WEBVTT 00:00:02.260 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.699 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.960 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:20.039 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:25.739 enjoy this week's message. We've been talking 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:30.600 about, as I've been kind of going through this 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:34.280 series on the Something More Church. The Something 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.700 More Church. And I want to focus, even though 00:00:37.700 --> 00:00:41.039 this topic is large and there is an amazing amount 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.820 of information and revelation that the Lord has 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:49.060 brought. We've taken various streams of this 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:52.600 river that have kind of revelation and we've 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:54.500 parked on some of the issues of the scripture. 00:00:54.659 --> 00:01:00.179 Today, I want to take another stream I want us 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:02.679 to understand that if we're going to be called 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.260 to be a something more church, we've got to get 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:12.459 the heart of the Father inside of us. Now, we've 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:16.840 talked about this a little bit. John 4, 34, Jesus 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.950 explains something to us. And as we're gonna 00:01:19.950 --> 00:01:22.790 work our way toward 1 Peter chapter four, John 00:01:22.790 --> 00:01:27.370 4, 34, Jesus said to the disciples, my food is 00:01:27.370 --> 00:01:33.069 to do the will of him who sent me and to finish 00:01:33.069 --> 00:01:36.590 his work. I wanna focus on those two statements 00:01:36.590 --> 00:01:39.950 this morning. Number one, I want to do the will 00:01:39.950 --> 00:01:46.370 of him who sent me and to finish his work. First 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:50.549 and primary, The heart of Jesus is what? Who 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:55.349 was the perfect servant, who never sinned. His 00:01:55.349 --> 00:01:59.209 primary purpose, he said it first, was to what? 00:01:59.329 --> 00:02:03.769 To do the will of him who sent him. And then 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:08.729 to finish the work. I'll say it this way. Jesus 00:02:08.729 --> 00:02:13.389 never bypassed the little day -to -day things 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:18.819 for the big cross experience. Let me say that 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:21.560 again. Jesus never bypassed the little day -to 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.439 -day things for the big cross experience. This 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:28.620 is where sometimes we as Christian people can 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:32.740 really get this turned around in our heart. We 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:40.020 often think because we separate the Gospels and 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:44.340 some of the New Testament. We try to, and I'm 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:46.500 not saying necessarily you do this, but this 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:50.159 happens often in Christianity that people remove 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.479 the gospels from the rest of the New Testament 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:57.000 writing from Acts to Revelation and somehow highlight 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.300 the gospels as the pinnacle of Revelation when 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:08.159 in fact God actually said to Jesus, I want you 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:10.919 to finish your work so that you can release my 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:14.460 promise for the other to come, the another. Now, 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:16.840 that's important that we understand when Jesus 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.960 was talking about, it's more needful that I go 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:22.639 that I would send the helper. And in another 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:26.860 scripture, he says, and I will send another just 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:30.280 like him. That word another means of the same 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:34.060 nature, of the same character, of the same power, 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:39.979 and of the same authority. Just Holy Spirit is 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:45.400 going to be a same but different altogether. 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:49.400 It's another. It's like having Christ, only the 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:53.479 responsibility of the Holy Spirit's work is the 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:58.680 same responsibility that Jesus had to work. And 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:02.560 so for us to highlight the gospels as the pinnacle 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.099 of revelation is to diminish the power and the 00:04:06.099 --> 00:04:09.860 work of the Father through the Holy Spirit. And 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:13.139 that's a big deal. It's a big deal because you 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:16.220 begin to end up with a different kind of doctrine. 00:04:16.819 --> 00:04:21.019 You begin to think that somehow what Jesus did 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:24.139 in the gospels is superior to all the other things. 00:04:24.220 --> 00:04:28.779 No, Jesus was as the God -man perfect. and superior 00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:33.339 in all things. But the doctrine, the doctrine 00:04:33.339 --> 00:04:37.660 that he laid out, he constantly referred to the 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:41.519 Holy Spirit, giving teaching of who was to come. 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:44.720 And it was better that the Holy Spirit came. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:49.300 Why? Because he would work with more than just 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:53.459 him. The whole point was he would take what would 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:57.899 be on Christ sovereignly. And now because of 00:04:57.899 --> 00:05:00.319 Christ's work and the Holy Spirit's work, the 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.939 Holy Spirit would now be sent to God's people. 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:05.959 And you and I, as the scriptures say, multiple, 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:10.740 multiple places are called to do the work and 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:14.540 to do the things that Jesus did and greater things 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:18.100 are we to do. Now that's hard to believe, but 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:22.889 it is the truth. It's the truth. Now, why am 00:05:22.889 --> 00:05:27.089 I separating us? Because Jesus never, now please 00:05:27.089 --> 00:05:35.370 hear me, never highlighted the cross as his major 00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:40.149 destiny. Meaning he did not pick it up all the 00:05:40.149 --> 00:05:43.870 time. Fact is, when he did talk about it, the 00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:48.529 disciples couldn't get it. If it was all about 00:05:48.529 --> 00:05:52.519 the cross, even though the cross was part of 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.420 that, and Paul picks it up in the other side, 00:05:56.459 --> 00:05:58.560 if you want to talk about from Acts to Revelation, 00:05:58.819 --> 00:06:02.939 Paul picks it up and said, I glory in the cross. 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:06.819 God forbid that I stop, that I never, that I 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:09.339 will not stop preaching the cross. The cross 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:12.939 of Jesus Christ would be lifted up, but Jesus 00:06:12.939 --> 00:06:18.410 was constantly taking advantage. of his disciples, 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:23.810 getting them to encounter their now understanding 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:30.129 of what was leading them astray. You see, Paul 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:33.769 was dealing with the cross and so did all of 00:06:33.769 --> 00:06:36.629 the others in the New Testament about lifting 00:06:36.629 --> 00:06:40.509 Jesus high of what he did. But Jesus was constantly 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:44.589 confronting the disciples in their thinking process 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:52.850 in their now. And I was, this morning I woke 00:06:52.850 --> 00:06:57.269 at about 2 .45 and I had to kind of do the old 00:06:57.269 --> 00:06:59.550 man thing and use the restroom and got up and 00:06:59.550 --> 00:07:02.009 did that and went back to bed, looked at the 00:07:02.009 --> 00:07:07.029 clock. And when I woke up this morning, my alarm 00:07:07.029 --> 00:07:10.149 went off at 4 .40. Somewhere in that two hours, 00:07:10.269 --> 00:07:15.069 I had an encounter with the Lord. And in that 00:07:15.069 --> 00:07:18.019 encounter, And it wasn't a dream, but it was 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:23.000 like a dream, but only like I could actually 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.519 see myself as the Lord was talking to me. And 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.720 the principle of what he was speaking to me this 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:37.259 morning was he made me look at my feet. And as 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:40.579 I was looking at my feet, I remembered the scriptures. 