Lifted Up

I'll give you the report on Bangladesh and India tomorrow.

Gillian's in New York today.

She's meeting with the church there.

And we'll be back tomorrow.

And then we meet here on Sunday at 4.30, sorry, 10.30.

And take it from there.

OK.

Guys, I want to talk about the cross.

It's pretty amazing what all happens on the cross, eh?

As soon as we think of the cross, the cross necessitated a body.

The cross necessitated a finite body, meaning you now needed to have a body to be hung on the cross.

You needed to have a back that could be scourged.

You needed to have a brow and skull for thorns.

You needed nerves that could feel the nails.

You needed blood vessels that could rupture.

You needed a face that could be spat on.

You needed a beard that could be plucked.

Nothing could have been accomplished without him physically suffering, eh?

The cross necessitated a finite body.

You can see why Paul has no problems in Romans 12,

asking that I, you, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

He has no hesitation asking that.

Hey, I keep returning.

One of the things that we've always tried to drive home in this church,

and that I'll keep driving home because as new people join, we've got to go back to old truths,

is you must speak.

You must speak.

This body has only one way to communicate in a way that God will understand,

the world will understand, the powers will understand,

people around you will understand, and that is through our speaking.

You must insist on speaking.

There's one thing you can decide today.

It is that I will speak.

Jesus had to put into words things while he was on the cross.

It is finished.

Into your hands I submit my spirit.

Woman, here is your son.

Son, here is your mother.

Women of Jerusalem, why are you weeping?

Weep for your children.

For a day is coming when you will beg for the mountains to fall upon you

so that you can be hidden.

Use words to speak.

You use words for everything.

You use words to lament.

You use words for complaint.

You use words for expressing delight at things working out well.

But we do not use enough words to speak about the Christ and express our gratitude to him.

Use words to speak.

Your culture does not count.

Use words to speak.

I can't tell you how important this is.

And beg to speak.

Cry out to speak.

Shout to speak.

Fight to speak.

Not to speak.

It's to kill the ability of God to do what he wants for you.

Let me take it that far.

If you do not speak, here are the things that don't happen.

One, the powers around you don't hear.

The people around you don't hear.

You don't hear.

Faith does not happen.

Faith that does not speak is stillborn.

I must speak.

Fight to speak.

The cross necessitated a finite body.

And so Paul has no problem saying, hey, can you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice?

Can you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice?

So how does that translate for us?

One of the things Jesus says in John 12, 26 is, listen, he says, if you want to follow

me, come after me.

If you want to follow me, come after me.

It's a very strange thing.

So it means that if you want to follow someone, you have to go after them.

Or in this case, Jesus is saying, if you want to follow me, come after me.

So there's an active action on our part.

This following thing doesn't work by itself.

If you want to follow me, come after me.

Following requires going after.

It doesn't matter whether it's someone in the church that you want to follow.

Doesn't matter whether it's someone in...

Following does not happen if you don't go after.

Elijah does this.

Jesus does this.

See?

And he...

It's fascinating how this works.

God will very clearly give an invitation.

There's no doubt to that invitation.

It doesn't matter whether it's to Abraham when he's with his dad in Terah or whether

it is with his dad in the Ur of Chaldees or whether it is Elijah walking past Elisha and

throwing his garment on him or whether it is Jesus walking on the beach and saying,

follow me.

He says it, there's an invitation, and then it is completely up to the people whether

they go after.

Come and follow is impossible without going after.

But what happens is when someone asks us to follow, we expect him to now come and pave

the way, dig the path, carry us.

That is not how it works, guys.

That works once you start going after.

Till you display a passion to go after, there is no following.

And once you display a passion to go after, strange things happen.

People come and begin to level the ground for you.

The Bible actually says that in Hebrews 12.

Level up the ground for people that have weak legs to walk.

But there must be a going after.

John 12 26, if you want to follow me, come after me.

And then it goes on to say, so that wherever I am, there my servant will be also.

That is the living sacrifice part.

Wherever I am, there my servant will be also.

As in, we don't have a choice.

The surrender of my right to myself requires that wherever he is, there my servant will

be also.

And it happens through people.

We want to follow God with God directing us personally and nobody else won't happen that

way.

If Mark wants to follow God, if Jacob wants to follow God, if Don wants to follow God,

then Mark, Jacob and Don will have to begin to think like this.

