Beware of the Good Life

and have a seat good morning everyone go ahead and dismiss our kids to little district and for the rest of us let's go aad and grab our Bibles and turn to Luke chap 20 we're going to be in verses 27- 47 today as we continue on through the Book of Luke and I've titled this message uh Beware of the good life which at first won't make sense but hopefully by the end you'll be like oh okay I see it I see what you mean by that uh because I think most of us would come in here and say man we want the good life like

we want a good life we we don't want to beware of that we we Embrace that we're longing for that life is hard life is difficult we would like for the opposite of that we would like life to be easy and life to be good um and so we will we will get to why um be wearing the good life is actually a good thing and ring the hard life is a gospel thing and so we'll we'll get to that as we work through this passage because even when we open up and when we look at the passage and start reading through it you're even

going to be thinking I have no idea how this connects to anything that has to do with the good life and so um I will show that to you as we work through it but to kind of give you a preface for this passage this week Kelsey and I were having a conversation about politics which is just riveting you know every everyone came in they're like this is the one topic I love is the topic of politics which is actually not what we're talking about today but more so it was talking about just the the season that we're entering into which is an election season

and one of the fruits that ripen in seasons of Elections is that many people will begin posting their views on social media right like that's that's why you get up in the morning is just to read other people's post about elections um all of a sudden maybe that cooworker that you really enjoyed now has posted something that is the complete opposite of what you agree on and now you're thinking man they've just ruined everything for me like I liked that person now I can't talk to them ever again um and and honestly like that's where we're kind of at in this season is people are

going to start posting things that you might disagree with they might start posting about a candidate that that you um disagree with and and at the same time time like one of the questions Kelsey asked me when we were talking about it was um does anyone ever actually change their mind when they get into internet debates like especially Facebook Instagram someone posts something and then in the comments you start reading and they start arguing with one another like has anyone ever in that moment thought you know your point of you're right I I am going to change now and vote differently or I'm going to

change and believe differently like has anyone ever actually done that I would dare say that the percentage of people changing their mind is very very low but not entirely impossible again it also depends on what you define as winning an internet debate is it getting the other person to change their mind or is it getting them to stop talking like is it getting them to to essentially shut up because you exercised your intellectual superiority over them and you won whatever the debate was because you were more knowledgeable on the subject what we are going to see today is a debate between Jesus and a group

of people known as the Sadducees um and for whatever reason uh when I entered into church around my high school years um all I remember regarding the Sadducees is they were sad you see um and so like if you have like old church background like that was kind of like what you remember is that this is just a sad group of people based on how they lived your life so that was like what I remembered um in regards to like my Foundation of this group of people which is so dumb but I'm going to show you um why this is a sad group and it

primarily revolves around them having a particular belief about life and the afterlife that is wildly opposite to Jesus's view about life and the afterlife and so let's open our Bibles to learn and let's open our lives to just continue treasuring Jesus and helping others follow him so Luke 20 starting in verse 27 there came to him some Sadducees those who deny that there is a resurrection and they asked him a question saying teacher Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies having a wife but no children the man must take the Widow and raise up Offspring for his brother now there were seven

Brothers the first took a wife and died without children and the second and the third took her and likewise all seven left no children and died afterward the woman also died in the resurrection therefore whose wife will the woman be for the seven had her as wife now first of all I I don't know what the Greek term for dumb is but what the Sadducees are attempting to do is stump Jesus with just a ridiculous scenario um or case study if you will an example that they're trying to pose to him to to catch him in a loophole of his own theology so they know

Jesus believes in a resurrection they themselves do not believe in a resurrection so they're trying to throw a a scenario in his path regarding what he believes to try to find a loophole that would essentially prove that he he is actually Incorrect and therefore not believing what is true this is what they're trying to do with him they they believe um that they're going to catch him up that they're going to show and reveal to everyone else that he doesn't know what he's talking about and that what he's been preaching and teaching is actually false because again here this is a situation that cannot make

sense in their mind what the Sadducees are trying to prove here is that is just a man and that he is not actually God and what they're doing is they're using a law that God gave Moses back in Deuteronomy 25:5 to see if they can find this loophole in Jesus's own preaching and teaching now to give you a bit more background on these Sadducees Jesus believes in a resurrection after death for all who are considered the true offspring of Abraham so that's that's something that has been promised and that's something that Jesus is preaching and teaching however the Sadducees do not believe in a resurrection

