Jump To A New Conclusion

0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:17.640 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well, 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:22.040 be seated, and let's begin to study God's word. There's 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.520 a lesson today that I want to teach you, and 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.400 I believe I want to start at Luke chapter one. Really, 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.560 this will feel like you've got some a running start. 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.440 If you heard what I preached last week, it's really 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.120 going to have some momentum for you. We've been talking 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:43.400 about argue in control and we've been asking God that sometimes, respectfully, 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:48.000 we've been asking God, are you behind this? Are you still? 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.280 Are we still good? Is this still in your hands? 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.480 And we don't tell anybody that we come to church 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.680 and we hide all that stuff. We sleep it right 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:01.800 under the couch of our Christian vocabulary. But I know 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:03.640 what you've been thinking. I've been. God showed me. He 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.080 showed me some stuff that you've been wondering about. And 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.280 it's okay, as you're going to see today that puts 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.960 you in good company. But let's begin at Luke chapter one, 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.920 and this is I guess you could say Christmas is 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.360 coming early, because this is the passage that they normally 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.080 go to for Christmas. But since the rest of the 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.560 year is just so screwed up, I figured I would 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:30.440 just mix it up a little bit. And look how 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.080 the Bible says it in Luke chapter one, verse thirty nine. 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.720 At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.800 town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:44.880 Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.320 the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.280 with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice, she exclaimed, 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:57.320 blessed are you among women? And blessed is the child 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.800 you will bear. Somebody in the chat say I'm blessed too. 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:06.480 I'm blessed too. But why am I so favored? You know, 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.600 we've been talking about questions that are in the Bible. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.919 That's a great one. Have you ever seen that one 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.040 in the Bible before? I never did before this week? 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:17.840 Why am I so favored? Ask somebody? Why am I 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.440 so blessed? Ask him? Why are you so blessed that 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:23.760 you get to sit next to me? Have you thought 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:29.280 about that? Well? The mother of John the Baptist, Elizabeth, 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:34.240 as of her encounter with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.000 She said, why am I so favored that the mother 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:42.120 of my Lord should come to me? As soon as 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:47.960 the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:55.359 in my womb leaped for joy verse forty five. Blessed 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:59.840 is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:07.359 his promises to her. Go to Isaiah fifty five. Isaiah 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:20.480 fifty five, Verse eight. My thoughts are not your thoughts. 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:27.800 Neither are my ways. Neither are your ways my ways, 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:29.920 declares the Lord. Let me read it again, see if 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.639 I can get it right. I didn't do that verse 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.880 appropriate service, All right, try again. For my thoughts are 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:41.480 not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:46.040 the Lord. One more verse as the heavens are higher 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.520 than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.760 and my thoughts than your thoughts. I want to talk 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:58.880 to you today about jumping to a new conclusion. Jumping 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:04.640 to a new conclusion. I was researching on Wikipedia, and 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:10.120 Wikipedia said that the world record for the long jump 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:15.520 is held currently by Mike Powell of the United States 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:20.880 of America, who in nineteen ninety one in Tokyo, Japan, 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:28.360 jumped twenty nine feet four and one quarters inches. Or 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.440 if you're in any country that is less arrogant than 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.640 America that has adopted the metric system eight point ninety 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:36.640 five meters, you know, we do our own thing over here. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:42.479 But I don't know about that. I do know about this. 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.600 The world record for the long jump, no matter what 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:50.239 Wikipedia says, is not held by Mike Powell. The world 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.800 record for the long jump, and I've never told you 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.039 this before, but the world record for the long jump 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:00.440 is held by my father, who is in Heaven watching 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:06.640 from the campus called Heaven today. When I tell you 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.560 that this man holds the world records in the ability 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:16.280 to jump to conclusions, nobody could jump to a conclusion 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.800 like Larry Ferding. And he's not here so we can 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.680 talk about it. And I'm going to use this man 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:27.240 as an illustration as payback for all the times I mean, 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.400 he could just he could get suspicious. Towards the end 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.240 of his life, he was really sick, so he was 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:39.039 on medication. So then he had performance enhancement drugs, and 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.520 he could jump to conclusion even more. Some of these 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:45.240 things I cannot tell you about because it would put 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.240 such a depressing fog over the sermon. But one of 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.599 them is kind of funny, and I never told Eric this. 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.200 Eric knew my dad really well, so he kind of 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.160 knows what I'm talking about. But some of the crazy 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.520 stuff I never even told anybody about. And then I 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.120 just find myself every year he's gone, remembering this stuff, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.520 I'm like, that was crazy? Was at real life? Well, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:04.920 here's one of the things, And I just tell you 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:10.680 this is an illustration about jumping to conclusions. Y'all better 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.960 be lucky I had squats yesterday, or I would jump 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:17.600 across this stage to illustrate the message. I thought about 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:21.159 coming out to Van Halen with the synthpad, but I 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:24.960 figured YouTube might flag the sermon because somebody say, jump, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.800 Oh my dad could jump. Now, he was not athletic, 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:30.960 but he could jump to a conclusion. Here's an example. 