1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:03,640 All my life he has been faithful. 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,080 All my life he has been so, so good. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:15,040 And I told Donna, my wife, I said I want that played at my 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,320 funeral. And she said first part of your 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:23,680 life was rotten. You know, six families before I 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,280 was 16, you know, I got kicked out of four of them and ran away 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,040 from one of them. And the other one, I kind of 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,400 aged out of the program and I said no. 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,280 All my life he's been faithful. I can say that without 10 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,480 hesitation. I see you changed the carpet. 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,960 So you ripped up the holy carpet that we put in here and. 12 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,480 Gosh, this could be, you know, when people say you can never go 13 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:02,520 home again, they're wrong because this is home. 14 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:09,920 Big time home. Anyway, I'm trying not to be too 15 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:16,960 sentimental. Amazing Grace, you know, that 16 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,160 saved a Wretch like me. I did a funeral Tuesday for, for 17 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,440 Sally Metcalf. I don't know if many of you know 18 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,240 Sally. She used to come here two years 19 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:28,480 ago, but she was 90 years old and she passed, she called me 3 20 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:33,360 days before she passed and, and she was in Hospice and she had 21 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,200 the phone held up like this. And they've been out at, they 22 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,000 live in Charleston and they, they've been out of here for 15 23 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,040 years. I've been out for four and a 24 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,960 half and and I answered the phone. 25 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:48,840 It's late at night. And whenever a pastor gets the 26 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,440 phone call late at night, it's not it's not a good phone call. 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:58,720 It's not a hey, guess what, you know, And she said in a very 28 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:00,920 weak voice, she said, Pastor Tom, I'm dying. 29 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,320 And she said, will you do my funeral? 30 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,400 I mean, how do you say no to that? 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,760 You know, it's like I don't want to, but I don't want anybody 32 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:18,200 else to, you know, and and so they played Amazing Grace at the 33 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,360 beginning of the service and I was walking up. 34 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:27,280 I felt like the Lord said you'll you'll never know how amazing my 35 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:33,680 grace is until you realize how much of A Wretch you were that 36 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,400 saved a Wretch like me. Those who have been forgiven 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,920 much love much. So that's pretty much my, my 38 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:46,920 testimony. Thank you, Pastor Blake, for 39 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:50,240 letting me come back. Seriously, thank you for 40 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,560 welcoming me. I love this place. 41 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:58,920 I do, I, I, I love this place. And then Anna was talking about 42 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,840 struggles, which is what I'll be talking about also, which I 43 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:07,000 appreciate that intro, Anna, but she, you, she's talking about 44 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,600 struggles. And I realized, you know, we're 45 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,520 Christians. So I mean, nobody here has any 46 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:17,840 struggles and a lot of people don't understand that Christians 47 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:19,600 have as many struggles as the world does. 48 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,000 Sometimes we have, we have more because the devil hates us so 49 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,800 much. But but again, I'm, I'm, I'm 50 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:27,280 sitting over there and I'm, I'm praying. 51 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:33,920 And I heard the Lord say, when you struggle, I snuggle. 52 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,800 And I thought, OK, I mean, that sounds a little corny, but I 53 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,040 mean, I'll take it, you know, anyway, so I'm not going to 54 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,480 preach today. You get good preaching all the 55 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,640 time. This isn't necessarily a a 56 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:54,200 sermon as it is just me chit chatting with you about kind of 57 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,560 what's what's on my heart. So, so if you don't mind, we'll 58 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,680 do a little chit chat and I'm going to tell you a couple of 59 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,240 stories. The older you get, the more 60 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:08,480 stories you have to tell. And so I'm, you know, I'm going 61 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,880 to tell some stories, they're true, but, but hopefully it'll 62 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:17,959 encourage you. Oh, by the way, I, I had had 63 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:24,520 some major heart issues last year and you know, not not great 64 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,800 reports from the doctors. But anyway, since then, you 65 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,320 know, they've put a straw in my heart. 66 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:34,760 So I don't know how that works, But so I had to go through 67 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,200 cardiac rehab And, and so after I stopped cardiac rehab, I just, 68 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,600 I went ahead and kept doing, you know, I go to Gold's Gym and I 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,360 don't know. I don't know if you've noticed, 70 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:59,400 but yeah, I haven't either. Anyway, story #1 we had a 71 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,640 Christian School here for, for a long time. 72 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,760 And the reason I came here as pastor, the reason I moved my 73 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,840 family here because they had the Christian School and I wanted my 74 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,120 kids to go to Christian School. And it was difficult where we 75 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:18,720 were and it was easy here. And so we had a Chapel and one 76 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,720 year the Blue Angels were here doing the air show. 77 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,160 I, I think they're going to be here next month, the Blues. 78 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,760 So anyway, the Blue Angels were, were here and so we got some of 79 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,720 the pilots to come into our Chapel, which was really pretty 80 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:40,880 cool 'cause I mean, that's their, their first class. 