WEBVTT

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Do you feel from heaven to earth to show the

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way? From the earth to the cross, by day to day?

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From the cross to the grave, from the grave to

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the sky? Lord, I lift your name on high. As a

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child of her choice. Thank you. Thank you. not

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regale you with tales of how we come to be in

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the book of Jude today. But if I did, it would

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be a grand adventure through 20 books of the

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Bible and probably, I don't know, 4 ,000 verses,

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something like that. And here we are in the book

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of Jude. So pretty cool. God has done amazing

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things, at least in me. And so I hope I can share

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some of that with you. And I think we'll see

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something in these verses today. The sermon is

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entitled, Let's Get a Few Things Straight This

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Year. It is a new year, 2026. We did some incredible

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things in 2025. We got married, praise the Lord.

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We overcame health struggles. We shared the gospel

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and saw lots and lots of people get saved or

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profess to be saved. We baptized some folks.

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We served, I've lost the number exactly, but

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something like, let me see if I can do this here.

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30 ,000 families with emergency food between

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the pantry here and Life Station. Tommy took

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what you're pushing for the year. You're going

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to push 10 ,000, no, 7 ,000 deliveries. What

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was it? For 25? How much? Say it again. 5 ,000

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times Tommy took emergency food to people's houses

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in 2025. So we as a church have done amazing

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things. Some of us moved, and some of us moved

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twice. We worked in the church building. We worked

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on the lot. We worked in the community. We went

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door to door. We have done a lot in 2025. But

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2026 is now our present concern. And there are

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a few things that we need to get straight. The

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lightning point you'll see is ancient delivery.

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So what you're going to see today is a quote,

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essentially. It's not a word -for -word quote.

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But written in the book of Jude is a statement

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saying that the apostles delivered a certain

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message. Now, you and I both know that the apostles

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delivered primarily, first and foremost, the

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gospel of Jesus Christ. They told people how

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to get saved. That's the first. But this other

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part of the message, I hope it won't take you

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by surprise. If it does, we'll adjust to it as

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rapidly as we can. What if the message to us

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is something different from the basic you can

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be saved? That's the question. The truth is you

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can be saved. Those who call upon the name of

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the Lord will not be put to shame. If you will

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confess the Lord Jesus Christ with your mouth

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and believe in him and with your heart that he

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was God's son and deserves to be Lord and was

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raised from the dead, then you will be saved.

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That's what the word says. But there is something

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more. There is another piece. In fact, I submit

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to you that because it consumes the largest part

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of the thinking in the book of Jude, it is a

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very, very important point and it should not

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be missed. We're going to now read from the book

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of Jude, chapter 1, and it is the only chapter

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of the book of Jude. So you can actually write

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this as Jude 17 to 25 because there is no chapter

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2. This is it, just the first chapter. And it

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says this, beginning in verse 17. It says, But

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you, beloved, ought to remember the words that

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were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. And if we stopped right there,

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we would be thinking of the gospel. The truth,

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that you can be saved by believing in Jesus.

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That would be it. They would be going, wow, that's,

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yes, of course, I'm not going to forget that.

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I'm going to live with that in the light of my

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life, in the center of my heart. Every day, all

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day, I'm going to be thinking about how Jesus

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is the way to salvation. That's the message of

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the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he

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goes on to say then, the message includes this,

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that they were saying to you, Not just that you

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could be saved through Jesus Christ, but they

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were saying to you that in the last time there

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will be mockers following after their own godly

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lusts. So a mocker is a person who says that

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Jesus is worthless. That following Jesus means

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nothing. That being a devout Christian, truly

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doing, and as some of the things we're going

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to see in this passage, like that is not worthwhile.

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They will be following after their own ungodly

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lusts means we have things that we want. We have

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desires in our flesh that are not directly related

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to God. We have the lust of the flesh, the lust

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of the eyes, the pride of life, it says elsewhere.

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So the things that we want, we want to feel good

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about ourselves. That's not godly. God says who

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you are, you trust God, believe who he says.

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That's it. Not waking up every day and going,

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I wish I was better, I wish I was stronger, I

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wish I was able, I wish I could say the right

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things, do the right things, wish I made more

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money. But not feeling bad about yourself, but

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realizing God says who you are. A big part of

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knowing who you are is trusting what God says.

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And so if you judge yourself even in saying,

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I am not what God would want me to be, you're

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taking the place of God. You're doing what God

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does. You're doing God's job. But we also know

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there's someone else who does that, and that's

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Satan. And he leads people then. He will trick

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you into thinking that you're not good enough.

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He'll trick you into thinking you don't have

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enough. He'll trick you into thinking you can't

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do or you're not able. Schemes that have lasted

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for thousands. I don't mean 2 ,000 since Jesus.

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I'm talking about way before that. 5 ,000, 6

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,000 years to make people think that they are

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not able to have a relationship with God. These

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lusts, then, we seek after the things that we

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want. Every guy wants a pretty girl. Every girl

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wants a handsome man. Every person wants a good

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income, a safe place, a warm place when it's

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cold, full belly, right? But if those are the

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driving things of your life, you're a little

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better than an animal, frankly, because that's

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not what we were given to want. We were given

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to live for, to want a relationship with God

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that goes on well beyond. You'll never be hungry

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in heaven. So when your hunger is well gone,

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or your inability to control your diet is well

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gone, when your fatigue is well gone, when your

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need for finances are well gone, you need a relationship

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with the living God. And all of those needs and

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so much more will be eternally met. But there

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will be those in the last time who will be mockers

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and following after their own ungodly less. Remember

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that they were saying to you that in the last

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time there will be mockers following after their

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own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause

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divisions. They're the ones who cause the difficulty

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in the church, the difficulty in the kingdom,

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the difficulty in the world. They're worldly

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-minded. They adapt to the system of the world

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and what a person should want or what a person

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should be rather than the system of the kingdom,

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which is listening to God for leadership, direction,

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and molding. They're worldly -minded. They are

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devoid of the Spirit. That means internally they

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have not received, they are not receiving direction

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from the Holy Spirit of God. You could even say

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that means they are not saved truly, though they

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may well be in the church. And this letter is

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written to people who are in the church about

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people who are in the church. It's not gossip

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or slander, but there is a fact that the disciples

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were teaching, the apostles were teaching us

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that as we get closer to the end, there will

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be those who are following their own ungodly

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lusts. Even though they once claimed the name

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of Christ, they said they were Christians and

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they were serving mightily, even doing mighty

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things. They will be the ones who cause divisions,

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the ones who are worldly -minded. They think

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like the world thinks or what the world wants

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them to think. And they are devoid of the presence

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of God or devoid of the Spirit, as verse 19 says.

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Then it says in verse 20, but you, beloved, so

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he's going to say, now this is for you. So if

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you're here today and you're a Christian and

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you understand this teaching that the apostles

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were setting forth for you, which is that there

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will come in the latter day a group of people

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inside the church even, claiming to be Christians

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even, are like what was just described. Then

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he says, but this for you differently. This is

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for you. This is what direction I'm going to

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give you, he says. But you, beloved, he says,

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building yourselves up in your most holy faith.

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In other words, there is work to do, steps to

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be taken. You're putting things together. You're

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making connections. You're not just listening

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to the sermon or listening to the radio or listening

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to the podcast or listening to a show on TV about

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Christ. and filling yourself more and more with

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the word, but you're building your life on what

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you believe. There is a job to be done. We can

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build our lives the way people build their lives.

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We can get jobs, and then get promotions, and

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then get raises, and we can work our way up.

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And they'll tell you, well, if you do a really

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good job for 10 years, some year you'll be promoted,

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and you'll be watching over all the younger people

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who are coming up, right? We can build our lives

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that way. That is not how the kingdom builds.

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We build on faith. We walk not by sight desiring

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what we see, but by faith seeing what God desires.

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He says, you will be building yourselves up on

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your most holy faith. Then he says, you will

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be praying in the Holy Spirit. So it's one thing

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to lift up your concerns to God. We say things

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like, God, I want. God, I need. God, so -and

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-so is sick. God, there's money. You know, where's

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the money going to come from? God, there's a

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bill. I don't know how to pay it. God, please

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protect me from the flu virus that's going around

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and so on. It's one thing to ask God for things.

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It's another thing to open your heart to God

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and say, God, I'm deeply hurt. I don't understand

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why things are the way they are. Why did this

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happen? It's another thing to pray like that.

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And it is still another thing to pray in the

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Holy Spirit. The truth is that what we really

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need, what you really need deep inside, what

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you really need for tomorrow, without any control

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over what tomorrow is actually going to look

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like, the Holy Spirit will help you pray that

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to God. And there's times where you just go,

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God, I know I need, but I don't know what I need.

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I can't imagine what's going to make this better.

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And he says, pray like that, praying in the Holy

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Spirit. Verse 21 says, keeping yourselves or

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keep yourselves in the love of God. The truth

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is, we know when things are calm and everything's

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at peace, I know God loves me. I just know it.

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It's like, it's a given. But when things are

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a little rougher, when the water's more turbulent,

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when the days grow dark or the storms bloom,

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when the winds blow 50 plus mile an hour, we're

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not thinking about whether God loves us or not.

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We're thinking about how we're going to not get

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blown over, how we're not going to collapse under

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stress, how we're not going to blow up and do

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something stupid that we know we shouldn't do

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and so on. And he's saying that in those moments,

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Keep yourself in the love of God and realize

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that, look, if the wind is blowing 50 miles an

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hour, I'm in no real danger. If God blows me

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away, I'm in no real danger. If a car falls on

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my head today, I'm in no real danger. If a bullet

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goes through my brain today, I'm in no real danger.

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I will be immediately translated into the kingdom

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of heaven, which will last for eternity. And

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my body, which is simply carrying me now, will

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cease to exist. The heart that God has given

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me will no longer beat. The brain will no longer

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wave. The muscles will no longer flex. But I

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am in no real danger. And it is by that understanding

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that we keep ourselves in the love of God. He

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says, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. To eternal life. Day by day.

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Our focus is not on what goes right or what goes

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wrong. But where we are headed. What's going

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to happen. The end destination. If you know you're

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saved. Then really the events between now and

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then. They're all grist for the mill. They're

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all passing by. We can say this too shall pass.

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As the scripture often says. It came to pass.

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And that's talking about things that happened

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in the back. In the background. A thousand years

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ago. People died so that you could receive the

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gospel. People gave up their homes, their jobs.

