SAVE YOUR STRENGTH

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.280 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.760 podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.879 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.480 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.760 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.720 We are very excited about what God is speaking to 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.959 us in this new series. The series is called Gates 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:28.720 of Change, and we started last week just taking responsibility 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.640 for our own relationship with God. And we made a 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.920 decision that we will not be perfect this year, but 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:37.880 we will be present. 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.080 We will be present, and we will show up. 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.280 We will show up for the celebrations and the struggles, 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.040 and we will take our seat in the gate. And 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:51.600 what we're saying is we're going to be where we 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.920 belong this year. And so touch your neighbors, say I'm back. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:03.320 I am back. I'm really excited to share the scripture 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.800 with you today that I ended on from Isaiah twenty 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.920 eight Versus five and six. This is where I stopped 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.280 last week, and I want to pick up your very 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.440 powerful Old Testament prophecy. In that day, the Lord Almighty 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:21.280 will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.480 remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:30.600 justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:35.720 of strength to those who turn back the battle at 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.840 the gate. Only two scriptures, so I like to repeat 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.080 it again, because we have plenty of time in that day. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.640 The Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.400 wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.600 a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.840 a source of strength to those who turn back the 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.280 battle at the gate. Look at your neighbors, say, save 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.200 your strength. I want to speak to you today about 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.400 save your strength for the battles that really matter. To 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.960 have a prioritize life so that you don't waste time 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.079 chasing down stuff that ought to be running from you. 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.200 Just save your energy for your real. 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.320 Life instead of your imaginary battles that you may not 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:21.799 ever even have to fight, but the devil wants to 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:23.440 keep you up all night with so you're sleepy when 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:24.600 you go to work the next morning. 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.720 Save your strength for. 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.840 The relationships that God wants you to invest in, so 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.520 you don't keep going back to people who'll continue to 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.600 abuse you in ways that you should have seen coming. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.640 Save your strength, so you don't. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.120 Do in the flesh what can only be done by might, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.560 empower and the spirit of the Lord. Save your strength. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.080 And some of you are behind. You missed last week, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.480 so I told them, catch everybody up. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:53.560 In ninety seconds. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:55.600 Sit down, let's go to the movies real quick, and 0:02:55.639 --> 0:03:02.840 I'll start this second installment. The greatest trouble in David's 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:08.640 life came when he became passive, or you might say disengaged. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:10.320 I don't think there's ever been a time in the 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.200 world where we've been more engaged on the surface and 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.920 more disengaged in our souls. I'm disengaged, not because I 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.880 don't care, but just because I'm afraid I don't know 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:23.920 if I have what it takes. 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:25.400 David was shaken. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.160 And everything changed for David when he did something so simple. 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:42.320 The King got up, left his chamber and took his 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.840 seat in the gate. 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:52.880 And with the end of becaus, with his accusations and 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.600 his excuses. I want you to look him square in 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.200 the eye before the year even gets started, good and 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:06.840 tell him, devil, this seat is taken. This is the 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.440 place of responsibility. This is the place of owning your story. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.200 But it begins with the decision for you to take 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.880 your place in the game. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:19.960 And we're going to start getting intentional about our thoughts 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.080 so that we win the battle between. 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:25.960 The gates. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.280 I thought i'd started my sermon where I ended it 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:43.359 last time, you know, I thought I would take a 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.840 moment and just illustrate how sometimes where something shows up 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:49.520 is not where it started. 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:50.919 At. 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.200 This sermon that you here today came from a note 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.719 that I made last year, And sometimes where something shows 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:58.400 up is and where it starts. By the time you 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:03.600 hear the sermon, it's already been hopefully in the process 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.480 of me thinking about it for a long time, because 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:08.120 I don't want to just think of something Saturday and 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:14.119 say it on Sunday. I even realized that about about 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:19.920 your life, like you. You showed up today and I'll 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.760 see you, but I don't really see what it took 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.839 for you to get here, or you know, what is 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:26.960 affecting your mind. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.200 As I preach, sometimes people will say that's the best 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.360 sermon you ever preached. I'll say, that's just the best 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:38.760 you ever listened, Wasn't they good? But the sermon starts 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:39.320 before it starts. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.760 I always tell the parking team like, hey, help me 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.200 out when people are coming in. Smile at them, wave 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:45.880 at them, put them in a good mood. It'll make 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.040 my job easier. Because the sermon starts before it starts. 