WEBVTT

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Music Music Music Happy day. Happy day. got a

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little heart. I got a little heart credit. A

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little lung credit. Alright. That's alright.

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Okay, so we come to that moment in time where

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we ask ourselves how has the Lord been working?

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What have you seen? What have you heard? What's

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in your Bible that maybe God pointed out to you

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this week? You've been studying? You read something?

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He said something to you in prayer? What is it?

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What do you got? Tell me. I wanted to read this

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real quick and then talk after. Okay. So it says,

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looking back in my life, you can tell that I

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needed a change. I was a fire -burning, twisting,

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turning hurricane. Know the sermon, never learning.

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One foot in the grave, asked for God to save

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me, just to go right back and do the same. Too

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scared to ask for help, thought it made me look

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weak. So the pain that I felt brought me straight

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to my knees, took me out of this hell, took me

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out of this wonder, because God, I give it to

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you, I fully surrender to you. And it says, who

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the Son sets free is free indeed. So I get a

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lot of inspiration from music, and this is one

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of the songs I write. The guy's name is Joe Nestor.

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He's got a really great testimony if you want

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to go look it up. He's got a really good testimony.

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He was an addict and he got saved. And then he

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started writing music about the gospel. And he's

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got a lot of really good music. But a lot of

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it speaks to me because I was in a similar place.

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I never wanted to ask for help because I always

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thought he looked like a weak man. Because a

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real man is supposed to figure it out and do

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it himself. or at least that's the way I was

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taught and I was born and raised, is if you're

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a real man, you have to do it yourself. You have

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to figure it out. And so for most of my life,

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that's how I lived. I was too scared to ask for

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help because it made me feel less of a man if

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I asked for help. And that is a lot of my struggle

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even today still, is there's a lot of things

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that I don't like asking for help for. And one

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of those is I don't like... To talk. I don't

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like to talk about how I feel. I don't like to

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talk about. Things that are. Struggling with

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mentally. I do have a lot of. Bad thoughts. And.

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I try not to slip back to the old me. And then.

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At the very end of that I said. Sunset free is

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free. Amen. And that is a constant reminder to

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me. That you know. Jesus died for my sin. I don't

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have to worry about going back to who I was.

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I don't have to worry about the old me creeping

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back in because I'm free in Jesus. And I think

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that's a reminder for a lot of people that are

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struggling and is if you have Jesus in your heart,

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you are free. You're not, you don't have to worry

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anymore. You don't have to struggle anymore.

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You can just give it to God and let him handle

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it. And I think looking forward. It's something

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that I need to focus more on. I think it's something

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I need to focus more on because I need to remember

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that God set me free from who I was. And there's

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things that I need to be able to talk about,

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things that I need to be able to say and get

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off my chest without worrying about it making

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me look like a weak person. Or less of a man

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because, you know, I have feelings and my feelings

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get hurt too. Strength is protected in weakness.

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It's funny how we become weak and that's when

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we realize how strong we can really be. That's

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a powerful message. All right, anybody else?

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Tim? I just wanted to share, I woke up great

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this morning. You know, the last three days,

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I just wanted to see if it was a gimmick. And

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it was just, you know, another step back or what,

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you know. And they changed my medicine around

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until they dropped. And they dropped corn out

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of my stomach. It's okay. And so I got up this

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morning, got up for a nap, and went to work.

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And I'm here, and it's just in my feet. It's

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like the neuropathy ripped my legs and went back

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down to my feet. It's just in my feet. I can

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do a little bit more. And I figure every time

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I praise him, do whatever he wants me to do,

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he pushes it just a little bit more I can do.

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A little bit more he gives me. He don't give

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me all at once, but he gives me just a little

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bit more. And I feel better than I ever have.

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You know, I'm not going to do no jumping jacks

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or nothing, but I do feel great, and I thank

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the good Lord, and I thank everybody. And I want

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to thank Carrie. You come in, and you help out

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a lot. And you do. Even days that I miss. So

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I want to thank you. You're one after one. A

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man coming in and helping someone that can't

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do it myself or you help. I want to thank you.

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So I was in Corinthians last night. It was probably

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about 1 o 'clock in the morning so I was a little

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bit tired. But I wasn't giving up because I read

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the whole chapter. And I'm going to tell you

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what. It's just put so much peace in my heart

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because over the last week, I have been under

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such attack from having to call the cops on my

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sister, from dealing with an alcoholic mother,

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from just constant attack. And I'm a recovering

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addict myself, and I do know it's hard to ask

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for help. Because every time I've ever reached

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out for help, I've always been beat down a little

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more, beat down a little bit more. But that's

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how the devil makes it play. When you're coming

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out of something and you want to do good and

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you want to live by God, it just shows me right

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there that it's okay to forgive those. who who

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keep trying because it's not them really it's

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the spirit in them and sometimes when i'm in

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my word the way i'm in my word and when i'm feeling

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the way i'm feeling it like and when i feel it

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i mean it raises the hair on my arms it raises

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it raises my kids out of talk to their feet you

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know um and that's really hard because my kids

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have said through a lot between me and their

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dad being um addicts recovering addicts and you

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know their family still being an addict you know

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so it's It just shows me that I'm really happy

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my heart didn't start cold because over the years,

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over the years, I've had so much opportunity

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just to shut down and just give up on people,

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give up on everybody, give up on myself and just

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go with the day -to -day flow. But with the Word

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and with everything around me, God's shown me

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that it ain't over. And I'm not done yet. Amen.

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Keep sharing that message right there because

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there's a lot of people that are in that same

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place that don't need to hear that. I don't know

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where he's gotten going, but I know he's gotten

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going somewhere. Amen. All right. Good word.

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Okay, so we're going to pray together at this

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time, and then we'll do tithes and offerings

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and another song, and then we'll move your children

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to their class. If you can come, would you lead

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us in this prayer, and we'll pray along with

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you. Please remember anybody the Lord lays in

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your heart that needs help. Another day, you've

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given us thanks for this place we've come to.

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And as your people, as a body, worshiping you,

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hearing from you, Lord, we just invite you here

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to be with us and directly lead our service.

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Thank you, Lord, for these new faces we have

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with us. Thank you for their searching out and

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deciding to come and worship with us today. We

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just ask you, Lord, to be with us. Lord, there's

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many hurting. many people recovering. And Lord,

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you are the great physician. You are the protector.

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You are the healer. So it's been on you, Lord,

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to watch over them and see them through. And

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just ask you, Lord, to, I mean, I'm not mentioning

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anybody, but we all know of someone who is going

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through an ordeal maybe at this time. Just ask

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you, Lord, to be with them as you see them in

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their mind and in their hearts. And ask you,

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Lord, just to... Bless this time. Bless this

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offering as we pick it up. And thank you, Lord,

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that we can give. And thank you for all the gifts

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that you've given us. Because every perfect gift

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is from you. And some of them are not so perfect.

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But everything we have is because you allow it.

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And help us, Lord, to be good stewards of what

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you've given. And I ask you, Lord, that you let

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us do this in your service. In Jesus' name I

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pray. Amen. You're awake now. This should be

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a good song. I speak the name of Jesus over you.

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In your hurting, in your sorrow, I will ask my

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God to move. I speak the name because it's all

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that I can do. In desperation, I'll seek help.

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Thank you. So this is how this is going to go.

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So I'm going to adjudicate the fight. When the

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fight begins, I'm going to give this sword to

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you. And you're going to fight Jason. And if

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by some chance you should defeat Jason, then

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Josh, you'll go next. So if she defeats you,

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you have to give the sword to Josh. I only brought

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two swords. So this is the sword that you're

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going to use to defeat Jason. Jason, you're going

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to fight fair? You're going to fight fair, right?

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Okay. Okay. All right. Well, that's one down.

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Okay. Back to Josh. Here you go. Okay, Josh.

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All right. So as the fight begins, I'm going

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to give you this sword. Okay. And if you manage

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to defeat Josh, then you're going to have to

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defeat Tommy. You understand how this is? Okay.

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You got this figured out? Okay. I'm sorry. It

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appears there's no one to resist. Tommy, you're

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up, man. Okay. So as the fight begins, I'm going

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to give you this sword, and then you're going

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to have to fight. I want you to understand, Tommy

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has beaten me in sword fighting on many an occasion,

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and even left me bruised and battered. So I'm

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going to give you this sword, and you're going

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to fight Tommy. Okay. Okay. All right? Are you

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ready? Okay. Oh, look! The winner! The winner!

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Okay, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you so much.

