Jesus' Last Words - I Thirst - Part 2

Well, good morning everybody. Hey, it's wonderful to see you here.

If you brought a Bible, how about taking it and opening to John chapter 19, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, fourth book in the New Testament. Welcome to all you guys in overflow. We're so glad you're here.

And in about 60 days, no more overflow. We're excited about that. Hey, last week we began a four-part series entitled Jesus's Last Words. And if you remember, I told you last week that Jesus said seven things from the cross and we've chosen four of them to make up this series that will culminate on Easter Sunday.

Last week we did number one, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And today we want to move on and do the second saying and that is, Jesus said from the cross, I am thirsty. Here in John chapter 19, let's look at verse 16. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus and carrying his cross, Jesus went to the place called the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Here the soldiers crucified him with two robbers, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Verse 23, when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them with his undergarment left over.

This undergarment was seamless, so they decided not to tear it. Rather, they said, let's cast lots to see who gets it. This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. Verse 28, knowing that all was now completed and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk and lifted it to Jesus's lips.

Now, you know, you may never have occurred to you to think about this before, but let's think about it for just a second. You know, Jesus is out on Golgotha. This is an old barren rock outside the city of Jerusalem that we know from history is where the Romans carried out their executions. There's no town on Golgotha, there are no houses on Golgotha, there are no business enterprises on Golgotha, no hot dog stands, no nothing. So here's the question, where did this jug of vinegar, this wine vinegar that was sitting at the foot of the cross, where in the world did it come from?

How did it get there? Well, I think that the answer to that we find in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it's in an article written by Dr. William Edwards. The title of the article is On the Physical Death of Jesus. Dr. Edwards is from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and this is an article that looks at the death of Jesus not so much from a theological or biblical point of view, but from a medical point of view.

Here's what he said, and I quote. He said, flogging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution. The iron balls in the flogging whip would cause deep contusions, and the sheep bones would cut deep into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. As the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. This scouring, with its intense pain and appreciable blood loss, most probably left Jesus in a pre-shock state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus' medical condition was at least serious and possibly critical. The processional to the site of crucifixion was led by a complete Roman military guard headed by a centurion, a Roman officer. The Roman guard would not leave the victim until they were sure of his death. At the site of the crucifixion, by law, the victim was offered a bitter drink of wine and vinegar mixed with gall as an analgesic, meaning as a painkiller.

So here's the answer to our question. How did this jar of wine vinegar get to the foot of the cross? The answer is the Roman soldiers who were escorting Jesus to the crucifixion, they brought this jar along with them. This stuff, this mixture was a painkiller, it was a narcotic that was designed to produce a semi-comatose state in the victim that was hanging there on the cross.

You know, here's someone who's been beat up, who's been brutalized, you know they're in shock, and this was a way that they had of going into a narcotic stupor and at least dying with some sense of dignity and that was the purpose of this mixture. Now you know, since I've been a little kid, I've had a habit, maybe some of you have the same habit, I don't know, I love to chew on ice. I don't know if any of you guys like to do that. I love to crack ice with my teeth.

Well about five years ago, I was doing that and something bad happened. Instead of cracking the piece of ice, I cracked my tooth in the back here, one of the molars in the back of my jaw. The pain was unbelievable. I mean excruciating pain. I understand now why people, you know, tied those things around their head when they got a toothache.

I mean the only way to even survive was to keep pressure on it. Well we were out of the country. And so my dentist, obviously I couldn't go back that day to get it dealt with, he prescribed until I could get back Percocet. Now I don't know if you've ever taken Percocet, but I gotta tell you something, you take two of these bad boys and in 30 minutes you don't even know what planet you're on, friends.

I have never taken anything like this in my life. And what the Bible's trying to tell us is that this wine and vinegar mixture with gall was like liquid Percocet. It was given to these people dying on the cross, suffering unbelievable pain, to at least put them in a position where they didn't know what planet they were on either and give them a little bit of dignity as they died. In fact, the giving of this wine to them was the only act of mercy, it was the only act of compassion in the entire process of crucifixion. So hanging on the cross, when Jesus is life ebbing away, when he said, I am thirsty, it was from this mixture of wine and vinegar, this narcotic brew that the soldiers took some sponge and offered it to him to drink. Do you understand now what's going on?