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.559 It starts before it starts, it starts checking in your kids, 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.480 or starts. So make sure make sure that you get 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.680 as good of a start as possible. And this time 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.760 of year, we're so focused on new beginnings. But the 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:02.240 law longer you live, the less you really believe in 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:08.080 new beginnings, and the cliches don't really comfort you in 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.160 the same way or inspire you at the same level anymore. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:20.040 Knew you No, no, I didn't grow three inches Yeah, 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:26.039 see me. You can't really get a new start to 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.960 your story. What you can do is change the ending. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.800 And the only real way for you to affect the ending. 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.159 Is to understand the starting place. 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.400 It is very important that we understand the scripture that 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.159 I read in the context of the times, because there 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.599 would have been an outside gate, the outer wall of 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.679 the city, with a gate for entrance and inner gate 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.400 as a line of defense, and then this space between 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:59.640 the gate where justice was supposed to be served negotiations happened. 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.040 People would buy and sell, and that was the space 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.120 between the gates, where the negotiations of life and the 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:08.760 deliberations took place. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.160 Between the gates. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:16.200 We're talking in this series about that space between the gates, 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:21.960 the realm of your decisions, the realm of your thought process, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.200 the space between what you see with your eyes and 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.480 what you do in your life, what you hear with 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.080 your ears, and how you act when you go home. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.400 That's space. That's where the battle is won and lost. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.000 Now, by the time the battle is one, there has 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.600 already been significant work done. Nobody wins the Olympics at 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:48.080 the race. They won the Olympics in the dark at 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.760 four thirty. Where their success showed up is not where 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.680 their success started. And usually if you see an issue 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.720 in somebody's life, where it showed up is not where 0:07:58.720 --> 0:07:59.200 it started. 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.920 It's the same with victories that it is with defeat. 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.520 I told a story last week about my dad, and 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.200 the reason I like to tell so many stories about 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.240 my dad is because he's not here to correct them. 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:14.600 I can tell him how I want to tell him. 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:16.640 The one I told him about him last week him 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.000 made him sound kind of bad, but I thought I 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:20.800 would tell a good one about him. Now, my dad 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.640 was a good dad, especially if you compare him to 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.320 the standard that he didn't have a dad to show 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:27.680 him how to do it, and he was making it 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.440 up when he was doing it. He was just kind 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.160 of he was winging it. And I have mad respect 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.360 for that, because it's hard enough to be a dad 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:36.160 when you've seen a dad. 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:37.679 But he had to make it up. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.200 And so some of his tactics were not FDA approved. 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.800 Some of his tactics were kind of street tactics. One 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.960 time I told my mom I wanted to kill him. Yeah, 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.120 my finest moment, I'll kill him. 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.240 I want to kill him. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.880 And when he picked me up from school that day 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.280 early dismissed picked me up from school and said he 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.200 had two guns in the back of the truck. I 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:07.360 was going to get one and he was going to 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:08.760 get one because he heard I wanted to kill him 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.800 and if I didn't shoot, he was going to. I mean, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.520 that is not necessarily the type of parenting you hear about. 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.439 I'm focused on the family. But he's done the best 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.520 he could and he didn't actually do it. He let 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:19.040 me cry for ten minutes and think that he was 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.480 going to do it, but I never said it again. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.840 One of his finest moments, though I don't know where 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.080 he got the idea to do this, was when he 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.400 began to talk to me about addiction. He began to 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.920 talk to me about addiction because his father committed suicide 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.720 and had been a very mean drunk. His father's father 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:43.199 had been an alcoholic, and somewhere along the line, he 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.840 made the decision that I can't go back and rewrite 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:52.000 how this story started in our bloodline, but I'm going 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.719 to impart a vision to my son so that he 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.400 might be the one to write a different ending. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.040 You can't create a new beginning, but you can write 0:09:59.040 --> 0:09:59.560 a new ending. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:04.240 That's what I'm trying to say. You can't change who 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.240 wasn't there for you, but you can write a new ending. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.079 And maybe we should start this year not as an 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:15.080 expectation of new beginnings, but new endings that from this 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:19.360 point forward, I said, From this point forward, Paul said, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.280 I pressed toward the mark. This one thing I do 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.440 forgetting what is behind me. There is no strength in 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:25.400 what's behind me. 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.800 I stretched toward what's ahead. I saw my dad. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:31.800 He would pull me aside even from like a really 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:33.400 young age, like I was eight years old, and he 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:35.200 would pull me aside and start talking to me about 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.040 the dangers of alcoholism. Eight years old and he would 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:39.960 tell me my. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:41.520 Dad was a drunk, and his dad was a drunk, 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:42.800 and his dad was drunk. He said, you could be 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:47.800 the first verdict. It wasn't an alcoholic. He put it 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.920 out there like a challenge to me, like you could 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.360 go to the moon. You could be the first verdict. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.360 I kind of liked that. I was only eight. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:58.760 I was, hey, I don't know what he thought the 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.119 kids would bringing to school. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.439 Juice boxes, Like what temptation he thought. I was under. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.839 You could be the first verdict. And it got through 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.640 to me even when I got a little older, I 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:11.679 could be the first verdict. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:13.720 This is not a sermon about don't drink, by the way, Okay, 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.360 I said, I want you to get all nervous like that, 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:16.880 like I'm one of those preachers, because I have noticed 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.160 a lot of the preachers who preach don't drink or 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.960 eighty pounds overweight. So apparently they skipped all the verses 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.200 about gluttony and okay, okay, you didn't come for all 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:27.480 that let's get back to the scripture. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.760 Isaiah said that he will be. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.600 Is anybody leaving, I can't see very well back here, 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.599 I'll still there, okay, okay, a source of strength to 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.680 him who turns back the battle at the gate. In 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:47.360 other words, God will strengthen the will of the one 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:48.520 who makes the decision. 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.360 It stops here. 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.040 I'm taking my place in the gate to say that 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:02.240 I cannot affect how the story started. But my dad said, 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.760 if you really want to be the first verdict to 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.560 beat this, you got to beat it in your blood 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.280 because if you taste it, you're gonna like it. So 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.000 I want to challenge you, just don't ever fight it. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.760 He was trying to get me to see that sometimes 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.760 the best place to fight the battle is before it 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:27.000 ever begins. To draw a line and say, I'm not 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.280 even going there. I'm not even playing with this. This 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.160 is not going to be a part of my children's legacy. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.520 I can't control what it's been until now, but from 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.080 this stay forward. By the grace of God. I am 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.280 a new creation in Christ and I'm gonna beat it 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.480 in the bloodline. I'm gonna make a stand for the 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.440 next generation. There are going to be some changes at 0:12:52.480 --> 0:13:01.560 the gate. The place to beat it it's before it begins, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.360 because if you let it in, you've. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:09.480 Already let it win. It's like this in marriage. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.319 By the time you let resentment in, you've already let bitterness. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:18.680 When it's like this in our thought process, by the 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:23.040 time we let worry in, we've already let anxiety win. 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.319 And this is the year we no longer fight the 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:34.640 devil on his level, because Isaiah said, there is a 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:40.200 strategy you can turn back the battle at the gate. 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.640 It's a powerful thought. Sometimes people make fun of me 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.040 and we go out to eat. They say, oh, yeah, 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:52.560 I forgot you don't drink fine judging. You drink what 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.720 you want to drink. I drink fourteen diet mountain dews today. 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.880 I got no judgment for your liquid consumption. I's got 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.080 a different drug. What I'm saying is, this is a 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.400 decision I made. 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.760 Is a standard that I have said. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.200 And the problem in Isaiah is they is that the 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.600 leaders who should have been setting the standard for the 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.240 people have lowered the standard and let the people vulnerable. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:25.800 This has no relevance to our modern day. Of course, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.440 the Bible is an ancient book. In fact, Isaiah says, 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.920 he gives a picture of it. He says that the 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.840 leaders who are supposed to be sitting in their seat 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.640 of judgment, rendering decisions of virtue and justice. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:43.520 Verse seven. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.200 He says, they stagger from wine and reel from beer, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:50.560 the priest and the prophets. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.400 Wouldn't this make church more interesting? 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:58.000 The priests and the prophets stagger from beer and are 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:00.480 befuddled with wine. Y'all, I have a heart enough time 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.040 making sense when I'm up here sober. Can you imagine 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.680 what I would sound like if I had of you? 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:08.840 He said. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:14.000 They stagger when seeing visions. They cannot see correctly, so 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:21.000 how can they lead correctly? They stumble when rendering decisions. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:23.280 They are the ones who. 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.360 Are supposed to calibrate the calling of. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.120 The nation, and yet they. 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.760 Are so drunk. Maybe it's a metaphor. Maybe it's not 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:35.920 just that they're drunk on alcohol. Maybe they're drunk on pride. 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:42.240 Maybe they're intoxicated with power, maybe a self aggrandizement that 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.960 has caused the leaders of this day to begin to 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.560 weigh self interest in a different scale than the best 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:57.240 interests of the people. And yet Isaiah says something that 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.680 rings true today that God will will be a source 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:06.160 of strength to those who turn back the battle at 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.240 the gate. Notice he says that no matter who sits 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.680 in the gate, God is still the source of strength 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.600 to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:18.920 It would be. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.160 Worth answering the question who is the source of your strength? 