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All right? Very good, gentlemen. Thank you. Yes,

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indeed. Okay. Bear that in mind then as you go

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to the text today. I think you can kind of already

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begin to see some of the truth in that little

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display for us. We've been working through the

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book of Judges. We do tend to give a little who

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to holler amen, or if we had Tyson in here, we

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could get ourselves quite a hallelujah. But we're

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going to go to Judges chapter 7. Amen. That is

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not good enough. I will not go to Judges chapter

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7. So limited excitement. I want you to take

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a breath and give me an amen, a hallelujah. Somebody

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say Yahtzee. Like a Yahtzee, right? Judges chapter

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7. Okay, I'll settle for that, but we're going

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to work on it, okay? So Judges chapter 7 is the

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story of Gideon we had already begun, okay? So

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not only have we already looked at Gideon, and

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so if you want to get a little bit more about

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Gideon, you're going to have to kind of go back

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and read. I can't drill down too heavily on him

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today because the Lord has really laid on my

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heart something out of this text that we do need

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to drill down on. So I would encourage you to

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be kind of reading along, studying along with

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us. Let these words of the Lord sort of sit in

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your heart and ruminate and change us, that kind

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of thing. But as we read today, it is important

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to know that Gideon has been called of the Lord

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to be one of the judges, or we've said maybe

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more appropriately, Savior might be a better

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word, rescuer of the kingdom of Israel in light

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of the armies of Midian and the other eastern

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tribes that have been coming and just like basically

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taking everything they have. And now they are

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there again. Gideon is called out. Now God has

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reduced his army down to just 300 men. That's

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a pretty scary thing with a massive army that

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reaches as far as the eye can see with camels

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and warriors galore. And yet he is asked by God

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to go and fight this massive army. In verse 8

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of Judges chapter 7, it begins like this. It

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says, so 300 men took the people's provisions

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and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon

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sent all the men of Israel, all the other men

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of Israel, each to his tent. But retained the

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300 men, and the camp of Midian was below him

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in the valley. Verse 9 says, Now the same night

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it came about that the Lord said to him, Arise,

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go down against the camp, for I have given it

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into your hands. So God is telling him, you're

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going to go now. I've given you the victory.

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Verse 10 says, But if you are afraid to go down,

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go with Purah, your servant, down to the camp.

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And you will hear what they say. And afterward,

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your hands will be strengthened that you may

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go down against the camp. So he went with Purah,

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his servant, down to the outposts of the army

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that was in the camp. Now the Midianites and

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the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were

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lying in the valley as numerous as locusts. And

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their camels were without number. As numerous

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as the sand on the seashore. So I submit to you,

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what Gideon sees before him is what was probably

00:21:52.769 --> 00:21:56.650
already a completely undefeatable enemy. Even

00:21:56.650 --> 00:22:00.369
if he had maintained the 22 ,000 soldiers. But

00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:04.130
God has reduced him now to 300. And so he sees

00:22:04.130 --> 00:22:07.089
before him an army that will surely be the undoing,

00:22:07.089 --> 00:22:11.190
not only of his army, but of the entire nation

00:22:11.190 --> 00:22:13.769
of Israel. And they will run to the hills and

00:22:13.769 --> 00:22:16.359
hide in the caves in their fortified... Fortresses

00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:17.819
that they've built in the caves the best they

00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:20.059
can up in the mountains. Again, that's what they've

00:22:20.059 --> 00:22:23.079
done season after season, time after time, against

00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:28.759
forces like this. Now, Gideon and his 300 -man

00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:32.539
army, God is saying, will defeat this massive

00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:35.779
army of Midianites, Amalekites, and the sons

00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.519
of the east. When Gideon came, behold, a man

00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.079
was relating a dream to his friend. And he said,

00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.650
behold, I had a dream. A loaf of barley bread

00:22:44.650 --> 00:22:48.410
was tumbling into the camp of Midian. So a loaf

00:22:48.410 --> 00:22:51.130
of barley bread would be this kind of like, almost

00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:53.009
like a football, kind of a round thing like this,

00:22:53.069 --> 00:22:56.269
oval shape. It's a low -grade bread. It's not

00:22:56.269 --> 00:22:57.710
the kind of bread that most people would want

00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:00.089
to eat or make French toast out of or anything

00:23:00.089 --> 00:23:02.529
like that. Mostly it would be used to feed animals

00:23:02.529 --> 00:23:04.690
and stuff. But if it's all you got, obviously

00:23:04.690 --> 00:23:06.470
you'd eat it. It's a pretty low -grade bread.

00:23:06.630 --> 00:23:09.309
And so it was looked down upon, if you will.

00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:11.670
And the dream of the man, he says, was that a

00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:14.049
loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp

00:23:14.049 --> 00:23:17.269
of Midian. And it, that is the loaf, came to

00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:20.329
the tent. Could be a reference to the command

00:23:20.329 --> 00:23:23.509
tent, but a tent in his dream in any case. And

00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:27.269
struck it so that it fell. So the bread tumbles

00:23:27.269 --> 00:23:29.410
into the camp, strikes the tent, and the tent

00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:33.750
falls down. And, it says, and turned it upside

00:23:33.750 --> 00:23:37.630
down so that the tent lay flat. So this bread

00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:39.369
comes down. Not only does it maybe hit a main

00:23:39.369 --> 00:23:41.569
post and the thing collapses or breaks some wires

00:23:41.569 --> 00:23:44.349
and it falls down, but it hits the tent, it strikes

00:23:44.349 --> 00:23:47.049
the tent, and the tent is literally flipped upside

00:23:47.049 --> 00:23:50.349
down and lies flat on the ground, completely

00:23:50.349 --> 00:23:55.730
destroyed in structure. 14 says, and his friend

00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:57.970
answered and said, this is the guy, remember

00:23:57.970 --> 00:23:59.549
the guy telling the dream is talking with one

00:23:59.549 --> 00:24:01.150
of his friends, and his friend then answers and

00:24:01.150 --> 00:24:04.259
said about the dream. This is nothing less than

00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:07.099
the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man

00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:11.259
of Israel. God has given Midian and all the camp

00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:13.779
into his hand. So this is one of the Midianites

00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:16.059
interpreting the dream of another one of the

00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:22.119
Midianites, and Gideon is listening on. And it

00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:24.539
came about when Gideon heard the account of the

00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:27.940
dream and its interpretation that he bowed in

00:24:27.940 --> 00:24:31.500
worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and

00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:34.519
said, Arise, for the Lord has given the camp

00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:37.759
of Midian into your hands. May God add blessings

00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.119
to the reading of his word. There's a few things

00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:42.259
I want you to see in this text that really jumped

00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:45.200
out at me. The first one resonates with me as

00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.539
a person. And that is that even in the midst

00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:51.759
of God doing amazing things in his past, remember,

00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:55.240
there was a fleece. There was a testing of the

00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.119
army that limited the army from 22 ,000 down

00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:01.029
to 300. There was a call to go and burn. The

00:25:01.029 --> 00:25:05.349
Asherah pole burned and removed the worship of

00:25:05.349 --> 00:25:07.470
Baal in his hometown and his dad stood up for

00:25:07.470 --> 00:25:09.410
him and God preserved him. There was all of that

00:25:09.410 --> 00:25:11.970
in his past. He's already seen God do amazing

00:25:11.970 --> 00:25:14.930
things. And even though he had seen God do amazing

00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:19.910
things, Gideon's fear was justifiable. There

00:25:19.910 --> 00:25:24.769
is a justifiable fear. It arises sometimes out

00:25:24.769 --> 00:25:27.329
of what we know. This is a massive army. And

00:25:27.329 --> 00:25:28.970
here we have this little army that God has given

00:25:28.970 --> 00:25:32.430
us. Sometimes it arises out of what we don't

00:25:32.430 --> 00:25:35.529
know. Like, God said he's going to do this, but

00:25:35.529 --> 00:25:40.789
how? How does 300 men, if they kill one man with

00:25:40.789 --> 00:25:42.950
every swing of the sword, if one guy goes down,

00:25:43.029 --> 00:25:44.970
they're going to be hacking at this army for

00:25:44.970 --> 00:25:48.170
hours, maybe a day or more, just to cut them

00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:50.769
all down. So how can this be done? Sometimes

00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:53.529
our fear arises out of what we know, and sometimes

00:25:53.529 --> 00:25:56.309
it arises out of what we don't know. But according

00:25:56.309 --> 00:25:58.250
to the Bible, according to the teachings of our

00:25:58.250 --> 00:26:01.450
Lord Jesus Christ, faith stands opposite that

00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.990
fear. The fear is justifiable, but trusting God

00:26:04.990 --> 00:26:08.230
defeats that fear, removes that fear, overcomes

00:26:08.230 --> 00:26:13.269
that fear. We can't have faith in what we already

00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:17.509
know. If God had called up an army of 100 ,000

00:26:17.509 --> 00:26:20.049
Israelites and then called Gideon to go against

00:26:20.049 --> 00:26:24.009
an army of innumerable Midianites, then he would

00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:26.109
have been like, hmm. Maybe we can do it. Surely

00:26:26.109 --> 00:26:28.589
we can probably do it, right? Especially with

00:26:28.589 --> 00:26:30.089
God's help a little bit here and there, kind

00:26:30.089 --> 00:26:31.650
of fix things up a little bit, brush it up a

00:26:31.650 --> 00:26:34.069
bit. We can take that army. There's 100 ,000

00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:37.369
of them. We might be able to do it. With 22 ,000,

00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:39.829
we're told that if they had done it with 22 ,000,

00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:41.789
they might have thought, well, we were pretty

00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:43.490
victorious. We did some pretty incredible things.

00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:47.250
We did really step up, right? But the truth is,

00:26:47.329 --> 00:26:50.740
that's not what God wanted. God wanted faith

00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:52.900
in that which had not yet been seen. That's what

00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:55.039
God has been calling his people to since the

00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.160
beginning. Do you know, do you realize that the

00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:00.180
Midianites are fostered from a man named Midian?

