Ep 1088 | Phil’s First Act of Faith & Jase’s ‘Circle of Life’ Lesson to a Toddler Goes off the Rails
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I am unashamed.

What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We're back in our boxes. That's what I call it. Again, everybody's in a different location. We're in three different places. We're back in our boxes. I'm in the southern lair, which I know is just something about every time I get the opportunity to come back here is the

air, the, you know, just, it puts me in a calm mode. Zach, it's my happy place. Mine's in the mountains. Every time I come home, I drive up over the ridge and I see the mountains. I'm like, man, that cool, crisp air. It's not bad, Jace. You're down into the sweltering heat of the swamp. No, what that means is y'all don't get out enough. I mean, yeah.

My happy place is anywhere outside. I actually had a happy place experience. I'm passing on the legacy of being known as a wilderness person. We had the little man yesterday, and when he got to our house, Missy had gone and picked him up. When he came in, he said, J-Rock, let's go fishing.

I mean, that's the first time. I've taken him a couple times. You know, when you're three years old, you don't have a lot to offer in the fishing world. Yeah. You're basically just thinking, let's get out of this alive and in one piece. And you're just kind of, he's observing. Although, you know, it's like you hook the fish, and then you hand him the rod and say, hey, try it. And he's like, oh, I got a fish. So we went, we slipped over there to my brother's pond, you know,

Which I'm a little concerned about this because this is halfway yuppie fishing, you know. Because it's in a curated pond that's stocked with fish. So somebody put the fish in there and they raise the fish up and they feed them every day. And they probably pet them and do stuff like that. Well, they can't catch them. You'd have to be able to catch them to pet them.

And I'm just, my point is a domesticated fish that you're catching. That's true, but they are in water and it is outside and I am sneaking over there. And if you have a three-year-old, it's better because I don't need a boat.

I mean, all I need is a bridge, which is now we're getting into basic Redneck 101. I think we actually did a episode on the Duck Show about that. And Jason, I will make the point that even though there is the middleman who is our brother and his people, Stone and others, they're still made by the Almighty.

And you still got to catch them. Oh, exactly. It's not easy because Willie has come up with this narrative that I've caught all his fish that I've told you about several times. And every time I catch one, I'm like, hey, Willie. Here's another one. They're still here. They're still here. In the fishing world, there is a narrative about that. I mean, Phil used to have a neighbor.

that he was just all the time. I mean, the man fished almost every day. But every time you saw him, he's like, can't catch them, which he had some. He's like, too many people out here. I mean, Al, you remember how many people that were down there. Not many. Not many. But he just didn't like the idea of other people fishing where he was living. He was like, this is my spot.

section of the land and water, you know, even though these were public waters and look, he had such a phobia about it. He wouldn't let his wife order fish at restaurants because he was afraid if somebody saw her ordering fish, she

they would assume he wasn't catching enough for her to eat at home. He wasn't a provider. He wasn't a fish provider. He actually said that out loud. Yeah, he said it. I heard him say it. I was thinking. Man. Well, let me tell you this. Where you guys live, particularly where Phil lives and where the hoop nets are and the boat ramp,

The level of catfish that has been pulled out of that river is incredible. And the quality, not just the quantity, but the quality of the catfish. I went yesterday and ate lunch here at a little restaurant in the mountains. And I will tell you, as much as I love it here, don't ever order catfish in the mountains.

I mean, it was, I mean, I'm looking at this guy eat it and he was like, man, this is delicious. I'm like, that's not catfish. That is good. That's the three words you need to know. It's like when we'll go to a restaurant once a year or twice and like Missy will order fish. Now I don't do like my dad's neighbor, but I'm like, you realize that's not going to be as good.

as what you usually eat she's like well i want some fish i'll just say remember those three words not as good she gives the fish she eats it and i say what about it she went

Wasn't as good as I thought. It's the little things you don't think about, like the catfish. If it's the Opelousa cat, we've talked about that. It's much better. On a hamburger, you want the imitation cheese. It's just all the things that you... No, no, no. The little things that make it better. No. Too much. I don't know if this is a word, but I actually used it yesterday. You've been too yuppified for...

some things but so let me tell you the story so we go out there and uh you know the attention span of a three-year-old is not very long and it wasn't dark so the fish really weren't biting and he was like ready to go but then i kind of realized i think he's hungry and uh because it was about supper time but finally when he was like let's go i'm all done

I caught a bass. And so then, oh boy, the excitement jumping around, you know, and I, I let him throw them back. I get him some gloves, you know, and, uh, cause I'm like, I'd like, I wish I could have caught a crappie because I would have cooked it and just showed him the cycle, but we did a little catch and release. So he got the gloves, threw it back. So we go home.

