WEBVTT 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:12.279 On that final day. Amen. Do you believe this 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:21.100 morning? Hallelujah. So good to see you in the 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:24.260 house of the Lord. If you have your Bibles, you 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.420 turn with me to John's Gospel, the 18th chapter. 00:00:32.300 --> 00:00:35.979 John's Gospel, chapter 18. So good to see you 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:38.880 in the house of the Lord this morning. I hope 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.740 and trust that today is just not a check -the 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:47.659 -box day, just because it's Sunday. But I pray 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:51.219 and trust that you've come to experience and 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:55.000 to encounter the most holy God, and that His 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.659 Word enable you to go another mile. empower you 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:09.519 in victory for another day. For it's day by day. 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:14.879 Amen? Old songwriter penned it well, one day 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.959 at a time, sweet Jesus. That's all that I'm asking 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:26.219 from you. Teach me, right? As we're getting ready 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:29.459 to read our text in our... prayer as we'll pray 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:36.140 over. Remember Brother Matthew Geislinger. We 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:38.299 thought yesterday the initial report might have 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:42.319 been a heart attack. They had to fly him to Erlanger. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.799 Turns out it was a massive stroke. And last word, 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.560 I hadn't gotten an update this morning yet, but 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.579 his last word, he was still in an induced coma 00:01:53.579 --> 00:01:57.290 last night. So let's remember, Brother Matthew 00:01:57.290 --> 00:02:00.650 and Sister Linda, that the Lord move in a mighty 00:02:00.650 --> 00:02:04.609 way. Amen? And encourage and strengthen them. 00:02:06.510 --> 00:02:10.310 Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18. I want to read 00:02:10.310 --> 00:02:19.469 at verse 36. Start at verse 36. To give you just 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:22.050 a little background as we start in here, Jesus 00:02:22.050 --> 00:02:27.310 is before Pilate. This is nearing his crucifixion 00:02:27.310 --> 00:02:30.509 and the punishment of sin that would be put on 00:02:30.509 --> 00:02:37.930 him for us. And this is part of that encounter 00:02:37.930 --> 00:02:42.689 with Pilate. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:47.150 of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:52.759 then would my servants fight. That I should not 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.520 be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:05.680 not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:11.500 Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:16.599 that I am, or you say correctly. To this end 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:21.259 was I born. And for this cause came I into the 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:26.360 world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:31.800 Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:40.219 Pilate said unto him, What is truth? And when 00:03:40.219 --> 00:03:42.379 he had said this, he went out again unto the 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:47.580 Jews and said unto them, I find in him no fault. 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:54.280 At all. With the help of the Lord for a little 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:58.000 while this morning, I want to preach on this 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:04.080 thought. The absolute in the midst of chaos. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:18.649 The absolute in the midst of chaos. Father, I 00:04:18.649 --> 00:04:20.269 love you today. I thank you for the power of 00:04:20.269 --> 00:04:24.610 your word. Lord, I need your help this morning. 00:04:24.670 --> 00:04:30.329 I need your touch. Touch this flesh. Touch my 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:32.829 spirit, Lord. It is so willing to be obedient 00:04:32.829 --> 00:04:37.490 to you. Touch my tongue as I stand as orator 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:42.009 of your truth. I ask, Father, that as I surrender 00:04:42.009 --> 00:04:47.689 myself to you, use me as you see fit. And over 00:04:47.689 --> 00:04:49.910 this household of faith, I pray, Father God, 00:04:50.069 --> 00:04:56.870 that we that have ears to hear would hear what 00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:00.230 the Spirit said to the church. We'll be quick 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:03.850 to praise you for it all. In the mighty name 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:12.410 of Jesus, amen and amen. You can be seated. The 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:17.829 absolute in the midst of chaos. A few years ago, 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:23.750 pollster George Gallup said, the problem is not 00:05:23.750 --> 00:05:28.529 that Americans don't believe. It's that they 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:34.629 believe everything. So therewith, we find in 00:05:34.629 --> 00:05:40.629 extreme cases in any given church on a weekly 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:45.899 basis, church goers. Who believes in everything 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:51.360 from channeling. And even born again Christians 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:58.139 who daily consult their horoscopes. To see how 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:04.920 their day is going to go. Ghosts and goblins 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:09.600 and everything else. Church goers, born again 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:17.689 believers who actually believe in luck. I'm about 00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:23.730 to bust a few bubbles. No such thing as luck. 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.529 I had a good Baptist brother teach me that one 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:34.129 day as we were riding to work. He taught me that 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:37.110 lesson that if God is sovereign and you're one 00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:40.449 of his, then you're blessed and favored. Has 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:45.029 nothing to do with accident. God blesses you 00:06:45.029 --> 00:06:49.509 intentionally. And so therefore if there's no 00:06:49.509 --> 00:06:54.910 such thing as good luck, then there's no bad 00:06:54.910 --> 00:07:01.670 luck. Jesus said they hated me and they're going 00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:06.069 to hate you. He said in this world it's going 00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:08.569 to rain on the just and it's going to rain on 00:07:08.569 --> 00:07:11.250 the unjust. Everybody's going to get a little 00:07:11.250 --> 00:07:16.810 wet. So it's not bad luck. Because you got wet. 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:20.910 It's not bad luck because one tree took out half 00:07:20.910 --> 00:07:26.569 the transportation of one family. Not bad luck 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:28.410 because a storm blew a tree over and the tree 00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:31.029 landed on the cars. Got nothing to do with luck. 