Graduation Day - Eternity Eyes & Legacy Lives

How many of you are runners?

Ha!

How many of us are going to be after all we ate this weekend?

Any of you joggers?

Any of you uh any joggers here?

Wow.

Hmm.

Well I can tell you why, because I I have some I have some comments from uh joggers.

These are these are real comments and runners of various kinds.

I got my treadmill.

I do my treadmill.

I do all my walking and running on the treadmill.

It's all weather and any time, so that's good, usually late at night.

Um Forrest Gump said I used to run to get where I was going, but I never thought it would take me anywhere What?

Um someone said the faster I get there, the faster I can start eating.

They're running a marathon.

Uh that says I'm only doing this so I can post a picture on Facebook.

The trouble is that the trouble with jogging is that by the time you realize you're not in shape to do it, it's too far to walk back.

I like this.

If found on the ground, please drag to finish line.

That would be me, I think.

Um my other legs are Kenyan.

Wow.

Um Yeah, but there's a couple here that are very interesting.

You might remember Cherry Safire was a picture movie of the year back in the eighties and um the story of Eric Little, the wonderful Christian man who um whose life was so extraordinary, they made a movie about him.

And uh he he is um he's up against a guy who's being coached by one of the legendary track coaches of the day, Sam Mussabini And in the movie, he makes this statement.

He said, only think of two things, the gun and the tape.

When you hear the one, just run like crazy until you break the other.

Think about the gun and the tape.

Now what's interesting is that Jesus guys, Team Jesus, heard the starting gun in Galilee when Jesus said, follow me, and they did.

The question is, will they make it to the tape?

Because of what is about to happen.

Here's another one of the runners' quotes.

Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like. to quit.

They are about to experience the most painful days of their life as Jesus is heading for the cross.

The question is, what's going to keep them from quitting?

Or you, for that matter.

So Jesus now, last night with the guys.

We got one last mountain and one last accelerant to enlarge the impact of the rest of your life.

Their world is going to blow up in the next couple of days, even next couple of hours.

Jesus will be arrested.

Judas, who's been one of the gang the whole time, one of the the they thought brothers, will sell Jesus out and will kill himself.

Jesus will be dead.

They will be fugitives It's going to look very, very grim.

And Jesus is now having his final huddle with his guys. before what's going to turn out to be the biggest game of all.

So what does he do?

I thought, now you see this is kind of out of order, obviously.

We already did the cross and the resurrection.

Why is this the last one?

Well, because this is sort of what we are doing here Because you're ready to go back to the real world, you're headed back into the things that you left and things that may have come up while you're gone.

So it would seem like what Jesus covered in his final huddle with his guys, this is our huddle to get you ready for the game.

So what did Jesus talk about?

to make sure that they didn't just hear the gun, but they heard the tape they made it to the tape.

I call this their graduation day Because they are about to graduate.

They've had three years of school with him, and now it's time to put it to work.

They're headed into their future.

So here's some questions.

How do you prepare people to lead, especially when they're going to be without you?

How about how do you prepare people to survive the brutal storms?

I mean one of them is going to hit in minutes when Jesus is arrested How do you prepare them to risk?

Because you're going to be asking them to risk for the rest of their lives.

By the way, I had one of our good friends and longtime friends and brother here just tell me during our break.

This is so cool and it's cool enough I thought it might inspire you.

He said he thanked me for getting him out of his comfort zone.

I guess that's a thank you.

I I said, Well nobody flies in the nest, you know.

You can't no eagle has ever flown in the nest.

But you know what he said?

He said, I realized because we just moved, and he said we moved to a different community, and I realized while I was here that God moved us to a mission field, not just another neighborhood.

And he said, I have to interact with these contractors all the time.

I said, why do you have to interact with contractors?

He said, because their trucks are always blocking our car and we can't get out of the driveway.

Because they're, I guess they're building a lot of stuff in the neighborhood Uh and um so he said, I understand now they're in my mission field.

So he's talking about having a barbecue for them and telling his hope story to them.

And uh we already got his wife signed up, Carol does.

We already volunteered her to bake chocolate cookies for them, to build a bridge, to have an opportunity to share their hope story.

Isn't that cool?

So, but but he's taking a risk.

Well, how do you prepare people?

These are the guys are going to have to risk.

How do you get them ready to attempt big things And how to handle hard things.

Well, here's the last mountain.

We are at Mount Huddle.

We are at Mount Huddle, the final mountain.

The equipping in the huddle.

And in this equipping, I tried to boil this down because John's the one who records everything about it, basically.

Well remember he's the one who was the disciple Jesus loved.

He was the one always sitting next to him at the table, it seemed like.

And so he heard a lot of what Jesus said.

He was up close and personal with Jesus.

And so he's the one who reports. on the agenda of Jesus to send people out to live the rest of their lives for him.

Four pillars, best way I could boil this down I can't do it justice in the time we have, but I can tell you four pillars that I found of a supernatural life.

That's a legacy life.

First one, um let's uh let's go to the scripture in John 13 first.

We'll come back to the point.

Can we do that?

There we go.

It was just before the Passover festival Jesus knew this is the same upper room, knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress.

And the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

And by the way, let's stop there for just a second.

The best that Bible scholars can do to figure out how they were sinning.

It wasn't the Da Vinci painting where the photographer said, okay, guys, everybody on this side of the table.

It would have looked more like a horseshoe type thing.

And it appears from the things that happened and Jesus handing something to Judas and so on, it's very likely that a lot of that argument over who was going to be the most important had to do with who was going to sit where.

And John would have been on one side, and probably Judas, right next to Jesus.

He wanted to be right next to Jesus And that's the night that Jesus said, you're the one who's going to betray me.

One of the reasons they believe that is nobody else heard it.

Nobody else knew what he had said to Judas.

Judas must have been very close to him.

And so Jesus is sitting next to the one he knows, is just ready to sell him out.

So Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God.

So he got up from the meal.

Stop there just a second.

Hold that scripture.

