1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,160 In the book of Matthew Chapter 11 verses 28 and 30, it says 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,400 come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,320 you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn 4 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,600 from me. For I'm gentle lowling heart you 5 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:19,320 will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,360 burden is light. And I want to share again this 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,680 important picture here to demonstrate what is Jesus 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,040 talking about when he talks about a yoke. 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,480 Some of us growing up in church or maybe in the country, you 10 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:32,880 understand right away what that is. 11 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,760 But a lot of people don't know what it is. 12 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,240 And this is important for us to be able to visualize it. 13 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,400 A yoke is something that you would put upon 2 animals to help 14 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,640 them work together. It's kind of like a doubling of 15 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,200 the strength. So in this picture, we have the 16 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,320 person in the back who's directing with a plow, if you 17 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,760 would, and then we have the animals here in the front who 18 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,680 are pulling the plow to make it possible for the work to be 19 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,960 accomplished. And I said last week, I kind of 20 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,760 like this picture because the Bible speaks about us being 21 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,959 yoked to Jesus Christ. And the fact is, in this 22 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,760 particular Scripture or picture, if you would, you can see that 23 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,200 somebody's carrying a little bit heavier load or doing a better 24 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,080 job at it. But we have to understand, just 25 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,000 like the Scripture says, when we are yoked with Jesus Christ, 26 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,560 he's able to supply what we lack. 27 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,320 How many glad for that walk with Jesus Christ, Amen. 28 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,800 Amen. And when it talks about being 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,000 yoked with him, that means you're connected with him. 30 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,880 That Christianity is not a mere religion or a religious belief, 31 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,160 but it is about having a personal relationship with Jesus 32 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,280 Christ. And then having that personal 33 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,560 relationship with Jesus Christ, we're able to walk in the 34 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,120 fullness of the blessings that God has for us. 35 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:51,360 And one of those blessings is he walks with us in life and when 36 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,320 we he walks with us in life, when we need strength, he can 37 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,000 give us strength and he's able to do all kinds of good things. 38 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,080 But it's so important that we would realize that when we're 39 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:06,840 yoked with Christ, he says my yoke is easy and my burden is 40 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,160 light. That's because even when he 41 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,960 gives us a burden and puts responsibility upon it, he 42 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,800 shares with us in the responsibility and the works is 43 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,680 going to be involved. And I can testify as many of 44 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:22,920 you, again, I've been serving the Lord since I was a little 45 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:27,000 child, and it's an amazing thing when Jesus Christ is walking 46 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,240 through life with you. Amen. 47 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,760 We're not walking alone. Now I wanted to put up here, 48 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:37,280 learn from me in the quotes here because I want you to see it's 49 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,880 important for us to realize if we're going to have a personal 50 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,240 relationship with Jesus Christ, it isn't enough just to learn 51 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,920 about Him. And we have to understand that 52 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:53,000 when we're walking with Christ, he wants to teach us along the 53 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,040 way. Now, this is an important 54 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,960 conversation to have when we think about the Holy Spirit 55 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,000 because when Jesus Christ was getting ready to leave his 56 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,320 disciples, he said, I don't want you to think I'm going to leave 57 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,920 you like your orphans. It would be an amazing thing to 58 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:11,840 have Jesus Christ walking with you personally and being able to 59 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,240 answer your question. You're hearing from a preacher 60 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,920 and teacher that obviously was the greatest in the world and in 61 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:18,960 history. And then afterward to be able to 62 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,160 sit down and talk with him and get greater understanding and 63 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,760 know that when you had a need, He was always there. 64 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,560 Well, when Jesus talked about the fact He was leaving, He 65 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,200 said, but I want you to understand, I'm going to come 66 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,120 again and He's going to come through the power of the Holy 67 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:38,320 Spirit, the Spirit of Christ coming back to the earth as we 68 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,360 celebrate on the day of Pentecost so that each and every 69 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,080 one of us can have the power of the Holy Spirit in us. 70 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,120 He said after that the Holy Ghost has come, He will lead you 71 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,120 into all truth. He will bring to your 72 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,880 remembrance all the things that I've talked to you about. 73 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:59,120 He will instruct you because the Holy Spirit is the teacher. 74 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,080 And so it's important for us to realize it is a very important 75 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,040 thing for us to come to the House of God to hear sermons, to 76 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,240 take Bible classes, to get instruction. 77 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,400 But we also have to understand that God is with us in our 78 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,120 everyday life. God is involved in every 79 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,279 circumstance and situation, and He can get involved in that 80 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,200 situation, but He's not just going to push His way in. 81 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,240 We've have to invite Him in. Amen. 82 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,800 And so when we are yoked together with Christ, we say, 83 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,520 Lord, I want you to be in every part of my life. 84 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,480 I want you to be in every situation so I can receive all 85 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,120 the things that you have for me. Another scripture that I shared 86 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,240 last week that I want to reference here again is 87 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,960 Ephesians 4 where it says, But you have not so learned Christ, 88 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,120 if indeed you have what heard Him and have been taught by Him. 89 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,040 As the truth is in Jesus that you put off concern to your 90 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,400 former conduct. The old man which grows corrupt 91 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:02,560 according to deceitful life plus and be renewed in the spirit of 92 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,320 your mind that you may put on the new man which was created 93 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,680 according to God in true righteousness and holiness. 94 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,520 When we come to the Lord we have to understand that God wants us 95 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,680 to become a new creation. That's why Jesus said you must 96 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,800 be born again. We come into this world in the 97 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,560 natural realm of life, but when we're born again, there's a 98 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,360 whole other side to us that's become a part of who we are. 99 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,960 We're both natural and also spiritual. 100 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,680 Now God doesn't want those two sides of us to stay separate. 