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People were persecuted, thrown in the pit with

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lions. People were sold by the thousands and

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tens of thousands into slavery or into the arena

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in the Roman Colosseum to be killed by lions

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or gladiators and refused to fight back. and

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stood praying in the Spirit, waiting anxiously

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for the mercy of God to truly be revealed, so

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that you and I could receive the gospel. But

00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:09.359
here we are, living in America, where a worldly

00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.339
system says that everyone should try to prosper,

00:20:11.420 --> 00:20:14.059
do well, prepare for tomorrow, and so on. And

00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:17.740
so we take our eyes off of, sometimes, we cease

00:20:17.740 --> 00:20:20.140
waiting anxiously for the mercy of the Lord Jesus

00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:22.759
Christ to eternal life, and still think about

00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:24.220
the things of the world. And he's saying that

00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:28.000
there's better for you. There's better. Had a

00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:29.980
conversation yesterday with a man and woman who

00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:32.019
profess to be Christians and are trying to devoutly

00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:34.440
follow the Lord. And we were talking about how

00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.480
easy it is to be concerned about the things of

00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.619
the present and to do everything that's needed

00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:45.240
to be okay. Take the necessary medicine. You

00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.299
got a headache? Take a pill. Things go differently?

00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:55.640
See a counselor. Adjust. Change. Be affected.

00:20:56.220 --> 00:21:01.660
Right? But God didn't make us okay. God wasn't

00:21:01.660 --> 00:21:03.660
trying to just give us enough to get through.

00:21:04.250 --> 00:21:06.490
Yes, it's a little bit about perseverance. Sometimes

00:21:06.490 --> 00:21:08.569
there are difficult things that even you might

00:21:08.569 --> 00:21:10.750
persevere physical damage that makes it very

00:21:10.750 --> 00:21:12.950
difficult for you to physically survive, right?

00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:14.910
Like your body may die and you have to overcome

00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:17.150
your surgery, overcome your pain, overcome your

00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:18.829
suffering, overcome your disease, overcome the

00:21:18.829 --> 00:21:20.730
physical, somebody shot you, whatever, and you're

00:21:20.730 --> 00:21:22.970
persevering. So sometimes it's about persevering

00:21:22.970 --> 00:21:24.950
and getting through. And all the while, while

00:21:24.950 --> 00:21:27.369
all that is going on, it's actually about waiting

00:21:27.369 --> 00:21:29.589
anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

00:21:29.589 --> 00:21:33.809
to eternal life. Verse 22 says, and have mercy

00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:36.509
on some who are doubting. Realize that there

00:21:36.509 --> 00:21:38.410
are those amongst us, there are those who profess

00:21:38.410 --> 00:21:40.130
to be Christians who are struggling with just

00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:42.609
being a Christian. They're struggling with why

00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:44.349
things are the way they are, questioning God,

00:21:44.430 --> 00:21:46.549
and they might struggle with depression or anxiety

00:21:46.549 --> 00:21:49.250
out of that, or whether or not they can serve,

00:21:49.309 --> 00:21:51.849
being faithful in service. And we ought to show

00:21:51.849 --> 00:21:55.450
mercy, mercy in us, mercy to them, mercy of God

00:21:55.450 --> 00:21:58.430
to both us and them, as we realize what they're

00:21:58.430 --> 00:22:00.980
actually doing is doubting. Doubting God as to

00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:03.059
whether waiting anxiously for mercy, whether

00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:04.759
keeping ourselves in the love of God or praying

00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:06.079
in the Holy Spirit, whether building ourselves

00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.859
up in holy faith will be enough. They're doubting.

00:22:09.019 --> 00:22:11.599
And in that doubting, out of that comes, they

00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.859
start to listen to the lusts, the ungodly lusts.

00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:16.819
They start to mock whether following Jesus is

00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:23.319
really enough. Creating division and so on. And

00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:26.000
we should have mercy on some who are doubting.

00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:29.369
Verse 23 says, save others. That means deliver

00:22:29.369 --> 00:22:33.150
the gospel, that other truth, that first preceding

00:22:33.150 --> 00:22:35.089
truth of Jesus Christ and how to be saved. Save

00:22:35.089 --> 00:22:38.450
others. But listen to this verb. Snatching them.

00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:42.950
Snatching them out of the fire. Snatching them

00:22:42.950 --> 00:22:47.349
out of the fire. And I will do an object lesson

00:22:47.349 --> 00:22:49.910
for that in a moment. It says, and on some, have

00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:53.130
mercy with fear. So we show mercy to them, but...

00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:55.700
But with fear? That's kind of weird. What do

00:22:55.700 --> 00:22:57.740
we have to fear if we're anxiously waiting the

00:22:57.740 --> 00:22:59.119
mercy that God has delivered to us? What do we

00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:00.740
have to fear if we're keeping ourselves in the

00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:02.640
love of God? What do we have to fear if we're

00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.660
praying in the Holy Spirit? He says, but for

00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:12.200
some, show mercy with fear. And then he clarifies.

00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:15.619
He says, hating even the garment polluted by

00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:18.900
the flesh. In other words, there is that thing

00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:22.789
that is involved. While that person, struggling

00:23:22.789 --> 00:23:25.049
with doubt, following their lusts, creating division,

00:23:25.410 --> 00:23:27.410
mocking God, whatever, and you're trying to show

00:23:27.410 --> 00:23:29.750
them mercy, or maybe they're in the very early

00:23:29.750 --> 00:23:31.470
phases and they're doubting, and you go to try

00:23:31.470 --> 00:23:34.230
to show them mercy, and it says that we should

00:23:34.230 --> 00:23:37.130
hate even the garment polluted by the flesh.

00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:39.630
Now you can go and do some theological study

00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:41.009
on that, but here's what I'm going to tell you.

00:23:41.069 --> 00:23:43.849
In the book of Leviticus, there are five, count

00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:47.819
them, five, five of what may... in many cases,

00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.819
be the most boring chapters of the Bible because

00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:52.339
they're very liturgical. They're very rules -oriented,

00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:54.960
right? But there are five chapters dedicated

00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:58.019
to the fact that when a person sins, that which

00:23:58.019 --> 00:24:03.900
they touch becomes affected by their sin. If

00:24:03.900 --> 00:24:06.420
you go and lust after another woman, the clothes

00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:09.680
that you are wearing are now affected by your

00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.720
sin. And then you take those clothes home and

00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:16.900
you put them in the washer and wash it out. And

00:24:16.900 --> 00:24:21.240
that doesn't make any sense. What God is saying

00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:25.079
is sin spreads. You sin, it affects everything

00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:27.900
and everyone around you just as much as it affects

00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:30.920
you. And so when we go to try to show mercy to

00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:33.140
a person who is in sin because they're doubting

00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:35.420
and maybe they've even become a divisive person

00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:39.819
or a mocking person or whatever, we need to understand

00:24:39.819 --> 00:24:42.579
that there is there all around them everything

00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:44.480
that would be necessary for us to go and sin.

00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:47.700
I'll give you an example. you have a brother

00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:49.680
or sister in Christ who claims to be a Christian,

00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:51.359
and you go and you say to them, look, I saw you

00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.980
doing this, and I really think that's not real

00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:56.619
godly, and I think you should repent of that.

00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:58.240
You know, Matthew 18, accountability begins,

00:24:58.339 --> 00:24:59.240
I think you should repent of that, turn back

00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:01.440
to the Lord, and God will heal you, God will

00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:03.460
forgive you, God loves you, God sees better for

00:25:03.460 --> 00:25:05.259
you, and you're saying positive things, and they

00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:08.019
say back to you, well, who are you? Who are you

00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:11.829
to even say that to me? I've been a Christian

00:25:11.829 --> 00:25:14.049
for 20 years, and you've been a Christian for

00:25:14.049 --> 00:25:17.970
a year or five. How much Bible do you even know?

00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:20.670
I can recite 40 verses to you right now. How

00:25:20.670 --> 00:25:23.210
much Bible do you even know? And they come back

00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:26.730
at you with venom. Or they say to you, well,

00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:28.230
yeah, you can say that if you want, but he who

00:25:28.230 --> 00:25:30.769
lives in a glass house ought not throw stones,

00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:34.150
because I saw you do this. Right? And you come

00:25:34.150 --> 00:25:36.069
away from that meeting where basically all you're

00:25:36.069 --> 00:25:38.890
trying to do is help them walk out the thing

00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:41.269
that God has given them to do. Help them be the

00:25:41.269 --> 00:25:43.269
person that God has made them to be. And you're

00:25:43.269 --> 00:25:46.269
now challenged in your faith. And you begin to

00:25:46.269 --> 00:25:48.589
doubt. And there are those amongst us who doubt.

00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:51.069
And we know that. We're warned of that. And so

00:25:51.069 --> 00:25:53.009
what they're saying is don't begin to doubt when

00:25:53.009 --> 00:25:55.750
you carry out Matthew 18 accountability. Or just

00:25:55.750 --> 00:25:57.930
you see somebody walking down the hallway and

00:25:57.930 --> 00:25:59.829
you realize that, oh yeah, there he is. Yeah,

00:25:59.890 --> 00:26:02.960
he lied. I'm not going to do Matthew 18 accountability

00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.119
with him because, you know, I got sins too. I

00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:07.099
shouldn't be judging anybody for the bad things

00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:08.460
they do. So I'm not going to talk to them. I'm

00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:09.579
just going to keep it quiet. I don't want to

00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:11.799
cause any stress or friction or anything like

00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:15.420
that. And you let that go. Well, that's a sin

00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:17.799
against God because Jesus is the one who said

00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:19.160
in Matthew 18 accountability, when a brother

00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:21.619
sins, you go and show him his sin. So now you've

00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:24.079
sinned against God by not going and showing him

00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:26.680
what he was doing wrong, the mistake that he

00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.079
was making. Or you decide, finally, you're like,

00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:30.660
I don't want to sin against God. I'm going to

00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:32.759
do it reluctantly. We're right there. The reluctance

00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:34.900
to follow, that is not walking, building your

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:38.460
life in faith. That's not doing what he just

00:26:38.460 --> 00:26:40.339
said we're called to do. And so you're doubting.

00:26:40.339 --> 00:26:42.400
You're doubting whether by showing somebody Matthew

00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.220
18 accountability that they've done wrong, whether

00:26:44.220 --> 00:26:46.460
you're helping them do better, you're doubting

00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:48.920
whether or not God can have his way. And so then

00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:51.160
that doubt leads you to another problem. And

00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:54.359
so what we're warned of is that all around, people

00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:56.440
who are doubting and doing these kinds of things

00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:59.380
are going to be pitfalls. And he says, see, so

00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:01.859
show the mercy. Still do it. Still go after them.

00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.940
Still help them. Do what you can to help them

00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:06.000
walk it out in the Lord. But do it with fear,

00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:08.619
recognizing that you are going to be exposed

00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:12.380
to the trappings, to the affected things around

00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:17.519
them. Hate even the garment polluted by the flesh.

00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:20.019
Have nothing to do with the thing, the trappings.

00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:24.180
You go, say, well, I'm going to go to my house's

00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:25.400
friend on Sunday. We're going to watch a football

00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:26.920
game. While I watch a football game, I'm going

00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:28.359
to talk to him about Jesus. I'm going to be a

00:27:28.359 --> 00:27:30.599
good example there. I'm going to be godly. I'm

00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:32.279
going to be a godly man. We're going to watch

00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:33.640
football together. Yeah, but I'm going to be

00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:35.579
there as a representative of Christ, telling

00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:37.700
them what they need to know. And by the way,

00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:38.819
if you're going to go watch football with a friend,

00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:41.279
that is how you do it, right? But while you're

00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.380
there, you're going to be watching beer commercials.