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:24.480 If you haven't decided that by now, you need to 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.760 decide it really quickly, because if the source of your 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.120 strength is who you're sitting beside, you will live a 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:37.720 very disappointed life. If the source of your strength is 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:39.800 a number at the bottom of your balance sheet, something 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.640 will hit your life so hard that you can't buy 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.280 your way out of it, and you will find out 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.160 really quickly that net worth is a terrible place to 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:48.080 put your sense of self value. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.600 If the source of your strength is. 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:52.920 How people look at you, or treat you, or think 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.920 about you. If the source of your strength on any 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.480 given day is the condition of your health, you will 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.280 always be susceptible to them. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:02.720 And so Isaiah says he. 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.560 Will be a spirit of justice to the one who 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.280 sits in judgment and the source of strength to those 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:11.080 who turn back the battle at the gate. To make 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.479 God the source of your strength means that you depend 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.560 on Him. As one Psalmas said, you lift your eyes 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:18.680 to the hills. From whence cometh your help. Your help 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:20.640 cometh from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:22.360 And he will not suffer your foot to be moved. 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.720 The Lord which keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.679 The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:28.760 upon your right hand. And that someone not smite thee 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.160 by day, nor the moon by night. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.400 He will preserve your soul even forevermore. 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.879 To know that all your help comes from God, that 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.760 all your hope is in Jesus, That all of your 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.399 help comes not from the right, not from the left, 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.240 not from the north, not from the south, not from 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.399 the economy, not from the job touch. Somebody say not you, 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.840 God is my source. Now, go ahead and clap right now. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.640 If you know God's got your back. In fact, stand 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.280 up on your feet and shout about it. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:58.280 If God is. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.920 Your source in every of your life, ain't every famine. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:12.080 I have a friend named Jesus. He is my source. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.679 I am so tempted to preach on this part of 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:18.680 the verse that. 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:20.719 I almost forgot what came before it. 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.520 Isaiah said in that day, the Lord Almighty will be 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.520 a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:29.200 his people. 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.440 Now, what is a wreath and what is a remnant 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:32.840 besides a Christmas decoration. 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:37.920 A wreath symbolizes victory, and he is preaching victory to 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:43.040 people who are about to experience defeat. He's preaching, of course, 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:47.320 about the impending Assyrian evasion to the to the northern 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:49.960 territory of Samaria, the crown jewel of the Northern Kingdom 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:51.679 of Israel set on a Ferraile valley. 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:56.560 He's speaking to them about their their potential, and. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.679 He's telling them how their protection is gone, and so 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:00.440 now they're. 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.760 Going to face a season of defeat. And in the. 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.240 Same breath that he promises to be a source of strength, 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.040 he warns them of a coming defeat. But yet he 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.800 speaks about victory in the context of defeat. He says, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.280 in that day, the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.840 a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. God 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.480 said he will be a wreath for the remnant. The 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:28.320 wreath symbolizes victory. The remnant represents what's left. God always 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.600 has a remnant, no matter what you've lost in your 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.840 life or who walked away from you, God always leaves 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.760 a remnant. No matter how wicked this world gets or 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.520 how dark the times that we live in may seem 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.800 to be. God always has a remnant in every office. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.000 God has a remnant in every church. God has a 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.680 remnant in every city, and every generation. God has a remnant. 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:52.480 God always has a remnant. There's always a little bit 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:54.000 of oil in the house, even if you feel like 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.440 you're starving to death. God always has a remnant. There's 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.159 always a little boy with a lunch. If you call 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:00.480 him for it and put it in the hands of 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.840 the Master, it will multiply. Because God always has a remnant. 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.280 No matter how many leave Gideon, there will always be 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.520 three hundred, and God is able to win with the remnant. 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.399 God said, I'm gonna bless what's left. I will not 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.560 be limited by what you lost. I will be a 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.880 wreath for the remnant. I'm gonna bless what's left. I'm 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:26.560 gonna bless what's left. Stop weeping over what's lost. I'm 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.080 gonna bless what's left. I want you to shout right 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:31.919 now over what you've gotten left. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:34.720 I want you to shout right now over. 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.639 The gift you have, the strength you have, the friends 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.040 you have, the opportunities you have, the time you have. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:44.320 God said, I'm gonna bless what you got left. If 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.160 you will not stay stuck in what walked away, I'm 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.159 gonna bless what you got left. You can win with 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:51.720 what you got left. 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.200 Feel like preaching. I feel like preaching to the remnant. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.200 Where's the remnant at where are the ones who went 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:01.680 through the. 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:13.760 Fire and came out of bound And to bless what's left. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:20.040 No matter what happens at the leadership level, I'm looking 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.280 for someone who will turn back the battle at the gate. 