81 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,040 And so they were talking about when they were flying in 82 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,120 formation. I don't know if this is still 83 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,880 the way it works, but this is how I remember they were talking 84 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,400 about it. When the Blues are in close 85 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:59,760 formation, they're doing about 450 miles an hour and they're 86 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:05,480 they're inside the jet wash from the jet in in front of them. 87 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,160 In other words, if they go out a little bit or they they get in 88 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:13,640 the jet wash. And so they said that they fly 89 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:21,600 sometimes between 12 and 18 inches apart at 450 miles an 90 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,920 hour. And so we were asking them, so 91 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,080 how, how do you stay that close? And I'm thinking, well, maybe, 92 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,400 you know, maybe they look at the cockpit or they do something 93 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,960 like that. And one of the pilots said, no, 94 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,080 there's a Phillips head screw right underneath the pilot's 95 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,360 name. And we focus on the X of the 96 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:49,680 Phillips head screw at 450 miles an hour. 97 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,240 Talk about precision. That is precision. 98 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:58,240 And and he said, so as as we're doing it as as we're going into 99 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:04,560 the dives, he said everything in a pilot's body says pull up, 100 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,960 pull up, pull up, pull up. They remember the Thunderbirds, 101 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:15,360 the Air Force Air Show that it's like in the 80s and, and they 102 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:16,640 just went straight into the ground. 103 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,480 All all, all four of them went straight into the ground. 104 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,240 And so every, every Angel pilot knows about that. 105 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,760 And so their body is telling them pull up, pull up, pull up 106 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,160 their instruments. They have to override their 107 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,240 instruments because their instruments are saying pull up, 108 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,760 pull up, pull up. And the lead pilot gets over to 109 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,800 the microphone and says don't sag, don't sag. 110 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,000 No teundas for you to speak Spanish. 111 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,240 In other words, if one of you pulls up, if one of you quits 112 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:52,040 the formation, the whole formation goes, don't sag. 113 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:58,680 And that, that just, I don't know, that just hit me so much. 114 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,680 Don't quit, don't sag, don't, don't pull up. 115 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:08,520 Here's my second story and then I'll give you some Bible verses 116 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:14,760 here. Many of you know my story, many 117 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,560 of you don't. I won't tell at all, but when I 118 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:22,160 was nine years old, my mom died of cancer and my dad was a World 119 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,360 War 2 veteran but a raging alcoholic. 120 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:26,400 PTSD before they knew what it meant. 121 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,600 And so on the day of her funeral, he left. 122 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,039 He took off. My sister went to live with my 123 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:39,200 mother's mother down the road, and I went to Philadelphia live 124 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:45,080 with an aunt that I didn't know. And I had I had to deal with 125 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,560 this part of my testimony. That's that's not what I want to 126 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:51,280 get into here. But I married the love of my 127 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,680 life, Marsha. And we were married for 47 128 00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:01,680 years, most of them here. And when she passed, you know, 129 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,920 we had a church, We had a ministry. 130 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:13,280 And the voice of my father was so loud in me and it said, run. 131 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,560 I honestly heard the words run. You're done. 132 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,880 You're through here. You don't have a ministry 133 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:20,360 anymore. You had a family ministry. 134 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,720 Now you don't have a family. So run. 135 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:28,040 And that was a that was a hard season in my life. 136 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,520 Toby Mac sings a song. It's been a hard year. 137 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:38,760 It almost took me down, I swear. And I, and I, and I understand 138 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,360 that everybody goes through seasons. 139 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,320 As long as the earth exists, you know, there'll be spring and 140 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,360 summer. Everybody goes through seasons. 141 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,560 Christians go through seasons. Some of them are harder than 142 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,600 others. And it's, and it's just just 143 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,640 very, very difficult. And I feel like the Lord was 144 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,120 prompting me to give a word of encouragement to those of you 145 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,360 who are going through a hard season where you're really 146 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,840 thinking about quitting. By the way, most of those 147 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,760 seasons where you're thinking about quitting, for the most 148 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,880 part, nobody to blame you. Matter of fact, you might have 149 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:25,920 people that are encouraging you to quit during the hard times. 150 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:32,200 But the reality is seasons change and the devil hates it 151 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,000 when you hunker down. The devil hates it when you 152 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,760 refuse to quit. So that's kind of what I'll be 153 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,600 talking about today. All, all seasons, the hard ones 154 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,640 and the goodness are still sacred to God. 155 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,200 So the devil's going to challenge you every step of the 156 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,440 way. But don't sag. 157 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,480 Don't quit. If you walk out of here with 158 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:02,160 nothing else that I say, I'm not trying to set vision or anything 159 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,480 else. I'm just here to tell you I've 160 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,200 been through them. I know you've been through them. 161 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,200 Just don't, don't quit. You can't finish if you quit. 162 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:19,120 The theme of it is woven all the way through the Bible. 163 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,800 I mean, if you're looking for it, you start in Genesis and you 164 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,320 read through and go, oh, that one quit. 165 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,280 Oh, that one didn't quit. Oh, that one wanted to quit. 166 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,320 Oh, that one, you know, And so it's there. 