ENTRUSTED SESSION6

[Music] how did you find a mentor okay what did you do where did you look I worried for a long basically I know 30 through 33 years 330 times married for 33 years um no one of my mentors is actually outside she has Amanda's baby outside the house right now where we're sitting and one thing I like about mentoring is it doesn't have to be formal like it's not like you sit down with a curriculum and you're like let's talk about Vanessa so and now all admonish you and you receive the adult I don't that's exactly what a lot of people yeah like if their talk with yes you know very boring blah blah but this woman Nancy like she's just been in my life for how many years honey since you were a little kid yeah like early elements she just loved me and shown me what it means to follow Jesus and in and out and good times and bad times and the worst of times in the best of times and I consider her a mentor and she's never sat down and said can I be your mentor I think you just freed up a lot of people by saying that because I do think there's like something in us it feels like it's like it's not that it's contractual but like we are we are we like entering into a you know yeah instead of just organic in the face it can be official yeah I agree mmmm like our church has a really like you know organized discipleship program and they connect older women with younger women and they go through a curriculum and they serve together a little type-a so I'm kind of drawn to us yeah yeah it's really cool and it's connected some really neat women together so I think you know it can look like that or it can be something totally different so maybe it's safe to say that it's through the Holy Spirit and it is steeped in His Word maybe there's no wrong way to mentor and to be mentally [Music] well I can tell you I have always hated goodbyes anybody else I just hate when it comes to the very end I can remember years ago so this would be 16 Bible studies ago and 21 years ago when the first one ever hit the shelves and if any of you have done it it was the one on the Old Testament Tabernacle it's the one out of Exodus and it was called a woman's heart God's dwelling place and when I was first asked by the LifeWay team a one man in particular that was just a man of such vision if I had any thought that I might like to do what he called a video driven Bible study I really couldn't imagine how it was going to work because I loved a class like this and I thought how how do I sit so I'll just teach to a camera said no no no you would have a class and I said oh I don't know how that will work when they're just watching it on a screen he said well what if we trusted God with that what if God decided to do something with that and you didn't have to make that happen and so we took the chance of it was really really fun because it was very very clear from the start that it was just one just one just one and it was what we might want to do a second one so we did it but it was just it was just going to be too and then of course all of these later but I wondered so much is it even going to translate and so those very first letters are so precious to me because I wondered I pored over those sentences in those letters to see is is the Lord working through a screen is that translating and I knew that it was when one of the very first letters I got it was just been barely enough time to go through all of ten weeks of that series so right after it had been about three months later three and a half four that I get one of the very first letters and she tells me that she had come to the end of it and she was doing the end of her homework sitting up in her bed late at night your husband had gone into shower and when he came out the tears were just pouring down her cheeks and he looked at her and said honey why are you crying and she said both [Music] and he said you just found out but I knew at that moment she got it because the whole time I wrote that portion of it I cried because it was like the man of God II didn't even get to go with my brother and I mean you're all wrapped up in it by then because you've been with them all of those days and we spent all of this time with the Apostle Paul I'm such a fan of his I just I want to have that kind of fervor for the Lord Jesus and I wanted to last a lifetime I want to make it across that finish line with that kind of heat in my heart I know you do too that's what I'm after I want so much for us to be a group coming together for more than just building up more knowledge in our brains but that we do something with it has effect in our lives and we're a different kind of servant because we've been in the Word of God then wrapping up our effectiveness as mighty servants of God that's what we want to be no greater title we could be given that it's what we're after I'll never forget hearing from one of the husbands when the very first husbands I heard from and he said that several of them had also watched along on a woman's heart and they had renamed it a woman's hair God's nesting place that is perfect that is absolutely perfect few minutes ago before I came in for our last class I glanced in America girl your hair is just as big as it has always been so there you go it's lasted all these years and probably will continue to but it's just going to be I pray a nesting place for the Lord I will he return with me to the Florida chapter let's go to it girls you've already finished all four chapters of second Timothy in your homework but I want to reflect back over part of it as we close it down today so I want you to turn back to 2nd Timothy chapter 4 all I could just put this off and put this off and put this off but there's no more putting it off so here is what we're going to do before we lock in on a couple of scriptures that we want to see that will begin our closing I want to just take you to that fourth chapter now I never know if I can do this on demand or not but I've got it in front of me in case I can't and it'll be the same difference on one way or the other but I want to sell you the whole chapter to you because I want you to get the feel of it because they wouldn't have been doing it the way we're doing it in portions and segments they would have been hearing the letter and hearing the letter and know me no telling how many times they were hearing the letter it came to Timothy first of all but in the Lord's purposes