Ep 906 | Young Jase Was Confronted with Beer, Drugs, Adult Content & Saved by ‘Angels’ in the Woods
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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. You know, Jace, I can't... We filmed a little bit of something else last night for the cooking show we're doing. And I've noticed I can't start talking unless Maddie counts me down. So Maddie was there. So everybody's like, okay, we're rolling, we're speeding. And they look at me and I'm like, Maddie, I can't...

You realize? I can't go unless you say three, two, one. She's got a little melody. I call it the Maddie melody. And it just, I don't know. I think I might start getting her to do it when I preach on Sundays. I just can't seem to get going. I think I'll have to step in and say, look, because the nature of what we do is

is no matter what happens it's it feels like deja vu that's true did that just rhyme the nature of what we do seems like deja vu that's pretty good dude because you look like a writer on gut feel and you're talking and you're saying you know basically the same thing what the bible is about but you're doing it multiple times because the bible you know 66 books

If you sit down and read it, I don't know how long it would take you to read it. It'd take a minute, but you're right. Hebrews 4.12 says it's living and active. So, you know, it's timeless. Well, it says the word is living and active. I have something to throw into all of this. Oh, boy. Here we go. Well, I'm mid-thought, but if you want to interject, go ahead. Go for it. Go ahead. I'm hearing what you're saying, but...

When you get to a book like Ephesians, you just glided through the Corinthian letter, first and second. Then you had Galatians. You get to Ephesians, it is worthy of note, in my humble opinion, that in Ephesians chapter 1, this is brought up.

Verse 3, Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. He chose us before the creation of the world, which is amazing, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In Him we have redemption through His blood. Verse 7, And He goes down, and here's what I want to be, act you boys with. And you also,

were included in Christ right before he says that, in him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ, this thing hadn't been here long, as far as the church and all.

It's new. It's going across territory. And you were also included in Christ, the ones he's delivering the message to, to the saints in Ephesus. You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed you were marked in him with a seal and the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.

I tell you what's amazing. You see where I'm holding that Bible right there? I'm just going to pull that back like that, and I'm going to look, and you see where I've lettered it. It's one little phrase. You're listening. He's showing his Bible. One little phrase keeps popping up, popping up, popping up. All of this, all of that, all of this.

Bill's pointing to microscopic looking letters. All of this. I can't even see those letters without glasses. Hundreds of times it's mentioned. The word of truth? The word of truth. When you start down that road, the word of truth, I mean, it's amazing how much...

I mean, just listen to this. But it reminds me of when Jesus said... You're reading in Ephesians what Paul said at Ephesus, but what you're looking back on is when Jesus died, was buried, raised from the dead right there. Who was it that he told, now your job is to go and...

And so you say, well, where do you fit in there? Because you're here 2,000 years from here. Yeah. So were you one of the ones that, let's see, Matthew. Let's see. Matthew, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. That's what's happening over here in Ephesus. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you, and I'll be with you to the end of the age. That's once. When you get to Matthew, you go to Mark next. Mark just sounds just like it. I consider myself, me, Bill Robinson, somewhat of a redneck, raised in the deep south, commercial fisherman,

You say, do you feel like that you're included in that? Go into who he said to them. He's talking to the apostles, the 11. He said to them, go into all the world. They did. And preach the good news to all creation. They did. Whoever believes and is baptized to be saved. People argue about baptism. I mean, give me a break. I mean, I'm reading.

the big picture of what, what they preached. Well, you know, good and well, they preached over. You get over at Ephesians when you're talking about there's one baptism, but yeah, no, but you don't have to do that. And we argue about these things, but that spiritual, I mean, just look at John, John one 14th from the five full of grace and truth. One 17, uh,

through Jesus Christ. I tell you the truth. I tell you the truth. I'm going down now. I'm in the book of John. While we're in Ephesians, we can just take Ephesians and do it. When you had heard the word of truth, second, 415, instead of speaking the truth in love, 421, him in front of it, and caught us with the truth, the belt of truth, buckle around your way, heard about the word of truth. I mean,

It's so many times mentioned that I feel a lot better about looking at what Jesus said. You know, it's interesting. Oh, Zach, you're here. I didn't even know you were here. I'm just sitting here watching. You have a new set. I proved my point about deja vu because we just experienced that. And now Zach has a new set.