00:07:42.590 --> 00:07:44.610 memorize some of the word of God and get it hit 00:07:44.610 --> 00:07:46.769 in my heart, just like you and I are told to 00:07:46.769 --> 00:07:48.970 do, you know, put the word of God inside of us. 00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:52.649 And I thought, okay, Romans, the 10, blessed 00:07:52.649 --> 00:07:55.649 are the feet of those that bring the good news. 00:07:55.670 --> 00:07:58.050 How good, how, you know, I started thinking about 00:07:58.050 --> 00:08:05.529 the feet, the scripture in Psalms, Psalms, just, 00:08:05.709 --> 00:08:07.709 well, forget the reference. We'll just say it. 00:08:07.790 --> 00:08:10.850 Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:15.189 unto my path. And I began to think about the 00:08:15.189 --> 00:08:18.129 scriptures in regard to feet. And I thought about 00:08:18.129 --> 00:08:21.029 David when he said, you've given me Heinz feet 00:08:21.029 --> 00:08:24.889 that I can traverse the terrain that I could 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.689 climb and you've made me stable. And I was thinking 00:08:28.689 --> 00:08:31.410 about that. And as I was rehearsing that, as 00:08:31.410 --> 00:08:33.289 I was looking at the feet yet, but the Lord said, 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:37.100 yes, that's all true, but I want you to. I want 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:40.220 you to understand something. I need you to understand 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:44.179 that you must look at where you're at so that 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:47.500 you can determine what I'm doing in your now. 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:53.820 Our tendency is, and I hope that we're gonna 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:56.220 see this in the scriptures in a little bit. Our 00:08:56.220 --> 00:09:02.159 tendency as Christians is to want to live for 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:06.639 the future. We don't necessarily like what's 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.820 happening in the now. And so what do we do? We 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.779 begin to pull on the future. And there's nothing 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:15.700 wrong with that. The Bible says that we're supposed 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:18.259 to. We're to call those things that are not as 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.399 though they were. We walk by faith and not by 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.480 sight. We're to welcome, as Abraham did, we're 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.549 to welcome the promises of God from afar. But 00:09:28.549 --> 00:09:32.769 the tendency for the Western church is to constantly 00:09:32.769 --> 00:09:36.230 live on this side of pulling things in because 00:09:36.230 --> 00:09:39.830 we're dissatisfied with where we're at and constantly 00:09:39.830 --> 00:09:43.330 pulling for the more of God. And that's good, 00:09:43.490 --> 00:09:50.669 but that's not balance. There is a point because 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:55.070 Jesus could have spent every moment. Three and 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:57.549 a half years with the disciples constantly trying 00:09:57.549 --> 00:10:00.450 to drill into them the cross and the resurrection. 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:05.629 He didn't. He did bring it in from time to time. 00:10:05.690 --> 00:10:09.309 What did he focus on? Wherever they were at, 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:14.809 he focused on what God was trying to do in their 00:10:14.809 --> 00:10:17.789 now moment where they would grab onto him in 00:10:17.789 --> 00:10:22.320 their now and believe him. And so that is the 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.919 reality of what God is trying to do in the life 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:30.440 of Christians is he wants us to have the whole 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:34.919 biblical spectrum because he is that truth. He 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:37.059 is the fullness. We don't want to just divide 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:39.179 him and say, well, I'm a gospel only Christian 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.000 or I'm a New Testament only. No, no, no. You're 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.779 a both. You are pulling on the things that are 00:10:45.779 --> 00:10:49.000 to come. You are pulling on the promises of God. 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:51.899 You're pulling on the things that God has said 00:10:51.899 --> 00:10:54.179 that were going to come to you and you're believing 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:58.220 for, but you're also now recognizing that your 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:01.899 walk with Jesus Christ, you must look at where 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:05.879 you're standing. And not only just where you're 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:11.480 standing, am I positioned in strength? Is where 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:16.539 I'm standing safe? Or have I not been, have I 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:19.120 been so looking about what I'm going through 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:20.860 in life? Now listen, you can have it on both 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:23.019 sides of the coins. You can be going through 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:25.139 some suffering and through some hardship and 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:27.720 some sadness that you don't even look at your 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.559 now and you're so focused on, oh, it's kind of 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:34.080 like that old television commercial, oh, Calgon, 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:36.559 take me away. That's kind of how you pray. Oh, 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:40.289 Jesus, just take me away. Just get me out of 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:42.649 where I'm living right now and let me focus on 00:11:42.649 --> 00:11:47.250 what it will be. That's not always biblical. 00:11:49.470 --> 00:11:52.549 You have to look where you're standing. You have 00:11:52.549 --> 00:11:56.309 to look where you're walking. Your word is a 00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:59.070 lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. He 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:01.990 didn't say, just trust the lamp, just look beyond 00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:06.409 it. No, he actually said, Your word is a lamp 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:08.830 unto my feet and a light unto my back. Dealing 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:12.070 with your personal walk. Dealing with where are 00:12:12.070 --> 00:12:15.009 you stepping? Are you on good ground? Are you 00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:18.350 looking to see if there's any traps or hidden 00:12:18.350 --> 00:12:21.289 things that are waiting for you? Or have you 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:24.090 lifted up your vision so far that you're not 00:12:24.090 --> 00:12:28.190 looking at your now? And as the Holy Spirit, 00:12:28.289 --> 00:12:31.409 as I came up out of sleep and I recognized, Lord, 00:12:31.490 --> 00:12:34.929 that's what you're asking for. You're asking 00:12:34.929 --> 00:12:38.269 for the church to have an understanding. Yes, 00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:40.950 we have promises. Yes, we're to be a prophetic 00:12:40.950 --> 00:12:44.169 people. Yes, we're to understand what is to come. 00:12:44.269 --> 00:12:48.450 But we're also to take advantage of you being 00:12:48.450 --> 00:12:52.710 God in our now and that our feet would be secure 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:56.490 and our next steps we would recognize that you're 00:12:56.490 --> 00:12:59.570 trying to work something in us like you did with 00:12:59.570 --> 00:13:03.399 the disciples in the now moment. I'm not just 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:07.139 waiting to be transformed out there. I'm allowing 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:12.039 God to transform me in the now. Are you all right? 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:16.059 All right. I hope I didn't lose you at the colonoscopy 00:13:16.059 --> 00:13:23.659 story. So here we are. Jesus didn't bypass the 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:27.200 little day experiences for the big cross experience. 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:33.799 He took advantage. Of every situation. To begin 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:37.860 to work. Now this is key. To begin to work in 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:42.820 the framework. Of their mind and their thinking. 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:49.500 Right? Because what was he doing? What got the 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:53.179 disciples constantly in error. Not to mention 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.879 the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Was the fact 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.110 that their mind. And their way of thinking could 00:14:01.110 --> 00:14:08.470 not embrace God in their now. God in their now 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:13.789 was actually a concept that they couldn't actually 00:14:13.789 --> 00:14:18.230 grab a hold of. In fact, as many times Jesus... 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:21.169 was trying to tell them about what was coming. 00:14:21.389 --> 00:14:24.110 And you remember, it's just like, the Son of 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:26.269 Man is gonna be delivered to the Romans and he's 00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:28.809 gonna be beat and crucified. And he will, three 00:14:28.809 --> 00:14:30.570 days he will die in a tomb, but on the third 00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:33.149 day he will rise. And they're just like, they 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:38.549 couldn't get it. They couldn't get it. Finally, 00:14:38.870 --> 00:14:44.549 at just the moment, like within days of the crucifixion, 00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:51.879 they finally kinda, Got it. But even in the getting 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:56.980 it, they didn't get it. Because they all deserted 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:01.899 him at the Garden of Gethsemane. Every one of 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.980 them. Every one of them fleed. Some of them fleed 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:08.379 so bad they left their clothes. Mark said, and 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:10.860 the young man that was following was covered 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:16.000 with a sheet and he left his sheet and ran. That'll 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:21.279 preach. When you as a disciple leave your sheet 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:28.559 and run. Come on. How many times when we are 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.220 supposed to know, you gotta be careful how you 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:34.120 say that, don't you? How many times you're supposed 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:37.659 to know that God is in your now and we just leave 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:44.139 it because, oh, I can't handle it. Jesus' perspective 00:15:44.139 --> 00:15:47.259 of dealing with the disciples dealt with what? 00:15:47.769 --> 00:15:51.929 Getting the heart of the Father into their filter 00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:56.409 system. Their thinking, their mind, their heart. 