00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:45.839
And probably they're going to all be smoking.

00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.779
If they're smokers, drinking. If they're drinkers

00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.180
and talking foul language. And you're going to

00:27:52.180 --> 00:27:55.200
be sitting in that filth the whole time. So yeah,

00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:57.859
go show the mercy. Go do it. But be prepared

00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:00.500
and realize you cannot be part of those things.

00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:03.519
You cannot be affected. You have to walk in faith.

00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.299
You have to build yourself up in faith. You have

00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:08.400
to be prepared for the challenges of this life.

00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:11.140
And we have to go into the dark places and be

00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:13.829
subject to the darkness. that the light that's

00:28:13.829 --> 00:28:16.289
in us may shine there. That's what he's saying.

00:28:16.529 --> 00:28:19.910
So have mercy with fear, hating even the garment

00:28:19.910 --> 00:28:21.829
polluted by the flesh. Verse 24, almost done

00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:24.009
with the text. Now to him who is able to keep

00:28:24.009 --> 00:28:25.829
you from stumbling. Oh, this is the beauty of

00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:29.630
it. So when you go into those dark places to

00:28:29.630 --> 00:28:32.509
take the light of Jesus there, God is able to

00:28:32.509 --> 00:28:34.630
keep you from stumbling. Are you able? Maybe

00:28:34.630 --> 00:28:37.609
not, but God is able. And if God is in you, then

00:28:37.609 --> 00:28:40.049
he is able to keep you pure. He is able to keep

00:28:40.049 --> 00:28:42.869
you. Holy, he is able to keep you clean. He is

00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:46.829
able to make you stand. He who is able to keep

00:28:46.829 --> 00:28:51.029
you from stumbling and to make you stand in the

00:28:51.029 --> 00:28:54.269
presence of his glory, blameless with great joy.

00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:58.130
That is your destination. You are not a human

00:28:58.130 --> 00:29:01.049
being who was fixed up a little bit while you

00:29:01.049 --> 00:29:03.390
were on earth. and is going to be somehow transformed

00:29:03.390 --> 00:29:05.890
to be good enough to be in heaven. You are already

00:29:05.890 --> 00:29:09.089
one who is made able by the Holy God of the universe

00:29:09.089 --> 00:29:11.849
to stand in the throne room of God. And when

00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:14.549
you pray in the Holy Spirit, nothing less than

00:29:14.549 --> 00:29:18.490
that happens. You Skype or Zoom or video call

00:29:18.490 --> 00:29:21.190
somebody and they see your face. You pray to

00:29:21.190 --> 00:29:24.589
God in the Holy Spirit and you stand before the

00:29:24.589 --> 00:29:29.390
Holy God of the universe. fully vindicated by

00:29:29.390 --> 00:29:31.630
the blood of Christ that was paid to wash away

00:29:31.630 --> 00:29:34.450
your sins. Nothing less. It's not a video call

00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:37.809
to God. You are in His presence when you pray

00:29:37.809 --> 00:29:40.970
in the Spirit. Now to Him who is able to keep

00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:42.769
you from stumbling and to make you stand in the

00:29:42.769 --> 00:29:45.710
presence of His glory, blameless, with great

00:29:45.710 --> 00:29:51.049
joy. To the only God our Savior, through Jesus

00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:56.509
Christ our Lord. Be glory. That means He gets

00:29:56.509 --> 00:29:59.789
all the shining. He gets all the light. He gets

00:29:59.789 --> 00:30:02.890
all the attention. You don't worship your wife.

00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:05.210
You don't worship your husband. You don't worship

00:30:05.210 --> 00:30:07.730
your money. You don't worship your car. What

00:30:07.730 --> 00:30:09.269
does it mean to worship? It means to declare

00:30:09.269 --> 00:30:11.250
the worth of. You don't worship your football

00:30:11.250 --> 00:30:13.869
team. You don't worship your quarterback. You

00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:15.890
don't worship your hobbies. You don't worship

00:30:15.890 --> 00:30:20.230
your job. You don't worship anyone except the

00:30:20.230 --> 00:30:24.940
God of the universe. To Him be all glory. All

00:30:24.940 --> 00:30:28.720
majesty. No one and nothing else other than the

00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:30.740
God of the universe is in charge. We don't make

00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:33.579
our decisions by our own ideas. We make them

00:30:33.579 --> 00:30:36.599
by what God wants. Right, Jason? We make them

00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:38.859
by what? Punch him, Tommy. Not too hard. Thank

00:30:38.859 --> 00:30:41.220
you. Appreciate it. All right. We don't make

00:30:41.220 --> 00:30:45.619
our decisions by what my dad thinks. By what

00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:49.359
my mom thinks. By what my pastor thinks. We make

00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:52.500
our decision by the direction of the God of the

00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:55.079
universe who is sovereign. 1 Corinthians 2 says

00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:57.579
you have the mind of Christ. You can know exactly

00:30:57.579 --> 00:31:00.519
what God wants from you. Romans 12 says if you

00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:04.259
will become a person whose mind is renewed daily.

00:31:04.910 --> 00:31:07.029
by following God, by the Word of God, by praying

00:31:07.029 --> 00:31:08.569
in faith, etc., the very things we're talking

00:31:08.569 --> 00:31:10.609
about, then you can know the good and perfect

00:31:10.609 --> 00:31:12.829
and approved will of the God of the universe

00:31:12.829 --> 00:31:15.609
and do exactly that. We have a sovereign Lord.

00:31:15.789 --> 00:31:18.349
He is in charge, and He has all majesty. And

00:31:18.349 --> 00:31:21.630
if your boss says, do it or don't get paid, and

00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:23.869
God says, don't do it, then you say, I'm sorry,

00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:26.630
I can't do it. If your boss says, you need to

00:31:26.630 --> 00:31:28.970
fear me when I give you orders or I'll write

00:31:28.970 --> 00:31:31.130
you up and fire your butt, then you say, and

00:31:31.130 --> 00:31:33.250
if you would do that, I would get a new job.

00:31:34.410 --> 00:31:36.849
Because the God of the universe always provides

00:31:36.849 --> 00:31:39.630
for me. Do you know why wealthy men always land

00:31:39.630 --> 00:31:43.230
on their feet? Because their God provides for

00:31:43.230 --> 00:31:46.990
them. It is their money. And they'll buy a new

00:31:46.990 --> 00:31:50.829
job. You can do that. You go somewhere to someone

00:31:50.829 --> 00:31:53.670
who has the ability to hire you and needs some

00:31:53.670 --> 00:31:55.849
one of your qualifications. You give them gifts.

00:31:56.289 --> 00:31:59.869
You write them letters. You friend them on LinkedIn.

00:32:00.289 --> 00:32:02.869
Spend ads. You make sure they see. Eventually,

00:32:02.869 --> 00:32:04.920
they'll hire you. Because you're capable of doing

00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:06.880
what they need you to do. You can get somebody.

00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:09.259
If you've got the money, you can make money.

00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:12.140
We all know that. And so they always land on

00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:13.799
their feet. You know why Christians always land

00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:16.880
on their feet? Because our God is not money.

00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:20.240
Our God is not time. Our God is not health. It

00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.319
is not relationship. Our God is the God of heaven

00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:27.519
who literally owns it all. That's why if you

00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.700
follow the Lord, you will never truly go hungry

00:32:30.700 --> 00:32:32.640
or without. I'm not saying you'll be wealthy.

00:32:34.190 --> 00:32:36.190
I'm saying God will take care of you because

00:32:36.190 --> 00:32:37.769
he's the sovereign God of the universe and he

00:32:37.769 --> 00:32:40.970
can. It says that to him be all glory, majesty,

00:32:41.269 --> 00:32:43.869
dominion. That means rule and authority. That

00:32:43.869 --> 00:32:47.049
means he says and it happens before all time.

00:32:48.309 --> 00:32:51.029
When there was nothing. When not a single atom

00:32:51.029 --> 00:32:53.710
existed. When there was not a molecule of air.

00:32:54.470 --> 00:32:57.829
When no DNA had ever been written or even needed.

00:32:58.730 --> 00:33:02.250
God spoke into existence. That's Nihilio. He

00:33:02.250 --> 00:33:06.410
created everything out of nothing. Did he lose

00:33:06.410 --> 00:33:09.670
that authority somewhere along the line? Like

00:33:09.670 --> 00:33:12.250
he's been holding it together for so long, God's

00:33:12.250 --> 00:33:16.190
barely keeping up now? No. God gets all glory,

00:33:16.390 --> 00:33:19.029
majesty, dominion, and authority before all time,

00:33:19.150 --> 00:33:23.750
and now, and forever. And then a little amen,

00:33:23.930 --> 00:33:27.269
which says, so let it be. Basically he's saying,

00:33:27.410 --> 00:33:31.279
I'm with it. I'm for that. I agree. Let's give

00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:34.700
it to God. We're going to do a little object

00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:37.400
lesson for a second here. I need a volunteer

00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:48.359
firsthand. All right. Welcome to Game Show. The

00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:52.279
Game Show. Snatch it now. You ready? On the Game

00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:53.640
Show, snatch it now. Stand right there in front

00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:55.480
of the pulpit facing in this direction. Okay,

00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:57.339
the game's so snatched now, we drop the object

00:33:57.339 --> 00:33:59.180
in front of the player. The player attempts to

00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:01.500
grab the object as it falls. Are you ready? If

00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:03.259
you grab all three objects, you win. Guess what?

00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:06.039
Absolutely not. It's just for fun. Okay. All

00:34:06.039 --> 00:34:09.599
right. Here we go. And go. That would be zero

00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:13.139
for one. I'm going to try again. It's just as

00:34:13.139 --> 00:34:16.179
close as that. It's not dirty. Okay, you ready?

00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:19.059
Here we go. Okay. All right. Now, before we go

00:34:19.059 --> 00:34:20.840
on to the third object, what does she do differently?

00:34:21.979 --> 00:34:23.559
The first time, what did she do differently?

00:34:23.619 --> 00:34:25.320
She caught it, that's right. Okay, what else

00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:28.440
did she do differently? She didn't paint. No?

00:34:28.980 --> 00:34:30.780
No, she didn't paint quite as much, that's true.

00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:33.219
Okay, I want you to watch your hands, okay? This

00:34:33.219 --> 00:34:35.260
is the last, this is my sock man. It's a clean

00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:38.280
sock. Okay. I made this. I just want you to know.

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.000
I can give you the recipe if you want. It's a

00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:42.619
three rubber bands, some stuffing, and a sock.

00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:44.579
Clean sock, preferably, but it doesn't have to

00:34:44.579 --> 00:34:47.340
be clean. All right, you ready? Are you watching?

