WEBVTT

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Amen.

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And then here in chapter 12,

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we're continuing the monologue of the apostle Paul,

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going down a idea of being very foolish

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and very prideful and boasting in himself.

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If you look back at chapter 11 verse one,

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would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly.

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Notice that he's giving this idea of like,

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hey, I'm saying this something

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that's not a wise thing to do.

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You could look at verse number 16,

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I say again, let no man think me a fool.

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He says in verse 17 that he's speaking

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as it were foolishly.

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He says in verse 19 for you suffer fools gladly.

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He says in verse 21, I speak foolishly.

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So he just kind of like is hammering this idea

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that what he's doing is not the right way

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to talk about yourself.

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He's definitely bragging on himself,

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but he's doing it like many people

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must be doing at his church to try and show,

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hey, if we were to brag, I kind of got these guys beat.

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But that's not the real way to brag.

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We shouldn't be talking this way.

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We shouldn't be trying to compare ourselves among ourselves

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and we shouldn't try to be glorying in the flesh

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and glorying in our accolades.

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And so he's been going through this idea

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of talking foolishly and it continues in chapter 12.

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It says in verse one, it is not expedient

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for me doubtless to glory.

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So again, he's saying it's not a good idea

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for me to constantly glory in myself

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and to bring up and to talk about myself

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and lift myself up.

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That's not really what I should be doing,

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but I'm here and so I'm gonna go ahead

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and continue on this dialogue.

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And so he says, let's talk about,

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I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

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So in the first section, he talks about his pedigree.

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You know, if you look at chapter 11 again,

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he says in verse number 22, are they Hebrew?

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So am I.

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So he kind of talks about like his pedigree,

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like I'm of the children of Israel.

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I'm a Hebrew.

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Then he says, hey, you guys are tough.

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How about what I've gone through?

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I've gone through shipwreck and beatings and whippings

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and just like all kinds of just crazy physical problems

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that he's had to go through.

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So that just shows that he's actually very tough

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and he's very bold.

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And then he goes into a second layer of like emotional depth

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of how he has the care of all the churches upon him

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and that, yeah, of course, when people are suffering,

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he's suffering with them

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and he's condescending a minimum of state

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and to the weak, he's gonna be weak

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and people that are stumbling

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and definitely falling away from the faith,

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it burns him up.

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He gets upset about that.

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He's frustrated to see people,

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not follow Christ and not do the right things.

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Then he's going to a new section.

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How about just visions or revelations?

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So he's like, hey, you wanna compare yourself?

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Well, I meet all the qualifications physically

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you could possibly dream of.

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Not only that, I've done everything you can do physically.

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I've done everything you can do emotionally.

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And then on top of that,

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I've had more visions and more revelations than anyone.

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And let me just go ahead

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and just talk about this for a moment.

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Now, what's interesting in verse two

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is he kind of shields this language here.

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Now, I personally believe

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and that's why I'm talking about it this way.

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I personally believe he's still gonna talk about himself

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but he does talk in like a third person.

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He's just talking about like a different person.

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It's possible to interpret this.

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This is not the apostle Paul

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but my interpretation is

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that he's talking about himself in a third person

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because he kind of feels the awkwardness

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throughout this entire passage.

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Of glorying in himself

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and he doesn't really want to glory in himself.

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So it's like him shielding this information

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from just being directly about himself.

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Even though when we kind of diagnose what he's saying

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it seems kind of clear

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that maybe he's talking about himself.

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Okay, let's says in verse two

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I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago

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whether in the body I cannot tell

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or whether out of the body I cannot tell

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God knoweth such in one cut up to the third heaven.

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So again, he's saying,

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hey I knew somebody that was caught up to the third heaven.

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Notice the timeline 14 years ago.

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You know, this is going back,

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again I'm not gonna give an exact timeline here

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but this is going back very close

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to when would have been the beginning of his ministry.

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Very likely before any of his missionary journeys

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anything like that.

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It seems unlikely that he knows anybody

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that this could even apply to.

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Because for the most part,

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other than Barnabas the son of consolation

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basically reaching out to him

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he didn't really have like many connections.

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People were afraid of him.

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He's kind of a loner, innocent.

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So again, just thinking about like the number of people

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that he has exposure to for this to be a person

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is pretty low.

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And again, when we talk about the other apostles

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he really has very little communication

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if any with them specifically.

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So you would think like if this was someone

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that was gonna go up to the third heaven

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and probably be an apostle,

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probably one of the chief apostles.

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Yet he doesn't really seem to have a relationship

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with Peter or John or any of those people

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at this particular time.

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Also note it can't be John that we're talking about

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from the book of Revelation because this is 14 years ago

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and the epistle that's written

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to the seven churches in Asia

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from a timeline perspective

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is way in the future.

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So this isn't like a revelation.

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He's not talking about John from the book of Revelation.

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Also think about what he says here

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whether in the body I cannot tell

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or whether out of the body I cannot tell.

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Well, if he was just told this by someone

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why would it matter?

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It kind of seems like he's kind of giving you a hint here

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like I went through this experience

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and I just can't really tell.

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Like I don't know if I actually literally went there

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or if I just kind of went there in my mind, right?

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Like I don't even know, like whoever this was,

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again, let's say it wasn't Paul, it doesn't matter.

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The point is that sometimes a vision is so real,

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so lifelike, you may not even know

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like did I actually go there

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or did I just experience it and it felt like I was there?

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Okay, so this is like where he's saying a vision

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or a revelation specifically.

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Notice it's also described as being caught up.

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So the Bible always describes heaven

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as being up, you know, going this direction

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and notice it also says the third heaven.

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Now what does this third heaven mean?

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You know, we're not Mormon,

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so we don't believe in three heavens in heaven.

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It's basically, you know, you can kind of see from the Bible

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the Bible talks about heaven.

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A God created the heaven and the earth, okay?

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But then it also talks about

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he separated the heavens from the heavens.

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So it seems, you know, like the Bible's very clear,

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the first heaven is what we call the sky.

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The second heaven is what we call outer space.

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And then the third heaven is what we would think of

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as the supernatural realm upon which God presides.

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Where God dwells and where, of course,

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his angels are dwelling and where his throne is

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and the saints that have passed on before us

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that their souls are up there

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awaiting their resurrection, okay?

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So this would be known as the third heaven.

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So he's saying, hey, I was caught up

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to this third heaven somehow.

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Interesting idea.

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He says in verse three,

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and I knew such a man whether in the body

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or out of the body, I cannot tell.

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God knoweth, again, just kind of an interesting detail.

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He says how that he was caught up into paradise

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and heard unspeakable words,

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which is not lawful for a man dutter.

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You know, again, it's kind of interesting

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because like, well, how would he know

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if he didn't actually go and experience that?

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You know, it kind of seems like, again,

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another indication that is most likely him

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just because he has this intimate detail.

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You know, words that cannot be uttered.

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I don't even know what that means.

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I'm not even gonna pretend like I know what that means.

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There's a reason why I don't know what that means.

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Paul didn't want us to know what it means, okay?

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So, you know, there's some things

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in the Bible that are described that we don't know.

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That's okay.

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You know, the Bible talks about in the book of Revelation

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there's things that the seven thunder's uttered

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and it's like, seal this up.

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You know, if someone comes up to you like,

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I know what the seven thunder's uttered.

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Like they're lying to you, okay?

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There's some things that we just don't know.

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You know, we don't know what Jesus looks like.

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That's okay.

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Any painting and picture is not him

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and it's not what he looks like.

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And you know, ripping it up has no,

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like I feel no shame or embarrassment.

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I would feel no guilt by just ripping up

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one of these icons from one of these churches

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because it's not Jesus, okay?

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Oh, I went up to heaven, I saw Jesus.

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You know, think about this.

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Apostle Paul is saying he knows someone.

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I think it was him, but we know at least someone

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went to the third heaven.

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And you know what never happens?

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He tells us what Jesus looked like.

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He says, hey, I can't talk about my experience.

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That's, that's, and so, you know,

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think about this though.

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Like if you went to heaven,

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wouldn't kind of like the thing you'd want to do

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is tell people about it?

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Like you'd want to tell people about it.

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And if you were going to like go to heaven

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for a temporary period and come back,

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like you could get a lot of recognition,

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fame and whatever by telling people about it.

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But by telling people like I went to heaven,

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what happened?

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I can't tell you anything about it.

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Like it totally invalidates the whole point

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of even glorying about it.

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And if you really think about it,

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you know, as you could write a book, you know,

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there's how many people have gone to heaven

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and wrote a book about it.

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There was a pastor that I listened to a sermon

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of his one time, he's in Florida.

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I can't remember what his name is.

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Maybe it'll come to me,

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but the guy described how he went to heaven.

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And he's like telling, he's like, he's right.

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He said he was riding on Segway's.

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Like everybody was riding on a Segway.

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And I'm like, I wonder if that was Paul's experience,

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you know, he said it looked like a shopping mall.

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And I was like, this sounds like hell, you know,

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I'm just like, I'm just kidding.

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And he just talked about how he was seeing

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all these people there and whatever.

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And it's just like, you know, that's not what Paul does.

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Paul, you know, here's a legitimate encounter.

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Here's a legitimate source

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saying someone really went to heaven.

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And it's like, okay, what happened?

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I can't tell you.

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And again, the whole point,

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like let's not lose the sight

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of the whole context of this passage.

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Is the context of this passage to glory?

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Is the context to get attention?

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Is the context to, you know, lift yourself up?

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It's actually saying it's kind of foolish to say this.

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It would be silly to do this.

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I'm only saying this to give you an example

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of what a fool would be like.

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A fool would brag about going to heaven.

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Someone that actually went to heaven

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really wouldn't talk about it.

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And wouldn't talk about the things that he saw

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because it's not lawful, it's not even right,

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it's not expedient.

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This is not like what you should do.

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So even if someone really went to heaven,

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it wouldn't be to tell people about it.

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Okay, so, you know, I think all of us

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could maybe secretly think like,

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it'd be nice to just take a peek

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and just see what's going on up there

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or just kind of have an idea

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or to see, you know, who's there

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and who's not there, you know?

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Okay.

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I think there's gonna be some disappointment

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for some people, okay?

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Maybe they'll be surprised.

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I don't know, okay?

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But I think that we could all have that desire.

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And we all have that desire.

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I mean, I think the biggest desire for most of us,

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if we were to be honest, is just see Jesus, right?

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See Jesus, see God, spend any kind of time

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with him, talk with him or whatever.

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Whatever Paul heard though,

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he says it's not lawful for a man to utter.

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He says in verse five, of such a one will I glory?

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Yet of myself, I will not glory,

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but mine infirmities.

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Now, in verse five, he's saying,

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hey, whoever went to heaven,

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that's the person that I would glorify.

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Like, if I was gonna brag about someone,

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if I was gonna glory in someone,

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I would glory about the guy that went to the third heaven.

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Seems like a pretty safe source.

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Seems like the guy that's pretty legit.

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Seems like someone that's pretty close to God

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and pretty close to the Lord

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is someone that literally went to the third heaven

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or I guess you could say, mentally went there.

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I mean, he's saying he might've potentially gone there

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in body, maybe it was just simply

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an out of body experience or some kind of a vision

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or he went there mentally,

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but it's saying this is someone that's experienced heaven

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in a way no one else has ever experienced.

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You would think like, here's the guy

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that I want to be my preacher.

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The guy that literally went to heaven

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or the guy that's experienced heaven or seen heaven.

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Like, wouldn't you want that guy

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to be reassuring you about heaven?

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It's like, when we all get to heaven,

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it's like, how do you know?

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Well, I've been there.

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I mean, wouldn't you want that guy

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to be the guy comforting you,

13:15.260 --> 13:17.300
that to be the guy that's instructing you,

13:17.560 --> 13:19.280
that the guy that you're like leaning on.

13:19.720 --> 13:21.600
You know, because of course you knock on a lot of doors

13:21.980 --> 13:23.280
and some people will say like,

13:23.380 --> 13:25.520
oh, well no one knows where they're gonna go when they die.

13:26.040 --> 13:27.800
Well, the guy that was caught up to the third heaven knows.

13:28.380 --> 13:30.280
You know, this guy's got a pretty big faith,

13:30.520 --> 13:31.580
you know, a pretty big confidence.

13:32.080 --> 13:33.100
You know, it'd be pretty great

13:33.100 --> 13:34.660
to have that guy instructing you.

13:35.820 --> 13:36.840
And think about it though,

13:36.840 --> 13:39.860
it kinda makes sense if it was Paul for one reason.

13:40.620 --> 13:41.960
Now Paul's had to endure a lot.

13:43.220 --> 13:44.700
Paul's had to go through a lot.

13:45.260 --> 13:47.940
Paul is pretty much rejected of a ton of people,

13:48.500 --> 13:50.660
stoned to death, all kinds of crazy things

13:50.660 --> 13:51.500
that are happening to him.

13:52.980 --> 13:55.980
Having seen heaven might kinda help you

13:56.540 --> 13:57.680
continue on that journey.

13:57.820 --> 13:59.480
Might help you be a little steadfast

13:59.480 --> 14:01.340
because you know what you're aiming for.

14:01.400 --> 14:02.960
You know where your destination is.

14:03.020 --> 14:04.840
You know what's going on

14:04.840 --> 14:06.160
and just kinda helps you put things

14:06.160 --> 14:07.340
in perspective a little bit.

14:07.900 --> 14:09.920
Maybe he went to heaven when he was rocked to sleep.

14:10.320 --> 14:11.100
You know, I don't know.

14:11.640 --> 14:13.540
I mean, that could have been a reasonable timeline

14:13.540 --> 14:15.180
of just he was getting stoned

14:15.180 --> 14:16.800
so God just took him to heaven for a moment,

14:17.300 --> 14:17.860
brought him back.

14:18.140 --> 14:19.840
I still don't think that fits the timeline

14:19.840 --> 14:21.340
because he said 14 years ago.

14:21.920 --> 14:23.860
It almost seems like the 14 years ago

14:23.860 --> 14:25.660
is prior to any of the missionary journeys,

14:26.140 --> 14:27.440
any of the things that happened.

14:28.720 --> 14:30.180
But again, you could argue,

14:31.000 --> 14:32.060
hey, somebody went to heaven

14:32.060 --> 14:33.160
and just told Paul about it

14:33.160 --> 14:34.320
and we don't even know who the guy is.

14:35.180 --> 14:36.860
I don't really think that that's what it's saying

14:36.860 --> 14:38.180
and why.

14:38.800 --> 14:40.260
Well, he says, yet of myself,

14:40.500 --> 14:42.360
I will not glory but in mine infirmities.

14:42.760 --> 14:45.200
So I think that you could see

14:45.200 --> 14:46.680
what he's trying to say here is,

14:46.720 --> 14:48.060
hey, I would glory in this guy

14:48.060 --> 14:49.980
but I don't wanna glory about myself.

14:50.200 --> 14:51.420
I don't wanna lift myself up.

14:51.600 --> 14:53.880
I don't wanna give somebody opportunity

14:53.880 --> 14:55.720
to think of me better than I really am.

14:56.120 --> 14:56.900
So all I'm gonna do is

14:56.900 --> 14:57.900
I'm gonna talk about my weaknesses.

14:59.120 --> 15:00.120
He says in verse six,

15:00.120 --> 15:02.080
for though I would desire to glory,

15:02.920 --> 15:04.280
I shall not be a fool.

