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:35.200 You guys all right? 385 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:36.040 Thanks. 386 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.200 Tried to break the bread of my own soul in this moment 387 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:47.440 and see if we can get somewhere. 388 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:52.440 So all right, First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13. 389 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.440 I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, 390 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.640 concerning those who have fallen asleep, 391 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.480 lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 392 00:22:09.080 --> 00:22:12.600 Lest you sorrow as others. 393 00:22:13.840 --> 00:22:18.840 That word there sorrow is grieving, mourning, lamenting, 394 00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:20.800 that's what the word means. 395 00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:22.880 So think through this with me. 396 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.360 He says, I don't want you to mourn 397 00:22:27.320 --> 00:22:29.880 like those who have no hope. 398 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:31.000 That gives us a clue. 399 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:37.680 Biblical mourning must be enhanced with hope 400 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.160 or it will lead to unbelief. 401 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.840 That's it, that's it, that's it right there. 402 00:22:42.840 --> 00:22:45.520 That's it, there's got to be something more 403 00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:48.240 than the hellish moment that you're in right now. 404 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.320 There's gotta be something on the other side. 405 00:22:51.320 --> 00:22:56.320 See, this is such a critical part of kingdom reality 406 00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:01.680 that even Jesus endured the cross because of the hope, 407 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:05.040 the joy that was set before him. 408 00:23:05.040 --> 00:23:07.040 There was hope on the other side. 409 00:23:07.040 --> 00:23:10.040 And because of that, Jesus could endure 410 00:23:10.040 --> 00:23:13.800 the most horrific thing any person has ever endured. 411 00:23:13.800 --> 00:23:17.200 And it was for that, it was for that. 412 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.080 So here he comes and he says, 413 00:23:22.760 --> 00:23:26.080 you'll never be overtaken by a situation. 414 00:23:27.040 --> 00:23:30.680 If you have hope, it will never master you. 415 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:32.360 It will never control you. 416 00:23:32.360 --> 00:23:33.880 It will never destroy you. 417 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.200 It will never govern you. 418 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:38.160 It will never redefine you. 419 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.120 None of those things will ever have a voice 420 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:46.120 or impact on your soul if you maintain hope. 421 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.400 And biblical hope is different than the kind of hope 422 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.680 that is in culture. 423 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:58.680 In culture, hope is kind of like a wish. 424 00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:00.720 I hope that happens. 425 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.280 But the Bible word for hope is, 426 00:24:04.280 --> 00:24:07.960 my favorite translation, if you will, of the word hope, 427 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:11.200 is the joyful anticipation of good. 428 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:15.840 So a biblical hope is a faith-filled moment 429 00:24:15.840 --> 00:24:17.560 of joyful expectation. 430 00:24:17.560 --> 00:24:19.520 That's what the hope is. 431 00:24:19.520 --> 00:24:21.480 And it's maintaining that. 432 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.400 If you don't have hope, 433 00:24:23.400 --> 00:24:27.000 you haven't been reading his love letter to you. 434 00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:29.720 And if you've been reading it 435 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:31.800 and you can't find reasons to hope, 436 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:36.320 I don't know what to tell you. 437 00:24:36.320 --> 00:24:37.160 You. 438 00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:38.000 You. 439 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:38.840 You. 440 00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:39.680 You. 441 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:40.500 You. 442 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:41.340 You. 443 00:24:41.340 --> 00:24:42.180 You. 444 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:43.000 You. 445 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:43.840 You. 446 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:44.680 You. 447 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:45.500 