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:33.810 Just happened to be the way the wind was blowing, 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:37.589 Brother Henry. That's just the way the wind was 00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:43.209 blowing. Right? But on any given Sunday in any 00:07:43.209 --> 00:07:47.240 given congregation, we... we have these belief 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:53.319 systems at work. The question is, how can we 00:07:53.319 --> 00:08:00.319 as a church help folk discern what is of God 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:07.000 and what is not? That's the whole jest. Spiritual 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.160 warfare is by and large a battle for the mind. 00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.769 And if the enemy can control the mind of the 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:21.110 believer, he can control them. He controls us 00:08:21.110 --> 00:08:26.129 through emotional situations. Some emotions run 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:29.509 high. Some folks' emotions run low. But he can 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:33.269 determine a lot of our behavior or how we will 00:08:33.269 --> 00:08:41.289 react by what we believe. And he plays against 00:08:41.289 --> 00:08:49.200 the belief. We just sung it. Do we believe? You 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.379 do know that the spiritual struggle is for the 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:55.879 same instruments in this world. God desires to 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:59.080 use you for good, and the devil desires to use 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:04.179 you for evil. God's plan is to bless you. The 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:09.419 enemy's plan is to destroy you. That's it. It's 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:13.080 that simple. It's not complicated. It's very 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:17.580 simple. So spiritual warfare is a battle for 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:21.379 the control of the mind. The seals figured this 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:25.419 out in their training. I preach a message every 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:27.539 great once in a while when the Lord moves on 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:31.240 me. I had a bell on a pole, and I preached, don't 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:36.779 ring the bell. Don't ring the bell. There's a 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:39.740 motto during Hell Week that if you don't mind, 00:09:40.019 --> 00:09:46.879 it doesn't matter. Isn't that the truth? Things 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.679 that you don't mind get disrupted. It doesn't 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.279 matter. But things that you have thought over, 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:54.820 things that you are really concerned about, if 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:56.659 the devil goes to messing in that, he's got you 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:03.399 all blown up. So we must take great care. Understanding 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:07.580 we live in an age of spiritual deception. To 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:10.320 deceive simply means to mislead by falsehood 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:14.519 or to lead in error. to delude. It comes from 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.539 two different directions. It'll either be concealment 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:20.919 or misrepresentation of the truth. Isn't that 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.360 the way Eve fell? There was a misrepresentation 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.320 of the truth. There was a half -truth that the 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.879 enemy gave to her, right? You're surely not going 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.620 to die. God didn't really mean that. You're not 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.500 going to die. I mean, surely he wouldn't do that 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:40.500 to you. Go ahead and take a bite. You know, and... 00:10:40.779 --> 00:10:43.259 The deception set in, oh, well, okay, I'm not 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:47.379 going to die. But not only did she die, but now 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:52.039 the rest of us. Because it is appointed unto 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:55.220 man once to die, then to face the judgment. Remember? 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.720 So when we understand this concealment of truth 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:05.600 or misrepresentation of truth. Two types of deceptions. 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.659 There's satanic deception from the one who is 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:11.879 the father of all lies. He is a liar. You understand 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:17.259 that, right? He's not a liar. He is a liar. You 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:19.440 understand that a half -truth is still a whole 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.639 lie. That's where the deception comes in. The 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:27.139 devil feeds you enough to get you to bite and 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:30.570 to play on his deception. And his deception, 00:11:30.730 --> 00:11:33.669 if we're not careful, ends up destroying our 00:11:33.669 --> 00:11:36.230 very lives and our very faith and our very hope 00:11:36.230 --> 00:11:40.529 and our very trust. Psalm 36 and 2 says, For 00:11:40.529 --> 00:11:43.830 in his own eyes he flatters himself so much, 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:48.169 too much to deceit or hate his sin. If we're 00:11:48.169 --> 00:11:52.960 not careful, there's this self -deception. The 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:55.419 enemy, the father of all lies, who is the one 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:58.379 who comes out with satanic deception, then if 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:01.120 we're not very careful, we deceive ourselves. 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:05.039 We get so flattery in our own eyes. And what 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:08.120 was it Paul wrote, said a man not to think more 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:11.399 highly of himself than he ought to, right? Unless 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:14.759 that pride brings him down. Well, we know that 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:17.340 the pride of life and the lust of the flesh, 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.360 what it works in our life. Amen. Pride goeth 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:22.659 before fall, the haughty spirit before destruction. 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:26.659 And the two of these work out this form of witchcraft 00:12:26.659 --> 00:12:29.679 in our lives, and because it is an allusion to 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.299 truth. Now, I know it's slow this morning, and 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:35.019 hopefully it'll pick up as we gather a little 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:40.480 momentum. Understanding Galatians 6 and 3 declares 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.159 it, if anyone thinks he's something when he's 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:46.250 nothing, he deceives himself. James put it this 00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:49.009 way, be you doers of the word and not hearers 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:54.049 only, deceiving your own selves. We go around 00:12:54.049 --> 00:12:56.669 blaming the devil for a lot of stuff that's not 00:12:56.669 --> 00:13:01.169 his fault. You've heard the little funny about 00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:02.809 the man passing the devil by the side of the 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:05.289 road. He's sitting on the stump crying. He said, 00:13:05.350 --> 00:13:06.830 well, what are you crying about, devil? He said, 00:13:06.889 --> 00:13:11.639 well, they blame me for everything. Everything 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.639 that transpires in a negative form in our life 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.259 is not always the devil's fault. At some point 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:21.840 in your life, you got a man up or woman up, hike 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.659 your britches up and look in the mirror and say, 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:33.559 you done that. Hello. I know that hurts. We don't 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.009 like to admit that one. I don't. But there's 00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:37.929 times I have to look at myself and really get 00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:40.710 right because it's the man in the mirror's fault. 