Look, well, this is actually a temporary look that you're looking at right here. I'm moving into a new space.

So if you think about, you know, how sometimes like Al does like his little makeshift studio, this is my, I mean, this is, this is what we do when we do a makeshift studio up here. It's a little bit better than what Al did, you know, his, on his journey. Are you dissing the Southern Lair? So you have a temporary tabernacle that's going to be a signpost to a new living temple in

I was just trying to go with you on that thing. That was good. Yeah. Well, we're moving. So I'll be dwelling in another place for the podcast. So after this podcast records today, then we'll move the rest of this, everything out of here. So next week, we're going to see the new and improved. It's like a little yuppie look with a kitchen and a coffee bar. It's like he's in a lodge. The problem I have with this look. It's like a little cigar room. You got the little room.

round glasses and you got the coffee, but then you have a hat that says local cowboy. Nothing about your look, your shirt, your coffee bar says cowboy. It says...

I'm a local cowboy. But anyway, go ahead. That's all right. Well, you know what? I try to become all things to all men. Honoring the Apostle Paul, we are reading Paul's epistle to the church in Ephesus, and I do want to be like Paul and become all things to all men. Which was kind of Dad's point on his greater look at truth and how it has impacted over 2,000 years, right? I mean—

I think it's the most said thing in the Bible. Yeah. Because everybody's looking for it. The most said phrase, I think, is... We argue about it. People argue. But I'm trying to figure out why all the argument, if he just has it here...

I think the most said phrase is don't be afraid, but I think I tell you the truth is number two. That's right. I tell you the truth. And the hard part is. I mean, everything I do when I go, somebody said, what are you going to do Sunday morning? I said, I'm going to read some texts in the Bible that include being baptized in water. Yeah. Faith comes from here. You'll know the truth. Truth sets you free.

That's what I do. I just look and I'll find another one. I find another one. I find another one. It's what the Apostle Paul said in his letters. I just show him what he said, what he started with. Because I'm looking around, by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, Paul's talking, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought.

but rather think of yourself in sober judgment. Well, that's me. That's my thinking pattern. In accordance with the measure of faith God's given you. Just as each of us has one body and many members, these members don't have all the same function. So somebody said, well, I'm a this, I'm a that, and I'm the other.

In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the other. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. That's why they just make sweeping statements about some people. That's not where they're working. They're working in a place where you don't know nothing about.

And all the way down, let him serve. Let him do it. Let him teach. If it's encouraging, let him encourage. If it's a contributor to each other, let them give generously. And is it leadership? Yeah. Do that. I want to do that. If it's showing mercy, do that. You say, showing mercy, is that something that you ought to practice in front of people? Yeah. Yeah. And if you look around,

they did it. Yep. They did it worldwide. Right. Which is a contributor to God. All these things happened beforehand. All this was in the mix, you know, all of it. Yep. Well,

Well, we're trying to do it. That's what we're here for. Yep. Before Zach expounds on his point that he's trying to make, this proves, because look, the last podcast, it was brought to my attention that Phil never said anything. And so someone asked me about that. They said, Phil never said anything in the podcast. What's up with that? And my thought was, well, he was thinking.

And so this proves he was thinking because the next podcast, it's like a rocket that has been launched. Yeah. If that little statement, word of truth is mentioned, I mean, I would say I'd have to just stop and count them up, but it is amazing. Yeah. How many times? It's a good point. Because think about those two most used phrases.