15:04.880 --> 15:07.660
So he's saying, I kinda want to glory about this

15:07.660 --> 15:08.900
or I kinda wanna glory

15:09.680 --> 15:12.280
but I'm not gonna be a fool, okay?

15:12.860 --> 15:13.980
Now, again, think about this.

15:14.100 --> 15:16.640
It doesn't really make entirely sense to me.

15:16.780 --> 15:18.160
Maybe you have a different perspective

15:18.160 --> 15:20.700
but why he would say I really wanna glory

15:20.700 --> 15:22.100
about someone else going to heaven

15:22.100 --> 15:23.680
but I'm not gonna do that,

15:23.940 --> 15:26.300
like he just did it in a sense, okay?

15:26.700 --> 15:28.300
It makes sense that he's kind of cloaking

15:28.760 --> 15:29.660
the third person

15:30.040 --> 15:32.280
so that he can kinda make these statements of like,

15:32.640 --> 15:34.200
I would kinda like to go around bragging

15:34.200 --> 15:35.080
I went to the third heaven

15:35.980 --> 15:37.400
but I'm just not gonna do it.

15:37.860 --> 15:39.700
You know, I'm not gonna be that kind of a person.

15:40.480 --> 15:41.660
Yet of myself I will not glory

15:41.660 --> 15:42.500
but in my infirmities

15:42.500 --> 15:44.020
for though I would desire to glory

15:44.020 --> 15:44.900
I shall not be a fool

15:44.900 --> 15:46.000
for I will say the truth

15:46.000 --> 15:47.460
but now I forbear

15:48.460 --> 15:50.400
lest any man should think of me above

15:50.980 --> 15:53.180
that which he seeeth me to be

15:53.180 --> 15:54.360
or that he heareth of me.

15:54.360 --> 15:57.860
So again, if we think about the whole narrative, okay?

15:58.640 --> 15:59.840
Paul's trying to say like,

15:59.960 --> 16:01.340
hey, I don't wanna talk like a fool

16:01.340 --> 16:02.200
but I'm gonna do it anyways.

16:02.940 --> 16:04.780
So let me just give you an example of what it would be like

16:04.780 --> 16:06.240
if I were to be one of these fools

16:06.240 --> 16:07.120
and brag about myself.

16:07.480 --> 16:08.200
Well, I'm a Hebrew,

16:08.920 --> 16:11.620
I've endured the most persecution anybody's ever endured.

16:11.980 --> 16:14.520
I've suffered the most emotional

16:14.520 --> 16:15.720
and like mental turmoil

16:15.720 --> 16:17.120
anybody could possibly experience

16:17.500 --> 16:19.340
and then when it comes to visions and revelations

16:19.340 --> 16:21.460
some random dude went to heaven, not about me.

16:22.280 --> 16:23.900
That doesn't really fit, does it?

16:24.300 --> 16:26.100
It kind of seems like it's escalating

16:26.100 --> 16:27.960
in narrative of like,

16:28.280 --> 16:29.600
hey, I'm a Hebrew,

16:30.360 --> 16:31.140
I'm of the Israelites,

16:31.740 --> 16:33.520
I've endured the greatest physical, you know,

16:33.580 --> 16:35.780
torments and punishments imaginable

16:35.780 --> 16:36.960
and I've continued going,

16:37.300 --> 16:39.740
I've endured the most emotional, you know, trauma

16:39.740 --> 16:41.660
and I have all this care for the churches

16:43.420 --> 16:45.340
and I know a guy that went to heaven,

16:45.680 --> 16:46.700
to the third heaven

16:47.340 --> 16:49.540
and I don't really think it's right to brag

16:49.540 --> 16:50.740
about that guy, I would like to

16:51.500 --> 16:52.700
but I don't want to be a fool

16:52.700 --> 16:53.780
and then he backs off.

16:54.380 --> 16:56.360
You can kind of see why he kind of does it

16:56.360 --> 16:57.020
that way potentially

16:57.900 --> 16:59.880
but to me it just still makes most sense

17:00.240 --> 17:01.640
to say that he's talking about himself.

17:02.840 --> 17:03.800
I could be, you know, again,

17:03.960 --> 17:05.560
I think there's a different way to interpret this

17:05.560 --> 17:06.800
but that's just how I interpret it,

17:06.960 --> 17:07.680
it makes the most sense

17:07.680 --> 17:08.480
because notice again, he says,

17:08.540 --> 17:09.280
but now I will forbear.

17:09.620 --> 17:12.540
Like forbear, why is he forbearing

17:12.540 --> 17:13.580
of glorying in himself

17:13.580 --> 17:14.800
when he's talking about someone else?

17:14.980 --> 17:15.360
I don't know.

17:15.920 --> 17:16.820
It's definitely difficult,

17:17.000 --> 17:17.780
it's difficult language,

17:17.780 --> 17:20.580
it's a difficult thing to analyze.

17:20.840 --> 17:22.780
Like is he just talking about some other random dude?

17:23.560 --> 17:24.160
I don't know.

17:24.520 --> 17:26.980
Let's just take the other example for a moment.

17:27.360 --> 17:28.960
Okay, somebody else went to heaven.

17:29.120 --> 17:30.400
Well, he's saying that guy is a guy

17:30.400 --> 17:31.420
that we should be listening to.

17:31.900 --> 17:34.100
Still not the guys in the church at Corinth

17:34.100 --> 17:35.360
that are bragging about themselves

17:35.360 --> 17:37.120
because they haven't gone to the third heaven.

17:37.540 --> 17:38.920
They haven't endured what we've endured.

17:39.400 --> 17:41.880
They don't have the same care for you that we do

17:41.880 --> 17:45.040
and the most important point or element here is

17:45.040 --> 17:47.300
that if we were gonna have a pissing match,

17:47.300 --> 17:49.040
you guys are gonna lose.

17:50.200 --> 17:52.480
I know plenty of guys that are better than you

17:52.480 --> 17:55.460
and so let's not have that, let's not do that.

17:55.560 --> 17:57.820
That's talking foolishly and you know as a church,

17:58.060 --> 17:59.500
you shouldn't care about people

17:59.500 --> 18:00.780
going around bragging about themselves.

18:01.560 --> 18:04.300
You should actually want the guy that's boasting

18:04.300 --> 18:06.060
in his infirmities is what the Bible's saying.

18:06.700 --> 18:08.800
And again, what's the point of boasting

18:08.800 --> 18:09.620
in infirmities?

18:10.600 --> 18:12.040
It's talking about his weaknesses

18:12.600 --> 18:14.740
and he's saying I couldn't do this

18:14.740 --> 18:17.600
but then God was able to deliver me.

18:17.720 --> 18:21.460
God is the one that came in and helped me

18:21.460 --> 18:24.360
and so it's through his strength that I stand here.

18:24.460 --> 18:26.440
It's through his might, it's through his power,

18:26.660 --> 18:27.500
it's through his knowledge.

18:28.000 --> 18:30.160
It's about giving glory to God at the end of the day.

18:30.240 --> 18:31.080
That's the whole point.

18:31.780 --> 18:33.080
So again, when we read the Bible stories

18:33.080 --> 18:34.160
about David and Goliath,

18:34.640 --> 18:36.320
it really wouldn't be the story

18:36.320 --> 18:38.660
if the roles were reversed.

18:39.660 --> 18:42.620
What if the story was there's this tiny little

18:42.620 --> 18:45.060
young shepherd boy of the Philistines

18:45.060 --> 18:48.220
that's coming out and mocking the Israelites

18:48.840 --> 18:52.900
and this nine foot tall David comes out with a spear

18:53.420 --> 18:56.780
and he just throws it from a hundred yards

18:56.780 --> 18:59.360
right through this little boy's skull and crushes it.

19:00.200 --> 19:02.360
You know, it's kind of a different story.

19:02.860 --> 19:05.460
Then you're like, okay, I guess praise God

19:05.460 --> 19:07.700
for the guy that's strong and big and buff, right?

19:08.480 --> 19:10.740
Then it kind of like flips the story on its head.

19:10.740 --> 19:13.420
Whereas if the story is like, hey, there's this giant

19:14.020 --> 19:16.340
that, you know, it takes a grown man,

19:16.600 --> 19:19.720
just like a full grown man just to carry his like shield,

19:20.340 --> 19:22.700
you know, just like just a shield alone.

19:22.960 --> 19:25.000
Just one guy struggling to carry this thing

19:25.680 --> 19:29.120
and this giant is coming out to defy the armies of Israel

19:29.120 --> 19:31.120
and everybody's afraid and everybody's a coward

19:31.120 --> 19:33.260
and this little shepherd boy with no armor,

19:33.660 --> 19:36.140
nothing just kills him with a slingshot.

19:36.320 --> 19:38.520
It's like, oh wow, God really came in

19:38.520 --> 19:39.920
and God really delivered him

19:39.920 --> 19:41.680
and God really helped David

19:41.680 --> 19:44.120
and we see the might and power of God working through David.

19:44.620 --> 19:47.040
So we're not talking about David's strengths,

19:47.220 --> 19:48.660
we're talking about David's weaknesses, aren't we?

19:50.060 --> 19:53.240
He's young, he's small, he doesn't have armor on, okay?

19:53.540 --> 19:55.200
So it's like the apostle Paul is saying,

19:55.280 --> 19:57.700
hey, I'd rather talk about the things

19:57.700 --> 19:59.060
that don't make me that great

19:59.520 --> 20:01.360
and how God had to make up the hedge,

20:01.540 --> 20:03.120
how God had to intercede,

20:03.520 --> 20:05.140
how God had to help deliver me.

20:05.360 --> 20:07.620
So then God gets the glory, right?

20:07.620 --> 20:09.860
You know, again, our church specifically

20:09.860 --> 20:11.600
has gone through trials and tribulations

20:12.540 --> 20:15.120
and it's cooler stories when it's like,

20:15.360 --> 20:16.800
hey, we did everything we could do

20:17.460 --> 20:19.120
and it wasn't working out

20:19.120 --> 20:20.660
and then just God opened a door

20:20.660 --> 20:23.140
or God brought someone into our situation

20:23.140 --> 20:24.660
or God helped deliver us

20:24.660 --> 20:27.260
or God is dragging this person off to federal prison,

20:27.360 --> 20:28.100
we didn't have to do anything.

20:28.400 --> 20:30.320
You know, it's just like, it's cool to see God work

20:30.320 --> 20:32.120
when we can't really deliver,

20:32.300 --> 20:33.880
when we can't really help ourselves.

20:34.280 --> 20:36.300
That's better to glory in that

20:36.820 --> 20:37.860
than to glory in yourself,

20:38.160 --> 20:40.720
to glory in what makes you so much stronger

20:40.720 --> 20:41.520
than everybody else.

20:43.020 --> 20:43.980
And again, verse six,

20:44.100 --> 20:45.760
less than he made you think of me above that,

20:46.260 --> 20:49.020
which he seeeth me to be or that he heareth of me.

20:49.220 --> 20:51.600
You know, the apostle Paul has experienced this.

20:51.740 --> 20:54.540
You know, the apostle Paul goes to certain parts

20:54.540 --> 20:57.260
of the world and because he's able

20:57.260 --> 20:58.480
to do the signs of an apostle,

20:58.880 --> 21:01.640
like healing people, speaking languages

21:01.640 --> 21:02.640
he's never studied before,

21:03.460 --> 21:04.800
just different things like this.

21:04.800 --> 21:07.800
Sometimes the town people will like think he's a God.

21:08.000 --> 21:09.980
They'll say, oh, the gods have come down to us.

21:10.100 --> 21:13.280
You know, Jupiter and Mercury, they've come down to us

21:13.280 --> 21:16.140
and you know, Paul is this God

21:16.140 --> 21:17.780
or something they'll worship him as a God.

21:18.260 --> 21:19.380
It's like, well, that's wrong.

21:19.800 --> 21:20.960
You know, we don't want to think of them

21:20.960 --> 21:23.500
above that which is written and what's written?

21:23.660 --> 21:25.940
They're an apostle, they're a servant of God.

21:26.400 --> 21:27.440
That doesn't mean that they don't have

21:27.440 --> 21:28.540
some level of status.

21:28.760 --> 21:30.740
That doesn't mean that we shouldn't think highly of them

21:30.740 --> 21:32.580
but we shouldn't think that highly of them.

21:32.580 --> 21:35.320
And again, he doesn't want to necessarily, you know,

21:35.400 --> 21:37.320
if he did or if he was the person

21:37.320 --> 21:38.260
that went to the third heaven,

21:38.460 --> 21:41.220
he doesn't want people to then elevate him

21:41.220 --> 21:42.780
above that which is written.

21:42.940 --> 21:43.980
He's still just an apostle.

21:44.620 --> 21:47.040
He still has a very lowly and humble view of himself.

21:47.420 --> 21:49.820
Often when he talks to himself of being an apostle,

21:50.340 --> 21:53.260
he describes himself as being the last of the apostles.

21:53.800 --> 21:55.420
He says that he's chief of sinners.

21:55.980 --> 21:59.020
He kind of uses what I would describe as hyperbole,

21:59.340 --> 22:02.240
just exaggeration about himself at times.

22:02.600 --> 22:06.100
And it's like, is he really worse than Judas Iscariot?

22:06.360 --> 22:08.480
Is he really worse than Caiaphas?

22:08.960 --> 22:11.480
Is he really worse than Olimus the sorcerer?

22:11.700 --> 22:14.120
Like, I don't really think that that's, you know,

22:14.740 --> 22:17.640
the accurate portrayal but what is he trying to do?

22:17.700 --> 22:19.260
He's trying to be humble about himself.

22:19.560 --> 22:21.180
He's trying to mind us, hey, I persecuted

22:21.180 --> 22:22.020
the church of God.

22:22.300 --> 22:23.660
Hey, I'm last of all the apostles.

22:24.060 --> 22:25.860
Hey, I'm not worthy to be called an apostle.

22:26.480 --> 22:28.740
He constantly is trying to help us realize

22:28.740 --> 22:30.820
that even though he is an elevated person,

22:31.020 --> 22:31.880
one of the greatest Christians,

22:32.020 --> 22:33.320
he has a low view of himself

22:33.760 --> 22:35.440
and he's not trying to elevate himself.

22:35.940 --> 22:37.640
And so we too need to be careful

22:37.640 --> 22:40.020
that we don't think too highly of ourselves.

22:41.040 --> 22:42.980
If the apostle Paul can put himself in check,

22:43.160 --> 22:44.940
then who are we to not put ourselves in check?

22:45.480 --> 22:48.040
And to think humbly and lowly of ourselves

22:48.040 --> 22:49.940
and to not brag about ourselves

22:49.940 --> 22:51.440
and bring up all our accolades.

22:52.100 --> 22:55.900
You know, I would say this, we shouldn't do it, right?

22:56.440 --> 22:57.460
But Paul did it.

22:58.740 --> 23:00.140
So how does that work?

23:00.280 --> 23:01.360
Well, you know, the Bible says like

23:01.360 --> 23:03.080
to answer not a full accordion is folly

23:03.080 --> 23:05.460
and then it's like answer full accordion is folly.

23:05.660 --> 23:10.000
It seems like sometimes and some occasions,

23:10.960 --> 23:12.900
sometimes ministers will defend themselves

23:13.400 --> 23:16.040
and when they defend themselves, it'll never sound right.

