Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: We are in the middle of something and that's where
Speaker 1: God is. That really blesses me to know that, because
Speaker 1: waiting for the finished product until I can have joy,
Speaker 1: have peace, trust God, be happy. That doesn't sound very
Speaker 1: promising to me. But if God is at ever present
Speaker 1: help in trouble, in times of trouble, That's one thing
Speaker 1: the Bible says about God. If he'll walk up to
Speaker 1: me in the middle of a storm, if he'll be
Speaker 1: with me in the middle of the fire, if he'll
Speaker 1: split the sea so I can walk through it and
Speaker 1: drown my enemies behind me, I can keep moving.
Speaker 2: Forward with the faith that God has my back in
Speaker 2: every situation.
Speaker 1: So I think the idea of process has really been
Speaker 1: challenging us and celebrating our progress rather than awaiting our perfection.
Speaker 1: Is revolutionizing. Like me and Autumn talk every week, She's
Speaker 1: been in our church eleven years, and she's like, I
Speaker 1: never have seen Jesus in the way that I've been
Speaker 1: seeing him in this series. And she grew up. She's
Speaker 1: such a church girl, y'all. I mean seriously, she's got
Speaker 1: Leviticus memorized in Hebrew and she's like, it's just opening
Speaker 1: my eyes. And that's the revelation factor revelation. Today, I
Speaker 1: want to talk about revelation in the context of relationship.
Speaker 1: Please write this down. The greatest pain and pleasure that
Speaker 1: you will experience in your life will be in the
Speaker 1: context of relationship. I did you kind of dirty. I
Speaker 1: didn't give you a chance to get your pin out,
Speaker 1: your thumbs warmed up. So I'm going to try to
Speaker 1: say it again. The greatest pain and greatest pleasure in
Speaker 1: your life will be experienced in the context of relationship.
Speaker 1: So one of the words that Jesus spoke from the
Speaker 1: cross is commonly called the word of relationship. We're going
Speaker 1: to deal with that today. But I've been using a
Speaker 1: flashback technique. I try to be creative in the way
Speaker 1: I present the word. I don't know if it makes
Speaker 1: sense to everybody else, but just ways that make it
Speaker 1: exciting for me because I figure i'd like my own sermons.
Speaker 1: If nobody else does, I'll subscribe to the podcast. But
Speaker 1: I've been looking at Luke twenty four. These two people.
Speaker 1: One is called we call him Cleo. His full name
Speaker 1: is Cleopus. He has an unnamed traveling companion. They're going
Speaker 1: the wrong way to a no name village called a Maus.
Speaker 1: I mean it has a name, but you can't find
Speaker 1: it if you go to the Holy Land today. They'll say,
Speaker 1: we think this is where a Mais was, but they
Speaker 1: don't even really know where it was. It wasn't some
Speaker 1: metropolitan major area where commerce happened. It was where they lived.
Speaker 1: And they were going back from the scene of the cross,
Speaker 1: where they had watched their hope extinguished, and they had
Speaker 1: watched the one that they thought might be the one die,
Speaker 1: and they were burying their dreams along the road when
Speaker 1: the one whose death they were morning walked up right
Speaker 1: beside them, and they didn't know it. And so they're
Speaker 1: like walking back the wrong way. And there's this whole
Speaker 1: thing about why would Jesus follow people who are headed
Speaker 1: in the wrong direction, Why would he leave the ninety
Speaker 1: nine righteous to find the one? Why would he come
Speaker 1: for the sick and not stay with the well. And
Speaker 1: I think that's one thing that we misconstrue about God's
Speaker 1: presence in our lives, is that He's going to be
Speaker 1: with us as long as we're doing what he told
Speaker 1: us to do and going where he told us to go.
Speaker 1: And yet we're surprised by the grace of God just
Speaker 1: like busting up in the middle of our conversations and
Speaker 1: our hopeless situations and chasing us down to the wrong
Speaker 1: destination so he can turn us around. And when they
Speaker 1: got where they thought they were going, they saw who
Speaker 1: Jesus really was. And I think they saw it in
Speaker 1: his scars when he broke the bread, which is an
Speaker 1: everyday event. You know, you eat every day, and God
Speaker 1: is often found in the common marks of our lives.
