Ep 936 | Jase Calls Out Uncle Si’s Noisy Church Antics from the Pulpit & Si Relishes Being Weird
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From a few days offside, we have to take a few. We're not like the duck call room where you guys just never take a day off. Oh, y'all actually shut it down for a while. We shut it down for a few days. We had to work our tails off to get there because you got to do something ahead. But in real time, who would notice? Nobody would know because it feels like to the audience, we've been rocking and rolling, but we actually were off a week. But we were working ahead. Instead of doing four a week, we were doing six a week. Yeah.

That's grand. Yeah, it was. Well, you know, it's a good grind. I actually got some interesting. We traded Zach for Si, by the way. I'd say most people think that's an upgrade, Si. You taught him everything he knows. Well, I enjoy being here. People always ask me when they used to say, well, why don't you preach more? And I said, well, I'm not a preacher. Phil, Al, and Jace are preachers.

But then when I finally got down right down to it. But you will preach. Hey, I will preach. Here's the crazy thing. I actually enjoy it now. Oh, I know. Because it gets in your blood. I knew when you had your coming out party is when they asked me to speak at where Al speaks so much. And I'm up there talking, and then all of a sudden I hear this voice.

And it wasn't the Jesus guy. Lively. Lively, Kurt Lively, he honored Jesus. And I'm like, who is that talking? And then I realized Cy is making a point.

From about five rows from the back row. I couldn't help it. I could never quite hear him, but I could hear him talking about that. And I thought, okay, Si, I got this. This is my turn. Sometimes you get so excited. But I could tell. You made a good point, and I kind of just reemphasized it. I didn't want to miss it. Y'all need to get this, okay?

I actually told my wife the last time you were on the podcast, which wasn't very long ago. I was like, I'm telling you, I was impressed with Si's Bible knowledge and his...

Well, and that's what we, I mean, like we enjoy, you know, the duck call room is fun and frivolity and stories, and it's a great podcast. This one's a little more serious, but so you get to play both sides. Well, no, no, because that's the good part about this. Okay. I get to have fun. Yeah. Okay. Because my motto is, hey, guys, if we can't have fun, guess what?

Yours truly is going to be missing. Well, living in Jesus is supposed to be glorious. Well, no, no, because I'm saying, hey, look, if anybody on this world should be happy and joyful, it is those that are in Christ for crying out loud. That's exactly right. Good grief. You know what the biggest problem I had as a new Christian is when I would go to the church building, because we weren't technically raised in the church, I guess. So going to church...

was like a new thing to me. And I guess when we were kids, the few times we went, I really wasn't paying attention. But what I found a big contrast in is like you'd go to a football game because we're all sports fans. And people are hollering, jumping up and down, getting mad at the refs. But then when they scored, I mean, just literally. Joyous. It's unbridled.

Joy, jumping up and down, tears flowing, hugging people, you know, over a high school football game. Yeah, or college. And then two days later. It's actually the ultimate unity because, like, these people are people you may not have anything to do with in any other situation. But we come tonight, we put the colors on, we put the purple and gold, and we are all one. And are ready to go to war. Yeah. If there's a bad call or whatever. Yeah.

And then two days later, we're at the church building, and look, they're just like, I mean, head cocked back. Wait a minute, are these the same people that I was with Friday night? I'm talking about borderline depressed. Oh, yeah. And I just remember being fascinated as a teenager, I thought. I mean, there's zero joy. And our grandpa would sleep, but then we'd say, Paul, were you sleeping during the sermon? He said, no, boy, I was just resting my eyes.

And it just seemed like a contrast. I thought, you know, we're going to live forever. We got the greatest news. We have purpose. It just seemed like there would be something. Yeah. It'd be a little more exciting. But, you know. Yeah, but like you were talking about, I had too much guilt trip that I couldn't get rid of.

That was my problem because I was always messing up. God, what's wrong with you? You're just always doing wrong. And most of the time, the group we grew up with, the sermons were adding on to that guilt. No, no, they were. I mean, it wasn't really helping you out of that. No, no, because that was what the youth minister yesterday preached a great lesson on faith, and it got to me thinking.

You know, because, you know, well, here's the thing, because I'm sitting here and I was looking at that picture, okay, and I was talking about... There's a picture of a mountain on the screen. Yeah, beautiful, and it's covered up all the different colors. Yep. You know, the human race messed up with creation.

