1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,720 I've got people that are waiting for me in heaven and I'm looking 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,119 forward to seeing them. And I think that's going to be 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,040 an exciting thing to be able to see them again. 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,240 But I don't think they're going to be all that excited to see me 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,240 because they've already seen Jesus and they know what it's 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,640 like to be at His feet. And as much as it is going to be 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,680 great to be able to see those that have passed on, my mom's 8 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,480 one of them. She's there and others that I 9 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:27,120 know that are that are already in heaven. 10 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,240 But I want to see Jesus and I want to see him first. 11 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:32,680 He's the one that died for me. And boy, you think about it. 12 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,360 It's a song that angels Can't Sing. 13 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,320 They've never been redeemed. They don't know what it feels 14 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,400 like. And it's an amazing thing that 15 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,360 God did that for us. But in second. 16 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,920 Corinthians chapter 4 and by way of introduction, I want to 17 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,560 remind you that our theme this year is please God. 18 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:49,320 And all of our spiritual problems I think would be solved 19 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,880 if every person in the church had that as their mindset and 20 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:53,960 that as their goal. Just please God. 21 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,320 If we could just please God, that would take care of a lot of 22 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,480 our heart issues. And I don't think there's too 23 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,080 many people. If I was to ask you to raise 24 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,280 your hand, I think probably everybody would raise your hand 25 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,640 and say, hey, I want to live a life that's pleasing to God. 26 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,320 I think everybody in here is here this morning partly because 27 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:10,360 of that reason. You want to live a life that's 28 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,480 pleasing to God. Most of us want to please him, 29 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:18,680 but often that involves more of a wish or a hope of pleasing God 30 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,600 than putting things in place to actually work at pleasing Him. 31 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,720 And so that's what I want to give you this morning, a short 32 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,480 introduction. And it's not going to be a real 33 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,120 long message this morning, but I want to give you 4 ways that we 34 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,760 can live a life that is pleasing to God. 35 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,680 We're going to read. This passage here in Second 36 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,320 Corinthians chapter 4. But let's have a word of prayer 37 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,120 before we do that. Father, again, we thank you so 38 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,680 much for your goodness to us and for an opportunity that we have 39 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,160 to to be here and again to to be able to open up your word. 40 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,760 I pray that it would be a blessing and a help to us this 41 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,480 morning. God, may we have a greater 42 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,920 desire to live for you, a greater desire to just please 43 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,400 you with our lives and may this be a help and where decisions 44 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,440 need to be made. God, I pray that you'd help us 45 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,280 to make them. Thank you again for all that you 46 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,320 do for us in Jesus name, Amen. The first way that we can live a 47 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,800 life that's pleasing to God we find here in Second Corinthians 48 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,520 chapter 4 and right there in the first verse says, therefore, 49 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:16,560 seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint 50 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,160 not now, of course, Second Corinthians. 1st and 2nd 51 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:20,960 Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. 52 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,440 Paul knew something about going through difficulty. 53 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,800 Paul knew something about dealing with heartache. 54 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,080 He knew something about dealing with hardship. 55 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,800 And so when he was talking to these Corinthians there in this 56 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,760 church, he was not just giving them something that's total or 57 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,320 something that he heard from somebody else or something that 58 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,520 he thought, you know, maybe this would be a help to you. 59 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:39,880 He'd been through it. He knows. 60 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:42,720 He knew what it feel, what it felt like, and he knows what it 61 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,640 feels like to want to faint or to feel like you're going to 62 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,200 faint in the middle of the of the battle. 63 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,360 And so the first thing that I want to give you this morning is 64 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,680 this persevere through difficulty. 65 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,480 Persevere through difficulty. The devil wants to destroy this 66 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,040 church. The devil wants to destroy your 67 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:00,840 life. There's nothing more that that 68 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,240 he would like than to see this church fold up and close its 69 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,680 doors in the first decade of our existence. 70 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,360 The devil is not some pesky little fella that's just walks 71 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,280 in, you know, walking around tempting people. 72 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,640 He's not a, he's not a, the, the guy dressed in all black that's 73 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,160 sitting on your shoulder trying to get you to do the wrong 74 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,320 things, as opposed to the Angel that's sitting on the other 75 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,360 shoulder that's trying to get you to do the right things. 76 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,960 That's not the devil is not he, he's, he's our avowed enemy. 77 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,160 He said over and over and over and, and, and the Bible says 78 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,080 over and over and over that he wants to destroy your life. 79 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,720 He wants to destroy this church. The devil doesn't come dressed 80 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,320 in in red clothes and you know, with pointy horns and a 81 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,240 pitchfork like everybody tries to portray him as he he comes as 82 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,280 everything that you've ever wished for. 83 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,120 That's how the devil is going to come across you. 84 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,960 He's an Angel of light. The Bible says in first Peter 85 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,320 chapter 5 and verse 8. Be sober, be vigilant because 86 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,160 your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about 87 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:07,480 seeking whom he may devour. He wants to destroy your life. 88 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,240 If you're if you were. Driving through a. 89 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,400 Safari park of some sort where there was wild animals and you 90 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,800 saw a lion sitting there. I can promise you that you're 91 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,480 not going to get out of your car and go over there and try to pet 92 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,519 him. Or if you do, you might maybe if 93 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:23,520 you have a death wish, you'd do something like that. 94 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,000 And I've seen different videos of tourists who got out to 95 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,840 switch places in a car or something in the middle of a, of 96 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:32,320 a park like that and got attacked by the tigers or the 97 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,680 lions or whatever else. You'd have to be a fool to get 98 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,680 out of your car and, and, and, and go where a lion is. 99 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,080 And the Bible says that the devil is a roaring lion. 100 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,160 He's walking about seeking whom he may devour. 101 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,360 He wants to destroy your life. And part of being a Christian is 102 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,240 fighting the devil and fighting his temptations to make us quit 103 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,520 on God. Oh, he's trying to make you 104 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:56,040 quit. You know, those feelings that 105 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,520 you have sometimes. Is this really worth it? 106 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,240 Is all of this everything that has cracked up to be? 107 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,960 Can I just go live my life the way that I want to live my life? 108 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,320 That's the devil trying to get you to quit on God. 109 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,800 This was years ago, obviously now, but during the Monday Night 110 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,960 Football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York 111 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,720 Giants, one of the announcers, this was when Walter Payton was 112 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,720 still playing back in the, in the the 70s and the 80s. 113 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,040 But he made, he, he just made an observation that, that Walter 114 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,760 Payton had accumulated 9 miles worth of running yards. 