Speaker 1: I'm teaching already if you didn't know, this is not
Speaker 1: a review. So seeing where he had been wounded and
Speaker 1: now seeing his scars, which were the greatest demonstration of
Speaker 1: his strength that proved his resurrection, they had their eyes
Speaker 1: open and he was revealed and recognized by them in
Speaker 1: that moment. One thing I didn't point out that I
Speaker 1: think is very important. And I'm going to read the
Speaker 1: text and I'm going to emphasize certain words and see
Speaker 1: if you can find the theme. The Bible says in
Speaker 1: verse thirty two that after they recognized Jesus, you know,
Speaker 1: you have these moments where you're like, oh, yeah, that
Speaker 1: was God. Oh yeah, that was God that had him
Speaker 1: break up with me. He was broke. God was looking
Speaker 1: out for me. But sometimes you don't see it on
Speaker 1: the road. You only realize it in reverse. You like,
Speaker 1: see their picture ten years later and you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you, love Mary now. So they're like, oh, that
Speaker 1: was him, that was the one we were crying over.
Speaker 1: But he's not dead, he's risen. And look at this.
Speaker 1: I'm going to emphasize certain works. Verse thirty two. They
Speaker 1: asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us?
Speaker 1: While he talked with us on the road and opened
Speaker 1: the scriptures to us, are you noticing anything? Okay, one
Speaker 1: more verse? Make sure you get it. They got a
Speaker 1: and returned it. Once to Jerusalem, they found the eleven
Speaker 1: and those with them assembled together. Their revelation of Jesus
Speaker 1: was completed not in the context of their conversation with him,
Speaker 1: but in the context of their conversation with each other.
Speaker 1: This message is called complete the cross and it is
Speaker 1: meant to confront some of the things that we say
Speaker 1: in church that sound spiritual but really make no sense
Speaker 1: in real life, things like, you know, all I need
Speaker 1: is Jesus. As long as I've got Jesus, I don't
Speaker 1: need anybody else. And I understand the spirit of that
Speaker 1: that he is the most important, and seek he first,
Speaker 1: the King, to God his Righteous. All these things be
Speaker 1: added under you and my mother and Father for save me,
Speaker 1: then the Lord will take me up. I know those
Speaker 1: Bible verses too, But even Jesus needed a team, and
Speaker 1: it is significant I think, maybe you don't think so,
Speaker 1: that he revealed himself to two people and they talked
Speaker 1: with each other, and it was in talking with each
Speaker 1: other that they figured out who he was. Because for
Speaker 1: all of us who think all we need is God
Speaker 1: and all we need is Jesus. The last time I checked,
Speaker 1: the cross had two beams. This one that's the main one.
Speaker 1: Got to get that right. But it's not a cross
Speaker 1: until it does like this. And sometimes the reason we
Speaker 1: like to say things like all I need is Jesus
Speaker 1: and all I need is God is because as long
Speaker 1: as we keep the context of our relationship limited to
Speaker 1: an invisible God. We don't have to deal with people,
Speaker 1: and we can kind of manipulate our image of God
Speaker 1: into somebody who is comfortable for us to relate to.
Speaker 1: And then you'll start saying things like, well, nobody else
Speaker 1: gets me, but God does. And so you're all this,
Speaker 1: all this, and that's awesome and I love it. But
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about this, the relationship.
Speaker 1: The relationship that is a little bit harder. So to
Speaker 1: do it. I want to remember what happened on the cross.
Speaker 1: And I wonder when Cleophus and his unnamed companion are
Speaker 1: walking back, because the Bible says they got up, they
Speaker 1: turned around, they thought it was the end. It was
Speaker 1: really the beginning. They had watched Jesus die on the cross,
Speaker 1: watching him die, they thought this is it. But Heaven
Speaker 1: is watching and saying no when he said it is finished,
Speaker 1: that was just the beginning. Come on, I need somebody
Speaker 1: who travels six hours or more to know that where
Speaker 1: you are right now is not the end of what
Speaker 1: shall be in your life. I feel like preaching to
Speaker 1: somebody who's got your head hung down. You've been in
Speaker 1: a mayis long enough. Come on, you got a round
Speaker 1: prim ticket and they turned around and they went back,
Speaker 1: And the Bible says that the road they walked was seven.