after death they are what we call materialists or rationalists they believe there is a God but they don't believe there is an afterlife and so instead God essentially created a heaven and an earth um but it's a heaven that's on Earth and it's only in the material it's only in this physical age that he created and kind of similar to like a George Foreman he basically created it set it and forget it and then is just letting them live the best life possible like that's what their view is is that God created this thing put it into motion and then it's been hands off ever

since and they are allowed to figure out amongst themselves how to live the best life because this is all you get this is all you get and so if you follow God's law which they agreed to and they believed in that he gave it to them in order to have the best life then you would be favored by God and you would have the best life so they were they were all about the Torah they were all about the pituk which is the first five books of the Old Testament that was their sort of road map in order for them to live a prosperous life

and so essentially their philosophy was live your best life now and in that respect they are similar to atheists who don't believe there is anything after death this is all you get and so let's live it up to the best of our ability let's make the most of this life now however the sadu Sadducees again they do believe there is a God and that he created us but again is not um relating with us anymore he's just given us and basically Press Start and let us go and so what the Sadducees are aiming to do is use marriage which according to their law is abinding

Covenant until death to see how Jesus explains in the event that they continue on living after death well what does marriage do in that regard who's married to whom afterwards and giving this illustration this woman who has had seven husbands um who is she married to in the afterlife and hoping probably that Jesus is going to say well she continues on with all of her relationships afterwards would then make God out to be a polygamist and therefore they would catch Jesus in a trap verse 34 this is Jesus's response Jesus said to them the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage but

those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage for they cannot die anymore because they are equal to angels and are sons of God being sons of the Resurrection now a couple of things here yes Jesus just stated that in heaven there will be no marriages that continue all right if you are in a healthy marriage that makes you sad a little bit if you're not in a healthy marriage you're thinking amen um but nobody in here is thinking that the truth is in heaven you won't even care anymore

like that's the truth you won't even care your marriage on Earth has always been a picture and a foreshadowing of the great marriage that is in heaven between Christ the groom and the church the bride of Christ whatever pleasure companionship partnership satisfaction that marriage on earth created by God was deemed to provide for us is again just a blip in an illustration of the greater marriage that we actually have between the church and Christ that will we we will experience for eternity so again this was not meant to be an eternal thing for us between a man and a woman on earth into eternity but

rather an illustration of the greater marriage that we will experience in eternity forever and again once you get there you're not even going to think I'm sad because I'm no longer married to who I was married to on Earth because as Revelation 211 tells us there will be no sorrow or sadness in heaven and so as David Platt in his Exposition on Matthew in regards to this passage says we can be assured that the relationship we have with our Christian spouses now will be even better in the next life in the resurrection we know or we who know Christ will be joyful and fulfilled in

the Eternal presence of God alone and so we won't feel like we're missing out or that we're lacking or that we're sad or that we're sorrowful because we don't have this marriage anymore we will have the greatest marriage we enter into when we get to heaven but is simply telling the Sadducees that there won't be any marriage in heaven anymore enough is that enough of an answer does he best them in the debate here well knowing that the Sadducees do believe in the authority of the Mosaic law in the Torah the first five books of the Old Testament Jesus presses in to actually find a

loophole in their belief he finds a loophole in what they've created as a system of religion look at verses 37-40 again they were seeking to find a loophole in his belief of a resurrection and instead he finds a loophole in what they think they believe using their own material verse 37 but that the dead are raised even Moses showed in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the god of Abraham and the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob now he is not God of the dead but of the living for all live to him now this is good I want

you to see this not just because it's God's word but also because it's Jesus's strategy that can be and should be applicable to our strategies when facing apologetics when when Defending Your Faith or debating Christian values versus secularism this is the strategy that Jesus applies to the situation again the Sadducees and scribes they consider themselves to be experts on the Mosaic law Jesus not only knows what they believe but he is even more knowledgeable in what they believe than they are which is a good strategy if you want want to win an argument if you want to win a debate if you want to um

the best way to describe it is most of the time when we enter into a debate with somebody or just a discussion with somebody we provide for them what's known as a strawman argument we don't know how to actually present their view of things and so we assert on them that um here's what you think you know and we barely know what they know and so it's a straw man representation of what they actually believe and what Jesus is doing here is he's telling them not only do I know what you know but I know more about what you know that you think you know

and I'm going to show you that when we enter in we should do our best to not only know our position but also seek to know their position more than they know it that's just having range and having wisdom in being able to understand a situation and what we're actually looking at this would be similar if you were to take a $100 bill if many of us place it next to a counterfeit $100 bill we'd probably be unable to detect which one is the real one but what can or what should we do we should study the real one with great necessity and we should

