50/50 Faith

0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.399 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.560 How many are excited about this series that we're in. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:25.800 The series is called Maybe God. The subject is his voice, 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.120 his will, his ways. How do I know if this 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.760 opportunity comes from the Lord? Now have a scripture for 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:33.760 you today that I think will be a great blessing 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.880 in your life. It's in First Samuel, chapter fourteen, verse 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.839 number six. The Bible says Jonathan said to his young 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:45.760 armor bearer, Come, let's go over to the outpost of 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:50.879 those uncircumcised men. He's talking trash about the Philistines. He 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:56.520 calls them a derogatory name. He's talking about their uncircumcision. Wow, 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.800 he must be fired up about something. He's a little belligerent. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.520 He's getting bold now again. Afford to wait around and 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:05.680 wait for something to happen from heaven when God has 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.200 already given him a certain power on the earth. So 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.000 he turns to who he has available at this point 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.480 and says, let's go. It's just me and you, but 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.399 touch somebody. Say let's go now. I want you to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.200 me a favor. If you're the only one on your 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.960 row who praises God today during this sermon. I want 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:22.640 you to go and look at somebody next to you 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.480 and say, well, you go with me. Amen, he said, 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.640 let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.640 Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.240 hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.480 few in this third installment of Maybe God. My subject 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.600 in my lesson today is called fifty fifty faith. I 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.560 want to teach you on this principle that has been 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.360 so useful in my life as a leader, and it's 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.160 useful for me as a husband, as a dad, and 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.000 just as a man. Fifty fifty faith. I believe this 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.400 principle is going to set you free in some of 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:03.080 the areas where indecision has imprisoned you, and you've been 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.840 waiting around, and God is going to show you something 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.560 today by the power and virtue of His word and spirit, 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.120 that only He could show you about fifty fifty faith. 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:20.120 Praise the Lord I celebrated my thirty ninth birthday this week. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.960 Appreciate your pity. You know that last one with the 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.959 three in front of it. I'm owning it. I am 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:37.040 so owning turning forty. I am so owning these little 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.760 gray whiskers that are popping up. I'm not dying them 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.400 or anything like that. Uh huh. I'm gonna tell them 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.120 to get a close up on these gray these great 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.800 things on the camera. Just zoom right into the greyest 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.360 pat you can find in this beard. I'm proud of it. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.679 I don't care what my kids say about it, and 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.120 when they tell me that my jokes are cringy and 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.760 stuff like that. One of my kids told me that 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.079 the other day, and I just asked him a question back. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:04.080 He said, your jokes are so cringey. And I just 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.040 asked him a question. I said, how many people show 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:14.600 up to hear you speak? Since I'm so cringey conversational 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:20.160 parenting approach, you might want to try it sometime. But 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.040 one of the things I think keeps happening to me 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.680 and is really happening to me at this stage of 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.640 my ministry in life, because I have been doing this 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.160 as a pastor over thirteen years. Is that I feel 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.959 so good saying that it felt cool. I've been doing 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:37.360 this over thirteen years. That's a long time to do anything. Amen. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:43.880 I've never been less certain and I've never been more confident, 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.440 all at the same time, all at the same time. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.240 And it's a strange thing, how when you give up 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.720 your need for certainty you can gain a true confidence 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.320 that is independent of circumstance. Can I preach to somebody 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.600 today right here in this back left section of Valentine? 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.920 The passage that I read to you is one of 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.360 my favorites. If they were giving out an Academy Award 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.320 for best Old Testament Narrative Scripture, I would want to 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.360 nominate Jonathan is best Supporting Actor because he's not as 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.039 famous as David, but he's a pretty good example for me, 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:23.760 and it has helped me a lot. This passage has 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.720 helped me a lot through the years. Every couple of 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.120 years I preach it, and when I circle back to it, 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.839 I see a different dimension of faith. I see a 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.840 different dimension of the kind of confidence that we can 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.480 have in Christ and in his promises. But I also 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.440 see all of the uncertainty and self doubt that it 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.840 also entails and that my faith is not a formula, 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:47.960 and it can never be. The more I try to 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.400 make it into a formula, the less valuable it becomes 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.880 to me. When life challenges all of my presuppositions, and 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:57.440 all of my ideas about what kind of ways God 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.960 wants to work collapse under the weight of real life, 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.440 under the weight of real bills, under the weight of 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.559 real medical reports. And I need the kind of faith 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.160 that is not dependent on my presuppositions. I need the 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.760 kind of faith that can deal with some ambiguity. I 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.080 need a faith, like Richard Rre says, that can be 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.680 patient with mystery. I need a kind of faith that 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.560 is not dependent on my plans to prevail. I need 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.400 the kind of faith that can stand up against the 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.719 worst thing that happens. I need the kind of faith 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:29.680 that can shine when God goes dark, when I don't know, 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.840 when I can't say it, when I can't see it, 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.840 when I don't feel like I can make it. I 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:42.440 need a faith that can withstand these seasons. Now around 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.920 the verse that I read you is a little episode, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.479 and if you've been tracking with the series, I've used 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.919 a few different Old Testament passages from Judges and Samuel 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.599 to try to give us some sort of arc, or 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.159 to give us give us some kind of context for 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.280 the way that transition creates opportunity for us to trust God. 