You. 448 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:46.340 You. 449 00:24:46.340 --> 00:24:47.180 You. 450 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:48.000 You. 451 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:48.840 You. 452 00:24:48.840 --> 00:24:49.680 You. 453 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:50.500 You. 454 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:51.340 You. 455 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:53.560 Maybe the Bible has not been reading you. 456 00:24:53.560 --> 00:24:57.380 Because when we come before him, 457 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.540 it's only, I only leave moments 458 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.120 with him with significant change 459 00:25:04.120 --> 00:25:07.060 in the measure I came to him in surrender. 460 00:25:09.020 --> 00:25:10.520 Surrender measures everything. 461 00:25:17.320 --> 00:25:21.080 If I praise him without surrender, 462 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:24.800 I was just making a business deal. 463 00:25:26.520 --> 00:25:28.580 I'll do this for you, you do this for me. 464 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:35.000 Every part of this journey 465 00:25:36.760 --> 00:25:38.520 is the great privilege of surrender. 466 00:25:38.520 --> 00:25:41.280 Great faith, as we've said so many times, 467 00:25:41.280 --> 00:25:43.480 doesn't come from striving. 468 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:44.680 It comes from surrender. 469 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:55.680 So here's, I wanna end with two thoughts. 470 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000 I want you to look with me at Hebrews chapter 12. 471 00:26:16.600 --> 00:26:18.540 I'm gonna read to you verse one. 472 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:30.840 Here we go. 473 00:26:42.800 --> 00:26:47.300 Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded 474 00:26:47.300 --> 00:26:49.940 by so great a cloud of witnesses, 475 00:26:51.060 --> 00:26:54.920 let us lay aside every weight and the sin 476 00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:57.800 which so easily ensnares us, 477 00:26:57.800 --> 00:27:00.400 and let us run with endurance 478 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:01.960 the race that is set before us. 479 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:02.800 Look at this again. 480 00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:05.320 Since we are surrounded 481 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.200 by so great a cloud of witnesses, 482 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:14.200 let us lay aside every weight and the sin 483 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:16.260 which so easily ensnares us, 484 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:18.720 and let us run with endurance 485 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:20.520 the race that is set before us. 486 00:27:21.520 --> 00:27:22.520 You remember the verse that says, 487 00:27:22.520 --> 00:27:24.520 death, where's your sting? 488 00:27:26.520 --> 00:27:31.520 No one who is conscious of eternity 489 00:27:32.520 --> 00:27:34.120 can find the sting in death. 490 00:27:37.520 --> 00:27:39.520 Eternity has already started. 491 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.920 The one who lives forever, the resurrected Christ, 492 00:27:44.920 --> 00:27:46.520 the resurrected Jesus, 493 00:27:46.520 --> 00:27:49.840 the one who lives forever, the resurrected Christ, 494 00:27:49.840 --> 00:27:51.440 the resurrected King, 495 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.240 dwells inside of every born-again believer, 496 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:59.240 and there's this ongoing journey and taste of eternity. 497 00:28:01.320 --> 00:28:04.480 And this passage says, 498 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:08.320 since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, 499 00:28:08.320 --> 00:28:09.640 what is the cloud of witnesses? 500 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:13.280 Chapter 11 was the heroes of faith. 501 00:28:13.280 --> 00:28:15.800 And so he says, since we are surrounded 502 00:28:17.360 --> 00:28:19.320 by those who have gone before us, 503 00:28:19.320 --> 00:28:21.440 and they are now forever with the Lord, 504 00:28:24.800 --> 00:28:26.960 those heroes of faith 505 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:30.920 are actually like a cloud surrounding us. 506 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:34.440 And since, it's interesting the way he approaches it, 507 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.240 since this is undeniable and absolutely true, 508 00:28:38.560 --> 00:28:41.180 then we have to live a certain way. 509 00:28:42.560 --> 00:28:44.440 Holiness and endurance. 510 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:46.520 Holiness and endurance. 511 00:28:46.520 --> 00:28:48.120 So what does that tell me? 512 00:28:48.120 --> 00:28:52.880 It tells me my passion for holiness and my longevity, 513 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:56.120 my ability to endure difficult situations 514 00:28:56.120 --> 00:28:59.560 is usually equal to my awareness of eternity. 