101 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,080 And unfortunately, often times people do. 102 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,520 And sometimes it's just because of a lack of knowledge. 103 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,760 They don't realize that God wants to be involved in our 104 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,000 natural life and God's involved in who we are in our natural 105 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,680 form, if you would. So we have to understand that's 106 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,160 part of the plan. And that starts with being born 107 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:54,560 again. How are you born again? 108 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,440 Well, the Bible says faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word 109 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,040 of God, so that when a person believes in their heart, the 110 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,360 Lord Jesus, the Bible says we become born again. 111 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,360 We have the ability to walk in the dimension of faith that God 112 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,400 has called us to. So obviously that tells us one 113 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,480 of the most important things we have to do is hear from Him. 114 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,800 And again, we need to hear it through instruction. 115 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,240 Bible study is very important. I'm excited about all the 116 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,080 different classes we have available, how many people are 117 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,800 taking part in these things and we can learn of Him when you 118 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,280 hear a sermon. But you have to also understand 119 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:35,960 that even in the context of those two settings, that the 120 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,760 word can come to us in a very personal way. 121 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,000 That's the purpose of the Holy Spirit. 122 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,600 So all of a sudden you're not just sitting there getting a 123 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,240 lesson about the Bible. If we allow the Holy Spirit, he 124 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,640 can pull something out of that sermon, out of that lesson that 125 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,400 can give us faith or give us a sense that there's a personal 126 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,920 connection that that word has for us, a personal connection 127 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,480 that instruction has for us. And then we should carry it 128 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,920 farther than that where we understand. 129 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,120 Jesus said my sheep know my voice, and another they will not 130 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,280 follow. Some people think it's a hard 131 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,200 thing to hear from God, or only certain people have that gift. 132 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,120 But Jesus said My sheep know my voice. 133 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:20,640 How could we know that we know his voice? 134 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,240 Well, you're a Christian today because somewhere along the line 135 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,680 you heard something from Him. You might not have figured it 136 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,280 out that way, but that's exactly what happens because we don't 137 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,120 choose him, He chooses us. And when the Word comes to us, 138 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,920 it opens the mind of our understanding so we can receive 139 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,480 the fullness of God's Word in our life again. 140 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:46,880 He says we have heard from Him and we are also taught by Him 141 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,320 because with hearing that voice of God, God is able to instruct 142 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,560 us and teach us a long life's journey. 143 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,200 And that's why why it's important to visualize this. 144 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,320 And that's why I wanted to share this picture with you so you can 145 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:06,440 see yourself as being yoked with Christ and everything that 146 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,640 you're not. He is. 147 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:13,080 That's why the Bible says I can do all things through Christ who 148 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,120 strengthens me. Amen, Church. 149 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,760 It's a wonderful thing to be yoked together with Christ and 150 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,200 understand how He wants to work in our lives. 151 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,360 Now this scripture says trust in the Lord with all your heart. 152 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,920 Lean not unto your own understanding and all your ways 153 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,679 acknowledge Him. He shall direct your steps. 154 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:37,120 Do not be wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and depart 155 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,240 from evil. I put over this scripture, we 156 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,039 can find a place of confidence and that is when we come to the 157 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,840 place where we can trust in God. Now, this is the same as in our 158 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,240 personal relationships, our trust that we have with a person 159 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,640 we're married to or friend we have, or just somebody who's a 160 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,080 very close in relationship and life together with us. 161 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,760 That comes through a process of getting to know that person. 162 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,960 And after a while, after you get to know a person, how do you 163 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,320 know you can pretty well predict their behaviors? 164 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:11,760 Most of us don't want to think that we're predictable, but we 165 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,120 really are. And when we walk with somebody 166 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,880 over a period of time and take the time to get to know them, 167 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,160 then it isn't long before we know what they're like and we 168 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,400 can have a confidence in that person because, well, we know 169 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,560 who they are. That's why we need to be yoked 170 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,680 together with Christ, why we need to have a personal 171 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,640 relationship with Him. That's why we have to hear from 172 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,480 Him and be instructed by Him so that we can build our trust in 173 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,840 Him. Because when we first come to 174 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,320 Him and we believe in Him, that's faith. 175 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,920 And as we hear about prayer and knowing that God can answer 176 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,400 prayer, God can heal, and we go through the different aspects of 177 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,000 life, we're recalling him and He gives us faith and we've 178 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,160 received something from him. That faith dimension is 179 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,120 wonderful. But I think we all know that 180 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,480 sometimes we go through situations and circumstances 181 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,880 where we're like, well, what exactly is going on here? 182 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,440 I prayed and that doesn't seem to work. 183 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,400 I thought God said something and it doesn't seem to be coming to 184 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,360 pass. And that's why the Bible says 185 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,600 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not in your own 186 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,480 understanding. Because when you trust, you 187 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,520 don't lean on your own understanding. 188 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,040 You put your confidence in the person. 189 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,080 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 190 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,440 Lean not into your own understanding in all your ways. 191 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,160 Acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps. 192 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,720 See, I believe God speaks to me and I believe God wants to speak 193 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,360 to you. Now, again, I don't believe I 194 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,040 can make mistakes with that because why? 195 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,600 I'm always listening to Him and I'm acknowledging Him. 196 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,400 So the Bible says because I acknowledge Him and because I've 197 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,600 learned about Him, who He is, I can have the confidence He's 198 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,720 going to direct my steps. So I might hear something from 199 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,360 God and it's not going the way I think it should, but he's 200 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,360 directing my steps. Amen, church. 