WEBVTT

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We have been, we have been for now exactly half

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the time, three months, a little over half the

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time I should say, we've been dealing with the

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spiritual discipline of fasting and I want to

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talk to you about an aspect of fasting that people

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don't necessarily realize. We've talked about

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how there are side things that happen when you're

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fasting, how devotion develops when you're fasting,

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we've talked about how... You remember what's

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really important when you're fasting. So you're

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setting aside, like you say, well, I'm not eating

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food. God is what's really important. God is

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more important than the food. When it's fasting

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from something like social media, for example,

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that it's like you realize that's not really

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important. And you get time to use the other

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things that God wants you to do. We talked a

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lot about different aspects of fasting. But I

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want to share something with you that the Lord

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laid on my heart today with regards to fasting.

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So this comes from the story of Jesus and his

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disciples travel through Samaria. A little bit

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of background. First of all, so Samaria was a

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place where the Jews would just never travel

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through. Right. So the land of Samaria was a

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place where people living there were basically

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like half breeds. Right. So they were people

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who in their in their lineage, they could not

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trace their lineage back purely to Abraham or

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Isaac or Jacob. So somewhere in their family,

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their family had married in with other folks.

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And the region was predominantly filled with

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that. And so the Jews just said, we're just going

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to avoid this region entirely. So they were basically

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like blocking it out, boycotting it, whatever

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you want to say. And they would literally travel

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40 to 60 miles out of their way and go through

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the desert to not pass through Samaria. When

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Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus

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said, we're going into Samaria. So they went

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into Samaria. When they got into Samaria, they

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came to a well. They would need water. You need

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water when you're traveling. One of the things

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that's hardest to carry with you when you're

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traveling is enough water, especially if you're

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doing a lot of walking. But at the same time,

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they needed food. So the disciples are going

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to go into town, and they're going to purchase

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food for them with the purse that Judas would

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carry. And while Judas is waiting there at the

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well, a Samaritan woman comes up and they have

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a conversation. Now, you know this story a little

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bit. If you don't, I would very strongly encourage

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you to read it. It's in John chapter 4. We're

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not going to get into the conversation so much

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that he has with her. But this is the conversation

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that I want. So immediately following that, the

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disciples come back with the food, right? And

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in verse 31, the disciples have returned. It

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says, meanwhile, the disciples were urging him,

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saying, Rabbi, eat something. So Rabbi is teacher,

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master, leader of our discipleship group, right?

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Eat something. But he said to them, I have food

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to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples

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were saying to one another, No one brought him

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anything to eat, did they? Jesus said to them,

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My food is to do the will of him who sent me

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and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there

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are still four months and then come your harvest?

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Behold, I told you, raise your eyes and observe

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the fields, that they are white for harvest.

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Already the one who reaps is receiving wages

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and is gathering fruit for eternal life. so that

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the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice

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together. Before I go any further, let me make

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sure I digest that for a second. So in other

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words, he's saying, he says, there's work that

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we can do, and this work is food to us, all right?

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I understand that's kind of metaphorical language,

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but also it's very literal, and I'll explain

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why that's so in a second. He says, I told you,

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raise your eyes and observe the fields that they

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are ripe for harvest. You say, okay, he's talking

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about souls. He's talking about people getting

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saved. And so the kingdom is advancing. There's

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people to hear the gospel. And somebody can ask

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them to be saved and they'll get saved. And so

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we take that verse out of context of what he's

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talking about and say that's all about evangelism.

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And it is to some degree about evangelism. Right.

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But in context, he's talking about food and sustenance.

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They're urging him to eat. And he's saying there

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is work to be done that results in an eating

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that is not shoving food in your face. OK, so

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he says. Already the one who reaps is receiving

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wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life

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so that the one who sows and the one who reaps

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may rejoice together. For in this case, the saying

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is true. One sows and another reaps. I sent you

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to reap that for which you have not labored.

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Others have labored and you have come into their

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labor. What Jesus was saying is that there was

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work done by people before them that had already

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prepared. Now, if you think and stretch your

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minds a little bit, when the Israelites came

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into the promised land, When they came into the

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Promised Land, came out of Egypt, crossed the

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Jordan River, Joshua led them in, and they started

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taking over lands. In those lands were houses,

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cities. And they forced the people that lived

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there to flee or to kill them, which was God's

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decree. And if the people fled, that's fine.

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They took over their lands and their houses.

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But if the people didn't flee, they killed them

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because they were resisting, and that's what

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God had said was going to happen. In fact, God

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kept Israel under punishment in Egypt for 400

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additional years to make sure that the sins of

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the Canaanites had come to full measure before

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God would call the Israelites out to defeat the

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Canaanites and kick them out of their land. So

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God showed them 400 years of grace when they

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were living in this land of prosperity. Then

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the Israelites come in and they take over cities,

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they take over houses, and they take over fields.

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And in the fields... Are crops ready to be harvested?

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Then they harvest, store some of that seed to

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plant for the next year, and then eat what they've

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harvested. Who did the work? Who provided for

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them? The answer is the people that were there

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before, right? They were taking the food that

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those people had planted. Now, you know, and

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I know that ultimately it's God who really provided

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for them. God made it work. God set it up. God

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set this up that they could take it over. So

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Jesus is using that same image from the Israelites.

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Now, you have to understand, when you learn about

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fasting, when you focus on God and you draw close

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to the Lord, right, and receive his presence,

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people went before you to make that possible.

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Somebody shared the gospel with you. Somebody

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preserved the Bible, wrote. perfect copies over

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and over and over again until eventually the

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printing press was invented and and so on and

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so on someone bought you your first bible probably

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wasn't even you right if it was good for you

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but it probably wasn't and if it was you had

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to pick out which bible and then there were people

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who preserved the translation to make sure that

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it was accurate to the original text and then

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you sit under the teaching of a preacher and

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somebody cleans this building and so you're here

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today realizing a lot of people have provided

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for you to be able to get this now jesus is saying

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read where you have not sung. You didn't do that

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work, but you can get it. So then today, as you

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get the teaching about fasting, what he's saying

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is, and I've witnessed this firsthand, okay?

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So I've been fasting and going without food,

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and when I'm busy serving the Lord during that

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time, when I'm focused on God, I'm reading my

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Bible, I'm praying, I'm talking about problems

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that I have, I'm talking more with God, like,

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God, how can I solve this? What am I going to

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do? What am I supposed to do? What do you want

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me to do? What are you going to do? Tell me what's

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going on. And I'm talking with God, guess what?

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I'm not hungry. But now, I stop reading my Bible,

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stop praying, even when I'm tired. I've been

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doing it all day. And I sit down in front of

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the TV, pop down in front of the TV, turn the

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remote on, picture comes up, guess what? I'm

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ready for a snack. I want you to think about

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the times that you find to eat. How many times

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a day does a person need to eat? Three? Breakfast,

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lunch, and dinner? No. One? There's a big variation

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between. So there's people who have health concerns,

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and I say, I want you to eat seven or eight small

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meals, because that's what's good for your health.

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small meals but seven or eight of them and then

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you got somebody that's in the military like

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actually serving they may get one meal and it's

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a healthy nutritious meal but they get one meal

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right and you got people in the world that are

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living on one meal every three days and they're

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not starving to death and they're eating nutritious

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healthy foods the best they possibly can and

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they only get one meal every three days so what

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is the standard the fda will tell you get three

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meals a variety of stuff every day that's the

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best way to go that kind of thing and that is

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healthy but is it necessary And the answer is

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no, it's not necessary. What's necessary is that

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you eat whatever your body needs to survive and

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to serve the Lord. And if you've got Doritos

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on your regular list, you're eating Doritos every

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day, I'm here to tell you right now that you

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are not eating Doritos to serve Jesus. I'm just

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being blunt. Because Doritos do not fuel your

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body to serve Jesus. They are a luxury. And if

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you were on the mission field in darkest Africa

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witnessing the people and sharing Jesus, there

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would be nowhere to buy Doritos. Doritos would

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not be on the menu. You couldn't get Doritos.

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I'm not preaching against Doritos. I'm using

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that as an illustration or example. The truth

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is we need to put serving God, walking with God,

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hearing from God, speaking to God, doing the

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things of God first, and let that sustain us.

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And then eat healthy and nutritious foods. And

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then... If there is room in your diet, in your

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life or whatever for additional snack foods,

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sweets, whatever, then this is the end of the

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train. And stopping eating certain foods or stopping

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eating food for a while will help you get those

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things prioritized. But let's say it is social

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media. Social media is the same way. Which one

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of us in this room can honestly say that you

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need Facebook to serve Jesus? Nowhere. There's

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none. Nobody. Not even me. And everything I do

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on Facebook is Jesus, right? And I don't need

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that. We're having trouble with the Facebook

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stream today, so we're not streaming on live

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on Facebook right now. It's kind of comical when

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you think about the irony of that, right? It's

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not happening right now. But we don't have to

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do that. That's not necessary. We also don't

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have to podcast our services, right? We don't

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have to do that. We can say right now, we're

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going to cancel service. We're going to form

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into teams of three. We're going to go walking

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in every direction from this church building

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and tell every single person that we find about

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Jesus, about the love of Jesus, the word of God,

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and the fact that they can be saved. And God

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will be glorified. This is for us to be edified.

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This is for us to be filled. This has a purpose,

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right? We're doing this with a purpose in mind.

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And if you bring a snack with you because you

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can't get through worship without snacking, or

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you're thinking about where you're going to lunch

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immediately after worship, you might need to

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think about fasting. Self -discipline, the spiritual

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discipline of fasting and putting God first.

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And the funny thing about it is you will find

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that when you put God first, all of those other

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things, they become debatably necessary. Right

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now, am I saying to children in the room, listen

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to me, you need to eat a healthy diet every day.

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You don't fast unless you do that. with a parent

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or somebody who's responsible watching over you,

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right? Because this is not a discipline that

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you should get into on your own because you're

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a child, right? Adults in the room. God must

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be first. You're past the age of innocence in

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every single way. God must be first in your life.

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And the way to get there is to realize that God

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is more important than food. God is more important

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than your entertainment. He's certainly more

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important than your desserts or your snacks or

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your treats or your vacations or your recreation.

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He's more important than all of that. And we

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can let any of that go for a time to remind ourselves

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that he is the most important thing. And I submit

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to you that if while you're letting it go, to

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remind yourself that he is the most important

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thing, you focus on him. you will find an amazing

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source of sustenance that Jesus described when

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he says, I have food to eat that you do not know

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about. And he wasn't talking about a sandwich.

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We're going to pray together at this time and

00:13:01.779 --> 00:13:04.139
transition to the tithes and offerings and then

00:13:04.139 --> 00:13:06.059
a little more worship. Tithes and offerings are

00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:08.460
a form of worship. And that's why we have them

00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:10.700
during our worship time. Let's bless the tithes

00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:12.740
and offerings and proceed. Father in heaven,

00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:14.620
bless these tithes and offerings. Bless our time

00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:16.600
together. Help us to realize that you are most

00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.519
important of all things. that you sustain us.

00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:21.460
When we think about needing air and somebody

00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.059
trapped in a room who has no air, you are our

00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:26.500
air. Think about needing food and somebody who

00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.500
doesn't get to eat but every few days, or maybe

00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:30.240
they live on the streets of Toledo and they're

00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.240
sleeping under an overpass somewhere and they're

00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.299
lucky to have a can good and struggling to figure

00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:36.139
out how to get it open. And we don't know that.

00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:37.919
We don't feel that. We don't see that. We're

00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.700
not there. But if we were, we would certainly

00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:44.539
want you to sustain us. And we want you to sustain

00:13:44.539 --> 00:13:46.460
them. And those who are hurting the most in the

00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:48.539
world, who have the least spiritual food, who

00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.580
have the least sustenance coming from you, we

00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:52.940
ask you to intervene in their lives this morning.

00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:55.840
Deliver the truth. It's possible. It's just possible.

00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.850
And in some ways, we are one of those. Because

00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:02.269
we've thought about, we think about, we desire

00:14:02.269 --> 00:14:05.269
certain things of this world more than your presence,

00:14:05.470 --> 00:14:07.850
more than your person. more than your will. So

00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:09.710
teach us, Lord, to desire your presence, your

00:14:09.710 --> 00:14:12.210
person, and your will above all things. And if

00:14:12.210 --> 00:14:13.789
you can use the spiritual discipline of fasting

00:14:13.789 --> 00:14:16.149
to do that, please do. And if you're going to

00:14:16.149 --> 00:14:18.250
do it another way, Lord, sustain us through learning

00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:20.710
that lesson, however it is. We ask you to help

00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:31.799
us worship you today. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay.

00:15:42.929 --> 00:15:47.129
One particular Friday night, after a football

00:15:47.129 --> 00:15:49.769
game at the high school. I was an adult. I wasn't

00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:51.730
in high school anymore. This was probably 10

00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:53.669
years later. We were living at the house, and

00:15:53.669 --> 00:15:55.669
it was after the football game, and I had walked

00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:57.570
to the football game at the high school. One

00:15:57.570 --> 00:15:59.350
of the girls, or maybe both, I don't know, was

00:15:59.350 --> 00:16:01.070
playing in the marching band. I don't think it

00:16:01.070 --> 00:16:02.330
was either. They were both in at the same time.

00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.009
So one of the girls was playing in the marching

00:16:04.009 --> 00:16:05.750
band, and I had walked to the football game,

00:16:05.830 --> 00:16:08.070
and then I decided I was going to walk home from

00:16:08.070 --> 00:16:09.490
the football game. There was a ride available.

00:16:09.509 --> 00:16:11.450
I could have rode home, but I didn't really want

00:16:11.450 --> 00:16:13.389
to. It was a beautiful night, and I decided I

00:16:13.389 --> 00:16:14.470
was going to walk home from the football game.

00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.279
And as I was walking home from the football game,

00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:19.480
I got it in my bright idea, my big brain, if

00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:21.840
you will, that I would cut cross country. So

00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.480
instead of following the roads like I have always

00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:25.460
done, I've done it probably by that time I had

00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:27.799
probably walked home from the school 200 times.

00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:31.019
Right. I went to Northwood schools and there

00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:32.220
was a period of time when I was growing up where

00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:34.039
buses were not provided for about six months.

00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.289
And so we had to walk to school every day. In

00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:38.029
high school, I walked to school a lot until I

00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:40.570
started driving. And then if I couldn't drive

00:16:40.570 --> 00:16:41.950
because something was wrong with my car or whatever,

00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:45.110
I would walk to school. And I hardly ever rode

00:16:45.110 --> 00:16:47.110
a bike. And by the time I got to high school,

00:16:47.269 --> 00:16:50.429
I didn't ride a bike very much. I didn't really

00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:52.450
keep one up from the time I was about like 15

00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:54.110
to the time, probably 14, because I had a moped

00:16:54.110 --> 00:16:56.210
when I was 14. So by the time I was 14 to the

00:16:56.210 --> 00:16:58.409
time I was 18, I really didn't keep a bike operational.

00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:01.440
So if I needed to, I'd just walk. So I'd walked

00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.460
home from the school 200 times easily. And every

00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:05.859
time I'd walk home from school, I always thought,

00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:07.759
I'm going to follow the roads. It's quick. It's

00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.680
really like a 15, 20 -minute walk. And this night,

00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:13.220
for whatever reason, I decided I was going to

00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:14.779
cut cross -country. I was going to go through

00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:18.480
the woods. So coming down the back way from the

00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.079
high school, there's the police station, Central

00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:23.680
Park. There's a big satellite disc station back

00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.599
there that's for cable TV and whatever. And then

00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.230
back in there. There is a trail that you can

00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:29.869
get started going in the right direction. So

00:17:29.869 --> 00:17:31.349
it was my thought. I thought, well, all I got

00:17:31.349 --> 00:17:32.710
to do is get through. I know the woods because

00:17:32.710 --> 00:17:34.309
I played in them as a kid. Even though they had

00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:35.769
got up, I would just get to a certain point.