167 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:37,360 The word persevere is 21 times in the Bible and countless 168 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,920 examples of those who did quit and those who didn't quit. 169 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,520 I did a series here years ago. Gloria would probably remember 170 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:50,240 because she's heard everything I've ever had to say my whole 171 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,360 life. Judy same way. 172 00:11:54,800 --> 00:12:00,360 But I did a series called Heroes and Zeros and, and what I said 173 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:06,080 was every hero in the Bible had a chance to be a 0 and every 174 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,640 zero in the Bible had a chance to be a hero. 175 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,880 And so I talked about decisions and, and, and and choices. 176 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,520 So the Bible's full of those who didn't, didn't quit. 177 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,640 So our main text today is going to going to be in Galatians 178 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,800 chapter 6. And I think it'll be up on the 179 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,400 screens. If you've got your Bibles out or 180 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:41,560 Bible app, open your phones to Galatians chapter 6 and listen 181 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,520 to what I'm saying now, OK? Because I'm I won't be here next 182 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:52,920 week. So let us not become weary in 183 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,040 doing good. There's a lot of weary 184 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,120 Christians. A lot of weary Christians. 185 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,240 Warriors get tired too. Let us not become. 186 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:08,840 We're in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a 187 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,320 harvest. We will reap a harvest. 188 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:23,680 We will, if we do not give up, come on somebody, God. 189 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,800 That's the promise from God, he says. 190 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,080 I know you're tired. Understand you're tired, but 191 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,360 don't quit because there's there's a there's a harvest 192 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,480 coming. There's for those who say, Lord, 193 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,640 I am so tired, but I'm going to do it anyway. 194 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,320 Josh Groban sings a song. I'd never considered him to be a 195 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,760 Christian artist, but he sings a song. 196 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:50,560 You ought to download it. You ought to go to YouTube and 197 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:53,440 download it. Josh Groban Lord, I'm not OK, 198 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:59,880 but I'm still here. Man, I love that that's I'm on 199 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:02,280 the prayer team at, at our church in Myrtle Beach. 200 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,040 Have I told you that? I live in Myrtle Beach, but I'm 201 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:12,080 on the prayer team and the church is kind of in a revival 202 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,280 stage right now. It's, it's, it's, it's running 203 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:16,640 and going. It's the biggest Church of God 204 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:20,080 in South Carolina, 31st fastest growing church in America, 205 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,000 really cool church. And I'm on the prayer team. 206 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,040 And so he's, he's preaching revival and, and, and I'm good 207 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,520 friends with him. And so we were talking one day 208 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,960 and I said, I said, Pastor, I understand that you're preaching 209 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,880 revival, but I'm on the prayer team. 210 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,640 And when people come to me, they're not asking me to pray 211 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,560 about revival. They're asking me to pray about 212 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,240 survival. Their mom's been diagnosed with 213 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,480 cancer, their husband has left them. 214 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:57,160 They got laid off at their job. And, you know, the thought is 215 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,240 I'm done. This is too, too hard. 216 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,640 It's just, it's just odd. I don't want to do it. 217 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,640 And so I look at every church. Every church has got empty seats 218 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:13,560 that I know of. And I think you will reap a 219 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,480 harvest if you don't give up. And I look at the empty seats. 220 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,360 And I always thought even when I was passing here, the cease 221 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,120 being full made me happy. The seats that were empty made 222 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,920 me sad because there's somebody that was supposed to be sitting 223 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,440 there that quit. Somebody said it was too hard. 224 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,120 You know, God, you didn't heal my grandmama, you know, 225 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,320 whatever, God, I, I prayed to you that, you know, I'd get a 226 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,400 good report from the doctor. And they said that, you know, my 227 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,840 markers are still up or whatever. 228 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,680 And so I thought about it. You will reap a reward if you 229 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,880 don't give up. And pardon me for doing this. 230 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:58,080 And and I realized that she doesn't need this but but Gloria 231 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:03,080 was here before I got here and she's up front here. 232 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,160 You had every chance to quit. The church went through some 233 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,880 highs and lows. You had every chance to quit. 234 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:14,240 You lost a lot of friends, family members, health issues 235 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:21,680 from day one, and sitting on the front freaking row in your chair 236 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,680 up at the altar. And so here's a reward because 237 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:31,720 you didn't quit. It's not much, but honestly 238 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,040 speaking, it's not much. If I'd had more, I'd give you 239 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,760 more. And you may or may not need it. 240 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:37,720 I don't care what you do with it. 241 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,360 I'll give you my mailing address later. 242 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:47,640 And you can. Yeah. 243 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:53,640 Don't quit because you will reap a reward if you don't quit. 244 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,880 God says there's a harvest. So the people that aren't here 245 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,200 sagged when they should have stayed. 246 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,160 They really should have stayed. You ought to work through it. 247 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,040 If the Bob says if God's for you, who can be against you? 248 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,680 But a lot of people think, Nah, the whole world's against me. 249 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,040 And so they just sag when they should have stayed. 