Took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist.

And after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet. drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Here's the first pillar.

You can do big things if you give up being big.

You can do big things if you give up being big.

Here's let me tell you what's been going on in the room.

They've been arguing over being king of the hill.

Who's going to be king of the hill?

It has been all about ego in that room.

So the most important person in the room, the most important person in the universe gets up, gets a towel, fills the space in with water, and does what the lowest slave would do usually do.

There weren't any in the room.

So Jesus said, I'll be the slave, I'll be the servant.

Why don't you guys keep trying to figure out who's the assistant Messiah?

I will wash your feet.

Can you imagine any sermon that would have been that good?

That says it all.

And he shows them what I call his upside-down idea of what makes a leader.

Jesus totally he just totally upsets, uninverts what we normally think of as a leader.

One of my favorite writers, uh Warren Wearsby, uh, says this about that upper room that night.

And uh I almost smile at this because it's too true.

It seems incredible that a hunger for recognition should possess these guys at the hour when their Lord was facing suffering and death.

Holy places and holy occasions provide no immunity against selfishness and pride.

Satan was in the upper room.

And he has been known to attend board meetings and committee meetings, although he never answers the roll call.

Any of you have been in a church business meeting that you suspect There wasn't somebody in the room you didn't know, was there?

I just think that's that is true.

And it's like, this is unthinkable.

So here's what Jesus does.

He wants them to know where their significance is.

You see, how could Jesus So humbly do this.

Did you hear the early verses?

He knew who he was.

He knew he'd come from God.

He knew he was going to God.

He knew his relationship with the Father.

When he's got his identity settled, see once you know who you are, and it doesn't depend on on what people say about you or think about you, you are secure.

And Jesus knows this, and he wants us to know this, that your significance is not in a position you hold.

If you ask a lot of us, you know, the first thing we ask somebody is, what do you do?

And I remember hearing about a management retreat years ago where they sent all these top managers away and they said, your first job tonight We're going to have a small group.

You're going to be together for a while.

I want you to talk about, tell us who you are, but just don't mention anything about your work.

It was very quiet.

Especially for guys.

Well I'm a uh uh I'm um I'm uh Who am I without what I do?

You are not your position?

By the way, the weakest form of leadership is positional leadership.

That's the guy people go, okay, I'll do it because you're the boss.

I'll do it because you're the pastor.

I'll do it because you're the teacher I wouldn't do it if you weren't.

Only authority you got is because you got a position, because you got title.

That's the weakest, lamest authority in the world.

What Jesus has is personal authority.

You come with personal authority.

You all, don't we all know people who don't even have a title?

Maybe in your church but they just have a lot of influence and people want to be around them and people want to know their opinion.

They just bring wisdom and they don't have a title.

That's personal authority.

There's positional authority and there's personal authority.

What Jesus comes with is like, I know who I am.

I have nothing to prove It 's wonderful to have nothing to prove.

You know what freedom that is?

I don't have to prove anything to you.

Because I'm not getting my worth from you.

So Jesus knows who he is.

He knows he's coming from God, going to God, and what happens?

Well, he says, I'm fine doing this.

You are son or daughter of the of the most high God.

That's who you are.

Granddaughter Noelle, she um uh she's gone here we go again.

Um Noelle, I called her one day, I call actually called the house and she answered the phone.

And um I said, how's my princess?

She said, oh no, Nalima, I'm not a princess.

I said, well yes you are, honey.

Why are you saying that?

She said, because I'm not wearing my princess dress today.

I said, honey, it's not your dress that makes your nalipas princess.

You're always my princess.

You're always God's prince.

You're always God's princess.

2 Corinthians 6 says we are sons and daughters of the Most High.

So you could right now, right now, why don't you turn to the person next to you and just say, I'm so honored to be with you, Princess Furfur.

Well, don't say furfur.

Uh, I'm so honored to be with you, Prince.

Whatever.

Yes, Prince.

Yes.

You are with royalty this morning, folks.

So you gotta know where your significance is in order to serve And you are secu listen, you got your notes?

You are secure enough to become a little deal, to make a big deal. of everyone else.

Jesus becomes a little deal there, doing the sloppiest, grungiest, lowest job And you can be you can make other people a big deal when you're not having to be a big deal yourself.

Listen to this about selfishness.

Selfishness, this is from John Piper, is a reflex, is a reflex.

Reflux?

Selfishness is a reflex to expect to be served.

Selfishness is a reflex to feel that I am owed.

Selfishness is a reflex to want praise.

Selfishness is a reflex to expect that things will go my way.

Selfishness is a reflex to feel that I have the right to react negatively to being crossed.

It's a lot more selfishness than we realized if that definition is true.

I'll tell you what, it is wonderful to be able to look in the mirror and say, I have nothing to lose and nothing to prove.

That's freedom, man.

I have nothing to lose, nothing to prove, and nothing to lose.

So Jesus basically shows us you can only be trusted with leadership.

If your agenda is others and not yourself.

If your agenda , most people aspiring to leadership, It's about them.

I want the spot.

I want to be on top.

I want to be in charge.

Well then Jesus says that's not what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for somebody who's all about other people.

A servant is all about other people.

Doesn't have much Prestige.

Look at Matthew 20.

This is an undertake on the argument to be great.

Jesus called them together.

This was in the midst of their arguing and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord and over them.

That's positional authority.

Lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Not so with you Instead, whoever wants to be great among you men, I can they're they're zone they're taught they're dialed in now.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh yeah?

Yeah, anybody who I yes.

What you looking for, Jesus?

You must be your servant.

Oh.

And whoever wants to be first must be your slave This is his upside-down view.

By the way, you'll notice the Son of Man did not come to be served.

If anybody deserved to be served, I would.

No, no, I came to serve.

In fact, to serve so much that I'll give my life as a ransom for many.

You know, we live in a selfie world.

Take selfie pictures.

A servant makes life, I've just made up a word.

A servant makes life a UI. instead of a selfie.

That's can we make that a word?

