WEBVTT - Reputation Rehab 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.519 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:06.800 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:09.800 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:12.360 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.240 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.439 Are you excited for the Word of God today? I 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.919 sure am grateful to preach and share this with you. 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:27.880 Thank you worship team. If you want to look at 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.840 Joshua chapter two today with me for a moment, very 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.680 interesting story in scripture. Those of you at our Uptown 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.959 location and our Melbourne campus, you heard me share from 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:44.520 this scripture right. You heard me share from the scripture 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.400 at our Vision nights over the last few weeks. And 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.479 I want to share this with the church today and 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.320 it's a subject that I think will be relevant for 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.680 each of us. And I pray that you'll hear this 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.760 personally for yourself. By the way, what an awesome advantage 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.520 it is when everyone in the church is leaned in 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.560 to hear the word of God. I was telling one 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:11.800 of the people who helps me on the weekend how 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.199 exhausting it is when preaching feels like mixed martial arts, 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:17.080 you know, And I don't want to be like Connor 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:23.920 McGregor up here. And it's not like that, you know, 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.920 it's not even a performance. When we do this, God speaks. 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:34.400 And when everybody comes with that attitude and that perspective, 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.880 we realize that it is our responsibility to receive the 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.080 word of God. And we don't put all this pressure 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.520 on some guy with a microphone as if somehow I 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.720 could fix your life. I can't. My opinion is empty. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.880 But God's word is powerful. And so when you bring 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.160 that expectation to the Word of God, it really makes 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.960 it dynamic and explosive. So all that just to say, 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:00.960 look at your neighbor and say, wake up, pay attention. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.320 I know you're ready. Joshua Chapter two, verse one. Then 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:12.920 Joshua's Son of None secretly sh secretly. You don't have 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.280 to tell everybody everything you're doing secretly. You don't have 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.519 to post every time you pray on Instagram. You don't 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.280 have to put a coffee mug post for every devotion. 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.639 You know, I'm talking about the coffee mug. And the 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:27.919 Bible is spread open, and then you highlight a few 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:29.920 extra verses before you take the picture and make it 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:36.160 look like then Joshua's son of none shh, don't tell everybody, 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.840 but just secretly sent two spies from shiite them. And 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:45.760 that's a long eye when you pronounce shi them. You 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.280 want to be careful when you pronounce shy them if 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:54.440 you ever preach from Joshua Chapter two, verse one, go 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.520 look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. Notice he 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.800 didn't tell them to look at every city, because you 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.880 can get overwhelmed if you think about all the battles 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.839 you have to fight. This is just the first one, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.720 the next one. And when we get so focused on 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.280 everything that we have to overcome, it SAPs our strength 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.160 and we can't take our next step because we're thinking 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.480 fourteen steps ahead, and you can wreck looking at your 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:28.400 GPS instead of keeping your eyes on the next turn. Okay, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:33.880 So they went and entered the house of a prostitute 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:39.080 ooh named Rahab and stayed there. Why there there was 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:44.920 nothing else available on Airbnb, so they they stayed in 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.720 the house of a prostitute named Rehab. King of Jericho 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:50.920 was told, look, some of these relights have come here 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.600 tonight to spy out the land. So the King of 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.280 Jericho sent this message to Rehab. Bring out the men 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.840 who came to you and entered your house, because they 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:03.600 have come to spy out the whole land. But the 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.600 woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Now, 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:12.320 if there's one thing that Rahab's profession has taught her, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.000 it is discretion. I'm saying she might not have lived 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.160 the most holy life. The Bible says she was a prostitute, 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.159 but she knew how to hide men. And so I 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:25.360 point that out to let you know. God is going 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:29.960 to use everything, even the stuff that you're not proud of, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.880 if you offer it to him. He'll use even the 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:38.320 things that you want to hide. And Rahab hid the 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.080 men because that's something she knew how to do. I 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.920 won't say any more about that, because y'all are looking 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:48.600 at me so angelic. She said, Yeah, the men came 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.160 to me, but I did not know where they had 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.359 come from. At dusk, when it was time to close 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.000 the city gate, they left. I don't know which way 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.240 they went. By the way. All of this is a lie. 