00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:03.640
Does anybody know who he was? He was a son of

00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:07.420
Abraham. Abraham is the one who had the Genesis

00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:09.980
12 promises that says, out of you I will raise

00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:13.940
a great nation. And he did. Israel. But also

00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:18.930
he did. Midian. And so, Gideon knows his history.

00:27:19.049 --> 00:27:21.430
He knows what God has done. He knows that God

00:27:21.430 --> 00:27:23.670
has blessed Abraham and Abraham's descendants.

00:27:24.009 --> 00:27:26.329
So this is a battle, a warfare, if you will,

00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:29.809
between two nations arising out of Abraham. Both

00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:32.650
could possibly have received the promises of

00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:36.509
Abraham. So it makes a lot of sense for Gideon

00:27:36.509 --> 00:27:40.250
to go, I don't know. I'm not so sure. And then

00:27:40.250 --> 00:27:44.299
a fleece and a fleece. And I'm still, I... Yes,

00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.380
God has done miraculous things. Yes, God has

00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:48.660
made promises. Yes, God is capable. But will

00:27:48.660 --> 00:27:54.140
he do it? It's justifiable fear. Sometimes that

00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:56.619
justifiable fear arises out of the things that

00:27:56.619 --> 00:27:59.119
we know, and sometimes it arises out of the things

00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:02.880
that we don't know. But it's justifiable nonetheless.

00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:07.420
Faith is believing in what we haven't yet necessarily

00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:11.829
seen. It is the great struggle of mankind. We

00:28:11.829 --> 00:28:14.390
got more pouring into our eyes and ears and our

00:28:14.390 --> 00:28:17.170
taste buds and our flesh. More thoughts in our

00:28:17.170 --> 00:28:20.950
head and more yearning of our body. There's more

00:28:20.950 --> 00:28:25.329
of that than there is the simple testimony of

00:28:25.329 --> 00:28:27.710
the Lord to be observed. What do you need to

00:28:27.710 --> 00:28:30.609
know about Jesus to be saved? That he died on

00:28:30.609 --> 00:28:32.390
the cross, he rose again on the third day, that

00:28:32.390 --> 00:28:33.930
he has a right to be Lord of your life and you're

00:28:33.930 --> 00:28:36.049
believing and receiving what he said? That's

00:28:36.049 --> 00:28:37.930
about it. That's pretty fast. I just gave it

00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:39.450
to you in your eyes and ears for, you know, it

00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:42.220
took like less than 30 seconds. And yet the world

00:28:42.220 --> 00:28:45.039
is testifying all the time, the people, the enemies

00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:47.779
of God are testifying all the time to an alternative

00:28:47.779 --> 00:28:52.359
to that. If you watch TV for four hours, you're

00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:54.920
going to get more content in your brain than

00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:57.319
I can give you in the next 25 minutes or so.

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:00.880
It's just not... That's not how it works. There

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:02.920
is much to be seen and heard in this world, much

00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:06.019
to be known, and we can be burdened by it. We

00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:08.200
can be affected by it. We can even be changed

00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:12.039
by it. But God says, your justifiable fear, okay,

00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:14.500
it's justifiable, but I'm calling you to faith.

00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:18.059
God called Gideon to believe despite the numbers

00:29:18.059 --> 00:29:21.740
that he could see. And he called Gideon to believe

00:29:21.740 --> 00:29:24.980
despite the numbers that he could see because

00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:31.380
it was hard. Not because it was easy, but because

00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:33.819
it was hard. He called Gideon to do a hard thing,

00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:40.119
to believe despite the numbers. God is calling

00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:44.759
us to believe despite what you see in the world.

00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:47.619
Despite the very concerted attempts of evil to

00:29:47.619 --> 00:29:50.480
redefine even the most simplest concepts of Christianity,

00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:53.660
of godliness, of faithfulness, of kingdom, even

00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:55.799
the words that you have used your entire life

00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:57.920
are being redefined in society right now to mean

00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:59.400
something that you don't agree with that they

00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:02.539
mean, God nonetheless is calling you to trust

00:30:02.539 --> 00:30:05.740
in his promises despite your justifiable fear.

00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:09.559
The second thing to see in the text then is that

00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:14.769
out of that, out of that between us seeing what

00:30:14.769 --> 00:30:17.309
we could rightly be afraid of and us knowing,

00:30:17.450 --> 00:30:21.650
believing what we know will be God's intervention

00:30:21.650 --> 00:30:25.829
on our behalf comes God's agents emboldened to

00:30:25.829 --> 00:30:29.109
see the impossible happen. That's who we are.

00:30:29.190 --> 00:30:31.759
It's what we are. The church is God's people

00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.720
drawn out of the darkness, lifted out of slavery,

00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.859
raised to be right with God, not in our own righteousness,

00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:39.920
but in the righteousness imputed to us by Jesus

00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:44.099
Christ. We are the people that God is emboldening

00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:49.549
to make the impossible happen. I have lost count

00:30:49.549 --> 00:30:51.630
of the number of times that I have personally

00:30:51.630 --> 00:30:54.250
stared in the eyes of a person affected by an

00:30:54.250 --> 00:30:56.390
evil spirit or a demon and rebuked that evil

00:30:56.390 --> 00:30:58.309
spirit or demon to give them the freedom that

00:30:58.309 --> 00:31:00.789
they needed to follow Christ if they so chose.

00:31:01.089 --> 00:31:04.190
And on many an occasion they did do that. God's

00:31:04.190 --> 00:31:07.210
agents emboldened. I told one man he wanted me

00:31:07.210 --> 00:31:08.970
to testify and witness with his wife and I'm

00:31:08.970 --> 00:31:10.410
sitting there and every time I would start he

00:31:10.410 --> 00:31:12.150
would chime in and say, see I told you so, see

00:31:12.150 --> 00:31:14.349
I told you so, see I told you so. And finally

00:31:14.349 --> 00:31:16.329
the Holy Spirit led me and said, And I said to

00:31:16.329 --> 00:31:17.890
him, I said, look, I'm here. I'm talking to your

00:31:17.890 --> 00:31:22.690
wife. Just shut up. Don't say another word. You're

00:31:22.690 --> 00:31:25.910
not helping. You've been working on this for

00:31:25.910 --> 00:31:28.509
months or years, and you're making it worse,

00:31:28.549 --> 00:31:32.410
not better. Just sit there and be quiet. And

00:31:32.410 --> 00:31:34.430
for 40 minutes, he didn't say another word. I

00:31:34.430 --> 00:31:35.730
don't know if he wanted to. He never told me

00:31:35.730 --> 00:31:37.789
later that he wanted to. But he never said another

00:31:37.789 --> 00:31:40.470
word. And at the end of it, she accepted Jesus

00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:42.329
Christ as her Lord and Savior and has lived for

00:31:42.329 --> 00:31:45.329
Jesus to my knowledge ever since. People are

00:31:45.329 --> 00:31:48.450
receiving plenty of stimuli. Let me be this clear

00:31:48.450 --> 00:31:51.049
with you. If it isn't the gospel and it isn't

00:31:51.049 --> 00:31:53.690
Bible, people don't need you to say a word to

00:31:53.690 --> 00:31:57.170
them in order to receive and believe Jesus Christ.

00:31:57.759 --> 00:31:59.680
What they really need you to do is to shut up

00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:01.779
and stop saying all that other stuff and let's

00:32:01.779 --> 00:32:03.819
get around to talking about the stuff that matters.

00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:07.759
We are God's agents, emboldened to see the impossible

00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:11.440
happen, souls saved, churches started, the gospel

00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:15.460
testified to, giving, serving, going the extra

00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:18.099
mile, faithfulness beyond what we even think

00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:22.980
we're capable of. But we are fighting a battle

00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:27.839
in enemy territory. Now I understand, and we'll

00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:29.819
get there in a second, that Jesus Christ has

00:32:29.819 --> 00:32:33.859
already conquered the earth. I get that. But

00:32:33.859 --> 00:32:36.319
the enemy who was conquered, who had his weapon

00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:39.440
death stolen from him, who was defeated by Jesus'

00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.740
resurrection and the coming, starting of the

00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:44.759
church and the arrival of God's Holy Spirit,

00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:49.660
the one who was defeated, still exists. He still

00:32:49.660 --> 00:32:55.619
resists. He still rebels. He's still there. And

00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:59.019
I know, In you, the same as in me. In fact, there's

00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:00.920
a great line from a movie, the Lord of the Rings

00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:02.680
movie written by Tolkien. The book was written

00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:05.400
by Tolkien, made into a movie where the king

00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:10.700
now, the new king stands up and he says, I see

00:33:10.700 --> 00:33:15.559
in your eyes the very fear that would grip the

00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:21.980
heart of me. We have a justifiable fear. You're

00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:23.779
wondering what will happen with your family,

00:33:23.859 --> 00:33:25.200
your friends. You're wondering what will happen

00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:26.759
with your finances, with your health. You're

00:33:26.759 --> 00:33:28.880
wondering what will happen if you just make your

00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:30.819
whole life about living for Jesus. What will

00:33:30.819 --> 00:33:34.660
actually happen? If you really step out, let

00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:36.740
it all go behind, just the way the Bible says

00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:39.740
happens when you actually got saved. If you really

00:33:39.740 --> 00:33:42.180
do that, what will that look like? Will people

00:33:42.180 --> 00:33:47.700
desert you? Spoiler, yes. Will the world hate

00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:53.539
you? Spoiler alert, yes. Jesus said, if you walk

00:33:53.539 --> 00:33:56.599
with me, they will deny you, they will hate you,

00:33:56.619 --> 00:33:59.000
just the same as they denied me and hated me.