23:16.160 --> 23:18.480
It'll never sound exactly the best type of speech

23:18.480 --> 23:20.320
because in general we shouldn't be bragging

23:20.320 --> 23:22.500
about ourselves or talking highly of ourselves

23:22.500 --> 23:24.300
but sometimes you just defend yourself

23:24.300 --> 23:26.120
because you kind of need to for the situation.

23:26.640 --> 23:28.360
And you know what, the apostle Paul did

23:29.020 --> 23:30.980
and sometimes a minister may do that.

23:31.220 --> 23:32.820
And of course, if a minister ever says,

23:32.980 --> 23:34.600
God forbid anything positive about himself,

23:34.980 --> 23:36.660
there's plenty of haters to come around

23:36.660 --> 23:38.100
and tear him down and try to act

23:38.100 --> 23:40.200
like he's prideful and blah, blah, blah.

23:40.660 --> 23:42.360
And again, this epistles no different.

23:42.680 --> 23:45.580
If Paul lived in our day, they would sit there

23:45.580 --> 23:47.500
and they would try to say Paul's prideful

23:47.500 --> 23:50.160
and look out, Paul thinks how wonderful he is

23:50.160 --> 23:52.420
and oh, Paul's bragging about him being himself

23:52.420 --> 23:53.960
a Hebrew and we're not Hebrews

23:53.960 --> 23:57.020
and Paul's bragging about how he can endure

23:57.020 --> 24:00.080
all this persecution and Paul's bragging about

24:00.440 --> 24:02.320
all the encounters he's had with God

24:02.980 --> 24:06.400
but he's doing this out of love, out of charity.

24:06.840 --> 24:08.120
He actually cares about the church.

24:08.140 --> 24:11.600
He's trying to help them to be recovered from the fools.

24:12.120 --> 24:13.540
He's not actually trying to be a fool.

24:13.960 --> 24:15.600
He's trying to recover them from the fools.

24:16.140 --> 24:18.480
Okay, so sometimes you're gonna have

24:18.480 --> 24:21.480
to defend yourself and we shouldn't be

24:21.480 --> 24:23.260
the ones throwing stones at a minister

24:23.260 --> 24:25.120
defending himself on the rare occasion

24:25.120 --> 24:26.040
he has to defend himself.

24:27.240 --> 24:28.600
And the apostle Paul did it.

24:29.520 --> 24:31.540
If I saw a pastor doing this,

24:31.640 --> 24:32.760
I'm not gonna throw stones at him.

24:33.400 --> 24:35.360
Now, if he's doing it every single week,

24:35.640 --> 24:38.480
every single Sunday, if he's just bragging about himself

24:38.480 --> 24:41.280
online every single day, well then it starts to be like,

24:41.320 --> 24:43.400
okay, well, I don't think you're really acting

24:43.400 --> 24:45.420
appropriately and again, that's not

24:45.420 --> 24:46.760
the apostle Paul's position.

24:46.860 --> 24:48.620
The apostle Paul's not someone going around bragging

24:48.620 --> 24:49.920
about himself on a regular basis.

24:49.920 --> 24:52.640
He's someone that's doing it in a limited capacity

24:53.160 --> 24:55.280
and think about how many caveats he gave.

24:55.660 --> 24:59.240
You know, that comforts me because I too

24:59.240 --> 25:01.400
have occasionally talked about things

25:01.400 --> 25:03.360
where I've given a lot of caveats.

25:03.900 --> 25:07.380
There was a podcast where I gave caveats ad nauseam

25:07.380 --> 25:09.600
and then what's funny is it doesn't matter.

25:10.100 --> 25:13.540
You could give 50 caveats and the haters

25:13.540 --> 25:14.480
just don't even care.

25:14.600 --> 25:15.400
They just ignore it.

25:15.480 --> 25:16.640
They don't even, it doesn't even matter.

25:16.900 --> 25:19.060
But this is why it's funny to me.

25:19.460 --> 25:20.960
It's like, you would think, well,

25:20.980 --> 25:21.880
we're not doing it for them,

25:22.260 --> 25:24.340
but you just, just as a preacher,

25:24.600 --> 25:26.420
as a pastor, as a person, you sometimes

25:26.420 --> 25:29.280
you just feel this like PTSD of the last time

25:29.280 --> 25:30.680
they took you out of context.

25:31.020 --> 25:32.020
So he's just like, I'm just gonna,

25:32.100 --> 25:33.800
I'm just dropping lots of caveats, okay?

25:34.920 --> 25:36.500
I don't really care, but I just,

25:36.580 --> 25:38.860
I gotta drop much caveats, you know.

25:39.400 --> 25:41.300
And again, why is he dropping the caveats?

25:41.420 --> 25:43.200
He's kind of just dropping the caveats

25:43.200 --> 25:44.640
to comfort the good people.

25:45.780 --> 25:47.400
So the good people don't get persuaded

25:47.400 --> 25:48.780
by the bad people's arguments.

25:48.780 --> 25:50.620
Cause the bad people don't care about the caveats.

25:50.860 --> 25:53.080
They'll lambast you, they'll attack you,

25:53.140 --> 25:54.400
they'll assault you, they'll go after you

25:54.400 --> 25:55.620
and say you're prideful and whatever.

25:56.040 --> 25:58.820
It's just for the normal people to realize,

25:59.340 --> 26:01.400
hey, this is not legit.

26:01.900 --> 26:03.000
I was caveating.

26:03.580 --> 26:05.900
I'm not saying this is the right way to speak

26:05.900 --> 26:08.020
just so they can at least figure it out.

26:08.280 --> 26:10.300
And I guess, you know, let's just be honest,

26:10.460 --> 26:11.360
people are a little thick.

26:13.000 --> 26:15.560
People are, you know, I guess they don't pay attention.

26:15.880 --> 26:17.460
It's like, how about the seventh time

26:17.460 --> 26:19.780
that I tell you that this was a stupid way to talk?

26:20.060 --> 26:21.080
How about the eighth time?

26:21.320 --> 26:23.700
How many caveats do I have to get before you get it?

26:23.960 --> 26:25.760
Like this isn't what you do, okay?

26:27.300 --> 26:28.460
He says in verse seven,

26:28.580 --> 26:30.240
unless I should be exalted above measure

26:30.800 --> 26:32.420
through the abundance of the revelations,

26:32.560 --> 26:34.760
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh.

26:34.940 --> 26:38.840
Now again, all the evidence that we've had so far,

26:38.960 --> 26:41.860
I think kind of points towards Paul being the person.

26:42.280 --> 26:43.180
As we get into verse seven,

26:43.220 --> 26:46.140
I think it gets even clearer thinking about the context.

26:46.140 --> 26:47.780
The context is, okay,

26:47.920 --> 26:49.640
I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

26:50.600 --> 26:52.520
Then verses two through six,

26:52.900 --> 26:55.480
he describes a guy going to heaven, to the third heaven.

26:56.360 --> 27:00.220
He never says anything in like the first person

27:00.220 --> 27:03.400
about himself ever having a revelation or having a vision.

27:03.960 --> 27:06.420
It seems a little weird to say,

27:07.080 --> 27:10.160
hey, I wanna talk about visions and revelations.

27:10.560 --> 27:12.800
I'm not gonna talk about anything I've ever experienced.

27:13.240 --> 27:14.100
And then verse seven,

27:14.100 --> 27:16.160
hey, this thing's gonna happen to me

27:16.160 --> 27:19.180
because of the abundance of revelations and visions that I had.

27:19.580 --> 27:21.000
It kind of makes more sense

27:21.000 --> 27:22.840
that he was just talking about a revelation

27:22.840 --> 27:23.860
or a vision he had.

27:24.380 --> 27:27.020
Because then he's gonna explain why he's been punished

27:27.480 --> 27:29.440
and or not punished, that's the wrong word probably,

27:29.880 --> 27:33.180
I guess been afflicted as a result of these revelations.

27:33.260 --> 27:34.640
He says in verse number seven,

27:35.460 --> 27:36.840
unless I should be exalted above measure

27:36.840 --> 27:38.320
through the abundance of the revelations,

27:38.640 --> 27:41.300
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,

27:41.840 --> 27:43.240
the messenger of Satan to buffet me,

27:43.240 --> 27:44.660
unless I should be exalted above measure.

27:45.260 --> 27:47.920
Well, why is he so worried about being exalted above measure

27:47.920 --> 27:49.300
if he's never had any revelations

27:49.300 --> 27:50.580
or if he's never had any visions

27:50.580 --> 27:52.160
or if there's nothing special to talk about?

27:52.700 --> 27:56.100
I think, you could argue and think about it this way.

27:56.820 --> 27:58.780
Think about this, let's say you went to the third heaven.

28:00.340 --> 28:02.440
And the Bible talks about how the apostles

28:02.440 --> 28:03.900
have seen the Lord Jesus Christ.

28:04.460 --> 28:06.360
So the apostle Paul has seen

28:06.360 --> 28:08.080
the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

28:08.620 --> 28:10.660
He has spoken directly to Jesus.

28:10.860 --> 28:12.260
He's spoken directly to God.

28:12.260 --> 28:14.600
He's seen the third heaven.

28:16.520 --> 28:18.400
Then afterwards at some point,

28:18.960 --> 28:22.800
he gets totally afflicted by this thorn in the flesh

28:22.800 --> 28:24.480
and we'll talk about whatever that is in a moment,

28:24.540 --> 28:25.960
but just some horrible affliction.

28:26.380 --> 28:28.440
He even asked God to take it away three times

28:28.440 --> 28:29.800
and he says no, okay?

28:30.440 --> 28:31.760
And the whole reason is why?

28:32.560 --> 28:34.940
So that he will not be exalted above measure

28:34.940 --> 28:36.700
so that people will not glory in him.

28:37.600 --> 28:41.080
Doesn't that seem like maybe he would be hesitant then

28:41.580 --> 28:44.520
to talk about the visions and revelations

28:44.520 --> 28:46.120
that people might end up glorying in him?

28:46.880 --> 28:48.240
Like think about it, it's like, hey,

28:48.680 --> 28:51.120
God's like I'm gonna afflict you hard

28:51.120 --> 28:52.900
because of what you just saw.

28:53.500 --> 28:55.780
You'd be like, because I don't want people to like,

28:56.160 --> 28:57.440
you know, think too highly of you.

28:57.640 --> 28:59.720
You're gonna be real careful when to brag about that

29:00.700 --> 29:03.060
because what's gonna happen next, you know?

29:03.620 --> 29:05.280
Like you just got afflicted for it.

29:05.560 --> 29:07.080
You probably don't wanna go around.

29:07.160 --> 29:09.240
So then you can see like that makes even more sense

29:09.240 --> 29:12.360
why if he talked about it, he kind of does this,

29:12.740 --> 29:15.860
well, I knew a guy, you know, don't hit me,

29:16.100 --> 29:19.580
you know, like don't strike me with lightning, you know?

29:19.820 --> 29:22.240
I knew of a guy that went to the third heaven.

29:23.160 --> 29:25.500
It's like, he's like, I don't wanna get, you know,

29:25.540 --> 29:26.220
something else.

29:26.740 --> 29:28.760
And again, I'm just trying to put this in perspective.

29:28.980 --> 29:30.200
It kind of would make sense, right?

29:30.740 --> 29:32.980
If you've been afflicted for abundance of revelations

29:32.980 --> 29:35.260
that you might be even extra cautious

29:35.800 --> 29:36.900
talking about them.

29:37.100 --> 29:38.420
And isn't he pretty cautious?

29:38.860 --> 29:40.100
Hey, I knew somebody that went there.

29:40.220 --> 29:41.700
I don't even know if he went in body or not.

29:42.660 --> 29:44.560
He saw things that I can't tell you

29:45.000 --> 29:46.760
and he heard things that I can't say,

29:48.420 --> 29:49.720
but it happened, all right?

29:49.920 --> 29:51.120
Trust me, bro, okay?

29:51.600 --> 29:54.480
Like, and I just don't wanna get afflicted again, right?

29:55.400 --> 29:57.580
Again, I'm obviously, I'm reading between the lines

29:57.580 --> 29:58.100
a little bit here.

29:58.540 --> 30:00.180
But I'm just trying to help us understand,

30:00.360 --> 30:01.840
you know, potentially what's happening here.

30:02.160 --> 30:05.540
But for sure, even if, even if I'm wrong,

30:05.700 --> 30:07.180
even if it was some other random dude,

30:07.780 --> 30:09.300
Paul definitely had a lot of visions.

30:09.740 --> 30:10.740
Paul had a lot of revelations.

30:11.420 --> 30:14.100
And so he was given this thorn in the flesh.

30:14.220 --> 30:15.260
Now, what is this thorn in the flesh?

30:17.600 --> 30:20.960
Obviously, on some level, it's a phrase.

30:21.160 --> 30:23.040
It's a metaphor, okay?

30:23.160 --> 30:26.120
Because no one believes he has a literal thorn

30:26.500 --> 30:27.580
in his literal flesh.

30:28.080 --> 30:30.160
But the question I think for most people

30:30.160 --> 30:31.840
is this, is this a physical torment

30:32.520 --> 30:35.020
or is this something else, okay?

30:36.400 --> 30:38.060
And I'm not gonna say I know.

30:38.500 --> 30:40.020
I think it could be either.

30:41.100 --> 30:42.720
When you think about a physical torment,

30:43.340 --> 30:44.580
you know, it's saying the messenger of Satan

30:44.580 --> 30:46.960
to buffet me, there's some kind of a satanic element here,

30:47.520 --> 30:49.500
which seems odd just because typically

30:49.500 --> 30:50.700
when we think of a saved person,

30:51.200 --> 30:52.380
like you can't be demon possessed.

30:52.940 --> 30:53.700
And I believe that.

30:54.060 --> 30:55.700
But the Bible does, you know,

30:55.740 --> 30:58.820
talk about like King Saul being tormented

30:58.820 --> 31:00.160
by an evil spirit from the Lord.

31:00.720 --> 31:04.180
So, you know, perhaps there was some kind

31:04.180 --> 31:06.620
of a evil spirit tormenting, you know,

31:07.500 --> 31:10.080
the apostle Paul in some physical way.

31:10.480 --> 31:10.960
I don't know.

31:11.680 --> 31:14.260
You have Job's obviously physically tormented

31:14.260 --> 31:17.080
with boils all over his body from Satan.

31:17.840 --> 31:21.880
So, is he saying like one of Satan's ministers

31:22.480 --> 31:25.580
came to Paul and that minister caused

31:25.580 --> 31:29.440
some kind of a physical issue towards the apostle Paul?

31:29.600 --> 31:31.100
I don't know, that's an interpretation.

31:31.740 --> 31:34.860
I think another interpretation could be,

31:35.300 --> 31:36.300
if we want to stretch this,

31:36.400 --> 31:38.340
maybe it's just like some person

31:39.620 --> 31:42.140
that's following him around harassing him.

31:42.740 --> 31:45.420
And he kind of have in, I believe it,

31:45.460 --> 31:46.780
what is it, Acts chapter 16,

31:47.420 --> 31:50.580
you have this damsel that's like following him around

31:50.580 --> 31:53.220
saying, these be the servants of the Most High God.

31:53.740 --> 31:54.840
And they're just kind of like,

31:55.260 --> 31:56.380
they're just kind of tormented

31:56.380 --> 31:58.260
because this person just won't leave him alone.