inspiring the Apostle Paul to write it the very very breath of God on the page then it fell into the hands of the church and into the Canon of the New Testament and it is beloved to us now I learned it in the ne T and so that's the translation I'm going to say it to you and so this is the fourth chapter this is the close of the letter so let it fall on you because you would have been listening to it you would not have been reading it you'd have been hearing it read so hear this and take it personally because if it's been extended to us and it has been preserved in his word it is speaking straight through Paul's exhortations to Timothy to believers who are the soldiers in the army of god today and that would be us so take it personally I solemnly charge you before God in Christ Jesus who is going to judge the living in the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom preach the message be ready whether it is convenient or not reprove rebuke exhort with complete patience and instructions where there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching instead following their own desires they will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things and they will turn away from hearing the truth but on the other hand they will turn aside to miss you however be self-controlled in all things endure hardship you're an evangelist work fulfill your ministry for I am already being poured out as an offering and the time for me to depart is at hand I have competed well I finished the race I have kept the faith now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but to all who have loved his appearing make every effort to come to me soon for demas deserted me because he loved the present age and he went to settle night and crescens he went to delation Titus to Dalmatia only Luke gets with me get mark and bring him with you because he's a great help to me in ministry now I've sent to Krakus to Ephesus when you come bring with you the cloak that I left intro s with carpet and the scrolls especially the parchment Alexander the coppersmith give me a great deal of harm the Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds you be on guard against him too because he'd be really opposed our words and by first defense no one appeared in my support they all deserted me they all deserted me but afterwards they would not be held accountable for it for the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message would be proclaimed for all the Gentiles to hear and so I was delivered out of the lion's mouth the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom to him be glory for ever and ever amen greetings to friskin Aquila and the family of honest phorus Erasmus State and Corinth trophimus I left Illinois leaders make every effort to come before winter greetings to you from uvulas puddin's - Claudia and all the brothers and sisters the Lord be with your spirit grace be with you and with those words the ink of the greatest human writer of the New Testament Canon went dry we have no idea what it was like when he was taken out for his beheading did Luke get to go with him I don't know if you're moved by the fact that he says that no one else is with him but Luke makes you wonder did Luke take down the words because many times there was a secretary you'll see that at the end of a number of letters that that's a one that is being inspired to speak it is saying it while someone else is taking it down on the scroll we have to wonder what it lived because Luke was the only one he said was with him do you wonder if Luke looked up at him when he said it they've been like this that doctor had stayed with him mile after mile after mile after mile through shipwreck and every possible kind of disaster and there they were at the end what would that have been like what I find so strange about that moment when he would have been walking out to his ending on this planet is that he himself had been inspired to tell us more about what would be waiting for us on the other side than any other of the inspired writers he himself I wonder if he was reminding himself of all that God had told him through the spirit that he had written down because he is the one who had so much to say this is what life will be like on the other side I was raised in an era in my denomination of fire and brimstone and I knew for certain that I did not want to go to hell because it was a place that we were threatened with on an ongoing occasion and I was not sure I wanted to go to heaven but I knew it beat hell does anybody know what I'm talking about because I knew for sure before I just knew from the intonation of his voice that whatever he was talking about I did not want to go there and the thing the way we were called to righteousness was this do you want to go to hell no no I do and you know that can work I'm not saying that can't work but that's sort of how I came into another it sounded boring to me and I in my young mind the determining factor between whether or not something was sin was based on this one question was it fun and if it was fun it was sin somebody else has been raised like me because I can hear them in this room so this was kind of the mentality it's been an odd thing because I have had more fun since I left my life of sin than I ever had when I was in it you talk about a heart being free it's been Unleashed from all that bondage I'll still bear the marks of sin of all my life I still have something continually than I'm dealing with before the Lord but you know what I'm talking about that kind of bond that kind of bondage that keeps us trapped in a way of life that is not funny it's not funny this this right here now this can get fun I want you to see the words out of second Timothy four six through eight six through eight I'll read it now in the ESV for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come I fought the good fight I finished the race I have kept the faith therefore there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing I want you to see something with me we're going to make a series of statements together based on these little iconic segments of scripture written by Paul himself that tell us something to expect on the other side of this life and it begins right here Paul had an unapologetic expectancy of reward write that down and receive it while you do I think for some of us there is kind of this thing that says