You say, well Lania, I understand, but you know, this doesn't make sense to me. You know, it doesn't make sense to me that with everything else, Jesus was suffering on the cross. I mean, he was dealing with shock and exhaustion and asphyxia and respiratory shutdown and acute blood loss and maybe cardiac arrest. It doesn't make sense that in the middle of all of that, it really mattered all that much that he was thirsty.

I mean, how big a deal was that when you're going through all this other stuff? And besides, Lon, you told us last week from the Journal of the American Medical Association that because of the nature of his wounds and the way he was hanging on the cross, that every single word Jesus spoke on the cross put him through insufferable pain, so why in the world would he put himself through pain to say, I am thirsty? That doesn't make sense to me. Well friends, the answer is right here in John chapter 19 verse 28. The answer is, why did Jesus do it? So that the Scripture would be fulfilled. Now remember, this phrase, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled is not something Jesus said himself on the cross. In other words, he wasn't on the cross, he didn't say, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, I just want to tell you guys I'm thirsty.

That isn't what happened. John, the writer of the Bible, the writer of the Gospel, he was the one who said when he heard Jesus say I'm thirsty, he was the one who wrote down the words so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And why did John do this? Well friends, John wanted to remind you and me that in the Old Testament Scriptures God gave over 30 specific predictions regarding the details of the life and the ministry of the Messiah. He wanted, right here in John 19, he wanted us to see a couple of them that had come true.

We already saw it, Psalm 22 and 13, they divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. We've already seen Psalm 69 verse 21, they put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. These were both written by King David 950 years before Jesus ever lived. And what John wanted you and me to understand is that when Jesus said I am thirsty, that was no random comment. That the fact that that jar of vinegar was sitting at the foot of the cross, that was no coincidence. That the fact that the soldiers gave Jesus something out of this jar to drink, that was no accident. And the fact that the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothing, that was not just happenstance. John wants us to realize that none of these things were random events, they were all part of God's divinely scripted plan for Jesus' life, predicted ahead of time in the Old Testament Scriptures centuries before they ever happened in time and space.

And John wants us to understand that every one of these prophecies came true precisely, completely and perfectly the way they had been predicted even though the predictions were centuries old. That's what John wanted you and me to get. Now that's as far as we want to go in the passage for right now, because it's time to ask a question. And everybody knows our question.

And you're awake, it's 11 o'clock in the morning. So I with enthusiasm now, with with excitement now, and all you people down in overflow, I want you joining in. Is everybody ready? Thank you. All right, ready? Here we go.

123. No, that was good. That was good. You say, Lon, so what?

Say, Okay, this is great. So I know you read the Journal of the American Medical Center. So well, actually, I don't.

Somebody sent me the article. But whatever. You say, So what difference do you when I walk out of my house tomorrow morning, Monday morning to go to work to go to school? So like, what difference does any of this make to me? How does this change my life?

What we've talked about today at all? Well, I want to try to make that connection for you. 10 years ago, I was with my son, middle son, Justin. He was 13 at the time. And we were traveling. I'll tell you why I had a little thing that I did when my boys were younger, when they were 10, when they were 13. And when they were 16, they each got a trip with me wherever they wanted to go. And it was like a little father son deal that we did. Now there were some limits. I mean, you know, they I mean, they couldn't go to Tahiti, you know, or, of course, my boys wouldn't want to go to Tahiti with me anyway.

But But anyway, no, they couldn't go there. But within reason, and my son, Justin, who was 13, loved to ski. So we'd gone out to Colorado, we were walking through the Denver Airport together. And I happened to look into the one of the bookstores and I noticed an article in Life magazine that caught my attention and I went in and opened it up. And here's a quote I ran into an inside Life magazine. It's from John Murray, who at the time was the president of the American Atheists, and I quote, there was no such person in the history of the world as Jesus Christ, he said, there was no historical living, breathing human being by that name, ever.

The Bible is a fictional non historical narrative. It's a myth that is good for business, end of quote. Now, my son and I stood there and talked about this for a minute. And Justin said to me, he said, You know, Dad, he said, but like all religions claim to be the right one, you know, all religions claim that their way is the true way to God.

