All right.

Welcome, everybody.

Welcome, Wesco and Rancho, Sandimas.

All right.

We're in a new series called Blinded.

I'm in Luke chapter 24, verse 13.

We're going to get there just in a moment.

I want to commend you for getting through that difficult series we just were in, paying attention and having all that information.

So I decided I would kind of change gears, shift gears a little bit, not be so hard on you, let you relax a little bit.

It is summertime and go through a passage, a couple of passages that I hope will be...

transformational for you.

So in the series, we're talking about people who are blinded after they've had an encounter with Jesus, actually before they've had the encounter, and something happened over the course of the conversation that their eyes were open.

This reminds me of my father-in-law, who's spoken here quite a few times.

He told me that he and my mother-in-law were on a journey up to Indiana, Ohio, somewhere where he was going to preach a revival, and they're on the interstate, so probably 75 north.

And Charlie, my father-in-law, started having a little bit of a panic attack because he said, suddenly I could not see.

Everything was fuzzy.

So I'm driving down the interstate.

It's fuzzy.

It's unclear.

My head is hurting.

The road is moving and shaking.

So I automatically assume at my age I'm having a stroke.

He looks over to his wife, Betty.

My mother-in-law says, Betty, something's not right here.

Take the wheel.

Help me out here.

And she looks at him and said, well, you dummy.

Now you'd have to understand my mother-in-law.

You dummy, the lens fall out of your glasses.

So he wasn't having a stroke.

He was just getting disoriented.

Now, the reality is the Bible says that the God of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbeliever.

But the truth is there are a lot of people who are blinded and they fail to see the mystery and the goodness and the redemption that comes through Christ.

But the reason is far more simple than the devil blinding their eyes.

Can you imagine spending...

years and years with somebody, and then you walk up to them and you meet them on the street and you can't recognize them.

Has that ever happened?

When I went back to do homecoming at my alma mater, Johnson University, a few years ago, after the message, I came down off the stage and a woman about my age came up and she hugged me.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Jeff, it's been so long.

Great to see you.

I had no idea who she was.

And I started talking to her if I did, but then you can't prolong the agony.

So I finally said, look, I got to be honest.

I have no idea who you are.

And she said, Jeff, it's Paige.

Now, I immediately knew when she said the name who she was.

But the reason I couldn't identify her is because in my mind, I had an idea of what Paige would look like as she aged.

And she didn't look anything like that.

Now, I didn't say for better or for worse.

I just said.

She looked nothing like, and I'm sure, you know, if you know me, I don't hide things very well.

And she could tell the disappointment on my face, and it was not a good encounter.

But we hadn't seen each other for 40 years.

That's fair.

I want to read to you this passage where people have been listening to Jesus' teaching and following him for at least three and a half years, and they've only been separated for...

from him about three days, and they don't recognize him.

Now, it's a text that we've been through, but there's something really special that we've not been able to deal with in the past concerning Luke 14.

Let me read it.

We're going to read the Bible.

And I want you to notice, I'm doing a lot more scripture reading because in the past, I've assumed that you know a story, and I'm discovering that you don't.

That's on me.

So we're going to do a lot more Bible reading in the years to come, okay?

So here's the text though.

Now, that same day, two of them you and we're talking about disciples.

Now, you do know you've got the 12 disciples, but then you have hundreds and hundreds of disciples that are following Jesus that are still referred to as the disciples.

So, two of those disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Now, where was Jesus crucified?

Okay, you always think I'm asking you a trick question.

So, they're not too far from the place Jesus was crucified.

Verse 14, they were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.

Now look at verse 16, but they were kept from recognizing him.

So scholars are unsure as to what this means exactly, but there's a strong possibility that Jesus prevented them from recognizing him.

And if so, well, why would he do that?

Maybe, and this is just meandering, maybe he wanted them to reconsider.

what they were thinking about the Messiah, what he would be like, and what purpose he came for.

Remember, the Jewish nation as a whole were looking for this thundering Messiah.

that would prove to the world that the Jews were indeed the people of God and that Yahweh was the one and true God.

So because of that, when you see your Messiah, who you think is going to be a thundering Messiah, give you power over those who are opposing you or oppressing you, you're going to have a hard time believing that this Messiah, who died on a cross and now has been buried in a tomb, is the Messiah.

So maybe...

They were blinded in order to have time to process these raw emotions and to reconsider what the scriptures actually said about the Messiah.

Verse 17, he asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along?

They stood still, their faces downcast.

One of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

Remember when we read this text a few weeks ago?

I said, that's ironic because Jesus is the only one who really knew what was going on these days.

What things, he asked, about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied.

He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.

