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Joshua Kehler: hey everybody, how are we?

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Good.

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Good.

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Ephesians chapter six, verse 10.

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Finally be strong in the Lord, in the
strength of his might put on the whole

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armor of God that you may be able to
stand against the schemes of the devil.

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For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers,

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against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers, over this present

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darkness against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly places.

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Therefore, take up the whole
armor of God that you may be

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able to withstand in the evil.

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And having done all to stand firm
stand, therefore having fastened on

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the belt of truth and having put on
the breastplate of righteousness and as

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shoes for your feet, having put on the
readiness given by the gospel of peace

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and all circumstances take up the shield
of faith with which you can extinguish

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all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

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And take the helmet of salvation in the
sword of the spirit, which is the word

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of God, praying at all times in the
spirit with all prayer and supplication.

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To that end, keep alert with all
perseverance, making supplication for all

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the saints and also for me, that words may
be given to me in opening my mouth boldly

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proclaim the mystery of the gospel for
which I am an ambassador in chains, that I

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may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

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This is the word of the Lord.

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I don't know if you
guys know I like movies.

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I think I bring it up once a week.

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But one of the ones I really
like is called The Truman Show.

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Have you guys seen the Truman Show?

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and the Truman Show is a story about
a man who's actually from the time

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he was a baby, he's being filmed and
everybody's acting, and everybody,

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everything's a set and everything's
planned, and everything is planned

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to keep him in this little town.

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as he tries to escape,
there's natural disasters.

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There's like a toxic spill or a, and
so everything is designed to keep him.

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getting up in the morning, going
to his job, coming home, and for

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everybody else it's a form of
entertainment for him though.

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He starts to itch and he starts to
wonder, and he starts to be curious if

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there's something beyond the ordinary.

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If there's something beyond the
mundane,. And so he tries to escape.

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He starts to see maybe there
is something else out there.

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And as soon as he tries to break away
from the 40 hour work week, and that's

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all there is, three meals a day, having
a family going on vacation twice a year.

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trying your best not to get sick.

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Planning where you're gonna be buried,
trying to save for your retirement.

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maybe going on vacation once you retire.

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Like that being your life, that being
your world, that what you are living for.

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As soon as he tries to break away
from that, they throw everything

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out of to keep him there.

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They throw everything
at him to keep him in.

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That little world.

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And in him, he knows there's something
bigger and he tries with all his strength.

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And he pushes.

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and he pushes.

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the whole last scene is.

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they planned when he was a kid, his
fake father died by drowning on a

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boat so that he would never get in
the water, so that he would never

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sail because their set was too small.

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And so he gets on the water.

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He pushes through that fear, he pushes
through, they throw storms at him.

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They try to drown him to keep him from
going, but finally he escapes, and

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finally he steps into a bigger world.

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I love that story because it's like the
story that Paul is talking about here,

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Christian, the enemy of our souls is quite
content with God's children spending their

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lives on the cares of this life trapped
in this little world where we get to

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80 years old and we look back and we're
like, Did I bury my talents even, weighted

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down in the mundane, in the quick sand of
apathy, even as Jesus bids us to follow

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him, to take up our cross and follow,
we can break our legs with excuses.

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I have to bury, my father translated.

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I have to wait for my inheritance.

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And when I'm financially secure,
then I'll think about mission.

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then I'll think about, using the gifts
that you've given me or I will follow you.

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If the path is easy and I'm shielded
from the trials of life and that I'm

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comfortable, can you guarantee that to me?

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Now, Jesus said to that, man, foxes have
holes in, the birds have nest, but the

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son of man has nowhere to  put his head.

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he bit us to come, to take up
our cross and to follow him.

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He like the cross is involved.

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It's he.

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He's don't be shocked.

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I said it right at the beginning
when I bid you to come.

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But push against the gates of hell.

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Start to follow.

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Start to pray for your neighbors.

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Start to ask for opportunities.

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Start to put on the armor
to stand in the evil day.

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and the enemy will throw everything
in his control to keep you

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asleep, neutralized, apathetic.

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In that place of the mundane
following after Jesus, there will

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be resistance, battle warfare.

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But honestly, I was thinking
about it this morning.

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What choice do we have?

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What choice do we have?

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There is a bigger world, God is calling
us to the kingdom of heaven itself.

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Don't we say, when faced with the
decision to carry on as usual, to prop

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up the status quo and to give ourselves
to the weeds to be choked out, don't

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we say instead, where else do we go?

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You alone have the words of eternal life.

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Or in Matthew 1613.

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Now, when Jesus came into the district of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,

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who do people say that the son of man is?

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And they said, some say John the Baptist.

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Others say Elijah, others,
Jeremiah, one of the prophets.

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the general tendency and all those
answers  under  estamate  Jesus, to

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give him a measure of respect and honor.

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But to fall far short of
honoring him for who he really.

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Is, yeah, you're like a miracle
worker like Elijah, right?

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Or you're a, a prophet calling people to
repent like John the Baptist, or you're

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a sensitive prophet calling people back
to intimacy with God like Jeremiah.

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But then he asked him,
who do you say I am?

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Simon Peter replied, you are the
Christ, the son of the living.

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and Jesus answered and blessed are you.

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Simon Bar Jonah for Flesh of Blood has not
revealed this to you, but my father who is

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in heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter.

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And on this rock I will build
my church and the gates of hell

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shall not prevail against it.

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The gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.

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When we went to Israel, I got to go
to Caesarea of Philippi and we found

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out Caesarea Philippi in this day
and age used to be a very spiritual

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cultic place, and there was a cave
that was believed by the local people

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that the gates of hell was this cave.

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It was a pathway to the under.

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So it was like literally the funnel
where all of hell would come out

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of and Jesus said, all of hell will
not prevail against the church.

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All is might, every spirit, every
bit of wickedness, every bit of evil

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will not prevail against the church.

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He's called us to attack the.

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, the kingdom of God is coming into
our fortified cities that have

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been so given over to the enemy.

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just look around, look at the look.

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Follow 2 0 9 times, it
just breaks your heart.

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The amount of violence that goes on here,
the amount of, racism and discrimination,

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the amount of, injustice, on an
economic level that's heartbreaking.

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But as kingdoms breaking into our
cities, into our neighborhoods, into

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our workplaces, into our schools, and
everywhere the soul of our foot touches.

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So others might know that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of the living God.

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And so today, because the battle's
real and because we need to be

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equipped to stand in that evil day,
we look at a very necessary piece.

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The shield of faith.

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Faith makes oceans into streets
and mountains into something

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you've tossed to the side.

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Faith finds streams in the deserts
and bread in empty baskets.

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Faith drinks water from rocks and
tastes the sweetness and bitter lakes.

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Faith uses a rock for a pillow and sees
in a barren wasteland the city of God.

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Faith is the eyes of the soul that
see the greatness, the goodness.

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And the glory of our God.

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So what I wanna look at today,
what the shield of faith is, why

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we need it, and how to take it
up, what the shield of faith is.

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I like this one cuz I think I've always
misunderstood faith, just as an aside,

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and I've always tried to get more
faith, I've tried to conjure it up.

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I tried to, Maybe say
it in a different way.

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Maybe if you say Faith then maybe
that will, that's how you do it.

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Maybe it's the way, you say it,
and really have misunderstood it.

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And so hopefully this will
help clear some things up.

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Ephesians chapter six, verse 16.

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In all circumstances,
take up the shield of.

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With which you can extinguish , all
the flaming darts of the evil one.

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Notice first the armor, right?

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He said thus far

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the verb is changing.

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It's having, it's been that, right?

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It's been this far, having the belt
of truth, having the breastplate

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of righteousness, having the shoes
of the gospel of peace things.

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We wear it all times.

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And then he's gonna move into the shield
of faith and he's gonna say, take this.

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When it's necessary, the sword
of the spirit, take this up.

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The helmet of salvation.

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Take this up so the belt
of truth remembers stand.

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Therefore, having fastened on the belt
of truth, having fastened on the belt of

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truth, Jesus, whose truth is to  encompass
our whole being, making it of us true.

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The truth stands against the
attacks of doubt and neglect.

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Breast plate of righteousness and having
put on the breast plate of righteousness.

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Righteousness, covering our hearts and
our vital organs, not a righteousness.

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We provide our earn.

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We talked about this last week,
but a foreign righteousness that

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was one for us at the cross.

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And Jesus, our righteousness is
making us righteous from one degree

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of glory to the next as we behold him.

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The breastplate helps us stand
against the attacks of shame and

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guilt and the accusations of the
enemy, the preparation of the gospel

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of peace, and as Shoes for Your Feet.

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Having put on the readiness
given by the gospel of peace,

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something that keeps our feet from
slipping into doubting God's love.

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That's the attack to doubt God's.

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So the gospel of peace, gerd, about our
feet, making our steps sure and secure.

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We remember that while we were
enemies, Christ died for us.

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He made a peace between
enemies and made us friends.

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It's the proving of his love.

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God demonstrated his love for us
that while we were yet enemies.

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Christ died for us.

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While we were with yet sinners.

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We remember that while we were
his enemies, Christ died for us.

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When we were an open rebellion
to him, he chased us and pursued

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us, and made us his friends.

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He loves us.

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So having, that's kinda like
a baseball player, right?

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A baseball player has his uniform.

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He wears it the whole time
during the game, but at certain

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parts of the game, he takes up.

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Right.

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He takes it up cuz he is up to bat.

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If he's in the field, then he
has got his glove right because

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he is being called to action.

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Always wears the uniform.

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But when the right time takes up the
bat, takes up the glove, designed

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for specific , kind of attack.

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And I think that the shield is
very important, in that shield.

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And Greek is, through reo.

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This writer, Polybius, he describes
what Paul was looking at when

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he's looking at the shield.

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Remember, he's chained to Roman soldiers,
but in the culture, Rome, had conquered

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the world and, they did it through the
Pax Ramana, peace through might, right?

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Peace through violence, really.

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They'd put down any
kind of  open rebellion?

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they'd put it down with brutal violence.

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and so the soldiers were feared and
their military mite was second to none.

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the strategies they used and the things
they did were absolutely, incredible.

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especially at the time that
they were in with not the kind

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of technology that we have now.

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The Greek writer, uh, Pius describes
the early, scut in his histories.

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The Roman soldier consists firstly of a.

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The convex surface of which
measures two and a half feet in

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width and four feet in length.

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The thickness at the rim being
a palm's breath, it is made

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of two planks glued together.

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The outer surface being then covered
first with canvas and then with calf skin.

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It's upper and lower.

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Rims are strengthened by iron E.