also study the fake ones so that we can point out what it is that's fake about them being able to say well this bill does not have color um color shifting ink or water marks therefore we can tell or see that it's fake that's just one example of being able to study a fake and reveal its falsehoods well Jesus has studied their belief system and he's able to pinpoint exactly where they go wrong or what they don't even see where they have misunderstood what is true and he's going to show them and so for these materialists what Jesus is doing here is he's using a

passage from their own source material from their own book of the Torah the second book ex Exodus he quotes Exodus 3:6 and again this is a passage where God speaks to Moses through the burning bush we're very familiar with with the story there and the setting of that um but at this point Abraham Isaac and Jacob have been long gone and dead for nearly 3 to 400 years by the time that Jesus is having this moment with the Sadducees and this is what he says regarding these dead men and he Saidi am the god of your father the god of Abraham the god of Isaac

and the god of Jacob and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God the only thing that combats lies the only thing that combats urban legends the only thing that combats false philosophies or madeup mythologies or wacky world religions or backwards beliefs is truth just truth that's the only thing that reveals that those things are wrong are wrong and for thousands of years God's strategy for winning the world has been revealing his truth that's why we refer to it as the absolute truth and the inherent word of God it's 100% true it's why CS Lewis calls it the only myth that

is true because it reads like mythology but actually happened knowing that these Sadducees do not believe in an afterlife or Resurrection Jesus asks ask asks them a question how can God be present tense the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Jesus teaches that God is not the god of the dead but the god of the living because the very nature of God being God to a people is the dispensing of life to them like when God says I am your God and you will be my people is God saying I'm granting to you life to be separate from God means that you are separated from

Life Giving and you are now receiving death and so in this world right now as humans if we are separate from God we are dying and our Eternal destination is going to be an eternal death but if we are under the banner of God if we are under the care and provision of God because of the gospel and because of the work and life of Jesus Christ we are entering and heading towards an eternal life with him because God is life and that's what he dispenses to those who are his people is he gives them life and what he's trying to show here is that

though Abraham Isaac and Jacob in Moses's day have been dead for 3 to 400 years God is able to say I am their God because they are still alive though they have been dead for a long time how then can he be their God the god of the living if there is no Resurrection if there is no afterlife and so he's showing something to these Sadducees that you missed this you thought Abraham Isa Isaac and Jacob live their lives you can go to their tombs the Valley of the Kings you can see where they're buried you can see what they accomplished and what they did

and what they left in the Legacy but that's it that's what they would believe they lived their good life and then they were done and what he's showing here is that when Moses got up Moses who they consider provided for them Authority in the law himself self says no no no Abraham Isaac and Jacob are still alive and well they're still alive and well and so then Jesus sort of tosses the ball back over to their court and verse 39 says this then some of the scribes answered teacher you've spoken well you have spoken well for they no longer dared to ask him any questions

that's Greek for fair enough fair enough or as Steve Harvey likes to say good answer good answer but Jesus doesn't want to just stop by answering their question he wants to continue revealing the truth about God's word which is revealing the truth about God's son he doesn't want to just stop with gotcha he wants to reveal himself he wants to reveal that though he's stumped them and confounded them in the moment they're still not receiving life so he still wants to push and push so that maybe they would be able to see and so Jesus is about to teach them something that's going to cause

their brains to do some intellectual cartwheels he's about to show them how not only has he come from David and therefore is after David but also Not only was before David but in fact created David even right now you're thinking I'm doing some cartwheels in my own mind in a bad example it would be like me creating my dad who submits to me and then through whom I eventually become the son of when he has children like that's what Jesus is about to show them in this story which that would actually make for like a very psychedelic movie if someone were to ever explore that

plot but look at it in verse 41 but he said to them how can they say that the Christ is David's son for David himself says in the Book of Psalms the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your foot stol David David thus calls him Lord so how is he David's Lord his son though they don't respect the Psalms as authoritative they do respect David as the great king and representation of the throne the king Reigns on Jesus quotes here from Psalm 110 to show that the Messiah would not only be the the son of David

again a temporary figure which all good Jews would have recognized but also the Son of God an eternal figure which all good Jews should have recognized Jesus is forcing them to see that David himself spoke to this mysterious reality in Scripture that for there to be an eternal past in which the Lord pre-exists David is also the same Lord that enters the present as the son of David and eventually continues on the Eternal future in the resurrection in other words the Messiah they should be looking for would be both human as an heir of David and also Divine and eternal as David's Lord Savior and

