WEBVTT 00:00:57.579 --> 00:00:59.219 praise you and thank you. First of all, thank 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:01.479 you. And it just sometimes doesn't seem to make 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:04.799 any sense. Thank you for rain. We know that without 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:06.719 the rain, there's a lot of things that couldn't 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.920 happen. At the same time, Lord, we don't necessarily 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:14.560 like getting wet or feeling damp. And we know 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:16.540 that there are people that I've had times in 00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:18.879 my life where the rain was just coming down at 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.579 the crack of dawn and I almost just felt like 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:24.040 I just couldn't get up out of it. And I'm so 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:26.219 grateful for pain, beyond the sorrow, beyond 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:28.719 the difficulty, beyond the struggles of our current 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:33.299 situation, that we can overcome. That we can 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:35.700 be here to worship you. That we can be here to 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:39.219 call out your holy name. Hallelujah. Praise the 00:01:39.219 --> 00:01:44.159 Lord. Jesus Christ. It's been done. It is finished. 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:48.140 And yet, here we are, living in the victory that 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:51.120 was paid for on the cross. Resurrection power 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:53.060 made new. Maybe there's somebody in this room, 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.359 Lord, that can't claim that promise, can't claim 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:58.040 that truth. And I pray that before they go today, 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:01.439 that they'll settle this matter with you, that 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.060 the truth would be known in this place. We're 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:05.359 looking forward to the preaching of the word, 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:07.260 the children's lessons, and even the little one 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:08.860 playing in the nursery. We're looking forward 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:11.639 to all that's going to go on here today. We pray 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:14.379 that it will honor you and it will glorify you. 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.400 But can we be remiss if we didn't lift up those 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.360 people who are hurting today? Some of them aren't 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.879 even here. There's people who are hurting today, 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.599 and yet they're here to worship you. And then 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:25.099 there's people that just couldn't get past it, 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:26.840 couldn't get through it, couldn't get over it. 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:29.360 And so we pray, Lord, that you would deal with 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.419 them. We pray for healing. And maybe even now, 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:35.259 you take away that massive headache, you take 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:38.919 away that sinus congestion or that struggle with 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:41.719 pain and inflammation, and then join us yet in 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:44.919 a better way than ever. And we just pray, Lord, 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.680 that they're joining us in their hearts even 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.099 now. So we as a body, wherever we happen to be, 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:50.900 can work together to worship you and give you 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:54.000 glory. Take over this service. We don't want 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.580 the reins. We want you in charge. That's the 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:58.439 only way that it goes, just exactly like it's 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:01.879 supposed to. So we submit to you. And we do this 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:12.180 in Jesus' name. Amen. Caleb is having surgery 00:03:12.180 --> 00:03:13.979 tomorrow morning to have tubes put in his ears 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:16.879 and his adenoids removed. So it's a pretty simple 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.080 surgery, but there's a lot of anxiety going on 00:03:19.080 --> 00:08:56.149 for that. time the children and their leaders 00:08:56.149 --> 00:11:58.200 will go to their classrooms. As I mentioned to 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.059 you, as pastors are taking the pulpit all over 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:02.340 the United States, and actually probably most 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:03.919 of them are done preaching because a lot of services 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.580 start about a half an hour before ours do, or 00:12:06.580 --> 00:12:08.759 are finishing up now. But as they're taking the 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:10.980 pulpit all over the nation, maybe all over the 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:13.340 world, they're celebrating Star Wars today. And 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:15.799 so I thought I would share with you some titles 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.279 of sermons and the ideas behind them that might 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.000 have been the sermon today. These are ones that 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.120 I got, the actual sermon titles and summaries. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.470 May the Lord be with you. A faith -filled twist 00:12:27.470 --> 00:12:30.029 on the classic Jedi blessing, echoing the biblical 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:33.710 benediction from Ruth 2 -4. The Force Awakens, 00:12:33.789 --> 00:12:36.570 reviving our spiritual lives, drawing parallels 00:12:36.570 --> 00:12:38.549 between the film's title and the rekindling of 00:12:38.549 --> 00:12:42.110 faith and purpose. A New Hope, the gospel according 00:12:42.110 --> 00:12:44.830 to Luke Skywalker, exploring themes of redemption 00:12:44.830 --> 00:12:47.389 and hope through the lens of both the gospel 00:12:47.389 --> 00:12:50.769 and the Star Wars saga. The Empire Strikes Back, 00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.789 overcoming spiritual oppression. discussing the 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:55.870 challenges believers face and how to stand firm 00:12:55.870 --> 00:12:59.450 against adversity. The Phantom Menace, identifying 00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:02.850 hidden temptations. Attack of the Clones, guarding 00:13:02.850 --> 00:13:05.889 against conformity. The Last Jedi, standing firm 00:13:05.889 --> 00:13:10.710 in the faith amidst doubt. So, any one of those, 00:13:10.909 --> 00:13:13.549 somewhere else today, might have been your sermon 00:13:13.549 --> 00:13:18.259 title, but not here. I didn't write a Star Wars 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:20.980 sermon today, so you don't get a Star Wars sermon 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:23.019 today. I didn't feel led of the Lord to preach 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:25.440 a Star Wars sermon today, specifically. We may 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:27.919 mention it, but I didn't feel like that was the 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:29.279 direction that the Lord would have us to go. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.379 So that being said, then, maybe if you brought 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:35.080 a Bible with you today, grab a hold of it. So 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:38.500 a long, long time ago, in a galaxy not at all 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:41.639 far away, we began to kind of hoot or holler, 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.600 say amen. It's been almost 15 years since... 00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:47.610 Gosh, this has almost been 20 years now. I'm 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:50.190 getting old. Anyway, it's been a long time. And 00:13:50.190 --> 00:13:53.149 so this is God's word. You can be excited about 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:55.490 it. It's what he's got to say today. You can 00:13:55.490 --> 00:13:58.549 know with a certainty that whatever we read out 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:01.450 of this book today, that is exactly what God 00:14:01.450 --> 00:14:03.190 wants to say. The rest of it, I'm going to try 00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:04.950 to explain and talk about it. We'll get some 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:06.490 action points out of it, that kind of thing. 00:14:06.730 --> 00:14:09.450 And you may not know with an absolute certainty 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:11.649 that that is what God wants us to hear today. 00:14:12.169 --> 00:14:15.259 I feel certain. I've done the work, but you may 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:17.200 not know that. But you can know that the part 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.019 that we read out of the Bible is definitely from 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:22.740 God. Okay? And so as I announce the text, the 00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:24.399 title today, maybe you take a little breath and 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.879 say amen or who or how or just kind of, if you 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.120 can't bring yourself to do much more than that, 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:30.720 just kind of moan or whatever. And the title 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:35.720 is Life May Be Unfair But Just from Psalm 36. 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:38.960 Amen. Okay. You're going to get used to that. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:41.440 That's me saying this marks the moment at which 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.840 we read from the Bible. Okay? So it is Psalm 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:46.940 36. So if you're opening your Bibles, you can 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:48.960 just kind of like take a big fat Bible like this 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.820 and divide it down the middle. You should either 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:53.320 be in the book of Psalms or Proverbs. If you're 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.039 in Proverbs, go to the left. If you're in Psalms, 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.860 you're there. Okay? And then it's Psalm 36. We're 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:01.240 going to read the whole Psalm. It won't take 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.200 a lot to break it down. I just want you to see 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.139 a couple of pieces in there that are really kind 00:15:05.139 --> 00:15:07.879 of important. Okay? That God really brought to 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:09.940 my heart. So it's Psalm 36, and it says this. 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:14.159 Transgression. speaks to the ungodly within his 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.799 heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:21.299 So in other words, what a person does wrong when 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:23.100 you sin against God and you do what God doesn't 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:24.799 want you to do or you fail to do what God wants 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.220 you to do, that's transgression. If you think 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:29.460 of football, when they step across the line before 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:32.419 the ball is hiked, they call that offsides. That's 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:34.899 a transgression. You moved into the wrong area. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.840 And so when you transgress against God, it says 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.080 that those transgressions... speak to the ungodly 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.799 in their heart. And so the result of that is 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.740 that they have no fear of God before their eyes. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:50.440 It says in verse 2, for it flatters them. So 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.240 for is a because. So when it says for, that means 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:56.080 because. So transgression speaks, there is no 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:00.120 fear, because it, the transgression, flatters 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:04.759 them, flatters him in his own eyes concerning 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.340 the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred 00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:09.389 of it. So in other words, you've got the transgression, 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:11.129 the things that you've done wrong, talking to 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:12.970 you in your heart when you're a wicked person, 00:16:13.029 --> 00:16:15.029 when you're not following God, talking to you 00:16:15.029 --> 00:16:18.350 in your heart, comforting you, making you okay 00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:20.809 to do the bad things that you're doing, right? 00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:23.629 Everybody needs comfort. Like every day you need 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:25.850 comfort. You might have pain, you might not have 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:27.710 pain, right? You have questions about, what if 00:16:27.710 --> 00:16:29.269 I say this? What if I say that? What if somebody 00:16:29.269 --> 00:16:31.129 does this? What if somebody does that? Am I in 00:16:31.129 --> 00:16:33.490 danger? Where am I going to find these resources 00:16:33.490 --> 00:16:36.200 that I need? Whatever. We always... humans have 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:40.500 a base set of needs, and these transgressions 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.840 speak in the heart of the wicked person, helping 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:46.179 them to not worry about it, helping them to not 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:47.879 be concerned about it, but rather to carry out 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:49.940 their own choices, which I would say in this 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:53.879 case are dishonoring to God, and tell them they're 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.740 going to be okay. Verse 3, the words of his mouth, 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.039 this is the wicked person, the words of his mouth 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:02.259 are wickedness and deceit. He says things that 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:04.779 are wrong, that God would say no one should say 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:07.619 in that circumstance. And he tries to trick or 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:10.380 manipulate or get his own way. He has ceased 00:17:10.380 --> 00:17:12.859 to be wise and to do good. In other words, he 00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:15.019 has moved away from the way that God would want 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:18.740 us to be. This is the description of the wicked 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:21.480 person. And they have the transgression testifying 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.299 in their heart, providing them with comfort and 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:26.500 their idea of safety and success as they do the 00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:29.200 things that they're not supposed to do. Verse 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.779 4 says, He plans wickedness. Notice he thinks 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:35.220 about how he can do things to get what he wants, 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.240 even though those things are against what God 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:40.920 wants. He plans wickedness upon his bed. Like 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:42.420 when he's going to bed at night, before he even 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:43.839 gets up in the morning, he's thinking about how 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.519 he can get away with it, how he can figure it 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.599 out, how he can overcome the world system, whatever. 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:52.700 He sets himself on a path that is not good. He 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:55.519 does not despise evil. And that word despise 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.329 there means to think of it as worthless. So he 00:17:58.329 --> 00:18:00.049 doesn't think that doing something to get his 00:18:00.049 --> 00:18:04.210 own way is worthless. And you should, as we understand 00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:06.069 in the kingdom. Verse 5, now we're going to look 00:18:06.069 --> 00:18:08.289 at the other side of it. Thy loving kindness, 00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:11.769 O Lord, extends to the heavens. There is no end 00:18:11.769 --> 00:18:14.930 of God's loving kindness. It's infinite. Thy 00:18:14.930 --> 00:18:18.329 faithfulness reaches to the skies. God's loving 00:18:18.329 --> 00:18:21.910 kindness and faithfulness are infinite. Thy righteousness 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:26.609 is like the mountains of God. thy judgments are 00:18:26.609 --> 00:18:29.809 like a great deep, O Lord, thou preservest man 00:18:29.809 --> 00:18:31.890 and beast. In other words, he's saying, the righteousness 00:18:31.890 --> 00:18:33.809 and the judgments of God, they go on and on, 00:18:33.910 --> 00:18:35.569 and the more you know about them, the more you 00:18:35.569 --> 00:18:37.470 can. That's what he's saying. The more you know 00:18:37.470 --> 00:18:38.750 about the mountains, the deeper into the mountains 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:40.170 you go, the more you'll know about the mountains. 00:18:40.250 --> 00:18:42.170 You look, you say, wow, they're huge. Wow, there's 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:43.970 a lot to see there. And when you drill down on 00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:46.509 it, you find whole kingdoms existing in a river 00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:49.690 valley or under a tree. Right? And he's like, 00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:51.569 the more you drill down on that, the more you 00:18:51.569 --> 00:18:54.369 realize how awesome God's righteousness and his 00:18:54.369 --> 00:18:58.079 judgments are. Verse 7 says, how precious is 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.619 thy loving kindness, O God. Look at how valuable 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:04.059 this is. And the children of men take refuge 00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:06.759 in the shadow of thy wings. So in other words, 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:11.480 God's people have protection and provision as 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:14.140 they stand under God. Verse 8, they drink their 00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:16.960 fill of the abundance of thy house. God pours 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.240 resources in. That's his provision. He pours 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.970 resources in for his people. Give them to drink 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:27.250 of the river of thy delights. In other words, 00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:29.430 they begin to think, I want what God wants, and 00:19:29.430 --> 00:19:32.210 they are truly inside being filled up as they 00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:34.410 recognize, I know what God wants, and God is 00:19:34.410 --> 00:19:36.710 doing that in me. I'm like, wow, I can't believe 00:19:36.710 --> 00:19:39.210 that God is doing that in me. And it just goes 00:19:39.210 --> 00:19:41.450 on and on as the river continues to fill us, 00:19:41.490 --> 00:19:42.950 and you kind of get a picture of the living water 00:19:42.950 --> 00:19:46.069 there a little bit. Verse 9. For, or because, 00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:49.230 with thee, that's talking about God, is the fountain 00:19:49.230 --> 00:19:52.950 of life. In thy light we see light. In other 00:19:52.950 --> 00:19:54.849 words, the more you can see, the more your eyes 00:19:54.849 --> 00:19:57.250 are opened about God, the more your eyes can 00:19:57.250 --> 00:19:59.569 be opened about God. The more you can see of 00:19:59.569 --> 00:20:01.990 what God is doing, the more you can see of what 00:20:01.990 --> 00:20:04.509 God is doing. I talked to two people on the phone 00:20:04.509 --> 00:20:06.950 yesterday. One of them was telling me about their 00:20:06.950 --> 00:20:09.750 life situation as a lady. And I was telling her 00:20:09.750 --> 00:20:11.349 about the miraculous ways that God has intervened 00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:13.490 on behalf of our church. And she was like, Praise 00:20:13.490 --> 00:20:16.390 the Lord. Hallelujah. That's awesome. Amazing 00:20:16.390 --> 00:20:18.650 what God has done. That's so cool. And giving 00:20:18.650 --> 00:20:20.589 God the glory. There's another one. I told the 00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:22.369 same story about the kind of miraculous ways 00:20:22.369 --> 00:20:24.190 that God has intervened with this church. And 00:20:24.190 --> 00:20:26.569 she's like, wow, you know. And she was like, 00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:28.589 wow, I need help with this and I need help with 00:20:28.589 --> 00:20:30.150 that. And see the difference in the response? 