Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 595 | Phil Is About to Have Back Surgery & Jase Is Floored by His Pain Tolerance

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

Jase jokes about Al visiting the Cayman Islands, and Phil wonders why anyone would want to go where the ducks do not fly! Phil updates the "Unsashamed" audience on his upcoming surgery, and Jase talks about the incredible pain tolerance Phil has exhibited while sitting in a duck blind. Al discusses what makes a story compelling and how the story of Jesus can be read out of order and still lock you in. And Larry Bowles joins to examine what we can learn about God from Jesus' ascension into the sky. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So Tist the holiday season. We know you're always looking for some kind of unique gift to give to somebody. Unashamed Nation, you guys have been such great supporters of the podcast. And I do want to remind you that you can get Unashamed gear and PhilMurch. If you go to fillmerch.com and use the promo code Phil20. And there you'll find uncanceled stuff. You'll find Love Always Protects, which is one of our favorite.

T-shirts has a good picture of a gun on there as well as the Bible verse because we protect our folks. Also Unashamed Nation stuff is there as well. So check it out. If you're looking for a great gift to give someone you love, get some unashamed gear at Philmerch.com. Use the promo code Phil 20. So welcome back to Unashamed.

I'm obviously at the Southern Lair coming to you today. So, Dad, I've been in one of your favorite places this last week. we were off a little bit from filming the podcast, so I went to Grand Cayman down in the Caribbean. I know how much you loved the... Yeah, I miss that so much. I didn't even know. I didn't think you would ever have heard of the Grand Cayman.

I heard somebody got killed in them or something. But any ducks down in Grand Cayman? I didn't see any ducks, Dad. I saw a lot of Europeans. What makes it grand after you went to it? What's the Grand? Grandios. So I always like to learn a little bit of history about any place that I go.

So Columbus found this in 1503. He found this island. He's over here looking around, looking for stuff. So it wound up under Spanish rule. And so they got into some hot water with the Brits in the 1900s. And so this thing, or 1600s, and this thing wound up going under British control. But it's still a British commonwealth. Because I always like to find out, make sure they like.

like Americans. But how do you know, how do you know Columbus? What's it famous for other than Columbus found it? Yeah, but how do you know Columbus found it? Well, because that's what history is. He staked his first claim. You're right. Somebody else could have had some documents.

And then you add a little faith in the documents and then that becomes a fact. Sounds like something else now. Yeah. So here's what's interesting about Cayman. It's a beautiful place. It's in the Caribbean. I was just a tourist place. But one of their big things,

they're known for, Dad, you'll love this, is they've got these banks. They're kind of the Switzerland of the eastern, I mean, the Western Hemisphere. So people have money. They just happen to be in the middle of nowhere. Exactly. So there's been a lot of chicanery. Is it a big island? It's pretty big.

We drove from one end to the other. It took about an hour. So it's not that big. How was the grub? The grub was fantastic. I mean, it was some of the best I've had. Mostly seafood, fish, things that, you know, they catch right out there. These people know what they're doing.

Some really good food. I'm kind of with Phil. I'm trying to figure out where the grand part came in, like the Grand Canyon. Okay, we got a big, there's a chasm that's one of the bigger ones on the earth. It's just, I haven't answered for you. All right, go for it. I have an answer for you. So there are three islands in the Cayman's system.

One is the big one, the grand. then they have little Cayman, and then they've got Cayman, I think it's bank or something like that. I don't know, but there's a third one. So it's the biggest of the three. That's why it's called three. Okay. Well, that's good marketing. There you go.

So I probably just sold some trips to Grand Cayman, but not for dad. It's so disturbing to me because the last place I would ever go during duck season would be somewhere where there are no ducks. I'm just shocked that my son, one of my sons and your brother would say, I tell you what, let's go to the Grand Caymans. I don't mind. Well, you got to remember. Who's idea was that, Al? Oh, it was Lisa's, but I was on board. I have no issue with going to warm places when it gets covered.

I have no problem. Whatever fire is, yeah. There's numerous, numerous possibilities on where this all went off the rails. I'm the trendsetter. So, Dad, look, everybody's going to know your health update because we hadn't talked to you in a way. You've had about almost three weeks since you hurt your back, but you have good news. You figured out what's going on. So tell the audience what's going on with you.

I don't know if it's good news. Well, the good news is, and I'm glad he will be performing the procedure to get this back. of mine back under control. Well, the good news is Phil broke his back. So that's why I said. I don't know if it's good news is the guy who's going to fix my back is a former football player with Georgia Bulldog. So he's all happy now.

