WEBVTT 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:03.439 The sermon title for today is, What If It's Not 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:07.299 For You? What If It's Not For You? I want to 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:09.359 share with you a brief story. You may or may 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.560 not know the name Mark Twain, but Mark Twain 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.960 is one of my favorite authors of all time. Not 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.320 because of the kind of man that he was necessarily, 00:00:17.579 --> 00:00:19.800 but because I really enjoy some of the characters 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:22.679 and the satire that he wrote. It really awakens 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:24.600 people to understand kind of like how people 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:27.000 are, especially what's true in the culture that 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.699 he wrote about in the time that he lived. Mark 00:00:30.699 --> 00:00:33.539 Twain was once asked to distribute diplomas at 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:37.399 Hannibal High School. He said he could do it 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:39.399 with great confidence because he had never done 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.719 it before. And so they offered for him to come 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.479 and distribute the diplomas, and he stood up 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.219 there and he told the entire audience, I can 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:48.020 do this with great confidence because I've never 00:00:48.020 --> 00:00:50.119 done it before. He said, I'm going to distribute 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.020 these as they come, and then you may toss for 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:55.570 them afterward. meaning he wasn't going to worry 00:00:55.570 --> 00:00:57.189 about making sure that the right diploma got 00:00:57.189 --> 00:00:58.750 to the right person. He was just going to give 00:00:58.750 --> 00:01:01.490 the diplomas as they were stacked. I don't know 00:01:01.490 --> 00:01:02.770 if they were stacked alphabetical or whatever. 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:03.770 He was just like, I'm going to just give them 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:05.370 out however, because I don't know any better. 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:09.409 The Hannibal Morning Journal, the reporter from 00:01:09.409 --> 00:01:11.689 that town, reported covering the speech that 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:14.150 he gave. He said, Mr. Clemens then distributed 00:01:14.150 --> 00:01:19.849 the diplomas to all the students, remarking, 00:01:19.849 --> 00:01:23.069 as they started to diminish, he used to say, 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:24.859 We want to make sure there's enough of these 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:27.519 to go around. And that's a nice one. Take that 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.920 one. And so on. Much to the student's delight 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.540 and amusement. It was funny because it wasn't 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:35.739 quite right. He wasn't doing it exactly the way 00:01:35.739 --> 00:01:37.260 it was supposed to be done. He wasn't being careful 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:38.879 to make sure that they got their own diploma, 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:42.079 for example. Or that he didn't ask somebody how 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:44.939 exactly he was supposed to do it. Sometimes not 00:01:44.939 --> 00:01:47.640 doing things quite right sort of tickles our 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.799 fancy. Like, oh, I can get away with this. I 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:52.739 can do this a little differently. It's not sin, 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.140 per se. I can do it a little differently. But 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:57.859 also realize that the order and the correct way 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:02.900 can be a really big deal. Mark Twain's point 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:07.060 then, and the point of maybe even of that article 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:10.960 the next day, was that the more we know exactly 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.099 how a thing must be done, the more pressure there 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:17.759 is to do it right. We say of our children, for 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:21.199 example, you know better. You shouldn't have 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:25.099 done that. We already taught you. You already 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:27.539 heard it. The teacher already said. They even 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:30.599 say it to each other. She said, do it this way. 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.280 Right? Once we know how a thing ought to be done, 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:36.719 we start to think that there is a lot of pressure 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.099 to do it right. We're going to see a thing that 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:41.199 is done today in the scripture. We're going to 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.879 look at this set of verses from a slightly different 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:46.620 angle today. And I think it's a fairly simple 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:51.590 understanding, but it speaks to us. about what 00:02:51.590 --> 00:02:54.129 we kind of go through and where our lives are, 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:55.849 what we kind of go through on a regular basis. 00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:58.370 So maybe give me a hoot or holler or amen as 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:03.629 we go to Luke chapter 2. And I never push the 00:03:03.629 --> 00:03:06.330 button, so I'll be louder now. Okay. All right. 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:14.669 So Luke chapter 2, in the story, I can actually 00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:18.550 hear myself today. So in the story of Jesus's 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:30.870 birth, Are we good now? Okay, that's better. 00:03:30.990 --> 00:03:33.090 All right, I'll be louder if I need to be. I 00:03:33.090 --> 00:03:34.849 think it'll be fine. All right, so Luke chapter 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:37.289 2, we're going to begin reading in verse 8. Tim's 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:42.370 going to do it. He moved. It's probably because 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:50.169 of other microphones that are still on. It should 00:03:50.169 --> 00:03:54.800 be fine now. It's a little low, actually. Testing 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.439 now. Okay, yeah, we can handle that. We can move 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:59.879 it up and down as need be. Just don't want that 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:03.819 hum for sure. Okay, so Luke chapter 2, beginning 00:04:03.819 --> 00:04:07.080 of verse 8. You're going to recognize some of 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.599 it, okay? It's okay. And in the same region, 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:11.719 there were some shepherds staying out in the 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:14.060 fields and keeping watch over their flock by 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:18.620 night. So now we're on the evening, the eve, 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:23.160 if you will, of Jesus' birth. Shepherds take 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:26.379 care of the sheep. They're stinky people. They're 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.959 low -class people. They don't relate well to 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:34.040 the highfalutin high -class people. They don't 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.240 spend time with Sadducees or Pharisees. They 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.959 might hear the preaching of a Pharisee, but if 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.180 they did, they sat in the back. You know what 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:44.079 I'm saying? And an angel of the Lord suddenly 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.899 stood before them, stood before the shepherds 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:48.779 in the field who were keeping watch over their 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:53.089 sheep by night. And the glory of the Lord shone 00:04:53.089 --> 00:04:56.329 around them. So we kind of imagine that as a 00:04:56.329 --> 00:04:59.629 bright light. But I submit to you, it may have 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:03.269 been as much a feeling. Just knowing. It's like 00:05:03.269 --> 00:05:05.370 when the hair sort of stands up on the back of 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:06.870 your neck and you know something is happening. 