00:20:30.750 --> 00:20:32.789 One of us recognized God did something amazing. 00:20:33.230 --> 00:20:35.750 And she could already see that somehow in her 00:20:35.750 --> 00:20:37.990 life. God has already woken her up to see the 00:20:37.990 --> 00:20:39.809 light and the power and the goodness that is 00:20:39.809 --> 00:20:42.410 God. And so she was able to praise God when she 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:45.809 saw light. The other person was hearing the stories, 00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:47.250 and instead of praising God, she was like, well, 00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:50.490 I need, I have this. You say God did that, but 00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:52.730 why doesn't God do this over here? And it's different. 00:20:52.789 --> 00:20:54.849 When you can see the light that God is showing, 00:20:54.950 --> 00:20:57.470 then you can see even more light. The door is 00:20:57.470 --> 00:20:59.630 open, the windows are open, the house is open, 00:20:59.690 --> 00:21:02.150 and God's light makes us possible to see even 00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:05.039 more. And more and more and more. Just three 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.220 verses left. Oh, continue thy loving kindness 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:11.220 to those who know thee. In other words, in the 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:14.019 knowing of God is the knowing of his loving kindness. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.200 In fact, in the knowing of God is the opening 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.819 up and the receiving of his loving kindness. 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:23.160 He says, and thy righteousness to the upright 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:27.519 in heart. So those who walk right, in Christ 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.400 we find righteousness. Jesus is our righteousness. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.230 Then we start to walk it out. And then God delivers 00:21:32.230 --> 00:21:34.190 even more righteousness. That's how that works. 00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:37.250 So he keeps pouring in the good. He keeps pouring 00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:40.549 in the right things. He says, let not the fool 00:21:40.549 --> 00:21:43.549 of pride come upon me. So even though I'm making 00:21:43.549 --> 00:21:45.910 strides, and I'm like, man, I wouldn't have used 00:21:45.910 --> 00:21:47.869 to do that. I'm doing the right thing now, and 00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:50.089 I wouldn't have used to do that. But don't let 00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.150 me become prideful about it. Don't let me start 00:21:52.150 --> 00:21:54.589 thinking that this new, deeper understanding, 00:21:54.650 --> 00:21:56.529 the more I have learned, the further I've come, 00:21:56.609 --> 00:22:00.390 that somehow or other, I am something. Let not 00:22:00.390 --> 00:22:04.250 the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the 00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:06.950 hand of the wicked drive me away. And as I look 00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:08.250 at the world and I think, you know, there's some 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:09.549 people that are getting away with some things. 00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:13.029 There are. There's some criminals that got 12 00:22:13.029 --> 00:22:15.670 houses and 20 cars and millions in the bank. 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:17.849 And they've done it illegally. And they seem 00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:19.269 to be getting away with it. And then some of 00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:20.390 us are like, well, I don't know, I'm going to 00:22:20.390 --> 00:22:22.609 pay my next bill. I don't know where I'm going 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:25.680 to stay. And that doesn't seem right. But when 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.779 you look at the wicked and you see that they 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:29.740 seem to be getting away with something, you start, 00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:31.660 it might be like struggling with doing the right 00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:33.759 thing, struggling with staying on the straight 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.220 and narrow. But what he's saying is you realize 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:39.819 as you look at them, God is not mocked. You don't 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:41.779 come down. There's an old saying, the bigger 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:44.000 you are, the harder you fall. The more successful 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.200 they are in their wickedness, the harder they 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:49.500 will fall in the end. And so don't be troubled 00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:51.359 by what you see the wicked getting away with 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.079 and let that drive you away from being righteous 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.640 in God. And then finally in verse 12, he says, 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:59.920 there, and that there is huge, packed in, almost 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:01.720 everything is packed into that there. He says, 00:23:01.740 --> 00:23:06.299 there, the doers of iniquity have fallen. So 00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:08.039 let's back up for one second. Let not the foot 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.339 of pride come upon me and let not the hand of 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:11.940 the wicked drive me away. Don't let me think 00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:13.279 that they're getting away with something or that 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:14.740 their actions are going to pull me away from 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.079 God. He says, there, in their actions, in their 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.079 wickedness, in their goodness, the doers of iniquity 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.039 have fallen. So while they've got their 12 houses 00:23:24.039 --> 00:23:26.980 and their 20 cars, they have fallen. Hmm, I wonder 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:29.859 what does that mean exactly? And then it ends 00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:34.279 this way. They have been thrust down and cannot 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:38.039 rise. So we look at them and we think, wow, they're 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.000 so powerful or they're so wealthy or they're 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:43.039 doing so good or so -and -so's getting away with 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:45.539 it or so -and -so's getting blessed in some way. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:46.660 And it doesn't make any sense that they're getting 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:48.880 any blessing at all, but they seem to be getting 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:51.440 blessings. And that begins to cause a struggle 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:54.539 for us, but realize that in that, in that process, 00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:00.519 they have been thrust down and cannot rise. A 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:02.140 couple weeks ago, I mentioned to you that I had 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:05.220 a new feeling about the story of David and Goliath. 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:07.099 And I think it was actually on Tuesday night, 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:08.819 two Tuesdays ago. We talked about the story of 00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:12.380 David and Goliath. Anyway, the point is, I said, 00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:15.990 you know, I kind of have pity on Goliath. We 00:24:15.990 --> 00:24:17.609 always think of David as the underdog because 00:24:17.609 --> 00:24:20.069 he was a little guy, not even a full -grown man. 00:24:20.250 --> 00:24:22.789 He goes up with this giant dude and so powerful 00:24:22.789 --> 00:24:25.970 and trained warrior and all of that. We think 00:24:25.970 --> 00:24:28.069 of kind of like, oh no, David. And then David 00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:30.009 wins. We're like, yay, David, he's the underdog. 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:33.670 But David wasn't the underdog. Goliath was the 00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:36.630 underdog. In his might and in his power and in 00:24:36.630 --> 00:24:39.569 his strength and all his training, he was on 00:24:39.569 --> 00:24:42.390 the wrong side. You understand that from the 00:24:42.390 --> 00:24:45.309 moment that Goliath... went on the battlefield 00:24:45.309 --> 00:24:47.029 for the first time, when he first picked up a 00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:50.930 spear, he was destined to die to a stone and 00:24:50.930 --> 00:24:56.950 a sword by the hand of a boy. He was thrust down 00:24:56.950 --> 00:24:59.630 and could not rise even before he stepped out 00:24:59.630 --> 00:25:01.589 onto the battlefield against David as he mocked 00:25:01.589 --> 00:25:03.490 the Israelites and said, you sent a champion. 