Matthew 24.3 (#84.2024.02.04)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening To this, there'll be a link to the episode website at beholding bibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:46

1994, I had the privilege of going with Josh McDowell and a group over to Russia. It was a, scary time. In fact, we were in the high school at the time praying in the, auditorium, we would pray, for Ron as he preached the message, and in there, the lord said, go to Russia. And I said to Beth, Lord said, go to Russia. She said, what does that mean? I said, I don't know. I I know what that means. Right? And I can remember leaving. We went out to the airport, and you could actually go to the gate at that point in time, and Al Stoltest was, The assistant pastor here, he came out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:27

And the kids let's see. Josh would have been 6. Yeah. 6 years old. Annie would have been 3, and the kids said, when are you coming back? And it's interesting because I don't know what they meant by that. When are you coming back? Like, when are you returning? Well, how long will you be gone? What would it be like when you're away? Right? I don't even think they exact exactly knew what they were asking, but they asked, when are you coming back? And so we're here at a point where Jesus has left the temple, if you will, left it behind, and the disciples are asking a question. Like to ask 2 questions. And I'm not sure if they really knew what they were asking at the time or not, but they asked the questions, and We're gonna look at those questions and see what the answers tell us about who he is and what he's up to.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:14

So at the top in Matthew 20 4 3, let's read this together and stand with me, if you will, out of reverence for God and his word. One verse. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? The word of the lord. Thanks be to god. When and what, they asked. When and what, And what were they really asking? They said, what will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of your coming? And for us, that would suggest That they had some sense that he was going away or coming again because we're on this side of it. But, actually, if you look at the word, the word literally means Being near. Being near.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:12

So they were asking, what is the sign, literally, of your presence? What is the sign of your presence? Being near, what is the sign of your presence? Well, of course, this only makes sense in light of the context. Right? Jesus leaves the temple, and he said not 1 stone will remain standing. Right? He walks away from the temple here. And we looked at the tabernacle and then the temple. And the only way to understand the lord Jesus is To look at the temple. The only way to understand the temple is to look at the tabernacle. Right? And it tells us because they're all pointing. They're physical pointers For us to be able to understand what's happening.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:56

So the tabernacle was god's dwelling among men, and he said, the glory of the lord. The glory of the lord filled the tabernacle. The glory of the lord filled the tabernacle Just like the glory of the lord filled the temple, the glory of the lord among men. And we said, of course, this is not the full glory of God for sure. Imagine, I said, if you took the sun 10,000 degrees at its at its surface, millions of degrees in the center, and you pulled the sun into this room, not even possible, Right? Because it would consume everything. Same with the glory of God. It's just a small piece of the glory of God that he has shown to man. The glory of the lord filled the temple and then the tabernacle, the temple, and then the lord Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:54

And the word became flesh and dwelled among us, But the word literally means tabernacled. The word tabernacles among us. The logos became flesh And tabernacled among us, whole. It's kinda like the glory filling The tabernacle, kinda like the glory filling the temple. Oh, it was not supposed to be The final, it was supposed to be a picture or a pointer, right, giving us some sense of what would happen in the future that the glory of the Lord would fill. So here he is. Right? God's presence then was Tabernacle Temple. God's presence in their midst was the lord Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:43

The logos became flesh and dwelt among them. What's going to happen in the future? They said, what about what's the sign of your presence? We know that Jesus is going to leave. And he says, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage, he says. It is to your advantage Then I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send them to you. So Jesus is saying, Sign of my presence will be to your advantage. It will be our advantage. Well, how's that an advantage? It encouraged and depressed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:25

The lord himself tabernacling in our midst is going to be going, He's saying, but I'm not going to leave you. He said and it actually is to your advantage. How is it to your advantage? Because if I go physically, if I am if the uncontainable stepped into a flesh container and he's going, He's saying it's to your advantage that I go away. Why? Because I will send another. I will send another. So god's presence now is he will give you another helper. He will give you another Helper. And there's 2 ways to look at another.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:09

