WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.279 lesson to us to remember that when life gets 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:05.780 hard it's not always the big glamorous glorious 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:08.859 things right now across the city of Toledo this 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:10.640 morning there are a number of people and they 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.000 might be considered disabled by some that had 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.039 a hard time getting out of bed had a hard time 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:17.820 getting a shower getting breakfast taking care 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:21.440 of themselves they're alone in pain we understand 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:23.960 that that's difficult for them and we understand 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:26.559 that it is possible that we could face such days 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.690 but then there is the glorious day The exciting 00:00:29.690 --> 00:00:32.429 day, the day at which we can aggressively overcome 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:35.070 difficulty. Someone says, what must I do to be 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:37.149 saved? And we courageously share the gospel. 00:00:37.329 --> 00:00:39.090 Someone says, man, I'm really hurt and I don't 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:41.789 have enough food or I don't have enough transportation 00:00:41.789 --> 00:00:43.810 or I don't have enough money. And we say, well, 00:00:43.850 --> 00:00:45.329 I'm going to step up and I'm going to provide 00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:47.750 in some way for that person. Those volatile, 00:00:48.109 --> 00:00:50.689 exciting, dangerous moments where we step out 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:52.710 of our comfort zone and do something different, 00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:55.409 something unique. And the tendency in the kingdom 00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:58.689 of God is to think. that only those days that 00:00:58.689 --> 00:01:00.929 are exciting like that really matter, and that 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:02.829 just isn't so. Let me give you a couple of just 00:01:02.829 --> 00:01:05.390 quick historical illustrations. Now, understand 00:01:05.390 --> 00:01:07.430 that the people that I'm talking about here are 00:01:07.430 --> 00:01:10.170 also Christians, and it is in a Christian context 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:13.030 when the nation was largely a Christian nation, 00:01:13.189 --> 00:01:15.590 at least by profession. The first president of 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:17.510 our nation, George Washington, you may know a 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:20.969 little bit about him. He rose during the Revolutionary 00:01:20.969 --> 00:01:23.310 War to become a very popular figure and became 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:25.590 the first president of the United States. Our 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:28.700 country, nearly collapsed under its own weight 00:01:28.700 --> 00:01:31.560 in the early days, and his first two presidencies 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.120 became the precedent for what presidencies are 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:35.879 supposed to look like for the rest of United 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:38.560 States history. He stepped down after eight years 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.079 and went home to his farm, where he spent his 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.939 final days focusing intensely on tedious day 00:01:44.939 --> 00:01:48.299 -to -day work of a gentleman farmer. He meticulously 00:01:48.299 --> 00:01:51.319 managed crop rotations. He built a whiskey distillery. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.400 Don't get me started on that. He fussed over 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:55.959 the daily administrative operations of his gristmill, 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:58.840 and he made his plantation financially self -sufficient. 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:01.019 And he did that because he believed that each 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:05.120 man's basic contributions, each man's work, each 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.520 person's work, all told is what makes our nation 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.439 great. Not just the actions of, say, the president 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.300 or a general or an officer. Abraham Lincoln. 00:02:14.729 --> 00:02:17.969 assumed the presidency in 1861 during a catastrophic 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:21.689 national fracture. The nation divided and could 00:02:21.689 --> 00:02:23.810 never have become what you and I know as the 00:02:23.810 --> 00:02:25.990 United States of America. In fact, his election 00:02:25.990 --> 00:02:28.669 sort of triggered the secession of the southern 00:02:28.669 --> 00:02:31.650 states in the Civil War. Immediately, the bloodiest 00:02:31.650 --> 00:02:34.969 conflict in American history began. While fighting 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:38.250 a civil war, Lincoln kept himself grounded by, 00:02:38.449 --> 00:02:41.330 get this list, he maintained a grueling routine 00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:43.789 in the telegraph office. Telegraph was their 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:46.509 way, like cell phones, right? So sending, like 00:02:46.509 --> 00:02:48.650 the internet, sending messages all across the 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:51.289 country. Daily, he personally didn't have an 00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:53.150 assistant do it, or a general, somebody in the 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:55.810 military. Daily, he reviewed every dispatch that 00:02:55.810 --> 00:02:58.150 came by telegraph to the United States government. 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:01.169 He also instituted regular open door hours where 00:03:01.169 --> 00:03:04.250 ordinary citizens, like any of us, might come 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:07.669 in. Citizens, inventors, widows, soldiers, any 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:10.090 of them could come and meet him. By regularly 00:03:10.090 --> 00:03:13.490 engaging with ordinary people, he balanced high 00:03:13.490 --> 00:03:16.750 -stakes wartime strategy with mundane realities, 00:03:17.030 --> 00:03:20.009 basic day -to -day things. Augustus, who became 00:03:20.009 --> 00:03:23.530 Caesar of Rome, rose to power when Octavian, 00:03:23.629 --> 00:03:26.490 following the brutal assassination of his great 00:03:26.490 --> 00:03:27.949 -uncle, I'm sorry I said that wrong, Octavian 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:29.710 rose to power, that might have been his name 00:03:29.710 --> 00:03:31.069 as well, I think he had two names, but anyway, 00:03:31.169 --> 00:03:34.530 as his great -uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated. 00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:38.280 Then, for two decades, he struggled to keep the 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.620 nation of Rome together. There were political 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.939 purges where senators were killed, multiple of 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:45.620 them, attacks on his own life, massive societal 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:48.860 upheaval. Rome could have fallen apart. But for 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:51.460 two decades after he struggled, he built what 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:54.780 we now know as Pax Romana, which was the Roman 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:59.199 nation that for 200 years essentially ruled in 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.830 peace. He meticulously managed the empire's grain 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:05.330 supply, built aqueducts, supervised public works. 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:08.129 He spent his days passing regulations on road 00:04:08.129 --> 00:04:10.810 maintenance, city fire brigades, tax administration, 00:04:11.169 --> 00:04:14.229 transforming a turbulent republic into a functioning 00:04:14.229 --> 00:04:17.329 administrative state. Now the general that did 00:04:17.329 --> 00:04:19.089 all that in the beginning for 20 years could 00:04:19.089 --> 00:04:22.290 have said that all that was below him. that was 00:04:22.290 --> 00:04:25.189 elected and started the Civil War, could have 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:27.410 said, the common people just can wait while I 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:29.709 deal with what's going on in our nation falling 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:32.870 apart. The president, which was the general in 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:35.449 the Revolutionary War, who became president, 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:37.389 could have said, well, I'll take a few more four 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:39.550 -year terms, because obviously I'm the best man 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:42.689 for the job. As we look at a very short text 00:04:42.689 --> 00:04:44.930 today, I want you to realize that we have been 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:47.129 looking at the book of Judges for a while. We've 00:04:47.129 --> 00:04:49.170 built our way up through most of chapter 15, 00:04:49.350 --> 00:04:52.730 and we've seen Samson, And if I may call it, 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:55.689 be the butthead that he was. Right. And then 00:04:55.689 --> 00:04:59.050 to continually begin to have great victories 00:04:59.050 --> 00:05:01.649 in the Lord, to rely on God and have great victories. 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.329 And then at the end of his last great victory 00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:07.769 to become so parched and say, I will die of thirst 00:05:07.769 --> 00:05:10.050 and to cry out to God because there was no one 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:11.970 there to provide him with sustenance. And God 00:05:11.970 --> 00:05:14.350 provided the sustenance. And out of that, then. 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:16.800 comes the one verse that is our key verse today. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.519 Now, you recall that I showed you that this book 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.579 has a chiastic structure. That is to say, the 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:24.540 whole book rises to this point, this verse. And 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.000 then from here on down, it's all downhill from 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.819 here to the end. So this is the moment at which 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:33.360 those two big pillars of his failures, if you 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.360 will, and in the middle is Samson doing what 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:38.220 we're going to see today. So grab your Bibles, 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.459 if you would. Give me a little who to holler 00:05:39.459 --> 00:05:42.620 amen. One verse, just one verse. Judges chapter 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.670 15. Thank you very much, those of you who are 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:47.709 with me. This is God's word. Whether or not I 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:49.610 get it all right from here, it is important that 00:05:49.610 --> 00:05:52.069 you listen to the Lord and let him work in your 00:05:52.069 --> 00:05:54.930 life. Judges 15, verse 20. Now, right before 00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:57.629 this is that instance where he cried out to God 00:05:57.629 --> 00:06:00.170 for something to drink, and God opened the rock 00:06:00.170 --> 00:06:02.269 and gave him the spring, and he drank. And then 00:06:02.269 --> 00:06:06.050 it says, in verse 20, So he, that's Samson, judged 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:09.949 Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:13.899 Okay? So Samson... It essentially reinstitutes 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:16.500 the kingdom that was meant to be God's people. 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:18.579 Now we know, as we said from the very beginning 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:19.939 in the book of Judges, a lot of times you see 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.879 the term judge, right? It better could be translated 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:25.800 in our modern language maybe as savior than ruler 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.800 or king. So Samson did not become the king of 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:31.699 the nation. In fact, instead, he returned the 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:33.939 nation to the idea that God was supposed to be 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:36.639 the king. He did that because after he experienced 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.399 that lack of sustenance and had to cry out to 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.250 the Lord. And God provided for him. So maybe 00:06:42.250 --> 00:06:43.889 you've been there. Maybe you've been there at 00:06:43.889 --> 00:06:46.189 a moment in your life where whether you were 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:48.769 responsible for your failings or fallings or 00:06:48.769 --> 00:06:50.829 not, you realize that if God doesn't do something 00:06:50.829 --> 00:06:52.970 right here, there really isn't anything else. 