00:25:03.730 --> 00:25:06.309 Why will you not send a champion? Oh, now you 00:25:06.309 --> 00:25:09.650 send this boy against me? What am I, a dog that 00:25:09.650 --> 00:25:12.319 you'd send a boy against me? As he mocked the 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.359 Israelites and mocked David and mocked God and 00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:17.220 denied the God of heaven, he was thrust down 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:20.700 and could not rise already. Before ever the first 00:25:20.700 --> 00:25:25.559 stone sailed. The lightning point for today is 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:29.279 comfort outsourced is a prison of the exact same 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:32.380 sort. I want you to think about the fact and 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:33.960 realize from these texts that what it's saying 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:37.079 is if you find your source of comfort, if you 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:40.500 find the blessing that you need, if you find 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:43.180 your success or your overcoming of a problem 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:47.200 outside God's auspices, outside the kingdom of 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:53.220 God, that you too will be thrust down and cannot 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:58.180 rise. There's a few things in this text too, 00:25:58.259 --> 00:25:59.720 really, and then a conclusion that I want you 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:03.819 to see. The first thing is this. The wicked, 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:09.289 these people, They are enslaved by the very comfort 00:26:09.289 --> 00:26:13.990 they choose to freely receive. Wickedness feels 00:26:13.990 --> 00:26:17.190 like freedom. For 25 years of my life, I lived 00:26:17.190 --> 00:26:19.690 as a non -Christian. A pre -Christian, I guess 00:26:19.690 --> 00:26:21.569 you could say. Didn't really believe in God. 00:26:21.769 --> 00:26:24.970 Didn't really believe in Jesus. I did a little 00:26:24.970 --> 00:26:27.049 drinking, a little partying, a little driving 00:26:27.049 --> 00:26:30.890 drunk. A lot of fighting. In fact, after I got 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:32.750 saved for 15 years afterwards, my hands hurt 00:26:32.750 --> 00:26:37.170 almost every single day. I couldn't do push -ups 00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:39.150 because they were shooting pains in my hands 00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:41.289 from all the punching people and things I did 00:26:41.289 --> 00:26:43.569 back then. And a lot more with the things, because 00:26:43.569 --> 00:26:48.589 things are harder than people. But I was doing 00:26:48.589 --> 00:26:52.009 it all because I thought I could. I drove my 00:26:52.009 --> 00:26:53.750 motorcycle 40 miles an hour over the speed limit 00:26:53.750 --> 00:26:58.230 because I could. I drag raced down Woodrow Road 00:26:58.230 --> 00:27:01.750 because I could. And I felt alive and free, and 00:27:01.750 --> 00:27:04.279 I was even excited. Like I would stand up to 00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:06.240 a bully, not intimidated, knowing he was going 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.799 to kick my butt, which is what usually happens. 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:09.039 When I say I did a lot of fighting, I don't want 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:12.519 you to think that I was often victorious. I had 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:14.539 a lot of fighting and I lost most of the time. 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:16.819 But I kept going back anyway because I could. 00:27:18.099 --> 00:27:21.299 And I thought I was free. When my boss called 00:27:21.299 --> 00:27:23.400 me up and was hassling me about having to work 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:25.660 on a weekend I was supposed to have a BG class, 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:28.059 I just quit my job. Just like that. I'm like, 00:27:28.099 --> 00:27:31.059 ah, fine, I'm done. No two weeks left, I'm just 00:27:31.059 --> 00:27:33.059 done. Just like that. Why? Because it could. 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:36.339 Wickedness feels like freedom. People jump off 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:38.039 cliffs with a parachute on, and they call it 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:40.799 base jumping, and they do it because they can. 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.160 Because it feels like freedom as the air is rushing 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.079 past you, and you haven't pulled the cord yet, 00:27:46.099 --> 00:27:47.319 and you know if you don't pull the cord, you're 00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:48.980 going to splat on the rocks down below. But when 00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:50.900 you pull the cord, you will drift gracefully 00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:53.920 to the ground once it slows you down. It feels 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:58.599 like freedom. But it isn't. According to this 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:00.819 text, and many others like it, it's not freedom. 00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:05.500 Notice also that wickedness speaks to the heart 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:08.420 of the wicked. The message of powerful encouragement. 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:10.500 Once you start doing things that God doesn't 00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:12.220 want you to do, you get this powerful encouragement 00:28:12.220 --> 00:28:14.319 inside you. Like, yeah, see there, that's me. 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:16.599 I did that. I got away with that. Yeah, I said 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:19.819 that and they did that. I think there's a historian 00:28:19.819 --> 00:28:22.480 who is not a Christian who lived in Jesus' day. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.660 He's called Josephus. And I read his history. 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:27.539 It's pretty cool because he comes from outside 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.829 Christianity. He was a Jewish historian. And 00:28:29.829 --> 00:28:31.650 he never came to believe in the Messiah, never 00:28:31.650 --> 00:28:34.250 was a follower of Jesus. But he accurately records 00:28:34.250 --> 00:28:36.569 the history of Jesus' life. He said there was 00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:38.410 a man, he did all these things, he listened to 00:28:38.410 --> 00:28:41.150 it all out, he died, he was buried, he rose again. 00:28:41.349 --> 00:28:42.849 He didn't say he rose again, but he said he was 00:28:42.849 --> 00:28:45.109 buried, and then he was seen later and taught 00:28:45.109 --> 00:28:47.690 his disciples and started this movement. He says 00:28:47.690 --> 00:28:50.849 all of that. And I love that. But then I looked 00:28:50.849 --> 00:28:53.289 elsewhere in his history, and I see where he 00:28:53.289 --> 00:28:55.289 says, well, I went to the governor and I told 00:28:55.289 --> 00:28:57.730 him this was true. It wasn't really true, but 00:28:57.730 --> 00:29:00.250 I told him this was true. and he did this, which 00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:02.390 is exactly what I wanted him to do, and he's 00:29:02.390 --> 00:29:04.710 manipulating the political scene. Right now in 00:29:04.710 --> 00:29:06.470 Washington, D .C., not necessarily today because 00:29:06.470 --> 00:29:08.470 it's Sunday, but tomorrow, there will be people 00:29:08.470 --> 00:29:10.390 making promises to people that they will not 00:29:10.390 --> 00:29:13.289 keep. And by so doing, they will get away with 00:29:13.289 --> 00:29:14.910 whatever it is they're trying to do. All over 00:29:14.910 --> 00:29:16.630 the country right now, there are businessmen 00:29:16.630 --> 00:29:20.069 who are conniving and manipulating and tricking 00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:22.329 others to get wealthier and wealthier and wealthier. 00:29:22.329 --> 00:29:24.349 And all the while, in their heart, they have 00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:28.349 this thought that, yeah, I did it again. They 00:29:28.349 --> 00:29:31.609 don't know. I'm getting away with it again. I 00:29:31.609 --> 00:29:33.690 want you to understand that if ever in your heart 00:29:33.690 --> 00:29:35.650 you have a feeling that says, I got away with 00:29:35.650 --> 00:29:38.410 it, you need to understand that is your own transgression, 00:29:38.450 --> 00:29:41.430 that is your own wickedness, ensuring that you 00:29:41.430 --> 00:29:44.470 are trapped away from the goodness of God. You're 00:29:44.470 --> 00:29:47.609 not getting away with anything. God sees it all. 00:29:47.970 --> 00:29:51.089 God sees everything that we are doing, and we 00:29:51.089 --> 00:29:54.670 can see it too if we are able to look with open 00:29:54.670 --> 00:29:59.650 eyes. But the wickedness, it testifies in the 00:29:59.650 --> 00:30:03.150 heart to encourage. It gives a pleasurable appraisal. 00:30:03.390 --> 00:30:07.410 You're smart. You're crafty. You're a problem 00:30:07.410 --> 00:30:11.630 solver. You took care of that and you start thinking, 00:30:11.670 --> 00:30:13.470 I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay because 00:30:13.470 --> 00:30:14.650 there's something in my heart telling me I'm 00:30:14.650 --> 00:30:17.430 going to be okay. And it talks about promised 00:30:17.430 --> 00:30:20.019 potential. Your ship is going to come in. You're 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.279 going to get the money. It's going to happen. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.619 You're going to get where you need to get because 00:30:24.619 --> 00:30:26.660 it has to be because you're still here and you're 00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:29.079 smart and you're capable. And it testifies in 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.559 the heart. It is comfort and encouragement and 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.859 a pleasurable appraisal and a promising statement 00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:39.900 of potential. But then notice in verse 12, the 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:42.680 last verse we read, the trap is sprung. The demise 00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:46.480 made certain. It's aimed unerringly at eternal 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.599 demise. It says, there the doers of iniquity 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:53.359 have fallen. They have been thrust down and cannot 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:57.059 rise. And what was in the there? It's the fact 00:30:57.059 --> 00:30:58.799 that they did what they wanted to do. It's the 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:00.779 freedom that they thought they perceived to do 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:02.319 what they wanted to do. It was contrary to what 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:04.819 God wanted. And it's that constant testimony 00:31:04.819 --> 00:31:07.119 in their heart that they're good, that they're 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.579 going to be fine, that it's all going to work 00:31:08.579 --> 00:31:09.980 out, that they're going to get away with it. 00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.960 And they feel like they can go on and on this 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:16.579 way. I'll tell you where that road ends. It ends 00:31:16.579 --> 00:31:19.559 in hell for an eternity. And they get there and 00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:22.440 realize they can't. There's nobody left to manipulate. 