Yeah. I want him a happy surgeon. You see what I'm saying? So Georgia beat LSU and the championship, SEC championship. So you're thinking that was a good thing for your back. It was a very good thing because he'll be in a good mood. Oh, I get it. I won't be mad because, you know, make the wrong.

But basically, it's this procedure. I heard about it seven or eight years ago. Somebody said they can take a vertebrae, put a needle in it, insert a little balloon, fill the balloon with up with what I, I don't know what. Basically like seamics for your back. And then you put cement, you know, put cement to hold, whole, whole less thing together. And he said it's remarkable. I tell you, I, we tend to.

probably to overlook the guys and gals who their one job is to keep human beings pain free, disease free, illness free, bad back. No, I agree. I mean, I'm the one under the boat, and I didn't have to try to try that. That was way too much. I was just stupid. Well, no, I would say it wasn't stupid. I'm glad for the medical people, there's a lot of paperwork to it, finally do the thing.

At the bottom line is. Now, I learned two things over this process, because you got to remember, you know, Phil. A lot of paperwork. Phil does something he shouldn't have done at his age. And his back fractures, they fracture, what they call it? Compression fracture. Yeah, compression fracture. And they were like, it's basically like his back turned to a.

an accordion and it went in a way that was a sour note. And, but it could have been worse. They said, you know, you could have been paralyzed. But here's the interesting, the two things I learned in this process is Phil has a very high tolerance for pain. Yep, we've talked about that. And look, there are numerous stories we could go back from the time that when he, you know, we're driving, he's driving down the road and he's like, I got to get this out of my eye.

we were going duck hunting so we pull in to an eye doctor place that i think was closed and somehow the the guy happened to know you know who we were or whatever and feels like yeah let me get this out of my eye and this guy started because he was going to dead and it and all that and feel like no no no just jerk that thing out and he started pulling this rod i don't know I don't want to say how long it was. Stick. But it looked like that anybody who had a something inserted in their eye that deep would be dead. And the fact that it kept coming out and Phil was not rinsing in pain, I thought.

And this guy's got a high tolerance for pain. There's been other stories. But Phil basically tried to function during duck season with this condition, which it wasn't going very well. I mean, one day you went to the duct line and slept the whole time. A couple times, I don't think you remember even being there. But, you know, you just, I was like, why is he, why is he doing? There's got to be something worse than a pull muscle. So that leads me to the second point, which is Phil's one of the most stubborn people I've ever been around.

Because everybody was saying, what are you doing, Phil coming out here? You need to go get this looked at. So it took how long to go get it looked at? Two and a half weeks. Yeah, two weeks. A couple of weeks. A bit of heel. I mean, once Phil started also throwing up while this was going on, I wasn't sure if it was from the pain.

I was like, Phil, you got to go get something done here. We can't continue going down this road. Well, I found the right man. He played football with a, I think he played when Herzl Walker played. But I found out he was a good, good solid Republican. and he said, how about how long it takes? He said, I'm going to get you out of your misery. I wanted to say again for all the guys and gals who work in the medical profession,

when you need them, when you need them, you do need them. They can alleviate a lot of pain. I agree. Well, Dad, you sounded like, you know, when Ronald Reagan got shot, they took him in and they were about to prep him to get that bullet out of his lung. And he looked up that doctor. he said, boy, I hope you're a Republican. Yeah.

No, I said, that was some funny stories. You know, Phil was in so much pain that, you know, he had, we got a nurse that hunts with us. We actually got a couple of them. And so they, he was just in so much pain and he was so stubborn that he, he was going to go hunting. So they gave him something for the pain. And so, well, Phil, I got in his, because he just got in. the driver's seat of the little wheeler, you know. And so we, I mean, we're not driving far and we're not on a main road.

We're on a dirt road. But I was like, it was weavy. You know, we were weaving a bit. And so I had decided on the way back. I was like, I'm not doing that again. So I told Phil, I said, where's the keys? I'm driving. And Phil's like, well, I, I mean, why?

And I said, well, on the way here, you know, you were kind of weaving off the, off the road. and he said, did I drive? I said, give me those keys. Yeah. Well, the pain is gone, the old song said. So they assured me that they can fix this. And they said it would be almost is 15 minutes. It's a pretty good process to finally get you on the bed and do the deal, you know.