00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:02.980
It's really just a question of, are you going

00:34:02.980 --> 00:34:06.619
to be emboldened by the faith versus fear victory

00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:10.719
of faith? Are you going to allow God at work

00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:12.360
in your life as he has done? He's done things

00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:13.860
to bolster your faith to this point. Are you

00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:16.840
going to allow that to be sufficient to set you

00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:18.900
on fire, to give you passion, to give you strength,

00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:21.380
to empower you in your own weakness, to do the

00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:23.179
things that God has led you to do that otherwise

00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:25.719
you just wouldn't be able to do? You just aren't.

00:34:25.719 --> 00:34:27.840
You look at it and go, I know what I can lift.

00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:30.000
And you know how many times in the last month

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:33.320
I've lifted more than I can lift? It's just become

00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:35.920
a common thing. I know what I can do as far as

00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.400
my, I'm an inhibited individual in my flesh.

00:34:38.599 --> 00:34:41.380
I cannot preach. There is no physical way that

00:34:41.380 --> 00:34:43.239
I can do this. Before I got saved, I couldn't

00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:46.239
even order my sandwich without mayonnaise. Because

00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:48.219
I was afraid of what a minimum wage worker behind

00:34:48.219 --> 00:34:50.260
the counter would think of me ordering my sandwich

00:34:50.260 --> 00:34:52.440
without mayonnaise. So I would order it just

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:54.199
the way it comes and scrape the mayonnaise off

00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:56.119
because I hated mayonnaise. Now I'm standing

00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.199
up in front of you. And yesterday out in front

00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:00.480
of 300 people, perfect strangers, half of them,

00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:05.179
preaching the gospel. I can't do this. It is

00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:09.659
impossible. And yet, God is the God of the impossible.

00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:13.139
If you will allow the friction between your justifiable

00:35:13.139 --> 00:35:16.059
fear and the faith that God is calling you to,

00:35:16.139 --> 00:35:18.699
to have the effect that it is intended to, you

00:35:18.699 --> 00:35:21.639
will become God's agent, emboldened to see the

00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:25.460
impossible happen. It's great that we get to

00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:28.010
see God already at work. It's wonderful that

00:35:28.010 --> 00:35:30.190
we can account miracles. And if you won't believe

00:35:30.190 --> 00:35:33.130
in Him because of what He has done for you, then

00:35:33.130 --> 00:35:35.130
at least believe in Him because of the miracles.

00:35:36.210 --> 00:35:39.449
What does that sound like? Yes, it's great to

00:35:39.449 --> 00:35:42.530
look back at God's, the story that He has written

00:35:42.530 --> 00:35:46.909
in your life. But the truth is, the faith versus

00:35:46.909 --> 00:35:51.449
fear battle that's going on in you is to have

00:35:51.449 --> 00:35:55.239
the purpose of making you bold. Beyond the possible.

00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:57.000
God does not want you to do what's possible.

00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:01.639
You were not born to do what was easy. After

00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:04.059
Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, he beat

00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:08.559
the ground into submission. And there are 289

00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:11.420
,000 people living in the city of Toledo that

00:36:11.420 --> 00:36:14.039
could directly attribute, mind you, after thousands

00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:17.920
of years, their success in building cars or selling

00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:22.360
fast food to Adam. And his hoe growing crops

00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:26.539
in dirt that resisted him every single day. He

00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:29.219
did the impossible. And people have been doing

00:36:29.219 --> 00:36:32.059
the impossible from the beginning. Because that's

00:36:32.059 --> 00:36:34.400
what God made us. We were not made to do the

00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:39.000
easy thing. We were made to find our identity.

00:36:39.809 --> 00:36:43.530
In faith overcoming fear. Ecclesiastes 1, 18

00:36:43.530 --> 00:36:45.869
through 20, Solomon talks about how there's a

00:36:45.869 --> 00:36:47.329
lot of knowledge in the world. There's a lot

00:36:47.329 --> 00:36:48.909
of wisdom to be found. There's a lot of good

00:36:48.909 --> 00:36:50.750
things to be found in the world. Then he says,

00:36:50.849 --> 00:36:53.269
but the truth is, the more of that you find,

00:36:54.339 --> 00:36:57.059
the more vanity it is, the more struggle it is.

00:36:57.159 --> 00:36:59.260
You could go right now, you could go right now

00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:01.219
and spend five minutes a day for the next five

00:37:01.219 --> 00:37:04.360
years reading on any topic or practicing or whatever,

00:37:04.420 --> 00:37:06.280
and you could become an expert better than 96

00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:08.480
% of the people in that topic. So let's say you

00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:10.659
wanted to know about the stars. Spend five minutes

00:37:10.659 --> 00:37:12.500
a day for the next five years reading about the

00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:14.199
stars. By the time you're done, you will know

00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:16.820
more about the stars than 96 % of the people

00:37:16.820 --> 00:37:23.139
in the world. You could pick any topic. You can

00:37:23.139 --> 00:37:25.619
take a musical instrument and play it for five

00:37:25.619 --> 00:37:27.739
minutes a day for the next five years, and by

00:37:27.739 --> 00:37:29.539
the time you're done, you'll be proficient. Some

00:37:29.539 --> 00:37:32.019
days your fingers will bleed, but you'll be proficient.

00:37:32.280 --> 00:37:35.039
I can't do that because I can't bring myself

00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:36.639
to do it, and God has not called me to do it.

00:37:36.659 --> 00:37:39.840
But I can preach the gospel. I can serve. I can

00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:41.480
lift things that I shouldn't be able to lift.

00:37:41.619 --> 00:37:43.539
I can do work that I shouldn't be able to do

00:37:43.539 --> 00:37:46.820
because I am responding to God in faith. And

00:37:46.820 --> 00:37:50.500
he says, do it. and we do it. God's agents emboldened

00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:52.840
to see the impossible happen. And notice the

00:37:52.840 --> 00:37:55.440
response of Gideon when he realized that he is

00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:58.380
being emboldened. It's not that he sees an army

00:37:58.380 --> 00:37:59.980
that's too big for his army, and he now suddenly

00:37:59.980 --> 00:38:04.260
realizes that he's going to win. Right? He didn't

00:38:04.260 --> 00:38:08.199
have to go down and listen to that to know he

00:38:08.199 --> 00:38:09.699
was going to win. All he had to do was start

00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:14.500
the attack. Right? God said, if you're afraid,

00:38:15.150 --> 00:38:19.150
Go down and listen, and what you hear will show

00:38:19.150 --> 00:38:20.889
you you have no reason to be afraid, that your

00:38:20.889 --> 00:38:25.349
fear, while justifiable, is defeated in the coming

00:38:25.349 --> 00:38:28.949
victory. And that's what he did. So he praised

00:38:28.949 --> 00:38:31.829
God because he realized God was making him bold.

00:38:32.219 --> 00:38:34.920
That God was taking away his fear. That God was

00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:37.599
making him able to do the impossible. Not just

00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:39.760
that he was going to defeat a huge army with

00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:41.780
only 300 men, but that he could even take the

00:38:41.780 --> 00:38:43.440
first step. Sometimes it's hard to even take

00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:45.219
the first step to do the right thing. Some of

00:38:45.219 --> 00:38:47.159
you are here in church today, first time in a

00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:49.360
long time, and it took a bit, right? It was something

00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:51.960
to get there, to take that first step. So you

00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:54.619
should be feeling right now, understanding that

00:38:54.619 --> 00:38:58.280
God is making you bold to do more. than what

00:38:58.280 --> 00:39:00.599
you ever thought you could do in the kingdom

00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:04.500
and at large. And that's a reason to praise.

00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:06.920
That's a reason to praise the God of the universe.

00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:09.079
To put things behind that you never could have

00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:11.360
put behind. To win victories that you never could

00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:15.380
have won. And if it stopped there, that would

00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:17.260
be awesome. We could live that. That would be

00:39:17.260 --> 00:39:20.159
great. But there's another key thing to notice

00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:22.619
in this text. And that is that what we are talking

00:39:22.619 --> 00:39:26.400
about is nothing short of the total upheaval

00:39:26.969 --> 00:39:31.429
of the enemy. The total upheaval of the enemy.

00:39:31.590 --> 00:39:34.869
Now, if there's a set of reasons that bring about

00:39:34.869 --> 00:39:37.150
justifiable fear, the enemy is one of those.

00:39:37.789 --> 00:39:40.389
Let's be realistic, right? The wicked works of

00:39:40.389 --> 00:39:42.510
the world, that's part of the enemy. Evil spirits

00:39:42.510 --> 00:39:44.590
and demons, that's kind of scary stuff, right?

00:39:44.789 --> 00:39:47.469
The devil himself. Now, odds are you and I'll

00:39:47.469 --> 00:39:49.449
never face the devil personally, but rather face

00:39:49.449 --> 00:39:52.769
his schemes. But facing him personally, one -on

00:39:52.769 --> 00:39:55.070
-one in a room, that's kind of a scary thing.

