Matthew 28:11-20 (#104.2024.10.27)

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 will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:46

Well, I'm gonna look around the world today and are frustrated with the lies that are being told. And I'm gonna look around the world today and are frustrated that they are rewriting history on a regular basis. Well, you're in the right place at the right time because you're gonna learn today. This is nothing new. Nothing new. So stand with me if you will as we read our passage today. So Matthew 2811 through 20. Read it together if we will.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:10

Now while they're on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priest all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders, we thought that together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers that you are to say, his disciples came by night and stole him away while they were asleep. And this should come to the governor's ears. We will win him over, keep you out of trouble. They took the money, did as they've been instructed, and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day. But the 11th disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they thought, they worship him, but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:09

Do it therefore and make the cycles of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. Hello. I am with you always even to the end of the age. The word of the lord. Thank you. Thanks, god. To god. So here we are.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:33

103 lessons later. 103 weeks ago. How long is that? That's a while ago. Yeah. In the book of Matthew. Here we are at the end. I'm grateful that I'm under no schedule, that I don't have to teach Matthew in 6 weeks or in 8 contact sessions and, you know, make it as simple as possible. We just dive in each week and grateful for the opportunity to be here and to share with you each person that's here with your open heart and your open mind really encourages me every week, Beth and I, and we now committed ourselves to this process.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:08

So here we are as we end the book of Matthew. And I was thinking about the world today and how frustrating it can be at times. Is it not? How frustrating it could be? So here we are at the end of Matthew, and, we see that the government, was involved, that the military was involved, that the religious leaders were involved, that they're all involved. And they were lying, cheating, and stealing. Right? And they were all doing it together. So I call that the great lie. Okay. Great lie.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:41

Great lie. We see great lies going on today, don't we? So we see religious leaders, government, military. They lie, deny, and they rewrite history. They lie, military, they lie, deny, and they rewrite history. They lie, they deny, and they rewrite history. Nothing new. Nothing new. So there were Roman guards stationed outside the tomb, 4 soldiers, fully armed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:04

Trained. 22. 2 on, 2 off. 2 on, 2 off. 2 on, 2 off. 2 on, 2 off. On risk of death. 2 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off, trained top soldiers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:20

So what did they say? All the soldiers were asleep. We were asleep, and they stole the body away. Violating military law, punishable by death. 2 on, 2 off. No. We were all asleep. In fact, we're all asleep, so we missed it that must have stolen the body. And we were so asleep that we didn't hear them rolling the gigantic stone away as it made the noise.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:47

But we were asleep, and we somehow knew who did it. It was the disciples, so we can put them in a you know, put them where they line them up, and we could identify them even though we were asleep. Interesting. There's a couple of bucks to go tell the lie. So I put an absurd lie or a supernatural truth, an absurd lie or a supernatural truth. Is it easier to believe an absurd lie? And that's the challenge because it comes up against a supernatural truth. It's not just a truth. It's not a belief.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:23

And as I said, Christianity is not based on a belief system. It's based on a supernatural event in history, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, and the the death and the resurrection of the one. And I put there, there's more than enough physical evidence. Not that there's not evidence, but what's one of the key evidential pieces in a trial? Eye witnesses. In the Old Testament, it says by 2 or more eyewitnesses. How many were there were there for Jesus? After that, he appeared to more than Mhmm. 500. It wasn't, like, just the disciples.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:02

There were 500 who saw the lord Jesus alive. Lots of theories. Oh, he just pretended to be dead. They sent an imposter. I mean, there's all sorts of theories about what he accomplished versus the actual reality of the supernatural truth that he was resurrected according to the scriptures. But, of course, we're we're we're reminded as we look through this that evidence does not save from spiritual blindness, does it? Evidence does not save from spiritual blindness. Jesus talked about the man who died, and he's in there with Abraham. And he says, if someone goes to my friends from the dead, they will repent.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:48

But Abraham says that that they do not listen to Moses and the prophets. They will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Because we tend to think. Right? You have people in your life, and you think, lord, if you did a miracle, somebody's sick or something's happening, and you think, lord, if you did a miracle, they believe. How many thought about that? Lord, if you show yourself in the midst of this, they would believe. And I tell a story about my sister brain tumor, inoperable in her brain stem. Right? Gonna gonna be in a wheelchair and die, and the Lord miraculous events. Right? A missionary in Africa sends $500.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:25