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.920 In this particular transition a negative one for the nation 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:18.080 of Israel. King Saul has really lost his way and 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:23.480 he's abdicated his leadership because of this. The Philistines who 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.760 would torment the Israelites all the way until the rule 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.200 of David, remember Sampson began to deliver them. That's last week. 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.080 And you need to go on and watch that message 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.359 about the parentheses and the pivot and how there's a 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.640 purpose even if I have to leave it blank right now, 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.040 God is going to do something in this empty space 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.760 in these parentheses. And I'm gonna put the parentheses there 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.800 and I'm gonna let God fill them because He's too 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.400 wise to make a mistake in my life. And that 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.640 message is online. It's on YouTube and Facebook and elevation 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.800 app and MySpace, and if they still had my Space, 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.920 we will put it up there. Roku all of it. 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.520 When when I was preaching that it talked about the 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.120 beginning of deliverance, are partial deliverance and the beginning of 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.680 deliverance happened through the judges. But now Saul the King 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.520 was unable to commit himself fully to the ways and 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.640 the will of the Lord, rather than to engage in 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.080 a relationship with the living God, he has begun to manipulate. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.480 When he begins to manipulate and treat God as some 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.560 kind of mechanism to get what he wants when he 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.360 wants it, he loses that unique ability that we have 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.080 to hear the voice of God. When you lose the 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:30.120 ability to hear the voice of God, you waste energy, 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.880 you waste resources, you waste worry on situations that God 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.440 didn't even want you to give your attention to. So 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:41.000 that's why I need to hear his voice. Saul, having 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.040 lost that ability, is now surrounded by his enemies, so 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.440 much so that his people that he was responsible for 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.920 leading or hiding in rocks, in caves, in thickets. I 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:54.520 just wanted to put the word thickets in there, because 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.520 I don't get to use it on an everyday basis. 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.200 But we're all hiding in places. Sometimes we find ourselves 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:05.600 talked away in mindsets, in patterns, in isolation, away from people, 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.679 away from life, away from joy, away from risk, away 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:14.080 from opportunity. And this was the situation in Fir Samuel L. Fourteen. 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.800 Pick up verse twenty three from thirteen. Now a detachment 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.520 of Philistines had gone out to the pass at mcmash. 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.920 It's always helpful to point out that the enemy always 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.640 attacks you at the passages. He always attacks you at 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.520 the places of transition, from what you knew to what 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.680 you don't know, from where you were to where you're going. 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.480 And so when he can set up an ambush at 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.720 the passage, he can keep you from moving forward in 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:46.680 those transitional pivotal moments of your life. And then one 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:51.679 day somebody shout. One day, one day, Jonathan, son of 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:56.120 Saul said to his young armor bearer, come, let's go 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.200 over to the Philistine outpost on the other side. But 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:04.079 he did not hell his father. Be very careful who 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.320 you talk to about what God is doing inside of you. 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.920 Be very careful who you communicate with about the impressions 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.240 that God is stirring inside of you. If you talk 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.640 to the wrong people about the right idea, your idea 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.440 will die before it has the opportunity to conceive and 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.920 give birth to what God is doing in your life. 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:33.120 How many know I'm right about that. Saul was staying 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.640 on the outskirts of Gibea under a pomegranate tree, and 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.840 migrant with him were about six hundred men, among whom 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.079 was a Hijah who was wearing an ephod. He was 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:46.160 a son of Ichabod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:50.920 rather Ahita, son of Phineas, the son of Eli, the 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:55.360 lord's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.640 had left. On each side that Jonathan intended to cross 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.800 to the Philistine outpost was a cliff. One was called Bozez, 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:09.559 and the other sinnat. Bozez means slippery, Sinnam means thorny. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.640 Nobody told me it would be easy. God didn't promise 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.480 me that his will would be convenient. Quit thinking that 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.280 proof positive that you're in the will of God is 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.680 that it feels good to you. Quit thinking that proof 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.640 positive that you're in the will of God is that 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.600 everybody understands it. Quit thinking that proof positive that you're 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:30.800 in the will of God is that it just falls 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.120 into place. No, he had to go through a thorny place, 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.800 a slippery place, an uncomfortable place, an uncertain place. And 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.560 just because I'm in an uncertain place doesn't mean I 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.720 don't have a certain purpose. I'm gonna need somebody to 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:49.200 shout on that right there, right there, right there, touch somebody, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.600 say I'm in his will. And one of the proofs 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.360 that you're in his will is that you are experiencing warfare. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.480 It could be in terms of an internal resistance that 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.000 you feel, or even if some things are going crazy 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.920 in your life. And on each side was a challenge. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:09.520 On each side was a challenge. One cliff stood to 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.679 the north toward Mickmash, the other to the south toward Gheba. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.320 And Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, come let's 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.240 go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.040 the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.760 the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. God, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.400 I love your word. I'm gonna take a moment and 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.440 just talk to him about it. Thank you for putting 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.320 that one little word in your word. Not the one 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.320 where he said nothing can hinder the Lord, not the 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.840 one where he said, come let's go over, But that 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:45.400 one low word where he said perhaps because that word 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:50.439 gives me hope It gives me hope for my insecurity. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.320 It gives me hope for my impossibilities and my uncertainty. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.680 It gives me hope to know that sometimes, even in 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:02.200 the midst of making progress in my life, even in 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.079 the midst of obeying the revealed will of God, there 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.319 are going to be moments where one minute I have 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.360 great faith and the next moment I'm overcome by great fear. 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.319 But watch the Armor Bearer, he says back to Jonathan, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.480 who had a crazy idea, do all that you have 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:27.920 in mind. Go ahead. I am with you heart and soul. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.680 And Jonathan said, come on then, since you're talking like that, 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.240 come on then, since you want to do it too, 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.240 come on then, since you don't think I'm crazy for 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.839 wanting to move toward the enemy even though we're outnumbered, 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.679 come on then, since you don't have any more brain 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.959 cells or common sense than I do, come on, then, 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.800 sometimes you need somebody who will help you, even though 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:53.440 your plan sounds like a bad plan, to try to 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.120 find God in it, just so you don't stay stuck 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:02.320 in standing still. Come on, then, I like how he 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.120 talked to him. He's like, come on then, And then 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.240 the Armor Bear is like, go ahead then, and he's like, well, 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.720 come on then, and they're pumping each other up. They're 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.160 chest pumping each other, you know, and they don't have 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:14.080 anybody else because watch this, the people who should have 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:20.440 had faith have been overtaken by fear. Now, this is 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.959 the part of the passage that's going to give me 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.720 the contrast as we look at together two different ways 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.520 that we try to figure out God's will, and everyone 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.760 has a way that you try to figure out what 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:35.760 the will of God is, even if you don't call 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.120 it trying to figure out what the will of God is. 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.400 You have a way that you make decisions that you 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.960 hope will be most advantageous. You have a way that 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.360 you try to discertna wisdom, and you can't always get 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.880 it from a book, and you can't always get it 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.960 from a class, and you can't always get it. Here's 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:00.720 what I figured out. We're all making it up as 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:07.840 we go. This part of my sermon is meant to 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:15.280 encourage you. All the people that are writing parenting books 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.560 about fifteen steps to raise a perfect kid, they left 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.200 out some footnotes, and the bottom line is they just 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.560 had good luck in the gene pool. Because God can 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.600 give you a kid that can make you question all 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:35.480 of your theories. I love my children. I'm just saying, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.840 all of us as parents are making it up as 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.160 we go, all of us, all of us are trying 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.000 to figure out with each child, and they're all different. 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:47.280 I know Hollywood was faithful to me, but sometimes I'm like, 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.880 how could they all be so different if it was 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.520 just a common factor of me and you? But I 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:57.000 trust her, But sometimes they're so different, and I'm like, well, 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.480 you respond like this, and you respond like that, and 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:03.080 watch John Nathan's plan. This is the dumbest idea that 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:04.680 you can find in the Bible. The only one I 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.200 can think of as dumber is Moses stretching out his 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.960 stick over the Red Sea. That's pretty dumb. Or maybe 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.520 David throwing a rock at a giant who has a sword. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:17.640 That's pretty dumb. Or maybe Jesus commanding the lunch from 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.720 a little boy in the crowd and trying to feed 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.480 fifteen thousand people with it. That's pretty dumb. Or maybe 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.880 Mary going to Joseph and saying I'm pregnant but it 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.480 wasn't another man, it was the Holy Spirit. That's pretty dumb. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.040 Or maybe it was a widow going around borrowing jars 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.920 from her neighbors when she didn't have any oil and 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.320 thinking something with That's pretty now that I come to 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.640 think of it. A lot of the stuff that God 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:40.960 did in his word looked like a dumb decision to 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:49.720 the people while they were doing it. Listen, how dumb 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:55.520 this is. Listen, Listen, how stupid this strategy is. Somebody say, 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.960 bad idea? All right, come on, then we will cross 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:07.920 over toward them and let them see us. I thought 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:09.920 you were supposed to sneak up on somebody if you 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:14.600 wanted to kill him. But whatever, if they say to us, 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.920 I'll watch us. He's making this up because I want 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.840 you to notice one thing about this passage. God gives 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.440 Jonathan the victory, but God doesn't say a single word. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.119 The only people who speak in this passage are Jonathan, 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:35.240 his assistant, and his enemies. God doesn't say a word. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:41.320 But Jonathan he makes up this this strategy. He's an innovator. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.200 He's like, all right, my dad's under the tree by 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:49.400 the threshing floor, and the priest isn't doing anything, and 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.680 so let's go over and show ourselves and expose ourselves 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:58.400 to our enemies. And if they say, wait there until 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.320 we come up to you, we will stay where we 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.200 are and not go up to them. But if they 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.920 say come up to us, we will climb up, because 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.800 that will be our sign that the Lord has given 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:15.399 them into our hands. And just when it can't get 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.359 any dumber, Verse eleven, both of them showed themselves to 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:24.280 the Philistine outpost. Look, sat the Philistines. There's two of 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:29.080 them and dozens of us. The Hebrews are crawling out 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.040 of the holes they were hiding in. The men of 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.000 the outposts shouted to Jonathan and his armor bearer, come 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.119 up to us, and we'll teach you a lesson. So 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.199 Jonathan said to his armor bearer, climb up after me. 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.400 The Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:45.679 How are you gonna speak in past tense about a 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.600 battle you hadn't even fought yet? Because I know something 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.719 that is greater than what I know with my mind. 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:57.320 I know with my faith. Faith is the substance of 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.560 things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seem 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:07.080 so way it gets dumber. Jonathan climbed up, using his 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:13.280 hands and feet. You know how vulnerable you are climbing 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:18.840 up something dorny or slippery, using your hands and feet, 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:25.880 quick thing just for you. I love y'all. Victory requires vulnerability. 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:34.439 Victory requires vulnerability in anything. You have to make yourself 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.520 vulnerable to experience a great relationship. You have to make 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:43.200 yourself vulnerable to step into a new dimension in your business. 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.119 You have to make yourself vulnerable to connect on any 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.520 meaningful level with the life that God has given you. 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.480 And so in this position of vulnerability, Jonathan prophesies a 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.359 great victory. I feel the Holy Spirit, And it says 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.919 that his armor bearer was right behind him, and the 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.600 Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer followed and 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:09.159 killed behind him. In that first attack, Jonathan and his 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:13.840 armor bearer killed some twenty men in an area of 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.720 about half an acre, all because Jonathan turned to his 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:22.439 armor bearer and said, I got an idea, you know, 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:27.560 he said like that. But I'm at the place now 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.240 where I don't really think that the value is in 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:37.879 the idea. The value is in the courage to act 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:42.680 on the impulse. When I put it like that, you 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.960 got to realize how many people say things like this 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.600 every day. You know. I remember talking to somebody about Uber, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.080 and they said, well, I could have thought of that. 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:59.280 You know, really, you think thinking of something is the 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.520 key to success. It's something anybody can think of something. 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.840 I mean today I was walking out the door and 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:11.639 Abby turned me into a dog because of my fuzzy 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.320 sweater and she said, you want your belly, Rob, Do 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.320 you want your belly? Rob? I licked her face and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:20.399 I left and came to church to preach. That's what 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.480 dogs do. But she can think of stuff, I mean, 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.359 thinking of it. Holly's telling me now they got like 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.160 uber for photography. I really should find out the name 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:32.800 of this and see if I could get a sponsorship. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:34.840 This message goes to a lot of people. But they 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.200 said that you can go on and get a photographer 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.280 anywhere in the world that you are, just like you 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.200 can get a car from Uber, and you can get 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.880 a photographer anywhere you are. If you're off with your 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.280 family and you want to get a family picture like 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.200 that so that you don't have to ask some random 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:54.600 stranger who apparently has never used a smartphone in their 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:56.800 life and doesn't know the tap to screen to make 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:58.960 it lighter, you can get a professional to come out 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.360 and capture the memory you know, and when she said, 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.240 I was like, why didn't I think of that? Well, 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.280 there's a lot more to it than thinking of it. Huh. 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.199 People call me all the time and they'll be like, 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.200 I heard this thing, there's a sermon in that somewhere, 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:23.440 and so to that, I'm like, where like just because 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:25.240 they could think of it? You know, I read this 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:27.680 headline you should preach about that. You suhoul to write 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:30.480 a song about that, and I'm like, you should shut 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:32.919 up until you can write one of your own. I 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.600 know you mean, well, but the hard part isn't thinking 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.479 of it. The hard part isn't thinking of it. And 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.360 this is why when they give you advice sometimes in marriage, 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.159 like be the first to say you're sorry. It's not 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:53.000 the thought that counts. Can I upset conventional wisdom for 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.800 a moment? One thing that was really really striking to 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:00.679 me in the text was not what Jonathan did, but 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.679 what the people who should have been leading were doing 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.200 at the time when Jonathan had to act on something 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:12.600 that was partial and imperfect. When the Bible says that 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.080 