Ep 991 | Jase Wins Craziest Wager He’s Ever Made & How Do We Know the Bible Is Valid?
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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to unashamed. Um, still in our different locations, uh, coming to you, but, uh, we're excited about it. We're still waiting on dad to get, uh, get that back lined out, but hopefully we'll get him back on here soon. Uh, keep him in your prayers for sure. Um, I sent y'all, uh,

that Jason Zach, an interesting article that I ran across about an archaeological find in the Judean desert. And it was really, it was interesting because this date dated back, they think around the fifth century. There were some monks that were there, these Byzantine monks, and it was written in Koine Greek and it was

The first two verses, kind of a translation of the first two verses from Psalm 86. But this thing was written in stone, which was really interesting because most of the stuff they find, you know, up in the in that desert or on papyrus or, you know, different kind of writing things. And they don't find it very often in stone. But I thought it was really interesting that the verses say, hear me, Lord, and answer me for I am poor and needy.

Guard my life for I'm faithful to you. Save your servant who trusted you. You are my God. And it was written in the same Kornet Greek that the New Testament comes from as well. And so it just it was really encouraging and inspiring to me because, you know, you think about it like that. We wouldn't still be finding stuff.

But there's so much there. And the guy that was describing it says like he felt like Indiana Jones, you know, because there's all these caves and, you know, there's places that just still haven't been looked at in depth. And so they're going back in, you know, like this year they're planning another three week trip. And so I just I find it interesting that every time something is found, you

It just deepens our understanding of this whole thing. The Bible, our belief system, all of it. In other words, they're not finding something that says, oh, no, that's true. They continue to give evidences that all this is real. And we're talking about going back

what, 1,500 years to find this. So it was really fascinating to me. And you can look that up because it just happened this last week. And so I ran across that on X. But it's just encouraging, Zach. I mean, you think about that. We talk about apologetics, but it's really just discovering things that continue to point to who God is. Oh, no question. If you apply the same standard, the same academic standard,

to the Bible that we do other books of antiquity, there's not really any, any other book that comes close in terms of the validity of the, the historicity of it. It's just, it's, it's, it's, there's so many copies and it's so much to testifies to the validity of, of just its accuracy. So I think that's true with the problem is people want to interpret it and they don't want to apply the same standard. They want to use,

some other standard that doesn't exist in the world to somehow validate it. And, but you know, for me, the greatest evidence though is honestly just seeing lives change, seeing my own life change, seeing the transformation that I see in people and,

The, and then just the, the aspect of why do I even appreciate beauty in the world? And why do things that are, why are things that are good, good? Well, you know, why are things that are bad, bad? Like there's that, this, that there's like, he's just everywhere and he's inescapable. So for me, it's, it's, but the, but this kind of stuff does encourage me every time I read it. So, yeah.

Thanks for saying that. I don't know. Yeah. And it's, it's that it's the two revelations we talk about is the, you know, from, from Romans one, you see the idea of what we see and,

Every day, which is kind of what you were just describing, you see God in so much stuff. And so there's that general revelation. And then you get this specific revelation like this, where it's actually words written down by spirit-filled people over the course of thousands of years of human history into a story that still is being told about this Jesus of Nazareth.

and him being God in flesh. And so it really is, it really is incredible. And I mean, we've dedicated our lives to not only researching and studying and figuring out ways that shapes us, but also, you know, sharing what it can do for people, you know, because we all have the same human condition. Yeah. It made me read Psalm 86, which is a beautiful, I mean, just as being a human being, I mean, you see why somebody wrote this on a wall somewhere. Yeah. Yeah.

just to read a couple verses of it. It says, Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you. And I like verse 8 where it says, Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord. No deeds can compare with yours, which is something a few podcasts ago we got into because the people at Colossae had all these people

Different gods, and Rome was welcome to all gods. And just to kind of give you a few facts, you know how people do, like when I was 29 rather than 49, this is what was going on. So in the 5th century, there was a volcano that erupted in 430 that devastated the Mayan cities in present-day El Salvador. Has anybody seen that movie?

Apocalypto. Apocalypto. So you had that going on. The Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain. So if you've seen those movies with the swords and all the gods and all that. So they settled in Britain. Attila the Hun died. The Western Roman Empire ended.