If every time Jesus speaks, he's telling the truth. Yeah, that's why I start. And one of the truths he said is don't be afraid. Yep. Then you just think if Jesus, the one who's saying it, can't lie and he can't die,

Well, that would take care of your fear and it would give you someone to trust forever. And that's the truth. See, on top of that, Jace, look, it doesn't matter where you start. Start in Galatians, which that's a book just before you get to Ephesians. You say, yep.

Watch this. Paul, an apostle sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ. Well, we know that we put him on the road. We've already established that. And God, the father, but by God, Jesus Christ and God, the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers with me.

Just in that first little group of words, I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. There are already, I'm already waving around. I tell you, get down there and get out of understanding what they're there for. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to prefer the gospel of Christ. It's not that simple.

Jesus died, was buried, and raised from the dead. But they're already on another vein over there. Yeah, they were saying it was not that simple. But even if we are an angel from heaven to preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned. I mean, this is nothing to play with. Well, if you just start, and you just start...

That's the Erech Galatians. What are you going to do? Philippians. We're going into Philippians right after we get through with Ephesians. Well, you better get there. Let's see. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy. That's the church. Cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. Great way to characterize baptism. When I get up there and I'm talking about being baptized, being saved,

I make sure they hear that. You want to go over here to look at it? If they didn't, they would just be... You want another one right over here? So what is the... That word of truth gets in the way more than anything I've ever seen. I guess a question for all of us is how prepared are you for an emergency situation? Jace, you've been talking recently. You guys had a tornado yesterday.

rip into your house. You don't really, you don't think it's going to happen and then it does. So the question is, how prepared are you? Well, the

My Patriot Supply would have came in handy for my son, Cole, because now we're a month later after the tornado and we still have no electricity. So when you're in a situation like that, you need help, right? You mentioned My Patriot Supply. Since 2008, they've helped millions of Americans gear up for emergencies. Today, their popular four-week emergency food kits are

Uh, can't stay out of customers carts because everybody realizes this, right? It could be weather. It could be a lot of other issues that are going on. Uh, right now, if you go to their website, preparewithphil.com, uh, you can get there these, uh, four week emergency food kits. Each one offers over 2000 calories every day. Plus with ultra durable four layer packaging, it lasts up to 25 years in storage. So it's just going to be around for a while. Uh,

Order as many kits as you need and save $50 on each one. Free shipping is included. Stock up on these essential food kits at preparewithphil.com. That's preparewithphil.com. It's probably the most sought after thing when you say that is people searching for truth.

And then, you know, people now in our culture, they'll say your, your truth, my truth. Yeah. As if somehow it's just whatever you come up with. There it is. Which is crazy. Um, because all that leads to is a lot of confusion. So that, what was your point earlier? We, we, we left you in the lurch there. I don't, I'm trying to remember what I was thinking. Oh boy. We went on. Uh, I, we didn't have a cold over today. We had a hot take. Dad had a hot take. Um, well,

What you just said, I think we have to do pre-evangelism on this because you read this, which I argued in the last several podcasts, that verse 13 that Phil mentioned, in him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you are sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of the promise. How much more simple could it be?

Yeah, and I think he's talking to Gentiles. I think he's switching here to Gentiles. But the key here, as Phil mentioned, is this idea of truth. But to your point, Al, which is what I was going to say, is that

That word has lost its meaning in 2024. And so we live in a time where truth is, like you said, it's your truth. And so it's a, it's a truth has become, uh, it's held according to current cultural worldviews that it's held in the eye of the beholder. So, so I have my truth, which means, and you have your truth, which means that truth, according to the current,

culture is truth is dependent on your perception or your preference. I always pray with joy in Philippians because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day till now. You go down two or three verses or whether I'm in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you sharing your God's grace with me. I mean, they're getting after him.

And he's just trying to get the gospel out of the box. Yep. But here they go. You said, what'd they do to him? Oh, they killed him. Yep. So when we get to arguing about what it is, when we get off the trail of God becoming flesh, his name's Jesus. He died on a cross for the sins of the world, was buried and raised from the dead. You better start with that if you're going to discuss something with me about the word of God. Yep.