515 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.800 It's being conscious of, you know what? 516 00:29:05.800 --> 00:29:08.600 This life, the ups, the downs, the trials, 517 00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:10.440 the difficulties, the successes, 518 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:13.800 all the stuff that just makes up life here on planet Earth, 519 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:18.880 all those things, all those things take on definition 520 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:26.440 in the measure I live aware of eternity. 521 00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:33.120 Cloud of witnesses. 522 00:29:33.120 --> 00:29:37.440 Chris always gives such an amazing illustration 523 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:42.440 with the runners, the pass on the baton, 524 00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:44.240 what do they call it? 525 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:45.600 The relay race, thank you. 526 00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:49.280 Somebody help me here, I'm going numb. 527 00:29:49.280 --> 00:29:51.520 Yeah, the relay race. 528 00:29:51.520 --> 00:29:53.480 And so you've got four guys running, 529 00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:56.760 gals running this relay race and they pass the baton. 530 00:29:56.760 --> 00:29:59.880 When the first person is through with that, 531 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:06.480 part of the relay race, they don't go in and take a shower. They stay on the field to see what the 532 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:11.760 next person does and what the next person does and what the final person does. And everybody in 533 00:30:11.760 --> 00:30:18.480 the relay receives a prize according to how the last guy finished. Well, guess what? We've got 534 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:24.240 the stands of heaven are filled with those who have gone before us to see what we're going to do 535 00:30:25.040 --> 00:30:30.400 with what we've been given because they receive a prize. This is biblical. They receive a prize 536 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:37.920 according to how we finish. That's stunning. That's absolutely stunning. And so to help us 537 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:42.960 to do well, the two things that were critical to the writer of the book of Hebrews, the two 538 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:49.600 things that were absolutely paramount in importance was number one, holiness and number two, endurance. 539 00:30:49.600 --> 00:30:56.400 And so he said, here's what you're in the middle of. 540 00:30:59.280 --> 00:31:02.640 Those who ran the race before you are watching. 541 00:31:04.560 --> 00:31:11.280 Don't forget it. Don't forget it because you won't make stupid choices if you remember. 542 00:31:11.280 --> 00:31:21.440 And the last thing I want to share with you, there's probably dozens of things, 543 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:28.960 but two things have come to my mind in these last several few days. And the first is that, 544 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:37.040 that I just shared this cloud of witnesses saying is it's supposed to help me to clarify my thinking, 545 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:44.400 help to clarify what's valuable and, and to see what is worthless that doesn't deserve 546 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:49.440 my affection or my time and what does deserve my affection, my time. 547 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:55.840 And the second one is actually in the gospel of John. And I'll read one more verse for you before 548 00:31:55.840 --> 00:32:01.600 we wrap this up. It's in the gospel of John chapter 12. 549 00:32:01.760 --> 00:32:07.360 John 12, it's all good. Just read anywhere. It's a, it'll bless your life. 550 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.240 John 12, verse 24. 551 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:35.120 Good. 552 00:32:38.320 --> 00:32:45.040 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, 553 00:32:45.840 --> 00:32:52.960 it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. 554 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:00.480 Each of the verses that I've read today are in a context that certainly deserve 555 00:33:01.360 --> 00:33:06.880 better study than I can do today. But I just want to extract a couple principles. The first, 556 00:33:07.360 --> 00:33:11.440 this is the cloud of witnesses. There's something about this next phase of the race for us. 557 00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:17.760 That living conscious, you know, don't talk to the dead, don't be stupid. But just, you know, 558 00:33:17.760 --> 00:33:22.640 just live aware. Live aware. Live aware we're not alone and it's not about us. 559 00:33:23.840 --> 00:33:30.160 It's not about us. We get to make decisions that they benefit from and God is glorified by. 560 00:33:30.320 --> 00:33:37.520 And this last thing that I think is, is, is helpful for me and hopefully it's helpful for you. 561 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:48.000 Every loss and every disappointment can become a seed that brings increase. 