So, I mean, you just think on how powerful they were, and you're starting to see the cracks. Any country that doesn't have God's approval or Jesus as the center, I mean, we know what happens. They come and they go. That's why we're part of a greater kingdom. Or like Abraham said, I was longing for a better country. Well, and it's a good point about Rome because –

you know that god chose that period to come and and what him on accident because when the time is set you know so they were you know god in his wisdom of being outside of time and space

knew when he wanted to come to this earth, and he chose at the height of Roman power to do that. And so, you know, that was no accident. Well, that was kind of my point. Here we are, what, 1,500 years later? The one thing that held up was Psalm 86. That's the best time. There's still millions of Bibles, and I'm now talking to maybe a million people,

And they'll go take a look at 86 and say, yeah, that was on a wall somewhere back there. Written in stone. Where'd they find it? In the Judean desert. So outside Jerusalem, about maybe 16 miles from Jerusalem. Yeah, I noticed they also, which made the metal detector in me, the treasure hunter, they also found a gold ring beside it with a little...

I forgot what they said the stone was. Oh, yeah. There was like a 7th century. It was a ring with an inscription. Yeah, I think that's how they found the wall. Probably so. That ring went off on a detector, and they all jumped up and down and thought, well, we fixed to make some money. And then they found Psalm 86, and they thought, no, we better turn that over to a museum, do the right thing. Yeah.

When they talk about the, you know, that looting is always a fear in these areas like that, because, you know, you've got all these antiquities out there. And so you're trying to, but it's in the middle of nowhere. So anybody could find it. In fact, Jace, one of our listeners sent me an email. I don't, I don't think I forwarded it to you, but somewhere in England, uh,

Somebody was out in a field with a metal detector, and they came across this cache of coins in amazing condition and wound up selling it for, I think, right at $6 million is what they got for their find. Somebody, one of our listeners said, show this to Jace. He may want to go to merry old England to do some metal detecting. Oh, I'm going one day. I'm going to do it. I like their –

You know, their laws on metal detecting. I mean, they don't mind you finding stuff. You got to turn it in to the government, which I'm perfectly fine with that.

And then they'll give you a cash value of it that they deem appropriate. But because I just like finding, I mean, most stuff I find I give away. It'd be nice if it had a big treasure though, wouldn't it? Well, in our technological age, it's all about the picture anyway. So you find something, I take a picture and then give it to the landowner. Okay, what am I going to do with it? Put it in a box in a drawer?

So if you come try to rob my house and get all my treasures, you're going to be disappointed. Most of them are no longer with us. Because it's like, what are you going to do with it? I mean, I don't want to sell it. And most of the stuff I find is not of great value because it's too old. I mean, most of the stuff you find has to be in pristine condition. But I got news for you. Looting is still going on.

via treasure hunters going where they shouldn't go. Or I've had to run people off at my place. I'm like, hey, go somewhere else. The earth is huge. Ha ha ha.

I enjoy desert someplace. Well, I mean, you know, it was like, I was telling you that time I was up in Oklahoma and there's, we were staying on a lake and the lake had dropped like, I mean, probably six or eight feet. And so it was just mud banks everywhere. There was a couple out there and they were metal detected all around that area. Cause it had been a place where people would stay, but they were looking for things they could sell. Yeah.

Well, right. I mean, there's a code of ethics that you should follow, and they actually have it. You look it up. But if you have permission or whatever, it's perfectly fine. But I'm just not doing it for monetary value. I like the thrill of finding it in the spirit of...

I mean, what convinced me to go do it was reading the Gospels and Jesus. I was about to say, you were motivated by the spiritual application that talks about treasure hunting quite a bit in Jesus' time, right? I mean, that's what got you to it. Well, I'm a hunter, you know, and people don't get that. I get invited all over the world to go duck hunting. They're like, oh, it's easy. I mean, we're going to kill the ducks. And I'm like, I'm past that point. I like the hunt more.

So, I mean, that's why I'm hunting in a place where there are very few ducks. It's the greatest challenge in duck hunting. Yeah. Going to a place where there's ducks everywhere and shooting them, that, okay. But if you shoot ducks where there are no ducks...