00:39:55.309 --> 00:39:57.769
I mean, that's a justifiable fear. He's an ancient

00:39:57.769 --> 00:39:59.750
being that knows God's word better than we do.

00:39:59.789 --> 00:40:01.489
You'd probably lose in a word battle with him,

00:40:01.530 --> 00:40:06.250
most likely. He's not really capable of us physically

00:40:06.250 --> 00:40:09.150
killing him. He's an eternal being. He'll spend

00:40:09.150 --> 00:40:11.690
eternity in hell burning, proof positive, eternal

00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:14.530
being. And so if we ever faced him personally,

00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:16.949
that'd be a justifiable fear, wouldn't it? And

00:40:16.949 --> 00:40:19.250
if you continue to resist his efforts, probably

00:40:19.250 --> 00:40:22.179
his efforts are going to, you know, kind of spiral

00:40:22.179 --> 00:40:23.719
up against you. Things are going to get kind

00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:26.539
of bad. And so there's a justifiable fear in

00:40:26.539 --> 00:40:29.280
thinking about this enemy. But in the text we

00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:31.579
see, God is showing Gideon that he's not only

00:40:31.579 --> 00:40:33.460
going to give Gideon victory. Because, you know,

00:40:33.500 --> 00:40:35.800
there could have been a victory. 300 men go down.

00:40:37.099 --> 00:40:41.420
Three men survive. But they kill 30 ,000 Midianites

00:40:41.420 --> 00:40:43.449
and the Midianites are routed. That's a victory,

00:40:43.530 --> 00:40:45.369
is it not? I mean, would not everybody give God

00:40:45.369 --> 00:40:48.489
the glory for 297 men who died, three men survived,

00:40:48.769 --> 00:40:50.849
one being Gideon probably, you know, to be a

00:40:50.849 --> 00:40:53.130
total victory. And then the rest of the army

00:40:53.130 --> 00:40:54.969
is routed and they kill them just like they are

00:40:54.969 --> 00:40:56.630
going to do later in the story. Would that still

00:40:56.630 --> 00:40:59.489
be a huge victory and an obvious outcry for God?

00:40:59.550 --> 00:41:03.590
We say, God did an amazing thing, 297 to 40 ,000.

00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:05.969
There were battles in the Civil War, for example,

00:41:05.969 --> 00:41:08.949
where 150 died on one side and say 800 died on

00:41:08.949 --> 00:41:11.909
the other. They went, huge victory. Right? This

00:41:11.909 --> 00:41:15.070
would be like they would kill a thousand or five

00:41:15.070 --> 00:41:17.050
thousand men apiece. That would be a huge victory.

00:41:17.210 --> 00:41:21.030
But that's not what the dream says. The dream

00:41:21.030 --> 00:41:24.469
says that God is providing a total upheaval of

00:41:24.469 --> 00:41:26.429
the enemy. Notice it didn't just knock down the

00:41:26.429 --> 00:41:29.210
tent. Not just a victory. But it flipped the

00:41:29.210 --> 00:41:32.769
tent over and laid it flat. It destroyed the

00:41:32.769 --> 00:41:36.340
assembly of the tent. God did not come to open

00:41:36.340 --> 00:41:38.900
our eyes to count camels or our ears to hear

00:41:38.900 --> 00:41:41.679
the battle cries or for us to win simple victories

00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:49.659
over greater numbers. God didn't even come for

00:41:49.659 --> 00:41:55.039
us to hear the enemy's death cries. Right? To

00:41:55.039 --> 00:41:57.320
think, wow, what an incredible number that is.

00:41:57.400 --> 00:42:02.519
No. God came for us to see that He has already

00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:07.070
provided A complete upheaval of the enemy. That's

00:42:07.070 --> 00:42:09.289
the message to Gideon, is it not? I've already

00:42:09.289 --> 00:42:13.309
done this. See, even the Midianite knew that

00:42:13.309 --> 00:42:16.670
God had already provided a complete upheaval

00:42:16.670 --> 00:42:18.690
of the enemy. He had knocked them down flat and

00:42:18.690 --> 00:42:22.750
flipped them over so that it wasn't 297 to die

00:42:22.750 --> 00:42:25.869
versus 40 ,000. It was zero. He was going to

00:42:25.869 --> 00:42:29.849
give them a complete and utter victory. That

00:42:29.849 --> 00:42:33.050
brings us then to our conclusion already. And

00:42:33.050 --> 00:42:35.289
it is beginning with this thought. The devil

00:42:35.289 --> 00:42:39.269
knows the word, and so he knows the time will

00:42:39.269 --> 00:42:41.710
come. There's a great moment where Jesus is casting

00:42:41.710 --> 00:42:44.269
out demons in the New Testament, and the demon

00:42:44.269 --> 00:42:46.570
says, basically calls him by name, recognizes

00:42:46.570 --> 00:42:48.530
him as Jesus, and he says, have you come to torment

00:42:48.530 --> 00:42:53.010
us before the day? And Jesus says, no, but, and

00:42:53.010 --> 00:42:56.800
he casts him out. The devil, the demons, the

00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:58.739
evil spirits, all of those that have enough intelligence

00:42:58.739 --> 00:43:01.519
to understand what's going on, know that they

00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:05.179
will eventually face the ultimate eternal judgment

00:43:05.179 --> 00:43:09.340
and spend the rest of their existence in a fiery

00:43:09.340 --> 00:43:17.079
hell. The enemy's death throes have no eternal

00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:18.960
significance to us. The fact that he's trying

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:20.940
to redefine words, the fact that he's trying

00:43:20.940 --> 00:43:23.860
to tempt souls away, the fact that there is a

00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:25.880
doctrine of demons by which they warp the truth

00:43:25.880 --> 00:43:28.719
about Jesus, and in the end, many will walk away

00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:31.480
from faith in Jesus and follow a Jesus of their

00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:33.500
own design, essentially, or a Jesus of demons'

00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:36.019
design, if you will. Even though that is true,

00:43:36.670 --> 00:43:39.070
The death throes of the enemy have no eternal

00:43:39.070 --> 00:43:41.710
significance. They can't actually take anyone

00:43:41.710 --> 00:43:44.170
that doesn't want to be taken because there is

00:43:44.170 --> 00:43:46.769
that lifeline that is Jesus always available.

00:43:49.190 --> 00:43:52.469
But what they actually do is they offer an alternative.

00:43:53.030 --> 00:43:56.010
And God is asking you to choose a side. Now I'm

00:43:56.010 --> 00:43:58.610
going to give you a point here in this next point

00:43:58.610 --> 00:44:00.809
in the conclusion. And I'm going to ask you to

00:44:00.809 --> 00:44:02.769
commit right now to not leave the room under

00:44:02.769 --> 00:44:04.630
any circumstances before I finish this thought.

00:44:04.710 --> 00:44:05.849
It will only take me about two or three minutes.

00:44:06.579 --> 00:44:09.679
But I want you to hear the whole thing. So if

00:44:09.679 --> 00:44:10.820
you've got to go to the bathroom right now, don't

00:44:10.820 --> 00:44:18.500
go. Hold it. Here we go. You cannot defeat the

00:44:18.500 --> 00:44:21.420
enemy. Now that is the opposite of what a lot

00:44:21.420 --> 00:44:23.480
of Christian pastors, teachers, preachers will

00:44:23.480 --> 00:44:25.820
tell you out there. I understand that. And I'm

00:44:25.820 --> 00:44:28.260
going to explain why this is true. You cannot

00:44:28.260 --> 00:44:35.880
defeat the enemy because... The sides are thus.

00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:38.440
The Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God

00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:40.460
the Holy Spirit. The faithful, those who are

00:44:40.460 --> 00:44:43.579
following the Lord as they actually have professed

00:44:43.579 --> 00:44:45.380
to be Christians, actually are following God.

00:44:46.119 --> 00:44:49.380
New Heights, our church. Angels, the servants

00:44:49.380 --> 00:44:51.719
of the Lord who did not rebel against him. And

00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:54.099
kingdom values. And you might add a little more

00:44:54.099 --> 00:44:55.880
to that list, but the bottom line is those who

00:44:55.880 --> 00:44:58.019
respond in faithfulness to the God of heaven,

00:44:58.119 --> 00:45:01.260
that's one side. And God is asking you to choose

00:45:01.260 --> 00:45:05.250
that side. At the same time, there is the devil,

00:45:05.369 --> 00:45:08.130
demons, evil spirits, sinful desires, the world

00:45:08.130 --> 00:45:17.429
system, wicked men. Facing that by yourself,

00:45:17.570 --> 00:45:19.969
if you would face an evil spirit without Christ,

00:45:20.070 --> 00:45:22.349
you would be defeated. If you would face your

00:45:22.349 --> 00:45:24.429
own sin, most of us have, right? Faced our own

00:45:24.429 --> 00:45:26.610
sinful desires without relying on Jesus and already

00:45:26.610 --> 00:45:28.050
been defeated. Most of us have already done that,

00:45:28.090 --> 00:45:31.019
right? So we know that to be true. If you would

00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:33.239
face the world system and go out in the world

00:45:33.239 --> 00:45:35.079
and try to make your way in the world system,

00:45:35.320 --> 00:45:40.280
you would be... You just did the exact opposite

00:45:40.280 --> 00:45:41.619
of what I said. You're going to hear the rest

00:45:41.619 --> 00:45:45.559
of this point later, son. Okay. You would be

00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:52.320
easily defeated, but as part of God's plan. You

00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.599
understand? If we stand without God, we face

00:45:55.599 --> 00:45:57.699
the wrath of God, part of which is those very

00:45:57.699 --> 00:46:00.539
things that I just named. Submission to, defeat

00:46:00.539 --> 00:46:03.059
by, devil, demons, evil spirits, sinful desires,

00:46:03.420 --> 00:46:06.780
the world system. We can't overcome. It's impossible

00:46:06.780 --> 00:46:13.300
without the intervention of the Lord. But if

00:46:13.300 --> 00:46:15.519
we will walk in God's kingdom, if we walk as

00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:17.539
part of the church, we'll walk in the family,

00:46:17.739 --> 00:46:21.719
you will win. Ultimately, you will win. And the

00:46:21.719 --> 00:46:24.739
upheaval of the enemy will be complete. But it

00:46:24.739 --> 00:46:28.599
will not be because you defeated the enemy. You

00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:33.079
cannot defeat the enemy, here it is, because

00:46:33.079 --> 00:46:37.920
God has already defeated him. There is no more

00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:40.960
defeat to be delivered. There is no more victory

00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:44.159
to be won. You need only join the winning side.