I couldn't agree more. I'm about halfway fired up this morning. I see that. I like it. That's really good. In the last podcast, we started looking at some of the themes that come out of this first few verses, which I would argue is probably one of the most dense themes

theological expressions you see in the whole Bible, 1, 3 through 14 in Ephesians, which Dad read for us this morning. Last time we were talking about one of those themes was predestination and chosen, and we talked about that from the aspect of in Christ, which every time you see that phrase, and even when you look over in Romans and a couple other times it's used, you see that you can't separate predestination from Jesus. Right.

In other words, he is the impetus. None of us were around before the creation of the world, but he was. And so then everything flows out of that concept, which is where we left off. I want to talk today, Zach, another one that comes out of this. You just mentioned it. The word is not here, but the concept is here, is the idea of holiness and sanctification. He says in verse 4,

He says, before the creation of the world, he chose us to be holy and blameless. And then later he mentions the Holy Spirit. This is a concept, I mean, this is so huge.

Because this goes beyond just us having our sins removed. This is the idea about us being able to be perfect in Jesus. Yeah. Which is a huge blessing and a huge thing when you think about it. And, you know, you see this concept all over it. And what I love about this is this. It's a...

It's not just from the past. 2 Peter 1.9 says we've been cleansed from past sins. But you go to 1 John 1.7, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sins. So it's not just past, it's present.

But then it's also future. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you. There's that word. Through and through, may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord, the one who calls you as faithful, and he will do it. So even up until the time he returns, this idea about holiness, because the Holy Spirit covers past, present, and future,

Which is an incredible concept when you think about what else could provide that sort of peace and knowing that you before the almighty God are considered to be perfect. Well, you think about Romans 8 passage when he uses the word predestination in Romans 8. Paul says that we were predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. So that's a.

I take that to mean sanctification and ultimately our glorification happens at the consummation of the kingdom. Right. So explain those words for the new listeners. Sanctification. Yeah. I'll give three words that when you think about salvation and I've said this on the podcast before, but I think it's worthy of the note. We probably should say it again.

salvation is not just a one-time event. I mean, and that would be called your justification. It's part of salvation, but it's not the entirety of salvation. So your justification is,

is when you are freed from the penalty of sin. So sin has a penalty. The penalty is the wages of sin is death. And God counts you as not guilty as in a court of law. That's your justification. And there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because we've been justified in him. The second part of salvation is your sanctification.

And that's the progressive freedom that you get from the power or the grip of sin. So just because you are a Christian and you're saved, you know, and I have air quotes when I say that, because you've been justified, sin still is in you. You still sin as I mean, I still sin as a believer. But over time, as I've walked with Christ and been led by the Holy Spirit, I've

And those sins that I struggle with at 20 years old, a lot of those don't have a grip on me anymore. Now, there's others that do, but those don't because I've been progressively healed or progressively freed from the power of sin. So it's the three Ps. Justification is freed from the penalty of sin.

Sanctification is free from the power of sin progressively. And then in the future, one day God's going to come back and we're going to see his glory at such a degree that it will be impossible to sin because it will be impossible to believe a lie. And that is when we'll be, that's called glorification. And that's when we're freed from the presence of sin. And that's why heaven's going to be so wonderful because sin will not be present. So it's penalty, power, and presence.

Of sin. And that's what we're freed from in our salvation. Justification, sanctification, glorification. And another verse that goes along with what you just said, Zach, is 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. And this is the same theme that he told the Ephesians. From the beginning, God chose you. There's that idea about chosen again in Christ. To be saved...

through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and through belief in the truth, to Dad's point. So, again, that concept is there, that this has always been there, it's always been available through God's plan for all of us, even before He made us, that this was the way it was going to work, which is very powerful. And the Holy Spirit is paramount to all of this, because if you go back and you read Jesus' words,

promise of sending the Spirit, the primary purpose of sending the Spirit was to deliver the believer into all truth, to make what is His known to us. And so the Spirit, what the Spirit does, what He does is He reveals the truth to us, and He does that

specifically through the scriptures, and he does it also generally through creation. But then he also lives in me now, and so he convicts me, and he tells me what's reality and what's not reality, which is what I just remember what I was going to say earlier. A proper definition of truth that we should try to define it because it's under attack. And truth is not something that you determine.