Another could be another one as in one more Of the same kind. That's one Greek word. Another would be another as in different, different quality. This word, allos, is another of different quality, but of the same kind. And it could have been heteros, which is another of a different kind. Right? But he is of the Same kind. Right? Another of the same kind. In order to be of the same kind as the lord Jesus, it would have to be divine.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:48

There There would have to be, right, one of the same kind. Jesus is of the same kind as god because he is the only Begotten. The only way to be begotten is to be of the same kind. Right? Begotten of the same nature. Right? So he's saying, I'm going to send another like Jesus of the same kind, of the same quality. What? What? How are you gonna do that? What? Yeah. How are you gonna do that? Well, he says this is a Paraclete, a paraclete on. Right? One call to the side.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:29

One fall to the side. Great picture in the Olympics in his name. He falls And because his Achilles raptured in the middle of a race, and he wants to get up and finish the race, and his dad comes out and walks alongside him. It's a great, great picture of the one who comes alongside. Advocate, Intercessor, counselor, comforter, helper, Who pleads, who convinces, who convicts. So this idea of strengthening On the one hand, strengthens on the one hand, and defends on the other. 1 who comes alongside To strengthen and one who comes alongside to defend. Growing up, I was always super shy, gangly Kinda kid.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:28

Whenever I got picked on, I wish there was someone who would come alongside. I didn't care if strengthened as much as long as they had strength and one who would defend. Right? Someone who come alongside to strengthen and to defend. So he says there's another one. It's another one like me, another advocate. So if we look at Christ as the advocate, and he is. Right? Christ is an advocate. It says if anyone sins, I write to you that you would not sin.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:56

If anyone sins, we have an advocate. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Who does he advocate for? Us. Who does he advocate to? The father. Jesus Christ advocates to the father on our behalf. He advocates to the father on our behalf. And who does he advocate against? The accuser.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:22

The accuser. The evil one. Satan. He is an accuser of the brethren. So we have an advocate. Where is our advocate? He's at the right hand of god, the position of favor, The position of sonship. He is at his right hand, and Jesus Christ advocates for us. Is that good news? That is very good news.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:46

That is very good news. The reason is I need an advocate often. In fact, I need an advocate all the time because I sin often. The righteous man falls 7 times. In fact, I sinned, and I don't even know it at times. Jesus Christ is advocating his righteousness, his bloodshed on my my behalf. Well, it says we have an advocate like, Right? Just like Aquali. The the holy spirit is an advocate.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:21

He pleads the cause of the believer, Right? Underlying against the world against the world. Right? The the the spirit of God, it says in in John 16, He will convict of sin and righteousness and judgment. So the the Holy Spirit is convicting the world on our behalf. Convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. He's also leading Christ's cause in us and with us, He knows it with us. Right? He brings to our remembrance all that Christ has said. So he's advocating against the world, and he's advocating within us. That make sense? So Jesus Christ is advocating with the father.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:03

He's our advocate with the father. Holy Spirit is advocate Against the world and in us. So I began to think the spirit of God to me and maybe not to you is weird. It's just hard to comprehend the Holy Spirit. Like, what does that mean? We used to call him the Holy Ghost. I thought, what a bad descriptor, because now we're thinking, Like Casper. What? You know? So right? So you think, what does it mean? The holy ghost, holy spirit. Right? Is this odd? Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:34

Like the wind. But let's take a look at what the Holy Spirit does and who he is to us. First of all, you cannot confess Jesus as lord without the holy spirit. Scripture says you cannot confess. No one can say Jesus is lord Except by the Holy Spirit. If you come to the point in your life where you've said, geez well, Jesus is lord, It's because the Holy Spirit has made that known to you. It is a spiritual revelation. God has spoken forth light, and the spirit of God has shown you that Jesus is lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:11

I always say I was 28 years old. I thought Christians were morons, Right? That they were just unthinking, and you you had to be stupid to be a Christian. And then before, you know, within months, I'm a Christian. Like, what's up with that? I'm going Jesus is lord. You know, I can remember reading these light of light and truth to truth. I thought, this is a weird language. Like, What is all that stuff? And then pretty soon, right, I'm listening to Christmas carols. I'm saying, oh, like the gospel and the Christmas carol.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:40