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:45.190 I've deceived myself. And many times we deceive 00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:48.070 ourselves and the enemy has nothing to do with 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:52.850 it. He don't even have to sow the seed. Our flesh 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:57.950 will sometimes sow the seed of its own. And then 00:13:57.950 --> 00:14:01.549 we end up caught in deception. And ourselves 00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:04.769 deceive. Like this deception. If a man say he 00:14:04.769 --> 00:14:08.690 has no sin, he better be careful. Right? If he 00:14:08.690 --> 00:14:10.370 says he's without sin, we deceive ourselves. 00:14:10.509 --> 00:14:18.370 And the truth is not in us. You know, the man 00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.129 that says, well, you know, I'm perfect. I'm sinless. 00:14:21.210 --> 00:14:23.570 I won't look at him and say, well, no, you just 00:14:23.570 --> 00:14:31.080 gave one. Well, what? You lied. You just told 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:38.200 a big one. And last I checked, lying is a sin. 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:45.080 So you can't say that. Because the way I read 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:49.259 the book, there's a place for liars. All liars 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:53.559 have their place where? In the lake afar. What 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:57.840 my preacher used to say. Far is hotter than fire. 00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:05.090 Guarantee you. The way he preached it, it sure 00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:10.769 felt like it. The answer to deception is to walk 00:15:10.769 --> 00:15:16.970 in truth. We must walk in truth. And I think 00:15:16.970 --> 00:15:21.710 Pilate poses a great question that is still going 00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:26.840 through. We still see the argument today. It's 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:30.720 still debated on this very stage of life that 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:35.059 you and I are living in. What is truth? And Pilate 00:15:35.059 --> 00:15:39.120 poses that question to Jesus himself. This question 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.820 echoing through the ages of time. Listen to this. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.899 Was it a wistful desire to know what no one could 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:54.329 tell him? Was it a philosophical... Philosophical 00:15:54.329 --> 00:15:58.750 cynicism. I'll get it out. Baby, that wasn't 00:15:58.750 --> 00:16:06.169 that funny. I'm plowing up here. I'm hooked up 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:09.610 double trace and I've got a furrow going. And 00:16:09.610 --> 00:16:11.590 I'm trying to get going, so don't be laughing 00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:32.000 at me down there. That brought more joy to me 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:52.500 than you'll know. Pilate's question, cynicism 00:16:52.500 --> 00:17:00.330 concerning the problem. To know true the depths 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:05.150 of knowledge? Is that what his inquiry was about? 00:17:07.109 --> 00:17:12.769 Was it a response of indifference to anything 00:17:12.769 --> 00:17:19.470 so impractical as abstract thought? The question, 00:17:19.509 --> 00:17:25.950 what is truth? As Pilate poses to he who is the 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:34.259 truth. Was it an irrational irritation to Jesus' 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:40.380 response? Did he feel slighted by how Jesus responded 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:46.019 to him? Only time and eternity is going to tell 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:51.279 us what the question really was because he didn't 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.180 even give Jesus time to answer. As we read the 00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:58.369 text, he just turns around and walks out. As 00:17:58.369 --> 00:18:02.269 though he is having this deep self -reflective 00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:06.730 moment. Pilate, who is respected, his authority, 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:12.750 his power. People feared Pilate's word. Was it 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:15.930 a response from the conversation at breakfast 00:18:15.930 --> 00:18:18.529 with his wife? Honey, have nothing to do with 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:21.049 this just man. I had a dream about him last night. 00:18:21.170 --> 00:18:26.250 Let him be. Leave him alone. Free him. Was it? 00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:33.049 that type of irritation that his wife would dare 00:18:33.049 --> 00:18:37.589 so to question his judgment. And then Jesus is 00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:39.430 standing before him. He said, are you a king? 00:18:39.549 --> 00:18:44.289 Well, you say rightly, right? He tells him, my 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:48.069 kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was 00:18:48.069 --> 00:18:50.849 of this world, then my servants would fight. 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:53.589 I think we could draw a little something from 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.319 that right there. We are passive in this world 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.319 right now because our Savior came, our King came, 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.660 and he was passive. We were passive and should 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:06.960 remain passive as possible. We should do our 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.000 level best to love those who are the unlovable. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:13.680 But Jesus said, if my kingdom were of this world, 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.960 my folk would get their dander reared up, and 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.559 it'd be on like donkey kong. It's what Jesus 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:22.519 is saying. He's saying, if this was my kingdom, 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:25.920 my people would be. empowered by me, and they 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.500 would rise up and fight. Because Matthew put 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:32.000 it this way, the kingdom suffereth violence, 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:35.319 and the violent take it by force. When we begin 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:38.000 to understand the inclination of Jesus is this, 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:41.680 right now, if this was my kingdom, then it would 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.119 be mine, and my people would fight for it, and 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:47.400 the victory would be mine. I'd have loved if 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.480 it had just went on a little bit further. Oh, 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:52.299 Pilate, there is a day coming when I shall return. 