The Church of Eleven22 - Saturated 2018 - Wednesday: - Pastor Ryan Kwon

Episode Date: September 12, 2018

Oh, my word. Oh, my goodness. I love you so much, you don't even know. Now listen, hey, you guys have to stop because you're freaking out my friends. I brought two guys. They think you're a cult, so sit down. Please, please.

Hey, I want to welcome San Pablo. How are you doing? And I know Mandra, you're checking us out too, so how you doing? you do it. Give it up for Mandarin. We love them too. Man, listen, there have been people who've been so privileged to speak gas saturated once. Fewer have had the grand privilege to speak at saturated twice. No one, I mean, no one has had the grand privilege to speak as saturated three times, except the Kwan. Now, I don't say that to boast, but I say, that does not make sense, right?

This does not make sense. And the only way this makes sense, because you have to understand, many of you, this is your home court advantage. You don't know the movement that is the Church of 1122. In fact, the movement that started in Jacksonville, you're like, why Jacksonville? Something is going on here. and because something is going on here, if you wanted to invite anybody across the country in the world, they will be here. Then the question is, why me three times?

I'll tell you why, because when you're invited to a friend's house and Thanksgiving, and you sit across that guy and you're like, who is he? And your friend's like, that's my crazy uncle. Yeah, he looks different, he speaks different, he talks different, he talks different. he even has slanted eyes. But you know what? He's family. That's why I'm here.

That's why I'm here. I'm part of this family. I just am. I'll say one thing because we need to start opening up scripture, but I'll say one thing about your church and your pastor because I have a ton of things to say. I have a ton of things to say. But here's the thing and here's the truth.

Pastor Jobi Martin could go across the world and speak. He's in great demand. I mean, elders have called. me and asked me, hey, how can we keep this guy in check and accountable? Because he's in such demand. But I'll tell you, every time I'm traveling with him, speaking in different places, the place that he wants to be most, the place that he wants to pastor most, the place that he wants to preach most is here at home at 1122. It's true. You've got to believe it. And you have a gift, and you're blessed to have them. Now, hey, turn on your phones to Luke chapter 23. All right? So go ahead and

turn on your phones. I have an old school thing called the Bible and the book and I don't read from the ESV version. I read from the LPV version, large print because I'm getting older and it's hard to see. So Luke chapter 23, that's where we are for tonight. And I'm going to read this familiar section of scripture and I pray that God will preach a sermon through the Holy Spirit better than the one that you're going to hear from me just right now. That's my hope. So let's read. Verse 32. Two others who were criminals were led astray to put to death with him, and when they came to the place that is called the skull,

there they crucified him, and the criminals one on his right and one on his left, and Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what to do. And they cast lots to divide his garments, and the people stood by. Watching, but the ruler scoffed at him saying, he saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him.

This is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged, railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other one rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man, he has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise. That is the word of the Lord for tonight. And this is a very famous account of the crucifixion of three distinct people having a unique conversation as they are dying. And nowhere but scripture can we dip in historically to this window of a marvelous exposition of this marvelous conversation. And in this conversation, we see the description of how Jesus died. and yet that is not what is the catalyst for the gospel. It is why Jesus died. And so we're going to pull that out tonight.

We're going to see why Jesus died through three facets of the gospel. First person is the person who is lost. The second person who transitioned from the loss to being found. And lastly, it's the one who is the God man himself, Jesus. So let's get to work. The lost man first. Now we see this lost man, lost in two different ways. First, he is lost because, listen, he follows the culture. He follows

the culture, and we see this in verse 39. He says, one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying, man, are you not the Christ? Christ is the word for Messiah, the chosen one. He says, save yourself and us. Do you see what he's doing? He is mocking our Jesus. In fact, you realize that in this text, everyone, the entire culture, the entire crowd is mocking Jesus. First, the people that mock Jesus are the religious rulers. The rulers of the day were called Pharisees and they were mocking Jesus. Verse 35, and the people stood by watching, but the rulers, okay, the religious people, scoffed at him saying he saved others, let him save himself if he's the Christ of God, the chosen one. Then after the rulers,

It says in verse 36, the soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine, saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. Now listen, the religious people and the secular Romans, they were both mocking Jesus completely for different reasons. First, the rulers and the religious people were mocking Jesus because they're saying, he can't be the chosen one. And they're really quoting Isaiah 42, 1, which is a designation for the Messiah. to be called the chosen one. He can't be the Messiah. He's dying. He's not saving us.

