Trading Truth

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.480 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.280 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.400 In Romans chapter one, verse twenty five. There's a scripture 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.520 I've been thinking about for quite a while now, and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.720 I've been looking forward to the opportunity to preach it, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.160 and this weekend Live as the appropriate time. And God 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.040 has really been using it this weekend. You're not the 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:35.239 first group that I've seen this weekend, and yet I 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.199 believe that God has saved the best for last and 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.920 that He desires the minister to you in a specific 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:44.879 way today. And I'll read this verse and this will 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.560 give you the premise for our message. And it's found 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.280 in Romans chapter one, verse twenty five. It says that 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:56.279 they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.280 worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:05.679 is forever praised Amen. They exchanged the truth about God 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.240 for a lie. And as people say that the Bible 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:11.520 is not relevant to today's culture. But let me read 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:13.360 this again. It sounds like it was written on Twitter 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.920 last night. They exchanged the truth about God for a 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.639 lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.679 Have you ever got your priorities mixed up and started 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:24.839 serving something that God gave to you and forgotten about 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:29.600 the God who gave it. And that's what happened. They 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.160 exchanged the truth of God for a lie and began 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.080 to serve created things rather than the Creator who is 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:39.080 forever praised. Amen. The subject heading I want to use 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.080 today is trading truth, and I want to talk to 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.920 you on this topic Trading truth. Lord, I thank you 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.440 that your word is truth. Illuminate it now and help 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.120 us to receive it with courage to obey it. In Jesus' name, Amen, 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:59.480 you may be seated, God bless you. I lie to 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:07.480 my kids sometimes you have to do it. Sometimes, you 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:09.119 know what we're all doing in there were taking a nap. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.640 Sometimes it's just for their own while it was the 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:21.240 door locked safety dangerous criminals. You have to do it sometimes. 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.960 Don't look at me judgmentally. If you never lied to 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:32.400 your kids, you haven't had them yet. But sometimes it's 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:37.680 really a matter of survival. And even a few days ago, 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.639 we were at the beach for the kid's spring break 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.960 and they had talked me out into the ocean. They 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.800 talked me out of the hot tub into the ocean. 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.800 I'm too old for this crap. It was a fifty 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:57.000 one degrees outside. But I'm hey, hey, I'm Dad of 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.000 the year. Don't worry about it. Already got the title. 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:01.360 I'm Dad of the Year. I went out in that 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:06.160 cold ocean with all three kids, and Abby was hanging 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.720 onto my arm the whole time, just every time. It 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.400 was really it was a really rough ocean, but it 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:17.959 made it kind of fun until until it wasn't fun anymore. 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.520 You know how it is when you're kind of playing out, 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.760 you're kind of stepping further and further out, and you 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.600 don't even know how far, how far out you've gotten, 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.280 and then you kind of get carried away, and you 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.440 don't really realize how far you've been carried away until 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.600 you're looking and kind of look at the original point 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.720 where you were, which would be a whole sermon in itself, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:38.760 but that's not what I want to preach about. What 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.840 I wanted to tell you is we're kind of getting 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.840 carried away, and then the undercurrent got really strong and 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.160 started just pulling all of us, all four of us. 