00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.119
Okay, what did she do differently? She held her

00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:55.159
hands out. She prepared, right? Thank you very

00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:57.940
much. You want the sock, ma 'am? Yes. It's yours.

00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:00.639
See, you did win something, but she didn't catch

00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:07.139
it on that try. Okay. All right. There are three

00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:10.300
key attributes of everything. If you distill

00:35:10.300 --> 00:35:13.920
it all down into simple, palatable, digestible

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.739
pieces, there are three key attributes laid out

00:35:16.739 --> 00:35:21.730
in this text. And the first one is... Some years

00:35:21.730 --> 00:35:25.230
ago, I didn't ask permission to share this illustration,

00:35:25.429 --> 00:35:27.329
and that's okay because that's a good one. Some

00:35:27.329 --> 00:35:29.670
years ago, my wife and I were invited over to

00:35:29.670 --> 00:35:32.889
Deacon Tony's house. This was in the very early

00:35:32.889 --> 00:35:36.309
days, or maybe even before New Heights started.

00:35:36.309 --> 00:35:39.550
We were still doing a Juana program at East Toledo

00:35:39.550 --> 00:35:42.150
Baptist Church, and we had a fellowship, and

00:35:42.150 --> 00:35:44.010
we were going to just kind of eat and play games

00:35:44.010 --> 00:35:46.289
and stuff, and mostly in Tony's garage. We were

00:35:46.289 --> 00:35:47.989
also in the kitchen, the backyard, and all around

00:35:47.989 --> 00:35:51.219
and stuff. And at one point in time, Tony, I

00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:53.219
remember him very, very vividly standing in the

00:35:53.219 --> 00:35:56.179
doorway to his garage. And he was holding up

00:35:56.179 --> 00:35:58.900
his Bible and he had his finger in it like this.

00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:02.280
And he began to speak from 2 Timothy 2 .15. Now

00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:04.500
that's the key verse for a wanted study to show

00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:09.280
yourself approved, right? And in there is a word.

00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.219
I imagine you know what the word is. Diligent.

00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:18.199
Be diligent. And at that time, Deacon Tony told

00:36:18.199 --> 00:36:20.519
me, he told us, Sherry was there, my kids were

00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:22.940
there, some of the LITs were there, I don't remember

00:36:22.940 --> 00:36:24.880
who all it was, other family members and so on.

00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.139
He told us that he had taken the time to look

00:36:27.139 --> 00:36:30.460
up the word diligent. When he was reading that

00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:31.940
verse, he said, I looked up the word diligent.

00:36:33.739 --> 00:36:37.059
And he said, I was convicted. I was cut to the

00:36:37.059 --> 00:36:39.960
quick. He said, because this is what the word

00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:45.260
diligent means to me. It means work hard. And

00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:47.639
he said, that's something I can do. I can work

00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:51.619
hard. He said, it means to prepare yourself and

00:36:51.619 --> 00:36:55.800
work hard. To do the job. To not quit. And these

00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:57.300
are all things I know how to do. I do them all

00:36:57.300 --> 00:36:58.920
the time. I do them in my job. I do them in life.

00:36:59.059 --> 00:36:59.960
These are all things I know how to do. You know

00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:03.380
how to do it. You're still here. And the Bible

00:37:03.380 --> 00:37:06.119
says we're to be diligent. Now that verse says

00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:08.840
be diligent to show yourself a workman who need

00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:12.039
not be ashamed to prove rightly dividing the

00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:13.539
word of truth. Talking about the Bible specifically,

00:37:13.780 --> 00:37:19.079
right? This diligence tells us how to live. It

00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:21.539
tells us what to do. If you know what to do,

00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:25.219
then prepare yourself to do it. Do the work.

00:37:25.940 --> 00:37:30.579
If I told you that in a year from now, you're

00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:32.480
going to be working a job that requires you to

00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:36.260
lift 50 pounds every two minutes for eight hours

00:37:36.260 --> 00:37:38.699
straight, and you're going to make $100 ,000

00:37:38.699 --> 00:37:41.400
a day, and if you believe me, you'd start working

00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:44.159
out. You start consuming protein. You're like

00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:47.420
50 pounds every two minutes, but $100 ,000 a

00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:52.860
day. Gosh, that's a lot. That's 30 times an hour.

00:37:53.260 --> 00:37:56.159
I'm going to have to do 240 times a day, 50 pounds.

00:37:56.239 --> 00:37:58.329
I'm going to start today. Today, I'm going to

00:37:58.329 --> 00:38:00.269
say, can I lift 50 pounds? Oh, boy, I can. Just

00:38:00.269 --> 00:38:03.309
barely. I'll do it once, and an hour later, I'll

00:38:03.309 --> 00:38:04.710
do it. An hour later, I'll do it. And then tomorrow,

00:38:04.789 --> 00:38:06.809
I'll do it twice every hour. And the next day,

00:38:06.829 --> 00:38:08.269
I'll do it three times every hour, and then four

00:38:08.269 --> 00:38:11.210
times every hour. And you'd go until 365 days

00:38:11.210 --> 00:38:13.670
from now. You'd start that job lifting 50 pounds

00:38:13.670 --> 00:38:16.150
every two minutes, and you'd be ready. Now, your

00:38:16.150 --> 00:38:17.550
muscles would be a little bit more ripped. Your

00:38:17.550 --> 00:38:19.289
pecs would be stronger. Your biceps would be

00:38:19.289 --> 00:38:22.210
stronger. Your sleeves would be tight. But you'd

00:38:22.210 --> 00:38:25.610
be ready. And if it was for $100 ,000 a day?

00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:29.760
You wouldn't lift 50 pounds starting tomorrow

00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:33.699
every hour? Sure would. It's nothing less than

00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:35.940
what God is asking us to do. Not physically.

00:38:35.940 --> 00:38:37.920
He's not asking you to work out. God's not even

00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:40.840
asking you to completely change your diet, sleep

00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:43.340
schedule, nutrition, hydration, etc. Which most

00:38:43.340 --> 00:38:45.559
of us probably need to do. And we would probably

00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:47.139
be found faithful if we did that. But he does

00:38:47.139 --> 00:38:51.239
say, building yourself up in faith. And guess

00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:53.980
what? You're at New Heights Fellowship Baptist

00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:57.039
Church Sunday gathering. And we have talked a

00:38:57.039 --> 00:38:59.679
hundred times or more about how to build yourself

00:38:59.679 --> 00:39:02.960
up in faith. They're called the spiritual disciplines.

00:39:03.219 --> 00:39:05.840
We highlight ten of them. Right now we're highlighting

00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:07.719
meditation and prayer, which is actually two

00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:12.099
of them. So, no surprise, you should be meditating

00:39:12.099 --> 00:39:16.599
and praying. Now think, in the last seven days,

00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:20.260
how often have you meditated and prayed? If you

00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:22.739
can't say it's every day, then I'm going to say

00:39:22.739 --> 00:39:25.219
to you that you have not been diligent in building

00:39:25.219 --> 00:39:30.900
yourself up in faith. But it's also reading your

00:39:30.900 --> 00:39:33.400
Bible. It's also worshiping. When we sang, did

00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:36.300
you sing? If you couldn't sing, if you couldn't

00:39:36.300 --> 00:39:38.239
bring yourself to sing, did you find in yourself

00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:41.179
a worshipful attitude? Did you meditate on the

00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:43.000
words? Did you think about the words? Were you

00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:44.679
worshiping God when you worshiped? You can't

00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:46.800
worship God in here. You're proud with others

00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:49.400
who are... trying, all overcoming our own barriers

00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:51.119
and whatever, to do that. You're probably not

00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:54.300
going to do it tomorrow afternoon at 1. But if

00:39:54.300 --> 00:39:56.119
you're building yourself up in faith, you're

00:39:56.119 --> 00:39:57.480
going to practice the spiritual disciplines.

00:39:57.659 --> 00:39:59.300
You could literally do this. You could say, I'm

00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:01.980
going to write a plan for myself on how, it's

00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:04.519
going to be like a training plan, on how I'm

00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:07.329
going to build myself up in faith, and you can

00:40:07.329 --> 00:40:09.090
take each of the spiritual disciplines. I can

00:40:09.090 --> 00:40:11.329
give you a book that I wrote that describes every

00:40:11.329 --> 00:40:13.030
one if you want. You can look them up on the

00:40:13.030 --> 00:40:15.090
internet. Google them. Chat GPT. Whatever you

00:40:15.090 --> 00:40:18.050
do, it'll give you not 10, but probably 20. And

00:40:18.050 --> 00:40:19.809
then you can go down the list and pick your favorite

00:40:19.809 --> 00:40:23.269
10 and find a way to do every single one of those

00:40:23.269 --> 00:40:26.469
things every single day. And in one week, in

00:40:26.469 --> 00:40:28.489
seven days of doing every single one of those

00:40:28.489 --> 00:40:31.570
things every day, you will find that you are

00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:35.900
a more powerful, God -filled, Spirit -led, Christian.

00:40:36.260 --> 00:40:38.099
And you're not doing it, and I don't know why.

00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:44.280
Building yourself up in faith, be diligent. Work

00:40:44.280 --> 00:40:48.980
hard at it. Praying in the Holy Spirit, be diligent.

00:40:50.420 --> 00:40:52.480
Are you going to pray in the Holy Spirit? Well,

00:40:52.659 --> 00:40:54.860
you know, you might want to start by repenting

00:40:54.860 --> 00:40:56.219
of sin, because the Holy Spirit doesn't really

00:40:56.219 --> 00:40:57.300
have anything to do with that. He's not interested.

00:40:58.059 --> 00:41:00.079
So if you're living in sin right now, stop it.

00:41:00.780 --> 00:41:02.860
Say, no, I'm done. I'm going to surrender my

00:41:02.860 --> 00:41:04.480
life to the Lord and live the way God wants me

00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:06.539
to live. And I'm going to do that praying in

00:41:06.539 --> 00:41:08.539
the Holy Spirit. So I'm going to sit down. I'm

00:41:08.539 --> 00:41:11.159
going to say, God, I want to tell you, I really

00:41:11.159 --> 00:41:13.500
want to tell you what I got on my mind. I really

00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:16.940
want to tell you what concerns me. But what I

00:41:16.940 --> 00:41:21.519
really want is what you want. So now, Lord, help

00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:25.679
me pray what you want me to pray. And it may

00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:27.920
come out like babbling or rumbling or grunting.

00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:32.840
Or not like words at all. You might not make

00:41:32.840 --> 00:41:37.860
a sound. Are you taking time? Well, I mean, if

00:41:37.860 --> 00:41:39.059
you're going to pray in the Holy Spirit, you're

00:41:39.059 --> 00:41:40.340
going to have to repent of sin. You're going

00:41:40.340 --> 00:41:41.579
to have to mark out a little bit of time. You're

00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:42.679
going to have to spend a little time in the Word,

00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:44.559
figure out what that looks like maybe. There

00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:47.460
might be some steps that you could take to talk

00:41:47.460 --> 00:41:49.840
to God the way God wants you to talk to Him.