We didn't have any money at the time. Missionary in Africa sends $500 to Jim and Analecke. Jim and Annalecki, hear from the Lord. We're buying you a ticket, sending you to California, right, to go out there. Because my sister had this inoperable brain stem. Right? So she was at UCLA Medical Center, and they were saying we're gonna radiate this next week. And I'm praying in my office, and on Wednesday well, actually, Wednesday before I'm praying, I have lunch with Michael Haleyak, who's an attorney, owned the Clark Building, and his son was a a physician here in town. And he said there's a brain tumor research center in San Francisco.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:05

So I called them after lunch on Wednesday, and I left a message for doctor Charles Wilson. The preeminent surgeon ran the the whole unit out there. On Friday, I'm praying in my office, and he calls me. That's a miracle. You get a callback from a physician. And he said, how did you, like, how did you call here? Because we're a physician referral service. You can't come to us directly. And I told him a story.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:30

And he said, alright. I'll tell you what we'll do. You get the test, send them here, and we'll look at them. We have a twice a week round table with all the physicians. I called my sister. She said, no. No. Argue.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:41

Argue. No. We UCLA Medical Center blah blah blah blah blah. I said, you need to do this. She said, okay. So he gets passed overnight, and Wilson calls. He says, the MRI is so bad, I can't make a diagnosis. You need to come up here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:55

So Jimmy and Aneleki buy me a ticket. I go out there, and they look at the new MRI, and they say, this is not inoperable. It's operable. It's not in the brain stem. It's outside. She goes to San Francisco. I'm watching the kids. That's a miracle by itself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:10

And they operate on the tumor out. She's 8 hour operation. She's lying in her bed in the hospital. My dad is out there. Black nurse comes in, massages her neck, and she says the pain goes away. So my dad goes out to thank the nurse. What's the answer? From a black nurse on this unit, on this floor. New.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:32

So the Lord sent literally sent an angel, healed my sister. She came to Christ as a result of that. And I would say to my dad when he was sleeping, you remember with my sister, and he would say, really? Is that what happened? Really? Is that what happened? Remember the scripture where god talks and people say, what was that? There was that a noise? So you think, right, a supernatural event is enough to cure spiritual violence, but it it's not. There's enough evidence. There is enough evidence. Right? And so he's remind he reminds us in 2nd Corinthians, even if our gospel is, it's failed. It's failed. It's failed to those who are perishing in in whose case, the god of this world, and I added system.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:16

I have to remind myself there's a world system. Right? And he's the god of the world system. Right? Because we tend to get confused with people versus the world system. People who are under the world system like we all were. Right? Before he rescued us out of darkness, he spoke light into our dark heart. We were in the world system. The god of this world system, who's that? It's Satan. He blinds he blinds unbelievers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:46

He's blinded the minds of the unbelievers. He blinds the and Satan blinds their mind. And Saint Augustine reminds us that it's a combination. So blindness apart is a sin. It's a punishment for sin, and it's the cause of sin. It's all three of those. There's judicial hardening of hearts. There's judicial blindness, which comes as a result of the sin of blindness of heart.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:12

But the problem is our unbelieving heart. Right? Blindness and unbelieving heart. So evidence doesn't save. Evidence doesn't say. And what's the name?

Speaker C [: 00:11:25

RC, sir.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:26

RC. Sproul would say that apologetics is for believers. Fundamentally, apologetics is is to strengthen our faith upon and, you know, evidence that demands a verdict. Right? When we went to Russia with I can't remember anybody. Josh McDowell. He had 2 books on evidence that demands a verdict. There's enough physical evidence. It's not as if or you hand that to somebody and that's gonna open their eyes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:49

God's gotta do the work. Yeah. So I put in there, so why are we surprised when the world lies? Why are we surprised? If you're of the world, the world would love its own. But because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore therefore, the world hates you. Duh. When is the world gonna be nice to Christians? And it's not. The fact that they are nice is seemingly a problem. Although, John Piper, doctor John Piper reminds us, there actually it was this kind of window, a 300 year window in America where it was where it was kind of okay.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:29

Some parts of the world, it was good to be a believer. Right? And then other parts, it was kinda okay. But that window is is, first of all, an anomaly in history. It's an anomaly in history. It's not so. Most of the world, most of time, have not been friendly to Christians. Why? You're not of the world system. There's a time here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:49