Speaker 1: So we've been using each of the seven miles to
Speaker 1: represent a different word that Jesus spoke from the cross,
Speaker 1: and there were seven of them, the word of forgiveness, Father,
Speaker 1: forgive them they know not what they do, or the
Speaker 1: word of salvation. Today you will be with me in paradise.
Speaker 1: And I wonder where they have a flashback of what
Speaker 1: happened on the cross. And that's not a bad thing
Speaker 1: to do, by the way, to have a flashback every
Speaker 1: now and then, to strengthen your faith, to remember what
Speaker 1: really happened on that cross. I mean, what really happened
Speaker 1: beyond the crown of thorns that marked his brow, beyond
Speaker 1: the sign that Pilot put above him in three different
Speaker 1: languages that said king of the Jews, the title that
Speaker 1: he used to mock him, which was actually announcing him.
Speaker 1: Because sometimes the insults that people will say about you
Speaker 1: are the greatest compliment they can give you. I mean,
Speaker 1: beyond that, what really happened on the cross. I've been
Speaker 1: telling my soul, when my shackles fell off, when my
Speaker 1: same was nailed to those beams, when the chastisement that
Speaker 1: brought my peace was upon him. On the cross, somebody say,
Speaker 1: on the cross, On the cross, that's where my sin is.
Speaker 1: On the cross, That's where my mistakes are. On the cross.
Speaker 1: That's where my second guessings and second givings. That's where
Speaker 1: all of my regrets are redeemed. On the cross. That's
Speaker 1: where I hung all my fears and all my talents
Speaker 1: and all my failures that happened on the cross. And
Speaker 1: I wonder did they reflect on the road on what
Speaker 1: happened on the cross? And I wonder, now, in the
Speaker 1: light of his resurrection, did they reflect on his death
Speaker 1: differently to know that what had caused them to hang
Speaker 1: their heads and walk away was actually the greatest proof
Speaker 1: of his love. When I need to know that God
Speaker 1: loves me, I don't look at what's happening in my life.
Speaker 1: I flash back to what happened on the cross. That's
Speaker 1: where it was settled. That's where it was nailed down forever.
Speaker 1: He's always good and he does good, and he showed
Speaker 1: it to me on the cross. On the cross, that's
Speaker 1: where that thing that the devil is tormenting you with,
Speaker 1: that's down deeper than anybody else can see, that's where
Speaker 1: it should be hanging. It shouldn't be hanging around in
Speaker 1: your heart and in your soul, it should be on
Speaker 1: that cross. I feel kind of old timey today. I
Speaker 1: don't feel very modern today. I feel like going and
Speaker 1: putting my eyes on the middle man, the one who
Speaker 1: hung there because he loved me, the one who could
Speaker 1: have dissed that's twelve legions of angels, but homed there
Speaker 1: on that cross for me. Well, it was his love
Speaker 1: that held him there on the cross. So that's the
Speaker 1: first picture I wondered, did they remember what happened on
Speaker 1: the cross? Because they were actually at the cross. Maybe
Speaker 1: not actually in the general vicinity, but they were at
Speaker 1: the cross. And you know, I've heard sermons, seen movies
Speaker 1: about what happened on the cross, and sometimes it makes
Speaker 1: you feel kind of sentimental. Sometimes it makes you feel
Speaker 1: kind of sick. What happened on the cross went far
Speaker 1: beyond what a film camera can present. In twenty four
Speaker 1: what happened on the cross is the release of the
Speaker 1: freedom that God wants to produce in my life. But
Speaker 1: I think there's something to be seen not just what
Speaker 1: happened on the cross, but who was at the cross.