Now we're talking. That interests me. That's a different story. And that's kind of what Stone does the same thing with the deer hunting now, because he manages our property there. And he is thrilled to look at cameras to watch deer grow over the course of their life and turn into this

big beast with the or some kind of horn you know formation i mean he's not really the the idea of shooting a deer is not the ultimate thing for him it's the whole process of growing them you know calling out all the the ones that have bad genetics i mean i just listened to him talk about and i think he's at another place with deer hunting it's not just going out shooting a deer oh look my greatest accomplishment in uh in a worldly story

is when we used to hunt west texas we would go scout these ponds because there's no water out there and there were a lot of peanut fields out there and so they would dry feed on the peanut fields and then they would hit these what they call tanks well what was great about it is if you went and scouted a tank however many ducks you saw on the tank that's what was coming the next day most people out there that hunt they just go jump them up and shoot them

But what they don't realize is if you'll go set up the next morning, they're all coming to the duck. I mean, and you say, well, how do you know this? So one time when it was slow there, we were over there. We couldn't find a pond that had any ducks on it. So we were like, what are we going to do? So we found two ponds close together. Well, one of them had six and the other one had like 14. And I said, well, I'll tell you this.

I'll go hunt that one with six because the limit's only six and I'll kill all of them and old Benny the guy we used to hunt with out there he's like well what if they all come at the same time I was like well I'm gonna have three shells laying beside my gun and if I can get them down in there close enough maybe I can get them on the water shoot two so so a challenge developed

And I said, I'll, you know, he said, well, I'll bet you $20 that you won't kill all six of those ducks. And I was like, I'll tell you this. If I don't kill all six, I'll give you $20. But if I do, you add a zero. $200. And he said, deal. Deal.

Let me tell you, that was the most prepared for any duck hunt because I got $20 on the line here. And back in those days, $20 was pretty good value, wasn't it, Jay? So we talk a lot on the podcast about saving babies.

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There's difficulty or problems, you know, so. And I think we feel like it's just it demeans the whole issue when it just is kind of batted around politically. We're talking about saving babies. And that's very important. That's why we partner with pre-born.

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So I get out there an hour before legal and I build me a blind and I get to where I look at every conceivable possibility on where these six ducks are going to come. And I was just praying that they all didn't come at the same time. And wouldn't you know it, the first challenge I had was 30 minutes before legal. 30 minutes. Two of the two ducks come in and light.

I have to sit there in stone silence for 30 minutes because if I spook them, I'm four. And I literally did only breathing during that 30 minutes. And so I actually didn't want to take the chance of looking at my phone because it's dark, you know.

and seeing what time it was. So I just figured I would wait because I could hear Phil and where they were. I said, as soon as they shoot, and I hope these two ducks don't get up because it was hard to see, I'll know that it's legal. And so that's what I did. I waited for them to shoot.

And I lined them up. Because you've got to remember, usually I flush the birds. But there's only six. And I've got to get them all. And that's the limit, which is perfectly legal. And they taste the same whether they're swimming or flying. So I sat there and waited until they crossed. Of course, I'm in sniper mode. And just, boom, both of them in one shot. So I got two. Well, the...

About 15 minutes later, because now I'm thinking it's daylight. I'm hearing, feeling them shoot. I only got two, but I'm thinking there's four more coming. So then 15 minutes after daylight, two come in there. Boom. I shoot one on the water. The other one gets up. Boom. I missed the second shot. I only got three shots. Boom. Got him. So it was drama. So now I have four. So about an hour later, because I'm wondering where are these other two ducks?

One single came in easy. Boom. I got him. So now we're one left and I've only shot one. I've shot one shell less than what I got. Yeah. The other one comes in and the only thing I could think is he was used to those other five being there. I don't have any decoys out. No, I knew they were coming. And that Joker circled and circled and circled and sir, he just would not come in and

And then about the time he was probably 50 yards and Phil and them shot while he flared. And I thought, well, this is it. 60 yards going away. And I boom, I shot, boom, I shot, boom, I shot. And I thought I could have sworn I hit that duck.