We're all surprised. Like, yeah, we should go back to the good old days. Why are we surprised? Jesus said if they hate you, they hated me first. Because we always say, well, you know, if we acted if we if if Christians were like Jesus, then everybody would believe. Well, Jesus was like Jesus, and they crucified him. It's confusing to me. You just need to be more like Jesus. No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:13

They hung out. He he was perfect, and they crucified him. It's not like, oh, if we get it together, the world's gonna embrace us. No. The world's going to hate us. The The more we like Jesus, the more we like Jesus. So the great lie. Great lie.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:29

They lie, deny, and rewrite history. Then I put next the great but. Great but. But the disciples the world lies, they lied, but the disciples proceeded. They proceeded, and they obeyed Jesus. They proceeded, and they obeyed Jesus. So you think about that. There is the picture.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:50

The world lied, but the disciples kept moving. They proceeded. They didn't stop or wring their hands. Woe is me. Woe is the world. Right? They proceeded. They they moved. They were moving, and they obeyed Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:07

Jesus said, go to the mountain. It says they proceeded to the mountain which Jesus designated. So the worldwide, but love that. But the disciples. The worldwide, but the disciples worship worldwide as the disciples worship Jesus. Literally, it means to fall in your face, not just sing, but to fall in your face, literally subcarment. Right? In this case, some dirt. Right? There's that sense of of of my my entire body physically physically.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:43

Right? And so we think I mean, worship is this. And sometimes worship is this, Then they're literally on their face. And so it's a great reminder. See, most of worship is not what happens here, not what happens when we're together. It's what happens between you and the Lord. Right? Personal worship. Right? How often are you on your knees? How often are you on your face? Just a reminder. It's not a it's not a mechanical thing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:08

Okay. Now pretend we're gonna be on the knees. It's just a sense of when you when we encounter the Lord Jesus, there should be this sense of right? I always say I want a place where in the, you know, in a hardwood floor, there's 2 little 2 little index. Right? 2 little index. So the disciples worship. And I love this because who is writing the press for these people? Right? The PR department needs to get some training in how to do this. It says they worship, but some were doubtful. There were doubters.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:47

Really? Even doubtful. Even doubtful. Isn't that a great picture? How many of you struggle with doubt? How many struggle with telling the truth? Seriously. Like, these are the disciples, and there were doubters. What does that mean? The scripture is honest, isn't it? Scripture is what man wouldn't write if he could or couldn't write if he would. Right? That we say. We wouldn't say that. All the cycle, they had all together for where they were just.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:14

Right? They were all together. I love this. Listen to Thomas, to the lord, to the son of god, and the son of man. Unless I see his hands, the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. That's the praise, doubtful Thomas. Right? Then Jesus showed up. I love this. Jesus said to him, like, get your life together.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:39

Believe. Right? Isn't that what he said? No. What did he say? Reach here with your finger, see my hands. Reach here, put your hand into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. The compassion of the Lord Jesus speaking into his doubt. Here, you wanna you wanna put your hand to my side? Thomas says, my lord and my god, even said to him, because you've seen me, have you believed? Right? You have the physical evidence. Blessed are those who did not see and yet believed believed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:14

So we don't get the physical, we don't touch him, but he says you're blessed you're blessed. Even doubtful even doubtful. And I love earlier in Matthew, Jesus quotes from Isaiah. A bruised read a bruised read, he will not break off. See, if Ruth read is useless. Not useful anymore. Right? Reed's bruised. Can't use it anymore.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:43

And a smoldering wick smoldering wick, he will not put out. Sometimes your faith, your belief feel like it's bruised. Your flame is smoldering. I mean, smoldering is just you know, that how it's just smoke coming out of the wood. You know? It's like after you put it on this that's what people like, doesn't it? Lord's gonna throw me out. Gonna have enough to make it. He says, no. A brewery is greedy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:08

He will not break off a smoldering wick. He will not put out great picture. Right? John the Baptist had trouble. Right? So it's a great reminder. Is part of that. And so one of my favorite prayers, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. Help. Just sometimes help.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:26