Speaker 1: I mean, we know who was on the cross between
Speaker 1: two thieves, but at the cross. Now, to get a
Speaker 1: clear picture of this, you kind of have to do
Speaker 1: a little bit of study. And don't worry, I already
Speaker 1: did it for you, so I'm gonna tell you don't
Speaker 1: have to look anything up. I looked at all up
Speaker 1: this week while you were doing your real job. It
Speaker 1: was interesting because I was putting together what Matthew said
Speaker 1: and what Mark said, and what Luke said and what
Speaker 1: John said, and so Matthew, who is one of the disciples,
Speaker 1: they're all telling the same story but from a different perspective,
Speaker 1: and they're describing the cross. And when it came to
Speaker 1: exactly what happened at the cross, Matthew didn't have a
Speaker 1: lot to say because he wasn't there. Okay, he was
Speaker 1: there for the fish and the loaves, so he can
Speaker 1: tell you about that. He was there for that water
Speaker 1: walking thing where Peter got out of the boat because
Speaker 1: he's kind of crazy and didn't content to just sit
Speaker 1: in the boat. He has to do something special and spectacular.
Speaker 1: He was there when Peter almost drowned himself and Jesus
Speaker 1: gave him CPR and but when it came to the
Speaker 1: isn't it funny how the cross will thin out a crowd,
Speaker 1: Because it was really loud on Sunday when Jesus came
Speaker 1: into Jerusalem, I mean deafening. They were crying out something.
Speaker 1: They were saying, Hosanna, it means save now, and that's
Speaker 1: what they wanted him to do, to save now. But
Speaker 1: when he died, it deferred their hope. And so as
Speaker 1: he hung there at the cross, the crowds that were
Speaker 1: there to be fed and taught by his hand were
Speaker 1: kind of quiet at the cross, kind of quiet where
Speaker 1: he died, kind of quiet where he suffered. It was
Speaker 1: real loud when he was teaching, preach Jesus. Can you
Speaker 1: imagine Jesus's front row, blessed of the poor and spirit
Speaker 1: preach Jesus. I mean, if the word was preaching the word,
Speaker 1: that would be kind of cool to witness. It'll probably
Speaker 1: be exciting. I'm just saying you probably shall you probably
Speaker 1: jump up. But when he came to his cross, crowd
Speaker 1: wasn't so loud. Oh. By the way, something that Peter
Speaker 1: proofs to us is that those who are the loudest
Speaker 1: are not always the most loyal. Because when it comes
Speaker 1: to the cross, Matthew tells us something so disturbing. I
Speaker 1: imagine it must have hurt him to write this, you know,
Speaker 1: because Jesus had done so much for them and they
Speaker 1: really believed in him, and I think they really wanted
Speaker 1: to follow him, but they can only go so far.
Speaker 1: And then he came to the cross, and the cross
Speaker 1: is confusing because it's not supposed to end like this.
Speaker 1: And the cross is confusing because if he really is
Speaker 1: who he says he is, how can he be hung
Speaker 1: up there to die in this kind of humiliation? And
Speaker 1: so Matthew says that at the cross, everybody deserted him
Speaker 1: all twelve because remember he had a team, a really
Speaker 1: big team, a really big team, touch somebody say, a
Speaker 1: really big team until it came to the cross. And
Speaker 1: then sometimes circumstances in your life will show you who
Speaker 1: was really with you because they loved you, and who
Speaker 1: was really with you because there was something that they
Speaker 1: got from you in the moment. They don't get from
Speaker 1: you what they wanted from you. Now, that's really painful.
Speaker 1: That's a hard thing. Some people will be with you,
Speaker 1: what's the saying. They'll ride with you in the limo,
Speaker 1: but they won't take the bus when the limo breaks down.
Speaker 1: I don't know who said that. I think that's from
Speaker 1: the Book of Oprah. But but Matthew says it is
Speaker 1: a good one. But Matthew says, they all left him.
