1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: Just one verse to get us started today Hebrews chapter six, 7 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: verse nine. Though we speak in this way, yet in 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things. Somebody 9 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: shout better things. You shouted that, like you want God 10 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: to do something awesome in your life. Yeah, he said, 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: because the context is some are falling away, and some 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: are giving up on what they first believe, and some 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: are going back to old systems of thought because it's 14 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: too challenging. But he said, not you, not you. You're 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: not going to give up or burn out or fade away. 16 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: We speak in this way, does happen? Yet in your case, beloved, 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation. 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: I want to preach to you for a few moments 19 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,279 Speaker 1: today with God's help, on the subject of when better 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: feels backwards, when better feels backwards? And I pray that 21 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: this might encourage you. In fact, let's pray one more 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,559 Speaker 1: time before we take our seat. God, if I share 23 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: my opinion today, it will be close to worthless. And 24 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: if I share from human wisdom today, it'll have a 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: short shelf life. But your word is eternal. So speak now. 26 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: We're listening. Give us open hearts to receive the things 27 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: that you desire to say. In Jesus' name, Amen, tell 28 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: the person next to you on your way down to 29 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: your seat, you've never looked better. If the Lord has 30 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: to forgive you for lion, you were just doing what 31 00:01:55,320 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: the preacher said. Yeah, because on the enneagram, which is 32 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: like the personality type, it's not new, but Holla just 33 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: discovered it a year or two ago. And she told 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: me she studied the different nine personality types, and she 35 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: said you're number one. And I was like, I know, 36 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: it's about time you caught onto that. I said, well, 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: what is it? She said, A perfectionist. I thought at 38 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: first she said perfection but she said ist. She said 39 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: a perfectionist. She said the motto of the number one 40 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: on the enneagram is it could always be better. And 41 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: I thought about how that can be such a wonderful 42 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: thing if you're trying to make something great and create 43 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: something special, but it can be such a horrible way 44 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: to approach her everyday life that it could always be better. 45 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: And you meet these people every once in a while, 46 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: don't you. I never forget the guy who got a 47 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: raise and I congratulated him, and he said, oh, I 48 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: wish my tax bill is about to go through the roof. 49 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: One guy he saw us doing the baptisms at the church, 50 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: and we baptized over two thousand people, remember Rick in 51 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: two weeks. And when I told him about it, no 52 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: listen this way, he said, Wow, your water bill must 53 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: have been through the roof, always looking for how it 54 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: could be better. And I relate to this because, honestly, 55 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: I think y'all ought to thank God for all the 56 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: perfectionists like me. I know we're annoying, but don't you 57 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: kind of want a perfectionist to design the airplane that 58 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: you fly in? Well, you want somebody who just glued 59 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: the wings on kind of halfway straight. Give him more peanuts. 60 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: They'll never notice. But the blessing of seeking perfection may 61 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: be progress, And yet the byproduct so many times in 62 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: our lives is that we can often in our quest 63 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: for perfection fill our minds with ways that it could 64 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: be better when not realizing that some of the best 65 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: things in our life come through not the things that 66 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: we asked or prayed for, but the things that we 67 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: are currently working through. The challenge for the author of 68 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: Hebrews is that he's writing to a group of Christians 69 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: whose lives are getting worse. They have accepted Jesus as 70 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: the Messiah, and that caused all of their Jewish counterparts 71 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: to think that they were crazy, that they had absolutely 72 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: lost their minds to follow the teachings of a carpenter 73 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: who was crucified on a Roman cross. And so now 74 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: this group of Christians in Rome is being written to 75 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: to encourage don't go back and just look at somebody 76 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: next to you, because they've been tempted lately. Tell him, 77 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: don't go back. That's the temptation. Don't go back, don't 78 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: go back to the old way of doing it, because 79 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: this way is better. And the Christians in Rome who 80 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: are about to face severe persecution from Nero. This for 81 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: anybody who's going through anything right now. It might not 82 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: be Nero persecuting you, but it can just be the 83 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: unfamiliar territory of trying to learn to live by grace 84 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: and faith when you are constantly being tempted to live 85 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: by logic and calculation. And what is fair the temptation 86 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: to control? When God is calling you to surrender and 87 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: there is a temptation to go back to the old way, 88 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: and he's telling them, don't go back. Jesus is better. 