WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:04.360 A reminder that life can change in an instant, 00:00:04.580 --> 00:00:08.980 never to be the same again. To our families, 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:14.220 this week were touched by death in a way that 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:20.300 was shocking and unexpected. A character Cargill 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:24.620 was driving down a road running about 35 miles 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:33.560 an hour last Sunday night. It's a bridge that 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:36.259 connects to a crossing that's hard to just drive 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:40.359 away, and extends until the pavement is dry ahead 00:00:40.359 --> 00:01:15.140 and then it began to roll. They'd gone down and 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:17.620 stayed in the plane along with three others in 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:23.079 the Mediterranean. They'd taken off from the 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:27.459 use of fuel adults in bad weather and had completed 00:01:27.459 --> 00:01:29.939 their job working with the Israeli submarine. 00:01:33.219 --> 00:01:35.599 And my cab radio back said that they were on 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:41.180 their way back to the carrier. And the next thing 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:45.549 they knew, they disappeared from the... radar 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:48.609 and the apparently covering radio tape that occurred 00:01:48.609 --> 00:01:56.049 in something in Pacific. And the plane and the 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:59.390 four bodies are all taken to the bottom of a 00:01:59.390 --> 00:02:03.269 thousand feet of water. There's a medic training. 00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:06.730 Micro -molecule is the name I'm coming up with. 00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:11.349 And it's a Jackson drone. But I hope you'll read 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:18.310 it. And if you do, I'm reflecting on this. Driving 00:02:18.310 --> 00:02:21.030 down the highway, I brought to my mind a verse 00:02:21.030 --> 00:02:26.129 that all of us know, in Romans, verse 28. And 00:02:26.129 --> 00:02:28.389 I know that sometimes Romans, verse 28, seems 00:02:28.389 --> 00:02:32.729 to be a little shallow. People quote it. The 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:34.689 guy that passed through that first line in my 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:39.169 heart said, I thought about these events. The 00:02:39.169 --> 00:02:44.159 great truth just popped out of this verse. The 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:49.300 word of the God is good. The second God is his 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:58.439 work. The third God has his purposes. I wish 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:03.500 we knew the purposes of you. There are times 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:06.719 in life when we ache to understand the answers. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:17.939 The God has promised to be a people. I'd like 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:20.199 for us to focus this morning on the second of 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:22.159 those crews that popped out of World War II. 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:26.419 And God has worked, not only has God worked in 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:29.620 the particulars of our lives, God has worked 00:03:29.620 --> 00:03:33.740 in overarching defense. God has worked in our 00:03:33.740 --> 00:03:37.099 world to make calling out a people for His name 00:03:37.099 --> 00:03:42.080 to speak. And God has purposefully called in 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:45.599 those who are the nobodies that despise those 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.580 of the down upon. to confound the world in its 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:54.740 wisdom that exalts those who are wise and intellectual, 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.719 those who are powerful and those who are mighty. 00:03:59.740 --> 00:04:02.219 May God show us the opposite direction and show 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:05.979 us His wisdom in choosing those who are nobody. 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:09.919 If off the phone we can continue this theme as 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.060 we pick up our study in 1 Corinthians chapter 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:24.240 2. There is work in speech or wisdom, proclaiming 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.339 to you the testimony of God. God determined to 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:32.160 know nothing about you except Jesus Christ and 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.379 Him crucified. God was with you in weakness and 00:04:36.379 --> 00:04:39.519 in fear and in much trembling, and my message 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:41.939 and my preaching were not in persuasive words 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:45.800 of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:50.639 and the power that your faith to not rest on 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.100 the wisdom of men who are the power of God. God 00:04:56.100 --> 00:05:00.939 is at work in our world today. The amazing thing 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:04.899 is that God chooses to use people like you and 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:11.040 me to do His work. God has a way to do His work 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:21.670 and that work involves that God will limit himself 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:28.389 to the employment of redeemed yet imperfect people 00:05:28.389 --> 00:05:32.529 and working out his eternal saving purposes. 