WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:02.740 Nothing at all. It means nothing at all. Okay, 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:08.679 here we go. So I want to share with you a certain 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:10.859 story out of the book of Judges today. I want 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:12.900 to give you a little bit of a caveat before we 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:19.660 get there. Is it on now? I think it's on now, 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:22.260 yes. So before we get there, we're just going 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:25.379 to drill down on one aspect of the story. So 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:27.640 if you really want to get everything that God's 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.379 going to... have for you out of the store, you're 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:31.140 probably going to have to do a little bit more 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:33.619 work than what I can do with you here today, 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:35.840 because we will drill down on just one really 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:37.759 serious thing that the Lord laid on my heart. 00:00:38.259 --> 00:00:40.320 That also will keep us from being here for another 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.740 two or three hours, which is good. So we're just 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:45.060 going to get right through it and then get on 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.020 that one really major thing. But I will show 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:49.380 you how to use it, I think, for your benefit. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.979 I hope so. And I will show you why it's so important 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:54.640 when we get there. First of all, I want to talk 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:56.939 to you, just do an object lesson if I may, about 00:00:56.939 --> 00:00:59.439 a sword style. So if you happen to know, does 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.899 anyone in the house happen to know what the sword 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:04.879 style, if I say these words, half -sorting, does 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.019 anybody know what half -sorting is? You do know 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:09.359 what it is? All right, would you come up here 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:16.519 and demonstrate? Don't hurt yourself, obviously, 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.540 because you don't have gauntlets. Basically, 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:24.689 from what I understand, bracing the blade with 00:01:24.689 --> 00:01:28.290 your palm. Okay. Mind you, you'd be wearing protection 00:01:28.290 --> 00:01:32.310 on your hands, but you're using it to block and 00:01:32.310 --> 00:01:35.670 thrust and open up the attacks. Okay. So that 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:38.549 is one very serious part of that strategy, is 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:40.150 you're basically putting a hand on the blade. 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:43.790 Now, to finish the move, a knight in metal armor 00:01:43.790 --> 00:01:45.689 or metal gauntlets, I'm going to do it now without 00:01:45.689 --> 00:01:48.349 my gauntlets, because this is an actual sword 00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:50.930 I'm using up here. It's not supercharged. Okay? 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:54.140 They would actually... drop the sword into both 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:58.760 hands, and swing it like a hammer. Which would 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:02.239 allow these cross pieces to function like a hammer, 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:07.120 and then you can pierce armor where the sword 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.460 would be turned away. So if you swing this sword 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:13.659 at steel armor, it will glance off most of the 00:02:13.659 --> 00:02:16.460 time. You can find chinks in armor, so you can 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:18.800 thrust in. Or if you can get them out of position, 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:21.000 you can whack them in the armpit or in the back 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.240 of the knee, and it'll hurt pretty bad. But plate 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:25.479 armor is not necessarily penetrated by a normal 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.280 sword swing if the person swinging is not on 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.099 horseback. When you're on horseback, you get 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:32.419 a lot more momentum, or you can be traveling 00:02:32.419 --> 00:02:34.460 20 miles per hour, and it will pierce plate armor 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.659 then. But typically, a sword will not do that. 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:39.400 So as Rahm has pointed out, if you put one hand 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:42.699 on the blade, you now have this maneuver, this 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:46.159 maneuver, and then pretty much the Germans invented 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.650 what? There's a word for it. I'll give you the 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:51.530 word. It's actually more to how. Thank you very 00:02:51.530 --> 00:02:54.650 much. And they would actually switch and put 00:02:54.650 --> 00:02:57.250 both hands on the blade and use it like a pick 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:01.110 or a hammer. So I want you to bear that in mind 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:05.349 today as we talk about this text. It is a kind 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.550 of combative and even kind of volatile text. 00:03:09.729 --> 00:03:12.129 But we're going to use that, what I just showed 00:03:12.129 --> 00:03:15.919 you, in spiritual ways. to our benefit, okay? 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:18.379 So maybe you'll say amen with me, a who to holler, 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:20.599 hallelujah, something as we go to Judges chapter 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.300 3. Okay, this is the word of God from here on 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:26.240 out. Whatever I get right, whatever I get wrong, 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:27.800 as long as I don't read the word incorrectly. 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:29.879 And if I do that, you're responsible to catch 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.740 it. Okay, not my job to catch it for you, right? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:34.520 I'm going to try to read it exactly as it is 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:37.139 written. And then if I miss something or if there's 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:38.419 something in there that the Lord really wants 00:03:38.419 --> 00:03:40.300 to highlight for you, then you need to catch 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:43.500 it, okay? Judges chapter 3 beginning in verse 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:47.520 12. So we're just coming in after Ophniel and 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.060 the land had 40 years of rest. Verse 12 says 00:03:51.060 --> 00:03:53.719 this, Now the sons of Israel again did evil in 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:57.180 the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:00.500 Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:02.259 they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.219 In other words, he's raising up an enemy king, 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:06.939 giving him strength, giving him success over 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:10.199 top of Israel. 13. And he gathered to himself 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:12.900 the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:14.919 defeated Israel, and they possessed the city 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.439 of the palm trees. Any Bible scholars in the 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.639 room know what city is referred to as the city 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.879 of the palm trees? Take a stab at it. If I told 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:25.759 you that it is a prominent city in the region 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.579 and would give them control of the entire region 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:30.000 of the Promised Land, now would you take a stab 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.139 at it? Say it again. It's Jericho. Does anybody 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.899 know something special about Jericho? Jericho 00:04:38.899 --> 00:04:41.800 was cursed by Joshua after it was captured and 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:43.939 said that if anybody ever fully rebuilt the city, 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:45.920 they will pay for the first part of the building 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.360 of the wall with their firstborn son, and when 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:50.040 they put the gates up, they will pay with their 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.120 youngest child's life. And that does happen later, 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:56.199 but it doesn't happen here, and they don't really 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:58.259 rebuild the walls, they just control that region 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:00.439 which overlooks the entirety of the promised 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.540 land. And so for them to take over Jericho, which 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:07.480 God conquered in a miraculous way, is a pretty 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:10.879 big deal. And that's what they did. They possessed 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.120 the city of the palm trees. And the sons of Israel 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:17.240 served Eglon, the king of Moab, for 18 years. 