201 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,200 And so sooner or later you can find out why it is you heard 202 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,320 something and what it actually meant. 203 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,400 Because sometimes we're in the process of learning how things 204 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,160 actually are. But when we're acknowledging the 205 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,720 Lord and asking his direction in something church, we should have 206 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,880 the confidence. Just like the Bible says. 207 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,600 If anybody needs wisdom, let him ask of God and God we'll give 208 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:27,520 liberally an not hold anything back. 209 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,240 Amen. So when we trust in Him, our 210 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,400 life takes on a whole new level of confidence that again, is not 211 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,440 based just on the circumstances and situations and certainly not 212 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,080 human wisdom and understanding. The prophet Isaiah declared 213 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,520 God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our 214 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,080 thoughts as far as the heavens are from the earth. 215 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,280 That's how far God's ways are from us. 216 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,840 Now we have the mind of Christ when we receive the Holy Spirit 217 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:57,960 because of our natural understanding. 218 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,160 Sometimes there's a little mixture in the connection, if 219 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,800 you would. But as long as we keep putting 220 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,960 our trust in the Lord and don't lean on our own understanding 221 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,480 and wisdom, then we can have the confidence. 222 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,600 Wait, this is about God, It's not about me. 223 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,640 And that's what I love about serving the Lord as you can have 224 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,240 this confidence throughout your life knowing that well, it's 225 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,080 more about Him than about you. All he's asking for from us is 226 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,480 that we would acknowledge him and seek him and seek for his 227 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,800 way in our life. In the book of Philippians, the 228 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,240 apostle Paul says, not that I speak in regard to need, for I 229 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,120 have learned in whatever state I am to be condemned. 230 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,680 I know how to be a based. I know how to abound everywhere 231 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:46,240 and in all things. I have learned both to be full 232 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,600 and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 233 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:54,280 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 234 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,760 Now, in this particular reference, the apostle Paul is 235 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,640 writing to the Philippian church, and he explained to them 236 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,240 some of the needs that he's had. And I said, I want you to 237 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,480 understand something. When I'm sharing these with you, 238 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,960 it doesn't mean that my feelings or how I look at life is going 239 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,000 to be impacted by your response because he said I've learned 240 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,080 something along the way and I've learned how to be content in 241 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,640 every situation. Now, this is a very important 242 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,960 thing because of the apostle Paul was a man who was a fighter 243 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,280 against Christianity, consented to people being thrown into 244 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,200 prison. And one day the Lord speaks to 245 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,640 him from heaven. There's a a light from heaven 246 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,720 that shines upon him. He falls to the ground and Jesus 247 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,120 speaks to him from heaven. Wow, that's amazing. 248 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,280 After that the Bible says he was baptized in the name of the Lord 249 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,000 and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then for three 250 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,520 years he went to the backside of the desert so that God could 251 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:52,520 teach him the word by revelation. 252 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,120 And what that means is all they had in those days is the Old 253 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,800 Testament. So the Holy Spirit had to take 254 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,040 him through all the scriptures he knew as a Jew and began to 255 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,360 show him that Christ when was in all those scriptures. 256 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:10,680 That's what Jesus said when he said meant when he said I read 257 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,560 you read the scriptures and in them you think have eternal 258 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,200 life, but they all speak about me. 259 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,960 So he had all this revelation. But how do you know with all of 260 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,280 that beginning, if you would, He still had some learning to do. 261 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,080 And what he found out is he could learn how to abound 262 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,240 because God did some amazing things in his life. 263 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,800 But he also had to learn what it meant to be debased, if you 264 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:33,800 would. That were literally means to go 265 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,720 through a period of humiliation. Because sometimes we have to 266 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,840 face things in life where, well, we can be humbled by them. 267 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,640 We think we could do it and we find out we can't. 268 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,960 Or we might even think that God had told us something and then 269 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,920 we're in a situation where we think, well, maybe he didn't say 270 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,800 that at all. As people, we have crises in 271 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:55,720 life. Amen. 272 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,880 Now what the apostle Paul said is because I'm in a learning 273 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:04,440 process, I've learned in the time when I'm in need that I can 274 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,400 find a contentment in the Lord. Now one of the things we all 275 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:10,840 have to learn is our satisfaction has to come from 276 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:11,800 the Lord. Amen. 277 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,280 Once he becomes our satisfaction, life becomes easy 278 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,160 for us a man, because once he becomes our satisfaction, we're 279 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,160 not need motivated. We're not always trying to make 280 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,720 things work out a certain way, but we can find out that, wow, I 281 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,080 can be content in every situation. 282 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,560 So we went through this process where he had some good things in 283 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,240 life, he had some bad things in life, but since he was being 284 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:42,240 instructed along the way, he found out how he could receive 285 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,520 from God a contentment in every space of life. 286 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,080 And that's what God wants each and everyone of us. 287 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,600 Now put up here strengthens me because then I quoted earlier 288 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:54,480 because it's one of my favorite scriptures. 289 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,920 But when I used to quote it when I was first servant Lord filled 290 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,560 with the Holy Spirit walking in the word of God by faith, I 291 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,240 always realized that well, God could get me through any 292 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,440 situation, but I didn't look at it at all that it was my 293 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,760 strength. I would just felt like, well, I 294 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,360 had to depend on him to kind of lift him up and get me through. 295 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,240 Well, one time I was going through a difficult time in the 296 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,840 1990s. I went through a series of 297 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,800 physical problems, one of them being seizures. 