00:31:22.660 --> 00:31:24.279 There's nobody left to steal from. There's no 00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:26.980 positive steps left to take. No problem solving 00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:30.440 that can be done. It's done. You're stuck. That 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:32.700 is the end of that destination. That is the end 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:37.819 of that road. Enslaved by the very comfort they 00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:41.599 chose to freely receive. One more point in there. 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:45.220 receiving all the benefits that they never paid 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:47.579 for. Now, if I was talking about the wicked, 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:54.240 that's no big deal. But I'm not. We're talking 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:56.140 about the people in the kingdom of God. We're 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:58.319 talking about God's people. God's people, according 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:00.599 to these verses, that whole middle section, from 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:03.180 5 all the way down to 11, was talking about God's 00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:05.200 people receiving benefits that they never paid 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:07.519 for. God's people receive His loving kindness 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.380 and His faithfulness, and He is good to us, and 00:32:10.380 --> 00:32:13.119 it doesn't stop. It goes on and on and on and 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.900 on, even though we don't deserve it and we didn't 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:20.019 pay for it. If you stop by Kroger's or something, 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:23.140 and they stop you in the aisle and say, hey, 00:32:23.140 --> 00:32:25.259 you're the one billionth shopper at Kroger's 00:32:25.259 --> 00:32:27.019 all over the world, and from now on you get free 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:29.160 groceries for the rest of your life. You never 00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:31.359 paid for it. You never earned it. There's no 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:33.299 reason. You didn't even know there was a thing 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:34.920 about a billions shopper. You didn't know it 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:37.519 was a thing. It's like that with God. We receive 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.279 the loving kindness of God. We receive his faithfulness. 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:42.119 And the more of it that we know, the more of 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:45.319 it that there is. And do you deserve it? Should 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:49.700 you get it? Is it fair? I can't tell you the 00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:51.160 number of times that my kids or my grandson, 00:32:51.420 --> 00:32:53.460 Jason and Caleb, are both in the room. And Jason 00:32:53.460 --> 00:32:56.359 said, well, Caleb had one. Or Caleb will say, 00:32:56.420 --> 00:32:59.859 well, Jason had one. Right? And it seems like 00:32:59.859 --> 00:33:01.420 it's fair because they're brothers. If one gets 00:33:01.420 --> 00:33:02.920 one, the other one should get one too, right? 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:05.319 Well, what we're saying here based on this is 00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:08.859 that God himself is unfair. That's not fair. 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:11.460 It's not fair that we get God's loving kindness 00:33:11.460 --> 00:33:13.079 and his righteousness and his faithfulness and 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:14.980 his mercy and his spiritual gifts and all of 00:33:14.980 --> 00:33:16.940 these things when we didn't pay for it. That's 00:33:16.940 --> 00:33:20.400 not fair. The wicked are getting ripped off. 00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:22.740 They think they're getting freedom and comfort 00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:24.759 by just doing what it is that they would do. 00:33:26.230 --> 00:33:28.349 We are getting freedom and comfort that we didn't 00:33:28.349 --> 00:33:30.930 pay for in order to do nothing. That's not fair. 00:33:33.250 --> 00:33:35.289 God's people receive his loving kindness and 00:33:35.289 --> 00:33:37.329 his faithfulness and he is good to us and it 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:40.990 doesn't stop. But also receiving all the benefits 00:33:40.990 --> 00:33:43.509 they never paid for reminds us that his righteousness 00:33:43.509 --> 00:33:48.269 and his judgments show no limits. There's no 00:33:48.269 --> 00:33:50.390 limit to that. We keep learning more of his righteousness 00:33:50.390 --> 00:33:52.349 and more of his righteousness becomes available 00:33:52.349 --> 00:33:53.990 to us. We keep learning more of his judgments 00:33:53.990 --> 00:33:55.990 and more becomes available to us. There's no 00:33:55.990 --> 00:33:59.609 limit. His people get to know them and then know 00:33:59.609 --> 00:34:01.910 more and more. They get to love them and love 00:34:01.910 --> 00:34:04.049 them more. The more you know of what God teaches 00:34:04.049 --> 00:34:05.650 you, what God is doing in your life, the more 00:34:05.650 --> 00:34:07.309 you will love what God is teaching you and what 00:34:07.309 --> 00:34:09.289 God is doing in your life. And then we get to 00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:11.309 live them on an eternal journey that does not 00:34:11.309 --> 00:34:14.730 end. We can't help but desire to learn and speak 00:34:14.730 --> 00:34:17.849 them because as we do, we discover their unending 00:34:17.849 --> 00:34:20.809 nature. So it just goes on. Like, oh, wow, God's 00:34:20.809 --> 00:34:23.710 doing that too? Wow, that's amazing. I didn't 00:34:23.710 --> 00:34:27.170 expect that. And you're so skilled, so trained, 00:34:27.210 --> 00:34:30.309 you've seen so much, and yet it goes, what? Every 00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:32.250 time there's a new surprise, a new excitement 00:34:32.250 --> 00:34:35.989 to go, wow, God is doing that? And we get all 00:34:35.989 --> 00:34:38.489 of that that we never paid for. Doesn't seem 00:34:38.489 --> 00:34:42.260 fair. His people then, third point, under receiving 00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:44.380 all the benefits they never paid for, his people 00:34:44.380 --> 00:34:47.139 received his power, his purpose, his provision, 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:49.219 and his presence. In the story of the prodigal 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:51.460 son, there's a son, he goes away, he takes his 00:34:51.460 --> 00:34:53.480 share of the inheritance and blows it all on 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.519 lots of food and booze and loose women and whatever. 00:34:56.780 --> 00:34:58.599 And then when it's all gone, he's got a terrible 00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:00.599 job that he's working and he can't even eat. 00:35:00.659 --> 00:35:02.340 He's thinking about eating the food that the 00:35:02.340 --> 00:35:04.260 pigs are eating. And he says, I should go back 00:35:04.260 --> 00:35:06.199 and just be a servant in the house of my father 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:07.980 because my father's servants are... being treated 00:35:07.980 --> 00:35:10.139 better than I am right now. And he goes back 00:35:10.139 --> 00:35:11.940 and his dad comes out and he falls on him and 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:13.900 he kisses him on the neck. And instead of saying, 00:35:13.940 --> 00:35:15.599 see, I told you, son, you shouldn't have spent 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.480 all that money. He says, I've been waiting for 00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:21.960 you. And he gives him a ring and a robe and shoes 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:24.480 and they throw a party. And those things represent 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:26.980 something. That ring represents power. God gives 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:29.579 believers power, which isn't really right because 00:35:29.579 --> 00:35:31.539 we didn't pay for it. We didn't earn it. We didn't 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:33.800 do anything to get it. And the more we use it 00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:37.199 for God's glory, the more we get. God's power. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.980 Then we get God's purpose. Right? Those sandals 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:42.280 and shoes that he put on his feet, that represents 00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:44.739 purpose. And so God, he's going to go and do 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:46.460 things. We have the sandals of the gospel of 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:48.380 peace. We go and do the things. And the more 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:51.340 we do for God, the more we can do for God. That's 00:35:51.340 --> 00:35:54.559 not right. That's not fair. And then there's 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:56.579 provision. That robe that he put on, that's protecting 00:35:56.579 --> 00:35:58.039 him, giving him warmth, and taking care of him, 00:35:58.159 --> 00:35:59.780 giving him what he needs, and also the food at 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:02.480 the party. That's provision of God. And God gives 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:04.780 that to that prodigal son who went away and wasted 00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:06.559 everything that God had given him, but now he 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:08.320 just turned back. He just said, let's go back 00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:10.840 and be a servant in the house of my God, or my 00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:13.599 Father, as the story says. And then finally, 00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.590 presence. He is with us. And he says, If you'll 00:36:16.590 --> 00:36:18.670 go and do the things I've given you to do, I 00:36:18.670 --> 00:36:20.550 will be with you even unto the end of the age, 00:36:20.630 --> 00:36:22.210 which as we learned recently on Tuesday night 00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:23.869 is right up to the harvest. That's what's next. 00:36:24.150 --> 00:36:26.630 So we're going to, till the harvest, have God's 