Do you notice they didn't say he was a Messiah?

They're doubting now.

The chief priest and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him, but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

Now, when they say redeem Israel, they're not using redemption as a way of salvation.

They're using redeem Israel before the Romans to show the Romans that their God is the true God and give the Jews their rightful place on the planet, on earth, okay?

I got to tell you, let me stop here just a second.

My conversations that I've had in Israel over the last three journeys, last three summers, they're always amazing to me as I talk to rabbis, and I'm always respectful, and it's always a respectful conversation.

But I always walk away thinking, most rabbis have memorized one of the most popular Old Testament passages.

It is the passage that you see, as I've mentioned before, if you go to the Dead Sea Scrolls Museum, it's right there for everyone to see because it's such a famous Messiah passage.

It's Isaiah 53, and we know, there's no doubt about this anymore, folks, we know it was written 500 years before Jesus was even born.

So, Rather than assume that you know about this passage, I'm going to read it.

Here's what it says.

He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of the dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and we held him in low esteem.

Surely, He took our pain and bore our suffering.

Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

By the way, if you're here visiting and you've never heard the gospel, you don't need a preacher.

I'm reading it to you right now.

He was oppressed and afflicted.

Yet he did not open his mouth.

He was led like the lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living.

For the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge.

My righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities." Now, how could you memorize that passage, know that it was written 500 years before Jesus was born, Telling you that he would be assigned to grave with the wicked, these on the cross, and with the wealthy, buried in a rich man's tomb, and not know that the Messiah when he comes would not be a thundering Messiah, but would be a suffering servant.

The only way that's possible is if you draw up in your mind a pre-assumed idea of exactly what Messiah would be like, and then you projected that on the real Messiah.

then you wouldn't recognize him.

You wouldn't know him.

He wouldn't look like you think the Messiah would or should look.

And what I'm challenging you today is that there's a real closeness to Jesus.

Because many of us in our modern times have gotten this idea and drawn up an image of what we believe God should be like and what we believe Jesus should be like.

So then we fail to recognize who God really is and who Jesus really is because of our assumptions.

Now, if you continue to read the story back in Luke 24, we read in verse 21, and what is more, it is the third day since this took place.

You know what they're saying, right?

He's been in the grave three days.

In addition, some of the women amazed us.

Women have always amazed us.

They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body.

They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it, just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.

Now, Luke is writing this account.

I want you to notice a couple of things because these are crucial things.

Notice he mentions Cleopas.

He mentions one of the travelers, but not both of them.

Why?

When you're writing an historical account in the times or days of Jesus, if you mentioned a name, it's like what you and I do today when we produce a paper and we have footnotes.

The purpose of the footnotes is to tell you, I am quoting a source.

Here's my original source.

Go and check it out to see whether or not I'm telling the truth.

Luke includes a name because when this is circulating, Cleopas is still alive.

So he's saying, if you don't believe me, go ask Cleopas.

This actually happened.

You'll also notice that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention a guy named Simon of Cyrene who took Jesus' cross and carried it for them.

And it actually in the text tells us that he's the son of so-and-so.

Now why do we need to know that?

Well, if it's myth or legend, we don't.

But if it's history, we do.

Because all the writers are saying, if you don't believe what I'm saying is true, please go interview these people.

They'll tell you and affirm what I'm saying actually happened.

And then another proof text, the reason so many scholars have come to be converted to the reliability of the scripture is because if you're writing legend, you do whatever you can to hide anything that looks bad.

And yet Luke tells us that it's the women who discovered the bodies.

And you're not going to put that in any kind of historical resource.

Because women were not considered credible witnesses in the time of Jesus.

So if you put them in there, you'd only put them in there because it actually happened.

Now, verse 25, he said to them, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he was going farther, but they urged him strongly, stay with us, for it is nearly evening, the day is almost over.

So he went in to stay with them.

Verse 30, when he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

Now, why did it take that long to recognize him?

Maybe they...

began to see, because remember, there's a long conversation that took place.

If Jesus explained the entire Old Testament to them, that's going to take a while.

So maybe it dawned on them as he began to break bread that this indeed is the Passover lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And suddenly it all clicked with them, and it clicked with them because Jesus walked with them.

Now, I want you to hear me.

I want you to think about this for a moment.

We are living in an amazing time.

It's one thing to believe, you've heard me say numerous times, that God exists.

But perhaps for the first time in a very long time, if you do not believe in God, you're in the minority.

Did you know that?

In fact, if you don't believe in God, you're in conflict with half of the world's respected scientists.

You're at odds with overwhelming evidence now.

If you don't believe in the historical Jesus, that means you're ignorant of history.

