Let Me Show You The Door

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.600 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:09.960 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.840 see God has moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.120 It's been a minute since I've done one of these 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.720 little videos setting up the sermon for you, but I 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:23.439 wanted to let you know that by the time you 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:28.560 see this, we are probably already well underway with Elevation Nights, 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.080 and I want to invite you to join us Elevation 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:38.400 Nights dot com in the following cities Seattle, Washington, Vancouver, BC, Sacramento, California, 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.960 La Anaheim, Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City, and Denver. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:45.480 I have a little cheat sheet over here. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:49.879 September twenty fourth through October third, it's going to be 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.559 an amazing night of worship and the Word and me 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:54.320 and Holly and the team all we want. 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.400 To see you there, So go right now if there's 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:59.040 still time, and get a ticket and meet us there. 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.040 But I wanted to set up the message for you 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:05.440 today personally because I believe there is a word for 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.120 those of you that have been dealing with the discouragement 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:10.760 or maybe even. 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.480 Just the deceit of the devil in your mind. In 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.680 your mind, and just put in the comments real quick. 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.280 The battle is in your mind. That's where the battle is, 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.000 and the truth of God's Word has something for you 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:25.520 for the battle in your mind. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.160 We're going to be in two scriptures. 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:30.400 Today, Acts chapter fourteen, verses twenty six through twenty eight, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.800 Matthew Chapter four, verses eight through eleven, and some other 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:34.360 ones too. 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.560 But we'll get it as we go. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:38.520 If you're ready for the word of God, put it 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:39.760 in the comments right now. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:49.040 I'm ready. Let's go. From Italia, they sailed back to Antioch, 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.120 where they had been committed to the grace of God 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:57.120 for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.840 they gathered the church together and reported all that God 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.680 had done through them, and how he had opened a 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.240 door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.720 a long time with the disciples. Now, I know I'm 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:13.760 dropping you in the middle of that passage and just 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.120 not telling you much about it at all. It doesn't 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.160 even say who the characters are. It just says they 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:20.880 they they I'll come back to that, but let's look 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:24.320 at one in Matthew chapter four before we officially begin 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:28.640 the sermon. Matthew chapter four, verses eight through eleven. And 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:30.640 this one should be a little bit more familiar to you, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.480 both in the Bible and in your own life. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.440 Again, the devil, you know him. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:41.280 That is a character who needs no introduction. Again, the 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:45.240 devil took him to a very high mountain, him being Jesus, 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.280 and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.359 their splendor. All this I will give you, he said, 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:58.040 if you will bow down and worship me. And Jesus 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:02.520 said to him, away from me, Satan, for it is written, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:08.799 worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. And 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.480 verse eight and nine is where a lot of us 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.320 have been living lately, where the devil has been talking 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:18.560 to us and taking us places in our minds. And 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.520 verse eleven is where we want to get today by 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:22.640 the time I'm done preaching. 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.200 Verse eleven says, then the devil left. 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:31.640 Him, and angels came and attended him. Then the devil, 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:33.720 how many want to get to verse eleven by the 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:39.440 time I finished today. Then the devil left him and 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.000 angels came and attended him. So I like to give 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.800 my messages fun titles, titles that are fun for me, 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.200 and sometimes I like to have you say them to 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.920 your neighbor. And basically, what Jesus told the devil was 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:54.800 get out of here. And so I'm going to have 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.960 you say to your neighbor what Jesus said to the devil. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.400 And just tell your neighbor, I know you're not the devil. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:08.560 Tell him I love you. But for the purpose of illustration. Now, 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:10.040 the next thing is my title, and you say it 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:11.840 to him, real nice, say it, real polite, but say 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.480 it firm. Look at them like they need to leave. Okay, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.800 like they need to leave, they've overstayed their welcome, and 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:25.120 tell them this. Let me show you the door. That's 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:31.520 my message. Let me let me show you the door. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:35.640 This is an international ministry, so idioms don't always translate 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.400 across cultures. That is a polite way of saying, you 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:45.880 gotta go. Let me show you the door. I'm making 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.480 a call. You need to go. Now look at your 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:56.520 other neighbor and say, let me show you the door. Yeah, 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.720 in Jesus' name. Put that at the end so it 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:05.679 sounds it's nice and be seated. Be seated, God is good. 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:14.279 Jesus ran that devil off away from me, Satan. In 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.560 the King James version, it says get the hints, Satan. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.080 That's basically saying, let me show you the door, got 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:27.040 to go now, I've got something to do. And Jesus 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:32.279 ran the devil off and made him flee because when 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.360 the devil came to him with three different temptations. Each 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.960 time the devil came at him, he had the perfect comeback. 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.320 And that's what we need to develop in our lives 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.080 is a comeback strategy for when Satan comes at us. 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.560 Come on, when accusation comes at you. I want you 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.640 to have a comeback strategy. Have you ever had a 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:59.680 perfect comeback but you couldn't say it because you calculated 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.359 the dam I mentioned that it would do, and you 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.280 realized you were not in a position to take the shot. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.520 Maybe it was your boss, or maybe you just didn't 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.040 want to have to mop it up later, or maybe 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:14.599 you knew that if you said what you were going 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.560 to say, maybe they had something they could say. This 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.360 is not a marriage seminar, So I'm going to move 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:23.520 quickly through it to where you have the perfect comeback 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:27.280 and you can't use it, or you have the perfect comeback, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:33.960 but it's on a delay, and you think of it 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.120 like Thursday, but it happened Monday, So it'd be kind 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.359 of awkward to go back and say, Hey, say that 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.800 thing again, say that thing again, say it again. I'm 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.640 ready for you now because it was on a delay. 