WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.139 It's you, and it's you that we need. What a fire 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:14.060 we need. It's only a touch, not a whole thing. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:18.620 It only takes a little bit. Let it start right 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:22.440 here in this city. These old walls will never 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:52.670 be the same. Over and over again. Thank you. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:11:24.330 Thank you. I worship you. I worship you. You 00:11:24.330 --> 00:14:09.190 are. I worship you. I worship you. my feet are 00:14:09.190 --> 00:16:28.409 on the rock Are you washed in the blood of the 00:16:28.409 --> 00:16:33.350 Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace? Are 00:16:33.350 --> 00:17:47.289 you washed in the blood of the Lamb? You can... 00:22:06.049 --> 00:22:08.309 blessings. It is one of the great blessings or 00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:10.190 possibly one of the great challenges of my life 00:22:10.190 --> 00:22:13.430 that I get to be in a church filled with beautiful 00:22:13.430 --> 00:22:16.210 worship and wonderful musicians and singers and 00:22:16.210 --> 00:22:17.750 then I have to get up and preach afterwards and 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:20.890 I'm usually like pretty emotional. So maybe that's 00:22:20.890 --> 00:22:23.049 a great blessing because this message also means 00:22:23.049 --> 00:22:25.490 a great deal to me today. We're going to dive 00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:27.690 right in. Maybe get a little hoot or a little 00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:33.269 holler as we say Luke chapter 24. Woo! We will 00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:37.109 read briefly now the story of the discovery of 00:22:37.109 --> 00:22:42.150 the empty tomb. Luke 24, beginning in verse 1, 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:45.849 says as follows. But on the first day of the 00:22:45.849 --> 00:22:50.269 week at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing 00:22:50.269 --> 00:22:53.549 the spices which they had prepared. And they 00:22:53.549 --> 00:22:57.630 found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But 00:22:57.630 --> 00:22:59.630 when they entered, they did not find the body 00:22:59.630 --> 00:23:02.670 of the Lord Jesus. So you recall, as we've studied 00:23:02.670 --> 00:23:05.369 in recent weeks, these ladies have prepared for 00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:08.130 this moment. They were intending to serve God. 00:23:08.289 --> 00:23:10.849 They wanted to do what was right. It was about 00:23:10.849 --> 00:23:14.250 justice for them. I submit to you that they're 00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:16.930 a little off course. They're going to prepare 00:23:16.930 --> 00:23:19.529 the body, and the body is not there, and they 00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:22.789 don't expect to find the body not there. The 00:23:22.789 --> 00:23:25.069 kind of spices that they would be using to prepare 00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:27.109 that body would not necessarily be the kind of... 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:28.799 thing that you would use to prepare a body that 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.859 had come back to life, right? Rub, spice, normally 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:32.440 used for dead people and live people, they don't 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:34.980 appreciate it very much. But that's what they're 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:36.660 doing. They arrive at the tomb, but they did 00:23:36.660 --> 00:23:38.680 not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Now in verse 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.319 4 it says, and it happened that while they were, 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:46.400 grab this word, perplexed, and your word might 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.640 be slightly different there, but it is a word 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:52.980 that means baffled. It's amazed, but beyond amazed, 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:56.309 it's frozen as if to inaction or not knowing 00:23:56.309 --> 00:23:59.309 what to say or do next because of what they have 00:23:59.309 --> 00:24:01.430 discovered. It says, and it happened while they 00:24:01.430 --> 00:24:03.789 were perplexed about this. About what? About 00:24:03.789 --> 00:24:06.190 the fact that the tomb was open and the body 00:24:06.190 --> 00:24:10.470 was not in it. While they were perplexed about 00:24:10.470 --> 00:24:13.630 that, behold, two men suddenly stood near them 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:15.910 in dazzling apparel. Notice that they were not 00:24:15.910 --> 00:24:18.470 perplexed at the two men who suddenly stood near 00:24:18.470 --> 00:24:21.130 them in dazzling apparel, but about what they 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:24.220 had already found. Verse 5. And as the women 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:28.279 were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.380 now in the face of these angels that they experienced, 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:33.279 they experienced something that the Bible would 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:37.799 call terror. They are blown away. When you encounter 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:39.599 an angel or you encounter someone who has come 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:41.680 to the presence of God, this is the natural response 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.480 because a bit of the presence of God lingers 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:47.380 on those who are in the presence of God. And 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:49.880 it will affect people, and it did affect them 00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:52.160 with terror. And so they bowed their faces to 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.059 the ground. The men said to them, why do you 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:59.559 seek the living one among the dead? See, they, 00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:01.799 as I said, were a little bit off course in their 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:03.859 thinking to prepare this dead body. Verse 6, 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:09.279 he is not here, but he has risen. Remember how 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.140 he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:13.279 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.789 into the hands of sinful men. and be crucified, 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:19.589 and the third day rise again. And it is as if 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:21.869 these dazzling men are saying, and you know, 00:25:21.950 --> 00:25:25.930 it is the third day. And you're coming to anoint 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:29.529 his dead body. Verse 8. And they remembered his 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:32.730 words, and returned from the tomb, and reported 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:35.450 all these things to the eleven. Remember they 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:37.589 were eleven, because by now Jesus has gone out 00:25:37.589 --> 00:25:42.579 and hanged himself. They reported all of these 00:25:42.579 --> 00:25:45.519 things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.599 they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.200 the mother of James. Also the other women with 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:54.660 them were telling these things to the apostles. 