Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 796 | Jase Offends Everyone in the Duck Blind & a Double Family Wedding!

Episode Date: December 4, 2023

Jase’s duck blind behavior manages to get under the skin of nearly everyone, and Phil can’t believe the amazing back-to-back weddings in their family! The guys discuss Christianity as a lifestyle rather than a single decision and how grace isn’t an excuse to continue in sin.  In this episode: Luke 18, verses 18-29 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We finally got the gang back together. We're all back. We're all back. Zach is back. I just feel more. It feels like the holidays, comfort, family, when we're all four back together again. Zach, welcome back. We don't know where you were. We were going to, if you had, didn't show up today, Jace was going to, we were going to do some digital posters to tell you. Yeah, I already had the picture. Have you seen Zach? I was showing Missy the pictures last night of Zach.

We were going to do a missing person poster. Zach Dasher, missing. And since we knew you weren't down here, we were going to do it on the computer land. We were going to put it out there. That's Phil would say. Yeah, so we had some fun. I'm back.

I seem to be offending people at Will today. I mean, I thought about it. So we got up at 355. It's duck season. This was the second. The season's back. Second day we hunted. And guess what?

Got them again. Ripped them again. We weren't in the best spot today. So, and our decoy technician made a calculated error. So, but we overcome. That's who you offended first. Offended Jay first. Well, because what happened was, what happened was?

The water's real shallow, and we tried to get the boat under the blinds. It would be camouflage. They had dug out in the off-season a trench to this blind so we could do it. But they forgot one missing piece right up under the blind was dry land. So we could get to the back, but we couldn't put it under. You couldn't get equipment under the roof of that part. Oh, yeah. That's where he parked the boat behind the blind.

Right. So I had to take the boat back to the bank, get in the pee row, paddle. All this is happening way before daylight. have a deer walk up 10 feet from me he thought i was because you know those deer they hear you pull up getting the boat take off and then i came back you know and was in a pee row well he thought we were all out in the blind so we had a little moment there i looked at him he looked at me and i thought fortunately for you i only eat small deer and it wasn't daylight yet so but we had a moment so uh then i got back out there well by the time i got to that all decoys out it's dark i can't see

So we get in the blind, I lobe my gun, but as soon as it started getting daylight, and they said, it's legal, I looked at the decoys and thought, nope. We had the wind at our back. You don't have to be a duck hunter to appreciate this. Airplanes, any kind of thing that's going to land with wind involved. You land into the wind. So we had a wind at our back, which is perfect, which means that. going to come in our face.

Right. But we had 40 decoys way out in front of us. Well, think about it. Decoys make ducks nervous because they're not real. They see them from a distance. They go, oh, there's a party going on. They get closer, and they're like, wait a minute. So when they're saying, wait a minute, we're usually shooting them.

Yeah. But they were saying, wait a minute before they got to the decoys, and the decoys were so far. Yeah. Then you could. They were all splitting up every time. But we were still shooting a few. It was longer shots. And then finally, I just couldn't take it anymore.

And I said, we got to move them decoys. I said, we have 10 minutes. It was 7.20. I said, if we can move these decoys in 10 minutes, you would not believe the difference. You know when I said that? I'm bringing this up because when I tell you what happened, we all went out there and we hurriedly picked up all the ducks

and moved the decoys. and I got back and looked at my phone, and it had been seven minutes. So we did it in seven. Impressive. Three minutes later, I heard, which means there's a big bunch just passed over. And I was like, get out, get out, everybody, get out.

And I looked up, it was about 25 gadwals, and a couple of widgets were in there. We called, they made about three passes, and they broke into two bunches. and the bunch it was about what eight or ten of them i lost them because we were all down and somebody said right there and i looked up and they were coming straight toward our face wings started backpedaling and i said do it and we bum bum boom boom and got seven out of the bunch of about nine i think i mean that's pretty good that's very good and guess what was said i

thought somebody would say, man, we moved them decoard. So glad we moved those decoys. Never a word. This is the first time it has been discussed since that happened. So we concluded. There was no credit for credit due. There's three things that our fellow hunters will never say. I was wrong.