00:36:26.630 --> 00:36:29.329 presence in us. Now you think about it for a 00:36:29.329 --> 00:36:31.610 second. You got this guy over here. He's just 00:36:31.610 --> 00:36:33.590 as smart, intelligent, creative, capable as I 00:36:33.590 --> 00:36:38.449 am. And here's me. I'm 25 years old. And there 00:36:38.449 --> 00:36:41.480 is no reason. None whatsoever. I didn't ascend 00:36:41.480 --> 00:36:43.659 to it. I didn't figure it out mentally. I didn't 00:36:43.659 --> 00:36:45.739 problem solve to get there. There is absolutely 00:36:45.739 --> 00:36:47.719 no reason that this guy over here is just as 00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:49.920 smart or smarter than I am. Doesn't accept Jesus 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:51.699 Christ as his Lord and Savior. Doesn't become 00:36:51.699 --> 00:36:53.519 a Christian. Doesn't enter the kingdom of God 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:56.960 and get a beautiful family and ministry and service 00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:59.059 and the things that I have had. Not that I haven't 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:00.659 had struggles. Not that I haven't faced trials 00:37:00.659 --> 00:37:02.480 and difficulties. Facing one right now, in fact. 00:37:02.659 --> 00:37:04.900 But not that that's not true. But there's no 00:37:04.900 --> 00:37:06.980 reason this guy shouldn't have all these things 00:37:06.980 --> 00:37:10.260 that God is offering. Yet he doesn't. And he 00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:13.619 could say, but he gets. Says it doesn't seem 00:37:13.619 --> 00:37:20.980 fair. Dan got one. And we get all of that. We 00:37:20.980 --> 00:37:22.639 receive all the benefits of being part of the 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:24.539 kingdom of God that we never paid for, never 00:37:24.539 --> 00:37:27.760 earned, or never were. And that brings us to 00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:30.860 our conclusion. It seems unfair. These guys, 00:37:30.920 --> 00:37:32.559 they're just doing what anyone might do. I'm 00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:33.679 faced with a problem. What do you do? You think 00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:35.440 about what you can do, right? How can I make 00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:37.599 this work out? How can I get where I gotta get? 00:37:37.949 --> 00:37:41.250 They're just doing what anyone might do. They're 00:37:41.250 --> 00:37:43.269 behaving with their own interests in mind. Anybody 00:37:43.269 --> 00:37:45.989 in here do that? Do we behave with our own interests 00:37:45.989 --> 00:37:50.789 in mind? Sure we do. They're doing what they 00:37:50.789 --> 00:37:54.389 want to do. Now, that starts to draw a little 00:37:54.389 --> 00:37:56.530 bit of a line for me because I realize as a Christian, 00:37:56.590 --> 00:37:59.409 quite frequently, I don't do what I want to do. 00:37:59.949 --> 00:38:02.309 I do what's right. Now, there's a little difference 00:38:02.309 --> 00:38:04.989 there, but basically... They're doing what anybody 00:38:04.989 --> 00:38:07.070 might do. They're doing these things. They're 00:38:07.070 --> 00:38:08.989 taking care of their own interests, doing what 00:38:08.989 --> 00:38:12.409 they can, doing what they want to do. They're 00:38:12.409 --> 00:38:16.650 doing all for reasonably desired results and 00:38:16.650 --> 00:38:19.869 to try to get them by means within their own 00:38:19.869 --> 00:38:22.730 power. Okay, now wait a second. That chased me 00:38:22.730 --> 00:38:24.349 a little bit. I'm not comfortable with that. 00:38:25.710 --> 00:38:27.889 I want to stop just short of getting where I'm 00:38:27.889 --> 00:38:29.610 trying to get by my own power because there's 00:38:29.610 --> 00:38:30.849 going to be a moment in time in which I'm going 00:38:30.849 --> 00:38:33.039 to try to get somewhere. That I can't get by 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:37.780 my own power. You follow the logic? If everything 00:38:37.780 --> 00:38:39.780 we get by is by our own power, then when the 00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:41.360 time comes that we need something that we can't 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:42.659 get by our own power, we're not going to get 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:46.260 it. So I feel a little bit, I want to come up 00:38:46.260 --> 00:38:51.880 short of doing it that way. But the truth is, 00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:59.019 they wind up so far from a good end just by doing 00:38:59.019 --> 00:39:06.809 what seems completely reasonable. Ah. But now 00:39:06.809 --> 00:39:09.710 remember that guy that was compared to me? What 00:39:09.710 --> 00:39:13.670 did I do to receive salvation? What did I do 00:39:13.670 --> 00:39:16.849 to achieve it? What did I do to earn it? Nothing. 00:39:17.889 --> 00:39:22.070 So why couldn't he do that? Well, he could. And 00:39:22.070 --> 00:39:25.150 so, just the same as to behave with your own 00:39:25.150 --> 00:39:26.969 interests in mind, to do what you can, to do 00:39:26.969 --> 00:39:28.670 what you want to do, to do all for reasonably 00:39:28.670 --> 00:39:30.610 desired results and try to get them by means 00:39:30.610 --> 00:39:32.429 within your own power, well, all of that makes 00:39:32.429 --> 00:39:35.940 a lot of good sense. Also, following God is available 00:39:35.940 --> 00:39:42.179 to anyone. So it really just is about a moment 00:39:42.179 --> 00:39:45.500 of salvation. And since it's not something that 00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:47.739 you can provide, all you've got to do is be willing 00:39:47.739 --> 00:39:49.500 to receive it. And so I guess the big problem 00:39:49.500 --> 00:39:51.420 with that wicked person is that he's comfortable. 00:39:52.179 --> 00:39:55.380 He's okay with not receiving it. The gospel is 00:39:55.380 --> 00:39:57.519 available. Now that Jesus has been publicly sacrificed, 00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.119 publicly risen, publicly preached, it's perfectly 00:40:00.119 --> 00:40:06.480 unfair. For anyone who will receive that gift, 00:40:06.619 --> 00:40:08.500 that one would receive it and another wouldn't. 00:40:08.900 --> 00:40:12.480 But it's also perfectly just. It's just because 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:15.119 if you'll receive it, you can have it. And if 00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:17.559 you won't, you won't. And the alternative would 00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:19.539 be everyone would be forced to receive it whether 00:40:19.539 --> 00:40:22.199 they want it or not. Let me give you some illustrations 00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:28.579 as we're in our conclusion. Kids cry, he got 00:40:28.579 --> 00:40:32.780 one! Because they want to believe. That fair 00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:36.960 is when everybody gets the same thing. Which, 00:40:37.059 --> 00:40:39.679 not amazingly, is most important when it means 00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:41.900 that they didn't get something and they want 00:40:41.900 --> 00:40:45.539 it. Right? So you've got two brothers. One gets 00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:47.420 it and the other one doesn't. Which one's crying? 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:52.739 It's only fair that we both get it. The one who 00:40:52.739 --> 00:40:55.099 didn't get it. But the one who got it when his 00:40:55.099 --> 00:40:58.800 brother didn't is fine with that. Otherwise, 00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:00.699 he'd have given him half. And there wouldn't 00:41:00.699 --> 00:41:04.159 be anything to cry about. Right? It's pretty 00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:06.619 amazing that we're only worried about what's 00:41:06.619 --> 00:41:11.800 fair when what's fair contradicts that very testimony 00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:17.860 in our heart that we should get and didn't. Justice 00:41:17.860 --> 00:41:22.199 is when the one who knows gives what is deserved. 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:25.699 And God will give to those who stand against 00:41:25.699 --> 00:41:28.900 him what is deserved. And he chooses not to give 00:41:28.900 --> 00:41:32.340 because of the sacrifice of Jesus. to those who 00:41:32.340 --> 00:41:35.559 do not stand against him what they deserve. And 00:41:35.559 --> 00:41:38.539 trust this. They don't want what they deserve. 00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:42.500 They always want grace. In fact, try this sometime 00:41:42.500 --> 00:41:44.300 as an experiment. If you've got kids or know 00:41:44.300 --> 00:41:46.380 somebody who does, give one of them something. 00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:49.559 Let the other one complain that they want it 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:51.619 too. And say, well, you gave it to him. Why can't 00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:55.159 I have it? Then give them two. And watch what 00:41:55.159 --> 00:41:58.539 happens. The one who got one will say, but he 00:41:58.539 --> 00:42:01.960 got two. So then give him three. And watch what 00:42:01.960 --> 00:42:04.960 happens. The one who says, but he got three. 00:42:06.159 --> 00:42:11.380 Does it ever end? Or, he got a donut and I got 00:42:11.380 --> 00:42:14.360 a donut, but his donut's bigger. Does it ever 00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:19.000 end? Humans desire and the desires do not end. 00:42:19.179 --> 00:42:21.579 And when you meet the desires yourself, the desires 00:42:21.579 --> 00:42:24.380 themselves will speak in your heart to provide 00:42:24.380 --> 00:42:28.769 you with a comfort that is outside God. If it 00:42:28.769 --> 00:42:31.590 were a Star Wars sermon, I would need some Star 00:42:31.590 --> 00:42:34.050 Wars quotes to relate them to the topic at hand, 00:42:34.170 --> 00:42:37.090 which would be easy. I could say something like, 00:42:37.170 --> 00:42:40.269 Yoda described the dark side of the Force in 00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:43.489 several ways throughout the Star Wars saga. One 00:42:43.489 --> 00:42:45.650 of his most famous explanations is when Empire 00:42:45.650 --> 00:42:48.250 Strikes Back and he says, But beware of the dark 00:42:48.250 --> 00:42:51.449 side. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side 00:42:51.449 --> 00:42:54.269 of the Force are they. Easily they flow. Quick 00:42:54.269 --> 00:42:56.909 to join in a fight if once you start down the 00:42:56.909 --> 00:43:00.159 dark path. Forever it will dominate your destiny. 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:05.400 And then he says, consume you it will. Be careful 00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:12.519 going after the things that you want. Yoda emphasized 00:43:12.519 --> 00:43:14.679 that the dark side is seductive. It's easier, 00:43:14.739 --> 00:43:17.199 more tempting, but ultimately corruptive and 00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:19.539 destructive. He often warned Jedi to control 00:43:19.539 --> 00:43:21.820 their emotions, especially fear and anger, which 00:43:21.820 --> 00:43:25.239 could lead them down the dark path. Also in The 00:43:25.239 --> 00:43:27.969 Empire Strikes Back, Luke says, Is the dark side 00:43:27.969 --> 00:43:32.550 stronger? And Yoda says, no, no, no. Quicker, 00:43:32.550 --> 00:43:37.090 easier, more seductive. And then in The Phantom 00:43:37.090 --> 00:43:39.349 Menace, he says, fear is the path to the dark 00:43:39.349 --> 00:43:41.849 side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. 