250 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,440 Here's just a few of those who who quit. 251 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,240 Just checked out in the Bible, King Saul sagged. 252 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,200 When you're reading through your Bible reading, it says he was a 253 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,440 head taller than everybody else. He was called God's anointed. 254 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,800 David called him God's anointed all the way through the end when 255 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,080 Saul died, David wept, O how the mighty hath fallen. 256 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,160 But Saul quit. He lost it and it cost him his 257 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,440 Kingdom. He just didn't trust God through 258 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,120 the hard times. He just didn't trust God. 259 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:56,440 Judas, great example, Obviously Judas, He didn't overcome 260 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,040 temptation. He had a chance to make some 261 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,040 money and probably wouldn't be unpaid that much. 262 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:07,240 I don't know what minimum wage was back then, but and it cost 263 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,960 him his life. I, I don't know. 264 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,920 I've, I've often thought how many people die before they're 265 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,360 supposed to because they just gave up on life. 266 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:21,880 They gave up on, on God. Demas I, I preached a, a series 267 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,800 on Demas. Nobody knows who Demas is, but 268 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:30,600 Paul writes to Timothy and he says Demas has forsaken us for 269 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,520 he has loved this world. And so Demas just quit. 270 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,160 Demas could have been one of the one of the major guys. 271 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,800 He was in the inner circle with Paul and he has loved this 272 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,920 present world. He just, he, he didn't want to 273 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,200 serve it and, and it cost him his future. 274 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:53,280 The crowds quit. I was at Liberty Church in, in 275 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,360 Jacksonville last week. Actually, what's it last week, 276 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:05,600 the week before anyway, Palm Sunday and I, I, I just went 277 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,080 there just to go to see Mike and Pastor Mike and he asked me, you 278 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,360 know, Hey, has the Lord laid anything on your heart? 279 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:14,560 I hate it when people do that because you got to make up 280 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:20,080 something. I mean, you can't say no, I 281 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:26,040 haven't heard from God in months, you know, but but it was 282 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:30,600 the same theme because I, I've been working on this and I said, 283 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,320 I said, boy, Jesus missed some great opportunities to quit. 284 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,120 I mean, when he's riding in, you know, on the donkey and the 285 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:39,000 hell, hell, Hosanna, Hosanna was out. 286 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,240 I said that had been a good time to quit because the next week 287 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,120 was not pleasant. That had been a good time to 288 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:45,960 quit. And then I said, and when he's 289 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,240 in the Garden of Gethsemane, he's just minutes away from the 290 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,240 Roman soldiers coming. He's just minutes away and he's 291 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,920 praying and he actually says, God, you know, if you can do 292 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,520 this another way, I'm in. I said that'd have been a good 293 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:00,360 time to quit. Either quit while you were ahead 294 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,040 or quit and cut your losses. But aren't you glad he didn't 295 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,160 quit? And so anyway, so he's, he's 296 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:14,280 preaching to, to the crowds and in, in John 6, I, I love this, 297 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:19,400 my, my staff knows this, 'cause I used to tell it all the time. 298 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,600 It says, 'cause he, he told them, you know? 299 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,480 Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no pardon me. 300 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,280 Anyway, they said, oh this is a hard sand. 301 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,320 And it says from this time many of his disciples turned back and 302 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,320 no longer followed him because it was 2. 303 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,520 God, I love you guys. From this time many of his 304 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,480 disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 305 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,320 He looked at the 12 and he said, you don't want to leave 2, do 306 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:59,040 you? Can you imagine Jesus looking at 307 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,680 you and saying, Tom, you don't want to quit either, do you? 308 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:03,640 Tom? You want to quit now that 309 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:04,880 Marshall's gone, you want to go too? 310 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,520 And, and I tell the staff, I'd say I always told him, no, Sir, 311 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,840 I don't have anywhere else to go, but that may be a great 312 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,080 option. I don't have anywhere else. 313 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,880 You know, you, you're my savior. You're my friend. 314 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,160 There's nowhere else I can go. But the crowds quit on him. 315 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:33,320 They just, they just left the crowd at Palm Sunday. 316 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,120 Palm Sunday, they're saying, you know, crown him king, Crown him 317 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:40,640 king. Four days later they're saying 318 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:46,720 crucify him, crucify him because he wasn't what they expected. 319 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,960 And a lot of times we, we build up our Christianity and our 320 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:53,480 faith and our walk with the Lord. 321 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,360 We build it up that nothing bad is ever going to happen, that no 322 00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,040 bad seasons are ever going to come. 323 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,480 And it's just not true. It's just not reality. 324 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,200 And a lot of times, because we were expecting something 325 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,520 different, we just, we just check out. 326 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,880 But then there were those who, who, who wanted to quit. 327 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:18,520 I'd say almost everybody in here has been at a time where you 328 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,720 wanted to quit being a pastor. You everybody thinks, you know, 329 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,040 that, you know, it's all fun and roses. 330 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:28,680 You work an hour a week on Sunday. 