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:20.759 So for 18 years, they were in oppression. Longer 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:23.579 than last time. Verse 15 says, But when the sons 00:05:23.579 --> 00:05:25.699 of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:28.699 up a deliverer for them. And remember that as 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:31.139 we read the book of Judges, another apt term 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:33.480 might be the book of deliverers, actually, because 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:35.420 most of them don't judge the people or judge 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:37.480 legal cases, but they are deliverers in times 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:41.639 of need. Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.759 a left -handed man. Now, before I go any further, 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.860 if you lived in that day and you talk about him, 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.980 Ehud, being a left -handed man, does that sound 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:55.519 like a positive or a negative? It was a negative. 00:05:56.009 --> 00:05:58.569 So he was to be considered handicapped from birth 00:05:58.569 --> 00:06:00.930 because he could not use his right hand the way 00:06:00.930 --> 00:06:03.529 that he should be able to. Now, there are advantages 00:06:03.529 --> 00:06:06.329 to it, a few, in combat, because it puts your 00:06:06.329 --> 00:06:10.129 sword on their sword side instead of on their 00:06:10.129 --> 00:06:12.350 shield side. So there's some advantage to that, 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:15.129 but the truth is it also puts your shield on 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:18.060 their... On the wrong side. So it was considered 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:20.899 to be a weakness, and he's considered handicapped 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:22.180 from the beginning. He's always been thought 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:23.939 of as handicapped. In fact, even up until about 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:26.639 50 years ago or so, people would try very hard 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:28.980 to convert their left -handed child to right 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:32.220 -handedness because they saw it as a flaw, a 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:34.459 disability. And in fact, there was a period of 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:35.939 time where they believed that a lot of kids got 00:06:35.939 --> 00:06:39.339 stuttering from being converted from left -handed 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:41.519 to right -handed. Because they would tie their 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.579 hand behind their back and everything else. And 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:45.500 finally, people figured out that being left -handed 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:47.980 is pretty normal for some folks and not really 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:50.019 a handicap. But in this day, he is seen as a 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:53.100 handicapped man, basically. And the sons of Israel 00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:56.319 sent tribute by him to Eglon, the king of Moab. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:58.279 So tribute is when you pay them not to bother 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:00.800 you any more than necessary. So he's taking the 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.339 tribute. Verse 16. Ehud made himself a sword 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:07.230 which had two edges. It was a cubit in length. 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:09.189 Now, a cubit is the distance from your elbow 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:11.290 to the tip of your fingers, about 18 inches on 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:13.129 most grown men. It could be a little less, a 00:07:13.129 --> 00:07:14.589 little more. I don't know what his was exactly. 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:17.790 But it made about a cubit in length. And he bound 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:20.829 it on the right thigh under his cloak. So a man 00:07:20.829 --> 00:07:24.769 would normally wear his sword on his hip on the 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:26.750 opposite side of his handedness. So if you're 00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:28.769 right -handed, your sword goes over here. So 00:07:28.769 --> 00:07:30.490 you can draw it cross -body because a sword is 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:33.329 longer than the length of your arm, usually. 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:36.250 or inconvenient in any case, to get it to clear 00:07:36.250 --> 00:07:38.069 of the scabbard. So if it's on this side, you 00:07:38.069 --> 00:07:39.529 have to flip it around, and you'll have a poor 00:07:39.529 --> 00:07:41.350 grip if you're right -handed drawing from your 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:43.050 right side. If you draw from your left side, 00:07:43.069 --> 00:07:44.449 you've got a good firm grip on it, you bring 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:46.050 it out, you can bring it into action faster. 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:48.790 So they would wear it on their left side. So 00:07:48.790 --> 00:07:50.329 you would expect him, if he's going to be armed, 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:52.610 to have a sword there, and they will search him 00:07:52.610 --> 00:07:54.769 in a moment, and they will not find a sword there, 00:07:54.870 --> 00:07:57.290 because he has strapped it on the inside of his 00:07:57.290 --> 00:08:02.819 right thigh. So here we go. Verse 16 said, and 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:05.500 Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, 00:08:05.779 --> 00:08:08.540 a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:11.360 thigh under his cloak. And he presented the tribute 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:15.139 to Iglan, king of Moab. Now, Iglan was a very 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:17.899 fat man. And it came about when he had finished 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:20.480 presenting the tribute that he sent away the 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.420 people who had carried the tribute. So he was 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:25.740 sending everybody else away. Iglan, I'm sorry. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.399 Our hero, if you will, Ehud, sends everybody 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:31.980 else away. He's the only one still standing there. 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:36.899 Verse 19. But he himself turned back from the 00:08:36.899 --> 00:08:39.139 idols which were at Gilgal and said, I have a 00:08:39.139 --> 00:08:42.679 secret message for you, O king. And he said, 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:46.100 keep silence. And all who attended him left him. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.899 So in other words, he's requesting a secret audience 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:51.940 with the king. Now it's interesting that people 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:56.019 in the world are lured by secrets. We're looking 00:08:56.019 --> 00:08:59.539 for that which is, That's just outside our knowledge. 00:08:59.659 --> 00:09:01.639 Always looking for that just outside our knowledge. 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.100 And he was very intrigued by this secret message. 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:06.220 Now, what kind of a secret message could Ehud 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:08.720 be bringing that he would need to send his guards 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.759 away or whatever? But in any case, he says, I 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:12.759 have a secret message for you. The king first 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.100 says, keep silence. And then all who attended 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:18.120 the king left him. Verse 20. And Ehud came to 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:21.740 him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:24.980 chamber. Ehud said, I have a message from God 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:28.509 for you. And he arose from his seat. And he who 00:09:28.509 --> 00:09:30.809 stretched out his left hand took the sword from 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:33.870 his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:37.970 The handle also went in after the blades. In 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:40.210 other words, he thrust that sword, probably a 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:44.070 good part of 18 inches or so, into the man's 00:09:44.070 --> 00:09:48.210 innards. And the fat closed over the blade. And 00:09:48.210 --> 00:09:50.629 he did not draw the sword out of his belly. In 00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:52.750 other words, he left it there, 18 inches buried 00:09:52.750 --> 00:09:57.870 in this very rotund ruler. And the refuge came 00:09:57.870 --> 00:09:59.730 out. So in other words, it started to stink in 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:01.769 the room. It started to stuff coming out of him. 00:10:01.809 --> 00:10:04.710 It was really gross. 