Now the Roman soldiers, the secular guys, are looking at this guy, and he's not, they're not religious, but they're saying, he's no leader. A king wouldn't hang on the cross. He wouldn't die. He wouldn't rule that way. There's no such weakness in a king. Now, what's intriguing about these two groups is you realize they wouldn't have anything to do with each other in society.

I mean, zero. Think about who these people are. You have the Bible-believing Pharisees, and then you have the foul-mouthed secular Romans. And these people are people who would never talk to one another. They would never see eye to eye on anything. They're the modern radical liberals versus the modern radical conservatives. They couldn't agree on anything.

But finally, you see, they agree on something. What do they agree on? They both agree that the cross is dumb. is ridiculous. It's stupid. Anyone who is dying on the cross cannot be the chosen one. And they were unified in this. Now remember the movie The Matrix? Every dude has watched that about 20 times. Right? Amen? And if you are jobless, you watch it 40 times. You should get a job. But that's a different sermon. Now, we watched the third Matrix only once. Why? Because it sucked. Right? Ergo? vis-a-vis, right? So, listen, the first Matrix, there's this guy named Neo. He's the one.

He's the Messiah. He's believed to be the Messiah who's going to lead the revolution against the machines, right? But there was a Judas in the group. The Judas was going to kill him. He captures him. He corners him. He's about to kill him. And this is what he says.

If he is the one, if he's the Messiah, you know, I shouldn't be able to kill him because he's the one. Right? So how could he be the one if I'm about to kill him? kill him right now. And you know how the movie goes? If you didn't see it, spoiler alert, but you know what, that guy gets fried. And Neo survives. Why? Because the true Messiah, the one, cannot be defeated by his enemies. He has to live. And this is why the Pharisees, this is why the Roman soldiers, this is why the robber next to him was mocking him. You can't be the Messiah. You're dying, just like me, and they're mocking him. Little did they know that they could.

could conceive an idea that a king who owns the universe will become so weak to die for those people who are pretending to be strong. Never in the mind of a human being could think that way. And this is why the thief, this is why the Romans, this is why the Pharisees are making fun of Jesus. You see, the culture cannot agree on anything except this, that the gospel does not make sense. I want to put it another way. To be a Christian. To be a Christian is to not follow culture, but to be a radical, independent thinker.

Yeah, Christianity, let me pose it this way. Is Christianity conservative or liberal? Right? Oh, you're about to fall into that trap. I saved you. Listen, let's just consider the early church. They were totally apart from the culture, and they were marked by five characteristics first.

they were radically, unlike the culture, radically multi-ethnic. Back then, you didn't get to choose your religion. The religion was chosen for you by birth. So if you were born into a Jewish family, you were a... If you were born into a Gentile family, you were a... Yeah, so you were that. That's all you were. Except when the gospel came in, it says neither Jew or Greek, Scythian, or barbarian, slave, or free.

You are one in Jesus. Praise God. Amen. Yeah, they were radically different. Secondly, they cared for the poor. You have to understand that in the honor, shame, culture, yeah, they care for the poor, but they only care for their tribe and their family who were poor. They never crossed the barrier, ever care for other people that were poor, except the Christians because they believed in a doctrine that was called the Imago Day, which meant that every person, believer or not, essentially has an inherent value because they were made in the image of God.

And because they believe that so strongly, they share their wealth, they share their goods to, all people. So that was radically different than any cult the culture has ever seen. Third, they were non-retaliatory. You see, back then, in the honor culture, you mess with my family, you're going to get it back. It was an eye for an eye culture. But the Christian came along and said, no, no, no, no, no, not eye for an eye, but turned the other cheek. They said, forgive 70 times seven, right? Don't repay evil with evil, but they say, overcome evil with? Good. Good. Good track. They were all pro-life. Listen, abortions were not very popular back then.

Why? Because it was dangerous. And yet, what was popular is that women would actually have these babies, discharge them, and discard them. And especially female babies, especially the girls. And the Christians would come along and not only redeem, bring to health, but to adopt these babies. They would redeem them and care for them and bring them into their home.

They're radically different. Fifth, sexual purity. Greeks believe that the body was just something to abuse and just enjoy, you know, to satisfy the bodily appetite. They appreciated the mind. They appreciated the soul, but they did not appreciate the body. And it was the Christians who came and said, no, no, no, sex is only to be done in a covenant of marriage. And that was brand new to the culture. So let's just consider this again, review.