Speaker 1: Now here's what's interesting. There's one disciple. His name is John,
Speaker 1: and I love John because he gave himself a nickname.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to love about John. Because at the
Speaker 1: Last Supper, when Jesus is telling the disciples, you're all
Speaker 1: gonna leave, Peter's like, not me, a gotzi bro. And
Speaker 1: John isn't saying much. But John, he saw himself a
Speaker 1: little differently. Here's what he called himself. Okay, how many
Speaker 1: of you have a nickname that your friends call you
Speaker 1: and stuff? How many of you gave yourself a nickname? Okay?
Speaker 1: John is so confident he gave himself a nickname. And
Speaker 1: let me tell you what he calls himself when he
Speaker 1: writes about himself in the Gospel. According to John, he
Speaker 1: calls himself, how's this for a nickname? The one Jesus
Speaker 1: love so not Hey, I'm John, Hey, I'm his favorite.
Speaker 1: I love John. It's a certain kind of confidence that
Speaker 1: he has that he doesn't need to say much with
Speaker 1: his lips to prove his loyalty. He's just there. And
Speaker 1: so when John writes his Gospel, he's like, hey, wait
Speaker 1: a minute, Matthew, we didn't all run. And he describes
Speaker 1: for a moment who was at the cross, and it's
Speaker 1: not who you would expect, because you're looking for Peter
Speaker 1: at the cross, but Peter isn't at the cross. He
Speaker 1: couldn't get past the courtyard the moment it became scandalous
Speaker 1: to stand with Jesus, and Jesus didn't do it like
Speaker 1: he thought it ought to be done.
Speaker 3: Peter started cutting people out.
Speaker 1: And maybe you're looking for Andrew at the cross, because
Speaker 1: Andrew was Peter's brother. He's the one who came and
Speaker 1: got Peter and said, hey, you gotta meet this man.
Speaker 1: He's amazing, and he was amazing until it came to
Speaker 1: the cross, and then Andrew was absent. And so on
Speaker 1: the day that Jesus did what he came to do
Speaker 1: to begin with, he's calling the roll and no one
Speaker 1: is present. That's a bad day for the teacher when
Speaker 1: the whole class is gone, and the loneliness of hanging
Speaker 1: there all alone no Bartholomew, No Nathaniel.
Speaker 4: Because when I read it, John tells us who was
Speaker 4: at the cross, everybody say, at the cross, there's soldiers
Speaker 4: gambling for his garments at the foot of the cross,
Speaker 4: everybody grabbing what they can from him, just like they
Speaker 4: did while he was living, Just grabbing what they wanted.
Speaker 1: From him, just like sometimes we come to church, just
Speaker 1: grab what we want from God. Just grab a goosebump,
Speaker 1: just grab a word. Oh I came to get a word,
Speaker 1: but when it came time to it was kind of quiet.
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Andrew Simon, the Zealot, James, son of Thunder. John here,
Speaker 1: don't you appreciate the people who are just there likewashes.
Speaker 1: It's not who you expect. It's not even the loud ones.
Speaker 1: Look us at the cross. Look, John tells us. Because
Speaker 1: he was there, Matthew can't quite tell us because he wasn't. Again,
Speaker 1: he can tell you how delicious the bread was, He
Speaker 1: can tell you how delicious the fish tasted. But John
Speaker 1: tells us who was at the cross. I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: you something right now. God gave me something to give
Speaker 1: to you. You're about to be set free from some
Speaker 1: things that you didn't even though had locked you inside
Speaker 1: of yourself. You are about to get something from God
Speaker 1: that is going to release you to love like you
Speaker 1: haven't been able to love and enjoy the life he
Speaker 1: died to give you. So John says that near the
Speaker 1: cross of Jesus, remember he's on the cross, and now
Speaker 1: let's see who's at the cross. First of all, his mother,
Speaker 1: the one who carried him now had to watch him
Speaker 1: carry her cross that she deserved that he did not.
Speaker 1: And I think there's a whole message. Maybe I'll preach
Speaker 1: Mother's Day on this verse one time, because it'd be
Speaker 1: a great Mother's Day scripture. What kind of strength does
Speaker 1: it take for a mom to stand there and watch
Speaker 1: her son die, completely unable to do anything about it,
Speaker 1: just standing there. It says that near the cross of
Speaker 1: Jesus stood his mother. It does not record one word.