I'm sorry. And I love you. You're never going to hear that in a duck blind. That's right. I'm not going to get it. And so then Jay starts telling us. story he said well joe joe come at the house last night and i said who's joe well i didn't realize there was a guy in our blind named joe because i thought his name was jersey and even though we

call him jersey joe i just thought that was a put joe on the end of it because you know how he does he changes everybody's name yeah but i did if you took jersey out of the name i didn't know who he was any longer. And he got upset that I didn't know his name was Joe. Well, and it was bad anyway, because I was sitting there when all this came up. We were sitting around a fire pit, I was not at the house because we're having a little birthday celebration because Jersey Joe's son, Joey, is dating Carly, my granddaughter, Jay's daughter. So we were having a little birthday supper. And so Jay starts telling Joe, he said, yeah, he said, you've been, I said, what was the word he used?

said you've been something but anyway moving looking at the ducks you know while they're working so i guess jace must have noticed it i said i fired the comment down there and i did not address i obviously didn't say joe because i didn't know that was his name and i've known him for about two years in fairness to you there were eight people hunting and so you don't know everybody anyway right a bunch of ducks on the opening day were coming right to left coming down and then there was a lot of shuffling and commotion. You know why he said to make the move and start following Jesus with all of his family,

this podcast. That's right. Exactly. Watching that podcast and he told his while. That's what got it. See, we're up here in New Jersey. Now that he's here, you go down the road without a pistol in your hands. And he's new to the faith,

and he's very new to duck hunting. I told him today after all this happened. I said, if you're going to duck hunt with us, you're going to have to get thicker, skin because if you're shuffling around down there and ducks are flaring then quit shuffling around he and look i told him i said joe i said because he was struggling with like what do i do and he's worried he's offended jays i said look you remember you were and you were in the firehouse you're fire chief you're in the firehouse i said firemen have to have thick skin when they're dealing with each other

he said oh the thickest i mean you talk about just needle each other every day i said that's it take the firehouse Joe into the duck line and you will thrive. Look, you can't get your feelings, sir. The world's too sensitive already. If somebody has to be the captain, somebody has to be captain obvious. So my role is when ducks don't come in, you have to assess why.

That's right. And there's all, you don't really know. They just, they look like they were coming in and something happened. Well, in that case, I'm pretty sure that all that shuffling. Now, I was down there too.

Yeah, which he's a shuffling. And I didn't pick out any names. So I says he can not have face paint, whatever. He can be so still like a statue that he can just look at ducks and they'll never see him. That's what he says. Now, he's been saying that for years. So I fired a haymaker down there and said, hey, quit shuffling or not too much shuffling.

I didn't know who it was, but the ducks flared. And it was a big bunch. It was about 40 till. And they flared straight up and took off too much shuffling. They were getting ready as what it was. They saw them and then it was somebody, you know, knocked something over and they was getting together. It was just shuffling.

So you would have felt good about this, though. Jay actually took the blame because he's kind of taking Joe under his wing because he doesn't hunt. I mean, there are subtle things about duck hunting that you can only learn from other duck hunters. Like when to look, where to look, when to be ready, what to do. And so he's, Jay's like, no, it's my fault. because I didn't tell you, don't be looking around. You look at the guy at the end of the blind, the guy that's calling the dust.

And look, when he gets ready and says, let's get him, then you just come up ready. Exactly. Doc cunning is a lot like your faith. It has to grow. And the only way to do that is people hold you accountable. You can't get your feelings hurt. We also address the decibel level of normal talking. Like right now, this is too loud.

So yesterday he was telling a story, and I said, too loud. and he quietened down. He wasn't sure what I was saying. I said, still too loud. And then he was talking, he said, so there I was. I said, perfect. Well, now he knows. That's right.

And if we're going to talk in the blind, that's the decibel level. It's like the little bars when it gets red, red. Nope, ducks hear that. Ducks hear that. So, but he took it. At the end of the day, if you remember all these things, I mean, the idea is, to trick them, trick the ducks.

You're trying to trick them. And Jason's right. When something's not going right, you have to do a process of elimination to eliminate as many things as you can to trick them. Some things are not. It can help your life spiritually because it's a lot of. Well, here's why I know that the Jersey Joe is on the right track. He just walked out of the room a minute ago. And they were talking about tomorrow.

Who's going to go? And he said, well, I really want to go tomorrow. And Jason would, yeah, just go, take my spot. Well, if after all this discussion for two days, if the guy said, and I want to go tomorrow, that says, I'm ready to get after it. That's a good sign for Jersey, John. He did.

So we were doing that story where the blind man was hollering at Jesus. Now, say, that's different. It's because sometimes people will call. They use a duck calling too loud. He had never hunted ducks before he came down here. No, it's the first time. You know how. I mean, there's so many subtleties.

