Redeemed Intimacy: A Review of Jimmy Evans’s Sermon

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Good morning, everybody. It's good to see you.
[00:00:02] Good morning, all the campuses and services.
[00:00:06] We're glad that you're joining us.
[00:00:07] I'm leaving after this service is over, and I'm going back to Dallas to cool off.
[00:00:13] I never thought I would say that, but good to see you guys.
[00:00:16] We have water baptisms happening next weekend, all the different campuses.
[00:00:21] All you have to do is show up 15 minutes early to the service.
[00:00:24] We have everything else covered.
[00:00:26] If you haven't been baptized in water, it is a commandment.
[00:00:29] Jesus himself was baptized, so be sure and come.
[00:00:32] You can bring family and friends to watch you be baptized there.
[00:00:36] So next weekend, all campuses, all services, there's gonna be water baptisms.
[00:00:40] Now we have a Tipping Point Prophecy Conference coming up on September the 17th in Dallas.
[00:00:46] It's actually in Grapevine, right five minutes away from DFW Airport.
[00:00:50] So September 17th from nine in the morning until 5.30 in the afternoon.
[00:00:55] It'll be myself, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn will be joining us that day to speak.
[00:01:00] And I think he is the most profound, prophetic voice of our generation.
[00:01:04] A wonderful friend, friend of mine for many years.
[00:01:07] He'll be there along with Greg Laurie.
[00:01:09] Greg is a pastor in California, also does the Harvest Crusades.
[00:01:13] He is a contributor for endtimes.com.
[00:01:15] Pastor Jimmy was telling you a few weeks ago about endtimes.com, that's our site where we have just education and encouragement constantly on the end times.
[00:01:24] Also Dr. Mark Hitchcock will be with us.
[00:01:26] He's a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.
[00:01:29] He's written over 30 books on the end time.
[00:01:31] Brilliant man.
[00:01:32] He'll be there along with Pastor Ed Young, who's the pastor of Fellowship Church.
[00:01:36] The conference is gonna be at Fellowship Church there in Grapevine.
[00:01:40] Also, Billy Crone will be with us.
[00:01:42] And Billy Crone is just a phenomenal teacher.
[00:01:44] He's a pastor in Nevada, but he'll be with us and talk about some really interesting stuff.
[00:01:49] So it's from nine to 5.30.
[00:01:51] I'm also speaking the next morning at Fellowship Church on Bible prophecy.
[00:01:55] So it's $99 for a ticket.
[00:01:57] It's $49 for the live stream, but everybody at Trinity gets a 20% discount.
[00:02:02] And so you can go on conference.endtimes.com to register.
[00:02:07] You can buy as many tickets as you want for friends, family, bring people with you and put in the code endtimes20 for a 20% discount.
[00:02:16] That's conference.endtimes.com and you can put in endtimes20 for a 20% discount on the conference or the live stream.
[00:02:25] And when you get the live stream, that's good for 30 days.
[00:02:27] So if you can't watch it on September 17th, it's good for 30 more days.
[00:02:31] I believe we're living in the end times.
[00:02:33] I believe we're living in the end of the end times.
[00:02:36] When you see all the craziness that's going on in the world today, God told us in advance what would be happening during the end times.
[00:02:43] About a third of the Bible is prophecy, and most of that is end time prophecy because God wants us to be aware of what's happening because Jesus, this is Luke 21.
[00:02:53] This series, by the way, is called The Best Day of Your Life.
[00:02:55] I'm talking about the day that Jesus comes back.
[00:02:57] And I have finished a book on this.
[00:02:59] All of what I've been preaching on is a book called Look Up.
[00:03:03] It'll be available around the first of the year.
[00:03:05] But this series is called The Best Day of Your Life.
[00:03:07] Jesus said there will be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars.
[00:03:11] He's talking about the end times.
[00:03:13] There have been incredible signs in the sun, moon, and stars that happened really about 70 years ago.
[00:03:18] And on the earth, distress of nations, that's true, with perplexity, that means there are no answers.
[00:03:24] The sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.
[00:03:31] Mental health issues today are an epidemic.
[00:03:34] Suicide is an epidemic.
[00:03:35] People are being overwhelmed by just the pressures and the things that are going on in the world.
[00:03:40] Jesus said the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
[00:03:42] That's talking about the spiritual, demonic powers of the heavens will be shaken.
[00:03:46] Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
[00:03:51] Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your head because your redemption draws near.
[00:03:57] So it can be overwhelming.
[00:03:58] It will be overwhelming.
[00:03:59] For people who don't know the Lord and people who don't understand prophetically what the Bible says is gonna happen, in the end times it can be overwhelming.
[00:04:08] But we should not be overwhelmed.
