Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 468 | Phil Keeps Getting Away with It & Jase Laughs at People Who Can’t Laugh at Themselves

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

Phil just had another birthday, and at the wise age of 76, he said one thing is for certain: "You can get away with a lot more than a young man." Jase loves to laugh at himself and says he just doesn't understand the people who take themselves too seriously. Phil closes out the last four chapters of the Corinthians study, and Al points out the sarcasm found in the Bible. Jase shares his personal opinion on evangelism and how it can be in conflict with your identity as an ambassador to all nations. Watch the Unashamed overtime show, only on BlazeTV: https://BlazeTV.com/Unashamed - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So last night we had the, we had a birthday party. It was your birthday, a happy birthday, by the way. Hey. I forgot to give you a card. Are you hurt? There's not much, there's not much happiness involved when you get to be 76. So maybe we should just say a birthday. I said, why don't you just tell it like it is? Time is growing now. What that means is.

I don't know. It wasn't happy. That's why I didn't call you. Yeah, I'm happy, all right. I'm four years this out of 80. Yeah, I'm jumping up down about that. Well, some people... You don't realize that until you get there.

And then you say, well, what do you know? I don't turn into an old man here. I like it because your old man get away with a lot more than a young man. Oh, there's no doubt. Yeah, because look, old people... Because they just say, well, some old guy out there rant about... Exactly. And you say whatever you want.

Somebody hard about it. Jesus, some old coup calling about Jesus, you know, he's a nut. Yeah. You can say something about the way people look and they're just like, oh yeah. It's an old man. That's what he does. Yeah.

You're exactly right. And they're driving is just ridiculous. Oh, yeah. They don't look, pull out. Oh, yeah. Worst thing happened to me, put them in the ground. Oh, well. Seinfeld said that, but you've earned that.

The speed limit ought to be your age as you're over. Oh, that's right. You're 80. you're going to drive 80 which I don't know that'd be funny So we had a So Willie You know Willie's the

I guess I should say Willie and Corey Because he didn't really plan it But you know They're the king of the party Big tent parties Oh yeah They love the big tents

Out on the lawn You know They got their big house Oh yeah And so Corey planned up Willie turned 50 The crowds can gather within minutes Oh yeah

And they did And it was funny Because they were like So the chef You know You got a couple of chef Friends from Irish from Alabama

when they came up, they stayed at my house. But this was mostly close kin. Yeah, this was family and then some like really close friends. You know, Rochi was there. They gave me such a hard time about showing up after it was over. I was going to mention that. Well, I never got invited. I mean, because I come over there and Willie's like, you're just not getting there.

It's over. I said, perfect. Well, well, when. And he was up on the, so it was a roast. And it was, so there were about six. It was me and John Luke, Zach were family. And then you have Martin, La Roach, and Reed. Did you get invited to this?

Yeah, you did too. They mailed it to your house, but you don't get the mail. When's the last time I read the mail? Somebody, yeah, somebody walked by and said, but I noticed these gigs now. You can miss one on the first part of the week, but there's always others popping up. If you just go with birthdays, you get 50, 60 people, kids. Especially in Corey's family. Distant kin, close kin, when you can form a party can get unleashed within seconds.

Well, I have to say, to be fair to Jay. So, Jay's was sleeping. Oh, I was. I took them out. He got there just as the band cranked up. I got there. Yeah, because I heard boom, boom, boom, boom. And I thought, oh, that's what Mia was talking about.

Because Mia came by. I mean, this thing here was with music. Oh, I went to bed. They don't do parties without bands. I went back to bed at midnight, and I had to go get a box and turn it on, because when I lay down the bed, it was boom, boom, boom, boom. Yeah, that's why our neighborhood loves me so much. This is the first one that your mother has said, walked up to me and said,

I'm just too tired to go. I mean, I just don't want to go there. It's probably a good call because that thing got cranked up. I said, well, Call Willie and tell him. I said, you know, break his heart, but you call him and tell him. I said, whatever you want to do. You know, it's funny.

It did kind of, because so he was assuming that mom was going to get up and say something about him. So he had prepared a whole, like, rebuttal to her roast. Yeah. Assuming she was going to be. She just didn't show. That's the best roast possible. It is.

And then he said that. He told the whole thing because she called him. She said, I can't come, Willie. I have diarrhea is what Willie said. He might have made that up. Maybe so. But so we, so we roasted him. And so then he goes the rebuttal.

And so when he gets up, and you know, Willie's pretty quick because he doesn't know what we're going to say. So he's over there making notes while we're ripping him. And so he gets up. The first thing he says is, I just want to thank my mom and dad for being here tonight, you know, just they've been so good to support me. And he goes to the whole thing. Everybody's just rolling, you know.

