Jesus Is Not Your Buddy Pal

We keep circling one question that refuses to stay theoretical: are we ready for the coming King, or are we just good at looking ready. John’s words in Matthew 3 push us past surface religion into Spirit-powered change that shows up in our homes, our work, and our urgency.
• why one small weekly change compounds into real transformation
• why we teach the Bible expositionally and why context matters
• what John means by water baptism for repentance
• why baptism is an outward expression of an inward change
• why comparing ministries and measuring success misses spiritual depth
• why Jesus is Lord and Savior not our buddy
• how the Holy Spirit moves God’s presence from temple to believer
• how a changed heart reshapes our worldview and daily choices
• why Jesus’ return demands urgency and honesty about our week
• what wheat and chaff reveal about real faith under pressure
• why the resurrection brings new life and starts the countdown
• why we stop hiding our light and bring it to others
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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Transcript

Small Changes And Big Year

unknown 0:00

Right.

Are You Ready For The King

Water Baptism And Repentance

Josh 0:03

And again, remember we talked about it last week. One change, one change a week is 52 changes over the course of a year. Alright? And if you have 52 small changes, you have one gigantic change at the end of the year. So as we jump into this week, here's what we need to understand. We're not doing like a special Easter message, right? We teach, for those of you that don't come here often, we teach what's called expositionally. So we just pick a book and we go sometimes word by word, sometimes verse by verse, sometimes just chapter by chapter, depending on what's all being there. And we just move through that book so that we fully understand and in context see what the Bible has to say to us. And this week is no different. What we're doing right here is John is still introducing this coming king. Remember, he's been out in the wilderness, he's been calling people to him. His message has been very simple and very clear, right? Repent and be baptized. That is his entire message because he keeps saying this over and over and over. Someone is coming after me. In fact, what we're gonna see next week is the king finally arrives on the scene. This person that John has been preaching about, this person that is still to come, Jesus finally steps onto the scene as John is baptizing. And so John, up until this point, has one thing that he is saying. He's sitting here going, and it is our big idea. It's this are you ready for the coming king? We have a while before we get into Matthew chapter 16, but when we get there, one of the things we're gonna see is Jesus is talking to his disciples and he goes, Hey, who does everybody say that I am? And his disciples start saying, Some people say you are Elijah, some people say you are a great teacher, some people say you are a prophet. Sounds a little really familiar, right? Like when we look around the world, what do you hear about Jesus? He's this great moral teacher, he's a great prophet. And then Jesus stops and he goes, Okay, but who do you say that I am? Because, see, that's what matters. Because as I've been preaching since Christmas, how you see Jesus and who Jesus is to you will shape everything else about your life. How you are as a husband, how you are as a wife, how you are as a child, how you are as a brother, how you are as a sister, a cousin, a dog owner. Anything and everything you do comes out of this one question: who is Jesus? And so we're gonna sit here today and we're gonna marinate with this. Are you ready for the coming king? So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump right into that. Father, I thank you so much for your word. And I ask and I pray, Father, that as I preach through it, that it is not my words that I preach, but that God, it is you using me to speak to your people. That Father, we just let our hearts guards down and we just sit here and go, Holy Spirit, just change me from the inside out. Make me more ready for your coming king. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so we're gonna pick up in verse 11. And John says this I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. All right, as I start this message, I'm gonna tell you this with a disclaimer. This has been one of the harder messages I've had to prepare from the book of Matthew. And it wasn't hard in the fact that there's a lot of like contradicting things or something like that that's being said here. It was this, I went way too deep when I first prepared this on just the word baptismo. Why do you think I would go so deep on that word baptism, though?

unknown 4:30

People believe you can be baptized and saved.