115 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,080 And the other announcer said yes. 116 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,760 And that's with getting knocked down every 4.6 yards while 117 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,120 you're doing it. If anybody knew what it was like 118 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,000 to get knocked down, the most successful running back probably 119 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,680 ever, even the very best, understand that you're going to 120 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,480 get knocked down. The key is getting back up. 121 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,080 And Walter Payton accumulated 9 miles worth of yards because he 122 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,200 got knocked down and knocked down and knocked down and 123 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,800 knocked down, but he kept getting back up. 124 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,040 In fact, I heard a story about a coach that was doing some 125 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,320 recruiting and he was. He went to a high school 126 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,080 football game and he was trying to, he was recruiting for 127 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,480 college and he was that was his job. 128 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,040 He was just, he was a scout and he would go and watch these and 129 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,000 watch these, these kids play. And so he came back to the coach 130 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,120 and he said, man, I'll tell you what, I saw this player and he 131 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,600 every single time, I mean, he would. 132 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,800 He would carry the ball and he would get knocked down and 133 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,200 sometimes I didn't think he was going to get back up because of 134 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,240 how hard he got hit. But he would get back up again 135 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,280 and next play they would hand him the ball and he just kept 136 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,040 pounding that thing up through the middle and he kept getting 137 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:29,720 knocked down. But every time he got knocked 138 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,400 down, he would he would get back up and be ready to go right on 139 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,160 the next play. I think this is a guy that we 140 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,800 need to have on our team. And the coach thought about it 141 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,440 for a second. He said I'm not so sure. 142 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,280 And he said, what do you mean you're not sure this is he gets 143 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:43,840 knocked down, but he keeps getting back up. 144 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:46,040 And he said, I want the guy that's doing all the knocking 145 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:47,440 down. That's who I wanted, my team. 146 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,640 Obviously that's, you know, it's a joke when it comes to those 147 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,320 things, but the devil is going to try to knock you down over 148 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,640 and over and over and over. You've got to keep getting back 149 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,920 up and persevere through those difficulties if the devil can 150 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,880 make you quit. And give up on God, which he's 151 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,120 done many, many times over the course of history. 152 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,360 People that that that were on fire for God, people that were 153 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,120 all out for him, people that had a great desire to serve him. 154 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:13,800 And something happened in their life. 155 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,160 Something got in the way that slowed them down a little bit. 156 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,000 And they started backing off of all the things that they used to 157 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:20,000 do. And they stopped reading their 158 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,160 Bible the way that they should. They stopped praying. 159 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,360 They stopped being involved in the ministries at church. 160 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,320 They stopped going to church. And eventually what happens is 161 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,400 the devil wins. He made you quit. 162 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,160 You're no longer useful for God when you're in that position. 163 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,480 If he can get you to throw in the towel and say, oh, it's, 164 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,920 it's too hard, then he's won the battle. 165 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,120 And make no mistake, the Christian life is a battle. 166 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,040 It's a spiritual battle, but it's a battle nonetheless. 167 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,840 And we've got to fight through those things for the cause of 168 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:48,560 Jesus Christ. Fact, turn over, keep your 169 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,560 finger there in Second Corinthians chapter 4. 170 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,640 We're coming back, but turn over a few pages. 171 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,960 The Second Corinthians chapter 10 Second Corinthians chapter 10 172 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,600 verse #4 The Bible says this. For the weapons of our warfare 173 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,280 are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down 174 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:13,360 of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high 175 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,880 thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, 176 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,080 and bring it into captivity every thought. 177 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,360 To the obedience of Christ, Bringing into captivity every 178 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,840 thought To the obedience of Christ. 179 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,680 The secret to winning the battle against Satan is found right 180 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,320 there in verse #5 If we bring into captivity every thought to 181 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,600 the obedience of Christ, then it'll be very hard to quit on 182 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,039 God. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 9 183 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,840 says let us not be weary and well doing, for in due season we 184 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:46,960 shall reap if we faint not. You've got to keep going for the 185 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:48,280 Lord. You've got to keep pushing 186 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,400 through. There's a harvest on the other 187 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,360 side and sometimes you can't see what's happening below the 188 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,720 surface. You can't see what's happening 189 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,040 underground. But God is working and God is 190 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,640 moving and he wants us to just keep going for him. 191 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,720 In due season you shall reap if you faint not. 192 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,440 He says, turn over to Philippians chapter 3. 193 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,280 Philippians chapter 3, verse #12. 194 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,480 And obviously this is the apostle Paul talking as well. 195 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,520 And I think as he's writing, many times he would go back in 196 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,600 his mind's eye to a certain incident or a certain thing that 197 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:23,640 happened to him. Maybe maybe it was when he got 198 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,920 stoned, or maybe it was one of the times when he was 199 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,240 shipwrecked, shipwrecked, or maybe it was one of the times 200 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,520 when he was being beaten, or maybe it was when he was sitting 201 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,320 in that Philippian jail. I don't know. 202 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,880 But as I can't help but imagine that as Paul is writing these 203 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,760 words, he's thinking about the things that he's suffered, and 204 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:40,760 the things that he's been through for the cause of Christ. 205 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,920 And he says this in verse #12 not as though I had already 206 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:45,840 attained either were already perfect. 207 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,960 But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which 208 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:51,880 also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 209 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,120 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but this one 210 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,760 thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and 211 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,160 reaching forth unto those things which are before. 212 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,480 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God 213 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,920 in Christ Jesus. I think a lot of those things 214 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,200 that Paul's talking about, maybe it's some of his past failures, 215 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,480 some of the times when he was on his way to Damascus or so, some 216 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,840 of these other cities where the Christians were at and putting 217 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,600 them in prison and, and allowing them to be put to death. 218 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:19,840 And maybe that's some of the things that he's trying to 219 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,360 forget. But I think also he's trying to 220 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,640 put out of his mind the fact that he's had to suffer a 221 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,640 tremendous amount for the cause of Christ. 222 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,960 He's had to go through a lot of things to be able to do what 223 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:30,840 Christ has asked them to do. They said. 224 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,120 I don't think about those things. 