[00:04:10] We should be encouraged because the best day of our lives is about to happen.
[00:04:14] Jesus Christ is coming.
[00:04:18] He said look up.
[00:04:18] When you see these things begin to happen, They've been happening for 74 years since Israel became a nation.
[00:04:23] So when you see these things begin to happen, look up, your redemption is drawing near.
[00:04:27] Well, the word redeem means, or redemption means to buy back.
[00:04:30] It means you had it and then you get it back.
[00:04:32] And so Adam and Eve had immortality and they had perfect bodies.
[00:04:36] And so one of the things, the first message that I brought, I was talking to you about one day we're gonna get perfect bodies.
[00:04:41] I'm 68 years old, I want a new body.
[00:04:44] If you don't want a new body, I don't understand that.
[00:04:47] I want a new body.
[00:04:48] So we're gonna get a new immortal body that will never be sick, never suffer, never die.
[00:04:53] It'll be phenomenal.
[00:04:54] And so it's wonderful, it's a wonderful promise, it is.
[00:04:57] And so paradise, they were in paradise, they had total pleasure.
[00:05:01] The word Eden means pleasure and delight.
[00:05:03] God created us in a place called pleasure and delight because he only wanted good for us, but the result of sin was pain.
[00:05:10] And all the pain in the world today is gonna go away when Jesus comes and we will have an eternity.
[00:05:16] The Bible says in his right hand, our pleasure is forevermore.
[00:05:19] So that's what happens when Jesus comes.
[00:05:21] They got kicked out of the house.
[00:05:22] I talked about that last week.
[00:05:23] When Adam and Eve sinned, they got kicked out of the Garden of Eden, the presence of God.
[00:05:27] And so when Jesus comes, we'll be in his presence forever.
[00:05:30] But the worst thing that happened when Adam and Eve sinned is they lost their intimate relationship with God.
[00:05:36] This message is called redeemed intimacy.
[00:05:38] And I wanna talk about our intimate relationship with God.
[00:05:42] And so this is 1 Corinthians 13.
[00:05:46] It says, this is Paul.
[00:05:47] for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
[00:05:52] Now I know in part, then I shall know just as I am also known.
[00:05:56] So today we see God in a mirror dimly.
[00:05:59] The best of us, we have a very, very superficial relationship with Jesus.
[00:06:05] Even if we're very close to Jesus, it's nothing compared to what's gonna happen when he comes.
[00:06:10] We see in a mirror dimly, then we're gonna see Jesus face to face.
[00:06:13] When Jesus comes, you will be in his presence for all of eternity.
[00:06:16] You know, the worship service this morning was fantastic, but wouldn't it be great if Jesus was right here?
[00:06:22] That's what's gonna happen.
[00:06:24] See, we pray to invisible God.
[00:06:27] He's with us, but we can't see him.
[00:06:29] We can't touch him, we can feel him in the spirit, but I'm saying, then we will see him face to face.
[00:06:35] And so we will no longer have a frustrating, invisible relationship with God, we'll see him face to face, and there'll be no more ignorance.
[00:06:42] This is a big deal.
[00:06:44] No more ignorance, it says, then I will know as I am known.
[00:06:48] And so one of the questions that people ask concerning heaven is they say, well, we know each other in heaven.
[00:06:56] Now, a lot of people have a concept of heaven that we don't know each other.
[00:07:00] Like we get a lobotomy, we're just kind of ghost with a lobotomy.
[00:07:04] And your mother walks by and you don't know it, okay.
[00:07:07] It says, I will know as I am known.
[00:07:09] You will finally know each other when you get to heaven.
[00:07:12] We don't know each other now.
[00:07:14] You think you know each other, but we're, you know, we all have so many hangups and issues, you know, you really don't know each other now, but then we will know each other and we will know God as we are known.
[00:07:22] This is Ephesians one.
[00:07:24] In him you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
[00:07:36] until the redemption of the purchased possession of the praise of his glory.
[00:07:40] So right now, we have the Holy Spirit in us as a down payment, as a guarantee of what will fully be ours one day.
[00:07:49] And one day, we will have an intimate face-to-face relationship with Jesus and the intimacy that Adam and Eve lost.
[00:07:56] Remember, they lived with God in the Garden of Eden.
[00:07:59] That was God's will, that they would live in his very presence forever and ever.
[00:08:03] So we get all that back.
[00:08:05] So we will finally know each other in heaven perfectly.
[00:08:10] So one of the things, if you read in the Old Testament, you'll notice a statement that says so-and-so died and they were gathered to their ancestors.
[00:08:18] They died and they were gathered.
[00:08:19] So here's what I believe that means.
[00:08:21] And I think in heaven, we're in families.