Josh 4:32

Oh, a hundred percent. See, we have denominations of people who sit here and go, without being baptized, you aren't saved. We have other denominations of people who sit here and go, hey, there's multiple baptisms we have to go through. Like there are denominations that believe there is a water baptism, but you're not fully saved until you are baptized by the Holy Spirit and then have spiritual gifts. Then we have other denominations who sit here and go, only people who have been regenerated can be baptized. And then we have other denominations that sit here and go, hey, you should baptize your babies. Now, what wound up happening is I got like 20 slides into this, and just so you know, my normal typical message is only like 14 to 16 slides, and I go long on that. So could you imagine how long we'd have been sitting here with 20 slides? And it was really just a word study on baptism. Now, here's the disclaimer. I'm not going deep into that. If you have questions about baptism, if you're sitting here going, hey, but this is what I was taught, or this is what I think, I am always here. I am it is more than welcome. You can come see me after service. I will sit here as long as you want to today, and we can talk about that. However, the reason why I really changed from that was this is John, that's not his purpose here. Like as he's talking about baptism here, he's not sitting here going, hey, let's get all into the nuances of what baptism is. In fact, what John is really sitting here doing is he's comparing his baptism and what Jesus is about to do when Jesus comes on the scene, and John already takes this point. You ready? My baptism is nothing compared to what is about to happen. Like John knows, like, he's not sitting here going, hey, me and Jesus are like neck and neck. In fact, when we get like into Matthew, I think it's chapter four, if I'm not mistaken, but it may be further along, I can't remember off the top of my head. John's disciples are gonna come to him and they're gonna go, hey, just so you know, Jesus is down the river from us and he's doing baptisms, but he's baptizing more people than we are. And see, and this is what we do as people, right? We're always trying to compare. We're always trying to sit here and go, well, in fact, just a little like pull back the curtain, every single pastor's conference I've gone to, every single one of them, this question gets asked. How many of you guys running on a weekend? How many baptisms did you have last year? Because this is what we use to judge what?

unknown 7:13

How good of a church you are?

Josh 7:14

Yeah, how successful are you? You know what's really hard to like judge? Hey, are you guys actually growing in Christ? Like, are you guys actually gaining like spiritual depth? See, it's real easy if we can just go, oh, we're running 1,500, 2,000 a week. It's real easy to sit here and go, hey, we're adding a third building, we have a fourth service. Like these are tangible things for us to see. And what John is sitting here saying is this hey, look, what y'all don't understand is all of the work I'm doing, it pales in comparison to what the king is about to come and do. All of the work I'm doing, it is like minor in comparison to what Jesus is about to come and do. John is sitting here going, it's simple. I baptize you with water for repentance. John knows his baptism doesn't have the power to change your life, but that his baptism is because of a changed life. You've heard it, I'm sure, if you've spent time in church, but baptism is this, it is an outward expression of an inward change. Okay, so if it comes off during my message like I'm trying to downplay baptism, I'm not. It is something we should do, it is something we we should be doing because it is showing to everyone else, hey, I'm in on this. It's showing to everyone else, hey, when we baptize, this is why we do it publicly, this is why we do it in front of people, because you're sitting here going, I identify with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and I want all of you to hold me accountable for that. If you see me tripping, if you see me doing things I shouldn't be doing, I want you to come and tell me that. I want to be a part of this community. So I'm not knocking that, but what John is sitting here saying is, hey, my baptism, it cleans off the outside. But what's about to happen is a complete overhaul of the inside. And see, and that's something, it doesn't matter how often you scrub your skin, your heart doesn't change when you take a shower. And we need to understand that. We need to sit here and understand, you guys have heard me say this week after week after week, you are only strong enough to not do the things you're not supposed to do while you're strong enough to not do the things we're not supposed to do. And every single one of us, myself included, struggle. Every single one of us get to a point where we're not strong enough anymore. And we lose our temper and we say things we don't mean and we do things we know we shouldn't have done, and all of those things. And we make it about that, right? And we start sitting here and we go, oh, my relationship with Jesus must be falling apart because of this. And we looked at backsliding last week, but what John is sitting here saying is, y'all don't get it. The one that is coming after me, he will have the power to totally give you a new heart, to take that heart of stone and replace it with the heart of flesh to get you to see things that you've never seen. And John's going, get your eyes off of me. Don't look at me. I am just a voice crying out in the wilderness, making straight the ways of the Lord. This is why I tell you guys all the time: do not put faith in me. I will let you down, I will disappoint you. I will, like, when you like the more you get to know me, the more you will go, I really thought he was further along than that. I'm just gonna be honest. And what John's doing is going, but don't look at me. Look at the son, look at the king, look at the one who is to come because I'm not even worthy to carry his shoes. Like, do you understand how lowly John is looking at himself when he goes, I'm not worthy to carry his shoes. Because remember, and we looked at this a couple of weeks ago, how dirty are feet. Think about it. Like, here, I'm not trying to throw like shade on any of the kids here, but they will go outside at like recess or during break time and they'll run around and they'll play and they'll get like sweaty, right? Well, then they come in here and like they will kick their shoes off. Or some of y'all who are parents, stop letting your kids wear crocs, okay? The smell is just permeating all of the time.

unknown 11:42

Can you put that right?