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Which protects it from descending blows
from injury when rested on the ground

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and also has an iron boss or an ambo
fixed to it, which turns aside the most

229
00:13:48,655 --> 00:13:55,329
formidable blows of stones, pikes and
heavy missiles or fiery arrows in general.

230
00:13:56,369 --> 00:13:57,569
Now we've seen the movies, right?

231
00:13:57,579 --> 00:14:01,624
Gladiator with Russell Crow and he's
fighting in the arena and he's got the

232
00:14:01,624 --> 00:14:03,184
little shield and he is got the sword.

233
00:14:03,184 --> 00:14:06,334
And that's typically we think about.

234
00:14:06,489 --> 00:14:07,809
Know the soldiers.

235
00:14:08,184 --> 00:14:09,403
And, this was different.

236
00:14:09,433 --> 00:14:10,813
This was a different kind of shield.

237
00:14:10,813 --> 00:14:12,583
This wasn't for hand to hand combat.

238
00:14:12,883 --> 00:14:14,623
This was to go in Beja City.

239
00:14:14,863 --> 00:14:15,973
This was a door.

240
00:14:16,273 --> 00:14:19,693
This was something you could
crouch down and hide behind,

241
00:14:19,903 --> 00:14:22,763
and you were completely safe.

242
00:14:22,763 --> 00:14:25,656
when they went to battle, they
would soak their shields in water.

243
00:14:25,706 --> 00:14:29,534
And, what would happen is they
would come to the castle wall

244
00:14:29,534 --> 00:14:31,224
because they would besiege the city.

245
00:14:31,224 --> 00:14:36,367
they, Romans came up with this tortoise
formation where they would all lock their

246
00:14:36,367 --> 00:14:41,557
shields together and they would crawl
under 'em, and they became basically like

247
00:14:41,557 --> 00:14:46,147
the shell of a turtle, and they became
this invincible force up against the wall.

248
00:14:46,787 --> 00:14:50,147
when they came to the wall, they're in
the most dangerous situation cuz that's

249
00:14:50,147 --> 00:14:52,217
when they would throw hot tar on you.

250
00:14:52,217 --> 00:14:55,964
That's when they would throw these
uh, rocks that try to bludgeon you.

251
00:14:55,964 --> 00:14:59,384
That's when they would shoot their
arrows that were lit on fire.

252
00:14:59,474 --> 00:15:03,764
And so soaking them in water, it
would put that fire out as they

253
00:15:03,769 --> 00:15:06,704
would come against that wall.

254
00:15:06,746 --> 00:15:07,716
so it gives you this idea.

255
00:15:07,716 --> 00:15:14,316
So the shield of faith is
big and it's protective.

256
00:15:14,526 --> 00:15:16,056
It encircles you.

257
00:15:16,326 --> 00:15:19,712
It's not so much about your, agility.

258
00:15:21,152 --> 00:15:23,822
I play VR this game, called
Space Pirate Trainer.

259
00:15:24,732 --> 00:15:27,582
And it, it's so fun cuz you've got
guns, but you can pull out a shield,

260
00:15:27,582 --> 00:15:30,132
but it's this tiny thing and you're
trying to block all the lasers.

261
00:15:30,207 --> 00:15:33,258
it's like you have a Frisbee that you're
trying to, move on to the next level with.

262
00:15:33,588 --> 00:15:35,289
But, that's not what's in mind.

263
00:15:35,289 --> 00:15:39,309
What's in mind is slamming this
thing down and getting down and

264
00:15:39,309 --> 00:15:43,749
being fully protected against the
enemy, against the fiery arrows.

265
00:15:45,169 --> 00:15:46,669
. So the shield of faith.

266
00:15:47,959 --> 00:15:52,039
So if we have an idea of what the
shield is, the shield of faith,

267
00:15:52,039 --> 00:15:56,539
it's big, it's protective, can
extinguish with fiery arrows.

268
00:15:57,109 --> 00:15:58,459
Then what is faith?

269
00:15:58,789 --> 00:16:04,609
Faith in its most simple
definition is acting on the truth.

270
00:16:07,669 --> 00:16:08,659
Acting on the truth.

271
00:16:10,159 --> 00:16:10,549
Boiled.

272
00:16:11,989 --> 00:16:12,679
Acting on the truth.

273
00:16:12,679 --> 00:16:14,389
Now we're gonna build
on that a little bit.

274
00:16:16,099 --> 00:16:22,399
If you don't know the truth
and act on the truth, faith is

275
00:16:22,404 --> 00:16:25,429
really a meaningless word, right?

276
00:16:27,409 --> 00:16:31,424
You remember in James where, James
is talking and they're like, he's

277
00:16:31,424 --> 00:16:34,642
anticipating his audience and
they're like, we believe in God.

278
00:16:36,487 --> 00:16:37,177
And what does he say?

279
00:16:37,177 --> 00:16:39,406
He says, so do the
demons, and they tremble.

280
00:16:40,126 --> 00:16:41,206
They have a greater faith.

281
00:16:41,206 --> 00:16:49,426
They actually respond as he's
calling them to action to that.

282
00:16:49,426 --> 00:16:52,746
You don't just I believe,
but to now step out in that

283
00:16:52,746 --> 00:16:54,686
belief, which we'll talk about.

284
00:16:56,031 --> 00:16:59,181
Faith is acting on truth.

285
00:17:00,201 --> 00:17:04,881
In order to have faith,
you have to know the truth.

286
00:17:04,881 --> 00:17:08,181
Where do we find the truth in God's word.

287
00:17:08,684 --> 00:17:11,394
Specifically revealed
in the person of Jesus.

288
00:17:11,402 --> 00:17:12,781
, I am the way, the truth.

289
00:17:13,067 --> 00:17:13,457
And the life.

290
00:17:13,457 --> 00:17:17,237
Not a truth, not more truth,
I am the truth, right?

291
00:17:17,837 --> 00:17:21,737
His tone, his tenor, his attitude toward
the sinner, toward the broken person.

292
00:17:22,007 --> 00:17:24,767
You wonder what God's,
like Jesus said, it's me.

293
00:17:24,977 --> 00:17:27,987
If you've seen me, you've seen the father.

294
00:17:28,008 --> 00:17:34,698
faith is only faith when it's
tethered to the truth, right?

295
00:17:36,258 --> 00:17:39,699
Because if it lacks truth,  then.

296
00:17:39,704 --> 00:17:41,458
It's just a lot of activity.

297
00:17:42,618 --> 00:17:44,507
It's a lot of, motion.

298
00:17:44,987 --> 00:17:45,767
It's a lot of commotion.

299
00:17:45,772 --> 00:17:47,457
I think about cults.

300
00:17:47,516 --> 00:17:49,316
I think about Mormon.

301
00:17:49,636 --> 00:17:52,599
Um, they have a lot of activity.

302
00:17:53,169 --> 00:17:53,949
A lot of activity.

303
00:17:53,949 --> 00:17:57,142
They actually do a lot of good in this
world, they're constantly helping.

304
00:17:57,142 --> 00:17:57,913
They're doing this.

305
00:17:57,918 --> 00:17:59,535
They're, I mean, they believe so.

306
00:18:00,675 --> 00:18:07,755
They have conviction and they act on
it, but they don't have the truth.

307
00:18:07,801 --> 00:18:10,693
so faith is only faith when
it's tethered to the truth.

308
00:18:11,023 --> 00:18:15,763
Acting like God is telling the
truth, what he says is real and then.

309
00:18:16,573 --> 00:18:18,433
Okay, that's reality.

310
00:18:18,433 --> 00:18:21,918
When God says, like we talked about
the couple weeks ago, I remove

311
00:18:21,918 --> 00:18:25,404
your sin as far as the east is
from the west, to remember it.

312
00:18:25,404 --> 00:18:29,568
No more, to, to truly live your life.

313
00:18:29,616 --> 00:18:30,960
Like that's reality.

314
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:35,010
Like what he says about you and
your new identity that you're

315
00:18:35,010 --> 00:18:39,730
adopted into his family and have
all the rights and the privileges.

316
00:18:39,730 --> 00:18:43,293
As the son himself to live like that.

317
00:18:43,353 --> 00:18:45,283
To just, okay, I'm gonna, yeah.

318
00:18:45,288 --> 00:18:45,693
Okay.

319
00:18:46,173 --> 00:18:46,863
I'm gonna be bold.

320
00:18:46,863 --> 00:18:47,433
I'm gonna do that.

321
00:18:47,433 --> 00:18:49,113
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go for it.

322
00:18:49,833 --> 00:18:52,713
That's the idea that he's talking about.

323
00:18:52,743 --> 00:18:55,683
A lot of people who talk about faith
are not connected to the truth and

324
00:18:55,683 --> 00:18:57,303
wonder why faith isn't working.

325
00:18:57,843 --> 00:19:00,213
So they go around and look for more.

326
00:19:02,478 --> 00:19:03,918
They look for more faith.

327
00:19:03,978 --> 00:19:07,308
Truth is what God says about a matter.

328
00:19:08,088 --> 00:19:11,838
Also, faith isn't about feelings.

329
00:19:11,926 --> 00:19:15,736
feelings are circumstantially driven.

330
00:19:16,336 --> 00:19:17,956
If things are going well, I feel good.

331
00:19:17,961 --> 00:19:20,446
If things are going bad, I feel bad.

332
00:19:20,866 --> 00:19:23,926
You can't control circumstances.

333
00:19:24,346 --> 00:19:26,266
Faith isn't tied to our feelings.

334
00:19:26,266 --> 00:19:29,326
Otherwise, it would be up
and down as my feelings are.

335
00:19:29,326 --> 00:19:30,856
Faith is tethered to.

336
00:19:32,551 --> 00:19:33,301
truth.

337
00:19:34,291 --> 00:19:39,511
Now, often when you believe
something your feelings will follow.

338
00:19:39,991 --> 00:19:43,685
When you see God working or when
you trust that he is, then all of

339
00:19:43,690 --> 00:19:50,615
a sudden you'll erupt and praise,
but don't be led by feelings.

340
00:19:51,245 --> 00:19:56,895
Faith is acting on the truth whether I
liked the truth or not, which is really.

341
00:19:59,540 --> 00:20:02,355
We talked about this, people
don't like absolute truth.

342
00:20:02,384 --> 00:20:09,600
in fact, the idol of our culture for
our younger generation is freedom.

343
00:20:10,650 --> 00:20:11,190
Freedom.

344
00:20:12,060 --> 00:20:15,660
And if you tell them that there's
an absolute truth and absolute

345
00:20:15,665 --> 00:20:18,990
standard that feels like the
destruction of their freedom.

346
00:20:20,505 --> 00:20:21,465
Don't say that.