00:25:55.099 --> 00:25:58.400 Verse 11. And these words appeared to them as 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:01.799 nonsense and they would not believe them. Now 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:03.619 there's two things to see real quick there. First 00:26:03.619 --> 00:26:06.240 of all, it was not uncommon for a man to look 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:07.740 at a woman and she's speaking to him and for 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:11.000 him to say, these words are like nonsense. Women 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:12.880 didn't get a lot of credence in the society. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:15.519 They could not testify, for example, in a court 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.359 of law. It was not legal for them to do so. If 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:20.220 a 10 -year -old boy back -talked his mother, 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:23.480 and his mother corrected him, and then the father 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.559 got involved, the father would side with the 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:30.240 boy. Because he was a boy. So understand, they 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:32.839 didn't have a lot of credence in the society, 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:34.819 so it was not uncommon for them to be taking 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:37.900 their testimony as nonsense. Secondly, it just 00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:42.660 sounds crazy. if you don't understand what Jesus 00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:45.180 is doing, to go to the tomb and for the stone 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:46.900 to be rolled away, for the body to be missing, 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.160 and they saw two angels there, or two men appearing 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:52.819 in dazzling white, and then to be told that he 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:54.339 would be amongst the living, not amongst the 00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:58.920 dead. That's crazy. Verse 12, it says, But Peter 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.039 arose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:05.019 in, he saw the linen wrappings only, and he went 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:08.000 away to his home, marveling at that which had 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.029 happened. not at the story necessarily that the 00:27:12.029 --> 00:27:15.150 women had told him, or even necessarily yet that 00:27:15.150 --> 00:27:20.049 Jesus is alive, but that the events that were 00:27:20.049 --> 00:27:21.849 related to him through the women, and then that 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:25.450 he found the tomb empty and the cloth just laying 00:27:25.450 --> 00:27:28.670 there. There's a few things I want you to see 00:27:28.670 --> 00:27:30.309 from the text today. I could have gone a bunch 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:32.650 of different ways. In fact, I had about 11 points 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.210 at one time, and I wanted to kind of keep it 00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:37.190 brief as we're really focusing on the resurrection 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:39.759 today, and so I began to shorten it down. And 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.099 I wasn't even 100 % sure until I got here this 00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:43.819 morning. I was listening to God the best I could. 00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:45.900 I wasn't even 100 % sure that the points I'm 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:48.119 sharing with you are indeed the ones that God 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:50.500 wanted me to focus on. But now, after worshiping 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:52.339 with you and the Holy Spirit speaking as we've 00:27:52.339 --> 00:27:54.680 been here already today, I am absolutely certain 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:56.940 that what I'm about to say to you was hung down 00:27:56.940 --> 00:27:59.920 to the exact things that God intended. The first 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.319 is, I want you to see that authority is not restrained 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.539 by existence. We understand this. The law does 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:08.140 not bear less weight on you because you did not 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:11.769 know the law. If you're speeding and a police 00:28:11.769 --> 00:28:13.309 officer stops you, you say, well, I didn't know 00:28:13.309 --> 00:28:15.109 the speed limit. He's still likely to give you 00:28:15.109 --> 00:28:16.369 a ticket. You're still going to pay the fine. 00:28:16.470 --> 00:28:17.849 You're going to still get points on your license. 00:28:17.970 --> 00:28:19.849 And it goes on from there. If you don't know 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:21.730 the law, it does not mean that you are not subject 00:28:21.730 --> 00:28:23.710 to the law. It just means that you are more likely 00:28:23.710 --> 00:28:25.730 to fall under the negative effects of it because 00:28:25.730 --> 00:28:27.630 you're likely to do that which you don't know 00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:29.529 that you should not do and then be punished for 00:28:29.529 --> 00:28:31.190 that which you did that you didn't know that 00:28:31.190 --> 00:28:34.750 you should not do. The prophecies of God must 00:28:34.750 --> 00:28:39.490 be fulfilled. You or my unawareness of the judgment, 00:28:39.529 --> 00:28:42.369 for example, that we will face after death would 00:28:42.369 --> 00:28:44.829 not change the fact that that judgment is coming. 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:50.250 Though people have experienced everything of 00:28:50.250 --> 00:28:52.269 the living God they really know, his presence 00:28:52.269 --> 00:28:55.250 and his character have been made known by that 00:28:55.250 --> 00:28:59.420 which has been made. Even so, some try to deny 00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:02.119 the reality of God's creative work, of his redemptive 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:05.480 plan, and to assist in that, in denying his redemptive 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:07.880 plan, in denying his creative work, they try 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.119 even sometimes to say that he does not exist. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:14.259 But denying God's existence or his justice or 00:29:14.259 --> 00:29:18.259 his wrath, his lordship, the judgment coming, 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:20.660 the second coming of Christ, denying any of that 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.700 will not change the fact because authority is 00:29:23.700 --> 00:29:28.200 not restrained by ignorance. They went to the 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:30.319 tomb that morning ignorant that God would raise 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:32.319 Jesus from the dead that very day. It's clear 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:33.720 they were ignorant because they were anointing 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:35.920 him for his death, for his burial, not for his 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:39.940 resurrection. They went ignorantly, but the authority 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:43.940 of God did not halt or slow up or in any way 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:48.500 be restrained by their ignorance. A veil of ignorance 00:29:48.500 --> 00:29:52.299 then removed will often leave a person stammering. 