00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:36.310 Even the Apostle Paul was amazed that God would 00:05:36.310 --> 00:05:40.470 use him in his own testimony in 1 Timothy chapter 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:44.009 1. He said, Christ Jesus, our Lord, strengthens 00:05:44.009 --> 00:05:47.569 me, putting me into service, even though I was 00:05:47.569 --> 00:06:15.370 formerly a blasphemer. Here we have his verses 00:06:15.370 --> 00:06:19.029 and heart reflections about what happened when 00:06:19.029 --> 00:06:23.759 he came back. to proclaim the gospel to them. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.699 In the testimony that he gives in these five 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:32.339 verses, we can determine four actions that explain 00:06:32.339 --> 00:06:38.480 every Christian's heart in God's work. What Paul 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.699 said in these verses that was uniquely about 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:44.779 his entrance to Corinth explains what your heart 00:06:44.779 --> 00:06:52.009 and my heart is in God's work. First of all, 00:06:52.850 --> 00:06:56.910 you are to go. That's your part of God's work. 00:06:57.069 --> 00:07:01.670 Notice the apostle says, when I came to you, 00:07:01.769 --> 00:07:05.829 when I came to you, all that commission from 00:07:05.829 --> 00:07:09.430 Jesus Christ. You recount this commission several 00:07:09.430 --> 00:07:13.449 times, but one of them is in Acts 26, where the 00:07:13.449 --> 00:07:16.050 Lord has recorded that saying to him, but arise 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:19.610 and stand in your feet for this purpose. I have 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:28.470 appeared. and a witness. For God has made delivering 00:07:28.470 --> 00:07:31.829 you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles 00:07:31.829 --> 00:07:38.990 to whom I am sending you. For Jesus said to Paul, 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:43.930 and then those are the words of Jesus in Matthew 00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:47.250 chapter 28 when he said, Go therefore and make 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:53.779 disciples of all the nations. pointed out that 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:56.779 there really is only one imperative in this verse, 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.959 that is, make disciples. In Willem, it says, 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:06.839 going, make disciples of all nations. But in 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:12.339 Matthew, when he gives this particular construction 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.800 of a sentence as a part of the poem, it has the 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:18.139 effect of an imperative for Willem. What he is 00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:24.610 saying is, go and make disciples. Does that mean 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:28.649 you and me? Or did the words of Jesus commanding 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:31.209 for me to reply only to the apostles who are 00:08:31.209 --> 00:08:36.090 frightened in that day? Or did the one who whispered 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:39.129 to him on that mountain top responsible for the 00:08:39.129 --> 00:08:42.269 words that he said to the disciples? The goal 00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:46.690 is to all the world to make disciples. What would 00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:50.870 you recognize that the primary audience was the 00:08:50.870 --> 00:08:54.110 apostles, of course? But there is an application 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:58.049 to all of us that was not given uniquely to them. 00:08:59.210 --> 00:09:02.330 First of all, Jesus said, go into all nations. 00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:07.110 It was impossible for me to go into all nations. 00:09:07.289 --> 00:09:10.629 Jesus said, all nations, if you have a broader 00:09:10.629 --> 00:09:15.529 group, can do in going to them. Furthermore, 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.129 His assurance says, the more I have left you, 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:22.889 even to the end of the age. who are only going 00:09:22.889 --> 00:09:28.190 to live a natural lifetime. They were not going 00:09:28.190 --> 00:09:30.669 to be alive until the end of the age. So Jesus 00:09:30.669 --> 00:09:34.009 is giving this permission to hearers until the 00:09:34.009 --> 00:09:38.250 end of the age that has moved us. They want to 00:09:38.250 --> 00:09:42.230 go into all the nations. This is the work of 00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:49.490 God. And your part is to go. God's work is still 00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:55.110 in me. And they said 1 .1 billion people in the 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:59.490 world today have never heard once the Gospel 00:09:59.490 --> 00:10:07.230 of Jesus, not once. Of the 6 ,528 known languages 00:10:07.230 --> 00:10:12.309 in the world, about 2 ,000 of them did not yet 00:10:12.309 --> 00:10:21.899 have one word or scripture in the language. in 00:10:21.899 --> 00:10:25.720 people groups are still waiting for their first 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.919 viable functioning local church in their midst. 