347
00:20:21,465 --> 00:20:22,845
No, I want to be free.

348
00:20:22,845 --> 00:20:24,945
I will decide my own boundaries.

349
00:20:24,945 --> 00:20:26,625
I'll decide my own truth.

350
00:20:26,625 --> 00:20:28,485
I'll figure out, and I'll be true to that.

351
00:20:28,485 --> 00:20:33,315
And you have to recognize my truth, right?

352
00:20:34,005 --> 00:20:36,435
But there's things in God's word,
even for us Christians, that God

353
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,125
says that we don't always like.

354
00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:42,566
. That's why we like the promises calendar.

355
00:20:42,636 --> 00:20:44,701
where we're like, we collect them.

356
00:20:45,331 --> 00:20:47,071
We're like, I like this
one, I like this one.

357
00:20:47,071 --> 00:20:47,701
I like this one.

358
00:20:48,829 --> 00:20:51,139
faith is acting on the truth
whether I like the truth or

359
00:20:51,139 --> 00:20:53,639
not, I feel the truth or.

360
00:20:55,704 --> 00:20:58,669
or I agree with the truth of God, right?

361
00:20:59,299 --> 00:21:04,468
So often the word of God contradicts
us and it needs to, it needs

362
00:21:04,468 --> 00:21:06,208
to contradict our worldview.

363
00:21:06,208 --> 00:21:10,288
It needs to, we need to be open to
the word of God contradicting our

364
00:21:10,948 --> 00:21:13,588
foundations or why we do what we do.

365
00:21:13,588 --> 00:21:20,128
We need to let the word of God come in
like that two edged sword and divide us.

366
00:21:20,863 --> 00:21:26,059
In that sense to, to see what's there, to
see, why are we doing what we're doing?

367
00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:29,560
I think of revelation the way Jesus
so gently goes to those churches

368
00:21:29,620 --> 00:21:31,810
and he just tells 'em the truth.

369
00:21:31,863 --> 00:21:35,218
the church at Ephesus, they
thought they were gold star.

370
00:21:35,218 --> 00:21:36,598
In fact, they get to go first.

371
00:21:36,649 --> 00:21:40,856
we're the first church, and Jesus is
like, I'm gonna take your lamp, stand

372
00:21:40,856 --> 00:21:43,586
away because you've left your first love.

373
00:21:43,586 --> 00:21:44,306
You love me.

374
00:21:44,306 --> 00:21:46,166
You just don't love me primarily.

375
00:21:46,826 --> 00:21:52,070
, like any, to hear that, they need to
hear that that's a necessary diagnosis.

376
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,470
Does faith make God move?

377
00:21:54,522 --> 00:21:57,055
that's a question in something
we hear a lot, right?

378
00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:01,609
, if you have the right faith, if you have
enough faith, if you have more faith, then

379
00:22:01,609 --> 00:22:03,979
you can move God to act and do things.

380
00:22:03,979 --> 00:22:07,429
If you believe that though, you're
going to be looking for more.

381
00:22:09,109 --> 00:22:10,789
And not more knowledge.

382
00:22:11,299 --> 00:22:12,799
That's more truth.

383
00:22:12,829 --> 00:22:16,399
What's truly true about God and what
he says is real in the universe.

384
00:22:16,729 --> 00:22:20,809
That's where we go, right?

385
00:22:20,809 --> 00:22:23,659
Because all through scripture,
God's constantly telling us

386
00:22:23,899 --> 00:22:25,729
you don't need a lot of faith.

387
00:22:26,749 --> 00:22:28,249
It could be as small as a mustard.

388
00:22:29,434 --> 00:22:34,504
and you could literally say to this
mountain move and it will be moved.

389
00:22:35,074 --> 00:22:37,157
That's crazy.

390
00:22:37,207 --> 00:22:42,277
so it's not about more faith, it's
about the object of our faith.

391
00:22:42,309 --> 00:22:46,592
if you put a little bit of faith in a
whole bunch of truth, that's all you need.

392
00:22:46,625 --> 00:22:52,355
and what God says, if you believe what
God says, and you know what God says about

393
00:22:52,355 --> 00:22:56,405
situations and circumstances, you're good.

394
00:22:57,245 --> 00:22:59,165
That's amazing, right?

395
00:23:00,095 --> 00:23:05,165
Faith accesses what God
has already done in grace.

396
00:23:05,495 --> 00:23:08,975
Faith is the point of access,
not the point of power.

397
00:23:09,275 --> 00:23:14,645
The power is in what God has only
done for you because of Jesus Christ.

398
00:23:16,175 --> 00:23:19,595
You hear that faith access
is what God has already done.

399
00:23:19,685 --> 00:23:23,458
In grace, we always talk about
withdrawing the blessings, right?

400
00:23:23,548 --> 00:23:27,637
So many times we, we pray and we're
gonna read it God, will we just bless me?

401
00:23:27,667 --> 00:23:29,857
He has blessed you with
every spiritual blessing.

402
00:23:29,881 --> 00:23:30,983
like it's yours.

403
00:23:30,983 --> 00:23:31,643
Just draw it.

404
00:23:31,643 --> 00:23:32,933
Just believe it, right?

405
00:23:33,473 --> 00:23:38,935
Just believe that it is Faith is the
point of access, not the point of power.

406
00:23:38,935 --> 00:23:42,688
The power is in what God has already
done where he says, be strong in the

407
00:23:42,688 --> 00:23:45,298
Lord and the power of his might not.

408
00:23:45,303 --> 00:23:47,158
In your faith, don't have faith in faith.

409
00:23:47,158 --> 00:23:52,244
Don't be strong in yourself and
because what so often happens is we

410
00:23:52,244 --> 00:23:57,734
try to conjure up more faith, which
often is just whipping up our emotions

411
00:23:57,734 --> 00:23:59,555
if I believe right, if our or if.

412
00:24:00,215 --> 00:24:03,035
If I just couldn't do it when
I was like, when I was younger,

413
00:24:03,035 --> 00:24:06,262
I got invited to my first dance
and I was just so excited to go.

414
00:24:06,262 --> 00:24:09,772
but unfortunately being a teenager,
I had this like crazy zit on the

415
00:24:09,772 --> 00:24:12,892
forehead, and the way I used to wear
my hair was down to my shoulders,

416
00:24:13,012 --> 00:24:14,602
and it just parted in the middle.

417
00:24:14,607 --> 00:24:19,282
So it, it was like drapes,
drap pulling apart on the

418
00:24:19,282 --> 00:24:21,862
stage and saying, look at this.

419
00:24:21,862 --> 00:24:23,077
It looked like I had a third eye.

420
00:24:23,872 --> 00:24:27,832
Anyways, being a man of faith, a
kid of faith, a teenager of faith,

421
00:24:28,352 --> 00:24:33,575
I read the story about naming the
leper and how he washed seven times,

422
00:24:33,585 --> 00:24:36,045
and I thought, I just need faith.

423
00:24:36,615 --> 00:24:38,732
And, and so I got into the shower.

424
00:24:38,792 --> 00:24:43,322
I scrubbed my forehead
once, twice, three times.

425
00:24:43,322 --> 00:24:44,162
Four times four.

426
00:24:44,282 --> 00:24:45,542
Oh no, I almost lost count.

427
00:24:45,547 --> 00:24:46,382
I can't lose count.

428
00:24:46,382 --> 00:24:47,249
It's gotta be seven.

429
00:24:47,312 --> 00:24:48,392
Seven times.

430
00:24:48,542 --> 00:24:52,652
It was a long shower, and then I got
out and the, the fog was on the mirror.

431
00:24:52,652 --> 00:24:55,639
So I'm like, okay, I gotta let
all this evaporate and stuff.

432
00:24:55,639 --> 00:24:56,689
And I'm so excited.

433
00:24:56,689 --> 00:24:58,129
Thank you Lord for moving.

434
00:24:58,159 --> 00:24:59,234
You are so good.

435
00:24:59,305 --> 00:25:03,568
and, . And before the fog was gone,
I could just see a glow of red

436
00:25:03,568 --> 00:25:09,388
on my forehead from just abusing
my skin with abrasive things.

437
00:25:09,688 --> 00:25:11,428
I made it 10 times worse.

438
00:25:11,638 --> 00:25:13,348
I made it 10 times worse.

439
00:25:13,408 --> 00:25:16,108
See, at that moment, I'm
trying to conjure up faith.

440
00:25:16,108 --> 00:25:20,908
I'm trying to armbar God into
doing what I want for him to do.

441
00:25:20,908 --> 00:25:22,948
And so often, what does the truth say?

442
00:25:22,948 --> 00:25:24,898
It says, I'm in control and I love you.

443
00:25:26,008 --> 00:25:27,868
Everything passes through my nail scarred.

444
00:25:27,955 --> 00:25:34,594
so often we want to use faith because
we think we know better when what faith

445
00:25:34,594 --> 00:25:41,314
does is look at truth and lean on him
and trust and say, God knows better.

446
00:25:41,824 --> 00:25:42,784
God knows better.

447
00:25:42,845 --> 00:25:48,027
so often we say to God, my will
be done right and I'll do this

448
00:25:48,027 --> 00:25:48,897
and I'll do this and I'll do.

449
00:25:50,697 --> 00:25:51,807
I'll take things seriously.

450
00:25:51,807 --> 00:25:53,517
Lord, I'll be used by you.

451
00:25:53,517 --> 00:25:55,317
I'll dedicate my life
to the mission field.

452
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,150
and we're trying to get God to do for us.

453
00:25:57,150 --> 00:25:59,052
We're saying, my will be
done, but what is faith?

454
00:25:59,052 --> 00:26:02,532
Faith says, here's what I want.

455
00:26:03,762 --> 00:26:05,202
Like Jesus, I want to escape.

456
00:26:05,952 --> 00:26:11,202
If there's any other way, let this cut
pass from me, but faith is not my will,

457
00:26:11,202 --> 00:26:13,452
but your will be done because you're.

458
00:26:14,832 --> 00:26:19,239
And you're all wise and
you know, all things.

459
00:26:19,899 --> 00:26:21,579
So we don't try to conjure things up.

460
00:26:21,588 --> 00:26:24,468
Romans five, one to two says,
therefore, since we have been

461
00:26:24,468 --> 00:26:29,538
justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

462
00:26:29,928 --> 00:26:31,998
Through him, we also have obtained.

463
00:26:32,358 --> 00:26:40,038
Access by faith into the grace
in which we now stand and rejoice

464
00:26:40,038 --> 00:26:42,258
and the hope of the glory of God.

465
00:26:42,258 --> 00:26:46,218
So right there, he's saying faith
gives you the access into the grace.