89 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: He tells him that. Thirteen times in the Book of 90 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: Hebrews he uses this word, that a perfectionist like me 91 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: really lie. In the Greek, the word is chritone, and 92 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: it means better. Is translated several different ways in English superior, supreme, 93 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: but mostly is translated better, better in quality, better in substance, 94 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: better by comparison. Jesus is better, and he's better because 95 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: he made a better covenant than the old covenant. A 96 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: covenant is an oath. God didn't make an agreement with humanity. 97 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: He made an agreement with his son. He knows that 98 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: you have a hard time holding up your into the bargain, 99 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: So rather than make an agreement with your fickle faith, 100 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: he made an agreement with his faithful son, who was 101 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: obedient even unto death death on the cross. He did 102 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: it better. He says that we have a better hope, 103 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: not the kind of hope that only works when things 104 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: are going in your direction, but a kind of hope 105 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: that is like an anchor for the soul. He Brew 106 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: says it is a better hope because an anchor only 107 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: works when it hits the bob. There is a certain 108 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: kind of hope that floats, and as long as everything 109 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: on the surface is going good, you feel pretty good. 110 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: And then there is a better hope, a crytone hope, 111 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: a hope that gets down to the bottom, and it 112 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: doesn't fully function and serve its intended purpose until it 113 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: is at that bottom place. If you've bottomed out in 114 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: your emotions, if you've bottomed out in your bank account, 115 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: if your health has bottomed out, if you feel like 116 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: the worst is happening to you, I want you to 117 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: know that you have a better critone hope in Jesus, 118 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: because he's better. Somebody shall better, better covenant, better hope, 119 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: better promises. The Bible says that Jesus had a better ministry, 120 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: not only a better ministry, but that his blood speaks 121 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: a better word. So when condemnation rises up in your 122 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: heart to tell you what you're not, remember for a 123 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: moment who Jesus is, and if he went into the 124 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: Holy of Holies and shed not the blood of bulls 125 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: and goats, but the blood of his very own perfect 126 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: life for your sake. When a drop of his blood 127 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: hit the mercy seat, it spoke over your life, a 128 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: future and a hope that is better. And it doesn't 129 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: matter what has been, because what's ahead is better. But 130 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: I'm getting ahead of myself. And these Christians who have 131 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: lost so much are left wondering if Jesus is better, 132 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: how come my situation is getting so much worse? See 133 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 1: better is subjective, right? Some things are just better than 134 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: others objectively. Kendrick Lamar J. Cole. One of those is better. 135 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: iOS Android, some things are just better. I didn't even 136 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: take a side, and y'all are booing me. Pharisees. Some 137 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: things are just better Clipson Tigers every other football team 138 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: this season. Chrispy krean dunkin Donuts. I won't even have 139 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: the conversation. You cannot beat. I'm prophesying over your future 140 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: after church today, an original glazed hot dozen't I prophesy 141 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: over your life. The carbohydrates won't even count. Stop buy 142 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: and get one and see if it doesn't melt in 143 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: your mouth, it will bless you. Leo horrible. Sorry, things 144 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: are just better. But when it comes to things that 145 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: really matter in life, I think all of us know 146 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:11,719 Speaker 1: that better is a perspective. It's very subjective. You know 147 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: why you think some people's lives are better than yours 148 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: because you see the part that they show you. They 149 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: might have a better house, but I wonder what goes 150 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: on inside and see, you don't know which one's better. Oh, 151 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,319 Speaker 1: if you live long enough, you will find out that 152 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: some of the people you spent so much of your 153 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: time envying were secretly miserable. Better is a perspective. Better 154 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: is not necessarily something that you can measure from what 155 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: you can see with your eyes. But we all live 156 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: in this world. Like you gotta get the iPhone? What 157 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: is it eleven that just came out? Well, I gotta 158 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: get it. I don't even like the text I get 159 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: now from people on the old one. No, it's better. 