Oh, this one's saying. But you've got to think about it, if you're calling ducks, if you're calling at ducks, and you have a person in the blind talking louder than what you're calling? Yeah, no good. Yeah. What are we doing here? They're not coming in here.

Plus, we all know. He'll realize at the end of the year that the things you have to come. He'll be seasoned after two or three years. But you know what it is. I'm not trying to purposely hurt people's feelings, but somebody has to say if we're going to be successful, we have to, this is the way it is. So that's why we stop cut brush this morning.

Yep. Because if they see you, you're not going to kill anything. Yep. Yep. You got to be. But I could tell, they're like, well, why are we cutting brush? I brush these blinds all during the summer. And, you know, we drive by one after two months.

I get a little bit more on the backside. Well, I know why. It's always putting, you putting. I just saw a video two days, three days ago of a beaver in somewhere up north, Massachusetts, maybe. and it was dragging two limbs, looked like two big willow limbs to me, across the road and had traffic stopped in both directions. Nobody was making a move.

They were just letting him go. And I thought, yep, he just took that off of somebody's duck line. If you have, we live with beavers because we pump water in. They try to stop it up. When we try to drain it, they stop it up. So we're taking out beaver dams every year. And I mean, it is a hassle. Oh, yeah.

It is amazing that a, Ferry animal like that with a flat tail can move that much dirt. I mean. And wood and everything. So, I mean, they're a bone to be chewed. They're God's engineers. It made me, when I watched what they could do, I said, there is a God in heaven. Yes, they didn't have to go to engineering.

This thing can move tons of earth. That's right. They get together. And where they put one of them dams, you could take a, professional down there on the elevation and all that beaver just trusts the beaver and you're saying they didn't have two guys out there shooting it on a that's right he did it just from instate what tells you something about that doesn't it let's take our first break so zach any any news from you we hadn't talked to you in a while do you have anything interesting going on your life or your family's life been

traveling um yeah nothing really super interesting just just, yeah, I've just been out of town. So that's why I haven't been here. I got you. Went to Tennessee for about a week. Jason didn't see you there. So I thought maybe we'd run across each other while I was there. But Jason was there for a while.

Where is the blind now, the viewing it's over in the churches and whatever are still going? Can you track the like downloads and stuff and stuff like that? Or does that kind of come out later? How does that work? Because I know like they keep up, it's easier to keep up. up with ticket sales at a theater, but like, how do you track how it's doing with the kind of digital DVD stuff? It kind of trickles in.

Okay. Yeah, but yeah, it's doing it. It's done very well on DVD. It's been number one on Amazon on DVD for a while. December 5th, yeah, tomorrow you'll be able to get this on, you'll better get the blind on, you can rent it on Amazon, Apple, all the, all the rental places online for, probably five, six bucks. So that starts tomorrow.

So, yeah, it's still going. I mean, that's got a long downstream window. And there's already, I heard from a friend of mine that's up in Tennessee. I think it's in the Chattanooga area. And his church is going to have a movie night. I guess it's tomorrow on the fifth. And they're showing the movie there. And they, people bought some tickets.

however it works. I don't know how they're doing it, but they're just doing it as an outreach. And he sent me a note and said it was they're expecting a full house. And so, you know, there's a lot of things like that that are going to happen as well, which I think is a brilliant idea because it's a great way to share the gospel in a unique way because it's the gospel on the screen. You know, that's really all it is. So I think you'll hear a lot of a lot more people coming to Christ over, which is pretty exciting. well it's that that and my daughter's getting married so we got that going on too so how do you feel about that you excited to now be a patriarch you're you're an official patriarchs when your kids start

getting married in my opinion that's true it's kind of surreal yeah happens quick man it does goes fast and she's great and so is he though he's a you got and my dad's getting married the same month so he's getting married oh yeah he's he's engaged and they finally picked a date um so we're going to do their ceremony at my house. So we're going to go Robertson style on that and just keep it low budget. That's kind of waiting on like low budget. How do you ever think that's going to happen that your first born and your dad? Because, you know, you'd never anticipate losing your mom, obviously.

But who would have ever anticipated that they both be getting married the same month? How could you ever even plan for that? It's a speed. It's a little strange. I get to the age of marriage is amazing. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So dad's back in, he's back in action now.