Multi-ethnic, radically caring for the poor, non-retaliatory, pro-life, and sexual. purity. Now you realize the first two are like the Democrats. And the last two, pro-life and sexual purity, smells like the Republicans. And the middle, non-retaliatory, is neither. Right? Neither. Listen, but Christians embodied all of them. They were outside the culture. They weren't like the culture. They weren't following the culture. You know why? because they knew, as Peter preached, there were aliens, resident aliens. They had green cards.

This is not their home. They know that this world is just a passing by place. And you are a citizen of a different home, a better home, the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God, heaven. And listen, I just want to speak briefly to younger folks here. I know there are a lot of younger folks here. And through social media, you are in a vortex. You are in a stream of consciousness

in a way where culture speaks to you as if it was the Bible. And what I want to say to you compassionately because I love you and I care for you because I'm a three-time returning preacher. That should mean something. Listen,

if the culture is going to preach as if it's true, you must not believe it. You must not believe it. You must find a mentor and ask them to speak the truth into you. And that you know that this is not your home. You are a resident alien.

have citizenship here, you have a green card. You live here, but you're going somewhere else. Amen? And so everybody is mocking Jesus. The reason why, everybody follow the culture. Here's the second thing. If you're a loss, you exercise this. You test God. Test God. The lost man here, you realize that he has a test for Jesus. He says, yo, let me test you. If you pass a test, I'll believe in you. Now, what is the test? Now, just remember, Jesus up until now has performed a ton of miracles. He's been teaching the crowds. He's been living up to every demand and every promise known to man perfectly. He's given all the evidence to the fact that he is indeed the son of man, son of God. And then this verse 39, he says, are you not the Christ? Save yourself

and us. This is what he's essentially saying. He says, I will believe in you if you get me out of trouble. That's what he's saying. He said, I have a felt need. It's an urgent felt need. I'm about to die. And so, you know what? I don't care what you've done. I don't care what you teach. I don't care how many people following. I don't care what the people are saying, I'm dying here. And if you want me to believe you, then you know what? Get me out of this. Now, you realize how often, even as Christians, even as disciples and believers that Jesus Christ in the modern day, we do the same thing, right? And I will go far as to say one of the reasons

why a lot of people in this room and in Mandarin are feeling far away from God is because you're giving a test to God. You say, God, if you're really, really there, get me out of this mess. We say that all the time. With all my compassion in my heart, I say to you,

that won't work. It won't. Why? Because when you come to God and say, here's how I know that you're really God. I have this view of what needs to happen, how life should go, and if it doesn't go my way, I know you're not God. If you say that,

know that you really don't want God. What you want instead is a cosmic divine butler. That's what you want. And if so, you'll never feel. find your God ever. You'll continue to be lost. You'll be just like this criminal who was very close to God. He knew that he was going to die. And yet that proximity meant nothing to him because he tested him and he can't find him. You won't find him either. You'll be lost. Why? If you say, here's how I know that there's a God, you've got to get me off this cross.

What you're saying is, there's a God up in heaven who is so powerful. powerful enough to enter into time, to exercise the sovereign power over all things of the universe, big and small, and yet he cannot, he cannot be somehow smarter than you to know that perhaps your life could be potentially played out in a different way that is better than what you think it should be played out. You see how that works? See, if there is a God great enough to do all this for you, listen, he has to be wise. enough to know how your life ought to go better than you. Better than you. So listen, simply put, if you test God, what you really want is not a God who is all

powerful and all-knowing. You want a God who is all-powerful, but dumber than you. That's what you want, that you're the smarter one. You should know how it's supposed to go. That's exactly what you and I are saying when we're testing God, when we're giving ultimatums to God. And listen, here's the reality. I hate to break the news, but you know what?

There's no such God that exist. Could you imagine what it might look like? Big, omnipotent body, a little teeny tiny brain. Could you imagine what that looks like? Listen, I know you're smarter than me, but you're not smarter than God. You're not smarter than God. He knows far more how your life should be run than you think you should actually have the intelligence or even the know-how, even the omnipotence and the omniscience to know.

So you know what? Why do we constantly give him then ultimatums? To test God is actually a cry for a very small God. And if he's all knowing, and if he's all powerful, then listen, he is qualified to run every single life on this earth really, really well. And he's more qualified than you. Amen? So that's the lost guy.

Now let's look at the found man. The second dying man represents one who is initially lost, but he is found. And the found man, one of the characteristics of him and found people is that they change their center. They change their center. And I'll tell you what this means. In verse 40, it says, but the other, okay, the second dying man rebuked him saying, hey, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? Verse 41.