160 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:13,719 Speaker 1: It's got a camera that can see through people, it 161 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: can put X ray vision, it could it's better. Oh, 162 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: I gotta get it. It's better. You know that's interesting 163 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: because the writer of Hebrews, he goes all the way 164 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: back to get the people to move forward. He goes 165 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: all the way back to get the people to move forward. 166 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: He knows the only way that they're going to move 167 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: forward in their faith is if they go backwards. Go 168 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: backwards better. I thought i'd be better by now you are. 169 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: Look where you started. You remember when you weren't even 170 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: going to church? Look at you? Now you gotta pin. 171 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: You're gonna steal it, But at least you stole it 172 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: from a church. That's better. Tellch somebody, say I'm doing better. 173 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: I'm doing better. If you could see my bloodline, I'm 174 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: doing better. If you could see the thoughts that I 175 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: didn't act on, if you could see the temptations that 176 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: I did resist, I promise you I'm doing better. See 177 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: a subjective, and this relative better compared to what every 178 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: time I preach. I know, because I am a number 179 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: one that the sermon could be better. Of course, I'm 180 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: speaking on behalf of God. The gap between what he 181 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: knows and what I say will always be a pretty 182 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: big one. So I understand that it could always be better, 183 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: and that torments me sometimes, Truly it does, because a 184 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: lot of times, you know, I get used to doing 185 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: things a certain way. Remember, these people that the author 186 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: is writing to so eloquently are not unfamiliar with religion. 187 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: They came from a religious system, not out of a 188 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: meth lab. They're not being tempted to go back to 189 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: the world. They're being tempted to go back to an 190 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: old religious system and to drift away, or he says, 191 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: fall away from grace. He makes an argument that you 192 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: should be further along by now. He says that in 193 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,959 Speaker 1: chapter five that you should be teachers by now, but 194 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: you're still dealing with the basics. And then he says 195 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: that if you fall away from grace, that it's impossible 196 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: to come back. When I read that, I got depressed 197 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: until I realized what he was really saying is that 198 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: if you ever really get grace, you can't really fall away. 199 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,680 Speaker 1: And what he's teaching them Jerry, is kind of like 200 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: on tennis. He has to teach them to switch their grip. 201 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: When I first came to get him to teach me, 202 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: the first thing he said to me was because I 203 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: had developed my own unique style of playing tennis. I 204 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: wasn't good at it or anything, but I had this 205 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: certain way of getting the ball over the net that 206 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: worked for me. And as long as the person on 207 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: the other side of the net was less athletic than me, 208 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: my way worked just fine. Or even if they were 209 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: more athletic than me, I would only pick people to 210 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: play against who I knew had never played. It was 211 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: good for my ego and my self esteem, but bad 212 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: for my tennis skills. And when I first came out 213 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: to Robert Stevens, if you want to look him up 214 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: on Google, get him for a tennis teacher. He's pretty good. 215 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: But when I first went out there, this made me 216 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: mad because he said, let me see what I'm working with. 217 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: Show me your serve. So I did what I do. 218 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: You know, I had this little thing. I put my 219 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: pointer finger on the racket like that. It's my grip. Okay, 220 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: it puts the ball over the net six miles an 221 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: hour maybe, but it gets over the net into the box. 222 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: It works. And when he saw my grip, he said, okay, 223 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: now you need to hold it like this, and he 224 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: switched my grip. Let me tell you what happened when 225 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: he switched my grip. When he switched my grip, the 226 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: ball no longer went over the net. Instead, it went 227 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: over the fence. When he switched my grip. My percentage 228 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: shots that went in the box went way down. And 229 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: I looked at him, like, I'm paying you for this crap. 230 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: You switched my grip, but you didn't fix my serve. 