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:33.480 They don't have one. Despite all of this, did 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:37.840 you know that 99%, 99 % of our evangelistic efforts 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:42.200 in the world go to those who've already heard? 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:47.879 Who already have the gospel? You see the command 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.899 of Jesus is to go and it's for all believers. 00:10:52.429 --> 00:10:57.809 We are all missionaries. We are all sent by the 00:10:57.809 --> 00:11:01.529 Lord for some of us. That command is especially 00:11:01.529 --> 00:11:06.429 pertinent. Because the Lord is calling some of 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:11.330 us to go talk culturally to people who have never 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:16.350 heard. For God we have an army of people from 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:18.330 within great church who is rising up to say, 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:21.950 I send the call of God in its... special way 00:11:21.950 --> 00:11:26.509 in my life, dear missionaries. We pray for you 00:11:26.509 --> 00:11:29.950 that God will call you out, make it clear to 00:11:29.950 --> 00:11:33.330 your heart, to the divine care that we may send 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:38.309 you. But beyond that, the fact is that all of 00:11:38.309 --> 00:11:43.429 us are missionaries. That's how God's work is 00:11:43.429 --> 00:11:47.250 going to get done. In Revelation chapter 7 verse 00:11:47.250 --> 00:11:51.509 9, If also John says, after these things, I look 00:11:51.509 --> 00:11:55.490 and behold, a great multitude which no man could 00:11:55.490 --> 00:12:00.669 tell. From every nation and all tribes and peoples 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:05.309 had come, standing before the throne and before 00:12:05.309 --> 00:12:13.470 the last person. People from every nation and 00:12:13.470 --> 00:12:23.059 all tribes and peoples. the representatives of 00:12:23.059 --> 00:12:27.679 every group that didn't want to go through and 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:32.960 have died out in the sea. What does it mean? 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:36.399 It says every time, every people group. Well, 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.320 you know, I can't define those terms precisely 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:41.519 for you and I don't have the answers to all those 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.259 kinds of questions. But I can tell you this, 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.179 it's God's will that the gospel knows at every 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:52.500 single corner of the earth. Your job is to go. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:57.659 That's your part in God's work. To go whether 00:12:57.659 --> 00:13:00.220 it be across the street or to be around the world 00:13:00.220 --> 00:13:02.659 is sort of an isolated place on this road to 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:04.700 reach the people who have not yet heard the gospel 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:10.679 one time. Your part is to go. Your part is to 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:13.879 see yourself as if you're mystery, as if you're 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.700 fossil, because you said that when I came to 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:20.159 you, brethren, this coming was not an accident. 00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:29.100 church of Antioch and passed him out into the 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:32.700 works of mission in this very particular special 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:36.259 sense. And though he was an apostle, and none 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:38.379 of us can be apostles of the sense that Paul 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:42.539 was, we are all sent as we're seen to the world. 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:48.440 Something else that comes here, another action 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.059 that Paul recounts in his testimony, helping 00:13:51.059 --> 00:13:56.100 us understand where our heart is. part is that 00:13:56.100 --> 00:14:00.399 the order will claim the testimony of God. Notice 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.600 the content of what both will claim. It was the 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.500 testimony of the text saying the mystery of God. 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:11.899 In other words, it was that which God had revealed 00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:17.259 in Jesus Christ. In verse 70, it says, we speak 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:21.960 God's wisdom in a mystery. What is that? Remember 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:28.039 two weeks ago, two words, Christ. What? Crucified. 