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.000 There's actually like a term for that. They call it 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.240 staircase wit. It's when you have to go all the 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.799 way down the stairs and you're almost out the door 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.120 and you remember what you should have said, or you 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:56.560 think of what you should have said, and you turn 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:01.640 back around. But I like to share these little stories 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.360 that we share as preachers because they're funny. And forgive 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.120 me if you've heard this one. But there is a 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.760 story of a lady who went to a church and 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:13.520 she was not used to going to church, and so 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:15.240 she didn't have a lot of church clothes, and it 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.160 was a really traditional church, and so she went in 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:22.480 what she had, and she went in her her clothes, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.520 but they weren't very modest and they weren't very nice, 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.280 and everybody there was dressed very modestly and very nice, 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.560 and so the lady sat through the service, and she 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.840 was moved by it. And when she was leaving the church, 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.320 the preacher was waiting at the door. It was a 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.760 very small church, and he would always shake everyone's hand 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.480 on the way out the door, and when he saw her, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.040 he took the opportunity to tell her, we're so glad 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.360 to have you as our guest today, and you're welcome 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.120 to come back here. But before you come back, I 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:52.800 want you to pray and ask the Lord what he 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.240 would have you to wear when you come back to 0:07:55.280 --> 0:08:00.680 our church. And so she left pretty heiressed by that, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.720 and she went home, and she came back the next week. 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.240 She came back the next week and she sat through 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.240 the service, and this time people were a little bit 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.640 more offended and annoyed, and especially the pastor, because the 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.920 whole sermon he's thinking, woman, I told you, And so 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.240 he's waiting for it at the door when the service 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.680 is over and he says, hey, I thought I told 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.480 you to pray and ask the Lord what you should 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.280 wear to this church before you came back. And she said, oh, 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.480 I did. And he said, but you're wearing the same 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.480 thing that you wore last week. And she said, uh huh, 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.800 and he said, well, didn't you pray and ask the 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.640 Lord what to wear before you came back to this church? 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.600 And she said I did. And the preacher said, well, 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.880 what did he tell you? And she said, he told 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.640 me he didn't know, he'd never been to this church before, 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:53.200 and that it is the power of a perfect comeback. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:09:00.360 Shut that down. What do you say to that? Three 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:05.280 times Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Three times Jesus 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:09.120 had the perfect come back. Satan said, if you're hungry, 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:12.680 because Jesus had been fasting for forty days, turn these 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.840 stones into bread. You know, the Bible says that God 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.719 can do anything. And Jesus said, it's also written, do 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.120 not put the Lord your God to the tests the 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:26.440 perfect come back. Okay, well, let me get you to 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:28.840 prove God's power. If you're really the son of God, 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.280 throw yourself off this high point and the angels will 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.160 catch you. Doesn't the Bible talk about angels? Angels will catch. 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.560 You right, prove that you are who you say you are. 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.560 And Jesus said, uh, I don't. I don't have to 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.640 do that because I know what the word says. It 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.679 is written. Each time the enemy came to Jesus. Each 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:54.400 time Satan spoke, Jesus had the perfect come back. The 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.920 third time is the one we reference just now in 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.720 Matthew chapter four. And it's so beautiful because Jesus doesn't 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.880 even bother to argue this time. He just says, let 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:09.840 me show you the door. Get the hints away from me, Satan, 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.920 and it works and the devil leaves. So there's three 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.040 things that are happening in this passage that may be 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.160 happening in your life, and it's what I want to 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.199 talk about for our lesson today. The first one is 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:27.720 the devil led Jesus. The second one is he lied 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:32.839 to Jesus. The third one is he left Jesus. So 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:38.160 he led, he lied, and he left. What did he do? 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:43.120 Everybody say, he led, he lied, and he left. 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.400 Now it occurs to me that a lot of us 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.120 are stuck in the first two that in your mind, 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.319 the devil is telling you stuff, and he is leading you, 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.880 and he is lying to you, but. 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:58.560 You can't figure out how to make him leave. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:04.640 And thankfully for us, Jesus gives us the perfect comeback. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.839 Isn't it amazing though, that a lot of people, when 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.680 you talk to them about you know, the devil is 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.360 talking to you, or the devil is tempting you. They 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:15.680 kind of have a not me. I don't know what 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.840 you're talking about, attitude, and it is possible. Let me 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.600 just say this in the very beginning. It is possible 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.840 that the devil is not talking to you. It may 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.000 be that you are a more advanced Christian than Jesus. 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.800 So maybe Jesus had to fight this, but you don't. 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.400 Maybe you have matured more than Jesus. Or there is 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:40.120 a second possibility, and I can illustrate the second possibility 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.240 this way. You say, well, the devil doesn't discourage me. 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.560 I never think I'm not good enough. I never think 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:46.480 I don't have what it takes. I never think I 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.760 can't do it. I never think I should change all 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:53.440 of this. You know how, on your GPS, this is 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.000 just an illustration. You put in a destination and then 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:00.560 you put it. Some people leave the narrator on where 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.079 it says out loud where you need to turn in 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:06.199 stuff like that, But the person on the GPS does 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.679 not talk unless it wants you to turn in a 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.640 different direction. You can run the GPS as much as 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.400 you want, and if the GPS likes the direction you're headed, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.920 it won't say anything. So maybe the devil isn't saying 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:29.360 anything to you. Yellow Wake Now, maybe he likes the 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:34.320 direction you're headed in. Good golly, miss Molly, help this 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:39.240 man preach. So if the devil is talking to you, 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.880 that tells me something about where God is taking you. 