That's kind of weird, you know, but it's, I love, I love who now, I guess, would be, would she be a, what's the stepmom? Is that what she'll be? I don't know. I guess she's a stepmom. So she's a fantastic lady. I mean, you realize something, and I don't know, Zach, you're, I'm not a, I'm not her son, but I am her nephew and it was one of her favorite nephews, but she, you know, you'll never

quit loving your aunt that's been gone a while. But then it's funny because like with Gordo, you know, he was, you know, he's nervous, like, how's the family going to embrace? But this woman is amazing. I mean, she's, yeah, we love her. She's, but she's a lot different than Jan, you know, in some ways you see some similarities. I can see why he was drawn to her, but she's a fantastic lady. And so I don't know, you know, it's just something you never think about having to have someone else come into your family at this stage of your life. But I think they're doing it the right way. Yeah, it's funny when we did that blind podcast. My sister was reading all the comments and the one that dad was on talking about mom. Some lady just ripped him to shreds for, I think she said he was

remarried and she's like, it's too soon. I mean, just ripped him. And I was like, Like, trust me, my mom is good. She's in heaven. She ain't worried about it. He's married to. She's good to go. And we're good with it. Let's go.

I mean, it's awkward, but it's awesome. I mean, it's awesome, too. Yeah, it is. And she's a great lady. So, all right. So we're in Luke 18 is where we left off. We talked about the last couple of podcasts. We talked about the rich young ruler.

and kind of fleshed out his, you know, his whole story. And then you had this, because there's really, there's three encounters that take place, starting in verse 18, Luke 18, 18, before Jesus goes into Jerusalem. The first one is the rich young ruler. The second one is the blind beggar that we talked about on the last podcast. And then the third one that we'll talk about a little bit later today on the podcast is Akeos. and there's some reasons why I think Luke included him, especially in light of what we've been talking about.

But then right in the middle of that that dad's been alluding to for a while looking forward to is Jesus reminding them about what they were about to do because they're about to go into Jerusalem and its own. I mean, like, it's about to happen. Everyone needs to read the last two to three pages, two pages to do it. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. because all through Matthew, Luke, John, all of them, those four writers, they all bring it together, but they're on the same page, all of them.

Jesus is saying, I'm coming down, I'm going to die for the sins of the world. Yeah. Here's how you need to operate while you're on the earth. And we made the point, Zach, that the disciples didn't really understand, according to Luke, what was going on, whether they just didn't get it or whether it was held back from, for whatever reason, they didn't see this because they obviously like... I remember they hit the road. Oh, yeah, because they all left him, right?

Yeah. So we made the point, Zach, with the Rich and Ruehler, I'd say if I could sort of boil it down to one thought, it was that it wasn't necessarily as much about his wealth and his money, but about what he was willing to surrender to. Yeah. I mean, that's a good way to be concise, Chase. I made the illustration of money, especially back then, was viewed as God's favor on you, and it made you powerful, which still, even today, money is powerful.

Yeah. I mean, if you've got a bunch of it, you can go where you want. If you're on the right track and you're on the track you shouldn't be on, it's still a powerful thing. Well, it's powerful, though. I mean, you, it just, it makes you comfortable. You can buy land. You can do things. I said about it, it's a root.

You know, it's kind of like a root that's not good. Now, we said the love of money is the root of all kinds of people. But people will listen to you more. The love of money is a root of all evil. It will give you an audience because basically they're trying to get it. Yep. But even like the tax collector, you know, Rome was in charge.

They were using these Jewish tax collectors as basically their bag man. So they were being rewarded handsomely. And they were under their protection. And they were using the money for, you know, dating and sex. And it was a power play. So when you get to Zacchaeus... They're not far from modern day reaction to money. That's true.

I have to admit even today there's a guy I play cards with that he worked for the IRS for 30 years. And so when I'm in a hand with him, I really want to win. It just means more. Taking his money makes you feel a little better. Maybe I should say that. But it's just like, yeah, all those years when I didn't know you got payback coming here, buddy. So why is that? You know, it just bothers us, I think.