You're in awe.

opposition to confirmed historical data, and you're living in your own little uninformed world.

If you don't believe the Bible can be trusted as a literary document that accurately reflects history and the workings and doings of Jesus Christ, you're now in the minority.

You're opposing numerous highly respected scholars who study this kind of thing and have affirmed the trustworthiness and reliability of the scriptures.

Dr.

Peter Williams of Cambridge University, Dr.

Richard Bachman of the University of St.

Andrews, Dr.

Gary Anderson, Dr.

Andrew Teeter, Dr.

John Lawrence, Dr.

Michael Gillian, Dr.

Harvey Cox, all from Harvard University.

Not everybody at Harvard is an unbeliever.

Listen, we are long past.

We are postmodern.

We are post-postmodern.

And now the time has passed when less than honorable people who have a less than honorable agenda are able to successfully convert the masses concerning the non-existence of God, the unreliability of the Bible, and...

The theory that the resurrection of Jesus Christ did not take place.

I'm not saying those arguments don't exist.

They still do.

But I'm saying that the weaknesses of all those arguments have now been exposed so that the new atheism and the old atheism have now been thrown out.

Now, having said that, and I mentioned on Easter, when somebody says to me, Pastor Jeff, I want to believe in Jesus, but I just struggle with some of the things the Bible teaches.

And here is my response, and I stole it directly from Dr.

Tim Keller.

I wish I was this smart.

But he says when somebody tells him that, his response is, does that mean that Jesus didn't rise from the dead?

You see what he's saying?

Look, if Jesus rose from the dead, you're going to have to do battle with what he taught.

If he didn't, why bother yourself?

But if he came back from the dead, if he defeated sin and death, he's the son of God.

So if there's something in the Bible you don't agree with, it's probably a safe assumption that Jesus is right and you're wrong.

Now, lately, I have had a lot of people say this kind of thing to me, and it's just registered, and I thought, man, we got to do a message on that.

But when I start to enter into an apologetic conversation with skeptics, at the end of it, rather than convert, oftentimes they'll just say this to me.

Pastor Jeff, I see what you're saying, but I just don't know how you can be certain of all this.

I don't know how you can be so certain that you are saved and that you're going to heaven when you die.

Your certainty makes me uncomfortable, they say.

Now, I want you to go back to the conversation, to the long paragraph in the beginning.

I said, it's one thing to believe that God exists.

It's another thing to believe that he has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

It's still another thing to believe that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, rose again on the third day, and those who place their faith and trust in him will have eternal life.

The Bible says you can know with certainty that you have eternal life.

When I mention this, it makes them uncomfortable.

This is the purpose of my message this weekend.

There is a way to be certain.

It's not just objective.

I always preach objective truths.

I'm going to shift gears.

Objectively, yes, there is evidence for creation.

Something doesn't come from nothing.

There's historical evidence of everything we've said about Jesus and the trustworthiness and the reliability of the gospels, but that's objective proof.

But there is a subjective proof as well.

And I'm afraid that you think that I don't respect subjective proofs.

No, if you only have subjective proofs without objective proof, then you've just got feelings and emotions.

But if you've got objective proof and then your subjective proofs coincide, Then you've got strong certainty.

What do I mean by subjectivity?

Here's the question.

How do I know that my wife loves me?

That's exactly what I said in my sermon.

Those of you who know her, you probably wonder, why has she not killed him yet?

Okay.

And the answer is, she loves me.

Now you say, well, you can't be certain.

Yes, I can.

I've got 40 years of evidence-based conclusions.

I deserve to die and she has let me live.

But there's other things over these 40 years.

She gives herself to me.

She is incredibly generous.

She is sacrificial.

She gives up things for me.

And then there's this issue of time.

She spends time with me and she acts like she actually enjoys it.

I'm simply saying.

How do I know with certainty that my wife loves me?

I want to tell you, 40 years of research has proven so.

How do I know you with certainty?

The real you, how can I get to know the real you and then have confidence in you with great certainty?

Do we do a PET scan?

Do we hook up all kinds of wires?

and get a readout of your brain or the lack of one in some cases.

Or you and I can hang out.

We can talk.

You can walk with me.

We can begin a journey of partnership.

And in that partnership, you can actually achieve a great deal of certainty and confidence as I look at your character and integrity and reliability.

And I'm telling you, the more I get to know Robin, the more certain I am that she loves me and will not leave me.

I can trust her.

You say, oh, Jeff, you've got no guarantees.

You're wrong.

Dead wrong.

I'm sorry your relationships ended that way, but I'm telling you it is possible.

to have certainty, to have overwhelming evidence that my wife loves me unconditionally and that we will be together until the day we die and will fulfill her wishes when I propose to her.