231 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: But I didn't understand at the time that sometimes in 232 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: order to get to better, you have to go backwards. 233 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: Y'all help me preach if you have spiritual ears, sometimes 234 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: in order to get to better, you have to go 235 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: through bad. And I'm preaching this for somebody today who 236 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: has been feeling like things have been going backwards for you. 237 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: The thing about it is when God shows you a 238 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: new grip called grace for a little while in your 239 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: life is harder for you because you're used to controlling 240 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: things and manipulate things. And when you get something new. 241 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed if you get something new, even 242 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: if it's better at first, it gets on your nerves 243 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: because you don't know how to use it. And the 244 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: temptation for us is watch this. God will do a 245 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: new thing in our life, and he'll be teaching us 246 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: to forgive, and he'll be teaching us to get over offences, 247 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: and he'll be teaching us to trust him, and he'll 248 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: be teaching us to find different ways to connect to joy, 249 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: and he'll be teaching us to not be so fake, 250 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: and he'll be teaching us not to live by our feelings. 251 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: But then we look at what he fixed on our grip, 252 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: and we see our shot going so far over the fence, 253 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: and I wonder if I would actually be better off 254 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: doing it the old way then the new way. So 255 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: I go back instead of moving forward into better. He said, 256 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: you can't go back. You you have something better. Better. 257 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: When you get depressed, you stop believing that. When you 258 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: get uncomfortable, you stop believing that. You start trying to 259 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: grip life like you used to. We got to go 260 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: backwards to get better. We got to go all the 261 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: way back to get better. That means I have to 262 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: be comfortable in some seasons of my life. I'm looking 263 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: into the camera because I think this is for somebody 264 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: watching online. I have to be comfortable in my life 265 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: to accept that sometimes loss is the way to gain. 266 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: I have to be comfortable enough in my life to 267 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: know that sometimes the most painful moments are the most 268 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: purposeful moments. I have to be comfortable in my life 269 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: to stop comparing myself so much with people who are 270 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: not meant to be the standard anyway. Jesus is better. 271 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: I know some of you are intimidating because you don't 272 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: know if you're as good of a Christian as some 273 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: of the other people in the room. But let me 274 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: tell you something about being a better Christian. You know, well, 275 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: they're a better Christian than me. Look, they've memorized all 276 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: this scripture. They're not better at Christians. They're better at memory. 277 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: They just got a better memory. That doesn't make them 278 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: a better Christian. The religious people that crucified Jesus had 279 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: a good memory. They could quote all six hundred plus laws. 280 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: They're not better than you. I wish you would tell 281 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: the person next to you, you're not better than me. No, 282 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: when it comes to my purpose, See, better is relative 283 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: to purpose? Can I appreci this? So I walked into 284 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: a guitar center and I asked Jamie behind the counter, 285 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: which one is better? I was buying software for Elijah 286 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: to make beats. Which one is better? He said, that 287 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: depends what you want to use it for. That depends 288 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: how you intend to utilize the software. Better is relative 289 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: to purpose. Some of you think that everybody else is better, smarter, taller, 290 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: Maybe God need is somebody short enough to fit through 291 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: that door? Have you ever thought about that? Maybe God 292 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: needed somebody ignorant enough to display his wisdom. Maybe God 293 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 1: need is somebody harmful enough to know that it is 294 00:19:49,160 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: not I but Christ in me? And besides, if Jesus 295 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 1: Christ walks in this room, none of us are gonna 296 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 1: have any fashion show to put on. None of us 297 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: are gonna roll out our righteous deeds. We all have 298 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And 299 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: grace is a way of life because you need Him 300 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: like I need him, and his blood that was enough 301 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: for you wasn't enough for me. 302 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 2: If it clints Billy Graham, it can hit me too, 303 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 2: because he's better, because he's better. 