562 00:33:51.040 --> 00:33:56.080 And let's be really honest. Some people experience this crisis, this tragedy, 563 00:33:56.480 --> 00:34:02.560 this tragedy, and they never walk it through with the Lord. And so that seed was to say, 564 00:34:03.120 --> 00:34:15.040 it remains alone. It never, it never releases into our life what only God can do with loss. 565 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:23.040 And that is to bring increase, to bring blessing, to bring reward. Only he can take the crisis 566 00:34:23.520 --> 00:34:28.239 and turn it into something that changes our life forever. Only he can do that. 567 00:34:29.600 --> 00:34:35.840 And I've watched for years and years and years. So many of us go through crisis and loss, 568 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:41.440 and there's the weeping, which is fine. There's the mourning, but it never, 569 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:48.239 it never becomes something that we journey together with God about. I don't need explanations 570 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:55.280 from him. I just need him. I just need him. I need the face of God. I need the countenance of God. 571 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:59.920 I need those tender moments where I do my best just to honor him, just to give 572 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:00.960 Give him thanks. 573 00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:03.240 I need these moments of interaction. 574 00:35:03.240 --> 00:35:04.080 Why? 575 00:35:04.080 --> 00:35:05.360 Because in that process, 576 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:08.920 a seed is put into the ground 577 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:12.800 that will bring forth increase. 578 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:14.060 It will. 579 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.480 Galatians 6, it says, 580 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.860 God is not mocked. 581 00:35:18.860 --> 00:35:21.040 Whatever a man sows, he will reap. 582 00:35:21.040 --> 00:35:22.520 What does that say? 583 00:35:22.520 --> 00:35:25.720 For me to think I could plant a seed in the ground 584 00:35:25.720 --> 00:35:27.640 and not have it bring reward 585 00:35:27.640 --> 00:35:29.280 is for me to insult God. 586 00:35:30.080 --> 00:35:33.360 It is in the way he created nature itself 587 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:34.920 is that there would be sowing and reaping. 588 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:38.000 And part of this is taking our losses, 589 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.960 our pains, our disappointments, 590 00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:43.640 or all the stuff that didn't work out like we thought, 591 00:35:43.640 --> 00:35:45.600 and we just simply give it to the one 592 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:47.540 who knows what to do. 593 00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:50.900 Son, I'll take that. 594 00:35:50.900 --> 00:35:52.760 And I'm gonna put it into the ground. 595 00:35:54.240 --> 00:35:55.400 And watch what happens. 596 00:35:57.740 --> 00:35:59.840 And the most important thing 597 00:36:00.680 --> 00:36:01.800 is that he will be glorified. 598 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:04.840 We get to benefit, 599 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:06.880 but it's not about us. 600 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.640 He will be glorified by the increase, by the blessing. 601 00:36:17.240 --> 00:36:19.840 I'm gonna share one more illustration 602 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:23.120 and then wrap it up, close. 603 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:29.280 Dick Mills, a wonderful prophet friend 604 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:31.880 of our family in this house. 605 00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:33.760 He's been home with the Lord for a number of years now, 606 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:35.720 but I remember him sharing this story. 607 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:41.920 You remember the costly ointment of Mary. 608 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:48.120 She had this year's worth of salary, 609 00:36:48.120 --> 00:36:50.480 of increase, of wages. 610 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:53.720 And she invested it into this priceless ointment. 611 00:36:54.620 --> 00:36:56.680 And they didn't have screw top lids. 612 00:36:57.120 --> 00:37:01.160 It was in a sealed container that once it was broken, 613 00:37:01.160 --> 00:37:05.160 you had to quickly use it because there was no reusing. 614 00:37:06.200 --> 00:37:07.920 And she had this ointment. 615 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:12.120 And there was something inexplainable. 616 00:37:12.120 --> 00:37:14.680 It was what she did offended everybody in the room. 617 00:37:15.720 --> 00:37:18.040 I mean, the disciples were looking at, 618 00:37:18.040 --> 00:37:22.360 I mean, they realized she just took $60,000 worth of ointment 619 00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:24.340 and just poured it all over Jesus. 620 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:26.600 And it could have been sold. 621 00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:28.280 It could have helped the ministry. 622 00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:29.100 It could have fed the poor. 623 00:37:29.100 --> 00:37:31.600 It could have done so many things. 