23. Then Ehud went out into 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:07.149 the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:11.450 chamber behind him and locked them. Then when 00:10:11.450 --> 00:10:13.509 he had gone out, his servants came and looked 00:10:13.509 --> 00:10:16.629 and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were 00:10:16.629 --> 00:10:18.730 locked. And they said, he is only relieving himself 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:21.059 in the cool room. And they waited until they 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:23.460 became anxious. But behold, he did not open the 00:10:23.460 --> 00:10:25.120 doors of the roof chamber, because he's got an 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:27.679 18 -inch sword stuck in his gut. Therefore, they 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.759 took the key and opened the doors themselves. 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.200 Behold, their master had fallen to the floor 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.580 dead. Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:38.480 and he passed by the idols and escaped to Sirah. 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:42.139 And it came about when he had arrived that he 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:45.070 blew the trumpet. in the hill country of Ephraim. 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:47.289 And the sons of Israel went down with him from 00:10:47.289 --> 00:10:49.730 the hill country, and he was in front of them. 00:10:49.789 --> 00:10:52.110 So he leads them out into battle. He said to 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:54.169 them, Pursue them, for the Lord has given your 00:10:54.169 --> 00:10:57.110 enemies, the Moabites, into your hands. So they 00:10:57.110 --> 00:10:59.110 went down after him and seized the fords of the 00:10:59.110 --> 00:11:01.389 Jordan opposite Moab. So that cuts off their 00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:04.289 reinforcements and also blocks their way home. 00:11:04.730 --> 00:11:07.370 And he did not allow anyone to cross. And they 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:10.590 struck down at that time about 10 ,000 Moabites, 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:14.000 all robust and valiant men. and no one escaped. 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.779 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:20.279 Israel, and the land was undisturbed, that is 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:23.740 to say, it had peace for 80 years, which is the 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:26.240 longest period of peace that the judges have 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:30.259 yet marshaled. So here's what I want you to see. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.360 It's really kind of one thing, and the Lord really 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.659 laid it on my heart. It starts with this. The 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.889 world has a tendency to categorize people. It's 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:43.289 too much work to get to actually know someone 00:11:43.289 --> 00:11:45.750 completely. You're going to have to sit down 00:11:45.750 --> 00:11:47.769 with them over coffee, over meals, call them 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:49.570 regularly, visit with them, talk to them, ask 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:51.409 them questions about their past, where they came 00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:53.190 from, about their family, what's their history, 00:11:53.309 --> 00:11:56.210 what's their culture. Even your best friends 00:11:56.210 --> 00:11:58.309 and even some of your closest family members, 00:11:58.370 --> 00:12:00.750 you do not know enough about them to actually 00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:03.210 say, I know them the way that would be necessary 00:12:03.210 --> 00:12:06.529 for us to really know people. It's just too much 00:12:06.529 --> 00:12:09.590 work. So the world has a tendency to tag people. 00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:12.669 It's easier to mentally tag them and know how 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:16.110 to deal with them from the moment of tagging 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:20.730 on. This is why, for example, we naturally distrust 00:12:20.730 --> 00:12:23.610 anyone who has ever lied to us before. Not because 00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:26.669 lying is bad, addictive, wrong, all these things, 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:28.149 right? And because we can expect if they did 00:12:28.149 --> 00:12:29.929 it once, they'll do it again. But because we 00:12:29.929 --> 00:12:35.139 have mentally tagged them as a liar. It's how 00:12:35.139 --> 00:12:37.299 people deal with people at their work. That's 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:41.080 my boss. By now, I know if I say this, this is 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:42.879 how he's going to react. If I say that, this 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.179 is how he's going to react. We may be completely 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:47.639 incorrect, but the bottom line is we've tagged 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.399 them. So here's how to break out of being tagged. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:56.120 Ehud has given us the example. He was handicapped. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.320 For his whole life, he was thought of as an inferior 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:03.559 man, an inferior warrior, and incapable. He looked 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.580 at his handicap and said, wait a minute, it's 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:09.320 possible that the very thing that everyone has 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:11.120 been tagging me with my whole life, the very 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:12.779 thing that everyone has been saying about me 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:16.220 is the weakest thing, is actually the thing that 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.279 God wants to use to bring deliverance to his 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.080 people. God raised him up. It says he raised 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.620 him up. He empowered him to recognize that God 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.179 is the one in charge and God is the one who did 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:30.460 all of these things that made you who you are. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.320 So here's how to break up. Understand that you 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.019 are a culmination of many factors. As much as 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:38.740 the world might want to highlight just one of 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:40.620 those, or you might want to look at just one 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:43.159 experience that you've had, or one thing that 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.559 you think you've become, you're much more complex 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.779 than that. So if a tag is delivered onto you, 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:54.179 understand that that tag is barely scraping the 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:56.220 surface of who you actually are. You have to 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:58.759 know that. This is to say, many things have come 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:02.710 together to make you who you are. Even outside 00:14:02.710 --> 00:14:07.309 Christ. People have DNA. People have culture. 