31:59.460 --> 32:02.000
And so maybe there's a demonic spirit

32:02.460 --> 32:04.040
that is possessing someone

32:04.040 --> 32:06.240
and the person that they're possessing,

32:06.360 --> 32:08.280
it just will not leave them alone.

32:08.500 --> 32:10.820
It's just tormenting them and afflicting him

32:10.820 --> 32:12.360
and the apostle Paul is just like,

32:12.440 --> 32:13.740
can I get this guy off my case?

32:14.120 --> 32:15.720
Can I get this guy to stop leaving me around?

32:16.180 --> 32:19.240
I think a lot of people lean into the physical element.

32:20.840 --> 32:21.900
I've heard like how people say,

32:21.940 --> 32:23.440
he had a problem with his vision or something.

32:23.560 --> 32:23.880
I don't know.

32:24.400 --> 32:25.780
It doesn't really matter,

32:26.300 --> 32:28.700
but at the end of the day,

32:29.080 --> 32:32.440
we see that sometimes God's will

32:32.980 --> 32:35.460
is not for you to have your best life now.

32:36.240 --> 32:37.840
Okay, now for a lot of people,

32:37.940 --> 32:38.760
they don't wanna believe

32:38.760 --> 32:40.420
that this even could be a physical ailment

32:40.420 --> 32:42.280
because they have kind of this health

32:42.280 --> 32:44.560
and wellness gospel

32:45.120 --> 32:47.940
where they think that God will heal

32:47.940 --> 32:50.880
every sickness and every disease at all times.

32:50.880 --> 32:52.440
And that in the New Testament,

32:52.480 --> 32:54.480
there's no such thing as sickness and health.

32:54.980 --> 32:57.340
It's kind of usually coming from these prosperity preachers,

32:57.480 --> 32:58.760
a Benny Hinn type of a crowd.

32:59.420 --> 33:02.740
They'll have these healing revivals

33:02.740 --> 33:04.980
where they'll bring people up on stage

33:04.980 --> 33:06.380
and they'll slap them healthy.

33:06.840 --> 33:08.520
I don't even know how to make sense,

33:08.820 --> 33:10.860
but they'll have people that were supposedly

33:10.860 --> 33:13.420
in a wheelchair and then they get out of the wheelchair

33:13.420 --> 33:14.300
or something like that.

33:15.320 --> 33:17.400
And you say, is that real?

33:18.160 --> 33:19.320
Well, just think about it.

33:19.380 --> 33:20.220
If you had that ability,

33:20.440 --> 33:22.200
couldn't you just go in and empty a hospital?

33:24.480 --> 33:27.540
And look, as soon as Jesus came into a town,

33:27.820 --> 33:31.180
they're literally pulling out the tiles of the ceiling,

33:31.740 --> 33:33.480
trying to get people in there.

33:34.080 --> 33:37.640
You have a woman that's just beating through the crowd

33:37.640 --> 33:39.540
just to touch the hem of his garment.

33:40.520 --> 33:42.660
I mean, if you have the ability

33:43.080 --> 33:44.820
that you just touch this guy

33:44.820 --> 33:47.460
and you're perfectly healed of all of your issues,

33:48.100 --> 33:50.400
like you couldn't conceal that if you wanted to.

33:51.180 --> 33:52.620
Okay, it's not like this is just,

33:52.620 --> 33:54.720
there's this secret miracle worker,

33:54.880 --> 33:56.440
there's this secret healer over here

33:56.940 --> 33:58.260
that just can just bam.

33:58.820 --> 34:00.260
You know, there's all these videos on YouTube.

34:00.540 --> 34:01.340
It's like, it's weird.

34:01.460 --> 34:04.260
It's like, they're like, oh, my arms are different sizes.

34:04.780 --> 34:06.760
You know, and then they'll like slap it

34:06.760 --> 34:07.720
and they'll be like, oh, like this, okay.

34:08.220 --> 34:12.580
And they're like, oh, I'm healed.

34:12.940 --> 34:13.820
You know, and it's just like,

34:14.180 --> 34:16.160
but again, you're like, how do you know it's fake?

34:16.360 --> 34:18.360
Because that same person has a false gospel

34:18.360 --> 34:19.100
when you listen to them.

34:20.760 --> 34:23.520
Oh, God revealed unto you how to heal people physically,

34:23.680 --> 34:24.900
but you don't have the right gospel?

34:25.420 --> 34:28.280
Like, what does a man profited though his arm

34:28.280 --> 34:29.460
matches his other arm length,

34:29.740 --> 34:31.000
yet he dies and goes to hell?

34:32.560 --> 34:35.600
You know, you'd be better off losing your right hand

34:35.600 --> 34:37.180
or losing your right eye

34:37.180 --> 34:39.200
and not being cast into hellfire

34:39.200 --> 34:41.540
than having both and being tormented

34:41.540 --> 34:43.220
in the lake of fire for all of eternity

34:43.720 --> 34:45.220
where their worm dieth not

34:45.220 --> 34:46.500
and the fire is not quenched.

34:46.500 --> 34:51.260
Okay, now does that mean am I gonna go so far now

34:51.260 --> 34:52.700
and to say that God doesn't heal?

34:52.820 --> 34:53.540
Well, of course not.

34:54.620 --> 34:57.940
We see healing from Genesis Revelation.

34:58.280 --> 34:59.480
We see people being healed,

35:00.080 --> 35:01.480
but what we don't see,

35:01.880 --> 35:05.240
it's kind of limited to one particular timeline

35:05.240 --> 35:07.740
is Jesus and the signs of the apostle

35:08.100 --> 35:10.120
where they can just lay hands on people

35:10.120 --> 35:11.760
and they recover in those instances.

35:12.260 --> 35:15.860
And it just seems like it's a special moment in time

35:15.860 --> 35:19.220
to, number one, confirm Christ as the Messiah.

35:19.640 --> 35:22.460
And then secondly, to affirm the message of the apostles

35:22.460 --> 35:24.140
that are going out preaching the gospel of the Messiah.

35:24.680 --> 35:27.220
Apart from that, we don't really see that happening.

35:28.320 --> 35:30.220
Historically, we have no evidence or proof of this.

35:30.760 --> 35:32.500
The Christians beyond the first entry,

35:32.920 --> 35:35.040
we don't have some historical record or testimony

35:35.600 --> 35:37.740
of them just constantly walking through every town

35:37.740 --> 35:39.820
and healing everybody and doing these great miracles.

35:40.180 --> 35:42.340
We don't really see that, it doesn't happen.

35:42.860 --> 35:45.360
So, you know, this is what people would label me

35:45.360 --> 35:48.060
as a cessationist, you know, to cease.

35:48.540 --> 35:49.940
If you think about like to cease and desist

35:49.940 --> 35:51.340
is like to stop doing something.

35:51.780 --> 35:53.360
A cessationist is someone that believes

35:53.360 --> 35:56.400
that the apostolic signs ceased with the apostles.

35:57.020 --> 35:58.460
And I would say guilty is charged.

35:58.920 --> 36:00.240
You know, I don't really have a problem with that.

36:00.560 --> 36:03.780
Now, does that mean that God couldn't do anything

36:03.780 --> 36:05.040
that he wants whenever he wants?

36:05.180 --> 36:06.580
Of course he can, he's God.

36:07.260 --> 36:09.160
And let's just be honest, in the book of Revelation,

36:09.560 --> 36:11.060
seems like there's a lot of miracles happening.

36:11.760 --> 36:12.460
A lot of stuff's happening.

36:12.560 --> 36:14.540
So, is it possible that God could do different,

36:14.540 --> 36:17.200
you know, miracles and whatever in the future?

36:17.360 --> 36:18.600
Absolutely, okay.

36:18.980 --> 36:22.240
So, I'm not a miracle denier.

36:22.760 --> 36:24.220
I don't believe that God doesn't heal.

36:24.760 --> 36:27.060
You know what, why would the Bible tell us

36:27.060 --> 36:28.700
that if someone was sick,

36:29.260 --> 36:32.080
unto death, to have the elders of the church

36:32.080 --> 36:34.780
to come and anoint them with oil and to pray over them,

36:35.360 --> 36:37.540
if we just need the one guy to slap him healthy?

36:38.600 --> 36:41.440
You know, like, that isn't even consistent

36:41.440 --> 36:43.500
in the whole New Testament dialogue.

36:43.900 --> 36:45.780
You know, it seems like, hey,

36:45.960 --> 36:48.180
and why is the Bible talking about praying for people

36:48.180 --> 36:50.400
to be recovered of health issues?

36:50.660 --> 36:51.620
And why is it bringing this up?

36:51.720 --> 36:53.320
Of course it's because we should do that.

36:53.780 --> 36:56.700
And look, I don't know exactly how that works.

36:56.960 --> 36:59.900
I don't know exactly how God deems

36:59.900 --> 37:02.640
which, you know, healings to do

37:02.640 --> 37:03.760
and which healings to not do.

37:04.020 --> 37:05.620
But this is what I do know, everybody's gonna die.

37:06.520 --> 37:08.640
So, no one's gonna make it to the end

37:08.640 --> 37:10.960
and just keep going, like the energizer bunny.

37:11.560 --> 37:14.760
So, you know, at some point we're all gonna die, okay?

37:15.760 --> 37:17.780
And obviously that's somewhat health related.

37:18.620 --> 37:20.420
So, you know, unfortunately we don't know

37:20.420 --> 37:22.500
when we're gonna get, I don't know,

37:22.580 --> 37:24.420
but hey, as long as someone's still kicking,

37:24.800 --> 37:25.780
we might as well pray for him, right?

37:26.160 --> 37:28.260
We might as well ask God and petition him.

37:28.860 --> 37:30.720
And, you know, you have some people

37:30.720 --> 37:32.020
that get their health extended.

37:32.900 --> 37:34.060
What is it, isn't it Hezekiah?

37:34.520 --> 37:35.740
I think he gets his life extended

37:35.740 --> 37:37.160
by 15 years specifically.

37:38.900 --> 37:41.360
So, you can have things like that,

37:41.520 --> 37:43.440
but notice he said, hey, 15 years.

37:44.280 --> 37:46.620
He didn't say, like, hey, let's just keep going

37:46.620 --> 37:47.740
and going and going and going and going.

37:48.220 --> 37:51.160
You know, 15 years more is what you got.

37:51.280 --> 37:52.960
So, hey, we should pray for people

37:52.960 --> 37:54.140
and we should hope for the best,

37:54.220 --> 37:55.540
but there's no guarantee

37:56.380 --> 37:58.700
and I'm not gonna slap you healthy, okay?

37:59.380 --> 38:01.080
I'm not even gonna slap you, but, you know,

38:03.000 --> 38:04.280
that's just kind of silly.

38:04.280 --> 38:07.500
But, hey, is it possible that God allowed

38:07.500 --> 38:09.620
the apostle Paul to suffer physically?

38:10.060 --> 38:10.860
Yeah, it's called Job.

38:12.400 --> 38:13.580
What did Job ever do?

38:14.160 --> 38:15.820
And of course, that's the Achilles heel

38:15.820 --> 38:19.120
to all these prosperity preachers doctrine anyways is Job.

38:19.340 --> 38:20.540
It's like, how do they answer Job?

38:20.680 --> 38:21.440
They never really can.

38:22.040 --> 38:25.320
And so, of course, God could want you to be sick

38:25.320 --> 38:27.080
for whatever his reason is

38:27.080 --> 38:30.740
or whatever his purposes are to knock you down a notch.

38:31.260 --> 38:33.660
I mean, hey, the apostle Paul has knocked down a notch

38:33.660 --> 38:37.340
and whatever context this is and why?

38:37.720 --> 38:39.300
So he shouldn't be exalted above measure.

38:40.380 --> 38:41.540
He says in verse eight,

38:41.740 --> 38:43.040
for this thing I besought the Lord thrice

38:43.040 --> 38:44.180
that it might depart from me

38:44.180 --> 38:46.480
and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee.

38:47.100 --> 38:48.920
For my strength is made perfect in weakness.

38:49.540 --> 38:50.440
Most glad that therefore,

38:50.540 --> 38:51.780
while I rather glory in my infirmities

38:51.780 --> 38:53.300
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

38:53.320 --> 38:55.920
He's saying, look, God's not gonna answer this prayer.

38:57.160 --> 38:59.760
He said his grace is sufficient for me.

39:00.380 --> 39:02.780
And so, hey, I'm weak,

39:03.380 --> 39:06.220
but God is gonna still allow me to accomplish

39:06.220 --> 39:08.480
what I need to accomplish through his grace

39:08.940 --> 39:11.280
and through his power and through his might.

39:11.600 --> 39:14.900
So therefore, I'm gonna just glory in my infirmities

39:15.500 --> 39:16.200
so that what?

39:16.360 --> 39:17.220
So that God gets the glory.

39:17.940 --> 39:18.960
Hey, I can't do this.

39:19.480 --> 39:20.780
So God's gonna have to step up.

39:21.240 --> 39:22.560
I can't accomplish this.

39:22.680 --> 39:23.580
So God's gonna have to intervene

39:23.580 --> 39:25.300
and then God gets the glory when he does.

39:26.880 --> 39:30.300
If God just made us all super humans,

39:31.020 --> 39:31.800
a bunch of Hercules,

39:32.360 --> 39:34.900
well then a lot of the glory is gonna be given to us.

39:35.540 --> 39:37.400
So God continues to use people that are weak.

39:37.800 --> 39:40.320
God continues to put his people in calamities

39:40.320 --> 39:41.300
that only he can deliver

39:41.300 --> 39:43.380
so that he can constantly get the glory

39:43.380 --> 39:46.200
so that he can constantly get the praise.

39:46.760 --> 39:48.460
He says in verse number 11,

39:48.640 --> 39:49.800
I am become a fool in glory.

39:50.700 --> 39:51.920
You have compelled me.

39:52.780 --> 39:54.600
For I ought to have been commended of you.

39:55.360 --> 39:57.800
For in nothing am I behind the very chief as apostles

39:57.800 --> 39:58.480
though I be nothing.

39:59.020 --> 40:00.200
Notice verse 11.

40:00.380 --> 40:01.640
This is a very important verse, okay?

40:03.280 --> 40:06.600
He's saying, all right, I had to look prideful.

40:06.940 --> 40:08.240
I had to look like a fool.

40:08.700 --> 40:10.760
I had to say all this stuff about myself.

40:11.040 --> 40:11.480
Why?

40:11.860 --> 40:13.880
Because you guys wouldn't say it.

40:15.900 --> 40:16.540
So you know what?

40:16.820 --> 40:18.840
Many times a preacher defends himself

40:18.840 --> 40:20.880
because other people won't defend him.

40:21.720 --> 40:22.840
And that's frustrating.

40:23.200 --> 40:23.700
It's frustrating.

40:23.880 --> 40:26.240
He's saying, hey, you guys made me do this

40:26.240 --> 40:29.240
because you guys aren't the ones bragging on me.

40:29.440 --> 40:32.060
You aren't the guys ones lifting me up

40:32.060 --> 40:36.300
and talking about me and talking about who I am.

40:36.880 --> 40:39.380
Because for I have ought to have been commended of you.

40:40.340 --> 40:42.440
Like why you guys are tearing me down

40:42.440 --> 40:43.620
you should have been commending me.

40:43.960 --> 40:46.920
But now you've made me, now you've compelled me.

40:47.700 --> 40:50.380
Okay, you wanna talk about who's the greatest apostle?