Missy has a nice little supper. We eat supper. As soon as he gets done, and now it's right before dark, he's like, J-Rock, let's go fishing again. I was like, oh, the boy has been bitten by the bug, you know? So we tore off back over there, did the same thing, not catching anything. And then all of a sudden, I had a little cork with a little jig, and it just, the way it went down, I thought, oh, yeah, that's a big one.

I set the hook. I was going to give him the rod, but when it started pulling drag, I said, no, let me. He's like, I want to do it. I was like, cheer me on, buddy. And it was about, I would say, two and a quarter pound crappie. I mean, a monster. And that dude started hollering. And when I got him over the bridge, he started flopping. And, of course, he was trying to grab him, you know. And I was like, hey, well, they do have fins, you know.

the excitement levels off the chart so then i thought this is the moment i'm gonna pull him in so we get the crappie take him home and we snuck up to the window and scared what he calls missy lulu like she was you know watching tv on the couch but there's a window right there so we snuck up there which is exciting for a three-year-old you know and

And then all of a sudden he banged on the window. It sounds like it's exciting for a 55-year-old too. Oh, I was having the time of my life. And I like had the crappie behind my back. So she went from scared out of her wits to when I pulled that up, she was like cheering, which he was like, why is she cheering? She missed the show. He was looking kind of dumbfounded. So then I said, well, let me go clean him. I said, we're going to eat this fish, you know, and he's like,

what? So Missy was like, go watch him. And so he did, which was an interesting conversation. He's like, J-Rock, why are you giving that fish a bobo? And

And, you know, it's pretty graphic, I guess. He's three years old. I didn't realize it. But, you know, I was like, he may be okay. You know, we're just going to take the part that we can eat and throw him back. And he was like, okay. So I cleaned the fish. We went and threw him in my pond, you know, was left. So I think in his mind, he thought, man, that's a tough fish. Yeah.

And so then we moved in the kitchen. I did the whole thing. I mean, this is immediate. I battered that crappie, which was huge. I mean, it was enough because we had already eaten supper, but Missy and I was like, this will be a good little dessert, you know. And I cooked the fish. And what was funny is he wouldn't eat it.

He was like, no. I was like, babe, it starts in the process. But he got at least to see the process. And Missy ate one side and I ate the other. And we were...

I thought it was a good experience. You're basically, you know, I'm passing down. This is what we do. This is called survival. If things go south. So do you think he didn't eat it because he watched the process or it's just because like a lot of little kids, he wasn't sure about it. I think it was too soon to quit. It was all bewildering, you know, and he's like, now, of course, as soon as we ate the last bite, you know what he said? I want some. I,

I said, it's a little late, buddy. He said, let's go fishing again. He wanted to do the whole process again. I'm like, nope, it's bedtime, buddy. So there you go. That's my passing it on to the next generation. You know, there's a lot of historical documentation outside of the Bible where all these disciples of Jesus chose fishing.

to be killed for their faith rather than deny Jesus as the son of God. And it really impacted me because I thought, wait a minute, if this was all a hoax, who would die for a lie knowing it was a lie? And that was my initial fascination of it, which is,

which I found really encouraging and inspiring. Our good friend Todd Nettleton, who is the Voice of the Mars radio host, has written a new book. It's called When Faith is Forbidden, 40 Days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians. And that book, which is free, by the way, is about his travels into restricted nations for about 20 years. And he's meeting these courageous Christians who are still out there being persecuted because of their commitment to Christ.

And each stop on this journey is going to challenge not only you to be able to reflect on your own walk, but also it helps you really pray and remember these guys that are currently being persecuted. And the voice of the martyrs has always done a fantastic job of pointing that out. So request your free copy of When Faith is Forbidden by calling 844-463-4059.