[00:08:25] Now, Karen tells me I must live with her in heaven.
[00:08:30] She said, you will be living with me in heaven, pal.
[00:08:32] That's the way she says it.
[00:08:33] And I said, well, you think Jesus is gonna say something about that, Karen?
[00:08:35] I mean, does he?
[00:08:36] So I want to be with Karen.
[00:08:39] I want to be with my kids and grandkids.
[00:08:41] I wanna be with my dad and my mom.
[00:08:42] I wanna be with my relatives.
[00:08:43] And so I believe when we get to heaven, we know each other perfectly.
[00:08:48] You'll know all the Bible characters when they're there.
[00:08:50] You'll know Jesus perfectly.
[00:08:52] We finally get to know each other perfectly in heaven.
[00:08:55] And I'm saying that because some people, their concept of heaven is so skewed that they really don't know if they wanna go to heaven or not.
[00:09:02] Let me tell you about heaven, the relationships that we have there.
[00:09:06] First of all, there's no devil, that's a wonderful thing.
[00:09:09] THERE WILL BE NO EGO, NO PRIDE, NO COMPETITION, NO JEALOUSY OR ENVY, NO DYSFUNCTION, NO PAST HURTS OR BAD MEMORIES. THUS, WE WILL BE ABLE TO FULLY LIVE OR LOVE WITHOUT FEAR ALL OF ETERNITY. AND SO WE HAVE SO MANY HANGUPS HERE. WE JUST HAVE, ALL OF US DO. WE HAVE FLESH,
[00:09:32] WE HAVE ISSUES. AND SO THAT ALL KEEPS US, IMAGINE GIVING AN HONEST ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION.
[00:09:40] We don't.
[00:09:41] How you doing?
[00:09:42] Fine.
[00:09:42] No, you're lying.
[00:09:44] But I don't want you to know everything about me.
[00:09:46] I'm not gonna tell you everything about me.
[00:09:47] And so we have ego, we have hangups, we have pride, we have all those things, but we're gonna go to a place where there's no flesh, there's no pride, there's no ego, there's no hangups, there's no dysfunction,
[00:09:57] and we will know each other perfectly.
[00:09:59] There'll never be another hurt feeling, never be another bad conversation, never be another breakup or bad relationship.
[00:10:06] But most importantly, we will live in the presence of Jesus Christ and we will know Jesus as we are known. We will completely and totally understand him. And that's why Jesus said to look up and lift up your head,
[00:10:20] your redemption draws near. So this is a description, Revelation 21. This is a description of the father's house where we married Jesus. And this is a description of where we're going, Revelation 21. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
[00:10:35] prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
[00:10:38] The reason he's saying that is because that's where we live with Jesus is the wife of Jesus.
[00:10:42] And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.
[00:10:48] He will dwell with them and they shall be his people.
[00:10:51] God himself will be with them and be their God.
[00:10:54] And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
[00:10:57] There should be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
[00:11:00] There should be no more pain for the former things have passed away.
[00:11:03] Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new.
[00:11:07] And he said to me, write, for these words are true and faithful.
[00:11:10] And he said to me, it is done.
[00:11:12] I'm the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.
[00:11:14] I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
[00:11:18] He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he will be my son.
[00:11:25] So that's a picture of heaven where the tabernacle of God is back where it belongs.
[00:11:30] And I talked last week about the theory of evolution.
[00:11:34] THE DEMONIC SATANIC THEORY OF EVOLUTION.
[00:11:37] AND HERE'S WHAT I WANT TO SAY TO YOU AGAIN TODAY.
[00:11:40] YOU WERE CREATED IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
[00:11:43] YOU WERE CREATED BY THE HAND OF GOD IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
[00:11:46] ADAM AND EVE, OUR ANCESTORS, WERE CREATED TO LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
[00:11:51] THEY WERE NEVER CREATED TO LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
[00:11:55] THEY WERE DIVINE BEINGS, YOU'RE A DIVINE BEING THAT YOU WERE CREATED BY THE HAND OF GOD, AND YOU WERE HEADED TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
[00:12:02] THAT IS YOUR HOME, THAT'S WHERE YOU WILL BE where you will be for all of eternity.
[00:12:05] We didn't come from nothing.
[00:12:06] We didn't come from a slime pool.
[00:12:08] We came from paradise.
[00:12:10] We weren't an accident.
[00:12:11] We were created on purpose.
[00:12:13] We don't just live on this earth as animals.
[00:12:15] We have a divine purpose.
[00:12:17] We serve a king and a kingdom, an eternal kingdom.
[00:12:20] So the theory of evolution, the teaching of evolution, all those things strip us of our identity.
[00:12:26] And I said it last week, we have a whole generation of kids being taught about evolution.