40:50.640 --> 40:52.960
Well, let's just talk about what I've done

40:52.960 --> 40:54.700
and let's compare it to all these fake imposters

40:54.700 --> 40:55.160
in your church.

40:55.740 --> 40:56.980
And then it's pretty obvious.

40:57.220 --> 40:59.140
And hey, you made me say this stupid stuff

40:59.140 --> 41:01.120
and you made me kind of go down this bad path,

41:01.560 --> 41:03.840
this pride, what seems like a prideful path

41:03.840 --> 41:05.980
because you guys just wouldn't step up.

41:06.300 --> 41:10.700
You guys wouldn't basically glorify your preacher,

41:11.000 --> 41:12.200
your pastor, your apostle, whoever.

41:12.640 --> 41:14.100
You wouldn't give them the recognition.

41:14.640 --> 41:16.780
And again, we shouldn't exalt them above that

41:16.780 --> 41:17.480
which is written.

41:18.200 --> 41:20.800
But can we exalt them to what that is written?

41:21.960 --> 41:24.820
It's like, hey, we're not gonna make you a God.

41:25.160 --> 41:26.700
We're not gonna call you Jupiter.

41:27.420 --> 41:29.060
We're not gonna call you Hercules.

41:29.580 --> 41:30.360
But you know what we'll call you?

41:30.740 --> 41:31.700
The apostle Paul.

41:32.580 --> 41:33.780
We'll call you an apostle.

41:34.660 --> 41:35.840
And you know what we're not gonna do?

41:36.300 --> 41:38.660
We're not gonna take your title of apostle

41:38.660 --> 41:41.680
and give it to fakes and frauds and imposters

41:41.680 --> 41:44.040
and make them seem like they're on par with

41:44.040 --> 41:45.020
and equal to you.

41:45.180 --> 41:47.100
Because that's another way to tear him down

41:47.100 --> 41:49.460
is by putting him on the same level as everybody else.

41:49.460 --> 41:50.500
No, he's an apostle.

41:52.400 --> 41:54.980
We're not gonna be people like Greg Locke

41:54.980 --> 41:56.240
who called themselves an apostle

41:56.760 --> 41:58.140
and his secretary an apostle

41:58.600 --> 42:01.780
tearing down the office of what an apostle actually is.

42:02.060 --> 42:04.500
It's like, hey Greg Locke, did you see Jesus Christ?

42:05.720 --> 42:08.680
Hey Greg Locke, are you doing things not for money?

42:09.480 --> 42:11.260
Hey Greg Locke, did you run off with the secretary?

42:11.600 --> 42:12.880
I mean like, how are you an apostle?

42:14.260 --> 42:16.240
Did you see the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ?

42:16.440 --> 42:18.560
No, you're a fake, you're a fraud, you're a phony.

42:19.100 --> 42:20.780
You're one of the worst scum.

42:21.500 --> 42:24.100
And he's just, he's being destroyed right now

42:24.100 --> 42:25.280
and praise God for that.

42:26.060 --> 42:27.700
His ministry is being destroyed.

42:28.340 --> 42:29.380
He's crying about it.

42:29.440 --> 42:32.000
He's trying to take back every ordination he's ever done.

42:32.780 --> 42:35.400
And then the guy is just a sinking ship.

42:35.680 --> 42:36.520
But you know what?

42:36.940 --> 42:39.120
He's giving a bad name to what an apostle is

42:39.120 --> 42:40.420
by having to claim that title.

42:42.320 --> 42:45.220
You know, and again, we have a lot of the Pentecostals.

42:45.820 --> 42:47.520
They'll just hand out apostle titles.

42:48.100 --> 42:49.700
They'll hand out apostle titles to someone

42:49.700 --> 42:52.260
that's 18 years old, to some 19 year old kid off the street.

42:52.780 --> 42:53.600
Now he's an apostle.

42:54.420 --> 42:55.600
They just have all these, you know,

42:55.640 --> 42:57.100
and again, that's not what we should do.

42:57.220 --> 42:59.660
We should reserve these titles for men like Paul

43:00.060 --> 43:04.000
and we should exalt them above their counterparts

43:04.480 --> 43:06.360
and say, hey, we should listen to the apostle Paul

43:06.840 --> 43:08.860
and we should put him in his place.

43:09.280 --> 43:10.360
And you know, if we would just,

43:10.900 --> 43:12.660
if we would take care of business,

43:12.880 --> 43:14.380
then he doesn't have to take care of business.

43:14.980 --> 43:15.940
So you know, oh, well, this,

43:16.020 --> 43:17.920
this guy is constantly having to defend himself.

43:18.000 --> 43:19.240
Well, why is he having to defend himself?

43:19.360 --> 43:20.840
Why isn't somebody else sticking up for him, you know?

43:21.800 --> 43:24.180
And that's why it always makes me upset sometimes

43:24.180 --> 43:26.760
when I see someone being piled on

43:26.760 --> 43:29.240
or someone being, you know, trashed.

43:29.240 --> 43:30.560
But a lot of times I want to get in there

43:30.560 --> 43:32.120
and I want to, you know, defend that person

43:32.120 --> 43:33.680
and I want to get in there and kind of,

43:33.740 --> 43:36.040
hey, come alongside that individual

43:36.660 --> 43:38.140
and you know, not allow them

43:38.780 --> 43:40.940
to just fight this battle alone

43:40.940 --> 43:43.300
and just have to always defend themselves

43:43.300 --> 43:45.300
and always just praise themselves.

43:45.780 --> 43:46.960
And then of course you do that

43:46.960 --> 43:48.560
and they're just like, ah, you just,

43:48.700 --> 43:50.460
you just, you're just a suck up.

43:50.660 --> 43:53.000
Oh, you're just carrying water for this person.

43:53.380 --> 43:54.960
Ah, you just, you just,

43:55.040 --> 43:56.540
you just want to love this person.

43:56.660 --> 43:57.240
It's just like, sure.

43:58.620 --> 43:59.300
You know what?

43:59.360 --> 44:01.020
I'd rather carry water for Paul

44:01.640 --> 44:04.680
than be one of your bozos anyways, you know?

44:05.420 --> 44:07.300
Oh, you mean like Elisha

44:07.300 --> 44:09.980
who poured water on the hands of Elijah?

44:10.760 --> 44:11.980
Ah, he's just a water carrier.

44:11.980 --> 44:13.020
Yeah, that was his job.

44:14.160 --> 44:15.160
And then he ends up being

44:15.160 --> 44:16.520
one of the greatest prophets in the Bible.

44:17.020 --> 44:19.700
You know, what's wrong with pouring water

44:19.700 --> 44:20.800
on the hands of Elijah?

44:21.880 --> 44:23.080
What's wrong with being the guy

44:23.080 --> 44:24.800
carrying water around for the prophet?

44:25.560 --> 44:27.820
You know, what's wrong with liking the apostle Paul?

44:28.320 --> 44:30.760
You know, what's wrong not liking the apostle Paul?

44:31.220 --> 44:33.360
You know, it's wrong not defending the apostle Paul.

44:33.780 --> 44:36.100
You know, it's wrong not commending the apostle Paul.

44:36.460 --> 44:39.200
You know, it's wrong not commending the men of God

44:39.200 --> 44:41.320
that in your life, that have ministered to you,

44:41.320 --> 44:44.280
that have gotten you saved, that have taught you the Bible,

44:44.580 --> 44:46.900
that have been there with you when you were down,

44:47.380 --> 44:48.460
that have loved on you.

44:48.720 --> 44:50.700
You know what, it's wrong not to commend those people.

44:51.500 --> 44:53.080
You know what, it's so frustrating

44:53.080 --> 44:56.440
because pastors will just love on people

44:56.940 --> 45:00.040
and they'll be there when you call in the middle of the night

45:00.040 --> 45:01.320
and they'll be there with you

45:01.320 --> 45:02.400
when you have to go to the hospital

45:02.400 --> 45:04.320
and they'll marry you for free

45:04.320 --> 45:06.160
and they'll bury you for free

45:06.160 --> 45:07.700
and they'll do all this stuff.

45:08.100 --> 45:11.040
And then as soon as you don't like something they said

45:11.040 --> 45:14.240
in the sermon, you just trash them, ghost them.

45:14.620 --> 45:15.800
They never see you again.

45:16.320 --> 45:17.880
You just go online and you just say

45:17.880 --> 45:20.540
whatever you want about them, no recourse.

45:21.220 --> 45:23.220
It's just an evil, wicked thing to do.

45:24.840 --> 45:28.440
I mean, how would you feel if it's Wednesday night,

45:28.780 --> 45:30.720
7 p.m., the announcement's,

45:30.720 --> 45:31.920
the song leader just goes to sit down

45:31.920 --> 45:33.020
and just no one walks up?

45:35.920 --> 45:37.620
And you just know, it's just like,

45:37.720 --> 45:38.340
oh, where's Pastor Paul?

45:38.340 --> 45:39.120
So let's text him.

45:39.900 --> 45:40.600
No response.

45:41.620 --> 45:42.660
No sermon.

45:43.480 --> 45:45.040
It's like, are we still having a conference?

45:45.880 --> 45:48.120
Are we still having Wednesday night service?

45:48.940 --> 45:50.340
Is Pastor Shelley alive?

45:51.940 --> 45:53.340
Did the Jews get him?

45:53.620 --> 45:56.080
Like, you know, what's going on?

45:56.740 --> 45:57.000
Right?

45:57.920 --> 45:58.960
Wouldn't it be awkward?

45:59.480 --> 46:01.460
Wouldn't it be weird if I just left

46:01.460 --> 46:03.580
and you never saw me again

46:03.580 --> 46:07.580
and I never responded to a text message or a phone call

46:07.580 --> 46:09.280
and I was just like, disappeared?

46:11.000 --> 46:12.360
Oh yeah, that's like virtually

46:12.360 --> 46:13.900
everyone that leaves our church to me.

46:15.920 --> 46:16.760
Isn't that cool?

46:17.540 --> 46:18.640
It's just so fun.

46:19.200 --> 46:21.280
It's just so fun to just disappear.

46:22.460 --> 46:24.060
You know, it's just like, what the heck?

46:25.660 --> 46:27.620
But you know, that's just the ministry sometimes.

46:28.580 --> 46:32.100
You know, it's just like, okay, bye, I guess.

46:33.720 --> 46:35.980
I mean, the people, they've left a month ago.

46:35.980 --> 46:37.700
I didn't even know they've left yet, you know.

46:38.120 --> 46:39.840
I don't know if you just missed a church service

46:39.840 --> 46:41.400
or if you didn't or where you're at,

46:41.680 --> 46:43.320
or you know, it's just like, it's frustrating.

46:45.740 --> 46:48.600
And you know, it's just, hey, the apostle Paul,

46:49.680 --> 46:52.380
he's saying like, hey, you guys made me do this.

46:52.840 --> 46:54.800
You guys made me say this kind of stuff

46:54.800 --> 46:56.580
because I oughta been commited of you.

46:57.440 --> 47:00.240
Notice, for nothing am I behind

47:00.240 --> 47:02.500
the very cheapest apostles, though I'd be nothing.

47:03.000 --> 47:04.280
He's like, hey, you want me to be honest?

47:05.020 --> 47:06.380
I'm pretty much the best.

47:08.120 --> 47:09.580
There's not a chief or apostle.

47:10.240 --> 47:11.960
There's not some guy like, oh man,

47:12.120 --> 47:14.040
I wish we had gotten this, I wish we'd gotten Andrew,

47:14.320 --> 47:16.060
you know, Bartholomew, man.

47:17.320 --> 47:18.800
Why don't we get Bartholomew?

47:19.080 --> 47:20.580
He's like, bro, you got Paul.

47:21.500 --> 47:23.720
I'm not behind the cheapest of apostles.

47:24.520 --> 47:27.260
You're not getting second best meals here.

47:27.780 --> 47:29.060
You're not getting leftovers.

47:29.900 --> 47:31.100
You're not just getting some,

47:31.280 --> 47:33.180
you know, you're getting the apostle Paul here

47:33.720 --> 47:35.020
and you guys can't even commit him.

47:35.240 --> 47:36.860
You know, that also helps me.

47:37.240 --> 47:39.660
If they didn't say anything positive about apostle Paul,

47:39.700 --> 47:41.040
why would they say anything positive about me?

47:41.260 --> 47:41.800
You know what I mean?

47:42.260 --> 47:44.680
It's just like, I'm not even close to him.

47:45.700 --> 47:47.940
I don't even, I'm not even on the same planet as this guy.

47:48.280 --> 47:50.700
So if they didn't praise him, well,

47:50.920 --> 47:52.100
why would they praise me?

47:52.440 --> 47:53.360
And it's like the same.

47:53.520 --> 47:54.680
It's like, where are the nine?

47:55.020 --> 47:57.940
Nine people didn't even come back

47:57.940 --> 48:01.820
to just thank God himself, God manifests in the flesh.

48:01.820 --> 48:04.640
The Lord Jesus Christ from being healed

48:04.640 --> 48:06.780
from one of the most afflicted, you know,

48:06.860 --> 48:09.040
physical ailments you could possibly have.

48:09.340 --> 48:12.480
I mean, you're suffering the most physical problems

48:12.480 --> 48:14.420
you could ever have in the worst way

48:14.900 --> 48:16.860
and God himself heals you

48:16.860 --> 48:18.840
and you can't even say thank you.

48:19.640 --> 48:22.840
I feel better about myself now that no one cares, okay?

48:24.440 --> 48:25.060
But you know what?

48:25.480 --> 48:29.040
Just because there are people that don't care

48:29.040 --> 48:32.040
and are not thankful and are inconsiderate

48:32.040 --> 48:34.040
and are jerks and are selfish

48:34.040 --> 48:36.120
doesn't mean you should be that way.

48:37.600 --> 48:40.820
Just because Jesus will still keep going,

48:41.280 --> 48:43.480
just because Paul will keep going,

48:43.800 --> 48:45.600
just because your pastor will keep going

48:45.600 --> 48:48.060
doesn't mean you shouldn't say thank you.

48:48.200 --> 48:49.780
Doesn't mean you shouldn't commend them.

48:49.940 --> 48:51.360
Doesn't mean you shouldn't defend them.

48:51.520 --> 48:53.360
Doesn't mean you should be thankful, you should.

48:54.400 --> 48:56.800
But notice his attitude is gonna keep going here.

48:58.020 --> 49:00.840
He says in verse number 12,

49:01.100 --> 49:03.460
truly the signs of an impossible rot among you

49:03.460 --> 49:06.340
and all patience and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

49:07.180 --> 49:08.420
For what is it wearing?

49:08.620 --> 49:10.000
You were inferior to other churches

49:10.640 --> 49:14.340
except to be that I myself was not burdensome to you.

49:14.620 --> 49:15.900
Forgive me this wrong.

49:16.900 --> 49:20.120
Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you

49:20.120 --> 49:22.320
and I will not be burdensome to you

49:22.320 --> 49:24.020
for I seek not yours but you

49:24.020 --> 49:25.940
for the children not to lay up for the parents

49:25.940 --> 49:27.040
but the parents for the children.

49:27.840 --> 49:31.680
And I will very gladly be spend and be spent for you.

49:32.260 --> 49:36.040
Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

49:37.060 --> 49:39.020
What a weird thing that happens

49:39.520 --> 49:41.400
that sometimes you can love someone

49:42.380 --> 49:44.920
and it's like they dislike you more.