That's 844-463-4059 or visit vom.org slash unashamed. That's vom.org slash unashamed. I like it because that's something you have to teach. I mean, you're not just going to get there. It takes effort. It takes opportunity. I mean, it takes a lot to be able to do that. And you're right. I thought about it in relationship to how few people understand

like where we grew up, we were talking about the whole story about our neighbor and,

and people fishing down there. But, you know, we had a boat dock, so we had access for people right there. But how many people actually fished either for, you know, commercial fish or just game fish? I mean, you just don't see many boats down there fishing. When I'm out there, I never see anybody fishing. And I actually turned it in. The spiritual principle, when we were riding back on the golf cart –

I was, he was like, what? Cause he couldn't figure out why we didn't throw him back. And I was like, no, this is a gift from God. I was like, and you remember when we did the, uh, the sacrifice bit, I think, was it on maybe podcast before last, but, uh,

that Leviticus 17 where it, you know, it's a gift of God. I was like, no, he's, he's given us this, this gift. And so then I kind of went on a, you know, God made all the creatures and he made us and we get to,

We get to be in control of the whole animal world. And so then I was like, and me and you, we're gifts from God, you know? And so I think it went well. It played such a big role in, you know, the biblical narrative because four of the 12 are

We're fishermen and which is, I mean, could just be accidental, you know, that that's what they happen to do. But I've always thought it was something about that faith based approach to fishing. I mean, it really is. I remember, Jason, we were very young, us praying.

for fish because like that equaled money, which equaled business, you know, making it and bills being paid and banks being paid off. So it was a faith based, you know, opportunity, which is why I think dad chose it. I mean, he was now a man of faith and it was like, man, we're praying about this. But I mean, to me, it does seem, you know, at the very least, very coincidental that four of the 12 original disciples were fishermen and

before they walked away from their net. So I do think it played a factor. Well, and his famous line that I'll make you fishers of men would become profound, which is exactly what happened. I mean, it all started catching fish, you know. So, I mean, you're trying to duplicate that process, especially to the next generation.

I mean, trust me, we'll make that segue at some point in his upbringing. Oh, yeah. A lot of things are happening in the water and in the Gospel of John, including catching. Well, and not only that, you know, Dallas Jenkins has kind of picked up on it. But traditionally, I mean, the fish was known as like the symbol for Christianity way before the cross was, which was still like a.

I mean, that was just a method of execution. That came along later that we recognize the cross as a symbol of Christianity. But in the early days, supposedly, I mean, it doesn't say it in the Bible, but the fish, you know, was the thing. If you drew a fish, that meant you were a believer, you know. Well, and even when he gives the parable about, you know, it's like the kingdom of God is like, you know, a guy catching fish and you separate the good fish from the cold fish, you know. Right.

Right. Yeah. Which is what we did twice a week in hoop nets and every day with the trammel nets. I mean. In our case, it was not as much about what you could eat, but what you could sell. Yeah. You know, which was a big part of that. Exactly. So we're in John 7, and we are at a water point, to your point, Zach, where we left off. And we've discussed this a few times before.

as we've kind of jumped ahead to it, but when we, when we got there, I think Jace, you're right. The last time we were in this text, we were, we went back to that Leviticus and then you took us into Hebrews showing that, uh, idea about sacrifice, right. And about who Jesus is. Yeah. Cause he asked that question. Why are you trying to kill me? Yeah. And, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's all a narrative that you see constantly how you view Jesus, uh,

is going to be the greatest decision as far as your behavior and your lifestyle and your purpose.

I mean, this whole section, well, really the whole gospel of John is he's basically sometimes a courtroom setting, you feel like, but sometimes just out with the people is who do you think Jesus is? Exactly. And just if you're keeping score at home, I do have a running list of kind of the, I would call them the arch questions that we've read so far. I think this were up to seven questions.

What do you seek? John 1.38. Why do you involve me? John 2.4, speaking to his mom. Will you give me a drink? John 4.7. Do you want to get well? John 5.6. And that was the guy that he references back in the text from John 7.8.

Where shall we buy bread for the people to eat? John 6, 5. And that, of course, was to one of the disciples. And then he addressed all the disciples and said, Do you want to leave too? You do not want to leave too, do you? That's John 6, 67. And then this one, which is actually kind of a two-part question, Jase. Has not Moses given you the law, yet none of you has been able to keep the law? Why are you trying to kill me? Which is John 7, 19. So if you're keeping score, that's the...

