He’s Still The Shepherd

0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:05.280 Hello Evams, especially our West Coast family. We have an 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:10.760 announcement for you, Elevation Nights twenty twenty two West Coast. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.040 Are you ready for this? October twenty fifth through November third, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.480 We're coming your way so exciting. You can get your 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.280 tickets right now at Elevation Nights dot com. It's gonna 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.480 be me Holly, Elevation Worship. It's gonna be amazing, unbelievable 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.840 these nights. Don't want to miss So if you're in Glendale, Arizona, 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:35.920 Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, California, San 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:41.320 Diego and La or anywhere near those areas, we want 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.360 to see you. Elevation Nights dot com. Don't miss it. 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.600 Elevation Nights dot com. Get your tickets Elevation Nights dot com. 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.960 Let's see you there. Let's go to the message. If 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:59.480 you're in the chat, put a clapping emoji. How about that? Now, 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.680 don't sit down after you do this, but turn around 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:03.840 and high five five people and say you're in the 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:05.960 best section in the church right now. You're sitting in 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:16.040 my section. Thanks, y'all. Stay standing, Stay standing for the word, 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.319 Stay standing for the word. Stay standing for the word. 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.600 Stay standing for the word. Stay standing like you're on 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.640 your front foot, ready to receive what the Lord is 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.920 going to speak to you today. Clap your hands. If 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:33.479 you're ready for what the Lord is going to speak 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:42.319 to you today, open your heart. Thank you Jesus. All right, yeah, 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:53.440 it feels better with your playing. Thank you Jesus, Thank 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:59.840 you Jesus. Is So, I'm going to give you this scripture, 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:02.880 and it's jumping in right in the middle, So since 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:08.600 sound a little abrasive, but we'll ease into it and 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.760 get to do my favorite thing today. I'm going to 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:16.120 take a New Testament scripture and then I'm gonna, after 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.760 a little while, put an Old Testament story behind it 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.880 to illustrate what we learn. I love doing that kind 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:27.920 of bringing the principle together with a picture. Then we 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.840 can really get it. And that's my desire for us, 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:32.799 that we really get what God wants us to have. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.280 So I'm never just trying to fill fifty minutes, y'all. 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:42.160 What a sorry goal that would be, but to really 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.400 impart faith to your heart today, and I believe the 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:51.800 Lord's going to do that. Galatians chapter three, verse three, 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:57.280 The Apostle Paul speaking. Watch how this one starts? Are 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:05.680 you so foolish? It gets better from there after beginning 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:10.320 by means of the spirit, Are you now trying to 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:15.600 finish by means of the flesh? What a question. Maybe 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:20.080 that's why I'm tired. Maybe that's why I'm discouraged. Maybe 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.200 that's why I'm worn out. Maybe that's why I can't 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:27.600 think clearly. Maybe that's why I can't sleep, because I'm 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.120 trying to finish by the flesh what began with the spirit? 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:38.040 And then verse four, have you experienced so much in vain? 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.040 If it really was in vain? And then here's the 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.400 fourth question. There's been three, here's the fourth. So again 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:50.960 I ask, does God give you his spirit and work miracles? 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.560 We're thinking about miracles. Does God give you his spirit 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.440 and work miracles among you by the works of the 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:03.240 law or by your belief? What you heard? Are you 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.520 trying to finish in the flesh what began in the spirit? 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.800 So the Lord sent me up here to remind you today. 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.280 This is a reminder for some, a revelation for others. 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.400 He wanted me to remind you He's still the shepherd, 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:25.640 He's still the shepherd put my title in the chat. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.000 If you're watching online, he's still the Shepherd. And if 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.640 you're standing next to somebody on your way to your seat, 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.479 tell him he's still the Shepherd, and you may be seated, 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:49.880 God bless you. He's still the Shepherd. If Paul sounds 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:57.599 unpastoral in this letter, he's really not. He'd writ into 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.480 a group of churches in modern day Turk. They're not 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.279 just one church. They're spread out. He started several of 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:08.719 them on a missionary journey, and he's like trying to 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.200 get them back on track, and so he does it 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.320 in a way. He's having a conversation with this church 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.560 that every parent has with their kid every once in 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.720 a while, and the conversation goes like this, are you crazy? 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:31.400 Ask the person next to you, are you crazy? Because 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:34.880 this was not meant to be a conversation, just a 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:39.760 rhetorical question somebody. I'll finish that question with an answer 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.279 because you know them because you live with them where 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.359 they are in Christ. But they're still crazy, and not 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.359 the kind of crazy that we ALTI often associate with 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.800 people who are getting off track. Not crazy on drugs, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.680 crazy having sex, crazy in strip club. None of that 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.800 crazy because they've had a Jesus experience, but they're trying 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:10.280 to put a Jesus experience on top of a Jewish identity. 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.760 And in the process of doing that, those two words 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:18.400 I chose them on purpose, experience and identity. The Jewish 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:23.160 identity was the cultural one. That was the religious identity, 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:28.160 that was the social identity, and it was signified by circumcision, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.600 which for most of us men is a medical procedure 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.240 that in case all the kids didn't go to eat 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.200 kids this morning, I'm just going to let you Wikipedia 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.600 all of the different benefits of circumcision. Later, to them, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.440 it was a badge. It was like saying I'm in 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.320 and that was the custom. So then comes Paul preaching 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.760 Christ and him crucified to let them know that it 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:57.000 is in Christ. Everybody say in Christ. Next time somebody 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.880 asks you where you are, say in Christ. Now, don't 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.680 do that. They'll think you're weird. I can't stand people 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.159 who get real spiritual just out of nowhere. But just 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:11.320 know it inside of yourself, all right, in Christ. Put 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.680 it in the chat, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.560 So you're in church today, but you're in Christ when 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.600 you leave church. When you're in the grocery store, you're 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.880 still in church because you are Church and you are 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.480 in Christ, and Christ is in you, and that never 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:35.000 goes away. That's your identity, identity in Christ, identity. Now 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.560 you will have experiences every single day of your life 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:44.440 that will seem to contradict that identity, because being in 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.320 Christ doesn't exempt you from any of the normal challenges 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.760 of life. We've got to stop telling people Jesus will 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.560 make it all right, because what they assume when they 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.920 hear that is that my experiences now that I'm a Christian, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.360 will always a line with my picture, my preference, and 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.080 really my own I don't want to tell you this, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.960 but we try to shape God like our own personality, 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.920 and all of those things have to be subject to 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.680 Christ for us to be a true disciple. Let's go 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.600 a little further. You're ready. Once you get an identity 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.360 ingrained and you think that's who I am, it is 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:30.240 very difficult to receive any experience that is different than 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:36.040 that identity. I learned that where I grew up shaped 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.080 me in amazing ways. Small town, so it taught me 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.720 how to be good with people. Because in a small 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:48.560 town you have a certain accountability socially, what's considered polite 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:54.400 and what's considered rude. Okay, when I grew up, if 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.960 you didn't wave at people, even if they were strangers, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.640 that would considered rude. In Monk's corner where I grew up, 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.079 where Holly grew up in Miami, Florida, it's perfectly acceptable 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:15.640 and maybe even safer to not make eye contact. But see, now, 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:20.360 marriage is this merger of We're walking down the street 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.040 and she's saying, who is that that? You just waved that? 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:24.800 And I say, I don't know, And she said, well, 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.600 why did you wave? Because that's what you do. How 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.439 many from the South. That's what you do. That's what 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.200 you do. You eat grits, you never put sugar in them. 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:43.600 I rebuke you, Satan, and you wait, she thought that 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.560 was so silly. So now we split the difference. I 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.120 only wave, you know, about everyone out of three times. 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.120 But you know, you can take the boy out a 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:54.960 Monk's corner, but you can't take Monk's corner out of 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.080 the boy. So I might see it one day in 0:09:58.120 --> 0:09:59.680 the mall and I just wave at you. It's not 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.440 because I know you go to this church. I was 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.719 just trained to wave at everybody, just waving at everybody, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.319 and then we've kind of come together. So why do 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.040 I bring that up, because it is a perfect example 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:16.079 of what's happening in Galatians. Right. Paul is no longer 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.559 in Turkey, this essential Turkey we're talking about. If you 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.760 want to get a modern picture, He's no longer here 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.439 in the flesh with the people, but he's still the shepherd. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.959 He still sees himself, not as an influencer, not as 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.600 a modern guru, like how we have people who give 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:40.960 us advice, but he sees himself as their pastor and 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.960 their shepherd, even when he's writing them a letter. And 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.120 he really never stopped being a shepherd, no matter where 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.320 his travels took him, no matter how much of the 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.800 known world that he went to evangelize, no matter how 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.000 many gentiles that he preached to, he always loved these churches. 0:10:56.400 --> 0:11:00.600 You could take Paul out of Galatia, but you couldn't 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.200 get Galicia out of Paul. Every parent who has called 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:08.439 a so called empty nester understands what I'm saying. I'm 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.800 not one yet, but I imagine if they come back 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.959 after I send them away, I'll have to open the door, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.160 and I'm pacing myself for that. Right, this thing is 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:27.360 a marathon. I will still think you're doing something dumb. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.840 When you're fifty, you could be worth a billion dollars, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.080 and I'll still be like, are you sure that this 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.959 is the job that has job security for you? Right? 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.600 Don't you need something to fall back on? Because you 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.400 can take the kid out the house, but you can 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:51.840 never take the love out of the parent. Your kid 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:56.080 can discuss you, but you're still going to be devoted 0:11:56.080 --> 0:12:02.160 to him cussing them out, but you're cussing them out 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:12.160 in love. You ever cuss somebody out in love? And 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:17.599 now now we're back to Galatians three. Are you so foolish? 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:24.800 Are you falls in that high voice? Are you crazy? 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:29.160 Holly Scary voices her quiet voice. We tremble because she's 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.319 loud all the time. She's just a naturally low to talker. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:40.960 When it's quiet, that's real bad. Are you so stupid 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.840 as to really go back to circumcision the outward sign 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.080 and think that that's gonna get you to the end. 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:57.240 The foolishness of trusting in the flesh, the foolishness, And 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:00.680 so just answer your your question that your neighbor asked 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.520 you a few minutes ago. Tell him, yes, I'm that crazy. 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.960 Tell him, tell him, yes, I'm that crazy. I'm that 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:11.520 crazy in my flesh. I'm still crazy. How many still 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.000 crazy saints are honest enough to raise your hand and say, 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.120 catch me at the wrong moment with the right hit 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:25.040 the right button, sugar the right reflex, I'm still crazy. Okay, 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.959 you look crazy. So now she stood up too quick. 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.520 It was just too quick. Me too, Me too. I'm 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.680 still crazy, and I know that, and I'm glad that 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:43.680 I know that because God delivered me from so much. 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.040 But there's some stuff that's still in me that he's 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:52.800 dealing with. And now it's all coming together because they're 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.920 in Christ, but they're still crazy. Paul is not in 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:02.240 Galatia physically, but he's still and he is doing something 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:06.680 that shepherds do. He is directing the sheep, and he's 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:12.680 directing the sheep realizing sheep are not dolphins. Dolphins are smart, 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.760 especially the bottlenose dolphin. I was reading about the ten 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.160 smartest animals in the world. The bottlenose dolphin was number two. 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:23.040 That dolphin is so smart. Can recognize this self in 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.040 the mirror smarter than me. Sometimes I don't even know 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.400 who I am. And yet the Lord didn't talk about 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.480 a dolphin. He said. He said, you are my sheep, 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.080 and my sheep know my voice. And Jesus said, I'm 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.280 the good shepherd. And so Paul is realizing watch this. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:47.080 If I am a shepherd, sometimes I have to direct 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.920 the sheep where to go, assuming that they don't know 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:54.920 where to go. Are you so foolish? Yes, the moment 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.960 you answer no to that question, you're in danger. The 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.200 moment is, like you said, foolish, Nah man, I'm actually 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.840 you know, pretty much pretty much got some stuff figured out. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.480 I'm praying for you. I don't mean not being confident. Yeah, 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.160 you know things, you know skills. I'm not talking about 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.600 being insecure. I'm not talking about downplaying yourself. Those people 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.760 are most annoying people in the world. You know, I'm 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.240 not good at anything really like that, and I can't 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.640 really do anything like that. Just shut up. What God 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:20.520 gave you. He gave you what you're good at. You're 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.280 good at. You know, you're seven foot two, and I'm like, 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.640 you're tall, well not really, you know the Lord you know, yes, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:32.720 you're tall. There's nothing worse than false humility. It's awful. 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.960 It's not really humility. It's just drawing more attention to 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.880 yourself through an act of humility. But you're just acting. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:45.160 You're just acting. You're just acting. Sing a solo and 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.120 you say, oh, that was good, you sang good today. No, no, no, 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:54.000 it wasn't me. It was the Lord. And see, do 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.760 you're wrong about that? Because it would have been much 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.200 better if it was the Lord. It was just good. 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.400 I didn't say it was perfect. I just said it 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.200 was good. Let's bring it down to notedge anyway, it's 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:13.480 the power of realizing. Everybody say in Christ, still crazy? 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.280 This side, do in Christ? This side, do still crazy? 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.320 This side, do in Christ? Spirit? This side do still crazy? 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:28.800 Flesh this side do in Christ spirit? This side do 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:37.080 still crazy? Yeah, faith flesh both inside of me? Does 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.160 not explain a lot that makes a lot of sense. 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.720 How some of y'all will road rage even before you 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:51.880 get off the church property today, And it's all right, 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.680 And you can keep your elevation church sticker on the car. 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:02.920 You don't have to take it off because I'm still crazy. Well, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.920 I think we have the right as the children of God, 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.800 not in an entitled way, but in an expectant way 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.760 that if Jesus lives in us and we are in him, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:26.520 I expect God to direct me. I expect God to 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.919 direct me. You say, well, he's God, how can you 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.879 tell him what to do? No, No, that's what he 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.680 told me he wanted to do for me. So I 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:40.960 expect God to direct me. When I'm getting ready to preach, 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.280 I expect God to lead me to the passage he 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.040 wants me to preach. I don't come to this Bible 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.160 thinking I've got it figured out, and I don't come 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.280 to the passage thinking that I know what it means. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:56.680 I expect God to direct me. Everybody say, I expect 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.360 God to direct me. Now put it in the chat 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.359 and say it out loud. If you're here, I expect 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.399 God to direct me. I expect him to direct me 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.920 in my relationships. I expect that he's going to bring 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.800 the right people in my life in this season. I 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.600 not only want him to be the bouncer at the entrance, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.639 but the exit. I want him to decide and direct 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.960 in my life who gets in and who goes out. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.280 And I expect God to direct me. I believe that 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.400 every good and perfect gift comes from above, So I 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:37.240 expect God to bring opportunities into my life. You say 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.280 that sounds cocky. No, no, no, I'm crazy. So I 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.639 expect God to give me the opportunity because I know 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.600 that it wasn't by my own power. It wasn't by 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.600 my own strength. Nothing in my life makes much sense. 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.000 When we wrote the lyric, I think it over and 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.480 it doesn't add up. That's the math. When I think 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.920 of what God has done, how many have the same testimony, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.480 And when I know, oh how crazy I am, how 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.160 crazy I can be, how many ways I've wandered along 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.040 the path, how many left turns were a part of 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.280 God getting me to the right place. You don't understand. 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:16.040 I expect God to direct me in my future because 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.879 the only reason I'm here right now is because of 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:22.399 His faithfulness. So when something comes in my way, I 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.920 don't stick my chest out. I bow on my knee 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.000 and I say God, thank you for another gift, thank 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.400 you for another opportunity, thank you for another reason, thank 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.200 you for another level. Thank you for another harvest, thank 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.879 you for another breakthrough, thank you for another open door, 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.359 thank you for another open road. Thank you, thank you, 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:44.159 thank you, thank you, thank you. I expect some of 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.320 y'all came to church needing to hear from God today. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:52.240 Well expected. He's a speaking God. He's a talking God. 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.520 He's a way making God. He'll show you something you 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.919 didn't even know. Asking for now one time him who is? 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:05.879 He's able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.080 WHOA I expect a blessing today. I expect God to 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.199 be good to me. I expect my needs met. I 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:18.440 expect him abundantly supply good measure, rest out, shake it together, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.960 run it over. I expect it. I'm ready for it. 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:28.840 I'm stretching my hands to heaven. I expect it. I 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:32.600 expect it. Touch three people, I expect it. I expected 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.439 that y'all touching each other lately because COVID. But we 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.600 need to touch somebody right now so it can be contagious, 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.240 because somebody next to you lost their expectation because of 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.240 their experience. If I don't come to God off and experience, 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:47.719 I come to him because I know who he is. 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.040 He said, I'm the bread of life. That said all. 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:54.320 If he's the bread, I expect to be bad. He said, 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:59.000 I'm resurrection. So he is resurrection. I expecting to raise me. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:08.239 I expect expected, I expected, and I'm bracing for it, 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.760 and I'm believing for it, and I'm trusting for it, 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:16.320 and I'm grateful for it. I expected. He said he 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:18.640 was the vine, So that means if I'm in him, 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:22.320 he's in me, and I will bear much fruit. I expected. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:32.560 I expected, And since I expect the good Shepherd to 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.320 direct me, I have to be willing to accept when 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:46.160 he corrects me. Yeah, sit down on that one. Some 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:51.919 stuff you stand up about. Oh No, the Lord just 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:55.520 set us up, didn't he. Why'd you do that to us? Lord? 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.399 It felt so good? Let's see, miss. You know, the 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:04.120 expectator of direction from God without the acceptance of correction 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:10.359 from God is delusional. I can't expect God to direct 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:14.959 me and then not accept when he corrects me. Oh, 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.520 we love Paul. Paul's preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Paul 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.200 is so awesome. Paul's so amazing. Let's go over here 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.080 and let's continue to Let's continue to trust in the 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:25.359 old stuff. Let's continue to be justified by faith, and 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.000 then maybe we can have both, and then maybe we 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.480 can have our Jewish identity and our Jesus experience instead 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:33.880 of having a Jesus identity and a Jewish experience. We're 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.760 not conformed to the world. My experience is not the 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.120 definition of my potential in Christ. So if I try 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.680 to make it about something that, it's not. Like the 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:47.000 hymn writer said, the arm of flesh will fail you. 