we ought not to be in any way oriented toward even thoughts about reward because that somehow takes away from God because we know he is the reward and he is he is our portion he is our prize Jesus is it he is everything he is the best part he is the means and he is the end but the thing of it is he wants to he wants to and I just think about parents if we in comparison are able parents and yet on a Christmas morning cannot wait to watch our children unwrap something and get excited about something that we have given them how much more God it says would he give good gifts to those who are his own children he has a longing to I love Hebrews 11:6 that says this to us and without faith it is impossible to please him for who ever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him I want you to see that bottom line he's telling us this is what it takes to please me I want you to walk in faith and this you need to know those who do I will reward those who seek me he has no problem with it his his ego is not somehow hindered or damaged because there is any kind of reward involved cannot wait to receive us in and give us something that has been held for us in his own hands I got to tell you a little story about my husband Keith I've thought about it so many times he is a really really wonderful shooter and he often competes in tournaments for sporting clays now if this is all new to you I need you to know nothing's getting killed no feathers are flying they come just shooting out of this machine into the air just clay discs and and so it's they just try to shoot them they don't know where they're coming from don't know how to anticipate them shoot them out of the air and he's a really really good shot but you know sometimes he's in that top 10% sometimes he's in the top 5% sometimes in the top 15% but pretty consistently he's a great shot but this particular time it had been out of town he was about an hour from Houston and he called me on the phone earlier than I was expecting him into and he said I'm on my way home and I said well have you already shot and he said actually I I won and I said yugioh are you I did what what happened what happened and he said Lizbeth you're not gonna believe this but I shot a perfect score and I said what are you saying to me and they have a little card that they go by that where they're they're marking it he said I'm telling you that every one that went up in the air I shot every single one of them and I not only one I shot a perfect score and I said oh my word I said I can't wait to see the trophy and he I'll never forget what he said he said I didn't wait for it I did what do you mean you didn't wait for it he said I couldn't wait to come home and show you my car yo I don't it killed me I'm cried for the next 15 minutes it just killed me and he couldn't wait to show it to me you know we don't have any perfect card to show when we get there but see we get to come in on the card of Jesus they've got like this perfect score we should come in on the perfect score and those trophies we just get to throw back right at his feet those crowns we just get to cast back because he is our prize but this is fall going listen I have looked all this time from the very beginning you can look at his earliest letters and first and second Thessalonians and you can see some of it in Galatians he is longing for the appearing of Christ long and that's what he means when he says the righteous judge will award it to me on that day and not only to me but also to all we love disappearing and he's watched form and watch form and watch form he believed with all of his heart Jesus would return in his lifetime in soon soon as I was thinking okay I'm going to him before he's coming to me so this is how it goes but when I get there when I get there he will be glad that I loaned for his appearing along for it number two is this Paul anticipated direct interaction with Christ now you can see it right there in verse eight when he says which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me to me that the Lord is going to give it to me it's not going to be passed down through about a hundred angels and then given to me no the Lord is going to award it to me and and almost across the board when the Apostle Paul is saying the Lord he is talking about Jesus himself you can tell when he's talking about the Father and then he's talking about very often when he says the Lord that's who he means the Lord will award it to me on that day and that direct interaction and I you know have you ever wondered this after all this personal relationship each of us has had with the Lord Jesus will we get there and that's the end of the personal relationship if I the only person that thinks about that kind of thing that we've had all this you pick your own thing going with him for how long how long and then we're going to get there and it's going to be like a lot of people I mean a lot of people like ten thousands upon ten thousands of on ten doesn't I mean like millions and millions of people and and so you have to wonder are we going to get any time at all make me think about you know is it always going to be a crowd let me think about when I got to go to both my grandchildren my older grandchildren's and their their graduation from preschool and I need you to know what they played pomp and circumstance and everything I mean I went across and their little in their little graduation gowns and to that song and everything we all got to clap but I could see I'll remember when it was Jackson and we could see that Jackson was looking out for us and we were as I been in our beside ourselves Curt was perfectly calm but we were like we want him to see we're here babe honey I'm right here I'm not because I think he's looking for it he's looking for Ryan and we just wave in a waving I can almost kind of see myself way back there in the crowd one like Jesus hey hey right remember me remember me do you buddy think about that kind of stuff so tough if that's going to be the way it's going to be and it's always going to be a crown then about the equivalent of a Julian years in when I can finally get off my face then I want to be like the woman who pressed through the crowd anybody know press through the crowd she pressed through the ground and she grabbed hold of the hem of His garment anyone where the power is gone out for me who did it and I want him to be able