It does. I think there's another thing that's interesting about this passage I always thought was profound, is that if you've come out of kind of evangelical culture over the last, I don't know, 10, 15 years, there's just been kind of a resurgence. And this is partly positive, positive in a lot of ways, is there's been a shift away from legalism in the church. and you go back, you know, 30 years ago, I mean, pretty much, I mean, not just the church we grew up in, but across the spectrum, it was, there was a lot of legalism and works-based salvation that was being taught, preached, attempted to be lived out in the church communities, which legalism is, you know,

you're trying to like earn your way. It's a works-based system. It's not a grace-oriented system. And something happened in evangelical culture where we shifted away. from that, thankfully, and moved into more of a grace movement. But I think one of the things that has happened is that we've diminished the importance of action and doing something. In the Bible, it doesn't say that your actions earn you salvation, but there is plenty

of prescriptive stuff here that we're supposed to do. And so the rich young ruler, the thing I love about this question, he asks, he's asking good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And you would think that Jesus would say, well, you don't have to do anything. It's the finished work of Christ that did it all. Like, I'm going to finish this off, and you don't have to do anything. It's all grace. But he doesn't say that.

I mean, he really does tell him to do stuff. And he says, well, you know the commandments, you know, do not commit adultery, do not murder. So he gives him all the things that he knows he's probably done, which is, or at least He's done in terms of superficially he's done them. And the guy's like, yeah, I've kept all those. And then he said, oh, then there's just one more thing that you need to do. Sell everything you have.

You have to the poor and follow me. And I think that that follow me part of this is indicative of what I think the full gospel is, that we do do things as Christians. I mean, we don't do it to earn salvation. But what we do has eternal consequences because it's what we do. that shapes what we want, and it's what we do that shapes who we follow. And so I think what Jesus is pointing to here, he's basically showing this guy, you know, you've got stuff that you're not going to, like, you want to be with me,

then come follow me. I mean, that's the end of the stories, is to come follow me to become my disciple, become, I think Eugene Peterson or somebody calls it, be my apprentice, you know, be, learn under me. You know, you're like a journeyman, like learn under me, learn to be like me. and I love that because I think so often we've just hung out on this, you know, Christ did it all. And he did do all in terms of our salvation. But if you want real peace in your life, I mean, you've got to make decisions to do things differently.

Yeah. You know, there's things you've got to give up and sacrifice. I talked about that in my sermon Sunday with the younger son. You know, he was in the pig pen and said he came to his senses. He said, you know, I've sinned against God. I've sent against a man. we had this like confession humble moment, but then it said, and he got up and went to his father, to your poise, if he, if he just would have had that moment and realized that in his humility

that he was in the wrong, but he never got up and left the pig bin, then nothing's going to challenge for him. So there has to be action that goes along with decision. No doubt about it. And it's not, it's not, it's not, we're not saying, I don't think Jesus is saying here, hey, you need to go prove yourself and do enough good work that I'm going to approve of you. It's not, this is. This is not, is a part of the kingdom life, a big part of it, is that we're, it's a life that's transformed. And you just can't, there is action involved on our part. And I think that's the kind of nuance that we're probably, the church is going to have to walk in in this next phase of history is kind of moving back into, okay, what do we got to actually do and how does this gospel

apply to the life that I'm living right now in my day-to-day actions? Yeah. But to me, what separates Jesus from every other religion is religion, they will tell you what you need to do. And maybe if you embrace that process, you will find, you know, whatever God they're promoting, find his favor. You will arrive. But really, what I've learned just going in debt with these Gospels here lately and the more I think about it, I'll give you three illustrations. You had Nicodemus, who was a member of the ruling Jewish council, this rich young ruler, and Zakias. Well, all three of these people were powerful people.

And Jesus, to really take the thought from C.S. Lewis wrote about this in mere Christianity, when he said something to the effect of that Jesus is not trying to make improvement. for you or inspire you or just inform you, he's trying to make you new. This is a revolutionary, and really it's the idea of conversion, I think. It's a, and in that CS Lewis book, he had an illustration about, you know, horses.

He's not trying to, like how you would train and break a horse and then build him back up and make you, he's like, he's turning a horse into, a winged creature, which doesn't make any sense because that was his point. It's a new creation. So when you read those verses in 2nd Corinthians 5 where it says what counts is a new creation, and then Paul said it again in Galatians 6, the only thing that counts is a new creation,

faith expression itself in love. I mean, you remember we told Nicodemus, he said, you need to be born again. But you would never think in your wildest dreams, a member of the Jewish ruling Christian, you know, or religious council, not Christian that he was following Jesus, but you would view him as like the high and mighty. The last thing you would ever think is he would say, well, you've got to be born again. In fact, he didn't even understand the concept. He was like, well, how am I going to get back in my mother's? And I think that's the point.

you know, we tend to think in Christianity, well, somebody's got to have something really bad happened to them, so they'll have a powerful testimony or some radical change. And look, that happens. But really, it's more about, like in this case of the rich young ruler, that's the principle Jesus was trying to say. You've done all these legal things, and so he countered his legal argument with a heart argument of you need to give up your power, your power's money. Well, I'm sure that guy was thinking, where's that written at?