I mean, he said, it's kind of like AT&T Sprint and MCI on television, they all claim to have the lowest rates. I was encouraged he was listening to something that he thought was sinking in, because not much was sinking in in those days. But anyway, and he said, So Dad, how can you be so sure? How can you be so sure that the Bible really is true? And it really does give us the right way to God? You know, that's a fabulous question for a 13 year old ass.

Friends, that's a good question for anybody to ask. And as followers of Christ, we better have an answer to that question. So what is the answer? How can we be so sure? The answer is that Christianity is the only religious system that is based on supernatural revelation directly from Almighty God, we call that supernatural revelation, the BIBLE. But you see, John Murray said, what did he say? He said the BIBLE is a fictional, non historical myth. So the real question is, how can we be sure? How can we prove John Murray's wrong? How can we prove the Bible is really what it claims to be supernatural information from a supernatural God, giving us a supernatural way to have eternal life?

How can we be sure of that? Well, I could give you a lot of proofs, but without a doubt, the most intellectually solid piece of evidence is this issue of fulfilled prophecy. But I want to take us through a little tour of the Old Testament today.

And let's look at some of these. Now, we've already seen Psalm 69, they gave me vinegar for my thirst, written in 950 BC. We've already seen Psalm 22, they cast lots for my clothing, also written in 950 BC. But you know, all of Psalm 22 is a wonderful snapshot of the cross. Verse one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You say, wow, Lon, that sounds strangely, vaguely familiar.

Well, it should. It's one of the seven things Jesus said on the cross. And by him saying this on the cross, it tips us off that this whole psalm is dealing with the events of the crucifixion. Verse seven of this psalm, all who see me mock me, they hurl insults at me shaking their heads. They say he trusts in the Lord. So let the Lord rescue him. That sound familiar?

You say yeah, somewhat. That's exactly what the chief priests and the rabbis and all the the mockers of Jesus stood around the foot of the cross and said, Matthew 27, verse 16 of this psalm, they have pierced my hands and my feet. Here, obviously, we have a classic description of the Roman practice of crucifixion, nail through the hands, nail through the feet.

But let me tell you what's really interesting. In 950 BC, when this psalm is written, we know from archaeology that the Israelites were not using crucifixion as a form of execution. We also know from archaeology that in 950 BC, no ancient culture was using crucifixion as a form of execution.

In fact, we know from archaeology that there was not one single culture in the world that we know of using any form of execution in 950 BC that involved piercing people's hands and piercing people's feet. So why in the world would David write about a form of execution that nobody in the world was even using unless God the Holy Spirit was telling him, David, you're not writing this for the people of your generation, son. You're writing this for people 1000 years from now, you're writing about the Messiah.

And that's exactly what was going on. Isaiah 53, verse 9, he was put to death with wicked men. Hey, we just saw in John chapter 19, Jesus was crucified between two thieves. This was written in 850 BC. Isaiah 53, nine continues, he was assigned a grave with the rich.

Well, the Bible tells us Matthew 27, that Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, one of the richest men in all Israel, 850 BC, this was predicted. Isaiah 52, 14, many were appalled in him, because his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and his form marred beyond human likeness. You know, I've got a lot of people who've come up to me and say, Hey, Lon, you know what, I saw the movie, you know, the passion. And I understand, Lon, why Jesus had to go to the cross, I get that. What I don't get is why they had to beat him up like that. What I don't understand is why they had to brutalize him and abuse him and just just rag on him and just rip him to shreds that I don't get. I've actually had one lady asked me, she said, Hey, if Jesus hadn't been beaten up, if none of that whipping stuff that happened that we saw in the movie, if they had just taken him to the cross and put him on the cross, and he died, wouldn't that have worked for paying for our sins?

The answer is yes, that would have worked fine. You say, well, then why in the world did he have to go through all that beating and all that flogging, so that the scripture might be fulfilled, right here in Isaiah 52, that says he got beat up so badly that he wasn't even hardly recognizable as a human being anymore. You say, well, Lon, I don't understand, if simply dying on the cross would have been good enough, why in the world did God put this in the Bible and make Jesus have to go through this? Oh no, friends, you're above my pay grade now. I have no idea why God would do that.

I can't answer that question. But I can tell you why what you saw on the screen had to happen. It had to happen because 850 years before the birth of Christ, God wrote this in Isaiah 52 and said that's part of what's going to happen to the Messiah. Hey, Micah chapter 5, verse 2, out of you, Bethlehem, will come forth one who will rule Israel, a being whose origins are from ancient time.