225 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,840 I'm pressing forward. The things that have happened 226 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:36,760 are in the past. I can't change anything about 227 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,800 the past, whether it's a success or whether it's a failure or 228 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,520 whether it's a difficulty. I can't change the things that 229 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:43,160 are in the past. But. 230 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:48,520 I can go forward for God. Wilma didn't have much of A head 231 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,640 start in life. She was twenty 20th of 22 232 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,400 children. And when she was born that she 233 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,200 obviously was was in a she came from a family that didn't have a 234 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,400 lot of money. But when she was four years old, 235 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:05,440 she developed polio in her leg and her leg became crooked and 236 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,880 twisted and deformed and to the point where she had to wear a 237 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,520 leg brace. And the doctor told her that she 238 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,800 would never walk again. But she decided that she was 239 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,960 going to walk again. And so seven years of physical 240 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,080 therapy later, she finally walked for the first time 241 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,960 without her brace and she went out. 242 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,240 And at 12 years old, she went out for the girls basketball 243 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,360 team at her public school. And she didn't make the team, 244 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,320 but she determined that she was going to work hard and she was 245 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:32,800 going to be on that team the next year. 246 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,040 And so she practiced with another girlfriend of hers and 247 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,760 two boys that entire summer. And the next year she made the 248 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,120 basketball team. And as she played, the track 249 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,240 coach was watching and, and thought this this girl has some 250 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,520 great potential to be a track star. 251 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,000 And so we asked her to come out and run in the track team. 252 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:50,600 And before long, she was actually the. 253 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,120 Fastest 1 in the. State And before long she had 254 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:55,880 actually made it onto the Olympic team. 255 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,080 And she went to the Olympics in 1956. 256 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,280 Didn't place, didn't didn't do well at all. 257 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,760 She she was outrun by everybody else. 258 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,200 But that bitter disappointment actually spurred her to go on 259 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,400 and to do more and to to work harder into practice. 260 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:16,800 And in the 1960 Olympics, Wilma Rudolph won 3 gold medals, which 261 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,240 was at that time the most a woman had ever won in any 262 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,040 Olympics. The temptation is to ask for 263 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,240 things to be easier. I mean, I, this is a physical 264 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,440 situation, obviously, you know, a twisted leg. 265 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,520 And it'd be easy to just say, well, you know what, this is my 266 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,240 lot in life. I guess this is what's going to 267 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:35,600 happen. I guess I'm just done. 268 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:37,520 I can't do anything else. She determined that she was 269 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,280 going to go forward and do more and do do everything that she 270 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:42,280 could to accomplish things physically. 271 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,000 But the the temptation for us in our spiritual lives and, and 272 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,720 sometimes even in our physical lives, but the the temptation 273 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,600 for us in our spiritual lives is to ask for things to be easier, 274 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,720 to back off as Christians so we don't have to work as hard. 275 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,240 John F Kennedy said do not. Pray for an easier life. 276 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,800 Pray to be a stronger man. That's what we need. 277 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,080 That's that's what we need in our in our Christian lives. 278 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,280 That's what we need in our spiritual walk. 279 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:09,360 Nobody, nobody's asking for things to be difficult. 280 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:14,680 Nobody wants things to be hard. Nobody wants life to be to be 281 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:16,480 something that we have to fight through. 282 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,200 But you can you look at, you look throughout history and you 283 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,120 see the ones who accomplished the most for Christ are the ones 284 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,200 who usually had to suffer the most for him. 285 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,280 At the same time, the ones who had to had to really persevere 286 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,160 through those difficulties are the ones who really accomplished 287 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,880 something for Christ. And that's exactly what Paul, I 288 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,320 believe is trying to get across to us back in Second Corinthians 289 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,640 chapter 4. Therefore, seeing we have this 290 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,280 ministry as we have received mercy, we faint. 291 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,800 Not persevere through difficulty, but he continues in 292 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,240 verse #2. But have renounced the hidden 293 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,040 things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor 294 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,880 handling the word of God deceitfully, but by 295 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,800 manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every 296 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:58,400 man's conscience in the sight of God. 297 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,360 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in 298 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,640 whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which 299 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,680 believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, 300 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,760 who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 301 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:17,800 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and 302 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,000 ourselves your servants, for Jesus sake. 303 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,560 For God, who commanded the light, the shine out of 304 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,840 darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the 305 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:27,360 knowledge of the glory of God in the. 306 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,240 Face of Jesus Christ The second thing that we have to understand 307 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,800 if we're going to live a life that's pleasing to God is not 308 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,240 only that we have to persevere through difficulty, but #2 we 309 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,600 have to preach Jesus Christ. And when I say preach Jesus 310 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,600 Christ, I say that in opposition to preaching ourselves. 311 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,160 The devil is no match for the Lord and he knows it, which is 312 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,920 why he tries to keep men's eyes blinded to the truth. 313 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,680 These these apostles and Paul in particular and others that were 314 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,320 with him made it their business to preach Christ and not 315 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,120 themselves. Self was not the matter. 316 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,680 It was not the goal of the apostles preaching. 317 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,240 They didn't give their own notions, they didn't give their 318 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,760 own private opinions. They didn't give their passions 319 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,920 and their prejudices. They preached Jesus Christ. 320 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:13,560 They also didn't seek to advance their. 321 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,640 Own secular interests. I just recently read a book 322 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,520 about DL Moody. DL Moody and Iris Sankey were 323 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,520 Iris Sankey was his song leader and they went all the way across 324 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:23,800 England. They went all the way across the 325 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,920 America. Preaching and singing and 326 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,400 holding revivals and seeing many, many people come to 327 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,600 Christ. But one of the things that Iris 328 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,280 Sankey in particular. Pioneered, if you will, was, was 329 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,840 the singing as part of the services to kind of prepare the 330 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,560 hearts. And he wrote many songs himself. 331 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,280 But he and DL Moody published the songbook and it, they 332 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,120 printed so many copies and sold so many copies that in our day, 333 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,480 I think it was $1,000,000 or something like that that they 334 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,720 made in their day. This was back in the late 1800s, 335 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,560 early 1900s, in our days, the equivalent to about $28 million 336 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,400 that they made off of those songbooks. 337 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,520 And they didn't take one penny for themselves. 338 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,520 They put all of that money back into the ministry. 339 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,560 They didn't want anybody to be able to say they're doing it for 340 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,120 their own personal gain. And that's exactly what these 341 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,400 apostles were about. The same thing that DL Moody and 342 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,600 many others were about. It's not about us. 343 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,240 It's not about our own personal gain. 344 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,160 It's about preaching Jesus Christ and getting Him. 345 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,600 To the people who need him. That's the problem with so many 346 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,200 Christians today. I think we're we're seeking for 347 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,480 things that benefit us. How does this help me? 348 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,240 If it doesn't help me, I don't want to be any part of it. 349 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,800 Oh, there's ministries. What can I get out of it? 350 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,600 What can I do that it's going to benefit me? 351 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,720 By God's grace, our church is continuing to grow and we're 352 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,000 adding ministries. But especially early on, I think 353 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,480 I mentioned this, not all that long ago, we had people that 354 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,360 would come in and, and ask us about our youth programs and 355 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,520 what do you have for the kids and all of these things. 