00:15:56.990 --> 00:16:02.649 Why? Because his primary objective was to what? 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:06.990 To please the Father. And it was more important 00:16:06.990 --> 00:16:12.169 than the work. The work followed the heart. That's 00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:15.179 why faith, when... When James starts dealing 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:17.320 with faith, he says, listen, don't tell me that 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:20.259 you have faith, but let me see the genuineness 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:25.200 of your faith by your works. So it's both. Pleasing 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.899 the heart of God comes first. The work that he's 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:30.980 called you to do or the purpose that he's called 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:35.460 you to do is secondary, not primary. So let's 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:39.500 look at this. Hebrews 10, verses five through 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:44.809 seven. The book of Hebrews is quoting, what Jesus 00:16:44.809 --> 00:16:49.250 actually embodied. Notice what it says. Sacrifices 00:16:49.250 --> 00:16:53.409 and offerings you have not desired, but a body 00:16:53.409 --> 00:16:57.730 you have prepared for me. Jesus literally became 00:16:57.730 --> 00:17:01.509 that body. According to the gospel of John, right? 00:17:01.590 --> 00:17:04.029 In the beginning was the word, the word was God, 00:17:04.089 --> 00:17:07.329 the word was with God and the word went forth 00:17:07.329 --> 00:17:11.329 and we beheld him and he became the only begotten 00:17:11.329 --> 00:17:15.470 son. The word was made flesh. God prepared a 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:18.549 body for the living word of God and he took on 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:23.490 humanity, right? Now listen, for you and I, we 00:17:23.490 --> 00:17:28.759 don't, a body we have, but this scripture was 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:31.059 talking about the fulfillment of the perfect 00:17:31.059 --> 00:17:34.079 body although we can receive truth and understanding 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.740 from this because what then did Jesus identify 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:42.519 with verse 7 he says then I said behold I have 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:47.640 come to do your will oh God notice the very purpose 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.859 of heaven in God preparing a body for the word 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:54.460 of God the response once that body was there 00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:58.380 was Lord I didn't come to bring you individual 00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:01.940 sacrifices and focus on just the things that 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:07.259 I do for you. I have come for the purpose to 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:11.500 do your will. Now for Jesus, that is so important 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.099 for our salvation. Now take it off of the Lord 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:16.859 and put it onto us. It's still important for 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:20.740 us and how we live. Because if that was the motivation 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:24.680 for God to please the Father in everything, that 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:27.460 should be the motivation for every one of us 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:31.440 as Christians to want to please the Father. Rather 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.859 than focusing on our individual times where we 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:37.980 sacrificed or where we did something, the goal 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:42.299 should be in our filter system, we live now. 00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:45.759 to please the Father. Like Paul would say in 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:48.400 Acts 17 as he was dealing with the Athenians. 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:53.480 In him we live and move and have our being. The 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:57.200 understanding was, I live and I move and I now 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.640 live for God's glory. That's why Paul could say 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.039 later in Galatians 2 .20, the life I now live, 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.920 I live for the glory of God who gave himself 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.720 for me. I've been crucified with Christ and the 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:12.619 life I now live, I live for him. Where does that 00:19:12.619 --> 00:19:15.740 come from? It comes from this understanding of 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:18.559 I've been born again and in that born again, 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:21.950 Being born from above and being saved and a new 00:19:21.950 --> 00:19:25.009 creature. My first goal is not what I can give 00:19:25.009 --> 00:19:27.990 him. My first goal is, can I just be pleasing 00:19:27.990 --> 00:19:32.089 to him? I know he loves me. And this is where 00:19:32.089 --> 00:19:34.490 the American church, if you'll let me just get 00:19:34.490 --> 00:19:36.869 into our thinking just a little bit. This is 00:19:36.869 --> 00:19:40.750 where our American church becomes divided. Because 00:19:40.750 --> 00:19:45.190 we separate out the totality of scripture. Meaning. 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:49.440 We have churches that focus all on he loves me, 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:53.359 he loves me, he loves me, he loves me. And then 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.079 we have churches that focus what can I do, what 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.900 can I do, what can I do, what can I do? The reality 00:19:59.900 --> 00:20:03.779 is they need to be blended together. The reality 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:07.140 is I better know that I am a new creature in 00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:10.779 Christ, that I am loved and I'm adopted and there's 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:14.920 nothing. Hell cannot take me. Nobody can snatch 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:18.539 me from the love of God and his commitment and 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:21.480 covenant to me. I can walk out of it. I can cut 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.000 it, but no power of hell can do it. Now I can 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.880 partner with the things of hell, but it'll be 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:31.400 my choice in doing that. That's got our identity 00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:35.380 and who we are, our beginning, if I could say 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:38.960 it this way, our adoption into son and daughtership 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.559 should never be questioned. It should always 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:45.759 be rooted and growing and strengthening. However, 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:49.180 that in the end of the story that I just get 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:52.720 saved. That's the beginning of the journey, right? 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:54.359 And that's what we've been talking about. What 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:56.640 does the something more church do? Something 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:59.619 more church understands that there is something 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:04.599 beyond just religion or routine and profession 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:10.019 that actually creates and we live to have the. 00:21:10.410 --> 00:21:14.190 power of Christ move in us and through us, and 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:18.029 without being weird, we become a channel for 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:20.509 the work of the kingdom of God to operate in. 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:26.549 Where God's works that Christ did, signs, wonders, 00:21:26.930 --> 00:21:30.990 healings, miracles, deliverance, the glory of 00:21:30.990 --> 00:21:35.769 God, the manifest activity of heaven takes place. 00:21:36.509 --> 00:21:40.500 And here's what we need to understand. Over here, 00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:44.099 we become saved and you become a child of God. 00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:47.359 That's what John 1, 12 says. Not born according 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.779 to the will of man, not according to the mind 00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:53.880 of man, but according to the will and purpose 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.799 of God, you were born again. Not by blood, not 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.460 by man's will, but by God's will, you were born 00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:02.400 again. But that doesn't mean you're grown up. 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:07.220 There's a difference in the scripture. Weon and 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:12.009 technon. Or weos and technon. Two different meanings 00:22:12.009 --> 00:22:15.750 of sonship. One is in the beginning of sonship. 00:22:16.250 --> 00:22:19.130 The other means you're actually participating 00:22:19.130 --> 00:22:23.329 as though you have been with the father and been 00:22:23.329 --> 00:22:26.710 working the land and his inheritance all along. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:31.519 And that's the reality of blending the two. In 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.859 the Greek understanding is, I always recognize 00:22:34.859 --> 00:22:37.579 that I'm always in the family. That's why Jesus' 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.859 response to the prodigal older brother was so 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:45.180 stunning. And when the prodigal got mad, here 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:47.880 this son of yours, this younger son, squandered 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.180 your inheritance with prostitutes and loose living 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:53.359 and all of this stuff. And you gave him a goat 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:55.940 and now you're celebrating. And then the scripture 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:58.599 is awesome, especially in the King James. You 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:00.960 didn't even give me a goat to make merry with 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:05.660 my friends. Well, you're poor little goatless 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:13.000 self. And you know what the father said? He said, 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:21.329 son, all that I have is yours. Jesus was. was 00:23:21.329 --> 00:23:25.690 trying to get the son to understand that what 00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:29.369 he was doing, he was trying to, the older son 00:23:29.369 --> 00:23:31.670 was trying to prove his worth and was keeping 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:35.710 score. The younger son had tapped into something 00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:39.069 that being part of the family of God and pleasing 00:23:39.069 --> 00:23:41.869 the father was much more than anything you could 00:23:41.869 --> 00:23:45.680 do on your own. And the older son needed to come 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.480 to the revelation. Had he come to the father 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:50.460 and say, God, this is what would make father. 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:52.460 This is what would make me happy. I'm going to 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:54.720 ask you for this. The father was said, man, it's 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:59.319 right. It's good. Here it is. But the son wouldn't 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:03.079 ask that way. The older son tried to work it. 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:06.480 And when his disappointment came in is when the 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:10.000 generosity of the father's grace and love was 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.680 seen and it didn't give something to him. Now, 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.420 so let me get back to where we were talking about. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:24.420 We're talking about having both. Being a son 00:24:24.420 --> 00:24:28.779 and a daughter, loved, adopted, in the beloved, 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:32.259 as we would say, in Christ Jesus. And then what? 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:36.640 Having the responsibility now to now become what 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:43.460 the Bible would say, stewards of grace. And that's 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:45.000 where we're going here. I want you to take a 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:53.079 look at 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4, verse 7. Now I'm 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:55.440 gonna spend some time in this, so let's just 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.700 buckle in for a little bit. 1 Peter 4, 7 says 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:06.240 this. The end of all things is at hand. I mean, 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:13.130 what a great verse. I mean. Peter is literally 00:25:13.130 --> 00:25:17.029 just bringing it right down and said, you need 00:25:17.029 --> 00:25:19.269 to understand something. The end of all things 00:25:19.269 --> 00:25:26.230 is at hand. Semicolon. Therefore, because of 00:25:26.230 --> 00:25:31.549 that, be self -controlled and sober -minded for 00:25:31.549 --> 00:25:38.450 the sake of your prayers. Verse eight. Above 00:25:38.450 --> 00:25:43.960 all. Keep loving one another earnestly since 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:49.980 love covers a multitude of sins. Now, I want 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:54.299 to camp on those couple of verses there. Because 00:25:54.299 --> 00:26:00.859 in this scripture, we see the two different realities. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:06.619 It says, the end of all things are at hand. Be 00:26:06.619 --> 00:26:12.730 sober, right? And be self -controlled. But above 00:26:12.730 --> 00:26:20.869 all, love one another earnestly. So what was 00:26:20.869 --> 00:26:24.329 he saying? He was saying your primary purpose, 00:26:24.430 --> 00:26:26.789 above all. Can we say above all together? Ready, 00:26:26.789 --> 00:26:30.930 go. One more time. Above all. Above all means 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:35.829 what? The pinnacle. After everything is summed 00:26:35.829 --> 00:26:41.329 up and everything is tallied, Above that, here 00:26:41.329 --> 00:26:45.130 becomes the primary objective of the Father. 00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:50.869 The Holy Spirit in you. Now love one another 00:26:50.869 --> 00:26:56.730 earnestly. Why is this so important? Because 00:26:56.730 --> 00:27:01.730 this becomes the word that the apostles would 00:27:01.730 --> 00:27:08.670 all share is the most important thing. Love the 00:27:08.670 --> 00:27:10.769 Lord your God with all, Jesus said it, love the 00:27:10.769 --> 00:27:12.549 Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:14.390 and strength, and the second is like it, love 00:27:14.390 --> 00:27:18.690 your neighbor as yourself. John, the apostle 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:21.730 John, as John would write in third person, he 00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:25.069 would say, the one who the Lord loves. He would 00:27:25.069 --> 00:27:27.250 write and say, I'm not giving you a new command, 00:27:27.390 --> 00:27:29.970 but I'm giving you an old command that was from 00:27:29.970 --> 00:27:34.250 the beginning, that you love one another. Jesus 00:27:34.250 --> 00:27:37.480 said, again, going back to Jesus, he said, If 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:41.799 you love me, you will what? You will keep my 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:47.940 commandments. And so love, understanding love 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:55.420 means what? I set my mind, my will, my value, 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:59.539 and my understanding to what? To please him and 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:05.160 give him my highest affection in every area. 00:28:05.930 --> 00:28:09.750 not just in the time of worship, but in the what? 00:28:09.829 --> 00:28:13.970 In the day walk where my feet are and in the 00:28:13.970 --> 00:28:17.829 vision that God has for me, that I'm not pulling 00:28:17.829 --> 00:28:21.529 on what I want from the soul, but because I want 00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:24.450 to be pleasing him, I'm asking what will please 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:26.849 him. And I call those things in over my life 00:28:26.849 --> 00:28:30.069 that he's chosen to have for me. So it's both. 00:28:30.130 --> 00:28:33.289 It's how do I please him now walking in love 00:28:33.289 --> 00:28:38.119 now and how I'm gonna walk in love and call those 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:41.599 things in. But notice he says, in order, here's 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:45.019 the first part of it. He says, the end of all 00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:49.799 things is at hand. And I wanna focus just a little 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:55.440 bit on this. He says, so because of that, therefore 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:00.299 be self -controlled and sober -minded for the 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:05.000 sake of your prayers. Now, let's think that through 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:11.700 a little bit. For the sake of my prayers. Being 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:15.859 self -controlled and sober -minded for the sake 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:18.420 of my prayers. Let's say what he's not saying. 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:23.640 He's saying, what's not there is, you can pray 00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:28.440 things that when they're not sober -minded or 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:33.329 self -controlled, you can pray prayers. That 00:29:33.329 --> 00:29:38.630 are not answered. Doesn't mean they're not heard. 00:29:39.210 --> 00:29:43.589 It means they're not answered. How does that 00:29:43.589 --> 00:29:46.930 work? I'll tell you how it works. When you pray 00:29:46.930 --> 00:29:52.210 according to the things that are happening in 00:29:52.210 --> 00:29:57.829 your world. That move you past sober Christian 00:29:57.829 --> 00:30:02.380 thinking with wisdom. and what is already written, 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:08.039 and you get moved by what? Fear, anxiety, worry. 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:12.079 And you begin to pray differently. Why? Because 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:16.319 you're moved by an outside force that you don't 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.980 believe that God will actually step in and do 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:21.900 something. You begin to pray different because 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:24.799 you've left the foundation of where you should 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:32.339 be standing. Right? When it says sober thinking, 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:34.920 let's just, can we go here just a little further? 00:30:35.460 --> 00:30:38.880 Sober thinking, why the word sober? It's the 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:42.319 same word that Jesus uses in the scripture. It's 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.299 the same word that Paul will then pick up in 00:30:45.299 --> 00:30:49.420 his scriptures being be sober, be alert. What's 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:52.559 this sobriety? It means that you're not under 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:57.380 the influence of something. Sober means what? 