00:05:07.629 --> 00:05:12.769 Something incredible. And they were terribly 00:05:12.769 --> 00:05:15.389 frightened. I mean, they knew who they were. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.459 whether they were worthy to have an experience 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:20.420 directly with the God of the universe, whether 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:23.759 they could approach him, or if he approached 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.540 them, what that might be like. They were terribly 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:31.360 frightened. And the angel said to them, Do not 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.699 be afraid. That's a great greeting from an angel 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:39.399 when you're terribly frightened. Kind of, okay, 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:44.740 well, I'll try. For behold, look here. I bring 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.540 you good news. This is the reason why they need 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:51.639 not be afraid. I bring you good news of a great 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:56.060 joy which shall be for all the people. So in 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:58.540 other words, even though you might feel left 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:03.860 out, you might not feel connected, you will probably 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:06.379 never serve at a high position in the temple 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:09.980 or be elected to public office. Right? I bring 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:14.139 you... Good news of a great joy, which will be 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:16.660 for all the people. Read, all the marginalized, 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:20.040 disenfranchised, ignored, the hopeless, the helpless, 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:22.899 the struggling, the trapped, the trapped in sin, 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.160 those who are destroying their lives or having 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:27.959 their lives destroyed. I bring you good news 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:32.439 of a great joy, which shall be for all the people. 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:36.579 For today in the city of David, there has been 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:40.360 born for you Now, everyone knows that the city 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.300 of David is Bethlehem. It always has been. And 00:06:42.300 --> 00:06:45.319 since David was born there, way back in the day, 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:48.779 they have always known that that was where David... 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:51.519 I mean, he's one of Israel's greatest kings. 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:54.160 Everybody knows David. And they know the promise 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:57.839 of David, that he would have an heir to sit on 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.600 the throne, not for a generation or generations, 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.199 but for, and this is a big word, eternity. So 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.959 they're looking for... Now, The shepherds probably 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:11.100 don't, they may or may not know the prophecy 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:13.899 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:16.279 They may or may not know that. Even the scribes 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:17.920 kind of had to dig for it a little bit in the 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:20.060 other part of the story. So they may or may not 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:22.459 have known that. But it is the city of David, 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:26.279 and it is a place where incredible things might 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:30.680 happen. And the angel, who's already incredible, 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:34.120 is now saying, because this is true, this is 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:36.629 why the joy... The good news that I bring you 00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:38.769 about the great joy which shall be for all people, 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:43.329 he says, because today in the city of David there 00:07:43.329 --> 00:07:46.870 has been born for you a Savior, in that you is 00:07:46.870 --> 00:07:50.129 you and me as well. But the fact that he was 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:54.129 born for shepherds was significant. And let's 00:07:54.129 --> 00:07:56.069 not kid ourselves, they knew also they were sinners. 00:07:59.329 --> 00:08:05.509 Who is Christ? That's the... Greek word for Messiah 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:08.750 or anointed one. He is the one who would be expected. 00:08:08.910 --> 00:08:12.649 The one who will carry out the job that the Lord 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:15.629 has pointed to, which is saving all mankind. 00:08:15.790 --> 00:08:19.910 And they knew, being Jewish men, they knew that 00:08:19.910 --> 00:08:21.949 the Savior would not only be for Jews, but also 00:08:21.949 --> 00:08:23.889 for Gentiles. You see it all throughout the New 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:25.790 Testament. And these are men, even though they 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:27.290 weren't Pharisees and Sadducees, these are men 00:08:27.290 --> 00:08:29.670 who memorized huge, huge batches of scripture. 00:08:30.170 --> 00:08:37.159 Okay? This person is Christ, the Lord. Big, big 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.840 impact in the Lord. The Lord is a person who 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:42.460 tells you what to do, and he does it, and you 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.019 do it. And then you're going to see a little 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:45.799 something different as well, before we're done, 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:48.740 that the Lord does. In verse 12, it says, and 00:08:48.740 --> 00:08:52.360 this will be a sign for you. So, okay, cool. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:53.940 What's the sign? We're going to need a sign. 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:56.299 We're going to go, we want to know this is true, 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:00.320 right? Zechariah needed a sign. He kind of got 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.129 one. He was mute, right? He couldn't talk. After 00:09:03.129 --> 00:09:06.409 he had to promise. Mary didn't really ask for 00:09:06.409 --> 00:09:08.710 a sign. She said, let it be to your bond servant 00:09:08.710 --> 00:09:12.149 however you say. But she got one. It was your 00:09:12.149 --> 00:09:14.769 cousin Elizabeth is six months pregnant with 00:09:14.769 --> 00:09:17.210 a baby well after child rearing age. And her 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:19.169 husband's well, well after child rearing age, 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:23.490 right? So there's a sign for you. And so they 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:25.669 don't ask for a sign. The angel says, this will 00:09:25.669 --> 00:09:28.049 be a sign for you. And then in my Bible, I see 00:09:28.049 --> 00:09:30.509 a colon. And so that's not in the original language, 00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:32.860 but it means. Here it is. This is the sign that 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:35.879 you'll see. And we're expecting what? Glorious, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.460 amazing things. Mountains knocked down and made 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:43.279 flat trails, brought wide. No, it says, you will 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.700 find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:50.620 manger. Now, that's not normal. In fact, don't 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:54.000 do that to your baby, right? Get them some real 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.440 clothes or use a blanket, right? But this is 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:04.129 a baby wrapped in... and lying in a manger. The 00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:06.409 manger is a feeding trough. And, you know, it 00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:09.490 kind of shaped a little bit like a crib or a, 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:13.590 you know, baby could kind of go in there maybe. 