Speaker 5: That she spoke, but she stood with him.
Speaker 1: She stood with him. Sometimes the greatest testimony of your
Speaker 1: loyalty is not what you will say to someone, but
Speaker 1: how you will stand with them. Because we've all got
Speaker 1: a cross, we've all got seasons that we will go
Speaker 1: into that will divide those who are loud from those
Speaker 1: who are really loyal and who I see at the
Speaker 1: crosses and who I expect to see at the cross
Speaker 1: Here's Mary, the mother of Jesus. There's her sister, there's
Speaker 1: Mary the wife of Clopus. And there's Mary Magdalene. She
Speaker 1: had a rough life. Jesus really helped her. He cast
Speaker 1: some demons out of her that nobody else had been
Speaker 1: able to deal with, and that created a kind of
Speaker 1: loyalty within her that she was like, even if all
Speaker 1: I can do is stand here and cry, I'm not leaving,
Speaker 1: could you get there with God? That, even if all
Speaker 1: I can do is stand here and wait to see
Speaker 1: what will becolm, you can't run me off. You've been
Speaker 1: too good to me and done too much for me.
Speaker 1: I'm not going anywhere. You have the words of eternal life,
Speaker 1: I'll say it near the cross. And when Jesus saw
Speaker 1: his mother there, John tells us and the disciple whom
Speaker 1: he loved, John says, as me standing nearby, He said
Speaker 1: to her, woman, here is your son, and then watch this.
Speaker 1: He looked at the disciple whom he loved, the self
Speaker 1: proclaimed favorite, and gave him a job. Here is your mother.
Speaker 1: Let's skip the fact that none of us in the
Speaker 1: room would be able to put us on our own
Speaker 1: self elfishness enough if we were suffering like that to
Speaker 1: think about anyone else, because you know, when you're going
Speaker 1: through something, you don't ask anybody how their day is,
Speaker 1: and if you do, you really don't want to know,
Speaker 1: and you hope they don't answer you. All you can
Speaker 1: really handle is fun. I'm telling you when you're going
Speaker 1: through something, and you really need to watch for this
Speaker 1: because I went through something a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: with my dad, and somebody gave me good advice. They said,
Speaker 1: don't tell a lot of people what you're going through.
Speaker 1: Find a few people you can tell what you're going through.
Speaker 1: Most people are going to ask you. They really don't care.
Speaker 1: That would have been worth your trip to church today,
Speaker 1: just to know that they really don't mean tell me
Speaker 1: all about it. They really don't. They see you coming,
Speaker 1: they dodge you. Because your niece have been hurting six
Speaker 1: months and it's all you talk about your sore back,
Speaker 1: it's all you talk about how hard it's been with
Speaker 1: your kids. Most people don't want to know all that
Speaker 1: because they've got their own stuff. They've got their own
Speaker 1: things they're dealing with, and to me the the presence
Speaker 1: of mind of Jesus. And I want to be more
Speaker 1: like this because I'm really not here yet, nor am
Speaker 1: I in the vicinity of this kind of christ likeness.
Speaker 1: But that he was able to look to the needs
Speaker 1: of others while he died for them, not after he
Speaker 1: got up.
Speaker 3: While he's bleeding for their sins.
Speaker 1: He says, hey, look out for her, and you look
Speaker 1: out for him. And he's doing in his death what
Speaker 1: he did in his life, bringing them together as he dies. Hey, John,
Speaker 1: I need you to do something for me. Look out
Speaker 1: for her, and and he's he's your son. Now that's crazy,
Speaker 1: isn't that crazy? Because I would have been up there,
Speaker 1: I would not have even seen John standing at the
Speaker 1: cross because I would have been so mad at Peter.
Speaker 1: I would have been so mad at Anne. And don't
Speaker 1: even get me started on Judas. Oh my God, I
Speaker 1: would not have seen John because I would have been
Speaker 1: making up my plan for how I was gonna get
Speaker 1: back at Judas. Sometimes we don't see those who are
Speaker 1: with us because we can only think of those who
Speaker 1: left us. But I want to declare over your life today,
Speaker 1: God will always leave a John at your cross.
