Amen. Well, good morning, church. Good morning, good morning. I want to tell you, thank you for your prayers for us as we go to Georgia.
We're incredibly excited about getting to go. There's going to be nine couples total, including Miles and Sallings and then the eight lead pastors in their wives. It's a big group, 18 of us total. And we are super excited to do this.
When we do all the time, when we go to Georgia, we ask them, what do you want? What is it? And they have been asking us, would you come and teach our leaders? Would you come and teach our men?
And that's kind of GMI's pattern as well. When we went to Ukraine, that's where we began. We started with leadership conferences and men's conferences. We believe that when you reach a man, you reach his whole family.
And so when we asked them, we said, what is it you want? And so would you come and teach on marriage? And I said, absolutely, we love to talk about marriages. So we're just the real to death to get to do this.
And I want to tell you that I'm so grateful for the power of a praying church. That is huge. And that is something that I think the more trips that I go on, the more trips that I, whether we go international or wherever we go, let me just tell you that there's something huge about knowing you've got a church family behind you that's praying, that cares that's praying that is going with you when you go. And I want to tell you, thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.
Every member here that intercedes in prayer. We know that those prayers go before us and it wins the battle. So thank you for your prayers for us. I want to ask you, please be praying for those Georgian men and women that are going to be there as well, that the Lord even now just begins to till up the spiritual soil in their heart, get ready to receive the things that our team has privileged to bring.
Amen. We're excited about this trip. Can't wait to share updates with you as we get into that. All right, so we're ready to keep going on week two of the series of the Exchange Life.
Yes. How many over here last week? As we got this thing kicked off, okay? If you were not here, I want to encourage you.
Go back to our website, go back to our app, grab that first teaching and listen to it. You don't want to miss one of these weeks. They're incredibly powerful. As we look at the nine exchanges, nine things that happened at the cross of Calvary, for you and I as a result of what Jesus did for you and me.
That this is very, very powerful teachings. Last week, you remember we opened up, anybody remember? It was the very first exchange we looked at. Jesus was punished so that we might, what?
Being forgiven. And I know it's up there on the screen, but Jesus was punished so we might be forgiven. He experienced the punishment that was due you and I. That came on him, why?
So that you and I could experience forgiveness in Christ. You and I being made right with Father God. This is a massive big deal. It's a deal of a lifetime.
Not just a small thing, it's a very, very big deal. And last week, as we looked at this, we started in Isaiah 53. And I want to ask you, if you've got your Bibles turned with me there again, we're going to pick right up and go from there. Isaiah 53.
And today what we are talking about, here's the second exchange. Exchange number two. Jesus died our death, so we might share his life. Jesus died our death, so we might share in his life.
Church, I want to encourage you with something as we worked through these. Not just from last week to this one, there's still seven more to go here. And what I want to really encourage you with is, don't treat these truths like we might do a holiday season, you know what I mean? Let's say that.
For example, when Christmas time rolls around and what are we thinking about, the hot cocoa and the carols and the trees, and that feels like that's a long way away, doesn't it? The summer heat hasn't even come on us yet. But when these seasons come around, and these holidays come around, there's truth that we look at, it's actually as evangelical Christians. So it might be Christmas, it might be Easter.
And no matter what happens, listen, what we tend to do when a season closes out, what do we do? We pack up the tree. We begin to put things away, right? Mentally, physically, we say, well, that's done, that's a wrap, and on to the next thing.
And we can get that way about Easter, can't we? We say, well, all the Easter eggs are done, and the fun was family, and that was last week. I mean, we've kind of talked about this stuff. Come on, I'm saying this, I believe I'm speaking for every person in this room, that belongs to Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross has never lost its power. The man, the blood has never lost its power. The blood never will lose its power, and it should never lose interest to you and I. Its power should be real in our lives as believer every single day of the month, every single day of the year.
These are not old truths, they are timeless truths, they are powerful truths that will change your in my life. Amen? So let's dive in looking at this. Come with me to Isaiah 53, verse 12.
Isaiah 53 12. This is therefore, I will give him a portion among the great. And he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out himself unto death. Can you just say that last part with me there?
He poured out himself unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. So, church, let's start right here. We began to cover this last week, okay, and I'm not gonna re-preach, reach what we covered, that's there, but it's really important for where we're going today.