You're not actually put to sleep. You're just kind of like a, you're sleeping, awake. the same time. That's why you're happy because you don't like being put asleep. No, I don't. I think you're the first human ever male that did, that had a urinalysis done while awake. You remember that story? Oh, it was, yeah. Yeah. Let's not go into the gory details. Yeah, we won't go into the details. That was, that was that. That doctor said that. He said, I've never watched the, because they have a little camera on this, as Phil infamously said, we're going to go up in there and see what the problem is.

I like the guy because he looked up there and he said, when God made this particular part of the backbone, he was referencing when God did this, you know, what a good thing it was, you know, your back, but he alluded to God. I said, I'm with the right bunch here. Yeah. You know, it made me feel better. Well, so, Dad, my hat's off to you. You're, now you know a course of action.

We've been praying for it. And thanks to Unashamed Nation because a lot of you've been praying about it because you sent me emails because you've heard us talking about the podcast. So we're glad that Dad is hopefully on the road to recovery after his procedure this week. So we're excited today because one of our old friends is about to join us on the podcast. And we're going to talk about the ascension today. So we get on the other side, our good friend Larry Bowles, is going to join us. So let's take a break. So welcome back.

Got our old friend L.B. Larry Bowles in from Oklahoma. Hey, Larry, welcome to Unashamed. Good. Good to be back. You're our one and, well, I guess, yeah, I guess you're our truly our one and only unashamed contributor because you kind of do some regular appearances. But we always appreciate you coming to town, which is a great blessing. Hope to be able to contribute something to that.

So we started a series at WFR, and it really was kind of born out of the sermon series. It was kind of born out of the idea that Christmas Day this year is on a Sunday. And so Mike and I knew that we wanted to talk about, you know, the birth of Jesus since it was Christmas Day. And so we thought, well, how do we get to that point? And so we came up with this concept that we called the inverted gospel, where we basically started at the other end of the story, the second coming. And we're sort of working our way back. And so I kicked it off of that. And we talked about it on the podcast, a few podcasts back with the idea that if a story is compelling enough,

you can come into the story at any point and you're hooked. Right. You know, and I feel that way about Jesus' story, obviously. So you could start at the end and go backwards. You could start at the beginning and go forward. You could come right in the square middle where he's coming out of the ground and you've got a story, you know, that people want to listen to. And so that was kind of the concept. And it got us to the ascension, which is sort of, you know, in that middle part of the story, we talked about the Holy Spirit as well.

And so we asked Larry to come over and share that with us. And so it was really interesting. So he preached that yesterday. And today on the podcast, we want to kind of talk through that. Jason and I, I don't know if dad heard the sermon or not, but Jason and I both heard it. And it was really, really good. Yeah, so this will be new for that, which is really good. So, yeah, but so Larry, how many, how many sermons have you ever heard on the assumption of Jesus?

I could never recall hearing one, you know, and everybody asked, have you ever heard, you know, a sermon specifically on the subject of the ascension. And they're like, no, you know, and we get kind of, you know, it only appears two places in scripture, and Luke gives us both of them. It's, it was added to that ending in Mark, you know, that we read, but really. Well, you read Luke 24 and Acts 1. Right. And he ends his, the first volume, you know, to Theophilus, the gospel of Luke,

with that narrative, the last three verses of Luke 24. And then he begins, the Acts of the Apostles, his second volume. And I love the way that begins because it says, you know, Theophilus, I want to, you remember everything that Jesus began to do and teach, you know, in his ministry. And this is the continuation. He's not through teaching, you know. Just a thought, Larry. Yeah.

When Titus, Paul wrote to Titus, he said, let's see, an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect, the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life just prior to the ascension, which God, who does not lie, this has always made me. thankful, God who does not lie promised before the beginning of time. And it's almost like when you get to the ascension part, he said, this has all been announced Oh, forever. Before it happened.

Yeah, and we talked about that in the Psalms. You talked about it. All these ascension prophecies that we see in Psalm 24 and 47 and 6. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Well. But Larry, you, go ahead.

I was just going to read, read, you know, what he read. When he said that in Acts 1, he said, in my former book Theopolis, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions to the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom. And then we have this famous discussion about you'll receive power.

You know, don't lead Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit is going to pour out. They were thinking it was, they're still waiting on this physical kingdom. When are we going to take over the world here? And, I mean, he's fixing to take over the world. So in verse 9, it says after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hit him from their sight. So I guess this is where we name this the ascension. But we were talking about before we started this, he didn't really have to do that because it was bigger.