to look around and go was it you and then I wonder what is there any part of him that's just a little bit funny any part of it what mighty turn around and look and say you're not about to tell me you've had a hemorrhage for twelve years all right no not exactly not exactly but I just wonder if I could just like cook I just like hugged your neck because all of this time I'm just saw where we like to hug your neck I'm going to think maybe that's why it's an eternity so there could be a lot of that where we can all get some personal time a little Petey because I want it my sell me do we ever get to just like talk just the two of us I'm gonna talk oh my god I remember that time and I might want to say to him Jesus I just want to ask you I mean forgive me I'm just being completely completely transparent with you did you ever think maybe was I just a little bit funny did you everything I was just a little bit funny and I know we'll never say anything like this I know that he won't but maybe one of the apostles might say something like that well you don't remember that time years and years ago when you were first into speaking and you're about to speak and you had on that green dress that you realized was going to show a lot of sweat and you took that maxi stand like that you cut it in half and you put the adhesive under one arm and you put the adhesive under the other and that you were so happy with it and thought you would really come up with the answer then you got out there and you were speaking and speaking those arms were just gone and that thing just came right out of your dress right here and I just wonder if he would go back actually that was a little bit funny I'm not saying Jesus witness but maybe what please don't tell me we're going like all of eternity we're never going to think anything is funny I don't want to know that I don't want to know that but it just seems to me when I got showed y'all a couple of weeks ago that Journal from that really before that really bad year and I looked in there and how is reading it there's a place where it's hidden my one of my prayers that I do I told the Lord to have a nice day come on they have to pick edges funny a little bit oh I have a real good friend occasionally this is a she said what can Jesus do better than us he's like do you think he ever looked at the father and goes whoa this was rough this was rough alright I want you to review 2nd Timothy 4:8 teen with me because this one this one just gets me now I'm going to think I think that I am memorized to second Timothy about three years ago so that's how long I have loved this book every time I have come to this birth I have taken pause every time and so I say it at least once a week because that's the only way that's the thing about memory work it's not just memorizing is trying to keep it after all this time and then it's trying to if you're adding any more to it it's just this whole balancing act and this miracle you're asking God to do in your mind and so I would get to this point and I every time I saw it I was just mindful of it it says this in verse 18 of chapter 4 the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom to him be glory for ever and ever on then just hold on to that a moment let that just kind of blink in your mind and then look at 2nd Timothy 2:12 and to 12 where it says if we endure we will also Ray with him we will also reign with him justice down and then I'm going to tell you why I find that verse 18 fascinating Paul anticipated an exceedingly vivacious existence in a kingdom this is important because remember what I was saying a little while ago some of you feel the same way you are not really sure that you're not going to be bored when you get there what if somebody said to you and they just knew it for a fact they said it with confidence one day you will work in the White House tell me Courtney that it would not change everything for you and no matter what you did in the coming years you would think to yourself even if you were cleaning toilets at a at a stadium for the high school if you tell me that you wouldn't think well I may be cleaning toilets now but the reason I can whistle and I can put up with this is because I will be working at the White House there's sort of be a grin on your face no matter who put you down because you would think to yourself one day I'm going to be working at the White House the Scriptures tell us in Revelation one and there are other places we would see exactly the same kind of thing that we are a kingdom of priests we are kingdom and priests of our God to serve our God we literally are going into a kingdom with a greater reality than anything we have ever experienced now here's where I want to lock in with you on verse 18 of chapter 4 he will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely everybody say safely oh just go ahead and say it again into his heavenly kingdom can be glory for ever and ever amen I want to ask you a question because I don't know I think that Bible study is a real safe place to ask some hard questions and this is my hard question exactly what part of losing your bloody head is being delivered safely into the heavenly kingdom hmm anybody does that sound safe to any of you I mean that whoa I'll tell you something today we will arrive safely into his heavenly kingdom we will arrive on what somebody to hear me we're going to arrive safely in to his heavenly kingdom now I don't know about you because I don't know what's going on in your heart but the hair extended straight up on the back of my neck I want to say it again you and I no matter what we're going through here the thing of it is what's going to be shocking to us is we're going to get there and go we landed safely into the heavenly kingdom we will be completely and acutely aware that we have been delivered safe safe you've sung the words if you've ever sung they have come down south there's this middle portion of it that says here I raise my Ebenezer now because I was raised in the church you know I also have acted up in church and I sat with my big sister who was three years older than me i sat with her sometimes and what by sometimes I meant sometimes every single Sunday because eventually at some point in the service we would get split up so my mother would pull us apart just like that we beg to sit together this was going to be the time we were going to be good and we were