Last week, what is probably the most fundamental key thing that we talked about? How Jesus came, and he took our punishment, he took our sins, right? And you remember how Mike and Johnny and Chris come up here? We talked about how in the life of the believer, that's a big truth, okay?
And a lot of people, we don't get that, remember how those three men come up, and what did they represent? How that Chris was over here, and that sins in the past, right? That's who I was before I came to Christ. And a lot of Christians don't struggle with that.
Yeah, that's who I was. Yeah, I know that when I come to him, and I give my life to him, he wipes all my sins away. He cleans this light, and I'm white as snow. A lot of us don't struggle with that.
But then we move to our current sins. That's the things that I've done this morning. That's the things I'm gonna do a few hours from now. The things that you might do a few hours, the things that we, how we sin against God, and the things we say and do.
And some Christians start struggling, say you mean that his blood covers me now? We tend to see the past in the present, but then what about the future? What about the things that we're gonna do? Because we're not perfect.
Yes, the blood of Jesus Christ covers all those things. Jesus came and he bore our punishment. He bore our sins, right? And he's made us white as snow.
And that's powerful in the life of a believer, and that can never be overstated enough. Because a lot of times the enemy comes and he begins to hurtle thoughts at us, and doubts, and hesitates make you wanna back up and shy away from becoming the man or woman. God's called you to be. And what we understand, again, as evangelical Christians is this, the cross is there for when I mess up.
When I mess up, when I make a mistake, when I experience repentance over that thing, and my heart is broken, and I turn from that, and I begin to live for Jesus Christ, and I get things right, the cross is there. But the cross is not there as some free license for me to do whatever I wanna do, to say whatever I wanna say to be. The cross is there for repentance, and for making things new, and being washed in his blood. And Christians, we get that, we understand that, right?
Again, that is part and parcel of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. You've gotta understand that, you've gotta know that. And as it's been said so many times, what does the enemy like to do? He likes to come and remind you of who you were, and what you did, and the bad person that you were, and all the foolish things that you said it did, and all the foolish things that I've said it enough.
He likes to come and try and hang that front, and he'll say, oh, you're just never gonna be, this is who you always were, and this is who you always are. And as it's been said, a lot of times, it is still true. It's a lot more than just a catchy statement, that when Satan comes and he begins to remind you of your past, you remind him of his future, man. You remind him where he's going.
Oh, no you don't. He was even bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. So it doesn't matter who I once was in him, oh, I was undeserving, and I was unworthy, and yeah, I was all of these things, but the blood of Jesus Christ has made me holy, and it has made me righteous, and it's made me his son. It's made me his daughter.
You just remind him of his future, man, because scripture tells us very clearly, this comes loosely from Genesis 3.15, we see that. I say, loosely, it's not very, it's actually pretty clear, we're gonna look at it, right? But people say, when Jesus came and he crushed the head of the serpent, they'll say, where does that come from? Is that scripture?
It is, absolutely. And Genesis 3.15 is where we see that. Genesis 3.15, come and read this with me. I wanna show you this.
Jesus has crushed the head of the serpent. He has crushed the head of Satan, amen? Genesis 3.15 says, and I will put in the tea between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head. That's not a vague, that's speaking about Jesus right there.
And you will strike his heel. Now, who's speaking here? Well, this is God, Father God speaking to Satan, right? And this is really a remarkable verse.
This verse right here, Genesis 3.15, this is what is known as a proto-evangelium. That's a big word, proto-evangelium, okay? That literally means the first gospel. That's what's happening here in Genesis 3.15.
Now, I want you to read this with me, it's a little bit lengthy, but it's really good. And it helps you and I understand what's happening here, but what's happening at the cross, okay? Read this with me. This is the Bible's first prediction of a Savior, right here in Genesis 3.15.
The verse introduces two elements previously unknown in the Garden of Eden, elements that are the basis of Christianity, the curse on mankind because of Adam's sin, and God's provision for a savior from sin who would take the curse upon himself. The second half of the verse gives two messianic prophecies concerning that savior. The first messianic prophecy is that he will crush your head. That is the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head.
The amplified Bible makes it clear that the woman's seed is more than mankind in general. It is an individual representing all mankind's. The second messianic prophecy here is that you will strike his heel. That is the serpent will bite the heel of the woman's seed.
The heel bite is set in contrast to the head crush as the amplified Bible brings out. And you shall only bruise his heel. In other words, that's all you're capable of doing, right? This passage points to the promise of Jesus's birth, his redemption, and his victory over Satan.