That one, I will follow wherever the master goes.

Unfortunately, I may not get directions directly from the master.

I will get directions from the master's family.

And the family is the family of God or the church of God.

And therefore, now I may have to listen and go to places I do not want to go to because

that is where the master is.

That is the hard part.

And if that is not the level at which you are connected to this church, then you have

only two choices.

Either connect deeply or find a place that's more comfortable.

Life must be uncomfortable in the family that you are in.

Ask your children.

There are chores, there are things to do.

There's times to wake up, there's times to go.

There are places you go, places you have to behave a certain way, places you don't go.

This is why Jesus at one point says to Peter, when you were like a child, you did what you

want.

But now?

You will go where?

You do not want to go.

Your hands will be tied and you will be taken.

Any questions?

Any pushback?

Anything you want to say?

John 12, 26.

One of my fears, guys, for us, is that because of the different churches we are working with,

some in the U.S., some in other parts of the world, one of the things you realize is that

our church, you can have a lot of talk and swagger and no substance.

We have to be careful of that.

We have to be careful of that.

If we talk, then we must have the walk.

And it's not enough that a few people have the walk.

Everybody needs to have the walk.

Jacob, what's an example of connecting deeper with the family?

Yeah, connecting deeper with the family would mean, am I able to trust the family of families

that I'm...

We keep saying family of families because you have your own family and then you have

a more...

You have a family that's more primary than your own family, which is the family of God.

It's not that your families are unimportant.

It is just that you now belong to a family that is more primary than my own family.

So having said that, and we've talked about this for the last six years, but having said

that, I must figure out if I actually trust this family.

When it comes to how do you cultivate a deeper relationship, deeper relationships are based

on trust.

Deeper relationships are based on dependency.

Deeper relationships are based on Kennedy's famous line, what can I do for the family

than what the family can do for me?

Deeper relationships are based on getting hurt and recovering and not being so sensitive

that you now have to pack up and leave.

Deeper relationships are based on correction, admonishing each other, stirring up each other

to passion or greater works, loving one another, being hospitable to one another, correcting

one another, rebuking one another.

How do you handle it when that happens?

And our choices are very simple.

Either we cultivate this or if it is not possible to cultivate, we need to find a place where

this can be cultivated.

This may not be the right fit for everybody.

So I would suggest to you that it is.

Because that's what we want to raise.

We're not raising church.

We're raising a people of God who have the presence of God.

And yeah, any questions?

Any pushback?

Can you give an example of that?

I went to India recently, I met a guy who told me that this guy came down to minister

in India from the US.

And these guys said to me, that guy is a spitting copy of you.

He talks like you, he walks like you, he prophesies like you.

And we just think you have raised him so well.

And I looked at him and said, he does not listen to me, he does not take my teachings,

he does not connect with me, he does not listen to my advice, he does not counsel like me.

All he does is mimic me.

And I said, I do not want you to think that he's cut off the same cloth or belongs to

Acts 29.

There's a difference between mimicking and imitation.

Imitation is when you are cut off the same cloth.

Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

I told these guys, guys, this man has nothing to do with us.

He listens to us perhaps online and behaves like that, but it is not of the same substance.

I was so freaked out by the fact that someone could go and people could actually think that

he represents us.

He's never been here.

Substance is when something of the spirit that God has given to this church begins to

convey throughout the church.

And it's a question we need to ask ourselves.

I'm surprised we're going down this road on a good Friday, but so be it.

Substance is when there's a...

Christians must have a culture.

Every tribe has its own traits.

Christianity in general must have a culture.

Every tribe must have its own traits.

There are certain commonalities that must be established and then every tribe must have

its traits.

Like all the tribes of Israel have their traits.

There are certain gifts and abilities, certain callings that are upon a church and we operate

in them.

Great.

But the question is, if someone meets you one on one, would the composition of your

life be the same as the composition of the church?

If you're a newbie, as in just came in recently, you can understand that it hasn't yet happened.

It's like a new player joining the Canucks.

Takes a while before they understand the system.

Every team has a system.

Every team plays a certain way.

And so that's okay.

But if you're not a newbie, as in if you've been here for more than six months, then there

should be something about you, about your composition that is the same as the rest of

the body or the family that you belong to.