A UI?

Yeah.

If it's if it that a servant makes life a UI.

In other words, I turn the camera round.

This is not about me.

I'm not, and this is not, the picture's not about me, the picture's about you.

I'm living to do Uis, not selfies.

I mean you think about it.

What does a servant wake up in the morning What's he going to do that day?

It's all going to be determined by other people's needs.

That's what servants do.

It's not their own agenda.

They don't have their own agenda.

Their agenda is what do you need done?

I mean, let's take a server at a restaurant.

I mean, their agenda really is supposed to be what you want, what you need.

You determine their agenda They don't say, they don't tell you what they're going to do.

So that's what Jesus expects of a servant.

This is the one who had angels worshiping at his feet.

And what does he do?

He washes the disciples' feet at their most contentious.

People will follow someone who comes This is what makes people want to feel uh really want to trust a serving person.

They feel safe with you Because you don't have an agenda except them.

You have no agenda but them.

Do you realize if you have the gift, some of you do, to make a person feel safe in your company?

When they're with you, they breathe out, they relax, they're comfortable, they don't feel like they have to impress you.

And they can talk, they can they can open up and pour out their heart.

Be the person they feel safe with.

And when someone is a servant, I know of a lady who was from a very wealthy uh She and her husband were very wealthy, lived in a very exclusive gated community.

And and I remember her husband telling me, because she had some issues with alcohol and so on, and he told me, he said, you know, the only person my wife really will trust and talk to.

Is our housekeeper.

Well why?

Because the housekeeper doesn't oh she she's not there to do anything except serve this lady, and that's the only one that she would confide in So be this, and they also know that a servant's agenda is their needs.

After the uh 1991 uh Gulf War with Saddam Hussein Well during that war the Kurds were forced to flee by the tens of thousands.

And they were encamped out, and it was pretty bad weather, they were camped out in the mountains on the border of Turkey. in northern Iraq.

Well a lot of Christian organizations, because there was starvation, there were tremendous needs there, and so a lot of Christian ministries went there.

And uh and and we were handing out food and water and they were on their trucks and handing stuff out and and they had or at a distribution point.

But because these were all Moslem people, the opportunities to talk to share the gospel were very few, if any, except for one or one ministry.

And uh Karen, you're gonna like this.

It was operation mobilization.

And OM was there, but they were a little different.

What they did said we'll take care of the garbage.

And the garbage was pretty rotten.

And they went across those mountains and collected the grossest stuff.

Nobody else wanted to do the garbage They did the garbage.

Lots of it.

And they were the only ministry that had wide open opportunity. to share the gospel.

Because they won the right to share Jesus.

By doing the Tolem Basin.

And serving.

They were safe.

They were non-threatening.

And people wanted to know what makes you tick.

That's the beauty of being the servant.

You're the safe person.

People will trust you.

By the way, if you're too big for the small jobs, you're too small.

For the big jobs.

God says, I'm looking for a servant to trust.

Not somebody who's got to be somebody.

You already are somebody.

So stop it.

And help other people be somebody.

And it's interesting how Jesus does this.

Because as we go through the chapter, he starts to teach them about being a servant.

He explains what he's doing, but before he exhorts, he exemplifies.

Example precedes exhortation.

In other words, before you start preaching your sermon, before you start trying to make your point, demonstrate it.

Be it before you talk it.

A lot of parents could use that advice, huh?

That we model it.

Jesus does it before he talks about it.

Let example precede exhortation.

Before you start exhorting them.

Do what you're gonna be, what you're gonna ask them to become.

Here's the second pillar.

You can march into the unknown because you have God's internal guidance system.

You have your own instant GPS, God's positioning system.

You can march into the unknown, which these guys are about to do.

I'm guessing some of you are entering a new season of your life Or you're about to.

You headed in, you don't have a map.

That was one of my first waves that hit me when Karen was gone.

I've done life with her since I'm 19.

She's the only person who knew all the people I know. knew all the jokes and knew all the issues and and I mean we she was the only other person that lived my history with me And that is all gone.

Her counsel, her great wise counsel, gone.

Karen, what do you. . .

She's not there.

And I knew I was headed into a totally unmapped territory.

So you may be in an area with the f-there's some clouds over the future.

There's some unknowns about the future Well, this is important.

You can march into the unknown.

March.

I didn't say crawl.

I said march.

That's the reason I picked that word.

You can march into the unknown because you have God's internal guidance system.

Let's look at what that is all about, because this is what Jesus is getting his guys ready for.

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, hello, God's positioning service.

He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.

The spirit of truth is coming.

Now the world can't accept him because it doesn't see him or know him.

But you know him He lives with you.

Now you're not unacquainted with the Holy Spirit.

He's been around, but not in you.

And the disciples think this is going to be a step down because Jesus is going to be there.

Jesus, I can ask you anything.

We wake up in the morning, there you are on the other side of a campfire that's gone out during the night.

Where are we going to go today, Jesus?

That's great having you around.

You're not going to be here.

Well you realize he's like, guys, this is pretty limited.

I can only be with one group of people at one time.

But I'm this Holy Spirit in you is going to be with you, in you, I mean every move you make.

And every move any believer makes anywhere in the world will have me with them through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

So you know him, for he lives with you, and he's about to be in you All this I've spoken while still with you.

But the advocate, oh, his name, by the way, is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things And he will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Now, this is the oh, let's go over to John 16 We've got a few more things that Jesus said to them about the Holy Spirit.

This is his introduction time, introducing their very best new friend.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.

That must have been a hard one to swallow.

Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I'll send him to you.

When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin.

And righteousness and judgment.

About sin because people do not believe in me.

About righteousness because I'm going to the Father where you can see me no longer.

And about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

So here Jesus is making the introduction to the reason they can be confident when everything is going to be falling apart.

Now, put this in your notes.

The Holy Spirit is the difference maker.

Yeah, I know that's not a big theological term, but the Holy Spirit is the difference maker.

He closes the gaps in your life.