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:48.840 The only one who had good enough sense to be 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.080 in the house was Holly. She's not as committed to 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.480 parenting and making memories as I am. She was on 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:59.280 her phone, and I'm out there realizing in this moment, wait, 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.560 nobody else is in the ocean. It's just us. Everybody 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.800 who knows anything about safety in the water is inside. 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.680 Right now, this is dangerous. And then it really got scary. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:12.880 I couldn't touch the bottom, and Abby's on my arm, 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:14.960 and her being on my arm and is a problem. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.839 I can curl her all day long. She's very well 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.320 below my curling maximum weight ability, trust me. But when 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:24.160 she's on my arm and I can't touch, and then 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:29.719 Graham jumps on my back and we're all simultaneously being pulled, 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.400 and I realized, like, well, we're way further out than 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.279 I intended us to be. And Abbey's on my arm 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.039 and Graham's on my back, and I'm like, Graham, I 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:39.960 love you, dude, but you got to swim right now. 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:43.560 It's every verdict for himself right now. I need to 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.360 take at least two of us back in the house 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:54.840 for your mom. We start swimming back in. Abby's on 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.599 my arm and Graham's swimming. Now Elijah's the bravest one. 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.000 He's out way past all of us, and he's screaming 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.320 at me to come get him or something, and I 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.440 can't come get him. His sister's on my arm and 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.000 she's my favorite. And so I was kidding, I'm kidding, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.600 but this calmness came over me, or at least I 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.400 pretended that it did. I said, Elijah, it's fine, son, 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.520 And secretly I'm looking at him, thinking this is our 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:31.479 last time talking together, you know, But I knew I 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:33.279 had to keep him swimming. It was just a leadership 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:35.719 instinct that came over me. I'm like, it's fine, just 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:37.920 swim You'll be fine. It's not that bad here where 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.520 we are, if you can just get here. Meanwhile, I'm dying, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.960 you know. And so we made it. We made it 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.960 back to the shore, aren't you glad? Thank you for 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:53.680 praying me through. And then Elijah said something really funny 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.880 to me. I thought this was really really profound. He's like, 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.520 you didn't even seem scared. Were you not worried? About me. 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:03.960 Were you were you just gonna let me stay out there? 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.600 You know, of course I was. Your sisters only had 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.120 eight years to live, You've had thirteen. And it was 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:17.800 just but but I I think he was. I think 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.400 he was amazed. He was like you, you just didn't 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.320 even seem worried about it, And to which I told him, well, son, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.800 I was lying. I was lying for your own good. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.400 I knew if you knew how bad it was, you'd 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.680 stop swimming. And so the best thing I could do 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.719 for your survival was to lie to you. It's like 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:42.239 a rahab lie. It's a lie for the purposes of God. 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:49.480 Don't judge me. Don't judge me. But sometimes I lie 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:56.400 to myself. It's a survival instinct. It's just that sometimes 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.640 my feet can't find the bottom, and life gets a 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:05.200 little bit turbulent, and I find myself drifting and in 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.800 the new reality that I'm trying to embrace according to 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.640 what God says, I am, sometimes what I used to 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:16.120 be feels more solid, more stable, and more comfortable. And 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.920 sometimes it's easier for me to lie to myself and 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:25.000 tell myself a story. I got good at it, even 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.680 as a little boy. It wasn't that my childhood was 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.240 bad or anything like that. But all of us experience 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:35.520 things in life that teach us to lie to ourselves. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.200 When we read a scripture like Romans chapter one, verse 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.840 twenty five that says they exchange the truth about God 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.600 for a lie, a part of us says, who would 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:49.040 do that? Who would trade a perfectly good truth for 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.560 a lie? And yet the fact is, there are some 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.720 lies that we have learned so well that they feel 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:01.320 true even more than the truth does. Can I preach 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.280 like I've been out of the pulpit for three weeks 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:08.520 and I've got something to say. I want to show 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:12.600 you today an illustration from the life of Jesus, and 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.679 I want to show you how sometimes the enemy doesn't 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:20.360 sabotage your life with a lie. He tells you a 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:26.360 truth and he twists it just enough. And I believe 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.200 that the Lord desires to set us free today. But 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:34.440 only by the truth can we be set free. You know, 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.719 Jesus knew the truth because he was the truth. He 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:39.800 knew the word of God because he was the word 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.480 of God. And when the enemy came to Jesus and 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.600 Matthew chapter four in the Wilderness to timptim. He made 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.720 the crucial mistake with the son of God of debating 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.720 the word of God. And it's a bad idea to 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:54.800 debate the word of God with the word of God. 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:57.880 John chapter one says, in the beginning was the Word, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:08:59.880 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.200 He's not arguing with someone who knows about the Word 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.240 of God. He is arguing with the embodiment of the 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.080 Word of God. And it gives us a pure picture 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.080 of the principle that is illustrated in Romans one twenty five, 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.720 but only in reverse in Matthew chapter four, verse one. 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:21.080 Our perspective is immediately challenged because it says that Jesus 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:23.480 was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:27.239 tempted by the devil. And that is a strange construct, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.920 that Jesus was led by God to be tempted by 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.120 the devil. If you've been told that God won't lead 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:38.680 you into difficult situations, you've been lied to. If you've 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.360 ever been told, or it's ever been implied or inferred, 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:43.720 that the will of God will always lead to the 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:47.040 path of least resistance, you've been lied to. If you've 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.000 ever been told that The proof of the favor of 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.599 God on your life is that situations become less difficult 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.680 and more agreeable. You've been lied to because Jesus, before 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.400 his ministry was fully announced, was led into the wilderness 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.880 to be tempted by the devil. And yet I want 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:08.400 us to see that this passage is as much about 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:13.600 trust as it is about temptation. Now let me say 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:18.800 this real quickly. It's not the truth that you can quote, 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.600 it's not the truth that you know mentally, but it 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.120 is the truth that you do that guides your life 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:34.520 to its ultimate outcome. I will never forget watching y'all 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.280 when I was a kid with the Jane fond to 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:45.840 work Out DVDs, eating a bowl of ice cream watching 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:49.960 the Jane Fond to work Out DVDs. And when I asked, 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.720 why aren't you doing the DVDs? I'm only like eight 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.840 years old and my mom and dad are eating briars 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:03.040 watching Jane Fonda. They said, well, we've got to know 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:07.280 what to do before we can do it. But sometimes 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:14.320 if you would do what you knew, I might kid 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:21.880 at work after fasting forty days and forty nights, he 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.840 was hungry. I nominate this for most obvious verse in 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:30.319 the Bible. The Tempter came to him at his weakest moment. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.000 The tempter came to him in the area of his appetite. 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.080 The tempter came to him at a place of great 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.319 vulnerability and said, if you are the son of God, 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.320 tell these stones to become bred. And how many times 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.760 in my life have I been tempted in this exact way. 