00:46:44.840 --> 00:46:48.219
The time has already run out on the clock. The

00:46:48.219 --> 00:46:51.739
score is already decided. The victimization of

00:46:51.739 --> 00:46:55.320
the enemy is complete. The barley bread has already

00:46:55.320 --> 00:47:00.980
rolled. upside down. We are victorious in Christ,

00:47:00.980 --> 00:47:03.099
not because we do better, not because we are

00:47:03.099 --> 00:47:05.539
better, not because we overcome or resist the

00:47:05.539 --> 00:47:08.199
temptation of the devil, but you cannot defeat

00:47:08.199 --> 00:47:15.000
the devil because it has already been done. God

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:18.440
already did it. And people get out of bed in

00:47:18.440 --> 00:47:19.820
the morning and say, I'm going to win over the

00:47:19.820 --> 00:47:22.800
devil today. And they decide to do it, and your

00:47:22.800 --> 00:47:27.320
decision is worthless! Unless your decision is

00:47:27.320 --> 00:47:32.039
actually to join the winning side. Jesus going

00:47:32.039 --> 00:47:35.460
to the cross, begging God, if there is another

00:47:35.460 --> 00:47:40.219
way, let this cup of wrath move away from me.

00:47:40.440 --> 00:47:42.840
Let me not have to go through with this. But

00:47:42.840 --> 00:47:44.519
he knew that the crucifixion was the way that

00:47:44.519 --> 00:47:46.460
God had planned. He's praying that for that very

00:47:46.460 --> 00:47:51.699
reason, right? But in the end, He doesn't stay

00:47:51.699 --> 00:47:54.559
and beg until he just dies or until they come

00:47:54.559 --> 00:47:57.800
to arrest him. In the end, he says, your will,

00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:03.500
not my will, be done. Mary says, such as you

00:48:03.500 --> 00:48:06.179
would, do unto your maidservant. And you can

00:48:06.179 --> 00:48:09.460
find them all over the Bible as people say, okay,

00:48:09.519 --> 00:48:13.320
God, whatever you say, God, I'm with you, God.

00:48:13.460 --> 00:48:16.380
I'm on your side, God. And that's what it takes

00:48:16.380 --> 00:48:19.769
to win the victory. And if you get out of bed

00:48:19.769 --> 00:48:21.610
tomorrow morning and you fight the devil with

00:48:21.610 --> 00:48:24.090
the Bible without God in you and on your side,

00:48:24.210 --> 00:48:27.329
you will lose. In fact, you'll think you're fighting

00:48:27.329 --> 00:48:30.250
him when in reality you'll be fighting for him.

00:48:31.469 --> 00:48:36.050
You cannot defeat the enemy because it's already

00:48:36.050 --> 00:48:42.530
been done. A couple of illustrations. The first

00:48:42.530 --> 00:48:46.000
one is about trappings. Years ago, I used to

00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:47.840
run a role -playing game called Warhammer. I

00:48:47.840 --> 00:48:49.400
still run role -playing games. Now it's part

00:48:49.400 --> 00:48:50.820
of the Christian Games Team Ministry of the Church.

00:48:51.260 --> 00:48:52.800
But we haven't played that game in a long time.

00:48:52.900 --> 00:48:54.440
And in that game, you would move from profession

00:48:54.440 --> 00:48:56.420
to profession, job to job. And as you move from

00:48:56.420 --> 00:48:58.480
job to job, you would get the trappings of that

00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:01.639
job. So like if you were a furrier trapper guy,

00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:04.059
then you would have furs and traps and things

00:49:04.059 --> 00:49:06.780
to make snares and whatever. people in that job

00:49:06.780 --> 00:49:08.699
need, right? And you would have the trappings.

00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:10.739
And then when you get done with that job, you

00:49:10.739 --> 00:49:12.159
move on to another job and get the trappings

00:49:12.159 --> 00:49:13.880
of the next job and whatever you picked up along

00:49:13.880 --> 00:49:15.519
the way. So you get the new trappings and whatever

00:49:15.519 --> 00:49:17.900
you picked up along the way. Well, this is the

00:49:17.900 --> 00:49:20.880
way life is. There are trappings of life. Whatever

00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:23.159
you're doing currently is giving you the trappings

00:49:23.159 --> 00:49:25.380
of whatever you're doing currently. So for example,

00:49:25.480 --> 00:49:27.219
if you're watching about four hours a day of

00:49:27.219 --> 00:49:29.840
TV, you're picking up a whole bunch of fiction

00:49:29.840 --> 00:49:33.079
stories and things and interaction. may or may

00:49:33.079 --> 00:49:34.980
not be realistic. You might think that right

00:49:34.980 --> 00:49:37.099
around the corner is a guy, you know, waiting

00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:39.019
to mass murder you and your family. You might

00:49:39.019 --> 00:49:40.280
be walking down the street thinking that you

00:49:40.280 --> 00:49:42.039
literally can't walk anywhere safe in America,

00:49:42.139 --> 00:49:44.219
which is not true. You know, you have all these

00:49:44.219 --> 00:49:46.539
ideas that are being pressed on you, right? You

00:49:46.539 --> 00:49:48.239
have redefinition of marriage, relationship,

00:49:48.579 --> 00:49:52.699
teachings about political things, and it's all

00:49:52.699 --> 00:49:54.159
done very subtly, but you're getting it. That's

00:49:54.159 --> 00:49:55.900
a trapping of the choice that you're making,

00:49:56.079 --> 00:50:01.300
okay? Life is not about trappings, because when

00:50:01.300 --> 00:50:03.760
you're done, All of that is gone. You're going

00:50:03.760 --> 00:50:06.780
to die one day and then face God for the judgment.

00:50:06.780 --> 00:50:08.900
It says it is appointed once for the man to die

00:50:08.900 --> 00:50:11.039
and then the judgment, right? So once we'll stand

00:50:11.039 --> 00:50:12.980
in front of God and God is going to judge you.

00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:14.480
And he's not going to judge you based on how

00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:17.159
many trappings you had. Hear me now. Let me say

00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:19.079
this very simply. He's not even going to judge

00:50:19.079 --> 00:50:22.420
you on how much you knew. If you could quote

00:50:22.420 --> 00:50:24.199
the whole Bible from Genesis 1 to the end of

00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:25.880
Revelation and you memorized the whole thing

00:50:25.880 --> 00:50:28.539
and could quote it all and you show up in front

00:50:28.539 --> 00:50:31.500
of God, And you say, God, I memorized the whole

00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:33.199
Bible. And God says, yeah, but did you accept

00:50:33.199 --> 00:50:35.079
Jesus Christ your Lord? Were you living for Jesus?

00:50:35.260 --> 00:50:38.019
Was your life about Jesus? I know it was not.

00:50:38.079 --> 00:50:39.980
I'm only asking you to show that if you memorized

00:50:39.980 --> 00:50:41.820
the whole Bible, you clearly did not understand

00:50:41.820 --> 00:50:43.440
the intent of the Bible because the whole Bible

00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:45.820
is about living for Jesus. So you memorized the

00:50:45.820 --> 00:50:49.920
whole thing. So if anything, I can judge you

00:50:49.920 --> 00:50:52.260
all the more harshly because you knew what was

00:50:52.260 --> 00:50:54.420
there. You gained all that knowledge and no relationship

00:50:54.420 --> 00:50:56.039
with the one who could actually save you. You

00:50:56.039 --> 00:50:58.619
chose to join the wrong side. You joined the

00:50:58.619 --> 00:51:00.900
side that knows the Bible well and does not know

00:51:00.900 --> 00:51:02.880
my son. Which side is that again, by the way?

00:51:04.679 --> 00:51:06.480
That would be the side that the devil's on. That

00:51:06.480 --> 00:51:07.880
would be the side that evil spirits are on. That

00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:09.360
would be the side that the demon's on, the wicked

00:51:09.360 --> 00:51:12.920
of this world, the selfish desires of this world,

00:51:12.940 --> 00:51:15.320
and so on. You chose to join that side, the side

00:51:15.320 --> 00:51:18.139
that knows but still does what they want to do.