00:10:13.789 --> 00:10:16.389 But people don't do that. That's not normal. 00:10:16.889 --> 00:10:20.769 So this is the sign. It's not his skin glows 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:23.250 and he's radiant. He was born a man. Like he 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:24.509 came out of the womb and suddenly he was 18. 00:10:24.970 --> 00:10:27.789 You know, it's not an incredible miracle. It's 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:31.549 wrapped in clothes. And laying in a little feeding 00:10:31.549 --> 00:10:33.590 trough. Well, if we find a baby wrapped in clothes 00:10:33.590 --> 00:10:35.149 and laying in a feeding trough, he's probably 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:37.629 the one that the angel was talking about. Verse 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:41.950 13 says, And suddenly there appeared with the 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:45.690 angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising 00:10:45.690 --> 00:10:48.509 God. Okay, so now we've got not one angel, but 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:51.690 a bunch. And they're all there. And they're praising 00:10:51.690 --> 00:10:54.750 God. And they're saying, listen to this, Glory 00:10:54.750 --> 00:10:57.690 to God in the highest. By the way, you know how 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:02.490 that's in the Latin, right? In excelsis Deo. 00:11:04.149 --> 00:11:08.090 That's the song, right? And so, glory to God 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:13.210 in the highest. And on earth, peace among men. 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:15.590 Oh, wait. That was kind of a big jump there. 00:11:16.049 --> 00:11:18.230 We went from, we're going to give God glory, 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:20.509 which we've got to do that. I mean, God is doing 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:23.059 something. God is great joy. Yeah, I mean, he's 00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:25.059 got the baby wrapped in a manger or wrapped in 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:26.639 clothes. And it's just a little weird sign. The 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.159 sign's a little weird, but we trust God there's 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:29.240 a reason for that sign. And we're just going 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:30.940 to go, this is great what God is doing. We're 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:32.279 going to be excited about that. We're going to 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:34.440 give God glory. Oh, also, we're going to now 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.559 have peace between us. That's different. Don't 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:39.679 you respect your fellow man? Don't you care about 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:43.019 other people? Tend not only to your own concerns, 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:44.899 but also the concerns of people who live near 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:47.480 you that you run into on a daily basis. Peace 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:52.879 among men. with whom he, and the he there is 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:57.980 God, is pleased. Brace yourself. God just said 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:08.259 that he has positive feelings about liars, mass 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:17.000 murderers, rapists, deceivers, thieves. I submit 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:24.580 to you that God loves People like that, and he 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:27.460 would desire to have an eternal relationship 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:30.480 with them if they will repent, if they will walk 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:35.899 away from their sin and choose him over the world 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.639 system, their own methods, the doctrine of demons, 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:43.799 whatever. That's what God wants. God wants to 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:45.879 bring into fellowship with him the kind of people, 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.230 and let's be realistic, right? In the last 2 00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:50.370 ,000 years, have we not seen it time and time 00:12:50.370 --> 00:12:53.190 again? One stands before you today. I was not 00:12:53.190 --> 00:12:55.950 worthy of God's love. And I think there's a bunch 00:12:55.950 --> 00:12:57.289 of us sitting in the chairs who realize we're 00:12:57.289 --> 00:13:00.269 not worthy of God's love. And yet, he has favor 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:03.029 to the point that when there was no mediator, 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:04.950 nobody who could solve this problem, God solved 00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:08.710 it himself. And there should be peace amongst 00:13:08.710 --> 00:13:15.169 us. He is pleased with us. Now, he's not pleased 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:19.480 with the things that men do. God hates sin. And 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.200 when a person is unredeemable, that is to say 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:23.899 when they've gone so far and they will never 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:26.460 turn to Christ, God knows exactly what to do 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:29.679 with them. But that's above our pay grade. God 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:34.100 is pleased, it says, and therefore we ought to 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:37.419 have peace among men and give glory to God in 00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:39.379 the highest. Verse 15 continuing, and it says, 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:41.679 and it came about when the angels had gone away 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.320 from them into heaven. You ever been like to 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.110 a rock concert? and it gets really, really loud 00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:49.610 in the rock concert, or maybe working at a factory 00:13:49.610 --> 00:13:52.889 or whatever, and you walk out, and it's quiet, 00:13:53.110 --> 00:13:58.009 that's the feeling in that verse. There was a 00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:01.269 heavenly host of angels singing, Glory to God 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:05.190 in the highest. Now that's a choir for you. And 00:14:05.190 --> 00:14:09.690 it rocked the countryside. And then it was gone. 00:14:10.710 --> 00:14:13.669 And in the stillness that followed that great 00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:19.929 proclamation, They had to decide, who am I? What 00:14:19.929 --> 00:14:23.730 am I going to do now? What's next? What just 00:14:23.730 --> 00:14:27.289 happened? The ringing still in their ears. It 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:29.289 came about when the angels had gone away from 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:31.789 them into heaven that the shepherds began saying 00:14:31.789 --> 00:14:33.830 to one another. They looked at each other, ringing 00:14:33.830 --> 00:14:36.549 still in their ears, their hearts probably like 00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:40.850 about to explode in their chest, so in wonderment. 