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.359 Case in point. When he was sick, he lived in 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.640 Monks Corner, South Carolina by himself for a period because 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.160 he was estranged from the family. I've told that story, 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.320 don't really feel like telling that story again today. The 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.960 point is it was really really rough. And so one 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.120 day I remember thinking I need to go see him, 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.600 and I didn't have a lot of time. The church 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.240 was so busy, but I want to show him he 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.920 was more important to me than a busy church. And 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.200 Wes Watson said that he had this little plane where 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:59.159 he could fly us. It's not even really worthy to 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.360 be called a plane. I don't know what you were doing. 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:02.960 Let me get in the air in that. You must 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.080 not value the Man of God at all, this thing. 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.200 But he said it's only a three and a half 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.120 hour drive, so be a short flight. And I figured 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.280 me and Elijah, my oldest son, would go see my 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.880 dad and we could go spend four hours with him 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:16.320 and fly back and I could be back to preach 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.360 for church. I was traveling a lot during this time. 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.760 It was crazy times. So when I got there with Elijah, 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:24.640 and I guess Elijah was what like five five years 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:26.520 old or something like that. And so when I got 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.920 there with Elijah, my friend Sean Wood, who's a pastor 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.000 in Monk's Corner, picked me up from the Monk's Corner 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:37.360 International Airport. You Missapoy and so we fly in on 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.520 this little plane that doesn't it doesn't look like it 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.120 could make it to your row mean in the denim jacket. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.280 But somehow we got to the monk's corner. Sean picks 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.600 me up, takes me to my dad's. He says, I'm 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:49.400 just going to stay around for a little while, and 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.200 you just text me. It was very tense with my 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.280 dad at that time. He said, so if it goes bad, 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.840 I'll be close by. He said, I won't go farther 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:57.800 than five minutes away, and then I'll take you back 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:00.640 to the airport. My dad was so honored. It just 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.800 made his day. He couldn't believe. There's the happiest I've 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:04.880 seen him in a long time. He was so happy 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:09.880 that Elijah and I found him important enough to get 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:11.520 on a plane and come see it. He said, you 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:13.360 flew here. I said, yeah, Dad, it's not like an 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.680 expensive thing. My buddy who's on staff at the church, 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.560 he had it, and he said, so you flew here 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.400 to see me. I said, yes, sir, I flew here 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.400 to see you. And we've been getting on each other's 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.640 nerves and he kind of kind of blew his mind. 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.840 Had a good visit. I went to RB's and got 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:34.600 him a jamocha shake. He seemed happy about that. A 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.120 few days later, I get a call from him, and 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.559 his opening line on the call is I know about 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:48.319 the video. I said. What he said, I know about 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:49.800 the video. I said, I heard you, but I don't 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.320 know what the crap you're talking about. Now people just 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.520 start talking louder like that's going to clarify it. I 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:57.880 heard the English words you said. They have no meaning 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:07.040 to me. It's random. He said, I know about the 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.200 video that you shot for Shawn Wood while you were 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.800 here in Monk's Corner last week. I said, video for 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.360 Sewn What video for Shawn Wood? Oh? Oh, I shot 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.599 a video for Shawn Wood four weeks ago for his 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:25.400 church anniversary. My dad, who's sitting around the house with 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:29.360 nothing better to do, talk to somebody who said I 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.200 saw your son on a video. Mom, I never even 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.400 told you this stuff. This is stuff I've been keeping 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.080 from you, just because to protect you from the craziness 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:40.520 of your husband. You know I'm right. This man could 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.240 make stuff up. They had shown a video that I 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.880 had made for Shawn's anniversary four weeks earlier in the 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.679 studio at elevation. My dad heard that there was a 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:53.000 video of me at Shawn's church, and he put two 0:09:53.080 --> 0:10:02.840 and seven together and got six h and he said, 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.120 I know about the video. I know you didn't really 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:07.280 come here to see me. You put on this big 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.520 show like you gotta playing. You didn't come here for me. 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:11.600 I came here for Sean. I said, I did that 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:19.040 four weeks ago. Dad. He said, oh, you ever got you? 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:24.840 Ever got caught jump into a conclusion And all you 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:32.600 could say was, oh, nothing to see here, walk away slowly, 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:38.880 forget that ever happened. So move over. Mike Powell, Larry 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:44.760 Ferdick has the world record for the long jump. And 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:49.560 I think it runs into family because I I think 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:56.400 I have genetically the same ability to jump to a conclusion. 