304 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: And the fact that he's better doesn't mean that sometimes 305 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: life won't get worse. So we need a new definition 306 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: of better. What if better is not always higher? What 307 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: if better sometimes is deeper? What if better is not 308 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: always a feeling? What if it's more like a foundation. 309 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 1: What if better is not always what God is doing 310 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: for you, but sometimes it's what He's doing through you. 311 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: They couldn't recognize Jesus when he came in the form 312 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: of a baby because they were waiting for something better. 313 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: They couldn't recognize Jesus when he was led away silently 314 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,719 Speaker 1: and didn't say a word before his accusers, because if 315 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: he's really the son of God, he should say something 316 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: and come down. They expected better. And is it possible 317 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: that better is right in front of us and we 318 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: don't even recognize it, so we don't receive it. You 319 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: know what? Some of us are so used to bad 320 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: that we reject better when it comes. Sometimes backwards feels better, 321 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: feels familiar. Sometimes we'll go back to bad relationships because 322 00:21:54,760 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: they feel better. Oh, i'm preaching now, he got quaed 323 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,360 Speaker 1: when backwards I called the sermon when better feels backwards? 324 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: But what about when backwards feels better? I think I'll 325 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: just go back to this. I think I'll just go 326 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: back to that. I think I'll just quit trying at this. 327 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: I think I'll use my old grip. I'm tired of waiting. 328 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 1: That's what happened to Abraham. By the way. God told 329 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 1: him he was going to do it a certain way, 330 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:30,120 Speaker 1: but he thought he knew better, so instead of waiting, 331 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 1: he went in and slept with the servant of his wife, Sarah. 332 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: Her name became Sarah, but Abraham went in and made 333 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: a baby with her because God had a promise and 334 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: a timetable for the promise. But Abraham, I know you 335 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: never did this before, but he thought he knew better 336 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: than God. And the Bible even uses this illustration of 337 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: Abraham in Hebrew six. He reaches backward to show them 338 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,479 Speaker 1: how much better it is to wait for the promise 339 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: of God. He reaches all the way back to Abraham 340 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,439 Speaker 1: that was like the progenitor or the father of the 341 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: faith of the whole nation. This is what they came from. 342 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: And now as they're attempted to go back away from 343 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: what they're walking into, as their lives get worse, as 344 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: their situation seems to decrease and diminish, he reaches back 345 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: to Abraham and he talks about how he patiently waited 346 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,959 Speaker 1: for the promise of God. But that's not the whole story. 347 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: See before Abraham patiently waited for Isaac, the child of Promise, 348 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: to be born through Sarah, he got the word from God, 349 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: and then he went and did something that he thought 350 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: was better because he got tired of waiting. He had 351 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: the right word, but the wrong wombo, and so he 352 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: went in. Now I know why he did this because 353 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: Abraham was from a place called Er of the Caldas, 354 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: and so are we not geographically, and it's spelled differently. 355 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: He was from er you are, but ours is spelled er. 356 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: Because anything that God does in our life, all we 357 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: have to do is go on our phones and find 358 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:27,439 Speaker 1: somebody who is er than us, better, er, rich er, 359 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: strong er, happy, er, thin er, ripped er, cute er. 360 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: This the one that'll break your heart. You think your 361 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: kids are smart, and then you get around some other 362 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,120 Speaker 1: kids and you realize that your kids, by product of comparison, 363 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: were better than their three year old brother but around 364 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: the same age kids, it's always this temptation. You don't 365 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 1: have to do anything but flip on a commercial and 366 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: they will be pulling you