00:14:42.190 --> 00:14:45.220 And they said, Let us go straight to Bethlehem 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:48.059 then and see this thing that has happened, which 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:51.840 the Lord has made known to us. Not let us see 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.460 if this thing has happened that the Lord has 00:14:55.460 --> 00:15:00.039 made known to us. But let us go straight to Bethlehem 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.820 then and see this thing that has happened, which 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:06.139 the Lord has made known to us. And they came 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:09.639 in haste and they found their way to Mary and 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:15.279 Joseph and the baby. as he lay in the manger. 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:20.139 And when they had seen this, now what is the 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:26.259 this? They made known the statement which had 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:29.480 been told to them about this child. So they told 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:33.100 Mary and Joseph and anyone else who would listen 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:37.460 about what the angels had told them. Verse 18 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:41.179 it says, And all who heard it, wondered at the 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:43.759 things which were told them by the shepherds. 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:46.419 Notice, the shepherds could wonder at the thing 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:49.740 that was told them by God. But everybody that 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:53.419 was there wondered at the thing that was told 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:59.039 them by the shepherds. The shepherds' role just 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:06.879 radically changed, didn't it? Mary treasured 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.299 up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 00:16:10.059 --> 00:16:14.159 And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:20.779 God for all that they had heard and seen just 00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:25.600 as had been told them. May God add blessings 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.500 to the reading of his word. For all that they 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:32.679 had seen and heard, they were praising God and 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.039 glorifying him. There are three things I want 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.850 you to see in this text that jump out. But I 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:39.990 want you to remember from my illustration of 00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:43.230 Mark Twain that sometimes the order, the proper 00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:51.789 way of doing things, creates pressure to do it 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:55.289 right. The first thing is the shepherds received 00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:58.250 a reassignment. They were in the field. They're 00:16:58.250 --> 00:17:00.509 taking care of the sheep. If there would be a 00:17:00.509 --> 00:17:02.789 wolf, if there would be a bear. Probably hadn't 00:17:02.789 --> 00:17:04.730 seen one in a long time. But if there would be 00:17:04.730 --> 00:17:06.630 anything like that, they were prepared to protect 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.930 the sheep. They were also making sure that somebody 00:17:09.930 --> 00:17:11.509 wouldn't come by and just take a sheep to eat, 00:17:11.670 --> 00:17:14.450 you know, or whatever. That the sheep wouldn't 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:17.789 wander off. Sheep are kind of dumb. Slipped and 00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:19.950 fall in a hole. I saw a video on Facebook where 00:17:19.950 --> 00:17:21.509 a sheep is stuck down in this crevice in the 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:24.049 ground. And they worked really hard and they 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:25.890 got him out. And the sheep goes, don't, don't, 00:17:25.970 --> 00:17:27.390 don't, don't, bounding off the field, turn right 00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:30.170 around and go back in the crevice. That's sheep. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.859 So they have a job. Their job is to protect the 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:35.059 sheep, and that's their family's livelihood. 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.759 They might be second, third, fourth, or 50th 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:43.119 generation shepherds. And God gave them a reassignment. 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:50.539 He said, stop shepherding for now, and go and 00:17:50.539 --> 00:17:58.200 witness and proclaim. Now, God doesn't say in 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.589 anything that we read, that the angel said to 00:18:00.589 --> 00:18:02.109 the shepherds that they were supposed to go to 00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.509 Bethlehem. Did you hear? He didn't say, go to 00:18:04.509 --> 00:18:06.869 Bethlehem and see this thing. However, he did 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:11.349 say, this shall be a sign for you. You will find 00:18:11.349 --> 00:18:14.630 a babe wrapped in clothes lying in a manger. 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:16.069 If they don't go to Bethlehem, where are you 00:18:16.069 --> 00:18:17.869 going to find that? They're going to find it 00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:19.589 when you go home. They're going to find it in 00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:21.750 the next town over. This is not going to be found. 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:23.910 That's not a common thing, right? So in order 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:25.869 to see that, in order to find that, they had 00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:27.390 to go to Bethlehem. But he didn't say, go to 00:18:27.390 --> 00:18:29.980 Bethlehem, did he? He said, this will be the 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:33.099 sign for you. You will find a babe wrapped in 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:35.140 clothes lying in a manger. In order for that 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:37.079 to happen, they had to go to Bethlehem. But he 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:38.740 didn't command them to go to Bethlehem. He simply 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:41.220 said that they would find. He told them what 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:43.799 they would find. He made them a promise of what 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.180 would happen when they went to Bethlehem without 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:47.859 telling them that they had to go to Bethlehem. 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.460 You catch what I'm saying here? He put the results 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:52.799 that they would get when they decided to do what 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:54.400 they needed to do, what they should do, what 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.079 God wanted them to do. He put the results that 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:59.119 they would get in the promise for them before 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.779 they decided to go to Bethlehem, before he told 00:19:01.779 --> 00:19:06.720 them to go to Bethlehem. That's different. I 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.119 want to say to God, God, you tell me what to 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:10.599 do and I'll do it. And then I'll reap the benefits 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:12.579 because you're a wise and powerful God and you'll 00:19:12.579 --> 00:19:14.859 reinforce it. You'll give me a pat on the back. 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:16.920 You'll provide. You'll bless me. I want to say, 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:20.049 God, you tell me what to do and I'll do it. What 00:19:20.049 --> 00:19:24.089 if that's not how it actually works? What if 00:19:24.089 --> 00:19:28.609 God gives us the promises of what he will give 00:19:28.609 --> 00:19:33.829 us and then we choose in our free will to do 00:19:33.829 --> 00:19:36.890 what it is that God would have us to do, arriving 00:19:36.890 --> 00:19:38.769 at the place that he already knew that we would 00:19:38.769 --> 00:19:41.950 arrive at to receive the promises that he already 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:45.430 promised. You see, do we have the order out of 00:19:45.430 --> 00:19:49.569 place? Stop shepherding for now and go witnessing 00:19:49.569 --> 00:19:52.029 and proclaiming was the task of the shepherds. 