What are some of the common things in this church?

What are some of the common things in this church?

An ease of worship, would you say?

Let's just look at it, eh?

Gosh, Lord, where are you going?

Let's look at it.

Is there an ease of worship?

These are some of the things I'd put down.

If I'm wrong, correct me.

Really, I mean that with a certain degree of sincerity.

An ease of worship, as in not that all of us can...

An ease of worship means it's between father and children.

Very informal, casual, disorganized and orderly.

Very prophetic.

An offering to nations across the globe.

Hearing God.

Freeing leaders to run other leaders out of the job.

Freedom to ask questions, dance, jump around.

Highly flexible.

Anything else you want to add to this list?

Sonship.

Fathers and sons and sonship.

We believe that healing is ours as bread is to children.

Doing things out of rest.

Not terribly concerned about money.

Covenant membership.

As in, it's not a become a member by signing something, it's far deeper than that.

Anything else?

Shared life, body.

The idea of body and family is critical.

Would you find this?

We're not raising a church, we're not raising a community, we're raising a family.

Nothing short of it.

A church is easy to raise.

Get a few people together and get a building.

A community is easy to raise.

You can still go in and out and do what you want.

But it's a nice place.

It's better than a church.

But a family is very messy and it's not fun.

Because now there's roles, there's things to do, things to learn.

Someone sent me a text.

I don't know whether it was supposed to be a compliment or not, but I took it as a compliment.

Someone sent me a text last Sunday and this is kind of what we're talking about.

Here's what the text said.

It's a testament to how the leaders in this church are doing.

And the person said...

Shoot, where is it?

If you want to find it, it's not there.

But it was...

Can't find it.

It's a very cool text.

If I find it, I'll read it to you.

Ah, here's what it says.

Great.

Hey Jacob, just so you know, if you really want to head to heaven now, we'd be completely okay with it.

Don't think I'd be... I'd have been very confident saying this last year.

So here's one of the leaders in this church saying, hey Jacob, if you want to go to heaven now, it's completely okay with us.

Speaking on behalf of you, if you want to die and go, feel free to go because we can manage quite well.

And last year maybe I couldn't have said the same thing, which is great.

Thank God nobody said, amen.

But basically, this is what substance looks like.

If you were to meet somebody, would this be the substance that's found in you?

These are some of the common things to this church.

You must have the same composition.

And if you don't, then you must not pretend to be part of something because you have not put your roots in.

And you have to learn how to put your roots in.

Put your roots in Christ and then put your roots in the body that you belong to.

Put your roots in Christ and the body that you belong to.

The strange thing is you cannot opt for one or the other.

You cannot follow Christ without being part of the body.

Impossible. It's scripturally not legit.

It is not possible to follow Christ without being part of the body of Christ.

You cannot be connected to the head without being part of the body.

Not possible.

Any questions?

Do you mind if I light up the room?

The crazy thing is all this would still work if I went to heaven like this person was not hoping but saying.

So it's not based on one person anymore.

This would work even if a few leaders got raptured and the rest of you were left behind.

Just kidding.

Something else across does.

Atonement and cancellation.

Hey guys, atonement is usually thought of in Christian circles as appeasement.

And while the Bible uses the word appeasement, appeasement is what most religions work on.

Where you need to appease your God.

Where you give sacrifices, you do things to appease an angry God.

I would suggest to you, atonement is not appeasement.

Atonement is justice.

Where God in his justice requires that sins be atoned for.

God in his holiness and justice or in his righteousness and justice.

And both come from the same Hebrew word, sidkenu.

Request that sins be atoned or covered.

We must not think along the lines of appeasement.

Jacob in the Old Testament thought in terms of appeasement.

He saw us coming, he's angry with me.

I've got to appease him, I've got to send him gifts.

I've got to send gifts ahead of me.

Hopefully he'll spare my life.

The prodigal son thinks appeasement.

I've left my father, I've taken away his money.

I better go back.

I'll tell him I'll come in as a servant.

Let me appease him.

Appeasement is a religious human idea.

I'm not saying that appeasement is not a term used in the Bible.

But I'm saying when you think of atonement,

you've got to think not, I've got to somehow satisfy the wrath of an angry God.

Because it doesn't fit with the nature of a father.

Got to shift from that.

Appeasement always brings up guilt.