She said to me, instead of saying, yes, I'll marry you, her answer was, I want to grow old with you.

And it's happening.

Now, what I'm suggesting to you you We always talk about objective truth, and I like objective truth.

I like apologetics.

I'm saying to you that I can be confident in my salvation.

I can be certain, not merely through objective evidence, although that's important.

I can be confident.

I can be confident in my salvation, in my eternal security, folks, because I've been walking with him for over 40 years.

And there's, listen.

No other religious system can give you this certainty because, listen now, every other religious system is based on merit, right?

Keep the path, keep the book, keep the way.

And it's difficult, if it's not impossible, to have confidence and certainty when you are working on the merit system.

You know, when you go to university, you are confident you're going to get a degree.

Your professor's not so much, right?

You can't be certain that you're going to get a degree.

It depends on what happened.

It's merit based over the next four years.

When we hire an employee at this church, we do our research, we go through the interview process, but it is a step of faith.

We have no certainty.

The certainty only comes through years and years of employment.

We hope that a year later we say, man, we made a good hire and we're not saying, man, I can't believe I got myself into this.

Merit-based is the way most people operate with God, and it's the reason there's little certainty and the feeling of insignificance without any real confidence.

It's why some of you are still uncertain because you're still on the merit-based program.

But when you encounter the real Jesus, when you meet the real guy, there is a level of certainty that causes you to live with incredible faith and confidence and a centralized joy.

Because your trust is not in yourself.

It's in him, and you've gotten to know him.

And when you do get to know him and you walk with him, it changes everything, right?

Now, the question is then, can my eyes be open to this kind of certainty that the world does not have?

Can the blindness and uncertainty really dissipate in everyone?

Let me go back and read verse 15 of chapter 24, as they talked and discussed these things with each other.

Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.

Verse 32, they ask each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?

The answer is yes.

Here's the problem.

It's taken me 40 years of apologetics to come to this conclusion.

The problem is you want certainty on the outside looking in.

You want certainty.

without making the decision to follow and walk with Jesus.

That's like me going to Robin before we even start dating and say, I need to know that you're never going to leave me.

You're going to do everything I ask you to do, and you're going to be committed to me.

And if so, then I'll ask you to marry me.

It don't work like that.

When I ask Robin to marry me, and she said yes, she's doing it by faith, I'm doing it by faith, and we're not certain.

You can pretend you're certain, but remember 60% of them ended in divorce.

But after you walk together over the course of time and you get to know each other, then you build this certainty.

You're not thinking, I wonder if she's going to leave me.

I wonder if she's going to stay with me.

You know, you're going to grow old together and you're going to die and you're going to have children and grandchildren and you're going to have this incredible relationship and joy.

It's the same way with Jesus.

You want it all before you make the commitment and it doesn't work.

No relationship works like that, folks.

You receive him by faith and you begin walking with him.

And over time, certainty builds.

And man, when it builds, it'll get to a point where you have no doubt in your mind.

In fact...

Walking is the way the Bible describes or summarizes the true relationship between God and us.

It gives us three things, and I'll do it quickly.

Okay?

Here's what walking with Jesus reveals.

Number one, God is Yahweh and Emmanuel.

He is powerful, and He is God with us, but that's intimidating.

Second, God is my friend and my companion.

That's comforting.

And third, God is my Savior and Lord.

That's transforming.

So first, I want to help you get the certainty.

God is Yahweh and Emmanuel, but that's intimidating because when you're walking this close with somebody, the problem is they see everything about you and you're exposed and you're accountable.

And to know that God sees everything that you do and every thought you have, man, that's not very comforting, right?

I can't remember this, but my mom always used to tell me that when I was a kid, I love ice cream.

I still love ice cream, especially chocolate Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

And I buy those real small ones so that I can tell myself I'm not eating too much ice cream.

So I'll eat three or four of those.

They're small though.

But I've always loved ice cream, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

And my mother would get us ice cream sandwiches.

I had three brothers, but one was not enough.

So I would sneak back in later on at night and get another one, which I was told very clearly by my mother not to do.

And my mother told me...

Sometimes, I couldn't wait until the evening.

This is when I was a very small child.

She said that I would come and say to her, mom, don't watch me.

That's not a very sharp kid.

I would say, mom, don't watch me.

She goes, why don't you want me to watch you?

She knew I was going to the freezer.

Don't watch me, mom.

I read a story about a man who was having an affair with another woman and he would bring his mistress to his home when his wife was away traveling for work.

He writes how when the mistress came over, they would have to take all the photos of her, the wife, the real wife, and push them down because neither him or his mistress could bear to look at the photos.