00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:54.730 It was a reassignment, but it was not expressly 00:19:54.730 --> 00:19:58.470 spoken in what they were given. It was that they 00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:00.849 would find the babe, find the sign. In order 00:20:00.849 --> 00:20:03.269 to do that, they had to reassign. They had to 00:20:03.269 --> 00:20:05.269 leave their task and go and take on the task 00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:08.109 that the God of heaven had assigned them. They 00:20:08.109 --> 00:20:12.210 were reassigned. Notice then that there are reactions. 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:18.779 They react. They respond. But notice here that 00:20:18.779 --> 00:20:21.099 the reactions, the response are in the middle. 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:25.339 And the results. They began to say, let's go 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:27.380 see this. That was their response. Their reaction 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.660 to the angels singing glory to God in the highest. 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:32.039 Their response, peace on earth, goodwill to man. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.700 I want to see that. Don't you want to see that? 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:37.299 And so they said, well, we want to do that. But 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:40.380 the promises had not yet come. Was there peace 00:20:40.380 --> 00:20:44.039 on earth? Did suddenly that night all wars end? 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:46.599 You know, many times on Christmas since this 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:52.220 day, there's been a cease of conflict. They'll 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:54.819 do that a lot. In fact, there are many stories 00:20:54.819 --> 00:20:56.839 in World War II, for example, where they were 00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.660 across from each other in the trenches. And they'd 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:01.420 be singing Christmas carols in English on one 00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:03.579 side, German on the other, and nobody would fight 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:09.019 that night. So you know, one day, the day that 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:11.200 we celebrate the birth of Jesus, or maybe the 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.359 eve of it and the day of it, perhaps, To have 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.319 peace on earth. Oh, but some people have turned 00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:19.079 Christmas into something altogether different. 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:24.839 Now, the truth is Christmas, as an original holiday, 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:26.579 was sort of a pagan holiday. It wasn't even a 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:29.359 Christian thing. I recently read an article about 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:31.160 a witch, and she says, yeah, you know, I understand 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:33.200 it's pagan, and I've walked away from everything 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.059 to do with pagan religion, everything to do with 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:36.680 being a witch, and I am fully Christian, born 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:40.359 again, serving the Lord. And she said, when I 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.150 was a witch, I loved... Halloween and hated Christmas. 00:21:46.769 --> 00:21:49.150 So now I'm a Christian, and you better believe 00:21:49.150 --> 00:21:51.210 I celebrate Christmas, even though it was supposedly 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:53.849 a pagan holiday. It's the one time of the year 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:56.369 that you can talk about the single thing that 00:21:56.369 --> 00:21:58.230 matters the most, and no one's going to hassle 00:21:58.230 --> 00:21:59.369 you about it. Or if they do hassle you about 00:21:59.369 --> 00:22:00.710 it, they really have no ground to stand on because 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:05.609 it's called Christmas. And she said, of course 00:22:05.609 --> 00:22:08.710 I celebrate Christmas as a former witch. People 00:22:08.710 --> 00:22:11.210 try to say to me I shouldn't, but of course I 00:22:11.210 --> 00:22:17.599 do. Here they react in the middle between the 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.700 reassignment and the results. There is no peace 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:24.779 on earth. Maybe in the manger. Maybe in the stables. 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:27.140 Maybe in Bethlehem. I submit to you there was 00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:28.660 probably a bar fight in Bethlehem that night. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.880 The place was overcrowded. Jesus is being born 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.119 and six buildings down is the inn and they're 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:37.880 duking it out over some guy insulted somebody's 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:39.799 mother or wife or something. That's not peace 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:45.049 on earth. So they were reacting, responding to 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:48.450 the reassignment before the results, and that 00:22:48.450 --> 00:22:52.150 order is important. And then we see the results. 00:22:52.890 --> 00:22:55.250 They saw what they were told they would see, 00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:58.630 and they praised God for it. So guess what I 00:22:58.630 --> 00:23:03.730 alliterated, didn't I? It's a reassignment, reactions, 00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:06.589 and results. I don't do that very often, by the 00:23:06.589 --> 00:23:08.750 way, for those of you who haven't heard me preach 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:10.849 much, but I don't do that very often. But the 00:23:10.849 --> 00:23:12.500 note -takers in the room are going, yeah. It's 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.460 awesome. Three R's. Hey, awesome. It's great, 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:18.900 especially for outlining. Okay, results. They 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:21.720 saw what they were told they would see, and they 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:25.720 praised God for it. They arrived at the scene 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:32.500 of a baby born to be the Messiah, the Savior 00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:39.180 of the wealthy and the shepherds, the clean and 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:43.720 the dirty. Of those who knew they needed a Savior 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:46.019 and those who refused that they needed a Savior. 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:50.519 And as long as they don't refuse too long and 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.039 miss out on the opportunity, he would be the 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:57.640 Savior of all. They saw what they were told they 00:23:57.640 --> 00:23:59.720 would see and they praised God for. That brings 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:05.380 us then already to our conclusion. Notice that 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:10.890 Mary treasured in her heart. And they went back 00:24:10.890 --> 00:24:14.089 praising God for what they had seen and heard. 00:24:15.349 --> 00:24:22.170 And I ask you, I mean, what was it? Really? They 00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:25.750 weren't specifically praising God for angels 00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:27.589 singing in the sky. I mean, that would be a reason. 00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.549 Don't get me wrong. That would be really cool. 00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:31.750 Invited to a concert of angels singing in the 00:24:31.750 --> 00:24:35.589 sky. That would be cool. But the angels were 00:24:35.589 --> 00:24:37.940 pointing to something else. They were talking 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:40.599 about, the angel told them about the Savior who 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:44.640 would be born. And they didn't go, we don't want 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.240 to leave because that was such a cool phenomenon. 