00:43:41.969 --> 00:43:45.889 Hate leads to suffering. This quote highlights 00:43:45.889 --> 00:43:47.969 how the dark side begins with inner fear and 00:43:47.969 --> 00:43:52.650 grows through unchecked emotion. Palpatine, in 00:43:52.650 --> 00:43:53.949 The Revenge of the Sith, said, the dark side 00:43:53.949 --> 00:43:57.409 of the force is a pathway to many, abilities 00:43:57.409 --> 00:44:00.690 some consider to be unnatural. He's tempting 00:44:00.690 --> 00:44:02.469 Anakin to come over to the dark side because 00:44:02.469 --> 00:44:04.230 then he'll be able to do things that he can't 00:44:04.230 --> 00:44:08.710 do on the light side. Obi -Wan says later, you 00:44:08.710 --> 00:44:11.349 have allowed the dark lord to twist your mind 00:44:11.349 --> 00:44:13.809 until now. Until now you have become the very 00:44:13.809 --> 00:44:18.610 thing you swore to destroy. But it's not a Star 00:44:18.610 --> 00:44:20.690 Wars sermon, so we really don't need those illustrations, 00:44:20.829 --> 00:44:26.840 do we? How about this? Trusting someone else 00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:31.780 to do for you what you can't do is wisdom. Anybody 00:44:31.780 --> 00:44:34.619 here ever use a mechanic to fix their car? Go 00:44:34.619 --> 00:44:37.960 to a doctor about their body? Call an HVAC tech 00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:40.639 to fix your heating or air conditioning? Trusting 00:44:40.639 --> 00:44:42.639 somebody else to do for you what you cannot do 00:44:42.639 --> 00:44:46.199 is wisdom. And if the world knows that it is 00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:49.199 wisdom, then it is just to expect them to choose 00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:52.880 a risen Savior who can bring you into eternity 00:44:52.880 --> 00:45:00.780 that you desire. One who died and rose again. 00:45:04.699 --> 00:45:10.400 Not one who willingly died but didn't rise again, 00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:13.400 but one who willingly died and rose again. In 00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:16.340 the short term, people seem to benefit from the 00:45:16.340 --> 00:45:19.219 non -God choice. But they're locking in only 00:45:19.219 --> 00:45:21.760 a certain amount of benefits and not the ones 00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:23.360 that will take them to where they need to go 00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:26.159 in the long run. They have outsourced their comfort 00:45:26.159 --> 00:45:28.400 while in the short term their comfort comes in 00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:30.780 the form of reassurance and even quick results. 00:45:30.940 --> 00:45:33.880 Ultimately they will bet everything on a losing 00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:36.780 hand and they will lose everything and it's already 00:45:36.780 --> 00:45:40.659 predetermined that they will do so. They have 00:45:40.659 --> 00:45:46.960 been thrust down and they cannot rise. As I said, 00:45:46.960 --> 00:45:48.659 I've raised a number of kids. When Alicia was 00:45:48.659 --> 00:45:51.679 a baby, she fell in love with the 1992 version 00:45:51.679 --> 00:45:53.960 of the movie Aladdin. Have you seen it? Robin 00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:56.679 Williams plays the genie. It's pretty awesome, 00:45:56.820 --> 00:45:59.579 or now I'm a little bit burnt out on it. And 00:45:59.579 --> 00:46:01.199 then by the time she was done, she watched it 00:46:01.199 --> 00:46:04.719 273 times. I don't know if that's the right number. 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:07.099 I just guessed. It's a lot. She watched it a 00:46:07.099 --> 00:46:09.699 lot. In fact, she had a VCR in her bedroom. Remember 00:46:09.699 --> 00:46:12.159 VCRs? VHS tapes? Some people are like, what's 00:46:12.159 --> 00:46:15.659 that? VCR in her bedroom. And even the VCR in 00:46:15.659 --> 00:46:18.159 her bedroom, which ate a peanut butter and jelly 00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:20.719 sandwich at one point, had to be resurrected 00:46:20.719 --> 00:46:23.400 to play Aladdin because we just couldn't take 00:46:23.400 --> 00:46:29.679 it in the living room anymore. When she got a 00:46:29.679 --> 00:46:31.500 little older and finally gave up Aladdin, I thought 00:46:31.500 --> 00:46:34.000 I'd been spared until Amalia fell in with Barney 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:36.519 and then began to listen to dance and sing to 00:46:36.519 --> 00:46:38.260 Barney at 3 o 'clock in the morning in the living 00:46:38.260 --> 00:46:44.039 room when she should have been sleeping. Aladdin 00:46:44.039 --> 00:46:46.559 is a great movie about exactly what we're talking 00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:50.239 about. There's a scene where the genie is released 00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:52.380 from the lamp. This is Robin Williams' voice, 00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:57.739 but I don't do imitations. He says, I have all 00:46:57.739 --> 00:47:03.119 this power. Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty bitty 00:47:03.119 --> 00:47:07.219 living space. And then at the end of the movie, 00:47:07.340 --> 00:47:09.920 Jafar, the big bad guy, he wants to have power. 00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:14.039 He's asking the genie, make me the most powerful 00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:17.079 sorcerer in the world. And Aladdin challenges 00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:19.420 him and he says, you may be the most powerful 00:47:19.420 --> 00:47:22.179 sorcerer in the world, but the genie has more 00:47:22.179 --> 00:47:26.079 power than you do. And he looks at the genie 00:47:26.079 --> 00:47:30.179 and he says, make me a genie. And the genie says, 00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:33.719 I don't know. Are you sure? Make me a genie so 00:47:33.719 --> 00:47:35.960 I will be the most powerful being in the world. 00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:40.440 And the genie says, Okay. You're a genie. The 00:47:40.440 --> 00:47:43.559 bracelets come on and Aladdin reminds Jafar, 00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:47.659 he says, Ah, but you've forgotten. You now have 00:47:47.659 --> 00:47:50.039 the most powerful being in the world. He says, 00:47:50.119 --> 00:47:54.860 Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty bitty living space. 00:47:54.980 --> 00:47:59.570 And down goes Jafar into the bottle. Don't kid 00:47:59.570 --> 00:48:04.130 yourself. If you live your life that way, exercising 00:48:04.130 --> 00:48:07.650 power over the people around you, your life, 00:48:07.690 --> 00:48:09.489 manipulating your situations, and getting it 00:48:09.489 --> 00:48:14.309 done by your own power, the itty -bitty living 00:48:14.309 --> 00:48:18.050 space that you wind up with will not be a pleasant 00:48:18.050 --> 00:48:24.360 one. over at the Life Station, which is now the 00:48:24.360 --> 00:48:25.980 giant food room in the middle of the Life Station 00:48:25.980 --> 00:48:27.980 because we converted it over when we did delivery 00:48:27.980 --> 00:48:30.739 and couldn't worship in there during COVID. Anyway, 00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:35.239 it was a drug dealer, now saved. I knew him personally. 00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:39.360 Spent 21 years in jail. And I asked him, I said, 00:48:39.400 --> 00:48:41.340 did you get saved in prison? He said, I did. 00:48:41.539 --> 00:48:42.920 I said, how'd you wind up in prison? He said, 00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:44.579 well, I owned all these houses. I owned all these 00:48:44.579 --> 00:48:46.519 cars. My brother and I were running a drug house, 00:48:46.659 --> 00:48:49.880 selling drugs. And people would come there by 00:48:49.880 --> 00:48:52.260 in the house, sitting around on the couches and 00:48:52.260 --> 00:48:54.559 the chairs and whatever, doing the drugs. The 00:48:54.559 --> 00:48:56.579 drug house. We were running the drug house. And 00:48:56.579 --> 00:48:59.059 I said, well, that sounds like a pretty good 00:48:59.059 --> 00:49:01.519 racket, but it doesn't sound good in the long 00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:03.860 run. And he said, no, it wasn't. So what happened 00:49:03.860 --> 00:49:05.699 was there was this guy who would come around. 00:49:06.719 --> 00:49:08.679 And he was always begging for money and begging 00:49:08.679 --> 00:49:12.500 for drugs in the drug house. And the people in 00:49:12.500 --> 00:49:13.820 the drug house, who come to the drug house, got 00:49:13.820 --> 00:49:16.980 fed up with it. And they complained to my brother 00:49:16.980 --> 00:49:22.019 and I. And we were forced, hear me now, forced, 00:49:22.079 --> 00:49:24.320 that's the word he used, we were forced to kill 00:49:24.320 --> 00:49:28.820 him. They're running a drug house, ruining people's 00:49:28.820 --> 00:49:31.940 lives, carrying guns, violent, whatever. Who 00:49:31.940 --> 00:49:35.800 can force them to do anything? But their very 00:49:35.800 --> 00:49:37.659 own wickedness, their very own transgression 00:49:37.659 --> 00:49:39.679 required that they put an end to that man because 00:49:39.679 --> 00:49:41.980 he was threatening their business and their clients 00:49:41.980 --> 00:49:43.880 were getting upset. And so they took him out 00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:46.239 and killed him. And then he spent 21 years in 00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:52.039 prison. Now as he stood before me, he'd been 00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:54.159 saved. He was a child of the kingdom of God. 00:49:54.300 --> 00:49:56.659 Lost all his houses and his cars, but he was 00:49:56.659 --> 00:49:59.260 rebuilding his life under biblical principles. 00:50:01.219 --> 00:50:03.519 Story of a drug addict who described how he wound 00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:05.599 up in church. He said, so here's what happened. 00:50:05.949 --> 00:50:08.730 I needed drugs so bad. I was at the point where 00:50:08.730 --> 00:50:12.130 I had to have drugs. I was in terrible withdrawal 00:50:12.130 --> 00:50:14.150 symptoms. It was terrible. I had been on heroin. 00:50:14.329 --> 00:50:17.650 But every one of my friends, all my family members, 00:50:17.769 --> 00:50:22.050 everybody I could think of, even extended family, 00:50:22.329 --> 00:50:24.829 cousins, people I hadn't hurt, I hit up them 00:50:24.829 --> 00:50:27.829 all. I got money from them, or I stole from them, 00:50:27.969 --> 00:50:30.389 or whatever. I was in the middle of the street. 