Walking with God, listen now, means to have a moment by moment awareness of his awareness of you.

Now, if we were on the merit system, that would not be a comforting thing.

It would be like God is the warden and I'm the prisoner and he's always got the CV or the whatever, the CT, CV, whatever cameras on me and he's watching everything.

That's not comforting.

I can promise you there are times, I'm just being honest, there are times I'm on the 210 freeway.

I found a couple of photos, by the way.

I love this one.

I love the 210 freeway when it comes to rush hour traffic because it brings out the worst in me.

I look like this sometimes.

I hope some of you have never seen this, but this is what I look like.

Can I tell you there have been times that I get so angry?

Now, this was years ago.

I don't say it out loud, but it's like in my mind I'm saying, Jesus, you might want to look away.

You're not going to like what you see.

But when you know, and you only discover this by walking with him, that his omnipresence is everywhere, his omnipotence is all power, is also tempered with grace and goodwill.

and that every command and precept is foundational for you to live an abundant life.

That kind of truth can encourage you and empower you.

And because you know you already have the acceptance of the king, that you're not trying to earn it, I'm telling you, it empowers you to be the person that ultimately you want to be.

And I've used the example numerous times.

My father, I did something when I was 16 years old, and no, I'm still not going to tell you, but I did something when I was 16 years old that I thought my father would kick me out of the house.

It was the rules of the house.

I knew it was over.

I had no excuse, but I could not live with myself.

I had to confess what I had done.

So I went to my father and I told him, and I was expecting my father to say, well, you can't live here anymore, and these are the rules.

But my father, when I confessed what I had done, moved over, put his arm around me and said, now listen, you're accountable for what you've done, and you're going to pay for what you've done, but I'm going to be right here, and we're going to walk together with it.

And when I saw my father give me, my military-type father, give me that kind of mercy and grace, Do you know it changed the way I related to my father?

That was a life-defining moment for me because I was able to apply that same kind of love from my earthly dad to my heavenly father, and I knew, yeah, I'm accountable.

But if we confess our sin, he is just, he is merciful, he forgives us.

His mercies are new every day.

And I found myself wanting to obey my father even more than I had before that experience, not to earn his favor.

But I wanted to do it because I knew I already had it.

And there's a difference between the two.

And when you walk with Jesus year after year, you start to discover the depth of his love and grace.

You start to think, I can't believe you're going to forgive me for that, Jesus.

Have you ever sat down to pray and it's been a while and the first thing that comes into your mind is, here we are again.

I told you I wasn't going to be away this long.

Here I am again.

But he's glad you're there.

And when you walk with him, it's like instead of getting the judgment call, you feel the presence of Jesus saying, I'm so glad you're here.

Okay, you've been away again and again, but I'm so glad you're here.

And when that feeling comes over you again and again, and you only get it by walking with him a long time.

It doesn't come overnight.

then an absolute certainty comes over you and you start to know he's never going to leave me.

That if he hasn't left me now, he's not going to leave me.

That his mercies are new every day.

That his grace is sufficient for me and my confidence is based on his goodness, not mine.

When you're walking with him every day, when you're reading your Bible, you sense his speaking to you.

And when you pray, it's not like you're just sending up flares saying to God, you know, if you're really up there, help me.

But when you're walking with him, it means you've gotten to know him so well that you recognize his voice and you know he's speaking to you.

It's not audible, but it's just as real.

He's leading his direction and you know you're being heard.

I'm telling you that the proof that you're wanting from Jesus, that he is with you, you're not going to get it when you're on the outside looking in.

You've got to take a step of faith.

Based on the objective evidence that you know to be true, the Bible says, taste and see the Lord is good.

And if you're still waiting, you're still waiting on something, I'm telling you, you're not going to get it.

Your relationship with God is a step of faith, faith based on objective evidence.

But once you start walking with Him, it's going to change everything.

Do you understand that?

When my daughter was born, Sion, And I saw the look on the nurse's faces that there was something very, very wrong.

And I could see that she wasn't breathing, the cord was around her neck.

I went immediately into the hospital bathroom and I got down on my knees and I begged God to listen and to save her life.

Now listen, when I did that, there was no...

Because I had been walking with Jesus probably 20 years at that moment, I had no doubt he was listening.

No doubt.

Now was I sure?

The things were going to turn out the way I wanted?

No, I wasn't.

I wasn't sure.

I think in my heart I knew at best he was going to give me an immediate yes, and at worst it was going to be a temporary no.

Because when you get to know Jesus, you know that whatever you lose will be replaced to an infinitely greater degree.