The woman's offspring is Jesus. Being virgin born, he is literally the offspring of a woman. Being the son of man, he is the perfect representative of humankind. The devil's offspring were the evil men and demonic forces who, like a snake, lay in wait for the savior and struck Adam.
Their venomous conspiracy condemned Jesus to be crucified. But the serpent's strike did not spell the end of the offspring of the woman. Jesus rose the third day, breaking the power of death and winning the ultimate victory. With the cross, Jesus crushed the devil's head, defeating him forever.
So in Genesis 3.15, the crushing of the serpent's head was a picture of Jesus's triumph over sin and Satan at the cross. Satan bruised Jesus's heel, but Jesus showed complete dominance over Satan by crushing his head. Don't you love it? Satan, although still active in this world, is a defeated foe.
His doom is sure. Revelation 2010 tells us clearly. And the devil was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. The proto-evangelium shows us that God always had the plan of salvation in mind and informed us of his plan as soon as sin entered the world.
Satan formulated a plan involving the serpent and Eden. But God was way ahead of him, having already ordained the serpent crusher. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled God's mission. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
And that's 1 John 3.8. Don't you love that, church? God was way ahead of him, having already ordained the serpent's crusher. The head of Satan has been ground into the dirt.
Amen? His doom is sure. Does he have power? Yes.
Does he have limited power? Yes, it's limited power. His time, his clock is running out. And he knows it.
He is active in this world. He is active in the life of the believer. His plan, his desire is for you. His plan is to bring you and I down.
But guess what? The blood of Jesus Christ has set us apart. Amen? And that power is limited.
He wants to come and remind this. No, no, no, no. Jesus bore my sins at the cross. And because of that, I have forgiveness.
I've been justified. I've been made right with Father God. Amen? And we need to kick his teeth.
And every time he comes to remind us of our past. Amen? You see, as evangelical Christians, we have this basic foundation. That's what we have.
We have what I would call these non-negotiable truths. That means you can't negotiate. You can't argue them, right? They are completely defensible.
They are good. They are true. They have stood the test of time. And we could sum up this basic foundation that we have as evangelical Christians, very simply, this way.
We could call it the three B's, the three B's. It really sums it up well. Here's the first one. The first B is the birth.
It's the birth. There's a lot of things that we could argue about in Christianity. There's a lot of things that are argued about that are debated. They've done that for centuries before.
I guarantee they're going to be doing that for centuries more. Hey, long after you and are gone. But this is not one of them. As an evangelical Christian, as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you must believe that he was born of a virgin.
Amen? Come on, somebody say amen, this one. That he was that faultless, spotless. He was the perfect sacrifice, right?
And this is the birth, all right? He was the perfect sacrifice for you and I. That's the first one. The second B is the blood.
If you take the blood out of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, you've removed the whole backbone of what Christianity is. OK, and we're going to talk a lot more about the blood here this morning. This is what Christianity is all about. The blood is what washes you and I from our sins, from all sin.
Anybody remember the old hymn? Very powerful hymn. There's so many of them. But you remember the one there is a fountain?
Anybody know that one? There's a fountain. It's by William Calper. Very powerful.
Some of you may have sang it before. Some of you may be here right now in your mind. Yeah, I think I know that one. There's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty saints. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there have I, though vile as he washed all my sins away. Lord, I believe thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be, for me a blood bought free reward.
Amen, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. So we have the birth, we have the blood. And then the third B is the book. This is God's word, right?
We have the birth, we have the blood, and we have the book. We know that God's word, the Bible, it is God breathed, it is Holy Spirit inspired. It doesn't matter what you may hear on social media, you know, what about this and what about that? And is that, you know, listen, what we know, yes, men wrote these books of the Bible, but they wrote under the unction, under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
That all scripture is God breathed, amen? And as a Christian, we believe that. We take God's word for what it is and what it says, we believe it. And God's word is infallible, right?
People want to say, how are these 66 books written over this span of time and this many authors? And that just points more and more to the fact of its authenticity and how that, it's just a fascinating, there's so much stuff out there on that. We don't have time to get into that this morning, but let me tell you, the Bible has stood the test of time. It is the greatest book that's ever been written, and it's true for us here today.
So let's look at this first half of this exchange. What are we talking about here, the second exchange? Jesus, He died our death so that we might share in His life. Let's talk about this first part.