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:55.509 It's not going to go on past this point. When 00:06:55.509 --> 00:07:01.610 I was at BG in 1989, the spring of 1989, there 00:07:01.610 --> 00:07:05.170 was a young man who had come to BG and his parents 00:07:05.170 --> 00:07:08.839 were paying his way. got involved right away 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.019 as a freshman with lots of things on campus, 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:12.939 and it provided him with a lot of distractions, 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.980 which meant he didn't do well in school. At the 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:17.560 end of the first semester, he realized that he 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:21.680 had failed, essentially. Now, he didn't fail 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.259 all of his classes, but he failed some. He couldn't 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:26.740 tell his parents because they were paying his 00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:29.120 way. He hadn't made any real friends or anybody 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.040 in a relationship, and he leapt from a third 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.870 -floor window and killed himself. What I'm getting 00:07:34.870 --> 00:07:38.750 at is it's exciting to start something new. It's 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:40.870 exciting to do something incredible. But you 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:44.170 need to realize that the passage of time is in 00:07:44.170 --> 00:07:47.300 doing the things that must be done. After you 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:49.040 accept Jesus Christ and you walk forward down 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:51.019 the aisle, it was this way for me. Tears were 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:54.220 in my eyes, emotions in my heart. Every muscle 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:56.300 in my body was sort of thrumming. You kind of 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:58.040 maybe remember what this felt like or what it 00:07:58.040 --> 00:07:59.680 felt like for you that was different. And he 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.699 asked me to do things that I thought I would 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:04.300 never do in my life, to join the church, to serve, 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:08.639 to tell the congregation, to be baptized. And 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.759 fortunately for me, the week before that, Sherry 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.139 had asked me what it meant to be saved. And I 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:14.620 said to her, I don't know, but I know it's going 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:16.819 to change everything. And so when I walked down 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.220 from the front of the room, I knew that I had 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:22.060 to reanalyze everything in my life. How I dressed, 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:24.379 how I walked, how I talked, what I ate, where 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:28.360 I slept, how I slept, everything. I had to reanalyze 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:30.540 everything in my life now based on that moment. 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:33.320 So I had that blessing because of my wife who 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.399 questioned my thought of possibly becoming a 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:37.509 Christian. And not everybody had that. I understand 00:08:37.509 --> 00:08:40.230 that after you accept Christ, sometimes it feels 00:08:40.230 --> 00:08:43.490 like the day -to -day becomes more important 00:08:43.490 --> 00:08:46.669 or too much of a distraction or maybe just too 00:08:46.669 --> 00:08:49.429 difficult for some folks. I want to talk to you 00:08:49.429 --> 00:08:51.429 briefly about the kingdom of God. The kingdom 00:08:51.429 --> 00:08:53.649 of God is that person, place, or thing in which 00:08:53.649 --> 00:08:55.830 God reigns. That's what's happening in this verse, 00:08:55.970 --> 00:08:59.070 right? So God is reigning over Israel. And you 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:00.629 could search your Bible if you want. You could 00:09:00.629 --> 00:09:02.450 search historical texts. But guess what you will 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:05.110 not find? You will not find a further detail. 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:07.649 Not a single. There's not a journal. There's 00:09:07.649 --> 00:09:09.230 not a book. There's not a record. You will not 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:12.549 find a single detail about what happens during 00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:16.830 this 20 years of Samson's reign. So what we know 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:18.809 for sure is that Samson got out of bed. He got 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:20.909 dressed. He stood strong. He stood in the strength 00:09:20.909 --> 00:09:23.409 of the Lord. He depended on God. He stood to 00:09:23.409 --> 00:09:26.129 be the man that God made him to be, which is 00:09:26.129 --> 00:09:28.889 clearly not how the first part of his life went, 00:09:29.110 --> 00:09:31.789 right? And then we know that after this period 00:09:31.789 --> 00:09:34.750 of time, after 20 years of submitting the nation 00:09:34.750 --> 00:09:37.490 to the Lord, it's going to go poorly. I submit 00:09:37.490 --> 00:09:39.409 to you that there are those of us who will live 00:09:39.409 --> 00:09:41.570 in the kingdom of God. They'll dress in the kingdom 00:09:41.570 --> 00:09:44.230 of God. We might study our Bibles. We might pray. 00:09:44.669 --> 00:09:47.149 And at some moment in time, we just say, you 00:09:47.149 --> 00:09:49.350 know what? This living in the kingdom of God 00:09:49.350 --> 00:09:53.370 is just not enough for me. Or I want something 00:09:53.370 --> 00:09:56.210 more. We reach out and take more, go after more 00:09:56.210 --> 00:09:58.830 or whatever. That's what Samson will do after 00:09:58.830 --> 00:10:02.350 20 years ruling as a judge. So this is a word 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:04.889 of caution to each one of us. You need to know 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:07.190 what the kingdom of God looks like. You need 00:10:07.190 --> 00:10:09.970 to be able to see the back of the signs at the 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:11.289 edge of the kingdom of God when you're about 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:13.870 to leave it and say, no, turn back. I need to 00:10:13.870 --> 00:10:16.649 be where I'm supposed to be. You need to know 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:18.429 what it's like to live in the kingdom of God 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:21.470 and embrace that as your daily routine. Because 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:23.429 as much as you may think you're smarter than 00:10:23.429 --> 00:10:25.230 the next guy, and there's a lot of very smart 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:27.149 people in this room, as much as you might think 00:10:27.149 --> 00:10:30.090 you're stronger than the next guy, God has not 00:10:30.090 --> 00:10:32.370 literally broken open the side of the mountain 00:10:32.370 --> 00:10:35.289 and flowed water for you. God has not made you 00:10:35.289 --> 00:10:38.370 mighty to pick up a fresh jawbone of a donkey 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:41.460 and slay. thousands. And therefore, it is entirely 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:44.940 possible that we, like Samson, could fall away 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:48.620 if we do not understand that the kingdom of God 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:52.559 is largely about the things that go on day to 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.620 day. We talked to you about the edge of the kingdom 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:57.220 of God for a moment. As people approach the kingdom 00:10:57.220 --> 00:10:59.799 of God, so this is to say before they are saved 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.299 or before they're submitted to God, there's a 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:04.240 border there. There shouldn't be a brick wall, 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.000 which is to say people come in and maybe they 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.289 act a little different. They're struggling. to 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:11.190 grasp the things of the kingdom or whatever. 00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.549 And Christians should not be saying, no, no, 00:11:13.590 --> 00:11:15.450 stay away until you get yourself under control. 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:17.970 Stay away until you stop doing that. There should 00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:20.590 not be that brick wall of legalism holding people 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:22.490 out, which means there's also not a brick wall 00:11:22.490 --> 00:11:25.590 of legalism holding us in. There are signs, signs 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:28.389 of radical hospitality. Like when people come 00:11:28.389 --> 00:11:30.570 in here, they should be welcomed in. The sign 00:11:30.570 --> 00:11:32.870 should say, you are welcome here. And we should 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:35.320 be like that to people. when they're approaching 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:37.639 the borders of the kingdom of God. And then when 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.879 people are struggling and they're not living 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:41.480 the way they should and they get near the edge, 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:43.940 they should notice that they are withdrawing 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:46.419 from presenting radical hospitality to other 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:48.659 people and welcoming them in. They should notice 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:50.940 then that maybe they're not feeling connected 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.460 to that radical hospitality effort anymore. There 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:56.960 should be unexplainable peace. We talked a little 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:58.879 bit about indecision -making a couple weeks ago 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:00.659 on a Tuesday night. about how you should have 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:02.820 a peace in the Lord. You should know that God 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:04.399 is taking you in the direction that he's taking 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.679 you. There should be a peace that goes beyond 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:09.360 understanding, right? And when you get near the 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.460 kingdom of God and you're about to leave it, 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.820 you should experience a trembling, a struggle 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:14.539 in the peace. Like, ah, I think I'm about to 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:17.460 walk away from the peace. And a tangible sense 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:19.960 of sacred space. Like when we come in here, this 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:21.860 is God's place. I understand it's just a building. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.519 We were blessed with it, miraculously given to 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:25.639 us, whatever. But this is God's place. When we 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:27.720 come here on Sunday, we meet like this. God is 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.419 here. If you can't feel God, and I'm not talking 00:12:30.419 --> 00:12:32.159 about emotion, if you can't feel God right now, 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:33.620 you need to reach out to the Lord and say, God, 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.159 please, let me draw near to you. Draw near to 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.480 me. Help me experience whatever it is that I'm 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:39.659 supposed to experience here. And I'm not talking 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:41.980 about experiential Christianity. But to be in 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:44.440 the presence of the Lord is a markable thing. 