And if there's a hardship that you encounter because you've been walking with him, you know he's going to give you this prevailing presence that will sustain you.

And you know you've learned to trust him.

And you know whatever reason you're going through this, it can't be because he doesn't love you.

He's already proven he does.

And you start to trust.

Somebody will say, yeah, Pastor Jeff, I hear what you're saying, but sometimes the loss is so devastating, so devastating.

And that forces me to, let's say it like this, that hinders me.

From being able to trust God completely and to have a kind of certainty about my future.

That brings us to the second thing, because not only is God Yahweh and Emmanuel, but God is my friend and companion.

And that's comforting, because walking with God means that I have a very powerful and influential friend, right?

The friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Again, I want to go back to two quick stories I've shared before.

When I had a paper route as a little boy, there was this young boy on...

one of the streets and he lived to terrorize me.

His name was Len Kiker.

Never forget that name.

And he couldn't wait till I would drive my little Red Ryder bicycle.

And as soon as he saw me coming down the street to deliver the papers, he would run out and push me off my bike.

He was a bully.

I don't know where he is now, probably Leavenworth.

He would shout at me and I got, you know, I was afraid to deliver the papers, but he was like 12 and I was only like eight, right?

That's my story.

I'm sticking to it.

But my older brother was a high school state champion wrestler.

So out of the Vines family, I'm the only one that was tall.

The other brothers are short and stocky, very well built.

They take after my father.

I take after my mom, which helps in basketball, not so much good in fighting.

And so I told my big brother what was going on and he was livid.

So he followed me.

He said, I'll go with you today.

And he would kind of just stay back waiting to see what was going to happen.

And when Lynn Kiker ran out the door to start terrorizing my older brother.

My championship high school wrestler came out of the bushes and just smacked him around in the name of Jesus for all that is good.

And I'll tell you, I thought, you know...

What I didn't tell you is before my brother ran out from behind the bushes, I felt so empowered.

I felt so confident because I had my big brother with me that when I went up to the door to collect for the paper for that weekend, I just immediately slugged him without saying anything.

Then I ran as fast as I could because I knew my brother was going to intercept him and take care of him in the name of Jesus.

I remember John Ortberg talking about a great preacher, a great writer, talking about the time he visited Los Angeles.

He was downtown.

They stayed too late in the restaurant.

As he was coming out of the restaurant, he saw this guy picking on this younger guy, just beating him to a pulp.

Ornberg said, you know, how can I just walk away and let this go?

He was going to kill this guy.

So I yelled at him.

I said, hey, you stop that right now.

Ornberg says, as soon as I said that, this big muscular guy just started backing up with fear in his eyes.

He said, that just gave me more confidence.

I couldn't believe he's afraid of me.

I said, yeah, don't you ever come back here.

and he kept backing up.

And he said, I was pretty.

proud of myself until I turned around and realized that Mongo, the restaurant bouncer who was about 6'8 and about, what did he say, 265 pounds that looked like the creation of Hercules and Xena, Princess Warrior, was standing behind me the whole time.

But you've got God with you.

See, you don't know that or feel that because you haven't been walking with him.

But when you walk with him over a long period of time, your fear goes.

Your worry goes.

Your anxiety goes.

And it's not because you're arrogant because it's not in you.

And the world will think you are arrogant because they don't understand your confidence is not in you.

It's in God.

And you've gotten to know him.

And his name is Elohim, the mighty creator.

El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty, limitless in power and endless in supply.

El Elyon, the most high God, certain to fulfill his promises.

Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide, meeting all our needs.

Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals and restores.

Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my banner, my victory.

Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is my peace.

Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there, we're never alone.

Jehovah Raha, the Lord is my shepherd.

When you walk with God over a long period of time, you know what happens?

What happens is you start to realize, wait a minute, God really does care about my children.

He really does care about my grandchildren.

And he cares about my parents and my grandparents.

He cares about my career and my passions and my pursuits.

And we're told in James 5 that the effective prayer of a righteous man avails or availeth much, that when I pray, God promises to act.

And because I've been walking with him for so long, I actually trust him to act in the way that is best for me.

But that doesn't come without walking.

It doesn't come.

There's a great story.

Oh, I'm out of time.

Okay, so we're not going to tell that story.

We're going to skip all the way to a movie that I saw this week again.

It's been a long time since I've watched and re-watched Schindler's List.

Have any of you seen that movie?

I hope you've all seen it.

If you haven't, you need to go watch it.

But every time I watch it, I think, wow, this is...

You just remember the atrocities that we're capable of.

in acting on one another.

But every time I see Schindler's List, my thought immediately goes to Corrie ten Boom.