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.680 If he's not, it shows me that he doesn't want 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.280 to waste any resistance on a Christian that doesn't have 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:54.920 any forward momentum. If he's not discouraging you, you are 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:59.480 not being pushed past your comfort zone. He will feed you. 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:04.560 He will comfort you all the way into complacency. But 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:09.640 if you ever start making progress, everybody say progress. It 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.800 is significant for a lot of us to realize that 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.280 Jesus was tempted by the enemy on the verge of 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.480 his earthly ministry. He was the eternal Word of God. 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.000 He was not new to the scene, and yet this 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.400 was the moment that the Word made flesh was about 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:28.600 to begin his mission to the cross. And so the 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:32.120 devil starts talking, And the fact that the devil is 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.400 talking to Jesus tells us that God is taking him somewhere. 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:41.280 God is taking me somewhere. Tell your neighbor. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:47.360 That's why I've been struggling, because God is taking me somewhere. See, 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.440 I used to just give in to every sin, but 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.199 now I try to resist it. So I'm struggling now. 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.720 But the struggle that I have now is proof of 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.880 the fact that I'm headed somewhere. I wasn't headed before. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.800 The fact that I'm struggling more now does not mean 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.360 how I need to preach this for somebody. Because the 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:08.400 devil has been telling you the exact opposite, and the 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.960 Lord has been talking to me about the fact that 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.119 the devil has been talking to you. You are worthless. 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:18.200 It is too late, It's over for you. Nobody even cares. 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.800 Nobody would miss you if you're gone. It would be 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.000 better for them if you were gone. You are actually 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.920 the reason they are that way. You can't recover from that. 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:28.640 You didn't recover from the thing before it, And what 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:30.880 makes you think is going to be any different now. 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.680 It is very instructive for me to realize as a 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.480 preacher that I'm not the only one up here talking. 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.840 I'm not the only one who's saying words to you 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:47.720 right now, at the very moment, Jesus is about to 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:48.640 do the most good. 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:54.040 He is the most tempted. Coincidence, I think not. 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.880 And what happens is you get so distracted by the 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:04.240 conflict that you don't see the progress. You get so 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:08.280 distracted by the conflict that you don't see the potential. 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.880 Wouldn't it be just like the devil to kill you. 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:17.480 In the wilderness where Jesus was when he fasted forty 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.000 days and forty nights. We know that this devil stands 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:26.840 no chance against Jesus, but we're not so sure about us. 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.000 What I want you to realize today that took me 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.400 a while to figure out, is that when I am 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.920 coming into the season of my greater impact, when I'm 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.960 coming into the season of greater surrender to God, which 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.640 is the goal of a Christian right, the goal of 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.960 the Christian is not just our eternal and everlasting preference 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.760 being met at every turn. When I'm coming into that season, 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.800 when God wants to do something new through me, I 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:03.840 should expect the following. Every door that God opens, there 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:09.720 will be opposition. Listen to me. No door that God 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:14.080 opens will be unopposed in your life. No door that 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.760 He opens to your growth, no door that He opens 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.640 to your relational intimacy. No door that He opens for 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:23.960 you to be a witness for Jesus Christ and your 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.080 sphere of influence. No door that God opens will be 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:32.960 without opposition. The greatest way that you can deal with 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:37.160 the opposition is to realize that God opens doors that 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:42.160 nobody can shut. If he opened it, they can't close it. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.160 If he opened it, your IQ can't close it. He 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:49.560 knew the exact number of your IQ and your SAT 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.520 score when He called you into your situation. So if 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.080 the statistics can't close it, if the haters can't close it, 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.320 if the sickness can't close it, the only one thing 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.600 that can close it is if you get distracted by 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.359 the conflict and give up on the progress, which is 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.399 why Jesus said, away from me. I'm on the verge 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.800 of something that God sent me to do. I'm on 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.840 the verge of fulfilling my mission to forgive the sin 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.399 of all who would believe in my name. And I 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:21.879 know I'm repped up real early in my sermon, but 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.040 I need to preach to somebody to tell you that 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:29.200 God is not the only one who opens doors. The 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:36.800 devil does too, doors of discouragement, doors of disappointment, doors 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.400 of dysfunctional behavior that were planted in your heart, sometimes 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:44.600 in early developmental stages of your life. And when I 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.399 heard about Jesus saying away from me, Satan, it gave me. 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.720 It gave me hope to realize that he's giving me 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:56.080 an example that every door he opens will be opposed, 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:01.719 but it cannot be closed by anyone other than him. 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.199 Clap your hands and give God praise because he's a 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:12.879 door opening God. Jesus had the perfect comeback for the devil. 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.720 He said, away from me, Satan. And sometimes we don't 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:20.000 come back at the devil like we need to. In fact, 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:21.840 instead of telling him to go away, we tell him 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.480 keep coming. And we don't even realize we're doing it. Now. 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:27.480 I know this message is not comfortable to hear. 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.800 You think it was comfortable to prepare. I don't preach 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.640 what I want to preach. I preach what God gives 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.240 me to preach. And the Lord told me that the 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:40.040 devil has been talking to you. Telling you is just 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:44.159 one time. It doesn't matter telling you. Everybody does that. 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.560 It's not abnormal, Yes it is for you. You're a 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:55.520 child of God. Your family has different customs. Uh, huh. 0:18:55.640 --> 0:19:00.480 You're a citizen of a different kingdom, and I wanted 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.399 to share with you an example of how as God 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.879 opens doors in your life, and in my life, and 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.520 in the life of our church, that there will often 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.240 be opposition. Go with me to Acts chapter fourteen, the 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:18.160 scripture that I read first, and I want to show 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.600 you about two people that God really used. One of 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:23.399 them I know you've heard of. His name is Paul, 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.600 and the other one you don't know as much about. 