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibea under a 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:20.199 pomegranate tree with six hundred men. I always skipped this 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:24.080 verse because the names were hard to pronounce. I was 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:27.600 preaching this passage when I was seventeen years old, and 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:29.960 I didn't know how to pronounce these names, and I 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:31.600 still don't. But then I figured out, you don't know 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:33.400 how to pronounce them either, So if I just say 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:38.480 it with enough confidence, we'll move on. But in skipping it, 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.280 I missed something that became very important to me about 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:47.560 the ephod. It says that the Lord's priest was wearing 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:53.919 the ephod under the pomegranate tree. Now, the ethod was 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.920 more than just an article of clothing. It was an 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:01.880 instrument for seeking the will of God. On the ephod, 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:05.760 the high priest would wear a breastplate. On the breastplate 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.760 would be twelve stones with the names of the tribes 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:13.720 of Israel, representing their special presence in the presence of God. 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:17.280 When he would wear the breastplate into the most holy 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:20.479 place to make atonement for the sins of the people 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:23.560 so that they could be forgiven. Once a year, the 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.800 instruction was given to the priest about what to make 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.399 sure he kept close to his heart. It started with 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.160 Aaron in Exodus chapter twenty eight. If you could give 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:39.000 me this text that he will bear the names of 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:43.480 the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastplate 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:49.360 of decision. In the literal translation, it's the breastplate of judgment. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:53.200 It was what he wore when the judgment of God 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.919 was conferred on the sacrificial animal that took the sins 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.040 of the people away from the camp. It was the 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:04.480 breastplate of judgment. But here it has translated the breastplate 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:07.320 of decision as a continual memorial for the Lord. And 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:12.680 here's why. Next verse, please also put Urrem and Themim, 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:18.240 which are two special stones that would go not on 0:24:18.280 --> 0:24:22.600 the breastplate, but behind the breastplate. When the priest wore 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:26.119 the ephant, which was like a kitchen apron where he 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.760 would keep the vestments that were appropriate for his duty. 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:31.800 And on that ephant was the breastplate, and behind the 0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:37.919 breastplate was Eurrem and themm. Whether these were stones or 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:40.879 some other sort of special object, we are dependent on 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:43.480 the incomplete records of archaeologists to make known to us. 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:45.800 But one thing we know. It was one of the 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:48.760 ways that God spoke about his will to his people. 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.080 He spoke through the prophets. He spoke through dreams, and 0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:55.879 he spoke through these stones. I'm gonna call them stones 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:57.560 because that's the closest thing we can know to what 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:02.000 they were. One represented yes and one represented no. That 0:25:02.240 --> 0:25:05.560 was the meme. Eurreme was a little different. It was 0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:07.399 said to be a stone that would light up. And 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:10.679 watch this. You are to put it behind the breast 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:13.200 piece or in the breast piece, so that they may 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:16.119 be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:20.080 the Lord. Thus Erin will always bear the means of 0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:23.760 making decisions. I love that little phrase, the means of 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:27.440 making decisions in the presence of the Lord. Everybody has 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:31.639 a means of making decisions. Everyone has a way that 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:34.920 they try to figure out, where is this going? Can 0:25:35.000 --> 0:25:37.480 I trust this person? And I like this method a 0:25:37.520 --> 0:25:40.120 lot because all the priest had to do was take 0:25:40.160 --> 0:25:44.480 out the stones the meme it stands for perfection or decision, 0:25:44.840 --> 0:25:47.240 and then he would take urreem, which represents light, which 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:51.320 always represents revelation, which always represents knowledge. And when God 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:54.440 would speak through these stones, you would inquire of him, 0:25:55.000 --> 0:25:57.800 and if the answer was affirmative, Urreme would light up, 0:25:57.800 --> 0:26:00.000 and you would know God wants us to do it. 0:26:00.680 --> 0:26:03.480 Like when David was facing a battle at zick Lag 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:06.880 and he had to go back and recover his family 0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:09.560 and the families of his men, and he asked the 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.119 priest bring me an ephod, because I need to seek 0:26:12.119 --> 0:26:14.280 the Lord, because if I go into this battle and 0:26:14.320 --> 0:26:16.680 God doesn't want me to go in this battle, if 0:26:16.680 --> 0:26:18.960 I do this venture, if I go after this thing 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:20.680 and God doesn't want me to do this thing, I'll 0:26:20.720 --> 0:26:23.480 be defeated. But if he says yes, no power in 0:26:23.520 --> 0:26:26.160 Hell can stand against me. Nothing can hinder the Lord 0:26:26.200 --> 0:26:29.760 from saving, whether by many or by few. So David said, 0:26:29.800 --> 0:26:32.480 bring me the ephod, because if God gives me light 0:26:32.520 --> 0:26:35.400 on this situation, I can fight this battle. If God 0:26:35.440 --> 0:26:38.560 gives me light on this situation, I can stand the trial, 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:41.000 I can stand the test, I can pass it. I 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:46.240 can do it if God says yes. But sometimes God 0:26:47.280 --> 0:26:52.280 would say no, and then sometimes the stone would do nothing. 0:26:53.680 --> 0:26:57.040 And what that meant was God doesn't want to answer 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:00.200 this right now. In other words, if I can take 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:03.879 you back to middle school, I love you, do you 0:27:03.960 --> 0:27:11.400 love me? Check yes or no? And sometimes I would 0:27:11.440 --> 0:27:16.160 put a third box called maybe. And sometimes they would 0:27:16.200 --> 0:27:19.800 ask God, you know should we go? Should we stay? 0:27:20.000 --> 0:27:22.920 Should we do it? Should we not? And the son 0:27:22.960 --> 0:27:27.640 would do nothing? What do you do with them? Maybe 0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:31.000 because a lot of times in our life, don't you 0:27:31.000 --> 0:27:32.520 wish you had a urim and at the meme in 0:27:32.560 --> 0:27:36.840 your closet? Come on, right next to your belts. I'd 0:27:36.880 --> 0:27:38.880 rather have a urim and at the meme than a Rolex. 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:42.320 I mean I'd rather have I would, I would love 0:27:42.600 --> 0:27:45.360 if I could. What a what a what a blessing 0:27:45.400 --> 0:27:48.440 it would be? You know how many? You know, how 0:27:48.440 --> 0:27:50.960 many staff members I never would have hired to begin with? 0:27:51.840 --> 0:27:53.439 Come on, this is a big church. Can I be 0:27:53.480 --> 0:27:56.000 real with you? Do you know how many staff members 0:27:56.040 --> 0:27:57.919 i'd just be if I could have just had that 0:27:58.080 --> 0:28:01.680 special stone pull it out? Wouldn't that be cool? Can 0:28:01.720 --> 0:28:05.600 you imagine how many how many things would you have 0:28:05.680 --> 0:28:09.160 done differently? And how helpful would it be when you're 0:28:09.200 --> 0:28:13.080 making decisions if you could just have a stone just 0:28:13.119 --> 0:28:15.680 to light up and tell you, yes, this is God. 0:28:16.080 --> 0:28:17.879 You know how your kids start hanging out with friends 0:28:17.920 --> 0:28:20.359 and you're wondering, like, I don't know about these parents. 