Written in 850 BC, once again, we have the prediction that Jesus is coming out of Bethlehem. We know this was fulfilled. Luke chapter 2 tells us it was fulfilled.

I mean, at Christmas, nobody sings, oh little town of Tel Aviv. You understand what I'm saying? Of course this was fulfilled. Hey, Zechariah chapter 11, written in 520 BC. Here in Zechariah chapter 11, we have not only Judas' betrayal of Jesus being predicted, we even have the betrayal price, 30 pieces of silver predicted, and we even have the eventual fate of these 30 pieces of silver predicted that they would be thrown back into the house of the Lord and used to buy a potter's field. Amazing.

How did Zechariah know that? Now, I could keep going, but I think the best summation of what I'm trying to say is in a little note that Richard Park wrote me years ago. I wish I could find a different note to read you, but this says it better than anything I've ever come across, so you're going to hear it again. He said, and I quote, Lon, during the past week I was talking with a research scientist and mathematician, formerly employed at the Pentagon, who researched 30 of the clearest Old Testament prophecies referring to Jesus, and she calculated that the probability of one in the same person fulfilling all 30 prophecies was one in 10 with 99 zeros after it. You say, ooh, that's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot. And that's the probability that this stuff could happen, everything we've just talked about, by chance. So that's not a big probability. No, it isn't. You say, well then Lon, how did the Bible get all this right?

Oh, I can answer that. Isaiah 46, verse 9. I am God and there is no other, God says, and I make known from the beginning, from ancient times, things that are still to come.

The answer to that question, how could the Bible get this right, is that there is a living transcendent God running this universe, a God who knows future events just as well as you and I know past events, and this God recorded some of these future events that had not yet happened in the Bible for three reasons. Number one, to prove to you and me that He's real. Number two, to prove to you and me that the Bible really is His personal message to mankind.

And number three, to prove to you and me that faith in Jesus Christ really is the only way to get to heaven. That's why God went to all this trouble. You say, well Lon, wait a minute, just a second. I understand what you're saying. But I think there's some other ways to explain how this, you know, thing happened in the Bible than the way you're explaining it. Okay. You say, well Lon, in fact, I got three. Okay, I'd like to hear.

Alright, here's my first one. My first one, Lon, is that Jesus' followers, don't you understand what happened? They went back and they rewrote the Old Testament to make it fit with the events of Jesus' life.

We call this the tampering theory. They went back and tampered with the Old Testament. In other words, when they saw, when John saw the soldiers giving gall and vinegar, John went back and rewrote Psalm 69. When he saw the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' clothing, they all went back and rewrote Psalm 22.

When they saw Jesus crucified between two thieves and buried in a rich man's tomb, they went back and they rewrote Isaiah 53. Don't you understand what happened here? Well friends, I want to say to you with absolute certainty that there is absolutely no chance whatsoever that this happened. You say, oh yeah, what makes you so smart?

Well no, I'm telling you there is no possibility this could have happened and let me tell you why. It's not that I'm smart, it's that they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran Cave 1 and this scroll was written 150 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Now in this scroll, if you go read Isaiah 53, if you go read Isaiah 52, if you go read Isaiah 7, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11, guess what you will find? You will find that they all say exactly the same thing as your Bible says today. And this was done and written 150 years before Jesus Christ ever walked on the face of the earth. There is no way they went back and tampered with this scroll. We even have a complete Psalm Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 and in this scroll, Psalm 69, Psalm 22, all the other Messianic Psalms, guess what? This copy we have is from 50 BC, a half a century before Christ, every one of those Psalms read the exact same way the Psalms in your Bible do. Uh-uh friends, there is no way in the world these guys went back and tampered with the Bible.

You say, alright, alright, well I got another, I got another solution. My second solution to how all this happened Lon is that the New Testament writers, they lied. They lied about the events of Jesus' life to make those events match up with the Old Testament prophecies. We call this the hoax theory. Jesus' disciples, they were just doing a hoax, that's all it is. You know the soldiers never cast lots for Jesus' clothing, that John knew that it said that in the Old Testament and so he made it up. Judas never got paid 30 pieces of silver, they knew that was in the Old Testament, so they made it up. Jesus was never born in Bethlehem, he was never buried in a rich man's tomb, they just say it's a lie, it's a hoax Lon. You say, isn't that possible? Yeah, it's possible, it is. You say, well then how can you be so sure it didn't happen?