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:02.560 And and I want to share something with you today 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.280 that has been life changing for me that I realized 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.640 about my dad because I thought about that, that story 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.320 just came back to me. I was studying about John 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.880 the Baptist being born of Zachariah who was too old 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.960 to bear children and his wife Elizabeth was too old 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.079 to bear children, but God did it anyway, and just 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:24.200 remembering how that when Zachariah, who was a priest in 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.200 the line of Erin, was burning incense before the Lord, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.240 which is in itself to go into the Holy of 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.319 Holies a statistical improbability. There were eighteen thousand of these priests, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.200 So for the lot to fall to you, to go 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.960 before the Lord and burn incense is an amazing thing. 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.040 Not to mention that while he was burning incense, the 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:44.439 Angel Gabriel came to him and said, I am Gabriel, 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:48.920 and you shall bear a son. And Zachariah asked a question, 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.560 how can I be sure of this and see? Any 0:11:52.679 --> 0:12:00.000 time you need certainty, it prohibits your ability to expect 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.240 theory in things that God has spoken over your life. 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:09.200 And the Angel Gabriel said, because you did not believe, 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.040 you will not be able to speak until this sin 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:17.120 is fulfilled. For the Angel prophesied a son who would 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.960 prepare the way for the Lord. You know him as 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.960 John the Baptist, but Zechariah just knew him as a 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.800 statistical improbability. How can I, and how can I? And 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:29.960 how can I? And see? What we've been learning this 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.840 year is as long as we try to stay in 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.480 figuring out how and knowing things with our minds, we 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.280 limit the ability of our spirit to know what God 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:46.680 has already spoken before we were ever born. And the 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.439 Lord gave me something to give to you. This is 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:51.360 a one point sermon. This is the whole point, and 0:12:51.400 --> 0:13:01.120 then you can keep listening. The conclusion that you jumped 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:07.199 to is based on the belief that you start with. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.000 I'm gonna say that again for the slow note takers. 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:17.800 I'm gonna say it again for everybody who needs to 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.200 put down their cereal spoon and pick up a pin, 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.880 because the conclusion that you come to, and I'm going 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.280 to prove this through the scripture, the conclusion that you 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.920 come to is based on the belief that you start with. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.840 Why did my dad spin a story that I put 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:43.160 on an entire sarade? I mean, think about the planning 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:49.480 that went into my visit from his perspective. Why was 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.200 it easier for him to be suspicious of his son? 0:13:55.880 --> 0:14:00.679 I think somewhere, deep down he really didn't believe he 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:09.040 was worthy of all that. And I think it's possible 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:15.520 that deep down inside of yourself, there are some conclusions 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:21.080 that you keep coming to, and your imagination is amazing. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.240 You know how. I know that because you can feel 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.640 your back molar in your mouth starting to hurt, and 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:32.680 convince yourself it's coronavirus. That's not even a listed symptom. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.560 I never heard Fauci say that a molar. But you 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.680 can somehow take a cavity and turn it into corona because, 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:45.160 deep down, somewhere suspicious in your mind, you believe that 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:48.680 if anything bad can happen, is gonna happen to me. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:56.600 If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. That 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:04.680 might be Murphy, but it ain't Gospel. I love Elizabeth, 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:11.680 Elizabeth had. Elizabeth had a whole different spirit than Zachariah. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:16.600 She said, why am I so favored? Why am I 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:22.000 so favored? Why am I so blessed? And the conclusions 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.160 that we come to over and over again are based 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:28.920 in the belief that we start with, can I prove 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:34.640 it to you? A few years ago, the ministry was 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.480 going through a testing season. It wasn't like twenty twenty 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:45.640 where everything is easy. And at this particular time, every 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.680 time that one of my main staff members would reach 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.960 out to me, it was typically with bad news. Now, 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:59.600 bad news creates bad beliefs if you're exposed to it 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.880 over again. The Bible says, whose report will you believe? 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.440 When you've got bad news after bad news after bad news. 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:09.920 So here's how this manifested in my life, and we're 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.200 gonna walk through this, also in John the Baptist's life 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:18.400 and in your life. But Wade Joy sent me an email. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.320 This was in June twenty seventeen. How do you remember 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.280 that specifically? Because I pulled up the email while I 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:25.960 was getting ready for this sermon. I wanted to make 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.960 sure I remembered it right. And it said on the 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:34.320 email subject e w Updates Elevation worship Updates. I scrolled 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:38.400 through quick to see who quit, who quit? Who did 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:43.080 something stupid? But everything in the email was like about 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.880 good stuff. It was like, this song is doing great, 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.560 this new artist wants to take this song. Only King 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.880 Forever is charting on the radio. We had already quit 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.920 singing it in church, and that was on Christian radio 0:16:56.320 --> 0:17:02.240 right on schedule, and so so so I looked, I said, 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.439 oh my God, And I looked back up at the 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:06.080 thing because I'm scanning through it to see what's wrong. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.000 Nothing was wrong. I was in shock. I had a 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:10.280 heart attack that nothing was bad in the email. And 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.000 I went back to the subject line, and it actually 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:20.600 sat in the subject line fun ew updates. I literally 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.960 took the fun out of it. You've heard this expression 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.720 before me, and you take the fun out of it. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:32.560 I literally took the fun out of it because I 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:39.520 was framing it by fear and not by faith. But 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:43.960 please be patient with me. I had experienced some bad 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.480 news over and over again, and the bad news trained 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:52.840 me to believe that it was gonna get worse. A 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.000 lot of us have running in the background of our 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.960 belief system. It's gonna get worse. It's gonna get worse. 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.680 Even when it's going good, it's gonna get worse. Sometimes 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:03.840 Holly will tell me, let's go on a walk. It's 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.880 beautiful outside. First thing I do check the weather app 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.840 because it's probably gonna rain in five hours. So we 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:11.920 can't walk around the block because what if we get 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.440 caught in the rain. She'll say, Baby, it's a walk 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.160 around the block. We're not going to hike the Appalachian Trail. 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.399 But there's something in me. I'm just being honest with you, 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:22.520 and I think it's a genetic. I can do this 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:28.359 long jump and I never told the church this before. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.120 It's a skill it's a secret scop and keeping from you. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:38.560 I am a golden medalist long jumper. I can jump 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:44.920 to a conclusion helpless. And now I'm gonna call the 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.639 role every professional long jumper. Wave your hand at me, 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:55.360 either physically or digitally. Somebody find me a long jump emoji. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:57.320 Put it. If they don't make one, I don't know 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.439 if they make one. Put a golden medal in the 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.760 chat for all of you who are gold medalists in 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:11.479 making crap up in your mind. I don't know why 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.760 y'all are clapping for that. It's really not a good thing. 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.040 In the text that I read you, the scripture said 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:27.679 that Elizabeth, after finding out that she was pregnant with 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:30.600 the forerunner of Jesus Christ. I mean, think about this. 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:35.280 This is amazing news. She went into seclusion for five months, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.439 and Mary, who was her relative, found out that she 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.840 was also pregnant with child. It's a wonderful I guess 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:48.880 you would call it a juxtaposition of Jesus and John. 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.840 And one of them is being born to a woman 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.040 who's too old, one of them is being born to 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.440 a woman who's too young. One of them is past 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:04.080 that point in her life and one of them is 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:08.439 a virgin and isn't ready for this yet. So in 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:10.800 that context, God brings the two of them together to 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.920 encourage one another's state. And one of the things that's 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.800 been bothering me is that you've been fighting some of 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:18.959 the biggest battles of your life alone in this season. 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:23.919 After a while, like my dad, you can start going crazy, 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:31.360 coming to conclusions that are killing you. I know them 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:35.360 on it. I can tell because nobody's making eye contact 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:36.960 with me in the room right now. It's like, yeah, 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:43.520 I totally do this. I totally do that. I come 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:49.280 to a conclusion that is based in a belief. Remember 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:53.480 what Elizabeth said to Mary in verse forty five, blessed 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:59.280 is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:05.320 his promise to her. That amazing that it begins with belief. 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:13.239 That behavior begins with belief. So why am I so 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:15.800 good at creating worst case scenarios? A lot of times 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:17.480 the conclusion I won't even say a lot of times, 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.200 I'd say all the time, the conclusions that I come 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.920 to are based in the belief that I start with. 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:30.520 What I have to get better at doing is identifying 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:36.359 where did those beliefs come from. John the Baptist was 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:41.880 a mighty man, eccentric wardrobe, no doubt. I mean, y'all 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:45.119 think I don't dress like a preacher. This guy running 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.639 around with some crazy belts. I mean, it wasn't just 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:53.000 a fashion statement for him though. He was representing something new. 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.600 He was preparing the way for the new era, the 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:01.639 Kingdom of God. It's amazing, though, because when Elizabeth first 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.199 reached Mary, and remember Mary would have had to travel 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:07.600 something like fifty miles to get to a relative. The 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:10.360 first thing that she did when she found out she 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:12.639 was pregnant with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.280 Messiah who would save his people from their sins, was 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.480 to get around someone else who was carrying something significant. 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:22.480 And to do that she had to go up the mountains. 