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:55.220 That moment that you find out something that 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:57.950 you did not know, sometimes it's like, oh! Now 00:29:57.950 --> 00:30:01.190 what do I do? What do I do now? What do I say 00:30:01.190 --> 00:30:04.190 now? Who can I even be now? Now that I have been 00:30:04.190 --> 00:30:10.250 so betrayed or so dismayed or so surprised. That's 00:30:10.250 --> 00:30:12.670 what happened for them and that left them perplexed. 00:30:12.670 --> 00:30:14.950 And that same thing happens to people today. 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:17.950 At times things will happen that you didn't expect. 00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:20.529 At times things will happen that catch you off 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:25.250 guard. And you're suddenly stuck. Suddenly hurting 00:30:25.250 --> 00:30:28.690 in a way that you would not. expected. Perplexity, 00:30:28.690 --> 00:30:31.569 then, is not the problem. In that moment where 00:30:31.569 --> 00:30:33.369 you are perplexed, where you're stuck, don't 00:30:33.369 --> 00:30:34.970 know how to go forward, how to be who you are, 00:30:35.049 --> 00:30:37.690 what to do, what to say, that's not the problem. 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:42.650 Terror is not the problem. Being so afraid of 00:30:42.650 --> 00:30:46.529 what might come next, not the problem. However, 00:30:46.769 --> 00:30:48.650 in the moment, it does begin to feel like the 00:30:48.650 --> 00:30:52.789 problem. We say, well, I can't fight. I'm not 00:30:52.789 --> 00:30:55.430 big enough to overcome this. I can't run. Our 00:30:55.430 --> 00:30:59.250 minds scramble for any way to make it stop. But 00:30:59.250 --> 00:31:03.029 here's the problem. Perplexity, terror, like 00:31:03.029 --> 00:31:05.829 we're describing, is at its very nature stopping. 00:31:06.029 --> 00:31:08.890 That's what it is. It freezes you in your tracks. 00:31:09.650 --> 00:31:11.829 And there's just one way to make stopping stop. 00:31:14.089 --> 00:31:17.869 And that is to go. And so while we're looking 00:31:17.869 --> 00:31:20.890 for a way to make what is happening to us stop, 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:23.700 that thing that is happening to us actually is 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:25.960 stopping, and there is only one way to make it 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:29.059 stop, and that is to go, to find purpose, to 00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:31.200 honor God in one small way, for example, and 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:33.640 then to look for the next way as a logical extension 00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:36.180 of that one. It is the character of the thing 00:31:36.180 --> 00:31:38.940 that we do and the connectivity of the two things 00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:42.259 and three and then four, the necessity of actions 00:31:42.259 --> 00:31:45.359 flowing out of rebirth that makes the whole world 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.059 make sense again, and suddenly we are walking 00:31:48.059 --> 00:31:53.079 by faith, not by sight. Perplexity is a word 00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:55.480 that's becoming super common now. You can google 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:57.539 it and get billions of hits. Not billions, but 00:31:57.539 --> 00:32:00.180 billions of hits. You know why? Does anybody 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:02.019 in the room know why perplexity is a word that's 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:04.079 becoming really common these days? Harder? You 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:10.240 know why? Anybody know? Say it again. Yeah. Well, 00:32:10.339 --> 00:32:11.980 there is an AI named after it, but it's named 00:32:11.980 --> 00:32:15.180 after it because of the reason. Perplexity is 00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:20.180 how AI is rated. It is... It rates how well an 00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:23.579 AI managed to know what the next logical word 00:32:23.579 --> 00:32:27.140 is in a chain of words. So if you're typing a 00:32:27.140 --> 00:32:29.259 sentence to AI and you leave out a sentence, 00:32:29.380 --> 00:32:32.099 will the AI figure out what you meant? If you 00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:34.480 give a command to AI and the AI is responding 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:37.940 to your command, will the AI line up the words 00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:41.240 in a way that makes sense with your command and 00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:43.940 with itself? That's the definition of perplexity. 00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:46.980 It rates how well an AI manages to know the next 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.819 logical word in a chain of words. I submit to 00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:52.900 you that it is also the same rating for people. 00:32:53.460 --> 00:32:56.160 Sometimes for words as in, I just don't know 00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:00.779 what to say. Under the circumstance, like, I 00:33:00.779 --> 00:33:03.940 can't imagine what I can possibly say. I'm sorry 00:33:03.940 --> 00:33:07.220 doesn't sound like enough. Or, I can't imagine 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:09.579 what I'm supposed to say. Your loved one died? 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:14.230 I'm here, but I just can't imagine. What I could 00:33:14.230 --> 00:33:16.829 say that would be of any benefit. Sometimes it's 00:33:16.829 --> 00:33:18.390 like that. We just say I just don't know what 00:33:18.390 --> 00:33:22.690 to say But also in actions where we say I don't 00:33:22.690 --> 00:33:24.829 know what to do. I'm not sure what to do about 00:33:24.829 --> 00:33:27.089 this How do I overcome this problem? How do I 00:33:27.089 --> 00:33:30.789 make this work out in a way? I mean our goal 00:33:30.789 --> 00:33:32.670 should be that honors God But really we're talking 00:33:32.670 --> 00:33:34.930 about survival about continuing in our own character 00:33:34.930 --> 00:33:40.309 being who we are. What would Dan say? What what 00:33:40.309 --> 00:33:45.559 would Dan do? This is why James the brother of 00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:48.759 Jesus writes consider it pure joy when you face 00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:52.119 all manner of trials and tribulations These actions 00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:55.380 that are meant to cause us to falter They are 00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:58.279 designed by the enemy and all of the enemies 00:33:58.279 --> 00:34:03.460 of God to bring us to a halt When they actually 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:06.059 do bring us to a halt, they prepare us for a 00:34:06.059 --> 00:34:08.500 time in the future when they will not bring us 00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:10.480 to a halt. When you are hit by something you 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:12.900 completely did not expect and you're going, I'm 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:14.840 stuck, I'm stuck, I don't know how to go on. 00:34:15.179 --> 00:34:17.760 And then you eventually submit to God, repent, 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:19.800 turn to God, let God do what it is that God wants 00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:22.380 to do and start moving again. You become able 00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:25.820 again to move when you're stuck. The next time 00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:28.039 that happens to you, the next time that happens 00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:30.320 to you, you're ready to go. You're like, oh, 00:34:30.460 --> 00:34:32.659 I've been here