Yeah. What are you saying? I'm sure he gave a tenth of everything he had. He probably followed right the letter of the law. Down to the men. He's like sell everything. And I think that's the power of Jesus. He is,

he came in weakness, he died in weakness to make us strong. And the power that he's presenting is for us to serve and follow his example, relying on his power, and new creations are being made. Yeah. And it's interesting because we didn't get into this when we talked about it, but you talking about that made me think. You know, he came to Jesus feeling like that he wasn't fulfilled.

I mean, you don't ask that question unless you feel like there's still something more. And if you look in the Matthew context of it, he says, you know, he says, what good thing must I do to get eternal life. And then Jesus says a little bit different. He said, there's only one who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments, which ones? Then he says them, same ones from Luke. Then he says, all these I have kept.

But then he says this, what do I still lack? So there was something he knew in his heart of hearts that he still liked her. He wouldn't be asking this question. And then Jesus said it this way, in Matthew, if you want to be perfect, which we know he wasn't going to be perfect, but what Jesus meant was if you want to be in me, that's what he was saying. I mean,

the only way he's ever going to be perfect, complete is in Christ, is in Christ, go sell your possessions, give to the poor, you have treasure, have it, then come follow me. Well, that's my point. This is a total, this is total surrender.

That's right. It's not that you're totally perfect, but you made a perfect decision, which is rely on what God has done for you, instead of what you have to offer. That's right. And that's why that's why you can't underestimate the power of, I mean, Jesus did not leave it at sell everything you have and give to the poor.

He didn't leave it there. That's right. There is a big and in between that. There's a, there's do that. Yes, do that. And follow me, which is really the answer to the question. Because if you remember what Jesus said in John 173 when he defined eternal life, he defined.

So the guy's asking, how do I get eternal life? Well, Jesus said in John 17, 3, that eternal life is to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, his son whom he sent. So when Jesus, when that man asks, you know, how do I get eternal life? He kind of takes him on a journey to get to this point that I am eternal life. Follow me. And eternal life is to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, the son who he sent. I'm here.

I'm Jesus. I'm the son of God. I'm the incarnation of the living God. the triune God, I'm him. So if you want eternal life, then what you're asking is you want me. So come, come on, sell that and come with me. The bigger emphasis is not on the wealth of the man or what he's giving up.

The bigger emphasis is on what he's going to. And I think that's the point I'm making. We've focused a whole lot on what we're saved from, but we don't talk enough about what are we saved to, and we're saved to life in Christ, relationship with the living God. which if you don't have that, you can have all the rules you want. And you can, in your mind, keep all of them. But at the end of the day, you're still going to be like,

something's lacking because there's a God-shaped hole in your heart that only he can fulfill. And no matter where you're at, like, that's going to be the end of it for any of us. So I think that's an interesting little, just that follow me. Come follow me. There's three words or superpower. And you're right, that because he confirms that when Peter asks him, well, we've left everything, you know, have we done the right thing?

And then he tells them, yes, anybody that's followed me, you've walked away from whatever you have to follow me, you will gain more in this age and in the age to come. What helped me in Romans 5, 17, we'll start the middle of the other one. The judgment followed one sin, Adam, I'm adding to Adam, and brought condemnation. one man was the reason everybody sins and dies, without death. The gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

For if by the trespass of the one man, and Adam brought it on all of us, death reigned through that one man. How much more will those who receive God's abundant provision? of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. One brought it all on us and one's going to be the one that get us out of it. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's correct. Yeah. That's why I made a point yesterday.

The Bible's about Jesus. All these other things you come to understand how to approach them in that view. Yep. because it seems harsh when he told Peter, he said, they're still going to make mistakes, but the main thing is relying on Jesus and him alone to get you out of that. Well, exactly, because he made this profound statement where he said, whoever, no one in verse 29 of 18,

no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom won't fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come eternal life. To change lifestyle. But if you tell somebody to leave your house and your family, you're like, well, wait a minute now, this is, this sounds like some kind of cult. But you're putting it in perspective, which how many religious people do you see today view Christianity as an insurance policy and has nothing to do with what's going on in their home

or in their relationship with their kids or what they're doing on their phone or how they're making their money? money or, well, you know, that's, that's not the way to function as a follower of Jesus. I mean, it's going to go into every aspect. And that's what this guy was doing. I mean, he's basically saying, this guy's negotiating as a contract. He's a business guy. He's like, what's the deal? What's the contract?