624 00:37:31.600 --> 00:37:36.080 And it's crazy how often we don't discern 625 00:37:36.080 --> 00:37:38.320 a given situation the way he does. 626 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:40.480 He saw it completely different. 627 00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:44.240 He saw that offering completely different 628 00:37:44.240 --> 00:37:45.840 than everybody else in the room. 629 00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:49.000 And she was concerned with one thing. 630 00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:51.080 If you can imagine, she wasn't thinking 631 00:37:51.080 --> 00:37:55.640 about some personal breakthrough or something. 632 00:37:55.640 --> 00:37:58.840 She just wanted to give something of value to him. 633 00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:01.940 So she grabbed her moment and she broke that thing. 634 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:05.600 She poured it over his feet and wiped it in with her hair. 635 00:38:05.600 --> 00:38:08.720 And just this moment, in fact, the Bible says, 636 00:38:08.720 --> 00:38:12.600 what she did will be spoken of throughout eternity. 637 00:38:12.600 --> 00:38:15.160 So everybody in this room, when you get to heaven, 638 00:38:15.160 --> 00:38:16.640 one of the individuals you're gonna wanna 639 00:38:16.640 --> 00:38:19.280 have a conversation with is that lady 640 00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:22.720 because her story is still being echoed throughout eternity. 641 00:38:22.720 --> 00:38:25.360 It made such a mark on eternity 642 00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:27.840 it's like a high watermark. 643 00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:31.280 It's like what she did impacted the course of history 644 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.220 for nation after nation after nation, 645 00:38:33.220 --> 00:38:35.940 just a simple vial of ointment 646 00:38:35.940 --> 00:38:38.480 that she broke to honor Jesus. 647 00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:43.680 But the part that Dick brought to our attention 648 00:38:45.340 --> 00:38:49.440 was that when she left the house that day, 649 00:38:50.560 --> 00:38:52.560 she smelled the same as Jesus. 650 00:38:53.560 --> 00:38:55.600 She gave it all to him, 651 00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:03.240 but she left smelling just like he did. 652 00:39:04.160 --> 00:39:07.320 She poured it all on him, wiped it in with her hair, 653 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:10.400 but when she left the house that day, 654 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:13.960 she also smelled like a million dollars. 655 00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:19.240 And there's something about this life that we live 656 00:39:19.240 --> 00:39:21.240 where we grab our moments 657 00:39:21.240 --> 00:39:22.880 and we give the most expensive thing, 658 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:24.480 the most difficult thing, 659 00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:26.480 where we yield, where we break, 660 00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:29.280 where we take that which is priceless 661 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:32.440 and we just simply say, it's all for you. 662 00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:37.440 And Jesus says, that's right, and I'm all for you. 663 00:39:39.040 --> 00:39:42.060 And something happens in that transaction. 664 00:39:42.060 --> 00:39:44.680 While I never intended it to be about me, 665 00:39:45.680 --> 00:39:50.680 he seems to just entrust himself to me more. 666 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:54.720 I can't explain that one. 667 00:39:54.720 --> 00:39:57.320 I'm not sure I even know what I'm talking about, 668 00:39:58.360 --> 00:39:59.560 but I do know it's true. 669 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:03.400 In fact, let me rephrase that. 670 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:05.300 I don't know what I'm talking about, 671 00:40:06.600 --> 00:40:09.040 but I know that he entrusts himself 672 00:40:10.660 --> 00:40:14.720 to those who will embrace mystery, live as a child, 673 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:20.440 be a true worshiper, not make it about themselves, 674 00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:23.820 but truly let's honor the name Jesus. 675 00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:29.240 Let's stand. 676 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:30.840 Let's pray. 677 00:40:57.020 --> 00:40:58.100 I wanna thank you. 678 00:40:58.100 --> 00:41:00.460 I know that so many of you have been just praying 679 00:41:00.460 --> 00:41:01.900 day and night, day and night, 680 00:41:05.540 --> 00:41:06.440 for my wife. 681 00:41:10.460 --> 00:41:11.300 So thankful. 682 00:41:13.420 --> 00:41:14.760 So thankful. 683 00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:18.620 Some of this house's greatest warriors 684 00:41:18.620 --> 00:41:19.980 would come down to our house, 685 00:41:19.980 --> 00:41:21.980 just our home, and just march around the house, 686 00:41:21.980 --> 00:41:24.860 and we'd look outside, and we'd see these violent ones 687 00:41:24.860 --> 00:41:28.620 who are just, 688 00:41:31.780 --> 00:41:33.340 it's just the coolest thing in the world. 