00:41:51.539 --> 00:41:55.739
Be diligent. Work at it. Keep yourself in the

00:41:55.739 --> 00:41:58.650
love of God. To keep something is to store it.

00:41:58.710 --> 00:42:00.829
It's to mark out a boundary. It stays there.

00:42:00.929 --> 00:42:03.510
My dishes are in the cupboard or on the rack

00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:06.570
drying or in the sink waiting to be washed. They

00:42:06.570 --> 00:42:08.570
are not meant to be sitting all throughout the

00:42:08.570 --> 00:42:12.070
house. Keep them where they belong. If you're

00:42:12.070 --> 00:42:13.630
not actively using them, put them in the sink,

00:42:13.769 --> 00:42:15.889
wash them, put them on a rack, put them in the

00:42:15.889 --> 00:42:17.789
cupboard. That's where they belong. You keep

00:42:17.789 --> 00:42:22.670
the dishes where they belong. Keep yourself in

00:42:22.670 --> 00:42:25.550
the love of God. When what you say is not loving,

00:42:25.590 --> 00:42:30.449
shut up. When what you do is hateful, stop. When

00:42:30.449 --> 00:42:36.929
what you watch is evil or wicked, don't. Do the

00:42:36.929 --> 00:42:42.030
work. Keep yourself in the love of God. If you've

00:42:42.030 --> 00:42:43.750
got nothing better to do, if you're sitting bored,

00:42:44.030 --> 00:42:46.409
you've got to reach for your phone to check social

00:42:46.409 --> 00:42:50.250
media. Before you do that, recite a minimum of

00:42:50.250 --> 00:42:52.590
three miraculous events from Scripture that you're

00:42:52.590 --> 00:42:54.739
aware of. Think of it. Just think about the feeding

00:42:54.739 --> 00:42:58.239
of the 5 ,000 or the walking on water or one

00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:03.420
of the 10 plagues against Pharaoh in Egypt. Think

00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:05.440
about three miracles that God did before you

00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:07.619
ever lived and three miracles that God has done

00:43:07.619 --> 00:43:09.480
in your life or the life of somebody close to

00:43:09.480 --> 00:43:11.159
you that you know before you reach for social

00:43:11.159 --> 00:43:13.579
media. All social media does is make you wish

00:43:13.579 --> 00:43:17.179
your life was like theirs anyway. It's proven

00:43:17.179 --> 00:43:20.260
science. Messes with your head and your psychology

00:43:20.260 --> 00:43:22.699
and your emotions and your spirit. And I'm not

00:43:22.699 --> 00:43:24.960
saying it's sin by any means, but you should

00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:27.159
keep yourself in the love of the Lord first,

00:43:27.300 --> 00:43:31.639
waiting anxiously for the mercy of our God. This

00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:36.960
is permission? To be anxious? All of us, lots

00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:38.639
of us like to do that anyway, right? We want

00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:39.960
to do that. I want to be anxious. I want to be

00:43:39.960 --> 00:43:41.739
excited. I want to be apprehensive. I want to

00:43:41.739 --> 00:43:44.000
be worried. I'm concerned. Where is this going?

00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:45.320
What's going to happen? We're going to do that.

00:43:45.690 --> 00:43:47.610
So here's permission to be anxious. But it is

00:43:47.610 --> 00:43:50.389
literally the only thing to be anxious for. We

00:43:50.389 --> 00:43:53.690
should keep ourselves anxiously waiting for the

00:43:53.690 --> 00:43:55.510
mercy of our Lord. What does that look like?

00:43:55.869 --> 00:43:57.949
Well, for one, you might want to stop and think

00:43:57.949 --> 00:43:59.809
about the fact that your life compared to the

00:43:59.809 --> 00:44:00.889
life you're going to have when you're in heaven

00:44:00.889 --> 00:44:04.329
is crap. It's crap. Sitting at your daughter's

00:44:04.329 --> 00:44:06.570
graduation is crap compared to heaven. It's nothing.

00:44:06.630 --> 00:44:09.030
It's worthless. It's useless. The fun you have

00:44:09.030 --> 00:44:10.929
with your kids crawling around the floor, nursing

00:44:10.929 --> 00:44:15.000
babies, raising kids. Doing jobs, receiving money,

00:44:15.179 --> 00:44:19.400
it's all nothing compared to the one second in

00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:21.960
heaven with God. There is nothing that we can

00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:25.340
have. It's all a tiny fractured image of how

00:44:25.340 --> 00:44:27.619
good it's going to be then. So every time you

00:44:27.619 --> 00:44:30.480
experience good, think, this is awesome. Praise

00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:32.559
the Lord for his sovereignty. Praise the Lord

00:44:32.559 --> 00:44:34.159
he gave me this. But man, that's going to be

00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:35.860
better. And every time you experience trouble,

00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:37.800
difficulty, and it gets bad, you're like, man,

00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:39.579
I can barely stand. I feel bad. I don't know

00:44:39.579 --> 00:44:41.420
what's going on. I can't figure it out. You're

00:44:41.420 --> 00:44:42.960
mourning. You're lost. You're depressed. You're

00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:46.179
angry, whatever. You say, but this is temporal.

00:44:47.380 --> 00:44:50.440
I've been here before. And it's going to be a

00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:52.440
minute, an hour, or a day, and it'll be over.

00:44:53.139 --> 00:44:55.380
And eventually my life will be done and it'll

00:44:55.380 --> 00:44:58.500
be over forever. We're waiting anxiously. When

00:44:58.500 --> 00:45:01.159
you're really going through it, you should be

00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:02.980
thinking about when it's really going to be over.

00:45:03.360 --> 00:45:05.840
And when you're really receiving, prospering,

00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:07.780
doing good, you think about when it's really

00:45:07.780 --> 00:45:09.880
going to be over. Everybody thinks that you get

00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:11.559
more money and that's always a good thing. It

00:45:11.559 --> 00:45:14.280
isn't even true. You get more accolades and it's

00:45:14.280 --> 00:45:16.159
always a good thing. That isn't even true. Half

00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:17.960
the time money and accolades is a bad thing.

00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:21.199
More than half probably because our job is to

00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:23.179
be anxiously awaiting the mercy of the Lord.

00:45:23.219 --> 00:45:24.380
And if you've got plenty of money, you really

00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:27.800
don't need it. If you've got plenty of accolades,

00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:29.460
you really don't need it. Why do you need to

00:45:29.460 --> 00:45:31.079
listen to what God says about you when you've

00:45:31.079 --> 00:45:34.000
got 15 people telling you about you what you

00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:37.300
want to think about you? The answer is you don't.

00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:41.760
Be diligent to be anxiously waiting for the appearing

00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:45.420
of the mercy of the Lord. The gospel, the truth

00:45:45.420 --> 00:45:48.000
of Jesus Christ, salvation, is not a burden.

00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:51.000
It's not a heavy weight to bear. It's not cumbersome,

00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:55.500
tiring. It isn't an extra schedule consideration.

00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:58.360
Like, oh, I'm going to go to church, but I might

00:45:58.360 --> 00:45:59.579
not be able to go to church that day because

00:45:59.579 --> 00:46:01.519
I have these other things I have to do. Or I'm

00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:03.239
going to read my Bible, but I might not be able

00:46:03.239 --> 00:46:04.679
to because I've got to be to work at a certain

00:46:04.679 --> 00:46:08.659
time. The Bible, God, the truth of Jesus, His

00:46:08.659 --> 00:46:11.099
presence, these are not extras. They are the

00:46:11.099 --> 00:46:14.239
whole thing. The whole thing. story of all creation,

00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:16.400
all history, all lives of men from birth to death.

00:46:16.980 --> 00:46:20.099
All the Word, written by over 40 authors over

00:46:20.099 --> 00:46:23.260
1 ,400 years, most of which didn't even know

00:46:23.260 --> 00:46:25.900
each other, and it all has the same theme. Why

00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:27.500
do you think it's like that? It's like that because

00:46:27.500 --> 00:46:30.599
all of life is about this one point, the fact

00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:32.219
that mankind was made for a relationship with

00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:34.519
God and doesn't have it unless he has it through

00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.380
Jesus Christ. That's not a burden. That's the

00:46:37.380 --> 00:46:43.340
key that unlocks tomorrow and eternity. The gospel

00:46:43.340 --> 00:46:46.019
is not a burden. It's not a cumbersome or tiring

00:46:46.019 --> 00:46:48.340
thing. It's not an extra weight to bear. It's

00:46:48.340 --> 00:46:51.460
not an extra schedule consideration. If it's

00:46:51.460 --> 00:46:54.219
treated that way, it will be a thing dispensed

00:46:54.219 --> 00:46:56.760
within dark times rather than a thing clung to.

00:46:56.920 --> 00:46:59.860
In other words, you're going to let it go. When

00:46:59.860 --> 00:47:01.639
you're really sad, upset, hurting, struggling,

00:47:01.860 --> 00:47:03.619
you're going to let the gospel go. You're not

00:47:03.619 --> 00:47:04.539
going to worry about that. You're going to think

00:47:04.539 --> 00:47:08.280
about pills or counseling or just body healing,

00:47:08.480 --> 00:47:11.360
changes you might make. You're going to think

00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:13.280
about every other method of salvation except

00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:14.880
for the one method of salvation that not only

00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:18.340
saves your body, it saves your soul. The gospel,

00:47:18.460 --> 00:47:21.639
if it's an extra burden to you, if being a church

00:47:21.639 --> 00:47:24.300
member, being a saved Christian, serving God

00:47:24.300 --> 00:47:27.639
is an extra thing for you, then when you cut

00:47:27.639 --> 00:47:29.300
your life down to only the things that you can

00:47:29.300 --> 00:47:32.900
handle, when you trim everything back and focus

00:47:32.900 --> 00:47:35.900
on what you really need to deal with, you'll

00:47:35.900 --> 00:47:39.280
let the gospel go. You'll let Jesus go. You'll

00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:42.019
let faithful following go. You'll let anxiously

00:47:42.019 --> 00:47:46.199
waiting go. Don't be that person. Diligently

00:47:46.199 --> 00:47:49.940
apply what God has given you, what God has given

00:47:49.940 --> 00:47:51.599
us, the spiritual disciplines, walking in faith,

00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:56.079
walking in love, etc. In the darkest hours, if

00:47:56.079 --> 00:47:59.920
the gospel, the truth of God, isn't a thing to

00:47:59.920 --> 00:48:05.400
cling to, then its true nature was never known,

00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:07.739
and it has probably never come to your house.