0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:22.760 They seem kind of like, I don't know I smelled 0:28:22.800 --> 0:28:24.960 something on their clothes smell like it might have been weed, 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:27.960 or maybe it was something else, but I'm not sure. Lord, 0:28:28.119 --> 0:28:30.399 should I let my kids hang out with these kids? 0:28:30.960 --> 0:28:33.879 And God says yes, and you could get some sleep? 0:28:34.119 --> 0:28:36.880 Or you know, God, should I take this job? It's 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:39.719 got more pay, but it's gonna mean more hours. I 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:42.560 just think it would be so cool if it would 0:28:42.600 --> 0:28:46.040 light up and tell me. And yet, God, God, God 0:28:46.120 --> 0:28:48.160 knows something about me that I don't know about me. 0:28:48.520 --> 0:28:50.440 Is that even if He gave me the light to 0:28:50.520 --> 0:28:52.480 know what to do, a lot of times I wouldn't 0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:56.640 have the faith to do it. You're gonna make me 0:28:56.640 --> 0:28:58.680 preach by myself and sit there looking at me like 0:28:58.760 --> 0:29:03.720 I'm an entertainer. You know, the truth is that even 0:29:03.840 --> 0:29:07.840 sometimes when you know what to do, even sometimes when 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:11.440 you know this as God. And they had these stones. 0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:15.160 They had these stones. It was behind the breastplate, and 0:29:15.240 --> 0:29:18.640 the breastplate was under the pomegranate tree, and the priest 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:22.200 was doing nothing with it. They had the means of 0:29:22.280 --> 0:29:25.720 making decisions to know the will of God, but their 0:29:25.800 --> 0:29:29.280 fear had put them in a place, and their complacency 0:29:29.360 --> 0:29:32.600 had put them in a place. Because when you have 0:29:32.800 --> 0:29:36.240 the instruments, but you don't use them. How can God 0:29:36.360 --> 0:29:40.080 speak to you when you can't find this between Sundays? 0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:49.720 How can God give you his wisdom? And the important 0:29:49.720 --> 0:29:53.040 thing about it was Jonathan said, we don't have the 0:29:53.120 --> 0:29:56.880 ephod Ahijah has the ephoon. We don't have a complete 0:29:56.880 --> 0:29:59.720 clarity on this situation. But what he had that was 0:29:59.720 --> 0:30:02.480 so that's important. He had the right person to turn 0:30:02.520 --> 0:30:07.360 to and talk about it. I need you to understand 0:30:07.600 --> 0:30:10.720 the value not only of what God says to you 0:30:10.800 --> 0:30:13.840 in your life, but about who you say it to. 0:30:14.080 --> 0:30:18.000 After God says it to you, the right people will 0:30:18.040 --> 0:30:20.840 give you the go ahead. The right people will say, 0:30:20.880 --> 0:30:23.000 you know what, I'm gonna help you as you do this. 0:30:23.520 --> 0:30:25.960 I know the addiction has got you about three different 0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:28.280 cycles now and it looks like this one won't be 0:30:28.320 --> 0:30:30.840 any different. But whether or not you make it, I'm 0:30:30.840 --> 0:30:32.840 gonna be here with you on it. So let's go 0:30:32.880 --> 0:30:36.200 ahead and do this dumb thing, this impossible thing, this 0:30:36.320 --> 0:30:41.600 crazy thing. And then sometimes they got to turn and 0:30:41.600 --> 0:30:45.200 tell you that ain't got at all. But it's who 0:30:45.280 --> 0:30:48.040 you say it to and who you say it. It's 0:30:48.080 --> 0:30:52.520 a fifty to fifty thing. It's not just my relationship 0:30:52.600 --> 0:30:58.800 with God. It's my relationship with others, and a lot 0:30:58.840 --> 0:31:01.520 of us are suffering and in our relationship with God 0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:04.280 because we're living in bitterness with our relationship with others. 0:31:07.360 --> 0:31:10.720 You can't hear God just like this. I guarantee you 0:31:10.960 --> 0:31:14.320 if Jonathan would have had an armor bearer who told him, 0:31:15.480 --> 0:31:18.520 you know what, man, let me know how that turns out. 0:31:18.600 --> 0:31:25.160 I'm praying for you signed the cross. I guarantee you 0:31:25.240 --> 0:31:27.560 the battle wouldn't have moved on beyond Bethe even that 0:31:27.640 --> 0:31:31.960 day like it did, and even for me. I can 0:31:32.000 --> 0:31:36.960 say this when people say, how did you know God 0:31:37.000 --> 0:31:38.960 wanted you to start a church? I read a book. 0:31:40.240 --> 0:31:44.520 I felt inspired. I got up and preached. It seemed 0:31:44.520 --> 0:31:48.760 to help people read a book. I got a wife. 0:31:50.320 --> 0:31:53.680 We were doing our thing. One day she looked at me. 0:31:53.720 --> 0:31:56.640 In the mountains of Tennessee. We're at some youth camp. 0:31:57.960 --> 0:32:01.720 Carl CARTI was leading worship. We came back to the room. 0:32:02.840 --> 0:32:06.000 People say, when, how did you know? How did God 0:32:06.040 --> 0:32:07.760 speak to you it was time for you to start 0:32:07.760 --> 0:32:10.440 the church because I wanted to start it when I 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:14.000 was forty. The church wouldn't even be here right now 0:32:15.880 --> 0:32:21.360 if Holly didn't turn to me, not God she was 0:32:21.400 --> 0:32:26.920 my yorem. God used her like that. She said, it's 0:32:26.920 --> 0:32:29.920 time for you go start this church. I said, when 0:32:29.960 --> 0:32:37.880 I'm forty. She said, no. Now, look, JJ, if you 0:32:37.920 --> 0:32:40.400 hear me saying on this message, you know God's calling 0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:42.280 you to go. You know how many people I've seen 0:32:42.280 --> 0:32:45.440 go start coffee shops because they like coffee and they 0:32:45.440 --> 0:32:47.520 hear a message like this and abuse it and they 0:32:47.520 --> 0:32:49.240 think that the whole point of the message is just 0:32:49.280 --> 0:32:50.760 go do the dumbest thing you can think of that 0:32:50.840 --> 0:32:52.880 you have a halfway interest in, and then blame the 0:32:52.880 --> 0:32:54.880 devil when it doesn't work out. Because it was spiritual 0:32:54.920 --> 0:32:56.920 warfare and attack and nobody believed in my dream and 0:32:56.960 --> 0:32:59.040 I'm nothing but Jesus on the cross some guard and 0:32:59.040 --> 0:33:00.640 I guess so many squeeze like the olives and the 0:33:00.680 --> 0:33:02.760 oils coming out. All of that is dumb because I'm 0:33:02.800 --> 0:33:04.959 not even talking about that. I'm talking about who you 0:33:05.000 --> 0:33:10.200 talk to, about what God is saying to you. And 0:33:10.240 --> 0:33:12.160 now now I get to return the favor. I mean 0:33:12.200 --> 0:33:17.200 the other day she she turned to me and was like, Hey, 0:33:17.320 --> 0:33:19.280 I'm about to tell you something that I think God 0:33:19.320 --> 0:33:21.040 is speaking to me. Because it's always a fifty to 0:33:21.080 --> 0:33:32.840 fifty thing always always so. So I'm confident, but I'm 0:33:32.840 --> 0:33:36.680 not certain, you know. And she was like, don't laugh 0:33:36.680 --> 0:33:38.720 at me. I'm like, why would I laugh at you? 0:33:38.760 --> 0:33:42.000 Tell me? And what she told me, I said, not 0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:44.000 only have you got to do that, but you got 0:33:44.040 --> 0:33:46.479 to do this, this and this and this and this 0:33:46.520 --> 0:33:49.120 because that's awesome. Then I think she was sorry that 0:33:49.160 --> 0:33:50.959 she told me because she didn't want to do this, this, this, 0:33:51.000 --> 0:33:52.600 and this and this. She just wanted to do that. 0:33:52.920 --> 0:33:55.320 But we started talking. You see how important it is 0:33:55.680 --> 0:33:59.520 not only what God says to you. It's not only 0:33:59.560 --> 0:34:02.560 this be of the cross. What is this one too? 0:34:07.280 --> 0:34:15.880 So I don't have uremn the meme, but I got Eugene. 0:34:16.520 --> 0:34:19.280 I needed a rhyme. It was it was a stretch 0:34:19.280 --> 0:34:23.600 at best, and Irene and I got people. Now this 0:34:23.719 --> 0:34:27.440 is so, this is so key. It's a fifty fifty faith. 0:34:28.440 --> 0:34:30.640 It's a fifty to fifty. That means it is a 0:34:30.760 --> 0:34:36.000 divine partnership where Jonathan says, you know, there is something 0:34:36.040 --> 0:34:39.120 that God can do, and then there is something that 0:34:39.160 --> 0:34:43.240 God will not do that only we can do. Faith 0:34:43.320 --> 0:34:47.200 is fifty to fifty. James proves it clearly. Not only 0:34:47.239 --> 0:34:50.960 does Jonathan exemplify it. James explains it when he says, 0:34:51.040 --> 0:34:56.120 faith without works is it takes two? This is a 0:34:56.280 --> 0:35:00.120 fifty to fifty proposition. Why would God do for you 0:35:00.120 --> 0:35:02.399 you what he gave you the strength to do for you? 0:35:02.760 --> 0:35:06.239 It is a fifty fifty faith. It is not my 0:35:06.440 --> 0:35:09.719 faith that saves me, and I'm grateful for that. How 0:35:09.719 --> 0:35:12.320 many are grateful that your faith in Christ for salvation 0:35:12.480 --> 0:35:16.560 is not fifty to fifty. Come on, because if it was, 0:35:17.400 --> 0:35:21.560 I would be in hell before Monday at three pm 0:35:21.680 --> 0:35:26.759 Eastern Standard time. But because he is my great High Priest, y'all, 0:35:26.800 --> 0:35:29.440 I'm about to get happy on this sermon. And because 0:35:29.440 --> 0:35:32.880 he took the breastplate of his own righteousness into the 0:35:32.920 --> 0:35:36.320 most holy place and shed his blood on the mercy seat, 0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:38.600 I don't ever have to doubt if he wants to 0:35:38.640 --> 0:35:41.720 see me or hear me, or love me, or throw 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:45.080 his arms around me. He is my Righteousness and I 0:35:45.120 --> 0:35:48.160 am his child, and he is my great high Priest. 