689 00:41:33.340 --> 00:41:35.780 It was like everybody else on the planet 690 00:41:35.780 --> 00:41:39.020 think we're crazy, but this made the most sense 691 00:41:39.020 --> 00:41:40.140 of anything I've seen. 692 00:41:42.340 --> 00:41:44.300 And the prayer meetings where you guys 693 00:41:44.300 --> 00:41:47.140 just spontaneously gather together in your homes 694 00:41:47.140 --> 00:41:50.500 and here at Twin View, I will owe you 695 00:41:50.500 --> 00:41:51.860 for the rest of my life for that. 696 00:41:51.860 --> 00:41:52.860 I'm so thankful. 697 00:41:53.860 --> 00:41:58.860 And I'm so thankful that this story, 698 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:04.900 this journey didn't end when Benny was taken to heaven. 699 00:42:07.660 --> 00:42:11.060 I will never, all my life, forget the moment, 700 00:42:12.500 --> 00:42:14.620 that moment, it's priceless. 701 00:42:15.700 --> 00:42:18.180 Priceless moment of giving thanks. 702 00:42:19.020 --> 00:42:24.020 And then have her taken, escorted into eternity. 703 00:42:28.260 --> 00:42:29.860 Man, don't waste your moments. 704 00:42:31.140 --> 00:42:33.300 They're painful, but they're priceless. 705 00:42:34.460 --> 00:42:36.460 And they shape us. 706 00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:42.220 And I'm thankful, I'm thankful, I'm thankful for you. 707 00:42:43.220 --> 00:42:48.220 And her death was the end of one part of my life. 708 00:42:49.660 --> 00:42:51.140 I can't pretend otherwise. 709 00:42:52.860 --> 00:42:56.620 But in the bigger picture, it's the beginning 710 00:42:56.620 --> 00:42:57.580 of something else. 711 00:42:59.140 --> 00:43:00.140 It's the beginning. 712 00:43:02.540 --> 00:43:07.540 Lou Ingalls flew from, I forget where he was now, 713 00:43:08.060 --> 00:43:09.900 but he called me and he said, 714 00:43:10.100 --> 00:43:13.060 he said, I need to see you and he told me why. 715 00:43:13.060 --> 00:43:17.980 And he flew to Reading to have a 20 minute meeting 716 00:43:17.980 --> 00:43:19.940 with Benny and with me. 717 00:43:19.940 --> 00:43:24.940 Actually with Benny, I got, I was the tag along. 718 00:43:26.100 --> 00:43:28.900 If you've ever been the third person in a date, 719 00:43:28.900 --> 00:43:33.020 that was me in that moment, I was the third person. 720 00:43:35.060 --> 00:43:37.020 And he came because of her book 721 00:43:37.020 --> 00:43:38.780 that she had written on communion. 722 00:43:40.140 --> 00:43:42.020 And at some point in the future, 723 00:43:42.020 --> 00:43:43.860 I'm going to actually lay out in sequence 724 00:43:43.860 --> 00:43:45.700 more information that I can give you right now. 725 00:43:45.700 --> 00:43:50.500 But the Lord took him into a very interesting experience 726 00:43:50.500 --> 00:43:53.500 in the days previous where the Lord began to speak 727 00:43:53.500 --> 00:43:56.900 to him and his team that there was coming 728 00:43:56.900 --> 00:43:59.900 a massive revival to our nation. 729 00:43:59.900 --> 00:44:02.620 And he called it the communion revival. 730 00:44:03.620 --> 00:44:07.780 It was because of the broken body and the shed blood. 731 00:44:07.780 --> 00:44:10.060 There's something released. 732 00:44:10.060 --> 00:44:15.060 And he wanted to talk with her, ask her questions 733 00:44:15.220 --> 00:44:19.500 and then have her lay hands on him and pray. 734 00:44:20.420 --> 00:44:22.460 Little did we know in that moment. 735 00:44:22.460 --> 00:44:25.060 Little did we know in that moment 736 00:44:25.060 --> 00:44:28.060 that that would be the last chance at that one. 737 00:44:29.140 --> 00:44:32.460 But she laid hands and prayed for an impartation 738 00:44:33.660 --> 00:44:37.460 to be one of those that championed a revival 739 00:44:37.460 --> 00:44:41.060 in all the earth that came from the Lord. 740 00:44:41.060 --> 00:44:45.060 And she laid hands on him and prayed for an impartation 741 00:44:45.060 --> 00:44:48.060 to be one of those that championed a revival 742 00:44:48.060 --> 00:44:51.060 in all the earth that came from the Lord. 743 00:44:52.460 --> 00:44:55.820 From the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus. 744 00:44:55.820 --> 00:44:59.260 It's so critical that we return to what's real. 745 00:44:59.260 --> 00:45:00.260 And there's nothing. 746 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.540 more real than the lamb of God who sits on the throne, 747 00:45:04.540 --> 00:45:08.140 who gave himself to be bread and wine. 748 00:45:09.340 --> 00:45:12.940 So Father, I ask that even now 749 00:45:12.940 --> 00:45:16.760 and in this next season as a church family, 750 00:45:16.760 --> 00:45:21.760 that you would help us to play our part well 751 00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:25.900 in a revival that will encompass the globe. 752 00:45:26.300 --> 00:45:27.760 Yes, amen. 753 00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:30.960 We pray this for the honor of the name Jesus 754 00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:33.680 and that you would help us to not rush through this season 755 00:45:33.680 --> 00:45:36.320 that we're in, that I'm in right now, 756 00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:40.520 not carelessly, but to do so thoroughly. 757 00:45:41.800 --> 00:45:43.760 And our heart is just to be faithful. 758 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:47.920 I thank you, in Jesus' name, amen, amen. 759 00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:48.760 Bless you guys.