00:19:53.349 --> 00:19:55.970 There'll be an army with me and we'll be riding 00:19:55.970 --> 00:19:59.049 on the white steeds of victory. I'll have my 00:19:59.049 --> 00:20:02.710 sword in my hand and the word of truth will come 00:20:02.710 --> 00:20:05.589 out. You want to know what truth is, Pilate? 00:20:05.630 --> 00:20:09.130 You will see it one day when I return and then 00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:16.430 my people will fight. But right now we're in 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.130 passive mode as we are endeavoring to witness 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:22.509 to the love of God. and the love of a Savior 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:26.759 who is confronted. who gives his petition forward 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:31.160 that I should not be delivered. It is now, you 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:35.259 say correctly, I am come this very time into 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:38.299 this world that I should bear witness unto the 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:41.599 truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.240 my voice. The absolute in an age of chaos is 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:50.019 the fact of absolute truth. And I'm here to tell 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:52.200 you today in the world and the culture in which 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.819 we are living in, Truth is at a premium. Amen. 00:20:55.960 --> 00:21:00.039 Truth is at a premium. We see it on newscasts. 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.440 We see it day in and day out. There's these fact 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.079 checkers. Amen. Everybody wants to be a fact 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.980 checker. Can I tell you all facts are not always 00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:13.819 truth? But truth is always true. Hallelujah. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.859 You can configure facts and you can come up with 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:19.339 any truth that you want to end up with because 00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:22.480 in our culture and in our society, Webster says 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:25.759 truth is simply this, a conformity to fact or 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.440 reality. The Bible speaks to the issue of truth. 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:31.720 Listen to what the Word of God says in Isaiah 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.099 59, 14, and 15. Truth has stumbled in the streets. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.599 Honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.460 found. Again, in Jeremiah 7, 728, truth has perished. 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:46.319 It has vanished from their lips. In Daniel 8 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:49.279 and 12, truth was thrown to the ground. And we 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:51.799 hear and understand it, 2 Timothy 2, 3 and 7, 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:56.319 always learning but never able to come to the 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.500 knowledge of the truth. That is the world in 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:02.319 which you and I are living in. People want to 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:05.359 subtract themselves and draw away from what is 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:09.099 truly absolute truth. In our world, there's only 00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:12.069 one. an absolute truth, and that is Christ himself. 00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:15.230 There is no other. There is no standard whereby 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:18.210 to measure truth by unless it is measured by 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:21.450 Christ himself. In a world that is filled with 00:22:21.450 --> 00:22:24.089 different types and definitions of what truth 00:22:24.089 --> 00:22:27.829 really is, there is several different ways that 00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:30.150 people see truth. One is truth is objective. 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:38.410 Objective truth is what exists and can be proved. 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:43.940 In the physicality. It's what can be proven by 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:48.720 science in this world. It's objective. There's 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:53.619 normative truth. Normative truth is what we or 00:22:53.619 --> 00:22:57.539 as a group of people agree to be truth. It becomes 00:22:57.539 --> 00:23:02.099 normative. It's the normal standard of what truth 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:05.740 is. We see that all around us, don't we? People 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:09.859 deceive themselves into what is truth. And if 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:11.519 they get somebody to agree with them, it becomes 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.940 the standard whereby they live. But that's not 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:18.339 the standard whereby we'll be judged. And could 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:20.500 I not preach right there for just a minute, but 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:23.220 that'll come later maybe. That is not normative 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.619 truth, objective truth. These are not the truth 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:28.359 whereby we will be judged. There's subjective 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:33.019 truth. Truth that is how the individual sees 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:37.640 or experiences the world. In other words, it 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:40.400 would be like to say today is a good day for 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.400 me. It may not be a good day for everybody, but 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:46.119 the truth of the matter is it's a good day. And 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:49.359 your life may be falling apart. There may be 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:52.720 trees on your young 'uns' cars. Hello? They may 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.819 be balled up in a ditch somewhere in an accident. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.369 That's not a good day. It's perspective. It is 00:24:00.369 --> 00:24:02.710 perspective. It's subjective. It's how we see 00:24:02.710 --> 00:24:05.230 it and how it applies to the moment in which 00:24:05.230 --> 00:24:08.390 we're living. There's a complex truth. Complex 00:24:08.390 --> 00:24:11.750 truth recognizes the validity of all things and 00:24:11.750 --> 00:24:15.289 all those truths and allows you to focus on the 00:24:15.289 --> 00:24:21.630 one that is most useful at any given time. That's 00:24:21.630 --> 00:24:24.829 a pretty complex idea, isn't it? We can just 00:24:24.829 --> 00:24:28.700 vary our concept of what truth really is. And 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:31.730 how truth affects our lives. But then there's 00:24:31.730 --> 00:24:36.130 the absolute truth, a statement that is true 00:24:36.130 --> 00:24:39.869 at all times and in all places. It is something 00:24:39.869 --> 00:24:44.150 that is always true no matter what the circumstances. 