It's not something that I determined. It's not something that's determined by men. The classical definition of truth is,

It's that when your thought matches reality, so you have a thought in your mind, and then the way the world really is, when those match up, the relationship between those two things is called truth. And so what happens is that the spirit tells me when my thoughts don't line up with reality. And so, for example, if I'm like, man, think about your sin struggle, and maybe you're lusting after someone that's not your wife.

And you're thinking, man, that would be whatever's in your mind that you're fantasizing about. The thought is that would be fulfilling.

The reality, however, is that if I were to go through with any of this and actually accomplish what I was fantasizing about, I would actually probably head for the divorce court. I probably would lose half of my assets. I probably would have a strained relationship with my children. I probably would feel immense shame and guilt. The reality is not what my thought is. And the spirit says, he doesn't tell me it's wrong. What the spirit says is, Zach, that's not true.

And that actually is how we find freedom is by submitting. So I think this conformity, being conformed into the image of the Son, is a lifelong process of the spiritual disciplines that we actually practice trying to be like Jesus.

And how do we do that? We listen to the Holy Spirit when he tells us that's not reality. We submit and to the degree that we submit to him as he reveals reality to us is the degree to which we will be conformed into the image of the Son. It's what we were predestined for, according to Paul in Romans chapter 8. So I can't

overstress that. This is much more, I think God has, I think Paul has a much bigger mind than just something about our justification and being chosen there. I think this is way bigger than that. This is, we were chosen to be conformed into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jase, I would say that a lot of people waste a lot of time

Is that a fair assessment? Yep. I mean, time is valuable, but people waste a lot. I watch people watching YouTube videos. I mean, just, you know.

Crazy stuff that doesn't seem to matter. Mind-numbing TV. I mean, if you're watching a lot of reality TV, and I guess we used to have a show. I guess I shouldn't say that. Well, you have one life. You don't need to waste it. Exactly. So one of the things you could do with your time is learn some things that can help you. And that's what our friends at Hillsdale College are offering. They have 40 free online courses in the most important.

important and enduring subjects. You got the works of C.S. Lewis. You got stories from the book of Genesis, the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, rise and fall of the Roman Republic. I mean, these are all things we talk quite a bit on the podcast about in terms of how they relate to scripture. History of the ancient Christian church. All these are online courses and they're free, completely free.

C.S. Lewis on Christianity, which is a seven lecture course, explores his works, which are fantastic. You can discover Lewis's core lessons regarding truth and goodness. So there's a lot of stuff. It's a great way to spend time because you're learning a way to relate well to others and

And maybe some stuff you missed when you were in school. Here's what you do. Go right now to hillsdale.edu slash unashamed to enroll. No cost. It's easy to get started. That's hillsdale.edu slash unashamed to register. Check them out. Hillsdale.edu slash unashamed. Yeah, I would define those a little differently, but we're reaching the same point.

In that, I mean, when you go back to the garden and what happened, you remember when Eve, she looked at, she hears this offer from an evil influence. So basically gives you a choice. Are you going to trust God? Because he said, if you eat of that tree, you're going to die. Well, God was telling the truth. But the evil one basically counter-offered and said, whoa, you know, if you do this, you'll reach your goal.

I'm paraphrasing, but it's basically like you can be your own God determining good and evil. And defining truth, as we were talking about. But Eve was like, when she noticed that this was good for gaining wisdom. And so in light of that, you see what happens. And at first view, you tend to think, well, wait a minute. I thought God said we were going to die. And they ate the fruit and died.