Then he's like, Jay's, are you here? It was nothing. He said, and then everybody started laughing. And he said, that wasn't even. a joke. I mean, I literally thought he was here. I wasn't there. I was sleeping. And then he was like, Jeff, are you here? Nothing. So I was sitting up on stage, because, you know, he's about to rip me just

shreds anyway, which he did. And he said, I guess you're the only one that cares about it. And then he rips me for, you know, 10 minutes, caused me a fat pig and everything. Yeah. Well, that's funny. It was funny. It really was. I mean, if you were going to do it, that's the way to do it. I got to see everybody. So my, my roast was. I knew everybody had to have a, I knew they'd be talking about his weight and all that,

which Willie's actually lost weight. He's in pretty good shape now. So I knew they'd go there. So I went for all the different hairdos he's had through the years. And so Corey helped gather me some pictures. I did, you know, mine, you know, a preacher. I did mine PowerPoint style. But it was funny.

It was just some funny. He's had some looks through the years. You know, Willie, at one time, he was dapper Dan, you know. Oh, yeah. He had the frost tips and the bleached hair. Oh, yeah. He peeled it one of the years. He peeled it one time.

And, you know, he had a lot of different looks through the years. So it was pretty fun. Yeah. I hit the important part. Well, everybody started laughing when Jay Swoll did. I was leaving, literally, because when the band gets cranking, that's what I met at home. But because I can't, you can't talk over all these people. I can't, I'm about getting like you, Dad.

I can't hear well with a lot of racket like that. So then I start shouting. Well, then I didn't have a voice for the podcast. So I was like, I got to leave for the good of the team. but it was fun. You know, it just kind of fits in with what we're fixing to go over on these four chapters in a subtle way with the, you know, a lot of people have trouble of laughing at themselves. That's right.

Or thinking of themselves way too mightily. And there's things to be a lot of things. Well, you know, it's funny you said that because. We pretty well, y'all, through the family structure, pretty well shocked all that. Well, you know, here's a couple of things. As I observed, they were interesting. One was that I thought to myself when I got home, and Melissa's down and Zach, so we were just sitting around talking. And I said, you know, there aren't a lot of families that could do what we just did.

Like, we're throwing each other on the bus. Everybody's laughing. I mean, you know, it gets personal, but it's like nobody's, you know, we're not, we're not sensitive to ribbon each other. But I thought a lot of families would be so sensitive about, you know, just joking. So I was like. cause of that is. Well, I don't know. But I thought, you know, people would be mad.

They wouldn't talk to each other. How dare you say? So I thought a lot of families couldn't have pulled off what we just did. I mean, if our culture exhibited our interaction, our family structure, 50, 60, if they exhibited that type of behavior, they would be stunning. Yeah. This would be rare. Oh, exactly.

I mean, nobody's mad at anybody. No. And you walk away. It was funny. I mean, we had a good time. I guess it does call for a thick skin, but, you know, from interaction from 50 years ago and interacted with one another, it now, at least everybody's lacking. Well, right. Here's what I think that.

My theory is, is that people have different mechanisms of dealing with, you know, hard times or, you know, not having a lot. And I think that's what we do. They're seeing. We always just kind of just took it in stride and, you know, had a sense of humor about it and kept going. You know, we know we didn't have anything. We came from nothing. But, I mean, that's part of the whole allure of it on now. The other thing I observed was that Willie himself, he told, he talked about Sai.

He said, you know, Sai used to, he's called me every fat joke in the world on the Duck Show. And he said, I wrote all those lines. And he did. He fed him to Sai to say about him because they were funny. I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. And he said that last night. And he said, Sai, he said, Cy delivered it.

You know, Cy probably would have never said that. But Willie was telling him, you know, call me this, say this, you know. The whole time, what did he do? I mean. Well, because Sa is the only one of the, of the cash that really you just, no matter what, you could tell him to say something. He did. Like he just thought of it. Yeah.

Everybody else, you know, he can't pull it off. Oh, exactly. And he loved those ideas. Oh, yeah. But my point is that you've got to have some pretty good self-confidence to feed people, you know, jokes about the way you look. Oh. you know, on national television. And yet he did it.

And I think that was the spirit of the whole thing last night, which was a lot of fun for me. It's my style of sense of humor, so I enjoyed it. It was funny. So I'm sure he threw y'all on the bus, which that was good, too. So that made it all worthwhile. So Missy's birthday was, what did you do? Her birthday the same day as Willis. Did you do anything special this year?

Well, her actual birthday is. Mine was yesterday. Here's the 24th. This is the 22nd. 22nd. Yep, two days before. So tomorrow. You should know this, but it's okay.