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.159 And in that day the Lord Almighty will be a 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.280 glorious crown of beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:32.040 And then he mentions two different spirits. Watch this in 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:36.040 verse six. Can we study the Bible. He will be 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.640 a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:44.159 that's the first one, and a source of strength to 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:49.239 those who turned back the battle at the gate. So 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.040 you've got the spirit of justice to the one who 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.520 sits in judgment and the source of strength to those 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:59.320 who turned back the battle at the gate. Study that 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:00.960 text all week, and I thought I was talking about 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.159 two different things. But the more I read it, the 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.520 more I realized that this is two functions of the 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:08.199 same spirit. 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.200 He will be a spirit of justice. 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.840 To the one who sits in judgment, a source of 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.280 strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.639 The first part of the verse is about standards. He 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:27.399 will be a spirit of justice. He will decide what 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:30.560 is wrong and right to the one who sits in judgment. 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:33.440 He will be a spirit of justice and a source 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:35.679 of strength to the one who turns back the battle 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.159 at the gate. So the same God that is the 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:42.680 source of our strength is to also be the source 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.120 of our standards. And here's the question that I came 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:51.680 to ask today. How can I expect God's strength if 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:54.359 I do not embrace God's standards. 0:22:56.800 --> 0:23:02.800 I'm about to throw this my brother. See how can 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:04.960 I How can I call God. 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:09.000 The source of my strength if I have not made 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:11.240 him the source of my standards. 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:13.080 He will be a. 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:16.560 Spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment. Now, 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:19.439 if I have let that seat open, and I have 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:26.680 left culture to tell me what's right and wrong, how 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:29.840 can I look to culture for my standards and. 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:31.480 Then look to God for my strength. 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:37.520 How can I look for the world to tell me 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:40.879 how to live and then expect God to give me 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:42.720 strength for a standard. 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:43.080 That was not his? 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:49.840 How can I call God the source of my strength 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:52.800 if he is not the source of my standards? How 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:56.240 can I expect his strength and resist his standards? 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:02.760 It's good right. That's why I feel weak. 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:06.879 Sometimes because I'm asking God to strengthen me. But I 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:11.600 have given away my strength because I have lowered my standard. 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:15.480 And then the enemy comes in like a flood, but 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:26.159 I don't have a standard. Then I ask God to 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:29.200 give me joy, you know, and your present folds the joy. 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:29.520 Joy. 0:24:29.560 --> 0:24:32.159 The Lord is my strength, and I want his strength. 0:24:32.160 --> 0:24:35.760 I want his joy. But if I have not applied 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:40.280 his standard to my thought life, and I let my 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:44.119 mind think whatever it wants to think, and I go 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:46.760 to God for strength, but I did not go to 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:50.639 him for standards. I am asking him to violate the 0:24:50.760 --> 0:24:54.639 very nature of our relationship. How can he be the 0:24:54.680 --> 0:24:56.560 source of my strength if I won't let him be 0:24:56.640 --> 0:24:57.919 the source of my standards? 0:25:01.080 --> 0:25:09.480 Who set your standards? Who set your standards? Was it was. 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:12.320 It God that set your standards? I was talking to 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:15.320 one guy the other day. It became very apparent to 0:25:15.359 --> 0:25:18.840 me pretty quickly that he sets his own standards for 0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:22.440 right and wrong. And I admire him for that because 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:25.680 I don't trust myself that much. I mean, he must 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:29.400 be really perfect to have his own standard for right 0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:29.680 and wrong. 0:25:29.720 --> 0:25:30.560 See, I need a God. 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:35.080 I need a God who's bigger than me, wiser than me, 0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:38.440 who's been around longer than me. I need a God 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:40.880 who can see around the next corner and know how 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:44.000 this decision is going to affect my destiny. 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:48.080 I don't want to occupy that seat. I need a God. 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:51.280 And sometimes we're so crazy as Christians. 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:53.639 We will allow the world to set. 0:25:53.400 --> 0:25:57.000 Our standards as a church and tell us what the 0:25:57.119 --> 0:26:00.119 church ought to be and not be, and put us 0:26:00.119 --> 0:26:03.720 in a box and call us by a denomination. But 0:26:03.800 --> 0:26:06.919 I will not be standardized by a dysfunctional world. 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:12.040 I have a higher standard. We are chosen people, a 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:16.040 royal priesthood, a holy nation, to declare. 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:18.680 The prices of Him who called us out of darkness. 0:26:20.800 --> 0:26:26.240 Well like preaching, I'm preaching like this might. 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:38.840 Be my last time. Why you preached so hard? One 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:40.840 of my friends said, you know you preach too hard. 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:43.480 He said, it hollered too much. 0:26:43.520 --> 0:26:45.800 And then he said, you know, you could take a 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:48.520 little bit extra time and for yourself and not prepare 0:26:48.600 --> 0:26:56.879 so hard, and people wouldn't even know the difference. I 0:26:56.880 --> 0:27:02.199 shouldn't tell you. He was a pastor to see what 0:27:02.200 --> 0:27:07.159 happens when leaders lower the standard. Because, to be honest 0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:13.120 with you, I don't preach to your standard. The only 0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:15.440 question I had when I get done with this sermon 0:27:16.600 --> 0:27:20.199 is God, did I get it right? And if I 0:27:20.240 --> 0:27:24.960 got it right, I don't care how many likes, clicks, shares, downloads. 0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:27.639 I don't care who gets up and walks out in 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:29.800 the middle of it because I made them uncomfortable or they. 0:27:29.680 --> 0:27:32.280 Wanted to watch a football game. I don't care if 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:35.360 they laugh, stand up and clap. I'm not preaching for the. 0:27:42.760 --> 0:27:44.879 One preacher one time said, I don't preach for the 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:45.479 praise of men. 0:27:45.560 --> 0:27:54.800 Amen. Amen, Who set your standard? Have you even thought 0:27:54.800 --> 0:27:56.280 about it? Or do you just inherited? 