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.760 All of this so we got a lying prostitute that 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.279 God uses to fulfill his purpose and demonstrate his glory 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:06.919 in the earth. Put that in your theological pipe and 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:19.080 toke that vape. That So she's lying, and she's hiding 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.280 the men, and then she uses misdirection. TuS can go 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.919 after them quickly. You may catch up with them parentheses. 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.200 But she had taken them up to the roof and 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.320 hidden them under the stalks of flax she'd laid out 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.839 on the roof. This was not her first time hiding 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.280 a man in her house. So the men set out 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.560 in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.040 to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.560 the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.520 the spies laid down for the night, she went up 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.599 on the roof and said to them, I know that 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.480 the Lord has given you this land, and that a 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.000 great fear of you has fallen on us, so that 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:02.280 all who live in this country are melting in fear 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.800 because of you. These are the same enemies that the 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.000 Israelites were so afraid of forty years earlier that they 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:12.120 wouldn't go in. But what they were running from was 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:17.120 actually afraid of them. You realize sometimes you're running from 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.480 a defeated foe. You realize sometimes you're running from stuff 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.080 God has already dealt with, if you would move forward. 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.000 And so she says, we've heard about you versetin. We've 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:30.960 heard how the Lord dried up the water of the 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.919 Red Sea. That was four decades ago, they're still talking 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.839 about it. We heard how the Lord dried up the 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.320 water the Red Sea for you when you came out 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.239 of Egypt. And what you did to Sion in Augu, 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:42.960 the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.880 whom you completely destroyed. And when we heard of it, 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:53.719 our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.760 of you. For the Lord, your God, is God in 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:01.400 heaven above and on the earth. So turn to the 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.600 person next to you and tell them what Rehab told. 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.599 The spies say, you got a reputation. The title of 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.680 this message is reputation rehab. You didn't just come to 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.600 church today. You came to reputation Rehab. How many realized 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.440 that everything people called you is not something you should 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.600 respond to at this stage in your life. You got 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.480 to move past some things and see yourself in a 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.800 new light. At least that's what God told Joshua when 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.440 he stated him as the new leader of Israel. After 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.440 Moses left, he said, it's a new day, and you 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.360 are the leader I have chosen and appointed to lead 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:40.560 these people into the land that I promised their ancestors. 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:46.280 And God in Joshua Chapter one reminds Joshua of his reputation, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:52.160 not the reputation of Joshua, the reputation of Jehovah. He said, 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:55.840 I am the God who spoke to the forefathers of 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.920 this faith tradition, which you are a continuation of. But 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.400 it didn't start with you. God says, I have a reputation. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.960 And when you face the resistance, when you go into 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.920 this new land that I've called you to conquer, I 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.560 want you to remember my reputation. God said, I have 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:17.280 a reputation of picking people out that are obscure and 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:22.239 unknown and using them to accomplish my purpose in the earth. 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.840 I have a reputation. I have a reputation for calling 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:30.120 men like Abraham and taking him from her of the Chaldeans. 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.040 And even though he's too old to have babies and 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:38.200 there's no prescriptions available to help him pro create, I 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.679 have a reputation for doing what cannot be done in 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.320 the flesh, for it's not by might, nor by power, 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.320 but by my spirit, says the Lord. I have a reputation, 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.040 and sometimes we need to be reminded of God's reputation. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.400 You know, we need to be reminded every once in 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.120 a while that the wind and the waves know who 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.559 he is. They know that voice. To you, my sheep, 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.760 know my voice. I'm the one who dried up the 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.160 red sea. I just want you to remember my reputation. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.920 That's why I mentioned Bible stories in church, like Daniel 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.640 and the Lions den because the lions knew that when 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.280 God speaks, their mouths had to stay shut. They knew 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:22.040 that voice, they knew that voice. I'm encouraged to know 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:27.800 that God's reputation is the basis of my faith, not mine, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:37.520 not mine. I think it's really funny sometimes how much 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.800 time we spend trying to build our reputation with people 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:47.040 whose opinions don't ultimately matter. You know, when I first 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.880 started the church, a well meaning minister gave me a 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:56.160 piece of advice. He said, protect your reputation. You only 0:09:56.200 --> 0:10:02.120 get one. I wish that were true, you know, I 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.400 wish you could protect your reputation and that if you 