466
00:26:46,458 --> 00:26:47,238
What is grace?

467
00:26:47,243 --> 00:26:50,328
It's what he has done for
you above and beyond, right?

468
00:26:50,478 --> 00:26:51,558
What we didn't earn.

469
00:26:51,558 --> 00:26:56,058
What he simply gives as demerit
favor, his favor bestowed.

470
00:26:56,919 --> 00:27:02,689
His lavishness towards us, like
pouring out  all his goodness on us.

471
00:27:02,779 --> 00:27:03,679
What does it say?

472
00:27:03,679 --> 00:27:05,979
It says that we believe that's true.

473
00:27:07,059 --> 00:27:08,369
That he tells us that's true.

474
00:27:08,369 --> 00:27:12,329
He proved it on the cross, which
will get to faith, gives you access

475
00:27:12,329 --> 00:27:13,679
into what grace has done for you.

476
00:27:14,069 --> 00:27:15,719
God has already blessed.

477
00:27:16,769 --> 00:27:19,829
. Our problem is not getting more
from God, but accessing what

478
00:27:19,829 --> 00:27:21,749
he has already given to us.

479
00:27:22,109 --> 00:27:23,009
Ephesians one, three.

480
00:27:23,009 --> 00:27:23,789
Guys, we know this.

481
00:27:23,789 --> 00:27:24,809
We just read this book.

482
00:27:25,049 --> 00:27:28,199
Jesus has already blessed us
with every spiritual blessing

483
00:27:28,204 --> 00:27:33,359
from heaven, has past tenses, all
every, or in Ephesians two, six.

484
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,669
It doesn't say he will
enthone us in heaven.

485
00:27:35,849 --> 00:27:39,539
It says He has already seeded
us with Christ in the heavenly.

486
00:27:40,594 --> 00:27:43,024
Christ is seated at the right
hand of the throne of God.

487
00:27:43,024 --> 00:27:45,394
Now the seat at the right hand of the
throne of God, and that's where He's

488
00:27:45,394 --> 00:27:49,654
put us, he seated us with himself,
is not something that means much

489
00:27:49,654 --> 00:27:53,674
to us today, but it's the place of
the greatest power in the kingdom.

490
00:27:53,914 --> 00:27:55,774
It's the prime minister's place.

491
00:27:55,984 --> 00:27:58,474
It's the place of the greatest intimacy.

492
00:27:58,684 --> 00:28:01,144
You have the ear of the king.

493
00:28:01,354 --> 00:28:04,354
You are at the right hand
of the place of favor.

494
00:28:04,354 --> 00:28:08,644
It says all power, all
intimacy is already.

495
00:28:09,254 --> 00:28:10,184
Ours.

496
00:28:12,854 --> 00:28:14,834
What would it look like
if we acted on that?

497
00:28:16,694 --> 00:28:17,204
That's faith.

498
00:28:18,974 --> 00:28:23,190
What would it look like if
we believed that that was so?

499
00:28:23,311 --> 00:28:26,001
Second Peter one, three says that,
therefore, we have everything

500
00:28:26,001 --> 00:28:28,431
necessary for life and godliness.

501
00:28:28,461 --> 00:28:30,970
Hebrews 11, one says, now faith is the.

502
00:28:31,006 --> 00:28:32,986
substance of things hoped for.

503
00:28:32,986 --> 00:28:34,756
So it's got substance, right?

504
00:28:35,356 --> 00:28:38,026
It's the conviction of things not seen.

505
00:28:38,266 --> 00:28:39,886
It's real, like truth is real.

506
00:28:39,886 --> 00:28:40,666
It's weighty.

507
00:28:40,936 --> 00:28:43,456
Like God's glory is weighty,
and here we come again.

508
00:28:43,461 --> 00:28:46,366
Faith is the eyes of the soul
that see the greatness, the

509
00:28:46,371 --> 00:28:50,806
goodness, and the glory of are God.

510
00:28:51,346 --> 00:28:57,316
And then acting on that truth, like it's
truer than what we see by our sight.

511
00:28:57,355 --> 00:28:59,665
We walk by faith, not by sight.

512
00:29:00,145 --> 00:29:03,775
So it's interesting you brought that up,
I think of a Red Sea, and then I think of

513
00:29:03,775 --> 00:29:05,875
the crossing of the Jordan River, right?

514
00:29:06,295 --> 00:29:07,105
So what do you have?

515
00:29:07,105 --> 00:29:12,389
You've got, on one, God says, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord, right?

516
00:29:12,389 --> 00:29:13,769
And then he parts the Red Sea.

517
00:29:13,893 --> 00:29:18,408
in that situation, it
was really hard to stand.

518
00:29:19,968 --> 00:29:22,038
, everybody wanted to run and scatter.

519
00:29:22,038 --> 00:29:22,398
Why?

520
00:29:22,788 --> 00:29:25,008
Because the Egyptians,  they
were coming at them with

521
00:29:25,008 --> 00:29:26,658
chariots about to slaughter them.

522
00:29:27,268 --> 00:29:28,948
they , had their backs against the sea

523
00:29:29,218 --> 00:29:33,598
And the panic and the feeling and
the anxiety and being terrified.

524
00:29:33,778 --> 00:29:38,518
You want to run and God says, stand still.

525
00:29:41,248 --> 00:29:41,908
And what do they do?

526
00:29:43,408 --> 00:29:47,668
They stand still and God hurts the water.

527
00:29:48,238 --> 00:29:50,608
And they go over on dry land, right?

528
00:29:50,788 --> 00:29:56,428
And then for some reason the
enemies, their enemies ride their

529
00:29:56,428 --> 00:29:59,158
chariots in and God closes the
waters on them like a grave.

530
00:30:00,028 --> 00:30:01,408
But then there's the Jordan River.

531
00:30:01,558 --> 00:30:02,038
Different.

532
00:30:02,068 --> 00:30:04,528
They had all the time in the
world they didn't wanna run.

533
00:30:04,858 --> 00:30:06,718
In fact, a lot of them
didn't want to go over.

534
00:30:06,718 --> 00:30:09,410
Remember there's two tribes that
said, we'll hang out over here.

535
00:30:09,467 --> 00:30:10,217
we're good.

536
00:30:10,667 --> 00:30:13,277
We don't want to cross the Jordan
they had all the time in the world.

537
00:30:13,277 --> 00:30:15,317
And so what does God say step.

538
00:30:16,742 --> 00:30:19,202
, you gotta walk, you gotta take
a step, you gotta step out.

539
00:30:19,232 --> 00:30:22,262
And then it par priests get
the arc of the coming on like

540
00:30:22,262 --> 00:30:23,702
their most precious possession.

541
00:30:23,707 --> 00:30:25,982
It has the 10 commandments in them.

542
00:30:25,982 --> 00:30:30,182
It has manna in it, it has Aaron's rod in
it, like these precious things that were

543
00:30:30,182 --> 00:30:32,012
symbols of God's faithfulness to them.

544
00:30:32,252 --> 00:30:34,052
And then they step into
the water and what happens?

545
00:30:34,141 --> 00:30:35,528
Well, at first, nothing.

546
00:30:35,558 --> 00:30:38,978
They first step at nothing, and then
they take another step in nothing.

547
00:30:38,983 --> 00:30:40,508
And this was that flood time.

548
00:30:40,598 --> 00:30:44,048
This is when like they couldn't
build rafts to get across.

549
00:30:44,048 --> 00:30:45,098
It was too crazy.

550
00:30:45,103 --> 00:30:46,778
There was too much water.

551
00:30:46,778 --> 00:30:47,978
It was flowing too rapidly.

552
00:30:47,983 --> 00:30:48,788
It was flowing too hard.

553
00:30:48,818 --> 00:30:54,218
And as they step more into the water,
then all of a sudden God parts the water.

554
00:30:54,368 --> 00:30:59,408
The disciples during the storm is
one of my favorites because Jesus

555
00:30:59,408 --> 00:31:00,878
says, oh, you have little faith.

556
00:31:01,178 --> 00:31:02,188
And what he means by.

557
00:31:03,068 --> 00:31:04,058
because he likes that a lot.

558
00:31:04,058 --> 00:31:06,128
And then Jesus marvels at faith, right?

559
00:31:06,187 --> 00:31:06,757
, what is that?

560
00:31:06,757 --> 00:31:09,907
It's just the full confidence
that God's in control.

561
00:31:09,944 --> 00:31:12,444
that what God says about reality is real.

562
00:31:12,461 --> 00:31:13,924
, that's  faith that he marvels that.

563
00:31:14,044 --> 00:31:14,314
Wow.

564
00:31:14,314 --> 00:31:15,724
You really believe it.

565
00:31:16,054 --> 00:31:18,424
You like, take it on faith value.

566
00:31:18,664 --> 00:31:20,944
You are the centurion soldier, right?

567
00:31:20,944 --> 00:31:22,643
He's oh, no, I understand authority.

568
00:31:22,711 --> 00:31:24,061
I say to this soldier, go do this.

569
00:31:24,061 --> 00:31:24,631
And he does.

570
00:31:25,921 --> 00:31:30,001
If you are who you say,  and
you have all authority.

571
00:31:30,001 --> 00:31:33,631
You hold every molecule and add
him in the palm of your hand.

572
00:31:34,801 --> 00:31:35,551
You don't have to come.

573
00:31:35,791 --> 00:31:36,331
You're good.

574
00:31:36,991 --> 00:31:39,391
You could just say, why
don't you leave now?

575
00:31:39,391 --> 00:31:40,051
Disease?

576
00:31:40,121 --> 00:31:41,201
Any marvels of his faith?

577
00:31:41,201 --> 00:31:42,641
I haven't found faith like this in Israel.

578
00:31:43,001 --> 00:31:43,811
What was it?

579
00:31:43,841 --> 00:31:44,501
The amount?

580
00:31:44,501 --> 00:31:45,551
No, it was the object.

581
00:31:45,551 --> 00:31:50,311
He just took what God was
saying at face value about.

582
00:31:51,536 --> 00:31:52,766
About his character.

583
00:31:52,837 --> 00:31:55,237
I love the disciples because Jesus
says something to new, they're

584
00:31:55,237 --> 00:31:57,920
all terrified right in the storm.

585
00:31:57,931 --> 00:32:01,837
Jesus gets into the boat, he
rebukes the wind, he says, shut up.

586
00:32:01,837 --> 00:32:03,988
and I the clouds just part,
the sun comes through.

587
00:32:04,228 --> 00:32:06,821
The waves, are just still right.

588
00:32:07,481 --> 00:32:08,681
And what does he say to them?