00:17:35.849 --> 00:17:37.890
I could just walk that way home and be a lot

00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:40.549
faster if I pick my way through. So I get into

00:17:40.549 --> 00:17:42.289
the woods. It's dark back in there. There's no

00:17:42.289 --> 00:17:44.890
street lights. It's dark back in there. And I'm

00:17:44.890 --> 00:17:46.509
doing pretty good at first going through the

00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:48.410
woods. I know I'm going in. the geographical

00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:50.910
correct direction i'm following the right direction

00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:53.470
and then all of a sudden the woods is so thick

00:17:53.470 --> 00:17:55.710
and you'd call it a thicket right so all the

00:17:55.710 --> 00:17:57.690
trees are kind of woven together but there's

00:17:57.690 --> 00:18:00.150
no way that i could proceed forward without you

00:18:00.150 --> 00:18:02.529
know a chainsaw it would have been impossible

00:18:02.529 --> 00:18:05.029
so i said well i'll go right so i go right and

00:18:05.029 --> 00:18:06.829
sure enough there's a little opening there and

00:18:06.829 --> 00:18:08.490
then i see there's some space and so i'm cutting

00:18:08.490 --> 00:18:11.049
the space and i'm walking a little further and

00:18:11.049 --> 00:18:13.230
then i run into the same thing your woods are

00:18:13.230 --> 00:18:15.029
so thick there's no way that i can get through

00:18:15.369 --> 00:18:17.029
And even I try to, like, kind of squeeze through

00:18:17.029 --> 00:18:19.109
a little bit. And I'm going, now it's just getting

00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:20.509
way too thick. There's no way I can get through.

00:18:20.849 --> 00:18:22.609
So I said, well, if I go much further this way,

00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:24.210
I'm hitting the back of the shopping center.

00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:26.769
And for some reason, I'm determined I'm going

00:18:26.769 --> 00:18:28.329
to try to go cross country. I'm going to go to

00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:29.769
the back of the shopping center. And I have to

00:18:29.769 --> 00:18:31.269
cross a little creek and whatever. And I don't

00:18:31.269 --> 00:18:32.450
want to go to the back of the shopping center.

00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:33.829
So I'm going to try to go back and go to the

00:18:33.829 --> 00:18:36.049
left. I went the other way. And I found a place

00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:37.369
where it looked like I was going to be able to

00:18:37.369 --> 00:18:39.049
get through. It wasn't so thick. It was kind

00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:41.960
of thinner or whatever. So I start walking. I

00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:44.279
get another 20, 30 yards and I'm deep in the

00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:46.420
woods now. Right. And I run to a place where

00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:49.140
the woods are impassable. And so now I go all

00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:50.480
the way around the left that way. I'm going to

00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.559
be all the way out to Druid Road, have to cross

00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.099
the creek, go all the way out to Druid Road or

00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:56.319
go the back way along the creek on the outside.

00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:59.160
And I'd be going like a mile out of my way to

00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.259
get home. So basically, I said, well, I've got

00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:04.339
to do one of those two things. And the shopping

00:19:04.339 --> 00:19:06.039
center is closer. So I went to the back of the

00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:07.240
shopping center and I followed the road home.

00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:10.359
But in the middle there. There was a moment where

00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:12.119
I went, oh, I'm going to make it through. And

00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:14.720
as I did that and I went into deeper into the

00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.119
woods and did not make it through, I thinking

00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.279
I was going to make it through. I actually went

00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:22.680
in deeper and that thinking I was going to take

00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.339
a shortcut. I actually wound up walking a lot

00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:29.579
like I probably walked that road home. the equivalent

00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:32.259
of it, two to three times, right? In the time

00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.119
going in and out of the woods and coming back

00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:35.599
and going back over here and going back over

00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.099
there. I had walked two to three times the distance

00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:39.559
that I would have walked if I had just followed

00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:43.630
the road. Sometimes we rely on human reasoning

00:19:43.630 --> 00:19:46.890
to pick the next course. And even Christians

00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:49.769
do this. You know how to pay your bills. You've

00:19:49.769 --> 00:19:51.349
got a certain amount of money coming in and there's

00:19:51.349 --> 00:19:53.130
a bill coming on the 15th. You know how to go,

00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:55.250
well, if I spend this money now, well, then I'm

00:19:55.250 --> 00:19:56.930
not going to have the money when the time comes

00:19:56.930 --> 00:19:58.269
in on the 15th to pay the bill. You understand?

00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:00.329
You know how to dress yourself. You've got to

00:20:00.329 --> 00:20:02.069
make sure you have enough clean laundry. You

00:20:02.069 --> 00:20:04.029
might not want to do laundry, but if you don't

00:20:04.029 --> 00:20:05.309
do the laundry, you have enough clean laundry,

00:20:05.369 --> 00:20:06.650
then when you come to dress yourself, you have

00:20:06.650 --> 00:20:09.190
to wear clothes and spray them with Febreze or

00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:11.410
something to get by for a few more days. You

00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:13.650
know how to do the basic things in life. And

00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:16.490
so sometimes we don't consult God about the basic

00:20:16.490 --> 00:20:18.390
things in life because we're functioning on human

00:20:18.390 --> 00:20:21.650
reasoning. And God kind of expects us to do it

00:20:21.650 --> 00:20:23.990
right. And if you know to do it right and don't

00:20:23.990 --> 00:20:26.150
do it right, that's sin, right? That's James

00:20:26.150 --> 00:20:28.769
4. So sometimes when we rely on human reasoning

00:20:28.769 --> 00:20:31.390
to justify our sin and we kind of make up our

00:20:31.390 --> 00:20:34.470
own solutions, all we result in doing is drifting

00:20:34.470 --> 00:20:38.890
even further away from God. Even further away

00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:41.329
from what God wanted. That's where we're at in

00:20:41.329 --> 00:20:44.450
the story of the Israelites. Now, we have today

00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:47.349
and one more time next week that we'll be in

00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:48.930
the book of Judges. And then as far as I know,

00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:50.490
as far as the Lord has told me so far, we're

00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:52.809
done with the book of Judges for a while. Unless

00:20:52.809 --> 00:20:54.650
he brings back a certain sermon or a certain

00:20:54.650 --> 00:20:56.109
text that we need to go back and look at or something

00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:59.450
like that. So today we are finishing all but

00:20:59.450 --> 00:21:02.289
the very last verse. If you know the very last

00:21:02.289 --> 00:21:03.769
verse of the book of Judges, which you might

00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:05.670
if you've been with us all this time, then you

00:21:05.670 --> 00:21:07.950
know that it's sort of a summary verse of the

00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:09.670
whole book. And it has occurred in many places

00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:12.450
throughout the book as we look at that. And so

00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:15.609
grab your Bibles, take a breath, hold it, hold

00:21:15.609 --> 00:21:17.529
it for a second. Now give me a who to holler

00:21:17.529 --> 00:21:21.170
amen as we go to Judges chapter 21. Thank you

00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:23.109
for those who participated. This is his book,

00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:26.309
not my book. I didn't write this book. I didn't

00:21:26.309 --> 00:21:28.630
write what these verses mean. That's not my job,

00:21:28.650 --> 00:21:31.210
just to digest what it says. Remembering that

00:21:31.210 --> 00:21:33.150
illustration that I gave you then, let's look

00:21:33.150 --> 00:21:35.170
at Judges chapter 21. I'm going to begin reading

00:21:35.170 --> 00:21:37.789
in verse 9. I just turned off the page. I'm going

00:21:37.789 --> 00:21:42.730
to begin reading. Okay, I'm in Joshua. Okay,

00:21:43.589 --> 00:21:47.789
so Judges 21, begin reading in verse 9. Here

00:21:47.789 --> 00:21:52.470
we go. For when the people were counted, behold,

00:21:52.650 --> 00:21:54.869
not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was

00:21:54.869 --> 00:21:57.720
there. So remember, this is part of what we talked

00:21:57.720 --> 00:21:59.359
about last week. They're looking for a solution

00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:01.579
to the problem of Benjamin being wiped out. They

00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:03.660
realize that nobody came up from Jabesh Gilead

00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:06.019
to participate, which means two things. One,

00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:08.140
it means they're worthy of punishment. And two,

00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:09.880
it means that they did not make a commitment

00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.160
not to give their daughters to the Benjamites.

00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.019
You follow that? Okay. So that is a potential

00:22:15.019 --> 00:22:17.140
solution to the problem that the Benjamites don't

00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:18.559
have daughters, which means the Benjamites are

00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.259
going to die out. There's only 600 men left alive

00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:23.589
of the entire tribe. because they went and massacred

00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:25.829
all the men, women, and children of every village,

00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:27.930
even though that was not the mandate of God at

00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:30.089
all. They did that all on their own after they

00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:32.690
had defeated the Benjamites, okay? So they look

00:22:32.690 --> 00:22:35.390
at Jabesh Gilead as a potential solution and

00:22:35.390 --> 00:22:38.730
say, well, it makes sense. This could work. Verse

00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:41.529
10, and the congregation sent 12 ,000 of the

00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:44.089
valiant warriors there and commanded them saying,

00:22:44.289 --> 00:22:47.450
go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead

00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:49.910
with the edge of the sword. Along with the women

00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:51.869
and children. So they're going to kill every

00:22:51.869 --> 00:22:53.869
man, woman, and child. And this is the thing

00:22:53.869 --> 00:22:56.190
that you shall do. You shall utterly destroy

00:22:56.190 --> 00:22:58.910
every male and every woman who has slept with

00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:01.170
a male. Okay, so now it's not every man, woman,

00:23:01.250 --> 00:23:03.690
and child anymore. And they found among the inhabitants

00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:07.130
of Jabesh Gilead 400 young virgins who had not

00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:09.369
known a man by sleeping with him. And they brought

00:23:09.369 --> 00:23:11.650
them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land

00:23:11.650 --> 00:23:14.390
of Canaan. So back near the temple. So they killed

00:23:14.390 --> 00:23:18.109
every man and every woman who had laid with...

00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:21.920
A man and every child in Jabesh Gilead. Because

00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.240
Jabesh Gilead had not shown up. That's one of

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.160
the primary reasons. So they had not sent. They

00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.920
said everybody had to send. They had not sent.

00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:30.319
So now they're being punished. But also because

00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:33.220
Jabesh Gilead had not made a commitment to not

00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:35.400
give their daughters to Benjamin. So when they

00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.279
take Jabesh Gilead's virgin daughters, 400 of

00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:41.660
them, those virgin daughters are eligible to

00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:45.220
be given over. to sons of Benjamin, to 400 of

00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:46.920
the 600 guys that are hiding in the hills that

00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.160
are left alive of Benjamin. It sounds crazy,

00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:51.519
I know, but this is the logic, okay, that they

00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:53.920
can give them over and in that way then preserve

00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.119
the tribe of Benjamin. And they bring them back

00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:59.119
there near Shiloh. Remember Shiloh, Bethel, that's

00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.559
where the temple is at, or the tabernacle is

00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:04.220
at this time, now 13. Then the whole congregation

00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:07.039
sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who

00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.539
were at the Rock of Ramon. Remember, there's

00:24:08.539 --> 00:24:10.339
600 of them hiding out there. They're all that

00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:12.359
remains of the tribe. And they proclaimed peace

00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:14.160
to them. So they're now not, they're saying,

00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:16.160
we're not going to hunt you down anymore. We're

00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:17.519
not going to kill you. You don't have to hide.

00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:20.019
And the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time.

00:24:20.099 --> 00:24:22.319
And they gave them the women they had allowed

00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.359
to live from the women of Jabesh Gilead. But

00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.359
there was not enough for them. So those 400 women

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.400
now get paired with 400 of the 600 men. They

00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.119
come down. The vendetta is over. They killed

00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.119
every woman and child who had nothing to do with

00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:38.519
the travesty, who did not resist the Israelites

00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:42.059
at all. But now these 600 men are given amnesty.

00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:43.920
They are not going to be punished anymore. And

00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.720
400 of them are given wives that they did not

00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:48.980
choose for themselves, that did not choose their

00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:51.500
husbands, but they were just allowed to survive

00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:55.220
from Jabesh Gilead. 15. And the people were sorry

00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:57.660
for Benjamin because the Lord had created a gap

00:24:57.660 --> 00:24:59.660
in the tribes of Israel. So everybody, everybody,

00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:02.039
everywhere realized, hey, this tribe is in danger

00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:04.519
of being wiped out. Now 16. Then the elders of

00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:07.059
the congregation said, what are we to do for

00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:09.230
wives for those who are left? Since the women

00:25:09.230 --> 00:25:11.990
have been eliminated from Benjamin. So all the

00:25:11.990 --> 00:25:15.009
women were gone. They've now got 400 virgin wives.

00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:18.170
They're now betrothed to the 400 of the 600 men.

00:25:18.230 --> 00:25:19.789
But there's still 200. And they want to make

00:25:19.789 --> 00:25:22.029
sure they got wives too. Because 600 men with

00:25:22.029 --> 00:25:24.789
wives could repopulate the tribe. And they said,

00:25:24.869 --> 00:25:27.029
there must be an inheritance for the survivors

00:25:27.029 --> 00:25:29.490
of Benjamin. So that a tribe will not be. But

00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:31.450
we cannot give them wives from our daughters.

00:25:31.470 --> 00:25:33.869
For the sons of Israel had sworn saying, cursed

00:25:33.869 --> 00:25:35.990
is he who gives a wife to Benjamin. So they said,

00:25:35.990 --> 00:25:38.309
so we can't do it. We can't break our oath to

00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:40.890
God or ask anybody in the tribes to break their

00:25:40.890 --> 00:25:43.970
oath, right? And it really wasn't even an oath

00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:46.410
to God, but God certainly hears oaths, right?

00:25:47.109 --> 00:25:50.269
19. So they said, Behold, there is a feast of

00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:53.109
the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is

00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:55.250
on the north side of Bethel, on the east side

00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:57.349
of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem,

00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:01.009
and on the south side of Livona. And they commanded

00:26:01.009 --> 00:26:03.990
the sons of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait

00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:06.859
in the vineyards, and watch and behold. If the

00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.079
daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in

00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:11.519
the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards,

00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:14.069
and each of you shall seize his wife. from the

00:26:14.069 --> 00:26:16.569
daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin.

00:26:16.809 --> 00:26:19.210
So these girls are going to come out as an act

00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:21.589
of worship. Now, remember, it's syncretistic

00:26:21.589 --> 00:26:23.390
worship. It's not just God. They might not be

00:26:23.390 --> 00:26:26.069
worshiping God correctly. It could be worship

00:26:26.069 --> 00:26:29.450
of God and also other gods. So it's not necessarily

00:26:29.450 --> 00:26:31.710
holy worship, but it is an act of worship. It's

00:26:31.710 --> 00:26:33.410
part of one of their festivals. They're going

00:26:33.410 --> 00:26:35.069
to come out and they're going to dance. And when

00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:38.210
they dance, it's a you 200 men come rushing out

00:26:38.210 --> 00:26:40.650
and steal a wife for yourself. Pretty ungodly,

00:26:40.650 --> 00:26:43.450
but that's a... solution. And it's a reasonable

00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:46.049
solution, as we'll see, based on human logic.