[00:12:32] And so I've heard the saying, when you teach children they're nothing but animals, you can't be surprised when they start acting like it.
[00:12:39] You should never teach your children that they're just animals, that they're an accident.
[00:12:43] You should teach them they came from God, they're going to God, and they have a divine purpose for their lives.
[00:12:49] And so in these messages, one of the things I've tried to do is go deeper and answer some questions, some deeper questions that sometimes people have.
[00:12:59] And here I wanna ask a couple of questions or answer a couple of questions from this point forward.
[00:13:03] The first question is, why didn't I list knowledge as one of the things we lost in the fall and get back when Jesus returns?
[00:13:09] Now, when Jesus comes, we get knowledge.
[00:13:12] We will know as we have been known, and so we'll have knowledge.
[00:13:15] Adam and Eve didn't have knowledge.
[00:13:18] They didn't have much knowledge.
[00:13:20] And so, and let me tell you why, I know that.
[00:13:22] So Adam and Eve, Satan came into the Garden of Eden, and he said, if you'll eat that fruit of that tree over there, you'll be like God.
[00:13:29] See, the draw of the tree was instant knowledge.
[00:13:34] Well, why didn't God give them knowledge?
[00:13:35] He gave them something better, he gave them himself.
[00:13:38] You know these eerie machines you have in your house that you talk to, that are listening to you all the time?
[00:13:44] Those eerie, eerie machines, I don't want them around me.
[00:13:46] And you say, hey, Alexa, whatever it is, hey, and you ask a question, they answer it.
[00:13:51] Satan is answering.
[00:13:53] No, I'm joking, my kids have those things, but I don't like them, they're eerie.
[00:13:57] So can you imagine having a little machine there that you could ask it any question to give you an answer?
[00:14:06] That's what they had, but it was God.
[00:14:10] God didn't give them knowledge, he gave them something better.
[00:14:13] He gave them himself.
[00:14:14] I'm gonna help you understand something.
[00:14:16] God loves being a father.
[00:14:17] Next week is Father's Day.
[00:14:19] God loves being a father more than any human being has ever loved being a father.
[00:14:23] Jesus said, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
[00:14:31] If you being evil compared to God, The best father on this planet is an evil person compared to God.
[00:14:39] God loves being dependent on.
[00:14:42] And that's what Adam and Eve didn't want.
[00:14:43] They didn't want to depend on God.
[00:14:46] They wanted to be independent of God.
[00:14:48] And that was the draw of the forbidden fruit.
[00:14:51] I don't have to be dependent on God.
[00:14:53] But the analogy, one of the most common analogies in the Bible of us in our relationship with God is a sheep and a shepherd.
[00:15:01] This is Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.
[00:15:03] I shall not want.
[00:15:05] He makes me lie down in green pastures.
[00:15:07] He leads me beside the still waters.
[00:15:09] The Lord is my shepherd.
[00:15:10] That was David.
[00:15:11] John 10, this is Jesus.
[00:15:12] I am the good shepherd.
[00:15:14] The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep, but a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not know or own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.
[00:15:24] And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
[00:15:27] The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
[00:15:30] I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and I am known by my own.
[00:15:34] As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father and I lay my life down for the sheep." And so the importance of the analogy of sheep and shepherd is because sheep are totally dependent creatures.
[00:15:46] See, God created us totally dependent upon him.
[00:15:50] He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, totally dependent on him, and they hated it.
[00:15:53] And we hate it.
[00:15:54] I mean, people hate dependence upon God.
[00:15:57] And so all spiritual intimacy flows from dependence.
[00:16:02] You can't be independent from God and have spiritual intimacy.
[00:16:05] All intimacy flows from me being dependent on God.
[00:16:08] He loves being a father, but a lot of times we don't want to be dependent children on him.
[00:16:14] And so sheep can't navigate, you've never heard of a homing sheep.
[00:16:18] They can't bear burdens, you've never heard of a pack sheep.
[00:16:21] And they can't defend themselves, you've never heard of an attack sheep.
[00:16:25] They're these fluffy, cute little animals that are 100% dependent on a shepherd for survival.
[00:16:31] We're these cute little fluffy animals that totally need God.
[00:16:36] But we don't like that.
[00:16:38] That's our sin nature.
[00:16:39] This is Isaiah 53.
[00:16:42] He was wounded for our transgressions.
[00:16:43] He was bruised for our iniquities.
[00:16:45] The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.
[00:16:51] All we like sheep have gone astray.
[00:16:53] We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[00:17:00] All we like sheep have gone astray.
[00:17:02] We have gone our own way.
[00:17:05] And that's sin nature.
[00:17:06] The sin nature that we have is I don't want to depend on God.