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:46.480 And when you get to near the edge of the kingdom 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.279 of God like you're going to leave, you should 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.000 feel like you're walking away from the greatest 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.220 thing that you've experienced. I have a problem 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:54.559 with people like, well, I don't really need to 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:56.600 go to church. I submit to you that people that 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.120 don't really need to go be with the church have 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.480 not experienced this unsurpassable, this tangible 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.460 sense of sacred space that God provides. If you 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:07.340 don't need to be amongst God's people, then you 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.940 probably don't understand what it means to be 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:11.919 amongst God's people. The edge of the kingdom 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.440 should feel like a sanctuary from the exhaustion 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.080 of the world. And that for those who are walking 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:21.460 away, it should be like surrendering those, that 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:23.820 sanctuary. It's exactly what happens in Samson's 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:24.899 life. We're not going to get ahead and look at 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:26.500 that, but that's exactly what happens. He surrenders 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:29.240 the sanctuary that is the God of heaven. He surrenders 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.860 the sanctuary. Isaiah 57, 6 says this. He says, 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.399 Isaiah spoke and then probably wrote. These I 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.259 will bring to my holy mountain and give them 00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:40.700 joy in my house of prayer, talking on behalf 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.940 of God, for my house will be called a house of 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:45.200 prayer for all nations. The edge of God's domain 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.159 is explicitly designed to welcome the outsider 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.899 and so that those who are inside the kingdom, 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:52.179 when they are leaving there, they realize they 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:54.679 are leaving that place in which the things of 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:57.190 God are done. They're leaving that people in 00:13:57.190 --> 00:14:00.350 which the things of God take root and never are 00:14:00.350 --> 00:14:03.450 released. Are you a person in which the things 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:06.909 of God have taken root and you would never release 00:14:06.909 --> 00:14:10.570 them? For 20 years, Samson was that person. Matthew 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:14.049 11, 28, 30 says, Jesus invites those on the outside 00:14:14.049 --> 00:14:17.029 who are weary and burdened to come to him for 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:20.110 rest. The boundary of God's rule is defined by 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:22.850 relief on the way in, not a heavier yoke. But 00:14:22.850 --> 00:14:24.889 this is the amazing thing. Can you believe that 00:14:24.889 --> 00:14:26.919 people who are inside the kingdom of God And 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:28.759 it's people who are like, oh, it's just too much 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:30.840 trouble to read my Bible. It's just too much 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.120 trouble to give up my finances. It's just too 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.399 much trouble to serve those extra hours a week. 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:38.639 I work my 40, 50, 60, 70 hours, but I can't find 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:42.220 time in the 168 -hour week to put in 3, 4, 5, 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.600 or 50, if you're not working, hours serving the 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.919 Lord. It's just too much. And so that yoke somehow 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:51.159 begins to look like it's too much, and they go 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:53.379 instead and choose a yoke that will carry them 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:55.879 into eternal damnation. Does that make any sense 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:58.919 at all? It is because we have forgotten that 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:02.720 the yoke of Jesus, the yoke of God is light because 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:06.759 the actions that he has called us to build us 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:09.059 up and make us strong while the actions that 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:12.820 our flesh desires suck the life out of us. And 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:14.740 when somebody reaches the boundary of the kingdom 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:16.500 of God, they should realize I am walking away 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:19.120 from a better lifestyle. Yes, there's service. 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.000 Statistically, Arden and I got talking about 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.720 this while we were traveling. Statistically, 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:25.899 people recover from anxiety and depression. by 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:28.620 serving other people. They also recover by medicine 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:31.139 and counseling. It's true. It's a fact. In fact, 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:32.539 especially those who don't serve other people. 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:35.179 98 % or something. That's a very high number 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:37.120 of people that recover when they take medicine, 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.019 have counseling, and also serve. But if you take 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:42.299 the medicine away, it's still 90 -some percent. 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:43.980 And if you take the counseling away, it's still 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:46.419 90 -some percent, which means that you must serve 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:48.909 other people. You have to find a way to step 00:15:48.909 --> 00:15:51.009 outside your schedule. And you might have to 00:15:51.009 --> 00:15:53.450 divorce yourself from the TV and say, I can't 00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:56.149 marry you anymore. I've got to go and serve the 00:15:56.149 --> 00:15:58.049 people of God. Heaven forbid you should ever 00:15:58.049 --> 00:15:59.769 come to a moment where you have to divorce yourself 00:15:59.769 --> 00:16:03.470 of your own life or of your family to serve God. 00:16:03.789 --> 00:16:06.169 When people are about to walk out of the domain 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:09.509 and choose a heavier yoke, they should be aware. 00:16:09.870 --> 00:16:12.730 Colossians 4, 5, and 6 says this. Be wise in 00:16:12.730 --> 00:16:14.789 the way that you act toward outsiders. That's 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:16.269 those who are coming into the kingdom of God. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:18.039 And you could even say that those who have stepped 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:20.940 out, right, make the most of every opportunity. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.740 Let your conversation always be full of grace, 00:16:23.779 --> 00:16:26.299 seasoned with salt. So those who are in the kingdom 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:29.480 of God should be surrounded by people with conversation 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:31.919 full of grace and salt. And so when you get out 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.179 there on the edges, you'll find a lot of people, 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:36.940 their conversation is not grace and salt. And 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.360 so you cross through that and get out away from 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.399 God completely. You find almost everybody's conversation 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.740 is not grace and salt. Salt, by the way, is being 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.659 called. It's being taught. It's being led. It's 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:51.620 being disciplined. It's being confronted for 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:54.559 your bad behavior before you get out. That's 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.700 what the salt is all about. The grace is we love 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:58.419 you no matter what, but please hear me. This 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:00.340 is not good for you. And that's the way we should 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:02.259 be treating each other inside here. And when 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:03.720 you get out there and it's not like that, you'll 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.759 realize it. The kingdom of God is given this 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.220 image. Let me tell you like a parable for a second. 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:10.920 Imagine you're a weary traveler. You're driving 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:14.700 through a blinding, freezing rainstorm on a dark 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:16.789 highway. You've been driving for hours and hours 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:19.589 and hours without seeing any sign of a place 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:22.849 to stop. The gas tank is on fumes. You're going 00:17:22.849 --> 00:17:25.930 to run out of gas. And up ahead, you see a warm 00:17:25.930 --> 00:17:29.009 amber glow of a porch light on a sturdy homestead. 00:17:29.089 --> 00:17:31.829 There is a big house. There is a roof protecting 00:17:31.829 --> 00:17:35.170 from the rain. There is a light shining, glowing. 00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:37.769 And when you pull up to the door, you're met 00:17:37.769 --> 00:17:41.779 with an interrogation or a locked gate. No. Now, 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:43.519 the kingdom of God is a place where when you 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.440 pull up to that door, you are met with an open 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:49.220 door, a dry towel. Now, there is a perimeter 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.759 that marks the exact boundary. You have to actually 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:54.000 go to the house, right? You have to actually 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.079 go there for the sustenance, go there for the 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.420 protection, get the towel, ask the person for 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:00.720 help. And you should, when you're inside the 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:02.240 kingdom of God and that is who you've become, 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:05.680 you are that safe place and people come to you. 00:18:05.950 --> 00:18:07.150 And whether or not you can give them the help 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:08.529 that they ask for, you can certainly pray for 00:18:08.529 --> 00:18:10.569 them. You can certainly share the gospel. You 00:18:10.569 --> 00:18:13.289 can certainly stand up and represent, right, 00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:16.309 Jesus. The edges of kingdom should feel like 00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:19.250 that porch in both directions. I can't leave 00:18:19.250 --> 00:18:21.250 the kingdom of God because others may come who 00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:23.769 need Jesus. I can't leave the kingdom of God 00:18:23.769 --> 00:18:26.569 because I am a provider of sustenance. I am an 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:28.869 ambassador for the Lord. And that brings us... 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:31.279 to what it looks like inside the kingdom of God. 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:33.640 There are obvious differences. When people interact 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:35.440 with citizens of the kingdom, they should notice 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.759 a striking, like it's completely different from 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.119 what the world is like. The world is driven by 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:41.819 self -preservation. Everybody wants to get ahead. 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:42.980 They're waiting for their boat to come in. I 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:44.460 want a promotion. I want more money. I got to 00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:46.680 buy this. I got to buy that. I need to feed my 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.279 flesh. Sometimes it's about retaliation. I got 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:50.920 to get back at them. They did this to me. I'm 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.099 going to make them understand that what they 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:53.920 did was wrong. Sometimes it's about anxiety and 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.920 fretting and worrying. I'm upset. about where 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.559 this is going, what's going to be the outcome, 00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:01.259 etc. Kingdom citizens live by a different economy. 