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:24.880 I was thinking about how she was going to elevation, 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.919 because anyway, I was just putting that in there as 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:31.200 a thing. But when she got there, an amazing thing 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:35.840 happened because something inside of her knew the thing that 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.199 she was carrying, John the Baptist, which was to prepare 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:40.560 the way for the Lord, knew that what she was 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:42.840 in the presence of was significant. You know how you 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:46.280 just know some things. You know how you just know 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:50.199 some things deep down. Some of the things that you 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:59.000 know are not true. I feel like I just flipped 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:00.720 you in a jiu jitsu map. You were like, well, 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:04.239 God said it. I believe it. That settles it some 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:06.240 of the stuff you believe God didn't say. To begin with, 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:13.280 I'm gonna give you about twelve examples. About twelve examples, 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:17.800 and I might throw in at thirteen. All Right, some 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:21.640 of you believe this, but it's not true. You believe 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:26.640 that who I am is what I do, and what 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:31.200 I do is who I am. The reason I know 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:35.879 you believe this is because I believe it. Every single 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:39.080 Sunday I get up to breach. Do you know that 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:41.239 I feel a lot of times like I'm only as 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:44.320 good as my last sermon. And it's understandable I would 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:46.680 feel that way because I grew up here in things 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:50.639 like God wants to use you, and usually when you 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:57.560 use something, that means it's a product. So I begin 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:00.399 to think that God wants to use me like I 0:24:00.480 --> 0:24:04.159 might use this pulpit, or like I might like I 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:07.000 might use a fork, or like I might use a spoon. 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:11.200 Since I believe deep down that I'm really just something 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:15.000 that God wants to use, and I lose sight of 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:17.720 the fact that before I was someone he wanted to use, 0:24:18.440 --> 0:24:24.320 I was someone that he loved. It is easy for 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:29.600 me to jump to the conclusion. I hear Youie Eddie 0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:33.280 saying jump, jump, but it's easy for me to jump 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:37.639 to the conclusion that if I do not perform, that, 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:41.320 if I do not measure up to the expectation of performance, 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:45.960 I do not have worth as a person. So what 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:48.679 do you do when you lose the job that you 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:54.800 had identified with? The conclusion that you come to is 0:24:54.840 --> 0:25:06.119 based on the belief that you start with. When we 0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:11.000 say things that sound Christian but they're really not constructive, like, uh, 0:25:11.359 --> 0:25:16.120 I'm just a sinner saved by grace, it's the word 0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:22.560 just that bothers me if you don't believe that you 0:25:22.600 --> 0:25:27.240 are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and that 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:30.760 all of your sins and your records. I know we 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:33.400 live in cancel culture, but we forgot to talk about 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:37.080 the most important thing that was canceled, the record of 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:41.800 wrong that stood against me. That's what Christ canceled. That's 0:25:41.880 --> 0:25:49.840 what the Cross canceled. That's what God canceled. But I'm 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:52.840 just a sinner saved by grace. And see to you 0:25:52.960 --> 0:25:56.320 that feels so true because you have so much proof. 0:25:57.680 --> 0:26:05.800 You got receipts. I can show you my sin. I 0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:08.320 can show it to you. I'm just a sinner saved 0:26:08.320 --> 0:26:14.000 by grace. If that's what you start with, If you 0:26:14.119 --> 0:26:17.560 approach your father like a beggar, you will only ever 0:26:17.640 --> 0:26:27.359 be able to receive crumbs. You won't come boldly to 0:26:27.440 --> 0:26:30.040 the throne room. If you believe I'm just a sinner 0:26:30.119 --> 0:26:36.000 saved by grace. It sounds so humble, but deeper down 0:26:37.600 --> 0:26:42.719 it leads us to look for God's judgment in places 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:49.479 where he has promised us his grace. See, we are 0:26:49.560 --> 0:26:52.480 highly suspicious of the nature of a God who we 0:26:52.560 --> 0:27:00.720 secretly believe doesn't really like us. He loves you because 0:27:00.800 --> 0:27:03.680 Jesus is in your heart, but really unlike you. Really 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:07.760 he's really down with Jesus. But Jesus did the sign 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:11.560 co sign for your group insurance plan. And God's God's 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:20.480 gonna He formed me in my mother's womb. So every 0:27:20.680 --> 0:27:27.080 weird thing about me, I mean every weird thing about you, 0:27:27.920 --> 0:27:29.640 cause I'm not gonna preach this like it doesn't apply 0:27:29.680 --> 0:27:33.159 to you. Every weird thing about you is included in 0:27:33.240 --> 0:27:36.760 Ephesians too, and Ephesians two says you are God's workmanship. 0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:43.880 I haven't given you anything to put in the chat 0:27:43.920 --> 0:27:46.720 yet this sermon, and I know I'm failing you. Just say, 0:27:47.760 --> 0:27:51.800 take it up with the workman. I am God's handiwork 0:27:51.920 --> 0:27:55.679 so I know I'm weird. I don't mean to be weird, 0:27:56.040 --> 0:27:58.720 but take it up with the workman. Now. The weirdest 0:27:58.720 --> 0:28:02.920 thing about your weirdness, can I say this, is that 0:28:03.080 --> 0:28:06.160 if you start with the belief that there's something wrong 0:28:06.200 --> 0:28:11.600 with you, you will skip past the best stuff that 0:28:11.640 --> 0:28:16.760 God has put inside of you. John, I can't say 0:28:16.760 --> 0:28:18.720 it again. I don't remember what I said, wasn't in 0:28:18.760 --> 0:28:22.840 my notes. But John remembered he was so unique, and 0:28:22.880 --> 0:28:27.720 he was powerful because of his uniqueness, and God said, 0:28:27.720 --> 0:28:33.320 he's he's going to prepare the way for the Lord. 0:28:35.440 --> 0:28:39.240 And even in his mother's womb, he recognized the presence 0:28:39.240 --> 0:28:43.080 of Jesus. You know, I know that verse forty four 0:28:43.840 --> 0:28:50.560 it says that the baby leaped for joy. That's why 0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:56.280 I called it jump. John was jumping around in the 0:28:56.320 --> 0:29:04.440 presence of Jesus before he was ever born. God saw 0:29:04.840 --> 0:29:09.320 and knew and loved you before one of your days 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:12.920 came to be. Now you are looking at me like 0:29:13.000 --> 0:29:16.680 you believe this for somebody else, but not for you. 0:29:16.680 --> 0:29:18.720 You're looking at me like you believe this in theory, 0:29:18.720 --> 0:29:21.880 but it's a different thing in practice. The conclusions that 0:29:21.920 --> 0:29:25.200 we jumped to are not derived from what we believe theoretically. 0:29:25.920 --> 0:29:29.160 They are derived from what we believe practically and personally. 0:29:29.960 --> 0:29:32.840 So I've got to get this personal. I got to 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:35.360 get this personal to the point that I know that 0:29:35.400 --> 0:29:38.840 God's purpose is working in my life and was working 0:29:38.920 --> 0:29:41.600 in my life. What if you started with that belief. 0:29:42.920 --> 0:29:45.280 What if you started with the belief that in your 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:48.360 pre natal state, God was already forming you according to 0:29:48.400 --> 0:29:53.640 a purpose. What if you started with that How different 0:29:53.640 --> 0:29:57.040 would you look to you in the mirror? How much 0:29:57.120 --> 0:29:59.400 less would you hate the sound of your own voice? 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:02.880 How much less would you doubt the things that God 0:30:03.040 --> 0:30:06.920 included to be a part of your destiny. I don't 0:30:06.920 --> 0:30:10.520 know who I'm preaching too, but God said I started 0:30:10.560 --> 0:30:13.760 this before you ever got here, and I will be 0:30:13.880 --> 0:30:19.840 faithful to complete it in your life. John just knew 0:30:20.400 --> 0:30:24.920 he's jumping around in the womb because he knows he 0:30:25.000 --> 0:30:29.920 is in the presence of one who is greater. John 0:30:30.040 --> 0:30:34.440 was jumping around, kicking around, never been pregnant before, but 0:30:34.520 --> 0:30:36.240 heard about it and watched it and read about it 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:37.720 in the books and saw it on the movies, and 0:30:37.760 --> 0:30:40.160 next to me in the bed and Hollywood say feel that. 0:30:40.280 --> 0:30:42.320 And I'd be like, I can't feel that, And she say, 0:30:42.400 --> 0:30:44.360 can't you feel it? And I'd say, no, I can't 0:30:44.360 --> 0:30:46.400 feel it, and she'd say why can't She did frustrate, 0:30:46.480 --> 0:30:55.080 I can't feel it. I'm not carrying it. I'm trying 0:30:55.120 --> 0:30:58.040 to experience something from the outside that you're experiencing from 0:30:58.080 --> 0:31:08.120 the inside. So John, John is carrying this, this assignment. 