I listed several.

He's the difference maker when you don't know the answers.

John 14, 26, let's go.

John 14, 26, he said.

He will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.

So if he's going to teach you all things and there's something you don't know the answers , You say, God, through your Holy Spirit, you will not be left without the answers when you need the answers, because the one who knows the answers is in you and Jesus said he would tell you.

Secondly, he's a difference maker when you can't remember the verse.

You ever remember?

Wow, what is that?

Oh, there's a verse.

And not you don't have to remember the reference, but it's like How many of you have had the experience of the verse you couldn't think of that you somehow popped up?

Or at a time when you weren't even thinking about a verse, but you needed the verse, the verse popped up.

That's the Holy Spirit doing his thing.

So when because he said he will remind you of everything I have said to you.

So he's the verse rememberer.

He's the one who brings to your mind when you need what God says about it, he'll bring it to you.

He's the difference maker when you're making a wrong turn.

Because the Bible says that he will convict the world of sin.

When you're about to make a turn out of God's way.

The Holy Spirit is going to start turning up the heat and he's going to you're going to you're going to hear stop it in your heart.

That's the Holy Spirit.

He's the difference maker when you don't have what it takes to share Jesus.

You see, I just I don't know if I'll know what to say.

I'm afraid.

I don't know how they're going to react.

I don't know how to start.

John 15, 26 and 27 He says, he will testify about me.

And you must also testify.

Basically what he's saying is when you testify, the Holy Spirit's going to testify through you.

Sometimes I've done my magic trick here at the President's retreat Where I've had my glove pick up my Bible.

I don't have my glove with me today, but I have an amazing glove that can pick up my Bible.

And I would just put the glove down there and tell it to pick up my Bible.

Nothing happens, nothing happens.

But I put my hand in the glove, and you know what?

My glove can do things my glove can't do because of my hand in it.

Basically the Holy Spirit is God's hand in you.

Enabling you, glove.

Did you think you were the hand Well you ain't gonna get it done.

Your hand ain't gonna do much.

But if you're the glove, that means he said, when you're testifying about me He's going to testify about me and he's going to be the glove in you.

So you quit worrying.

I say, well, I don't have all the answers, so I can't tell Gail about Jesus.

Don't wait to have all the answers.

The Holy Spirit will show up with you do And do his thing.

Did you think this was you?

You're just a glove, but you've got to show up.

And the Holy Spirit is a difference maker when you're not sure what's the right thing to do.

John 16, 13.

This is all going on as in his huddle.

He will guide you.

He will guide you. into all the truth.

Wonderful promises.

All the things that we're afraid of about the unknown.

I won't have the answers.

I won't know the scripture.

I I might get it wrong.

Um I I I might not I not have what it takes.

I I'm not sure what's right.

He says, Holy Spirit.

Um there 's there was this um little fan this family coming out of um I think they were coming out of a store and mommy and daddy and a very little girl obviously just learning to walk.

She had this nice cute little pink dress on, um and she had a pink frilly cap on, and uh she was of course reaching up like this holding mommy and daddy's hand. trying to learn how to walk.

And she had because of that you could see she had these pink frilly little uh, you know, panties on under whatever it was underneath, the tutu, whatever you call them.

And um so she's she's all pink and uh all girl.

So she's walking like this, and uh and it's interesting because I I I said uh I said, you know.

If she could talk, she'd be saying, look at me, see?

I can walk.

I can walk.

And he and as I walked by on by, he said, yeah, but he said, sir, there's a there's a she has a problem.

I said, what's the problem?

He said, look.

He said, look, her hat has fallen down over her eyes.

He said So she's not just saying I can walk.

It's like, I can walk, but I can't see.

It was just really cute.

But I thought That's me so often.

I can walk, but I can't see the long-term consequences of my decision.

I can't always see what path I should take.

I can't see where the money's going to come from.

I can't see where the people are going to come from.

I can walk, but I can't see.

But when I walk in the leadership of the Holy Spirit, his promptings, his stops, his goes, his waits.

He can see where I can't.

He sees the ultimate consequences.

He knows where it's all going to come from.

So we can walk where we can't see because we have the Holy Spirit.

So you can go confidently in the unknown because you are, and I've made up a word, spirit steered.

You are spirit steered.

But you better Get used to listening to his voice and responding to his promptings.

Because he doesn't scream.

He whispers.

Some of you heard in a word with you about this just a couple of days ago, but it's just been on my mind lately.

Well, we were building the wonderful miracle headquarters that God gave us, or when God was building it, honestly.

All we had really was the was the barn at that time as the just the footings were down and we just the very beginnings of the headquarters were going up.

And people were donating things.

It's just such a miracle.

All of our electrical equipment was donated by a man I'd never met.

And uh there were people who were there was somebody who bought a like a truckload of office furniture I think the guy he's an entrepreneur and this company was going out of business and he got all their furniture and said, let's take it down to RHM.

So they had delivered it, but we couldn't bring get it in there because there was still work being done on the inside of the barn So we had to wait a few days before we brought it inside.

So it's all outside.

And uh I was gone speaking.

This is the uh do you know the you know Murphy's Law?

Anything that can't go wrong will go wrong.

Do you know Mrs.

Murphy's Law?

Mrs.

Murphy's laws, anything that can go wrong will go wrong while Murphy's out of town.

Well, this was a good example of that.

Murphy was out of town.

And uh all of a sudden, and nobody was around except Kieran.

And there's this big tarp, and there's a storm obviously coming in about to drench this wonderful donated office furniture.

Karen, farm girl, strong.

So she says, well I can do this.

So she starts to get, but that tarp was way too big and way too heavy for her to handle.

And here comes the rain very shortly.

All of a sudden, as often happens when a system is coming in, this big wind came in.

And it picked up the tarp and started to move it over the furniture.

And it'd lay down and then it would pick it up.

If she'd lift it up a little bit and the wind to get out of there, pick it up again.

And so what she wasn't able to do, she was able to do because there was this wind coming in that literally made possible what she couldn't possibly do by herself.