It was more about his position and his role of conquering death, making basically the substitution for all our sins on the cross. I mean, he, in essence, has been ascended to the throne here. And then there's a promise, I guess, because they were looking intently into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white, and they said, men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into this guy? Because in their minds, and I think rightly so, they think, well, it's over.

You know, he's leaving. This is a negative thing. They're like, well, now what? So he says, this same Jesus, which I think is a very key phrase. The word same is very important. Yeah, this is Jesus. This is a human, this is God becoming human, now glorified, going into an exalted realm where none of his enemies can ever dare to take him down off this throne.

This is the definition of an eternal king. You're leaving time and space. I mean, you don't have to fly. You're no longer bound by it. Yeah, you're just not bound by it. So I think don't be, don't, don't miss the more powerful point, which is his exaltation by saying, well, you know, was he, how was he flying? And that you're thinking too small here. We keep looking with gigantic radar sending, sending apparatuses into the cosmos.

Yeah. And we're looking, maybe we'll come up on the edge of it. But every time they look, they're just more there. Well, right. And it takes, well, the world. Right years to get. I mean, worldly entities ever so often come out with a declaration that they're like, we've looked out there and there's no God.

We can't find him. Well, you're not going far enough, deep enough, or high enough, or wide enough, or low enough. It's not that you're going that way. It's a different dimension of where God is. You know, he's taken up into heaven. Don't you think that's why he did the whole flying tree? anyways because the idea was you're not getting there unless he comes back. That is correct.

And takes you with him. That's what I'm back. Which is the last part of that verse. He says, look, he's going to come back the same way. And I think that's why he did it going with the inverted gospel theme, that it was simply saying he's coming back. That he will be back. So Larry, you gave an illustration because Jayce just made the point.

He didn't have to do that about the difference in ascending to a. a throne because you're supposed to be there and you didn't tell that when you did about the ascending the steps i used the you know i came down off the off the platform and i descended the stairs and i changed my location from up here to down there and then i use the illustration that if you go to westminster abbey there is actually a throne there you know where they coronate the new king um and i said if i go there i would actually ascend a flight of stairs and i could go set in that chair. I'd get tackled by security, but I mean, that's just part of the gig. I don't think we could even get through the door.

No, I don't think so. You could probably make it to the steps. I would stand a better chance than you is what you're calling me. No, I would be escorted immediately. Jace is not getting in the room. I'm less conspicuous than Jace. Yeah, that's something to be said for that. But it's a good point, but it wouldn't mean anything that you were sitting there. Exactly. What I'm saying is that it would not. The word ascension that I think that we miss, and I think that's exactly what the disciples miss,

they're thinking, well, he's gone. He was here, and now he's there. And the ascension, the enthronement of God in the flesh, what it does is release him, like you said, from being bound to this one time or this one location. now he is, his presence is not removed. It is actually intensified because now he can be everywhere at once. He is in heaven at the right hand of the majesty, but he is also here. Exactly.

And he says that I'm coming to you in a little while you won't see me, but then in a little while you will. And I'm going to show myself to you and my life is going to become your life. You made a good point about Mary. Hang on, Jazz. Hang on, let's take a break. You made a good point about Mary that interaction, which I had never really thought about before. When she grabbed a hold of him, most people, I guess when they read that,

and I'm not sure where exactly that is. We can find it here in a second. John 20. Yeah, John 20. Because we usually, when we read that, she grabbed a hold of him, and he's like, hey. Don't hold on to me. Yeah, don't hold on to him.

My time has not come. But, you know, I think in our minds, He says, I have not yet ascended to my father. Yeah. And so we think, oh, was she going to melt or was there some kind of radiating? Some kind of weird taboo thing. Yeah, I've got some power that you can't harness. And they kind of go into that with the transfiguration when Peter was like,

maybe we should build some shelters. Yeah. Because his mind was like, there's some kind of power emanating here. But I think you made a good point because he was saying what you just said. You know, we get a backwards view of that thinking she didn't want him to go because think of a person of faith who realizes who he is. We don't. I'm never letting you go again. I don't want to go through you, you know, being dead.

I don't want to be away from you. I lost you and now I found you. I'm never letting go of you. Exactly. I think that is the point, don't you? Yeah. I mean, but what he's saying is that if you, he's saying don't hold on to me. to let me ascend because now I'm going to become closer to you than I've ever been before.