Sort of arch questions that we've been talking about in the book so far. Yeah. So I think we left off. Where did we leave off? 35? Yeah, at 35. Do you want me to read it? Yeah, why don't you read it? All right. So he says, we're going off the last statement he said, which is, I am with you for only a short time. And then I go to the one who sent me. This is in 33.

You will look for me, but you will not find me. And where I am, you cannot come. Of course, we know he's talking about the ascension. And then verse 35, the Jews said to one another, where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? Which is interesting because that's exactly what was going to happen. But that's not what he was talking about. But it would happen.

What did he mean when he said, you will look for me, but you will not find me? Where I am, you cannot come. So that's kind of the pondering. Well, and I think if you tie that in with what he had just discussed about why are you trying to kill me? Yeah. They were like, you're demon possessed. Who's trying to kill you? And then a few moments later, he's talking about, well, there's a place I can go or will go that you won't find me. Because that's the deal. It's like...

Well, even if we did want to kill you, now you have some secret spot that you can go hide that no one could get to you. Exactly. Which the answer would have been absolutely. So this is kind of, remember we said this was like an eight-day feast.

He waited a few days before he started. So he started in about midweek. And now in verse 37, John moves us to the last and greatest day of the feast. So now we're at the end of the feast. And so Jesus stood and says in a loud voice, if anyone is thirsty,

Let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scriptures has said, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. And then we get John, of course, giving us the commentary on what he meant by this. He meant the spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Because remember, he's writing this after all this has happened.

Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. So that's kind of the commentary of what he meant. And we've referenced this a few times. On hearing his words, some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet. So I'm assuming they are talking about lead into the Messiah, which, of course, John the Baptist had already been there. But that's what they said. Then others said, no, he is the Christ or the Messiah.

Still others asked, how can the Christ, the Messiah, come from Galilee? Does not the scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. So you're kind of in that mid zone now where they're contemplating the possibilities, but still a lot of people just can't quite buy it.

And so here's the last little section, which is interesting in verse 45. Finally, the temple guards went back to the chief priest and Pharisees who asked them, why didn't you bring him in? Because remember, they were sent to arrest him. That was back in 32. And so they came back and they said, well, where is he?

No one ever spoke the way this man does, the guards declared, which I find comical because what defense is that for not getting your man? You mean he has deceived you also, the Pharisees retorted?

Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No. But this mob that knows nothing of the law, there's a curse on them. That's pretty harsh. Nicodemus, who is one of them, by the way, in verse 50 says,

who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, this is a Pharisee, asked, does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing? Just a little, oh, by the way, question. Verse 52, they replied, are you from Galilee too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee or the prophet.

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And he could have said, actually, I was born in Bethlehem. And actually, I am a descendant of David. It's kind of that's why when you go through the Bible in a year, you know, you get through these genealogies and it's like, man, these are boring. Why am I reading this? It's really important to read the first part of Matthew because you get that genealogy that proves this prophecy. Right. It's true that Jesus did. And the lineage is right there in the book of Matthew. Like, like.

One after another, and it shows the direct line of who Jesus descended from and also where he was born. And so he did fulfill the prophecy. He did fulfill the requirements. I love the fact that he didn't have to defend himself. And if you look at Jesus's ministry, that's true power when he doesn't have to come in here

and give his credibility in the way that they want it. The way that he's going to give his credibility is really the ministry that he lived out. And I also wanted to point us back to verse 38 of John 7, because I think there's a lot, a lot of meat in here. We talk on this podcast a lot about how much Jesus in the New Testament refers back to the Old Testament. So anytime you hear the phrase, according to the scriptures or as the scripture says,

If you read that in the New Testament, it's not talking about the New Testament most of the time. It's talking about because I hadn't been written yet. It's talking about what happened in the Old Testament. So if Jesus is referring to the scripture here, he's referring back to the Old Testament. So when he says on the on verse 37, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts.