God who has always been like it's the same person is what he's showing him only an eternal being can enter our history and be both before and after someone in our history that's Jesus's point and what the resurrection does is it changes the trajectory of their future reality that's what's going on in this moment right now for Abraham Isaac and Jacob and David the resurrection brings them out of death and into eternal life with Jesus the son of God as their lord and savior and so the Pharisees and the s Sadducees and the scribes and the chief priests and the elders all of them had

no reply when Jesus put this truth before them this this Messiah who was both human and divine was standing before them and his wisdom just literally confounded them they're looking at that we have no we have nothing to say to this and then in his exposition of Exodus 3 in the psalm of David Jesus is asking them really three questions if if David who you as good Jews say represents the Throne of David the Throne of the true king so you recognize him you recognize the Mosaic law of of the the Torah and the penit and you recognize it as Authority and I've just showed

you in both of those that not only is there a resurrection according to the law but also that David who again you are waiting for the Messiah to come and take his throne also has said that there is an eternal one that he submits to that is both past and future if you're saying that then you need to respond to it do you believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah do you believe that Jesus was more than just a prophet and in fact Divine have you submitted to Jesus not only with your head but with your heart like these is these are the questions that

he is providing for them in the exposition of these passages knowing who Jesus is and what Jesus is and what Jesus is about that's one of the primary reasons the Lord inspired the Apostle John to write the Book of Revelation in light of these truths Jesus has revealed to them today look at the beginning of Revelation 1 1-8 John says this the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to show his servants the things that must soon take place he made it known by sending his Angel to his servant John Who Bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ

even to all that he saw blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near and then John says this to the seven churches that are in Asia and this is again John being present at what Jesus just taught the SES and the Sanhedrin is taking that Theology of Jesus and what he has just explained to them and is applying it here in the writing of Revelation to show clearly this is who we followed for three years grace to you in peace from him who

is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn of the Dead and the ruler of Kings on Earth you see that the firstborn from the Dead showing that Moses talked about a resurrection and ruler of Kings on Earth he has taken the Throne of David to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood now he's just sharing gospel with them and made us a kingdom priest to his God and Father to him be glory and Dominion forever and ever amen behold

he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all tribes of the earth will whail on account of him even so amen and then here he ends with I am the Alpha and the Omega those are the Greek letters of the beginning of the Greek alphabet and the end of the Greek alphabet just another illustration of God through Christ saying I always was and I always will be says the Lord who is and who was and who is to come the almighty this is Jesus speaking to this age saying you think this is all there is

well that's cute when the Sadducees were quoting from Deuteronomy 25 about marriage trying to stump Jesus jesus' reaction reminds me of Alan's reaction to the witch in The Chronic of Narnia when he says do not cite the Deep magic to me which I was there when it was written like that's what Jesus is respond like they're saying we're going to get him with what Moses said in Deuteronomy 255 we're going to stump them and Jesus is like who do you think was there inspiring Moses to write Deuteronomy 25 verse 5 who created it because Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega and that's why David

is able to say the Lord Has Come As son of David is my Lord in the present and as a gracious warning to his disciples including you and me Jesus turns his attention to them in Luke 20: 45 and this is why I titled the message Beware of the good life because what the Sadducees were doing was everything they possibly could to live a good life and I'll show you that look at this verse 45 and in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in Long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces

and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts who devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayers prayers they will receive the greater condemnation those who continue believing this life is all there is and therefore living it to the fullest are going to appear like they are having the best of times they're going to appear like they are blessed like they are favored by God like they are prospering from him but in reality they will be receiving the greatest condemnation of an etal Eternal death punishment and torture because they chose to worship material creation rather than the Messiah

Creator that's what they chose that's what they gave their lives over to and so as a word of encouragement don't buy into the lie that Christianity promises a good life it doesn't it promises a good eternity in that age provided we suffer first in this age like that's what the Bible actually promises to us and I really really want to drive this point home because honestly I've had dozens if not multiple dozens of conversations over the past eight years where because life is hard people believe something is wrong and therefore look for greener grass in another pasture every one of the conversations go that route

and John 16:33 says this I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but take heart I have overcome the world in an article by Desiring God Jason helveston a pastor in Chicago outlined four reasons for why life is hard but God is good life is hard but God is good number one life is hard because the world is broken simply put because of sin in Genesis 3 it fractured all of creation so nothing is as it should be and therefore life is made more difficult like this just true life is hard because