Jesus died our death. This is where we're gonna spend most of our time this morning. I wanna tell you, church, that the Lord Jesus Christ, He died the death that you should have died. And He died the death that I should have died.
He died the death that all of us deserved, that we should have died. He came, He took it off of us, He put it on Himself. It says right here in Isaiah 53, 12, He poured out His life unto death. How did He pour out His life?
Unto death. And here's what Leviticus 17, 11 tells us. It says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.
For it is the blood, I'm saying that again, it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Did you catch that there? It's the blood that makes atonement. Why?
Because the life of the flesh, it's in the blood. Now I wanna tell you that if you extract all the blood of your body, you're gonna have no life source. We all understand this. It may have been many years since you were in a health or a biology class, but you know this.
They say the human body has something like with 1.2 or 1.3 gallons of blood. That's not a lot. Every time I buy a gallon of milk from H.E.V. it's like that's a battle I got in my body.
That's all you got. So if you take all the blood out of your body, you got no life source. If you lose even a couple of pints of blood, you're not gonna be functioning real well. That's a big deal.
And Jesus said to His Father, He says, I'm willing to extract my life source for them. Now I wanna tell you that when something like a blood drive comes around to see anybody like to do blood drives, how many have done a blood drive before? Here many of them, okay. You are better people than me, okay.
When these blood drives comes around, I'm gonna be honest, I'm not the first one to get in line for that. I don't like needles. I see myself as a man. I believe I'm a romance man, but I don't like needles and that's just where I'm at.
I don't like it. And I remember the last time I did a blood drive, it's been a lot of years and I've still got some PTSD about that. I need to come forward, but I'm in there and that poor girl that was trying to take blood that day. I was sitting in that mobile RV and she owned about the sixth or seventh try.
I said, that's it, I'm done. And I'm out of here, thank you so much. I'm not gonna let, I'm not a pin cushion today. And I was out, okay.
I talk to people that love to do blood drives and it's like, I like to keep my blood inside of me. I don't like to see my blood being poured out. And I talk to people that love to do it and I say, why do you like to do it? Oh man, I say three lives today.
It's like, oh, thanks for the reminder. That's Chester, you did, all right. I need to get better about this, okay. But all joking aside, church, this is what Jesus Christ did for you and I.
He gave his blood, his blood was poured out for you and I at the cross, why? So that you and I might share in, we might gain his life, that's why. And his blood was the only thing, it is the only thing that can remove our sins. You understand that?
It's the only thing that removes your and my sins. Hebrews 10, four tells us this, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. You're and my sins, there's no amount of animal sacrifices. You and I could line up every goat, every cow that we can find and slaughter them all.
And that parking lot could be full of blood. And understanding the Old Testament, that kind of stuff happened. These massive sacrifices. The blood of every animal in the world is not enough to take away your and my sins, right?
It's only the blood of Jesus Christ. And he willingly extracted his life blood for you and I. We were just a sand in, right? Animals were just a sand in until Jesus Christ appeared on the scene and willingly gave himself at the cross for you and I.
And once you really get, you say, I've heard that, I've known that Jesus died at the cross for me, his body was broken for me, his blood was shed for me. Once you really dwell on that and get that inside of you, you will gain a much bigger appreciation of the cross and what happened. And I'll tell you one of the simple things that it'll change, it'll change how you take communion. Communion will move from something that you just do on the first Sunday of the month.
You know, yeah, we get in line and I come through and I take the piece of bread and I dip it in the cup and receive it and Jesus that's what you did for me. And communion will move way beyond, for lack of a better word, it's not a ritual, okay? But communion will move beyond being ritualistic for you and I. What do our servers say when you come through one of these lines?
The body of Christ broken for you, right? And the blood of Christ that was shed for you. The blood that was shed for you, his life source extracted for you and I. Jesus gave his life for us how?
By pouring it out at the cross. Salvation was not free. Let me say that again, salvation, it was not free. Salvation is not free.
There was a price that had to be paid. And church, family this morning, I want to show you. Let me show you just what kind of price was paid for you. These pictures that I want to show you, these are some still images and I make no apology for them.
If you're a little bit squeamish when it comes to blood, I understand that but I want to tell you something. The picture, I believe it's one thing to look at violence and gore for just different reasons but it's another to look at what your Savior did for you. And I want to tell you that these pictures, they're pictures of love, of what he did at the cross for you and me. The Roman soldiers, we know this, they lacerated his body, they scourged him.