And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds. but this man has done nothing wrong. Now listen, there's something amazing happening here if you don't notice. The second dying man is seeing the difference between God as a means versus a God as an end. If you're going to ever come to a spiritual awakening, if you're ever going to be found from lostness, you're going to have to experience this also. Listen, look at these two guys.

They're both in trouble. They have the same felt need. And yet they both turn to God in trouble and one is found and the other one is lost. And the question is, what is the difference? Notice the second man dying. He's not asking, this is so interesting. He's not asking to get off the cross, is he? No.

Remember what the first dying man says? He says, I will be with you if you get me out of trouble. And the second guy says, I will join you. you in trouble if you will be with me. I'll stay with you in trouble if you would be the center of my life. I'll choose trouble. I'll endure suffering if you will simply be with me. If I could be with you, he's not asking Jesus to get him off the cross.

Now listen, if Jesus offered that, he'd be glad to take that offer. But the first guy says, I'll be with you if I get in. I mean, if I get in trouble, I mean, I get out of trouble. The second guy says, I'll be in trouble if I can be with you, Jesus. And this is so profound. Because the way all of us in this room start our spiritual journey is the way the first guy does it, you know. We want something from God, not God himself. God give this to me.

But when you realize that you've actually done a wicked thing, then you start to be When you say, I'll be with you if you give me this. Do you see what you've done there? You see, with saying that, you've created a negotiable and a non-negotiable. And you know what your negotiable is? It's God himself. And every time you say, God, I'll believe in you if you give me this, or you resolve that, or you cure cancer, or you give me finances, you give me a home.

Whatever that is on the other side of this if is your true God. That's your real God. You should call that your God. Name it. Don't put a tiny bow on it and put perfume on it. Call it out. That's your real God. Because this is non-negotiable.

This side is. You see? What is the negotiable? God. What is non-negotiable? Well, whatever you think you need. And that's your real God. And what begins to happen to this guy

is he begins to realize, instead of a change in circumstance, what he really needs, is a change in what his life centers on. You see, instead of asking for the life he wants, he wants to make God his life. And that's the difference. And that means some of you need to stop praying,

saying, God, please help me to get married. Yeah, that's a decent prayer, but a better prayer might be, oh Lord, I need you to be such a source of love in my life that I stop being so desperate and needy in all my relationships. and that you become the center of my life, and that you become my all and all, that you are the primary center of all of my fulfillment.

Or some of you say, Oh, Lord, please, help me get rid of stress at work. And what you need to pray is, Oh, Lord, help me not get my identity through work of what I do, but what I am in you. You are my chief identity. All of my chief identity who I am stems and comes from you. That's what you need to pray.

Or instead of Lord, give me stuff so that I might have a good life. You say, Lord, give us yourself that we might have a real life. That's what you need to pray. You see, do you see what's happening here? This shows you if you want to go from lost to found, if you want a real relationship with Jesus, listen, you have to be concerned more with your soul than your skin. The first guy was more interested in his skin than his soul. The second guy was absolutely captured by the desires of his soul, then his skin.

And listen, first of all, he says, I don't care about the trouble if I simply could have you. And the question is tonight, can you say that? Can you say that? Deep in your heart, could you say, I'll choose everything that I have right now. If I get more of you, can you say that? If you can, you're real close. Secondly, the found people, they realized their depravity. They realize their end. Look at verse 40 again.

But the other rebuked him saying, Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. Now, do you realize the second guy has changed his tune? Because in the gospel of Matthew, we're reading Luke right now. In the gospel of Matthew, it says both of the people, these robbers were hurling insults at him, and now, five minutes later, all of a sudden, he's saying, man, we deserve death.

I deserve to die. He says, let's not talk about getting out of this situation. I deserve death. Now, if I'm completely honest here, most of you agree that you are a sinner. We have no problem acknowledging that, most of us. But you have a hard time truly, genuinely confessing. that you are a wicked person. In fact, you think of yourself as somebody who sins regularly,

but you do plenty good in your life that you know what? You know more wicked people, don't you? You know more wicked people than you. So you know what? It's like that whole, you know, thing about, you know, hey, if you don't want to get eaten or mauled by a bear, just be faster than one other person, right? And you're like, I'm good.

Because, you know, God's going to chase me down. He's going to chase down that guy first, right? and you're probably like elbow nudging the next guy next to you. Listen. And the only reason why we believe that is we have believed in the false paradigm that pretty much goes like this. It's called the bell curve of good and evil. Try to find this online.