356 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,600 And we were brand new. We say, well, we don't really 357 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,080 have anything yet. We have some of our own kids 358 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,960 here and we do some things with them in a Sunday school class 359 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,680 and we have a things that we do with him on Wednesday night. 360 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,200 But we don't really have a youth group yet. 361 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,560 We don't have any anybody that's old enough to be in a youth 362 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,800 group and we'd like to start one, but we don't have that now. 363 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,319 And they say, well, we're looking for a church that has 364 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,000 that has youth ministries, that our kids can be involved. 365 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,560 In and that we'd like to have for them and you don't really 366 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,319 have all the ministries that we want to have for our family. 367 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,599 You know #1 how are we ever going to have those things that 368 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,040 people that have kids that are in that age don't stay right? 369 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,560 You're never going to be able to have that, but #2. 370 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:29,120 When did it become all about you? 371 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,720 When was it all about what benefits you as as as to whether 372 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,200 or not you're going to stay in a church that maybe God's called 373 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,640 you to be in and be a part of? What I needed? 374 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,200 Them to say was, hey, here's a great opportunity for our family 375 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,920 to serve. Let us be the seed. 376 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,760 Let our family be the one that that that that that that 377 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,400 pioneers this ministry. If that's what needs to happen, 378 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,120 let's jump in and get involved and do what we can to serve the 379 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,000 Lord in this area. The business of these early 380 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,680 Christians was to make their master known to the world. 381 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,480 They were trying to let them know that He was the Messiah. 382 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,080 They were trying to let them know that He was the Christ of 383 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,400 God. And as Jesus Christ, the only 384 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,720 Savior, and as the rightful Lord, they were trying to 385 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,640 advance His glory and His honor. It wasn't about them. 386 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,440 And they proved that because they didn't care what happened 387 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,640 to them if they were told and commanded to preach. 388 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,840 And God did command them to preach the same way that He's 389 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,000 commanded us to preach. They went and did it. 390 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,240 Let the chips fall where they may. 391 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,200 I don't care what people have to say about it. 392 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,040 This is what God wants me to do. And we're going to proclaim the 393 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,040 truth. It's not about me, it's about 394 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,440 him. We're preaching Christ. 395 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,480 All the lines of Christian doctrine center in Jesus Christ, 396 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,640 and in preaching Christ we preach all that we should 397 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,040 preach. Let me tell you what I mean by 398 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,560 preaching Christ. First of all, he was born of a 399 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,800 virgin. That's important. 400 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,960 That's important. If Jesus Christ was not born of 401 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,240 a virgin, then he could not be the sinless son of God. 402 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,600 Larry King, maybe you remember him, Rush Limbaugh used to call 403 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,960 him Larry King alive because he looked like he was dead for the 404 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:03,360 last 20 years that he was doing it. 405 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,120 But Larry King had, Larry King had a very interesting show 406 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:08,800 where he would interview these people. 407 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,760 And somebody asked him one time, if you could go back and ask 408 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,920 Jesus Christ anything, what would you ask him? 409 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,040 And Larry King said I would ask him if he was born of a virgin, 410 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,520 because everything hinges on that. 411 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,200 That's that's a secular guy who didn't really have any care 412 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,440 necessarily about Christianity, he said. 413 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,800 But if whether he was born of a virgin or not makes all the 414 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,280 difference. I would tell you that Jesus not 415 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:36,840 only was born of a virgin, but he lived a sinless life. 416 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,560 He died a horrible death at the hands of those he came to save. 417 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,360 He came to die for them and they put him to death. 418 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,040 He was buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days later he 419 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,200 rose again. Jesus Christ went back to heaven 420 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,040 to prepare a place for you and for me and for those who have 421 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,000 accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. 422 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,720 John chapter 3 and verse 16 says, For God so loved the world 423 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,280 that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 424 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,200 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 425 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,920 Oh, the gospel is centered completely around Jesus Christ. 426 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,120 The gospel is not something that that that advances our agenda. 427 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,360 The gospel is not something that's going to get us rich. 428 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,800 The gospel is not something where you come in and plant a 429 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,320 $1000 seed and you're going to find out that you have 430 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,080 $1,000,000 later on down the road. 431 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,600 It's not a prosperity gospel. It's a gospel that centers on 432 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:29,040 Jesus Christ and on Jesus Christ alone, and we must understand 433 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,960 that we are sinners in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23. 434 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,800 That makes it very clear for all have sinned and come short of 435 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,360 the glory of God. I can't get there on my own. 436 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,160 I can't get there by by by paying enough money. 437 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,200 I can't get there by receiving a special blessing from somebody 438 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,600 who thinks they have the power and the ability to give out 439 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,880 blessings. I can't get there by those 440 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:48,800 things. I'm a Sinner. 441 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,680 And sin cannot enter heaven because God is absolutely holy. 442 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,400 He can't even look upon sin. The Bible says Romans chapter 443 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,120 5/8 and the Bible says 5 and verse 8. 444 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,840 The Bible says but God commendeth his love toward us in 445 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,200 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 446 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,120 He died for me. I'm a Sinner. 447 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,400 I don't deserve anything that that God's given me, let alone a 448 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,000 home in heaven, let alone His grace, let alone his 449 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,120 forgiveness, let alone his justification, let alone His 450 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,400 mercy and all the other things that come along with salvation. 451 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,920 I don't deserve any of those things because I am a Sinner. 452 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,280 But God gave me his love. And even though he knew that I 453 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,560 was going to come along someday, and he knew that I was going to 454 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,120 be a Sinner, and he knew that I was going to violate his law, 455 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,600 and he knew that I was going to break his commandments. 456 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,080 And he knew that that that my doing that was going to be part 457 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,320 of the reason why he had to die on the cross. 458 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,920 He did it. Anyway, Ephesians chapter 2 and 459 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,640 verse 8 says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and 460 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,040 that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of 461 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,600 works, lest any man should boast. 462 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,880 There's nothing that I can do to earn my way to heaven. 463 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,200 I can try to be a good person. I can try to do different things 464 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,040 that are going to make me have an opportunity to get closer to 465 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,440 heaven, but none of those things are going to be good enough 466 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,320 because it's not by my works, it's by Jesus Christ. 467 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,160 It's not a creed or a religion that saves, it's Jesus Christ. 