Let him come to me and drink. By the way, the language is very, very similar to what he told the woman at the well. But then he says, verse 38, whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, and then he quotes the scripture out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

And we do know what this means because he does say he references the Holy Spirit in just a minute here. But I thought it would be good to maybe go back and look at a few of these Old Testament verses because I think Jesus is referring to not just one verse in the Old Testament. I think he's referring to a collection of verses throughout the Old Testament to make his point that what he's bringing here is a fulfillment of

of what was already written about in the scriptures that these people would have known very, very well. Make sense? Yeah. I mean, I think we read last time when we skipped ahead. Where was that? Ezekiel 46 or 47. Ezekiel. Yeah, we did read Ezekiel 47, but there's a few more. Yeah, we'll have at it.

Yeah, the one, so I got four, and we can lead up to them. But the first one, and there's others besides this, I think, but Isaiah 58, 11 says, And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong. And you shall be like a watered garden.

I mean, what image pops up in your mind when you hear that? Like a water garden? I immediately think of the garden in Genesis chapter 1, right? In Genesis chapter 2. You'll be like a water garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. So if you take yourself and transport yourself back to the garden before Jesus,

the fall of man, Genesis 2 says that there was a river that actually came out of the garden or out of Eden and it watered the garden. So that's the prophetic picture there in Isaiah. No, I agree. Well, even in the 47 that we read, I don't know if I read the end, but I actually didn't plan on this, but I told my little fishing story. But when in 47 at about midway through there,

It says that it would flow, which it was flowing out of the temple. Well, where does that send you back to? Even the garden had the temple type structure where kind of heaven and earth are meeting God and dwelling with humans. And at the end of verse 6 in 47 of Ezekiel, it said, then he led me back to the bank of the river. And there was trees along the side. And then verse 7,

It talks about at the end of verse 8, when it empties into the Dead Sea, the water becomes fresh and swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There'll be large numbers of fish because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows, everything will live.

fishermen will stand on the shore. The fish will be of many kinds like the fish of the great sea, but the swamps and marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt. And then he goes, talks about the fruit trees again, but it's all symbolic of what is happening here in John seven about when he says by this, he meant the spirit verse. What is that? 39.

My glasses are fogged up because it's 85 outside and it's 55 in here. I wish y'all could see Maddie. She looks like she's fixed to go to Antarctica.

So I don't know. I'll have to get with Willie on what's happening. I noticed when I was in there earlier this week, it was with our guest, it was really cold. I don't usually get cold. I run hot. When I first sat down, I started blowing in the air, like seeing if I could blow smoke. But...

But I think that... Oh, you can blow smoke, Dad. Yeah, I think that is so powerful because it adds to that wind and fire and flood and trees. I feel like it's like if you're kind of, you know, not this, hey, fire from heaven's coming. You know, we have the Holy Spirit because we know what happens in Acts 2. I mean, literal fire came down when this spirit, when he says the spirit...

that they would later receive, well, that's fixing to happen. I mean, Jesus is at this point in his early 30s, and he's fixed to die and be buried and raised. And then when he's raised, do you remember Acts 1? He gave many convincing proofs that he was alive for 40 days. And I'd like to kind of tap into that because then when it pours out,

And then this narrative kind of changes. And I don't know who said this the first time, but it just popped into my brain. But when you look at God the Father, you see that he's for us, or he wouldn't have had this whole plan orchestrated. Well, then you see Jesus, who's now with us as a person. And then think about that, what I call the eighth I am, when he said, go into all nations together.

you know, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And he said, and surely I am with you always. So you have Jesus with us. Well, now he's introducing, we see the first hints of the Holy Spirit's role. So you got God is for us, Jesus with us, and now you have the Holy Spirit in us, which it's poured out. Why? So then they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And I think when you look at it like that and how their roles are in that happening, that's why Jesus so many times is saying, I'm not here to glorify myself. I'm here to honor my father. Well, then the Holy Spirit is going to be like, well, I'm here to teach you about Jesus. And then here we receive God's spirit. And then we're, and he says that in Acts 1.

And we could actually read that if we want to. Well, I want to read you one text because, man, it backs up exactly what you say. Because it's not just the Old Testament scripture, but also even what was written after John. Listen to this in Titus 3 to what Jace just said.

When the kindness and love of God, our Savior, let's say put those together, appeared, he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

And so I love in that picture that he paints to Titus is the Godhead all working together. But you see in that same water analogy that Zach was talking about from the Old Testament all the way forward is still to today of this pouring out of Jesus to us and now out of us into the lives of other people. I mean, it's a beautiful symmetry when you think about it.