00:48:08.679 --> 00:48:12.619
That is to say, you are not saved. When you get

00:48:12.619 --> 00:48:15.139
down, you have nothing left. If you need help

00:48:15.139 --> 00:48:18.679
to take your next breath, and you can't cling

00:48:18.679 --> 00:48:24.380
to Jesus in that moment, a moment later, you

00:48:24.380 --> 00:48:29.380
may be in hell instead of heaven. And so it needs

00:48:29.380 --> 00:48:32.099
to be like that when the money's flowing or not,

00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:35.559
when the health is good or not, when the relationships

00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:39.389
are great or struggling. When the task is large

00:48:39.389 --> 00:48:42.489
or seems pretty easy. When the pathway is bumpy

00:48:42.489 --> 00:48:45.610
or seems pretty smooth. When the air is calm

00:48:45.610 --> 00:48:49.550
or the storm is raging. When the water is placid

00:48:49.550 --> 00:48:54.090
or the waves are so high that you can't see the

00:48:54.090 --> 00:48:58.010
boats. The gospel salvation, Jesus Christ, has

00:48:58.010 --> 00:48:59.809
to come to the center of your being and be like

00:48:59.809 --> 00:49:02.269
that. And I'm telling you, I know a lot of Christians

00:49:02.269 --> 00:49:05.530
that I don't think that's true. I'm asking, can

00:49:05.530 --> 00:49:08.210
you cling to Jesus when you can cling to nothing

00:49:08.210 --> 00:49:12.210
else? You know how many boats left docks without

00:49:12.210 --> 00:49:15.050
life jackets or life preservers or escape boats?

00:49:17.989 --> 00:49:21.889
Too many. And some of them sank. And the people

00:49:21.889 --> 00:49:26.639
died. If you leave the dock and you go out to

00:49:26.639 --> 00:49:29.340
do what it is that you do and you let go of God,

00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:32.719
you let go of diligently building yourself up,

00:49:32.820 --> 00:49:34.900
praying in the Holy Spirit, diligently keeping

00:49:34.900 --> 00:49:36.739
yourselves in the love of God, diligently waiting

00:49:36.739 --> 00:49:39.239
anxiously for the mercy of the Lord, then when

00:49:39.239 --> 00:49:41.860
your ship is sinking, you will reach for something

00:49:41.860 --> 00:49:47.059
else. And if you don't survive that moment, you'll

00:49:47.059 --> 00:49:49.460
go tumbling into hell with all those who reached

00:49:49.460 --> 00:49:52.239
for something else for their whole life. And

00:49:52.239 --> 00:49:54.940
that would be just dumb. That would be foolishness

00:49:54.940 --> 00:49:57.119
because right now, you're where you need to be.

00:49:57.179 --> 00:49:58.619
Right now, you're hearing the truth. Right now,

00:49:58.659 --> 00:50:00.539
you have the Word. Right now, you have access

00:50:00.539 --> 00:50:05.199
to Christ. But in the last day, there will be

00:50:05.199 --> 00:50:07.840
those who do this very thing that we are talking

00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:11.420
about. And we are warned by the apostles at the

00:50:11.420 --> 00:50:13.320
very beginning of the church that in the church,

00:50:13.400 --> 00:50:18.159
there will in the last day be those. I don't

00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:20.780
want it to be me. I don't want it to be you.

00:50:21.820 --> 00:50:24.210
And I don't think you want it to be you. And

00:50:24.210 --> 00:50:28.010
I sure hope you don't want it to be me. The second

00:50:28.010 --> 00:50:32.150
point that encapsulates it, that makes it clear,

00:50:32.230 --> 00:50:35.250
makes it palatable, makes it workable, is mercy.

00:50:36.630 --> 00:50:40.010
And it says, and have mercy on some. And it says,

00:50:40.030 --> 00:50:42.230
save others, snatching them out of the fire.

00:50:42.710 --> 00:50:48.289
And it says, on some have mercy with fear. We

00:50:48.289 --> 00:50:51.170
are a people of mercy. If you have been saved

00:50:51.170 --> 00:50:53.880
by the living God of the universe, How dare you

00:50:53.880 --> 00:50:55.739
walk around and think that there are people around

00:50:55.739 --> 00:50:58.619
you that you would not want to be saved? If you

00:50:58.619 --> 00:51:00.559
are anxiously awaiting the appearing of the mercy

00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:02.699
to go to heaven and one day be with the Lord

00:51:02.699 --> 00:51:07.679
forever, how could we possibly tolerate anyone

00:51:07.679 --> 00:51:13.760
around us who mocks God, creates division, struggles,

00:51:13.880 --> 00:51:17.280
and we just go, that's okay for them, not for

00:51:17.280 --> 00:51:23.440
me. No. We are called to mercy. Share the truth

00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:25.800
of Jesus Christ. You say, but he doesn't want

00:51:25.800 --> 00:51:28.059
to hear it. I don't care if he wants to hear

00:51:28.059 --> 00:51:29.980
it or not. I don't think God cares whether he

00:51:29.980 --> 00:51:32.000
wants to hear it or not. Well, they're going

00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:35.239
to get angry. I don't think we care whether they're

00:51:35.239 --> 00:51:39.199
going to get angry. I'm not saying be mean. I'm

00:51:39.199 --> 00:51:42.179
not saying insult them. Say, you're so stupid

00:51:42.179 --> 00:51:45.199
that you won't accept Jesus. First of all, That's

00:51:45.199 --> 00:51:47.000
probably not going to rile them up as much as

00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:48.860
if you just told the truth about Jesus, that

00:51:48.860 --> 00:51:50.579
they can't go to heaven unless they accept him.

00:51:50.599 --> 00:51:52.139
That's probably going to blow them up even more.

00:51:54.239 --> 00:51:55.840
Because you say, they're so stupid, you won't

00:51:55.840 --> 00:51:56.940
believe in Jesus. They're probably going to say

00:51:56.940 --> 00:51:58.400
back to you, you're so stupid, you don't believe

00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:00.019
in Jesus. Because they're a mocker. They're used

00:52:00.019 --> 00:52:02.739
to mocking and being mocked. That's their language.

00:52:02.940 --> 00:52:04.019
They don't have a problem with that. But if you

00:52:04.019 --> 00:52:06.699
just lay it out, when the next time somebody

00:52:06.699 --> 00:52:08.420
offends you, you say, well, you know what? I

00:52:08.420 --> 00:52:11.599
have done worse. And Jesus, Jesus forgave me.

00:52:12.010 --> 00:52:13.949
I have received mercy from the Lord of the universe.

00:52:14.050 --> 00:52:15.949
And having received that mercy, I now give you

00:52:15.949 --> 00:52:18.989
mercy. I will not take vengeance on you. I'm

00:52:18.989 --> 00:52:20.769
not going to snap at you. I'm not going to treat

00:52:20.769 --> 00:52:22.610
you with disrespect. I'm not going to look down

00:52:22.610 --> 00:52:23.710
at you. I'm not going to go somewhere else and

00:52:23.710 --> 00:52:26.849
talk about you. None of it. I give you mercy.

00:52:27.329 --> 00:52:29.889
I offer you forgiveness. You think they're going

00:52:29.889 --> 00:52:32.429
to like it? Well, some are going to see that

00:52:32.429 --> 00:52:34.469
as different than what the world does. And it's

00:52:34.469 --> 00:52:36.789
going to provoke a question in them. And then

00:52:36.789 --> 00:52:39.630
you can explain by simple methods. John 3 .16,

00:52:39.750 --> 00:52:42.170
for God so loved the world. Romans wrote, While

00:52:42.170 --> 00:52:44.769
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And

00:52:44.769 --> 00:52:46.070
all you have to do is believe in your heart and

00:52:46.070 --> 00:52:50.050
confess with your mouth. Or just, Jesus died

00:52:50.050 --> 00:52:51.690
for me and I'm saved and I want you to have it

00:52:51.690 --> 00:52:55.949
too. As simple or as complex as you or they need,

00:52:56.130 --> 00:52:58.710
in that moment you share why you're giving them

00:52:58.710 --> 00:53:03.130
mercy and you snatch them out of the fire. We'll

00:53:03.130 --> 00:53:06.449
come back to that at the closing. The last one

00:53:06.449 --> 00:53:08.670
that's in this text is simple, palatable, we

00:53:08.670 --> 00:53:11.130
can work with it, we can do it, is practice caution.

00:53:11.760 --> 00:53:14.900
It's caution. He uses this phrase. He said, hating

00:53:14.900 --> 00:53:18.219
even the garment polluted by the flesh. Mercy

00:53:18.219 --> 00:53:23.679
on some who are doubting. Mercy with fear. Because

00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:29.179
polluted garments, the trappings of being a sinner,

00:53:29.280 --> 00:53:32.280
will affect you. They'll affect you. They'll

00:53:32.280 --> 00:53:34.099
affect your family. They'll affect your kids.

00:53:35.219 --> 00:53:41.010
Mercy is needed. We've become agents of this

00:53:41.010 --> 00:53:45.550
mercy. We speak urgently because reality is urgent.

00:53:46.090 --> 00:53:48.590
People live 50 years. Do you know that there

00:53:48.590 --> 00:53:51.630
are people still, surely, all over the world

00:53:51.630 --> 00:53:55.690
probably, living 50 or 80 years and dying, not

00:53:55.690 --> 00:53:59.610
having a Christian in their life clearly entreating

00:53:59.610 --> 00:54:01.670
them, trying to deliver the mercy of God. When

00:54:01.670 --> 00:54:05.010
I was 25 years old, Sherry and I decided, we

00:54:05.010 --> 00:54:06.530
said, well, there's got to be something more

00:54:06.530 --> 00:54:09.699
to life. We were at wit's end. We had two cars.

00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:11.320
Each one had a payment. We had a house, had a

00:54:11.320 --> 00:54:14.639
payment. We bought a mower for our yard on a

00:54:14.639 --> 00:54:15.940
credit card. I'm driving back and I'm going,

00:54:15.980 --> 00:54:17.539
okay, let's see. I don't want a boat and I don't

00:54:17.539 --> 00:54:19.219
want an RV. I've already got a motorcycle, two

00:54:19.219 --> 00:54:23.019
cars, a house, one kid, a lawnmower, riding lawnmower,

00:54:23.039 --> 00:54:26.179
so I don't have to push it anymore. Hmm. Oh,

00:54:26.219 --> 00:54:28.760
I think I'm done. Got everything I need, everything

00:54:28.760 --> 00:54:31.679
I wanted. And I'm like, is that it? Really? I

00:54:31.679 --> 00:54:33.239
mean, a lot of people live to be 80. So from

00:54:33.239 --> 00:54:35.920
25 to 80, I'm just going to live like I beat

00:54:35.920 --> 00:54:37.980
life. I won. I've got all the trappings. It doesn't

00:54:37.980 --> 00:54:40.519
make any sense. That can't be it. So we just

00:54:40.519 --> 00:54:42.039
pay off the debts. But then the cars are going

00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:43.420
to go bad. So you're going to get new loans maybe

00:54:43.420 --> 00:54:46.760
or buy new cars to repair the house. So now we've

00:54:46.760 --> 00:54:48.239
got everything. So now all we have to do is spend

00:54:48.239 --> 00:54:50.440
the next 65 years taking care of it and we win.