Okay, because they still hadn't got it right. Yep. Okay, everything you see is too perfect. Okay, there has to be a supreme being. Yeah, it's too beautiful. It's too beautiful and too perfect, and everything works according to his plan. Yeah. Yeah, it's just hard to believe that it just came out of nowhere. Yeah, no, no, because, hey, when they say, oh, a big bang theory. Hey, look, I spent 24 and a half years in the military. Yeah.

You don't have to tell me about big bangs. Okay, because we got it all. You've heard some big bangs. We got it all. I've made that same point, Si. Every time I've seen a big bang, it resulted in destruction. Chaos. Yeah, total chaos. Not complete beauty and uniformity. Oh, yeah. That's a great point. So that's why the human race has went astray.

Because of creation. Okay. And like Phil said, hey, you idiots, we're telling time by this man called Jesus Christ. He must have done something really big. We're still counting time, babe. Yeah. We might ought to look into that and say, well, let's, oh, what else is there? Like the Paul Harvey story. Give me the rest of the story, please. What you run into, Si, is the body is a unit.

though it is made up of many parts. And though all these parts, its parts, are many, they form one body. So it is with you, for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews, Greeks, slave, or free, we were all given the one Spirit to drink."

And what a body. That is Jesus Christ. That's the study of 1 Corinthians 12. You know, I was thinking, we're at the end of Ephesians 2, and I was thinking that just in studying this, because it goes down that vein of God bringing the entire human family together in Jesus. But it has these words like he...

tore down the wall, you know, the hostility that was between Jews and Gentiles. But basically just you're getting a picture of it's hard to get along with people. It's hard to get along with your family. And so it made me realize that, you know, even that wall I think he's referring to, when the Temple of Jerusalem under the Jewish system, when you looked at it, there was a wall there.

around it. And they had inscriptions on it that anyone not from Israel were not welcome on penalty of death. You don't even go in here. And which is fascinating when you look up the old pictures and look at those inscriptions. I mean, you can't have any more hostility than that. They're saying, if you're not a Jew, you're not welcome. That's right. Or we'll hurt you.

And so, you know, Jesus doing that, but it goes back to your point even about creation. You know, if God is going to, you know, if there is a God, which we're all like, we'll look at creation, and he had a plan to bring all people together, well, how would you pull that off? Because it's so hard to get people to agree. We're all different. And it made me think about true unity. What he's offering here is not like uniformity,

in the body of Christ, to Phil's point. We're all different parts. Right, different backgrounds. And that's what's really beautiful about him being the head of the church is that we now have his love, which can show the world, look, despite all our differences, when we gather up on Sunday mornings,

from people, with people from every kind of culture. They've done every kind of sin. They have all these different personalities. And despite our differences, we have unity in Christ. I mean, that is really what I think speaks to the powers, the evil powers of this world, which I think tries to divide us.

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Gymnastics go on all year, I guess. But I know a lot about it because, like Jace, I've been watching the Olympics since I was a kid. But I don't even watch gymnastics every four years. And so I know it pretty well. So the U.S. men had not won a medal in several Olympics. I don't know why, but they hadn't been that good. And they won the bronze this year. But it's so funny because it was like they won the gold. They were so excited to win. But I started getting texts. We weren't watching it at the moment.

And I started getting texts, hey, there's some guy who's the dad of one of the U.S. gymnasts that, you know, because they're on right now, they're competing for the medals.

And they're wearing a hat like Jason and I have on today, a gospel hat. And they keep showing him in the stands. I was like, really? So I turned it on. And sure enough, this guy, his name is Brody Malone, who's the gymnast's dad, JD. Every time they would show him in the stands, he had one of our gospel symbol hats. And they just kept showing it. You're trying to get me back in, aren't you? I mean, I was. So look. So I took a picture of my TV and I sent it.

To Brian Robinson, who's the guy that makes these hats. And I was like, hey, your hat made the Olympics. He's like, oh, yeah, I know him. He's bought stuff from us before. He loves your podcast. He listens to Duck Call Room and Unashamed. I was like, really? He's from Georgia. And so I said, well, that's great. So that was the end of it. I sent the pictures to Beth and some of our production people. I said, look, we made the Olympics. And then I get an email the next day or two days later from this guy.

And I guess somebody must have told him we knew about it. And he sent the nicest email about our family. And he's a single dad, his wife died of cancer. So he raised his kids pretty much on his own. He said, you know, the show got me through a lot.