Like, he's trying to make a contract with Jesus. What do I got to do to add eternal life to my collection of belongings and wealth? My already impressive resume, yeah. Yeah, already impressive resume. I've got it figured out. Like, I need that. Let's work a deal. What's the contract?

And I think that's what Jesus is getting to the core of. That's why he starts off with that stuff about the Ten Commandments, even though this guy, there's no way he followed the Ten Commandments. I mean, nobody does, right? Right. Yeah, we made that point. Yeah, we made that point yesterday. And Jesus knew that.

But I also think, to your point, they're having an argument or discussion. And he's looking at it from a business venture. what threw him for a loop, because most religious people would say, look, go sell everything you have, give it to us, we'll take care of your money. But Jesus didn't say that. He said, give it to the poor, which shows you he is concerned about people that are poor and maybe the injustices that were happening. Where is the money going to take you?

But he's like, well, you don't even want the money? I mean, that's what's through him for a loop. it's like just go sell it and give it to the poor. He didn't say give it to me. Exactly. No, he didn't say that. Somebody's like, you know, he's a religious leader. Like, give me all your money.

Trust us. I'm, that very statement makes me not want to trust him. But if they would say, look, go sell everything and give it to the poor and then let's meet up. I would tend to think, huh. Okay. Well, he doesn't want my money. He's not getting any gain out of that. Well, why would he possibly be telling me to do that?

What would he have to gain by doing that? And I think that's what he wanted him to really think about. Eternal life was riding on it. Well, and just you're doing good with it. It's not going to help you with the big stuff. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. So that just as sin reigned in death, that's one group and a big one,

so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And to Zach's earlier point, Dad, what you just read. One person brought us, the other person would deliver us. So what Paul makes a point of that is saying, this sounds so good. So then you get into the next chapter of Roman 6. So what are we saying? This grace is so great. Should we just dive head first into a sinful life?

because, you know, the more we sin, the more grace increases, then he says, by no means, we died to them. Yeah. And so that's to your point earlier, Zach, about how we lived to something new. Some point, you've got to be willing to give it all up. Well, we should live to something new and better, right? I mean, that becomes. And think about the, think about the context of Roman 6.

He gives us a very clear picture of, it's not just that we died to ourself. It's that we died with Christ through baptism into death in order that just as Christ is raised from the dead we two baby raised to live a new life so that roman six passage even is indicative of what he's saying here about following him he's what he's saying is be united with me like this is this is what baptism is by the way which is so interesting i love that that you just brought that up because like we we harp on baptism a lot but like what is it i mean it it has to be a starting point between good and evil as far as and it's and it's the it's union with we're saying it's it's it's the it's the of being unified with Christ, and it answers that question that is obviously going to come up

when you think about the expansive grace of God, when you think about, well, man, if you're telling me, Paul, that the more times I sin, the more I get grace, well, man, I should just go sin some more. It's just a little sinful life. Right. Like, that is, that, that's the logical question to that, to Paul's statement. So he anticipates that in Roman 6, and he goes, to the same place Jesus went to. He said, well, no, no, no, you're not understanding what this is. This is about being unified with Christ. There had to be in a starting point.

Shall we, what shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase by no means? We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? If you start down that road, you say, so I'm participating. I'm free from all sin. I've guaranteed to be raised from the dead. I'm beginning to get it.

There's a lot at stake. And so, Zach, I believe that that point is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples that if you follow me, you receive many times as much in this age as in the age to come. I think that's exactly what he was talking about. A blessed life in this age. And he was talking directly to his disciples when he said that, or what the life they were going to live from when, the day of Pentecost till they're more market. Don't let money get in the way.

No, I think so if you look up on the internet, the richest man in the world, do you all know who the richest man in the world is? Bezos? No, he's number three. Somebody in Elon Musk. Saudi Arabia. There you go. Elon Musk, number one, $250 million.

Zuckerberg's on there. Warren Buffett, I think he's five. but here's where they're getting it wrong. So if you read Philippians 419, it says, and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Number one should be members of the kingdom of God. I like that. They got it wrong.