00:50:31.429 --> 00:50:33.710 Over on the old south end, just off Broadway 00:50:33.710 --> 00:50:35.369 there, I walked down the middle street and I 00:50:35.369 --> 00:50:37.250 realized that there wasn't a person in the world, 00:50:37.349 --> 00:50:42.469 including me, that wanted me alive. That could 00:50:42.469 --> 00:50:46.019 find any value in me whatsoever. I had cheated 00:50:46.019 --> 00:50:48.900 everybody that I ever could get access to, stole 00:50:48.900 --> 00:50:51.480 money, stole everything I could to try to get 00:50:51.480 --> 00:50:53.860 drugs, and now here I was needing drugs so bad, 00:50:53.920 --> 00:50:55.880 and I was thinking down the list of every single 00:50:55.880 --> 00:50:57.820 person I knew, every professional, everybody 00:50:57.820 --> 00:50:59.599 I knew, thinking, is there anywhere, anywhere, 00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:02.280 anywhere I could get a $20 bill so I could get 00:51:02.280 --> 00:51:05.500 some drugs? And I came to the conclusion that 00:51:05.500 --> 00:51:07.760 there was nowhere on the earth that anyone wanted 00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:11.699 me alive. And then I wondered. In my heart, I 00:51:11.699 --> 00:51:13.639 wondered. It was like I was maybe prompted by 00:51:13.639 --> 00:51:15.440 the Holy Spirit. He said, I wondered if maybe 00:51:15.440 --> 00:51:20.699 in the church, maybe in God's people, maybe in 00:51:20.699 --> 00:51:22.699 Christianity, there wasn't somebody who would 00:51:22.699 --> 00:51:25.619 want me alive. And he said, so I went, and I 00:51:25.619 --> 00:51:27.239 heard the gospel, and I gave my life over to 00:51:27.239 --> 00:51:29.320 Christ. And as he stood there before me, he had 00:51:29.320 --> 00:51:31.920 gotten a job, and he had a place to live. He 00:51:31.920 --> 00:51:34.400 wasn't wealthy, nor probably would he ever be. 00:51:35.079 --> 00:51:39.300 He was off drugs, living his life in the kingdom 00:51:39.300 --> 00:51:42.699 of God. The next drug addict may not have that 00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:46.900 same experience. And it may seem unfair, but 00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:50.820 there he was with nothing, literally at the end, 00:51:50.860 --> 00:51:53.960 thrust down and could not rise. And he said, 00:51:54.139 --> 00:51:58.179 I wonder if there's somebody. Jesus said, he 00:51:58.179 --> 00:52:01.059 who sins is slave to sin. And Paul reminds us 00:52:01.059 --> 00:52:03.460 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory 00:52:03.460 --> 00:52:06.260 of God. That's all of us. Paul explained at the 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:11.099 Areopagus to goers that they. Now that Jesus 00:52:11.099 --> 00:52:14.179 was revealed clearly through his resurrection, 00:52:14.539 --> 00:52:17.920 God quite reasonably requires all men to repent. 00:52:18.760 --> 00:52:22.079 In the book of Job, Satan accused Job of being 00:52:22.079 --> 00:52:24.420 faithful to God because God took care of him. 00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:30.039 God allowed Satan to strike every good thing, 00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:32.920 including ultimately Job's flesh, but not his 00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:36.420 life. And Job would not curse God, intoning instead 00:52:36.420 --> 00:52:39.800 the famous line, After losing his children, servants, 00:52:39.860 --> 00:52:43.760 and possessions, Job said this, Naked I came 00:52:43.760 --> 00:52:46.380 from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. 00:52:46.619 --> 00:52:49.980 The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed 00:52:49.980 --> 00:52:52.199 be the name of the Lord. And then later, when 00:52:52.199 --> 00:52:54.840 his wife tells him to curse God and die, Job 00:52:54.840 --> 00:52:57.639 says this, Shall we receive good from God and 00:52:57.639 --> 00:53:01.579 shall we not receive adversity? It's absolutely 00:53:01.579 --> 00:53:04.280 just that God's people should receive all the 00:53:04.280 --> 00:53:07.260 blessings of family membership and whatever good 00:53:07.260 --> 00:53:10.000 God sees fit to send, because we are willing 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:12.860 also to receive from His hand whatever hardship 00:53:12.860 --> 00:53:16.019 He sees fit. God's people have not outsourced 00:53:16.019 --> 00:53:18.699 their comfort, which is a course available to 00:53:18.699 --> 00:53:20.940 anyone. Anyone can do that. Jesus said these 00:53:20.940 --> 00:53:24.739 words, For God did not send His Son into the 00:53:24.739 --> 00:53:26.400 world to judge the world, but that the world 00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:28.760 might be saved through Him. He who believes in 00:53:28.760 --> 00:53:31.420 Him is not judged. He who does not believe has 00:53:31.420 --> 00:53:33.880 been judged already, because he has not believed 00:53:33.880 --> 00:53:35.780 in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 00:53:35.860 --> 00:53:37.840 This is the judgment, that the light has come 00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:40.380 into the world, and men love the darkness rather 00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:42.480 than the light, for their deeds were evil. I 00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:45.380 ask you today, what do you love better? The light, 00:53:45.380 --> 00:53:47.360 which is infinite loving kindness, righteousness, 00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:49.719 and goodness from God, or the darkness, which 00:53:49.719 --> 00:53:51.780 is you doing what you've got to do to survive? 00:53:52.380 --> 00:53:55.239 Verse 20 says this, For everyone who does evil 00:53:55.239 --> 00:53:57.559 hates the light and does not come to the light 00:53:57.559 --> 00:54:00.179 for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But 00:54:00.179 --> 00:54:02.139 he who practices the truth comes to the light 00:54:02.139 --> 00:54:04.059 so that his deeds may be manifested as having 00:54:04.059 --> 00:54:08.199 been wrought in God. Make the only good choice. 00:54:08.840 --> 00:54:11.539 Choose Christ and walking with Christ over any 00:54:11.539 --> 00:54:15.340 other offered source of comfort. Let me be blunt 00:54:15.340 --> 00:54:18.480 and simple and I'm done. Are you with me? It's 00:54:18.480 --> 00:54:23.420 like this. You do this. By making an open and 00:54:23.420 --> 00:54:27.320 public confession that you are turning from all 00:54:27.320 --> 00:54:33.239 your sin to God through Jesus his Son. In this 00:54:33.239 --> 00:54:36.340 context, the light means open and public. Stop 00:54:36.340 --> 00:54:39.099 hiding the truth you know in your heart. Jesus 00:54:39.099 --> 00:54:43.199 is Lord and Savior. He's alive and in charge. 00:54:43.719 --> 00:54:48.420 Then, daily, take in, memorize, and share his 00:54:48.420 --> 00:54:53.440 word. Pray. Worship, serve, give, meditate, steward 00:54:53.440 --> 00:54:55.840 the resources of God that he has blessed you 00:54:55.840 --> 00:54:59.780 with. And all this intentionally and his power, 00:54:59.900 --> 00:55:02.119 his purpose, his provision, and his presence 00:55:02.119 --> 00:55:06.380 will open up more and more of the same. And it 00:55:06.380 --> 00:55:11.940 will be right that he should do so. All that 00:55:11.940 --> 00:55:17.940 remains is to ask you, are you in or not? Be 00:55:17.940 --> 00:55:22.239 careful because Too many people are exercising 00:55:22.239 --> 00:55:26.699 their right to choose kingdom adjacent lives. 00:55:28.519 --> 00:55:33.780 They liberally apply words like salvation, even 00:55:33.780 --> 00:55:36.980 worship, godliness, righteousness. They set up 00:55:36.980 --> 00:55:38.699 their own rules and tell you what they mean. 00:55:39.219 --> 00:55:42.900 But if you are doing any portion of your life 00:55:42.900 --> 00:55:47.159 on your own, you are not kingdom, but just kingdom 00:55:47.159 --> 00:55:52.000 adjacent. Will you today profess Jesus Christ 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:54.360 as Lord? That means he's in charge. And as Savior, 00:55:54.400 --> 00:55:58.739 that means he saves you. Sherry's pain got to 00:55:58.739 --> 00:56:00.119 be too bad. Caitlin's going to take her home. 00:56:01.179 --> 00:56:08.579 Will you make that public profession of faith 00:56:08.579 --> 00:56:13.500 and live your life for Jesus? And the resources 00:56:13.500 --> 00:56:17.530 of the kingdom are unending. And yeah. It may 00:56:17.530 --> 00:56:22.730 seem unfair, but anybody can do it. And the person 00:56:22.730 --> 00:56:26.329 right next to you might not do it today. Your 00:56:26.329 --> 00:56:29.329 friend, your family member, your brother, your 00:56:29.329 --> 00:56:31.349 wife, your husband, they might not do it. Your 00:56:31.349 --> 00:56:34.690 sister, they might not do it. But if you do it 00:56:34.690 --> 00:56:38.550 and they won't, you see the end already played 00:56:38.550 --> 00:56:42.710 out in Scripture. And if your friend or your 00:56:42.710 --> 00:56:44.289 brother or your sister or your person right next 00:56:44.289 --> 00:56:46.659 to you does it and you don't, You see the end 00:56:46.659 --> 00:56:49.980 already played out in Scripture. Stop outsourcing 00:56:49.980 --> 00:56:53.880 your comfort and say no. The spiritual disciplines 00:56:53.880 --> 00:56:55.599 are not something we do just once in a while. 00:56:56.860 --> 00:56:58.739 Following God is not something we do just once 00:56:58.739 --> 00:57:01.440 in a while. Crying out to God is not something 00:57:01.440 --> 00:57:04.739 we do just when trouble comes. It's every moment 00:57:04.739 --> 00:57:06.820 of every day. And it's a journey. It takes us 00:57:06.820 --> 00:57:09.460 time to get there. But the more you do it, the 00:57:09.460 --> 00:57:11.659 better you get at it until it's every moment 00:57:11.659 --> 00:57:15.179 of every day. I ask the praise team to come forward 00:57:15.179 --> 00:57:17.019 at this time and lead us in our closing hymn. 00:57:17.039 --> 00:57:19.239 It's going to conclude our services today. But 00:57:19.239 --> 00:57:22.539 I'm asking you to end the light. Say, look, I'm 00:57:22.539 --> 00:57:24.519 not going to do it on my own. I refuse to do 00:57:24.519 --> 00:57:28.820 it on my own. If I cannot do it in Jesus, I will 00:57:28.820 --> 00:57:32.579 not do it at all. As the Lord is calling you 00:57:32.579 --> 00:57:34.719 to be saved or is calling you to be a member 00:57:34.719 --> 00:57:37.019 of this church or be baptized or to begin to 00:57:37.019 --> 00:57:40.099 serve in some kind of ministry, To do, like God 00:57:40.099 --> 00:57:41.599 is saying, hey, do this, and you're going, oh 00:57:41.599 --> 00:57:43.539 man, it sounds like work, or it seems difficult, 00:57:43.619 --> 00:57:44.860 I don't even know, I don't begin to know, I don't 00:57:44.860 --> 00:57:46.239 have the skills, I don't know how I would do 00:57:46.239 --> 00:57:48.739 that. And you just say to God today, okay God, 00:57:49.260 --> 00:57:51.500 whatever that looks like, I'm going to do it. 00:57:53.739 --> 00:57:55.420 Because as long as you're saying you'll do it 00:57:55.420 --> 00:57:57.239 in your own strength, or you're finding your 00:57:57.239 --> 00:58:00.320 source of comfort outside Him, you're kingdom 00:58:00.320 --> 00:58:05.739 adjacent, not kingdom. You're Goliath, not David. 00:58:08.780 --> 00:58:10.539 Would you stand with me and sing this song? And 00:58:10.539 --> 00:58:12.380 as the Lord is leading you, if you so respond. 00:58:18.679 --> 00:58:28.280 We bow down, we lay our crowns at the feet of 00:58:28.280 --> 00:58:36.889 Jesus, the greatest of... His mercy and love 00:58:36.889 --> 00:58:47.110 are at the feet of Jesus. And we cry holy, holy, 00:58:47.590 --> 00:58:58.070 holy. And we cry holy, holy, holy. And we cry.