00:26:46.250 --> 00:26:48.329
These people have made a commitment that they

00:26:48.329 --> 00:26:50.369
cannot give their daughters to Benjamin. They

00:26:50.369 --> 00:26:53.269
can't do that. So stealing them is the only way

00:26:53.269 --> 00:26:54.890
to make that work. And they're going to explain

00:26:54.890 --> 00:26:57.130
that in a second. So 22 says, And when their

00:26:57.130 --> 00:26:59.269
fathers or their brothers come to complain to

00:26:59.269 --> 00:27:02.690
us, we shall say to them, Give them to us voluntarily,

00:27:03.069 --> 00:27:05.609
because we did not take for each man of Benjamin

00:27:05.609 --> 00:27:08.549
a wife in battle, nor did you give them nor did

00:27:08.549 --> 00:27:10.990
you give them to them. Otherwise you would now

00:27:10.990 --> 00:27:13.069
be guilty. So they basically said, so you committed

00:27:13.069 --> 00:27:15.650
not to give your daughters to Benjamin and you

00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:18.450
didn't. They stole them, right? So now don't

00:27:18.450 --> 00:27:20.609
get upset about it. Don't go to war about it.

00:27:20.650 --> 00:27:22.609
We stole 200 of your virgin daughters. Don't

00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:24.049
go to war about it. Let's not make a big deal

00:27:24.049 --> 00:27:26.329
out of this thing now. This solves our problem

00:27:26.329 --> 00:27:28.869
because you didn't agree to it. So now you're

00:27:28.869 --> 00:27:31.410
not subject to the effect of the curse. We didn't

00:27:31.410 --> 00:27:33.529
do it. So we're not subject to the effects of

00:27:33.529 --> 00:27:36.250
the curse. So what happened was only Benjamin

00:27:36.250 --> 00:27:38.519
did it. which they've got to be within their

00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:40.579
rights because we can't see them wiped out as

00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:43.240
a tribe, right? Now, by the way, I don't know

00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:44.779
if you know this or not, but there was a cultural

00:27:44.779 --> 00:27:47.759
law that existed in the entire period of judges

00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:50.259
where if a woman would go out in the field, not

00:27:50.259 --> 00:27:52.819
a biblical law, it's not in the scripture, but

00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:54.440
if a woman would go out in the field and a man

00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.539
would take her and he would lie with her, that

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.599
if he would then provide for her and provide

00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:02.259
her family a dowry, that he could take her against

00:28:02.259 --> 00:28:04.630
her will. So if a woman was out, He took her

00:28:04.630 --> 00:28:07.089
and as long as he would make her his wife, he

00:28:07.089 --> 00:28:09.190
had not sinned in any way as far as the cultural

00:28:09.190 --> 00:28:11.589
law said. So this fits the cultural law, but

00:28:11.589 --> 00:28:14.130
it does not fit God's law. It is not what God

00:28:14.130 --> 00:28:17.750
says. OK, just two more verses. The sons of Benjamin

00:28:17.750 --> 00:28:20.390
did so and took wives according to their number

00:28:20.390 --> 00:28:23.190
from those who danced, whom they seized. And

00:28:23.190 --> 00:28:25.490
they went and returned to their inheritance and

00:28:25.490 --> 00:28:28.329
rebuilt the cities and lived in them. And the

00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:31.180
sons of Israel. Departed from there at that time,

00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:33.859
every man to his tribe and family, and each one

00:28:33.859 --> 00:28:36.220
departed from there to his inheritance. And we've

00:28:36.220 --> 00:28:38.720
got just the one verse left, which we'll hammer

00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.880
home next week. Okay? All right. So what we've

00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:44.220
got going on here, obviously, we talked a little

00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:46.359
bit about last week. We've got a terrible situation

00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:48.539
where they're realizing the tribe of Benjamin

00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:52.690
could be completely wiped out. The book has been

00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:54.829
summarizing the state of Israel all throughout

00:28:54.829 --> 00:28:57.490
with the final verse there, verse 25. In those

00:28:57.490 --> 00:28:59.490
days, there was no king. Everyone did what was

00:28:59.490 --> 00:29:01.190
right in his own eyes. And we'll look at that

00:29:01.190 --> 00:29:04.390
more intently next week. But here we see the

00:29:04.390 --> 00:29:07.809
tragic consequences of a people who are doing

00:29:07.809 --> 00:29:10.089
what they want to do, what they think is right,

00:29:10.130 --> 00:29:12.650
not what God has commanded. And that same problem

00:29:12.650 --> 00:29:15.269
exists in the quote unquote church. It exists

00:29:15.269 --> 00:29:18.109
in communities all over the world where people.

00:29:18.509 --> 00:29:20.970
basically say that they are godly, but they do

00:29:20.970 --> 00:29:23.450
what they think is right, using human logic and

00:29:23.450 --> 00:29:26.130
self -justification. That follows a few lines.

00:29:26.230 --> 00:29:27.690
We're going to look at those right now. The first

00:29:27.690 --> 00:29:31.750
one is this, finding comfort in human reason.

00:29:31.849 --> 00:29:33.650
In other words, if I get out of bed tomorrow,

00:29:34.269 --> 00:29:36.990
And I reason I need to do laundry, I need to

00:29:36.990 --> 00:29:39.849
do grocery shopping, I need to do cooking, I

00:29:39.849 --> 00:29:41.970
need to clean my house, maybe I need to pay some

00:29:41.970 --> 00:29:45.250
bills, whatever I reason I need to do. And if

00:29:45.250 --> 00:29:48.009
I do those things, by the end of the day, I'm

00:29:48.009 --> 00:29:49.910
going to receive some comfort. I'm going to go

00:29:49.910 --> 00:29:52.309
like, oh, I made a list of things that I felt

00:29:52.309 --> 00:29:54.769
like I needed to do, and I did them. In Judges

00:29:54.769 --> 00:29:57.490
21, 9 through 12, we see the Israelites desperately

00:29:57.490 --> 00:30:00.470
looking for some kind of pattern, some kind of

00:30:00.470 --> 00:30:03.400
justification, some kind of way through. They

00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:06.839
created the problem. They eradicated the tribe

00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:09.819
of Benjamin completely outside anything that

00:30:09.819 --> 00:30:12.960
God commanded or would even allow. Setting out

00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:15.059
first to punish men who had done wickedness.

00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:17.500
But then when the tribe of Benjamin inflicted

00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:19.980
such heavy losses back on them those first couple

00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:23.099
of days. We now have a motivation of vengeance,

00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.079
right? So now we're going to make them all pay.

00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:27.019
And they went village to village and all the

00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:28.880
soldiers had come out to fight. So they went

00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.700
village to village and killed every man, woman,

00:30:30.859 --> 00:30:32.660
and child. That had nothing to do with anything.

00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:34.720
They never even knew about the sin at Gibeah,

00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:36.619
right? They never knew about that at all. And

00:30:36.619 --> 00:30:39.859
they're one day Israelites right into their town

00:30:39.859 --> 00:30:42.240
and destroy them. And that was never meant to

00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:44.759
be. They created the problem. And frankly, they

00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:47.500
are exhausted by the consequences of their civil

00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:50.670
war. They have fought for days. They have lived

00:30:50.670 --> 00:30:52.130
away from home. They have not seen their wives

00:30:52.130 --> 00:30:55.170
and children. They have lived on sparse rations,

00:30:55.170 --> 00:30:56.990
not sparse to the point that they're starving

00:30:56.990 --> 00:30:59.190
by any means, but 10 % of the men were tasked

00:30:59.190 --> 00:31:02.029
with providing for the other 90%. So they've

00:31:02.029 --> 00:31:05.670
lived not glamorously, not, you know, they've

00:31:05.670 --> 00:31:07.650
washed their feet less often than they've wanted.

00:31:07.789 --> 00:31:09.890
They've not had sex with their wives. They've

00:31:09.890 --> 00:31:12.230
not patted their children on their heads or played

00:31:12.230 --> 00:31:14.809
jacks on the floor, right? They've not sat in

00:31:14.809 --> 00:31:17.309
the cool shade of a tree and meditated on the

00:31:17.309 --> 00:31:19.759
word of God. They've been at war for all this

00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:22.319
time. Yes, against the wrong people. But they've

00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.200
been doing this. They're exhausted. They want

00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:26.759
it solved. And they are now going to seek comfort

00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:29.720
in their own strategic planning. They're going

00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:32.660
to say, well, we all made a commitment. We said

00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:34.980
cursed are. Therefore, that commitment has to

00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:38.000
hold. Right. But we also said that it would be

00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.539
punished if you didn't come out to fight against

00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:42.339
the Benjamins. Oh, look, we have a people who

00:31:42.339 --> 00:31:44.539
are. didn't come out to fight against the Benjamites,

00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:46.940
and they have virgin daughters, and they actually

00:31:46.940 --> 00:31:49.819
didn't make a commitment to not give their daughters,

00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:53.559
so this all works. We can weave through this

00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:56.119
and get away with it. And getting away with it

00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:58.440
is not the goal, right? That was never the goal.

00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.859
The result of finding, in your human comfort

00:32:01.859 --> 00:32:04.740
or in your human reason, finding a way through

00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:06.920
that you can do it. For example, like you may

00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:08.180
say to a Christian, well, I'm supposed to read

00:32:08.180 --> 00:32:10.069
my Bible. And you say, well, I don't really like

00:32:10.069 --> 00:32:11.569
reading the Bible. It's not entertaining like

00:32:11.569 --> 00:32:13.869
most books. So I'll read some Christian fiction

00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:15.410
that has a little bit of Bible in it and that'll

00:32:15.410 --> 00:32:17.430
count, right? Or I'll watch some Christian movies

00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:18.890
that'll have a little bit of Bible in it. That'll

00:32:18.890 --> 00:32:20.869
count. I'll go to church and listen to the pastor

00:32:20.869 --> 00:32:22.650
preach. He reads the scripture. That's enough.

00:32:22.750 --> 00:32:25.269
That'll count. That's you getting through. That's

00:32:25.269 --> 00:32:27.349
you weaving through and finding your way through

00:32:27.349 --> 00:32:30.069
past the commands of God to do what in your own

00:32:30.069 --> 00:32:32.470
human reason is sufficient. So you find some

00:32:32.470 --> 00:32:34.269
comfort. Well, I probably read the Bible more

00:32:34.269 --> 00:32:36.940
than anybody else. So I'm good. I have read the

00:32:36.940 --> 00:32:38.839
whole Bible through a couple of times over the

00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:40.720
last 40 years, so I'm good. I don't really need

00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:43.019
to read it anymore. The Word does not say that

00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:45.539
if you read it a little or even a lot that it

00:32:45.539 --> 00:32:47.400
eventually becomes enough. It just says read

00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:50.480
it, right? And so the trap of subjectivity is

00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:54.079
the first trap. We start thinking we submit to

00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:56.920
the law of God, but really what we're submitting

00:32:56.920 --> 00:32:59.839
to is our impression of the law, right? And so

00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:01.740
now you have churches out there in the world

00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:03.859
who take the certain key passages that speak

00:33:03.859 --> 00:33:06.460
against things like murder or speak against things

00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:09.220
like homosexual relationships or speak against

00:33:09.220 --> 00:33:12.140
things like victimizing other people around you

00:33:12.140 --> 00:33:16.240
in various ways, like seeking promotion or saving

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.799
all your money for yourself or looking down on

00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:21.420
the poor or the sick or the hurting, right? Those

00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:24.420
kinds of things. And they reinterpret those verses

00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:28.440
just enough. to leave room for them to, by collective

00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:31.539
consensus, we as a group say, that people over

00:33:31.539 --> 00:33:33.839
there is wrong, so we're going to not have anything

00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:35.480
to do with them, or we're going to victimize

00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:37.079
them, we're going to talk bad about them, right?

00:33:37.220 --> 00:33:40.039
And that is not the goal. If I mention to you,

00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:41.519
for example, that I don't agree with homosexual

00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:43.259
relationships and the Bible teaches against it,

00:33:43.259 --> 00:33:45.339
I'm not saying that because I hate homosexuals,

00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:47.460
or that I hate that lifestyle, or that I have

00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:49.319
anything against them. I have happily shared

00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:52.269
the gospel on any... several occasions probably

00:33:52.269 --> 00:33:55.230
six or ten at least with a person who was professing

00:33:55.230 --> 00:33:57.630
that lifestyle trying to lead them to christ

00:33:57.630 --> 00:33:59.569
and they're like well you but what you're saying

00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:01.730
would cause me to not be able to live the way

00:34:01.730 --> 00:34:03.869
i live and i want to live the way i live and

00:34:03.869 --> 00:34:06.750
i And to which I would say, and we all have been

00:34:06.750 --> 00:34:08.690
obviously right. We all have to make that decision

00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:10.650
at some point in time. And if you don't make

00:34:10.650 --> 00:34:13.110
it today, it's okay. God loves you. I love you.

00:34:13.250 --> 00:34:15.269
God is patient. But at some point in time, you're

00:34:15.269 --> 00:34:16.889
going to have to make a decision. You're going

00:34:16.889 --> 00:34:18.289
to have to draw a line in the sand. Is it what

00:34:18.289 --> 00:34:20.829
God says or what I say? And then they say back

00:34:20.829 --> 00:34:22.849
to me, yeah, but other people say that that's

00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:25.130
not what God says. And I say, well, it says this.

00:34:25.170 --> 00:34:27.130
What does this mean to you? Well, I don't think

00:34:27.130 --> 00:34:28.789
it means what you're saying it means. Okay. So

00:34:28.789 --> 00:34:30.389
at that point in time, then you're not ready

00:34:30.389 --> 00:34:32.929
to adjust based on what the scripture is saying.

00:34:33.289 --> 00:34:35.550
I completely understand that. If I couldn't accept

00:34:35.550 --> 00:34:37.570
what it says about being saved, I wouldn't be

00:34:37.570 --> 00:34:40.349
saved either. And for six months, I didn't. Even

00:34:40.349 --> 00:34:42.130
though I heard the gospel preached faithfully

00:34:42.130 --> 00:34:44.090
month after month, or I'm sorry, week after week,

00:34:44.190 --> 00:34:46.510
every week, I didn't get saved for six months

00:34:46.510 --> 00:34:48.489
because I didn't agree with what was being said

00:34:48.489 --> 00:34:50.730
yet. But then when I realized that that's what

00:34:50.730 --> 00:34:52.570
it says and there's nothing I can do about it,

00:34:52.630 --> 00:34:54.730
then I had to make a decision. And they're making

00:34:54.730 --> 00:34:57.019
a decision. And the decision... that some folks

00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:59.139
are making, is not to accept what Jesus teaches.

00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:01.079
What I'm saying to you is that's not a decision

00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:03.079
that you can make. It's not a decision that I

00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:05.519
can make. We cannot be that kind of people of

00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:07.920
God that we go by collective census. If we decide

00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:11.300
in our membership meeting next week, or two weeks,

00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:14.199
that we reinterpret and say, a person's not saved

00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:16.320
unless they're baptized, and we reinterpret scripture

00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:18.800
that way, then we will be wrong for as long as

00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:21.400
we hold that opinion. And the only way to get

00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:25.190
past being wrong like that would be to... Repent,

00:35:25.210 --> 00:35:27.250
turn back to God, and go by what God says. It's

00:35:27.250 --> 00:35:29.210
the only way. There is no other solution. But

00:35:29.210 --> 00:35:30.769
as long as we held that and said, okay, well,

00:35:30.789 --> 00:35:32.429
then they come to church, we've got to be 100

00:35:32.429 --> 00:35:34.789
% sure that they're making some kind of a profession.

00:35:35.010 --> 00:35:36.809
But really, if they'll just be baptized, they're

00:35:36.809 --> 00:35:38.170
saved. And we start thinking, anybody that will

00:35:38.170 --> 00:35:39.909
be baptized will be saved. So we're going to

00:35:39.909 --> 00:35:41.869
baptize folks even that don't profess the name

00:35:41.869 --> 00:35:43.909
of Jesus. Because they have to be baptized as

00:35:43.909 --> 00:35:45.550
part of their salvation. They can profess the

00:35:45.550 --> 00:35:47.489
name of Jesus later. We'll get around to that.