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:03.759 If you have experienced the God of heaven and 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:05.680 you understand that this kingdom that we live 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:08.119 in, the economy is different here. Those things, 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.299 we don't trade on retaliation, self -preservation, 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.140 anxiety. We don't motivate by being angry at 00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:16.940 people or by bringing guilt into their life. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.940 That is not how we live. Galatians 5, 22 and 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:21.720 23 gives the fruit of the Spirit. It begins like 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.440 this, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:26.079 faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.220 And when you are surrounding yourself by people 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:30.740 who are Christians, you're living inside the 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:32.859 kingdom of God, you should be experiencing those 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:34.619 fruits. You should be able to see them. And if 00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:36.180 you're a person who's in the kingdom of God and 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:38.079 you can't see them in you, I suggest you draw 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.579 a little closer to Christ. I suggest you spend 00:19:40.579 --> 00:19:42.900 a little more time in the Word or prayer. Quit 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:45.980 your job and get busy following Jesus. Quit your 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:48.900 education and get busy following Jesus. Because 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:51.339 the fruit of the Holy Spirit looks like that. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.140 If it ain't present, you ain't in. And you will 00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:56.819 still have to dress. And sometimes when you dress, 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:58.680 you'll get the buttons wrong. And you will still 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:00.619 have to do the laundry. And sometimes it will 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:02.539 take longer than you like. And you will still 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:04.460 have to cook your meals. And sometimes you'll 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:07.420 burn it. And you will still have to deal with 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:09.519 difficult people, even some of them inside the 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:11.319 kingdom of God, who are not currently exhibiting 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:13.569 the fruits of the Spirit. And it will be trying. 00:20:13.769 --> 00:20:17.269 And yet, for you to remain close to Jesus, the 00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:19.210 fruits of the Spirit should be showing up inside 00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:23.029 you. These traits are profoundly disruptive in 00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:25.069 a culture of outrage and self -indulgence. Do 00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:26.809 you understand that when you're being persecuted, 00:20:27.089 --> 00:20:29.829 you should be being persecuted because you are 00:20:29.829 --> 00:20:32.509 obviously different. Someone has come up to the 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:34.529 border of the kingdom of God. You're inside the 00:20:34.529 --> 00:20:36.309 kingdom of God. You're entreating them to come 00:20:36.309 --> 00:20:38.049 into the kingdom of God to accept Jesus Christ 00:20:38.049 --> 00:20:39.789 as Lord and Savior. You're exhibiting the fruits 00:20:39.789 --> 00:20:42.359 of the Spirit. And they go, I don't like that. 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:45.579 He won't retaliate against me. I come back to 00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:48.019 the martyrs who over and over and over again, 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.700 you see them like Jesus, try and forgive them 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:52.500 for they know not what they do. I think of the 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:55.660 man in Korea who was a young missionary and he 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:58.000 was trying to lead his village to Christ. And 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.920 the army came in and they persecuted him repeatedly. 00:21:02.059 --> 00:21:04.059 And so finally they took him and his wife and 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:05.779 his two children out into the wilderness and 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:08.940 made them dig a mass grave for the four of them. 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:11.500 standing over them with AK -47s, threatening 00:21:11.500 --> 00:21:13.279 to kill them, threatening to beat them, beating 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.980 them occasionally when they didn't work fast 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:17.559 enough. And then he put the man's wife and children 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:20.160 down in the grave, three soldiers. He put them 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.799 down in the grave that they had forced them to 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.720 dig. And he told the man to recant Christ. They 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:26.319 said, recant Christ. Tell us that you're not 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:28.420 a Christian. We'll let you all go. And they would 00:21:28.420 --> 00:21:30.140 not. And the children began to cry. Do you hear 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:32.619 it? We're being invited right now to the greatest 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:35.079 feast that will last forever. We're going to 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.630 a great celebration that will never end. And 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:39.450 that was the straw that broke the camel's back 00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:42.569 or the man's unwillingness to deny Christ. I 00:21:42.569 --> 00:21:44.309 don't know what it was for sure. But they opened 00:21:44.309 --> 00:21:46.569 fire and killed that woman and those two children. 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:50.190 And they made the man bury them, put the dirt 00:21:50.190 --> 00:21:52.470 back on top of them. And then they took him, 00:21:52.490 --> 00:21:54.549 blubbering like an idiot, beaten within an inch 00:21:54.549 --> 00:21:57.089 of his life, and tossed him on the floor of his 00:21:57.089 --> 00:22:01.349 hovel where he lay for two days in sorrow and 00:22:01.349 --> 00:22:04.799 despair and pain. And then he got up. and began 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:07.799 to preach the gospel again. Now you tell me, 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.660 what in your life, what in my life compares with 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:12.960 that? Several days later, one of the soldiers 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.059 came in and says, you still preaching Jesus Christ 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:19.759 after what God let happen to you? And he shared 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:21.880 the gospel with him and he got saved. And then 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:23.700 that soldier went and told one of the other soldiers 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:26.579 what had happened. When it fast forward, that 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:28.700 young missionary became the pastor of what became 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:32.000 the largest church in the world. They couldn't 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.890 meet him. A public place. So they met everywhere. 00:22:36.109 --> 00:22:39.750 Under trees, in basements, back rooms. At one 00:22:39.750 --> 00:22:41.529 point in time, it was estimated that the church 00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:48.730 was 400 ,000 strong. 400 ,000. We've got to dress, 00:22:48.869 --> 00:22:54.809 eat, walk, talk, act, serve, give, like we are 00:22:54.809 --> 00:22:57.630 in the kingdom of God, even when the AK -47. 00:22:58.349 --> 00:23:01.309 is pointed at us. And if then, then surely when 00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:03.329 you're choosing your clothes and doing your dishes 00:23:03.329 --> 00:23:06.150 and so on. The fruits of the Spirit are profoundly 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:08.670 disruptive in a culture of outrage and self -indulgence, 00:23:08.829 --> 00:23:11.809 and so should they be, so that people might know 00:23:11.809 --> 00:23:13.490 that they are on the border of the kingdom of 00:23:13.490 --> 00:23:17.150 God. John 13, 35 says, By this, everyone will 00:23:17.150 --> 00:23:20.789 know that you are my disciples, if you love one 00:23:20.789 --> 00:23:23.230 another. You know how the world knows that we 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:25.920 are in the kingdom of God? And they are not because 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:29.519 here people love each other. And I get it because 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.319 even after being saved, we're all flawed, fall, 00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:36.319 struggle, stupid sometimes, right? All of us. 00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:39.339 And somebody being dumb in your presence or being 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:42.420 rude in your presence does not give you the right 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.000 to not love. Because here is the point. If you 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:47.579 do not love one another, if we as a body do not 00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:50.160 love one another, then how will the world know 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.779 when they are outside the boundary that there 00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:56.230 is somewhere? a sacred place, a sacred people 00:23:56.230 --> 00:24:00.609 in which God's love abides. And we practice it 00:24:00.609 --> 00:24:04.349 toward one another. Distinct love within this 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:07.289 community is the ultimate visible marker. But 00:24:07.289 --> 00:24:09.309 notice that you can see the back of the sign 00:24:09.309 --> 00:24:11.329 as well. When you're on the way out, you will 00:24:11.329 --> 00:24:13.920 note that you have struggled. to love people 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.700 who have wronged you. You have struggled to pray 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:20.259 for fervently the hurts of others that you are 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:22.559 aware of that are in this fellowship, that you 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:24.519 have not gone out of your way to make the contact. 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:26.200 So no one went out of their way to make a contact 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:28.059 with me. Where in the Bible does it say you only 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:30.480 do what God tells you to do when others do what 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:33.599 they are told to do? In your life, someone had 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.839 better make the first move and it already has 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.720 been done in that it was Jesus and he has already 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.720 won. And you're supposed to be following him, 00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:42.680 not looking at the other sheep and how they're 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:44.640 screwing up and failing to love and whatever, 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.940 not forgetting, as you go about your daily difficulties, 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:51.599 what it means to be a member of the kingdom of 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.160 God. My next illustration is a little painful 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:56.220 for me because I am not, as you might have noticed 00:24:56.220 --> 00:24:58.539 by hearing my singing, very musically inclined. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.240 But I have had the opportunity to attend a few 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.400 orchestras over the years. And I know that if 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:07.579 you go kind of early, You'll hear the orchestra 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:10.920 warming up and tuning and so on, even if you're 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:12.579 just in your seat for a few minutes before it 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:13.880 starts, because it pretty much goes right up 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:16.180 until the beginning. And then suddenly, usually 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:18.920 there's a single note, and everybody sort of 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:21.220 tunes their instruments or plays their instruments 00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:23.420 in tune with that note. And then a certain man, 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:26.759 a person, I call him a conductor, steps up in 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.180 front of the orchestra, and it's orderly. It's 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:32.980 harmonious. It's beautiful. This is what you 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:35.819 and I need, and it ain't me, and it ain't you. 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:38.420 And so every time you start to think that everybody 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:41.099 in your life should get them in an orbit around 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.240 you, should start to do the things that you want 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:44.940 them to do, and your personal preferences start 00:25:44.940 --> 00:25:46.440 to think, well, that person's not right, man. 00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:48.400 They're not doing what I want them to do. Every 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.180 time that happens, you remember, it ain't you. 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:52.519 You're not the one. You're not the one who's 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:54.140 supposed to lead the kingdom of God. You're not 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:56.440 the one whose preferences should be taken into 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:59.680 account. It's Jesus. And yes, if you see sin 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.190 in another person, Grace and light requires that 00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:03.829 you go to that person and talk to them and try 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:05.710 to haul them back before they walk essentially 00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:08.109 out of the kingdom of God. When the world screams 00:26:08.109 --> 00:26:10.490 revenge, the kingdom citizens offer forgiveness. 00:26:10.809 --> 00:26:13.849 When the world hoards, the kingdom citizens give. 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:17.769 The difference is as obvious as symphony, that 00:26:17.769 --> 00:26:20.750 beautiful sound, versus, say, the noises of traffic 00:26:20.750 --> 00:26:23.890 or in the child cafeteria in the elementary school 00:26:23.890 --> 00:26:26.089 before they switch the lights off. There is a 00:26:26.089 --> 00:26:28.390 cacophony of noise that is not the kingdom of 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:31.339 God. It is God's people following Jesus and moving 00:26:31.339 --> 00:26:34.160 in the correct direction that Jesus is taking 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:36.640 us. You will find us loving one another, exhibiting 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:38.980 the fruits of the Spirit. You will find us profoundly 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:42.160 disruptive to the world's culture, but united 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.920 with one another. The activities of the kingdom 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:47.880 then amount to this, the duty of kingdom ambassadors. 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:50.680 When you got saved, this became your job. We're 00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:53.769 not on our own here. We're ambassadors. Every 00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:56.809 action, word, and posture then, everything that 00:26:56.809 --> 00:26:59.309 you do, say, and the way you do it and say it 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:02.710 directly represents Jesus. You are a kingdom 00:27:02.710 --> 00:27:04.710 ambassador. In the olden days, an ambassador 00:27:04.710 --> 00:27:06.289 would be sent out on behalf of the government. 00:27:06.430 --> 00:27:07.910 And when they went there, they spoke on behalf 00:27:07.910 --> 00:27:09.569 of the king. And if the ambassador said, we're 00:27:09.569 --> 00:27:11.349 going to war, you got to watch out because we're 00:27:11.349 --> 00:27:13.170 going to war. The ambassador said, you have offended 00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:15.109 our nation. You got to watch out. You've offended 00:27:15.109 --> 00:27:17.009 our nation. A number of times in my history, 00:27:17.049 --> 00:27:18.769 I'll give you a few examples in a moment. I've 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:21.740 felt like I... was at a moment where someone 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:23.759 was sort of attacking the kingdom of God, and 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:25.920 I was present for the attack, and then I spoke 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:27.980 something, and later it came true. The bottom 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:31.420 line is this. We are Christ's ambassadors as 00:27:31.420 --> 00:27:33.640 though God were making his appeal through us. 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:36.539 2 Corinthians 5 .20 We are a chosen people, a 00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:38.799 royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:40.940 possession, that you may declare the praises 00:27:40.940 --> 00:27:43.000 of him who called you out of darkness into his 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:45.819 wondrous light. According to 1 Peter. He has 00:27:45.819 --> 00:27:48.519 shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:51.339 the Lord require of you? to act justly and love 00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:53.680 mercy and walk humbly with your God, according 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:56.539 to Micah 6 .8. Many years ago, we had what was 00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:59.599 called the ICE event. It had a couple of different 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:01.200 names. The bottom line is we were sharing the 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:02.839 gospel with people on the streets, going door 00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:05.059 to door, talking to people, going to the mall, 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:06.660 and so on. We were out at the Woodville Mall, 00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:09.660 which doesn't exist anymore, spoiler. And while 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:11.779 we were there, I almost got arrested. The police 00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:15.170 were called. Me and the guy who was with me who 00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:17.049 was sharing the gospel evangelist, I'm going 00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:18.450 to call him that, and another member from our 00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:20.009 church, and I think I remember who it was, but 00:28:20.009 --> 00:28:21.569 I'm not positive. We were sharing the gospel 00:28:21.569 --> 00:28:23.509 with the guy, and he was very intent. He really 00:28:23.509 --> 00:28:25.509 wanted to know about Jesus and probably would 00:28:25.509 --> 00:28:27.309 accept Christ based on the way the direction 00:28:27.309 --> 00:28:29.650 of the conversation was going. And so the mall 00:28:29.650 --> 00:28:32.329 maintenance men, who were also the mall security, 00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:34.589 came up and they told us we had to leave. And 00:28:34.589 --> 00:28:36.089 I went up and talked to them to keep them away 00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:38.269 from the conversation. And they said, we've already 00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:39.670 called the police. The police are on the way. 00:28:39.910 --> 00:28:41.509 You're refusing to leave the premises. You're 00:28:41.509 --> 00:28:43.680 going to be arrested. So the guy said, well, 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:45.960 I want to know more. I want to know about this. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:47.839 I think I need this. I'm at kind of like that 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:49.960 spot in my life where it's amazing that we're 00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:51.920 here having this conversation today. So we walk 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.980 out to the guy's car. The security and maintenance 00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:55.799 guys follow us and the police are pulling in 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:59.000 the parking lot. So the guy says, well, I can't 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:01.859 get in trouble with the law. And we asked him 00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:03.660 if we could meet across the street, like at Circle 00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:05.200 K or something, and continue the conversation. 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:08.130 And he was too freaked out. And he declined. 00:29:08.349 --> 00:29:10.390 So that day, at least, he did not accept Christ. 00:29:10.630 --> 00:29:12.250 We got in our vehicles and we left and I didn't 00:29:12.250 --> 00:29:14.450 get arrested. So about a week later, I put in 00:29:14.450 --> 00:29:16.930 a call to the manager of the mall. And I said, 00:29:16.930 --> 00:29:18.130 you know, look, we were there trying to talk 00:29:18.130 --> 00:29:19.789 to people, public space. We're there trying to 00:29:19.789 --> 00:29:21.670 talk to you about Jesus. And your guys chased 00:29:21.670 --> 00:29:23.730 us out. And they even threatened to have us arrested. 00:29:23.829 --> 00:29:24.970 And all we were doing was talking. We were talking 00:29:24.970 --> 00:29:26.660 to somebody who wanted to talk. And he says, 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:28.240 well, I hear you saying that, but this is what 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:29.640 I'm going to tell you. Nobody at the mall wants 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:32.319 to talk. So we have determined that in the mall, 00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:34.720 this is how malls actually work. People find 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:36.720 out about a sale. They go to the exact store 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:38.519 they want to go to. They buy exactly what they 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:39.839 want to buy, and then they want to leave. And 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:41.400 they don't want anybody to talk to them while 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:42.759 they're there. They want good customer service 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:44.259 in the store they're in. But other than that, 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:45.920 they don't want anybody to approach them. They 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:47.539 don't want a hand bill. They don't want somebody 00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:49.079 to talk to them at all or anything like that. 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:51.559 And I said, well, I've been in your mall. I've 00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:53.119 been in a lot of malls. I can tell you that that 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:55.910 is not true. Malls are all about community. If 00:29:55.910 --> 00:29:57.869 you don't make your mall about community, if 00:29:57.869 --> 00:29:59.430 it doesn't become about people can talk to each 00:29:59.430 --> 00:30:01.210 other, people are going to sit in the mall waiting 00:30:01.210 --> 00:30:02.650 for someone to talk to them because they have 00:30:02.650 --> 00:30:04.970 no one. So that's not true at all. I said, if 00:30:04.970 --> 00:30:06.630 you don't change that, your mall will be gone. 00:30:06.849 --> 00:30:09.170 And he said, well, you'll pardon me if I say 00:30:09.170 --> 00:30:11.509 this to you. I've been a manager of malls for 00:30:11.509 --> 00:30:14.450 20 years. I'm new here, Woodville Mall, but a 00:30:14.450 --> 00:30:16.789 manager of mall for 20 years. And I just don't 00:30:16.789 --> 00:30:18.470 believe you. And I said, well, I'll tell you, 00:30:18.509 --> 00:30:20.609 I'm telling you in the Holy Spirit, God is speaking 00:30:20.609 --> 00:30:24.059 to my heart that your mall. will die if you don't 00:30:24.059 --> 00:30:26.180 change your policies. Less than two years later, 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.119 Woodville Mall died. It didn't tear down right 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:31.339 away. People moved back into it and they tried 00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:32.920 to keep it going and then the heat went out and 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:34.700 then the roof went out and the mall just now 00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:37.519 does not exist. Sherry and I had a favorite restaurant 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.799 across town. It's a more recent story. We used 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:43.460 to go there about four times a year on date night. 