You know the word for spirit and wind are the same in biblical Greek?

Pneuma.

Yep.

The spirit is the wind of God.

And isn't it interesting that when you have something you can't lift, you can't get done?

The Holy Spirit is the difference maker.

The wind of God comes in.

And lifts what you can't lift and accomplishes what you can't accomplish.

That's why you can go boldly into the unknown.

That's why you can risk for your Jesus.

That's why you can step up your game.

That's where you can leave your comfort zone.

That's what these disciples need to hear.

So, here's the third pillar of supernatural living is this.

Comes in the huddle.

You can stop performing.

And relax because it's all God I think I was studying Galatians not too long ago.

And I was like, well, law and grace, you know, that's nice.

I'm, you know, I'm not under the law.

I don't feel like I'm under the law.

What is that?

And God just spoke to me and he said, Ron, do you understand the law was about performing and doing, doing, doing?

He said, this is about you.

Because performing is the opposite of grace.

Grace is not deserved.

So look at what Jesus says to them.

I wonder if On their way.

Maybe they were on their way to the Mount of Olives.

I don't know if they were going down the Mount of Olives.

Maybe there was a grape vineyard there.

They saw plenty of them.

Jesus always, knowing who he was dealing with, made abstract things concrete.

He was a storyteller.

I love that.

He would take, he'd say, kingdom of heaven, and the and fishermen would go, kingdom of heaven.

And he would always give an example.

He's got an example.

They will walk by grape vineyards the rest of their life.

And every time they do, they're going to think of this.

Remain in me.

Now the old school word is abide.

We don't use that word a lot anymore, but it means meno is the word in Greek, and it literally means to remain.

This word is ten times.

He says this ten times in about five or six verses.

So they're like, oh, remain?

Oh, you mean remain?

Oh, you mean remain.

He really wants us to get this.

Remain in me, and I also will remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself.

It must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine.

You are the branches.

Now, if you remain in me and I in you, you'll bear much fruit.

Apart from me, nada, you can do nothing.

If you do not remain in me, You are like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, Well, then you can ask whatever you wish.

Because you'll be asking for the stuff he wants anyway if you're remaining in him, and it will be done for you.

This is to the Father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples.

This is a powerful passage and sometimes hard to get our minds around practically, but this thing remaining, I mean every time Peter walks by a grapevine, a grape vineyard from now on.

He goes, oh wait, wait.

Him vine, me brand.

Him vine, me branch.

Him vine, me branch.

Not me vine, me branch.

He's got this visual now for the rest of his life.

Now it starts out with the fact, and uh I think uh do we have verse 16?

Uh here we go.

You did not choose me, did you think you chose me, Jesus said?

Remember, I chose you.

This wasn't your idea.

This was my idea.

I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.

Fruit that will last, and so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you So Jesus said, and Jesus, you can put your notes say, Jesus chose you, you didn't choose him, so it's been all Jesus from the start.

The Greek word for chosen here has some pretty deep meaning.

To make one one's own.

Jesus said, I made you mine.

It also means to place something for the execution of your purposes.

I'm placing you in this spot so you can carry out my purposes in that spot.

All of that goes into the word chose you.

I can see to you with confidence that God has placed you as his very own in this time, in this place to carry out his purpose where you where he's put you each new day.

You literally can wake up and say, I am on assignment from Jesus.

I am the right person at the right place at the right time I just need to do what he put me here for.

Any of you ever bought a baseball bat?

What do they sell for these days?

I haven't bought a baseball bat in quite a while.

Any idea what they sell for?

I could there was one that sold for one point twenty-six million dollars.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, a million dollar bat.

Now, why?

It was a Louisville slugger, that's nice, but well I'll tell you why it sold for over a million dollars.

It's in Sid's collection at home if you ever want to go take a look at it.

He used it as a discipline tool with his kids.

It's a 46-ounce Louisville slugger.

Used by Babe Ruth in the first game when Yankee Stadium opened, 1923.

In the third inning, he had a massive home run into the right field bleachers.

And that piece of wood sells for over a million bucks.

Why?

Because of who used it.

It just increased enormously in value because someone important used it.

God says to these guys, I'm gonna I want you to bear fruit.

I am going I chose you to use your life.

Do you realize when God uses you what that does to your value Because the most important person in the universe has chosen you to use you Is there any greater honor?

And he said, guys, I've chosen you.

And he chose you to produce fruit from your life.

What is that all about?

Not grapes.

Here's what I think he means by fruit.

First of all, we have the fruit of the what?

Fruit of the Spirit.

So we know the Holy Spirit produces fruit.

So the first thing that you're supposed to show for him choosing you is the characteristics of Jesus.

You start to look and act more and more like Jesus.

Jesus had the following characteristics.

He was known for love, are you?

He was known for joy, are you?

He was known for peace, are you?

He was known for patience.

Are you?

He was known for gentleness.

Are you?

He was known for faithfulness.

Are you?

He was known for self-control.

Are you?

That's the fruit he chose you for.

Are you doing what he chose you for?

The other thing he means by fruit, obviously, is others coming to him.

That we are going to bear human fruit, we will lead a legacy life, and our legacy will not be loot, it'll be lives.

That'll be our legacy.

So you're the branch.

He is the vine.

You know what that means?

You don't produce Forever fruit.

You can't produce forever fruit.

He said that.

Get the it 's all about the prepositions.

I don't know how you did an English class.

But and if you ever diagrammed a sentence, but have a little English with me right now.

It is by him Through you.

The branch does not produce fruit.

The vine has all the life in it You can prove that, because if a branch is over here off by itself, it can go, um , scrapes, scrapes, scrapes, scrapes, scrapes, and you're just going to have a herniated branch.

It's not gonna what?

It is not gonna be able to produce a single grape.

You can tell, because if you take it off the vine, it can't do nothing.

So it is obviously The life is in the vine.

So it comes through you, but not from you.