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.840 It's a good thing Jesus knew the truth. It's a 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.439 good thing. Jesus had just been baptized by John and 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:55.520 the Jordan River. It's just it's a good thing that 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.560 Jesus had just heard his father say, this is my 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.800 beloved son, and whom I am well pleased. It's a 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.080 good thing he had just been told the truth, because 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.960 when you just encountered truth, when when you know who 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.040 you are, when you have a full understanding of who 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:13.800 you are in God's eyes, you don't have to prove 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:20.199 it in anybody else's how many times have I been 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.880 susceptible to the temptation to prove who I am by 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.840 what I do? But when you know that who you 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.280 are is not dependent on what you do, your value 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.520 is not assessed by others, then you don't have to 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:38.280 post stuff to prove stuff. You're going to set somebody 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.199 free today. You don't have to post stuff to prove 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:47.520 stuff when you know the truth about it. And Jesus answered, 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.600 it is written men shall not live on bread alone, 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.960 but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.360 One of the hardest years of my life was twenty thirteen. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.360 My dad was dying, our church was under heavy criticism 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.880 in the media, and I was going through so many 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.600 things at once. I felt like Rocky when he said, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.280 I don't know which one to hit. I see three 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.800 of them out there, and they said hit the one 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.600 in the middle. And there were so many things going 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:16.920 on around me. I didn't know what to do. But 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.040 it was really comforting to me that the things I 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.640 had preached to you I was able to live off of. 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:28.040 For me, the proof that something is true in your 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.160 life is not that you can understand it or say 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.679 amen to it, but that you can live on it. 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:39.840 That you can live on it. Sometimes we're too impressed 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.400 with cliches, and sometimes we think something is true just 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.760 because it rhymes. You know. I found out in preaching 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.040 sometimes you can make something rhyme and it can be 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.560 totally totally opposite. You know, you can make something start 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:58.319 with the same letter, curiosity killed the cat. That's good, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:07.200 meow amen. Actually, the original saying wasn't curiosity killed the cat. 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.160 It was care killed the cat. And it was used 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.400 to mean that they fed the cat too much and 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.160 he died because he was too fat. They cared too much. 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.439 And then they changed it from care meaning they over 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.760 fed him to care he was too worried. So now 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.560 it means that worry killed the cat. But then one 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.360 day it just became curiosity killed the cat. Now there 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:32.720 are no statistical evidences of dead felines based on inquisitive natures. 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.440 But it just sounds good, And some stuff sounds good, 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:40.840 but it ain't true. Just because it sounds good doesn't 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.880 mean it is. Just because it rhymes, just because it 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.520 is aligned with your life experience up to this point 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.280 doesn't make it true. Just because it's the way it's 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.080 always been for you and your mom and it doesn't 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.160 make it true. And so then we get really bad 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.440 advice and we say really bad things that it sounds 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.240 good on the surface, but beneath them, they they're really 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.840 bad belief systems. I thought about calling this message. What's 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:17.280 your BS for belief system? What's your belief system? And 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.920 I wanted to call it that because that's what's driving 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:24.840 your life. They they say live your truth. I heard 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.720 that before. Live your truth. That's the important thing. Just 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:33.240 live your truth. And it sounds good. But what if 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:42.160 my truth is a trap? What if your truth isn't 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.960 the truth? Do you have to stay