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:45.519 We went there one night and they refused to give 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:46.779 us a table and said, you've got to wait an hour 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:48.579 and 20 minutes, even though there were tables 00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:50.420 empty throughout the whole restaurant. They just 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:51.980 didn't have enough personnel, I guess, which 00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:53.640 really offends Sherry and I because we both worked 00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:54.880 in a restaurant. We're like, all you got to do 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:56.480 is put people on the clock and you could serve 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:58.200 these tables, right? And so now you're making 00:30:58.200 --> 00:30:59.660 people wait an hour and 20 minutes to get a table. 00:31:00.819 --> 00:31:04.380 So eventually we get out in the car and we found 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:06.180 out you can reserve a table online. So we reserved 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:08.019 a table online. Then we go inside and they say, 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:09.940 well, if you were on, we have a policy. If you 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:11.480 were on our waiting list, it's an hour and 20 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.319 minutes, and you reserve a table online, not 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:15.400 only can you not have a table now, but you have 00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:18.000 to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now. So you 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:20.069 start again, which we were. By that time, it 00:31:20.069 --> 00:31:21.670 was 40 minutes. So we only had about 40 more 00:31:21.670 --> 00:31:23.569 minutes. We could get the table, the original 00:31:23.569 --> 00:31:24.930 table that we asked for. And they said, no, you 00:31:24.930 --> 00:31:26.650 got to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now. 00:31:26.750 --> 00:31:28.390 It starts over. And I said, well, I didn't talk 00:31:28.390 --> 00:31:30.029 to the manager. So I talked to the manager. The 00:31:30.029 --> 00:31:31.630 manager said, so here's a gift card. Come back 00:31:31.630 --> 00:31:33.710 and try us again another time. And I'm like, 00:31:33.710 --> 00:31:35.029 well, there's a table. And he's like, no, you 00:31:35.029 --> 00:31:36.230 can't have a table. You got to wait an hour and 00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:37.710 20 minutes. I said, it's a ridiculous policy. 00:31:38.170 --> 00:31:40.190 I said, let me tell you this. And I'm telling 00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:42.829 you this as a man of God. If this is your policy, 00:31:42.990 --> 00:31:45.049 mind you, this is a restaurant that I liked very 00:31:45.049 --> 00:31:46.769 much. And I like their food. I could go there. 00:31:46.809 --> 00:31:48.440 I could get the kind of thing that I liked. I 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:50.460 said, this is your policy. Your restaurant will 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:52.579 cease to exist. Now, as he's standing there, 00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:54.759 I'm sure he's like, what do you know? Our restaurant 00:31:54.759 --> 00:31:57.519 is so busy, we can't keep up with staffing. We 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:59.259 can't fill all our tables. We're on a wait list 00:31:59.259 --> 00:32:01.460 an hour and 20 minutes. We're so busy. You don't 00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:04.460 know nothing. I submit to you that now that restaurant 00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:06.519 is gone. The entire chain went bankrupt. And 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:08.400 not only is that restaurant gone, but all of 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.579 those restaurants are gone. Now, what I'm saying 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:12.420 to you is not that I'm anybody. What I'm saying 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:15.000 to you is that the Lord God of heaven knows your 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.759 exact circumstances. It also says in the Bible 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:19.500 that you will answer for every idle word that 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:21.000 comes out of your mouth. Now, if I didn't want 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:22.480 that restaurant to go out of business, I probably 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:24.460 should have kept my mouth shut. But since I felt 00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:26.079 led of the Lord to say what I said, I really 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:30.339 couldn't. I wish I had listened to myself when 00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:32.720 I spoke, because later, after I told him that, 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:34.640 about four months later, I went to Costco and 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.180 they had gift cards. I showed this story in the 00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:38.059 van over here today. They had gift cards for 00:32:38.059 --> 00:32:41.160 sale for about 20 % off. So I bought gift cards 00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:43.700 to give to the employees and the volunteers for 00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:45.759 this restaurant. Good restaurant, right? At 20 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:48.380 % off. And then the restaurant went, now I have 00:32:48.380 --> 00:32:51.220 four gift cards that are worth 200 bucks that 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:53.420 I can't give to anybody. Because I put the, I 00:32:53.420 --> 00:32:55.380 didn't. God put the restaurant out of business. 00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:57.480 And you can't take them to another city because 00:32:57.480 --> 00:32:59.220 God didn't stop by putting the restaurant out 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:02.039 of business. He put the whole chain of 112 restaurants 00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:04.039 out of business across the entire country. You 00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:06.720 understand? When people are standing at the edge 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.000 of the kingdom of God and you're standing in 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.809 the kingdom of God, You've got to represent God. 00:33:11.950 --> 00:33:14.650 You should be the sign. Yes, hospitality. Yes, 00:33:14.869 --> 00:33:17.089 love. Yes, draw them in. Yes, share the gospel. 00:33:17.329 --> 00:33:19.970 But there must be a difference. I am standing 00:33:19.970 --> 00:33:22.589 here representing God. You are standing there 00:33:22.589 --> 00:33:24.849 representing I don't know what. Listen to me 00:33:24.849 --> 00:33:27.170 as I talk to you about the God of the universe. 00:33:27.470 --> 00:33:30.490 But people are so timid because here's a person 00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:31.869 who doesn't know the Lord and they're going to 00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:34.630 act the way people who don't know the Lord act. 00:33:34.869 --> 00:33:36.349 And you don't want to tell them about Jesus. 00:33:36.609 --> 00:33:39.319 That's you in the kingdom of God. That's what 00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:41.039 you do. That's who you are. If you've accepted 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:42.779 Jesus, you represent him. You are an ambassador. 00:33:43.259 --> 00:33:45.559 Yes, love them and try to draw them in. And in 00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:47.759 both cases, I was warning him, like, please don't 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:50.099 do this. I didn't want to see Woodrow Mall close. 00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:52.640 I don't want to see that restaurant close. I 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:54.799 was warning him, like, please don't do this. 00:33:54.859 --> 00:33:58.200 You know people whom God is calling to a better 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:01.500 life, to an easier yoke, to a life in the kingdom 00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:03.599 of God. You know who they are in your lives. 00:34:03.740 --> 00:34:06.119 And you're not saying, look, here I am standing 00:34:06.119 --> 00:34:08.559 in the kingdom of God. You're right there. Come 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:13.780 over here. Let God save you. Let God give you 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:17.059 a yoke that you can actually bear to build fruit 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:20.219 in you. Come join the effort of the kingdom of 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:22.739 God. And yes, while all of that is going on, 00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:24.460 while you are wearing the crest of the king, 00:34:24.659 --> 00:34:27.219 while you're carrying the whip open ambassador's 00:34:27.219 --> 00:34:30.420 ID, by the way, looks about like this. While 00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:32.739 you're doing that, still got to wash the dishes. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:34.880 You still got to clean the house. you still got 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:36.920 to pay the bills. You probably still got to go 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.940 to work or somebody in your family does. You 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:43.880 have to be a human existing in humanity in order 00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:46.980 to be the kingdom of God reflecting his presence 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:50.440 right next to those who don't know him. And that 00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:51.860 brings us then essentially to our conclusion. 00:34:52.900 --> 00:34:57.639 Took a sabbatical a while back. Sometimes I think 00:34:57.639 --> 00:34:59.719 I need another one. And on that sabbatical, there 00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:02.880 were two songs that... kept occurring. And finally 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:04.679 I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, are you trying 00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:06.639 to tell me something? And the first song was 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:09.460 Turbulent Skies. Basically the song says, without 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:11.460 getting into the lyrics, it says that sometimes 00:35:11.460 --> 00:35:13.579 life is hard. Sometimes it's rough. I'm going 00:35:13.579 --> 00:35:16.059 through difficulties. But it's okay. Because 00:35:16.059 --> 00:35:19.039 my hand is in the hand of the man. My hand is 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:20.780 in God's hand. So whatever I'm going through, 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:22.679 Lord, I trust that you're going to take care 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:25.239 of it. That's what it means to face turbulent 00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:27.110 skies when you're in the kingdom of God. And 00:35:27.110 --> 00:35:30.510 then I realized we are living in a day of turbulent 00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:32.809 skies, like every day. Every day sometimes it's 00:35:32.809 --> 00:35:34.750 difficult. Every day sometimes you're overcoming 00:35:34.750 --> 00:35:37.670 extreme difficulty to even be able to do the 00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:39.650 things that... these basic things that we're 00:35:39.650 --> 00:35:41.989 talking about doing, or maybe to get a job or 00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:44.570 to hold a job or to pay bills or to do your education 00:35:44.570 --> 00:35:47.230 in a godly way or to interface with people who 00:35:47.230 --> 00:35:49.289 are living outside the kingdom, whatever. So 00:35:49.289 --> 00:35:51.289 we're living in a day of turbulent skies. And 00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:53.309 so we must be armored. We must be practicing 00:35:53.309 --> 00:35:54.869 spiritual disciplines. We must be trusting the 00:35:54.869 --> 00:35:56.269 Lord. We should be wielding the sword of the 00:35:56.269 --> 00:35:58.929 Spirit because we're living in a day of turbulent 00:35:58.929 --> 00:36:02.110 skies. The second song, then, is a little humorous 00:36:02.110 --> 00:36:03.849 in light of that one. It is These Are the Days. 00:36:04.230 --> 00:36:07.429 These are the days. They are the day in which 00:36:07.429 --> 00:36:10.110 you represent God and you can win people to Christ. 00:36:10.210 --> 00:36:12.530 Don't you understand that the world, and I get 00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:14.989 it, a lot of them now have drifted into cults. 00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:17.699 They've drifted into Enlightenment theology and 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:19.800 whatever. It's because people are interested. 00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:22.420 There are stats that show that this generation 00:36:22.420 --> 00:36:23.980 of young people that are coming up, that are 00:36:23.980 --> 00:36:26.699 between like 17 and 25 right now, they are more 00:36:26.699 --> 00:36:29.400 interested in spiritual things than any generation 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:32.300 for generations. And your generation or my generation. 