00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:31.879 All the things we have preached in the name of 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:36.919 Christ, crucified. I determined to know nothing 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:40.299 about you except the name of Christ and him, 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:46.000 crucified. Christ is of course the anticipated 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.820 anointed one of God, the servant of the Lord, 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:56.019 who fills the office of prophet and priest. The 00:14:56.019 --> 00:14:58.340 message that Paul was proclaiming was that this 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:01.200 Christ of the Jewish people had expected the 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:25.970 servant of the Lord to see him. You might make 00:15:25.970 --> 00:15:30.049 propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:33.649 only, but for the sins of the whole what? The 00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:40.490 whole world. Your part is to go, and in knowing 00:15:40.490 --> 00:15:44.750 your part is to tell the mystery of Jesus Christ, 00:15:46.250 --> 00:15:50.649 to proclaim the testimony of God about His Son 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:58.059 that He was crucified. David Brainerd was a great 00:15:58.059 --> 00:16:02.399 missionary to the American Indians in the first 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:07.740 half of the 18th century. He said that regardless 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:10.080 of his ministry, by the way, David Brainerd died 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.840 at 30 years of age. Died at 30 years of age. 00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:19.740 That was one of the first in the class we could 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:23.620 talk about. Death came early to David Brainerd, 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:27.100 but he was deeply involved in The work of God 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:30.539 is free, just as life was. This was a step I 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:34.120 never got away from Jesus, and have crucified 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:37.659 in my preaching. I found that once these people 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:40.679 were gripped by the great evangelical meaning 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.840 of Christ, that the place where I was at, I did 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:46.620 not have to give them any instructions about 00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:52.879 change in their behavior. They were raised at 00:16:52.879 --> 00:17:00.690 the time of Paul. And that message was the transforming 00:17:00.690 --> 00:17:06.390 power of God to the lives of the earth. Strived 00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:09.690 on the cornerstone of a large, well -known, fashionable 00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:27.859 church was the church. But we... that had grown 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:30.640 up along its wall and covered nearly a part of 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:36.160 the cornerstone. Until today, it reads, but we 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:44.680 preach. The message is gone. To preach a social 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:50.240 message. And the answer stands before the congregation. 00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:53.099 It's a message dealing with the issues of the 00:17:53.099 --> 00:17:57.460 day. There is no Bible, there is no There is 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:00.980 no crucifixion of Christ for the sins of the 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:05.299 world. Let us not forget that we're going to 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:08.099 have a particular message to proclaim, and that 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:15.700 is Christ crucified for our sins. So it is how 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:19.500 the apostle said he did this. He said, I preach 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:27.529 nothing except Jesus Christ. without superiority 00:18:27.529 --> 00:18:33.789 of speech or wisdom, and if they're not in persuasive 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:39.250 words of wisdom. Paul said here that he delivered 00:18:39.250 --> 00:18:42.750 this message. It was not with some overhanging 00:18:42.750 --> 00:18:48.930 of speech. He did not use this position to manipulate 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:52.930 the Corinthians. He did not come to them with 00:18:52.930 --> 00:19:03.440 enticing words trying to We simply came and preached 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:08.279 Christ crucified. Some of us feel like we don't 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:12.299 know enough. Some of us feel like if we went 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:15.059 to somebody who asked a question and we don't 00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:18.900 know what to say, that it's a shame to us. Some 00:19:18.900 --> 00:19:21.779 of us feel like if we go out and tell people 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:24.680 about Jesus, that we have to have all of the 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:27.500 apologetic arguments now. and we have to have 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:31.259 every plot down in our minds so we know exactly 00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:35.059 what we're going to say or what argument we're 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:37.680 going to have to be prepared and learned in terms 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:41.319 of all of that elucidation. It's not our sway 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.220 to judge. It's not our intellectual argument 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:50.200 that gets God's work done. It is our simply proclaiming 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:57.160 the message of Christ crucified. Jesus, who He 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:00.519 is, and why He came, and what He did for us. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:05.599 That's the best of them. And that's all we need 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:10.059 to deliver to do our part. Your part will not 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:14.240 work if you simply, compassionately pass on the 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:20.859 message of Christ, crucified for our sins. Your 00:20:20.859 --> 00:20:34.329 part is to go, and your part is to go. with all 00:20:34.329 --> 00:21:07.380 conditions and God's plan for station. The devil 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:12.740 will have divine receipt of weakness and quaking, 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:18.940 shaking, much trembling at this. But perhaps, 00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:22.099 he also is very forthright in saying that he 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:26.599 is also within his fear. There was like a certain 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.740 fright, a terror that caught him. In his own 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:32.740 heart, yet he was finished with his tortuos. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.539 of the apostles was always being brave, and always 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:41.640 being courageous, and never being afraid of anything. 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:45.819 Bring on the lion, not an apostle. Paul said 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:48.200 that that wasn't the condition he was in for 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:52.220 it. But we remember that he just been an atheist 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:56.720 that had this tremendous confrontation with intellectuals 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:01.339 on Mars Hill. And Paul there proclaiming the 00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:03.779 gospel to them in the context that happened. 00:22:05.289 --> 00:22:07.609 He had been through some tough days. There were 00:22:07.609 --> 00:22:10.970 people out there searching for him to kill him. 00:22:12.250 --> 00:22:16.910 Their reason for life had been afraid. Are you 00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:24.130 ever afraid of doing God's work? From the bravest 00:22:24.130 --> 00:22:26.970 people in the world, the moment they think about 00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:30.210 witnessing somebody else begin shaking with fear. 00:22:30.630 --> 00:22:35.819 It's all in the life that I live. We're all afraid. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.339 We're afraid we'll get our own flesh, and I think 00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:43.559 the devil makes us afraid too. We're afraid of 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:45.500 what people will say. We're afraid we'll say 00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:47.500 the wrong thing. We're afraid they won't expect 00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:53.359 me. But listen, if we're afraid, we're just like 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:58.500 all of us. That's not the issue. Our heart is 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:00.779 to give the message in the power of the Holy 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:12.690 Spirit. our fears in the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:23:13.170 --> 00:23:16.490 thought that I was with you that way. But he 00:23:16.490 --> 00:23:20.529 says my message, my preaching, were in demonstration 00:23:20.529 --> 00:23:26.150 of the spirit and the power. My victory says 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:30.150 the apostle speaks of a proof that is showing 00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:33.849 forth a display by the operation of the Spirit 00:23:33.849 --> 00:23:37.630 of God in him, that affecting the hearts and 00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:40.220 lives of the spirit in contrast. the defensive 00:23:40.220 --> 00:23:44.319 methods of proof by rhetorical arts and philosophic 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.059 arguments. Paul says there was a demonstration 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:51.460 of the Holy Spirit's power in what I was doing. 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:56.420 Yet then here I did not use philosophic arguments. 00:23:57.319 --> 00:24:02.059 I did not use persuasive words to try to impress 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:05.599 you. He says I simply gave to you the gospel 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.319 even though I have fear and I was in trembling. 