Just help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Even doubters. Even doubters. So the great lie, the great bud is despite the world, the world lies denies what the disciples proceed. Flip over. Then, of course, Jesus, in the midst of this, gives them the great commission. Carson says, all dominates and ties these verses together, all authority, all nations, all things, all the days.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:51

And they go, Jesus is the all in all. Then they go, Jesus is the all in all. And I love this because he says, go therefore to some reasonably unremarkable disciples. Reasonably unremarkable disciples. Doesn't he? Is this the best group you got? Best group you got? Ferguson said it's Peter, the rash and the headstrong. John, who sometimes wishes to call far from heaven to destroy men. Philip, with whom the savior has been so long and yet he has not known him. Thomas, who must put his finger into the print of the nails or he will not believe him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:28

Yet the master says to them, go ye. There's no power in you, but then all power is in me. So if the qualification is to be unremarkable, just trusting savior, how many qualify? That's us. Right? Does. We're unremarkable disciples. And we are despite the fact that we are unremarkable, we are made disciples, not simply converts, made use of gold, made disciples. And underline every because that's the key. There isn't one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:02

Always remember for the red square, Andre and I. And one of the guys I was sharing with was a soldier, Russian soldier, and he said, you have no idea what I've done. He said, there is no forgiveness. There is no forgiveness. And I said to him, I have no idea what you've done. I know what I've done. I don't know what you've done, but I know what Jesus has done. And he shed his blood, and there is no sin that his blood won't cover.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:29

There's no sin that his blood won't take care of. There is no sin that his blood won't redeem you from every sin. Right? Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. So with the shedding of blood, there is remission of sin. And that doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter where you've been. Jew, Gentile. Right? This side of the tracks, that side of the tracks, big sin, little sin, doesn't really matter.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:55

There's no one. No one. A new song saying that was slain and did purchase for God, men from every tribe, tongue, people, nations. Who is that? Everyone. Everyone. There's anyone outside of God's forgiveness. And I love this. We baptize him in the name of the triune god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:16

Where is Trinity? It's not in the Bible. Yes. In the name of the father, son, the holy spirit. That being triune. That's the triune god. And he says teaching them to observe all things, all things. The easy and the hard. The easy and the hard.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:35

Paul says, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of god. Early on, before I was a believer, I turned on the radio and came to listen to John MacArthur, and I get his little cassette tapes. I put those things in, and the thing he drilled in was line upon line, precept upon precept. And then at the bottle distribution center in town, I met a woman, Shirley, and Shirley mentored me as well, line upon line, precept upon precept. The thing about that is you read stuff you like, and you read stuff you don't like. You read stuff that makes sense, and then you read stuff that doesn't make sense. And you read stuff you agree with, and then you read stuff you don't agree with. But it is the whole council of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:22

And so I've committed really to teaching line upon line, just move through the scriptures, just started the wherever, and just go through book after book after book. And, again, sometimes that's a big challenge. But the same that I've committed to declare to you as best I can the whole purpose of God. And the challenging thing about declaring the purpose of God is you and your own brokenness. Right? Some would say it's hypocrisy to declare the truth of God and not be in tune with it. But if that were the case, none of us could declare the truth of God, only the Lord Jesus. Because the rest of us are just broken examples. You know? Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:04

But you're falling short. Yeah. That's why he died. But I I I validate the message. I don't I don't invalidate the message. I'll be a broken sinner. Right? I don't have it all together. No people.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:18

I don't have it all together. Right? I don't have it all together. I struggle every day. I struggle with doubt. I struggle with sin. I struggle with lust and greed and all the stuff all the time. I struggle with, do I keep going? Do I keep pressing on? Do I do that? Or do I does it matter? Does my life matter? Does it count? Have any struggle with that? Mhmm. Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:42

We all we're all in the same boat here. That make sense? We declare the whole purpose of God even with our brokenness. And Jesus says the best thing that he could say, I am with you Uh-huh. Always. Always. Always. The core promise. And it literally means the Greek means not just always.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:05

It means the whole of every day. Lord, I need thee. Every hour, I need thee. No. Every minute, I need thee. No. Every second, I need thee. Right? The Ascension was at hand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:17

This implied an absence of this visible presence, so he replaced so to be replaced by a spiritual presence, more perfect, more potent, more effectual, more infinite. Right? The spirit of god, it is I, myself, I, god, and man, who am, not will be, henceforth, ever present among you, with you as a companion, a friend, a guide, a savior, and a god. And this, not now in dens, but all the days, all the dark days of trial and persecution and affliction. Beloved, it's a great reminder. It's the great promise. The great promise. He said it to Joshua. Be strong, right, and courageous.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:59