[00:17:10] See, when the devil came to Adam and Eve, see, the devil was created in the presence of God perfectly.
[00:17:16] His name was Lucifer.
[00:17:17] Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 tell us where the devil came from.
[00:17:21] And the devil just kind of, he was the covering cherub.
[00:17:23] He was a worship leader.
[00:17:24] He had musical instruments built into his body.
[00:17:26] And he was created to worship God.
[00:17:29] But one day, rather than worshiping God, he became aware of himself.
[00:17:33] And he said, I'll be like him.
[00:17:36] In fact, I'll be better than him.
[00:17:37] I'm gonna set my throne in the recesses of the north and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this and he fell.
[00:17:43] He didn't wanna depend on God.
[00:17:45] He didn't want to be a servant of God.
[00:17:47] He wanted to be his own God.
[00:17:48] He comes down to earth and he says to Adam and Eve, you don't need him.
[00:17:52] You don't need that God over there.
[00:17:54] I'll give you this fruit and you'll become like God, knowing good and evil.
[00:17:58] You can be independent of him and they fell.
[00:18:00] It's the same lie over and over and over to every generation of people.
[00:18:06] And this is what we hear today through humanism and all the stuff that's going on.
[00:18:09] We don't need God.
[00:18:11] We can do better than God.
[00:18:12] I'm telling you, we desperately need him and we can't do better than him.
[00:18:17] And we were created for that purpose.
[00:18:20] See, I mean, God lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and all they had to do is just walk over and ask him any question.
[00:18:27] What about this?
[00:18:29] And God, he loves being a father.
[00:18:33] He loves it.
[00:18:33] He loves you depending on him.
[00:18:37] I'm a father and a grandfather.
[00:18:39] I have two kids, five grandkids.
[00:18:40] I love my children and grandchildren needing me.
[00:18:44] It would break my heart if they didn't need me.
[00:18:46] I don't want them to need me too much.
[00:18:49] Don't tell them I said that.
[00:18:50] But I want them to need me.
[00:18:52] I want them to want me.
[00:18:54] I want them to have a relationship with me that gives me the opportunity to be a father and grandfather.
[00:19:00] And I'm evil compared to God.
[00:19:03] And what God loves is for us to ask him questions, for us to seek him for provision, for us to seek him for the things that we need in life.
[00:19:13] That's what God loves.
[00:19:15] And so the nature of sin is exchanging a dependent relationship upon God for something that offers us what he does.
[00:19:22] In other words, a piece of fruit for a relationship with God.
[00:19:25] That's what Adam and Eve did.
[00:19:26] Independence for dependence.
[00:19:29] The devil has never changed his strategy.
[00:19:31] This is 1 John 2.
[00:19:32] Do not love the world or the things in the world.
[00:19:35] If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is on him.
[00:19:39] It's telling us we can love God the Father and depend on him or we can love the world.
[00:19:43] They're mutually exclusive.
[00:19:45] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world is passing away
[00:19:53] and the lust of it.
[00:19:54] But he who does the will of God abides forever.
[00:19:56] There's nothing wrong with the earth.
[00:19:58] When the Bible says world, It's not talking about the earth because the earth is the Lord's and all it contains.
[00:20:05] And so there's nothing wrong with enjoying creation, but the world is a system that Satan has created to replace God.
[00:20:12] So when you're in the world, you can have a relationship with a father, you can be God's child and depend on him in a dependent relationship, and that's the father, or you can exchange that for the world.
[00:20:23] And the world is a system of living that doesn't need God.
[00:20:26] And that's what we see.
[00:20:27] And so for everything the Father offers us, the devil has a substitute.
[00:20:31] God wants to provide for us and give us everything.
[00:20:35] Jesus said he knows everything about you and he wants to provide for you and take care of all of your needs, okay?
[00:20:41] But then there's mammon.
[00:20:42] This is 2 Timothy 3.
[00:20:43] Know this, in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unloving unholy unloving unforgiving slanders without self-control brutal despisers of good
[00:21:02] traitors headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying his power the the second one that's mentioned there's lovers of money materialism for a relationship with God see God there's nothing wrong with having money but where
[00:21:18] does the money come from and who do we give credit for that money and everything we have And so it says, rather than being lovers of God, they're lovers of money.
[00:21:28] Lust for love, this is 2 Timothy 3 again, unloving, lust for love, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without self-control.
[00:21:36] And it says lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
[00:21:40] The word unloving there, by the way, is the word astorgeia in the Greek language.
[00:21:44] It means you don't even love your own family.
[00:21:47] Parents killing children, children killing parents, family members turning on each other, deserting each other, praying on one another, That's what the word there means.