00:35:47.650 --> 00:35:51.030
See, you start reasoning past. When I was at

00:35:51.030 --> 00:35:53.329
my early church in the early days, they said,

00:35:53.849 --> 00:35:56.730
When we baptize somebody, they go on the rolls

00:35:56.730 --> 00:35:58.929
of the church. They become a member of the church.

00:35:59.110 --> 00:36:01.590
And so they had rolls of church with 1 ,100 people,

00:36:01.730 --> 00:36:03.849
with 100 people in attendance on a Sunday, 115,

00:36:03.989 --> 00:36:06.929
120 people. So 1 ,100 people on the rolls of

00:36:06.929 --> 00:36:08.369
the church because that was everybody that they

00:36:08.369 --> 00:36:10.849
had baptized for the preceding 40 years. Some

00:36:10.849 --> 00:36:12.170
of them were dead. There were members of the

00:36:12.170 --> 00:36:13.829
church that were dead, but they put them on the

00:36:13.829 --> 00:36:15.989
rolls when they got baptized. So one of my good

00:36:15.989 --> 00:36:18.170
friends, Brother in Christ, who was on the staff

00:36:18.170 --> 00:36:19.250
of the church, he said, well, here's what we're

00:36:19.250 --> 00:36:20.840
going to do. We're going to make them complete

00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:23.480
the 13 -week Bible study before we'll baptize

00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:25.440
them. So they have to have 13 weeks of Bible

00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:27.480
study. Then they can be baptized because then

00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:28.840
we're going to put them on the rolls and we're

00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:30.800
just going to reverse the order. He reasoned

00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:32.820
it out. That made perfect sense to him. And there

00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:34.719
were others that agreed. But it didn't make any

00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:36.500
sense to me because there's nothing in Scripture

00:36:36.500 --> 00:36:38.659
about 13 weeks of study before you get baptized.

00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:40.739
In fact, there were people who accepted Jesus

00:36:40.739 --> 00:36:42.940
Christ as Lord and Savior and were baptized 15

00:36:42.940 --> 00:36:45.400
minutes later. That's not 15 weeks of Bible study

00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:47.840
or even one minute of Bible study. There was

00:36:47.840 --> 00:36:50.079
no time. OK, you're accepting Christ. Come over

00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:52.159
here. Strip off your outer garments. We're going

00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:55.039
to baptize you. Right. And so we had that conversation.

00:36:55.139 --> 00:36:56.739
We hashed out and we realized that there was

00:36:56.739 --> 00:36:59.380
a biblical pattern that we had to follow. Reason

00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:03.260
did not allow us to step away from what God had

00:37:03.260 --> 00:37:06.099
called us to. And so that did not become the

00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:08.199
policy. And our church needs to be a church like

00:37:08.199 --> 00:37:11.489
that. We cannot fall into the trap of subjectivity.

00:37:11.789 --> 00:37:14.590
We cannot go by collective consensus. It must

00:37:14.590 --> 00:37:17.409
be what God wants. We are the priesthood of believers.

00:37:17.590 --> 00:37:19.329
There's got to be somebody that comes together

00:37:19.329 --> 00:37:22.070
in the membership meeting that is actually listening

00:37:22.070 --> 00:37:25.050
to what God is saying. Just one of us has to

00:37:25.050 --> 00:37:26.849
get it right. And then everybody else has to

00:37:26.849 --> 00:37:29.090
listen to what that person is saying. And FYI,

00:37:29.289 --> 00:37:31.329
it's not going to be me. So if you're thinking,

00:37:31.349 --> 00:37:32.710
well, we're just going to let the pastor be in

00:37:32.710 --> 00:37:34.849
charge. It's not going to be me. This morning

00:37:34.849 --> 00:37:37.070
at 10 o 'clock, I had decided in my heart to

00:37:37.070 --> 00:37:39.139
do something that God did not want me to do.

00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:42.400
And at 10 .15, God was telling me, no, no. And

00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:44.699
his voice was getting louder and louder. And

00:37:44.699 --> 00:37:46.780
by 10 .30, I had repented, turned back to the

00:37:46.780 --> 00:37:48.960
Lord, and he had ruled it out. But what if that's

00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:51.579
1 .15 on a membership Sunday and I'm doing that?

00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.280
We need more than one person who's going to be

00:37:54.280 --> 00:37:56.920
the person. Look at the God. You've got to do

00:37:56.920 --> 00:37:59.619
it. We all have to do it. Otherwise, we will

00:37:59.619 --> 00:38:02.780
fall into the fact that comfort is found in human

00:38:02.780 --> 00:38:04.340
reason. We can go, well, this makes sense to

00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:05.880
us. We're going to do this because it makes sense.

00:38:06.019 --> 00:38:07.840
And I will not be good enough. It will not be

00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:10.300
godly. We'll fall into the trap of subjectivity.

00:38:10.380 --> 00:38:12.559
We're all going, oh, it all makes sense to us,

00:38:12.659 --> 00:38:14.800
right? I remember a time where we were driving

00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:16.820
home from the associational meeting, and we had

00:38:16.820 --> 00:38:18.139
been there, and there had been like three or

00:38:18.139 --> 00:38:21.059
four really important votes. And my pastor mentor

00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:23.800
had spoke up at that time and spoke against some

00:38:23.800 --> 00:38:25.760
of those votes and things like that. And then

00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.099
when the time came, he voted against like two

00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:30.360
of them, and he was the only person in the room,

00:38:30.420 --> 00:38:32.840
and one of them I also voted against, I think,

00:38:32.860 --> 00:38:34.099
and there was maybe one or two other people,

00:38:34.119 --> 00:38:35.519
but one of them, he was the only person in the

00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:38.030
room that voted against it. And everything else

00:38:38.030 --> 00:38:39.690
that he didn't vote against passed unanimously.

00:38:40.050 --> 00:38:42.130
And they got mad. They were upset because he

00:38:42.130 --> 00:38:44.369
voted against it and everybody else voted for

00:38:44.369 --> 00:38:46.110
it. And I'm like, first of all, why would you

00:38:46.110 --> 00:38:47.730
do that? Right. I had somebody just say to me

00:38:47.730 --> 00:38:49.909
recently, there's usually a naysayer in any given

00:38:49.909 --> 00:38:51.670
congregation or somebody who's saying, oh, hold

00:38:51.670 --> 00:38:53.869
up. Right. And they may be right or they may

00:38:53.869 --> 00:38:56.449
be wrong. But if you go months and everybody

00:38:56.449 --> 00:38:58.530
votes unanimously for everything, something is

00:38:58.530 --> 00:39:01.070
probably wrong because it's pretty unlikely that

00:39:01.070 --> 00:39:03.309
everybody in the room is voting based on what

00:39:03.309 --> 00:39:05.309
God wants them to vote. It's pretty unlikely

00:39:05.309 --> 00:39:09.070
that we're of 100 % the same mind about what

00:39:09.070 --> 00:39:11.190
God is doing all the time. There should be somebody

00:39:11.190 --> 00:39:13.570
saying, hey, let's think about this. Let's ask

00:39:13.570 --> 00:39:15.789
these questions. I'm not ready yet. Or I'm ready

00:39:15.789 --> 00:39:17.429
to vote, but I'm going to vote against it because

00:39:17.429 --> 00:39:19.690
God is leading me to vote against it, even though

00:39:19.690 --> 00:39:21.409
it's probably going to pass if I don't vote against

00:39:21.409 --> 00:39:24.690
it. Collective consensus is not what we're doing.

00:39:24.809 --> 00:39:26.989
We're talking about each individual prayerfully

00:39:26.989 --> 00:39:29.090
seeking God and voting, which is what you should

00:39:29.090 --> 00:39:31.670
be doing at the election polls, right? And so

00:39:31.670 --> 00:39:34.440
on. Also, there is an illusion of security where

00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:37.719
you think our plans work, so we don't have to

00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:40.500
depend on the promise of God anymore. God says

00:39:40.500 --> 00:39:42.920
if you do these things, he will reward those

00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:45.219
things with certain results. That's in scripture.

00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:48.019
Test me in this and see if I will not, he says,

00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:50.280
when it comes to tithing, for example, in Malachi.

00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:52.980
Or show yourself to be a workman who needeth

00:39:52.980 --> 00:39:56.239
not be ashamed. Approved, right? Tested by the

00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:58.760
events. And those events show up, they test you,

00:39:58.780 --> 00:40:00.820
and you are doing the right thing, and you make

00:40:00.820 --> 00:40:03.690
it through. When we feel the weight of life's

00:40:03.690 --> 00:40:07.329
prices, we often turn to common sense, social

00:40:07.329 --> 00:40:10.949
trends, whatever people think we should do. But

00:40:10.949 --> 00:40:13.949
if we do not anchor our lives in the word of

00:40:13.949 --> 00:40:17.110
God, then we will begin to find comfort somewhere

00:40:17.110 --> 00:40:20.869
else. And that eventually leads to our destruction.

00:40:21.150 --> 00:40:23.150
You don't need to be comfortable. That's not

00:40:23.150 --> 00:40:26.170
even a thing. FYI, comfort is the one thing that

00:40:26.170 --> 00:40:27.969
has caused you the most damage since you were

00:40:27.969 --> 00:40:30.469
born. Think about it. Comfort. Few extra bites.

00:40:30.989 --> 00:40:33.630
Comfort. Got money in the bank, feeling confident

00:40:33.630 --> 00:40:35.610
that I'll be okay because I got money in the

00:40:35.610 --> 00:40:38.230
bank. Comfort. People are encouraging me. I want

00:40:38.230 --> 00:40:39.570
to be comforted. I want to hear what they have

00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:41.429
to say. I want them to say positive things about

00:40:41.429 --> 00:40:42.869
me. So I'm going to do what they want me to do,

00:40:42.889 --> 00:40:45.170
not what God wants me to do. Comfort. I don't

00:40:45.170 --> 00:40:47.429
want people looking at me. I'm shy, bashful,

00:40:47.489 --> 00:40:49.409
upset about the way people think about me. So

00:40:49.409 --> 00:40:50.849
that's going to drive me to behave a certain

00:40:50.849 --> 00:40:52.849
way, which is not what God called me to do. And

00:40:52.849 --> 00:40:55.949
onward and onward it goes. Comfort is not even

00:40:55.949 --> 00:40:59.349
a thing that you need to survive. You know that

00:40:59.349 --> 00:41:02.590
being born is uncomfortable. Living on this earth

00:41:02.590 --> 00:41:05.449
is uncomfortable. We don't belong here. If you

00:41:05.449 --> 00:41:07.789
moved tomorrow to the middle of the Sahara Desert

00:41:07.789 --> 00:41:09.389
where you do not belong, do you think you would

00:41:09.389 --> 00:41:11.630
be comfortable? You don't belong here. This is

00:41:11.630 --> 00:41:14.030
not your home. If you're spending your resources

00:41:14.030 --> 00:41:15.849
and your reason to provide comfort for yourself,

00:41:16.150 --> 00:41:18.309
you're blowing it. That's not what they're for

00:41:18.309 --> 00:41:20.909
because you don't belong here. You belong in

00:41:20.909 --> 00:41:23.590
heaven with God as a believer and you're not

00:41:23.590 --> 00:41:25.909
meant to be comfortable. That's not the goal.

00:41:26.269 --> 00:41:28.980
Comfort, finding comfort through reason. finding

00:41:28.980 --> 00:41:30.840
comfort through the illusion of security and

00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:33.380
the trap of subjectivity, which is usually found

00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:35.659
in collective consensus, those things, finding

00:41:35.659 --> 00:41:38.579
that kind of comfort will lead you to your destruction.

00:41:39.610 --> 00:41:41.489
Destruction of your family, your family values,

00:41:41.630 --> 00:41:43.650
the kingdom, the gospel in your life, the effects

00:41:43.650 --> 00:41:46.349
of God in your life, etc. The second thing to

00:41:46.349 --> 00:41:49.610
see in the text then is that people make an argument

00:41:49.610 --> 00:41:52.730
for why sin seems perfectly reasonable. In verses

00:41:52.730 --> 00:41:56.070
13 to 18, there is a dangerous dynamic revealed

00:41:56.070 --> 00:41:59.269
where they start thinking about Oh, well, they

00:41:59.269 --> 00:42:02.150
made a commitment. Who didn't make that commitment?

00:42:02.409 --> 00:42:05.489
By the way, it's super comical if you think about

00:42:05.489 --> 00:42:08.309
it at a certain angle. Put Jabesh Gilead in the

00:42:08.309 --> 00:42:12.510
promise, right? Cursed is Jabesh Gilead if they

00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:15.449
would give their wives to the Benjamites, or

00:42:15.449 --> 00:42:17.329
give their daughters to the Benjamites as wives.

00:42:18.809 --> 00:42:21.329
So they won't be cursed because they didn't make

00:42:21.329 --> 00:42:24.010
that commitment. So let's go kill them all and

00:42:24.010 --> 00:42:26.050
take any virgin wives they have and give them

00:42:26.050 --> 00:42:27.909
to the Benjamites. It doesn't make any sense.

00:42:28.409 --> 00:42:31.010
But things start to make sense when you say,

00:42:31.050 --> 00:42:32.750
well, but they didn't make a commitment. We won't

00:42:32.750 --> 00:42:34.929
be forcing them to do something that they committed

00:42:34.929 --> 00:42:38.590
that they would not do. And they deserve to be

00:42:38.590 --> 00:42:40.530
punished because they did not come up and fight

00:42:40.530 --> 00:42:42.110
with us. And we said anyone who didn't come up

00:42:42.110 --> 00:42:43.590
and fight with us would be punished. So we'll

00:42:43.590 --> 00:42:46.539
kill them. That fulfills the... the commitment

00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:47.920
that we made to punish anybody who didn't come

00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:49.579
up, and then we'll take their virgin daughters

00:42:49.579 --> 00:42:51.579
and give them, because they didn't make a commitment

00:42:51.579 --> 00:42:53.659
not to give them, we'll give them to the Benjamites.

00:42:53.960 --> 00:42:57.139
It's super ironic, but if you look at every logic

00:42:57.139 --> 00:43:00.500
that is being used in the world today to justify

00:43:00.500 --> 00:43:02.699
evil or wicked behavior, things that God says

00:43:02.699 --> 00:43:04.340
are evil, not what I say is evil or wicked, but

00:43:04.340 --> 00:43:06.679
God says evil or wicked, you will find the same

00:43:06.679 --> 00:43:10.179
kind of circular logic in every situation. They

00:43:10.179 --> 00:43:13.860
rationalize evil. They convince themselves that

00:43:13.860 --> 00:43:16.280
because their intent was good, preserving the

00:43:16.280 --> 00:43:18.719
tribe of benjamin their sinful methods are okay

00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:21.739
it's okay to go there kill them all spare their

00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:23.059
virgin daughters and give them the benjamites

00:43:23.059 --> 00:43:25.440
because we've got to find a way to save the benjamites

00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:28.239
also they replaced the absolute command of god

00:43:28.239 --> 00:43:30.780
with their own pragmatic calculations this will

00:43:30.780 --> 00:43:33.480
work they didn't make the commitment we can we

00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:35.739
can let their daughters can go to the benjamites

00:43:35.739 --> 00:43:37.739
oh and also they didn't come up and fight so

00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:39.539
we can kill them like we killed everybody else

00:43:39.539 --> 00:43:42.679
it makes sense pragmatic it works in my head

00:43:42.940 --> 00:43:45.059
Like that old saying, it makes a lot of sense

00:43:45.059 --> 00:43:46.940
if you don't think about it. And that's what's

00:43:46.940 --> 00:43:48.860
going on in the world. People don't want you

00:43:48.860 --> 00:43:50.280
to think. They just want you to do what they

00:43:50.280 --> 00:43:51.980
want you to do. And if you think, you're going

00:43:51.980 --> 00:43:53.719
to go, oh, that doesn't quite make sense. Like

00:43:53.719 --> 00:43:55.920
the $30 ,000 car commercials. And they say, go

00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:59.039
spend $30 ,000 on a car for the average middle

00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:01.159
-aged American because everyone is doing it.