00:24:08.589 --> 00:24:11.150 He says, I live out of the power of the Holy 00:24:11.150 --> 00:24:16.269 Spirit and all experience and insights. The Holy 00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:20.490 Spirit affects you. The Holy Spirit steps up 00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:25.670 and gives you your heart. He came down to work 00:24:25.670 --> 00:24:28.990 for us to depend upon how brave you are, how 00:24:28.990 --> 00:24:32.569 courageous you are, to depend upon whether or 00:24:32.569 --> 00:24:34.549 not you're just willing to obey and do the right 00:24:34.549 --> 00:24:39.730 thing in the power of the Holy Spirit. You may 00:24:39.730 --> 00:24:42.210 do that feeling afraid, you may work family, 00:24:42.450 --> 00:24:46.329 the Holy Spirit can give those words and make 00:24:46.329 --> 00:24:49.329 them light in the heart of those who are with 00:24:49.329 --> 00:24:56.049 us. That's how God does his work. Here we go. 00:24:57.369 --> 00:25:00.390 They will proclaim the testimony of God, which 00:25:00.390 --> 00:25:03.970 is Christ crucified. Don't get sidetracked in 00:25:03.970 --> 00:25:13.240 the other issue. The power of the Holy Spirit 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:16.519 is coming upon him, not yourself. That's your 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:23.460 part of God's work. The Father had written about 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:26.279 what occurred in the belly factory a number of 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:32.440 years ago, when there was an elongated bar of 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:36.460 steel that weighed about 500 pounds that was 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:43.009 suspended by a chain. Opposite that, there was 00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:47.430 suspended a cork. It was a very simple cork in 00:25:47.430 --> 00:25:51.670 a bottle on a slope that might meet again that 00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:56.849 iron bar where you slide from the ground. For 00:25:56.849 --> 00:25:59.849 the first several minutes, nothing happened except 00:25:59.849 --> 00:26:05.890 the cork came bouncing back. The record says 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:10.250 after about ten minutes. And it was rolling. 00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:16.720 The bar began to get pretty low on a little bit. 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:22.079 It didn't stand up to the course of an hour because 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:26.039 of the steady rhythmic beating of that little 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:57.609 cork. The bar weighed 500 pounds. Your part is 00:26:57.609 --> 00:27:01.450 to be the spirit of that soul. For him, from 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:07.309 release, is power through you. John Scott was 00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:10.769 one of the great preachers of our day of evangelical 00:27:10.769 --> 00:28:17.140 languages. Like, it seems that the... so that 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:21.380 your faith should not rest on the lips of a man 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:26.660 but on the power of God. Paul wanted the foundation 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:29.500 of faith to be following God's working and not 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:33.680 his own persuasiveness. Paul did not want his 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:39.200 own disciples. He did not want his own disciples 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:49.039 to live in him. No faith will serve in him. Dr. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:52.799 MacArthur relates a comment made to him by another 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.960 pastor in this church who was preaching. Sadly, 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:00.640 the pastor said to Dr. MacArthur after the morning 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:05.279 service, do you see that man over there? He is 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:14.420 one of my converts. Not the Lord, but mine. He 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:17.880 was not hosting in this. He was simply acknowledging 00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:26.150 that this man for following him to therapy. Let 00:29:26.150 --> 00:29:29.789 us never speak to build others on ourselves. 00:29:29.970 --> 00:29:33.609 Let us make subtle temptations to make others 00:29:33.609 --> 00:29:43.150 repayment upon us in prayer. And we may even 00:29:43.150 --> 00:29:52.470 disguise that in we're doing is yielding to the 00:29:52.470 --> 00:29:58.210 temptation to build our own ego. To think that 00:29:58.210 --> 00:30:02.089 somehow others need us so badly that they keep 00:30:02.089 --> 00:30:07.430 coming to us. Also, the fear is that we cannot 00:30:07.430 --> 00:30:11.509 build others on ourselves. We must build and 00:30:11.509 --> 00:30:15.970 find the right. But the faith may not be upon 00:30:15.970 --> 00:30:21.799 you or upon me. And I will. How large is the 00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:25.039 power of persuasiveness? With their faith they 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:28.680 rest upon the power of God, which is Christ. 