00:24:44.750 --> 00:24:48.589 Can I tell you? That's Jesus Christ. That's who 00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:51.289 that is. He said he was the truth. Amen. John's 00:24:51.289 --> 00:24:54.670 Gospel, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:24:54.789 --> 00:24:56.609 And what that word truth in the Greek actually 00:24:56.609 --> 00:24:59.869 means, the state of not being hidden, the state 00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:02.980 of being. Being evident, it means reality. When 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:06.380 Jesus declares, I am the way, he says, I am the 00:25:06.380 --> 00:25:09.920 reality. I am the unhidden one. I am the matter 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.079 of fact of life. I am the way of it all. I am 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.720 the truth of it all. And when we live in a culture 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.759 that is so divided and there's so many more evidences 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:21.019 of what people and how they define truth that 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:23.339 I don't have time to get into it. But I guarantee 00:25:23.339 --> 00:25:25.460 you, if I could go through all the definitions, 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:27.400 I'd find yours in the middle of it somewhere. 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:29.940 But as a blood -bought, born -to -be, Again, 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:33.440 Holy Ghost feels sanctified child of God. There 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:36.059 is only one measure for you and I, and that is 00:25:36.059 --> 00:25:37.980 the measurement of the absolute of the reality 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:42.180 that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:45.380 the living and the essence of what life is all 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:51.539 about. That's why you have to be careful with 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:56.319 fact and truth. Facts were Goliath was over nine 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:01.069 feet tall. But the truth was, he's going down. 00:26:02.269 --> 00:26:05.809 Hello? The facts were, David's a little ruddy 00:26:05.809 --> 00:26:08.250 redhead boy. Holly's got the sling and five stones 00:26:08.250 --> 00:26:12.319 headed at him wide open. The facts were that 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:15.539 Philistine was a mighty warrior. The facts were 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:17.680 the whole army said, we're just going to send 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.640 one guy, and if you can beat him, we'll bow. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:22.339 That's pretty confident if you ask me. Amen. 00:26:22.380 --> 00:26:25.140 That's very confident in the ability of the man 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:27.180 that you're sending out there. And the fact was 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:30.279 Goliath had never been defeated. That was a fact. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:32.920 But the truth is he had never faced David either. 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:36.160 Hallelujah. The truth of the matter is David 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.559 is going, and he's hearing the threatenings. 00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:41.420 He goes in defense. of the name of the Lord. 00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:43.940 He has got, can I tell you something this morning? 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:46.980 If you are going in the name of the Lord your 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:50.240 God, the Lord your God will fight your battle. 00:26:50.380 --> 00:26:53.000 And the truth is, when it's all said and done, 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:55.579 you'll be holding the sword of your enemy and 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:57.859 your foot will be on him and his head will be 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:00.819 in your hand. My God, it's time that we understand 00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:03.299 the absolute to the truth that belongs to the 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:06.519 child of the living God. God is on your side. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:12.119 And if God be for you, The truth is, who can 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:17.319 be against you? The fact is, the world's set 00:27:17.319 --> 00:27:21.059 against you. But the truth is, it doesn't matter. 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:28.059 For greater is he that's in you than he that 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:35.099 is in this world. That's the truth. Right? So 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:40.430 facts present themselves. But I don't live by 00:27:40.430 --> 00:27:45.150 fact. I live by faith. And the truth of the matter 00:27:45.150 --> 00:27:48.549 is, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing come 00:27:48.549 --> 00:27:51.089 by a Gideon Bible left in a hotel room drawer. 00:27:51.750 --> 00:27:55.579 It comes by the word of the living God. It comes 00:27:55.579 --> 00:27:58.599 by the word of the living God. And John declared 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.680 it this way. In the beginning was the word, the 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:05.279 logos. Hallelujah. In the beginning was the word, 00:28:05.460 --> 00:28:08.619 the written, the substantiated, the truth of 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:11.059 the Lord God Almighty. In the beginning was the 00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:14.359 word and the word, the rhema. Hallelujah. That 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.000 fresh daily morsel that comes from that manna 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:21.000 that comes every day. The logos. My God, I'm 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:23.339 about to give you a revelation today. If you 00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:25.420 want to be victorious. in your life. Hear the 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:28.779 declaration of these three little words. It is 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:33.200 written. Hallelujah. The absolute truth is declared 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:47.619 in the word of the living God. I'm getting too 00:28:47.619 --> 00:28:51.400 old for that. I used to say fat and old, but 00:28:51.400 --> 00:29:03.259 I'm not as fat as I was. Hallelujah. Is written. 00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:09.400 The absolute has been declared. Truth. Reality. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:18.339 The unhidden fact. Is Christ. The truth of the 00:29:18.339 --> 00:29:22.460 word of God. Fact says the enemy is coming against 00:29:22.460 --> 00:29:25.740 you. But truth says no weapon formed against 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:35.359 you. Shall prosper. Huh? Facts say disease is 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:39.579 riddling my body. The truth says by his stripes 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:43.660 you are healed. And let me just go ahead and 00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:46.759 clarify something today. He can heal me now or 00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:49.500 he can hear me over yonder. Either way, I'm going 00:29:49.500 --> 00:29:52.740 to get healed. Either way, he might as well just 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:54.960 wait and heal me when I get over there. Because 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:57.200 if he heals me of a debilitating disease right 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:00.440 now one day, another one's going to hit me. And 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:02.279 this old body's going to have to give it up. 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:05.220 There is, according to the word, the truth, the 00:30:05.220 --> 00:30:08.660 absolute of God, there is a sickness unto death. 00:30:09.099 --> 00:30:11.440 Unless it's the rapture, honey, me and you going 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.420 by the way of the grave. I just soon we all go 00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:17.119 together. I just soon we hear the horn and come 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.720 running out the door. Hallelujah. I just soon 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:23.240 to hear my ride blow for me and I go out to meet 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:25.680 him. Hallelujah. I just soon it be that way. 