298 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,480 And for nine months I was suffering from seizures in some 299 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,000 capacity of the other. And it was a very, very 300 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,000 difficult time. And what I learned and then the 301 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,480 Lord spoke that Scripture to me. He said, Lauren, I'm 302 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,960 strengthening you. I'm not just going to be your 303 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,160 strength, but God's involved in our person church. 304 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,560 And that's a part of what God wants us to see in this day is 305 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,000 sometimes God wants us to be strengthened as an individual. 306 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:57,080 And that's the Spirit strengthening the natural side 307 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,080 of who you are. And that's when I began to see 308 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,920 myself in a whole different level concerning God and 309 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,160 concerning my walk with God and really who I was as an 310 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,440 individual. It's funny because one day I was 311 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:10,960 praying because I was kind of feeling like Lord. 312 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,520 Seems like most of my life you spoiled me, but you're not 313 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,520 spoiling me anymore. What's the problem? 314 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,040 I have all these testimonies, all these great stories, and 315 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,440 right now I don't seem to have a story. 316 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:23,839 I'm just going through something. 317 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:25,800 And that's when he spoke that to me. 318 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,600 I'm going to strengthen you, Lauren. 319 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,160 You're going to find out in these circumstances and 320 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:35,840 situations who you really are. And I've often shared that 321 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,920 testimony, how that when I was having the seizures, I really 322 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,320 couldn't read the Bible, couldn't look at a computer, 323 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,560 couldn't do the things you would normally do to preach or teach 324 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,880 or get prepared for anything. But during that time, I just 325 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,880 felt LED of the Lord that I should continue doing everything 326 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,800 that I always did. And so I was still preaching, I 327 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,280 was still teaching, I was still doing radio, still doing 328 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:01,000 television, and I was able to do all of that by what God had 329 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,280 already put in me as an individual in my life. 330 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,040 But also in this time of accepting the challenge to 331 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:12,320 believe that I can do all things and that God could strengthen me 332 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,280 to do the work that was necessary. 333 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,400 And that's so important that we would understand God wants to 334 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,040 work in our lives from that purpose and in that capacity as 335 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:22,640 well. Now I want to share this 336 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,640 scripture from the book of Job because most of us know the 337 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:27,440 story of Job. Can you raise your hand and say, 338 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,120 Yep, I know that story. And how many know when we think 339 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:31,960 about Job, we think about suffering. 340 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:34,600 And he had to go through great loss. 341 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,920 And this is where I pick up in verse 14 and 16 of chapter 13. 342 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,360 He said, why do I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in 343 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:48,240 my hands? Though he slay me speaking about 344 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:53,960 God, yet will I what trust Him. Even so I will defend my own 345 00:18:53,960 --> 00:19:00,160 ways before he him He also shall be my salvation, for hypocrite 346 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:04,040 could not come before him. Now Job went through some 347 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,840 terrible situations. First of all, he was afflicted 348 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,960 physically and he had boils. He had all kinds of physical 349 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,160 afflictions where he would have been in pain constantly. 350 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,480 And then after that, he started experiencing great financial 351 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,720 loss. He experienced personal loss and 352 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,680 the loss of family members. I mean, it was a bad time. 353 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,240 And he made a commitment of trust at that point because he 354 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,280 said, well, God, even if you slay me, I'm still going to put 355 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:34,680 my trust in you. Amen. 356 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,960 How do you know that was a choice that he had to make? 357 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,520 And sometimes when it comes to trust, because we have walked 358 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,400 with God for a long period of time, We've seen when he's in 359 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,920 our life, sometimes when we go through things, we just got to 360 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,320 say, OK, God, I'm going to put my trust in you. 361 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,120 I don't feel like I trust in you. 362 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,560 I don't feel like anything's going to come out of this 363 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,120 situation. I'm going to still make a 364 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:00,000 commitment. I'm going to trust in you. 365 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:02,120 But one of the other things Job said. 366 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:05,280 But I'm still going to tell him how I feel about the situation. 367 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,040 Because when Job started going through a situation, he had some 368 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,760 friends that showed up and they wanted to tell him why he was 369 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,400 suffering. It was because he did something 370 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,320 wrong. And then when he started 371 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,680 defending himself, they said, well, look at you, you're 372 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,280 defending yourself. See, you're, you're not a good 373 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,440 person. Well, we know he was a good 374 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,720 person because the Bible tells us in Job chapter one that one 375 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,960 day the Lord said to Satan himself, have you ever seen my 376 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,480 servant Job that there's none perfect in their generation like 377 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,440 him? And that's the opening story, 378 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:41,480 unfortunately for Job at that time, because the devil, Satan 379 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,960 said, well, let me test him because he's only serving you 380 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,560 because everything goes his way. And the Bible tells us that God 381 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,080 did give that permission. That's why I wrote my book Wise 382 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,360 of the Devil in Your Garden, because, you know, we have to 383 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,520 understand how these things work. 384 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:02,080 And so he went through this terrible time of testing and 385 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,080 affliction, not because he had did anything wrong, but there 386 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,320 was a witness that he was going to make to the heavenly realm, a 387 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:15,200 witness he was going to make to Satan himself, that he was a man 388 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,040 that God had chosen. And he was a man who chose to 389 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,800 follow God fully in that amazing story church. 