before, I screwed this up before, 00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:35.719 I stayed too long in this spot before, so now 00:34:35.719 --> 00:34:38.179 I am prepared for this new thing that has come 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:40.099 to try to put me in that place again, and I will 00:34:40.099 --> 00:34:43.000 not allow it. So each one that comes trying to 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.719 make us falter prepares us for the ones that 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:50.420 come after. And the enemy unwillingly strengthens 00:34:50.420 --> 00:34:55.820 us. More. When these things fail to stop us, 00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:58.519 when they fail to throw us into perplexity or 00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:05.019 into terror, they declare to us and to everyone 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:10.320 who is looking at us to whom we belong and what 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:17.539 we are in Jesus. In the Bible, there is a theology, 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:20.119 if you will, a piece of doctrine that's called 00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:25.360 the redemptive reversal of God. And it goes something 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:28.000 like this. Joseph and his brothers, they betrayed 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:29.579 him, threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery. 00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:32.519 He gets betrayed a couple of other times. Ultimately 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:34.739 has the ability to punish them for what they 00:35:34.739 --> 00:35:37.559 have done. His rise to power in Egypt, though, 00:35:37.619 --> 00:35:42.480 saves entire nations from famine. And he famously 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.440 told his brother, you intended to harm me, but 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.119 God intended it for good to accomplish what is 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:51.650 now being done, the saving of many lives. The 00:35:51.650 --> 00:35:53.849 story of Esther and Haman. Haman plotted a systematic 00:35:53.849 --> 00:35:56.050 genocide of the Jews while they were stuck in 00:35:56.050 --> 00:36:00.070 Persia, many of them. Through Esther's courage, 00:36:00.250 --> 00:36:03.289 the plot was exposed. Haman was executed on his 00:36:03.289 --> 00:36:05.730 own gallows, and the Jewish people were granted 00:36:05.730 --> 00:36:08.829 inside that kingdom the right to defending themselves, 00:36:09.210 --> 00:36:13.349 which gave them a great victory. The Babylonian 00:36:13.349 --> 00:36:15.929 invasion was a brutal act of conquest meant to 00:36:15.929 --> 00:36:18.980 destroy Israel's identity. However, God used 00:36:18.980 --> 00:36:21.239 that to purge the nation of idolatry because 00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:23.519 they were worshiping a bunch of false gods and 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:26.679 spread the seeds of monotheism, which means there 00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:29.719 is only one God, across the known world of that 00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:33.900 time, preparing the way for the gospel so that 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:35.840 Jesus could come and people all over the known 00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:39.059 world could hear the gospel and be saved. The 00:36:39.059 --> 00:36:41.619 persecution of the early church, Stephen was 00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:43.420 first martyred on the steps of the temple after 00:36:43.420 --> 00:36:45.980 he told them what they had done wrong in crucifying 00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:49.079 Jesus, and a great persecution broke out around 00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:51.820 Jerusalem and all Judea, which was intended to 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:56.360 crush Christianity, but instead it acted like 00:36:56.360 --> 00:36:59.440 a bellows to a fire, scattering believers and 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:01.780 the message into Judea and Samaria, and churches 00:37:01.780 --> 00:37:04.599 everywhere were started, and tens of thousands, 00:37:04.699 --> 00:37:06.579 if not eventually hundreds of thousands of people 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:09.320 were saved in following Jesus. Now let us not 00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:11.719 forget the crucifixion of Jesus. This is the 00:37:11.719 --> 00:37:14.460 ultimate example where Satan and Judas and the 00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:16.579 religious leaders and all the enemies of God 00:37:16.579 --> 00:37:19.400 conspired to kill the Son of God, thinking they 00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:22.800 had won. But the act of supreme evil was the 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:25.840 very mechanism that God used to provide eternal 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:30.280 salvation to humanity. This brings us to our 00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:34.719 conclusion then already. I'm here to tell you 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:40.949 today that if you'll accept this truth, Perplexity 00:37:40.949 --> 00:37:46.530 is on the ropes. It's on the way out. It's time 00:37:46.530 --> 00:37:50.190 had already come. And with the death of Jesus 00:37:50.190 --> 00:37:53.630 and all the life that has come after the rebirth, 00:37:53.769 --> 00:37:55.989 the relife of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, 00:37:56.110 --> 00:38:02.590 perplexity is on the ropes. In the boxing ring 00:38:02.590 --> 00:38:05.769 of life. perplexity may seem to have us backed 00:38:05.769 --> 00:38:07.289 against the ropes. Like, I don't know what to 00:38:07.289 --> 00:38:09.750 do. I don't know what to say. We feel the sting 00:38:09.750 --> 00:38:13.849 of the situation, unmet expectations. We didn't 00:38:13.849 --> 00:38:17.789 get what we were hoping for. But notice as Jesus, 00:38:17.969 --> 00:38:20.570 just later in the same chapter in verse 21, is 00:38:20.570 --> 00:38:23.670 walking with the disciples down the road to Emmaus. 00:38:25.510 --> 00:38:29.809 He shows them that uncertainty does not get to 00:38:29.809 --> 00:38:33.940 win the final round. God steps into confusion 00:38:33.940 --> 00:38:36.400 and puts an end to it through three distinct 00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.219 movements. And these are the ones you need to 00:38:38.219 --> 00:38:40.239 take with you. These are the ones that you need 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:42.659 to use. These are the ones that will make you 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:45.699 strong and blessed in the kingdom of God. Hear 00:38:45.699 --> 00:38:50.320 them. First of all, Jesus, God, God the Father, 00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:52.960 God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, walks with 00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:57.820 us through trial. God does not shout directions 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:01.900 from a distance. He joins us. right in the midst 00:39:01.900 --> 00:39:06.219 of the pain. Jesus drew near and walked with 00:39:06.219 --> 00:39:08.840 the downcast disciples even while they were still 00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:12.500 blind to His identity. He validates our journey 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:16.199 by being present in the walking before He ever 00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:19.380 provides the knowing. I look back at when I was 00:39:19.380 --> 00:39:24.400 not saved. And I could look, there is a moment 00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:26.460 in time at which I prayed unknowingly, didn't 