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.159 His name is Barnabas. And when the Bible says in 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:35.240 Acts chapter fourteen, verse twenty six, God, I love your word. 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.919 Thank you for the privilege to preach it. From Atalia, 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.560 they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.200 to the grace of God for the work they had 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:47.280 now completed. That burst, to me is so rich that 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.600 I don't want to skip it. It says that they 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:54.159 went back to the place Antioch where the center of 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.159 the church was really beginning to be molded and melded. 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.040 Jews and Gentiles all coming out of the church. At 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.840 Antioch the third biggest city in the Roman Empire, and 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:07.720 so it was positioned in such a way as to 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:11.920 be ascending hub and the first missionaries that were sent 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:17.000 out from the Church at Antioch were Paul and Barnabas. Now, 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:19.919 when it says that they had been committed to the grace, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.400 put the verse back up for me for the work 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:26.159 they had now completed. It really spoke to me because 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.639 sometimes I do the opposite, I try to complete the 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:34.560 work without getting the grace. And so there was a 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.560 period where the Church at Antioch was fasting and praying, 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.919 and they wanted to send two believers to the Gentiles, 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.639 those who weren't Jews, those who were not included in 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.240 the Old Covenant but were being grafted into the New 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:49.840 Covenant through Jesus Christ. And they knew they wanted to 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.240 send Paul because Paul was uniquely gifted and graced for 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.720 this assignment. I want you to remember, when the devil 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.960 starts talking to you, God will never let you go 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:07.159 where you are not graced to be. You can go 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.640 there on your own, but he'll bring you back. He'll 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:12.919 bring you to a place where he'll show you you 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.320 are not grace for that. Paul was grace for it. 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.560 So every time God says go, he gives grace for 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:24.520 everywhere he says go, and in this season of your life, 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:28.399 you may be trying to grind without grace, and that 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.600 would be a problem because when you try to grind 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.240 without grace, you leave yourself wide open to the devil. 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:38.960 And it's possible that life could open a door to you, 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:41.600 but you don't have the grace to go through it. 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:44.960 And until we get sensitive to the spirit of God, 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.080 we will find ourselves going into situations that we don't 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:52.560 have grace for because we've seen others go there because 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.600 we thought we had to go there to prove something. 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:57.240 Just like the devil was tempting Jesus, you know. 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:01.959 Throw yourself off the highest clip. You're the son of God, Jesus, 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:04.240 I don't have to prove anything to you. I was 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:07.679 just baptized into Jordan, where my father said I was 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.359 his beloved son and whom he was well pleased, you 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:14.320 know that scripture. So Jesus had the grace to do it, 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:17.439 Paul had the grace to do it. Barnabas had the 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.080 grace to do it. So when the enemy comes to 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:22.760 you and tells you you can't do it, tell him 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:26.760 I got grace for this practice at one time, Say 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:30.840 I got grace for it. I can't explain it. I 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.480 got grace for it. I can't break it down for 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.199 you in a formula. I got grace for it. It 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.080 makes no sense on paper. I got grace for it. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:41.159 I didn't even think I was that good at. 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:42.720 It, but I've got grace for it. 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:45.280 I know there are more people that are more qualified, 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:48.879 and more smart, and more educated, and more intelligent, and 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:52.120 more tall, and more broad and more strong, and more 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:55.440 holy and more righteous, and have better beards. But I'm 0:22:55.480 --> 0:23:00.159 grace for it. I just saw a guy with a 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:02.480 I was feeling envious, so I had to preach through it. 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:06.479 Tell somebody I got grace for this, and then the 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.960 grace that God gave them at Antioch with the confirmation 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.960 of the elders of the Church at Antioch, they went out. 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:16.320 And I want you to notice three things that are 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.080 gonna help you have the perfect comeback for the devil 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:22.399 when he comes at you this week. You are not 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:24.520 gonna get to the bottom of the stairs and think, 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:30.880 oh wait. You are not gonna wait till next Saturday 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:34.080 night to say, oh, I gotta go back to church. 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:37.880 I gotta go, I've gotta go to elevation. You are 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:40.480 not gonna get stuck. Watch me illustrate. Ooh, the Lord 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:42.760 just gave me this. You are not gonna get stuck 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:45.879 at the bottom of the stairs this week, thinking I 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:47.639 gotta get back to church to get a word for 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:50.640 the devil. You are gonna have the comeback for him 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:53.760 at the door the moment he knocks to try to 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:57.119 tell you what you're not And who am I preaching to? 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:04.760 The hasstate for it today? Yeah, a comeback. I thought 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:07.879 it was interesting because Jesus had a comeback for the devil. 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:09.920 It is written. It is written, he knew the word 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:12.000 of God. He had to come back for the devil. Now, 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:16.080 thought was interesting how in the passage we read they 0:24:16.119 --> 0:24:19.720 were coming back to the place where they were sent from. 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:23.240 They were coming back to the grace that they started with. 0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:26.399 I thought that word comeback was interesting, kind of like 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:30.120 a double meaning. Right, they're coming back to Antioch. They've 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:34.520 been gone, twelve hundred miles of travel have passed, and 0:24:34.600 --> 0:24:39.160 twelve months of time. Twelve hundred miles of travel, twelve 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.840 months of time, and they have seen some amazing things. 