stuck in a 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:51.280 story and call it the truth. Let me go back 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:56.960 to Matthew four. Jesus said it is written men shall 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:58.840 not live on bread alone, but on every word that 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.440 comes from the mouth of God. So then the devil 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.920 he does something that I was very interested to study 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.760 this out. And if I've preached on this passage ten 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:15.560 times before, I apologize to the other ten that I 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.960 never pointed this out because I never saw it. We 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.440 always assume that the enemy comes to us with lies, 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.160 and then we quote the word of God, which is 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:29.560 the truth, and then the lies go away. Okay, fine, whatever, 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:35.000 But many of us love God too much to just 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:40.840 believe a lie if we see it as a lie, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.840 and so then what the enemy does is he presents 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:52.560 you not with a lie, but with a truth. The 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:57.200 next thing the enemy does to Jesus. Remember he's hungry. 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.640 He's in a week in physical state. He's on the 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.480 verge of three years of ministry that will shake the 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:10.159 world and overturn the Roman Empire. He's in a period 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:15.240 of preparation. He knows who he is. He not only 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.960 knows truth, but he is truth. And so the enemy 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.480 knows that the only way that he can fight truth 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.600 is with truth. And I promise you I'm not just 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.040 trying to be confusing. A lot of times, what the 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:34.560 enemy will attack you with is a truth, a truth. 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.920 And in this particular instance, the devil took him to 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:40.720 the Holy City verse five and had him stand on 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.000 the highest point of the temple. If you are the 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:48.479 son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:55.040 The enemy doesn't attack Jesus with a lie. He attacks 0:17:55.119 --> 0:18:00.960 him with a Bible. Verse he quotes to Jesus Psalm 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:05.520 ninety one, verse eleven and twelve. He quotes the Word 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:10.880 of God to the Word of God, for it is written. 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.960 He will command his angels concerning you, and they will 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:17.920 lift you up in their hands, so that you will 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:23.200 not strike your foot against a stone. That's true, That's 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.560 actually true. This is not made up. This is not imaginary. 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.560 It is it is, It is the word of God, 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.320 it is the truth. So here's what I'm realizing in 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:38.760 my life. A lot of times I'm not deciding between 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:43.280 a lie and the truth. A lot of times I'm 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:48.960 stuck between two truths. One is the truth of my 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:56.359 situation and one is the truth of my revelation. I 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.639 told you, Holly, this was gonna be the best. One 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.760 is the truth of what I'm going through, and the 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.280 other is the truth of who's standing with me in 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:10.040 the fire as I go through it. So I've got 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:15.240 two truths. I've got two truths. And what Jesus said 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.959 was so powerful. When the enemy tried to get him 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:21.320 to turn the stones into bread, he said, it is 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.080 written because he knew the temptation to turn something into 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.840 something that it's not. A lot of times we try 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.560 to do this with relationships. We try to turn them 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.639 into something that they're not. We turn people into our God, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.720 and we need their approval more than we need God's approval. 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.760 And then when they disappoint us, we lose our hope 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.359 because we tried to turn stones into bread. You know, 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:47.359 some of us try to turn money into security, but 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.600 Your trust was never supposed to be in resources. Your 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.560 trust was supposed to be in the one. Your help 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.439 comes from the source. You were supposed to lift your 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:00.199 eyes to him. Your trust was never supposed to be 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.320 in the stuff. Your trust was supposed to be in 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.240 the source. But when you don't know the truth of 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.199 who you are, you will try to turn stones into bread, 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.000 and you will try to live off of people's compliments. 