468 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,640 It's it's not precepts or principles, it's Jesus Christ. 469 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,480 We needed someone to rescue us from our sinful. 470 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,680 Condition and God in his mercy sent his only begotten Son. 471 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,320 And by the way, there's not multiple earths out there that 472 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,400 God is sending his Son to all the time for him to just go 473 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,320 dying for die for people everywhere. 474 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,920 He did that for us. His only begotten Son was sent 475 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,400 to this earth to rescue us from our sinful condition. 476 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,040 We needed somebody to wash our sins away. 477 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,920 And the blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross that day 478 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,000 to do just that. He became our propitiation. 479 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,680 He became the sacrifice that we should have had to make. 480 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,040 That someone was Jesus Christ through the blood that He shed 481 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:56,800 on the cross. And the Bible says in Romans 482 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:58,800 chapter 10 and verse. Nine, that if thou shalt confess 483 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,600 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 484 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,000 heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be 485 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,160 saved. For with the heart man believeth 486 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,280 unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto 487 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,640 salvation. It's a decision that you make in 488 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,720 your heart, but it ought to find its way to your lips. 489 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,160 People ought to know that you are accepting Jesus Christ as 490 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:19,720 your Savior. That's why we have what we call 491 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,240 the sinner's prayer. It's not a magical, it's not no 492 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,080 magical words in the sinner's prayer, but the sinner's prayer 493 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,040 is just. Reaching out for help and saying 494 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,560 God please save me. I'm drowning in my sin and 495 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,760 without it I cannot ever. Have hope of getting to heaven. 496 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,600 Verse 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 497 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:42,520 shall be saved. I did that one day, and I've 498 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,680 never doubted whether or not I was on my way to heaven, because 499 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,560 it's not me. If I could do something to lose 500 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,800 my salvation, that I'm doing something to earn it, and I 501 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,640 can't do anything to earn my salvation. 502 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,640 You do it God's way, you do it the way that God said it needs 503 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,840 to be done, and you don't ever have to doubt whether or not 504 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,840 you're on your way to heaven. If you've still not accepted 505 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,040 Jesus Christ as your Savior, as your own personal Savior, it 506 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:06,680 doesn't matter how long you've been in church. 507 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,080 It doesn't matter who you think is. 508 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,640 Going to be shocked to find out that you've never accepted 509 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:13,760 Christ. Doesn't matter how much you've 510 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,320 done in the name of Jesus Christ. 511 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,200 If you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're 512 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,920 living on borrowed time. Why are you waiting? 513 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,520 Don't wait. And the New Testament belief 514 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,240 indicates more than just some intellectual knowledge or some 515 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,200 assent to to facts. There's a lot of people who 516 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,040 believe that Jesus Christ existed. 517 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,080 There's a lot of people who believe that he died on the 518 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:39,120 cross. There's a lot of people who 519 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:42,080 believe that in the story of the resurrection, and they celebrate 520 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:43,960 Christmas and Easter because of that. 521 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,840 But the Greek word for believe means adherence to committal, to 522 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:53,640 faith in reliance upon trust in a person or object. 523 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,080 And that involves not only consent with the mind. 524 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,640 Of course you have to believe that those things are true, but 525 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,200 it involves an act of the heart and the will. 526 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,800 So belief is synonymous with faith. 527 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,880 Without faith, it's impossible to please him. 528 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,960 So we give up everything to Jesus Christ and ask him for 529 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,320 forgiveness and for for. Our sins and give our lives over 530 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:15,080 to him. We cannot be saved. 531 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,720 That's where the idea of repentance towards God and faith 532 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,200 toward Jesus Christ comes in. Yes, we need to repent. 533 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,920 Yes, we need to realize that we're going the wrong way and we 534 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,360 need to change our mind and our heart and go in the opposite 535 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,600 direction. But it's faith in Jesus Christ 536 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,680 as well. Both of those things have to be 537 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,760 part of salvation. And if it's not, then you've 538 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,480 never been saved. It's important that you get that 539 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:42,440 taken care of. Back in verse number two of 540 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,600 Second Corinthians chapter 4, Paul says in verse number one 541 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,280 that we should persevere through difficulty. 542 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,520 Says in verse 3, through really verse number six, that we should 543 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,920 preach Jesus Christ. But verse #2 and this may seem 544 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,800 to be out of order since we already read verse 3 through 6, 545 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,320 and we're coming back to that. But we have to understand, first 546 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,200 of all, the subject of our preaching must be Jesus Christ. 547 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,480 But we have to understand #3 that you have to practice of 548 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,560 what you preach. Verse 2 it says, but have 549 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,160 renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in 550 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,760 craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by 551 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,760 manifestation of the truth. That word manifestation means an 552 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:26,000 open demonstration of the truth by manifestation of the truth, 553 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,760 commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of 554 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,280 God. My intention with this point and 555 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,400 what I believe the intention of verse 2, Simply put, is if you 556 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,680 say you're a Christian, act like one. 557 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,640 That's what Paul is saying. If you're going to say that 558 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,080 you're a Christian, act like a Christian ought to act. 559 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,840 The people you work with ought to know that you're a Christian 560 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,880 not just because you told them, but because you show them that 561 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,200 you are. Turn over to Titus chapter 2. 562 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,440 Your language ought to be different, your actions ought to 563 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,280 be different, your jokes ought to be different, your habits 564 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,840 ought to be different, you ought to look different, you ought to 565 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,200 be different because you are different, if you're saved by 566 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,200 Jesus Christ. Titus chapter 2 and verse #14 567 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,240 The Bible says, talking about Jesus Christ, who gave Himself 568 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,960 for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify 569 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,520 unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 570 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,520 We get afraid of that term, good works, because good works can't 571 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,880 get you to heaven. And so we steer clear of those 572 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,440 things. We stay away from good works. 573 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,440 Hey, good works can't get you to heaven, but you ought to live 574 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,000 the way that Jesus Christ lived. And the Bible says that He went 575 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,840 about doing good, and we ought to be, as he says here, zealous 576 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,720 of good works. But it's going to make us a 577 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,160 peculiar people when we know Jesus Christ as our Savior. 578 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,520 That's why ladies ought to dress modestly. 579 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,040 That's why that's why men ought to be clean cut. 580 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,200 That's why kids ought not to dress and style their hair after 581 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,040 the world. That's why you ought not to be 582 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,880 drinking and smoking. That's why you ought to stay 583 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,040 away from the filth of the movie theater. 