I do not tremble nor be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go wherever you go. He's with us. Right? He's with us. I love in Hebrews, the amplified version said, for god said, he quotes, I will never, under any circumstances and they they put it in caps. So the Greek is screaming. The Greek is screaming here when when when he he he says this, I will never, under any circumstance, desert you nor give you up nor leave you without support nor will I, in any degree, leave you helpless nor will I forsake or let you down or relax my hold on you? Assuredly not. That's the Greek. And he's declaring it with power and with assurance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:50

Isn't that a great promise? And that's what we hold to, don't we? We're not alone. We're not alone. We're not alone. So we have the great commission, and we tend to think remember here in the great commission? To me, it felt like a weight. They're like a gun. What does that mean? I gotta go and witness all the time. That's what it felt like. I gotta witness all the time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:11

Well, I stopped thinking about it. So what does it mean? No. Actually, what it means is that your life is part of a grand scheme and plan, and you've been invited into it to play a part. That God has this great plan, so I call this the great purpose. This is the great purpose. Don't you wake up sometimes and say, what's the point? No. You think I I wonder, am I the only one? You think, like, what's the point? Does my life count? Does it really matter? What's the difference? Oh, why isn't there why aren't there more people coming to my class? I mean, all that stuff. Like, uh-uh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:45

You know? Been doing this since 1991. Same number of people. Different faces. Some the same. But the Lord the Lord reminds you, no. Your part you have a purpose. It's not random. Right? You have a purpose in this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:00

So last week, I don't know who's here last week. But at the end, I was talking with Christopher. Do you know Christopher? So Christopher has not been here for 10 years, but he's been online every week. He takes the lessons. He flies because he went to Washington DC and then out to Colorado. He was here. He's a secret service agent. He was guarding secret undercover, Trump at the at the Steeler football game.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:27

So he was in Steeler guard, but he was working. So he came in here. He saw, I get this chance to kinda come in here, and so we chatted and talked to him for a few years. His son is very disabled. I don't know what he has, but, Christopher runs with his son. So he does you know, who was the guy that used to run? He died a number of years ago. In Boston, Maryland. Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:48

The guy, he he always would have run with his son. So he's part of kind of a group. So he runs with his son. His son's name, Colin. He has a sign on the side of his his his wagon that says I'm I'm Colin. And so that's kind of his ministry and his deal. You know? But you don't know. You think, oh, you know, does my life matter? It doesn't matter.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:07

It's really about the ones, not the manys. Life is about the ones, not the many. We think it's gotta be many, many, but, you know, the kingdom is about the few, not the many, isn't it? That's the kingdom principle. Talk about the many, it's about the few, and that your life is about that. So I put there, your life has greater purpose. In fact, scripture says you are a co laborer with God. Lord, we should probably review your hiring process. Like, what? We are God's fellow workers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:40

Just meditate on that for a minute. Co laborers. That means we're co laborers with one another and co laborers with him. We're part of a grander plan, greater purpose. So does your life matter? Yes. So that is immensely. And no matter no matter who you are I remember missus t at the Bible Distribution Center. She said, I can't I can't do much but snap beans and call people on the phone because I can't get out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:08

Right? They don't know. You could be texting people. You could be you know? Doesn't matter. The next thing is don't be surprised. The world system, unbelievers, will continue to lie and deny. That's not changing. Why are we surprised? Right? Stop moaning, and it's not gonna get better. Right? In fact, it's gonna get worse.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:28

It's not gonna get better. Just a reminder. So what do we have to do? The world lies, but but we press on. We press on, not on our own. We press on with assurance. What do we have assurance of? So we we we press on with Christ, but authority, presence, and victory. So when I started this, this was in order to remind us in Matthew about that, which is God's sovereign rain tea. Teeth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:02

Sovereign rain teeth is this assurance that he has all authority, all presence, all victory. There is. All his. David said, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever. For thine is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. Indeed, everything that is in the heavens and on the earth. Thine is the dominion, oh, Lord, and thou dost exalt thyself as head over all. Both wisdom and knowledge, both riches and honor come from thee, and thou dost rule overall.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:38