Jesus Is Lord Not Buddy

The Holy Spirit Dwells In Us

Urgency For Christ’s Return

Josh 11:43

Yes, I absolutely can. Or at least make them wear socks. At least there's some kind of like absorption there. Okay? Feet are disgusting. The fact that there is a whole thing going around of people paying to watch people take pictures of their feet. Like, do you understand how disgusting feet are to begin with? How many sweat glands and bacteria and all of that we have growing, and John is sitting here going, that most disgusting part? I'm not even worthy. I'm not even worthy to carry that. I am so lowly compared to the king. How many of us, when we think of Jesus, that is how we think of it? I've told you guys over and over and over, here's the disservice we do in the American church. Jesus did not come to be your best friend. Jesus did not come to be your buddy. Jesus did not come so that you could have someone to lean on. Jesus came because he went, I'm gonna redeem all of creation to myself. I'm going to be your Lord and your Savior. He did not come because he needed us. He came because we needed him. And what John is trying to show is that is we're not even worthy, but is that how we look at Jesus? Or are we just sitting here remembering our vacation Bible school days where it was just like, Jesus just wants to be your best friend? Don't you want to accept him into your heart? Let me ask you. Jesus spoke into the darkness and created the light. Why does he need your permission to do anything? And see, and that's what John is pointing to. That's why every week you hear something similar in my prayer before I preach. You hear this. Let it not be my words. Here's why. If you have ever talked to me outside of when I am up here preaching, am I eloquent? Like, do I have this vocabulary where you're like, man, he just can like string words together and. Am I? Like you guys hear me preach. Am I eloquent when I do that? Half the time, I'm like, that's not a real word. I don't want it being my words. Because my words have no power in them. Sure, I can get up here and I can yell, and I can like emotionally manipulate a room and I can do all of those things, but there's no power in that. You know what there's power in? The words of God that will not return void. Seriously, like one of the funniest things in the world to me is I'm a very performance-driven person, right? So when you come up to me after service, like when I have multiple people after service that come up to me and they're like, hey, that was a really good message today. Like I leave and I'm like super happy and I'm like, Debbie, we're going out to eat after you know service, and like we're gonna have a good day. And and then, like, but you know when I get that the most? When I walk away from here and I go, that was terrible. Like I messed up on so many different words, it just it was not the sermon I had like in my mind. Like, it was just a mess. And I'll have people like come up and go, like, that just broke me down. And I'm like, how? Like, I have preached much better sermons than what I just preached. And then I remember, oh yeah, that's right, because in numbers, God used a donkey to get his message across. And I guess if he can use a donkey, I mean, I got a shot. And that's why my prayer is always don't listen to what I have to say, but God, let it be your word speaking to your people. John is sitting here going the same thing. He's sitting here going, the king isn't coming to just dunk you underwater. Because when he baptizes, here's what it is: the Holy Spirit takes up residence. We lose how important that is. And we'll get to it in a couple of weeks with Jesus' baptism. But prior to Matthew chapter 3, when Jesus gets baptized, prior to that, if you wanted to be in the presence of God, where did you have to go? The temple. In fact, here's the thing: unless you were a high priest, you could never be in the presence of God. And even the high priest, they would have to like tie a rope around them when they went into the Holy of Holies to be in the presence of God because some of them didn't come back out alive. Because they didn't do what they were supposed to do, they didn't cleanse the right way. They walk into the Holy of Holies, they're in the presence of God Almighty, and they're just dead because you didn't come in the right way. See, and that's how it was for literally thousands of years. And then what winds up happening is a fulfillment of prophecy where God goes and I will put my spirit in my people. Think about this, guys. We do not understand how important that is. When you read through the book of