0:31:09.120 --> 0:31:13.400 He's carrying this this message repent, you know, repent. The 0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:17.400 Kingdom of Heaven is near repent. He kept talking. Let 0:31:17.400 --> 0:31:19.520 me show you this in the scripture, because it doesn't 0:31:19.560 --> 0:31:23.120 stop in the in the in the womb for John, 0:31:23.280 --> 0:31:26.680 he goes into the wilderness, in the wilderness, from the 0:31:26.680 --> 0:31:28.960 womb to the wilderness. God's hand was on this. Why 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:34.200 in that pretty preaching, Jeff, from the womb to the wilderness. 0:31:34.720 --> 0:31:38.880 God was with you before it got started. He's with you. 0:31:39.080 --> 0:31:40.960 He was with you in the womb. He's with you 0:31:41.000 --> 0:31:44.360 in the wilderness too. But John was preaching in the wilderness. 0:31:44.360 --> 0:31:46.440 He went there by choice, and he declared, repent The 0:31:46.520 --> 0:31:48.840 Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. I got to show 0:31:48.840 --> 0:31:52.640 you this. In Matthew three, verse eleven. This is part 0:31:52.680 --> 0:31:56.040 of his message. He said, I baptize you with water 0:31:56.160 --> 0:32:04.040 for repentance. Change turn, change, turn right. He's preaching about repentance, 0:32:04.240 --> 0:32:06.920 but he said, after me comes one who is more 0:32:07.000 --> 0:32:10.479 powerful than I, who sandals I am not worthy to carry. 0:32:10.960 --> 0:32:13.880 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 0:32:13.920 --> 0:32:17.480 Who's he talking about? Is not a trick question. The 0:32:17.520 --> 0:32:22.160 answer is Jesus. Jay E s Us. We love Jesus, 0:32:22.280 --> 0:32:25.520 Yes we do. Yeah, Jesus his winnowing for it. Listen 0:32:25.520 --> 0:32:27.800 to this. This is the part. His winnowing fork is 0:32:27.880 --> 0:32:30.680 in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, 0:32:31.000 --> 0:32:34.560 gathering his wheat into the barn, burning up the chap 0:32:34.640 --> 0:32:39.560 with the unquenchable fire. Somebody shall fire. John was expecting 0:32:39.640 --> 0:32:42.520 for Jesus to come with fire. Now look at this. 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:46.040 In John's Gospel, Chapter one, I got so much scripture. 0:32:46.080 --> 0:32:49.120 I hope you're hungry. John Chapter one, verse twenty nine 0:32:49.440 --> 0:32:52.440 the Bible says the next day, John saw Jesus coming 0:32:52.440 --> 0:32:55.280 toward him and said, look, the lamb of God who 0:32:55.360 --> 0:32:58.360 takes away the sin of the world. This is the one. 0:32:58.960 --> 0:33:02.200 This is the one. This is the one I meant 0:33:02.240 --> 0:33:05.440 when I said, this is the one that my spirit 0:33:05.640 --> 0:33:10.240 recognized before my frame was ever known. This is the one. 0:33:10.320 --> 0:33:13.920 Somebody shout, this is the one. Shout it in the chat. 0:33:14.000 --> 0:33:17.040 This is the one. This is the one I meant 0:33:17.080 --> 0:33:19.840 when I said, a man comes after me who has 0:33:19.880 --> 0:33:23.960 surpassed me because he was before me. Now, the conclusion 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:26.280 that you come to is based in the belief that 0:33:26.360 --> 0:33:29.680 you start with. He's going all the way back to 0:33:29.720 --> 0:33:33.000 what he knew in his mother's womb. He's going back 0:33:33.000 --> 0:33:37.560 to that recognition that predated his cognitive ability to know 0:33:37.760 --> 0:33:41.360 that there's something that I knew before my life, before 0:33:41.400 --> 0:33:45.040 my before my experience, before my lens of the world 0:33:45.120 --> 0:33:49.040 begin to attain it. This is the one. There's something 0:33:49.080 --> 0:33:51.920 in you that has always known God was there. There's 0:33:51.920 --> 0:33:54.560 something in you that has always known that He loved you. 0:33:54.920 --> 0:33:57.280 There is something in you. How many how many of 0:33:57.280 --> 0:34:00.240 you can testify there has been some even and it 0:34:00.280 --> 0:34:03.680 was so dark and everything in you doubted there was 0:34:03.800 --> 0:34:08.560 something in you, kicking, living, beating to let you know 0:34:08.640 --> 0:34:13.560 there's a purpose for your life. This is the why 0:34:15.520 --> 0:34:18.000 I myself did not know him. But the reason I 0:34:18.080 --> 0:34:21.560 came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed 0:34:21.560 --> 0:34:25.600 to Israel. And then John gave this testimony. I saw 0:34:26.160 --> 0:34:29.440 the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and 0:34:29.480 --> 0:34:32.319 remain on him, And I myself did not know him. 0:34:32.360 --> 0:34:34.320 But the one who sent me to baptize with water 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:38.360 told me, the man on whom you see the spirit 0:34:38.920 --> 0:34:43.239 come down and remain is the one who will baptize 0:34:43.239 --> 0:34:47.200 with the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, I have seen 0:34:47.280 --> 0:34:53.120 and I testified this is God's chosen one. The next day, 0:34:54.320 --> 0:34:58.640 John was there again with two of his disciples, and 0:34:58.680 --> 0:35:02.200 when he saw Jesus fashion, he said, look the lamb 0:35:02.239 --> 0:35:10.400 of God. Look the lamb of God. He recognized Jesus 0:35:10.880 --> 0:35:14.960 when he came toward him. He came to the conclusion 0:35:15.880 --> 0:35:21.960 this is the one. Because he had a belief that 0:35:22.040 --> 0:35:32.319 he went back to I wish I could tell you 0:35:32.360 --> 0:35:35.480 that he held fast to that confession every moment of 0:35:35.520 --> 0:35:40.200 his life. I wish I could tell you that he 0:35:40.239 --> 0:35:43.200 and Jesus went on an arena tour. These are the 0:35:43.200 --> 0:35:48.120 two most popular prophets in Israel since Isaiah. I wish 0:35:48.200 --> 0:35:50.840 I could tell you that John the Baptist was the 0:35:50.880 --> 0:35:55.840 opening act and Jesus was the headliner. Oh, Jesus packed 0:35:55.880 --> 0:36:00.560 crowds in. He performed miracles, he taught, he did, demonstruted, 0:36:00.560 --> 0:36:03.240 He exemplified the Kingdom of God with authority and power. 0:36:04.200 --> 0:36:08.000 Drove out demons, spoke with such wisdom that the crowds 0:36:08.040 --> 0:36:14.520 were amazed and his opponents were aghast. He healed men 0:36:14.560 --> 0:36:19.880 who were blind and they saw again. He cured the 0:36:19.920 --> 0:36:23.680 lame and they walked again. He even had the audacity 0:36:23.719 --> 0:36:29.560 to touch lepers so that they could feel again. He 0:36:29.560 --> 0:36:33.759 healed Peter's mother in law one time. Many believed that's 0:36:33.800 --> 0:36:43.520 why Peter denied him. It's a little preacher humor. I 0:36:43.560 --> 0:36:50.200 wish it was so simple that John and Jesus hand 0:36:50.239 --> 0:36:55.080 in hand because he believed it. I wish it was 0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:58.360 so simple as to tell you that God called me 0:36:58.400 --> 0:37:01.760 to preach when I was sixteen, and I've never doubted 0:37:01.800 --> 0:37:05.480 whether he called me. I wish I could tell you 0:37:05.560 --> 0:37:07.440 that I didn't have a voice inside my head that 0:37:07.440 --> 0:37:09.440 tells me I'm a pathetic hypocrite, and I have no 0:37:09.640 --> 0:37:11.600 business being a preacher, even though I'm trying to live 0:37:11.600 --> 0:37:15.839 the best I can. I wish I could tell you 0:37:15.880 --> 0:37:18.759 that I always started with the belief that God is 0:37:18.800 --> 0:37:22.000 for me, who can be against me? I wish I 0:37:22.000 --> 0:37:23.839 could tell you that I haven't woken up one time 0:37:23.880 --> 0:37:27.080 at three in the morning since the pandemic and wondered 0:37:27.840 --> 0:37:33.799 will we have a church left after this? I wish 0:37:33.880 --> 0:37:36.920 I could tell you that I kind of wish the 0:37:36.960 --> 0:37:40.400 story ended right here. I wish this was the conclusion. 