[00:21:55] And so rather than having the love of God, all of a sudden it's replaced with love.
[00:22:00] Pride for promotion.
[00:22:01] Men will be lovers of themselves, boasters and proud.
[00:22:04] And you see that all over the world today.
[00:22:06] That's not the spirit of Jesus, that's the spirit of the devil.
[00:22:10] If you're a Christian, you should be a humble person.
[00:22:13] You should not be promoting yourself.
[00:22:15] And so the result of independence from God and exchanging a daily dependent relationship with him for the superficial lies of the devil is always disappointment and death.
[00:22:24] This is Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:22:31] It is death, it's not was or will be, it is.
[00:22:34] The wages of sin is death.
[00:22:35] Karen and I got off an airplane here in town, this has been 20 years ago.
[00:22:41] And we walked off this airplane and there was a couple, a guy that I used to go to school with, one of my best friends, and I hadn't seen him since high school.
[00:22:50] And he and his wife were sitting down outside where we got off the plane.
[00:22:55] And we saw each other and greeted each other.
[00:22:57] And so Karen and I were sitting there talking to them, but I noticed that she just kept staring at our faces.
[00:23:04] She just kept, kind of in a weird way, she just kept staring at us like this.
[00:23:09] And it was a little uncomfortable.
[00:23:11] And so at the end of the conversation, she said, y'all are different.
[00:23:16] I said, excuse me?
[00:23:17] She said, you're different.
[00:23:19] You people that live for God?
[00:23:21] She said, we've been partying all through college and since.
[00:23:24] And she said, we look terrible.
[00:23:25] Y'all look great.
[00:23:28] Old sinners are a bad advertisement for sin.
[00:23:33] The wages of sin is death.
[00:23:36] And the reason I became a Christian, I was a very immoral, rebellious person right here in this city.
[00:23:42] And the reason I became a Christian is because sin lied to me.
[00:23:46] I sinned every day and I was really good at it.
[00:23:50] And every night I went to bed and I felt empty and lonely.
[00:23:53] and the day I gave my life to Jesus, I haven't had a lonely moment since.
[00:23:58] He came into my life and he did for me what sin could never do and I pray to God that I never exchange the relationship I have with him for anything else.
[00:24:10] I wanna ask one more question and so why didn't I list knowledge as something that we get back?
[00:24:15] We get it, but Adam and Eve didn't have it.
[00:24:17] They had something better.
[00:24:18] It was a relationship with God.
[00:24:20] The second question I wanna ask real quickly is why did God set Adam and Eve up for temptation and failure by allowing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?
[00:24:28] This is a pretty good question, I think.
[00:24:30] So why was there a tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
[00:24:32] Wouldn't it have been better?
[00:24:34] If God really loved us, wouldn't it have been better?
[00:24:37] If there wouldn't have been any opportunity to sin?
[00:24:40] Wouldn't it have been better if there wasn't a tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
[00:24:43] There was a tree of life.
[00:24:44] Why did God have to put a bad tree in the garden?
[00:24:46] Did he set them up by allowing the devil to come in and advertise the tree?
[00:24:51] Is that what happened?
[00:24:52] So let me answer that question, and I'm gonna preface all these answers with what kind of God, what kind of God?
[00:25:00] What kind of God would live alone and not create any other beings to relate to?
[00:25:05] In other words, he never created us to begin with.
[00:25:08] A strange God, someone who just wants to be alone, strange God.
[00:25:12] What kind of God would create creatures to relate to, but have a very distant and uncaring relationship with him?
[00:25:18] That's called deism.
[00:25:20] Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin and many other were deists, and they believed that there was a God. They just believed that he had a very distant and uncaring relationship with us. Very strange. Jesus said God was our
[00:25:33] father. In Matthew 6, Jesus revolutionized the world with the word father. We didn't know him that way in the Old Testament. They didn't know him that way in the Old Testament. But Jesus comes in the New Testament. He says, your father knows every single thing about you. He wants to take
[00:25:49] He wants to provide for you, He wants to love you.
[00:25:51] That was the intimate relationship with God that was missing in the Old Testament.
[00:25:55] And so deism, if that's the God of the Bible, that's not what the Bible says.
[00:26:00] The Bible says He's a loving Father.
[00:26:02] What kind of God would create man to relate to but without a free will?
[00:26:06] So what if God related to us but we didn't have a free will?
[00:26:10] See, the greatest gift that God has ever given any of us is a free will.
[00:26:14] We all have a free will, we can do whatever we want to.
[00:26:16] You can accept Jesus, you can reject Jesus.
[00:26:19] God gave you that opportunity through a free will.
[00:26:21] And so obviously God didn't make us that way, but an authoritarian ogre, that's the answer to the question.