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.800 always did the right thing, people would always say the 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.120 right things about you. The fact is we live in 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.240 a world that doesn't know the difference between a rumor 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:19.360 and a reputation anymore, and to spend all of your 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.079 energy trying to protect your reputation. The Lord really spoke 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:24.760 to me and dealt with me the first time that 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.080 I would defend myself against people who were critical of 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.520 my ministry. And you know, you can spend so much 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.400 time trying to protect your reputation, which is really ego 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.480 wanting people to have a certain image of you, that 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.600 you start preaching to the people who don't like you, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:48.360 and you're angry at people who are smiling at you 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.600 because you're not really talking to them. It happened to 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.560 me early in ministry, and the Lord spoke to me. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.920 He spoke to me very specifically. He said, why don't 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:01.280 you worry about protecting your integrity and let me protect 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:08.800 your reputation. When you stop to think about it, even 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.439 the premise that you only have one reputation is faulty. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.280 I mean, really, you have as many reputations as you 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:22.120 have relationships in that room. What I mean is some 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.840 people at work think you're quiet because you are around them, 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:31.400 because you don't trust them or like them, or have 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.880 anything to say to them. But if we ask your 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.160 family like I will never forget when our middle child, Graham, 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.480 first went to school and the teacher emailed us how 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.920 he talked too much in class, and it was so 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.560 funny because we could not get him to talk at home. 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.800 He was so quiet at home. And the teacher said, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.600 he will not shut up in class. He's a wonderful child, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.480 but could you just talk to him about talking out 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.319 of turn in class? I said, well, could you talk 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.840 to him about talking intern at home? Because we can't 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.240 get him to say anything. And now he's eleven and 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.160 he talks all the time. But I remember thinking how 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.080 strange it was that he could be known as the 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.480 talkative kid in class. But maybe the birth order or 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.880 something at home. Maybe we won't shut up long enough 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:19.880 to give him a chance at home. And you know, 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.000 it's really true, because sometimes we only get to know 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:32.120 church you. I wonder how big is the gap between 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:37.600 your reality and your reputation, because it's never been easier 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:42.400 to develop a virtual reputation. You know, where I see 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.840 people online and in their profile it says life coach, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:51.319 and they're thirteen I don't understand how you're going to 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.720 coach me, and you've never been on the field. It 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.440 says public figure, and you got a private account with 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:02.120 twelve followers. I don't understand it, but I do because 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:04.760 we are living in a world that wants watch this 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:11.120 reputation without repetition, and a true reputation is not built 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.520 by what you occasionally do or wish that you were, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.679 or want people to see you as. It's not something 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:22.280 that you project or perfect. Your real reputation comes from 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:29.439 relationship and repetition, and relationship and repetition. And I had 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.080 to come to the point where I realized it is 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.600 not what people who don't know me think about me, 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.960 or what I can convince them of that brings me 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:43.920 peace in my heart and fulfills my calling. I want 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:48.920 to focus my life on developing a reputation that is 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:55.160 based on repetition and relationship, that I would do the 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.640 right thing over and over and over and over and 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.240 over again, and when I don't, I'll apologize and I'll 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:03.800 get back on and do it over and over and over. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.800 Isn't that how God built his reputation in your life, 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.000 because he helped you over and over and over and 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.040 over again, and he gave you mercy over and over 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.040 and over and over again. And he made ways over 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.760 and over and over and over again. And he heard 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.520 your cry over and over and over again, and he 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:25.240 forgave you for that same sin that you committed over 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.360 and over and over again. But when you needed grace, 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.400 you found it over and over and over again. And 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.480 he woke you up over and over and over again. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.440 And he lets you see another day over and over 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.840 and over again. So I will braise him over and 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:45.080 over and over again. Because God has a reputation with me. 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:50.840 I know him as faithful, and watch this. I don't 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.280 let anybody else build my belief about who God is. 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.120 I don't need to believe somebody else's report about God. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:04.520 I have a personal relationship with Him, and God's reputation 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.640 with me is based on his faithfulness in my life. 