00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:22.500
Trappings. You're gaining trappings of this life,

00:51:22.579 --> 00:51:24.159
and so here's what I suggest you do. Whatever

00:51:24.159 --> 00:51:26.119
trappings you get, you submit them into the use

00:51:26.119 --> 00:51:29.719
of the Lord. If you got something, and it isn't

00:51:29.719 --> 00:51:33.099
God's to use the way God sees fit, you may have

00:51:33.099 --> 00:51:39.440
a problem. You might be on the wrong side. Second

00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:41.860
illustration, we live in a day of updates, downloads,

00:51:42.099 --> 00:51:45.760
and refinements. Today, your cell phone will

00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:48.360
get updated in its software, and tomorrow, You

00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:49.940
may go to push a button and that button may not

00:51:49.940 --> 00:51:52.559
be there anymore. You have no control over that.

00:51:52.619 --> 00:51:54.679
They just update your phone via Wi -Fi or on

00:51:54.679 --> 00:51:56.219
the cell. So just walking down the road. One

00:51:56.219 --> 00:51:57.599
day I was doing that. I'm like, look at my phone.

00:51:57.639 --> 00:51:59.760
Like, I don't even know how to do it. Last two,

00:51:59.860 --> 00:52:01.360
two, three weeks ago, I went to Meyers to buy

00:52:01.360 --> 00:52:02.840
groceries. And there's that little button that

00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:05.340
you push with the Mperks button. And you put

00:52:05.340 --> 00:52:06.860
in the number, the phone number that you use

00:52:06.860 --> 00:52:09.059
for Mperks. And then you put in your pin over

00:52:09.059 --> 00:52:10.480
on the little side pad. Well, they moved that

00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:12.699
number up at the top on the banner. And I'm standing

00:52:12.699 --> 00:52:14.000
there for like a whole two minutes. I'm looking

00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:16.010
at this thing. I'm going like. How do I put in

00:52:16.010 --> 00:52:17.630
my Mperks number? I can't figure it out because

00:52:17.630 --> 00:52:19.449
they moved it. It just looks like a banner now,

00:52:19.469 --> 00:52:22.989
and it says, you know, enter, or it says alternative

00:52:22.989 --> 00:52:25.829
ID, right? Because they, believe it or not, some

00:52:25.829 --> 00:52:27.750
people have cards. They got an Mperks card. I

00:52:27.750 --> 00:52:29.269
didn't even know that was a thing. So you push

00:52:29.269 --> 00:52:30.909
the button, and you put your Mperks number in

00:52:30.909 --> 00:52:32.670
or whatever. Whatever it says. The point is,

00:52:32.769 --> 00:52:34.610
they moved it. I couldn't find it. For two minutes,

00:52:34.630 --> 00:52:35.889
I couldn't ring up my groceries because I wanted

00:52:35.889 --> 00:52:37.070
to make sure I get my points. You know what I'm

00:52:37.070 --> 00:52:38.929
saying? The whole world is updating. The whole

00:52:38.929 --> 00:52:41.469
world is refining. The whole world is receiving

00:52:41.469 --> 00:52:44.659
downloads and all knowing better. When I was

00:52:44.659 --> 00:52:47.000
a young kid, for example, there was two nurses

00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:48.500
from the doctor's office that came to my fourth

00:52:48.500 --> 00:52:50.719
grade class. I had never in my life done a good

00:52:50.719 --> 00:52:52.340
job of brushing my teeth until fourth grade.

00:52:52.619 --> 00:52:54.780
And they showed us how to brush our teeth. Circles.

00:52:57.079 --> 00:53:00.199
So that the brushes go just gently across your

00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:02.079
gums and pull out whatever is there. Circles.

00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:05.360
And they said, you should brush your teeth after

00:53:05.360 --> 00:53:07.280
you eat because you don't have that food on there.

00:53:07.799 --> 00:53:09.420
Some people, and I said, well, could you brush

00:53:09.420 --> 00:53:11.000
your teeth three times a day? After breakfast,

00:53:11.079 --> 00:53:12.920
after lunch, after dinner? And she's like, well,

00:53:13.079 --> 00:53:14.599
I mean, you could, but it's kind of overkill.

00:53:14.619 --> 00:53:15.639
It might not be good for your teeth to brush

00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:17.059
that much. Just brush them in the morning after

00:53:17.059 --> 00:53:18.900
breakfast. Brush them at night before you go

00:53:18.900 --> 00:53:20.599
to bed. Especially at night before you go to

00:53:20.599 --> 00:53:22.360
bed because you're not going to eat anything

00:53:22.360 --> 00:53:23.920
overnight. So it would be a perfectly good time

00:53:23.920 --> 00:53:25.460
to have nothing on your teeth and they can kind

00:53:25.460 --> 00:53:27.659
of recover and blah, blah, blah. Did you know

00:53:27.659 --> 00:53:30.119
that current science says that one of the worst

00:53:30.119 --> 00:53:31.860
things that you can do for your teeth is to brush

00:53:31.860 --> 00:53:35.500
after you eat? So from fourth grade to twelfth

00:53:35.500 --> 00:53:37.639
grade, I brushed after I ate my breakfast every

00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:40.539
single morning. And then I got a bunch of cavities,

00:53:40.599 --> 00:53:41.880
and the dentist told me it was because I drank

00:53:41.880 --> 00:53:44.019
a lot of juice, and juice sits between your teeth,

00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:47.760
and I wasn't flossing. But also, I know now,

00:53:47.920 --> 00:53:49.639
it was also because I brushed my teeth after

00:53:49.639 --> 00:53:51.940
I ate every time. You're supposed to brush before

00:53:51.940 --> 00:53:55.119
you eat, not after. Because if you eat after,

00:53:55.260 --> 00:53:57.079
then it messes with the enamel on your teeth.

00:53:57.139 --> 00:53:58.780
The brush will actually take off some of the

00:53:58.780 --> 00:54:02.050
enamel on your teeth. Science is changing all

00:54:02.050 --> 00:54:03.690
the time. What's healthy is changing all the

00:54:03.690 --> 00:54:05.730
time. I went to the doctor's office. When I turned

00:54:05.730 --> 00:54:07.230
50, she said, I want you to take a tiny baby

00:54:07.230 --> 00:54:11.289
aspirin every day. Be good for your heart. I

00:54:11.289 --> 00:54:13.130
never could do it. I mean, like, to remember

00:54:13.130 --> 00:54:14.929
to take a tiny baby aspirin every day, I probably

00:54:14.929 --> 00:54:17.949
took about 50 a year, you know. And then I went

00:54:17.949 --> 00:54:20.230
in when I was at this last appointment at 55

00:54:20.230 --> 00:54:21.849
years old. She said, are you taking that baby

00:54:21.849 --> 00:54:24.030
aspirin every day like I told you? And I said,

00:54:24.090 --> 00:54:28.679
well, the truth is... No, I never really could

00:54:28.679 --> 00:54:31.119
do that. She said, okay, good, don't. The what?

00:54:31.340 --> 00:54:34.380
She said, don't. The new science is now indicated

00:54:34.380 --> 00:54:36.719
for men over 50 to only take that baby ice cream

00:54:36.719 --> 00:54:39.480
every day if you have an ongoing heart condition.

00:54:39.760 --> 00:54:41.219
Otherwise, you should not. They've determined

00:54:41.219 --> 00:54:43.860
it's bad for you. Shall I go on? The world is

00:54:43.860 --> 00:54:45.739
being updated constantly. The truth is being

00:54:45.739 --> 00:54:48.300
updated constantly in the world. But here is

00:54:48.300 --> 00:54:50.739
the reality. If we delve into his word to know

00:54:50.739 --> 00:54:53.059
him better, we have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians

00:54:53.059 --> 00:54:55.679
2. She was saying, she was just reading that

00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:59.699
last night. Yep. And we are victorious if for

00:54:59.699 --> 00:55:02.900
no other reason than that, Jesus is with us.

00:55:02.960 --> 00:55:04.920
It's not a set of rules, guidelines, changing,

00:55:05.039 --> 00:55:07.000
updating. People come in and say, oh, you say

00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:08.639
that about the gospel, but let me tell you a

00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:11.079
little better how to know. A little better. And

00:55:11.079 --> 00:55:13.340
the Bible says, we no longer really need that.

00:55:13.400 --> 00:55:16.019
If you know Christ in person, he'll take care

00:55:16.019 --> 00:55:19.940
of you. So what we are doing here, allowing the

00:55:19.940 --> 00:55:24.579
word to infect our thoughts, to alter, redirect

00:55:24.579 --> 00:55:29.079
our efforts. We are doing that, knowing Him better,

00:55:29.139 --> 00:55:32.599
allowing Him more to use faith to overcome fear.