back to the land of er. 367 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: It's better is better, And there are things in your 368 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: life right now that you're like, it'd be so much 369 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: better if would it really? Are you sure? Yeah? Yeah? 370 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: If I was famous, that would be amazing. I would 371 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 1: be significant. If people knew my name, Oh really, that 372 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: would be better. You never saw celebrity commit suicide? Are 373 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: you sure it would be better? Is that? What better? Really? Is? Well? 374 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: If I had this amount of money, I wouldn't have 375 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: any problems. Are you sure about that? You never met 376 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: a miserable rich person. I can introduce you to a few. 377 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: It's not like this is new. It's not like it's 378 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: only for the church here in Rome that is being 379 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: persecuted for their faith. We are all drawn back to 380 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: the land of earth of looking around and never feeling 381 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: really enough, and comparing ourselves to things that were never 382 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: meant to be our standard. The only standard worthy of 383 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: your comparison is the full potential of Christ in you, 384 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 1: the hope of glory. And I want to declare over 385 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: some of our lives today. We don't even realize how 386 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: good it already is. We are forgiven, set free, redeemed, breathing, clapping, walking, 387 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: talking examples of the miracle working power of God. I 388 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: released this over your life. It's already better. You can 389 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:36,360 Speaker 1: already rejoice. You can give thanks right now for His goodness. 390 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: Criton better, better, better, better. Don't let the quest for 391 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: better in your life make you miss the grace of 392 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: God that is already present. I'm preaching to every enneagram 393 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: one right now. It could always be better, but it 394 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: already is. Look what I deserved, and look what he did. 395 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 1: He did not treat me as my sins deserve. It's 396 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: already better. I'm gonna walk around saying that all week. 397 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: It's already better. It's already I'm gonna declare it by 398 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: faith on things that I'm waiting for God to do. 399 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: It's already better. It's already better. It's already better. It's 400 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: already better because once you give up the hope that 401 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: it can never be better, the only option is to 402 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: go back. And yet I'm so interested in how this 403 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: writer constructs his argument better better. He starts the whole 404 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: book of Hebrews talking about Jesus Christ in his glory, 405 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: and he doesn't give an introduction. He just gets right 406 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: to business. He grabs the mic, starts talking about long 407 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: ago at many times, in many ways, God spoke to 408 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: our fathers by the prophece. He's going backwards. He's giving 409 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,719 Speaker 1: them what so many of us desperately need in our lives, 410 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: a frame of reference. You know, when the devil starts 411 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: speaking to you, you lose all sense of where you 412 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: really are in your life, and you lose all sense. 413 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: You're drifting. Now, you're falling. Now you forget how good 414 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: grace is, because all you can think about is how 415 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: bad you are. So he brings them all the way back. 416 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: He rewinds it all the way back, and he says, 417 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: long ago, in various times, various ways, God spoke through 418 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: our fathers, the prophets give me the next verse. But 419 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: in these last days He has spoken to us by 420 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: his son. Now he's beginning to construct the argument cry tone. 421 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: Everybody say criytone, not cruton. But I'm gonna help you 422 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: remember it, cry tone better. He's going to introduce that 423 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: word for the first of thirteen times in this epistle 424 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: letter declaration that he said, I'm convinced of better things 425 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: concerning you. Well, how do you know. You don't know 426 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: me like that. You don't know what's going on in 427 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: my life. You don't know what I'm actually dealing with. 428 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: You're up here preaching all this stuff. You don't know. 429 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: My mom is sick and in a nursing home and 430 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,719 Speaker 1: I can barely afford to pay for it, and I 431 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: haven't been to visit her. But once this year you 432 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: don't know gup, you're talking about better? Well, the writer 433 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: of Hebrew says, let's go back long ago in various ways, 434 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: and at various times God spoke through the prophets. But 435 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: now in these last days he has spoken to us 436 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things. 