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:55.959 This side of the room flesh, you feel me. And 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:04.520 so salvation starts with this spirit. You can't complete or 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.720 finish in the flesh. What God started in the spirit. 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:15.239 And Paul's bringing correction to the Galatians and correction to us, 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.080 because we're not running around talking about circumcision, but we're 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:26.120 running around counting followers, thinking how popular you are, how 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.359 many likes something get. I want to teach a Bible 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:31.760 study one day. It won't work on a Sunday, to 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:35.000 take about three hours, and I would do it over 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:37.119 a series of weeks, but you forget everything by the 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:38.920 time I get back to next week, so that don't 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:42.280 work either. And one day I'll just I'll just turn 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:43.840 on the camera one day and I'll just teach it 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:45.520 in my I'll teach you, I'll teach it on. I'll 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:50.800 teach it. I recorded on my phone. How how to 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:56.000 be led by the shepherd in a culture of like 0:23:56.200 --> 0:24:04.159 and subscribe? How to be led by the shepherd in 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:11.480 a culture of like and subscribe? We like to be led? 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:13.520 Doesn't it feel good every once in a while for 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:16.280 somebody to take charge and it doesn't have to be you. 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:19.560 How many of you are over your company or over 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:21.639 your division, or you're over your small business, or you're 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:25.040 over your family, You're over something. Don't you just love it? 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:28.760 Sometimes when somebody's like, here's what we're doing, here's when 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:33.159 we're doing it, don't ask about it. You're like, that's 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:37.360 kind of cool. You marry somebody like that. I'm serious. 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:40.560 It just feels good sometimes when you're over alive and 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:42.679 somebody will just decide. How many of you like to 0:24:42.720 --> 0:24:50.600 be led? Like to be led? Now you have a 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:53.760 mental model of what it means to be led, and 0:24:53.800 --> 0:24:59.000 it's based on technology. Your mental model of God in 0:24:59.040 --> 0:25:04.320 a modern context is the woman on the GPS who 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:10.439 makes suggestions. If you don't do what she tells you 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.280 to do, she doesn't stop the car, but God will 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:21.280 because he's a shepherd, a good shepherd. What's a good shepherd? 0:25:21.640 --> 0:25:23.840 That's what Jesus said in John ten eleven. If you 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:25.720 want to look up the reference, he said, I am 0:25:25.760 --> 0:25:28.200 the good Shepherd. All that other stuff, he's that too, 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:34.400 But he is a good shepherd, So that must mean 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:38.800 that he knows something I don't know, and that he's 0:25:38.840 --> 0:25:43.200 going to get me there sometimes against my own human 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:49.200 will or my sorry, y'all, fleshly desires. It just had 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.080 to be one side or the other. I just chose, y'all. 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:53.960 There is no spiritual significance to that. Everybody on the 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:56.720 side of the room looks so hurt, y'all. Maybe we'll 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:58.560 switch it up next week or something. I don't know. 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:04.600 And I thought about would it be a good GPS 0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:08.960 system in my car? If if when I made the 0:26:09.000 --> 0:26:13.639 wrong turn it was like, okay, cool, would it be 0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:17.720 a good GPS? And then I thought about would it 0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:22.600 be a good physical trainer if when you came in 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:24.520 and you said I don't feel like it, they were like, great, 0:26:25.280 --> 0:26:27.360 I don't really feel like training you either. Let's eat 0:26:28.720 --> 0:26:32.560 unless eat sugar. Unlet's eat crap because I really don't 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:34.560 feel like counting your reps today either. So we're both 0:26:34.600 --> 0:26:39.560 on the same page. Let's go. Would it be would 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:43.480 it be a good God if he didn't put conviction 0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:50.919 alongside comfort? And is what you're going through in your 0:26:50.960 --> 0:26:55.439 life right now a correction not from the devil, but 0:26:55.520 --> 0:26:59.960 from the good shepherd. Do we give the devil credit 0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:05.800 for the shepherd's directions? Everything bad that happens is the devil? 0:27:06.080 --> 0:27:12.840 Not necessarily he's a good shepherd. Now that we've had 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:16.800 that New Testament perspective, let's go to the Old Testament. 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:24.760 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.920 know that song that is I was at a funeral recently, 0:27:28.200 --> 0:27:30.960 and of course that was the song that was shared, 0:27:31.280 --> 0:27:34.000 because for most of us it's our favorite, and even 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:36.080 if only by process of the fact, that's kind of 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:39.159 the only one we know that's our song. The Lord 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:43.960 is my shepherd. I shall not want. He's going to 0:27:44.480 --> 0:27:47.600 direct me. You remember all the things that says, green grass, 0:27:47.880 --> 0:27:51.840 still waters, restoreth my soul. His rod and his staff 0:27:52.040 --> 0:27:54.280 they comfort me. That's verse four. Put up verse four, 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:57.880 real quick, His rod, thy rod talking to God, Thy 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:03.600 rod and thy staff they comfort me. I love comfort, 0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:08.000 and I need comfort, and sometimes I need God to 0:28:08.040 --> 0:28:11.000 hold me because I won't let anybody else touch me. 0:28:12.359 --> 0:28:15.960 I'm serious. Sometimes I'm defensive in ways that God's the 0:28:16.040 --> 0:28:18.439 only one who can get in, and I love that 0:28:18.520 --> 0:28:21.560 he can and he can comfort me. And sometimes there's 0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:23.639 a gap when I'm like, I don't get this, and 0:28:23.680 --> 0:28:26.240 I'm glad God can comfort me. And sometimes I'm nursing 0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:28.560 my own wounds and I'm locking my own wounds, and 0:28:28.760 --> 0:28:30.679 I'm making it worse as i'm doing it. So I 0:28:30.720 --> 0:28:33.280 need the Balm of Gilead to come and comfort me, 0:28:33.520 --> 0:28:37.760 and I'm thankful that he comforts me. But in the passage, 0:28:37.960 --> 0:28:43.240 the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. That 0:28:43.280 --> 0:28:47.080 means I lack no good thing. That means the shepherd 0:28:47.120 --> 0:28:49.920 knows the difference between what feels good and what is good. 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:54.960 The next part is the part that most of us 0:28:54.960 --> 0:28:58.440 struggle with, because the first thing that God does ask 0:28:58.600 --> 0:29:01.160 the shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not 0:29:01.200 --> 0:29:03.760 want Verse two. You won't like this part now that 0:29:03.800 --> 0:29:08.880 you look at it. This way. He maketh me. He 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:14.640 makes me. I don't like anybody to make me do anything. 0:29:14.840 --> 0:29:19.040 You can suggest, but don't make me. You can plan it, 0:29:19.520 --> 0:29:22.720 but don't make me. That's why I went back and 0:29:22.800 --> 0:29:25.800 read all these books about ten summers ago that I 0:29:25.880 --> 0:29:28.680 was assigned in school, and I enjoyed them. But if 0:29:28.680 --> 0:29:32.040 you tell me I have to read it, I'm not 0:29:32.080 --> 0:29:35.880 reading it. I did. I read Great Expectations by Charles 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:40.720 Dickens at the pool for fun in eleventh grade. I 0:29:40.720 --> 0:29:42.800 didn't read it. I got the cliff notes because they 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:45.240 were making me read it. I don't like you to 0:29:45.360 --> 0:29:49.520 make me. I don't like you to make me. And 0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:52.840 yet the first thing that he says to shepherd does 0:29:53.440 --> 0:29:57.320 he makes me lie down? Hold on, God, I want 0:29:57.360 --> 0:30:00.440 you to be my shepherd. I want to be led 0:30:01.360 --> 0:30:05.200 where I want to be led because my mental model 0:30:05.240 --> 0:30:08.560 of God is GPS. So I'll tell you the destination. 