I'll tell you how. Because this hoax theory violates the number one law of human nature. You say, no it doesn't, yeah it doesn't. People are wonderful liars Lon. Human nature's wonderful at deceiving people, taking advantage of people, huckstering people, I mean look at Enron, Worldcom, Imclone Tycho and Martha Stewart. People are wonderful at this, this goes right along with human nature. No no no, I agree with that, but hey, when the hoax is up, when suddenly people are made to pay for the hoax, what does human nature do? What did all of these people do?

Man everybody ran for a deal, knew they fell all over each other trying to sell out one another, go states evidence, plea bargain, get out of jail, hey Martha Stewart, you know that assistant broker, man he couldn't get to the courtroom fast enough to turn on her, that's human nature. Now what's interesting here is that when Emperor Nero said to Peter, now Peter I'll tell you what, if you'll turn states evidence and say all that stuff in the Bible is wrong, we won't crucify you upside down. But if you insist that this is right, you're going to the cross upside down dude.

And you know what? Peter said I'm sorry, I believe it's true, they crucified him upside down. They told Paul the same thing Nero did, he said if you don't deny it we're cutting your head off.

Guess what? They cut his head off. And all the other disciples, all the other apostles, with the exception of John, when they had the opportunity to turn states evidence they said forget it, this is true, they killed all them too. You say what about John, did he turn states evidence? No he didn't, he died a natural death, the only disciple to do it.

But you know what, he was exiled on the island of Patmos for years for his faith because he wouldn't recant his faith. This is human nature. Human nature says when the hoax is up, dude I turn. I got the best deal I can get. None of these people turned, they all went to their death rather than turn, why?

Because they knew this was no hoax, they hadn't lied about this, this was the real deal. You say alright Lon, one more then. And that's good because I only have time for one more. You have one more Lon.

Say my last one is this, alright alright. So here's my last explanation of how this happened. Jesus, he was a smart fella, you know? So what he did is he knew all these prophecies were in the Old Testament, he orchestrated his whole life, he knew what to say and he knew what had to happen and he knew about the 30, he orchestrated this whole thing to make it look like he's the Messiah but basically all he was doing, the disciples believed it was right but he was just running a con, that's all he was doing. See he got Judas to betray him, he said all the right things on the cross, he got him to have the vinegar there for him to drink, it was just a big setup.

Now friends that's silly, think about it. How could Jesus make the Romans crucify him between two thieves? Do you really think Jesus hanging on the cross leaned down to those Roman soldiers and said hey, hey fellas, hey you guys down there, you see those clothes over there? You know I would really appreciate it if you'd take some dice and go over there and cast lots for those things over there, it would really mean a lot to me.

It would really mean a lot to me if you do that, would you guys please do that? And I'm sure the Roman soldiers said oh sure Jesus, anything to please, whatever you want. That's ridiculous, you say oh no Lon, he's a smart man, maybe he bribed them before they ever got there, maybe bribed Judas. Well okay, maybe, but here's one, explain to me, if this is what was going on, explain to me how Jesus convinced Emperor Caesar Augustus to hold a census that caused his parents to have to go to Bethlehem so he could be born there to fulfill Micah 5 when he was still inside Mary's womb.

How did he do that? So yeah, okay, that would be a little tough. You bet it would be a little tough, and the reason is because this isn't what happened. So if this wasn't a hoax, and if this wasn't a con game, and if there was no tampering that went on with the Old Testament Scriptures, then friends I maintain we're back to one times ten with 99 zeros after it. There is no other explanation how this could happen except the explanation the Bible gives, that the Bible is a supernatural book from a supernatural God giving us supernatural information about how we can get eternal life. That's the only explanation that makes any sense, and if that's true, this means that we can have total confidence in the Bible, and in everything that it tells us, we can have complete confidence about what it says about birth and death and life and God and Jesus Christ and salvation and heaven and hell and everything else, because as Peter said, 2 Peter chapter 1, we have not followed cleverly devised fables, for we have seen and verified for ourselves, look at this, that what the Old Testament prophets predicted has come true. And that's how we know Peter says, this is no hoax, this is no fable, this is the real deal. Now if you're here today, and you've never trusted Jesus Christ in a real impersonal way as your savior, and you're one of these people who you know you just got to have intellectual information, you just got to have intellectual proof for everything you believe, friends one times ten with 99 zeros behind it is pretty intellectual proof in my opinion. And I think if that's true, we've taken away every excuse you've ever had for not believing the Bible.