Speaker 5: You got who you need. You got what you need.
Speaker 5: If they left you, who was that for it? Be
Speaker 5: honest about it.
Speaker 1: You have been so upset about the encouragement that you're
Speaker 1: not getting from somebody. You are tripping over the encouragement
Speaker 1: of sixteen other people because you're mad at Bob. Well
Speaker 1: what about Bob?
Speaker 3: If Bob left the cross, reach out to John.
Speaker 1: There's a John, it's a cross. Feel something happening in
Speaker 1: your heart right now? That just sets you free.
Speaker 3: You don't have to worry about who left.
Speaker 1: If they left their God, if John is at the cross. Besides,
Speaker 1: why would Jesus be mad at Judas? He needed John
Speaker 1: to be there at the cross, but he needed Judas
Speaker 1: to get him to the cross. This is a hard one.
Speaker 1: This is a hard one. You might have to realize
Speaker 1: that some of the people that you hate the most
Speaker 1: actually helped you get to the place where you need
Speaker 1: it to be to do what God called you to do.
Speaker 1: Do you believe that?
Speaker 3: Can you receive this? This is a hard say that's
Speaker 3: the kind of stuff Jesus would say and people would
Speaker 3: just walk away.
Speaker 1: But Jesus wasn't cursing Judas. It took Judas, It took
Speaker 1: a broken heart. It took a betrayal.
Speaker 3: Some of the people that left you were teaching you
Speaker 3: to love.
Speaker 1: The people who are still there. It took that. It
Speaker 1: doesn't justify what they did. But maybe I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: mature enough one day where I can be like Jesus
Speaker 1: and I won't miss John cursing Judas. Yes it is.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say this about six different ways before I
Speaker 1: close to make sure you get it, because that's my
Speaker 1: message is that it takes two. It takes two. It
Speaker 1: takes two. I want to rock right now. Touch somebody
Speaker 1: say I'm not internationally known, and see when you got
Speaker 1: it like this? Come on, somebody say I got it
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: Jesus so knew who he was, and he had so
Speaker 2: received the affirmation that could only be given in the
Speaker 2: baptism at the Jordan.
Speaker 1: This is my son, and I am pleased with him that,
Speaker 1: no matter who wasn't there, he was so convinced about
Speaker 1: who was that he could look at John and look
Speaker 1: at Mary and give like that. And when you really
Speaker 1: get it like this, I mean, when you wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning and know that God has blessed you
Speaker 1: to see another day, you will not be needy anymore. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll say it just like that. You're too needy and
Speaker 1: you're too blessed to be this needy. I'm just telling
Speaker 1: you what God told me. You think it's hard for
Speaker 1: you to hear. I had to hear it all week.
Speaker 1: God kept me out all week getting this message ready
Speaker 1: for you, and he said, I need for your validation
Speaker 1: not to be in somebody else's mouth. I need your
Speaker 1: validation to be in that cross. I need you to
Speaker 1: be complete in that cross, so that if you don't
Speaker 1: get it from your mom, if you don't get it
Speaker 1: from your daughter, Listen, sometimes people are giving you all
Speaker 1: they can give you. They can't give you anymore. And
Speaker 1: if you don't get it like this, you will never
Speaker 1: get it like that. You need to set some people
Speaker 1: free today from not giving you keys to your freedom
Speaker 1: that they don't hold. You. Have got to release some
Speaker 1: people from the expectation of perfection. They can't be everything
Speaker 1: to you. Even John couldn't get him down. All he
Speaker 1: could do was stand there. So I don't want to
Speaker 1: look to people to do for me, but only God can.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be grabbing for garments at the
Speaker 1: foot of the cross. If I got it like this.
Speaker 1: I can give it like that. Whoever this is for,
Speaker 1: you've been trying to get affection from the wrong direction.
Speaker 1: You've been reaching for validation and all the wrong places.