0:37:44.320 --> 0:37:47.200 But one of the most disturbing questions in the Bible 0:37:48.080 --> 0:37:52.800 is in Matthew chapter eleven. What makes it so disturbing 0:37:52.840 --> 0:37:56.279 isn't necessarily the content of the question, but who it 0:37:56.320 --> 0:38:01.719 came from. In Matthew chapter eleven, a question was asked 0:38:01.719 --> 0:38:05.040 of Jesus, and this is just in verse four, please 0:38:06.960 --> 0:38:09.279 or actually, I want to read you verse three. Are 0:38:09.320 --> 0:38:13.360 you the one who is to come? Or should we 0:38:13.400 --> 0:38:19.640 expect someone else? You know, that question wouldn't bother me 0:38:19.680 --> 0:38:24.160 if it came from Nicodemus. He was a religious ruler 0:38:24.160 --> 0:38:25.960 who came to Jesus at night for fear of being 0:38:26.000 --> 0:38:30.120 put out of a synagogue, and he wanted to understand 0:38:30.120 --> 0:38:33.680 about being born again. It wouldn't bother me so much 0:38:33.680 --> 0:38:36.200 if that message came from the woman who was caught 0:38:36.239 --> 0:38:38.400 in the act of adultery, or the Samaritan woman at 0:38:38.400 --> 0:38:43.799 the well, who really did see the Gospel the same 0:38:43.840 --> 0:38:48.000 way that the Jewish people did. It wouldn't bother me. 0:38:48.040 --> 0:38:50.640 Even if it came from Peter, who was always saying 0:38:50.680 --> 0:39:00.239 stupid stuff. Peter's that kid, you just tune out. What 0:39:00.360 --> 0:39:03.279 makes that the question, that question so disturbing to me 0:39:05.920 --> 0:39:10.400 is that it came from the mouth of John, the 0:39:10.440 --> 0:39:15.160 same one who pointed him out came to a place 0:39:15.200 --> 0:39:19.280 where he started to doubt. Are you really the one? 0:39:21.360 --> 0:39:24.279 We can't talk about these things because all of the 0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:26.960 A plus gold star Christians will start to judge us 0:39:27.000 --> 0:39:31.919 in the comments section if we do I never doubt, 0:39:31.960 --> 0:39:37.759 they say, isn't it interesting that the disciple who said 0:39:37.760 --> 0:39:39.880 that kind of thing at the Last Supper of Christ 0:39:40.600 --> 0:39:42.920 was the one who denied ever knowing him before the 0:39:43.000 --> 0:39:53.360 rooster crode. The conclusion that you come to is based 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:57.640 in the belief you start with. If you start by 0:39:57.640 --> 0:40:00.440 believing that the proof of your faith is that you 0:40:00.520 --> 0:40:06.359 never experience doubt, and the moment you experience doubt, your 0:40:06.360 --> 0:40:13.160 faith will fall apart. But I hope this sets you 0:40:13.280 --> 0:40:18.760 free today to know that John, the one who pointed 0:40:18.800 --> 0:40:22.680 and said, look the lamb of God, he was the 0:40:22.800 --> 0:40:25.600 first one. And you gotta get this. You really got 0:40:25.760 --> 0:40:27.799 to stop and think about it. You can't multitask this 0:40:27.920 --> 0:40:30.560 message and really get it. This is the one who 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:35.799 announced this is the one. And now the one who 0:40:35.840 --> 0:40:43.279 announced it is asking. The one who made the announcement 0:40:44.800 --> 0:40:48.680 is now asking the question that he had been answering 0:40:48.840 --> 0:40:53.440 just a year ago. But he's been in prison for 0:40:53.520 --> 0:40:57.960 a year and he's only getting secondhand reports on what 0:40:58.160 --> 0:41:02.839 Jesus is doing. And when you don't experience it firsthand, 0:41:03.200 --> 0:41:05.680 when you just hear about it, when you can't really 0:41:05.719 --> 0:41:08.279 see it, and you can't see the big picture and 0:41:08.320 --> 0:41:11.000 you kind of trapped in this place, it gets kind 0:41:11.000 --> 0:41:13.400 of hard to believe it. So then you start to 0:41:13.400 --> 0:41:18.080 believe different things. Then you start to forget what God 0:41:18.160 --> 0:41:20.440 showed you in the spirit, and you start trying to 0:41:20.480 --> 0:41:24.360 figure it out in your mind. Now, wait a minute. 0:41:24.680 --> 0:41:28.480 John said that he was coming to judge with fire, 0:41:29.400 --> 0:41:32.160 but when they brought him a report about Jesus, look 0:41:32.200 --> 0:41:35.040 what Jesus told him Matthew eleven, verse five. He said, 0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:37.680 go tell John what you see and what you hear 0:41:37.800 --> 0:41:40.600 verse five. Matthew eleven, verse five, go back and report 0:41:40.640 --> 0:41:44.359 to John. The blind receives sight the lane walk, those 0:41:44.360 --> 0:41:48.360 who have leprosy are cleansed. The death here the debtor raised, 0:41:48.560 --> 0:41:50.799 and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. But 0:41:50.920 --> 0:41:59.640 John wasn't expecting that. He was expecting judgment. So now 0:41:59.680 --> 0:42:06.680 he wants to know, are you the one when you 0:42:06.719 --> 0:42:10.080 believe that God is a certain way and he has 0:42:10.120 --> 0:42:15.440 the audacity not to conform to the biography that you 0:42:15.560 --> 0:42:23.440 created with your belief, then you experience something that you 0:42:23.520 --> 0:42:29.600 never expected. I'm preaching now, I'm preaching. I'm preacing you 0:42:29.680 --> 0:42:35.000 come to the conclusion that He's not with you because 0:42:35.040 --> 0:42:39.760 the belief that you started with was that his presence 0:42:39.800 --> 0:42:47.040 would always accommodate your preferences. So I've been asking the 0:42:47.160 --> 0:42:54.520 question in my prayer time lately, God, what are the 0:42:54.560 --> 0:42:58.120 things that I have been believing that are not true? 0:42:58.800 --> 0:43:01.240 We don't know the difference anymore were between the truth 0:43:02.360 --> 0:43:07.719 and our belief. We think that because we believe it, 0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:13.600 that makes it true. I can jump off this stage 0:43:13.920 --> 0:43:18.040 right now, and land on my head, and I can 0:43:18.200 --> 0:43:21.959 believe that the Lord will uphold me, and I will 0:43:21.960 --> 0:43:26.480 break my neck on international internet television for all of 0:43:26.520 --> 0:43:29.200 you to see that the truth has no respect for 0:43:29.320 --> 0:43:33.640 my wrong belief. But now let me ask you a question. 0:43:34.440 --> 0:43:38.320 What response does Jesus gift to John? And what response 0:43:38.440 --> 0:43:40.799 does Jesus gift to you? And when we have come 0:43:40.840 --> 0:43:44.319 to this point where life has contradicted our belief about 0:43:44.320 --> 0:43:46.640 what's supposed to happen to good people, or how your 0:43:46.680 --> 0:43:48.799 kids are supposed to turn out if you raise them 0:43:48.800 --> 0:43:51.880 a certain way, and they'll never make bad decisions and 0:43:51.920 --> 0:43:55.880 they'll never be like my sister's kids, and all of 0:43:55.920 --> 0:43:59.399 these things that you believe. But when you run head 0:43:59.480 --> 0:44:06.480 first into a truth that contradicts your belief, what is 0:44:06.520 --> 0:44:09.560 the message of Jesus? And does Jesus have a message 0:44:09.600 --> 0:44:12.920 for you? Does Jesus have a message for John, the 0:44:12.960 --> 0:44:15.799 one who faithfully prepared the way, the one who said 0:44:15.840 --> 0:44:18.600 I must become less John three point thirty, he must 0:44:18.640 --> 0:44:21.719 become greater, the one who was willing to go before him, 0:44:22.000 --> 0:44:25.640 the one who knew him in the womb. Does Jesus 0:44:25.719 --> 0:44:28.880 have a message for John? Does Jesus have a message 0:44:28.920 --> 0:44:31.840 for you. Does God have a word for your life today? 0:44:32.360 --> 0:44:38.239 I believe he does. Matthew eleven, verse six. Blessed is 0:44:38.360 --> 0:44:45.680 anyone who does not stumble on account of me? Tell 0:44:45.800 --> 0:44:53.759 John that. Tell John, don't stumble. Tell John, just like 0:44:53.800 --> 0:44:55.680 he went first in life, he's going to go first 0:44:55.760 --> 0:45:03.279 in death. John went on to give his life in 0:45:03.320 --> 0:45:07.759 prison for the cause of righteousness. Jesus didn't assure him 0:45:07.800 --> 0:45:13.239 with a sweet platitude. Jesus didn't assure him with a 0:45:13.320 --> 0:45:18.319 pinteresque link. Jesus didn't assure him with something that rhyme. 0:45:18.440 --> 0:45:25.520 He said, blessed is the one who does not The 0:45:25.800 --> 0:45:32.680 word in Greek is scandalon. He calls it. In the NIV, 0:45:33.000 --> 0:45:37.040 they call it does not stumble, or a few other 0:45:37.080 --> 0:45:40.919 definitions to describe what happens to us when we run 0:45:40.960 --> 0:45:44.319 into something in our life that doesn't match what we 0:45:44.360 --> 0:45:52.080 thought would happen. It means to trip up to entice. 0:45:53.120 --> 0:45:56.640 It means literally a stumbling block that may cause you 0:45:56.719 --> 0:46:02.719 to trip and fall or to follow way. I just 0:46:02.760 --> 0:46:05.200 see it like a picture, So let me use your stool. 0:46:05.560 --> 0:46:09.239 This may be too simple for you, but Jesus told 0:46:09.320 --> 0:46:20.400 John this is scandalion. This is offense. This is a 0:46:20.440 --> 0:46:26.520 stumbling block. This is the thing that that is getting 0:46:26.520 --> 0:46:29.520 in the way of you moving forward in your faith 0:46:29.760 --> 0:46:32.879 in this season of your life against the odds. This 0:46:32.920 --> 0:46:37.640 is the thing right And and Jesus said, says to John, 0:46:38.920 --> 0:46:49.919 don't trip, don't trip. What did you say? You want 0:46:49.920 --> 0:46:52.440 to come show me? You want to come show me? 0:46:53.160 --> 0:46:55.200 Come on up, show show me, show me what you 0:46:55.280 --> 0:46:57.040 just said. I wondered, who would get it because this house. 0:46:57.280 --> 0:46:59.680 Come on up, Come on up, he said, he said, 0:46:59.680 --> 0:47:05.080 don't rip, John, Just that's how I saw it in 0:47:05.120 --> 0:47:12.000 my head. Now he said, so, so get a good 0:47:12.040 --> 0:47:15.920 base and just John, just like you were doing in 0:47:15.960 --> 0:47:23.480 your mother's womb. I love the Bible. I love the Bible, 0:47:23.560 --> 0:47:27.080 saying I heard God saying, somebody say it. Jump John, 0:47:28.120 --> 0:47:33.640 Jump John, Jump John, Jump John, Jump John. Now, now 0:47:33.719 --> 0:47:37.800 that is something that is something that can make you fall, 0:47:38.800 --> 0:47:42.440 but it is also something that can strengthen your faith. 