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:09.470 People have how they were raised, where they 00:14:09.470 --> 00:14:11.950 came from, what they experienced, the abuse they 00:14:11.950 --> 00:14:14.190 suffered as a child. Let's be realistic. This 00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:16.110 is childhood we're talking about. Hopefully not 00:14:16.110 --> 00:14:18.730 terrible abuse, but the reality is children are 00:14:18.730 --> 00:14:20.330 abused. If they're not abused by their parents, 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:22.190 which hopefully they're not, but if they're not, 00:14:22.230 --> 00:14:24.629 they're often abused by their friends. Search 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:26.809 your history. How often were you abused by the 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:29.340 people that should have been? In your life that 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:31.379 were a positive, your friends, your family members, 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:34.700 your brother or sister, whatever. Bottom line 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:37.039 is we have all those events. So I ask you, who 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.120 is it that, number one, wrote your DNA? Who is 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:43.000 it that put you together just exactly the way 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:44.960 you would be in the womb of your mother before 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.440 ever you entered in? So those factors are all 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:50.320 controlled by God. According to Acts 17, Paul 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.919 says that God orchestrates the boundaries of 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:55.549 our living. So God set up where you live. God 00:14:55.549 --> 00:14:58.429 set up the things that you experience. God did 00:14:58.429 --> 00:15:01.129 all of that. So God has authored every bit of 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:03.289 it. Even though some of it was sin by other people 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:05.929 or sin by you or things that you wish you weren't 00:15:05.929 --> 00:15:08.789 a part of, right, that you maybe regret, all 00:15:08.789 --> 00:15:12.149 of those factors then were allowed to come together 00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:14.330 to form you. And I would submit to you that by 00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:16.350 now you're probably figuring out that you really 00:15:16.350 --> 00:15:19.490 don't actually know yourself all that well. Better 00:15:19.490 --> 00:15:21.769 than anybody, I'll give you that. Better than 00:15:21.769 --> 00:15:24.330 any human alive. But the reality is, do we really 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:27.120 know? Like, for example, I believe wholeheartedly, 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:28.940 I believe absolutely that it is the position 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:31.080 of a Christian man to stand up and protect his 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:33.100 wife and his children and even his church, God 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:35.360 forbid, if something happened. And in our church, 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:37.860 we have a kind of a plan, right? So if the church 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:39.559 is ever invaded by a shooter or whatever, the 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.480 women will take the children and go one way and 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:44.200 all the men go toward the shooter. It's not run 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:46.620 away, not hide, whatever. We go take him out. 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.659 Ten men go after him. Unless he brings a bomb, 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:52.279 he's going down. And so even though I believe 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.220 that's true and I want that to be the kind of 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:56.820 man that I am, do I really know? Do I really 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:58.620 know that when that time comes that I will step 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:01.240 up and have the courage? I've walked into crazy 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:03.279 things. I've seen and done crazy things. But 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.379 will I be focused on doing the right thing at 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:09.059 that time? I'm not sure I know myself well enough 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.379 to know for sure what I will do in every circumstance. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.000 But what I can say for sure is that God wove 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.320 together all those factors. Some of them may 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.200 be considered bad. Consider, if God can use the 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.399 very thing that you're going through, the difficulty, 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:28.460 the tag that you've been hit with, if you will, 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.480 that somebody labeled you with, if he can use 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.240 that for his purposes, that's what Ehud said. 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:37.700 God can use my left -handed handicappedness, 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:40.620 and I can make a sword, and I can put it where 00:16:40.620 --> 00:16:42.580 they will not as likely be prepared for me to 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:44.460 carry a weapon. And maybe I'll die trying to 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:46.740 pull this off, but maybe I won't. And clearly 00:16:46.740 --> 00:16:49.759 he didn't. And it was Ehud's strong, I submit 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.779 to you that it was Ehud's strong left hand that 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.659 buried that sword 18 inches deep in the enemy 00:16:55.659 --> 00:17:01.100 king. The handicap of the man used to overcome 00:17:01.100 --> 00:17:04.640 the things of life. If God can use the very thing 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:06.900 that you are labeled with, the very handicap 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.680 that you supposedly have, the diagnosis or the 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.460 prognosis or the weakness or the handicap, if 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:14.700 he can do that, then understand, first of all, 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.599 his presence will be clearly felt, at least by 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.200 you. I look back at who I was before I got saved. 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:21.500 I've said this many times. Before I got saved, 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:24.420 I avoided every opportunity at public speaking 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:27.539 that I possibly could. I missed 38 days of my 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.819 junior year of high school to avoid every public 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:32.299 speaking opportunity I would ever have. And when 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:34.279 they first asked me to preach, I said, oh no, 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:36.660 I would never do that. I know who God has made 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:38.339 me to be. See what I was doing there? I was believing 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:41.019 the tag. I said, no, no, I know who God has made 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:42.740 me to be. I would never be called to do that. 00:17:42.859 --> 00:17:44.799 He's going to use me, I'm sure, but never that. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:47.779 And for 48 hours, I couldn't sleep and I couldn't 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:50.819 eat and I felt sick and sweaty. And I didn't 00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:52.920 have a fever. I didn't have any other symptoms. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:54.500 I just couldn't eat. I felt sick and sweaty. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.279 And I said, Lord, is this something I've done? 00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:58.200 I wasn't even thinking about the fact I said 00:17:58.200 --> 00:17:59.819 no, because I was sure I would never preach. 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:03.440 And the Lord said, you said no. He said, will 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.339 you pray about it? And I said, you said no, you 00:18:05.339 --> 00:18:06.500 wouldn't even pray about it. You wouldn't even 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:09.559 bother to ask me if you should. And I said, okay, 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:12.140 I'm asking you now. And he said, yes, you should. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.519 And I'm like, no, no, I don't want to do that. 00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:18.660 And he says, and that's why. And then fast forward 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:20.809 now, I've been preaching for... Two and a half 00:18:20.809 --> 00:18:25.970 decades. Preaching the gospel. And yes, am I 00:18:25.970 --> 00:18:28.109 afraid I won't get it right? Sometimes. Do I 00:18:28.109 --> 00:18:30.210 realize that that's who I am outside Christ? 00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:33.210 Yes. But I also realize that God has used that 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:36.670 to make something in my life that he can use. 00:18:36.849 --> 00:18:39.109 And I feel his presence when I'm writing a sermon, 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:40.390 when I'm praying for what I'm supposed to say, 00:18:40.430 --> 00:18:42.049 when I'm standing here right now, knowing that 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:44.049 God is saying through me what it is that God 00:18:44.049 --> 00:18:48.910 wants to say, I feel his presence. And if you 00:18:48.910 --> 00:18:50.930 can allow that very thing that would hold you 00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:53.450 back, that diagnosis, that prognosis, that tag, 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.210 that disability, to become a thing that God uses 00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:58.849 for his purposes, then you too will feel his 00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:03.670 presence. Notice also that if the world is trying 00:19:03.670 --> 00:19:07.569 to label you, if they are wrong about you, if 00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:09.309 they try to put that label on you and then later 00:19:09.309 --> 00:19:12.660 you prove that they are completely wrong. Right? 