0:24:43.720 --> 0:24:46.440 So the Bible says that they came back. And I 0:24:46.520 --> 0:24:50.240 kept reading and I was like, I want to talk 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:53.840 about the comeback, but I also want to talk about 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:55.760 point number two. These all start with. See number one 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.560 is comeback and number two is I want to talk 0:24:58.560 --> 0:25:02.600 about the connection because I noticed, and I want you 0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:05.680 to notice, how many times in this passage Acts chapter fourteen, 0:25:06.920 --> 0:25:12.360 the word they appears. It says from Attalia they sailed 0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:18.760 to Antioch. They sailed to Antioch, where they had been 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:21.800 committed to the grace of God for the work they 0:25:21.840 --> 0:25:26.960 had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:30.360 together and reported all that God had done through them. 0:25:32.119 --> 0:25:34.919 What God does through you is a lot of times 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:39.840 determined by the they that you are connected to, Because 0:25:39.840 --> 0:25:41.840 if anybody could have done it alone, it would have 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:44.840 been Paul. And for all of you who try to 0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:49.760 do it alone in your own strength, maybe you're a 0:25:49.800 --> 0:25:54.520 better Christian than Paul and Jesus, but the rest of 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:55.560 us need a Theay. 0:25:56.880 --> 0:25:59.040 And so imagine they're picking, like, we got to send 0:25:59.040 --> 0:25:59.919 Paul because. 0:25:59.680 --> 0:26:01.680 He's and he's of the tribe of Benjamin, and he 0:26:01.720 --> 0:26:03.560 can really speak to the Jews and the Gentiles, and 0:26:03.600 --> 0:26:06.199 he has a Roman citizenship, so he's very able to 0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:10.760 be very fluent in both languages, not only the language 0:26:10.800 --> 0:26:13.240 of faith in Jesus, but the language of Judaism. And 0:26:13.280 --> 0:26:18.560 who should we send with him? Barnabas? You said Silas. 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:21.000 Now Silas went to prison with him in sixteen. Silas 0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:24.280 could sing. But Barnabas had a very special gift. His 0:26:24.400 --> 0:26:29.879 name means son of encouragement. Now does this say something 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:33.560 about what Paul struggled with that the one they sent 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:41.919 with him was one of these guys. Now look at 0:26:41.920 --> 0:26:43.800 your neighbor, big smile, thumbs up, and say, you need 0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:49.760 one of these guys. You need a Barnabas. They looked 0:26:49.760 --> 0:26:52.520 at Paul. Paul, You're powerful preacher, You're amazing preacher. You're 0:26:52.560 --> 0:26:54.320 a man of God, and you're annoying it. And you're 0:26:54.320 --> 0:26:58.720 called and you're chosen. Now, Barnabas was not only an encourager, 0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:01.920 but he was the one who brought Paul into the fold. 0:27:02.000 --> 0:27:06.439 To begin with, they were scared of Paul. Paul was 0:27:06.480 --> 0:27:09.440 the one who would go and have the Christians executed 0:27:09.480 --> 0:27:12.960 before he became one. Before the Lord smacked him right 0:27:12.960 --> 0:27:15.640 off his beast and told him, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. 0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:18.359 Who do you think you're messing with? I'm about to 0:27:18.359 --> 0:27:20.400 show you how much you must suffer for my sake 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:23.600 because you're my vessel. That's where Paul was. And the 0:27:23.640 --> 0:27:26.480 people were like, you want us to have the guy 0:27:26.520 --> 0:27:30.840 that was the terrorist on our team, And Barnabas is like, yeah, 0:27:30.960 --> 0:27:34.960 he's changed, Let's give him a chance. Thank God for Barnabas. 0:27:36.960 --> 0:27:42.679 Barnabas was hopathetical. Barnabas was optimistic. Barnabas was able to 0:27:42.680 --> 0:27:44.600 see the best in Paul. He was able to see 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:49.160 the Paul in Saul. So I want to talk about 0:27:49.160 --> 0:27:53.080 your connections today because the fact that they made it 0:27:53.119 --> 0:27:56.119 through everything they made it through was the fact that 0:27:56.160 --> 0:27:59.520 they were they. I believe the reason that the devil 0:27:59.520 --> 0:28:02.480 doesn't leave your life a lot of times is because 0:28:02.480 --> 0:28:06.240 you try to run him off alone and there comes 0:28:06.280 --> 0:28:09.600 a point where you can't fight this in your own head. 0:28:10.600 --> 0:28:13.000 There comes a point where you can't fight this with 0:28:13.080 --> 0:28:16.800 your own personality. If you could have gotten you out 0:28:16.880 --> 0:28:19.920 of this, you'd be out by now. So what you're 0:28:19.960 --> 0:28:24.000 still doing here Maybe you are waiting on the right connection. 0:28:24.760 --> 0:28:27.440 And perhaps the reason that we feed some of our 0:28:27.440 --> 0:28:32.320 insecurity sometimes is because we stay in isolation where there 0:28:32.359 --> 0:28:35.560 is nothing to prove anything. Other to us than the 0:28:35.600 --> 0:28:38.760 words that the devil is speaking. And so it's important 0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:40.560 and I need to slow down on this a little bit. 0:28:40.960 --> 0:28:43.400 That the Lord told me to tell you that there 0:28:43.480 --> 0:28:46.360 may be a Barnabas that you are missing in your 0:28:46.400 --> 0:28:51.120 life that is causing you to remain stuck in the 0:28:51.160 --> 0:28:54.880 loop that the devil has you in. There may be 0:28:56.240 --> 0:29:00.600 and there may be some people in your life who 0:29:00.640 --> 0:29:06.080 are the opposite of Barnabas, some people in your life 0:29:06.360 --> 0:29:11.000 who really aren't headed where you're headed. And I would 0:29:11.880 --> 0:29:13.680 kind of like to refer you back to my title. 0:29:14.000 --> 0:29:16.000 You may need to send them a text right now 0:29:16.320 --> 0:29:18.280 and just to send them and listening to a sermon, 0:29:18.480 --> 0:29:22.800 let me show you the door, and that will be 0:29:22.840 --> 0:29:24.880 code for you to have the conversation that you need 0:29:24.920 --> 0:29:30.480 to have because you cannot fulfill a Pall sized mission 0:29:31.200 --> 0:29:40.200 without a Barnabas sized encouragement. And sometimes it will be 0:29:40.320 --> 0:29:47.040 a byob situation that stands for be your own Barnabas. 0:29:49.120 --> 0:29:52.680 Sometimes the people that you need to encourage you, they're 0:29:52.720 --> 0:29:56.400 having a bad week too. Guess what, maybe you need 0:29:56.440 --> 0:30:00.080 to do what David said. David said, I encourage my 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:03.280 self in the Lord. I know what's written in the 0:30:03.320 --> 0:30:06.560 psalms because I wrote them. I'll quote my own psalm 0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:10.600 back to myself when I'm struggling. And this is so important, 0:30:10.840 --> 0:30:14.000 so you don't get stuck stuck at the bottom talking about, 0:30:14.120 --> 0:30:15.640 Oh I need to get the church. 0:30:15.880 --> 0:30:17.640 Oh I need to get around the right people. 0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:20.680 You do. But there's a lot of time between Sunday 0:30:20.680 --> 0:30:24.200 and Sunday, so there will be situations in your life 0:30:24.440 --> 0:30:27.040 where you need a connection to something. You need a 0:30:27.080 --> 0:30:30.320 connection to someone, You need a connection to people that 0:30:30.360 --> 0:30:33.040 can remind you of the purpose that God put inside 0:30:33.080 --> 0:30:41.200 of you. Come back. Connection. Isn't that good? 0:30:41.600 --> 0:30:44.720 Paul and Barnabas, It says this. 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:46.560 Abby, go get my notes off the shelf for me, 0:30:46.600 --> 0:30:51.280 real quick. Just get the whole folder. The whole folder. Now, 0:30:52.320 --> 0:30:54.000 this will be great. I want to act this out 0:30:54.000 --> 0:30:55.440 because I really want you to get the story in 0:30:55.480 --> 0:31:02.320 your heart. Abby. They bring me the whole folder, Abby, 0:31:03.520 --> 0:31:09.120 Abigail means Father's joy. So sit down with me, be 0:31:09.200 --> 0:31:14.600 my Barnabas for a minute. In the illustration, remember I 0:31:14.640 --> 0:31:17.360 told you Paul and Barnabas. Go back to verse twenty six. 0:31:17.400 --> 0:31:20.280 Show them. In the text, it says they went from 0:31:20.280 --> 0:31:24.680 Italia to Antioch, which is not like going from Marvin 0:31:24.960 --> 0:31:28.360 to Ballentine. This is a three hundred mile trip in itself. 0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:31.920 Remember I told you they've already been twelve hundred miles 0:31:32.440 --> 0:31:35.560 twelve months, and now they have a decision to make 0:31:35.600 --> 0:31:36.680 on the way back because they have to give a 0:31:36.720 --> 0:31:39.760 report to the church how it went. And the part 0:31:39.760 --> 0:31:43.200 that I didn't read you was everything that happened before 0:31:43.280 --> 0:31:46.200 Acts fourteen, twenty six, and twenty eight, kind of like 0:31:46.200 --> 0:31:48.920 I didn't read you how Jesus fasted forty days before 0:31:48.960 --> 0:31:49.600 the devil left. 0:31:49.640 --> 0:31:52.160 I just got straight to the park the devil left, 0:31:52.440 --> 0:31:52.920 and I was. 0:31:52.880 --> 0:31:55.360 Hoping you would shout, but you didn't even shout about that, 0:31:55.400 --> 0:31:56.959 so I know you're not going to shout about this. 0:31:57.600 --> 0:31:59.760 And the angels came, and that's exciting, and we all 0:31:59.800 --> 0:32:03.200 want to get there. But realize, if we put ourselves 0:32:03.200 --> 0:32:07.040 in the historical context of this passage, that Paul and 0:32:07.080 --> 0:32:10.400 Barnabas have three hundred miles to travel and they have 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:13.680 to figure out what are we going to tell them 0:32:13.960 --> 0:32:17.520 when we get back. And you know, Barnabas was probably 0:32:17.600 --> 0:32:20.360 keeping good notes and stuff like that, because Paul was 0:32:20.400 --> 0:32:22.800 the one who was mostly talking, and so they have 0:32:22.920 --> 0:32:26.080 three hundred miles to figure out together when we stand 0:32:26.120 --> 0:32:27.840 in front of the church that send us, when we 0:32:27.880 --> 0:32:32.200 get back to Antioch, what will we report? And I'm 0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:34.200 not saying that Paul was a pessimist, because I don't 0:32:34.240 --> 0:32:37.360 believe he was. He wrote amazing verses like I can 0:32:37.400 --> 0:32:40.760 do all things through Christ. His strengthens me, and now 0:32:40.840 --> 0:32:43.440 unto him who is able to do him measurably more So, 0:32:43.480 --> 0:32:46.960 I am not throwing Paul under the bus, but Barnabas. 0:32:48.440 --> 0:32:52.080 Barnabas had the gift of encouragement, and so I think 0:32:52.120 --> 0:32:54.560 while they were going back, they were probably going through 0:32:54.600 --> 0:32:58.120 their log of everything that happened over the next twelve months. Okay, 0:32:58.480 --> 0:32:59.920 what are we going to tell them when we get there? 