Speaker 1: You're not going to get it like this. That's where
Speaker 1: you give. That's where Paul said, if there's any comfort
Speaker 1: from being united with Christ, what she's drawn across. He's saying,
Speaker 1: this Philippian Church. You can look at U Philippians one
Speaker 1: in chapter two, verse one and two. Something like that
Speaker 1: is in Philippians. Somewhere google it says you got it. Oh,
Speaker 1: if there's any encouragement from being united with Christ, somebody say,
Speaker 1: I got it like that. Okay, that's the part we're
Speaker 1: good at in church. He forgave me, he saved me,
Speaker 1: he loves me, he accepts me. But Paul says, if
Speaker 1: you got it like that, any comfort from His love?
Speaker 1: How many are comforted by the love of Christ in
Speaker 1: your heart today? If you got it like that, having
Speaker 1: the same love, being one inspirit and of one mind,
Speaker 1: I love this next instruction, then make my joy complete.
Speaker 1: If you got it like that, give it like this.
Speaker 1: So I want to wake up this week and I
Speaker 1: want to see all of my shame my need on
Speaker 1: that cross. I want to receive all of my validation
Speaker 1: at that cross. I want to carry whatever cross God
Speaker 1: has given me and not resent the people who didn't
Speaker 1: give me what I thought I needed. Because I am
Speaker 1: complete in that cross. I don't need you to tell
Speaker 1: me that I'm loved. Maybe it's time for me to
Speaker 1: tell you that you're loved. Maybe I've lived my life
Speaker 1: doing this long enough. Maybe it's time to live like
Speaker 1: he died at the cross. There's job on the cross.
Speaker 1: There's Jesus in the cross. Here's us. That's where our
Speaker 1: strength is. You know, not in what people say or
Speaker 1: don't say. You feel the release in that. When I
Speaker 1: receive it, I can release it. God show me who
Speaker 1: to encourage today. I don't need anything from you today.
Speaker 1: Here I got mine at the Cross. I got mine
Speaker 1: in the presence of God. In His presence is the
Speaker 1: fullness of I am complete in Him. I am the
Speaker 1: righteousness of God. I am comple. Somebody shout, I am complete.
Speaker 1: I am complete. I don't need you to complete me.
Speaker 1: I am complete in the Cross of Jesus Christ, where
Speaker 1: he led is still flowing today, and it is flowing
Speaker 1: through me.
Speaker 3: Come on, give him sixty seconds of praise for the crown, for.
Speaker 1: The cross at the cross. I got it in the cross.
Speaker 1: I got it at the cross. I got it in
Speaker 1: the cross.
Speaker 3: Last I know I love I got it in the cross.
Speaker 1: The world didn't give it, and the world can take
Speaker 1: it away. Received this ministry. God is trying to get
Speaker 1: you to release what you have received. You've been doing
Speaker 1: it the wrong way. You've been trying to receive it.
Speaker 2: Release it, receive it, release it, receive it, release it,
Speaker 2: receive it, release it.
Speaker 1: Receive it from him. Don't try to receive it from them.
Speaker 1: They are unpredictable and they got their own stuff and
Speaker 1: their own reasons. Receive it. Release it. If you receive
Speaker 1: this word, lift your hands. Lift him high, like you
Speaker 1: have a father who loves you and made up his
Speaker 1: mind about you, and isn't trying to decide whether or
Speaker 1: not to accept you on the basis of your performance.
Speaker 1: Somebody say, my righteousness is in the cross. Keep your
Speaker 1: hands stretched. This is how you live. This is how
Speaker 1: you get it. This is how you get it. This
Speaker 1: is how you get it. This is how you get it,
Speaker 1: not when a group accepts you, not when a promotion comes.
Speaker 1: This is how you get it. You're going to go
Speaker 1: into this week with something to give. You're gonna go
Speaker 1: into this week knowing who you are. Lift your hands,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of
Speaker 1: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of
Speaker 1: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the
Speaker 1: link in the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch
Speaker 1: dot org slash podcast for more information and if you
Speaker 1: enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it
Speaker 1: with your friends. You can click the share button, take
Speaker 1: a screenshot and share it on your social stories and
Speaker 1: tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God
Speaker 1: bless you.