589
00:32:09,461 --> 00:32:11,531
He says, where is your faith?

590
00:32:12,701 --> 00:32:13,721
Where is your faith?

591
00:32:14,261 --> 00:32:15,161
He didn't say, you need more.

592
00:32:17,621 --> 00:32:20,801
He didn't say, you need
to grow your faith.

593
00:32:21,161 --> 00:32:23,800
He didn't say, you need to do this,
this, and this with your faith.

594
00:32:23,950 --> 00:32:26,620
He says, take what knowledge
you already have on me.

595
00:32:26,625 --> 00:32:28,380
I just fed the 5,000.

596
00:32:30,790 --> 00:32:34,264
I brought food, from nothing, from five.

597
00:32:34,324 --> 00:32:37,510
I multiplied, I fe, I fed, 9,000
people or however many were

598
00:32:37,510 --> 00:32:38,860
that day, counting women and.

599
00:32:39,850 --> 00:32:41,410
You literally passed it out.

600
00:32:41,740 --> 00:32:44,740
You literally held baskets full
of food that would not run out.

601
00:32:45,010 --> 00:32:49,240
Bring what little  knowledge you have
on me to bear on your circumstances.

602
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:49,990
Where is your faith?

603
00:32:49,990 --> 00:32:51,190
It's not that you need more.

604
00:32:51,460 --> 00:32:54,880
Bring what you know of me to bear
on your situation and circumstance.

605
00:32:54,970 --> 00:32:55,660
That's.

606
00:32:56,140 --> 00:33:00,070
Faith, it's not the
amount, it's the object.

607
00:33:00,184 --> 00:33:00,544
, right?

608
00:33:00,904 --> 00:33:04,144
Two people traveling on a
plane, one's ridden on a plane a

609
00:33:04,144 --> 00:33:05,734
hundred times and he's snoozing.

610
00:33:05,734 --> 00:33:08,997
He's got the neck pillow, he's
got the, noise canceling bows,

611
00:33:08,997 --> 00:33:10,767
headphones and he's just loving it.

612
00:33:10,767 --> 00:33:11,757
He doesn't even want to get off.

613
00:33:11,787 --> 00:33:13,230
He, he is can't I just fly somewhere else?

614
00:33:13,230 --> 00:33:14,010
I was sleeping so good.

615
00:33:14,475 --> 00:33:19,059
The guy sitting next to him is terrified,
shaking, goes to the bathroom a couple

616
00:33:19,059 --> 00:33:23,333
times and throws up, taking pills and
ambient and, all kind, Xanax, because

617
00:33:23,333 --> 00:33:25,463
he's so afraid that he's gonna crash.

618
00:33:25,673 --> 00:33:27,743
Do they both make it
to their destinations?

619
00:33:28,673 --> 00:33:28,943
Yeah.

620
00:33:30,623 --> 00:33:30,983
Why?

621
00:33:32,243 --> 00:33:33,563
It's because the object.

622
00:33:34,118 --> 00:33:35,678
It's because the pilot gets him there.

623
00:33:35,678 --> 00:33:36,668
The plane gets him there.

624
00:33:36,696 --> 00:33:40,716
it's not that one believed and
the other didn't, or, he placed

625
00:33:40,716 --> 00:33:43,896
his faith and he got on the plane
even though his faith was shaky.

626
00:33:43,896 --> 00:33:48,223
That's why, the man with the demonized
kid, he says, I believe, help my unbelief.

627
00:33:49,273 --> 00:33:50,488
He's I think I do.

628
00:33:51,408 --> 00:33:52,288
I want to.

629
00:33:53,023 --> 00:33:53,743
But I don't know.

630
00:33:53,743 --> 00:33:55,033
Are you gonna come through?

631
00:33:55,033 --> 00:33:56,585
Are you gonna, are you gonna fail?

632
00:33:57,185 --> 00:34:00,395
And so help my unbelief.

633
00:34:01,025 --> 00:34:01,880
Do we understand?

634
00:34:02,002 --> 00:34:02,362
faith.

635
00:34:02,362 --> 00:34:04,192
Faith is acting on God's truth.

636
00:34:04,245 --> 00:34:05,636
It's the point of access.

637
00:34:05,636 --> 00:34:08,246
It's just, it's believing.

638
00:34:08,366 --> 00:34:11,786
All through scripture, one of the great
themes is the just lived by faith.

639
00:34:12,266 --> 00:34:18,505
Those who are made right with God
just justified believe that it's.

640
00:34:19,481 --> 00:34:24,041
And they walk in that new identity that
has been one for them at the cross.

641
00:34:24,610 --> 00:34:26,141
That's how you live your life.

642
00:34:26,141 --> 00:34:28,331
The just live by faith.

643
00:34:28,601 --> 00:34:31,481
Those who are justified believe
that God really justified them.

644
00:34:32,170 --> 00:34:34,781
That he has taken their sin as far
as the eases from the west, that

645
00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:37,451
he adores them, that they have an
inheritance, that they're a beloved

646
00:34:37,451 --> 00:34:41,440
child of God, that God dotes on them,
that he truly does sing over them.

647
00:34:41,831 --> 00:34:46,420
Not just sometimes, but all the time
because Christ's righteousness is secure.

648
00:34:46,571 --> 00:34:51,376
It's  invincible, it's impenetrable,
it's beautiful, it's glorious.

649
00:34:51,376 --> 00:34:54,646
It's the perfect obedience that
he put on us like the, so that.

650
00:34:55,136 --> 00:34:56,996
Perfectly obedient to the father.

651
00:34:56,996 --> 00:34:59,546
There's nothing in the
way believing that's true.

652
00:34:59,546 --> 00:35:02,685
Walking in that that's what faith is.

653
00:35:03,975 --> 00:35:04,725
That's what faith is.

654
00:35:04,725 --> 00:35:05,625
So why do we need it?

655
00:35:05,745 --> 00:35:07,635
And this is the critical point.

656
00:35:09,165 --> 00:35:12,585
So like we said earlier, if you're trying
to besiege a city, you didn't use the

657
00:35:12,585 --> 00:35:17,118
shield and hand to hand combat on the way
to the, Capitol City, this big door like.

658
00:35:19,148 --> 00:35:20,318
Nor did you use it once.

659
00:35:20,318 --> 00:35:23,918
You broke it into the city and
were now mopping up the enemy.

660
00:35:24,248 --> 00:35:28,858
You used it as you were besieging the
city as you were actually at the critical

661
00:35:28,863 --> 00:35:33,428
moment in which the whole campaign
hung in the balance because as you were

662
00:35:33,428 --> 00:35:37,818
actually assaulting the walls, that's
the most dangerous place in the whole.

663
00:35:39,158 --> 00:35:42,218
Because you are unbelievably
vulnerable at that point.

664
00:35:43,448 --> 00:35:46,388
Because what they would do is they
would shoot their fiery arrows.

665
00:35:46,388 --> 00:35:51,068
They would throw pitch in tar and
hot molten lead, and so it would

666
00:35:51,068 --> 00:35:53,738
be under there besieging that wall.

667
00:35:53,888 --> 00:35:57,278
And you would need to extinguish those
things because what would so often

668
00:35:57,278 --> 00:36:02,648
happen is if that shield wasn't put up or
there was a crack in the defense is you

669
00:36:02,648 --> 00:36:04,928
would turn and see your fellow soldier.

670
00:36:05,243 --> 00:36:09,491
Jerry, who you've been fighting
with since you were a young person.

671
00:36:09,510 --> 00:36:15,570
catch on fire and yell and
scream and thrash, and then

672
00:36:15,570 --> 00:36:17,280
you hear it all around you.

673
00:36:17,670 --> 00:36:22,560
The point, the most desperate part
of the battle was in that moment.

674
00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:25,350
Could you withstand the.

675
00:36:26,730 --> 00:36:28,560
Could you withstand that?

676
00:36:28,650 --> 00:36:29,910
Could you get through the walls?

677
00:36:29,915 --> 00:36:32,520
Because it didn't matter how big
your army was when you came up

678
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:37,230
against a fortified wall and a
fortified defense, you had to endure.

679
00:36:37,230 --> 00:36:38,340
You had to get through it.

680
00:36:38,340 --> 00:36:40,530
You had to come through on the other side.

681
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,970
And there were many times and many
battles where they would scatter

682
00:36:44,970 --> 00:36:47,880
and they would run and they would
retreat, and they would lose the

683
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,110
battle because they would not endure
at the wall when the fire was coming.

684
00:36:53,580 --> 00:36:55,053
So it kind of paints the picture, right?

685
00:36:55,065 --> 00:36:59,085
these fiery arrows, as we
often hear, could be doubts.

686
00:37:00,525 --> 00:37:06,915
They could be temptations
as we think about what these

687
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:08,775
fiery arrows are coming at us.

688
00:37:11,175 --> 00:37:16,515
But I think what Paul has in mind here
when he uses the word fiery, is suffer.

689
00:37:20,235 --> 00:37:21,585
At first Peter four 12.

690
00:37:23,655 --> 00:37:31,935
Peter writes, beloved, do not be
surprised when fiery trials come upon you.

691
00:37:33,915 --> 00:37:37,575
In Revelation chapter three, the
same word is used here, fiery.

692
00:37:37,575 --> 00:37:40,945
It says The church is
like gold purified in the.

693
00:37:42,300 --> 00:37:46,140
It's talking about dings of the saints.

694
00:37:49,740 --> 00:37:52,050
So the shield, it's for
those darkest times.

695
00:37:52,050 --> 00:37:55,170
It's for those times in which certain
kinds of surprising tragedies and

696
00:37:55,170 --> 00:38:00,540
sufferings and amazing disappointments
and disillusioning occurrences seem to be

697
00:38:00,540 --> 00:38:03,480
hurled down upon you from out of nowhere.

698
00:38:04,380 --> 00:38:07,110
They surprise you, they shock you.

699
00:38:07,770 --> 00:38:09,030
That's their whole purpose.

700
00:38:09,930 --> 00:38:15,180
They're there to alarm you, to make you
panic, to make you flee, to make you

701
00:38:15,180 --> 00:38:19,080
run, to make you turn your back on God,
to make you question his goodness, his

702
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,290
power, his authority, and his justice.

703
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,870
They're not there just to hurt you,
but to scare you they're there to

704
00:38:26,870 --> 00:38:28,430
get you to turn around and run.

705
00:38:28,970 --> 00:38:32,450
That's when you have to
put up the shield of faith.

706
00:38:41,855 --> 00:38:46,105
suffering is difficult.

707
00:38:46,233 --> 00:38:46,653
and

708
00:38:50,813 --> 00:38:57,443
many fellow soldier has been
taken out because of suffering.