390 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,440 And that's why I said, even though he slay me, I'm going to 391 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,280 serve him, but I'm going to tell him how I feel. 392 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,080 And I believe that's very appropriate in our time of 393 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,800 prayer. We don't have to just take it 394 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,360 and and and just leave it the way it is. 395 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:40,240 It's it's appropriate for us to seek the Lord and it's also 396 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,240 appropriate for him to us to ask him questions, tell him how we 397 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,720 feel. I mean, that's part of 398 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,600 communication in every relationship that's going to 399 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,360 lead to a healthy relationship. And so it's very common for me 400 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,680 when I'm in prayer and say, now Lord, you said such and such and 401 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,720 I don't see it going that way. What's going on here? 402 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,120 And shouldn't you be doing this and shouldn't you be doing that? 403 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,280 I mean, most of our prayer sessions are counseling God and 404 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:05,760 how we should do things. Amen. 405 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,280 We not only want Him to answer prayers, we have a very specific 406 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,280 way we've got it all figured out. 407 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,520 Surely it's going to work. God just needs to listen to our 408 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,920 wisdom, right? No, he doesn't always do that 409 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,600 because he knows more than we do. 410 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:27,320 But in the process of his suffering, Job was open to God, 411 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,760 talking to him about the situation. 412 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,480 And certainly he did come out on the other side. 413 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,920 And the Bible says he had a double blessing in every area of 414 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,200 his life because he continued to walk with God. 415 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,320 And the Bible also says that in that experience he had a greater 416 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:48,120 revelation of who God was. He said to God, God, I used to 417 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,960 know you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes have seen 418 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,600 you. I know something I've never 419 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,040 known before. I really believe that God's 420 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,400 saying to the body of Christ today, this is a time when we're 421 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:00,480 going to get to know him as never before. 422 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:05,080 Amen, Church. And it's in the difficult times 423 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,320 we are living in, in this day that these things are going to 424 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,680 be made known to us and we need to understand what it is that 425 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,640 God is speaking. Now I want to talk to you about 426 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,880 loss, and specifically I'm going to share 2 scriptures about 427 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,200 people going through things and how to handle that loss. 428 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:27,920 In this prophecy of Isaiah, he says the righteous perishes and 429 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:32,040 no man takes it to heart. Merciful men are taken away 430 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:36,160 while no one considers that the righteousness is taken away from 431 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,560 evil. He shall enter into peace. 432 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,160 They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his 433 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,840 uprightness. Now, of course, one of the 434 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,600 greatest struggles we face as human beings is when we suffer 435 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,720 loss of loved ones, loss of people that we know. 436 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,200 And sometimes these losses make no sense whatsoever. 437 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,200 Now, I've often heard people complain about this. 438 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,400 They say, yeah, you'll be at the funeral and somebody will say, 439 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,160 but they're in heaven. That doesn't make me feel any 440 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,360 better. And we're like, what are you 441 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:08,320 talking about? Don't make you feel any better. 442 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,080 Well, we should recognize that when we're crying at a funeral, 443 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,440 it's not so much we feel sorry for the person. 444 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,320 How do you know we feel sorry for ourselves? 445 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,720 When God created Adam, one day he said it's not good that men 446 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,160 should be alone. I will create a helper and a 447 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,800 companion suitable for him. He didn't say, oh, it's not good 448 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,680 that Adam should be alone. I'm going to find somebody 449 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,840 who'll be with him and complain all the time and frustrate 450 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:41,000 everything he's doing. Somebody said, well, that's what 451 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,000 I know anyway. The truth is we need people in 452 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,320 our life and going through life with our parents, our support 453 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,840 group of our families, our church community. 454 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,480 These are all things that are very important to us. 455 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,240 It's one thing I always share with people is that I love 456 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,440 stories. Obviously I like to tell the 457 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,240 stories of the church and I always remember stories of my 458 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:04,800 life. But when people die, how do you 459 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,360 know part of your story dies? Because and I was thinking about 460 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,120 this one day, you know, my parents had passed away and all 461 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:13,600 my aunts and uncles had passed away. 462 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,280 So how do you know when that happens? 463 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,520 It's like a whole part of your life has passed away. 464 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,880 My kids aren't interested in me telling them stories about that 465 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,600 situation because they can't even relate to what that's all 466 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,800 about. And so when you have friends and 467 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,080 people, there's stories that you also only can share with that 468 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,720 friend or that family member. And so when you lose somebody, 469 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,880 how many you know, all along the way, part of you is being lost 470 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,280 as well. But there is a place, obviously, 471 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,920 where we stand back and we have to say, well, we do know that as 472 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,160 Christians, we have an eternal purpose. 473 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,640 We have an eternal God. And how do you know when we're 474 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,920 born again, we're going to live forever, Amen. 475 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,920 That's an awesome thing, Amen. Something we need to know, and 476 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,480 that's why we have to also remind ourselves that sometimes 477 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,120 when people are passing to eternity, that's the best thing 478 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,040 for them. That's what the scripture says. 479 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,080 Some people time somebody dies and people aren't thinking, 480 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,080 well, this is better for them. Actually. 481 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,400 Now, it's easy for us to say that when we know that they're 482 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,840 been through a time of suffering, maybe with an illness 483 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,720 or as they're getting older, certain organs begin to fail. 484 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,280 And so we can say, well, surely they're better off in heaven. 485 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,600 But sometimes it's not like that. 486 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,400 Sometimes we just think, Lord, please let this person stay with 487 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:30,440 me. You can't think about the 488 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,960 consequences of their life or how God actually could say, 489 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,760 well, this person has lived this amount of time, but now it's 490 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,640 time for them to go to the heavenly realm and that's 491 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,000 actually going to be better for them. 492 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,880 I know when my brother passed away, he was our baby brother. 493 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,480 He died at age 38. He had a liver disease. 494 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,680 And my mom, of course, was a person of prayer. 