0:27:57.480 --> 0:28:01.000 Who set your standard? You look into celebrit for your standard? 0:28:01.160 --> 0:28:09.200 Really them the ones who are so miserable they can 0:28:09.240 --> 0:28:10.879 only be happy when they have attention. 0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:22.480 Really, that's your standard. Who set your standard? 0:28:22.960 --> 0:28:25.840 Who set your standard of what you will and will 0:28:25.880 --> 0:28:26.560 not listen to. 0:28:28.000 --> 0:28:29.080 Who set your standard? 0:28:29.800 --> 0:28:32.440 Oh you think you're better than us, That's what they'll 0:28:32.440 --> 0:28:34.119 say when you start living with standards. 0:28:34.920 --> 0:28:36.520 Oh you think you're better than us. 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:39.680 No, it's just that I know how much I need 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:42.200 a source that is not me, because I. 0:28:42.160 --> 0:28:46.160 Am weak without him. In fact, I'm nothing without him. 0:28:46.200 --> 0:28:47.120 So excuse me. 0:28:47.440 --> 0:28:50.040 But the battle that I'm in is too real for 0:28:50.080 --> 0:28:53.680 me to play around and live my life with exposed. 0:28:53.160 --> 0:28:56.080 Places and low standards. So I gotta get this right 0:28:56.120 --> 0:29:03.080 this year. I like that. I like that boy right there. 0:29:03.400 --> 0:29:07.160 He looks like a teenager with standards, right sitting there, 0:29:07.240 --> 0:29:10.760 leaning in in church. Some kids would be texting in church, 0:29:11.080 --> 0:29:14.400 but not you. You look like you want something from God. Boy, 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:17.000 you look like you got a mission. You look like 0:29:17.120 --> 0:29:20.000 God might use you. Don't you lift down to the 0:29:20.120 --> 0:29:23.400 level of your friends. Your friends don't know anything yet 0:29:23.720 --> 0:29:26.760 God has taking you places. Stand up on your feet 0:29:26.840 --> 0:29:30.800 right now, Yeah, you stand up right now. Raise the standard, 0:29:30.840 --> 0:29:33.920 don't lower it. We you'll show up at school. God 0:29:34.000 --> 0:29:37.000 walks through the halls. We you'll show up at school. 0:29:37.240 --> 0:29:47.480 The pleasures of God moved. Raise the standard. 0:29:52.080 --> 0:29:54.640 You're really gonna let your unmarried friends tell you how 0:29:54.680 --> 0:29:57.200 to do your marriage. 0:29:59.200 --> 0:30:02.040 I tell you I had a wife, I wouldn't. Uh huh, 0:30:02.080 --> 0:30:03.920 you said. All I needed to hear in that. 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:09.040 If I had a wife hard, if I wanted what 0:30:09.160 --> 0:30:10.440 you had, i'd do what you're doing. 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:11.680 But I want something better. 0:30:22.520 --> 0:30:29.560 It's your standard. Sometimes our standards need to be lowered. Yeah, yeah, no, 0:30:29.680 --> 0:30:31.840 sometimes they do because sometimes it takes too much to 0:30:31.840 --> 0:30:36.200 make us happy. Who set the standard for what it 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:39.840 takes to make you happy? Who set the standard for 0:30:39.920 --> 0:30:44.560 what it takes to have a good day. I'm bad 0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:47.680 about this one bad meeting and I had a bad day. 0:30:47.720 --> 0:30:50.280 No, no, no, It's like that old man told me 0:30:50.280 --> 0:30:52.080 that time. I said how you doing? He said, I'm alive. 0:30:52.640 --> 0:30:55.480 I thought, well, you didn't answer me, and then I realized, 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:57.000 yes he did, because for him. 0:30:57.000 --> 0:31:07.320 To be alive, he woke up. It's a good day. 0:31:08.040 --> 0:31:12.720 He woke up, it's a good day. We'll set your standards. 0:31:14.800 --> 0:31:16.640 I mean, when did we come to the point when 0:31:16.720 --> 0:31:23.000 kids had to watch a movie in the car. 0:31:24.440 --> 0:31:25.280 Trip to Target. 0:31:25.520 --> 0:31:28.280 I used to have to dry ride four hours with 0:31:28.400 --> 0:31:32.080 a crayon and a book, and now you need alsa 0:31:32.680 --> 0:31:34.040 to get the Harris Theater. 0:31:34.680 --> 0:31:37.600 Don't set their standard. Do we all to mine? 0:31:44.720 --> 0:31:44.760 Do? 0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:47.960 What time I was complaining? I preached on a Saturday night. 0:31:48.640 --> 0:31:52.200 My friend came. He's on staff at another church, and I. 0:31:52.160 --> 0:31:54.280 Was apologizing to him because the crowd was a little 0:31:54.320 --> 0:31:57.880 down because I was used to being packed out an 0:31:57.880 --> 0:32:01.320 elevation on Saturday night. I said, I'm sorry, man, it 0:32:01.400 --> 0:32:04.160 was kind of it was kind of down today. 0:32:04.320 --> 0:32:07.680 He said, your down day would be my revival. 0:32:15.600 --> 0:32:20.440 I needed that because sometimes you let your standard get 0:32:20.440 --> 0:32:23.120 out of control. Sometimes as the church, we want to 0:32:23.120 --> 0:32:25.040 put a standard on the world that we ourselves don't 0:32:25.040 --> 0:32:31.280 even exemplify. We can't even figure out racial reconciliation within 0:32:31.320 --> 0:32:33.320 the context of the community of faith, but then we 0:32:33.360 --> 0:32:34.720 want to judge it when it's in the world. 0:32:38.240 --> 0:32:42.280 But God's got a remnant. God always has a remnant. 0:32:42.280 --> 0:32:44.720 I believe God is raising up Elevation Church as a 0:32:44.760 --> 0:32:50.719 remnant in this day to raise the standard of what 0:32:50.840 --> 0:32:54.280 church can be and how broad this message really is. 0:32:55.920 --> 0:32:59.200 We're here to raise the standard. I wonder who set 0:32:59.240 --> 0:33:03.440 your standards? See, how can you expect God to be 0:33:03.560 --> 0:33:09.600 your strength if he didn't set your standards? How can 0:33:09.640 --> 0:33:13.400 I expect success if I don't have a standard of excellence. 0:33:16.000 --> 0:33:18.360 If I have not established a standard of excellence in 0:33:18.400 --> 0:33:19.240 my life. 0:33:19.320 --> 0:33:22.840 Why would I expect God to bless my blemished offerings. 0:33:25.320 --> 0:33:26.880 You could take a little time off your sermons, you 0:33:26.920 --> 0:33:28.880 know nobody would notice. But why would I ask God 0:33:28.880 --> 0:33:34.120 to bless something that my whole heart wasn't in. It's 0:33:34.160 --> 0:33:37.760 hard to preach this in church because in church people 0:33:37.800 --> 0:33:39.880 think that if it's for God, it doesn't have to 0:33:39.880 --> 0:33:45.440 be good. Church can become a place where we just 0:33:45.480 --> 0:33:49.040 bring God any old thing. We show up on time 0:33:49.040 --> 0:33:51.560 for something we buy a ticket for, but we thirty 0:33:51.560 --> 0:33:53.440 five minutes late to get to church, and it doesn't 0:33:53.440 --> 0:33:56.520 matter because it's like the preliminary stuff or something like that. 0:33:56.680 --> 0:33:59.040 Just bring God any old thing and listen. I am 0:33:59.040 --> 0:34:02.800 not talking about God's standards so that you'll earn his love. 0:34:04.000 --> 0:34:07.040 This is not about keeping rules so that God will 0:34:07.040 --> 0:34:07.440 love you. 0:34:08.200 --> 0:34:10.320 It's because living right, because He does. 0:34:16.760 --> 0:34:20.120 Not living up to a standard, but living out of 0:34:20.160 --> 0:34:23.160 a standard. Christ in you the Hope of Glory, or 0:34:23.200 --> 0:34:26.400 as Romans says, that the righteous requirements of the law 0:34:26.680 --> 0:34:29.640 might be fully met in us who. 0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:31.240 Walk not after the flesh but the spirit. 0:34:32.239 --> 0:34:34.840 For years, I read it that the righteous requirements of the. 0:34:34.880 --> 0:34:36.200 Law might be met by us. 0:34:37.080 --> 0:34:39.480 Now I realize it's not something God wants from me, 0:34:39.520 --> 0:34:42.440 as something that he wants for me. He has given 0:34:42.440 --> 0:34:45.359 me a standard. He has called me his child, and 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:47.839 to live beneath that is to be like Eve and 0:34:47.880 --> 0:34:50.080 to speak to something that you should be stepping on. 0:34:56.280 --> 0:35:00.759 But a lot of times we have an expectation with 0:35:00.840 --> 0:35:05.280 no standard. A standard of excellence means doing the best 0:35:05.520 --> 0:35:09.239 with what you have. And until I've done the best 0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:11.640 with what I have, I don't feel like I should 0:35:11.680 --> 0:35:13.160 ask God to do what he can do if I 0:35:13.160 --> 0:35:19.120 haven't done what I can do. And you run into 0:35:19.120 --> 0:35:21.520 all kinds of problems with this, you know, even from 0:35:21.560 --> 0:35:24.480 early in the church. Early in the church, I wanted 0:35:24.480 --> 0:35:27.040 to have a standard, you know, and we didn't have money, 0:35:27.040 --> 0:35:29.880 but I wanted a standard. And we didn't have equipment, 0:35:29.920 --> 0:35:32.200 but I wanted a standard. So I was the worship 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:35.799 leader when we started. The standard was way lower than 0:35:35.840 --> 0:35:36.440 it is now. 0:35:37.400 --> 0:35:39.400 I got in at a good time. Okay, I was 0:35:39.440 --> 0:35:41.000 the only one available, and. 0:35:42.760 --> 0:35:46.160 So so I had to organize the band, and I 0:35:46.200 --> 0:35:49.960 bought in this guitar player for one of our first rehearsals, 0:35:50.239 --> 0:35:52.560 and he came in and he didn't practice. 