never good never good we had a cat named Ebenezer a black and white cat and so we would always when we would go we would get so tickled because at home we would hear I raise my Ebenezer and those legs would just be going like this so every time we sang it we raised our Ebenezer every single time and it was just like you know this is just what you do when you're kid growing up in church but it's talking about when when when in the old testament they literally raised their Ebenezer stones that said thus far the Lord have helped us and it says here I raise my Ebenezer hither by thy help I come and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home I got such good news for you today we will arrive safely home what I'm about to say to you it's going to be hard to hear but I want you to enter in with me to the goodness of the Lord every terminally ill infant will be delivered safely into Christ's heavenly kingdom every Christian martyr in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East will be delivered safely into Christ's heavenly kingdom every victim of a car crash to a drunk driver who has known Christ will be delivered safely into his heavenly kingdom if you ask me today that's how does that work I do not know how to explain it I simply know that it is a fact because the scripture says it is a fact every single Christian sailor who has been lost at sea will be delivered safely into his heavenly kingdom not one of us will get there and say to Jesus you did not keep me safe I say this to you as a victim of childhood abuse I am Telling You according to the scriptures when we arrive we will be able to look around us glance back over all we've been through and see what is before us and say kept what we have coming we will not even be able to compare to this life the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that he shall reveal in us Romans 8:18 when we get there every one of us after we think this has been the worst thing ever yet when we get home we will go oh whoa whoa probably sadly it was heavenly kingdom I'm home I'm in one piece in the end of all of our testimonies will be this and we'll st. just like this I think so I was delivered out of the lines well oh I don't know how many had me how could have sworn he had me I mean I thought this is it this is a no I thought he was going to tear me to face this and it's all going to be so just it we could wrap our minds around this then we would quit thinking that what we've got coming is lesser that's what we're afraid of I mean if we're just going to be honest we're afraid of getting there and it's all going to be great and wonderful but we're gonna like that has a long time to play a harp on a cloud and am I only going to wear one outfit let me just be honest figure Corinthians five 137 now keep in mind everything we're looking at all this encouragement that we're going to get about live on the other side of this one is coming from this man so I'm just saying to you as he's walking out bound I'm sure to his death is this going through his head because all this that we hang so much of our hope on we're encouraged by the pen was inspired to write second Corinthians five verse one for we know that it's a tent that is our earthly home is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens now let me tell you what he's talking out he is talking about a tent being our regular human flesh and blood bodies in this lifetime and what he's talking about then this house not made with hands that is the body we have coming so keep this in mind verse 2 for in this tent we groan anybody and listen you have the old groan I mean all you have to is I break your ankle all you have to do is get a bad cold just living in this thing here that when somebody bumps you really hard bruises and when you fall it scrapes and it bleeds that's all it takes to groan for in this tent we groan longing to put on our heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked for while we are still in this tent we groan being burdened not that we would be unclothed that we would be further clothes so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life he who has prepared us for this very thing as God who has given us the spirit as a guarantee so we are always a good courage we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we walk by faith and not by sight so he's gonna listen we're changing this thing out if anybody knew what it was like to grown the man knew what it was like to grown remember where we started in Acts chapter 14 when he had been stoned wasn't they didn't stone him to punish him they stoned him to kill him so we don't know exactly what happened there was he just almost dead or what did the Lord as I raised him up we don't know but but when he got up he would have been bruised from head to toe he'd been through everything under the Sun he had all these lashes and had been through all of these beatings he's been imprisoned and put in stocks he'd been through it all he knew what it was like to groan and he said well we groan now but we groan to put on that heavenly home where we will spend all of eternity I want to show you guys something I think is fascinating I want you to look at a couple of places where a form of this exact same word for groan is used it's the Greek lexical word - not so - not so translated grown or groans and I want you to see it here in mark 734 because in our English we can't tell that it's the same word because it's going to be translated into a different word on our pages but but listen to it so read me at verse 31 mark chapter 7 verse 31 didn't he and that's Jesus returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of Decapolis and they brought him a man who was deaf and he had a speech impediment and they begged him to lay his hand on him verse 33 and taking him aside from the crowd privately he put his fingers into his ears and after spitting touched his tongue look at verse 34 verse 34 said and looking up to heaven he sighed well what in the world does that handy hit anybody is strange let me go on with it then let's come back to that little mid-portion and looking up to heaven he this is Jesus he sighed and said to him a fossa that is be opened the one of these sighs like another healing honey I've worked all day I mean why here he is about to heals a man any size well if you could stick the word grown in there would it make any difference