Doesn't look like they died. Which is kind of, you know, if you can remember back to your first sin, whenever that was, which I'm sure is cloudy, you could just use as an illustration, you know. I've never had a cussing problem, but I have said a few, but it was usually within the age of about, you know, 13 to 15, somewhere in there. But I noticed when I said one of these words, nothing happened.

And so I think we tend to think, oh, well, see, God wasn't being truthful. But my point is, if you read a verse like Jesus says, I am the truth. Well, you have a person. Usually we tend to think of what is true. And so we look at legal documents. And this is more about Jesus offering by his death on a cross and resurrection.

Life in him, which is the common phrase in Ephesians, and with him. So it's not just about, okay, we have a legal situation that must be taken care of, because that's the way I think most people view Jesus's death on a cross. Oh, well, something must be done with the sin, which is true, because in God there is no sin. So the consequences of that, death, physical death, because they were separated from the tree of life,

I mean, from the way it started to what transpired, you see all the things God said was true, but it took a little time to look up, kind of like what Zach was using in his illustration, and the consequences. But God is faced with a pretty good dilemma here. It wasn't a dilemma for him, but from our perspective, it's like, well, how do you deal with sin while you still love the sinner? And to me, that's the...

I was going to say magic, but that's a terrible word. That's the inspiration to the nature of God that this is what Jesus did on a cross and resurrection was way more than just atoning for our sins. I mean, you got all these verses about disarming powers, triumphing over them by the cross. Do it with the truth.

Well, yeah, I mean. It's funny, Josh, you mentioned about timing, and you're right. Looking back, you know, when was the first time when I really. But it's interesting. In my mind, I can remember when I crossed over.

I remember the day. I remember what it looked like. So, I mean, I may have committed sins, but I didn't understand the implication. But I was 14 years old. I was on a school bus going to West Monroe High School on the first day. And we stopped in a cul-de-sac to pick up a girl that lived in a trailer. And then that cul-de-sac, when she walked on that bus, I remember looking at her, her body mostly, and looking at her. And in my mind, something changed.

on that day. And so, because the reason I know this now I have the chance to look back is because for the next four years from 14 until I was 18, it got darker and darker and darker. And I was still doing all the same things I was doing before. I was going to church. I was with y'all, but then I just began hiding what was really happening inside my own mind. But I remember the day when all of a sudden evil

meant something to me and it grew. It was progressive. It grew. And it sent me down a rabbit hole and a spiral that eventually, you know, almost killed me. You know what's crazy is I don't remember like the first sin, but I, so when I was in ninth grade, so what, how old would I have been then? 13. 13 or so. Yeah, 13 or 14, which is the year, you know, that eventually I came to Christ. But I remember, so we used to, I had about four or five buddies and,

And we would go to this cabin out in the woods and camp out. And we would squirrel hunt or we'd go catch or shoot whatever the meal was. I mean, we were just young guys having fun, you know, playing basically a version of capture the flag during the night. You know, we hunt during the day. We go fishing. And we would do this every so often.

And so I go there one night, just like we always had. And one of the guys, he had a little treasure box of goodies. And it was three slits, which I don't even know if they make that beer anymore.

There was a marijuana- I remember Slits beer, yeah. A marijuana joint the size of a cigar. Yeah. And all these kind of nudie magazines. And he basically, as soon as we got there- It was a box of sin. Yeah, it was. But it's like that moment changed everything in my life. Yeah. Because they basically, without-

any kind of organization, we went around and was basically saying, are we in or are we out? And everybody was in. Y'all got to think of, you know, this is so crazy of a story on what happened. If you're a fan of everything we're doing here and you like showing us your support, there's a couple of easy things that you can do. You should subscribe to us on YouTube and on whatever podcast app you use as well.

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So it gets to me, and I'm like, I'm thinking, well, I'm out on this. I came to get some fish and shoot some squirrels. Up to now, everything's been just innocent. Oh, yeah. Innocent. I mean, a few four-letter words by some of them, not me, but it just, all of a sudden, this escalated quickly. Yeah. Because I knew this was wrong. I thought, I know this is wrong.