00:55:32.800 --> 00:55:36.199
There is no more refinement of the truth. There

00:55:36.199 --> 00:55:39.219
is no more knowledge that saves. Rather, there

00:55:39.219 --> 00:55:42.840
is a steady, progressive reveal of our victory

00:55:42.840 --> 00:55:46.679
and the losses of the enemy as declared by the

00:55:46.679 --> 00:55:49.619
living God, and there is no refinement of the

00:55:49.619 --> 00:55:52.940
original, but a simple testimony and an exposing

00:55:52.940 --> 00:55:59.139
of the truth. You can't defeat the enemy. It's

00:55:59.139 --> 00:56:02.980
already done. If you are here today and you have

00:56:02.980 --> 00:56:04.880
been trying to defeat the enemy, now this includes

00:56:04.880 --> 00:56:07.260
your sin and temptation. Right? That's part of

00:56:07.260 --> 00:56:09.460
the enemy. On the enemy's side is your sin and

00:56:09.460 --> 00:56:11.380
temptation. If you are here today and you are

00:56:11.380 --> 00:56:14.699
trying to defeat the enemy, beating yourself

00:56:14.699 --> 00:56:16.659
up all the time about what you're doing wrong,

00:56:16.980 --> 00:56:20.659
you can't defeat the enemy. It's already done.

00:56:20.860 --> 00:56:23.880
What you have to do is believe it, to receive

00:56:23.880 --> 00:56:27.280
it, to claim it, to walk it, to live it, and

00:56:27.280 --> 00:56:29.699
to let everything else fall away. That's what

00:56:29.699 --> 00:56:31.920
we're called to as Christians. One last illustration.

00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:36.750
Sometimes we think the gospel is like this, a

00:56:36.750 --> 00:56:39.889
really long spoon that can stir the very bottom

00:56:39.889 --> 00:56:42.349
of the pot where everything has settled. They

00:56:42.349 --> 00:56:44.449
make Kool -Aid or soup and all the stuff sitting

00:56:44.449 --> 00:56:45.829
on the bottom. You're like, where's that long

00:56:45.829 --> 00:56:48.449
spoon? I don't put my hand in the boiling hot

00:56:48.449 --> 00:56:50.170
or I don't put my hand in the Kool -Aid. I need

00:56:50.170 --> 00:56:52.250
that long spoon so I can stir the bottom. And

00:56:52.250 --> 00:56:53.670
we think the gospel is like that. We come to

00:56:53.670 --> 00:56:55.929
church or we talk about it in our homes or we

00:56:55.929 --> 00:56:57.590
read our Bible thinking the gospel is like that,

00:56:57.610 --> 00:57:01.309
a really long spoon that stirs the bottom. No,

00:57:01.349 --> 00:57:06.000
the gospel is what made. The top and the bottom

00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:12.039
and the middle and the spoon, all possible. You

00:57:12.039 --> 00:57:16.119
can't defeat the enemy. He is already defeated.

00:57:17.019 --> 00:57:20.260
I'm asking you today to realize that as you have

00:57:20.260 --> 00:57:23.699
partaked in your sin, you have adjusted to justifiable

00:57:23.699 --> 00:57:26.909
fear. You thought, well, I can't step out. For

00:57:26.909 --> 00:57:29.250
God, I can't really truly just be on fire for

00:57:29.250 --> 00:57:31.590
the Lord, just do what God wants me to do. I

00:57:31.590 --> 00:57:34.030
can't go to church every Sunday, can't worship

00:57:34.030 --> 00:57:35.849
God in a world where they say, well, you really

00:57:35.849 --> 00:57:38.289
don't have to do that anymore. I can't give or

00:57:38.289 --> 00:57:40.429
serve or go the extra mile in a world where they

00:57:40.429 --> 00:57:41.869
say, you're just being abused, you don't have

00:57:41.869 --> 00:57:48.969
to do that. I'm just waiting for people to do

00:57:48.969 --> 00:57:54.210
what God says. But I'm not just waiting. I'm

00:57:54.210 --> 00:57:57.000
a people that wants to do what God says. And

00:57:57.000 --> 00:58:00.219
so I'm asking you to join my side. I think it's

00:58:00.219 --> 00:58:02.320
my side. And if ever I'm on the wrong side, then

00:58:02.320 --> 00:58:06.480
don't join my side. Join Jesus' side. Join the

00:58:06.480 --> 00:58:10.860
church. Join the servants. Join the victors.

00:58:13.360 --> 00:58:15.440
And let God show you that there are barley bread

00:58:15.440 --> 00:58:17.679
rolling downhill and that kingdom of the enemy

00:58:17.679 --> 00:58:20.260
that's already flipped over. Everything that

00:58:20.260 --> 00:58:22.440
you think is the enemy winning some kind of victory

00:58:22.440 --> 00:58:25.960
today, that's just him parking the camp. It's

00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:27.719
just him stacking up an army. You know that in

00:58:27.719 --> 00:58:29.659
the Bible revelation at the very end, it says

00:58:29.659 --> 00:58:32.039
that after a thousand year reign of Jesus, that

00:58:32.039 --> 00:58:35.059
God will let the enemy out again. And he'll come

00:58:35.059 --> 00:58:37.199
out again and he'll raise a great army, a ton

00:58:37.199 --> 00:58:39.340
of people will go away and walk and follow him.

00:58:39.519 --> 00:58:41.820
And they'll believe in what he says rather than

00:58:41.820 --> 00:58:45.860
what God says. I submit to you, God allows that

00:58:45.860 --> 00:58:48.480
for one reason and one reason alone. Because

00:58:48.480 --> 00:58:50.639
God wants you to know that your justifiable fear

00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:54.159
and the faith that you're called to has one purpose.

00:58:54.980 --> 00:58:59.239
And it is to embolden you as his people to do

00:58:59.239 --> 00:59:04.000
the impossible. And the upheaval of the enemy

00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:06.340
is already complete. If you're here today and

00:59:06.340 --> 00:59:08.079
you've not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord

00:59:08.079 --> 00:59:09.639
and Savior, you come in this room today and say,

00:59:09.679 --> 00:59:13.079
I'm thinking about God. I might believe, I think

00:59:13.079 --> 00:59:15.019
I might believe that what Jesus did was real.

00:59:15.139 --> 00:59:17.300
I think I might need to follow him because of

00:59:17.300 --> 00:59:23.239
what he did. But I'm saying to you, you head

00:59:23.239 --> 00:59:28.579
better. Because you can't defeat the enemy. He's

00:59:28.579 --> 00:59:31.460
already defeated you. You had better. Because

00:59:31.460 --> 00:59:33.980
your fear is justifiable, and it isn't going

00:59:33.980 --> 00:59:36.960
away. It's not going to end. You're a human.

00:59:37.460 --> 00:59:40.860
Outside Christ, you will live in fear. Some days,

00:59:41.139 --> 00:59:44.679
some parts of days, some very long periods of

00:59:44.679 --> 00:59:50.219
time. Sometimes. Or, you can trust God. I let

00:59:50.219 --> 00:59:52.960
him do the work that he already promised. The

00:59:52.960 --> 00:59:54.980
sword of the Spirit belongs first to the Lord.

00:59:55.369 --> 00:59:58.889
And with it, he did slay the enemy. And now he

00:59:58.889 --> 01:00:01.690
has given it to you. So that by the time you

01:00:01.690 --> 01:00:04.510
enter the fight, you already have the victory.

01:00:05.429 --> 01:00:07.429
I ask the priest to come forward at this time

01:00:07.429 --> 01:00:09.449
and lead us in our final hymn. And if the Lord

01:00:09.449 --> 01:00:11.150
is somehow touching your heart to make a decision

01:00:11.150 --> 01:00:13.219
today, then you do that. You can come to me at

01:00:13.219 --> 01:00:16.400
the front and say, I'm choosing Jesus. I know

01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:18.340
He has already chosen me. We don't really choose

01:00:18.340 --> 01:00:20.920
Him. He chooses us. But I'm choosing Him back.

01:00:21.059 --> 01:00:23.280
I want to follow Him. I want everything that's

01:00:23.280 --> 01:00:24.980
in my life submitted to Him. And you do that

01:00:24.980 --> 01:00:26.559
today. It might be you getting saved for the

01:00:26.559 --> 01:00:28.320
first time. Or it might be you committing your

01:00:28.320 --> 01:00:30.619
life to the Lord in earnest for the first time.

01:00:30.920 --> 01:00:33.400
Or it might be you coming back to the Lord. It

01:00:33.400 --> 01:00:35.880
might be you saying, I know just one thing that

01:00:35.880 --> 01:00:38.159
God wants me to do. Start a ministry. Be baptized.

01:00:38.219 --> 01:00:41.219
Join the church. Find a church, it's not this

01:00:41.219 --> 01:00:42.860
one, but find the one that God is calling you

01:00:42.860 --> 01:00:44.300
to. I hope it's this one, but where it might

01:00:44.300 --> 01:00:46.900
be. If you know one thing that God wants you

01:00:46.900 --> 01:00:48.840
to do, and you're committing to do that today,

01:00:48.940 --> 01:00:50.980
then open your mouth and tell us what that is.

01:00:51.199 --> 01:00:53.960
We'll pray for you, we'll support you, and we'll

01:00:53.960 --> 01:00:56.659
claim the victory of the Lord as He has already

01:00:56.659 --> 01:00:59.900
defeated the enemy. Would you stand with me and

01:00:59.900 --> 01:01:01.599
sing this song? But if the Lord's moving in your

01:01:01.599 --> 01:01:04.079
heart, and for you to move, then you just don't

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sing, you just come. It's just us now. Some guy

01:01:40.789 --> 01:01:41.250
like me.