What we know, in this time the Jews, they had a rule that was 40 lashes minus one, so 39 lashes, right? The Romans had no such rule. And what they have, over many, many years here and lots and lots of man hours from some of the best minds, they have studied this and found that Jesus was, he received over 700 lashes, give or take. And understand that in the course of the flogging of the sergeals, they say 60, 70%, just they died right there on the spot, they couldn't take it.
What scholars believe is that again, around 700 lashes, that's what Jesus took here. And he was bleeding profusely up to a third of the blood in his body was lost here in this cruel beating. Next, they thrust a crown of large nail-like goons on his head and he bled profusely. These were not just, you might think of rose bush goons or something, but some plants you might have in your garden, these were like spikes and they were driven into the skull.
He was bleeding profusely. Then they pierced his hands and he bled profusely there. As they drove these massive square spikes through his hands and bent them back, the hold on there on the cross. He was bleeding.
Then they pierced his feet and he bled profusely. And as Jesus hung there on the cross, bleeding massive amounts of blood from his body. Do you know what the only picture was on his mind? It was you and it was me.
And I think you look at this picture and then it speaks to you, it went through this for you. Sometimes we can just remove ourselves from this and say he died for all of mankind and he died for them and he died, but you need to personalize it a little bit with me this morning. He died for you. You were on his mind.
The blood that he poured out at Calvary, it was for you. He did it for you. And after he died, we know that the soldiers they pierced his side right and what does the Bible say? That blood and water flowed out of the same wound.
Jesus literally died from organ failure. There was trauma, right? That's the only way blood and water get nicks like that. That's why it was such a shock.
It was like all the blood at his body was poured out there at the cross. So let me say it again, salvation was not free, was it? There was a price and there was a terrible price that had to be paid. Salvation wasn't free, but it is now free because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Because of the blood that ran red there at Calvary, all these things that we say and we teach and we tell you, because of his blood that ran red for you, now salvation is a free gift. There was a price that was paid, but it's now free for you and me. Come on, thank you, Jesus. Amen?
Focus in on this with me here. When God says that the life is in the blood, I believe that all the life that exists within God, this is what Matt believes. All the life that is found there in God, it is infinitely more valuable than all the life that you could take from all of creation put together. I believe that the life that exists in Father God, it just surpasses anything our minds can think of.
It is infinite, right? It's there. And all that begs the question, we're talking about the blood and Jesus' blood spilled out. Where does Jesus' blood, what's his blood line?
You think about these famous dogs that come through and they have the AKC and CKC, all these registrations, there's probably a lot of people in the front that know more about that than I do. But the blood line is a big deal, right? Horses, all these things, what's the line? Who are the parents, right?
And what's the line? Who is the sire? That's a big deal. Can say Jesus' blood line is from Father God.
And so that means that the blood that Jesus poured out, that's literally like God's blood for you and I. It's the same life blood. The life that Jesus poured out, that's the life of Father God poured out for you and poured out for me. And this is why in Hebrews, 725, it says that Jesus is able also to save completely.
Some translations will say, to save to the uttermost, to save completely those who come to God through him. You see, all you've got to do is you've got to follow the trail of the blood. You just follow the trail of the blood and you'll find out quickly, you can't get to the Father without coming through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. Amen?
This is powerful. Look, there are at least 43 references to the blood of Christ in the New Testament. And all of them testified to the great importance of the blood in the salvation and the daily life of the believer. Let me give you just a few of them here.
Judas, the betrayer, spoke of it as an innocent blood, that's Matthew 7, 24, 27, 4. Peter calls it the precious blood of Christ in 1 Peter 1, 9. He goes on to say, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. In 1 John 1, 7, it is the cleansing blood.
And in Revelation 1, 5, it's the washing blood, stressing that it removes the guilt of all of our sins. And in Revelation 12, 11 says this. Don't miss this one. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Now, understand, this is the last reference, the very, very last reference to in the whole Bible regarding the shed blood of Jesus right here. And don't you love it? Here, it's not just salvation blood, it's overcoming blood. In other words, it's blood that's not just good for salvation and you and I being made right with the Father, getting access to him.
It's not just blood for salvation. It's blood that will see you through all the way, man. That will see me through all the way. His blood covers me.
It carries me. Amen. We have been made white of snow because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Come on, can anybody say amen to that this morning?