And I love what you guys do with the word of God. So I'm like, well, we need to get you on the podcast. We need to hear your story, what it was like. And he said, well, let me pray on that one. So he's praying about it. We'll see if he shows up. But it was amazing. So I was like, Jay, it's redemption on the Olympics. The gospel was there. Well, I've always viewed sports as a way to bring people together because we're talking about unity in Christ. But I've always thought sports,

is a good thing because every four years, whatever differences we have in countries and all, you know, we come together just for the love of sports and we have people represent our country. So I always thought it was an awesome thing. They're in the race. Okay. Exactly. And it's a difference, you know, when you think about, you know, people going to the Olympics is one thing, but having people represented, uh,

from your country, well, they're just think of the denial of their self and all the sacrifice and training and all, you know, it's kind of a beautiful thing that what they're doing is a totally different mindset, but it does generally bring people together, which is why it's so frustrating when people try to attack, uh,

you know, basic male, female genders or, you know, attack Christianity through, you know, through that kind of thing. And it's, you're right. It's such a shame because, I mean, there's 2 billion Christians in the world. So why would you want to do something like that in a unifying event? And I know they thought whoever dreamed that up without, they were being edgy. And I thought, no, you want to be edgy.

in France do something about Muhammad like that and see what happens. Well, right. You know, so what I'm saying is it's just, it's a shame that any of that is done, you know, and you're right. It's soiled it. So their numbers are way down this year. And I think that's part of the big reason. That's part of the reason because I, you're, it's a, it's a lack of love. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Cause any human being I see, I always want the best for him. Right.

Okay, and I mean, that's just me. Why would you get mad because somebody hit a lottery? Yep. Yeah. Be happy for the dude. That's right. Good grief. Yeah, I agree. So it's a shame that it's that way. And there's a lot of great stories. That had no place there. In fact, it's interesting, Jase. You know, we went back. Remember we studied Corinthians on the podcast. There were ancient games that were going on. So when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he even had a little –

you know, bit in first Corinthians nine about when you go into the games and the strict training. And so interesting how ancient and old this idea of competing at that level, Lisa and I went on a cruise a couple of years ago and we went to Mount Olympus, which is in Greece where they had, you know, the early ancient games. And so they showed you what the place looked like. Now it's just some ruins, but even still there's like a earth stadium, uh,

It's still there. You know, it's got the big high walls on the side and there was a competition field down there. And you just think, man, they've been doing this for a long, long time, this idea about competition. And it's even biblical because it's mentioned. Exactly. And I'm just not, you know, we're at a time in our culture where there's just an attack on the family culture.

Male, female, husband, wife, having kids. Even in our country, the vice president candidate, J.D. Vance, well, his big thing is pro-family. I want policies that help families and I want policies that help people when they have kids.

And he's been real clear why, because he grew up in a really tough situation. So, I mean, from his own experience, it's just like we tell our story. Their opponents, they came because they're like, oh, we got to attack him because they're not for him. They're like, well, that's just weird. But now it's like that's their whole attack against him. And I'm like. Family is weird. Having a family, being pro family.

Is actually weird. That should really be something that both sides are for. Well, no, no. I mean, wouldn't it? What a weirdo. It goes back to the love thing. Yeah. Okay. They attack something that is geared. Okay. God put the plan together. They attack something that is geared for unity. Okay. Right.

David Warren's attacked it, okay? That's why, you know, but it just, you know. Well, what I'm saying, though, is, you know, if husbands and wives, you know, male and females don't get together,

If we just ended that, there would be no humanity after one generation. Yeah. This is how you get here. I feel like Phil has given all these blunt arguments in the past, but it kind of gets back to that. Yeah. I'm like, if my mom and dad didn't get together in a sexual relationship, I literally would not be here. Well, no, no, because here's what, hey, in any game,

There's rules of the game. Yeah. That's a good point, Si. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. And, hey, for the human race, here's the rules. It takes a male and a female, and they got to get together to make another human being. Yeah. Profound. Hey, it don't happen no other way. Si, you know what that is now, if you believe that? Weird. Weird.