0:32:59.840 --> 0:33:04.040 Barnabus and they're going through their notes, because how do 0:33:04.080 --> 0:33:06.200 you condense twelve months into one talk? Because it said 0:33:06.200 --> 0:33:10.120 they gathered the church together and told them. I imagine 0:33:10.920 --> 0:33:13.000 the first place they realized they had to talk about 0:33:13.040 --> 0:33:16.960 was Cyprus. When they got to Cyprus, the island called 0:33:17.080 --> 0:33:21.440 Cyprus that's in Acts chapter thirteen. And while they were there, 0:33:21.480 --> 0:33:27.240 God was using them, and Paul's like, you remember that guy, 0:33:28.160 --> 0:33:33.280 that sorcerer in Cyprus? And Barnabas like, yeah, yeah, what 0:33:33.320 --> 0:33:35.920 was his name again? And Paul's like, oh, I'll never 0:33:35.920 --> 0:33:42.320 forget his name, Elimis Elimas. His name literally means sorcerer. 0:33:43.080 --> 0:33:45.360 Barnabas like, oh, yeah, I remember now, Elimas. 0:33:46.320 --> 0:33:46.560 Yeah. 0:33:46.640 --> 0:33:49.280 Even Barnabas couldn't see much good in Elimis. He's like, yeah, 0:33:49.440 --> 0:33:52.880 he was a bad dude, because right when we were 0:33:52.880 --> 0:33:56.360 going to have an audience with the governor of that city, 0:33:57.000 --> 0:34:00.360 Elimas started trying to interrupt us and distract from g Jesus. 0:34:01.040 --> 0:34:02.760 And just when it looked like we were going to 0:34:02.760 --> 0:34:06.720 make progress with a very important governor, Elimas stood up 0:34:06.720 --> 0:34:09.879 and distracted. And Paul's like, yeah, that guy, he got 0:34:09.880 --> 0:34:12.640 on my nerves. I hate Alimis. If I ever see 0:34:12.640 --> 0:34:15.160 a Limis again, I'm gonna tell him. And Barnabas is like, 0:34:15.160 --> 0:34:17.880 well wait, wait, not, Paul, do you remember what you 0:34:17.880 --> 0:34:21.920 said to him? And Paul's like kind of and Barnabas goes, 0:34:21.960 --> 0:34:23.839 I got it. I got it written right here. Now 0:34:23.840 --> 0:34:26.200 put up acts chapter thirteen, verse eight. Look what happened. 0:34:26.520 --> 0:34:30.399 But Elimas, the Sorcerer, for that is what his name means, 0:34:30.680 --> 0:34:34.960 opposed them and tried to turn the governor from the 0:34:35.000 --> 0:34:38.000 faith he was about to receive Jesus, which would have 0:34:38.040 --> 0:34:41.480 been a major open door for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 0:34:42.040 --> 0:34:45.640 He was a gentile and he was a governor. And remember, 0:34:46.000 --> 0:34:48.560 right on the verge of God doing something amazing in 0:34:48.600 --> 0:34:50.479 your life, right when you are. 0:34:50.440 --> 0:34:52.920 At the threshold of it, right when. 0:34:52.719 --> 0:34:55.240 You are at the doorframe of it, anybody there right now, 0:34:55.640 --> 0:35:00.040 there will be a devil. The devil doesn't mean the 0:35:00.200 --> 0:35:04.319 door wasn't real. The devil doesn't mean God wasn't in it. 0:35:05.200 --> 0:35:07.920 The devil at the door might mean you are headed 0:35:07.960 --> 0:35:10.400 in the right direction and he's trying to get you 0:35:10.480 --> 0:35:18.279 to turn around. And Barnabas says Paul. You looked at 0:35:18.280 --> 0:35:23.040 Elimas and I quote verse nine and told him, well, 0:35:23.320 --> 0:35:28.440 verset in, you aren't chid of the devil and an 0:35:28.640 --> 0:35:31.799 enemy of everything that is right. You are full of 0:35:31.840 --> 0:35:35.080 all kinds of deceit. Will you never stop perverting the 0:35:35.080 --> 0:35:36.880 ways of the Lord. And Paul's like, I said all that. 0:35:37.160 --> 0:35:39.480 He's like, yeah, you said all that. You called him 0:35:39.520 --> 0:35:41.800 a child of the devil. It is kind of mean, Paul, 0:35:41.960 --> 0:35:45.200 but it was the perfect comeback for the situation. Because 0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:48.560 watch what God did in verse eleven. Then suddenly after 0:35:48.600 --> 0:35:52.840 Paul spoke up, Suddenly after Paul confronted the opposition, suddenly 0:35:52.880 --> 0:35:56.200 after Paul refused to let the devil block his door, 0:35:56.640 --> 0:35:59.319 I'm looking for somebody today who refuses to let the 0:35:59.320 --> 0:36:03.320 devil have he said. The hand of the Lord is 0:36:03.360 --> 0:36:05.880 against you. You're gonna be blind for a time, not 0:36:06.040 --> 0:36:07.960 even able to see the light of the sun, and 0:36:08.000 --> 0:36:10.760 immediately missed in darkness came over him, and he groped 0:36:10.760 --> 0:36:13.480 about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. And 0:36:13.480 --> 0:36:16.279 look what happened in verse twelve, Barnabas said, and when 0:36:16.280 --> 0:36:18.920 the pro consul saw what had happened, he believed, for 0:36:19.000 --> 0:36:22.840 he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. So 0:36:24.760 --> 0:36:27.760 maybe when we get to Antioch in a few days, 0:36:28.400 --> 0:36:32.520 we'll tell him about the sorcerer at Cyprus, and we'll 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:35.839 tell him how we faced resistance. But we'll tell him 0:36:35.880 --> 0:36:43.480 that after the resistance came a revelation, after the resistance 0:36:44.560 --> 0:36:48.880 came a revelation. Yeah, Paul said, we're going to tell 0:36:48.920 --> 0:36:52.279 him about the sorcerer, and Barnabas said, yeah, but we 0:36:52.320 --> 0:36:54.239 got to make sure to tell him that if the 0:36:54.320 --> 0:36:57.680 Sorcerer wouldn't have been struck blind, the governor wouldn't have 0:36:57.680 --> 0:37:05.279 seen Jesus. Let me show you the door the resistance. 0:37:06.560 --> 0:37:10.879 What's the starting place of the revelation? Now? What resistance? 0:37:11.040 --> 0:37:12.759 You ok? Being up here with me like that, I 0:37:12.760 --> 0:37:14.480 didn't check. Let you tell me. Tell you didn't get 0:37:14.480 --> 0:37:15.800 to choose what to wear to be on stage and 0:37:15.840 --> 0:37:21.480 nothing like that. But you're doing great. Imagine this that 0:37:21.600 --> 0:37:24.239 the resistance that you're facing in your life right now 0:37:25.280 --> 0:37:27.399 might be the door to a revelation of how great 0:37:27.400 --> 0:37:34.160 God is. Maybe, maybe let me show you the door. 0:37:35.160 --> 0:37:37.120 You want God to take the resistance away while you're 0:37:37.120 --> 0:37:41.200 simultaneously praying for him to make you strong. How will 0:37:41.239 --> 0:37:45.680 he make you strong with no resistance? How will he 0:37:45.760 --> 0:37:47.360 show you who he is if he doesn't let you 0:37:47.400 --> 0:37:54.120 find out who you're not without him? Remember that, Paul, 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:56.120 when you looked at him and said you child of 0:37:56.200 --> 0:38:00.680 the devil? That was the perfect comeback. So when we 0:38:00.719 --> 0:38:04.440 get back and we get to Antioch and we're in 0:38:04.440 --> 0:38:07.000 front of the church council, let's make sure that we 0:38:07.040 --> 0:38:10.360 tell them that there was resistance, but it led to revelation, 0:38:12.120 --> 0:38:15.640 and then and then we should tell them about the 0:38:15.680 --> 0:38:20.080 pettiness in Pasidia. I like to alliterate it because I 0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:23.000 believe Paul would have done that, don't you. And Paul said, 0:38:23.000 --> 0:38:25.040 we got to tell them how when we got to 0:38:25.120 --> 0:38:29.480 Pasidia there was so much pettiness that these Jews who 0:38:29.480 --> 0:38:33.440 were jealous started trying to stir up trouble. And Barnabas 0:38:33.480 --> 0:38:35.480 is like, yeah, but Paul, you handled it, great man. 0:38:38.840 --> 0:38:42.279 You handled that so good when they were trying to 0:38:42.280 --> 0:38:45.000 stir up trouble against you and they rejected you. Do 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:47.839 you remember what you said, Paul? And Paul's like, well, yeah, 0:38:47.920 --> 0:38:51.560 kind of, but tell me about it. And Barnabus goes, oh, yeah, 0:38:51.560 --> 0:38:53.960 well I wrote it down. Look at Acts chapter thirteen, 0:38:54.040 --> 0:38:57.880 verse forty four in this good bed, because I'm trying 0:38:57.920 --> 0:39:00.319 to get you to see that what the devil is 0:39:00.400 --> 0:39:03.239 telling you tells me something about where God is taking you. 0:39:04.600 --> 0:39:06.719 And I want you to get your stack back in 0:39:06.800 --> 0:39:09.720 your hands, and I want you on your three hundred 0:39:09.719 --> 0:39:13.600 mile journey with your Barnabas. Whether the Barnabas is a friend, 0:39:13.840 --> 0:39:16.279 whether the Barnabas is this sermon because you're watching it 0:39:16.320 --> 0:39:19.600 alone on YouTube, Whether the Barnabas is your own spirit 0:39:19.719 --> 0:39:22.719 because you've been consulting. Your flesh too long, and your 0:39:22.760 --> 0:39:26.160 feelings too long, and your past too long. But greater 0:39:26.320 --> 0:39:27.920 is he that is in you than he that is 0:39:27.920 --> 0:39:33.279 in the world. I want you to remember the pettiness 0:39:33.719 --> 0:39:36.480 in Pasidia. We got to Pisidia. We were preaching, man, 0:39:36.800 --> 0:39:40.480 it was amazing. We left the island of Cyprus. We 0:39:40.520 --> 0:39:43.399 got the Pasidia. People were listening Acts Chapter thirteen, verse 0:39:43.440 --> 0:39:46.240 forty four. Please, on the next Sabbath, the whole city 0:39:46.280 --> 0:39:48.200 gathered to hear the word of the Lord. And Paul, 0:39:48.200 --> 0:39:50.480 you were preaching, man, And the Jews saw the crowds, 0:39:50.480 --> 0:39:52.400 and they were filled with jealousy, and they began to 0:39:52.480 --> 0:39:55.280 contradict what you were saying, and they heat the piece 0:39:55.360 --> 0:39:59.200 on you. They said things about you that weren't true. Man, 0:40:00.080 --> 0:40:04.439 this is Barnabas talking. Word to the wives. Let Barnabas talk. 0:40:06.400 --> 0:40:10.280 Let Barnabas talk. Quit listening to the accuser all the time. 0:40:10.560 --> 0:40:14.160 Let Barnabas talk. Let the God who believes in you speak. 0:40:15.120 --> 0:40:17.680 And Paul was having abuse heaped on him, and Paul 0:40:17.719 --> 0:40:20.160 and Barnabas answered him boldly. Now Barnabas got in on 0:40:20.239 --> 0:40:20.600 this too. 0:40:20.920 --> 0:40:23.160 He said, we had to speak the word of God 0:40:23.239 --> 0:40:24.080 to you first. 0:40:23.960 --> 0:40:27.280 Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy 0:40:27.280 --> 0:40:30.719 of eternal life. We now turn to the gentiles. Let 0:40:30.719 --> 0:40:32.799 me ask a question. How many of you are not 0:40:32.920 --> 0:40:36.799 Jewish by birth? Raise your hand. This is how you 0:40:36.840 --> 0:40:44.880 got here. Think about it. They rejected Paul, and because 0:40:45.000 --> 0:40:51.480 they rejected Paul, Paul reached you. So maybe Paul and 0:40:51.520 --> 0:40:54.759 Barnabas decided on that three hundred mile trip back to Antioch. 0:40:55.040 --> 0:40:58.239 When we get there, let's make sure to tell them 0:40:58.440 --> 0:41:04.960 that rejection can become redirection. I thought your neighbor and say, 0:41:05.000 --> 0:41:08.640 they didn't reject me, they redirected me. That was my 0:41:08.760 --> 0:41:12.080 GPS talking. That was God using that to get me 0:41:12.160 --> 0:41:15.120 on a different path, because I would have always stayed 0:41:15.120 --> 0:41:20.440 in that place if I didn't feel a rejection. Paul 0:41:20.520 --> 0:41:23.400 actually turned to the crowd and said, we were preaching 0:41:23.440 --> 0:41:26.440 to you, but now we are turning to the gentiles 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:32.080 because rejection can be redirection. So let's make sure we 0:41:32.160 --> 0:41:36.440 tell them about the pettiness in Pasidia and the sorcerer, 0:41:38.080 --> 0:41:42.840 the sorcerer in Cyprus. But Paul, I also think we 0:41:42.920 --> 0:41:49.319 need to tell him about the lynching. I think we 0:41:49.400 --> 0:41:51.160 need to tell them about the lynching. That you went 0:41:51.200 --> 0:41:57.160 through in Litta, because when they got the little Paul 0:41:57.239 --> 0:41:59.840 was doing miracles. Man, you'll mind if I tell you 0:41:59.840 --> 0:42:03.439 these Bible stories real quick. My barber told me, don't forget. 