This is the power of the blood. And it will never, ever lose its power. Thank you, Jesus. So that's the death that Jesus died for you.
That was his blood poured out for you. And let's talk about just briefly here that the second half of this exchange. Not much time left. Here it is.
Jesus died our death so that we might share his life, that we might share his life. Now, somebody calculated it, and I know that this person is an unbeliever because you're going to see this on the chart here in a minute. But somebody has calculated what the typical lifespan is of someone who is 70 years old. How you have used your time, how you have spent your time, the things you're going to do by the time that you're 70.
This is just an estimate. But look at this chart with me. Over the course of 70 years, look at this. Sleeping.
You're going to spend 23 of those 70 years sleeping. That is 32.9%. That's what was calculated. Work.
You're going to spend 16 of those years at work. That's 22.8% of your life spent behind a death somewhere, 8 to 5, whatever, TV or screen. And this is an older calculation. I'm sure it's so much greater right now with all the mobile devices and what we got.
But they said in front of the TV, you'll spend an average of 8 years. That's 11.4% of your life. Eating. You're going to spend six years of your life eating.
Thank you, God. It's not consecutive six years. That's just six years spent behind a plate. That's hard to think about.
8.6% travel, same amount. Six years, 8.6%. Leisure, only 4 and 1.5 years, 6.5%. Illness, you'll spend on average four years of your life, 5.7% of your life on your sick bed somewhere.
Dressing, getting dressed. Two years of your life spent getting dressed. That's 2.8%. Now, if you're looking at this listening, I need to shave off a couple of years.
Maybe I can just not dress. Keep getting dressed. OK? Don't eliminate that to save time in your life.
OK? I know this is a free country, but you can't run naked. So just keep getting dressed. That's a good thing.
All right, where's some close? Religion, 0.5 years. This is what I believe is an unbeliever that came up with this. 0.5% of your life spent doing things for the Lord.
No, that's 0.7%. That's what they calculated. But all that adds up, the 70 years, 100%. Now, let me ask you this.
How many of you have seen the movie, The Shawlshain Redemption? Anybody seen that? Great movie, great. If you haven't seen it, encourage you to watch it.
In this movie, you've got the central character there is Andy Dufring. And I want to set the stage for you, because in this movie, Andy Dufring's character, he says one of the most powerful things, powerful statements that I've ever heard. It's a great one. And before I just tell you what he said, I want to help set the scene for you.
He speaks really well to life and living. How do we live this life that Jesus came and gave to you and I? What are we going to do with that? In this movie, The Shawlshain Redemption, Andy is in prison for a crime that he didn't commit.
I'm trying to share this with you, ruining the movie in case you've never seen it. The bottom line is he goes to prison for a crime he did not commit. And Andy is being punished beyond belief. He was in prison for some 20 years.
Think about that. 20 years behind bars for something you did not do. And there was a young man that had evidence that could set him free. And the evil warden of the prison that he was at had this young man killed.
And you can imagine Andy was outraged, rightfully so. And as a result of his angry outburst, he gets put in two months solitary confinement there in the prison. So he goes through solitary. He comes out of that.
And he's out in the yard walking around talking with his best friend, Red, who's played by Morgan Freeman. And they're there. And Andy and Red, they're having this conversation there in the prison yard. All the prisoners are milling around.
And what's happening is they're having this conversation. They're talking about what could have been. Man, this is the life I could have lived, what I could have done. And Andy is showing his steel.
He's like, man, this is not right. I've got to get out of here. I've got to go live a meaningful life. This is not me.
This is not right. And Red is just like, man, give up. Like, so what? Andy, Red has just basically become institutionalized.
I'm here and whatever. I just give up, man. He's all full hope, right? And Andy, he looks at Red in this powerful moment.
And he makes a statement. Get busy living or get busy dying. Get busy living or get busy dying. He's saying this to Red because I go ahead.
You've given up hope. You get busy dying. Me? I'm going to get busy living.
And Church, I want to tell you something this morning. There's a great spiritual truth in the Sholshini Gredential for you and I today. The life that Jesus Christ came to give you and I, it's time to get busy living. There ain't no time to be busy dying.
And just seeing how I can blow this life away and whittle this life away and use all my days and use my strength and my usefulness and on all me and what I want to do. It's time to get busy living for the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the price that was paid for you, have I not illustrated that for you today? Can you say the price that was paid for you, it demands that you and I get busy living.