331 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:36,080 But but I don't know, I think, I think being in the ministry may 332 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:41,800 actually accentuate, you know, when you feel like, you know, 333 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,240 nobody cares, nobody's listening, people leaving, 334 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,680 they're mad at you and you get ugly letters and you get 335 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,440 prophecies. You know that God's going to 336 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,760 strike you dead. And I actually had a file that I 337 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,800 saved of all the strike you dead prophecies. 338 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:02,640 And here I am. But all of us want to quit as, 339 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,000 as sometimes Moses wanted to quit. 340 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,120 He did his best to quit. Moses special said, I, I don't, 341 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,400 I don't speak well. And God said, who was it that 342 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,120 gave you your tongue? He went, OK, well, good point. 343 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,000 And he wanted to and and he told God several times he'd had these 344 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,040 confrontations with God. God, listen, these ain't my 345 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:27,600 kids. These are your kids. 346 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,920 And so don't put it on me. And he, he told God, he said, if 347 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,120 you're not going with us, I ain't going. 348 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,080 Imagine talking to God like that. 349 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:44,160 And God's going, oh, Gee, David, David wanted to quit. 350 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,240 I've, I've got this here. I, I didn't have this marked 351 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,600 before. So I basically put a Audi card 352 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:56,720 in in here. This is David, King David, man 353 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:04,680 after God's own heart. The line of David, I said, it's 354 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,440 in Psalm 55. I said, oh, that I had the wings 355 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,440 of a dove. I would fly away and be at rest 356 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,080 numbers. I would get out of here. 357 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,040 I would flee far away and stay in the desert. 358 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,040 I would hurry to my place of shelter far from The Tempest and 359 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,760 storm. And so there's been gospel songs 360 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:31,320 on the wings of the Snow White dove. 361 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,040 He was saying, Get Me Out of here. 362 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,600 I I don't, I don't want to be here. 363 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,400 I need to go to a place where everybody just leave me alone. 364 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,680 Elijah, he goes up in the mountain. 365 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:44,840 God just kill me. Just kill me. 366 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,560 I'm the only prophet left in the whole world. 367 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:49,680 And God basically said, oh, hush. 368 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:57,720 He said, there's thousands more like you go back to where you 369 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,240 came from, is what he said. OK? 370 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,400 Jeremiah wanted to quit. You know, they call him the the 371 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,320 crying prophet. He was given a job that wasn't 372 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,720 going to work. God told him at the beginning, 373 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,320 it's not going to work, but they have to hear you say it. 374 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,880 And so Jeremiah, you know, he's, he's doing the prophecies and 375 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,000 they don't like him. They bury him in a cistern. 376 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,040 They do all kind of things. And so he tries to quit. 377 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:29,040 And he writes, when I tried to quit, the word in me was like a 378 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,920 fire that was shut up in my bones. 379 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,520 He said, and I couldn't do it. He wanted to quit. 380 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:42,120 God wouldn't let him. Peter, bless his heart, Peter 381 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,280 wanted to quit kind of did for a little while. 382 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,840 Basically, I'm a failure. Now think about the about the 383 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,560 other people in the formation. If if Peter was to lead pilot 384 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,760 the others in the formation and Peter pulls up. 385 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,320 Think about the other ones. They're going, Oh, Lord, if 386 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,360 Peter can't make it, you know, Thomas was saying, I doubt that 387 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:09,440 I can. Did you get that doubting 388 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,760 Thomas? I thought you would like that 389 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:19,520 when you're tempted to quit. I think it's because God wants 390 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:26,080 to reveal a weakness in you so that he can touch it and heal 391 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:31,640 it. God revealed a weakness in me 392 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:40,320 that my ministry depended a whole lot more on Marsha than it 393 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,560 did on him at times. And it was like, no, no, no, 394 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:49,520 you, you're serving me. So you want to quit. 395 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:53,680 You can go ahead and quit. Lord, I don't have anywhere to 396 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:58,200 go. So a lot of times your struggles 397 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:04,000 and your, and your desire to just Chuck it, it's because God 398 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,040 has revealed something in you that you thought was strong that 399 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,120 ain't so strong. And he gives you a chance to 400 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:14,200 turn it over to him and let him strengthen it. 401 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,360 John Mark, not a lot of people know this, but John Mark was, 402 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,240 you know, he wrote the gospel, the 4th gospel, but he was the 403 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:29,960 kid that ran away naked when the soldiers came and grabbed Jesus, 404 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,560 they said, you know, one of the disciples ran away. 405 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:34,840 He dropped his robe and he just took off 'cause you can't run 406 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,720 fast in a row. And that was John Mark. 407 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:45,280 That was, that was oh Marky boy. And when Paul and Barnabas 408 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:50,960 split, it was because of Mark. Mark kind of faded on them on, 409 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,640 on one of their journeys. And Barnabas was an encourager. 410 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:58,200 Thank God for encouragers. But Barnabas kind of sided with 411 00:27:58,200 --> 00:27:59,840 Mark. Paul, give him a shot. 412 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:00,560 Come on. Come on. 413 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,800 He messed up, OK? And Paul said, no, he is not 414 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,720 allowed to go with me on the next trip. 415 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,960 Paul's tough. And so Paul and Barnabas split 416 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,200 over John. Mark, aren't you glad Mark 417 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,760 didn't stay Quit? You know, he wanted to, but he 418 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,400 just didn't stay there. The the flesh screams. 