0:35:49.600 --> 0:35:51.479 Come on, shout about it, like you got the good 0:35:51.520 --> 0:36:01.160 sens to know. This thing doesn't depend on me. Foundational 0:36:01.239 --> 0:36:03.400 faith even that faith is the gift of God, so 0:36:03.480 --> 0:36:06.080 that no one can boast but watch this, Jonathan say, 0:36:06.680 --> 0:36:14.080 perhaps perhaps the Lord will it is fifty to fifty. 0:36:14.680 --> 0:36:17.960 I know he can. I think he will. Fifty to fifty. 0:36:18.680 --> 0:36:20.120 I know God is with me, and I think this 0:36:20.160 --> 0:36:22.600 is where he's leading me. It's fifty to fifty. I'm 0:36:22.600 --> 0:36:25.960 a fifty to fifty leader. I pull seventy staff into 0:36:26.080 --> 0:36:28.640 this Monday and say this is what I think God's doing. 0:36:28.680 --> 0:36:29.759 And I can't put a bow on it. But we're 0:36:29.760 --> 0:36:32.479 gonna find out together why Because God won't reveal truth 0:36:32.480 --> 0:36:39.080 if I don't move toward it ever. And the issue 0:36:39.200 --> 0:36:44.200 is this experience is the friend of wisdom, but it 0:36:44.239 --> 0:36:50.360 can be the enemy of faith. You need me to 0:36:50.440 --> 0:36:56.480 run that back. Experience is the friend of wisdom, but 0:36:56.520 --> 0:36:58.400 if you get like Saul in a hyda and keep 0:36:58.440 --> 0:37:00.879 the e fot under the pomegranate tree, Jonathan said, We're 0:37:00.880 --> 0:37:03.200 going to have to be our own ethought. We're gonna 0:37:03.200 --> 0:37:05.359 have to put ourselves out there and see if God will. 0:37:07.560 --> 0:37:11.239 And when Eugenie Peterson he had this idea, right, he 0:37:11.320 --> 0:37:14.120 was trying to preach the Bible. He's in heaven now, 0:37:14.120 --> 0:37:16.000 but he was trying to preach the Bible to his church. 0:37:16.040 --> 0:37:18.719 He realized that they weren't really getting it, so he 0:37:18.760 --> 0:37:22.000 sat down to write a translation of the Bible in 0:37:22.040 --> 0:37:26.920 a way they could understand. You know that little version 0:37:26.960 --> 0:37:30.239 on your Bible on your phone. I hope you got 0:37:30.239 --> 0:37:32.640 the Bible on your phone. I hope you got the 0:37:32.640 --> 0:37:36.440 Bible up above Facebook on your phone, because you need 0:37:36.440 --> 0:37:40.160 that one to start your day. You really do, you 0:37:40.239 --> 0:37:42.480 really do. You'll need to know what's going on in 0:37:42.520 --> 0:37:45.040 Russia every second, but you need to know what's happening, 0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:48.759 what God intends for your life. And if you click 0:37:48.800 --> 0:37:51.960 on it, there will be one version that says MSG 0:37:52.800 --> 0:37:55.040 and it has nothing to do with the Chinese restaurant. 0:37:55.800 --> 0:37:58.520 Is the message translation. And it was written by a 0:37:58.560 --> 0:38:00.920 man who was just see. He had an idea, what 0:38:01.000 --> 0:38:04.640 if I write the Bible in the language that's common 0:38:04.680 --> 0:38:08.279 to the people, and he ended up translating the whole 0:38:08.280 --> 0:38:15.759 Bible that way. The message translation all because maybe God 0:38:15.800 --> 0:38:19.080 will use this, you know, if you act on it. 0:38:19.920 --> 0:38:23.040 If you act, it's fifty to fifty. It's fifty to fifty. 0:38:24.320 --> 0:38:27.000 I'm not sure. I don't know. Look what he said 0:38:27.040 --> 0:38:30.960 when he translated for Samuel fourteen six, my favorite verse 0:38:31.000 --> 0:38:33.520 about faith in the Old Testament. Look what he said 0:38:34.160 --> 0:38:37.480 that Jonathan said to his armor bearer, come on, now, 0:38:38.200 --> 0:38:41.880 come on, now, let's do it now. Not when the 0:38:41.920 --> 0:38:44.919 priest gets his act together, not when the government gets 0:38:44.960 --> 0:38:47.600 his act together, not when, but now, we got to 0:38:47.640 --> 0:38:51.280 do this now. Now, come on, now, let's go across 0:38:51.320 --> 0:38:55.280 to these uncircumcised pagans. And then he said the title 0:38:55.320 --> 0:39:08.640 of my series, maybe God will work for us. Maybe 0:39:08.840 --> 0:39:18.879 maybe faith is being able to move on a maybe. 0:39:19.520 --> 0:39:21.360 And you know what that means. It's fifty to fifty. 0:39:22.440 --> 0:39:29.759 It might not work, but God is always working. I'm 0:39:29.760 --> 0:39:33.440 confident in the second, even when I'm not certain in 0:39:33.520 --> 0:39:38.440 the first. And it takes the time of faith church 0:39:39.560 --> 0:39:46.640 to say maybe maybe if I do this, maybe and 0:39:47.280 --> 0:39:50.359 maybe it won't and maybe God will use this thing 0:39:50.400 --> 0:39:53.040 that I think I'm supposed to do to lead to 0:39:53.120 --> 0:39:56.239 something that I was really supposed to do, so that 0:39:56.440 --> 0:40:00.680 even if the first thing fails, at least I'm sitting 0:40:00.800 --> 0:40:06.120 still in fear. But it takes faith to move on 0:40:06.200 --> 0:40:09.319 a maybe. When Yurim has gone dark and Saul is 0:40:09.400 --> 0:40:11.759 under a tree and you don't know what to do 0:40:11.840 --> 0:40:15.000 but to move toward it. God says, move toward it. 0:40:15.000 --> 0:40:17.960 It may work. And even if it doesn't I will. 0:40:19.040 --> 0:40:23.560 It is the power to move on a maybe, to 0:40:23.719 --> 0:40:27.160 know that God is mystery, but he is revealed, his 0:40:27.320 --> 0:40:31.719 character is trustworthy. I can move on a maybe. Father. 0:40:31.800 --> 0:40:34.480 I don't want to do this, but nevertheless, not my will, 0:40:34.719 --> 0:40:37.880 but yours be done. So I'm gonna go see about 0:40:37.920 --> 0:40:42.960 this and maybe somebody shout. Maybe maybe I've got a 0:40:43.160 --> 0:40:46.319 maybe faith enough faith to do it and not know 0:40:46.440 --> 0:40:49.920 the conclusion, but trust God in the process. It's a 0:40:50.080 --> 0:40:56.759 maybe faith. I'm confident. I'm not certain, but I'm confident. 0:40:58.800 --> 0:41:02.680 And you will find yourself many times in your life 0:41:03.160 --> 0:41:05.520 in a maybe moment. Some of you are there right now. 0:41:06.200 --> 0:41:10.240 It's a maybe moment for you. Maybe you are giving 0:41:10.280 --> 0:41:12.960 yourself to a marriage that you don't know if it 0:41:13.000 --> 0:41:15.400 can live. Like Ezekiel in the Valley of Bones, you 0:41:15.440 --> 0:41:17.560 don't even know if anything's going to happen, but you're 0:41:17.560 --> 0:41:20.920 prophesying and speaking forth and believing God to send the winds, 0:41:21.040 --> 0:41:28.040 and you're living in the maybe moment. Maybe if we 0:41:28.080 --> 0:41:35.880 start a church, maybe maybe I know who God is 0:41:36.760 --> 0:41:38.560 and I know nothing can stop him. But it's fifty 0:41:38.560 --> 0:41:45.520 to fifty. Man, you want to do it anyway. Maybe 0:41:45.719 --> 0:41:51.720 the miracle is in the maybe. I wish I could 0:41:51.719 --> 0:41:57.680 preach this to every discouraged heart today. God lives in 0:41:57.719 --> 0:42:03.440 a place called maybe. Faith lives in a place called maybe. 0:42:03.680 --> 0:42:11.560 So if you are in a maybe moment today, that's 0:42:11.600 --> 0:42:20.560 where God lives. Stand up when you're in that maybe moment, 0:42:21.640 --> 0:42:24.759 and if you are, you know it. And if you're not, 0:42:24.840 --> 0:42:27.160 you will need this message within the next six weeks 0:42:28.320 --> 0:42:34.680 because life is full of maybe moments. You will feel 0:42:34.680 --> 0:42:40.920 in that moment the coexistence of uncertainty and confidence, and 0:42:40.960 --> 0:42:42.600 you'll feel like you're making it up as you go. 0:42:43.600 --> 0:42:46.279 I like that image because Jonathan said, climb up after me, 0:42:47.480 --> 0:42:49.799 climb up after me. I was thinking about how they 0:42:49.840 --> 0:42:53.279 made it up as they win. But I had to go. 0:42:53.480 --> 0:42:56.600 I had to. I had to do it. I had 0:42:56.600 --> 0:43:00.239 to I had to trust God in a in a 0:43:00.280 --> 0:43:05.960 maybe moment. Maybe moments are like the moment where you 0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:10.000 could look stupid. Maybe moments are the moments where you 0:43:10.040 --> 0:43:13.080 could be rejected. Most of us aren't facing philistines and thorny, 0:43:13.120 --> 0:43:17.680 slippery cliffs and geographical obstacles. Most of us are facing 0:43:17.719 --> 0:43:20.640 things that are on the inside of us that seem insurmountable. 