That's how you have supernaturalness about your life So you know it's interesting when I'm thinking of when Paul came back from his first mission to the Gentiles and he went back to his supporting church in Antioch and it says, here's what he reported on.

What God Has done through us among the Gentiles.

If you were good in English, you know, and I know, I I know at least one lady here is good in English.

You know that the subject of that sentence is God, did, direct object, Wonderful things to prepositions among the Gentiles through us.

I'm way down here.

So the subject of your sentence ought to be God.

God did through me.

God did.

He chose me to do it through me, but it's all Him.

Which means you can attempt things that are way beyond your capabilities.

Because it isn't your capabilities.

It's his, it's your availability.

Look at your notes.

When a branch tries to do the vine's job, you know how you can tell that you're doing it in the flesh?

It's going to be frustrating.

It's going to be fruitless.

It's good frazzling, is that a word?

It's frazzling.

I had to have the alliteration, excuse me.

And it is fatiguing.

It's just and and you just you slip in and out of doing it in the flesh and then do it in the spirit and in the spirit there's joy but it without when it when when you go into flesh mode you're Martha Miserable with Jesus in the room.

You're serving Jesus and you're miserable.

We gave folks, and some of you here at the President's retreat a couple years ago, we gave you Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret. one of the great spiritual classics.

I read it at Moody, it was life-changing, it's been for many people.

And Hudson Taylor was already a a tremendous veteran, iconic missionary in China.

But He was burning out, he was frazzled, he was frustrated, he was fatigued, all those things I said.

And then somebody took him to John 15 and he said, wait a minute.

I don't have to struggle.

I don't have to strain.

I don't have to produce this.

I'm trying to be the producer.

And somebody said after he learned that secret, Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret, which he said was abiding or remaining, somebody said of him, he was a joyous man now.

He had been a toiling, burdened man before, and not much rest of soul, but it was resting in Jesus and letting him do the work. which makes all the difference.

A new power seemed to flow from him.

Troubles didn't worry him like before.

He cast everything on God in a new way.

And Hudson Taylor himself wrote this.

As to work Mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult.

But the weight and the strain are gone.

I don't have to perform anymore.

I'm gonna let God do the performing through me.

Maybe you come here beat up and tired and you're doing good stuff, but you're doing good stuff and the joy, like where'd the joy go?

Where'd the peace go?

Where'd the fulfillment go?

Maybe it was because you've started performing again instead of realizing that you are branch and you are not divine.

I have to tell you what I think is one of the most uncomfortable questions in the Bible.

There are several.

This one bothers me.

Galatians 3.

3.

Are you so foolish?

After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish?

By means of the flesh.

When you're just starting out doing something for God or trying to take new ground in your life for Him.

You're like, God, it's gotta be you, it ain't gonna be.

You are hanging on to him for dear life.

You're depending on him for every choice, everything.

But now you got some momentum Things are rolling pretty good now.

And as it gets going is the point where you're like, you just it's subconscious.

Nobody else can tell the difference.

It's mostly in here you feel the difference, but all of a sudden you've gone.

I go to Ron mode.

I was in God mode when I really knew I needed him, but now it's going pretty well.

And I go into Ron mode, and the whole thing loses its joy.

And it's more it's less fruitful, it's frustrating, it's fatiguing, and all that stuff.

So supernatural living is not a life of striving It's a life of abiding.

I hope I'm in a room full of branches.

That's all we need to be.

That's why we can finally relax.

Here's the final supernatural, the pillar for a supernatural life that he gives them before they're about to hit everything and they're about to hit this, you can weather any storm.

Because of his storm-proof peace.

I brought the basin for being a servant And I bought something I can't unwrap.

If you're a Navy veteran, I did this just for you.

Brought my anchor.

Because his peace is the anchor.

Here's how we know that.

At the very beginning of this whole huddle with the guys, after the footwashing, when he starts to get into the teaching part, John 14, 1.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Excuse me.

Within the hour, Jesus will be under arrest.

They will be scattering.

They'll be looking for cover Jesus says, by the way, you notice, don't give your heart permission.

You have to let your heart be troubled.

You give it permission to let the trouble take it over.

You literally have to give it permission.

He says, do not let do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me.

Let's go on.

He's got uh, he said, oh, then it then in this same little thing, he says Peace I leave with you.

They knew he was talking about dying.

They were feeling anything but peace.

There was no peace around them.

There was nothing going on around them.

Nothing in their emotions.

That would give them peace.

He says, I'm giving you peace.

You don't need that.

You don't get your peace from your environment.

You don't get your peace from your circumstances.

You don't get your peace from how it's going.

You don' Get your peace from ba uh good news or bad news, no.

I give you peace, not like the world gives.

You don't need a pill.

It's not from outside.

Do it and so he repeats it again.

That's why you don't have to let your hearts be troubled, not be afraid.

I'm just remembering that I was on a flight from Chicago to Newark, and all of a sudden we learned we were going to Detroit.

Now I'm I'm not a great at geography, but the last I knew, Chicago's here and New Jersey's here, and Detroit's there.

Uh I don't think we're really, that's not on the way, is it?

Well we were having, turns out, and we could tell the flight attendances were stressed, attendants, the whole tone of the flight changed Because uh a hydraulic system wasn't working and they weren't sure the landing gear would come down when we landed, and if so, if not, there could be crash and burn.

It was pretty tense.

I was to have three or four close calls on a plane.

And I was sitting next to a little grandmother who was headed to Newark to see her grandchildren.

And I'd been talking with her and um And uh so I turned to her, because she was obviously very scared, and I said, well there you know there's something good about this.

I said, we are actually going to get two destinations for the price of one and they're not charging for the flight to Detroit.

She Idiot.

I'm sitting next to the village idiot.

Great.

We're gonna crash and he's joking.

Um But she actually did chuckle a little bit and it took her mind off it a little bit.

So um most of the time we couldn't talk as we were being engaged by the flight crew.

And uh we it was really nice when we went to Detroit.