495 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,160 Those of you who don't know, she had a prayer and healing 496 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,280 ministry here at the church. So if anybody's sick, she 497 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:01,680 believed they were going to get well. 498 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,240 You can call her anytime of the night and she'd say, I'm 499 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,440 believing God for you. And that was her ministry. 500 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:11,520 So when my brother's health kept on failing, obviously she would 501 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,000 start praying all the more. We'd all be praying all the 502 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,800 more. And my brother had such a 503 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,640 spiritual experience through all this that he really began to see 504 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,240 heaven as a great alternative for him. 505 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,840 And I remember when they talked to him about, but but Matt, 506 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,840 we're praying for your healing. He's kind of like, what's better 507 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:30,360 with you guys? Don't you believe in heaven? 508 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,160 I'm like, what do you mean? Well, I will be going to a 509 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,240 better place. All right. 510 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,760 Oh yes, of course you will. But after he passed away and my 511 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,600 mom was in prayer, she felt like the Lord spoke that scripture to 512 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,600 her and said he found a great place in me. 513 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,760 It was a place of rejoicing. But if he would have stuck 514 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,960 around, he would not have necessarily had the strength to 515 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,760 continue that. So I'm letting him basically 516 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,440 continue that in heaven. There's, there's a time for 517 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,760 that. And sometimes we don't realize 518 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,400 there's a lot of tragedies people face in life and 519 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,800 sometimes they're kind of working in this direction. 520 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,800 But the Lord's kind of like, I'm not going to let that person go 521 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:11,520 through that. I'm going to take them home. 522 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,000 That's what that scripture says. I used to always think of it 523 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,160 this way because I love history and think about things from a 524 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,320 historical perspective. That if I was a Jew living in 525 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,080 Poland in 1940 and I lost one of my loved ones, I would have been 526 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:28,040 devastated. But in 1941, when they were 527 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,920 putting all the Jews on kettle cars and they were so squeezed 528 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,520 together they couldn't even move, and they would be 15 days 529 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:40,280 in those cars and nowhere to go to the bathroom, no food to eat, 530 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:45,920 and then taken to the Holocaust place, the concentration camps. 531 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:50,360 How do you know that? Maybe about 1941 or so somebody 532 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,920 might say, well, I'm glad my kids not here now or I'm glad 533 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,600 this isn't happening because, you know, we never know what the 534 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,440 future is all about. But we do know who holds the 535 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:01,760 future. Amen, Church. 536 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,120 And sometimes God has a plan, and we always have to realize 537 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,800 that plan is for our good and that plan is for the good of the 538 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:15,240 person because again, we don't always understand all the 539 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,160 consequences of what earth is going on. 540 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,760 This next verse of Scripture talks about that in Acts Chapter 541 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,680 7. It's telling us a story about a 542 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,320 man named Steven who is a firebrand of his day, if you 543 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,120 would. It says when they heard these 544 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:33,000 things, they were cut to their heart. 545 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,600 Stephen was preaching a message to the Jews and they didn't like 546 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,760 what he had to say. And so they gnashed at him with 547 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,000 their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy 548 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,400 Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus 549 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,920 standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look, I see the 550 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,880 heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand 551 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,760 of God. Then he cried out with a loud 552 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,560 voice, stopped their ears, and ran to him with 1 accord. 553 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:03,080 And they cast him out of the city, stoned him to death. 554 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,400 And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a 555 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,320 young man named Saul, which of course we know as the apostle 556 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,960 Paul. Well, this past week I heard the 557 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,160 news about Charlie Kirk being assassinated. 558 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,280 Now myself, I did not actually know him by name. 559 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,800 I as soon as I saw the picture, I recognized him as being 560 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:26,760 somebody who was on the news, et cetera. 561 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,520 But as you begin to hear all the news, he was a boy, young man, I 562 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,560 should say 32 years of age, who loved God with all of his heart. 563 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,080 And one thing he always said is the number one thing is I want 564 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:43,560 people to know who Jesus is. But his spiritual fervor was 565 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:45,360 lived out in the political realm. 566 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,000 And so he tried to take his involvement in the political 567 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:53,280 realm as a way of bringing the principles of the word of God to 568 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,720 the world in which he lived. And he did so very boldly on 569 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,640 college campuses because when he started doing this, he was like 570 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,840 18 years old, maybe 14 years ago. 571 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,440 And the college campuses were the last place you would go to 572 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,760 set up a organization that would start talking about moral 573 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,120 principles and living if you would. 574 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,200 And he loved being a debater. So he debated people. 575 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,800 But his organization grew, and thousands of people were part of 576 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:23,400 it. All kinds of chapters were 577 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,160 involved in it. And this past week, he was 578 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,640 assassinated. And of course, I always think 579 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:32,880 about the broader picture, wife, children, moms and dads, 580 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,560 grandpas, and think about all the sorrow that's contained in 581 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:38,920 that. And the first thing I thought 582 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:43,160 about is this story of Steven, because Stephen, when the early 583 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,640 church started, was chosen to be one of the first deacons. 584 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,480 The apostles were facing all kinds of natural things, 585 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,160 especially the caring of the widows. 