419 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,000 One thing about the flesh, it's very loud and it's very rude. 420 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,480 The flesh screams at us, Quit, quit, run. 421 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:35,400 And the spirit whispers so quietly, Don't sag, Tom, don't 422 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,440 sag. Don't do it. 423 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,000 Don't sag. And then there were so many 424 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:43,760 heroes that that that didn't quit. 425 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,200 The two that really stand out most to me is the Apostle Paul. 426 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:56,840 Once he once he got up off the ground, he never wavered, never 427 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:02,280 again wavered in second Timothy for you, he says this, it's the 428 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:06,320 last, the last letter he ever wrote probably was dead before 429 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,480 Timothy got the letter in second Timothy. 430 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,760 He tells Timothy, he says, hey, look, when you come here, 'cause 431 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:14,360 I'm cold, could you bring my cloak? 432 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,120 And I, Oh yeah, bring, bring some of my scrolls, 'cause he 433 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,120 was in prison. And by the time Timothy got 434 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,360 there, if he got there, Paul was already dead. 435 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:29,320 So it's a, it's a raw letter of a father to a spiritual son 436 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,520 saying, hurry, get here. But he says to him in second 437 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,760 Timothy 4, he says, I have finished the fight. 438 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,200 I have run my race, I have kept the faith. 439 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,840 Man, wouldn't it be great at the end of your life to be able to 440 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:51,200 stand and look at God and say, I finished the race, Sir, I did 441 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,840 it. I ran as hard as I could and I 442 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:58,960 finished and I love this. I love this account. 443 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:09,760 If you don't, if you don't know as much about when, when Paul 444 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,080 says that he, he knew a man, whether in his spirit or not, 445 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,880 and he went up to the 3rd heaven and he saw things that were 446 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,480 unspeakable. He's talking about himself. 447 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,400 He actually, he actually probably died, went up to 448 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,800 heaven, saw past, present, future God talked to him. 449 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,600 He came back and that's when he wrote a bunch of other stuff 450 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,720 that you go, Dang, where did he get that information? 451 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,360 Because he'd seen it. But he writes this or the 452 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,080 account. So they're they're doing their 453 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,760 missionary journey and it says then some Jews came from Antioch 454 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,040 and Iconium and they won the crowd over. 455 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,480 They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city thinking he was 456 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,920 dead. So he probably was and had a out 457 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,280 of body experience. But after the disciples gathered 458 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,440 around him, that's important. Don't, please, don't miss that. 459 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,600 After the disciples had gathered around him, he got back up, went 460 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,960 back into the city. I said, dude, that's a tough 461 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:14,920 dude right there. And the next day, he and 462 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,800 Barnabas left for Derby. They went to, I mean, he was 463 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,840 dead and the disciples gathered around him. 464 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,720 Let me make this point. It's not a main point. 465 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,120 When you're down and you're thinking about quitting, you 466 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,200 need some people around you who are going to say, don't you 467 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,160 quit. Don't you dare quit. 468 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,240 I don't know how people make it through the ordeal of a spouse 469 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,520 dying or being a caregiver for a long period of time. 470 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,720 Had it not been for this church, I would have quit. 471 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,680 I'd, I'd have quit in a heartbeat. 472 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,960 But it just wouldn't let me, you know. 473 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,640 And so thank you, you know, 'cause I was as good as dead. 474 00:31:55,280 --> 00:32:02,520 And everybody said, oh, get up. So anyway, thank you and in 475 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,680 Jesus, obviously Jesus is is the best example. 476 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,400 Hebrews chapter 12 again after you preach a long time, you say, 477 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:18,160 oh, I've preached like 8 sermons on on this text, but Hebrews 478 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:25,040 chapter 12 verse 2, it tells us this. 479 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:26,760 It's talking about running a race. 480 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,360 Don't quit fixing our eyes on Jesus. 481 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,840 You know, they say long distance truck drivers and everything, 482 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:36,600 they don't look at the road in front of them. 483 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,600 They look at the horizon because if you look at the road in, in 484 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,240 front of you, you, you lose perspective. 485 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,200 And so they, they focus on the horizon. 486 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,000 If, if you're running a race and you don't know where the finish 487 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,280 line is, you can't gauge how you're doing. 488 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,560 But so this says while you're running a race, just look at 489 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,960 Jesus. Just keep your eyes fixed on 490 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:04,000 Jesus, David said. I always set Jesus before me or 491 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,560 I always set the Lord before me. So fixing our eyes on Jesus, the 492 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,520 author and finisher or the pioneer and perfector of our 493 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:18,360 faith for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, he 494 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:24,040 scorned the shame and he sat down at the right at the throne 495 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,320 of God. So here's Jesus. 496 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:35,040 Here's a so that Jesus was punished, tortured, humiliated. 497 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,880 Isaiah says you couldn't even recognize him as a human being. 498 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,240 He was so mutilated from the floggings and everything. 