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:02.319 I have, if I'm not sober, which that's only happened 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:06.000 once in my life, a long time ago. And I swore 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.140 to the Lord, I said, Lord, that I will never 00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:13.000 touch that again. This is the stupidest feeling 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:20.519 I ever felt. Terrible. I thought, how do people 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:24.619 get hooked by this? I had, I don't know. Let 00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:27.230 me just. Let me just say this and I'm not glorifying 00:31:27.230 --> 00:31:30.170 it. But for our senior project, they told us 00:31:30.170 --> 00:31:32.609 to do something, just think outside the box. 00:31:32.690 --> 00:31:35.869 So me and another kid across the field decided 00:31:35.869 --> 00:31:40.990 to build our own still. And so, of course, we 00:31:40.990 --> 00:31:43.230 did it without our parents' permission. I had 00:31:43.230 --> 00:31:46.549 the tap and die set and found the copper and 00:31:46.549 --> 00:31:51.329 we hijacked mom's pressure cooker. And we decided 00:31:51.329 --> 00:31:56.880 we'd make our own alcohol. And they had a chicken 00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:01.859 incubator that got the mash up to a certain level. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:05.640 And so we decided that we'd make our own kind 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:09.759 of version of corn whiskey. Now I had never, 00:32:09.859 --> 00:32:12.720 I've never drank before. I'd never had any of 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:15.839 that done. It's the god awfulest thing I'd ever 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:19.880 tasted. Now I didn't know we were supposed to 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:24.039 add flavor to it. And I probably could have, 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.160 you know, as they said, we did something that 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:27.980 we shouldn't have. We distilled it multiple, 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:30.079 multiple times. So when I put a lighter to it, 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:33.240 man, it would just. And so I have no idea how 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:39.599 many proof it was. And we decided, I don't know, 00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:41.400 this is kind of glorifying sin here, but I'm 00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:44.319 trying not to do that here. We decided to go 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:47.640 to a place where we would just be alone and nobody 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:49.960 could get to us and no driving and no nothing 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:52.809 and just see what it tasted like. Because we 00:32:52.809 --> 00:32:55.269 were told that it tasted good. They lied, they 00:32:55.269 --> 00:33:00.109 lied, they lied. And after having a bit of it 00:33:00.109 --> 00:33:03.210 and getting a headache and then throwing up and 00:33:03.210 --> 00:33:05.930 my head spinning and then waking up in the morning 00:33:05.930 --> 00:33:09.609 after it was all done going, how do you put fun 00:33:09.609 --> 00:33:16.150 and that together? That was horrible. And I remember 00:33:16.150 --> 00:33:19.920 saying to myself, I will never come under. God, 00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:22.559 forgive me for coming under the influence of 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:26.640 something that took my senses, my judgment, and 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:32.119 my mindset. I never touched it again. Now, the 00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:35.859 reality was, that's what Jesus is speaking to 00:33:35.859 --> 00:33:39.299 when he talks about sober -minded. Why? Because 00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:42.539 if you get under the influence, and most of you, 00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:47.809 you know, you're good drivers, most of you. But 00:33:47.809 --> 00:33:51.490 when you drive under the influence, what happens? 00:33:51.930 --> 00:33:58.869 You can't react in time. You don't see the signals. 00:34:00.009 --> 00:34:04.490 You're not thinking line of sight. You're not 00:34:04.490 --> 00:34:09.630 thinking, hey, I'm driving. offensive and defensive. 00:34:09.909 --> 00:34:12.769 When you're impaired at some level, depending 00:34:12.769 --> 00:34:16.190 on the degree of your impairment, you are already 00:34:16.190 --> 00:34:19.230 removed the fact that you're not thinking about 00:34:19.230 --> 00:34:22.269 somebody else's life. You're just trying to get 00:34:22.269 --> 00:34:25.449 to where you're going. That's coming under the 00:34:25.449 --> 00:34:29.010 influence of something. Because if you're sober, 00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:32.449 you are actually thinking about other people's 00:34:32.449 --> 00:34:36.530 lines. You're actually thinking about how what 00:34:36.530 --> 00:34:39.510 they do will impact your life and how you can 00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:42.809 make sure that you're not an accident, that you're 00:34:42.809 --> 00:34:46.550 actually in charge of your car and your family 00:34:46.550 --> 00:34:49.250 and not just you, but other people. The minute 00:34:49.250 --> 00:34:52.349 you get under the influence, it stops you thinking 00:34:52.349 --> 00:34:55.769 about others and it brings its full focus on 00:34:55.769 --> 00:35:00.780 you, your pleasure and what you're into. So when 00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:05.079 Paul, through the Holy Spirit, says sober -minded, 00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:08.320 you have to understand that this scripture always 00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:14.519 speaks of impairment spiritually. Because why? 00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:18.760 Jesus goes over this. He said those who get drunk, 00:35:18.820 --> 00:35:25.699 get drunk at night. Night is coming. What was 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:29.300 Peter addressing? He was dressing. The night. 00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:33.559 He says what? The end of all things is at hand. 00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:37.260 What did Jesus tell us would take place at the 00:35:37.260 --> 00:35:43.360 end? That darkness would get greater. We're not 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:45.739 to fear the darkness, but we're to recognize 00:35:45.739 --> 00:35:49.500 that when darkness gets greater, light shines 00:35:49.500 --> 00:35:53.940 brighter. And he's saying that those who get 00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:57.340 drunk get drunk at night. Put it on alcohol. 00:35:57.440 --> 00:36:01.380 Now put it spiritually. The Bible says clearly 00:36:01.380 --> 00:36:04.239 in Ephesians chapter four, it says, do not be 00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:06.659 drunk with wine, which is dissipation. Means 00:36:06.659 --> 00:36:10.159 what? It fades, it leaves, it evaporates. You're 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:13.280 constantly having to feed something to keep the 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:16.360 atmosphere of what it offers going. He said, 00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:18.739 don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with 00:36:18.739 --> 00:36:21.860 the Holy Spirit. So he recognizes the pull of 00:36:21.860 --> 00:36:24.900 that intoxicating power in wine. And when he 00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.659 talks about the night, he's talking about the 00:36:27.659 --> 00:36:30.739 difference between sobriety. thinking of being 00:36:30.739 --> 00:36:37.380 a person of the day versus an intoxicated person 00:36:37.380 --> 00:36:40.519 that has been consumed with the night. How do 00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:44.679 you get intoxicated by the night? It's not because 00:36:44.679 --> 00:36:49.340 someone comes up to you and says, I am the devil 00:36:49.340 --> 00:36:54.440 and I have powers that you not know of. Join 00:36:54.440 --> 00:37:03.739 me on the dark side. That's not the lure. Not 00:37:03.739 --> 00:37:07.179 at all, right? There's nothing in Garrett's just, 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:13.360 sure. No, he's like, not buying it. Okay, what 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:16.659 is the intoxication of the darkness? The intoxication 00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:21.199 of the darkness is, are you ready? The Bible 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:24.980 says that we fight three things, the world, the 00:37:24.980 --> 00:37:29.150 flesh, and the devil. The darkness that Jesus 00:37:29.150 --> 00:37:31.929 is talking about is not dealing with the flesh 00:37:31.929 --> 00:37:35.510 and it's not dealing with the devil personally. 00:37:36.289 --> 00:37:40.409 It's dealing with the atmosphere of how the enemy 00:37:40.409 --> 00:37:44.050 gets people across the world intoxicated, which 00:37:44.050 --> 00:37:47.909 is what? The system of the world. So that when 00:37:47.909 --> 00:37:51.409 darkness comes in the world, what are you drinking? 00:37:52.030 --> 00:37:57.969 Whether your station is CNN or Fox, or anything 00:37:57.969 --> 00:38:04.010 in between, podcast, if they're not standing 00:38:04.010 --> 00:38:09.409 on the wisdom of the rock himself, then you're 00:38:09.409 --> 00:38:13.130 being pulled to what the Bible calls the drinking 00:38:13.130 --> 00:38:18.449 of the wine of the great harlot's immorality. 00:38:18.590 --> 00:38:20.389 Now, I know I just went deep there, but let me 00:38:20.389 --> 00:38:24.710 explain it. It's not just the immorality of acts. 00:38:26.809 --> 00:38:30.210 of explicit acts that we would do. It is the 00:38:30.210 --> 00:38:33.630 wine of the immorality that causes an intoxication 00:38:33.630 --> 00:38:38.849 of every ideological mindset that is contrary 00:38:38.849 --> 00:38:41.949 to what the Bible teaches. And that's how you 00:38:41.949 --> 00:38:45.519 drink it. So if you're spending... an hour and 00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:49.360 a half listening to podcasts or news rants or 00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:51.840 all of the things that are going on. And then 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:55.599 you give a poultry 15 minutes of just give him 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.079 15 and barely read your Bible. What are you doing? 