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.640 I don't go off of what I heard about. I 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.640 go off what I know. Don't ever let somebody else 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:20.720 misrepresent God and run you away from church. You ought 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:28.440 to know God for yourself. It's a relational thing. So 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:30.760 we're losing that, and we're so quick to tear people down. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.560 And God forgive us for all the times where we've 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.320 believed a report about someone that we didn't even know. 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.960 In a day where it is so easy to project 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:45.640 a false reputation and so easy to destroy a reputation, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.480 you can destroy your own reputation with two hundred and 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:56.280 eighty characters. Am I right? I don't call names from 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.600 this pulpit, but you know what I'm talking about. And 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.240 yet we stand between the reality of who we are 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.360 and kind of who we think we need to be. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:12.520 And into that gap God speaks and it's the most 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.280 amazing thing. I can't get over this, and it doesn't 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.800 seem like a smart strategy, but God chooses over and 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:29.600 over again. The faithful God entrusts his reputation to faithless people, 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:36.240 and so for forty years the Israelites will wander in 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.160 the wilderness because they believed a bad report, even though 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:44.160 they had a history with God. Now, Joshua does something interesting. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.840 After he calls the people together and tells them prepare 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.720 and consecrate yourselves for what God is going to do, 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.040 and reminds them of what God has already done. He 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:59.080 sends back to verse one two spies two spies instead 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.280 of twelve. When Moses got ready to check out Canaan 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.480 four decades ago. He sent twelve spies and ten came 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.240 back with a fear report. So it's almost as if 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.399 Joshua has learned from that exploit, being one of the 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.240 two spies who said, if God is with us, we 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.600 can't fail, and he made up his mind this time. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.480 I only need to, somebody shout, I only need to 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:28.480 look at the person on either side of you and 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.440 tell both of them I only need to. I don't 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.120 need too many opinions in this stage of my life. 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:39.040 I'm out of middle school now, and I can't live 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.600 by what everybody else thinks or does not anymore. I 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.719 only need too, somebody say, I only need to. And 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.440 I read in my Bible that surely goodness and mercy 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.840 will follow me all the days of my life. So 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.960 I got goodness and I got mercy. I only need 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.000 to say it again. I only need to, and I 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:03.520 can't afford to consult everybody's opinion and every cable news channel. 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.680 I got goodness and I got mercy. I don't need Fox, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.080 I don't need CNN. I don't need Twitter, I don't 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.560 need Facebook, I don't need Instagram. I don't need my 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.720 past to consult. I don't need to consult too many people. 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.479 You know, we start calling people and asking them for advice. 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.720 You really don't want advice anymore after you've called the 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:29.679 third person. You want affirmation and attention. I have a 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.720 shortcut now as a pastor. When people say I'd like 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:39.320 your advice on whatever they say next, I don't respond 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:45.800 to I say what do you want, because I'll just 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.720 say what you want to hear and save you the 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:54.359 time from calling the next person and the next person 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.080 until somebody will finally tell you what you want to hear. 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.959 Because a lot of us, maybe not you, maybe somebody 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:07.520 you know, a lot of us live our whole life 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:13.560 consulting opinions. And when you get too many opinions, it 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:17.040 really crowds out the voice of God. And you know 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.720 what's funny about people. You got to be so careful 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.960 because people will a lot of times and situations will 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.560 a lot of times feel they will categorize stuff. Look, 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.680 the Bible says they went into Jericho and entered the 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:38.199 house of a prostitute named Rahab. Why would you go 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:42.480 into the house of a prostitute in order to discern 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.199 the promise? Of God. Let me tell you a little secret. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:51.879 God uses who he wants to use. I'm losing amens 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.600 by the minute. You must be from out of town. 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:01.240 God uses who he wants to use. And so isn't 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.760 it fascinating that the God, who has a spotless reputation, 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:10.000 when he gets ready to bring his people into the promise, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:16.520 uses a woman with a reputation, not a reputation like 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:20.800 we think God can use, not a reputation of perfection. 