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:49.940 If we stay here long enough, it might happen 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:52.339 again. Like he might come again with the angels 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:53.940 in the sky singing again. It would be a great 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:56.079 concert to go see a movie. Like that movie is 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:57.859 so good, I'd go again. Nobody does that anymore 00:24:57.859 --> 00:24:59.359 because movies are too expensive pretty much. 00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:02.539 But they used to do that, right? Like I saw Star 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:04.539 Wars like three times. But anyway, the point 00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:08.269 is. We don't do that anymore. But you're like, 00:25:08.369 --> 00:25:11.130 I could see this again. Let's stay right. This 00:25:11.130 --> 00:25:13.509 is holy. Take your shoes off. This is holy ground. 00:25:13.589 --> 00:25:14.869 No, that's not what they did. They said, let's 00:25:14.869 --> 00:25:18.430 go see. Let's go right now. So it wasn't that. 00:25:19.210 --> 00:25:21.410 It was what they seen and heard that they were 00:25:21.410 --> 00:25:26.869 praising God for. And I submit to you, it was 00:25:26.869 --> 00:25:31.670 that God, in the midst of conflict the whole 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:35.990 world over, was going to bring peace. And that 00:25:35.990 --> 00:25:39.950 you can have, I can have peace while somebody 00:25:39.950 --> 00:25:44.029 is trying to kill me or taking a contract out 00:25:44.029 --> 00:25:48.609 of my life or cutting me off in traffic or flipping 00:25:48.609 --> 00:25:51.569 me off because I wasn't paying close enough attention 00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:53.390 to their personal needs at that moment in time. 00:25:53.690 --> 00:25:58.150 Whatever. And you can have a peace. That's, it's 00:25:58.150 --> 00:26:00.609 there. There it is. Proof. God said it. We have 00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:07.119 proof. They're praising God for the sign. He 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.019 didn't have to do that. Listen, I want to tell 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:12.339 you right now, I know this for a certainty, that 00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:16.539 Mary was not overly pleased to giving birth to 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:21.119 her child in a stables surrounded by animals 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:25.880 and their various excretions to lay her baby 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:29.819 wrapped in leftover clothes pulled out of Joseph's 00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:35.660 satchel in a wooden box meant for feeding animals, 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:40.400 right? So I'm just guessing about modern -day 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:42.039 women, but I'm thinking that they're pretty fond 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:46.460 of things like epidurals, nursing care, soft 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:48.099 beds, although they probably don't feel soft 00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:50.319 during the actual delivery, I wouldn't guess, 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:52.880 but it's better than laying on the ground. It's 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:55.660 better than laying on a bit of hay or a blanket 00:26:55.660 --> 00:26:57.980 thrown over a four -inch pile thick of hay or 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:00.230 whatever. And you don't want to have a bunch 00:27:00.230 --> 00:27:01.369 of hay on you when you're having a baby because 00:27:01.369 --> 00:27:04.430 there's moving parts involved, right? So there's 00:27:04.430 --> 00:27:06.329 a limit to what you can do. And by the way, the 00:27:06.329 --> 00:27:11.170 go boil some water? Joseph couldn't go boil water. 00:27:11.390 --> 00:27:14.390 That was not existed back then. Exactly. It was 00:27:14.390 --> 00:27:19.509 nothing. It wasn't extra blankets. If they'd 00:27:19.509 --> 00:27:21.109 had an extra blanket, they'd have wrapped the 00:27:21.109 --> 00:27:22.970 baby in a blanket, right? There's no extra blankets. 00:27:23.430 --> 00:27:28.880 There's no sanitizing. Okay, she's about to have 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:30.500 the baby. Let me run over here right next to 00:27:30.500 --> 00:27:32.480 the chicken coop and squirt some stuff on my 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:35.980 head. No, there was nothing. I don't think that 00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:38.980 Mary was overly pleased with having to deliver 00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:41.759 a baby under these circumstances. Now, what was 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:50.460 she doing? And trusting God. And this would be 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:59.069 a sign for them. a Savior was being born for 00:27:59.069 --> 00:28:02.849 the world. He would be Christ, the Anointed One, 00:28:02.970 --> 00:28:07.910 the Messiah, the Son of God, God the Son, and 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:11.670 He would be Lord. That is to say, God, through 00:28:11.670 --> 00:28:17.910 Jesus, will be in charge of everything. God deserves 00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:22.950 glory. So I say to you, let the light shine on 00:28:22.950 --> 00:28:25.829 God. But now I'm going to show you How it's a 00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:28.710 little harder than most Christians make it out 00:28:28.710 --> 00:28:34.329 to be. A little more necessary. And definitely 00:28:34.329 --> 00:28:38.890 doable. God wants peace among men with whom he 00:28:38.890 --> 00:28:43.029 is pleased. So be at peace. Oh boy, that's a 00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:48.450 big challenge sometimes. He is pleased with men. 00:28:49.250 --> 00:28:54.079 So be pleased. You're like, uh, but. She that, 00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:57.140 and he that, and they this. And they're putting 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:00.839 stuff on TV, and they're doing stuff out back 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:05.259 of the barn, and they're massacring people. But 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:08.119 they were created in the image of God, and something 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.740 of the image of God remains in them still. It 00:29:11.740 --> 00:29:16.160 is not your job to have negative feelings about 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:21.519 other people. It's just not. God doesn't do it. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:24.099 God doesn't have that ever. Even when God hates 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:27.180 sin and destroys people who come against him. 00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:30.700 And let's not kid ourselves, he does that. He 00:29:30.700 --> 00:29:34.900 does it loving them. And if that's a problem 00:29:34.900 --> 00:29:37.000 for you, then you're beginning to understand 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:41.460 the friction of this text. That you could kill 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:48.000 a man and love a man in the same breath. That's 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:54.319 part of what it means to be a Christian. This 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:58.880 would be a sign for them. God is willing to provide. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:02.319 He orchestrates the events in others' lives to 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:08.680 serve as blessings for us and confirmation. Please, 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:13.519 please grasp the fact today that sometimes the 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:17.119 difficulty that you're going through isn't even 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:20.380 for you. We talk a lot about how when I'm in 00:30:20.380 --> 00:30:22.319 trouble, I ask God, what am I supposed to learn 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:27.170 out of this? And I think that's realistic because 00:30:27.170 --> 00:30:29.589 we probably should learn from every moment of 00:30:29.589 --> 00:30:32.089 life. And so when you're in trouble, there may 00:30:32.089 --> 00:30:33.990 be something more poignant, a difficult lesson, 00:30:34.150 --> 00:30:35.930 whatever. I'm not disagreeing with that as a 00:30:35.930 --> 00:30:38.490 fact. It's probably true. You should. But what 00:30:38.490 --> 00:30:47.089 if the greater impact, what if the real outcome 00:30:47.089 --> 00:30:50.369 that God is trying to bring about isn't even 00:30:50.369 --> 00:30:58.400 in you? Mary was already trusting God. Did for 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:01.240 her whole life, essentially. She said before 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:03.500 the baby was ever conceived in her, so let it 00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:05.480 be for your bondservant, as you have said, so 00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:08.799 let it be. From the beginning. So did she need 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:12.579 to lay her baby in leftover clothes in a manger? 