There's just no time to be dying. If you're not living, you're dying, right? And so many people are out there dying just doing what they want, living for them, acting like there is no God in their life. And their path is charted by them and them alone.
It is time to get busy living the life that Jesus died to give you and I. It's a powerful exchange that happened at the cross. And you look at so many people and you're like, what are you doing? What are you doing with your life?
You're just squandering your days. You're just blowing. Come on, don't you realize the price that was paid for you? Don't you realize what was given for you?
Get busy about the king's business for crying out loud. This is that John 10 10 life, the Zoe life, which remember that John 10, that is written in the present, continuous tense. That's literally, you can read John 10 as Jesus saying, I have come that you may have life and keep on having life and that you may keep on having it in abundance, more and better than you can imagine, right? That's the life that he came and bled and was broken to give you and that kind of life.
You're tracking with me? It's time to get busy living that kind of life. I want to tell you that I want to live my life for the full. How about you?
Does anybody here, if you want to live your life for the full, just raise your hands and say, that's me. I want to live my life for the full. Now, if you don't have your hand raised, I hope you're taking notes or something's not firing correctly, you need to come talk to me afterwards, okay? If you're sitting there saying, now I'm good, I really, it's kind of fun to live at 50%.
Come talk to me, something's wrong. Something's wrong with you, we'll figure it out, okay? You should want to live your life at 100%. And obviously, what we're talking about is in the boundaries of living life for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm going to maximize my life and see how many mega millions I can make and how many this I can own and how I can travel. It's not about, again, what the life we could live for ourselves, it's living the life that Jesus Christ came to give you and I. And you should want that. And I want to tell you that with every passing year of my life, just get real for my own life here for a second, I feel like my life is getting better and better and better.
And I feel like my life is getting sweeter and sweeter. That's the way I would tell you. I'm 38 years old right now, about to be 39 in the summer. I know, really old and decrepit, I get it.
But let me tell you that one of the things that's happening for me as I age, as I get older, not oxon, and I, we talk about this a lot, there's just things that become a lot more important to me lately. With every six months of you have just things that, you ever look back and you're like, why did I think that was important? Why did I think that that was worth pursuing? I'm going to tell you, people mean more to me right now than they ever have in my life.
And I think somebody that is just a young man syndrome, you grow up and I got to push and I got to work and I got to do these things. I see a lot of you guys and you're nodding guests, we're driven, we work hard. And sometimes you don't slow down and focus on the things that you should, right? And as I get, there's things that just, I have lost interest in.
There's things I just don't care about anymore, I really don't. And I look at my, the life that God has given me, I look at the life he's given to me personally, where he is placing me, how I get to do what I'm doing, some days that still blows my mind and I just love it. God thank you for giving me this life, you could have given me any life. I could have been born in a mud hud in Africa, I don't know, but you put me here, thank you God for my life.
I look at my marriage. I have this wonderful woman, 17 years married, the marriage that I have, I wouldn't trade it for any marriage that I know. And I thank you that you gave me this woman. I look at my four children, got one of the youngest ones sitting here with my wife and God thank you for these kids.
You could have given me no kids, any, I don't, you could have, thank you for the joy. Some of what I liked at Sweden, Sweden, you know, like, son, we talk about this in seven, eight years, we could have our first one out of the house. That'll make you feel old, you know, to be going to college and it's like, I've only got so much time as a father and as a dad. I want to live this life to the full, the seasons that we move through, right?
And all I can mind, I know why I would stand up here and say that about me and my life, my family, my church family, you all, the ministry, every area that I can look at, I say God, life just gets better and better and sweeter and sweeter. Thank you. And I recognize that I can say that before you. And if I gave you the mic and you could come up here and say, yeah, a lot of you not, my life too, it's just, it gets better and better.
Why can you say that? Why can I say that? I recognize it is because of the Lord Jesus Christ and him being in me and because of what he has done for me and how he has taken me and literally turned me inside out, you know, he makes me want to live for him. I have what I have, I am what I am because of the Lord Jesus Christ and I know that and I'm so grateful for that.
And I can always look back and see where the blood is covering me. I can, how many of you can do that as well? It's like you look back in the rear view mirror of your life and it's like, oh man, the blood was there, not just right there at salvation, but it was there and it was there and it was there and I can just look and I can see his blood where it covered me. And again, I'm just so grateful for that.