Judges, right? And everyone in here, like you kind of familiar with Samson, right? He did some amazing things. I remember like when I was a kid, like he was my favorite like Bible character. Because like David, I never really identified with, right? Like okay, he he had one fight. One fight, and he became like king. Samson, on the other hand, dude, this dude just kept like whooping people and like thousands of people, like taking the jawbone of a donkey and just like slaying 3,000 Philistines. Like catches foxes by hand, ties their like tails together, lights them on fire, sends them out into the field. Like, I'm like, this is a man. Right? Like, us hunters in here, we know what that's like. We can't even get a turkey to walk up to us. He's catching foxes by hand. And yet, you know what happened back then? The spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. He powered Samson to do whatever needed to be done, and then the Spirit of the Lord left Samson. We get to the baptism of Jesus, and it says the spirit remained and rested on him. Here's the thing you no longer have to go to temple to be in the presence of God. You no longer have to make a pilgrimage to be in the presence of God. Because if you are in Christ, the presence of God dwells within you. Because the king came and went, I will place my spirit on you, and I will replace that heart of stone with a heart of flesh. See, again, when this happens, we literally see things differently. Like, have you ever been talking to someone and you're like, like, okay. Here's the thing. I'm not like hugely political. I don't know if you guys know this about me. I I like I can care less about who is in office. It's not that I don't vote, it's my civic duty to vote, and and I I research and I do that. Okay, but but at the end of the day, my hope isn't whoever's gonna win this next office. Because here's the deal, you guys ready? It doesn't matter who's going to win, it is still a sinner in office. Okay? That's all. They're gonna do things that I agree with, and guess what? I don't care who it is, they're gonna do things that I don't agree with. The same way any of us in this room would do, right? Like if I became president. And I think about this a lot. Not that I'm like launching my campaign right now. But I'm gonna make half the country happy. You know what I'm gonna do the other half of the country? I'm gonna make them mad. Why? Because I'm just a center trying to do the best I can. However, in Christ, I can make changes that I didn't even think were possible outside because it didn't make sense. So going back to what I was saying, have you ever been talking to someone like I was watching a video yesterday, this is where I was going with the politic thing? Have no idea how it I actually I think it was JT, because he watches some weird things on YouTube sometimes and it messes up my algorithm. It's more than just fishing in Jesus now. But anyway, I was watching this and it was uh it was I'm not gonna like say names and stuff like that, but it was a governor out west's wife, and she was talking about like she came to the south and brought her kids with her so that her kids could see racism and misogyny, which I'm not even yeah, that word. And see, I told y'all I'd mess up. And like all of this other thing, and I was like, hold up. You came from out west because y'all don't have racism out there? Like, y'all got it on lock out there like that? Like you had to come to Alabama to see that? I mean, come on, Alabama's got their own struggles, and if you're a uh roll tide in here, like I'm sorry, but you didn't have to come all the way across the country to see that. That that exists everywhere you are. And I sit here and I go, see, we like I'm listening to her and I'm like, this just doesn't make sense. Because we don't see the world the same. Last year, kids here had to write a what's called a worldview paper. Here's what I need everyone in this room to understand. Every single one of you, whether you are in fifth grade or you are on the other side of retirement, have what is called a worldview. You see the world through a lens. Okay? This is why, if I were to bring up things like abortion or same-sex marriage, or mental health, or all of these different things, we could get some really good fights going on. We call them debates because we're civilized, but we would like be like, oh, well, here's where I line up. Think about this though. As Christians, why are there 65,000 denominations of people who go, hey, I believe the same thing and read from the same book? It's because we have different worldviews. Because we