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:12.160 If I get off track, then put me back on, 0:30:12.600 --> 0:30:16.200 but take me another way. Because God, the Lord is 0:30:16.280 --> 0:30:23.080 my Alexa. The Lord is my SII, the Lord is 0:30:23.120 --> 0:30:29.720 my a. What a good shepherd. That means he's not 0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:32.959 gonna see you doing something that he knows where it 0:30:33.040 --> 0:30:36.920 leads and not say something to you about it. That 0:30:37.040 --> 0:30:40.560 means he's not gonna let you sabotage yourself and your 0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:44.040 future without bringing correction. But see, we don't really like 0:30:44.120 --> 0:30:45.880 that side of the shepherd. It's like no, no no, no, 0:30:46.120 --> 0:30:49.600 I expect God to direct me. So here's what I want. Opportunities. Okay, 0:30:49.800 --> 0:30:51.840 what if a part of the opportunity God is going 0:30:51.920 --> 0:30:54.360 to bring you in two years is the character development 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:57.440 of a disappointment that he takes you through right now? 0:30:58.640 --> 0:31:03.880 Is he still your shepherd when you don't like what 0:31:03.920 --> 0:31:07.040 he says? Is he fire your trainer if they never 0:31:07.120 --> 0:31:10.120 tell you something to do you don't like. Fire your 0:31:10.160 --> 0:31:12.040 friends if they'll never tell you the truth when you're 0:31:12.080 --> 0:31:14.959 making a fool of yourself. You ever look back at 0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:17.880 pictures of stuff you wore and say, where were my friends? 0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:24.120 I had no friends. It's scary. Nobody told me that 0:31:24.280 --> 0:31:29.440 was so tight. It wasn't flattering. I tell you it 0:31:29.480 --> 0:31:31.880 was tight, and I wasn't toned, and nobody said anything 0:31:31.880 --> 0:31:40.400 about that. Contrast, he makes me his correction. I used 0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:42.280 to teach leadership a lot more than I do now. 0:31:42.640 --> 0:31:44.440 I don't know why I don't teach it as much anymore, 0:31:44.480 --> 0:31:46.760 But maybe I should start back, because I would teach 0:31:47.040 --> 0:31:52.680 when somebody corrects you, that's an investment. Now. I don't 0:31:52.720 --> 0:31:54.960 mean people that don't know you, people that just insult you, 0:31:55.000 --> 0:31:56.959 people that just are spouting their opinion. Get that out 0:31:57.000 --> 0:32:00.320 of your mind. The Lord is my shepherd. You are 0:32:00.400 --> 0:32:04.680 led by somebody and they love you enough. Yes, Jesus 0:32:04.760 --> 0:32:09.000 loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. 0:32:09.200 --> 0:32:11.720 How do I know this? I know he loves me, 0:32:12.320 --> 0:32:14.880 not only because the Bible tells me. So I know 0:32:15.280 --> 0:32:20.160 Jesus loves me because Jesus leads me. And when he 0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:25.080 leads me, sometimes he uses a staff to bring me back. 0:32:27.240 --> 0:32:32.920 That staff doesn't feel good around the sheep's neck. Why 0:32:32.960 --> 0:32:37.880 you always associate God with a good feeling. Sometimes you 0:32:37.920 --> 0:32:39.600 got to sit in something you don't like to get 0:32:39.600 --> 0:32:43.120 to something that you want, whether that's peace or joy. 0:32:45.000 --> 0:32:49.480 Oh my shout, swim out the door. Lord, they were 0:32:49.520 --> 0:32:54.240 shouting so good ten minutes ago. New song just came 0:32:54.280 --> 0:32:58.480 to me. Because when he brings you back, that's kindness, 0:33:00.040 --> 0:33:04.400 the kindness of God that brings me to repentance. Because 0:33:04.440 --> 0:33:06.840 I expect to be led by somebody who knows what's 0:33:06.880 --> 0:33:11.760 out of head, and I don't because I'm crazy. I'm crazy. 0:33:12.880 --> 0:33:14.640 I will get so in what I want to feel 0:33:14.720 --> 0:33:18.400 right now that I will reach for something now that 0:33:18.440 --> 0:33:23.680 I'm going to regret later unless I have a shepherd. 0:33:24.680 --> 0:33:26.840 So I might as well tell you I need Jesus. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:31.840 No apologies. I need Jesus. Yeah, yeah, me too. I 0:33:31.840 --> 0:33:33.200 need Jesus to forgive me. So I'm going to heaven 0:33:33.200 --> 0:33:35.760 when I die. Uh huh. I need Jesus way before 0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:41.600 I get to heaven when I die. The Lord is 0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:47.440 my talk to me, He's my shepherd. Oh. I love 0:33:47.520 --> 0:33:49.120 green grass, But do you like when he makes you 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:54.080 lie down? I want to get the green grass, all right? 0:33:54.120 --> 0:33:58.200 So I give you from my own life. When I 0:33:58.240 --> 0:34:00.400 preach about things for my own life, I don't want 0:34:00.400 --> 0:34:01.920 you to think that's because I think my life is 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:04.480 so important. It just makes it more real to me. 0:34:05.560 --> 0:34:07.840 If I open a sermon illustration book and say, okay, 0:34:07.960 --> 0:34:10.200 in the year thirteen hundred and seventy six, a guy 0:34:10.480 --> 0:34:11.919 said this, I don't even know if he really said 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:13.880 that or not. That's just in the book. This is 0:34:13.920 --> 0:34:15.880 what I know is real, okay, and maybe you can 0:34:15.920 --> 0:34:20.520 relate two or three times in the last I would say, 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:23.680 in the last couple of years, I felt like the 0:34:23.680 --> 0:34:26.480 Lord was saying inside of me. This never out loud 0:34:26.520 --> 0:34:28.600 for me. I have never heard God speak to me 0:34:28.640 --> 0:34:32.480 out loud ever, and I've asked him to before, because 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:36.640 then I would know, especially if he said it like 0:34:36.760 --> 0:34:40.800 Morgan Freeman on Shawshankradeshin, I'd be like, Oh, that's God 0:34:40.920 --> 0:34:43.680 right there, that's Morgan Freeman, that's the voice of God. 0:34:45.840 --> 0:34:49.879 So inside there is a few times, and I'll tell 0:34:49.880 --> 0:34:52.080 you what they were, because I think it helps to 0:34:52.120 --> 0:34:55.720 flesh it out a little bit. When when I started 0:34:56.320 --> 0:35:00.200 doing what Paul said in Galatians, trusting in the flesh, 0:35:00.320 --> 0:35:03.319 that's my own human strength. Remember, they weren't going off 0:35:03.320 --> 0:35:07.520 snort and coke. That's not what Paul is correcting. They 0:35:07.560 --> 0:35:11.000 weren't going off and worshiping Satan. That's not what Paul 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:15.200 was correcting. He was saying, God started something in your life. 0:35:15.840 --> 0:35:18.279 And then you're like, oh, thanks God, I'm good. I've 0:35:18.280 --> 0:35:21.640 got it from here. That's what we do with the Lord. 0:35:21.760 --> 0:35:27.360 I call it Divinity on Demand. We're like, God, I 0:35:27.480 --> 0:35:30.200 want you for season one, but I'll take season two, 0:35:30.520 --> 0:35:33.319 season three, season four. I got it from here, and 0:35:33.360 --> 0:35:36.120 you don't got it from here. And you don't know 0:35:36.160 --> 0:35:37.960 you don't got it from here until the plot twist 0:35:38.000 --> 0:35:40.520 happens that you didn't see because you didn't write the script. 0:35:40.640 --> 0:35:43.080 But God did, and he's the shepherd. And that's why 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:45.520 you have to trust him not only to save you 0:35:46.080 --> 0:35:50.360 watch this, but sustain you. There is a saving faith. 0:35:50.640 --> 0:35:53.760 I throw myself on the mercy of God. I throw 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:56.640 myself on the grace of the cross of Christ, and 0:35:56.680 --> 0:36:00.799 that saves me and his son. But that's same. Don't 0:36:00.800 --> 0:36:03.240 think that you get that grace and then just grind 0:36:03.280 --> 0:36:05.319 it out the rest of your life. Don't think you 0:36:05.440 --> 0:36:07.680 just pray to God parents and say, God, give us 0:36:07.680 --> 0:36:09.640 a healthy baby. Okay, we got it from here, we'll 0:36:09.719 --> 0:36:14.319 raise them from here. No you won't. You're crazy. You're 0:36:14.440 --> 0:36:17.879 crazy if you really think you can do this whole 0:36:17.960 --> 0:36:24.839 human experience without Jesus, You're crazy. Are you crazy? Are 0:36:24.880 --> 0:36:30.000 you crazy? You stop tithing because the economy was bad? 0:36:30.280 --> 0:36:34.000 Are you crazy? No? I got it from here God, 0:36:34.000 --> 0:36:35.640 you blessed me with this. But God, I'm gonna keep 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:39.520 it now. Are you crazy? So God gave it to 0:36:39.600 --> 0:36:43.759 you and now you want to grind it out? Are 0:36:43.760 --> 0:36:48.640 you crazy? So here's where the Lord showed me. I 0:36:48.719 --> 0:36:52.640 was making a sermon and I was figuring out what 0:36:52.800 --> 0:36:56.440 to call it, and I knew that the Lord gave 0:36:56.480 --> 0:36:58.680 me a title. I can feel it when the Lord 0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:00.640 tells me what to call it. So if he tells 0:37:00.680 --> 0:37:03.799 me to call it, he's still the shepherd. I call 0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:08.200 it that, and you're like, okay, because I know I 0:37:08.200 --> 0:37:10.920 could do sexier than that. I know I could do 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:13.760 better clickable than that. You know how to navigate seasons 0:37:13.760 --> 0:37:16.120 of regret to lead to breakthroughs, more sex, more money, 0:37:16.160 --> 0:37:22.879 and fat loss. That would be clickable. And that's fine. 0:37:23.080 --> 0:37:25.840 There's a time for all of that. There is a 0:37:26.000 --> 0:37:29.440 time to be strategic, there really is. There is a 0:37:29.520 --> 0:37:32.120 time to dial it in. There's a time technically to 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:34.879 figure all of that out. But all that comes after. 0:37:36.120 --> 0:37:38.840 But when I'm preparing to preach to you, see, I 0:37:38.880 --> 0:37:43.040 can't do that in my flesh. I need the spirit. 0:37:44.480 --> 0:37:46.319 And God gave me something and I said, I can't 0:37:46.360 --> 0:37:53.160 call it that. It won't get clicked. And this is 0:37:53.239 --> 0:37:55.320 not a conversation. I'm trying to make it a conversation 0:37:55.400 --> 0:37:59.040 because I can't say it to you how God speaks 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:01.000 on the level of spirit, not the level of flesh. 0:38:01.000 --> 0:38:02.719 So we're trying to tell you how it went. It 0:38:02.760 --> 0:38:05.480 felt inside of me, like God said, is this what 0:38:05.480 --> 0:38:11.360 we've come to? Clicking? Is this what we've come to? 0:38:13.080 --> 0:38:15.360 So you won't preach what I tell you is going 0:38:15.440 --> 0:38:17.480 to help people and set them free, that you really 0:38:17.520 --> 0:38:22.239 know in your spirit. You're talking about clicks, you talk 0:38:22.280 --> 0:38:29.080 about practice, and I really felt like God didn't like it. 0:38:29.160 --> 0:38:31.239 In fact, I almost felt like God said, I hate this. 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:37.520 I can't bless this, I can't work with this. If 0:38:37.560 --> 0:38:39.480 we're going after clicks, you ought to go make porn. 0:38:42.640 --> 0:38:45.600 That'll get way more clicks. You're going to try to 0:38:45.680 --> 0:38:47.440 figure out in the flesh what can only be done 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:54.600 through the spirit. So well, I don't do that. I 0:38:54.600 --> 0:38:57.720 don't put sermons on YouTube. I think you missed the point. 