0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:05.479 The people you're preach into hadn't opened their Bible all week. 0:42:06.480 --> 0:42:08.359 I was like, they open it some. He's like, maybe 0:42:08.400 --> 0:42:10.279 the app but you really need to dig into these 0:42:10.280 --> 0:42:16.279 stories for us now. Yeah, I want you to get 0:42:16.320 --> 0:42:19.359 it because if you don't get this part of it. 0:42:19.400 --> 0:42:21.480 When I read you a verse that says the Devil 0:42:21.560 --> 0:42:24.760 left Jesus or Paul and Barnabas stood up and reported 0:42:24.800 --> 0:42:27.319 how the Lord opened the door, you'll think that the 0:42:27.360 --> 0:42:32.480 door opened without difficulty, and you will be surprised when 0:42:32.560 --> 0:42:35.520 you struggle, and you will think that you are not 0:42:35.600 --> 0:42:39.080 a saint because you struggle, and you may even begin 0:42:39.160 --> 0:42:42.200 to believe the devil that you are not who God 0:42:42.200 --> 0:42:45.040 says you are. And when they got to lit A, 0:42:46.000 --> 0:42:50.400 Paul performed miracles to the extent that one who was 0:42:50.440 --> 0:42:54.400 crippled from birth got up. Now, when he got up, 0:42:54.400 --> 0:42:57.880 the crowd went crazy, as crowds do when people who 0:42:57.920 --> 0:43:03.439 have never walked before start to walk. And they took 0:43:03.440 --> 0:43:06.200 it a little too far. In fact, they started saying, 0:43:07.719 --> 0:43:14.880 Paul and Barnabas are gods. Barnabas is Zeus, Paul is Hermes. 0:43:16.400 --> 0:43:18.920 And Paul's like, no, no, no, no, no, no no no, 0:43:19.680 --> 0:43:21.680 we're servants like you. And they're like, oh, yeah, we 0:43:21.760 --> 0:43:25.400 know who you are. You are Zeus and Hermes. But see, 0:43:25.640 --> 0:43:27.719 other people can't tell you who you are. When you 0:43:27.760 --> 0:43:32.160 know who you are, and when you know who you are, 0:43:32.520 --> 0:43:35.080 you don't get too high and you don't get too 0:43:35.120 --> 0:43:38.359 low because your hope is built on what Jesus says 0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:42.160 about you. So Paul wasn't too swayed by the lows, 0:43:42.719 --> 0:43:45.600 he wasn't too swayed by the highs. He said, we 0:43:45.680 --> 0:43:49.440 are just men. We are servants who have come to 0:43:49.560 --> 0:43:53.000 tell you about Jesus. That's all we are. We are 0:43:53.080 --> 0:43:55.160 just the ones who opened the door. We're not the door. 0:43:56.560 --> 0:43:59.080 And so they started preaching that, and the people were 0:43:59.080 --> 0:44:02.400 going crazy. And then what's what happened? In Acts, chapter fourteen, 0:44:02.719 --> 0:44:07.520 verse nineteen, it says that they stoned Paul. What happened 0:44:07.760 --> 0:44:10.640 Some people came in who were jealous, some people came 0:44:10.680 --> 0:44:14.040 in who were mixed up, and they stoned him and 0:44:14.120 --> 0:44:19.440 dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead and maybe. 0:44:19.480 --> 0:44:22.680 Paul says, we've got to tell them about the lynching 0:44:22.719 --> 0:44:25.919 in Lita, and then Barnabas says, yeah, but we gotta 0:44:26.160 --> 0:44:29.160 make sure we tell them what happened next, Paul, because 0:44:29.200 --> 0:44:32.480 it was amazing, because they stoned you and left you 0:44:32.520 --> 0:44:35.520 for dead, and they turned on you and they condemned you, 0:44:35.760 --> 0:44:38.600 and they accused you, and they buried you, and they 0:44:38.680 --> 0:44:41.680 maligned you, and they hurt you, and it looked like 0:44:41.800 --> 0:44:45.360 it was over. But give me verse twenty. It is written, 0:44:45.400 --> 0:44:49.680 It is written, but after the disciples had gathered around him, 0:44:50.160 --> 0:44:53.920 but after the help came, but after the connection came, 0:44:54.520 --> 0:44:58.440 Paul got up and went back. Now, I don't know 0:44:58.480 --> 0:45:01.279 who needs this in your section. Be a Barnabas for 0:45:01.280 --> 0:45:06.440 five seconds, tell them get up and go back. Come on, 0:45:06.560 --> 0:45:10.040 be my Barnabas for fifteen seconds. Reach three people, say 0:45:10.120 --> 0:45:13.680 get up and go back, Get up and go back, 0:45:14.520 --> 0:45:19.000 Get up and go back. Because the report isn't in 0:45:19.040 --> 0:45:22.400 the rocks they threw at you? Is that who rows 0:45:22.520 --> 0:45:26.320 up after the rock? Ah? God, you see what I'm saying. 0:45:27.000 --> 0:45:29.480 Come on, you might have to be yob for a second, 0:45:30.560 --> 0:45:34.520 but take twenty four sect five seconds and praise. 0:45:34.280 --> 0:45:39.360 God, get your gut up, and you went back. 0:45:42.600 --> 0:45:46.320 I'm going through my list. I'm going through my list. 0:45:47.080 --> 0:45:50.680 High five. Your neighbors said, we got up and we're 0:45:50.719 --> 0:45:55.000 going back. I'm not staying in this place. I'm not 0:45:55.239 --> 0:45:58.680 staying in this place. I'm not staying under these rocks. 0:45:58.960 --> 0:46:00.840 I'm not staying on this debt. 0:46:01.080 --> 0:46:02.320 I'm not staying. 0:46:01.960 --> 0:46:06.240 Under this crippling anxiety. I'm not staying under this bad report. 0:46:06.600 --> 0:46:09.640 I'm not staying under this weight of depression. I'm not 0:46:09.880 --> 0:46:13.360 staying under the same of my past. I'm not staying 0:46:13.440 --> 0:46:20.680 under the written record that was held against me. Y'all, 0:46:20.680 --> 0:46:26.880 Thank God for Abigail Barnabas verdict, and thank God for Jesus, 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:33.960 who is my Barnabas. Thank God for the Greater Wise, 0:46:34.960 --> 0:46:41.400 thank God for the Holy Wife, thank God for the Annointment. 0:46:42.200 --> 0:46:47.360 Thank God said they threw their rocks by you, Rosa 0:46:48.760 --> 0:46:59.120 al Rosa, How rose up? Who feel like breaking today? 0:47:00.480 --> 0:47:06.600 Yeah? How five? Your neighbors say you'll be balmed, I'll 0:47:06.640 --> 0:47:10.040 be barnabus Now encourage. 0:47:09.600 --> 0:47:10.799 Him, saying you can make it. 0:47:11.880 --> 0:47:16.600 You got this. God's with you, you got a grace 0:47:16.680 --> 0:47:20.760 for it, you were made for it, you were porn 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:24.000 for it. You were falling for it, you were filled 0:47:24.040 --> 0:47:29.120 for it. You'll got the holly ghost. I'm trying to 0:47:29.280 --> 0:47:30.240 get to the sea. 0:47:31.200 --> 0:47:32.640 Your door is off us. 0:47:34.000 --> 0:47:34.880 Go through. 0:47:36.360 --> 0:47:45.960 Your door. Fill a Barnabas spear in the house today. 0:47:47.160 --> 0:47:51.440 And verse twenty six, so that's chapter fourteen says that 0:47:51.600 --> 0:47:55.480 on the way from Italia to Antioch, where it all started, 0:47:55.840 --> 0:47:58.240 God said, let's go back to where it all started. 0:47:59.280 --> 0:48:01.480 He who will be a good work in you, will 0:48:01.520 --> 0:48:07.280 be faithful to perform it. If God opened the door, 0:48:07.320 --> 0:48:09.560 he will fill the room when you get in it. 0:48:12.480 --> 0:48:19.640 That's how I know I'm so full of this word. 0:48:20.640 --> 0:48:23.839 I'm so full of this word to help somebody who 0:48:23.840 --> 0:48:28.680 has been hungry in the wilderness for forty days, who 0:48:28.760 --> 0:48:32.920 has been lynched in Lita, who has been stirred up 0:48:33.440 --> 0:48:37.319 in a place called Pasidia, or who has even had 0:48:37.360 --> 0:48:41.360 to deal with a sorcerer in Cyprus. To remind you 0:48:41.480 --> 0:48:44.759 of everything that you went through was the door to 0:48:44.840 --> 0:48:49.560 who God knows you can be and who you can help. 0:48:49.840 --> 0:48:54.279 And by the way, verse twenty seven says something so 0:48:54.560 --> 0:48:58.800 fascinating to me. For our narcissistic culture that always wants 0:48:58.840 --> 0:49:01.759 to know why is the devil doing this to me? 0:49:03.400 --> 0:49:05.840 Or when are people going to do something for me? 0:49:06.400 --> 0:49:09.360 The Bible says Paul and Barnabas got up verse twenty seven, 0:49:09.719 --> 0:49:14.239 and they gathered the church together. That's connection, and they 0:49:14.320 --> 0:49:17.600 reported all that God had done through them. That's credit. 0:49:19.600 --> 0:49:25.040 God did it through you. Given the credit. There's the comeback, 0:49:25.920 --> 0:49:31.880 there's the connection, and there's the credit. Stop giving the 0:49:31.880 --> 0:49:40.560 devil God's credit. What the devil did to us to 0:49:40.560 --> 0:49:43.239 try to destroy us, God turned into a door to 0:49:43.320 --> 0:49:48.799 develop us. Even some of the little things in your 0:49:48.880 --> 0:49:53.400 life that you call coincidence, some of the things that 0:49:53.480 --> 0:49:57.719 you call coincidence, are just things that God did that 0:49:57.800 --> 0:50:02.440 you haven't given him credit for. Yet. The odds that 0:50:02.480 --> 0:50:05.040 you would be here, the odds that you would be you, 0:50:05.280 --> 0:50:08.600 the odds, the odds were against you, But God was 0:50:08.800 --> 0:50:15.880 for you. Give him his credit. He said. God was 0:50:15.960 --> 0:50:20.000 working in the rejection. God was working in the resistance. 0:50:20.239 --> 0:50:23.000 If the sorcerer wouldn't have spoken against us, he wouldn't 0:50:23.000 --> 0:50:23.680 have been blinded. 0:50:23.920 --> 0:50:26.400 If he wouldn't have been blinded, the governor wouldn't have seen. 0:50:27.320 --> 0:50:30.200 If they hadn't rejected us, we would not have redirected 0:50:30.239 --> 0:50:33.799 to the gentiles and this church wouldn't have been here today. 0:50:34.400 --> 0:50:36.680 I'm trying to get you to show the devil the door. 0:50:38.440 --> 0:50:41.400 How do you get him to leave your life? Begin 0:50:41.520 --> 0:50:43.879 to list all the things that God did that you've 0:50:43.880 --> 0:50:49.120 been forgetting about. So when I lift my hands like this, 0:50:50.160 --> 0:50:54.719 I'm not just lifting. I'm listing. One he brought me 0:50:54.840 --> 0:50:57.839 out of bondage. Two he brought me out of sin. 0:50:58.320 --> 0:51:01.719 Three he broke my shame and set me free. For 0:51:02.280 --> 0:51:04.360 he cut my feet on a rock and gave me 0:51:04.440 --> 0:51:07.880 a firm place to stamp. Five he's fuck piece to 0:51:07.960 --> 0:51:11.200 my storm. Now it's your turn. You got a hand. 0:51:11.520 --> 0:51:14.800 What did he do for you? Begin to lift your hands, 0:51:15.360 --> 0:51:20.120 Begin to lift your victories. Begin to report the open door, 0:51:22.200 --> 0:51:28.240 the door he opened, the way he made, the time 0:51:28.360 --> 0:51:40.800 he came through. When the devil shows you your deficiency. 