00:54:50.900 --> 00:54:53.260
That's it? That's how that goes? Didn't make

00:54:53.260 --> 00:54:55.119
sense. So Sherry and I are sitting on the couch.

00:54:55.179 --> 00:54:56.699
We're talking about it and say, well, we've got

00:54:56.699 --> 00:54:59.079
to figure out there's something more. Maybe it's

00:54:59.079 --> 00:55:01.760
faith. Maybe it's church, right? And so we say,

00:55:01.800 --> 00:55:04.039
well, we're going to go to the only church where

00:55:04.039 --> 00:55:07.139
we know where there is a person, get this, who

00:55:07.139 --> 00:55:10.900
has ever told us that they are a Christian. At

00:55:10.900 --> 00:55:15.039
25 years old, we knew one, exactly one person

00:55:15.039 --> 00:55:18.820
in all of our life that had ever said, I am a

00:55:18.820 --> 00:55:20.900
Christian and I go to church. That's how many

00:55:20.900 --> 00:55:26.380
we knew. So we went. And six months later, God

00:55:26.380 --> 00:55:28.860
won my heart. Two weeks after that, God won Sherry's

00:55:28.860 --> 00:55:31.639
heart. And now almost 35 years later, here we

00:55:31.639 --> 00:55:36.500
are. The point is this. There are people in your

00:55:36.500 --> 00:55:40.619
circle who if they knew that they need to know,

00:55:40.760 --> 00:55:44.139
would want to know. And we're not telling them.

00:55:44.579 --> 00:55:48.579
We are sharers of mercy. We practice and diligently

00:55:48.579 --> 00:55:53.079
deliver that mercy. We do so with caution because

00:55:53.079 --> 00:55:55.739
we're going into a place where there are many

00:55:55.739 --> 00:55:59.000
things. many trappings, many problems, many issues,

00:55:59.119 --> 00:56:03.539
many physical things that are coated in sin,

00:56:03.659 --> 00:56:08.960
spread sin, affect people with sin. So we will

00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:13.860
diligently work to build ourselves up in faith,

00:56:13.940 --> 00:56:16.119
to pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in

00:56:16.119 --> 00:56:18.539
love, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our

00:56:18.539 --> 00:56:21.320
Lord to be shown. We will not treat the gospel

00:56:21.320 --> 00:56:24.619
as a burden or a cumbersome thing, as an extra

00:56:24.619 --> 00:56:29.230
schedule consideration. We will cling to Christ

00:56:29.230 --> 00:56:33.050
with all the might that he has given us as we

00:56:33.050 --> 00:56:41.789
deliver mercy and practice that caution. A word

00:56:41.789 --> 00:56:43.389
has reoccurred. In fact, I think it's my word.

00:56:43.449 --> 00:56:45.010
So I do this thing every year at the beginning

00:56:45.010 --> 00:56:46.230
of the year. I don't make a big deal out of it.

00:56:46.309 --> 00:56:48.289
But every year I pick one word. I read a book

00:56:48.289 --> 00:56:49.829
called One Word, a small book. And they said,

00:56:49.909 --> 00:56:52.309
take all that you think that God's kind of trying

00:56:52.309 --> 00:56:54.809
to do. And you pray and you listen and you make

00:56:54.809 --> 00:56:57.059
a list. phrases or whatever, and you dial that

00:56:57.059 --> 00:56:58.539
down to a list of words, and then you take a

00:56:58.539 --> 00:56:59.780
list of words, and you pray over it until you

00:56:59.780 --> 00:57:03.099
get down to one word. And now, I think my one

00:57:03.099 --> 00:57:06.960
word for 26 is ruthlessness. Sounds kind of mean,

00:57:07.139 --> 00:57:10.440
but it's ruthlessness to cut out that which doesn't

00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:13.860
belong. It's ruthlessness to be right and do

00:57:13.860 --> 00:57:16.019
the things that need to be, to focus on the great

00:57:16.019 --> 00:57:20.980
and let go the minor things. Ruthlessness against

00:57:20.980 --> 00:57:23.400
pollution would make for a clean world. Ruthlessness

00:57:23.400 --> 00:57:26.429
against sin would at the very least highlight

00:57:26.429 --> 00:57:28.769
the problem that mankind has, whether or not

00:57:28.769 --> 00:57:30.369
they could ever get free of it because they would

00:57:30.369 --> 00:57:35.570
need salvation. Ruthlessness. So you think about

00:57:35.570 --> 00:57:37.510
what God wants you to do, and then you make time

00:57:37.510 --> 00:57:42.250
for that ruthlessly. Our family travels periodically.

00:57:42.269 --> 00:57:44.190
We don't travel as much as we used to, but every

00:57:44.190 --> 00:57:45.730
time that we've traveled since becoming a Christian,

00:57:45.889 --> 00:57:48.829
we never miss church. We've been to church in

00:57:48.829 --> 00:57:50.269
the weirdest churches and the weirdest places.

00:57:51.019 --> 00:57:52.980
And we went to one where they didn't talk about

00:57:52.980 --> 00:57:54.360
Jesus at all, and they didn't read the Bible

00:57:54.360 --> 00:57:55.940
at all. And we left there, and we had one of

00:57:55.940 --> 00:57:57.280
the teenage girls in the church with us, and

00:57:57.280 --> 00:57:58.639
our teenage daughter, Maya, was with us. And

00:57:58.639 --> 00:58:00.619
we walked out, and we went. So I said, well,

00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:03.820
what did you think? And the one that was with

00:58:03.820 --> 00:58:05.619
us said, well, I don't think that was about God

00:58:05.619 --> 00:58:11.699
at all. And so we had church after church. One

00:58:11.699 --> 00:58:14.159
Sunday we were traveling over in Illinois and

00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:15.739
we went to a church. The church didn't exist

00:58:15.739 --> 00:58:17.280
anymore. So we're on Google and we found another

00:58:17.280 --> 00:58:18.900
church. Went there and it wasn't there. Went

00:58:18.900 --> 00:58:20.519
to another church, didn't have an address. So

00:58:20.519 --> 00:58:22.760
we wound up sitting in a buffet parking lot,

00:58:22.920 --> 00:58:25.360
buffet restaurant parking lot, and we had church.

00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:28.360
We picked songs and we sang hymns and we preached

00:58:28.360 --> 00:58:30.300
the word and we had a children's devotional.

00:58:30.400 --> 00:58:32.000
And we had church in the van because we'd gone

00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:33.719
to three different church buildings and none

00:58:33.719 --> 00:58:36.139
of them were there. And we're coming back from

00:58:36.139 --> 00:58:38.199
Florida and we didn't have anywhere to go to

00:58:38.199 --> 00:58:40.739
church and it was... A challenge with all the

00:58:40.739 --> 00:58:44.739
kids. It was all the Shopes, the Hartleys, and

00:58:44.739 --> 00:58:48.000
the Stephensons. Everybody was there. And it

00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:50.679
was going to be murder to find a church. So we

00:58:50.679 --> 00:58:53.920
had church. I preached. RJ did a devotion. We

00:58:53.920 --> 00:58:55.860
had an inspirational moment. Just like we were

00:58:55.860 --> 00:58:59.039
here. And we were able to watch this church because

00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:01.599
it was online on Facebook. What I'm saying to

00:59:01.599 --> 00:59:04.980
you is, where is your ruthlessness? Do you not

00:59:04.980 --> 00:59:07.769
understand that... As we have seen in this text,

00:59:07.829 --> 00:59:09.449
building yourself up in faith, praying in the

00:59:09.449 --> 00:59:10.809
Holy Spirit, keeping yourself in the love of

00:59:10.809 --> 00:59:13.030
God, waiting anxiously for the mercy, being a

00:59:13.030 --> 00:59:16.469
mercy deliverer, responding with caution about

00:59:16.469 --> 00:59:18.730
the way the world might affect you, but always

00:59:18.730 --> 00:59:21.090
going out. This is it. This is what we've become.

00:59:21.289 --> 00:59:22.989
If that's not good enough for you, then I don't

00:59:22.989 --> 00:59:24.389
think heaven's going to be good enough for you.

00:59:25.710 --> 00:59:31.150
Because that is heaven on earth. And that brings

00:59:31.150 --> 00:59:34.599
us to our conclusion. Before I get there, I have

00:59:34.599 --> 00:59:36.780
an illustration for the conclusion. You may or

00:59:36.780 --> 00:59:39.300
may not have heard of a famous guy who preached

00:59:39.300 --> 00:59:45.159
in 1741, a long, long time ago. He preached a

00:59:45.159 --> 00:59:47.039
sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry

00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:52.199
God. Now, he was a member of what would be considered

00:59:52.199 --> 00:59:55.400
a devout sect like the Puritans. Now, we don't

00:59:55.400 --> 00:59:58.500
really see Puritans anymore, but these are very,

00:59:58.619 --> 01:00:00.869
very devout. These are people that memorized

01:00:00.869 --> 01:00:03.710
whole books of the Bible. They dressed a certain

01:00:03.710 --> 01:00:05.590
way so everyone would know that they were a Puritan.

01:00:05.650 --> 01:00:07.949
So they started whole communities. And so the

01:00:07.949 --> 01:00:11.010
assumption amongst the Puritans was that everyone

01:00:11.010 --> 01:00:17.730
was saved. The kids, as soon as they were old

01:00:17.730 --> 01:00:22.349
enough to hear, right? They had everyone. And

01:00:22.349 --> 01:00:24.010
then he preached a sermon and he said this, there

01:00:24.010 --> 01:00:27.110
is nothing that keeps wicked at any one moment

01:00:27.110 --> 01:00:31.199
out of hell. But the mere pleasure of God. By

01:00:31.199 --> 01:00:33.800
the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign

01:00:33.800 --> 01:00:36.840
pleasure. That means he decides. His arbitrary

01:00:36.840 --> 01:00:39.699
will. That means only he decides. Restrained

01:00:39.699 --> 01:00:42.039
by no other obligation. There is no reason that

01:00:42.039 --> 01:00:44.199
any human being should not fall immediately into

01:00:44.199 --> 01:00:46.099
hell. That's what he's saying. Hindered by no

01:00:46.099 --> 01:00:48.699
manner of difficulty. Nothing stops that. Any

01:00:48.699 --> 01:00:51.719
more than if nothing else but God's mere will

01:00:51.719 --> 01:00:54.960
had in the least degree any hand in the preservation

01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:59.679
of a wicked man one moment. There is only one

01:00:59.679 --> 01:01:02.480
thing that is keeping the wicked, keeping those

01:01:02.480 --> 01:01:04.559
who do not know Christ from falling into hell

01:01:04.559 --> 01:01:07.820
right now like this. As if a ripcord were pulled,

01:01:07.940 --> 01:01:09.940
we're all walking along and all of a sudden a

01:01:09.940 --> 01:01:12.119
door opens up under every person who does not

01:01:12.119 --> 01:01:14.099
know Christ and they all fall immediately into

01:01:14.099 --> 01:01:17.099
hell. And he says there is only one thing that

01:01:17.099 --> 01:01:19.659
is stopping that from happening and it is the

01:01:19.659 --> 01:01:23.239
good pleasure of the Lord God. The truth of this

01:01:23.239 --> 01:01:25.880
is evident by the consideration of these things.