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:15.080 And then so you die by their criticism because you 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:20.399 tried to turn it into what it was not. And 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.359 you trade the truth for a lie, and you trade 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.000 the truth of God's assessment of you for someone else's 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:32.399 opinion of you, serving created things rather than the creator 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.879 who has forever blessed a man. Roman's Won twenty five. 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:39.960 I love what Jesus said. I never saw it before. 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:42.480 Did you ever see this before? I appreciate it. In 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:46.080 nine thirty I never saw it because first time he 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.080 said it is written, But this time he said something different. 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:59.880 He said, verse seven, it is also written. What's your 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:12.840 just said? It's true, but I know something truer. It's 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:17.160 true I made some mistakes in my life. But it's 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:22.359 also true that my greatest mistake has the potential to 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:30.720 become my greatest miracle. It's true, but it's also true. 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.760 Somebody's shout it's also true. Come on, shout it from 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:40.280 river Walk to Roanoke. It's also true, Paul said, I'm pressed. 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:46.000 It's true, but I'm not crushed. See, I know how 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:51.160 to stand between two truths. One is what I'm thinking, 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.800 One is what I'm feeling. One is what the doctor said. 0:21:55.200 --> 0:22:00.640 One is what I'm experiencing. But it is also true. Crushed, 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:07.280 I'm persecuted. It's true, but I'm not abandoned. It's also true. 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:10.760 I'm struck down for a minute, but it's also true. 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:15.640 I'm not destroyed. I'm lonely, but I'm not alone. I'm 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:19.520 weak but he's strong. I'm poor but he's rich. I'm 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.439 it is also written, I've got a better word on 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:41.159 the situation. I did it, but I'm not it. I 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:46.920 got a new truth. I got a new truth. I've 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:51.080 got a new truth. That means I know the difference 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:59.280 between my truth and my story. So when Jesus was 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:03.320 fronted by the Jews, he had a conversation with them 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.560 about truth, and it says that many of the Jews 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:08.919 had believed in him because of what he did, but 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.479 they didn't fully understand who he was, and they were 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:15.280 putting their faith in him, but they were still attached 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:19.320 to the old story. The old story. You know, the 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:21.520 old story, the one you tell yourself about why people 0:23:21.560 --> 0:23:27.160 reject you. And you did it as a means of survival, 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.960 because it is sometimes easier for you to reject yourself 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:34.800 in advance than to put yourself out there and risk 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:38.040 rejection again. So when you can't touch the bottom, you 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:44.960 tell yourself a story for survival. It's called prejection. It's 0:23:45.000 --> 0:23:48.159 when instead of dealing with the reality of rejection and 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:51.360 healing from it, you begin to tell yourself a story 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:54.560 about how worthless you are. And now you stay alone, 0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:58.160 because to really be loved requires vulnerability for the sake 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:01.160 of connection. So you would rather stay stuck in an 0:24:01.160 --> 0:24:07.080 old story then embrace a new truth. And Jesus said 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:09.119 to the Jews who believed in him, watch this In 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:13.520 John eight thirty two. He said, you will know the truth, 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:18.960 and the truth will set you free. Now see the 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:21.760 second part of that does not work without the first. 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:27.120 You will know the truth. This is not a propositional statement. 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:30.560 This doesn't mean you will be able to quote the truth. 0:24:31.119 --> 0:24:33.560 To know the truth is not to quote the truth. 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:39.400 It's to trust in it. It's to trust in the truth. 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:43.800 And what you trust in is what is true to you. 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:48.600 What you trust in is what is true to you. 