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.079 So they thought you were nothing, nobody, not 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.599 honest, not good, not strong, weak in some way. 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:20.259 And then you step up and you do amazingly in 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:21.859 the Lord. You do exactly what it is that God 00:19:21.859 --> 00:19:24.859 would have you to do. Then if they were wrong 00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:26.519 about you, they just might start to think, well, 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:30.099 if I was wrong about him or her, maybe I'm wrong 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:33.700 about God. And God can use that then to open 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:35.859 them up to the possibility that they have bought 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:38.500 into the lie, the trap, the death that has been 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:40.920 offered by the world, and that they too are missing 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.059 out on this freedom in Christ. So ask yourself, 00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:47.759 what can I do to put it to use? Well, let's look 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:50.720 at his example. He created a tool. You may need 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.220 to create a tool, right? I know a couple of teachers 00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:59.480 who were paralyzed. One was in a motorcycle accident. 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:01.559 Another one was like cerebral palsy or something. 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:03.980 And they were in a wheelchair. They got a wheelchair. 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:05.500 Then they got a motorized wheelchair. And then 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:08.259 they went everywhere teaching the truth and the 00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:11.740 gospel on wheels, not on feet. Right? And so 00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:13.839 we have the shoes of peace and they had the wheels 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.039 of peace. They would go. They found out what 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.839 the tool was that was going to allow them to 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.460 live beyond their handicap, live beyond their 00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:24.240 weakness, and began to do that which God was 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.440 supposed to do. You may be like, well, I don't 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.710 read so well. You know, my academic level is 00:20:27.710 --> 00:20:30.890 not super great. There are audio Bibles. There 00:20:30.890 --> 00:20:33.569 are video Bibles. There are commentaries and 00:20:33.569 --> 00:20:35.089 people will explain to you what it means. There 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:36.910 are pastors and teachers of Sunday school. There 00:20:36.910 --> 00:20:39.190 are tools that will give you the ability to understand 00:20:39.190 --> 00:20:40.769 what it is that you need to know from His Word. 00:20:40.890 --> 00:20:42.589 You can go further with that. You say, well, 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:45.069 I'll probably never make a lot of money. Listen, 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:46.690 you don't need to make a lot of money in life. 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:51.789 Nobody needs to make a lot of money. Nobody. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:54.319 Now, you might say, well, I've got a $300 cell 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.819 phone bill. Well, you have a different problem. 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:57.460 Your problem is not that you need to make a lot 00:20:57.460 --> 00:20:59.019 of money. Your problem is that you have a $300 00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:01.980 cell phone bill, right? And you can adjust your 00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:03.519 life and say, well, what is my tool? I can have 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.400 a spending plan. I can have a budget. I can have 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:08.200 five different streams of income, giving me each 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:11.019 one a little bit until I survive and then have 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:14.490 a little to give and to prosper. The bottom line 00:21:14.490 --> 00:21:17.849 is, you can find a tool, a method, to capitalize 00:21:17.849 --> 00:21:20.450 on the world's ignorant point of view where they've 00:21:20.450 --> 00:21:22.890 labeled you and you've accepted that label. You 00:21:22.890 --> 00:21:25.809 can be found busy at God's work while all the 00:21:25.809 --> 00:21:28.230 world says you are hindered from doing anything 00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:34.369 of value. Chief, of course, is trust in the Lord 00:21:34.369 --> 00:21:38.250 because it is He that wrote you. Your character 00:21:38.250 --> 00:21:41.849 was written by God. Your body, designed by God. 00:21:41.910 --> 00:21:44.819 Your mind, designed by God. It's He that wrote 00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:46.980 you and He that put you where you are. And now 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:49.779 He can raise you up and allow you to do the things 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:53.079 that He desires to do through you. Chief then, 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:55.839 the one major thing that Ehud got right was he 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.200 trusted in the Lord and allowed the Lord to raise 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:05.700 him up. It says this in the New Testament, For 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:07.440 consider your calling, brothers and sisters, 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.180 that there were not many wise according to the 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:12.940 flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, But God 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:14.859 has chosen the foolish things of the world to 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:16.940 shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things 00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:19.400 of the world to shame the things which are strong. 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:22.279 And the significant things of the world and the 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:25.500 despised, God has chosen. The things that are 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:28.339 not, so that he may nullify the things that are. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:31.539 So that no human may boast before God. For it 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:35.920 is due to him, to God, that you are in Christ 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.059 Jesus. who became to us wisdom from God, and 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:40.779 the righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:43.480 those are three really big words, so that as 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.460 it is written, let the one who boasts, boasts 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:51.740 in the Lord. There is one tag only in Scripture, 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.940 just one that God desires to place on you or 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:59.440 on me. In Romans 8 it says this, it says, For 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.200 all who being led by the Spirit of God, these 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.339 are the sons and daughters of God. For you have 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:07.940 not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:10.079 again, but you have received a spirit of adoption 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.960 as sons and daughters by which we cry out, Abba, 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.559 Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:19.400 spirit that we are children of God. And if children, 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:23.119 heirs also. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.380 Christ if indeed we suffer with Him so that we 00:23:25.380 --> 00:23:27.319 may also be glorified with Him. See, it's not 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.200 always going to be good by your estimation. There's 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:31.779 going to be difficulty. And when you go through 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:35.880 that difficulty, you can come out shining. You 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:38.480 can come out as a child of God. You can come 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:41.460 out as a child of God if indeed you're being 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:44.519 led by the Spirit of God. Just one label, child 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:46.880 of God. That's all God wants for you. And every 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:49.460 time someone says to you, well, you're weak, 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:51.180 you can say, no, I'm a child of God. Every time 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:52.799 someone says to you, well, you're fat, you can 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.579 say, I'm a child of God. You say, you're old, 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:57.599 I'm a child of God. You're not creative, I'm 00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.779 a child of God. You talk too much, I'm a child 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:02.019 of God. And you can just keep saying, I'm a child 00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:04.799 of God, because all those other labels, at best, 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.599 are tools that you can turn around and use for 00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:14.440 your benefit in the kingdom of God. Romans 12. 