49:47.040 --> 49:49.300
Now, I wanna be careful with this passage

49:49.300 --> 49:51.840
because I do not believe that this is saying

49:52.440 --> 49:54.660
that every time you love someone,

49:55.300 --> 49:56.720
they will love you less back.

49:56.900 --> 49:57.540
I don't believe that

49:57.540 --> 49:58.820
and that's not what the Bible teaches.

49:59.280 --> 50:01.080
Obviously, the Bible says we love him

50:01.080 --> 50:03.520
because he first loved us.

50:03.960 --> 50:06.900
So the whole reason why we even love God back

50:06.900 --> 50:08.180
is because he loved us first.

50:09.120 --> 50:11.200
And so in many cases

50:11.200 --> 50:13.400
and in a rightful idealic situation,

50:13.600 --> 50:14.600
the more you love,

50:15.160 --> 50:18.140
ideally that person will love you even more, okay?

50:20.700 --> 50:23.940
But it's just not the majority experience.

50:24.660 --> 50:25.300
That's the point.

50:25.740 --> 50:27.220
It's not that there won't be people

50:27.220 --> 50:30.000
that will love you back and reciprocate and appreciate it.

50:30.160 --> 50:31.400
It's just that the majority won't.

50:31.520 --> 50:32.140
Think about God.

50:32.940 --> 50:35.140
God couldn't have loved the world more than he could

50:35.140 --> 50:37.760
by sending his son to die on the cross for all their sins

50:37.760 --> 50:41.540
and yet 95% of our population doesn't even give a rip.

50:43.240 --> 50:45.040
And in fact, it almost seems like they hate God

50:45.040 --> 50:46.160
the more they hear about it

50:46.160 --> 50:47.680
and the more they hear about God

50:47.680 --> 50:48.900
and the things of God and the gospel,

50:49.220 --> 50:50.380
the more they hate him even more.

50:50.460 --> 50:51.360
They mashed on their teeth

50:52.020 --> 50:53.640
and they wanted to crucify him.

50:54.030 --> 50:56.260
The more he loved, the more he healed people

50:56.260 --> 50:58.160
and the more he raised people from the dead

50:58.160 --> 50:59.440
and the more he did good.

50:59.640 --> 51:01.760
It's just the more the Pharisees wanted to kill him

51:01.760 --> 51:02.880
and slay him and whatever.

51:04.660 --> 51:08.200
But I think that putting the bad people aside,

51:08.600 --> 51:12.120
you could see what it's possibly describing as well

51:12.120 --> 51:13.940
is that familiarity breeds contempt

51:14.590 --> 51:16.040
and that in some cases,

51:16.560 --> 51:18.860
even though someone's doing great things for you,

51:19.320 --> 51:21.680
you start to take them as just for granted

51:21.680 --> 51:25.020
and you don't appreciate what you're even being given.

51:25.980 --> 51:30.060
Especially children, that's one of the things

51:30.060 --> 51:30.880
that's being brought up here,

51:31.360 --> 51:33.500
that you'd spend for your children and be spent

51:34.200 --> 51:36.320
and not having to reciprocate it.

51:36.780 --> 51:41.820
But for a child, they don't necessarily know any different.

51:42.240 --> 51:44.120
They're living in the house with their parents,

51:44.660 --> 51:45.940
whatever their parents give them.

51:46.620 --> 51:50.520
Like I was very spoiled as a young kid.

51:51.120 --> 51:54.240
My parents would give us like just elaborate Christmases.

51:54.620 --> 51:57.020
They would just like just over the top

51:57.020 --> 51:59.960
and just like 20 presents, 25 presents,

52:00.000 --> 52:01.260
just something insane, okay?

52:02.020 --> 52:05.420
And just like, I didn't know anything else.

52:06.080 --> 52:08.520
So then like when I would see my friends or other people,

52:08.740 --> 52:10.340
like their parents might get them one or two gifts

52:10.340 --> 52:11.440
or something like that for Christmas.

52:12.400 --> 52:17.540
And I remember like privately thinking like,

52:17.540 --> 52:19.940
oh man, their parents must not love them or something.

52:20.580 --> 52:21.960
That's kind of what I thought initially

52:21.960 --> 52:23.320
when I first thought about this.

52:24.320 --> 52:25.520
And then I was like,

52:25.740 --> 52:27.560
but then I was realizing like those kids

52:27.560 --> 52:29.660
loved those one or two presents more

52:30.340 --> 52:32.640
than I loved any of my 20 presents or whatever

52:32.640 --> 52:34.320
because I didn't even really give a rip.

52:35.220 --> 52:38.820
And it's like if they had gotten 20 presents,

52:38.940 --> 52:39.580
they would have been really excited.

52:39.760 --> 52:41.220
If I had gotten one, I would have been really sad.

52:41.500 --> 52:42.620
And it's just kind of weird

52:42.620 --> 52:44.360
because it's like you just started getting used to things.

52:45.680 --> 52:47.440
And I've seen people in my life

52:47.440 --> 52:50.040
that they were used to getting a certain Christmas present,

52:50.440 --> 52:52.060
like a very extravagant gift.

52:52.680 --> 52:55.600
And then one year they got a like a little bit less

52:55.600 --> 52:58.080
extravagant gift, still more extravagant

52:58.080 --> 52:59.860
than virtually anybody on this planet is getting

52:59.860 --> 53:00.320
for Christmas.

53:00.760 --> 53:03.520
And they were mad, they were steaming mad about it.

53:04.640 --> 53:06.440
I mean, just think about if I handed you

53:06.440 --> 53:09.280
a $2,500 check for Christmas.

53:10.160 --> 53:11.440
Don't you think most of you would be like,

53:11.520 --> 53:12.340
that was pretty awesome.

53:13.620 --> 53:15.640
But think about it, this person's expecting

53:15.640 --> 53:18.380
like twice or three times that amount in their mind.

53:18.440 --> 53:19.980
So when they get it, they're mad about it or something.

53:20.880 --> 53:23.240
And it's like that somehow it's weird.

53:23.440 --> 53:25.920
It's like I'm, this person's loving them more

53:25.920 --> 53:27.580
than virtually anybody's getting loved.

53:27.760 --> 53:30.880
And yet they're like mad and they hate it or whatever.

53:31.280 --> 53:32.960
And you know, we can just get these attitudes

53:32.960 --> 53:36.100
where we don't even appreciate what we have

53:36.100 --> 53:39.380
and we start getting mad at what we even have.

53:39.380 --> 53:42.240
And let me give you some really clear examples, okay?

53:42.600 --> 53:46.140
How about this, how about people that get mad

53:46.740 --> 53:49.080
at a church like ours, a new IB church,

53:49.300 --> 53:51.920
when there's literally thousands of people in this world

53:51.920 --> 53:53.440
that have no good church to go to.

53:54.860 --> 54:00.060
They don't like some little tiny microscopic tiny issue

54:00.620 --> 54:03.220
and they get mad about that when there's people

54:03.220 --> 54:08.760
that live in Ethiopia and Korea and China or whatever

54:09.380 --> 54:10.880
and it's just because they become accustomed

54:11.300 --> 54:14.480
to what they have and they don't even realize what they have.

54:14.900 --> 54:17.400
They don't even realize what kind of preaching they get,

54:17.580 --> 54:18.740
what kind of fellowship they get,

54:18.980 --> 54:20.100
what kind of events they're getting,

54:20.380 --> 54:22.140
what kind of mission trip opportunities they have.

54:22.380 --> 54:24.500
And so they just sit here and they just get mad

54:24.500 --> 54:26.220
because they just want to get mad about stuff.

54:27.060 --> 54:29.920
And it's like you could sit here and give them the moon.

54:30.620 --> 54:32.860
It's like, hey, here's our bulletin of events

54:32.860 --> 54:34.540
and they're just like, well, do you have anything for me?

54:35.260 --> 54:36.380
When's the next event?

54:36.380 --> 54:40.500
I mean, isn't we gonna do a conference in November now?

54:40.920 --> 54:43.480
You know, it's like, what about this mission trip?

54:43.660 --> 54:46.140
It's like, sometimes you can't even give people enough.

54:47.120 --> 54:49.400
It's like, here's a soul-winning marathon,

54:49.920 --> 54:52.760
here's water, here's free food, here's everything.

54:53.140 --> 54:54.320
Where's the juice for my kid?

54:57.180 --> 54:59.900
It's at the store, you know, I don't know.

55:02.460 --> 55:05.020
I'm just telling you, it's like sometimes it's like,

55:05.020 --> 55:07.680
you could just be giving them so much more

55:07.680 --> 55:09.120
than anybody else is giving them

55:09.120 --> 55:10.980
and yet they don't even like you.

55:11.740 --> 55:12.920
They get mad at you.

55:13.280 --> 55:16.620
Sometimes loaning money to people will cause them to hate you.

55:17.860 --> 55:20.520
Just doing good, no good, D goes unpunished.

55:21.500 --> 55:23.440
Now look, sometimes you'll give something

55:23.440 --> 55:24.900
to somebody and they'll love you for it, okay?

55:25.220 --> 55:28.440
I'm not saying that everybody's like this,

55:29.420 --> 55:30.940
but you know what, don't be that person,

55:31.040 --> 55:32.420
be the person that actually appreciates

55:32.420 --> 55:33.240
what's been given to you.

55:33.920 --> 55:35.560
And how much more could it be?

55:35.960 --> 55:40.520
What God is constantly giving to us and loving us

55:40.520 --> 55:42.800
and then we don't appreciate it.

55:43.720 --> 55:46.260
We're not thankful for what God's giving us.

55:46.800 --> 55:49.020
Like, oh, God's giving us, you know,

55:49.360 --> 55:51.200
a church so we can go through three times a week

55:51.200 --> 55:52.280
and then they're mad about it.

55:52.460 --> 55:53.500
You're mad at God for that.

55:54.120 --> 55:55.760
You're mad at God for giving you a Bible

55:55.760 --> 55:56.520
you can actually read.

55:57.380 --> 55:58.580
You know, there's people that used to,

55:58.700 --> 56:00.460
they wanted to die to give us this book

56:00.940 --> 56:02.400
and there's some people that feel like

56:02.400 --> 56:05.560
they're dying inside because they have to read it, right?

56:05.900 --> 56:07.840
I mean, it's just, it's weird,

56:08.440 --> 56:10.280
but you know, it's just the flesh.

56:10.920 --> 56:12.020
It's just human nature.

56:12.660 --> 56:14.560
It's just the default reaction.

56:15.200 --> 56:16.520
It's just we all kind of just, you know,

56:16.580 --> 56:19.400
you get into the hot tub at first and it feels hot

56:19.400 --> 56:20.700
and then eventually you're like,

56:21.140 --> 56:22.920
man, I wish they crank up the temp on this thing.

56:23.740 --> 56:25.180
That's the thing I don't like about hot tubs.

56:25.300 --> 56:26.460
I don't know, who else experiences this?

56:26.640 --> 56:28.600
You know, it's like the first five minutes is awesome

56:28.600 --> 56:31.220
and then it's just now it's just lukewarm water to me

56:31.220 --> 56:34.800
and I'm just like, that's why like, you know,

56:35.040 --> 56:37.700
this is my trick in the shower is I try to do like

56:37.700 --> 56:40.060
the coldest that I can like at first

56:40.060 --> 56:42.920
so I can keep bumping throughout the shower, you know?

56:43.400 --> 56:46.840
Because if I just start at the hottest that I can tolerate,

56:47.180 --> 56:48.620
well, I'll get used to that too quick

56:48.620 --> 56:50.100
and then it won't be a hot shower anymore.

56:50.460 --> 56:52.940
So it's like, if you kind of start, you know, cooler,

56:53.500 --> 56:54.680
you can kind of keep working your way up

56:54.680 --> 56:55.420
and you know, praise God,

56:55.520 --> 56:57.460
I have a tankless water heater, best invention.

56:57.840 --> 56:59.080
I mean, I'm just telling you,

56:59.120 --> 57:00.040
this tankless water heater is amazing.

57:00.040 --> 57:02.660
So you have endless hot water, all right?

57:03.020 --> 57:03.880
And it's amazing.

57:04.060 --> 57:05.020
When you have seven kids,

57:05.320 --> 57:07.060
you want a tankless hot water heater, okay?

57:08.020 --> 57:09.880
Otherwise you'd never take a hot shower ever again.

57:10.520 --> 57:12.180
So it's like, you got a tankless,

57:12.340 --> 57:13.760
I mean, hey, you can sit there and crank it.

57:14.020 --> 57:15.320
I remember when they were putting it in,

57:15.420 --> 57:17.260
they were like, what temp do you want this thing at?

57:17.680 --> 57:18.980
And it was like, you know,

57:19.360 --> 57:22.980
it was recommended like 125 and I'm like, no, higher,

57:23.720 --> 57:24.940
you know, 130, 140, it's like,

57:25.340 --> 57:26.920
they're like, this is recommended above,

57:26.980 --> 57:28.580
like this is above the safety guideline,

57:28.580 --> 57:31.320
I'm like, 140, do it, you know, just give it to me.

57:31.620 --> 57:32.900
Like, I want it, you know.

57:34.640 --> 57:37.060
But hey, I mean, sometimes you have to realize like,

57:37.340 --> 57:41.820
human nature just gets used to whatever it's experiencing.

57:43.040 --> 57:45.700
Hey, you're dying, you're just dying to have meat.

57:46.180 --> 57:47.600
And then God gives you that meat

57:47.600 --> 57:49.380
and now you don't even, now you loathe it.

57:50.020 --> 57:51.340
Now you want cucumbers, you know,

57:51.460 --> 57:52.540
and now you want garlic or whatever.

57:53.540 --> 57:54.580
It's like, you can just,

57:54.660 --> 57:57.200
we can just get so comfortable with what we have.

57:57.770 --> 57:59.400
We can have people just loving us

57:59.400 --> 58:00.400
and we don't appreciate it.

58:00.740 --> 58:03.480
You can have a mom or a dad that's loving you greatly

58:03.480 --> 58:04.920
and you're just not appreciating it.

58:05.760 --> 58:07.780
Hey, you can have people in your life

58:07.780 --> 58:08.680
that are doing good for you.

58:08.760 --> 58:11.420
And you know, sometimes it's just frustrating.

58:12.520 --> 58:15.040
You can have something that your spouse is doing for you

58:15.040 --> 58:18.840
that's not expected, but then it just becomes expected.

58:19.640 --> 58:21.780
And now, even if that thing

58:21.780 --> 58:23.260
that's not even supposed to happen,

58:23.600 --> 58:25.400
they don't do it perfectly, you get mad at them.

58:25.400 --> 58:27.060
And it's like, who's really at fault here?

58:27.880 --> 58:28.600
You know, who's at fault?

58:28.940 --> 58:31.320
The person that gave you the check that you weren't,

58:31.400 --> 58:32.980
you know, that you don't deserve,

58:33.420 --> 58:35.020
but it was less than you were expecting,

58:35.380 --> 58:37.120
is it really right for you to get mad at that person?

58:39.140 --> 58:41.540
Yet it's human nature, it happens to all of us.

58:42.080 --> 58:43.440
And hey, he's trying to tell this church,

58:43.540 --> 58:45.160
hey, I'm willing to spend,

58:45.700 --> 58:47.260
I'm willing to be spent on you,

58:47.620 --> 58:49.920
I'm seeking you guys, I don't even wanna paycheck.