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.839 But the truth is we're not all going there. way. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.140 The truth is that some of us are going to go 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:34.079 by the way of the grave. But the fact says this. 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:36.819 We may be dead, but the truth says we're going 00:30:36.819 --> 00:30:40.420 to live again. The truth says the trump shall 00:30:40.420 --> 00:30:43.259 sound. The archangel's going to shout. And then 00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:45.920 those who are dead in Christ, they shall rise. 00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:49.740 And those who are alive and remain shall be changed. 00:30:49.980 --> 00:31:00.880 And together. That's the truth. Facts say it 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:05.000 looks like the devil's winning. Look at your 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.680 own family. Look at your own lives. Facts are 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:13.140 pretty clear. Everybody wants to be a statistician 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:18.400 these days. Right? I love the term they're using 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:22.119 on the news now for fact checkers. They call 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.789 them receipts. I got to look at it and I said, 00:31:26.829 --> 00:31:28.349 well, that ain't a receipt. Then I thought, well, 00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:33.890 yeah, that's a receipt, all right. Huh? Fact 00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:39.329 checkers. But when the truth comes down, everything 00:31:39.329 --> 00:31:42.769 is measured not by the fact, but it's measured 00:31:42.769 --> 00:31:47.069 by the truth. And thus for mine and your lives 00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:50.990 as well. Facts look pretty damning in our lives, 00:31:51.029 --> 00:31:55.230 don't they? The reason I keep picking on Henry 00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:59.190 back there is they, them and the Cross family, 00:31:59.230 --> 00:32:01.809 they've had a rough, they've had a rough week. 00:32:03.349 --> 00:32:06.210 Garrett totaled his truck. Well, he didn't. He 00:32:06.210 --> 00:32:12.230 got totaled. Storm comes through, blows a big 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:15.509 tree down on two and a half of the three cars 00:32:15.509 --> 00:32:20.470 at Malachi and Emma's. Get a phone call from 00:32:20.470 --> 00:32:22.779 my mama and her voice is breaking up. Pastor, 00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:27.480 you got to pray. Yeah, we're going to pray. Amen? 00:32:29.059 --> 00:32:31.839 The fact is they're destroyed. The truth is they 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.839 got insurance. They still going to have to pay. 00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:42.259 The truth of the matter is when we go through 00:32:42.259 --> 00:32:44.220 those obstacles and circumstances like that, 00:32:44.359 --> 00:32:47.279 yes, we're devastated. Ken's been through a pretty 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:49.740 rough one. He and Sister Rita, they was going 00:32:49.740 --> 00:32:52.720 to revival the other night. Got rear -ended and 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:55.339 told to read his car. The other morning after 00:32:55.339 --> 00:32:57.059 one of these towed stranglers during the night, 00:32:57.140 --> 00:32:58.960 the temperature was about right. It was so foggy 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:00.420 the other Thursday morning. I believe it was 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:02.660 Thursday. It was so foggy you couldn't hardly 00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:05.420 see up Eureka Road. And how many know that these 00:33:05.420 --> 00:33:14.000 fine folks have been paving our road? Yep, Jesus. 00:33:15.140 --> 00:33:18.440 That's a fact. But I'm going to tell you the 00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:23.279 truth of the matter. Some other time. I better 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.039 just stay on track. Truth of the matter is, that's 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:31.000 not even blacktop. What that stuff is. We had 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:35.319 a perfectly good road. Can I just vent just a 00:33:35.319 --> 00:33:44.599 moment? I hate the devil. That's the truth. That's 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:49.049 the fact and the truth together. Ken's coming 00:33:49.049 --> 00:33:50.890 down to help mow the churchyard the other morning. 00:33:53.049 --> 00:33:58.849 Foggy. Ran right into a lady parked in the paving 00:33:58.849 --> 00:34:06.549 traffic. No warning. Dense fog. Flaggers way 00:34:06.549 --> 00:34:11.750 up the road. No caution light. Ran plumb all 00:34:11.750 --> 00:34:18.380 over him. Told his truck. But the truth is. Nobody 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:26.920 was hurt. Nobody was hurt. That's the truth. 00:34:27.940 --> 00:34:32.480 For the Lord's on our side. He goes before us. 00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:40.159 He prepares a way before us. But then it don't 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:43.940 always work out so good. The fact is, Brother 00:34:43.940 --> 00:34:49.380 Matthews at Erlanger and I see you. That's the 00:34:49.380 --> 00:34:53.300 truth and a fact. But the truth of the matter 00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:57.539 is, if God so wills, in the next 30 seconds, 00:34:57.820 --> 00:35:02.179 they'll have to let him out. If God so wills, 00:35:02.179 --> 00:35:05.679 that's the truth. That is the truth because the 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:10.579 absolute is this. By his stripes, we are healed. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:13.380 And no weapon that is formed against us shall 00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:16.300 prosper. And any tongue that raises itself up 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:19.860 against you, it shall be cast down. And if you'll 00:35:19.860 --> 00:35:22.360 go back up a few verses and read, you'll know 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:25.619 why. Because the Lord in his word declares that 00:35:25.619 --> 00:35:29.920 he owns the forges. He owns the smiths. You've 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:32.079 got to get a good clear picture of that. It doesn't 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:34.840 matter if the enemy is trying to forge a weapon 00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:37.719 against you or not. God owns it, hallelujah. 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:42.239 And he says it will not prosper. And if he declares 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:49.039 it, honey, hold on for the ride. Christ is the 00:35:49.039 --> 00:35:53.579 absolute truth. And absolute truth is all that 00:35:53.579 --> 00:35:58.019 sets us at liberty. You shall know the truth. 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:05.139 And the truth shall what? If you're not free, 00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:09.219 get a little truth. If you're bound up, get a 00:36:09.219 --> 00:36:12.440 little truth. If the devil is exercising victory 00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:15.420 over your life, then that's your fault. You've 00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:18.940 been deceived. How so, pastor? Because greater 00:36:18.940 --> 00:36:21.519 is he. I've just told you that. The truth is 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:27.219 greater. Not less than, but greater than. He 00:36:27.219 --> 00:36:30.019 that is in you than he that is in this world. 