Well, hey, Weird is my middle name. Okay. That's what Dad always said. Luckily, Weird is in around here. Since Christ indeed has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came to a man. To a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Each in his own turn. Christ the firstfruits. Then when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom of God, the Father, after he's destroyed all dominion.

all authority and all power for he must reign until he's put all of his enemies under his feet. And listen to this. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. And hey, did you hear that sound? It was a light bulb coming on. You got it, son. You should have seen the light, you big dummy. Reach out. So Jace, it's 2024. How's your liver doing?

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and claim your free bonus gift. That's getliverhelp.com slash unashamed. So, Jase, you intrigued me. I'll segue us into Ephesians 3, which is where we are today. You intrigued me with this Caddies for Jesus thing. That's really good. It's percolating in my mind. There's a sermon working. But because I thought about this text, that's exactly a good description of what Paul describes himself. In other words...

He's like, look, because he starts out like he's going to do this prayer in verse one. For this reason, I appalled the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of Gentiles. And then it's like I call it the J's rabbit hole. He's about to do this prayer, which he picks up again in 14. He uses the same language. So these next 13 verses in between there is him going down a rabbit hole about his unique position.

of why God called him to do what he did. But it's interesting to me the way he starts it. He says, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus, which

Which was interesting the way he put that. Now, we know he wrote these as he was incarcerated, or at least house arrest. So he's a prisoner. But he didn't say, I'm a prisoner for Christ Jesus. He said, of Christ Jesus, which I think is really interesting. He shows you his heart and kind of who the star should be. And this is what takes me back to this caddy thing. The idea that I'm just a reflection of...

The real deal is the guy that's actually putting the ball in the hole, but I'm the guy that's telling you about him. But the thing is, again, I'll go back to love and serving. Okay? The caddy is serving the golf player, the man. He's making sure that everything he's doing is the best it can possibly be. Yep. And that's the same thing with Christ. Same thing.

Because that's why I always love to tell it, okay, I know the man that hung the sun, moon, and stars. That'd be Christ Jesus. And hey, his power sustains it. Well, you remember he was, you know, before we get into the details about being specially commissioned for the Gentiles, you remember what happened. Because his...

His, I guess, coming to Jesus was more like Jesus coming to him. Yeah. Literally. Because you had this scene of Stephen. So Stephen is basically attacking the two things that Paul is fixed to attack in Ephesians 3. Correct. Which was, there's a new temple. Yep. This wall saying nobody else is welcome. Yep.

That's going to be torn down. A wall must come down. It literally was torn down in AD 70. And remember, Jesus, that was one of the things that he wept about when he looked out and made this prediction that this was going to happen, the destruction of the temple.

And he was sad. I mean, he literally was sad. He said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. I mean, why have you gotten to this point? And he's looking ahead, Jason, right? He's looking ahead 40 years and seeing it all come down. But the other thing that Stephen, because he said that in Stephen's sermon in verse 48 of chapter 7.

He said, that's a long sermon. We've covered it many times in various podcasts. But he said, the Most High does not live in temples made by men. Well, now I'm at the end of his sermon. He introduced Jesus, who he was, being God in human form. And he introduced all of the Old Testament pointing to Jesus. Because he talks about Moses and...

So then he says, he brings up the second thing Paul's going to bring up in Ephesians 3 when he said you couldn't keep the law. Yeah, he gets down to 51 of chapter 7 in Acts. He says, you stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You're just like your fathers. You resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet your fathers didn't persecute?

They even killed those who predicted the one, the coming of the righteous one. And now you betrayed and murdered him. You, here's thing two that they got upset about. You who have received the law that was put into effect through angels, but have not obeyed it.

When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth. So he attacked their temple and he attacked that they couldn't keep the law. That was the two things that they were hinging their whole salvation on. And so, and we remember what happened. He looks up and sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The only time in the entire Bible where Jesus is not sitting at the right hand of God, which I think is, it means something. I think when Jesus is,

followers are being persecuted it gets his attention but that's just my opinion so they pick up rocks and they kill him and then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him meanwhile the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named saul and so and then eight one says saul was there giving approval to his death so next chapter you get to chapter nine

Saul, he's still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. And, you know, he's traveling down the road. And then all of a sudden on his journey, this is 9-3, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

So this is the Jesus encounter. Oh, no. Yeah. You heard the click there, boys? The light. Yeah. And he said, who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you're persecuting, which is a very interesting statement because Jesus is at the right hand of God, but he says, you're persecuting me. And so when you think about what that means, as spirit of Jesus people,

you know, Stephen had the spirit of Jesus in him. Well, no, no. When he was persecuting him, that means you're persecuting Jesus. Well, no, no. That's the reason I like your point. That's the reason Jesus stood up. Exactly. I agree. And that means, look, when you're suffering, guess who else is? Jesus is right there with you. I mean, look now, we're getting into a sermon here. So you see that. Great tone, brother. You see that in chapter 3.