We think in terms of atonement.

As in someone has to atone or cover what has happened and someone has atoned and covered.

Cancellation.

There's a debt that you owed that has been cancelled.

You do not need to pay it.

And if you don't have to pay it, the tormentors cannot come after you.

Matthew 18, 34 talks about a servant who had to pay and when he did not pay,

he was thrown into prison where the tormentors had a field day with him because he hadn't paid.

Cancellation of debts means I do not have to be tormented by guilt, by condemnation, by the demonic.

That's why it's go cancel things that you think are handwritten against you every day.

Because it's already done.

But you can appropriate it today for the things that you think need to be conversed with with God.

But know that when you get up, you get up with your debts cancelled.

I remember this family that had paid for my tuition and other things and I owed them.

And they would write down the list of what I had to return to them on a piece of paper and ran into thousands of dollars.

Then one day they called me and had coffee and cookies and stuff like that.

All kind of German cooking.

And they had it all spread before me and I was wondering why.

And they said, we just wanted to have a party.

I said, why?

They said, look at this paper.

And I had been paying it off.

And I had paid off the last five thousand and I did not even know it.

But they were celebrating because I had paid off all my debts.

And there was some two thousand or something left.

They just forgave it.

And we had this party where all my debts were cancelled.

And they actually said, Jacob, can we burn this paper?

And we burnt it up.

This was 24 years ago or something.

The point being this, that at the end of the day, there is nothing outstanding against me.

I stand here before you with nothing outstanding against me.

There's a cancellation of debts.

Therefore, the tormentor cannot have me at will.

Therefore, my debtors cannot pursue me.

There is a freedom or a ransoming from hell that Psalm 103 talks about that is very real.

He ransoms my soul from hell.

As in I'm free from the tormentor.

I can get into his clutches again, but there is always freedom from the tormentor.

Andy Stanley put up.

We won't go there yet.

So here's the question, guys.

And we've talked about this about two years ago.

Are you forgiven?

And if you say you are, then here are the questions that follow.

Are you forgiven?

If so, are you confident there is no more hostility?

Are you confident there is no more anger being held against you by God?

Are you confident right now that there is no anger being held against you?

That he's not holding anything against you?

Are you confident that there is no separation between you and God?

Even though you think there's something between you and God?

Are you confident there is no punishment waiting for you?

No accident going to happen to you?

Are you confident that no sin of yours is presently remembered?

Are you confident of condition-free intimacy?

Condition-free intimacy from his side?

You may have to develop your side, but are you confident of condition-free intimacy with God?

Are you confident of kind-hearted compassion surrounding you right now?

Fills your ears with good days and surrounds you with loving kindness, kind-hearted compassion.

Are you ready to be a good person?

Kind-hearted compassion, are you a recipient of it right now?

Do you know that you have boldness of entry into his presence, like children do into their dad's study?

Free access to tons of grace and favor, free access to favor.

K-H-A-N-E in Hebrew.

If this is how you think, then you are a forgiven people.

If this is not how you think, 24-7, then you are not a forgiven people, even though you're a forgiven people.

What does forgiveness get you?

Forgiveness does not get you a clean slate.

Forgiveness does not free you from condemnation or guilt.

More than anything else, forgiveness gets you God.

Forgiveness gets you God.

You get to have God as a companion.

You get to have God as a companion forever.

And when you have God, all those other things happen.

Forgiveness is not about a clean slate.

That's an Old Testament way of functioning.

Forgiveness gets me a clean slate with God.

Therefore, now that I have a clean slate with God, perhaps life will work out.

Nope, forgiveness gets you God.

God gets you the rest.

This pastor on Facebook, I saw a quote of his.

I do have Facebook, though I don't post anything.

I know. Facebook is old.

Here was his line.

Here was his line.

He said, God in announcing forgiveness in advance took a huge risk.

God in announcing forgiveness in advance took a huge risk.

It's like telling someone, hey, you're forgiven.

That for the rest of your life, you are forgiven.

It is so unconditional, it is scary.

Which is why Romans 6 happens.

Where Paul says, now that you have free grace and forgiveness, does that mean that you sin more?

No.

It's like giving someone a get out of jail card in Monopoly.

It doesn't matter how many times you end up, you always can get out of jail.

There's something happening between the John brothers.

Oh, you are out of jail right now?