00:44:01.179 --> 00:44:03.280
Or middle -class American. But everyone isn't

00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:05.179
doing it. Anybody in this room spending $30 ,000

00:44:05.179 --> 00:44:07.360
on a new car? So then when you watch every one

00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:09.159
of those commercials and they say, go spend $30

00:44:09.159 --> 00:44:12.260
,000 on a new car, you get 0 % financing. And

00:44:12.260 --> 00:44:14.079
you can pay it back over 10 years, whatever,

00:44:14.260 --> 00:44:16.920
and it makes perfect sense. You think no one

00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:19.280
is believing it makes perfect sense? If no one

00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:20.659
was believing that it makes perfect sense to

00:44:20.659 --> 00:44:22.659
do that, why are they spending millions or tens

00:44:22.659 --> 00:44:24.199
of millions of dollars a year putting those commercials

00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:26.659
on TV? Someone's believing it and buying those

00:44:26.659 --> 00:44:29.159
cars at that cost and doing that. And I'm not

00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:30.780
saying you can't do that if the Lord leads you

00:44:30.780 --> 00:44:32.800
to do that, fine. I'm not saying you can't. What

00:44:32.800 --> 00:44:35.659
I'm saying is the world is, and I'm just using

00:44:35.659 --> 00:44:37.539
that as an illustration, pushing you all the

00:44:37.539 --> 00:44:40.800
time to get you to rationalize the behavior.

00:44:41.239 --> 00:44:43.619
To think that it's normal, right? That's why

00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:46.599
all the shows that you watch or popular TV, especially

00:44:46.599 --> 00:44:49.139
following certain lines, now have certain kinds

00:44:49.139 --> 00:44:53.639
of relationships, teaching, right? So most mainline

00:44:53.639 --> 00:44:55.719
shows teach that you cannot spank your children

00:44:55.719 --> 00:44:58.000
anymore. There's no spanking. And you can't.

00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:59.760
And it's completely unacceptable to do that.

00:44:59.880 --> 00:45:02.320
Except the Bible teaches that if you never spank

00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:04.219
a child, you've got a problem, right? Now, I'm

00:45:04.219 --> 00:45:06.179
not saying that you should, right? But you have

00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:08.900
to use good judgment of when to and if it's necessary,

00:45:09.119 --> 00:45:11.900
then you do, right? And so... All that stuff

00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:13.980
is in mainline every TV show that you're watching.

00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:16.000
And guess what? You're still watching it. You're

00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:17.539
watching it and they're making money off you

00:45:17.539 --> 00:45:19.840
watching it. And then they're using that money

00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:22.119
to further propagate the agenda elsewhere. And

00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:25.199
so the bottom line is the world is pushing us

00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:27.900
in a certain way and we start thinking sin is

00:45:27.900 --> 00:45:30.559
reasonable. Much like modern culture argues that

00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:33.059
love, quote unquote, justifies behavior that

00:45:33.059 --> 00:45:35.400
explicitly contradicts God's design for marriage.

00:45:35.619 --> 00:45:39.460
So we watch a show, Chicago Fire. Pretty good

00:45:39.460 --> 00:45:42.039
show. We like it. The plots are good. The dialogue

00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:44.980
is good, etc. But in almost every episode up

00:45:44.980 --> 00:45:47.219
until a certain point, they show the beginning,

00:45:47.400 --> 00:45:49.380
which we never see it. So I don't actually know

00:45:49.380 --> 00:45:51.539
for sure how much they show, but they show the

00:45:51.539 --> 00:45:54.659
beginning of an intercourse scene. And for the

00:45:54.659 --> 00:45:57.840
first 10 seasons, that's unmarried people, right?

00:45:58.199 --> 00:45:59.860
And so we don't watch any of that. We cut it

00:45:59.860 --> 00:46:02.840
out. But the fact is that we're, I'm being transparent

00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:05.300
here, the fact that we're watching it still provides

00:46:05.300 --> 00:46:07.960
money to the people who are producing materials

00:46:07.960 --> 00:46:10.679
where they're showing people having sex on TV

00:46:10.679 --> 00:46:12.500
or at least beginning to have sex on TV. And

00:46:12.500 --> 00:46:14.880
probably, realistically, we should not be watching

00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:16.900
it. God has not convicted us specifically not

00:46:16.900 --> 00:46:18.900
to watch it. But that's the kind of thing that

00:46:18.900 --> 00:46:20.380
we're doing. The world is arguing, says that

00:46:20.380 --> 00:46:24.059
love equals sex. That's not true. There is no

00:46:24.059 --> 00:46:26.519
place for sex outside marriage or pornography

00:46:26.519 --> 00:46:30.239
or soft porn or lusting after the girl who wears

00:46:30.239 --> 00:46:33.440
the two tight shorts in the band now to Meyers

00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:36.780
on Saturday, right? Or Walmart or whatever. There's

00:46:36.780 --> 00:46:39.599
no place for that in the world as a Christian,

00:46:39.659 --> 00:46:41.920
but it's happening everywhere. And so now we're

00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:43.599
arguing that it's okay. We're thinking, well,

00:46:43.659 --> 00:46:45.900
it's okay. It's really not a sin to dress like

00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:47.219
that. It's really not a sin to look at people

00:46:47.219 --> 00:46:48.320
when they dress like that. If she didn't want

00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:50.659
you to look at her, she wouldn't dress like that

00:46:50.659 --> 00:46:52.480
and things like that. What's happening is the

00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:55.019
world exchanging the holiness of God for the

00:46:55.019 --> 00:46:58.579
convenience of man, and we cannot. We cannot.

00:46:58.699 --> 00:47:02.059
We cannot fall to what seems reasonable. We must

00:47:02.059 --> 00:47:05.860
nonetheless say God's word is inerrant, and it

00:47:05.860 --> 00:47:07.619
says no, and therefore we'll have nothing to

00:47:07.619 --> 00:47:10.000
do with it. The third thing in there to see is

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:13.400
acting heroically to overcome a problem. Now,

00:47:13.420 --> 00:47:15.480
the blessing of this is in our church, as I look

00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:17.139
around this room, I see a whole bunch of people

00:47:17.139 --> 00:47:21.239
who know how to act heroically to overcome a

00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:24.099
problem. You know how to draw a line in the sand.

00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:27.280
You know how to say, beyond this point, we will

00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:29.440
not tolerate this behavior anymore. We are going

00:47:29.440 --> 00:47:31.320
to focus on what it is that God wants us to do

00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:33.980
here today. You know how to cancel things in

00:47:33.980 --> 00:47:36.239
your schedule to go and do what it is that God

00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:38.440
has called you to do. You know how to be in church

00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:40.860
on a Sunday morning to worship God, to hear from

00:47:40.860 --> 00:47:43.800
his word. And it's sometimes a heroic effort.

00:47:43.860 --> 00:47:46.079
We have people who are in this room right now

00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:48.880
that find it hard to get out of bed on Sunday

00:47:48.880 --> 00:47:50.840
morning and prepare themselves to be here. And

00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:54.530
yet they're here. You know how to act. heroically

00:47:54.530 --> 00:47:56.869
to do that which God has called you to do. They're

00:47:56.869 --> 00:47:59.469
doing nothing less. The army is going in there,

00:47:59.510 --> 00:48:01.989
wiping out Jabesh Gilead and taking these wives

00:48:01.989 --> 00:48:04.329
because they are trying to solve the problem

00:48:04.329 --> 00:48:06.230
that the tribe of Benjamin is going to disappear

00:48:06.230 --> 00:48:08.650
from their midst. And that is an intolerable

00:48:08.650 --> 00:48:11.210
outcome. And they're right. It is an intolerable

00:48:11.210 --> 00:48:13.849
outcome. But the problem of the intolerable outcome

00:48:13.849 --> 00:48:15.929
was created by the fact that the men of Israel

00:48:15.929 --> 00:48:17.809
went village to village and killed every man,

00:48:17.849 --> 00:48:19.590
woman, and child without a mandate of God to

00:48:19.590 --> 00:48:22.409
do so. That's an intolerable outcome. They've

00:48:22.409 --> 00:48:25.130
created an intolerable outcome. And now they're

00:48:25.130 --> 00:48:27.710
going to behave heroically to overcome it. And

00:48:27.710 --> 00:48:30.190
when you behave heroically and your solution

00:48:30.190 --> 00:48:33.710
is human centered, you manufacture a world in

00:48:33.710 --> 00:48:36.210
which God has no place. And that is not a world

00:48:36.210 --> 00:48:38.829
that God created. Right. So now when someone

00:48:38.829 --> 00:48:40.610
is doing something that you don't like and you

00:48:40.610 --> 00:48:43.710
have to get them to stop no matter what, it has

00:48:43.710 --> 00:48:46.329
to stop. They have to stop doing that. Right.

00:48:46.409 --> 00:48:49.559
And so then you blow up or you behave. badly

00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:52.880
or you abuse or you throw a fit so that they'll

00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:55.079
be afraid and then they'll stop doing the bad

00:48:55.079 --> 00:48:57.679
behavior, right? Or you say, I've got to pay

00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:00.280
my bills. My bills have got to be paid. I'm going

00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:02.480
to have to heroically step up and pay my bills.

00:49:02.519 --> 00:49:04.820
So now I'm going to have to work every Sunday

00:49:04.820 --> 00:49:07.739
and not go to worship because it takes a heroic

00:49:07.739 --> 00:49:10.460
effort. I've got to heroically do what it is

00:49:10.460 --> 00:49:12.280
that I'm called to do in this one area of my

00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:15.199
life. But you are equally called to be the called

00:49:15.199 --> 00:49:17.920
out assembly of believers. So you cannot take

00:49:17.920 --> 00:49:20.539
a job. that requires you to work on Sunday. Hear

00:49:20.539 --> 00:49:22.840
me. You would be better off to starve to death

00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:24.940
than to take a job that requires you to work

00:49:24.940 --> 00:49:26.960
and keeps you out of worship. You're like, I

00:49:26.960 --> 00:49:28.719
don't agree with that. We'll get there before

00:49:28.719 --> 00:49:30.519
we're done. The bottom line is we are commanded

00:49:30.519 --> 00:49:34.000
by the Lord not to put anything in the way of

00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:36.659
our faithfully serving the Lord, devoted to him.

00:49:36.860 --> 00:49:39.079
They believe that they could manufacture a fresh

00:49:39.079 --> 00:49:41.840
start. You believe sometimes that you can manufacture

00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:43.500
a person. I was struggling with this. I was doing

00:49:43.500 --> 00:49:44.780
this thing. I'm just not going to do it anymore.

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:46.480
That's done. I see how that's not helping me

00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:47.920
anymore. And you think you can get out of bed

00:49:47.920 --> 00:49:49.900
one morning and just say, well, I'm putting that

00:49:49.900 --> 00:49:52.179
out of my life. Sometimes it's a person. Sometimes

00:49:52.179 --> 00:49:54.980
it's a job. Sometimes it's a question, a nagging

00:49:54.980 --> 00:49:56.940
thing that was bothering you, a purchase that

00:49:56.940 --> 00:49:58.980
you used to make. I'm not going to use that product

00:49:58.980 --> 00:50:00.000
anymore because I don't like the way it makes

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:02.320
my hair feel. You believe that you are the kind

00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:04.119
of person that can draw a line in the sand and

00:50:04.119 --> 00:50:06.519
make a fresh start. And in Christ, that's true.

00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:08.539
And outside of Christ, it really isn't true.

00:50:08.699 --> 00:50:11.539
People just move from one line in the sand to

00:50:11.539 --> 00:50:13.460
another. I'm not going to talk to Joe anymore

00:50:13.460 --> 00:50:16.800
because Joe talks wrong. Joe says things I don't

00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:19.280
like. Joe hurts me. Joe's said bad things about

00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:21.420
my wife or my kids or my school or whatever.

00:50:21.519 --> 00:50:23.219
So I'm going to just write him off. And then

00:50:23.219 --> 00:50:24.840
you go on a little longer and you write off somebody

00:50:24.840 --> 00:50:26.280
else. I'm going to write off somebody else. I'm

00:50:26.280 --> 00:50:27.619
going to write off somebody else. Pretty soon

00:50:27.619 --> 00:50:30.300
you isolate yourself. And that is not what we

00:50:30.300 --> 00:50:32.320
are commanded to do or to be as a Christian.

00:50:32.500 --> 00:50:36.110
Human -centered solutions always result. in blood,

00:50:36.210 --> 00:50:38.550
sweat, and tears spent on something other than

00:50:38.550 --> 00:50:41.269
glorifying God. And believe me that blood, sweat,

00:50:41.429 --> 00:50:43.510
and tears spent on something other than glorifying

00:50:43.510 --> 00:50:46.010
God is not only a sin against the Lord, it's

00:50:46.010 --> 00:50:48.809
wickedness in God's eyes. It must be repented

00:50:48.809 --> 00:50:51.309
of. And all your blood, sweat, and tears must

00:50:51.309 --> 00:50:53.809
get back oriented around the one who spent his

00:50:53.809 --> 00:50:57.070
blood, sweat, and tears to save your soul. Stop

00:50:57.070 --> 00:50:59.969
working for the benefits of heroically moving

00:50:59.969 --> 00:51:03.800
past problems. Instead, Realize that your heroic

00:51:03.800 --> 00:51:06.300
efforts, much like the Israelites, should have

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:08.420
all been about glorifying God. You understand

00:51:08.420 --> 00:51:11.159
that all the while, they go wipe out Jabesh Gilead,

00:51:11.219 --> 00:51:14.159
steal 400 virgin women, turn them over to Benjamin.

00:51:14.340 --> 00:51:16.940
All of that. And all the while, their women and

00:51:16.940 --> 00:51:18.920
children are at home with their false idols.

00:51:19.159 --> 00:51:21.300
And all the while, they're thinking about all

00:51:21.300 --> 00:51:24.179
of these other gods that are at best demons and

00:51:24.179 --> 00:51:26.599
otherwise don't even exist. They are not focused

00:51:26.599 --> 00:51:29.039
on God. They're not doing this for God. They're

00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:31.579
heroically intervening in a terrible situation.