So it's officially, he's, he's, he's 50 now. 50 tomorrow. No, he was 50 last Friday. Oh, that's why they did such a big deal. Yeah, it was his 50th, yeah. It was last Friday day. He's two days before. I gave him a Honda.

Oh, yeah, that's about 20 seconds. Yeah, size is coming up. His is in 27. Tomorrow, size is tomorrow. I gave him a hondo, and he looked at me strangely. I was like, I just think the reason I do that because nobody else would do that

that is good. That's right. Somebody email me and said did Jace give Willie $50.50? No, he gave me 50-50s. On the podcast. I just gave him a Honda.

If I keep this up, I'll eventually pay him back off. So I'll do with him. I'll go on the record saying he gave me nothing. Well, Willie is the one. I guess Jay said, just is close there, but not quite. No, we're pretty close.

But he's operating out of a somewhat of a palace, I would say. I mean. I call it the Taj Mahal of Arkansas. Oh, yeah. What? Yeah. I'm close to that. So, Phil, my house is 75 years old.

Yeah. I mean, I fixed it up, but. I never went to big house route. Let's get a bigger house. Because everybody pulled out and they say, you need a bigger house because now you're famous, you know, they build big houses. I'm like, no. I said, I'm staying in the world wherever we started.

I said, I paid it off. I don't owe any money. I'm not going up. That was one of Willie's... I got my house next to nothing. I mean, it was... That was one of my road, Willie's Rose to me. He said, Al's the only one that he didn't get rich and famous, but he lives like he did.

He said, every time he's in the Bahamas, every other weekend. You looked around, Al, and you said, well, okay, now. Pretty funny. That was pretty funny. That was a good. He said, then he puts a trailer in the neighborhood, and then he moves to Florida. So now I've got to look at his trailer every day.

So to answer your question, because last week was, that's why I was taking it now. We were doing those promos for the show this one. And last week was brutal. And, I mean, the way this works, because a lot of y'all are probably wondering how this works. You film the show, well, then you do the promos for the network that will, they call it.

call them teasers but when you do those it's way bigger crews way bigger cameras but the segments are real short they're like 15 20 seconds and you just do random random things it seems a little silly but they're trying to put stuff on the internet or on tv that people say huh maybe i should watch this show right just little teasers so we do that for a few days but that was right leading into miss his birthdays so i kept trying to get out of there because i was like i gotta get something for a birthday but it just these these things went on they were pretty much from daylight to dark and so i wound up sounds nightmarish to me it was and uh so i called this flower shop and i was like i want the best thing you got put it because i thought that's that's all i can do and uh so i got her

perhaps one of the greatest display of a flower arrangement that you've ever seen. I should have taken a picture. So what did it set you about a couple hundred? More than that. Ooh. But you're right, right. Oh, you went, you dug deep, that, Jay. You're getting up in dad territory now.

It's slightly, you know, over a couple hundred. It wasn't three hundred. My territory. Yeah, I know how you buy those flower arrangements. Oh, look, a lot of them had the blooms in them, so, like, they're just now blooming. I mean, it looks pretty spectacular. Oh, the spring, yeah. She's got the perfect time for a flower birthday.

And, I mean, she's at, what do you get, you know? Yeah, what does she doesn't need anything? I mean, a couple hundred bucks for some flowers that, I mean, it was, and she seemed happy. That's just one poker and she went to see. Yeah, I actually had, you know, played cards for the first time in a long time. So that. So you get your flower money all in. Oh, money.

Yeah, that's the way the economy works, Phil. Yeah. And so I was excited about that. She's visiting the grandbaby. Yeah, you can't ever have enough of that. Let's take a break. But I taught, I taught, we all taught yesterday, huh? I preached the second half.

It's kind of funny because I said yesterday, all the years I preached at WFR, I've never heard of a second Easter. But that's, that's the way I frame. Because, you know, the Easter Sunday, Mike and I did the first half of First Corinthians 15. You know, we timed it out where that'd be the Easter sermon.

It was, and it was good. And then yesterday, I went back on the second half about the resurrection body, you know, in that second half of that day. But, man, somebody was like, man, that's the best sermon I've heard. I said, well, look, peon's with you. This text will preach itself. I mean, you know, you ain't got to say much. You just read first, Corinthians, 15.

You got a sermon, you know. That's actually interesting because I talked about, I went through Colossians. And, uh, which where people have been wondering where we're going to next. I think that's where we're headed. We decided that. decided but I think we have because you were I didn't know you were teaching yesterday and then I had a guy from one of our elders at WFR and said you and Mike are to preach through the book of Colossians because this is one of my favorite that's so weird that I taught that yesterday yeah I

didn't even tell you that I mean one hour but I mean I don't mind getting in the rolling the sleeves up and getting into that colloquium is rich we had a couple and uh they asked me could they uh we've got a baptistery there at the little place we are but They said they just wanted to be baptized in the river, like reminding them of the old days, you know. They had never obeyed the gospel, but they said they watched this podcast right here. And the more they watched, they said, hmm, they said, you know, we need it. Yeah, I talked to, I kind of set it up, but Jason was his name. Yeah, they had.