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:17.759 One says that we are to be transformed by the 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:21.019 renewing of our mind, not conformed to the way 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:24.980 the world sees us. And in part, this means not 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:29.200 being smaller, not being lesser, not being trapped 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:32.059 into the image that the world will try to pin 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:35.779 on you, but being changed into the new you, the 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:38.880 correct you, the free you, the authorized you, 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:42.019 the you that God is heading you towards, the 00:24:42.019 --> 00:24:46.259 you that God is making you into. diagnosis, career 00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:48.980 or job title. I'm a doctor. I'm a scientist. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.519 I'm a mower. I'm a drill rig operator. I'm a 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:56.839 plumber. I'm a maintenance man. These are all 00:24:56.839 --> 00:24:59.400 just things of this title. None of those things, 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:00.819 by the way, everything that I just said, are 00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:02.420 there doctors in heaven? Sure, there are doctors 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:04.019 in heaven. Is there any doctoring in heaven? 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.980 No. Are there mowers in heaven? Sure, there are 00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:09.059 mowers in heaven. But is there any lawns to mow 00:25:09.059 --> 00:25:12.990 in heaven? No. Right? Should I go on? The jobs 00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:14.829 and titles that we accept here, they become our 00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:17.869 vocations. They become our pathway to income. 00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:21.230 But the work that you do must be done in the 00:25:21.230 --> 00:25:23.750 Lord, authorized by the Lord, the career that 00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:25.990 you have. If you're not empowered to do it by 00:25:25.990 --> 00:25:28.410 God and sent to do it by God, then don't do it. 00:25:28.650 --> 00:25:31.190 Don't have anything to do with it. But if He 00:25:31.190 --> 00:25:33.950 does tell you, this is what I intend to do through 00:25:33.950 --> 00:25:38.890 you, then do that. And whatever the world says 00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:41.819 otherwise, you tell them, knock it off. I'm a 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:45.759 child of God. Romans 8 .31 says this, What then 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:51.000 shall we say to these things? If God is for us, 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.779 who is against us? He who did not spare His own 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:56.819 Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will 00:25:56.819 --> 00:25:59.660 He not also with Him freely give us all things? 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.700 Here it is, 33, listen for it. Who will bring 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:07.160 a charge against God's elect? In other words, 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:09.880 who's going to tell you what you are? Who's going 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:11.960 to tell you what you deserve? Who's going to 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:14.299 label you? Who's going to tag you? Who will bring 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:17.160 a charge against God's elect? God is the one 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:21.019 who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Who 00:26:21.019 --> 00:26:23.400 will take you out of the hands of the Lord and 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:25.460 tell you that you are weak? Tell you that you 00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:27.900 are not capable? Tell you that you are stuck 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:31.319 in a rut? Who will do that? Christ Jesus is he 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:35.579 who died for us. Yes, rather, who was raised, 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.559 who is at the right hand of God. who also intercedes 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.220 for us. Who shall separate us from the love of 00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:44.920 Christ? Shall tribulation, that means when you 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:46.740 go through trouble, or distress, that means when 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:48.799 your very heart is shaking, or persecution, that 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.519 means when the world comes against you for being 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:52.420 a Christian, or famine, that means when you have 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:54.259 lack of food, or nakedness, when you have lack 00:26:54.259 --> 00:26:56.359 of clothing or provision, or peril, when you're 00:26:56.359 --> 00:27:01.539 in real danger, or sword? The answer is no one. 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:07.400 The answer is you mustn't let them. You mustn't 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.960 let them tag you. And when you recognize that 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:13.460 there is a tag, you need to learn, sometimes 00:27:13.460 --> 00:27:18.420 crafting a tool or a process, how to use that 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:24.940 tag for God's glory. It's this simple. Our defeat 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:29.980 would be not being glorious, not being victorious. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:33.119 Not being what God has made us to be. That would 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:35.400 defeat us in this lifetime. You walk away from 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:37.759 God. You do what's wrong. You use the blessings 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.380 of God for things that are not godly. And boy, 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.180 wouldn't the road of accepting the tags that 00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:46.359 people place on you of the world, wouldn't that 00:27:46.359 --> 00:27:50.359 be a road to doing that very thing? You want 00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:52.839 to be what the world tells you to be so badly 00:27:52.839 --> 00:27:55.819 that all your effort goes into that. Whether 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:58.920 it's a good tag or a bad tag. All your effort 00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:00.900 goes into meeting the tag that's been placed 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:03.519 on you. That's not what we were created for. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.759 We are meant to be victorious and glorious in 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:09.119 Christ. Our enemies would use literally anything 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:12.380 against us because they are our enemies. There 00:28:12.380 --> 00:28:14.099 have been many times in history where one army 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:16.579 went against another and the one army was ill 00:28:16.579 --> 00:28:18.720 -equipped and they would literally take pitchforks 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:22.240 and prods and staffs from taking care of the 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:24.900 sheep and rocks. whatever they had in their hands, 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:27.359 because otherwise it would take whatever weapon 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:29.640 they can get. And the enemy will take whatever 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:32.339 weapon he can get, which means if you tag yourself 00:28:32.339 --> 00:28:35.220 or allow the world to tag you, then the world 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.880 will use it against you because the world system 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:42.440 is one of your enemies. If you speak it out loud, 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:44.980 you say, well, I'm no good because X. From that 00:28:44.980 --> 00:28:47.200 moment on, the devil and evil spirits will use 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.660 that against you. It's why being rebellious is 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:53.460 addictive. It's why being lazy is addictive. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:56.240 It's why making excuses is addictive. Because 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:58.380 there are plenty of evil spirits and demons that 00:28:58.380 --> 00:29:01.220 will latch on to those things that we have accepted 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:05.720 in ourselves and use them against us. The enemy 00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:09.279 will use anything he can get his hands on against 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:14.400 you. As God's children, however, God can and 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:18.980 will use anything at all for our good. Because 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:22.740 He is for us. Because He has that kind of power 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:24.859 and authority. When you go through the worst 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:27.900 suffering or the worst persecution or ailment 00:29:27.900 --> 00:29:29.980 or disease or trials and tribulations of this 00:29:29.980 --> 00:29:32.420 world, you can know, He says, in this world you 00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:36.660 will have trouble, but fear not, for I have overcome 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:39.759 the world. Even in the verse that we just read, 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:42.039 it says, if we are willing to suffer with Him. 00:29:42.140 --> 00:29:45.019 In Revelation 3, it says, after having suffered, 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.349 if you overcome, I will allow you to come and 00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:51.490 sit on my throne with me as my father has allowed 00:29:51.490 --> 00:29:53.950 me to come and sit on his throne with him. Yes, 00:29:53.950 --> 00:29:56.009 there will be difficulty. Yes, there will be 00:29:56.009 --> 00:29:58.269 trials. Yes, there will be troubles. Turn your 00:29:58.269 --> 00:30:00.529 difficulty and your trials and your troubles 00:30:00.529 --> 00:30:03.549 back on the enemy and beat him to stop with it. 00:30:03.890 --> 00:30:06.769 What are we doing? We are victorious in Christ. 00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:11.869 You say, well, I get angry so easy. I eat too 00:30:11.869 --> 00:30:13.970 much. I sleep too much. I spend too much. I save 00:30:13.970 --> 00:30:18.059 too much. I fight too much. I back down too much. 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:21.720 Cut it out. Anything that you have that is a 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:25.319 weakness, turn it around and beat him to death 00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:27.640 with it. He's already dead just waiting for you 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:32.259 to strike the blow. As children of God, God can 00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:36.839 and will use anything for our good. Being looked 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.180 down on makes you especially dangerous. That's 00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:43.799 what happened with Eve. Nobody expected the handicapped 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:47.519 little man, unarmed. to take out the king of 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.339 the Moabites. And he didn't just do that. He 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:52.880 rallied an army of Israelites to block the fords 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:55.119 and cut down 10 ,000 men. I don't know how many 00:30:55.119 --> 00:31:01.470 he took out. Personally. Being looked down on 00:31:01.470 --> 00:31:04.390 just makes you especially dangerous. Being labeled 00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:06.890 makes you especially dangerous. Being ignored 00:31:06.890 --> 00:31:09.549 makes you especially dangerous. And learning 00:31:09.549 --> 00:31:11.670 to use your identity in Christ to get hold of 00:31:11.670 --> 00:31:13.970 all these things and put them to use for your 00:31:13.970 --> 00:31:16.130 benefit and the benefit of the kingdom is part 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:20.490 of being ultimately victorious. You think you 00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:22.069 have a weakness? I'll tell you right now, that 00:31:22.069 --> 00:31:24.269 weakness turned around and properly used is your 00:31:24.269 --> 00:31:31.119 greatest strength. I've traveled with my children 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:34.759 since they were tiny. Kid walked pretty much 00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:37.880 even before that a little bit. And oftentimes 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:40.920 we'll go to the hotel pool. It's one of our favorite 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:42.559 places to visit. It comes free. You have to have 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.039 a place to sleep anyway, right? So you get a 00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:46.079 pool, maybe spend an extra 20 bucks a night, 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:50.779 go to the pool, go swimming. And as they grow 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:52.579 up, every single one of them, we go through this 00:31:52.579 --> 00:31:56.539 same cycle. We race, swim, race across the pool 00:31:56.539 --> 00:31:58.920 and back. So three times, five times, whatever. 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:02.920 And then inevitably they'll say, well, I don't 00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:05.220 want to race anymore. You always win. And I say, 00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:07.559 well, I'll give you a head start. How much do 00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.799 you want? Count to ten, count to five, whatever. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:13.200 And they'll say, well, count to ten. And then 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:16.680 I'll count to ten. And then usually I'll count 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:18.299 to ten. When they're younger, I would still beat 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:19.579 them. And then when they're a little older, I 00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:20.740 wouldn't beat them. And I'll say, well, I'll 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:22.140 give you a five count this time because you beat 00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:24.380 me, and so on. What's the point of a head start? 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.000 Why does somebody need a head start? Because 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:32.579 they recognize that the other person is better, 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:36.039 faster, stronger, whatever, right? You play kickball 00:32:36.039 --> 00:32:37.940 in the backyard and the one team is clearly weaker, 00:32:37.980 --> 00:32:41.220 you spot them three runs. Whatever. The head 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:45.619 start is necessary because the one person is 00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:50.240 going to win. Understand that the enemy is trying 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:53.180 to handicap you, trying to label you, trying 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:57.269 to tag you because... you're already going to 00:32:57.269 --> 00:33:00.089 win. Every time one of those things pops up and 00:33:00.089 --> 00:33:02.690 something is trying to hold you back, it's because 00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:05.710 you are in Christ already going to win or because 00:33:05.710 --> 00:33:07.609 you're getting close to being in Christ if you 00:33:07.609 --> 00:33:09.069 haven't accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior 00:33:09.069 --> 00:33:11.349 yet and he doesn't want you to win and so he 00:33:11.349 --> 00:33:13.529 tags you, labels you, holds you back so that 00:33:13.529 --> 00:33:19.500 you cannot win the race. If I went running against 00:33:19.500 --> 00:33:22.000 an Olympic racer, I would lose every single time. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:23.599 They'd spot me. I'd say, we're going to run 400 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:25.559 yards and you're going to spot me 350 and maybe 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:28.480 I'll win. But they wouldn't have a problem with 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:29.980 that because they know that means they are a 00:33:29.980 --> 00:33:32.440 winner. Why do you have a problem with it when 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:34.720 the world labels you if they're labeling you 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:36.980 just to hold you back because they already know 00:33:36.980 --> 00:33:41.519 that you're going to win in the end? That's what 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:43.480 it's all about in the kingdom of God. It's time 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:46.099 to realize that our handicaps, such as we are 00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:47.700 labeled, and remember that some of those things 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:51.059 are job titles, they are skill sets, they are 00:33:51.059 --> 00:33:54.359 weaknesses of our physical form, whatever, and 00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:56.500 we're labeled like that, and we're only being 00:33:56.500 --> 00:33:58.619 labeled like that to hold us back because ultimately 00:33:58.619 --> 00:34:03.539 we win anyway. Why? Because we are better, stronger. 