don't see everything. The same. And what John is sitting here when he goes, hey, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit. He will baptize by fire. What he's trying to get people to understand is when the king comes and replaces that heart of stone with the heart of flesh, guess what we get to see? Things the same. We get to see change. We get to see those things that didn't make sense to us before, and it makes sense to us now. Like it's very easy for me to look at that lady that I was just giving you a story about and go, oh, it's sin. That's what it is. Like it's super easy for me to see that. It's super easy for me to see that in my own life. Where I sit here and go, why am I yelling at JT like this? And for whatever reason, nine times out of ten, it is usually JT. The girls get off lucky. In fact, last night, JT got we just don't yell at the girls the way he used to get yelled at. And it's not fair. And I went, JT, you're supposed to be a grown boy, right? Notice I didn't say the M word there. You were an adult male. Why would I treat my 16-year-old daughter the same way I treat you? You are different, regardless of what some people are taught in biology now. But we can see that because of the changed heart. And what John is sitting here going, is the one coming after me, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The one coming after me, he will take dead things and make them alive. The one coming after me will completely change your heart. See, we've been talking about this for weeks now, and here Jesus is about to step on the scene, and Jesus is about to start his earthly ministry, and John is asking one question Are you ready for it? Like, understand, that's why he was doing baptisms. That's why he was sitting here saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's sitting here going, it's about to go down. Are you ready? Think about it. If we were to get invaded, there is a war going on. Let's say tomorrow morning you woke up and there's some soldiers standing outside your house. Are you ready for that? I am. 100%. Like I go to bed dreaming about that. But you guys remember Red Dawn? Yeah, like Wolverines, let's go, right? Like, we're set up. I got a couple of you in here, I'll call. The other ones of you, like, should have done better. But let's go. I'll tell you right now. I went over to Steven's house one night with John, and I was lucky enough to go to be reminded of how awesome tourniquets are. And now Debbie has one in her purse everywhere we go. I have one in my backpack everywhere I go, I have one in my gun bag everywhere I go. You know why? Because why you're gonna need it, right? You get hit in an artery, like you need that tourniquet. You know how many times that I've needed a tourniquet? Exactly zero. But what if it's sitting here going, are you ready? Because it's happening. Like Jesus himself in Mark 13, here's how he says it. You ready? He goes, Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. Like here's what used to happen, right? My parents would go out of town. Um, they went to the beach with my aunt and uncle, and us kids were just never invited. And I remember when I hit a certain age, I was allowed to stay at the house. Okay? And I'd seen, you know, enough movies to know what you're supposed to do when your parents leave for the weekend. And here's what we would do: every event that we would have, you would stay in the living room. Here's why. There's a straight shot to the sliding glass door to get to the back door. Okay? You can just run straight through my backyard and jump over the fence, and then you're you're not even at my house anymore. Plus, the living room, you could see the headlights pull into the driveway. So you had all this early warning. What Jesus is sitting here going is you ain't gonna have that. See, some of us we're living lives as Christians going, I got some time. Like I'll know when Jesus is coming. I'm I read Matthew 24. I know the signs to look for. Yeah? Rumors of war? Uh-oh. Earthquakes? Yeah, we got those too. Famine? Yeah, that's happening. And then the end will come. What other sign are you waiting on? Oh, we need the desolation of, you know, the man of perdition and okay. But let me ask you this right now. If Jesus were to walk through this door right now, and he were to sit down next to you, would he be pleased with how your past week went? Like if you were to sit down and just walk Jesus through, hey, here's what I did last week. Here's everything that I did. What do you think his response to you would be? Get baptized again. You didn't get it right the first time.