because to me it make a difference to me because I don't know why I don't know why we'll find out why but I'll tell you what makes sense to me because it's the same word that is also used in Romans chapter 8 when it talks about that all of creation in Romans 8:23 that all of creation groans waiting for the redemption of the bodies of the sons of God and the daughters of God of us that all of creation literally check it for yourself read Romans 8 and you'll see it that all of creation all of this that you see all this catastrophe and tornadoes hurricanes all of this to me that those are clear signs that the earth is just groaning it's just groaning and groaning and it's awaiting the redemption is waiting renewal because until we are redeemed and we have received our bodies and we are set for them for the kingdom on this earth until all of that has been renewed it doesn't get its renewal you know what I'm saying same word grouping right here in this scene of healing this is what I think is happening here because God has come to earth and taken on our infirmed body of flesh suddenly after being awake he does not sleep nor does he slumber he is subject to a physical body that has to rest sound asleep on a boat in a storm how tired do you have to be to be found asleep in a storm on a boat he was subject to hunger he was subject to thirst even one of the last things when he's I thirst on the cross even that screamed out that the humanity of the god man that had been subject to imagine me having to be squeezed in your God being squeezed in to this jar of clay and having to put up with all its limitations these things so much suffering so much suffering so much suffering and I think that as he healed that man in fact I'm so glad so glad when there's no more deafness no more muteness no more blindness no one will be lame no one will be sick there will be no more cancer I'll even dry up all your tears and I think he groaned out of longing for the end of the age when all things would be made new and we would not be subject to the suffering of these bodies that we wear here is what I want you to understand according to James 4:14 life here is the one that's like the vapor left here according to Colossians this the things here are a shadow of the true but the substance belongs to Christ I want you to fill this in afraid that it just like locks down in your spirit number four is this Paul never equated heavenly with translucent never that's what you and I've got to give up until you think that we do it because when he said our heavenly we got our heavenly bodies there was no part of him that was thinking that somehow that was going to be ghost-like and we'd all walk through one another now I think the reason why we do that is because wheezing heavens we just think we're like seeing through everything we're just like seeing infinitely into the sky and we see clouds and vapors and we honestly think that we're going to leave what was like I mean something firm right here that we could hold onto and real live ground that we could that we could make on that we could stop with our heels we think that somehow we're going to go there and it's going to all be okay no no no this is the vapor what you're sitting in today is the vapor what we've got coming that's the reality this is a shadow that will be the substance of the true everything here this is just this is just a type we have got the fulfillment all waiting for us this is the vapor heavenly does not be translucent it is a reality there are colors we've never even seen red yet anybody understanding that with me we've got to get that out of our head this is the vapor not that you've been in in second Corinthians turn with me to first Corinthians 13 just just knowing where we're going is giving me a lot of my throat but you know I've been committed throughout this whole series not to cry while I teach I have been committed through the whole series and I'm going to try to make it to the very end first Corinthians chapter 13 I want to start reading at verse eight I would tell you what the deal is with the cheers it's a strange phenomenon I used to wonder why it was you know I was raised in a three generation home my grandmother lives with us I mean all of our lives until she passed away at 87 so I was raised in a home of three generations my parents and then my grandmother and then all of us kids were large large family and and my grandmother loved church she absolutely loved church and and she would sit with her friends and so they'd be down here we albey downer we would take up nearly a whole row at that church and in Arkadelphia Arkansas and and so she just be dying to go so excited to go and then we would stand up to sing a hymn and she would not be able to sing a word because the tears would stream down our cheeks paint something why do you like to come to Christ I don't understand why do you even want to come to church so that you can cry if it makes you sad to come to church don't come and I mean I was like sob staring at her going like why y'all crying and stuff is the oddest thing to me well it's not odd now listen the woman had buried three children and well I mean three small children and one husband she had been carried by Jesus she had been carried by Jesus blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine oh she knew this is my story this is my song this is my song Amazing Grace Amazing Grace and it will carry me home she admits it so that's the thing after you build up a lot of history with him you go to singing about him and in something just like breaks you down it just breaks you down and this about breaks me down because I want to read this one with you now are you still picturing these walking out to his beheading because that's what we're doing it's what we're doing he's done he's done after all these travels after all this missionary traveling after all of this were after all that he's suffered after all these gone through and here are these words first Corinthians 13 8 through 12 love never ends as for prophecies they will pass away as for tongues they will cease as for knowledge it will pass away for we know in part and we prophesy in part when the perfect comes the partial will pass away when I was a child I spoke like a child I thought like a child I reasoned like a child when I became a man I gave up childish ways for now we see in a mirror dimly but then now I