709
00:38:57,571 --> 00:39:00,596
suffering is that fire, that
can come out of nowhere.

710
00:39:00,596 --> 00:39:06,279
that can come from friends, that can come
from yourself and your own activities,

711
00:39:07,989 --> 00:39:14,559
but it can lead you to a place where
you just don't know down from up.

712
00:39:16,089 --> 00:39:16,379
You don't.

713
00:39:17,004 --> 00:39:21,174
Know if what you believed in and was
good, your foundation feels shaky.

714
00:39:22,434 --> 00:39:24,804
Some of the seasons that we've
been through, I've been honest

715
00:39:24,804 --> 00:39:26,394
with you guys as a church.

716
00:39:26,394 --> 00:39:32,434
I, the only thing I was tethered to or
the only thing tethered to me was Jesus.

717
00:39:32,434 --> 00:39:32,897
I couldn't.

718
00:39:34,877 --> 00:39:38,807
I couldn't pretend like he didn't
exist, but man, I wanted to

719
00:39:38,807 --> 00:39:42,017
leave everything else behind.

720
00:39:42,017 --> 00:39:43,577
There's too much pain.

721
00:39:44,117 --> 00:39:51,017
There's too much trauma, there's too
much heartache and tears and long.

722
00:39:51,302 --> 00:39:56,852
Nights, and I mean to the point
where your body's affected,

723
00:39:57,692 --> 00:40:00,169
where your body is taking on.

724
00:40:00,170 --> 00:40:04,485
there's this book called The Body Knows
the Score, like your body takes on

725
00:40:04,485 --> 00:40:07,695
the trauma, the suffering that you're
going through, even if it's something

726
00:40:07,935 --> 00:40:13,541
like rejection or, being ostracized
from community or something like it

727
00:40:13,546 --> 00:40:17,740
is, it's crazy and it always seems.

728
00:40:19,405 --> 00:40:23,006
At least what I do is I used to
give God, I'd be like, God, you

729
00:40:23,006 --> 00:40:24,737
can, here's my plan for my life.

730
00:40:24,767 --> 00:40:26,627
It's amazing and there's
suffering in there.

731
00:40:26,627 --> 00:40:27,477
There's a cross.

732
00:40:27,992 --> 00:40:31,360
That I'm gonna take up and
follow you, but it only go here.

733
00:40:31,630 --> 00:40:32,980
You can't come here.

734
00:40:33,250 --> 00:40:34,990
You can't lean me all the way to Golgotha.

735
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,990
You can't lead me into the tomb.

736
00:40:38,027 --> 00:40:39,317
just, I'll walk with you.

737
00:40:39,317 --> 00:40:42,257
I'll be like, Simon,  you know
who, who took the cross with you?

738
00:40:42,316 --> 00:40:45,768
and it said, all right, you
now go do like that's my plan.

739
00:40:45,918 --> 00:40:49,818
And God always seems to do.

740
00:40:51,963 --> 00:40:55,863
And at first it feels
more like you can handle.

741
00:40:57,183 --> 00:41:00,483
Why does he allow suffering and fire?

742
00:41:02,103 --> 00:41:06,823
Zacharia three 19 it says, and I will
put this, third into the fire and

743
00:41:06,828 --> 00:41:10,723
refine them as one refined silver
and test them as gold is tested.

744
00:41:11,083 --> 00:41:13,693
They will call upon my name
and I will answer them.

745
00:41:13,693 --> 00:41:13,963
I will.

746
00:41:14,803 --> 00:41:21,463
They are my people, and they
will say, the Lord is my God.

747
00:41:22,333 --> 00:41:26,263
First Peter one, seven says that the
tested genuineness of your faith.

748
00:41:27,208 --> 00:41:28,948
More precious than gold.

749
00:41:28,948 --> 00:41:34,168
That perishes, though it is tested
by fire, may be found to result

750
00:41:34,168 --> 00:41:40,108
in praise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.

751
00:41:40,228 --> 00:41:44,218
I'm gonna tell you two stories that
help us under stand this process.

752
00:41:44,548 --> 00:41:49,885
The story of job is one or the
story of job God goes to, Satan,

753
00:41:49,975 --> 00:41:51,565
or wait, no, Satan comes to God.

754
00:41:52,690 --> 00:41:56,559
And God and him are dialoguing in
this Job, chapter one, and God says,

755
00:41:56,559 --> 00:41:58,449
have you considered my servant job?

756
00:41:58,509 --> 00:41:59,379
Look at him.

757
00:42:00,519 --> 00:42:02,199
There's nothing like him on the earth.

758
00:42:02,349 --> 00:42:03,249
And what to Satan say?

759
00:42:03,249 --> 00:42:06,024
He says, he only worships you
because you have a hedge about him.

760
00:42:06,144 --> 00:42:08,574
You protect him from
suffering, is what he says.

761
00:42:08,934 --> 00:42:11,664
You've blessed him and he
doesn't have to suffer.

762
00:42:11,814 --> 00:42:14,724
If you take that hedge down,
if you let me bring suffering

763
00:42:14,724 --> 00:42:16,704
into his life, he will curse.

764
00:42:19,299 --> 00:42:22,514
And so God says you can do
this, and this, but not this.

765
00:42:22,514 --> 00:42:23,144
You can't take his.

766
00:42:24,839 --> 00:42:28,679
In one day job goes from being
one of the wealthiest people on

767
00:42:28,679 --> 00:42:30,959
the planet earth to losing it all.

768
00:42:31,109 --> 00:42:34,499
He loses his whole family
except for his wife.

769
00:42:34,556 --> 00:42:38,036
he loses, his kids, he
loses his daughters.

770
00:42:38,041 --> 00:42:39,606
He loses all his possessions.

771
00:42:39,606 --> 00:42:43,706
Everything is wiped out in one single day.

772
00:42:43,706 --> 00:42:46,736
And not only that, he
gets stricken with boils.

773
00:42:47,186 --> 00:42:48,356
Boils so big that.

774
00:42:49,446 --> 00:42:53,436
You know what gladly it says, take a
pot chart, a piece of broken pro pottery

775
00:42:53,436 --> 00:42:55,416
to scrape the boils outta his skin.

776
00:42:55,416 --> 00:43:00,006
He laid an ash to get some kind of
relief and his wife looks at him

777
00:43:00,246 --> 00:43:01,495
and she's what are you clinging?

778
00:43:03,085 --> 00:43:04,045
Curse God and die.

779
00:43:05,065 --> 00:43:08,185
And he says, no show.

780
00:43:08,296 --> 00:43:10,096
the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

781
00:43:10,156 --> 00:43:11,596
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

782
00:43:14,376 --> 00:43:16,206
Why would God let this happen?

783
00:43:16,416 --> 00:43:17,226
Why would God do that?

784
00:43:17,226 --> 00:43:20,286
Because Satan and God have two
very different  purposes for

785
00:43:20,286 --> 00:43:22,716
the fire and for suffering.

786
00:43:24,126 --> 00:43:29,256
Satan wanted to bring the fire down
to consume job and God let Satan

787
00:43:29,256 --> 00:43:31,656
bring the fire down to refine job.

788
00:43:33,396 --> 00:43:39,666
In fact, even Job says in Job
2310, but he knows the way

789
00:43:39,666 --> 00:43:42,036
that I take when he has tried.

790
00:43:42,981 --> 00:43:44,451
I shall come out as gold.

791
00:43:46,821 --> 00:43:48,381
So that's one.

792
00:43:48,381 --> 00:43:52,432
You've got the story of job right,
and the enemy wants to destroy

793
00:43:52,432 --> 00:43:53,752
him with suffering and the fire.

794
00:43:53,752 --> 00:43:55,672
He wants to ruin his faith.

795
00:43:55,972 --> 00:43:57,382
He wants to take him out.

796
00:43:57,382 --> 00:43:58,912
The battle is thick.

797
00:43:58,942 --> 00:44:03,209
I, the battle is vicious when
it comes to suffering, when

798
00:44:03,209 --> 00:44:04,459
a loved one dies too early.

799
00:44:04,495 --> 00:44:07,315
the enemy's right there
to say he raised the dead.

800
00:44:09,835 --> 00:44:12,145
He couldn't keep your
loved one from perishing.

801
00:44:12,925 --> 00:44:14,215
Oh, but you prayed for months.

802
00:44:14,215 --> 00:44:18,655
You had the whole church praying
for this little child with leukemia.

803
00:44:18,676 --> 00:44:20,139
but he's the one, he doesn't wanna listen.

804
00:44:20,139 --> 00:44:20,889
He doesn't wanna hear you.

805
00:44:21,669 --> 00:44:26,258
You feel like the tension in
the heart that's yeah, why Lord?

806
00:44:27,548 --> 00:44:28,178
So  Satan.

807
00:44:28,988 --> 00:44:31,088
The suffering to destroy.

808
00:44:31,088 --> 00:44:34,062
God wants and uses the
suffering to refine.

809
00:44:34,062 --> 00:44:38,508
the story of Peter is the second one, and
this is a different kind of suffering.

810
00:44:39,618 --> 00:44:40,368
for Peter.

811
00:44:40,368 --> 00:44:44,928
It was the death of his hopes and
his dreams, right in a single night.

812
00:44:46,158 --> 00:44:52,072
You remember Peter's man, Lord, though
they all deny you, I'll never deny you.

813
00:44:52,132 --> 00:44:53,152
I'm your guy.

814
00:44:53,422 --> 00:44:54,592
I'm the one.

815
00:44:54,630 --> 00:44:58,440
he uses the very words like, I'll fight.

816
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:00,690
I will go to the death for you.

817
00:45:03,180 --> 00:45:04,470
And why Peter's excited.

818
00:45:04,470 --> 00:45:08,130
He gets to see things that the other
disciples didn't get to see, right?

819
00:45:08,310 --> 00:45:12,600
Jesus had said, as we read earlier,
Peter, on this confession of yours,

820
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:15,930
I'm gonna build my church and the
gates of hell won't prevail against it.

821
00:45:15,930 --> 00:45:17,170
You're a rock.

822
00:45:17,212 --> 00:45:20,352
and, Peter's yeah, I'm the guy.

823
00:45:20,682 --> 00:45:24,445
And when the Messiah comes into his
kingdom, when he overthrows Rome,

824
00:45:24,625 --> 00:45:28,650
when he overthrows our oppressors, and
he, he wipes them out for all their

825
00:45:28,650 --> 00:45:33,775
injustice against us and he puts Israel
back on, that, that place, where they.