unknown 27:10

Liar.

Wheat And Chaff Revealed

Josh 27:10

Liar? At least some of us are honest by saying liar. It's kind of ironic. Like, think about this. If Jesus is sitting here going, hey, I bled and died for you, I put my spirit in you, would your last week be pleasing to him? Would he sit here and go, hey, you know what? You are really taking advantage of the power of the spirit. Like, understand this. Paul tells us in Corinthians, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you. So he has the power of resurrection to raise from the dead. That same spirit is alive in you. Would Jesus go, hey, you're taking advantage of him? Think about this. And I say this all the time. You can have the most elaborate tool shed in the world. You can have every tool known to man. Like, if you ever watched like Jesse James and like all of like the, what was it, West Coast Chupper? Yeah. Like, and you, like, I remember watching it going, well, if I had that, I mean, I could make that too. That's a$50,000 press. Like, of course I could do that. You know how many times I watched stuff like that were with the truck, and I'm like, we need a floor jack. Like, that's what would like a floor lift. Like, I don't want to have to crawl under the truck and look at stuff. I need something that's gonna raise it up so it's right here. And then I could do all of this. Okay? You could have every tool you could ever possibly think of, but if you don't use them, what good are they? Like if think about your own house. How much stuff you got laying around that just you needed it, couldn't live without it. And now you're like, I kind of need to cover that, or it's going to just like waste away. See, some of us, that's how we treat the Holy Spirit. You have everything you could possibly need. Ephesians 3 would tell us what? That you have more than you can even possibly imagine. And yet, how many of us? How many of us are serious about it? How many of us are sitting here going, you know what? Like, by the power of the spirit, and I know that makes some of us reform people in here a little uncomfortable, right? Because we're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, you got to be able to explain it biblically. I just did. Paul said the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you. So why can't we go by the power of the spirit in faith? Because I believe, here's what I'm going to do. Because, see, God could have done it any way he wanted to, but here's how he chose to do it. I'm going to work with you. I'm going to take what is broken, I'm going to redeem it and restore it, and then I'm going to take that and I'm going to send it out there to be a light. That's why we are saved by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our what? Testimony. See, some of you in here, you got a story. You got a story that you need to share because someone else is going through the same thing as you. And here's what you're doing. This little light of mine, I'm gonna hide it under a bush. You forgot that oh no part. You're gonna let people blow it out. You're gonna be quiet with it. Why? Like, do you guys understand that there is revival happening all over the world right now? Do you understand that the UK, okay? The UK, which has become this just radically Islamic place, just sold more Bibles in 2025 than it has ever sold before? Gen Z, for those of us that have given up on that generation. I mean, for y'all that gave up, not me, because I believe they have the power to change the world and they're not useless. Do you realize do you realize that more of them are coming back to church than any other generation? Do you realize that they're sitting here going, hey, we want revival, we want a matter, we want community, we want meaning, we want purpose, we want to see Jesus more than any other generation? What are we doing? We're going, no, I'm just gonna keep it to myself. I don't need to talk to them about it. They don't understand, they're too young. And what John is driving at here is he's sitting here going, playtime's over. The king is here. Are we doing the same things though? Or are we just sitting here going, nah, you know what? It's been 2,000 years since Jesus was here. I got a couple more. It's the same thing I used to do when my parents weren't at the house. They're not getting back till Sunday. It's only Friday night. And one time, I will tell you, all of a sudden we did see headlights hit the window. And I went, uh oh, mom and dad came back before I thought they were going to. And then you're scrambling trying to get everything right, right? You're like looking for all the breakable things that you hid so your dumb friends didn't break them and then give everything away. You're like trying to put everything back where it's supposed to be, and you gotta do it quickly because they're walking in the door, and a lot of us that's how we're treating Jesus. And we're sitting here going, uh oh, I'm gonna try to scramble. See, John finished it by saying this. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And I get it. Most of us are probably sitting here going, I'm not a farmer, what is all that? So here's what they would do, just so everyone's on the same page. A threshing floor is what they would do is they would come to like the side of a hilltop and they would make a flat area. And then they would go out and they would harvest their wheat. And wheat has two parts on, well, it has more than that, but the two parts they would harvest would be the chaff and the actual wheat. And they would make a big pile and they would take a winnowing fork, better known to us as a pitchfork, and what they would do is as the wind would blow down off of the hillside, they would get underneath it, they would take it and throw it up in the air. The wheat is so heavy that it would fall back down, while the chaff, which is super light, would get blown back by the wind. So then they would have two different piles. They would have a pile of wheat and they would have a pile of chaff. The problem is, and the reason they had to do it like this, is because of this. JT, put up that picture. When you're looking at that, it's very hard to distinguish what is wheat and what is chaff. It's absolutely useless. There's nothing they could do with it. Wheat, on the other hand, is bread. It's sustenance, it keeps you alive. And what John is sitting here saying is the same thing he told us last week. Remember, last week he was talking to the Pharisees, and he was sitting here going, hey, you guys can look the part, you can sound the part, you could be the religious people, you could be the people that stand up here and tell everyone else, hey, here's everything you should do. And what did he call them? A brood of vipers. And then he gave us that illustration of the axe already being at the root, and every tree that does not produce good fruit is what?

unknown 34:53

Cut down.