That's right. I mean, you just think glorious riches of Christ. He's plugged into the. the creator of the universe. Right. I mean, it's just a true statement. It is. So if you look at that and get depressed, I mean, what's Elon Musk going to do?

By Twitter. Go to space. Figure out a way to live longer. Provide us with better internet here for the unashamed. I'm just saying there's one. There's the kingdom of members of the kingdom, and then there's everybody else. Because what's the difference in 232? But you read that earlier in that context, you really understand why.

you really understand why that statement is so powerful because Paul said, I've learned to be content whether I have anything or nothing. That's what I mean. How could you possibly defeat somebody that's content whether they have anything or nothing? You're talking about not being driven by what the world's driven by. That's why at face value when you read the rich young ruler, people who are not followers of Jesus think that's the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard in their life. You know, now maybe some of the left-wing liberals of our world that would appeal to them, which I think is fascinating.

Because he's making a case to go give that to the poor, which is usually a left-wing agenda. Take from the rich. That Jesus is fully embracing right here in this moment. He's like, go, I don't care who they are. He didn't specify a wish. He just said, go give all your stuff to the poor. And then you follow me and I'll show you where we're going. And the whole question was, how do I live eternally?

This is how you do it. He was actually offering him a richer scheme than he currently had. That's right. And he was the problem when he went away sad. Right. Because he was a man of great material wealth. He couldn't walk away. Yeah.

Yeah. Jesus was really saying that's not really making you wealth. That's not yet. It's an illusion. Just to reiterate, you can't. You can't. You could give. Death coming up.

Now, then what? Well, you got death. And I'm sure he had a host of problem. I mean, look at Zacchaeus. You know, he was hated. He's by himself. He's so, he was so, uh, just on an island for, from the people that he had even lost all shame. He's climbing a tree, you know, he's a short fella anyway.

I'm sure he was just getting one haymaker after another. And, but he was curious about Jesus. And it's probably due to loneliness. Yeah. I was going to say, you know, just to reiterate, too, that it's, you could sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and still not have eternal life if you leave off the last part. If you leave off the part of following Jesus. I think it's, he's highlighting this particular, I think it's wrong to read the passage as this is, this is written, this is a story about a particular person who Jesus in his. His divine knowledge and, you know, knew, he knew this man's heart.

And so, you know, he, the point is, is not necessarily still everything he had to be the poor. The point is, come follow me. Give up what's most important to you and then come follow me. That's the, that's what's prescriptive for all of us is like, what, how do we get eternal life? Give up what you want most and come follow Jesus. Give up what your, give up your other. God and are gods and come follow Jesus, the true living God. That's the real, I think that's the core of what Jesus is doing here.

Well, that's why that second story we talked about when you weren't here, when I read Mark's version and you read, what was the two verses I picked out, I think it was 35 and 51 of Mark 10, you know, he asked his disciples, what do you want me to do for you? And they said, well, we want, one of us wants to be on your right and one of us wants to be on your left in the kingdom of God. And then when he got to the blind man sitting on the side of the road, he asked him the same identical question, what do you want me to do for you? And he said, I want to see.

And so it's amazing how one was coming from a place of selfishness from his followers. And the other was coming from unselfishness because he had just, he was blind on the road, He recognized Jesus as the son of David, which meant he knew that the king was here. And that contrast is very inspiring because you have one who you would overlook as not being very powerful or understanding because he can't even see physically. But he got it. And Jesus, you know, especially in Mark's account, he's making a point there. And I think he does the same thing with the rich young ruler. And then one paragraph later, you have Zakias, who was so impressed about Jesus

and Jesus willing to take persecution for going and eating at his house that he was willing to give half of his possessions. I mean, that was his response to Jesus coming in his house. He said, I'll tell you what, I'm giving half of what I have to the poor. And then he's like, and everybody I've done wrong, I'm going to give four times what I did wrong. Well, that was the same response. That was the same response that he was trying to get out of the rich young ruler. But he didn't understand the proximity of who he was talking to. He was in the proximity of the son of God.

That's right. And that's that vision part of it. So, all right, we're out of time. I've got a thought I want to talk about an overtime, Zach, that you sparked about the idea of walking away from wealth and what you have, but doing it without Jesus. I've got some modern and middle-aged examples that I want to talk about that in the overtime.

So if you want to follow us over, blazedtv.com slash unashamed is where overtime will be. 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 blazediv.com slash unashamed.