And she and her sister went to concentration camps, Auschwitz and Ravensbrück, and her sister did not make it out alive.

She fell ill in the camp.

And some of this information's in The Hiding Place, but there's also a couple of other books that she's written, in fact, quite a few.

But after the war was over and the Allies rescued those who were still alive in the camps.

Corrie ten Boom took it upon herself to travel throughout Germany and then throughout Europe preaching the message of forgiveness.

Forgiveness until one day she's speaking in a church and the guard from the Ravensbrook prison who stood over her and her sister while they showered, hurled insults, beat the women responsible for so many deaths, walked up to her after she had just preached a message on forgiveness, extended his hand and said, Thank you.

Thank you for your message on forgiveness.

And here's what Corrie said.

First of all, she said, I tried to smile.

I'll get to the quote just in a second.

She said, I tried to smile and I struggled to raise my hand, but I could not.

She said, I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.

And so again, I breathed the silent prayer and I said, Jesus, I cannot forgive them.

Give me your forgiveness.

And as I took his hand, the most incredible thing happened.

From my shoulder, along my arm, and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

And then she finishes by saying, and so I discovered...

that it is not on our own forgiveness any more than our own goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on his.

When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives along with the command the love itself.

You see what Corey is saying?

When you walk with him, if you, listen, if you are a Christ follower, but you don't walk with him, then, and I know this from personal experience, if you're not walking with him, you will get self-absorbed, self-preserving.

and blinded by the overwhelming enemies that you think surround you.

When you're not walking with Jesus, man, you think everybody's your enemy and everybody's out to get you, even your spouse.

But when you walk with him, you began to see what Elisha showed his servant, that those who are with you significantly outnumber those who are against you.

And when you know that, you'll be able to do things you never thought you could do before because of your courage, even forgive your worst enemy.

But you will never learn that on the outside looking in.

And if you're waiting on to experience Jesus that way before you give your life to him, you will never give your life to him.

No relationship works like that.

And then finally, not only is God Yahweh and Emmanuel, he is God your friend and companion, which is comforting, and he is God as your master and Lord, and that's transforming.

Now, let me end like this.

Man, I tell you, I don't know what happened.

I don't know what happened, but it happens all the time.

My high school basketball coach, between my junior and senior year, we had a transfer in from the Virgin Islands, James Henry.

He was 6'9", about 265.

When he walked in the gym, I knew right away I was no longer the big man on campus.

Now, when you're 17 or 18, you don't like that so much.

I had worked four years to be the center of attention.

and I knew that wasn't going to happen anymore.

And I remember walking into Coach Duggar's office with a little tear in my eye.

How do you think Coach Duggar responded?

It shocked me.

He looked at me and he said, you big baby.

And he said, I don't feel sorry for you.

You think that when you get out of high school and you go out to live in the real world that things are just going to be given to you all the time?

You think if you cry, you're going to get your way?

And I said, yeah.

Now, can I ask you something?

Was he a good friend to me?

Oh, yeah.

See, if you wanted Jesus to be your friend, and your definition of friend is that he gives you everything you want, you don't understand friendship.

This is a friend when you walk with him who will convict you all the time.

And if it was a merit-based system, that would be horrible.

But because his conviction comes from wanting you to live the abundant life.

Then when the conviction comes, you make a change because you know God always has your best interest in mind.

But the thing about walking with God is that walking with God is not a sprint.

I hear people say things like, I'm going to give my life to Jesus and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that and I'm going to change instantly and I'm going to be the best Christian the world has ever seen.

Now, I appreciate your passion and commitment, but walking with God is not a sprint.

Walking with God is a long journey in the same direction.

It's the rhythm of your life.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

It's the rhythm of your life.

And if that rhythm is not in your life now, you're going to hit a crossroads and something really devastating is going to happen in your life and it will destroy you.

But if you're walking with Jesus and the rhythm of your life is community and fellowship and teaching and preaching and good preaching and good teaching and regular prayer and worship and saturating your mind with the Word of God and the fellowship of the Spirit, slow growth is far more powerful than a crash course on change.

Walk with Him every day.

You don't have to feel good every day.

You don't have to feel the Spirit every day.

Just walk and walk.

and if you walk...

over a long period of time, it will transform you to such a degree that you will be able to do things you never thought possible.

My father-in-law, as I said before, every time he sees and visits us, when he leaves, he has tears in his eyes because he thinks this could be the last time I see my daughter, last time I see Jeff, which is good news to him, but you know what I mean.

But I can tell you this, he is absolutely sure he's going to see Jesus when he dies.

Because he's been walking with him for 70 plus years.

You understand?

It's not pie in the sky.

It's relational.