0:35:52.600 --> 0:35:54.880 He said, I got busy this week. I didn't practice 0:35:54.880 --> 0:35:58.040 this week. But I'm good, so I let him practice 0:35:58.440 --> 0:35:58.959 with us. 0:35:59.239 --> 0:36:01.480 Then after practice I pulled him aside because I didn't 0:36:01.480 --> 0:36:03.880 want embarrassing. I said, hey, man, we won't be needing 0:36:03.880 --> 0:36:05.560 you Sunday because you didn't practice. 0:36:06.840 --> 0:36:08.800 He said, really, He said. 0:36:08.680 --> 0:36:10.080 You're going to kick me out the church because I 0:36:10.080 --> 0:36:10.600 didn't practice. 0:36:10.600 --> 0:36:11.600 I said, no, you can come to church. 0:36:11.640 --> 0:36:13.480 You just can't come with a guitar on and standing 0:36:13.520 --> 0:36:14.560 on the stage. 0:36:15.239 --> 0:36:16.359 You come to church all you want. 0:36:16.360 --> 0:36:19.319 I said, you see the chant playing, and I gave 0:36:19.360 --> 0:36:23.160 him a fifty dollars gas card. I said, here you go, man, 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:28.120 and but but you're not playing. He said, your standards 0:36:28.120 --> 0:36:33.399 are too high. Nobody. He said, nobody's going to want 0:36:33.400 --> 0:36:36.160 to be a part of this ministry because the standards 0:36:36.160 --> 0:36:39.239 are too high. And he was right, nobody. This whole 0:36:39.239 --> 0:36:46.279 thing just I heard a story. Listen. I heard a 0:36:46.280 --> 0:36:48.879 story last night from an e group in our church. 0:36:49.400 --> 0:36:51.160 The couple that came a couple of years ago. They 0:36:51.160 --> 0:36:52.839 were sharing their story how they got here. They said, 0:36:52.880 --> 0:36:55.400 we hated it when we first came, and I was 0:36:55.440 --> 0:36:58.359 waiting for the for the twist, you know, because you're 0:36:58.360 --> 0:37:01.440 here now and you came years ago, they said. We 0:37:01.520 --> 0:37:03.680 came in and somebody at the door said we couldn't 0:37:03.680 --> 0:37:07.600 bring our Starbucks in church, and we had just spent 0:37:07.680 --> 0:37:12.120 five dollars each on our Starbucks. And I sat through 0:37:12.160 --> 0:37:16.359 the first part of the sermon all mad about my Starbucks. 0:37:17.920 --> 0:37:20.160 But then in the middle of the sermon, I started crying. 0:37:20.480 --> 0:37:22.920 And then when we left the church, we were getting 0:37:22.920 --> 0:37:27.600 in our car and somebody chased us down. The same 0:37:27.640 --> 0:37:29.799 person that told us we couldn't have our Starbucks in 0:37:29.880 --> 0:37:33.279 church said, while you were in service, we went and 0:37:33.320 --> 0:37:36.080 got you a Starbucks gift card and chased them down 0:37:36.320 --> 0:37:45.040 with a Starbucks gift card. And it wasn't even my 0:37:45.120 --> 0:37:49.719 sermon that wanted to Christ. It was Starbucks. But it 0:37:49.760 --> 0:37:52.600 was a standard. See, because I feel like, why should 0:37:52.600 --> 0:37:55.799 I ask people to tithe to this ministry and then 0:37:55.840 --> 0:37:58.600 have lazy staff members who don't even want to practice. 0:37:58.840 --> 0:38:01.239 Why should I expect you to invite your friends to 0:38:01.360 --> 0:38:04.560 church and not have a standard of excellence on this stage. 0:38:04.800 --> 0:38:07.640 Why should I expect God to bless something that I 0:38:07.680 --> 0:38:11.000 am not invested in? Why should we expect God to 0:38:11.360 --> 0:38:15.120 bless our lives with success when we have not established 0:38:15.160 --> 0:38:18.920 a standard of excellence. This is my year to bring 0:38:18.960 --> 0:38:21.880 my best to God, to bring him a worthy offering. 0:38:22.200 --> 0:38:24.880 I will not offer the Lord that which cost me nothing. 0:38:29.680 --> 0:38:30.239 How can I. 0:38:30.200 --> 0:38:33.719 Expect God to bless me with success when I have 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:37.520 no standard of excellence? How can I expect God to 0:38:37.560 --> 0:38:40.520 bless me with abundance when I have no standard of stewardship. 0:38:42.000 --> 0:38:44.840 The standard comes before the strength. He will be a 0:38:44.840 --> 0:38:47.120 spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, 0:38:47.440 --> 0:38:49.359 and a source of strength to him who turns back 0:38:49.360 --> 0:38:52.320 to battle at the gate. The standard, then the strength, 0:38:52.600 --> 0:38:55.600 The standard then the strength. So if I want God 0:38:55.640 --> 0:38:58.240 to be my provider, I have to make a plan. 0:38:58.560 --> 0:39:01.239 Why would God give me prove if I don't have 0:39:01.280 --> 0:39:04.080 a plan for it? Why would God bless me with 0:39:04.200 --> 0:39:07.000 more when I'm not even generous with what I have? 0:39:07.560 --> 0:39:11.040 Why would he pour out of his resources into closed hands. 0:39:11.400 --> 0:39:16.520 I need a standard. That's why I give the first 0:39:16.560 --> 0:39:20.440 ten percent to God. That's my standard. He's first. This 0:39:20.600 --> 0:39:24.799 is off limits. It's not for negotiation. This is my standard. 0:39:25.000 --> 0:39:30.919 God comes first. Your children shouldn't even have to ask 0:39:31.000 --> 0:39:34.320 you are we going to church this week? Unless you 0:39:34.400 --> 0:39:41.080 got the flu. Of course we're going to church. It's 0:39:41.120 --> 0:39:46.200 our standard. I don't care who's playing. It's our standard. 0:39:46.480 --> 0:39:50.200 I don't care who's preaching. It's our standard. I don't 0:39:50.239 --> 0:39:53.320 care how bad the parking lot is. It's our standard. 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:57.720 That God is working, I'll sit in traffic. 0:39:57.800 --> 0:40:04.239 He's God. I got standards. 0:40:05.640 --> 0:40:09.040 I got standards, see, and that's where my. 0:40:09.040 --> 0:40:10.600 Strength comes from. My standards. 0:40:10.880 --> 0:40:13.520 I don't have to waste time making decisions about standards 0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:16.719 that I should have said a long time ago. I 0:40:16.760 --> 0:40:20.759 don't have to negotiate between the gates. I have standards. 0:40:22.080 --> 0:40:26.200 How can I expect God to give me stability if 0:40:26.200 --> 0:40:30.480 I don't have a standard of integrity. A lot of 0:40:30.480 --> 0:40:33.880 times we ask God to help us feel better. Sometimes 0:40:33.880 --> 0:40:35.560 we're not going to feel better until we do better. 0:40:41.560 --> 0:40:43.760 And when you're managing secrets that you won't bring before 0:40:43.800 --> 0:40:45.600 God and confess to him so that he can begin 0:40:45.640 --> 0:40:49.040 the process of healing, you will always feel off inside. 0:40:50.440 --> 0:40:52.879 God can't be the source of your strength if he's 0:40:52.960 --> 0:40:55.960 not the source of your standards. How can I expect 0:40:55.960 --> 0:40:58.080 God to give me influence if I will not embrace 0:40:58.080 --> 0:41:05.799 the standard of sacrifice that influence for I want the influence, 0:41:07.480 --> 0:41:10.919 not the sacrifice. I want the resurrection, but not the crucifixion. 0:41:14.520 --> 0:41:15.560 We'll sell your standards. 0:41:17.280 --> 0:41:19.400 How can I expect to live in freedom if I 0:41:19.440 --> 0:41:24.319 do not embrace God's standard of forgiveness. If I hold 0:41:24.320 --> 0:41:26.319 on to every offense and let it all in the gate, 0:41:27.200 --> 0:41:30.720 don't turn back to battle. If I'm looking for reasons 0:41:30.760 --> 0:41:35.040 to be offended, looking for reasons to be angry, I 0:41:35.080 --> 0:41:37.440 should not be surprised when I find myself in a 0:41:37.440 --> 0:41:41.200 low emotional state. How can I be free from what 0:41:41.280 --> 0:41:46.759 I let walk right through my front door? How can 0:41:46.800 --> 0:41:50.200 I expect to walk in freedom if I have not 0:41:50.360 --> 0:41:56.719 chosen to walk in forgiveness. It is the standard of 0:41:56.760 --> 0:41:59.440 forgiveness that enables me to live in freedom. 0:41:59.480 --> 0:42:04.560 I don't forget you for you. I forgive you because 0:42:05.239 --> 0:42:07.200 I want to be free. 0:42:09.719 --> 0:42:14.719 How can I expect God's peace in my life if 0:42:14.760 --> 0:42:20.160 I don't control my meditation? How can I receive strength 0:42:20.160 --> 0:42:21.319 that God is trying to give me? 0:42:21.360 --> 0:42:22.600 If I just let any thought in? 0:42:24.520 --> 0:42:27.200 How can I expect to live in a state of 0:42:27.400 --> 0:42:30.719 joyful celebration of my progress If I allow myself to 0:42:30.760 --> 0:42:37.480 constantly complain, and sometimes I'm complaining or criticizing, I can 0:42:37.520 --> 0:42:40.680 be real critical because I got that excellence thing. And 0:42:40.719 --> 0:42:45.080 the flip side of excellence is judgmental when I try 0:42:45.080 --> 0:42:48.920 to put my standard on you, which is always wrong, 0:42:50.160 --> 0:42:54.000 which is always wrong. And so now I've opened my mouth, 0:42:54.040 --> 0:42:55.840 and I thought I was complaining or I thought I 0:42:55.920 --> 0:42:59.640 was criticizing, and I told myself, I'm just letting it out. No, 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:04.520 I'm letting it in. I left my gate wide open 0:43:05.239 --> 0:43:08.399 to the enemy because I have no standard. But when 0:43:08.440 --> 0:43:11.480 I set a standard for my speech and my thoughts, 0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:15.240 I turned back the battle at the gate. And now 0:43:15.440 --> 0:43:18.200 I'm not in the stranglehold of a system of thought 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:21.480 that I allowed myself to flirt with. And now I'm 0:43:21.520 --> 0:43:23.759 living in a state of joy, and I'm living at 0:43:23.800 --> 0:43:26.880 a level above the serpent, and he's under my feet. 0:43:27.160 --> 0:43:29.960 And I am not negotiating with what God called me 0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:33.480 to trample on. I said, I'm not going to conversate 0:43:33.960 --> 0:43:37.360 with what God has given me the ability to crush. 