WEBVTT - 50-50 Faith 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.280 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.760 podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.320 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.520 How many are excited about this series that we're in. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:25.800 The series is called Maybe God. The subject is His voice, 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.040 his will, his ways. How do I know if this 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.600 opportunity comes from the Lord? And now have a scripture 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:33.360 for you today that I think will be a great 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.479 blessing in your life. It's in First Samuel, chapter fourteen, 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.559 verse number six. The Bible says Jonathan said to his 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:45.240 young armor bearer, Come, let's go over to the outpost 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:50.440 of those uncircumcised men. He's talking trash about the Philistines. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:56.480 He calls them a derogatory name. He's talking about their uncircumcision. Wow, 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.800 he must be fired up about something. He's a little belligerent. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.480 He's getting bold now again. Afford to wait around and 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:05.640 wait for something to happen from heaven when God has 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.160 already given him a certain power on the earth. So 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.000 he turns to who he has available at this point 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.440 and says, let's go. It's just me and you, but 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.360 touch somebody, say let's go now. I want you to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.200 be a favor if you're the only one on your 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.920 row who praises God today during this sermon, I want 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:22.600 you to go and look at somebody next to you 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.440 and say, well, you go with me. Amen, he said, 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.600 let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.680 Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.360 Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.199 or by few. In this third installment of Maybe God, 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:44.720 my subject and my lesson today is called fifty fifty faith. 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.319 I want to teach you on this principle that has 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.160 been so useful in my life as a leader, and 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.800 it's useful for me as a husband, as a dad, 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:54.120 and just as a man. 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:56.120 Fifty fifty faith. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:58.680 I believe this principle is going to set you free 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.920 in some of the areas where indecision has imprisoned you 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.000 and you've been waiting around, and God is going to 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.520 show you something today by the power and virtue of 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.080 His word and spirit, that only He could show you 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:18.480 about fifty fifty faith, praise the Lord. I celebrated my 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:28.880 thirty ninth birthday this week. Appreciate your pity. You know 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:30.840 that last one with the three in front of it. 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:35.200 I'm owning it. I am so owning turning forty. I 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:39.720 am so owning these little gray whiskers that are popping up. 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.839 I'm not dying them or anything like that. 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:43.680 Uh huh. 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.200 I'm gonna tell them to get a close up on 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:48.760 these gray these great things on the camera. Just zoom 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.320 right into the greyest pat you can find in this beard. 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:52.360 I'm proud of it. 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:54.639 I don't care what my kids say about it, and 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.080 when they tell me that my jokes are cringy and 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.720 stuff like that. One of my kids told me that 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.079 the other day, and I just asked him a question back. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:04.040 He said, your jokes are so cringey. And I just 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.040 asked him a question. I said, how many people show 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:14.560 up to hear you speak? Since I'm so cringey conversational 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:20.120 parenting approach, you might want to try it sometime. But 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.000 one of the things I think keeps happening to me 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.680 and is really happening to me at this stage of 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:26.600 my ministry in life, because I have been doing this 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.120 as a pastor over thirteen years. Is that I feel 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.960 so good saying that it felt cool. I've been doing 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.760 this over thirteen years. That's a long time to do anything. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:37.320 Amen. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:43.840 I've never been less certain and I've never been more confident, 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.440 all at the same time, all at the same time. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:50.120 And it's a. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.280 Strange thing, how when you give up your need for 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:58.400 certainty you can gain a true confidence that is independent 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.040 of circumstance. Can I preach to somebody today right here 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:06.800 in this back left section of Valentine? The passage that 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:08.640 I read to you is one of my favorites. If 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.800 they were giving out an Academy Award for best Old 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.840 Testament Narrative Scripture, I would want to nominate Jonathan is 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:19.320 best supporting Actor because he's not as famous as David, 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.440 but he's a pretty good example for me and has 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:23.040 helped me a lot. 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.520 This passage has helped me a lot through the years. 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.320 Every couple of years I preach it, and when I 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.719 circle back to it, I see a different dimension of faith. 