know in part then I shall know fully even as I have been fully known number five is this to see that face would be to fully know as he'd been known I think I want you to repeat that sentence to me would you say it back to me I'll get you started to see that face I hope you didn't miss that little phrase in verse 12 for now we've seen a mirror dimly but then what does it say there oh please tell me again what it says we appreciated a lot those of us who have heard it a lot but we can't enter in the same way as a Hebrew because from the time Paul would have been the littlest boy he would heard the story of a man named Moses like no other person in that entire Canon in Exodus 33 9 through 11 sent when Moses entered the tent the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent and the Lord would speak to Moses see the Lord had spoken to saul of tarsus he heard his boy that yes and when the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent all the people would rise up and worship each at his tent since in verse 11 of Exodus 33 thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend you know our tendency is to look at that scripture and flip it around and think that Moses talked to God as if he was speaking to his friend that they had that kind of closest that is not what it says that is not what it says it says that God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend it puts God in that place of speaking to Moses also called Abraham a friend of God John chapter 15 I called you friends because I've told you what the father has told me he spoke to him face to face in the Hebrew it would be a word that meant presence to presence what I love about this is that Paul says right there for now we know in part look at those words in verse 9 of first Corinthians 13 for now we know in part you know what's so gorgeous about that is because these words came from the pen of the Apostle Paul when he was in house prison listen to this out of Philippians 3 8 through 10 these are some of the first words early on when I was falling in love with Jesus some of the first words that I memorized and it was because of about five words that come at the very climactic point in the portion that I want you to hear listen to this listen to this Philippians 3 8 through 10 what is more I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things and considered them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through is in Christ the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith five words out of verse 10 I want to know Christ I want to know Christ I want to know Christ this is a man that said what I already know is worth everything I've lost who doesn't he says in first Corinthians 13 we know in part he said the part I know is worthy everything I have had being lost today I know this much and it is worth the loss of everything I've got we have a lot of questions a whole lot of question some of those get answered here and a whole lot of them will not but one look at his face for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when the perfect comes the partial will pass away for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face for now I know in part but then I shall be fully known because I will have seen him face to face I got a question in the question book that is nearly driven me crazy it's this not really unusual it's just that I take things like this like way too seriously and I get all in a knot trying to think exactly how I want to answer it and here's the question what would you tell your 24 year old self she was twenty-four asking it well I thought lord have mercy I thought about myself at 24 Amanda would have been to Melissa probably would have been on the way thought a lot about it because I thought about that time that I would have had come in that I told you about my testimony my first response because I start writing things now what would I tell but what I tell I thought well probably this is what I tell girl this things will get ugly gonna get ugly but then I thought but that's not all it god it's been terrifying and tantalizing and mystifying and mesmerizing and excruciating and exhilarating and depressing and divine until I just stayed like a of middle turn and turn and turn and turn like a hamster on a wheel trying to think what would I tell my 24 year old self what would I tell my 24 year old self what would I tell my 24 year old self I even thought well I'll go with because it'd be so great to end with it since we said just keep getting back up buddy that's what I tell my 24 year old self and I came to a conclusion I'm very very settled with this I would not tell her anything not one dang thing I would not cheat her of the journey of discovery for anything in this world because I'm gonna tell you something I do not know much but what I have learned about him has been everything to me everything to me everything to me and it may have come ugly to me but it came and he has been beautiful and no matter how ugly the experience was that brought that fresh revelation of him it was worth it to me because see it was Paul's trophies and all of his win that he had to put behind and consider garbage mine was a whole lot of garbage that then became worth something because through that garbage I saw just a little glimpse of Jesus our lives are not an episode of Ibanez or Scrooge this is ebony xur stone thus far the board has helped us can you go one more first Corinthians 15 first Corinthians 15 if you know anything about the way this chapter goes you know exactly where I'm going to land I just have to there's just no other choice um things were just like made up in advance and this is one of them you cannot possibly go walking out to your beheading without thinking through first Corinthians chapter 15 starting at verse 50 I tell you this brothers flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable I behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body let's put on immortality when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory Oh death where is your victory Oh death where is your sting for the sting of death is sin the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God some I say thanks be to God Oh somebody say thanks be to God somebody say one more time thanks be to God but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ therefore my beloved brothers and my sisters