58:50.520 --> 58:53.040
I even think personally, in verse 13,

58:53.180 --> 58:54.520
he's probably being sarcastic.

58:54.900 --> 58:56.400
Now you could read it two different ways.

58:56.940 --> 58:58.660
I think he's being sarcastic,

58:58.980 --> 59:00.720
that he's trying to say like,

59:01.880 --> 59:05.040
for what is it where you're inferior to other churches?

59:05.860 --> 59:07.280
He's like, what have you guys not got?

59:07.620 --> 59:07.780
Yeah.

59:08.600 --> 59:12.080
And he's like, I guess, oh, forgive me

59:12.540 --> 59:14.460
that I didn't charge you money.

59:15.380 --> 59:19.100
Oh, forgive me that the only thing I didn't do

59:19.840 --> 59:22.580
was have you pay me money, right?

59:22.580 --> 59:24.020
Is that the only wrong you got?

59:24.480 --> 59:26.400
Is that the only way you can accuse me?

59:26.640 --> 59:28.380
Is that really the only thing

59:29.060 --> 59:30.800
that's your hold held back from?

59:31.040 --> 59:32.700
Well, please forgive me for that.

59:34.360 --> 59:35.600
Maybe he's not being sarcastic.

59:35.780 --> 59:36.700
I think he is, okay.

59:37.060 --> 59:38.200
You can believe whatever you want.

59:39.060 --> 59:41.940
Maybe he's just like, I'm so sorry I didn't let you pay me.

59:42.320 --> 59:43.380
You know, maybe he's sincere, I don't know.

59:43.820 --> 59:45.500
I kinda think from the whole, you know,

59:45.600 --> 59:47.240
pistol, there's a lot of motion,

59:47.420 --> 59:48.140
there's a lot of passion.

59:48.300 --> 59:51.340
He's probably be like, how can you be mad at me

59:52.000 --> 59:54.660
when the only thing you have against me

59:54.660 --> 59:55.580
is I didn't get paid?

59:56.240 --> 59:56.680
What?

59:58.000 --> 01:00:00.320
He's like, well, I'll continue to not be burdensome to you

01:00:00.320 --> 01:00:01.360
because you know what?

01:00:01.580 --> 01:00:02.760
I'm not seeking your money.

01:00:03.040 --> 01:00:03.940
I'm seeking you.

01:00:04.180 --> 01:00:05.940
I'd rather spend and be spent.

01:00:06.280 --> 01:00:07.440
I'm not here for the money.

01:00:07.680 --> 01:00:08.900
I'm here for you guys.

01:00:09.460 --> 01:00:09.880
And you know what?

01:00:09.940 --> 01:00:11.520
That should be a good attitude for parents too.

01:00:11.840 --> 01:00:15.120
That, hey, I'm not seeing what my children gonna give me.

01:00:15.420 --> 01:00:16.820
I'm investing in my children.

01:00:17.880 --> 01:00:19.460
I'm investing in my kids

01:00:19.460 --> 01:00:20.780
and I'm investing in their future.

01:00:20.780 --> 01:00:22.020
It's not about me.

01:00:22.280 --> 01:00:23.540
It's not about what I get out of it.

01:00:23.800 --> 01:00:25.380
Hey, if you wanna go into the ministry,

01:00:25.940 --> 01:00:28.480
please never go because you wanna get something out of it.

01:00:29.680 --> 01:00:32.000
It's to spend and to be spent.

01:00:34.160 --> 01:00:35.040
That's the reality.

01:00:35.880 --> 01:00:36.980
He says in verse 16,

01:00:37.340 --> 01:00:38.960
but be it so, I did not burden you.

01:00:39.000 --> 01:00:40.940
Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

01:00:42.680 --> 01:00:44.440
He's like, hey, you guys are being deceitful here.

01:00:45.360 --> 01:00:46.560
Did I make a gain of you

01:00:46.560 --> 01:00:48.000
by any of them whom I sinned on you?

01:00:48.440 --> 01:00:50.880
I desired Titus and with him I sinned a brother

01:00:50.880 --> 01:00:52.240
did Titus make a gain of you?

01:00:52.460 --> 01:00:53.800
Walked we not in the same spirit?

01:00:53.920 --> 01:00:55.040
Walked we not in the same steps?

01:00:55.680 --> 01:00:58.880
Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you?

01:00:59.580 --> 01:01:01.600
We speak before God and Christ,

01:01:02.080 --> 01:01:05.460
but we do all things dearly beloved for your edify.

01:01:05.860 --> 01:01:08.540
He's saying, hey, I didn't take some paycheck.

01:01:08.820 --> 01:01:10.220
I'm not taking a bunch of money from you guys.

01:01:10.620 --> 01:01:12.600
Titus didn't come to collect money for me.

01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:15.100
Titus isn't sitting here trying to exact money

01:01:15.100 --> 01:01:15.740
from you guys.

01:01:16.180 --> 01:01:17.760
We're not doing this kind of stuff for you.

01:01:18.020 --> 01:01:18.680
You know what?

01:01:18.800 --> 01:01:20.240
We're here to build you up.

01:01:21.540 --> 01:01:23.700
And the whole reason why we're taking this collection

01:01:24.920 --> 01:01:26.540
is for the poor saints in Jerusalem.

01:01:26.940 --> 01:01:27.800
It's not for me.

01:01:28.300 --> 01:01:29.300
It's not for Titus.

01:01:29.540 --> 01:01:31.120
It's not for selfish gain.

01:01:31.720 --> 01:01:32.460
You know what it is?

01:01:32.500 --> 01:01:33.480
It's for the ministry of the Lord.

01:01:33.940 --> 01:01:35.160
And again, that's the bigger view

01:01:35.160 --> 01:01:36.600
of what we've been reading in 2 Corinthians

01:01:36.600 --> 01:01:39.700
is he makes a big deal about sending the people

01:01:39.700 --> 01:01:41.360
to help them prepare this gift,

01:01:41.780 --> 01:01:44.760
sending Titus beforehand to prepare this gift

01:01:44.760 --> 01:01:45.640
so that they will be ready.

01:01:46.220 --> 01:01:49.280
But you can see like, there's somebody in there

01:01:49.280 --> 01:01:51.700
that's saying like, oh no, no, we shouldn't be giving,

01:01:51.820 --> 01:01:52.840
we shouldn't raise up this money.

01:01:53.280 --> 01:01:56.180
It's for Paul, you know, or Paul has bad motives

01:01:56.180 --> 01:01:57.060
or Paul's whatever.

01:01:57.300 --> 01:02:00.000
And he's like, you know, no, I'm sending Titus down there

01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:01.680
to get you guys ready to have the right attitude,

01:02:01.820 --> 01:02:03.180
the right spirit that you're raising this money

01:02:03.180 --> 01:02:04.120
for the poor saints in Jerusalem.

01:02:04.120 --> 01:02:04.940
It's not about me.

01:02:05.640 --> 01:02:06.440
I don't want money.

01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:07.620
I'm not into money.

01:02:08.280 --> 01:02:09.760
It's not the reason why I'm raising the funds.

01:02:10.360 --> 01:02:12.560
You know, I'm not taking 50% off the top.

01:02:13.080 --> 01:02:13.480
Okay?

01:02:14.940 --> 01:02:18.240
And he doesn't want the naysayers to get in there

01:02:18.680 --> 01:02:21.140
and discourage the saints from giving the money

01:02:21.140 --> 01:02:22.700
that they promised and they pledged to give

01:02:22.700 --> 01:02:23.920
to the poor saints in Jerusalem

01:02:24.380 --> 01:02:25.760
because of lies about Paul

01:02:25.760 --> 01:02:28.840
or lies about their ministry or whatever's going on.

01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:29.960
So he's been defending himself.

01:02:30.340 --> 01:02:31.080
He's making it clear.

01:02:31.140 --> 01:02:32.740
I'm sending these guys to prepare you guys

01:02:32.740 --> 01:02:33.540
and I want you to be ready.

01:02:33.740 --> 01:02:36.420
And when I show up, I want us to have a good time

01:02:36.420 --> 01:02:39.260
and be on the same page and we're here for the Lord.

01:02:39.840 --> 01:02:40.680
That's the whole point.

01:02:41.880 --> 01:02:42.440
He says,

01:02:42.620 --> 01:02:43.740
For I fear lest when I come,

01:02:43.860 --> 01:02:45.500
I shall not find you such as I would

01:02:46.080 --> 01:02:49.840
and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not.

01:02:50.440 --> 01:02:52.660
Lest there be debates, envies, rast rites,

01:02:52.900 --> 01:02:54.980
backbidings, whisperings, swellings, tumults

01:02:55.460 --> 01:02:57.960
and lest when I come again, my God will humble me among you

01:02:58.420 --> 01:02:59.860
and that I shall be well many

01:02:59.860 --> 01:03:00.780
which have sinned already

01:03:00.780 --> 01:03:02.200
and have not repented of the uncleanness

01:03:02.200 --> 01:03:03.440
and fornication and lasciviousness

01:03:03.440 --> 01:03:04.120
which they have committed.

01:03:04.740 --> 01:03:05.240
So he's saying, look,

01:03:05.960 --> 01:03:10.040
I don't want to show up and find you guys not right.

01:03:11.120 --> 01:03:12.000
In what ways?

01:03:12.580 --> 01:03:13.260
Well, specifically,

01:03:13.920 --> 01:03:16.540
he doesn't want all the fornication and uncleanness

01:03:16.540 --> 01:03:17.760
to have gone unaddressed.

01:03:18.000 --> 01:03:19.020
He wants that to be fixed.

01:03:19.860 --> 01:03:22.440
Additionally, he wants Titus to help them prepare this gift

01:03:22.440 --> 01:03:24.620
that they're gonna be giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem.

01:03:25.140 --> 01:03:26.960
And he wants them to have the right attitude

01:03:26.960 --> 01:03:28.200
and stop listening to these bozos

01:03:28.200 --> 01:03:30.460
and these fools that are glorying in themselves.

01:03:30.860 --> 01:03:32.680
And he wants, when he shows up,

01:03:32.820 --> 01:03:35.580
for them to have a good time, be on the same page,

01:03:35.800 --> 01:03:36.920
they've got the money ready,

01:03:37.680 --> 01:03:38.880
they're gonna have good spirits,

01:03:38.880 --> 01:03:40.700
good fellowship, good preaching,

01:03:41.700 --> 01:03:44.200
and they're thinking about the things of Christ.

01:03:45.060 --> 01:03:46.780
Notice that whenever there's problems

01:03:46.780 --> 01:03:47.880
that has nothing to do with Christ,

01:03:48.180 --> 01:03:50.020
it has everything to do with us.

01:03:50.920 --> 01:03:55.560
Debates, envy, wrath, strife, backbidings,

01:03:55.960 --> 01:03:57.380
whispering, swellings, tumults.

01:03:57.800 --> 01:04:00.800
You can kind of tell the spiritual condition of a church

01:04:00.800 --> 01:04:02.200
based on these factors.

01:04:03.620 --> 01:04:06.500
If a church is constantly debating with itself

01:04:06.500 --> 01:04:08.640
and constantly factions,

01:04:09.120 --> 01:04:10.260
because if you think about a debate,

01:04:10.620 --> 01:04:11.680
you kind of have one side,

01:04:12.060 --> 01:04:13.540
well, we are thinking this

01:04:13.540 --> 01:04:15.080
and this other side is kind of thinking that.

01:04:16.180 --> 01:04:19.940
Envy, people are really, if we diagnosed it

01:04:19.940 --> 01:04:20.880
and we knew what's going on,

01:04:20.980 --> 01:04:22.440
it's really just they're envious of each other,

01:04:22.660 --> 01:04:24.540
envious of position, envious of status,

01:04:24.760 --> 01:04:26.300
envious of money, envious of whatever.

01:04:27.920 --> 01:04:30.420
People are actually, what is wrath?

01:04:30.820 --> 01:04:32.240
You just want to see people,

01:04:32.600 --> 01:04:33.760
something bad happen to someone.

01:04:34.440 --> 01:04:35.680
That's a bad attitude.

01:04:36.280 --> 01:04:37.840
You're like, well, I just kind of hope

01:04:38.520 --> 01:04:40.120
an anvil falls in that guy's head.

01:04:40.940 --> 01:04:43.740
I just kind of hope that this guy,

01:04:44.040 --> 01:04:45.640
something bad happens to him.

01:04:46.260 --> 01:04:47.360
That's the wrath, right?

01:04:49.840 --> 01:04:53.240
Strife, just obviously conflict, backbidings.

01:04:53.300 --> 01:04:53.660
What is this?

01:04:53.760 --> 01:04:55.640
Will you talk about someone behind their back?

01:04:56.800 --> 01:04:57.680
Just don't do it.

01:04:59.180 --> 01:05:00.380
And you're not being spiritual,

01:05:00.580 --> 01:05:01.800
you're not helping the cause of Christ,

01:05:01.920 --> 01:05:02.900
you're not helping anyone.

01:05:03.680 --> 01:05:04.940
It's a bad attitude.

01:05:06.040 --> 01:05:07.820
Whispering's pretty much the same thing.

01:05:07.960 --> 01:05:09.020
I mean, really, if you think about it,

01:05:09.080 --> 01:05:10.960
whispering and backbiting is pretty similar.

01:05:11.580 --> 01:05:13.860
You tell it behind their back so they don't hear,

01:05:13.980 --> 01:05:15.400
you're whispering so they don't hear.

01:05:16.380 --> 01:05:19.420
And whispering doesn't fix anything.

01:05:20.280 --> 01:05:22.160
Whispering doesn't create friends,

01:05:22.720 --> 01:05:24.880
causes people to be suspicious of things

01:05:25.360 --> 01:05:28.720
and be weirded out and it's just frustrating.

01:05:30.880 --> 01:05:32.600
Swelling's too much, just problems,

01:05:32.860 --> 01:05:33.940
just issues in the church.

01:05:35.500 --> 01:05:37.960
We should be on the same team, folks.

01:05:41.060 --> 01:05:42.880
We've been through a lot as a church.

01:05:43.440 --> 01:05:45.640
We've probably all been through a lot as Christians.

01:05:46.440 --> 01:05:48.960
We already have family members that lie about us.

01:05:49.440 --> 01:05:52.000
We already have friends that falsely accuse us.

01:05:52.480 --> 01:05:55.240
We already gave up lots of different things

01:05:55.240 --> 01:05:56.800
to be here and to serve Christ.

01:05:57.320 --> 01:05:59.660
We've already invested a lot of time going soul-winning

01:05:59.660 --> 01:06:01.520
and reading our Bible and learning good doctrine.

01:06:02.420 --> 01:06:03.760
Like the last thing we wanna do

01:06:04.220 --> 01:06:06.520
is allow the little things to build up

01:06:06.520 --> 01:06:08.280
into some major thing.

01:06:11.240 --> 01:06:13.580
And you know what, Apostle Paul's like,

01:06:13.720 --> 01:06:15.380
man, I just don't want this to happen.

01:06:15.480 --> 01:06:16.460
You know what, I don't wanna happen.

01:06:16.600 --> 01:06:18.080
Our church is good.

01:06:18.980 --> 01:06:20.780
Our church is in a great spot.

01:06:21.580 --> 01:06:22.740
We're getting a lot of people saved.

01:06:22.980 --> 01:06:24.160
You have a lot of great missions trips.

01:06:25.360 --> 01:06:27.900
We don't even, the outside forces

01:06:28.380 --> 01:06:29.900
have been drawn away for a season.