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:34.320 I see a different dimension of the kind of confidence 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.279 that we can have in Christ and in his promises. 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.480 But I also see all of the uncertainty and self 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.039 doubt that it also entails, and that my faith is 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.440 not a formula, and it can never be. The more 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.360 I try to make it into a formula, the less 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.640 valuable it becomes to me. When life challenges all of 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.760 my presuppositions, and all of my ideas about what kind 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.800 of ways God wants to work collapse under the weight 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:04.000 of real life, under the weight of real bills, under 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.800 the weight of real medical reports. And I need the 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.799 kind of faith that is not dependent on my presuppositions. 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:11.760 I need the kind of faith that can deal with 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.640 some ambiguity. I need a faith, like Richard Rohre says, 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.200 that can be patient with mystery. I need a kind 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.000 of faith that is not dependent on my plans to prevail. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:21.919 I need the kind of faith that can stand up 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.320 against the worst thing that happens. I need the kind 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:29.160 of faith that can shine when God goes dark, when 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.159 I don't know, when I can't say it, when I 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.400 can't see it, when I don't feel like I can 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:38.200 make it. I need a faith that can withstand these seasons. 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.080 Now around the verse that I read you is a 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:48.960 little episode, and if you've been tracking with the series, 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:53.159 I've used a few different old Testament passages from Judges 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:57.760 and Samuel to try to give us some sort of arc, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.520 or to give us give us some kind of context 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.640 for the way that transition creates opportunity for us to 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:12.520 trust God. In this particular transition a negative one for 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.520 the nation of Israel. King Saul has really lost his 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:22.040 way and he's abdicated his leadership because of this. The 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:26.400 Philistines who would torment the Israelites all the way until 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:29.360 the rule of David, remember Sampson began to deliver them. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.120 That's last week. And you need to go on and 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:32.720 watch that message about. 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.720 The parentheses and the pivot and how there's a purpose 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.599 even if I have to leave it blank right now, 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.040 God is going to do something in this empty space 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.720 in these parentheses, And I'm gonna put the parentheses there, 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.800 and I'm gonna let God fill them because He's too 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.000 wise to make a mistake in my life. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:48.480 And that message is online. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.920 It's on YouTube and Facebook and elevation app and MySpace, 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.280 and if they still had my Space, we will put 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.400 it up there. Roku all of it. When when I 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.719 was preaching that it talked about the beginning of deliverance. 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.280 Are partial deliverance, and the beginning of deliverance happened through 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.719 the judges. But now Saul the King was unable to 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.000 commit himself fully to the ways and the will of 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:14.640 the Lord, rather than to engage in a relationship with 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.360 the living God, he has begun to manipulate. When he 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.840 begins to manipulate and treat God as some kind of 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.000 mechanism to get what he wants when he wants it, 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:24.840 he loses that unique ability that we have to hear 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:27.680 the voice of God. When you lose the ability to 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.679 hear the voice of God, you waste energy, you waste resources, 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.640 you waste worry on situations that God didn't even want 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:36.840 you to give your attention to. 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.760 So that's why I need to hear his voice. 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.360 Saul, having lost that ability, is now surrounded by his enemies, 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.280 so much so that his people that he was responsible 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.600 for leading are hiding in rocks, in caves, in thickets. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.240 I just wanted to put the word thickets in there, 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.520 because I don't get to use it on an everyday basis. 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:58.440 But we're all hiding in places. 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:03.240 Sometimes we find ourselves talked away in mindsets, in patterns, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.840 in isolation, away from people, away from life, away from joy, 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.520 away from risk, away from opportunity. And this was the 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:15.800 situation in Fir Samuel fourteen. Pick up verse twenty three 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.640 from thirteen. Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.960 to the pass at nick Mash. It's always helpful to 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.760 point out that the enemy always attacks you at the passages. 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:31.000 He always attacks you at the places of transition, from 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.080 what you knew to what you don't know, from where 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.680 you were to where you're going. And so when he 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.920 can set up an ambush at the passage, he can 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.400 keep you from moving forward in those transitional pivotal moments 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:45.440 of your life. 