You can't because I drew it up. Here's the premise that there's a bell curve of good and evil and it comes, and this is the overall, where is it, the population. This is what it looks like. Do we have it? There you go. And there's a bell curve. Now,

listen, let's... Come on. Class settled down. I know Mother Teresa is hot, but come on. Okay. So most of us believe, on one hand, there's a very small, very real spiritual giants, man.

Very few, though. And they're just godly. They're virtue. They're so spiritual, whatever they say, man. They feel like they're walking on water. I mean, they're famously write books. They become saint. They become elders, stuff like that.

Very few are like that. Spiritual giants like Billy Graham and Mother Teresa and Petey. But they're way far and few in between, right? Now, all the way on the other side of the spectrum, you see there's a very small number of people who are dictators, genocidal maniacs, and serial killers. This is the epitome of evil. And thank God. God, that there's only a few of them, right?

Right, including your neighbor. But, but, you know what? We don't know how they got that way. They probably, you know, had a father, lack of father figure issue. Maybe they weren't homeschooled, you know. Maybe, maybe, maybe they're Seminole fans. Oh, there you go again, you guys, few of you. Promoting evil.

Yeah, Knowles, I know. Yeah, maybe, right? So, but the majority of the population, majority, the first of the population, the majority of the fat middle where it curves up is basically the decent people. And you know, if you and I could plot a line in that graph, we would be somewhere in the fat middle, right, where it's bloated. That's the bell curve. Now, listen, that is not biblical.

Did you know that? Because the Bible destroys that paradigm because it says there is none righteous, not one. In fact, the only one, and this next graph shows that there's only two categories, perfect and not so perfect. And there's only one person in the history of the world that's been qualified as perfect, and it is not you. It's Jesus Christ and him alone. And everybody doesn't fall on the spectrum. They're all on the bottom of the bucket. That's truth.

In fact, listen to what Paul says. He smashes that paradigm and says, he says of himself, there's nothing good that dwells in me. He says, I am the chief sinner. Do you know how Paul could say that? I mean, he wrote most of the New Testament. You know how you could say that? I'll tell you why.

They consider themselves the greatest sinners because they themselves, including Paul, knows themselves the best. Out of all the people that you know, you know yourself the best. Now, I'll tell you what, if by chance tonight you feel like you are not the worst sinner in this room

or in Mandarin tonight, Here's the reason why, because when you think about other people's mistakes, you bring out the best lawyer in you. But when you think about their mistakes, you bring out the best judge in you. That's what you do. Yeah, big briefcase with a brief, big justification. You argue your points for yourself, but others, you bring out your gavel. This is how it works.

Sufian Stevens, an indie rock artist, wrote a song called John Wayne Gacey Jr. It's about a serial killer. John Wayne Gacy, who killed 33 people in the Chicago land. He primarily abducted kids and killed them, murder them, and hit them under his floorboards. And this whole song is really eerie. It's a beautiful song, but it's eerie. Sufian sings about the serial killer, and the last two lines of the song is absolutely haunting. The very last lines go like this.

In my best behavior, I am really, just like him. Look beneath my floorboards for the secrets I have hit. He says, look beneath the floorboards of my life and you're going to see gruesome things.

Listen, do you believe that? Do you believe that you're so depraved that you don't need an advisor in your life? You need a savior. And that might be tonight. You didn't know that you're so depraved. You don't know you weren't in the other category.

You're so busy defending yourself by looking at the guy who is more wicked than you. But the reality, we are all wicked. So the first dying man is the lost man. The second dying man is the found man. Lastly, the God man. The God man. And the God man does two things. Number one, he exalts you.

He exalts you. Listen, in verse 43, Jesus famously says, he says, truly I say to you. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Now, the question is, what is Jesus offering here? Of course, he's offering heaven, but he's offering far more than that. In fact, all the commentators say, what most people don't know about this verse is Jesus is offering far more than heaven. In fact, the key is to see the prepositional phrase that captures the entire heart of this sentence.

And this prepositional phrase that captures the heart is not in paradise. It's instead with me. It's not in paradise. He's not playing Bob Barker Price is right. He's not saying, you will be with me in paradise. Not saying that. That's not what Jesus is saying. He's saying instead, you will be with me in paradise.

with me in paradise. Now the words with me means so much more than we realize. In John 1724, the night before Jesus died, he prayed a high priestly prayer to the Father. He said in verse 24, Father, I desire that they also,

they being us, they being the disciples, whom you have given me may be with me where I am. Now the question is, what does it mean to be with him? The verse ahead of that explains in verse 23,

I in them, you and me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you have sent me and love them even as you loved me. He says, I'm going to the cross so they could be with me and you can regard and love them exactly the way you love and regard me. That's what Jesus is saying. Scandalous. In fact, Paul says something equally scandalous in Ephesians 2, 5.