the world is broken but Jesus is restoring All Things by himself suffering for the suffering world and restoring all things from the Brokenness of the World by his power and through his people but the world is broken because sin exists I like to call it as we just live life and experience Brokenness it's the collateral damage of sin like we were driving literally on the way here and our van just started making the like like just I mean just it wants to die because the world is broken in for cured like everything is deteriorating that's why moth and R destroy the world is broken and

so just because bad things happen to you doesn't mean it's because you are cursed it doesn't mean because you've done something wrong it just means you're in a world that is broken and that those things is not if they happen but it's when they happen like it's just going to happen guys like life is hard and it's broken because the world is broken number two life is hard because of you and me like life is hard because of you and me sometimes life is hard because we are sinners Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God you know it

would be a good life living the glory of God but guess what we fell short of that and because we fell short of it there are times where we make decisions that are dumb there are times where we should be fervent but we're lazy there are times where we should be wise but we are foolish and so life is hard because you and I are not glorified yet like we're still making decisions that are sinful which should not be a shocker but should be a yeah you're right I see it every day I know what I should do and I don't do it I know

what I should not do and I do it the good news is that Jesus chooses to forgive us when we confess our foolishness to him in first John 1:9 and he cleanses us of those sinful things that we continue to do on a daily basis that make our life harder that's good news but life is not only hard because of you and me is more often because of you and me than we'd like to admit number three life is hard because of someone else Believe It or Not sometimes people are the worst like it's right like every everyone's got someone pictured in their mind right

now like man life would be a lot easier if it weren't for this person sometimes life is hard because of someone else people are human if number two is true then that means that sometimes people in their choices of sin will sin against you they will sin against you it's not a matter of if but when there is no recipe for a life that avoids being hurt by other people's sin and that's why instead of Jesus telling us to Simply avoid others he gives us instructions for how to forgive when we are wronged and sinned against we are to Echo Christ's words on the cross

when he was being shamefully mistreated forgive them for they do not know what they are doing like there are sometimes people are just going to sin against you they're going to wrong you they're not going to be what you expect of them they're not going to show up the way you wanted them to show up they're not going to be present the way that you wanted them to be present and sometimes that might be malicious and they need to apologize for that and there's other times where it's just because life is hard and they don't even realize that they're not being there for you but

either way we are to forgive we are to forgive how many times somewhere else 7 time 77 like if someone messes up and they realize that they mess up and you bring it to them and they ask for forgiveness how often should you forgive as long as they keep asking as long as they keep asking life is hard because of someone else and number four life is hard because God is good you're like okay explain that one God has chosen hard work to be a conduit for producing maturity for making us stronger to build muscle you have to first strain it exercise it and break

it down in order to rebuild it stronger therefore much of life's difficulties we Face are in fact by God's design like I If there's nothing else you hear today with the Sadducees want is an easy life a good life that they are able to have all the best like nothing ever bad happens to them and what God is trying to explain to them is not only is that making you weak but it's leading to your death instead what my design is is actually for life to be hard so that as it exercises you and as it strains you and as you rely on me it

strengthens you it matures you so that it leads you to strong life that actually leads into eternal life this is what we are to expect in the Christian Life which again if you at first you're going to be like well that's a bummer like that's a bummer I mean like life is long 30 years 40 years 60 70 80 years like that's a long time until you put it in comparison to Eternity like the scriptures themselves say life is but a vapor in regards to Eternity like when it starts getting cold in the next couple of months and you go outside and you breathe out

and you see it just disappear like that's what God looks at your 90 years of life 60 years of life whatever like that's he looks at it like it's just a vapor that is here today and gone tomorrow and so can we suffer here and now and live a life that is hard by God's design in order to experience God's strength in the midst of our weakness so that it matures us but we get to experience more of God rather than us that actually is producing life now and joy now like can we endure that for a vapor and a blip in regards to Eternity

absolutely that that should be actually what we long for and want because that's what actually produces Joy rather than what the Sadducees thought was happiness a good life this is why I think James says in chapter 1 veres 2-2 counted all joy that wasn't a suggestion that's a command count it all all joy all what are we talking about your whole life count it all joy when your car breaks down count it as Joy when your kids won't go to sleep at night count it as Joy when your business is struggling count it as Joy when your relationships are hard count it as Joy my

brothers when you meet Trials of various kinds like thank you James for just keeping it as broad as possible when you meet Trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him but let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind for that person