And I want to tell you that for me personally, the sweeter and sweeter, the life getting better and better and what I believe that here's a good word, security that I feel, the excitement, but the security that I feel, can I tell you that for me personally, that extends when I think about beyond the grave. It does because I know one day I'm not going to be here, and I'm going to die, I'm going to go home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. One day you're going to die, you're going to go home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the peace, the comfort, the joy, the security that it extends beyond not just this life, but the life still to come.
Because I know that one day whenever the Lord calls me home, I'm going to get to spend eternity with him. I'm going to be in paradise with him forever. Thank you, Jesus. Now I want to tell you that I'm in no hurry to get there.
I don't want to go there anytime soon. I'm grateful for this life. But I know that he ordains my days and that when these days are done, I've got a whole future with him. And again, all I'm left with is just thank you, Jesus, for this life.
This life and the one to come. I have security in that I have joined that. My future is secure because of him. My life is secure because he came and he gave me his life.
Can you see this? I wasn't worthy and I wasn't deserving. He made away from me. And can I tell you, you weren't worthy.
You weren't deserving. But he came and made away for you too. For every single one of us inside of this room and outside of this room. Church, it was his death for my life, his death for your life.
Christ bore our death. Here's where we're in thee. And you see how we've come full circle on this, right? Christ bore our death.
He took the death that you and I should have died. So that we could live his life. Can anyone think of a better way to end this morning than to just say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
You bled and died in my place. You were the perfect sacrifice, amen? Would you stand with me, Church? Well, does anybody just feel grateful this morning?
Yes. Come on, is that you? Yes. You can clap if you want to.
Come on. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father.
There is a, I get it. Look, there's a weightiness to this. There's a seriousness to this. But there is also a joy to this.
We're talking about, yes, Christ was broken. He bled, but it was for life. And there's a joy. But let's do this.
Everybody, you just bow your heads with me. Bow your heads, close your eyes. And as we close out here today, I want to give you just a few seconds here. To just tell him how grateful you are.
If you feel grateful this morning, if you're a grateful man, a grateful woman because of the cross, because of the life that you live right now, would you just take a minute here and tell him? And I want to encourage you. It's really important that you say it. Don't just think it.
But speak it out. Don't just silently acknowledge it in your mind. Just tell him this. Thank you.
Thank you, Jesus, for the life you've given me. This life that you have given to me. And that includes everything in your life. If you're married, that's your spouse, that's your husband, that's your wife.
If you've got kids, that's your kids. If you've got grandkids, that's your grandkids, your family. Let's come on and tell him to say thank you God that you've given me, the family. You place me in the family that I have.
Well, just let that gratitude just come out of your heart. I don't want to put words in your mouth this morning. What's inside of you? I think it's so good that we just stop sometimes and just reflect on what he has given to us, his life.
So Lord Jesus, we do this morning. We just stop and we gratefully acknowledge you. And again, what you have done at the cross for us. We thank you that you bore our death.
You died in our place. You took my death, my place on that cross. You took my place. And because of your blood, I now have toned it.
You've covered all of my sins, past, present, in future. You have taken my feet out of the my replay. You have set them on a firm rock. And Lord Jesus, I'm so grateful.
I thank you for this life that you have given me. Your death enabled my life. And God, I thank you for every good thing that exists in my life. And Father, would you forgive us so often as our tendency?
We feel like we want more. We need more. We deserve more. Lord God, in this moment, we just say we have all that we need.
Jesus, we have you. We're complete. And forgive us for any times that we have thought we needed more to complete our life or something to make our life better or improve it. Jesus, your blood has given us the greatest gift.
Help us to never forget that, Father God. We just grateful acknowledge you. And Lord, as we walk out of here today, Father, I ask that you keep our hearts in that posture of real humility before you. God, I just know that this kind of understanding is what keeps us in the right posture, right place before you.
Looking at what you did, what you bore for us, how can I not live my life for you and serve you and walk through this life with humbleness and generosity and kindness and warmth. And all these things got that flow out of your life. So increase the level of those things in our lives we crave. As you make us more and more like you.
And that's our heart. And that's our prayer. Father, we thank you for being with us in this room today. We thank you for the great truth from your word.
And Lord, as we step forward into a brand new week, may it be with you, God, as should you go before us, our families, our jobs, all that is to come this week. We're excited to see what you have in store for us. And it's in the mighty name of Jesus that his church says, Amen. And amen.
Have a great rest of your Sunday. Thank you for being here today. Amen.