And I made the point. I said that if you let me go, that they'll never be able to take me away from you again. When I overcome death, when I hold the keys of death. One key point here while you're there. When Jesus rose early, this is Mark 16, when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magline out of whom he had driven seven demons, right? She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive,

this is prior to the attention, and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Right. So this ties into his departure, it ties into the, the fact that now they're seeing him just ascend into the heavens. Right.

That's a big event. It is. And they, like in Acts War, they miss the significance of it. But here's the thing that is important about this 40-day period. You read the end of Luke 24, and the way it reads, you get to 50 to 53, and it looks like it's happened all in one moment. That's correct. And we don't know that there's a 40-day period until Luke tells us that in the beginning of

the book of Acts. It's like, okay, this went on for 40 days. And what Jesus is doing is making these appearances many convincing proves. And then we see Paul talk about that in 1st Corinthians 15. They're still having problems with their faith. Right. And here's Thomas, you know, and it's like, touch me, feel me, getting. back to that's in the loop in the luke 24 and i think we should just run through this real quick so we get

the basis so so while they're talking about this in verse 36 of luke 24 uh and this is jesus being revealed you remember the road to ameus and they were like well we had hoped you know that jesus was this messiah and and course it jesus had disguised himself which is another being above time, space, and being attached to the laws of nature. And so then he reveals himself at the table when they have a meal and their hearts are burning and they're filled with joy and they recognize him. And so while they're still talking about this in a room, Jesus himself stood among them and said to him,

peace be with you. So he's going through walls. You know, other versions have that. So he has literally become the greatest human ever conceived. We don't have enough words in the dictionary to describe that. He's basically a shape shifter. I mean, that's what we would say. We've gone beyond here.

He's become the most powerful person ever. All right. So he says, peace be with. They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. So they're having trouble with the. human appearing and disappearing and they said well it's to be a ghost and he said why are you troubled why do doubts rise in your minds look at my hands in my feet it is i myself touch me and see so this goes back to the point made about mary it was okay to touch him but he was said i have to go

there's a bigger reason for for me ascending that he's trying to get them in to at least have an open mind about well this is my point the physical of Jesus' human body. Over these 40 days, these convincing proves, touch me, feel me, give me a piece of fish, I'll eat it. Well, that's the next few of course. Yeah, he said, do you have anything to eat? Right. And he ate some fish.

And so this is what escapes people, I think, is the fact that Jesus, that, like I said yesterday, there's a human being, a glorified human being now living outside. side of time and space. So he left his heavenly throne, the word became flesh, and then he ascended in the flesh. He did that to bring God to humanity. They're doing his work, his people. And then he ascends in his humanity to bring humanity to the throne of God. Yeah.

Oh, exactly. So in one breath, you could say, well, he's untouchable to anyone, like his enemies, because he's above time and space. but he's become available to everyone. Exactly. And without limit. And without his presence, there is no constant mediating going on. Right.

Which is that. Hang on, let's take a break. Which is why he said, told the disciples, and you mentioned this, Larry, in John either 14 or 16, it's better for you if I got. It's to your benefit that I go. It's to your benefit. That's exactly right.

I did. I wish we could do a sermon too. Larry, you could have a part two to that. Because the one thing that you didn't really get in the details about, there's two simultaneous things that happen within those. You had the 40 days and then the response after that. Jesus ascends to the throne. He becomes the eternal prophet, priest, and king, I guess.

And is willing to mediate. for all human beings and to show us that this is our path. As a human, if you want to live forever, that has been trailblazed. He is the first fruits from the spirit. He is ascended on the throne and you can live outside of time and space. Well, that's invaluable to me. I mean, because I have a problem. Yeah.

I'm going to die. Yeah. You have a problem. We're going to die. This is the path we're on. This is where you should get up on the edge of your seat when hearing the simplicity of who Jesus is, but then also considering the cost of. complexity in that we're going where there is no end.

And we have an example of how that's happened. You know, it's Jesus. But also the Holy Spirit is poured out. So in those two things, you know, you brought up Stephen, which I think is a great example. Because here Stephen goes out and there's a phrase you read in his sermon, Acts 7 at the end. because Jesus is ascended, but he's still working, and he's working through us. The Holy Spirit gets poured out, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. So now you have this vision of Stephen, and I'll read that before he finished the Luke 24.

And you read this because I love this point. So, you know, Stephen gives a, I mean, what can we call it, a hellfire and brimstone. I said it was a sermon that said Jerusalem. on fire, you know, it's just like, wow. But it was, but it was focused on Jesus and it was, you know, there was grace made available, but they were just offended by, you know, his references. And so in 54, when they heard this, they were furious. And you can read the whole sermon, you know, which is, is a long sermon in chapter 7.