M must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord he is a double-minded man unstable in all his ways let the lowly brother the one who again like his experienced Trials of various kinds and has experienced a difficult life one that is hard let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation so when life is hard someone is exalting us and it is the Lord who is lifting Us in that moment let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation that comes from the Lord and the rich AKA those who are trying to live the good life now like the Sadducees let the rich in

his this humiliation because like a flower of the grass they will pass away for the sun rises with it scorching heat and it Withers the grass its flower Falls and its beauty perishes so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his Pursuits but blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the Crown of Life life which God has promised to those who love him like that like what James is just laying out for us in this moment is this is what you can expect in life you can expect Trials of

various kinds but if you Embrace those as Joy knowing that God has designed them to mature you if you endure that with steadfastness and patience and perseverance holding on to Christ guess what your reward will be at the end of that life eternity with God in heaven but if you don't want that and you want the crowns now and you want the good life in the riches now then you're going to invest your life into that but it's actually going to kill you it's going to destroy you and you're going to eventually die in an eternity in hell and for the Sadducees though their life

was good their God will be hard their God will be hard that's why I titled this Beware of the good life if we are aiming for the good life the best life the American dream then that is our God that is our Idol and we will forsake Christ for the sake of the world and I'm not saying there won't be good components about the Christian life but the Bible does promise that it will be hard it's just the truth and for us I'd rather have a life that is hard and a god that is good than a life that is good and a god that

is hard second Corinthians 4:11 says this for we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus's sake so that the life of Jesus Also may be manifested in our mortal flesh like you hear that you want to have life God's going to give you over to death on a daily basis so that in trusting him and relying on his energy relying on his strength relying on his life you'll actually have life in the midst of death where when they think they have life they're actually in the midst of death they're actually dying so for us as Christians unfortunately we are going to

feel like we're dying but in that reality when we're trusting in Jesus when we're relying on Jesus when we know that he is a resurrecting God though we are dying we are resurrecting but if we try in our own strength in our own life resurrecting a wonderful life we will actually be dying 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 says this what does it let me say this what does it mean that the life of Jesus is being manifested in our mortal flesh when we're giving over to death but yet he's granting us life what does that mean we are afflicted in every way but not crushed we are

perplexed but not driven to despair we are persecuted but not forsaken we are struck down but not destroyed always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies though we are dying ding we are resurrecting that's why the Sadducees are sad but you and I are able to count it all joy when life is hard because God God is good God is good and so like we just know guys we know I mean I feel I can literally I can it's easy to look around and see every face in this room and I

can write out what you are experiencing in life right now that is difficult that is hard and we pray we pray that you get lifted out of that we we we would love for the difficulty to go away but I got to be honest when I see text like this I don't know that the goal is to pray for your difficulty to go away I think what the goal is is that we pray for Christ to sustain you in the midst of your difficulty I think it's for Christ to Grant you life in the midst of what is hard right now what keeps you up

what causes you anxiety what causes you despair so that you're not perplexed so that you're not um giving over to that despair so that you're not crushed but rather are experiencing joy in the midst of it in the midst of it so that in a way when the disciples were on the storm or on the boat in the storm and and the Seas were capsizing I mean these are like these are well-trained fishermen like it's their job it's their career and they're scared for their life and in that moment what is Jesus doing he's taking a nap and like so what I'm praying for you

is that when you're in the storm that your spirit and your soul is able to take a nap and rest because you're in Christ you're in Christ and so like everything around you can just be going nuts and crazy and falling apart and whatever it wants to look like but in that moment you can say man I'm not tossed to and fro because I'm in Christ and I know that this is producing in me steadfastness and I count it Joy like that's when Paul gets crazy with his Theology and he starts saying things like um bring on some more suffering so that I can gain

more of Christ so that I can share more of what he went through in order to be able to have more life in the midst of this life that is difficult this life that is dead we need to stop praying Western Christian Christianity that's a philosophy of well when you accept Jesus he provides for you a well balanced budget and he provides for you an American Dream and he provides for you a fat 401k and he provides for you every possible thing that's going to make your life easy we call that health wealth and Prosperity Gospel and that's not what he's promised now he actually

does promise that in eternity in that age to come coair with him sons of God Access to his food pantry access to his backyard access to all the technology heaven will bring I mean all of it yours but in this life he wants you content if it's all robbed of you if it's all Stripped Away he wants you to have Christ and that's it and we'll Steward all the other things we'll Steward it and next week is actually going to dive into that with the story of the Widow who gives all that she has to the offering versus the rich who don't hardly give anything

anything because all she really wanted was Christ all she needed was Christ and she didn't need anything else life is hard but God is good let's pray father we thank you so much we thank you