And he gets out there, you know how they do, about 100 yards and his wings locked out. And he started sailing, look, as far as I could see. And I was just marking him. And so I took off at a dead run on that line. And I looked and I searched. I'm now on somebody else's property because I had to jump a fence on the way. And I'm looking for this duck.

And wouldn't you know it, after about 10 minutes of once I got to the marked spot, there he was. Did you get the two hondo? Two hondo, and they could not believe it. It was a 30-minute argument on how many ducks actually came in there. And I had to swear on the Bible and my faith in Jesus that only six came in there and that I killed six.

My favorite Benny line, because he used to be on some of our Duckman videos, he

He's a guy that dad knew from way, way back. And when he was talking about the Wilson weenies on the video, Jason, when he said, because there's Wilson weenies they used to eat over there in Shreveport. They're kind of a snappy weenie, you know? And he said, boys, you can't even get Wilson weenies anymore. It's the government. They ruin everything. Yeah. He was an anti-government guy, but a good guy. He is a good guy. So I don't know what that has to do with Psalm 86, but I was just saying that

The challenge of all that is what I'm into. You got to be able to follow the madness, the ADD madness. Only Jace could go some 86 to killing six ducks and getting two hondo for it. I just thought I was just saying that was a challenge that I was proud of. Yeah. I mean, and you had lots of obstacles and difficulty. I mean, I actually thought after it was over, I'm never doing that again. There's too many variables.

Too much pressure. I guess ties into walking the Christian faith, you know? Yeah. But I guess, you know, I've been on this, I've studied on this contending thing where he says in Colossians 1, and then we can go through your outline now after this. Yeah. Which, again, I have another frustration with my, I have a frustration with my translation because it translates it struggle. Yeah.

But I've told you before, if you look up these words on the Greek lexicon and then you look up where they're used throughout the New Testament, it kind of gives you an idea of what the meaning of the word is. Yeah. Instead of somebody telling you what it means. But he says in, where are those verses at? 29 is the struggle. Well, there's two of them. He says it in 2.1 too. So 29, he says, to this end I labor.

And I would submit a better translation is contending with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how much I am contending for you or struggling. And for those at Laodicea and for all who have not met me personally. So.

What is your definition of contending? I mean, when I say that word, what do you think? Well, I mean, I think he was conveying the idea that this is not easy. It's difficult. There's resistance. Resistance. There's difficulty. So what I find fascinating, you said, what does this have to do with anything? You know, I mean, you think the first thing I thought was like if you're a contender.

Are you a contender or a pretender? I mean, you're going to fight for something. I mean, it usually results in a competition, which is basically why I told that duck story. I mean, I was contending here despite difficulty and obstacles. I mean, this is pretty hard to make a prediction. What's your translation say at the end? Mine says struggling. Struggling. But the word is contending in other places. But I just wanted to read you...

Where it's used, that word, or the form of that word, in other places, and I found this fascinating, which is why I'm making such a big deal out of it. The first place in the New Testament is actually found in a little place called Luke 13. I think it's 24. You know what? You have a 1984 edition NIV, correct? Yeah. Correct. Now, the new NIV...

Actually uses the word contending. But my translation says struggle too. So does the NASB. I find this fascinating. I hope y'all get excited about this as I am. So the first place it's mentioned is Luke 13, 24. He said to them, make every effort to enter through the narrow door.

Every effort to enter somewhere in there is the word contend. Same word as this, which made me think most of the time we did. We would never equate that with a fight. But when you go back to the parable, soar, which we talked about last time, what was the first seed? What happened? Snatched away. It was snatched away from the evil. There was. So even when you try to come to Jesus, you.

There's going to be enemies to stop that from happening. I mean, from God's perspective, yeah, the doors open wide. The love of Christ is available to every human being. But there's resistance on the wide road that leads to destruction. No resistance. They're like, come on, come on. Oh, great. You know, but that narrow door is the first place where you see this struggle happening.

Well, it's hard to repent. It's hard to count the cost. It's hard when the enemy doesn't want this to happen. So I found that fascinating. So, Jace, one of our favorite movies we talk about is Outlaw Josie Wells. And one of our favorite lines is, I got the gold right here, Paul. Do you remember that scene? I just happened to have the DVD of the Outlaw Josie. It's required for Duck Call Room.