0:38:58.560 --> 0:39:00.640 I think we all do it all the time. We 0:39:00.719 --> 0:39:03.640 try to figure out what people would like. Are you 0:39:03.719 --> 0:39:08.279 crazy because they're crazy? Now you're trying to base your 0:39:08.280 --> 0:39:11.040 life around crazy people, and what crazy people will like 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:13.280 will lead to a level of crazy that is crazier 0:39:13.360 --> 0:39:15.720 than your original crazy that made you try to impress 0:39:15.760 --> 0:39:23.799 crazy people, and then you forget who you are. You 0:39:23.840 --> 0:39:26.680 forget who you are, you forget men. I'm not up 0:39:26.719 --> 0:39:31.040 here to be a performer. I'm a preacher, baby, and 0:39:31.080 --> 0:39:33.799 the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he 0:39:33.840 --> 0:39:37.600 has anointed me to preach good news to the captives. 0:39:38.280 --> 0:39:41.880 And recovery of sight for the bli, and the breaking 0:39:41.920 --> 0:39:44.400 of chains and the liberation of those who are oppressed, 0:39:44.600 --> 0:39:48.960 and the acceptable year of the Lord's favor. Now, do 0:39:49.040 --> 0:39:53.560 you want favor or flesh? You want to do it 0:39:53.640 --> 0:39:57.280 God's way? I preached this last week. God's ways seem weird, 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:01.640 but they weren't. It worked to trust God. It works 0:40:01.680 --> 0:40:03.839 to give it to him. It works to step out 0:40:03.880 --> 0:40:06.600 in faith. It works to stay in faith. It works 0:40:06.640 --> 0:40:09.720 to speak faith, it works to hear faith. Faith comes 0:40:09.760 --> 0:40:12.920 by hearing, hearing by the word. And then you get 0:40:13.000 --> 0:40:15.880 stuck in the space of trying to figure out in 0:40:15.920 --> 0:40:21.080 the flesh what God started by the spirit. Here's another 0:40:21.160 --> 0:40:25.400 time the Lord said, I don't like this. Somebody asked me, 0:40:25.600 --> 0:40:28.840 will you go do this certain opportunity to share the gospel? 0:40:30.920 --> 0:40:34.160 And I start thinking of all the reasons that I 0:40:34.320 --> 0:40:38.160 would not be good at doing it. And the Lord said, 0:40:38.200 --> 0:40:41.799 I don't like this at all, because you act like 0:40:41.840 --> 0:40:43.440 you were so good to get here to start with. 0:40:45.280 --> 0:40:48.600 I don't like this at all. You're getting this thing 0:40:48.640 --> 0:40:53.680 backwards now, because what's started by faith you're trying to 0:40:53.680 --> 0:40:57.040 finish in flesh. I got it. God, Thank you for 0:40:57.080 --> 0:40:59.719 the house. I got it from here. God, you don't 0:40:59.719 --> 0:41:03.680 got it here because that house is not a home 0:41:04.440 --> 0:41:09.319 unless God's spirit is in it. So you need God 0:41:09.400 --> 0:41:14.200 to fill what he helped you build. Did you hear me, 0:41:14.239 --> 0:41:17.400 I'm scared. I'm scared of God missed. You need God 0:41:17.719 --> 0:41:20.799 to help you feel or to fill what he helped 0:41:20.840 --> 0:41:22.759 you build, or what he gave you the strength to build, 0:41:22.960 --> 0:41:25.480 or what he built for himself. That was David's thing, 0:41:25.719 --> 0:41:30.040 he said, he said, he said, the Lord is my shepherd. 0:41:31.320 --> 0:41:35.600 David wrote that because of his experience, he was a 0:41:35.600 --> 0:41:42.400 shepherd himself. He was a shepherd, a shepherd who showed 0:41:42.480 --> 0:41:46.719 up to the battle lines just in time. How many 0:41:46.719 --> 0:41:48.680 of you have a testimony. God put me at the 0:41:48.719 --> 0:41:50.640 right place at the right time for certain things in 0:41:50.680 --> 0:41:56.160 my life. It was not coincidence. I was thinking about Joel. 0:41:56.239 --> 0:41:58.759 He was up here singing million little miracles and they 0:41:58.800 --> 0:42:00.840 don't even know, they don't need know that. When you 0:42:01.000 --> 0:42:05.520 recorded that song in this empty room during the craziest 0:42:05.560 --> 0:42:08.720 time in the world, and we're all COVID testing to record, 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:11.120 and you weren't even supposed to be here for the recording, 0:42:11.280 --> 0:42:13.600 but I said, stay around just in case there's a 0:42:13.600 --> 0:42:16.200 song A Million Little Miracles that we wrote, and I 0:42:16.200 --> 0:42:17.879 think you've seen it, and you said, I love that song. 0:42:17.880 --> 0:42:19.920 I heard the demo. I said, stay around just in case. 0:42:20.920 --> 0:42:23.480 And he sang that song and the Glory of God 0:42:23.560 --> 0:42:30.080 and you can download it now on YouTube, but don't 0:42:30.080 --> 0:42:34.160 turn off the sermon. Do it after the sermon. And 0:42:34.200 --> 0:42:38.360 it's just amazing how David had this perspective. WA's what 0:42:38.440 --> 0:42:40.319 he said to Golith, Holy Spirit, lead me. Now, I 0:42:40.320 --> 0:42:42.319 need to get this in. This is the most important 0:42:42.640 --> 0:42:45.120 part of the message, because now I'm giving you the picture. 0:42:45.440 --> 0:42:48.759 That's the principle. That's the principle. You can't finish in 0:42:48.760 --> 0:42:50.839 the flesh, your own power, your own strength, your own 0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:54.720 delusional desires that will lead you astray. The hardest, deceitfully wicked, 0:42:54.880 --> 0:42:56.960 can't trust that. I need the Spirit of God. I 0:42:56.960 --> 0:42:58.720 got to stay in touch with him. I can't finish 0:42:58.760 --> 0:43:01.839 in the flesh what started in the spirit. But here's 0:43:01.880 --> 0:43:08.239 the picture. When David saw Goliath. The commentaries vary. He 0:43:08.400 --> 0:43:10.239 was at least what did I say earlier? He was 0:43:10.280 --> 0:43:13.560 at least seven foot two. He could have been as 0:43:13.600 --> 0:43:17.000 tall as nine foot nine. The measurements aren't exactly the same. 0:43:17.840 --> 0:43:22.560 So let's just all agree that's tall. Can we get 0:43:22.560 --> 0:43:26.640 consensus on that? Okay, okay, okay, okay, too big to beat? 0:43:27.560 --> 0:43:31.839 And David's like, perfect, he's too big to beat. That 0:43:31.880 --> 0:43:34.239 means God will have to do it. That means God 0:43:34.280 --> 0:43:36.840 will get the glory and I'll grow in my faith. 0:43:38.520 --> 0:43:43.279 Saw give me my shepherd tool. Wait, David, we're not 0:43:43.280 --> 0:43:45.760 talking about sheep here. We're talking about a Philistine warrior 0:43:45.880 --> 0:43:53.760 with a sword. It was like, huh, I know these weapons. 0:43:54.640 --> 0:44:00.560 God has used these weapons. I've been keeping my father's sheep. 0:44:01.239 --> 0:44:04.960 And so he takes the instruments of shepherding applies them 0:44:05.120 --> 0:44:08.200 to the strategy of warfare. And it worked for his 0:44:08.280 --> 0:44:12.200 advantage because Goliath never even got close enough to use 0:44:12.200 --> 0:44:16.080 his weapon. David knocked him out. You know that story, 0:44:16.120 --> 0:44:18.520 don't you. I can tell you look kind of bored, 0:44:19.080 --> 0:44:27.560 like really, David and Goliath. Okay, I gotta give you that, 0:44:28.400 --> 0:44:31.200 because that's how David started. He was so he was 0:44:31.280 --> 0:44:35.560 so full of faith. He said, I'm gonna come at 0:44:35.600 --> 0:44:38.799 you without a sword so that everybody will know it 0:44:38.840 --> 0:44:42.439 was the Lord. And some of y'all had that kind 0:44:42.440 --> 0:44:45.000 of faith, or have that kind of faith? Have experienced 0:44:45.040 --> 0:44:48.520 those types of moments. I'm doing this because God told me. 0:44:50.080 --> 0:44:52.480 I'm doing this because God told me. I'm doing this 0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:55.640 because I believe God is with me. I'm fifty five 0:44:55.640 --> 0:44:57.279 percent sure God told me to do this, and that 0:44:57.320 --> 0:44:59.880 says good is this gonna get? So? Here we go, Jesus. 0:45:01.560 --> 0:45:03.799 That's old Peter getting out there in that boat. He's like, 0:45:03.920 --> 0:45:07.719 I think so oh no, falling down. Jesus picked him up, 0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:14.279 moving in the right direction. That's David. David becomes a king. 0:45:14.280 --> 0:45:16.400 He deals with a crazy king. Crazy king. Crazy king. 0:45:16.440 --> 0:45:18.239 Saul tries killhim, can't killhim because he can't kill what 0:45:18.239 --> 0:45:19.799 God's crown. You could throw spear at it, but if 0:45:19.800 --> 0:45:21.759 it ducks, God can't kill it. Because David was full 0:45:21.760 --> 0:45:23.640 of the spirit of God and he was annoyed by purpose, 0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:25.319 and he was a eight brother and he was left out. 0:45:25.320 --> 0:45:27.120 But God annoyed him anyway through Samuel. Because when God 0:45:27.160 --> 0:45:28.440 has something for you, do that matter what people say 0:45:28.480 --> 0:45:30.399 about you. So stop trying to impress people. Get voted 0:45:30.400 --> 0:45:32.399 in by people. People have no final say. Only God 0:45:32.440 --> 0:45:34.320 has final say because he's the Shepherd's king. Whatever he 0:45:34.320 --> 0:45:38.799 say is going to happen. He's now the king, and 0:45:38.840 --> 0:45:42.319 he does the craziest thing that we ever see David do. 0:45:42.560 --> 0:45:45.000 And everybody listening to this right now who grew up 0:45:45.000 --> 0:45:49.120 in church thinks I'm going to talk about bath sheeba, 0:45:49.239 --> 0:45:53.759 but I'm not. That is David's most famous sin. He 0:45:53.840 --> 0:45:55.279 slept with a woman that wasn't his wife and had 0:45:55.280 --> 0:45:56.919 her husband killed on the front lines of battle because 0:45:56.920 --> 0:45:58.560 he saw what he was in the king and then 0:45:58.560 --> 0:45:59.960 springing the time when the King's go off to ward, 0:46:00.000 --> 0:46:01.680 he was walking around his roof and he saw beautifulman 0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:02.880 bathing and he said, bring her to me, and he 0:46:02.920 --> 0:46:04.680 had slept with her, and then he had her husband 0:46:04.719 --> 0:46:06.000 killed to try covered up. You can't cover it up, 0:46:06.000 --> 0:46:08.680 because Nathan came in confronted him. That wasn't the dumbest 0:46:08.719 --> 0:46:13.520 thing David ever did. For the Bible records that although 0:46:13.520 --> 0:46:15.920 that cost one man his life and David his own baby, 0:46:16.800 --> 0:46:19.520 there's something else David did that I have done that 0:46:19.640 --> 0:46:22.520 costs much more, and I want to show you that 0:46:23.400 --> 0:46:26.120 in First Chronicles twenty one. We're a long way from 0:46:26.120 --> 0:46:28.000 where we were last week when David was bringing the 0:46:28.120 --> 0:46:30.880 art which represented the presence of God back to Jerusalem, 0:46:30.920 --> 0:46:35.160 the City of Peace. Stay with me. He's now in 0:46:35.200 --> 0:46:38.280 a position of power, and God has given him victory 0:46:38.520 --> 0:46:43.120 from his enemies. What he does next is so dumb 0:46:43.560 --> 0:46:49.720 that it seems smart. Is so dumb that it seems smart. 0:46:50.640 --> 0:46:54.480 The Bible says in First Chronicles twenty one, verse one 0:46:54.680 --> 0:46:59.040 that Satan this is where it started, rose up against Israel. 0:47:00.200 --> 0:47:03.279 And watch this not what you expect Satan to do, 0:47:03.640 --> 0:47:11.040 attack them through the Philistines. No, he incited David to 0:47:11.120 --> 0:47:17.839 take a census of Israel. What's so bad about a census? 