00:51:32.500 --> 00:51:35.320
Which is awesome, except that they wind up doing

00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:39.219
it in an absolute terrible way that just totally

00:51:39.219 --> 00:51:41.719
writes God off. And you and I could do the same

00:51:41.719 --> 00:51:45.380
thing. You know how to knuckle down. Do not knuckle

00:51:45.380 --> 00:51:48.179
down to do what you think is right. Do not knuckle

00:51:48.179 --> 00:51:50.039
down to solve a problem by whatever means presents

00:51:50.039 --> 00:51:54.739
itself. Knuckle down to focus on God and God's

00:51:54.739 --> 00:51:58.260
way and God alone. We are a fallen people, incapable

00:51:58.260 --> 00:52:01.260
of saving ourselves or solving the fundamental

00:52:01.260 --> 00:52:05.039
problem of our sin, or our heroic efforts would

00:52:05.039 --> 00:52:08.159
actually be useful. But they're not. Our greatest

00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:10.820
works are insufficient to bridge the gap between

00:52:10.820 --> 00:52:14.159
our fallen nature and a holy God. The tragedy

00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:16.199
in this text is that the people were searching

00:52:16.199 --> 00:52:18.690
for a solution, but they were searching... in

00:52:18.690 --> 00:52:21.190
the dark they acted of their own authority because

00:52:21.190 --> 00:52:23.829
they had rejected the authority of god we are

00:52:23.829 --> 00:52:27.389
all by nature by human nature we are like the

00:52:27.389 --> 00:52:30.929
israelites desperate sinful prone to doing what

00:52:30.929 --> 00:52:34.230
is right in our own eyes that's what we are outside

00:52:34.230 --> 00:52:37.369
christ in christ born again given a new nature

00:52:37.369 --> 00:52:39.610
imputed with righteousness and now able to walk

00:52:39.610 --> 00:52:42.530
choosing to do the right thing free jesus said

00:52:42.530 --> 00:52:44.630
come follow me and then you shall know the truth

00:52:44.630 --> 00:52:47.579
and the truth will set you free but do not In

00:52:47.579 --> 00:52:49.400
knowing the truth and the truth setting you free,

00:52:49.539 --> 00:52:52.280
Paul would write, use that for an excuse for

00:52:52.280 --> 00:52:54.659
bad behavior. Rather, instead of solving the

00:52:54.659 --> 00:52:56.920
problems in human reasoning, instead of making

00:52:56.920 --> 00:52:59.260
an argument for why sin is reasonable or finding

00:52:59.260 --> 00:53:01.780
comfort in human reason or acting heroically

00:53:01.780 --> 00:53:04.420
to move on from the problem and overcome, instead

00:53:04.420 --> 00:53:06.920
of doing that, commit yourself to Christ and

00:53:06.920 --> 00:53:09.019
say, if the problem will not be solved with Jesus

00:53:09.019 --> 00:53:11.480
at the center, then the problem will just not

00:53:11.480 --> 00:53:14.159
be solved. How does that end? If the problem

00:53:14.159 --> 00:53:16.889
is significant enough. And it goes unsolved.

00:53:16.989 --> 00:53:19.829
Enough. You will die. Well, how does life end?

00:53:20.010 --> 00:53:22.150
If Jesus doesn't come again first, you will die.

00:53:22.309 --> 00:53:24.949
This is a matter of time. And after your death,

00:53:25.070 --> 00:53:26.789
you will be judged based on what you have done

00:53:26.789 --> 00:53:29.070
with the Son of God. The question is, was he

00:53:29.070 --> 00:53:31.030
at the center of your life or not? Was he your

00:53:31.030 --> 00:53:33.090
Lord? Was he your boss? Was he the one in charge

00:53:33.090 --> 00:53:35.610
of you? And so if you choose, by human reason,

00:53:35.650 --> 00:53:38.130
to stretch out your days on the earth, then you're

00:53:38.130 --> 00:53:41.019
more successful financially. You have better

00:53:41.019 --> 00:53:43.360
health, better relationships, a prettier spouse

00:53:43.360 --> 00:53:46.679
or boyfriend or girlfriend, more kids, kids that

00:53:46.679 --> 00:53:49.420
get degrees, kids that get good jobs, kids that

00:53:49.420 --> 00:53:51.719
succeed, kids that make you feel good, kids that

00:53:51.719 --> 00:53:53.760
show up on holidays and call you and stuff like

00:53:53.760 --> 00:53:56.159
that. If you get all of that, all the trappings

00:53:56.159 --> 00:53:58.360
of this life and succeed in all that and live

00:53:58.360 --> 00:54:00.940
to be 100, and then immediately thereafter, go

00:54:00.940 --> 00:54:02.639
to the throne of judgment. And he says, well,

00:54:02.659 --> 00:54:04.039
what did you do with my son? He said, well, I

00:54:04.039 --> 00:54:06.280
had good kids. Some of them accepted Christ.

00:54:06.400 --> 00:54:08.400
But what did you do with my son? Well, I had

00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:10.699
a good job. I paid my bills. I was always faithful.

00:54:10.760 --> 00:54:12.539
I gave at the church. I mean, I was putting money

00:54:12.539 --> 00:54:14.300
in there like that, man. I gave more than most

00:54:14.300 --> 00:54:16.139
people I know. But what did you do with my son?

00:54:16.420 --> 00:54:18.400
Well, while I was doing all of that, I found

00:54:18.400 --> 00:54:21.099
it completely reasonable to solve the ongoing

00:54:21.099 --> 00:54:23.340
problems. I really didn't need Jesus to do that

00:54:23.340 --> 00:54:27.079
for me. A somber note plays and God in his kind

00:54:27.079 --> 00:54:30.039
of challenging voice says, but what did you do

00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:32.360
with my son? And in that moment, you realize.

00:54:33.019 --> 00:54:35.119
That in all your hard work, in all your education,

00:54:35.300 --> 00:54:37.079
all your finances, all your family, all your

00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:39.260
problem solving, all your reasonable excuses,

00:54:39.599 --> 00:54:41.920
all your finding comfort in your reason, you

00:54:41.920 --> 00:54:44.440
completed the task, it succeeded, God must be

00:54:44.440 --> 00:54:46.639
blessing me because I'm doing okay. All your

00:54:46.639 --> 00:54:48.500
making an argument for why certain things that

00:54:48.500 --> 00:54:50.500
you were doing that you actually knew were wrong

00:54:50.500 --> 00:54:52.840
were still okay to do even though you knew that

00:54:52.840 --> 00:54:55.619
they were wrong. All your acting heroically to

00:54:55.619 --> 00:54:57.619
solve problems and the successes that you had

00:54:57.619 --> 00:55:00.119
as you found your way through to deal with what

00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:02.320
was facing you, all of that. In all that, you

00:55:02.320 --> 00:55:05.360
forgot to have a king who transcends all of that

00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:08.500
and supplies you with your utmost need, which

00:55:08.500 --> 00:55:11.539
is salvation, which is eternity in heaven with

00:55:11.539 --> 00:55:13.840
God. If you're trying to fix your life today

00:55:13.840 --> 00:55:16.219
through your own reasoning or your own works,

00:55:16.380 --> 00:55:19.500
stop. Draw a line in the sand. We already know

00:55:19.500 --> 00:55:21.760
you can knuckle down. We know you can be determined.

00:55:22.079 --> 00:55:25.510
Stop. Stop today. Stop living in that relationship

00:55:25.510 --> 00:55:27.909
that is ungodly. Stop making that choice that

00:55:27.909 --> 00:55:30.090
is ungodly. Stop putting other things first.

00:55:30.210 --> 00:55:32.690
If it's a dollar, if it's a job, if it's a problem

00:55:32.690 --> 00:55:35.090
solution, if it's a reason, whatever, stop putting

00:55:35.090 --> 00:55:39.090
other things first and put Jesus alone first.

00:55:39.409 --> 00:55:42.710
You cannot manufacture your own righteousness.

00:55:42.929 --> 00:55:47.690
Come to Christ today by grace through faith alone.

00:55:48.199 --> 00:55:51.199
And just say, right now, today, I will follow

00:55:51.199 --> 00:55:53.460
Jesus and Jesus alone. Not a buck, not a reason,

00:55:53.500 --> 00:55:55.519
not a challenge, not an overcoming, not my knuckling

00:55:55.519 --> 00:55:57.579
down, not the getting it done. I will follow

00:55:57.579 --> 00:56:00.940
Jesus and Jesus alone. Christ is our king and

00:56:00.940 --> 00:56:03.500
sufficient. He is enough. He is our only hope.

00:56:03.699 --> 00:56:06.199
And I have a handout, okay? Before I give you

00:56:06.199 --> 00:56:07.860
the handout, I'm going to walk through it briefly,

00:56:08.039 --> 00:56:10.179
okay? But everything, I'll take notes on this.

00:56:10.219 --> 00:56:11.840
I see not very many, only a couple people taking

00:56:11.840 --> 00:56:14.639
notes, all right? But I'm going to give you this

00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:16.500
to take home, all right? The page is entitled,

00:56:17.159 --> 00:56:19.599
marks of a devout christian life so you know

00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:21.260
what the word devout means i'm gonna give you

00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:22.840
a little literal definition but what it means

00:56:22.840 --> 00:56:26.019
in this context is that jesus is at the center

00:56:26.019 --> 00:56:29.079
that jesus is leading jesus is the boss that's

00:56:29.079 --> 00:56:30.780
what a devout christian life means and if you

00:56:30.780 --> 00:56:33.460
have a devout christian life then here's a list

00:56:33.460 --> 00:56:36.940
it's 10 but actually it's 11 so i made 10 and

00:56:36.940 --> 00:56:39.059
it came out to be 11 so there you go all right

00:56:39.059 --> 00:56:42.199
so the devout christian prays scripture says

00:56:42.789 --> 00:56:44.849
continual, persistent communication with God.

00:56:44.929 --> 00:56:47.429
It is an ongoing conversation. You don't stop.

00:56:47.550 --> 00:56:49.650
You don't start again. If you sit down to pray

00:56:49.650 --> 00:56:52.949
for your dinner and like you go, hello God, and

00:56:52.949 --> 00:56:55.150
that's an addressing God for the first time that

00:56:55.150 --> 00:56:58.190
day, you have sinned in being a Christian. You

00:56:58.190 --> 00:57:01.710
are not devout if your prayers start at mealtime.

00:57:01.969 --> 00:57:04.110
If you wake up in the morning and you first talk

00:57:04.110 --> 00:57:05.969
to God, and that's the first time you talk to

00:57:05.969 --> 00:57:07.630
God in 24 hours, you didn't talk to Him all day

00:57:07.630 --> 00:57:10.369
yesterday, you have sinned against the God of

00:57:10.369 --> 00:57:12.690
heaven who created you, who created me, who created

00:57:12.690 --> 00:57:16.230
the universe. Pray. Talk to God. Bring persistent

00:57:16.230 --> 00:57:18.570
requests with thanksgiving. Have private and

00:57:18.570 --> 00:57:21.030
sincere prayer. Not prayer, not for show, not

00:57:21.030 --> 00:57:23.289
so that people think you're praying, but because

00:57:23.289 --> 00:57:25.969
you're talking to God. Pray. Scripture engagement,

00:57:26.269 --> 00:57:28.849
meditating on God's word, being a doer of the

00:57:28.849 --> 00:57:31.250
word, not just a hearer, and rightly handling

00:57:31.250 --> 00:57:34.769
and teaching the word of truth. You must use

00:57:34.769 --> 00:57:37.969
the Bible as your manual for life. For the men

00:57:37.969 --> 00:57:39.610
in the room, it's the big joke, right? We don't

00:57:39.610 --> 00:57:40.869
like to use the owner's manual when it comes

00:57:40.869 --> 00:57:41.949
in. We don't like to follow the instructions.

00:57:42.030 --> 00:57:43.929
I can just do it without. That's the big joke.

00:57:44.170 --> 00:57:45.869
Sometimes we know enough to know better, right?

00:57:45.909 --> 00:57:47.650
It comes with 4 ,000 parts. We're like, oh, I'm

00:57:47.650 --> 00:57:50.090
going to follow it exactly the way it is, right?

00:57:50.250 --> 00:57:51.730
But then if something comes in, it's only got

00:57:51.730 --> 00:57:53.150
like four or five directions. I'm like, I think

00:57:53.150 --> 00:57:56.610
I can just do it. This is it. This is how we

00:57:56.610 --> 00:57:58.710
live. This is what we, it's not the sermons.

00:57:58.750 --> 00:58:01.110
The sermons is this, right? The sermons is pointing

00:58:01.110 --> 00:58:03.949
to this, talking about this. You need to handle

00:58:03.949 --> 00:58:06.590
the word of God on a regular basis. If you would

00:58:06.590 --> 00:58:08.550
sit down under a shade tree later today and want

00:58:08.550 --> 00:58:10.250
to think about the word of God and no verse jumps

00:58:10.250 --> 00:58:12.570
into mind, there's no verse that you can meditate

00:58:12.570 --> 00:58:14.840
on and say, what does it mean? How am I supposed

00:58:14.840 --> 00:58:17.179
to live on it, live by it? How am I supposed

00:58:17.179 --> 00:58:19.340
to act that out in my life? You've got work to

00:58:19.340 --> 00:58:21.840
do. You should have a body of verses that you

00:58:21.840 --> 00:58:24.699
know by memorization. You don't need a Bible.

00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:26.619
You can sit and meditate on the word of God.

00:58:26.719 --> 00:58:28.659
And then you can do the things that it commands

00:58:28.659 --> 00:58:30.960
you to do. And you don't need to make excuses

00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:33.420
or twist it so it supports what you're doing.

00:58:33.739 --> 00:58:36.539
Worship and corporate gathering. The church comes

00:58:36.539 --> 00:58:40.019
together. This is what we do. Jason, Jason, wake

00:58:40.019 --> 00:58:43.119
him up. Ace, wake him up. The church comes together.

00:58:43.539 --> 00:58:46.260
on Sunday morning, and the church goes to bed

00:58:46.260 --> 00:58:48.880
on Saturday night so the church can come together

00:58:48.880 --> 00:58:50.940
on Sunday morning. And you don't fall asleep

00:58:50.940 --> 00:58:53.280
when God's word is being preached. You don't

00:58:53.280 --> 00:58:55.519
fall asleep during the worship. If you're falling

00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:57.440
asleep, you get up and stand up. If you're having

00:58:57.440 --> 00:58:59.980
back pain, you get up and stand up. The men in

00:58:59.980 --> 00:59:02.699
the room, that is an absolute necessity. If you

00:59:02.699 --> 00:59:04.800
are not 100 % engaged during the sermon, during

00:59:04.800 --> 00:59:06.699
the worship, during the preaching, stand up.

00:59:06.880 --> 00:59:09.099
And if your wife or your girlfriend needs help

00:59:09.099 --> 00:59:12.300
to stand up, you hold her up. And if your child

00:59:12.300 --> 00:59:14.420
needs help to stand up, you hold them up. This

00:59:14.420 --> 00:59:16.739
is us coming together. The Bible says do not

00:59:16.739 --> 00:59:18.940
neglect the meeting. The Bible says we are singing.

00:59:19.139 --> 00:59:22.980
This is Christian 101. We sing, give thanks,

00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:25.880
and corporate praise. Colossians 3 .16 and Psalm

00:59:25.880 --> 00:59:28.960
100 and a dozen other places. Observing the Lord's

00:59:28.960 --> 00:59:31.239
Supper. We do that together on a regular basis

00:59:31.239 --> 00:59:33.440
so as not to forget what Jesus has done for us.

00:59:33.599 --> 00:59:35.900
It's worship and the corporate gathering. I fully

00:59:35.900 --> 00:59:37.599
understand that there are Christians out there

00:59:37.599 --> 00:59:39.519
that will tell you. I'm about to get myself in

00:59:39.519 --> 00:59:41.380
some trouble if this makes it online, to tell

00:59:41.380 --> 00:59:43.519
you that they can be a Christian without going

00:59:43.519 --> 00:59:46.219
to church on Sundays or once a week. And I'm

00:59:46.219 --> 00:59:49.059
here to tell you that's a lie. That's a lie.