586 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:53,480 And they said, well, we can't do all this work. 587 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,480 We got to have some servants in the church, people who can do 588 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,160 this. So let's pick out deacons who 589 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:05,040 were good people, have wisdom, we can depend upon them. 590 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:09,600 And so it was a really fine attributes if you were picked as 591 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,320 one of these deacons. And so he was chosen as a 592 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,800 Deacon. He was set in, but he also was a 593 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:16,800 preacher. And just like in the scriptures, 594 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,840 he was willing to tell anybody the truth because he believed in 595 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,680 the truth. How you know the Bible says if 596 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:24,720 you know the truth, the truth will make it free. 597 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,560 Amen. So when you when you know truth, 598 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,600 you certainly want to stand on truth and believe and share that 599 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:36,000 truth with other people, just as this young man Charlie Kirk this 600 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,520 week as Steven was. But when he shared with people 601 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,600 the good news, they looked at his bad news and so they stoned 602 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,920 him to death. And so his family, sometimes 603 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,080 when we read Bible stories, we don't get into my, I always like 604 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,680 to do that about stories. I like to look at him and kind 605 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,720 of get in that place in time. He was a young man. 606 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,120 He was probably around 32. All the apostles were around 607 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,960 this age of Jesus who was crucified at age 33. 608 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:06,400 And so they were all about that young. 609 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,640 They all had parents. They all had family members. 610 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,120 A few of them had wives. Stevens could have had a wife, 611 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:14,800 could have had a young family, just like the guy this week. 612 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,760 And when he goes out and he does something really good for God, 613 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,360 he is stoned to death now. I mean, that's a hard thing to 614 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,920 understand. And a lot of times, you know, 615 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,120 when things happen like that, you encourage Christians to see 616 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:32,120 that God is in it. It is something that we resist 617 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,720 in our thinking because obviously the Bible says God 618 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,640 doesn't make bad things happen. The Bible says every good and 619 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,920 perfect gift comes down from God, who is the father of 620 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:45,520 lights, and in him there is no shadow of journey. 621 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,560 But although we know that God doesn't make bad things happen, 622 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,080 how do you know he could stop bad things from happening? 623 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,400 And that certainly is a hurt that often times I know in 624 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,680 dealing with people, whatever the tragedy of their life is, 625 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,920 why did God let this happen? And even if the person who 626 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,440 suffers or goes through a difficult time or circumstance, 627 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,159 if they even brought it on themselves, people will still 628 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:13,760 wonder, well, why get didn't God do his part? 629 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:16,639 Well, I want you to know, and this is so important to 630 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:19,159 understand, God is always involved. 631 00:34:19,679 --> 00:34:23,320 It isn't like he's sleeping. It isn't like he's distant. 632 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:29,199 God is always involved, but God always understands that He has 633 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:31,440 an eternal purpose. And the Bible says that no 634 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,199 purpose of His can be withheld from Him. 635 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:39,239 And He also gives to each and every one of us a purpose. 636 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,639 And sometimes that purpose can be fulfilled at an early age. 637 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:47,080 Sometimes that purpose that we think is going to go in One 638 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,600 Direction, it comes to an abrupt halt. 639 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,520 And well, that's the end of the matter because that's exactly 640 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,360 what happened to Stephen. Now, it's very important to 641 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,280 understand this because I put up here, seeds die because when 642 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,240 Jesus Christ was getting ready to go to the cross, his 643 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:06,080 disciples always saying that can happen to you, that can happen 644 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:07,760 to you. I'm sure they would have said 645 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,280 you're only 33 years old, your ministry is only three years 646 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,240 old. You've done so much, don't go 647 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:17,160 anywhere, don't go anywhere. And Jesus said unless a Colonel 648 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:21,480 of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it divides alone. 649 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,400 Jesus was letting them know that in his death, there would 650 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:30,960 literally be a multiplication of what he was going to be and do 651 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,000 in the earth. And really, in watching the news 652 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,360 this week, that's what Charlie Kirk's wife said. 653 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,360 They're Christians. And she said, well, people don't 654 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:43,560 understand what's been unleashed here and take talking about the 655 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,640 fact that we don't know what's going to happen next. 656 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:50,000 Amen. But that's important to 657 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:51,800 understand. But I also want to share with 658 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,680 you how important it is for us to get and see everything in its 659 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,880 context. This past week, I had a stack of 660 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,520 newspapers on my desk. What newspapers were they? 661 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,640 Well, I've often shared how when I was a kid, nine years old, I'm 662 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,720 watching the news, seeing the news or whatever. 663 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,440 And so one of the things I did is I used to actually cut news 664 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,960 events out of the newspaper, but back in those days, you couldn't 665 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,360 save things on your computer or whatever. 666 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,680 You just had to cut out the articles from the newspaper and 667 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,560 I would glue them into the scrapbooks. 668 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:27,200 So in my newspaper articles, 1963, The Assassination of 669 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,880 President Kennedy, I have all those articles. 670 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,800 I don't think anybody's going to ever want them because I 671 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,880 actually use Elmer's glue to put them in my scrapbook so they 672 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,760 don't look too good anymore. So I'm looking at kind of thing, 673 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:41,160 and should I just throw this away now so my kids don't have 674 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,560 to when I'm older? That's the kind of things I was 675 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:46,720 thinking about when you get here over years. 676 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,600 But anyway, as I was thinking about that, but I had that 677 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,800 article, I had the articles where Martin Luther King was 678 00:36:54,800 --> 00:37:02,160 killed in 1968, Robert F Kennedy killed 1968, George Wallace, one 679 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:07,200 of the presidential candidates shot and become a crippled 1971. 680 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,960 And I was thinking about all the events that happened in the 60s 681 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,600 and especially in 1968 when Martin Luther King, who was very 682 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,880 big on rights for blacks, especially in the South, because 683 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,520 of all the Jim Crow laws that were down there separating the 684 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,440 races, etcetera. And, and there was a lot of 685 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:30,120 controversy in that. Matter of fact, one of my life 686 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:34,600 stories is my brother Bill, and I was 14, he would have been 18. 687 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:39,040 And we were driving up Montcalm in Pontiac, and all the sudden 688 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,160 bombs start going off on our right hand. 689 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:44,480 We're passing the bus garage in this for the city of Pontiac 690 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,280 schools. And 10 buses were literally 691 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,400 blown up with bombs. And we saw the whole thing. 