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.679 And then one day somebody shout. 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:53.400 One day, one day, Jonathan, son of Saul said to 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.640 his young armor bearer, come, let's go over to the 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.719 Philistine outpost on the other side. But he did not 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:05.760 his father. Be very careful who you talk to about 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:10.439 what God is doing inside of you. Be very careful 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.720 who you communicate with about the impressions that God is 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.880 stirring inside of you. If you talk to the wrong 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:23.200 people about the right idea, your idea will die before 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.360 it has the opportunity to conceive and give birth to 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:27.160 what God is doing. 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.680 In your life? How many know I'm right about that? 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.679 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibea under a 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:38.400 pomegranate tree, and migrant with him were about six hundred men, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.920 among whom was a Hijah who was wearing an ephod. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.079 He was a son of Ichabod. He was a son 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:49.680 of Ichabod's brother, rather Ahita, son of Phineas, the son 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:53.720 of Eli, the lord's priest in Shiloh. No one was 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:58.600 aware that Jonathan had left. On each side that Jonathan 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.360 intended to cross to Rea, which the Philistine outpost was 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:05.720 a cliff, one was called Bozez, and the other Sinnat. 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:11.199 Bozez means slippery, Sinnam means thorny. Nobody told me it 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.240 would be easy. God didn't promise me that his will 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.800 would be convenient. Quit thinking that proof positive that you're 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.600 in the will of God is that it feels good 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.560 to you. Quit thinking that proof positive that you're in 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:27.000 the will of God is that everybody understands it. Quit 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.240 thinking that proof positive that you're in the will of 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.320 God is that it just falls into place. No, he 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.439 had to go through a thorny place, a slippery place, 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.600 an uncomfortable place, an uncertain place. And just because I'm 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.040 in an uncertain place doesn't mean I don't have a 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:42.720 certain purpose. 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.160 I'm gonna need somebody to shout on that right. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.640 There, right there, right there, touch somebody, say I'm in 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.960 his will. And one of the proofs that you're in 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:56.240 his will is that you are experiencing warfare. It could 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.000 be in terms of an internal resistance that you feel, 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.320 or even if some are going crazy. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.920 In your life. And on each side was a challenge. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.280 On each side was a challenge. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.920 One Cliff stood to the north toward Mickmash, the other 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:13.680 to the south toward Giba. 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.439 And Jonathan said to his young. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.600 Armor bearer, come let's go over to the outpost of 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:20.439 those uncircumcised men. 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:22.720 Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.360 Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.840 or by few. God, I love your word. I'm gonna 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:31.320 take a moment and just talk to him about it. 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.040 Thank you for putting that one little word in your word. 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.040 Not the one where he said nothing can hinder the Lord, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:39.720 not the one where he said, come let's go over, 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:44.920 But that one little word where he said, perhaps because 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.560 that word gives me hope. It gives me hope for 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:53.240 my insecurity. It gives me hope for my impossibilities and 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:58.000 my uncertainty. It gives me hope to know that sometimes, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.400 even in the midst of making progress in my life, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.600 even in the midst of obeying the revealed will of God, 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:08.080 there are going to be moments where one minute I 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.640 have great faith and the next moment I'm overcome by 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:18.200 great fear. But watch the armor bearer, he says back 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.160 to Jonathan, who had a crazy idea, do all that 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:23.120 you have in mind. 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.880 Go ahead. I am with you, heart and soul. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.680 And Jonathan said, come on then, since you're talking like that, 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.199 come on then, since you want to do it too, 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.200 come on then, since you don't think I'm crazy for 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.840 want to move toward the enemy even though we're outnumbered, 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.640 come on then, since you don't have any more brain 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.960 cells or common sense than I do, come on, then, 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.760 sometimes you need somebody who will help you, even though 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.400 your plan sounds like a bad plan, to try to 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.120 find God in it, just so you don't stay stuck 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:02.280 in standing still. Come on then, I like how he 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.120 talked to him. He's like, come on then, And then 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.240 the army bears like, go ahead then, and he's like, well, 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:07.160 come on then, and. 