As that happened, Jesus is lord. The spirit of God has done that because he has regenerated and renewed you. He say he does, let's read this, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration And renewing by the Holy Spirit, accomplishing inside of you what is impossible To wash away your sin and regenerate you. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. New creation. Not of the same kind. A new creation. And if we look at this, I think I get the purpose of saying once saved, always saved.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:30

It it trivializes the reality. It's a bad way to say it. Once saved, always saved. No. You need to stop and say, what's occurred? So let's put that off to the side and say, let's what's occurred? Well, I confess Jesus as lord. How is that? I've been regenerated and renewed, right, in an attempt to make things, Right. I'm saying you say make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. To make the reality of what Christ has done simplistic is is a disfavor.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:03

So let's watch what happened. Regenerate it. First of all, he says, the spirit of god that he may be with you Forever. Pause. So what does that mean? God's permanent and forever presence. God's spirit will be permanent and forever. What does that tell you? He will never leave you or forsake you. He can't.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:31

He put his spirit in you forever. Well, that feels different than once saved, always saved. Right? If his spirit indwells you, his spirit will not leave you. Now you might say, well, yeah. I kinda know that. But in Psalm 5111, David cries out, do not take your holy spirit from me. Why? Because the spirit came and left. The spirit was a per was not a permanent forever indwelling.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:09

He cast me not away from my presence. Do not take thy holy spirit from me. We live in a time Where the spirit of God is permanent and forever. Is that good? Because it's the permanent and forever presence of God. He will not leave your forsake you. He cannot he will be with you forever. Okay. Let's see.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:37

What else can we see? He said you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise. Seal. God's seal. What's a seal? Well, picture is in the old time when you would drip your wax upon the letter, and you would stamp it with your seal. Or in this case, when the king would stamp it with his signet ring In order to show that is mine, he has stamped you with his signet ring permanently? Permanently. He stamped you with us, and he says it's not only a seal. What's it say? You were sealed, With the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is his signet ring.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:22

And he says, by the way, even more, He is the pledge. He is the pledge. It is the it's the earnest money For the promise that the rest will come indeed. God has put a down payment. And if he's put a down payment, the rest is Secure. The rest is secure. So god's seal and pledge. The holy spirit is god's seal and his pledge.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:53

Is that better than once saved, always saved? If you recognize that it's his permanent and forever presence That he has put his seal upon you, that he has put the down payment of the future inheritance in you, that's your security. That is indeed your security, and he will reveal, right, Jesus and truth to us. The The spirit of God reveals truth, and it reveals Jesus. It's called the spirit of truth. It's interesting. He says he, the spirit, will glorify me, Jesus, for he will take of mine, And he will disclose it to you, make it known to you. Is that good? Well, considering that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the Life. That would be a good thing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:47

The helper of the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, And he will bring, underline, bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. I can't memorize scripture. I have terrible memory. Well, that's the Holy Spirit to help. Bring to your remembrance. But you'll see, right, when you're in a situation, the spirit of God takes the word of God, and he brings it to your remembrance, doesn't he? Oh, yeah. Applying the spirit, the word to your life. Teach you all things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:22

The kingdom of god is not eating and drinking, but it is Righteousness, peace, and joy. I like that. I like peace and joy And righteousness. Rice righteousness, peace, and joy, and he is giving hope. Now may the god of Hope. Do what? Fill you. Fill you with what? All. Underline all.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:49

All joy and peace and believing. What's the purpose of the joy and peace and believing, he says, that you may abound in hope, Overflowing in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And he says, the love of God has been poured out within our hearts. How is it poured out? Through the holy spirit, the love of God. Where the spirit of the lord is where the lord is, the spirit of the lord is, there is Liberty. Liberty. For whom the sun sets free. The sun sets free there, free indeed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:25