Jason and Devin, his wife, a couple of young boys, you know, but it was a great baptism. Tony went out and filmed it, and he's going to do a. print for them above their baptism. Yeah. You know, like coming forth from the water, you know, it did look pretty cool. Yeah. You know, Tony was out there, you know, the artist. Yeah.

So he was on board. He and Phyllis. So we walked down on the riverbank, you know, and we just drove from there, down there. And he said, man, what a day this has been. I said, well, today's my birthday. And it's the day you two happen to be born again. It's the new birthday. They were like, man.

I said, they'll never forget that. Oh, they said, we will never forget this day. That's pretty special. That was a cool thing. All you listeners out there, don't forget that, you know. They had, they did a down the street from y'all's church. They did a women's retreat. And I heard them say they had Cassidy there, and she spoke yesterday.

It was really good. I slept in there and heard it. And they had 31 baptisms last night. Oh, wow. That's pretty cool. No, it's it been night before. I told Zadis, I knew she was speaking, and I said, do you lay one down today? And she said, I laid one down, Uncle Al.

I said, well, I did too. I was at the other end of the street. We got both ends of North 7 cover. Yeah, she did it on, really that, you know, when we read the verse in 2 Corinthians, where was it at about the promises, since we have these promises, 2nd Corinthians 7-1, because she did it on God being a promise keeper versus the empty promises. Oh, that's good. Boy, she got to the end and she listed off about 20 of the promises.

Because it was more just listening to, like, the world, they promise the same things, but they're just empty. That was basically her lesson. And she read off the 20 of the promises kept. Yeah. The 20 of them, and they were, it was a little, you know, she went out on a, on a riff there that was, I mean, the audience, they were, they were just clapping it. They were kept trying to clap. She kept going. They kept clapping and finally they just all clap.

I mean, it was really good. And the energy in there was phenomenal. Yeah. You know, Mom and Lisa, because, you know, they were on our podcast last week, talking about their new book, Sister Roar, which, by the way, you can check that out, Amazon, leave a review. She said that they did Sadie's podcast. And Lisa and I have done a lot of interviews with big media and, you know, all of us have.

and Lisa said that Sadie was one of, if not the best, one of the best interviewers she's ever been interviewed by on the podcast. And which, yeah. She was probably prepared. Well, that's right. Unlike, well, I shouldn't say unlike us, unlike you, Jay's. She actually prepares for her pocket. Yeah, there you go.

Always be pretty. But, you know, I never thought about that because I've never listened to, you know, her interview somebody. But, I mean, for Lisa to say that, what? I'm saying this, she has some experience in being interviewed, and she's like, she's really good. Well, speaking of them prepared, so I read these four chapters that are left in St. Corinthians, but you have to kind of view them in totality. No, it's a block. It's his closing block, no doubt about it.

It's a closing block, because I, I mean, you tend to go verse by verse chapter by chapter, maybe. But in this section, if you're going to follow along, you just need to read all four chapters. Right. I call it the final defense. Like when I read it and outlined it, because to me it was like his whole thing in St. Corinthians to me has been a response to what he dealt with in First Corinthians. Because it's almost like he's one minute he's apologetic.

Like, look, this is rough. I know, you know, but then he comes back. But we can do this together. So it's like he's just this riding the rail. True. But I mean, look, I was, I told you, I was kind of convicted on reading 8 and 9 because I usually as a general rule don't like to hear lessons on giving but there's a difference in that in hearing what God is to say through the Holy Spirit through this situation through Paul.

Correct. It was it was awesome and I feel the same way here. I know I've read these chapters before but I don't I don't guess I read them in their totality enough to where I was thinking practically and there was a couple things that stood out before we get into it to me is there. that you don't usually think of people not being believers in the church. Right. I mean, you think, oh, the world's out here.

And then the church is in here. And what I mean by that is the building. But there was a lot of people here that he's addressing that were insulting Paul. I mean, just, he doesn't really get into it because he's, because he didn't have his feelings hurt. Because he's like, hey, great, if you want me to be a fool, I'll be a fool. Do you want me to become weak?