00:38:59.179 --> 00:39:02.460 You're drinking a bottle of intoxication of the 00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:08.719 world and you're sipping a cup of coffee. What's 00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:12.570 happening? You're not being sober minded. Why? 00:39:12.650 --> 00:39:14.409 Because you're not understanding the end of all 00:39:14.409 --> 00:39:19.050 things. You're actually listening to the intoxication 00:39:19.050 --> 00:39:24.070 of what? Fear and anxiety and worry. And then 00:39:24.070 --> 00:39:26.909 that doesn't just stay in itself. It begins to 00:39:26.909 --> 00:39:30.010 burrow in. And what does it burrow into? It burrows 00:39:30.010 --> 00:39:33.210 into the mind and the heart that now says, I've 00:39:33.210 --> 00:39:36.739 got to now protect me. I now have to protect 00:39:36.739 --> 00:39:41.159 my family. I don't know if I can just do normal 00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:44.199 wisdom. I got to pick up from what I would normally 00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:47.119 that's in the scriptures. I got to do extra because 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:51.679 now my focus is on fear rather than being balanced 00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:55.639 in what the scripture says. And that's why Peter 00:39:55.639 --> 00:39:57.360 was coming and he's saying to the church, he's 00:39:57.360 --> 00:39:59.579 saying, listen, you need to understand something. 00:39:59.739 --> 00:40:03.559 You, the end of all things is at hand. Well, 00:40:03.659 --> 00:40:06.539 what Jesus said, listen, darkness is going to 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:09.900 go stronger and stronger and stronger until the 00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:14.650 day of the Lord. Well then. He chose you to live 00:40:14.650 --> 00:40:17.769 in this generation. So how do I live in the generation 00:40:17.769 --> 00:40:20.849 still believing in the promises of God for me 00:40:20.849 --> 00:40:23.690 and my generation and my children's generation, 00:40:23.769 --> 00:40:26.130 my children's children? What do I have to do 00:40:26.130 --> 00:40:31.590 to keep drinking, to not drink the elixir, if 00:40:31.590 --> 00:40:34.409 I will, the elixir of the world and actually 00:40:34.409 --> 00:40:38.969 operate as a light? I have to be sober -minded. 00:40:39.510 --> 00:40:43.920 And I have to be what? self -controlled. Because 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:47.019 you can run around in your prayer time with your 00:40:47.019 --> 00:40:51.679 hair on fire emotionally, and because you're 00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:54.840 not standing on the rock, you're just saying 00:40:54.840 --> 00:40:58.260 words that are sponsored from emotions that are 00:40:58.260 --> 00:41:01.480 not coming from the Spirit of God. And I'm not 00:41:01.480 --> 00:41:05.449 talking about your prayer being... passionate 00:41:05.449 --> 00:41:08.210 or fervent, because the Bible's gonna talk about 00:41:08.210 --> 00:41:11.670 the fervent, earnest prayer. Listen, I love how 00:41:11.670 --> 00:41:15.550 some of these guys pray. I want them to be fervent, 00:41:15.550 --> 00:41:19.929 but the issue is, are they fervent from the balance 00:41:19.929 --> 00:41:23.949 of knowing God and their trust in him, or has 00:41:23.949 --> 00:41:28.690 Fox News moved them to be passionate about, oh 00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:40.119 God, get me out now! Come on. Self -controlled. 00:41:41.119 --> 00:41:45.599 It's one of the fruits of the Spirit. Sober -minded 00:41:45.599 --> 00:41:48.840 and self -controlled. Meaning what? I'm not allowing 00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:52.840 my emotions. But let's put it this way. We can 00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:56.760 all see the error of that. But what happens when 00:41:56.760 --> 00:42:00.420 you're going through a test? What happens when 00:42:00.420 --> 00:42:03.829 you're going through a test physically? Let's 00:42:03.829 --> 00:42:06.269 just take it that way. Or you're dealing with 00:42:06.269 --> 00:42:08.889 something with your child. Or you're dealing 00:42:08.889 --> 00:42:10.929 with a marriage. I mean, I don't want to be too 00:42:10.929 --> 00:42:15.309 prophetic here, but let's just focus on those 00:42:15.309 --> 00:42:21.530 three. Physical, children, marriage. Let's just 00:42:21.530 --> 00:42:25.829 focus on that. If I'm having some level of suffering 00:42:25.829 --> 00:42:29.760 or some level... of conflict or some level of 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:33.360 my prayers seem to not being answered in the 00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:39.039 time that I want them to. Where I think, who 00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:42.880 pushes me in my thinking and being self -controlled 00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:46.300 in my emotions determine the level of breakthrough 00:42:46.300 --> 00:42:51.300 that I stay anchored. Right? Because it can push 00:42:51.300 --> 00:42:55.889 me to get... It's not that I don't need to be 00:42:55.889 --> 00:42:59.329 stirred, but I can be stirred from my emotions 00:42:59.329 --> 00:43:03.070 that are not self -controlled. I can be stirred 00:43:03.070 --> 00:43:08.789 from a place of frustration or anger. I can be 00:43:08.789 --> 00:43:11.710 stirred from all types of things. Maybe even 00:43:11.710 --> 00:43:15.630 from the fact of, I feel like I've slighted and 00:43:15.630 --> 00:43:18.849 God didn't hear me. All of those things can push 00:43:18.849 --> 00:43:23.550 me off being what? Sober thinking. Sober thinking 00:43:23.550 --> 00:43:27.849 means I must line out who God is, that he doesn't 00:43:27.849 --> 00:43:33.690 change. Do you know that most of my prayer life, 00:43:33.949 --> 00:43:38.469 when it's successful, comes back to the fact 00:43:38.469 --> 00:43:43.349 that I'm anchoring myself in sobriety before 00:43:43.349 --> 00:43:49.449 I move to the throne. I have to, I speak to my 00:43:49.449 --> 00:43:53.190 soul. I speak to the, because there's rarely 00:43:53.190 --> 00:43:55.530 a time, and I'm saying this carefully, there's 00:43:55.530 --> 00:43:59.710 rarely a time that I go to prayer on every morning 00:43:59.710 --> 00:44:04.210 or night that something isn't upside down in 00:44:04.210 --> 00:44:09.309 my world. Some family, some death, some sickness, 00:44:09.530 --> 00:44:15.889 some river, some person, okay, some pastor. It 00:44:15.889 --> 00:44:20.409 doesn't matter what it is. Rarely. Rarely is 00:44:20.409 --> 00:44:22.869 there an issue that I don't have to deal with 00:44:22.869 --> 00:44:27.369 something that's sideways. Most of the time when 00:44:27.369 --> 00:44:30.650 I go to the Lord, it's like, Lord, everything 00:44:30.650 --> 00:44:34.469 is awesome. Not one thing has fallen, not one 00:44:34.469 --> 00:44:37.550 request. Everything in my life is incredible. 00:44:39.670 --> 00:44:44.650 I don't remember that. From the natural side. 00:44:44.750 --> 00:44:48.530 The spiritual side means what? I start laying. 00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:54.440 the foundation of truth around myself to be able 00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:58.079 to now pray in the confidence of being sober 00:44:58.079 --> 00:45:02.599 -minded, still passionate, and self -controlled. 00:45:02.800 --> 00:45:04.780 Meaning what? I'm not gonna allow that river 00:45:04.780 --> 00:45:08.860 bank to dominate me today. I'm not gonna allow 00:45:08.860 --> 00:45:12.019 the fact that I gotta write X amount of thousands 00:45:12.019 --> 00:45:14.320 of dollars in a couple of years. I'm not gonna 00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:16.980 let that steer my whole prayer time. I'm gonna 00:45:16.980 --> 00:45:21.300 mention it, but it has a boundary. Come on. I'm 00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:23.960 not going to take that cancer from this person 00:45:23.960 --> 00:45:27.440 and let that be the only thing I pray for. I'm 00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:29.559 not going to take that loss. I'm not going to 00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:32.480 take that issue. I will center myself. Okay, 00:45:32.579 --> 00:45:37.000 God, who are you? You are this from your word. 00:45:37.369 --> 00:45:39.989 You are faithful. You are just. You are kind. 00:45:40.110 --> 00:45:42.489 You are loving. You're the same yesterday, today, 00:45:42.650 --> 00:45:46.449 and forever. You have not rejected me. I am love. 00:45:46.530 --> 00:45:50.309 I set the boundary stones of my framework. Why? 00:45:50.530 --> 00:45:55.409 I begin to bring soberness. Soberness does not 00:45:55.409 --> 00:46:00.309 mean kill joy. Contrary to what every drunk says. 00:46:02.189 --> 00:46:05.530 Soberness actually allows me to experience the 00:46:05.530 --> 00:46:08.929 joy and the relationship of God in its purity. 00:46:09.710 --> 00:46:13.150 And sober -minded just simply means I'm now... 00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:16.539 touching base and I am now anchoring myself in 00:46:16.539 --> 00:46:20.420 who God really is and I now begin to build myself 00:46:20.420 --> 00:46:23.820 up not without self -control but in self -control 00:46:23.820 --> 00:46:27.400 of the joy of the Lord and from that place then 00:46:27.400 --> 00:46:31.360 I can begin to pray with assurance because I 00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:34.960 begin to remind myself that faith is what pleases 00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:40.619 God and I can even get fervent and Earnestly 00:46:40.619 --> 00:46:44.539 pray in that spot, not being carried away by 00:46:44.539 --> 00:46:50.820 emotions either way. You doing all right? So 00:46:50.820 --> 00:46:54.579 let's keep this going a little bit. That word 00:46:54.579 --> 00:46:57.559 earnestly, and this is where I wanna, Jenny, 00:46:57.639 --> 00:47:02.000 wherever you're at, sweetheart. Thank you. This 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:06.260 word earnestly is incredible in the scriptures. 00:47:08.260 --> 00:47:10.719 The New King James, if you're reading the New 00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:13.599 King Jimmy version, it will use the word fervently. 00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:20.559 Above all, keep loving one another fervently. 