00:36:32.500 --> 00:36:35.159 Because if they can find something that's real, 00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:36.800 don't you understand? I was trying to explain 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:38.179 this to my grandkids yesterday. Jason, are you 00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:40.960 with me here? Listen to me. Everything that you 00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:43.579 do on your phone, every video game that you play, 00:36:44.099 --> 00:36:46.480 Social media, which is actually pictures or memes 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:48.719 about real people doing real things. Everything 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:50.900 that you do on your phone, except possibly reading 00:36:50.900 --> 00:36:53.519 your Bible, all of it is not real. It's not real. 00:36:53.639 --> 00:36:55.440 You see people, they go to like Disney World, 00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:57.559 right? And they're like, oh, yay, Disney World. 00:36:57.679 --> 00:36:59.619 And they spend 5 ,000 bucks, which you or I probably 00:36:59.619 --> 00:37:01.820 can't do. And they have the greatest day. You 00:37:01.820 --> 00:37:03.219 watch this and you're like, oh, it's so entertaining 00:37:03.219 --> 00:37:05.019 seeing people go to Disney World, spend all this 00:37:05.019 --> 00:37:06.280 money. And what a cool thing. I would love to 00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:08.119 go there and do that too. And whatever. That's 00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:10.420 not real. Because when that's over, they have 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.730 to go home. They cook their own dinner and wash 00:37:12.730 --> 00:37:15.190 their dishes and do their laundry. And they will 00:37:15.190 --> 00:37:18.530 not turn the camera on then. It's not reality. 00:37:18.769 --> 00:37:21.150 And people who are in the kingdom of God should 00:37:21.150 --> 00:37:23.670 not be checking out of reality because you're 00:37:23.670 --> 00:37:27.550 representing the reality that saves souls as 00:37:27.550 --> 00:37:29.710 the ambassador of Christ. And so if you spend 00:37:29.710 --> 00:37:32.969 a few too many minutes dwelling on somebody else's 00:37:32.969 --> 00:37:35.519 faked up reality. you'll miss the opportunity 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:38.039 to live in your reality and do your dishes and 00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:40.679 do your laundry and do your bill paying and do 00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:43.139 your working, not just to do those things, but 00:37:43.139 --> 00:37:47.000 to do them in a way that represents Jesus Christ. 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:49.380 And that is what it means to be in the kingdom 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:52.440 of God, to exist both in turbulent skies and 00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:54.659 to realize that while the skies are as turbulent 00:37:54.659 --> 00:37:59.000 as they will ever get, these are the days. And 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:01.219 when we look at the broad sweep of scripture, 00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:04.440 we see a fundamental truth. The climate of history 00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:07.599 changes. Sometimes there's a civil war. Sometimes 00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:11.320 there's a series of assassination attempts. Sometimes 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:13.480 the bills keep coming and the money's not coming 00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:16.639 in. Sometimes there's a cancer diagnosis. I've 00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:19.480 had two, two separate cancer diagnoses in my 00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:22.079 lifetime. I'd be surprised if anybody in the 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:24.789 room over 35 hasn't had that as well. I have 00:38:24.789 --> 00:38:27.090 a friend right now who just came from the hospital. 00:38:27.210 --> 00:38:28.949 His name is John. You can pray for him. And they 00:38:28.949 --> 00:38:31.329 told him the tumors in his body, there is literally 00:38:31.329 --> 00:38:34.869 nothing they can do. He's a minister. And so 00:38:34.869 --> 00:38:37.949 this is what he said. He ministers in the jails. 00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:40.670 And he said, now I have a mobility scooter and 00:38:40.670 --> 00:38:43.110 I just got permission. to use my mobility scooter 00:38:43.110 --> 00:38:45.789 to go into the jails. So now I can take my scooter 00:38:45.789 --> 00:38:47.690 in and still preach the gospel and still do the 00:38:47.690 --> 00:38:49.429 same. And he said, that's what I'm going to do 00:38:49.429 --> 00:38:51.630 until the day I die. And they told me there is 00:38:51.630 --> 00:38:53.510 nothing they can do for me. So they know it won't 00:38:53.510 --> 00:38:56.349 be long now. But until then, I will take my mobility 00:38:56.349 --> 00:38:58.849 scooter into the jails and preach the gospel. 00:38:59.030 --> 00:39:04.130 Where are we fussing, stressing, anxious, planning, 00:39:04.389 --> 00:39:07.190 watching somebody else's idea of what's reality? 00:39:07.389 --> 00:39:10.090 Live your life! and live it for Jesus Christ. 00:39:10.369 --> 00:39:13.769 Some days are turbulent skies, dark, confusing, 00:39:13.989 --> 00:39:15.989 heavy with personal failure. Maybe you screwed 00:39:15.989 --> 00:39:19.449 up bad, cultural decay, spiritual warfare. Other 00:39:19.449 --> 00:39:21.769 days are clear, unmistakable days of advancement 00:39:21.769 --> 00:39:23.409 where we're doing something like teaching VBS 00:39:23.409 --> 00:39:25.050 and children are hearing the gospel. I'll never 00:39:25.050 --> 00:39:29.030 forget. I come to VBS on Main Street and Sherry 00:39:29.030 --> 00:39:30.869 was teaching that year. She was teaching the 00:39:30.869 --> 00:39:33.309 third and fourth graders and they had had a blow 00:39:33.309 --> 00:39:36.010 up class, which my wife is good at dealing with 00:39:36.010 --> 00:39:38.590 pressure. She doesn't think she is. She's humble 00:39:38.590 --> 00:39:40.389 about that, but she is. And she had to teach 00:39:40.389 --> 00:39:42.530 a class that was growing like crazy. Then I get 00:39:42.530 --> 00:39:44.809 there 15 minutes before VBS is supposed to start. 00:39:44.849 --> 00:39:46.250 She calls me on the phone. She says, I'm stuck 00:39:46.250 --> 00:39:47.710 in traffic coming down from Detroit. I'm not 00:39:47.710 --> 00:39:49.469 going to be there for lesson time. Can you teach 00:39:49.469 --> 00:39:53.110 my lesson? I'm like, yeah, what is it? I'll teach 00:39:53.110 --> 00:39:55.989 it. Sure, whatever. So I go in, I get the book. 00:39:56.030 --> 00:39:58.289 I want to have it teach out of the book. And 00:39:58.289 --> 00:39:59.829 as I'm teaching out of the book, God says to 00:39:59.829 --> 00:40:01.670 me that there are a number of lost children in 00:40:01.670 --> 00:40:03.449 the class. Their answers were pretty indicative 00:40:03.449 --> 00:40:05.900 the way they were answering. And God said, there's 00:40:05.900 --> 00:40:07.260 a number of lost children here. And so at one 00:40:07.260 --> 00:40:08.639 point in time, I was finishing up the lesson. 00:40:08.699 --> 00:40:10.019 And she had just come. And she's standing behind 00:40:10.019 --> 00:40:12.300 the chairs. And she got there late. I'm finishing 00:40:12.300 --> 00:40:15.840 up the lesson. And the Lord led me to 14 kids 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:18.179 in chairs around me. And I'm in the middle teaching 00:40:18.179 --> 00:40:20.639 the baby S lesson. And I go up to the first kid 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:22.300 as led by the Lord. And I shared the gospel. 00:40:22.420 --> 00:40:24.219 And I asked him, will you accept Jesus Christ 00:40:24.219 --> 00:40:25.400 your Lord and Savior to begin to live for Jesus 00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:28.159 today? He said, yes. And I went to the next kid. 00:40:28.219 --> 00:40:30.480 And I did the same thing. And he said, yes. By 00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:33.900 the time I was done, 13 out of 14 kids. That's 00:40:33.900 --> 00:40:35.719 a moment of great advancement of the kingdom 00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:37.719 of God. Now, let's say a few of them didn't really 00:40:37.719 --> 00:40:39.139 know what they were doing. Let's say half of 00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:41.099 them didn't really commit their life and they've 00:40:41.099 --> 00:40:42.820 walked away from the kingdom of God. That's still 00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:45.260 six or seven individuals who came into the kingdom 00:40:45.260 --> 00:40:47.940 of God that day. But I'll tell you that the Holy 00:40:47.940 --> 00:40:50.820 Spirit was there and the gospel was plainly explained 00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:53.099 and decisions were being made. But there was 00:40:53.099 --> 00:40:55.460 one kid whose parents were atheists and he was 00:40:55.460 --> 00:40:57.800 an atheist and he was devout and he was actually 00:40:57.800 --> 00:41:01.170 pretty well behaved for an atheist. He said no. 00:41:01.369 --> 00:41:03.369 Even while the other 13, which tells me that 00:41:03.369 --> 00:41:05.309 the other 13 were not just responding in pressure. 00:41:05.409 --> 00:41:09.070 He was like third. And after he said no, 10 more 00:41:09.070 --> 00:41:13.010 said yes. Amazing days of advancement are afoot. 00:41:13.289 --> 00:41:17.849 Listen to God. Present the gospel and ask people 00:41:17.849 --> 00:41:20.110 to get saved because that is what the kingdom 00:41:20.110 --> 00:41:22.389 of God is about. If they approach the edge of 00:41:22.389 --> 00:41:24.210 the kingdom of God and you treat them nicely, 00:41:24.349 --> 00:41:26.369 you could be just doing it for customer service. 00:41:26.489 --> 00:41:28.030 You'd be trying to manipulate them, whatever. 00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:30.920 You could be just an overly polite person. But 00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:33.920 if you make it all about Jesus, Ecclesiastes 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:36.260 3 says there is an appointed season for everything 00:41:36.260 --> 00:41:39.179 under heaven, a time to tear down, a time to 00:41:39.179 --> 00:41:42.679 build, a time for war, peace, to die, etc. But 00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:45.579 let me tell you, in the kingdom of God, what 00:41:45.579 --> 00:41:48.900 never, ever, ever, no matter how bad it is, goes 00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:52.519 out of season, and that is giving God the glory. 00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:55.559 If you do that, you're going to upset things. 00:41:56.199 --> 00:41:58.539 You're going to irritate folks. But when you 00:41:58.539 --> 00:42:00.900 get your next promotion, when you get your next 00:42:00.900 --> 00:42:03.159 check, when you get your next problem solved, 00:42:03.539 --> 00:42:06.880 give God the glory. When you get your next grade 00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:10.260 card, give God the glory. I spoke with a young 00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:11.760 man. I didn't ask him to use this illustration, 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:13.780 so I won't name him. He did very well on a test. 00:42:14.119 --> 00:42:16.239 And he said, I called my friends that were in 00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:18.039 my class, and he said, I didn't want to tell 00:42:18.039 --> 00:42:20.099 them how well I did on the test. So I asked him, 00:42:20.139 --> 00:42:22.119 and they all got lower grades than him. And he 00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:23.639 said, so then after that, I didn't want to tell 00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:27.780 them. how I did on the test. Listen to me. There 00:42:27.780 --> 00:42:30.840 are no tests in your life except that which God 00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:33.960 gives you as a gift. And you're meant to study. 00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:36.300 And you're meant to work. And you're meant to 00:42:36.300 --> 00:42:39.619 show up and use your best test -taking skills 00:42:39.619 --> 00:42:42.780 to answer three times if there's time and get 00:42:42.780 --> 00:42:45.320 the best grade you can get. And then you won't 00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:47.800 have to be ashamed to say you got a better grade 00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:50.199 than somebody else because you don't take the 00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:53.219 glory, you give it to the Lord. And if they want 00:42:53.219 --> 00:42:55.940 to get a better grade next time, let them come 00:42:55.940 --> 00:42:59.619 to Jesus and live the way they ought. Samson's 00:42:59.619 --> 00:43:03.019 life will become tragic after these events. 20 00:43:03.019 --> 00:43:05.380 years. Some think that the first part of his 00:43:05.380 --> 00:43:07.860 suffering takes up the first part of the 20 years 00:43:07.860 --> 00:43:09.920 and the rest of his suffering, when he gets stupid 00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:12.019 at the end, takes up the last part. So maybe 00:43:12.019 --> 00:43:14.360 he didn't actually reign for 20 years. It doesn't 00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:16.820 matter if it was 10 years. For 10 years, he got 00:43:16.820 --> 00:43:19.039 out of bed. He put his pants on one leg at a 00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:21.639 time. I don't know if they had socks, maybe just 00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:24.559 sandals. He laced them up. He dressed. He worked. 