So the kingdom of advance, I'll become weak. And then he kind of plays a game in there when he says, but if you want to get into boasting, let's play that game. And he starts talking about what he's gone through. And Sadie actually read that yesterday, where he, I mean, I don't know if I've, ever read anything like it when he just talked about what he went through for the kingdom which we'll get to it in 11 but

if you don't if you what what stood out to me is I should never complain or argue about things not going my way because here's a man who how many books did he write at least 13 maybe 14 13 bucks if he wrote hebrews it's 14 and the man was just probably scarred from head to toe had been beaten whip lost everything shipwreck and now

he's got people in the church just ridiculing him and so he he addresses that it's almost like it reminded me I forgot what movie that is

I'm sure someone will remind me that it's like when the guy got what was that movie when he wrote the memo he got all excited

or something about his work So he writes a memo. He's like, we're going to change the way we operate here. Well, that led him two days later to get fired. You know, because he put a memo in everyone's little drawer, he fired him. They're way too radical a thought here. But, and my point is, it's sometimes when people rally against you,

it's hard for us to look above that at the big picture and say, fine, you can ridicule me all I want, but I'm still going to love you. I'm still going to be here for you, and I'm still going to try to get the gospel to the world, which is what he's trying to do. Right. And I said all that to say this. I concluded their main problem was that they didn't feel like Jesus was enough. Wasn't enough.

Yep. You had to have some great articulation. You had to have some great arguments, because he brings all this subtly in the next. As he said in Romans, he said the same thing to the church at Rome. As the scripture says, everyone, everyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. There's no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all, and Richard blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

He's trying to make it simple because with the Corinthians, he was having trouble with this very text that Paul wrote to the Romans. How then can they call on the one whom they not believe? Now, he's the tip of the spear and watch. How can they believe in the one of whom they've not heard? This is Romans 10. How can they hear without someone preaching to them? He's giving them big picture.

How can they preach unless they're sent, as it's written, how beautiful the feet are those who bring good news? That's just point to the Corinthians. But not all of the Israelites except of the good news. there's going to be splintering. There's going to be division. All he's saying is ends up by saying faith comes from hearing the message. And the message is heard through the Word of Christ.

He said, didn't they hear their voices going out to all the earth? The words to the end of the world. He said, this thing is going worldwide. And Jay said, if you just step back a little over 2,000 years later, we now sit here. look at the division this denominational thing and the splintering and the dividing that's happened to Christianity when right at the center of it is Jesus coming down in flesh dying on a cross being buried and raised from the dead went back into heaven he's at the right hand of God mediating for his people faith in that repentance and baptism you're in it's that simple just look at what the the theolo, I don't know all, but from the time Paul was trying

to get the Corinthiansians, he was saying man, I mean, this is a tough thing to do here. Well, not only was a tough thing to do, 2,000 years later proves you needed somebody like him who has the final word God sent.

God chose this guy who had been a murdering thug. He chose him to write down what we now read with the with the Corinthians so you know by Colossians I read it the other day he said the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven yeah they all heard it well it wasn't as many people back then what is many people but corner of claustin chapter one that everybody has heard it every creature which was really interesting that because he makes

which was the goal of the whole thing well he makes that point later in the in this section we're going we're talking about that his goal is to get beyond their region. He said, we've got to get beyond Mesedo. And he also said, I'm not going to be badminding somebody who's doing the same work we are. Right. We don't want to step on them. Right. They're over here and they're a little bit off here and off there.

But he was saying, but the gospel is come. The only way this thing turned into a worldwide phenomenon, as they say, is faith comes from hearing the message. at least 2,000 years later, Jesus is known worldwide, take him or leave him, hate him or love him, he's still there, Al. The message is still there. Let's take a break.

What I think we should do, and I'd like to read this, because I think he kind of entertains their accusations, not in a playful way, but there's a lot of quotations in here where he's saying, it's not like it's sarcasm, but what would you call it?

It's like you're calling me timid quotation marks. I think it is sarcasm. I mean, it's, you know, it was hard for us to imagine that out of a New Testament writer. But he's, there's several times in Corinthian letters. What they were saying was leading to division and and, and, uh, chaos. Chaos within the body of Christ. He was trying to get them to see. Well, what I think we should do is read the end.

I just want to refer to it because we'll get there again. But because he kind of plays this game with them, like, that they're playing. I mean, I want to say it's playing the game. I don't know how else to characterize it for a couple chapters. It's like he's being coy, but not really. But then he gets to the end in chapter 12 and like 20, I think this is the heart of the matter, these next few verses, what he was saying? He said, for I am afraid.

that when I come, I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. That's going to be obvious in the three chapters before this, what we're fixed to read. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, faction, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. I'm afraid that when I come back, God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged. So he kind of gets to the heart of the matter here, which is... Which that's popped up all along. Yeah.