But you don't have the gold. You don't have the gold because I got the gold. Well, I think he said, I got the gold right here, Paul. And he said, there's no gold. He's crazy. But Zach's not crazy because he has gold backs. It's from our good friends at Alpine Gold Exchange is what Zach has there. Jason and I are desperately trying to get our hands on it.

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The next place it's used is John 18, which this is a sermon for you, Al. I'm always looking for a good sermon. John 18, 36. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight. There's your word. Same word. Same Greek word. That's why I say these translators, they try to put it in the context. Would fight to prevent my arrest forever.

by the Jews, but now my kingdom is from another place. Well, what I found fascinating about that is he used that struggle there, that contending with how we would normally use it. My disciple would fight, how? With swords, the same way other people

and kingdoms fight with physical power. And so that's why when you read him using the same word in Colossians 1.29, he said, to this end I labor, contending or fighting or struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me, which that wouldn't have worked to his disciples fighting. Jesus was making the point, well, if it was about this world,

You know, we'd bring in the tanks and the... Of course, they didn't have tanks. That'd be, you know, two donkeys that had a bunch of spears on it. But I think that transition is very powerful. The next one I wanted to read is Philippians 1, where it says...

Which is similar to his point here in Philippians 1, 27. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. Yeah, I remember that one. Without being frightened. Well, he says it again. Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. That's why this resistance happens.

is what keeps coming up. If you declare Jesus publicly, there will be resistance in your personal life and in your public life and just in life in general. Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you, this is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved and that by God, which kind of goes into where we started with this Psalm 86. It's like,

You think resistance is bad, but it's actually two things that happen. You're making them uncomfortable for Jesus, which is a good thing, because maybe it'll make them stop and think about where they're going in life. But it's also a bad thing for them by resisting. It's actually a sign that they're going to be destroyed. They're not going to make this. For it has been granted on you, this is 29,

on behalf of christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him which he brings up in colossians 1. he's like i'm i'm suffering and i'm wanting to become like christ since you are going through the same well here it is same word struggle or contending you saw i had and now here that i still have so i thought that was interesting all right i got two more uh hebrews 12 1 of all places

Because when I first saw that, I thought, that can't be right. I never remember that word. But it's the same word or version. Throw off everything. Actually, it's the race. Oh, really? I thought that was absolutely fascinating. Look, Hebrews 12.1, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,

And let us run with perseverance. That word right there, the race, the contention marked out for us. Don't you find that fascinating? That's pretty fascinating. And the last one I wanted to read is 1 Timothy 4.

In verse 10. And the reason I think this is powerful is it gives new meaning to the passage in 2 Corinthians 10 that says the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world, but we take obedient every thought and make it obedient to Christ, which I think that is his point to the Colossians. It's not the same kind of weapons. But 1 Timothy 4... 9 and 10, probably. 6...

I think it is said in 9 and 10, but the one I wanted to read is 6, 11, and 12. But you, man of God, flee from all this, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness, which those are all fruits, by the way. Fight the good fight of the faith. There's the same word, contending. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of God.

many witnesses in the sight of God who gives life to everything and of Christ Jesus, who, while testifying before Pontius Pilate, made the good confession, which is full circle back to John 18. And one of the others I didn't read is that one that says, you know, train yourselves to be godly. Same word. You know, it's training.

This is not easy. This is difficult. There will be resistance. But all of that, my whole point in reading all this is all those difficulties and resistance, those things are the building blocks to maturity, becoming mature.

which I've said before, you don't become mature going to Disneyland and having fun. It's when the difficulty comes and the resistance and trying to share Jesus, you get involved in people's lives who are steeped in sin and people are getting mad and angry and all those problems that we navigate as Jesus people in each other's lives, those are the building blocks of maturity in Christ. Which in the passage you mentioned in Hebrews 12,

you think about the ultimate struggle or the ultimate contention, the ultimate pain point to ever exist in reality would have to be what Jesus endured on the cross. And not simply from a physical standpoint, but from the standpoint that we have God incarnate, right? So if God incarnate, you can imagine God pre-incarnate is exalted so high above everything that has been created that the distance and the chasm between God

Where God is and where we are is an infinite chasm. It cannot even be calculated because he is infinitely big, good, holy, whatever, other than that God condescends, takes on human flesh in the form of the one we call Jesus and

And endures not just suffering in the terms of ridicule and being beat and mocked and scorned. He actually suffers death himself. So that's got to be the ultimate picture of like somebody who contended for something. And then on the other side of that, something was birthed that was bigger than anything we could imagine. But that is kind of the point of Hebrews 12.