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:28.460 even know I was praying. I was talking to God 00:39:28.460 --> 00:39:30.460 and didn't even know for sure that God was real, 00:39:30.619 --> 00:39:33.119 but hoping that perhaps maybe there was something 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:35.079 out there that would benefit me in a very difficult 00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:37.699 situation. And I look back now and I see miracle, 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:41.460 miracle, miracle. Times when I survived, when 00:39:41.460 --> 00:39:43.820 I jumped my motorcycle over the road while I 00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:45.500 was drunk, over the railroad tracks at over 100 00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:47.320 miles an hour and left the ground and came down 00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:49.300 with the steering wheel slightly sideways and 00:39:49.300 --> 00:39:52.559 twisted down the road like a broken cyclone until 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:56.300 I finally leveled out and drove on at 35 miles 00:39:56.300 --> 00:39:59.420 an hour and drove home and got sober. Moments 00:39:59.420 --> 00:40:03.170 like that. My friends and I came around onto 00:40:03.170 --> 00:40:06.269 East Broadway at a 85 mile an hour in the rain 00:40:06.269 --> 00:40:09.730 and I lost and we went Oh about 600 degrees around 00:40:09.730 --> 00:40:11.750 and around and around and stopped inches away 00:40:11.750 --> 00:40:16.610 from the concrete pylon Moments like that when 00:40:16.610 --> 00:40:19.570 I dated a young woman who was beautiful voluptuous 00:40:19.570 --> 00:40:21.650 Whatever she could have been a bottom, but she 00:40:21.650 --> 00:40:26.449 was working to be a bottle of magazines I spent 00:40:26.449 --> 00:40:28.570 the night at her apartment over and over and 00:40:28.570 --> 00:40:30.150 over again. But the first night I met her, I 00:40:30.150 --> 00:40:31.889 prayed, Lord, don't get me out of this. Get me 00:40:31.889 --> 00:40:33.150 through it. Even though I didn't believe in God, 00:40:33.429 --> 00:40:35.710 I was turning a little charm on my neck. I said, 00:40:35.829 --> 00:40:37.050 don't get me out of this, but get me through 00:40:37.050 --> 00:40:39.230 it. I dated her for nine months, spent the night 00:40:39.230 --> 00:40:42.170 at her apartment probably 50 times, and we never 00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:46.679 had sex. There's no reason for that. God was 00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:49.039 working in the circumstance of my life before 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:50.980 I ever came to East Little Baptist. The day that 00:40:50.980 --> 00:40:52.800 I drove to East Little Baptist Church, the day 00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:54.980 that I got saved, and it sounds hakey, but hokey, 00:40:55.019 --> 00:40:57.559 but it's absolutely true. Alicia, in the car 00:40:57.559 --> 00:40:59.519 seat, right? We're driving to East Little Baptist 00:40:59.519 --> 00:41:03.139 Church, and I look out into the bar park, and 00:41:03.139 --> 00:41:06.940 it is stormy, dark, and gray, and rain coming 00:41:06.940 --> 00:41:09.199 down these sheets. But we're driving. It was 00:41:09.199 --> 00:41:11.489 sunny. going down Woodville Road, passing Barland, 00:41:11.570 --> 00:41:13.489 and it was sunny. Sun was shining on our car 00:41:13.489 --> 00:41:16.050 and continued to all the way down East Broadway, 00:41:16.210 --> 00:41:18.010 all the way down. We parked our car at the back 00:41:18.010 --> 00:41:20.489 of the church. We got out, and as soon as we 00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:22.730 went in the church doors, no sooner did we walk 00:41:22.730 --> 00:41:24.690 with sun shining on us the whole time, and no 00:41:24.690 --> 00:41:26.449 sooner did we walk in the church doors, we get 00:41:26.449 --> 00:41:28.809 under the, they didn't have it over there, get 00:41:28.809 --> 00:41:31.150 under the railing that they had there, and just 00:41:31.150 --> 00:41:34.869 get inside, and you're here. And the rain pours. 00:41:36.769 --> 00:41:39.989 God was watching over me and was watching over 00:41:39.989 --> 00:41:43.250 you before you realized what God was doing. And 00:41:43.250 --> 00:41:45.389 now you're saved and now you should not just 00:41:45.389 --> 00:41:46.750 suddenly go, well, sometimes he's watching me, 00:41:46.750 --> 00:41:50.110 sometimes he's not. No, God comes down, is with 00:41:50.110 --> 00:41:53.090 you, walks with you in the trials. He does not 00:41:53.090 --> 00:41:55.829 promise you will have none. He simply says he 00:41:55.829 --> 00:42:01.889 will be with you throughout them all. God shows 00:42:01.889 --> 00:42:07.539 us a future he has planned. Uncertainty thrives 00:42:07.539 --> 00:42:11.039 when we can't see the why. We think, I don't 00:42:11.039 --> 00:42:13.440 know why. That's the question people ask when 00:42:13.440 --> 00:42:14.920 they lose a love, when they lose a job, when 00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:16.980 they lose finances, they struggle. We say, why? 00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:19.780 And that question might be meant to drive us 00:42:19.780 --> 00:42:21.820 to learn something from it, to grow from it, 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:24.099 to overcome what is the way that God wants us 00:42:24.099 --> 00:42:26.579 to go next. But a lot of times we just get stuck 00:42:26.579 --> 00:42:29.420 there, feel perplexed, feel in terror, like we 00:42:29.420 --> 00:42:32.420 can't understand why, how we can still be us 00:42:32.420 --> 00:42:36.150 going forward after this experience. And uncertainty 00:42:36.150 --> 00:42:39.409 thrives in that moment. But Jesus countered the 00:42:39.409 --> 00:42:41.590 disciples' despair by opening the scriptures 00:42:41.590 --> 00:42:43.969 as he walks with them in Luke 24, a little later 00:42:43.969 --> 00:42:46.389 in this chapter. He explains to them all through 00:42:46.389 --> 00:42:49.789 the Bible how it was meant to be like this. And 00:42:49.789 --> 00:42:52.409 you have that too. You have your church, you 00:42:52.409 --> 00:42:54.130 have the preaching, you have the teaching, you 00:42:54.130 --> 00:42:56.489 have the Bible at your disposal. You can see 00:42:56.489 --> 00:42:58.670 that the plan of your life was laid out and written 00:42:58.670 --> 00:43:01.130 in incredible ways before you ever reached this 00:43:01.130 --> 00:43:04.219 point. And this... Though you may not necessarily 00:43:04.219 --> 00:43:06.400 understand why. I don't understand why. God's 00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:09.519 ways are so far above our ways. This is part 00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:16.099 of God's plan. God was showing them by opening 00:43:16.099 --> 00:43:17.760 the scriptures, showing them that the suffering 00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:20.280 they witnessed wasn't a detour. It was the road 00:43:20.280 --> 00:43:22.820 map. As I said, when things come into your life 00:43:22.820 --> 00:43:24.559 that are difficult, they make you better able 00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:26.760 to... Don't you understand? There are additional 00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:29.699 generations that have to come. If Jesus doesn't 00:43:29.699 --> 00:43:31.840 come again, we will have... Children. And our 00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:33.400 children will have children, and our children's 00:43:33.400 --> 00:43:34.739 children will have children. And for as long 00:43:34.739 --> 00:43:39.199 as we are alive, we must show persistence in 00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:41.039 Christ and faithfulness on the earth, and then 00:43:41.039 --> 00:43:42.920 teach our children, and our children's children, 00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:44.360 and our neighbor's children, because they're 00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:48.400 not doing it, how to stand for what is right. 