So, Jace, you know, there's an old saying, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But I don't think that's true. Do you think that's true? I don't think it's true either. It takes a lot of patience and discipline, but it can be done. It can be done. I'm 60 years old, and this old dog has learned a new trick. I was unhealthy and needed to lose some weight. And the number one thing I hear now from people, usually that come on the podcast, is where's the rest of Al?

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That's 864-644-1900. Tell them that Al sent you. Well, the picture you should have in your mind of what God is accomplishing is restoring us back to Eden. And so when you read the Ezekiel 47 passage, think about the Dead Sea. It's like a great metaphor for what we're saying here, which is in the passage. The Dead Sea...

the reason why it was called the Dead Sea was because it was the Dead Sea. Like, it was so salty that life couldn't live there. You know, it's like, this is not like a, it's a little on the nose, right? But the idea of it is that, is that

that living water is flowing into a dead sea and creating life in everything that touches. So if you think about it as Jesus, as the top of, of the diagram, Jesus, the true temple, um, and then flowing into like Jesus is the source. And then the living water comes out of Jesus. So he's like the spring, the living water is coming out of Jesus. And Ezekiel's vision was that the river, uh, flowed from the temple, uh,

So in our eschatology, Jesus is the temple.

Jesus is the cornerstone of the temple. That's the whole thing. So when you read Ezekiel 47, the picture that we should be thinking about is not some physical temple in the brick and mortar, but it's Jesus himself as a cornerstone of the temple and then us too as living stones of that temple. So then John 7, 38, that out of his heart will flow life.

rivers of living water, then that goes into the Dead Sea, which is the symbolism for desolation and death. It's the transformation

into a place of life. I mean, that's really what's being accomplished. The way that happens is that the Holy Spirit, well, how in the world am I going to be the source of any life? Well, because you're connected with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And when you were raised with Him, you were raised to live a new life, according to the Apostle Paul, and you will receive life.

gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts chapter 2, and now the woman at the well, the spring will be in me a well welling up to eternal life. So the reason why life flows out of me as a living stone built on the cornerstone is because I have the spring in me because Christ lives in me through the Holy Spirit. That's the picture. And that's a picture of

incredible power, by the way. Well, and we've said it before and read it, but Revelation 22, you know, paints that same exact picture, Zach. And while most people are looking forward to that in the future, we're saying, what if we're already flowing? What if the flow is happening? And even Jesus' picture of the jewels, you know, everybody says, oh man, isn't this going to be great? We're living in this bejeweled place. And what the better picture is, we are the jewels.

And when that light, that pure light of Christ shines through us is what makes us special and what makes us beautiful. So that all starts in real time and goes forward into eternity. I just say this, Jeremiah's words are also helpful here. When you think about our responsibility and how we how we basically move on this. Jeremiah, the prophet says, my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me.

the fountain of living waters. There's that water again. And they've hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. And I love that picture because that's what Jesus kind of gets into about wineskins. So our problem is not just that, according to the prophet Jeremiah, it's not just that we are rejecting living water. We're also creating containers,

That will not hold his living water. And what we're trying to contain is,

the Spirit of God in a way that we'll never be able to contain Him. It's the Exodus story of rain bread coming down and we're going to somehow contain that. And it's like, you're not going to contain manna falling from the sky. But that's the sin of the people. That's always our default is to want to either just reject the living water and then by doing so, we also try to create broken cisterns that can't even hold the water. So when we come to Christ or rather when Christ come to us,

Our response is not give me the living water because that's not enough. Our response is I need a new wineskin that will hold the living water. I need more than that. I'm the Dead Sea. There's no life here. I need a whole new container. I need everything. I need to be totally reformed. Where was that passage at in Jeremiah? Where was that? Jeremiah 2.13. 2.13. Well, did you know, Jace Clever Fact Time,

I feel like we need music for that. Jeez, clever fact. The Dead Sea, you know one of the qualities that makes it the Dead Sea? It has zero outflow. Yes. I mean, I think that kind of goes in with this. Yes, I love that. Now here's what I'm trying to figure out. How did the guy who wrote Ezekiel know that?

that this, that Jesus would later say, this streams of living water will flow from within him, and it would be out because it's an outflow because once it's poured out, then people receive it, and then it flows out again to the whole world to show that there is a God and he's alive. And the illustration they're using is the Dead Sea.