Their life, the bottom line is you're accusing me of not being an eloquent speaker, and I don't know what I'm talking about, and you all have these super apostles that you're following, and you don't necessarily need Jesus. There's a lot of sin in here. Yeah, but he's like, bottom line here, you're doing a lot of cutting up. And just look, as a general rule, because you think... about what he's trying to say. You shouldn't be getting your theology from someone who is morally corrupt in their life. Just think about it. I mean, if someone is morally bankrupt out there,

and then they're wanting to argue about all these religious thoughts, well, you know, I... There's plenty of them, too. I don't think he lost whatever you're doing is not working, sir. So that's kind of what he's saying. It's called credibility. So then when he says in verse 2 of chapter 13, he says, already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while I'm absent. On my return, I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the other. So he goes back to what he just says. He's like, we're going to, I'm going to confront this.

We're going to deal with it. Yeah. And then I think here's the problem when I said, Jesus is not enough. It's essentially that you're demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. because they're saying, you're not even, whoever this Jesus is, because they had to be reminded.

Who are you to tell us? He's definitely not speaking through you because you're just not very good. That was their situation. You remember in 1st Corinthians 2? When he said, he was saying that he wasn't very talented. He said, when I came to you,

I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom. because they're saying that. You're even here, he's like, I'm not a trained speaker, and you evidently have some. He almost says earlier I write better than I speak. All right. Then he says, for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Christ Jesus to them crucified.

And I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message was not with persuasive words, but a demonstration of spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on me. wisdom, which is what they were doing, rather on God's power, because he's addressing that again. So then he gets to, then it says in verse four, since you are demanding proof that Christ speaking through me, he is not weak in dealing

with you, but it's powerful among you. Then he goes back to Christ. He takes the high road for to be sure he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power, we will live with. with him. Look, to serve you, he's not taking it personal, as much as I think most people would in the church, including me, I'd have a hard time loving these people. It'd be tough. So then he says, examine yourselves. Now this, I think, is the most stern thing, to see whether you're in the faith.

You need to take a good personal character inventory. Test yourselves, and then I love this. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test? And I will trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. I just thought that we should read that first because that's what he's going to get to in his analysis because he starts off in chapter 10 talking about, look, we're me, we're gentle. Everybody should analyze themselves with their behavior and does it. correspond with a repentant, born-again servant. Is that, is that, is that adding up?

That's what he's saying. There's a problem here. You don't agree with me. I'm trying to promote Jesus. I'm being humble and gentle and meek and even looking the other way of you insult to me. And what are you doing? A lot of cutting up. That's just what he, that's what it was down to.

Yeah. And you think about it. That carried on through all the way to 2000. 22. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's still going on today. I mean, how many times have you seen people? But to your point, let's take another break.

To your point, Jay's, remember at the very beginning of First Corinthians, the problem was they were following men instead of Christ. That began the process, to your earlier point, if you get your focus. That's still going on. Still there. And if you get your focus there, then all of a sudden there's disunity. then there's all these issues they were selfishness that was there and then you get these sinful situation i mean it's it's against that progressive nature of sin is what happens and it starts with not being firmly fixed in christ you know that's why hebrew writer said fix your eyes on jesus

even even christian people various churches they embrace horrific sinful sins and they just you know and having sex with men, women with women, you know, you start reading through the list. And you say, wait a man, here. I mean, the Corinthians, they were struggling with the same thing. Zach and I talked yesterday, we were talking about preaching. And I told him, I said, you know, I feel like it's kind of the second bite of the apple for me to preach because I've been preaching just a volunteer. And what I've realized this time, and the podcast has helped me, our discussions, that the person of Jesus, the person and story of Jesus, needs to be at the heart of every presentation because it is in the book.

So where people get off, I think from a pastoral perspective, is when they get issue driven or, you know, whatever, doctrine driven, where everything is, what does the Bible say about? They go with the culture instead of the creator. So then you get caught up in that and you can miss Jesus. I mean, you know, it's a hard thing. I did something you probably should never do since I'm not getting paid to speak at churches. I just did it because I hear it.

Because they asked me to teach you class. Well, I go in the class is called personal evangelism. It was for, just for the leaders. So what I did was just, you trash that route to back. I just ripped the title. I was like, some poor person who made an episode out there all embarrassed. It is give you some insight in how to introduce Jesus.

I'm not going to call it evangelism because that word is not in the Bible. It's not in the Bible. I was like, because in the Bible. that case, only an evangelist would qualify. It's just crickets. It's just a name, but nobody said anything. But I just thought, well, that's how we miss this stuff. It is. Let's do a program where we're going to talk about sharing Jesus and put it into a category called evangelism. I thought we should be sharing Jesus in every way possible, everyone together. Which is the whole concept of minister of reconciliation. Because people say,

well some people are skilled in evangelism. Some people are skilled in, you know, maybe door knocking or writing letters, but there's different ways to accomplish the same goal. It's not a category of Christianity of sharing Jesus. And I think Paul illustrates this here. He kept getting back to the long as the gospel's getting out there, I don't even care if I'm weak or if I'm shipwrecked

or if you're mad at me or you call me a name. or even if you're cutting up, as long as it keeps going out, we're moving with that. I mean, he was literally saying by all means. Well, the good news is it's still here. Jesus is still here. Yeah. And the gospel is still the gospel.