826
00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,020
Rule and reign and righteousness
and the nations will come

827
00:45:37,020 --> 00:45:39,660
and see that our God is God.

828
00:45:39,669 --> 00:45:43,787
man, I'll be in those places of
power, James and Johnson, their

829
00:45:43,787 --> 00:45:47,012
mother to ask, but I know, I
see the way Jesus looks at me.

830
00:45:47,477 --> 00:45:50,627
I know he's given me these places
of power that it's coming for me.

831
00:45:56,707 --> 00:45:59,747
And then his hopes.

832
00:46:01,487 --> 00:46:05,897
Dying a single night as Jesus
is arrested and put on trial,

833
00:46:09,077 --> 00:46:12,647
and it looks like his Messiah,
his savior is gonna die.

834
00:46:12,647 --> 00:46:14,717
So what's he to do?

835
00:46:14,722 --> 00:46:19,217
He says a couple of times,
I don't know the man.

836
00:46:19,217 --> 00:46:20,597
He denies Jesus.

837
00:46:20,687 --> 00:46:24,497
And in Luke it says that Jesus
looks over and makes eye contact

838
00:46:24,497 --> 00:46:27,077
on the third time when a little
girl says, Hey, where are you?

839
00:46:27,077 --> 00:46:28,037
His discipl.

840
00:46:28,532 --> 00:46:30,632
And he says, I swear I don't know the man.

841
00:46:31,052 --> 00:46:32,492
I make an oath under heaven.

842
00:46:32,492 --> 00:46:33,992
I don't know him.

843
00:46:34,322 --> 00:46:39,362
And the rooster crows and Jesus
looks at him, and Peter goes

844
00:46:39,362 --> 00:46:41,492
out and he weeps bitterly.

845
00:46:41,732 --> 00:46:49,142
Here's the thing, Jesus said,
Simon Peter, Satan wanted to

846
00:46:49,142 --> 00:46:51,242
have you and sift you like wheat.

847
00:46:52,562 --> 00:46:56,432
So Satan like Job is
after Peter's destruction.

848
00:46:57,452 --> 00:47:02,162
he's after to ruin him, he wants
to make Peter the next Judas.

849
00:47:02,162 --> 00:47:04,442
Judas went out and hung himself.

850
00:47:05,162 --> 00:47:07,742
He wants to destroy every
single one of those disciples.

851
00:47:07,742 --> 00:47:08,592
He wants to cause.

852
00:47:09,557 --> 00:47:13,997
Such failure, such a dashing of
the dreams and hopes in Peter's

853
00:47:13,997 --> 00:47:16,277
life that he wants to end it all.

854
00:47:16,277 --> 00:47:18,557
He's after Peter's destruction.

855
00:47:18,947 --> 00:47:21,802
He wants to use suffering in that
way, and that's what Jesus is.

856
00:47:22,102 --> 00:47:26,122
Simon Satan wanted to have you and
to sift you like we, but here's the

857
00:47:26,212 --> 00:47:28,432
turn, but I have prayed for you.

858
00:47:30,682 --> 00:47:35,242
And therefore, when you churn,
strengthen the brethren.

859
00:47:37,327 --> 00:47:39,247
, do you know what it means, Peter?

860
00:47:40,687 --> 00:47:43,987
You're gonna come through the
fire and when you're done, you're

861
00:47:43,992 --> 00:47:46,057
going to be ready to be a leader.

862
00:47:46,447 --> 00:47:53,197
You're gonna be able to strengthen
your brothers, not despite your

863
00:47:53,197 --> 00:47:55,237
failure, but because of your failure.

864
00:47:55,707 --> 00:47:59,467
Because the leaders I'm
looking for are refined.

865
00:47:59,467 --> 00:48:04,497
Ones are broken, ones are leaders
who have had their hopes and.

866
00:48:05,242 --> 00:48:09,322
about what they want to do for
God dashed so that they might

867
00:48:09,322 --> 00:48:11,692
come humbly to God and he might.

868
00:48:12,652 --> 00:48:15,562
Do what he's gonna do, which
is far greater than we could

869
00:48:15,562 --> 00:48:17,842
ever imagine or even hope.

870
00:48:18,322 --> 00:48:22,252
A great leader is somebody who's
broken, who's seen just like Job

871
00:48:22,252 --> 00:48:26,722
and Peter, what his pride was,
and therefore he wasn't destroyed.

872
00:48:27,322 --> 00:48:31,462
He was refined because in the midst of
the fire with Jesus's help Peter's a

873
00:48:31,462 --> 00:48:33,922
difference between the gold and the draws.

874
00:48:34,282 --> 00:48:36,652
He had to choose, who do I serve now?

875
00:48:36,982 --> 00:48:38,932
And he served Christ.

876
00:48:40,432 --> 00:48:42,652
It has to happen to become a leader.

877
00:48:42,862 --> 00:48:45,232
Faith is looking at what Jesus has said.

878
00:48:45,442 --> 00:48:47,722
Faith is looking at who God is.

879
00:48:47,992 --> 00:48:52,351
That's why at the end of the Book of Job,
the reason job, made it is because God

880
00:48:52,356 --> 00:48:54,961
showed up and said, don't you see Job?

881
00:48:55,321 --> 00:48:57,481
The problem is you're full of pride.

882
00:48:57,481 --> 00:48:58,411
You think you're wise.

883
00:48:58,411 --> 00:48:59,311
You think you're right.

884
00:48:59,404 --> 00:49:05,514
you think you're trying to put
me on the stand in the courtroom.

885
00:49:09,379 --> 00:49:11,659
Where were you when I
stretched out the heavens?

886
00:49:11,659 --> 00:49:12,349
Like a garment.

887
00:49:12,349 --> 00:49:16,219
Where were you when I called
all the stars into being and

888
00:49:16,219 --> 00:49:18,799
name them and what has he said?

889
00:49:18,799 --> 00:49:22,819
I heard you with the hearing
of my ear, but then I saw you

890
00:49:24,229 --> 00:49:25,999
and I repented Dustin Ashes.

891
00:49:25,999 --> 00:49:28,879
I was so wrong about you.

892
00:49:30,244 --> 00:49:31,984
You are far more glorious.

893
00:49:31,984 --> 00:49:33,304
You far more grand.

894
00:49:33,304 --> 00:49:34,474
You are far greater.

895
00:49:34,594 --> 00:49:37,714
Peter, wait, you conquered death?

896
00:49:38,794 --> 00:49:44,614
You mean you weren't just overthrowing
Rome and in, in overthrowing our

897
00:49:44,614 --> 00:49:49,084
oppressors for a couple of decades,
you overthrew the oppressors

898
00:49:49,174 --> 00:49:50,614
from the beginning of time.

899
00:49:50,614 --> 00:49:51,724
Satan sin and death.

900
00:49:51,874 --> 00:49:54,124
You put death to death itself.

901
00:49:54,129 --> 00:49:54,784
What?

902
00:49:55,954 --> 00:49:57,574
You are far greater.

903
00:49:57,814 --> 00:49:59,164
You are the conquering king.

904
00:49:59,164 --> 00:50:01,234
You are not a prophet like Jeremiah.

905
00:50:01,534 --> 00:50:03,904
You're not a preacher
like John the Baptist.

906
00:50:04,144 --> 00:50:06,184
You're not a miracle worker like Elijah.

907
00:50:06,274 --> 00:50:09,544
You are the son of the living God.

908
00:50:09,634 --> 00:50:10,924
What you do is good.

909
00:50:10,929 --> 00:50:12,124
What you do is right.

910
00:50:12,124 --> 00:50:13,714
What you choose from me is right.

911
00:50:14,344 --> 00:50:19,714
So at the end of his life, Peter, Jesus
tells him, Peter, don't worry about John,

912
00:50:19,714 --> 00:50:21,544
what he's gonna do, what I got for him.

913
00:50:23,044 --> 00:50:25,744
At the end of your life,
here's what I got planned for.

914
00:50:25,744 --> 00:50:30,664
You gonna go where you don't want to go.

915
00:50:34,534 --> 00:50:41,044
And we know from history that Peter is
crucified for his faith in Jesus, but

916
00:50:41,049 --> 00:50:43,330
he's To be crucified, like my Messiahs,

917
00:50:49,780 --> 00:50:50,710
that's too great of a thing.

918
00:50:53,350 --> 00:50:54,580
Crucified me upside down.

919
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:07,540
What a different human being.

920
00:51:10,885 --> 00:51:12,205
Because he was refined,

921
00:51:15,475 --> 00:51:20,785
because of the draws of self-sufficiency
and self-righteousness was

922
00:51:21,415 --> 00:51:24,515
removed through that suffering.

923
00:51:24,577 --> 00:51:24,997
wow.

924
00:51:25,117 --> 00:51:25,627
Sorry.

925
00:51:25,685 --> 00:51:26,285
I just think.

926
00:51:30,485 --> 00:51:35,165
He walked who he walked into suffering

927
00:51:38,195 --> 00:51:40,745
so victorious and so full of joy.

928
00:51:43,595 --> 00:51:50,585
That's why he wrote counted all joy,
because God's doing something through

929
00:51:50,585 --> 00:51:58,535
this and the shield of faith goes,
yes, it hurts, but I trust it hurts.

930
00:51:59,690 --> 00:52:00,530
Fire's there.

931
00:52:00,530 --> 00:52:01,430
It's coming on.

932
00:52:01,730 --> 00:52:02,840
But God's got a purpose.

933
00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:04,250
He's doing something greater.

934
00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:11,090
He's gonna take with the enemy, meant for
evil, and he's going to work it for good.

935
00:52:11,179 --> 00:52:11,738
man.

936
00:52:11,752 --> 00:52:13,342
John 15, the printing of the tree.

937
00:52:13,342 --> 00:52:17,019
There's homework when,
Gardner prunes a tree.

938
00:52:17,019 --> 00:52:18,469
You think he's killing it?

939
00:52:19,009 --> 00:52:20,809
And the Gardner says,
you don't understand.

940
00:52:20,809 --> 00:52:22,669
If I didn't do this,
I wouldn't be killing.

941
00:52:24,439 --> 00:52:26,509
, I do hope that it might bear more fruit.

942
00:52:26,576 --> 00:52:30,678
Hebrews 12, the discipline from the
fathers, as you mentioned, Matt.

943
00:52:30,736 --> 00:52:34,126
faith is the eyes of the soul
that see the greatness, the

944
00:52:34,126 --> 00:52:36,196
goodness, and the glory of God.

945
00:52:36,196 --> 00:52:37,306
How do we take it up?

946
00:52:38,761 --> 00:52:40,561
Do you know what faith,
the shield of faith is?

947
00:52:40,561 --> 00:52:41,371
Faith is looking.