00:36:30.179 --> 00:36:33.579 Get it in your head, child of God. You are the 00:36:33.579 --> 00:36:37.119 victor. And the victory we have is because of 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:39.199 the victory that Christ has won and proclaimed 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:45.420 for us. Thus, death holds us in the grave, but 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:50.159 truth says, oh, grave, where is? Oh, death, where's 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:55.250 your sting? Where is it? It's lost. It's swallowed 00:36:55.250 --> 00:36:57.530 up. Look, look, look, look, look. I've told you. 00:36:57.570 --> 00:37:00.610 This world is the devil's best shot to get you. 00:37:00.690 --> 00:37:03.570 And if you get it fixed in your mind that the 00:37:03.570 --> 00:37:06.949 absolute truth overrides the chaos that he causes 00:37:06.949 --> 00:37:09.630 in this world and the confusion that goes on 00:37:09.630 --> 00:37:12.849 around you, if you get it in your head, he clarifies 00:37:12.849 --> 00:37:24.599 every situation. We get... I preached too long. 00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:39.539 Too late now. We fail to adhere to the truth. 00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:48.780 And we allow chaos to ensue in our minds, thusly 00:37:48.780 --> 00:37:54.460 our lives. Yeah. And we allow the confusion. 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:05.179 In the beginning, God created the heavens and 00:38:05.179 --> 00:38:09.340 the earth, right? According to the book, the 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:16.639 earth was void and without form. And the Holy 00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:29.760 Ghost was there. And then God said. Okay? From 00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:35.280 that statement to where you sit today, God has 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:41.159 said it all. There is no calamity in your life 00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:44.420 what the absolute truth of God's word does not 00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:48.800 prescribe a remedy for. We get so hung up on 00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:53.170 the carnal. We get so hung up on the fleshly 00:38:53.170 --> 00:38:57.190 part of this life that we fail to remember we 00:38:57.190 --> 00:39:00.429 are in this world. But you, according to the 00:39:00.429 --> 00:39:04.710 truth, are not of this world. And the only affections 00:39:04.710 --> 00:39:07.510 that this world can set on you is what you allow 00:39:07.510 --> 00:39:11.289 to remain on this flesh. But if you'll allow 00:39:11.289 --> 00:39:15.289 your spirit to rise up in you. And let your mind 00:39:15.289 --> 00:39:18.349 be as the word declares. Let this mind be in 00:39:18.349 --> 00:39:21.769 you that was also in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. 00:39:22.030 --> 00:39:25.690 If you can get the mind of he who is in you that 00:39:25.690 --> 00:39:29.269 is greater. If you can understand that this ailment, 00:39:29.309 --> 00:39:31.889 this calamity that's coming against me is all. 00:39:32.269 --> 00:39:35.610 The devil's got. And every day, like I told you 00:39:35.610 --> 00:39:38.469 a while ago, there's an addition of grace that 00:39:38.469 --> 00:39:41.710 is a proportion to you and I every single day. 00:39:41.869 --> 00:39:44.769 God doesn't have to move the problem. He doesn't 00:39:44.769 --> 00:39:47.510 have to run the devil off. He doesn't have to 00:39:47.510 --> 00:39:51.289 heal you now because the truth is it's all going 00:39:51.289 --> 00:39:55.030 to come to pass. Hallelujah. It's all going to 00:39:55.030 --> 00:39:59.409 come to pass. So devil, and he has, and he continues 00:39:59.409 --> 00:40:02.960 to take his best shot. And he will continue to 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:05.639 take his best shot. Why? Because that is his 00:40:05.639 --> 00:40:10.039 main modus operandi, to steal, to kill, and to 00:40:10.039 --> 00:40:12.699 destroy. But that's not what my mind is focused 00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:15.679 on. My mind is focused on the absolute of the 00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:18.900 truth. Jesus said that I have come that you might 00:40:18.900 --> 00:40:22.619 have life and that you might have it more abundantly. 00:40:22.679 --> 00:40:24.820 In the middle of the chaos, there's an abundance 00:40:24.820 --> 00:40:27.619 of joy. In the middle of all hell breaking loose, 00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:30.099 there's a peace that comes from on high that 00:40:30.099 --> 00:40:33.139 passes. all the understanding. There's a resolve 00:40:33.139 --> 00:40:35.639 that sets in that lets you know that because 00:40:35.639 --> 00:40:38.639 you are his and he is yours my God the devil 00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:51.920 has no control over you. Absolute in the midst 00:40:51.920 --> 00:40:58.599 of chaos. Just a show of hands if you'll be honest. 00:41:00.110 --> 00:41:02.110 How many of you got a little chaos going on? 00:41:03.389 --> 00:41:05.829 Hmm, I think I might have preached the right 00:41:05.829 --> 00:41:13.170 one today. We got some chaos going on. We got 00:41:13.170 --> 00:41:19.630 the devil on a rampage. But you need to understand, 00:41:19.809 --> 00:41:23.949 though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after 00:41:23.949 --> 00:41:28.110 the flesh. But the weapons of our warfare are 00:41:28.110 --> 00:41:31.630 mighty through God. to the, come on, say it with 00:41:31.630 --> 00:41:36.170 me, to the pulling down of strongholds and taking 00:41:36.170 --> 00:41:41.050 into captivity every thought that exalts itself 00:41:41.050 --> 00:41:47.449 against the knowledge of God. Amen. I love it 00:41:47.449 --> 00:41:49.070 when Paul wrote to that church at Ephesus and 00:41:49.070 --> 00:41:51.590 he said, brethren, when you've having done all 00:41:51.590 --> 00:41:54.210 to stand, go ahead and stand and I'll know to 00:41:54.210 --> 00:41:59.699 quit. When you've having done all to stand, Stand 00:41:59.699 --> 00:42:02.400 therefore. I'm going to give you a little water's 00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:04.420 parallel. Son, when you get on your feet, don't 00:42:04.420 --> 00:42:07.829 let him knock you down. When you get up, you 00:42:07.829 --> 00:42:10.909 stand up and you stay up. Amen. I feel like Job 00:42:10.909 --> 00:42:13.050 sometime when Job had gone through the whirlwind 00:42:13.050 --> 00:42:16.170 of life. Amen. And he's on his face and then 00:42:16.170 --> 00:42:18.429 out of the whirlwind of life, out of the chaos 00:42:18.429 --> 00:42:22.250 of life, he hears a voice that says, Job, stand 00:42:22.250 --> 00:42:26.789 up like a man. I've got something that I want 00:42:26.789 --> 00:42:29.789 to tell you. Job had been through hell. Can I 00:42:29.789 --> 00:42:32.610 tell you? Amen. He lost everything that he owned. 00:42:32.809 --> 00:42:36.070 He was a rich man. Now he's a pauper. Amen? He 00:42:36.070 --> 00:42:39.409 had a great family. He had ten children. And 00:42:39.409 --> 00:42:41.869 in one fell accident, it wasn't an accident, 00:42:42.030 --> 00:42:45.010 it was an onslaught of the enemy. On one fell 00:42:45.010 --> 00:42:47.969 afternoon, all ten of his children were taken 00:42:47.969 --> 00:42:51.250 from him. Job had a loving wife, a very supporting 00:42:51.250 --> 00:42:54.429 wife. And in that day, overwhelmed by the grief 00:42:54.429 --> 00:42:58.429 and sorrow, she looked at Job. And I owe her 00:42:58.429 --> 00:43:00.769 an apology one of these days. And the Lord's 00:43:00.769 --> 00:43:03.090 willing, I'll give it to her. I give her a hard 00:43:03.090 --> 00:43:06.739 time. something? I haven't birthed from these 00:43:06.739 --> 00:43:10.539 loins ten children. Hello? I had carried ten 00:43:10.539 --> 00:43:12.599 children in this body, and I don't care what 00:43:12.599 --> 00:43:14.980 the lefties say today. Ain't no man going to 00:43:14.980 --> 00:43:18.739 have no baby. Well, we might pass a kidney stone, 00:43:18.900 --> 00:43:24.960 which is equivalent. No, it's not ten pounds. 00:43:25.099 --> 00:43:37.280 It's a meteor. Where you at, brethren? So she's 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:41.219 looking at her husband overwhelmed. She loves 00:43:41.219 --> 00:43:46.340 Job. And I wonder about her question, about like 00:43:46.340 --> 00:43:49.460 Pilate's question. I used to think I knew what 00:43:49.460 --> 00:43:52.900 her question was, but no. No, I've had to recant 00:43:52.900 --> 00:43:55.320 on that and back up on my theology just a little 00:43:55.320 --> 00:44:00.039 bit. She said, Job, honey, we've lost everything. 