0:43:37.520 --> 0:43:42.719 I'm taking my stand and I'm setting my standard. 0:43:45.080 --> 0:43:48.560 How can I expect God's strength if I do not 0:43:48.600 --> 0:43:54.520 embrace God's standard? How can we expect God to give 0:43:54.560 --> 0:44:00.440 our nation unity if we do not embrace his standard 0:44:00.480 --> 0:44:13.080 of equality? He will be a spirit of justice to 0:44:13.160 --> 0:44:16.560 the one who sits in judgment. And when we allow 0:44:16.800 --> 0:44:22.680 inequality and prejudice and stereotypes and oppression to go unchecked 0:44:23.280 --> 0:44:27.040 and then ask God to make us one, we are 0:44:27.120 --> 0:44:39.000 violating the very principle that will create unity. And then 0:44:39.040 --> 0:44:41.280 we come up on a weekend and we celebrate Doctor 0:44:41.360 --> 0:44:46.600 King rightfully, but we celebrate him at the wrong level 0:44:47.920 --> 0:44:56.960 because we celebrate his speeches. The Doctor King's life was 0:44:57.000 --> 0:44:58.080 not about speeches. 0:44:58.520 --> 0:44:59.799 It was about standards. 0:45:05.360 --> 0:45:09.440 And I'm so afraid that we want God. 0:45:10.800 --> 0:45:12.560 We want God to be our mascot. 0:45:14.600 --> 0:45:16.400 We want God to be like one of those little 0:45:17.160 --> 0:45:20.759 you know, those little stuffed animals, the ones that talk 0:45:20.800 --> 0:45:22.960 when you pull the string. And we got our little 0:45:23.040 --> 0:45:25.760 Jesus doll that we pull out, and we pull the string, 0:45:25.800 --> 0:45:28.040 and Jesus has about three little things that he says, 0:45:28.080 --> 0:45:32.320 you know, love your neighbor and love your enemies, and 0:45:32.360 --> 0:45:34.600 we pull the string, we pull the string, and he 0:45:34.680 --> 0:45:37.480 just says these little sayings. And we don't want his standards. 0:45:37.480 --> 0:45:44.799 We just want his sayings. And we'll listen to speeches. 0:45:44.880 --> 0:45:49.000 We'll listen to I have a dream, but a dream 0:45:49.040 --> 0:45:52.680 without action, and a dream without process, and a dream 0:45:52.719 --> 0:45:56.479 without justice is a delusion. So we got to raise 0:45:56.560 --> 0:45:59.919 the standard and declare that some things are not all right. 0:46:02.719 --> 0:46:05.920 There has to be a standard. We are the people 0:46:05.960 --> 0:46:18.120 of God. Where is our standard? We can't wait for 0:46:18.200 --> 0:46:21.440 anybody else to set our standard. We are the Church, 0:46:21.880 --> 0:46:23.400 We are the light of the world. 0:46:23.719 --> 0:46:27.120 We are the ones in the cave. It's us. 0:46:34.480 --> 0:46:36.360 He cannot be the source of our strength if he 0:46:36.440 --> 0:46:40.160 is not the source of our standards. We cannot poison 0:46:40.200 --> 0:46:48.640 the well and then complain about the water. Do you 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:51.920 hear what I'm trying to say. We've got to stop 0:46:51.960 --> 0:46:56.880 it at the source, to draw a bloodline in the 0:46:56.960 --> 0:47:01.560 name of Jesus and say this stuffs here. These are 0:47:01.600 --> 0:47:05.720 my standards. I will not apologize. I will not always 0:47:05.800 --> 0:47:09.480 live up to them, but I am pressing toward the. 0:47:09.280 --> 0:47:15.399 Mark for the prize of the high calling. I got 0:47:15.400 --> 0:47:19.040 a high calling, and I will not live with low standards. 0:47:25.840 --> 0:47:28.240 God is looking for somebody to turn back the battle 0:47:29.320 --> 0:47:32.720 at the gate. At the gate at the very beginning 0:47:32.800 --> 0:47:34.879 of the year. You know, most people want to get 0:47:34.920 --> 0:47:38.640 out of the gate strong. We want to get in 0:47:38.920 --> 0:47:48.520 the gate strong, take ownership and responsibility for our attitudes, and. 0:47:48.520 --> 0:47:49.000 He will be. 0:47:50.520 --> 0:47:55.080 Spirited justice to the one who sits in judgment, source 0:47:55.120 --> 0:47:56.800 of strength to the one who turns back the battle 0:47:57.239 --> 0:48:00.400 at the gate. If you want to be one of 0:48:00.400 --> 0:48:05.759 those that he speaks about who will turn back the 0:48:05.840 --> 0:48:08.480 battle at the gate, I want you to stand to 0:48:08.520 --> 0:48:13.319 your feet right now on every campus because I believe 0:48:13.360 --> 0:48:18.120 God has given us an opportunity. The gates of change 0:48:18.640 --> 0:48:24.239 start with our standards. I kind of wish we could 0:48:24.239 --> 0:48:28.440 sit down after this kind of wish we could take 0:48:28.480 --> 0:48:32.200 a moment and look at areas of your life where 0:48:32.200 --> 0:48:36.600 you're feeling weak and you need strength. Because in the 0:48:36.640 --> 0:48:39.960 area where you need strength, that's where you need standards. 0:48:41.120 --> 0:48:43.480 I'm not talking about twenty rules for you to keep 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:46.640 that you tried to keep last year. I'm not talking 0:48:46.640 --> 0:48:50.120 about that kind of religious spirit that builds a ladder 0:48:50.160 --> 0:48:51.719 for you to climb to God. I'm talking about a 0:48:51.760 --> 0:48:56.080 ladder that came down to you. And the first stout 0:48:57.640 --> 0:49:00.120 of these changes is standards. 0:49:01.440 --> 0:49:05.279 Standards. What are your standards? Who set them? 0:49:05.360 --> 0:49:07.239 Who set the standard for you of what it means 0:49:07.280 --> 0:49:10.520 to be a man? Who set the standard for you 0:49:10.560 --> 0:49:13.360 of what it means to be a Christian? Just to 0:49:13.360 --> 0:49:16.319 pray a prayer one time, show up to church when 0:49:16.360 --> 0:49:20.520 it's convenient. Try not to cuss too much. The devil 0:49:20.600 --> 0:49:23.400 is a liar. There's a higher standard. This thing is 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:25.200 meant to consume all of my life. It changes the 0:49:25.239 --> 0:49:27.359 way I see, the way I speak, the way I think, 0:49:27.600 --> 0:49:30.720 the way I treat my brother, the way I treat 0:49:30.760 --> 0:49:39.879 my sister. I got a new standard here, and God 0:49:39.960 --> 0:49:41.839 is looking for people at the beginning of this year 0:49:41.880 --> 0:49:46.640 who will raise the standard. Beautiful thing about it is 0:49:46.640 --> 0:49:50.440 that He is not going to cause you to have 0:49:50.480 --> 0:49:54.440 to reach the standard. He's only calling you to raise it, 0:49:56.280 --> 0:50:00.719 and he will give you the grace to draw a 0:50:00.800 --> 0:50:05.680 line and say it stops here. Are there some things 0:50:05.719 --> 0:50:07.120 in your life today that you need. 0:50:06.960 --> 0:50:11.879 To say stops here. I'm not going to talk that way, 0:50:12.160 --> 0:50:13.880 think that way, live that way. 0:50:14.120 --> 0:50:17.120 I'm not going to just allow unrestricted access to everything 0:50:17.160 --> 0:50:19.400 that wants to come into my space or my spirit 0:50:19.600 --> 0:50:24.440 to dominate my life and sabotage my sil This year, 0:50:28.680 --> 0:50:32.080 I'm raising the standard, and when the enemy comes in 0:50:32.200 --> 0:50:35.000 like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will raise 0:50:35.000 --> 0:50:39.840 a standard against him. He will be a spirit of justice, 0:50:41.280 --> 0:50:45.040 a wreath for the remnant to him who turns back 0:50:45.120 --> 0:50:47.520 the battle at the gate. Lift your hands. Father, We 0:50:48.640 --> 0:50:51.560 lift our hands to let the enemy know that he 0:50:51.600 --> 0:50:55.120 can only go so far, and in our lives, whatever 0:50:55.160 --> 0:50:56.680 is left we offer it to you right now as 0:50:56.719 --> 0:50:58.719 a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to you. 0:50:58.840 --> 0:51:01.440 It is a reasonable act of worship. 0:51:02.880 --> 0:51:05.160 Father, I thank you for your holy spirit that lives 0:51:05.160 --> 0:51:09.160 in us and calls us to a higher standard this 0:51:09.200 --> 0:51:12.279 week in our lives. Help us to identify those places 0:51:13.080 --> 0:51:18.520 where we have negotiated with what you have spoken and 0:51:18.560 --> 0:51:20.880 have allowed access to the enemy. 0:51:21.280 --> 0:51:22.560 We draw a line right here. 0:51:24.000 --> 0:51:26.520 We declare that the blood of Jesus is against everything 0:51:26.560 --> 0:51:30.440 that has opposed our lives, and has opposed our families, 0:51:30.920 --> 0:51:34.360 and has opposed our communities. And we are here today 0:51:34.400 --> 0:51:37.560 to be your remnant, to be crowned with your strength 0:51:37.680 --> 0:51:41.480 and enabled by your spirit to do exploits for your kingdom. 0:51:41.800 --> 0:51:45.640 Your kingdom Come. Your will be done on earth as 0:51:45.680 --> 0:51:48.719 it is in heaven. Bless your people. 0:51:48.480 --> 0:51:51.120 Lord, Thank you for joining us. 0:51:51.400 --> 0:51:53.880 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:51:53.920 --> 0:51:57.440 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:51:57.880 --> 0:51:59.960 You can click the link in the description to give 0:52:00.200 --> 0:52:04.319 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:52:04.320 --> 0:52:08.120 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:52:08.400 --> 0:52:09.760 You can share it with your friends. 0:52:10.040 --> 0:52:12.319 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:52:12.360 --> 0:52:14.480 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:52:14.480 --> 0:52:15.319 Elevation Church. 0:52:15.400 --> 0:52:22.040 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.