437 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: Somebody say better, Come on, I need full participation on 438 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: every location. Say better. Jesus is better. The prophets were good. 439 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: Jesus is better. The old way is good, the new 440 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: way is better. Duncan Donuts is good, but Chrispy Kreme 441 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: is hot. Now I see the sign, preaching Pastor Fernitt. 442 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: In these last days, he has spoken by his son, 443 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: whom he appointed, is a better operating system because he 444 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 1: is the heir of all things, through whom he also 445 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: created the world. He is the radiance of the glory 446 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: of God. It doesn't get any better, and the exact 447 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: imprint of his nature. It is perfection in flesh, and 448 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: he upholds the universe by the word of his power. 449 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: Somebody shall better Verse four, and I'll leave you alone, 450 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 1: says this, having become as much superior to angels as 451 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Now, 452 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: what surprised me about that verse was not that he 453 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: chose to say that Jesus is better than the angels. 454 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: Of course, the creator is better than his creation. He 455 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: made the angels. It stands to reason that he's better 456 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: than the angels. There is nothing in your life that 457 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 1: God has given you that he is not greater than. 458 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: Don't worship the gift. Worship the giver. The giver is 459 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: the source, The gift is the resource. He's better. Somebody 460 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: say he's better. That's the Greek word he translates. He says, 461 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: having become as much verse four, superior, cry tone better. 462 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: It's the same word better, covenant, better, word, better, promise, better, 463 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: ministry better, better, better. Jesus is better than the angels. 464 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: And I'm not surprised whatever you put in the next 465 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: blank Jesus is greater than He's better than popularity. He's 466 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: better than man's praise. He's better than a high you 467 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: can get from some people. He's better than what you 468 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: can put in your body and feel good for five hours. 469 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: He's better, better, better. That's not what surprised me. What 470 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: surprised me is when it said in verse four, Pardey 471 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: having become because he already was perfect, So how did 472 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: he become better? I know from my study of the 473 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: Word of God that he did not improve in character. 474 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: I know from my study in the Word of God 475 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: that Jesus didn't go into the gym and get gains 476 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: bro I know from what I know about his immutable 477 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: which means unable to be changed nature, that he didn't 478 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: get better like people get better. So in order to 479 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: understand when that shocked me, that just stopped me, I said, 480 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: I know he's better, but he didn't become better. He 481 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: was already better, and I had to go backwards to 482 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: understand better. I'm appreciate to you all. Three. In verse three, 483 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: it describes this process by which God became a man. 484 00:32:55,200 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: What's better a god or a man? So right answer, 485 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: ding ding ding, gold star God. But it said he 486 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: became better. He didn't get better. He was revealed as better. 487 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: And how did he do it? Because how we think 488 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: of better is we climb up. But Jesus is not drake. 489 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: He didn't start from the bottom. My God, this word 490 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: is just blessing me enough to subscribe to the podcast. 491 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: He started in a celestial space that is untouched by 492 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: the temporal. He started in eternity and came into time. 493 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 1: He started robed in divinity and glory and entered into 494 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: flesh and shame. Watch verse three. It says he was 495 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: the radiance of the glory of God. He didn't become 496 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: that he was, that he was the exact imprint of 497 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,239 Speaker 1: his nature. He didn't become that he was that he 498 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: upholds the universe by the power of his word. That's 499 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: not what he did, that's who he is. So how 500 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:11,279 Speaker 1: did he become better? He made purification for sins and 501 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: then sat down. Jesus. I need you to hear this. 502 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,720 Speaker 1: For everybody who is dealing with shame and you feel 503 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: like you've been going backwards because you keep slipping and 504 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: you keep stumbling and you feel like I'm going backwards. 