0:47:43.560 --> 0:47:49.440 So jump John, keep jumping. You know what's true. You 0:47:49.560 --> 0:47:53.680 know who I am. You saw me before you knew me. 0:47:54.600 --> 0:47:57.880 You saw the spirit like a dump. Don't get tired 0:47:57.960 --> 0:48:01.919 in this place. Don't get tired in this trial. Don't 0:48:02.040 --> 0:48:08.200 trip John. Just job, Just jup, Just jump John. You 0:48:08.360 --> 0:48:12.880 know what to do. Just jump John, and keep jumping. 0:48:14.120 --> 0:48:17.359 As a matter of fact, this is so good. One 0:48:17.480 --> 0:48:21.520 scholar said that when Luke said that the baby jumped 0:48:21.560 --> 0:48:25.240 in the womb of Elizabeth, it was echoing when David 0:48:25.520 --> 0:48:28.839 brought the arc back to Jerusalem, and when he got 0:48:28.880 --> 0:48:32.680 the presence of God six steps. Guess what he did. 0:48:33.120 --> 0:48:37.160 He started jumping. Because I got the presence of God back, 0:48:37.960 --> 0:48:41.160 because I got the provision of God working in my house, 0:48:41.680 --> 0:48:45.160 because I got the favor. I got the favor. Why 0:48:45.200 --> 0:48:51.919 aren't y'll praising God? God? Said? Jump shot John, Chop John. 0:48:53.200 --> 0:49:05.680 If you believe, said George, still blessed? Shoff John, Tell 0:49:05.760 --> 0:49:10.840 three people jump John, Zum jump John jump jump John, 0:49:11.000 --> 0:49:15.600 Jump jump John jump Deep. Faiths can't get you from 0:49:15.680 --> 0:49:23.319 trumping jump Jun jup Jun jump Shot Zum jump Ju 0:49:23.760 --> 0:49:34.839 jumps jump Jun jump jump Don jump. Hey tell John, 0:49:35.960 --> 0:49:40.200 it would be a shame for you to trip over 0:49:40.360 --> 0:49:44.560 something that's not even true. And the Lord said to 0:49:44.719 --> 0:49:52.040 ask you, are you tripping over something stumbling blocks scandalon 0:49:53.239 --> 0:49:57.920 that's not even true? Are you staying away from God's 0:49:58.040 --> 0:50:02.440 presence because of an offense that you think he's holding 0:50:02.480 --> 0:50:07.800 against you. Are you tripping over something that's not even true? 0:50:09.000 --> 0:50:11.640 Are you running from a Jezebel who doesn't even have 0:50:11.800 --> 0:50:22.359 the power to take your life? Are you tripping over 0:50:22.480 --> 0:50:30.040 something that's not even true. The conclusion that you come 0:50:30.120 --> 0:50:33.160 to is based in the belief that you start with. 0:50:35.160 --> 0:50:36.880 For all of us to think that God will love 0:50:37.000 --> 0:50:40.680 us more later, maybe we need to be reminded what 0:50:40.800 --> 0:50:49.040 the name John means. Anyway, his name means loved, So 0:50:49.200 --> 0:50:52.799 in those moments when you can't feel it, I want 0:50:52.840 --> 0:50:58.080 to encourage you to believe it by faith, and all 0:50:58.160 --> 0:51:01.360 week long, a whole week long, I want you to 0:51:01.440 --> 0:51:04.840 jump in Your calf muscles are going to look like 0:51:04.920 --> 0:51:10.520 they got bowling ball in plants when you come back 0:51:10.560 --> 0:51:16.040 to church next week, because this week I'm jumping. I'm 0:51:16.120 --> 0:51:24.640 jumping to a new conclusion. Now I used to believe. 0:51:25.160 --> 0:51:29.960 I used to believe that I wasn't enough when I 0:51:30.080 --> 0:51:34.080 found out that His spirit in me is the same 0:51:34.200 --> 0:51:37.520 spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Now that I 0:51:37.640 --> 0:51:41.680 believe that the belief that I start with in every 0:51:41.800 --> 0:51:47.800 situation determines the conclusion that I come to. And Jesus 0:51:47.840 --> 0:51:52.240 said to John, and he says, to you stop tripping 0:51:52.320 --> 0:51:57.560 over things that aren't true. In John's case, he needed 0:51:57.600 --> 0:52:02.960 an upgraded expectation of the Kingdom of God, and he 0:52:03.000 --> 0:52:07.719 would get one. He would get one if he didn't trip. 0:52:09.680 --> 0:52:14.960 Are you tripping lately? Are you tripping over stuff that 0:52:15.080 --> 0:52:20.239 isn't even true? I want to pray for you. I 0:52:20.320 --> 0:52:25.120 feel like Isaiah fifty five eight is not only a 0:52:25.200 --> 0:52:28.600 good place to start the sermon, but it's a really 0:52:28.680 --> 0:52:33.640 good place for us to land. It's not only a 0:52:33.719 --> 0:52:36.840 good place to jump from, it's a good place for 0:52:36.960 --> 0:52:41.320 us to anchor it. And the Lord said through the prophet, 0:52:41.480 --> 0:52:46.560 my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways 0:52:46.680 --> 0:52:50.360 my ways. I'm going to do what you asked me 0:52:50.480 --> 0:52:56.319 to do, but it won't be the way that you thought. Now. 0:52:56.400 --> 0:53:00.160 For everybody who is dealing in your life right now, now, 0:53:01.400 --> 0:53:05.320 with standing in front of something that was unexpected for you, 0:53:07.120 --> 0:53:08.440 I want you to bow your head and make a 0:53:08.480 --> 0:53:13.359 sanctuary in your heart. It would be such a shame 0:53:13.440 --> 0:53:17.440 for the Lord to bring you to this moment and 0:53:17.560 --> 0:53:21.520 to have plotted in purpose your life from your mother's womb, 0:53:22.840 --> 0:53:27.200 for you to come to this and trip. You got 0:53:27.280 --> 0:53:32.120 to believe, just like John that in every season of 0:53:32.200 --> 0:53:39.320 your life, God is preparing. The one who prepared the 0:53:39.440 --> 0:53:46.080 way for Jesus came to a stumbling block himself. Now, 0:53:46.160 --> 0:53:49.839 what's standing in front of you today is not proof 0:53:49.880 --> 0:53:54.320 that God doesn't want you to do it. If you 0:53:54.400 --> 0:53:58.160 believe that, if you believe that, you'll stop, you'll lay 0:53:58.200 --> 0:54:02.479 down and die right where you are. But somebody say, John, 0:54:04.040 --> 0:54:05.919 You didn't say that, right. You got to say John, 0:54:06.960 --> 0:54:11.600 like an athletic trainer say jomp. God, we instruct our 0:54:11.640 --> 0:54:15.880 hearts today to be set on things above where Christ 0:54:16.040 --> 0:54:20.800 is not unearthly things, to remember that eternal purpose of 0:54:20.880 --> 0:54:23.880 companies and impregnates each moment with infinite potential because of 0:54:23.960 --> 0:54:29.480 your spirit, and that spirit lives in us. I believe 0:54:29.520 --> 0:54:31.359 that you sent me to the pulpit today for people 0:54:31.400 --> 0:54:35.600 all over the world who need to jump to a 0:54:35.680 --> 0:54:39.600 new conclusion, who need to be reminded of gospel truth. 0:54:40.760 --> 0:54:44.279 Every sin is forgiven and every debtor rased. So we 0:54:44.400 --> 0:54:47.879 thank you for it now in Jesus' name. Somebody who's 0:54:47.920 --> 0:54:51.200 tripping off of a memory, somebody who's tripping off of 0:54:51.239 --> 0:54:55.800 a hypothetical, somebody who is tripping over the torment of 0:54:55.880 --> 0:55:02.320 what might happen. Lord, we believe what Elizabeth said, blessed 0:55:02.480 --> 0:55:07.800 is she? Blessed is he who believed that what the 0:55:07.880 --> 0:55:12.799 Lord spoke would be fulfilled. Look at me for a moment. 0:55:14.200 --> 0:55:19.719 What Elizabeth told Mary, God is telling you. Blessed is 0:55:19.800 --> 0:55:27.200 the one who believes that what God spoke he will fulfill. 0:55:29.200 --> 0:55:47.400 Don't truth, don't trip, trust, don't trip trust moment by moment, 0:55:48.640 --> 0:55:53.680 day by day. What I love about God is that 0:55:53.840 --> 0:55:59.279 he already fulfilled it. And I thank God that in 0:55:59.360 --> 0:56:03.160 my life he has already worked out, according to his 0:56:03.280 --> 0:56:09.000 divine counsel everything that concerns me. Father, we thank you 0:56:09.080 --> 0:56:12.440 that your word does not return void. It accomplishes what 0:56:12.560 --> 0:56:17.200 you send it for everybody. With lifted hands right now say, 0:56:17.239 --> 0:56:25.120 I believe that the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Again. 0:56:25.200 --> 0:56:31.440 I believe that the Lord will fulfill his purpose for 0:56:31.680 --> 0:56:37.640 me again. I believe that the Lord will fulfill his 0:56:37.920 --> 0:56:44.480 purpose for my life. Now jump, John, jump, Come on, 0:56:44.640 --> 0:56:49.759 get up there to heavenly places, seated with Jesus. Lift 0:56:49.840 --> 0:56:59.799 those hands, lift the press, give him glory shop jup shop. Due. 0:57:02.560 --> 0:57:05.439 So do you receive that word? Just know that we're 0:57:05.560 --> 0:57:09.080 so thankful that you're a part of this ministry. Paul 0:57:09.160 --> 0:57:11.200 called it the partnership in the gospel. That's the way 0:57:11.239 --> 0:57:14.320 I feel. Thank you forgiving, Thank you for praying for 0:57:14.480 --> 0:57:17.800 me and Holly and our church and this ministry. Thank 0:57:17.880 --> 0:57:21.400 you for sharing. Make sure that you share this message 0:57:21.440 --> 0:57:24.000 with someone this week. Sow it. It's good seed. It'll 0:57:24.040 --> 0:57:27.720 make a difference in somebody's life, and make sure to subscribe. 0:57:27.960 --> 0:57:30.720 And I believe God is bringing things to an expected 0:57:30.880 --> 0:57:33.040 end in your life. Remember he knows the plans He 0:57:33.120 --> 0:57:35.640 has for you, plans to give you a hope and 0:57:35.760 --> 0:57:40.080 a future. So jump, John, Jump, I'll see you next time. 0:57:40.640 --> 0:57:41.040 We love you.