0:47:19.120 --> 0:47:23.080 That's not one of the seven deadly sins? What's so 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:28.600 bad about taking a census? What's so bad about David saying, Hey, 0:47:28.760 --> 0:47:31.080 I want to know how many people we have so 0:47:31.120 --> 0:47:33.120 I can be ready for whatever. And he tells Joe 0:47:33.160 --> 0:47:35.920 Ab go through and count all my subjects. Now, I'm 0:47:35.960 --> 0:47:38.000 just going to tell you the story how it goes down, 0:47:38.160 --> 0:47:40.120 and then you can figure out what's so bad about it. 0:47:40.320 --> 0:47:44.200 He says, Hey, Joe Ab, who is his military advisor 0:47:44.600 --> 0:47:47.200 and wages the wars for him on the ground, He's like, 0:47:47.640 --> 0:47:50.239 I want to know how many men I have that 0:47:50.320 --> 0:47:53.319 are good with a sword, So go count all the 0:47:53.360 --> 0:47:57.000 fighting men, and so Joe Ab says, I don't think 0:47:57.000 --> 0:48:01.600 you want to do that, David, are you crazy? Respectfully, King, 0:48:01.719 --> 0:48:06.359 Sir David, are you crazy? If you need more, God 0:48:06.360 --> 0:48:10.480 to give you a hundred times more, may God multiply 0:48:10.560 --> 0:48:12.960 your troops times one hundred. King, But don't do this 0:48:14.200 --> 0:48:16.520 because God had commanded. There's only two times where a 0:48:16.600 --> 0:48:18.960 king is supposed to take a census. One is if 0:48:18.960 --> 0:48:21.239 you're taxing people, and one is if you're putting together 0:48:21.239 --> 0:48:24.560 an army for a battle. And neither applied. So it 0:48:24.640 --> 0:48:27.160 lets me know that now David has moved from power 0:48:28.080 --> 0:48:32.040 of the humility of trusting in the presence of God 0:48:32.800 --> 0:48:36.080 to the pride of saying, how many do I have 0:48:36.800 --> 0:48:39.960 find out? Because I might have to fight? And if 0:48:39.960 --> 0:48:42.080 I have to fight, I want to know how many 0:48:42.200 --> 0:48:47.560 fighting men that there are. But see now he's measuring flesh. 0:48:47.800 --> 0:48:51.160 And David didn't get to be king by measuring flesh. 0:48:51.239 --> 0:48:54.080 In fact, he was the one that his brothers didn't 0:48:54.080 --> 0:48:56.879 even think should be in the room. So how did 0:48:56.920 --> 0:49:01.080 the king who got to the crown trust in God's 0:49:01.080 --> 0:49:05.280 spirit and taking a sling in his hand against a big, 0:49:05.360 --> 0:49:09.560 tall giant. How did he come to this point where 0:49:09.560 --> 0:49:19.360 he's being led by his senses. Census Census, Census census. 0:49:19.640 --> 0:49:21.520 If he had used his census when he was up 0:49:21.560 --> 0:49:25.400 against Goliath, he would have run. If you would have 0:49:25.400 --> 0:49:27.560 gotten to this point by your senses, you would not 0:49:27.719 --> 0:49:32.560 be in church. You wouldn't. It was God that snatched you. 0:49:32.800 --> 0:49:35.640 It was God that led you. It was God. Come on, now, 0:49:35.920 --> 0:49:38.320 it was God that helped you. This is the moment 0:49:38.320 --> 0:49:41.000 where you affirmed the word and confirmed the word with 0:49:41.160 --> 0:49:45.560 your own praise. It was God he breathed on it. 0:49:45.560 --> 0:49:49.880 It was God he stepped in it. It was God 0:49:49.920 --> 0:49:53.280 he cleared the path. It was God he made them 0:49:54.280 --> 0:50:01.600 lie down in green pests. So you came this far 0:50:02.000 --> 0:50:06.400 and now you're counting. You came this far by faith, 0:50:06.800 --> 0:50:08.880 and now you're trying to figure it out and listen, 0:50:09.080 --> 0:50:11.840 hear the word of the Lord. You got to stop 0:50:11.840 --> 0:50:15.520 trying to figure this stuff out in your flesh and 0:50:15.560 --> 0:50:19.920 then praying for God to give you direction. You gotta 0:50:20.000 --> 0:50:23.000 stop sizing up. You know, I heard a country preacher 0:50:23.160 --> 0:50:25.359 what's his name, Todd. We talked about him all the time. 0:50:25.400 --> 0:50:29.279 Pastor pastor Charles, what's his name? Pastor Charles? The guy 0:50:29.320 --> 0:50:32.520 we talk about all the time, Charles Randolph pastor Charles Randolph. 0:50:32.840 --> 0:50:36.360 He said, the rest of the nation looked at Goliath 0:50:36.400 --> 0:50:39.719 and said he's too big to kill. David looked at 0:50:39.719 --> 0:50:43.440 Goliath and said he's too big to miss. Amen. So 0:50:43.880 --> 0:50:47.440 how'd you go? No question, question question for you? How'd 0:50:47.480 --> 0:50:52.279 you go from from God's grace being the being, the 0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:55.680 fuel and the strength and the hope and the joy 0:50:55.880 --> 0:50:57.560 of your life? And now you're like, no, God, I 0:50:57.600 --> 0:51:01.239 got it from here. I got it. Thank you Lord 0:51:01.280 --> 0:51:02.839 for putting on this Beck I can do it. Now 0:51:02.960 --> 0:51:06.200 you can't and you don't have to because he's a 0:51:06.200 --> 0:51:09.960 good shepherd, and he leaves you, but not by your senses. 0:51:10.200 --> 0:51:12.279 So then when you're sitting there all night long, this 0:51:12.320 --> 0:51:18.080 is what worry is about. We're taking a census, we're 0:51:18.080 --> 0:51:21.920 listing problems, and then in our lowest moment, Satan incites 0:51:21.960 --> 0:51:24.520 you and he says, start thinking about what you have. 0:51:24.880 --> 0:51:27.440 Start thinking about how strong you are, because if I 0:51:27.440 --> 0:51:29.880 can get you to see how strong you are, I 0:51:29.880 --> 0:51:32.040 can get you to believe how weak you are. Because 0:51:32.080 --> 0:51:34.080 if I can put you in the flesh, I can 0:51:34.200 --> 0:51:37.640 kill what started in the spirit. And then I can 0:51:37.680 --> 0:51:40.080 get you to leave your kids, and then I can 0:51:40.080 --> 0:51:42.440 get you to quit your ministry, and then I can 0:51:42.440 --> 0:51:44.560 get you to leave your church, and then I can 0:51:44.640 --> 0:51:47.680 get you to stop praising and stop rejoicing, because if 0:51:47.719 --> 0:51:49.680 I can get you in the flesh, I can make 0:51:49.719 --> 0:51:55.399 you fail. Joe Abs said, don't do it, and David did. 0:51:57.200 --> 0:52:01.400 And the numbers were impressive. Man, the numbers were impressive. 0:52:01.920 --> 0:52:05.200 Men love to measure, by the way. Joebs came back 0:52:05.200 --> 0:52:07.080 and said, you got one point one million, and then 0:52:07.080 --> 0:52:09.040 four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah that are part 0:52:09.040 --> 0:52:10.799 of the one point one million. There you go. But 0:52:10.840 --> 0:52:12.560 he didn't even count two of the tribes because he 0:52:12.600 --> 0:52:14.319 hated it so much what David told him to do. 0:52:15.360 --> 0:52:16.719 He knew it was a bad idea, and he wasn't 0:52:16.719 --> 0:52:18.560 even he wasn't even the godliest guy in the world, 0:52:18.560 --> 0:52:23.160 and he's like, this is crazy. Are you crazy? Even 0:52:23.160 --> 0:52:25.560 the world looks at us in the church sometimes then says, 0:52:25.960 --> 0:52:34.399 y'all say you trust God anyway? Oh, the third time, 0:52:34.440 --> 0:52:36.360 the Lord told me, I don't like that. The third time, 0:52:37.080 --> 0:52:40.080 I was telling Holly that sermon didn't go good, and 0:52:40.120 --> 0:52:41.759 she said, how do you know? I said, the people 0:52:41.800 --> 0:52:46.600 didn't respond. The Lord said, I hate that you preach 0:52:46.880 --> 0:52:53.719 from revelation, not for response. I hate when you use 0:52:53.760 --> 0:52:59.719 your censes. God hates when you use your censes to 0:52:59.719 --> 0:53:02.480 try to figure out what He wants to reveal by faith. 0:53:03.920 --> 0:53:06.840 He hates it. He hated it so much that he 0:53:06.920 --> 0:53:10.600 allowed a plague to bring David back. Seventy thousand people 0:53:10.680 --> 0:53:14.480 died after Joe Ebb came back with the count. And 0:53:14.520 --> 0:53:19.839 we love to measure, We love to measure. We're especially men. 0:53:19.880 --> 0:53:22.160 I don't mean to be sexist, but the reason I 0:53:22.239 --> 0:53:24.759 think men love to measure the most. I was in 0:53:24.800 --> 0:53:27.040 a prison preaching a few years ago, doing a Bible 0:53:27.080 --> 0:53:29.440 study with some seminary students into prison. They were doing 0:53:29.440 --> 0:53:31.959 a seminary program into prison. I said, I'll teach a little, 0:53:32.000 --> 0:53:33.680 then we can do Q and A. And a guy 0:53:33.760 --> 0:53:36.040 raised his hand. The first guy. He said, I've been 0:53:36.080 --> 0:53:38.080 wanting to know this. I read your books and I've 0:53:38.080 --> 0:53:39.239 been waiting for you to get here so I can 0:53:39.280 --> 0:53:41.040 ask you this. We're talking about it before. How much 0:53:41.080 --> 0:53:46.239 do you binge? Not the return of Christ, none of that, 0:53:48.440 --> 0:53:51.520 you know, not the Book of Daniel, just that much been? 0:53:52.080 --> 0:53:54.759 And I said, well, we'll go out in the yard 0:53:54.800 --> 0:53:56.800 and find out after you know, just messing around. But 0:53:56.840 --> 0:53:59.480 I was like, in't that hilarious? Like of all the things, 0:54:00.640 --> 0:54:07.920 we're still fifteen, we are still fifteen years old. The 0:54:08.000 --> 0:54:11.160 problem with that measurement isn't that God doesn't want you 0:54:11.840 --> 0:54:16.440 to be strategic. But sometimes you have to repent of 0:54:16.480 --> 0:54:26.279 being rational where God has given you revelation, repent of 0:54:26.320 --> 0:54:31.080 trying to be rational about what only the spirit can reveal. 0:54:32.920 --> 0:54:37.399 The census, the sin of the census. Nobody in here 0:54:37.400 --> 0:54:40.920 today was going, God, forgive me of the sin of counting, 0:54:42.239 --> 0:54:44.640 forgive me of the sin of trying to figure out 0:54:44.640 --> 0:54:46.600 apart from you, what you said you would help me do. 0:54:48.719 --> 0:54:50.560 And after that plague swept through. The Lord said, I'm 0:54:50.560 --> 0:54:52.880 gonna give you three choices, David. This is this is 0:54:52.880 --> 0:54:55.160 how I'm going to punish you. He spoke through the prophet. 0:54:55.320 --> 0:54:57.839 The kings would have a pastor, a prophet to the king. 0:54:58.040 --> 0:55:01.319 His name was God, not God. But God came to 0:55:01.360 --> 0:55:04.840 correct David. Be very open that God will use people 0:55:04.880 --> 0:55:09.520 to correct you, not everybody, but God will speak. God 0:55:09.560 --> 0:55:13.360 speaks to me the most through my wife, the most, 0:55:14.560 --> 0:55:17.399 the most, and I have to be open to that. 0:55:17.719 --> 0:55:20.040 So the prophet says, three choices you can have three 0:55:20.120 --> 0:55:22.759 years of famine, you can have three months of your 0:55:22.840 --> 0:55:24.680 enemies invading you and you can't stop them. You can 0:55:24.680 --> 0:55:26.960 be on the run, or you can have three days 0:55:26.960 --> 0:55:29.760 of a plague. And David said, I'll take the third option, 0:55:30.239 --> 0:55:32.800 because the plague comes from God's hand and He's merciful. 0:55:34.800 --> 0:55:37.160 I would rather be in the hands of my shepherd 0:55:39.000 --> 0:55:52.319 than be open to the attack of my enemy. And 0:55:52.440 --> 0:55:54.600 David got serious about it when he saw the sword 0:55:54.600 --> 0:55:58.839 over Jerusalem, the sword over Jerusalem, the sword over the 0:55:58.840 --> 0:56:02.839 City of Peace. David got serious about it. And if 0:56:02.840 --> 0:56:06.040 you don't respond when God speaks to your conscience, you 0:56:06.080 --> 0:56:08.560 will have to respond when he speaks through the consequence. 0:56:15.040 --> 0:56:23.000 And David said, verse seventeen is to me, is to 0:56:23.080 --> 0:56:27.400 me the key for all of us who are guilty 0:56:27.680 --> 0:56:31.560 of trying to finish in the flesh what God started 0:56:31.560 --> 0:56:34.600 in the spirit. David gets down in sackclothed and ashes 0:56:34.920 --> 0:56:37.200 and watched this in verse seventeen. You got it on 0:56:37.239 --> 0:56:41.880 the screen for me, guys, He said to God, was 0:56:41.880 --> 0:56:45.880 it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? 