Six and seven, yeah. Yeah. But Stephen, now here's, here's, just watch this phrase, full of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit has been poured out and made available to all people on the planet. And Jesus is at the right hand because the next phrase says, he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And you made the point about other places it's reference. Everywhere else in Scripture, he is seated in meaning that it is finished,

that that Telastee, you know, phrase that he uses on the cross, that, you know, the sin is, is taken care of, death is defeated, I've overcome, all things are finished, and we think, well, now, okay, back to this change in location, my sins are paid for, and now Jesus is gone somewhere, up there, and that is not at all what Scripture says. He says, no, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, and even in a more intense way. I am going to come to you, I'm going to show myself to you, my life is going to become your life because I live, you're going to live. And it's just, it's a, we miss the point that he is, you know,

we talked about his role as prophet, priest, and king. He is the teacher. You know, in John 6, he says that, and he says, this is what the prophecy says, the prophets say they will all be taught by God. He is still teaching. He is still advocating for us before the throne. He is ruling sovereignly over the entirety. There is nothing outside of his rails down our hope. Absolutely. There is. And our purpose. Yeah. Yeah. Because he poured out the Holy Spirit. That's why I said it's an important thing. You know, the spirit, the same spirit, Romans 8-11, that raised Jesus from the dead, is living in us. Yeah. The fruit.

of that spirit is evident. And then you have Jesus at the right hand of God proving that this all ends well for us. He's our advocate there. And now why we're on the earth now. Because we're doing the same thing that Jesus did while he was here. And the fact that he is standing in that moment means that his work as prophet, priest, and king is not finished. He is still speaking. He is still seeking.

He's still saving. You're still advocating. Yeah. No, I love the statement. I love that illustration. Yeah, and the statement that Larry made in the sermon, he's standing for you, will you stand for him? Yeah. I mean, that's powerful.

I mean, that really puts the challenge back on us. Well, you get the idea, though, is like Jesus is sitting, you know, you read the Hebrews 1, 1, 3, where it's like, God is speaking now through his son, you know, and he sat down at the right hand of majesty of heaven. But you get the, I get the visual image here of him looking down and seeing us have a sermon like this and then standing up saying, okay. There's just something moving about that. But it was a great analogy. I mean, it goes back to what Luke says in Acts 1. They asked Jesus, I was like, will you now restore the kingdom of God to Israel?

And they're thinking, well, this is going to be Jewish, it's going to be political. He's like, no, my kingdom is bigger than what you're thinking. He just kind of kind of just moved out. No, you don't need to know that. And it's not about you to speculate on when I'm coming back because that, and I said that in the sermon. He came to this earth on a set and appointed day. And he was crucified on a set and appointed day. He ascended.

And he's returning by the father's authority. And he says, you guys don't worry about that. And they're saying, are you going to Jesus? And he's like, no, no, no, are you? You're my witnesses. You know, Jerusalem and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I'm with you always. Will you go do this?

And Jesus, I can see him as he is, he lifts his hands and he's blessing them. You know, and you think about priestly blessings. You think, you know, the Lord bless you and keep you. this is Jesus going, I bless you and keep you. What is coming out of his mouth? I so desperately want to know what that blessing is. And then he is taken up out of their sight in this cloud of glory. It's just amazing to think what is happening.

Another thought that I had is that there's 10 days between the ascension and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit the day of Pentecost. What went on in heaven for 10 days? When I'm talking about the coronation or the enthronement and he is given a name that is above every name, Jesus has a name that is given by God post ascension. And we run past the scripture, and then we'll come to Revelation 19 and we'll see it again that he has a name written on him that nobody knows except himself. It says that in Revelation 19 and 11 and 12.

It's crazy. And when you start, that's like, you know, you said, hey, Larry, you're going to preach on the ascension. I'm like, okay, here we go. And so I learned so much in this. I'm very thankful for that. But then you start connecting all of these scriptures together and you're going, wait a minute.

Yeah. There's no other name. higher than the ascendant name of Jesus. Well, I think even when you start going back and realizing he was planting these seeds in their minds, although they still didn't get it, but we have problems wrapping our head around what he was trying to say. That's why they're looking in the sky saying, where's he going? And they're asking about the kingdom. Are you now going to restore the kingdom?

He was like, no, you are. Yeah. By the way, you have answered my original question. 30 minutes ago when he said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Right. Go make disciples. Right. And just do your work. Do your job. Yeah. And you're not going to be doing the talking. I am.