00:43:48.500 --> 00:43:52.000 How to continue, even through suffering, even 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:53.539 through difficulty, even through that which would 00:43:53.539 --> 00:43:58.460 perplex us. By anchoring our current trials in 00:43:58.460 --> 00:44:01.079 God's eternal narrative and what he's doing, 00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:04.960 his story, his book, we are part of it. He transforms 00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.820 our seeming dead ends where we go, oh, I'm stuck. 00:44:07.820 --> 00:44:09.199 I'm stuck here. I don't know what I can do now. 00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:10.639 I don't know what I can say now. I've got nothing 00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:13.679 I can do. He transformed that seeming dead end 00:44:13.679 --> 00:44:18.480 into a gateway to promised glory. So the first 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:20.980 one was he walks with us through trial. And the 00:44:20.980 --> 00:44:24.639 second one is he shows up. and shows us a future 00:44:24.639 --> 00:44:28.400 he has planned. And if you can see that he is 00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:30.780 with you, and see that he is taking you where 00:44:30.780 --> 00:44:33.099 you want to be, then you don't have any threat 00:44:33.099 --> 00:44:35.099 in the current moment. It's all taken care of. 00:44:35.119 --> 00:44:38.980 It's going to be fine. But notice he also gives 00:44:38.980 --> 00:44:42.539 us a task to be about. He has laid out for us 00:44:42.539 --> 00:44:45.659 a plan by which we can go forward. So when you 00:44:45.659 --> 00:44:47.039 start to feel like, I don't know what I'm supposed 00:44:47.039 --> 00:44:49.500 to do, if nothing else, you do what God has told 00:44:49.500 --> 00:44:51.099 you to do. Start to feel like, I don't know what 00:44:51.099 --> 00:44:52.920 I'm supposed to say, then if nothing else, you 00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:56.019 say what God has told you to say. You let Him 00:44:56.019 --> 00:44:58.440 guide your steps forward. But the plan is even 00:44:58.440 --> 00:45:00.739 a little bit more than that. God ends our perplexity 00:45:00.739 --> 00:45:03.960 by giving us a purpose. Once the disciples recognized 00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:07.119 Him, their hearts burned within them. That's 00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:11.329 in this same chapter. to immediate action. They 00:45:11.329 --> 00:45:13.650 jump up as soon as Jesus disappears. They jump 00:45:13.650 --> 00:45:16.190 up and walk the roughly five miles back to Jerusalem 00:45:16.190 --> 00:45:18.510 to tell everyone else that they have seen him. 00:45:18.610 --> 00:45:20.610 And guess what they find when they get there? 00:45:20.829 --> 00:45:22.510 I'll ruin the story for you if you haven't already 00:45:22.510 --> 00:45:24.789 read it. They go in and they're telling the disciples, 00:45:25.010 --> 00:45:26.590 the others, what has happened, and guess who 00:45:26.590 --> 00:45:33.909 shows up? Jesus! He sends us back into this world, 00:45:33.949 --> 00:45:36.570 not with all the answers, but with a mission 00:45:36.570 --> 00:45:41.440 to bear witness. Uncertainty dies when we stop 00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:44.119 staring at the tomb and start running toward 00:45:44.119 --> 00:45:47.900 the brothers to say, The Lord has risen indeed! 00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:56.059 Perplexity may have once had us on the ropes, 00:45:56.239 --> 00:46:00.780 but it cannot deliver the knockout blow. When 00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:03.619 Christ walks in, shows the plan, and sets us 00:46:03.619 --> 00:46:07.230 to work, The fog of doubt is burned away by the 00:46:07.230 --> 00:46:11.130 light of the resurrection. All throughout the 00:46:11.130 --> 00:46:14.650 Bible, we see God saying to people, do not be 00:46:14.650 --> 00:46:18.130 afraid. But then in the New Testament, a slight 00:46:18.130 --> 00:46:22.469 change. Not necessarily using the words, he does 00:46:22.469 --> 00:46:25.309 say to John... I'm sorry, in John chapter 3, 00:46:25.369 --> 00:46:27.869 he says to Nicodemus, do not marvel when I say 00:46:27.869 --> 00:46:29.429 unto you, you must be born again. He was telling 00:46:29.429 --> 00:46:31.050 them, don't be stuck, don't be surprised, don't 00:46:31.050 --> 00:46:32.710 worry about it. I'm telling you what you already 00:46:32.710 --> 00:46:34.469 know, what you already need to know. He says, 00:46:34.550 --> 00:46:38.989 you must be born again. So he was telling Nicodemus, 00:46:39.030 --> 00:46:40.849 don't be surprised by spiritual truths. In Matthew 00:46:40.849 --> 00:46:45.210 24, Luke 13 and Luke 21, he says, see that you 00:46:45.210 --> 00:46:47.630 are not alarmed, he tells the disciples. Don't 00:46:47.630 --> 00:46:51.280 be just surprised by global chaos. Mark 13, be 00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:53.880 on guard. I have told you everything beforehand. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:57.039 Don't be surprised. I warned you. John 15, if 00:46:57.039 --> 00:46:59.440 the world hates you, don't be surprised. It hated 00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:01.960 me first. Don't be surprised by rejection. John 00:47:01.960 --> 00:47:05.539 16, I have told you so that you may be kept from 00:47:05.539 --> 00:47:07.760 stumbling. Don't be surprised by persecution. 00:47:08.079 --> 00:47:10.880 John 16, in the world you have tribulation. Don't 00:47:10.880 --> 00:47:13.380 be surprised by trouble. John 14, do not let 00:47:13.380 --> 00:47:15.900 your heart be troubled. Don't be shaken eternally. 00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:20.099 I could go on, but the bottom line is this. Jesus 00:47:20.099 --> 00:47:25.539 didn't remove hardship in life. That's been here 00:47:25.539 --> 00:47:28.920 because a tree can't accept Jesus as Lord and 00:47:28.920 --> 00:47:31.099 Savior. An animal can't accept Jesus as Lord 00:47:31.099 --> 00:47:33.659 and Savior. The rain cannot accept Jesus as Lord 00:47:33.659 --> 00:47:36.579 and Savior. The planet cannot be redeemed until 00:47:36.579 --> 00:47:39.099 the redemption is complete. So there will be 00:47:39.099 --> 00:47:40.800 suffering, there will be hardship, and there 00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:43.440 will be trial. But you have to realize that when 00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:46.079 it comes, each one prepares you for the next, 00:47:46.099 --> 00:47:48.199 for the next, for the next. I have known people. 00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:51.559 that have faced worse things than I have ever 00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:54.539 faced in my life, and they have said, eh, God's 00:47:54.539 --> 00:48:01.079 got it. And my guess is, you have too. The question 00:48:01.079 --> 00:48:07.039 is, are we going to be that kind of people? And 00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:09.659 indeed, that's what it means to be a Christian. 00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:15.860 If as a Christian... I was walking in Jesus' 00:48:16.039 --> 00:48:19.340 shoes and I was asked to go to the cross to save 00:48:19.340 --> 00:48:25.739 all humanity. Yes, I know myself. Without a miracle 00:48:25.739 --> 00:48:32.719 from God, I would not have done it. Jesus was 00:48:32.719 --> 00:48:38.340 a sinless man. He had experienced persecution. 00:48:39.360 --> 00:48:41.320 that tried to kill him on a number of occasions 00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:43.000 that he just always just walked away because 00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:47.300 it wasn't his time yet. But this time, he declined 00:48:47.300 --> 00:48:50.800 to summon an army of angels. And he allowed himself 00:48:50.800 --> 00:48:59.039 to be crucified for the sins of mankind. A God 00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:02.039 who will do that? A God who loves you like that? 00:49:02.300 --> 00:49:04.440 Well, he's going to, he walks with you through 00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:06.880 pride. He's going to be with you in your difficulty. 