When you mentioned that endure the race, the writer goes on to say in verse 3, consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against him. So we consider Christ in this as kind of a motivation for us so that we consider him so that you may not grow weary.

or faint-hearted in your struggle against sin and I wonder if that's the same word too in verse 4 probably not since it didn't show up in your list but in your struggle against sin and your contention against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons my sons do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord do not be weary when reproved by him for the Lord disciplines those he loves and chastises every son whom he receives and

And this goes on, by the way, and it kind of coalesces at the end of Hebrews 12 into the promise of a kingdom that we are going to be a part of that can't be shaken or destroyed, which is obviously prophecy from Daniel. But I just think about that, what you just said about this contention.

It's not contention to prove yourself. It's not suffering to prove yourself. It actually is suffering unto the needs of others as we consider what Christ did. Christ suffered something for us. He contended for us. And then what blossomed out of that

Here we are 2,000 years later having a Bible study about being transformed by the power of Jesus of something that he accomplished 2,000 years ago on the cross, which is tremendous suffering and his contention for us. So we consider that. We consider that as we move forward in our own transformation process.

So, Jace, you seen any good movies lately? Actually, I have. And I had one sent, a sneak preview to the new Bonhoeffer movie. And the reason I was interested is because it's done by Angel Studios and they've been on a roll. Great movies done by Christians. They're not cheesy. And Bonhoeffer is one of the greatest stories because of his fearless nature.

about declaring Jesus. So, yeah. And, and I mean, and to be able to be a guy who stands up when everybody else is going a different direction. I mean, Bonhoeffer's life was incredible. So I think it fits into the world today as we sort of teeter on this brink of annihilation. Everybody talks about, you know, elections being the biggest one of our generation. You see Bonhoeffer,

is sort of swept into this epicenter of a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler in Angel Studios' new film, as Jay's mentioned, Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Spy, Assassin. It's going to be hitting theaters November 22nd. You can get showtimes right now at angel.com slash unashamed. With his faith and his fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide.

Will his shift from preaching peace to plotting murder alter the course of history or will it cost him everything? So you got to check out the movie. You find out this Thanksgiving, see Showtime's near you and get your tickets today at angel.com slash unashamed. This is a movie you don't want to miss out on. Go to angel.com slash unashamed. That's angel.com slash unashamed.

Think about the pressure though, Jace, because of what Zach just described, the pressure on Jesus, because you described in your story of contending for that, those six ducks, you felt the pressure of that because you had to be perfect yet. You had to go six for six, you know, anything short, you don't get it. And that was one story on one duck hunt. But Jesus had the fate of all of humanity, right?

And every sin of everybody, not just living at the time that it ever lived or ever would live on him in that moment. So, Zach, you talk about pressure. I mean, that's so large and so big, it's hard for us to wrap our brains around how big that was. Look, when I found that last duck, I left off this part. I just started shouting. Woo, woo, woo.

Tell you what, you know, it's just them walking around. Don't mess with old Jace. I mean, it was a confidence builder. But no, Zach, it's so interesting you brought up that about Hebrews 12, 4. It was not the same word. And what I concluded was it was only in this idea of declaring Jesus, this battle of us, because I think that's what he was trying to move to.