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:26.480 But God uses someone with a reputation, and furthermore, someone 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:32.320 who the spies would consider an enemy. Technically, Rehab was 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:37.760 an enemy of Israel, and yet God used their enemy 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:48.119 to show them who they were. She said, I know 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:51.800 who you are, and I know that God has given 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:58.280 you the victory. Is it possible that your enemy knows 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:04.800 more about who you are than you do? And is 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:08.639 that why he's been fighting you like he's been fighting you. 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.560 It's just a question, saints. Is it possible, just a 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.840 little bit possible, that the trial that you're going through 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.800 is actually a testament to the power that lives within you. 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:30.040 The devil doesn't waste bullets if he's leaving you alone. 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:42.200 He knows you aren't anything worth fighting against. God used 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.680 their enemy to show them who they were. God, you, 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:56.840 God used their struggle to confirm his word. It's crazy, 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:02.560 how I said, Now let me teach you. It's crazy 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:04.800 how we have set up a false expectation that the 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.080 proof of God's favor in our life will always be 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:15.920 that our fights will decrease and our comfort will increase. 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:23.840 But when God was revealing himself in the Book of Job, 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:32.000 the devil was going all through the earth trying to 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:38.400 look for somebody he could tamper with. And when the 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:42.280 devil presented himself before the throne with the angels, because 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:48.480 the enemy can't do anything without God's permission, I'm afraid 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:50.480 in a lot of our churches we've given the devil 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.680 a reputation that he is an equal power with God. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:23:00.439 He's not. He's not. And God asked a question Satan. 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:04.000 He said, have you considered my servant job? Have you 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.040 thought about picking on him because he's my guy? Now, 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.240 whatever you have to do to get on that list 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:12.320 where God tells the devil he can mess with you, 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:16.480 I don't want to be that holy. I want to 0:23:16.520 --> 0:23:28.040 find that mark a slipping men. But God said, have 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.040 at his stuff. You can touch him, his family, you 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.160 can't touch him. And when the devil came back and said, 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:36.919 I tried it and you were right, he didn't curse you. 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:41.120 But if you let me hurt him, it's one thing 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:44.119 for everything around him to be affected. But if you 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:48.359 let me hurt his body, he'll curse you. And God said, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:51.720 you can do it, but you can't kill him. And 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:56.680 after that period of testing had been completed, after Job 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:59.119 survived all of the rounds. Now, this means he lost 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.680 not only his not only his business, not only his belongings, 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:07.879 but his children. And the only person who stayed alive 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:14.920 with Job was his wife. And if you read about her, 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:18.320 he'd probably praying God would go ahead and wipe her 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:20.920 out too, because she wasn't a very good wife. She said, 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:23.280 go ahead and curse God and die. Let's get it 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:25.520 over with. You're really gonna put up with this and 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:29.439 still serve God. But Job would not charge God with wrongdoing. 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:32.159 And yes, at the end of God's at the end 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:36.240 of Job's life, he was doubly blessed. But I don't 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:37.800 think the point of the book of Job is that 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:40.119 Job got double for his trouble. That's nice for a 0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:43.960 bumper sticker, but he still lost his children. What's the point. 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:47.800 The point is that the devil didn't mention Job's name. 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:54.679 God did. Job had a reputation with Heaven, and Heaven 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:59.240 knew about Job. He can be trusted with trouble, he 0:24:59.320 --> 0:25:03.440 won't break beneath the weight of a burden. Heaven knows 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:08.480 about you. You can raise those ADHD kids, those abcd 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:12.919 fghijk elemento pea kids. God knew he could give you 0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:16.520 the whole alphabet and you wouldn't kill him. God knew 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:19.720 he could trust you with sorrow. God knew he could 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:23.000 trust you with trial and with tribulation. He knew that 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:28.840 about you. And if the devil isn't messing with you, 0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:35.760 maybe he doesn't even know you're here. Like one time 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:37.679 in the Book of Acts, these seven sons of a 0:25:37.760 --> 0:25:42.639 Jewish priest, they saw Paul laying hands on people, and 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:47.200 they were like, oh, that's cool. Huh. Maybe we say 0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:49.119 what he says, we can do what he does, and 0:25:49.160 --> 0:25:51.280 maybe we can make money off of it. All right, 0:25:51.720 --> 0:25:57.159 in the name of Jesus. Come out. And when they 0:25:57.200 --> 0:26:05.040 said it, the demons folk and said, I heard you 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:11.080 say Jesus, and we know him. I heard you say Paul, 0:26:12.160 --> 0:26:16.520 and we know him. We hate him. We're an assignment 0:26:16.560 --> 0:26:21.400 against him. We send snakes to bite him. We put 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:25.400 Paul through shipwrecks. We stir up people and create contentions 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:28.760 so that stones are thrown at Paul. We've heard of Jesus, 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:36.120 We've heard of Paul. But who are you? Look at 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:38.240 somebody next to you and say it in that falsetto 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.359 voice like I said it, like prince, say who are you? 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:52.760 Who are you? Who are you? I'm concerned. I'm concerned 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:57.640 that a lot of times we are convinced that our 0:26:57.920 --> 0:27:02.640 trouble is an indication of the absence of God's resence, 0:27:04.880 --> 0:27:07.720