Yeah, you could use coming to church as a get out of jail card.

Sorry, thank God this is not being recorded.

Another thing that was launched on the cross, Kingdom.

Kingdom was launched.

The cross launches the Kingdom.

The cross launches Kingdom.

It's the throne from which Christ rules.

Imagine this, eh?

There was no moment more kingly than Jesus on the cross.

Because in that one act, he forgives sins of the entire world.

He dismantles the powers of darkness.

And establishes the Kingdom.

Establishes priests and kings.

One act.

Now how does he do it?

He does it through a humiliating, humiliated king.

Dying on a cross.

That's how he does it.

Like I said before, salvation is not about you inviting Jesus into your life.

Remember that.

Salvation is not about you inviting Jesus into your life.

Salvation is about a king who has established a Kingdom.

Inviting you into the Kingdom through his death and through you believing in his death.

Salvation is not, oh Jesus, I invite you into my life.

That sounds like it was your action that made it happen.

That's not what he says.

He says, unless you be born again you cannot enter the Kingdom.

He establishes a Kingdom.

And he says, you're not the one inviting me.

I am inviting you.

I've created a Kingdom.

I'm inviting you.

You want to join this Kingdom?

There's only one way to join this Kingdom.

It is through the death of the King.

And you believe that he died for you and that this King now reigns.

He is inviting you.

You're not inviting him.

The cross launches a Kingdom.

It's a throne from which Christ rules.

It's a throne that dismantled every other Kingdom in the world.

It's a throne that began to now establish men and women as priests and kings who will reign with him.

And it is where the one thing that separated God from mankind is completely destroyed.

Nailed.

The handwritten law and the sins that came from it.

Yep.

Yeah.

God pays for my sins, which were outstanding.

And therefore there is nothing now between God and me.

And therefore he is forgiven.

He's paid the price and he's forgiven me.

But when I decide that this is what God has done for me, it is only then that I am now connected to him.

Just because Christ died for the world and paid for its sins doesn't mean the world is in right relationship with him.

But more than anything else, his death on the cross gets mankind caught.

Here is an invitation back to the father.

Because we make it a list of other things.

Forgiveness gets me a clean slate.

Forgiveness gets me to heaven.

We don't realize that while that is partly true, the main reason is the intent was can everything be reconciled back to God, including all of creation, not just mankind.

Everything reconciled.

No, nothing outstanding.

It gets you God.

And treasure that.

The most supernatural thing that happens is God begins to live in you.

It's a miracle.

The creator of the universe, it's a miracle.

The creator of the universe lives in you, in you, in you.

He lives in you.

This is why death should not frighten us.

It's an instant, it's an instant.

Microsecond where suddenly you just shed this body.

That's all that happens.

Nothing else happens.

What we may perhaps be afraid of is the pain of death.

That is understandable.

Because Jesus does talk about this idea of a day when there'll be no pain, no tears, no fears.

But death itself, if you're afraid of it, begin to radically question your Christianity.

Because there should be absolutely no fear of death.

Because it's already declared it.

Where is your sting?

As in it's taken away.

Nobody here should ever be afraid of death.

The world is afraid of it, eh?

The scriptures talk about it.

That he uses death as a means of enslavement, the devil.

And Christ came to break that fear of death forever.

Don't be afraid of dying.

It's an enemy, but it's still not an enemy you need to fear.

Unconditional love, the cross guarantees unconditional inseparable love.

Guarantees unconditional inseparability.

Guarantees unconditional inseparability.

Romans 8, 31-35.

What can separate me?

There's not a moment in my life where I won't be present before God.

Not a moment.

Not a moment in my life where I won't be present before God.

Never a moment.

Eli, Eli, Lama, Lama Sabachthani is not a word that I will ever speak.

I will never have to speak that again.

It's a lie.

Abandonment is a lie that is tried on us every day.

It is a lie.

It will be tried on you every day.

It was tried in the Garden of Eden.

It will be tried again and again.

And always end up with God being the scapegoat, eh?

Doesn't matter whether I abandon you, your parents abandon you, your spouse abandons you, your church abandons you.

At the end of the day, in our lament, we go back to God and we say, where were you?

Interpersonal relationships always end up with God being the scapegoat when we let each other down.

Doesn't matter whether Ranita is striving against cancer.