Friends, smart people don't bet against one times ten with 99 zeros behind it, they bet with it, and that means betting with the Bible, giving your life to Jesus Christ and trusting him as your personal savior, and I hope you'll think about that. You say, but long, wait a minute, you're not, I hope you're not done, because you still haven't answered the question. The question was, when I walk out of my house as a follower of Christ tomorrow morning, what difference does this make in how I live?

Alright, I'll answer that in closing. You know I've been in full time ministry for over 30 years. I've been pastor of this church for almost 25. And if you were to come up to me and say, Lon, after 30 years in full time ministry, what is the most depressing part of the ministry? What is the most depressing part of being a pastor? Lon, what would you say? Well folks, I wouldn't even have to hesitate to answer that question.

Here's my answer. The most depressing part about being a pastor, or about being in the ministry, is all the people I meet who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but who live under the authority of themselves instead of under the authority of the word of God. That's the most depressing part of my job. Because you see, these are the people who by the way they act destroy our credibility in the eyes of a secular world. These are the people who by the way they act limit the flow of God's spirit in any church they go into. These are the people who because of the way they act hurt and damage brothers and sisters in Christ with unbiblical words and unbiblical attitudes and unbiblical actions. And sadly these are the people who rob themselves by the way they live of God's blessing. That's the most depressing part of the ministry is meeting these kind of people.

And they're everywhere. And folks, I'm here to call on you today not to be one of these people. That's how I want this to change your life tomorrow morning. I'm here to call on you as a follower of Christ to be a man or a woman of God who lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ. I'm here to call on you to be a man or a woman who lives under the authority of the word of God because if the word of God is what it claims to be and we've just proven with 99 zeros that it's gotta be, then friends the word of God has authority in our life not what you feel like doing or what I feel like doing. I'm here to call on you when you walk out of your house tomorrow morning to walk out to determine that you're going to live when it comes to your business ethics, when it comes to your sex life, when it comes to your moral behavior, when it comes to how you treat other people, when it comes to being faithful to your spouse, when it comes to how you raise your children, you're going to do that under the authority of the word of God.

I'm here to call on you to live under the authority of the word of God when it comes to what you watch on cable and where you go on your computer and the jokes you tell and the language you use and the way you look at women. I'm here to call on you to be the kind of follower of Christ who by the way you act you enhance our credibility in the eyes of the secular world out there. I'm here to call on you as a follower of Christ who by the way you act you increase the flow of God's spirit in any church you walk into. I'm here to call on you as a follower of Christ who by the way you act that you can courage and you build up God's people everywhere you go instead of ripping them down. I'm here to call on you as a follower of Christ not to depress me when I meet you wherever you are. I'm here to call on you to be the kind of person that after meeting you and talking with you I walk away and I go oh wow I love this person and I love the way they see the world and I love the way they live cause they're living according to the way God calls us to live. And you know what I'm here to call on you as a follower of Christ not to lose the blessing of God in your own life by the way you live.

That's how this affects Monday morning friends. And I pray when you walk out your house tomorrow morning and every morning you'll say Lord you know what I may not get it 100% right today but by the power of your spirit I'm walking out of my house determined, dedicated today that everything I do to the best of my ability is going to be done in accordance to the way you tell me how to do it in the Bible not the way I feel like doing it or this world system tells me to do it. Those are the people that Jesus Christ is trying to make you into and those are the kind of people I call on you to be.

Let's pray. Father thanks for talking to us today about the word of God. A supernatural message from a supernatural God giving us a supernatural way to have eternal life. And it's more than that it also gives us a supernatural plan how to live until we get to heaven so that we can see our lives maximized for Jesus Christ. Now Father work in our hearts and lives and change the very way we think about living the very choices we make because we were here today and we were challenged by the word and the spirit. Father change our behavior because we have decided today with your help we're going to conform our behavior not to what we feel like doing or to what the world system tells us is okay but we're going to conform our behavior to the written word of God. And we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.