When he says, I mean, you meant to read it? Yeah. Because it gives his, there's a lot going on in here, but that one rabbit hole is in here that Al mentioned. So he said, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. Now look how this has come full circle. He went from persecuting and killing to having a conversation with Jesus literally, literally.

And now he's being persecuted. And in essence, Jesus being persecuted. I mean, that's true transformation. And it's even transformation that's gone into something almost unbelievable. And it was all planned. Because remember when God, Jesus was talking to Ananias, he said, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. For my cause. Yeah.

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So then he says, surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. It's interesting, Jace, that word administration is the only place that appears in the Greek word. Well, I saw that in your notes, which he mentions it again in 310. Right.

His intent was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God. Oh, no, in nine. We'll get to it in nine. But he also, because I looked up the Greek word for that, he also mentions it

In chapter 1 and verse 9 and 10, the word administration was not translated, but it's the same phrase that says, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ. That same word for the administration. So you just think it's God administering his grace in Jesus, and he does it.

In people. Yeah. And unlikely people. Well, the thing that I get out of this the most, though, okay, is a lot of people, they don't understand. You've got to have a personal relationship with Christ. No, I agree, sir. It's missed. And which is the point about- The underlying ways or current or however you want to say it, this thing is personal.

Yeah. Okay. It's got to be personal to you because it's definitely personal with Jesus. Well, just look in the story we just read. He was attacking their temple and their law. Oh, yeah. Well, they're mad. And then all of a sudden, something real personal happened because this Jesus who he had just proclaimed to him, he looks up and sees him. Yeah. How much more personal are you going to get? Well, here's Paul attacking in the name of law keeping and temple worship.

And now he has the same experience, yet totally opposite, where Jesus is now still at the right hand of God confronting him, saying...

Why are you persecuting? Hey, dude, why are you doing this to me? Yeah. And to your point earlier, Seth, he saw the light and it was so bright, it blinded him. For three days. For three days. No, no. I mean, that's how bright that light was. No, no. And then scales fall off his eyes. Exactly. Okay. And he really begins to see. That's right. Exactly. So let me read this. So surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you.

That is the mystery made known to me by revelation. And I would add, I mean, now I saw in your notes, you had a lot of verses about the spirit and the spirit speaking through people. Right. But he literally had a revelation message

In a literal sense. Yeah, but you're looking for the word. He had a revelation that was personally addressed to him. Direct revelation. Direct. I lean toward that being more significant, I think, than most people. Because when Paul says it's different. Because we had one of our instructors in the school.

And, you know, I would read a lot of verses about like, well, we should be like Paul, you know, sharing Jesus and going town to town and being persecuted. And he's like, well, Paul was specially commissioned. And he went here for that. I was like, well, I get it. He was specially commissioned, but we're doing the same thing. But his special commission, his conversion was different than everybody else's. He had a literal, physical conversion.

I mean, it's a spiritual, I guess, because Jesus was at the right hand of God. But when there's an audible voice and then there's a display of light and you're blinded.

This was a special commission. And he even said in 1 Corinthians 15, remember the phrase he used, and to me, as one who is abnormally born, was the way he described his way in. Oh, no. In other words, it wasn't like everybody else. He was comparing this after the disciples. He's like, look, this happened to me, and it's something that makes me unique. Yeah. But look, he went through the same process that we did. Exactly. God had a caddy.

and a nice who doesn't seem like a significant character in the Bible. He said, go down here and talk to this guy. So they spend a few days together. And you say, well, why? Because what I've learned, I don't know who said this, but it's right. Most of the time in life, we have this saying, seeing is believing. I've said it a thousand times. But in Christ, hearing is believing.

Think about it. Think about Romans 10. Faith comes through hearing the message. And so even though he had this encounter. How can they hear if we don't tell them? He was blinded. You know why? Because in Christ, hearing is believing. He was hearing and he was listening. And then he sent him. He still allowed him to go through the same process we do. Humble yourself and listen to my guy, Ananias. And he does.