00:49:07.739 --> 00:49:10.260 And he shows a, The future that he has planned. 00:49:10.380 --> 00:49:11.860 See, God's more concerned about your salvation 00:49:11.860 --> 00:49:15.639 than he is about your comfort. Your salvation 00:49:15.639 --> 00:49:17.500 and your children's salvation and your grandchildren's 00:49:17.500 --> 00:49:19.179 salvation and your nieces and your nephews and 00:49:19.179 --> 00:49:20.800 your brothers and your sisters and your neighbors 00:49:20.800 --> 00:49:23.079 and your co -workers and the students in your 00:49:23.079 --> 00:49:25.719 school. He's more concerned about salvation than 00:49:25.719 --> 00:49:30.119 he is about your comfort. Shouldn't you be? Shouldn't 00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:35.400 I be? A God who loves people like that, he shows 00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:40.489 us a future he has planned. And He gives us a 00:49:40.489 --> 00:49:42.610 task to be about. And let me say to you, the 00:49:42.610 --> 00:49:46.389 next time it hits you, the next time you feel 00:49:46.389 --> 00:49:54.070 stuck, surprised, raw, perplexed, you remember 00:49:54.070 --> 00:49:56.489 me saying, and I hope you remember the Holy Spirit 00:49:56.489 --> 00:50:02.010 saying, perplexity is on the ropes. It has been 00:50:02.010 --> 00:50:06.170 ever since every enemy that God ever had went 00:50:06.170 --> 00:50:09.059 together to try to bring to an end. got what 00:50:09.059 --> 00:50:12.760 they thought was God's plan. And when they did, 00:50:12.880 --> 00:50:17.699 they just made God's plan come true. That was 00:50:17.699 --> 00:50:20.159 the best they could do. The best they could do 00:50:20.159 --> 00:50:22.119 with all their efforts and all the Antichrist 00:50:22.119 --> 00:50:24.039 teaching and all the demonic influence and all 00:50:24.039 --> 00:50:28.159 of the governmental, all the money offered, all 00:50:28.159 --> 00:50:32.260 the prominence, all of it all just came together 00:50:32.260 --> 00:50:37.429 so that you and I could be saved. And God can 00:50:37.429 --> 00:50:40.909 make the whole world bow down in that process. 00:50:41.369 --> 00:50:43.969 And he can make the whole world bow down in your 00:50:43.969 --> 00:50:48.909 life. And he'll be there with you. And he'll 00:50:48.909 --> 00:50:51.510 show you the future he has planned. And he'll 00:50:51.510 --> 00:50:55.070 give you a task to be about. And all you have 00:50:55.070 --> 00:50:58.650 to do is say yes. That's it. All you have to 00:50:58.650 --> 00:51:02.269 do is be willing. Complexity is on the road. 00:51:03.969 --> 00:51:08.530 And that's where it will remain. Until Jesus 00:51:08.530 --> 00:51:13.110 comes again. And at that point in time, complexity 00:51:13.110 --> 00:51:18.269 will go to hell. With all the rest of the dark 00:51:18.269 --> 00:51:21.110 things of this life. And we'll never see it again. 00:51:22.389 --> 00:51:25.710 His fate is already determined. And that's the 00:51:25.710 --> 00:51:28.469 way we should live. If you're here today, and 00:51:28.469 --> 00:51:30.210 you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord 00:51:30.210 --> 00:51:31.710 and Savior, I need you to understand that nothing 00:51:31.710 --> 00:51:39.230 less is on the agenda. This is what this moment 00:51:39.230 --> 00:51:43.050 is about. It's about your salvation. It's about 00:51:43.050 --> 00:51:46.889 you saying, I don't want to ever be perplexed 00:51:46.889 --> 00:51:50.630 again. I'm tired of feeling that way when something 00:51:50.630 --> 00:51:53.429 hits me. I want to surrender my life to the Lord. 00:51:54.110 --> 00:51:56.309 I want to let Him be there with me when I have 00:51:56.309 --> 00:51:59.309 those feelings. I want to let Him give me a job 00:51:59.309 --> 00:52:00.969 to do and I'm going to get busy about doing the 00:52:00.969 --> 00:52:02.730 job that I have to do. At that time when I know 00:52:02.730 --> 00:52:06.260 what I want to do. On my list of things to do, 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:09.119 I can't fix it. I can't overcome it. I can't 00:52:09.119 --> 00:52:12.300 buy it. I can't talk it down. I can't get a little 00:52:12.300 --> 00:52:19.219 nastier to get it right. I can't beg. When I 00:52:19.219 --> 00:52:23.460 couldn't do anything, at that moment in time 00:52:23.460 --> 00:52:28.360 when perplexity would have me, I need Jesus to 00:52:28.360 --> 00:52:33.699 be there with me. Jesus has shown me a plan that 00:52:33.699 --> 00:52:38.679 he has for me. And Jesus will lead me forward 00:52:38.679 --> 00:52:44.800 in that plan. Accept Jesus today and let him 00:52:44.800 --> 00:52:49.119 do that. And you'll never have to face propensity 00:52:49.119 --> 00:52:55.019 again. On the other hand, if you're already saved 00:52:55.019 --> 00:52:58.579 and you're already here, then I want to remind 00:52:58.579 --> 00:53:00.159 you in no subtle way you can commit yourself 00:53:00.159 --> 00:53:02.610 right now. That the next time I face something 00:53:02.610 --> 00:53:04.829 unexpected, the next time it's baffling me, the 00:53:04.829 --> 00:53:06.769 next time I'm in terror, the next time I'm facing 00:53:06.769 --> 00:53:10.630 perplexity, I need to remember that if I do fight 00:53:10.630 --> 00:53:13.789 perplexity, it's me going to the ropes. Because 00:53:13.789 --> 00:53:15.550 perplexity can't come to the center of the ring 00:53:15.550 --> 00:53:19.809 anymore. Because God is there. Don't go to the 00:53:19.809 --> 00:53:25.070 ropes. Stay in God's will. Live your life for 00:53:25.070 --> 00:53:29.730 the Lord. Repent of your sin. Practice the spiritual 00:53:29.730 --> 00:53:34.780 disciplines. You stand with people who need somebody 00:53:34.780 --> 00:53:38.340 to stand with them. And we'll be the hands and 00:53:38.340 --> 00:53:41.219 feet of Jesus. I'm going to lead you in a little 00:53:41.219 --> 00:53:42.420 prayer at this time. We're not going to have 00:53:42.420 --> 00:53:43.840 a normal invitation. At least she's just going 00:53:43.840 --> 00:53:46.739 to play softly. And as I pray, if the Lord is 00:53:46.739 --> 00:53:48.860 doing business in your heart, you surrender to 00:53:48.860 --> 00:53:53.400 him. You say, okay, God, I'm in for your methods. 00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:57.679 I'm in for your way. Who is Jesus? Let's pray 00:53:57.679 --> 00:54:01.670 together. Father in heaven, we praise you that 00:54:01.670 --> 00:54:04.230 today is a day that we celebrate the resurrection. 00:54:04.369 --> 00:54:06.789 We celebrate the coming back to life of your 00:54:06.789 --> 00:54:11.510 son Jesus. No amount of armies could have kept 00:54:11.510 --> 00:54:15.429 him in that grave. If all the demons that existed 00:54:15.429 --> 00:54:17.909 marshaled to stand outside and rank and file 00:54:17.909 --> 00:54:21.170 with the greatest weapons they could find, he'd 00:54:21.170 --> 00:54:27.139 have walked out unscathed. Our God. It's too 00:54:27.139 --> 00:54:31.199 mighty to be trifled with. Our God is too awesome 00:54:31.199 --> 00:54:38.460 and powerful to be held back. Our God is to be 00:54:38.460 --> 00:54:43.059 trusted. He's shown that time and time again. 00:54:45.679 --> 00:54:50.139 Yet we find in ourselves a ready willingness 00:54:50.139 --> 00:54:59.199 to be perplexed. Sometimes it goes like this, 00:54:59.219 --> 00:55:01.199 and we're not making excuses, but sometimes it 00:55:01.199 --> 00:55:03.079 goes like this. We think we know the plan, and 00:55:03.079 --> 00:55:04.679 then the plan is not going according to what 00:55:04.679 --> 00:55:07.920 we thought, and so we're perplexed. Sometimes 00:55:07.920 --> 00:55:10.820 it looks like this. We think, well, if I can't 00:55:10.820 --> 00:55:13.380 have it my way, which I think is the way that 00:55:13.380 --> 00:55:15.099 God wants it to, but if I can't have it my way, 00:55:15.099 --> 00:55:23.199 then I'm... I'm done. I won't have it anyway. 00:55:23.880 --> 00:55:25.760 If I can't have it my way, if I can't have it... 00:55:28.590 --> 00:55:33.909 What feels good, looks good, seems to help. And 00:55:33.909 --> 00:55:39.050 I'm done. I quit. I'll just stop here. I'll jump 00:55:39.050 --> 00:55:41.710 off the God train and see if somebody else has 00:55:41.710 --> 00:55:45.809 an answer. And Lord, we ask your forgiveness. 