He says, even when we were dead in our trespasses, dead, not weak, dead. Dead people cannot be choosing to be alive. When we're dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ, raised us up with him, and seated us with them in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, class, notice the verb tense, made us, raised us, raised us up with him, and seated us with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. the class, notice the verb tense, made us, raised us, seated us. What tenses are all those verbs in? Past tense.

Yes and amen. Yeah, it says, he made us alive. Thank you, Lord. And then it says, he raised us up with him. Past tense. You're like, okay, I'm clearly not raised up physically yet because I don't have a six-pack yet. So it must mean spiritually. He raised us up spiritually, like the same.

symbolism of baptism. Get it, got it. Now, the third, it says, wait, okay, but he says, and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And I know these chairs are comfortable because we have metal ones that are crooked that fixes scoliosis. But you have these plush, nice chairs, man.

You don't have to fold. It's there. But it ain't the right-hand seat of Jesus. That's the honor, see. You're honored here, but this. It's not on their seat. And it says seated past tense. You're like, okay, I don't get it. How could I be seated when I'm seated here?

How does that work? And listen, it works like this. You are seated virtually. You are seated positionally. In fact, all three of these verbs actually have a prefix in them that is the word sin, S-Y-N, where we get the word synonymous. So it means when you go back, he made us. synonymously alive in Christ.

He raised us synonymously like Christ, and he seated us in the heavenly places synonymously as Christ. Now, what does this mean for the Christian? If you are with him, that means that God looks at you today as if you had lived his life. Could you believe it? he treats you as if you have accomplished everything that Jesus accomplished. Now listen, I come here almost every other year,

and I told you a story a couple years back, and I have further development of the same story, so I'm going to tell it again. My son, when he was 10 years old, I have three kids. My oldest is Caden. He's 14 now, but when he was 10, he had just a gloomy face in church. He's a really pensive kid. Now he's on the debate team.

He can't kick a ball to save his life, but he could argue really good. So he's thinking, he's always pensive. So I go up to him and like, hey, what's going on, man? He's like, Dad, could I ask you a question? I'm like, ma'am you're daddy. Tell me anything. And he's like, what is the greatest temptation of man? Listen, pro tip, number one, if your kids ask you a question that you don't have an answer for

and you don't want them to know that you're actually way dumber than they think, what you do is ask the same question right back. What do you think? It's the greatest temptation of man. What do you think, son? He's like, Dad, I think it's money, power, and fame. You're correct. High five.

He's like, but Dad, Dad, but I'm not tempted by those things. I'm like, why not? Because you know what? I know people are really, really into money and being rich, but I'm the richest kid in the world because I'm an heir to God's kingdom. I'm like, what? And he's like, Dad, and also I have a power that all the world desires. They long for it, but if they don't have it.

I got it. That is the power to live forever. Praise God. And then he goes, Dad, about fame. People want to be popular, famous. LeBron's kids are super famous because of their daddy, but I'm ultimate famous because my daddy is the king of all kings. And I'm like, preach, son.

When did, I only have one question for you. When did I teach you all that? And he's like, you didn't. My Sunday school teacher did. Yeah, that message is sponsored by Kidman. Please go sign up after this event. Serve in the Kidman ministry. Seriously.

Amazing, right? Now my son is 14 years old. And just recently, just recently, I come back reporting to you an update that he got rejected by the very first girl that he liked. So I come home, Jenny's like, hey son, you cool? He's like, yeah, I'm cool. I'm like, you don't have to play cool with me. We cool?

And he's like, yeah, we're cool. I'm like, hey, I heard that evil girl. You know, that Tasmanian devil? ripped your heart out are you okay and he goes to me truth be told he says dad

I'm okay because I'm the son of the most high God 14 years old listen my son is grounded in his identity in ways that his daddy can't write in there because I want you to so laugh at my stupid jokes

I want to be so light still and I'm working on my identity constantly as you are. And here's a kid who's so grounded in the very fact that he is a child of God that, yeah, it's stung, but it didn't sting that much. It didn't kill him. Yeah, where is your sting? He could say that, right?

You know why? Because that girl mattered to him, but it did not matter more than the everlasting affection of an everlasting king, and he is the son of the most high king. And if you are a believer of Jesus Christ tonight, you are also the son and the daughter of the Most High King. And if you're not, if you have not surrendered your life, you two can be. He'll adopt you. You cry out to him, he will. Listen, here is why this whole thing is really, really important.