01:01:26.380 --> 01:01:29.300
There is no want of power in God to cast wicked

01:01:29.300 --> 01:01:31.239
men into hell at any moment. In other words,

01:01:31.239 --> 01:01:32.820
God doesn't lack power to do that. Are you with

01:01:32.820 --> 01:01:38.059
me, Mike? Wake him up. Sit up. God does not lack

01:01:38.059 --> 01:01:39.340
power. I'm going to call you out. You come in

01:01:39.340 --> 01:01:40.340
here and fall asleep. I'm going to call you out.

01:01:40.440 --> 01:01:42.260
I apologize. I know you stayed up too late last

01:01:42.260 --> 01:01:45.340
night, but it happens. So now it's time to be

01:01:45.340 --> 01:01:49.599
diligent. All right. So there is no want of power

01:01:49.599 --> 01:01:51.940
in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment.

01:01:52.699 --> 01:01:55.699
Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up.

01:01:56.219 --> 01:01:59.420
The strongest have no power to resist God, nor

01:01:59.420 --> 01:02:02.420
can any deliver out of God's hands. He is not

01:02:02.420 --> 01:02:05.079
only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he

01:02:05.079 --> 01:02:07.320
can most easily do it if he should choose to.

01:02:07.920 --> 01:02:10.960
Sometimes an earthly prince meets a great deal

01:02:10.960 --> 01:02:14.340
of difficulty to subdue a rebel. A rebel who

01:02:14.340 --> 01:02:16.539
has found means to fortify himself and has made

01:02:16.539 --> 01:02:18.400
himself strong by the number of his followers.

01:02:18.659 --> 01:02:21.760
But it is not so with God. There is no fortress

01:02:21.760 --> 01:02:24.980
that is any defense from the power of God. Though

01:02:24.980 --> 01:02:28.440
hand join in hand and vast multitudes of God's

01:02:28.440 --> 01:02:30.059
enemies, and believe me, they're out there and

01:02:30.059 --> 01:02:31.500
many of them are calling themselves churches,

01:02:31.619 --> 01:02:35.380
okay? Though hand join in hand and vast multitudes

01:02:35.380 --> 01:02:37.699
of God's enemies combine and associate themselves,

01:02:38.099 --> 01:02:41.360
they are easily broken in pieces. They are as

01:02:41.360 --> 01:02:45.340
a great heaps of light chaff, that's the stuff

01:02:45.340 --> 01:02:46.840
that blows away in the wind when they're working

01:02:46.840 --> 01:02:50.219
on crops, before the whirlwind, or large quantities

01:02:50.219 --> 01:02:54.250
of dry stubble. before devouring flames. And

01:02:54.250 --> 01:02:55.909
then just a little later he says this, he says,

01:02:56.010 --> 01:02:58.429
the God that holds you over the pit of hell,

01:02:58.630 --> 01:03:02.809
much as one holds a spider or some loathsome

01:03:02.809 --> 01:03:07.829
insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully

01:03:07.829 --> 01:03:11.530
provoked. Ephesians 2 says we were objects of

01:03:11.530 --> 01:03:14.889
wrath. Wrath is when God opposes us. Now, you

01:03:14.889 --> 01:03:17.030
say, abhors means hates. And what you've just

01:03:17.030 --> 01:03:19.530
said is that God hates you. And that's not actually

01:03:19.530 --> 01:03:21.710
what he means. What he means is that he is in

01:03:21.710 --> 01:03:24.090
complete opposition to the way a man exists if

01:03:24.090 --> 01:03:28.909
a man does not exist in Christ. But notice, he

01:03:28.909 --> 01:03:32.360
is a merciful God. And he is slow to anger. And

01:03:32.360 --> 01:03:34.380
it is by, as he said in the early paragraph,

01:03:34.679 --> 01:03:38.079
God's mercy alone that men do not now suddenly

01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:41.139
all, all who have not accepted Christ. Jesus

01:03:41.139 --> 01:03:42.980
did not come to condemn, but they are condemned

01:03:42.980 --> 01:03:44.480
already by what they have done with the name

01:03:44.480 --> 01:03:46.960
of God. That they have not all suddenly been

01:03:46.960 --> 01:03:49.019
swept away and fallen into hell for eternity

01:03:49.019 --> 01:03:53.219
is mercy from God. We hope boldly because mercy

01:03:53.219 --> 01:03:56.099
still reaches into the fire and snatches people

01:03:56.099 --> 01:04:01.360
out. That hope equals diligence for us. mercy

01:04:01.360 --> 01:04:05.480
for us, and caution for us. And if you are not

01:04:05.480 --> 01:04:08.559
being diligent, I call you today to be diligent.

01:04:08.719 --> 01:04:13.059
Do the work. Go to bed on time on Saturday night

01:04:13.059 --> 01:04:14.739
so when you come here on Sunday morning, you're

01:04:14.739 --> 01:04:18.500
not tired. Eat the right food. Drink the right

01:04:18.500 --> 01:04:25.280
water. Sleep. Exercise. Study. Pray. Worship.

01:04:25.480 --> 01:04:28.659
Give. Serve. Do the things of the kingdom and

01:04:28.659 --> 01:04:33.179
walk in faith. And stop treating the gospel as

01:04:33.179 --> 01:04:34.820
another thing that needs to be scheduled in.

01:04:35.139 --> 01:04:36.920
Well, I wish we could do that, but we've got

01:04:36.920 --> 01:04:39.360
to be in church. Oh, that really sucks. What?

01:04:40.719 --> 01:04:42.539
I wish we could do that, but we've got to mark

01:04:42.539 --> 01:04:45.139
out time for worship or prayer or devotion. Turn

01:04:45.139 --> 01:04:48.940
the TV off. Be diligent. Get your hands out.

01:04:49.239 --> 01:04:51.599
Snatch somebody from the fire before they slip

01:04:51.599 --> 01:04:54.420
into the fires of hell. It's just like that.

01:04:54.900 --> 01:04:59.139
It's scriptural. Jude knew it. The apostles preached

01:04:59.139 --> 01:05:02.059
it. And the church is no church except the church

01:05:02.059 --> 01:05:05.079
that was started on Pentecost. That is who we

01:05:05.079 --> 01:05:09.619
are. We are a people who will diligently walk

01:05:09.619 --> 01:05:12.820
this way. Who will mercifully be outreaching

01:05:12.820 --> 01:05:14.699
and preparing ourselves to snatch people from

01:05:14.699 --> 01:05:18.500
the fire whenever we possibly can. And cautious.

01:05:20.579 --> 01:05:22.860
Cautious that we should not be polluted by that

01:05:22.860 --> 01:05:26.340
which is all around those whom we are seeking.

01:05:27.339 --> 01:05:29.719
If you are a doubter, I call on you today to

01:05:29.719 --> 01:05:33.380
receive the mercy of the Lord. If you have declined

01:05:33.380 --> 01:05:36.460
some offer of God, I call on you today to receive

01:05:36.460 --> 01:05:40.900
that offer. Mercifully, he offers it again. If

01:05:40.900 --> 01:05:42.579
God has called you to be a diligent servant,

01:05:42.659 --> 01:05:44.099
and according to this scripture, he has called

01:05:44.099 --> 01:05:46.920
us all to be diligent, and you have not been,

01:05:47.119 --> 01:05:49.860
then I call on you today to repent. For the mercy

01:05:49.860 --> 01:05:52.000
of God is this. If you will repent and call upon

01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:53.940
the name of the Lord, you will not be put to

01:05:53.940 --> 01:05:58.239
shame. He will walk with you and show you how

01:05:58.239 --> 01:06:01.440
to practice spiritual disciplines, how to pray

01:06:01.440 --> 01:06:04.739
in the Spirit, how to be His, how to treat the

01:06:04.739 --> 01:06:07.340
Gospel as something other than a burden or a

01:06:07.340 --> 01:06:13.199
time conflict. If you can't have money and also

01:06:13.199 --> 01:06:17.659
have Jesus, then have no money. If you can't

01:06:17.659 --> 01:06:21.579
eat well and also make Jesus the center of your

01:06:21.579 --> 01:06:26.219
life, then eat nothing. If you can't be merciful

01:06:26.219 --> 01:06:30.099
to the people in your life and really be mercy,

01:06:30.300 --> 01:06:35.460
then repent and turn unto the Lord for to show

01:06:35.460 --> 01:06:39.300
mercy to mankind, though he could have been equal

01:06:39.300 --> 01:06:42.280
with God, he was God in the flesh, he nonetheless

01:06:42.280 --> 01:06:44.480
submitted himself to death, even death on a cross.

01:06:45.380 --> 01:06:50.179
And that's our example. Because of that, we'll

01:06:50.179 --> 01:06:52.860
be diligent. And because of that, we'll be merciful.

01:06:53.710 --> 01:06:56.429
And because of that, we'll be cautious. And because

01:06:56.429 --> 01:07:01.489
of that, we'll be in heaven. I ask you today

01:07:01.489 --> 01:07:03.929
to make whatever decision the Lord is burdening

01:07:03.929 --> 01:07:10.489
you with. And let Him carry it. I ask the praise

01:07:10.489 --> 01:07:12.429
team to come forward now and lead us in our closing

01:07:12.429 --> 01:07:14.730
hymn. But if you are making a decision, if God

01:07:14.730 --> 01:07:16.710
is calling on you, if God is asking you to make

01:07:16.710 --> 01:07:19.030
a commitment, asking you to repent, asking you

01:07:19.030 --> 01:07:21.869
to be diligent, asking you to be merciful, asking

01:07:21.869 --> 01:07:24.409
you to be cautious, and you have not been one

01:07:24.409 --> 01:07:26.889
of those things, then I'm asking you today to

01:07:26.889 --> 01:07:28.929
turn to him for the strength to do it correctly.

01:07:30.469 --> 01:07:32.690
And the apostle's message was not just you can

01:07:32.690 --> 01:07:35.949
be saved, it was also you can stay the course,

01:07:36.130 --> 01:07:40.510
you can prepare yourself, you can save others,

01:07:40.789 --> 01:07:46.690
you can see the throne of God right from where

01:07:46.690 --> 01:07:49.010
you're standing. Would you stand with me and

01:07:49.010 --> 01:07:50.829
sing this song? As the Lord has laid it on your

01:07:50.829 --> 01:08:19.869
heart today, then you will be found. Bye. to

01:08:19.869 --> 01:08:21.810
make you stand, to hold on to you through it

01:08:21.810 --> 01:08:28.050
all. Whatever you've added in, you let it go.

01:08:30.609 --> 01:08:31.329
That's what matters.