00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:28.119 He led. He saved. And then eventually he'll wind 00:43:28.119 --> 00:43:31.659 up that desperate cry, begging God to work through 00:43:31.659 --> 00:43:34.719 him just one more time. Don't do it. The kingdom 00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:37.480 of God is available to you. Look at your life. 00:43:37.639 --> 00:43:39.880 Don't do the things that you think are right. 00:43:39.980 --> 00:43:43.039 Do the things that God has given you to do. Don't 00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:45.199 be the kind of person that you can wake up in 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:47.260 the morning and feel good about yourself. Be 00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:49.900 the kind of person that regularly checks yourself. 00:43:50.489 --> 00:43:53.090 by what God is saying about who you are and what 00:43:53.090 --> 00:43:54.869 you're doing. God loves you, and he's not going 00:43:54.869 --> 00:43:56.849 to stop loving you. And he loves the people that 00:43:56.849 --> 00:43:59.690 are outside the kingdom of God just as much as 00:43:59.690 --> 00:44:00.969 he loves the people who are inside the kingdom 00:44:00.969 --> 00:44:03.730 of God. And he wants them in here, and he expects 00:44:03.730 --> 00:44:05.789 that those of us who are in the kingdom of God 00:44:05.789 --> 00:44:08.989 will be welcoming signs. And if you're on the 00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:10.789 way out, you should be able to see the signs. 00:44:10.929 --> 00:44:12.489 You know what the activities of the kingdom are, 00:44:12.670 --> 00:44:14.530 and you should be seeing them slipping in your 00:44:14.530 --> 00:44:17.760 life. Repent and turn to the Lord. sandwiched 00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:22.699 tightly between explosive crises in Samson's 00:44:22.699 --> 00:44:26.039 life, in my opinion, are the full 20 years of 00:44:26.039 --> 00:44:29.539 his quiet faithfulness as a judge. Some of you 00:44:29.539 --> 00:44:31.360 would say, I've been a Christian for a long time. 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:34.260 I've done a lot for the Lord. Maybe I could have 00:44:34.260 --> 00:44:37.460 done more, but I've done a lot. Tomorrow, get 00:44:37.460 --> 00:44:40.659 up out of bed for the Lord. Dress for the Lord. 00:44:40.920 --> 00:44:43.699 Prepare your meals for the Lord. Pay your bills 00:44:43.699 --> 00:44:47.099 for the Lord. Use your mouth for the Lord. And 00:44:47.099 --> 00:44:49.940 if you find sin, repent, turn to the Lord, turn 00:44:49.940 --> 00:44:52.639 it over, confess it to him, and be cleansed of 00:44:52.639 --> 00:44:55.340 all unrighteousness. And do it not for yourself, 00:44:55.539 --> 00:44:57.679 although it is what's best for you for sure, 00:44:57.780 --> 00:45:00.880 but for the Lord. Samson's life proves that God's 00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:03.500 glory isn't just found in lightning strikes or 00:45:03.500 --> 00:45:06.219 great personal victories or the desperate prayers 00:45:06.219 --> 00:45:10.460 of our deepest valleys. His glory is... When 00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:15.340 his people hold the line during the quiet, unremarkable 00:45:15.340 --> 00:45:18.860 seasons in between. What was your last journal 00:45:18.860 --> 00:45:21.679 entry? What was the last time you wrote in a 00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:22.840 journal? You know, this is spiritual discipline 00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:24.820 journaling, right? So we should all be doing 00:45:24.820 --> 00:45:26.340 it to some extent. What was the last thing you 00:45:26.340 --> 00:45:29.360 wrote? Was it a big day? Exciting day? A hard 00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:31.780 day? Was it a normal day? A day in which you 00:45:31.780 --> 00:45:33.360 just got up, got dressed, washed the dishes, 00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:35.639 cleaned the house, went to bed. I submit to you 00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:38.059 that both of those days are equally worthy of 00:45:38.059 --> 00:45:41.670 the Lord. if they are lived for the Lord. Over 00:45:41.670 --> 00:45:45.849 30 times in the Bible, it tells us that good 00:45:45.849 --> 00:45:48.090 people, godly people, righteous people, and the 00:45:48.090 --> 00:45:49.849 only way to truly have righteousness is to get 00:45:49.849 --> 00:45:52.030 it imputed by Christ. You can't be perfectly 00:45:52.030 --> 00:45:54.469 right. It's not possible, but you can have Christ's 00:45:54.469 --> 00:45:56.070 righteousness. It says that righteous people 00:45:56.070 --> 00:45:58.489 fall down. Proverbs says fall down seven times, 00:45:58.530 --> 00:46:00.010 get up seven times, which means every time you 00:46:00.010 --> 00:46:01.769 fall down, you keep getting back up. Maybe you've 00:46:01.769 --> 00:46:03.420 fallen down. Maybe you're in a place where you 00:46:03.420 --> 00:46:06.300 realize you have not on a daily basis given the 00:46:06.300 --> 00:46:08.880 Lord glory with your house, with your chores, 00:46:09.039 --> 00:46:11.619 with your job, with your use of your money, with 00:46:11.619 --> 00:46:13.500 your use of your mouth, with your choices about 00:46:13.500 --> 00:46:15.639 eating, choices about sleeping, with your choices 00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:17.739 of entertainment. If you have not given glory 00:46:17.739 --> 00:46:20.619 to the Lord, let me just say it this way, you've 00:46:20.619 --> 00:46:22.679 fallen down. You're on the edge of the kingdom 00:46:22.679 --> 00:46:24.860 of God and God may correct you in a way that 00:46:24.860 --> 00:46:28.420 won't be pleasant. Repent and begin again to 00:46:28.420 --> 00:46:31.380 do the things. for the Lord that you said you 00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:33.860 would when you got saved. I don't care if it's 00:46:33.860 --> 00:46:35.880 been 40 years. I don't care if you could say 00:46:35.880 --> 00:46:38.300 that for 40 years you washed your dishes for 00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:40.460 Jesus every single day, which I know is not true, 00:46:40.539 --> 00:46:42.500 but if you could say that, how awesome it would 00:46:42.500 --> 00:46:45.900 be. Today, wash your dishes for Jesus. I don't 00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:47.539 care if for 40 years you say, I got up and I 00:46:47.539 --> 00:46:50.480 worked and I took care of my family. Today, get 00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:53.840 up, work, and take care of your family for Jesus. 00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:56.739 I don't care if you say, like, people have said 00:46:56.739 --> 00:46:59.480 hurtful things to me, and sometimes I struggle 00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:01.960 in myself to be the kind of person I should be 00:47:01.960 --> 00:47:03.579 because of what I have experienced, what I've 00:47:03.579 --> 00:47:05.659 gone through, the way people have hurt me. Listen, 00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:11.199 Jesus crucified, need I say more? Praying for 00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:13.380 those who are actively crucifying him, rising 00:47:13.380 --> 00:47:16.579 again, delivering new life, not just that day 00:47:16.579 --> 00:47:18.460 that he rose again, but every day since, and 00:47:18.460 --> 00:47:21.000 all the way back to Moses and even Adam and Eve. 00:47:21.559 --> 00:47:23.480 and Abraham, and they all got saved the same 00:47:23.480 --> 00:47:24.719 way, by the way, that God would make. Will you 00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:27.159 get out of bed today and do the things that you're 00:47:27.159 --> 00:47:28.800 going to do for the Lord? And if you say, I don't 00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:30.139 know, some of the things that I'm doing, they 00:47:30.139 --> 00:47:31.980 seem to stop me from doing for the Lord the way 00:47:31.980 --> 00:47:34.039 I should, then stop doing them. Do for the Lord 00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:36.219 instead. Maybe you're here today thinking about 00:47:36.219 --> 00:47:38.500 the level of distraction that you've had. Repent. 00:47:38.699 --> 00:47:41.460 Make room for daily decisions. So even while 00:47:41.460 --> 00:47:43.559 the Bible gives us over 30 times in which it 00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:45.940 says that God's people, righteous people, may 00:47:45.940 --> 00:47:48.780 fall down and get up again, it also says that 00:47:48.780 --> 00:47:51.590 wicked people fall. And do not rise. And it says 00:47:51.590 --> 00:47:53.630 it a heck of a lot more times than 30. Wicked 00:47:53.630 --> 00:47:54.889 means that you know what sin is and you do it 00:47:54.889 --> 00:47:58.309 anyway. Fall and don't get up. Or fall and do 00:47:58.309 --> 00:48:00.250 get up. You see, the title of the sermon is actually 00:48:00.250 --> 00:48:04.869 a kingdom that stands out. And guess what you 00:48:04.869 --> 00:48:07.650 have to do in order to stand out? You have to 00:48:07.650 --> 00:48:10.550 stand, right? You have to be. You have to be 00:48:10.550 --> 00:48:12.289 in there, chugging away, doing what it is that 00:48:12.289 --> 00:48:14.530 God has called you to do. When it's hard and 00:48:14.530 --> 00:48:17.170 when it's easy. When it's glamorous and when 00:48:17.170 --> 00:48:19.760 it's almost nothing. when it doesn't feel like 00:48:19.760 --> 00:48:21.780 it's important at all. If God has put you there 00:48:21.780 --> 00:48:23.940 and he's given you that to do, then do it for 00:48:23.940 --> 00:48:27.900 him. Stand. 20 years. And Abraham Lincoln went 00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:30.059 home and worked his plantation. I'm sorry, George 00:48:30.059 --> 00:48:31.440 Washington went home and worked his plantation. 00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:34.039 And Abraham Lincoln, during the war, made it 00:48:34.039 --> 00:48:35.980 so that anybody, you know, this is the guy who 00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:38.320 was assassinated in the theater at the end. And 00:48:38.320 --> 00:48:40.420 common folk, which means John Wilkes Boone's, 00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:43.780 could have come to him and met with him in the 00:48:43.780 --> 00:48:47.090 Oval Office for years. before he snuck up behind 00:48:47.090 --> 00:48:48.489 him and put a bullet in the back of his head. 00:48:48.570 --> 00:48:50.690 He could have come any day and just talked to 00:48:50.690 --> 00:48:52.070 him. He probably couldn't have brought a gun 00:48:52.070 --> 00:48:53.809 in, but he could have come any day and just talked 00:48:53.809 --> 00:48:55.809 to him. And instead, in the end, he put a bullet 00:48:55.809 --> 00:48:59.409 in his head. And that is where evil goes. But 00:48:59.409 --> 00:49:01.809 goodness, that is us. Kingdom of God, folks. 00:49:02.030 --> 00:49:06.449 We stay in there. We stand. Get back up. Submit 00:49:06.449 --> 00:49:08.530 your life to the Lord. Don't be conformed to 00:49:08.530 --> 00:49:10.269 the ways of the world, but be transformed by 00:49:10.269 --> 00:49:12.750 the renewing of your mind. Romans 12. have the 00:49:12.750 --> 00:49:15.489 praise team come forward and read us in this 00:49:15.489 --> 00:49:20.530 final song. We are asking ourselves today, what 00:49:20.530 --> 00:49:23.429 does it look like to remain in the name of God? 00:49:23.590 --> 00:49:25.110 You should know what it looks like on the border. 00:49:25.190 --> 00:49:30.590 It's welcoming, outreaching, serving, giving, 00:49:30.670 --> 00:49:33.309 drawing folks. You should know what it looks 00:49:33.309 --> 00:49:37.210 like inside. It's fruit and spirit, loving one 00:49:37.210 --> 00:49:40.349 another. If you're out there on the raggedy edge, 00:49:40.590 --> 00:49:44.280 repent. Turn to the Lord and let him be in charge. 00:49:44.820 --> 00:49:46.579 And if you're in the thick of it and you realize 00:49:46.579 --> 00:49:49.079 these are turbulent days, hold on to him with 00:49:49.079 --> 00:49:50.920 all your might. Or you realize these are the 00:49:50.920 --> 00:49:53.219 days I can do amazing things. Hold on to him 00:49:53.219 --> 00:49:55.860 with all your might. Because someday will come 00:49:55.860 --> 00:49:58.099 that you'll have to make a decision about whether 00:49:58.099 --> 00:50:00.300 you want to stay. Now, I'm not talking about 00:50:00.300 --> 00:50:02.440 losing salvation. Being in the kingdom of God 00:50:02.440 --> 00:50:05.239 is when God is reigning in your life. Being saved 00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:06.820 is when we've accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. 00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:09.139 That means he's in charge and Savior. That means 00:50:09.139 --> 00:50:10.380 he paid the price for your sin. If you've not 00:50:10.380 --> 00:50:12.920 done that, then do that. But after that, you're 00:50:12.920 --> 00:50:15.659 meant to live in the kingdom of God. And you 00:50:15.659 --> 00:50:17.760 should do. And if you aren't, repent and do so. 00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:20.639 Would you stand and sing this song with me? But 00:50:20.639 --> 00:50:22.559 if you're responding to the invitation some way, 00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:24.440 accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior 00:50:24.440 --> 00:50:27.119 for the first time, repenting to return to kingdom 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:29.860 activities, then if you come, if the Lord leads 00:50:29.860 --> 00:50:32.280 you, just take my hand and tell me what's on 00:50:32.280 --> 00:50:34.619 your heart. We'll pray together and we'll share 00:50:34.619 --> 00:50:53.619 with the group. We believe that we are never 00:50:53.619 --> 00:51:00.760 the same. We believe that we have life in the 00:51:00.760 --> 00:51:14.119 name of Jesus. We believe that we are never the 00:51:14.119 --> 00:51:15.760 same. Spirit says to me right now that there's 00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:18.559 someone in this room who has sin in their life. 00:51:19.179 --> 00:51:20.380 And I'm thinking about that.