Do you know that for yourself? Do you know that you are seeded in the heavenly places? Do you know God says, because of the cross, you are as noble and sacrificial and courageous and righteous and loving as Jesus is? If so, why are you hurt so easily? Why can't you take criticisms? Why are you holding a grudge if you know all that identity stuff? Listen, why are you perfectionistic? Do you know what this means?

To be perfectionistic, you know what? and like Oprah and all these like psychologists will tell you, you don't love yourself enough. The Bible has a better answer for that. You know what they say? The Bible would say you're trying to complete yourself. And Jesus says, it is finished. You don't have to complete yourself because the work is done.

You don't have to be a perfectionistic because I was. Amen? He lived a life that you couldn't so that you could be treated as if you did. And that is the gospel. So stop trying to complete yourself. And Jesus says it is finished. Why are you so afraid of what other people think of you? These are all implications and practical implications of the gospel that we have not wrestled with deeply.

And perhaps you have not because you have an exercise the portion of the gospel. Perhaps you're not because you don't know the gospel. Listen, are you a Christian? what do you think Bill Gates does if he loses five bucks in his pocket that he expected to be there? Do you think he's running up and down Beach Boulevard looking for that five bucks going frantic? Like, where's my five dollars? Do you think he's doing that? No, you know what he does instead?

He stops and he says, where's my five bucks? It's gone. He's like, oh, wait a minute, I'm Bill Gates. And I have five billion of those extra. Now, Christians, let's say you've been slighted. Let's say you've been hurt. Let's say there's some slander towards you. That's not true.

What do you do? Do you go up and down Beach Boulevard, wonder why the heck? What do you do? You know, just going to your little room and watch TV and drown yourself in ESPN for the eighth time? What do you do? You say, wait a minute. I'm a Christian. And to be a Christian is to be.

to be seated in the heavenly places and to be treated as if I lived Jesus' life. So who cares what the servants say if I have the everlasting affection of an everlasting glorious king? That's the truth. That is the gospel. That's what we're celebrating tonight. That's what we're joyful for. Nothing less. You know, I was thinking this week, It could have been incredibly gracious of God if he sent us just for a little while into hell. Not so that we stay there, he'll bring us back out, but he kept us there just for a short time.

It would have been so gracious of him. More so he would have been so gracious that he would leave us in a neutral place. It's not hell, but it's not even heaven, but forever in eternity we live in this neutral spot, this gray area. More so, it had been so gracious of our lives. our Lord to line us up with the angels and say, now you are an angel and you practice your duty

to actually be servants in my court. That would have been so gracious, but that's not the gospel. That's not us because he made us alive in him and raised us up in him and seated us with him. And you're not the angels. You don't go to a mute place. You go to a mute place. You go to heaven and you're treated as if you live Jesus's life. That is what you are in for, nothing less. Here's the last thing. I'll close with this. This God man on the cross, he receives everyone anytime. And I want to give you a couple implications of this. First, to the Christians in the room. I know that there are a lot of you who hope like your friend and your neighbor, your loved one, your family put their trust in Jesus Christ, that they would surrender their life to Christ.

Some of them are here tonight because you brought them here. But there are some of those people in our lives that we've already marked as never. They will never come to Christ. I know it. The percentages are so slim. It's not going to happen. Oh, you don't know this guy. You don't know this gal.

You don't know my dad. He'll never come to faith. Not in my lifetime. Not in this lifetime. not in anyone's lifetime. And if this account teaches us anything is this, it is never too late. You realize on the cross, it was a buzzer-beater conversion.

Not the 11th hour, a buzzer-beater. Everybody counted him out. The only person that didn't was Jesus Christ. Don't you dare count that person out in your life? You know what you should do? You should call. You should have them come tomorrow. Like, man, Albert Tate is coming.

You should come next day. J.D. Greer is coming. Man, two days later after that, after a great concert, my pastor is preaching the gospel. You should bring them. Even though they said no a thousand times. Because you know what? If we believe in the grace of God, it's him doing the awakening, not you. So you're free to continue to invite and invite away. And oh, guess what?

When you feel a little wounded, go back to the same gospel. You're like, who am I? Where's my five bucks? don't be wounded. Come on, you have five billion of those. Don't you know that you're the son and the daughter of a king? Second, if you have not surrendered your life to Christ, listen, I don't care who you are in this room. I don't care what you've done.

There's a weird saying in the South, it doesn't happen in the West so much. But it happens with religious people, and they say something like this. They say, that person sold their soul to the devil. I don't even know what that means. Do you? You could tell me after. Like, teach me. I don't know what that means.