Right. Just stick to it. It's not rocket science. That couple years, they said, this seems so simple. When we just read it, we obey it. It is simple. It's not rocket science. You don't have to be a brain to figure this out.

No, and look, the beauty part of it. it is it's wherever you are. I met, I was in Pennsylvania last week and met a couple of young, young veterans, you know, and they had been deployed. And so they were telling me about, you know, how much the podcast had spoken to them being, you know, 7,000 miles away from home in a desert somewhere that where you really need to be thinking about your relationship with Christ, you know, you're getting a situation like that. I'm 76 years old. Have you ever heard me refer to myself as being an evangelist? You've never heard me say that.

I'm not in defense. I don't know what exactly that is, but... Well, the definition of it, you kind of fit, but... Yeah, I agree. I was just making the point that evangelism, they seem like, oh, we're having leadership, because they think it's just a small group of people's job to share Jesus. I don't know where that came from. I always say that, I've been saying it for 50, 60 years.

Watch out for the isms. That's a good point. That's a good point. The point is, are we all... Glottisms are in the church, too. Are we all ambassadors of Christ that we're... I think we are. I think that was clear from Second Corinthians 5th.

Well, why... Don't invent words. I don't like it when people do sermons or lectures on words that were invented post-Bible. What if the title of the class had been Kingdom Ambassadors? Love it. You'll be getting somewhere there. How to be a more effective kingdom ambassadors. But I made a comment.

I meant and I moved on, but I'm not going to dwell on it and say, oh, you're, you know, you're in danger. You've added to the Bible. No, I'm not going to be some hardhead on it. It's because people, I don't think their motives were wrong. Now, in this case, if there's a lot of cutting up going on, that's a different thing. And I think it was. And even then, Paul is still, he's still trying to say, oh, you're never going to stop me from loving you.

He says that in there. He's like, I'm going all the way. Their biggest problem, I think, is summed up from something we read earlier in 2 Corinthians 4 or 5. Now it makes sense when he said, for we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord. I mean, they were promoting themselves because he gets to verse, I guess we can save that first paragraph of 10, because I know we have a lot of talk about there. Yeah, I definitely. But they, I like how they say, I don't.

I mean, it's a negative thing, but in chapter 10 and verse 12, he says, we did not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. Because, I mean, they were commending their own measures. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. That's why he said over, I brought this up many times, almost a hundred times in the letters, he referred to Jesus as Lord,

which is way more than the normal in the New Testament. Because they had a submission problem. They were going around promoting themselves and comparing themselves with themselves. Well, you just think about it. No wonder there's so much corruption in their life. Because what is the source of sin? Most people say, well, it's the devil.

Now, he mentioned his role in here, at least three times in the last four. chapters. But, you know, the book of James is pretty clear that God is not tempting us. Each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he has dragged away as a tice. And then he goes on to say, where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder in every evil practice. That's James 316. So that's why they're not promoting Jesus. Why? Because they're promoting themselves. Well, what happens when you promote yourself? You start cutting up.

Yeah. Because that's what sin is. You're trying to look and please yourself. So let's take another break. But don't you think, Dad, that that one verse that he read to verse 12 is this culture we currently live in on steroids? Compare all standards to yourself. In other words, and here's the way they'll word it now. Oh, man.

So you're speaking your truth. Yeah. That's just your truth for you. That's, you know, I can respect that. Here's the way they phrase it out of it, be you. Yeah, you be you. See, that sounds good. That's your truth.

You be you. And I want to raise my hands on, every time I be me, bad things happen. But doesn't it always wind up in these immoral, crazy, like, who would have ever thought of somebody doing this lifestyle? I mean, this is where it in, you're right. When you unshackle it that it's only driven by what I think about myself, and that's my standard. That's a low standard. You know, I need something much bigger than that. That's why I said these four chapters were way richer than I realized.

Yeah, because you've got to take them as a collective. Well, and I just think in our culture, this same thing's going on. It's actually worse now today when you just look at the world. Because he's going to get into this spiritual battle. But what's also for us is that we get mad in the church where Paul didn't. I mean, he was willing to overlook their immaturity and their just unbelief. I don't know how I was to call it. I mean, if you're believing in yourself and not Jesus' Lord, you're an unbeliever.