584 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:04,200 I'm different. I'm a Christian and I know that 585 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,200 that limits some things that I can do. 586 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,920 I know that keeps me away from some of the places that may be 587 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,000 fun. I know that keeps me from doing 588 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,760 some of the things that may be enjoyable. 589 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,040 But I'm a Christian and I want people to know it. 590 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,160 I'm a peculiar person and I'm zealous of good works. 591 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,120 That's the way I should be. Your lifestyle ought to tell 592 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,160 everybody loud and clear. I'm a Christian and I'm not 593 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,120 ashamed for you to know it. There's a lot of Christians that 594 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:29,560 are living under a rock because they're afraid to let people 595 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,480 know who they are. Well, I just I just. 596 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,280 Want to try to get along with everybody. 597 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,200 And so I just don't want to rock the boat. 598 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:37,800 I don't want anybody to know that I'm a Christian. 599 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,520 I don't know. I don't want them to know what I 600 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,480 really believe or where I really stand. 601 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,600 One of the toughest tests of Christianity is authentic faith 602 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,520 in our part. I heard a story about a 603 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,000 preacher, and this was a few years ago, obviously, and you'll 604 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,280 tell by the story, but he was catching a bus one day and he 605 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,920 was, he was going into the city. And as he came under the bus, he 606 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,680 paid the driver a dollar. The fare to ride the bus was 607 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,280 only $0.75. And that bus driver gave him his 608 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:06,080 change and he went and sat down. As he looked in his hand, he 609 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,720 noticed that instead of giving him $0.25, the bus driver had 610 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,960 actually given him $0.35 back for his change. 611 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,000 And he sat there and he thought about it and he's like, well, it 612 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,720 wasn't my mistake. He's the one that gave me more 613 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,520 money than he should have. I mean, whatever, it's $0.10, 614 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,240 it's not that big of a deal. But he said, you know what, I 615 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,720 need to, I need to be honest and I need to go give that $0.10 616 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,720 back to that bus driver. So he got out of his seat and he 617 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:26,880 walked back up to the front and he said he told the bus driver. 618 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,440 He said, hey, you were only supposed to give me $0.25 back 619 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,440 and you gave me $0.35 and I want to give you this dime back. 620 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,200 And the bus driver said, I knew I gave you $0.35 is I was in 621 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,440 your church last week and I heard you preach on honesty and 622 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,240 I wanted to see if you practice what you preached. 623 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,840 I wonder, would we always pass that test? 624 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,800 See, the world's watching you. And when I say the world, I'm 625 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,360 talking about your neighbors watching you. 626 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,040 Those that you work with are watching you. 627 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,000 Those that you interact with on a daily basis are watching you, 628 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,360 your family's watching you. And hey, most importantly, the 629 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:08,720 Lord's watching you, by the way, as your pastor, if I want you to 630 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,320 jump afoot, I have to jump three turn over to 1st Corinthians 631 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,760 Chapter 11. I'm held to a higher standard. 632 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,240 But, but I think contrary to what a lot of people think, I'm 633 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,280 not held to a higher standard because I'm a pastor. 634 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,400 There are qualifications for a pastor and I think there are 635 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,400 standards that that I'm held to because of that. 636 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,400 I'm held to a higher standard because I'm supposed to be an 637 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,840 example of what you should be trying to attain in your 638 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:33,760 Christian life. I don't hold myself to a higher 639 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:35,800 standard because it's right for me and not for you. 640 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,400 I hold myself to a higher standard because I want, I want 641 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,400 you to get to that point. And I believe that's what God 642 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,120 wants you to do, is to get to that point where you should be 643 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,640 jumping 3 feet at the same time. But I believe that's what Paul 644 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,720 was trying to get across when he said this in First Corinthians 645 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,160 Chapter 11 and verse #1 be you, followers of me even as I also 646 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,520 am of Christ. I jump 3 feet because you 647 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,040 should. Be trying to get to that 3 foot 648 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,640 mark as well and I don't always. I'm not perfect, I'm not 649 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,000 anywhere close to perfect. I fall short of that, but I 650 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,680 should be the example, and you should be following the example 651 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,280 that God gave you as I follow Christ. 652 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,480 And you shouldn't be just trying to get to the one foot mark. 653 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,000 You should be trying to get to the three foot mark as well. 654 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,120 That the greatest good and the greatest evil to the gospel is 655 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,640 not so much what we say very many times. 656 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,480 We don't say the wrong thing necessarily, but it's what we do 657 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,760 with what we say. You're close. 658 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:33,120 Turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter one verse #17. 659 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,160 For Christ, Paul says, sent me not to baptize. 660 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,440 By the way, that's a good indication that baptize, baptism 661 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,160 is not necessary for salvation, right? 662 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,440 If Paul is. Paul's job was to get the 663 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,280 message of the gospel out, and he says I'm not here to baptize 664 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,120 you. Then what was he doing if he, if 665 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,040 he was not leading anybody to Christ, if you had to be 666 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,000 baptized in order to be saved, he's not doing any good. 667 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,640 If he said Christ didn't send me to baptize, well, Christ sent 668 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,000 him to preach the gospel and to lead people to Christ. 669 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,880 And if he's not trying to baptize anybody, then what good 670 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,720 is he doing if baptism is necessary for salvation? 671 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,560 And then he goes on and later on in the passage he, I say, brags, 672 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,040 but he brags about the fact that he hadn't baptized anybody. 673 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,640 He said maybe one or two of you, but mostly I haven't baptized 674 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,280 any of you. I've been sent to preach the 675 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,000 gospel. He says this in verse 17. 676 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,280 Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. 677 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,520 Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be 678 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,000 made none of of made of none effect. 679 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,720 Is I'm not just trying to convince you by the things that 680 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,480 I say, I'm trying to convince you by the way that I live that 681 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,720 you need Jesus Christ and that you need to accept the gospel. 682 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,760 The Bible teaches us that it's vital to our witness of the 683 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:50,200 gospel to live what we preach or we will bring reproach on the 684 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,000 word of God. God takes seriously call to 685 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,720 practice what we preach. Somebody said your walk talks 686 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,560 and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your 687 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,120 talk. And that's exactly what it is. 688 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,680 You can say all you want to about how much you believe this 689 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,880 and how much you do that and how much you, you know, go to church 690 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,640 and do all of those other things, but how do you live your 691 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,280 life? Do you live your life as a 692 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,480 Christian? I got a question for you. 693 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:25,000 If you were ever arrested for being a Christian, would there 694 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,600 be enough evidence to convict you? 695 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,120 If you ever arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough 696 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,920 evidence to convict you? Most people, the lawyers, would 697 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,280 have a hard time trying to come up with enough evidence. 698 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,680 We sang the song this morning. I want to be more than a Sunday 699 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,240 go to meeting Christian. I want a religion that thrills 700 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,880 me every day. Saying Amen to the preacher is 701 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,800 fine if all the week I let my light shine. 