01:06:30.840 --> 01:06:32.300
I mean, we really, when's the last time

01:06:32.300 --> 01:06:33.080
we've had a protester?

01:06:34.320 --> 01:06:37.960
You know, I haven't lost a bank account in like a year or two.

01:06:38.180 --> 01:06:38.860
I mean, I don't even know.

01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:44.660
I mean like, hey, I mean, we have liberty

01:06:45.160 --> 01:06:46.360
and we're getting people saved.

01:06:46.740 --> 01:06:48.240
You know, so what is the devil gonna try and do?

01:06:48.400 --> 01:06:49.620
Well, the only thing they can really do

01:06:49.620 --> 01:06:51.340
is just cause internal conflict.

01:06:52.860 --> 01:06:54.660
And our flesh is saying yes.

01:06:54.820 --> 01:06:56.440
Our flesh is saying that he wants to do that.

01:06:56.760 --> 01:06:58.580
But you know what, we have to walk in the spirit

01:06:58.580 --> 01:07:01.100
and crucify the lust of the flesh.

01:07:01.770 --> 01:07:05.980
We have to try our best to not allow those things to happen

01:07:05.980 --> 01:07:07.520
and not get envious of each other,

01:07:07.980 --> 01:07:09.320
to not be mad at each other,

01:07:09.380 --> 01:07:10.860
not be hateful towards one each other,

01:07:11.120 --> 01:07:12.660
not be jockeying for a position,

01:07:13.220 --> 01:07:18.120
not causing issue, being tender, kind, loving, affectionate,

01:07:18.660 --> 01:07:21.240
thinking positive of each other, praying for each other,

01:07:21.720 --> 01:07:24.340
seeking not your own wealth, but another's wealth.

01:07:24.840 --> 01:07:26.000
I mean, this is the type of attitude

01:07:26.000 --> 01:07:27.420
that we should try our best to have.

01:07:28.160 --> 01:07:29.140
Are we gonna be perfect?

01:07:29.140 --> 01:07:30.920
No, is there always gonna be drama?

01:07:31.400 --> 01:07:33.220
Sure, but you know what?

01:07:33.260 --> 01:07:36.980
It's frustrating and we should realize what it is

01:07:37.500 --> 01:07:38.540
and it's not spiritual.

01:07:40.480 --> 01:07:42.340
And if it happened to them, it can happen to us.

01:07:43.300 --> 01:07:47.060
If it can happen to anyone, it can happen in the Bible,

01:07:47.220 --> 01:07:47.960
it can happen to us.

01:07:49.840 --> 01:07:52.000
And of course, when there's sin in the church,

01:07:52.140 --> 01:07:52.800
we have to deal with it.

01:07:52.840 --> 01:07:54.860
Because notice all the problems they have

01:07:54.860 --> 01:07:56.440
and he's like, you gotta get rid of the fornication.

01:07:56.540 --> 01:07:57.460
It seems like a little leaven

01:07:57.460 --> 01:07:58.460
and leavens in the whole lump doesn't happen.

01:07:59.300 --> 01:08:01.400
When you let fornication go unchecked in church,

01:08:01.540 --> 01:08:02.320
what else are you gonna let go?

01:08:02.960 --> 01:08:03.760
And so that's the problem.

01:08:03.880 --> 01:08:06.340
When you allow bigger sins to go unchecked,

01:08:06.500 --> 01:08:07.580
well then everybody's like, well,

01:08:07.840 --> 01:08:09.660
if the pastor isn't gonna deal with that issue,

01:08:10.180 --> 01:08:11.840
why the heck would he deal with other issues?

01:08:12.820 --> 01:08:13.080
You know?

01:08:13.520 --> 01:08:14.640
And it's just like, oh, well,

01:08:15.080 --> 01:08:16.720
you can't go to one of these new happy churches,

01:08:16.840 --> 01:08:18.760
they'll crack down on you for all kinds of stuff.

01:08:18.900 --> 01:08:19.220
Well, you know what?

01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:19.880
Praise God.

01:08:22.940 --> 01:08:25.640
And it is a praise to God because I'll just be honest

01:08:25.640 --> 01:08:26.920
I don't wanna do it at all.

01:08:28.600 --> 01:08:31.600
Like I am the type of person that doesn't give a rip.

01:08:32.360 --> 01:08:33.880
Like I don't wanna deal with nothing.

01:08:34.720 --> 01:08:36.240
I'm just like, well, that's their fault

01:08:36.240 --> 01:08:37.720
and that's their problem and whatever.

01:08:38.440 --> 01:08:40.760
Like I have to drag myself into the fight, you know?

01:08:41.280 --> 01:08:42.920
And when I get drugged in, it's ugly

01:08:42.920 --> 01:08:43.880
because I don't wanna deal with,

01:08:43.940 --> 01:08:45.200
I don't even wanna be there, you know what I mean?

01:08:45.880 --> 01:08:47.400
So you might as well just, you know,

01:08:47.500 --> 01:08:48.340
just don't even get there.

01:08:49.880 --> 01:08:51.700
Just we need to try and have a loving,

01:08:51.840 --> 01:08:53.080
kind attitude to each other.

01:08:53.080 --> 01:08:56.020
And I think, I empathize with Paul a little bit.

01:08:56.100 --> 01:08:58.720
He's just like, hey, don't drag me down there

01:08:59.580 --> 01:09:01.480
and have me open a can, you know?

01:09:04.780 --> 01:09:06.020
Let's have a good time.

01:09:07.040 --> 01:09:09.400
Let's, I'm writing this letter so I don't have to.

01:09:10.020 --> 01:09:11.840
And you know, it's like, hey, Pastor Shelley,

01:09:11.960 --> 01:09:13.640
what's going on in the church preaching the sermon?

01:09:14.500 --> 01:09:15.860
I don't know, but you know,

01:09:16.820 --> 01:09:18.860
I'm preaching this like he is preventative.

01:09:19.600 --> 01:09:20.960
I'm like, I don't even wanna have to go there.

01:09:20.960 --> 01:09:22.940
I don't wanna have to have that meeting.

01:09:23.160 --> 01:09:25.380
I don't wanna have that, you know, announcement to the church.

01:09:25.520 --> 01:09:27.680
I don't wanna have to have that counseling session.

01:09:27.880 --> 01:09:30.380
I don't wanna have to have that mediation.

01:09:30.960 --> 01:09:32.840
I don't wanna have to go down those roads.

01:09:33.660 --> 01:09:35.440
So, you know, maybe sermons like this

01:09:35.440 --> 01:09:37.700
are a help to, you know, maintenance.

01:09:38.320 --> 01:09:39.720
And hey, you're the core of the church.

01:09:39.920 --> 01:09:40.740
You're on Wednesday night.

01:09:41.860 --> 01:09:44.300
If you see people that are not in the core of the church,

01:09:44.420 --> 01:09:46.460
not acting right, well, you do your best

01:09:46.460 --> 01:09:49.900
to just take it and try to help

01:09:49.900 --> 01:09:52.560
and try to encourage and try to do what's right.

01:09:53.560 --> 01:09:57.500
You know, the Sunday morning onlys, you know,

01:09:57.960 --> 01:10:00.680
they may not have the same spiritual attitude.

01:10:01.120 --> 01:10:02.660
Well, then you have to have a spiritual attitude

01:10:02.660 --> 01:10:03.500
for them, you know what I mean?

01:10:04.760 --> 01:10:06.580
We have to condescend a minute of low estate.

01:10:06.780 --> 01:10:07.820
We have to help the weaker brother.

01:10:08.460 --> 01:10:11.360
We have to be the bigger person as it were.

01:10:11.880 --> 01:10:13.420
We have to be the spiritual person.

01:10:14.080 --> 01:10:16.380
And you know, if we learn anything from this lesson,

01:10:16.500 --> 01:10:18.220
what are we learning from chapter 12?

01:10:18.620 --> 01:10:20.180
You know, it's not about us.

01:10:20.580 --> 01:10:22.080
It's not about glorying in ourselves.

01:10:23.020 --> 01:10:24.200
If you were to glory in anyway,

01:10:24.300 --> 01:10:25.220
you glory in your infirmities.

01:10:26.160 --> 01:10:28.960
And you know, if it's not about us, then who's it about?

01:10:29.260 --> 01:10:30.700
Well, it's about others.

01:10:31.240 --> 01:10:32.680
Paul's laying down his life for others

01:10:32.680 --> 01:10:35.080
just like Christ laid his life down for us.

01:10:35.400 --> 01:10:37.660
That we should be spending, that we should spend

01:10:38.160 --> 01:10:39.000
on the others.

01:10:39.100 --> 01:10:40.540
We should be investing in other people

01:10:40.540 --> 01:10:42.680
and loving other people and caring about other people.

01:10:43.280 --> 01:10:45.820
And you know, I think one other lesson

01:10:45.820 --> 01:10:46.820
we can take away is that

01:10:46.820 --> 01:10:50.120
if someone is being attacked,

01:10:50.640 --> 01:10:52.360
you can get in there and defend them.

01:10:53.000 --> 01:10:54.280
You can commend them.

01:10:54.440 --> 01:10:57.100
You don't always have to let them defend themselves.

01:10:57.700 --> 01:10:59.220
And hey, let's just be honest.

01:10:59.660 --> 01:11:01.300
If they're defending themselves from attacks,

01:11:01.520 --> 01:11:02.880
you don't have to pile on.

01:11:03.920 --> 01:11:05.220
Well, he's prideful.

01:11:05.920 --> 01:11:07.620
I don't like how he defended himself.

01:11:08.260 --> 01:11:09.160
Well, you know what?

01:11:09.260 --> 01:11:10.760
You not defending him wasn't very helpful.

01:11:12.040 --> 01:11:14.180
You doing nothing wasn't really that great.

01:11:14.180 --> 01:11:17.860
And hey, why don't we all take a moment of reflection

01:11:17.860 --> 01:11:19.820
and think about is there's someone in my life,

01:11:20.580 --> 01:11:23.780
whether it be your boss, your husband, your wife,

01:11:24.720 --> 01:11:27.500
a brother, a sister, a mom, a dad, a pastor,

01:11:27.760 --> 01:11:30.600
anybody in your life that's been doing you a lot of good.

01:11:31.920 --> 01:11:34.140
And you have like a bad attitude towards that person.

01:11:35.080 --> 01:11:37.140
You're not really being appreciative towards that person.

01:11:38.120 --> 01:11:40.840
That you're like, hey, if I think about it on paper,

01:11:40.980 --> 01:11:42.420
they're actually kind of loving me a lot.

01:11:42.980 --> 01:11:45.400
And I'm really just being mad at them.

01:11:45.720 --> 01:11:46.980
And I need to fix that.

01:11:47.460 --> 01:11:49.480
I need to appreciate what they are doing for me.

01:11:49.800 --> 01:11:51.440
I need to appreciate what God has given me.

01:11:51.820 --> 01:11:53.300
I need to appreciate where I am.

01:11:54.100 --> 01:11:56.060
And you know, cause let's just be honest,

01:11:56.240 --> 01:11:58.560
in many ways we live at the top of the food chain

01:11:58.560 --> 01:11:59.620
at the cream of the crop.

01:11:59.820 --> 01:12:01.520
I mean, we live in such a great country

01:12:01.520 --> 01:12:04.340
with a great state and a great area

01:12:04.780 --> 01:12:05.780
with great opportunities.

01:12:06.300 --> 01:12:06.700
Is it perfect?

01:12:07.120 --> 01:12:07.320
No.

01:12:08.480 --> 01:12:09.780
Does it have its challenges?

01:12:10.080 --> 01:12:11.140
Life has its challenges.

01:12:11.560 --> 01:12:12.380
But I'm telling you,

01:12:12.440 --> 01:12:14.760
we have first world problems compared to so many people.

01:12:15.560 --> 01:12:18.300
And so we have new IFB problems.

01:12:19.100 --> 01:12:20.500
We don't have old IFB problems.

01:12:21.860 --> 01:12:22.960
We have new IFB problems.

01:12:23.500 --> 01:12:24.500
You should be thankful for them.

01:12:26.120 --> 01:12:27.740
I've been in some of those old IFB problems.

01:12:27.780 --> 01:12:28.500
I don't want those problems.

01:12:29.360 --> 01:12:30.740
I mean, I've been in church meetings

01:12:30.740 --> 01:12:32.140
where the guy's getting up saying like,

01:12:32.220 --> 01:12:33.100
he thinks he's a homo

01:12:33.100 --> 01:12:34.680
and like wondering what he should do about it.

01:12:35.560 --> 01:12:38.400
I'm like, you think you have bad people in this church?

01:12:38.880 --> 01:12:40.780
Let me take you to other churches

01:12:40.780 --> 01:12:42.640
and show you some of the bad people in those churches.

01:12:45.020 --> 01:12:45.500
You know?

01:12:45.700 --> 01:12:47.320
Ah, the sermon was too long.

01:12:48.700 --> 01:12:49.720
Well, I can't fix that.

01:12:49.880 --> 01:12:50.360
Okay, I don't know.

01:12:50.440 --> 01:12:51.140
I don't know what to tell you.

01:12:52.760 --> 01:12:53.780
Hey, if you were so good,

01:12:53.920 --> 01:12:55.400
maybe we just get out of here sooner, you know?

01:12:56.740 --> 01:12:58.320
I just got to preach all this extra stuff.

01:12:58.440 --> 01:12:58.780
No, I'm just kidding.

01:12:59.860 --> 01:13:00.580
But you know, hey,

01:13:00.620 --> 01:13:02.280
we should appreciate the people in our lives

01:13:02.280 --> 01:13:05.720
and we should not be the 95% that they'll say thanks.

01:13:06.220 --> 01:13:08.140
Let us be the small few

01:13:08.140 --> 01:13:09.740
that it can at least be appreciative and thankful.

01:13:10.140 --> 01:13:12.720
And let us make sure that we're thanking God

01:13:12.720 --> 01:13:15.000
and giving him the glory for our church.

01:13:15.140 --> 01:13:15.660
Let's go some prayer.

01:13:16.260 --> 01:13:17.320
Thank you Heavenly Father so much

01:13:17.320 --> 01:13:19.020
for giving us this awesome church to go to

01:13:19.020 --> 01:13:21.380
and all these awesome people to serve the Lord with.

01:13:22.260 --> 01:13:24.360
I pray that you would help us to be appreciative

01:13:24.820 --> 01:13:26.820
of the things that we have of our jobs,

01:13:27.080 --> 01:13:29.540
of our spouses, of our parents, of our children,

01:13:30.600 --> 01:13:33.580
of the state and the country that we get to live in,

01:13:34.140 --> 01:13:35.800
of the King James Bible,

01:13:36.420 --> 01:13:38.840
of our opportunities to be evangelistic

01:13:38.840 --> 01:13:40.660
and the missions trips and the conferences.

01:13:41.460 --> 01:13:43.280
I pray that you would help us to be appreciative

01:13:43.280 --> 01:13:46.220
and to be thankful and to help us to have a spirit

01:13:46.220 --> 01:13:48.960
to serve others and to love others and to do good

01:13:48.960 --> 01:13:51.540
unto others and not glory in ourselves

01:13:51.540 --> 01:13:53.880
and not to try and lift up ourselves

01:13:54.360 --> 01:13:55.860
but rather to think of other people.

01:13:56.000 --> 01:13:56.840
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.