It doesn't matter whether you are dealing with something where you have abandonment.

It doesn't matter whether Matt and his brother are struggling with the fact that their mother has cancer.

At the end of the day, it always ends up with us putting the blame on God.

In their case, it's an extreme situation.

In the rest of our cases, it's small things.

But the intent always is, can I bring back a sense of abandonment into Jacob's life just as I did in Eden?

Can I do it again?

So that every time he looks at the face of God, he will look with suspicion and not unconditional inseparability.

And it happens again and again and again every day.

Happens to me, happens to you.

Let's not pretend it doesn't happen to us.

It's an old trick.

And yet, sometimes it's good to have a cross in your house.

Not to bow before it, but to just remember that abandonment is forever undone.

And in having that cross, every time you look at it, it's a guarantee of inseparability.

A guarantee of inseparability.

How do we know the depth of someone's love?

How do we know the depth of someone's love?

One, what did it cost them?

What did it cost?

Let's them, him, her.

What did it cost them?

Two, how little did we deserve it?

How little did we deserve it?

Three, what benefits did we receive?

Four, how much freedom did the love come with?

Beautiful questions, eh?

Five, did the person have the choice to not do it?

Have the freedom to walk away?

How do we know someone's love?

How much did it cost them?

How much did it cost them?

How much did I deserve it?

What are the benefits I received because of this act of love?

How much freedom did the love come with?

Is it making me beholden? Is it making me oblige?

Is it making me a prisoner?

Is it controlling?

Did the person have the freedom to walk away?

Chuck Colson talks about this 19-year-old who was a prisoner of war in a camp.

And these 20 prisoners would have to go dig trenches throughout the day.

And then they would come back.

And when they would come back, the guard would come and count the number of shovels that were given out for digging.

And if a shovel was missing, that is the end of you.

And so one day they come back and they count the shovels.

The guard counts the shovels.

There are 19 shovels, not 20.

And so he lines them up and threatens to shoot five people if the person who stole a shovel doesn't come up.

And this 19-year-old kid comes up and says, I'm the one who stole it.

And he shoots him on the spot.

Then he goes and counts the shovels again, and there are 20 shovels.

He just miscounted it the first time.

And you think about this 19-year-old who has a future before him, has perhaps a wife and kids that he can marry,

has a life that he can build once he's released from prison.

And despite all that, he decides, nope, he's the one that's going to throw away all the money that he's going to make.

He's the one that's going to throw away everything for the sake of 19 others, even though he hasn't stolen it.

When you ask these questions, this is how you evaluate love.

Everything about the cross is self-giving.

Self-giving.

What reason do you have to live your life for your own sake?

Silla.

Powers were dismantled on the cross.

Powers were dismantled on the cross.

Powers and principalities were stripped.

They were exposed.

They were paraded.

The more you reflect on this, sometimes it's worth watching Chronicles of Narnia.

Watch how the powers dance as Aslan is placed on the rock slab.

Watch how they begin to rejoice at the fact that Aslan is finally killed.

And then watch the fear that begins to grip them as they find the slab cracking and Aslan missing.

Watch Aslan return in his splendor.

Watch the dismantling of powers.

Watch spears and swords being broken.

Watch them being paraded in the triumphant procession of Christ as prisoners.

An idea of what happened at the cross, just through reading of scriptures, just through reading Colossians 1, Colossians 2,

is sometimes enough to give you a boldness and an authority within you that comes with the word and the understanding of the word that you have over the powers.

Two things that are necessary for Christians.

Righteousness so that you can walk free and then the understanding of authority so that you can set others free.

Any questions before we go to the last one?

What do you think communion is, guys?

One of the things communion is, it's a public judgment of the gods of Egypt and the diseases of Egypt.

Communion is a public judgment, a public declaration of God's judgment on the gods of Egypt and the diseases of Egypt.

That's what God says.

Every time you partake of this Passover meal, he says, as you do this, you're publicly declaring that I judged the gods of Egypt and I judged the diseases of Egypt.

And these diseases of Egypt shall not come upon you.

There was a time in this church where we used to practice communion everywhere, every day, sometimes while flying an airplane, sometimes in restaurants.

We'd be sitting in restaurants and we'd break bread.

We'd be flying and we'd break bread.