Because this is what I know, that the blood of Jesus Christ bought that soul. And Satan has no dominion over that life. Jesus Christ bought it. If all the realm of nature is mine, it would be an offering far too small. Why? Because his blood is so costly.

There's nothing that Satan can do. that God could just say, pride. And that might be you tonight. Maybe you've been so religious that you think it's all about moralism. If you've never found the beauty of the gospel,

and pastors will tell you, and I tell my church, if you've never cried over the gospel, if you've never been moved by the gospel, you don't feel like there's bubbling joy out of the news of the gospel that you don't know the gospel.

You just don't. One of my dear friends Recently, an elder candidate time, they were trying to uplift an elder in their church. That's a good dude. He teaches the Bible. He's faithful. He's holy.

He loves his wife. The senior pastor says, He can't be an elder candidate. Why? Because he doesn't know the gospel. How do you know? He has no joy. If you know the gospel,

you have joy. Do you have joy? Do you feel freedom? Do you feel the liberation? Do you feel your deep identity rooted in the very things that we've been talking about? And what does it take? It takes just all but this. Listen, on the cross, that guy in the account of Matthew,

he was hurling insults at him five minutes ago, and he must have heard Jesus saying, Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they're doing. Something washed over him. All of his life, he lived as an evil man, a wretched man. And now he looks to Jesus and says,

Jesus, remember me. Just remember me. And Jesus says truly, truly, and it's this simple. I will remember you. You will be with me in paradise. You'll be with me. How could that be?

I've lived such an awful life. I've lived such a rebellious life. I've lived such a religious life. life. And this is why I know for the last 25 years that I've known the gospel, and I continue to learn. I can never come to the end of God's grace. God's grace is far greater and far deeper than we could ever know. And it is unto God's grace and God's grace alone why he would receive you today. But no matter who you are, he will receive you. Have you surrendered your life to that joyfully? Now, there are many people in this room that has been saved like 12 times.

And I'm not talking to you. And what I'm talking to you about for you is you need to be re-envigorated by the gospel, amen? But there are some people in this room that said, you know, I articulate the gospel, I know the gospel, but I've never transitioned honestly from lost to found. I don't put God in the center of my life. He's not my identity, and you have not worked those things out, and for you, maybe tonight, maybe tonight, God is talking to you, and I only ask you one thing. I only ask you one thing, because after all, I'm a three-time returning preacher. I only ask you one thing, and I pray that you would honor me.

If you today feel any inkling of the Holy Spirit talking to you, I pray that you will not wait and assume that that feeling will come back again because you know why? Because God doesn't owe you that. He doesn't. Remember many of you're like, I felt it?

I'm going to call it again. It's just like hitting that one lucky golf shot that you think you could do again. Listen, it hasn't happened, it won't. And in the same way, for many of you, you felt God talking to you, today nudging you in the right way and it might be small your faith might be a size of a muster see but that's all it takes for you to say i want you i don't want to come off the cross i don't want

my cross to be gone but i just want you could i just have you and jesus will say you're with me you're with me would you close your eyes listen you and i have given god countless reasons not to love you, countless reason to not to love me, and yet none of them has persuaded God from stop loving us. None of them has worked. Not a single reason, not a single deed, nothing. And he loves you. And his love for you is totally independent,

his commitment towards you, his love for you is totally independent from your lack of commitment and love towards him. And if you understand that, you're beginning to be found. And if you were to say tonight, this is the first time I understood the gospel, not because of good preaching, not because of bad preaching,

not because of the music, but because the grace of God awoke in me. Would you, in your mustard-sized faith, raise your hand so I could pray for you in this room? Yeah, let's pray together. We have followed culture. We have tested you, God. we put other things into the center of our lives

and now we're asking you will you still receive us and we know the answer but we need the Holy Spirit to confirm that because we just need so desperately to hear the voice of the Father so will you whisper to us Father as we cry out Daddy would you just speak tonight will you remind us through some

Will you remind us through the inkling of the heart? Will you remind us through a Bible verse? Will you remind us through a hug? Will you remind us in silence that you're there? You've always been and that you are with us, no matter what we've done. What grace, what love, what favor, if the whole realm of nature would be my life,

mind, it be too small for you, God, too small for the love that you give. So in response, we say yes to you, and we say we worship you. We love you. We love you. Yes, we do. God is so, so, so good. You are so, so good to me. We pray collectively, in the name of Jesus, all of God's people said, amen. God bless you. Amen.