And so I'm kind of, you know, I was a shy guy back then. And all of a sudden, we hear, think that movie, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? We hear singing in the woods. I shared this story two or three years ago. We hear literal, and I was thinking, the God above has sent some angels to

It scared me. But what it was, it was the local youth group that most of these, my buddies, the church they went to, they had decided to surprise us because they said we were going camping out. And the youth pastor had brought them out there. Of course, now here's what I'll tell you. You know you're doing something wrong because the first thing that happened to them when they heard that music, I was thinking this was some kind of miracle. Yeah.

They thought, oh no, it's our youth group coming to surprise us. And that box, that kid who brought the box, he literally jumped under the house and started digging with his hands like we were all fixed to go to prison.

He was going to have that box. Look, and they gathered around and we sang. And the same guy who brought out the box, guess what he was doing when the singing started? Oh, he was crying like a baby. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's just kind of what happened. I never went back. We never got back together after that. Yeah, you knew.

And it wasn't a month later that, you know, everybody went their path and it wasn't good. Yeah. Most of them wound up in that path. I started my path to, you know, finding out the truth about Jesus. But I mean, it was like a moment in my life that it's like, okay, I'm at an age now where, where are we going? Yeah.

What are you going to do with that box? There's a sermon title right there, Zach. That'll preach right there. What are you going to do with that box? Well, that could have gone differently. I mean, maybe God intervened. I'm not sure what I was fixing to say. That happened, but it's one of the strongest memories of my life.

Well, it is, and you see it, you know, and you have the chance to look back. And we were talking about before we came on the air about, you know, the power of the Bible because it's, Hebrews 4.12 says it's living and active because through your life it impacts you. And, Zach, we've been talking about the Holy Spirit. Not only does he live in us, but Peter tells us that the entire Bible was written as men were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

to be able to record everything we now see. So it's like, you know, part of this huge plan of God was that we would have everything we needed, but you don't really recognize it in the moments you're living. A lot of times it's when you're reflective and you look back and see what it's done and how it's impacted you, how it's made you better. Yeah. I've been doing a study on this, the two worlds within the world, which I haven't obviously brought up to y'all because that sounds complicated, but,

But when Phil read those verses about, you know, go preach Jesus, the gospel.

To the world. You know, world is used a lot in the Bible. And sometimes... It means different things. They did it. Yeah. Well, it means different things, though. I mean, sometimes it means the universe. Sometimes it means just the planet. It does. The trees. Sometimes it's culture. You know, what's directly around you. Sometimes it's the structure and system of the world. Correct. Sometimes it's the people in the world. But sometimes...

It's the organized evil of the world. Which is what I think Satan was referring to when he told Jesus that I control the world. Well, exactly. That's what I was going to read. So if you read John, if you read James 4, verse 4, I think you'll find this interesting.

It says, you adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Well, what kind of world is he talking about there? I mean, God made the world. God loves the world. So what is he talking about? He's talking about these...

This organized evil of the world. Another one is 1 John 2, where it says, do not love, verse 15, the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Yep. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, the boast in what he's done.

what he does, does not come from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. That's why I brought up that Adam and Eve, because they created their own world without God when they chose not to trust God, and they gave in to an evil part of the world, which was the evil one. That's why 1 John 5, 19 says that the whole world...

is under the control of the evil one. But you know what's interesting? What I want to make the point of is when you read 1 John 5 and verse 4, it says, "...everyone born of God..."

overcomes the world. And he's obviously talking about being born again. This is the victory that has overcome the world. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the son of God. So it's like, as in Adam, all die. Remember 1 Corinthians 15. If you're related to Adam and part of the world,

By definition of 1 John 2, we eventually give in to the cravings of sinful man, the boastful desires. But if you're related to Jesus, it says all will be made alive. That's 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 through 24. Speaking of Jesus, what he was going to do through his death and resurrection, it says in verse 30,

This voice was for your benefit, not mine. And this was when a voice came saying, I have glorified it and will glorify it again, speaking of Jesus. But verse 31 says, now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out. But when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself.