00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:28.400 ESV says earnestly. There are two verses that 00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:33.239 use this word earnest because the Greek word 00:47:35.980 --> 00:47:39.619 is only used in three places. First Peter four, 00:47:39.840 --> 00:47:44.179 this verse we're quoting, four, eight, and then 00:47:44.179 --> 00:47:50.179 two others. Jesus used it. Notice what it says 00:47:50.179 --> 00:47:59.380 in Luke 22, 44. And being in agony, Jesus prayed 00:47:59.380 --> 00:48:06.340 more earnestly. and sweat became like great drops 00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:08.820 of blood falling to the ground. Now, why is that 00:48:08.820 --> 00:48:11.800 important? Because first of all, it tells us 00:48:11.800 --> 00:48:18.920 that Jesus actually had prayer. Everything he 00:48:18.920 --> 00:48:22.260 did was perfect. Everything he did was in obedience 00:48:22.260 --> 00:48:27.320 to the Father, that his prayer moved into stages 00:48:27.320 --> 00:48:33.170 and places where he prayed more earnestly. Now 00:48:33.170 --> 00:48:37.789 the key of earnestly is this. The root word of 00:48:37.789 --> 00:48:45.530 earnestly means to stretch something out. So 00:48:45.530 --> 00:48:52.949 think about this. Acts 12 verse 5. We looked 00:48:52.949 --> 00:48:57.449 at 1 Peter 4, 8. Second one, Luke 22, 44. This 00:48:57.449 --> 00:49:02.599 third one. And so Peter was kept in prison. But 00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:10.199 earnest prayer for him was made to God by the 00:49:10.199 --> 00:49:14.440 church. Now, I don't have time to, this verse 00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:19.480 is a whole message in itself. Prior, you have 00:49:19.480 --> 00:49:22.219 to understand something. Acts chapter two, the 00:49:22.219 --> 00:49:26.280 church was birthed. Acts chapter five and six, 00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:31.010 it started to. find all of its ways into the 00:49:31.010 --> 00:49:33.269 Jewish people, so much so that there was conflict 00:49:33.269 --> 00:49:36.409 between, and that's how Stephen died as the first 00:49:36.409 --> 00:49:41.389 martyr in persecution, over church -related issues. 00:49:42.789 --> 00:49:48.289 In the church, the first death was over church 00:49:48.289 --> 00:49:53.869 -related issues. Then we go to Acts chapter 10, 00:49:53.949 --> 00:49:57.010 or Acts chapter 8. Philip takes the gospel to 00:49:57.010 --> 00:49:59.869 Samaria. So right now what we see, Acts chapter 00:49:59.869 --> 00:50:03.789 two, Jerusalem. Then five and six, Judea. Then 00:50:03.789 --> 00:50:06.550 chapter eight, Samaria. And then when we get 00:50:06.550 --> 00:50:09.570 to chapter 10 of Acts, we have Cornelius who 00:50:09.570 --> 00:50:12.269 represents the rest of the world. He's an Italian. 00:50:13.269 --> 00:50:16.190 army officer that the angel of the Lord comes 00:50:16.190 --> 00:50:19.630 to. And the gospel now is beginning to fulfill 00:50:19.630 --> 00:50:22.829 everything that Jesus told the disciples that 00:50:22.829 --> 00:50:25.190 they would do. I will send power and you will 00:50:25.190 --> 00:50:29.230 be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, 00:50:29.289 --> 00:50:31.309 and to the uttermost parts of the earth. That 00:50:31.309 --> 00:50:34.230 is still building at Acts 10. When we get to 00:50:34.230 --> 00:50:37.570 Acts 12, persecution started with Stephen in 00:50:37.570 --> 00:50:41.690 Acts 7. Persecution has been happening. In Acts 00:50:41.690 --> 00:50:47.010 12, we have a throwaway line that Herod reached 00:50:47.010 --> 00:50:53.769 out and killed James. Now, who was James? I misquoted 00:50:53.769 --> 00:50:56.750 it the first service. James, there was two James. 00:50:56.829 --> 00:50:58.889 Well, actually, it was three, but the two big 00:50:58.889 --> 00:51:02.510 ones was this. James, the cousin, and James, 00:51:02.690 --> 00:51:06.010 the older stepbrother. It wasn't the stepbrother. 00:51:06.150 --> 00:51:10.090 That's the one that we believe the book of James 00:51:10.090 --> 00:51:12.710 and was the head of the church of Jerusalem in 00:51:12.710 --> 00:51:17.349 Acts 15. This James was who? James, the cousin 00:51:17.349 --> 00:51:19.650 that went with Jesus everywhere they went. The 00:51:19.650 --> 00:51:22.869 three that Jesus would go with, James, Peter, 00:51:23.110 --> 00:51:27.110 and John. And when James was taken and beheaded, 00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:30.860 It says that Herod, seeing that it pleased the 00:51:30.860 --> 00:51:34.639 Jews, arrested Peter also. Now what we don't 00:51:34.639 --> 00:51:37.400 see in the scriptures is we see no reference 00:51:37.400 --> 00:51:42.440 to the church praying for James. It's almost 00:51:42.440 --> 00:51:45.019 like they had gotten used to persecution and 00:51:45.019 --> 00:51:47.059 they were doing what? You ready what they were 00:51:47.059 --> 00:51:49.900 doing? They were looking for the return of the 00:51:49.900 --> 00:51:55.699 Lord. And what did they do? They took their eyes 00:51:55.699 --> 00:52:00.440 off their now. They took their eyes off where 00:52:00.440 --> 00:52:07.699 their feet were standing. And all of a sudden, 00:52:07.719 --> 00:52:14.239 on their watch, one of their apostles got sacrificed 00:52:14.239 --> 00:52:20.159 because they were looking beyond. Soon as that 00:52:20.159 --> 00:52:21.900 happened, what did the church do? It switched 00:52:21.900 --> 00:52:25.840 position. And it said, and listen, here's the 00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:30.610 word, an earnest. Prayer was made for Peter. 00:52:31.429 --> 00:52:34.349 What's that earnest again? That word earnest 00:52:34.349 --> 00:52:39.329 at the root means to stretch out. It's a word 00:52:39.329 --> 00:52:42.369 that Jesus used so many times. Let me give you 00:52:42.369 --> 00:52:46.349 a few scriptures. It's used in Matthew 8 when 00:52:46.349 --> 00:52:49.949 the leper came up to Jesus and Jesus stretched 00:52:49.949 --> 00:52:53.449 out his hand. and touched the leper, and he was 00:52:53.449 --> 00:52:57.110 made whole. It was used in Matthew 12, where 00:52:57.110 --> 00:52:59.309 Jesus spoke to the man with a withered hand, 00:52:59.449 --> 00:53:02.150 and he said, he said, I know if you're willing, 00:53:02.210 --> 00:53:04.949 you can make, you can heal me. He says, I am 00:53:04.949 --> 00:53:08.349 willing. Stretch out your hand. That's the word 00:53:08.349 --> 00:53:11.969 earnest. It's the word, the root word, teneo. 00:53:13.869 --> 00:53:17.409 What was he saying? He didn't say. Now, in some 00:53:17.409 --> 00:53:19.809 cases, Jesus healed them without any response 00:53:19.809 --> 00:53:22.750 of their own. But in other cases, he did what? 00:53:22.869 --> 00:53:26.849 He required partnership. Notice Jesus didn't 00:53:26.849 --> 00:53:29.750 say to the man with the withered hand, just try, 00:53:29.849 --> 00:53:36.050 buddy. Just try to, no, no, no. His command was 00:53:36.050 --> 00:53:39.690 stretch out your hand. Meaning what? Lengthen 00:53:39.690 --> 00:53:43.329 it out. It's the same word that was used in the 00:53:43.329 --> 00:53:47.239 garden. And Jesus. more earnestly prayed, meaning 00:53:47.239 --> 00:53:51.199 what? He got stretched out to the max. You see, 00:53:51.280 --> 00:53:56.340 he was stretched out by the Romans gonna whip 00:53:56.340 --> 00:54:00.579 him, and he was stretched out by the cross. But 00:54:00.579 --> 00:54:02.820 before he was ever stretched out in the physical, 00:54:02.940 --> 00:54:06.360 he was stretched out in the spiritual. And he 00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:11.139 laid out in fullness, pulling on heaven, actually 00:54:11.139 --> 00:54:16.070 contending in earnestness and fervency. The same 00:54:16.070 --> 00:54:19.050 word that's saying here that you would what? 00:54:19.590 --> 00:54:22.849 Fervently love one another or earnestly love 00:54:22.849 --> 00:54:25.989 one another is the place where you would actually 00:54:25.989 --> 00:54:30.449 lay and stretch out for something to receive 00:54:30.449 --> 00:54:33.769 it or to bring it near to yourself. You had to 00:54:33.769 --> 00:54:36.969 be what? All in. You say, well, what are you 00:54:36.969 --> 00:54:40.190 getting to? I'm getting to the next verse in 00:54:40.190 --> 00:54:48.380 Acts chapter 12. Where the apostle Paul. I don't 00:54:48.380 --> 00:54:51.380 think it's 12. I misquoted that. I apologize. 00:54:55.320 --> 00:54:59.420 In the book of Acts. Where Paul. Is now writing 00:54:59.420 --> 00:55:05.360 about his journey. On his way to Rome. He's been. 00:55:05.789 --> 00:55:09.789 He left Acts chapter 19 and 20, told the elders 00:55:09.789 --> 00:55:12.750 he'd never see them again. And between 20 and 00:55:12.750 --> 00:55:16.329 24, he begins all of his journey to try to get 00:55:16.329 --> 00:55:19.170 to make his appeal to Caesar and to those that 00:55:19.170 --> 00:55:21.750 he must go to Jerusalem and stand before those 00:55:21.750 --> 00:55:26.369 in power. And what happens? Because the ship 00:55:26.369 --> 00:55:31.969 captain refused to do what? To heed his advice. 00:55:33.199 --> 00:55:36.179 They got caught in a great storm. The Bible says, 00:55:36.239 --> 00:55:39.000 and you should read it. It's amazing. It says 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:42.940 that for 14 days and for 14 nights, they drifted 00:55:42.940 --> 00:55:46.320 not seeing sky or land. That means they were 00:55:46.320 --> 00:55:50.019 in such a precarious thing. When you're on the 00:55:50.019 --> 00:55:53.239 sea and you can't see the sky or any land and 00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:55.960 have no bearings of where you're at, you are 00:55:55.960 --> 00:56:00.199 in trouble. It says that all the people on board, 00:56:00.340 --> 00:56:04.039 they had done everything. They had given up their 00:56:04.039 --> 00:56:09.039 will to live. They all were condemned of life. 00:56:09.300 --> 00:56:12.780 And then what does the account say? Paul gathered 00:56:12.780 --> 00:56:16.199 them together. And I love this as a senior pastor. 00:56:16.880 --> 00:56:21.860 His first words to them were, brethren, you should 00:56:21.860 --> 00:56:26.320 have listened to me. It's recorded in the scripture. 00:56:26.460 --> 00:56:32.119 I love it. But this night, the God in whom I 00:56:32.119 --> 00:56:36.880 served sent his angel and he stood with me. And 00:56:36.880 --> 00:56:42.039 it shall be exactly as he has said, that he is 00:56:42.039 --> 00:56:47.559 preserving all people on this ship. And I'm paraphrasing 00:56:47.559 --> 00:56:51.039 a little bit, but there was 276. How did that 00:56:51.039 --> 00:56:57.760 happen? How did the angel? come in outside of 00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:01.539 man's ability in Peter's life. Remember, he was 00:57:01.539 --> 00:57:05.019 chained in the inner prison to four guards, having 00:57:05.019 --> 00:57:08.320 chains all on Peter, four of them, inside the 00:57:08.320 --> 00:57:11.139 gates. Outside the gates, there were guards. 00:57:11.420 --> 00:57:14.199 Outside of the cell, then out the door, there 00:57:14.199 --> 00:57:17.139 were gates and guards again. There were three. 