That's right. Yeah. Well, you remember in John, I wanted to bring up John 14. You didn't bring that up in the sermon. But just you remember, you know, because there's so many sermons about this, you know,

and especially at funerals and, you know, where Jesus said, don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in men. and my father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you, I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And people talk about that.

And so you remember Thomas, who the very one, who later on is going to say, I just don't believe it. Unless I see. I always say Thomas was from Missouri. He's from the show me state. You got to show me. Yeah. But if you go back and look at this conversation, you know, Thomas in verse 5 said, well, Lord, we don't know where you are going.

So how can we know the way? And this that made me think of when you said there's a name that Jesus has that nobody knows. I mean, it's hard to wrap your head around how this was going to go down. And Jesus answered famously, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light. No one comes to the father, you know, except through me. If you really knew me, you know my father. So Philip says, well, Lord, show us the father, and that'll be enough for us. Then we'll be good.

Yeah. So they start this conversation, and I want to drop down because I think it goes into what we're saying. In verse 11. Hang on before you read that, let's take our last break. So Tist the holiday season. We know you're always looking for some kind of unique gift to give to somebody. Unashamed Nation, you guys have been such great supporters of the podcast. And I do want to remind you that you can get Unashamed Gear and Philmerch.

If you go to Fillmerch.com and use the podcast. promo code Phil 20. And there you'll find uncanceled stuff. You'll find Love Always Protects, which is one of our favorite t-shirts, has a good picture of a gun on there as well as the Bible verse because we protect our folks. Also, Unashamed Nation stuff is there as well. So check it out. If you're looking for a great gift to give someone you love, get some unashamed gear at

philmerch.com. Use the promo code Phil 20. So if you go to verse 11 of chapter 14, it says, believe me when I say that I'm in the father and the father's in me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me, and I love this phrase, will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because, and here's to the ascension, because I'm going to the father.

Right. So he was preparing the place, but he didn't, we kind of just leave it there in our minds, but he's like, because I'm going there, you're going to be able to do greater things. things than what I did. Well, it's hard to get that wrapped around your head unless you realize what went down there, his position at the right hand of God and the pouring out of the spirit, because then he goes into the pouring out of the spirit. He says, and I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the son may bring glory to the

father, which has given us this access to him. So then he goes on in verse 16. He says, I will ask the father and he will give you another counselor, which is 10. days later, what would happen is the Holy Spirit would be poured out. And look, he's going to be with you forever because he's on the throne. Exactly. So the spirit of truth, the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him. Why do you know him? Why do you know him? Because you know me. Yep. And for he lives with you and will be in you. And he's like, I won't leave you his orphans, I will come to you. This unlocks his, he's not bound by time and space.

It really strengthens one's faith. Yeah. It's like when you go back and read these subtle things of like, you're going to be like me, you're going to do the same things I am, you're going to do greater things. Because now, this was before he was resurrected. This was before the Holy Spirit had been given. So he was setting these seeds on the chain of events that were going to happen. But even when it did happen, they were still having trouble. Yeah. Thank you. And so here's the, here's the point that I want to make about scripture. You're talking about every time Jesus had an encounter after his resurrection, what's the first thing that he did? He opened their mind so they could understand the scriptures. Yeah. He took them to the gospel. And so the New Testament didn't exist at the time.

Guess what the gospel was. That's right. Right. The proto-euro-e. Evangelium, that here's, you know, all of the, starting with Moses and all the prophets and, you know, the Psalms, rode to Amas, every scripture, every shadow, every idiom, every scripture that pertained about Jesus. He, in a seven-mile stretcher road, he laid out. You talk about a sermon. My goodness. Now, that's Luke 24.

The seven-mile sermon. Oh, yeah. I want to read this, because Larry's quoting this Luke 24. without saying he's quoting Luke 24. But after he ate the fish, when he got to 44 of Luke 24, he said to him, this is what I told you while I was with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalm, which is very important because Jesus is the fulfillment of all of this from Genesis to Malachi.

Yesterday in my class, I was tying together God's love as being centerpiece. when this is through the gospel. You know, all those things that you're fixing to go over. Everything. He is a fulfillment of all that. All right. So then he says in 45, then he opened their mind so they could understand the scriptures. That's it.