0:43:23.320 --> 0:43:27.239 And God is in the maybe moment of your life 0:43:27.280 --> 0:43:32.080 when you move forward. Anyway, when I stopped by my 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:35.799 dad's house and gave him the letter on Father's Day 0:43:36.440 --> 0:43:40.120 after we had not spoken in months because I moved 0:43:40.160 --> 0:43:42.959 him to Charlotte when his health got bad with my mom, 0:43:44.239 --> 0:43:47.279 because he asked me to, and I told him, I said, Dad, 0:43:47.480 --> 0:43:49.120 I want to do this for you. You're my dad. 0:43:49.160 --> 0:43:50.560 I want to take care of you. And we didn't 0:43:50.600 --> 0:43:52.799 know that he had als yet. We just knew that 0:43:52.800 --> 0:43:54.719 he was very sick, and because he was a self 0:43:54.719 --> 0:43:57.719 employed barber, I didn't know, you know, if he was 0:43:57.840 --> 0:44:00.919 just honestly, my dad at that point in his life 0:44:01.680 --> 0:44:05.239 was so illogical and irrational. I didn't know if it 0:44:05.280 --> 0:44:06.640 was a good idea or not. But I knew my 0:44:06.719 --> 0:44:09.000 dad was asking me for help, and I knew that 0:44:09.040 --> 0:44:11.160 something was wrong, and when he asked me to do it, 0:44:11.960 --> 0:44:14.319 I knew something inside of me knew like this could 0:44:14.320 --> 0:44:17.200 turn out really bad, you know. Like I told my dad, 0:44:17.280 --> 0:44:19.239 I said, you live three and a half hours away 0:44:19.239 --> 0:44:21.399 from me right now, and that works pretty good for us. 0:44:22.520 --> 0:44:24.319 If you come up and we're all up in each 0:44:24.360 --> 0:44:29.640 other's face, you know, it might not be good. And 0:44:29.680 --> 0:44:31.840 he said, I need you to do this for me, 0:44:32.840 --> 0:44:36.239 and I said, I'll never forget telling him. You know, 0:44:36.280 --> 0:44:38.799 I don't even think this is a good idea, but 0:44:38.800 --> 0:44:41.040 I'm gonna do it. You asked me to, and I 0:44:41.080 --> 0:44:44.240 love you. But please, when you come up here, please, 0:44:44.280 --> 0:44:45.879 when you come live in Charlotte. I knew my mom 0:44:45.880 --> 0:44:49.400 would be fine, she's great, but I was like, you, please, 0:44:49.440 --> 0:44:53.799 don't do any of this crazy stuff. And honest to God, no, 0:44:53.960 --> 0:44:56.680 sooner than I sent the moving company to give him 0:44:56.680 --> 0:45:00.400 an estimate, he chased the moving company out of the 0:45:00.480 --> 0:45:03.680 yard with his walking cane. I mean this guy, he 0:45:03.840 --> 0:45:05.719 was a good dad for a lot of my life, 0:45:06.000 --> 0:45:09.120 but by this point his medications as well as his 0:45:09.160 --> 0:45:12.440 physical condition, he was starting to really lose his mind. 0:45:13.400 --> 0:45:16.200 But I knew I needed to move him anyway, and 0:45:16.239 --> 0:45:19.080 it didn't make sense at that point. In fact, when 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:23.440 he got here, when he finally moved after running off 0:45:23.440 --> 0:45:26.000 the moving company, after he finally found a moving company 0:45:26.000 --> 0:45:28.480 that was fit to move him, and I went to 0:45:28.520 --> 0:45:30.600 go see him and check on him in the house 0:45:30.640 --> 0:45:34.200 that we had found for them. First thing he did 0:45:34.280 --> 0:45:36.240 when I walked in the door was complain about the house. 0:45:38.160 --> 0:45:40.200 When I tell you that, I said, some Hebrew words 0:45:40.239 --> 0:45:45.560 and some Greek words, some monks corner words, some compound 0:45:45.640 --> 0:45:51.320 cuss words. And it was like, over the next few months, 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:53.360 every bad thing that I thought was going to happen, 0:45:53.360 --> 0:45:55.280 if I tried to do the right, things start happening. 0:45:55.440 --> 0:45:58.640 And what was the weird contrast was my ministry was 0:45:58.680 --> 0:46:03.520 going so great and the church was growing, and my 0:46:03.640 --> 0:46:06.040 dad and the way he treated my mom, and eventually 0:46:07.200 --> 0:46:10.040 he left, he went to go live by himself. It 0:46:10.120 --> 0:46:13.520 was like culminated in this horrible thanks like the worst 0:46:13.560 --> 0:46:16.240 Thanksgiving ever where we went to see him. The only 0:46:16.280 --> 0:46:20.080 place he would live was in this nursing home and 0:46:20.120 --> 0:46:23.560 they had him calling Bingo in the nursing home and yeah, 0:46:23.600 --> 0:46:25.600 it's okay, you can laugh about it, because it was like, 0:46:25.719 --> 0:46:27.920 how did we come to this? Like how can they 0:46:27.960 --> 0:46:29.799 not even live together? How do we spend all this 0:46:29.920 --> 0:46:31.880 money and all this time and he raised me all 0:46:31.880 --> 0:46:33.560 this time and coach my teams and all this, and 0:46:33.560 --> 0:46:35.120 then it's going to end like this. When we would 0:46:35.120 --> 0:46:37.280 try to talk on the phone, he would end up yelling. 0:46:37.360 --> 0:46:39.480 I would end up yelling, and then I'd end up preaching. 0:46:39.560 --> 0:46:41.320 And then I go back and talk to my dad 0:46:41.400 --> 0:46:43.280 and I'd end up yelling and he would end up yelling. 0:46:45.600 --> 0:46:47.600 But when I went by his house on Father's Day, 0:46:49.239 --> 0:46:52.440 I thought, well, maybe maybe if I write down. I 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:57.040 took a notebook and I told Holly, can you drive 0:46:57.080 --> 0:46:58.920 for me for a minute. We were coming back from 0:46:58.920 --> 0:47:00.960 a family trip, and I said, I need to do 0:47:01.000 --> 0:47:03.000 something real quick. Can you drive from me and can 0:47:03.040 --> 0:47:05.400 we stop by my dad's house. He was living all 0:47:05.440 --> 0:47:10.719 alone at that time, by his own choice. And I 0:47:10.760 --> 0:47:14.040 sat there while Holly drove, and I wrote down a 0:47:14.160 --> 0:47:17.160 memory for every year that I had been alive of 0:47:17.239 --> 0:47:20.759 him being my dad. Because I knew we couldn't talk, 0:47:20.800 --> 0:47:22.640 but I thought, well, maybe if we could just communicate 0:47:22.680 --> 0:47:26.200 in writing. And when we showed up at the house 0:47:26.880 --> 0:47:29.279 and he opened the door, I kind of like threw 0:47:29.320 --> 0:47:34.480 the list at him, you know, like happy fun made 0:47:34.480 --> 0:47:40.560 a list for you, because maybe maybe this is a 0:47:40.640 --> 0:47:44.319 dumb idea, but maybe it could open a door for 0:47:44.440 --> 0:47:49.160 us to have a relationship. It's the maybe moments, you know. 0:47:49.400 --> 0:47:51.320 If I'm going to tell you about my maybe moments 0:47:51.880 --> 0:47:54.480 that result in starting a church that reaches the world, 0:47:55.400 --> 0:47:56.880 I think I owe it to you to tell you 0:47:56.920 --> 0:48:04.840 about my maybe moments that were messy to it's not 0:48:04.920 --> 0:48:07.319 always so clear, it's not always so perfect, it's not 0:48:07.360 --> 0:48:10.319 always so brilliant, it's not always so strategic. Life has 0:48:10.360 --> 0:48:15.360 lived in those maybe moments. And so I got to 0:48:15.400 --> 0:48:20.479 sit beside him as he breathed his last breath after 0:48:20.560 --> 0:48:23.120 three days that hospice had been in much later, after 0:48:23.239 --> 0:48:25.840 a progression where my mom graciously let him back in 0:48:25.840 --> 0:48:28.279 the house and cared for him until he died, and 0:48:28.320 --> 0:48:30.840 I got to be there, reading to him from Charles 0:48:30.840 --> 0:48:33.840 Spurgeon sermon The Peaceful Sleep of the Beloved. After I 0:48:33.880 --> 0:48:35.960 sang to him the Old Rugged Cross, and I thought 0:48:36.000 --> 0:48:38.480 he was going to pass quickly, but he stayed around 0:48:38.520 --> 0:48:40.080 like three days, and I ran out of hymns and 0:48:40.120 --> 0:48:43.560 started having to sing James Taylor and Hoodie and the Blowfish. 0:48:43.680 --> 0:48:46.759 I mean, I was there for all of it in 0:48:46.800 --> 0:48:53.920 that moment because of moving forward with a maybe, I 0:48:53.920 --> 0:48:56.719 believe God sent me with this message today and I'm overtime. 0:48:56.760 --> 0:48:58.600 I'm so overtime. It's going to be awful in the 0:48:58.640 --> 0:49:00.959 parking lot in the rain, give me and please smile 0:49:00.960 --> 0:49:02.279 at people on the way out and tell it's going 0:49:02.320 --> 0:49:05.479 to be worth it. But please listen to me listen 0:49:05.520 --> 0:49:08.040 to me. You're in a maybe moment. You're in a 0:49:08.040 --> 0:49:10.279 maybe moment, slipper on one side, thorny on the other. 0:49:11.280 --> 0:49:13.359 Don't have everybody with you thought you'd have with you, 0:49:13.400 --> 0:49:17.200 just got a armor bearer. Father, I pray today for 0:49:17.280 --> 0:49:21.840 the faith for your people to move forward on a 0:49:21.920 --> 0:49:28.680 maybe in this moment. You're the God of all wisdom. 0:49:28.719 --> 0:49:30.960 You are the God who sees all, knows all, and 0:49:31.000 --> 0:49:34.080 can do anything. I thank you, Lord that there are 0:49:34.120 --> 0:49:38.560 miracles emerging even now as I speak, in bodies, in relationships, 0:49:39.000 --> 0:49:44.280 in careers, in families. God, I thank you that ministry 0:49:44.360 --> 0:49:46.680 is birth out of maybe. We thank you God for 0:49:47.719 --> 0:49:50.759 giving us the Holy Spirit inside of us. We thank 0:49:50.800 --> 0:49:53.040 you for giving us the finished work of your son, 0:49:53.600 --> 0:49:55.360 to let us know that you are good, and you 0:49:55.440 --> 0:49:57.680 do good, and all things work together for the good 0:49:57.719 --> 0:50:01.400 of them that love. You speak over every maybe situation. 0:50:01.560 --> 0:50:06.680 Give your people now, by your grace the kind of 0:50:06.680 --> 0:50:09.880 faith that it takes to move forward and it maybe 0:50:11.040 --> 0:50:14.800 for we believe that nothing can hinder you from saving, 0:50:16.000 --> 0:50:21.799 whether by many or by few. Thank you for joining us. 0:50:22.080 --> 0:50:24.560 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:24.640 --> 0:50:28.120 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:50:28.560 --> 0:50:30.759 You can click the link in the description to give 0:50:30.840 --> 0:50:35.000 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:50:35.000 --> 0:50:38.800 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:50:39.080 --> 0:50:41.160 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:50:41.200 --> 0:50:43.440 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:50:43.440 --> 0:50:46.319 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:50:46.360 --> 0:50:52.759 again for listening. God bless you.