499 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:50,800 And he went through that so that we wouldn't have to. 500 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:58,360 He went through that so that we wouldn't have to. 501 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:03,200 And so if there's a purpose for your pain, then you can endure 502 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:04,600 the pain. If you don't have a purpose for 503 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,760 it, it's just pain. That's all it is. 504 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:08,600 It's just pain. And you go, why God, why God, 505 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,719 Why God? But if you know that there's 506 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:14,280 something on the other side. So he endured the cross. 507 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:19,520 He despised the shame, but for the joy that was set before him 508 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,120 on the other side of the cross. Now I'm going to tell you when 509 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,400 you're going through a hard time, I know God, there's a good 510 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,960 side on the other side of it. OK? 511 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:31,800 So don't sag. Don't, don't quit. 512 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:38,760 And then in verse 3, it says, so consider him who endured such 513 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:44,760 opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose 514 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,120 heart. So when you're thinking about 515 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,320 poor, poor, pitiful me, nobody's going through this. 516 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,159 Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, poor, poor, pitiful me. 517 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:52,840 Jesus goes, oh, I've been through it. 518 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:56,480 Oh yeah. And you can make it on the other 519 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,200 side. And so the first verse of that 520 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,400 that sets up the whole thing says let us run with 521 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,920 perseverance. There's that word, let us run 522 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:09,040 with perseverance. The race that is marked out for 523 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,160 us. You don't even need to mark out 524 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,160 your race. He's already marked it out. 525 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,320 Every day of your life was ordained and written in his book 526 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,360 before one of them came to be. He's already set out the race. 527 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,120 Just keep running. I don't know where I'm running 528 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,240 to. He does just keep running. 529 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,760 So let me give you some biblical encouragement, maybe a Holy 530 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:39,000 Ghost Pat on the back, if I may years ago in in ministry, I felt 531 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,080 like I had to tell everybody what they were doing wrong. 532 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:47,640 You know, wasn't a very graceful message at times. 533 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:50,640 And the Lord spoke to me one day in my office. 534 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:52,720 I was sitting there and he said, I want you to put your badge 535 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:56,120 down. I'm kind of like, whoa, put your 536 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,800 badge down and pick up pom poms, he said. 537 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,680 You've been a sheriff. I want you to be a cheerleader 538 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,240 from now on. So here we go. 539 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:08,080 Rah rah. Yes, Sir. 540 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:14,080 Lord Hebrews 103536 So do not throw away your confidence. 541 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,000 Throw away. That's an interesting term. 542 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,800 Don't throw it away. Your do not throw away your 543 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,880 confidence. It will be richly rewarded. 544 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:29,160 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of 545 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,880 God, you will receive what he has promised. 546 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:38,600 Come on, somebody that's that's from God, that's he's honestly, 547 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:40,800 he's speaking that to you directly. 548 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,400 The Holy Spirit is saying listen to me. 549 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:49,960 Listen to me. How many don't receive what was 550 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:54,160 promised because they quit before the promise got there? 551 00:36:55,680 --> 00:37:01,000 James 511, as you know. So we're supposed to know this, 552 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,120 as you know, we count them as blessed. 553 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,960 Who have persevered, We count them as blessed. 554 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,680 Didn't you just go through a health crisis and you're up here 555 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:17,360 singing Amazing Grace? Dude, you could have quit. 556 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,880 Thank you for not quitting Seriously. 557 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,360 That was beautiful by by the way, makes me mad that you can 558 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:31,840 sing like that. You know, I mean, this is after 559 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:33,560 a health crisis. You know, I Can't Sing like that 560 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:34,600 and I haven't had a health crisis. 561 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:40,000 Ephesians 613 and 14 again, very, very familiar. 562 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,360 You know, it says the full armor of God and it says stand your 563 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,240 ground, stand your ground. And after you have done 564 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:51,720 everything to stand, keep standing. 565 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,280 So you think, well, all right, I've done everything I know to 566 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:56,440 do. What do you want me to do? 567 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,520 God, he says, just stand there. Yeah. 568 00:37:58,520 --> 00:37:59,760 But God, I've already stood here. 569 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,160 Yeah, we'll keep standing here. Yeah. 570 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:09,120 But you know, God, God tells us. Well, Paul, Paul writes in, in 571 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:13,760 Romans, he says it is required of a steward or it is required 572 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:17,640 of those who've been given a trust that they must prove 573 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,960 faithful. Big words must. 574 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,640 First of all, you don't have an option and you have to prove 575 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,280 that you're faithful. How do you prove you're 576 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,280 faithful? You keep standing while 577 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,800 everybody else is running. You keep on loving while 578 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,760 everybody else is mad. Keep on praying when you don't 579 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:40,600 see the answer. Second Timothy 4-7 and eight, 580 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:43,840 you know, Paul said I have fought the good fight. 581 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:47,240 But after he said I have fought the good fight, I finished my 582 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:49,200 race. I have kept the faith. 