And he's just, I mean, that is your struggle. That doesn't mean that he can't write how many letters did he wind up writing them, four that we know, or, you know, two that we have, but a couple more. and these visits he's coming and all this is going on but he just didn't take it personal i mean to me that's what stood out because i it makes me mad when people attack me over especially things that i just absolutely know they're wrong on and i'm it it's hard to just overlook that and say let me look at the big picture here i mean because that's where i got to apply this to me because look we're persecuted from even our own number

And I think in Paul's case, you're right, Jay's, it would have been easier for him with the Corinthians. Had he not lived there a year and a half, and he loved him deeply because he spent all the, and he spent more time with this church as far as we read than any other one in terms of physically being there. So I think it does, I think it was deeper, and which is why he had to keep saying what he's saying. I mean, he's like, I love you. One thing, it makes some funny. It's not funny ha-ha, but just, it's some funny banter. I mean, he gets into this, and it just gets...

Yeah. By the way, I know there's going to be people who ask, I've heard a lot of different comments, to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassing and great revelations, God's working with him close. There was given me, I mean, he almost says, for somebody to be given the revelations that I've seen,

he said in the midst of all that so that he wouldn't get the big head, I guess. There was given me a thorn in my flesh. I don't believe at all that it was a little of a thorn on a locust thorn tree that had pierced him. But he had a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, so you know it's not good, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. or my power is made perfect and weakness.

Maybe he's just saying throughout all of this, you know, about being conceded, and y'all are trying to attack me, you know, and you're wanting me to, and he's trying to answer them, tells him he loves them, you know, and keep the main thing, the main thing. But in the midst of all that,

he said, this just, I was given a thorn. What do you think he meant me? Well, a lot of people I have theories about it. Mine has... I've heard so many, I've heard so many people, you know, I've always thought the simplest explanation, and it could be totally wrong, is he was talking about his sight, because we know from the end of Galatians, another play, he never saw well again after he was struck down on the road to Damascus. It would have been a messenger of Satan because it's...

Spiritually he saw, but physically. Physically he couldn't see. I think he was asking the Lord, will you restore my sight? And he was like, no, you're good like you are, because it is a reminder. And the reason I think he says the messenger of Satan is because the reason he was struck down is he was working for the evil one and thought he was doing the right thing. That's the ultimate. I mean, my take on it is. That's always been my take.

But that's kind of what would be the simplest. Yeah, it's weird. That makes sense to me. It's weird how we're, you know, we're all in the same family. We have totally different takes on things. I've always looked at that as, because people usually blame God for bad. things happening. And then they blame the evil one for sin happening in our life.

So that's why I read the James I don't think he should be blamed for sin. I think the evil one is real good at three things. He's real good at offering pain, pleasure, and position. Now, none of those three things are necessary. Homiletics, that's really good. Plain pleasure. It just popped into my head. I'm sure somebody else came up with it, but it, Holy Spirit, threw it in there.

And so my point is none of those things are necessarily sinful, right? Correct. That's right. So those are the temptation. I mean, that's a platform where temptation occurs. I mean, when you think back to Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, I guarantee I haven't looked, because, like I said, those three things popped in my head. but I'm sure that platform was there.

He hadn't eaten very much in 40 days, if at all. And the position I know, because I remember him saying, I'll give you, you see everything you have here. And I think to Sadie's point yesterday, she was talking about this, that it was more the evil one offering him the same thing without the sacrifice, which I think was a good point

because you're like, most people just dismissed that and like, well, Jesus had anything anyway, but he had become a human. And it's like, well, let's just rule the world. But my way, you don't have to, I mean, I don't think the Eve went knew that Eve was going to be sacrificed, but the temptation or the platform provided the temptation,

which is, yeah, I don't have to, I don't have to die on a cross for my sins. So my point is, I think here, when he said the reason the Lord allowed it and the reason the messenger of Satan did that was so that a temptation would happen for him to deny God. Take this away. But he just realized God allows that so you'll depend on me. That's why he kept saying I'm weak and I'm a fool so that everybody will know

the power's coming from God. But he also recognized it because he wrote about it. about it, that God allowed the messenger of Satan to bring pain, physical pain into my life to see what I'm going to do with it. But that's why when he starts off in chapter 10, again, to my point, you can't really understand this unless you put all the four chapters together. He's like, it's a spiritual war. Well, the everyone specializes on physical, of making note those three things that I said, the position, the pleasure. These are all physical things that happened to us, try to get to the spiritual.

So let's flesh that out a little bit more in our overtime. Remember, it's blazedtivy.com slash unashamed. If you want to subscribe to Blaze and get our little 15 or so minutes of overtime sessions that we do along with our podcast. So check us out on the other side. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell

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