00:55:50.710 --> 00:55:53.550 Thank you for coming down with us, being in the 00:55:53.550 --> 00:56:01.389 ring with us, working to... Grow us. Make us 00:56:01.389 --> 00:56:04.349 strong. Even though we might not want to, Lord, 00:56:04.409 --> 00:56:06.429 we pray even thank you for trials and tribulations. 00:56:08.130 --> 00:56:09.869 Think of like we look back and go, I didn't want 00:56:09.869 --> 00:56:14.590 to go through that. But here we are on the other 00:56:14.590 --> 00:56:21.050 side of it. Stronger. Able. Some small things 00:56:21.050 --> 00:56:23.670 that come now, they don't even touch us. We don't 00:56:23.670 --> 00:56:25.449 even recognize. We go day by day and we deal 00:56:25.449 --> 00:56:31.000 with people. Ten years ago, they might have taken 00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:33.119 us off our stride. They might have knocked us 00:56:33.119 --> 00:56:35.739 down with words or the way they act. And now, 00:56:35.940 --> 00:56:42.320 it's like nothing. It doesn't even slow us down. 00:56:43.159 --> 00:56:45.360 At the same time, in the midst of that, we find 00:56:45.360 --> 00:56:49.159 things that will let slow us down. We tarry with 00:56:49.159 --> 00:56:54.639 trouble. Lord, we confess to you, we need your 00:56:54.639 --> 00:56:56.860 wisdom. We need your strength. We need your healing. 00:56:57.550 --> 00:56:59.730 or asking for nothing less. Help us to remember 00:56:59.730 --> 00:57:01.670 the next time that we're in that moment, the 00:57:01.670 --> 00:57:03.210 next time that we're baffled, the next time that 00:57:03.210 --> 00:57:09.030 we're facing terror or perplexity, that it just 00:57:09.030 --> 00:57:13.250 doesn't have to be so. We can give up our idea 00:57:13.250 --> 00:57:17.309 of what's right. We can give up our idea of who 00:57:17.309 --> 00:57:21.789 you are and come to you for who you actually 00:57:21.789 --> 00:57:25.150 are. We can overcome the difficulty and it might 00:57:25.550 --> 00:57:27.210 It might run us down. Sometimes it might even 00:57:27.210 --> 00:57:32.789 kill us. But our eternal salvation is found in 00:57:32.789 --> 00:57:36.349 you. And so, Lord, I ask you today again to make 00:57:36.349 --> 00:57:40.489 that so well known in us. Make us absolutely 00:57:40.489 --> 00:57:46.889 certain that today and our part in it is part 00:57:46.889 --> 00:57:52.619 of your plan. Maybe you're here today and you 00:57:52.619 --> 00:57:54.820 say, I really need to have Jesus as my Lord and 00:57:54.820 --> 00:57:57.780 Savior. No more games. I've been letting people 00:57:57.780 --> 00:58:01.340 think something that isn't true. Or I just really 00:58:01.340 --> 00:58:03.219 never have submitted my life to the Lord Jesus 00:58:03.219 --> 00:58:05.820 Christ. And I see how great He is and how much 00:58:05.820 --> 00:58:07.719 He loves me and how much He wants me. And I want 00:58:07.719 --> 00:58:12.019 Him with me. If that's you, then in your heart 00:58:12.019 --> 00:58:18.449 right now, just say, Lord, make me yours. And 00:58:18.449 --> 00:58:20.630 every head is bowed. No one's even looking around. 00:58:21.329 --> 00:58:24.409 Eyes are closed. But I'm going to open my eyes. 00:58:24.650 --> 00:58:26.250 And I'm going to look and I'm going to see your 00:58:26.250 --> 00:58:28.650 hand. And I'm going to pray for you. And you 00:58:28.650 --> 00:58:31.230 raise your hand right where you are. And just 00:58:31.230 --> 00:58:33.789 say, that's me. I'm giving my life to the Lord 00:58:33.789 --> 00:58:46.250 today in earnest. No more games. Maybe you're 00:58:46.250 --> 00:58:50.039 here today and you'd say, i have known this very 00:58:50.039 --> 00:58:51.760 thing the thing that he preached that like really 00:58:51.760 --> 00:58:54.440 it's maybe laid out in points but it's nothing 00:58:54.440 --> 00:58:57.639 i didn't already know but here i have been allowing 00:58:57.639 --> 00:59:02.059 perplexity off the ropes where i've been over 00:59:02.059 --> 00:59:04.360 there in the corner with it fighting when there 00:59:04.360 --> 00:59:07.179 was no necessity when all i really needed to 00:59:07.179 --> 00:59:10.280 do was just be who god made me to be and do the 00:59:10.280 --> 00:59:12.820 things that god gave me to do i hadn't thought 00:59:12.820 --> 00:59:15.500 about the fact that terror and perplexity is 00:59:15.500 --> 00:59:18.849 about stopping that if i Keep looking for a way 00:59:18.849 --> 00:59:21.710 to stop stopping, but I'm not really ready to 00:59:21.710 --> 00:59:24.730 go. I'll never find a way to stop stopping unless 00:59:24.730 --> 00:59:29.670 I go. So I'm committing myself today to walk 00:59:29.670 --> 00:59:33.849 with the Lord into that plan that He has for 00:59:33.849 --> 00:59:37.110 me. To share the gospel when I can, to serve, 00:59:37.210 --> 00:59:40.989 to love others. Not get stuck in myself or my 00:59:40.989 --> 00:59:43.869 own desires, but turn those things over to Him 00:59:43.869 --> 00:59:46.989 as I once said I would. Maybe that's you today. 00:59:47.949 --> 00:59:51.230 With every head bowed and every eye closed, I'll 00:59:51.230 --> 00:59:53.909 be the only one looking around. You just raise 00:59:53.909 --> 00:59:55.650 your hand, rub your eye, and say, that's me today. 00:59:56.309 --> 01:00:03.690 I've given my life to the Lord, but I've tarried 01:00:03.690 --> 01:00:10.949 with foolish notions, distractions, pain. I've 01:00:10.949 --> 01:00:13.829 allowed myself to be stopped, and I won't anymore. 01:00:15.599 --> 01:00:17.159 If that's you, just raise your hand. I'll pray 01:00:17.159 --> 01:00:19.059 for you right where you are. I see those hands. 01:00:19.559 --> 01:00:23.940 Any others? Father in heaven, as we raise our 01:00:23.940 --> 01:00:26.940 hands today, and even the one who was kind of 01:00:26.940 --> 01:00:30.340 timid, thinks maybe they don't want Pastor Dan 01:00:30.340 --> 01:00:32.599 to see, Lord, if they're committing their hearts 01:00:32.599 --> 01:00:36.199 to you, then I pray, Lord, that they would be 01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:40.750 finding the strength day in, day out. That they'll 01:00:40.750 --> 01:00:42.869 remember the next time they're stopped, the next 01:00:42.869 --> 01:00:44.809 time something comes that would try to stop them. 01:00:44.849 --> 01:00:49.010 That you are there. That you are showing them 01:00:49.010 --> 01:00:52.829 the plan. And that you are giving them purpose. 01:00:53.789 --> 01:00:56.869 And that they will indeed be able to make tough 01:00:56.869 --> 01:01:00.610 choices, give up what needs to be given up, block 01:01:00.610 --> 01:01:04.449 out the time as necessary, find their spiritual 01:01:04.449 --> 01:01:09.320 muscles stronger day by day. Help us to remember 01:01:09.320 --> 01:01:13.079 in that moment that trouble comes, that this 01:01:13.079 --> 01:01:17.519 trouble prepares us so that future trouble will 01:01:17.519 --> 01:01:24.980 look like almost nothing to us. Father, we look 01:01:24.980 --> 01:01:27.340 forward to that day when we too will be bodily 01:01:27.340 --> 01:01:30.760 resurrected into your presence by the great miracle 01:01:30.760 --> 01:01:35.300 of our God. You're the one. You have it all. 01:01:35.380 --> 01:01:37.199 You own the cattle on a thousand hills. You own 01:01:37.199 --> 01:01:39.920 every ounce of my flesh and all that I am. You 01:01:39.920 --> 01:01:43.500 own my heart and my mind. I pray, Lord, reign 01:01:43.500 --> 01:01:47.599 in me. And I pray these things in Jesus' name. 01:01:48.260 --> 01:01:51.199 And all God's people said, Amen. Thank you very 01:01:51.199 --> 01:01:55.880 much. This concludes our services today. This 01:01:55.880 --> 01:01:58.920 is... Oh, we have one more song. We have one 01:01:58.920 --> 01:02:00.679 more song. We're going to sing one song. Praise 01:02:00.679 --> 01:02:05.780 the Lord. And then we'll be done. Kids are probably 01:02:05.780 --> 01:02:10.699 out there doing hunting stuff. Something like 01:02:10.699 --> 01:02:19.380 that. You know he deserves your praise. Buster 01:02:19.380 --> 01:03:02.789 it up. Let's do it. Amen. Who but him? We'll 01:03:02.789 --> 01:03:03.610 see you next week.