00:59:49.219 --> 00:59:51.320
It isn't true. He said, but I know Christians

00:59:51.320 --> 00:59:53.139
that don't go to church and they act godly. I

00:59:53.139 --> 00:59:55.739
had an atheist friend for the first 30 years

00:59:55.739 --> 00:59:58.880
of my life who acted more godly than any Christian

00:59:58.880 --> 01:00:01.840
I know who goes to church. Don't tell me they

01:00:01.840 --> 01:00:04.280
act godly. They profess the name of Jesus. I'm

01:00:04.280 --> 01:00:06.079
also saying if they profess the name of Jesus

01:00:06.079 --> 01:00:07.440
and say they don't have to go to church, I'm

01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:09.059
also saying you don't get to judge them and say

01:00:09.059 --> 01:00:11.219
they must not be saved. But I'm telling you that

01:00:11.219 --> 01:00:14.559
the Word of God says Christians are in church

01:00:14.559 --> 01:00:17.820
on Sunday, on the Lord's Day. James, the brother

01:00:17.820 --> 01:00:20.860
of Jesus, who called Jesus nuts while Jesus was

01:00:20.860 --> 01:00:22.719
alive, they came to collect him because he'd

01:00:22.719 --> 01:00:24.199
gone crazy. They wanted to go home and see if

01:00:24.199 --> 01:00:26.480
they could help him somehow. Immediately after

01:00:26.480 --> 01:00:29.440
Jesus is resurrected, switches his worship from

01:00:29.440 --> 01:00:32.190
the Jewish Sabbath day, which is Saturday, to

01:00:32.190 --> 01:00:35.190
Sunday, the resurrection day. A devout Jew. And

01:00:35.190 --> 01:00:37.309
they stopped working on Sunday and they stopped

01:00:37.309 --> 01:00:38.710
doing everything else on Sunday that they had

01:00:38.710 --> 01:00:41.630
to do to give God first place on Sunday. We worship

01:00:41.630 --> 01:00:45.289
together on Sunday. Christians do. Love and service

01:00:45.289 --> 01:00:47.250
toward others. Love your neighbor as yourself,

01:00:47.550 --> 01:00:49.469
bearing one another's burdens, serving using

01:00:49.469 --> 01:00:52.170
one's gifts, practical care for the poor, widows

01:00:52.170 --> 01:00:53.610
and orphans. I've given you scripture reference

01:00:53.610 --> 01:00:56.449
for all of those things. We look for any need

01:00:56.449 --> 01:00:59.199
that we can meet and we try to meet it. I recently

01:00:59.199 --> 01:01:00.519
had a brother. I was talking with him. He's having

01:01:00.519 --> 01:01:02.960
a vehicle difficulty. We have two men in our

01:01:02.960 --> 01:01:05.099
church who have probably four, actually, all

01:01:05.099 --> 01:01:06.679
have vehicle difficulties at the same time. And

01:01:06.679 --> 01:01:08.239
the one brother was like, well, I have some resources.

01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:09.780
I'm able to solve this problem. And he's like,

01:01:09.840 --> 01:01:11.179
you know what? I'm able to solve the problem

01:01:11.179 --> 01:01:13.219
for me. And at the same time, I might be able

01:01:13.219 --> 01:01:14.820
to solve this problem for one of these other

01:01:14.820 --> 01:01:16.780
guys who's having a vehicle problem without getting

01:01:16.780 --> 01:01:19.300
paid back, without asking for a payment, because

01:01:19.300 --> 01:01:21.780
I might want to do that. That's the kind of person

01:01:21.780 --> 01:01:24.019
I want to do that. Now, I'm not naming that person

01:01:24.019 --> 01:01:25.860
because I didn't ask for permission in advance,

01:01:25.920 --> 01:01:27.360
and it might make them feel a little, you know.

01:01:27.679 --> 01:01:30.300
Out of sorts if I shared their life story. But

01:01:30.300 --> 01:01:32.300
bottom line, it's a good story. They're going

01:01:32.300 --> 01:01:33.539
to like, well, I have this much money. It solved

01:01:33.539 --> 01:01:35.420
my problem. But I can use part of this money.

01:01:35.460 --> 01:01:36.760
I'm able to solve somebody else's problem too.

01:01:37.000 --> 01:01:38.579
If I can get two vehicles for this money, I'll

01:01:38.579 --> 01:01:40.019
just give one of them to this other guy who's

01:01:40.019 --> 01:01:41.860
having a problem. That's the Christian attitude.

01:01:42.219 --> 01:01:43.619
That's what it means to be a follower of the

01:01:43.619 --> 01:01:45.579
Lord Jesus Christ. And if your love and your

01:01:45.579 --> 01:01:48.300
service are to get you ahead financially, you're

01:01:48.300 --> 01:01:51.760
not doing it. You don't got it. Jesus Christ

01:01:51.760 --> 01:01:55.300
came and died on the cross as the supreme act

01:01:55.300 --> 01:01:58.250
of love. And before he did that, he got up, wait

01:01:58.250 --> 01:02:01.809
for it, and washed Judas Iscariot, who would

01:02:01.809 --> 01:02:03.429
be the guy who would turn him over so he'd be

01:02:03.429 --> 01:02:05.909
crucified, washed his feet. He washed Judas'

01:02:06.070 --> 01:02:08.369
feet, and then Judas turned him over, and he

01:02:08.369 --> 01:02:10.909
was crucified. Love and service toward others.

01:02:11.289 --> 01:02:13.510
Evangelism and discipleship. I hit this one a

01:02:13.510 --> 01:02:15.210
lot because I know as Christians, we let it go.

01:02:15.570 --> 01:02:18.289
The Great Commission is Jesus' last words on

01:02:18.289 --> 01:02:22.210
earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples. You're

01:02:22.210 --> 01:02:24.150
supposed to tell people about Jesus. You're supposed

01:02:24.150 --> 01:02:26.309
to tell them about his word and lead them to

01:02:26.309 --> 01:02:28.349
follow him. We have the Great Commission, being

01:02:28.349 --> 01:02:30.210
ready to give a reason for one's hope, 1 Peter.

01:02:30.409 --> 01:02:32.289
We have making disciples, teaching others, 2

01:02:32.289 --> 01:02:35.380
Timothy. A bunch of others. The pursuit of holiness.

01:02:35.800 --> 01:02:37.820
Transformed. Not conformed to the world. Romans

01:02:37.820 --> 01:02:40.440
12. Putting off the old self and putting on the

01:02:40.440 --> 01:02:43.659
new. Ephesians 4. Fleeing sin and pursuing righteousness.

01:02:43.980 --> 01:02:46.239
2 Timothy. Producing the fruit of the spirit.

01:02:46.360 --> 01:02:48.599
Galatians 5. And I could have done more. We are

01:02:48.599 --> 01:02:51.260
new people now. Live like a new person. Crying

01:02:51.260 --> 01:02:53.599
out loud. If what you're doing feels like...

01:02:53.730 --> 01:02:56.329
you're pushing the envelope of God's grace, then

01:02:56.329 --> 01:02:58.150
you probably are pushing the envelope of God's

01:02:58.150 --> 01:03:00.289
grace. Stop it and live like a new person in

01:03:00.289 --> 01:03:02.349
the pursuit of holiness. Fasting, we've been

01:03:02.349 --> 01:03:04.889
talking about for three months and yet practice

01:03:04.889 --> 01:03:07.949
privately, not for show. So we have some folks

01:03:07.949 --> 01:03:10.269
who say, well, I did this. I've asked for 30

01:03:10.269 --> 01:03:11.690
days and this was the effect and give some good

01:03:11.690 --> 01:03:13.849
testimony. And it's been great. We've had a dozen

01:03:13.849 --> 01:03:16.110
people now in our fellowship that include myself,

01:03:16.329 --> 01:03:18.309
who've had a powerful experience of fasting.

01:03:18.670 --> 01:03:21.039
But this is not the first time. that we did a

01:03:21.039 --> 01:03:22.940
focus on the spiritual discipline of fasting.

01:03:23.139 --> 01:03:25.820
And when it ends, the need to fast will not end.

01:03:26.000 --> 01:03:28.119
It is a commanded spiritual discipline. You should

01:03:28.119 --> 01:03:30.260
be fasting. Whatever that looks like for you,

01:03:30.280 --> 01:03:32.559
led by Jesus, you should be doing it. Stewardship

01:03:32.559 --> 01:03:34.599
and generosity, cheerful, sacrificial giving,

01:03:34.880 --> 01:03:37.179
tithing, honoring God with your resources, faithful

01:03:37.179 --> 01:03:39.559
use of time, talents, and resources. And I could

01:03:39.559 --> 01:03:41.400
have done a dozen more. The bottom line is whatever

01:03:41.400 --> 01:03:43.480
God has given you, you should be using it for

01:03:43.480 --> 01:03:45.539
his glory, starting with the tithe and the offering.

01:03:45.739 --> 01:03:48.079
And otherwise, if you're taking that money, then

01:03:48.079 --> 01:03:50.340
don't expect God to multiply your resources because

01:03:50.340 --> 01:03:52.480
that's not how it works. Confession and repentance.

01:03:52.900 --> 01:03:55.860
People need to be open. We'll have an invitation

01:03:55.860 --> 01:03:57.260
at the end of this service. We have it at the

01:03:57.260 --> 01:03:59.199
end of almost every service. And weeks will go

01:03:59.199 --> 01:04:00.820
by, week after week after week, and nobody's

01:04:00.820 --> 01:04:02.260
confessing. You're making decisions in your heart,

01:04:02.280 --> 01:04:04.159
but nobody's saying, hey, so you know, that was

01:04:04.159 --> 01:04:06.659
me even up to last week. I was doing this thing.

01:04:06.820 --> 01:04:09.300
It's ungodly. I'm repenting now. Please pray

01:04:09.300 --> 01:04:11.719
for me. Sometimes people do respond. Or they

01:04:11.719 --> 01:04:13.239
wait until the invitation's over and then they

01:04:13.239 --> 01:04:15.039
want to respond and we start to pray. And just

01:04:15.039 --> 01:04:16.960
mention it as a prayer request. The Bible says,

01:04:17.159 --> 01:04:20.679
confessing sin to God and one another and ongoing

01:04:20.679 --> 01:04:23.380
repentance, turning from sin. That is what we

01:04:23.380 --> 01:04:25.539
are called to as Christians. No one here is going

01:04:25.539 --> 01:04:27.480
to judge you if you say, hey, I was lying and

01:04:27.480 --> 01:04:30.059
I need to stop and I'm trying. I'm begging God.

01:04:30.119 --> 01:04:32.119
And I ask you to beg God with me. No, and if

01:04:32.119 --> 01:04:34.000
you do, if they have a problem with you, then

01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:35.880
they have a different problem with God. And God

01:04:35.880 --> 01:04:38.389
will take care of them. Two more. trials and

01:04:38.389 --> 01:04:40.909
perseverance. We should be counting our trials

01:04:40.909 --> 01:04:42.769
like you get ticked off when things go wrong.

01:04:42.889 --> 01:04:44.929
I get ticked off when things go wrong, right?

01:04:45.070 --> 01:04:46.869
But the bottom line is we should be counting

01:04:46.869 --> 01:04:49.389
our trials as opportunities for growth. It says

01:04:49.389 --> 01:04:51.829
consider it pure joy. The next time you have

01:04:51.829 --> 01:04:54.329
a difficulty, don't reason your way to being

01:04:54.329 --> 01:04:56.449
stupid about it because that's just doing what

01:04:56.449 --> 01:04:58.809
they were doing. Instead, go, this difficulty

01:04:58.809 --> 01:05:00.610
is going to make me a better person by the time

01:05:00.610 --> 01:05:02.469
I'm done. It can make me more godly. I don't

01:05:02.469 --> 01:05:05.190
know how yet. I'm asked to believe that. And

01:05:05.190 --> 01:05:07.570
rejoice. In fact, I give you this hat. The next

01:05:07.570 --> 01:05:09.030
time you start to get ticked off because things

01:05:09.030 --> 01:05:10.090
are going wrong, I want you to sing the happy

01:05:10.090 --> 01:05:12.070
birthday song. It was not my birthday. Yeah,

01:05:12.090 --> 01:05:14.090
I don't care. You got a better song? Rejoice

01:05:14.090 --> 01:05:15.690
in the Lord always that you happen to have in

01:05:15.690 --> 01:05:17.550
your memory. Sing that one. The next time things

01:05:17.550 --> 01:05:19.550
are going crappy and you're getting upset because

01:05:19.550 --> 01:05:21.590
they're going crappy, I want you to say, God

01:05:21.590 --> 01:05:24.289
is allowing things to go crappy right now. Praise

01:05:24.289 --> 01:05:26.309
God. Because that's exactly what's happening.

01:05:26.469 --> 01:05:28.429
And we endure those things with hope and we run

01:05:28.429 --> 01:05:30.570
the race with endurance. And the last one is

01:05:30.570 --> 01:05:32.289
submission to God and Godly leadership. And is

01:05:32.289 --> 01:05:35.239
that not today's sermon? This is what they did

01:05:35.239 --> 01:05:36.940
not do. When you should be submitting to God,

01:05:37.019 --> 01:05:38.760
James 4, 7, you should be respecting and following

01:05:38.760 --> 01:05:41.199
God's leaders, Hebrews 13, and accountability

01:05:41.199 --> 01:05:44.019
within the body, Matthew 18. So you see where

01:05:44.019 --> 01:05:46.739
this is going, except you kind of don't, because

01:05:46.739 --> 01:05:48.460
this is where I'm actually going. This is what

01:05:48.460 --> 01:05:50.800
a devout Christian looks like. And if I took

01:05:50.800 --> 01:05:53.980
my life and I measured it by this standard, we

01:05:53.980 --> 01:05:56.460
wouldn't hold up. Because some days I do all

01:05:56.460 --> 01:05:59.119
11. Some days I only do half of them. Some days

01:05:59.119 --> 01:06:01.480
I do all 11, but I'm doing them for the wrong

01:06:01.480 --> 01:06:03.920
reasons. And I'm guessing if that's the way it

01:06:03.920 --> 01:06:05.940
is with me, it's probably the way it is with

01:06:05.940 --> 01:06:09.420
all of you too. And nonetheless, this is the

01:06:09.420 --> 01:06:12.360
standard of what a devout Christian is. So if

01:06:12.360 --> 01:06:14.619
you're doing it for God, you can take this paper

01:06:14.619 --> 01:06:17.059
and you can say, I'm going to do all of these

01:06:17.059 --> 01:06:19.019
things from now on and make that the standard

01:06:19.019 --> 01:06:20.659
because that is the standard. That's what a standard

01:06:20.659 --> 01:06:21.960
means. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going

01:06:21.960 --> 01:06:23.840
to do all of this from now on. And then when

01:06:23.840 --> 01:06:25.099
you run into things in your life that you've

01:06:25.099 --> 01:06:28.179
been justifying, you can say, no more. They don't

01:06:28.179 --> 01:06:30.329
fit. It doesn't fit anymore because I have to

01:06:30.329 --> 01:06:31.909
do all of these 11 things. So I've got to cut

01:06:31.909 --> 01:06:34.269
that out and say, but maybe I'm still only getting

01:06:34.269 --> 01:06:35.809
eight. So if you're only getting eight, does

01:06:35.809 --> 01:06:37.590
that mean you stop trying to get 11? No. If you're

01:06:37.590 --> 01:06:38.809
only getting one, does that mean you stop trying

01:06:38.809 --> 01:06:40.690
to get 11? No. This is the standard of a devout

01:06:40.690 --> 01:06:43.050
Christian that Jesus laid out and Paul laid out

01:06:43.050 --> 01:06:46.329
in the New Testament. So you take the 11 and

01:06:46.329 --> 01:06:48.610
you live it the best you possibly can, the best

01:06:48.610 --> 01:06:49.829
that Jesus will let you. And in the meantime,

01:06:50.030 --> 01:06:52.750
Jesus is going to count you as if you were living

01:06:52.750 --> 01:06:54.949
them all. Which means, like I hammered home that

01:06:54.949 --> 01:06:56.130
people are supposed to be in church on Sunday,

01:06:56.190 --> 01:06:57.449
and if people out there think that they're being

01:06:57.449 --> 01:06:59.329
Christians, that they're not in church on Sunday,

01:06:59.489 --> 01:07:01.489
that means that we cannot say to them that they're

01:07:01.489 --> 01:07:04.210
not Christians. That's not our job. But one day,

01:07:04.250 --> 01:07:06.250
one day they will stand before Jesus and you

01:07:06.250 --> 01:07:08.610
will ask them, what did you do with the truth

01:07:08.610 --> 01:07:11.369
about Jesus? Was Jesus center of your life? Now

01:07:11.369 --> 01:07:13.869
you tell me, how many would you have to be getting

01:07:13.869 --> 01:07:16.070
right in order for Jesus to be the center of

01:07:16.070 --> 01:07:19.059
your life? Well, it ain't zero. It also isn't

01:07:19.059 --> 01:07:22.000
probably 11. Will you maybe think about the fact

01:07:22.000 --> 01:07:24.949
that You're reasoning why you don't have to do

01:07:24.949 --> 01:07:27.190
certain things. Why I don't have to read the

01:07:27.190 --> 01:07:28.210
Bible. Why I don't have to tell people about

01:07:28.210 --> 01:07:30.190
Jesus. Why sometimes I go to church and sometimes

01:07:30.190 --> 01:07:32.349
I don't. Or Bible study and sometimes I don't.