And then he goes through the same process. You remember at the end when he gave his conversion in Acts 22, he winds up, and I believe it was Ananias that said, what are you waiting for? Arise, be baptized, and wash your sins away. And there's the humility that came from that. And he received the same spirit that we received. Guess where this took me? And a lot of people have said stuff. It took me when Jesus is hanging on a cross and the thief...

was beside him. Yeah. And Jesus, he got on the other guy for saying, hey, this man has done nothing. But Jesus turned to the other one and said, hey, because of this, you're with me today in paradise. Yeah.

Okay. Personal conversion. Yeah, exactly. Personal conversion. Because he recognized Jesus in the moment. He recognized Jesus to be who he says he was. Right. Yeah. Okay. In a very difficult moment. No, no. Yeah. And I can't say it good enough.

This is a personal relationship we're talking about here, folks. Yeah. Good point, son. So look, let me read 3-4. So in reading this, then you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men and other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.

The mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. And that goes back to him destroying the hostility and tearing down the wall.

members together of one body which is why phil read the verse in first corinthians 12 and shares together in the promise in christ jesus but i'll add despite our differences you know in personalities and cultures and race and sins and background that that that's where the real power is of this and that that's where the unity's at that's right

And what you just read, Paul goes into it in greater detail in Romans 10, 11 and, you know, 9, 10, 11 and 12. And it ends with love. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

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And then he says, I became a servant of this gospel. That's why I came up with the little caddy analogy. By the gift of God's grace.

given me through the working of his power and i want to add here he's saying the same things that he said in the first two chapters yeah over and over he's going back to the power uh heaven and earth coming together which we're fixed to read uh he really restates that whole he restates the first two chapters in a personal way he's saying i've seen it i know it this is me

Yeah. And it was all a plan. It started at the beginning of time. All right, let me keep reading. So verse eight of chapter three, although I am less than the least of all God's people. And that's not just the apostles. He said, that's all God's people. Well, I believe that because one, he's in prison right now. So just think about it. You wouldn't think

Most time when someone's in prison, that's a shameful thing. And I think that's why he started this off saying as a prisoner of Christ, but he was actually in prison, which we view as, Oh, you know, what do you, who are you? Who do you think you are? You're in prison. And I, and I do think it's because of his past that we read. That's why I wanted to read it. He was killing other followers of Jesus.

So I do think if we were to go down the road, what's the worst thing you could do? That's got to be in the top three. If your past sins are killing other followers of Jesus. Terrorizing. Yeah. Yeah. Would y'all agree with that? Absolutely. So you're seeing his humility and like what you said about, you know, when you go to the, when you were younger and you would go to church and you were so guilt ridden.

And that was kind of on you because basically we were in a group that was stressing more the wrath of God and judgment of God rather than the love of God and the personal relationship, which, look, is still going on in our culture today, which we didn't really say. But if you're going to a church every Sunday and you're walking out of there miserable and depressed, you might want to stop and think, well, wait a minute here. At some point,

where's the excitement and where's the god's gift of grace that we're reading about that brings peace and joy and love and you know jay's this really though it's how people people i heard this several times watching the olympics this is a redemption tour this is a redemption story because these people had lost four years ago or eight years ago and now they're getting a chance to win and americans love a redemption story but it really goes back to this i mean

As much as Paul was down on himself, he said, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the worst of sinners. Here he says, I'm the least of any of God's people. So he's making it clear. I'm nothing. But just think about it. We love a story where a guy realizes he was wrong and says, you know what? I need to do better. I mean, so I can appreciate Paul probably more than Paul appreciated Paul. Well, his personal conversion is this for me.

The human race, and I'm part of the human race, and I've been stupid too. We're stupid. We're ignorant. Yeah. Okay? So there's a lot of times that God has got to go to the ultimate to get our attention. That's right. Yeah, which is why we do, why there are bad things that happen, because then in those moments...

you realize there's a God and I'm not him. And that's when he shines the greatest. Yeah. And if there's no God, well, then I'm doomed anyway. I mean, there's a personal reflection there in life when bad things happen that we all have that reminds us of our own mortality. Well, no, no, because when I got here, I said, I had just been thinking, you know, in and of yourself, what have you got?