It is a public declaration of the judgment of God on the diseases of Egypt and the gods of Egypt.

Lastly, across the earth from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.

What is the proclamation?

In John 3, John 3, 14, Jesus first says to Nicodemus that just as Moses made a snake and lifted it up in the desert, so the Son of Man will be lifted up.

Then he says to the Pharisees in John 8, 28, he says it to the Pharisees, a day is coming when I will be lifted up and then you will know that I am.

And then he says it in John 12, 26, to follow me is to come after me.

Where I am there my servants will be also and when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.

And so what's my job? My job is now to make sure that this is proclaimed with words, songs, life, action, church, every which way.

Lifting Jesus Christ up, displaying him, displaying him.

If he be lifted up, if he be lifted up.

It's this amazing scene, eh?

So he's talking to people and then suddenly he starts praying because he used to switch from talking to people to praying to his Father with such ease.

And that's when he begins to say, Oh God, would you please glorify me?

And for the third time and perhaps the first time publicly, a voice from heaven is heard.

And the voice says, I have glorified you and I will glorify you again.

But this time everybody seems to hear it.

The first time God spoke was at the baptism and when he spoke at the baptism, it looks like only John may have heard it.

Because John is the one who says, and I saw a dove and I heard a voice saying that this is my begotten son.

And then the second time it happened, it's on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Only three others heard it. Peter, John, James.

This is my beloved son. Listen to him.

But this time around in John 12, it's the first time that everybody is hearing it.

Everybody who's here, hears it.

Some think it's thunder. Some think it's an angel.

But some actually hear the voice of majesty from on high.

That I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.

What is Jesus saying? Jesus saying, Hey, Father.

And the words before that sets to rest this whole Christian idea that Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane.

And he was trying to get out of crucifixion by saying, If this cup can pass away, thy will but not mine.

I've heard so many sermons about Jesus was very human.

He wanted to see if God would give him another way.

Nope. John 12 26 settles it forever.

Here's what Jesus says. For this hour I was born.

At this time, do you think I will walk away from this?

No. For this hour I was born.

He was very concrete in what he was supposed to do.

You got to take the whole tapestry of the Gospels to understand that he wasn't trying to get out of this man.

He said, This is why I was born. I was born to die.

Will I move away from this cup? Absolutely not.

And then he says, Oh God, will you glorify me?

And then he hears the voice of God saying, I will glorify you and I will glorify you again.

Lift him up guys.

Through your words, through your words.

Please don't forget words. Use words.

Please don't forget words.

Guys, on one hand we'll be held accountable for every word we speak.

On the other hand, we'll also be held accountable for every word we did not speak.

Use words. I beg you.

I'll do everything in my power to make you use words.

It is finished.

It is finished.

It is finished.

It's your turn to say as we, sorry, go ahead.

Sorry, I was using words now that I was thinking, Oh, that's a secret joke.

He's telling us it's a secret.

I thought it was, how do you mean, how do you?

Okay, I will use that at the end.

Say wow, you know.

Okay, I will.

It is finished.

As we partake in communion, go down, you should go down the line of I am done.

I am undone.

Go that route, eh?

We'll take part in communion right now.

Do it on your own.

Eat it on your own.

We won't eat and drink together. Do it on your own.

But remember, as we take part in communion, it is finished.

What you're saying is I am done.

I am.

Remember the question we always ask?

Whose am I?

What's the answer?

First answer is I am not my own.

Till you give up ownership, you can't be anybody else's.

We are in a hurry to say that whose am I?

I am Christ.

Not possible.

The scriptures say that you have to first go here before you can go here.

Whose am I?

I am not my own.

Till you go there, you cannot go to I am Christ.

And then as soon as you say I am Christ, you also now have the option of saying I am yours.

As in, I am yours, I am yours.

Those are options we have.

Don't go here if you don't want to.

But you cannot go here if you don't go here.

This has to be one.

This has to be two.

The third option is entirely up to you.

If you say it, you've got to mean it because it will be demanded of you.

But don't say it if you don't mean it.

You might need more time.

That's completely okay.

Whose am I?

I am not my own.

Whose am I?

Now that I am not my own, I am Christ.

Whose am I?

Now that I am not my own and I am Christ, I also belong to you.

But don't go to the third one because it's a hard place to go to.

Because the moment you say that, you give up your right to yourself.