the people at Colossae was like, they were basically devaluing Jesus to the point where they weren't sharing him. Cause through that process you grow and it, it's not something that you can process of sharing him. Yeah. I mean, in my own life, that was the catalyst when it took me two years of, even though I was a Christian, um,

as far as I understood what Jesus did and I surrendered to him. But I was not functioning like Jesus. I was just trying to not mess up. That was it. But the correlation with the Romans 12, I mean, sorry, Hebrews 12 passage in this passage that I think is so stark is that you're in this place of contention, right? You're in this place of struggle. You're in this place of

dealing with this and both passages call us back to considering Christ. And now Colossians 2,

does it, in my opinion, in a much more blunt and profound way and repetitive and almost to the point where it's redundant. Colossians 2 is like, let's obliterate everything else and let's consider Christ. Let's go back to the anchor of this entire thing. That's his point. We are going to drive this home, Paul is saying in Colossians, I'm going to drive this home because what was happening in this particular place

apparently is that they were leaving the

the centrality of Jesus. And they were focusing on the form of whatever the benefit of him brings, but they weren't focused on the one who brought it. And so that's the argument here, which is, that's why you keep seeing kind of the same language being repeated over and over and over again when he says things like in verse 2, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knitted together in love to reach all the riches of fullness of assurance.

of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ. I mean, he's already said that. He just said that in the previous chapter. He's saying it again, that the mystery is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And he says, I say this in order that for a purpose, right? What's the purpose? Well, this is the purpose why Paul says I'm saying this.

So that one may not delude you with plausible arguments. Going back to something that he said in 1 Corinthians 1-2, I didn't come to you with wise and persuasive arguments. I came to you with a demonstration of the Spirit's power. I preached Christ and Him crucified. For though I'm absent in body, yet I'm with you in spirit, rejoicing...

to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. There's that phrase again in Christ. It's been super repetitive because I think that that's the point of the whole thing. And I think it's partly because he didn't know them personally. And he's mentioned that a couple of times. And so, you know how it is like, so we go and speak to,

you know, to audiences. And we don't know the people you're there to raise money for somebody, but we're always there to share Jesus, but there's different reasons why you go. And so I have like a standard thing I do to get that message and that word out. These are people I don't know, but when I'm back home, when I'm preaching at our church, I know these people. Well, I mean, I've been with them for 40 years now.

And so, you know, it's different contextually when you know people and how you approach the sharing. And I think that's one of the reasons why he is so repetitive in Colossae, although it's similar to Ephesians, but he knew the Ephesians well. I mean, he spent a year and a half with them, but he doesn't know these people. And so he keeps going back to the basics again and again.

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Because I used to think, well, I could never share because I'm a shy guy or I don't know the verses or I'm not qualified or whatever excuse I would make. But the bottom line was, as I look back on it, the reason I wasn't sharing Jesus the first two years of my Christian life is I knew resistance would come. The people I was hanging around at high school, I knew this wasn't going to go well. And when I got around to sharing with them, guess what?

It did not go well. But I read this Philemon 6, I remember as a teenager, and it says, I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ, which seems to be backwards than how we view it. You think most people who are sharing Christ have a full understanding, right?

And he said, I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith in Christ so that you will have a full understanding of everything. Which takes us back to Colossians 2 when he gets into this. He is our wisdom in whom, this is 2-3, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And I mean, I just think about that as a treasure hunter or even me shooting those six ducks.

or anything that happens good in your life, what's the first thing you want to do or have a need to do that you can't help but do when something good happens in your life? You want to tell somebody. You got to tell somebody. Yeah. So it seems kind of weird that if Jesus is the greatest in Colossians 1.15 is all true through 21, well, what are you never going to bring him up? Well, I mean, I would add this to that. When you start thinking about

This idea of treasures, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in him. I believe that those treasures are actually treasures.

manifestations of who he is and his character and his overflow outward love. So how he appeals to how he died for us and how he displayed that on the cross and how he forgot to love the world. You know, John 3, 16, that he gave his life, his only son. And so you start thinking about like, well, if that's what the treasure is, it's actually the love of God.

Then that's what he gives us. That's that fruit of the spirit about love, joy, peace, patience. So the actual treasure is not something that's outside of his character in his relational life.

It actually is him. And then our participation in that. So it doesn't make any sense then to say, well, if the treasure would be this. Here's one of the treasures. One of the treasures would be that I actually have an intense love for my neighbor. And that's actually a treasure. That's why when you read, like Paul says in Romans, I think it's Romans 9. Does he say something like, you know, if I could be, I love my, yeah, right here, Romans 9, 3, 4. I wish...