0:56:47.800 --> 0:56:50.600 Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to 0:56:50.640 --> 0:56:55.240 be counted? Now watch the next part I the shepherd, 0:56:56.480 --> 0:57:01.920 have sinned and done wrong. That spoke to me, Church, 0:57:02.120 --> 0:57:06.160 that spoke to me that David is a king with 0:57:06.239 --> 0:57:10.600 one point five million swords under his command. But he's 0:57:10.600 --> 0:57:15.160 still the shepherd. He's still in this moment, watch this, 0:57:15.600 --> 0:57:21.720 he remembers who he really is. It was I the shepherd. 0:57:22.720 --> 0:57:25.360 It was I, God, the one that you raised up. 0:57:25.920 --> 0:57:29.520 He has a flashback to the pasture, and he remembers, 0:57:29.760 --> 0:57:33.320 it's not my might. It's not my strength. It's not 0:57:33.520 --> 0:57:37.520 my goodness. It's not my righteousness. It's not my wisdom. 0:57:37.760 --> 0:57:41.280 It's not my intelligence, it's not my finance, it's not 0:57:41.480 --> 0:57:45.800 my resource. I'm still the shepherd, Lord, I'm still that 0:57:45.960 --> 0:57:49.560 boy that you raised up. I'm still Jesse's son who 0:57:49.680 --> 0:57:52.400 was left out but you brought me in. I'm still 0:57:52.440 --> 0:57:56.040 the one you call I the shepherd. It's me God, 0:57:56.280 --> 0:57:59.480 the shepherd, not the king. It's me God. I'm not 0:57:59.520 --> 0:58:02.560 a pair of right now. I'm a child. You're my father. 0:58:02.840 --> 0:58:06.920 I'm the shepherd God. I remember what you did for me. 0:58:08.040 --> 0:58:11.240 Some of you need to go back to your shepherd instruments. 0:58:11.600 --> 0:58:14.040 Some of you need to go back to your shepherd's faith. 0:58:14.360 --> 0:58:17.720 God raised you up, God set you high. God gave 0:58:17.760 --> 0:58:21.600 you blessing. God gave you influence. God gave you opportunity. 0:58:21.880 --> 0:58:25.240 God gave you time. God gave you leisure. God gave 0:58:25.280 --> 0:58:28.640 you space, God gave you breathing room. But he's still 0:58:28.720 --> 0:58:36.560 the shepherd. Get back to that radical root faith man, 0:58:37.480 --> 0:58:42.200 that good kind of crazy that you have that says, hey, Goliah, 0:58:42.400 --> 0:58:46.040 I don't need a sword. I come against you. Hit 0:58:46.120 --> 0:58:49.280 the name of God. Now go down before I make 0:58:49.360 --> 0:58:52.320 you go doubt, lay down before I spit in headkick 0:58:52.400 --> 0:59:04.680 on you. Lord a shepherd, he's still a shepherd. God said, 0:59:04.720 --> 0:59:09.120 you still are? You still are when you sin, You're 0:59:09.120 --> 0:59:14.560 still a Christian. That's your identity. Sin is the experience. 0:59:15.520 --> 0:59:19.560 Child of God is the identity you still are. I 0:59:19.600 --> 0:59:23.200 need whoever whoever I studied this to help to receive 0:59:23.200 --> 0:59:26.520 it by faith and say, I still am, I still am. 0:59:26.680 --> 0:59:30.080 I still am. I still am. I still am devil, 0:59:30.280 --> 0:59:32.800 I still am. Back up off me with that shame, devil. 0:59:33.040 --> 0:59:36.000 I still am. I still am. I was his child, 0:59:36.040 --> 0:59:38.720 I am his child. I was beloved, I am beloved. 0:59:38.920 --> 0:59:41.680 I was mighty in God. I am mighty in God. 0:59:43.000 --> 0:59:49.640 When I remember, remember, remember, remember, remember remember remember I 0:59:50.400 --> 0:59:54.680 the shepherd, and the plague stopped when he made a 0:59:54.720 --> 0:59:58.840 sacrifice and remembered. But then I see something else in 0:59:58.880 --> 1:00:01.600 the text one more time, and I close with this. 1:00:02.080 --> 1:00:06.560 Everyone's standing, every location, everyone's standing. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, 1:00:06.880 --> 1:00:09.680 Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord, thank 1:00:09.720 --> 1:00:13.480 you Lord, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you 1:00:13.560 --> 1:00:19.000 Lord for this work. He said, I the Shepherd. I 1:00:19.040 --> 1:00:24.600 believe he had a flashback to that pasture. But I 1:00:24.640 --> 1:00:27.080 believe he also had a flashback this Psalm twenty three, 1:00:28.560 --> 1:00:33.960 where he remembered not only that he's still the shepherd, 1:00:34.640 --> 1:00:40.400 but that he's still a sheep. And the Lord is 1:00:40.480 --> 1:00:47.560 my shepherd. So you got off track. He's still the shepherd, 1:00:48.640 --> 1:00:53.280 so you did some dumb stuff. He's still the shepherd, 1:00:54.160 --> 1:00:59.560 so you're crazy. He's still the shepherd, so you smell bad. 1:01:00.440 --> 1:01:05.240 He's still the shepherd, so you have no sense of direction. 1:01:05.960 --> 1:01:08.960 He's still the shepherd, so you don't know what to 1:01:09.040 --> 1:01:15.960 do now. He's still the shepherd. It's true in the valley, 1:01:16.440 --> 1:01:21.800 he's the shepherd. It's true in the palace, he's the shepherd. 1:01:22.320 --> 1:01:24.240 And one reason I knew that God wanted me to 1:01:24.280 --> 1:01:27.680 preach this word. He's still the shepherd is because there's 1:01:27.720 --> 1:01:29.720 nobody in this room that doesn't need to hear it. 1:01:31.600 --> 1:01:33.680 If you're in a valley right now and feel like nobody, 1:01:33.760 --> 1:01:35.440 he's still the shepherd, and he will leave the ninety 1:01:35.480 --> 1:01:46.760 nine to find the one. He's still the shepherd. If 1:01:46.760 --> 1:01:49.640 you got one point five million fighting men like David 1:01:49.640 --> 1:01:52.520 and God has made your dreams come true, don't get cocky. 1:01:52.560 --> 1:01:56.520 He's still the shepherd. He's speaking to you, and he's 1:01:56.520 --> 1:01:59.880 calling to you. He's trying to get you out of 1:02:00.080 --> 1:02:04.560 your flesh into the spirit so he can sustain you. 1:02:06.360 --> 1:02:11.480 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he 1:02:11.600 --> 1:02:15.640 makes me lie down in the place that he made 1:02:15.680 --> 1:02:21.200 me for. Oh, that staff doesn't feel comfortable. But I'm 1:02:21.200 --> 1:02:24.440 glad that he'll bring me back. Aren't you glad that 1:02:24.480 --> 1:02:27.840 God will bring you back? No, y'all, we praise God 1:02:27.880 --> 1:02:30.240 for the wrong stuff. We got to learn to praise 1:02:30.280 --> 1:02:32.720 Him when it's like, Oh, he's bringing me back to 1:02:32.800 --> 1:02:35.640 the heart of worship. He's bringing me back to my 1:02:35.720 --> 1:02:39.120 shepherd's staff. He's bringing me back to my first love, 1:02:39.400 --> 1:02:44.400 to my childlike faith, to my dependence on him. No 1:02:44.520 --> 1:02:49.400 more substitutions. He is my shepherd. No more being led 1:02:49.440 --> 1:02:53.320 by my flesh. Devil, you're a liar. He's my shepherd. 1:02:53.760 --> 1:02:57.440 No more condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus, 1:02:57.800 --> 1:03:06.040 the Lord is my shepherd. Shall not one close your eyes, 1:03:06.080 --> 1:03:09.920 lift your hands. The shepherd is here. He brought you here, 1:03:09.960 --> 1:03:12.240 and he's going to lead you out. Every step in between. 1:03:12.480 --> 1:03:15.560 He's still the shepherd. Say it, He's still the shepherd. 1:03:16.440 --> 1:03:19.000 He's still the shepherd. Even after all the mistakes I've made, 1:03:19.160 --> 1:03:23.600 he's still the shepherd. He will reroute you, he will 1:03:23.640 --> 1:03:28.120 redirect you, he will reinvent you, he will revive you 1:03:28.920 --> 1:03:32.200 and ask Lazarus, he'll resurrect you. Because even if you've 1:03:32.240 --> 1:03:36.680 been dead four days, he's still the shepherd. Thank you, Jesus, 1:03:36.720 --> 1:03:40.080 Thank you, Jesus. Come on, there's no praise in this place. 1:03:40.280 --> 1:03:42.760 You gotta give God a praise to him, not clapping, 1:03:43.040 --> 1:03:47.280 praise him with your mouth. Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus. 1:03:47.320 --> 1:03:49.600 Do it online, do it in Lake Norman. Come on, 1:03:49.840 --> 1:03:58.120 thank you, Jesus. The Lord is my shepherd. And I 1:03:58.160 --> 1:04:06.560 don't live by census. I live by the spirit. I've 1:04:06.560 --> 1:04:09.440 been into each service the last few weeks with some 1:04:09.480 --> 1:04:15.760 of those old hymns. Some of those old hymns speak 1:04:15.800 --> 1:04:21.320 about faith and faithfulness to bring some continuity to your 1:04:21.360 --> 1:04:25.080 spirit in a changing time. To know that he's the 1:04:25.120 --> 1:04:27.320 same God that delivered you from the lion and the bear. 1:04:29.000 --> 1:04:32.000 To get you out of your senses and into the spirit. 1:04:32.960 --> 1:04:36.360 The Lord is my shepherd. We don't live by census 1:04:36.440 --> 1:04:39.080 with your eyes closed. Now eyes close, so you're not 1:04:39.120 --> 1:04:43.040 looking around with your senses. One of my favorite hymns 1:04:43.160 --> 1:04:47.560 is called Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine. It was written 1:04:47.600 --> 1:04:51.360 by Fanny Crosby when she was six weeks old. She 1:04:51.600 --> 1:04:53.720 was born in eighteen twenty. When she was six weeks old, 1:04:54.600 --> 1:04:56.720 she developed a condition in her eye, and the doctor 1:04:56.800 --> 1:04:58.240 was trying to fix it, but he made it worse 1:04:58.280 --> 1:05:04.400 and she went blind. Fanny Crosby went on, by the 1:05:04.440 --> 1:05:07.840 age of ten to memorize first four books of the 1:05:07.840 --> 1:05:11.880 Bible and all four Gospels. She was so gifted that 1:05:11.920 --> 1:05:16.320 she went on to write eight thousand songs. She was 1:05:16.400 --> 1:05:20.320 quoted as saying, if I could go back and find 1:05:20.320 --> 1:05:24.440 the man who operated on my eyes and made me blind, 1:05:25.280 --> 1:05:33.360 I would say thank you, thank you, thank you for 1:05:33.440 --> 1:05:36.760 had I not been blind. If I had had my sight, 1:05:38.280 --> 1:05:45.320 I may not have had this faith. I think we 1:05:45.400 --> 1:05:49.200 need to thank God for all of the things in 1:05:49.240 --> 1:05:54.920 our life right now that according to our senses, according 1:05:54.960 --> 1:05:57.720 to our site, according to our minds, make no sense. 1:05:58.840 --> 1:06:04.320 But in the spirit, come on, oh, come on, I 1:06:04.360 --> 1:06:06.240 think that key is too high for me to sing LJ. 1:06:06.440 --> 1:06:13.880 Maybe you should go to something lower. Blessed assurance. Jesus 1:06:14.160 --> 1:06:22.480 is mine. Oh, what a for taste of glory divine? 1:06:23.440 --> 1:06:27.960 This is who I am, air of salvation, This is 1:06:28.000 --> 1:06:34.760 whose I am purchase of God. Listen or enough his 1:06:35.000 --> 1:06:43.600 spear washed in his How about this first perfect submission? 1:06:44.520 --> 1:06:51.120 Does it lead to perfect de lived visions of rapture? 1:06:51.160 --> 1:06:55.919 Now burst out of sight? That a blind woman wrote 1:06:55.920 --> 1:06:59.960 about visions of rapture? Lets me know? It is by faith. 1:07:00.680 --> 1:07:03.360 Come on, it is by faith. It is by faith. 1:07:03.600 --> 1:07:05.400 It is by faith. I don't care if you can 1:07:05.440 --> 1:07:07.920 see it right now. It's real. It is by faith. 1:07:10.000 --> 1:07:18.840 This is my story. This is my song, praising my 1:07:19.240 --> 1:07:32.240 safe over day. This is my sort. This is my 1:07:32.760 --> 1:07:42.560 song praising my safe all the day. Lift your hands 1:07:42.560 --> 1:07:45.840 worship and by faith. Now, well, if you enjoyed today's podcast, 1:07:45.880 --> 1:07:47.640 there are a couple of things I'd love for you 1:07:47.720 --> 1:07:52.040 to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. 1:07:52.360 --> 1:07:54.720 You can also help us reach others by investing today 1:07:54.760 --> 1:07:58.520 at elevationchurch dot org slash gift and thanks again for 1:07:58.600 --> 1:08:00.560 joining us on the Elevation Podcast