702 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,840 I want to be more than a Sunday go to meeting Christian. 703 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,240 And the sad thing is that most Christians are just Sunday go to 704 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,920 meeting Christians. I'll get up on Sunday morning 705 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,640 and I'll get dressed and I'll carry my Bible and I'll go to 706 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,520 church. But don't ask me to do anything 707 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,159 else for Christ. That's that's the most I can do. 708 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,400 You can't ask me to live like a Christian during the week. 709 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,440 You can't ask me to be a light for Jesus Christ during the 710 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:18,480 week. The week is mine. 711 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,360 I'll give Sunday morning to him. The rest of it's mine. 712 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,400 That's not what being a Christian is all about. 713 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,400 You're either Christian 24/7 or you're not living as a Christian 714 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:32,280 at all. Back in Second Corinthians 715 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,239 chapter 4, I want to give you one last point. 716 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,639 Not only should we persevere through difficulty, if we want 717 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:42,400 to live a life that's pleasing to God, we should preach Jesus 718 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:43,760 Christ. We should practice what we 719 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,159 preach. But verse #7 the Bible says 720 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:50,120 this, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the 721 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:55,719 Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us #4 we 722 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,960 should pursue God's power, not our own. 723 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:00,880 We're not doing this in our own strength. 724 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,680 If we are, we're wasting time and energy. 725 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,640 The amazing thing is, is not that God allows us to be saved 726 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,440 or that that he's commanded us to be genuine as Christians, but 727 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,920 that he gives us the power to actually do what he's commanded 728 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:16,720 us to do. God never gives us a command 729 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:18,760 where he does not also. Give us the power and the 730 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:20,480 ability to follow through with that command. 731 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,160 If he's telling you to live as a Christian, then he can give you 732 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:25,560 the power to live as a Christian. 733 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,200 If He's telling you to be a peculiar people, then he can 734 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,560 give you the power to be a peculiar people and, and, and, 735 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,600 and, and for a carnal Christian, or for somebody who is doing 736 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,240 nothing for Christ. Many times these things seem to 737 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:41,200 be goals that are unattainable. I can't live like that. 738 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:42,840 You know why? Because you're doing it in your 739 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,760 own power. You haven't asked Him for the 740 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:47,400 strength that only He can give you. 741 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,440 You're trying to make it work. You're trying to make it happen, 742 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,600 and he's not. He's telling us it's not about 743 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,360 us. It's about Him that the 744 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:58,400 Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. 745 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,640 So many people fail in their Christian lives because they're 746 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:03,880 trying to please Christ in their own power. 747 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:07,520 Every breath comes from God. Every minute that we have in our 748 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,280 day comes from God. Every blessing comes from God. 749 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,600 Every fill in the blank comes from God. 750 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,920 What makes us think that we can please God in our own power? 751 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,120 Turn over to Ephesians chapter 3 and we'll be done. 752 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,480 See, God wants to be glorified in your life. 753 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,480 God wants to be lifted up. We pray so often. 754 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:31,800 All the time, but on Sunday mornings. 755 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,600 That that God would be glorified through everything that happens 756 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,680 in our service. That his name would be lifted 757 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,200 up. Because it's not about us, it's 758 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:40,960 about Him. And if we're not? 759 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,640 Asking him for his power, and we're trying to do it in our own 760 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:45,200 strength. Then we're doing this for 761 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,560 nothing. You're going to accomplish 762 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,080 nothing. It doesn't matter if you're 763 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:50,720 getting up to sing. It doesn't matter if you're 764 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:52,440 getting up to preach. It doesn't matter if you're 765 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:54,240 teaching the class. It doesn't matter if you're 766 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:57,000 serving in some ministry. It doesn't matter what it is. 767 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,200 If you're doing it in your own power, you're wasting your time. 768 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:03,440 We're not going to accomplish anything unless we're doing it 769 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,960 in God's power. And he says in Ephesians chapter 770 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:11,200 3 and verse #20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding 771 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:13,600 abundantly above all that we ask or think. 772 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:20,480 According to the power that worketh in US unto him be glory 773 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:24,360 in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world 774 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:25,400 without end. Amen. 775 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,640 It's like a it's like a car that doesn't have a battery in it. 776 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:32,160 Oh, you can get behind it and you can push it, especially if 777 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,640 you're going down a hill and you can feel like you're making 778 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,320 progress and you can feel like you're going forward, but you're 779 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,520 not going to accomplish very much at all. 780 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,880 In a car that has no battery, but you put that battery in 781 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,480 there, that's what gives it all the power and you can go a long 782 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,800 way in a car that's got a good battery on it and that's exactly 783 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,360 what it is. God wants to be glorified in 784 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,520 your life and the only way that's going to happen is when 785 00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,360 we do it in his power and not in ours. 786 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:05,200 March 6th, 1987. God by the name of Iman 787 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,640 Coughlin, He was the the record holder in the 1500 meters in 788 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:15,760 Ireland and he was running in a qualifying heat on March 6th of 789 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,920 1987 at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. 790 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,000 And very shortly into the race, it's a 1500 meters. 791 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,840 So it's basically 4 laps and about a lap or a lap and 1/2 in 792 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:31,360 he was tripped and he fell and obviously, you know, his knees 793 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,840 were scraped up and now he's way behind the rest of the pack. 794 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,400 But he got up and he took off running and slowly you could see 795 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,040 that he was closing the distance between himself and the and the 796 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,920 whole rest of the pack. And as they came around the 797 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:48,560 corner for that last final kick, everybody could see that he was 798 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,440 making progress. And he actually got to the point 799 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,040 where he was in 3rd place. This was just a heat. 800 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,320 All he had to do was get to 3rd place to be able to make it to 801 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:58,480 the championships the next day. And he looked over his shoulder 802 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,960 and he didn't see anybody there. And so he let up just a little 803 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:02,240 bit. But what he didn't see was that 804 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:04,760 there was somebody on the other side of him that was making a 805 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:09,280 kick on the outside. And when he let up, that person 806 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,000 passed him and got third place and he was knocked out of the 807 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,760 championship. Here's a guy who obviously has 808 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,360 great ability as a runner, obviously had tremendous talent, 809 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:27,680 got knocked down and got back up and almost finished well. 810 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:30,960 But he took his eyes off the goal. 811 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:33,800 He stopped looking at the finish line. 812 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:40,040 He started looking around and he failed a great comeback. 813 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:45,360 It would have been a great comeback failed because he took 814 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,880 his eyes off the goal. And that's many times what we do 815 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,840 in our lives. Hey, maybe you got knocked down 816 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:56,600 and you got back up. Maybe you're going forward, but 817 00:39:56,600 --> 00:40:00,320 you take your eyes off of Christ and you start putting it on your 818 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:04,840 problems, or you start putting it on your own ability, or you 819 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:08,240 start relying on your own power because hey. 820 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:10,640 I haven't had my devotions in a month. 