There is liberty. And he says, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. So the promise in Ezekiel, the new covenant, was that the spirit of God would be implanted in you, that he would give you a he would take your heart of stone to make it a heart of flesh. He would give you a new spirit, and he would put his spirit within you. Your spirit's new, his spirit within you, and that his spirit would cause you to walk In his statutes, he would empower you. He would empower you to live righteously. Why is that? Because I can't do it without it. And, of course, right, the fruit of the spirit is love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:17

It is the fruit. It is the empowerment of his spirit. He empowered those to live righteously. We flip over. It says the grace of the lord Jesus, the love of God, and the koinonia, the fellowship of the holy spirit. So we have fellowship through the spirit. Hard to pray, ain't it? Hard to pray sometimes. It's hard to pray all the time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:42

Sorry to keep going in prayer. So DeCheryl, you've been praying 10 years? About 10 years for the for the prayer ministry? During the I think it was in the nineties, we would mean First Church in downtown Pittsburgh. Group of us would pray, and there were groups of pastors praying for revival in the city of Pittsburgh. It it lasted about 10 years, and then it kinda dies away. And then God raises up prayer again. Right? The old time saints would say when God means to do a work, he sets his people a praying. You Hear that. Right? So it's hard to endure in prayer, isn't it? Think I don't wanna keep doing this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:17

I don't wanna keep at it because we don't know how to pray, and we don't know how to pray as we should. We need the spirit of God. We need the spirit of God to help us with prayer. So help in prayer. He helps our weakness. We'll know how to pray as we should, and the spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words in the air intercedes for us according to the will of God. Lord, help me to pray. Help me to pray.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:44

The spirit of God helps me to pray. So as I'm prepping for class, always think of the horse is prepared For the day of battle. The victory belongs to the lord. Right? And so I know victory belongs to the lord, but preparation. So I always pray for anointed preparation An anointed proclamation because the spirit of God is our anointing because he has given us spiritual gifts Spiritual gifts. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit This is important, but to each one, underline that. There is a manifestation of the spirit. Spiritual gifts.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:31

Everybody's got them. I don't have them. No. Everybody has them. No. I don't have them. No. You don't understand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:37

Right? Oh, I'm not sure what mine is. That's different than I don't have them. But to each one, a manifestation of the spirit. Those gifts are not for you. What are they for? The common Good. You have a set of spiritual gifts. Are they on the shelf, or are they in practice? Right? Are they on sabbatical, or are they being employed? Because it says employ your spiritual gift. In other words, put it to work.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:12

We live in an age where people do not wanna be employed, where people do not want to work. And we used to say to the kids, look. I don't care about your voltage. In other words, your potential is irrelevant. It doesn't matter. Not Not all gifts are the same. There are 9 volt gifts, and there are 90,000 volt gifts. But a 90,000 volt gift on the shelf means nothing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:37

A 9 volt gift on a carbon monoxide detector saves lives. I don't care if you have 9 volt spiritual gifts, you have 90,000 volts. Question is, what are you using them for? What are they hooked up for? What are they employed for? Are you employing your spiritual gift for the common good? So spiritual gifts, empowerment by the Holy Spirit. How are you employing your gifts? And he says you shall receive power. Well, what would that power be for? Right? When when the holy spirit come upon you, you shall be my Witnesses. He empowers us to be his witnesses. That's good because I don't like being his witness. It's hard to be his witness, isn't it? In the world around, it's hard to be his witness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:25

Yeah. Right? So he empowers us. It's it's it's divine empowerment to be his witnesses even unto the ends of the earth. Right? Call upon his power. Then he says, when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour for it's not you who speak, who speaks. Holy. Holy Spirit. What does that mean? We'll know what to say what to say in tribulation and persecution.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:56

We will know what to say And tribulation and persecution. And to me, here is here is one of the most important things that the The spirit of god does, and that's why once saved always saved, oh, we are is just put it over here. Here's the idea. If you're a son of god, you've been adopted. And if you were adopted And you are a son of god. You cannot be unadopted. God doesn't unadopt you. He doesn't unsung you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:30