And in thy hand is power and might. And it lies on thy hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our god, we thank thee, and we praise thy glorious name. So he reminded him in in at the end of his life, that's sovereignty. Thou dost rule over all. In thy hand is power and might, and it lies in thy hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. That's his authority, his presence, his victory. It's all.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:06

All in all. We move forward. We don't press on alone. It's his sovereignty. That's what we saw from the very beginning to see the sovereign king. So what's a reminder? So what do we do? Well, Paul said to Timothy, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God. So stir up your gift. Stir up your gift.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:29

So that usually means one of 3 things. I'm using my gift. I know what it is and just keep fanning the flag. Might be over here and the other. I don't know what my gift is. If you don't, let's chat. You should pray. There's ways to figure out what is God's gift for you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:43

In the middle is I've got my gift, but it's on the shelf. So he's saying get it back off the shelf, fan the flames, throw some fuel on it, and get get back at it. Get your get your gift going. Right? Stir it up. Stir it up. Kindle it afresh. I love that. There are there are embers in there.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:00

And remember, right, he says broken reed, smoldering wick, doesn't matter. He will breathe life into your gift again. And then he says in 2nd Timothy at the end of his day, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of and I leave that blank. Do the work of because he said for Timothy, he was an evangelist. Right? But you've gotta fill that in. What is it he's called you to be? Do the work of and but mostly fulfill your your ministry. Fulfill your ministry, which is well in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Stay on your plot.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:38

Don't have plot envy. Don't have gift envy. Don't have ministry envy. Don't have fruit envy. It means they've given you a plot. Stay on your plot. Work it. Right? And don't look around.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:51

Don't look around. Fill your ministry. Again, same way. If you're not sure what it is, ask. Right? Until your ministry. Lastly, he reminds them. He says, I fought the good fight. I've finished the courts.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:04

I've kept the faith. In the future, it's not for naught. In the future, what? There is laid up. Right? Laid up. Timothy, it says, it's reserved. It's protected in heaven, your inheritance. There's laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, will award to to me on that day and to you who have loved his appearing. So I put fight, finish, faith.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:34

Fight, finish, and faith. Those are the three things. Because, literally, the Greek says that the the the fight the literally the fight, I've fought. Of course, I've finished the faith I've kept with the subject of each of those. Right? The the eyes not the subject. The subject is each one of these. Right? The good fight I fought. The the course I finished the faith I kept.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:57

So fight, finish, faith. So we have Matthew with that that call to proceed on. The lord Jesus is heading to heaven, and they're on their own, but they're not. He reminds them, all authority, all presence, all victory are mine. And they're yours as a result of the fact that we co labor together. So we have, of course, the great lie, but standing in juxtaposition of that is the great but. While the world lies, the disciples proceed. Right? And so it gives us not only the great commission, but in that is the great purpose for each person's life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:37

Right? We all have a role in that because we are co laborers with him. So write down an insight or an application today, An insight or application today. There's something I'd like to share.

Speaker C [: 00:34:51

Something here. Okay. God bless you. God bless you. If it's the lady checking me out, whoever it is, couple of you and I along my way. I have started to take that the next step and and ask them. I I try ask them, is there anything I can do for you or god bless you to thank you for your and then I get the people to talk. And then when I someone tells me something that's going on in a health issue or whatever, I'll go I'll pray for that person.

Speaker C [: 00:35:16

Then I walk away. I don't know the person's name. I don't know what they're so it sounds good. Now I'm extending all that, and I have pieces of paper, and I was like, I write stuff down, and I check back. And it's people who I'm coming in contact with every day, like, who are waiting on me. Right? So just thinking through all that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:37

Nice. Good. And I've done state. That's the journey that we're on. Right? You do this, and then you go, oh, this. Isn't that what it is? Right? Then there's a list, and then you back up, and then you gotta do this, and you're like, because that's the kind of journey. And I'm grateful for the Lord Jesus and his tenderness and patience. But it's hard to do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:59

You know? He just he's he never leaves you never say. Cool. And and it's a great thing to say to people, hey. I'm gonna meet you. Is there anything I can pray

Speaker D [: 00:36:07

for you?