But when I'm just reading this, because I wasn't sure if it was the only one. It's not the only one that's like that. Because even the Salt Lake in Utah has similar qualities to this. But what I was just reading about this is,

The Dead Sea is a salt lake situated in the Jordan Rift Valley. It receives water primarily from the Jordan River, but the water does not drain out. And due to the high rate of evaporation in the region, coupled with the fact that there's no outflow, causes the water level to drop and the water to become extremely salty. So it's kind of the, when you look at that on what this means to us, if you're

self-absorbed you know and you're always looking in and not out this is what happened now we're we're on the trail to idolatry and sinful behavior so i think it's pretty cool another thing i thought is even when the garden was being watered before it had rained which is a fascinating fact you know when the flood came well it hadn't even rained yet

but that he was watering from it bubbling up. And you have in the spirit, when you go to the new creation of that water bubbling up and wanting to launch, and then God provides the way through Jesus. Jesus provides the spirit, pours it out. Because in Acts 2, when it's poured out, it says, Luke records there, Jesus at the right hand of God has poured out what you now see and hear. And of course, then he, you know, he shares Jesus and,

they get to the point where they're cut to the heart and say, what do we do? And he's like, well, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. And then there's a key little phrase that says, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so when people in the religious world argue about all that, well, what does that exactly mean? What is the difference in it being poured out

and receiving it. You know, I think a good verse to go to is this 1 John 4, where it says, this is love, this is verse 10, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, thank gift of God. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, now here's a key phrase to give you a hint about how the Spirit works. God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us. Verse 13, this is where I wanted to get, 1 John 4. We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Holy Spirit. Mm-hmm.

So that's why I said God's for us, he's with us, and he's in us. So there's a lot of talk right now about government debt.

But after four years of some massive inflation, the real crisis is actually probably personal debt. Al, you've kind of experienced this in your own life, right? Yeah. And, you know, just because you're struggling with debt doesn't mean you're a terrible person. I mean, a lot of times there's unforeseen things that happen. In my case, I had low income, but I also had a baby that was born that was premature, had huge hospital bills. And it just piled up on us and it led us into bankruptcy. And I just wish I had known more.

during this time in my life. And I wish I'd had our good partners with us back then. Yeah, and if this sounds familiar, and if you just feel like you're drowning in credit card debt and overdue bills, you just can't quite get above water, I want to tell you about our friends at Done With Debt. Done With Debt has unique and brilliant escape strategies to help

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eliminate interest, and erase penalties. Most clients end up with more money in their pocket month one, and they don't stop until you break free from debt permanently. Look, take a few minutes and visit donewithdebt.com. Talk with one of their strategists. It's free, but listen up. Some of their solutions are time sensitive, so you'll have to move quickly. Go to donewithdebt.com. That's donewithdebt.com. I wanted to sit in on what you said for a second, the picture of the Dead Sea.

If you saw this on a map, the Dead Sea is at the bottom, and you know what river flows into the Dead Sea? The Jordan River. So you think, what is the significance of the Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea? I mean, you've got to think about this for a second. When you said that, I thought, man, there's more there.

Yeah, I agree. That's why I went back to it. I'm like, how did they know that this was written thousands of years ago? Yeah, nothing's getting out of the Dead Sea. So the way the Dead Sea is set up is the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. So then go back to the Old Testament again, you think about what happened to the Jordan River. Well, the Jordan River marks as like a, it's kind of like a boundary line of where during the exodus of Israel from Egypt, when they were looking for the promised land, the boundary to the promised land was,

was the Jordan River. So when Joshua takes them into the Promised Land, because remember Moses got mad, by the way, that's a whole other thing too we could talk about, struck the rock, and what came out? Water came out of the rock. So Joshua takes them through the boundary. So if you think about like the New Exodus language, Joshua is taking them out of slavery into the Promised Land. And you say, what did they have to go through?

to shed the shackles of slavery, which is symbolic of our sin, right? They had to go through the Jordan River. So the image here is that as God's people pass through the Jordan River, their shackles