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:08.400 They're pumping each other up. 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.040 They're chest pumping each other, you know, and they don't 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.960 have anybody else because watch this. The people who should 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:20.160 have had faith have been overtaken by fear. Now, this 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.880 is the part of the passage that's going to give 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.360 me the contrast as we look at together two different 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.960 ways that we try to figure out God's will, and 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.560 everyone has a way that you try to figure out 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.520 what the will of God is, even if you don't 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.320 call it trying to figure. 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:38.120 Out what the will of God is. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.360 You have a way that you make decisions that you 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.960 hope will be most advantageous. You have a way that 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.320 you try to discern wisdom, and you can't always get 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.840 it from a book, and you can't always get it 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.920 from a class, and you can't always get it. Here's 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:00.680 what I figured out. We're all making it up as 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:07.800 we go. This part of my sermon is meant to 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:15.240 encourage you. All the people that are writing parenting books 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.400 about fifteen steps. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:20.680 To raise a perfect kid, they left. 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.160 Out some footnotes and the bottom line is they just 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.560 had good luck in the gene pool because God can 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.760 give you a kid that can make you. 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:34.680 Question all of your theories. I love my children. 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.280 I'm just saying, all of us as parents are making 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.480 it up as we go, all of us, all of 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:42.880 us are trying to figure out with each child, and 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.400 they're all different. I know Hollywood's faithful to me, but 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.160 sometimes I'm like, how could they all be so different 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.120 if it was just a common factor of me and you? 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.400 But I trust her, But sometimes they're so different, and 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.760 I'm like, well, you respond like this, and you respond 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.280 like that, and watch John Nathan's plan. This is the 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.280 dumbest idea that you can find in the Bible. The 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.400 only one I can think of is dumber. Is Moses 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.600 stretching out his stick over the Red Sea. That's pretty dumb. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.760 Or maybe David throwing a rock at a giant who 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:13.480 has a sword. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:14.480 That's pretty dumb. 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.240 Or maybe Jesus commanding the lunch from a little boy 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.080 in the crowd and trying to feed fifteen thousand people 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.200 with it. That's pretty dumb. Or maybe Mary going to 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.640 Joseph and saying I'm pregnant. But it wasn't another man, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:27.600 it was the Holy Spirit. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:28.480 That's pretty dumb. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.040 Or maybe it was a widow going around borrowing jars 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:33.920 from her neighbors when she didn't have any oil and 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.520 thinking something. That's pretty now that I come to think 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.800 of it. A lot of the stuff that God did 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.040 in his word looked like a dumb decision to the 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:42.400 people while they were doing it. 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:53.360 Listen, how dumb this is. Listen, listen, how stupid this 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.520 strategy is. Somebody say, bad idea? 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.520 All right, come on, then we will cross over toward 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.000 them and let them see us. 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:08.680 I thought you were supposed to. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.320 Sneak up on somebody if you wanted to kill him. 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:15.080 But whatever, if they say to us, and I'll watch us. 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.160 He's making this up because I want you to know 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:17.760 this one thing. 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:18.840 About this passage. 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.760 God gives Jonathan the victory. But God doesn't say a 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:27.840 single word. The only people who speak in this passage 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.080 are Jonathan, his assistant, and his enemies. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.200 God doesn't say a word. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:40.320 But Jonathan he makes up this this strategy. 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:41.320 He's an innovator. 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.160 He's like, all right, my dad's under the tree by 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.360 the threshing floor, and the priest isn't doing anything, and 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.600 so let's go over and show ourselves and expose ourselves 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:58.400 to our enemies. And if they say, wait there until 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.560 we come up to you, we will stay we are 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.480 and not go up to them. But if they say 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.160 come up to us, we will climb up, because that 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.080 will be our sign that the Lord has given them 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:15.600 into our hands. And just when it can't get any 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.480 dumber Verse eleven, both of them showed themselves to the 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:25.359 Philistine outpost. Look, sat the Philistines. There's two of them 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.159 and dozens of us. The Hebrews are crawling out of 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.119 the holes they were hiding in. The men of the 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.199 outposts shouted to Jonathan and his armor bearer, come up 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.640 to us, and we'll teach you a lesson. So Jonathan 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.840 said to his armor bearer, climb up after me. The 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.760 Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. How 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.960 are you gonna speak in past tense about a battle 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:47.280 you hadn't even fought yet? 