And you say, what is your point here? My point is, when you read Ephesians 1, 7, saying Jesus died for our justification, you know, our atonement, it was bigger than that. Jesus basically, by him dying, disarmed these powers, this human-created world, without him of giving in to sin. And he basically made it possible for

for us to be crucified to the world itself. You remember the Galatians 6? I mean, it's a failed read Galatians 1. I was thinking this when he was reading that. It's so weird how we were thinking the same thing. But when you read Galatians 6, verse 14, may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look,

through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. So then if you put that in your brain and read another one of his predictions, you remember when he told his disciples in John 15, he said, I have chosen you out of the world. Where's that? Verse 19.

If you belong to the world, it will love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That's why the world hates you. Look, he says the same thing in another point in John 17 and verse 16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of

Now look, that verse 17, sanctify them. There's that word again. By the truth. Yep. Your word is truth. I'm reading all this because where I left off was that 2 Corinthians 5, which look, I've been so excited about this study because when I ran up on that 2 Corinthians 5, I started humming that A Whole New World song.

Because he says we're trying to persuade men. That's why when Jesus, I mean, when Phil read the passage, we go into the whole world sharing the gospel. So we try to persuade men because we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And then it says in verse 14, for Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all.

and therefore all died. And I talked about that on the last podcast, but that statement itself shows you that Jesus died for the world. That's why he said it compels us to go and persuade men because we're like, hey, it's bigger than this world. There's another world that's under the phrase in Christ so that you can be with Christ forever. But watch what he then says.

In verse 15, and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. So my point is, it's not just about the forgiveness of sins. People look at that and say, oh, well, he had to take care of that and he took care of it. No, he disarmed the powers. He gave you a reason to no longer live for yourselves. He crucified the world to you and you to the world.

And then it says, so verse 16 makes sense. And this is where I was going with all this. So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Because he just said he died for all. So we try to persuade him. We're not looking at people from a worldly point of view, like they're trapped, like they can only be sinners. God has a plan to rescue the world.

And then it says, though we once regarded Christ in this way, because they just thought he was some carpenter Jew from Nazareth, what's he going to do? Yeah. He's like, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone's in Christ...

He is a new creation, which goes back to Genesis 1 and 2, where it all went wrong in chapter 3. But now God in Jesus and his death on a cross and resurrection and ascending to the right hand of God has created a new creation itself. So my point is it's bigger than just one aspect of

Of what happened on the cross. And some guy, I was watching the golf tournament Sunday, and some guy in Dublin, Ohio, managed to get in every shot, it seemed like, with a poster across his chest of John 3.16. And I was thinking about it, Jason, when you were reading that, which is a famous verse, right? For God so loved the world.

that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Well, listen to how that goes in with this. In 2 Corinthians 5, I didn't read this last time. In verse 18, it says, all this is from God who reconciled to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Verse 19 is, just listen to this.

that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Right. I mean, what does that make you want to do? It makes you want to go out into the world and say, hey, there's a better world. Amen. This is...

This is not the world you want to be in. This is a better world.

And I think it also keeps us from, you know, when you try to compartmentalize God and these things that are accomplished in the cross, when you start looking at them compartment by compartment, I think we tend to miss the big picture sometimes here. We do. And I think people look at us and look at religion that don't understand, that don't know truth, is that truth condemns. But the point you've been making the whole time, the point in Jesus' name, John, is

Truth saves. Truth. Yeah. And it's for everybody. It's for everybody. That's what stands out to me when I read this stuff. I like James' idea. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth. There it is again. That we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. Listening and doing. My dear friends, take note. I like this. When somebody says, well, why don't you speak up or speak out? Everyone should be quick to listen.

Slow to speak and slow to become angry. That's a good way to live. So my final analysis is there are two worlds, the human world of which we live and the human world in Christ. Choose wisely. That's a great way to end our podcast. We'll pick it up next time. Boy, that was fast.

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