be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain did you hear that because that's going to be our sending out you've got to be steadfast you've got to be a moveable you've got to be always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that not one bit of your labor we have got work to do let's get to it you cannot be a mighty servant of God and not do the work let's do the work as good soldiers of Christ Jesus let's endorse suffering we're going to have to it's going to be all worth it to us on the other side and until then we stand steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord doing that so in the Lord our labor will never be in vain that is our last one point six Paul knew what we must know to thrive not one ounce of our labor will ever be in vain I just love him I love Paul I laugh to myself today and thought well maybe I love Paul because Paul was also my first love as a little five-year-old girl my first love that I can remember was Paul McCartney anybody getting that with me you're about my age you kind of get that maybe I just have a soft spot for Paul but I just love Paul in fact if some of you were thinking since this is the very last letter of Paul she must be done with all those epistles don't you even think about it Ephesians is burning a hole right through my heart so I don't feel like this is over yet but it is his end it is the last thing he wrote and it's so tender to me to imagine his home going after all he'd gone through you know he had heard his voice but we haven't we haven't but we're going to we're going to I always wonder what that's going to be like word of God says that we're going to get verbal affirmation if we've been faithful with the trust well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master I think maybe the Lord creating us in His image that he knew to make us where where there's something that verbal affirmation does for us you don't have to be ashamed of that I could see my children's faces change when I just verbally affirm them when they affirm me so many changes I mean call me call me a brat call me what Tommi superficial whatever you want but I would charge you with this I think we were created that way that more than something someone can hand us just a word for someone to speak a word words have such power willpower perhaps and gifts something about it being spoken out being spoken out and it will be spoken out and there will be affirmation to the faithful servant now listen this is a creative writing and it's just sure but I don't know it may not be anything like this but I have to wonder what it's going to be like when we hear its voice and so I just could you just go with me here just a minute just a minute imagine someone who's written you for years someone wooing and pursuing you with honor and holy romance but you've never heard the intonation of his voice you do not know how he sounds when he laughs or if his voice breaks when he cries imagine that when you do the very power of it animates billions of cells within you into full strength the eggs of your flesh and the bruises of your brokenness evaporate in an instant no pain yet every nerve ending is thoroughly exposed a condition so foreign overtakes your soul that you cannot even name it it is this colliding wave of joy and satisfaction crashing over you drowning every disappointment every demon as you drop rest and living water fills your lungs and in an instant your life flashes before you from its beginning to its end you see your childhood you see yourself grown and you see yourself now in the mirror of his eyes and he is beautiful and so are you you stands on the shore and commands every piece of your life scattered at his feet to hear the words of the Lord and they come together as one and you look at it and you behold that it is good and every lost and disjointed chapter finds its place and every nonsensical line begins to rhyme you have read his word ah but now you have heard his voice and your bones quake with holy fear but for the first time in your lives you are not afraid for your have heard the sound the sense of hearing was created for when the voice of the word made flesh once again breaks the sound barrier you will hear him say your name and he will call you by the highest title that can be given to humankind faithful servants come in to the joy of your master and you may be speechless would you stand to your feet please well let me tell you something the Bible study series is done but we are not done by a longshot because we're just getting started with a fresh anointing for a fresh part of our journey ramped up in our effectiveness ramped up in our connectedness we are generations meant to be together I don't want to speak these words over you and I pray that you will speak them in your heart right back over me as we close and this will be our benediction and our ending you go out there and live a life of a mighty servant of God you have the spirit of the very Living Christ in you you are not only well able you are outrageously capable do not covet anybody else's gifting you are enormous ly gifted you fan that flame of your gifts for the rest of your life do not let fear cheat you out of your calling your God has given you a spirit of power and of love and found mine do not waste another moment on your grudges and your unforgiveness we gotten far more important things to do with our energies here you have been entrusted by the Living God with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and the gifting to share it o child guard the deposit entrusted to you o guard the deposit that has been entrusted to you hold tight to the scriptures and have each other's backs no matter what happens here Jesus will deliver you safely into his heavenly kingdom and will tell our stories through the ages and they'll all and just like this and so I was delivered from the lion's mouth now these next phrases I want you to say after me I'll say them and you repeat them it is straight out of the first letter to Timothy chapter one and verse 17 now unto the king eternal immortal invisible the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever amen Godspeed servant of God I will see you at the throne somebody somebody [Music] Oh

Channel: Isabella Colvin

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Length: 65min 22sec (3922 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 13 2020