00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:07.299 If God is for us, who can be against us? Well, 00:34:07.339 --> 00:34:09.380 if we let them label us and let them use that 00:34:09.380 --> 00:34:12.519 label to slow us down, then we're allowing somebody 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:16.619 to stand against us. If they want to get you 00:34:16.619 --> 00:34:19.320 doubting yourself, hold you back in some way, 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:21.960 if you can see a person undermining you, it's 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:24.699 a testimony to your proficiency. Then all the 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:28.719 more, you must know that you are worthy. I've 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:31.760 been reading this little devotional. I like golf, 00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:33.860 by the way. Somebody bought this for me. It was 00:34:33.860 --> 00:34:36.039 a gift. I think it was my wife. There's a little 00:34:36.039 --> 00:34:41.000 story in here about... I folded the page over. 00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:43.900 Here it is. We're in the conclusion, by the way. 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:48.960 Sam Sneed, pretty famous golfer. He was known 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:51.360 for gamesmanship, which entails using psychological 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:54.539 tactics to intimidate the opponent. Today, we 00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:58.000 kind of call it trash talk or something like 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:00.900 that. Learning the game was not easy for Sneed. 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:03.099 who grew up in the backwoods of Virginia, the 00:35:03.099 --> 00:35:04.880 White Sulphur Springs Resort is where he played 00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:07.579 in the early days. In the 1930s, living during 00:35:07.579 --> 00:35:09.539 the Depression meant he and everyone else did 00:35:09.539 --> 00:35:11.340 everything they could just to make a few pennies. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.199 Early on, Snead learned a difficult lesson about 00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:16.300 the questionable art of gamesmanship during a 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:18.539 tournament. It was just before the final round, 00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:21.059 and he was playing well. Then another golfer 00:35:21.059 --> 00:35:23.460 came up to him and casually said, How do you 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:25.320 expect to do well with that left elbow flying 00:35:25.320 --> 00:35:28.619 around like that? The comment unnerved Snead. 00:35:28.889 --> 00:35:30.469 and he spent the rest of the round distracted 00:35:30.469 --> 00:35:33.329 by his own arm movements. The result was an 8 00:35:33.329 --> 00:35:36.010 on the second hole and an 80 total, which landed 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:38.769 him in third place. He realized he had been played, 00:35:38.969 --> 00:35:41.570 and he determined that the next time someone 00:35:41.570 --> 00:35:43.829 tried to get into his head, his response would 00:35:43.829 --> 00:35:47.889 be, hey, beat me with your clubs. It was 1972. 00:35:48.210 --> 00:35:50.989 I was a college golfer at the time, and had successfully 00:35:50.989 --> 00:35:53.670 made it through sectional qualifying of the U 00:35:53.670 --> 00:35:55.730 .S. Open. I was now in Charlotte at the regional 00:35:55.730 --> 00:35:58.030 qualifier where all the touring pros were qualifying. 00:35:58.679 --> 00:36:00.760 It was the first time I had played in an event 00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:03.219 with tour players. I played with DeWitt Weaver, 00:36:03.300 --> 00:36:06.059 a regular tour player at the time. I stepped 00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:08.000 onto the tee and was getting ready to tee off 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.940 when I noticed someone standing just a few feet 00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:12.559 away from me. I looked up from my ball and there 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:16.059 was Sam Snead with his arms crossed and simply 00:36:16.059 --> 00:36:19.280 staring at me. It was the most intimidating thing 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:22.039 ever. I promptly ignored him and proceeded to 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:24.739 hit my ball down the fairway. I was shocked that 00:36:24.739 --> 00:36:27.260 a man of that stature would want to intimidate 00:36:27.260 --> 00:36:30.559 a college kid. Listen to me. This is your posture. 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:34.739 You should be shocked that the devil, ancient 00:36:34.739 --> 00:36:38.579 as he is, some allege once the most beautiful 00:36:38.579 --> 00:36:42.519 and strong of angels, that demons, ancient as 00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:46.260 they are, long time ago they started this game. 00:36:46.539 --> 00:36:50.239 You're a newcomer. That any of them should want 00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:52.679 to bother to bring you down, you should go, oh. 00:36:53.150 --> 00:36:56.510 I get it now, that anyone would, the world system, 00:36:56.710 --> 00:36:58.030 how long has the world system been going on? 00:36:58.070 --> 00:37:00.690 A long time before you and I were born. That 00:37:00.690 --> 00:37:04.030 these ancient players of this game would come 00:37:04.030 --> 00:37:07.210 against us with this feeble tactic, trying to 00:37:07.210 --> 00:37:09.170 stop us from being what it is that God would 00:37:09.170 --> 00:37:11.389 want us to be. And every time someone tags you, 00:37:11.429 --> 00:37:13.070 and especially if it's you personally, but every 00:37:13.070 --> 00:37:15.769 time someone tags you, you say, no, I am a child 00:37:15.769 --> 00:37:19.710 of God. What game are you playing at? Beat me, 00:37:19.809 --> 00:37:25.480 if you can. But I am a child of the king. Truly, 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:28.539 I am unbeatable. If pretty much everything of 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:30.900 this world can be used either by the enemy or 00:37:30.900 --> 00:37:33.360 by God's people for blessing or cursing, then 00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:37.500 determine to transform, renew, and redeem everything 00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:39.980 you touch to bring it into line with his purposes. 00:37:41.139 --> 00:37:45.380 Lastly, wear a tag that they can see so they 00:37:45.380 --> 00:37:49.440 can find you. Stop trying to hide. As if you're 00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:51.579 afraid of one more tag, if you're afraid of the 00:37:51.579 --> 00:37:53.280 world judging you for who you are, Jesus said, 00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:56.539 by this, all people will know that you are my 00:37:56.539 --> 00:37:59.300 disciples. That is to say, they can all see this 00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:02.519 one tag if we will wear it, and it is if you 00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:05.079 have love for one another. We will stand firm. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:07.219 Understand that your brother or sister in Christ 00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:11.800 is facing trials and trouble. Love them through 00:38:11.800 --> 00:38:15.320 it all. That's the tag that they can read. And 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:17.639 for all their efforts, they'll never cover it 00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:20.090 up. They'll tag you 40 times, 50 times. They'll 00:38:20.090 --> 00:38:24.530 cover you with toilet paper names and well -crafted 00:38:24.530 --> 00:38:26.329 visages, something that will block your face 00:38:26.329 --> 00:38:29.929 completely so no one can see you. You're downcast 00:38:29.929 --> 00:38:34.730 and sad rather than mighty and true. But if you 00:38:34.730 --> 00:38:36.989 love your brothers and sisters in Christ and 00:38:36.989 --> 00:38:39.690 remain a child of God, these tags, they cannot 00:38:39.690 --> 00:38:42.030 block out who you are. Let us not forget that 00:38:42.030 --> 00:38:44.369 it says the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. 00:38:44.550 --> 00:38:46.389 And he's not going to stop trying to kill, steal, 00:38:46.409 --> 00:38:48.340 and destroy. Just because you don't like him 00:38:48.340 --> 00:38:51.579 or like what he's doing, he will lose and fail 00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:54.500 to kill, steal, and destroy when we instead follow 00:38:54.500 --> 00:38:56.840 the good shepherd who came that we may have life 00:38:56.840 --> 00:38:59.820 and have it more abundantly. Hear me now. Abundant 00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:02.840 life is in remembering that every tag, every 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.099 event, everything that ever comes against you 00:39:05.099 --> 00:39:10.900 can be used by God for your good. Will you join 00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:13.119 me today in recognizing that he is the King of 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:17.469 Kings and the Lord of Lords and that Satan, who 00:39:17.469 --> 00:39:19.989 may have been the serpent in the Garden of Eden, 00:39:20.050 --> 00:39:25.349 some think, tempting Eve would come to you? It's 00:39:25.349 --> 00:39:28.190 pretty unlikely, but if he ever comes, treat 00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:31.989 it as a great honor. If one of his tactics comes 00:39:31.989 --> 00:39:34.710 against you, wield your shield of faith and turn 00:39:34.710 --> 00:39:39.550 it aside. If an enemy overtly comes against you, 00:39:39.630 --> 00:39:41.670 wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 00:39:41.670 --> 00:39:47.699 of truth, and defeat them. Don't doubt. that 00:39:47.699 --> 00:39:50.840 you are an amazing creation of God, and God can 00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:54.960 use you to transform, to renew, and to redeem 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.460 everything you touch. And if anyone tells you 00:39:58.460 --> 00:40:01.860 otherwise, you tell them, I am a child of God.