We had a wonderful welcoming party waiting for us.

The fire department was there, they wanted to see us and the police were there to welcome us, some uh ambulance, some people from the hospital were there, we just like I said this is the best welcome I've ever had.

And praise God we landed safely.

And the lady said, how could you be so calm?

I said, well, I said, if my peace was came from what's around going on around me, I'd have been freaking out.

But I sent my peace is inside me where nothing can touch it.

Because peace has a name.

And his name is Jesus.

We didn't have a long time to talk, but I was able to elaborate on that summon even with one of the flight attendants.

Your peace is storm-proof, because the storm can't touch it.

Unless you let your heart be troubled.

So Jesus' final huddle begins, oh, and it ends.

The last thing he says to them before he he prays his prayer and they go to the garden is, I've told you all these things I've just told you.

So that in me you may have peace.

Here was something that was going to come true like instantly.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart.

I've overcome whatever they're going to throw at you.

I've overcome the world.

Jesus' final huddle, what does he begin and end with?

Peace.

He starts with the peace, he ends with peace.

The thing they're gonna need the most and have the hardest time having peace in the midst of this stress.

Somebody said this, when we lose our peace, God's referee is in our hearts, blowing his whistle.

You know, uh we have a a little saying in our family because the Bible says the peace of Christ let here we go, give it permission, let the peace of Christ rule, make the decisions, be the umpires, what the Greek word means.

Let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your heart, deciding what's safe and out.

Now Sometimes when we're when we're having a hard one of us is having a hard time making the decision, one of my kids will come to me, or I'll go to them, and they'll just say, Dad, go with the peace.

Go with the peace What do you have the peace about?

And Jesus will give us peace and decisions, and we can go with the peace all the way through the rest of our life.

Life's hardships, left's suffering, they look totally different through eternity eyes.

You know why?

Because you're looking at the finish line.

You're not looking at what's in front of you.

What's in front of you stinks.

But let's look at what Jesus said in John 14.

After he said, I don't want you to be troubled, here's why.

My father's house has many rooms.

If that weren't so well I would have told you.

I'm going there to prepare, I'm going, this is why I'm going.

I'm going there to prepare a place for you.

If I go and prepare a place for you, I'm coming back.

And I'm going to take you to be with me.

And then I know I'm going to leave you for a little while, but you're always going to be where I am.

So the beautiful thing, what is Jesus doing?

He's saying, listen, we're about to go through some horrific stuff, but I want you to look past the horrific.

I want you to look at the at the end of the race.

Look at the finish line.

This isn't all there is.

Look at what's just about to happen.

I'm going to be arrested.

I'm going to die.

You're going to be fugitives.

You're going to be hunted.

You're going to think there's no future.

He said, in the middle of all of that, look at the finish line.

Don't just look at this lap of the race.

And the Bible says this amazing thing about Jesus in Hebrews 12.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, for the joy set before him.

He endured the cross.

How could he stand the cross?

In his prayer in John 17, you remember the number of times he said, the glory you've given me, the glory I'm going to have, the glory I did have when I left heaven, the glory I'm going to have when I return?

He was looking past the grotesque to the glory.

And we should too.

That's eternity eyes.

Because you see this is a moment and that is forever.

And he said, I want you to focus, guys, on what's going to happen at the finish line.

And remember that life's painful processes.

Remember I talked about labor and the baby?

The painful processes last for a short time, but the beautiful result lasts a lifetime.

Jesus said that in John 16.

Look.

I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.

Yeah, there will be a lot of people happy I'm dead.

You're going to be crying when everybody else is laughing and cheering.

You will grieve.

But look past the grief.

Look past the grief.

He turned in the eyes.

Your grief will become joy ultimately.

And look where I got my illustration.

I stole it from Jesus.

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come.

But when her baby is born.

She forgets the anguish.

You think it's possible one day you'll forget the anguish?

I think so.

Because of the joy that what's going to last for a lifetime, that child, is born into the world.

So with you.

I know this is a time of grief for you guys.

But you've got to look past that grief.

I will see you again.

And you will rejoice.

And from that time on, no one will ever take away your joy.

That's why you have peace that is storm proof.

And Jesus made it very clear.

He said, in the world you'll have trouble, but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world.

Well, whatever is bigger than you are.

He is bigger than it is.

He said, guys, you're gonna be hitting some big stuff.

It's gonna be overwhelming.

Just know it isn't overwhelming me.

And whatever's bigger than you are, I am bigger than it is, and I've got you.

That's all you need to know.

Bigger than you.

I'm bigger than it.

I got you.

Case closed.

Now here's the warning.

I'm reading from something I read recently.

The enemy meets us at the threshold of any great work for God.

I suspect for some of us here, one of the reasons God brought us here is because he is preparing you for a great work.

And I can guarantee you that your enemy realizes that the best place to stop you is before this gets takes root and gets established.

You're going to get home.

I have to warn our OEW team of this so much.

You go through re-entry, which is one of the most dangerous times in a space flight, that could burn up during re-entry.

Re-entry is always dangerous.

You leave the mountain and you go down, and when they left the mountain of transfiguration, it was a demon-possessed boy at the bottom.

The devil's waiting for him at the bottom of the mountain where they just saw Jesus in heaven come down.

Now what you need to know is who that is.

Don't be worried about it.

Just say I know who this is and I'm not I'm I'm falling for it.

But what you need to know is what I needed to know, and I won't go through the story because many of you have heard it before, but our neighborhood bully, Boomer, who took all our stuff, remember Boomer?

Many of you remember Boomer.

And he intimidated all the kids on the block until I went down there to get my stuff at his house.

And knocked on his door to get my stuff back.

And you remember that I was a very brave little boy because my father went with me.

Sl simple equation.

Bigger's boomer than I am.

My father, what?

Is bigger than boomer is.

I don't know what your boomer is.

But your boomer's bigger than you are.

But your father's bigger than Boomer.

That's what Jesus was saying.