01:07:32.349 --> 01:07:34.409
Why I don't read my Bible sometimes for three

01:07:34.409 --> 01:07:37.030
or five or ten days at a time. Or a month. Or

01:07:37.030 --> 01:07:41.329
maybe not four months. What human reasoning is

01:07:41.329 --> 01:07:43.570
going to hold up when you stand before the God

01:07:43.570 --> 01:07:46.150
of the universe and he says, Was Jesus at the

01:07:46.150 --> 01:07:47.590
center of your life? And you say, well, yeah,

01:07:47.650 --> 01:07:49.849
he was, but I just never quite gotten around

01:07:49.849 --> 01:07:52.090
to praying. Yeah, he was, but I just never quite

01:07:52.090 --> 01:07:53.849
gotten around engaging with the word. Jesus says

01:07:53.849 --> 01:07:56.710
that this is like what men live on. Man lives

01:07:56.710 --> 01:07:59.170
not by food, but by every word that comes out

01:07:59.170 --> 01:08:01.369
of the mouth of God. It's time. It's time for

01:08:01.369 --> 01:08:02.630
you to draw a line in the sand, knuckle down

01:08:02.630 --> 01:08:05.889
and say, God first, Jesus first in everything.

01:08:06.289 --> 01:08:07.909
And I'm asking you if it's the first time you

01:08:07.909 --> 01:08:09.469
ever did it to be saved. That's literally what

01:08:09.469 --> 01:08:11.289
I'm asking for. And say, no, I have done it,

01:08:11.309 --> 01:08:14.670
but I also have used human reason to find comfort.

01:08:15.099 --> 01:08:17.439
I got into the trap of subjectivity and I'm done.

01:08:17.560 --> 01:08:19.300
Then I'm asking you to repent and turn back to

01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:21.659
Jesus and renew your commitment to have him and

01:08:21.659 --> 01:08:24.279
him alone as Lord. You stop being Lord. Trust

01:08:24.279 --> 01:08:25.920
me, that does not go where you want it to go.

01:08:25.979 --> 01:08:28.479
I was watching, I don't know that I'll be able

01:08:28.479 --> 01:08:29.880
to continue to watch, but I was watching a Spider

01:08:29.880 --> 01:08:32.380
-Man series that came out and I just thought

01:08:32.380 --> 01:08:33.960
it'd be kind of cool because it's set like in

01:08:33.960 --> 01:08:36.520
a old black and white kind of 50s genre kind

01:08:36.520 --> 01:08:38.699
of thing. It's Spider -Man Noir, it's called,

01:08:38.819 --> 01:08:40.180
I think that's how it's pronounced. And there's

01:08:40.180 --> 01:08:42.590
a guy on there and he's a flame dude. And the

01:08:42.590 --> 01:08:44.810
detective, who is Spider -Man, his alter ego,

01:08:45.050 --> 01:08:46.770
was following me. He said, if you keep following

01:08:46.770 --> 01:08:49.170
me, this is not going to end the way you think

01:08:49.170 --> 01:08:50.989
it's going to end. It's not going to end the

01:08:50.989 --> 01:08:52.810
way you want it to end. And if you're following

01:08:52.810 --> 01:08:55.449
me, I can say that to you. Don't do it. Follow

01:08:55.449 --> 01:08:58.270
Jesus. If you're following somebody else in your

01:08:58.270 --> 01:09:00.250
family, I can say, don't do that. That's not

01:09:00.250 --> 01:09:01.949
going to end the way you want it to end. If you're

01:09:01.949 --> 01:09:05.630
following Satan or a demon or your own reason

01:09:05.630 --> 01:09:08.189
or yourself, stop it. It's not going to end the

01:09:08.189 --> 01:09:09.869
way you want it to end. But if you follow Jesus

01:09:09.869 --> 01:09:11.960
and Jesus alone, That'll end the way you want

01:09:11.960 --> 01:09:14.000
it to end. That's the praise team to come forward

01:09:14.000 --> 01:09:15.979
at this time. We have our closing hymn. If the

01:09:15.979 --> 01:09:17.920
Lord is speaking to your heart in some way, you've

01:09:17.920 --> 01:09:20.239
been reasoning your way to that behavior, what

01:09:20.239 --> 01:09:21.840
God would call that behavior, then you repent

01:09:21.840 --> 01:09:24.399
right now. And as we sing today, rather than

01:09:24.399 --> 01:09:25.840
responding, coming forward to the front of the

01:09:25.840 --> 01:09:26.859
room, I'm just going to ask you to raise your

01:09:26.859 --> 01:09:28.539
hand. If that's you, just raise your hand. I'm

01:09:28.539 --> 01:09:29.859
not going to call on everybody. We don't have

01:09:29.859 --> 01:09:32.020
time to do confession across the room. There's

01:09:32.020 --> 01:09:34.020
going to be a whole bunch of people. If you really,

01:09:34.060 --> 01:09:36.260
really, really need to name it, then you just

01:09:36.260 --> 01:09:38.300
name it. Stand where you are and say, that's

01:09:38.300 --> 01:09:40.840
me. I've been doing this and I'm done. whatever

01:09:40.840 --> 01:09:43.460
that is, just need. And then anybody that raised

01:09:43.460 --> 01:09:45.359
their hands, we're going to voice a prayer to

01:09:45.359 --> 01:09:47.500
the Lord and let the Lord work in us to put to

01:09:47.500 --> 01:09:50.380
bed whatever that thing is. And we're going to

01:09:50.380 --> 01:09:53.539
walk from here on out, we're going to walk with

01:09:53.539 --> 01:09:56.119
Jesus as leader, with Jesus at the center of

01:09:56.119 --> 01:09:58.939
our lives, the best we can as devoted Christians.

01:09:59.550 --> 01:10:01.850
devoted not to ourselves or to our church, but

01:10:01.850 --> 01:10:03.750
to our Lord. Would you stand with me as we sing

01:10:03.750 --> 01:10:05.590
this song? And if the Lord has pressed it upon

01:10:05.590 --> 01:10:07.430
your heart to do so today, then anytime there

01:10:07.430 --> 01:10:09.010
is a song, you raise your hand right where you're

01:10:09.010 --> 01:10:11.310
at, and I'll recognize it. You don't have to

01:10:11.310 --> 01:10:12.770
hold it up the whole time. You won't be called

01:10:12.770 --> 01:10:15.449
on to speak. But that raising of your hand will

01:10:15.449 --> 01:10:17.510
be your public confession that there are things,

01:10:17.670 --> 01:10:21.710
and you're turning them over to the Lord. I'm

01:10:45.710 --> 01:10:47.649
raising my hand this morning, so now you're praying

01:10:47.649 --> 01:10:52.869
for me. I see another hand. Anybody raise their

01:10:52.869 --> 01:10:56.350
hand in your mind. You're praying for them. You're

01:10:56.350 --> 01:11:04.939
praying for us. See that hand. You're praying

01:11:04.939 --> 01:11:09.390
for every one of us. You're praying for us. You're

01:11:09.590 --> 01:11:15.310
praying for us. You're praying for us. Human

01:11:17.520 --> 01:11:22.899
reason. Our best ideas. Jesus at the center.

01:11:22.939 --> 01:11:34.350
Jesus in charge. Anyone else? Father in heaven,

01:11:34.449 --> 01:11:37.800
bless us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Let

01:11:39.590 --> 01:11:42.109
every meal taken, let every task undertaken,

01:11:42.510 --> 01:11:44.909
let every little penny, every dollar earned be

01:11:44.909 --> 01:12:02.560
yours. I see that hand. Father God, as these

01:12:02.560 --> 01:12:04.260
who have their hands raised, even now, those

01:12:04.260 --> 01:12:05.680
who just put their hands up now, realize that

01:12:05.680 --> 01:12:08.279
things are going to walk with you, Lord. You're

01:12:08.279 --> 01:12:10.220
praying today, Lord, that we be a holy people,

01:12:10.340 --> 01:12:12.930
that we be a people following you. Not following

01:12:12.930 --> 01:12:15.409
our family, not following our finances, not following

01:12:15.409 --> 01:12:18.529
our best reason, our best thought processes to

01:12:18.529 --> 01:12:20.350
get where we're trying to get. Lord, we sure

01:12:20.350 --> 01:12:22.029
have made a mess of things already. You can see

01:12:22.029 --> 01:12:23.869
where we made a mess. We don't want to make a

01:12:23.869 --> 01:12:25.850
mess of our future. We want our future to be

01:12:25.850 --> 01:12:27.569
built upon that rock. We're going to dig deep.

01:12:28.710 --> 01:12:30.810
We're going to dig deep and build on a firm foundation

01:12:30.810 --> 01:12:33.550
that is our Lord Jesus Christ and your word every

01:12:33.550 --> 01:12:37.729
day that each day we give out to you. Last chance

01:12:37.729 --> 01:12:39.729
for a good man and a good nation out to see you.

01:12:46.149 --> 01:12:48.050
Put your hands down. Sing this song like you

01:12:48.050 --> 01:13:01.000
mean it. Never let me go. Fall down again. Hear

01:13:04.329 --> 01:13:10.310
you say that I'm your friend. Let this be true,

01:13:10.430 --> 01:13:25.760
Lord. My desire. What else will do? Nothing else

01:13:25.760 --> 01:13:33.390
could take the blame. Feel the warmth of your

01:13:33.390 --> 01:13:42.800
embrace. Help me find the way. Bring me back

01:13:42.800 --> 01:14:16.970
to you. Help me know you are. Okay, we're going

01:14:16.970 --> 01:14:31.510
to close in prayer. All right, we're going to

01:14:31.510 --> 01:14:33.710
close in prayer. I'm sorry, you can have this

01:14:33.710 --> 01:14:36.779
one and I'll get one. We're going to close in

01:14:36.779 --> 01:14:37.960
prayer at this time and then we're going to go

01:14:37.960 --> 01:14:39.880
out there and there's another one coming. Every

01:14:39.880 --> 01:14:42.409
person gets one, not every family. I made 40,

01:14:42.430 --> 01:14:44.750
so I think we should have enough. Also, you can

01:14:44.750 --> 01:14:46.369
take one for your spouse if they're teaching

01:14:46.369 --> 01:14:48.149
with the kids, and we'll try to make sure everybody

01:14:48.149 --> 01:14:59.199
gets access to it. Those are the extras? Yep.

01:14:59.340 --> 01:15:03.380
You got one for yourself, right? I'll take those.

01:15:03.640 --> 01:15:11.949
You got one? Okay, there we go. All right, we're

01:15:11.949 --> 01:15:13.670
going to close the prayer at this time. Now we're

01:15:13.670 --> 01:15:15.470
going to go out. And those of us who raised our

01:15:15.470 --> 01:15:17.729
hand, at least it's a new day. We draw a line

01:15:17.729 --> 01:15:20.050
in the sand and say, OK, what's in my life that

01:15:20.050 --> 01:15:22.010
God is going to bring in line with him? And I'm

01:15:22.010 --> 01:15:23.949
going to let him do that. OK. And those of you

01:15:23.949 --> 01:15:25.149
made a decision in your heart, but didn't raise

01:15:25.149 --> 01:15:26.770
your hand. It's the same thing. You make a commitment

01:15:26.770 --> 01:15:28.710
to God. You keep it. Look how stupid they were

01:15:28.710 --> 01:15:30.569
about keeping commitments that God would never

01:15:30.569 --> 01:15:32.770
even have wanted them to keep. Right. It is not.

01:15:32.770 --> 01:15:35.250
I'm not saying you're going to just grit your

01:15:35.250 --> 01:15:37.449
teeth and force yourself to do the things that

01:15:37.449 --> 01:15:39.850
God wants you to do. Love the Lord. Love those

01:15:39.850 --> 01:15:41.789
things. Love the things that God has called us

01:15:41.789 --> 01:15:43.949
to and let God empower you to do them. They are

01:15:43.949 --> 01:15:46.569
really incredible things. There's nothing like,

01:15:46.649 --> 01:15:48.890
and you've probably experienced, I'm preaching

01:15:48.890 --> 01:15:50.710
to the choir on this one, but you know what it's

01:15:50.710 --> 01:15:52.630
like when you talk to God and you know he's listening

01:15:52.630 --> 01:15:55.250
and he speaks back to you and you feel him move

01:15:55.250 --> 01:15:57.550
and feel he's changing something, feel he's doing

01:15:57.550 --> 01:15:59.090
something. It's like that with every one of these

01:15:59.090 --> 01:16:01.409
things. And there's probably more. I could have

01:16:01.409 --> 01:16:03.789
gone beyond 11. The bottom line is the most important

01:16:03.789 --> 01:16:06.460
one is Jesus first in all things. And some things

01:16:06.460 --> 01:16:08.279
just don't belong when it's Jesus first in all

01:16:08.279 --> 01:16:09.859
things, and they've got to go. And other things

01:16:09.859 --> 01:16:11.520
have to be added. That's what it means to be

01:16:11.520 --> 01:16:13.119
a follower. All right, we're going to pray together

01:16:13.119 --> 01:16:16.279
in closing. Let's see. Brother Tim, would you

01:16:16.279 --> 01:16:18.199
close us in prayer? I'm willing to pray along

01:16:18.199 --> 01:16:21.619
with you. Dear Lord, thank you so much that we

01:16:21.619 --> 01:16:24.000
have one more day to learn about you here. Yes,

01:16:24.000 --> 01:16:26.560
Lord. That we can serve you. Give us one more

01:16:26.560 --> 01:16:30.380
day. And forgive us where we've failed you, Lord.

01:16:30.520 --> 01:16:33.399
Yes, Lord. Help us to... recognize your only

01:16:33.399 --> 01:16:36.039
failure, your only sin, that you make tons of

01:16:36.039 --> 01:16:39.100
proper sins, and show us the right path, that

01:16:39.100 --> 01:16:40.859
we should bring glory and honor to your name,

01:16:40.979 --> 01:16:43.100
and all things that we do, that others may see

01:16:43.100 --> 01:16:45.359
it, that we may tell them in whatever way that

01:16:45.359 --> 01:16:49.319
we can tell them, that you are the Lord, and

01:16:49.319 --> 01:16:52.479
that they need you. It's much more worth speaking

01:16:52.479 --> 01:16:56.739
out the message of sin and destruction of humanity,

01:16:57.079 --> 01:16:59.920
and instead they talk about fixing and repairing

01:16:59.920 --> 01:17:11.989
our lives. Amen. Thank you very much. Go use

01:17:11.989 --> 01:17:13.250
it for and be the church.