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:56.359 That's why he wouldn't turn the stone to bread. It 0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:59.480 wouldn't have been a sin for him to do it. 0:24:59.480 --> 0:25:04.000 It would have been substitute. I don't live by that. 0:25:05.400 --> 0:25:11.600 I don't trust in that. That's not my truth. And 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:14.800 when you know the truth, and a lot of times 0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:16.720 we think we know the truth better than we do. 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:21.320 We think we know what other people are like because 0:25:21.320 --> 0:25:27.639 we've never traded truth with them. We think we know. 0:25:27.880 --> 0:25:29.399 We think we know what we would do if we 0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:35.720 were them. Sit down with a single mom. You know 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:37.040 what you would do if you were them, You would 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:38.679 have a pill addiction. You wouldn't make it out of 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:41.080 bed in the morning. You wouldn't you wouldn't be strong 0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:45.199 enough to do it. Well, if I were them, well, 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:47.080 i'll tell you what, right now, if I was running 0:25:47.080 --> 0:25:49.440 that elevation church, i'd do a few things differently. I'm 0:25:49.440 --> 0:26:00.840 sure we'll say that right now. So this is trading truth. Oh, 0:26:00.880 --> 0:26:05.320 it is written. It is also written Okay, I'm accepting it, 0:26:06.160 --> 0:26:10.960 but it's not It's not my truth. It's just my story. 0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:13.320 Sometimes you can live in a story so long that 0:26:13.359 --> 0:26:21.600 you become a slave to it. Have you become a 0:26:21.640 --> 0:26:25.280 slave to your own story to the extent that you 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:30.919 now think it's the truth? The Jews had Jesus said, 0:26:31.119 --> 0:26:32.840 you will know the truth, and the truth will set 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:38.080 you free. And the next thing they said, the response 0:26:38.119 --> 0:26:41.440 that they had to that shows us just how embedded 0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:45.240 their identity had become in their story. Because you gotta remember, 0:26:46.200 --> 0:26:48.240 these are people who had spent four hundred and thirty 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:53.960 years in Egypt as slaves making bricks without straw under Pharaoh. 0:26:54.040 --> 0:26:57.520 They had been taken captive by the Babylonians the Assyrians 0:26:58.320 --> 0:27:02.600 multiple times before Jesus came onto the sea, and when 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:05.000 he said you will know the truth, and the truth 0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:08.200 will set you free, it offended them. So they looked 0:27:08.240 --> 0:27:11.320 back at him in verse thirty three and said, we 0:27:11.359 --> 0:27:16.480 are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. 0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:21.400 The same people who had spent centuries as slaves had 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:25.399 told themselves a story that had become so true to 0:27:25.440 --> 0:27:29.439 them they no longer knew the difference a lot of 0:27:29.480 --> 0:27:33.560 times in my life, I've lied to myself so much 0:27:34.280 --> 0:27:40.879 that my lies became truer than my truth. It is 0:27:40.920 --> 0:27:51.359 pretty good. I don't willingly exchange the truth for a lie. 0:27:51.480 --> 0:27:55.000 It's just that certain lies I tell myself. I've learned 0:27:55.000 --> 0:28:04.439 a love. I like self pity. It's comfortable. It's my 0:28:04.560 --> 0:28:09.840 snuggie for my soul to feel sorry for myself. No 0:28:09.880 --> 0:28:14.480 one's checking on me, No one cares about me. You 0:28:14.520 --> 0:28:16.560 know why, because I don't want to check on anybody. 0:28:16.720 --> 0:28:19.159 So rather than face the fact of the truth that 0:28:19.280 --> 0:28:21.959 I'm not checking on anybody, I would rather tell myself 0:28:22.000 --> 0:28:27.639 the story that nobody's checking on me. I've never seen 0:28:27.800 --> 0:28:30.359 every collective head nod in the church like it just 0:28:30.400 --> 0:28:38.840 happened at Valentine. When you become a slave to your story, 0:28:39.680 --> 0:28:43.440 you die a death between two truths. I'm preaching to 0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:47.480 somebody today who's standing between two truths. One is the 0:28:47.560 --> 0:28:51.800 old story, the way you always saw yourself. You know, 0:28:51.840 --> 0:28:54.080 if David had stayed stuck in his old story, he 0:28:54.160 --> 0:28:57.720 never would have thrown that stone at Glide's forehead, because 0:28:57.760 --> 0:28:59.640 the way his brothers saw him was, you're just down 0:28:59.680 --> 0:29:01.520 here to me, trouble and you didn't even get anybody 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:05.040 to keep the sheep. There comes a time when you 0:29:05.080 --> 0:29:08.200 have to challenge your old stories so that the truth 0:29:08.280 --> 0:29:14.480 can set you free. They used to train us in 0:29:14.520 --> 0:29:19.120 evangelism that we would ask people, how do you know 0:29:19.520 --> 0:29:21.920 if you're going to heaven when you die? And when 0:29:21.960 --> 0:29:23.840 they said their answer, you were to ask them the 0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:26.480 follow up question, if you were wrong, would you want 0:29:26.560 --> 0:29:30.760 to know? What? A powerful question if the story you've 0:29:30.800 --> 0:29:35.240 been telling yourself about where you are and why you are, 0:29:35.280 --> 0:29:37.920 and what you can and what you can't remember the 0:29:38.360 --> 0:29:41.719 Israelites stayed stuck in the wilderness, not for forty days 0:29:42.360 --> 0:29:45.800 like Jesus was tempted forty days. They were there forty years, 0:29:47.680 --> 0:29:51.840 all because of the story they told themselves. They're bigger 0:29:51.880 --> 0:29:54.440 than us, They're stronger than us, they're greater than us. 0:29:54.760 --> 0:29:57.840 None of it was true. But when it becomes true 0:29:57.920 --> 0:30:00.120 to you, it will keep you stuck in you. You 0:30:00.120 --> 0:30:03.520 are not stuck in your reality, you're stuck in your story. 