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.399 Because I know something that is greater than what I 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.159 know with my mind. I know with my faith. 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.919 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:05.480 evidence of things seem so way it gets dumber. Jonathan 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:10.400 climbed up, using his hands and feet. You know how 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:16.680 vulnerable you are climbing up something dorny or slippery, using 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:21.239 your hands and feet. Quick thing just for you. I 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:31.720 love y'all. Victory requires vulnerability. Victory requires vulnerability in anything. 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:37.399 You have to make yourself vulnerable to experience a great relationship. 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:41.320 You have to make yourself vulnerable to step into a 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.119 new dimension in your business. You have to make yourself 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.480 vulnerable to connect on any meaningful level with the life 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.000 that God has given you. And so in this position 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.280 of vulnerability, Jonathan prophesies a great victory. 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:54.560 I feel the Holy Spirit. 0:18:55.760 --> 0:19:00.520 And it says that his armor bearer was right behind him, 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.080 and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.800 followed and killed behind him. In that first attack, Jonathan 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.680 and his armor bearer killed some twenty men in an 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:17.480 area of about half an acre, all because Jonathan turned 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.600 to his armor bearer and said, I've. 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.080 Got an idea. You know, he said like that. 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.840 But I'm at the place now where I don't really 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.840 think that the value is in the idea. 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:40.800 The value is in the courage to act on the impulse. 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.399 When I put it like that, you got to realize 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.359 how many people say things like this every day, you know, 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:50.440 I remember talking to somebody about Uber, and they said, well, 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:55.399 I could have thought of that. You know, really, you 0:19:55.440 --> 0:20:00.440 think thinking of something is the key to succeed. It's 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:05.159 something anybody can think of something. I mean today I 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.760 was walking out the door and Abby turned me into 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:14.040 a dog because of my fuzzy sweater and she said, 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:15.080 you want your belly, rob? 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:16.040 Do you want your belly? 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:16.320 Rob? 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.040 I licked her face and I left and came to 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:23.240 church to preach. That's what dogs do. But she can 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.600 think of stuff, I mean, thinking of it. Hollyod Wass 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.040 telling me now they got like uber for photography. I 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:31.680 really should find out the name of this and see 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:32.800 if I could get a sponsorship. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:34.840 This message goes to a lot of people. But they 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:35.600 said that. 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:37.639 You can go on and get a photographer anywhere in 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:39.600 the world that you are, just like you can get 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:43.800 a car from Uber, and you can get a photographer. 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:43.959 Anywhere you are. 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:45.800 If you're off with your family and you want to 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.320 get a family picture like that so that you don't 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.359 have to ask some random stranger who apparently has never 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:55.919 used a smartphone in their life and doesn't know the 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:56.280 tap the. 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:57.240 Screen to make it lighter. 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.560 You can get a professional to come out and capture 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.679 the memory, you know. And when she said, I was like, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.280 why didn't I think of that? Well, there's a lot 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.240 more to it than thinking of it. Huh. 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:12.360 People call me all the. 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.880 Time and they'd be like, I heard this thing, there's 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:19.520 a sermon in that somewhere, and so to that, I'm like, 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:24.600 where like just because they could think of it, you know, 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.159 I read this headline you should preach about that, you 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:30.480 should write a song about that, and I'm like, you should. 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:32.760 Shut up until you can write one of your own. 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:35.200 I know you mean, well, but the hard part isn't 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:39.080 thinking of it. The hard part isn't thinking of it. 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:41.760 And this is why when they give you advice sometimes 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:42.880 in marriage, like be. 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:48.520 The first to say you're sorry. It's not the thought 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:49.640 that counts. 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.880 Can I upset conventional wisdom for a moment? One thing 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:57.639