821 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,080 I haven't really spent time in prayer that often. 822 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,360 And look, things are still happening. 823 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:19,760 I'm, I'm obviously I don't really need that power very much 824 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:23,640 because God's still blessing. We're still seeing God do stuff 825 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,320 in this ministry and that ministry that I'm involved in 826 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,040 and I'm still seeing things happen. 827 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,440 Nothing's falling apart. The wheels haven't fallen off of 828 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,320 it yet. And I haven't really spent that 829 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,480 much time with God. I know I've got these couple 830 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,160 little things in my life that I probably need to get right, but. 831 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:41,400 Nothing's changed. Everything's still going on. 832 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,680 I can do this in my own power. I don't need God's power. 833 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,400 I just, you wait, the wheels will come off of it. 834 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,360 It will fall apart because you might be coasting downhill right 835 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:59,280 now, but you're doing it with no battery and it's going to fail. 836 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:02,800 It's going to fail. We're all going to face things 837 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,160 in life as Christians that may make us want to quit. 838 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:07,560 And I know the. Majority would say that they 839 00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:10,520 want God to be pleased with their life, but how about you? 840 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,000 Do you really want God to be pleased with your life? 841 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,760 Well, I've got, I've got areas in my life that I know I need to 842 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,800 to change. I know and I really want to live 843 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:23,920 for God. I just have such a hard time 844 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,040 changing them. I'll tell you this, yours right 845 00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:30,880 with God right now as you want to be, because that's what God's 846 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:35,400 told us to do and he's given us the power and the ability to 847 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,040 accomplish what he wants us to do. 848 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:39,720 So if you're not living for the Lord and you're not 849 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,680 accomplishing anything for God, don't, Don't sit there and say, 850 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:45,400 well, I wish I could do more. I wish I was doing more. 851 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:46,960 I wish I was more right with God. 852 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:49,800 You can be as right with God as you want to be. 853 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:52,760 He'll help you. He'll give you the power to do 854 00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:53,560 it. You don't have to. 855 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:54,800 Do it in your own. Strength. 856 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,520 But so many of us are trying to do it that way, and so many of 857 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:00,720 us really don't have that desire to live for the Lord. 858 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:04,560 First of all, are you saved? Has there been a time in your 859 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,880 life when you ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and be 860 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:09,680 your Savior? But after that, have you? 861 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:11,960 Have you given up on God? Have you given up on being a 862 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:13,840 Christian? Hey, persevere through the 863 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:16,520 difficulty. I know it's not easy being a 864 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:19,520 Christian, but you have this to look at. 865 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,360 At least you've never been drugged through the streets 866 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,840 behind horses for preaching Christ. 867 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,160 At least you've never been dragged to the stake and burned. 868 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:28,760 This. You've never had to sit in 869 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,600 prison for preaching the name of Jesus Christ. 870 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,120 They're talking about him on the job, on the work, at the 871 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:36,480 workplace, right? You haven't suffered persecution 872 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,680 for the cause of Christ. What kind of difficulties do we 873 00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:40,760 really have that are going to keep us from living for Him? 874 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,560 Persevere through those difficulties. 875 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:46,440 That's what Paul tells us. There's so much waiting for you 876 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,080 when you decide to become a servant of God. 877 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,080 Are you preaching Christ? Are you sharing the gospel? 878 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:53,880 Are you practicing what you preach? 879 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,680 Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a 880 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,040 Christian? There's something different 881 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:02,760 about you at home and at work and in public than there is at 882 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:04,840 church. Oh, we've gotten good at playing 883 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:07,920 the game many times. I know how to act like a 884 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:11,600 Christian when I'm at church, but everything changes when I'm 885 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,000 on my own time and in my own place. 886 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,960 Are you pursuing God's power? Are you trusting Him to 887 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,000 accomplish those things in your life? 888 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:24,200 Or have you been relying on your own strength? 889 00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:28,160 Do you want to live a life that's pleasing to God? 890 00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:33,680 Then you're going to have to make some changes if you're not 891 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,320 actually living a life that's pleasing to God. 892 00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:41,120 If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll 893 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:44,000 continue to be what you've always been, and you'll continue 894 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:45,240 to get where you've always gotten. 895 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,160 So many people get so frustrated in their Christian life because 896 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,600 they don't see any growth. They don't see any movement. 897 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,360 If you want to see growth and you want to see movement, 898 00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:59,040 something has to change or you're never going to see it. 899 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:01,760 You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different 900 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,800 results. And that's what that's what the 901 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:06,240 message is all about this morning. 902 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:10,080 Are you living a life that's pleasing to God? 903 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,640 If not, change what needs to be changed? 904 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,680 He'll help you do it. He'll help you do it. 905 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,120 Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so 906 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,920 much for your goodness to us. Thank you so much for the fact 907 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,640 that you are willing and, and, and are so merciful with us, 908 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,080 willing to allow us to do the things in our lives that we 909 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,280 shouldn't even do. And yet you still are so 910 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,720 merciful. Every single person in this room 911 00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:38,920 this morning has an opportunity to get it right. 912 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,000 If there's something that needs to be gotten right, every single 913 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,880 person in this room that's not saved this morning has an 914 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:49,120 opportunity to be saved. And that's only because of your 915 00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:50,560 mercy. And we thank you so much for 916 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:54,320 that. But God, I pray that you'd help 917 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:59,560 us to make the changes. I pray that we would not make 918 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:06,080 the grace of God in vain and that we do what you want us to 919 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:11,000 do to help us be what you want us to be so we can accomplish 920 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,360 what you want us to accomplish in your power. 921 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:18,000 Thank you again for all that you do for us in Jesus name, Amen. 922 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:20,640 If you would stand at your seats with your heads bowed and your 923 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,800 eyes closed this morning, I want to give you an opportunity to 924 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,000 respond to the message. If God did speak to your heart 925 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,600 about something, I know I touched that a lot of different 926 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:31,800 things and maybe just one simple thing that God spoke to your 927 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:33,120 heart about. It may be a lot of things that 928 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:34,440 God spoke to your heart about this morning. 929 00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,720 I don't know. It's the Holy Spirit that does 930 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:38,520 that work. And if you're being convicted 931 00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:40,680 about something, it's the Holy Spirit that's doing that 932 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,880 conviction. Respond to it, answer that call 933 00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:48,640 if you're not saved, and come forward and get saved this 934 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:50,880 morning. It's the most important decision 935 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:53,440 you'll ever make as the piano plays. 936 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:55,360 If God spoken to your heart this morning, you come.