Resurrection And The Countdown

Be The Light Where You Are

Josh 34:54

Cut down and thrown into the fire. We just get rid of it. It's worthless. He's doubling down on that right here with the wheat and the chaff. He's sitting here going, you could be indistinguishable. You could look the part, you could sound the part, you could have the right answers to say, and yet you could still be chaff. And he's sitting here going, you need to figure out which one you are. Are you the wheat? Are you heavy? Are you sturdy? And I don't mean that in a physical way, so some of you ladies that just looked at me like, that wasn't what I was getting. Some of you guys did it too, but that wasn't what I was getting at. Do you have things to hold on to? Or are you the chaff? Just full of hot air. Like you can go through the parch you're here most weeks. You know the right words to say, but when the wind blows, are you still gonna be firm in what you believe? Because here's the deal the wind will blow. It's not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when. Anyone in here your life ever imploded? Oh, just me. Okay, cool. Um what happens then? We get mad, right? We shake our fist at the heavens, we're like, where are you, God? I do everything I'm supposed to, and yet my life fell apart. Really? You do everything you're supposed to? Look, cool. You can lie to me about it. You know you don't do everything you're supposed to. You weren't just seeking Jesus, and everything in your life fell apart. You were being chaff. See, Jesus leaves us with this warning in Mark 13. He says, This, but concerning that day or that hour, no one knows. Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. See, yes, Jesus gave us the ability to change by walking out of that tomb. For those of you, and I I know I've said this twice now, but I'm I just want to make sure you understand what I mean. Jesus' death on the cross, Friday. We call it Good Friday, right? Jesus' death on the cross was a fulfillment of Romans 6.23. That says, for the wages of sin is death. Death had to happen. Sin had to be paid. That was the death on the cross. But let me ask you, what good would be being forgiven if there was no resurrection? It would be like this. Let's say, like, after service today, I'm like, hey, do you guys like the deberi diner? It is pretty good. Let's go to breakfast. I'm gonna buy everyone's food. So I go there and I and like you guys all order and I pay the bill, but you don't eat. Did it do any good for you? No, you're still gonna leave hungry. That's why, that's the difference between the bury or the death and the resurrection. The death pays for the sin debt. The resurrection is what gives us new life. And when Jesus walked out of that tomb, yes, we were given the ability to have a new life, but you know what else also happened? A countdown clock started. He went, I'm coming back. I'm not done. And yes, we sit here and go, okay, but it's been 2,000 years already. Like you guys remember when you were little and like you were going somewhere and you're like when we were leaving, your parents said, in just a minute, right? And then like 15 seconds later, you were like, has it been a minute? Or think about it, you were on a car, a long car ride, right? Are we? Oh, okay, so you guys all understand that, right? And then what felt like an eternity to you, but now that I'm a parent, I realize it was probably only a couple of minutes, you went, are we there yet? And you did it until your parents literally turned around in the seat. Very safe driving that they showed me how to do. And you went, if you ask me one more time. See, that's the urgency we need to be having with Jesus' return. I promise you, he's not gonna get aggravated at you. I promise you, he's not gonna look at you and go, stop asking me if I'm coming back. Stop asking me if it's time. Because we need to have that urgency. Because it is coming. We know that. Where is our urgency with it? Where is our plea? Listen very carefully. You are surrounded by people. I don't care where you work, I don't care where you go to school, I don't care what house you live in, we are surrounded by people that are on their way to hell. If you left and you walked out this door after service and there's someone sitting there on the sidewalk, and they're laid out, and you see a big pool of blood around them. Raise your hand if you're like, I'm just gonna walk out to the car. None of us. But yet we're surrounded by people who are dead in their trespasses and sin, and what do we do? I'm just gonna walk to the car. What's that got to do with me? Religion needs to be separated. First of all, not in any of our founding documents. Second of all, how? How do you separate who you are from who you are? See, Jesus says, if you are in me, these are the things that are going to happen. But see, how many of us are out there preaching the good news of the gospel? How many of us are preaching to those in chains? Or how many of us just write them off? And we go, it's just not. God will use someone else. There's nothing I can do. What if they ask me questions? That is the best thing that someone can do. Is ask a question, because what does that show? They're listening to you. Why do you think my heart is broken after every service when I check text in church and I go, oh, no questions again? I go, oh. I must be. Just so good at articulating the mysteries of an everlasting God. Or what? We ain't paying attention. I give you the illustration all the time. It's the kids in math. I get done teaching a lesson. I only spent like 10, 15 minutes doing a whole group lesson. I go, are there any questions? How many kids raise their hand and go, yes, Mr. Lively, I did not understand this step?

unknown 42:12

None.