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.980 Was that going to help her in some way? She's 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:17.359 trusting God. She trusted God all through it. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:19.980 She treasured all the things that were happening, 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:21.460 all the things they were saying in her heart 00:31:21.460 --> 00:31:24.220 throughout all of it. Did she need to do that? 00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:29.480 What if laying her baby in a manger wrapped in 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:35.480 clothes wasn't for her? Oh, wait. And this shall 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:39.259 be a sign unto you. You will find a baby wrapped 00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:43.339 in clothes lying in a manger. It wasn't for her. 00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:49.299 That sign was not for her. It was for the shepherds. 00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:56.259 We see it all throughout Scripture then when 00:31:56.259 --> 00:31:59.819 we're looking for it. In Acts 17, in verse 26 00:31:59.819 --> 00:32:01.380 and 27, we'll go there and read it right now, 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:03.059 but you can put it in your notes and read it 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:06.140 later. Paul says that God sets up the boundaries 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:08.880 of all creation. He lays out where nations will 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:10.519 be and where people will be. He sets everything 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:14.299 up so that man might seek him out. And having 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:17.240 found God, realize God was never very far away 00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:21.720 in the first place. Understand? But what if the 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:25.069 boundaries of your life, The trials and tribulations 00:32:25.069 --> 00:32:29.269 of your life are not only so that you can seek 00:32:29.269 --> 00:32:32.809 for God and cry out to Him, but also that those 00:32:32.809 --> 00:32:35.230 around you. Do you not understand that when you 00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:37.769 seek God and cry out to Him, someone's watching. 00:32:38.130 --> 00:32:41.710 There is an audience for you. And if there is 00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:44.809 no person to see you devoutly turn to the Lord 00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:48.410 God to repent of your sin and follow Jesus in 00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:54.410 totality, in earnest, then at the very least, 00:32:54.430 --> 00:32:57.589 there is a cadre of angels and demons who are 00:32:57.589 --> 00:33:05.930 being witnessed to, for they see. In Romans 8 00:33:05.930 --> 00:33:08.750 .28, it says that all things work together for 00:33:08.750 --> 00:33:11.170 the good, and I looked this up to be 100 % sure 00:33:11.170 --> 00:33:13.609 I had my prepositions in the right place, to 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:17.619 those who love the Lord and are called according 00:33:17.619 --> 00:33:20.160 to his purpose. And so this is what we say, and 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:22.319 I'm not saying it's wrong, that whatever we're 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:24.660 going through, ultimately God can make it turn 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:27.519 out for our good because that's who he is. He 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:28.759 can do that. Whatever we're going through, no 00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:30.319 matter how bad it seems at the time, he can do 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:32.660 that. But would you consider with me now that 00:33:32.660 --> 00:33:34.799 it's entirely possible that the bad that you're 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:39.279 going through is actually there not to produce 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:43.839 a good for you, but to produce a good for others. 00:33:49.109 --> 00:33:51.329 Otherwise, martyrdom raises some serious questions, 00:33:51.430 --> 00:33:56.190 doesn't it? How on earth was Stephen going to 00:33:56.190 --> 00:33:58.950 say, as they were stoning him on the steps of 00:33:58.950 --> 00:34:01.890 the temple, as his blood began to pour, as his 00:34:01.890 --> 00:34:04.250 bones began to break, and his skull was cracked, 00:34:04.450 --> 00:34:06.630 and ultimately laid a heavy stone on his chest 00:34:06.630 --> 00:34:08.309 to suffocate him to death, to be 100 % sure he 00:34:08.309 --> 00:34:10.050 was dead. That's the process of stoning, by the 00:34:10.050 --> 00:34:12.500 way. They throw stuff at you until it knocks 00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:13.699 you down. And then when you're down on the ground, 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.360 they lay a 40 -pound boulder on your chest so 00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:17.420 you can't breathe until you die for sure, in 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:19.179 case you weren't already dead. That's the process. 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:22.380 And while all that's going on, Stephen's going, 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:25.519 God can work it together for my good while all 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.159 this is happening. I love the Lord. I'm called 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:29.500 according to his purpose. So one way or another, 00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:31.739 this is going to work out for my good. That's 00:34:31.739 --> 00:34:36.619 what was going on. Or maybe the apostle. To be 00:34:36.619 --> 00:34:38.760 Saul, who was standing by holding the cloaks 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:39.960 of the men who were stoning and being affected 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:41.800 by the stoning of Stephen. And he was praying, 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:44.039 forgive them for they know not what they do and 00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.059 dying and transitioning straight into heaven. 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:48.900 As that was going on, Saul's life was being changed 00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:52.380 by the good that God was going to bring out of 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:55.800 the stoning of Stephen. What if there's a thousand 00:34:55.800 --> 00:35:00.199 more or virtually an infinite number of more 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:03.380 times that the bad stuff that's in your life 00:35:03.380 --> 00:35:06.909 turns out for the good? Often, I'm sure, of you, 00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:08.610 and ultimately we have salvation, so we're in 00:35:08.610 --> 00:35:10.710 heaven, and so that ultimately is good. But the 00:35:10.710 --> 00:35:13.530 bad stuff is really there to bring about good 00:35:13.530 --> 00:35:19.090 in other people's lives, or good overall. I'll 00:35:19.090 --> 00:35:23.309 give you an illustration. A disgruntled schoolmaster 00:35:23.309 --> 00:35:25.889 handed in her resignation with the following 00:35:25.889 --> 00:35:29.139 comment. In our schools today, the teachers are 00:35:29.139 --> 00:35:30.780 afraid of the principals, the principals are 00:35:30.780 --> 00:35:32.579 afraid of the superintendents, the superintendents 00:35:32.579 --> 00:35:34.280 are afraid of the board members, the board members 00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:36.159 are afraid of the parents, the parents are afraid 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:37.679 of the children, and the children are afraid 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:42.599 of nobody. Therefore, I resign. See, when you 00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:46.739 get things out of order, suddenly, chaos is the 00:35:46.739 --> 00:35:53.099 result. But it's not really chaos. It's meant 00:35:53.099 --> 00:35:55.059 to look like chaos so everyone will think, well, 00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:58.699 it's all over the place and it's all... I can't 00:35:58.699 --> 00:35:59.900 do anything about it. And they'll throw their 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:01.559 hands up and there's nothing I can do. Well, 00:36:01.579 --> 00:36:05.099 guess what? There is something you can do. There 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:07.619 is something that I can do. And it is the same 00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:11.139 process by which the angels handled this situation. 