So when the enemy comes knocking with something to try to slow you down and steal what God gave you and get you to sack you, you just gained a lot of yards.

He's going to try to sack you back and and lose ground.

You just say Jesus, take him.

He's bigger than I am, but you're bigger than he is.

So the final accelerant from this final mountain peak In Destiny Week.

Well, since a legacy life is all God, it's obvious that the last accelerant is going to be.

I can't wait to find out.

Live dependently.

Thank you, it's not me.

I don't have to get all juiced up because I gotta do all this stuff.

Live dependently.

Let's bring this home.

We've been on quite a journey the last couple of days here.

I put it in your notes.

If the rest of your life is governed by the same passions that drove your Savior on his way to the cross, You're going to see everything through eternity eyes, because he did.

When you go through suffering, you will see it through eternity eyes.

Not just this awful time I'm going through You're going to see your plans through eternity eyes.

Is this really going to make much of a difference in eternity?

You're going to see your choices through eternity eyes Remember this.

The only things that matter here are the things that are going to matter there.

And if it ain't going to matter there, it doesn't matter here And you can dedicate the rest of your days, however many days God has left for you, however many or few, we don't know, to living, first of all, authentically.

When you worship, you do it with a poured-out life and I poured out love.

Pleasing only him.

Making sure this temple is only used for holy things.

And making sure you don't want him to be king on your terms.

You're letting him be king on his terms.

Even when you don't like the terms.

Living urgently.

Knowing that his return may be very imminent.

Who knows?

So I'm not going to let the culture define who I am.

I'm not going to, when they move, I'm not going to move.

I'm going to take what I've got and I'm going to make sure I get an eternal ROI on it and I'm going to do the stuff that's going to matter in with Eternity Inc. that's where I'm investing what I've got.

And I'm going to do everything I can to get the gospel around this world into more lives because that's the agenda.

Living surrendered.

I'm going to intercede for the people you've given me, and my bottom line in my life is going to be yet not my will, but yours. be done.

Doug was a baseball card collector.

He was really good at it.

He could, if he'd done this on Wall Street, I mean we might have everything we need right now.

He got very good with baseball.

Helped pay his way through college with baseball cards.

Those little pieces of cardboard.

And boy, I'll tell you what, I wanted to see some of them because some of them were guys that were big big guys when I was a kid and I had cards, but I didn't save them like he did, and he would say, Dad, whoa, just okay, you can do it.

Yes Just just don't get your fingerprints on.

Hold them by the edges, Dad.

Hold them by the edges.

Because their value went down if my fingerprints were on them or anybody's fingerprints.

What you don't want is to get to your future and find your fingerprints on your future.

I sometimes pray, Lord, for me for our ministry.

When we get to the future, when they dust for prints, I only want to find one set of prints.

Just yours.

Not your will.

Not my will, but yours be done.

Live redemptively.

Simply what does that mean?

You live for what he died for.

What did he die for?

To get people to heaven, have their sins forgiven.

Bring as many people as you can to the cross.

Living boldly.

We saw a man broken over his sin last night.

Staying close to Jesus when there seems to be no reason to.

Dear Mary.

Living to tell my hope story.

I have seen the Lord.

Living to tell your hope story and taking an emails walk with Jesus each day. and investing in accomplishing the final orders he gave us.

And then living dependently.

Elevating other people.

Depending on the Holy Spirit to lead and for Jesus to produce the results. and consciously, intentionally downloading his peace in the middle of your storms My dear daughter in love, Sarah, as you know, grew up in Liberia.

If you've seen her, she's blonde-haired, blue-eyed.

She calls herself an African American.

I'm a little confused by that.

She does.

She keeps insisting she's African American.

I just apparently sick, a little sickly.

But uh Her parents were translators, wonderful missionaries in Liberia for many years, translating a Bible into a language, a dialect that didn't have it, does now.

Thanks to Larry and May.

And um Larry told me a story, and uh I'll leave you with this.

This has meant a lot to me.

Um and it's a great summary of Eternity Eyes and Legacy Living, I think.

He was going to paint their house and do some painting.

So he got a bunch of cans of paint.

And he had been having a little problem in translation.

You get into a language and you do you sometimes you can't find parallel words And the word hope of all things is in the Bible a lot.

And there wasn't, he kept trying with the Liberian man he was working with, he kept trying to Find a word, an equivalent word, and the man will go, no, no, no, that's not, that's not it.

And no word was right.

He was stuck in his translation Well, okay, we'll put that aside.

So he he goes out and buys some paint.

He's going to paint the house.

And his helper guy, his Liberian guy, says, uh, can I have those cans?

And he said, well, I have to, yes , but I have to paint first.

He said, oh, well when can he said, well, you can have it when I'm done painting.

I guess he wanted to use it for buckets or something.

So um so Larry took the paint in.

Next morning at 5 a. m. this man's at the door knocking.

He said, yeah, yeah uh yes, what is it?

He said Can I have the cans?

He said, no, no, no, no, no, no.

See, I still I haven't even started painting yet.

I have to open the cans and paint.

Next morning.

Little wake-up call from the desk.

And the cans?

Can I have the cans?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

See, I have to I have to I still have to have to paint.

And finally, as he explained to him, it would be a few days, but he said, I guarantee you, I promise you.

That you know they're not ready now, but you will have these cats.

They will be yours.

And a word came up in the conversation.

And this man said, that is the word you've been looking for.

That would be hope in our language.

And I don't know the word, but I know what it meant.

This man said to Larry, Well then, and he said this word.

My eyes are down the road.

He said, down the road then I will have it.

I don't have it now, but but I for sure will have it down the road That's hope.

My eyes aren't just here.

It's not ready yet.

I'm not there yet.

But I'm gonna live with my eyes down the road That's eternity, eyes.

And I'll tell you the life that we have just described.

I wonder if you would say if this, Jesus, the things that were important to you in your final week.

Will be the things that will matter to me in the rest of my life.

I will live my life for what you lived your last week for.

Oh, you will have a legacy life.

That will far outlive you