Which is a, I think we needed to highlight this because, look, no matter what you believe or what religious affiliation you are, basically studying the Bible comes down to two things. People either read it for themselves or they read it understanding that this is about Jesus. Right. Because how you implement that really is going to dictate how you live your life. If you want to be oppressed and crushed and you can say, I'm going to read this and try to better myself or somehow, you know, go through some kind of ritual to attain, you know, moral perfection. You're going to be crushed. If you find Jesus as the fulfillment, you're going to realize, oh, wait a minute.

he did all this for me. And I can rely on his power, not my own. He's the answer to this whole thing. And ultimately, I'm going to be used, despite my mistakes and my flaws, by the power of God to influence other people to live forever. I mean, it's incredible. It really is. I think this section here, and to, I want to at least get this out.

So then he goes on to say, and you're my witnesses of these things, 48, I am going to send you what my father has promised, which is what we just talked about, the Holy Spirit 10 days later being made available, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. And so then you see something that Acts one didn't say, but I really think this is moving because you see a response of worship here. Right. And 50. Yeah. When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hand. and blessed them your offense that earlier. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

So there's our ascension again. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stay continually at the temple. Yeah, that word worship is, that's not used lightly right there. And I mean, it's an utter response of just they have seen, they've seen God in the flesh ascend to the, the throne of glory. Well, and they've seen him resurrected. And even though they're responding, and look, I think there's something to be said about Jesus being patient with the process of them

not getting it at one time. Yeah. I mean, and I, because you turn around that and you realize we have the Holy Spirit, we have the purpose, and we are becoming Jesus through His Spirit and through him at the right hand today. We have to have that same patience with other. brothers and sisters. And it's hard to kind of get this in your head sometimes, you know. You know, and that's the thing when you're talking about, picturing in your mind that moment when Jesus has got his hands lifted, he's blessing them, and he is taken up. And he's looking down. Do you think in any way that he would get about halfway up and go, yeah, those guys are, they're not ready. Maybe I should just like come back down and teach them some more.

But he knows. I mean, that's just what he says in John 16. He says, I have so much more to teach you more than you can now bear. And I'm not through teaching you. I'm going to keep teaching you. I'm still this, this, this, this, uh, pathetic ministry of Jesus. And I mentioned this, um, this place in scripture, it's Matthew 11, verse 11, where Jesus says, among those born of women, that's a pretty big group, there's no greater profit than John the Baptist. And then he says, yet, whoever's the least in the kingdom of God is going to be a greater prophet than John the Baptist. It's a great point. Wow. Because you don't, you don't even understand what that means unless you understand that, oh, he did this so that the kingdom would come, he would be exalted. Now you have, you have a king on the throne, you have a

Holy Spirit driving you. Yeah. I mean, this is, that's why he makes such a statement. Yeah. I want to read one other thing that I think goes in with that. When Paul told Timothy, everything we've said about the ascension, I think is summed up right here, because he says, here, this is 1st, Timothy 115, here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm the worst. But for that, That very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, and this kind of goes to this point, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him. And look, and receive eternal life, and you don't think Paul didn't get it. Watch his next phrase.

Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Yes. And the point I made yesterday, and we've got the symbols right here, you know, because we're always talking about the, you know, the incarnation or the cross or the resurrection and Jesus returned. But we, that up arrow, you know, it's there. We know it's there in scripture, but we totally miss the implication of it. And we treat it like, like an old piece of furniture. We keep it in the attic. We don't really know what to do with it, but, you know. So 40 days after Easter, we ought to at least have a mom. Especially in the direction it's headed.

Yeah. But the point I made is that what that does, it is the detonator that unlocks the power of the incarnation of his death burial and resurrection and explodes that gospel bomb, if you will, universally. and makes it available to anybody in any time across all time and space. And it is the thing that that unlocks the power to the gospel. So that was a perfect segue because we're out of time. But that's a perfect segue to overtime because I had actually made a note that I wanted you to talk about that Greek word for power, Dynamus, and exactly what that does.

And I also want to touch on the transfiguration, because we studied that in Mark, but I want to get your take on that because you mentioned that in a unique way from Luke 9. Luke 9 is... Yeah, I want to talk about both those in the overtime. So thank you again, Larry, for being with us today. It's always a great blessing having Larry own.

If you want to check out what he's doing, it's acrocentor.org or at Onekingdom.org and see his work is tremendous. So thank you, Larry, for all you do. Hopefully, if you guys want to follow us over, blazedtv.com slash unashamed. You can sign up, get a subscription, and get our overtime segments as well.

So we'll see you in overtime. 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 to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to Blaze TV at blazedtv.com

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