0:51:40.640 --> 0:51:50.680 Showing the door, showing the door, you have the perfect 0:51:51.480 --> 0:51:52.040 come back. 0:51:54.280 --> 0:51:57.120 Jesus said to the devil, away from me. 0:51:58.320 --> 0:52:02.040 He was showing you what to do, and he could 0:52:02.160 --> 0:52:08.840 do this because of who he is, and he's in you. 0:52:09.360 --> 0:52:10.000 He's in you. 0:52:11.360 --> 0:52:15.480 Greater is he that is in me, then he that is. 0:52:15.440 --> 0:52:19.520 In the world. So resistance is a door. Rejection is 0:52:19.560 --> 0:52:22.680 a door. Rocks are a door. I just gotta stop 0:52:24.080 --> 0:52:26.080 and remember who he is. 0:52:27.960 --> 0:52:29.840 Jesus said to Satan away from me. 0:52:30.480 --> 0:52:33.640 You ever wonder why he waited till the third time 0:52:33.640 --> 0:52:37.560 the devil tempted him to send him away. I thought 0:52:37.600 --> 0:52:41.120 about that a lot this week. One, I think he 0:52:41.200 --> 0:52:43.280 was setting an example for us to know that temptation 0:52:43.400 --> 0:52:49.359 isn't something you resist once and you're done with it. Two, 0:52:49.480 --> 0:52:51.160 I think he was doing it to show us the 0:52:51.200 --> 0:52:53.440 three types of temptation we all face. The lust of 0:52:53.480 --> 0:52:56.080 the flesh turned these stones into bread, the lust of 0:52:56.080 --> 0:52:58.799 the eyes throw yourself off, and the pride of life. 0:52:58.800 --> 0:53:00.239 A bow down and worship me and I'll get all 0:53:00.239 --> 0:53:03.839 the kingdoms of the world. But another reason, I think 0:53:03.920 --> 0:53:05.799 is because of what the devil said the third time. 0:53:07.120 --> 0:53:11.279 He said, Jesus, you see all this, and he took 0:53:11.320 --> 0:53:12.759 him to a high place. It says he can see 0:53:12.760 --> 0:53:14.440 all the kingdoms of the world, which lets us know 0:53:14.520 --> 0:53:17.560 that this was not a physical transportation, it was a 0:53:17.600 --> 0:53:20.360 mental one. There's no mountain high enough to show you 0:53:20.440 --> 0:53:22.359 all the kingdoms of the world. So this was all 0:53:22.400 --> 0:53:26.560 happening in Jesus's mind, just like it's all happening in yours, 0:53:28.920 --> 0:53:30.680 And the real challenge is not to get back to 0:53:30.719 --> 0:53:34.759 Antioch physically, it's to get back to your grace. Yes, 0:53:37.400 --> 0:53:43.719 So the devil took him. The devil took him to 0:53:43.800 --> 0:53:49.440 a high place, and he said, all this I'll give you. Now, 0:53:49.480 --> 0:53:53.160 Remember the devil did three things. He led Jesus. I 0:53:53.160 --> 0:53:55.360 don't mean that Jesus was following him. I mean that 0:53:55.400 --> 0:53:59.520 he took him there when translation says he led, and 0:53:59.600 --> 0:54:02.919 then he Now, the first two times the devil quoted 0:54:02.960 --> 0:54:06.520 a scripture at Jesus, but the third time was an 0:54:06.520 --> 0:54:10.799 outright lie. He said, all this I will give you 0:54:10.920 --> 0:54:13.800 verse nine, if you will bow down and worship me. 0:54:15.160 --> 0:54:19.080 And then the devil said leave. He led, he lied, 0:54:19.360 --> 0:54:23.800 and he left. And you say, what was the lie 0:54:24.640 --> 0:54:29.920 in verse nine? The lie is that anybody was worthy 0:54:29.920 --> 0:54:34.160 of worship other than Jesus. So when the devil said 0:54:34.200 --> 0:54:39.160 worship me, Jesus said, get out of here. I'm not 0:54:39.760 --> 0:54:53.080 the worshiper, I'm the worshiped. To said now let me 0:54:53.160 --> 0:54:56.600 show you the door. For those of you who really 0:54:56.640 --> 0:55:00.319 know your Bibles, you will be familiar with John chapter ten, 0:55:00.400 --> 0:55:04.000 Verse ten. The thief comes to kill, still and destroy, 0:55:05.080 --> 0:55:08.120 But I have come that you might have life and 0:55:08.239 --> 0:55:12.080 have it to the full, or King James have it 0:55:12.520 --> 0:55:18.200 more abundantly. Tell the devil get the hints. I have life. 0:55:18.400 --> 0:55:21.480 I have life. This is my life. God gave it 0:55:21.520 --> 0:55:25.440 to me, and I'm gonna live it for him. But 0:55:25.520 --> 0:55:28.959 there's another thing that Jesus said just before he said, 0:55:28.960 --> 0:55:31.080 the thief comes to kill, still and destroy, but I 0:55:31.120 --> 0:55:35.280 have come that you might have life in verse nine 0:55:35.440 --> 0:55:38.720 that I want to show you today where Jesus said, 0:55:39.360 --> 0:55:52.520 I am the door. When the devil shows you your 0:55:52.560 --> 0:56:01.040 failure this week, show him your door. And when oh yeah, 0:56:01.040 --> 0:56:02.880 I'm gonna help you for I get off the stage. 0:56:03.560 --> 0:56:07.320 When he tells you you don't have a right to pray, 0:56:08.280 --> 0:56:12.680 you know how unworthy you are, show him your door. 0:56:14.080 --> 0:56:16.319 Just don't even argue with the devil. Don't tell him 0:56:16.320 --> 0:56:19.080 you're worthy, you're great, you're awesome, because you and I both. 0:56:18.960 --> 0:56:20.640 Know that isn't true. 0:56:20.760 --> 0:56:23.319 You and I both know that at your highest you're 0:56:23.320 --> 0:56:26.400 not God, and at your lowest you're not the devil. 0:56:27.120 --> 0:56:29.160 So when the devil comes to try to rock you 0:56:29.239 --> 0:56:30.960 with that stuff this week and try to get you 0:56:31.000 --> 0:56:34.480 to give up on what God gave you, show him 0:56:35.239 --> 0:56:39.399 your door. Let me show you the door devil. Let 0:56:39.400 --> 0:56:42.960 me remind you what Jesus did for me. Let me 0:56:43.000 --> 0:56:45.839 tell you how he bled for me. Let me tell 0:56:45.880 --> 0:56:48.960 you how he suffered on God at this hill. Let 0:56:49.040 --> 0:56:51.479 me tell you how he sweat with drops of great 0:56:51.560 --> 0:56:55.480 blood until the point where he was in agony, saying, nevertheless, 0:56:55.560 --> 0:56:58.680 not my will, but yours be done. When the devil 0:56:58.760 --> 0:57:02.680 shows you what you're up, I guess show him your door. 0:57:03.239 --> 0:57:09.200 Your door is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, 0:57:10.160 --> 0:57:14.760 and the life. When the devil shows you your disease, 0:57:15.640 --> 0:57:19.360 show in your door, say by his friends, I am here. 0:57:20.600 --> 0:57:29.560 I got a door, And walk the enemy right to 0:57:29.640 --> 0:57:33.640 the cross of Christ in your mind and remind him 0:57:34.040 --> 0:57:38.760 that Jesus is your way to God. Right now in 0:57:38.840 --> 0:57:41.360 his presence. There are at least fifty people in this room, 0:57:41.560 --> 0:57:44.280 and probably hundreds all over the world watching online, who 0:57:44.280 --> 0:57:47.000 need to give your life to Jesus right now, right 0:57:47.040 --> 0:57:49.960 in this moment. Not tomorrow, not when you get your 0:57:50.000 --> 0:57:52.760 stuff together, not when you get your credit score up, 0:57:52.960 --> 0:57:55.200 none of that. Right now you need to come to 0:57:55.240 --> 0:58:01.080 the cross. He is your door. Not by words of 0:58:01.200 --> 0:58:04.080 righteousness so that we can boast, but by grace through faith, 0:58:04.120 --> 0:58:07.200 we are saved. And I want everybody to stand on 0:58:07.240 --> 0:58:10.440 your feet right now as I offer you this invitation 0:58:10.640 --> 0:58:13.919 to come to Jesus, to come to him and live, 0:58:15.480 --> 0:58:18.720 to come to him. All of the accusations, all of 0:58:18.760 --> 0:58:21.280 the sins that you've committed, all of these can be 0:58:21.400 --> 0:58:24.760 forgiven if you place your faith in Jesus. He is 0:58:24.840 --> 0:58:28.640 your door. And right now, in the name of Jesus 0:58:28.680 --> 0:58:32.040 who Paul and Barnabas preached, in the name of Jesus 0:58:32.080 --> 0:58:34.640 who defeated the devil and sin and death and hell 0:58:34.680 --> 0:58:39.080 and the grave, I offer you this abundant life, this 0:58:39.200 --> 0:58:44.080 eternal life, this life that cannot be taken away. 0:58:44.800 --> 0:58:46.600 With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. 0:58:47.560 --> 0:58:49.200 Those of you who are here today and you've been 0:58:49.240 --> 0:58:52.320 captive to the devil to do his will, today is 0:58:52.360 --> 0:58:56.840 your day of liberation. There is therefore now no condemnation 0:58:57.000 --> 0:59:00.240 for those who are in Christ Jesus. And now I'm 0:59:00.240 --> 0:59:02.600 going to lead you in a prayer. This prayer is 0:59:02.640 --> 0:59:05.440 for those who are coming to Jesus. Enough of what 0:59:05.480 --> 0:59:08.720 your past says, enough of what your flesh says, enough 0:59:08.720 --> 0:59:10.840 of what your good works can do. None of that 0:59:10.880 --> 0:59:14.120 can say. If you come to Jesus, he will pardon. 0:59:14.240 --> 0:59:17.800 Come to Jesus, he is merciful. Come to Jesus, he 0:59:17.960 --> 0:59:21.479 is flowing with forgiveness. And right now, if you pray 0:59:21.520 --> 0:59:23.320 this prayer in your heart, the Bible says that if 0:59:23.320 --> 0:59:25.720 you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and 0:59:25.760 --> 0:59:27.880 believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, 0:59:28.240 --> 0:59:32.280 you will be saved. With head's bowed and eyes closed. 0:59:32.280 --> 0:59:35.600 At every location, we're praying out loud together as a 0:59:35.680 --> 0:59:38.400 church family for the benefit of those who are coming 0:59:38.440 --> 0:59:42.320 to God or coming back to God. This is your 0:59:42.400 --> 0:59:47.960 comeback moment. This is your comeback Sunday. Now repeat after me. 0:59:48.000 --> 0:59:50.920 If God is speaking to you out loud, heavenly fathered. 0:59:51.960 --> 0:59:55.200 Today is my day of salvation. 0:59:56.280 --> 1:00:02.440 I believe that Jesus Christ is your son, and today 1:00:03.280 --> 1:00:07.680 I make Jesus the Lord and savior of my life. 1:00:08.640 --> 1:00:12.760 I believe he died that I would be forgiven and 1:00:12.880 --> 1:00:16.000 rose again to give me life. 1:00:16.480 --> 1:00:19.240 I receive this new life. 1:00:19.520 --> 1:00:21.560 This is my new beginning. 1:00:22.400 --> 1:00:24.360 I am a child of God. 1:00:24.920 --> 1:00:26.600 On the counter of three shoots your hand up. If 1:00:26.600 --> 1:00:29.080 you prayed that one, two, three, shoot him up, shoot 1:00:29.160 --> 1:00:34.800 him up. I knew it. I knew it. God bless him. Amazing. 1:00:36.200 --> 1:00:38.640 Come on, let's put a party atmosphere in the place 1:00:38.680 --> 1:00:42.080 for him. Come on, let's put an angels in heaven. 1:00:42.200 --> 1:00:47.880 Rejoice over one sinner party atmosphere in the place. Glory 1:00:47.960 --> 1:00:56.880 to God. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to 1:00:56.920 --> 1:00:59.720 those of you who give generously to this ministry. Is 1:00:59.720 --> 1:01:02.840 because of you that this ministry is possible. You can 1:01:02.840 --> 1:01:05.720 click the link in the description to give now, or 1:01:05.840 --> 1:01:10.120 visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information and 1:01:10.200 --> 1:01:13.360 if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can 1:01:13.400 --> 1:01:15.840 share it with your friends. You can click the share button, 1:01:15.920 --> 1:01:18.320 take a screenshot and share it on your social stories 1:01:18.360 --> 1:01:21.120 and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. 1:01:21.160 --> 1:01:26.760 God bless you.