He says, I have verse two, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. So Paul is like he has an anguish in his heart for his for his people. He says, for I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off for Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelites. So you think you kind of see Paul's posture of heart here is he has a deep, deep, deep love for.

for his people. And you see the same kind of language in Colossians 2. So part of the treasure is that we get the capacity in Christ to

to love people in that kind of way. And if I truly love you in that kind of way, then there's no possibility that I'm not going to tell you about how to get in on this incredible love that we find in Christ. So I think it's, it is not just, it's a great thing for me. Part of the great thing that I receive is a love for you. And so I have to tell you. In verse four of chapter two, when he said, I told, I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments. Um,

I mean, my point is they were entertaining answers to life with things other than Jesus or with gods other than Jesus. And what I'm saying is his very act of sharing this with people he doesn't know is kind of his fruit to them on this is contagious stuff.

Not only am I saying don't follow these other gods, whatever you want to put in the blank, Jesus plus this, because then you've nullified who Jesus is, or just I'm going to go with making a bunch of money. Yeah. You know, it's like the resistance, the whole point of this is him contending is people are pushing back on Jesus. And so they're even doubting.

who Jesus is or he wouldn't be saying that. He's like, people are coming up with arguments that are in conflict with Jesus being Lord of your life. So my point I was trying to get at is, it's like when I find a fantastic treasure, which Jesus is the ultimate treasure, and whether he found me, I found him. I mean, he found me technically, but...

I mean, what, am I going to keep that to myself? No, because I know all human beings have the same struggles. So it's like, I don't have to be qualified. I know this person's a human. This is fixing to come out. I mean, you can see what Paul's doing. Once you buy into who Jesus is...

Well, we're fixed to go declare that. And by declaring it, then you become a part of the resistance to the world. And that's what people shy away from. I mean, I think that's what he's getting at. Well, and even look at Paul's growth as a person himself, because I was thinking that he says, I rejoice in what was suffered for you.

And which just take that statement to knowing what Paul went through. But think about how different his description was to the Corinthian church at the end of the second Corinthians 11. He lists all the things that happened to him. Remember, there's like two paragraphs of shipwrecks and beatings and this and that. And then he gets to the next chapter in chapter 12. And he's like, you know, I just I pleaded to the Lord. I need some relief.

And the statement from Jesus to Paul was, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness. And so just think about what Paul himself learned in the process of this contending for the faith as he's sharing it in his own personal life. I mean, and he's just being honest to Corinthians. I mean, he was he said, look, it was rough. I mean, I pleaded three times, Lord, take this away.

And Jesus said, no, you serve me. But I do want to just reiterate something. This is not a call on our part to like, okay, we're going to take on a vow of poverty and we're going to beat ourselves on the back with whips and we're going to induce suffering for the sake of suffering. That is not biblical. It's not what God calls us to. It's not suffering itself.

or contending or whatever word or struggling for the sake of struggling or to prove some kind of loyalty. It's the contending of,

or it's suffering and the sacrifice is made unto meeting the needs of others. That's the economy that you see inside the Godhead. That's what you see. And you even see that, by the way, before the incarnation of Christ and before the cross. You see inside the Godhead, you see Father, Son, Holy Spirit living in eternal life.

harmony with each other because they don't use each other, abuse each other. They don't work each other. They don't pit each other against each other. Each person in that Godhead is just, it's like sacrifice to the other. It's pour out love to the other. And that's why 1 John 4, 8 says that God is love. So that is modeled then in the gospel. So the gospel then models and actually

shows us and reveals to us the very nature of God. And then through the Spirit indwelling us, now we become conformed into that image of the Son. So then now we start to do that with each other, which is why when Jesus sums up the law,

How does he do it? He says, love God and then love each other. And that's kind of the flow of the kingdom is that that's what we begin to become. And we reflect that. And now even in our relationships with one another, we, I mean, in glory on the other side of, you know, of glory, we're going to have this unencumbered by sin.

And that's the hope that we hang on to. But that is the message of the kingdom. That's the hope. That's the promise. That's actually a perfect tease. We're out of time, but a perfect tease for where we're going in the text, because we pick up in Colossians 2, 6. He's going to give you this. I call it live free and die message.

Kind of a play off the live free or die from our country's history. But it's live free and die. And when we die to sin and him, that's what he brings out in us. We'll talk about the freedom. So we'll get into that next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

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