00:30:30.660 --> 00:30:34.160 Your part in God's work is to introduce others 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:42.539 to Jesus, and then to get out of the way. But 00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:48.980 keep pointing them to Him, by doing God's work. 00:30:51.049 --> 00:30:54.269 You are doing a work that matters the most to 00:30:54.269 --> 00:30:59.430 all the works in the world. We have a part of 00:30:59.430 --> 00:31:05.069 it by God's desire. You are helping a person 00:31:05.069 --> 00:31:12.210 by taking God's word to them. That is a help 00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:15.710 that is more significant than anything else you 00:31:15.710 --> 00:31:27.519 can do for them. must be left all their arms 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:34.380 around you and thank you that you did your part 00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:56.160 in God's work in their lives. In the heart of 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.160 London's city is the dwelling of the poor. These 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:04.039 bright and folded words were uttered, I have 00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:10.220 cried. What was I more? Hooked by a lonely woman, 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:13.400 died on the terrace floor, having not one hope 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:19.940 to comfort. I have cried. What was I more? In 00:32:19.940 --> 00:32:31.559 the heart of London's city I have Christ, what 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:36.640 more can I want? When a word falls, I repeat 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:39.779 them o 'er and o 'er. God delights to hear me 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:44.599 say, I have Christ, what more can I want? Look 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:48.940 away from earth's detractions. Friendly joy will 00:32:48.940 --> 00:32:53.759 soon be o 'er. Rest not till my heart exclaimeth, 00:32:54.019 --> 00:33:18.779 I have Christ. talk about your memorial service, 00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:24.059 which conducted this week. Will I be able to 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:06.880 What are you doing with life without work? If 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:08.960 it wasn't my part, I'd just spend 30 minutes 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:15.320 talking about it. That's your part. It's not 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:17.579 hard. It's not complicated. It's a very simple 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:33.849 answer. That's your part. I'm just waiting. What 00:34:33.849 --> 00:34:36.409 might hinder me with you in doing God's work 00:34:36.409 --> 00:34:39.889 responsible for much of our lives as carnal creatures? 00:34:42.349 --> 00:34:47.389 Living to believe ourselves in our flesh? Or 00:34:47.389 --> 00:34:51.469 being absorbed in this tranquil life? All those 00:34:51.469 --> 00:34:54.989 regarding demons, the mystic fake and him having 00:34:54.989 --> 00:35:02.570 love for this present world? Or looking after 00:35:02.570 --> 00:35:06.880 this crap? You know, I believe that that is one 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:10.000 of the most effective weapons the devil has. 00:35:10.460 --> 00:35:12.639 That his heart's going against our big and powerful 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:17.219 government. Because there's not a person like 00:35:17.219 --> 00:35:20.260 me, like John, whose life is on incredibly complex 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:26.500 and complicated. We are very busy people. We 00:35:26.500 --> 00:35:31.840 have a lot on our plate. And it is easy for - 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:38.579 doing those many things that will overlook the 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:42.780 eternal things and the real reason why I'm still 00:35:42.780 --> 00:35:47.639 being here and that is that we might do our part 00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:53.599 in God's work. My plea with all of us is that 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:56.280 we stop and think this morning about what God 00:35:56.280 --> 00:36:04.340 wants us to do about and that we give back. to 00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:08.539 understand Harvard at the door in 1966. Went 00:36:08.539 --> 00:36:11.159 with a buddy of his to college in Mexico to see 00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.619 his buddy's parents for missionaries here. He 00:36:14.619 --> 00:36:17.960 was 19 at the time, and he wrote an entry in 00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:21.639 his journal, among them being a couple of sentences. 00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:25.539 Because missionaries are very difficult just 00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:30.280 doing what they're asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies 00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:39.010 trying to absolve... For nobody, that's okay. 00:36:40.010 --> 00:36:43.230 God shows us that nobody's like God, because 00:36:43.230 --> 00:36:46.710 it involves God and glory. Don't blackout and 00:36:46.710 --> 00:36:50.309 boast this person. But he has chosen us, nobody, 00:36:51.409 --> 00:36:53.429 that we like us just to think that it's going 00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:58.489 to begin to work. Let's be of God our Father's 00:36:58.489 --> 00:37:06.530 children. Amen. Father God, I pray that we would 00:37:15.660 --> 00:37:19.079 Forgive us for the great sin of getting our eyes 00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:24.840 off of Jesus, and off of the gold mine, and off 00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:29.179 of the past that has come up before us, and getting 00:37:29.179 --> 00:37:32.340 our eyes off of the destruction of the world, 00:37:33.199 --> 00:37:38.659 and the busyness of life. Lord Jesus, help us 00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:42.679 to so manage our lives and our spirits that we 00:37:42.679 --> 00:37:43.219 don't forget.