Very similar to the splitting and the parting of the Red Sea. Their enemies, their shackles, their sins, the things that hold them in bondage are being released into the river. And then those things, those sins, they're washed away, as the Leon Bridges song says, by sins flow down the Jordan River. They flow down the Jordan River. Where do they end up? In the Dead Sea. Then you also have another story in the Old Testament of, who was it? Was it Naaman?

who had leprosy and, and they, and, and he, and he was told, he was told by one of the prophets was, uh, and I'm having a, uh,

Elisha. Elisha said, go dip yourself into the Jordan River seven times. So now you have all that leprosy, all that disease, all that just nastiness, that sin, leprosy, disease, pain, death, slavery, bondage, shackles. All of it is washed away in the Jordan River. That's the picture of the Jordan River. And where does it all go? It goes into the Dead Sea.

So the picture of what Christ is going to accomplish...

With the Holy Spirit living in believers is going to be the dead sea, the cesspool of sin that the human body is now post-fall, the cesspool of brokenness, disease, and sin, which is our human body, will now be infused with life as this whole vision is being made new about living water that has the power to fill up the dead sea and overtake anything. Well, what happens when it runs out of room? Well, it will run out of room.

It'll be a spring in you welling up to eternal life. It'll start overflowing the banks and it will start infecting everything and it will take over the entire globe. That's the picture of the kingdom of God coming with Jesus and being fulfilled in Jesus at the second coming. Exactly. So then I think when you fast forward to Acts 1, where he says, now granted he had had this experience in John 20...

when he breathed on them, he breathed the Holy Spirit. And I don't know if that was, you know, what Luke had in mind when he's writing Acts. So we know that this Holy Spirit is, now that Jesus has been raised,

He gives instructions about it. You have that little moment at the end of John where, because what do you think of when it's like Jesus breathed on him? Well, now you're going back to when creation started. The breath of life. Yeah, when God breathed into man. He made him from the dust of the earth and he breathed life in him. So it's this picture of creation and new creation. And so then it says in Acts 1, he breathed.

He gave many convincing proofs that he was alive, but it says he gave them instructions through the Holy Spirit. That's in verse 2. And then he says in verse 4, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. Well, now we're going back to the beginnings of what we read in John in verse 5 of Acts 1, because he says, For John baptized with water, but in a few days...

you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Yeah. So now this John 7 passage is coming to light here because back when we read that in John 3, we were like, now what exactly does he mean by that? But now he's like the Spirit you're later to receive. Yeah. When he's talking about somebody else is going to come after me, when John baptized with water, where did he baptize at?

The Jordan River. Jordan River. And where did it flow? Into the Dead Sea. I mean, it's like... This thing is like... This thing is like there's a lot of threads that are very seamless here. I think this is called connecting the dots. Yeah. So look, so then they met together and they said, well, Lord...

Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? And we've talked about that before, you know, whether they were just now getting it or whether they were thinking, well, where's the swords and how are we going to take on Rome, which could be some of that also. But then he says this in verse 7 of Acts 1, "...it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority."

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And I love this verse because everybody's fascinated by the power. You know, give me power. And they were, I think, speaking in the context of,

We have the power now since you can't die to whoop Rome. But he had another power in mind, which is this flood, this living water, this fire from heaven. And he says, and you will be my witnesses. So he basically tells them what to do with the power. And then when you read the whole book of Acts, you see it starts in two when the spirits poured out and then they get up and what do they do? They witness power.

To Jesus Christ. And not only that, I think they were, the reason that they were asking about restoration of kingdom is because they had no idea he was fixing to literally fly away.

and go back to the right hand of the Father. And when that happened, and then the Holy Spirit was in power, was poured out on them, on those tongues of fire, they realized then, okay, this is us. We're now the next, as Zach was describing, we're now the next layer of foundation on top of that cornerstone. And that's what I love about the way that Paul presents it in Ephesians, is that there's a cornerstone to that temple, Jesus, right?

We're living stones, but the language is it's a progressive kingdom that is growing into a temple. I love that. Yeah. And that's the picture we see. And that's the one they laid out. And oh, by the way, he was at the temple.

when he's talking about these very things in the last day of this feast. So we'll pick it up here a little bit more to mine some more gold in this John 7, which leads us into an amazing picture in John 8 of forgiveness and a willingness to be able to share that with other people. So we'll catch you next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast.

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