Right? And it's important That you understand this. He said, all those who are being led by the spirit of God, these are sons. This is not gender. It's not male. This is sons of God as in authority and is in position. He says, these are sons of God, for you have not received the spirit of slavery. When you have a spirit of slavery, you have Fear. Perfect love casts out fear.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:00

Right? He says leading to fear again. You received Spirit of adoption as sons. Underline that. And when you've received the spirit of adoption as sons, what are you able to cry out? Papa. Yeah. Abba. Abba. Papa father.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:16

Right? You are my Father, you are my father. Abba father. The spirit himself testifies. Well, remember he says, Right? This is the new covenant. I will take your heart of stone, and I'll replace it with a heart of flesh. And then I will give you a new spirit, And I will put my spirit within you. Now I have a spirit that's alive. His spirit's within me, and that's where fellowship occurs with god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:49

His spirit confesses to my spirit that I'm a child of god. There is confirmation in my spirit. He says, the spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are Children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ Jesus, if indeed we suffer with him. Right? So we are his Children, but we are specifically his sons. Don't get stuck in gender. Sons from a position of authority. In, in fact, you're the son in the position of the firstborn. What does the firstborn have? An inheritance, a double portion of inheritance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:33

Forget that? You're a son, so the spirit of god testifies that we are adopted. Right? We are adopted. It's assurance of sonship, assurance of adoption, Assurance of salvation, but it's because we're sons. It's the assurance of sonship and the assurance of adoption. Does that make sense? And so if we get out of yes. What does that mean? Yes. I would say simplistically, one saved, always saved, but it It just trivializes what he's done. He has adopted us as his sons.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:08

That's where my security is. That's where my confidence is. That's where I stand. He's adopted me as a son. Right? He doesn't change his adoption. He doesn't unadopt you. Right? So assurance of sonship, assurance of adoption. Everybody get that? That's my assurance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:26

That's where I stand In the confidence that I am his son. Right? Son. Don't get stuck in, well, yeah, but I'm a girl. Because I'm not. You know? It's it's not. It's assurance of sonship. Does that make sense? Assurance of sonship and all that that means, Assurance of adoption. And so that's the confidence that we have.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:51

Do you see the difference between that? Right? It's the assurance that I have been adopted and that his spirit will be with me forever ever, and his spirit with me forever. So as you go through there, circle what you would say are the top 3 for you. Top 3 benefits, if you will, of the holy spirit that stand out to you. Let me feel gratitude for the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Holy Spirit. Right? So what I hope you do is flip from I don't get it. It's invisible. I don't really understand the spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:30

Right? We don't need to fully understand the spirit. Just understand who the spirit is. Right? And he's another of the same kind as the lord Jesus, and he brings All the presence of god to us. Right? That's what it's about, the presence of god. The spirit of god is like that's why Jesus said it's To your advantage that I go away because I can only be with a group. I go and I walk with the 12. I can walk with the 3. I could be intimate, right, with the 12, the 3, the 1, but he said I can be intimate with you forever through the spirit Through the spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:10

You are now in a sonship relationship, and I can be with you forever and Always. There's not a day where you're gonna wake up where the spirit of God is not present in you. You don't have to wake up and say, I wonder if the spirit's gonna go away. But for David, he said, lord, do not take thy holy spirit from me. Do not send me away from your presence. Right? Do not send me away. So God prayed God. We looked at God's presence before.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:40

That was the tabernacle in the temple. We looked for God's presence at the time when Jesus is speaking this, and he's saying that the spirit of God, right, and God's presence now, he said, what about God's presence in the future? God's presence in the future is called the end of the age, which is the end of the world. The end of the world. In the Old Testament, there are 1500 verses on the Messiah's return. The New Testament, one out of every 25 verses speak about it. John MacArthur called it calls it the great calamity, the great calamity. The men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that I am the lord, and there is no other. The one forming light, creating darkness, Causing well-being, creating calamity.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:27