0:30:03.800 --> 0:30:06.960 But if the sun sets, you free. If you get 0:30:06.960 --> 0:30:22.040 this truth, you will be free. Indeed, so I want 0:30:22.040 --> 0:30:24.200 you to stand up on your feet right now, because 0:30:24.800 --> 0:30:26.680 the spirit of the Lord is in this place and 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:30.959 where the Spirit is, there is freedom. Where the spirit 0:30:31.000 --> 0:30:34.280 of the Lord is, there is freedom. And the Spirit 0:30:34.320 --> 0:30:36.959 of the Lord is leading you today into the wilderness 0:30:37.000 --> 0:30:39.760 to set you free from the story you've been telling yourself, 0:30:40.040 --> 0:30:45.440 perhaps your whole life long. And I realize sometimes it's 0:30:45.560 --> 0:30:48.880 easier to tell yourself a story of why you fail, 0:30:48.920 --> 0:30:52.320 and tell yourself a story that you're a disappointment, because 0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:54.760 then you don't have to actually step out and try, 0:30:54.840 --> 0:30:58.000 because you've already told yourself a story that I'm a disappointment. 0:30:58.200 --> 0:31:02.520 But that's why Jesus went into the wildlderness, not only 0:31:02.560 --> 0:31:07.280 to be tempted by the devil, but to rewrite a story. 0:31:08.440 --> 0:31:12.920 What Moses couldn't do in forty years, Jesus did in 0:31:13.000 --> 0:31:22.280 forty days. He wasn't just fasting, he was directing a 0:31:22.360 --> 0:31:26.240 new story. The Gospel is a new story. The Cross 0:31:26.320 --> 0:31:31.160 is a new ending. And you don't have to turn 0:31:31.280 --> 0:31:34.480 stones into bread, and you don't have to trade truth 0:31:34.520 --> 0:31:37.880 for lies, and you don't have to own the story 0:31:37.880 --> 0:31:39.920 that you were handed if it does not match the 0:31:40.000 --> 0:31:51.680 reality of what God has spoken. Not another day, and 0:31:51.760 --> 0:31:54.280 we say things that locate us and let us know 0:31:54.440 --> 0:31:57.680 that we've embraced our story and turned it into truth. 0:31:59.440 --> 0:32:02.080 And something happens and we say us the story of 0:32:02.120 --> 0:32:09.360 my life. This is the story of my life. This 0:32:09.440 --> 0:32:12.200 is the story of my life. You need a new editor. 0:32:19.600 --> 0:32:25.360 You've been letting the enemy edit the story of your life. 0:32:25.480 --> 0:32:34.280 But it is also written. It is also written, this 0:32:35.080 --> 0:32:39.040 tension between two truths. What I feel in, what I know, 0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:42.600 what I was, and what I'm becoming. This tension between 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:48.600 two truths is exactly how faith grows. I've been waiting 0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:50.560 to preach this message for a year and a half, 0:32:52.800 --> 0:32:54.760 and today was the day that God wanted me to 0:32:54.880 --> 0:33:03.600 preach it, perhaps so that you could hear it and 0:33:04.760 --> 0:33:11.840 be set free from your old story. Are you trapped 0:33:11.840 --> 0:33:14.920 in an old truth when God has given you a 0:33:14.960 --> 0:33:20.000 new one, a higher one, a greater one. You know 0:33:20.040 --> 0:33:23.560 the Law was true, all of sin and fall in 0:33:23.560 --> 0:33:28.120 short of the glory of God. But in Jesus was 0:33:28.200 --> 0:33:34.880 given grace and truth. Both are true. I don't deserve 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:38.280 the blessings of God. Nothing I could do could earn it. 0:33:39.200 --> 0:33:42.560 But it is also written that I am the righteousness 0:33:42.560 --> 0:33:54.080 of God in Christ, through faith and helm. God brought 0:33:54.120 --> 0:33:57.200 you here today to give you a new truth and 0:33:57.280 --> 0:33:58.800 to receive your new truth, You're going to have to 0:33:58.880 --> 0:34:03.680 let go of your old story. You let go of 0:34:03.720 --> 0:34:06.640 that old story, you will know the truth, and the 0:34:06.680 --> 0:34:09.840 truth will set you free. With your head bowt and 0:34:09.840 --> 0:34:12.120 your eyes closed at every location, no one moving and 0:34:12.160 --> 0:34:16.959 disturbing this moment. What is the story that God needs 0:34:17.000 --> 0:34:20.879 to set you free from today? The key is your 0:34:20.920 --> 0:34:25.960 belief that it is also written and that the blood 0:34:25.960 --> 0:34:29.960 of Jesus has spoken a better word. There's a new covenant, 0:34:30.840 --> 0:34:35.920 a new baptism, a new reality. Father. I thank you 0:34:36.000 --> 0:34:40.040 for each person who you brought here today, whether they're 0:34:40.040 --> 0:34:44.040 physically in a church building or watching on their phone, 0:34:44.640 --> 0:34:47.520 whether tears are streaming down the face because they're facing 0:34:47.560 --> 0:34:50.920 a situation right now that's too great for them, or 0:34:50.920 --> 0:34:53.200 whether they're in a place in their life where they've 0:34:53.239 --> 0:34:55.719 actually accepted the lie and no longer even feels like 0:34:55.760 --> 0:34:59.759 a lie anymore. I pray that you would disturb those 0:34:59.760 --> 0:35:02.600 places of disbelief and dysfunction in our lives so that 0:35:02.640 --> 0:35:06.200 we can know the truth and be set free. We 0:35:06.320 --> 0:35:09.640 choose the unpredictability of freedom over the comfort and the 0:35:09.680 --> 0:35:14.240 certainty of slavery. Today we want to be set free. 0:35:15.280 --> 0:35:18.759 Thank you for telling us the truth. Thank you for 0:35:18.840 --> 0:35:26.040 speaking over our lives a true identity. I ask now 0:35:26.080 --> 0:35:29.920 Lord that in this moment, that you will speak your 0:35:29.920 --> 0:35:35.000 word in that personal way, whether it's an area of 0:35:35.040 --> 0:35:39.320 bitterness or resentment, or maybe it's something much more subtle 0:35:39.360 --> 0:35:41.680 than that, that we've been telling ourselves to keep ourselves 0:35:41.680 --> 0:35:45.680 in a cycle of failure. We believe that you have 0:35:45.840 --> 0:35:49.600 called us overcomers, and we will only overcome as we 0:35:49.680 --> 0:35:55.279 embrace that truth. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 0:35:55.280 --> 0:35:57.880 to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 0:35:58.200 --> 0:36:01.120 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 0:36:01.160 --> 0:36:03.600 can click the link in the description to give now 0:36:04.120 --> 0:36:08.000 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:36:08.560 --> 0:36:11.680 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 0:36:11.719 --> 0:36:13.759 can share it with your friends. You can click the 0:36:13.800 --> 0:36:16.080 share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 0:36:16.080 --> 0:36:19.080 social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again 0:36:19.080 --> 0:36:25.279 for listening. God bless you.