And the answer is a goose egg. Zero. Yeah, exactly. And then if you go and search the scriptures, what we're talking about today, you're talking about the man, Jesus Christ. Well, you ought to look at the pros and cons of being in him. Yeah. Because 2 Corinthians 1, verse 18 says, hey, all the answers in Christ Jesus are yes answers.

Yeah. Yeah. Good. So let me read this. One of the yeses is it says that his grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. I mean, to your point, they're so rich.

That you can't even wrap your head around, which he's going to kind of repeat in his prayer when he's like to him who can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. Just think about that statement. I want to read the rest of this. So verse nine, it says, and to make plain to everyone, the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things.

His intent was that now through the church, the wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in him and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. So really, you say, well, what was his point? His point was, because the whole chapter, the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3 is him saying,

bringing a new humanity a new amen everybody there's a new creation of people yep and and he's going to double down on that when he gets to chapter four uh when he makes the comment about the new self you know 22 it's like you were with your former way of life to put off your old self to be made new verse 23 in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created

To be like God in true righteousness. There's a new creation. The whole rest of the book. Because I didn't get that. When I was young, I didn't get that. Because when I come out of that water, when I reenacted Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, I didn't get that.

Hey, I am a new creation. Yeah. Well, you know what I didn't get before we studied Ephesians? I didn't get that when he's making this point about tearing down the wall between Jews and Gentiles, we're going back to the initial creation of mankind. There's a new tree of life, which was Jesus dead on a tree. Oh, yeah. And now all of a sudden.

We have a new creation. Look, there's a new liberation. Remember when he led the people out of Exodus and he freed them from captivity? Well, Ephesians 2, the first few verses, we were all captive in sin. We've now been freed. There's a new creation. There's a new Exodus. And it's all because of what Jesus has done. And it's the only place on the planet to bring all people together. And I think I loved your earlier point that

And all of us have that opportunity to be ordained for the moment. Because that's what Paul's describing. He knew he was ordained for the moment. In the movies, there's one of my favorite scenes of the blind is when you and mom are standing on the front porch and the boys are playing down the yard. You're in your uniform. And the frustration that you both are sharing with each other over wishing and hoping dad would figure something out. Yeah.

To me, that speaks to the human existence of where we are. We get to that place where we love somebody so much, but you can't change them. They have to have that personal relationship. We've been talking about this all the time. But then when it happens, the joy that comes out of being ordained for the moment is so great. And the thing about it is what you can't understand is what God has to do.

To finally make it at that moment. That's right. When you finally, the Bible says- We relent. Yeah. The prodigal son, he did what? He came to his senses. That's right. I want to read one more. Finally, the light bulb clicked on. The light bulb clicked on. That's it. And said, oh, what have I done? What's wrong with me? And the picture of him coming back was not one of-

Making him feel worse about himself and all that. I always figured God was sitting there with a hammer, and every time I mess up, he did. That's right. Okay, and that's my ignorance, okay? That's a lot of hammering. Yeah. No, no. No, no. It took a lot. Okay? It took a lot to get to me. Okay? But you got to think about this. Okay? Back to personal. This is the most beautiful thing you will ever have the chance to be involved in. That's it.

Okay, because Jay's just read it. Here's what's entangled into this, where you will spend eternity. Yeah. That's what we're talking about here. We're talking about the man, Jesus Christ, but hey, with him, with him, you're talking about where are you going to spend eternity, dude or lady? Yeah. I want to read one more passage. I know it's time to go, but because I...

Speaking of Paul's specially commissioned and that this is for everyone and it was accomplished through Jesus becoming a man, I think 1 Timothy 2...

is a really good place to go. In verse 3 through 5, it says,

The testimony given in its proper time, which is what he's referring to, that this mystery has now been revealed. And for this very purpose, I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying. And a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. And again, hey.

Jesus right now is sitting and waiting, and he's waiting for you. That's it. You have this chance to make a personal decision. Ordained for the moment. You're ordained for the moment. And hey, and your eternal soul is involved here. Where you're going to spend eternity is involved. Jesus is waiting. He's looking. He's watching. He knows you.

That's good. And he wants you to say, Lord, help me. That sounds like an invitation, Dave. I told you so I could preach. All right, we're out of time, Si. It always goes fast when you're on. Thanks for coming. Oh, it's always my pleasure. And I always learn something. I always go away with something that...

It's good for yours truly. There you go. All right, we'll see you next time on Unashamed. 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 BlazeTV at blazetv.com slash unashamed.