I'm the lord who does all of these. Calamity is part of his consequence for sin. He's created calamity for his purposes. It's the great calamity. And Jesus said, Right. We talk about the wheat and the tares. He said, this is the harvest at the end of the age, and the reapers are my angels. The end of the age is coming.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:52

End of the world is coming. Behold, I saw heaven opened, the white horse, and he sat upon it. It's called faithful and true. On his head are many diadems. He rides on a whole white horse. Out of his mouth comes a sword, and he will execute the wrath of god, Which is his consequence, his justice, his judgment for sin. And he says he treads the wine press of the Fierce wrath of god. Fierce wrath of god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:27

The end of the age. The end of the world It's indeed coming. It's indeed coming. Not because things seem crazier than they did 50 years ago, Just because they are on track, on target, just like in the fullness of time Jesus was born, in the fullness of time Jesus will return. What is that? Now? 1000 years? 10 years? I have no idea. I have no idea, but he does. Not him as in Jesus because Jesus said, I don't know the time. Only the father knows the time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:01

So God's presence In the past, god's presence in the future. I thought about what about god's presence now for us? What about now? What does what what does this mean? This is all about the presence of god. Isn't that the question they ask? What about your nearness? What about your presence? Well, first thing I think about is as the deer pants for water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, oh god. My soul thirsts for god. My soul thirsts for god. And then he asked a question. What do you do with that thirst? So what's he say? When will I come? What's that verse say? When will I Come and appear before god. Right? So there's this inner longing, Which is your heart.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:53

Which is your heart. Your heart has that inner longing like a deer. How's the deer pan from Waterbrooks? If it's thirsty, it is. Right? If there's you don't have to say to the deer, hey. Should you get some water? Right? The deer knows it. My soul pants for thee. My soul thirsts for thee. So the first thing to look at is to have some You know, when, when we had the we had the chance were you there when we did the, Constantine took us to fly the, the the jets.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:27

So we got to fly the 747 because he was the director of training for US Airways, and we got to fly 747, $28,000,000 simulators. Right? You got in there. You didn't know you weren't in at 7:47. And I remember saying to him, like, there's a lot of dials in here. He said, yeah. But you only have to look at 4. We have to look at 4. They will tell you something.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:50

Right? If they tell you bad news, you look beyond it. You You need to have some dials in your life which tell you whether you are on track or not. One of the dials is your heart, your inner longings, Your inner longing. Right? So as you think about it, if one is I self water, I'm good. Number 10 is I thirst for him. I yearn for him, long for him daily. Just Assess where you are. Like all exercises, this is more fun to do it about someone you know, even more fun to a spouse or a close friend.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:28

Right? They need to see this. Right? This is not a PFO or property for others. And the other thing when I put a relative number Is I think about it. Is that moving up, or is it moving down? That's really the question. What is the direction of your life? Right? Because the reality is is this is how longing goes, doesn't it? Reality is we move up and down over, right, over time. So I wanna say, where what's my direction? Right? Am I moving am I moving further away from longing, which means I'm I'm I'm self watering. I'm self satisfied or, right, I'm using idols to try and satisfy the longing. Right? So the first is your heart, right, interlonging.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:16

The second is your mind and your will. Those are the pieces inside. Right? He says for a day in night court is better. It's better than what? So he says this is a mathematical equation, But it's not, of course, but he said, let's do it like this. One day is like a 1,000 outside. What's he mean? Inside the temple? No. The temple was where god was near. It's a picture.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:51

You're saying so a day, right, a day is like a 1,000 outside. An hour is like a 1,000 outside. A minute is like a 1,000 outside. So if you're the director of efficiency for your life, isn't that a great efficient equation? A minute with God is better than a 1,000 running around trying to fix something. An hour with God is better than a 1000 hours trying to run around trying to fix things. Jeez. Maybe I should apply that. That's why I say it's mind and will.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:25

Because it's mine. Like, Paul would say, for I'm convinced for I'm convinced. And it's also will, therefore, I will act. So I believe this is time alone with god. This is about my time alone with god. And you see how the 2 are connected, because he cries out, oh god, thou art my god. I shall seek thee earnestly. My soul thirsts for thee.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:52