00:44:02.420 --> 00:44:07.900 Baby, we buried my children. Every single one 00:44:07.900 --> 00:44:14.539 of them. What else is there to live for? What 00:44:14.539 --> 00:44:16.280 else is there to go on? Somebody, you may even 00:44:16.280 --> 00:44:17.960 be questioning, the devil telling you this stuff 00:44:17.960 --> 00:44:23.280 now, what do you got to go forward about? Why 00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:26.079 do you keep going to church anyway? You know 00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:28.900 he's going to preach an hour every Sunday. You 00:44:28.900 --> 00:44:31.500 know he's going to. Best hope we get a break 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:33.219 when somebody else preaches, but not with him. 00:44:34.130 --> 00:44:37.550 He's up this Sunday, and you know he won't stop 00:44:37.550 --> 00:44:45.789 at 12. So why do you keep going? Hopefully it's 00:44:45.789 --> 00:44:48.130 because you know that there's some absolutes 00:44:48.130 --> 00:44:51.250 going to be declared and that you're going to 00:44:51.250 --> 00:44:58.309 get victory over that lying voice. Job, the fact 00:44:58.309 --> 00:45:02.369 was all that stuff happened. That's a fact. The 00:45:02.369 --> 00:45:04.829 bottom line was they were broke. Camels gone, 00:45:05.010 --> 00:45:11.409 donkeys gone, sheep gone, everything gone. Character 00:45:11.409 --> 00:45:16.170 is all that they had left. Honey, why don't we 00:45:16.170 --> 00:45:22.070 just turn our back on God? That curse God, that's 00:45:22.070 --> 00:45:28.119 a real hard old English phrase. Honey, why don't 00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:30.400 we just turn our back on God? Why don't we just 00:45:30.400 --> 00:45:34.139 quit God? It seems as though he's quit on us. 00:45:36.099 --> 00:45:40.000 Why do you keep serving him, honey? I don't know 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:46.900 if I can. How can you keep on going? How can 00:45:46.900 --> 00:45:51.539 you do it? And Job looks at her with tears in 00:45:51.539 --> 00:45:55.719 his eyes, no doubt. He says, honey. How can we 00:45:55.719 --> 00:46:01.659 accept good at the hand of God? Put in little 00:46:01.659 --> 00:46:05.820 waters parallel right here. How can we only accept 00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:07.880 the good? And then when the little bad comes 00:46:07.880 --> 00:46:13.440 our way, we want to tuck tail and run. Shouldn't 00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:19.900 we be able to take the bad with the good? And 00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:23.679 the Bible says that in all of this, Job did not 00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:27.380 sin against God with his mouth. Oh, it would 00:46:27.380 --> 00:46:29.199 be a good place for some of us to keep our mouths 00:46:29.199 --> 00:46:33.599 shut, wouldn't it? He did not sin against God, 00:46:33.719 --> 00:46:40.960 but he fell to the ground. Eat up with boils 00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:51.920 on his body. Sores. Honey. Come on down here 00:46:51.920 --> 00:46:57.500 and let's praise God together. The Lord giveth 00:46:57.500 --> 00:47:07.639 and the Lord taketh away. But, but, blessed be 00:47:07.639 --> 00:47:12.820 the name of the Lord. The absolute truth, honey, 00:47:12.920 --> 00:47:18.539 is this. One day, the skin worms are going to 00:47:18.539 --> 00:47:21.630 devour my old body. But I'm going to tell you 00:47:21.630 --> 00:47:28.110 something, darling. With these eyes, with these 00:47:28.110 --> 00:47:32.349 two eyes right here, one of these days, I know 00:47:32.349 --> 00:47:38.150 my Redeemer lives and I shall see him. That is 00:47:38.150 --> 00:47:44.250 the truth. Father, I love you today. I thank 00:47:44.250 --> 00:47:53.860 you, Lord, for your help and your hope. For your 00:47:53.860 --> 00:48:03.219 help and your hope, Lord. I'm going to see him 00:48:03.219 --> 00:48:08.559 one day, church. I'm going to see him with these 00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:15.099 two eyes. I've made up my mind. But Terry, I've 00:48:15.099 --> 00:48:20.710 made it up. Now, I've made it up. She can tell 00:48:20.710 --> 00:48:23.650 you and them young 'uns can tell you. When dad 00:48:23.650 --> 00:48:25.989 gets his mind made up, you're not going to change 00:48:25.989 --> 00:48:33.550 it. Maybe I've made up my mind now. Come too 00:48:33.550 --> 00:48:41.889 far. Been through too much. Trusted him through 00:48:41.889 --> 00:48:47.969 too many things. Not to trust him for the rest. 00:48:50.730 --> 00:48:54.570 I've made up my mind. Some of you need to hear 00:48:54.570 --> 00:48:57.969 that this morning. We don't know what it's going 00:48:57.969 --> 00:49:04.269 to look like. Amen? Who knows? I guarantee you 00:49:04.269 --> 00:49:05.929 if you were to ask Job how it would have ended 00:49:05.929 --> 00:49:11.550 up, it wouldn't have been like what he had. The 00:49:11.550 --> 00:49:18.210 facts are he lost it all. But the truth is, When 00:49:18.210 --> 00:49:20.369 God got finished with him out of that whirlwind, 00:49:20.449 --> 00:49:22.969 when he told him to stand up, he looked at Job 00:49:22.969 --> 00:49:25.409 and said, now where were you at during the chaos 00:49:25.409 --> 00:49:31.809 of the cosmos when I said, let there be? Where 00:49:31.809 --> 00:49:34.690 were you, son, when I told the ocean and I drew 00:49:34.690 --> 00:49:37.010 a little line around the continents and I said, 00:49:37.030 --> 00:49:40.449 that's it? That's it. You might get a big wave 00:49:40.449 --> 00:49:42.789 every once in a while, but the body remains. 00:49:43.130 --> 00:49:46.849 This is it. Where were you when I scooped the 00:49:46.849 --> 00:49:50.510 mountains? Where were you when I breathe and 00:49:50.510 --> 00:49:55.510 the stars are in the sky? Man's wisdom and his 00:49:55.510 --> 00:50:00.969 finite wisdom searches out consolations as far 00:50:00.969 --> 00:50:05.809 as we can power up microscopes. If it's another 00:50:05.809 --> 00:50:09.210 thousand years before the Lord comes back and 00:50:09.210 --> 00:50:12.630 they keep getting stronger and stronger microscopes 00:50:12.630 --> 00:50:15.210 to see further and further, you know what they're 00:50:15.210 --> 00:50:19.449 going to find? More of the same. They'll just 00:50:19.449 --> 00:50:24.110 see into the expanse of God. More stars, more 00:50:24.110 --> 00:50:27.050 constellations. I don't know if there's life 00:50:27.050 --> 00:50:29.550 on another planet. If God wants there to be, 00:50:29.630 --> 00:50:33.369 guess what? There is. And if he made them in 00:50:33.369 --> 00:50:36.130 his likeness and his image, they're distant cousins. 00:50:36.289 --> 00:50:48.889 That's all I know. Chaos. The truth declares 00:50:48.889 --> 00:50:56.610 this. By the time old Job died, he was wealthier 00:50:56.610 --> 00:51:02.809 than he was before he lost it all. Double, Scripture 00:51:02.809 --> 00:51:10.650 says. And Sister Job was blessed to bear ten 00:51:10.650 --> 00:51:14.369 more children. And them daughters, from what 00:51:14.369 --> 00:51:17.590 I read, were something else. They were something 00:51:17.590 --> 00:51:22.329 to look at. If you read the book, they were beautiful. 00:51:24.030 --> 00:51:26.309 Don't you know that that blessed sister, Jo, 00:51:26.429 --> 00:51:29.530 she got 10 more children. Somebody says, well, 00:51:29.630 --> 00:51:33.150 why didn't she get 20? Because she already had 00:51:33.150 --> 00:51:41.909 20. 10 are waiting. 10 are waiting. And 10 are 00:51:41.909 --> 00:51:47.429 living. That's 20. How do you know that? Because 00:51:47.429 --> 00:51:51.530 see, in Job's day, Job offered up sacrifices 00:51:51.530 --> 00:51:55.349 and covered his own children. He made sure they 00:51:55.349 --> 00:51:59.389 were covered. I wish we could do that today. 00:52:00.730 --> 00:52:04.769 Oh, I wish I could do that today. But see, fortunately 00:52:04.769 --> 00:52:09.570 today, we all have the opportunity to have our 00:52:09.570 --> 00:52:12.449 own selves redeemed by the absolute truth. Father, 00:52:12.590 --> 00:52:14.010 I love you and I thank you. I'll keep ambling 00:52:14.010 --> 00:52:17.670 if you don't help me close it. If you're here 00:52:17.670 --> 00:52:23.750 this morning and you need some absolute truth 00:52:23.750 --> 00:52:25.829 in the midst of your chaos, just come and join 00:52:25.829 --> 00:52:26.510 me in this altar.