It's one thing to give up your right.

It's another thing to give up your right to him.

It's a third thing to give up your right to yourself, to him, and give it over to others.

That, don't do if you're not sure of it.

And if you're not sure of it, come and talk.

Come and talk.

Okay, let's eat and drink.

We meet here Sunday at 10.30.

So let me write these three questions on the board and you can ponder on them.

And I'll actually write it in good writing.

Thanks.

Follow that pattern as you eat and drink.

Just ponder on it for a little while.

Let me just quote from scripture and then take your own time before you eat and drink.

And then we leave in four or five minutes once you're done.

On the night, Jesus, that you were betrayed, which would have been last night if we follow things chronologically.

Last night, before you knew you were going to be betrayed, before you were going to go to Gethsemane and pray for a while.

And then they would come and take you like they would take a common criminal.

On the night you were betrayed, you took bread while you were sitting with the twelve, perhaps a few others in that room.

And you took bread and you gave thanks as you often did.

You never did anything without thanking your father.

Because you were always aware of where things came from.

And so having thanked your father, you broke it.

And this wasn't something new. It was what they would always do at a Passover.

And you broke it.

You broke it and you said, this is my body.

Little did they know what you meant.

We know so much more now.

This is my body which is broken for you.

So I thank you that I wear the helmet of salvation instead of a thorn of crowns.

Thank you that I have the breastplate of righteousness and holiness.

My side is not pierced.

So we want to answer these questions before we eat it.

But let me go to the cup too so that then we can eat and drink in our own sweet time, oh God.

The same manner after supper you took the cup, Jesus.

I believe there used to be four cups or five, I'm not too sure.

But anyways, you took the cup and again you gave thanks.

And like people used to do every Passover, they would say that blessed is the Lord God Almighty from whom the fruit of the wine and juice comes and so on.

But you changed it completely.

You said this is the blood that I'm going to shed with which I'm going to write a new agreement with you.

And your agreement is basically summed up and it is finished.

And then you said do this in remembrance of me.

And then you said something else, that you will eat and drink together with us one day,

that you would not touch the fruit of the wine till we ate with you.

So we look forward to that.

Yeah, so now we're going to answer these questions and then we can leave.

Guys, try this, eh?

Go over this, see what you can do with this and then eat and drink whenever you feel like it.

We won't eat and drink together.

We're going to drink together and when you're done, feel free to leave or hang out.

Let your children eat.

They don't understand but they can eat.

Who am I?

Who am I?

I am not my own.

I am trying to understand this, Phoebe.

I am not my own.

I have been bought with a price.

Don't you know, Jacob, that you are not your own?

You have been bought with a price.

The price that the Father paid for you is the blood of His Son.

You had a Master.

You now have a new Master.

You have a new owner.

You have a new shepherd.

You belong to somebody else.

Who loves you?

Who actually laid down his physical life for you?

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

I am not my own.

I belong to a new Master called Christ.

You can either walk away or you can serve.

I am not my own.

I am not my own.

Father, help me to belong to others.

Help me to belong to others.

It's not easy.

Father, help me to belong to others.

Help me to belong to others.

It's not easy.

To belong to others, not as a brother, not as a sister, not as a pastor, not as a friend, to belong to others as a servant.

That is what you are asking.

You are not saying belong to others as a father, mother, pastor, counselor, brother, sister, friend.

You are saying can you belong to others as a servant?

That's what you are saying.

Can I belong to others?

Can I belong to others here as a servant?

I belong to others.

As we leave Father we want to be done with this life that we have lived.

You want to be undone. Like Isaiah.

We want to follow John 12 26 which says,

where the master is there I will be also.

I will follow by going after him.

Once Isaiah was undone he hears a voice saying,

who shall we send? Who will go for us?

John 12 26, if you want to follow me, come after me.

Where I am there you will also be.

Denying yourself, risking death.

That is what you are asking us.

That's what you are asking me, Jacob.

If you want to follow me, come after me,

where I am there you will have to be.

You will have to deny your right to yourself.

You will have to even risk death.

This is what it means to be done with yourself

and to be undone by me.

To this we drink, oh God, to this I drink,

to this we drink.

Thank you guys. We will meet on 10.30.

You can leave whenever you are done.

There is no closing song. Nothing like that.

Thank you.