My flesh yearns for thee. I can feel it in my soul. I can feel it in my heart. I can feel it in my body. Thus I have beheld thee. Then what's the action? He says, thus I have beheld thee in thy sanctuary. What did I see in there? Your power and your glory. Then he says, oh, yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:10

Because thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise thee, so I'll bless thee as long as I live. Right? It's the understanding that when when the the dashboard goes off, when the light goes off, right, low on, low on, low on, It's saying get with god, and and his loving kindness will be better than life because he says, Right? It you cannot be watered by around you. Right? It's a dry and weary land where there is underline that. There is no water. The world around can't satisfy your soul. How many have tried to drink the water of the world? It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:50

Thus I have beheld thee in thy sanctuary. So this is about time alone with god. So I put on there, number 1 is consumed by day to day, 10 is thirsting for god, time alone with god. Oh, I didn't change it. That would be regular time regular time with him. Trust myself. I need to have I need to have a ritual, a habit. It it needs to be an appointment.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:17

It needs to be an appointment. Otherwise, I blow it off. Hard to do, isn't it? There's a reason. My flesh doesn't want to meet with god. My my old man doesn't want to meet with God. The enemy doesn't want you to meet with God. Why is it such a struggle? Because my my old man doesn't wanna meet with God. The enemy doesn't wanna meet with God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:42

Yeah. But it doesn't feel right. The enemy doesn't want me to live with God. My old man doesn't want me to live with God. That's why it doesn't feel like I want to. Right? So regular time, ritual, habitual, habit, appointment, whatever word you wanna use. Right? I need it because I think. The alarm goes off.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:07

I don't wanna get out. I don't wanna meet with God. I don't, but I have to bring my unwantingness in there. And, by the way, you can even pray for your unwantingness. God will even help you with wanting. Lord, help me to want it. My soul thirsts for thee. My flesh yearns for thee In the dry and weary land where there is no water.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:32

And you notice that the land is getting drier, And it's getting rearier, getting right? And there is no water. It doesn't matter how many Facebooks, Instagram Post that you put in there, they don't satisfy, do they? They don't satisfy. In fact, they're, like, Drinking salt. It just makes you drier and wearier. Right? So time alone with god. Regular times with god. And the last I thought was interesting, it's his future presence. It's he says our citizenship is in heaven.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:11

So we that's where we belong. Somebody said it doesn't feel like I belong here in this world. Well, that's because you don't. You've been transferred. Your citizenship has been changed. Your citizenship is in heaven. Your allegiance is to him. He said, from which we, I'm going with those words.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:32

Eagerly wait. Eagerly wait. Which begs the question, what am I eagerly waiting for? Some people eagerly wait for Friday. Some people eagerly wait for the end of the day. Right? Eagerly wait. What He's saying we should eagerly wait, not for a thing, but for a person. The presence, our savior, Jesus Christ, we should eagerly wait. What am I eagerly waiting for? And then he says, looking for the blessed hope And the appearing of the glory the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior Christ Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:18

He's the blessed hope. So we're looking for this blessed hope, and he says the appearing. What's the appearing? The nearness of God. The glory filled the tabernacle. The glory filled the temple. The glory filled Jesus, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, Glorious of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. The glory of the lord is what we're waiting for, Disappearing. And he says when we see him, we will be made like him like him of the same nature.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:58

He's going to transform the body of this humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. And he And me and he and you, he will be with you forever. It's the presence of god permanently and forever. And it is the assurance. It is what we wait for. Right? He's saying, if you've got a down payment, if you like tasting of my presence. Just wait. Just wait.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:28

Because there's nothing here that is even close to what it will be like when you'd be made like me. Alright. Write down the insight, application. And may be the god who is Emmanuel, god with us. May he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance And grant you shalom deep in your souls, and may the grace of the lord Jesus, the love of god our father, And the fellowship with the Holy Spirit be with you now and always.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:02

Amen. Amen. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:29

Until next time. May god bless you and keep you.