583 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:56,760 This is the next verse. Now there is in store for me the 584 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:02,840 crown of righteousness which the Lord will award for me on that 585 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:06,680 day. Now because he fought the good 586 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,800 fight, He finished his race, kept the faith, He says now 587 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:12,640 there's a crown of righteousness. 588 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:14,560 So I know y'all were wondering about this. 589 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,200 I'm very bigoted. Crayons and whataburgers and 590 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,120 stuff like that. And Burger King, by the way, 591 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:22,520 their new burger's not that good. 592 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:30,240 If I may, you have kept the faith, baby, and I'm proud of 593 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:46,080 you and I'm doing my best. I am not the son of God, I know, 594 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:57,440 but I am a son of God. And you are a child of God. 595 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,560 The Bible says you're a joint heir with Jesus. 596 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,760 You're a King's kid. And just because you're a King's 597 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,720 kid doesn't mean you don't have to grow up. 598 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:13,280 You still got to grow up. You still got to learn things on 599 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:17,640 your own. But if I want to be a King's 600 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:22,080 kid, I might as well wear my crown and fight through the 601 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:27,560 temptation to quit. So stop thinking about stopping. 602 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,480 Quit thinking about quitting. Shut down the temptation to shut 603 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:37,400 down. God's taken you on a wonderful, 604 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,880 wonderful journey. If you think about all my life 605 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,520 He has been faithful. When when you play the real 606 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:47,560 backwards and you think about it, you go, Oh my gosh, he has, 607 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:53,280 you know, even when I didn't know him, he still knew me. 608 00:40:54,720 --> 00:41:01,080 Even even when I wouldn't have given him a second's thought, I 609 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,320 never left his mind. You know, even when my hands 610 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:09,400 were filthy dirty from sin and everything that I was doing, my 611 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:14,480 name was still engraved in the palm of his hand. 612 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:18,320 There's a race marked out for you. 613 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,840 Don't stumble. I mean, well, OK, go ahead and 614 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:22,560 stumble. Go ahead and stumble. 615 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:27,480 It's OK. But get up and just keep going. 616 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,760 Don't you sag. Don't you dare sag. 617 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:34,200 There's. There was a prophetic word given 618 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:40,360 to our church at the beginning of the year, and the pastor said 619 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:42,520 this year is going to be a year of surprises. 620 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:46,520 Duh. I don't know if that's prophetic 621 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,360 or just common sense, but when God says that, you kind of go, 622 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:55,840 OK, so don't quit. You'll miss your surprise. 623 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,520 He's got a surprise if you don't quit. 624 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:04,080 God's invested in you by his blood. 625 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:08,320 He paid a dear price. You owe it to yourself. 626 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:14,840 You owe it to the people who love you and who you love. 627 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:19,360 They're counting on you. You know, if you pull up, your 628 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,240 jet washer is going to pull them down with you. 629 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,040 Don't sag on them to those around you. 630 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:30,640 And especially you owe it to to Jesus. 631 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:36,880 He didn't quit, thank God. Thank God he didn't quit and I 632 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,680 thank God that you're not going to quit either. 633 00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:43,840 So I told you I've I've been working out in the gym. 634 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:51,840 Who left? You should have seen me before. 635 00:42:56,320 --> 00:43:00,000 I don't like it a whole lot and and yet I love it. 636 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:05,280 You know, when I'm there, I really like it when I'm not 637 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,520 there, I don't want to go anyway, but I'm, you know, make 638 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:14,600 myself do it. And I'm 75 and most of the 639 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:17,600 people at the gym are not the people you think are at a gym. 640 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,920 They're not the, you know, most of them are like me. 641 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:29,400 And but anyway, so I, I couple weeks, 3 or 4 weeks ago maybe 642 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:35,960 I'm, I'm walking out of the gym, I'm sweaty, my knee hurts. 643 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,920 I've got one knee replacement already and this one needs to be 644 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:41,960 replaced. Dear Lord, I'm out of warranty 645 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:43,440 and they don't make my parts anymore. 646 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:51,240 And so I'm, I'm kind of limping out and I'm sweaty and you know, 647 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:55,360 my bicep tendon is separated. So I don't have, I'm just, I'm 648 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:57,240 just old. I'm tired. 649 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:05,240 As I'm walking out, I see this 91 year old lady, seriously, 91 650 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:07,880 year old lady, by the way, you're 92. 651 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:15,760 Bang girl, you, you, you are remarkable. 652 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:17,000 First of all, I'll just let you know that. 653 00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:21,640 But so this 91 year old lady is walking in and I'm, I'm walking 654 00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:26,240 out and I'm kind of, you know, like what is she going to do? 655 00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:30,200 You know, and she's walking in the door as I'm walking out the 656 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:33,600 door and she's got this bright orange T-shirt on. 657 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:39,560 She's walking like this. And the T-shirt says don't quit, 658 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:45,800 don't ever quit. And I thought, OK, well, you 659 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:49,480 nailed me on that one because I was going to let it go. 660 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:54,920 So let me do this. Let's make a declaration. 661 00:44:55,360 --> 00:45:01,040 OK? If you're determined, I just 662 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:02,800 want you to stand up. Just stand up, please. 663 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:04,040 I'm going to quit here in just a second. 664 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:15,280 Oh, I can't keep preaching. I want you to declare with me. 665 00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:18,080 I will not quit on God. You ready? 666 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:24,600 123I will not quit on God, and in this one I will not go back 667 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:29,960 on my journey. 123I will not go back on my journey. 668 00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:31,360 Amen. So don't.