Weekly Challenge And Prayer

Josh 42:13

None. No, no, no, no, no. We got it, we got it, we got it. Cool. Go ahead and get on your delta math. As soon as that computer turns on, what happens? I have a question. How do you do this? It's literally on the board. What do you mean, how you do this? But see, I just wasn't paying attention. And this is what the church has been doing. We got just sucked into our life. And the things that just go on day to day are so much bigger than our Savior. Like, you don't understand the place I work. It's terrible. Like, I just have to like grind all the way through it. Let me ask you then, why aren't you being the light there for change? Why aren't you being the one to stand up and go, hey guys, this ain't working. Or girls. Equal. Like, why aren't we doing that? You don't understand. My my home life, it just is bad. I can't stop fighting with my spouse. I just don't know what's going to happen. Let me ask you, why aren't you standing up to be the change? Why aren't you saying like I ask this in in marriage counseling all the time. It's one of the first questions I ask. If they don't change, will you? Because understand, you can only control half of that scenario. But if you're waiting, if you're sitting here going, because this is what always happens, right? You're gonna do a counseling thing, and what is it? Well he, well she. Okay, but what about will you? What about well I? Remember a couple weeks ago, I said the more honest we are with who we are, the easier time. We have to change. Because at least you can go, hey, I have a problem. See, and that's that's what the kind of stuff we need to be doing. That's what being a light in the darkness is. It's when you're in the darkness illuminating for other people to see. And that way people can come to you and go, hey, how you handled that? I need to know. I've told you guys this I don't know how many times. But if you'd have met me 20 years ago, I promise you, you would not have looked at me and been like, hey, one day you're gonna be preaching. You'd have looked at me and been like, one day, you were going to be locked up, you're going to be like in paternity suits, you're gonna be like in all of these things. You're just a terrible human being. So what changed? Uh-oh. That's one word. Thank you. It wasn't me. I never woke up one day and went, you know what? I'm a terrible person and I need to change. Here's what happened. Jesus went, you're a terrible person and need to change. And I went, you were right. That I am still on. Because right when I think, okay, I'm good now, Jesus goes, okay, I understand that you think that. But now I want you to work on this. That's why 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, we are all transformed from one degree of glory to the next. So as we close, let me ask you this. If Jesus were to walk with you this week, if Jesus were to just shadow you as you went throughout your week this week, what would you do? What would your week look like? What conversations would you have with other people if you knew Jesus was following you that week? Now, I ask all of that with this in mind. If you were sitting here today going, hey, I am in Christ, who is with you all week? Who is shadowing you? Who, Maddie? There you go. Maddie gets it? Like you guys, some of you millennials in here. Alright? And I'm gonna talk to just our generation. Because I don't see anyone wearing any bracelets that have some letters on it. Oh, okay, so some of us remember it, right? WWJD? And remember you used to wear them and you would be like, situation would come up, you'd be like, what would Jesus do? And I'll tell you right now, if you get really good at the Bible, you can flip tables over and whip people too, okay? Like that's in there too. Jesus would do it at some point. But see, we forgot that. Because we went, I got time. It's been 2,000 years. So our challenge this week is simple. One, if you are in Christ, understand Jesus is shadowing you throughout this week. To quote the famous theologian, Joe Dirt. Is this where you want to be when Jesus comes back? Is this what you want to be doing? One, remember that. And I don't say that as a scare tactic, like, oh, stop doing the bad stuff. Should you stop doing the bad stuff? Okay, one person thinks you should, so it's more so start doing the good stuff and let the bad stuff just worry about itself. Because if you start doing the good stuff, you're not gonna have to sit here and worry about the bad stuff because you ain't gonna have time to do the bad stuff. My mom used to tell me all the time the reason you guys do so much like sports and because like we did sports in my house. That was all we did. Was because if you have too much time, well, sports in church. If you have too much time, what will happen? If you were a teacher in here, recess and break. Why? Because you don't have something for them to do. And that's when we get in trouble. Some of you adults in here, you need to do something. Because you have way too much time on your hands. And that is why you are getting in trouble. That is why things are going the way they are going, because you're not going to bed tired, because you have all of the but I worked and I was tired when I came home. But magically you got your second wind when you got home, and when you turn that video game on, you were like, oh, I can just sit here for hours. You are a grown adult playing 12-year-olds. You are not that awesome.

unknown 49:09

What?

Josh 49:11

Here's the deal, okay? If you are 42 or under and you play any kind of shooting game, go join the military. They do it for real. And I'm telling you, as someone who has done that, I'm telling you, as someone who's kicked in the door, the adrenaline rush you get going into someone else's house is far greater than anything I've ever felt on Xbox or PlayStation. Especially when you're like, ooh, is this wired to explode? Let's see. Do stuff. Be tired. Our challenge this week is simple. Remember, Jesus is with you. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Father, I thank you so much for your word, and I pray, God, as we close that people, A, forgive me because I went long, but B, God, that we remember you are walking with us everywhere we go. And Father, I just pray that we bring your light the places we go. I pray, Father, that the places we go are better because we are there. I pray, God, that our houses are better because we are there. I pray that our workplaces are better because we are there. I pray, Father, that we remember that you have baptized us with your spirit. And that, Father, we are carrying that spirit everywhere we go. And Father, I just pray that we remember that. Father, we thank you so much for your death, your burial, and your resurrection. We thank you that you have made us new. And Father, I just pray by the power of your spirit that we remember we are made new. Father, we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.