505 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: I want to tell you Jesus went backwards so we 506 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 1: could see that he was better. Now, I need to 507 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: seconds a phrase from the church from Nairobi to Caston 508 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: County and Balentine in the back section given praise. If 509 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:55,359 Speaker 1: you'll know he came down to left there out and 510 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:59,479 Speaker 1: so if you've been going down lately, if you haven't 511 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 1: been feeling it lately, if some things have been subtracted lately, 512 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:10,280 Speaker 1: I wanted to declare, you're getting better. Backwards, God's gonna 513 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: do it in you. He is preparing you stand up 514 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,480 Speaker 1: and let me pray for the people. God says, sometimes 515 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:23,440 Speaker 1: you gotta get better backwards. Sometimes you gotta switch the 516 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: grip and understand that it's His grace and mercy, not 517 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: your effort and your ability to walk in perfect fame. 518 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:41,840 Speaker 1: I'm getting better backwards. I'm getting better through the power 519 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 1: of the things that I endure. 520 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 3: And I refuse to go back. I refuse to go 521 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:54,719 Speaker 3: back when what I have is better. Make that declaration, 522 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,040 Speaker 3: say what I have is better. 523 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: D O. Moody, the Great evangelist, was talking one time 524 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:06,280 Speaker 1: to a critic. The man didn't like his preaching because 525 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,960 Speaker 1: he made too many grammatical errors and the man knew 526 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:15,239 Speaker 1: better English than D. L. Moody. But just because you 527 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:27,400 Speaker 1: know better English doesn't make you a better preacher. Amen. Amen. 528 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 1: And even though the man criticized him, he responded with humility. 529 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 1: And then the story that was told of him said 530 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,279 Speaker 1: that when a man approached him and said, hey, I 531 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,919 Speaker 1: don't like the way that you give invitations, I don't 532 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 1: think it's I don't think it's good. And he was 533 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,439 Speaker 1: used to bring so many people to Christ. Right. This 534 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 1: was back in the day when you couldn't leave a 535 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,920 Speaker 1: comment on somebody's YouTube. You had to tell him if 536 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: you didn't like them, straight to their face. These were 537 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: better times, no internet courage back then. He said, I 538 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: don't like the way you do it, and dal Moody said, 539 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: neither do I. I'm trying to find a better way. 540 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,719 Speaker 1: Then he asked the man. He said, uh, how do 541 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 1: you do it? And the man said, I don't. I 542 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:27,000 Speaker 1: don't have a way. D L Moody said, I like 543 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: mine better. Then I like mine better. I know it's 544 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 1: not pretty sometimes, and other people's progress can make you 545 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: tempted to revert to past ways of thinking when you 546 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:47,840 Speaker 1: compare yourself to the wrong standard. But in the presence 547 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: of God, in the presence of Jesus, who is greater 548 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: than all things, and the eternal Christ, whose word has 549 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,120 Speaker 1: spoken not only from eternity, but from time, from Him 550 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: who knew no sin, who became sin, that we might 551 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 1: become the righteousness of God, he says, don't get discouraged 552 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: in your life. Don't get discouraged by your marriage. Don't 553 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:14,000 Speaker 1: get discouraged by another people's another person's marriage, bad grammar, 554 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: good theology. I feel your dl Moody, he said, don't 555 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: get discouraged by what you don't have that they do have. 556 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: But instead I want you to declare over your life 557 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:30,160 Speaker 1: today that relative to my purpose, there is not a 558 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:34,799 Speaker 1: better person to be on the earth, in position on assignment, 559 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 1: humbled before the presence of God. You know what makes 560 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,600 Speaker 1: you better for the job than anybody else. The fact 561 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,440 Speaker 1: that you know that you can't do it on your own. 562 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 1: That's what makes you better in this world of improving, 563 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:01,319 Speaker 1: in this world of approving, and it could always be 564 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: er Er. Don't miss what is on the way to 565 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,160 Speaker 1: a place called er. God's name is not the great 566 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:20,439 Speaker 1: I Er, He's the great I Am. I need six 567 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: hundred people to celebrate this word right now. The blood 568 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 1: of Jesus speak so better word. Thank you for joining us. 569 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 570 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,520 Speaker 1: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 571 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,480 Speaker 1: You can click the link in the description to give now, 572 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,920 Speaker 1: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 573 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,600 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 574 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 1: can share it with your friends. You can click the 575 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 576 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 1: social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again 577 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:02,640 Speaker 1: for listening. God bless you.