00:57:17.630 --> 00:57:20.809 Sets of guards and gates and the Lord through 00:57:20.809 --> 00:57:24.110 what? The church in Acts 12, earnest prayer was 00:57:24.110 --> 00:57:28.570 made. Earnest prayer did what? It not rooted 00:57:28.570 --> 00:57:33.789 in fear, not rooted in emotions run amok, not 00:57:33.789 --> 00:57:36.230 rooted in rejection because they missed their 00:57:36.230 --> 00:57:38.949 moment with James, but strengthening themselves 00:57:38.949 --> 00:57:42.329 in who God says they were, changed the course 00:57:42.329 --> 00:57:45.719 and did what? earnest prayers, the church stretched 00:57:45.719 --> 00:57:48.940 out. What happened? God sent an angel and Peter 00:57:48.940 --> 00:57:50.920 thought he was in a dream as he walked out of 00:57:50.920 --> 00:57:53.119 those chains, walked out of the gates and walked 00:57:53.119 --> 00:57:56.519 out of the guard. What happened in Paul's life? 00:57:57.159 --> 00:58:04.099 14 days. 275 men despaired of life. 275 men that 00:58:04.099 --> 00:58:08.079 served other deities and other gods. 275 men 00:58:08.079 --> 00:58:10.820 that had wrong values, wrong mindsets, wrong 00:58:10.820 --> 00:58:13.659 hearts that were on their way to destruction 00:58:13.659 --> 00:58:17.880 and hell. Somebody, Paul, staying rooted and 00:58:17.880 --> 00:58:21.320 sober -minded and staying in self -control, stretched 00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:24.780 himself out earnestly on the altar of heaven 00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:28.389 and began to ask that God would intervene. And 00:58:28.389 --> 00:58:31.849 what did God do? After 14 days of no food, 14 00:58:31.849 --> 00:58:35.309 days of no drink, 14 days of no strength, Paul 00:58:35.309 --> 00:58:37.090 stood by the Spirit and said, you take a little 00:58:37.090 --> 00:58:39.769 grain before you drive it off because what I've 00:58:39.769 --> 00:58:42.570 asked for has been granted and I've asked for 00:58:42.570 --> 00:58:49.889 276 lives. What happens when we begin to be sober 00:58:49.889 --> 00:58:55.900 -minded, self -controlled, and love people? more 00:58:55.900 --> 00:58:59.500 than ourselves is that all of a sudden the intervention 00:58:59.500 --> 00:59:03.059 of heaven begins to break in. We see it with 00:59:03.059 --> 00:59:05.679 the church with Peter's life and we see it with 00:59:05.679 --> 00:59:08.300 the church in Paul's life, not a church in the 00:59:08.300 --> 00:59:11.420 world, in Paul's life, in circumstances, they 00:59:11.420 --> 00:59:15.360 stretched out and in earnesty, they laid hold 00:59:15.360 --> 00:59:20.139 of being all in and love Paul, love God and love 00:59:20.139 --> 00:59:24.869 people more than himself. As I'm closing this 00:59:24.869 --> 00:59:29.590 morning. Isn't that what God wants of all of 00:59:29.590 --> 00:59:35.909 us? Hey, Peter. You know why Peter wrote that? 00:59:36.610 --> 00:59:39.949 Because Peter was the recipient of earnest prayer. 00:59:40.429 --> 00:59:45.630 1 Peter 4 .8 came right from the journey. of 00:59:45.630 --> 00:59:48.889 what he experienced through earnest prayer and 00:59:48.889 --> 00:59:52.150 the love of people for the will of God and to 00:59:52.150 --> 00:59:54.809 be pleasing to God more than just themselves, 00:59:55.090 --> 00:59:59.969 he experienced breakthrough. That's what God 00:59:59.969 --> 01:00:02.949 is asking for you and I. In these final moments, 01:00:03.130 --> 01:00:04.889 would you just maybe bow your head and close 01:00:04.889 --> 01:00:13.579 your eyes for a moment? Why don't we just wait 01:00:13.579 --> 01:00:15.300 on the Lord just a little bit. You need to ask 01:00:15.300 --> 01:00:21.059 yourself, Holy Spirit, have I been intoxicated 01:00:21.059 --> 01:00:26.719 by the elixir of the world? Is my prayer life, 01:00:26.880 --> 01:00:33.019 the kind of prayers I'm praying, is it being 01:00:33.019 --> 01:00:36.559 motivated because I'm sober and thinking about 01:00:36.559 --> 01:00:41.909 who you are, Father? Or is my prayer life sponsored 01:00:41.909 --> 01:00:47.429 by the elixir of fear, anxiety, frustration, 01:00:47.969 --> 01:00:59.110 irritation, disappointment. Who's moving me? 01:01:00.130 --> 01:01:05.449 Are my prayers being heard or am I just satisfied 01:01:05.449 --> 01:01:09.710 with the fact that I prayed them and I was emotionally 01:01:09.710 --> 01:01:14.940 stood? stirred. Father, I'm asking now this morning 01:01:14.940 --> 01:01:17.940 that you would begin to deal with us, your church. 01:01:18.860 --> 01:01:22.320 And God, you would make us a people. There'd 01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:26.320 be a shift, Lord, in our thinking that we would 01:01:26.320 --> 01:01:30.440 truly embrace what it means to be sober minded 01:01:30.440 --> 01:01:34.260 of the spirit. Lord, that doesn't mean not full 01:01:34.260 --> 01:01:37.500 of joy. That means both full of joy and full 01:01:37.500 --> 01:01:40.820 of faith, but sober in how we think of you, sober 01:01:40.820 --> 01:01:44.079 in how we respond to you, sober in understanding 01:01:44.079 --> 01:01:47.780 that we can be rooted and grounded in love and 01:01:47.780 --> 01:01:51.420 in truth. And Lord, letting our fervency be in 01:01:51.420 --> 01:01:54.460 the fact that we spoke from truth and the platform 01:01:54.460 --> 01:01:58.300 of truth, not motivated by any outside force. 01:01:59.469 --> 01:02:01.929 And I'm asking that you would separate that this 01:02:01.929 --> 01:02:06.170 morning. Like wheat from chaff, that the wind 01:02:06.170 --> 01:02:08.150 of your spirit would begin to blow through this 01:02:08.150 --> 01:02:11.500 house even now. Lord, there be a blowing out 01:02:11.500 --> 01:02:15.179 of that which is not the fullness of your truth 01:02:15.179 --> 01:02:18.320 and your word. We would not be people of gospel 01:02:18.320 --> 01:02:21.619 only or New Testament only. We would be people 01:02:21.619 --> 01:02:24.280 that would embrace the fullness of your word 01:02:24.280 --> 01:02:27.360 and that we would see what's in front of us and 01:02:27.360 --> 01:02:31.159 learn and hear as well as calling on the promises 01:02:31.159 --> 01:02:34.460 and living by faith even for the things that 01:02:34.460 --> 01:02:38.039 are to come. Make us people that are balanced 01:02:38.039 --> 01:02:43.639 and whole. And Lord, full of faith that when 01:02:43.639 --> 01:02:50.900 we pray, we expect answers. Why? Because our 01:02:50.900 --> 01:02:55.960 prayers are not done without being under control. 01:02:56.000 --> 01:03:02.699 Our spirit controls our soul. Our spirit, your 01:03:02.699 --> 01:03:07.099 spirit, the Holy Spirit, keeps in line our soul. 01:03:09.929 --> 01:03:12.329 Because we pray from faith, we pray from truth, 01:03:12.510 --> 01:03:16.710 and we pray from a platform of love. If you're 01:03:16.710 --> 01:03:18.909 here this morning and you don't know the Lord 01:03:18.909 --> 01:03:21.389 Jesus Christ, you've heard me preach this morning 01:03:21.389 --> 01:03:24.449 for the last 40 minutes, and you go, I've never 01:03:24.449 --> 01:03:27.809 asked Christ into my heart. If that's you this 01:03:27.809 --> 01:03:30.429 morning, I'm talking to you. Or maybe you've 01:03:30.429 --> 01:03:33.409 stepped away from the Lord. Maybe you've not 01:03:33.409 --> 01:03:35.570 been able to outrun his presence, you've not 01:03:35.570 --> 01:03:37.949 been able to outrun the thought of him there, 01:03:38.030 --> 01:03:41.840 but you know you've not, walked and you've deviated 01:03:41.840 --> 01:03:44.159 from where you first met him and fell in love 01:03:44.159 --> 01:03:49.099 with him. Whether you're here in a place of backslidden 01:03:49.099 --> 01:03:53.900 moment, we would call that you've backed off 01:03:53.900 --> 01:03:58.320 of that first love. Or you're here and you've 01:03:58.320 --> 01:04:01.940 never given your life to Christ. Jesus offers 01:04:01.940 --> 01:04:06.340 you, not only does he offer you his life, but 01:04:06.340 --> 01:04:10.610 he offers you his fellowship, his love, his grace, 01:04:10.690 --> 01:04:14.289 and the willingness to partner with him that 01:04:14.289 --> 01:04:18.230 Christ will be formed in you. If that's you this 01:04:18.230 --> 01:04:20.610 morning and you can answer, hey, you know what? 01:04:21.489 --> 01:04:27.650 I wanna make Christ my one true king. Or you're 01:04:27.650 --> 01:04:30.789 here today and you're saying, I have backslidden 01:04:30.789 --> 01:04:35.630 and I gotta, I realize I can't just do this on 01:04:35.630 --> 01:04:38.409 my own. My thinking, my understanding. It's an 01:04:38.409 --> 01:04:41.829 issue. I need the Lord to bring me to a reset. 01:04:41.909 --> 01:04:45.090 Help me repent and begin to live fresh again. 01:04:45.269 --> 01:04:47.989 If anyone is here with that, would you be so 01:04:47.989 --> 01:04:51.210 bold? In any of those categories or in between, 01:04:51.429 --> 01:04:54.070 just lift your hand. I could send somebody back 01:04:54.070 --> 01:04:56.949 to you and pray with you. But you got to be bold 01:04:56.949 --> 01:05:03.349 enough to say, that's me. I know who I am. Is 01:05:03.349 --> 01:05:08.989 there anyone else? Is there anyone else? You 01:05:08.989 --> 01:05:10.710 just gotta lift your hand up before the Lord 01:05:10.710 --> 01:05:15.809 and say, that's me. I'm gonna come back. I wanna 01:05:15.809 --> 01:05:21.510 bring my life under the direction of the Holy 01:05:21.510 --> 01:05:24.610 Spirit. I'm gonna bring my life under the counsel. 01:05:26.730 --> 01:05:29.269 I'm asking for your forgiveness, Lord. I'm asking 01:05:29.269 --> 01:05:33.510 for your grace. Change me. Give me a heart to 01:05:33.510 --> 01:05:39.880 serve you, to love you. Awesome. Just gonna look 01:05:39.880 --> 01:05:46.800 just a little longer. All right. Thank you for 01:05:46.800 --> 01:05:49.559 those that said yes to that. To the rest of us, 01:05:49.619 --> 01:05:53.099 would you just be willing to stand now? Tiffany's 01:05:53.099 --> 01:05:57.519 coming to dismiss us. I wanna pray this prayer 01:05:57.519 --> 01:06:03.000 inside of, that would happen inside of us. Father, 01:06:06.960 --> 01:06:12.539 Let this message burn in our hearts. Lord, let 01:06:12.539 --> 01:06:15.579 the word of the Lord come and be real to us. 01:06:15.659 --> 01:06:19.219 Lord, let us look at our feet. Lord, not being 01:06:19.219 --> 01:06:22.760 enamored with where we are, but Lord, looking 01:06:22.760 --> 01:06:26.159 to what you're trying to shape in us right now. 01:06:27.179 --> 01:06:30.219 What are the circumstances we are going through? 01:06:30.860 --> 01:06:33.800 Lord, that we would not put our affections to 01:06:33.800 --> 01:06:37.150 get out of it. But we would say, let Christ be 01:06:37.150 --> 01:06:41.869 formed in me in this now moment. In this now 01:06:41.869 --> 01:06:46.590 place. I speak that and I pray that and I ask 01:06:46.590 --> 01:06:49.570 for the grace of God to come upon every heart 01:06:49.570 --> 01:06:54.610 and mind. Bless them in Jesus Christ. Holy name. 01:06:56.809 --> 01:06:59.650 Thank you for taking the time to listen to this 01:06:59.650 --> 01:07:02.239 week's message. We are so grateful for those 01:07:02.239 --> 01:07:04.980 who tune in each week and have given generously 01:07:04.980 --> 01:07:08.519 to this ministry. If you would like to give click 01:07:08.519 --> 01:07:11.300 the link in the episode description below. You 01:07:11.300 --> 01:07:13.840 can also help us by subscribing to this podcast 01:07:13.840 --> 01:07:16.039 and sharing it with your friends and family. 01:07:16.639 --> 01:07:19.460 Lastly, if you are in need of prayer send us 01:07:19.460 --> 01:07:25.219 a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We would love 01:07:25.219 --> 01:07:25.960 to pray with you.