[00:26:26] What kind of a God would create us without a free will, an authoritarian ogre?
[00:26:30] Here's another one.
[00:26:31] What kind of God would create man with a free will, but with no way to express our wills against him?
[00:26:37] So God comes to us and he says, you have a free will, but there's no tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[00:26:45] And one day, thousands of years goes by and someone brave walks up to God and says, well, you told us we have a free will, but how do we use it against you?
[00:26:54] Everything's your will.
[00:26:56] That tree's your will, that tree's your will, that tree's your will, all the trees here are your will.
[00:27:02] You tell us we have a free will, how can we use it against you if we really have a free will?
[00:27:06] And God understands if we have a free will, we have to have an ability to use it against him.
[00:27:10] He would be a manipulating shuckster to tell us we had a free will when we really didn't have a free will.
[00:27:15] Here's another one.
[00:27:17] What kind of God would create man with a free will and put a million ways in the garden for them to express their wills against him?
[00:27:23] In other words, there wasn't just one tree, everywhere you went, you bumped into another bad tree.
[00:27:28] A manipulating God, someone who was out to get us, a mean-spirited God would do that.
[00:27:34] Here's my last one.
[00:27:37] What kind of God would create us with a free will, give us the ability to use it against him, but with only one choice to rebel, but also pay the penalty for the rebellion himself
[00:27:47] to redeem us back into relationship with himself in order to give us back everything we lost.
[00:27:53] Our God, that is our God.
[00:27:56] He is the one, this is Revelation 13, all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of the life of the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.
[00:28:07] So somewhere back in eternity past when God was planning to create all of us, God had a discussion.
[00:28:14] Father, Son, Holy Spirit had a discussion.
[00:28:17] We know they're gonna rebel.
[00:28:18] we're going to give them a free will. We know they're going to use it against them. What are we going to do about that? And Jesus said, I'll go and take the form of a man and I'll live on
[00:28:29] the earth and show them the way and I'll die in their place. The lamb of God was slain from the very foundation of the world. Jesus decided before we were ever created that he would die in our
[00:28:39] place. And so here's what I'm saying. When Jesus comes back, we're going to get back everything that Adam and Eve lost plus a million times more.
[00:28:51] And the most important thing we get is a face-to-face relationship with God.
[00:28:56] We won't be praying to the wall or to the ceiling or the floor.
[00:28:59] We won't be worshiping to a God that we know is here, but we can't see.
[00:29:04] We will be with him face-to-face and it never ends.
[00:29:08] For a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion years, it never ends.
[00:29:12] And so God is not in time the way we're in time.
[00:29:15] God is outside of time.
[00:29:17] And so when we enter into eternity, we are outside of time, which means time goes on forever.
[00:29:23] Bow your heads with me if you would.
[00:29:25] Lord, we thank you for the promises that you've given us in your word of a face-to-face relationship with you for all of eternity.
[00:29:34] And we just pray today that we would be sheep, that all of us would accept the role that you've given us in this life as dependent sheep needing a shepherd for provision, for answers, for strength, for wisdom, for purpose. And we just come to you,
[00:30:00] Lord, and we just say, we surrender to your Lordship. We surrender to you as our Father.
[00:30:07] And we want to have a dependent daily relationship with you the way we were created to have it. And we can't wait for the day that we see your face. But in the meantime, we love you being our Father
[00:30:20] and we love being your children and your sheep bless us this week in jesus name if you would

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:30:29] bow your heads one more time i just want to continue to give those of you who have not yet made jesus the lord of your life and surrendered your life to him another opportunity to do so
[00:30:39] and maybe you just surrendered your life to jesus as pastor jimmy was praying and if you haven't yet but you're ready to make that decision the bible says that if you confess with your mouth
[00:30:51] that jesus is lord that means surrender your life over to him and then you believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead you will be saved and if you're ready to make that decision
[00:31:01] just tell jesus just tell him i surrender my life to you jesus will you come and be my lord i believe that god raised you from the dead for me and it's that simple and if you just made that confession
[00:31:18] that decision right there where you are this morning.
[00:31:22] We are so thrilled for you.
[00:31:24] It is the best decision that you will ever make in your life.
[00:31:27] And it's one that's worth celebrating.
[00:31:29] And so your church family is gonna celebrate with you here this morning.
[00:31:32] Let's put our hands together for anyone in the room, online, who just gave their life to Jesus.
[00:31:39] And then also, if you made that decision, we'd like for you to do one more thing.
[00:31:42] Get out your phone right now and text the word decision to the number 88787.
[00:31:48] There is a real life human being on the other side of that text message right now who wants to pray for you personally and also get some details from you so that we can put a resource in your hand
[00:31:56] that can help you in your journey with Jesus.