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:07

Yeah. Yeah. Good. Well, almost everyone, no matter what they believe, the is okay with prayer. Right? Hey. How can I pray for you? And I and I think not just eternal security, because that's kind of a that like, I think, eternal security, but it's the every moment of every day. It it in that Greek, it's every moment of every day. You're not alone.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:29

You're not alone in a dark place. You're not alone in a broken place. You're not alone when you got sickness. You're not alone when you're depressed or discouraged or frustrate. You know, he he doesn't flee. He doesn't flee. Right? He doesn't flee. He never leaves us.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:45

Right? Even when you feel alone, you're not. He's there. Right? And I think it's it's wonderful to say, you know what? I feel pretty alone. You can that's the kind of promise that there we're not informing him when we say I'm doubting. I don't believe. I'm having trouble trusting. Right? It's not like he's informed. Oh, really? Oh, I didn't know that over there.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:09

Really? Seriously? Right? It's now it's just it just it's a demonstration to the fact I trust this promise that there's nothing I can feel or go through or say to you that will cause you to turn your back on me or or disown me. That's a powerful promise in a world where nobody can nobody can say that. I don't care your best friend, your spouse. They just can't. We're just human beings. Right? There's no one that's gonna be that loyal in their love. Loyal covenant love. That's what hesed is.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:44

That's what it's a loyal covenant love that cannot be broken. That's unbelievable. I will not leave you nor forsake you ever ever ever ever ever. Well

Speaker D [: 00:37:58

Scott, as Johnny was sharing, it it reminded me of the best the most impressive example, I guess, I ever saw. Jim knows this is our our friend, Tunch, that would pray for people

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:12

Yeah.

Speaker D [: 00:38:13

And that he would meet all over the city. I mean, he's he walked for exercise, but he also walked so that he could meet people and run into them. And and I just remember we would walk up on Mount Washington, and there was this guy that stood out in front of 1 of the, inclines. And he was he would work there, and he would be out early in the morning, you know, on a smoke break or whatever. And he was not the kind of guy he would look at and say, oh, yeah. I wanna go out and talk to him. Mhmm. Just stone faced, you know, ominous looking and Tunch would go and, hey, Brian.

Speaker D [: 00:38:50

How you doing? And he would pray for him. And this guy would just kinda, like, kinda melt. And I thought he just he obeyed what God was telling him to do. We've all heard stories of him, you know, with all the people in his funeral that would come up and say, and when in the sky, pray for for me, didn't know me, that kind of thing. So it is I don't know how you get there, but it it's amazing how God can use that. It it is why. So

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:22

Yeah. And and so when I see somebody like Terence or someone else, you need to look at it because we generally feel bad. Like, I don't do that. I'm not like that. You know what I mean? I'm an introvert. I want an extrovert. And so he reminds us here, we should take inspiration from the fact that that was touch his ministry. Tim is Tim's ministry and his work and his connection and it the way he relates his gift is different than touch.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:52

Everybody get that? So we should he we hear lives to be inspired by them, not to compare or contrast, not to feel envy or to feel guilty. It's more inspiration. He pooch was just touch. Right? And and and so we all have a different gift and a different plot and a different ministry. Have we get that? And so the the the one thing we can do is embrace the ministry God's given you, the gifts he's given you, the way you're wired, and and use those for his glory. You're part of a grander plan. Right? And be the you that God has created you to be. Right? Because he's with you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:30

He's with you. Does that make sense? But he's got a grander plan and a grander purpose, and we're all part of it. We're all part of it. But, Tim, would you pray for us, please?

Speaker D [: 00:40:39

Our heavenly father, we just, are grateful this morning for our time together. We're grateful for your word. We're grateful, Lord, that you have a plan for each of us. And, father, you want us to be, faithful. You want us to take that next step. You want us to be obedient. And so, lord, we just pray and ask that you would help us. We just pray that you'll, help us to be faithful to your plan for us, what that might be, and that we would, not compare ourselves to others, but that we would seek you and seek to, to live out our faith that you've given us, Lord.

Speaker D [: 00:41:22

Yeah. So we're thankful for this morning. We pray your blessing on Scott as he teaches, and just, again, thank you for each one here this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:34

And may the supernatural god and king, lord of all sovereign over all, 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 his shalom deep in your soul. May the grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of god the father, and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you now and every minute of every day until he comes again. May he bless you and keep you. Amen. Amen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:00

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. Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.