So much more to say.

Let me finish like this.

This past week, I read a story about a lawyer, a white pastor who was invited to speak at an all-black church.

And you know that was going to catch my attention because you know my feeling.

Let me read to you what he said.

He says, I was sitting there, he's waiting to preach, and a lady comes in, sits down beside me and says, hello.

I said, hello.

And I didn't understand at the time, but this lady's about to change my life forever.

I will leave this service thinking, God, make me like her.

She turned to me and said, what are you doing here, white boy?

Now he says, in my whole life, no one's ever called me white boy.

I said, well, white boy's going to preach this morning.

She looked directly at me and said, you got the stuff, white boy?

I said, I beg your pardon?

She said, don't play stupid, white boy.

If the preacher ain't got the stuff, we don't have church.

If you don't got it, you sit right down here and let somebody else stand up there that's got the stuff.

Now, you got it or not?

He said, man, I didn't know what to say to her, so I just said, white boy's got the stuff.

So she said, want me to tell you how we do stuff here?

He said, no, not really.

But she interrupted and said, well, I'm going to tell you.

Let me tell you, service is going to start on time, and we're going to sing for at least an hour.

Sometimes we sing more.

You love to sing, white boy.

After we're done singing, we have testimony, she said.

People talk about stuff they've been delivered from, and sometimes men stand up and confess crimes they've done, and man, it's good.

She said, when they confess a crime, we take them right down to the jail and turn them in.

You've not done any crimes, have you, white boy?

He said to himself, none that I'm going to talk about today.

She said, after taking the offering, you love to give, don't you, white boy?

He thinks to himself, I don't know what's in my pocket, but it's all going in.

She said, then comes the preaching.

You hear me good now, white boy.

We didn't come to church to get out.

We come to church to go to church.

If you came just to get out, it's best you not come.

What an insult to God.

She said, whatever stuff you got, make sure we get it all and don't cut it short.

She said, now, could you do me a favor?

He said, sure.

Could you move over?

I said, is somebody else coming?

She said, no.

But when I sing, I need my space.

When I get to singing, I need my room.

She said, you see, I'm addicted.

I'm addicted to praising Jesus.

I don't just like it.

I adore it.

It's a passion of my life.

He said, I moved over, and that dear sister, man, she got to singing and crying, and pretty soon I'm crying, and I don't even know why I'm crying.

Her passion just pulled me in.

Man, we're singing and I'm crying and I'm like, man, I want to praise the Lord like she does.

So I finally get up.

I'm standing by the preacher, getting ready to bring it.

And I said to the preacher, do you know that lady down there?

He said, oh yeah, yeah.

You were sitting by Abby, Sister Abby.

I said, preacher, she's amazing.

He said, oh, did she share her testimony with you?

I said, no.

He said, well, David, let me tell you.

Just a couple of years ago, her husband and two junior high boys walked down to the bus stop early See you in the morning.

Some shotguns came out and killed her husband and two sons.

I met her at the hospital and I said, Abby, I'm so sorry.

What do you want to do?

She said, let's just have church.

I need to get back to my passion.

Did she tell you that she has stage four cancer and has no money for the medicine?

No, she didn't tell me that.

All she did was talk about Jesus.

And all I now, all I now know is I want to be just like her.

If you don't understand any of that, Maybe I should say it like this.

If that resonated with you, you know what it's like to walk with Jesus.

You understand that story completely, that no matter what's going on around you, that you've been walking with him for so long, you find yourself addicted to praise.

Can I tell you something?

I get this.

The older you get, the less you ask for.

Do you know why?

Not because you think he can't do it.

I think you need to keep asking.

But something happens in your life, man, God, I've been asking you for this all my life.

You've given me so much.

How about I just start praising you for everything I got already?

You get addicted to praise because no matter what's happening, you live with the certainty that Jesus will be the last man standing.

He'll always be with you.

He'll never leave you or forsake you.

And everything that you've lost, I say one more time.

will be replaced to an infinitely greater degree.

Walk with them, man.

Come on, walk with them.

Everything will change.

Thank you for listening to the One and All Weekend Podcast.

Here at One and All, we want to help build up and provide resources for you to become disciples of Jesus.

If this sermon has impacted you, share it with someone who you believe might be impacted too.

And as always, we believe there is one hope, one life in Christ.

May we all be addicted to praise.

Man, if we could just get addicted to praising you all the time, what that would do for our lives.

So I pray for those who have strayed that maybe this weekend will be the time they come home.

And as we return home, that confidence and certainty that when we die, we're going to be with you because we've been with you for 40, 50, 60, 70 years.

My prayer in Christ's name.

Amen.