692 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:54,760 Now, because of our age, all we can think about is getting by a 693 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,080 phone because we didn't have a cell phone, because we wanted to 694 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:02,920 call CKLW, the Motor City, because if you called with the 695 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,360 right news event for the year, you would get 1000 bucks. 696 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:07,840 We're like we want that 1000 bucks. 697 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,440 We weren't thinking about the consequences on our nation. 698 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:13,960 We knew my Aunt Alice lived around the corner in Hampton Rd. 699 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,240 right by signals and we're like let's get the analysis and use 700 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:19,000 her phone so we can call that in. 701 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,000 We never won that year. I don't remember that part of 702 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,200 the story, but that's how desperate things were in those 703 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:30,040 days. And then when JFK was killed and 704 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,680 these big assassinations are taking place, I remember a guy 705 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:35,240 in church saying we all need to go to the corner of our 706 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,440 properties and plead the blood of Jesus. 707 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,560 This country's falling apart. I'm like, Oh my God, Jesus. 708 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,960 But I found out that God was doing something totally 709 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,880 different. And if you study history, you'll 710 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,480 find out history is all about the headline people, the famous 711 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,760 people, the kings, etcetera, which is what history is to a 712 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,600 greater extent. But often times what's really 713 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:02,240 happening in the world, taking God out of it is not what's 714 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,440 happening in the headlines and the famous people, but it's 715 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,240 happening in the everyday people. 716 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,960 And we have to understand that church and then add the context 717 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,120 of what God is doing because where everybody was saying the 718 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:19,440 world's falling apart, what's happening to our nation now if 719 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,240 one person kills another person, that's not what's happening to 720 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:27,640 our nation, no matter how famous that person is or how much 721 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,080 controversy surrounds it. We have to understand that we 722 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:33,640 have to take everything in its context. 723 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,920 And I found out that, well, people have a tendency to just 724 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,360 take things and oftentimes make them much bigger than their 725 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,360 context. But more importantly, I'm 726 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,560 sharing with you what God has spoken to me. 727 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:49,560 And I saw how God used the environment of the times to stir 728 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:52,000 great revival. And there was what we called the 729 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,440 Jesus People movement. It was a counterculture to the 730 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,160 counterculture, and yet it reached a whole multitude of 731 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,840 young people and church. This is a time when God's 732 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,640 reaching young people. I shared with you last week all 733 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,040 the things indicate something powerful is happening. 734 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,800 And of course, Charlie Kirk, I didn't really like, I said no at 735 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,760 first, but he seemed to be really involved in the the 736 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,120 college love of this. But I know God's going to do 737 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,720 some other things too. Great things are happening. 738 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,120 And then the charismatic movements that came from the 739 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,560 heels of that and and how powerful God moved over the next 740 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:33,560 whole generation Church. We are in a time of supernatural 741 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,760 happenings from God, and although we will have our 742 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,320 political decisions and find interest and all these things, 743 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,960 what you have to understand is God's doing something 744 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,440 supernatural. Joel prophesied it. 745 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:52,120 He said multitudes, multitudes are in the valley of Decision 746 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:56,080 for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision 747 00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,600 church. We are in the valley of decision 748 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:03,760 and everything is going to focus on people needing to make a 749 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,360 choice. So what we have to do is we need 750 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:07,880 to be speaking the truth. Amen. 751 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,040 But not from the idea that the world is falling apart, but from 752 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,640 the idea that God is doing something so powerful. 753 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,200 The sun and moon will grow dark. The stars will diminish their 754 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,040 brightness. These are not literal events. 755 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,560 These are prophetic terms often used when a time of great change 756 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,040 is taking place. And we are in one of those times 757 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,920 right now. The stars are falling, being 758 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,720 diminished in brightness. But what is God going to do? 759 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,120 The Lord also will what roar from Zion, utter his voice from 760 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:42,160 Drews from the heavens, and the earth will shake. 761 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:46,880 But the Lord will be a shelter for his people, and the 762 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:49,960 strength, Hallelujah, of His people as well. 763 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,200 Can we all bow our heads and close our eyes for just a 764 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,400 moment? Because I believe with 765 00:41:54,400 --> 00:42:00,440 everything within me, this is a momentous time in the history of 766 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:05,200 planet Earth, United States of America, Mount Zion Temple, the 767 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:08,560 people of God. And we got to make sure we're 768 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:14,400 tuning in to what it is that God is speaking and understanding 769 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:18,000 that we all have to take our place. 770 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:19,400 And it seems like somebody's fallen. 771 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:25,120 We got to stand up all the more. There's always somebody else and 772 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:29,160 God saying, will you respond? Will you make yourself ready? 773 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,920 My people shall be volunteers in the day of my visitation, says 774 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,000 the Lord. And this is the day when the 775 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:43,280 volunteer call is going out to the body of Christ and to the 776 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,880 nations. It's time for the roar to come 777 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:50,440 from Zion. It's time for the Holy Mountain 778 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:54,440 to begin to speak and declare. And time for God's people to 779 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:58,480 know we have a refuge. We don't have to be afraid. 780 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,920 He will give us strength. He is able. 781 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:05,960 He is calling. He is calling. 782 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:10,800 Father, in the name of Jesus and the seriousness of the moment 783 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:14,280 that's shaking our nation, Father, let your people hear 784 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:20,560 your voice say arise and shine. The people of Zion. 785 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:26,320 It's time, It's time. Thank you, Jesus. 786 00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,080 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 787 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,080 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 788 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,680 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 789 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,320 following us on social media. God bless you.