[00:31:59] Now, also the very first thing, if you just made that decision that you get to do with your church family is to take communion.
[00:32:04] So if you have your communion elements, you can go ahead and get those out.
[00:32:08] And we're gonna take the bread first.
[00:32:09] If you do not have communion elements, if you would raise your hand really high so our team who's coming down the aisles right now can see you and get those to you, that would be awesome.

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:32:18] once you have those elements if you would go ahead and take the bread out if you'd lift it with me jesus asks us he tells us when you come together remember my body remember my blood remember me
[00:32:38] so jesus this morning we remember who you are we remember what you've done we honor you we thank you we thank you that before the foundations of the world you chose us you came you lived you died
[00:32:57] and we rose again so that we could have new life now and forever.
[00:33:02] So Jesus, we thank you.
[00:33:06] Let's take the bread together.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:33:17] Then on the other side there, we have the cup.
[00:33:19] If you would hold it up with us.
[00:33:23] We honor this represents the blood of Jesus.
[00:33:26] Jesus, we honor your blood.
[00:33:29] We remember that it is only by your blood that we can be made clean, that we can be restored, that we can have a face-to-face relationship with you.
[00:33:40] and our Father God for all of eternity.
[00:33:44] Jesus, we thank you for your great sacrifice that lets this be possible.
[00:33:48] We are so grateful for you today.
[00:33:51] We love you and we honor you.
[00:33:53] Let's take the cup.
[00:34:01] Jesus is worthy of one more round of applause this morning.
[00:34:03] So let's give it to him today.
[00:34:05] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:34:06] We love you.
[00:34:07] We honor your name.
[00:34:09] Here in just a second, our prayer teams are gonna be down here at the front.
[00:34:12] If you have any prayer need at all in your life, whether or not you think it's big or small, Every single detail matters.
[00:34:18] And so please come down here and let one of these team members pray for you.
[00:34:22] Also have a couple of things coming up this week that we want you to know about.
[00:34:25] First of which is on Tuesday, this Tuesday, June 14th, we're gonna be doing a showing of the Mind Polluters documentary.
[00:34:31] And this is an investigative documentary that reveals the agendas that are deeply embedded in our public education system, particularly in regards to comprehensive sex ed and social emotional learning.
[00:34:43] It is an important documentary for all of us.
[00:34:45] whether you have children who are right now in the school system or not it is it is important and also because the content of the documentary is disturbing it is really appropriate only for adults who are 18 and up and so we will not be permitting children into the auditorium however
[00:35:02] we've made it really easy for you to navigate that by having child care here on tuesday evening also for that reason this is an in-person only event we will not be streaming it online If you'd like more details about the Mind Polluters documentary, you can go to tfc.org slash events where you can find the event in our app.
[00:35:18] And also, if you Google the Mind Polluters and would like to look at their website and look at the official trailer to that to get some more information before you come on Tuesday, feel free to do that.
[00:35:27] Otherwise, we'll see you right here Tuesday, June 14th for this important showing at 7 o'clock.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:35:32] There's also, we started last night, something called Cultural Conversations.
[00:35:35] It's for high school students and college students.
[00:35:37] We're having conversations about biblical literacy, biblical citizenship, and cultural Marxism really to help our young people get ready to engage the culture and everything that's going on.
[00:35:48] We'll continue that today at three in the SMC right behind me across the parking lot.
[00:35:52] Feel free to come.
[00:35:53] You can also go to tfc.org slash events, find out the schedule and join us.
[00:35:57] We'd love to see you there.
[00:35:58] Church, if you'd stand your feet, we want to bless you as you go into your week.
[00:36:03] Prayer teams, you can make your way down.
[00:36:05] Father God, thank you so much for who you are.
[00:36:07] Church, I bless you in the name of Jesus.
[00:36:10] Be empowered by the Holy Spirit as you walk and step with him this week.
[00:36:13] That you have eyes to see where he is, ears to hear him, and the boldness to walk and speak and live out the new life that he has empowered you with.
[00:36:24] Bless everything that you put your hands to that would bring the light of Christ to it and bring people to him.
[00:36:30] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:36:33] Amen.
[00:36:33] Come on down for prayer.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:36:40] Hey, Church Online.
[00:36:40] Thank you so much for joining us here at service today. We hope you enjoyed the message. We loved getting to experience God, find community and fulfill our purposes with you today. And it doesn't stop on Sunday and it
[00:36:52] doesn't stop with this service. I actually want to encourage you to join us at our 1015 interactive message where we get to dive deeper into the message with Pastor Jimmy Evans. So make sure that you go ahead and check that out. We love you guys so much and we'll see you at the next service.