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:14.059 First of all, you can recognize that as a follower, 00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:15.659 assuming you are a follower of the Lord Jesus 00:36:15.659 --> 00:36:16.960 Christ, and if you're not, you need to become 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:19.360 one because therein lies salvation, therein lies 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:21.699 peace for eternity, therein lies eternity with 00:36:21.699 --> 00:36:23.739 God, therein lies forgiveness for your sins. 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:27.840 Assuming you have received Jesus Christ as Lord 00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:31.380 and Savior, then you accept your reassignment. 00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:36.699 You begin to react and respond to that reassignment 00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:42.260 even before you see the results. You might have 00:36:42.260 --> 00:36:45.699 to go through a very difficult time yet here 00:36:45.699 --> 00:36:50.199 on earth. And when that time comes, you will 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:53.880 go through it. God has already promised you will 00:36:53.880 --> 00:36:57.059 arrive on the other side of it. You will glorify 00:36:57.059 --> 00:37:00.760 him in heaven for an eternity. And the bad that 00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:04.360 you face here may not even be for you. It may 00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:07.320 be for others around you who have yet to receive 00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:09.199 salvation. Do you not understand, Christian, 00:37:09.420 --> 00:37:11.179 that you've already been given the keys to the 00:37:11.179 --> 00:37:12.940 kingdom, already given the promise that you shall 00:37:12.940 --> 00:37:15.449 not be overcome by the gates of hell? You cannot 00:37:15.449 --> 00:37:18.650 be held back. You cannot be brought down. Receive 00:37:18.650 --> 00:37:21.210 the promises of God and begin to proclaim them. 00:37:21.269 --> 00:37:23.889 That is your reassignment. And in so doing, realize 00:37:23.889 --> 00:37:26.250 that when you face difficulty, yes, ask yourself, 00:37:26.349 --> 00:37:27.809 what should I learn from this? God, what are 00:37:27.809 --> 00:37:29.369 you trying to do through this? And it says it 00:37:29.369 --> 00:37:30.449 will give you patience. It says it will give 00:37:30.449 --> 00:37:32.929 you strength. You'll persevere, etc., etc., etc. 00:37:33.230 --> 00:37:35.289 But you already have the keys to the kingdom 00:37:35.289 --> 00:37:37.750 and eternity settled and the Holy Spirit presence 00:37:37.750 --> 00:37:41.230 of God in you. What's your problem? Really, what 00:37:41.230 --> 00:37:45.349 is it? Oh, I lost a loved one. You have the Holy 00:37:45.349 --> 00:37:46.949 Spirit presence of God and you've been given 00:37:46.949 --> 00:37:48.409 the keys to the kingdom and will not be overcome 00:37:48.409 --> 00:37:49.889 by the gates of hell and will spend eternity 00:37:49.889 --> 00:37:53.230 with God. What's your problem? I lost a job. 00:37:53.489 --> 00:37:56.150 I love that job. It makes me feel like I died. 00:37:56.590 --> 00:37:58.329 You have the Holy Spirit presence and you've 00:37:58.329 --> 00:37:59.489 been given the keys to the kingdom and you'll 00:37:59.489 --> 00:38:01.849 spend eternity in heaven with God. What's your 00:38:01.849 --> 00:38:04.230 problem? I don't have enough money. You have 00:38:04.230 --> 00:38:05.650 the Holy Spirit presence and you've been given 00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:06.590 the keys to the kingdom and you'll spend eternity 00:38:06.590 --> 00:38:09.449 with God. What's your problem? Let's assume for 00:38:09.449 --> 00:38:11.590 a moment that you have a real, genuine problem 00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:13.250 that you can't do anything about. You know what 00:38:13.250 --> 00:38:16.019 those are? Ultimately, they kill you. They take 00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:18.260 your physical life, or your mental health, or 00:38:18.260 --> 00:38:22.079 both. And you end the journey on this life, at 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:23.860 which point in time you will have the physical 00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:25.980 presence, in a spiritual sense, but the physical 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:27.579 presence of God, so you'll be with him for an 00:38:27.579 --> 00:38:29.840 eternity, praising him for an eternity, and the 00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:31.739 keys of the kingdom that will be left down here 00:38:31.739 --> 00:38:33.360 with the rest of us that are left behind to serve 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:35.699 in your absence. Same as they were with Jesus. 00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:40.960 It takes no more than one link in a chain to 00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:43.780 break in order for the chain to fail. It takes 00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:46.519 nothing more than getting a thing out of its 00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:49.780 proper place for all the things that depend on 00:38:49.780 --> 00:38:52.800 it to be out of place, lost, or collapsing into 00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:56.380 a worthless mess. Get your facts straight. When 00:38:56.380 --> 00:38:59.980 God commands, we respond. We accept the commission. 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:03.219 Plus, we realize that God loves people, loves 00:39:03.219 --> 00:39:06.500 us, and desires what is best. He can work it 00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:10.340 out. Trust Him. Turn to Him. Don't do it your 00:39:10.340 --> 00:39:13.739 way or any way driven by your desire for the 00:39:13.739 --> 00:39:17.099 results. Unless that result is simply making 00:39:17.099 --> 00:39:22.239 sure that God gets the glory. Souls are at stake. 00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:26.000 It's time we stop worrying about what we're going 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:29.900 through and start living our lives about where 00:39:29.900 --> 00:39:32.840 we're headed. Because right now, while we're 00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.820 going through this as bad as it can get at times, 00:39:36.740 --> 00:39:40.099 Souls are at stake. Somebody shared the gospel 00:39:40.099 --> 00:39:45.059 with you. Somebody went beyond, you know, if 00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:47.159 I listed all the difficulties I've faced or others, 00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:51.059 there are people in this room who have been collectively, 00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:56.219 we've been through so much. Novels, whole books. 00:39:57.190 --> 00:39:59.929 dictionaries of suffering, encyclopedias of what 00:39:59.929 --> 00:40:02.550 terrible things can happen in life. In this room 00:40:02.550 --> 00:40:04.789 are those who were molested as a child, psychologically 00:40:04.789 --> 00:40:07.250 abandoned, who faced life -threatening disease, 00:40:07.590 --> 00:40:09.989 who died on the operating table. I'm quoting 00:40:09.989 --> 00:40:11.570 actual stories of people that I know in this 00:40:11.570 --> 00:40:13.590 room who lost a loved one that was the love of 00:40:13.590 --> 00:40:20.909 their life. All in this room. We're not doing 00:40:20.909 --> 00:40:25.690 that just to get by, just to earn a better day. 00:40:26.219 --> 00:40:29.880 to hope for a better tomorrow. We're doing that 00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:33.980 because souls are at stake. The next time you 00:40:33.980 --> 00:40:36.699 feel like you've got nothing left, remember, 00:40:36.860 --> 00:40:38.659 you've got God, you've got the keys to the kingdom 00:40:38.659 --> 00:40:41.380 and eternity ahead with him. Get your butt up 00:40:41.380 --> 00:40:46.659 and respond to the reassignment and wait for 00:40:46.659 --> 00:40:48.840 the results. Because that's what...