948
00:52:41,371 --> 00:52:43,021
Faith is looking right.

949
00:52:43,021 --> 00:52:45,463
We, not walk, not we walk
by faith, not by sight.

950
00:52:45,463 --> 00:52:47,053
He's, it's looking.

951
00:52:48,733 --> 00:52:51,493
Faith is the eyes of the soul
that see the greatness, the

952
00:52:51,493 --> 00:52:53,293
goodness, and the glory of God.

953
00:52:53,298 --> 00:52:57,883
We know the truth and that we look
at that and we believe it's true,

954
00:52:57,883 --> 00:53:00,463
and then we act on that truth.

955
00:53:01,648 --> 00:53:04,048
Faith is acting on God's truth.

956
00:53:04,408 --> 00:53:05,218
Faith is looking.

957
00:53:05,218 --> 00:53:07,108
The Bible says we walk
by faith, not by side.

958
00:53:07,108 --> 00:53:09,508
That means we see him who is unseen.

959
00:53:09,508 --> 00:53:12,298
Faith is looking at God
instead of at the trial.

960
00:53:12,508 --> 00:53:14,848
Faith is remembering God.

961
00:53:14,894 --> 00:53:19,838
doth in the vi Bible is
a very important place.

962
00:53:20,618 --> 00:53:25,448
It's the place where my wife just
was talking about this, where

963
00:53:25,448 --> 00:53:26,828
Elisha is surrounded by the.

964
00:53:28,433 --> 00:53:33,239
And then he prays, to the Lord, to
open his servant's eyes, and his

965
00:53:33,239 --> 00:53:37,169
servant's eyes are opened, and he
sees the chariots of fire all around.

966
00:53:37,169 --> 00:53:42,768
He sees the army as the Lord of hosts,
and he's oh man, they dwarf the enemy.

967
00:53:43,803 --> 00:53:46,623
, but Dhan also has another
important place in the Bible.

968
00:53:46,623 --> 00:53:47,673
Guess what else?

969
00:53:47,873 --> 00:53:48,363
Dhan.

970
00:53:48,423 --> 00:53:49,723
What happened to Dhan?

971
00:53:50,193 --> 00:53:54,423
Dhan was the place where Joseph was
thrown into a pit by his brothers,

972
00:54:00,693 --> 00:54:05,183
and I'm sure Joseph
prayed, God deliver me God.

973
00:54:05,183 --> 00:54:06,383
This is unjust.

974
00:54:09,303 --> 00:54:10,713
And he was sold as a slave.

975
00:54:16,728 --> 00:54:24,198
Faith sees that God is just as present
with Joseph, with his chariots and his

976
00:54:24,198 --> 00:54:30,978
armies and the Lord of hosts as he was
with Elisha, because what does God do?

977
00:54:32,298 --> 00:54:35,688
Joseph becomes a second most powerful
man in Egypt, and through his

978
00:54:35,688 --> 00:54:40,488
wisdom nations all around are saved
because he knows how to handle a.

979
00:54:41,628 --> 00:54:42,468
And plans for it.

980
00:54:45,978 --> 00:54:49,548
Faith, trust God,

981
00:54:51,478 --> 00:54:53,308
so God demonstrated his love for us.

982
00:54:54,448 --> 00:54:55,198
He loves this.

983
00:54:55,198 --> 00:54:55,918
He died for you.

984
00:54:57,493 --> 00:55:00,207
I think of the three Hebrew
boys in the fire, right?

985
00:55:00,267 --> 00:55:01,407
They said, we're not gonna bow.

986
00:55:02,247 --> 00:55:04,437
So neer brings suffering into their life.

987
00:55:04,437 --> 00:55:06,954
In fact, he says, turn the
furnace up seven times hotter.

988
00:55:07,824 --> 00:55:09,084
Doesn't it feel like that sometimes?

989
00:55:09,089 --> 00:55:12,504
That's what I feel like my journey
with God sometimes is as I get through

990
00:55:12,504 --> 00:55:17,274
one fiery trial and then it's like
the next one is seven times hotter,

991
00:55:17,544 --> 00:55:18,894
and you're like, what in the world?

992
00:55:20,874 --> 00:55:23,724
They go in and they're bound with rope.

993
00:55:24,834 --> 00:55:26,094
They're thrown into this furnace.

994
00:55:26,094 --> 00:55:30,384
And ne Ezer says to one of his servants,
didn't we throw three in there?

995
00:55:30,804 --> 00:55:32,574
Why is there four?

996
00:55:33,144 --> 00:55:36,894
And the fourth has the
countenance like the son of God.

997
00:55:39,714 --> 00:55:42,444
And so then he bids him to come out of
the fire, and they come out of the fire.

998
00:55:42,474 --> 00:55:45,054
What's the only thing gone from them?

999
00:55:45,924 --> 00:55:48,371
Says they don't even smell like
fire didn't even smell like.

1000
00:55:49,926 --> 00:55:53,246
, but the things that bound them,
theros that was burned off

1001
00:55:58,046 --> 00:56:02,696
the gospel says that Jesus
is with you in the fire

1002
00:56:06,056 --> 00:56:10,436
because at the cross, the fire
was heated to an infinite amount

1003
00:56:11,636 --> 00:56:13,436
and he was utterly consumed by it

1004
00:56:15,176 --> 00:56:16,946
so that you wouldn't be consumed by it.

1005
00:56:19,016 --> 00:56:22,526
So now because of the victory
of the resurrection, because of

1006
00:56:22,646 --> 00:56:28,283
bearing that God can actually
make suffering, serve your joy.

1007
00:56:28,283 --> 00:56:34,475
the ultimate defeat of evil, as we
often say, is to make evil do the

1008
00:56:34,475 --> 00:56:38,855
exact opposite of what it's trying
to do to bring good in your life.

1009
00:56:38,885 --> 00:56:39,755
That's what God did with.

1010
00:56:41,075 --> 00:56:44,411
Satan said, he'll destroy you and
Job is more secure in his faith.

1011
00:56:45,461 --> 00:56:48,311
So as we talk about the shield
of faith, we take it up in those

1012
00:56:48,311 --> 00:56:51,941
moments of suffering, they're
going to come in our lives.

1013
00:56:53,381 --> 00:56:59,381
We look with the eyes of our
soul and see the greatness, the

1014
00:56:59,381 --> 00:57:02,591
goodness, and the glory of our God,

1015
00:57:05,771 --> 00:57:09,191
and sometimes all the time.

1016
00:57:09,956 --> 00:57:13,076
Like those Roman soldiers, those
shields were made in such a way

1017
00:57:13,346 --> 00:57:14,726
where they would click together.

1018
00:57:14,826 --> 00:57:15,316
Yeah.

1019
00:57:17,546 --> 00:57:21,086
And when one person was weak,
when they lost their footing,

1020
00:57:22,346 --> 00:57:23,966
everybody else would hold them up.

1021
00:57:26,306 --> 00:57:28,256
And so we need community and suffering.

1022
00:57:28,365 --> 00:57:32,785
, we need other shield wearing Christians.

1023
00:57:35,535 --> 00:57:36,855
in the midst of our suffering.

1024
00:57:40,245 --> 00:57:42,435
And guys, sometimes that just
means sitting with somebody.

1025
00:57:42,435 --> 00:57:46,485
Being present doesn't mean
giving them the answers,

1026
00:57:51,675 --> 00:57:57,651
but sometimes we bear them up
and bear their burden and let's

1027
00:57:57,651 --> 00:57:58,581
fulfill the law of Christ.

1028
00:57:58,677 --> 00:57:59,727
Let me pray for us.

1029
00:57:59,806 --> 00:58:01,456
we'll close and worship
and take communion.

1030
00:58:01,465 --> 00:58:03,012
father, we thank you for your word.

1031
00:58:03,012 --> 00:58:05,925
We thank you for, I just wanna
say thank you personally.

1032
00:58:06,007 --> 00:58:12,318
I feel not only like the leper
who was, cleansed and wanna say

1033
00:58:12,318 --> 00:58:13,744
thank you, but I also feel like,

1034
00:58:19,354 --> 00:58:21,544
like that or that's been refined.

1035
00:58:23,524 --> 00:58:23,884
Thank you.

1036
00:58:23,884 --> 00:58:26,104
That you don't leave us to ourselves.

1037
00:58:29,794 --> 00:58:30,094
Thank you.

1038
00:58:30,094 --> 00:58:31,624
That you refined.

1039
00:58:31,629 --> 00:58:32,884
Thank you that you prune.

1040
00:58:34,669 --> 00:58:36,499
Thank you that you're after our joy.

1041
00:58:39,169 --> 00:58:41,565
Lord, I could testify today every bit.

1042
00:58:42,495 --> 00:58:44,805
And the weight and the heat and the fire.

1043
00:58:52,545 --> 00:58:54,705
Lord, you've been glorified in it.

1044
00:58:54,705 --> 00:58:57,195
You've, you're more beautiful.

1045
00:59:00,355 --> 00:59:09,715
My heart's been set free, those bonds
have been burned off, so thank you, Jesus.

1046
00:59:10,195 --> 00:59:12,025
Thank you that you don't
waste our suffering.

1047
00:59:13,105 --> 00:59:16,705
Thank you that you're gonna wipe every
tear from our eyes on that final day.

1048
00:59:18,655 --> 00:59:20,395
Thank you that you're ending suffering.

1049
00:59:20,395 --> 00:59:25,405
Lord, thank you that everything
crooked will be made.

1050
00:59:27,340 --> 00:59:31,870
The thorns on the flowers will be removed.

1051
00:59:37,900 --> 00:59:40,000
And so Lord, we praise you.

1052
00:59:40,480 --> 00:59:42,310
And Lord, we look to you.

1053
00:59:42,315 --> 00:59:44,680
We don't look to our own
faith, our own ability.

1054
00:59:45,370 --> 00:59:46,240
We look to you.

1055
00:59:46,240 --> 00:59:47,380
The man in the fire.

1056
00:59:48,910 --> 00:59:52,940
The man in the fire, and.

1057
00:59:54,265 --> 00:59:58,555
As we keep our eyes on you, even as
Peter kept his eyes on you in the storm,

1058
01:00:02,005 --> 01:00:06,115
we step out into what you say is true.

1059
01:00:09,535 --> 01:00:13,045
So blessed this time now as we
focus on your body broken and your

1060
01:00:13,045 --> 01:00:15,169
bloodshed, that were people of this new.

1061
01:00:17,029 --> 01:00:18,139
We thank you so much, Lord.

1062
01:00:18,139 --> 01:00:19,699
In Jesus' name, amen.